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 13
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in New York city. He was admitted to the bar when twenty-one years of age ; but he soon dis- covered that he preferred a journalistic career, and accordingly abandoned the law and associated him- self with the New York Commercial Advertiser. He served on the staff of this paper for some years, acting as city editor, book reviewer, and translator of foreign papers.
It seems almost inevitable that a newspaper editor should drift into public life, and Mr. Callicot was no exception to this rule. In 1859 he was elected to the state assembly from the city of Brooklyn, and in 1862 he was re-elected. During his second term he served as speaker of the assembly, and displayed unusual fitness for this somewhat difficult position, making one of the best presiding officers that body has ever known. . He then spent several years in the service of the treasury de- partment, as special agent and finally as collector of internal revenue.
In 1871 Mr. Callicot began his long connection with Albany journalism, be- coming editor of the Albany Times. His association with this paper lasted for a quarter of a century except for a short interruption in 1872, when he acted as managing editor of the Albany Argus. In 1873 he bought a half interest in the Times, and became its editor in chief. Later he became sole owner of the paper, and after that was president of the stock company that published it. In 1891 the Times was consolidated with the Albany Union, and John H. Farrell of the Union became president of the new company. Mr. Callicot, however, retained his post as editor of the paper - called now the Times-Union - until June, 1896, when he accepted his present position of editor in chief of the Argus.
In addition to the intimate knowledge of public men and affairs which his long career in the newspaper world could not fail to give him, Mr. Callicot possesses high scholarly attainments and rare criti- cal ability. His writing has not been confined to the daily press, and many literary and legal articles from his pen have appeared in various magazines and law journals. In the early part of his career he wrote the " Handbook of Universal Geog- raphy," published in 1853 as one of the volumes of Putnam's Home Cyclopedia. He has a great fondness and aptitude for the study of languages,
and has attained proficiency in Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and German. History, biography, and philosophy have likewise claimed a large share of his attention.
Mr. Callicot has been a Free Mason for a great part of his life, joining Anglo-Saxon Lodge in Brooklyn during his residence there. Since going to Albany he has been a member of Ancient City Lodge, No. 452, F. & A. M., and of Temple Chap- ter, No. 5, R. A. M., in that city.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Theophilus Carey Callicot was born in Fairfax county, l'a., July 12, 1826 ; was educated at the Pierrepont School, Alexandria, Va., Graham Academy, New London, Penn., and Delaware College, Newark, Del .; was admitted to the bar at New York city in 1847 ; was connected with the New York " Commercial Adver-
THEOPHILUS C. CALLICOT
tiser," 1852-58 ; was member of assembly in 1860 and 1863, and speaker of that body in 1863 ; married Fitsina H. Lyman of New York city in June, 1846, and Fredericka HI. L., Weibezahl of New York May
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17, 1811 ; was editor and chief owner of the Albany " Times," 1873-91, and editor of the " Times- Union," 1891-96 ; has been editor in chief of the Albany " Argus" since June, 1896.
Alden Chester, justice of the Supreme Court in the 3d judicial district of New York state, adds
ALDEN CHESTER
one more to the long list of American citizens who have achieved distinction without the initial advan- tage of wealth or position. He comes of good old English stock, however, the Chesters having settled in New England about 1630, and his mother's fam- ily, the Drapers, having followed a little later. Born in a village of Otsego county, New York, he attended the district school and afterward a private academy, but the death of his father threw him in great measure upon his own resources at an early age. How ample those resources were is shown by the honorable position that he has attained, both at the bar and on the bench, while still under fifty years of age.
Judge Chester spent several years in business life -as clerk in a country store, as telegraph oper- ator, and as insurance clerk -- before reaching his majority, and before he turned his attention to the law. Having satisfied himself that that profession best suited his tastes, and having accumulated some necessary capital, he entered Columbia College Law School in 1869, adding to his slender means while there by writing for the papers, and spending the vacation before his closing year as the editor of a weekly newspaper in Otsego county. He gradu- ated from: Columbia in the spring of 1871, receiving a prize of $75 in the department of political science, and was admitted to the bar May 19.
