USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York : pictorial and biographical > Part 7
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Mr. Cogswell is a member of many societies and clubs, but is best known in the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Min- ing Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Chemical Industry of England, and the North American Society for the Advancement of Sciences. He is a fellow of the Geographical Society, a Mas- ter Mason, Royal Arch Chapter, and member of the Sons of the Revolution, the Citizens' Club, the Century Club, Technical Club, University Club, Syra- cuse Country Club and Onondaga Historical Association of Syracuse; the Uni- versity Club, Engineers' Club, National Arts Club, Transportation Club.
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William 26. Cogswell
Chemical Club and Republican Club, Pittsburg Duquesne Club, and the Detroit Club and Fellowcraft Club of Detroit.
The genealogy of the Cogswell family shows a long line founded by that hardy stock which fearlessly braved the rigors of the New England coast within fifteen years of the landing of the Mayflower. John and Eliza- beth Thompson Cogswell emigrated to America in 1635. Then follows this line of descent: William, baptized March, 1619, died December 15, 1700; William, December 4, 1659, April 14, 1708; Edward, August 13, 1686, April 17, 1773; Samuel, March 1, 1710 -; Asa, March 30, 1740, 1832; Daniel, 1770 -; David, March 12, 1807, October 3, 1877; William Browne, September 22, 1834.
The first marriage of Mr. Cogswell was to Miss Mary N. Johnson, daugh- ter of Reuben Johnson of Boscowen, formerly Fisherville, January 31, 1856, Mrs. Cogswell dying July 20, 1877, leaving one daughter, Mabel Cogswell. On April 29, 1902, Mr. Cogswell married Miss Cora Browning, of New York city.
Mr. Cogswell was one of the hundred captains of industry appointed by President Roosevelt to meet Prince Henry of Prussia. In politics Mr. Cogswell has always been a republican but never obtrusively active. He was satisfied with the honors by his industrial foresight, experience and gen- ius, never by those things which came by accident. It was a great thing for Syracuse when this man and the Solvay idea came together. If they had missed, Syracuse would not be as great a place as it is today.
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Robert Dey
R OBERT DEY was one of the first men in Syracuse whose business sagacity was strong enough to enable him to understand that the growth and development of the city justified the extension of its business cen- ter; that it was no longer necessary to concentrate commercial interests around four corners; that suc- cessful enterprises could be conducted elsewhere than in this locality. He therefore purchased property in the residence district and began the building of the great Dey Brothers store. This was in 1892, less than ten years after his arrival in Syracuse. In this way the Deys set the pace for native Syracusans and the wisdom of their business judgment has been demonstrated so frequently that the Dey building at the present time is located in what is termed the "down town" district. "Syracuse is the most enterprising and one of the smartest cities in the country" is the belief expressed again and again in speech and action by the head founder of this great dry-goods house and because of this belief Rob- ert Dey has become as loyal to the city as one of its native sons.
He was born in the parish of Abernathy, Scotland, November 25, 1849. His father was a farmer and miller and his family one of the highest respec- tability. The record shows that its members have been characterized by strength of opinion and honor in accomplishment. The forefathers in the beginning of the eighteenth century espoused the cause of the brave but unfor- tunate Stuarts. It was near the end of the sixteenth century that Queen Elizabeth granted lands in Norfolk, England, to the Dey family for public services and it was shortly after this event that the branch of the family from which the Dey brothers sprang, migrated to Scotland.
In Aberdeen Robert Dey laid the foundation of that business knowledge which he was to bring to this country and use so advantageously for the city and for his family. He had been educated in the district schools of Kirk- michael and was but seventeen years of age when he went to Aberdeen, where he entered the employ of Pratt & Keith, proprietors of the largest dry-goods house in the north of Scotland. He had remained with that firm for five years, gaining a practical knowledge of the business in both the wholesale and retail departments. He came to this country in 1871 and upon his arrival entered the employ of the well known firm of Sibley, Lindsay & Curr, of Roch- ester, New York. Over five years more were devoted to practical work and
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Robert Dep
study in various departments, during which time he gained thorough familiar- ity with the requirements and needs of the business in this country. Fully confident, after devoting ten and a half years to hard work and close applica- tion to the dry-goods business in all its branches from the looms to the counter, the firm of Dey Brothers & Company was established in Elmira, New York, in 1877, Robert Dey previous to this date being joined by his brothers, Don- ald, Charles and James. About three years later they were joined by an older brother, John, who subsequently invented and patented the time register. Their business grew until it became one of the most important in Elmira and was the inspiration for the attempt to establish a similar enterprise in a larger city.
