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 30
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valuable lesson of the necessity of patient, persistent, determined industry in whatever they undertook.
All of Dr. Flood's sons were required to read medicine under the supervision of their father ; and all but Thomas followed in their father's footsteps and became physicians. The profession was not attractive to Thomas, and at the age of twenty-one he became a clerk in a drug store, where he turned his medical knowledge to good account. After three years he opened a similar store of his own ; and this he has conducted ever since, notwithstand- ing the many other undertakings in which he has engaged.
In 1874 Mr. Flood received a flattering offer to go to Dubois, Penn., to manage the extensive lamber and other interests of John Dubois, the founder of the town. Here he found a fair field for the exer- cise of his sound judgment and executive ability, and during the years that he spent in Pennsylvania he systematized and greatly enlarged the extensive lumber, coal, manufacturing, and mercantile in- terests committed to his charge. After several years he returned to Elmira, and again devoted himself to his drug busi- ness, which had been carried on by em- ployces during his absence. He also turned his attention to horse raising, and was very successful. But he was soon recalled to Pennsylvania to straighten out the affairs of the town where he had already done so good work. He accom- plished the task satisfactorily, and again returned to Elmira.
Mr. Flood had long been a zealous Republican, and was recognized in his party as a wise counselor, but so far his only public office had been that of alder- man. He had scarcely resumed his place in Elmira when, in 1886, he was nomi- nated for representative in the 50th con- gress. Although his district was strongly Democratic, he won a signal victory, carrying every county against an able op- ponent of state-wide reputation. Mr. Flood's career as a congressman displayed the same ability and careful attention to detail that had characterized his private life; and at the close of his terin of office he was renominated without oppo- sition, and elected by an increased majority.
During his residence at Washington Mr., Flood became largely interested in the Maryland & Vir -. ginia Steamboat Co. He was elected president of
the company, and for several years was its general manager. In 1891 he was chosen trustee and vice president of the Elmira Savings Bank. He has also large real-estate interests in Elmira.
Mr. Flood is strong in his attachments to friends, both personal and political, and never forgets a ser- vice rendered or a kindness shown. He is actively interested in all that concerns the best good of Elmira, and is one of the sons of whom the city is justly proud.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Thomas .S. Flood was born at Lodi, Seneca county, N. Y., April 13, 1844; wcas educated in the public schools and Elmira Free Academy ; began work as clerk in a drug store at Jelmira. N. Y., in 1865, and established there, in 1868, a drug business that he has conducted ever since : married Frances Miller of Elmira June
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THOMAS S. FLOOD
23, 1870 ; was engaged in lumber and other business at Dubois, Penn., 1874-79; was a member of the 50th and 51st congresses, 1887-91 ; has been trustee and vice president of the Elmira Savings Bank since 1891.
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Estevan Antonio Fuertes may not be able to claim, like Themistocles of Greece, that he conid make a small city great, but he has been able to make a large city healthful. As director of the College of Civil Engineering of Cornell University, he has struck out from the beaten paths of instruc- tion, and has developed systems of study and work directly bearing on the peculiar economic and indus- trial conditions of the United States. The innova- tions in his department at Cornell, though regarded as radical at first, have since been adopted in the leading scientific institutions of Europe and America. To-day laboratory work is required in all technical schools of repute ; but it was Cornell Uni- versity that led the way, in 1873. Professor Fuertes began his service at Cornell in that year, when he was appointed dean of the department of engineer- ing. In 1889 he was promoted to the office of director, a post ' that he still occupies with dis- tinguished personal success and to the renown of the college.
