History of Buffalo New York

Buffalo Village from the Light House, 1828

“History of the City of Buffalo and Erie County” by Henry Perry Smith offers a comprehensive account of the development and significant events in Buffalo and Erie County, New York. Published in 1884 by D. Mason & Co. in Syracuse, New York, this two-volume work delves into the early settlement, growth, and transformation of the area. Volume II focuses on the history of Buffalo, New York. For the detailed history of Erie County, readers should refer to Volume I.

Biographical Sketch of Frank E. Lynch

Lynch, Frank E.; supt. money order division, post office; born, Cleveland, Dec. 28, 1875; son of Frank and Christina Karn Lynch; educated, Cleveland public and high school, and Edmiston Business College; married, Buffalo, N. Y., Oct. 8, 1901, Margaret B. Staebler; one son, Kenneth F. Lynch; entered Post Office Department in December, 1899, starting at the bottom; in February, 1901, was given charge of the money order work at Station “A,” was there until Aug. 17, 1908; then transferred to the money order division at the main office; promoted to asst. supt. June 1, 1912, and to supt. Dec. 1, … Read more

Biography of John E. Brooks

JOHN E. BROOKS. – John E. Brooks was born October 29,1822, at Canton, St. Lawrence county, State of New York. His father Cooper Brooks, and his mother, Sophia Brooks (formerly Tuttle), moved from Cheshire, New Haven, Connecticut, and settled at an early day in St. Lawrence county, making the trip with an ox-sled drawn by a yoke of cattle from state to state. To them were born six children, four boys and two girls. The entire family is now dead, except J.E. Brooks, the fifth, and Aniasa Brooks, the youngest of the family, who now live at McMinnville, Oregon. His … Read more

Biography of Frank Johnson

FRANK JOHNSON. – The career of this well-known contractor is a clear case of the promotion of merit. He has acquired an enviable position in the business world from simple integrity and excellence of worth. He was born in Holland in 1844, and came with his widowed mother to New York in 1852. He went soon to Buffalo, and there began to learn the trade of a carpenter and joiner. The war breaking out, and an appeal being made to the patriotic young men of the city, he volunteered as a soldier and served gallantly until the close of the … Read more

Biography of Dr. John Parmenter

Dr. John Parmenter, for almost a quarter of a century engaged in the active practice of the medical profession, is a man of noble impulses, sound judgment, keen perceptions and remarkable force and determination of character. Honorable in every relation of life, he commands the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact, whether professionally or in private life. It is unnecessary to say that as a physician he commanded the esteem of his fellow citizens; the record of his daily life is ample testimony to this fact. As he devoted the best years of his life … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Sherman Van De Boe

Van De Boe, Joseph Sherman; real estate; born, Jan. 20, 1859, Cooperstown, N. Y.; son of John Leeland Van De Boe; common school education; married in December, 1881, Miss Mary A. Wood, of Lebanon; issue, one son, Hugh Robert, born Oct. 14, 1885; Mrs. Van De Boe died in December, 1909, while visiting her son, in Hong Kong, China; business career, began to work when 12 years of age; worked on a farm; mgr. Drug Co. in Andover, N. Y.; realizing the need of further education, worked in country store in Ulysses, Pa., and attended Academy there; then went to … Read more

Biography of Keith Earl Sprague

Keith Earl Sprague. Among the men whose ability and high personal character have lent strength and solidity to the financial institutions of Wilson County, Keith Earl Sprague occupies a recognized place. A man of broad experience in various fields of business life, since 1913 he had been identified with the Benedict State Bank in the capacity of president, and through his shrewd and careful direction of its affairs had made this institution one of the substantial banking houses of the county. Mr. Sprague was born in Wilson County, Kansas, November 26, 1881, and is a son of C. A. and … Read more

Biography of Trowbridge C. Egleston

Occupying a prominent position among the leading businessmen of Caldwell, Idaho, we find the subject of this biography, Trowbridge C. Egleston, wholesale and retail dealer in hardware, stoves, tinware, groceries, provisions, wagons and farm machinery. The business of which Mr. Egleston is the head was established in 1884 by Frank R. Coffin & Brother. In 1892 Mr. Egleston purchased the store and has since been at the head of its management, doing a prosperous business. He occupies a brick building, forty by one hundred and twenty-five feet in dimensions, with basement, and also has two large storehouses, in which his … Read more

Biography of Robert Grostein

Robert Grostein, one of Idaho’s most successful pioneer merchants, has carried on business in Lewiston since 1862 and through the intervening years has borne an unassailable reputation in trade circles, never making an engagement which he has not kept nor contracting an obligation that he has not met. His sagacity and enterprise and moreover his untiring labor have brought to him a handsome competence, and the most envious could not grudge him his success, so honorably has it been acquired. Mr. Grostein is a native of Poland, born in 1835, and is the eldest in the family of four children … Read more

Biography of Richard Watson Argue

Richard Watson Argue, who died April 24, 1916, was very well and prominently known in the oil industry of the Mid-Continent field, lived at Independence a number of years, and Mrs. Argue, his widow, is still a resident there and had proved her resourcefulness as a business woman in looking after the extensive properties left by Mr. Argue at the time of his death. He was born near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 1, 1845, a son of John Wilson Argue, who was born in County Cavan, Ireland, went to America early in life, and followed farming in Canada. He died … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Clement Connelly

Connelly, William Clement; mfr.; born, Cleveland, 1875; son of Daniel and Kate Laughlin Connelly; education, St. Ignatius College and Case School of Applied Science; married, Buffalo, Nov. 12, 1907, Mary C. Schaefer; issue, Daniel, born April 6, 1909; on leaving college, entered employ of his father, who had been established as a boiler manufacturer in Cleveland since 1875; business incorporated in 1905, and taken into firm as secretary and treasurer; elected president of the D. Connelly Boiler Co., on death of father, in 1911; member Chamber of Commerce and Cleveland Athletic Club.

