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 6
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Mr. Hengerer finds diversion from business in travel, and has visited Europe several times for rest and recreation. Unostentatious in his style of living,
cordial in his friendship, prompt and progressive in business, he has won his place in Buffalo by the same qualities he displayed when, at a critical time in the country's history, he donned the uniform of a volunteer soldier of the United States, and sac- rificed everything to the call of duty.
WILLIAM HENGERER
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-William Hlen- gerer was born at Wurtemburg, Germany, March 2, 1839 ; attended common schools ; came to the United States in 1849 ; served in the Union Army, 1861-63 ; married Louisa Duerr of Buffalo September 24, 1863 ; has been park commissioner of Buffalo since 1884, and trustee of State Normal School since 1885.
Melson TR. hopkins is a son of the Empire State. His father, General Timothy S. Hopkins, lived for many years at Great Barrington, Mass., but moved to Erie county in 1800, and purchased a farm near Williamsville, where the subject of this sketch was born March 2, 1816.
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General Hopkins was appointed captain by Gov- ernor George Clinton in 1803, major by Governor Lewis in 1806, and lieutenant colonel by Governor Tomkins in 1811 ; and he served as brigadier general under Major General Hall during the war of 1812, but resigned his commission when peace was declared.
NELSON K. HOPKINS
The boyhood of Nelson K. Hopkins was spent upon his father's farmi, where practical experience of many kinds supplemented the scant educational op- portunities offered by the district school. When only seventeen, he secured the position of clerk and manager to the contractors then building the Mac- adam road between Williamsville and Buffalo. In this position he had entire charge of the accounts with over 400 men. After the completion of this work, Mr. Hopkins again turned his attention to his education, and in 1834 entered the academy at Fre- donia, N. Y., where he remained two terms. He then spent two years at the Genesee Wesleyan Semi- nary at Lima, N. Y. Before entering this school young Hopkins had been elected captain of a com-
pany of militia at Williamsville, and while he was at the seminary his company was called out. Mr. Hopkins immediately started for the front, where he enlisted in the United States service with sixty of his men, and served in what was called the "Patriot War." He was stationed on the Niagara frontier, near the foot of Ferry street in Buffalo.
He next entered Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., where his brilliant work and the high honors with which he graduated in 1842 gave promise of those qualities that were to be developed when he was to battle with the actual realities of life. Upon his graduation Mr. Hop- kins was elected to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa society -an honor con- ferred only upon students of the highest standing.
The legal profession has always at- tracted men of ambition and of keen and brilliant mind, and Mr. Hopkins made choice of it as his life-work. He entered the office of Potter & Spaulding, in Buffalo, as a clerk, and in 1846 was duly admitted to the bar in the city of New York. Thus began the career that has made him one of Buffalo's most honored sons. Mr. Hopkins has devoted himself to the practice of law contin- uously since then, with the single ex- ception of four years spent at the state capitol, as comptroller. Mr. Hopkins has ever been a counselor rather than an advocate. Much of his practice has con- cerned the settlement of estates, the examination of titles, and the placing of investments - duties that fitted him well for the responsible position he filled so brilliantly in the service of the state. Mr. Hopkins has always been a staunch Republi- can. After several years of service in Buffalo, as ward supervisor and as alderman, he was appointed collector of internal revenue of the Buffalo district by President Johnson in 1866. In 1871, without his knowledge or consent, he was nominated for state comptroller, and was elected by a handsome majority. He was called to the administration of the financial department of the state at a very critical period. Tweed and his accomplices were then in power, and they had sadly disorganized the finances of the com- monwealth. The sinking funds had been despoiled to make good other appropriations, and in various ways the comptroller's department was greatly in need of reform. Mr. Hopkins addressed himself to
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the task with the painstaking care and unbending in- tegrity that have characterized his public and private career ; and, happily for the good of the state, he was well qualified for the work, both by natural ability and by legal training. His first annual report was greeted with applause, both for its clear elucidation of the financial condition, and for the evidence it bore that a regime of retrenchment had replaced that of extravagance. That men of all parties appreciated his services, was shown in 1873, when he was re- elected to the office he had filled so well, notwith- standing the defeat of every other candidate on the Republican ticket. During his four years of office, $6,500,000 that had been abstracted from the treasury in direct violation of the constitution was restored, and nearly $20,000,000 of the state debt was paid.
