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 58
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Mr. Taylor had not been in Buffalo long before the dry-goods business became dull, and at his own request he was released from service. He had deposited in a bank on his arrival in Buffalo a few hundred dollars, which he now drew out, and devoted to the purchase of a carload of cheese. He sold this in central New York in six days, returning to Buf- fało with a clear profit of $107. This successful -transaction led to further ventures in the same direc- tion, and in the spring of 1848 Mr. Taylor felt competent to manage a grocery and provision busi- ness of his own. He established such a store, accordingly, on Main street near where the Tifft House now stands. The sequel showed that he had not overrated his powers, and in 1849 he opened another store near the northeast corner of Main and Swan streets. He enjoyed a prosperous trade until December, 1854, when he closed out his business in order to go to Florida for the health of his wife.
After returning from the West Indies, whither he had gone from Florida, Mr. Taylor devoted himself for a few years to his real-estate interests in Buffalo and Erie county. In the spring of 1858 he cleared away the trees and stumps on some of his land in the southern part of the city, and erected the house in which he has since dwelt. Soon after this he began to take a prominent part in public affairs. In the fall of 1860 he was nominated for the office of super- visor, and in the following year he was elected alder- man from the 13th ward, Buffalo.
In the War of the Rebellion Colonel Taylor had an active and highly patriotic part. In 1862 he became one of the government enrolling officers, and in November of that year he was made one of a committee of three from the 13th ward to raise funds, and otherwise recruit the northern armies. A.s soon as the draft of his ward was completed, he went to New York, purchased there a uniform for himself and clothing and other equipments for soldiers, and obtained authority from the governor of the state at Albany to raise recruits for the 12th New York
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volunteer cavalry. Returning to Buffalo then, he unfurled the United States flag from his office on Main street, over handbills headed " Recruits Wanted." After only two weeks of hard work and . onsiderable expense - there was no bounty paid for recruits at that time -- Colonel Taylor was able to send out of Buffalo on December 8, 1x62. 102 men. Having received a captain's commission December 13, he recruited four more companies of a hundred men each. On January 5, 1864, he was commis- sioned major. After having been honorably mus- tered out July 19, 1865, he was made a first lieutenant in the regular army July 28, 1866. This appoint- ment was the more gratifying as it came entirely without solicitation on Colonel Taylor's part, at a time when many officers who had served in the Civil War were making strennous efforts to obtain com- missions in the regular army. Colonel Taylor was personally recommended for the honor by President Grant and Secre- tary Stanton ; and as he felt unwilling. for family reasons, to serve in the cav- alry, to which he was first appointed, he was transferred to the 12th infantry, and later to the 20th infantry. He was made captain October 22. 1876. He was also brevetted, for faithful and meri- torious service, lieutenant colonel and colonel. After serving at many posts in the regular army for nearly twenty years, he was honorably retired by act of congress. for age. September 19, 1x$4.
Since then Colonel Taylor has devoted himself for the most part to the develop- ment of his property in south Buffalo. He has effected many improvements in that part of the city, and has radically changed the general aspect of the locality as a place of residence. He has paid over 840.000 in local taxes within a decade : and his annual tax to city, county, and state has increased from $200 to more than ten times that amount.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Rodney Macamley Taylor was born at Dryden, Tompkins county, V. Y .. Sep- tember 19, 18 20 : was educate i in common schools : ceas a clerk in stores in New York city and Bufalo. 1947-48 : carried on a grocery business in Buffalo, 1848- 54 : married Elizabeth Beers of Jerusalem, N. Y., September 4. 1844, her sister Mary Beers June 21. 1851. ant Sarah J. Dash of Angola, N. Y., February 5. 1557 : was a commissioned officer in
the volunteer army of the United States, 1862-65, and in the regular army, 1866-84; has been en- aged since 1884 in the care and development of his extensive property.
William David Walker, recently elected bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of West- ern New York, is a native of the Empire State, and had a long career there as a parish priest : though in recent years he has been so thoroughly identified with the missionary work of the Northwest that many people think of him as a westerner only.
