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 49
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district convention, the strong fight made by him and other friends of the great protectionist resulted in the choice of a delegate from the 34th con- gressional district who went to St. Louis under positive instructions to support the candidacy of William Mckinley.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Egburt E. Woodbury was born at Cherry Creek, Chautauqua county, N. Y., March 29, 1861; attended district schools and Chamberlain Institute, Randolph, N. Y .; married Florence E. Holbrook of Ran- dolph December 25, 1880 ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1884 ; was justice of -the peace, 1886-89, member of the Chautauqua-county Republican com- mittee, 1889-91, and member of assembly, 1891-93 ; has been surrogate of Chautau- qua county since January 1, 1895 ; has practiced law in Jamestown since 1884.
henry Altman is an excellent ex- ample of the American business man. who, in conducting large private affairs, finds inclination and leisure to interest himself also in politics and all worthy enterprises. Although he has not often held public office, nor been officially connected with party management, he has always been regarded in Buffalo as one of the stanchest and most influen- tial Republicans in the city. When any public enterprise has to be carried through, he is one of the first men called upon to help in the movement. He has the ability of interesting other men in whatever interests himself.
Mr. Altman has been a Buffalonian virtually all his life, although he was born in Rochester, and spent his first two years there. He is the youngest son of Jacob Altman. who settled in Buffalo in 1854, establishing the clothing house of Altman & Co., still existent. Henry Altman was educated in the Buffalo public schools and the Buffalo Academy, and graduated from Cornell University in the class of 1873, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Upon his return home from college he entered business life as a member of the firm of Altman & Co., and quickly developed into an able and successful man of affairs.
Mr. Altman is a good citizen, as well as a good business man, and has always taken a deep, unselfish interest in public affairs. He has been a leader in various movements designed to promote the welfare
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of Buffalo. When an effort was made there to obtain one or both of the great national political conven- tions of 1896, Mr. Altman was one of the com- mittee of Republicans appointed by the mayor to work in the interest of the city ; and the Republi- rans and Democrats together chose him as chairman of the committee of one hundred representative cit- izens that had in charge the official prosecution of the matter. Such offices as this come naturally to Mr. Altman because it is felt that they could not be in safer or more able hands.
When, under the new charter, a board of school examiners was created in Buffalo, one of the five members of the first board, appointed in February, 1892, was Mr. Altman. The position was an im- portant one. He proved himself a conscientious and highly capable officer, and was reappointed : and at the reorganization of the board in 1896 he was chosen its chairman.
Mr. Altman has been prominent for years in the counsels of the Republican party in Buffalo, and has served as presi- dent of the Buffalo Republican League. He has been connected with many of the public and social institutions of the city. He has served for twenty-one terms as trustee of the Buffalo Library. He is president of the local Alumni Asso- ciation of Cornell University, and ever since his graduation has been president of the Cornell class of 1873. He is a 32d degree Mason, and has held posi- tions of honor in various lodges, associa- tions, and clubs.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Henry Altman was born at Rochester August 12, 1854 : moved to Buffalo in 1856, and attended the public schools there ; graduated from Cornell University in 1873 : married Mrs. Sadie Strauss Rayner of Baltimore, Md., at London, Eng., July 4, 1887 ; has been engaged in the clothing business in Buffalo since 1873.
Irving Va. Cole, who has prac- ticed law in Buffalo since 1893, was well known in both legal and political circles in Schuyler county before he took up his residence in the Queen City of the Lakes. He was born in Seneca county in 1859, and received his early education in the dis- trict schools of his native town of Covert. When he had exhausted their limited resources he became a student at the Farmer Village Union School near
by, and finally completed his general education at Cook's Academy, Havana, N. Y., shortly before attaining his majority.
