USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Memorial history of Syracuse, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 43
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Mr. Wynkoop was married in 1846 to Miss Caroline C. Wood, of Auburn. She died in March, 1870. Their oldest child is now Mrs. Charles T. Redfield. Their two sons are James S., now in business with his father, and Robert G., Jr.
D R. WILLIAM AGUR HAWLEY, the homeopathic physician longest resident in Syracuse,
was born on the 25th of August, 1Szo, in Hinsdale, Berkshire county, Mass. His father was the Rev. W. A. Hawley, a Congregational minister, who preached for twenty-five years in that place. He died on the 20th of May, 1854, in Sunderland, Mass., about six weeks after his renewal there. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Miss Debby Aurelia Warner, daughter of Ben- jamin Ruggles Warner, of Brookfield, Fairfield county, Conn. This Hawley family is descended! from Joseph Hawley, who settled in Stratford, Conn., about 1630. The Kev. Wm. A. Hawley had seven children, of whom six lived to maturity. Of the seven, three were sons, one of whom died in
William A. Hawley
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
infancy ; the youngest went west when a young man, settled first in St. Louis, and died in Chicago in ISS6 ; he was an inventor. Dr. Hawley was the third child and second son.
Ile was carefully fitted for college by his father, who performed the same service for other young men. At eighteen years of age, in the year 1838, he entered Williams College and graduated with credit in 1842. Like so many college graduates who have not abundant means, he turned his first attention to teaching, going for that purpose to Kentucky, where he found employment in Lexington and louisville. He was called home after five years by the sickness of a sister, and intended to re- turn, but changed his plans and began the study of medicine according to the tenets of the old school, in the winter of 1848, with Dr. Shaw, of Plainfield, Mass. He remained there only three montlis, when he went to Albany, N. Y., and continued study with Drs. Armsby and Freeman. Dr. Hawley was devoted to his chosen profession, studied it in all of its phases with the closest and most persistent industry, and graduated from the Albany Medical College in IS51, a confident be- liever in the doctrines of allopathy. In September, 1851, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Sophia Willard, of Lancaster, Mass., who died on the 23d of June, 1839. Her father was the Rev. Benja- min Willard, a Baptist minister, and her mother was Sarah Conant, of Worcester county, Mass.
Dr. Hawley settled in Albany and began practice, in which he was reasonably successful, and thought himself located for life. But after about two years of professional labor, during which period his belief in the power of drugs to cure diseases underwent a gradual change, which finally culminated in his renunciation of the entire school of practice to which he had given so much time and study. Various incidents, combined with his own study and thought, led up to this change. A brother, (be- fore mentioned,) came on from the west and was taken sick with every indication of an attack of ty- phoid fever. Ile and his wife were converts to the water cure treatment, and Dr. Hawley saw his sick brother, after being packed in wet sheets a few times, without a particle of niedicine, brought out of the threatened illness in a few days. This experience made so deep an impression on him that he went to a bookstore and obtained all the authoritative works on the subject that he could find, and mastered their contents. The information thus obtained fitted him for the unprejudicial study of Ilomcopathy. He was soon called to Saratoga Springs to assoctate himself with Dr. Be- dortha in the water cure at that place. While there he made, with his associate's consent, several remarkable cures by Homeopathic treatment of cases of long standing, and which the regular treat- ment of the establishment had utterly failed to relieve. After nine months at this eure, Dr. Hawley took charge of the well-established water cure at Lebanon Springs, Columbia county, N. Y., which was the first water cure founded in this country and was very successful. Here he expected to re- main, but the sale of the cstablishment forced him to make a change at the end of a year. He had by this time become a firm believer in the tenets of the Hom vopathic school, and had given the sub- jeet the most thorough study. He now removed to Watertown, N. Y., and began a period of suc- cessful practice which continued six years, and was so satisfactory that he, one night, expressed to a friend his opinion that he should never leave Watertown; but the same night he received a letter which so changed his purpose that he went next day to Syracuse in response to the call of Dr. A. R. Morgan, thien of this city. The result was a partnership with Dr. Morgan and the removal of his family to Syracuse just two weeks later. This was in 1861, and the partnership then entered upon continued for six years, being closed by the ill health of his partner, who was compelled to abandon practice. Since that time Dr. Hawley has practiced alone.
