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 38
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
£
266
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN' SECTION
With the exception of his three years' service as deputy city clerk, Mr. Plumley has never held a political office. Yet he maintains an active interest in public affairs, and is willing to give both time and talent to promote the welfare of the community. This fact was abundantly proved by the active part
EDMUND J.LNES PLUMLEY
that he took, several years ago, in the investigation of the condition of the school department of Buffalo. This investigation resulted at once in the establish- ment of the present examining board, to decide on the qualifications of candidates for teachers in the public schools of the city, and in the creation of a strong sentiment favoring a municipal board of edu- cation.
Mr. Plumley was one of the charter members of the First Congregational Church of Buffalo. This church was organized in 1880, and he has acted as clerk of its board of trustees for fifteen years. He is also a Mason, holding membership in Queen City Lodge, No. 358, of Buffalo. Mr. Plumley possesses the tastes of a student, and has read widely and
thought deeply. Literature and general history are especially congenial to him, and he has devoted some attention to theological questions. This latter taste he inherits, no doubt, from his father, the Rev. Albert Plumley, who was for nearly forty-five years a well-known Methodist clergyman in western New York. Mr. Plumley has written a numm- ber of poems that have been published, and that evince no small amount of lit- erary ability.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Edmund Janes Plumley was born at Canoga, Seneca county, N. Y., October ?, 1845 ; attended Genesee Wesleyan Semi- mary, Lima, N. Y., and Genesee College (now Syracuse University ) ; taught school at intervals, 1863-68; was admitted to the bar in 1871; married Flora Ella Crandall of Buffalo July 9, 1874; was deputy city clerk of Buffalo, 1872-75 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1875.
William Warren Potter long .ago obtained a place in the front rank of . the medical profession ; and he has since strengthened his position by skill and judgment as a surgeon, by acumen and originality as a student of medical science, by accuracy and depth as a writer on medical subjects. His career was fore- shadowed, as to its success and the line of achievement, by his lineage, since his father, his grandfather, and his great- grandfather, not to mention collateral issue, were all distinguished physicians.
Dr. Potter was born in what is now Wyoming county, on the last day of the year 1838. His preparatory studies were carried on in private schools, at Arcade ( N. Y. ) Seminary, and at Genesee Sem- inary and College, at Lima, N. Y. His medical education was obtained at Buffalo University Medical College, from which he graduated in February, 1859. In the spring of that year he formed a part- nership for the practice of medicine with his uncle, Dr. M. E. Potter, of Cowlesville, N. Y.
The Civil War broke out two years after this, and Dr. Potter made haste to offer his services to the government. He passed the examination of the army board at Albany a few days after Fort Sumter was tal en, and in the summer of 1861 was com- missioned by Governor Morgan assistant surgeon of the 19th regiment New York volunteers, Colonel D. D. Bidwell, which he had helped to organize in
267
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Buffalo. He accompanied this regiment throughout its early eventful career with the Army of the Potomac, during the peninsular campaign, under Me Clellan in Maryland, and under Burnside in the · Fredericksburg disaster. Left in charge of wounded soldiers while the army was retreating to Harrison's landing, Dr. Potter fell into the hands of the enemy in June, 1862, and had an interesting interview with the redoubtable "Stonewall" Jackson. He was confined in Libby prison, but was released among the first exchanges, and rejoined his regiment after un absence of only three weeks. In December, 1862, after the battle of Fredericksburg, he was promoted to the rank of surgeon, and served with the 57th regiment New York volunteers during the Chancel- lorsville and Gettysburg campaigns. Soon after the battle of Gettysburg he was assigned to the charge of the 1st division hospital, 2d army corps, and continued upon that duty until mustered out of service with his regiment at the elose of the war. He was brevetted by the President of the United States, for faithful and meritori- ous service, lieutenant colonel of United States volunteers ; and by the governor of New York state, for like reasons, lieutenant colonel of New York volun- teers.
Returning to civil life, Dr. Potter followed his profession at Batavia, Gen- esce county, for a time, but soon re- turned to Buffalo, where he has since resided. His professional taste, culti- vated largely by association with his father, who was also his preceptor, early led him into the field of surgery, and he has performed many of the more impor- tint operations in both military and civil practice. Of late years he has given his entire attention to the treatment of the diseases of women, and has performed many difficult operations in the depart- ments of gynecic, pelvic, and abdominal surgery.
