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 46
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Isaac f. Taggart, for many years one of the best known and most popular men in Buffalo, was born in Livingston county in 1842. He moved from there, when a boy, to Erie, Penn., and spent his youth and early manhood in that city. After obtaining his education in the public schools of Erie, he entered the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad in its operating depart- ment. He remained with the company about twelve years, holding the position of passenger-train con- ductor most of the time, and running from Buffalo to Cleveland. In this position he had an unusually good opportunity to make acquaintances and friends, and he became one of the best-known and best-liked train men on the road.
The position of a railroad conductor is attractive in many ways, but rarely holds out much promise for the future. Mr. Taggart was sagacious enough to see this, and in 1874 he severed his connection with the Lake Shore company and established him- self in Buffalo. For many years thereafter he con- ducted Tucker's hotel, at the corner of Michigan and Exchange streets. This house became the headquarters of many railroad men, and was also much favored by the general public. Mr. Taggart was largely interested, also, in the Stock Exchange hotel at East Buffalo, and in the sales stables con- nected therewith. He was a great lover of horses, and was never so happy as when holding the reins over a pair of spirited animals.
One of Mr. Taggart's characteristics was his tendency to look into the future, and not to rest content with existing conditions. This prudent cast
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of mind had taken him out of railroading into a more lucrative and generally higher position in life, and so it took him out of the hotel business. Seeing in the growth of Buffalo an excellent chance to engage in real-estate operations, he gradually withdrew his capital from hotel property, and con- centrated his business energy on land ventures. He acquired considerable real estate in this way, both in Buffalo and in other parts of Erie county.
In the later years of his life Mr. Tag- gart devoted an increasing amount of time to political matters. He had al- ways been a consistent and an earnest Democrat, but he held no public office until May 29, 1894, when he was ap- pointed sheriff of Erie county by Gov- ernor Flower, to succeed August Beck. Bringing to this position business experi- ence of an unusually varied and valu- able nature, Mr. Taggart conducted the sheriff's office with marked ability and with justice to all.
From his early career on the road be- tween Buffalo and Cleveland until his latter days in the sheriff's office, Mr. Taggart was the embodiment of good- fellowship. His generous disposition and kindly impulses endeared him to a large circle of friends ; and his death on May 8, 1895, was greatly lamented in Buffalo and elsewhere.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - Isaac Havens Taggart was born at Sparta, Livingston county, N. Y., September 9, 1842 ; was cducated in the public schools of Erie, Penn. ; was in the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad company, 1858-74; married Frances C. Tuthill of Buffalo July 1, 1865 ; engaged in the hotel business and in real-estate operations at Buffalo, 1874-94; was appointed sheriff of Erie county May 29, 1894; dicd at Buffalo May 8, 1895.
George 1. Burwell, one of the most emi- nent and best-beloved of Buffalo's physicians, was a son of Dr. Bryant Burwell, who moved to Buffalo from Herkimer county, New York, in 1824, and associated himself in the practice of medicine with Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, whose name heads the list of resident physicians of the settlement. The elder Dr. Burwell soon attained a foremost rank in his pro- fession, and was prominent for many years in the medical associations of the county, state, and nation.
He was a " leading citizen " in the best sense of the term, and could be counted on to aid in every worthy enterprise.
" Doctor George," as he was affectionately called to distinguish him from his father, acquired his early education in private schobis in Buffalo before the
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ISAAC H. TAGGART
establishment of the public-school system. He was but five years old when the family moved to Buffalo, so that he was to all intents and purposes a native of the city. At the age of twenty-one he began his medical studies, attending a course of lectures at Geneva, N. Y., in 1840-41. In the fall of the latter year he went to Philadelphia, where he graduated in April, 1843. The next year he returned to Buffalo, and began his long and successful career as a physi- cian. Father and son practiced together for nearly twenty years, or until the death of the former in 1862.
. Four years beginning in 1868 Dr. Burwell spent in Europe. Most of this time was passed at Berlin in the Pathological Institute, as a pupil of Virchow
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and Liebreich, and in attendance upon Professor Traube in the Charity Hospital. Returning to Buf- falo in 1872, he passed the rest of his life in devoted, skillful, and successful ministration to his fellow- men. He possessed in large measure the qualities that make the ideal physician. Hundreds of men
GEORGE N. BURWELL
and women in Buffalo owed life and happiness not alone to his professional skill, but to his cheery help- fulness and hopefulness. He was the friend of his patients not less than their physician, and nothing that might add to their comfort of body or mind was beneath his notice or outside his province.
