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 43
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As a member of the electoral college in 1889, Mr. Frank voted for Harrison and Morton. The last appointment that he received was that of com- missioner for the preservation of public parks of the state of New York. His rare executive ability and liberal ideas would have made him a strong mem- ber of the commission, and an active force in the preservation of the picturesque and beautiful public reservations of the Empire State.
Mr. Frank possessed unusual organizing capacity, well-balanced judgment, energy, and firmness of purpose ; and these qualities, joined to spotless personal integrity, made him remarkably successful in financial enterprises. His ability was widely recognized, and his counsel was frequently sought in the management of business affairs. He enjoyed in large measure the confidence of business men, and his relations with them often proved the beginning of valued friendships. He helped to organize the Wyoming County National Bank, and was a director
thereof for several years. As president of the Bank of Warsaw for nearly a quarter of a century, he developed the business of the institution to a degree rarely equalled by any bank except those in large cines with ample capital and other conditions favor- able to growth. Municipal bonds and choice seci- rities of various kinds were obtained by Mr. Frank, and sold to investors. This branch of the busi- ness ultimately extended to all parts of the United States.
Mr. Frank was for several years a director of the Rochester Trust and Safe Deposit Company. He was one of the projectors and a director of what is now the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg railroad. Other railroads, water and gas companies, banking institutions, and the like received the benefit of his sound judgment and business acumen. The develop- ment of the salt industry in Wyoming county was largely due to his foresight. All matters of general importance in his town and county received his atten- tion. In all the pressure of outside affairs and public matters of engrossing interest, he yet maintained a close watch over the welfare of his native town. He realized fully the importance of local historical records, and served for many years as the president of the Wyoming County Pioneer Association. Mr. Frank appreciated the influence of the press. As a writer for newspapers he was always practical, and his articles had a quality that ensured attention.
Charitable and generous in a marked degree, Mr. Frank gave a large part of his time to various kinds of organized philanthropy. For twelve years he was a member of the board of managers of the Buffalo State Hospital for the Insane. He was a trustee in several educational institutions. His father before him had been a power in advancing the temperance cause, and the son was indefatigable in behalf of the same movement. He was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church and a trustee for about forty-five years, and contributed liberally to its support both at home and in foreign lands. He regarded the church as altogether the noblest and most effective means of uplifting the human race, and gave himself unsparingly to its service. His attractive personality made him the center of a happy home life. This was constantly shared with others, and friends came and went, the better for their contact with a mind so broad, a heart so kind and true. The distinguishing traits in Mi. Frank's character included high ideals of duty and unswerving faithfulness thereto, broad charity, and self-sacrificing kindness. "Not to be ministered unto, but to minister," expresses the spirit of his unselfish life.
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PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Augustus Frank was born at Warsaw, N. Y., July 17, 1826 ; was educated in public schools and by private instructors; engaged in a general mercantile business at Warsaw, 1847-71 ; was representative in congress, 1859-65 ; was a delegate to the state constitutional conventions of 1867 and 1894, and a presidential elector in 1889 : married Agnes McNair of Groveland, N. Y., August 28, 1867 ; organised the Bank of Warsaw in 1871, und was president thereof until his death April 29, 1895.
D. harold bayes was a native of Indiana, but in his early boyhood his parents moved to Ontario county, New York, where he was brought up on a farm. He soon displayed an eager desire for knowledge, but, as his parents wished to make a farmer of him, he was forced to overcome many obstacles in securing an education. His first knowledge of Latin was obtained while driving a plow in the field, when he would hide his grammar in the hollow stump of a tree, and snatch a few moments for study while his team was resting. When he had at length succeeded in fitting himself to enter Canandaigua Academy, he used to walk ten miles to that institution every Monday morning, carrying enough provisions to last him until Friday night, when he walked home again. Having completed his preparatory studies, he entered the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1848. In spite of the disadvantages under which he had labored in securing an education, he was but twenty-four years old when he received his degree, and prepared to battle with the world.
