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 9
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Dr. Park might be taken as an illustration of what Dr. Holmes says of the influence of a fine ancestry His father, the Rev. Roswell Park, D. D., graduated at the head of his class at West Point in 1836, and did important work in the corps of engineers of the United States army for some years ; then became professor of chemistry and physics in the University of Pennsylvania ; and finally entered the church and became, in 1852, founder and first president of Racine College. On the other side, Dr. Park is descended from a race with a bent, like that of R. L. Stevenson, for engineering. His mother, Mary B. Baldwin of Woburn, Mass., was a descendant
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of the Baldwin family, so many representatives
Medical College. In 1882 he was made lecturer on of which became famous engineers in the eastern . surgery in the Rush Medical College. In 1883 he part of the country, and left monuments of their skill all along the Atlantic coast. Dr. Park's ances- tors on both sides were prominent in the War of Independence, and several of them were officers. was called to the chair of surgery in the Buffalo Medical College : this position, with that of surgeon to the Buffalo General Hospital, he still holds. His ability as a teacher has been widely recognized.
ROSWELL PARK
With such a family history, it would not have been surprising if Dr. Park had become an engineer. Instead, he decided to follow the study of medicine. After a general education at Racine College, he graduated from the Chicago Medical College (North- western University ), adding to his preparation for his profession the valuable experience of two and a half years' service as interne in the two largest hospitals in Chicago. At twenty-five Dr. Park began his work as a teacher, having received an appointment, in 1877, as demonstrator of anatomy in the Woman's Medical College of Chicago. The next year he was appointed to the same position, and later to that of assistant professor of anatomy, in the Chicago
Dr. Park's reputation, however, is not confined to his work in the class-room and as a practitioner. If the record stopped here, it would leave out a very important part of his career. He is a deep student, and has won fame as a writer upon medical topics. The list of the papers that he has published in the last twelve years fills fourteen pages of manuscript. Among the chief items is a volume of " Lectures on Surgical Pathol- ogy," which appeared in 1892. He has in preparation, and will soon publish, a volume of lectures on the history of medicine ; and a treatise on surgery, in two volumes, of which he is editor, and to which he has been a large contributor. He has written many encyclopedia ar- ticles and popular lectures. His signature appears at the foot of many of the med- ical articles in Johnson's "Universal Cyclopedia." He is a member of the New York Academy of Medicine, the American Medical Association, the Amer- ican Surgical Association, the American Orthopedic Association, the American As- sociation of Genito-Urinary Surgeons, the German Congress of Surgeons ( Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie), and various other professional societies. He was made an honorary member of the Amer- ican Academy of Medicine in 1895, and is now president of the Medical Society of the State of New York. He is a mem- ber of all the local scientific societies. Among the degrees that he has received are A. M., Racine College, 1875 ; honorary M. D., Rush Medical College ( Lake Forest University ), 1892 ; and honor- ary A. M., Harvard, 1895.
At the age of forty Dr. Park had attained a national reputation. He is not only a good student and a voluminous writer in his profession, but is also a man of the world, actively concerned in every- thing that makes life interesting. He is a man of the widest sympathy. His social nature, and the extent and diversity of his interests, appear in the fact that he has been an officer of the Buffalo, Saturn, and University clubs of Buffalo ; that he has been
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president of the Buffalo Musical Association ; that he is a member of the University and Reform clubs of New York city ; that he has been president of the 21st Ward Good Government Club, and vice presi- dent of the Council of Confederated Good Govern- ment Clubs of Buffalo. In years past Dr. Park was for some time president of the Chicago Electrical Society, and later of the Buffalo Microscopical Society. In 1895 Governor Morton made him one of the managers of the Buffalo State Hospital. Dr. Park has also held many other positions of honor and responsibility.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Roswell Park was born at Pomfret, Conn., May 4, 1852; gradu- ated from Racine ( Wis. ) College in 1872, and from the Chicago Medical College with the degree of M. D. in 1876 ; married Martha P. Durkee of Chicago June 1, 1882 ; served upon the faculty of the Woman's Medical College of Chicago, the Chicago Medical College, and Rush Medical College, successively, 1877-83; was called to be professor of surgery in the medical department, University of Buf- falo, and surgcon to the Buffalo General Hospital, in 1883 ; was elected president of the Medical Society of the State of New York for 1895-96.
