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 59
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PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Elias Sill Hawley was born at Moreau, N. Y., October 28, 1812 ; moved to Buf- falo in 18233 ; graduated from Union Col- lege in 18333 ; taught school, 1836-39 : was superintendent of schools in Buffalo in 1844, 1846, and 1847 ; married La- vinia Hurd Selden of Buffalo May 30, 1845 ; was in the employ of Pratt & Co. for twenty-three years ; was alderman from the 11th ward, Buffalo, in 1869, and member of assembly in 1883 ; has been engaged of late years in the manage- ment of his own property and of trust estates in Buffalo, and as secretary and treasurer of the Buffalo Hospital.
Edward C. W. O'Brien, of 439 Delaware avenne, Buffalo, is one of the best-known physicians of - that city. Born in the city of Quebec, Canada, fifty- four years ago. he obtained his early education from the teaching of the Christian Brothers, and at private schools. Thrown upon his own resources at an early age, he acquired by his contact with the world away from home. a large fund of practical experience that must have aided in developing the strength of character and self-resourcefulness for which he has long been noted. Dr. O'Brien's residence in Buffalo began almost forty years ago. Having decided, a few years after he settled there, to become a physician, he took the full course at the University of Buffalo, and graduated from the medical depart- ment of that institution in February, 1867. He has
1:DHARD C. R. O' BRIEN
followed his calling in Buffalo ever since, and has attained high rank in the medical fraternity of Erie county. During his thirty years of active practice he has had numerous cases of exceptional difficulty, but probably none more noteworthy than two
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instances in which he successfully reduced dislocation of the neck. Both cases were those of adults, requiring exact anatomical knowledge, nice calcula- tion, and rare self-possession.
Dr. O'Brien's prominence in Buffalo came about in part as a result of his notable record as health physician of the city for several years. He obtained this office early in his professional career, by ap- pointment of the board of health, and was reap- pointed five times. His term began in the winter of 1872-73, and lasted until 1877, when the Demo- cratic party gained possession of the city govern- ment, and appointed a Democrat to the office. Dr. O' Brien's administration will be long remembered on account of the great smallpox epidemic then raging. This scourge infested the entire world at that time, and many large cities were frightfully ravaged by the disease. Buffalo alone had about 1900 cases, though Buffalo was rid of the pestilence several months before any other large American city. Dr. O'Brien was physician to the smallpox hospital maintained in Buffalo during the epidemic : and in addition to his regular duties as health physician, he was obliged twice a day to visit this hospital, located on the outskirts of the city. He often made his second visit as late as midnight. He naturally came into close relations with the physicians of Buffalo at that time, and it is worthy of note that they cordially commended his administration of the health department during that ordeal. The press of the city, also, without regard to party, recognized his efficiency as health physician. Mention should be made of the interesting fact that Dr. O'Brien in- troduced the use of bovine vaccine virus in Buffalo. There were then only a few vaccine farms in America, and the introduction of the virus met with opposition from a considerable part of the general public, and even from some physicians who did not fully understand the subject, though these soon used it freely.
