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 17
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Dr. Battershall acquired his education chiefly in New England. After studying at Poultney, Vt., he fitted for college at Kimball Union Academy,
WALTON W. BATTERSHALL
Meriden, N. H., graduating thence in 1858. He spent two years at Troy University, but completed his course at Yale, which he entered as a junior, and from which he graduated in 1861. He
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displayed marked literary ability in his student days, becoming president of the college literary society, " Brothers in Unity, " and winning the Yale Literary prize medal for his essay on " The Religion of ' In Memoriam.'" He was also awarded one of the " Townsend Premiums," and delivered the class poem on Presentation Day.
Concluding that his work lay in the ministry of the church, the young man studied theology under Dr. Henry C. Potter, now bishop of New York ; and on January 16, 1865, he was ordained to the diaconate in St. John's Church, Troy. He then entered the senior class of the General Theological Seminary in New York city, from which he gradu- ated in 1866. On November 30 of the same year he was advanced to the priesthood by the late Bishop Horatio Potter. Dr. Battershall's first work was as assistant minister of Zion Church, Madison avenue, New York, where he spent two years. He then became rector of St. Thomas' Church, Ravens- wood, Long Island, and the next year took charge of Christ Church, Rochester. He remained there five years, during which he was a member of the standing committee of the diocese ; and on August 1, 1874, accepted a call to St. Peter's Church, Albany. He is still rector of this historic and in- fluential parish, founded in 1715, and representing the first church of the Anglican communion west of the Hudson river. During the long years of its existence many names eminent in various walks of life have been included in the communicant list of St. Peter's, and it has always been a social and spiritual power in the life of the state capital. The present parish church on State street just below the capitol, is one of the most impressive church edifices in the country.
Dr. Battershall is prominent in the general work of the church, both in his own diocese and beyond. For the past eighteen years he has been a trustee of Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y., and he has long been a member of the diocesan board of missions. Seven times he has been sent by the diocese of Albany as a delegate to the triennial General Con- vention of the Protestant Episcopal church. He contributes occasionally to various periodicals, and has delivered baccalaureate sermons before Hobart, Union, and Trinity colleges. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Union College in 1877.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Walton Wes- les Battershall was born at Troy, N. Y., January 8, 1830 ; graduated from Vale College in 1864, and from the General Theological Seminary in 1866 ; mar- ried Anna Davidson Williams, daughter of Fletcher
Williams of Newark, N. Y., October 13, 1864 ; was rector of St. Thomas' Church, Ravenswood, L. 1., in 1868, and of Christ Church, Rochester, 1869-74 ; has been rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany, since 1874.
Charles 3. Buchanan was born at New Berlin, N. Y., somewhat more than fifty years ago. Ilis early education was received at the academy in his native town, and later in life he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point for upwards of two years -from June, 1868, until October, 1870. Deciding wisely that the legal pro- fession promised greater usefulness to the world and ampler personal rewards than a purely military career, Mr. Buchanan left West Point in the middle of his course, and began the study of law. He was admitted to practice at the general term held at Albany in January, 1874. In April of the next year he was admitted to membership in the law firm of Smith, Bancroft & Moak ( Henry Smith, LeGrand Bancroft, Nathaniel C. Moak ). In January, 1880, the style was changed to Smith, Moak & Buchanan, and in December, 1884, the firm became Moak & Buchanan simply. These changes were due solely to the deaths of the senior associates. The firm of Moak & Buchanan having dissolved in September, 1892, Mr. Buchanan practiced alone until April, 1897, when he joined George Lawyer to form the finn of Buchanan & Lawyer. Mr. Buchanan has thus practiced continuously at the bar of Albany county for the last twenty-three years. In that period he has conducted a vast amount of important legal business and litigation, and has built up a large and lucrative practice.
This rapid summary of Mr. Buchanan's profes- sional work has made no mention of a very impor- tant part of his career. In November, 1861, when he was less than eighteen years old, he enlisted as a private in the 1st regiment, United States sharp- shooters ( Berdan's). He never left the regiment from that time until the war was over. Though he did not miss a single action in which the regiment took part, yet he was never wounded in all the perilous campaigns and battles through which he passed. He participated in the engagements at Yorktown, Hanover Court House, Gaines's Mills, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettys- burg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and elsewhere. From the ranks of the privates he advanced step by step, becoming succes- sively corporal, sergeant, sergeant major, first lieu- tenant, and adjutant.