William f. Ditt has an important place in the history of the petroleum industry, and is an excellent illustration of the truth that one of the chief factors in the material development of our country to-day is the man of science. He was born and brought up on a farm- a circumstance that he has looked back upon not with regret, but with pleasure. The oldest boy in a farmer's family of ten children - more than half of them girls - is generally not overburdened with opportunities for advancement. So it was with young Pitt. His education had to be for the most part what he made it himself, and he early determined that it should be the best possible under the circumstances. Hc worked and taught and studied, in accordance with shifting conditions, for twelve years, finally grad- nating from Union College in 1860. He was then twenty-eight years of age- somewhat older than the average collegiate at grad- uation : but he had been forced to interrupt his studies continually for the purpose of meeting his current expenses by means of teaching : and he had
the solid and endaring satisfaction of knowing that all the expenses of his education had been paid by himself.
Once through college, Professor Pitt returned to teaching, all the while continuing the study of various branches of science. He was principal of the high school at Spencer, N. Y., for two years ; then held a similar position at Angelica (N. Y.) Academy ; next served as superintendent of education at Warren, Ohio, for two years ; and then returned, as principal, to Friendship (N. Y. ) Academy, where he had once taught. From there he came to Buffalo in September, 1872, to take the professorship of physics and chemistry in the high school. He built up both departments, added largely to their appara- tus, and finally resigned his position in 1890, after eighteen years of useful work, on account of the
WILLIAM H. PITT
growing demands of other interests. He still re- tained, and yet occupies, the chair of general physics and chemistry in the medical department of Niagara University, to which he was called in 1884.
MEN OF NEW YORK-WESTERN SECTION
Professor Pitt, during all these years of teaching. was still a student, devoting his leisure moments to scientific research. In 1863 Union College gave him the degree of A. M .: in 1879 the medical de- partment, University of Buffalo, that of M. D. : and in 1886 Alfred University that of Ph. D. His scientific knowledge furnished at last the basis of important developments in the petroleum fields. He became interested in the subject of oil at the time of the early excitement in Pennsylvania, and studied carefully the geological and chemical problems relat- ing to the production and the manufacture of oil. His suggestion that oil would be found further north and east of the Oil Creek district was followed by the opening of the Bradford field in 1-76. In last he declared that petroleum existed along the line dividing the head waters of the Allegheny and Gene- see rivers. His theory led O. P. Taylor, the pio- neer of the Allegany county field, to .. wild-cat " in the locality pointed out by Professor Pitt. An im- mensely rich territory was discovered. Richburg and Bolivar sprang into fame as oil towns. and millions of dollars' worth of oil was produced : all of which redounded to Professor Pitt's reputation for excellent judgment, but was otherwise of no advantage to him.
But he was more fortunate later in profiting from the fruits of his knowledge. For a long time the oil produced in the Ohio and Canadian fields was of little use. except for fuel, on account of the large proportion of sulphur that it contained. Professor Pitt applied himself to the problem of utilizing this nearly valueless product. After many fruitless experi- ments, he at last hit on a practical method of refining the oil : and the result has been a revolution in the petroleum industry in Ohio. Formerly the Lima oil was sold at fifteen cents a barrel. To-day certifi- cates for the same oil are soll! at the exchanges for about ninety cents. If the man who makes two blades of grass grow where only one grew before is a public benefactor. the man who invents a process by which any of the earth's products are made doubly useful should be placed in the same category. Professor Pitt's process is in ase. with entire success. at the Paragon Oil Refinery a: Toledo, Ohio. of which he is the consulting chemist. This position and his duties as lecturer at Niagara University have occupied ail his attention in recent years.
