USA > New York > The men of New York: a collection of biographies and portraits of citizens of the Empire state prominent in business, professional, social, and political life during the last decade of the nineteenth century, Vol. I > Part 12
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almost every important railroad in this part of the country. Few men have had a more varied experi- ence. His energy and good judgment won for him positions of trust, and these he always filled with faith- fulness and zeal. He entered the service of the New · York Central road in 1865, at the request of its presi -
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JAMMIES TILLINGHAST
dent, Dean 'Richmond, and was appointed superin- tendent of the western division. He soon made the acquaintance of Commodore Vanderbilt, who had re- cently acquired a large interest in the road, and was making his first trip of inspection over it. The great railway king at once recognized Mr. Tillinghast's unusual ability, and the friendship that then began grew with advancing years, and ended only with the death of Mr. Vanderbilt. When Commodore Van- derbilt acquired a controlling interest in the " Cen- tral," he made Mr. Tillinghast general superintend- ent, with headquarters at Albany : and this position he held until 1881, when he was appointed by Will- iam H. Vanderbilt assistant to the president. By
that time the tonnage of the road had increased tenfold from the figures of 1865, when Mr. Tilling- hast first became connected with the road.
In 1878 and 1879, in addition to his other duties, Mr. Tillinghast filled the double position of president and general manager of the Canada Southern railway : and it was owing chiefly to his exertions that the Dominion parliament passed laws that saved the road from bankruptcy, and enabled it to be reorganized without loss to the stockholders. In 1883 Mr. Tillinghast was vice president of the Niagara River Bridge Company, and superintended the erection of the cantilever bridge built by that company and opened for traffic during that year.
All the important offices held by Mr. Tillinghast have come to him unsolicited. It is worthy of notice, moreover, that he has never demanded a fixed sum for any services rendered, but has relied upon the zeal with which he served his employers to secure for him adequate compensation. His good judgment and reliability, in all emergencies and under all circumstances, have earned for him the respect and es- teem of railroad officials far and near, and of the general public as well. He is a man of few words, exceedingly quiet and un- demonstrative in manner ; but a deep thinker, and a man of action and determi- nation. He is affable and kindly in his in- tercourse with all, and is noted for his gen- erous hospitality and other social virtues.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- James Tillinghast was born at Coopers- toren, N. Y., May 8, 18.22 ; was educated in the public schools ; engaged in business, 1837-42, and in lake traffic, 1843-46 and 1862-64 ; was assistant superintendent of the Rome & Watertown railroad, 1852-56, superin- tendent of motive power of the Northern Railway of . Canada, 1856-62, division and general superintendent of the Central- Hudson railroad, 1865-81, and assistant to the president of that road in 1881 ; was president of the Wagner Sleeping Car Co., 1884-85 : married Mary Williams of Limerick, N. Y., October 2, 1843, and Mrs. Susan Williams of Buffalo July 25, 188.2.
Robert C. Citus has for many years of his life served his fellow-men. For nearly twenty years he has held various important positions of trust, and in each one he has discharged the duties imposed upon him so faithfully that his record is without a blemish.
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MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION'
Born in a little Erie-county village, Judge Titus passed the early years of his life amid surroundings that called for great sacrifices and much labor. He worked on a farm and attended district schools by turn. . At last the opportunity came for a course in Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio, and this chance to broaden out and to satisfy some of the ambitions that had long possessed the young man, was eagerly seized. He did not, however, graduate from this institution, but returned to Buffalo, and began the study of law. Thus was gratified an earnest desire. The young man applied himself to the study of the principles of law with so much zeal and persistence that in 1865 he was admitted to the bar with high honors.
The next thirteen years of his life were spent in the practice of his profession, either alone or with others. During this time Judge Titus had drifted into politics, and soon became one of the favorite campaign orators of the Democratic party, whose platforms and principles he warmly endorsed. His per- sonal popularity and his eminent party services appropriately led to a nomina- tion for district attorney of Erie county, and he was triumphantly elected to that office in the fall of 1877. The duties of this office were filled during the next three years with honor to himself, and to the entire satisfaction of the people. When his term expired he resumed private prac- tice. His party, however, soon called upon him to stand as the leader of its county ticket, and in the fall of 1881 he was elected state senator from the 31st district, which then included the whole of Erie county. He served with so much distinction that he was re-elected in the fall of 1883, thus representing Erie county in the highest legislative body of the state for four years. During that time he was a member of the judiciary and other im- portant committecs, on which he rendered valuable service. He was a faithful friend of the canals during his career in the legislature, and stood by the Erie canal, which has done so much in the develop- ment of the state, against all the attacks made by its enemies.