Dr. Potter belongs to many profes- sional societies, in accordance with this incomplete statement : permanent mem- ber of the American Medical Association in 1878, and chairman of its section of obstetrics and diseases of women in 1^90 ; permanent member of the Medical Society of the State of New York, and its president in 1891 ; member of the Medical Society of Erie County, and its president in 1893 : member of the
Buffalo Medical and Surgical Association, and its president in 1886 ; president of the Buffalo Obstet- rical Society, 1884-86; secretary of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists since 1888 ; president of the section of gynecology and abdominal surgery of the first Pan-American Medi- cal Congress in 1893. He is examiner in obstetrics for the New York state examining and licensing board ; president of the national confederation of state medical examining and licensing boards ; con- sulting gynecologist at the Women's Hospital, Buffalo ; and a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
Dr Potter has been a voluminous contributor to medical literature, and a list of his writings would suggest by its length the Homeric catalogue of ships. Since July, 1888, he has been managing editor of
opp
WILLIAM WARREN POTTER
the Buffalo Medical Journal. He also edits the annual volume of Transactions of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and is the author of the history of the medical
268
MEN OF NEW YORK -WESTERN SECTION
profession and its institutions, as related to Erie county, in "Our County and Its People."
PERSONAL, CHRONOLOGY- William Warren Potter was born at Strykersville, N. Y., December 31, 1838 ; was educated at Arcade Semi- nary, and Genesee Seminary and College, Lima, N. Y .;
1
EDWARD C. RANDALL
graduated from the Buffalo University Medical College in 1859 ; married Emily A. Bostwick of Lancaster, N. Y., March 23, 1859 ; engaged in the practice of medicine at Cowlesville, N. Y., 1859-61 ; served as a surgeon in the Union army, 1861-65 ; has followed his profession in Buffalo since 1866.
Edward C. RRandall has impressed himself upon the community in which he lives as a man of unusual force and energy. He is a well-known lawyer, and since his admission to the bar thirteen years ago he has figured as counsel in many impor- tant legal controversies. He is still so young that the success already achieved may fairly be regarded as the forerunner of continued and higher achievements.
Mr. Kandall was born thirty-six years ago in the town of Ripley, N. Y., and had the usual experience of a country boy secking a liberal education. He received his preliminary training in the district school and academy of his native place, and was prepared for college under private tuition. He pursued his classical studies at Allegheny College, Meadville, Penn. In 1879 he entered the office of Morris & Lambert ar Fredonia, N. Y., and commenced a course of legal study. He subsequently moved to Dunkirk, and completed his preparation for the bar in the office of Holt & Holt. After four years spent in mastering the theory and practice of the law, Mr. Randall was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court April 3, 1883, at Rochester. He at once opened an office in Dankirk, and met with unusual success from the start. The professional field there was limited, however, and he decided to seek a larger sphere of labor. Turning over his office and busi- ness to Eugene Cary, a local attorney, in the fall of 1884 he moved to Buffalo, in whose future growth and development he had great faith, and formed a partner- ship with Joseph P. Carr, under the firm name of Carr & Randall. Mr. Carr retired from the profession two years later, and Mr. Randall continued to practice alone for the next ten years. He formed a partnership with Jeremiah J. Hurley on January 1, 1896, becoming senior member of the firm of Randall & Hurley.
Mr. Randall first became prominent in Buffalo for his celebrated defense of Frank Curcio, who was tried for murder in 1887. For five years Mr. Randall was counsel for the receivers of the Tonawanda Valley & Cuba railroad ; and he acted in a similar capacity for the supply creditors of the New York, Lake Erie & Western railroad, and participated in the reorgan- ization of that company.
In politics Mr. Randall has been an active Repub- lican. A graceful and an earnest speaker, he has taken the stump in behalf of his party in the various campaigns of the last twelve years. He has never accepted a nomination for political office, preferring to devote his entire attention to the building up of a legal clientage. Believing in the great destiny in store for Buffalo, he has invested largely and success- fully in real estate in that city. He is a loyal citizen.