Professor Pitt ha- written mostly on scientific questions. Papers from his pen have appeared in the Buffalo Medical Journal and other periodicals, and in the proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has described and illustrated several new fossil from the water-lime formation in the neighborhood of Buffalo -among
them the first pteregotus, it is believed, found in this country. He has belonged to the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences for many years, doing original work on the Journa! and adding specimens of his own discovery to the society's collections.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-William Hud- son Pitt was born at Short Tract, V. Y., September S. 1831: prepared for college at Alfred (V. V. ) Academy, ani graduated from Union College, Schenee- tady, N. Y., in 1860 : married Mary Elizabeth Church of Friendship, N. Y .. MMar 18, 1861 : was superintendent of education at Warren, Ohio, 1867- 68 : was professor of physics and chemistry in the Buffalo High School, 1872-90 : was State Analyst oj Foods and Drugs, 1881-82 ; has been professor of general chemistry and physics in the medical depart- ment of Niagara University since May 20, 1884.
Charles H. Pooley is known as one of the soundest lawyers in the city of Buffalo. It is no small praise to say this, for it is an undisputed fact that the bar of Buffalo contains among its members some of the best lawyers in the state of New York. To win a recognized place among these legal lights one must be well-read in the law, and must be able to apply legal principles correctly and promptly to all questions arising. The fact that the firm of which Mr. Pooley has long been an active and dis- tinguished member cares for large corporate interests is itself a guarantee that he is an able and astute lawver.
Mr. Pooley has always lived in Buffalo. He at- tended Public School No. 1. and graduated from the Central High School in the class of 1873. This was the end of his scholastic training. Upon his graduation he entered the lumber business, in which he continued for three years. Not finding this em- ployment strictly congenial and having an ambition to adopt a profession tor which he felt a special apti- tude. Mr. Pooley began the study of law on January 1. 1876. Devoting himself diligently to Blackstone and Kent. he was admitted to the full privileges of the lar in April. 1879. He began at once the active practice of law in connection with the firm of Laning. M.Millan & Gluck, having completed his studies in the office of the late Senator A. P. Lan- ing. He has continued with that firm through its various changes - Greene. McMillan McMillan .. Gluck & Pooley, and McMillan. Gluck. Pooley & Defew - to the present time.
As an evidence of the high esteem in which Mr. Pooley is held by his fellow-members of the bar, the fact may be cited that when a vacancy occurred oz the bench of the Supreme Court for the th judicial
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district, caused by the elevation of Judge Albert Haight to the Court of Appeals on January 1, 1895, Mr. Pooley was strongly endorsed for the appoint- ment. The petition to Governor Morton in his favor was signed by lawyers of all shades of political opinion ; and the mere fact that he was endorsed in this manner to succeed a jurist of the recognized standing of Judge Haight is as great a compliment as could well be paid to a man of his profession. That he was not appointed was undoubtedly due largely to political exigencies, Gov- ernor Morton deeming it best to select for the place a man from another part of the judicial district. In the summer of 1895 Mr. Pooley was prominently men- tioned as a candidate for the Republican nomination to a place on the bench of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Pooley is a trustee of the law library of the 8th judicial district, having been appointed to that honorable position by the Supreme Court. He has likewise been a director of the Buffalo Library, serving for three years.
Always a faithful worker in the interest of any cause with which he has connected himself, Mr. Pooley has been highly hon- ored by the Free Masons. He is a Past Master of DeMolay Lodge, No. 498, and served a term as District Deputy Grand Master of the Masons of the state of New York for the 25th Masonic district.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Charles A. Pooley was born at Buffalo November 17, 1854; was educated in the public schools of Buffalo; engaged in the lumber business, 1873-75 ; was admitted to the bar in April, 1879 ; married Carrie Adams, daughter of S. Cary Adams of Buffalo, June 4, 1884 ; has practiced laro since 1879 with the firm of McMillan, Gluck, Pooley & Depew and their predecessors.
Cyrus IR. Porter has made an honorable rep- utation in two distinct lines of activity. He has been a successful architect and builder, and he is the founder of the order of Royal Templars of Temper- ance. His life has been twofold, having been de- voted both to his vocation and to movements for the uplifting of his fellow-men. Practical work and ju- dicious philanthropy have occupied his time and thought ; and self-seeking has had no place in his plans for the betterment of society. Recognizing
the great evil that lies at the root of so much human misery and crime, he has combated this evil in pub- lic and private with every rational weapon at his command. He has not allowed himself to be carried away by the cause he advocates, but has avoided fanaticism, and appealed to the reason of men.