High as was his standing as a physician, it is as a man that Dr. Burwell deserves the highest praise. No one in Buffalo had more friends than he, and none had a better right to sincere and devoted friendship. His character was singularly strong and sweet, and his tenderness and gentleness were like a woman's. Children, those intuitive judges of human nature, loved him and were loved by him. Travel and reading and study had enriched a mind highly
endowed by nature ; and he was a delightful con- versationalist, and a man of most pleasing personality. He was a true "gentleman of the old school," whose deference to women and courtesy to all were but the outward expression of a generous and noble character. His death brought a sense of personal loss to many hearts, and his name is still cherished in many homes as that of a beloved physician and trusted friend.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - George N. Burwell was born in Herki- mer county, New York, May 19, 1819; moved to Buffalo in 1824, and was educated in private schools there ; studied medicine in Philadelphia, and received his degree in 1843 ; practiced his profession in Buffalo from 1844 until his death May 15, 1891, with the exception of four years spent in study in Europe.
3. 1. Matthews, for many years one of the foremost editors of western New York, was born in the county of Suffolk, England, in 1828. Unable to pursue a systematic and thorough course of study, he became an apprentice at an early age to the printing and book -bind- ing business. No trade affords a better substitute for scholastic training, and the young printer made the most of his opportunities. By the time he was seven- teen years old he had acquired unusual proficiency in his trade, and had also laid the groundwork of a comprehensive general education. He came to Amer- ica, therefore, in his eighteenth year, excellently equipped for the great work before him.
Proceeding directly to Buffalo, Mr Matthews made that city his home all the rest of his life. Entering the printing office of Jewett, Thomas & Co., connected with the Commercial Advertiser, he quickly showed his superior technical training, and was made foreman of the office in a few months. He was an apprentice still, and was less than twenty years old, and the establishment was one of the best of its kind in the country. The managing partner, C. F. S. Thomas, who had a national reputation as a printer, was very proud of his young foreman, and valued his services highly. Mr. Thomas was noted, however, for his eccentric and choleric head, and his apprentice had the temper of youth and the indepen- dence of conscious ability. The two inen, in short, could not get on together ; and the younger left the
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office, declaring that he would never return except as its master. Such proved to be, indeed, the man- ner of his return.
Thirteen years intervened, however, before that event, and Mr. Matthews was variously occupied during the interval. After working for a while, in 1848-49, in the office of the Buffalo Republican as foreman, he set up a place of his own in the old building at the southeast corner of Washington and Exchange streets, directly opposite the site of the Washington block which he afterward built with a partner, and ultimately owned alone. In 1850 he became foreman of the job-printing office attached to the Buffalo Express, of which A. M. Clapp and Rufus Wheeler were then proprietors. After a year he was admitted to partnership, and the firm of Clapp, Matthews & Co. soon became celebrated as the foremost railroad printers in the country. In 1860 a political misunder- standing between Messrs. Clapp and Wheeler caused the latter to withdraw from the Express. He was strongly attached to Mr. Matthews, and induced him to leave the paper likewise, and unite with himself and James D. Warren in publishing the Commercial Advertiser, and conducting the printing plant con- nected therewith. The firm of Wheeler, Matthews & Warren thus formed was altogether successful, and enjoyed for a decade or more a virtual monopoly of the fine colored printing for railroads. Mr. Wheeler's health failing, he soon retired on a competency, and the two remaining partners bought his interest, and continued the business under the well-known style of Matthews & Warren. An incident of their business was the purchase, in 1872, of a controlling inter- est in the Express. They sold the paper in a few months, but carried it on, as well as the Commercial, during the excit- ing campaign of 1872 and the first year of Grant's second term. The partner- ship of Matthews & Warren continued successful and harmonious until the fall of 1877. Then a disagreement between the partners on a question of the politi- cal policy of the newspaper, brought a dissolution of their interests. They had always made their investments together, even outside of the printing business, and owned a large amount of real estate in common. It so happened that these outside interests about equaled the Commercial and
the printing business in value. The two partners went over the account, and agreed that this was substantially the state of affairs. Mr. Matthews offered Mr. Warren his choice of taking the one or the other ; and Mr. Warren, after a day's considera- tion, took the business.
It was honorably characteristic of Mr. Matthews to withdraw voluntarily from his cherished and lucra- tive post on the Commercial rather than sacrifice an atom of self-respect ; and his devotion to principle is evidenced still more in the fact that he supposed the step meant his retirement forever from Buffalo journalism. This was not to be, however. The fortunes of the Buffalo Express were then at a very low ebb. There were bright spots in the past of the paper ; but at that time it was the tool of scheming politicians, and was thoroughly diseredited. Mr.
