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 4
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early in life, and continue unceasingly to develop. Like many another high-minded youth, Mr. Cush- man left school to enter the army at the time of the Civil War. The fact that as a boy he was willing to forsake the easy and pleasant avenues of civic and business life for the far rougher paths of military
WILLIAM CARYL CORNWELL
activity, promised well for his character and for his chances of success in any business to which he might devote himself. He served as drummer boy in the Army of the Cumberland, and marched with Sher- man to the sea. Service and sacrifice of this kind are never without their reward. The self-reliance, energy, and fortitude developed in camp life cannot fail to be valuable acquisitions to the character of any man ; and these qualities, when developed early in life, as they were in Mr. Cushman's case, are likely to be permanent and most valuable character- istics of the man.
Soon after the close of the war, Mr. Cushman found an opportunity to put his ability to the test in the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern
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railway. He must have stood the test excellently, for three years after entering the service of this cor- poration he was appointed to the office of general agent at Cleveland. This position he heid for eight years - from 1872 to 1880. While so engaged, Mr. Cushman came to see the manifold advantages that
CHARLES W. CUSHMAN
might result from an association of railway-car inter- ests. The project appeared both desirable and prac- ticable, and in 1880 Mr. Cushman organized the Railway Car Association. At this time the promi- nence that Buffalo was destined to attain as a great railroad center was already foreseen by the more ob- servant railroad men, and by Mr. Cushman among others ; and Buffalo was made the headquarters of the association. There are branches in the principal cities of the United States. Of this association Mr. Cushman has been president and general manager since 1880.
Some active business men seem to find no field too large for their capacities, no work too burdensome for their energies. In business, as in scholarship,
most men must specialize in these days of ever widening knowledge. But the vigor of the capable business manager overflows in numerous channels, and many kinds of business cognate to his special pursuit benefit by the diversity of his talents. Mr. Cushman's career admirably illustrates this statement. He is president of the Columbian Equip- inent Company and president of the Standard Iron Works, both of Chicago, and stockholder and director in several other companies. He served on the staff of the commander of the Grand Army when General Fairchild was commander in chief.
Mr. Cushman has found continual relax - ation in a great and constantly increasing devotion to Masonry. Rarely does an active man lack an avocation, and often the success and distinction that he wins in his chosen means of relaxation are parallel to his business attainments. That such has been the case with Mr. Cush- man, and that he has found both pleasure and honor in his avocation, we may infer from the fact that in September, 1894, he was crowned a Sovereign Grand In- spector General of the 33d and last degree of Masonry.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Charles Weeks Cushman was born at Cleveland, O., August 31, 1848; at- tended the Cleveland public schools and the Rockford ( Ill. ) High School; spent two years in the army, 1864-65 ; married Georgie L. Doran of Chicago March 18, 1873 ; entered the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railway in. 1869, and was general agent of the company, 1872-SO; organised the Railway Car Association in 1880, and has been president thereof since.
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Josepb D. Dudley comes from good old New Hampshire stock. In every quarter of the globe and in every country the New Englander is found. As merchant and banker, as inventor and discoverer, as navigator and explorer, the Yankee is to the front. A man is what his ancestors have made him, in quality, but the particular form of development is determined by circumstances. This fact explains the inborn integrity and conscientious course pursued in the affairs of life by Joseph P. Dudley.
After a youth among the hills of the old Granite State, with only such educational advantages as the
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country schools and Pembroke Academy could give him, he began a business career that has culminated in a success so marked that he is recognized as an ideal type of business man. Mr. Dudley came to Buffalo in 1858, and embarked in the foundry busi- ness, continuing the same for three years. He then formed a partnership with J. D. Dudley and M. T. Dudley, the firm being Dudley & Co. and the busi- ness that of oil refining. The entire management was under the direction of Joseph P. Dudley, and the firm was very successful. In 1882 the oil business of Dudley & Co. was merged with that of the great Stand- ard Oil Company of New York, the Buffalo business being known as the Star Oil Branch ; and since that time Mr. Dudley has been the general manager of the Standard Oil Company's vast interests in Buffalo and western New York. Probably no man among the
many able managers who direct the affairs of the greatest corporation in this county, stands higher than Joseph P. Dudley.