CHARLES . POOLEY
Though a native of New York state, Mr. Porter is of an old New England family that has contributed generation after generation to the ranks of the coun- try's scholars and public men. His education was obtained in common schools, and, as he characteris- tically says, " in the workshop." He began his apprenticeship as a builder on the day General Tay- lor was elected President - November 7, 1848. Having mastered the mechanical part of building, he next undertook the theoretical study of the subject, and in due time he became an architect. For two years he was employed in the office of the resident engineer of the Chicago waterworks. Business then took him to the province of Ontario, and ten years elapsed before he returned to western New York.
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It was in 1865 that Mr. Porter came to Buffalo to live. The American block, which had just been de- stroyed in a memorable fire, was then rebuilding, and he was made superintendent of construction in connection with that work. In the following year he formed a partnership with H. M. Wilcox under
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CYRUS K. PORTER
the firm name of Wilcox & Porter ; but he soon bought out his partner's interest, and has since car- ried on his profession alone or in company with his son. He has paid particular attention to designing schoolhouses, churches, and public buildings, such as permit the exercise of bold ideas and original con- ceptions. He has frequently competed for public 'buildings, and has won several important premiums - notably the second premium for the War, State, and Navy Department Building at Washington and a like premium for the City Hall, Quebec, Canada. Among the prominent buildings of Buffalo planned and constructed by him are Trinity Church, St. Pat- rick's Church, the new municipal buildings, and the Builders' Exchange.
Mr. Porter has been no less active in the cause of temperance than in the practice of his profession. He is among the foremost reformers in devising methods of promoting sobriety in all classes of the people. His work in this direction has attracted the attention of the Prohibition party, which has placed him in nomination several times upon its ticket. He has always been a Repub- lican, having cast his first ballot for John P. Hale, in 1852. He is not, however, a hidebound member of that party, but has exercised the high prerogative and duty of "scratching " the names of ob- jectionable candidates.
The fraternal side of Mr. Porter's character is evidenced in the number of societies to which he belongs. He is an Odd Fellow, a Free Mason, a Good Templar, a Son of Temperance, a United Workman, and a Royal Templar of Tein- perance. All his leisure has been spent in temperance work, the one interest he has had at heart outside the practice of his profession.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Cyrus Kinne Porter was born at Cicero, N. Y., August 27, 1828; was educated in common schools ; learned the builders' trade, and became an architect in 1855; founded the order of Royal Templars of Temperance in 1870 ; went to Buffalo in 1865, and has practiced his profession there since.
Dascal ID. Dratt has added lustre and prestige to a family name already so distinguished that the mere maintenance of the patronymic unimpaired would have been a noteworthy achievement. When the century now closing had barely begun to run its course Captain Samuel Pratt, grandfather of Pascal P. Pratt, brought his family from Vermont to Buffalo in an old-fashioned coach, said to be the first carriage ever seen in Erie county. Captain Pratt had an important part in shaping the frontier history of Buffalo, and his sons, one of whom was twice mayor of Buffalo, contributed their share in making the family name a part of the best history of western New York.
Pascal P. Pratt, so descended, really deserves three biographies- one as a business man, another as a banker, and a third, perhaps most important of all, as a public-spirited citizen. Regarding him first from a business standpoint, we may note the fact
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that he began his commercial life, in the hardware business, at the age of sixteen, after having made the most of educational opportunities that would now be deemed scanty. In this business he remained as clerk and partner for half a century, finally retiring from the famous firm of Pratt & Co. in 1885, in order to devote more time to banking duties that were becoming increasingly burdensome. Side by side with the hardware business there grew up under Mr. Pratt's masterful hands other industrial concerns hardly less important. The house of Pratt & Letch- worth, founded in 1845, and the Buffalo Iron & Nail Company, organized in 1857, are cases in point. Without resort to details, Mr. Pratt's business life may be characterized as having been ideally success- ful : he has furnished lucrative and pleasant employ- ment to thousands of contented workmen, and he has at the same time secured a fair return for invested capital.
