USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 3
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Maria Franklin, the wife of De Witt Clinton, was a daughter of Walter Franklin, of New York. Through her mother, Mary Bowne of Flushing, she was a direct descendant of Adam Winthrop, founder of the Winthrop family.
GEORGE WILLIAM CLINTON, son of De Witt Clinton and founder of the Buffalo branch of the family, was born in 1807. He adopted the profession of the law, first practicing in Canan- daigua, N. Y., where he lived for several years, his law partner at the time being John C. Spencer, son of Chief-Justice Ambrose Spencer, of Albany, Laura Catherine Spencer, John C. Spen- cer's daughter, becoming about this time Mr. Clinton's wife.
Shortly after his marriage, in 1836, George W. Clinton removed to Buffalo, where he spent most of the active portion of his life. Mr. Clinton was soon recognized as one of the leaders of the Western New York bar. When thirty-five years old he was elected Mayor of Buffalo, serving in that capacity during the year 1842. He served as Judge of the Superior Court of the City of Buffalo, from the time of its organization in 1846 until he arrived at the age limit in 1877. He was also for some years Collector of Customs and for many years was a Regent of the University of the State of New York, furthermore acting as Vice-Chancellor of that body.
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During the Civil War, Mr. Clinton was an ardent supporter of the Union cause. Being one of the leading Democrats of the State, his speeches had a powerful influence in holding the State Democratic party loyal to the support of President Lincoln and the prosecution of the war.
Mr. Clinton was an accomplished naturalist, devoting him- self more particularly to botany, in which science he had a national reputation. He was the leading spirit among the founders of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, being chosen its first President and continuing in that office for many years until he voluntarily declined to serve longer.
The death of Mr. Clinton took place in Albany in 1885. He was considered one of the most illustrious citizens Buffalo ever had.
The children of George W. Clinton were four sons, De Witt Clinton and Charles Clinton, now deceased, and Spencer Clin- ton and George Clinton, of Buffalo; also three daughters, Elizabeth Spencer, now Mrs. Henry S. Clinton of New York City; Catherine, afterwards Mrs. Albert J. Wheeler, now de- ceased, and Mrs. Abram H. Baldwin of Albany.
SPENCER CLINTON, the elder surviving son of George William Clinton, and the brother of George Clinton, was born in Buffalo June 29th, 1839. He was educated in public and private schools in Buffalo, Albany and Brockport. Early in- clined toward the legal profession, Mr. Clinton began reading law in the office of Solomon G. Haven, afterward pursuing his studies with William Dorsheimer. In October, 1860, Mr. Clin- ton was admitted to the bar, he then being twenty-one years of age. For the next two years he practiced law in New York City, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Henry L. Clinton. A few years after his admission to practice, Mr. Clinton was appointed Assistant United States District Attorney under his former instructor Mr. Dorsheimer. In this office the young lawyer served with marked ability from 1866 to 1868. In the.
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Spencer Christine
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latter year Mr. Clinton formed a law partnership with Charles D. Marshall, the firm being styled Marshall & Clinton. Later Robert P. Wilson was admitted, the firm becoming Marshall, Clinton & Wilson. It continued to be so designated till 1893, when Adolph Rebadow was made a junior partner and the firm name was changed to Marshall, Clinton & Rebadow. Both in its original personnel and as subsequently enlarged, tlie asso- ciation attained a distinguished success, being held one of the strongest combinations of legal talent in Western New York.
The well-known connection of Mr. Clinton with the Buffalo Savings Bank began in 1866. September 6, 1892, he was elected a director of the bank. In 1898 he became its president, a post he still holds. Upon his election Mr. Clinton retired from the active practice of law. Three years previous to his election as president of the bank, Mr. Clinton was appointed chairman of the building committee for the new bank. The old structure, occupied many years, was at Broadway and Washington street. The new building was begun in 1898 and was finished and occupied March 11, 1901. It is a superb edifice, made of granite, and admirably lighted and equipped. Its cost was $583,000. It is one of the finest bank buildings in the world. Financier and lawyer, Mr. Clinton's business relations are very extensive. He is a director of the Third National Bank. As executor of two large estates, he represents the Bennett and C. J. Wells elevators in the Western Elevating Association.