Bishop Walker was born in New York city in 1x39. and made his home in the metropolis for more than forty years. Attending first the public schools. he afterward prepared for college at Trinity School, a classical institution of high standing in his
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RODNEY MACAMLEY TAYLOR
native city. At the age of sixteen he entered Co- lumbia College, from which he graduated in 1859, receiving the McVickar prize. He had already de- termined to devote himself to the church, and
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accordingly became a student at the General Theo- logical Seminary in the same year. He completed the course there in 1862, and received deacon's orders at the hands of Bishop Horatio Potter in the Church of the Transfiguration on his twenty-third birthday.
He was at once elected vicar of Calvary Chapel, New York, and entered upon his work in the follow- ing October, serving also as special assistant in Cal- vary Church. On his next birthday, June 29, 1863, he was ordained priest in Calvary Church. By the year 1870 the building previously occupied by the chapel had become too small for the congregation, and the large church known as Calvary Free Chapel was built at an expense of $130,000. Here Bishop Walker labored until 1883, when he was chosen by the house of bishops first bishop of the missionary district of North Dakota. His consecration took place in Calvary Church December 20, 1883, Bishop Clark of Rhode Island acting as consecrator, and bishops Potter and Clarkson as presenters. Many other bishops assisted at the ceremony, including. the two bishops Paddock, bishops Littlejohn, Scar- borough, and Starkey. The preacher on this occa- sion was Bishop Coxe, who had presented the new bishop for ordination to the priesthood in the same church twenty years before.
No greater contrast could well be imagined than that between the conditions of work in a large and prosperous city parish and those in a district com- prising 180,000 souls scattered over 70,000 square miles of territory. But Bishop Walker possessed the faith and devotion, the deal and energy needed for his new work ; and the history of his years of labor in the Northwest is a history of continued achieve- ment in the cause of Christianity and of general civilization. Many of those committed to his pas- toral care were Indians, and much of his time and effort was given in behalf of this unfortunate race. In 1887 he was appointed by President Cleveland one of the board of United States Indian commis- sioners, a body of ten men having general oversight of the interests of the Indians throughout the country ; and he was ever the friend of the red man, and ac- complished much for his elevation.
Bishop Walker's strong common sense and prac- tical methods of work were peculiarly well fitted for the administration of a missionary diocese. His "cathedral car" was one of the most effective ex- pedients for ministering to a scattered population that could possibly have been devised. The name is self-explanatory : a railway car was fitted up as a church, with altar, font, lecturn, and organ, and seats for about seventy-five people ; and by its means
thousands who could not otherwise have been reached were brought into touch with the ministrations of the church. Its adaptability to modern conditions was so strikingly evident that the idea has since been utilized in all parts of the world. The Greek church of Russia now employs five such itinerant churches on the great new railroad in Siberia ; and similar work is carried on at Tiflis in the Caucasus, at old Carthage in the north of Africa, in the diocese of Grahamstown in south Africa, and in other places. Five such churches are now in use by the Baptist church in this country, and two others by the Epis- copal church.
At the beginning of his ministry Bishop Walker was associated with Bishop Coxe at Calvary Church, New York ; and the friendship then begun strength- ened with years, and lasted until the death of the elder man. During the later years of his life Bishop Coxe frequently made use of his friend's help, sending him on episcopal duty to many parishes in the diocese of Western New York. After the death of Bishop Coxe a strong sentiment developed in favor of Bishop Walker for his successor. Many in the diocese knew him personally, and it was believed that the choice would be in accord with the wishes of their late beloved bishop. The special council met in Trinity Church, Buffalo, October 6, 1896, and the next day Bishop Walker was elected third bishop of the diocese. He entered upon his new duties December 20, 1896, after an impressive ser- vice of enthronization in St. Paul's Cathedral. While Bishop Walker's work in his eastern diocese is but just begun, it is safe to prophesy that he will not be less successful there than in the West. Ile has received a hearty welcome from the general public. as well as from the priests and people of his church, and all are ready to bid him Godspeed in his new field of labor.
