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 56
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Having lived in Buffalo since the middle of the century, Mr. Fairchild has become one of the best- known men of the city, and has taken a leading part in many public movements. He was prominent in the Young Men's Association for many years : and was a prime mover in effecting the important change of location made in 1864, when the society left its quarters in the old Ameri- can block and purchased the St. James- hotel property on the site of the present Hotel Iroquois. For two years he was on the board of supervisors of Erie county, representing the old 10th ward, Buffalo. He was a park commissioner for eight years, and was a member of the building committee that supervised the construction of the Parade House. He had much to do, also, with the plan- ning of Delaware park, taking great in- terest in the creation of its charming lake and other beautiful features.
Mr. Fairchild has been a member of the Masonic order since early manhood, and is a life member of Ancient Land- mark Lodge, No. 441, F. & A. M. He is also a charter member of Adytum Chapter, R. A. M.
An interesting episode in Mr. Fair- child's life was his visit at the White House just after Lincoln's inauguration. He was related to Lincoln by marriage, and knew him intimately years before the presidency was mentioned in connection with the " Rail-Splitter." During this visit Mr. Fairchild met many of the notable men of the country, and he looks back upon the experience with great interest. It is worthy of note that he has been intimate with another President, as he and Grover Cleveland are old-time chums. Mr. Fairchild does not agree with Mr. Cleveland on political questions ; but he has the warmest regard for him personally, and believes thoroughly in his honesty of character and purpose.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Joseph Lewis Fairchild was born at Waterloo, N. Y., April S. 1831 : was educated in private schools and Waterloo Academy ; studied law in a Buffalo office, and was admitted to the bar in 1853 ; practiced lawe in Buffalo, 1853-67 ; married Anna E. Dennison of Buffalo November 13, 1862 : was a member of the Eric-county board of supervisors, 1866-67, and a park commissioner of Buffalo for eight years, beginning in 1874 ; has held the office of register in bankruptcy at Buffalo since 1868.
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Charles Cyrus Farnbam was born in Bradford, Orange county, Vermont, in 1864. He is the oldest living son of Roswell Farnham, who was governor of Vermont in 1880-82. The Farn- hams were among the earliest settlers in the Mas- sachusetts colony. The first ancestor on this side of the ocean was Ralph Farnham, who sailed from Southampton, England, April 6, 1635, in the brig "James," and landed in Boston after a voyage of fifty-eight days. Settling first in Andover, Mass., not far from Boston, the Farnhamns afterward moved to Concord, N. H. They were among the earliest inhabitants of that frontier town, the name of Eph- raim Farnham appearing under the date February 5, 1725, in the Proprietors' Records of Pennycook ( now Concord ). This Ephraim had a son Ben- jamin, whose son John, born in Concord January 2, 1766, was the grandfather of Governor Roswell Farnham. Governor Farnham's grandfather on the maternal side was Captain David Bixby of Piermont, N. H., who served in the armies of the Revo- lution from Lexington to Saratoga. En- listing then on board the privateer " Franklin," he was taken prisoner by a British frigate, carried to England, and confined for seventeen months in Mill (presumably Dartmoor ) prison. The mother of Charles Cyrus Farnham was Mary Elizabeth Johnson of Bradford, Vt., who married Roswell Farnham on Christmas day, 1849.
Our present subject prepared for col- lege at the academy in his native town, and entered the University of Vermont at Burlington in the fall of 1882. Grad- uating thence in due course in June, 1886, he commenced at once the study of law in his father's office. After re- maining there a year he went into the law department of Columbia College, New York city, whence he graduated with the degree of LL.B. in 1889. During the vacations of his law course Mr. Farnham employed his time in tutoring the grandchildren of Salmon P. Chase and a son of General Wager Swayne.
Some time before his graduation from Columbia Mr. Farnham had decided to settle in Buffalo, feeling sure that the charm of the city as a place of residence was no greater than its promise as a field of professional practice. Proceed- ing thither, accordingly, on the day before he
received his degree as a Bachelor of Law, he took an examination for admission to the bar, and passed successfully. He was taken at once into the office of McMillan, Gluck & Pooley, where he had at one time read law, and remained with them until No- vember, 1890, when he opened an office of his own. After practicing alone a few months, he formed a partnership in July, 1891, with August Becker, who had also studied law in the office of MeMillan, Gluck & Pooley. The firm of Becker & Farnham has prospered from the beginning, and is now regarded as one of the strongest associations among the younger lawyers of the city. Mr. Farnham has proved himself an energetic and prudent business man and lawyer, and has conducted many compli- cated cases to a satisfactory issue. Ile enjoys the esteem and confidence of many clients and friends.
