Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume II, Part 2

Author: White, Truman C
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 684

USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume II > Part 2

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Mr. Pratt and William P. Letchworth instituted the firm of Pratt & Letchworth in 1845, for the purpose of carrying on an exclusively saddlery hardware and manufacturing business in Buffalo, which is still in existence under the style of the Pratt & Letchworth Company, the incorporation having taken place in 1895.

Mr. Pratt was a man of uncommon business ability and his success was as marked as it was deserved. One of his chief characteristics was kindness combined with courtesy. He possessed great energy and courage, an even temperament and unusual perseverance, and in all his dealings was the soul of honor and justice. He was thorough, systematic, and careful, never shrank from responsibility, and he mas- tered every detail. During the Rebellion he was treasurer of the Citizens Committee of Three; was one of the aldermen in 1844, and was several times urged to become a candidate for mayor, but in- variably declined. He was one of the organizers of the Buffalo Gas Light Company in 1848, and served as its president until his death. He was one of the chief founders of the Buffalo Female Academy in 1851, was elected its first president and afterwards was long one of its

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

trustees. At the age of eighteen he became a member of the First Presbyterian church, and for many years was a leading member of its choir. In 1866, with his wife and daughter, he made a tour of Europe, and in 1868, with his brother Pascal, he again went abroad.

Mr. Pratt's achievements were the results of industry and frugality acquired in boyhood. He owed much to a kind, sympathetic, Christian mother, whose guidance and wise counsels started him upon a career of usefulness; he never forgot her lessons. He loved and appreciated the finer qualities, and himself possessed them in an unusual degree. In his home, in business, in public and private, he was ever the kind, courteous gentleman, the firm friend, and the honest, enterprising citizen. His death, which occurred on April 27, 1892, was universally lamented.

In the fall of 1835 Mr. Pratt was married to Miss Mary Jane Strong, who was then residing with her uncle, Rev. Sylvester Eaton, in Pater- son, N. J. She was one of five sisters. Their children were Jeannie and Helen. The eldest was born February 18, 1841, married in June, 1860, William J. King, jr., of Providence, R. I., and died September 24, 1872. Helen married Frank Hamlin, of Buffalo, February 27, 1872, and died in Paris, January 27, 1873.

PASCAL PAOLI PRATT.

HON. PASCAL PAOLI PRATT is the youngest child of Samuel Pratt, jr., and Sophia Fletcher, his wife, and was born on the 15th of September, 1819, in Buffalo, N. Y., where he has ever since resided. A more de- tailed account of the family's removal from Westminster, Vt., in 1804, to the then pioneer settlement of Buffalo, appears in the foregoing memorial of his eldest brother, Samuel Fletcher Pratt, to which the reader's attention is directed. Suffice it to say in this connection that Mr. Pratt's grandfather, Capt. Samuel Pratt, and his father, Samuel, jr., were among the first to permanently engage in the fur business in this part of the State. Unlike them and his elder brother, he ex- perienced none of the trials and dangers through which the family passed during the early years of the village and the war of 1812, for he was born after those trying times had occurred; yet he acquired in his youth a thorough knowledge of their struggles, and imbibed the cour- age and fortitude which have so signally marked his career with honor

BIOGRAPHICAL.

and success. Inheriting those qualities of manhood that characterized his race, he gave evidence, as a boy, of that spirit of self-reliance and industry which mark the true pioneer and which enabled him to grasp opportunities with peculiar fitness. Now, approaching the age of four- score years, his mind is rich in reminiscences of youthful days, when he saw, oftentimes, as many Indians as white men upon the streets, and when the present populous city was an imagination of an active brain. With rare distinctness he remembers the scenes and times of sixty and seventy years ago, and can narrate all the principal changes which have taken place during the most important half century of the city's wonderful growth.

