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 20
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Just at the close of the decade. :: year Lincoln was elected President, i. name of Mr. Sessions is found in the i .: of members of the state senate. Anoth . gap of five years, and he is again for ... in the senate and again leader of the !:. . jority as chairman of the finance co ... mittee, the most important in the up -. house, as the committee on ways a! . means is of the lower house. Most mnc. are content to obtain this leadership . the legislature after many years of u !. broken service, and such experience .. usually deemed necessary to familiar .. . a man with the fine points of parliament ary practice requisite to successful gu .. ance of the controlling party. Sessions, it will be observed, obtait: leadership in both the assembly and t. senate after having served in each of one term. Moreover, his two terms the senate were not consecutive.
Reference to the Congressional DE. tory will show the name of Walter L. Sessions amo. the members of the 42d congress, which met in :. third year of Grant's first administration. Again . name appears as a member of the 43d congress, elect in the exciting Grant-Greeley campaign - the u. interesting, perhaps, in the history of the Republ: .. party. There were famous men in those two er gresses. James G. Blaine was speaker of both. . James A. Garfield was a leader on the floor. 1 New York delegation included such men as He: W. Slocum, Samuel S. Cox, Fernando Wood, Cl. : son N. Potter, John HI. Ketcham, William Wheeler, Ellis H. Roberts, and Thomas C. P ...: Important measures were before congress, and :. sessions were often exciting. The "salary gra'
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bill, raising the compensation of members of congress fifty per cent and giving them 85,000 for back pay, is a case in point. Mr. Sessions voted against this measure, and returned the money to the treasury. Another noteworthy bill was that abolishing mileage for members of congress, which the house passed and
this bill. Reconstruction questions had not yet passed ont of congressional notice ; and the green- back question, which has been handed down to present times, was just beginning to demand atten- tion. It is interesting to note that a bill providing for the cancellation of greenbacks and substitution therefor of notes payable in gold two years after issue, was lost in the house of the 43d congress by a vote of 79 to 160, with Mr. Sessions recorded in the negative. The most far-reaching legislation of this period, however, was the famous currency law of 1873, containing the clause that is regarded in some quarters as having sur- reptitiously demonetized silver.
Ten years after his retirement from the 43d congress, Mr. Sessions took his seat in the 49th congress. This was the year in which Grover Cleveland first became President.
Mr. Sessions is a New Englander by birth, his father having moved from Bran- don, Vt., to an unimproved farm in C'lymer, Chautauqua county, in 1835. Mr. Sessions went to the common schools and to the Westfield Academy. He took up his present residence in Panama in 1846, so that his entire manhood has been spent there. He was admitted to the bar in 1849, and began practice in Panama immediately. His only part- nership, which was formed in 1886 and continued six years, was with John Wood- ward, now justice of the Supreme Court. Mr. Sessions has served his county as school commissioner and supervisor. He was a member of the board of General Managers of the New York state exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Aside from his law practice, Mr. Sessions has been extensively en- gaged in the tanning and currier business and in lumbering.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Walter Loomis Sessions was born at Brandon, Rut- land county, Vt. ; was educated in the common schools and in Westfield ( N. Y. ) Academy ; married Mary R. Terry of Clymer, N. Y., in 1848 ; was admitted to
the bar in 1849 ; was member of assembly, 1853-54, state senator, 1860-61 and 1866-67, member of con- gress, 1871-15 and 1885-87 ; has lived in Panama, Chautauqua county, since 1846.
biram Smith is a splendid type of the Ameri- the senate allowed to drop. Mr. Sessions voted for . can citizen. His grandfather was one of the pioneers of western New York, having settled in Chautauqua county in 1810. His father helped clear the forests and break land for farms where now are populous communities. Hiram was the eldest of fourteen children, seven boys and seven girls. He received his education in the district school and Fredonia Academy. His first business experience was obtained as clerk in his father's establishment at Smith's Mills. In 1839 his father started a branch store at Great Valley, in Cattaraugus county, and sent Hiram there
HIRAM SMITH
to take charge of it. The country had not then fully emerged from the great panic of 1837, and it was very difficult to realize money from produce, business having sunk in a great degree to its primitive basis
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of exchange of commodities. Hiram soon had a large amount of timber to the credit of the house, and in 1840 these logs were run to the mills and rafted to Cincinnati. In all these transactions the young man displayed so much business ability that in 1843 his father made him his partner, under the firm name of Rodney B. Smith & Co. For eighteen years they conducted an extensive and a successful general merchandise business.