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CHARLES CYRUS FARNHAM
Mr. Farnham has thought it wise to abstain from active participation in political affairs. Ile belongs to the University Club and various other social organizations ; and both he and Mrs. Farnham are
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consistent members of the First Congregational Church, Buffalo. Mrs. Farnham is the daughter of Edward Hall, who for many years conducted a suc- cessful private school at Ellington, Conn.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Charles Cyrus Farnham was born at Bradford, V't., May ?,
GEORGE II. FROST
1864 ; graduated from the University of Vermont in 1886, and from Columbia College Law School in 1889; was admitted to the bar at Buffalo in 1889; married Grace Hall of Ellington, Conn., October 30, 1889 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1889.
George 1b. ffrost, who has become well known of late years in both professional and busi- ness circles in Buffalo, is a native of Chantauqua county, and had attained prominence there as a lawyer and a citizen before he moved to the Queen City in 1889.
Born in the town of Cherry Creek in the year in which President Fillmore entered the White House, Mr. Frost received his early education in the com-
nion schools of the place, and later attended the Jamestown Union School and the Ellington Union School. His work as an instructor during the next ten years furnished an excellent substitute for regular scholastic training. Before he was twenty he began teaching in the common schools ; and for several years he carried on this occupation during the winter months, and worked on his father's farm in summer. Later he gave all his time to teaching, and had charge of schools at Versailles, Cherry Creek, Kennedy, and other places.
But schoo! teaching as a life-work did not satisfy Mr. Frost's ambition, and he determined to prepare himself for the legal profession. He read law, accord- ingly, in the office of the late John G. Record of Forestville, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar at Rochester in October, 1883. Feeling that success would be most quickly attained among those who knew him best, he at once opened an office in his native town. He was considerably older at this time than the majority of men beginning legal practice ; but this circumstance in a lawyer's career has some advantages along with some undeniable drawbacks, and a man of ability soon makes up for the years that have been seemingly lost. Mr. Frost was successful from the start. After several years, actuated by the same ambition that had led him to abandon teaching for the law, he gave up his country practice and moved to Buffalo, judging rightly that the increased oppor- tunities in a larger field of action more than compensated for the keener con- petition of a busy city.
For the first four years of his residence in Buffalo Mr. Frost practiced alone, but on January 1, 1894. he formed, with Fred W. Plato, the firm of Frost & Plato, which still continues. Soon after his arrival in Buffalo Mr. Frost became actively interested in the project for building an electric railway on Delaware avenue from Buffalo to Tonawanda. He was one of the organizers of the Buffalo, Kenmore & Tona- wanda Electric Railway Co., and acted as attorney for the corporation during the construction of the road, and until it was sold to the Buffalo Traction Co.
Mr. Frost has always been an earnest Republican. During his residence in Cherry Creek he interested himself actively in public affairs, and in all move- ments for advancing the prosperity of his town and
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county. In the fall of 1886 his services were fittingly rewarded by a nomination for member of embly from the second district of Chautauqua county. He was duly elected, and was re-elected in 1887, serving his constituents with zeal and ability. During both terms in the legislature Mr. Frost was a member of the committee on general laws. In March, 1888, the assembly passed a reso- lution calling for the appointment of a committee to iscertain the social, moral, and industrial condition of the several tribes of Indians in the state ; to in- vestigate the tribal organizations and the title to the lands in the different reservations ; and to afford such id as would enable the state to deal wisely and in- telligently with the 5000 Indians dwelling within her borders . Mr. Frost was a member of this com- mittee, and took an active part in its laborious work An exhaustive study of the subject, occu- pying several months, resulted in a report to the assembly dated January 31, 1889. This document covers seventy-nine pages, and with its various appendixes makes up a volume of more than 400 pages. The committee recommended the repeal of most of the existing Indian laws, the enactment of a compulsory-attendance school law, and the allottment of the land of the state reservations in severalty to the different members of the tribes ; believing that only as the Indian becomes an American citizen, and not a " ward" of the government, will the Indian prob- lem be solved. Mr. Frost's work on this committee amply demonstrated his fitness for public service ; but since his removal to Buffalo he has taken a less active part in public affairs than form- erly, wisely preferring to devote his entire energy for a time to establishing himself firmly in the ranks of the suc- cessful lawyers of the city. He belongs to no fraternity, church or other asso- ciations.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - George HI. Frost was born at Cherry Creek, N. Y., December 15, 1850 ; at- tended district schools, and union schools at Jamestown and Ellington ; taught school in various torons, 1870-82 ; married Helen 31. Perrin of Dayton, N. Y., December 18, 1879 ; studied law, ant was admitted to the bar in 1883 ; practiced law in Cherry Creek, 18833- 89: was member of assembly. 1887-88 ; has prac- ticed law in Buffalo since November, 1889.
