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 28
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social club in Ellicott Square; and a frequent attendant at the Acacia Club. This organization is an important Masonic- club, occupying the entire third floor of the Masonic Temple, Buffalo. The club derives its membership, which is limited to six hundred, from the Masonic fraternity of Buffalo and vicinity. To be eligible one must be a Master Mason in good standing. Mr. Clark is an earnest member of the order, belonging to a chapter of Royal Arch Masons in addition to Blazing Star Lodge.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Myron Henry Clark was born at what is now Elma, N. Y., June 20, 1853 ; was educated at Genesee Wesleyan Semi- mary, Lima, N. Y., and Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Buffalo; married Mary Eliza Bancroft of Elma May 24, 1376 ; was admitted to the bar in 1883 ; was clerk of the board of supervisors of Erie
MYRON HI. CLARK
county in 1881, supervisor of the town of Elma, 1886-Si, chairman of the Erie-county board of super- visors in 1887, and member of assembly in 1892 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1883.
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Emory D. Close, though his success is due primarily to his own efforts, owes not a little to his environment. His training in the public schools of Buffalo was cut short by his acceptance of a position as assistant in the Buffalo Young Men's Association Library, where he made good use of the
EMORY P. CLOSE
advantages afforded. Always fond of reading, he had here rare opportunity to indulge his taste for good books, and the influence was both helpful and stimulating. History, biography, mental philosophy, and English literature, he enjoyed and studied ; and his acquaintance with books and authors enabled him to select the best works in the different fields. Many moments of leisure came during the long hours in which the library was open, and they were all improved. Among other books he read " David Copperfield," and a passage therein greatly influ- enced his subsequent career. This was the account of David's arduous struggle with shorthand and final mastery of the art - a feat that Dickens deems equal to acquiring six foreign languages. Mr. Close
determined to learn stenography, and finding in the library a copy of Graham's Handbook, he applied himself to the study. At that time, in 1875, there were not more than five or six stenographers in Buffalo, and these were engaged principally in the courts. Mr. Close sought no instruction, but ap- plied himself diligently to his text-book, and in a year he had mastered the science, and was ready for the more diffi- cult task of acquiring a high rate of speed. His ambition was to fit himself for the highest grade of professional work. This demanded at least a super- ficial knowledge of the inany subjects that are frequently involved in legal con- troversy.
At the age of seventeen Mr. Close re- signed his position at the library, and entered the office of Slocum & Thornton, official stenographers for the Supreme Court of the 8th judicial district. Be- fore he was twenty-one he established an office of his own, and soon after formed a partnership with one of his former em- ployers, organizing the well-known firm of Thornton, Briggs & Close. In 1884 Mr. Close was elected official stenogra- pher of the state assembly by the Repub- lican caucus of that year, and reported all the debates in that body. He was re-elected without opposition by the as- semblies of 1885, 1886, and 1887.
His official life at Albany brought Mr. Close into contact and acquaintance with senators and assemblymen, state officers, and leading politicians, and familiarized him with legislative methods and pro- cedure. Having reached the topmost round in the stenographic ladder, and established a reputation as one of the most rapid and correct reporters in the United States, he turned his thoughts to a wider field. His relations with the courts and legislature led him naturally to the legal profession, and he determined to study law. During the last three years of his stenographic work he util- ized his spare moments, generally at night, in legal study, until his admission to the bar in 1886.
Not until 1888 did Mr. Close enter upon the practice of the profession that was to be his life- work. He found the law a jealous mistress, demand- ing devotion of head and heart. He has given his entire thought and effort to his profession, and in the eight years of his practice has already earned for himself a reputation for tireless energy and legal
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ability. In jury cases especially he must be regarded as one of the most successful lawyers at the Erie- county bar. His regular practice began in the firm of Close & Fleischmann ; and upon the election of Manly C. Green as justice of the Supreme Court, Mr. Close formed a partnership with Judge Green's former partner, William L. Marcy, under the style of Marcy & Close. This association still continues.