The law governing the practice of Homeopathy is becoming more and more widely understood, and while it cannot be explained here, it is proper to state that Dr. Hawley's practice has been char- acterized by a strict obedience to that law, and that his success has been such as constantly to strengthen his belief in its truth. He is a thinker, not alone upon the practice of medicine, but on the many subjects which have claimed his attention. At the same time he has always given candid attention to the spoken or written thoughts of others. Ilis position in his profession has been and now is in the front rank, and he has been honored by his brethren in many ways. lle is at present a member of the County llonwwropathie Medical Society, and held the office of President eight of the twenty-seven years of its existence. Ile was, until his voluntary withdrawal, a member of the New York State Homeopathic Medical Society, also a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy, the first national institution of medicine in the world, but withdrew therefrom on account of their de-
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
parture from the principles of the school. Ile is a member of the International Ifahnemannian Asso- ciation, and was its president in 1888. He is also a member of the Central New York Homeopathic Society, and is among its ex-presidents. He has had four children, the youngest of whom died at two months of age. Mary E. was born at Albany, June 8, 1852. William Augustus, born in Water- town January 29, 1856, is now in Pittsburg, l'a., engaged as an architect. Flora C., born in Water- town February 26, 1860, married Micajah J. Howes, and lives in Holyoke, Mass.
A born Puritan, still retaining many of their characteristics, he has found that neither their state- ments, nor those of any of the sects, adequately express the thing which is to him religion. Having been, many years ago, suspended from the communion of the church, of which he had for years been a most active and enthusiastic member, because of his rejection of some of their statements, he has since remained outside of all religious organizations, while yet religion is to him a verity of verities ; the chief concern of this mortal state.
RCHIMEDES RUSSELL was born in Andover, Essex county, Mass., on the 13th of June, A IS40, and was next to the youngest of a fanuly of nine children, a twin brother dying in in- fancy. Ilis father was Moody Russell, a native of the town of Alfred, York county, Me., and a de- scendant of the early settlers of that State from the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and who married Fanny Wardwell, a native of the town of Andover, and also a descendant of the Plymouth Colony. This aged couple are still residents of Andover.
The son was apprenticed when only thirteen years of age to Charles S. Parker, a carriage and sign painter, who is still pursuing the same business at the same place, and continued with him two years. Moody Russell was an extensive contractor and builder, and when his son was fifteen years old it was determined that he should be trained to his father's vocation. He accordingly gave his time and energies to that business, attending school a portion of the time, during a period of five years, when he had nearly reached his majority. Andover was, and still is, distinguished for its edu- cational facilities, and at the time under consideration boys of even ordinary circumstances received excellent instruction during the winter months.
Just before reaching his majority Mr. Russell entered as a student the office of John Stevens, then a prominent architect of Boston, and one who enjoyed a large practice in that city and through- out New England. There Mr. Russell received such instruction and training as could be obtained at that time in that city-a city which has always occupied an advanced position in this as well as all other branches of the arts and sciences.
On the 4th of December, 1862, Mr. Russell first located in Syracuse under an engagement made with the well known architect, Horatio N. White, whose assistant he remained for a term of years, and down to January ist, 1868. Since that date Mr. Russell has continued in the active prac- tice of his profession in Syracuse.
