USA > New York > New York state's prominent and progressive men : an encyclopaedia of contemporaneous biography, Volume III > Part 10
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Of such parentage and ancestry Edwin Van Densen Gazzam was born on February 5, 1866, at Utica, Oneida County, New York. He was educated in the public schools and Free Acad-
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Mainland Pagam, Mr.10
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EDWIN VAN DEUSEN GAZZAM
emy of Utica; in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania ; and in the postgraduate course of the New York Postgraduate Medical School. His studies and researches were further pursued during a resident physicianship in the New York Postgraduate Hospital.
At the age of sixteen years he left school and entered the hardware store of Wright, Dana & Co., at Utica, New York, as a clerk. There he served for two years, and then removed to Bal- timore, Maryland, and then entered the employment of the hard- ware firm of Carlin & Fulton. Later he was employed in Rochester, New York, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
It was in the fall of 1887 that, after this business experience, he entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsyl- vania. He was to have been graduated in 1890. During his second term, however, he undertook to manage a business enter- prise while pursuing his studies, and as a result of overwork suffered an attack of nervous prostration. This eaused an inter- mission of eighteen months in his course, and he was not gradu- ated until May, 1892. Then he at onee entered the New York Postgraduate Hospital, on the house staff, and was graduated from its school on January 1, 1894.
Dr. Gazzam began his practice in New York in 1894, with his office at No. 106 West Thirty-fourth Street. Later he removed to West Forty-fifth Street. Since 1896 he has been at No. 153 West Forty-sixth Street.
He is a member of the Alpha Mu Pi Omega Medical Fraternity, the Alumni Association of the University of Pennsylvania, the New York Postgraduate Alumni Association, the Medical Society of the County of New York, the New York Medical League, the Physicians' Mutual Aid Association, the New York Red Cross Society, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Washington Continental Guard, the Pennsylvania Society of New York, the Prince of Orange Masonic Lodge, the Constitu- tion Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, the Constantine Com- mandery of Knights Templar, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. the American Art Society, the Society of Medical Jurisprudence, and other organizations.
He was married at Utica, New York, on February 21, 1900, to Miss Clara M. Griffith, daughter of M. II. Griffith of Utica.
EDWARD ALVAH GODDING
E DWARD ALVAH GODDING, who in recent years has come to the fore among the successful financiers of the younger generation in the financial and commercial metropolis of the nation, is of Scottish and English ancestry and of New England nativity, having been born in Providence, Rhode Island, and indeed having begun his business career in that pros- perous and progressive city. His father, Alvah Winslow God- ding, who for thirty years was one of the foremost insurance men in Providence, was of Scottish stock and was born in the State of Vermont, belonging to a well-known and influential family. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary J. Miles, was of English family, and was born at Westminster, Massa- chusetts.
Of such ancestry, and inheriting the admirable traits of the two races blended therein, Edward Alvah Godding, the subject of this sketch, was born at Providence, on September 4, 1863. His education was acquired in the fine institutions of learning in his native city. He was prepared for college at the High School in Providence, and thence went to Brown University. In the latter he pursued with exceptional success the regular college course, and he was graduated from it as a member of the class of 1886, being one of the honor men of that class.
On leaving college, Mr. Godding applied himself at once to a business career. At that time the bicycle business was swiftly developing into enormous proportions, and he was quick to per- ceive in it the great opportunities it offered to enterprising men. He established at Providence what was the first wholesale house in the United States for the sale of bicycle parts, fittings, and material. This concern was known as the Whitten-Godding
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Cycle Company of Providence, and after a successful career it was sold to the Pope Manufacturing Company.
Some six or seven years ago, on retiring from the bicyele business, Mr. Godding began to give his attention to the busi- ness of a banker and broker, making a specialty of mining stocks. In the pursuance of these undertakings he established himself in New York, at No. 32 Broadway, and soon made his influence felt in Wall Street. He became and still is special agent of the Colonial Copper Company, which has been regarded by many as one of the best mining properties in the country.
