USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York Volume, II > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
143
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
has been organist of Temple Beth-Zion. From 1880 to 1887 he was organist of St. Paul's Church, in the latter year leaving that position to become the organist at the Delaware Avenue Methodist Church in which capacity he is still serving. Since 1873 Mr. Mischka has been, and is still, the teacher of music in the Buffalo State Normal School. In the fall of 1894 he was appointed Supervisor of Music in the public schools of Buffalo, which position he now holds and wherein he has accomplished some of his most memorable work.
Mr. Mischka was local musical director of the Saengerfest of the North American Saengerbund held in Buffalo in 1883, in which 3,000 singers and 100 instrumental musicians partici- pated. In 1885 Thomas' orchestra was in Buffalo, and was fol- lowed by Damrosch's in 1887. In 1888 the Thomas orchestra was again heard in Buffalo, and the same year a musical festi- val was held in connection with Gilmore's Band. Mr. Mischka was the local Musical Director on each of these occasions, and conducted the numbers both for chorus and orchestra. At the Grand Army reunion in Buffalo in 1897 Mr. Mischka originated and successfully carried out the idea of drilling 4,000 school-chil- dren, dressed in costume emblematic of the Stars and Stripes, to form in a body shaped and colored like a gigantic shield and to sing in chorus.
September 5, 1871, Mr. Mischka married Catherine Dietz, a daughter of Frederick Dietz, of Erie, Pa. They have one daugh- ter, Caroline.
ARTHUR WASHINGTON HICKMAN, of the law firm of Hickman & Palmer, is a lawyer of thirty-five years' standing, a leading member of the Erie County bar and a prominent figure in public and social life.
Mr. Hickman is of English parentage, his father, the late Isaac Hickman, having been a native of Devonshire who in 1847 came to the United States and settled in Buffalo. There he operated a vise and tool shop for two years, but in 1849
144
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
removed to Marshall, Mich. The following year he returned to Buffalo, where he resided till 1868, when he removed to Gilroy, Cal., to assume the Government position of Master Mechanic at Mare's Island Navy Yard. He lived at Gilroy the rest of his life, dying there June 9, 1906, at the age of eighty. Mr. Hickman was a man of no ordinary caliber of mind, an expert mechanician, and was employed in very responsible capacities by railroad companies. His scrupulous integrity and social and domestic virtues won him the respect of all who knew him. He belonged to the Congregational church and was one of the oldest members of Hiram Lodge, F. & A. M. Before coming to this country he married Eliza Bale, a native of Devonshire, by whom he had four children, John B., Arthur W., Elizabeth, who married the Rev. Mr. Oviatt, a Congregational clergyman, and Harriett. Mrs. Hickman died several years ago, aged seventy-seven.
Arthur W. Hickman was born in Marshall, Calhoun County, Mich., June 18, 1850. In infancy he came with his parents to Buffalo, where he was educated in the grammar schools and at Central High School, from which latter he was graduated in 1868. He prepared for Rochester University, but had to abandon his college course for financial reasons. On leaving school Mr. Hickman entered the law office of Austin & Austin of Buffalo, and began his studies for the bar, to which he was admitted at Rochester in September, 1871, afterward con- tinuing a year longer with Austin & Austin as managing clerk. Benjamin H. Austin, Sr., retired from the firm in 1872, where- upon Mr. Hickman formed a copartnership with the younger Mr. Austin under the style of Anstin & Hickman. The firm was very successful, and the association lasted till 1879, when Mr. Austin left Buffalo and Mr. Hickman became connected with Nathaniel S. Rosenau, their partnership continuing for two years. Mr. Hickman then practiced alone till 1894, when William Palmer became his partner. The firm of Hickman & Palmer has existed ever since, and is one of the foremost law
145
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
firms in Buffalo, having a large general practice and repre- senting important interests both in the State and Federal courts.
A strong Republican, Mr. Hickman has always stood well in his party. He has twice been elected to the Legislature, repre- senting the Third Assembly District at Albany in 1881-1882. As Assemblyman he asserted a spirit of independence, consulted the welfare of the public, and refused to defer to the wishes of machine politicians. This course deprived him of the regular nomination for reelection, but a strong popular movement changed the situation, there being presented to Mr. Hickman a petition signed by 1,500 of the most prominent men in the Third Assembly District, urging him to become a candidate for reelec- tion on an independent ticket. He consented, and was elected by a heavy majority. While in the Assembly Mr. Hickman was associated with a number of important measures, and intro- duced the Act creating a Board of School Examiners, which was passed several years later. In 1903 he was appointed a member of the Board of School Examiners, and is now Chair- man of that body. He has rendered services of great value to the public school system, in which he is deeply interested.
