lu 1854 he married Jane Anne Bearcroft, and they have seven children, two sons
and five daughters.
McNamara, John W., son of Hugh and Ellen McNamara, who came to America
from Ireland in 1832, was born in Watervliet, Albany county, January 9, 1839, and
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moved with the family to Albany in 1844. He' was educated in the private schools
of Michael O'SuUivan and the late Thomas Newman and at the State Normal Col-
lege, from which he was graduated in 1858. In 1855 he was selected as an assistant
in the compilation of the State census. He taught school for three years and in 1861
became a law student in the office of Courtney & Cassidy. He finished his legal
studies with L. I). Holstein. On the death of Mr. Holstein in 1864 the business was
continued by Cheever & McNamara until 1868, when the latter formed a copartner-
ship with S. Y. Hawley, which continued until Mr. Hawley's death in 1887. In 1869
Mr. McNamara was elected police justice, vice Hon. S. H. Parsons resigned, and in
1870 was re-elected for a full term of four j-ears. In 1864 he was chosen secretary of
the Albany Railway Company to succeed Mr. Holstein, deceased, and held that posi-
tion until 1880, when he was elected treasurer and general manager, which offices he
still fills. In January, 1881, he became a charter member of the Committee of Thir-
teen. He is first vice-president of the Law and Order League; was long a member
of Mountaineer Co., No 5, of the volunteer Fire Department; was an incorporator
of the Albany Stove Company; was one of the incorporators and a trustee of the
Catholic Union of St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum and a member of the advisory board
of managers of St. Peter's Hospital. In 1863 he married Martha J., daughter of
Rev. Frederic Ramsey, of Lawyerville, N. Y.
Page, Edward N., manager of the Cohoes Rolling Mill, has been associated with
the iron industry since he was ten years of age. He was born in England in 1826,
coming to America in 1848. and to Cohoes in 1862, when he became one of the firm
of Simmons & Page (Jonas Simmons). In 1863 James Morrison bought out Jonas
Simmons's interest, and the firm of Morrison, Cohvell & Page was then formed, and
the business is still continued under the same firm name and management. Mr.
Morrison died June 11, 1893. Mr. Page is a master of the details in iron and steel
making, and is a man of wide experience in the work, having devoted his whole life
to the closest study of all the branches pertaining to America s greatest industry.
Bell, Horace S., son of Horace and Jane (Seaman) Bell, was born at Stuveysant
Falls, Columbia county, February 8, 1845, and received a public school education at
Castleton, N. Y. His mother died in 18.50 and his father in 1858, and in the latter
year he became a clerk in Albany for James R. Hadley, with whom he remained
eight years. In 1866 he purchased of Minor J. Veeder the retail grocery and grain
business at No. 168 South Pearl street, where he has since been located. In the
same year he formed a partnership with William L. Coffin, under the firm name of
Bell & Coffin, and so continued until Mr. Coffin's death on February 25, 1896, when
he succeeded to the business. Mr. Bell is a director in the First National Bank, a
trustee and first vice-president of the Albany City Savings Institution, a director in
the Equal Rights Insurance Company of Albany since its organization in 1882, one
of the organizers and a director of the Albany County Loan Association, and for
several years an elder in the Madison Avenue Reform church. • He was married in
1873 to Mary, daughter of John McHarg of Bethlehem, N. Y., and thev have three
children: Jessie, Horace and Mildred.
Parsons, Francis Marion, of Scotch and German descent, was born in Camillus,
Onondaga county, August 19, 1848. He is a son of David Henry Parsons, a farmer
residing at Weedsport. N. Y. His mother was Emiline Mills, daughter of the late
Samuel and Phoebe Mills, of Coeymans, Albany couuty. Her grandfather, another
Samuel Mills, was a Revolutionary soldier. The grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, Joshua Parsons, came from Scotland and settled in Dutchess county, N. Y.
He later removed to Granby where he was supervisor of the town. In 1866, after a
residence in Granby of seventeen years, the Parsons family removed to Camillus.