It is but natural that a successful man like Mr. Dudley should be engaged in many enterprises, for profit, for pleasure, and for religious, educational, and phil- anthropic purposes. He is identified with many of the important institutions of Buffalo. He is a trustee of the Erie County Savings Bank with assets amounting to $20,000,000 ; director in the American Exchange and Hydraulic banks ; and director of the Ellicott Square Company, now erecting the greatest office building in the world.
Mr. Dudley loves his church. He is vice president and treasurer of the Lafay- ette Street Presbyterian Church Society, and has done as much for that church as any man ever identified with it. He has had charge of its music for a great num- ber of years, and has an abiding interest and faith in the musical as well as the theological end of the church. He has always shown great interest in musical matters, having been identified with the Buffalo Musical Association since its or- ganization, as director or as president. Mr. Dudley has been connected with most of the leading institutions of Buf- falo, and in 1895 was president of the Buffalo Library. He is actively interested in the Historical Society, and is president of the board of managers of the State Hospital for Insane.
He is pre-eminently a society man ; that is to say, he is an intelligent man, who is fond of his fellow-
creatures, and loves to be with them. He is a men- ber of the leading clubs of the city. He has been presi - dent of the Buffalo Club, and is now a director ; he is vice president of the Ellicott Club ; he is a director of the Falconwood Club, and member of the Country Club, Liberal Club, Otowega Club, and several others. He is a generous giver to the poor, and to the benevolent institutions of the city. Few men are more popular, and no man has a keener sense of humor, a greater fund of anecdote and experience, and a livelier appreciation of the good things of life than Joseph P. Dudley.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Joseph Pitts- bury Dudley was born at Candia, N. H., November 21, 1832; attended country schoots, and graduated from Pembroke ( N. H. ) Academy in 1852 ; married Mary F. Underhill of Concord, Mass., in 1854;
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JOSEPH P. DUDLEY
moved to Buffalo in 1858 ; engaged in the oil-refining business from 1861 until 1882 in the firm of Dudley & Co. ; has been manager of the Star Oil ( Buffalo) Branch of the Standard Oil Company since 1882.
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Denry D. Emerson was born in the old Bay State town of Lynnfield, of the good New England stock that makes leaders everywhere. He prepared for college at the famous Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., and distinguished himself at Rochester Uni- versity by taking the senior essay prize.
HENRY P. EMERSON
He began his pedagogic career in 1871 as teacher of Greek and Latin in the State Normal School at Potsdam, N. Y. In 1874 he came to Buffalo as prin- cipal of the classical department of the Buffalo High School; and in 1883, upon the resignation of Pro- fessor Spencer, who had held the principalship of the school for twenty years, Mr. Emerson was appointed to that very responsible position. His work there quickly gave promise of striking success. Aroused by his efforts, the school alumni became enthusiastic over the project for the enlargement of the school, petitions were circulated among the citizens, and the city was induced to build an addition, costing nearly 860,000, to the old school building. The growth
of the school during his administration was remark- able, for during the ten years that he occupied the principal's chair the number of pupils increased from three hundred to a thousand. But his greatest suc- cesses were not of this material sort. He exerted himself to create among the students a sentiment in favor of order, and they were thus led to respect the rights of others in the school ; and oppressive and repressive measures were seldom necessary. In opposition to mechanical and bookish methods, he sought to arouse an enthusiasm for investi- gation and original work, and the schol- arship of the school was materially improved. His morning talks were a feature to which many of his pupils look back as one of the happiest and most profitable experiences of their school life. It was his custom to give an informal taik, at least once a week, to the assembled school on some historical subject (sug- gested, perhaps, by an anniversary ), or on current matters of interest in the out- side world. In this way the boys and girls obtained definite and available in- formation that they found most useful.