In addition to many pastoral letters, convocation addresses, and sermons, Bishop Walker has published several writings that possess peculiar interest from the importance either of the subjects treated or of the occasion of their delivery. Among these may be mentioned his report to the President and con- gress on the Sioux and Chippewa tribes of Indians in North Dakota ( 1886); a sermon on the " Rela- tions of Wealth to Labor," preached in Westminster Abbey in 1888, and one on "God's Providence in Life," delivered at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, on the death of the Emperor of Germany ; an essay on " Domestic Missions," read at St. James Hall, Lon- don, at the annual meeting of the venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ( 1888 ); and an address on " Missions in the United
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States," delivered in the same place in 1894. The bishop has received honorary degrees from many colleges and universities both at home and abroad. In 1884 Racine University made him a Doctor of Divinity, and ten years later Oxford Uni- versity, England, conferred a similar honor upon him. In 1884, also, he received from his alma mater the degree of S. T. D). Griswold College gave him the L.L. D. degree in 1888, and Trinity College, Dublin, in 1894. He is also a Doctor of Canon Laws of the University of King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- William David Walker was born at New York city June 29, 1839 ; graduated from Columbia College in 1859, and from the General Theological Seminary in 1862; was vicar of Calvary Chapel, New York city, 1862-83 ; was bishop of the mission- ary district of North Dakota, 1883-96 : was elected bishop of the diocese of West- ern New York October 7, 1896.
George f. Brownell has had a remarkably successful career and has at- tained, at the age of thirty-six, a position of trust and responsibility that would test the powers of a much older man. Though he was born in Des Moines, lo., his parents were originally from eastern New York : and after the war they moved back to the Empire State, and settled in Medina. There Mr. Brownell re- ceived his early education, graduating from the Medina High School, and after- ward attending the Lockport Union School. Going West again after this, he entered the academic department of the University of Michigan, from which he was transferred later to the law department. His pro- fessional training was unusually thorough, since he received his degree as a Bachelor of Laws from the Albany Law School in 1882, and from the Uni- versity of Michigan Law School the next year.
On his admission to the bar Mr. Brownell spent a few months in the office of Thomas M. Cooley, judge of the Michigan Supreme Court and dean of the University of Michigan Law School, and subsequently chairman of the interstate-commerce commission. He then moved to Buffalo, and entered the office of Sprague, Morey & Sprague as assistant to the late E. Carleton Sprague. The unique prestige of this firm throughout western
New York offered the young man a brilliant field of professional achievement. In 1888 he was admitted to partnership, the style becoming Sprague, Morey, Sprague & Brownell : subse- quently this was changed to Sprague, Moot, Sprague & Brownell ; and since June 1, 1897,
WILLIAM DAVID WALKER
the firm has been known as Moot, Sprague, Brownell & Marcy.
Mr. Brownell's professional work has been con- cerned chiefly with the railroad and other corpora- tion interests of the firm, which are many and important ; and since the death of E. Carleton Sprague early in 1895, he has had charge of these interests. This work has not taken him so much into the courts, nor brought him so conspicuously before the public eye as some of his fellows : but the responsibilities intrusted to him have been very great, and have been ably administered. The Erie railroad, the Grand Trunk railway, and the Buffalo ('reek railroad have been among the corporate clients of the firm : and the legal interests of the former
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corporation in western New York and of the Grand Trunk throughout the state have been committed to Mr. Brownell. One of the important labors of his firm in this connection has been the adjustment of the relations between the Erie road, the other roads entering Buffalo, and the city itself, in the matter of
GEORGE F. BROWNELL
abolishing grade crossings ; and Mr. Brownell has handled this delicate and complicated question with rare skill. Of late years his service to the Erie rail- road has included growing duties as counsel in other parts of the state, and his successful discharge of these duties led to his appointment in May, 1897, as general solicitor for the company. This appoint- ment may be regarded as a signal proof of Mr. Brown- ell's professional standing, since he owes it, not to moneyed influence or backing, but purely to merit and ability. He will retain his membership in the Buffalo firm with which he has been so prominently identified, but will make his home in New York city.