It has been written of Mr. Pratt that he deserves three biographies -"one as a business man, another as a banker, and a third, perhaps the most important of all, as a public-spirited citizen." Certain it is that the limits of this narrative will not admit of more than a hasty glance at the salient points in his eminent career-at those facts and incidents which have had a paramont influence in developing and per- fecting one of the noblest individualities that ever graced the annals of Buffalo. His earlier education was obtained in the primitive schools of his native village, which his grandfather and father were largely in- strumental in founding and maintaining. Following this he spent one year (1833) at Hamilton Academy in Madison county, N. Y., and nearly two years in an institution at Amherst, Mass. These somewhat limited advantages, however, enabled him to acquire habits of study and observation that have always made him conspicuous as a liberal, broad-minded and cultivated man. Early in 1836, when but sixteen years of age, he began his active business life as a clerk in the hard- ware store of his brother, Samuel F. Pratt, who, that year, succeeded the firm of Weed & Pratt. In 1842 he became a partner under the firm name of S. F. Pratt & Co .. which, in 1846, was changed to Pratt & Co., and which has ever since carried on an extensive and successful career under that style. Few firms in the State can show such an un- broken and honorable history. Their operations widened as the years passed, from a retail into a large and prosperous wholesale hardware business, which extended even far beyond the Mississippi River. They also engaged in the manufacture of iron, and organized and owned the Buffalo Iron and Nail Company. They built a blast furnace and roll- ing mill at Black Rock and successfully operated them from the au- tumn of 1857 to about 1885, when the former was leased and the latter

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

was exchanged for other manufacturing interests. These enterprises gave employment to from 500 to 800 workmen and to a number of vessels in carrying ore. They also were the means of settling many families in the immediate neighborhood and of building up a city which had little other inducement to offer incoming settlers; and the place to-day stands as a landmark, a testimony to the energy and enterprise of Mr. Pratt, who had special charge and management for this firm.

Mr. Pratt, following the standard set by his grandfather and father, has always taken great pride in developing the natural advantages of Buffalo, never failing to avail himself of every opportunity to encour- age and further any worthy undertaking, especially those of a manu- facturing character. His activity in this respect has been remarkable. He not only placed his firm's and his own capital in these operations, but he influenced others in the same direction, and he probably has done more than any other one man to bring his city into national prominence as a manufacturing center by personally investing in and inaugurating such movements. One of his practical theories was the employment of labor at remunerative prices; and many of Buffalo's successful manufacturing establishments owe their inception to his as- sistance and example. He was one of the originators of the city's park system, was the first president of the Park Commission and remained at its head from 1869 to 1879, when he resigned. Under his adminis- tration the plans were perfected and the park property purchased, and the whole magnificent scheme was practically carried into effect, leav- ing his successors little to do except to finish and keep in order the work so thoroughly inaugurated by his colleagues and himself. This park system is noted throughout the country and even abroad as one of the finest and most perfect in existence, and it reflects great credit upon Mr. Pratt's able and conscientious management and public spirit. No breath of suspicion of any irregularity was ever directed against the commission or its officers, although they served without pay; and this fact furnishes conclusive evidence that their duties, covering the disbursement of large sums of money, were honestly and faithfully discharged.

In 1883 Mr. Pratt, Hon. Luther R. Marsh and Hon. Matthew Hale were chosen as a commission to appraise the land proposed to be taken at Niagara Falls for an International Park. This work involved ques- tions as to the extent of the rights of riparian owners, who claimed free use of the waters of Niagara River for power and other purposes, and payment for the resumption of sovereignty by the State, which would

BIOGRAPHICAL.

have permanently defeated the object in view had the original claims been fully allowed. But Mr. Pratt's unswerving integrity, practiced judgment, and familiarity with property values, and the confidence which the entire community deservedly placed in him, were invaluable to the commission and gave great weight to the estimates, and the re- sults were satisfactory to all concerned. Awards amounting to about $1,500,000 were made and confirmed by the Supreme Court and accepted by the Legislature, and in 1885 the necessary act was passed and received Governor Hill's signature. This brought under permanent preservation and into free public use some of the grandest scenery in the world, and every year scores of thousands of visitors testify to the wisdom of the undertaking.

