USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume II > Part 63
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
aaa
418
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
dent of the Central Republican Club in 1884, and delivered political addresses in the leading cities with distinguished success. Mr. Gluck's reputation as a vigorous writer and polished orator led to many invitations to deliver public addresses. Among achievements in this field may be mentioned a discussion of " The Scholar in Politics" before the Cornell Alumni in 1877; and oration on " The Power and In- fluence of Music" delivered at the laying of the corner stone of the New Music Hall; and addresses at the commencements of the University of Buffalo, the Buffalo Fe- male Academy, and the Training School for Nurses. He was a trustee of Cornell University, and one of his first services in this capacity was an investigation of the causes of the struggle between the alumni and the board of trustees, and his report thereon was termed by President Elliot of Harvard the most scholarly report made by a college man, not a professor, he had ever seen. He was influential in estab- lishing the school of philosophy at Cornell. Through Mr. Gluck's influence the sys- tem of scholarships was also established whereby poor and meritorious students received university aid for four years to the amount of $250 a year. At the time of his death he was president of the Grosvenor Library and a director of the Buffalo Library. While curator of the Buffalo Library. Mr. Gluck made a collection of manuscripts, autograph letters of famous men, historical documents of value and rare books; and just before the close of his term of office he surprised the trustees of the library by presenting to them for the institution what many deemed the most valuable collection of the kind in the country. His private library was probably the largest private library in the city, and distinctively rich in history, philosophy, science and the classics. His knowledge of books and literature was profound and covered a wide range. He went to Europe in the fall of 1897 and on his return died, after a brief illness, at the Murray Hill Hotel in New York city December 15, 1897. He was married in 1877 to Miss Effie D. Tyler, daughter of Rev. Charles Tyler, pastor of the Congregational church at Ithaca and now one of the professors in Cornell University. The widow and two children, Berkley Sinclair and Margaret, survive.
Benedict, Nathan Gregory, deceased, was descended from (1) Thomas Benedict of v Nottinghamshire, England, who landed at Boston in 1638, married Mary Bridgum, and spent the remainder of his life in Connecticut, serving for a time as lieutenant of militia under Governor Nichols. His son (2), James Benedict, was one of the eight original settlers of Danbury, Conn .; he married Sarah Gregory, a lineal de- scendant in the twenty-first generation from Sir John Gregory of Leicester, Eng- land, who was born about 1200. (3) Thomas Benedict, son of James and Sarah, was for thirty-one sessions a member of the Connecticut Legislature, and died July 4, 1776, aged eighty-two; he married Abigail Hoyt and had four sons, all of whom served in the Revolutionary war. One son (4), Capt. Elisha Benedict, born in 1736, was marshal of Albany county, N. Y., in 1771, and in 1774-75 was engaged in form- ing military companies in Vermont; while on a furlough he was captured by the British and Indians, taken to Canada, and kept a prisoner two and a half years. His five sons all served in the war of the Revolution. One of them (5), Elisha Bene- dict, jr., born in 1760, settled after the war near Saratoga, N. Y., removed to Steu- ben county, and died in Yates county in 1845. He married his first cousin, Thank- ful Gregory, a lineal descendant of Sir John Gregory, and their son (6), Nathan
419
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
Gregory Benedict, sr., born at Ballston, N. Y., in 1789, married Polly, daughter of Ezra Torrance, a Revolutionary soldier, and spent his active life in Steuben and Yates counties, dying in 1867. (7) Nathan Gregory Benedict, jr., was born in Yates county, N. Y., March 10, 1833, attended the district schools and the Pratts- burg Academy in Steuben county, and spent his life as a teacher. He came to Buf- falo about 1855, and until his death on September 13, 1892, was principal of one of the public schools of the city. His labors in this capacity covered a period of over thirty-five years. One of his chief characteristics was a clear and comprehensive presentation of subjects to his pupils and a fatherly regard for their physical wel- fare. He was a pioneer in developing the school circulating library, establishing in his school, No. 32, one of the finest and largest in the city. He was president of the Y. M. C. A. about six years, was largely instrumental in causing the erection of their building on the corner of Pearl and Mohawk streets, and was prominent in estab- lishing the Black Rock and German branches. He was a member of the Delaware Avenue M. E. church, and in politics was a Republican. On December 25, 1857, he married Gracia S., daughter of the late Rev. Stephen R. Smith (which see), who sur- vives him. They had one son, Dr. A. L. Benedict, whose sketch appears on another page.
