USA > New York > Noted living Albanians and state officials. A series of biographical sketches > Part 5
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Frederick Goody,
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FREDERICK COOK.
sources. But with a brave heart and an indomitable will, he faced the storm of life until the sunshine of success and prosperity came to gladden his pathway. He turned . his eyes towards America, as the chosen field for his future activity and work, and so, bidding adieu to the dear old "fatherland " in the year 1848, at the age of fifteen, he sailed for the United States. Here he made his home for a short time with a married sister in Buffalo. He was not long idle. Inheriting the industrious qualities of the Ger- man people he was fully determined to learn some trade or engage in some useful occupation. He first tried the shoe- making trade, but this not suiting his tastes, he next entered the service of a butcher at the village of Batavia, N. Y. Young Cook was a boy who always performed with faithful- ness and to the best of his ability, every duty assigned to him ; and this is the great secret of his success in life. His traits of character were at this period carefully noticed by D. W. Tomlinson, president of the Batavia bank, and also largely interested in railroads. He at once obtained for him, because of his knowledge of the German language, a place in the employment of the Buffalo and Rochester railroad. From this stepping-stone, the young man of eighteen was soon to rise higher. The same energy and vigilance, for which he was ever noted, were fully manifested by him in this humble employment. He was soon promoted to the position of a conductor of an emigrant train on the Roch- ester, Lockport and Niagara Falls division of the New York Central railroad. While acting in this capacity, his knowl- edge of the German language was of great advantage to him in conversing with the emigrants from his own native land, who were traveling westward to find new homes in this free country. He gave the strangers much
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valuable information and many useful directions. The railroad company also greatly appreciated his services in this respect, and a further promotion was ready for him. He was made a passenger conductor. His railroad career covered a period of nearly twenty years, during all of which time he made many friends among the traveling public by his courteous manners and his faithful performance of duty. Gaining a thorough practical knowledge of human nature, he possessed the tact and ability to overcome all obstacles, and to advance the best interests of the railroad system ; and when he retired from the service as a railroad man, he received the warmest thanks of his employers and experi- enced the consciousness of having done his duty well.
When tendering his resignation on December 15, 1871, to take effect January 1, 1872, he was presented by his fel- . low employees and patrons of the road with an elaborate set of solid silver plate, thus testifying to the high esteem in which he was held by those with whom he had come in contact.
Mr. George M. Pullman is one of Mr. Cook's most inti- mate personal friends. On the organization of the "Pull- man Car Company," Mr. Cook thought so favorably of the enterprise that he invested the most of his accumulated sav- ings in the concern. By his careful study of the railroad system and his far-sightedness and sound judgment, he saw the ultimate success of this new enterprise, which was des- tined to add so much to the comfort of the traveling public. It was a most fortunate investment for Mr. Cook and added much to his financial prosperity. The struggles of the young, ,industrious and enterprising lad, so early deprived of his father's care and love, were signally crowned with success in the land of his adoption, in whose political inter-
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ests he was also shortly to be called to take a prominent part.
In 1870 he was appointed excise commissioner of Roches- ter, by Hon. John Lutes, mayor. But long and arduous labors had made serious inroads upon his naturally robust constitution, and in order to recuperate his failing strength, he was obliged to resign this office and sailed for Europe with his family in 1872. He visited many places of interest in the old world, but none were so dear to him as the sight of the old homestead and the spot where reposes the dust of his beloved parents. Returning to the United States in the autumn of 1873, with his health re-established, he was now to enter upon a public career. His politics were thor- oughly democratic, of the Jeffersonian school; and being nominated by his party as mayor of Rochester, in a strong- hold of republicanism he came within a few hundred votes of being elected, so great was his personal popularity. He interested himself deeply in the various manufacturing in- terests of the young and growing city of his adoption, among which was the Bartholomay Brewing Company. This company was organized in 1874 with a capital of $250,000, and Mr. Cook was chosen its vice-president, a posi- tion which he still holds. In 1876 he was elected president of the Rochester German Insurance Company, managing with rare executive and financial ability its affairs to the present time. During the same year he was chosen presi- dent of the Rochester Driving Park Association, whose financial interests he has advanced from the lowest to the highest degree. In 1882 he was elected to the presidency of the Bank of Rochester, which has since been re-organized as the German-American bank, he remaining at the head. From this time many political honors were conferred upon
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him. He was looked upon by his party as one of its best and strongest representatives, and called from the walks of a private life to take a leading part in directing public affairs. And no man was more worthy of the confidence of his party or his fellow-citizens, regardless of party, than Frederick Cook, for all his public and private acts were conducted on the broad principles of justice and integrity. The various offices sought him, not he the offices, and the responsibilities he has shared in public life have already been various and arduous, as they have been important and honorable.