A vacancy about to occur on the bench of the Superior Court of Buffalo gave Mr. Titus's party friends another opportunity to show their regard for him, and he was nominated in the fall of 1885 for the honorable position thus available. His election
followed, and since that time Judge Titus has pre- sided with impartiality and dignity at many import- ant trials in Buffalo. In the course of time he became chief judge of the court, and held that posi- tion when the Superior Court was abolished, and its judges took seats on the bench of the Supreme Court January 1, 1896.
Judge 'l'itus has for many years been a prominent and honored member of the Masonic fraternity, and has been a leader in its many beneficent works. At the meeting of the Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, 33d and last degree, An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite, held in Buffalo in September, 1895, he was made an honorary member of that body. He is a director of the Masonic Life Association of Western New York, and is treasurer of the Acacia Club, the largest purely social club of
ROBERT C. TITUS
Masons in this country. This club has beautiful rooms in the Masonic Temple at Buffalo.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Robert Cyrus Titus was born at Eden, N. Y., October 24, 1839;
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MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
attended Oberlin College : married Arvilla R. Clark of Gowanda, N. Y., August 22, 1861 : was admitted to the bar at Buffalo in 1865 ; was district attorney of Erie county, 1818-80; was state senator for Eric county, 1882-85 : was elected judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo in the fall of 1885 ; was chief judge
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AUGUSTUS FRANKLIN TRIPP
of that court at the time of its absorption into the Su- premc Court January 1, 1896, when he became a member of the bench of the Supreme Court.
Augustus franklin Cripp is the head of one of the most important industrial establishments of Buffalo. In business circles he is known as a man of great worth of character, and of a wonderful grasp of details that makes him a perfect master of any- thing to which he gives his attention. The firm of Sidney Shepard & Co., of which he is the senior member, is known far and wide as a large producer of tinware and house-furnishings, and to Mr. Tripp is due in no small measure the success that the firm
has made in the business world. This concern has a mammoth factory in Buffalo, to which Mr. Tripp has devoted himself for nearly forty years ; and he has reduced its methods to a system that is ahnost per- fection. The firm has also a large warehouse and distributing center in Buffalo ; and a subsidiary firm, styled C. Sidney Shepard & Co., has headquarters in Chicago. Mr. Tripp is one of the men who do things without making any noise about it. Careful, prudent, and sagacious in a marked de- gree, he has succeeded where others might have failed.
Born the son of a farmer, in a little Vermont town, young Tripp spent his early years helping his people wring the necessities of life from the stony and ungenerous soil of the Green Mountain State. His ambition to attain something better than appeared in the East led him to leave home for what was then the Far West, and in 1844 he bade good-by to the friends of his boyhood, and started out to make his fortune. He went to Buffalo by the canal-packet line, and after a hasty look over the new city, which was in later years to be the scene of his busi- ness triumphs, he boarded a lake steamer for Fairport, Ohio. Thence he went to Painesville, in the same state, and there obtained a job cleaning up the machinery of an old oil mill. This job completed. he went to Cleveland, where he secured employment in the office of the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Co. He remained here until 1847, when he returned to Buffalo to take a position with the firm of John I). Shepard & Co., owners of steam-engine works and a large foundry. Two years later, when this firm passed out of exist- ence, Mr. Tripp returned to Ohio, and established himself in business at Painesville under the firm name of Steele Bros. & Tripp, and at the same time in Buffalo with his brothers-in-law under the firm name of A. F. Tripp & Co. This partnership was dissolved in 1852, and Mr. Tripp then entered the service of Sidney Shepard & Co. as clerk and bookkeeper. Here he displayed so much energy and intelligence in the discharge of his duties, and was so quick to grasp the details of the business and so efficient gen- erally, that after five years he became a partner in the concern, and has been actively interested ever since.
