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 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
Judge Woodward is a member of the Jamestown Club, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Elks, the Citizens' Club of Fredonia, the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, the Orpheus Singing Society of the same city, and the Camp Dent Fishing Club of Allegany county. He takes an active interest in all matters of a public or quasi-public character.
John Woodward is not a plodding student of the law in the abstract ; not a cowardly searcher after precedents, in an effort to make new conditions conform to old measurements. He seeks rather to energize modern jurisprudence by com- pelling it to meet a broadening conception of justice and equity. To him the law is the servant of society, to be administered impartially as between its members, in the interests of equal justice ; and he has the courage to assert so much of a new doctrine as may be necessary in his judgment to this end, thus aiding in that evolution of the law which is essential to its highest development.
Personally Judge Woodward is genial and thor- oughly likable, so that it is easy to understand his widespread popularity.
.
189
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-John Wood- ward was born at Charlotte, Chautauqua county, N. Y., August 19, 1859 ; received a common-school education, und graduated from the Fredonia Normal School in 1878 ; graduated from the law school of the Uni- versity of the City of New York in 1881, and was ad- mitted to the bar the same year; practiced law in Fre- donia, N. Y., 1881-83; married Mary E. Barker of Fredonia May 26, 1886; was city attorney of James- toten, N. Y., 1886-SS, member of the board of super- visors of Chautauqua county, 1887-92, and district attorney of Chautauqua county, 1892-95 ; was ap- pointed a justice of the Supreme Court of the state of New York in January, 1896.
5. Cary Adams illustrates in his life the potency of character and lofty ambition. Under circumstances that would have daunted most young men, and with few oppor- tunities, he laid the foundation for success in a profession where continual study and expanding knowledge are essential. His education in schools was meager, and confined to elementary grades. He never had the benefit of collegiate training. In its place he substituted a course of private study, and thus gained a knowledge and mental discipline that fitted him ulti- mately for the practice of law. Though he was not admitted to the bar until middle life, the preceding years were so employed as to prove valuable to him in his professional career. He was brought into contact with the practical affairs of life, and acquired a wide business expe- rience. At the age of sixteen he learned the carpenter's trade, and for several years followed this calling during the summer months. In the winter he taught in district schools, and devoted himself to study. His interest in education ex- tended beyond teaching, and for six years he filled the position of superintendent of schools for the town of Collins, N. Y., having under his charge over twenty schools.
Mr. Adams has had a long and varied ex- perience in municipal and county affairs, and is an authority on questions relating thereto. He was supervisor of the town of Collins two terms, and was subsequently elected clerk of the board of supervisors of Erie county for two years. During the year 1857 he was a member of the state assembly from the 4th Erie-county district.
In 1859 Mr. Adams was appointed deputy county clerk of Erie county, and moved to Buffalo. In the same year he began a course of legal study, reading his Blackstone and Kent whenever he could find a spare hour. In this way he acquired the legal knowledge necessary to pass the bar examination, and he was admitted to practice in 1863. His efficiency and popularity as deputy county clerk led to his nomination for county clerk in 1864; but he was defeated by fewer than 100 plurality, though he polled the largest vote on his ticket. As a lawyer Mr. Adams has made a specialty of commercial law. He was led into this branch of the profession by his relations with the well-known houses of Pratt & Co. and Pratt & Letchworth, whose confidential agent and legal adviser he was for nearly a score of years. He was also a trustee and secretary of the Buffalo
S. CARY ADAMS
Iron & Nail Co., which was part of Pratt & Co.'s establishment. His charge of the legal affairs of these houses sent Mr. Adams into most of the north. ern states east of the Missouri, and familiarized him
:
190
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
1
with the legal procedure of many states. Since the dissolution of the firm of Pratt & Co. in 1886, Mr. Adams has devoted himself to general law practice.
In his political affiliations Mr. Adams has been an ardent Republican since the formation of that party. For several years he was a member of the Republican .