Ethan f. foward is one of the oldest resi- dents of Buffalo, since he moved thither in 1827, and has made his home there continuously for seventy years. His parents were New Englanders, his mother a native of Connecticut and his father of Vermont, where his grandfather fought under Gen- eral Stark in the battle of Bennington. They settled on a small farm in the village of Boston, Erie county, in 1807, and there our subject was born five years later. He was still an infant when the burning of Buffalo and Black Rock threw the neighboring settlers into a panic of fear ; and his mother prepared for flight to the forest with her children at the approach of the savage foe. Mr. Iloward's childhood, begun amid such stirring scenes, was continued amid the privations and hard- ships of pioneer life. But civilization advanced
ETHAN H. HOWARD
rapidly in western New York after the news was received that peace had been declared. Immigra- tion received a fresh impetus, and a greater degree of prosperity soon became apparent.
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By the time the lad had reached the age of fifteen the village of Buffalo had become a thriving town, and already gave unmistakable evidence of its future leadership in the affairs of that part of the state. Thither he went, accordingly, and obtained employ- "ment in the post office, where the entire force of
HENRY C. HOWARD
assistants consisted of himself and another boy. Three years later he entered the dry-goods store of S. N. Callender as a clerk, remaining there for the next five years - four years with Mr. Callender and one year with J. P. Darling. Mercantile life proved attractive to Mr. Howard, and he displayed marked ability for it ; and in 1836 he started in business for himself as a member of the dry-goods firm of Dole & Howard. The style was subsequently changed to Fitch & Howard, then to Howard & Cogswell, Howard & Whitcomb, and Howard, Whitcomb & Co. ; and in 1865 the business was sold to the present firm of Flint & Kent. Mr. Howard's excellent judgment, honorable and upright methods, and careful business management brought him un-
usual success ; and during the thirty years of his connection with the firm it attained a foremost posi- tion among the retail houses of the city.
After severing his connection with the dry- goods business Mr. Howard associated himself with Joseph Warren, J. M. Johnson, and others in the organization of the Courier Company. He was the treasurer of the concern during the years 1868-69, selling out his interest at the end of that time to Dr. Kenney, son-in-law of Dean Richmond. Since 1870 Mr. Howard has not been actively engaged in business life, though he holds important positions of trust in various organizations. He was a trustee and the second vice president of the Erie County Savings Bank, and a director of the Buffalo Gas Light Co. In 1882 he assisted in founding the Bank of Niagara at Niagara Falls, and became a director of the institution; and in 1892 he took part in the organization of the Columbia Bank, Buffalo, in which he is likewise a director.
Mr. Howard's peaceful and prosperous old age is a fitting close to an honorable and useful life. Though by nature sin- gularly quiet and unobtrusive, his high character as a business man and a private citizen has won for him the respect of all who know him, and the warm affection of many friends. He has been for years a deacon in the Unitarian church, of which he is one of the oldest members.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Ethan How Howard was born at Boston, Erie county, N. Y., February 13, 1812 : was a clerk in the Buffalo post office, 1827-28, and in a dry-goods store, 1830- 36 ; married Mary E. Rumsey of Stafford, N. Y., October 24, 1842, and Caroline H. Cogswell of Peter- borough, N. H., September 1, 1846 ; engaged in the dry-goods business at Buffalo, 1836-65 ; was treas- urer of the Courier Company, Buffalo, 1868-60; has occupied positions of trust in various corporations in Buffalo and vicinity since 1870.