Dr. O'Brien's record in the health office of Buffalo attracted favorable notice, not only in the city itself, but also in some degree throughout the state. This fact was evidenced in his nomination as a com- promise candidate to the position of health officer of the port of New York - a position then comparable in point of compensation to the presidency of the United States, though the enormous fees of the office have since been commuted into a fixed salary. Governor Cleveland nominated for the position the distinguished physician, Austin Flint ; but the nomination had not been confirmed when Mr. Cleveland left Albany to enter the White House. Governor Hill then nominated Dr. Phelps of New
York, whose name was likewise rejected by the state senate. Finally Governor Hill sent in the name of Dr. O'Brien, whose political principles were har- monious with those of the dominant party in the senate. Owing to a factional quarrel among the Republicans of that body, Dr. (' Brien failed by a few votes of confirmation. The general and hearty endorsement of his nomination, however, was very gratifying to his friends. One of the Buffalo papers devoted a page to a report of interviews with leading physicians, other professional men, and prominent citizens generally, who commended Dr. O'Brien's nomination on the ground both of professional fitness and of personal character. A large and representative delegation of Buffalonians, including members of both the medical colleges, went to Albany to urge confirmation upon the senate committee to which the nomination was referred. The Buffalo Commercial, in an editorial article, spoke as follows :
" To the senators upon whom the responsibility of the con- firmation of Dr. E. C. W. O' Brien rests, the Commercial can say this much : that the nominee is a man of irreproachable habit- -- temperate, industrious, and a worthy citizen of any com. munity. As a Republican he has ever been staunch, loyal. and unswerving. As a physician he has been thoroughly tested. and that in the very line of duty in which, as health officer of New York, he would be called upon to serve. Dr. O'Brien was health physician of Buffalo during one of the most trying and perilous visitations that this city has ever experienced. It was during the smallpox epidemic of 1873-74, the most alarm- ing epidemic that ever afflicted Buffalo. By applying to the emergency the most stringent precautions, the best agencies that science and experience could suggest, by insisting upon im- mediate, positive, and ample measures on the part of the municipality, Dr. O' Brien stamped out smallpox in Buffalo. He met the disease with promptness, intelligence, and courage, and drove it beyond the lines of the city -a service that the people of Buffalo can never forget. Put into the responsible position for which the governor has nominated him, he will bring to the office skill, experience, and a devotion to duty that is sure to find results in a system of quarantine service as intelligent. honest, and rigid as the great port of New York needs and de- mands. We hope that the Republican senators will confirm this excellent nomination."
Notwithstanding his activity in professional life, Dr. O'Brien has always taken great interest in pub- lic affairs, and has been glad to lend himself to any movement likely to promote the welfare of Buffalo. Many positions of trust connected with his profession have been held by him ; and all of them, as he is glad to remember, came to him without solicitation. For nearly ten years he was surgeon of the 74th regiment, Buffalo. For several years he was chief medical examiner of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association of the State of New York. He held the post, for a long time, of physician to St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum at Buffalo. He has been for many years consulting physician to the Providence Asylum
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for the Insane. He is now surgeon to the Buffalo fire department, and consulting surgeon to the Riverside Hospital, Buffalo. He is a member of the American Medical Association ; of the Erie County Medical Society, of which he has been president ; and of the Buffalo Academy of Medicine. He has been president of the Alumni Association of the University of Buffalo, and is one of the curators of that institution. He has had wide experience in examinations of the insane, and for many years has frequently been appointed by the courts of Buffalo as an expert on the question of insanity, and has been called to other cities in that capacity.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Edward Charles White O' Brien was born at Quebec, Canada, February 4, 1843: moved to Buffalo in 1859; graduated from the medical department of the Uni- versity of Buffalo in 186 ; was health physician of Buffalo, 1872-17; married Monterey Allis of New York city Octo- ber 8, 1879; has practiced medicine in Buffalo since 1867.
Dilworth MD. Silver was born in Peruville, Tompkins county, New York, somewhat more than forty years ago. His boyhood and youth were passed in this little village, where he received such training as the district schools afforded, as well as the wider and more compre- hensive education that comes from con- tact with other boys and with the world in general. At the age of eighteen he moved to the western end of the state, and spent the next four years in James- town. Here he obtained the benefit of a short attendance at the Jamestown Academy, but was obliged to devote himself largely to the task of earning a livelihood. He was ambitious, how- ever, to become a lawyer, and set about attaining that end, acquiring by private reading and study the general culture that his incomplete scholastic prepa- ration had failed to furnish.
