USA > New York > Erie County > Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York Volume, II > Part 5
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The death of Mr. Satterfield occurred on the 5th of April, 1894.
JOHN M. SATTERFIELD, son of John Satterfield, is one of Buffalo's representative citizens.
Mr. Satterfield was born in Millerstown, Pa., August 5, 1876. He was educated at the Heathcote School at Buffalo, Lawrence- ville, N. J., Preparatory School, and Yale University, where he pursued a course in the Sheffield Scientific School, being gradu- ated with honors for excellence in Biology in 1898, with the degree of Ph.B.
On leaving Yale Mr. Satterfield returned to Buffalo, where he has ever since resided, devoting himself to the care of the family estate and to other business. He is a Trustee of the Fidelity Trust Co., a Trustee and 1st Vice-President of The American Savings Bank of Buffalo, an institution of which he was one of the organizers, and an officer or Director of various other industrial or financial institutions. He is very largely interested in irrigation projects and real estate in Boise, Idaho, and for eight years has served as President of the Boise City Irrigation & Land Company.
Mr. Satterfield is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Buffalo, Saturn, University, Ellicott, Country, Park, and Automobile clubs of Buffalo, the Yale Club of New York, the Yale Alumni Association, and Trinity Episcopal Church.
As a National Guardsman, Mr. Satterfield has a creditable record. In 1900 he entered the National Guard as Second Lieu- tenant of Company A, 65th Regiment, and served for two years.
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He is a member of The Loyal Legion, as was his father before him.
November 20, 1900, Mr. Satterfield married Miss Rachel Phillips, daughter of James Phillips, Jr., and Elizabeth (Bart- lett) Phillips of Boston, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Satterfield have two children: Elaine, born March 21, 1902, and John Phillips, born August 29, 1905.
THE BECKER FAMILY. Though perhaps of German origin, the Becker family of whom this sketch treats came from the Netherlands, and originally from Amsterdam, Hol- land.
Jan Jenriaensen Becker, as a young man, settled in the Dutch colony on the Delaware River, in or prior to September, 1655. In 1657 and 1658 he served as temporary Commissary or commander at Fort Altena. He later removed to New Amster- dam, and there kept a tavern, and perhaps taught school. In the fall of 1661 he removed to Fort Orange, now Albany. He was the Dutch schoolmaster there until his death, in 1697. In 1686 he was the first City Treasurer upon the organization of Albany as a City, and afterwards served as Alderman.
Johannes Becker, Jr., the only son of the schoolmaster, kept a tavern in Albany. About 1700 he settled on a farmi in Rensse- laerwyck Manor, near Bethlehem, Albany County.
He had a son, Johannes, 3rd, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Schoharie County. Johannes, 3rd, had a son, Abraham, who was a Justice of the Peace in 1784; Member of Assembly, 1784 and 1785; Member of the Council for the Temporary Government of the Southern Dis- trict, on the evacuation of New York City by the British in 1784. He married Elizabeth Becker, the daughter of his uncle, Storm Becker. One of their children was Storm A. Becker. Gen. Storm A. Becker was born July 31, 1762, and died April 10, 1826, at Middleburgh, N. Y. He was a Lieutenant in Col. Willetts' Regiment of Levies in the Revolutionary War, and
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Brigadier-General of militia. He was the first Surrogate of Schoharie County in 1795 and a member of Assembly in 1800.
STORM A. BECKER, JR., was born in Middleburgh, N. Y., February 14, 1806, and died in Buffalo December 25, 1886. In early life he entered a store in Berne, N. Y. He removed to Cohoes, N. Y., about 1834, and there became a partner of D. Simmons, later under the corporate name of the Weed & Becker Manufacturing Company, engaged in the manufacture of axes and edged tools, until 1878.
Storm A. Becker married November 3, 1833, at Berne, Eliza M. Cannon, daughter of Tracy Cannon and Elizabeth Chatfield. One of their sons was Tracy Chatfield Becker.
TRACY CHATFIELD BECKER was born at Cohoes, Albany County, N. Y., February 14, 1855. His elementary education was obtained at private schools in Cohoes and Albany. In the latter city he was fitted for Union College, from which institu- tion he graduated in 1874, with the degree of A.B. On leaving college he became a student at the Albany Law School, gradu- ating in 1876 with the degree of LL.B. While pursuing his law course he studied office practice with G. B. and J. Kellogg of Troy, and S. W. Rosendale of Albany, and was admitted to the bar in 1876.