Mr. Clinton's absorption in business has caused him to avoid public office. But he has, from time to time, been active in Democratic politics. In 1887 he was the Democratic nominee for State Senator, and the National Democratic State conven- tion held in Brooklyn in 1896 nominated him by acclaim for Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals. The only civil office Mr. Clinton has ever held is his present one of attorney for the Grade Crossing Commission. Before the Grade Crossing Com- mission was constituted, Mr. Clinton, in association with the
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late R. B. Adam, worked hard to get the bill constituting it through the Legislature. The first Act, of 1888, did not give the commissioners power enough to compel the abolition of grade crossings, and Mr. Clinton was of great service in bringing about the Acts of 1890 and 1892, which were passed to invest the commission with authority to carry out its plans. Mr. Clinton was chosen attorney for the commission on its organization in 1888, and has ever since continued to conduct for it a vast amount of difficult work, including the drawing of contracts, the furnishing of legal advice and the management of critical and delicate negotiations with the railroads. To the commis- sion and the public, these services are of very great value.
Mr. Clinton enjoys a high social position. He is a leading member of the Buffalo Club, and in 1885 was its president. He is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
In 1870 Mr. Clinton married 'Sarah Riley, daughter of Wil- liam A. Riley and Frances A. Stillman of Berlin, Conn., mem- bers of old New England families. The children of this union are De Witt Clinton, Dr. Marshall Clinton, Anne, who is Mrs. Urquhart Wilcox, of Buffalo, and Nathalie, who is married to Dr. Thew Wright, and Ethel, who is the wife of Dr. N. G. Russell. In 1895 Mr. Clinton married again, his bride being Cora Caldwell of North East, Pa. The children are Spencer Clinton, and Catherine Clinton.
GEORGE CLINTON, son of George W. Clinton, was born in Buffalo, September 7, 1846. He spent his boyhood, and gained his earlier education in this city, graduating from the Buf- falo Central High School in 1865. In 1866 he entered the Columbia College Law School, graduating two years later with the degree of LL.B. He practiced for about a year in New York City. He then removed to Hudson, Wis., where he fol- lowed his profession for five years. In 1874 he returned to Buffalo, where he lias since resided, continuing the practice of his profession.
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MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
Mr. Clinton was early recognized as a strong personality in politics and public affairs. In 1883 he was elected to the Assembly on the Republican ticket, and served with high credit, being characterized for independence and conscien- tious care for the interests of the people. He was chosen chairman of the Assembly Canal Committee, and through- out his civic career has been noted for his attention to the subject of canals and for the weighty responsibilities he has borne in connection with both State and national waterway questions. As a leading mem- ber and second president of the Union for the Improvement of the Canals, Mr. Clinton has been instrumental in bringing about the extensive improvements made in recent years on the Erie Canal. In 1898 he was made chairman of the Commission ap- pointed by Governor Black, pur- suant to an Act of the Legisla- ture, to investigate and report on the expenditure of the $9,- 000,000 appropriated for the im- provement of the Erie and other GEORGE CLINTON. Canals. The same year the Commission made its investigation and submitted its report, the result being the purification of the State Engineer's Department and the adoption of a much better system of administration in that Department and the State Department of Public Works. In 1902 President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Clinton a member of the American section of the International Waterways Com- mission for the purpose of settling various questions arising relative to the water boundaries between the United States and Canada and to consider and report on the advisability of con-
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structing a dam at the eastern end of Lake Erie for the purpose of regulating the lake level. On this commission he is still serving. Mr. Clinton enjoys an international reputation as an authority on admiralty law and is retained in cases of the greatest importance.
Mr. Clinton shows a practical interest in all matters relating to the welfare of Buffalo. He helped prepare the present City Charter, and worked hard to secure its adoption. He has been Park Commissioner, and was a member of the trunk-sewer commission during the building of the Genesee and Bird Ave- nue branches of the sewer system. He helped establish the Buffalo Law School, and for several years was its professor of admiralty law. He is a firm friend of the public schools, and has been active in the endeavors to raise their standard and remove them from political influences. He is an active mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce, was for many years a member of its predecessor, the Merchants' Exchange, and in 1893 was the president of that organization.
Mr. Clinton belongs to the Episcopal Church, and is a mem- ber of the Masonic order. He is connected with the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, the Buffalo Historical Society, the Ellicott Club and other social and charitable organizations.
The marriage of Mr. Clinton took place in Trinity Church, Buffalo, on the 17th of January, 1872. The maiden name of Mrs. Clinton was Alice Thornton. Her parents were Thomas F. and Jane Parker Thornton. The children of the marriage are George Clinton, Jr., born Jan. 18, 1877, Laura Catherine and Elizabeth Spencer. The daughter last named was married June 5, 1901, to Chester D. Richmond. George Clinton, Jr., is his father's partner in the practice of law, the firm name being Clinton & Clinton. January 25, 1908, he married Sophie Klein.
