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. II > Part 10
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PERSONAL. CHRONOLOGY - Thomas Fletcher Oakes was born at Bos- ton July 15, 1843 ; was educated at the Eliot School, Boston : married Abby R. Haskell of Gloucester, Mass., January 27, 1864; occupied important positions with the Kansas Pacific and other rail- roads, 1863-81 : became vice president of the Northern Pacific railroad in 1881, president in 1888, and one of the receivers of the company in 18933.
Charles Darsons, the well-known capitalist and railroad manager, was born in York county, Maine, in 1829. He is descended from English ancestors, one of whom, Joseph Parsons, settled in Springfield, Mass., in 1635, and moved to Northampton in 1652. After attending the com- mon schools at Alfred and Kennebunkport, Me., Charles Parsons obtained higher instruction in the academy at Yarmouth in the same state. At the age of twenty-one he went to Providence, R. I., com- pleting his education in that city. He lived there with his uncle. Dr. Usher Parsons.
Mr. Parsons began his active business life in 1853, when he went to New Orleans for the purpose of shipping produce to the northern markets. Remain- ing in that city during the winter of 1853-54, he changed his base of operations to Savannah, Ga., where he engaged in the commission business for about seven years. When the outbreak of civil war destroyed his business, Mr. Parsons formed a part-
nership with his brother Edwin in New York city, and has ever since made that place his home.
Mr. Parsons is most widely known in connection with railroad property. He was chairman of the purchasing committee of the New Jersey Midland Railway Co., and bought the road in 1880 at the
THOMAS FLETCHER O.IKES
foreclosure sale. He reorganized the property, and was president of the new company for one year : the road was ultimately consolidated with the New York, Susquehanna & Western railroad. Mr. Parsons has been president of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdens- burg railroad since 1883, and has developed the properly with consummate skill. The mileage has been considerably increased, the permanent way has been vastly improved, and the earning capacity of the road has been correspondingly expanded. On March 14, 1891, he leased the road for the term of its corporate existence to the New York Central & Hudson River company. In 1892 Mr. Parsons was elected president of the New York & New England railroad, his son Charles taking the office of vice
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president ; but after one year he withdrew from this corporation.
An interesting episode in the life of Mr. Parsons concerns his connection with the municipal bonds. of New Orleans. After this city had defaulted on its bonds, and the market value of the same had
CHARLES PARSONS
depreciated to about one third of their face value, Mr. Parsons invested heavily in the securities. He then took legal action to enforce taxation on the part of the city for the purpose of redeeming the bonds. This step was contested by the municipal authorities, but the Supreme Court of the United States unani- mously ordered a peremptory mandamus to be issued "to force the levying of taxes sufficient to pay the principal and interest of the bonds.
Mr. Parsons has membership in the New York Chamber of Commerce, the American Geographical Society, the New York Historical Society, and the New York Stock Exchange.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Charles Parsons was born at Alfred, Me., February 6, 1829 ;
was educated in Yarmouth ( Me. ) Academy and in Providence, R. I. ; engaged in the produce commission business in the South, 1853-61; married Sarah 1. Shepley of Providence, R. I., in 1855 ; has been largely interested in railroad management for many years, and has been president of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg railroad since June, 1883.
Russell Sage, the famous finan- cier, was born in Oneida county, New York, during James Madison's second term in the White House. Spending his early years on a farm and as an errand boy in a country grocery, Mr. Sage found scant time for mental cul- ture ; but he studied evenings, and otherwise acquired a fair education. His chief successes, however, in early life were of a commercial nature ; and he had already become a capitalist in a small way when he reached his majority, and established, in partnership with his brother, a grocery store at Troy, N. Y. After buying out his brother, increasing the business markedly, and selling the. same on advantageous terms, he formed a partnership with John W. Bates in 1839 to conduct a wholesale business in groceries. This venture also was en- tirely successful, and in five years Mr. Sage bought his partner's interest. He continued to transact the business for several ycars thereafter, or until more important affairs demanded his entire time.
