USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Rochester and Monroe County, New York : pictorial and biographical > Part 3
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Daniel WD. Powers
commercial structures erected in the city. He continued to engage in the bank- ing business until his death and was recognized as one of the foremost financiers of western New York, not unknown throughout the entire state and in other sections of the country. In addition to the Powers block he erected the Powers Hotel, scarcely equaled in the state outside of New York City. Mr. Powers was one of the best balanced because one of the most masterful of men. He rated his own powers and opportunities at their just worth and recognized the possi- bilities of every business situation. He never allowed anything to divert his attention from his business or to detract from the devotion which he gave to his clients' interests.
It was not alone through his private business affairs, however, that Mr. Powers became reckoned as one of the most distinguished and prominent citi- zens of Rochester. His labors were of the utmost benefit to the city along vari- ous lines of progress. He was one of the founders of the present park system and was a member of the commission which directed the construction of the city hall and the elevation of the Central Hudson Railroad tracks. Twice he served as alderman and his official prerogatives were exercised in support of valua- ble measures. The Rochester City Hospital found in him a stalwart friend and champion and for many years he was president of its board of trustees. He was likewise president of the board of trustees of the Home of the Friendless and a member of the board of trustees of the Industrial School. He was char- itable and benevolent, giving freely of his means to ameliorate hard conditions of life for others and in all of his benefactions was entirely free from ostenta- tion or display. He recognized individual responsibility and his charitable work was conducted as was his business-from a sense of duty, of privilege and of pleasure.
Mr. Powers was married twice. His first wife, who in her maidenhood was Miss Lucinda Young, died in early womanhood, leaving a son, Edward, who passed away in youth. In 1856 Mr. Powers wedded Miss Helen M. Craig, a daughter of the late John Craig of Niagara county, who was one of the early retired citizens of Rochester. He removed from Niagara county to that city and became the owner of extensive real-estate interests here. His birth oc- curred in New Hampshire, his father being Colonel Joseph Craig, who won distinction as an officer in the Revolutionary war. John Craig was united in marriage to Miss Rhoda Fassett and died at the age of seventy-seven years, while his wife's death occurred when she was seventy-one years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Powers became the parents of five children: Helen, the wife of J. W. Ait- ken of New York city; William C., a resident of New York city; Jessie, the wife of G. N. Perkins, and John Craig and Walter W., who make their home in Rochester.
Mr. Powers attained the Knight Templar degree in Masonry and was an attendant on the services of the Brick church, to which he gave liberal support. His was an especially well rounded character. While he achieved success in
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Daniel ID. Powers
business that would alone entitle him to distinction, his interests beyond this were most varied and extensive. He was a patron of art and the founder of the famous Powers Art Gallery, valued at more than a million dollars. His knowl- edge of artists and their work was very extensive and his judgment discrimi- nating. The beautiful in form and color had great attraction for him and he possessed that breadth of mind which induces interest in all that is refining and elevating. At all times he kept in touch with the progress of the land, being a man of broad general information. He traveled extensively, going abroad sev- eral times and visiting many points of historic, modern and scenic interest in the old world, as well as in his native land. He was imbued at all times with the spirit of advancement and progress may well be termed the keynote of his character. In the counting house or the office he was regarded as a most level- headed business man, but when the call for aid was made he was found to be most sympathetic and charitable. If one met him in the galleries at home or abroad he might well have been judged a connoisseur of art and in social circles he was found to be a most genial and companionable gentleman. A resident of Rochester from early manhood, he was honored and respected by all and his name stood to the outside world largely as a synonym of Rochester's greatness and upbuilding.
Walalter B. Duffy
F OR MORE than two-thirds of a century the name of Duffy has been found on the record of Rochester's active and successful business men. It is doubtful if in recent years any resident of the city has done more for its commercial development and for its progress along other lines than has Walter B. Duffy, vice presi- dent of the National Bank of Rochester, president of the New York & Kentucky Company, president of the American Fruit Product Company and director of the German Insurance Company, the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Com- pany and the Pfaudler Company.