J. M. MATTHEWS
Matthews was persuaded to attempt the rehabilitation of the property ; and on Monday morning, January 7, 1878, the first number under the new manage- ment appeared. The failure of the venture and ruin
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of the proprietor were freely predicted and adver- tised in some quarters ; but the elements of inevitable ultimate success were bound up with the enterprise in the character and capacity of J. N. Matthews. His independence, fearlessness, and unyielding pro- bity were united to rare intellectual vigor and power of application. He was a strong writer and a for- midable controversialist. His editorials had great influence in Buffalo, and thousands of men now living formed their political opinions, and especially their notions of local government, very largely along the lines laid down consistently and convincingly for many years by Mr. Matthews. He was an earnest Republican from the very birth of the party, but did not believe in carrying partisanship into municipal affairs. The standards of public service demanded by him were high and invariable, whatever the exigencies of political policy might seem to require. He made the Express a powerful factor for clean and honest government.
Controlled by such principles, the Buffalo Express rose rapidly to a foremost position among the news- papers of western New York, and Mr. Matthews
found himself more fortunately placed from all points of view than he ever could have been in his earlier association. The printing business connected with the paper grew and prospered likewise. Mr. Matthews had exquisite taste as a printer, and thorough technical knowledge of the art in all its branches ; and the printing house of Matthews, Northrup & Co. became under his management one of the most successful concerns of the kind in the country.
PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY - James N. Matthews was born at Bungay, county of Suffolk, England, November 21, 1828 ; learned the printer's trade, and came to the United States in 1846 ; mar- ried Harriet Wells of Westfield, N. Y., July 24, 1851; was employed in various printing offices in Buffalo, 1846-60 ; was editor and one of the publishers of the " Commercial Advertiser," 1860-77 ; was a delegate at large to the Republican national conventions of 1872 and 1876 ; published the Buffalo " Express" from January 7, 1878, until his death, including a Sunday edition after November 20, 1883 ; died Decem- ber 20, 1888.
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SYNOPTICAL INDEX
The Synoptical Index comprises an out- line of each of the biographies included in the two volumes of MEN OF NEW YORK, with additional items necessary to complete the record up to January 1, 1898.
Biographies indexed with the letter W will be found in the Western Section, in the first volume. Biographies indexed with the letters M, E, C, G, and D will be found respectively in the Manhattan, Eastern, Che- mung, Genesee, and Departed Sections, in the second volume.
SYNOPTICAL INDEX
ABELL, C. LEE ; resides in Buffalo ; was born at Buffalo October 4, 1856 ; held various clerkships in Buffalo and Bradford, Penn., 1872-80 ; married Emma I. Far- thing of Buffalo March 25, 1880; was a member of the National Guard in Buffalo, 1881-94; has been manager and part owner of the Marine elevator, Buffalo, since 1881. 449 W
ABELL, HENRY E. ; resides in Brooklyn ; was born at Esperance, Schoharie county, N. Y., June 25, 1837; was educated at Delaware Literary Institute and Columbian University, Washington, D. C. ; married Lucia Smith of Cobleskill, N. Y., in Jan- uary, 1861 ; was engaged in government work- in Washington, 1861-64; published the Schoharie Union, 1864-69 ; was deputy surveyor of the port of New York, 1869- 73, and private secretary to Governor Cor- nell, 1880-82 ; was a member of the state legislature in 1895 and 1897. 61 M
ADAMS, EDWARD L. ; resides in Elmira ; was born at Clarence, N. Y., January 3, 1851 ; was educated at the State Normal School at Brockport, N. Y., and at the University of Rochester, from which he graduated in 1875 ; was city editor of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 1875- 80 ; married Kate Linn Atwater of Elmira January 22, 1879 ; engaged in oil produc- tion at Bradford, Penn., 1880-82; was editor of the Elmira Daily Advertiser, 1882-97 ; was appointed tax commissioner of New York state in 1895 for a term of three years.
33 C
ADAMS, REUBEN A. ; resides in Roches- ter ; was born at Marion, N. Y., April 3, 1841 ; was educated in the public schools and at Marion Collegiate Institute : gradu-
ated from the Hahnemann Medical Col- lege of Philadelphia March 4, 1868, with the degree of M. D. ; served in the Union army, 1862-65 ; married Demmis M. Skin- ner of Wheatland, N. Y., August 27, 1868 ; practiced medicine at Churchville, N. Y., 1868-73 ; has practiced medicine in Roch- ester since 1873 ; has interested himself of late in farming and fruit growing in North Dakota and California. .
