Memorial and family history of Erie County, New York

VOLUME I

History, as the word was once understood, applied almost exclusively to the transactions of nations. Historical narrative was a panorama, wherein the details were lost in the general effect. As history has become less of an art and more of a science, there is an increasing tendency to dwell on local environment, and to amplify the intimate, personal relation of men to events. This is a significant truth. It shows that the advanced intelligence of mankind cannot rest content with the worn-out notion that any existent condition of affairs, any given state of civilization, is due to a few great men, and to a small number of important episodes. Just as the victories of war are won by the rank and file, rather than by the generals, so the triumphs of progress are gained by the many. As the family is the unit of the town, so the individual is the unit of the family. So widely are these considerations accepted, and so firmly have they become established, that a large share of the most careful current historic research is devoted to localities. Specialization of this character logically leads to emphasis on the influence of persons. Thus the boundary line between history and biography disappears, and the dry bones of facts are vitalized by human interest.

The purpose of the Memorial and Family History of Erie County, New York, is concisely expressed by its title. In the scheme of narration, the publishers have not circumscribed the plan of the work by any sharply defined limits. While the sketches of individuals are, it is hoped, terse enough to preserve the quality of readability, they are more than a mere statement of facts and dates. Living characterization has been kept in view, and it has been sought, in each instance, to grasp the salient traits of the subject and to show, in a clear light, the chief points of his career.

A special feature of these volumes, is the genealogical department, giving condensed accounts of ancestries, which have the uses but not the cumbersomeness, of works purely devoted to genealogy, and may serve as a basis for genealogical research. It is believed that, apart from the natural interest individuals have in preserving some reliable history of their families, these volumes may often be profitably consulted by the lawyer, the conserver of public records, the examiner of titles, the editor and the general business man.

Exceptional pains have been taken to ensure accuracy. Data have been compiled from original sources, by personal interviews, from manuscripts, correspondence and other authoritative records. In many instances broken links in the chain of ancestral descent have been supplied, and current errors rectified.

In its memorial feature the work embraces a more or less distinct department devoted to memorial sketches of men of the past. In commemorating the virtues of the departed who have lived honorable and useful lives, and in rendering honor to whom honor is due, we believe we are performing a public service and inculcating the most valuable lessons of veneration and good citizenship.

The illustrative feature not only comprises one of the most interesting and attractive departments of the work, but helps to a quicker and better comprehension of the history and personality of the subject portrayed. No similar work ever issued probably was more representative or possessed a higher artistic merit in its portrait feature. Such a collection of pictures, a large proportion of which are steel engravings, of the representative men of the locality, cannot help but prove of much interest and enduring value to the present and succeeding generations.

 