JAMES A. ALLEN
county committee, and served one year as its chair- man. He has, however, never sought office, and has frequently declined nominations when urged by his friends to accept them. Mr. Adams is prominently identified with philanthropie work in Buffalo. He served as a trustee of the Children's Aid Society for a number of years, and has been a managing director of the Queen City Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children since its organization in 1879. He has been connected with the Wyoming Benevolent Institute as trustee and secretary since 1883.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Samuel Cary Adams was born at Federal Stores, town of Chatham, N. Y., December 22, 1820 ; was educated in common
schools ; taught school winters and worked as a car- penter summers, 1841-50 ; married Harriet White of Collins, N. Y., October 20, 1842; was superin- tendent of schools of Collins, 1846-52, supervisor 1852 -- 53, and clerk of the board, 1854-55 ; was member of assembly in 1857, deputy county clerk of Erie county, 1859-64, and deputy collector of customs, 1865-67 ; moved to Buffalo in 1859, and was admitted to the bar in 1863; was employed as confidential agent and legal adviser for the firm of Pratt & Co., 1867-86, and has conducted a general law practice in Buffalo since 1886.
James A. Ellen was a Connecticut boy, born in the delightful town of New London, famous for its magnificent harbor and historic associations. In his tenth year he left his native New England, and moved with his parents to New York state. His studies, begun under a Yankee schoolmaster, were continued at Sinclairville, Chautauqua county, in the select school of E. H. Sears, who sub- sequently practiced law and became a judge. From this school Mr. Allen entered Fredonia Academy, and com- pleted his education. In the meantime he had taken up the study of law in the office of Judge E. F. Warren. Like many ambitious young men, he was obliged to work his way in the world. He taught school in the winter, and in the summer assisted his father at home while continuing his studies. He learned thus to economize his time, and employ profitably every hour of the day. His career is an illustration of the fact that any youth with an earnest ambition can find opportunities to make himself the kind of man he wishes to be.
In the fall of 1852 Mr. Allen entered the law office of Welch & Hibbard of Buffalo as a student. and when twenty-two years of age was admitted to the bar, thus placing his foot on the first round of the ladder that was to lead him to success and prominence. He opened an office in Sinclairville, and was so fortunate as to succeed to the law prac- tice of Albert Richmond, newly elected surrogate of Chautauqua county. The professional field, how- ever, was limited, and Mr. Allen decided that a city offered greater attractions in the way of legal business. Accordingly, he settled in Buffalo in 1861, where his practice has grown both in the number
191
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
of his clients and in the importance of his causes. He has appeared before the highest courts of the country, including the United States Supreme Court at Washington. For three years of his professional life Mr. Allen was associated in partnership with Asher P. Nichols, once state comptroller.
Mr. Allen has so earnestly confined himself to his office and his profession that he has never figured in public life as either an office holder or a candidate for office. His leisure outside his legal studies has been devoted to literature. He is fond of the Latin classics, has studied French, and is conversant with its literature. He has also devoted some time to the study of German literature, through the translations of such masters as Carlyle. Though not an author of books, Mr. Allen has written many articles for the press, which have appeared on the editorial pages of lead- ing papers.
Above all things, however, Mr. Allen is a student of the law, and is deeply versed in its history and literature. Of recent years his chief work has been in connection with that intricate branch of the profession relating to patents and copyrights. Numerous cases of this class have taken him far and wide over the United States. He has appeared before United States courts at Portland, Boston, New York, Albany, Utica, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Chicago. He argued the first patent cause heard before Judge Wallace after the latter's appointment as a judge of the United States Court, and the last patent case ever decided by Judge Blatchford of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Allen has been connected with some of the most notable patent cases tried in New York state. The cal- endars of the circuit courts attest his prominence in the field of federal practice. He is domestic in his tastes, delighting in his family and in a choice circle of friends and acquaintances.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- James Albert Allen was born at New London, Conn., January 19, 1834; was educated in the common schools of New London, a select school at Sinclairville, N. Y., and at Fredonia ( N. Y.) Acat- emy : was admitted to the bar in 1856 ; practiced law in Sinclairville, 1856-61; married Jeanie Pauline Mack of Buffalo November 5, 1862; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1861.