Professor Fuertes is an American citizen, though a Spaniard by birth - a native of St. John's, Porto Rico, W. I. He has had an interesting and a varied professional career. He was educated in classical studies at the Conciliar Seminary of S. Yldefonso, where he received the degrees of Ph. B. and Ph. D. Subsequently he came to the United States, and took a course at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, from which he graduated as a civil engineer in the class of 1860. After completing his studies in this country he returned to the West Indies, and served first as assistant director, and then as director of public works, in the western district of Porto Rico. Three years later he returned to this country, and accepted a position as assistant engineer of the Croton aqueduct for the supply of water to New York city. He soon rose to the position of 'engineer of the board having in charge that important work. After six years of service he was discharged in person by the notorious Tweed, who coveted the opportunities for dishonest gains in the engineer's department, and who found himself balked by Professor Fuertes. The whirligig of time, however, brought its appropriate compensations, for on the downfall of the Tweed Ring Professor Fuertes was elected engineer to the. commissioners appointed by the state legislature to investigate the frauds of the corruptionists.
Meanwhile Professor Fuertes had been to Mexico, under appointment by President Grant, as chief en- gineer of the expedition to Tehuantepec and Nicaragua, to determine the practicability of a ship canal across the isthmus of Tebuantepec. After de- voting a year and a half to this work, he returned to
New York and opened an office as consulting en- gineer. Recognized as an authority on engineering matters, he attained professional success at the start ; and he withdrew from active practice only to accept the highly attractive position in Cornell University already mentioned. There he has labored incessantly for higher standards of instruction and work, and has been a stimulating force in the life and character of the scientific students. There is much in the career of Professor Fuertes to impress young men. He is more than a mere theorizer ; he is pre- eminently a practical man, one who has applied the reaching of science to the everyday problems of cities. It was in this field that he achieved a great engineer- ing feat.
As everybody knows, the curse of cities located in tropical latitudes is bad sanitation. Yellow fever and other virulent diseases stalk abroad annually, and gather in thousands of victims before their fury is spent. Among the most ill-starred of tropical cities at one time was Santos in Brazil. Yellow fever and smallpox had decimated the people. The death rate from these causes in one year had reached the awful figure of 205 deaths per 1,000 of the population. From its situation and natural ad- vantages, Santos should be one of the healthiest cities of South America. Though the largest coffee port in the world, its growth had been checked by re- peated pestilences, and the government and people despaired of finding relief from these visitations. In their helplessness they turned to science, and made a proposition to Professor Fuertes to come to Brazil, and establish a system of public works that would, so far as human efforts could avail, decrease the fright- ful mortality. He was given full charge, with authority to burn and build the city anew wherever such steps should be essential to success. The scope of the work included the construction of wharves, quarantine buildings and disinfecting plant, hospitals for the various contagious diseases, the improvement of the harbor, and finally a system of drainage, sewers, and waterworks. On the completion of this great undertaking Santos will be one of the safest trading ports in the Western hemisphere. Whole blocks were condemned, and will be rebuilt on sani- tary principles, new parks and cemeteries were to be laid out, public halls erected, streets paved, and private habitations improved and placed under hy . gienic regulations. The herculean task is employing many kinds of engineers and an army of laborers, to complete the work designed by Professor Fuertes. Two years of hard labor were devoted to the task of studying the problems involved. For this purpose visits were made to the sanitary works of Europe and
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America ; and such specialists as Rudolph Hering and! James Fuertes, the professor's son and pupil, helped to crown the work with complete success. The details of the undertaking have been set forth in a voluminous report by Professor Fuertes, in which he estimates that the saving in money to the city in five years will be nearly three and a half million dollars, not to speak of the lives saved and suffering averted by the im- provements. For his services in planning and executing this vast series of compli- vated works, Professor Fuertes received the largest fee ever paid to a civil engi- neer - four per cent net of the total cost of the undertaking, estimated at nearly $4,000,000.
Professor Fuertes is a member of many learned societies in various countries, has been decorated by foreign governments, and is the author of many scientific pub- lications.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY --- Etivan Antonio Fuertes was born at St. Joint's, Porto Rico, W. I., May 10, 1838 : received the degrees of Ph. B. and Ph. D. from the Conciliar Seminary of S. YIldefonso; graduated from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, in 1860; married Mary Stone Perry of Troy December 22, 1860 ; was assistant director and director of public works in Porto Rico, 1861-64, and assistant engineer of the Croton aque- duct, and engineer of the Croton aque- duct board, New York, 1864-70; went to Cornell University, Ithaca, in 1873, as dean of the department of civil en- sincering, and has been director of the College of Civil Engineering there since 1889.
