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 35
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commercial developments of the past twenty years. Ile had that felicitous combination of qualities which made him fearless and, as it sometimes seemed, audacious, and yet conservative withal ; and his restless and impetuous disposition was always con- trolled by sound judgment. He has been the successful promoter of several important and exten- sive enterprises : but his highest achievements have been in connection with those electrical develop- ments that mark the greatest progress of the age.
Mr. Hawley was the first person to apply electric- ity to the propulsion of boats for commercial pur- poses. His famous test was made in November, 1893, on the Erie canal, near Pittsford, in the presence of Governor Flower and other distinguished guests. The boat that made the trial was called the " Frank W. Hawley," a name that will rank in
FRANK B. WATLEY
history with Fulton's famous "Clermont." A second and still more successful test was made in October. 1895, and there seems no doubt that electricity will ultimately be the motive power in canal boats. . The
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MEN OF NEW YORK -- GENESEE SECTION
Cataract General Electric Co., of which Mr. Haw- ley is vice president, will receive its current at Niagara Falls from the largest alternator for the gen- eration of electricity ever constructed, and the force thus developed will be transmitted throughout the length and breadth of the Empire State over lines following the route of the great canals. Mr. Haw- ley bas also turned his attention to many lesser applications of electricity to modern life : among other achievements, for example, he built and equipped the first carriage lighted and heated by electricity.
Mr. Hawley is widely known as a great believer in long-distance electric-power transmission, and his demonstration of the possibilities in this direction on May 4, 1896, when he successfully carried a current of electricity from Niagara Falls to the city of New York over an ordinary commercial telegraph wire, and operated machinery in the National Electrical Exposition, has given him international distinction.
Much of Mr. Hawley's time is devoted to his estate of "Pittsford Farms," situated eight miles from the city of Rochester. Here he conducts, upon an extensive scale, a system of scientific dairy farm- ing which, in many respects, has no equal in the country. Upon this model farm Mr. Hawley has concentrated his unique talent for organization, and all the details of its management are under his per- sonal supervision. Horses and Shetland ponies receive a share of his attention ; but the great fea- ture of the establishment is the dairy, and the famous " P. F." butter is known and recognized by epicures in New York city and Boston as one of the finest brands on the market. After an inspection of the dairy at " Pittsford Farms" one no longer marvels at this. The herd of thoroughbred Jersey cows numbers more than a hundred and fifty, and every detail of food, cleanliness, and comfort is cared for as scrupulously as if the splendid animals were indeed, what they seem almost to be, intelligent human beings.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Frank Willis Hawley was born at Belleville, Jefferson county, N. Y., November 23, 1837 ; was educated in the public schools of Auburn, N. Y., and in Canandaigua (N. Y. ) Academy; studied laro in Rochester. M. V .; married Estelle F. Ives of Brooklyn February 25, 1886 ; began active life as a journalist, but soon turned to business pursuits, and has attained high rank as a promoter and organiser of industrial concerns.
borace S. fhutchins has practiced medicine in Batavia for nearly thirty-five years, and is known to the present generation as a highly successful
physician, prominent in social and professional life, and in all movements promoting the welfare of his fellow-citizens. That is far from the whole story, how- ever, for Dr. Hutchins had passed through an eventful and most interesting career before he went to Batavia at all. Either his earlier experience as a teacher, traveler, and public man in the Far West, or his later career as a general practitioner in Genesee county, New York, would afford ample material for a bio- graphical sketch: the two parts of his life taken together make a symmetrical whole that is at once entertaining, instructive, and inspiring.
Dr. Hutchins traces his descent from excellent New England stock. His father was one of the hardy pioneers of central New York, and Dr. Hutchins was born there, in Onondaga county, just before Andrew Jackson entered the White House. He spent his early years on a farm and in district schools, after- ward taking a four years' course at Hamilton Acad- emy in Madison county. This preparatory study enabled him to enter Madison (now Colgate) Uni- versity in 1853. During his college course he taught mathematics for about three years in the Ladies' Semi- nary at Hamilton, and was afterward principal of Peterboro Academy one year. He was looking for- ward to the physician's calling, and devoted consid- crable time during these years of teaching to the study of medicine, under Dr. Green of Madison.
