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 51
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lishers of the paper, and have carried on an extensive job-printing business.
Mr. Reinecke is connected with various business enterprises outside of his newspaper interests. He has been for a number of years a director and stock- holder in the Erie Fire Insurance Co., and holds a similar position in the Citizens' Gas Co. He is a member of the Buffalo Typothe- tae, an association of employing printers for business and social purposes. He is a life member of the German Young Men's Association and of the Buffalo Turn Ver- ein, and belongs to the Saengerbund, the second oldest singing society in the city. In January, 1896, Mayor Jewett appointed him one of the park commis- sioners of Buffalo.
Mr. Reinecke is an enthusiastic natur- alist, and has devoted his leisure time for years to study and research in this line. Beetles, butterflies, birds, and birds' nests and eggs have interested him particularly, and his collection of such specimens is probably one of the largest belonging to a private individual in the United States. He has published a com- plete list of local Coleoptera that is ex- ceedingly valuable. He has taken great interest in the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences ever since its organization in 1861, and has done much to enrich its collections in the special subjects that have received his attention.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Ottomar Reinecke was born at Sonders- hausen, Germany, November 20, 1840; came to the United States in 1852; was educated in German schools and in Buffalo public schools ; worked for his father at the printer's trade, 1854-66 ; married Eva Engel of Buffalo September 25, 1866 ; has been a member of the firm of Reinecke & Zesch, job printers and pro- prietors of the Buffalo " Freie Presse," since 1867 : has been one of the park commissioners of Buffalo since 1896.
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Derry Champlin Reyburn numbers among his ancestors so many names famous in the early history of our country that passing mention must be made of them in any sketch of his own life. Benedict Arnold, governor of Rhode Island in 1663, Thomas Hazard, one of the founders of Newport in the same state, Christopher Champlin, first Grand Master of Masons there, and many revolutionary
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heroes and heroines are included in the list ; while in the present century we find the Perry brothers, Oliver Hazard and Matthew Calbraith, one of whom won a signal victory over the English at Put-in bay in the war of 1812, while the other commanded the expedition to Japan in 1853 that opened to American commerce the harbors of that inhospitable island empire. Oliver Hazard Perry, it may be remein- bered, announced his victory to General Harrison in the words so often quoted, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours.''
The subject of our present sketch has spent his life thus far- less than forty years in all-in Buffalo. He was educated in the public schools of the city, leaving the high school at the age of seven- teen to begin the study of law. The next four years were passed in Buffalo law offices, at first with Joseph V. Seaver and Brainard T. Ball, and later with David F. Day and Frank R. Perkins. At the end of that time he was admitted to the bar at Rochester, and began the practice of his profession in Buffalo. After practicing alone for some time he became a member of the firm of Bullymore, Reyburn & Griffin in March, 1890. When this association was dissolved by an act of the legislature that prohibited Mr. Griffin, as clerk of the Surrogate's Court, from practicing law, Mr. Reyburn continued his connec- tion with Mr. Bullymore until the spring of 1896. Since then he has practiced alone. Mr. Reyburn has made a spe- cialty of the settlement of estates, real- estate titles, and mortgages ; and has had charge of a number of important cases and suits.
In religious, social, and fraternal cir- cles Mr. Reyburn has long been promi- nent and active. Left an orphan at the age of eight years, he was brought up by his grandfather, Gordon Bailey, a dea- con in the Unitarian church ; and he has attended that church from childhood, working in the Sunday school for many years as librarian and teacher. He was for a long time a member of the Unity Club of Buffalo, holding the office of secretary and treasurer, and taking a foremost part in the amateur theatrical work of the club. He was a charter member of the Buffalo City Guard Cadet Corps, organized in 1873. Following in the steps of his early ancestor, he has taken great interest in Masonry, in which he reached
the 32d degree when but twenty-three years of age. In 1882 he joined Washington Lodge, No. 240, F. & A. M., of which his grandfather had been Master in 1854, and after ten years in the various chairs was made Worshipful Master January 1, 1896. He is also a member of Buffalo Chapter, No. 71, R. A. M .; Hugh de Payens Commandery, No. 30, K. T .; Buffalo Consistory, A. A. S. R .; and Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He served five years on the Masonic board of relief. He has been for many years a member of the Buffalo Repub- lican League, and belonged to the famous " 306" organization in 1880. He has membership, also, in the Buffalo Whist Club and in the Acacia Club.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Perry Champun Reyburn was born at Buffalo September 10, 1859; was educated in public schools there ; studied
PERRY CHAMPLIN REYBURN
law, and was admitted to the bar at Rochester Octo- ber S, 1880 ; married Ida A. Schneider of Buffalo January 30, 1895 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1880.
