USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York Volume, II > Part 19
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Dr. Haberstro was born in Buffalo June 3, 1854, being a son of the late Sheriff Joseph L. Haberstro, and Barbara Scheu. He studied medicine in the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Buffalo, graduating in 1877, and later took a special course at the University of Michigan. Upon graduation he became a member of the medical staff of Bellevue Hospital, New York City, afterward returning to Buffalo, where he built up a large practice. For two years he was Superintendent of the Erie County Insane Asylum, and later head of the Erie County Hospital, for two years subsequently serving as Coroner of Erie County.
In politics Dr. Haberstro was a Democrat. He was a member of Concordia Lodge, F. & A. M., the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Exempt Fireman's Association.
September 13, 1881, Dr. Haberstro married Amelia Koch, daughter of Frederick and Charlotte (Holzheiser) Koch of Buf- falo. He is survived by his wife and one child, Edna.
Dr. Haberstro was one of the gentlest and noblest natures among the many men who have done honor to the physician's calling. He was liberal of heart and hand, always helping the poor, and it was well known of him that under no circumstances could he be induced to deal other than generously with patients who were unable to pay for his services. He did much work for
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the poor without any fee whatever, satisfied with the reward which he found in the consciousness of having relieved human suffering. In domestic and social relationships he was all that could be desired-a devoted husband and father, a loyal friend and a kindly and courteous companion. His death was a great loss to the community and to the profession with which he was so honorably identified.
BERNARD BRADY, one of Buffalo's leading men in the lum- ber trade, is a self-made man who by industry, pluck and per- sistence has won his way to success. He is a native of Ireland, came to the United States when a child, and amid early necessi- ties of toil and hardships steadily progressed in life and finally gained the position he now holds.
Mr. Brady was born in County Cavan, Ireland, March 8, 1964. His father, John Brady, was a farm- er, and his grandfather, Dennis Brady, pursued the same occupation. The maiden name of Mr. Brady's mother was Ann Smith. John Brady was the father of thirteen children. When Bernard Brady was four years old his father died, and the boy, with his mother and his brother Peter Brady, BERNARD BRADY. came to this country in 1875, having been preceded by three other brothers, John, Patrick and Andrew, who emigrated to the United States respectively in 1866, 1872 and 1873, and by
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four sisters, of whom Margaret came over in 1862, Rose Ann in 1866 with her brother John, Bridget in 1871, and Mary Ellen with her brother Patrick in 1872. Bernard was the youngest of the family.
Upon their arrival in this country, Bernard Brady and his mother settled in Albany, N. Y. In Ireland the lad had re- ceived the rudiments of a common school education, and he further pursued his studies in the Albany schools. *
After leaving school, young Brady began learning the baker's trade, at which he worked for about eight months. He then engaged in the lumber business, entering the employ of Bene- dict & Co., a firm for whom he worked one season. At this time all of his brothers who were in this country were in Bay City, Michigan, working for the lumber concern of McGraw & Co. This determined Bernard Brady to go to Bay City, where he also became an employé of McGraw & Co., with whom he remained for the succeeding four years, doing general work in the lumber yard. He then went to Greenbush, Mich., where he entered the employ of D. B. Mudgett, acting in the capacity of tram fore- man.
In 1882 Mr. Brady came to Buffalo. Here he assumed the position of lumber inspector for the well-known firm of Hurd & Hauenstein. With this concern the relations of Mr. Brady were so satisfactory that he remained with the firm ten years.
At the end of this time, Mr. Brady resolved to go into business on his own account, and he formed a copartnership with James J. Burke in a general contracting and building enterprise under the firm name of Burke & Brady. This association lasted about a year, Mr. Brady then engaging in the lumber business by him- self, making a specialty of white pine lumber, his location being at 124 Fillmore Avenue. The venture prospered, and after eight years he removed his place of business to 1409 Seneca Street, its present locality.
In politics Mr. Brady is an independent Democrat. He has no desire for political preferment, and has never held public
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office. He is a member of Branch 98, C. M. B. A., of which organization he was Financial Secretary for ten years, and he is also a member of Casenovia Tribe 350 Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Brady belongs to St. Stephen's Catholic Church.