Appreciating his devotion to the cause of education and his entire fitness for the office, the Republican party in 1892 nom- inated him for superintendent of schools of the city of Buffalo. He was elected, and began his new duties January 1, 1893. One of his first reforms was the introduc- tion of more modern text-books in English and in other subjects. He also turned his attention to that important branch of pub- lic instruction, the primary schools, and appointed a capable woman to oversee this whole work of primary teaching. The evening schools of the city had fallen sadly into disrepute, owing to their general inefficiency. Superintendent Emerson took these in hand with em- inent success. He reduced their number from twenty- two to twelve, and placed them in charge of thoroughly qualified teachers ; and as a result these schools have become most popular, and valuable opportunities for self-improvement have been given to all who choose to embrace them, while the cost of maintain- ing the schools has been materially reduced. Super- intendent Emerson is an indefatigable worker, and labors incessantly in his office, in teachers' meetings, and elsewhere. He is a Napoleon of organization, and the wonderful system inaugurated by him in the Buf- falo public schools is worthy the study of the educator.
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In the meantime the scant leisure of so busy a professional life has been fruitful of supplementary achievements. A paper on " Latin in High Schools," read at the 1881 session of the State Teachers' Associa- tion, published by Bardeen of Syracuse, is a master- piece among educational monographs ; as is also his " Education of the Child," an address delivered be- fore the public school teachers of Buffalo. " A Sum- mer in Europe," a collection of letters, written originally for the Buffalo Courier, is his breezy con- tribution to travel literature.
Professor Emerson is a member of the Baptist church ; of the Alpha Delta Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, and Masonic fraternities ; of the Buffalo Historical Society and the Society of Natural Sciences ; and of the Liberal Club, the University Club, and the Saturn Club (all of Buffalo).
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Henry P. Emerson was born at Lynnfield, Mass., January 11, 1847 ; graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., in 1867, and from Rochester University in 1871 with the degree of A. B., receiving the degree of A. M. from the latter insti- tution in 1874; married Mary A. Estey of Middleton, Mass., August 4, 1874; came to Buffalo in the same year as teacher of Greek and Latin in the Central High School, of which he was appointed principal in 1883 ; was elected superintendent of edu- cation of the city of Buffalo in 1892, taking office January 1, 1893, for a term of three years ; was re-elected to the same position in November, 1895.
Edwin fleming has devoted his life to newspaper work. He has not held office, political or other, nor has he sought it. He is a type of the journalist who respects his profession ; who finds in it the opportunity for high usefulness to his fellow-men ; who brings to it his best, allowing no distraction to come between ; and who does it, and himself, honor.
In newspaper work, in a degree greater than that of most professions, the useful- ness of the worker depends upon the breadth of his training. Mr. Fleming laid the foundation of his professional career in a university education, and sup- plemented this with systematic study after gradua- tion. Leaving college with the degree of B. A., he afterward attended law lectures, and received from his alma mater in 1873 the degree of M. A. To his
college training he added later the education that comes of travel, devoting eighteen months to European sight-seeing. Since then the education received from books and from travel has been finely rounded out by the education in practical affairs that journalism so effectively provides.
Mr. Fleming's newspaper life began in the Uni- versity of Michigan, where, in his junior and senior years, he was one of the editors of a college paper. To this experience he added, while still in college, the more practical training involved in correspon- dence for the Detroit Post. Immediately upon graduation he found a berth upon the Post as a reporter ; in the winter of 1870-71 he had charge of the telegraph desk of the Detroit Tribune ; later in 1871 he did special reporting for the latter paper
EDWIN FLEMING
in various parts of Michigan, afterward doing general newspaper work for the Kalamazoo Telegraph and the Jackson Citizen as well as for the Tribune. Thus he had a thorough training in different branches of
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his profession before he went to Europe. On return- ing from abroad, he went to Washington, D. C., and became the Washington representative succes- sively of the New York Journal of Commerce, of the New York Commercial Bulletin, of the Detroit Free Press (from 1875 to 1885), of the St. Louis Republic
JAMES GILBERT FORSYTH
(from 1881 to 1885), and of the Buffalo Courier (from January 1, 1877, to 1885). Thus by easy stages his way lcd to the cditorship of the Buffalo Courier.