Samuel D. halliday has spent his life in Tompkins county, New York. His lot has been cast along congenial lines among friends and neigh- bors, by whom he is held in high respect. His early years were passed in the town of Dryden, where he was born. His education was begun in the district school at that place, but he was prepared for college at Ithaca Academy, from which he grad- nated in 1866. He entered the sophomore class of Hamilton College in the fall of the same year. When Cornell University opened its doors, Mr. Halliday was one of the first to enter his name on the roll of students. This was in 1868. He grad. uated from Cornell in 1870, with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. He then turned his attention to the law, and upon passing the requisite examinations at once began the practice of that profession. On January 1, 1872, he opened an office in Ithaca, which has since been his home. There he has iden tified himself with all that pertains to the welfare of
ETEVAN ANTONIO FUERTES
the community, and has long been recognized as one of the foremost citizens of the place.
Mr. Halliday has been and is to-day in great favor with the people of Tompkins county, who have on more than one occasion given evidence of the fact in their bestowment of political honors. This i: all the more noteworthy from the circumstance that Tompkins is a Republican county, while Mr. Hal- liday is a strong Democrat. His first political office was that of district attorney, to which he was elected in 1878 by a majority of 415 votes. He had the further honor at that time of being the first Demo- . cratic county official elected in Tompkins county for over twenty years. He took office on the first of January, 1874, and in the following spring was
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also chosen corporation counsel of Ithaca, a position that he held for a number of years. His service as district attorney was of short duration, for in the fall of 1875 he was elected a member of the assembly from the county. This honor came to him prac- tically unsolicited, since he spent the summer of that
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SAMUEL D. HALLIDAY
year in European travel, and did not return to make the usual preliminary canvass. His nomina- tion followed almost immediately upon his return home. Before taking his seat in the legislature he resigned the office of district attorney, but retained that of corporation counsel of Ithaca. He took an active part in the legislature of 1876, and was looked upon as a strong and an able man. He became very much attached to the political fortunes of Gor- ernor Samuel J. Tilden, and was a delegate to the convention that nominated him as the presidential candidate of the Democratic party. He took an active part in the canvass that followed, and did much to increase the Democratic vote of his part of the state. In 1877 he was elected to a second term
in the legislature, and served with distinction throughout the sessions of 1878.
Mr. Halliday has been much interested in the great university that has given the city of Ithaca a world-wide renown, and served for several years as a trustee of the institution.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY. Samuel Dumont Halliday was born at Dryden, Tompkins county, N. Y., January 1, 1847 ; graduated from Cornell Uni- versity in 1870; was district attorney of Tompkins county, 1874-45, and member of assembly in the legislatures of 1876 and 1878 ; married Jennie Leonard of Union Springs, N. Y., June 30, 1881; has prac- tired law in Ithaca, N. Y., since 1872.
Stephen C. fbayt, when asked by an interviewer, "In what have you been especially interested outside of your busi- ness? " promptly replied, " The growth and prosperity of the city of Corning." When he took up his residence there, a lad of ten years, most of the land now occupied by the city was a dense forest. A little over half a century has elapsed since then, and Corning now boasts of extensive manufactories in various lines, including stoves, glass, and railroad cars, while its population has reached 11,000. The lumber business is one of the most prolific sources of income, vast quantities of timber, shingles, and staves passing over the railroad system that terminates there, and through the feeder that con- nects with the Erie canal. The lumber industry is that with which Mr. Hlayt has been most closely identified.