At the expiration of his second term of office, Mr. Hopkins returned to Buffalo and resumed his legal practice, which he has continued ever since. It is scarcely necessary to say that he is a prominent citizen there, and actively interested in the welfare of the city. He was one of the organizers of the present paid Fire De- partment, and for ten years occupied the honorable position of fire commissioner, where his services were of a careful and conservative nature that guarded the best public interests. For many years he was the attorney and a director of White's Bank, now the American Exchange Bank, of Buffalo ; and he has always been identified with the prominent local clubs, organizations, and societies.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Nelson K. Hopkins was born at Williams- ville, N. Y., March 2, 1816 ; attended Fredonia ( N. Y. ) Academy and Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y., and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1842 ; was admitted to the bar at Neto York city in 1846 ; married Lucy Ann Allen of Buffalo in 1848, and Louise Ann Pratt of Buffalo in 1855 ; was alder- man in Buffalo, 1862-66 ; was appointed collector of internal revenue by President Johnson in 1866 ; was elected comptroller of the state of New York in 1871, and was re-elected in 1873; has practiced laws in Buffalo since 1846.
William C. Dornaday has made a success of life in more directions than are open to most men. He is a naturalist of distinction, a taxidermist of the
first rank, and a traveler and hunter of renown. Ile stands high as an author, and as a business man he has won an enviable position.
Born with a love of nature, which his early life did much to foster, he sought employment when a young man in the famous natural history establish- ment of Professor Ward in Rochester, and there pre- pared himself for the work as a field naturalist in which he gained such distinction. His first venture in this line was in Cuba and Florida, where he won his spurs as a naturalist by discovering and describing the Florida crocodile, a genus quite distinct from the alligator. His success gave impetus to the desire to enter richer, if wilder and more dangerous, lands ; and in 1876 he undertook an expedition to the West Indies and South America, where he made a large
WILLIAM T. HORNADAY
collection of strange fishes, beautiful birds, and hor- rible reptiles. On his return he went to Europe, and spent some time in study in various museums of seience and art. His next trip was to the East
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Indies. This was the most extensive expedition Mr. Hornaday ever made, and lasted nearly three years, during which he sent home the largest collection of specimens ever made in the Far East. His adven- tures in India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, and Borneo, have been given to the public in a book en- titled " Two Years in the Jungle," which was pub- lished in 1885, and ran through four editions.
Mr. Hornaday returned to Rochester in 1879, and three years later was appointed chief taxidermist of the United States National Museum at Washington. During the eight years in which he held that import- ant position, it is not too much to say that he stood at the head of the profession. Many of the recent advances in the taxidermic art are due to him. He introduced the present very popular method of mounting large quadrupeds in groups and placing them amidst their natural surroundings. Some of his work - notably the group of buffalo which is such an ornament to the National Museum - has received the highest praise from the best authorities, and is a monument to his skill as an artist and his knowledge as a naturalist.
In 1889 Mr. Hornaday proposed the establishment by congress, on a grand scale, of a national zoölog- ical park at Washington, to be under the control of the Smithsonian Institution. He was forthwith de- tailed by the secretary to formulate plans and present them to congress. He did this with so much success that in the next two years congress appropriated $292,000 to carry out the scheme. Mr. Hornaday was appointed superintendent, and served the commission- ers for one year in that capacity. When the park was finally placed under the control of the Smith- sonian Institution, Professor Langley insisted on changes in its plans so sweeping that Mr. Hornaday resigned his position, severed his connection with the government, and came to Buffalo. Here he became interested in real estate, and with four other operators formed a close corporation called the Union Land Exchange, which has been the direct means of bringing a large amount of capital to Buffalo.
