USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Memorial history of Syracuse, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 49
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
LION. EDWARD R. JUDSON. President of the First National Bank of Syracuse, and a well known financier, was born at Coxsackie, Greene county, New York, January 11, 1814. Ilis parents came of old New England families, his father having moved to Greene county, N. Y., from Woodbury, Litchfield county, Conn., and his mother being a native of Branford, on the south- ern shore of that State, near New Haven. Inheriting the intelligence and sterling character of New England life, they imparte 1 the best thought and training of the time to their son, who was a ready and proficient pupil. The mother's brother, Ralph Barker, who had been associated with Erastus Corning in the Albany City Bank, opened a banking office at Coxsackie, and the nephew, as clerk. there received the rudiments of a profession which was to be the special sphere of his mature life. In the meantime he developed a remarkable aptitude for business, and with characteristic New Eng- land ente. prise sought other fiel Is of effort. At the age of twenty-two he commenced the manufac- ture of lumber with his brother, W. A. Judson, at Constantia, Oswego county, and at a later period became associated with the same brother in the lumber commission business at Albany, which latter association extended over a period of twenty years or more. In connection with his lumber interest at Constantia Mr. Judson also engaged in the manufacture of iron at the same place. When twenty- four years of age he was elected a member of the State . Assembly, serving during the years 1839 and IS41, and being Chairman of the Committee on Cities and Villages, and also Chairman of the Select Committee on the State Lunatic Asylum. As his business progressed his varied experience and ex- tended connections thoroughly familiarized him with the details and operations of banking. Ile foresaw the prospective wants of Central New York, and especially of the growing city of syracuse, of which he became a resident in 1S.p). In isso the Merchants' Bank of this city was organized under the presidency of John D. Norton, and Mr. Judson became the Vice-President. The Board of Direction consisted of the leading business men of the city and vicinity. Of its dozen or more Di- rectors Mr. Judson is now the only survivor. Two years afterward the Salt Springs Bank was organized in this great center of salt production, and Thomas G. Alvord became l'resident, with Mr. Judson, who was one of the original Directors, as Cashier. This position he filled most accepta- bly for si , years, during which time the institution became firmly established with a stable and pros- perous business, when he resigned to aid in the organization of the Lake Ontario Bank of Oswego.
During all these years Mr. Judson, notwithstanding his banking enterprises, continued his man- ufacturing operations with unabated vigor, and added, to the great staples of lumber and iron, the production of salt. The Lake Ontario Bank, of which Mr. Judson was Cashier and chief executive officer, was remarkable for the character and position of its stockholders, and rightly denominated a " bankers' bank," from the large and controlling ownership of the stock by officers of other banks, including such names as John A. Stevens and C 11. Russell, Prestlent and Vice-President, and Ilenry F. Vail, Cashier of the Bank of Commerce, New York city ; Erastus Comning and 11. Il. Martin, President and Vice-President of the Albany City Bank; Rufus HI King and J. H. Van Ant- werpt, Present an I Cashier of the State Bank of Mbany : J B Plumb, President of the Bank of the Interior, Albany ; Hamilton White, Horace White, John D. Norton, and Thomas B. Fitch, l'residents respectively of the Onondaga County Bank, the Bank of Syracuse, the Merchants' Bank. and the Mechanics' Bank, all of the city of Syracuse ; G. B. Rich, President of the Bank of Attica, Buff.do : and Inther Wright, President of Luther Wright's Bank, Oswego. Among other promi- nent stockholders were Thurlow Weed, John L .. Schoolcraft, David Hamilton, John Knower, F. T. Carrington, George Geddes, and William A. Judson. In time Edward B. Judson's reputation as a banker extended until it rested upon the broad foundation of public confidence, and his ability, sound judgment, and fidelity to the interests confided to his keeping were widely known and appreciated. It was not strange, therefore, that his counsel and co-operation should be sought when the gener. government, in 1303. organized a plan designed to bring the banking institutions of the country under one system. It was a bold an i difficult step. It might be hazardous. It was likely to meet the opposition of the timid and short sighte I. and sure to be denounced by the reckless and unseru- pulous. The customs and the legislation of the States varied. The interests of diferent sections were suppose ! to be conflicting Many looked with distrust an I alarm at all attempts to increase the relative power and influence of the central government, and many others were ready to profess such a belief. The avenaes of the banking business were open to men with at experience and with- K
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