Mr. Cole had determined to become a lawyer, and for that purpose betook himself to Watkins, the county seat of Schuyler county, where his brother was already established in that profession. This was early in the spring of 1880. For somewhat more than two years he read law at Watkins, and then finished his professional studies by a year at the Albany Law School, graduating in May, 1883, with the degree of 1.1 .. B. He had been admitted to the bar earlier in the year. Returning to Watkins in September, 1883, he formed a partnership with his brother, Fremont Cole, under the name of Cole Brothers. This style lasted until January, 1889, when E. O. Bolyen was admitted to the firm, which
J
IRTING HI. COLE
then became known as Cole, Cole & Bolyen. In the fall of 1890 Fremont Cole withdrew from the firm, but Irving W. Cole and Mr. Bolyen continued to practice together until January 1, 1892. At that
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time Mr. Cole formed a partnership with a younger brother, Elbert Cole, that lasted about two years.
Circumstances combined to give Mr. Cole an un- usual amount of professional experience during his ten years' practice in Watkins. During the greater part of their professional association his brother,
WALTER D. GREENE
Fremont Cole, was in the legislature, and thus much of the work of the firm fell upon the younger brother. Later, his partner Mr. Bolyen was elected district attorney, and for the next few years Mr. Cole took an important part in the prosecution of the principal criminal trials in Schuyler county. Thus well equipped with experience, he determined to seek a wider field for the exercise of his talents, and in the fall of 1893 he moved to Buffalo. For a short time he practiced alone, but on May 1, 1894, formed his present partnership with E. J. Plumley, under the firm name of Plumley & Cole.
Since taking up his residence in Buffalo Mr. Cole has confined his attention exclusively to his profes- sion, feeling that at such a time the most important
thing was to win the place at the Erie-county bar 10 which his attainments elsewhere entitled him. He took an active part for many years, however, in political affairs in Schuyler county, and it would not be surprising if he should soon find opportunity to employ his talents in this direction in his new home. During his law-student days in Watkin- he held the position of clerk of the Sar rogate's Court, and for the last two years of his residence there he was the chair. man of the Republican county commit tee. He also did good service for hi- party as the writer of the political edi- torials for one of the local papers during two years. Mr. Cole's interest in party affairs was stimulated, no doubt, by his brother's noteworthy public career : Fre- mont Cole represented his district in the assembly for five consecutive years, and was the speaker of that body for two years.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Irving W. Cole was born at Covert, N. Y., September 21, 1859 ; attended public schools and Cook's Academy, Ha- vana, N. Y .; was admitted to the bar in 1883 ; practiced law in Watkins, N. Y., 1883-93 ; was chairman of the Schuyler- county Republican committee, 1892-93 : married Mrs. Nelle E. Ingham of Elmira. N. Y., June 27, 1893 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1893.
Valter D. Greene, prominent in Buffalo alike in professional, public, and private life, is a native of the Green Mountain State. His ancestors came from England in early colonial times, and settled in Boston. Later they jour- neyed into the wilderness of Vermont ; and there. in the town of Starksboro, Walter was born forty- odd years ago. His early education was received in the district schools of his native town, and he then took a course of study in the academy at Union Springs, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1871.
Betaking himself to Buffalo at the close of his preparatory studies, Dr. Greene matriculated in the medical department of the University of Buffalo, and received his professional degree from that insti tution in 1876. He spent the next two years in the Rochester City Hospital, serving first as junior assistant physician, and afterwards in the more responsible post of house physician. In the latter position he had an excellent practical school for the
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application of the knowledge previously acquired ; and he was thus unusually well qualified, when he left the hospital, to begin private practice. This he did, in 1878, at Mendon, Monroe county, New York.
The opportunities for usefulness and for profes- sional success in a country town are necessarily limited, and in 1880 Dr. Greene sought a more extended field. Accordingly, he moved to Buffalo, where he has since conducted a general medi- cal and surgical practice ; and in this he has been markedly successful, attaining the high rank to which his talents and professional skill entitle him.
Buffalo has benefited largely by Dr. Greene's sound learning and practical common sense, in his long connection with the health department of the city. In 1882, soon after his arrival there, he was ap- pointed district physician in this department, and served most acceptably for seven years. At the end of that time he was appointed health physician of the city, and for two years filled this responsible position with credit to himself and with profit to his fellow-citizens. In December, 1896, Dr. Wende, on his reappointment as health commissioner of Buffalo for the five years 1897-1901, at once made Dr. Greene his deputy. In this highly de- sired and most responsible post Dr. Greene will doubtless add to his prestige as a physician and executive officer.
