USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : pictorial and biographical > Part 4
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He had been married in 1841 to Sarah Randolph Rich, daughter of Gaius B. Rich, of Buffalo, New York. She was a woman of earnest Christian spirit, who shared with her husband in his good work in charitable and benevolent lines and for many years was prominently connected with the char- itable institutions of the city. Their children were Mrs. Jane Antoinette Sherman; Clara Keep, the wife of Robert S. L. Hall; Hamilton S .; Howard Ganson; Barrett Richard; and Sarah Aphia.
Hamilton Salisbury White acquired his early education in the private schools of this city and afterward attended the Cascadilla Preparatory School. He then matriculated in Cornell University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1877. From his boyhood days he was always interested in the question and methods of fighting fires. His father was a volunteer fireman and a boy's interest was early awakened in the fire department. He would go to fires in a trap and always has his rig ready to be used at a moment's notice. Upon his return from college he equipped the stable upon his father's place and used it as an engine house. He obtained a two wheeled chemical engine but he was not satisfied with this and desired a larger one. Accordingly he purchased a big chemical engine from the city and hired twelve men to act as his company of firemen, paying them himself. He read everything that he could find upon the subject of fire department equipment and introduced the latest improved and useful devices. He put in alarm boxes, the first in the city, and had twelve miles of wires strung in Syracuse. He had his engine house door opened by electricty and his engine house was considered the best in this locality at that time. People would come from all parts of the state to witness its workings and to see its equipment. Mr. White never missed a fire and was always the first to be at the place of danger. He had no fear for himself when there was a life to be saved, and would take personal risks where he would not allow his men to go.
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hamilton Salisbury White
On the 18th of November, 1880, Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Adelaide Whitebread, a daughter of Thomas and Jane Whitebread. Unto them were born a daughter and son: Mrs. Wilfred Wright, of Phila- delphia; and Hamilton White, of this city, who is a graduate of Cornell University.
Finding that his engine house was too expensive to be maintained by himself, Mr. White gave the engine and hose to the city and in return asked only that they give him a position as a common fireman of the company without salary, but they made him third assistant chief and he held that position until his death but would accept no salary for his services. He had the keenest interest in the work and at last gave his life in that way, being killed at the Mowry Hotel fire on the 13th of March, 1898. The peo- ple realize what he did for them, not only in personally fighting fires but in bringing to the city a knowledge of the best that was to be obtained in fire- fighting apparatus and in his own company maintained a high standard of excellence that served as an example for others to follow. The poor peo- ple of the city erected a monument to his memory at Fayette park at a cost of over twelve thousand dollars, this being the first monument ever erected by the public in honor of an individual in Syracuse.
He had extensive property interests, having built the Hamilton flats at No. 6096 Genesee street and also a home at No. 909 James street. He was president of the Syracuse Gas Company and director of the Commercial Bank and a director of the Onondaga County Savings Bank. In business affairs he displayed keen judgment but was never active in the management of his invested interests, giving his attention to his fire-fighting service. He belonged to the Century Club and was a communicant of the Episcopal church. Death came to him when he was in the midst of duty-and such would have been his choice. He recognized fully the dangers in which he was involved and also the responsibility that rested upon him and the worth of his work cannot be overestimated. The word fear had no place in his vocabulary and the deeds of heroism which he performed in a quiet, matter-of-fact way are such as would thrill every reader if the story were written in detail.
Alfred Mercer
Alfred Mercer, M. D.
M AN'S WORTH in the world is determined by his use- fulness-by what he has accomplished for his fellow- men. He is certainly deserving of the greatest honor and regard, whose efforts have been of the greatest benefit to his fellows. Judged by this stand- ard, Dr. Alfred Mercer may well be accounted one of the most distinguished citizens of Syracuse; for throughout his professional career, covering many decades, his labors have ever been of a most helpful nature. Not alone as a practitioner of medicine and surgery has he become widely known, but also as a teacher, disseminating knowledge concerning his profession that has had an immeasurable effect upon the students to whom it has been imparted. His research and investigation, with their resultant under- standing of medical truths, have rendered more effective the labors of the pro- fession; and his efforts have helped to promote the progress which has revolu- tionized the work of the physician and surgeon until its accomplishments par- take of the nature of the marvelous. The life work of Dr. Mercer has been of greatest practical benefit, and the world is better for his having lived. A resident of Syracuse since 1853, he has been in practice in the city more years than any other physician of past or present time.
