USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : pictorial and biographical > Part 6
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From the time of its organization Major Poole was active in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic. For ten years he served as a member of the council of administration and in 1892 was chosen commander of the department of New York after having capably controlled its financial inter- ests for a number of years. He was one of the organizers of Dwight Post, the first post organized in Syracuse, and became one of the charter members of Root Post, No. 151, G. A. R. He died December 3, 1900, and was given a military burial with all the honors of war. Said the Post Standard edi- torially at the time of his death, "Some men, receiving the impression of one great event early in their lives, bear it forever, so that it characterizes their thoughts, their manners and even their physical appearance. The great war of 1861 seems to have had this effect upon Theodore L. Poole, whose death is recorded in our columns today. He served with distinction and car- ries the marks of his bravery to the grave, but the bearing and the spirit of the soldier would have distinguished him, even without that empty sleeve. The war which preserved the Union was Major Poole's alma mater. The diploma of faithful service was his and the degree of veteran has seldom characterized a more brave, simple and modest gentleman. Major Poole was a good soldier, a worthy citizen and a Christian gentleman, and the people of these parts may well be glad that they had the opportunity, and used it, of proving to him that they appreciated his character and his ser-
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vices." Resolutions of respect and sympathy were passed by Root Post and also by the board of directors of the National Bank, the latter saying: "In all our relations with him he has proved himself an associate of unchang- ing loyalty to the interests which he has represented, unflagging in zeal, wise in counsel and generous in his judgments of others." Perhaps no better tribute to this soldier, loyal in days of war and in days of peace, can be given than to quote the poem written by Edward Renaud on the occasion of the Grand Army Encampment at Washington, where as commander of the New York Department, G. A. R., Major Poole rode at the head of the troops from the Empire state.
Down from the green hill yonder, Crowned with its snowy dome The marching host comes, post on post, Like the cohorts of old Rome; Heroes of many battles, Taught in war's sternest school, They're tramping down through the flag-decked town Behind the gallant Poole.
Never, I ween, twelve thousand Of nobler men than these Marched where tattered ensigns Waved in the battle's breeze; Look where they come, advancing With proudly martial gait! Hail, to her heroes of the war! Hail to the Empire state!
There's a "Lincoln" and "Kearney," "Sumner ;" And "Grant" from Brooklyn too, Marching in serried rank on rank, Still wearing the dear old blue; Steady and true the column, Straight as if lined by rule; While, stout at need, on his sturdy steed There, at the head, rides Poole.
Proud mem'ries of the mighty strife Break o'er each martial strain, There Sickles, and Slocum, Howard; All march abreast again; There's Reynolds, and Carr, and Siegel, McMahon and Curtis grand; For the Empire state flings wide her gate To the noblest of the land.
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major Theodore Lewis Poole
Hark, how the shouts of thousands Rise from the mighty mass, Crowning the martial music, As they press to see them pass; There's "Garfield," and "Hill," and "Hoffman," And "Root," and "Hooker" true. All keeping pace, with the honest face Of the boys that wear the blue.
Go! fill me a foaming beaker Full, full to the beady brim, To quaff to the grand old Empire state As she sings her battle-hymn- Sings it with marching thousands Trained in war's sternest school, While, stout at need, on his sturdy steed There, at the front, rides Poole. Died Dec. 3, 1900.
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Wilbert & Smith
Walilbert Lewis Smith
W
ILBERT LEWIS SMITH, who ranks with his brother, L. C. Smith, as a pioneer of the typewriter industry in Syracuse, was born February 29, 1852, in Torrington, Connecticut, the son of Lewis Stev- ens Smith and Eliza Ann (Hurlbut) Smith. He removed in childhood with his parents to Lisle, Broome county, New York, where he received his education and grew up in his father's manufactur- ing business, but about 1877 came to Syracuse and was employed in gun manufacture with L. C. Smith. With him, he saw early the opportunities in typewriter-making and was active in the produc- tion of the Smith Premier typewriter and the organization of a company for its manufacture, of which he is vice president and factory manager. He soon became a recognized authority on typewriter-making and manufacturing processes and much of the Smith reputation for superior construction is due to his genius and ability.