Born in Canada on the 8th of August, 1840, he was little more than a year old at the time of the removal of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Duffy, to Rochester. His early education was acquired in public school No. 6 and subse- quently he spent two years as a student in St. Hyacinth College, near Montreal, Canada. Returning to Rochester, he again became a pupil in the public school and in 1856 he went to Toronto, where he devoted two years to study in St. Michael's College. Returning to Rochester, he entered upon his business ca- reer at the age of seventeen years in his father's store and continued with him until 1868, when he purchased the business. In the development of the enter- prise Mr. Duffy has displayed the most modern and progressive methods. He has employed a system of advertising that has made Duffy whiskey known throughout the length and breadth of the land. This introduction to public at- tention, combined with the high standard of excellence always maintained in the product, has resulted in the development of one of Rochester's most exten- sive and profitable productive industries. Not alone has Mr. Duffy confined his attention to one line. On the contrary he has been watchful of business oppor- tunities and has utilized the advantages which are offered in the business world. He is particularly prominent in financial circles, having been president of the Flour City Bank until its consolidation with the Commercial Bank and the Ger- man American Bank into the National Bank of Rochester, of which he is now the vice president. He is, moreover, a director of the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company and of the German Insurance Company. He was a prime factor in the organization of the New York & Kentucky Company in 1900 and since that time has been its president. He is also the chief officer of the American Fruit Product Company, organized in 1904, and is a director of
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Walter 26. Duffy
the Pfaudler Company. He was the builder and owner of the National The- atre and the principal factor in building and financing the new Hotel Roches- ter. He was also the prime factor in the organization of the firm of Duffy & McInnerny, owners of Rochester's largest department store and other exten- sive financial and commercial interests. Complex business problems are to him easy of solution, because of his watchfulness of every detail bearing upon ulti- mate results, because of his marked ability in co-ordinating forces and because of the readiness with which he formulates and executes his plans.
In 1868 was celebrated the marriage of Walter B. Duffy and Miss Theresa O'Dea. They had nine children, five sons and four daughters: Dr. Edward F. Duffy, a resident of Yonkers, N. Y .; Claude, who died in infancy; Mary The- resa; Walter J .; Agnes A .; James P. B .; Harriet Jane Catherine, twin sister of James; G. Paul and Constance Josephine. The mother died in 1884 and in 1892, in London, England, Mr. Duffy wedded Miss Loretta Putman.
He is a communicant of the Catholic church and has done as much as any man in recent years for the improvement of Rochester. He is eminently prac- tical and his plans for the city and its welfare have resulted in tangible improve- ment. He has been characterized as a "big brained, big hearted, courteous gentleman." Much of his time has been in recent years devoted to the better- ment of conditions among the poorer classes and at all times he manifests a philanthropic spirit that gives ready response to a call for needed aid from indi- vidual, organization or municipality. Rochester acknowledges her indebted- ness to him along many lines.
Henry to. Brewster
1401447
Henry C. Brewster
T IS THE records of such men as Henry C. Brewster that stand as contradictory evidence of the statement, too often heard, that America is given over to the spirit of commercialism; that business and naught else claims the attention and efforts of our leading men. Rochester knows Henry Brewster as a finan- cier of eminent ability, but knows him moreover as a public-spirited citizen, as a man of benevolences, of kindly purposes and high ideals. The great interests of the country at large-politics, the church and the charities-have made claims upon his attention, claims that he has fully met, and while the business activity and prosperity of the city have been greatly augmented through his labors, her public welfare has profited by his efforts and his history is one which reflects honor and credit upon Monroe county and the state at large.