Mr. Hickman has been concerned in many movements for the good of Buffalo, including municipal reform, the enlargement of the docks, and the enforcement of sound administration of city affairs. For over thirty years a member of the First Baptist Church of Buffalo, Mr. Hickman was for many years one of its Trustees. At present he attends the First Congregational Church. He was one of the Real Estate Commissioners of the German Young Men's Association and was Secretary of the Building Committee of Buffalo Music Hall. He is a life mem- ber of the Buffalo Library Association, paid the first money that was paid for the present building, and is actively identified with the Chamber of Commerce, as he was with its predecessor, the Merchants' Exchange. He is a member of the Y. M. C. A., and was Secretary of the Board which built the Y. M. C. A. building
146
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
at Pearl and Huron streets. He has always taken a keen inter- est in the welfare of the University of Buffalo, and has served as a lecturer on Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence in its College of Pharmacy. Among social organizations he belongs to the Yacht and Island clubs.
Mr. Hickman married Alice Gregory, daughter of Willis Gregory of Buffalo. They have three sons, Herbert Austin, Spencer Eastman, and Willis Gregory, and three daughters, Emily, Harriet and Frances.
IRVING EMMET WATERS, Vice-President and Cashier of the Union Stock Yards Bank, is one of Buffalo's prominent financiers and holds a high position in the community as a cap- able, far-sighted man of business and a citizen of liberal ideas and progressive aims. Mr. Waters comes of a well-known family of Herkimer County, N. Y., whither his grandfather removed from Massachusetts. His father, Sylvanus J. Waters, was Sheriff of Herkimer County, Supervisor of Little Falls, N. Y., and was employed as agent of the American Express Company for thirty years. He married Catherine M. Petrie, daughter of Jacob and Nancy Petrie, and a descendant of Gen. Jost, of Revolutionary fame. She was of Holland ancestry, and the name Petrie was originally spelled Patry.
Mr. Waters was born in Little Falls, Herkimer County, N. Y., and was educated in the public schools of his native place. His first business experience was gained with the American Express Company, in whose employ he remained about four years. In 1870 he became connected with the National Herki- mer County Bank of Little Falls, and in 1873 he came to Buffalo as First Teller of the Bank of Commerce. He showed marked ability as a financier, and in 1890 he, with other representative business men of Buffalo, established the Citizens' Bank, in which Mr. Waters held the office of cashier till 1901, when he resigned to engage in the handling of bonds, warrants and other securities, continuing in the business for three years. Mean-
147
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
time Mr. Waters' attention had been directed to the financial necessities arising from the development of the live-stock busi- ness in Buffalo, and although the stockyards had been opened at their present location as long ago as 1863, he was the first to see the need of a banking institution to meet the conditions caused by the growth of that branch of enterprise. With other progressive business men of Buffalo he organized the Union Stock Yards Bank in 1904, the institution being opened on November 10 of that year. Mr. Waters now holds the offices of Vice-President and Cash- ier of the bank, whose success has been phe- nomenal. The financial interests represented are in excess of $100,000,000 per annum, and though the bank has been in ex- istence only two years and a half, it passes through the Buffalo Clear- ing House more than $50,- 000,000 annually, or over one-ninth the entire clear- IRVING E. WATERS. ings of Buffalo. The Union Stock Yards Bank is recognized as one of the strong financial institutions of Buffalo, enjoys the confidence of the business public in its territory, and its deposits amount to nearly $1,000,000. Its establishment was a notable instance of energy and foresight, and the initiative therein taken by Mr. Waters is sufficient to stamp him as one of the able financiers of his day.
In 1875 Mr. Waters married Eliza Ingham Waterman,
-
148
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
daughter of Alexander H. and Jeannette F. Waterman of Little Falls, N. Y. They have six children: Louise J., William I., Marion E., Clara S., Franklin D. and Margaret S. Waters.