In 1886 Mr. Brady married Miss Mary Golding of Buffalo, formerly of Ireland. Mrs. Brady died in 1901. The surviving children of the marriage are Mary Catherine, William, Anas- tasia, Margaret, Frances and Bernard A. Brady.
WILLIAM EDWARD HINGSTON, who died February 25, 1906, was one of Buffalo's representative men in the marine contracting business, a substantial citizen and a man highly esteemed in all the relations of life.
Mr. Hingston was born of English parentage in Kingston, Ireland, July 28, 1842. His father was Edward Hingston, a well- known shipbuilder, and his mother's name was Elizabeth Jen- kins. When the son was still an infant his father came to the United States with his family and settled in Maine, where, in the early '40's, he engaged in shipbuilding. When the boy was two years old, his father died, and shortly afterward the widow returned with her infant son to Liverpool, England, where she afterward married again. Young Hingston was brought up in Liverpool, and there received a common school education. His stepfather John Wade, was a printer, and on leaving school Mr. Hingston worked for some time in a printing office. Among the more interesting episodes of his youth was a period of service in the English army. In 1863 he came to the United States, arriving in Buffalo July 4. His uncles, William and John Hingston, were proprietors of a ship-yard at the foot of Jersey street, and Mr. Hingston entered their employ, becoming a master of carpentry and shipbuilding. At the close of the war, in which he saw active service, Mr. Hingston returned to Buffalo, but soon went West and settled in Dubuque, Iowa. In 1874 he again returned to Buffalo, where he became assistant in the freight office of the Erie Railroad Co., later being employed
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by John Allen who was the proprietor of a patent medicine business. In the meantime Mr. Hingston became interested in the manufacture of the Eureka fly-plate. Later he resumed the building trade, and built a grain elevator. He then became a foreman in the employ of the firm of Hingston & Woods, of which his brother, E. J. Hingston, was the senior partner, until 1900, when he engaged in the marine contracting business for himself, continuing until his retirement.
Mr. Hingston was a Republican, a member of the 74th Regi- ment, N. G. N. Y., the Knights of Malta, and was formerly a Mason. He was a member of the Bethany Presbyterian Church, of which he also served for three years as a trustee.
In 1871 Mr. Hingston married Eliza P. Hall, of Orange, N. J. He is survived by his wife and seven children: Annie E. E., Clarence, of Milwaukee, Wis .; George I., of Johnstown, Pa .; Frank H., of Buffalo; Henry W., now in St. Louis; Howard H. and Ralph P., of Buffalo.
William E. Hingston was a man of distinctive characteristics, energetic, warm-hearted and of genial disposition, and he pos- sessed many friends. In the home he was a kind husband and father, and in his dealings with the world a man steadfast of purpose and loyal to conviction. His death was a great loss to the community of which he was one of the most useful citi- zens.
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LEONIDAS DOTY, who died in Buffalo April 21, 1888, held a representative position among the bankers of Western New York. Mr. Doty was a descendant of Edward Doty, one of the Mayflower Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in 1620, and in 1635 married Faith, daughter of Tristram Clark. His death occurred in 1655. Edward, his oldest son, married Sarah Faunce. Their son, Benjamin, was born in 1689, and in 1716 married Hester Bemen. Benjamin, their son, was born July 28, 1742, and was a soldier of the Revolution. About 1766 he mar- ried Phebe Kirtland. He died in 1826. Nathaniel Kirkland
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Doty, son of Benjamin, was born at Saybrook, Conn., October 27, 1779. When a young man, he settled near the village of Prink, Greene County, N. Y., and later removed to Attica, N. Y. He married Nancy Norton, and after her death, married his second wife, Annie Loomis. His death occurred in 1854. He was the father of five children, all issue of his first marriage, and all born at Durham, N. Y. They were Kirkland, born November 27, 1803; Nancy Harriet, born May 15, 1806; Eliza, born April 18, 1810; Leonidas, the subject of this sketch, born July 1, 1812, and Rachael, born September 10, 1816.
Until he was nine years old, Leonidas Doty lived at the family homestead near Prink, Greene County, N. Y., and then accompanied his parents when they removed to Attica. After the family had settled in their new home, young Doty worked on his father's farm, and obtained a common school education. When he had reached his twentieth year he entered the Attica Mills, and after working at the milling business two years, rented a farm adjoining his father's, and at the end of a year had paid all obligations and accumulated $500. Mr. Doty then went to Michigan with the view of settling there, but returned to Attica, where he purchased a grocery. His venture pros- pered beyond his most sanguine expectations, and he continued to follow commercial pursuits in Attica for the next twenty years.