In the schools of Ithaca and Patterson he prepared himself to enter Knoxville Academy, an institution in what was then Painted Post, within the present limits of Corning. Leaving school at sixteen, he began working steadily and saving systematically. All the time he had a fixed purpose in view - to open a store of his own - and four years later he purchased his stock. It contained all sorts of wares, from crockery to wearing apparel, and was the old-time counterpart of the modern dry-goods emporium. In seven years he had accumulated enough capital to warrant a bolder venture, and accordingly he formed a partnership with Benjamin .1. Towner, a dealer in lumber. Mr. Towner conducted an office in Albany. and his partner furnished the yard with lumber from the neighborhood of Corning. This arrangement
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continued for sixteen years, when Mr. Hayt formed a partnership with Alexander Olcott in the milling and plaster business. The firm was dissolved in a few months, and the work has been carried on alone by Mr. Hayt ever since. He has also given a large share of his attention to farming.
Among the proofs of his interest in the adminis- trative affairs of his adopted city is term after term of service as supervisor. An earnest believer in the need of elevating the standard of the public schools, he has had ample opportunity, as a member of the board of education, to carry out his ideas.
In 1863 and in 1865 his district, then the 27th, elected him to the upper house of the state legisla- ture. The records show that he was faithful to the best interests of his constituents. In 1866 he was elected canal commissioner on the ticket headed by Governor Fenton. He has been sent as a delegate to four national conventions - that of 1860, which nominated Lincoln : of 1868, which called for the war hero, General Grant ; of 1884, whose choice was the " Plumed Knight "; and of 1888, which nominated Benjamin Harrison.
Mr. Hayt has long been a member of the Presbyterian Congregation, and has contributed liberally to its support. In carly life he became an Odd Fellow, and is a loyal adherent to the principles of that benevolent and social order.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Stephen Thurston Hayt was born at Pat- terson, N. Y., June 5, 1823; was edu- cated in Knoxville Academy, Painted Post, N. Y .; conducted a general store at Corning, N. Y., 1843-50 ; married Margaret Com- stock Townsend of Palmyra, N. Y., No- vember 19, 1856 ; engaged in the lumber business, 1851-67 ; was elected state senator in 1863 and in 1865, and canal commissioner in 1866; was a delegate to the Republican national conventions of 1860, 1868, 1884, and 1SS8 ; has con- ducted a milling and plaster business at Corning since 1868.
3onas Jacobs has done much to disprove the, assertion that success in the medical profession can be attained only after long years of patient effort. Though still a long way from the prime of life, and comparatively a newcomer in Elmira, he occupies already a prominent position in the professional and social life of the city.
Dr. Jacobs was born in New York city little more than thirty years ago. Had he passed his youth there he would doubtless have succumbed to the fascination that the great metropolis exerts over all who come within its influence for any length of time, and would have chosen it as the field for his pro- fessional labors. But he was taken to New Haven when a child, and it was there, in the congenial environment of a college town, that his general edu . cation was obtained. After graduating from the Hillhouse High School, he studied for two years in the Vale Medical School. He then spent one term at the University Medical College in New York, and finally entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, where he graduated and received his degree.
The young physician had decided to begin his professional career in Brooklyn, and on completing
STEPHEN T. HINT
his medical studies he at once opened an office in that city: Ile had scarcely established himself there. however, when he was attracted by a most favorable; opening that presented itself in the city of Elmint ;
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and accordingly, in the fall of 1886, he took up his residence there. An ambitious young man finds many advantages in the smaller cities. There is plenty of room for growth and development, for push and energy ; and yet the smaller number of com- petitors for fame and fortune renders success somewhat
JONAS JACOBS
less difficult of attainment than in the great centers of population.
The ten years' residence of Dr. Jacobs in Elmira has been fruitful of results. He has devoted himself to the duties of his profession with characteristic energy and determination, and his efforts have been well repaid. He has built up a large and successful practice, and has won a prominent position in local affairs. Two years after going to the city he was elected coroner. The following year he was ap- pointed health inspector of Elmira, and in 1891 he was appointed city physician, and surgeon to the fire and police departments and to the civil-service board. He has held these positions ever since, and has dis- charged their many duties to the entire satisfaction
of his fellow-citizens. He also holds the office of medical examiner for a number of associations, among them the Northwestern Masonic Life Association of Chicago, the National Life Insurance Co. of Vermont, the Washington Life Insurance Co. of New York city, and the New York Life Insurance Co.
