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 12
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G. WARREN HEATH
Mr. Heath has been actively connected with several important manufacturing and other enter- prises in his part of the state. He helped to organ- ize the Wiles Manufacturing Co. of Fultonville,
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makers of steel and iron bedsteads, and has been a partner in the same ever since ; and he is a stock- holder in the three national banks of the city of Amsterdam.
During his residence in Amsterdam Mr. Heath took a prominent part in the affairs of the city, and
JAMMES LEDLIE HEES
in various social and other organizations. He was an active member of the fire department, whose efficiency he helped materially to promote. He served for several years as treasurer of the J. D. Serviss steamer and hose company. He is a Mason of high standing, belonging to Fultonville Lodge, No. 539, F. & A. M. : Johnstown Chapter, No. 78. R. A. M. : and Holy Cross Commandery, No. 51, K. T., of Gloversville. He is also a member of Woodbine Lodge, No. 250, Knights of Pythias, and Neoskaleeta Tribe of Red Men, No. 149, both of Amsterdam : as well as Lodge No. 773, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, Fonda. . He is an attendant of the Presbyterian church. He is a man of excellent business ability, strict integrity, and
spotless character, possessing the confidence of the community in a marked degree.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-G. Warren Heath was born at Amsterdam, N. Y., August 26, 1860 ; was educated in public schools and Amsterdam Academy ; married Lillian MT. Sammons of Amsterdam October 15, 1884 : was employed in the designing department of Stephen Sanford & Sons, Amsterdam, 1878-95 ; was treasurer of the city of Amsterdam, 1891- 92 : has been sheriff of Montgomery county since 1895, making his home at Fonda, N. Y.
James Ledlic becs, prominent in banking and railroad circles in Mont- gomery county, New York, is of Dutch descent, and traces his lineage back to revolutionary patriots. His paternal an- cestor was Johannes Hees, a Hollander who settled at Palatine, Montgomery county, in 1763; and his maternal ancestor, George Spraker, was one of the earliest Dutch settlers of the Mo- hawk valley. Both were soldiers in the Revolution, serving in Colonel Jacob Klock's regiment of Tryon-county mili- tia.
After attending the union school at Fonda, N. Y., and Clinton Liberal Insti- tute, Mr. Hees finished his studies at Pine Plains, Dutchess county ; and at the age of seventeen began his business career. For the first three years he was employed in New York city as cashier and assistant paymaster in the ship chandlery of James D. Spraker, con- nected with the Starin Transportation Co. At the end of that time, when still less than twenty years old, he began his connection with banking as teller in the National Mohawk River Bank at Fonda. In January, 1886. he was appointed cashier of the bank ; and in January, 1897, he was elected president and direc- tor, succeeding his grandfather, Daniel Spraker. well known as the oldest bank president in the country, who had died a few months before at the age of ninety-eight. During his service as teller and cashier Mr. Hees had promoted the prosperity of the bank by his obliging attention to the wants of its patrons, and by his energetic and progressive policy in its management : and his election to the presidency of the institution was a fitting tribute to his zeal and ability.
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Mr. Hees has interested himself largely in rail- road matters since 1892, when he became one of the incorporators of the Cayadutta Electric Railroad Co., running from Fonda to Jolinstown and Glovers- ville ; and was elected its treasurer and a member of its board of directors. In June, 1893, the same syndicate purchased the Fonda, Johnstown & Glov- ersville Railroad Co., and leased to it the Cayadutta road, which thenceforth became known as the elec- trie division. Mr. Hees was elected treasurer of the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad Co., and held the position for the next four years. In the spring of 1897 the presidency of the road became vaeant by the death of James Shanahan, and in the following August Mr. Hees was unanimously chosen by the board of directors to fill the office. In September he was also elected president of the Caya- dutta Electric Railroad Co.