Partly for the purpose of restoring his health, and partly for the sake of seeing something of the world, Dr. Hutchins set out, at the age of twenty-four, on a journey to the newly discovered El Dorado. The trip to California was adventurous, not to say peril- ous, in those days. Dr. Hutchins departed somewhat from the beaten track of travel, crossing the isthmus of Panama along the line of the proposed Nicaraugua canal, and following the San Juan river from Greytown to Castillo rapids. Crossing Lake Nicaraugua and the highlands of Guatemala, he reached the Pacific ocean, and ascended the coasts of Mexico and California. He rounded the Golden Gate, and entered the beauti- ful bay of San Francisco in the month of May, 1853, when the gold fever was at its height. He did not stay long on the coast, but pushed on to the gold fields, and established his residence in Nevada City. Though still a young man, he rose at once to promi- nence in the new community. For three years he had charge of the schools in Nevada City, and held various other official positions there. During his stay in California the famous Vigilance Committee sprang to life, restoring law and order and overthrowing the enemies of the state. Dr. Hutchins had a part in this historical uprising, and has never doubted that the movement was altogether justifiable.
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Permanent residence in the West had formed no part of Dr. Hutchins's original plan, and in June, 1857, he returned East, and engaged in business with his brother Harvey in Buffalo. After one year he decided to drop everything else, and devote his life to the practice of medicine. He had left college in his junior year, and had completed his studies in California, so that, in 1861, he was given his degrees in course without further study in the university. In order to perfect himself as far as possible, he spent some time in New York city, acquiring the latest results of medical research, and graduating from the New York Homeo- pathic Medical College. He then returned to Batavia, where he has since practiced his profession with marked success.
Dr. Hutchins has been an active mem- ber of various societies connected with his calling. He has been one of the vice presidents of the New York State Homeopathic Medical Society, and one of the censors of the same society for many years. For nearly thirty years he has belonged to the American Institute of Homeopathy. He has been a member of the Medical Society of Western New York since its organization. He has taken an active and important part in town affairs, having been especially inter- ested in the cause of education, and having served for nearly ten years as the president of the board of education. He has always taken great interest in the growth of Batavia, and has done all that he could to promote the prosperity of the town. For over twenty years he has been a member of the local Masonic chapter and commandery. For over thirty years he has had various official relations with the First Baptist Church of Batavia.
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PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Horace S. Hutchins was born at Manlius, N. Y., January 5, 1829 : attended Hamilton (N. Y.) Academy, and graduated from Madison University, Homilton, V. Y .; taught school, 1847-50 ; went West in 1853, and lived for three years at Nevada City, Cal .: married Harriet V. Babcock of Georgetown, N. Y., September 2, 1857 ; graduated from the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1861, and has practiced medicine in Batavia, N. Y., since.
1. Sam Bobnson is one of the leading citizens of Wyoming county, where he has been a power in
lav and politics for many years. It may be said that the law has been his vocation, and politics his avoca- tion. The one has been his profession, and the other his diversion, though the two have been closely allied. There are few callings other than the law that permit their followers to devote so much
HORACE S. HUTCHINS
attention to polities without detriment to professional success. It is doubtless for this reason that so many lawyers become active in party affairs. They have a direct interest in the making of laws, as well as in their enforcement and application.
Centerfield, a small town in Ontario county, New York, was Mr. Johnson's birthplace. During his boyhood he lived in several places, but when he was sixteen years old his parents moved to Warsaw. Wyoming county. With one exception this has been Mr. Johnson's home ever since, and the scene of his struggles and victories. His education was obtained at the common schools, the Warsaw Academy, and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y.
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When the war broke out Mr. Johnson was just of legal age. In the second year of that great struggle he enlisted as a private in company D, 136th regiment, and marched to the front ; and for a year and a half he served in the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Cumberland. Ill health caused his discharge early
I. S.IM JOHNSON
in 1864, when he came home, as first lieutenant, with a record for courage and coolness in times of danger.
