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 15
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in the spring of 1856. We prize most what costs us the most effort, and Judge Gaskill, having worked hard to obtain a college education, naturally made good use of the opportunities that it offered ; and when he was graduated in 1859 he received the highest honors of his class. The same year he began the study of law in the office of George D. Lamont of Lockport, and after completing the required course of reading, was admitted to practice in the courts of Niagara county at the December term of 1860. In 1862 he opened an office in Lockport, where he has lived and practiced ever since, with the exception of six months, in 1862-63, when he practiced law in Saginaw, Mich., with William H. Sweet. In the spring of 1863 he returned to Lockport, and formed a partnership with Andrew J. Ensign, which lasted until 1868. Since then Judge Gaskill has practiced alone. Notwithstanding the infirmity of deafness, which has for many years prevented him from trying cases in court, and has excluded him from several of the most lucrative sources of profes- sional income, he has built up and main- tained a large and varied practice, of which important litigations form no in- considerable part. He has also devoted much time, since his retirement from active political life in 1878, to the training of students for the profession to which he is such an honor. In this he has been
most successful. Thirteen young men who gained their knowledge of law in his office are now in active practice, and without exception they have been success- ful in their profession ; while one has attained great eminence.
Judge Gaskill retired from political life when still a young man, but between the years 1865 and 1878 he held many impor- tant offices in the city and county. In the former year he was appointed first city clerk of the newly made city of Lock- port, and held the office for two years. In the same year he was made clerk of the board of supervisors of Niagara county for one year. In the spring of 1870 he was elected treasurer and tax collector of the city of Lockport, and in the follow- ing year was nominated for the office of surrogate of Niagara county, to which he was elected, and in which he served the full term of six years.
Judge Gaskill's study of the law has been constant and diligent, and in addition he has devoted much
time to literary, scientific, and philosophical sub- jects. He has written and published numerous poems, lectures, and addresses. He was the poet at the annual meeting of alumni of the University of Rochester in 1865, and one of the essayists of the New York State Bar Association in 1880. He was one of the founders of the Upsilon chapter of the Psi Upsilon fraternity at the University of Rochester. He is a member of the New York State Bar Associa- tion, and was one of the earliest members of the Ameri- can Association for the Advancement of Science.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Joshua Gas- kill was born at Rovalton, N. Y., November 4, 1835 : was educated at the Lockport Union School, Wilson Collegiate Institute, Gasport Academy, and the Univer- sity of Rochester, from which he graduated in 1859 :
JOSHUA GASKHI.I.
was admitted to the bar in 1860 ; married Salome Cox of Lockport, N. Y., May 25, 1863 ; was appointed city clerk of Lockport in 1865, and clerk of the board of supervisors of Niagara county the same year ; was
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elected treasurer of Lockport in 1870, and surrogate of Niagara county in 1871 ; has practiced law in Lock- port since 186.3.
Eleaser Green, a shrewd lawyer and an honest and successful business man, has long been one of
ELEAZER GREEN
the central figures of Chautauqua-county life, and one of the leading men of the city of Jamestown.
Educated in the common schools of Busti and Harmony, both country towns of Chautauqua county, and afterward at the old academy at Westfield and the Albany Law School, this "Harmony boy " (as he is called by his admirers from that town ) has won an enviable position in professional, business, and political circles. In May, 1868, Mr. Green was admitted to the bar, and came to Jamestown, where he acted as clerk in the law office of Cook & Lock- wood for two years. At the end of that interval he opened an office for himself in the same town, where he has ever since resided, and where he has built up a large and successful practice. The following
well known law firms have had the benefit of Mr. Green's ability and experience : Barlow & Green (Byron A. Barlow) : Green and Prendergast ( the late James Prendergast ) ; Green, Prendergast & Bene- dict (James Prendergast and Willis O. Benedict ) : Sheldon, Green, Stevens & Benedict ( Porter Sheldon, Frank W. Stevens, and Willis O. Bene- dict ); Green & Woodward ( John Wood- ward ) ; and the present firm of Green & Woodbury, Mr. Green being associated with Egbert E. Woodbury, surrogate of Chautauqua county.