As a banker Mr. Pratt's career has been equally distinguished. With the Manu- facturers' and Traders' Bank of Buffalo he has been identified from the very begin- ning, over forty years ago, when he was made director and vice president. The latter office he held until 1885, when he was elected to his present office, that of president. He has also been a director of the Bank of Buffalo, of the Third National Bank of Buffalo, and of the Bank of Attica.
Most interesting to the general reader, and perhaps most pleasing to himself, is Mr. Pratt's life on the side of public ser- vices and civic honor. A list of the offices of trust and responsibility held by him would quite exhaust the space at our disposal. Educational and religious in- stitutions, political and charitable organ- izations, as well as the city and the state, have asked him freely for the benefit of his business sagacity, mature judgment, and ripe experience. The Buffalo Female Academy, the Young Men's Christian As- sociation, t1 e North Presbyterian Church, the Buffalo Orphan Asylum, and numer- ons other institutions of his native city have been greatly aided in their work by his head and heart. Well might a careful biographer, in summing up the character of Mr. Pratt, write the following: "A just and devoted husband and father, a true friend, and active in all the years of a pure and useiul life in whatever would inure to the benefit of humanity, no
man better represents the character of the good citi- zen. And thus it is that the city of Buffalo, gratefully appreciating his devotion to its best interests, and the example of a stainless life, honors him, in the dignity of his manhood, with its confidence and respect."
PERSONAL CHRO.VOLOGY- Pascal Paoli Pratt was born at Buffalo September 15, 1819; was educated at Hamilton ( N. Y.) Academy ant at Amherst ( Mass. ) Academy ; married Phoebe Lorens of Pittsburg September 1, 1845 ; was a Republican presidential elector in 1812, chairman of the Buffalo Park Commission from 1869 to 1879, and one of the three commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court in 1883 to appraise the value of the property taken by the state for the Reservation at Niagara Falls ; has been president of the Manufacturers' and Traders' Bank of Buffalo since 1885.
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PASCAL P. PRATT
C. C. Ramsdell is one of the most widely known men in Buffalo to-day. Unlike many of the prominent citizens of this changing and rapidly growing city, Mr. Ramsdell was born and educated
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here, and has spent his whole life here ; and he gives to the many enterprises for the advancement of his native city that hearty co-operation and interest which might be expected from one of her loyal sons.
As a boy he attended the public schools of the city, and later spent three years in Professor Briggs's
THOMAS T. RAAMSDELE
classical school, from which he graduated in 1871. In 1873 he began his business life as a clerk in the wholesale boot and shoe house established by his father in 1837, and he has ever since been connected with this firm. At that time the business was con- ducted by his father, Orrin P. Ramsdell, and by W. H. Walker. In 1877 Mr. Walker retired from the firm, and T. T. Ramsdell and his brother, Albert N., were taken into partnership. Albert N. Rams- dell died in the following year, and in 1879 W. C., G. W., and S. M. Sweet were admitted to the firm, and the business took the present style of O. P. Ramsdell, Sweet & Co. O. P. Ramsdell and G. W. Sweet have since died, and T. T. Ramsdell is now the
senior member of the firm. To the maintenance and development of this already extensive and prosperous business, Mr. Ramsdell has devoted himself with per- sistent energy ; and as a result the firm to-day is one of the most solid and highly respected in Buffalo, and one of the largest of western New York in its line.
Mr. Ramsdell has never sought nor held political office, but his interest in political affairs is keen, and his influence is always exerted on the side of good government and needed reform. He is an active member of the Republican League, which he served as president in 1894, and to which he devotes much time. and energy.
He is also prominent in all the move- ments for enhancing the prosperity of his native city. The great scheme for bring- ing Niagara Falls water power to Buffalo is a notable case in point. When this was only an idea, Mr. Ramsdell foresaw the immense industrial, domestic, and municipal benefits inherent in the scheme, and he identified himself actively with the promotion of the project - with the prac- ticalization of the idea. He was ap- pointed a member of Mayor Jewett's advisory committee to consider the prac- tical business use of the great power within the limits of Buffalo. Mr. Ramsdell is a director of the Ellicott Square Com- pany, the corporation that erected the Ellicott Square Building, which is one of the finest architectural features of the city of Buffalo. He is also a director of the Merchants' Exchange, of the Board of Trade, and of the Bell Telephone Company of Buffalo.
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