About 1850 Mr. Sage began to inter- est himself in the subject of transporta- tion. He became specially concerned with the various railroads in central New York that ultimately formed the New York Central line. He was one of the original directors of the New York Central company, and has been for several years now the only living member of the first board. Ilis operations were not confined to the East, how- ever. Having advanced money to the La Crosse railroad, now a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul system, he found it necessary. in order to protect his loans, to invest still more in the property. In this way he acquired a large block of the stock of the road, and finally became a director and vice president of the company. Since then his invest- ments in railroads and other transportation com- panies have been enormous. He is said, indeed, to have had an active part in the construction of over
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5000 miles of American railroads. He is still con- nected with more than forty railroads, holding the presidency of some, directorates in many, and an important interest in all.
No one nowadays thinks of Russell Sage as a politician ; but for many years he was exceedingly active and influential in local, state, and national politics. Becoming an alderman of Troy in 1845, he held the office seven years. He was also treasurer of Rensselaer county for an equal period. He en- tered the sphere of national politics in 1848, when he attended the national convention of the Whig party, and had an important part in effecting the nomination of General Taylor. Nominated for congress in 1850 by the Whigs of Troy, Mr. Sage failed of election ; but in 1852 he received a small majority of the votes cast, and two years later he was re-elected by an overwhelming vote. He showed himself an efficient legislator during his four years in congress, ren- dering special service by securing the appointment of a congressional commit- tee to report upon the condition of Mount Vernon. As a result of this report the historic estate was purchased from its private owner, and reserved forever as a memorial to Washington.
For many years Russell Sage has been regarded mainly as a Wall-street mag- nate. Beginning his operations there in 1861, he became a greater and greater power in the financial world as time went on. Occasionally he has taken part in extensive Wall street campaigns, but he has usually preferred not to ineur the great risks incident to such opera- tions. About twenty-five years ago he originated the selling of privileges - what are known in the parlance of the street as " puts," "calls," and " strad- dles "; and since then he has employed his enormous capital largely in such deal- ings. Few men in the country - or in the world, as for that - have so much money loaned out as has Russell Sage.
In 1895 Mr. Sage presented a hand- some dormitory costing $120,000 to the Troy Female Seminary, from which Mrs. Sage graduated. Mr. and Mrs. Sage have attended for many years the Pres- byterian church, in the charities of which they have taken an important part. Mr. Sage is not what is known as a clubman, but he belongs to the New Eng- land Society, and to a few other kindred associations.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Russell Sage was born at Verona, Oneida county, N. Y., August 4, 1816 : established a grocery store in Troy, N. Y., in 1837, and a similar wholesale establishment in 1830 ; was aldermen of Trey, 1845-52, treasurer of Rensselaer county for seven years, and member of congress, 1853 -- 51 ; married Maria Winne of Troy in 1841, who died in 1867 ; married Margaret Olivia Slocum of Syracuse in 1869 ; has been increasingly in- terested in railroad management since 1850, and in Wall-street operations since 1861.
Zimji Lorenzo Barber, whose name at once iggests perfect pavements, was born in Windham comty, Vermont, fifty-odd years ago. His family were all Vermont people. His father, the Rev. Amzi D. Barber, deserves special mention because
RUSSELL. SAGE
of his singularly strong and noble character. Ile was one of the students who left the Lane Theologi- cal Seminary in Cincinnati in the early days of the slavery agitation, because the discussion of the
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question had been forbidden by the faculty. Un- willing to endure such stilling of free speech, he withdrew from the institution, walked across Ohio to Oberlin, and ultimately graduated from the theo- logical department of the college there.
.EMZI LORENZO BARBER
Moving from Vermont to Ohio in boyhood with his family, Amzi L. Barber received his early edu- cation in various Ohio towns. He finally prepared for college in the Cleveland High School, and entered Oberlin in 1862. He was forced by ill health to stay away from college one year, which he spent in the wilds of northern Michigan : so that he did not take his degree at Oberlin until 1867. Contemplat- ing at that time a professional career, Mr. Barber accepted an offer tendered by General O. O. How- ard to take charge of the normal department of Howard University. Moving to Washington, D. C., accordingly, in April, 1868, he remained at Howard University until 1872, ultimately becoming professor of natural philosophy. He then resigned his pro- fessorship to engage in the real-estate business in
Washington. The panic of 1873 and subsequent depression brought disaster to many operators in . Washington real estate; but Mr. Barber retained his holdings, and finally sold them out at a handsome profit.