In 1872 Governor Hoffman appointed Mr. Cook judge- advocate, with rank of colonel, of the Seventh division of the National Guard, State of New York; and three years later Governor Tilden conferred a similar honor upon him, that of assistant adjutant-general and chief of staff, of the same division.
In 1876.Mr. Cook was a delegate to the national conven- tion which met at St. Louis and nominated Samuel J. Til- den for the presidency. Four years later he was a delegate to the Cincinnati convention which placed General Hancock at the head of the national ticket. Mr. Cook took an active part in the proceedings of this gathering and was the vice- president of the convention, representing the state of New York.
In 1880 Governor Cornell appointed him a manager of the Western House of Refuge, and Governor Cleveland re- appointed him to the same position in 1883. At the same time he was chosen a trustee of the Rochester Savings bank.
In 1885 Mr. Cook was nominated by the democratic party for secretary of state, and after a stirring canvass was
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triumphantly elected by a majority of 14,608, over Colonel Anson S. Wood. His services during his first term of office were so acceptable to his party and the people generally that the democratic convention at Saratoga in the fall of 1887 renominated him, against his own wishes, and he was elected over Colonel Frederick Grant, receiving the highest plurality of any candidate on the democratic ticket, 17,677, a striking evidence of his great popularity throughout the state.
In the spring of 1889 Secretary Cook was brought " nigh unto death," by an attack of pneumonia contracted while attending the centennial celebration of the first president of the United States in New York city. For several weeks his life was despaired of, but his vigorous constitution pre- vailed and he slowly recovered. When he had gained suffi- cient strength, he once more visited his old home, Wildbad, and also Marienbad. There he spent the summer pleasantly, and returned to America in September, with health greatly recruited. He declined a renomination in the fall of 1889, for secretary of state, and on the Ist of January, 1890, rc- tired from public life to enjoy a much needed repose in his home at Rochester, with the best wishes of the people of the state, whose interests he had so faithfully served.
In taking formal leave of his associate state officers in the executive chamber on the 3Ist of December, 1889, Mr. Cook was presented by Governor Hill, in a graceful speech, with an elegant, costly gold watch with chime attachments on behalf of his associates - Comptroller Wemple, retiring Treasurer Fitzgerald, Attorney-General Tabor, Treasurer- elect Danforth, State Engineer Bogart, Commissioner Peck, Deputy Secretary of State Willers, etc.
At the close of Mr. Cook's official term the deputy secre- tary of state, in behalf of the clerical force of the office, pre-
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sented to him a group of photographs of the attaches of the secretary's office who had served with him during his administration, which was inclosed in an elegant frame of antique oak, and is greatly prized by Mr. Cook.
In 1887 the Rochester Title Insurance Company was organized and Mr. Cook was elected to its presidency.
He is a thirty-second degree Free Mason and has held various offices of honor in the order.
Secretary Cook lives in a handsome residence on East avenue, Rochester, which is presided over by his wife and daughter. He was married in 1853 to Miss Catherine Yaky of Rome, N. Y., who died in 1864. His present wife was Miss Barbara Agne, to whom he was united in marriage in 1865.
His career affords another illustration how, under our form of government, even the humblest citizen may attain the highest positions of honor and trust.
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EDGAR COTRELL.
N Albanian, widely and favorably known as a repre- sentative man, who has contributed largely toward the development of a special industry in our city, is Edgar Cotrell of the firm of Cotrell & Leonard, extensive whole- sale and retail dealers in furs and kindred goods.