From the beginning of his professional career Dr. Hayes devoted his attention chiefly to the treatment of chronic diseases - the field in which he was to win renown in later years. The same year in which he graduated he took charge of a small sanitarium at Cuba, N. Y., and was successful from the start. The institution soon proved too small to accommodate those who wished to avail themselves of his atten- tion, and he bought a place at Wyoming, which he enlarged and improved in order to make it entirely suitable for his purposes. But complications arose : he failed to receive the financial aid which had been promised, and on which he relied, and finally he was
compelled to make an assignment, and to abandon the enterprise. During the next fifteen years he was connected, at one time or another, with many of the principal sanitariums in the country : and he thus en - joyed exceptional opportunities for observation and study, of which he made good use. He became im-
P. HAROLD HAYES
pressed with the belief that asthma, so long regarded as an incurable disease, could be cured.
In 1871 Dr. Hayes spent six months in study, and in visiting the hospitals in New York. Four years later he settled at Binghamton, N. Y., where he was engaged in general practice until 1885. Throughout these years he continued his investigations of asthmatic troubles. As his remarkable success in this line became known, he was frequently consulted by patients at a distance, whom he treated through correspondence ; and he soon found it necessary to give up his general practice, and devote his whole time to this specialty. Accordingly, in 1885 he moved to Buffalo, where the rest of his life was spent. His work extended rapidly, and patients from all
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over the country consulted him. The greater part of his practice was carried on by correspondence ; but his enthusiasm for his work and devotion to his patients was such that many who had never seen him came to regard him as a personal friend.
GERHARD LANG
Dr. Hayes was all his life a consistent and an earnest Christian, and was a member of the Congre- gational and Presbyterian churches in the different places where he lived. Of genial character and hospitable, he was also very sympathetic, and any one with a pitiful story could obtain his ear. Ex- ceedingly conscientious, he strictly followed the code of ethics as expressed in the Golden Rule. He was a man of great perseverance, and one who scorned the word failure. He was accustomed, by the greatest physical and mental exertion, to overcome obstacles that would have appeared insurmountable to most men. A man of exemplary habits and vigorous constitution, he might have lived ten years longer probably, but for his lifelong custom of set- ting no limit to his powers of endurance: Nothing
could have been more in accordance with his desires than to die in the harness, in full possession of his powers of both mind and body. Dr. Hayes died April 9, 1894, but he still lives in the grateful memories of hundreds of his fellow-men who have reaped the benefit of his years of study and investigation in medical science.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Pliny Harold Haves was born at Clinton, Ind., October 7, 1824; attended Canan- daigua (N. Y. ) Academy and the semi- nary at Lima, N. Y., and graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1848 ; married Cornelia Catherine Hall of West Bloomfield, N. Y., Septem- ber 5, 1848 ; was connected with various sanitariums, 1848-15 ; engaged in general practice at Binghamton, N. Y., 1875-85 ; made a specialty of the treatment of asthma at Buffalo, 1885-94; died at Buffalo April 9, 1894.
Gerhard Lang arrived in Buffalo a poor German boy : when he died in the same city forty-four years later, thousands crowded the church in which his funeral was held, eager to honor one whom they had learned to love and respect. In the interval he had labored early and late, in season and out of season, acquiring an ample fortune, and indelibly impressing himself on the his- tory and community of Buffalo. He was primarily a man of business, fitted for the successful undertaking of large enter- prises ; but he was much more than this, and his private life discloses other charac- teristics equally interesting and admirable. Born in Germany in 1834, Mr. Lang was brought to this country fourteen years later by his father. Jacob Lang was a butcher by trade, and he engaged in that business in Buffalo soon after his arrival in the country. His son worked with him for twelve years, learning business principles and the English language at the same time.