Typically a business man, Mr. Waters lives an active life and one of close absorption in practical affairs. He is, however, amenable to the pleasures of society and friendship, and is a courteous, genial gentleman, very popular with those with whom he is thrown in contact.
JOHN OLEY MANNING, now serving his fourth term as Alderman from the Twenty-Second Ward, President of the Board in 1904, and the recently appointed Deputy City Treas- urer, is one of the most prominent men in the municipal affairs of the City of Buffalo.
The Manning family is of English origin, John Manning having come from the North of England and settled in Albany, where he died in 1837. His wife, Eleanor Oley, was a native of Albany and was a niece of Gen. Oley of Revolutionary fame. She died in 1874. The children of John and Eleanor Oley Manning were: James, Daniel, Marie, and John Baker, of whom James and Marie died unmarried. Daniel Manning attained high eminence in the fields of journalism and statesmanship. He was proprietor of the Albany Atlas, afterward the Argus, long the leading Democratic newspaper of this State, and during Grover Cleveland's first administration was Secretary of the Treasury. His death occurred on the 24th of December, 1887.
John Baker Manning, father of John Oley Manning, and since 1897 a resident of New York City, was born in Albany, N. Y., July 13, 1833. He attended the Albany public schools till he was twelve years old. In 1845 through the influence of Horatio Seymour, who was then Speaker of the Assembly, young Manning was appointed a page of that body. In 1847 he was again appointed by Speaker William C. Hasbrouck; afterward was appointed one of the two pages of the Senate. He early
149
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
became correspondent at Albany of the Brooklyn Eagle. Had he chosen to follow newspaper work and politics, a brilliant career in these fields undoubtedly lay open before him. In 1856 he came to Buffalo and engaged in the produce and con- mission business, in the meantime continuing his work in Albany. After a time he completely sundered his relations with Albany affairs and made Buffalo his home, devoting him- self to extending his produce and commission business and his malting trade, which he had established in 1862. Immediately after coming to Buffalo, Mr. Manning formed business rela- tions in Canada and otherwise enlarged his enterprise, which enjoyed great prosperity. In 1867 he turned his attention wholly to malting. For years he was the largest maltster in the State, and at one time was probably the largest in the world. In his day Mr. Manning was one of the most important property holders of Buffalo.
Mr. Manning is a Democrat and a man of strong political con- victions. In 1883 he was elected Mayor as the successor of Grover Cleveland, who had become Governor of the State.
He was a prominent member and President of the Buffalo Board of Trade in 1881. Immediately after he entered on the duties of the office he took steps which led to the erection of the Board of Trade Building, and was chosen President of the National Convention of Maltsters held at Niagara Falls in 1881.
He was Master of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., Past High Priest of Keystone Chapter and Eminent Commander of Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templar. He is also a Mason of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, a Mystic Shriner, and a charter member of the Masonic Life Association.
Mr. Manning is in religious faith an Episcopalian, served as Warden of the Church of the Ascension, and has been active in church and charitable work.
January 14, 1856, Mr. Manning married Miss Elizabeth House, daughter of Hiram and Ann (Hitchcock) House of Troy,
150
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
N. Y. The family of Mrs. Manning came from Vermont, where her father was born in 1802. The children of the marriage were: Franklin C., Lillian H., John Oley, Mary E., William H., Daniel Van Antwerp, and Grace Manning, deceased in infancy.
The death of Mrs. Manning occurred on the 19th of October, 1894. A gracious woman of many estimable qualities, she was prominent in the charitable and philanthropic work of the city and a devout member of the Church of the Ascension. Mr. John B. Manning died April 28, 1908, since the above was written.
John Oley Manning, son of John Baker and Elizabeth (House) Manning, was born in Buffalo March 20, 1862. After receiving an education in the grammar schools and at Central High School of this city, graduating from the latter in 1880, Mr. Manning engaged in the malting business with his father, con- tinning till 1895, when he established his present coal, hay and feed business. During the Pan-American Exposition he obtained the newspaper concession, having associated with him C. S. A. Coe and E. T. Langley. In 1899 Mr. Manning was elected an Alderman from the Twenty-Second Ward. Three times he has been reelected, and is now serving his fourth term.
During 1904 he served as President of the Board. The course of Alderman Manning has been consistent, firm, and directed always to the public well-being. He has served on all the principal committees, and has acted as Chairman of the committees on Finance, Streets, Water, Law and Legislation, and others of equal importance.