Smith, Rev. Stephen Rensselaer, deceased, was born in Albany, N. Y., September 27, 1788. He was a grandson of John Smith of Scituate, R. I., whose children were Richard, Joseph, Jonathan, Oziel, Thomas, Hope, and Sarah. The six sons par- ticipated in some capacity in the Colonial or Revolutionary wars, Hope, the young- est, born in 1750, being commissioned a captain about 1776 by Governor Trumbull and acting as recruiting officer ; he was twice married, his second wife being Rachel Horton, of Gloucester, R. I., whom he wedded in June, 1787. Soon afterward they removed to Albany, N. Y., and finally settled in Oneida county, where he died in April, 1823, and she in March, 1846. Rev. Stephen R. Smith, their only son, at- tended the district schools, taught school, etc. In 1811 he became fully identified with Universalism, and in 1812 began the study of theology under Rev. Paul Dean of New Hartford, N. Y. In 1813 the Western Association gave him a letter of fellow- ship and then he began to prepare himself in earnest for the ministry, his tutor be- ing Rev. Richard Carrique of Charlton, Mass. He was ordained by the General convention of Universalists at Westmoreland, N. H., September 22, 1814, and in June, 1815, preached the first sermon in the first Universalist church built in New York State, at New Hartford. In 1816 he visited Buffalo and spent the summer at Williamsville, being the first preacher of his denomination in this section; he also spent the season of 1817 there, preaching over a large circuit. In 1818 he became pastor of the church in New Hartford; in 1823 he removed to Clinton, and later to Philadelphia, Pa., where he edited the Universalist and its successor the Herald of Salvation. In 1828 he returned to Clinton, where he prepared and published in the Evangelical Magazine a series of articles on the history of Universalism in New York, and where he also took part in May, 1831, in the first public action taken in this State on the subject of theological education for the denomination. He was one of the founders and virtually the father of the Clinton Liberal Institute, of which he was the general agent. In 1835 he became the corresponding editor of the Maga- zine and Advocate, for which he wrote a series of articles entitled, "Causes of Infi-
420
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
delity Removed," which were published in book form. In 1837 he removed to Al- bany, and in the spring of 1843 settled in Buffalo, where he died February 17, 1850, after serving for six years as pastor of the First Universalist church. Mr. Smith was one of the ablest and foremost ministers of his time. He preached and lectured throughout this State, and was regarded as a man of the highest charac- ter, and a profound thinker. He married Lucy Stillman of Whitestown, N. Y. Of their ten children four are still living.
Fleming, William A., Buffalo, was born in Syracuse, N. Y., December 15, 1848, and received a public and high school education. His first business experience was as a clerk in the office of the Montauk Iron Company, with whom he remained three years. He then became connected with the Baltimore Steamship Company, as a clerk, in whose employ he remained three years, when he entered the services of the N. Y. C. & H. R. railroad, serving as baggage master and afterward as a conductor running between New York and Albany. Afterward he became traveling freight agent of the D., L. & W. R. R., and since 1882 has been western freight agent of that line, with headquarters in Buffalo.
Wright, Andrew Robinson, M. D., Buffalo, was born in the town of Crawford, Orange county, N.Y., October 19, 1825, being a son of John Wright, a farmer. His early education was acquired in the common schools and at the Albany State Nor- mal School, from which he was graduated in 1848. After graduation he taught in the old Albany Academy and the Elmira public school until 1852, when he took up the study of medicine with Dr. N. H. Warner of Buffalo, with whom he remained until 1854, attending also lectures at the Buffalo Medical College. His health fail- ing he took a voyage to India and China and finished his medical studies in the schools of Paris. He was graduated on previous study at the Cleveland Homoeo- pathic Medical College in 1858, and began practice in Elmira, N. Y., where he re- mained until 1859, when he came to Buffalo, where he has ever since followed his profession. He is a member of the Washington Street Baptist church, the Erie County Homoeopathic Society and the Western New York Homoeopathic Society, and has filled the office of president in each one of these medical organizations. He is also a member and president of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, a cor- responding member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and a medical examiner under State and Regents appointment. Dr. Wright is one of the oldest and best known physicians in Buffalo, having been in active practice in this city for nearly forty years. In 1864 he married Charlotte Crocker, and they have two daughters, Mabel and Rosalie.