When the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriter Company was organized he became its vice president and personally supervised the construction and equipment of the new factory building, as well as the model of the visible writing machine which has since been produced with great success.
In addition to his manufacturing interests Mr. Smith turned his atten- tion to banking and assisted in organizing the Syracuse Trust Company, of which he is vice president. He is also a director of the National Bank of Syracuse. Some of his other business relations are vice president of the L. C. Smith Transit Company, engaged in the carrying trade on the Great Lakes; and director of the Globe Navigation Company, operating a line of vessels on the Pacific coast. He is one of the owners of the Smith-Lee Com- pany of Oneida, New York, manufacturing sanitary caps for milk and cream bottles. With a few other Syracuse business men W. L. Smith is the owner of considerable real estate in Seattle, Washington, consisting of city blocks.
He is greatly interested in the welfare of his home city and is a public- spirited citizen, though he never courts prominence. He is a valued mem- ber of the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, of which he has served as direc- tor, and is a member of the board of trustees of St. Joseph's Hospital. He is a member of the Citizens' and Century Clubs of Syracuse, is domestic in his tastes, and enjoys automobiling.
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Wilbert Lewis Smith
Mr. Smith was married in 1886 to Miss Louise L. Hunt and has two sons, Wilbert A., now a student at Trinity College; and Elwyn L. His charm- ing home is one of the most substantial in the fine residential section of West Onondaga street.
James Cooper Jaure. ,
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James Cooper Sapre
J AMES COOPER SAYRE, deceased, was for many years identified with building interests as a con- tractor of Marcellus and was also associated with other business enterprises which brought him into close and intimate relations with many residents of the town. All those associated with him entertained for him warm regard and throughout the community in which he lived he was the object of general affection and esteem. His birth occurred September II, 1815, at Neversink, Sullivan county, New York. He was descended from an old family. The old Sayre home, which was built at Southampton, Long Island, in 1648, by Thomas Sayre, is still standing and is yet occupied. Since the establishment of the family in America its members have been prominent in various localities where they have lived.
James Cooper Sayre was about two and a half years old when his par- ents removed from Neversink to New York city. At the age of ten years, on the death of his mother, he went to live with an uncle, who was a prac- ticing physician of New Jersey. About a year later, however, this relative died and he had to seek another home. He was twelve years of age when he became a resident of Scipio, Cayuga county, New York, where he lived with an uncle, who was a farmer. For three years he remained upon the farm but finding that his tastes were more in the direction of mechanical rather than agricultural interests, he went to Auburn, New York, where he apprenticed himself to Dean Hagman, whom he was to serve until twenty-one years of age, and by whom he was to be instructed in the trade of a carpenter and joiner. He found this pursuit congenial and made rapid progress therein, acquiring in three years such efficiency in and knowledge of the business that he went to his employer, desiring to purchase his time and be relieved from his engagement to serve until he should become of age. The arrangement being concluded, Mr. Sayre started out in life on his own account and soon became recognized as a master builder.
On the 20th of August, 1835, occurred the marriage of James C. Sayre and Miss Lydia W. Webb, of Auburn, New York, where they spent the early years of their married life. They also lived for a time near Moravia, while Mr. Sayre engaged in further building operations in Auburn and in neighbor- ing towns. On the Ist of September, 1843, he removed to Marcellus, to
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James Cooper Sapre
engage in his chosen field of labor and erected many buildings here, including a church, the two mills and other structures. He also built the Second Presbyterian church and the old courthouse at Auburn. He was likewise interested in the woolen mills at Marcellus for some time and became asso- ciated with many other business interests which brought him into close contact with many people. During the last thirty-five years of his life he gave employ- ment to more people in this locality than any other one man. None ever found him a hard task-master. On the contrary he was just and considerate of his employes and was never known to overreach another in a business transaction.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sayre were born six children. Sophia, the eldest, died in 1854. William H. enlisted as adjutant in the Seventy-fifth New York Infantry under Colonel Dwight, of Auburn, and served for four years. Being captured, he was incarcerated in Libby prison but was exchanged and at the time of his discharge he held the rank of lieutenant. He married Mrs. Sarah Dwight, of Syracuse, and died June 18, 1881. Charlotte became the wife of Harvey W. Burr, who died in February, 1904, while her death occurred February 26, 1907. Sarah B., who was educated in Willard Seminary at Troy, New York, is now a resident of Marcellus. James Cooper died June 10, 1867. Lue W. is the widow of Albert E. Oatman, of New York city, who died January 12, 1882. The two surviving daughters now reside in the old Sayre home in Marcellus.
