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 40
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Mr. Yates joined the Free Masons in his soldier days, and was a member of Western Sun Chapter, No. 67, R. A. M., at the time of his death. He became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Jamestown in 1878, and several years later was chosen an elder of that body. He belonged to the Ancient Order of United Workmen ; the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he was com- mander of James M. Brown Post in 1893 ; the Union Veteran Legion : and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, the highest associa- tion of its kind in America. A com- mittee appointed by this organization to draft resolutions relative to Mr. Yates, reported in part as follows : " Mr. Yates was one of the best type of the Ameri- HENRY J. VATES can volunteer. He enlisted with no other motive than that of patriotism, and he re- was postmaster of Jamestown, 1869-73 ; was justice mained in the service until his physical condition . of the peace for the town of Ellicott, 1873-86, and incapacitated him for duty. His comrades and police justice of Jamestown from 1886 until his death brother officers testify to the high plane of his January 18, 1897 ..
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3noson J6. Andrews, for fourteen years superintendent of the Buffalo State Hospital for the Insane, and one of the foremost alienists of the country, was descended from an old New England family, his ancestors having been among the earliest settlers of the New Haven colony. Dr. Andrews
JUDSON B. ANDREW'S
himself was born in Connecticut in 1834, and received his education there, graduating from Vale College in the class of '55. For several years he taught school and studied medicine, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil War.
Beginning his military service as captain in the 77th New York regiment, Dr. Andrews served in the Chickahominy and preceding campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, but resigned because of ill health in the summer of 1862. Returning North he resumed his medical studies, and in February, 1863, graduated from the medical department of Yale College. He then re-entered the army as an assistant surgeon, and served until the close of the war.
In 1867 Dr. Andrews began what was to be a life- long connection with the care and treatment of the insane, becoming third assistant physician of the State Lunatic Asylum at Utica. Four years later he became first assistant. When the Buffalo State Hos- pital was opened in 1880 Dr. Andrews was offered the responsible post of superintendent, and from that time until his death in 18944 he had charge of the institution. Ile had an extensive knowledge of ner- vous and mental diseases gained from long experience and wide and careful research ; as well as a natural faculty for organization that peculiarly qualified him to be at the head of such an institu- tion. He was firm, but kindly and judi- cious ; and both his associates and his patients loved and trusted him.
Dr. Andrews was a man of wide gen- eral culture, a student of literature and a connoisseur of art ; but the exacting de- mands of his position compelled him to devote himself closely to his hospital work. In this, as has been said above, he achieved marked success, and gained an extended reputation as an authority in a difficult specialty. For some years he was assistant editor of the American Jour- nal of Insanity, and he was president of the psychological section of the Ninth International Medical Congress held at Washington in September, 1887. He was a member of the New York State Medical Society, the Erie County Medi- cal Society (of which he was at one time president ), and the Buffalo Medical Asso- ciation ; as well as lecturer on insanity at the Buffalo Medical College. The high esteem in which he was held by his fel- low-practitioners was voiced by one of the most prominent physicians of Buffalo at a meeting of the Erie County Medical Society shortly after his death, when he said: "I consider him personally the ideal of what a professional man should be."
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Judson Boardman Andrews was born in Connecticut Aprit 25, 1834 ; graduated from Vate College in 1855, and from Yale Medical School in 1863 ; screed in the Union army during the greater part of the war ; mar- ried Agnes Campbell, daughter of Samuel Campbell of New York Mills, N. Y. ; was connected with the State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, N. Y., 1867-80; was superintendent of the Buffalo State Hospital from 1880 until his death August 3, 1894.
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George D. Burrows, for twenty years super- intendent of the western division of the New York C'entral & Hudson River railroad, did his work so well that it will be a standard of comparison in the railroad world so long as present methods of railroad operation and supervision shall continue. worth more to the owners of the road than can be expressed in figures. It has been said of him, " He managed it as if it were his own property, " and that is true. His whole career illustrates the success that comes from thorough acquaintance with a field of work, and a full appreciation of responsibility, united to untiring effort and marked ability.