11 G
ADAMS, S. CARY ; resided in Buffalo ; was born at Federal Stores, N. Y., December 22, 1820; was educated in common schools ; taught school winters and worked as a carpenter summers, 1841-50 ; married Harriet White of Collins, N. Y., October 20, 1842; was superintendent of schools of Collins, 1846-52, supervisor, 1852-53, and clerk of the board, 1854-55 ; was mem- ber of assembly in 1857, deputy county clerk of Erie county, 1859-64, and deputy collector of customs, 1865-67 ; moved to Buffalo in 1859, and was admitted to the bar in 1863 ; was employed as confidential agent and legal advisor for the firm of Pratt & Co., 1867-86 : conducted a general law practice in Buffalo from 1886 until his death November 17, 1896. 189 W
ADSIT, MARTIN ; resides in Hornellsville : was born at Spencertown, Columbia county, N. Y., December 26, 1812; went to Hornellsville in 1826, and worked in his uncle's store ; became a partner in the business in 1833, and bought out his uncle in 1844; married Esther Jane Charles, daughter of Dr. Richard Charles of Angel- ica, N. Y., September 8, 1841 : helped to organize the First National Bank of Hornellsville in 1863, and has been presi- dent thereof since 1865.
49 C
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SYNOPTICAL INDEX - Continued
ALEXANDER, D. S. ; resides in Buffalo ; was born at Richmond, Me., July 17, 1846 ; served three years in the army during the Civil War ; was educated at Edward Little Institute, Auburn, Me., and at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me. ; edited the Fort Wayne ( Ind. ) Gasette, 1871-74 ; was admitted to the bar at Indian- apolis in January, 1877 ; was fifth auditor of the treasury, 1881-85; was United States district attorney, 1889-93 ; married Alice Colby of Defiance, O., September 14, 1871, and Anne Lucille Bliss of Buf- falo December 30, 1893; was elected to the 55th congress in November, 1896. .
17 W
ALLEN, JAMES A. ; resided in Buffalo ; was born at New London, Conn., January 19, 1834; was educated in the common schools of New London, a select school at Sinclairville, 'N. Y., and at Fredonia (N. Y.) Academy ; was admitted to the bar in 1856 ; practiced law in Sinclairville, 1856-61 ; married Jeanie Pauline Mack of Buffalo November 5, 1862 ; practiced law in Buffalo from 1861 until his death Feb- ruary 4, 1897.
ALMY, ELMER E. ; resides in Rochester ; was born at Rochester April 28, 1852; attended the public schools and De Graff's Collegiate Institute ; engaged in the drug business, 1870-73 ; was a clerk and cashier in various hotels, 1873-82 ; married Nellie Bly Card of Rochester April 16, 1884; has been proprietor and manager of the New Osborn, Rochester, since 1882. 39 G
190 W
ALTMAN, HENRY; resides in Buffalo ; was born at Rochester August 12, 1854; moved to Buffalo in 1856, and attended the public schools there ; graduated from Cornell University in 1873 ; married Mrs. Sadie Strauss Rayner of Baltimore, Md., at London, Eng., July 4, 1887; was engaged in the clothing business in Buf- falo, 1873-97. 344 W
ANDREWS, CHARLES; resides in Syra- cuse ; was born at New York Mills, N. Y., May 27, 1827; was educated at Oneida Conference Seminary, Cazenovia, N. Y. ; studied law in Syracuse, and was admitted to the bar in 1849; was district attorney of Onondaga county, 1854-56 ; married Marcia A. Shankland of Cortland, N. Y., May 17, 1855 ; was mayor of Syracuse in 1862, 1863, and 1869 : was a delegate at large to the state constitutional convention of 1867 : practiced law at Syracuse, 1849- 70 ; was elected associate judge of the
Court of Appeals of New York state in 1870, and chief judge in 1892; retired from the bench January 1, 1898.
3 E
ANDREWS, JUDSON B. ; resided in Buf- falo ; was born in Connecticut April 25, 1834; graduated from Yale College in 1855, and from Yale Medical School in 1863; served in the Union army during the greater part of the war ; married Agnes Campbell, daughter of Samuel Campbell of New York Mills, N. Y. ; was connected with the State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, N. Y., 1847-80 ; was superintendent of the Buffalo State Hospital from 1880 until his death August 3, 1894. 16 D
ANIBAL, NELSON HI .; resides in Glovers- ville ; was born at Benson, N. Y., July 20, 18544; was educated at the Gloversville High School and Fort Edward Collegiate Institute ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1879 ; married Mary Cathar- ine Warner of Gloversville June 26, 1884; has practiced law at Gloversville since 1880.