Dr. Jacobs is an enthusiastic believer in the benefits of fraternal societies, as is evidenced by the great number of such organizations with which he is connected. He is a member of Ivy Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, the order of Elks, the Equitable Aid Union, the order of United Friends, the B'nai B'rith, and the Im- proved Order of Red Men. In this latter organization he is Past Sachem of Tomoka Tribe, No. 128, and a Great Representa- tive to the Great Council of the United States. In scientific circles Dr. Jacobs is equally well known. He is a member of the Academy of Medicine, the Patho- logical Society, and the Academy of Sciences, all of Elmira, and president of the Chemung County Medical Society.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Jonas Jacobs was born at New York city November 15, 1862; was educated in public schools, and graduated from the Cot- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, Balti- more, in 1886 ; was elected coroner of the city of Etmira, N. Y., in 1888, was ap- pointed health inspector in 1889, and has been city physician since 1891 ; has prac- ticed medicine in Elmira since 1886.
George JE. Driest is a leading citizen of Tompkins county, and the edi- tor and part owner of that flourishing newspaper, the Ithaca Journal. With all things pertaining to the welfare of the famous univer- sity city in which he lives, Mr. Priest has been closely identified. His faith in the future of Ithaca is great, and he has done much to develop that place from a small village to the present bustling metropolis of Tompkins county. He has devotedly and unstintedly given time, labor, and means to the physical and civic upbuilding of the city. His efforts in this direction have met with success, and have received marked approbation from his fellow- citizens. Both personally and in the columns of the Journal he has been an earnest and a persistent advocate of such municipal improvements as modern public buildings, sewers, paving, electric lights, rapid transit, public parks, boulevards, and
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manufactures - in fact, all things that contribute to the material welfare of a wide-awake American city. In these directions and in others he has steadfastly proved himself to be the ideal citizen.
Mr. Priest spent nine years in the public schools and the academy at Auburn, N. Y. Though a life- long student of men and affairs, he says of himself : "Education not yet completed ; no diploma, no degrees." The progressive, growing man never finds his education completed. The absence of diplomas and degrees does not mean that a man is not educated, as the example of Mr. Priest clearly proves. He has been an editor in active service for eighteen years, during which the bound files of bis paper comprise fifty-four volumes. The dullest of men, by mere unconscious absorption, must have profited from such a school of discipline as that ; while a man of Mr. Priest's native ability, industry, and mental energy could not fail to obtain the finest kind of education from a course of training so thorough.
For three years, beginning in 1863, Mr. Priest read law in Ithaca, whither he had moved in 1862. But he found this profession uncongenial, and he made no application for membership in the bar. Drifting into politics, he became deputy county clerk of Tompkins county, hold- ing the office in 1870. Later in that year, after Alonzo B. Cornell was made surveyor of the port of New York by General Grant, Mr. Priest was appointed to a place in the special agency of the treasury department in the customhouse at New York city. There he remained until July, 1874. Fortunately he realized that office-holding offers few inducements to the ambitious young man who has his way to make in the world, and he there- fore returned to Ithaca and engaged in business. It was in February, 1877, that with several associates he bought the Ithaca Journal. Here he found himself engaged in a calling congenial and ultimately profitable. Mr. Priest, with his present partner, C. M. Benjamin, has devoted himself untiringly to his news- paper property, and has attained abund- ant success. Both the daily and weekly editions of the Journal are newspapers of much power and influence in the territory covered.
Though Mr. Priest has held no elective political office, he is a factor in Republican politics in his
part of the state. . No important move is made by party managers there without his advice and counsel. At one time his friends made him a candidate for the state senatorial nomination, and his name caused a three weeks' deadlock in the convention.
Mr. Priest is fond of society, and is a frequent visitor at the various organizations in which he has membership.
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