The outbreak of the Civil War found Mr. Smith in the prime of his vigorous manhood. The nation's call met a patriotic response on his part. He enlisted in 1861, and served till the close of the war, retiring with the rank of major. Mr. Smith was connected with the quartermaster general's department, and had the responsibility of accounts aggregating many millions of dollars ; but so accurate and honest was his dealing with the government that he was one of the comparatively few officers who were able, when mustered out of service, to accept the generous offer of the government of three months' extra pay on presentation of certificates of nonindebtedness.
After the close of the war Mr. Smith moved to St. Lonis, where he engaged in mercantile business. The climate there proved detrimental to the health of his family, and he returned to New York state in 1867, settling in Jamestown, where he has since resided. For the past quarter of a century he has been engaged there in the insurance business, and though now well advanced in years, he is as active and energetic as many men in middle life.
Mr. Smith has taken an active interest in politics, and served two terms in the New York legislature before the war. He was for several years town clerk of Hanover, N. Y., and filled one term of six years as supervisor of the same place. In 1884 and again in 1890 he was the Democratic nominee for congress from the 34th district, and received the united sup- port of his party. As a citizen and neighbor Mr. Smith is regarded with high honor in Jamestown, for his upright life, strict attention to business, and just dealings with all men.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Hiram Smith was born at Hanover, N. Y., October 25, 1819 ; was educated in the district school and Fredonia Academy ; engaged in general mercantile business, 1836-61 ; was elected to the state legislature in 1859, and re-elected in 1860 ; served in the Union army, 1861-65; was nominated for member of congress from the 34th district in 1884 and 1800 ; married Melissa P. Love of Forest- ville, N. Y., September 10, 1844, and Anna L. Gray of Jamestown, N. Y., September 10, 1894; has lived in Jamestown since 1867, and has been engaged in the insurance business there since 1870.
Elmon A. Van Dusen inherited an honor- able name, which he has borne without blemish as a lawyer and citizen. Our best critics are those who have the fullest opportunity to study us in all our relations to society ; and if the good opinion of one's neighbors is a source of happiness in life, Mr. Van Dusen must derive great satisfaction from the high esteem in which he is held in his community.
Mr. Van Dusen made no mistake when he chose the law for his profession, and it would be hard to picture him in any other calling. His success has been all the more praiseworthy because he has overcome no small obstacle in the lack of a collegiate training. His elementary education was obtained in the public schools of Jamestown, N. Y., and was followed by a course in the Randolph Academy, which enjoyed a favorable reputation as a preparatory school. Having decided to become a lawyer, he entered the office of Alexander and Porter Sheldon, at Jamestown. After mastering Blackstone and Kent and the dull routine of the law clerk, he was ad- mitted to the bar in November, 1866, and three years later was admitted to practice in the United States District Court. He then formed a partner- ship in Sherman, N. Y., and as junior partner of the firm of Benson & Van Dusen began the slow and arduous work of building up a clientage and winning a name in his profession. He moved to Mayville, N. Y., in 1871, and has since practiced his profession there. He has been senior partner in the firm of Van Dusen & Martin since 1886.
Wherever he has resided, Mr. Van Dusen has shown special interest in the cause of education, and has done much to promote the welfare of the com- munity. During the four years that he lived in Sherman he held the position of president of the board of education, and devoted much time and labor to the task of elevating and improving the condition of the public schools of the village. It was largely through his instrumentality that a new schoolhouse was built, in spite of much opposition. After his removal to Mayville Mr. Van Dusen continued his public-spirited efforts, and the handsome school building of that village, as well as the system of water- works, affords ample evidence of his devotion to the public good.