The war had interrupted the young man's study of the law, and on his return from the scenes of battle he resumed the reading of Kent and Blackstone. Only a short time was required to fit him for admis- sion to the bar, and in May, 1864, he received his diploma. He began practice with M. E. Bartlett at Warsaw, where he remained until 1866, when he was induced to move to Arcade in the same county. In August, 1870, the law firm of Johnson & Knight was formed, and continued until Mr. Johnson decided to return to Warsaw in 1876.
of high merit. The following year he formed a copartnership with S. B. Bartlett under the style of Johnson & Bartlett, that lasted until Mr. Bartlett
moved to Minnesota, in 1881. Then Mr. Johnson associated himself with H. E. Dean, and their part- nership continued until 1885, when the firm of Johnson & Charles was formed. This . association still exists. The junior mem- ber of the firm, Elmer E. Charles, is now district attorney of Wyoming county.
During all these years Mr. Johnson has been actively interested in political affairs. He is an ardent Republican, and early became a favorite campaign orator and a wise party adviser. He was fre- quently a delegate to conventions, and was looked upon as a leader of the party in his section of the state. His first public office was that of district attorney. to which he was elected in 1876. His administration of the affairs of the office was so able that he was re-elected in 1879, and again in 1882, serving con- tinuously for nine years - a record of which any man might be proud. In 1889 he was chosen to represent Wyoming county in the lower house of the state legislature, and was given the compliment of a re-election in 1890. He was also the choice of his county as its repre- sentative in the constitutional convention of 1894, and took an active and a promi- nent part in the work of that body.
Mr. Johnson is a member of various social and fraternal organizations, in al: of which he is a valued leader. He belongs to the Warsaw Masonic Lodge : Wyoming Chapter, R. A. M., of War- saw ; Batavia Commandery, K. T., of Batavia : Damascus Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Rochester : the Odd Fellows ; and the Knights of Pythias.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-I. Sam Johnson was born at Centerfield, N. Y., October 25. - 1840 : moved to Warsaw, N. Y., in 1856: was educated in common schools, and in Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N. Y .; served in the Union army. 1862-64 : was admitted to the bar in May, 1864; married Mary E. Me Farland of Twinsburg, O., Mar 5, 1865 ; was elected district attorney of Wyoming county in 1876, and served three terms ; was member of assembly. 1890-91, and of the state constitutiona! since 1876.
Here he entered the thick of the fight at once, and . convention in 1894 ; has practiced law at Warsite was soon recognized as an attorney and a counselor
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Simcon D. Lewis, in the course of his forty years of business life in Warsaw, has performed pub- lic services and achieved personal success in a degree rarely attained by the resident of a small village. The Warsaw salt district is now ranked with the leading salt-producing regions of the world. The Vacuum Oil Co. of Rochester, in searching for oil in the town of Middlebury, five miles from Warsaw, discovered the great salt deposit of western New York. The public spirit and enterprise.of some of Warsaw's leading citizens, who furnished funds to sink an experimental well, demonstrated that this deposit was not local, and thus created an industry that has become one of great magnitude. Among these men was Simeon D. Lewis. As the general manager of the Warsaw Salt Co. he had the distinc- tion of manufacturing the first salt ever produced in Warsaw. Mr. Lewis had been recog- nized, long before the successful salt experiment, as a man who had the in- terests of his town and county at heart, and whose prudence and conservatism entitled him to the highest confidence. This esteem is further evidenced in the fact that he served for eighteen years as treasurer of Wyoming county.
Mr. Lewis attended the public schools in his native village, and finished his education at the Genesee and Wyoming Seminary at Alexander. He attained such proficiency in his studies that he was taken into the faculty of the seminary after his graduation, as instructor in chemistry, physics, and German. He continued to teach, here and at the War- saw Union School, for three years. The work was agreeable, but the compensation was insufficient to satisfy his ambition, and he abandoned teaching to become a mer- chant. His first partnership was with Charles J. Judd. Afterward he was associated in business with Noble Morris for nineteen years ; and at different times with his son, George A. Lewis, and with W. C. Gates, Fred B. Rowe, Herbert ) -. Burr, and Bert P. Gage. The firm is now Lewis & Gage.