It is always interesting to trace the ancestry and personal career of any one who, by earnest, persevering and honora- ble efforts, has obtained marked and permanent success in some useful calling or profession in life. In the subject of the present sketch we have an illustration of some of the more striking characteristics of New England men and their descendants. He is a son of the late Joshua G. Cotrell, a native of Massachusetts, who was born in 1804, and who, in 1836, married Cornelia, daughter of Dr. Jabez Wilkinson. Joshua G. Cotrell was a man of great pluck, enterprise and high character, who at the age of twenty-two came to Albany and established, on a small scale, the business which is now so largely and successfully carried on by his son Ed- gar and the Messrs. Leonard. His death, which occurred in 1878, was deeply lamented, while his name is still highly cherished by many of our citizens.
The grandfather of Edgar Cotrell, on his father's side, was Oliver Cotrell, of Hancock, Berkshire county, Mass.,
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who married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Gardner, a descendant of Samuel Sewall, the companion and friend of Miles Standish. His great-grandfather was Joseph Cot- rell, of Wickford, R. I., who married Hannah, daughter of Judge Nichols, a resident of Newport, R. I., during the rev- olutionary war, in 1780, and who is described as having been the "owner of much real estate."
Edgar Cotrell was born in the city of Albany on the 15th of January, 1838. He received his education at the Albany academy and at Williamstown, Mass. As a clerk in his father's store, he formed his taste for business and laid the foundation of his high mercantile reputation. He adopted his father's occupation as a means of living, and followed it with close devotion and untiring perseverance. Having thus early chosen his life-long pursuit, and having already gained considerable experience under the direction of his father, he was admitted into partnership in 1859.
Young Cotrell was not long in mastering the details of the business, and took a lively interest in assisting in its de- velopment and prosperity. In the meantime, from small beginnings the retail trade of the house had increased so steadily and largely that it was deemed necessary to estab- lish a wholesale department in connection with it -a de- partment which is still continued with much success. The firm of Cotrell & Son kept on flourishing all through those dark and troublesome days when the storm of civil war was raging in the south, and the exciting incidents connected with it were stirring the hearts of the American people.
In 1867, two years after the close of the war, the firm was changed to that of J. G. Cotrell & Co., by the admission of Daniel Leonard as a partner.
In 1870, this firm erected the building No. 46 State street,
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where they continued to carry on an excellent trade for fourteen years. In 1878, on the death of Joshua G. Cotrell, a new copartnership was established between Edgar Cotrell and Daniel Leonard, under the firm name of Cotrell & Leonard, which still continues to exist. On account of the remarkable growth of their business Messrs. Cotrell & Leonard removed, in 1884, to their present elegant five- story marble building at Nos. 472-476 Broadway, which is one of the most desirable locations for such a business in the city. Here the trade of the firm has reached vast di- mensions, especially in the wholesale lines, the sales yearly aggregating over a quarter of a million dollars.
The customers of this house are not confined to Albany and the surrounding country, but may be found in many distant places-in New York state, Pennsylvania, Massa- chusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, etc.
This house, as we have seen, was established sixty years ago by Joshua G. Cotrell, on the principles of economy, en- terprise, fair and honorable dealings- principles which con- tinue to be recognized as of prime importance in the con- duct of business by his successors, whose highest aim is not only to develop a useful industry on a grand scale, but also to give the fullest satisfaction to all classes of their numer- ous customers.
In 1861 Mr. Edgar Cotrell married Miss Charlotte Hadley, a lady of culture and refinement, with winning social quali- ties, daughter of the late William J. Hadley, Esq., a cele- brated lawyer. Mr. and Mrs. Cotrell, with their two beauti- ful and accomplished daughters, reside in the old family mansion, No. 172 State street, which is quite famed for its charming hospitality.
For sixty years the Cotrell family have attended the old
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Second Presbyterian church on Chapel street, where the present Mr. Cotrell is president of the board of trustees.
Mr. Cotrell is a trustee of the Homoeopathic hospital and of the Albany Orphan asylum ; president of the Albany City Savings Institution, and of the Albany Safe Deposit and Storage Company ; and vice-president of the City Na- tional bank, where he passes his time daily during banking hours.