As a writer, Mr. Hornaday has interested the public in many subjects. His story of life in the East Indies has already been referred to. He has written a work on "Taxidermy and Zoological Col- lecting " that is a standard authority. His memoir on the "Extermination of the American Bison " (a government publication) attracted much attention. His contributions to various papers and magazines are well known and popular. His recent novel, en- titled "The Man Who Became a Savage," which made its first appearance in the Illustrated Buffalo Express, possesses great merit and originality.
The aesthetic side of Mr. Hornaday's nature finds expression in an intense love for art. He is an ex- cellent judge of paintings, and has begun to form a collection of works by American artists only.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-William Tem- ple Hornaday was born near Plainfield, Ind., Decem- ber 1, 1854 ; attended the public schools of Knoxville, Iowa, Oskaloosa ( Iowa ) College, and the Iowa Agricul- tural College ; studied soology, taxidermy, and museology in Rochester and in various European museums ; trav- eled extensively from 1875 to 1879, visiting the West Indies, South America, and the Far East, making soological collections ; married Josephine Chamberlain of Battle Creek, Mich., September 11, 1879; was made chief taxidermist of the United States National Museum in 1882 ; proposed the establishment and pre- pared the plans of the National Zoological Park at Washington in 1888 ; has been engaged in the real- estate business in Buffalo since 1890.
harvey 3. burd is a striking example of the men whose capacity for work is such that they can be" at once successful in business and actively interested in public affairs. He has been a thoroughly practical citizen, attending strictly to his private enterprises on the one side, and on the other assuming his full share of the duties that we all owe to the community in which we live. One of the encouraging signs of the times in our country to-day is the steady increase in the number of business men who are recognizing the fact that the state has a just claim to their services in some official capacity. It is in this way only that our politics can be made clean and respectable.
Mr. Hurd's father, Clark W. Hurd, was of Ver- mont stock, coming to Erie county in the '30's. He was one of the first settlers on the Buffalo Creek Indian reservation at Elma, where Harvey Hurd was born. The latter's early life was passed upon the farm, and his early education was obtained in the district school. To this was added an excellent training at the old Buffalo Academy and at Cornell University, from which he graduated in 1872. His commercial life has been confined to the lumber business chiefly, in which he is at present engaged in Buffalo, in company with his brother, James T. Hurd, under the firm name of Hurd Bros.
In 1890 and 1891 Mr. Hurd was president of the Buffalo Lumber Exchange. He is a member of the Buffalo Merchants' Exchange, and served for several years on the board of trustees of that institution. He is also a member of the Buffalo Builders' Ex- change. He is part owner of the Buffalo Planing Mill Company, which operates one of the largest and best equipped plants in the United States, and is vice
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president of the company. Mr. Hurd is also a director of the Buffalo Loan, Trust, and Safe Deposit Com- pany, and of the Lancaster Brick Yard Company. He is a life member of the Buffalo Library Association.
In public life Mr. Hurd has made a good record. Few men are able to manage many things well at the same time, but Mr. Hurd has shown ability as a legislator as well as in the walks of mercantile life. He was first elected to the legislature in 1877, and served altogether four years. His princi- pal work in the assembly was in connec- tion with the Erie canal. For three years he was chairman of the canal committee, and directed his efforts towards securing the adoption of a constitutional amend- ment making the canals free from tolls. His services in this matter have not been forgotten in western New York.
Mr. Hurd was a member of the legis- lature in 1881, when the memorable resignation of Mr. Conkling from the United States senate, together with that of Mr. Platt, unexpectedly rendered the election of two senators necessary. The Republican party, with which Mr. Hurd has been identified, was divided into two factions - one favoring the return of Mr. Conkling to the senate and the other opposing such return. A long and bitter fight followed in the legislature. Mr. Hurd was a strong admirer of the New York senator, and supported him to the end. This trait of adhering to a friend or to a cause is a marked one in his character.
Mr. Hurd is an ardent Republican, and has taken an active interest as one of the managers of the party in Erie county. For several years he was chairman of the Republican general committee. He is at present a member of the Republican state committee, repre- senting the 33d senatorial district, and is a member of the executive committee of the state committee.