Dr. Greene is a member of all the local and state medical societies, and since 1892 he has held the professorship of hygiene in the medical department of Niagara University. He is prominent in Masonic circles, having taken the 32d degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He also has membership in the Acacia Club, and is a director in the Masonic Library Association of Western New York. He is well known and much liked in social life. He is a member of the Buffalo Club.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Walter David Greene was born at Starks- boro, Vt., April 20, 1853 ; was educated in district schools and Union Springs ( N. Y.) Academy, and graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo in 1876 ; served on the staff of the Rochester City Hospital, 1876-18; married Mary E. Pursel of Buffalo November 28, 1878 ; practiced medicine in Mendon, N. Y., 1878-80; was district physician in the health department of Buffalo, 1882-
89, and health physician of the city, 1889-91 ; has practiced medicine in Buffalo since 1880; has been deputy health commissioner of Buffalo since January 1, 1897.
Samuel MDCGerald, widely known in west- ern New York for many years in the ministry and in journalismn, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1833. He came to this country early in life, and at the age of sixteen began a systematic course of instruction at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N. Y. He devoted the next seven years to a thorough preparation for the ministry, completing his scholastic education in his twenty-fourth year at the Rochester Collegiate Institute.
In August, 1856, Dr. McGerald entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, and
SAMUEL. MCGERALD
was stationed at Conesus, Livingston county, N. Y. After serving the usual term in that place he had pastorates successively at Bath, Warsaw, Medina, Albion, Tonawanda, and Buffalo. It was apparent
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soon after Dr. McGerald entered the ministry that he had chosen a vocation admirably suited to his talents and temperament ; and his work in all the places mentioned was exceptionally fruitful of good. While he was pastor of the Riverside Church in Buffalo the society's debt of 816,000 was liquidated.
ALEXANDER MCMASTER
He has been twice elected a delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, attending the conference held in New York in 1888 and that in Omaha in 1892. In 1893 his ability and services were fittingly recognized by Nebraska University, which conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
For the last decade or more Dr. McGerald has given most of his time to certain publications intimately connected with the religious world. By no means lacking in the qualities always desired and frequently found in ministers of the gospel, he has in addition to these a practical bent of mind that helped him materially as a pastor, and has been indispensable in his later career as an editor and
publisher. Appointed by the Genesee Conference in 1885 to edit the Buffalo Christian Advocate, Dr. McGerald found the work so much to his liking that he parchased the paper, and has since conducted the same on his own account. His son Arthur is business manager of the enterprise. The paper now called the Christian Uplook. Dr. McGerald also edits and publishes the monthly organ of the Royal Templars of Temperance. He is profoundly inter. ested in the work of this society, and has conducted its journal with much succes.
Dr. McGerald was one of the original " Chautauquans" in 1874, believing heartily in the movement, and has ever since actively supported the cause. He taught normal classes in the summer school at Chautauqua under Dr. John H. Vincent, and for twelve seasons delivered a course of lectures there on Palestine and Jerusalem.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Samuel McGerald was born in County Antrim, Ireland, June 20, 1833; was educated at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N. Y., and Rochester Collegiate Institute ; married Eunice Ada Durant of Canandaigua, N. Y., August 19, 1858 : entered the ministry in 1856, and held various pastorates in New York state until 1885 ; was a delegate to the General Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1888 and 1892; has been editor and owner of the Buffalo "Christian Advo- cate," now the " Christian Uplook," since 1885.
Alexander McMaster has lived long. enough in Buffalo to be reckoned among the "old residents," but the first twenty years of his life were spent in Canada. Born in the village of Fort Erie, Ont., in the early '40's, as a child he could look across the broad Niagara to the city that was later to be his home -a thriving place of nearly 30,000 souls then, though very different from the modern metropolis. Afterward, while still a lad, he moved to Brantford, Ont., and completed his education in the public schools of that place.