Outside of his profession Mr. Brownell has been actively identified with many phases of social life,
taking special interest in present-day problems such as are represented by the work of the Liberal and Thursday clubs of. Buffalo. He belongs, also, to the Buffalo, Saturn, Country, and Ellicott clubs of Buf- falo, the Genesee Valley Club of Rochester, and the Chi Psi college fraternity. He has been actively connected with the Masonic order ; and is a Past Master of Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 441, F. & A. M., a member of Hugh de Payens Commandery, and of the Buffalo Consistory. He belongs to the Buffalo Society of Artists, the Buffalo Historical Society, and the Buffalo Li- brary Association, and is a member of the Episcopal church. His political sympathies are with the Republican party, and he was the first secretary of the Buffalo Republican League.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - George Francis Brownell was born at Des Moines, Io., June 5, 1861 ; was educated in New York state public schools, and in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor ; graduated from the Albany Law School in 1882, and from the University of Michigan Law School in 1883 ; was appointed gen- eral solicitor of the Erie railroad in May, 1897 ; married Anne Kniscley Abbott of Buffalo June 7, 189" ; has been connected with the firm of Sprague, Morey & Sprague of Buffalo and their successors since 1883.
George Clinton belongs to a fam- ily that has done much to further the best interests of Buffalo and of New York state, and his own share in that work has been considerable. Ever since Charles Clinton, the first ancestor of the family on this side of the water, settled in Ulster county in 1731, the Clintons have been prominent in the Empire State, both in war and in peace. Born in Buffalo about fifty years ago, George Clinton received his early education in private schools, afterward attending the public schools, and graduating from the oldl Central High School in 1865, shortly after its organization.
Mr. Clinton's father, George W. Clinton, was a prominent lawyer, and the son determined to follow the same profession. He went to New York, there- fore, in 1866, and entered the law department of Columbia College, from which he graduated two years later with the degree of LL. B. For about a year he practiced in New York city, and then de- cided to try his fortunes in the West. He established
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himself, accordingly, at Hudson, Wis., where he re- mained for the next five years. Returning to Buffalo in 1874, he associated himself with Martin Clark in 1882, becoming senior partner in the firm of Clinton & Clark. This firm still exists, and maintains a' high standing at the Erie-county bar.
In public affairs Mr. Clinton has long been an active force. Elected to the state assembly on the Republican ticket in 1883, he served with distinction in the ensuing session, working for the best interests of his constituents and of the state at large in an in- dependent spirit that refused to be bound by party dictation. He was made chairman of the canal committee in the assembly - a most fitting appoint- ment, since he shares the interest of his illustrious grandfather, De Witt Clinton, in the canals of the state, and believes them to be a most important factor in its commercial prosperity. His work in this connection has not been confined to that performed in the legis- lature, for he has taken a leading part in the Union for the Improvement of the Canals, an organization that has had much to do with bringing about the extensive improvements in the Erie canal now in progress. Mr. Clinton served as the second president of this association.
Many other movements affecting the welfare of Buffalo have received Mr. Clinton's support : indeed it may be said that he has taken a more or less active interest in all public questions for many years. He has served as one of the park commissioners of the city, and was also a member of the trunk-sewer commission during the building of the Genesee- street and Bird-avenue branches. He worked faithfully to secure the adoption of the present city charter, which he had likewise helped to prepare. He has always been the friend of the public -----.. schools, and has taken part in the move- ment for raising their standard. and re- moving them as far as possible from political influences. He was instrumental in establishing the Buffalo Law School. and was its professor of admiralty law for several years, until compelled to resign on account of the demands of his private practice. He has long been' an active member of the Buffalo Merchants' Exchange, and was its president in 1893. Mr. Clinton is a mem- ber of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, the Buffalo Club, and many similar organizations.
He belongs to the Masonic order, and to the Epis- copal church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- George Clin- ton was born at Buffalo September 7, 1846 ; gra fuated from the Buffalo Central High School in 1855, and from Columbia College Law School in 1868 ; practiced low in New York city, 1868-69, and in Hudson, Wis., 1869-74 : married Alice Thornton of Buffalo January 17, 1872 : was a member of the New York state legislature in 1884 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since 1ST 4.
Elias S. fhawley was born on the banks of the Hudson river in Saratoga county, New York, on a farm parchased in 1794 by his grandfather, Amos Hawley. After attending school up to the age of eleven in Moreau, Glens Falls, and Fort
GEORGE CLINTON
Edward, he went West with his family to Black Rock. near Buffalo, where his uncles, Nathaniel Sill and Joseph Sill, lived. This was in the sum- mer of 1823, and the journey, made by wagon.