269
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
interested in many charities, and an earnest promoter of every measure that tends to the permanent welfare of the Queen City. He is a member of the Masonic order, and is widely known in social circles.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Edward Caleb Randall was born at Ripley, Chautauqua county, N. Y., July 19, 1860 ; was educated at Ripley Acad- emy and Allegheny College ; studied law at Fredonia and Dunkirk, and was admitted to the bar at Roches- ter in 1883 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1884.
Adolph Tebadow was born in Buffalo in the year of Lincoln's first election as President, and has always lived in the Queen City of the Lakes. His education was obtained chiefly in the common schools, and even these he left at an early age. He made up for the lack of academic training, however, by self-instruction. For sev- eral years he worked in the Grosvenor Library, Buffalo, and his experience there fitted him to enter upon the study of law.
Mr. Rebadow decided as early as his eighteenth year what his life-work was to be, and he began at that age the great task of learning law. Entering the office of Marshall, Clinton & Wilson as a student, he passed the bar examina- tions in three years. He began practice at once, opening an office in the Ameri- can block, Buffalo.
After carrying on his profession alone for about four years, he associated him- self, in 1885, with George T. Quinby and Willis H. Meads, under the firm name of Quinby, Meads & Rebadow. This partnership was altogether success- ful, and the firm conducted a large practice for upwards of eight years, or until the fall of 1893. At that time Mr. Rebadow returned to his old preceptors, Charles D. Marshall and Spencer Clin- ton, forming with them the present firm of Marshall, Clinton & Rebadow. As Messrs. Marshall and Clinton are veteran members of the Erie-county bar, and two of the strongest and most influential lawyers of western New York, their invitation to the younger man to ally himself with them must be regarded as highly complimentary to MIr. Rebadow's legal capacity. He has fulfilled their expectations, and has done his part in conducting successfully the large and important practice with which the new firm has been favored. The numerous clients of the firm
display the same confidence in Mr. Rebadow that Mr. Marshall and Mr. Clinton continue to exhibit. For so young a man, Mr. Rebadow has appeared in many important trials before juries. Few men of his years, in fact, have conducted so many momentous cases in the Appellate Division, the Court of Appeals, and the Circuit Court of the United States ; and the results have been such as to justify the confidence reposed in him by his clients and his partners. Quick, alert, persuasive, ever the advocate when his clients' interests are involved, Mr. Rebadow has attained before juries and judges a degree of success that is easy to understand. Per- sonally he is very likable, and his genial, vivacious temperament endears him to a host of friends.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Adolph Rebadow was born at Buffalo June 4, 1860 ; was
ADOLPH REBADOIT
educated in the public schools of the city ; studied law in the office of Marshall, Clinton & Wilson, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1881: has practiced law in Buffalo since.
270
MEN OF NEW YORK -WESTERN SECTION
Joseph D. Schattner is a genuine Buffa- lonian. He was born and educated in that city, and all his business interests are connected with it. In the thirty-odd years of his career he has seen the place attain an enviable prominence in the great sisterhood of American cities, and more than fulfill
JOSEPH P. SCHATTNER
the ardent prophecies of its founders. In 1859, the year of his birth, Buffalo was in the midst of the hard times following the panic of 1857. This interruption of the prosperity hitherto characteristic of the growing city since the crash of 1837, had been caused by speculation and general financial recklessness, with inflation and depreciation of the currency. The acme was reached when specie pay- ments were suspended. The banks succumbed, real estate sank until it was said " the whole town was not worth a dollar," and numberless failures followed. The financial stringency that prevailed was over- shadowed by the greater anxiety of approaching war.
Mr. Schattner's parents were among the many sufferers from this depression, and were unable to
give him more than a few years at school before he was thrown upon his own resources. He attended St. Mary's Roman Catholic School until the age of twelve, and then entered the employ of Abram Bartholomew, a Buffalo lawyer, as office boy. Amid the law books and the legal atmosphere of the office, the young lad soon became ambitious to practice law. This proved to be no mere air castle. In due time he became a stu- dent in the same office where he had served in the humbler capacity, and at the age of twenty-one he was admitted to the bar. He has practiced in Buffalo ever since, and is counted among the most successful lawyers of the city, with a clientage that few men of his age can boast.