Biographical Sketch of Audley P. McCallie

McCallie, Audley P.; Superior Peanut Co.; born, Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 15, 1888; son of Jack and Jennie Purcell McCallie; educated, Buffalo, N. Y., Grammar School and West Springfield and Meadville, Pa., High schools; managing partner of The Superior Peanut Co.; member Cleveland Athletic Club.

Biography of Hon. Andrew Jackson Thayer

HON. A.J. THAYER. – Few of the pioneers of Oregon are more worthy of having their memories perpetuated for their worth and services to the state than the late Judge Thayer. Andrew Jackson Thayer, the second child of Gideon Anne (Dodge) Thayer, was born in Lima, Livingston county, State of New York, on the 27th of November, 1818. He received an academic education at what was known as the Wesleyan Seminary, afterwards the Wesleyan University, studied law in the office of Doolittle & Thayer, the latter being his cousin. He was married to Melissa D. Chandler on the 9th of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Sieg Harzfeld

In the history of commercial development in Kansas City, Sieg Harzfeld deserves mention, nor is his reputation in this connection of a local nature. On the contrary his name is widely known in the great trade centers of the country and extensive and important business concerns owe their success in large measure to his capable management and sound business sagacity. Mr. Harzfeld is a native of Buffalo, New York, and a son of Colonel Albert Harzfeld, who volunteered for service in the Civil war and won the rank of colonel ere the cessation of hostilities. Both he and his wife … Read more

Biography of Edwin Scotton

Edwin Scotton. Precisely speaking there is no new country and pioneers and pioneer life no longer exist. An absorbing and fascinating condition has passed into history, and its lessons and inspiration live principally in the lives of those who endured the hardships and contributed by various services and diversified gifts to the upbuilding of the present. Shawnee County has as noble a roll call of early settlers as any part of Kansas, and among those inseparably associated with the Fulton County records, none are more deserving of perpetuation in its annals than is the late Edwin Scotton. Mr. Scotton was … Read more

Biography of Seth H. Powers

Seth H. Powers was born at Long Point, Canada, June 26, 1843. He is the son of Richard Powers, a farmer and stock-dealer of Vermont. His mother’s maiden name was Phoebe Howard, a native of Canada. His parents died when he was very young, and he then came to the United States and was educated in Ohio and New York. He served a long apprenticeship at the blacksmithing and machinist trade in Buffalo, New York, and has since followed that business in various States of the Union without interruption, except during the time he was in military service during the … Read more

Red Jacket Monument, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York

Red Jacket, Sagoyewatha, or Keeper Awake

Much has been said of the speaking ability of this noted Indian. A good example of one of his famous speeches was one that was delivered to a missionary named Cram who visited the Senecas, in 1805. This missionary requested a council with the Senecas, claiming that he had an important message to deliver to them. When the people had assembled, Cram gave a speech in which he told the Indians that they had never worshipped God in a decent manner but that they and their fathers had been in great darkness and error. He informed them that he had … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Warren Phelps King

King, Warren Phelps; manufacturing business; born, Ithaca, N. Y., Sept. 9, 1865; son of Warren Leander and Mary Eliza Phelps King; educated, Cornell University, class of 1888; married, Buffalo, N. Y., June 2, 1892, Justine McKenna; issue, Warren Griffin King, born, July 6, 1893, and Elizabeth Brewster King, born March 25, 1899; with The Lehigh Valley Coal Co. for five years; New York Car Wheel Works and associated companies, occupying various official positions, for eleven years; pres. Liberty Brass Foundry, Buffalo, N. Y., for four years; vice pres. and treas. The Aluminum Castings Co.; member Society of Automobile Engineers, Cleveland … Read more

Biography of James A. Lounsbury M.D.

James A. Lounsbury, M. D. In the career of Dr. James A. Lounsbury there had been demonstrated the fact that an individual can dominate in more than one direction, and that some of the most prominent citizens and successful business men are those who have branched out from their original field of endeavor and directed their abilities towards perfecting various business interests as well as raising the standard of their communities. When he entered upon his active career it was as a laborer in the prolific field of medicine, but subsequent interests wooed him away from his profession and took … Read more

Biography of Charles F. Tabor

CHARLES F. TABOR CHARLES F. Tabor, the present attorney-general of the state of New York, whose official residence is now in Albany, was born on the 28th of June, 1841, in the town of Newstead, Erie County, N. Y. His father, Silas Tabor, was a lawyer, and also attended to the cultivation of his farm in that pleasant township, and there, after spending many years both in mental and manual exercise, he closed an honorable and useful career in 1863, in the midst of the stirring and eventful scenes of our great civil war. He was a man of great … Read more