Outside of his business, Mr. Tripp is preemi- nently a home man. This does not mean that he is
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MENN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
not interested in all that pertains to the welfare of his city and of his fellow-men. His sympathy for the unfortunate has often found expression in his support of many Buffalo charities that have learned to look upon him as a friend in need. But Mr. Tripp never lets the right hand know what the left is doing. Unostentatiously he pursues his way through the world, leaving on all sides evidences of the sterl- ing worth of his character.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Augustus Franklin Tripp was born at New Haven, I't., Sep- tember 30, 1822 ; went West in 1840 - first to Paines- ville, O., and thence to Cleveland ; went to Buffalo in 1841, and entered the employ of John D. Shepard & Co. ; engaged in business with his brothers-in-law in Ohio, 1850-52 ; married Mary M. Steele of Paines- ville, O., August 17, 1847, and Caroline M. Brown of Chelsea, Mass., January 22, 1868 ; entered the service of Sidney Shepard & Co. of Buffalo in 1852, and has been a member of the firm since 1857.
George Urban, 3r., is recognized as one of the potent factors in the com- mercial and political life of Buffalo. He is a splendid example of the modern busi- ness man. Enterprise, industry, sound judgment, and integrity have been the foundation stones of his success. He has not confined himself to one thing, but has shown his ability and capacity in several fields. Happily, the rise and development of corporations have enabled a vigorous and resourceful man to en- gage in many enterprises at the same time. A large part of every business and profession is made up of routine and relatively unimportant details, which require neither skill nor foresight, and which can safely be left to subordinates ; while the talents of the manager or owner, thus relieved from petty annoy- ances and cares, may be employed far more effectively with weightier matters. The man who knows how to make this division of work economizes his time, and is enabled to take part in the con- (luct of banks and other organizations in addition to his particular business.
Mr. Urban is the son of a Buffalo pioneer in the flour and milling business, and was born in 1850 in a house just opposite the Urban inill. He was educated in the public schools of Buffalo, and at the age of eighteen entered his father's
establishment. Two years later he was made a partner in the firm. His father retired from business in 1885, and the firm of Urban & Co. now consists of George Urban, Jr., E. G. S. Miller, and W. C. Urban, a brother of the senior partner. For fifty years the Urban family have been in the flour business, and have made their excellent brands of flour household names.
In financial circles and among the promoters of enterprises on a large scale, Mr. Urban is well known from his connection with banking institutions and electrical companies. He is president of the Buffalo Loan, Trust & Safe Deposit Co., and a director in the Merchants' Bank and the Bank of Buffalo. He has devoted much attention to electric lighting and to electricity as a power in manufacturing and transportation, and he is connected with several com- panies concerned in electrical development. He is
GEORGE URBAN, JR.
vice president of the Buffalo General Electric Co. and a director of the Buffalo Railway Co., of the Depew Improvement Co., and of the Buffalo, Belle- vne & Lancaster Railway Co.
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MEN OF NEW YORK -- WESTERN SECTION
Mr. Urban's business occupations have not made him neglectful of his political obligations, and in taking an active part in local politics he has ren- dered his native city an important service. While he never would accept public office, Mr. Urban was chairman of the Erie county Republican general
GEORGE WADSWORTH
committee during the eventful years 1892-95; and to his skillful organization, his executive ability, and courageous demand for high standards of fitness in public officials is due in large measure the triumph of the people at the polls, and the complete rout of the spoilsmen and demagogues who had so long ruled the Queen City. Increasing business cares have since cansed Mr. Urban to retire from active politics, but he can always be counted on by the friends of honest municipal government, and his in- fluence for good on Republican politics is felt throughout the state.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- George Urban, Jr., was born at Buffalo July 12, 1850; was edu- cated in the public schools ; entered the firm of Urban
& Co., millers, in 1870 : married Ada E. Winspear of Buffalo in October, 1875 ; was chairman of the Republican county committee, 1892-95.