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George BB. Webster, well under forty, is still classed among the young lawyers of Buffalo, but he has already won success such as many men are content to struggle a lifetime to secure. A law student under President Cleveland when the Presi- dent was still a Buffalo lawyer, Mr. Webster has
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GEORGE B. WEBSTER
retained a warm personal interest in the fortunes of his old employer, and this has naturally impelled him to take a prominent part in politics on the Democratic side. His success as a lawyer, however, is in no way dependent on his activity as a politician. He stands high socially, as the kind of man that other bright men like to know.
Mr. Webster's education was all obtained in Buffalo, first in the Rev. J. F. Ernst's private school, then in Public School No. 16, and afterward in the Normal School and the Heathcote School. When fourteen years old he closed his books, and set about earning his own living. Having obtained a situation in the treasurer's office of the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia railroad, he remained there till
he was sixteen years old, and was industrious and faithful in the performance of all duties assigned to him. Moreover, unlike many boys who go to work at an early age, he did not regard the pleasure of spending a salary from week to week as the only object in earning it. He looked to the future, hus- banding his resources, and thus was able, at an earlier age than is possible in the case of most self-dependent young men, to prepare for the profession that he had determined to make his life-work. After spending somewhat more than a year in the law office of Bowen, Rogers & Locke, he entered the office of Bass, Cleveland & Bissell, a firin that was destined to give the city a mayor, the state a gov- ernor, and the nation a president and a postmaster-general. Mr. Webster was admitted to the bar about a year and a half after entering the service of the firm, but he remained with it for three years longer.
After Mr. Cleveland assumed the office of governor, Mr. Webster was called to Albany to take a position in the capitol commissioner's office. He remained there for more than three years, and then, returning to Buffalo, resumed the practice of law, first by himself, and later in partnership with Devoe P. Hodson.
When the election for delegates to the constitutional convention was held, Mr. Webster was named as one of the Demo- cratic candidates. The nomination was made in the expectation that he would be elected, and would have a part in the work of revising the constitution, as the Democratic party was then in apparently impregnable control of the state. But 1893 proved to be a Republican year, and Mr. Web- ster was defeated with most of the other candidates of his party in his part of the state.
Mr. Webster belongs to the Buffalo Club, the Ancient Landmark Lodge, F. & A. M., the Royal Arcanum, and the Sons of the American Revolution. He has served terms of enlistment in both the 65th and the 74th regiments. He is a member of the Church of the Ascension ( Episcopal ).
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-George Buell Welster was born at Buffalo March 8, 1859; was educated in public and private schools in Buffalo ; was admitted to the bar in 1880 ; married Agnes Jeanette Ovens of Buffalo June 27, 18833 ; has practiced late in Buffalo since 1886.
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MMEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Wadsworth 3. Zittel, one of the pro- prietors of the Buffalo Candy Co., was born in Detroit, Mich., a little more than forty years ago. His parents were natives of the province of Alsace- Lorraine who came to this country in the early '30's and settled in Buffalo. Later they moved further westward to Michigan, where Wadsworth was born. He graduated from the public schools of Detroit, and afterward took a course at Bryant & Stratton's Business College there ; and at the age of fifteen, with a sound fundamental education and plenty of native pluck and energy, he started in business life. He went first to Akron, Ohio, where he spent three years in a wholesale drug and grocery house, and gained considerable insight into practical business methods. He then betook himself to Buffalo, his parents' former home, and entered the employ of Philip Becker & Co., one of the largest wholesale grocery firms in the city. He began with them at the bottom of the ladder, but soon worked his way up to more important positions, and eventually became a traveling salesman, with terri- tory in western New York and Pennsyl- vania. In fact the greater part of the fifteen years that he remained with this house was spent "on the road." Buf- falo's wonderful development along all the lines of business and commercial activity began during this time, and Mr. Zittel's employers were not slow to take advantage of the favorable conditions. Progressive, and at the same time con- servative, their house furnished an excel- lent practical school in which to learn sound business principles and successful business methods. Mr. Zittel was an apt pupil, and his connection with the firm was profitable alike to them and to himself.