As might be expected from the foregoing, Mr. Buchanan has paid much attention to military affairs.
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MMEN OF NEW YORK-EASTERN SECTION'
He has taken special interest in the National Guard of the State of New York, and is now major and judge advocate of the 3d brigade. He is also a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and belongs to the United Service Club of New York, and the Army and Navy Club of Wash- ington. He is a trustee of the National Savings Bank at Albany, and a life trustee of the Young Men's Association in that city. He has membership in about all the leading social clubs of Albany, in- cluding the St. Andrew's Society, the Burns, Fort Orange, and Albany clubs, and the Buchanan Society of Scotland. He is one of the commissioners and the treasurer of the Washington park asso- ciation. A Republican in political pref- erences, he has yet deemed it best to devote himself strictly to his profession, and has not thought it worth while to concern himself actively with party or- ganization, or to seek political office. He is a member of the Episcopal church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Charles Jay Buchanan was born at New Berlin, Chenango county, N. Y., Decem- ber 27, 1843 ; was educated at New Ber- lin Academy ; served in the Union army, 1861-45 ; attended the United States Mili- tary Academy at West Point, 1808-10 : was admitted to the bar in 1874; married Caroline V'an Valkenburgh of Albany Octo- ber 27, 1875 ; has practiced law in Albany since 1875.
David JS. bill has had one of the most complete political careers possible for a citizen of the United States, hold- ing in turn each of the chief legislative and executive positions in the gift of the people, with the single exception of the presidency : and for that office he was strongly supported by the delegates from his state in the national convention of 1892.
Mr. Hill is the youngest son of Caleb Hill of Windham county, Connecticut, who, with his wife, Eunice Durfey, a woman of great intelligence and superior force of character, settled in Havana, N. Y., in the early part of the century. Caleb Hill was a carpenter, and was unable to give his son any unusual educational advantages : but the home in- fluences amid which the lad grew up were of the best, and amply compensated for any lack in other directions. After graduating from Havana Academy
at the age of seventeen, Mr. Hill began the task of making his own way in the world, and for that pur- pose entered the office of one of the principal lawyers of his native place as a clerk. There he attracted the notice of Colonel John [. Lawrence, who encouraged him in his desire to become a lawyer. In 1863,
CHARLES J. BUCHANAN
accordingly, he entered the office of Erastus P. Hart of Elmira as a student ; and in November, 1864, he was admitted to the bar. He at once opened an office in Elmira, where he continued to practice until the demands of public life compelled him to relinquish his profession. He rose rapidly to a leading position at the bar of central New York, and proved that his talents as a lawyer were equal to those that he has since displayed as a legislator and executive officer.
Mr. Hill's interest in public affairs dates from his early manhood, and he has been in active public life for more than a quarter of a century. in 1868 he represented Chemung county in the state conven- tion of the Democratic party, and two years later .
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was elected to the assembly. Although the youngest member of that body except one -- he was only twenty-seven years of age -he served on several important committees, and particularly distinguished himself by securing the passage in the assembly of a bill abolishing prison contract labor. Although the
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senate failed to act upon the bill, Mr. Hill's efforts in behalf of workingmen were warmly appreciated by them, and did much to increase his popularity. Re-elected for the year 1872. he was made a member of the judiciary committee that rendered itself famous for its investigation of the charges against the ". Tweed-ring" judges of New York city, and was elected by a practically unanimous vote of the assembly one of the managers of the prosecution before the senate. Mr. Hill's only Democratic col- league in the judiciary committee was the veteran party leader, Samuel J. Tilden ; and this association was the beginning of the warm personal and political friendship that existed between the two men for so . many years. Mr. Hill's prominence in the counsels
of his party is evident from his continuous service of more than a dozen years in the state conventions, of which he was president in 1877 and 1881 ; and from his membership in the national conventions of 1876. 1884, and 1896. He was also a member of the state committee for many years.