Rochester may well be proud to number him among her native sons. The ancestral history is one of close connection with America through many gener- ations. His parents were Simon L. and Editha (Colvin) Brewster. The father, who was born in the town of Griswold, New London county, Connecticut, in 18II, acquired his education in the common schools and afterward became con- nected with the business interests of his native town. For ten years he was there engaged in manufacturing and in his thirtieth year he removed to Rochester, New York, where for eighteen years he was a prominent representative of mercantile interests. On the expiration of that period he retired from business life in 1859, but four years afterward again took his place in the business world, being elect- ed president of the Traders Bank in 1863. Two years subsequently this was re- organized under the national bank act under the name of the Traders National Bank and Simon L. Brewster continued as its president until his death, which occurred in August, 1898. He was, therefore, for more than a third of a cen- tury at the head of this important financial institution and under his guidance it took rank among the leading moneyed concerns of the Empire state. Its busi- ness covered every department of banking and its financial strength, based upon the well known reliability and business methods of its president and other stock- holders and officers, secured to it a constantly increasing patronage. In 1844 Mr. Brewster was united in marriage to Miss Editha Colvin, a daughter of Hiram D. Colvin, of Rochester. She died in 1899.
The 7th of September, 1845, was the natal day of Henry C. Brewster, who
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was reared amid the refining influences of a home of culture. Between the ages of six and eighteen years his time and attention were largely given to the ac- quirement of an education and he then became a factor in financial circles, enter- ing the Traders National Bank in the fall of 1863. No parental influence smoothed his pathway or released him from the arduous work which constitutes the basis of advancement and success. It was personal merit that gained him promotion as he mastered the various tasks assigned to him in the different posi- tions which he filled in the bank. He realized that there is no excellence with- out labor and in the years which followed he so thoroughly acquainted himself with the banking business that in July, 1868, he was chosen by the vote of the directors to the office of cashier, in which he continued to serve for more than twenty-six years. He was then elected to the vice presidency in the fall of 1894 and five years later succeeded his father as president of the Traders National Bank, since remaining at the head of the institution.
For forty-four years Henry C. Brewster has been a factor in financial cir- cles in Rochester, his usefulness and activity constantly increasing as time has passed. He was for many years the first vice president of the Rochester Trust & Safe Deposit Company and for a considerable period was president of the Genesee Valley Trust Company, which was organized by him. In 1893 he be- came the founder of the Alliance Bank of Rochester and for nearly seven years served as its first vice president. He was the first president of the Roches- ter Clearing House Association, in which capacity he served for five years, and he became a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he has twice served as president, and for two terms he was its first vice president. As a financier he is known and honored throughout New York. In 1899 he was elected to the presidency of the New York State Bankers Association, which he had assisted in organizing five years before, acting as its vice president during the first year of its existence. He was also vice president of the American Bank- ers Association from the state of New York for five years. His course has ever been such as would bear the closest investigation and scrutiny. There is in him a native sagacity and a weight of character that well qualify him for lead- ership and command for him admiration and confidence. No trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree and in fact his entire career has been an exemplification of the old and time-tried maxim that honesty is the best policy.
His broad humanitarianism has led to his support of various charitable and benevolent interests and, while report says that he gives generously in cases of need, he has always done so in a most unostentatious manner. In fact, he is opposed to display of any character and is never given to weighing any act in the scale of public policy. Principle has guided his conduct and shaped his course and his views of life are based upon a recognition of individual respon- sibility and the brotherhood of man. He has served as one of the trustees of St. Peter's Presbyterian church and is connected with the Rochester Homeopathic
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Hospital as a member of the board of governors. He acted as its first treasurer and has done much in the interests of that institution. Socially he is connected with the Genesee Valley and the Country Clubs of Rochester, while his member- ship relations also extend to the Union League Club of New York city and the Strollers Club of New York. In those societies which foster patriotism, his- torical research and an appreciation of the honor which is ever due to a worthy ancestry, he is also known. He is a member of the Society of Mayflower De- scendants, being eligible by reason of the fact that his ancestry is directly trace- able to Elder William Brewster, who crossed the Atlantic in the historic vessel which brought the first settlers to New England. He is likewise a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Soci- ety of the War of 1812, of Philadelphia, and the New England Society of New York. In his citizenship he has ever stood for advancement and improvement and is not unknown in political circles. On the contrary, he believes it the duty as well as the privilege of every American citizen to exercise his right of fran- chise and support those principles which seem most beneficial in bringing about good government. His stalwart republicanism and his well known devotion to high ideals in political life led to his selection in the fall of 1894 for representa- tion in congress from the thirty-first district of New York. He served in the fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth congresses and during his first term was a member of the committee on coinage, weights and measures. The following term he was made chairman of the committee on the alcoholic liquor traffic and a member of the committee on invalid pensions. In 1900 he represented New York in the republican national convention, which placed William McKinley at the head of the ticket, and was an alternate at large in 1904. He was a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce for about ten years.