As his property has accumulated Mr. Lewis's enterprises have naturally ex- tended, but he has always made his investments with a view to developing his town. Aside from his work in establishing the salt industry, he has been for many years a director and vice president of the Wyoming County National Bank,
and for more than twenty years he was president of the Citizens' Gaslight Co. of Warsaw.
It is this conservatism and attachment to home interests that have won for Mr. Lewis his high place in public affairs. His six elections as county treas- urer were secured by large majorities, and he was always nominated by acclamation. He has held the office of supervisor also for three years. He has been an ardent Republican since the organization of the party, and has served as chairman of the county committee.
For more than forty years he has been a member of the Congregational Church in Warsaw, and for thirteen years he was the superintendent of its Sun- clay school.
Mr. Lewis takes great pride in his ancestry. His father held a commission from Governor Daniel D.
SIMEON D. LEWIS
Tompkins of New York in the war of 1812; his grandfather was a soldier of the revolutionary war ; and his great-grandfather was an officer in the British army in the French and Indian war. Mr. Lewis
£
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MEN OF NEW YORK-GENESEE SECTION
has written and published a genealogy of his braneh of the Lewis family, in which the line of descent is traced back to William Lewis, who came over in the ship "Lion," and landed at Boston Sep- tember 16, 1632. Mr. Lewis has frequently con- tributed articles on local and political matters to
JOHN M. MCKENZIE
the press of his vicinity, and has written papers for the Wyoming County Pioneer Association and the Warsaw Historical Society. One of these papers was published in the book entitled " Robert Morris and the Holland Purchase," edited by John Kennedy. .
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Soncon Dun- ham Lewis was born at Orangeville, N. Y., Septem- ber 8, 1830 ; was educated in the public schools and at Genesee and Wyoming Seminary, Alexander, N. Y. ; married Sarah L. Canfield of Alexander August 2, 185.1 ; taught school at Alexander and at Warsaw, N. Y .. 1853-55 ; was treasurer of Hyo- ming county, 1875-92 ; has been engaged in mercan- tile business at Warsaw since 1856.
3obn AD. Mckenzie is well known in western New York for his extensive business operations, and for the active part he has taken in public affairs. He is a native New Yorker, having been born in Lockport fifty years ago ; but he was taken West in childhood, and received his education in Wiseonsin. As a lad he attended school in a log schoolhouse in the town of Iola, and finally finished his education, at the age of seventeen, at Wanpaca Academy. But the West did not have for him the attrac- tion that it has for so many young men ; and he soon returned East, to settle on a farm at Elba, N. Y., in 1867. For four years he lived the laborious but healthful life of a farmer, but in 1871 he embarked on the mercantile career to which he has since devoted himself.
He became a clerk for R. O. Holden of Batavia, and remained with him ten years. The details of business were new to Mr. Mckenzie, but he found them congenial from the start, and rapidly acquired a mastery of business methods ; so that during the last four years of his connection with Mr. Holden he was the manager of the coneern.
At the close of this long apprenticeship Mr. MeKenzie went into business for himself, forming a partnership with C. i. l'endill under the firm name of MeKenzie & Pendill, for the sale of men's clothing and furnishing goods. After several changes the business was reorganized in 1884, under the name of Mckenzie, Ryan & Storms, and that style continues to the present time. The firm carries on stores at Batavia. Geneva, and Attica, and is recognized as one of the most enterprising concerns in that part of the state.
Mr. Mckenzie, like so many men of the present day, has many interests outside of his main business enterprise. He owns and manages extensive flou - ing and saw mills at Byron Center, N. Y. ; and he is president of the American Fraternal Insurance Union, an organization incorporated under the laws of the state of New York to furnish life insurance on the natural-premium system. He has also many duties as managing executor of the Wilson estate, and as a director of the New York Wood Working Co. of Batavia.
In 1888, and again in 1889, the voters of Mr. MeKenzie's district showed their appreciation of his ability and interest in public affairs by electing him
MEN OF NEW YORK-GENESEE SECTION
as their representative in the lower house of the state legislature. During his first term he served on five important committees ; and when he went back to Albany the second time, he was made a member of the ways and means committee, the most important in the house, as well as of two others. He brought to the service of his constituents the same energy and careful attention to details that had characterized his conduct of his own business affairs, and his re-election was an evidence of the people's approval of his course.