In his political views Mr. Sayre was a republican but never a politician in the sense of office seeking. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and was a devoted and helpful member of the Presbyterian church. For many years he served as a deacon in the church, was also trustee, a member of the choir and superintendent of the Sunday school. He loved the place of prayer and was found there as often as possible. His death occurred February 4, 1882, and the community lost one who was recognized as a leader in business circles, in the church, in the community and in social life. He possessed a kind and affectionate disposition, a sunshiny nature; never forgot a friend and had no enemies. All men respected him, and his memory is yet enshrined in the hearts of many who knew him and were his associates in life.
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W.Blogswell
William B. Cogswell
I F IT HAD not been for William Browne Cogswell's grasping of a suggestion which came to him while listening to the reading of a paper upon the manu- facture of ammonia soda, by the inventor Goesten- horfer, at a meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers at Drifton, Pennsylvania, in the winter of 1879, Onondaga would never have had its greatest industry-so great in truth that the combined freight outgoing and incom- ing of all other manufacturers in Syracuse together does not equal it-the Solvay Process Company. Others heard that same paper, the story of the manufacture of ammonia soda was somewhat common scientific knowledge, at least abroad, and the value of the manufactured product well known. But it was the coming together of the idea and the man that was the important thing for Syracuse, the financial opportunity for the man's friends and the prospective opening of thousands of careers of future employes and inventors.
How easy it is to trace back through a man's life and point to this experience or that accident as controlling upon future success. Yet, when it comes to the man who materializes an idea, pushes it to success and is credited with a captaincy in industry, there will be found less of accident and more of experience, coupled with the exceptional qualities which in combina- tion made the man for the time and the idea. Accidents may happen in politics and professions, but seldom in industry. Ideas are common, the right men are few. There were but fourteen years between William Cogs- well's birth at Oswego, New York, on September 22, 1834, and the beginning of that practical experience which did so much to make the man, while there were thirty-one years' experience before the man and the idea came together. We see the man in the smooth harbor of success and are too apt to forget the rough sailing which made this haven possible.
The Cogswell family in America dated from 1635, at Ipswich, Massachu- setts, and came from good old English stock, being founded by Sir John Cogswell, born 1592 at Westbury, Leigh, Wiltshire. David Cogswell (1807-1877) a contractor, was the father of William B. Cogswell, and Mary Barnes, daughter of James Barnes of Ashford, Kent, England, the mother. The Cogswells moved to Syracuse in 1838, and David Cogswell became promi-
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William 26. Cogswell
nent in the village and succeeding city of Syracuse. Mrs. Cogswell's death occured in 1862. William Cogswell attended Hamilton Academy, Oneida county, and the private schools of Joseph Allen in Syracuse and Professor Orin Root at Syracuse and Seneca Falls, but Mr. Cogswell's education began before either of these experiences, and it did not end when he bade tutors and college good-bye, for he made all life an education In 1848, when only fourteen, he took a year's experience in practical engineering in the employ of a party engaged in surveying the route of the Syracuse & Oswego Rail- road, and the relaying of the track of the Syracuse & Utica Railroad with T-rails. This developed rather than curbed his inclination for civil engineer- ing and gave him a first knowledge of the territory which in a geological way meant so much for the great Solvay idea.