Mr. Silver judged wisely that the larger the place the greater the opportunity for advancement, profes- sional and other. Proceeding to Buffalo, accord- ingly, in 1875, he spent several months in business, and then entered the law office of William C. Fitch as a student. In due time he acquired the necessary legal knowledge, and in January, 1880, was admit- ted to the bar at Syracuse. The following month
he opened an office in Buffalo, where he has prac- ticed continuously ever since. He was considerably older when he began his professional career than the average lawyer so circumstanced ; and this fact undoubtedly gave him greater maturity of mind and a firmer grasp of legal principles than the young
DILWORTH M. SILVER
practitioner is likely to possess. He was fortunate, also, in establishing himself in Buffalo when he did. The growth of the metropolis of western New York in the decade then beginning was remarkable : and the many new industrial and commercial enterprises, and consequent development of real-estate opera- tions, necessitated a vast amount of legal business of one kind or another. Mr. Silver profited, as might have been expected, from all these favoring circum- stances. It may also be noted that he has devoted himself wholly to his profession, and the measure of success that he has attained may be regarded as the reward of hard and conscientious work in his chosen field. With the exception of about eighteen months, he has always practiced alone, deeming it more
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advantageous, on the whole, to carry on his work without partnership assistance.
Mr. Silver is an earnest Republican, and has made political speeches throughout Erie county in every important campaign for several years past. Of late he has given considerable time to the study of his
WILLIAM F. STRASMER
family genealogy - a subject that seldom fails to prove deeply interesting to one who turns his atten- tion in that direction. On his mother's side he has found little difficulty in tracing the family back to the original settler, who came to this country in 1690 and established himself in New Jersey : and Mr. Silver may be pardoned for feeling some natural pride in the fact that Vice President Hobart is also a descendant of this common ancestor. Mr. Silver is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Idlewood Lodge, No. 652. He attends the Delaware Avenue Metho- dist Episcopal Church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Dilworth M. Silver was born at Peruville, V. Y., March 10, 1853 ; was educated in common schools and acade-
mies ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1880 ; married Elizabeth Englehart of Batavia, N. Y., in January, 1888 ; has practiced law in Buffalo since February, 1880.
William Ff. Strasmer is prominent among those members of the Erie-county bar who have combined success in the legal profession with active participation in the various investment enterprises that have characterized the growth of Buffalo in the last decade. He is a native of Buffalo, where he has always lived. To the energy and perseverance that marked his early efforts to gain an education, his later success is partly attributable. When a boy at Public School No. 32, he won the Jesse Ketchum gold medal in a com- petitive examination open only to gradu- ates of the highest standing in all the. grammar schools of the city. He subse- quently attended the high school, was graduated in 1876, and in the fall of the same year became a student in the Uni- versity of Rochester, from which he received the degree of A. B. in 1881. While pursuing his studies at college, he tutored and in his senior year did some literary work for the Rochester papers. Although thus devoting considerable time to matters not pertaining to his course of study, he maintained a high standing ; and some years later, when a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa was formed at the university, the faculty elected him a member because of his scholarly attainments.
On leaving college, Mr. Strasmer ac- cepted an appointment as principal of the academy at Whitney's Point, N. Y., and taught there for two years, reading law at the same time in the office of an attorney in that village. He re- turned to Buffalo in 1883, and entered the law office of Benjamin H. Williams, then a member of the firm of Williams & Potter. In 1885 he was admitted to the bar. He remained with Williams & Potter for some time after this, in order to famil- iarize himself with practice in the United States courts, and particularly in admiralty law, of which that firm made a specialty. In June, 1887, he formed a partnership with Wilber E. Houpt, which lasted until October, 1889. Since then he has car- ried on his practice alone, deeming such a course more desirable in many respects.
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Mr. Strasmer began his professional life in Buffalo at a time when the rapid growth of the city favored the promotion of many enterprises in the line of real-estate investment and improvement. Litigation connected with shipping interests, which had especially interested him in the early part of his legal career, had been almost wholly driven from Buffalo by altered conditions of lake traffic ; and he drifted, more from pressure of business than from choice, into real-estate and corporation law. A number of organizations for investment in realty were formed under his advice and counsel. These corporations, notwithstanding the depression that began in 1893, are among the most substantial of their kind in Buffalo, and demonstrate Mr. Strasmer's ability and conservative judgment. He has served as an officer and director in some of these organiza- tions; and the duties thus assumed have been inconsistent with active court liti- gation, and have made him chiefly an office lawyer and counselor. This has been true likewise of some other promi- nent members of the Buffalo bar having similar interests.
