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 5
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As a trial lawyer in railroad cases, Mr. Gluck stands pre-eminent in his profession. His ability was recognized by his selection some years since to fill the chair of the law of corporations in the Buffalo Law School, a branch of the University of Buffalo ; this position he still occupies.
Mr. Gluck has been active in numerous fields of labor. Like many lawyers, he has paid no little at- tention to politics, and during the exciting campaign of 1884 he organized the Central Republican Club of Buffalo, which attained a membership of over 2,500, and which was the largest campaign chib ever formed in Buffalo. He is a favorite campaign speaker, and has made many addresses in Buffalo and throughout the state. Mr. Gluck is a brilliant and powerful orator, and has made on occasions of im- portance many addresses on literary and scientific topics that have won for him the highest praise, as regards both matter and manner. These addresses should receive permanent form in one or more vol- umes. Mr. Gluck is much sought, also, as an after- dinner speaker.
Service of the highest importance in the cause of education has been rendered by Mr. Gluck during his long term as a trustee of Cornell University. Andrew D. White, formerly president of the university, has publicly given Mr. Gluck much of the credit for the establishment of the system of scholarships,
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whereby poor and meritorious students receive uni- versity aid for four years to the amount of $250 a year. The report on the condition of the university made by Mr. Gluck at the end of his first year as trustee seemed entirely to dissipate the dissatisfaction that had prevailed extensively theretofore among the alumni. Mr. Gluck had also much to do in stimulating the establishment of the school of philosophy at Cornell, which is now recognized as one of the most complete in the country. When Presi- dent White retired, Mr. Gluck was prom- inently mentioned as his successor. This was justly regarded at the time as a striking tribute to the ability Mr. Gluck had displayed in all his relations with the institution. While curator of the Buffalo Library, Mr. Gluck made a collection of manuscripts, autograph letters of famous men, historical documents of value, and rare books ; and just before the close of his term of office he surprised and de- lighted the trustees of the library by presenting to them for the institution what many deem the most valuable col- lection of the kind in the country. As president of the Grosvenor Library, Mr. Gluck has pursued a liberal and pro- gressive policy, and has done much to increase the public usefulness of that institution. The private library of Mr. Gluck is probably the largest private library in the city, and is distinctively rich in history, philosophy, science, and the classics of Greece and Rome.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- James Fraser Gluck was born at Niagara Falls, N. Y., April 28, 1852; attended common schools, Upper Candila College, at Toronto, Ont., and Cornell University, graduating therefrom in 1874 ; studied law in Buffalo, and was admitted to the bar in 1876 ; married Effie D. Tyler, daughter of Professor Charles M. Tyler of Cornell University, June 15, 1877 : was elected a trustee of Cornell in 1883 ; was curator of the Buffalo Library from 1885 to 1887 ; has been president of the Grosvenor Library, Buffalo, since 1885.
Charles Ud. Goodyear is a shining example of the fact that a good lawyer makes a good business man, for he has attained marked success in both callings. The word failure has no place in any dictionary he ever conned. He has been successful in great undertakings because he is ready to take
advantage of all opportunities that present them- selves, and to make opportunities where they do not already exist. Shrewdness and courage go hand in hand with him; and these, coupled with an industry that knows no rest, have won for him unusual success. 1.40226
JAMMES FRASER GLUCK
Buffalo first knew Mr. Goodyear as a resident in 1868. His education was obtained in the common schools of Erie county and at the Cortland (N. Y. ) Academy. When he came to Buffalo he began the study of law in the office of Laning & Miller, con- tinuing the study with John C. Strong. Admitted to the bar of Erie county in 1871, he immediately began the practice of law. For the first few years he was alone, but in 1875 he formed a partnership with Major John Tyler, which continued for two years. Until 1882 he was again without an associ- ate, but in February of that year the firm of Good- year & Allen ( Henry F. Allen ) was formed. Grover Cleveland, becoming governor of the state of New York January 1, 1883, retired from the law firm of
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Cleveland, Bissell & Sicard, and Mr. Goodyear joined that firm. Thereafter, for four years, the firm of Bissell, Sicard & Goodyear was one of the most prominent in Buffalo.