In addition to this important agency, Mr. Godding is presi- dent of the National Security & Trust Company of New York, of which the paid-in capital stock is $600,000. He is treasurer of the Pacific Realty & Industrial Corporation, treasurer of the Sultana Mining Company, and fiscal agent of the California Railroad & Realty Company, which is capitalized at $3,000,000.
Mr. Godding was in college a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, and is now a member of its club in New York, as well as of various other social organizations in New York and Providence. He belongs to Crescent Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and to Palestine Commandery, Knights Templar.
He was married, on February 12, 1890, to Miss Susan M. Sheldon of Providence, Rhode Island.
CHARLES A. GOULD
"T is not alone in the new States of the far West that great opportunities arise of "growing up with the country " and even of founding new towns. This old settled Empire State is not lacking in them, as its recent history and the career of the subject of this sketch abundantly show. This is the story of a man of New York State who began business life with no capital but his own ability and energy, and steadily and even rapidly worked his way upward to wealth, social prominence, and political influence.
Charles Albert Gould was born at Batavia, Genesee County, New York, on January 13, 1849, and spent his boyhood there. He attended the local public schools, and was thus prepared for college. But about this time his father met with serious busi- ness reverses, so that he could not afford to pay the boy's way through college, and, indeed, was compelled to let the latter go out to make his own way in the world.
Thus, at the age of twenty, young Gould found himself thrown entirely upon his own resources. It was during the flush times that followed the Civil War, when business of nearly all kinds was brisk. He reckoned his native place too small for the advance- ment he hoped to gain, and therefore went to Buffalo, the chief city of western New York, There he entered the employment of a large mercantile firm as an accountant, and thus acquired a sound and thorough business training and experience which was sure to be of value to him all through his career. He also took an active interest in politics. The local campaign of 1870 was a stirring and important one, and as he was then just old enough to vote, he entered into it with the enthusiasm of youth, and yet with much of the judgment and effectiveness of a veteran. His
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aptitude for public affairs soon made him a leader in the councils of the Republican party in Buffalo. In 1878 he was appointed Deputy Postmaster of that city, and held the place for two years. Then President Garfield made him Collector of Customs for the district of Buffalo Creek, and he held that place for four years, or until the advent of a Democratie administration eansed a " clean sweep" of the offices. He had now become one of the recognized leaders of the Republican party in that part of the State, and was always conspicuous in the party organization and in the work of campaigns.
His retirement from political office marked the beginning of another epoch in his life. He became a manufacturer, and devoted himself strictly to business, with noteworthy success. His first venture was to purchase a controlling interest in the Henry Childs Steam Forge in South Buffalo, and to run that concern for some years, to its and his great profit. Next, in 1887, he purchased land at Black Rock and erected a large steam- forge of his own, where he manufactured car-axles, locomotive driving-axles, shafting, etc. With boundless energy and unfail- ing shrewdness, working with the best modern equipment, he made this enterprise splendidly successful. Then he proceeded to put upon the market a device that is now known as widely as are railroads themselves. This is the "Gould automatic cou- pler," which every railroad traveler observes as he passes from car to car, Mr. Gould's name staring at him from the iron plate he treads upon. This coupler was widely introduced upon Ameri- can railroads, and then Mr. Gould sent it abroad, and was, in 1895, gratified to find it accepted upon some of the largest rail- road systems in Great Britain and in other countries. Indeed, it now bids fair to become the standard coupler on British rail-
roads. A Gould Coupler Company was organized for the manufacture and sale of it, with Mr. Gould as president. A lit- tle later the Gould Steel Company of Anderson, Indiana, was formed, with him as president of it also.
One of the most noteworthy of Mr. Gould's enterprises was the building of the new town of Depew, not far from Buffalo. The requirements of his own business led him to look for a site where he would have better railroad facilities, and he found them in the outskirts of the village of Lancaster. A large tract of
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farming-land was secured, and in a short time was transformed into a busy industrial community of several thousand inhabi- tants. Mr. Gould was one of the chief promoters of this work, being president of the Buffalo Investment Company, which had it in charge. The Gould Coupler Company took fifty acres in the new town, and there built one of the largest malleable-iron plants in the world. In 1895 the forge at Black Rock was de- stroyed by fire, and was at once rebuilt on a much larger scale at Depew.