As an architect it is not too much to say that Mr. Russell occupies a position in the front rank. Many of the notable structures in Syracuse and in other cities and villages of the State were erected from his designs and plans, several of the more conspicuous being-Onondaga County Clerk's office building. Snow building, Greyhound building, MeCarthy's wholesale warehouse, Congress Ilall. Dissell's Clothing warehouse, W. S. l'eck's Clothing warehouse, Church of the Assumption school building, House of Providence, Third National Bank, Crouse Memorial College, Jacob Amos' resi- dence, George D. Whedon's residence, J. S. Crouse's residence, Crouse stables, H. S. White's rest- dence, L. S. Denison's residence-all of Syracuse. McGraw building, Cornell University ; Sibley building, Cornell ; Otsego County Court House ; Presbyterian Church, Little Falls N. Y .: D. 11. Burrell's mansion, Little Falls, N. Y .; Warner Miller's mansion, Herkimer, N. Y .; W. S. Dicken- son's mansion, Malone, N. Y .; J. Stevens' mansion, Rome, N. Y .: Devereaux building, Oneida. \. Y .; Cortland House, Cortland, N. V .; Second National Bank, Oswego, N. Y. In the course of his professional experience Mr. Russell has gained the entire confidence of all with whom he has had business relations.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
In Syracuse, where Mr. Russell is best known, his character and qualifications are such that he has been called to public service in positions of trust and responsibility. He was one of the Board of Fire Commissioners from ISSI to 1885, and served as President of the Board during the last two years of the term. In politics he is an earnest Kepublican, but has never been in any sense an office seeker. IJe was elected Supervisor from the Seventh ward in 1984 and again in 1886 and ISS7. In the deliberations of that body, his course was such as to fully justify the confidence of his con- stituents.
Mr. Russell was married in Boston on the 30th of June, 1864, to Susie M. Bartlett, of that city.
JON. JOHN LIGIITON. The subject of this sketch was born in Syracuse January 20, 1840. H His father's name was also John Lighton, and he was for many years a well known butcher. He died in this city in 1841, when the younger John was only one year old. He left two other sons, one of whom is James Lighton, of whom further mention will be made. The other was Patrick Lighton, who died in Syracuse in that year.
John Lighton belongs to that large class of American citizens commonly spoken of as self-made men. His opportunities for education, as it is obtained in schools, were very limited and confined to the district schools of the city : and even these he felt compelled to leave when he was hardly ten years old, to earn his own livelihood. Ile began clerking in a grocery then kept by Mrs. Stanton on the corner of Canal and McBride streets, the site that he, in company with his brother, has for many years past made familiar to all Syracusans. He could hardly see over the top of Mrs. Stan- ton's little counter at that time, but he worked for her interest, as well as his own, and learned all that could be learned about the grocery trade in such a place during four years. He then changed to the grocery kept in the same block by O. C. Shuart, where he remained two years. He was then about sixteen years old and became convinced that a good trade was a necessity to every young man who has his own way to make, and accordingly began as an apprentice with Willard & Hawley, to become a silversmith. At this trade he worked faithfully four years and became a first class artisan. At the end of that period he joined with Adelbert Willard, son of his employer, in carrying on a silver ware manufactury, in which business Willard & Hawley furnished the capital and the profits were divided between them and the young men. This business was successful until the breaking out of the war, (one and a half years,) when the great fluctuations in the price of silver rendered .it so un- certain that it was given up. John Lighton now went back to the grocery business, in which he has been a more than ordinarily successful dealer for thirty years. He first joined with his brother James, and together they, with I .. Cowan, began trade at the Lodi locks, on the canal, under the firm name of Lighton, Cowan & Lighton, succeeding the firm of Cowan & Lighton, composed of James Lighton and Mr. Cowan. Soon afterward the firm opened another grocery at the corner of Canal and McBride streets, and also beguin operations in boating on the canal. In 1862 the brothers pur- chased Mr. Cowan's interest in the business, and continued the trade at both points, and all the time extending their operations, especially in the way of purchasing all the near-by groceries, thus remov- ing competition and enlarging their own trade. They also adopted a plan which made their estab- lishment very popular for many miles along the canal, keeping their place open and lighted day and night the boating season through. In 1866 Arthur Mckeever was taken into the firm under the style of Lighton Brothers & Mckeever, and it so remained down to February 11, IS91, an unbroken period of business of twenty-five years. By conducting their trade on principles of strict integrity, and by exercising their best energies and constant watchfulness, their business was uncommonly successful. They extended their boating operations and added to it a large interest in salt manufacturing at both Salina and Geddes. John Lighton was the first president and a stockholder in the New York Salt Company, and still holds the same office. In the year 1888 the John Lighton Machine Company was organized, with Mr. Lighton as president, for the manufacture of automatic machines and cash registers. In all of these industries Mr. Lighton's sound common sense, prudence, good judgment, and personal.popularity, have been large factors of success. His business qualifications are well G
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
recognized in the community, and he was elected a trustee of the Syracuse Savings Bank in IS70. He is also a director in the North American Salt Company.