benry C. howard is thoroughly identified with the Queen City of the Lakes. His family set- tled in Buffalo in the early days of the city ; his father had an important part in the commercial development of the place ; and he himself was born there, educated there, married there, and has always lived there. He believes in Buffalo heartily, and
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has no wish ever to shift his allegiance. Mr. Howard left school at the age of eighteen or nine- teen, and gave himself up to business. He bas never engaged in active commercial life of the routine countingroom order except for a few months early in his career. Ever since then his connection with business affairs has been of that more interest- ing and independent nature concerned with proprie- tary supervision. He has been president of the Bank of Niagara at Niagara Falls ever since it was organized in 1882, and vice president of the Bank: of Suspension Bridge since its organization. He was for some years vice president of the Columbia National Bank, Buffalo, and is a director in the Bank of Buffalo.
In political matters Mr. Howard supports the Republican party. He does not care for participa- tion in public affairs, however, and has never taken an active part in politics. His time is pleasantly occupied, aside from business hours, with his family and home. He is a member of the Buffalo Club, and of the Ellicott Club. Early in the summer he takes his family to a beautiful country seat on the banks of the Niagara river between Lewiston and Youngstown. Mr. Howard attends Trin- ity Church, Buffalo, of which he is a vestryman.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Henry Cogswell Howard was born at Buffalo September 20, 1847 ; was edu- cated in public and private schools ; married Jennie Matilda Jewett of Buffalo January 4, 1869 ; has devoted himself to various business enterprises and to the care of the family estate since 1865 ; has been president of the Bank of Niagara, Niagara Falls, N. Y., since 1882.
I. E. kisselburgb, 3r., well known in both the eastern and the western ends of the Empire State, was born at Troy, N. Y., in 1859. He spent the first thirty years of his life in that city, and received his education there and in Albany. At the time of his graduation from the Troy High School in 1875 he had not fixed upon the practice of law as his vocation, and he began his active work in the world in the capacity of reporter for the Troy Times. In 1880 he obtained a position in the office of the secretary of state under J. B. Carr, and devoted his leisure hours to the study of law. Con-
tinuing this work more thoroughly in the celebrated law school at Albany, he received the degree of I.L. B. from that institution in 1882. He was admitted to the bar the next year, and commenced to practice in Troy October 1, 1885.
Mr. Kisselburgh was associated with L. E. Grif- fith from October, 1885, until August, 1889, when he changed his residence from Troy to Buffalo. In the latter city he practiced alone until January I, 1893, forming at that time a partnership with H. S. Lary. This connection lasted until January, 1895, when he associated himself with C. H. Bennett in the firm of Kisselburgh & Bennett. Mr. Kissel- burgh has spent most of his time in Albany since May, 1894, and has therefore been unable to give minute attention to the affairs of his Buffalo clients. He has kept in touch, however, with the business
W. E. KISSELBURGH, JE.
connected with his firms, and has given close atten- tion to the more important cases.
Living so near the state capital, Mr. Kisselburgh began to be interested in public affairs at an early
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age. He has frequently been a delegate to state conventions, and has otherwise been active in politi- cal life. In 1892 he was associated with Judge Laughlin and Mr. Moot as special counsel for the Citizens' Committee of Buffalo organized to prevent election frauds. Mr. Kisselburgh was especially
GEORGE E. LATTIMER
well qualified for this work from his experience in Troy four years before, when he had assisted in the legal proceedings that caused the removal from the registration books of about 2000 names wrongfully enrolled. Since May 1, 1894, Mr. Kisselburgh has been one of the deputy attorney-generals of the state of New York, having been appointed to the office by Attorney-General Theodore E. Hancock.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - William Edward Kisselburgh, Jr., was born at Troy, N. Y., January 28, 1859 ; graduated from the Troy High School in 1875, and from the Albany Law School in 1882 ; married Helen Laura Kilfoile of Troy May 12. 1889 ; was admitted to the bar in 18833; prac- ticed law in Troy, 1885-89; was appointed deputy
attorney-general of New York state in 1804; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1889.