He took up his residence in Albany at once, formning a law partnership with his cousin, Andrew S. Draper, now presi- dent of the University of Illinois, and one of the foremost educators in the country. This association lasted until Mr. Draper was appointed by President Arthur judge of the Court of Alabama Claims at Washington, and from that time until his own election to the bench Judge Chester practiced alone. His career at the Albany bar during this quarter of a century was a brilliant one. His private practice included many im- portant cases of a general character, and many of public interest. In 1882 he was appointed assistant United States attorney for the northern district of New York under Martin I. Townsend. In this position he displayed great legal ability, and successfully tried many im- portant cases for the government. He resigned in 1885, in order to devote himself to his growing private practice.
In 1895 Governor Morton appointed Judge Ches- ter a member of the commission to prepare and report to the legislature a uniform charter for cities of the second class ; but before this commission had completed its labors he was obliged to resign in order to accept higher responsibilities. Nominated for justice of the Supreme Court by acclamation at the Republican convention of the 3d judicial district in the fall of 1895, he was elected by a majority of nearly 5000, being the first Republican chosen to this position from the district for upwards of thirty years. His long and successful service at the bar had given him the necessary legal knowledge ; but the ideal judge is born, not made, and the
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qualities of fair - mindedness and absolute integrity that constitute this innate fitness were always con- spicuous in Alden Chester. Though he has been on the bench little more than a year, it is already evident that his career as a judge will fittingly crown his earlier career as a lawyer.
Judge Chester is a good citizen, and has taken especial interest in the cause of education in Albany. From 1881 until 1884 he was a member of the board of public instruction of the city, and during the last year he was president of the board. He is a ready public speaker and a most agreeable and cultured gentleman, and has a host of friends in both public and private life.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Alden Chester was born at Westford, N. Y., September 4, 1848: graduated from Columbia College Law School in 1871, and was admitted to the bar the same rear ; married Lina Thurber of East Worcester, N. Y., October 5, 1871; was deputy clerk of the New York state assem- bly ir 1874 and in 1876, member of the board of public instruction of Albany, 1881-84, and assistant United States at- torney, 1882-85 ; practiced law in Albany, 1871-95 ; was elected justice of the Su- freme Court in November, 1895.
William Croswell Doane, first bishop of the diocese of Albany (the Episcopal Church), was born in Boston in 1832. His father, the Rev. George Washington Doane, at that time rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and an able and eloquent preacher, was elected in the same year bishop of the diocese of New Jersey, and the family accordingly moved thither soon after. There the present bishop passed his childhood, graduating in 1851 from Burlington Col- lege, which had been founded by his father. In 1854 his alma mater con- ferred upon him the degree of A. M., and in 1857 that of B. D. In the mean- time he had been carrying on his theo- logical studies ; and on March 6, 1853, he was ordained deacon by his father in St. Mary's Church, Burlington. His ordination to the priesthood followed three years later. Beginning ministerial work as assistant in the parish mentioned, he became its rector on his father's death in 1859. He also established the free church of St. Barnabas in Bur- lington, where he ministered for three years. From
1863 until 1867 he was rector of St. John's Church, Hartford, Conn., and was then called to St. Peter's Church, Albany. In this church, on December 3, 1868, he was elected bishop of the newly established diocese of Albany, and his consecration to that high office took place February 2, 1869.
The head of a new diocese has a great work before him, and if that diocese be also the capital of a great state, the responsibilities are largely increased. Bishop Doane has ably fulfilled the complex duties devolving upon him : he has been a true father in God to the priests and people committed to his charge ; he has founded and carefully fostered the various institutions necessary to the work of a well- equipped diocese ; and he has taken an active interest in all general movements for the public good, especially those connected with the cause of
WILLIAM CROSWELL DOINE
education. His personal relations with his clergy and their parishes hardly come within the scope of this article, but his more public work speaks for itself. The Cathedral of All Saints will be his most
MEN OF NEW YORK-EASTERN SECTION
splendid monument ; and the building, though not yet completed, gives abundant promise of becoming one of the most beautiful churches in the land. Not less dear to the heart of the bishop, nor less potent in its influence for good, is St. Agnes School, founded by him for the Christian education of girls.
