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 13
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Mr. Walker found that his worth to the house was recognized ; and in 1856 he was admitted to a part- nership in the concern. This connection continued until 1876, when the copartnership was dissolved, and Mr. Walker engaged in business for himself.
The wholesale boot, shoe, and rubber house then established has become one of the largest and most reliable firms in this section of the state. Its trade extends not only over New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, but also into the far western states. In 1887 Mr. Walker, finding his business growing to large proportions, admitted to partnership Edward C. Walker and William A. Joyce ; and Stephen Walker was added to the firm in 1893. All these men were experienced in the business, and their accession to the firm gave ad- ditional strength to a house already noted for its resources.
Success in one commercial field in- variably leads to enlarged opportunities in the business world, since men who have conducted their own affairs safely will naturally be sought to care for the inter- ests of others. Mr. Walker as a financier has duplicated his success as a business man. In 1884 he was elected to the position of president of the Merchants' Bank of Buffalo ; and so faithfully and sagaciously has he discharged the duties of this responsible office that the bank has been enabled to pay regularly an annual dividend of six per cent, and has accumulated in addition a surplus of two hundred thousand dollars.
In politics Mr. Walker is an ardent Republican, and while never an office- holder or office-seeker, he has always responded to the calls of his party. In 1888 he was nominated for presidential elector on the Repub- lican ticket.
Mr. Walker maintains an active connection with educational, philanthropic, and religious institutions. He is a trustee of Hobart College, vice president of the Buffalo General Hospital, and warden of St. Paul's Church. He is also vice president of the Fidelity Trust & Guaranty Company, and of the Merchants' Exchange. In all these positions of trust and responsibility he is noted for disinterested action, fidelity, and unimpeachable integrity.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - William Henry Walker was born at Utica, N. Y., August 20, 1826 ; was educated at the Buffalo Academy ; entered
the wholesale shoe house of O. P. Ramsdell in 1844, and was associated in partnership with him, 1856-76 ; married Edith Kimberly of Buffalo October 21, 1869 ; was nominated for presidential elector in 1888 ; has conducted the wholesale boot and shoe business of Win. H. Walker & Co. since 1876.
WILLIAM H. WALKER
3obn J6. Weber has lived much in few years. He has been equally successful in different lines of activity-in business, in public office, and in financial affairs. He is a native of Buffalo, and was born in a favorable time to test his mettle and capacity ; for he was in his nineteenth year when President Lincoln called for troops.
Among the many grand regiments sent into the field by the Empire State, none was more famous than the Ellsworth regiment, popularly known as "The Avengers," composed of men representing every ward and town in the state. The members were selected by boards of examiners, and Mr. Weber was chosen from the seventh ward of Buffalo. One of the examiners expressed the fear that Mr. Weber
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could not stand the hardships of camp and battle. How little this examiner appreciated the staying powers of the young soldier is realized when the fact is stated that Mr. Weber was never sick a day during the war, nor obliged to fall out of line on a march. He was made a corporal, and being the smallest man
JOHN B. WEBER
physically in the company, received the sobriquet of the " Little Corporal."
Mr. Weber saw active service in the field. He was present at the siege of Yorktown, and was made 2d lieutenant soon after that event. He took part in the "Seven Days' Fight " before Richmond, and at Gaines's Mill he received special mention for meri- torious conduct. Later in the war, when the 116th New York regiment took the field, Mr. Weber joined it as adjutant. He was subsequently made acting assistant adjutant general of Chapin's brigade, and was with his command in the memorable fight at Port Hudson. About this time he was offered the colonelcy of a Massachusetts regiment or, in case he preferred to do so, was authorized to organize a
colored regiment. He chose the latter course, and in 1863, when less than twenty-one years old, he was made colonel of the 89th United States colored infantry ; and as Colonel Weber he fought to the end of the war.
On the restoration of peace he returned to Buffalo, and engaged in business as a grain com mission merchant. Later in life ( 1xx1 -84) he was a member of the firm of Smith & Weber, wholesale grocers. Hi- public career, however, must have our chief attention. He was first nominated for sheriff of Erie county in 1870, Imit was defeated by Grover Cleveland by fewer than three hundred votes, Mr. Weber running nearly twelve hundred votes ahead of his own ticket. He ran again in 1873, and was elected by two thousand plurality. Meantime he had been appointed deputy postmaster, and had filled that office for three years. In both these positions he displayed ev- cellent judgment, and faithfully dis- charged the duties devolving upon him.