It was not until 1878 that Mr. Barber took up the business with which most people now identify him -that of asphalt paving. The streets of Washington were for many years as notoriously bad they are now famously good. The im- provement began, to be sure, before Mr. Barber became interested in the matter ; but many miles of asphalt in the capital were laid by him, and there be first gained fame as the maker of superl. - streets. His business had reached such proportions by 1883 that he deemed it desirable to incorporate the Barber As- phalt Paving Co. For the purpose of securing an ample and unfailing supply of the raw material used in asphalt pay - ing, Mr. Barber in 1887 negotiated a concession from the British government of a forty-two-year lease of the famous lake of natural pitch on the island of Trinidad ; and the Trinidad Asphalt Co. was organized in 1888 for the purpose of using this grant. Mr. Barber is the chief stockholder and officer of the two com- panies mentioned. So far, more than one thousand lineal miles of asphalt pavement have been laid in eighty citics of the United States, at a cost of over 850,000,000. Companies have recently been formed to introduce the pavement in foreign countries.
In 1870 Oberlin College conferred the degree of A. M. on Mr. Barber; and in 1876 the Columbian University gave him the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He has a strong affection for Oberlin, and has served the college for many years as trustee.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Amsi Lorenzo Barber was born at Saxtons River, Vt., June 22, 1843 : graduated from Oberlin College in 1867 : married Celia M. Bradley of Genera. O., in 1805. who died in 1870 : married Julia Louise Langden of Belmont, N. Y., in 1871; was a professor in Howard University, Washington, D. C., 1808-72; engaged in the real-estate business in Washington in 1872 ; began the business of street paring in 1818, and has been president of the Barber Asphalt Paving Co. since 1883, and of the Trinidad Asphalt Co. since 1888.
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Dopper Striker Mott belongs to one of the oldest and most distinguished families in America. The pioneer of his paternal line was one Adam Mott, who emigrated from Essex, England, in early colonial days, and settled in New York. It has been thought that this founder of the New York family was the same Adam Mott who landed in Boston in 1635, but a careful examination of the facts shows this to be an error. The Boston immi- grant was from Cambridge, England ; and neither his wife's name nor those of his children and later descendants agree with corresponding names re- lating to the New York family. The old records show that Adam Mott of New York was married to Jane Hulet of Buckingham, England, in the Dutch church of New Amsterdam, July 28, 1647 : and the names of his children occur in his will, dated March 12, 1681-2, and recorded in the surrogate's office of New York city. Adam Mott's name first appears in the Albany records of 1644 and 1645, where he is mentioned as a witness in court. On August 25. 1646, the Dutch government granted to him a tract of land on Mespath kill (now Newtown creek). When he arrived in Hempstead, Long Island, is not known, as the first volume of the town records, covering the years from 1643 to 1656, is lost. In the oldest extant annals of the town he is mentioned as one of the five townsmen chosen March 17, 1657. He became a Dutch citizen, and some of his descendants intermarried with the old Knicker- bocker stock.
Born in New York city in 1854, Hopper S. Mott received an unusually thorough education. Attend- ing first General Lockwood's private school at Tarry- town, he afterward went to the Military Academy in Peekskill, and to Charlier's French School in New York city. This excellent preparatory training was appropriately followed by a general and a legal course at Columbia College. He left the latter before graduation because of death in his family, and the consequent necessity of his managing the family estate, which fell to himself and his brother, Alexander Hosack Mott, in 1873.
This estate consists of parts of the old Mott farm, originally acquired by grant from the Dutch, which stretched across the northwestern part of the island of Manhattan from a point near the present location of Fifth avenue to the Hudson river, and beyond to the uplands on the New Jersey side. A complete history of this farm would not only be a most entertaining narrative, but would constitute an authentic record of an important part of the first city in the land. The burial plot of the family was located near what is now the junction of Fiftieth
street and Ninth avenue ; and so recently as 1883 a stone wall, visible from the highway, showed the location of the plot. The lower side of this lot was reserved for the burial of the negro slaves. Jor- dan Mott, the grandfather of our present subject, freed in his will such slaves as then belonged to the family.