In social life Mr. Hurd is eminently companion- able. He is a member of the Buffalo Club and of the University Club, and is a 32d degree Mason. While the cares of business leave little time for diversions, his life is not in any sense one-sided.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Harvey Jetson Hurd was born at Etma, N. Y., February 28, 1849 ; was educated at Buffalo Academy and at Cornell Uni- versity, from which he graduated in 1872; was a member of the New York legislature, 1878-81 ; has been engaged in the lumber business in Buffalo since 1880.
E. D. hutchinson is one of the men who make themselves valuable in the community in which they live. Thoroughly imbued with the progressive spirit of the age, he is to be found in the front rank of those who are working for the material and moral welfare of the world. Endowed with large re-
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HARVEY J. HURD
sources, he has numerous and varied business inter- ests. Unlike many people blessed with means, Mr. Hutchinson is liberal with both his energy and his money. No worthy charity appeals to him in vain ; no public movement that has for its object the eradication of some political or moral evil need lack his influence. He is a public-spirited citizen in the fullest meaning of the term, and he has made many personal sacrifices to serve his fellow - citizens. Sturdy in mind and purpose, no unworthy motive ever turned him from the path of duty. When his way is seen clearly, it is pursued to the end, no mat- ter what obstacles are to be overcome.
Mr. Hutchinson's business life began when he was eighteen years old, ill health having forced him to
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abandon a course of study preparatory for college. His first venture was as a partner in the firm of L. W. Drake & Co., provision dealers and pork packers. In the summer of 1875 their slaughterhouse at East Buffalo was burned, and the fire was followed by a dissolution of partnership. But so energetic and re-
E. H. HUTCHINSON
sourceful a man as Mr. Hutchinson had already shown himself to be could not long remain idle, and in a few months he had established an advertising agency. To this he soon added the job-printing business. Under his fostering care and wise management this business grew steadily and prospered exceedingly. Mr. Hutchinson continued it alone until 1890, when Harry C. Spendelow became his partner. This asso- ciation was unbroken until January 1, 1895, when Mr. Hutchinson retired, the Spendelow Printing Company succeeding E. H. Hutchinson & Co.
Mr. Hutchinson is interested in many business enterprises in Buffalo. He is a director of the Marine Bank, and a stockholder of the Bank of Buf- falo ; and serves as a trustee. of the Buffalo City
Cemetery. A number of fine business blocks, flats, and apartment houses have been erected by him. In many directions his influence is felt, and every- where his counsel and his energy of execution are desired and sought. He is a manager of the Church Charity Foundation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Buffalo, and is a life member of the Buffalo Historical Society, the Buffalo Orphan Asylum, and the Buffalo Library. No more cheerful giver is known to many charitable and benevo- lent institutions of the city, and he is always one of the first to respond to any special call for aid. As a loving memorial to his father, John Martin Hutchinson, and to his mother, Eunice Alzina Howard Hutchinson, he has recently built the Hutchinson Memorial Chapel of the Holy Innocents, which has been presented to the Church Charity Foundation.
Men of Mr. Hutchinson's stamp make ideal public servants, and it is certainly to be regretted that he has found it im- possible to give the city as much of his time as his fellow-citizens would like. A Democrat in politics, he was yet elected, because of his personal popularity, to a seat in the board of aldermen for the old 10th ward, the strongest Republican ward in the city. He served one term of two years.
When John M. Hutchinson died August 17, 1886, there was a popular demand for the appointment of his son to succeed him as member of the board of fire com- missioners. No convenient opportunity to effect this came until February 24, 1891, when Mayor Charles F. Bishop was pleased to make the appointment. The father had served the city for years with a single- ness of purpose and an unexcelled faithfulness, and it was felt that the son would do the same. The other members of the board at once paid a tribute to the father by choosing the capable son as their chairman. Unfortunately the younger Hutchinson's connection with the Fire Department ceased in two years, because he was compelled by ill health in his family to absent himself from Buffalo for a consid- erable period of time, and he felt it unjust to the city to hold the position under such circumstances. He has still a keen interest in everything pertaining to the Fire Department, and the members of the force in all grades of service have a warm regard for their former commissioner.
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Mr. Hutchinson delights in travel, and has visited all parts of the United States and the greater part of Europe.