The legal profession readily lends itself to business pursuits, and Mr. Green's career amply exemplifies the fact. His real-estate operations have been on an extensive scale, and his numerous success- ful ventures in this direction have marked him as a farsighted investor. One of his most successful efforts was the reclaiming of swamp lands on the northern shore of Lake Chautauqua, and the creation of " Greenhurst on Chautauqua," a pictur- esque and popular resort, named in his honor. In keeping with his interest in lake-shore property have been his public- spirited efforts in establishing the artificial propagation of muskellunge (a kind of pike ) at Chautauqua Lake. To this end Mr. Green has devoted time, money, and energy, and the successful establishment of the industry is the result.
In politics Mr. Green is a Republican, and while he has been a prominent and influential member of his party, he has also won the esteem and confidence of all political parties. When, therefore, in 1894, he consented to become a candi- date for mayor of Jamestown, he received 2,979 votes out of a total of 3,325, although there were two other candidates in the field. In 1895 Mr. Green was a candidate for district attorney of Chautauqua county, and although there were two other candidates before the Republican county con- vention, he was nominated on the first ballot by a large majority, and was elected in the following November.
Mr. Green holds many offices of trust. He at- tends the Congregational church, and is one of its active supporters.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Elcazer Green was born at Remsen, N. Y., March 16, 1846 ; was educated at Westfield ( N. Y. ) Academy and at the Albany Law School, from which he received the degree
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of Bachelor of Laws in 1868 ; married Mary E. Brown of Jamestown, N. Y., November 5, 1873 ; was elected clerk of the village of Jamestown in 1875, undd mayor of the city of Jamestown in 1894; was elected district attorney of Chautauqua county in 1895 ; ins practiced law in Jamestown since 1870.
Robert 3. Gross was thrown early in life upon his own resources, and has achieved success by his own energy. He was born in a village of ontario, Canada, and his schooling was limited to about five years in the common schools of his native place. Before he entered his teens he had taken up the study of telegraphy, and while a mere boy he began to support himself. He served as telegraph operator for the Montreal Telegraph Co. and the Dominion Telegraph Co. at Brighton, Ont., and later engaged in the railway service in a similar capacity. The hours were long and the work was hard ; but it is precisely such conditions that prove and develop character. Mr. Gross's abilities and per- severance were equal to the test, and his progress was steady.
He continued in railway employment until 1882. The service called him to various places, and March, 1873, found him at Dunkirk, N. Y., as train dispatcher for the Erie railroad. While there he came under the observation of Horatio G. Brooks, founder of the Brooks Locomotive Works of Dunkirk. Widening opportuni- ties, due to the recognition of his abilities, called Mr. Gross to more important posi- tions in the railway service in the West. Thence he returned in March, 1882, to form a partnership with Mr. Brooks, M. L. Hinman, and others connected with the Brooks Locomotive Works. His rise there, like that of his earlier career, has been continuous and rapid ; and he is now the vice president of the company. His business has made him an extensive traveler, as well in foreign lands as in this country ; and he has been instrumental in the introduction of the American loco- motive into Cuba and Brazil.
Mr. Gross's business ability and energy have been called into use by other institu- tions than the Brooks Locomotive Works. Since May, 1890, he has been president of the United states Radiator Co. of Dunkirk ; and upon the organ- wation of the Hartford Axle Co. of Dunkirk in January, 1895, he was chosen a director. Since
January, 1893, he has been president of the Young. Men's Building Association, Limited, of Dunkirk. This association, with a view to the improvement of the city, built and has conducted the fine Hotel Gratiot in Dunkirk.
Though he has not sought office, Mr. Gross has been an active and public-spirited citizen, and has taken a citizen's proper interest in political duties. He is an earnest Republican, and in 1883 served as chairman of the Republican committee of Chautauqua county -one of the strongest Republican counties in the Empire State. Since June, 1893, he has been a member of the board of water commissioners of Dunkirk - a life position that is considered one of the most honorable distinctions within the power of the municipality to bestow. In all matters concern- ing the prosperity of the city Mr. Gross takes an
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ROBERT J. GROSS
active interest. Since January, 1895, he has been vice president of the Dunkirk Board of Trade, a body devoted to the advancement of the city in its manufacturing and commercial relations.