The various companies with which Mr. Gould is associated, and of which he is the dominant factor, have their offices, as is fitting, in New York. Accordingly he has himself, since 1889, made this city and its suburbs his home. He has a fine mansion in the city, and an attractive summer place in the aristocratic suburban town of Rye, in Westchester County, on the shore of Long Island Sound. Besides being an important force in the business and financial world of the metropolis, Mr. Gould has entered into its social activities as well. He is a member of many leading organizations here and in other places, and is identified with the promotion of their welfare. Thus he is com- modore of the American Yacht Club, and a member of the New York, the Larchmont, and the Atlantic yacht clubs. His other clubs in this city include the Union League, the New York Athletic, the Lotos, the Lawyers', and the Republican. In the city of Buffalo, New York, he is a member of the Buffalo and Ellicott clubs; in Chicago, of the Chicago Club; and in Phila- delphia, of the Manufacturers' Club. In each and all of these he is a constant force making for their best interests.
In recent years Mr. Gould has not held political office and has not figured in political life conspicuously beyond discharging the duties of a good citizen. His membership in the Union League and Republican clubs indicates, however, his constant affilia- tion with the Republican party and his lasting devotion to its welfare.
Mr. Gould is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a generous supporter, with time, work, and money, of various religious and benevolent enterprises.
The Grady
THOMAS F. GRADY
THOMAS F. GRADY, who has been called the "silver- tongued orator of Tammany Hall," and who has long been one of the most conspicuous figures in New York Democratic polities, is of Irish descent, but a native of this city. He was born in the Fourth Ward on November 29, 1853, and received his early education at the parochial schools of St. James's and St. Mary's parishes. Then for three years he attended at the well-known De La Salle Institute, where he pursued the regular course and was graduated .. In 1880 Manhattan College con- ferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M. He also studied for a time in the Law Department of the University of the City of New York, as New York University was then called. In boy- hood, while in the parish schools, he began to be called the " silver-tongued orator" on account of his distinction in deela- mation, and even when quite a youth was well known as an effective speaker before church societies.
On leaving school Mr. Grady entered the publishing-house of D. Appleton & Co., as a copy-holder in the proof-reading room. Later he was engaged in the offices of various legal firms, where he pursued his law studies until he was ready for admission to the bar. He was an assistant to William C. Whitney in the Corporation Counsel's office in 1876, after having been a record- ing clerk in the County Clerk's office in 1874, and a census enumerator in 1875. He had been offered by the Hon. Robert B Roosevelt a cadetship at West Point in 1872, but had declined it, his inclinations leading him unmistakably toward political life.
Mr. Grady's publie career began in 1877. In that year he went to Albany as member of Assembly from the Second District
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HENRY WINTHROP GRAY
H ENRY WINTHROP GRAY, well known in New York as a financier and as a public servant, comes on the paternal side from old New England stoek. His father, George Winthrop Gray, was a native of Boston, who came to New York to engage in business, and spent the remainder of his life here. His busi- ness was trade with China, and in it he was associated as partner with N. L. & G. Griswold, one of the foremost New York firms of that time. The association was also more than a business one, for Mr. Gray married Maria Griswold, daughter of George Gris- wold, thus adding the latter family to the ancestry of the sub- ject of this sketch.
Henry Winthrop Gray, son of George Winthrop Gray and Maria Griswold Gray, was born in New York city on June 12, 1842. He was educated in the schools of New York, completing his academic training with a course in the University of the City of New York, as New York University was at that time called.
Upon leaving college Mr. Gray engaged in mercantile pursuits with the firm of N. L. & G. Griswold, with which his father was associated. Subsequently he turned his attention to more purely financial affairs, and became a broker and a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Some years ago he retired from active business pursuits, but he still retains his membership in the Stock Exchange.
In 1889 Mr. Gray was appointed receiver of the North River Sugar Refining Company, a concern which was at that time dis- solved because of its absorption into the Sugar Trust. Subse- quently he was appointed by the New York courts receiver in various other insolvency and dissolution cases, for his services in which he received great credit.