out capital. There were banks of circulation with deposits, and banks of deposit without discounts. The change could not be made by any institution, weak or strong, without immediate trouble and expense. Success depended upon securing the united support of sound bankers generally through- out the country. The author of the National Banking Act was the Secretary of the Treasury, and had the advantage or the opportunity of personal effort to make his scheme practically effective. Mr. Chase summoned the best and most influential financiers to Washington. Mr. Judson was of the number. The consultation was not long nor the result doubtful. Mr. Judson gave his opinion, and, immediately after returning, proceeded, at the request of Secretary Chase, to make his opinion and patriotism of practical value, by organizing the First National Bank of Syracuse, which stands as No. 6 in the archives of the government. Mr. Judson became the President, John Crouse the Vice-Presi- dent, and George B. Leonard the Cashier. The capital, which at first was $100,000, has been since increased to $250,000. There has been a marked contrast between the experience of the First National and that of the Merchants' Bank, established thirteen years before, in the continuance of its Directors. While all of Mr. Judson's former associates in the Merchants' National Bank have, as before stated, been removed by death, there have been but few changes from that cause in the Board of the First National Bank. E. B. Judson, jr., is now the Vice-I'resident. The two executive officers have occupied the same posts without interruption from that time to the present. The following year (the year 1864) Mr. Judson became Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Banking Association, and continued to fill that position for eleven years, having as his asso- ciates on the committee the well known bankers George F. Baker, P. C. Calhoun, Thomas Coleman, Charles B. Hall, J. L. Norris, W. F. Coolbaugh, John W. Ellis, Frederic W. Cronen, F. B. Loomis,
Clarence Il Clark Hisoccupation as a banker did not prevent the extension of his manufacturing in- terests, and he added to his other industries the production of glass which he has continued for some eighteen years, and is now the President of the Syracuse Glass Company. At the National Bank Convention held in New York, October 19, 1864, Mr. Judson made an address, wherein he ut- tered the following words, which time and experience have verified in a remarkable manner :
"The system of banking that we are now adopting is destined, in my judgment, to become the only one that has any vitality in this nation, and I have no doubt that the State banks generally will find it for their interests to make the change. Many of them, and very justly, too, have a pride in keeping up the name under which they have been so successful and gained such a wide-spread reputation : but under the late act that is obviated, and they can retain the old name if desired. Again, allow me to say to you, in adopting this new system, let us try and live up strictly to the aet under which we are organized. If we do, I have no fear of its success ; and i hope if the Comptroller of the Currency finds that in our reports, which the law requires us to make, we do not keep up our reserve fund, but allow our accounts to be overdrawn at the points where our funds should be to take care of .our circulation and deposits, he will at once give us notice to wind up our institutions. I consider that clause in the law, which requires us to keep up a large reserve fund, one of the most important in the act, and I hope the Comptroller will have it strictly enforced."
Mr. Judson has had little time or inclination for political life since his early membership in the Legislature, but in IS68 he allowed his name to be presented as candidate for Presidential elector, and was defeated, that being the year Governor Hoffman was elected. In 1869 the Trust and De- posit Company of Onondaga was organized with Dudley P. P'helps as President, and Daniel I'. Wood and Edward B. Judson as Vice-Presidents. This institution acts as a savings bank and as the custodian of papers and other valuables, and does a general trust business, and likewise the adminis- tration of estates to a considerable extent. Its vaults for the safe keeping of special deposits are very secure, and supplied with the most recent appliances for convenience and protection. Mr. Jud- son is also a Trustee of the Metropolitan Trust Company of New York city. In 1870 he was one of the incorporators of the Syracuse Northern Railroad, and became Treasurer of the company. Ile was at one time a Director in the New York Centrai Railroad Company, and is now a Director in the American Express Company, being a member of the Finance Committee of that company. In 1573 he became interested in the State Bank of syracuse, which was formed principally by the incorporatur. of the Trust and Deposit Company, and Mr. Jadson was chosen a Director. He was also for sin: time a Director of the Syracuse National Bank, which was then the oldest bank in the city, having bec :. first organized under the State laws in 1$39. This institution went into liquidation in 187 ;. Mr. Judson continues, at the age of nearly seventy-eight years, in the active duties of the presidency
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
of the First National Bank of Syracuse, which has added to its capital of $250,000 a large surplus, and is doing a steady and profitable business, with deposit, amounting to some $t. 275.000. When the new building of the Onondaga County Savings Bank was erected, at a cost of $300,000, premises were prepared in it expressly for the First National Bank, with furniture and equipments surpassed by none, and with special provision for security against burglars, including a steel-lined vault of solid masonry with triple doors and safe of most approved construction. The present Directors are E. B. Judson, E. B. Judson, jr., Jacob Crouse, G. B. leonard, E. F .. Rice, C. W. Snow, Dennis MeCarthy, John McCarthy, and E. F. Holden.