In politics Mr. Lighton is a Democrat of the liberal school, believing strongly in principles and men, rather than in party manipulation. In the fall of 1881 he received the nomination for the As- senibly, and was elected by a majority of 157, and was re-elected for a second term by an increased majority reaching 655. This was a high tribute to his usefulness as a legislator.
When nominated for the second term, the Albany Argus paid him the following compliment:
"The third district of Onondaga honors itself in honoring Mr. Lighton with a re-nomination. No 'black list' of the present legislature contains his name. His rugged honesty and good sense made him a valuable legislator last winter. His views are broad, his action open-handed, and his devotion to the people is well understood. Whether in committee or in the house, Mr. Lighton's opinions always carry weight. ITis majority in ISSI was 155."
The Syracuse Courier on this occasion spoke of Mr. Lighton as follows:
"Mr. Lighton made a most creditable record in the last Assembly. Few men in that body brought away a brighter name. Mr. Lighton was sent to represent the business interests of his dis- trict, and to a certain extent of the State, and to his persistent efforts and his wise management some of the best measures of the session are largely due. "Free canals,' especially, found in Mr. Lighton an earnest and devoted champion. Fidelity such as was his ought not to go without recognition from an appreciative constituency."
Mr. Lighton's most important work in the Assembly was in connection with the canals. Ile also performed excellent work with reference to the salt industry and the elevator monopoly in Buffalo. The details of the legislation introduced and carried through by Mr. Lighton cannot be followed here, but it is eminently proper to state that it was of the utmost importance to his constituency and drew from them the most gratifying congratulations.
In an Albany letter reviewing the session of 1883 we find the following relative to Mr. Lighton's legislative service: "Mr. Lighton's bill requiring the Superintendents of Public Works to report the trade and tonnage on the canals has become a law ; this is a very important measure to the boatmen as well as to the tax payers. The bill incorporating the Canal Boat Owners' and Commercial Asso- ciation, for obtaining reports from persons navigating the canals, as to the condition of the canals, conduct of lock tenders, and kindred subjects, was 'rendered superfluous by the procuring of a chat- ter by Mr. Lighton from the Secretary of State.
"On account of the objections in the senate as to the responsibility of the State for damages, Mr. Lighton's bill repealing the charter of the European Cable Towing Company was laid aside in the Assembly.
"As a member of the Canal Committee, Mr. Lighton was a heroic worker for the interests of the canals and the boatmen. If his own elevator bill had been allowed to be reported it would have passed both houses. The Governor now has the following of Mr. Lighton's bills : Providing for the lighting of locks on the Erie canal. Providing for the enlargement of lock 46 (Utica) so that two boats can pass, Providing that there shall hereafter be paid and collected upon all salt manufactured on the reservation a duty of one-hall of one cent per bushel of fifty-six pounds' weight, and all laws prescribing a higher rate of duty are hereby repealed. This allows the Syracuse salt manufacturers to compete with the newly discovered salt fields. Providing for the removal of coarse salt vats and other erections situated on lots 259 and 270 of the salt springs reservation.
"On the whole, Mr. Lighton's record is that of an energetic and faithful member who has the canal interests at heart, and who did all he could to protect and advance them."
"Mr. Lighton was the originator and promoter of the bill providing for double locks on the Erie canal, for which the State has already appropriated $10,000,000. This is one of the most important improvements ever adopted in the great water-way. As a public-spirited citizen of Syracuse, Mr. lighton enjoys an enviable reputation.
Mr. Lighton was married December 2, 1862, to Miss Mary Theresa Fichter. They have six sons and three daughters. The eldest son is John B., who is vice-president and manager of the John Lighton Machine Company. C. Frank is of the firm of Hier & Lighton, wholesale cigar and tobacco dealers, in Syracuse. J. Edward, of lighton Brothers & Sons, grocers, in Syracuse. George II., is in the retail tobacco business, also in Syracuse.
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BIOGRAPINICAL.