George Wadsworth enjoys an enviable genealogical distinction. He is a descendant of William Wadsworth, who came from England in the ship " Lion," and landed in Boston September 18, 1632. William Wadsworth was one of Parson Hooker's company that traveled through the wilder- ness and settled Hartford, Conn., in 1636. Joseph Wadsworth, of " Charter-Oak " fame, was a son of William Wadsworth, though not in direct line with the sub- ject of our sketch. Everyone remembers from his school days the striking incident of the imperiled charter in the dark days of the Connecticut colony -how Sir Edmund Andros, acting under orders of the King, attempted to take away the liberal charter of the colony, and how a Wadsworth extinguished the lights, seized the precious document, and hid it in the hollow of an oak. One of Mr. Wads- worth's great-grandfathers was a colonel of the Connecticut troops during the Rev- olution, and an intimate friend of Wash- ington and of Lafayette, To such early champions of freedom, and to others like them, Mr. Wadsworth may trace his lineage.
Born in the delightful old town of Litchfield, Conn., he received his early education in one of the "little red schoolhouses " so famous in their day. After pursuing more advanced studies in neighboring academies, he took up the occupation of teaching, which has so often been used by ambitious young men as a step- ping-stone to one of the professions. At the same time he began to study law, and when his means at length permitted, he undertook a course of study in a law office in Litchfield. In the earlier part of the century Litchfield had a wide reputation as a legal center, and attracted to its famous law school stu- dents from every state. It was here that John C. Calhoun, John M. Clayton, and many other eminent men studied law, and that Judge Reeve and Judge Gould, the author of the noted work on Pleading, delivered their celebrated lectures for years.
On the completion of his law studies Mr. Wads- worth was admitted to the bar of Connecticut : and in the same year, having removed to New York city,
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MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
he was admitted to the bar of the Empire State. The following year, 1852, he went to Buffalo, and after a preparatory experience as a law clerk, opened an office for himself. There for more than forty years he has been engaged in the active practice of an ar- duous profession.
Mr. Wadsworth has acted upon the belief that he who would be a thorough all-round lawyer can find little time for diversions or pursuits not connected with the main object of his vocation ; and that, while one's life may be thereby confined, one is nevertheless a real factor in the development of the community. Consequently he has avoided extensive participation in public affairs ; but at times he has contributed services of permanent value to the pub- lic, when the office concerned was in the line of his profession. He was at one time city attorney, was twice nominated judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo, and was a member of the commission consisting otherwise of John G. Milburn, Joseph Churchyard, and Spencer Clinton, to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo -a work that reflected credit upon both the revisers and the city.
A great part of Mr. Wadsworth's legal practice has concerned the intricate do- main of real property and the settlement of estates - departments of the law in which he stands high as a man of sound business judgment. During his long career at the bar he has been professionally asso- ciated in partnership relations with some of the best known members of the local bar-with such men as Benjamin H. Williams, Loran L. Lewis, Truman C. White, and Nelson K. Hopkins.
Mr. Wadsworth is thoroughly American in his habits and tastes, and preserves the characteristics of his New England train- ing. He is a lover of old books, fond of gaining instruction by travel, solid and resolute in his political convictions. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, the Republican League, and the Sons of the American Revolution, and a Past Master of the Ancient Land- mark Masonic Lodge, besides holding membership in several social clubs, such as the Buffalo and the Ellicott. His
life has been well-rounded, honorable to himself, and useful to the city in which he lives.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-George Wads- worth was born at Litchfield, Conn., March 10, 1830: attended common schools and academies at Litchfield
and Danbury ( Conun. ) ; was admitted to the bar of Connecticut and of New York in 1851 ; married Emily O. Marshall of Utica, N. Y., in June, 1858 ; was city attorney of Buffalo, 1850-61 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1852.
Richard A. Maite is a distinguished member of a profession that unites, in a greater degree than any other perhaps, the graces of art and the demands of utility. Architecture is among the very oldest, if it be not indeed the most ancient, of the professions, since the first builders, in a rude way to be sure, prac- ticed a kind of architecture. As for historic times, it is known that the earliest remains of any people evidence a more developed- state in architecture than in any other department of human knowledge. Temples and tombs proclaim the fact that man in
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RICHARD A. WHITE
remote ages devoted his time and thought to material creations evolved from the workings of imagination and from the longing to embody in physical forms the ideas of the mind.