Though devoting most of his, time to the management of this institution, Mr. Judson continues the manufacture of lumber at Constantia, and is interested in the production of iron, salt, and glass at Syracuse. With all these demands, and the manifold duties incident to the life of a prominent and publie spirited citizen, he yet finds time to look after educational interests elsewhere, and serves as one of the Trustees of Wells College at Aurora. Such is the brief record of one whose life work has been alike active and beneficent. The key to his success is the mastery of one field of enterprise before assuming much risk in another. Possessing that moral courage which arises from the con- sciousness of one who commands his circumstances and knows his latent strength, with an aptitude for achieving difficult results, great energy in pursuing the details of business, and with an open rec- titude, winning public confidence, he has, in diverse occupation through a long and busy life, dem- onstrated the sure triumph of industry and economy intelligently applied. Mr. Judson was married, in 18.45, to Sarah Williams, daughter of Coddington B. Williams, of Syracuse. He has one son, F. B. Judson, jr., a gentleman of thorough business qualifications and a promising future.
Mr. Judson is also prominent in church and charity affairs. He is a regular attendant of the May Memorial Church ( Unitarian), and for a number of years has been l'resident of its Board of Trustees. He is the Treasurer of St. Joseph's Hospital, in which he is deeply interested, a Trustee for the Home for Old Ladies, and heartily in sympathy with all benevolent works.
LION. JAMES J. BELDEN was born in the town of Fabius, Onondaga county, in the year 1825. With only a common school education he commenced his busmess career at an early age in a village store in his native town. From there he went to Adams, Jefferson county, N. Y., where he remained five years as clerk and partner in the business of a country merchant. In 1850 he joined the host of migratory to California, where he followed various pursuits for three years, and returned to Syracuse. flere he first became a partner in a crockery business, but disposed of his interest in 1855, and from that time gave his attention largely to the construction of public works by contract, an occupation in which he was a large operator for a number of years. Having married the daugh- ter of the late Robert Gere, one of the foremost of the early residents of Syracuse, and a large manti- facturer and contractor, Mr. Belden naturally took up that line of business in which his qualifications Seemed to adapt him. His first contract, in which he was associated with his father-in-law, was in connec- tion with the enlargement of the Oswego Canal. Subsequently, in company with his brother, .V. C. Dellen, and the late Henry D>. Denison, he engaged extensively in the construction of railroads, res- ervoirs, canals, and other public works, the firm becoming widely and favorably known throughout the State and elsewhere. Among the important contracts which they performed were the building of the street railroad, in Detroit, the enlargement of the locks on the Welland Canal in Canada, the construction of the Syracuse Northern Railroad, the new reservoir of the Croton Water Works in Putnam county, and the removal of the rock blasted out of Hell Gate. besides numerous large con- tracts for dredging in New York and other harbors, and for repairs and improvements on the canals of this State. Their last important work was the building of the West Shore Railroad between Syra- cuse and Little Falls. Aside from these operations Mr. Belden was for a number of years con- nected with various manufacturing and commercial enterprises at Syracuse and elsewhere, and with several of the incorporated companies of the city of Syracuse. fle was prominently connected with the First and Faird National Banks of Syracuse, and in ISSI established the Kobert Gere Bank
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
(thus named in honor of his father-in-law), which now ranks among the largest and most successful of the financial institutions of Central New York.