97 E
ANIBAL, ROBERT P. ; resides in Johns- town ; was born at Benson, N. Y., Febru- ary 22, 1845 ; was educated at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute ; taught school, stud- ied, and read law, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1871; married Frances E. Van Arnam of Northville, N. Y., April 24, 1872; was county judge of Fulton county, 1872-77 ; practiced law at North- ville, 1872-86 ; has practiced law at Johns- town since 1886.
4 E
APPLEYARD, EDWARD; resides in James- town ; was born in the parish of Keighley, Yorkshire, England, April 15, 1840; was educated in the parish school and by pri- vate study ; was apprenticed to a firm of worsted spinners in 1855, and began busi- ness for himself in 1865 ; married Isabella Stott of Halifax, England, July 15, 1868; has been engaged in worsted and alpaca manufacture at Jamestown since 1873. . 177 W ASHLEY, EUGENE M. ; resides in Lock- port ; was born at Bethany, Genesee county, N. Y., June 1, 1850 ; received his education in common schools and Ten- broeck Academy, and from private tutors : moved to Lockport September 1, 1875, as United States revenue agent : was admitted to the bar in January, 1880 ; married Eliza W. Adriance of Lockport December 29, 1880 ; was elected district attorney of Niagara county in 1880, and again in 1883 ; has practiced law in Lockport since 1880, and in Buffalo since 1894. . 431 W
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SYNOPTICAL INDEX - Continued
ATKINS, ROBERT F. ; resides in Buffalo ; was born at London, Eng., February 24, 1837 ; was educated at Knox's College, Toronto, and Bryant & Stratton's Busi- ness College, Buffalo ; married Susan E. Wheeler of Buffalo June 24, 1857 ; served in the Union armny, 1861-65; was local editor of the Evening Post, 1866-69, and paymaster of the Anchor line of steamers, 1870-76; was Commander of the Patri- archs Militant of the Empire State in 1886; has conducted an undertaking establishment in Buffalo since 1877. 450 W
AUSTIN, JAMES R. ; resides in Buffalo ; was born at Milwaukee, Wis., July 26, 1847 ; was educated in public schools and Milwaukee Military Academy ; was clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house in Milwaukee, 1863-66, with the exception of a year spent in the Union army ; was agent and manager of a life-insurance agency at Bos- ton, 1866-78 ; engaged in mining and in the manufacture of agricultural implements, 1879-89; moved to Buffalo in 1889 and began real-estate operations ; has been vice president of the Security Investment Co. of Buffalo since its organization in 1892. 241 W
AYER, FREDERICK F. ; resides in New York city ; was born at Lowell, Mass., September 12, 1851 ; graduated from Har- vard University in 1873; studied at the Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1875; since his father's death in 1878 has been occupied with the care of the family estate, and with his duties as director in a number of corporations. 41 M
BABCOCK, JEROME ; resides in James- town ; was born at Busti, N. Y., July 21, 1835 ; spent his early manhood in Penn- sylvania, in the lumber and oil business and in farming ; married Celia O. Smith of Sugar Grove, Penn., January 1, 1863 ; was supervisor from Busti, 1873-75 and 1887-88 ; was elected a member of the assembly in 1885 and in 1895 ; was elected alderman of Jamestown in March, 1895 ; has been in business in Jamestown since 1889. 113 W
BAILEY, E. PRENTISS; resides in Utica ; was born at Manlius, N. Y., August 15, 1834; was educated in the Advanced School and Barrett's Latin Grammar School, Utica ; married Julia S. Wetherby of De Witt, N. Y., September 23, 1857, and Hannah Chapman of Utica June 24, 1868; was school commissioner of Utica, 1868-78, and state civil-service commis- sioner 1892-94 ; was postmaster of Utica,
1887-91, and was re-appointed in 1896; has been connected with the Utica Obser- ver, as local and news editor, managing editor, and editor in chief, since 1853 ; received the degree of Doctor of Laws from St. John's College, New York, in June, 1897.
BAKER, JOHN F. ; resides in Batavia : was born at Roxbury, Delaware county, N. Y., September 14, 1815 ; graduated from Gen- eva Medical College January 21, 1839; practiced medicine in Otselic and Lebanon, N. Y., 1839-48; was school inspector of Roxbury, 1835-37, and postmaster in 1841 ; married Sarah Ann Kimber of Gen- eva, N. Y., January 26, 1839, and Jennie Cowdin of Batavia, N. Y., December 9, 1886 ; has practiced medicine in Batavia since 1848, and of late has devoted his entire time to the treatment of cancerous diseases.
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