His railroad work dates from the time when, a lad of sixteen or thereabouts, he took part in the construction work of the Connecticut River railroad, whose line was building across his father's farm. When he was twenty-one he first left home in the service of the same road. It is. evident that he began building up a repu- tation from the outset, for in 1852 he was called to the superintendency of the Rochester, Lockport & Niagara Falls road, now the Falls branch of the Central. The line was then under construction. Mr. Burrows saw it completed, and ran the first train over it from Rochester to the Falls. His home was then in Rochester. When he left Rochester for Toledo, in June, 1855, to become general superintendent of the Lake Erie, Wabash & St. Louis road, he received an ovation which, as a tribute of esteem and good will, is still unique in the railroad history of western New York.
Continning with the Wabash until 1865, Mr. Burrows for the next four years built and operated the Saratoga &' Hudson road. He then returned to the enlarged Wabash system, making his home in Toledo until 1873. He was identified with this system during the days of its prosperous growth, and his work was second to none in making the Wabash one of the great railroad systems of the country. When Jay Gould obtained control of the system. in 1873, Mr. Burrows voluntarily resigned.
The friendship between William H. Vanderbilt and Mr. Burrows was something more than usually comes from a mere business association. It was a warm personal attachment. Mr. Burrows possessed qualities that Mr. Vanderbilt valued highly : he had,
He was
moreover, Mr. Vanderbilt's implicit confidence, and it was therefore a source of great satisfaction to the Central directorate when he accepted the superinten- dency of the western division of the New York Central, including all lines operated by this com- pany west of Syracuse.
GEORGE H. BURROWS
For twenty years, until his voluntary retirement in 1893, the condition -and to a considerable extent, the prosperity -of the lines in this division, de- pended on the devotion, energy, practical ability, and sagacity of George H. Burrows. He and his famous pony engine were everywhere, day or night, in winter or summer, as occasion demanded. Dur- ing his incumbency, the Falls and Lockport branches were constructed or extended, the Buffalo Cross-town road was built, the Central's tracks were put above grade through the city of Rochester, and the canti- lever bridge at Niagara Falls was built and opened. In his special engine he made the first trip over the Niagara on the cantilever bridge, December 5, 1884 : he had also been on the first train to cross the
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suspension bridge, March 18, 1855. He was always first when it was his duty or place to be on hand ; but he was always last when it came to putting him- self before the public. His connection with the New York Central extended through two decades of the greatest advance in the history of railroads. What part he bore in that advance is evidenced by the work he did - work that will stand in transportation annals as representing the century's best achievements . in railroad construction and maintenance.
Advancing years prompted Mr. Burrows, in 1893, to seek retirement. The company would not accept a resignation, but instead gave him a year's holiday abroad, with full salary. On his return he could not be induced to resume heavy duties, and his last years were divided between his home in Buffalo and his summer home in Bernardstown, Mass. He died at Buffalo March 9, 1896, and is buried at Northampton, Mass.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - George Hunt Burrows was born at Bernardstoron, Mass., Decem- ber 21, 18.22 ; attended the public schools ; was in the service of the Connecticut River railroad, 1843-52: married Mary Elizabeth Cook of Northampton, Mass., September 11, 1850 : was connected with the Wabash road, with headquarters at Toledo, 1855-65 and 1869-73 ; was superintendent of the western division of the New York Central road, with headquarters at Buffalo, 1873-93 ; died at Buffalo March 9, 1896.
Stephen Min. Clement, whose death occurred September 29, 1892, was for more than two genera- tions a prominent man in the commercial, social, and religious life of Fredonia and Buffalo. As a youth he displayed those characteristics of integrity and sound judgment that marked his Inter career, and gained for him surpassing influence and power. Calm, dispassionate, level-headed, courteous, and firm withal, he possessed in an eminent degree the qualities requisite for the responsible duties that devolve upon a banker and trustee of other people's funds.