EORGE E. DANA, vice-President of the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, and I'res_ U ident of the Board of Police Commissioners of Syracuse, was born in Lowell, Mass., on the 5th of February, IS34. His father was David Dana, one of the early citizens of Lowell, to which place he removed from Dedham, Mass. He was a successful business man and held several.city offices. llis mother was . Elizabeth Eames. After some years of study in private schools, he entered Harvard College at the age of sixteen years and graduated with credit in 1854. He then spent about fifteen months in the study of the law, but was obliged to give it up, and he at once assumed the business of his father. In 1862 he became connected, as a civilian, with the Quartermaster's Department of the U. S. army, and was stationed at different times at Newbern, N. C., then at the headquarters of the roth Army Corps in front of Petersburg, and afterwards at the headquarters of General Grant at City Point, Va. While engaged in this work Mr. Dana developed executive and business ability of a high order and gained experience that has been of great value to him since. In 1566 he went with Col. George Bradley to Fort Riley, Kansas, and remained there during the organization of the famous Seventh Cavalry (Custer's) and resigned his position in 1867. The building of storehouses, quarters, etc., was carried out during his term of service at Fort Riley. In 1868 Mr. Dana took up his resi- dence in Syracuse, and in 1$70 became connected with the manufacturing company of George Barnes & Co., an account of which is given in another part of this work. Upon the formation of the Whit- man & Barnes Manufacturing Company, in 1877, Mr. Dana had attained such a position in the busi- ness that he was made Secretary of the company. This position he occupied until 1889, when he was made vice-President and Manager of the eastern department, a station demanding business qual- ifications of an exceptionally high character. Mr. Dana's standing in the business circles of Syracuse is indicated by his selection for the offices of Director of the State Bank, of the Trust and Deposit Company, of the Solvay Process Company, of the Tully Pipe Line Company, etc. In whatever sta- tion he is placed and to whatever duties he is called, he is a worker in the broadest sense. Active, energetic, prompt in decision, and of fearless integrity and sound confidence 'in what he believes to be the right thing to do, his efficiency in whatever he undertakes is far above the average.
Mr. Dana is a Republican in politics and has given that support to his party which he believes should be given by every good citizen. But he is not at all a politician in the common acceptation of the term. Ile was honored with the office of member of the City Council of Lowell, Mass., in 1860- 61, and was appointed on the Board of Police Commissioners of Syracuse in ISS9. A year ago he was made President of the Board. In this office he has displayed a degree of good judgment as to the necessities of the community and the good of its police force, as well as the utmost fearlessness in advocating various reforms, which have earned him the respect and confidence of the great body of citizens of whatever politics. In business, in political circles, and in social life Mr. Dana occupies, in every sense, an enviable position. Mr. Dana was married in 1863 to Cordelia Cogswell, daughter of David Cogswell, an old and respected citizen of Syracuse. Ilis wife died in 1870, leaving with him two daughters.
DETER B. McLENNAN, an attorney of this city, was born in the town of Lyndon, Catteraugus P county, N. Y., December 3, 1850. His parents, Collin McLennan and Ann Frazer McLennan, came from Strathpeffer, Rosshire, Scotland, in 1846, and located on the homestead farm in Lyndon, where they have since resided.
The subject of this sketch is the second of six children, four of whom are sons residing in Syra- cuse. He attended district school and worked upon the farn. until he was sixteen, and was noted among his acquaintances for good companionship and tireless energy of mind and body. At sixteen he entered the academic department of Alfred University, in Allegany county, from which he passed to the regular college course, graduating in 1873. Ilis course was not an easy one. He was obliged to earn, by teaching school in winter and working on the farm in summer, money with which to meet the expenses of the autumn and spring terms which he attended.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
Having long before determined to make the legal profession his life work, in September, after he had finished at college, he came to Syracuse to study law. After two months reading in the office of Bookstaver & Kingsley he taught school in Geddes for a term of four months and then entered the office of Fuller & Vann where he remained until his admission to the bar at Rochester, October 6, 1876. He then opened an office in Syracuse alone, but three months later formed a partnership with Major E. O. Farrar, which continued one year. He then became a member of the firm of Vann, McLennan & Dillaye, which partnership continued until its senior member, Mr. Irving G. Vann, was elevated to the Supreme Court Bench in 1881, He then organized the firm of Waters, McLen- nan & Dillaye, which continued until 1882.
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