But higher honors were in store, and in the same year when his old antagonist for sheriff was elected President, Mr. Weber took his seat as a representative in congress from the 33d New York dis- trict. He was re-elected in 1889, and during both terms proved himself a cap- able representative and a public-spirited legislator. He interested himself es- pecially in the improvement of our canals by federal aid on condition that they should be free. He was a member of the subcommittee charged with the drafting of a bill to settle the Pacific-railroad in- debtedness, his colleagues on the com- mittee being ex-Speaker Crisp, and Mr. Outhwaite of Ohio. In the year following his retirement from congress Mr. Weber was appointed by President Harrison to the responsible office of commissioner of immigration at the port of New York. While in this position he was sent to Europe at the head of a com- mission to make an investigation into the sources and causes of immigration. His special field was Russia. and the part of the report dealing with that country was widely discussed, and was translated into French. The work is prohibited in Russia, though it under- states rather than exaggerates the evils considered.
Mr. Weber is a vigorous, clear, and dispassionate writer, and he is the author of numerous articles and reports, chiefly on canals and the immigration
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problem. He is a member of the G. A. R., the Union League Club of Brooklyn, the Buffalo and Ellicott clubs, and is a Free Mason. Since his with- drawal from official life he has been cashier of the American Exchange Bank, and has repeated in this new field the success that has attended all the under- takings of his active career.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-John B. Weber was born at Buffalo September 21, 1842 ; was edu- cated in the public schools and the Central High School of Buffalo ; enlisted as a volunteer soldier in the Union army in August, 1861, and served three years ; married Elizabeth J. Farthing of Buffalo January ?, 1884; was assistant postmaster at Buffalo, 1811-73, sheriff of Erie county, 1814-16, representative in con- gress, 1885-89, and commissioner of immigration at the port of New York, 1890-93 ; has been cashier of American Exchange Bank of Buffalo since 1894.
Charles Barker Wheeler has for years been a deep and earnest student of civil-service reform. As a member of the civil-service commission of Buffalo and as chairman of that board, he has done work of incalculable value to the cause of pure politics. The time has long since gone by when the reform movement can be successfully and openly attacked by petty politicians ; yet those who stand for a better civil service, who represent the principle that municipal government is not spoils politics, know full well that eternal vigilance is the only safeguard. How true Mr. Wheeler has been to the trust given to his care, how many annoy- ances he has been subjected to because of his faithfulness, how many covert attacks he has warded off with the aid of his associates - only those know who come into an intimate contact with the civil- service commission. He has labored at all times for an extension of the govern- ing principle of merit, until he has the satisfaction of seeing nearly all depart- ments of the. city government under the operation of civil-service. rules and regu- lations. Silas W. Burt of the state civil-service commission said lately that in the application of the reform to the city service, Buffalo was a model for all other cities in the state.
Mr. Wheeler is a lawyer by profession and an active practitioner. He has been such since 1876,
when he was admitted to the bar. Going to Buffalo three years prior to his admission, after graduat- ing from Williams College, Mr. Wheeler entered the office of Sprague & Gorham, where he assiduously studied the mysteries of the law. On his admission to the bar he at once began the practice of his pro- fession. His thoroughness in all things, his accurate knowledge of law, his care in preparing cases, his logical presentation of the same, and his clearness before judge or jury early attracted the attention of older lawyers. Because of these marked character- istics as a legal practitioner Mr. Wheeler was ad- mitted to partnership in 1882 by Sherman S. Rogers and Franklin D. Locke, retaining his connection with this firm for three years. During this time many important cases were handled by him ; and it need hardly be added that he won his full share of victories.
