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 37
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1. 1894, George L. Lewis and his brother Loran have practiced together under the style Lewis & Lewis.
This firm, as might be inferred from its origin and history, has been altogether successful, and now enjoys a large and growing practice of a very desir- able kind. George L. Lewis rarely appears in court, devoting his time to the office part of the work. Actual litigation in open court usually forms a small proportion of an attorney's labor, and Mr. Lewis is so situated that he need not take part in the contested work of his firm. He has been forced by the nature and extent of his practice to acquaint himself with all branches of the law ; but he has paid special attention to the law of real prop- erty, and to banking and general cor- poration law. This specialization is consistent with his tastes, and is also desirable because of the fact that a large part of Lewis & Lewis's business has to do with real-estate titles and transfers, and with corporation affairs.
Viewing the man rather than the law- yer for a moment, we may note the fact that Mr. Lewis is a great lover of horses, and knows their points from A to Z. For several years he was an active member of the Buffalo Polo Club. He has long been interested in photog- raphy, and has attained much skill in an art. that is not so easy as it seems, if only the best results are accepted. His mind has a somewhat remarkable me- « hanical bent, and grasps at once the essential points of a complicated ma- chine. In political belief Mr. Lewis has always been a Republican, though he has not taken a prominent part in politics. He could hardly be called a clubman, as his tastes are not such as find satisfaction in the routine life of the average club ; but he belongs to the University, Buffalo, Ellicott, and Country clubs, and is persona grata at all of them.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-George Lester Levois was born at Buffalo May 31. 1857 : graduated from Yale College in 1879 ; was admitted to the bar in 1881 ; married Nellie Augusta Sweet of Buffalo Mar 31, 1883 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 188.2.
Alfred Lytb was but six years of age when he moved to Buffalo from England with his parents. The family was in humble circumstances, and no one who saw the little lad at that time, in homemade
clothes of cheap material, could have dreamed that before many years he would make his influence felt in the whole community. But he possessed a habit of industry, and other sterling qualities that are sure to lead to success. Attending school in the winter. working at whatever he could turn his hand to during
GEORGE L. LEWIS
the other months, and studying evenings the whole year round, he reached the age of thirteen. It was then that his father began in a small way the manu- facture of sewer and drain tile, hollow brick, and architectural terra cotta. He needed the help of his sons, and to this new industry they gave all their time. The firm of John Lyth & Sons was established before the boys were of age, and they began laying tile to educate farmers and gardeners to its use. This firm was the first in the United States to manufacture hol- low-clay, fireproof, flat arches and partitions, Francis Lyth of England being the inventor of the hollow flat arch. The struggle was a hard one at first, for dur- ing two years not more than fifty dollars' worth of tile was sold. The business increased rapidly, how-
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ever, when fairly started, and their plant was for a long time one of the most flourishing in Buffalo. Branch works were established at Wellsville, Ohio, and Angola, N. Y., Alfred Lyth remaining in charge of the firm's business in Buffalo. Fireproof construc- tion has been taken up by the concern, and fireproof-
ALFRED LYTH
ing contracts of many of Buffalo's largest buildings have been executed by the firm.
When the Civil War broke out Alfred Lyth was under age, and his parents would not consent to his enlistment under Lincoln's first call for volunteers. A few months later, however, he joined the 100th regiment New York volunteers in the field, and went directly to the front. At the battle of Drury's Bluff, May 16, 1864, he was wounded and taken prisoner in the morning. In an hour he made his escape, but was captured in the afternoon, on the Weldon railroad, with two hundred other wounded soldiers. They were surrounded by rebel cavalry, and taken to jail at Pet- ersburg, Va., afterwards to Andersonville. Ga., and then to Florence, S. C., where they were paroled and
released from prison in December, 1864. Mr. Lyth received an honorable discharge at the close of the war. He afterward enlisted and served seven years in various positions in the 74th regiment, N. G., S. N. Y., resigning as major. He is prominent in Grand Army affairs, having been many times a delegate to state and national encampments, and having acted as inspector general of the organization for New York state, and general in command of the 8th division of the New York State Veterans' parade at Washington, D. C., in the National Encampment of 1892.