In 1856 Mr. Doty engaged in banking in Attica, being asso- ciated with the celebrated financier and railroad magnate, Dean Richmond. In 1860 Mr. Doty bought out Mr. Richmond's in- terest and removed the bank to Batavia, Genesee County. As a banker, Mr. Doty was distinguished by courtesy, accessibility and a disposition to afford all possible aid to legitimate enter- prises. He held a place in the front rank of those safe yet progressive bankers who are regarded as pillars of strength in times of financial stress. Toward the close of his life he admitted to partnership Mr. John H. Ward. Mr. Doty was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Batavia and
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for many years held a controlling interest in it, which he sold in 1880. In 1876 Mr. Doty came to Buffalo, where he purchased a handsome residence on Delaware avenue. In Buffalo he had a wide circle of acquaintances and many relationships financial and social.
Mr. Doty was a Republican, but had neither the time nor the inclination to become a factor in politics. He was for many years a vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church, and was a gen- erous contributor to the maintenance and the charities of that congregation. His nature was kindly and liberal and the gifts of money which he bestowed upon the families of his brothers and sisters amounted to more than a quarter of a million dollars. The sentiment of kindred was with him a powerful tie, and his loyalty to friends was an equally notable quality of his character. In manner Mr. Doty was modest and unassuming, in his dealings upright, and in his convictions of duty absolute and unwavering.
April 21, 1845, Mr. Doty married Lydia Selina Avaren Hol- brooke, daughter of Daniel Owen Holbrooke and Mary Ann (Dutton) Holbrooke, and granddaughter of Gen. Amos Hol- brooke, of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. Doty was born in Windsor, Mass., August 22, 1826. She survives her husband, and is known as one of Buffalo's most active workers in the fields of individual and organized benevolence. She is Vice- President of the Humane Society, is connected with the General and Children's hospitals, and is greatly interested in the chari- ties of Trinity Episcopal Church. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Doty are: Alice Harriet, born in Attica, N. Y., January 31, 1847, and Florence Eliza, born in Attica April 28, 1849.
JOHN BLOCHER, business man and philanthropist, is of German descent and comes of Hessian stock, the family being traceable in America to the Colonial period. John Blocher, the great-grandfather of our subject, settled in Pennsylvania in 1675. His son, John, was born at Lancaster, Pa., where he lived until 1833, when he removed to the town of Clarence in Erie
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County, N. Y., where he resided until his death. He was a farmer all his life. In politics he was a Whig and Anti-Mason. John Blocher, son of the preceding and father of John Blocher of Buffalo, was born at Lancaster, Pa., in 1798 and died at Clarence, N. Y., in 1837. Like his father he was a farmer. In 1823 he left Pennsylvania and settled in Cayuga County, N. Y., later settling in Clarence, Erie County, where he died at thirty- nine years of age.
John Blocher was born in Scipio, N. Y., July 22, 1825. As a boy he assisted in clearing his father's farm in Clarence, and attended the district school. Left an orphan at ten years of age by the death of his father; young Blocher's school days were soon terminated. He worked at home and for farmers in the vicinity, and, when twelve years old he was apprenticed to the tailor's trade, at eighteen setting up a tailor's shop on his own account. Later this became a ready-made clothing store, the con- cern finally becoming a general country store. When the Civil War broke out Mr. Blocher was a prosperous mer- chant. He however en- listed in the 74th New JOHN BLOCHER. York Regiment, being one of the first men to respond to the call for troops. After a year of active service in the field, his health became impaired and he received an honorable discharge.
Returning to his home in Clarence, Mr. Blocher bought a farm
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in Amherst, which he conducted for a year, also engaging in the lumber business. He then removed to Buffalo, where he began the manufacture of boots and shoes, later maintaining several large shops, employing 200 persons. Mr. Blocher was for many years in partnership with his son, the association con- tinuing until the latter's death, after which Mr. Blocher retired from active business, devoting himself to his Williamsville property. He is interested to some degree in loans and real estate and has been prominently concerned in electric railway affairs, at one time serving as President of the Buffalo and Williamsville Railroad.