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF VOLUME I

Abbott, Frank A. 373
Adam, Robert Borthwick 151
Babst, Frank L. 385
Bardol, Frank V. 256
Bartlett, Eugene M 182
Beals, Edward Preble 43
Beals, John Wilkenson 43
Beals, Pascall Pratt 48
Bennett, Lewis J. 216
Benson, Morris 161
Biden, John D. 341
Birge, George Kingsley 126
Birge, Martin Howland 124
Bissell, Amos A. 331
Bissell, Herbert P. 331
Borzilleri, Charles R. 366
Brendel, Henry W. 181
Butler, Edward H. 113
Chapin Family, The 51
Chapin, Cyrenius 51
Chapin, Louise Marie 53
Choate, Isaac W. 155
Choate, Rufus Mortimer 154
Cleveland, Grover 156
Clinton Family, The 16
Clinton, Charles 17
Clinton, DeWitt 18
Clinton, George 24
Clinton, George W. 22
Clinton, James 18
Clinton, Marshall O. 26
Clinton, Spencer 23
Coatsworth, Caleb 185
Coatsworth, Edward E. 185
Colton, Charles Henry 338
Conners, William J. 297
Connery, Michael Patrick 345
Cooke, Walter P. 351
Cuddeback, William H. 173
Danforth, Frederick L. 290
Danser, Earl George 273
Dark, Samuel John 324
Dark, Thomas Jr 324
Dark, Thomas, Sr 322
Desbecker, Louis Eugene 288
Dodge, Leonard 231
Dolson, Charles Augustus 368
Douglas, William A. 238
Ellicott, Joseph 15
Emery, Edward K. 278
Esenwein, Carl Augustus 196
Farrar, Chillion M. 223
Falk, Eugene Lawrence 313
Falk, Sansom 311
Fechter, Louis 380
Filmore, Millard 49
Fleischmann, Simon 254
Fox, George C. 263
Getz, Reuben Joseph 306
Gibson, Thomas Morton 159
Goodyear, Family, The 97
Goodyear, Bradley 98
Goodyear, Charles W. 98
Goodyear, Frank Henry 102
Greene Family, The 82
Greene, DeWitt Clinton 85
Greene, Joseph C. 83
Greene, Walter D. 84
Haffa, George Jacob 300
Hammond Family, The 205
Hammond, Charles 207
Hammond, Clark Hurd 209
Hammond, William W. 207
Hefford, Robert Rodman 326
Hingston, Edward J. 362
Hodson, Devoe Pell 212
Hotchkiss, William Horace 334
Houck, William Charles 355
Howard, George 56
Howard, George R. 56
Howland, John David 292
Hubbell, Mark Sibley 251
Huntley, Charles Russell 198
Hutchinson, Henry Howard 220
Hutchinson, John M. 220
Hynes, John Joseph 320
Jewett Family, The 68
Jewett, Edgar B. 72
Jewett, Frederick A. 74
Jewett, John Cotton 72
Jewett, Sherman S. 69
Kirkover, Henry Donly 214
Keating, Robert 195
Kenefick, Daniel 389
Kingsley, Silas 275
Kingsley, Spencer Silas 275
Kraft, Harry Nelson 249
Larkin, John D. 79
Larkin, Levi H. 80
Laverack, George Edward 193
Laverack, William 191
Letchworth, George Jedediah 187
Letchworth, Ogden Pearl 189
Lewis, Loran L. 107
Mack, Norman E. 308
Marshall, Charles De Angelis 33
Marshall, John Ellis 32
Marshall, Orsamus Holmes 32
Matthews, George Edward 77
Matthews, James N. 75
Mayer, Joseph B. 241
Meldrum, Alexander 242
Meldrum, Herbert Alexander 243
McNaughton, Pliny Barton 304
McWilliams, John J. 165
McWilliams, S. N. 167
Montgomery, Ezekiel 245
Montgomery, George B. 247
Montgomery, Henry 245
Moot, Adelbert 210
Morey, Norris 170
Morse, Charles Miller 379
Morse, David R. 376
Noble, Horace A. 365
Norton, Charles Davis 66
Norton, Nathaniel Willis 282
Norton, Porter 56
Patch, Maurice Byron 314
Persons, Henry Hamilton 317
Persons, Henry Ziba 318
Pierce, Henry J 218
Pomeroy, Robert W. 375
Pooley, Charles A. 280
Porter Family, The 37
Porter, Peter Augustus 40
Porter, Peter Augustus 41
Porter, Peter Buell 37
Pratt Family, The 1
Pratt, Pascal Paoli 6
Pratt, Samuel 2
Pratt, Samuel Jr 3
Pratt, Samuel Fetcher 5
Rich, Andrew Jackson 29
Rich, Gains Barrett 27
Rich, Gaius Barrett 28
Rich, Gaius Barrett 31
Ricker, George Alfred 234
Sawyer Family, The 117
Sawyer, George Pliny 119
Sawyer, James Dennison 118
Sangster Family, The 370
Sangster, Amos W. 371
Sangster, Arthur J 372
Sangster, James 370
Scatcherd, James Newton 201
Seatcherd, John Newton 200
Schaefer, Philip G 294
Schreiber, A. 259
Schwartz, John Leo 352
Schoellkopf, Arthur 134
Schoellkopf, Alfred 138
Schoellkopf, C. P. Hugo 140
Schoellkopf, Henry 131
Schoellkopf, Jacob F. 127
Schoellkopf, Jacob F. 136
Schoellkopf, Louis 132
Seibert, Simon 302
Sidway Family, The 142
Sidway, Franklin 142
Sidway, Frank St. John 144
Sidway, James 142
Sidway, Jonathan 142
Sigman, Albert J. 269
Sill, Henry Seymour 249
Sill, Seth Ely 248
Smith, T. Guilford 89
Snyder, Ole Lynn 265
Sprague Family, The 109
Sprague, Carlton 112
Sprague, Eben Carlton 110
Spratt, Maurice 271
Steul, Henry Christian 328
Stoddart, Thomas 286
Strangmann, Carl Augustus 168
Taylor, Harry L. 358
Timon, John 64
Tindle, Thomas 229
Townsend, Charles 10
Townsend, Charles H. 11
Trefts, George Martin 285
Trefts, John 284
Turgeon, Newton Ernest 261
Urban, George 120
Urban, George Jr 120
Urban, William Charles 123
Walbridge, Charles B. 86
Walbridge, George Brush 86
Walker, William H. 145
Wallenmeier, John George 178
Waltz, Hiram 204
Warren, James D. 147
Warren, William C 149
Weber, John B. 162
Webster Family, The 382
Webster, George Buell 383
Weed Family, The 53
Weed, Hobart 54
Weed, Thaddeus 54
Weimert, Orson J. 360
Wendt, Henry William 347
Wendt, William Franz 349
Wheeler, Albert J. 225
Wheeler, Charles Barker 175
White, James Penfield 62
White, James Platt 60
White, James Platt 63
White, Seymour Penfield 63
Wickser, John George 236
Wilkeson Family, The 12
Wilkeson, John 13
Wilkeson, Samuel 12
Wilkeson, Samuel 14
Wilkeson, Maria Louise 14
Williams, Charles Edwin 257
Wilson, Guilford R. 35
Wilson, Thomas William 295
Wilson, Walter T. 35
Worthington, Charles Gadd 227
Worthington, Dan L. 227
Zimmerman, George Michael 356
Zipp, Henry 387