George LE. Lattimer, well known among the younger business men of Buffalo, was born in that city thirty-three years ago. After attending the public schools of Buffalo until he was sixteen years old, he made an early start on his commercial career by en- gaging on his own account in the busi- ness of carting coal, ice, and sand. He supplied the sand for some of the largest buildings in Buffalo, and built up a flourishing business. Having shown so much ability while still in his teens, Mr. Lattimer developed even more rapidly with increased experience. He attracted favorable notice among the business men of the city ; and one of them, William S. Grattan, was glad to form a partnership with the young man. In the spring of 1886, accordingly, the firm of Grattan & Lattimer was organized for the purpose of carrying on a business in general freight contracting.
This venture proved successful from the beginning. Little else could have been expected in view of Mr. Grattan's broad business experience, Mr. Lattimer's special training in the carrying industry, and the excellent judgment of both partners. They were the first firm in Buffalo to contract with the railroads to handle their package freight, and they made such contracts with the Lacka- wanna, New York Central, and Lehigh Valley railroads. The firm employs at all times a large number of men, and in the busy season as many as a thousand are on its pay roll. At the time of the sound-money parade in Buffalo in the presidential campaign of 1896, Mr. Lattimer marched at the head of 500 or more employees of his firm. Mr. Grattan has very important business interests outside of this concern. and necessarily leaves the management of Grattan & Lattimer affairs to the junior partner.
As for personal qualities unconnected with busi- ness, reference may be made to Mr. Lattimer's great interest in horses. He has owned at different times some of the fastest trotters ever seen on the magnificent parkways of Buffalo. Early in 1897 he was one of the prime movers in the proposed speed way running along Scajaquada creek in the rear of the Buffalo State Hospital.
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Mr. Lattimer is a devoted Mason, and is a mem- ber of all the bodies of that order up to and includ- ing the 32d degree. He belongs to DeMolay Lodge, No. 498, F. & A. M. ; Buffalo Chapter, No. 71, R. A. M. ; Lake Erie Commandery, No. 20, K. T. ; Buffalo Council ; and Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs likewise to the Masonic social organization called the Acacia Chb.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- George Edward Lattimer was born at Buffalo June 19, 1864; was educated in the Buffalo public schools ; engaged in a general carting business in Buffalo, 1880-86 ; married Annie Jones of Buffalo Decem- ber 10, 1890 ; has been a member of the firm of Grat- tan & Lattimer, general freight contractors, since 1886.
Josepb MDischka fought his way to an enviable position in the musical world of Buffalo by dint of energy and perseverance, coupled with natural gifts of a high order. His success is the more interesting and noteworthy from the fact that his training as a musician has been obtained altogether in Buf- fało. He was not born in that city, but was brought thither at the age of six by his parents. The latter were in humble circumstances, and were unable to give their son much education. After attending a kindergarten in his native Bohemia, and one of the Buffalo public schools, he entered the parochial school connected with St. Louis Church, Buffalo. It was evident early in life that he possessed unusual musical talent, and his parents determined to foster this gift as much as possible. At the age of seven, accordingly, they obtained a chance for him to study the violin ; and he became a member of the orchestra that then took the place of an organ in St. Louis Church. A little later he developed a fine voice. and was made the principal alto in the choir. His gifts attracted the attention of the Rev. William Deiters, who was an ardent lover of music and who be- came the good genius of the boy. Father Deiters was possessed of an ample for- tune, and he gave the young musician many advan- tages that would not otherwise have been his.
At the age of thirteen Joseph Mischka leit school to become an errand boy for Blodgett & Bradford,
music dealers. The connection became something more than a business one, since Mr. Blodgett recog- nized the talent of his employee, and helped him in various ways to acquire a musical education. Young Mischka made the most of these opportunities, and at the age of fifteen was sufficiently advanced in his studies to become the organist of the North Presby- terian Church Sunday school. Soon after this he obtained the position of organist at Calvary Presby- terian Church. From there he went to Westminster, and thence successively to the old Unitarian Church, to the Universalist, and to St. Paul's. Each of these changes constituted a step in advance as re- gards both dignity of position and compensation. It may be said, indeed, that in all the numerous changes made by Mr. Mischka, he never gave up a place except by voluntary resignation to accept
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