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MMEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Mr. Waite's special strength lies in the fact that he combines a theoretic with a practical knowledge of building. Previously to entering upon his chosen career he devoted considerable time to mechanical engineering, thus laying a broad foundation for the more artistic work he was to take up. He had such masters as Ericsson, of " Monitor " fame, and John Kellum, New York's most prominent architect in the sixties.
Mr. Waite is an Englishman by birth, having been born in what is now a part of London ; but he came to the United States when a lad, and was edu- cated in the public schools here. He has pursued his profession in Buffalo since 1871, and has estab- lished a wide reputation among his professiona! brethren, who are best qualified to appreciate the value and merit of his work. His first building of any magnitude was the German Insurance Co. edifice, at the corner of Main and Lafayette streets, Buffalo. Other structures of importance in the same city designed by him are the Women's Union, Music Hall, the Grosvenor Library, Pierce's Palace Hotel (since destroyed by fire), and the General Myers mausoleum at Forest Lawn.
To get an adequate idea of the scope and extent of Mr. Waite's achievements as an architect, one must study the work that he has done away from his home and even from his adopted country. Canada, and especially the city of Toronto, has his master- pieces, which rank among the most important and successful examples of the highest class of modern architecture. For six years, commencing in 1886, Mr. Waite was engaged in the planning and the con- struction of the Ontario Parliament buildings at Toronto. This was a stupendous undertaking, and the brilliantly successful execution of the work quickly and justly gave Mr. Waite a high position in the ranks of his profession. This magnificent structure, known in its entirety as the Parliament and Departmental Buildings, includes within its walls over 76,000 square feet, and shows in all its archi- tectural details vigorous, masterful, and highly artis- tic treatment. Not the least noteworthy feature of the work is the fact that the undertaking was entirely completed promptly, and. within the original esti- mates. The Toronto Globe truly remarks that " the completion of such a building without extras or dis- putes is probably a unique and unprecedented occur- rence ; and no other instance is known of a public edifice of such magnitude erected at so small a cost."
While the Parliament building must be regarded as Mr. Waite's chef-d' œuvre, for the present at least, the account of his professional achievements would
be quite incomplete, if the record were to stop here. He is said to be the first American architect em- ployed by Her Majesty's government, and probably no other American architect has received so many important commissions from Her Majesty's subjects. In the construction of buildings for banks and insur- ance companies Mr. Waite has especially distin- guished himself. He designed buildings for the Western Assurance Co. at Toronto, the Canada Life Assurance Co. at Hamilton, Toronto, and Montreal, the Standard Life Assurance Co. at Montreal, and the head offices of the same company at Glasgow, Scotland. The Bank of Hamilton at Hamilton, Ont., and the Canadian Bank of Commerce at To- fonte, together with the Mail and Empire building at Toronto, are notable additions to Mr. Waite's . list of architectural triumphs. Among his works in western cities may be mentioned the Oliver Opera House (and office building ) at South Bend, Ind.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Richard Al- fred Waite was born at Camberwell, county of Surrer, England, May 14, 1848 ; came to the United States and settled in Buffalo in 1856 ; married Sarah E. Holloway of Buffalo September 22, 1869; has pur- szed the profession of architecture in Buffalo since 1871.
William f. Walker belongs to the class of business men that give stability and character to the community in which they live. Not widely known beyond a circle of friends and business associates, and not seekers for fame or official honors, these men yet influence and shape the public sentiment that determines the social, commercial, and political standards of the people. The talkers of the world have not often been its workers, and as the tendency of the age asserts itself, the practical man of affairs is becoming more and more the typical American citizen.
Mr. Walker is the son of Stephen Walker of Utica, N. Y., a prominent mechanic and builder of his day, who moved to Buffalo in 1832, when William was six years of age. Buffalo had then a population of a few thousand only, and was regarded as de- cidedly "out West." The stagecoach or the Erie canal, recently completed, afforded the only means of travel to the East. The public school system was not then developed in Buffalo, and Mr. Walker's education was obtained in private schools and in the Buffalo Academy. At the age of eighteen, having decided to follow a business career, he entered the employment of Orrin P. Ramsdell, who was one of the pioneers in the wholesale shoe business in western New York. After serving several years as a clerk,
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