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 45
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married Sarah Hurd of Bath January 12, 1864 : was connected with the Bath " Courier," as local editor and half owner, 1856-75 ; was owner and editor of the " Allegany County Reporter," Wellsville, N. Y., from 1875, and of the Wellsville " Daily Reporter" from 1880, until his death January 8, 1888.
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ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE
Arthur Cleveland Core, poet, preacher, and prelate, was born in Morris county, New Jersey, in 1818. His father, Samuel Hanson Cox, was a distinguished Presbyterian clergyman, and many characteristics of the son were foreshadowed in the father. Becoming pastor of a church in New York city in 1821, Samuel Cox lived there for the next twelve years. He took a leading part in the founda- tion of the University of the City of New York, and his son Arthur graduated with distinction from that institution in 1838. Influenced by maternal rela- tives and social connections, Arthur Coxe became an adherent of the Protestant Episcopal church early in, life, and so remained until his death. Entering the General Theological Seminary of that church after
graduation from college, he completed his studies for holy orders in 1841. He was ordained deacon June 27, 1841, and priest September 25, 1842. Taking charge of St. Ann's Church, Morrisania, N. Y., shortly after his ordination to the diacon- ate, he moved thence in 1842 to Hartford, Conn., where he was rector of St. John's from 1843 until 1854. In the latter year he accepted a call to Grace Church, Balti- more. Elected bishop of Texas in 1856, he declined to serve, and remained in Baltimore until 1863. In that year he became rector of Calvary Church, New York, and was soon afterward elected assistant bishop of the diocese of West- ern New York. He was consecrated in Trinity Church, Geneva, N. Y., January 4, 1865 ; and on the death of Bishop De Lancey three months later, he suc- ceeded as the second bishop of the dio- cese.
From an early period in his ministry Bishop Coxe took part in the councils of his church. He was a member of the General Conventions held in 1853 and in 1859. In the former year he moved an addition to the Litany, while Bishop Alonzo Potter made a similar motion in the house of bishops ; and this unplanned concert of action ultimately resulted in the adoption of additional prayers, and in the movement for the revision of the Book of Common Prayer. Taking ac- tive interest in the missionary work of the church, Bishop Coxe traveled exten- : sively abroad in promoting this branch of the service. In 1872, when the Epis- copal missions in Hayti were placed in his charge, he visited the island, organ- ized churches, and ordained clergy. He retained the oversight of the Haytian church until the con- secration of its own bishop in 1874.
As a poet and prose writer Bishop Coxe acquired fame early in life, publishing several volumes of poems before his ordination. The poetical work by which he is best known is probably his " Christian Ballads," first published in 1845. These poems, partly the work of his college days, reflected the purity and devoutness of his own mind and heart, and appealed powerfully to all earnest thinkers on spiritual subjects. More important than these, how- ever, or any other poems of his, were his contribu- tions to theological learning, biblical criticism, and church literature. His writings of this nature were
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of unequal merit, but much of his work will have value for a long time to come. He was a devoted student of the early Christian Fathers, and his edi- tion of their writings has been widely circulated in this country. A critical scholar and a polished writer, he was a formidable controversialist. He opposed with great force all attempts to change the text of the Scriptures, and his "Apology for the English Bible," published in 1854, led to the sup- pression of the new and crude revisions of the Bible made at great cost by the American Bible Society.
It has been said of Bishop Coxe that his antago- nism to the Church of Rome knew no bounds, and some of his polemical essays certainly explain, if they do not altogether justify, the statement. In 1866 his more important disputatious writings up to that time were gathered into a volume entitled " The Criterion," which defined his position clearly, and was intended to justify his standing as a churchman, and his attitude toward Dr. Newman and the Roman Catholic church. In 1867-68 he contributed to the " Union Chre- tienne," a periodical published in Paris in the interest of Gallicanism, a series of articles on the subject of " Anglican Or- ders." In 1869 he published an " Open Letter to Pius IX." in answer to the brief convoking the Vatican council. This spirited letter was translated into various languages, and had a wide cir- culation on the continent of Europe. In 1872 there appeared in Paris his "L'épiscopat de l'occident," a new presentation of the history of the Church of England, and a refutation of Roman Catholic attacks. Almost his last piece of intellectual work was a series of ar- ticles addressed to Cardinal Satolli, in which he emphasized anew his hostility to the Church of Rome.