Philip Becker was not born in Buffalo, but his long residence therein, his prominent part in the business of the city, and his civic honors, have made him one of the most prominent citizens of the place.
He was born at Oberotterbach, a town in Bavaria on the river Rhine, in 1830. His early education was obtained in local schools, in the classical school of his native province, and in two years' study in France. He came to the United States in 1847, going directly to Buffalo from New York, via Albany and the Erie canal. He first found employment in Buffalo as a clerk in a grocery, at the very modest salary of four dollars a month and board. He brought to his employment the same energy and determination to succeed that have characterized all his business life. Soon after reaching manhood he opened a store of his own, only a few doors from his
PHILIP BECKER
present establishment, and founded the great business that has been so long and favorably known to the people of Buffalo under the name of Philip Beeker & Co.
192
MEN OF NEW YORK -- WESTERN SECTION
The remarkable success that has attended Mr. Becker's business carcer has not come by chance, but has been the result of hard and intelligent work, right living, and honest frugality. Mr. Becker's acquaintance in Buffalo is probably as large as any man's. While building up his own business he has had many opportunities to lend a helping hand to others, and the kindly way in which he has rendered such aid has won for him a host of friends.
Mr. Becker's energy, uprightness of character, kindliness, and success attracted the attention of the citizens of Buffalo, and they have frequently honored him with public office. In 1876 and 1877 he was mayor, and gave the city a thoroughly satisfactory and businesslike administration. In 1886 he was again mayor, and served four years. During this period he continued the business methods that he had introduced in his previous term. His record as mayor is a creditable one, and his administration was of great value to the city. No mayor has ever been more faithful to the people's interests than he.
Mr. Becker was a presidential elector in 1888. In 1891 his name was strongly presented to the Repub- lican state convention for the nomination as governor. He was a delegate to the Republican national con- vention in 1876, and again in 1892. He was one of the commissioners in charge of the erection of the City and County Hall, a building of which Buffalo- nians are proud, not only for its beauty, but also for the fact that it is one of the few great public build- ings that have been honestly constructed. Since Mr. Becker's retirement from the mayor's office December 31, 1889, he has declined to accept any political position.
Mr. Becker has been connected with many of the public institutions of Buffalo, notably with the Music Hall enterprise. The erection of this building, in fact, was due largely to his generosity, wide acquaint- ance, untiring energy, and personal influence. He was president of the great Saengerfest which was held in Buffalo in 1883, and caused the building of the first Music Hall.
Mr. Becker was one of the original members of the Buffalo German Insurance Co., and since Febru- ary, 1869, he has been its president. The great success that attended this enterprise, and the growing demand for more good insurance companies, led Mr. Becker, in 1896, to organize a new institution in Buffalo, known as the Buffalo Commercial Insurance Co. The lines on which he has organized this asso- ciation, together with the persons whom he has interested therein, insure the success of the enter- prise. The stockholders have unanimously elected Mr. Becker the first president of the new company.
In j852 Mr. Becker was married to Miss Sarah Goetz, and their beautiful home on Delaware avenue is the gathering place of numerous friends. Mr. Becker is a member of many of the charitable and scientific societies of Buffalo, and he is always a con- tributor to any enterprise requiring public benev- olence.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Philip Becker was born at Oberotterbach, Bavaria, in April, 1830; was educated in German and French schools ; came to the United States and settled in Buffalo in 1847 ; married Sarah Goets of Buffalo in 1852 ; was mayor of Buffalo, 1876-77 and 1886-89; was presidential elector in 1888 ; has been president of the Buffalo German Insurance Co, since 1869 ; has conducted a wholesale grocery business in Buffalo since 1854.
Albert . Briggs has spent his entire pro- fessional life, covering a period of twenty-five years, in Buffalo, and has achieved no small measure of success as a general practitioner ; although, as he expresses it, he has "never had time to get rich." Realizing the value of concentration of effort, Dr. Briggs has never been interested, either directly or indirectly, in any business or occupation outside his profession ; but has devoted all his energies to his private practice, and to the duties of the various public offices that he has been called upon to fill.