The brewing and malting business is one of the oldest interests of Buffalo. Since the time when the third German settler built a brewery, and gave his „ neighbors the first taste of their favorite beverage made at home, the industry has grown steadily, and has now reached enormous proportions. The situation of the city, in the center of a large barley- growing district, is favorable to the man- ufacture. Among the largest establish- ments is the plant of the Broadway Brewing & Malting Co. Mr. Schattner was one of the charter members of this concern, and is its secretary and attor- ney. In the eight years of its exist- ence the output has increased from 10,000 to 25,000 barrels a year. The capital stock is $100,000, while the assets are 8300,000, and the liabilities $125,000.
Mr. Schattner has also been for several years secretary of the Erie County Natural Gas & Fuel Co., Limited. This company was organized in 1891 with a capital stock of $500,000. It has a franchise of the entire city, and has piped about forty miles of streets. The gas is obtained from wells in Canada, and is conducted across the river by two pipes.
Mr. Schattner was nominated on the Democratic ticket as a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1894, but he shared the fate of his party that year. He is a member of the Democratic state committee from the 48th senatorial district, and is prominent in the councils of his party. He is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, and belongs to the Catholic Benevolent League.
271
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Joseph Peter Shattner was born at Buffalo August 5, 1859 ; was educated at St. Mary's Roman Catholic School : studied law in the office of Abram Bartholomew, and was admitted to the bar in 1881 ; has been secretary of the Broadway Brewing & Malting Co. since 1886, and of the Erie County Natural Gas & Fuel Co., Limited, since 1893; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1881.
Allen D. Scott has been a factor for many years in the affairs of western New York, and es- Ixcially of Erie and Cattaraugus counties. He was horn not far from the boundary between the two counties, in Andrew Jackson's first administration. His education was threefold, consisting of scholastic training in various institutions, of teaching in the public schools (not the least part of any man's education), and of legal study. First attending the district school in the town of Otto, Cattaraugus county, he continued his studies at the old Spring- ville Academy, and completed them at 1.ima, N. Y. After teaching the pub- lic school at Ellicottville, Cattaraugus county, in 1853, he read law for several years, and was admitted to the bar in 1857.
Mr. Scott commenced practice at once in Ellicottville. His first partnership was formed with Judge Nelson Cobb, under the firm name of Cobb & Scott. After Judge Cobb went to Kansas, Mr. Scott practiced with Patrick H. Jones until the latter went into the army in 1861. Mr. Scott then associated him- self with Addison G. Rice, and con- tinued with him until 1868, when Mr. Rice moved to New York city. William G. Laidlaw, afterward district attorney of Cattaraugus county and member of congress, was Mr. Scott's next partner. Scott, Laidlaw & McVey and Scott, Laidlaw & McNair were later associa- tions.
This brief summary of Mr. Scott's partnership connections has taken us past some important events in his public career. In 1857, the year of his admis- sion to the bar, he was appointed surro- Rate of Cattaraugus county by Governor E. D. Mor- gan. He was elected to the same office in the fall of that year, and was again elected in the fall of 1861. Legislative as well as juridical honors came
to him, since he was elected to the state senate in 1869 from the 32d district, composed of Catta- raugus and Chautauqua counties. The next impor- tant service to which he was called by the public was that involved in his election as county judge of Cattaraugus county in the fall of 1875. He dis- charged so faithfully the duties of this office that he was re-elected in 1881, and thus served another term of six years.
In May, 1892, Judge Scott brought to a close his long residence in Ellicottville, and moved to Buffalo. His departure was a decided loss to the smaller place. Among the benefits accruing to the town wholly or in part through him may be mentioned its railroad facilities. Judge Scott be- came very much interested in the construction of the Rochester & State Line railroad, now the
.ALLEN D. SCOTT
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg, and he was largely instrumental in causing the line to go through Ellicottville. He was the attorney of the road for several years.