But when a favorable opportunity of- fered to embark in business on his own account, Mr. Zittel, like most other men, was willing to leave even a good posi- tion as an employee for the sake of the greater independence to be found in an establishment of his own. In company, therefore, with Michael Hausaner, who had been one of his employers in the firm of Becker & Co., and his son George M. Hausauer, Mr. Zittel in 1891 established the Buffalo Candy Co., manufacturers and wholesale dealers in confectionery. He has conducted this business ever since, and has met with a gratifying
measure of success. A spacious building on Ellicott street is now occupied by this company.
Mr. Zittel is a consistent Republican, and has long taken an interest in party politics. He has never held public office, but his name has been mentioned in connection with various political nominations. He is a Mason, and belongs to all the bodies of the order up to and including the 32d degree. He is also an Odd Fellow, and a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. He belongs to various social organizations, among them the Old German Society and the Ellicott Club.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Wadsworth J. Zittel was born at Detroit, Mich., November 24, 1855 ; was educated in public schools and Bryant & Stratton's Business College ; was clerk in a wholesale drug and grocery house at Akron, O., 1870-13 ; was
WADSWORTH J. ZETTEL
in the employ of Philip Becker & Co., Buffalo, 1813-88 ; married Sarah Gocts of Buffalo May 133, 1880 ; has been a proprietor of the Buffalo Candy Co. since 1891.
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MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Carl Otto hultgren, the only Swedish pastor in the United States who has served a single congre- gation so long as thirty-two consecutive years, is widely known in western New York and Pennsyl- vania, and as widely beloved. Born in one of the .southern provinces of Sweden on Christmas day,
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CARL OTTO HULTGREN
1832, he has lived a long life consistently with the happy omen of his birthday. He came to America with his parents in September, 1853, and took up his residence in the old Swedish settlement at Andover, Ill. He had then reached his majority, and had al- ready made some progress in obtaining an education. At Andover this progress was much accelerated by the tuition of the gifted pastor of the local church, the Rev. Jonas Swensson, who was Mr. Hultgren's predecessor in the pastorate at Jamestown. Continu- ing his studies in Chicago, Springfield, and Paxton, Ill., Mr. Hultgren was ordained Lutheran pastor by the Augustana synod June 19, 1864.
Before this date he had received a call from the First Swedish Lutheran congregation at Jamestown.
Accepting this opportunity gladly, he threw himself into his work with the ardor of youth, the energy of his race, the devotion of his noble character. Suc- cess could not long withstand such forces, and the little church with which he started flourished exceed- ingly. In 1864, when he took charge of the James- town church, the communicant member- ship was eighty. This figure had risen to 1233 when he resigned in 1895, while the total membership amounted to 2252. The first church was built by him in 1866, and was afterwards enlarged ; and the congregation now worship in a su- perb Medina-stone structure valued at $100,000. In 1895 failing health made it prudent for Mr. Hultgren to give up active service, and his appreciative and affectionate congregation voted him a liberal annual pension.
But Mr. Hultgren has been more than a pastor - or rather, he has been a perfect pastor, in the full etymological meaning of the word : he has cared for his flock most tenderly and most faith- fully. Unnumbered poor immigrants from his native land bless him for his kindness to them in their hour of need. He furnished transportation, clothing, meals, and overflowing cheer. His little home was often crowded, but room was always made for the helpless. His ser- vices were not confined to his immediate congregation. For years he was the only Swedish Lutheran clergyman in western New York, and his countrymen both there and in Pennsylvania came to rely upon him implicitly for services in matters spiritual.
Mr. Hultgren has taken a broad view of his work, and has served the cause of Christian advancement in many ways not directly connected with his pastoral duties. He organized and nur- tured into abounding vitality a great number of the Swedish churches that now exert their beneficent influence over the western counties of the Empire State and adjacent parts of Pennsylvania. He was one of the organizers, in 1870, and the first presi- dent, of the New York Conference of the Augus- tana synod, a body that now has 35,000 members. and owns property valued at over $1,000,000. In 1883 he became the chief founder and one of the incorporators of the Gustavus Adolphus Orphans' Home, located at Jamestown. Ever since then he has given the institution untiring care.