Bishop Coxe was endowed with rich gifts, and impressed everyone as a strong and great man. His intense earnestness and force of character, and remarkable ability in various ways, made him a bulwark of strength to any movement that gained his support ; and it is hardly too much to say that, at the height of his influence, his advocacy of any cause meant the success of the cause. Personally he was a man of most engaging manners, and his venerable presence in the later years of his life suggested a certain sense of graciousness and kindly feeling.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Arthur Cleve- land Coxe was born at Mendham, N. J., May 10, 1818 ; graduated from the University of the City of New York in 1838, and from the General Theological Seminary, New York city, in 18441; had pastorates at Morrisania, N. Y., Hartford, Conn., Baltimore, Md., and New York city, 1841-64 ; became assistant bishop of Western New York January 4, 1865, and bishop of Western New York later in the same year ; died at Clifton Springs, N. Y., July 20, 1896.
Asber Benton Evans, one of the fore- most American mathematicians, and a distinguished scholar and educator, was born in Tompkins county, New York, in September, 1834. He attended the comraon schools, and for a brief period a private school, under a sympathetic teacher, with whom he
ASHER BENTON EVANS
began to develop his remarkable talent for pure mathematics. In 1848 his father moved with his family to the town of Somerset, Niagara county, N. Y., and settled upon a farm, where Mr. Evans
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made his home during youth and early manhood. He pursued his favorite study for several years, with unflagging zeal, but without instruction or assistance except from such mathematical treatises and journals as he was able to procure.
From the age of seventeen until he entered college Mr. Evans taught country schools during the winter terms with marked ability and success. He was a student at the Wilson Collegiate Institute in 1854, and was afterward prepared for college at Yates Academy under the tutelage of Professor Fairman. By this time his teaching had provided a fund suf- ficient, with strict economy, to defray his expenses through college; and in the spring of 1858 he entered the sophomore class of the University of Rochester. His mathematical knowledge was al- ready not only far in advance of the requirements of the ordinary college curriculum, but also beyond the attainments of many justly esteemed university and college professors of mathematics. In the fall of 1858 he entered the junior class of Madison (now Colgate) University, from which he graduated with honors in 1860. He then entered upon his life- work as an educator, becoming the principal of several prominent institutions of the Empire State, as follows: Nunda Literary Institute, 1860-64 ; Penfield Academy, 1864-65; Wilson Collegiate Institute, 1865-66; and Lockport Union School from 1866 until his death in September, 1891.
Professor Evans was in frequent correspondence with the most eminent mathematicians of this coun- try and of Europe. Among his correspondents in this country were Professor Benjamin Peirce, LL. I)., of Harvard University ; Simon Newcomb, LL. D., and Artemas Martin, LI .. D., of the Naval Ob- servatory at Washington ; Asaph Hall, the astrono- mer ; Professor J. D. Runkle of Cambridge, Mass .; and Professor Trowbridge of Toledo, Ohio. He contributed largely to various advanced mathemat- ical journals published here and abroad. In 1864 he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the University of Rochester.
For many years Professor Evans made the calcu- lations for a number of high-grade almanacs. His ability to solve the most abstruse mathematical prob- lems was at once the despair and delight of his fel- low mathematicians. In this field he was without a rival in this country or in Europe. The late William Kingdon Clifford of England, whose essays are among the most brilliant and profound contributions to English literature, was his only noteworthy com- petitor in this specialty.
An appreciative writer in the Academy for Decem- ber, 1891, expressed the opinion that Professor
Evans was easily the strongest man connected with secondary education in the state of New York. He possessed extraordinary executive ability, and almost unrivaled powers as a disciplinarian. Not- withstanding his predilection for mathematics, he was thoroughly grounded and well read in Latin and Greek, both of which he taught with marked success. He was a diligent student of the natural sciences, especially geology, botany, and mineralogy, and had a decided bent towards scientific observation, analysis, and classification. He showed himself entirely competent to "drive the sciences abreast."