He belongs to Buffalo Chapter, No. 71, Royal Arch Masons, and Highland Lodge, No. 835, F. & A. M .; is a member of Omega Lodge, No. 259, I. O. O. F., and International Encampment, No. 131, of Odd Fellows, and has gone through all the chairs in Odd Fellowship. He is also a member of Court Belvidere, No. 1616, Independent Order of Foresters.
A member of the congregation of the Church of St. Mary's- on-the-Hill, Mr. Manning is actively interested in the work of that church.
May 21, 1884, Mr. Manning married Miss Julia A. Millington,
=
151
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
daughter of the late Thomas Millington and Isabel (Green) Millington of Buffalo. Mrs. Manning was born in January, 1862, and was educated in the public schools and at Normal School. Her father, who died in early manhood, was Superin- tendent of the Hayden & Pratt rolling-mill. Mr. and Mrs. Manning have one child, Grace Isabel, born July 25, 1894.
THOMAS LOTHROP, M.D. As scholar, educator, physician, and useful, patriotic citizen; as the practical man of charity; as the helper of ambitious young men, Dr. Thomas Lothrop was a man whose life made itself felt and who was everywhere and always of service to his kind.
Born in Provincetown, Mass., in 1836, Dr. Lothrop was a lineal descendant of the Rev. John Lothrop, who came from England to Scituate, Mass., in 1634. He was prepared for col- lege by private tutors, and graduated from Clinton Liberal Institute in 1855 and from the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1858. He entered upon his distinguished professional career at Carunna, Michigan, and the following year came to Buffalo to take charge of the practice of Dr. John D. Hill, during his absence upon a European tour. Later he located in Black Rock, where he practiced for eleven years, returning to Buffalo in 1871. He received the ad eundum degree of M.D. from Niagara University in 1886, the Ph.D. degree from the same institution in 1893, and the A.M. degree from Hobart College in 1896. He was senior editor of the Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal from 1879, was appointed manager of the Buffalo State Hospital by Gov. Flower in 1892, and in 1893-4 was President of the Buffalo Academy of Medi- cine. He was founder of and chief physician to the Buffalo Women's Hospital, physician to St. Francis' Hospital, con- sulting physician to the Sisters' Hospital, the Providence Retreat, the Buffalo General, and the Erie County Hospitals, and visitor to the Buffalo Hospital for the Insane, to which position he was appointed by Gov. Odell. He was Honorary Professor of Obstetrics of the University of Buffalo, member of
152
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
the Erie County Medical Society, the New York State Medical Society, and Fellow of the American Association of Obstet- ricians and Gynecologists. He was a member of the Delta Phi Fraternity of the University of Michigan, Past Master of Parish Lodge, F. & A. M., member of Keystone Chapter, Queen City Council and the Royal Arcanum. He was President of the Lakeside Cemetery, a member of the Board of Directors of the Buffalo Loan, Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and President of the Board of Trustees of the State Normal School at the time of his death. As Superintendent of Education of the City of Buffalo from 1869 to 1872, he did much toward raising the standard of learning and the efficiency of teachers in the city schools, and instituted many needed reforms, including the employment only of college men for the heads of departments.
Dr. Lothrop was always much interested in the medical aspect of the various charitable institutions of Buffalo, and for more than forty years he contributed generously of his time and means to the beneficent work of the Church Charity Foun- dation, of whose Board of Managers he was a member for many years, and President at the time of his death. He was a staunch Episcopalian, a zealous member of St. Paul's Church, and from early manhood throughout his life showed the most earnest devotion to his church. Among the numerous resolu- tions testifying to the affectionate esteem in which he was held by various institutions with which he had been connected, we quote the following, offered by the Board of Trustees of the State Normal School at Buffalo:
" His services as a member of the board for many years were too numerous to be related, but his associates deem it peculiarly fitting that an expression be made of their sense of the rare quality of Dr. Lothrop's work in the organization and maintenance of the Buffalo Normal School.
"It was due to him quite as much as any other Normal School manager that the institution was built up from the beginning on a solid basis for the purposes of its creation.
153
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
" Dr. Lothrop was himself well educated and brought to the deliberations of the board the experience of a highly cultivated mind and the ability of a man of more than common powers of thought.