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Mr. Hultgren is a singularly modest man, and his countless benefactions would never have been known from any act or word of his. This biography, in- deed, would never appear if he could have his way ; but thousands of readers will welcome even an in- adequate sketch of his inspiring life and exalted character.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Carl Otto Hultgren was born at Hvena, Sweden, December 25, 1832 ; came to the United States in 1853 ; was edu- cated at Illinois State University, Springfield, Ill., and at Augustana College and Seminary, Paxton, Ill., from which he graduated in 1864; married Annie Truedson at Galesburg, Ill., June 6, 1866; was pastor of the First Swedish Lutheran Church, James- towm, N. Y., 1864-95 ; has been president of the board of directors of the Gustavus Adolphus Orphans' Home, Jamestown, since its organization in 1883.
frank S. Oakes, long prominent in his native county of Cattaraugus, and of late actively connected with many en- terprises in Buffalo, was born of New England parentage fifty-odd years ago in what is now the village of Arcade. His career as inventor, manufacturer, public official, and private citizen, presents an unusual variety of interesting details, and displays throughout a conscientiousness and a desire to benefit his fellows that are not so common as optimists would have us believe.
In his boyhood Mr. Oakes attended the district schools of Cattaraugus county ; and later spent several terms at a " se- lect " school at Yorkshire Center, which he organized by securing pupils and teacher himself. Just before his major- ity he entered a hardware and tin store at Otto, N. Y., of which his brother was one of the proprietors. He remained there several years, acquiring a practical knowledge of tinsmithing in addition to a general knowledge of the retail busi- ness of the store. His boyhood having been spent on a dairy farm, he was familiar with the handling of milk and all dairy products ; and in 1873 he made practical application of this early knowI- edge by inventing and patenting the "common- sense milk pans " for cream raising. The peculiar- ity of these pans consisted in the setting of the milk at the unusual depth of ten to twenty inches, and
their introduction was hindered by the prejudice of even the most intelligent dairymen against such an innovation ; but in 1878 the invention was awarded the first prize at the New York State Fair, and to-day Mr. Oakes's theory has become generally accepted. Since 1874 he has been successfully engaged in the inanufacture of his invention in Cat- taraugus, and of late years has greatly extended his operations. A large tinning and stamping plant has been established, and a general line of dairy and cheese-factory apparatus :s manufactured. The pres- ent style of the firm is Oakes & Burger, and their goods are sold throughout the dairy sections of the United States.
Since 1891 Mr. Oakes has been a member of the firm of Rich & Oakes, dealers in real estate in Buffalo and vicinity. An enthusiastic believer in
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FRANK S. OAKES
the future of the Queen City, and in the tremendous impetus which the advent of electric energy from the Falls may be expected to impart to the manu- facturing interests of the Niagara frontier, he has
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identified himself with many movements for pro- moting the prosperity of "greater Buffalo." He took a prominent part in the building of the Buffalo, Kenmore & Tonawanda electric railway, and was vice president and a director of the company until -it was sold to the Buffalo 'I'raction Co. He is a member of the Buffalo Real Estate Exchange, and was a director of the association for one year. He represented the Exchange in the World's Real Estate Congress in Chicago during the exposition of 1893. He served as chairman of the improvement committee of the Exchange; and he is now chair- man of the forestry committee, a body that aims to secure the establishment of a municipal bureau that shall plant and care for the shade trees of the city. He was a member of the Exchange committee that obtained from the municipal authorities the right of entrance for Niagara Falls electric power.