In politics, Mr. Blocher is a Republican. He attends the Delaware Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a liberal contributor to its charities.
Mr. Blocher has always been impressed with the sad conditions which attend aged people and with the fact that in many institutions provided for the old there is lack of home life and congenial surroundings. It was his earnest wish to do something to remedy this deficiency, and the result is that noble philanthropy, the Blocher Homes at Williamsville, N. Y. Mr. Blocher began by sending inspectors through the State to visit homes for aged people. "Go through them all, and make ours better than any home you find," were his instructions to his representative, the Rev. Dr. William C. Wilbor. " The only rule," added Mr. Blocher, " I wish to be the rule of kindness." His directions were carried out to the letter, and the first edifice was erected on a 40-acre lot given by Mr. Blocher. Sep- tember 6, 1904, the corner stone of the present building was laid by Bishop Fowler. This first of the Blocher Homes is a handsome structure of Gothic architecture capable of accommo- dating fifty persons. The building is admirably furnished and art has not been forgotten, one of the striking features of the interior being a superb life-size portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Blocher by J. Harrison Mills. In pursuance of his grand philanthropic aim, Mr. Blocher proposes to build another large structure
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and ultimately to erect a third building for aged people.
April 20, 1846, Mr. Blocher married Elizabeth Neff of Wil- liamsville, N. Y. Their only child was a son, Nelson W. Blocher, born February 1, 1847, who died in 1884 at the age of thirty- seven. He was a young business man of great promise.
Mr. Blocher is a man of wide information and a great reader. He not only possesses artistic taste, but has the much rarer gift of embodying his ideas in definite form. A notable proof of this is furnished by the mausoleum which he erected in For- est Lawn Cemetery to the memory of his son.
WILLIAM PENFOLD. The name of Penfold is a distin- guished one in the art circles of Buffalo, and now, through the talents of the family, is becoming known to the art connoisseurs of Europe. The father of this family of artists was William Penfold, himself a painter of great ability.
William Penfold was born November 23, 1827, in Sussex, England. He was the son of William and Priscilla (Townsend) Penfold. Mrs. Penfold died at the time of the birth of her son and two or three years later the family, consisting of the father, two sons and a daughter, came to the United States, settling in Lockport, New York. Young Penfold received only a com- mon school education, but he was by nature a student, had a talent for language and literature, and the result of his efforts at self-improvement was such that from the purity and elegance of his speech the listener would suppose that he had received a college education. Mr. Penfold when only 17 years old taught penmanship in the schools of Lockport. Later he and his brother bought out the paint and wall paper store of Lyman Bradley at Lockport, a business which they conducted for about two years. Just previous to the breaking out of the Civil War Mr. Penfold removed to Louisville, Ky., where he remained for about two years. About 1868 he came to Buffalo, where he lived until his death, November 23, 1875.
But the real story of Mr. Penfold's career has to do with his
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art. He was an artist of fine ability, his special department being the painting of portraits. In this branch of painting he was one of the most talented of the artists who have made Buffalo their home. It is a somewhat singular fact that Mr. Penfold received no instruction in painting, although that is one of the most difficult of the fine arts, where technique is concerned. He was absolutely self-taught. He had an unbounded love for Nature, studied her in all her moods, and his artistic temperament, combined with his own innate skill, eventually made him a successful painter. Mr. Penfold began to develop his natural instinct for painting when a very young man, and so soon as he was able to do so he abandoned business entirely for the practice of his art. As in the case of nearly all artists his story is the story of slow beginnings. His first efforts at portrait painting were moderately rewarded, but at the height of his career he commanded handsome prices. Many portraits by William Peufold are to be seen in the best houses of Buffalo today. Besides his work as a painter Mr. Penfold had classes for instruction in painting, and in this direction, too, advanced the cause of art in Buffalo. Art was the delight of Mr. Penfold's life and the end of his ambition. He would rather be considered a good painter than be a great captain of industry or receive the greatest of civic honors. At a time when art in Buffalo was taking only its first steps the value to the city of such a man as Mr. Penfold cannot be overestimated. Not only was Mr. Penfold an artist himself but his family was a family of artists. His father was a painter, his wife was a painter and their children are all artists.