As & public-spirited citizen Mr. Lyth is well known. His services as alderman were distinguished by an unswerving honesty of purpose, and his exertions in relation to school matters won for him hearty commendation.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Alfred Lyth was born at York, England, April 21, 1844; moved to Buffalo in 1850 ; was educated in the public schools ; enlisted in the 100thi regiment New York volunteers in 1862, and served until the close of the war ; was a member of the 74th regiment, N. G., S. N. Y., 1867- 74; married Kate Kappler of Buffalo December 6, 1869; was supervisor of the old ithi ward of Buffalo, 1812-14, alder- man for the same ward, 1883-86, and civil-service commissioner, 1889-96; has been a member of the firm of John Lyth & Sons since 1860: was elected president of the Builders' Exchange, Buffalo, in 1896.
Jobn A. McCann was earning his own living at the age of thirteen ; he was a bookkeeper and cashier at the age of sixteen ; he was in business on his own account at twenty ; and he has been a successful journalist since his thirtieth year. The opportunities that come to one of versatile and vigorous activity have been about the only curriculum in which Mr. McCann has been trained ; for his schooling, ob- tained in his native town of Batavia, N. Y., was confined to the "' three R's," with the exception of a course subsequently pursued in a business college. Thus equipped, Mr. McCann entered immediately upon the responsible duties of bookkeeper and cashier in the firm with which he had previously spent three years in a subordinate position. His ambition soon led him to seek a larger field, and the following year found him employed by the firm of Sherman & Barnes.
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dry-goods merchants in Buffalo. From this time he held positions ranging from clerk to manager in vari . ous mercantile firms of that city until 1870, when he moved to Savannah, Ga., to embark in business there.
The means acquired by years of devotion to busi - ness finally enabled Mr. McCann to enter a new field of activity whose power and prestige had attracted him. With Norman E. Mack he became joint pro- prietor of the Chautauqua Lake Gasette; and the suc- cess of this publication enabled him two years later to found the Jamestown Sunday Leader. While this journalistic venture met with immediate favor, Mr. McCann nevertheless desired larger scope for his abil- ity, and he therefore returned to Buffalo as editor of the.Buffalo Times. This position he has filled at in- tervals since.
In 1885 Mr. McCann established the National Coopers' Journal, a trade publication de- voted to the interests of cooperage work in all its branches. This venture was strikingly successful, and the Journal has become the recognized organ of the coopers' trade. Mr. McCann has been owner and editor of this publication from the beginning.
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While actively engaged in public af- fairs, as every journalist must be, Mr. McCann has not aspired to political leadership, but is content to be one of the powers behind the throne. He is a Democrat on national lines, but he has not allowed questions of general public policy to interfere with his political con- duct in local matters. He believes in the absolute divorce of national and state from local government.
In addition to his journalistic work. other enterprises have engaged Mr. Mc- C'ann's time and attention. In 1885, in connection with Robert McCann, he planned an exposition in Buffalo, which was held in the Becker building, and proved a notable success. The plan in- « luded the practical exhibition of silk weaving, paper making, Japanese handi- work, etc. Before the formation of the Niagara Falls Power Co. Mr. McCann secured from the Ontario council a char- ter for the use of the Canadian side of the Niagara river and falis for the pur- pose of generating power. This company, however. had not been fully formed when the charter lapsed, and the right was granted to the present company. Other enterprises have been carried to success under
the guidance of Mr. McCann, such as the James- ' town Permanent Loan and Building Association, whose prosperity does credit to his organizing skill. Mr. McCann is a firm believer in Buffalo and its future greatness, and has given substantial evidence of this faith by large and successful real-estate opera- tions and improvements. His interest in the busi- ness has not been exclusively commercial, as he has acquired for himself a handsome residence in the beautiful Elmwood district of Buffalo.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- John Alex- ander Mc Cann was born at Batavia, N. Y., Septem- ber 9, 1850; was educated in public schools and a busi- ness college; engaged in mercantile pursuits, 1866-70 ; became part owner and editor of the "Chautauqua Lake Gazette" in 1879, and founded the Jamestown " Sun- day Leader" in 1881 ; married Chloe Anna Doane of
JOHN .L. MCCANN
Buffalo September 9, 1886 ; has been editor of the Buffalo " Times" at intervals since 18833 : founded the " National Coopers' Journal" in 1885, and has been owner and editor of the same since.