Mr. Oakes has taken a keen interest in public affairs for a long time. Twenty years ago he was elected excise commissioner of the town of New Albion, in which the village of Cattaraugus is situa- .. ted, and used his office to rid the town, through the courts, of the traffic in intoxicating liquors ; and he accomplished the work so thoroughly that there has been no return of the evil since. He has served as president of the village of Cattaraugus for three suc- cessive terms, during which the present system of waterworks, deemed one of the best in the country, was constructed. His latest re-election, in 1896, without opposition, was a strong endorsement of his able and vigorous administration. On questions of general public policy his sympathies are with the Republicans, though his interest in the cause of temperance, both from a moral and economic stand- point, compelled him to vote with the Prohibition party for a number of years. He was a delegate to the Prohibition national convention in 1884 and again in 1888. In the crucial campaign of 1896, however, he gave his active support to the Republi- can ticket, making a number of speeches in favor of McKinley and sound money.
Consistently with his principles, Mr. Oakes ab- stains from the use of tobacco and strong drinks. He is a member of the Congregational church, but is liberal in his religious views, believing in prac- tical rather than theoretical Christianity. He is much interested in Sunday-school work, and is a supporter of home and foreign missionary enter- prises. He is a member of the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the Royal Templars of Temperance.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Franklin Stacey Oakes was born at China (now Arcade),
N. Y., December 26, 1844; was educated in district and " select" schools ; was employed in a hardware store at Otto, N. Y., 1865-69 ; married Jennie Calver of Marblehead, Mass., September 11, 1872; has been president of the village of Cattaraugus, N. Y., since 1894 ; has engaged in the manufacture of dairy and cheese-factory apparatus at Cattaraugus since 1874, and in real-estate and other enterprises in Buffalo since 1891.
Lauren VI. Dettebone has taken a promi- nent part in the recent development of Niagara Falls from a town of small commercial importance to a thriving and growing manufacturing city. The story of the " harnessing of Niagara" is a familiar one, and each successive step in the great achieve- ment has been watched with eager interest. A wonderful impetus has been given to all kinds of business activity in that locality, and men like Mr. Pettebone have not been slow to avail themselves of the opportunities thus presented.
Born in Lockport less than fifty years ago, Mr. Pettebone was taken to Buffalo in early childhood, and was educated there in private schools. In the meantime his family moved to Niagara Falls, and when he left school in 1865 he entered the office of the Niagara Falls Paper Mfg. Co. He remained with this concern eighteen years, becoming thor- oughly conversant with the business in all its branches, and developing from an inexperienced lad into a shrewd and sagacious business man. Finally, in 1883, he organized the Pettebone Paper Co., and was made its secretary and treasurer. Five years later he became president of the corporation, and held the office until 1892. At that time the Pette- bone - Cataract Paper Co. was organized, with Mr. Pettebone as vice president and director ; and these positions he still holds.
Mr. Pettebone has thus been connected with the manufacture of paper for over thirty years, or during the whole of his business life ; and his best energies have been devoted to this, his chief enterprise. His business interests, however, are varied and exten- sive, and several corporations have received the benefit of his counsel in their boards of directors, among them the Niagara County Savings Bank, the Niagara Falls Power Co., and the Niagara Falls Water Works Co. He was at one time, also, vice president of the Cataract Bank.
Military affairs have interested Mr. Pettebone greatly for a long time, and for six years, beginning in 1885, he was first lieutenant of the 42d Separate Company at Niagara Falls. In 1891 he was made major and inspector of rifle practice of the 4th
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brigade, N. G., N. Y., and since 1894 he has been inspector of the brigade. In political matters he is a Republican, and he was his party's candidate for supervisor several years ago ; but he has never had the time or the inclination to interest himself greatly. in politics.' He took an active part for many years in the work of Rescue Hook & Ladder Co., of which he was foreman from 1871 to 1881, and president for several suc- ceeding years. Since 1888 he has been junior warden of St. Peter's Episcopal Church at Niagara Falls. Of late he has found it convenient as well as agreeable to spend his winters in Buffalo ; but he still maintains a summer home at Niag- ara Falls, and is bound to the smaller city by many social as well as business ties.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Lauren W. Pettebone was born at Loek- port, N. Y., June 29, 1848; was edu- cated in private schools in Buffalo ; was in the employ of the Niagara Falls Paper Mfg. Co., 1865-83; married Lavinia Porter Townsend of Niagara Falls, N. Y., September 14, 1881 ; was secretary and treasurer of the Pettebone Paper Co., 1883-88, and president, 1888-92 ; has been vice president and director of the Pet- tebone- Cataract Paper Co. since its organ- isation in 1892.
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