It was in 1883 that Robert Dey came to Syracuse and purchased the dry- goods house of the late Edward F. Rice, this being one of the old established mercantile enterprises of the city, its location being just south of the White Memorial building in South Salina street. The Dey brothers increased their business at once, keeping their old established trade and winning new patrons. They purchased the crockery business of Charles Hamlin, which was located to the south of the Dey store. The Hamlin stock was sold out immediately, for the space occupied by it was much needed by the rapidly growing Dey business and it was this that inspired the purchase of the Hamlin store. The severe criticisms that followed by many of the patrons for thus closing out the best china store in the city, accounts for the provision made in the new store for ample room for a larger and better china department. Up to this time the Deys had not carried china at all, which department has since become an important feature of that store and constitutes one of the finest lines of goods of this character to be found in central New York. The story of the success of the Dey firm is one of constant growth. Robert Dey was a man of ideas. He made the same study of the people's wants that a scien- tist does of the thing he investigates. Like the snow ball which is rolled over soft snow down hill, constantly taking up new material, the business kept growing and in the early 'gos came the move south which proved an epoch in the business life of Syracuse and really changed the down town map of the city. On the 2d of May, 1894, the Dey Brothers moved into their great stores at South Salina and Jefferson streets. To the keen business judgment which dictated this move, even against the prophecies of many of the older business heads of the city, was due the whole building up of South Salina street south from Jefferson street.
Robert Dey is typically the progressive merchant of modern life and concentrates undivided attention upon his business affairs. While his politi- cal influence has been of the highest, he has been careful to use it only for the cleanest politics in the city, state and nation. That he has stood for the best in political life is not a mere assertion but a matter of intimate knowl- edge to his townsmen. Yet he has persistently refrained from taking an
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Robert Dry
active interest in party politics as a candidate for office. Again and again he has been offered tempting nominations but has steadily refused unless there was need that his name should be used to purify the situation. He belongs to that class of men who wield a power which is all the more potent from the fact that it is moral rather than political and is exercised for the public weal rather than for personal ends. His rare aptitude and ability in achieving results, however, have made him constantly sought but it is only when he feels that the public situation demands it that he has stepped aside from his path as a merchant to take active part in public interests. His business capacity has been called upon many times to help establish other projects and business enterprises. He was one of the incorporators of the Dey Time Register Company and for years was one of its officers. He was likewise one of the incorporators of the Syracuse Trust Company and one of the incorpora- tors of the Syracuse Homeopathic Hospital. He has been interested in and identified with national bank boards and at present is one of the directors of the National Bank of Syracuse. He has also been connected with the Sweet Manufacturing Company, of which he was made receiver and in the reorgan- ization of which he rendered material aid.
On the 2d of January, 1890, Mr. Dey was married to Miss Mary Sweet, the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Sweet. They now have three children, Amoret Sweet, Victoria Mary Sweet and William Robert.
Franklin H. Chase
Franklin D. Chase
F RANKLIN H. CHASE, born in Syracuse on Septem- ber 15, 1864, and since 1880 employed almost contin- uously upon The Journal, is descended from Aquila Chase, who came to Hampton, Massachusetts, in 1636. Mr. Chase's immediate ancestors were among the earlier settlers of Sunapee, New Hampshire, where the homestead of John Chase, Sr., John Chase, Jr., and the birthplace of Hills Horace Chase, ancestors in line, still stands. M. Van Buren Chase, the father of Franklin H. Chase, was a son of Hills Horace Chase, one of the first homeopathic physicians of Syracuse, settling in this city in 1851. Van Buren Chase had charge of the composing room of The Journal for fifty-one years, and is still connected with the paper.