September 19, 1847, Mr. Penfold married Maria C. Chapman, daughter of James Chapman and Lovina Utter. Of this uuion were born these children: Frank C. Penfold, an artist, now living in France; Charles C. Penfold, designer and manufac- turer of jewelry, of Buffalo; William Penfold, fresco artist, of Erie, Pa .; Ida Penfold (Mrs. Van Buren Thayer); Lillie Penfold (Mrs. George E. Baker), and Marie Penfold (Mrs. William B. Jacoby).
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All of the children inherited a talent for painting. Frank C. Penfold is one of the most gifted artists whom Buffalo claims for her own. For a long time he was a resident of Buffalo, and his work attracted much attention, not only there but in New York City and other centers. Of late he has resided in France, where he has also been signally successful, his work receiving honorable mention from the French Government.
His temperament was a fortunate one. Artists of all kinds are invariably of sensitive natures, and this sensitiveness often degenerates into morbidity. Not so with Mr. Penfold, who was full of sunshine and cheerfulness, finding in innocent amuse- ment the necessary relaxation from his work.
HENRY LIVINGSTON ELMENDORF, late Superintendent of the Buffalo Public Library, was one of those exceptional men who devote to culture great practical abilities and exhaustless energy. Had Mr. Elmendorf chosen to follow a business career, he would unquestionably have been one of the first business men in the country. But his aims were higher than material objects, and he gave his talents to literature, education and the intellectual life.
Mr. Elmendorf was the son of the Rev. Dr. Anthony and Sarah (Clark) Elmendorf, his father having been a well-known Dutch Reformed minister, and a descendant of one of the very earliest of Dutch settlers near the Hudson. Henry L. Elmendorf was born October 10, 1852, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and was educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He first engaged in library work at New Brunswick, N. J., in 1877. After about a year there he went into business, in which he continued for a number of years. In 1891 he became head of the public library at St. Joseph, Mo., a position which he held until October 1, 1896, when he accepted the position of American representative of the Library Bureau of Boston in their London office. Returning in March, 1897, to the home office, he resigned his connection with that institution. When he was called to assume the Super-
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intendency of the Buffalo Public Library, June, 1897. Thence- forth until his death Mr. Elmendorf's interests were identified with those of the Buffalo Public Library, whose reorganization and remarkable development were the fruit of his efforts.
Soon after his administration began, Mr. Elmendorf began to develop at the Buffalo Public Library plans and methods which were the result of much thought and experience. It was his aim to make the institution at once a resource for literary men and scholars and a means of education and cultivation to the larger public. One of his first innovations was the establish- ment of the open shelf room, a modification of the old but aban-
HENRY L. ELMENDORF.
doned plan of placing the whole library on shelves where all can examine them. Through his arrangements the open shelf collection was made a well-rounded selected library in itself, having fully 10,000 volumes immediately accessible to the gen-
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eral reader, the remaining 200,000 volumes being arranged in a closed stack. The success of the open shelf collection was one of the marked results of his stimulating idealism and optimism. An equally important idea, and one which has been extensively copied in various cities, was the establish-
ment of branch libraries in the public schools. Mr. Elmendorf also founded branch libraries in different parts of Buffalo, and in clubs, literary classes and other places. Under his administration the Buffalo Public Library became, in a degree before unapproached, a vitalizing factor in. the life and culture of the city. Its circulation reached an aggregate of over 1,100,000 books a year, for the five years before his death, more than ten times that of the old subscription library. Mr. Elmendorf was an important figure in current literature, writ- ing extensively for magazines. In 1895 and 1896 he was Secre- tary and in 1897 Vice-President of the American Library Association.
In 1896 Mr. Elmendorf married. Theresa Hubbell West, also a prominent librarian, and then the head of the Milwaukee, Wis., Public Library. Mrs. Elmendorf was of much assistance in the furtherance of her husband's plans for the welfare of the Buffalo Public Library. .
Mr. Elmendorf died on the 8th of July, 1906. His death was preceded by an illness of over two years, which he bore with a courage and unconquerable hopefulness characteristic of the man. His decease was felt as a severe blow to the intellectual interests of Buffalo and a great loss to its citizenship.
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