JAMMIES WEBSTER EATON
This institution, which stands deservedly high among the schools of the country, has a large corps of able teachers, and is under the bishop's constant super- vision. The Child's Hospital and St. Margaret's House, founded likewise by the bishop, are in charge of the Sisterhood of the Holy Child Jesus - an order established by Bishop Doane, and devoted to works of mercy and to the education of the young - and are institutions of Christian benevolence whose influence is felt in the community. Through all these varied agencies, and others like them, the bishop labors unceasingly for the good of his diocese, and for the upbuilding of the church of which he is a faithful servant. He has been for nine years the bishop in charge of the foreign chapels of the Episcopal
church, and was elected in 1896 chairman of the House of Bishops and assessor to the presiding bishop.
Many of Bishop Doane's writings have been published, including a volume of charges and addresses to the conventions of the diocese, one of addresses to the graduating classes at St. Agnes School, several volumes of sermons, a book entitled " Mosaics for the Christian Year, " and numerous mag- azine articles and fugitive verses. His most extended work, and at the same time his earliest, is the " Life and Writ- ings of the Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane," in four volumes. He has re- ceived honorary degrees in divinity from Union, Columbia, and Trinity colleges, and from Cambridge and Oxford uni- versities in England, as well as an LL. D. degree from the latter institu- tion. His interest is not confined to affairs immediately pertaining to his church. As a regent and vice chancellor of the University of the State of New York, he exerts a most helpful influence in educational matters throughout the state. He is a member of the Univer- sity Club of New York, of the New Eng- land Society, and the Society of the Sons of Colonial Wars.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - William Croswell Doane was born at Boston March 2, 1832; graduated from Burlington ( N. J.) College in 1851 : was ordained to the ministry March G, 1853 : married Sarah Katharine Condit of New- ark, N. J., November 24, 1853; had parishes in Burlington, N. J., Hartford, Conn .. and Albany, N. Y., 1853-68 : has been bishop of the diocese of Albany since February 2, 1869.
James Webster Eaton, prominent at the Albany-county bar, is descended from English stock which took root in the soil of the colonies in the early days. He traces his lineage back to John and Anne Eaton, who settled in Salisbury, Mass .. in 1634, moving afterward to Haverhill, where the family lived for several generations. Captain Tim- othy Eaton was an officer in the revolutionary war, and his brother. Ebenezer Eaton, who served under him, was the great-grandfather of our present subject.
James W. Eaton was born in Albany in 1856. In early life he was obliged to give up school for
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some time on account of ill health ; but notwith- standing this disadvantage he was able to graduate from the Albany Boys' Academy in 1875, and from Yale College four years later. In the same year that he left college he began his legal studies at Columbia Law School ; but in May, 1880, he accepted a position as professor of Latin in the Albany Boys' Academy, where he taught for the next two years. He was carrying on his law studies all the time, however, and in 1882 he was admitted to the bar.
Resigning then his position as a teacher, Mr. Eaton began practice at once in the office of Edwin Countryman of Albany ; and the following year he formed a partnership with George W. Kirchwey, who had been a classmate at Yale. This association was a most successful one, and lasted until 1891, when Mr. Kirchwey was appointed to a professorship in Columbia University. Since that time Mr. Eaton has practiced alone, and has established an enviable reputation. He is especially distin- guished as a trial lawyer, and his plead- ings before judge and jury are noted for fairness and sound argument, as well as for a certain convincing quality that goes far toward winning his case.
Political affairs have always been of interest to Mr. Eaton, as they are to so many lawyers ; and he has long been active in the Democratic party. In the fall of 1891 he was his party's candidate for district attorney of Albany county, and was elected, holding office for three years from January 1, 1892. His pecu- liar talents fitted him admirably for the position of prosecuting officer, and he guarded the interests of the district most zealously.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-James Webster Eaton was born et Albany May 14, 1856 ; graduated from Yale College in 1879, and was admitted to the bar in 1882 ; married Flora Caddy of Lockport, N. Y., September 33, 1883, and Mrs. Hortense Willey Vibbard of Dansville, N. Y., July 17, 1894 ; was district attorney of Albany county, 1892-94; has practiced law in Albany since 1883.