Mr. Close has always been deeply interested in the success of the Republican party, and has been a favorite campaign speaker throughout Erie county. For political office, however, he has no ambition, preferring the laurels won in his profession. He is a member of the Masonic order, affiliated with Ancient Landmark Lodge. He belongs to the Buf- falo Club and the Acacia Club, and is president of the Republican League, one of the leading party organizations of the state.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Emory P. Close was born at Buffalo De- cember 13, 1859 ; was educated in the public schools ; was assistant librarian of the Young Men's Association Library of Buffalo, 1874-TT : was Supreme Court stenographer for the 8th judicial district, 1880-88, and official stenographer of the New York state assembly, 1884-87 ; mar- ried Etta S. Cobb of Buffalo January 7, 1885 ; was admitted to the bar in 1886, and has practiced law in Buffalo since 1888.
Edward E. Coatsworth is prominent among the rising young law- yers and well-known men of Buffalo. He was born there less than thirty years ago, and was educated in the common schools, attending Public School No. 4, and graduating from the high school. Having decided upon the law as his pro- fession, he immediately entered upon a course of legal study, and was admitted to practice by the General Term of the Supreme Court soon after completing his twenty-first year. This is an unusually carly age at which to gain admission to the bar, and is a striking proof of the inaturity of his mind.
Mr. Coatsworth next added to his theo- retical knowledge of the law a thorough familiarity with court rules and procedure by a period of service as managing clerk in the office of Tabor & Sheehan. With such ability and success did he con- duct the clerical affairs of the office, that he was
admitted to a partnership in the firm May 1, 1888. Two years later the firm was enlarged by the admis- sion of John Cunneen. The two senior partners were much engaged in public affairs, and the volume of the work of the firm fell upon Messrs. Coatsworth and Cunneen. On the removal of Mr. Sheehan to New York the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Coatsworth united with Mr. Cunneen in forming a new partnership under the name of Cunneen & Coats- worth. This firm has been deservedly successful, and has built up a substantial and reputable clientage comprising many important business concerns and private corporations.
Mr. Coatsworth has wisely held aloof from active participation in politics, thus economizing his time and energy for the zealous pursuit of his profession. He has avoided the mistake of so many bright young
EDWARD E. COATSWORTH
men, who seek office and busy themselves with party politics, to the neglect of their life occupation. But Mr. Coatsworth is far from being a bookworm. No man takes more interest in healthy recreation than
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MMEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
he; and his connection with numerous societies and clubs attests the fact that he does not neglect the social side of life. He is particularly fond of aquatic sports, and is a member of the Buffalo Yacht Club and the Buffalo Canoe Club, seeking in this way to take the exercise so essential to every man pursuing a
EDWARD L. COOK
sedentary vocation and engaged in head work largely.
In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Coatsworth stands high, and is a devoted member of the brotherhood. He belongs to all the Masonic bodies of Buffalo, both York and Scottish rites, and has taken all the degrees from the first to the thirty-second inclusive. He is also a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and holds membership in the Royal Arcanum and the Acacia Club.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Edward Emerson Coatsworth was born at Buffalo November 5, 1866 ; was educated in the public schools, graduating from the high school ; was admitted to the bar January 6, 1888: married Emma Marion Blocking of Buffalo June 25, 1891 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1888.
Edward I. Cook deserves honorable mention in the list of Buffalonians who have been instru- mental in building up the Queen City, and making it the healthful and beautiful place of residence that it is to-day. He was born in Buffalo and has lived there all his life, barring an absence of three years as a volunteer soldier in the Union army. His early life was that of the city boy. He attended the grammar school, and later the Central High School. To this instruction he added a winter's training as a teacher, thus solidifying the knowl- edge previously acquired.
Abandoning teaching for business, Mr. Cook became connected as bookkeeper with the firm of Hardiker & Toye, who then carried on a large plumbing business in Buffalo. He remained with them till the summer of 1862, when he enlisted in the 100th New York regiment, donned the blue uniformi, and marched to the front in defense of the Union. He served to the end of the war, and rose from the ranks to the grade of captain, receiving a commission as major by brevet after he was mustered out. At one time he was detailed to duty on the staff of General Dandy, the brigade commander. He was still a young man when the war closed, but the three years spent in the army are numbered among the most valuable of his whole life. In this respect Mr. Cook is like most soldiers, who would not exchange their war experience for any other.