Born in High Halden, Kent, England, November 14, 1820, Dr. Mercer was a son of William and Mary (Dobell) Mercer, both of whom were natives of England. They emigrated to America in 1832. The following spring the parents returned to their native land, but believing there were better oppor- tunities for getting along in the world in America than in England, they left their youngest son, Alfred, in this country in the care of an older brother who had already been a resident of the United States for a number of years. The father died in England in 1851, the mother surviving until 1863.
Completing his literary education by two years' study in Genesee Wes- leyan Seminary, Alfred Mercer began preparation for the practice of medi- cine as a student in the office and under the direction of Dr. John F. Whit- beck, of Lima, New York. He was graduated from the Geneva Medical Col- lege in 1845. The following year he visited his parents in England, devot- ing a few months to medical study and observation in the hospitals of London and Paris. On his return to this country, in 1847, he located for practice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The following year he was induced to return to
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Alfred Mercer, I. D.
western New York, where he practiced in Monroe and Livingston counties until he took up his permanent abode in Syracuse, in 1853. Throughout the intervening years he has lived in the same city block in which he now resides. From the beginning of his residence here he has enjoyed a reputation as one of its leading medical and surgical practitioners. Year after year he has given proof of his skill and ability in the excellent results which have attended his labors for the alleviation of human suffering.
During his residence in Syracuse he has made several trips to Europe, visiting foreign hospitals and medical schools and observing the changes and development occuring in them with the advancement of medical knowl- edge. He has also traveled quite extensively in this country, from the Natural Bridge in Virginia to the Muir Glacier in Alaska, picking flowers growing on tufts of soil deposited on that river of ice. In these trips Mrs. Mercer or some other member of the family has been his traveling companion.
On the removal of the Geneva Medical College to Syracuse in 1872, to become a department of the Syracuse University, Mr. Mercer was invited to a place in the faculty and accepted the chair of minor and clinical sur- gery which he filled until 1884, when he resigned the surgical chair to estab- lish and fill a chair of state medicine. At the time sanitation was almost unknown as a branch of medical instruction in the medical schools of this country, although it has since become one of great and growing importance. He has been connected with the Hospital of the House of the Good Shep- herd from its inception; for many years as a visiting surgeon, and more recently as a consultant. He was the first physican in central New York, in about 1860, to use the microscope habitually for clinical purposes.
While in Europe in 1846 he wrote professional letters to The Buffalo Medical Journal. In 1859 he contributed a paper to the same journal on "Partial Dislocations; Consecutive and Muscular Affections of the Shoulder Joint." Therein he recorded original observations which have attracted considerable attention and have been quoted by subsequent writers. Again in the same journal in 1873 there appeared under his name an article on the "Relations of Scientific Medicine to Special and Specific Modes of Medica- tion." An abstract of his address on "Medical Education" was published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in March, 1879. Other papers have appeared from time to time in various medical journals. Thus he has made valuable contributions to the medical literature of the country. He held the position of health officer in Syracuse for several years. He was also a member of the city board of health for years, and a member of the state board of health under the administrations of Governors Cleveland and Hill, although his political allegiance was at variance with their administra- tions.
In 1848 Dr. Mercer was married to Miss Delia Lamphier, a daughter of Aaron Lamphier, of Lima, Livingston county, New York. Unto them were
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Alfred Mercer, I. D.
born six children. Eliza died in early childhood. Alfred Clifford, the eld- est son, is a practicing physician of Syracuse, having an office with his father. Mary also died in infancy. Charles D. died at the age of twenty-four years. John C. Fremont passed away at the age of twelve years. Ina became the wife of Lepine Hall Rice, of Syracuse, and they have three children, Alfred Mercer. Elizabeth Garland and Clifford M. Rice. Having lost his first wife in 1887, Dr. Mercer married Mrs. Joseph Esty, nee Morehouse, of Ithaca, in 1888. The family residence has been at No. 324 Montgomery street for more than forty years.