Weill, Henry, Buffalo, was born at Muttersholtz, Alsace, France, December 17, 1847, was graduated from the College de Schlestadt, Academie de Strasbourg, in 1863, and then became a clerk in a wholesale dry goods house in Mulhouse, Alsace. In 1867 he came to America and soon afterward settled in Buffalo, where he en- gaged in selling cloth to country tailors, and later embarked in the jewelry business. He went to Chicago in 1881 and began the manufacture of gold rings and other jewelry, and in 1883 returned to Buffalo, where he successfully followed the busi- ness of importing diamonds until 1888. He also purchased and developed a tract of real estate in North Buffalo. He was one of the organizers in 1891 of the Metropoli-
421
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
tan Bank, of which he has been president since 1893; was a charter member of the Buffalo Orpheus and the Phoenix Club, and chairman of the latter's building com- mittee; and has been a trustee of the Temple Beth Zion since 1874, and its president since 1892. He is also a member of the executive board of the Jewish Orphan Asy- lum of Western New York at Rochester, and a member of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M. of Buffalo. Mr. Weill has been eminently successful, and in the business and social life of the city is widely respected and esteemed. He was married October 16, 1870, to Miss Fannie Shire of Buffalo.
Wadsworth, George, Buffalo, is descended from some of the oldest and most prom- inent families of New England. His paternal ancestor, William Wadsworth, came from England in the ship Lion, landing at Boston September 18, 1632, and removed with Parson Hooker's company to Hartford, Conn., in 1636. William's eldest son, John, from whom Mr. Wadsworth is descended, was the half-brother of Joseph Wadsworth of Charter Oak fame, and was himself a member of the party who ab- stracted the charter. One of Mr. Wadsworth's great-grandfathers, Joseph P. Cooke, was a colonel and another, Elijah Hoyt, was a captain in the Revolutionary war. On his mother's side he is descended from Thomas Cooke, an early settler of Fair- field county, Conn., and also from Simon Hoyt, who came to Salem, Mass., in 1628. George Wadsworth is a son of James C. and Sally (Cooke) Wadsworth and was born March 10, 1830, in Litchfield, Conn., where he received a common school and academical education, which was supplemented by attendance at the Danbury (Conn.) Academy. He read law in Litchfield, which for the early part of this cent- ury was noted for its excellent law school; he also taught school, and in 1851 was admitted to the Connecticut bar. In the same year he went to New York city and was admitted to practice in this State, and in 1852 he removed to Buffalo, where he has since resided. Mr. Wadsworth's career at the Buffalo bar covers a period of forty- five years. He is an able, painstaking and conscientious lawyer and a man of the highest character and integrity. He has made the practice of real property law and the settlement of estates somewhat of a specialty, and has been associated in part- nership with such eminent men as Benjamin H. Williams, Loran L. Lewis, Truman C. White and Nelson K. Hopkins. He served as city attorney in 1860 and 1861, was twice nominated for the office of judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo, and was a member of the committee appointed to revise the city charter in 1891. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Buffalo Republican League and the Buffalo, Ellicott and other clubs, and past master of Ancient Landmarks Lodge No. 441, F. & A. M. In June, 1858, he married Emily O. Marshall of Utica, N. Y., and they have two children: Henry Cowles Wadsworth and Elizabeth W., wife of Robert H. Williams, both of Buffalo.
Dodge, Leonard, Buffalo, is descended from John Dodge, born in 1644, who with two brothers, Israel and Truxton, came from England to Block Island, R. I., in 1667. He died in 1729. He had two sons: John, jr., who settled in Westerly, R. I., and David Britain Dodge, born in 1691, died in 1764. The latter married Rebecca Yeo- mans in 1717 and moved to Colchester, Conn. Their son, Jonathan Dodge, born August 3, 1721, married Mercy Williams, of New London, Conn., November 7, 1744, and died June 19, 1794. Jonathan Dodge, jr., his son, was born September 26, 1747, married Mary Warner on July 13, 1769, and died September 28, 1794. His son,
422
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Alvan Dodge, born in Colchester, Conn., May 8, 1782, moved with his widowed mother to Warren, Herkimer county, N. Y., and there married Mary Blount. He settled first in Lowville, N. Y., and in 1810 removed to Buffalo, where he died in January, 1846; his wife died in September, 1868. His youngest son and the fifth of his six children, J. Wayne Dodge, born in 1812, was a farmer first in Lancaster and later in Clarence, and in April, 1864, purchased the grist mill in Williamsville, where he settled in 1870. He married, March 29, 1838, Charlotte Hull, of Tonawanda, born in Canada, October 3, 1817, by whom he had five children: Alma, born March 8, 1839; Alvan, June 1, 1840; Leonard, May 18, 1844; Henry Wright, November 30, 1850; and Martha Eliza, March 13, 1855. Mrs. Dodge died in Clarence, and Feb- ruary 26, 1865. he married Marie A., daughter of Jacob and Catherine H. (Correll) Strickler, who bore him one son, J. Arthur C., born April 2, 1871. Leonard Dodge was born in Lancaster, Erie county, was educated in the Clarence Academy and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, and learned the milling business, which he followed for several years. He represented the town of Amherst as supervisor four years, serving as chairman of the board in 1871. In that year he removed to Buffalo and engaged in the provision trade in conjunction with his milling business in Williamsville, and successfully conducted both enterprises until 1894, when the mill was burned. Since then he has been the general manager of the Frontier Elevator Company. Mr. Dodge is a member of the Buffalo Board of Trade and the Merchants Exchange and a 32d degree Mason. He was married May 5, 1869, to Emily P., only daughter of Hiram Hotchkiss, an early jeweler of Buffalo. She died December 31, 1872, leaving one daughter, Mamre E., who married Charles H. Bailey and resides in Buffalo, and whose children are Leonard H. and Mamre. September 20, 1876, Mr. Dodge married, second, Emilie P., only daughter of the late Col. Richard Flach, of Buffalo.