Wesley O. howard, district attorney of Rensselaer county, and a prominent member of the Repablican party in eastern New York, was born in Troy in 1868. His scholastic training was com- pleted at Lansingburgh Academy, and he was obliged to obtain later in life the wide learning required in his present responsible position. He prefaced his professional study with a long course of teaching
Mr. Eaton has found time, in addition to the cares of his large private practice, to serve his profession both as writer and teacher. In 1888 he published a book on the "Law of Domestic Relations," and he has written several shorter trea- tises on various legal subjects. Since 1888, also, he has been the lecturer on the law of evidence and contracts at the Albany Law School. He is well known WESLEY O. HOWARD in Albany social life, belonging to the Fort Orange Club, Masters' Lodge, No. 5. F. & occupying four important years of his life. At the A. M., and St. Peter's Episcopal Church. He has , age of twenty-three, however, he found himself able membership in the society of Founders and Patriots of America, and in various other organizations.
to satisfy his desire for legal training ; and the com- paratively mature age at which he began to study
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law no doubt explains in part his rapid and thorough mastery of the subject. He first entered the office of Robertson, Foster & Kelly in Troy, where he remained until the dissolution of the firm due to Mr. Foster's change of residence to Kansas City. He then continued his study in the office of William W. Morrill, staying there until he was admitted to the bar in 1889.
Mr. Howard began to practice law October 1, 1889, at No. 10 State street, Troy. He carried on his work without partnership assistance until January 1, 1897, when he associated himself with Hender. son Peck in the firm of Howard & Peck. His striking success at the bar of Rensselaer county, and his high standing as a lawyer and citizen in that part of the state, are clearly shown in the recent history of Troy. He acted as attorney for the com- mittee of citizens that investigated the election frauds of 1893 and 1894 in that city. He was also one of the attorneys for the " Committee of Safety " during the famous "Bat" Shea trial. He was likewise one of the attorneys for the senate com- mittee that investigated the police and other depart- ments of Troy in 1894.
The foregoing commissions entrusted to Mr. Howard at critical times sufficiently indicate his professional capacity. Other appointments attest both his legal standing and his rank in the Repub- lican party. Political affairs have always been deeply interesting to him, and he was elected justice of the peace in the town of Grafton when only twenty-one years old. In 1893 he was chosen sec- retary of the Republican committee of Rensselaer county, holding the position three years. In March, 1894, and again the next year, he was chosen attorney for the board of supervisors of the county. In November, 1896, he was elected district attorney of Rensselaer county for the term 1897-99.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Wesley Otis Howard was born at Troy, N. Y., September 11, 1863 ; was educated in the common schools of Grafton, V. Y., and at Lansingburgh (V. Y.) Academy ; taught school, 1882-S6 ; married Carrie A. Millias of Grafton October 1, 1884; was admitted to the bar in 1880; was elected district attorney of Rensselaer county in November, 1896 : has practiced law in Troy since October 1, 1889.
3obn C. MbcDonough, one of Albany's prominent lawyers, was born in Ireland fifty-odd years ago. He came to the United States with his parents when he was but seven years old, and he may therefore be regarded as practically a native American ; though some of the qualities that have
contributed most markedly to his success are doubt- less a legacy from the warm-hearted and quick- witted people of the Emerald Isle.
Mr. MeDonough's childhood was spent in Dun- kirk, N. Y., and his early education was received there. fle then studied at St. John's College, Fordham, New York, for three years, and in 1867 entered Columbia College Law School to prepare himself for his chosen profession. He graduated thence in june, 1869, with the degree of LL. B., having been admitted to the bar shortly before.