Most happily situated in his home life, Henry C. Brewster was married in October, 1876, to Miss Alice Chapin, a daughter of Louis Chapin of Rochester, and they have two daughters, Rachel A. and Editha C. Their home is the center of a cultured society circle and their friends are many. Mr. Brewster has never allowed the accumulation of wealth to affect in any way his manner toward those less fortunate and entrance to the circle of his friends is gained by char- acter worth and not by material possessions. His associates know him as a most genial, kindly gentleman and, while he has made the acquaintance of many men distinguished in state and national affairs, he holds as his most priceless treas- ure the friendship and respect of his fellow townsmen, among whom his entire life has been passed and who are thoroughly familiar with his history from his boyhood down to the present time.
Everand Jack
CEberard Peck
E VERARD PECK was born at Berlin, Connecticut, No- vember 6, 1791, and died at Rochester, New York, February 9, 1854. Having gone to Hartford, Con- necticut, at the age of seventeen, he learned there the book binder's trade, and, having completed his apprenticeship, went from there to Albany, New York, where he plied his vocation for a few years. Not succeeding as well as he had hoped, he came to Rochester in 1816, bringing with him the implements of his calling and a small stock of books. Many of the incidents of his life have been mentioned in the first volume of this work in connection with the growth of the little hamlet, its expansion into a village and thence into a city. For the remainder it is deemed sufficient to give the following extract from an article in one of the daily papers at the time of his death :
"Seeing, through the discomforts and rudeness of the settlement, indica- tions which promised a prosperous future, he set up the double business of book selling and book binding. Being prosperous in business he enlarged his facili- ties by opening a printing office and commencing, in 1818, the publication of the Rochester Telegraph, a weekly journal. He afterward erected a paper mill, which he operated with great success until it was burned. Mr. Peck left the book business in 1831. After three or four years, in which he was out of health-so that, for recovery, he was obliged to spend one or two winters in Florida and Cuba-he engaged in the banking business and was connected suc- cessively with the Bank of Orleans, the Rochester City Bank and the Commer- cial Bank of Rochester, being the vice president of the last named institution at the time of his death. Immediately on taking up his residence here Mr. Peck gave his warm support to the infant charitable and religious enterprises of the place, and from that time to this has been the devoted friend of all such institu- tions. To public office he did not aspire, but labors for the poor, the suffering and the orphan he never shunned. Thesuccessful establishment of the Univer- sity of Rochester was in a large measure owing to his exertions in its behalf. The friends of the institution accorded to him merited praise, and they will ever respect his memory. Up to the time of his death he was a member of its board of trustees. He was one of the zealous promoters and founders of the Rochester Orphan Asylum. Our citizens have been accustomed to rely upon his judgment in all matters of moment pertaining to the common weal, and he
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always exhibited a sagacity and solicitude for the welfare of the people which entitled him to the public confidence.
"He was thrice married-in 1820, to Chloe Porter, who died in 1830; in 1836, to Martha Farley, who died in 1851; in 1852, to Mrs. Alice Bacon Walker, who survives him .*
"For more than two years past Mr. Peck has been suffering from a pulmo- nary complaint, and he spent the winter of 1852-53 in the Bermudas, but with- out obtaining relief from the disease. He has, since his return, been secluded in the sick room, gradually declining until he expired, surrounded by his wife and all his surviving children."