Franklin H. Chase was educated in the schools of Syracuse, and after taking up work upon The Journal in 1880 continued his studies. After an apprenticeship in stock and minor reporting, Mr. Chase in 1890 took up the work of reporting of the upper courts for The Journal, and at the same time dramatic criticism, adding later editorial work. Upon September 27, 1887, he married Lucy A. Post, a lineal descendant of John Post, the first settler of Utica. Mrs. Chase died October 18, 1905, leaving two children, Dorothy Sargent, born September 18, 1889; and Donald Frederic, born December 9, 1892.
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Philip S. Ryder
T IS given to but few men to command world-wide attention or even national prominence but in every community there are men whose force of character, upright principles and rules of conduct gain for them the unqualified interest and respect of their fellow citizens and who by reason of their business ability and consecutive effort gain positions of more than local distinction. Such a one was Philip S. Ryder, for many years the veteran photographer of Syracuse and known professionally as well throughout this part of the state. For nearly forty years he figured in the business circles of Syracuse.
A native of Ithaca, he was born on the 7th of April, 1837, his parents being John and Lucy M. (Crandall) Ryder. At the usual age he became a public-school student, attending Lancasterian school in Ithaca. After com- pleting his high-school course he entered business life as a clerk in the employ of Andrew Giltner & Company, of Ithaca, where he remained for several years, the length of his service being indicative of his fidelity, trustworthi- ness and energy. He next entered the employ of Daniel R. Young & Company, also grocerymen, but through the influence and urgent desire of his brother, James F. Ryder, a photographer of Cleveland, he determined to acquaint himself with the processes of photography and entered the employ of Jeffer- son Beardsley & Brother, who conducted a studio in Ithaca. Philip S. Ryder remained with that firm for a year and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, to complete the business with his brother, under whose direction he thoroughly acquainted himself with the best methods of photography then known. At length when he felt qualified to engage in business on his own account he established a photograph gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and later conducted a studio at Indianapolis, where he remained for three years. He studied in Cleveland and in Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to perfect himself in the business, and from the latter city he returned to the east, locating in New York city, where he studied his art for several months.
The year 1865 witnessed Mr. F. Ryder's arrival in Syracuse and he soon became an operator for Hiram Lazier, then the leading photographer of the city. Not long afterward he began business on his own account and from the beginning was successful, continuing in this field of labor up to the time of his death. He photographed the great majority of the notable people of the
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United States and also some of foreign lands during their sojourns in the country. His fame as a skilled photographer spread abroad and brought him a most liberal patronage. He always kept abreast with the advance made in photography-an advance so great as to seem almost phenomenal. He recog- nized the value of light and shade and of contrast, employed the latest improved processes and in his business gained a measure of success that was most gratifying, being, as it was, a tribute to his merit.
On the IIth of August, 1855, Mr. Ryder was united in marriage to Miss Olive Patterson, of Hartford, Connecticut, who after leaving New England became a resident of Ithaca. They had two sons, of whom Henry W., born October 18, 1860, died in November of the same year. The other son, John H. Ryder, born January 12, 1862, died on the 20th of January, 1882. He was a well known writer of Syracuse and wrote articles for the papers when but fourteen years of age.
Mr. Ryder was very prominent in social circles and had an extensive circle of friends. He belonged to Central City Lodge, No. 305, A. F. & A. M., and to other branches of Masonry, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He likewise belonged to the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows and held membership relations with the Citizens' Club and the Chamber of Commerce. His religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. He took a great interest in baseball and manly athletic and outdoor sports and was manager of the first baseball team that was organized in Syracuse and became one of its stockholders in 1869. He was the originator and promoter of the famous Star Baseball Club in 1876, which was one of the greatest clubs of the country. He acted as its president, with Hamilton S. White as vice president and Edward N. Westcott, author of David Harum, as treasurer. This club was most successful, winning victories over many of the leading clubs of the country. In community affairs he was ever deeply interested and was a co-worker in many movements for the public good.