While devoting his attention and energies chiefly to the management of his large and varied business interests, Mr. Pratt has never failed to respond to every duty and privilege as a public-spirited citizen, and in this respect he has been equally active and useful. He has always been a liberal contributor to benevolent objects, to all the charitable institu- tions of Buffalo, and to numerous movements which had the welfare and upbuilding of the community at heart. To the Young Men's Christian Association, whose handsome building cost more than $120,000, he was the largest of the many givers. In religious convictions and associations he is an earnest Presbyterian, while in politics he has been an active Republican since the inception of that party. He was a presidential elector in 1872, but excepting this he has invariably declined political office. As a business man he stands in the front rank. Wise in coun- sel, prompt in action, systematic and thorough in all he undertakes, and affable and pleasant in all intercourse; he has been eminently suc- cessful and has always enjoyed the respect and confidence of all classes. In every capacity he has won the approval of both friend and opponent. As a financier his integrity and ability have never been questioned. He is a firm friend, a man of positive likes and dislikes, and a citizen of lofty impulses and motives. It is impossible in the limited space at command, to enumerate all the institutions with which he has long been prominently connected, for they include nearly every one in Buffalo and many elsewhere, but a few of the more important may properly be mentioned. He was vice-president of the Manufacturers' and Traders' Bank of Buffalo from its organization in 1856 until about 1885, when he was elected president, which office he still holds. He is a director in the Bank of Attica and the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Company ; president of the Buffalo Iron and Nail Company, of the Young Men's Christian Association, and of the Buffalo Female Academy; and a trustee of the Buffalo Gaslight Company and the Buffalo Orphan Asylum. Since 1848 he has been a member of the firm of Pratt & Letchworth, which was founded by his brother, Samuel F. Pratt and William P. Letchworth, and is now operated as the Pratt & Letchworth Company under the management of Josiah and Ogden P. L. Letchworth. The large plant of this corporation is engaged in turning out immense quantities of malleable iron and steel castings, having a trade extend- ing throughout the Union, and giving employment to several hundred men. Mr. Pratt is also connected with nearly all the charitable and benevolent societies of Buffalo. His life has been a useful and active one in every respect and his example is a standing incentive to honor- able endeavor and emulation.

On September 1, 1845, Mr. Pratt was married to Miss Phoebe Lorenz, daughter of Frederick Lorenz, a prominent iron and glass manufacturer of Pittsburg, Pa. Their children are Katherine (Mrs. John M. Horton), Frederick L. (now assisting his father in the management of his real estate and other interests), Annie (Mrs. John Chittenden), Melissa D. (Mrs. Robert L. Fryer) of Buffalo, Samuel F. of Alden, N. Y., Emma (wife of Dr. Charles Sumner Jones) of Buffalo, and Edward P., who resides at Kansas City.

EBEN CARLETON SPRAGUE.

THE excellent portrait upon another page in these volumes is the likeness of one who was for many years in the front rank of the legal profession in Western New York, who occupied a lofty position in the literary and social life of Buffalo, and who enjoyed the unbounded re- spect and admiration of all who knew him-Eben Carleton Sprague. Mr. Sprague's life began in Bath, N. H., where he was born on No- vember 26, 1822. Four years later, in the spring of 1826, the family removed to Buffalo, where he passed the remainder of his long life. He was gently reared under delightful home influences, receiving wise parental indulgences in all that promised to be of benefit in his after life. After obtaining a preliminary education in the Buffalo schools he was prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy, which he entered in 1837, when he was fifteen years of age. From that institution he passed on to Harvard College in 1839 and graduated in 1843. It has

BIOGRAPHICAL.

been said of him 1 that at this time, as he returned from his university life, "he had a manly beauty, a scholarly bearing, and a charm of manner which gave him distinction at once in every circle. He had high ideas of culture and character, and entered upon the study of his profession richly equipped for large success "

In the fall of 1843 Mr. Sprague began the study of law in the office of Fillmore, Hall & Haven, which has elsewhere in this work been fre- quently mentioned as one of the strongest in Western and Central New York. Mr. Sprague studied diligently and was admitted to the bar in October, 1846. During nearly fifty succeeding years he successfully practiced his profession in Buffalo, rising in the mean time to such em- inence at the bar as is reached by few. In addressing his brethren of the bar on the occasion of the memorial proceedings from the record of which a quotation has just been made, the Hon. Sherman S. Rogers said of Mr. Sprague that " he was one of the most eminent and success- ful of our number-one of the most eminent and successful of all the men who have practiced our profession in Buffalo." Continuing, Mr. Rogers spoke as follows:

The roll of our illustrious names is not a short one. There are many among them who would have graced places of the highest distinction. Some of them died in youth ; more of them in middle life, in the very heat and strife of professional activ- ity; others when withdrawn from it to the comparative repose of declining years. But I recall no one of these eminent men who, like our brother Sprague, held his place to the last after he had passed his seventieth year, marching with steady, but resolute mien in the very front rank, primus inter pares, as he had for more than forty years. I said he was successful. I do not mean simply that Mr. Sprague at- tained distinction and accumulated fortune in the profession of the law, though it is true that he did. I do not mean simply that he won civic honors and esteem, that his fellow citizens held in high consideration his views on public questions, and looked to him for guidance and direction, and that his death is mourned by this great city as a public loss.

The higher success of which I speak can be obtained without professional distinc- tion or ample estate or civic honor. It has been attained by thousands of men upon whom fortune has not smiled and to whom popular place and favor were strangers. What I had in my mind was that the success whose witness is well rounded, well ripened character, the fruit of many years' devotion to duty, of years filled with gentle thoughts, of years animated with noble ambitions and purposes, enriched by liberal an'd ex- panding studies and sweetened with the charity which thinketh no evil. A char- acter which makes old age venerable and lovely.

These words of praise were in the broadest sense deserved by Mr.

1 Address of Hon. James O. Putnam during the proceedings of the Erie County Bar Associa tion, in memory of Mr. Sprague.

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

Sprague. His industry and integrity early gave him important pro- fessional trusts, and when once bestowed they were never withdrawn. His professional connections constantly expanded and his steadfast devotion to duty strengthened the foundations on which his reputation was based.

While Mr. Sprague was eminently fitted for successful public life in any station demanding statesmanship, ability and honesty, he stead- fastly resisted every overture to enter political life further than to ex- ert his influence for the public good whenever it was possible. To supply a vacancy made by the resignation of Sherman S. Rogers as State senator, he was elected for the single session of 1876-77; he de- clined a re-election. His ardent love of his profession drew him away from the consideration of other ambitions; this, with hiscontentment and happiness in private life and his reluctance to submit himself to the control of other influences that are not always elevating to the sensitive and honorable man, was sufficient to deter him from taking the part in political and public life that might have been his without solicitation. He was a born independent; his party controlled him only so far as its policy agreed with his high code of honor and his devotion to the pub- lic weal.

Mr. Sprague possessed literary ability of a high order. His early love for the classics he never lost. His mind was wedded to the best literature of all ages and the catholicity of his nature never permitted him to ask of what creed or race was the author, if he represented jus- tice and righteousness. He wrote much for publication upon various topics and with the same charming style that characterized his speaking. His tongue and pen were always ready for enlistment in any good work.

Mr. Sprague was an ideal citizen and his name will be forever closely associated with the founding and advancement of many local institutions devoted to charity, education and social growth. For several years prior to and at the time of his death, he was chancellor of the Univer- sity of Buffalo, president of the Harvard Club of Western New York, and president of the Liberal Club of Buffalo. In June, 1892, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Harvard University. Mr. Sprague was a deeply religious man and was educated in and as- sociated with the liberal school of Christianity. His sympathy went out to every sect and school alike that worshiped the Creator in truth. His social influence was very large and beneficent and his domestic life was all that it could be made in devotion to his home. It was easy for

BIOGRAPHICAL.

him to make a faithful friend of any one whom he met. He was the true gentleman always and everywhere.