In 1849 William Cogswell began his three years' student life at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, a member of the class of 1852, but destined not to receive his degree of "C. E." until 1884, an extension of the course leaving the class of 1852 without the customary exer- cises of graduation. The belated degree became the greater honor. From the institute to the school of experience was the graduation in 1852, Mr. Cogswell serving an apprenticeship for three years in the Lawrence, Massa- chusetts, machine shops under the superintendence of John C. Hoadley, gain- ing more of that practical knowledge of engineering, mechanics and physics which made life no accident with him. When he returned to Syracuse in 1856, Mr. Cogswell was selected by George Barnes to accompany him to Ohio, where Mr. Barnes was superintendent of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad, and Mr. Cogswell was made manager of the machinery depart- ment of the road located at Chillicothe. Three years more of experience, and in 1859 Mr. Cogswell became superintendent of the Broadway Foundry at St. Louis, Missouri. Returning to Syracuse in 1860 Mr. Cogswell in associa- tion with William A. and A. Avery Sweet, founded the firm of Sweet Broth- ers & Company, which later became the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company. The mechanic had become the expert.
With the beginning of the Civil war, Mr. Cogswell received the civilian appointment as mechanical engineer of the United States navy. During 1861 he was located at Port Royal, South Carolina, having general superin- tendence of the work of fitting up repair shops at five widely separated sta- tions on the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. It was in this year that he literally launched a machine shop, a unique idea of this period when great minds were evolving unique ideas for offense and defense to save the country. In May, 1861, when Admiral Dupont of the North Atlantic Squad- ron sought to make repairs without docking, this machine shop was gathered by Mr. Cogswell in a boat and shipped to Port Royal. There an old whaler was made over for machine shop purposes, and Mr. Cogswell became a real captain. The incalculable services of the expert mechanic are not to be
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William 23. Cogswell
gauged by the ordinary standards, for the hazards of the work and the make- shifts are beyond the comprehension of those who have not the advantage of a war experience and the doing of great work under difficulties. One example of the efficiency of this navy machine shop may be glimpsed from the statement that a cylinder head, weighing more than five hundred pounds, was cast and made ready for a monitor-not a minor casting task for a land- built shop even at the present time. In 1862 Mr. Cogswell was transferred to the Brooklyn navy yards in charge of steam repairs, a construction work which occupied his attention until 1866. The two succeeding years were spent in work in New York city.
Mr. Cogswell's return to central New York was in 1869, his expert abilities being engaged in the supervision of construction and operation of blast furnaces for the Franklin Iron works of Oneida county, New York, at the same time being given charge of the completion of the Clifton suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, a recognition of mechanical engineering and execu- tive genius which probably appealed more to the popular appreciation of me- chanics than many other of Mr. Cogswell's important accomplishments. This work occupied Mr. Cogswell to 1873.
The records of life are filled with turnings and twistings and man is frequently long upon some pathway before there is a realization that the turn taken was so career-changing. Mr. Cogswell made such a turn in 1874 when he listened to the inducement of Rowland Hazard, of Peacedale, Rhode Island, to take charge of the big lead mines at Mine La Motte, Missouri, Five years mining experience brought new tendencies and a bent for things under the earth as well as upon the land and water. Then came the meeting of the man and the one great idea which was to mean so much to thousands of workmen, professional men and financiers. The more Mr. Cogswell thought of Goestenhorfer's paper on the manufacture of ammonia soda, the surer Mr. Cogswell felt that America furnished the field and the opportunity for like endeavor. Ernest Solvay, the chemist, invented the process which bears his name, and Alfred, the brother, gave the business qualifications which assured success. Carrying letters of introduction Mr. Cogswell sailed to investigate at first hand this process which his industrial and mechanical mind followed as if the idea was a lode star. At Brussels, Belgium, he gave his letters to the brothers Solvay, who listened, but refused the application as they had many others. There had been too many and varied experiences in Mr. Cogswell's life for him to take one refusal, and his investigation of the Goestenhorfer plant only convinced him the more that the Solvay process was the greatest commercial prospect. Back to the Solvays he went and the siege was on, successful in the end not only for the man's persistence but because he had capabilities which stood the test of research. Armed with a commission to examine eligible sites for a plant in the United States, Mr. Cogswell returned home.