His boyhood was spent upon his father's farm in the town of Manlius, N. Y., and his education was such as farmers' sons in bygone days were accustomed to secure in the winter district schools. At sixteen he went to work as a clerk in a general store, con- tributing from his wages to the support of the family, and laying aside small suis against the day when he could go into business for himself. This opportunity came three years later, when he formed a partnership with another young man to conduct a general country store. The venture was successful, but the limita- tions of the business were obvious, and Mr. Clement soon went to Camden, N. Y., to work as a salesman
for two years in a large dry-goods house. He after- wards filled a similar position in Rome, N. Y.
In 1850 Mr. Clement moved to Fredonia, N. Y., where he conducted a general store. His two brothers were associated with him in this enterprise, and he eventually disposed of the business to them. It was now, at the age of thirty, that he began his career as a banker - a career to which his tastes and temperament naturally led him, and for which his business life up to this point had been but the train- ing and preparation. After a year's experience as cashier in a private bank, he established the Fredonia Bank (subsequently organized as the Fredonia Na- tional Bank), and was its active manager, first as cashier till 1867, and then as president until 1881. In 1869 he became the cashier and manager of the Marine Bank of Buffalo, and in 1881 was elected its president, holding this position until his death. He was also president of the Bankers' Association of Buffalo, and of the Merchants' National Bank of Dunkirk ; and a director of the National Bank of North America of New York city, and of the First National Bank of Faribault, Minn.
During his long residence in Fredonia Mr. Clement established an enviable reputation. He held the un- reserved confidence of all who came in contact with him, proving himself a wise and trustworthy financier, free from any speculative tendency. He shaped his conduct, not to secure personal aggrandizement, but to co-operate in the development and welfare of the entire community. He was pre-eminently a man of conscience, with no variable standard of honesty, but equally rigorous in all the relations of life. United with this quality, he had a kind heart and active sympathies, and his counsel and assistance were never sought in vain. It was but natural, therefore, that his departure from Fredonia drew from all classes of citizens expressions of genuine regret.
Mr. Clement's life in Buffalo covered a period of nearly twenty-four years. They were busy years, filled with devotion to duty, in business, home, and church. He did not allow the banking counter to shut out his view of the rest of the world. He was not a money-making machine, but a Christian who felt the responsibility imposed upon him by the possession of large means. He gave freely, but wisely and without ostentation. He was active in philanthropic and educational work, and ever ready to contribute of his time and resources for the uplift- ing of mankind. He was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church, a commissioner of the Auburn Theological Seminary, and represented his church in the presbytery, synod, and general assembly. His religion was part of his daily life, and even in the
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midst of exacting business cares he found time to perform his duties as trustee of the Buffalo General Hospital and of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum, and as president of the board of managers of the State Normal School.
Stephen M. Clement's life may be best summed up in the statement that he was indeed a practical Christian. His whole career was marked by the utmost honesty of thought and purpose, and he believed a good name more to be desired than great riches. His success in material things, however, was continuous and marked ; and this success was won worthily, not by speculative ventures, but by the ob- servance of honest principles, by a thorough mastery of his profession, by industry, energy, and commanding busi- ness ability. In commercial and in moral life alike, he was steadfast in his purpose, unswerving in his integrity, true to his responsibilities.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Stephen M. Clement was born at Manlius, N. Y., February 26, 1825 ; was educated in district schools ; conducted a general store in Fredonia, N. Y., 1850-55; organized the Fredonia Bank in 1856. and was president of the same, 1867-81; married Sarah E. Leonard of De Witt, N. Y., November 3, 1851 ; became cashier and manager of the Marine Bank, Buffalo, in 1869, and president in 1881; died September 29, 1892.
1R. D. fFassett served the law and his fellow-citizens of Elmira for thirty- five years, and left a record for sterling worth, profound legal learning, and emi- nent Christian character, that constitutes a price- less heritage to his descendants. His profession was not simply a means of livelihood. He was devoted to it, and practiced it for love of the ideals contained in the law. He was a friend of young men, many of whom had the privilege of pursuing their legal studies in his office. His influence on the bar and the community was great, and always good, for he was essentially a man of sound moral principles.