Professor Evans was for many years a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, attending many of its meetings and partici- pating prominently in its proceedings. He was a valued member of the New York Mathematical So- ciety. He also belonged to the Masonic order, in whose aims he was deeply interested.
Professor Evans left a deep impress for good upon the minds and hearts of the many hundreds of students who, during his long career as a teacher, came within the range of his influence and person- ality. His most distinguishing mental and moral traits, aside from his mathematical bias, were manli- ness, energy, veracity, thoroughness, moral courage, a wise reticence, and more than all a will that was daunted by no obstacles and brooked no defeats. He was above the ordinary height, of large frame, commanding presence, great physical strength, and with a capacity for continued labor and endurance that was simply wonderful.
Professor Evans's social tastes were best satisfied by the calm delights of domestic life. He loved his home, his family, the quietude and society of his library, and the studies of the thinker and the scholar. He shunned publicity and the footlights. His natural gifts were so extraordinary in one direc- tion that he might well be classed as a mathematical genius. Preferring and zealously promoting the symmetrical development of all his faculties, he be- came a profound scholar, successful teacher, wise counselor, honored citizen, faithful friend, affection - ate and beloved husband and father.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Asher Ben- ton Evans was born at Hector, N. Y., September 21, 1834; taught school and studied at various prepara- tory institutions, 1851-58 ; attended the University of Rochester, and graduated from Madison ( now Col- gate) University in 1860; was principal of various schools in western New York, 1860-66 ; married Sarah Elizabeth Haines of Lockport, N. Y., May 16, 1869; was principal of the Lockport . Union School from 1866 until his death September 24, 1891.
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Rudolph hoffeld was prominent in com- mercial circles in Buffalo for many years. His life may be regarded as eminently successful, since he built up a large and prosperous business, and gained in unstinted measure the respect of all who knew him. Born in the province of Westphalia, Prussia, in 1833, he received a thorough general education in his native land, taking also a course in chemistry at a technical school. Thus well equipped for the battle of life, at the age of eighteen he sought the friendly shores of the new world. For several years he was em- ployed as a druggist's clerk in New Orleans and Cincinnati, and in 1859 he became associated with General Rose- crans in the production of oil from coal in West Virginia. The discovery of oil wells about this time compelled the abandonment of the business.
Mr. Hoffeld had thus gained a good deal of general experience, and had be- come familiar with various parts of the country when, in 1861, he began his long career in western New York. Tak- ing up his residence in Lancaster, Erie county, he started and carried on for many years, with S. H. Koopmans, a sole-leather tannery, under the firm name of R. Hoffeld & Co. Later the firm bought the Bush & Howard tannery at the. same place, which they ran until it was destroyed by fire in 1882. Shortly after the close of the war, in company with L. Geissler, Mr. Hoffeld established in Buffalo the firm of Hoffeld & Geissler, dealers in leather, wool, and hides, and continued the business until 1890. In 1878 he bought the Gardner tannery on Seneca street, Buffalo, where for some time he man- ufactured leather belting. This business was finally moved to the Hoffeld building, Nos. 61-69 Carroll street, where their offices and warerooms are at present located. In addition to the manufacture of belting, several related industries are carried on by the firm. Only the best part of the hides can be used for belting, and in order to utilize the waste leather, axle washers, trunk handles, straps, and the like are turned out. For many years the estab- lishment maintained a shop where the inachin- ery used in the business was manufactured and repaired. This led to the acquaintance of J. L. Osgood ; and in due time Mr. Hoffeld, always ready to embrace a favorable opportunity for extending
his business operations, formed with him a company for the sale of all kinds of machinery. This enter- prise is still continued at the Carroll-street building.
In 1880- Mr. Hoffeld organized with O. S. Gar- retson the Buffalo School Furniture Co., and was an officer in the corporation up to the time of his
RUDOLPH HOFFELD
death. The shops constituting the present wood- working department of the company were built on the site of his Seneca-street tannery, which was torn down for that purpose. Outside corporations were glad to avail themselves of Mr. Hoffeld's unusual business ability, and for the last ten years of his life he held the position of vice president of the German Bank.