Whelan, Frederick A., Buffalo, son of Martin and Elizabeth (Keeffe) Whelan, was born July 13, 1867, in Syracuse, N. Y., where he received his preliminary education, graduating from St. John's Academy of that city in 1885. In the same year he en- tered upon the study of architecture in the office of James H. Kirby, of Syracuse, and in 1888 removed to Buffalo to accept a position in the office of Marling & Bur- dette, who were then engaged in designing the buildings for the International Fair. In 1889 Mr. Whelan returned to Syracuse to work as a draftsman on the plans for the new city hall there, and on the removal of the original architect he was placed in sole charge as supervising architect. On the completion of that structure in 1892 he returned to Buffalo and accepted a position in the office of George Cary, and in February, 1893, entered the office of Fred H. Loverin, with whom he formed a co- partnership in February, 1896, under the firm name of Loverin & Whelan. During his connection with Mr. Loverin he has been interested in the designing of many large and handsome buildings, including the Algonquin, Lenox, Hudson, La Salle, Valois, and Berkeley apartment houses, numerous fine dwellings and other struc- tures. His duties in the firm are largely those of designer and supervisor of the drawing of plans. He is secretary of the Charcoal Club and a member of the Buffalo Society of Artists.
Forbush, Jonathan Chester, Buffalo, one of the oldest shoe manufacturers in Western New York, is descended from (1) Daniel Forbush, who was married in Cam
423
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
bridge, Mass., on March 26, 1660, to Rebecca Perriman, and whose son (2), Deacon Thomas Forbush, born March 6, 1677, married Dorcas Rice. Their son (3), Deacon Thomas Forbush, jr., born October 14, 1695, was married to Hannah Bellows on January 6, 1719, and died in 1783. (4) David Forbush, son of Thomas, jr., was born October 20, 1721, and married Annah Whitney, sister of Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin. He settled in Grafton, Mass., soon after his marriage in 1749, and served as a member of the committee of safety during the Revolutionary war. April 21, 1775, he enlisted in Col. Artemus Ward's regiment, which marched to the famous Lexington alarm. His son (5), Silas Forbush, born May 19, 1766, married Rhoda Fisk in 1789. (6) Silas Forbush, jr., his son, was born November 17, 1795, married Clarissa Eames on August 15, 1821, and died February 21, 1886. They were the parents of (7) Jonathan Chester Forbush, who was born in Grafton, Mass., July 14, 1825. Mr. Forbush was reared on his father's farm, attended the district schools and the High Schools at Worcester and Hopkinton, and in early manhood was em- ployed in the shoe factory of his uncle, Calvin Forbush, for three years. He then formed a copartnership with Nathaniel Brown, under the firm name of Forbush & Brown, and engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes at Grafton. A year later their factory was burned, and in 1853 they removed to Buffalo and established themselves in the same business, which Mr. Forbush still continues, Mr. Brown having retired in 1883. For a time Justin Forbush was also a member of the firm. Mr. Forbush, though seventy-two years of age, still carries on the shoe factory with his old-time vigor and enterprise, and is to-day the oldest shoe manufacturer in Erie county. He is a man widely esteemed and respected. May 29, 1848, he married Caroline, daughter of Joseph F. and Olivia (Milliken) Flagg of Grafton, Mass. Their children are Florence Caroline, wife of Henry R. Bird, a native of Canton, Mass., now a resident of Buffalo, and Grace Chester Forbush, at home. Mrs. Forbush's ancestors came from Scratby, England, in 1637, settled in Watertown, Mass., in 1641, and moved thence to Concord.