Mr. Fassett was a farmer's son. His parents went to Pennsylvania from Vermont, and were pioneers in their section of the state. They had to clear the ground for a farm, and young Fassett shared all the. hardships and all the advantages of country rearing. Consequently he developed a vigorous constitution
and a robust character, which marked him in later years. He had the ambition and the self-reliance of so many country boys who have subsequently risen to eminence in the United States. America has been the poor boy's opportunity. Mr. Fassett attended the district school in winter until he was eighteen
STEPHEN M. CLEMENT
years of age. He then taught for a while in his home school at South Creek. He was all the time eager to secure a higher education. To do this no honorable work was beneath him. At one period he drove the stage between South Creek and Elmira. When finally his ambition was gratified, and he was enabled to enter the Elmira Free Academy, he worked at the same time to pay his board while in school.
He pursued his law studies in the law school at Cherry Valley, and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He began practice at once in Elmira, forming a part- nership with Archibald Robertson. Some years later H. Boardman Smith was admitted to the firm, and thenceforth the partnership of Smith, Robertson & Fassett became one of the strongest and most trusted
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MEN OF NEW YORK
combinations of legal talent in central New York. Each partner possessed a peculiar strength, and the trio constituted indeed a triple alliance of brains, skill, and eloquence.
A lawyer endowed with good business judgment is sooner or later drawn into commercial enterprises
V.
N. P. FAASSETT
where legal knowledge is an element of success. In this way Mr. Fassett became connected with several mercantile concerns and manufacturing enterprises. His legal ability and tried integrity made him a valu- able man in a directors' meeting ; and he was faithful in his relations with corporations and institutions whether of a financial or philanthropic character. He was deeply interested in the cause of popular educa- tion, and was one of the original trustees of the Ehnira College, one of the first institutions in the country for the higher education of women. He was president for many years of the Elmira Advertiser Association, and took an active part in the manage- ment of the paper. Mr. Fassett was never in politics in the sense of seeking office, but he was no less a
force in public affairs. He served terms as supervisor and school trustee, but the duties of his profession engrossed his time and thought to the exclusion of political life. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Elmira for forty-two years. His death occurred at his residence in Elinira January 17, 1894, in the seventy-second year of his age.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Newton Pomroy Fassett was born at Troy, Penn., November 26, 1822 ; was educated at Elmira Free Academy ; was admitted to the bar in 1849 : married Martha Ellen Slout of Slotsburg, N. Y., October 20. 1852 ; practiced law in Elmira, N. Y., from 1849 until his death January 17, 1894.
3obn lodge was most widely known for his prominence in the Masonic order. His reputation extended far beyond the limits of his own state, and there were few members of the great fraternal order who were more highly respected or more justly popular. Outside of Masonic circles, however, the people of western New York knew him as an unusually successful busi- ness man, who had accumulated a large property by his own toil and business insight. Among his own townspeople he was respected and loved as a man of great public spirit, large charity, generous im- pulses, a high sense of honor, and strict integrity. Few men have done more for Lockport than he. Few have been more ready to help the needy, or to promote , any charitable or benevolent undertaking. No worthy object ever failed to receive the support of his energy and his means. He was a tireless worker, methodical and systematic, as he must have been, to do the great amount of work which he took upon himself, and which finally, in great part, broke him down and brought about his death.
Mr. Hodge was born in Jefferson county, and moved to Lockport when about twenty-one years of ige. The profession of law was attractive to him, and he studied for it, was admitted to the bar, and practiced at Lockport for two or three years. Like many another young lawyer, he was weaned from his profession by a tempting business opening before be had time fairly to establish a clientage. Ile first became connected with the Gargling Oil Co. in the capacity of clerk. On the death of George W. Merchant, the originator of the . compound. he
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MEN OF NEW YORK
strceeded to the secretaryship of the company, and continued in this position for the remainder of his life. The business was a large one when he took charge of it, but it extended rapidly under his man- agement, until the name and product of the firm became familiar throughout the continent.