Mr. Becker brought to the practice of the law a brilliant equipment, both of legal attainment and scholarly culture. His rise in his profession was rapid and he soon built up a large business. From 1881 to 1885 he was Second Assistant District Attorney of Erie County. In 1885 he resigned his office of Assistant District Attorney to become a member of the law firm of Fullerton, Becker & Hazel. This association having continued until 1891, Mr. Becker then became a partner in the firm of Roberts, Becker, Ashley, Messer & Orcutt, whose per- sonnel included a strong array of legal talent, and which front the time of its organization was regarded as one of the repre- sentative law firms of Western New York, as is its successor,
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the present firm of Roberts, Becker, Messer & Groat. During 1908 Mr. Becker has been largely engaged in the prosecution of land fraud cases in California and Oregon in behalf of the Government, acting as a Special Assistant Attorney General.
Mr. Becker took a leading part in the organization of the law Department of the University of Buffalo, in which he held the position of Professor of Criminal Law and Medical Jurispru- dence since 1886. His interest in the welfare of the Law School is of deep and practical character, and he has been largely instrumental in elevating the standards of the institution and gaining for it the high reputation it possesses.
In collaboration with the noted chemist, Prof. R. A. Witt- haus, and other medico-legal experts, he prepared and pub- lished in 1896 the four-volume work on " Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology," which is often called in more familiar parlance, " Witthaus and Becker's Medical Juris- prudence," a standard authority on medical jurisprudence wherever the English language is read. A second greatly enlarged edition of the book was published in 1906-08.
In 1885 Mr. Becker became prominently identified with the Buffalo Citizens' Association as a member of the Charter Revision Committee, and was one of the movement which resulted in obtaining from the Legislature in 1892 a new char- ter for the city. Later he was instrumental in the passage of the Jury Reform Bill for Erie County. The adoption of both of these measures was the outcome of arduous effort and the ser- vices of Mr. Becker were of signal value from the standpoint of both the publicist and citizen.
In 1893 Mr. Becker was elected a member of the State Consti- tutional Convention, which convened at Albany in 1894. As Chairman of the Committee on Legislative Organization he per- formed probably his most valuable public service, his successful endeavors to bring about the embodiment in the Constitution of those provisions which as now enforced by the courts effer- tually prevent gerrymandering in the apportionment of Senate
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and Assembly districts. He also did effective work as a mem- ber of the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Cities.
Mr. Becker is a Republican, his interest being that of the citizen publicist and jurist rather than that of the partisan.
Mr. Becker is a member of the State Bar Association, of which in 1894 he was elected President, and he has continuously served as a member of the Association's Executive Committee. He is a Vice-President of the Holland Society of New York, and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. As a Free and Accepted Mason he is affiliated with Ancient Land- marks Lodge; Adytum Chapter; Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templar, and Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Revere Council, Royal Arcanum and several beneficiary organizations. He belongs to the Buffalo Club and the Alpha Delta Phi college fraternity, and is an honorary member of the exempt Firemen's Association, and of the Delta Chi Law School fraternity. He attends the Presbyterian Church.
On the 27th of December, 1876, Mr. Becker married Miss Minnie A. Le Roy, daughter of the Hon. Alfred Le Roy of Cohoes, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Becker have one son, Alfred Le Roy Becker.
ALFRED LE ROY BECKER, a rising lawyer and one of the most talented of the younger members of the bar, is a man of sound legal knowledge, of fine scholarly attainments, and has given abundant indications that there is in store for him a brilliant future.
Mr. Becker was born in Buffalo March 22, 1878. After studying at the public schools and at Central High School, he entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in the class of 1900, receiving the degree of A. B., Cum laude, and with honors for proficiency in English Diction. After leaving college he pursued a course at the Buffalo Law School, receiving on graduation the first Daniels Prize, and in the office
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of his father, Mr. Tracy C. Becker, in 1902 was admitted to the bar.
Shortly after his admission to practice, Mr. Becker became associated with the law firm of Roberts, Becker, Messer & Groat. During the years 1905 and 1906 he acted as Special Deputy Attorney General in many important cases in New York City. Since 1907 he has been associated with the firm of Hoyt & Spratt. He has been very successful in the practice of his profession, and has won the esteem and confidence of those who know him. The thoroughness of Mr. Becker's legal attain- ments is well illustrated by the fact that during the three years from 1903 to 1906 he filled the responsible position of Lecturer on Contracts, in the Law Department of the Univer- sity of Buffalo, in a manner which gave satisfaction to the students. In 1902-05 he was also Registrar of the Law School.