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Mr. Gross has a wide circle of friends. He is a member of the Union League Club of Chicago, the Old-Time Telegraphers' Association, the American Railway. Master Mechanics' Association, and the Engineers' Club of New York city. He is a Mason of the 32d degree, and belongs to the order of the
CHARLES E. HEQUEMBOURG
Mystic Shrine. He has been a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Dunkirk since 1883.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Robert J. Gross was born at Brighton, Canada West, November 21, 1850 ; received a common-school education : was in the telegraphic and railway service, 1863-82 ; married Helen E. Wheeler of Milwaukee, Wis., June 23, 1887 ; has been a partner in the Brooks Locomotive Works, Dunkirk, N. Y., since 1882.
Charles E. bequembourg possesses in a marked degree the qualities of self-reliance, courage, and inflexibility of purpose. Apply these character- istics mentally to the branches of activity wherein his energy has found an outlet, and it is easy to
understand why he has been a successful contractor upon a large scale, and an instrument in the develop- ment of important material interests.
Mr. Hequembourg began life in the village of Dunkirk, N. Y., and received a common-school edu- cation there, in Dansville, N. Y., and in Warren, Penn. To this education he added an experience gained in the war, having been mustered, as a boy of eighteen, into the 68th regiment, company D, N. Y. N. G. After receiving an honorable discharge at the expiration of his term of enlistment, he entered the quartermaster's department of the Army of the Cumberland, where he was employed until after the close of the war. Since then he has been engaged in business in various capacities as mechanic, clerk, contractor, and civil engineer.
His first large contract was the erection, for the board of education, of the second- ward schoolhouse in the village of Dun- kirk. The next year he put up the first brick schoolhouse built in the city of Titusville, Penn. In 1871 he constructed the Dunkirk waterworks. In 1873-74 he built the Hyde Park waterworks, near Chicago. In 1879 he erected, with asso- ciates, the St. James hotel at Bradford, Penn., which was the second brick build- ing in the place, but which was so well constructed that it holds its own among the later buildings of the city.
As a natural result of his location, Mr. Hequembourg became interested in oil development. He was one of the early operators in the Bradford oil fields, and has since been concerned in oil and gas production in many other parts of the
country. In 1878 he built, with others, the plant of the Bradford Gaslight & Heating Co .--- the first cor- poration in this country to supply natural gas to a municipality for both illumination and heat. In 1880 this company, of which he was president and engineer. installed a gas-pumping station of 6,000,000 cubic feet daily capacity at Rixford, Penn., to pump gas to the city of Bradford. This was at that time the only plant in the world pumping gas through a pipe-line. Later he was instrumental in carrying out the same idea upon a much larger scale. As president and engineer of the Columbus Construction Co., he un- dertook in 1888 the building of a natural-gas pipe- line connecting the gas fields of Indiana with the city of Chicago. In 1892 the corporation completed and
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turned over to the owners - the Indiana Natural-gas & Oil Co. and the Chicago Economic Fuel Gas Co. - the largest and longest natural-gas pipe-line sys- tem in the world, fully equipped with modern pump- ing stations and appliances ; and the plant is now in successful and profitable operation.
Mr. Hequembourg has exhibited, as a citizen and in official life, the same qualities of progressiveness and firmness of purpose that have characterized his business career. Though his political affiliations have always been Republican, he was chosen mayor of Dunkirk, a Democratic city, by a large majority over the Democratic candidate. His election was due in great part to a movement, outside of party lines, to make fitness and not politics the controlling element in municipal affairs. The application of business meth- ods to municipal politics proved here, as elsewhere, eminently satisfactory. His administra- tion was marked by a large increase in local patriotism, and exercised much influence upon the prosperity of the com- munity. At the election in March, 1895, Mr. Hequembourg was re-elected mayor without opposition. The only other pub- lic office he has held is that of civil engi- neer of Dunkirk. He has also rendered public service to that city as president of the Commercial Association.