.In politics Mr. Belden has always been an earnest and active Republican, of a practical and Con- servative character. In this important field he has brought to bear the same qualifications that have given him such flattering success in his own private affairs ; not as a seeker after office, which he has- never been, but as one who saw some desirable end to gain for the welfare of community and Ste . ILis accurate judgment of men and affairs, his sturdy common sense and practical effort, brought him into prominence and gave him marked influence in the councils of his party long before he was called to any official station. In 1377, when his own business interests were large and exacting, he was induced to accept the nomination for the office of Mayor of Syracuse, a nomination which was pr.u . tically unanimous, and under which he was elected by an unusual majority. In that position he exhibited rare executive ability and capacity for the management of public affairs, instituting sub- stantial reforms in almost every department of the city government, and carrying on its business wit.i the same simple yet potent efficiency that had always characterized the management of his privd'e affairs. His re-election followed in 1878 by an increased majority, and so popular was his previoits administration that he carried into the Common Council nearly all the Republican nominees. W.th- ont disparaging the work of others it must be said that no Mayor of the city has ever retired from a more useful and honorable administration. In 1887 he was elected to Congress, in which body his work was of the same useful, unpretentious, yet powerful, nature that had characterized his prevari public acts, and his constituents showed their high apppreciation of his legislative labors by te. election, under which he still occupies the office.
It is not, however, on account of the ample fortune he has accumulated, or his increasing influ ence in political affairs, that Mr. Belden is best known and most respected. In an unusual degree he possesses the qualities of mind and heart which win the confidence of his associates and the affec- tion of his friends l'he extent of his benevolence in public and private charities will never be know a. he probably does not know it himself. He has recently given to the city of Syracuse the noblest ben- efaction it has ever received-a library building to cost at least $150,000 ; and his practical charitie- are constantly aiding public institutions of every character and the unfortunate and needy in all ranks of life. Endowed with great force of character, resolute and self-reliant, public spirited to an unt -- ual degree, and generous of time and means for public and private good, he has drawn upon him-c .: the good will and gratitude and friendship of all who know him.
LFRED A. HOWLETT, President of the Salt Springs National Bank, was born February 1 ;. A 1321, in the town of Onondaga, Onondaga county, N. Y., and is distinctively a representative citizen of the county of his birth. llis father, Parley Howlett, was born in Shaftsbury, Vt., June I, 1784, the second son in a family of five sons and three daughters of Parley Howlett and Barsheba Parker. Parley, sr., was one of three brothers who came from England but sailed from France. Ile located in Shaftsbury, Vt , where his son Parley was born, and moved in 1797 to Onondaga county, New York, settling in Onondaga Hollow, and the same spring removed to land which he had purchased in the northwest corner of the town of Onondaga, and which is still known is " Howlett Ilitl." Six years later he died. His son's was one of the first deeds recorded in the County Clerk's office of this county.
Parley Howlett, jr., received a limited education from books, but early became so innre ! (, self-reliance and habits of industry as to make his subsequent career a worthy record in the history . ! Onondaga county. Ile spent his minority in farming, and at the age of twenty-three bought i" acres of land which he soon reclaimed from the wilderness. In seven years more he was the wane: of 300 acres, and soon began the manufacture of salt at Geddes, using at first eight kettle-block. then sixteen, and subsequently thirty-two. He was the first to ship salt west, boating it dost ' - Oswego River, thence by the lake, and drawing it around Niagara Falls by teams Exchanging : . s salt for horses and cittle he would kill the latter and pack the meat for the eastern markets. ABc:
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
the canal was completed he packed his meat in Syracuse, his packing house being Incated opposite the present Weigh Lock. Hle shipped the first beef and pork in barrels, by the Eric Canal, that was sent east from this country.
July 21, 1805. Parley married Miss Phebe Robins, a native of Connecticut. Their family con. sisted nf eleven children, as follows : Solomon R., Horatio G., Myron P., Latitia E., Jane M., Par- ley L., Alfred .A., Celestia S., Daniel, Francis C., and Jerome, two of whom, Celestia S. and Alfred A., are living. Mr. Howlett died May IS. 1861.