For some years Mr. Goodyear was actively inter- ested in politics, and the Democratic party in the
CHARLES W. GOODYEAR
city and the state was always glad of his services in whatever form they could be obtained. He served the people of Erie county as assistant district attor- ney from January 1, 1875, until October 1, 1877, having been appointed to that office by the district attorney, Daniel N. Lockwood. When Mr. Lock- wood resigned to enter upon his term as representa- tive in congress, Governor Robinson appointed Mr.
Goodyear to serve out the balance of the year. These were the only political offices ever held by Mr. Goodyear. He was, however, actively interested in the movement that resulted in the nomination of Grover Cleveland for mayor of Buffalo and in his subsequent election to that office. Mr. Goodyear
had no small part in effecting the election of Mr. Cleveland to the office of governor of New York state ; and he did yeoman's service in securing the nomination of Governor Cleveland for the Presidency in 1884. Since his retirement from the law Mr. Goodyear has not been actively engaged in politics.
In 1887, when he left the law, Mr. Goodyear associated himself with his brother, Frank H. Goodyear, in the lum- ber and railroad business. The firm of F. H. & C. W. Goodyear was organized May 1, 1887, and has been the foremost factor in the development of the lumber industries of northern Pennsylvania. The firm's interests in that section are vast. With the enormous output of 130,000,000 feet of heinlock lumber a year, the Good- year brothers are the largest manufacturers of that commodity in the world. They have mills and works of various kinds throughout Potter county, Pennsylvania, and control many miles of railroads, which they have built to develop the territory. These roads are known as the Buffalo & Susquehanna, of which Mr. Goodyear is second vice president and general man- ager, and the Wellsville, Coudersport & Pine Creek, of which he is vice president.
With all his mammoth business inter- ests, Mr. Goodyear finds time for other things. He is a Mason, a life member of the Buffalo Library, a trustee of the State Normal School in Buffalo, and a member of the Buffalo Club, the Falconwood Club, the Saturn Club, the Country Club, the Liberal Club, and the Acacia Club.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Charles Waterhouse Goodyear was born at Cortland, N. Y., October 15, 1846 ; com- pleted his schooling at the Cortland Academy in 1867 ; came to Buffalo in 1868; was admitted to the bar in 1871 ; married Ella Portia Conger of Collins Center, N. Y., March 23, 1876 ; was appointed as- sistant district attorney of Erie county by Daniel A, Lockwood, taking office January 1, 1875; was ap- pointed district attorney by Governor Robinson to fill an unexpired term October 1, 1877, holding office until January 1, 1878 ; retired from the practice of laws in 1887 to enter the lumber and railroad business with his brother, Frank H. Goodyear.
Bobn C. Graves has on more than one occa- sion shown the possession of those qualities that make the ideal citizen. Fearless and resolute,
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actuated by no selfish motives, determined to do whatever is for the best welfare of the community, swerved from that purpose by no clamor of dema- gogues, - to him as much as to any one person Buffalo owes its present improved form of government. During all the years that this community struggled, through the Citizens' Association, of which General Graves is president, for a reformed charter, he stood in the forefront, receiving the brunt of the battle and successfully beating back the spoilsmen, who fought for a retention of antiquated methods of municipal government because in them were the greater opportunities for personal and political profit. For that labor General Graves finds recompense in the gratitude of those of his fellow-citizens who place business above politics, and in the conscious- ness of having performed an arduous task faithfully and well.
General Graves is a prominent figure in the commercial and social circles of Buffalo. He was educated to be a lawyer, but practiced his profession for only a few years, from 1862 to 1867, with his father, Ezra Graves, of Herkimer, N. Y. A year in Tufts College, near Boston, followed a preliminary training at Fair- field (N. Y. ) Academy, and preceded a year at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. His course was completed at Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y., in 1862, when he received the degree of A. M. In December of the same year he was admitted to the bar. In 1867 Gen- eral Graves took up his residence in Buffalo, engaging in business. He was active in commercial pursuits until 1874, when he was appointed clerk of the Superior Court - a position that he filled to the entire satisfaction of the judges of that important court and of the legal fraternity until 1886, when he ----- resigned. General Graves then turned his attention to business, having large personal and trust interests confided to his care. He was one of the organ- izers of the Frontier Elevating Com- pany, and was president of the company from 1886 to 1894. His greatest single interest is still in the grain-transfer and storage business : for he is president of the Eastern Elevator Company, which owns one of the largest and finest elevators in Buffalo harbor, renowned for the magnitude of its elevat- ing capacity.