The growth of New York in recent years has been marked in all directions, but has nowhere been more vigorous than in that part of the city with which the Mott estate is concerned. Mr. Mott, accordingly, has found it possible to considerably improve the commercial position of the family property. Making his headquarters in an office on Eleventh avenue, located on ground that once formed a part of the original farm, he has given the estate for many years the benefit of his un- divided attention. The work has been so absorbing under the conditions of constant growth and change, and the responsibilities of the trust have been so great, that he has felt unable and unwilling to assume outside obligations, or to engage in any other business on his own account.
As might be surmised from his birth and educa- tion, Mr. Mott is a man of engaging social qualities. Several of the most exclusive clubs in the city have enrolled his name on their membership list -- the Union League, for example, and the Metropolitan, the St. Nicholas, and the Country.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Hopper Striker Mott was born at New York city April 19, 1854; was educated at Columbia College : married Mar Lenox of New York April 19, 1875 : has devoted himself to the care of the family estate since 1873.
Villiam Seward Tebb, one of the best- known financiers and corporation managers of New York city, is just entering upon the prime of life, having been born soon after the middle of the cen- tury. He belongs to a distinguished family, his grandfather, General Samuel B. Webb, having been one of the minutemen in the Revolution ; and his father, James Watson Webb, having served his coun- try effectively in less trying times.
To the inherited advantages implied in such a past, Dr. Webb added early in life the benefits of an uncommonly thorough education. Careful in- struction from private tutors paved the way for a five years' course at Colonel Churchill's military school at Sing Sing. He then spent two years at Columbia College, and after that went abroad to study medi- cine in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. Returning to New York he took the regular course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he graduated
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in 1875. Success in a competitive examination then brought him an appointment as physician at St. Luke's Hospital, New York city, where he remained for two years and a half. At the end of that period he engaged in general practice in New York, but soon abandoned that occupation to join
WILLLIM SEWARD WEBB
his brother in a stock-brokerage business. He was meeting with substantial success in Wall street when his father-in-law, William II. Vanderbilt, offered him the presidency of the Wagner Palace Car Co. This was in 1883, and ever since then Dr. Webb has managed the business of that corporation .. Under his vigorous administration the affairs of the company have prospered markedly : large additions
to the rolling stock have been made, the territory within which the company's cars are operated has been greatly extended, and the earnings of the cor- poration have been correspondingly augmented.
Dr. Webb is a director in several railroad compa- nies, including the Fitchburg, the Bennington & Rut- land, the Central Vermont, and the Find- lay, Fort Wayne & Western. He is also a director of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Co .. the Continental Trust Co., and the Na- tional Life Insurance Co. He is greatly interested in the Adirondack region, having large landed possessions therc. He is president of the St. Lawrence & Adirondack Railway Co., and has built over 200 miles of railroad in northern New York. A sanitarium for sufferers from pulmonary diseases has recently been built near Saranac lake, New York, upon 100 acres of land contributed for the purpose by Dr. Webb.
In virtue of lincal descent as already de- scribed, Dr. Webb acquired membership in the Sons of the American Revolution ; and he was president of the general or- der for three terms. He belongs to almost all the prominent clubs of New York, including the Metropolitan. Union League, University, Riding, and others. He owns a beautiful and finely cultivated farm at Shelburne, Vt., and is otherwise largely interested in the Green Mountain State. He is an aid-de-camp on the staff of the governor of Vermont, with the rank of colonel, and is a member of the Vermont legislature.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- William Seward Webb was born at New York city January 31, 1851; attended Columbia College: studied medicine abroad and in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, and received his degree in 1875 ; practiced his pro- fession in New York, 1875-78; married Elisa Osgood Vanderbilt of New York December 20, 1881 : engaged in the stock-brokerage business, 1878-83 ; has been president of the Wagner Palace Can Co. since 18833.
EASTERN SECTION
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In the Eastern Section are published the biographies of subjects from the counties of Albany, Clinton, Dutchess, Essex, Frank- lin, Fulton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Oswego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schoharie, Ulster, and Warren.