CHARLES BARKER WHEELER
With broadened experience and ripened judgment Mr. Wheeler in 1885 began to practice alone, and has remained without a partner since. He is regularly retained by a number of business men of extensive
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interests, some of whom came to know him and to appreciate his worth while he was a partner with Messrs. Rogers and Locke. He is a faithful student of the law, and thinks the time not wasted that is devoted to a patient acquirement of all the details of legal learning. In this particular he is an example
TRUMAN C. WHITE
for many other lawyers who fail to appreciate the fact that only constant and intelligent application will fit them for a successful battle in court. Mr. Wheeler is an excellent trial lawyer as well as a sound counselor. He never finds it necessary to bully and hector witnesses in his endeavor to bring out all that will be of advantage to his side of a case. His ex- amination is marked by an admirable clearness : he knows exactly the object to be attained and the most direct and positive way of reaching it. In cross- examination he is equally expert, and shrewdly fights his way to the desired end. When presenting a case to a jury he indulges in no mere cratory, but marshals his facts in strong array, sweeps away all extraneous
matter, and bears down upon the judgment of the "twelve good men and true" in an irresistib !.. manner. In a legal argument before a court h .. facts are again presented fairly and forcibly, and les contentions supported by citations always relevant to the matter under consideration.
If one were asked to give in a word the secret of Charles Barker Wheeler' success in life, that word would be " thor. oughness."
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY __ Charles Barker Wheeler was born a: Poplar Ridge, Cayuga county, N. Y .. December 27, 1851 ; graduated fren. Williams College with the class of 18 ;; ; was admitted to the bar in 1876: married Frances Munro Rochester of Buffalo June 28, 1883 ; was appointed member of the Buffalo civil-service commission March 11. 1889, and was elected chairman of tu board February 3, 1892.
Truman C. Vbite, a justice of the Supreme Court, is a son of the late Daniel Delevan White and Alma Wilber. and comes from good New England stock. Elder John White, who settled i !! Cambridge, Mass., in 1632, and who wa- a member of the famous Thomas Hooker . congregation, was Mr. White's paternal American ancestor. His American an - cestor on the other side was George Wilber, who lived near Danby, Vt., early in the 18th century. Truman White and Stephen Wilber, the grandparents of Justice White, were pioneers in Erie county, having settled there in 1810.
Mr. White attended the public and " select " schools of his neighborhood. and taught two winter terms in the village school of Langford, Erie county. He also spent a part of the years 1859-60 at the Springville Academy, intending to complete a course of study there ; but the breaking out of the Civil War caused a change in his plans. In September, 1861. he enlisted as a private in the 10th regiment New York volunteer cavalry for three years or during
the war. He held the noncommissioned office of quartermaster sergeant in his company from August 5, 1862, to March 4, 1863, and that of orderly or 1st sergeant from March 4, 1863, to February ". 1864, when he was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant. In January, 1864, he re-enlisted in the field for the remainder of the war, served with his
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.
tynnent until the war ended, and was mustered out service at Syracuse in July, 1865.
Justice White's name has long suggested legal other than military associations, and his heart was wt upon the law from an early day. While in the army he read Blackstone and Kent, but of course would not pursue his legal studies effectively under ah conditions. On his return to civil life he ient some months in the oil regions of Pennsyl- wania, and in January, 1866, entered the law office «! Judge Stephen Lockwood in Buffalo as a student, and soon afterward became a student and managing Verk in the office of Edward Stevens, then one of the most brilliant and successful lawyers in western New York. In November, 1867, Mr. White was ahmitted to the bar, and immediately opened an wire on his own account. He had scarcely become vttled in his new quarters, however, when his former preceptor tendered him partnership on very liberal terms. The offer was accepted, and the firm was Known as Stevens & White. Mr. Stevens tuving died in August, 1868, Mr. White tom that time until he was elected a paige of the Superior Court of Buffalo in 1891, was associated successively with George Wadsworth, Nelson K. Hopkins, avl Seward A. Simons in the practice of the law. Mr. White attained high rank as an active practitioner at the lar. He enjoyed the confidence and re- Band of all who knew him; and his practice was extensive, varied, and suc- will in a marked degree.