The natural bent of his mind led him to a prac- tical calling, and at the age of sixteen he became an apprentice to the machinist's trade in the Waterons Engine Works at Brantford. After a long and thorough preparation there Mr. McMaster moved to Buffalo in 1862, and quickly obtained employment
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with the King Iron Works of that city. He re- mained with this concern ten years, receiving pro- motions from time to time, and finally reaching a position of considerable importance. In 1872, however, he received an appointment as chief engineer 'of the Commercial line of steamers, and gladly availed himself of the increased opportuni- ties that the greater responsibilities of the position brought to him. During the next decade he became widely known in his profession, and established a reputation as a practical engineer of great ability.
In 1883 Mr. McMaster severcd his connection with the Commercial Line, and accepted an ap- pointment as United States local inspector of boilers for the district of Buffalo. He discharged the duties of this office ably and efficiently, and in 1889 Presi- dent Harrison appointed him United States super- vising inspector of steam vessels for the 9th district. This position he held throughout Harrison's administration, and until 1894.
During the thirty-odd years of his resi- dence in Buffalo Mr. McMaster has taken considerable interest in public affairs. In 1879 he was elected alderman from what is now the 20th ward, and served in that capacity for eight consecutive years. He has also been active in vari- ous financial enterprises, and since 1893 has been vice president of the Union Bank of Buffalo. Hc is a Mason and a member of the Acacia Club, and attends the Presbyterian church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Alexander McMaster was born at Fort Erie, Ont., October 10, 1842 ; was edu- cated in public schools ; learned the ma- chinisť's trade at Brantford, Ont., 1858- 62 ; married Malinda Cripps of Buffalo May 3, 1862 ; was in the employ of the King Iron Works, Buffalo, 1862-72, and . of the Commercial line of steamers, 1872- 83 ; was appointed United States local in- spector of boilers in 1883, and United States supervising inspector of steam vessels in 1889 ; has been vice president of the Union Bank, Buffalo, since 1898.
Lewis Stockton, well known at the bar of Buffalo and in the social world of the Queen City, is descended from the old New Jersey Stockton family, famous in our history from colonial and revolutionary times. His father was the late Rev. W. R. Stockton, D. D. Born in
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, while the Civil War was still raging, Mr. Stockton obtained his early education in the public schools, and higher instruc- tion at Ursinus College, Collegeville, Penn. This institution was ambitiously named, but Mr. Stockton regarded his work there as preparatory only. Enter- ing Lehigh University, South Bethlehem, Penn., in the fall of 1877, he received there, in 1881, the degree of A. B., graduating at the age of nineteen as valedictorian of his class. Mr. Stockton's rank as a scholar is sufficiently evident in the foregoing statement. His general standing with the college authorities is further attested by his appointment as instructor in South Bethlehem.
While teaching in the charming college town for the next two years Mr. Stockton was looking for- ward to permanent professional work at the bar, and
-
LEWIS STOCKTON
was preparing himself therefor by reading law under the guidance of General W. E. Doster, a prominent attorney of the Keystone State. At the close of the college year in 1883 he took up his residence in
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Buffalo, and entered the office of Bissell, Sicard & Goodyear for further legal training. Devoting all his time now to the mastery of law, he made rapid prog- ress, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1885. After rounding out his legal knowledge with fifteen months' additional observation of and participation in actual practice with the firm of Bissell, Sicard & Goodyear, he set up an office of his own in Septem- ber, 1886. In the decade since elapsed he has made a reputation as a painstaking and trustworthy adviser in legal affairs. He has had some important contested cases, but he is a disconrager of litigancy, and his practice has resolved itself largely into office consultation and research. He has never felt it necessary or advisable to form a partnership for the practice of law.