Mr. Becker is well known in social life. He is a member of the University Club, the Harvard Club of New York City, and the Buffalo Historical Society. He is also a member of the Masonic Order, being affiliated with Ancient Landmarks Lodge.
W. CARYL ELY. The Ely family is of English origin and that branch of the family from which the subject of this sketch is descended settled in Lyme, Conn., in 1651, where descendants of the family still reside. Mr. Ely is also descended from many other prominent New England families, among them being the Howes's, Gilbert's, Chapin's, Perkins', Crippen's and Waterman's. Many of Mr. Ely's ancestors were soldiers in the Colonial Wars and the War of the Revolution.
Sumner Ely, Mr. Ely's grandfather, came from Lyme to Middlefield, Otsego County, N. Y., in 1810, and from that time the family has been closely identified with the history of the county. Sumner Ely was a physician and at one time President of the New York State Medical Society. He represented Otsego County in the Assembly and Senate and held other official posi- tions in the County. He married the daughter of Benjamin
aband Cely
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Gilbert of Middlefield, a Revolutionary Soldier, who was the second Sheriff of Otsego County, and was three times Sheriff and four times a member of Assembly from the County. Mr. Ely's maternal grandfather, Leonard Caryl, came to Otsego County from Vermont, settled in Worcester and married the daughter of Silas Crippen, who settled in the County imme- diately after the close of the Revolution. Silas Crippen and Leonard Caryl were both members of Assembly from Otsego County and held other official positions there. Mr. Ely's father, Hon. William H. Ely, was born in Middlefield, Otsego County, and likewise represented the County in the Assembly.
William Caryl Ely was born in Middlefield, Otsego County, N. Y., February 25, 1856, a son of William H. and Ellen (Caryl) Ely.
Mr. Ely was educated in the common schools and at Coopers- town, N. Y., Girard (Pa.) Academy, the Delaware Literary Institute at Franklin, N. Y., and Cornell University. He studied law in the office of John B. Holmes at East Worcester, N. Y .; was admitted to the bar at Ithaca in 1882 and engaged in prac- tice at East Worcester. In 1885 he removed to Niagara Falls. He there afterwards established the firm of Ely and Dudley and later that of Ely, Dudley & Cohn, the other members of the firm being the Honorable Frank A. Dudley and Morris Cohn, Jr. During the first years of his practice Mr. Ely was a general practitioner and thereafter acted chiefly as counsel for manu- facturing, railway and business enterprises. In 1899 he gave up the practice of law to become President of the International Traction Company and of the International Railway Company and removed from Niagara Falls to Buffalo.
Early in life Mr. Ely became active in politics. He has always been a Democrat. In 1879-80 he was Clerk of the Board of Supervisors for Otsego County, and in 1881-82 Supervisor of the Town of Worcester. In the Fall of 1882 he was elected member of Assembly from the First Assembly District of Otsego County and represented the district in the Assembly
.
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for three years. In 1885 he was the candidate of his party for Speaker and the Minority Leader in that session of the Legis- lature. After his removal to Niagara Falls Mr. Ely served as Attorney of the Village for five years, and in 1891 was nomi- nated by his party for Justice of the Supreme Court in the Eighth Judicial District. From 1893 to 1896 he was a member and Treasurer of the Democratic State Committee.