Business cares so many and varied might well have absorbed Mr. Hoffeld's whole attention : but he had tastes in other directions, and managed to find time to cultivate and gratify them. He was a born student, and acquired such familiarity with different languages that he was able to speak and write fluently German, French, and Spanish. He
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was a good Latin scholar as well. During the early years of his residence in Lancaster he took an active part in the formation of the Lancaster Liter- ary Society, and maintained his interest in the organization up to the time of his death. He was a regular attendant at the weekly meetings of the
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ASHER W. MINER
society, reading before it many papers on a variety of subjects, and taking an active part in its debates.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY-Rudolph Hof- feld was born at Enger, Westphalia, Prussia, March 3, 1833 ; received a general and technical education; came to the United States in 1851 ; was a druggist's clerk, 1851-59 ; engaged in the manufacture of coal oil in West Virginia, 1859-61; married Henrietta J. Koopmans of Lancaster, N. Y., January 12, 1863 ; established a tannery at Lancaster in 1861, and was engaged in this and other business enterprises, there and in Buffalo, until his death August 4, 1806.
Asber Tal. Miner, for many years one of the strongest commercial, political, and social forces of
Allegany county, New York, was descended from an old and distinguished English family. The line of ancestry may be seen clearly running back through English history to medieval times, and may be traced in this country from the year 1630. The family became well established in Connecticut, and Mr. Miner's father was born in that state. He crossed the line into New York, however, with other enterprising emigrants, early in the westward move- ment, settling first in Madison county, where Asher Miner was born, and after- ward in Allegany. The journey from central New York through the wilder- ness to Allegany county was made in 1829, and was attended with many hard- ships and some dangers. Asher was then a boy of fifteen, and the experience doubtless had some influence in molding his courageous and self-reliant character. Moreover, the trying conditions of pio- neer life involved a disciplinary training of the highest value to the young man. He attended the primitive schools of the settlement, but acquired his education largely from the fireside instruction of his intelligent and religious parents. In- deed his whole environment was well fitted to give him a most admirable edu- cation in the original and best sense of the word -to make him self-restrained and self-resourceful, industrious, frugal, sagacious, thoroughly honest. These cardinal virtues of character and capacity distinguished Mr. Miner throughout his career, and made possible his brilliant success in life.
When Mr. Miner was emerging from youth into manhood Allegany county was densely wooded, and its people were largely engaged in the lumber business ; and he himself was occupied for a number of years in carrying on an extensive lumber yard at Richburg. He also engaged in general merchandising, and attained in both lines of business an unusual degree of success. Becoming well and favorably known over a wide area in the Southern Tier, he enlarged his business dealings as favoring chances came to hand, and gradually built up, by entirely legitimate methods, a substantial fortune. He was near the Allegany oil fields, and naturally became interested in the mar- velous developments of that region. Investing boldly, but discriminatingly, he profited much from his transactions in the oil territory.
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Mr. Miner became best known, however, in the world of business as a banker. His sound judg- ment on commercial and financial matters, wide experience, and spotless probity, fitted him to dis- charge with unusual success the delicate and impor- tant functions of a banker. In 1864 he assisted in organizing the First National Bank of Friendship, and was president of the institution from 1870 until his death in 1892. He was a stockholder and a director in the First National banks of Cuba, Sala- manca, and Franklinville, in the Citizens' Bank of Arcade, and in the First National Bank of Exeter, Neb. He was interested as a stockholder in various other banking institutions.
In political, religious, and social affairs Mr. Miner was fortunate in a measure consistent with tlie business success already described. strong Republican in political belief, and stood high in the local counsels of the party. He represented his fellow-citizens frequently in county and state con- ventions ; and in 1888 he was a member from New York of the electoral college. He was public-spirited in a rare degree. From 1860 on he made his home in Friendship, and spent thousands of dol- lars in promoting the prosperity of the town and its institutions. He bore half the cost of the beautiful church erected by the Baptists of Friendship, and for a long time he made up from his own purse the annual deficit of the society. Upon other churches, individuals, and schools he lavished gifts in comprehen- sive kindness. Stricken down by heart disease on Memorial Day, 1892, he passed away amid the sorrow of a multi- tude of friends, closing a life long in years, and rich in deeds of charity.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY -- Asher Wetmore Miner was born at Brook- field, Madison county, N. Y., December 15, 1814 ; attended district schools ; mar- ried Electa R. Carter of Friendship, N. Y., September 21, 1837 ; engaged in the lumber and the oil business, and in general merchandising, in Allegany county, 1844-70; was a presidential elector in 1888 ; was president of the First National Bank of Friendship from 1870 until his death May 30, 1892.