In the spring of 1882 the Democrats of Elmira placed Mr. Hill in nomination for the office of mayor, and he was elected by a handsome majority over an opposing candidate of undoubted popu- larity and ability. He held the office only a short time, as a wider field of usefulness awaited him; and in the fall of the same year, after receiving strong support in the state convention for the chief place, he was unanimously nomi- nated for lieutenant governor on the ticket headed by Grover Cleveland. The enormous strength of this ticket was shown on election day, when each of these candidates received a plurality of nearly 200,000 votes. Mr. Hill assumed the office of lieutenant governor January 1, 1883 ; and when Mr. Cleveland re- signed the position of governor at the end of his second year, in order to accept the office of chief magistrate of the nation, Mr. Hill became governor for the closing year of the term. In the fall of 1885 he was elected to the office by a plurality of 12,000 votes, and in ISSS was re-elected by a majority of 19,000 votes, thus serving seven years altogether as governor of the state. In January, 1891, he was elected to the United States senate, and served in that distin- guished body throughout the term end- ing March 4, 1897.
Mr. Hill was for a number of years one of the proprietors of the Elmira Daily Gasette, the leading Democratic organ of the Southern Tier, but retired from the world of journalism as increasing profes- sional cares came upon him. In 1885 he was elected president of the State Bar Association, of which he had been a member ever since its organization, and was re-elected in 1886. Personally he is a man of quiet tastes, caring little for society in general. but fond of reading and of the companionship of his friends : these are confined to no political party, and to no walk in life.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- David Bennett Hill was born at Havana, V. Y. August 29, 1843 ; was educated at Havana Academy : studied
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late, and was admitted to the bar in 1864 ; was city attorney of Elmira, N. Y., in 1865 ; practiced law in Elmira, 1864-85; was a member of the state assembly, 1871-72; was a delegate to the Democratic state conventions of 1868-81, and to the national conven- tions of 1876, 1884, and 1896 ; was an alderman of Elmira, 1881-82 ; was mayor of Elmira in 1882: was lieutenant governor of New York state, 1883-84, and governor, 1885-91 ; was member of the United States senate, 1891-97.
Charles IR. IIngalls of Troy, who retired from the bench of the Supreme Court January 1, 1890, after a continuous service thereon of almost twenty-seven years, comes of pure English stock on both the paternal and the maternal side. Edmund Ingalls, the founder of the American line, emi- grated with his family from Lincolnshire, Eng., and joined the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1629. Four members of the family were soldiers in the revolutionary war, one of them -- James Ingalls, a great-uncle of Justice Ingalls's -- having been killed at the battle of Bunker Hill. Charles Ingalls, the grandfather of our present subject, was a native of Methuen, Mass .; and after graduating from Dart- mouth College, and reading law at Salem, N. Y., was admitted in 1802 to practice in the courts of New York state, and opened the first law office in Green- wich, N. Y. There he practiced until his death in 1812, and there his son, Charles Frye Ingalls, followed the same profession from his admission to the bar in 1819 until a short time before his death in 1870. He served as district . attorney, judge of the Court of Appeals, and county judge ; and was prominent both as a lawyer and as a citizen. Jus- tice Ingalls's mother was Mary Rogers, a daughter of Nathan and Dorothea ( Cleve- land ) Rogers, who moved to Greenwich from Canterbury, Conn., in 1800, and were held in high esteem for their in- telligence and moral worth.
Justice Ingalls was born at Greenwich in 1819. After receiving an excellent general education, he studied law with his father, and in January, 1844, was . admitted to practice in the Supreme Court and Court of Chancery of New York state. Ile soon formed a partnership with his father, who had se- cured an extensive clientage in Washington county ;
and practiced for a number of years in Greenwich, maintaining the prestige acquired by his father and grandfather in a half century of service at the bar. In 1860, however, he sought a wider field of activity . and moved to Troy, N. Y., where he associated himself with David L. Seymour in the firm of Sey- mour & Ingalls. The two men were both lawyers of recognized ability, and conducted a large amount of business for several years.