During Mr. Ely's residence at Niagara Falls he was actively identified with numerous business enterprises. He was one of the original incorporators of the Niagara Falls Power Company and was a Trustee and local counsel of that company from its formation until 1899. He was actively engaged in forming and building the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Electric Railway and was the first President of that company. He was also actively concerned in the building of the Buffalo & Lockport and Lock- port & Olcott Railways and was the first President of the Buffalo & Lockport Railway. He was counsel of the Niagara Falls & Clifton Suspension Bridge Company and one of the incorporators of the Lewiston & Queenston Suspension Bridge Companies, builders of the suspension bridge between Lewis- ton, N. Y., and Queenstown, Canada. He was one of the founders and is now a Trustee of the Niagara County Savings Bank at Niagara Falls, and had much to do with the formation of the Carter-Crume Company, Limited, and William A. Rogers, Limited, and is now a Director of those companies, large and successful manufacturing enterprises at Niagara Falls. He was Treasurer and active in the management of a large irriga- tion enterprise in the State of Washington, which constructed about 70 miles or irrigating canals in the valleys of the Yakima and Columbia Rivers. He was for some years a Vice-President for the State of New York of the National Irrigation Congress. He worked actively for the passage by Congress of the Legis- lation providing a plan for extending national aid for the irrigation of the vast areas of arid lands west of the Mississippi River, and is greatly interested in all questions pertaining to
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forestry and the reclamation of waste lands by irrigation and drainage. In the Fall of 1898 and the Spring of 1899 Mr. Ely was active in forming a plan of combining into one system the electric railroads in and between Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Tona- wanda, Lockport and adjoining towns and uniting them with the Niagara Falls Park & River Railway on the Canadian side by means of the Steel Arch Bridge at Niagara Falls and the Suspension Bridge between Lewiston and Queenston, thus forming the great scenic route at Niagara. In this work Mr. Ely and his associates were successful, and the International Traction Company and International Railway Company were formed, of which companies Mr. Ely became President, serving in that capacity until March, 1905. Mr. Ely was one of the original promoters of the Pan-American Exposition and served as a Director, member of the Executive Committee and Chair- man of the Transportation Committee. During the years 1904-5-6 he was President of the American Street & Inter- urban Railway Association. For the last three years Mr. Ely has been President of the Ohio Valley Finance Company and engaged in the construction and operation of electric railway and electric lighting properties in the Ohio Valley between Pittsburg and Wheeling. Among the other companies in which he is interested there are The East Liverpool Traction & Light Company, The Ohio River Passenger Railway Company and The Steubenville & East Liverpool Railway & Light Company. He is President of The Silent Writing Machine Com- pany; a Director of The Western New York Water Company, of the Manufacturers & Traders National Bank and of the Fidelity Trust Company of Buffalo.
During Mr. Ely's residence at Niagara Falls he was for about ten years a Vestryman of St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
He is a Mason, a member of the Chi Phi fraternity; the Sons of the American Revolution; the Society of Colonial Wars; Buffalo Historical Society and Niagara Frontier Landmarks Association. He belongs to the Niagara Club of Niagara Falls;
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the Buffalo, Ellicott, Country, Transportation, Anniversary and Automobile clubs of Buffalo, the Automobile Club of America and the Metropolitan, National Democratic, Transportation and Engineering clubs in New York City.
On February 13, 1884, Mr. Ely was married to Miss Grace Keller of Cobleskill, Schoharie County, N. Y. Mrs. Ely comes of Dutch, German, English and French-Huguenot stock and is descended from some of the oldest and most prominent Scho- harie County families, of whom the Lawyer's and Courter's have been identified with the history of the County from its founda- tion. Many of her ancestors were prominent in the early his- tory of New England and among them she numbers no less than six lines from families that came in the Mayflower, and is a lineal descendant in the tenth generation of John and Priscilla Alden. Mrs. Ely is a member of the Buffalo Chapter of the D. A. R .; the Mayflower Society in the State of New York and of the Twentieth Century Club of Buffalo.
Mr. and Mrs. Ely have one daughter, Marion Caryl Ely, who was born at Niagara Falls. She was educated there and at the Buffalo Seminary; Rosemary Hall, of which she is a graduate, at Greenwich, Conn., and at Miss White's School in Paris.
NEIL McEACHREN, City Treasurer of Buffalo, and former President of Common Council, as well as the Board of Alder- men, has been a leading druggist for many years, and with the exception of 4 years has been a resident of that city since 1869. He is a son of Neil and Catherine (Mckinlay) McEachren, and was born in Kintyre, Argyleshire, Scotland, May 24, 1847. In Scotland the elder McEachren was a farmer, cultivating lands belonging to his father, John McEachren. The senior Neil McEachren was the founder of the family in America. In the summer of 1852 he and his household left Scotland, the place of their destination being Canada. After arriving in Canada they settled in the township of Aldborough, County of Elgin, Province of Ontario.
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The early manhood of Mr. McEachren was spent in the vicinity of West Lorne. An interesting episode of this period of his life was his service with the Canadian militia during the Fenian raid of 1866, Mr. McEachren being on military duty at Sarnia from March to June of that year. At this time he took an active interest in rifle practice, was an expert marksman, and a com- petitor in the Ontario rifle matches held at Toronto.