In 1890 Mr. Van Dusen was elected to the bench as judge of the County Court, and his record in connection with this election is one of which he may well be proud. He declined to resort to the use of money or any other unworthy means of secur- ing votes, preferring to rely entirely upon his personal popularity and fitness for the office. He gave to the county one of the most dignified and respectable
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canvasses it had known for years. The result proved the truth of the old saying that " Honesty is the best policy," for he was elected on the Democratic ticket Uy a majority of 889 in a county where the normal Republican majority is 5,000. Mr. Van Dusen as a jialge may be praised in unstinted measure. When he was promoted to the bench he took with him the ripened experience of a Large and varied practice, an innate junlicial balance, and the confidence of Lawyer and layman alike. His record as « ounty judge very properly commended him to his political associates, and in 1895 he was nominated by the Democratic forty for judge of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Van Dusen is a vestryman of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Mayville, and a member of the Holland Society of New York.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- .Ilmon Augustus Van Dusen was born at Jamestown, N. Y., January 3, 1843 ; was educated in public schools and in Randolph Academy ; was admitted to the bar in 1866 ; married Jettie E. Merchant of Brocton, N. Y., January 30, 1871 ; was appointed judge of the County Court of Chautauqua county January 2, 1890, and was subsequently elected to succeed himself ; was nominated for judge of the Supreme Court in 1895 ; has practiced law in Mayville since 1871.
C. P. Vedder has had an enviable career. Every man, it is said, has at least one opportunity in life to demonstrate just what he really is. His use of that oppor- tunity becomes the test by which he is ever after judged. The Civil War was such an opportunity to men now in middle life or beyond. To go to the front, leaving family, friends, and fortune behind, to suffer, and perchance to Irish - this was the test that confronted the genera- hon born before the war. In their number was Mr. Vedder. He had spent his boyhood on a farm at Ellicottville, N. Y. In early manhood he worked on the Erie canal, was a raftsman on the Allegheny river, finally shipped as a sailor before the mast, and tuse to the position of captain at the early age of nineteen. All this time he was saving money to pay for an education, and the outbreak of the war found him a student in Springville Academy. But his anbition for a college course was not to be gratified. He decided that his duty lay in responding to the call
of his country. He closed his books, and left the academy to enter the practical school of war, enlist- ing as a private soldier in the 154th regiment, New York volunteers.
Mr. Vedder's service in the field was long and meritorious. He served from 1862 to the close of
ALMON A. VAN DUSEN
the war, and fought at Chancellorsville, Wauhatchie, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, siege of Savannah, and Bentonville. He was wounded at the battle of Rocky-Faced Ridge, was confined in Libby prison, and participated in Sherman's im- mortal march to the sea and through the Carolinas. He was promoted to be 1st lieutenant and captain, and for "gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Lookout Mountain" he was brevetted major in the regular army ; and " for bravery in the campaign to Atlanta" he was promoted to be lieu- tenant colonel of volunteers.
Returning to his native state, Colonel Vedder studied law and was admitted to the bar. His suc- cess in civil life as a lawyer, a business man, and a
.:
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legislator has been as complete and conspicuous as his record in the army was honorable and brilliant. He occupied the responsible position of register in bankruptcy for eight years. He filled the office of United States assessor of internal revenue for two years, and was state assessor for three years. How
C. P. VEDDER
faithfully he performed the duties of these various offices is best proved by repeated elections to the assembly and senate at Albany.
In the legislature Mr. Vedder made a splendid record. He was first chosen to the lower house in 1872, and took a leading part in the debates and de- liberations of that body. He was chairman of the committee to draft articles of impeachment against Judge Barnard, of Tweed-Ring notoriety, and was one of the managers at the trial of that official, evincing in both capacities legal ability of a high order and wide knowledge of parliamentary pro- cedure. In 1875 he was elected to the senate ; and it is no exaggeration to assert that no man there did more than he to lighten the burdens of taxation upon
those least able to bear them. He was the author of the laws taxing gifts, legacies, and collateral and direct inheritances, and requiring corporations to pay for the privilege of organization in the Empire State. As a result of these measures millions of dollars have been paid into the treasury, and a permanent source of revenue has been provided for the state.
Mr. Vedder was chosen a delegate at large to the constitutional convention of 1894, and served on several important committees. Of the thirty-three amend- ments proposed by the convention and adopted by the people, he drafted and introduced four. Too much cannot be said of the sagacity, zeal, and untiring devotion to the public interests displayed by Mr. Veddier in every position of trust and responsibilty to which the people have called him. The constitution and the laws of the state alike attest his wis- dom and his worth.