On returning from the field Mr. Cook entered the service of the New York Cen- tral & Hudson River railroad, and filled a clerkship with that company. His old business training, however, asserted itself, and after a while he became bookkeeper for a plumbing house conducted by T. W. Toye, one of his first em- ployers. His faithfulness and ability brought in the course of years their proper reward, and he was made a partner by Mr. Toye under the firm name of T. W. Toye & Co. Finally Mr. Cook branched out in business in his own name, and for the past eighteen years he has been at the head of one of the largest and most complete plumbing, heating, ventilating, and lighting establishments in Buffalo.
Mr. Cook is connected with numerous social and benevolent organizations, and is an active member of each. He has long been prominent in the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union Veteran Legion,
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and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He is a member of DeMolay Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Acacia Club. All societies and clubs having a patriotic or philanthropic object find in him a warm supporter and friend. His name is identified with the Good Government Club, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Liberal Club, and the Charity Organization Society. In short, Mr. Cook is not only a man of business, but a man of affairs generally, recognizing his obligations to society, and meeting them by hearty co-operation to the full extent of his time and power.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Edward L. Cook was born at Buffalo March 29, 1839; was ¿lucated in the public schools ; was bookkeeper for a firm of plumbers, 1859-62 ; served in the Union army, 1862-65 ; married Mary E. Moffett of Portageville, N. Y., June 16, 1869; became a mem- ber of the firm of T. W. Toye & Co., Numbers, in 1870, and has conducted a similar business under his own name since 1878.
George W. Cotbran has risen to his present eminence through indomit- able energy and inborn ability. When he was four years of age his father died, leaving his mother with a small and heavily encumbered farm and a family of thirteen children, of whom George was the youngest. Until he was sixteen years old the routine of farm work, study at the neighboring school, and lessons with an elder brother, filled his time. Re- moving to Lockport, he devoted the succeeding four years to acquiring a practical knowledge of several branches of the mechanical arts. In these he evinced decided skill, and his ability to draw plans of wooden, iron, and stone structures has often been of service. in his law practice in causes involving such questions.
The young man's ambition to study law saw promise of fulfillment when Phineas L. Ely of Lockport took him into his office. After three years' faith- ful application Mr. Cothran was admit -. ted to practice in all the courts of New York state. His examination was un- usual : it was conducted by three judges in open court, and he answered correctly all the questions with a single exception. After a year spent with his preceptor, Mr. Cothran opened a law office in
Lockport in 1858, and met with most gratifying success until he was interrupted by the call to arms in 1861.
Organizing battery M, 1st New York volunteer light artillery, he was commissioned its captain, and went at once to the front. The record of this battery is that it never lost a gun in all the great battles or lesser engagements in which it took part. An eight hours' fire at Antietam was one of Captain Cothran's memorable experiences. Another was the exposure to a twenty-four hours' rain, which brought on sciatica, and obliged him to resign his commission and return home. From the effects of this he has never fully recovered. After the battle of Antietam Captain Cothran was recommended to President Lincoln, by every commissioned officer in the 11th army corps, for promotion for meritorious service in
GEORGE W. COTHRAN
the field ; but political considerations prevented him from receiving this richly deserved honor.
On leaving the army in 1863, Mr. Cothran took up the practice of his profession in Buffalo, and soon
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achieved an honored place in the bar of western New York. He has been connected with many important litigations. In 1869-72 he conducted what was known as the "penalty litigation " against the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Co. for exacting excess of fare; and the result com-
WILLIAM H. CUDDEBACK
pelled a reorganization of the passenger tariffs of lish. Many of his lineage have figured in the local nearly all the railroads in the country, and pre- vented their demanding more than legal rates. In 1879 Mr. Cothran went to Chicago, to help unravel a railroad complication, and made that city his home until 1885, when he returned to Buffalo. He has practiced there ever since.