The fruits of this extensive training are apparent in Mr. Fleming's work as a newspaper man. On the one hand, he looks upon affairs with the breadth of view of the scholar. On the other, he pos- sesses the practical advantage given by a remarkably wide acquaintance with public men -an acquaint- ance gaincd during a ten years' residence at the national capital. The combination of these two elements explains, in large measure, Mr. Fleming's success in the editorial chair.
While his temper might be described as that of the scholar, it must not be supposed that Mr. Fleming takes no interest in politics. On the contrary, he seems to find, and rightly, in politics the field of the highest usefulness of a journalist. In his editorial work he exhibits a judicial nature. He considers coolly and deliberately, and when his resolution is made carries it out fearlessly to the end. He treats political matters with a view, not to their temporary and superficial aspect, but to their deeper relations and significance. As might be supposed, his work has been on the side of good government, of honest elections, and of political independence. He has believed, and preached, that the right thing is the best thing in the long run.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Edwin Fleming was born at West Lebanon, Ind., December 11, 1847 ; graduated from the University of Michigan in 1870; en- gaged in newspaper work of various kinds for several Michigan papers until 1873; after spending eighteen months abroad, went to Washington as correspondent of New York, Detroit, and St. Louis newspapers, and of the Buffalo " Courier" ; married Harriet L. Stone of Kalamazoo, Mich., April 20, 1881; has been editor of the Buffalo " Courier" since June 1, 1885.
James Gilbert fforsyth exhibits the type of man in which singleness of purpose and tenacity of determination are exemplificd in a marked degrec. Half- way measures arc unknown to him. His methods are direct and thorough, and he devotes to every task such time as may be needed for its proper and final execution. Born in Buffalo April 17, 1832, hc went West at an carly age, his boyhood being spent in Kenosha, Wis. Here hc received the usual common-school education, but restlessness to begin the more definite work of life caused him to apprentice himself at the age of fourteen to the hard- ware firm of Marshall & Phelps, where he learned the trade of tinman. After serving out the most of his apprenticeship in the true old-fashioned style, he was released by the dissolution of the firm and went to Geneva, Wis., where he worked for a few months at his trade before coming to Buffalo in 1852. After determincd effort he secured a position with Pratt & Co., then the leading hardware firm of this section, with whom he remained until January
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1, 1856, when he accepted a position with Sidney Shepard & Co., and was admitted to partnership in December, 1860. He has since devoted himself with unfaltering energy to the ever increasing inter- ests of this well known house, whose business opera- ations now extend over the entire country.
He was married on the 10th of March, 1857, to Miss Jane Elizabeth Dodge of Buffalo. He was one of the founders of Christ Church, later incorporated with Trinity.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-James Gil- bert Forsyth was born at Buffalo April 17, 1832; was educated in the public schools of Kenosha, Wis. : married Jane Elisabeth Dodge of Buffalo March 10, 1857 ; entered the service of Sidney Shepard & Co. of Buffalo in 1856, and has been a partner in the firm since 1860.
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George S. Gatcbell has never seen an idle day since he became old enough to know what real work is. He belongs to the class of men who are happiest when they have most to do, and who justify the paradoxical saying, " If you want a thing done quickly, take it to a busy man." Mr. Gatchell is best known as a railroad man of wide experi- ence and of great capacity : but his earlier military career is worth recalling. He went to the front with the 3d Penn- sylvania cavalry, was present at the taking of Petersburg and at the surrender of Lee, and was mustered out of service August 7, 1865, as sergeant major of the 5th Pennsylvania cavalry. This army career was his first serious venture in life, and may safely be regarded as his first success.
Soon after the war, he accepted an op- portunity to go out on the preliminary line of the Buffalo & Washington rail- road as a rodman. This was the beginning of his connection with railroads. The Buffalo & Washington railroad, which afterward became the Buffalo, New York & Pennsylvania, and which is now the Western New York & Pennsylvania, was designed to open up a new territory for Buffalo, and its construction was watched with much interest. After taking charge of the construction of four miles of this road in 1866-67, Mr. Gatchell went to Michigan, where he ran the lines and had charge of part of the con- struction of forty miles of a road that ran from,
Grand Rapids to Muskegon. He then returned to this state, and ran the lines of the Rochester & State Line railroad in 1870 and 1871.