This was not Mr. Hecs's first experi- ence as president of a railroad, however. In January, 1895, a corporation had been formed with Mr. Hees as president. A. B. Colvin, state treasurer, as vice president, and R. T. Mckeever as sec- retary and treasurer, known as the Her- kimer, Mohawk, Ilion & Frankfort Elec- tric Railroad Co. This syndicate bought the three separate lines of horse railroad connecting the places named ; consoli- dated them into a single organization : and equipped the line with electricity. running the first car under the new ar- rangement July 27, 1895. The line, which had been prosperous even under the old horse system, has naturally at- tained greater success with a more mod- ern equipment ; and under Mr. Hees's efficient management has proved an im- portant addition to the transportation facilities of that locality. January 1, 1894, Addison B. Colvin, state treasurer. who had married a sister of Mr. Hees, appointed that gentleman his deputy ; and he has held the office ever since. Mr. Colvin having been re-elected in 1805 for the ensuing three years. Mr. Hees is a Mason, belonging to Fulton- ville Lodge, F. & A. M .; Johnstown Chapter, R. A. M .; Gloversville Com- mandery, K. T .; and Cyprus Temple. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Albany. He is a member of the Reformed church of Fonda, and be- longs to the Transportation and Calumet clubs of New York city.
PERSONAL. CHRONOLOGY-James Ledtic Hees was born at Palatine Bridge, N. Y., January 24, 1862 ; was educated in private schools ; was a clerk in a New York office, 1879-81 ; married Adeta S. Moore of Detroit, Mich., October 12, 1887; became connected with the National Mohawk River Bank of Fonda, N. Y., in 1881, and has been its president since January, 1897 ; has been president of the Herkimer, Mohatok, Ilion & Frankfort Electric Railroad Co. since 1895, and, of the Fonda, Johns- town & Gloversville and the Cayadutta Electric rail- road companies since 1809 ; has been deputy state treasurer of New York since 1894.
1. D. Burke, though still under thirty years of age, has made a name for himself in professional and political life that extends throughout the eastern part
H. V. BURKE
of the state. He was born in Amsterdam, N. Y., where he has always lived. and where his many and versatile talents render him deservedly popular among all classes.
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JMEN OF NEW YORK- EASTERN SECTION
After spending some time in the public schools of the city Mr. Burke entered St. Mary's parochial school, from which he graduated June 30, 1887. Having made up his mind to become a lawyer, he at once began his legal studies in the office of Z. S. Westbrook, eounty judge of Montgomery county, where he remained for the next ten years. In Octo- ber, 1891, he was admitted to the bar : and in 1894 Judge Westbrook took him into partnership, and the firm of Westbrook, Burke & Hover was established. This association lasted until April, 1897, when Mr. Burke entered into partnership with F. J. Sullivan, assistant district attorney of Montgomery county. Though he has practiced only a few years, Mr. Burke has gained considerable reputation at the Montgomery-county bar, and has rapidly built up an important practice. He possesses decided orator- ical ability, which has been of great value in his pro- fession, particularly in his work as a trial lawyer.
In the world of politics Mr. Burke has been equally active, as one of the strong supporters of the Democracy in Montgomery county. He began to take an interest in such matters at an early day, and was chairman of the Democratic county committee when only twenty-four years old. In the same year he was a delegate to the Democratic state conven- tion at Saratoga. The next year he received the nomination for member of assembly, but shared the general defeat of the Democrats at that time. In the exciting presidential campaign of 1896 he was on the list of Tammany Hall's speakers. He pos- sesses many of the requisites of the successful politi- cian, and if he continues to interest himself in public affairs he will doubtless attain further distinction along that line.
Aside from business and politics, Mr. Burke has been identified with an unusual variety of interests, both social and artistic. He belongs to the order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus, and has been prominent in each, having held the office of Exalted Ruler in Amsterdam Lodge. No. 201, B. P. O. E., and of Grand Knight in Council No. 209, Knights of Columbus. His talents as a musician and an orator have long been in demand in the social life of Amsterdam, and have been freely at the disposal of his friends. le has taken part frequently in amateur theatricals and operas, and his efforts in this line have been uniformly well received. For several years, also, he acted as organist and director in dif- ferent churches in Amsterdam and neighboring places. It is hardly necessary to add that Mr. Burke, thus gifted by nature, is a general social favorite, and is one of the most popular young men in Amsterdam.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Henry 1. Burke was born at Amsterdam, V. Y., March 18, 1870 ; was educated in public and parochial schools ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1891 ; was chairman of the Montgomery-county Democratic committee and a delegate to the Democratic state con- vention in 1894; has practiced law in Amsterdam since 1891.