It may be not inappropriate to give as a reminiscence the following extract from an article in the Albany Evening Journal of February 21, 1854, by the pen of Thurlow Weed, then at the head of that paper, in which, after copying a long biographical sketch of Mr. Peck from the columns of the New Haven Daily Palladium of a few days before, Mr. Weed remarks:
"This deserved tribute to the memory of 'a just man made perfect' comes from one who knew the deceased well. The editor of the Palladium grew up under Mr. Peck's teachings and was long a member of his household, a house- hold whose memory is hallowed in many grateful hearts." In another para- graph the editor of the Palladium alludes to our own relations to Mr. Peck, but in a spirit of kindness which excludes all but the following from these columns:
"Mr. Weed, of the Albany Evening Journal, began his career in the Roch- ester Telegraph office. He was a young man wholly without means when he ap- plied for employment. We remember Mr. Weed's application as though it were but yesterday. Mr. Peck at first declined his offer, but there was some- thing in Mr. Weed's manner that touched a sympathetic chord in Mr. Peck's bosom and he called him back and gave him the post of assistant editor, where he soon made the Telegraph one of the most popular journals in western New York.
"The heart upon which the memory of its early benefactor is engraven will glow with gratitude until its pulsations cease. We were, indeed, wholly with- out means and with a young family dependent upon our labor, when, thirty- two years ago we applied to Everard Peck for employment. He did not really want a journeyman, but his kindly nature prompted him to an effort in our be- half. It was agreed that in addition to the ordinary labor as a journeyman in the office we should assist Mr. Peck, who had the charge of his book store and paper mill, in editing the Telegraph. But our friend did not content himself with giving employment. We enjoyed, with our family, the hospitality of his mansion until a humble tenement (tenements were scarce in Rochester in those days) could be rented. The compensation agreed upon was four hundred dol- lars per annum. That year glided pleasantly and peacefully away, teaching les- sons to which memory recurs with pleasure and in forming ties that have linked
*Mrs. Alice B. Peck died December 2, 1881
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us in after life to dear and cherished friends. At the close of the year Mr. Peck added one hundred dollars to our salary, with expressions of confidence and regard which enhanced the value of his gratuity. And ever after, through whatever of vicissitudes and change we have passed, that good man's counsels and friendship have helped to smooth and cheer our pathway."
John M. Lu MD.
John Mallory Lee, M. D.
OHN MALLORY LEE, a native of this state, was born in Cameron, Steuben county, on the 29th day of September, 1852, and he is among the most promi- nent physicians engaged in practice in Rochester. He is descended from good old Revolutionary stock. His paternal great-grandfather aided the colonies in their struggle for independence and members of his family served in the late war of the Rebellion. The Doctor's grandfather was one of the early settlers of Steuben county, New York, where he carried on farming for many years, and there the Doctor's father, Joseph R. Lee, spent his entire life. He engaged in business as a contractor and builder throughout the years of his manhood; he also served as justice of the peace and was a deacon and chorister in the Baptist church of South Pulteney. In early life he married Miss Sarah Wagener, a daughter of Melchoir Wagener and a grand-daughter of David Wagener, who was of German birth and a Quaker. He removed from Pennsylvania to Yates county, New York, at an early day and became the owner of a large tract of land on which Penn Yan was afterward laid out. He was prominently identified with the development and up-building of the village, to which he gave its name, taken from "Penn" and "Yankee." He contributed the site for the cemetery and was the first white man to be buried there. His oldest son, Mel- choir, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, moved to Pulteney in 18II, where he purchased a section of land and developed extensive milling interests. During her girlhood days Mrs. Lee attended the Franklin Academy at Pratts- burg, New York, where she was graduated. She died in 1898 at the age of ninety-three years and long survived her husband, who passed away in 1861. They were people of prominence in the community where they made their home and were highly respected.
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