Erie County NY

Biography of W. P. Ferguson

It is not the distinctive and specific purpose of biography to give expression of a man’s modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave the record establishing his position by the consensus of public opinion. Judged in this manner W. P. Ferguson is numbered among the eminent representatives of the Iowa bar and for many years has been termed “the first citizen of Shenandoah,” not only in the fact that he was the first to establish himself in business here, but also because he has ever stood as a leader in the work of public progress and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles R. Briggs

Charles R. Briggs, portrait-painter, Charleston; was born in Washington Co. N. Y., Jan. 5, 1816; his father was a farmer and carriage-manufacturer in Easton; at the age of 17 years, he left home, and going to Troy, apprenticed himself to the trade of a coach-painter; he remained there four years and helped to paint the first passenger-coaches on the Albany & Schenectady Railroad; thence he went to Buffalo, N. Y., and entered the employ of Benjamin Rathbone, the great contractor of that city; about a year later, he went to New York City, and thence, shortly afterward, came West; this … 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 Alfred Gray

Alfred Gray, a pioneer of Topeka and always active in promoting the agricultural and industrial interests of the state, was born at Evans, Erie County, New York, December 5, 1830. He was educated in his native state, and in the spring of 1857 located at Quindaro, Kansas. Mr. Gray was a member of the first State Legislature; was secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture from 1872 to 1880, and was one of the commissioners to the Contennial Exposition at Philadelphia. His death occurred at Topeka on January 23, 1880, and his memorial monument stands in the cemetery at … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Egbert Nelson Fairchild

Fairchild, Egbert Nelson; flour mfgr.; born, Peekskill, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1868; son of Egbert Henry and Mary Seymour Fairchild; public school education; married, Buffalo, N. Y., Oct. 4, 1893, Gertrude A. Kenny; two daughters Catherine and Mary; in flour milling business twenty-seven years; becoming pres. of the Cleveland Milling Co. in 1910; before that mgr. Pittsburgh Flour Co., Minneapolis; member Cleveland Athletic and Euclid Golf Clubs.

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

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. John M. Bacon

HON. JOHN M. BACON. – There are three places in the Northwest that have almost antique associations. These are Astoria, Vancouver and Oregon City. Of none of them is the flavor of old times more pronounced than amid the rocks and bluffs and by the falls and the old buildings of the latter place. Here one of the old pioneers may be found in the person of a gentleman whose portrait appears on the opposite page. It was as to the last place to go that Mr. Bacon came to Oregon. A native of Buffalo, New York, born in 1822, … Read more

Biography of Grant Maitland Kennedy

(III) Grant Maitland, youngest child of Francis M. and Phoebe J. (Fisher) Kennedy, was born in Italy, Yates county, New York, January 3, 1866. His early education was received in the district school of Italy Hollow, New York, and at the age of sixteen years he entered the Naples Academy, at Naples, New York, spending three years in that institution, and finishing with one year at the State Normal School at Genesee, New York. His early years were spent upon the homestead farm, and in the fall of 1885, he made his first appearance as a teacher of district schools, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Edmund E. Allyne

Allyne, Edmund E.; manufacturer; born, Cleveland, Dec. 25, 1874; son of Joseph and Anna Allyne; common school education; married, Cleveland May 14, 1902, Mildred Ford; issue, Mildred Vernon, born Aug. 23, 1903, Rollin Ford, born May 12, 1905, and Stanley Rodman, born Jan. 24, 1913; served five years Co. K, 5th Inft., O. N. G., 1893 to 1898; started in Jan., 1900, what has grown to be the largest aluminum foundry business in the world with plants in six states. He was the pioneer in the manufacture of aluminum castings, making commercially first casting in 1908. This metal did not … 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

Biographical Sketch of Mathias Clouse

Mathias Clouse was a pioneer of Silver Creek Township, Ida County, Ia. He was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, in 1843. He was the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Fisher) Clouse, natives of same country. The Clouse family had once lived in Amsterdam, and were a trading family. When the sons became of age they were sent up the Rhine River to establish trading posts. They emigrated to America and settled in Erie County, New York. Mathias received his early training and education principally in New York state. The grandfather Clouse also emigrated to the country, dying in Ohio at the … Read more

Biography of Paul Rohr

Paul Rohr. The Rohr family is one of the oldest names of Leavenworth. The family came to Kansas in the early territorial period, soon after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill and at the beginning of the struggle between the free state and pro-slavery elements. The name had many active associations with business, public and civic affairs in Leavenworth and the surrounding district. The late Paul Rohr, founder of the family in Kansas, was born in the Province of Lorain, then part of France, now Germany, in the district of Rohrbach on October 1, 1818. His father was Paul Rohr … 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

Biographical Sketch of Nicholas Pfeil

Pfeil, Nicholas; rector St. Peter’s Church; born, Cleveland, Nov. 4, 1859; son of Lawrence and Frances Reinhart Pfeil; educated, St. Mary’s and St. Stephen’s Parochial schools, Canisius College, Buffalo, N. Y., B. A., St. Mary’s Theological Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio; graduated at Canisius College, June, 1878; entered St. Mary’s Theological Seminary, September, 1878; was ordained to the Priesthood, July 1, 1883, at a little over 23 years of age; appointed pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, Hubbard, O., August, 1883; transferred to Holy Trinity Church, March 2, 1884; appointed irremovable rector of St. Peter’s Church, Cleveland, May 9, 1897; director of the … Read more

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

Biographical Sketch of Thomas A. Burke

Burke, Thomas A.; surgeon; born, Cleveland, April 18, 1864; son of Thomas A. and Ellen Shannon Burke; A. B., Canisius College, 1885; A. M., same college, 1892; Western Reserve Medical College, 1888; married, Cleveland, 1892, Lillian G. McNeil; three children; after graduating in medicine, received appointment as house surgeon at City Hospital; later assistant to supt. Cleveland State Hospital; 1890, appointed visiting physician to St. Alexis Hospital, and later to same position Charity Hospital; 1902, elected coroner Cuyahoga county; re-elected 1906 U. S. pension examiner in President Cleveland’s administration; has made three trips abroad to study in London and Vienna … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Arthur Nathan Doud

Doud, Arthur Nathan; civil engineer; born, New York, 1872; son of George C. and Martha Dunbar Doud; graduated High School, Winthrop, N. Y., class of 1895; took three years special engineering course at Clarkson Technical School, Potsdam, N. Y., finished there in 1900; married, Buffalo, N. Y., Sept. 14, 1901, Nellie M. Wilson; two daughters; followed surveying and engineering work in New York state for three years; then engaged on the hydro-electric development on the St. Lawrence River; for two years and nine months member of the engineering corps, War Dept., U. S. Army, as chief of field party on … 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