Without holding public office or receiving polit- ical nominations, Mr. Stockton has still concerned himself actively with public affairs. A firm believer in the wisdom of a liberalized tariff, and profoundly impressed with the need of sound money, he has exerted himself zealously in the presidential cam- paigns concerned with those subjects. He has de- livered numerous speeches, contributed articles to the press, and otherwise made himself a factor in the campaigns of recent years. In local affairs, like- wise, he has taken critical interest in the principles and practice of municipal government, allying him- self with the Good Government clubs, Civil Service Reform Association, and Municipal Ownership League. He was formerly vice president of the Cleveland Democracy. If all good citizens followed public affairs as Mr. Stockton does, the professional politician would lose his occupation, and many of the faults deemed inherent in popular government would be no more.
Having been one of the prime movers in the or- ganization of the University Club of Buffalo, Mr. Stockton has taken great interest in the welfare of the institution ever since its formation in the spring of 1895. He is chairman of its committee on literature and art, and in that capacity devotes much time and thought to the extension and enrichment of the club library. The result is apparent to all members who frequent the delightful literary corner of the clubhouse. Mr. Stockton is also a member of the University Club of New York city.
Mr. Stockton has taken a prominent part for several years in the councils of the Episcopal church in the diocese of Western New York ; and he rep- resented the diocese at the Minneapolis General Convention of 1895. He helped to organize the Laymen's League, and became one of the officers of the institution. This body of active laymen
works directly under the bishop, and is the channel through which a good deal of practical philanthropy becomes beneficently effective.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Lewis Stock- ton was born at Evansburg, Penn., March 12, 1862 ; graduated from Lehigh University in 1881, and taught at South Bethlehem, Penn., 1881-83 ; was admitted to the Buffalo bar in 1885 ; married Eloise Gilbert of Glencoe, Md., April 5, 1885 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1836.
George howard Thornton, known through- out the Empire State as an expert stenographer, was born in Watertown, N. Y., in 1851. He re- ceived an excellent education early in life, attend- ing the common schools, Jefferson County Institute, and the Watertown High School. Having thus ob- tained a thorough preparation for college, he en- tered Rochester University in 1868, and graduated therefrom four years later. In 1882 he received the higher degree of Master of Arts from his alma mater. He first became interested in stenography when a schoolboy, and learned the Gurney system of shorthand at that time. Most experts in the subject agree that the Benn Pitman system of phonog- raphy is one of the very best, and Mr. Thornton thought it worth while to forget his earlier method and start in anew with the Pitman Manual. He did so, accordingly, while in college, and acquired such proficiency in the new system that he was able to earn 82000 by court reporting in his senior year. He kept up his college studies all the time, more- over, passing creditably the periodical examinations. If college men of limited means only knew it, there is no better pecuniary resource for them than short- hand ; and there is the further advantage that the fascinating art would help them greatly in their college work, and would be of perpetual assistance in after life.
In August, 1872, Mr. Thornton moved to Buffalo, and has ever since resided there. In the same year he became assistant stenographer of the Supreme Court in Buffalo, and continued in that position until 1882, when he was made official stenographer of the Supreme Court : the latter office he still holds. He was elected official stenographer of the New York state assembly in 1889 ; of the state sen- ate in 1890 ; of the state constitutional commission in 1892 ; and one of the stenographers of the state constitutional convention in 1894. He has reported the proceedings of many important legislative com- mittees, including the Fassett committee of 1890, whose report filled 4600 printed pages. For several years he reported the Chautauqua Assembly, under a
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contract to furnish at least twenty-six newspaper col- umns daily. His stenographie notes are written so perfectly that they can be turned over to others familiar with his system to be transcribed. He has reported many conventions concerned with profes- sional and scientific subjects, and thus requiring not only highly expert shorthand writing, but also some knowledge of the topics discussed. His collegiate education gives him an advantage in this respect over most professional stenographers, and he has further equipped himself for effi- cient and intelligent work by a wide course of general reading. In addition to this he studied law, for its value in court reporting, and was admitted to the bar in 1882. He is familiar with French and German, and has interpreted both languages in court. His private library contains over two thousand volumes, including many works of reference and a large number of books in French.
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