 

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VOLUME II

 

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF VOLUME II

Abell, Charles Lee 82
Adams, Samuel Cary 331
Andrews, William H. 22
Allen, Daniel 77
Allen, Daniel W. 76
Armstrong, Charles Bennett 257

Babcock, Louis Locke 9
Baethig, Henry 215
Bailey, Virgil E. 169
Bass, Lyman K. 39
Bass, Lyman M. 41
Baynes, William 216
Becker, Alfred Leroy 57
Becker, Edward G. 45
Becker Family, The 54
Becker, Storm A. 55
Becker, Tracy Chatfield 55
Bentley, John E. 354
Best, Joseph W. 263
Betz, John Caspar 95
Bickford, Richmond Henderson 206
Bissell, Thomas A. 335
Blocher, John 242
Bloomer, William Mills 227
Bork, William Henry 345
Bommer, Philip, Sr. 323
Brady, Bernard 237
Brainard, William C. 319
Brayley, James 373
Brinker, John M. 267
Broezel, John 314
Brown, George Levi 64
Buffum, William Wallace 390
Bunting, Thomas Lathrop 197
Burgess, James 234
Burrus, Lancelot Graves 156
Butts, Stephen B. 343
Byers, James N. 105
Byers, James W. 70

Caldwell, Seth 183
Caldwell, Stephen D. 231
Carmichael, James Henry 374
Close, Emory P. 179
Collins, Edward McKnight 389
Coon, John 301
Cooper, Franklin Newton 401
Cottle, Edmund Petrie 48
Cottle Family, The 47
Cottle, Octavius 48
Crocker, Ballard 203
Cunneen, John 127

Daggett, Byron Hiram 305
Denton, Robert 195
Derrigan, John W. 363
Diehl, John P. 69
Dickman, George 279
Doherty, William D. 99
Dorr, Samuel Griswold 133
Doty, Leonidas 240
Drummer, Henry G. 355

Eagan, Sylvester Francis 310
Eckley, David 291
Elwood, Henry S. 375
Elmendorf, Henry Livingston 247
Ely, W. Caryl 58
English, Henry 290

Farnham, Charles Cyrus 106
Feist, Charles G. 212
Feist, Joseph J. 211
Feist, John 209
Fish, Willis P. 369
Fix, Chas. J. 98
Folwell, Mahlon Bainbridge 193
Fosbinder, Harris 313
Francis, William C. 196
French, Thomas Benjamin 288
Fronczak, Francis E. 71

Gaertner, William 29
Gollwitzer, Charles 387
Greiner, Charles 333
Greiner, Fred 2
Griffin, John Jerome 113

Haberstro, Joseph 236
Hager, August 398
Hall, Edward Augustus 176
Hall, Nathaniel 175
Hall, Nathaniel P. 177
Hasselbach, Anton 368
Hamlin, Daniel Ranney 192
Hammond, Clarence Winfield 365
Hawley, Elias Sill 327
Heerwagen, Frederick W. M. 338
Hickman, Arthur Washington 143
Holden, Andrew J. 250
Hingston, William Edward 239
Holland, Nelson 130
Hoyt, Orson Gary 201
Hoyt, William B. 37
Hughes, Richard J. 382
Husted, Allan D. 27

Ingham, Clark Leonard 88
Irish, George 356

Jackson, Willis K. 138
Jackson, William Schuyler 85
Jacus, Willis Charles 224
Jones, John F. 386
Joyce, William A. 14

Kasting, William F. 30
Keating, Francis Root 371
Kendall, Frederick Willard 160
Kendall, Frederick 158
Kennedy, George H. 7
Kennedy, George Jewett 255
Kennedy, Salem Griswold 253
Killeen, Henry Walter 91
Kinch, William Henry 11
Koelsch, William Daniel 265
Koons, Edward L. 214
Koons, Henry 213
Koons, Jacob H. 212
Kreinheder Family, The 293
Kreinheder, Arthur W. 296
Kreinheder, Edwin J. 296
Kreinheder, Henry John 229
Kreinheder, Henry W. 294
Kreinheder, Herbert P. 297
Kreinheder, Herman J. 321
Kreinheder, Jobst Henry 293
Kreinheder, Oliver W. 297
Kreinheder, Robert F.