In 1870 Mr. McDonough began practice in his old home in Dunkirk, where he remained four years, becoming well and favorably known in that thriving town. He then moved to Albany, and spent a year in practice there, but at the end of that time he decmed it best to return to Dunkirk. After three more years there he determined definitely that suc- cess such as he hoped for could be gained only in a large city, and he accordingly went to Buffalo. He practiced there for a short time in partnership with Leroy Andrus, and then in New York city for about two years ; and finally, in 1881, he took up his resi - dence permanently in Albany. He has practiced there uninterruptedly ever since, and has a large and constantly growing clientage. He possesses a happy combination of many of the characteristics that make a successful lawyer ; and he has figured on one side or the other of many of the important cases in Albany and its vicinity.
Public affairs have claimed a share of Mr. Mc- Donough's attention ever since he began profes- sional life. The year after he left the law school he was elected police justice of Dunkirk, and was re- elected two years later, holding the office until he moved to Albany. In 1876, shortly after his return thence, he was elected special surrogate of Chautau- qua county, and acted in that capacity until he left the county permanently in 1878. During all the years that he has lived in Albany he has taken an active part in the counsels of the Republican party, and has been nominated for various positions. In 1884 and again in 1888 he was a candidate for the office of recorder of the city, and in 1891 he received the high honor of a nomination for justice of the Supreme Court in the 3d judicial district. On this occasion he ran considerably ahead of his ticket, but his popularity was not sufficient to over- come the strong adverse majority in that Democratic stronghold. In 1893, however, he was elected a delegate at large to the state constitutional conven- tion that met in the following year, and he took a notable part in the deliberations of that body. As chairman of the committee on prisons he formulated
£
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the section of the new constitution that provides for the employment of prisoners, and prohibits the old contract system under which prison labor was allowed to compete with free labor in the general market. He was also a member of the committee on educa- tion in this convention. In April, 1896, he was appointed the commissioner of the bu- reau of statistics of labor, a position for which his investigations in connection with the question of prison labor had well qualified him.
Mr. McDonough's profession occupies his attention chiefy, but he is not un- mindful of his social and other obliga- tions, and his private life is what might be expected from a man of his ability and consequent prominence. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church, of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Associa- tion, and of the Knights of Columbus.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY John F. MeDonough was born at Bird- hill, Freland, July 12, 1843 ; came to the United States in 1850, and settled in Dunkirk, N. Y. ; was educated at St. Jolui's College, Fordham, New York, and at Columbia Law School ; was admitted to the bar in 1869 ; married Catherine T. Wallace of Albany June 10, 1874 : was police justice of Dunkirk, 1870-14, and special surrogate of Chautauqua county, 1876-78; practiced law successively at Dunkirk, Albany, Buffalo, and New York city, 1870-81 ; was a delegate at large to the constitutional convention of 1894 : has practiced low in Albany since 1881.
VI. S. Manning has had a varied career, and in the course of a long and busy life has interested himself in many widely differing subjects. A brief sketch of his ancestry may not be amiss ; and the fact that two of his great- grandfathers fought in the revolutionary war may ilicate the source of his own ardent Americanism. The Mannings were among the first settlers of Ply- mouth Rock ; and Samuel Manning, the great-grand- Either of our present subject, took part in the famous " Boston tea party, " and was one of the band who, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded the English chips and threw the obnoxious cargo into the sea. This same Manning fought in the battles of Concord antd Lexington. His son, of the same name, gradu- ated from Harvard College about 1798, and became
one of the most prominent physicians in Massachu . setts ; while the Samuel Manning of the third generation, after attaining unusual distinction in Harvard College, settled in Baltimore and became a leading lawyer there. Mr. Manning's maternal grandfather was Colonel Thomas Sheppard, the son
JOHN T. MCDONOUGH
of a revolutionary soldier, and himself an active patriot in the later English war.
W. S. Manning was born in Baltimore in 1834. and was educated in that city. He took a degree in civil engineering at St. Mary's College, and at once began work in his profession on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, then in course of construction. Remaining with this company until the completion of the road, Mr. Manning then acted for a time as assistant city surveyor of Baltimore : but he soon abandoned the life of an engineer, and began busi- ness as superintendent and half owner of the Avalon Nail & Iron Works, near Baltimore.
In 1859 Mr. Manning began his long connection with the business of life insurance, and at the same
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