Success has crowned Mr. Cotrell's mercantile work, while in the very prime of life, and as a banker he has already ex- hibited qualities of a high order - honest, systematic and straight-forward in all his financial transactions - with un- tiring efforts to advance the prosperity of the banking-house with which he is connected ; well meriting the universal confidence reposed in him. And it is but just to say here, that in all the other public trusts with which he has been honored by his fellow-citizens, he has shown careful man- agement, sound judgment, rare ability and a watchful re- gard for the best interests of others.
In his personal manners Mr. Cotrell is plain and easily approachable, with generous impulses and a kindly feeling for all. He is a lover of simplicity and sincerity, and a despiser of ostentation or insincerity in any form.
Since the above sketch was written it is our painful duty to announce the sudden death of Mr. Cotrell, which occurred in the night of the 15th of April, 1890. He had retired to his room about II o'clock, apparently in good health, but was suddenly stricken with apoplexy and died before touch- ing his bed.
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"The cry at midnight came, He started up to hear ; A mortal arrow pierced his frame - He fell, but felt no fear.
" His spirit with a bound, Left its encumbering clay His tent at sunrise on the ground, A darkened ruin lay."
A happy family where mutual love reigned supreme was thus suddenly plunged into the deepest sorrow, while Albany lost one of its best, most esteemed, most active citizens. His memory will always be highly cherished by all who knew him. As one very justly remarks :
" Mr. Cotrell possessed an unusually happy and lovely disposition. He was a man who always won not only re- spect, but genuine love from every person with whom he came in contact. In business affairs his diligence, upright- ness and tact had won for him a leading place, and made him the trusted adviser of many. Those who sought his counsel found in him always valuable advice and a large- hearted sympathy and kindliness which endeared him to them forever. Few men have been called to fill so many responsible places of trust, and none have acquitted them- selves more honorably than did Edgar Cotrell."
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ELLIOT DANFORTH.
MONG the notable men connected with the service of the state in an official relation, is the Hon. Elliot Danforth, state treasurer.
Born at Middleburg, Schoharie county, N. Y., on the 6th of March, 1850, he spent his earliest years amidst the rural scenes of his native place, and under the care of loving parents. He is the youngest son of Judge Peter S. Dan- forth of Middleburg, who was born on the 19th of June, 1816, in the village of Middleburg, and who in his declining life is enjoying the happy consciousness of having served his country faithfully in civil, educational and religious mat- ters. He was fitted for college at the Kinderhook academy, N. Y., where he won a prize for proficiency in the classics when only fourteen years old. In 1837 he was graduated from Union college, under the presidency of Dr. Eliphalet Nott, who was then in the zenith of his fame and useful- ness as an educator. He studied law in the office of the Hon. Robert McClellan, at that time member of congress from Schoharie county ; and also in the office of Marcus T. Reynolds of Albany, one of the most eminent lawyers of this city. He formed a partnership with Judge Lyman San- ford of Schoharie, which existed for fourteen years.
Among the offices he has held are those of district at-
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torney for Schoharie county in 1845; state senator from Delaware and Schoharie in 1853; judge-advocate of the 18th brigade for fourteen years, and a justice of the supreme court, a position to which he was appointed in 1872, by Governor Hoffman. The father of Judge Peter S. Dan- forth was George Danforth, who was born in Albany, on the site of the new capitol, and who was a lawyer of marked ability. He died at Savannah, Ga., in the midst of his active duties, at the comparatively early age of forty-two. It has been well said of the Danforth family, that it is one whose history, as a family, is interwoven with the history of other lands than this, and Edward Danforth Curtis, of Andover, Mass., in an address which he delivered at the third family reunion, after some allusions not wholly complimentary to King Arthur and his famous "Knights of the Round Table," forcibly and poetically says of his ancestry : "As for our lineage, the blood of a sterner, sturdier race flows in our veins. The Danforth family tree strikes its top-root down into the subsoil of the conquering Teutonic race of Central Europe, whose God was Woden, whose heaven was Wal- halla, whose fierce valor overcame the disciplined armies of Rome, and whose on-rush swept away like a flood the mighty structure of the Imperial power and civilization."