Dr. Mercer is a Unitarian in religious faith. In antebellum days he was a stanch abolitionist; and when the republican party was formed, to prevent the further extension of slavery, he joined its ranks and has since been one of its supporters. In professional lines he is connected with the County and State Medical Societies, the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association. He is looked upon as the dean of the profes- sion and his advice is still sought by leading physicians, although it is some years since he retired from active practice. He has now passed the eighty- seventh milestone on life's journey, but is, notwithstanding, a most remark- ably well preserved man who in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. The years rest lightly upon him, and with the passing of time he has developed along lines of intellectual and moral progress which make of old age a bene- diction and an inspiration to all. A life of great usefulness has won for Dr. Mercer distinction in the field of his profession, while his interest and devotion to Syracuse have accrued to the improvement of the city. As he nears the end of the journey-but may he be spared many years to come-he is sur- rounded by the veneration and respect of those among whom he has long lived and labored, his years fraught with good deeds and with splendid results.
Charles Coward Shinaman
C HARLES EDWARD SHINAMAN, attorney at law, with offices in the White Memorial building, was born in Marshville, Montgomery county, New York, June 12, 1867. Henry Shinaman, his father, was a blacksmith, who in 1846 came to the new world from Lauenfoerde, on the Weser river, Hanover, Ger- many, and settled in Marshville, New York. He died in 1874 and was long survived by his wife, Mrs. Caroline (Maertens) Shinaman, also from Lauen- foerde, who died in Febuary, 1907. The ancestors of the family were arti- sans and agriculturists.
The first step which marked the progress of Charles Edward Shinaman was the mastery of the common branches of learning as taught in the dis- trict school of Marshville. He was afterward graduated from the union free schools at Canajoharie, New York, and matriculated in Cornell Univer- sity, from which he was graduated with the B. L. degree in 1889. He dis- played marked strength of character and strong purpose by providing for his own support during his college days. He was also very active in all college lines. Pursuing a four years' military course at Cornell, he became captain of his company there and is now eligible to military service with a commission in the United States army. During his college days he was con- nected with the Cornell Daily Sun as editor and during his senior year as business manager, and placed the paper on a paying basis through capable control, executive ability and indefatigable enterprise.
Coming to Syracuse on the completion of his collegiate course, Mr. Shin- aman entered the law offices of Goodelle & Nottingham as a student and after thorough preliminary reading was admitted to the bar in 1891. He then began practice in association with the firm of White & King, and when Mr. King died the firm became White & Cheney, Mr. Shinaman remaining as assistant in the law office from 1893 until 1898, when he was admitted to a partnership under the firm style of White, Cheney & Shinaman. There was no further change in the partnership until 1905, when the admission of a fourth partner led to the adoption of the firm name of White, Cheney, Shina- man & O'Neil. Mr. Shinaman specializes in corporation law and has handled various cases of local importance. In the line of his profession he holds membership relations with the Onondaga County Bar Association and the New
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Charles Comard Shinaman
York State Bar Association. Aside from his practice he is a director of vari- ous corporations, of which he is also the attorney.
Mr. Shinaman was married in 1905 to Miss Bertha Kocher, of Marsh- ville, New York, and the same year they went abroad, visiting many points of historic, modern and scenic interest in the old world. They reside at 207 Highland avenue and have an extensive circle of friends in the city.
Mr. Shinaman is a member of Central City Lodge, No. 305, F. & A. M., and the Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 215. He also belongs to the Citizens' Club and the University Club of Syracuse, and to the Cornell Club of New York city. In political circles in this part of the state he has been very active and prominent, serving on the city and county committees, and from 1892 until 1900 being the clerk of the board of supervisors of Onondaga county. During the same period he was secretary of the republican county committee of Onondaga county and has frequently been a delegate to the conventions of the party, his opinions carrying weight in its councils. He is a splendid example of the self-reliant, energetic man, who accomplishes what he undertakes by reason of practical, systematic methods. In this age of bustling activity his forcefulness and his enterprise, and unfeigned cor- diality and his deference for the opinion of others have made him popular.