272
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Judge Scott has spent the greater part of his life in the country, and has naturally been interested in farming. He has given special attention to the pro- cess of preserving green fodder called ensilage, and has built several silos. He is a firm believer in the practicability of raising ensilage for winter fodder.
SIMON SEIBERT
For about two years after going to Buffalo Judge Scott was connected with the law firm of Sprague, Morey, Sprague & Brownell. In 1893 he became one of the counsel for the executors of the David S. Ingalls estate. This estate amounted to about $700,000, and there was a sharp contest over the will. When the Alleghany & Kinzua Railroad Co. got into financial straits, in 1892, Judge Scott was appointed receiver, and he is still operating the road.
For the last two years Judge Scott has been a lecturer in the Buffalo Law School. He has taken great interest and pleasure in the discharge of this duty, and has the prosperity of the school very much at heart.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Allen Darling Scott was born at Springville, N. Y., January 15, 1831 ; was educated at Springville Academy and Gene- sie Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N. Y. ; was admitted to the bar in 1857, and began practice at Ellicottville, N. Y. ; married Elizabeth Louisa Noves of North Collins, N. Y., in September, 1854, and Vida Cox of Otto, N. Y., in May, 1862 ; was elected surrogate of Cattarau- gits county in 1857 and again in 1861 ; was state senator, 1870-11, and county judge, 1816-87 ; has operated the Alle- ghany & Kinsua railroad as receiver since 1892 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1802.
Simon Seibert has attained un- usual political popularity, having repre- sented his fellow-citizens in both houses of the state legislature, as well as in the state and other conventions of the Re- publican party. Indeed, for the last ten years or thereabouts he has been sent as a delegate to almost all the important conventions of his party. He was born in Buffalo, and has always lived there. At the age of five he was sent to the public schools, where his general educa- tion was received. Having completed the course of instruction there, he en- tered Bryant & Stratton's Business Col- lege, from which he graduated in 1878. The knowledge thus obtained was first put to practical nse in his father's coal business. Later he carried on a men's furnishing store at East Buffalo for ser- eral years, and his prudence and sagacity brought their due reward of success.
In 1889 Mr. Seibert retired from busi- ness to accept an appointment as United States gauger under President Harrison. When the Dem- ocrats came into power in 1893 he found himself free to embark in business once more, and became connected with the Magnus Beck Brewing Co. as traveling salesman, a position that he still holds. He is also president of the Buffalo Clearing Co.
Mr. Seibert has for many years interested himself actively in the welfare of the Republican party. He has been one of its bulwarks in the section of Buffalo known as the East Side, and has been president of the East Side Republican League. No man in that part of the city has been more constantly engaged in the service of the party, or more continuously honored by preferment in its councils. His devotion
٥٫٠٣٠
-9
273
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
to public affairs was rewarded, in 1893, by a non- ination for member of assembly ; and though the normal Democratic majority in his district was 600, and the opposing candidate was one whose popu- larity had been attested in several former elections, Mr. Seibert was elected by a majority of 1356 votes. After a year's faithful service at the state capital he was renominated in the fall of 1894, and was elected by an increased majority. At the end of his second term he received the higher honor of a nomination to the upper house of the state legisla- ture from the 48th senatorial district. The conven- tion that established his candidacy was composed of representative business men, and he was nominated by acclamation. In 1892 Grover Cleveland had carried this district by a majority of 2000 votes ; but Mr. Seibert was elected by a majority of 2206, though he lost nearly 1000 votes under
the new ballot law. In 1896 he was elected an alternate delegate to the Republican national convention at St. Louis.
Mr. Seibert's uninterrupted success may well lead one to look for the secret of his political popularity. He himself attributes it chiefly, not to any remark- able genius on his part, but to the simple fact that he has always treated his constituents fairly and honestly, and has not made promises that he was not able to fulfill. In this way he has gained the confidence and respect of all, and those who have known him longest are his best friends-a statement that speaks volumes for the character of any man of whom it can be made.
Mr. Seibert is a member of Mystic Star Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Millard Fillmore Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He belongs, also, to the Teutonia Mannerchor, one of the chief musical societies of Buffalo ; and he has been president of the Sprudel Fishing Club and the Silver King Fish- ing Club.
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.