Dietz, Julius, Buffalo, son of Martin and Otilla (Stapf) Dietz, was born in Ger- many, April 14, 1846, and came to this country with his parents in 1853, settling in Buffalo, where he has since resided. He attended the public and parochial schools, and then obtained employment in E. & B. Holmes's planing-mill and lumber yard. He has followed the lumber business ever since. Mr. Dietz is, without doubt, one of the best known factors in the lumber trade in the city of Buffalo, having been in the business in various capacities for a period covering forty years, during which time he has made many friends among those who are directly interested in building, con- tracting, etc. He is at present the manager of the Michigan Street Planing Mill Company, and also of the Buffalo Maple Flooring Company. Mr. Dietz was a pro- moter of the first loan association organized in Buffalo, which held its first meeting on March 2, 1869, and which was called the Buffalo Savings & Aid Association. He is a member of the C. M. B. A. and of the Second Regiment of New York State Uniformed Catholic Knights, of which regiment he has acted as commissary since its formation.
Kilhoffer, William G., Buffalo, is a native of Buffalo, having been born there October 7, 1856. He was educated in private schools and under private tutors, read law in the offices of Judge Roswell L. Burrows and O. O. Cottle, and was admitted
424
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
to practice in 1878. For a short time after his admission he practiced with Major John Tyler, then collector of customs; about 1880 or 1881 he began the general prac- tice of law, since which time he has successfully followed his profession. Mr. Kil- hoffer is an able lawyer, a public spirited citizen, and a member of the Masonic and other organizations and bodies. He is a bachelor, living at the family residence with his mother, two brothers and a sister.
Edmonds, George W., Buffalo, the sixth of four sons and four daughters of Rich- ard and Clarissa (Edmonds) Edmonds, was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Eng- land, May 2, 1848, and when seventeen was graduated from Ashbourne College. His father was a lawyer and a man of independent means. Mr. Edmonds spent four years in a cotton broker's office in Liverpool and then came to America, landing in Montreal, Canada, March 29, 1869. He spent that year in travel and as a news agent on the steamer Magnet, and in 1870 came to Buffalo and entered the employ of the Canada Southern Railroad Company. From a chopper he became a walking boss at $150 per month, and assisted in the construction of that line into Michigan. Returning to Buffalo in 1872 he spent some time in the stone quarries of Medina, learned and followed the trade of slater two years and was employed on the con- struction of the Buffalo State Hospital. In 1876 he entered the service of Charles Berrick, contractor, with whom he remained until 1890, becoming superintendent. In 1890 he formed a copartnership with William Shoemaker and engaged in the mason contracting business. but a year later returned to the employ of Mr. Berrick. In 1894 he became superintendent for Collingwood & Donaldson, stone cutters and builders, and in 1896 he engaged in his present business as quantity surveyor. In August he was appointed inspector of masonry in buildings, which position he re- signed on account of professional work. The same year he was appointed assistant superintendent of the 74th Regiment Armory. He is a man of wide experience in all that pertains to building, a rapid calculator, a member of Queen City Lodge, F. & A. M., past president of the A. O. U. W. and an active Republican and campaign orator, being especially prominent in the municipal campaign of 1897. In 1876 he - married at Black Rock, Anne Kinsman, daughter of John and Wilmott Kinsman, and a native of Alderney, Channel Isles. They have two daughters, Clarissa and Annie.
Miller, Hon. Nicholas J., Buffalo, son of Nicholas and Gertrude (Webber) Miller, was born in Germany, September 6, 1860, and came to Buffalo with the family in 1866. The father, a Republican in politics, reared three sons and died in 1881; the mother still survives. Mr. Miller attended the public schools and a German private school in Buffalo. He first became a clerk in his father's grocery store and later in dry goods stores in Buffalo and New York. Returning to Buffalo he engaged in the willow ware business, which under his able management has become a large and profitable industry. He has been a staunch Republican, has served his party several years as committeeman and in 1895 was elected supervisor of the Eighteenth ward. In the same year he was defeated by one vote by Christopher Smith for assemblyman. In 1896 and again in 1897 he was elected to the Assembly and during his first term served on the committee on banks, federal relations and unfinished business. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum, the Buffalo Liedertafel, the Buffalo Saengerbund and other organizations. He married Gertrude Webber of Buffalo, and they have five children.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.