In the business world Mr. Vedder has also been a conspicuous factor. He is president of many corporations, including the State Bank of Norwood, the New York & New Jersey Ice Lines, the Elko Mining, Milling & Manufacturing Co., and the Falls Electric Power & Land Co. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, of the G. A. R., and of the Masonic order. His social clubs are the Holland Society, the Republican Club, and the Lawyers' Club, all of New York city.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Commodore Perry Vedder was born at Ellicottville, N. Y., February 23, 1838 : was educated at Springville ( N. Y. ) Acad- emy ; served in the Union army, 1862-65, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel ; was admitted to the bar in 1866 ; was register in bankruptcy, 1867-75 : was United States assessor of internal revenue, 1869- 71 ; was member of the assembly, 1872-75, and state senator, 1876-77 and 1884-91 ; was state assessor, 1880-83 ; married Bettie E. Squires of Springville. N. Y., September 2, 1862, and Mrs. Genevieve A. Wliceler of Chicago July 12, 1892.
Allerander Wentworth received the hardy training of a farm boy, for his parents moved from Aurora, Erie county, when he was only four years old, to Ellicottville, N. Y., and soon after to a farm in the town of Randolph, N. Y. Practically his whole life has been spent in Randolph, and he is a
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representative of the class of men who are content to cast in their lot in places that offer but modest attractions, and who, by force of ability and persist- ent effort, at length achieve a substantial competence and high standing in the community.
Mr. Wentworth's educational opportunities were of the limited kind usually available for the country boy of half a century ago ; but he used them te the very best advantage, and it is doubtful if the young man. of to-day who goes through a preparatory school and a college without special effort on his own part, derives as much benefit from the experi- ence as did young Wentworth from his hardly won privileges. For a time Mr. Wentworth paved the way to each winter's study by a summer of hard but healthful work on the farm. At seventeen he sub- stituted teaching for the farm work, but continued his study during spring terms at the Ran- dolph Academy. At nineteen he began reading law, and carried on all three occupations as best he could for the next three years. It speaks well for his natural ability and for the excellent use he made of his opportunities, that he was able to complete his legal studies at the age of twenty-two. He was admitted as an at- torney and counselor at law at the General Term held in Buffalo in May, 1859. An interesting fact which Mr. Wentworth recalls in this connection is that President Cleveland was one of the class admitted to the bar at this term.
Mr. Wentworth had pursued his legal studies in the office of Weeden & Hender- son of Randolph, and on admission to the bar he at once formed a partnership with William H. Henderson, under the name of Henderson & Wentworth, Mr. Weeden retiring from the firm. This connection has lasted ever since. The firm, consisting of two men so able and so public-spirited as Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Henderson, has naturally become a power in Cattaraugus county, and has had a wide influence upon public affairs. Their business is largely what is termed in the profession "litigation," and is varied and extensive, and they give to it their undivided attention. Mr. Went- worth's son, Crowley, a graduate of Princeton, was admitted to the firm January 1, 1896. Mr. Wentworth has no taste for politics, and has never sought nor accepted a political nomination. But he is not unmindful of his duties as a citizen, and
when important interests are involved and there is "no politics in it," he is at times active and aggressive. He has been willing to serve the community as presi- dent of his village and in similar positions.
Mr. Wentworth is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. He has been Master of Randolph Lodge, No. 359, F. & A. M., most of the time for the past twenty years ; and he was District Deputy Grand Master of the 26th Masonic district from 1874 to 1880. At the latter date professional engagements compelled him to decline the reappointment that was tendered to him. These offices came to him without effort on his part, and as a spontaneous testimonial of the esteem in which he is held by his brother Masons.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Alexander Wentworth was born at Aurora, Erie county, N. Y., July 2G, 1837 ; was educated in common schools and
ALEXANDER WENTWORTH
ut Randolph Academy ; was admitted to the bar at Buffalo in 1859 ; married Ellen C. Crowley of Ran- dolph, N. Y., October 10, 1859 ; has practiced law in Randolph since 1859.