In politics he was a stalwart democrat and was president of the board of police commissioners in 1888, having been appointed a member of that board by Mayor W. B. Kirk. In 1892 he was the democratic candidate for sheriff and carried the city of Syracuse by eleven hundred majority, which no candi- date for that office had ever done before. He was also at one time the demo- cratic candidate for senator and though his party was in the minority he received very flattering support. A man of fine personal appearance, his mental caliber was equally great. He was broad minded and looked at life from no narrow or contracted view. He possessed a most kindly, humani- tarian spirit and the poor found in him a most helpful, generous friend. At all times his life was actuated by high purposes and in his community he was regarded as a man who did much good in the world by reason of the high standard which he maintained in business, by reason of a kindly spirit, as well
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Philip S. Gipder
as through those works which contribute directly to the benefit of the race. When death came to him on the 30th of May, 1907, he had reached the age of seventy years and he was laid to rest with honors, the funeral cortege being escorted to the cemetery by a police detail, who acted as a guard of honor. Syracuse had known him for forty years and always known him as one worthy of their full honor.
John Dumpfer
John Dunfee
O HRISTMASTIDE has become synonymous with joy and happiness, with homecomings, family reunions and all of the pleasures of life. But the Christmas- tide of 1904 brought sadness and sorrow to Syracuse in that it chronicled the death of John Dunfee, one of the foremost citizens not only of Syracuse but of the state-a man to whom the term brotherhood meant all hunmanity, who though buffeted by fortune in his youth, meeting hardships that seldom fall to the lot of even the poorest, yet kept a heart warm for humanity's sorrows and a hand quick to lighten the burdens of others. No tale of fiction presents a more interesting, fanciful or romantic picture than does the life history of John Dunfee. Fifty-three years were allotted him for his earthly pilgrimage and in that time he accomplished a marvelous work. From the most humble surroundings and the environment of direst poverty he rose to rank with the wealthy men of Syracuse, regarded as a power not only in business but also in political circles-the latter not because of his desire for office but because of the influence which he exerted among the many who trusted his judgment and believed in him.
His father, Edward Dunfee, came from County Kilkenny, Ireland, to the United States. He was early deprived of his mother and at a time when most boys of even the poorest parents are in schools he was fighting life's battles in the struggle for a livelihood. His birth occurred on March 16, 1851, in a most humble home on Canal street. Many of Syracuse's citizens remember him when as a little lad of seven of eight years he sold newspapers at the old Central station in Vanderbilt Square. The associations were such as most parents seek to shield their children from, but the necessities of the case were paramount here and in the school of experience Mr. Dunfee had to learn his lessons and he mastered them right royally. He learned to place a correct value upon opportunity, upon energy and, moreover, upon character, learned the true from the false, to hate pretension and sham and to scorn the spurious. He learned the value of an honest word, a kindly act and a sympathetic utter- ance, and he made these assets in his later life. This knowledge, however, did not come to him all at once but was acquired as the years passed. He supple- mented his earnings as a newsboy in the daytime by selling apples in the gallery of Corinthian Hall, which was then the fashionable amusement house
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of Syracuse. He was dubbed "the little red-headed Irish boy" and many a joke was uttered at his expense but his good nature and ready wit ever made apt answer. At his death his property included one of the handsomest theatres of the city.
Like most boys of Syracuse to whom the protection of home and school are denied, he found interest and amusement on the banks of the Erie canal, watching the boats go slowly by. He was fond, too, of displaying his skill in swimming there and frequently took a high dive from the tops of buildings or the lumber piles, calling out, "Just watch Sam Patch!"-for the original Sam Patch was then a sensation in the amusement world. This secured for him the nickname of Sam, which was afterward corrupted into Sim, by which he was known throughout the remainder of his life-a name that became dear to the hearts of many friends. In the early boyhood days he knew what it was on many occasions to want a meal, while comfortable clothing was almost an undreamed of luxury, but the boy had in him the elements of success and his life is another proof of the fact that it is under the stimulus of opposition and the pressure of adversity that the strongest in men is brought out and devel- oped. It is related that on one occasion the janitor of the Pike Block kicked him down the stairs. The boy picked himself up, shook his fist in the man's face and vowed that he would one day own the building from which he had been ignominiously ejected. He lived to see the fulfillment of this vow, while his real-estate interests included much other valuable Syracuse property.