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Mr. Gray's public service began in 1892, when he was ap- pointed one of the Commissioners of Parks of the city of New York. He filled that office for only a short time, and then resigned it in order to accept appointment as one of the Fire Commissioners of New York. This latter place he also resigned, in the spring of 1894, on account of disagreement with the other members of the board concerning the methods and expenses of the department.
In May, 1895, the office of Special Commissioner of Jurors was created, and he was appointed to fill it, which he did until that office was abolished in the spring of 1901.
Mr. Gray is a well-known figure in some of the best clubs of New York, his affiliations including the Union, Metropolitan, Knickerbocker, City, Down-Town, and Whist clubs, and the Century Association.
Mr. Gray was first married to Miss Mary M. Travers, who bore him two children, William Travers Gray, and Maria Gris- wold Gray, the latter now being the wife of William B. Coster. His second wife was Miss Matilda G. Frelinghuysen, daughter of the distinguished Senator of the United States and Secretary of State Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey.
SAMUEL GREENBAUM
S YAMUEL GREENBAUM is a native of London, England, where he was born on January 23, 1854, the son of Lewis and Rachel (Schlesinger) Greenbaum. When he was only two years old his parents removed to New York, and that city has ever since been his home. His early education was received in the public schools of New York, whence in due time he was graduated into the College of the City of New York. From the latter he was graduated in 1872, and immediately thereafter he was appointed a teacher in Grammar School No. 59, in East Fifty- seventh Street. Mr. Greenbaum served at the teacher's desk with much acceptability for five years. At the same time, how- ever, he was preparing himself for the pursuit of the profession to which he has sinee devoted his chief attention. He began reading law in the office of Van Sielen, Gildersleeve & Baldwin. Thence he went to Columbia College Law School, where he was graduated in 1875. In the latter year he was admitted to practice at the bar, but did not take advantage of that fact. He continued his connection with the above-mentioned law office for two years more, at the same time preparing himself in the fullest way for independent practice.
Mr. Greenbaum began the practice of the law in an office of his own in 1877, and soon secured a profitable patronage. Seven years later he formed a partnership with Daniel P. Hays, which he maintained until 1898, under the name of Hays & Greenbaum, afterward Hays, Greenbaum & Hershfield. This copartnership was dissolved on May 1, 1901. His firm enjoyed a high rank in the legal profession of New York, and had an extensive, varied, and lucrative practice. Its practice was general in nature, com- prising real estate, insurance, banking, bankruptcy, patent, and
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commercial and corporation law, in all of which branches Mr. Greenbaum is himself proficient. He has personally been counsel in numerous important cases, including that of the diamond-cutters, in which the United States contract labor law was involved. The firm was counsel, also, for General Daniel E. Sickles, as Sheriff of the County of New York, and it was under its suggestion and advice that he effected a general reform of the Sheriff's office on lines afterward approved and made per- manent by State legislation. Mr. Greenbaum resumed the practice of his profession alone, with marked success.
Apart from his arduous professional work, Mr. Greenbaum has found time to interest himself largely and effectively in various educational enterprises and movements for social reform. Thus he was one of the founders of the Aguilar Free Library, of which he is president. He was also one of the founders of the Educational Alliance, of which he is vice-president. He was prominent and particularly efficient in the work of erecting the fine building occupied by the latter organization. He has been president, also, of the Young Men's Hebrew Association, and has identified himself with other organizations and movements for the public good.
Mr. Greenbaum, previous to 1901, had held and had sought no political office, and had taken no active part in partizan politics. In the fall of that year he accepted a non-partizan nomination for justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York on the "Fusion" ticket, and was elected, polling the largest vote on his ticket He has not become known as a "club-man" in the ordinary sense of the term; he is, however, a member of the Reform Club, the Lawyers' Club, and many eleemosynary organizations, besides the Bar Association.
He was married, on March 13, 1888, to Miss Selina Ullman, daughter of Israel Ullman of New York, and has two sons and two daughters.