Though a strong Republican in pol- ties, Mr. White is not a partisan, and when he was first nominated for a place on the bench of the Superior Court of Jaffalo in 1885, he received the support of mien of both parties, and failed of diection by a minority of only fifty-seven votes in a total of thirty-three thousand. When placed in nomination for the same one in 1891, he received a majority of ser four hundred votes in a year when early all the city and county Democratic · kets were elected by large majorities. 'be mayor, or head of the Democratic ty ticket, being elected by a majority "! 4.587. This was remarkably strong "valence of the esteem in which his fellow-citizens rWd him at that time, and his career on the bench been such as to increase that esteem. Apt learn- 52. legal ability, unquestioned integrity of purpose,
and a well balanced temperament have characterized and distinguished Mr. White's judicial career.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Truman Clark White was born at Perrysburg, N. Y., April 30, 1840 : attended country schools and Springville ( N. Y. ) Academy ; enlisted in the 10th New York cavalry in 1861, and served throughout the war, being dis- charged in July, 1865, as 1st lieutenant ; was ad- mitted to the bar in Buffalo in November, 1867 ; married Emma Kate Haskins of Buffalo February 10, 1869 ; was elected judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo in the fall of 1891, serving until January 1. 1896, when, on the abolishment of the Superior Court, he took his seat on the bench of the Supreme Court.
Thomas L. Bunting is a living proof that the boy who has it in him can win success in the
THOMAS L. BUNTING
country as well as in the city. His own life has shown that it is not necessary to leave the village for the larger field of the city, if one desires to build up a profitable business. Of course the chances are
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fewer in the country, but that fact contributes so much more to the credit of the man who takes ad- vantage of them. Like so many other country boys, Mr. Bunting taught school while he was finishing his education. After leaving the Springville Academy in 1863 he moved to Hamburg, in Erie county, and has lived there ever since, having closely identified himself with the material welfare of that thriving town. He embarked early in mercantile business, and in 1868 established a general store. Close and intelligent application won him success, and he is now the owner of the largest store of its kind in western New York. His establishment is popularly known as "Six Stores in One."
Always on the lookout for opportunities to widen his field, Mr. Bunting became identified with the canning business in 1881, and to his business insight is largely due the great measure of prosperity that has come to the Hamburg Canning Co. This con- cern has mammoth plants both at Hamburg and at Eden, in Erie county. Its capital stock is $100,000, and its yearly output is three and one-half million cans of fruits and vegetables, equivalent to five hun- dred car-loads. It finds markets in all states of this country and in many foreign cities. Mr. Bunting is interested in various other companies. He is vice president of the Bank of Hamburg, a stockholder in the Hamburg Planing Mill Co., president of the local water and electric-light company, and president of the Hamburg Investment & Improvement Co., which has done much for the development and improvement of the town. All of these enterprises have the benefit of Mr. Bunting's sagacity and business judgment.
Mr. Bunting is a Democrat in political faith, and has manifested a deep interest in honest politics. He was elected to the 52d congress from the 33d New York district in 1890, and served his term with much distinction. It was during this time that the . discussion over the proposed changes in the tariff laws was at its highest point. The Mckinley law had been passed in 1890, and the 52d congress, which assembled in 1891, and which was Demo- cratic, made a great effort to overthrow the principle of protection. Mr. Bunting arrayed himself with the tariff-reform forces, took a leading part in the debates, and became recognized as one of the best authorities on that side concerning tin plate. His connection with the canning business, in which he was a large consumer of tin cans, gave him a prac- tical knowledge of the subject, and he wrote many articles for the press and for the Tariff Reform Club. When his term expired his party endeavored to give him a renomination, but he positively refused to return to Washington.
Mr. Bunting is a member of the Presbyterian church, of the Free and Accepted Masons, of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Thomas La- throp Bunting was born in the town of Eden, N. Y .. April 24, 1844 ; received his education at a district school and the Springville Academy ; taught school in 1861-62 ; married Bettie Maria Newton of East Hamburg, N. Y., September 8, 1869 ; established a general mercantile business in Hamburg, N. Y., in 1868 ; became manager of the Hamburg Canning Co. in 1889 ; was a member of the 52d congress ( 1891- 03) : has lived in Hamburg since 1863.