When work was resumed on the Buffalo & Wash - ington railroad he was made assistant engineer, and in 1872 was made chief engineer. From this time Mr. Gatchell was identified exclusively with the development of the railroad system of western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. Among the lines with the construction of which he was inti- mately connected were the Olean, Bradford & War- ren ( narrow gange), from Olean to State Line, and the Kendall & Eldred, from Eldred, N. Y., to Brad- ford, Penn. These roads tapped the oil regions, then rich, of southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania, and ultimately became feeders for the
GEORGE S. GATCHEI.L.
Buffalo, New York & Pennsylvania railroad. The markedly excellent work that he had done in con- nection with these lines and the undoubted talent he had shown in the management of large interests, led
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to his appointment in 1879 as general superintendent of the Buffalo, New York & Pennsylvania railroad. For ten years, through several changes of manage- ment, he held this responsible position, discharging its trying duties with rare sagacity and executive ability. Mr. Gatchell left the railroad business in 1889 to become the general manager of the Buffalo Elevating Company.
When the charter of the city of Buffalo was re- vised with a view to correcting many existing evils, the department of public works was created under the control of three commissioners. This department has charge of all municipal construction, paving, street cleaning, water works, and public buildings, and is responsible for the proper expenditure of a large sum of money annually. When the first commission was created in 1892, Mayor Charles F. Bishop appointed Mr. Gatchell as the only Republican member of the board. Mr. Gatchell's long experience in dealing with important interests and with large bodies of men was of the utmost value to the commission, and it was not long before he became known as the "working member " of the board.
Socially Mr. Gatchell is a most companionable man. He is a leading member of the Buffalo Club.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-George Samuel Gatchell was born at Wheatfield, N. Y., January 16, 1847 ; attended the Lockport Union School until 1863, when he moved to Philadelphia ; enlisted in the 3d Pennsylvania cavalry in June, 1864, and served until the close of the war ; came to Buffalo in 1866, and engaged in railroad surveying; was appointed chief engineer in 1872 of what is now the Western New York & Pennsylvania railroad, and was general super- intendent of that company, 1879-89; married Sarah M. Ketcham of Buffalo October 15, 1874; was appointed a commissioner of public works of the city of Buffalo January 4, 1892, for a term of one year, and was reappointed January 4, 1893, for three years.
James fraser Gluck, if the law were not his first thought, might be one of the foremost liter- ary workers of the day. Indeed, as it is, his contri- butions to literature have been such as to give him high rank in that difficult sphere of attainment. He is a strong, vigorous writer, and the products of his pen are characterized by a literary finish that is rarely found outside the work of professional authors of re- pute. But the law has been his chosen profession : and he has no reason to complain that his choice has not brought him substantial and deserved rewards.
Born at Niagara Falls in 1852, Mr. Gluck at- tended the common schools of that famous city, then a mere village. This was supplemented by
courses of study at the grammar school of Drummond- ville, Canada, at Upper Canada College in Toronto, Ont., and at Cornell University, from which he was graduated in 1874, standing at the head of his class, and receiving the highest honor of the college - the Woodford prize. He was chosen president of his class, and has been re-elected to that office at every subsequent meeting of his class.
Mr. Gluck, after acting as editor of the first daily newspaper at Niagara Falls, the Niagara Falls Register, turned his attention to the law. He came to Buffalo, studied in the office of Laning & Willett, was admitted to the bar in 1876, and formed a partnership with A. P. Laning and Daniel H. McMillan in 1877. After the death of Mr. Laning the firm became successively Greene, McMillan & Gluck (1881-87), McMillan, Gluck & Pooley (1887-90), and McMillan, Gluck, Pooley & De- pew (1890-18 -- ). During all these changes the firm has been celebrated for its successful care of large corporate interests, which it has made its specialty. Railroads have sought its guidance, and among its chief clients have steadfastly been the great Vander- bilt interests represented in the New York Central, the Lake Shore, the West Shore, the Michigan Cen- tral, and other railroads entering Buffalo.
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