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consumed exactly one week. They left what is now Main street, Buffalo, near Granger's Mills, and after crossing Scajaquada creek, took the road through the woods that is now called Lafayette avenue. This was the only road then open between Main street and the Niagara river, except the thoroughfare now called North street.
ELLIS S. HAWLEY
Mr. Hawley's early recollections of Black Rock and Buffalo are most interesting. A short time after he reached the village, the third and fourth steamboats on Lake Erie, named the " Pioneer " and the ". Henry Clay " respectively, were built in the shipyard at Black Rock. The principal busi- ness of the village was done by what was called the Harbor Company, consisting of Captain Sheldon Thompson and associates. Some of the principal families of the place were those of James L. Barton, Colonel Bird, Captain Bidwell, and General Peter B. Porter, who built the house, then deemed a fine residence, occupied in recent years by Lewis F. Allen. Near them lived Mr. Best, father of the late
Robert Hamilton Best, who kept a public house which is still standing on Niagara street, and which has been occupied of late years by the Rev. Mr. Robie. The old Indian Conjaquada, after whom Scajaquada creek was named, lived in those days at the mouth of the creek. Black Rock was then larger than Buffalo, and was the port of entry, Mr. Hawley's uncle, Joseph Sill, being the custom- house officer. Mr. Hawley can recall only two dwellings between Black Rock and Niagara square, and only one cleared field on the west side of Niagara street south of the present Porter avenue. What is now Prospect park was dense woods. In the spring and fall Niagara street was impassable, and vehicles went on the beach from Black Rock to Buf- falo. Mr. Hawley and his brother Seth, when driving cows to pasture, used at times to see wild deer in what is now the heart of Buffalo.
Having been offered by his uncle an option between an education and the gift of a thousand dollars at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Hawley accepted the former - " unfortunately," as he says. Attending Cambridge Academy in Wash- ington county for two years, he was there prepared for Middlebury College. where he stayed until the end of his sophomore year. He then taught a year at Mount Pleasant, Westchester county, and after that entered the senior class of Union College, Schenectady. from which he graduated in July, 1833. Returning to Buffalo, he taught a private school in the part of the town at that time called " Hydraulics." Public School No. 8 was completed in 1838, and Mr. Hawley served as its principal for a year. He afterwards studied law in Barker & Hawley's law office, receiving a diploma in due course. About 1840 the firm of Hawley & Co., consisting of Seth C. and Elias S. Hawley, established a money and package express between Buffalo and Detroit. In 1844 Mr. Hawley was appointed by the common council superintendent of schools, at a salary of 8300 a year. He was appointed again in Is46 and in 1847. He was connected with the volunteer fire department about this time, belonging first to engine No. 8, and afterward to " Eagle 2," located near the present site of the Buffalo Library.
About the middle of the century Mr. Hawley began his long service with Pratt & Co. Ile te.
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mained with the house twenty-three years altogether, as collecting attorney at first, and then as superin- tendent of the Buffalo Iron & Nail Works. He left the concern only when it went out of the iron business. Since then he has devoted himself partly to the management of his own private busi- ness, and partly to the care of the Austin estate. He was appointed attorney for this property many years ago, and has guarded it vigilantly at all times.
Mr. Hawley has always been prominent in the affairs of Buffalo, and he has sometimes taken an active part in the political life of the city. In 1868 he was elected alderman from the old 11th ward, and in 1883 he served as member of assembly from the 3d Erie-county district. In the same year he was appointed secretary and treasurer of the Buffalo Insane Asylum, now the Buffalo Hospital, and has ever since discharged the duties of the office. He was largely instru- mental in the formation of the Buf- falo Historical Society, and has been connected therewith as member or officer from the beginning. He was on the board of trustees for a number of years, serving part of the time as its presi- dent. He was connected with the First Presbyterian Church from about 1838 until the formation of the North Pres- byterian Church, of which he was one of the trustees. Mr. Hawley has been very much interested in the genealogy of his family, and has accumulated at great ex- pense and infinite trouble a large mass of information regarding the various branches of the family in this country. He has published what is probably as complete a work of this kind as has ever been printed.
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