Charles S. Cary is a prominent character in the political, social, and business circles of western New York. An academic education, together with a close study of law, science, literature, and man- kind, has given Mr. Cary that tact and farsight- edness needed by the successful politician, business man, and lawyer. Of commanding presence and great mastery of language, he not only impresses one by his physical perfection, but also wins one's con- fidence at once by his quaint, bluff, and yet adroit manner of speech. Thoroughly schooled in all the practice of the law, he has gained a clientage in Olean and the oil country second to none ; and Cary & White, Cary & Bolles, and Cary, Rumsey & Hastings, have always appeared as counsel in im- portant cases on the court calendars of the 8th judicial district. During the forty-five years of his practice he has attended every term of the Supreme Court held in his county.
In political life Mr. Cary has been a Democrat. President Lincoln, however, recognizing his ability. appointed him commissioner of enrollment for the 32d district in 1863 ; and during the years 1865-66 he was collector of internal revenue for the same dis- trict. In 1872 he was nominated by the Democrats for representative in congress, and received a major- ity of the legal votes in the district comprising Chau- tauqua and Cattaraugus counties. The Republican ballots in Chautauqua county, having been printed " For Member of Congress " instead of "For Rep- resentative in Congress," as required by law, were invalid, and Mr. Cary might have had the whole vote thrown out, and might thus have been seated by congress. He was strongly urged to do so, and it would have been an easy matter to give Mr. Cary his seat, the Democratic party having a large major- ity in the house of representatives at that time. But he would not permit this, and refused to take advan- tage of the technicality. This act alone brought him
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many friends in the Republican party, and he was able in 1883, when he received the nomination for member of assembly at the hands of the Democrats, to overcome a large Republican majority and to win the election. In the same year he was nominated by the Democratic judicial convention for the 8th julicial district for justice of the Supreme Court, and ran eleven thousand ahead of the party ticket. In 1886 President Cleve- land, seeking to inaugurate reforms in the governmental supervision of the Pacific railroads, appointed Mr. Cary one of the national commissioners. In this capacity he served one year, when the President middle him solicitor of the United States treasury. Mr. Cary held this office until the close of President Cleveland's first term. At the Democratic state convenl- tion at Syracuse in 1895 he was strongly urged to accept the nomination for sec- retary of state, but refused to allow the ise of his name.
In railroad circles of western New York .ind Pennsylvania Mr. Cary has long been prominent, having been president of the Olean, Bradford & Warren, the Kendall A Eldred, and the Olean & Bolivar rail- roads. He is now vice president of the Coudersport & Port Allegheny railroad. He is favorably known in banking circles, having been an incorporator of the Ex- hange National Bank of Olean and a director in that institution from the time of its foundation. He has retained in abundant measure the confidence and esteem of the community of which he so long been an active member.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Charles S. Cary was born at Hornellsville, 1. V., November 25, 1827 ; graduated from Alfred- N. Y. ) Academy in 1847, and from the National I.at School, Ballston Spa, N. Y., in 1850; married Strah A. Mitchell in 1850; was appointed com- issioner of the board of enrollment by President Lincoln in 1863 ; was collector of internal revenue, 105-06 ; was a member of the state assembly in 18.81: was appointed commissioner of Pacific rail- read's in 1886, and solicitor of the United States treas- Ury in 1887 : has practiced late in Olean since 1850.
Willard A. Cobb has been a lifelong student of men and affairs. He is especially noted as a yes :malist who has faithfully served the state in "tal positions. He has been an active force in
the formation of a sound and healthy public opin- ion in western New York on every prominent ques- tion that has arisen during the last twenty-five years. He has labored with peu and voice for the success of principles constituting the basis of all good govern- ment.
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CHARLES S. CARY
As a preparation for his career he had the advan- tage of an excellent education. He was fitted for college at Rome (N. Y. ) Academy and at Dwight's Rural High School, Clinton, N. Y., and pursued a four years' course at Hamilton College, having among his classmates Elihu Root, Franklin D. Locke, and other men who have since achieved dis- tinction. Having chosen journalism as his pro- fession, Mr. Cobb at once began his apprenticeship in the practical school of the reporter. He accepted a position on the Chicago Post, and was then suc- cessively assistant editor of the Racine Advocate, city editor of the Utica Morning Herald, editor of the Dunkirk Journal, and finally editor in chief of the Lockport Daily Journal.
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