Mr. Hequembourg has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years. He is a Knight Templar and a 33d degree Mason, belonging to the body known as the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons as organized by Ill. Joseph Cerneau in 1807. Mr. Hequembourg is Commander in Chief of Dunkirk Consistory, No. 34. PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Charles Ezra Hequembourg was born at Dunkirk, N. Y., July 9, 1845 ; was edu- cated in the common schools ; served in the United States army from 1863 to the close of the war ; married Harriet E. Thurber of St. Louis, Mo., July 31, 1872; was an early operator in the Pennsylvania oil fields, and a pioneer in the development of natural- gas transportation ; was elected mayor of Dunkirk in March, 1894, and again in March, 1895 ; has been engaged in business, chiefly as civil engineer and contractor, in Dunkirk since 1865.
William MID. Trish has earned no less than three reputations, each of them enviable. The first is that of one of the most actively useful citizens of
Olean, N. Y. ; the second is that of an able manager of public institutions ; the third and most distinctive is that of a high authority in the complicated busi- ness of oil refining. To this business Mr. Irish has devoted over half of his sixty-odd years ; and both his experience and knowledge, which is as scientific as it is practical, place him among the experts whose opinions are frequently called for in the various departments of oil refining.
Mr. Irish was a Yankee boy, who began earning bread and butter at thirteen years of age. For eleven years thereafter he worked in a grocery, finally leaving that business to accept a clerkship in the New Bedford ( Mass. ) custom house. He re- tained this position through the Pierce and Buchanan administrations - 1853-61. He began his connec- tion with the oil industry, first with the Fairhaven
WILLIAM M. IRISH
Oil Co., and then with the New Bedford Oil Co., holding the office of superintendent for two years in each concern. In 1865, with more experience and skill than were generally possessed by those who
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flocked to the oil country, Mr. Irish decided to in- vest his talents where the promise of return was greatest. Arriving at the oil district, he immediately became treasurer and superintendent of the Wam- sutta Oil Co. in Venango county, Penn. Since that time he has occupied similar positions in several other companies, including the Octave Oil Co. at Titusville, Penn., and the Acme Oil Co., to which the former company sold out. He is now general manager of the Acme Works, which are owned by the Standard Oil Co.
Wherever he has lived Mr. Irish has been promi- nently identified with the best interests of the com- munity. In his native town, in Titusville, and in Olean, he has served long and with distinction as a member or as president of school boards. In connec- tion with the requirements of this office, as he regards the matter, he has carried on courses of study result- ing in a broad culture that has been at once a satis- faction in itself and a source of power. Mr. Irish was the president of the first board of water commis- sioners in Olean during the construction of the city waterworks. That his acquaintance with the scien- tific side of municipal management is by no means narrow is proved by the fact that he has for several years been a member of the local board of health, and is now its president. Other conspicuous posi- tions, such as that of vice president of the Olean Electric Light & Power Co. and of the Board of Trade, indicate the commercial talents possessed by Mr. Irish. Altogether it may be said that Olean is healthier, better taught, better lighted, and better watered, because of Mr. Irish's residence within its borders.
Executive ability such as that of Mr. Irish has not been allowed by state officials to go to waste. Gov- ernor Cleveland appointed him to a directorate on the board of the State Hospital for the Insane, located at Buffalo, and Governor Hill reappointed him. Mr. Irish is an attendant of the Presbyterian church. His spare time is devoted to efforts to pro- mote the social and educational interests with which he is identified, or to study connected with these interests.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- William Mitchell Irish was born at Fairhaven, Mass., July 3, 1829 ; attended district schools in early youth ; was clerk in a grocery, 1842-53 ; married Sarah Jane Dun- ham of Fairhaven December 11, 1851: was a custom-house clerk, 1853-61; was superintendent of oil concerns, 1861-65 ; was treasurer and superin- tendent of Wamsutta Oil Co., Me Clintockville, Penn., 1865-72, and of Octave Oil Co., 1872-76; has lived at Olean, N. Y., since 1880 as manager of the Acme Oil Works.
Charles Z. Lincoln has done his part in making the fame of the Cattaraugus-county bar. On many occasions he has shown his fellow-lawyers the value of fundamental training in the principles of the law and of persistent research into legal history. Mr. Lincoln at present holds the important position of chairman of the New York commission of statu- tory revision, to which he was appointed by Gov- ernor Levi P. Morton in January, 1895. In virtue of this office he is also the confidential legal adviser of the governor. How important this position is may be seen from the fact that every bill passed by the legislature is referred to Mr. Lincoln for his opinion as to its constitutionality and its other legal aspects, and many bills have been amended, at the governor's suggestion, to meet the objections raised by Mr. Lincoln to the form or phraseology or re- quirements of the bill. Mr. Lincoln is also chair- man of the commission to revise the code of civil procedure. As may be inferred from the facts already cited, his legal attainments are of a high order.