In 1869 Mr. McEachren came to Buffalo. Here he engaged in the drug business, which he has followed ever since with the exception of four years from 1878 to 1881, when he lived in New York City. As a druggist, Mr. McEachren has enjoyed pros- perity, gaining an enviable reputation.
In his political affiliations Mr. McEachren is a strong Repub- lican. The first office to which he was elected was that of Supervisor from the Twenty-third Ward, serving 1894-1899. His record as Supervisor attracted such favorable attention that his party deemed it both just and advisable to select him to represent his ward in the city legislature, and in 1900 he began serving his first term in the Board of Aldermen, where he con- tinued till 1907. In that year he was elected City Treasurer, his present public office. While serving as Alderman, Mr. McEachren was the recipient of distinguished honors. In 1903 he was made President of the Common Council, and in 1905 was elected President of the Board of Aldermen. An idea of the parliamentary qualifications of Mr. McEachren may readily be gathered from the significant fact that he was twice chosen to preside over the legislative bodies with which he was con- nected. These honors expressed the deliberate judgment of his compeers, and were indicative not only of his popularity with his official associates, but of the confidence which he inspired in them. As a presiding officer, Alderman McEachren showed himself fair, equable in temper, of sound views, and possessing an excellent knowledge of parliamentary rules. As a city legislator he was a man of courage, practical mind, honest con-
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victions, and scrupulous devotion to the public interests.
The fraternal relations of Mr. McEachren form an important part of his life. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum, and the Knights of the Mac- cabees, and in each of these orders he occupies a position of prominence. He attends the Bethany Presbyterian Church.
September 21, 1881, Mr. McEachren married Miss Frances L. Steele of Buffalo, a daughter of Isaac H. Steele, a well-known manufacturer. Mrs. McEachren was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1861 her family removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., coming to Buffalo in 1874. Mr. Steele is a veteran of the Civil War, at the outbreak of which he was connected with the Brooklyn Navy Department. He enlisted in a Brooklyn regi- ment, at the end of his term of service re-enlisted, and at the close of the war held the rank of Captain. Mr. and Mrs. McEachren have three children: Florence L., who is now the wife of Dewitt P. Greene, a well-known commercial traveler. Robert N., at present in the employ of the Engineering Depart- ment of the New York Central Railroad, at Schenectady, N. Y., and Grace E.
DR. GEORGE LEVI BROWN has practiced his profession in Buffalo since 1876, and is one of the representative medical men of the city. Not only in the professional life, but in the citizenship of Buffalo, Dr. Brown fills an important place. He is connected with several leading medical societies, is of high social standing and is among the most prominent Masons of the State.
Of sterling Scottish ancestry on the father's side, by the maternal line Dr. Brown traces his descent from the best Puri- tan stock of New England. His paternal grandfather, David Brown, was a native of northern Scotland, and about the time of the Revolution came to this country and settled in New Hampshire, and later in Connecticut. Elisha Brown, son of David, and father of Dr. George L. Brown, was born July 20,
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1805, and was a resident of Granville, Massachusetts, where he was a farmer and manufacturer. In 1880 he removed to Buffalo, where he died September 19, 1885.
November 13, 1828, Elisha Brown married Eliza Amaret Ban- croft, daughter of Enoch and Sarah (Stowe) Bancroft. Mrs. Brown was born August 22, 1807, and died on the 26th of July, 1886. She was a lineal descendant of Elder John White, who, with his wife, Mary, sailed from London, England, on the 22d of June, 1632, and landed at Boston on the 16th of September of the same year. He was one of the original settlers of Cam- bridge, later belonging to the company which under the leader- ship of Thomas Hooker settled Hartford, Conn. Afterward he was among the first settlers of Hadley, Mass., and in 1644 and 1649 represented that township in the Massachusetts General Court or Colonial legislature. Lieutenant Samuel Bancroft, the grandfather of Mrs. Brown, was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature which assembled in Watertown in 1775. Elisha Brown and Eliza Amaret, his wife, were the parents of Bela Elisha Brown, who was born December 3, 1833, married Ada Byron Chase on the 23d of November, 1859; Andrew Brown, born December 29, 1838, married Catherine E. Story, and died July 31, 1901; Amaret, born November 15, 1844, died November 19, 1846.
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