In 1863 Justice Ingalls began his long service on the bench, receiving a unanimous nomination for justice of the Supreme Court in the 3d judicial dis- trict, and being duly elected to the office. In 1870 he became, ex-officio, a member of the Court of .1p- peals. In 1871 he was nominated by both political parties for the same office, and was elected without opposition for a terin of fourteen years. In 1877 he
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CHARLES R. ING.IL.I.S
was appointed by the governor of the state a wiem- ber of the general term of the Supreme Court of the Ist department of the state, comprising the city of New York, and made his home in the metropolis for
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about three years. At the expiration of his term of office he was again elected for the term 1885-99 ; but he resigned in 1890, having reached the age of seventy, which forms the limit of service for justices of the Supreme Court.
Since his return to private life Justice Ingalls has given a good deal of time to consultation and the hearing of references ; and he is much sought after in such matters on account of his long experience and high standing in legal circles. In 1896 he had the honor of an appointment as one of the committee of one hundred to the conference at Washington to consider the practicability of establishing a perma- nent system of arbitration between Great Britain and the United States. He was a delegate at large from New York state to the Democratic national conven- tion which met at Charleston, S. C., in 1860, where he favored the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency.
Justice Ingalls has long been prominent in the social life of Troy as an honored and influential citi- zen. Ile has been a trustee of the Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute for twenty-five years ; and in 1887 declined a unanimons election to the presidency of the institution, deeming the holding of the office incompatible with his judicial duties. He has been a member of the Second Street Presbyterian Church of Troy for many years, and is one of its ruling elders. He spends his summers, with his wife and their only child, Margaret M. Ingalls, at the old homestead at Greenwich, which has been in the possession of the family for more than sixty years.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY --- Charles Rus- sell Ingalls was born at Greenwich, N. Y., September 14, 1819 ; was admitted to the bar in 1844 ; practiced law at Greensich, 1844-60, and at Troy. N. Y., 1860-63; married Margaret L. Marvin of Tror November 3, 1880 : was justice of the New York state Supreme Court, 1863-89.
Deter ikinnear is a fine type of the shrewd, clear-headed Scotchmen who have gained substantial success in the United States : and who have amply repaid their adopted country by the hearty and in- telligent interest they have taken in her welfare, and in the prosperity of her institutions. Born in Scot- land about seventy years ago, Mr. Kinnear attended the country schools from the time he was seven years old for three or four years, when he moved to Dundee and began to work for his living. . At the age of four- teen he became an apprentice to the machinist's and engineer's trade, and served for six years. During all this time, however, he was making use of the
night schools to supplement the scanty stock of learn- ing acquired in chikihood : and by the time he was twenty-one he had gained a good general education, and a thorough knowledge of his trade.
Thus equipped, he determined to try his fortunes in a newer country, where his energies could have full scope ; and on October 21, 1847, he landed in New York. About a year and a half later he settled in Albany, which has ever since been his home. There he obtained employment in the shop of William Orr, brass founder, where he remained for twenty years. At the end of that time, having been disap- pointed in his expectation of entering the firm of Orr & Blair --- an expectation fully justified by his faithful and efficient service as an employee -- Mr. Kinnear formed a partnership with Henry McElroy, under the style of McElroy & Kinnear. This con- nection lasted for two years, or until 1872, when, on the retirement of Mr. Orr from the old firm, Mr. Kinnear became associated with Mr. Blair in the firm of Blair & Kinnear. As time went on the busi- ness passed more and more into the control of Mr. Kinnear, under whose able and vigorous management it prospered markedly. Finally in 1883 he bought out Mr. Blair's interest, and became the sole pro- prietor of the foundry. He at once set about the erection of new buildings, and extended the business in various ways ; and by his indefatigable efforts and honorable business methods brought it to a foremost rank in the commercial circles of the state capital.