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William 23. Cogswell
As geologist and engineer Mr. Cogswell knew the opportunity of his old home, Syracuse, but there were many things to be considered. Looking at the result today, when all lines of traffic converge at the Solvay works, lime- stone gravitates in buckets to the yards and the heaviest solution of brine runs through the pipes to the works, it is easy to see how admirably adapted is the location for its purposes. But consider figuring this all out when this section was but vacant pasture and unused salt lands. How the prophetic industrial eye must have been developed in these experiences of the man with the idea. Every promise came true, for the Solvays approved the site chosen, just over the nothwestern line of the city, but at that time nearer to the village of Geddes.
Then came the all-important question of capital. Not only the experience of the man but experiences with the man counted in this juncture. Rowland Hazard believed in the man, and it was Mr. Hazard's money which aided materially in the erection of that first plant, now almost lost in the midst of the great plant of today. With a capital stock of three hundred thousand dollars the Solvay Process Company was organized in 1881, with Rowland Hazard president; Earl B. Alvord, William A. Sweet and George E. Dana directors, and William B. Cogswell treasurer and general manager. Today the capital stock is eight million dollars, with an investment of twenty mil- lion dollars, the largest soda ash plant in the world, employing close upon five thousand people, with a product of six hundred thousand six hundred tons a year. A branch of almost equal proportions was established at Detroit in 1897. Mr. Cogswell retained the office of treasurer and general manager until June, 1887, when F. R. Hazard was made treasurer, Mr. Cogswell man- aging director, and E. N. Trump general manager.
From the time the first settlers "boiled salt" in Onondaga it was a debate as to where the salt beds were located which so bountifully fed the springs in the early days. The state in its reservation of the salt tract was satisfied to take the springs and adjoining lands, while many bored wells in the vicinity, some finding salt water but never rock salt. This was where Mr. Cogswell's mining experience and geological research were again of ines- timable value, but he was baffled at first. He worked upon a theory that the springs were somewhere near the edge of a bed or veins of rock salt. Experimental borings made in 1881 and 1883 were failures. Finally, in 1888, twenty-two miles south of Syracuse and near Tully, the belief of the geologist became truth, and at a depth of twelve hundred feet salt in solid form was struck. This vein was found to be from fifty to one hundred feet in thickness, and beyond a vein of equal thickness was found. To convey this salt in brine to Syracuse, Mr. Cogswell tapped one of the little Tully lakes and brought the water through a pipe by gravity, discharging the water into the half hundred wells, the solution being then piped to the Solvay Process works by the Tully pipe line. It is an interesting note that in many
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William 23. Cogswell
places this brine has displaced the output of the old state wells with salt manufacturers. The Tully Pipe Line Company was incorporated in 1889, with a capital stock of three hundred thousand dollars, Mr. Cogswell president and F. R. Hazard treasurer.
The mechanical engineer showed forth again and again in Mr. Cogs- well's plans. The utilization of the Split Rock quarries by a gravity cable bucket method is but one, although it is such an important feature in the landscape for several miles and so material to the works. For this project the Split Rock Cable Company was incorporated for one hundred thousand dollars with Mr. Cogswell as general manager.
Another notable work of Mr. Cogswell was his part in the development of the Hannawa Falls Power Company at Hannawa Falls, St. Lawrence county, New York, which owns a power plant of ten thousand horsepower capacity at that point, and another of forty thousand horsepower at Colton. Mr. Cogswell is the principal stockholder in this, one of his numerous enterprises.
But industrial foresight is not entirely successful which does not com- prehend the enlisting of helpers and the management of men. It was this quality in the working organization of the Solvay plant which has counted much in its success, even after all the other bridges were crossed. Mr. Cogswell's knowledge of men was such that he gathered about him a staff of exceptionally bright young men, most of whom were specialists and scien- tists. Many a bright young man starting in a menial capacity, having shown an aptitude for greater things, has been taken up by Mr. Cogswell, educated and advanced to responsible posts. This kindness to men in every walk of life has given that spirit of loyalty which is one of the great things in the Solvay works.
Mr. Cogswell's identification with many charitable movements is a mat- ter which he invariably leaves for the public to find out in some other way than the bringing forth of his name in prominent letters. But it is work for that noblest of institutions, the Hospital of the Good Shepherd, which has made the great plant for the care of the sick and unfortunate possible. His gifts to that institution alone amount to two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars-but then that is a matter of historic record and no confidence is betrayed in the statement.
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