Mr. Strasmer devotes much of his time to the study of public questions. In national politics he is an independent Republican. He supports movements that tend to furnish the best public ser- vice, and to secure the application of common-sense and businesslike methods. He has been for some years a member of the Civil Service Reform Association ; and in April, 1896, he was appointed by Mayor Jewett a civil-service commis- sioner of the city of Buffalo. The ap- pointment met with general approval. This is the only public office he has filled.
Mr. Strasmer is a member of Erie Lodge, No. 161, F. & A. M .; and of Niagara Lodge, No. 25, I. O. O. F., of which he is a past grand officer. He belongs, also, to several other social organizations, including the Acacia, Sat- urn, and University clubs.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - William F. Strasmer was born at Buf- falo : attended the public schools of Buffalo and Rochester University, whence he grad- uated in 1881 ; taught at Whitney's Point (.V. Y. ) Academy, 1881-833 ; was admitted to the bar in 1885 ; has practiced law in Buffalo and engaged in various business enterprises since 1887 ; has been a civil-service commissioner of Buffalo since April, 1896.
William ff. Ulendt, president of the Buffalo Forge Co., was born in Buffalo less than forty years ago. He received his education in Public School No. 32 and in the old Central High School. His early business training was obtained as a bookkeeper in the office of R. W. Bell & Co. of Buffalo.
Before he was twenty years old Mr. Wendt began his connection with the Buffalo Forge Co. The business had been established only a few months, and had met with little success ; and Mr. Wendt was able to purchase a half interest in the concern for a small sum. His keen business foresight was soon evident in the increasing prosperity of the enterprise. At first he took charge of the financial part of the business, but he soon became convinced of the neces- sity of a knowledge of the practical work of manu- facture. Accordingly, while laying the foundation
WILLIAM F. WENDT
of his present extensive business, he acquainted him- self thoroughly with all the processes and detail of manufacture, and with the general management of the concern ; so that, when he purchased the
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interest of his partner, Charles Hammelmann, in 1883, he was well fitted to assume the control of all departments of the business.
In 1886 Mr. Wendt admitted to partnership a younger brother, Henry W. Wendt ; and the two . have worked together ever since. The growth of
F
CRETIEN WEYAND
the business has been continuous and rapid, and to- day few concerns are more widely known in its special line than the Buffalo Forge Co. At first but two sizes of forges were made ; but new sizes, styles, and improvements have been constantly added to the product of the works, and their business in portable forges is now estimated to be the largest in the United States. The manufacture of heating and ventilating apparatus was begun in 1884, and to-day the firm has few rivals in that line. In 1893 they took up the manufacture of high-speed automatic engines, which now constitute a large part of the output of the factory. The extensive works of the firm are located on Broadway, and among them stands the original frame factory, an eloquent reminder of the
smail beginnings from which the business has grown. Selling agencies for the products of the house are maintained in the principal cities of the United States, and in London, Paris, and St. Petersburg. The building up of such a business in less than twenty years is sufficient proof of the ability, enterprise, and energy of the man who has guided the fortunes of the house during all that time.
Although one of the most modest and unassuming of men, and chiefly occupied with the management of his business affairs, Mr. Wendt takes deep interest in political matters and in the questions of the day. He has long been active in local public affairs, and is an old member of the Buffalo Republican League. He was one of the ten men who built the first electric railroad to Tonawanda in 1888 ; and he is a director of the Citi- zens' Bank, and a member of the real- estate commission of the German Young Men's Association. He belongs to the Lutheran church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- William Frans Wendt was born at Buf- falo July 2, 1858 ; was educated in the public schools ; married Mary Gies of Buffalo November 8, 1882; bought an interest in the Buffalo Forge Co. in 1878, and has been at the head of the business since 1883.
Crétien Weyand, as he was really named in his fatherland, or Christian Weyand, as he is commonly known in this country, was born in Lorraine, France, about seventy years ago. He attended the common schools of his native province, but was not able to carry his education very far. In his twenty-first year he left Lorraine for the wider opportunities of the new world, landing in New York in the spring of 1847. Without delaying long in the metrop- olis, he betook himself to Buffalo, and there ob- tained employment as a cobbler. Ile worked at this trade for several years as an employee, much of the time with Forbush & Brown, and ultimately established a shop of his own.