Mr. Mckenzie has done long and faithful service in the cause of education as a trustee of the Batavia Union School. He is now serving his third term, of three years each, on this board. From 1884 to 1891 he was the secretary of the Genesee County Agricultural Society, and was president of the same in 1892. He is a Mason and a Knight Templar, and has been for more than a quarter of a century an earnest member of the First Baptist Church of Batavia.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY --- John M. Mckenzie was born al Lockport, V. Y., September 13, 1846 ; was educated in Wisconsin ; married Mary E. Storms of Elba, N. Y., January 15, 1867 ; engaged in farming at Elba, 1867-71; was emploved as clerk in Batavia, N. Y., 1871-81 ; was elected member of as- sembly in 1888 and 1889 ; has conducted a clothing and furnishing store in Bataria since 1881.
Safford E. forth became county judge and surrogate of (ienesee county at the age of thirty-six. His career has been that of a quick-witted and studious . lawyer, with a deep interest in public affairs, and in that higher type of politics that seeks the general good rather than mere private ends. He has proved him- self to be a man of unusual energy, and has received distinguished evidence of the high regard in which he is held by the citizens of Genesee county. As a judge, and as referee in a large number of cases, his course has been marked by careful research and rigid impartiality. He is respected by lawyers, and has the con- fidence of litigants. At the Republican convention held in Buffalo in 1895, he was a prom- inent candidate for justice of the Supreme Court of the 8th judicial district. In addition to his legal studies Judge North has found time to read
much on literary and scientific subjects, and he is a cultured, well-educated man. He is an accomplished public speaker, having for many years delivered addresses whenever occasion required on political, patriotic, social, and other topics. While still a law student he took the stump in the exciting presi- dential campaign of 1876, the famous Hayes-Tilden contest, and has done admirable work in every presi- dential campaign since.
Judge North was a Genesce-county boy, and was born on a farm about forty-four years ago. After spending three years in the Genesee and Wyoming Seminary at Alexander, N. Y., he took the com- petitive examination for the free scholarship in Cornell University, won the prize, and entered, at the age of sixteen, the first freshman class of the university. After taking part of the course
SAFFORD F. NORTH
at Cornell. he was obliged to leave college. Ile then worked in summer on his father's farm, and taught country schools in winter until he became of age. Having determined to become a lawyer, he
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MEN OF NEW YORK-GENESEE SECTION
began his studies with Judge Lucius N. Bangs of Le Roy, afterward continuing them in the office of William C. Watson of Batavia. He was twenty-five years old when admitted to the bar. He was well known in Batavia, and at once began practice, alone, in that place.
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CHARLES T. SANTON
Bringing to the profession a mind more mature than that of most young lawyers, and a wider experi- ence in the affairs of the world, he built up a practice rapidly. He was elected district attorney only two years after his admission to the bar, and served for six years. Within two years after retiring from this office, he was chosen county judge and surrogate, and he is now serving his second term as such.
Judge North is an Episcopalian. He has taken an active interest in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was for several years presi- dent of the organization at Batavia.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Safford E. Vorth was born at Alexander, Genesee county, N. Y., January 27, 1853; was educated at Genesee and
Wyoming Seminary, Alexander, and spent one year at Cornell University ; taught school, 1869-73 ; was ad- mitted to the bar at Syracuse in 1878, and legan prac- tice at Batavia, N. Y .; married Cora Munroe Griswold of Batavia November 23, 1881; was elected district attorney in 1880, and was re-elected in 18833 ; has been county judge and surrogate of Genesee county since 1888.
Charles C. Saxton of Clyde, lieutenant governor of New York, was nominated for this office at the Repub- lican state convention of 1894. There was a large field of candidates. Prob- ably the most skillful speech of the con- vention, all things considered, was that of Mr. Saxton's sponsor, Anson S. Wood. It dwelt, not on the candidate's record as a statesman, with which all men's minds were filled, but on his service as a boy soldier in the Rebellion, and on his estimable qualities as a man and a neighbor. This was a brand-new side of Saxton's personality to most of the auditors, and it is a story well worth telling again.
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