In 1877 Baker University of Kansas conferred on Mr. Cothran the degree of LL. D. because of his scholarly work in editing and annotating the sixth edition of the revised statutes of the state of New York, in three volumes containing nearly 4000 pages. In 1879 he did a similar piece of work for the revised statutes of Illinois, and this has been edited biennially since, and is a standard authority.
Mr. Cothran is the author of two practical and help- ful books entitled " Law of Supervisors " and " Law of Assessors and Collectors." He has frequently contributed in lighter vein to the pages of popular periodicals.
Among the educational institutions that have bene- fited from Mr. Cothran's liberality is the Buffalo College of Physicians and Sur- geons. He was its first president, and for a considerable period occupied the chair of medical jurisprudence.
Mr. Cothran's beautiful home in Buf- falo is a veritable picture gallery and art emporium. There is probably no larger collection of music and musical literature to be found in America than his. His private library covers the whole range of literature, a unique feature being a collection of rare books on the origin, formation, and progress of religious ideas. His law library is said to be the most thoroughly annotated of any in Buffalo.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- George W. Cothran was born at Royal- ton, Niagara county, N. Y., February 25, 1834; was admitted to the bar in 1857; served in the Union army, 1861-63 ; mar- ried Jennie W. Mann of Buffalo May 26, 1863 ; was county judge of Erie county in 1877 ; edited, annotated, and wrote several valuable books, 1875-89; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1863, with the excep- tion of several years' practice in Chicago, 1879-85.
Wlilliam . Cuddeback comes of old Dutch stock, and his ancestors settled in the Empire State soon after it passed under the control of the Eng- annals of the state ; several served in the revolu- tionary war, and took part in the fighting that oc- curred in the Minisink territory, when the settlers were attacked by the famous Indian chieftain, Joseph Brant. Mr. Cuddeback's father was a dele- gate to the constitutional convention of 1846, a member of the state assembly, and county clerk of Orange county. Public affairs have proved attrac- tive to his family, and naturally enough Mr. Cudde- back has devoted the time not required in his pro- fession to active participation in the management of his political party in Buffalo. He is prominently identified with the "regular " Democracy ; and for two years was chairman of the Democratic general
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committee, and gave freely of his time and effort to promote the success of his party. The divisions and dissensions in the Democracy in the Queen City are matter of history, but Mr. Cuddeback has the re- spect of all factions.
Mr. Cuddeback was born in the delightful county of Orange, in New York state, and received an academic education in the town of Goshen, to which his parents had moved. He entered Cornell Uni- versity at the early age of sixteen, and spent four years there. He chose the law as his profession, and was admitted to practice at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in May, 1877. At first he practiced alone for a short time at Goshen, where he became a justice of the peace. Then for seven years he was associated with Henry A. Wadsworth of Orange county. But like all ambitious young men, Mr. Cuddeback longed for the marts of trade and commerce. He realized the fact that to obtain business one must go where business is. Accord- ingly he cast around for a new location, and, drawn by the obvious advantages of Buffalo, moved thither in 1885. In 1889 he formed a partnership with Daniel J. Kenefick, at present district attorney of Erie county, that lasted four years. In 1895 Mr. Cuddeback associated himself with Joseph V. Seaver, county judge, and is at present connected with Eugene P. Ouchie. Since establishing himself in Buffalo Mr. Cuddeback's law practice has grown steadily, and he has to-day a recognized position at the bar of Erie county.
Meanwhile he has become one of the leaders of the Democratic party in the western part of the state. His only pub- lic office has been that of manager of the Craig Colony for epileptics at Sonyea. He was first appointed to this office by Governor Flower, and, though a strong Democrat, he has been twice reappointed by Governor Morton -a striking proot of his efficient administration of the office.
Mr. Cuddeback is a Mason, and holdls membership in Ancient Landmark I.odge, No. 441, Free and Accepted Masons. He is well known in club circles, belonging to the Saturn Club, the Ellicott Chub, and the Acacia Club.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- William Herman Cuddeback was born in the town of Deer Park, N. Y., March 25, 1854; was educated at
Goshen Academy and Cornell University ; was ad- mitted to the bar in 1877 ; practiced law at Goshen, N. Y., 1877-85 ; was chairman of the Democratic general committee, Buffalo, 1895-96 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1885.