DR. MARSHALL CLINTON, one of Buffalo's leading physi- cians and surgeons, has practiced his profession in this city since 1895. Born in Buffalo July 22, 1873, he was educated in
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the public schools, Heathcote School, and graduated from the Medical College of the University of Buffalo in 1895.
He spent a year as resident physician at the Erie County Hospital, and for the succeeding two years was house surgeon at the Fitch Accident Hospital, of Buffalo.
In June, 1898, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the 202d Regiment, United States Volunteers, for service during the Spanish-American War. In this capacity he accompanied the command through the campaign, being stationed with the regiment at Camp Black, N. Y., at Camp Meade, and in Cuba until the troops returned to the United States. In April, 1899, he was mustered out with the regiment at Savannah, Georgia.
Upon returning from the war Dr. Clinton began the private practice of his profession in Buffalo as a general surgeon.
He is attending surgeon at the Buffalo Hospital and the Sisters of Charity and Erie County hospitals, the Buffalo Chil- dren's Hospital and the Fresh Air Mission Hospital at Athol Springs. He is Instructor in Surgery at the University of Buffalo, is Assistant Surgeon of the 65th Regiment, N. G. N. Y., with the rank of Captain, and is surgeon for the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company.
Dr. Clinton is a member of the Erie County Medical Society, the Buffalo Academy of Medicine, the State Medical Associa- tion, the American Medical Association, and the American Association of Military Surgeons, and the Saturn Club.
December 12, 1900, Dr. Clinton married Miss Alethe Evans, daughter of Edwin T. Evans and Josephine (Hewes) Evans, of Buffalo. The children of the union are three sons, De Witt, born October 29, 1901; Karl, born May 10, 1903, and Geoffrey, born July 13, 1906.
GEN. GAIUS BARRETT RICH, former President of the Buffalo Commercial Bank, and for many years President of the Bank of Attica, has long occupied a leading place among the financiers of Western New York.
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MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
The Rich family, long numbered among the leaders in Buf- falo's business and social circles, are purely English in origin. Among their ancestors are counted Richard Rich, Lord Chan- cellor of England in the reign of Henry the Eighth, Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, and Robert and Henry Rich, Earls of Holland, all sprung from one common stock.
The American branch of the family traces its lineage back to Massachusetts, where the name first appears in 1625, this being the year of the earliest settlement of the family, on Cape Cod, in the town of Eastham. Here lived Thomas Rich, who married Mary Taylor at Springfield, Mass., March 29, 1696. They resided in Brookfield, Mass., where were born to them four children, of whom the eldest, Thomas, married Ruth Nichols in that part of the town now called Warren but in- corporated as Western. This Thomas Rich, the second of the name, was a deacon in the Congregational Church and a man of substance in the community. To this day the legal title to the village common of Brookfield belongs by descent to his heirs, barring the possibility that the claim may be outlawed by lapse of time. Thomas Rich was the father of six children, of whom the second son was Solomon, born August 2, 1726, and whose house in Brookfield still stands as an interesting memorial of Colonial days. At Western, in September, 1753, Solomon Rich married Phoebe Weeks. There were eight chil- dren of this marriage, of whom the fifth child and the second son was Solomon, born November 23, 1766. This Solomon Rich married Sophronia Barrett, thus bringing into the family a name which has been handed down to the present generation. About 1800 Solomon Rich removed to the northern part of the State of New York, and settled at De Kalb, St. Lawrence Co. His children were three, Gaius Barrett, born September 26, 1790; George H., born in 1802, and Sophronia, born in 1816.
GAIUS BARRETT RICH, grandfather of Gen. Rich, about the year 1806 removed from Richville, near De Kalb, N. Y.,
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to Rome in this State. Thence he went to Rochester, where he built the first frame house in that city. Later he removed to Attica, and in 1842 to Buffalo. Gaius Barrett Rich was the founder of the Bank of Attica, in both its Attica and Buffalo branches. October 14, 1816, he married Alphia Salis- bury at Western, Oneida County, N. Y. He died in Buffalo, October 25, 1861. His wife survived him several years, dying Feb. 15, 1868. The children of their marriage were seven: Jane Antoinette, Sarah Randolph, Andrew Jackson, Harriett Rock- well, Frances, Edward Salisbury and Martha Sophronia. Andrew Jackson Rich, the eldest son, was the father of Gen. G. Barrett Rich.