All this happened so long ago that most people do not recall the facts at all, and always think of Mr. Weyand as a prosperous and wealthy brewer. He has been that for many years ; but such a position in life is not attained at a single bound, and in Mr. Weyand's case the evolution from a
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hard-working shoemaker to a retired brewer was a long process. He first engaged in the brewing business in 1866.' He had a partner until 1873, but their com- bined capital was little enough, and their plant was necessarily small and ill equipped. The purest and best of barley malt was used from the beginning, and improved machinery was introduced as fast as the necessary capital could be saved or secured. Few people realize the complexity and nicety of modern brewing methods, or the scientific care and skill requisite at every stage of the operation. From the moment when the barley is placed in the malt vat until the matured liquid is taken from the ice cellar nine months later, ceaseless supervision must prevail.
Taking the business alone in 1873, Mr. Weyand devoted himself with renewed energy to the task of building up a magnificent plant. were completely successful, and in a few years his establishment was one of the first in its line in Buffalo. As advancing age made it desirable to give up active commercial life, he converted his business into a corporation in 1890, keeping the office of president for him- self, and making his son, John A. Wey- and, vice president and manager, and his son, Charles M. Weyand, secretary and treasurer. Both John Weyand and his brother Charles had grown up in the business and knew it thoroughly, so that the affairs of the new corporation were safe in their charge. Since this change was made the business of the Weyand brewery has increased markedly, and in 1896-97 it became necessary to make extensive additions to the plant. The establishment is now one of the best- equipped breweries in the country, and its product finds increasing favor in a wide market.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Cretien Weyand was born in Lorraine, France, May 11, 1826; came to the United States in 1847, and settled in Buffalo ; worked at the shoemaker's trade, 1847-66; married Magdalena Maver of Buffalo May 9, 1852 ; has carried on a brewery in Buffalo since 1866.
His efforts
Myron E. and Cordelia E. Bartlett, and belongs to a family that has been honored for generations in both England and America. He is a lineal descendant of a brother of Josiah Bartlett, an early governor of New Hampshire, who conferred lasting distinction on the name by signing the Declaration of Independence next after John Hancock. Mr. Bartlett's grand- father moved to Wyoming county from Vermont in 1824, and his father was born there seven years later.
Mr. Bartlett was born in Warsaw about forty years ago, and was educated at the academy in his native town, at Geneseo Academy, and at Cornell Uni- versity. Before entering Cornell he was employed for a time as a printer in the office of the Western New Yorker, under William H. Merrill, now managing editor of the New York World. Mr.
EUGENE M. BARTLETT
Eugene MD. Bartlett has long been prominent in the affairs of Wyoming county, and like distinction may safely be predicted for him in Erie county, to which he has recently transferred a part of his professional practice. He is a son of
Bartlett has always had a fondness for journalism, and has frequently contributed articles to newspapers and magazines : but the legal profession in the end proved most attractive to him. He took up the
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study of law, therefore, in the office of Bartlett & Bartlett at Warsaw.
In January, 1880, he was admitted to the bar, and at once assumed all the responsibility that his pre- ceptors and the clients of the office would intrust to him. His father had long been one of the most conspicuous members of the Wyoming-county bar, and the young lawyer soon formed a partnership with him, under the style of M. E. & E. M. Bartlett. From the beginning Mr. Bartlett took special interest in the court work of the firm ; and probably few men of his age in western New York have argued a greater number of cases, embracing a more wide and varied range of subjects, than he. The discovery of salt in Wyoming county opened new fields for the exercise of legal ability ; and Mr. Bartlett has been active in the organization of corporations to utilize this discovery, and in the protection of their in- terests. During the fifteen years that he has prac- ticed in Wyoming county his firm has enjoyed an extensive and lucrative practice, taking part on one side or the other in nearly every important case in the county, and becoming widely known in pro- fessional circles. January 1, 1896, Hayden H. Tozier was admitted to partnership, and the firm of Partlett, Bartlett & Tozier has succeeded to the prosperity of the former association.
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