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MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
William Macomber has lived in Buffalo during the whole of his professional career, and through his connection with industrial enterprise has identified himself with the progress of the city. Born in Genesee county, New York, less than forty years ago, he began his education in the
WILLIAM MACOMBER
district schools, which have started so many Ameri- can youths on the road to learning. Later he at- tended the Cary Collegiate Seminary in his native town of Oakfield, and then took a college-prepara- tory course at Colgate Academy, Hamilton, N. Y. He next entered the University of Rochester, from which he was graduated in 1885.
To a young man of Mr. Macomber's studious temperament and fondness for painstaking investiga- tion, a professional life naturally seemed attractive, and among the professions the law appealed to him most strongly. He began his legal studies in the office of the late William S. Oliver of Rochester. A little later he moved to Buffalo, and completed his course there in the office of Lewis & Moot.
In January, 1887, Mr. Macomber was admitted to the bar, and in the following March he opened a law office alone, and began the somewhat tedious process of building up a clientage. Possessed of natural mechanical ability, and considerably experienced in machine-shop practice, Mr. Macomber had from the beginning a special fondness for the sub- ject of patent law ; and he soon decided that it would be both agreeable and profitable to devote his attention to this specialty. In 1889, therefore, he asso- ciated with himself as Washington coun- sel General E. M. Marble and Robert Mason, both of whom were widely ex- perienced in patent law. Since then Mr. Macomber has confined his practice to this branch of his profession, and has already become a recognized authority on the subject. Since 1893 his Wash- ingtou associate has been John S. Barker.
The law of patents is exceedingly intricate and confusing, but Mr. Ma- comber's acquaintance with the subject is at once minute and extensive. For the past six years he has been collecting material for a text-book upon patents and the patent law. His plan involves a detailed study of every enactment re- lating to the subject on the statute books of the land, and of every case involving such questions reported since the organ- ization of the American patent system. Such an exhaustive treatment of the sub- ject requires long and careful prepara- tion, and it will be some time yet before the work is ready for publication.
Mr. Macomber is lecturer on the sub- jects of patent law and trade-marks in the Buffalo Law School. He is a careful student of economics, and of the complicated prob- lems involved in the production and exchange of commodities in the United States. He has pub- lished a number of essays on such subjects in dif- ferent magazines and political-science publications. While he takes scant interest in party politics, his continued study of history and economics gives him a peculiar interest in the problems of government. He is a persistent advocate of honest money, of home rule, and of civil-service reform.
Mr. Macomber is a member of Alpha Delta Phi college fraternity, of the American Economic Association, and of the American Institute of Civics. Among local organizations he belongs to the Liberal Club, the Good Government Club, and the Pundit
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MEN OF NEW YORK -- WESTERN SECTION
('lub ; and he is a member of the Delaware Avenue Baptist Church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-William Macomber was born at Oakfield, N. Y., November 4, 1851 ; was educated in various preparatory schools, and at the University of Rochester, from which he gradu- ated in 1885 ; was admitted to the bar at Buffalo in January, 1887; married Augusta S. Woodruff of Hamilton, N. Y., May 18, 1887: has practiced lawe : Buffalo since 1887.
Louis franklin Messer, prominent at the har of Buffalo, his native city, spent his boyhood on a farm, and obtained his early education in district schools. Subsequently he completed the public- « houl course in Buffalo, and in 1878 entered Co- lumbia College, New York city. There he took the complete course in the schools of arts and of political science, and graduated in 1882 with the degree of Ph. B. He was an earnest student, and possessed much literary ability, as is shown by the fact that for two successive years he tried for and captured the much coveted Pheilolexian prize for essay writing.
While yet in college Mr. Messer de- termined to make the legal profession his life-work; and accordingly during his senior year he availed himself of the privileges of the Columbia Law School, where he attended the lectures of the learned Theodore W. Dwight and John F. Dillon. Immediately after his grad- uation he entered the law office of James 1. Roberts of Buffalo as a student, and in 1884 was admitted to the bar at Rochester.