Alfred A. Howlett spent his youth in assisting his father in his occupations, and thus early ac- quired an excellent business training and habits of thrift and frugality. His father intended to give him a colleg ate training, but owing to delicate health he was obliged to forego that opportunity and apply him-elf to out-door affairs. Ile was early employed in making collections by the brothers of Ilorace and Hamilton White, who were then prominent bankers of Syracuse. Having succeeded in accumulating a few hundred dollars, in 1842 he purchased the packing establishment formerly owned by his father in Geddes, which proved a most profitable investment. In the meantime the Messrs. White had watched with considerable curiosity the remarkable development of the business qualities of young Howlett, and seeing that his course indicated a decided aptitude for mercantile transactions they voluntarily offered him all the money he needed at the regular rate of interest. Having thus be- come fortified with the confidence of two of the best friends a young man can have, Mr. Howlett was enabled to extend his business, and in 1843 he established a packing-house at Delphi, Ind., ou the Wabash River, and soon after a similar concern at Oswego, N. Y., then a distributing point for Canada and the East. At the latter place he also engaged in the elevator, milling. and banking busi- ness, and at Delphi he dealt largely in cattle and grain. This varied business was successfully con- ducted till about 1867, under different firm names, as Spears, Case & Co., at Delphi, and Ames, How- lett & Co., in banking, and Howlett, Gardner & Co., in milling and the provision trade, at Oswego. In 1867 the packing concern was discontinued
By this time Syracuse had assumed considerable proportions, and Mr. Howlett's business was rapidly becoming identified with its growth and prosperity. In 859 he had been elected President of the Salt Springs Bank, which in 1852 was organized under the presidency of Hon Thomas G. Alvord and the cashiership of Hon. Edward B. Judson, and of which Mr. Howlett was one of the early Directors. Mr. Alvord was succeeded by William Clark as President and Mr. Judson by Cor- nelius Alvord as Cashier in 1858. Mr. Howlett was elected Vice-President in January, 1859, and acted temporarily as Cashier. The following June Thomas J. Leach was elected Cashier and Mr. Howlett, President. In 1865 the institution followed the general current and re-organized as the Salt Springs National Bank, and to-day this is one of the strongest banking concerns in Central New Vork. Since 1959 Mr Howlett has guided its business career with a firm hand and excellent judg- ment. His able management is universally acknowledged. He is widely known, and his financial views are highly respected.
In 1876 the Syracuse Savings Bank erected its present fine structure at a cost of $300,000, and since that date Mr. Howlett's institution has occupied commodious quarters in that building. The bank has a capital of $200,000, with deposits amounting to about $515, 500. The present officers are: Alfred A. Howlett, President ; Thomas J. Leach, Cashier ; David A. Munro, Charles Hubbard, Alfred 1. Howlett, Robert Dey, William Brown Smith, Isaac H. Munro, A. Ames Howlett, T. J. Leach, and Giles Everson, Directors.
Mr. Howlett in 1865 lent his valuable assistance to the construction of the Syracuse and Che- nango Valley Kailroad : this road was opened in part in 1872, and its whole length in 1874. lle was one of the incorporators and first Directors, and afterward became the President. Among Mr. Hlow- lett's associates named in the articles of incorporation are IIon. George F. Comstock, Dennis McCar- thy, James J. Belden, Dr. John M. Wieting, John Greenway, and Jolin W. Barker, of whom Dr. Wieting was the first President.
He takes a deep interest in educational and benevolent matters, and although he has been obliged to fight the battle of life and triumph over its obstacles without the advantages of an early education, he is keenly alive to those advantages and des'rous that others should enjoy them. In ISSo he was elected one of the Trustees "at large" of Syracuse University, under that part of the
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
charter which requires that at least six of these Trustees shall not be members of the Methodist Epis copal Church. Ile is himself an attendant and a liberal supporter of the First Presbyterian Church. ITe is also President of the Syracuse Gas Light Company, President of the New York Brick and Paving Company, a Director of the Syracuse Water Company, a Director of the Salt Springs Solar Coarse Salt Company (thirty-seven years), a Trustee of the Onondaga County Orphan Asyhim, a Di- rector of the Syracuse-Brewerton P'lank Road Company, and Vice-President of the Charleston, Sum- ter, and Northern Railroad Company. Mr. Howlett is a striking example of the force of industry and probity. Without pecuniary means at the outset of life, and possessing a delicate constitution, he has pursued a uniformly successful career and maintained the highest commercial credit. A warm friend, a safe counselor, an indulgent husband and father, he merits that implicit confidence and high esteem ever accorded an honest man.
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