Wlilliam . Daniels, though he has been so long connected with peaceful pursuits in Ogdens- burg, had a long experience as a soldier during the stirring times of the Civil War. Indeed, he comes of a family of fighters, his grandfather having taken part in the Revolution, and his father in the later war with England. Samuel Daniels, the grand- father, with his wife, Lydia Shipman, emigrated from Connecticut in 1804 to the wilds of St. Lawrence county, New York. With them went their son, Michael S. Daniels, then a boy of ten ; who grew up amid the hardships of pioneer life, fought for his country in the war of 1812, married Fannie Stephens of Vermont, and settled in what is now the city of Ogdensburg.
Mr. Daniels received a good common-school edu- cation in the public schools of Ogdensburg ; and at the age of sixteen left school, and became a clerk in a grocery store. He was still occupied in this capac- ity, and had almost attained his majority, when the Civil War broke out. With the patriotic instinct of his race, he at once offered his services for the con- flict, enlisting in company A, 16th New York vol- unteers, in the same month that witnessed the fate- ful attack on Fort Sumter. After serving as a private for nearly a year, he was made quartermaster sergeant of his regiment in March, 1862. A few months later he was made assistant quartermaster of United States volunteers, with the rank of captain ; and was assigned to duty at the headquarters of the 2d brigade, 1st division, 6th army corps. In August, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of major, and became chief quartermaster of the 3d division, 6th army corps. He served in this corps from the time it was organized until the close of the war, and his position in the quartermaster's department brought him into close relations with the prominent generals of that corps, and also with General Sheridan while in the Shenandoah valley. When the war was over Major Daniels was ordered to Fort McPherson in Nebraska, a post only to be reached at that time by a stage ride of 500 miles or more. Here he remained until August, 1866, when he resigned from the ser- vice. . Mr. Daniels has always considered it a strange and interesting coincidence that his grandmother, a
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survivor of revolutionary days and the widow of a revolutionary soldier, was buried on July 21, 1861, the same day that the first battle of Bull Run was fought, in which he took part with his regiment.
Returning to Ogdensburg after a service in the army of nearly five and a half years, Mr. Daniels engaged for a short time in the grocery business. In 1871 he became connected with the wholesale bakery business, in which he has continued ever since. He has never availed himself of partnership assistance in this undertaking ; and the growth and success of the enterprise under his management have been most gratifying, and have demonstrated his ability and sagacity as a business man.
Having served his country in the trying times of war, Mr. Daniels has continued his interest in her welfare, and has always taken an active part in public affairs. In 1880 he was ap- pointed collector of customs for the district of Oswegatchie, and held the office for nearly eight years. For the past fifteen years he has been a member of the St. Lawrence-county Republican committee : and he is at present the chairman of that committee, having held the position for several years. In his native city of Ogdensburg he is highly respected, and takes a prominent part in all public movements. He has served as a member of the common council of the city ; and is now president of the board of water commissioners, and a member of the board of managers of the St. Lawrence State Hospital.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- William Henry Daniels was born at Og- densburg, N. Y., November 3, 1840; was educated in common schools : was a clerk in a grocery store at Ogdensburg, 1856-61; served in the Union army, 1861-66 ; married Annie E. Chatterton of Ogdensburg February 16, 1864 ; engaged in the grocery business, 1866-11; was collector of customs, 1880-87 ; has been a member of the St. Lawrence-county Republican committee since 1882, and its chairman since 1890 : has conducted a wholesale bakery at Ogdensburg since 1871.
Clement Carrington Gaines, who long ago inade a name for himself among practical educators by his able and vigorous management of the well-known Eastman Business College at'
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., belongs to an old Virginia family, two of his ancestors having sat in the house of burgesses with Patrick Henry, and worked for the independence of the colonies.