General Graves owes his title to twenty years' service in the National Guard of the State of New York. As colonel of the 65th regiment of Buffalo, he labored in season and out of season to bring that organization to a high state of efficiency. Great ad- vances were made, not only in this direction, but also in the character of officers and men. He made pop- ular a service that had been regarded by too many as detrimental to those engaged in it, surrounding him- self with men of his own high ideals and thoroughness of execution. When a vacancy occurred in the position of commandant of the brigade, General Graves was, by reason of past achievements, the first choice for the position of general commanding the 8th brigade, mcluding the 65th and 74th regiments in Buffalo and a number of separate companies in western
JOHN C. GRAVES
New York. He served in that capacity until the demands of business compelled his retirement.
The only municipal office that General Graves has held is that of member of the board of park
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commissioners, a body which controls the eight hundred acres of park lands in the city of Buffalo, and which, despite great pressure, rigorously excludes politics from its management. He has served on that board for twelve years.
of the Superior Court of Buffalo, 1874-86 ; was presi- dent of Frontier Elevating Company, 1886-94; has been a member of the board of park commissioners of Buffalo since 1833 ; has been president of the Citizens' Association since its organisation in 1889.
km.
ALBERT HAIGHT
General Graves is actively interested in the Uni- versalist church. He is a trustee of the Church of the Messiah, Buffalo, and of the general conven- tion of Universalists of the United States. He is a Mason of high degree. He has been Master of Herkimer Lodge, and of Washington Lodge, No. 240, of Buffalo ; High Priest of Keystone Chapter of Royal Arch Masons; is a member of Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templars : and has been invested with all the degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry up to and including the 32d.
PERSONAL, CHRONOLOGY-John Card Graves was born at Herkimer, N. Y., November 18, 1839 : attended various schools and colleges ; was ad- mitted to the bar in December, 186? ; married Augusta C. Moore of Buffalo January 20, 1864 ; was clerk
Albert baigbt enjoys a reputation second to that of no jurist in the state of New York. Practically his whole active life has been spent on the bench. Judicial honors came to him when he was only thirty years old. Promoted from the bench of the County Court of Erie county to the Supreme Court, he rose thence to the General Term, and thence to the Court of Appeals. If a high trib- ute were to be paid to Judge Haight, it would be necessary only to mention the facts already outlined ; for no man un- worthy of such honors could obtain them from the hands of his fellow-citizens. The record means that the laity as well as the legal profession were early im- pressed by the pre-eminent juristic ability of Judge Haight.
We hear much of the "judicial cast of mind." Sometimes the phrase means nothing. It ought to mean a great deal, and in Judge Haight's case it means all that the words imply. He has presided at an untold number of trials of causes at law, involving sums ranging from a trifling amount to millions of dollars ; and many principles of law have been adjudicated for the first time by him. Few judges can point to so satisfactory a record as can the subject of this sketch. His decisions have almost universally been looked upon as utterances from which it were useless to appeal. His statement of facts is clear and be- yond dispute, his application of the law is direct and positive, and his deductions are characterized by the soundest logic.
Possessing these traits in so marked a degree, it is no wonder that Judge Haight made rapid progress on the bench. He was not even allowed to serve out his first term in the County Court, but was elected to fill the position of a justice of the Supreme Court for the 8th judicial district. Appreciating the legal knowledge and the judicial capacity and learning of Mr. Haight, Governor Grover Cleveland, himself a lawyer and a personal acquaintance of Judge Haight, though of opposite political faith, made him an asso- ciate justice of the General Term of the Supreme
£
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Court for the fifth department. Mr. Haight has always been a man of intense activity, having that valuable faculty of doing a great deal without ap- parent effort, though never without careful study and consideration. During his entire term of service on the General Term he found time to hold occasional Circuit and Special Term courts. It is a significant fact that every appointment that has come to him has been from Democratic governors of the state, though Judge Haight himself is a staunch Republican. When the second division of the Court of Appeals was formed in order to clear up the work of the highest appellate court of the state, Governor Hill named him as one of the associate judges of that court. He remained in this position until the disso- lution of the court, when he was reappointed to the General Term by Governor Flower. There he re-
mained until he was elected to the Court of Appeals on the Republican state ticket in 1894. The Democratic party of the 8th judicial district paid him the high honor in 1890, on the expiration of his first term of office in the Supreme Court, of a joint renomination with the Repub- licans.