He is a son of Vermont, though he has lived in Cattaraugus county since his early childhood. His mother died when he was four years old, and his father when he was eight, and he was left to fight his way in the world as best he could. The story of his life resembles that of so many successful men, in re- counting efforts to obtain an education under the most adverse conditions. He ultimately succeeded in taking an incomplete course at the Chamberlain Institute at Randolph, N. Y .; but his school attend- ance stopped at this point.
Determining to study law, Mr. Lincoln entered the office of Cary & Jewell, of Olean and Little Val- ley, in 1871, and three years later was admitted to the bar. In August, 1874, he opened an office in Little Valley, where he has practiced ever since. His time and advice have been freely given to the community in which he has lived, and in which he is honored. For four years he represented the town of Little Valley on the board of supervisors ; twice he has been president of the village of Little Valley, and once trustee of the same ; and for seven years he served as a member of the village board of education.
When the 32d senatorial district needed a sound man, an able thinker, and a hard worker to represent it in the constitutional convention that sat in this state in 1894, Mr. Lincoln was chosen. It is not too much to say that he was a force in that body of able men, and was early recognized as one of the best of the constitutional lawyers who joined in guid- ing the action of the body. He served on a number of very important committees, including those on appor- tionment, privileges and elections, and civil service.
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Mr. Lincoln has a ready pen. A series of articles on "Young Men in Politics " which he wrote in 1884 proved very popular, and attracted consider- able attention throughout his section of the state. He has also written much on legal and historical topics for newspapers and legal journals during the last twenty years ; and in 1893 he wrote a history of the bench and bar of Catta- raugus county. At his home in Little Valley he has a fine library, particularly rich in subjects of history and law. Out- side the practice of his profession he has found his chief recreation in the study of history, especially the branches that have a leaning toward the law. He is likewise a master of the philosophy of law. The education that was denied him in his youth has been won as he went along. He is a thorough student, and is remark- ably well grounded in the law of the ancient Romans. His lectures and ad- dresses on law and history involve im- mense research, and are in great demand.
Though so thoroughly devoted to the law, Mr. Lincoln has never neglected his social duties. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the Methodist Episcopal church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Charles Z. Lincoln was born at Grafton, Vt., August 5, 1848 ; was educated in the common schools and at Chamberlain Insti- tute, Randolph, N. Y .; married Lusette Bonsteel of East Otto, N. Y., November 12, 1874; was a member from the 32d senatorial district of the state constitutional convention in 1894 ; was appointed chair- man of the commission of statutory revision and governor's confidential legal adviser, by Governor Morton, January 2, 1895 : was appointed chairman of the commission to revise the New York code of civil procedure June 15, 1895 ; has practiced law at Little Valley, N. Y., since 1874.
Robert M. MDarvin is a business man, a pro- gressive citizen, a man whose name stands among the first in good causes - in short, one of the men who help generously to make the wheels go round in whatever community they live. As he has spent his whole life in Jamestown, he has the unusual good fortune of seeing about him the fruition of the efforts he has put forth during a remarkably active career.
With such preparation as could be obtained from public and private schools, a course at Hartwick
Seminary, Otsego county, N. Y., and the training of a business college, Mr. Marvin began his career. He started in business life as a bookkeeper, and soon after became manager of the business of his father, the late Judge Richard P. Marvin. This position he held for nearly twenty-five years. He also
CHARLES Z. LINCOLN
became connected with the lumber business, and organized the firm of Marvin, Rulofson & Co., which still continues under his management. To give a detailed account of the business interests with which Mr. Marvin has been identified, and to re- count the labors prompted by the philanthropic, patriotic, and fraternal instincts of his character, would require more space than our present limits allow. Merely brief mention can be made of the efforts that have rendered him a potent and valuable factor in the community.
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