ANDREW JACKSON RICH was born in Attica, N. Y., Sep- tember 21, 1823. In the spring of 1841 he came to Buffalo, entering the dry goods store of Marvin & Bennett. The follow- ing year he left their employ and entered the Bank of Attica. Here he served first as clerk, later as cashier, and on the death of his father succeeded the latter as President, an office which he administered with signal ability till his death, which took place in New York City, December 15, 1870. Mr. Rich was married in Buffalo, August 12, 1846, to Mary Winslow Town- send. The children of this marriage were Charles Townsend, born November 23, 1847; Gaius Barrett, born May 5, 1849; Alfred Stone, born December 10, 1851, and Andrew Jerome, born July 26, 1854. Alfred Stone died September 12, 1853. Charles Townsend died May 1, 1878.
Gaius Barrett Rich, the second of the name, was the second son of Andrew J. Rich, and was born in Buffalo, May 5, 1849. His early education was gained in this city, where he graduated, June 28, 1867, from the old Buffalo Classical School. The years 1863 and 1867 were spent in foreign tours and study, Mr. Rich's journeyings including not only Europe but Egypt and the Holy Land.
On his return from his second European tour, the young
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man resolved to obtain a knowledge of banking in all its de- tails and entered the Bank of Attica as a messenger. He exhibited great natural aptitude for the business and during several years successively filled different offices in the institution. At the annual meeting of the Board of Directors in July, 1879, Mr. Rich was elected President, thus becoming the head of the old- est bank in Western New York. In this capacity he succeeded, with a few years' interregnum, his father, Andrew J. Rich. Thenceforward for many years, Gen. Rich's business career was identified with the prosperity of the Bank of Attica, and of its Buffalo successor, the Commercial Bank, as well as with other important banking enterprises. He was one of the in- corporators of the Commonwealth Trust Company, of which he has ever since been a director, and is also a prominent trus- tee of the Erie County Savings Bank. In 1892, when the Bank of Attica was succeeded by the Buffalo Commercial Bank, Gen. Rich was elected President of the latter, and continued in that office till his retirement in 1896. Since that date he has found ample occupation in attending to his numerous and extensive banking and investment interests.
On the 1st of November, 1871, began Gen. Rich's connection with the National Guard of the State of New York, he at that time entering the Thirty-first Brigade as First Lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp. June 15, 1872, he was commissioned Captain and Quartermaster, and March 21, 1873, was made Major and Engineer, August 4, 1875, he was promoted Lieutenant Col- onel and Ordnance Officer of the Eighth Division, being made an officer of the staff of General Rogers; and on the 1st of January, 1883, was appointed by Governor Cleveland, Brigadier General and Paymaster General, which important and respon- sible commission he continued to hold till January 1st, 1886, serving on the staffs of both Governor Cleveland and Governor Hill.
For many years Gen. Rich was a member of the Executive
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Committee of the Buffalo Public Library, and has held numer- ous positions of trust and responsibility on the various com- mittees. He is also a life member of the Y. M. C. A., and a trustee of the North Presbyterian Church. Since 1871 he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which order he has held many high positions. He is a Mason of the 32d Degree, and is connected with Ancient Landmarks Lodge, 441. Gen. Rich is also a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Sons of the American Revolution, and of the Buffalo Club, of which organization he was President during the Pan-American year, which was a notable epoch in the club's history.
On the 1st of October, 1873, Gen. Rich married Cornelia. Perrine, daughter of the late Henry E. Perrine, a prominent Buffalonian who died in 1901. Their children were Gaius Bar- rett and Harold Perrine, the latter of whom died in 1894, at the age of 16.
GAIUS BARRETT RICH, the only surviving son of Gen. Rich, was born August 11th, 1875. He received a thorough education, graduating from Yale University in the Class of '97. Mr. Rich's business interests are identified with the Fron- tier Telephone Company. He has served five years in the Sixty-Fifth Regiment, National Guard, rising to the rank of First Lieutenant of Company A, with which he served in the Spanish-American War, being for six months in the United States service at Camp Alger, Va.
October 1st, 1900, Mr. Rich married Grace E. Danforth, daughter of the late Frederick L. Danforth, the well-known President of the Commercial Bank, and a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Rich are Gaius Barrett, fourth of the name, Danforth Rich and Harold Perrine.
Mr. Rich belongs to the United Spanish War Veterans, and is a member of the University Club, and the Buffalo Canoe
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Club. He is also a Mason, being connected with Ancient Land- marks Lodge 441, F. & A. M.