Dr. Briggs was born in what is now Town Line, Erie county, and began his education at the district school. Later he attended the Batavia Union School, and the academy at East Aurora, and finally the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y. His medical studies were pursued at the University of Buffalo, 'from which he received the degree of M. D. in 1871.
During his student days in Buffalo Dr. Briggs had conie to appreciate the advantages of the city as a place of residence and a field for the exercise of his medical skill, and he decided to cast in his lot there permanently. Accordingly he opened an office in Buffalo immediately after his graduation. Within a few months he received an appointment to the newly established office of post-mortem examiner for Erie county, and held the position for more than three years. Meanwhile he was appointed city physician for the second district. In 1880 and 1881 he was health physician for the city, and discharged the duties of the office so well that he was reappointed in 1884, and served for four years. During this second term the office of registrar of vital statistics was created at the suggestion of Dr. Briggs. He was appointed registrar, and as such organized that useful department of the city government.
193
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Dr. Briggs has been a member of the National Guard for many years. In October, 1879, he was appointed assistant surgeon of the 65th regiment, with the rank of 1st lieutenant, and in less than two years he was promoted to be surgeon of the regiment, with the rank of captain. In April, 1883, he received the rank of major, and this he still retains. In all these years of his connection with the regiment his interest therein has never failed, and he may be regarded as one of the men who have helped to raise the tone of the National Guard, and to win for it the high place in the esteem of the community that it now occupies.
For sixteen years Dr. Briggs has filled the office of state medical examiner for the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in that time he has examined nearly fifty thousand applications for life insur- ance, or an average of about ten a day. This duty, in addition to his private prac- tice and his service to the city and to the National Guard, has made Dr. Briggs a notably busy man even in this busy age. He holds membership in a great number of the societies that are so helpful in keeping a physician abreast of the times. and bringing him into contact with other bright men in his profession. Among such societies may be mentioned the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, as well as the New York State Medical Association, the Buffalo Academy of Medicine, and the Erie County Medical Society. He is also a Mason, belonging to Washington Lodge, No. 240.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Albert Henry Briggs was born in the town of Lancaster, N. Y., September 9, 1842; was educated in various schools and academics, and graduated from the medical depart- ment of the University of Buffalo in 1871; married Sarah America Baker of Andover, N. Y., June T, 1863 ; was health physician of the city of Buffalo, 1880-81 and 1884-87; has practiced medicine in Buffalo since 1871.
Edward Clark is a typical American citizen, in the broadest and best sense of the term. Without the initial advantage of wealth or position, and with only the education of the public schools, he has achieved an honorable name in his profession, and
has earned the gratitude of his fellow-citizens by his active interest in many problems relating to public health and public welfare. Such men as he illustrate and justify the phrase, "a self-made man," and confer upon it the honorable meaning that it has acquired in popular speech.
ALBERT H. BRIGGS
Dr. Clark was born in Buffalo forty-odd years ago, and has spent practically his whole life there. His education was begun in the district schools of West Seneca ; but he afterwards graduated from Public School No. 27 in Buffalo, and attended the high school for two years. As he was ambitious to be- come a physician, and had not the means to obtain a medical education, he taught school for several years. and thus obtained sufficient money to enable him to attend medical lectures at Cincinnati in 1875 and 1876. He then returned to Buffalo, and after sev- eral years more of combined teaching and study, received his degree from the medical department of the University of Buffalo with honors. This happened on February 25, 1880.
194
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Since then Dr. Clark has followed his profession in Buffalo, and has built up an extensive practice. He has been attending surgeon at the Erie County Hospital ever since its organization, and was for two years a member of the executive committee of the staff of that institution. He served for five years as
.
-----
EDWARD CLARK
lecturer and demonstrator of anatomy in Niagara University, and at the end of that time was offered the professorship of anatomy, but declined the honor. Dr. Clark has written many articles and pamphlets for publication, not only on purely professional sub- jects, but on sanitary questions as well.