Mr. Messer's professional career has been singularly free from changes in the matter of business connections. His preceptor, Mr. Roberts, foreseeing the success that awaited Mr. Messer as a lawyer, took him into partnership when he was first admitted to the bar, and the : connection has lasted ever since. The clientage of the firm has steadily in- reased, and the large amount of business · omnitted to its charge has made it necessary, from time to time, to take in new partners. The present style is Roberts, Becker, Ashley, Messer & Orcutt, and the firm is known throughout western New York as one of the strongest and most successful in that part of the state.
. Much of the business of the firm is connected with
real estate, and from the first Mr. Messer has made a specialty of this branch of the law. His experience in the examination of titles to real property led him to appreciate the advantages of a system of abstract- ing more nearly perfect and complete than any hitherto existent ; and in 1891 he organized the Erie County Guaranteed Search Co., one of the first title companies in Buffalo. Of this company he was one of the original incorporators, and has been president from the beginning. He devotes much time to the supervision of its affairs, while still taking an active part in the work of the legal firm with which he is connected.
Seeing the advantage to any city of a thriving suburban population, Mr. Messer for several years has been largely interested in various projects for
LOUIS FRANKLIN MESSER
the improvement of the outlying districts of Buffalo. He is a director and secretary of the Bellevue Land & Improvement Co., and holds similar offices in the Buffalo, Bellevue & Lancaster Railway Co.
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In his private and social life Mr. Messer is a fine type of the cultured gentleman. Although his many business and professional duties leave him scant leisure for purely literary or artistic pursuits, he has the tastes of a scholar and a connoisseur. His fond- ness for literature is not confined to the English tongue nor to the present day. The ancient Latin and Greek classics, and the modern writings of French, German, and Italian authors, all claim a share of his attention. His favorite subjects are history and biography, the lives of nations and the lives of individuals : for he agrees with Pope that "the proper study of mankind is man." Mr. Messer is also a warm lover of the fine arts, and is a Fellow of the Buffalo Society of Artists. His club life con- sists of membership in the Buffalo and University clubs. He is a life member of the Buffalo Repub- lican League.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Louis Franklin Messer was born at Buffalo February 2, 1856 ; gradu- ated from Columbia College in 1882, and was admitted to the bar in 1884; organised the Erie County Guaran- teed Search Co. in 1891, and has been president thereet since ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1884.
William 3. Morgan has been active in his country's service ever since he put aside his schoolbooks in the hour of the country's need, and became a volunteer soldier in the War of the Rebellion.
Born in Canada somewhat more than fifty years ago. Mr. Morgan was taken to Buffalo in his tenth year, and has lived there ever since. He was a senior in the Central High School. preparing for college, when the outbreak of the Civil War caused a change in his plans. He enlisted in the 116th New York volunteer infantry as a private, serving until the close of the war, and receiving successive promo- tion, for attention to duty and meritorious conduct. through the subordinate ranks to that of captain. He participated in all the battle, in which his regiment took part, including that of Cedar Creek, where General Sheridan, by his famous ride from Winches- ter and his wonderful influence over his men. changed a terrible defeat into a glorious victory. In the attack on Port Hudson May 27. 1863, Mr. Morgan led the fascine carriers, who formed the advance of the assaulting column, composed of volunteers for the desperate undertaking, and was wounded four times.
At the close of the war Captain Morgan, with several other retiring officers, engaged in the customs service, with a view to breaking up a desperate gang of smugglers that had overrun the northern frontier
and were defying the customs officials. In this work he had several combats quite as dangerous as any experienced during the war ; and in one of them he was seriously injured, coming to so close quarters with his adversary that his clothes were set on fire by the discharge of the smuggler's weapon.
In 1869 Mr. Morgan joined the forces of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, and for twenty years served on its editorial staff. During the railroad riots of 1877, when the police and militia of Buffalo failed to maintain order, the veterans of the late war volunteered their services, and Captain Morgan was elected their commander. The presence of this brave and experienced body of men under arms did much to prevent in Buffalo the destructive scenes enacted elsewhere during the same riotous period.