Mr. Gaines was born barely forty years ago in Charlotte county, Virginia, which had been the
WILLIAM H. DANIELS
home of the family for generations. He received a thorough education in the South, studying at home as a child under a governess, and later in a neigh- boring academy. He then entered Hampden Sid- ney College, and graduated at the early age of eighteen with the degree of A. B. The degree of A. M. was afterward conferred upon him by his alma mater. The next five years he devoted to teaching, beginning as instructor in Latin and mathematics at the Fincastle (Virginia) High School, and afterward becoming principal of a pub- lic grammar school near Walton, Boone county, Kentucky, of the Oakland Institute near Pembroke. Christian county, Kentucky, and of the Smithville High School in Charlotte county, Virginia. When
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MMEN OF NEW YORK -- EASTERN SECTION
he had saved the amount of money needed in this way, he entered the University of Virginia in 1880, and graduated in 1882 with the degree of B. L. In, the same year he completed the business course at Eastman College, Poughkeepsie, New York.
1.
CLEMENT CARRINGTON GAINES
With this excellent business and professional train- ing, Mr. Gaines began the practice of law in Chi- cago, associating himself for that purpose first with Thomas Cratty and afterwards with Colonel George L. Paddock and Owen F. Aldis of the firm of Pad- dock & Aldlis. Little more than a year had passed, however, when he was offered a position . as a teacher in Eastman Business College : and this he decided to accept, feeling that the work there would be peculiarly congenial. After acting as an instruc- tor for a year, he became, in November, 1884, the president of the college. This institution has flour- ished for nearly half a century, and had a reputation as one of the best commercial schools in the country when Mr. Gaines took charge of it. . It speaks well for his ability and energy that this reputation has
been fik maintained under his leadership. So successful was he, indeed, in the management of the older schoot, that he established the New York Business Ciliege in the city of New York, and has since carried on both institutions. The new school, which was opened December 12, 1892, on 1.25th street, grew so rapidly that in- creased accommodations soon became necessary ; and more than 200 pupils are now in daily attendance, with an enroll- ment of about 500 a year. The Pough - keepsie school recently had on its mem- bership roll pupils from thirty-eight different states and territories and eleven foreign countries.
In addition to the care of his two schools, Mr. Gaines is actively and effec- tively interested in "everything that has any good in it," to borrow his own phrase. Church work, the Young Men's Christian Association, social problems, politics (in a broad sense ) - in short, all the live, practical questions of the day, receive a share of his attention. He organized the fast building and loan as- sociation in Poughkeepsie, and has been for many years a member of the execu- tive committee of the Board of Trade there. He is also a member of the Har- lem Board of Commerce and of the Poughkeepsie board of education. He delivers frequent addresses and essays on special occasions. He has edited a book entitled "Simplified Phonetic Short- hand," founded on the Pitman system, and has in press a work on accounts. He has been elected to membership in many organizations, among which may be mentioned the Amrita, Dutchess, and Golf clubs of Poughkeepsie, the Reform Club and Southern Soci- ety of New York, the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, the American Society of Christian Philosophy. and the American Institute of Civics.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Clement Car- rington Gaines was born at Dowell, Charlotte county. l'a., March 15, 1851; graduated from Hampden Sidney College in 1875 ; taught school in Virginia and! Kentucky. 1875-80: graduated from the University of Virginia En 1883 ; practiced law in Chicago. 1883- 833 ; mars: 1 Mrs. M. M. Eastman of Poughkeepsie. V. Y., Owater 29, 1884 ; has been president of the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, since Novem- her 25. 12 . 4: established the New York Business Col- lege in 1542, and has carried on the same since.
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William Barnes, 3r., though little more than thirty years old, has already attained distinc- tion in two important and difficult spheres of activ- ity - in journalism and in politics. His success is the natural sequence of favoring influences in a strong line of ancestry, of exceptional educational opportunities, and of persistent personal effort throughout his career.
Born in Albany some time after the close of the Civil War, Mr. Barnes has always lived there, and has become thoroughly identified with the city. His early education was obtained there in a private school ; and he afterward attended Albany Acad- emy. Excellently equipped in that way for higher training, he entered llarvard College in the fall of 1884. His course in Cambridge was shaped with some reference to a journalistic career, and included studies in modern history, economic science, and other branches of knowl- edge helpful in newspaper work. He made effective use of the superior facili- ties for study and research obtainable at Harvard, graduating with high rank in the summer of 1888.