From newsboy and apple vender his next step in the business world was made as driver on the Erie Canal. On one occasion the owner of the boat, having no driver and noting the keen interest in the boy's face, asked him how he would like to drive for a salary of three dollars per month. The offer was at once accepted and without parental authority he started out in the work to drive along the towpath to Albany. When they reached Albany the horses became sick and the canal driver was obliged to lay up there for three months of winter and the diet of himself and his driver consisted of salt pork and bis- cuit made from the flour and salt pork which they were carrying as cargo. One day the boy was sent upon an errand and returned to find that his employer had abandoned him, taking the boat and the horses and leaving John Dunfee without a penny. That night he was forced to sleep outdoors. The next morning, telling his story to a man, he was given enough money with which to buy a breakfast and a bootblack's outfit. The Albany bootblacks resented his, to them, intrusion and smashed his kit. He procured another, and, seeing that he must fight for his place, he soon gave the other boys to understand that he had a right, as well as they, to earn his living. When he had saved money enough to buy a new suit throughout, a new bootblack's outfit and pay his way back to Syracuse he came again to his native city.
This habit of saving was one of his strong characteristics. Speaking of his own early life, he said his policy was "to save two quarters for every one I
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spent." It was this that laid the foundation for his later marvelous prosper- ity. Following his return to Syracuse he resumed his interrupted career as a canal driver but watched every opportunity for advancement in the business world. He was promoted to steersman on the canal and finally invested in a boat of his own. The interest which he took in politics led to political inter- vention in his behalf when he was about seventeen years of age in an appoint- ment to the position of lock tender at the Lodi street locks. While thus en- gaged he saw a chance to buy and trade in horses and his carefully saved earnings were thus invested until at one time he had as many as fifty horses and mules at work along the canal. After leaving the position of lock tender he continued in business as a horse dealer on a yet more extensive scale, mak- ing purchases not only in central New York but also going as far as Canada to obtain desirable animals. The scope of his labors increased when he was appointed fire commissioner by Mayor Ryan, while Mayors Burns and Kirk continued him in office. He resigned, however, upon the election of Mayor Cowie in order that he might devote his attention entirely to his business interests and never again did he hold office save that of water commissioner. However, he was one of the recognized leaders of democracy in New York, a stalwart champion of the principles in which he believed, a delegate to various party conventions and the warm friend of many party leaders, including Judge Alton B. Parker. He was never an aggressive partisan, however, and had as many friends among the republicans as among democrats, and no party coercion could force him into any course which his judgment did not sanction.
Perhaps Mr. Dunfee was best known to the general public as a contractor. He did not plan to enter that field of business but, as usual, saw and embraced his opportunity, his first step being made when he purchased horses and put them under contract on canal work. His first important contract, was for cleaning the city streets. From that time forward he took contracts of one character or another until he became one of the best known contractors of the east. Only the week prior to his death he was the successful bidder in a con- tract near Boston, Massachusetts, calling for an expenditure of one million dollars. He constructed the Boston tunnel, made the improvements of the Hudson river and took a nine million dollar canal improvement contract. He was awarded many dredging contracts, some of these being at Albany, at New York and in Chesapeake Bay. He was the promoter of the Syracuse Lighting Company, acquiring the stock of the Electric Light & Power Company, which furnished all the electricity used in Syracuse and had the city lighting con- tract. The stock of the Syracuse Gas Company was at that time held by a syndicate and the company was losing money, when Mr. Dunfee proposed to the syndicate that they form one large company, combine the two properties and operate together. As a result the Syracuse Lighting Company came into existence, acquiring the Electric Light & Power Company, the Underground Electric Wire Company and the Onondaga Lighting Company property. In
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