In 1880 Mr. Morgan was appointed canal appraiser by Governor Cornell, and was elected chairman of the board by his associates. The record of this board during their three and a half years of service was so free from the scandal that had attached to some preceding boards that the governor, in his last message to the legislature, complimented them for the care with which they had kept their impor- tant trust, and guarded the interests committed to them. Mr. Morgan was made collector of customs for the district of Buffalo Creek in 1889, and held the position for over four years, making one of the best collectors the port ever had.
In January, 1894, Comptroller James A. Roberts appointed Mr. Morgan to the responsible position of deputy state comptroller, which he still fills. How faithfully he has discharged its duties may be judged from the following extract from the comptroller's report for the year 1895: " In view of my recent protracted illness and long absence from official duty, I desire thus publicly to express my apprecia- tion and recognition of the satisfactory manner in which my able and efficient deputy, Colonel William J. Morgan, performed the very responsible and labo- rious work of this department."
Mr. Morgan has taken great interest in all meas- ures for enhancing the prosperity of the city of Buffalo, in whose future greatness he has always been a firm believer. He was one of the original pro- moters of the Buffalo & Jamestown railroad, now the Buffalo & Southwestern. He took an active part for years in the Commercial Union, an organization formed for the purpose of freeing the canals from tolls and securing their improvement, and productive of great good to the canal commerce of Buffalo. He has been secretary of the Buffalo grade-crossing commission from the beginning, and has taken a prominent part in its important work.
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MMEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Mr. Morgan is a member of Queen City Lodge, F & A. M., and Keystone Chapter, R. A. M., as well as William Richardson Post, G. A. R., and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He belongs to the Buffalo and Ellicott clubs, Buffalo, the Albany Club, AAlbany, and the Knickerbocker Club of New York city. He is a member of the Kichmond Avenue Methodist Church of Badalo.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - William James Morgan was born near Peterboro, Canada, October 16, 1840; moved to Buffalo in 1850, and was edu- .Med in the public schools there ; served in the Union army, 1862-65 ; married Mary C. Reese of Buffalo September 23, Is69 ; was on the editorial staff of the Buffalo " Commercial Advertiser," 1869- w9; was appointed canal appraiser in 1880, and collector of customs for the dis- trict of Buffalo Creek in 1889; has been deputy state comptroller since January, 180%.
Edmund Fanes Plumley, dur- ing the twenty-odd years that he has practiced law in Buffalo, has devoted the energies of an able and a vigorous mind unremittingly to his profession, and has attained no slight degree of distinction therein.
Mr. Plumley was born in Seneca county, New York, rather more than fifty years ago. After the usual prelim- inary training in district schools, at the age of fifteen he entered Middlebury Academy, Wyoming, N. Y., where he -tudied for one year. He then com- pleted his preparatory studies at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N. Y., and afterward spent two years at Genesee College, now Syracuse University. His ambition for a full college course, however, was not to be gratified. More than once he had been obliged to interrupt his studies and spend a short time in teaching, in order to obtain the means for further study ; and after completing his sophomore year he was compelled to leave college.
During the next few years Mr. Plumley taught in different public and private schools ; and finally, in the spring of 1868, he entered the law office of Hiram C. Day of Buffalo as a student, thus fulfilling a long-cherished purpose. He remained with Mr. Day four years, during which he was duly admitted to the bar. In February, 1872, he received an
unsolicited and wholly unexpected appointment as deputy city clerk, and for three years he faithfully discharged the duties of this position.
In March, 1875, Mr. Plumley retired from the city clerk's office, and associated himself with E. C. Robbins in the law firm of Robbins & Plumley, thus
WILLIAM J. MORGAN
beginning the practice of his profession. Since the dissolution of this partnership in 1877, Mr. Plumley has been associated with William M. Hawkins in the firm of Hawkins & Plumley, afterwards enlarged by the admission of Clinton B. Gibbs, and known as Hawkins, Plumley & Gibbs; and with George L. Kingston in the firm of Plumley & Kingston. On May 1, 1894, he formed a partnership with Irving W. Cole, under the name of Plumley & Cole, which still exists. During all these years Mr. Plumley's practice has steadily increased, and he has established a reputation for legal ability and devotion to the interests of his clients that any man might be proud to possess. This success has been fairly won, for he has devoted himself wholly to his profession.
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