The traditions of his family and the bent of his own mind - the latter condi- tion perhaps having some causal connec- tion with the former -inclined Mr. Barnes toward the calling of journalism. Becoming a reporter, accordingly, on the Albany Evening Journal a few months after his graduation from college, he be- gan in earnest the real business of life. His education had been so thorough that it was not necessary or desirable to serve a long apprenticeship in the newspaper craft ; and in December, 1888, when a favorable chance presented itself, he . bought the Albany Morning Express, thereby bridging at once the gulf be- tween a reporter and a publishing editor. It was soon evident that Mr. Barnes had not overrated his powers, notwithstand- ing his inexperience in newspaper work. His capacity, indeed, was so far from exhaustion, that in April. 1889, he ven- tured to enlarge his field of action by purchasing a controlling interest in the Albany Evening Journal. Since then he has conducted both the Express and the Journal, and has naturally been a powerful fac- tor in the affairs of the capital.
A taste for politics as well as a journalistie bias was Mr. Barnes's birthright : and no one familiar with
the political history of the Empire State will be sur- prised to learn that the grandson of Thurlow Weed became active in political life at an early age. Mr. Barnes has never held public office, preferring to exert his influence through more important and fun- damental, though less prominent, agencies. From the beginning of his active career he has been one of the leaders in the political affairs of Albany county ; and in recent years his influence has been felt in state politics as well. Becoming a member of the Republican state committee in 1892, he has been re-elected regularly ever since ; and he is now treasurer of the Republican League of the State of New York. He is a member of the Republican Club of New York city.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-William Barnes, Jr., was born at Albany November 17,
WILLIAM BARNES, JR.
1866 ; graduated from Harvard College in 1888 : married Grace Davis of Cincinnati, O., June 12, ISSS ; has been a member of the Republican state committee since 1892 : has published and edited the
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Albany " Morning Express" since December 23, 1888, and the " Evening Journal" since April 2, 1889.
Edgar C. Brackett, state senator from Saratoga, Schenectady, and Washington counties, was born in Saratoga county, New York, July 30,
EDGAR T. BRACKETT
1853. Taken to Iowa during infancy, he com- menced his education at the seminary connected with Cornell College, a Methodist institution of learning located at Mount Vernon, Iowa. His col- lege education was completed in June, 1872, when the degree of A. B. was conferred upon him.
In September of the same year Mr. Brackett began the study of law in the office of Pond & French at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. He made rapid progress in mastering the intricate subject, and was admitted to the bar at Elmira, N. Y., in June, 1875. On April 1 of the next year he entered into partnership with the firm in whose office he had studied law. The fact is significant that his old preceptors invited him to practice with them, and their confidence in
the young man was not misplaced. The firm of Pond, French & Brackett carried on a large business for twelve years, and became one of the strongest and most successful legal associations in the county. For three years after April 1, 1888, Messrs. Pond and Brackett practiced together under that style. Since 1891 Mr. Brackett has practiced alone.
From early manhood Mr. Brackett has been interested in political affairs. He first came prominently before the public in 1883, when he ran for the office of district attorney of Saratoga county on the Republican ticket. He was defeated at that time, but continued to hold a high place among the leaders of his party in Saratoga county. In the fall of 1895 he was nominated for the office of state senator from the 28th district and was elected, receiving 18,500 votes against 10,000 for his chief competitor. In the senate he was appointed chair- man of the committee on affairs of vil- lages, and a member of the judiciary, railroads, and public-education commit- tees. Mr. Brackett is a Past Master in Rising Sun Lodge, No. 103, F. & A. M., at Saratoga Springs. He is president of the Saratoga Gas, Electric Light & Power Co., and is one of the directors of the G. F. Harvey Co., manufactur- ing physicians' supplies. He attends the Presbyterian church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Edgar Truman Brackett was born at Emerson's Corners, Saratoga county, N. Y., July 30, 1853; graduated from Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Io., in 1872 ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1875 ; married Emma Corliss of Saratoga Springs, N. Y., November 22, 1882 ; was elected state senator in 1895 ; has practiced law in Saratoga Springs, N. Y., since 1876.
Theophilus C. Callicot, editor in chief of the Albany Argus and one of the veterans in the journalism of the Empire State, was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, seventy years ago. He received an excellent general education, and graduated from Delaware College, Newark, Del. His early aim was to become a lawyer, and for this purpose he entered the office of Hiram Mccullough at Elkton, Md., studied for a time at Yale Law School, and finally completed his legal preparation in an office
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