Several fraternal organizations know E. H. Hutch- inson as a brother. He is a member of Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 441, F. & A. M .; Adytum Chapter, No. 235, R. A. M .; Keystone Council, No. 20, R. & S. M .; Hugh de Payens Commandery, No. 30, K. T .; Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine ; and Orient Lodge, A. O. U. W.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Edward How- ard Hutchinson was born at Buffalo March 1, 1852 ; attended various public and private schools ; married Jeanie Blanche Ganson of Buffalo September 25, 1872; was alderman from the old 10th ward, 1883-89; was appointed a Fire Commissioner February 24."from-the fact that between two and three hundred 1891, resigning October 3, 1893.
Christian IRlinck is one of Buf- falo's most enterprising citizens, and stands among the foremost on the list of men of Teutonic descent who have made for themselves fame and fortune in their adopted country. Mr. Klinck is a native of Germany, where he received a good common-school education, and learned his trade as a butcher. The narrow world of German provincialism, with its hope- lessness of any great success, proved too small for the ambitious lad, and at the age of seventeen he determined to seek his fortunes in the new world. Accord- ingly he set sail for America, intending to settle in Cincinnati, Ohio ; but when he reached Buffalo he was unable to pay his railroad fare further, and, making a virtue of necessity, he sought work there, which he obtained at the munificent rate of six dollars a month. Notwithstanding this small beginning, his German thrift and industry enabled him, in six years, to amass sufficient capital to go into busi- ness for himself ; and from that time forth his path was always forward and upward. At first he conducted the busi- ness of a general butcher, but in 1868 he took up a specialty, opening a pork- packing business that was destined to become one of the greatest establish- ments of its kind in the United States. From the start he had to contend with competition of the keenest kind. There were wealthier and stronger firms which, had they been able, would have crushed the life out of the new concern ; but it was
based upon the principles of business integrity, and an iron will was behind it. Few men could have been successful in this enterprise, but Mr. Klinek was one of the few. He was honest, industrious, prudent, far-seeing, and resolute; and because he possessed these characteristics, because he rejected all offers to compromise or combine, because he re- fused to be swayed from his original purpose, he won the battle, and is to-day one of the kings of pork packing in the country. His establishment is situated on Depot street, near William, in East Buffalo. The yards cover over eighteen acres, and the mammoth buildings are equipped with the most complete machinery and the most improved appliances. Some idea of the magnitude of the business may be gained
CHRISTIAN KLINCK
men are there employed, turning out a product that annually amounts to over $3,000,000.
Mr. Klinck has not only flourished financially, but he has prospered politically as well, so far as he
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has found time for such pursuits. In 1863, yielding to the solicitations of his friends and neighbors, he entered the political arena as candidate for alderman of the old 13th ward in Buffalo, and served his con- stituents faithfully for two years, when he retired. For nearly thirty years he remained out of politics,
ER.ISTUS C. KNIGHT
but at the expiration of that time representative citi- zens waited upon him, and induced him to become a candidate for councilman : and he was elected by a most flattering majority. In this capacity Mr. Klinek has brought to the service of the public those rugged qualities of sterling integrity, steadfastness of purpose, and keen discrimination that have brought him success in private life. To be fair and just is the self-evident purpose of his action in all matters of legislation. Though at times others have differed from him and taken opposite grounds, none have ever impugned his motives or suggested for a moment that his intentions were other than the purest.
Mr. Klinck is interested in many financial and business enterprises aside from those immediately
under his personal control. He is a director of the Citizens' Bank and of St. John's German Orphan Asylum, and is a stockholder in the Live Stock Ex- change and in the Crocker Fertilizer Company.
PERSONAL CHRONOI. OGY- Christian Klinck was born in the Bavarian village of Schonen- burg, Germany, February 6, 1833 ; moved to the city of Zweibrucken ( also in Rhenish Bavaria ) in 1849, where he learned his trade as a butcher ; came to America and settled in Buffalo in 1850 ; established a pork-packing business in 1868 ; was alder- man from the 13th ward, Buffalo, 1863- 65 ; was elected a member of the Buffalo board of councilmen in 1893, and was made president of the board January 6, 1896.
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