For the past twelve years Judge Haight has taken part in the decision of from four hundred to five hundred cases each year, and has written probably seventy- five opinions every year. These have been published in court reports and legal publications of all sorts, and are frequently cited as authorities.
The law is a hard mistress, and those who win her smiles must hesitate not in her service. Judge Haight is a firm believer in this truth, and his measure of success on the bench has been won through close application. The law is at once his work and his recreation; in it he finds his profit and his pleasure ; to it he gives the best there is in him ; from it he has received honors fairly won.
Judge Haight is a member of the Buf- falo Club and of the Fort Orange Club of Albany, where he is always a welcome visitor.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Albert Haight was born at Ellicottville, N. Y., February 20, 1842 ; attended dis- trict schools and Springville ( N. Y. ) Academy ; married Angeline Waters of West Falls, N. Y., November 20, 1864; was elected successively super- visor from the second ward of Buffalo in 1869, 1870,
and 1871, county judge of Erie county in 1872, and justice of the Supreme Court for the Sthi judicial dis- trict in 1876 ; was re-elected Supreme Court justice in 1800 ; was appointed successively associate justice of the General Term of the Supreme Court for the fifthi department by Governor Cleveland in 1884, associate judge of the second division of the Court of Appeals by Governor Hill in 1889, and associate justice of the General Term (again ) by Governor Flower in 1892 ; was elected associate judge of the Court of Appeals in 1894.
William Ta. hammond has often been called to serve the people of his county in an official capacity, because he has always been faithful to their interests.
He was born upon a farm, and passed his early years there. He did the usual work of a farmer's
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WILLIAM W. ILAMMONND
boy, went to the common schools, such as a new country affords, and after reaching a suitable age walked six miles a day to get the better advantages offered by a " select " school. He closed his school
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career by a short attendance at Fredonia Academy. Before 1850 he taught school in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and soon afterward went to Mississippi, where he turned his attention to the manufacture of lumber. Returning to his native county, he taught school again for a few years. Afterwards he con- ducted a country store, studying law at the same time. He came to Buffalo to finish his legal studies with the law firm of Sawin & Lockwood, and was admitted to the bar in 1861 in that city. After practicing law for two years at Angola, N. Y., he returned to mercantile pursuits for several years at Brant, N. Y. He was elected to the office of magis- trate there; and for twelve years, from 1865 on, he was a member of the board of supervisors from that town, serving with the late Judge Sheldon and with Judge Haight, at present of the Court of Appeals.
In military affairs Mr. Hammond's interest is best shown by his fourteen years' connection with the National Guard of the State of New York. He en- listed in 1852. He went with the 67th regiment of the National Guard to Harrisburg, Penn., in 1863, when Lee's army was invading the state, and was on duty at Harrisburg when the battle of Gettys- burg was fought. Mr. Hammond held a 1st lieu- tenant's commission while he was in the United States service, and was honorably discharged after about three months' duty. After his return he was elected captain of company C, 67th regiment, and held that rank when he left the militia service in 1866.
Mr. Hammond's popularity in Erie county was first shown in 1877, when he was elected county judge to succeed Albert Haight. He was twice re- elected, serving twelve years in that important office. From 1890 until 1892 Mr. Hammond was a member of the law firm of Peck, Hammond, Peck & Hatch : for the next three years the style was Hammond & Hatch ; and in 1895 the firm became Hammond & Werick.
He has spent much time in travel, and has supple- mented the scant school advantages of his youth by wide reading and observation. He is interested in all church matters, and was a charter member, and for many years a trustee, of the Angola Congregational Church. He has been a member of the First Con- gregational Church of Buffalo since its organization. In all movements for higher citizenship and improved public service his voice and influence have always been on the right side. He has long been a member of the Buffalo Civil Service Reform Association, and he is a member of the Good Government Club of the ward in which he lives. In politics Mr. Ham- mond has been steadfastly Republican.