Early in the '60's Mr. Lang became interested in the business that gave him a wide reputation, and carried his name beyond the grave. At first he was associated with Philip Born, who owned and operated one of the largest breweries in Buffalo. Upon the death of Mr. Born he formed a partnership with his widow that continued until 1874. Before that Mr. Lang had begun the erection of the large brewing plant on the corner of Best and Jefferson streets,
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Buffalo. This establishment, known as the Park brewery, has a capacity of 300,000 barrels, and most of the product is sold in the city where it is made. This brewery was once visited by a number of men interested in the business, who were so impressed by the perfection of the arrangements and the elegance of the furnishings that they called Mr. Lang's estab- lishment the "palace brewery." In a city noted for its breweries, this was no small compliment. Nor was it undeserved ; for Mr. Lang, before deciding upon his building plans, personally inspected all the leading breweries of the country, and adopted for his plant the best features of the many places visited.
Engrossed in the cares of a vast enterprise, Mr. Lang had little time for active participation in public affairs beyond what can fairly be demanded of a con- scientious citizen. His name was often mentioned as that of a suitable candidate for high public office, and there is no doubt that he might have gained great distinction in political life if he had cared to do so ; but he preferred to remain a private citizen. He consented, however, to serve two terms on the board of alder- men ; and a short time before his death he became Democratic state committee- man from his district.
While thus indisposed to take an active part in political affairs, Mr. Lang found time for various interests outside of his business life. For many years he was a trustee of the Western Savings Bank, and his sound judgment in matters relating to business and finance was of much value to that institution. His charities will long be remembered by hundreds of grateful men and women, and his benefactions to St. Louis Church in Buffalo were manifold. The follow- ing simple but impressive characteriza- tion of Mr. Lang is taken from Bishop Ryan's address at the funeral :
" His genial countenance, which be- spoke the generosity of his soul, will no more be seen by his dear friends, but I am sure he will look down from heaven upon the earth where he was so long engaged, and where he lived so well and so generously. The Holy Scriptures give us in a few words a description of his character, 'A man simple, upright, and fearing the Lord.' "
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Gerhard Lang was born at Flersheim, Germany, November 24.
18:34 ; came to the United States in 1848 and settled in Buffalo ; learned the butcher's trade and worked at the same, 1848-60 ; married Barbara Born of Buffalo in 1867, and Augusta Gerhardt in 1800 ; conducted a brewery at Buffalo from 1867 until his death July 14, 1892.
3obn Q. McDonnell was one of the leading business men of Buffalo. Of New England birth, he developed a character notable for energy, quick- ness of insight, and ready resource. He was taught to work when a boy, and thus learned to appreciate the value of labor and the importance of concentra- tion. At the head of a firm with branches in many parts of the country, he was able to perform the duties of his position with enviable skill. He was respected as a citizen, while his geniality and ready
JOHN Q. MCDONNELL 1
conversational powers made him highly regarded in social life.
Mr. McDonnell was educated at the famous schools 1 . of Quincy, Mass., going through both the grammar
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and high schools. His father appreciated the im- portance of education, and determined to give his children all the advantages of schooling that lay in his power. That John was an apt pupil, and used well his opportunities, may be inferred from the fact that at the age of sixteen he had completed the high-school course. Preferring a mercantile to a professional life, he was unwilling to enter college, though earnestly urged to do so by his father ; and instead of that he went to work at his father's trade, thoroughly mastering every branch of the stone- cutting business. To this practical training much of the success of his later life was due. On reach- ing his majority he was taken into partnership with his father and brother, the firm name becoming McDonnell & Sons.
The Buffalo branch of the firm was established in 1884. On visiting the city Mr. McDonnell was so well pleased with its prospects and desirability as a place of residence that he determined to move his family there, and make the place his permanent home. The business under his energetic manage- ment became one of the most extensive in the United States. McDonnell & Sons own and operate quarries at Quincy, Mass., and Barre, Vt., with branch yards at Buffalo, West Seneca, and Geneva, N. Y., and Indianapolis, Ind. One of the remark- able pieces of work performed in the city of Buffalo under Mr. McDonnell's direction was the reconstruc- tion of the soldiers' monument, the old structure having been condemned by the park commissioners. The total cost of this work was not far fromn $20,000. Among other undertakings of special importance successfully carried out by McDonnell & Sons may be mentioned the column monument at Trenton, N. J., marking the final resting place of General Mcclellan ; the monument in Mount Auburn ceme- tery, Cambridge, Mass., over the grave of Jared Sparks, formerly president of Harvard University ; and the Blocher monument in Forest Lawn cemetery, Buffalo.