1Rufus Scott spent his early years after the manner of thousands of other farmer boys. Attend-
He was a
ing the district school summer and winter until he was old enough to work on the farm, he afterward received the benefit of winter sessions only. That he made good use of these restricted opportunities is proved by the fact that at the age of sixteen he was engaged to teach in the school where he had so easily outstripped his mates.
Brief periods of attendance at Alfred University and Friendship Academy, where he was both student and assistant teacher, were laying solid foundations for a thorough education, when Mr. Scott heard the call for volunteers at the opening of the Civil War. It will be remembered that President Lincoln's proc- lamation calling for 75,000 men was issued April 15, 1861. Early in May the name of Rufus Scott of Friendship was enrolled on the list of the 23d New York infantry for a possible period of two years.
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RUFUS SCOTT
Probably he had but faint premonition of the awful struggle that was to take place in that time, and did not dream that further service still would be re- quired. Beginning as a private, he was promoted
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and commissioned major in the 130th New York volunteer infantry on August 22, 1862. The regi- ment was transferred to cavalry in 1863, and named the 19th New York volunteer cavalry, and later the 1st New York dragoons. Major Scott was success- ively promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, brevet colonel, and brigadier general, and was in active field service during the whole of the war. He was wounded six times in battle -four times in the Shenandoah-valley campaign of 1864. At the close of the war he was appointed captain of cavalry in the regular army, but declined the appointment. It is an interesting coincidence that Mr. Scott's funeral occurred on October 19, the anniversary of the battle of Cedar Creek, where he had command of his regiment.
After his honorable discharge Mr. Scott took up his residence in Belmont, N. Y., and began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, and practiced in Belmont until 1883, when he moved to Wellsville, where he lived and practiced until his death.
From the year when, before his majority, he took the stump for Lincoln in Allegany county, Mr. Scott was an enthusiastic Republican. He was much sought as a speaker in the campaigns of New York and Pennsylvania until he determined to abandon active politics. He held the office of supervisor four times, and that of district attorney twice, and was never defeated. Other public offices were ten- dered to him, but he declined to accept them.
In 1881, on account of impaired health, and as a relief from constant professional work, Mr. Scott turned to oil operations. The Allegany oil field had then just been discovered, and his investments there met with uniformly good success. Opening anew the abandoned Waugh and Porter field, he developed it into a valuable property. He became one of the projectors of the Producers' Oil Co., Limited, and the policy of the company was largely shaped by him. The same may be said of the kin- dred organization, the Pure Oil Co. He was vice president of the Producers' Protective Association, and a member of its executive board. The "shut in movement " greatly interested him, and through its agency he saw between three and four million dollars of profits equitably and satisfactorily divided between capital and labor.
About twelve years ago Mr. Scott turned his at- tention to a languishing industry, the production of carbon black from natural gas. Assuming charge of the works at Allentown, N. Y., and Ludlow, Penn., he helped develop what has come to be regarded as an unrivaled carbon black, which commands its own
market without competition. This product is known as the " Peerless Carbon Black."
Mr. Scott was interested in all that pertained to the welfare of his neighborhood, and of Wellsville particularly. He often contributed editorials to the local papers, as well as letters over his own signa- ture on topics of current interest. He was a mem- ber of the local social organizations, and was associ- ated with the Episcopal church.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY- Rufus Scott was born at Friendship, N. Y., October 8, 1838 ; was educated at Alfred University and Friendship Academy ; enlisted in the Union army in 1861, and served throughout the war ; married Mary M. Axtelt of Friendship November 12, 1864 ; was admitted to the bar in 1866 ; was district attorney of Allegany county, 1869-74; was a member of the Allegany-county board of supervisors, 1861-62 and 1876-79; prac- ticed law at Belmont, N. Y., 1866-83, and at Wells- ville, from 1883 until his death October 16, 1806.
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