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Alfred 3. Barnes is one of Buffalo's energetic bankers and agreeable men of business. He has had a thorough training in financial matters, and is a conservative, industrious, and courteous official. Commercial life often seems uneventful and made up entirely of routine ; but closer observation shows
ALFRED J. BARNES
that a successful mercantile career demands the same qualities requisite in more stirring pursuits. Good judgment, courage, and a high sense of honor are as essential in the sphere of finance as in any other field of human activity.
Mr. Barnes is a native of Troy, N. Y., and was educated in the public schools of that city. His earliest business experience was in association with his father, who conducted a large steam-fitting and plumbing business in the city of Troy. He desired a different occupation, however, and when a position was offered him in the Manufacturers' National Bank of his native city, he eagerly accepted it. He en- tered the service of that institution at the foot of the ladder, and by faithful attention to his duties worked
his way up through the different clerical grades until he became general bookkeeper. He continued in this position for nine years.
Early in the '80's Mr. Barnes retired from the bank, and engaged with a local business concern. But his training and predilection was for finance, and in 1883 he went to Chicago, and accepted a place in the Continental National Bank of that city. With this institution he remained ten years, attaining the respon- sible position of chief clerk. His success in Chicago won him a valuable reputa- tion, and led to his engagement in Buffalo in 1893 as cashier of the City Bank.
While Mr. Barnes's residence in Buffalo has been comparatively brief, he has nevertheless taken rank already as a shrewd and active financier, a capable official, and affable gentleman in all the relations of life. He is a member of the Ellicott and Independent clubs, and a Republican in his party affiliations. His circle of acquaintance in business and social life is rapidly extending, and he has the satisfaction of knowing that no community is more open to receive a man of his character than the Queen City.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Alfred Joseph Barnes was born at Troy, N. Y., July 12, 1856 ; was educated in the public schools of that city, and received a technical training in the Gurley Mathe- matical Instrument Works of Troy; was employed in the Manufacturers' National Bank, Troy, 1873-82, and in the Con- tinental National Bank, Chicago, 1883- 93 ; married Margaret L. B. Boyles of Riverside, Cook county, Ill., October 22, 1894 ; has been cashier of the City Bank, Buffalo, since 1893.
Stepben O. Barnum has been a factor in the mercantile life of Buffalo for fifty years. He went there in 1845, when the main avenue of travel was by canal, and established himself in a business that has been known for half a century all through his section of the state as "Barnum's." That all- embracing, sui-generis term, " Yankee notions," best describes the mammoth stock of merchandise that Mr. Barnum's establishment provides. He has catered to the rich and the poor, to the large and the small, to men, women, and children. At all seasons of the year Barnum's has been a center of trade.
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Especially dear to the children has been the place, for Santa Claus has made his headquarters there ever since Stephen O. Barnum arrived in Buffalo. In :hi, half century of business activity Mr. Barnum has ever been in the forefront of the battle, alive to the interests of his customers, careful to ask only for his las, honorable in his dealings with all men.
When Mr. Barnum's school days were ended at the academy in his native city of Utica, he became s clerk in the Utica post office. There he remained for two years, when he entered the Oneida Bank of t tica as discount clerk. Here his business training wat continued until his father made him a partner in what was known as " Barnum's Bazaar," where he obtained an insight into a business that he has suc- wasfully followed all his life. He remained with his father for several years, until, thinking it time to start out for himself, he made way for his younger brothers. Buffalo was then . oming into notice as a growing com- mercial city, and the opportunities that it afforded seemed to the young man just what he needed. Thither he went, therefore, with a stout heart, determined to succeed if untiring effort and steadfast- ness of purpose would avail.
When he had been in business a short tine a brother, Richard Smith Barnum, joined him in partnership ; but after a few years Richard went to Chicago, and there entered into business with another brother, Ezra S. Their business was of the same general nature as that in which Stephen was engaged in Buffalo, and which the father conducted in Utica. The great Chicago fire brought heavy loss to Stephen, who had become largely interested in the Chicago venture by the kath of his brothers. Since then Mr. Barnum has given his main attention to !! Buffalo business, but he has found opportunity to serve other interests, having been at different times a director ! the Western Transportation Co .. the American Exchange Bank, and the Em- pure Salt Works of Warsaw, N. Y.
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