Thomas Dark has led a laborious, useful, and honorable life. Born in the parish of Bitton, county of Gloucester, near Bristol, England, about the time printing machines were invented, and a year be- fore the battle of Waterloo was fought, Mr. Dark's career has extended over the most remarkable period in the world's history. His place has been among the toilers. From his early days he was accustomed to heavy labor, since he went to work for his father, a contractor and builder, at the age of ten, thus learn- ing the mason's trade. Too young to carry on the
THOM.IS D.IRK
business of his father on the latter's death, Mr. Dark left his home and went to Bristol, where he worked at his trade under master builders. While there some of his father's old patrons sent for him to do a
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job of masonry, and from this beginning Mr. Dark developed into a building contractor. At first he put up dwelling houses, for the most part, but after- ward his specialty became municipal work - the con- struction of bridges, culverts, waterworks, gas tanks, sewers, and the like.
After a seore of years spent at his trade in Eng- land, Mr. Dark made up his mind to seek the richer opportunities of a new country by going to America. He arrived in Buffalo with two of his sons April 1, 1857, in the midst of universal business depression. At first the outlook was discouraging, and Mr. Dark sought employment in Canada. He soon returned to Buffalo, and, in order to become acquainted with the customs of the place and people, secured work on the new post office then building at the corner of Washington and Seneca streets. Mr. Dark's readiness to accept work under a " boss" when he had long been an employer himself, is characteristic of the man. Idleness he has always abhorred.
About this time, seeing an advertisement inviting proposals for building a stone culvert across Louisi- ana street, Mr. Dark put in a bid, and secured the work. From that day he has been prominent among the contractors of Buffalo, where he has performed many large contracts for corporations and individu- als. The foundations of numerous public and pri- vate structures are the work of his brains and hands. In all his undertakings he has applied the same principles of dealing in the case of the public as in that of a private citizen, and has never been classed among contractors who grow rich on public jobs.
In 1873 Mr. Dark planned and constructed the Titusville, Penn., waterworks. For nearly thirty years he has taken a deep interest in the water sup- ply of Buffalo. He received the first premium, $2000, offered by the city of Buffalo in 1869 for the best plans and specifications for the improve- ment of the waterworks. Mr. Dark's ideas, how- ever, were not carried out by the city and contrac- tors, and he has always insisted that the work was very badly done. He contends that the Buffalo water supply is entirely inadequate to the needs of a growing com- munity, and constitutes in some respects a distinct menace to the prosperity of the city. He compiled and published, in 1895, a fifty-page pamphlet on the Buffalo waterworks, entitled "History of a Great Failure." His contention in brief is that the existing system and plant are radically defective ; that the practice of supplying water in its crude state to consumers, by direct pumping service from the river, is a ridiculous and dangerous novelty in hy- draulic engineering : that the mains which deliver water for domestic nse should be filled from reservoirs
supplied by filter beds, the latter receiving the water in its crude state from a separate pumping main ; that the present inlet pier, receiving well therein, and tunnel thence to the pumping station, were badly constructed, at a cost monstrously in excess of the proper cost of good construction ; that the water supply is now, under certain conditions easily ful- filled, pollated by sewage and street washings ; that the water supply at certain seasons may be cut off, to the great danger of the city, by slush ice - partly cut off, as it is every year, wholly cut off, as it may be under conditions foreseeable and not unprecedented ; that the inlet is located in the wrong place, and should have been built far out in the lake, where pure water can be obtained at all seasons without danger of a water famine from the clogging of the inlets by slush ice. Without particularizing further Mr. Dark's plans, it may be said that his pamphlet on the subject, his original estimates, diagrams, and specifications - all of which will be deposited in the archives of the Buffalo Historical Society -will be exceedingly use- ful to.future students of the Buffalo water supply, and will constitute an interesting chapter in the history of municipal government.
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