MEN OF THE EASTERN SECTION
Charles Andrews, for more than a quarter of a century judge of the Court of Appeals of the state of New York, has had a career of uninterrupted suc- cess both at the bar and on the bench of the Empire State. Born in Oneida county seventy years ago, he attended for a time the common schools of that early day ; and then finished his education, so far as schools were concerned, at the Oneida Conference Seminary at Cazenovia. Then, as now, the legal profession offered to young men of ability an invit- ing field of labor ; and Judge Andrews determined to become a lawyer. He went to Syracuse, there- fore, where he became a student in the office of Sedgwick & Outwater. It did not take long to con- vince him that that city would be a good place to begin the practice of his profession, since it was increasing rapidly in both population and wealth, and possessed obvious natural and artificial advan- tages that seemed destined to make it the most important city in central New York. In January, 1849, he was admitted to practice, and began his career at the Onondaga-county bar. In 1851 he associated himself with Charles B. Sedgwick, one of his former preceptors, in the firm of Sedgwick & Andrews. Four years later George N. Kennedy was admitted to partnership, the style becoming Sedgwick, Andrews & Kennedy. This association lasted for fifteen years, or until Judge Andrews's elevation to the bench.
Judge. Andrews's public career began soon after his admission to the bar, since he was elected dis- trict attorney of Onondaga county in 1853 for a term of three years. In 1861, when but thirty-four years old, he was elected mayor of Syracuse, and was re-elected in 1862 and again in 1868. He filled the office with credit to himself and to the city ; but lupher honors, and those of a more congenial kind,
were in store for him. After serving with distinc- tion in 1867 as delegate at large to the state consti- tutional convention, and thus strengthening his pop- itlarity throughout the state, he was elected in May, 1870, an associate judge of the Court of Appeals. His term began July 1 of the same year and lasted fourteen years. Judge Folger, the chief judge of the court, retired in 1881 to become secretary of the treasury, and Judge Andrews was appointed by Gov- ernor Cornell to fill the vacancy. In the fall of 1882 he was the Republican candidate for the office, but was defeated by his opponent, the late William C. Ruger. At the expiration of his first term in 1884, Judge Andrews received the unusual distinc- tion of a nomination for a second term by both polit- ical parties, and was duly elected. In the fall of 1892 the office of chief judge was once more vacant. owing to the death of Judge Ruger, and Judge Andrews was elected to that high position, receiv- ing the nomination from both Republicans and Democrats. Having reached the limit of seventy years prescribed by the constitution, Judge Andrews retired from the bench January 1, 1898.
A man of Judge Andrews's strong individuality and high position could not fail to occupy an impor- tant place in the community where he has lived for half a century. In 1871 he took a prominent part in securing the location at Syracuse of the Methodist Episcopal college now known as the Syracuse Uni- versity, and was appointed one of five trustees repre- senting the city: this position he has held ever since. In many other ways he has been instrumen- tal in furthering the best interests of the city, and in increasing its prestige at home and abroad. Both Hamilton and Columbia colleges have conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL. D. in recognition of his distinguished attainments.
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PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Charles Andrews was born at New York Mills, N. Y., Mar 27, 1827 ; was educated at Oneida Conference Semi- nary, Cazenovia, N. Y. ; studied ław in Syracuse, and was admitted to the bar in 1849 ; was district attorney of Onondaga county, 1854-56 : married
CHARLES ANDREW'S
Marcia A. Shankland of Cortland, N. Y., May 17, 1855 ; was mayor of Syracuse in 1862, 1863, and 1869 ; was a delegate at large to the state constitu- tional convention of 1861 : practiced laws at Syracuse, 1849-70 ; was elected associate judge of the Court of Appeals of New York state in 1810, and chief judge in 1892.
Robert D. Anibal of Johnstown, N. Y., was born in Benson, Hamilton county, toward the close of the first half of the century. His father was a successful farmer, a man of unusual intelligence and liberal ideas, who determined to give his two sons a thorough educational training to fit them for their life-work. Robert was the elder, and was well fitted
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