So far back as 1870 Mr. Kinnear became much interested in the manufacture of celluloid, then recently invented ; and was instrumental in forming the first company for its manufacture at Albany. The plant was afterward moved to Newark, N. J., but Mr. Kinnear is recognized as one of the original promoters of what has proved a most nseful and snc- cessful invention. He is still interested in the sub- ject, and is president of the Albany Billiard Ball Co., the oldest concern of the kind in the world. His course with reference to this industry is characteristic, since he has always been glad to lend his aid to new enterprises that appealed to his business sagacity. He is at present a director in the Wheeler Rent & Power Co., the Albany Hardware & Iron Co., and the Home Savings Bank of Albany. Of the latter institution he was president for several years, and he held a similar office in the South End Bank for four years. He is a member of the committee of citizens charged with the work of inducing the various railroads cen- tering in Albany to build a station that shall be worthy of the capital of the Empire State.
In politics Mr. Kinnear was originally a Whig, but joined the Republican party soon after its
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organization. Though never very active in public break the power of the Democracy in that strong- hold, and to give the Republicans at least a chance in the race for political honors. affairs, he served two terms as supervisor from the 5th ward, Albany. In April, 1891, he was appointed by the mayor of Albany a member of the public-building . Mr. Krum was born on a farm in Schoharie commission which during the next three years ably county nearly sixty-five years ago. His father, Jonas Krum, was a man of good standing in the supervised the erection of buildings for the police, fire, and school departments of the city. Like most Scotchmen, he is thoroughly loyal to the memory of his native land and of her great men. He is the oldest member of the St. Andrew's Society of Albany, of which he was secretary for fourteen years, and president for ten years. He is also a charter member of the Albany Caledonian Club, which he helped to organize in 1874. In 1886 he became executor of the will of Mary McPherson, and in that capacity was charged with the erection of a monu- ment to Robert Burns, for which Miss McPherson had provided a fund. This responsibility was accepted by Mr. Kin- near as a privilege, and was ably dis- charged by him. The work was intrusted to the well-known sculptor, Charles Cal- verley of New York ; and the monu- ment, which stands in Washington park, Albany, has been pronounced by compe- tent judges the best of its kind in the country. Mr. Kinnear is treasurer of Ancient City Lodge, F. & A. M., Albany, and a member of the State Street Pres- byterian Church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Peter Kinnear was born in Forfarshire, Scotland, April 24, 1826 ; was educated in Scotland, and learned the machinist's trade there : came to the United States in 1847 ; married Annie Gilchrist of Ham- ilton, Ont., September 11, 1849 ; worked at his trade in Albany, 1849-70; coas supervisor from the 5th ward, Albany, 1875-76, and commissioner of public buildings, 1891-93 : has carried on the business of a brass founder and finisher at Albany since 1870, and has been largely engaged in other commercial enterprises.
Bobart ikrum has the distinction of being the first Republican ever elected to the state legis- lature from Schoharie county. The office of senator cannot be said to add materially to the esteem in which he has long been held, as regards both pro- fessional ability and private character : but his election was a fitting tribute to a man who, by years of hard work for his party, had done so much to
PETER KINNEAR
community - a prosperous farmer, an excellent business man, a member of the state assembly in 1835, one of the judges of the old Court of Com- mon Pleas. After working on the farm until he was about eighteen years old, attending district and select schools in the meantime as opportunity offered, Hobart Krum completed his education in the academic department of the Union Free School at Chicopee Falls, Mass. Desiring then to become a lawyer, he entered the office of Abram Becker, a prominent attorney at South Worcester, Otsego county, New York, and in 1855 was duly admitted to the bar.
Realizing the importance of a thorough training in both the theory and the practice of law. Mr.
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Krum remained for another year in Mr. Becker's office ; and then, in 1857, returned to his native county and began practice in the village of Scho- harie. This was forty years ago, and his profes- sional success there has been continuous ever since. Very early in his career his ability as a trial lawyer
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HOBART KRUM.
became evident, and other lawyers were glad to avail themselves of his services as counsel. Indeed, for many years he has taken part in almost every case of importance in the county. He is an inde- fatigable worker and is devoted to his profession -a fact that goes far to explain his successful career. From 1867 until 1874 Mr. Krum practiced with Stephen 1. Mayham, afterward justice of the Supreme Court. In 1875 he formed his present partnership with John B. Grant, under the firm name of Krum & Grant. Mr. Krum has been admitted to practice in all the courts of the United States.
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