But Mr. Hodge was too energetic a man to confine himself to a single line. As the owner and manager of the Hodge opera house he became widely known in quarters unconnected with his manufacturing busi- ness. This opera house was built about fifteen years ago, replacing one which was then destroyed by fire, and which had also been built by Mr. Hodge some ten years earlier. In the holding of offices of an honorary and a business character his record is ex- tremely significant. He was treasurer of the Lockport & Buffalo railway, chief engineer of the Lockport fire department, president of the Union Printing & Publishing Co., presi- cent of the Firemen's Life Association of the State of New York, president of the Agricultural Society, director of the Masonic State Life Association, president of the Lockport board of education, presi- clent of the Glenwood Cemetery Associa- tion, commissioner of the Niagara State Reservation, president of the Lockport Home for the Friendless, vestryman and trustee of Grace Episcopal Church, and Grand Receiver of the A. O. U. W. of the State of New York. The latter office he filled for twelve consecutive years.
He was invested with the supreme grade of the 33d degree Scottish Rite Masons in 1875, and was a member of Ames Chapter, R. A. M., Bruce Council, No. 15, R. S. M., Genesee Commandery, K. T., Lock City Lodge of Perfection, A. A. R., Rochester Chapter, Rose Croix, and Rochester Consistory, S. P. R. S. His long and faithful service in the fraternity, and the high rank he had already attained, led to his election as Grand Master Mason of the State of New York about a year before his death. declined a re-election, and it was while attending the ceremonies incident to the installation of his successor that he suffered the exposure that led to his death.
Mr. Hodge was an unswerving Repub- lican in politics. In 1893 he was tendered the nomina- tion for state treasurer, but declined it. He was highly regarded in his church, the officers of which at the time of his death adopted a resolution in which he was
extolled as a model of the successful, conscientions, business man. He was generous as a friend, and during his later life lost much money through his willing- ness to help others involved in business troubles.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- John Hodge was born in Jefferson county, New York, in 1839 : went to Lockport, N. Y., in early life, and practiced laze a short time ; built the Hodge opera house, Lockport, in 1871, and rebuilt it in 1881 : was secretary of the Garg- ling Oil Co. from 1865 until his death, and interested in many other manufacturing and mercantile enterprises in Lockport ; died at Lockport August 1, 1895.
Wolcott Julius Dumpbrey, who died at Warsaw, N. Y., January 19, 1890, was one of the most honored and honorable citizens of Wyoming
JOHN HODGE
county, and few men in that part of the state have been so widely missed.
Mr. Humphrey was born at Canton, Conn., which was also the birthplace of his father, his grandfather.
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and his great-grandfather. He may almost be re- garded as a native of New York state, however, since his father brought his family to Sheldon, Wyoming county, the year after Wolcott was born. One of a family of seventeen children, Wolcott was obliged to content himself with the education obtainable in
WOLCOTT JULIUS HUMPHREY
the common schools, supplemented by instruction from a neighboring clergyman. His natural abili- ties, however, were of a high order ; and the lessons learned later in the school of experience, together with wide reading and extensive travel, served to develop his character as a polished, cultured gentle- man, and a keen and successful business man.
Until he was twenty-three years old Mr. Hum- phrey assisted his father in the varied occupations of farming, tanning, shoemaking, and harness-making. Later he engaged in mercantile business in different places in Wyoming county, and at Bloomington, 111. While residing in the West, he was largely. interested in land speculations, which proved highly successful.
In 1864 Mr. Humphrey returned to Wyoming county, where so large a part of his life had been spent, and settled at Warsaw, which continued to be his home until his death. For several years he was extensively engaged in the tanning business ; but in 1869 he became connected with the Wyoming County National Bank. Two years later he was chosen president of the institu- tion, and filled that responsible position during the remainder of his life.
Mr. Humphrey had an important voice in the management of local affairs, as he was president of the water and the gas companies, and of the cemetery associa- tion. He also served for eight years as trustee of the Institution for the Blind, at Batavia, and for three years as presi- dent of the board.
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