Lansill, William 153
Laub Family, The 221
Laub, Albert F. 223
Laub, Charles J. 224
Laub, George 221
Laub, George, Jr. 222
Laub, George C. 223
Lautz, Charles 118
Lautz, Frederick Christopher Martin 123
Lautz, J. Adam 121
Lautz, Martin Frederick 126
Lee, James H. 358
Le Fevre, De Witt Chauncey 170
Lewis, Angelo Corello 275
Lothrop, Thomas 151
Lyth, Alfred 163

McEaehron, Neil 62
McManus, John 361
Macbeth, James 255
Macniel, Dugald 200
Maichoss, Frank 377
Manning, John Oley 148
Meeeh, John Hendrickson 190
Mansfield, Charles Columbus 167
Meisburger, William C. L. 299
Meldrum, Robert Owen 396
Miller, E. G. S. 1
Millring, Henry J. 367
Mischka, Joseph 141
Moest, Henry 394
Morgan, William J. 184
Morse, Henry 233
Murphy, Daniel Vincent 111
Mosier, Charles 116

Nellany, Michael 173
North, Charles J. 43

O'Brien, Thomas G. 329
O'Connor, John 347
O'Neil, Hugh Francis 344

Palmer, Everard 360
Palmer, George 360
Parsons, Samuel V. 308
Perew, Frank 399
Penfold, William 245
Persch, Frederick 226
Pierce, George Norman 20
Porter, Cyrus K., Jr. 138
Porter, Cyrus Kinne 136
Potter, Russell H. 73

Ramsperger, Samuel J. 5
Ransom, Norman Worth 310
Reinecke, Ottomar 32
Riley, George Cummings 15
Roesser, Henry Franck 307
Roskopf, Jacob 318
Ruekel, John B. 261
Ruckel, John H. 259
Rupp, George 287
Russ, John 103
Ryan, James 324
Ryan, William Henry 79
Ryan, Vincent Daniel 326

Satterfield, John M. 53
Satterfield, John 51
Satterfield Family, The 51
Seaver, Joseph V. 25
Shamp, George W. 404
Sheridan, Thomas Daniel 385
Sloan, Charles Taggart 351
Smith, Griffin 402
Southwick, Alfred Porter 272
Standart, Frank Wesley 100
Stephenson, John Curtis 270
Stewart, James 172
Stewart, John Thomson 181
Strebel, Edward David 89
Summers, William 67
Sweet, Charles A. 297

Taylor, W. Perry 93
Tiffany, Nelson O. 35
Teiper, Casper 339
Tifft Family, The 380
Tifft, Maxon Wrilson 382
Tifft, Wrilson S. 380

Voght, Harry H. 352

Wadsworth, George 188
Wadsworth, Henry Cowles 187
Waters, Irving Emmet 146
Weppner, Jacob 205
Werner, Henry Paul 269
Weeks, James Brackett 277
Webb, Charles Sidney 283
Wells, William Hamilton 219
Webster, Charles Henry 285
White, George Clinton 348
White, Isaac D. 274
Whitmier, Charles M. 378
White, Pendennis 101
Witmer, Tobias, Jr. 201
Wood, James Pannell 281
Woods, Arthur 303

Zeller, Henry C. 18
Zesch, Frank Henry 155
Ziegele, Albert 178

 

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THE PRATT FAMILY.

For more than a century the Pratt family with which this sketch is concerned has held a place of central prominence in the annals of Buffalo. In that community the distinctions attaching to the name of Pratt are multifold, and include the honors which belong to pioneer hardihood, soldierly courage, industrial enterprise, civic service and social leadership.

The name Pratt is derived from the Latin Pratum, a meadow, its etymology being referred to in the motto "Rident Florentia Prata" — "The flourishing meadows smile" — found in the emblazonry of Pratt of Ryston Hall, Norfolk, England. With changes due to the difference of languages the name appears as that of several persons in France and the south of Europe, notably of one possessing the barony of Pratella, near Rouen, France, whose lord, in 1066, is found on the Roll of Battle Abbey as accompanying William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings. In 1096 Le Sire De Preaux, whose arms were gules, an eagle d'or, followed Duke Robert Compte Hare of Normandy in the First Crusade, and John and William De Pratelles, brothers, were companions of Richard Coeur de Lion. The records of the Pratt family appear in almost every county in England, but are particularly identified with those of Hertford and Norfolk. In the former, about 1538, lived Thomas Pratt of Baldock. His son Andrew was the father of the Rev. William Pratt, whose son John was the founder of the Pratt family in America.