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Frank H.Loughlin
Frank Henry Loughlin
F RANK H. LOUGHLIN, who has a large clientele as a real-estate dealer and is well known in this connec- tion in business circles, is perhaps equally well known to the citizens of Syracuse by reason of his philanthropy and his broad humanitarian spirit, prompting his active co-operation in many move- ments which have for their object the amelioration of hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. That he is known as "the father of the orphans" indicates most clearly his good work in behalf of the homeless children and long after his business successes are forgotten the memory of Mr. Loughlin will be cher- ished by reason of what he has done for the little ones whom death has deprived of father and mother.
His life record began in the little village of Limerick, town of Brown- ville, Jefferson county, New York, near Watertown, January 9, 1861. His father, James Loughlin, was a native of Ireland and at the age of eighteen years came to America, settling in Watertown, where he followed the occupa- tion of farming. Subsequently he took up his residence at Clayton, Jef- ferson county, where he continued farming but later removed to Pamelia, near Watertown, where he purchased a large farm, and where he lived a retired farmer the remainder of his life. He was considered one of the most progressive, enterprising and successful agriculturists of the county and was identified with farming interests up to the time of his death in April, 1904. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ellen Mckinley, traces her ancestory to the same source as President William Mckinley. She was born in the county of Armagh, Ireland, and came to America in 1845, settling at Clayton, Jefferson county, where she died in 1893. It was in this country that she became acquainted with James Loughlin, whom she married at Wat- ertown. The children of this marriage are as follows: Mary E., who, in 1872, became the wife of John E. Williams, of Clayton, and now a resident of Syracuse; James J., who resides in Watertown; Andrew E. and William J., who also make their home in Watertown; and Frank H.
The last named left Limerick, New York, at the age of five years and with his parents went to Clayton, pursuing his education in the schools at Spicer Bay and the Clayton high school, from which he was graduated in the class of 1877. The following year he attended Professor T. C. Gove's
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Frank Henry Loughlin
Commercial College. He engaged in teaching school from 1877 until 1882 and on the 7th of May of the latter year became a resident of Syracuse, where he was first employed as bookkeeper in the Duguid-Wells saddlery and hardware house for a short time. In December, 1882, he was appointed a clerk in the railway mail service, running from Syracuse to New York, where he remained until April, 1894. On account of his efficiency and the high standard of his examinations he was successively promoted through various positions and at the time he resigned was just about to be promoted to chief clerk in charge of the eastern division of the New York & Chicago railway mail service, having been recommended by the late Henry A. Beach, Henry Mowry and Judge O'Brien. He received a letter of commendation from the department at Washington for high efficiency in examinations but resigned to engage in the wholesale and retail grocery business, becoming connected with the trade as a member of the firm of Lighton Brothers & Com- pany, later the Lighton Grocery & Provision Company. Mr. Loughlin was manager. This was not his first connection with trade interests, however, for while in the railway mail service he became connected with various enterprises. He continued in the grocery business with gratifying success until 1899, when he engaged in the real-estate business with offices in the Wieting block. He has a very large clientele and has made some of the larg- est sales in Syracuse. In fact he is regarded as one of the leading real-estate men of the city and he has every confidence in its future, having been a tax- payer here for twenty years, during which time he has thoroughly studied conditions upon which the city's growth and prosperity depend. Aside from his interest in this connection he is president of the Century Cancelling Ma- chine Company of Syracuse, manufacturing and controlling a postoffice device for cancelling letters. He is likewise a director of the American Statesman Company of Syracuse.