Mr. Sprague's death took place on February 14, 1895.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

GROVER CLEVELAND was born at Caldwell, Essex county, N. J., 1 March 18, 1837. His father, a native of Norwich, Conn., was a Pres- byterian minister, educated at Yale College, and was at one time in charge of a church at Fayetteville, N. Y. His mother, a Miss Neal, of Baltimore, was a daughter of a well known book publisher of that city. His great-uncle, well and favorably known in Boston, as "Father Cleveland," was a city missionary of the Presbyterian church and lived to be nearly one hundred years old. Grover Cleveland's education was obtained at the district schools of his neighborhood and in the academy, until he was fourteen years of age, when he completed his school days at the academy in the village of Clinton, Oneida, county, N. Y. Re- moving to Buffalo in 1855 he commenced the study of law in the office of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He remained in the office of his preceptors until the 1st of January, 1863, when he became assistant district attorney under C. C. Torrance, and held that office during the three succeeding years. During his term in the district attorney's office Mr. Cleveland displayed fine quali- ties as counsel, brilliant talents as an advocate, and a strength and firmness of character such as belong only to men of power. He dis- charged the arduous duties of his office with singular ability and strict honesty and made his way to a place of unmistakable importance in his profession. In 1865 he was nominated for district attorney and although he developed great strength in the canvass, he failed of elec- tion. He was associated with the late Hon. I. V. Vanderpool as a partner from January 1, 1866, till August 1, 1869, and in 1870 was nominated for sheriff of Erie county. He was elected by a handsome majority and served until the expiration of his term in 1873. He was a partner of the late Hon. A. P. Laning from August, 1869, until he entered upon the discharge of his duties as sheriff on the 1st of Janu- ary, 1871. From the 1st of January, 1874, until the 1st of May, 1881, he was a member of the firm of Bass, Cleveland & Bissell, which on the latter date became the firm of Cleveland & Bissell. Mr. Cleveland

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

received the nomination for mayor of Buffalo by the Democratic party in 1881, and was elected in November of that year by a large majority, receiving the vote of a great number of his fellow citizens belonging to the opposite political party. He entered upon the discharge of his duties as mayor, on January 2, 1862. His administration was notable for the firm stand taken by him in opposing the customary heavy ex- penditures of public money for purposes the immediate prosecution of which seemed unnecessary, from his point of view. He used the veto power with greater fredom than had any of his predecessors in that office and, while he made for himself many enemies, his administration received the approbation of most of the conservative citizens of that city.

Grover Cleveland's star had risen and his remarkable elevation dur- ing a comparatively few succeeding years from one post of honor to another led to his being considered by his admirers as "a man of des- tiny." On the the second day of the Democratic State Convention in Syracuse, September 22, 1882, on the third ballot, Mr. Cleveland re- ceived 211 votes for nomination for the office of governor out of 382. Disaffection in the Republican ranks, a united Democracy and the sup- port of the independent press of the State conspired to produce a most astonishing result in the ensusng election. Cleveland's plurality over Charles J. Folger, was 192,854 in a total vote of 918,894. In the office of governor Mr. Cleveland exhibited broader 'statesmanship along the same lines that had characterized his administration as mayor of Buf- falo. Retrenchment, economy and integrity were the commanding principles governing his course, while his persistence in adhering to his own views and beliefs, frequently in opposition to men of large influ- ence in his own party, called forth from the public press frequent and extended comment and soon made him one of the most conspicuous of public men. Reform was the watchword of his administration. His modest manner of living in Albany and the freedom and consideration with which he met all callers upon him greatly strengthened him among the masses of the people. The Democratic National Conven- tion met in Chicago July 8, 1884. In a vote taken on the 10th on can- didates for the presidency, Mr. Cleveland received 392 out out of 820, and on the following morning he developed such a degree of strength for the high honor that when a vote was taken he was given 683 and his nomination was made unanimous. In his subsequent letter of acceptance, Mr. Cleveland clearly foreshadowed his future policy, the

BIOGRAPHICAL.

details of which are a part of recent general history and need not be followed here. It can be stated that he left the presidency of the United States no less strong in the confidence and affection of the people of the country than on the day of his election. Affairs of grave importance came before him during his administration, all of which were treated by him upon a high and dignified plane of statesmanship, from his point of view.

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Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume II, Part 2

Author: White, Truman C Publication date: 1898 Publisher: [Boston] : Boston History Co. Number of Pages: 684

Author: White, Truman C
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 684