From his youth, Elliot Danforth, the subject of our sketch, manifested a great desire for the acquisition of knowledge, and his parents were determined to foster the boy's genius in this respect. At the public schools he was noted for his studious habits, and his fine literary tastes were thus early formed. After receiving a liberal education he sought to improve his mind still further by travel, believ- ing with Goldsmith, that " the volume of nature is the book of knowledge ; and he becomes most wise who makes the
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most judicious selection." Accordingly he turned his face towards the west as the principal field of his observation, and made two trips through that interesting, picturesque and romantic region, going as far as the Pacific coast, care- fully studying the manners and customs of the people, and gazing with unbounded admiration upon the many grand, natural objects along the route of his travels. Returning to his native village, refreshed in body and invigorated in mind, he commenced the study of the law in the office of his father. And so closely and successfully did he devote his time and attention to the great writers on legal science, that in January, 1871, he was admitted to the bar. Well grounded in the principles of the law, as well as in general literature, and possessing an earnest and forcible delivery, his success as a brilliant professional man was now fully as- sured. Many emoluments and honors were in store for him. But, in the meantime, he turned his attention to an- other interesting subject of a social nature. In 1874, he married Miss Ida Prince, an accomplished young lady, the only child of Dr. Gervis Prince, president of the First Na- tional bank of Bainbridge, N. Y. The union was one of the happiest ever formed, and the home of Mr. Danforth is brightened and cheered by all that elevates and ennobles the calmer walks of a true domestic life.
Removing to the village of Bainbridge in the summer of 1878, Mr. Danforth formed a law partnership with the Hon. George H. Winsor of that place. Considerable business was done by this well-known firm, and young Danforth was not long in achieving a widely-extended reputation in the successful performance of his professional duties. His emi. . nent services were soon called into requisition by public bodies. He was chosen a member of the committee on
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prizes of the New York Bar association, and for three years held the office of president of the corporation of Bain- bridge -- his fine literary tastes, strict integrity and acknowi- edged ability marking him for such positions of honor and trust.
Mr. Danforth now entered with great enthusiasm into the broad field of politics. From the first his affiliations were with the democratic party, and he came before the people as a staunch representative of the young democracy of the Jacksonian school. In 1880 he was a delegate to the national democratic convention which met at Cincinnati and nominated Gen. Hancock for the presidency. He was the youngest member of the convention, and a good story is told of him on that occasion. When about to enter the hall, where none but delegates were admitted, his youthful appearance was so striking and his right to be admitted into the assembly so apparently questionable, that the sergeant- at-arms stepped up to him, and touching him on the shoulder, said : " Boys are not admitted here." But when his right was asserted and established, the sergeant-at-arms was not .a little embarrassed, and with a suitable apology, and as bland a smile as could be expected under the circumstances, told the youthful member to go in just as soon as he pleased.
Mr. Danforth entered the arena of political conflict to re- main there; while at the same time he has continued to gather gems of truth, wisdom and beauty from the wide range of literary investigation as opportunity offers. In the fall of 1880 he was unanimously nominated as the candidate for congress from his district, but declined the honor. At the same time his name was presented as a candidate for state treasurer, and he received a very flattering support from his friends. In 1884 he was also a delegate to the
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democratic national convention at Chicago, which nominated Grover Cleveland for president; and it need scarcely be added that he was an ardent supporter of Cleveland's elec- tion, delivering many stirring addresses in different parts of the state during that memorable and exciting campaign.
Soon after the election of the Hon. Lawrence J. Fitzgerald as state treasurer, in 1885, Mr. Danforth was appointed deputy state treasurer - an office whose duties he discharged with such ability and success that Treasurer Fitzgerald, on his re-election, re-appointed him as deputy for the term of two years, from the Ist of January, 1888. In the presi- dential and New York state gubernatorial campaign of 1888, Mr. Danforth delivered nearly thirty speeches in various parts of the state in advocacy of the principles of democracy, and in favor of the election of Cleveland and Thurman, Hill and Jones. He is one of the most ardent personal and political admirers of Gov. Hill, from whose incisive, bold and outspoken utterances he derives inspiration, and with undaunted courage and firmness follows him through all the skirmishes and contests of political warfare.
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