After serving as physician at the county jail, as post- mortem examiner. and as sanitary inspector for the health department of Buffalo, Dr. Clark was appointed health physician of the city in 1888, and filled the office for two years. In the discharge of the duties of this responsible position he was vigilant, prompt, and efficient, and won the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens irrespective of party. One of his first official moves was to make a strenuous effort to
secure better school accommodations on the east side of the city ; and it was largely owing to him that several new buildings, with improved methods of ventilation and general sanitation, were erected. He also deserves the gratitude of the people for his suc- cessful handling of the smallpox that broke out in Buffalo during the first year of his office. Such emergencies test severely a man's strength, and the fact that Dr. Clark was able to cope with this dread disease and avert an epidemic speaks well for his skill and executive ability.
In 1890 Dr. Clark was nominated for member of the board of councilmen, but was defeated, though he received over 4000 more votes than the Republican candidate for mayor. In the spring of 1894 he was appointed by Mayor Bishop a member of the advisory committee on street cleaning and the disposal of gar- bage, and in this position he displayed the same devotion to the best interests of the community that has characterized his entire public service.
Dr. Clark is fond of music and art, as well as of outdoor sports and amuse- ments. He is a Mason, and Past Master of Erie Lodge, No. 161, F. & A. M., and a member of the Acacia Club. He attends the Delaware Avenue Methodist Church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Edward Clark was born at Buffalo Oc- tober 28, 1852 ; was educated in the pub- lic schools ; graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo in 1880 ; married Nellie M. Daniels of Buffalo May 1, 1884; was health physi- cian of the city of Buffalo, 1888-90 ; has practiced medicine there since 1880.
Myron DD. Clark was born in Erie county, New York, in what is now the town of Elma, though it was at the time of his birth a part of Lan- caster. Not many years before, the first house and a sawmill had been built, and the dozen Indian families who occupied the clearings in the vicinity were the only neighbors of the owners of the mill. When the boy reached school age, the prosperity of the town was assured, and the place was taking on an important air, as befitted a community soon to boast of a railway in its immediate vicinity - the Buffalo & Washington, now the Western New York & Pennsyl- vania. The present town of Elma was organized in
195
MEN OF NEW YORK -- WESTERN SECTION
1857 from territory taken from the towns of Lancaster and Aurora.
The district school at Elma was unusually well taught, and prepared its pupils to enter the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y., on whose roll Mr. Clark was registered from 1868 to 1870. Pre- ferring then to pursue a practical business course, he went to Buffalo, and took up the curriculum of Bryant & Stratton's Business College. Here he received his diploma, when he was eighteen years old. He put his training into immediate use by engaging in the lumber business. This occupation, together with farming, brought him substantial returns, but he had other aims in view for his life-work. Entering the law office of M. A. Whitney of Buffalo, he studied with characteristic persistency until prepared for admission to the bar. After five years' practice alone
he formed a partnership with Frederick Howard, and the firm has since been known as Howard & Clark.
Mr. Clark has been clerk of the board of supervisors of Erie county, twice super- visor from the town of Elma, chairman of the Erie-county board of supervisors, and a member of the state assembly. While in the assembly he was a member of two important committees- those on judiciary and excise. He was defeated by a close vote for re-election to the assembly, by reason of the Democratic apportionment of 1892, when the district that he then represented was changed by the addition of two large wards of the city of Buffalo, and was thus made largely Democratic. The welfare of the Repub- lican party has always been a matter of great interest to Mr. Clark, and he has represented the town of Elma on polit- ical committees ever since his majority. He is, and has been for several years, a member of the Republican general com- mittee of Erie county.
From the coming of the early settlers dates the beginning of Free Masonry in Erie county. In 1807 there were a sufficient number of Masons in Buffalo, then called New Amsterdam, to warrant the establishment of a Masonic lodge, although the first lodge was not founded until 1812. Blazing Star Lodge, No. 694, of which Mr. Clark is a member, is located at East Aurora. He is also an Odd Fellow, belonging to Aurora Borealis Lodge ; a member of the Ellicott Club, Buffalo, a new business men's dining and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.