Like most successful business men, Mr. McDonnell had many interests aside from his principal enter- prise. He was vice president of the Union Bank, director of the Lake View Brewing Co., and director of the People's Guarantee Search Co. He belonged, also, to the Builders' Association Exchange. He was president of Branch 22, Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, and a member of the building commit- tee of the Catholic Institute. He was connected with various land-improvement companies, and did much to promote the development of Buffalo real estate. He held a life membership in the German Young Men's Association, which fills an important
place in the social and intellectual life of Buffalo. His death at the early age of forty-three was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-John Q. McDonnell was born at Quincy, Mass., September 11, 1850 : was educated in the public schools ; became a member of the firm of Mc Donnell & Sons, granite cutters, in 1871; married Emily A. Dinegan of Quincy June 233, 1874 ; established a branch business at Buffalo in 1884, and moved thither in 1886 ; died at Buffalo April S. 1894.
Alexander Meldrum was for nearly a quarter of a century one of the leading merchants of Buffalo. His life covered the era of the Queen City's most rapid growth and business expansion, and was syn- chronous with the rise and development of the department store. He was a captain of modern in- dustry, and contributed to the success and fame of one of the city's noted dry-goods houses. Mr. Meldrum was born in a country prolific of merchants and mercantile-minded men. Perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that more men of this class have come to the United States from Scotland than from any other land. The people of that country have ever been noted for thrift and common sense, the essential elements of success in every business career. Every leading city of the United States to-day has among its foremost merchants men of Scottish blood.
Mr. Meldrum's birthplace and home in the old country was Kenoway, Fifeshire, where his father had charge of the local gas works, and was the general agent of the townspeople in the disposal of their yarn. In that town Mr. Meldrum received his schooling, and at eleven years of age entered a dry- goods house in Markinch. Soon after arriving at manhood's estate, he migrated to this country, and landed at the port of Boston in the year 1856. His first engagement was with the well-known dry- goods establishment of Hogg, Brown & Taylor of the " Hub." He remained in their employ, rising step by step in the concern, until in 1867 he saw his way clear to move to Buffalo, and establish him- self in the same business. A fellow-countryman of his, together with an American - both active, vigor- o's, and keen-minded young men - formed a part- nership with him, thus laying the foundation of the house of Adam, Meldrum & Whiting. Starting on a modest scale, the new firm, by tact, watchful care, and courtesy, coupled with shrewd buying, soon de- veloped a large business, and made their name a household word in western New York.
While his partners are entitled to their full share of credit for the success of the firm, Mr. Meldrum
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had a large part in the vast transactions of the house. Upon the retirement of Mr. Whiting in 1869 the firm was reorganized, becoming Adam & Meldrum. In 1875 Wm. Anderson became a member of the firm. The history of this house is one of continuous progress. Appreciating with the foresight of trained merchants the tendency of modern busi- ness methods toward the concentration of many branches of trade under one roof, the managers of this business were among the earliest merchants in the . country to turn their establishment into that joy and refuge of the American shopper -the department store : and the present house, styled the Adam, Mel- drum & Anderson Co., enjoys a com- manding position in the commercial and financial world, and is one of the land- marks of Buffalo.
Mr. Meldrum was so wrapped up in his business that he had practically no time for outside matters. In addition to his duties with the firm of which he was a member, he was interested in the Queen City Underwear Co .; and he helped establish a large dry-goods house in Dayton, Ohio. With these interests on his hands he had no leisure for other pursuits. He was a Republican in poli- tics, but was unable to take an active part in political affairs. He was a mem- ber of various Scottish-American soci- eties, and of the Presbyterian church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Alexander Meldrum was born in Keno- way, Fifeshire, Scotland, November 3, 1833 ; came to the United States, and settled in Boston in 1856 ; moved to Buffalo in 1867, and established a dry- goods house there ; married A. E. Webster of Boston February 27, 1859 ; died at Buffalo October 22, 1891.