JOHN ELLIS MARSHALL was born at Norwich, Conn., March 18, 1785. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Philemon Tracy, of Norwich, being licensed to practice in 1808. Soon afterward he opened an office in Oxford, N. Y., and the following year removed to Mayville, Chautauqua County. He was Clerk of Chautauqua County in 1811, and in 1812, and Surgeon to the Second Regiment of the New York State Militia. He served five months with the army defending the Niagara Frontier, and later served through the campaign of 1814. In 1815, he removed to Buffalo. He was corresponding Fellow of the Medical and Philosophical Society of New York City, a member of the Medical Society of Geneva College, and President and Treasurer of the Erie County Medical Society. During the cholera epidemic of 1832, he was Health Physician. He was Clerk of Niagara County from 1819 until 1821. He was a prominent Mason and a ruling elder of the First Presbyterian Church, of Buffalo.
September 12, 1810, Dr. Marshall married Ruth Holmes, daughter of Orsamus Holmes, of Sheridan, N. Y. The issue of this union was one son, Orsamus Holmes Marshall. Dr. Mar- shall died in Buffalo, December 27, 1838.
ORSAMUS HOLMES MARSHALL was born in Franklin, Conn., February 1, 1813, and came with his parents to Buffalo in 1815. He was educated in Buffalo schools, at the Polytech- nic School at Chittenango, N. Y., at Col. Mckay's Military Academy and at Union College, whence he graduated in 1831. On his return to Buffalo, Mr. Marshall entered the law office of Austin & Barker, with whom he remained till 1833, when he went to Yale College for a course of law lectures. In 1834 he was admitted to practice as an attorney, and soon after- ward was admitted solicitor in Chancery. His first law part-
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nership was with William A. Moseley, and later he was suc- cessively associated with the Hon. Horatio J. Stow, and the Hon. N. K. Ball, and after 1841 practiced by himself for several years, then becoming the partner of Alexander W. Harvey till 1863, when he admitted his son, Charles D. Mar- shall, to partnership. He retired from active practice in 1867.
Mr. Marshall was a distinguished writer on historical sub- jects. He was President of the Buffalo Historical Society, of which he was one of the founders; trustee and one of the or- ganizers of the Buffalo Cemetery Association; member and President of the Board of Trustees of the Grosvenor Library, and member and President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Buffalo, of which he was elected Chancellor in 1882. He was a trustee of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, President of the Thomas Orphan Asylum for Indian Children, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church, of Buffalo. In the early 50's he was offered the post of Commis- sioner to China, and was tendered the appointment of Assist- ant Postmaster-General, but declined both offices. In 1868 he was appointed United States Commissioner for the Northern District of New York, which position he held for many years.
February 20, 1838, Mr. Marshall married Millicent Ann De Angelis, daughter of Judge Pascal Charles Joseph De Angelis, of Holland Patent, N. Y. Their children were: John Ellis Mar- shall, born August 5, 1839, graduated from Yale College in 1861, and in 1862 was First Lieutenant of U. S. Volunteers, also serving as Aide-de-Camp to Brigadier-General William F. Barry; Charles De Angelis Marshall, born November 14, 1841; and Elizabeth Coe Marshall, born June 4, 1847.
Orsamus H. Marshall died July 9, 1884.
CHARLES DE ANGELIS MARSHALL is a leading lawyer of Buffalo. He was born in Buffalo and was educated in the local public schools, at Springside Academy, near Auburn,
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N. Y., and at the Hopkins Grammar School, of New Haven, Conn. He then entered the Albany Law School, from which institution he graduated, being admitted to the bar in 1864. He then entered into partnership with his father, under the firm style of O. H. & C. D. Marshall. In 1868 he formed a co- partnership with Spencer Clinton, the firm name being Mar- shall & Clinton. In 1873 Robert P. Wilson was associated with Messrs. Marshall & Clinton, the style being changed to Mar- shall, Clinton & Wilson. In 1892 this partnership was dis- solved, Mr. Marshall and Mr. Clinton for some time practicing together as before. In 1893 Adolph Rebadow was admitted, the firm becoming Marshall, Clinton & Rebadow. Mr. Clinton retiring in 1899, the firm was styled Marshall & Rebadow, and in 1905, Ulysses S. Thomas was admitted a partner, with the firm style of Marshall, Rebadow & Thomas, an association which still continues, and has a large and valuable practice. During his long experience at the bar, Mr. Marshall has at- tained a sterling legal reputation, notably in connection with the law of real property and the management of trust estates. From 1878 to July, 1906, he was the attorney of the Buffalo Savings Bank.
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