Mr. Hammond's eminence in his profession and his social position were not attained at a single bound, but rather came as a fitting reward to patient endeavor and continued achievements. He has seen Erie county change from a forest into a garden, and Buffalo has expanded under his eyes from a small city to a metropolis. Throughout these years, in all his dealings with his fellow-men, he has been painstak- ingly honest and conscientious. This fact, more clearly than any other perhaps, gives the keynote to Judge Hammond's long and successful career.
PERSONAL. CHRONOLOGY-William II: Hammond was born at Hamburg, N. Y., November 4, 1831 ; attended common schools and Fredonia ( N. Y. ) Academy ; married Amy A. Hurd of Evans, N. Y., in 1854, and Louisa A. Hurd of the same place in 1851 ; was admitted to the bar in Buffalo in 1861 ; was a member of the National Guard from 1852 to 1866 ; was elected county judge of Erie county in 1877, and was re-elected in 1818 and in 1883 : has practiced laws in Buffalo since 1890. :
William Mengerer is a self-made man, hav- ing successfully applied his natal talents to the oppor- tunities of his circumstances. Though born in Wur- temburg, Germany, he is essentially an American. His school education, obtained partly in Germany and partly in this country, ended with his fourteenth year. His father, however, was a Lutheran minis- ter, poor in this world's goods, but possessing the character and qualifications of his calling ; so that while Mr. Hengerer's school days were few in num- ber, he had the great advantage of a sound home training, which is often more than equivalent to scholastic opportunities.
His family came to America while he was still a boy, and for twelve years he lived in Pittsburg, Penn. At the age of twenty-two he came to Buffalo, and entered the dry-goods house of Sherman, Barnes & Co., as a clerk, at six dollars a week. From this humble beginning, by force of industry, persever- ance, and integrity, Mr. Hengerer has achieved his present position in the business, social, and political life of Buffalo. To call his success luck, would be to disparage hard work, pluck, and honesty. In 1874 his worth and ability were recognized, and he was admitted to the firm, which was then known as Barnes, Bancroft & Co. This was the style of the firm for eleven years, when a new organization took place, and the name of the firm was changed to Barnes, Hengerer & Co. The death of the senior partner, and the expansion of business consequent upon the evolution of dry-goods houses into the mod- ern department stores, in time required a different
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organization ; and in 1895 a joint-stock company was formed, known as The William Hengerer Company, taking its name from the clerk who thirty-odd years before began on a salary of six dollars a week.
Only once has Mr. Hengerer's business career been interrupted, and then there was a break of two years, when he was engaged in the more serious business of helping to put down the Rebellion. He had been in Buffalo scarcely a month when the Civil War broke out, and President Lincoln called for troops. He did what thousands of men to-day earnestly wish they had done - he enlisted as a volunteer soldier. Mr. Hengerer was an alien born, but he showed the true spirit of an American patriot. He enlisted for two years as a member of the 21st regiment, N. Y. vol- unteers - the first regiment to go to the front from Buffalo. During its service it was part of the Army of the Potomac, and shared in its battles and its triumphs.
Returning home in 1863, Mr. Hen- gerer resumed his connection with Sher- man, Barnes & Co., and steadily devoted himself to their interests. His life, how- ever, has not been confined to the accumulation of wealth, to the neglect of his duties as a citizen and a member of society. His time, influence, and money have been freely given to every commend- able object. In politics he is a " war Democrat," and his counsel and assist- ance are invariably sought by his party associates. While he has uniformly de- clined, owing to the cares of business, to consider nominations for elective offices, he has served the public for many years as park commissioner, and as trustee of the State Normal School.
Mr. Hengerer is a member of the English Luth- eran church, and in all the philanthropic movements connected with church work in these days his name is among those relied upon for financial assistance. He is a Mason in high standing, having served as Master, High Priest, Commander, and District Deputy Grand Master. He has a life membership in both the Buffalo Library Association and the Buffalo Historical Society. He is a member, also, of the Liedertafel and Orpheus societies, and of the Buffalo Club.
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