Solomon Scheu was a conspicuous figure in the commercial and political life of Buffalo for nearly half a century. His history reads like a romance. From a poor Bavarian lad he rose to be mayor of a great American city. He began without wealth or influence ; he ended rich in this world's goods, and possessed of a power that was felt throughout the Empire State. In the course of his eventful career he conquered countless difficulties, and attracted to himself a host of friends. Only sterling qualities could achieve such results. While the battle of life
is not of necessity to the physically strong, success in the modern world demands strength of character. Mr. Scheu possessed this requisite in a pre-eminent degree.
He was born in a Bavarian province on the Rhine in 1822. He was a farmer's son, and early learned
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ALEXANDER MELDRUM
what it was to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. What education the local schools afforded he gladly availed himself of, but his scholastic training was limited. At the age of seventeen he migrated to the United States, and found employ- ment in a bakery in New York city, where he learned the trade, and applied himself diligently to master- ing the English tongue. Five years later he went to Buffalo, and thenceforth made his home in the Queen City, in the affairs of which he was to become a prominent factor. At first he followed the bakery business, and for several years conducted a shop of his own. This he abandoned for the grocery business, making a success of each enterprise. In 1860 he embarked in what eventually became his
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chief business occupation. He built a malt house at the foot of Hudson street, adjoining the Erie canal, where for many years he did a large malting business. To his original establishment he was twice compelled by growing trade to make large additions.
SOLOMON SCHEU
Meanwhile Mr. Scheu had become an influence in local polities. His standing in the community was good, and among his fellow-countrymen his popularity was unbounded. In 1854 and 1855 he was a member of the board of aldermen. For the next four years he held the responsible position of receiver of taxes for the city of Buffalo. Later, in 1866 and 1867, he served again as alderman. During six years he acted as state-prison inspector. This long and varied experience in matters of local public concern, and his honorable reputation among business men, suggested to the leaders of the local Democracy his availability as a candidate for a more important office. Accordingly, in the fall of 1877, he was nominated and elected mayor of the city to which he had come thirty-odd years before as an
unknown German youth. In this honorable office Mr. Scheu displayed all those characteristics that had commended him to the notice and the support of the community, and gave the city a highly credit- able administration. He was deeply interested in the commercial prosperity of Buffalo, and was at one time a trustee of the Board of Trade.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Solomon Scheu was born at Standenbuch!, Bavaria, Germany, January 6, 1822: was educated in local schools ; came to the United States in 1839, and learned the baker's trade in New York city ; moved to Buffalo in 1844, and followed the bakery and grocery business until 1860; married Minnie Rinck of Buffalo in 1847; was receiver of taxes for Buffalo, 1856-59, alderman, 1854-55 and 1866-67, state- prison inspector, 1868-73, and mayor of Buffalo, 1878-79; established a malt house in 1860, and conducted the same until his death ; died at Buffalo November 23, 1888.
Eben Carleton Sprague, for half a century a leader of the Erie-county bar, and otherwise distinguished among the eminent men of the Empire State, was born in New Hampshire in 1822. His father, Noah P. Sprague, moved to Buffalo in the spring of 1825, and the . family followed one year later. Mr. Sprague had the benefit of an excellent education, obtained in the best schools of the country. At the age of fifteen he entered Phillips Exeter Academy, the famous preparatory school, and two years later began his course at Harvard College, graduating therefrom with the class of '43. Having determined to make the law his profession, he en- tered the office of Fillmore & Haven, Buffalo, as a student. This was one of the foremost legal firms in western New York, and Mr. Sprague had an excel- lent opportunity to obtain a training in the law com- mensurate with his general education previously acquired. Ile made full use of this opportunity. and was admitted to the bar in October, 1846, richly equipped in every way for the splendid career before him.
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