" He was profoundly interested in the work of the school from the beginning of his official connection with it, yet never opinionated about it and was always eager to gather the opin- ions of his associates and to join them in promoting the normal school work in ways that commended themselves as sound and rational.
" His considerate spirit and the unfailing courtesy that always marked his intercourse with the members of this body will still be influential in our proceedings, though the friend and fellow-worker has passed on.
" To the loss of a zealous and valued associate in our official relations is added the severance of personal ties of the most cordial nature.
" The sense of personal bereavement even overshadows the feeling of public misfortune in the death of Dr. Lothrop, and it is with feelings of deepest regret that this brief memorial is made of an associate possessed of so many fine and even beauti- ful qualities as a man, a physician, and a citizen."
WILLIAM LANSILL, broker, commission merchant and a prominent figure in several representative industries, is one of Buffalo's typical examples of the successful business man and public-spirited citizen. Though his family has lived for many years in this country, Mr. Lansill is of German extraction, his father, Philip Lansill, having come from Germany to Buffalo in the later '30's. For some time after his arrival in America the elder Lansill followed the tailoring business in Buffalo, in the employ of Nicklis & Co. He served in the Mexican War, and later went to Big Tree, N. Y., where he engaged in farming and lived for the rest of his life. He married Catherine Oswald, who was born in Germany and came to Buffalo in 1836. Their
154
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
children were: Rose, August, Julius, Ferdinand F., George, William, Catherine and Mattie.
William Lansill was born at Big Tree, town of Hamburg, Erie County, N. Y., January 7, 1868. He was educated in the public schools of his native place, and followed farming till 1886, when he entered the employ of the Milson Rendering & Fertilizing Company, with which he continued till 1901. Since then he has been engaged in business for himself as a broker and commission merchant at 963 William street, Buffalo, being par- ticularly interested in tallow, oils, and fertiliz- ing materials. He repre- sents many leading commercial and manu- facturing houses, is
WILLIAM LANSILL.
prominently identified with the Buffalo Fertiliz- ing Company, is Vice- President of the Pennsyl- vania Fertilizer and
Chemical Company of Moosic, Pa., and is a Director of the Union Stock Yards Bank.
Zealously interested in all that pertains to the advancement of Buffalo, Mr. Lansill is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce. He is a 32d degree Mason, a Mystic Shriner and a mem- ber of the Manufacturers' and Ellicott clubs.
January 25, 1893, Mr. Lansill married Hattie D. Lyon. Their children are: Edna E., born May 19, 1894; William Arthur G., born October 28, 1896; Bradbury Bradley, born February 13, 1899; Sarah Decker, born July 4, 1902, since deceased, and
155
MEMORIAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.
Raymond Lyon, born February 20, 1907. The pleasant home of the Lansill family at 277 Depew avenue, is the resort of a choice circle of friends.
Mr. Lansill is a fine example of the self-made man, and has built up his large business by energy, sagacity and unfaltering adherence to the principle of doing exactly as he agrees. By all who know him his word is considered ample security for any transaction which he says he will carry out, and few men enjoy in equal degree the confidence of their associates. He possesses first-class executive ability, has an exceptionally thorough knowledge of industrial and commercial conditions, and com- mands reliance by his sound judgment. Personally he is genial and courteous, and has wide popularity in business and social circles.
FRANK HENRY ZESCH, joint proprietor of the Buffalo Freie Presse, member of the firm of Reinecke & Zesch, is one of the leading German-Americans of Buffalo, where he has been for many years prominent in the newspaper and publishing business.
The subject of this sketch is the son of Frederick Zesch, and was born in the city of Stargard, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg- Strelitz, Prussia, April 16, 1840. He graduated at one of the schools of his native place, and in 1854 came with his parents to America. Immediately after arriving in this country young Zesch accompanied his parents to Buffalo, where with the exception of one year he has ever since resided. In 1854 he became a carrier for the Buffalo Demokrat, continuing in that capacity for about two years. Meantime the proprietors, learning that he was a graduate of a good German school, placed him in their office to learn type-setting, in which he became an adept, in a short time making such progress that he was able to add materially to his wages by working at the case. At the close of his second year with the Demokrat, Mr. Zesch was preparing to enter a hardware establishment, but the pro-
156
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.