ISAAC JOHN GREENWOOD
ITT prosim,"-" May I do good," - was used long since by the Greenwoods of Norwich, England, as their motto, and still continues to their descendants a verbal inspiration. The family, a branch of the Greenwoods of Yorkshire, was deseended from Guiomar de Greenwoode of Greenwood Lee (near Hepten- stall). achatour to the household of Maud "the Empress," mother of Henry II of England. Nathaniel Greenwood, the son of Miles Greenwood, was born in Norwich, in 1631 ; he it was who transplanted the race to America, and died in 1684 in Boston, Massachusetts, where he had been a ship-builder by trade, and a seleetman of the town. He married Mary Allen of Braintree, Massachusetts. His son, Samuel Greenwood, also a ship-builder and selectman, married Elizabeth Bronsdon of Boston. His son, Isaac Greenwood of Boston, was one of the foremost makers of mathematical instruments of his time, his services being sought by Benjamin Franklin and other eminent men. He married Mary L'ans, a sister-in-law of Colonel Thomas Walker of Montreal. His son, John Greenwood, served in both the army and the navy of the Revolution, and was afterward prom- inent in New York as the " father of American dentistry." His son, Isaac John Greenwood, served in the Governor's Guard (artillery) in the War of 1812, and then continued his father's practice until 1839. His son, Isaac Greenwood, was graduated at Harvard College in 1821, studied mathematies under Dr. Des- aguliers in London, and in 1827 became the first Hollis pro- fessor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard. He married Sarah Clarke, a niece of Cotton Mather's last wife. His first wife. Sarah Vanderhoof Bogert, bore him three daughters : by his second wife, Mary MeKay, daughter of John and Eliza-
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beth (Riddle) Mckay of New York, he had two sons, Isaac John Greenwood and the late Mr. Langdon Greenwood, who died in January, 1900, at the age of sixty.
The elder of these sons, Isaac John Greenwood, born in New York city on November 15, 1833, entered Columbia College at the age of sixteen years, and was graduated in the class of 1853. Four years later he received the degree of A. M. From 1856 to 1861 he studied chemistry with Professor Robert Ogden Dore- mns, and attended lectures at the New York Medical College.
Mr. Greenwood has throughout his life devoted much atten- tion to the interests of learned and scientific societies. He was in 1859 one of the original members of the American Numis- matie and Archæological Society, and in 1864 was one of its incorporators and its first vice-president. He is a member of the New York Historical, the New York Genealogical and Bio- graphical, the American Geographical and Statistical, the Long Island Historical, and the Dunlap societies in New York, and the Prince Society of Boston, and is a corresponding member of the Buffalo Historical Society, and the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. He is also a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Botanical Garden and Zoological Garden societies. His clubs are the Colonial and University of New York city. By virtue of his grandfather's career he is a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. In religious mat- ters he is identified with the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church, and is a member of its grand consistory.
Mr. Greenwood's wife, Mrs. Mary Agnes Greenwood, daughter of Joseph and Eliza E. (Barnes) Rudd of New York, whom he married in 1866, died in October, 1890, at the age of forty-four. Mr. Greenwood's home is at No. 271 West End Avenue.
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DB. M. Loro vernon
JAMES BROWN MASON GROSVENOR
T THE name of Grosvenor is a notable one in England, where it is borne by one of the richest and most aristocratic families in the peerage. In this newer and greater England of the West, as the United States has been called, the name is by no means unknown. It is borne by men who have made their mark clear and ineffaceable upon the record of the nation, and by some who have further bestowed the name upon places created and devel- oped by their enterprise and energy. You will find in Connee- ticut, for example, a thriving town called Grosvenor Dale, which takes its name from a master merchant who gave the place its prosperity.
James Brown Mason Grosvenor is descended from a typical New England family, identified with the manufacturing and other interests of that region. His father was William Grosvenor, a merchant and manufacturer of cotton goods at Grosvenor Dale, Connecticut, and his mother was Rosa Anne Mason Gros- venor, whose family name is also a conspicuous one in New England annals. Chad Brown was also among his ancestors, and others of them were prominent in the affairs of Rhode Island and in the financial world of New York. He was born at Providence, Rhode Island, on February 12, 1840, and was educated at the University Grammar School in that city, at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and at Brown Uni- versity, Providence, where he was a member of the class of 1862.
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