On the 18th of October, 1887, Mr. Loughlin was married to Miss Margaret Theresa Lighton, a daughter of James Lighton, of the firm of Lighton Brothers. They have one child, Helen Marie, born July 20, 1899. Mrs. Loughlin's father, James Lighton, was one of the valued citizens of Syracuse, a man of broad humanitarian spirit, of unfailing kindness and generous charity. His life record covered fifty-nine years and he was born in Syracuse at the old family homestead within half a block of which his death occurred. His father was at that time the leading butcher of the city, but was not blessed with wealth and his sons were early obliged to provide for their own support. James Lighton had not yet attained his majority when he learned the trade of stone-cutting, which he followed for a few years and then turned his attention to the grocery business. He opened his store with a small stock of goods on the banks of the Erie canal at Lodi locks. In 1860 L. Cowan became his partner and three years later John Lighton was admitted to a partnership under the firm style of Lighton, Cowan & Lighton. The business grew rapidly
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Frank Henry Loughlin
and in a short time Mr. Cowan sold his interest to the two brothers. In 1866 Arthur Mckeever became a member of the firm which was then known as Lighton Brothers & Mckeever and continued for twenty-five years and then Mr. Mckeever's interest in the firm was purchased and the two sons, John and James Lighton were admitted to a partnership.
In early manhood Mr. Lighton wedded Miss Mary Doran, of Syracuse, and they had six children, James P., Thomas J., John E., Mrs. Loughlin, Anna L. and Martha T. Mr. Lighton led a very busy and useful life and continued active up to the day of his death. In his demise the charitable institutions of the city and the poor in general lost a generous and helpful friend. No one ever appealed to him in vain where assistance was needed. The orphans especially made a strong appeal to his sympathy and he did much for those who at a tender age were left without the care of father or mother. Asso- ciated with E. A. Dollard he secured the mission church in the eastern part of the fourth ward. He was long a prominent member of St. John's cathe- dral and at his death there gathered one of the largest congregations seen in that house of worship. His political allegiance was unfalteringly given the democracy and he was many times solicited to accept political honors but always declined. However, he gave freely toward carrying on the work of the party and his influence was an element in its success. He displayed remark- able devotion to his family and was never happier than when he had his wife and children by his side. While those who knew him remain in this life he will be honored and his memory enshrined in the hearts of his many friends.
Mr. Loughlin takes an active interest in politics as a citizen, desiring the adoption of those principles which he deems will prove of greatest benefit. In 1905 he was a democratic nominee for comptroller of the city of Syracuse and in 1906 ran for the office of county clerk. His aspirations are not in the line of office holding, although in the duties of citizenship he is never remiss. He belongs to the Onondaga County Historical Association, to the Chamber of Commerce, to the Mystique Krewe and to the Syracuse Council of the Knights of Columbus. He is also a member of the Real Estate Association of New York. He has always taken great interest in charitable work and has accomplished notable results. He has been particularly helpful to those organizations and societies which have been formed for the benefit of orphans and is continually devising some recreation or scheme for their benefit or pleasure. So active has he been in this direction that he is frequently called the "father of the orphans" and no other work of his life has given him such genuine pleasure as what he has been able to do for the little ones that are left without parental guidance or care. He attends the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and was married by Monsigneur Lynch, now of Utica. He is a good citizen and a man of kindly nature and of broad loves. Association with him means expansion and elevation.
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EB Hoyte
Ezekiel B. Dopt
T HE LIFE record of Ezekiel B. Hoyt forms an impor- tant chapter in the history of Skaneateles, for he was closely associated with business interests here that promoted the welfare of the community and at the same time he displayed such splendid traits of char- acter as to make his memory a hallowed one in the community. He was born March 23, 1823, in Ridge- field, Connecticut, and when but six months old was taken by his parents to the town of Sennett, Cayuga county, New York. The journey was made by way of the Erie canal to Weeds- port, which was then the terminus of the canal. From that point they pro- ceeded to Sennett, where a farm was purchased and the family took up their abode. It was upon the old homestead there that Ezekiel B. Hoyt was reared to manhood. The household was a lively one, numbering thirteen children, and there was no lack of interest or of occupation for in early youth the sons began to assist in the labors of the farm.
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