Francis M., the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools for some time and
entered the Baldwinsville Academy, meanwhile teaching school in the counties of
Cayuga and Onondaga and working for a time in a Memphis store. While teaching
school he read law with William B. Mills of Weedsport, and in 1871 he was admitted
to the bar at the General Term of the Supreme Court held in Rochester, N. Y. He
opened an office in Weedsport and soon became the leading lawyer in the northern
part of Cayuga county. In 1879 he was elected special county judge on the Repub-
lican ticket and retained the place for three years. In 1886 and 1887 he was elected
and re-elected to the Assembly where he was both years a member of the ways and
means committee. Mr. Parsons has also been a justice of the peace and has acted
as town clerk for the town of Brutus. About January 1, 1894, he was appointed first
confidential clerk to the attorney-general of the State. July 1, 1894, he wjts made
deputy attorney-general of the State and now holds that office. He is a member of
Weedsport Lodges of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and of the Unconditional
Republican Club of Albany. He is also a tru.stee of the Methodist society. In 1871
he married Hattie Eliza Bibbens of Brutus, N. Y., and they have three children:
Minnie L., Frederick Jay and Eva Hattie. The family residence is at Weedsport,
N. Y
Tucker. Luther Henry, jr., was born in Albany, X. Y., September 9. 1869. He
received his preparatory education at the Albany Academy, after which he entered
Yale University and graduated in the class of T891. While at Yale he was a speaker
in the junior exhibition for the H. J. Ten Eyck Prize. Mr. Tucker was also a speaker
for the De Forest Medal in his senior year, and hence a Townsend prize man. He
was class poet, editor of the Yale Literary Magazine, and a member of the Zeta Psi
fraternity. Immediately after graduation Mr. Tucker sailed for Europe and visited
Ireland, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Holland and Bel-
gium. He returned in December, 1891, and took a post-graduate course at Yale in
1892 and 1893 (Foote scholarship) in English literature; in June, 1894, he received the
degree of A. M. December 1, 1893, he entered the lirm of Luther Tucker & Son,
since which time he has been an editor of the Cultivator and Country Gentleman.
March 28, 1894, he married Florence Barnard, daughter of the late Stephen P.
Barnard, M. D., of Hudson, N. Y., and Grand Rapids, Mich. They haveone daugh-
ter; Katharine Barnard.
Corliss, Stephen Potter, was born in Albany, N. Y., July 26, 1842, and received his
education there, which was completed about the time of the breaking out of the war
of the Rebellion. He at once enlisted as a private, was promoted through the reg-
ular positions to that of captain, was brevetted major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel
for great gallantry and distinguished bravery at the capture of the Southside Rail-
road, April 2, 1865, and was also voted a medal by the Congress of the United States
for his conduct at this time; spent about three months in Libby Prison in Richmond,
Va., .served upon the staffs of Brig. -Gen. John Ramsey and Major-Gen. Nelson A.
199
Miles— with the latter went to Fortress Monroe, Va., to assist in the care of Jefferson
Davis, then a prisoner there; finally upon his own request was discharged from the
United States army, December 16, 186G. Returning to his native city, he was soon
occupied in the pursuits of a mercantile life. March 1, 1866, he entered the employ-
ment of Charles H. Strong, then a wholesale clothier in Albany, N. Y., as a com-
mercial traveler, and covered the territory of Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. In Jan-
uary, 1869, Mr. Strong retired from business and Colonel Corliss was at once engaged
by Messrs. Davis. Craft & Wilson, at this time one of the largest manufacturers of
clothing in our country. He remained through the various changes in this firm untii
July 1, 1887, when he entered the service of Hackett, Carhart & Co., of New York,
whom he now represents. He has from the time he entered the ranks of the com-
mercial travelers been a conspicuous member and foremost in advocating and work-
ing for whatever shall tend to add to their good name and advance their interests as
a class; was a charter member of, and for ten years has been president of the Albany
Commercial Travelers Club; is first vice-president Commercial Travelers Home
Association of America, and also holds the same position in the Commercial Travelers
Mutual Accident Association of the United States; is also a prominent member of
the Masonic order, of the military order of the Loyal Legion, andof the Grand Army
of the Republic, of which he was department commander in 1873 and 1874; also
served up
National Guard of our State; was for years a member of the staff of the Washington
Continentals, and later was captain of Co. B, 10th Battalion N. G. S. N. Y.
Cutler, Edgar A., is the son of Martin L. Cutler, a native of Holliston, Mass., born
in 1819; he came to Albany in 1847. Mr. Cutler comes of old New England stock ;
his great ancestor, John, came from Norfolk, Eng., in 1637, and settled at Higham,
Mass. ; he seems to have been a man of vigorous parts, with a mind of his own, for
he early engaged in the religious controversies which form an essential ingredient in
Puritan life, and suffered in consequence., Simeon, another ancestor, served with
distinction in the Revolutionary war; he joined Washington at Boston, and remained
with the army during its eight years of defeat and victory, and retired with a colo-
nels commission. Mr. Cutler, sr., was engaged in the wholesale and retail millinery
business at the time of his death, March 15, 1890; he was also trustee of the National
Exchange Savings Bank, and prominent in the business circles of Albany. He mar-
ried Maria A. Salisbury of Albany, who survives him; they had two sons, Walter S.
of San Francisco, and Edgar A., born in Albany, November 13, 1858. He was edu-
cated in the Albany Academy, and when eighteen entered his father's store, where
he remained as salesman until 1890, when he succeeded to the business. He is one
of the leading wholesale and retail milliners of Albany. The business, which has
been located at Nos. .140-546 Broadway since 1847, is the oldest of the kind in the
State outside of New York, and one of the oldest in the country.
Bowman, Cassius M., was born in Troy, July 2, 1846. He is the son of Joseph
Bowman, the well known veteran collar manufacturer of Troy. Joseph Bowman
came to Troy when twelve years of age from Vermont. He was one of the pioneer
manufacturers of collars in Troy, as early as 1854, but later removed to a farm in
Fulton county. He is, however, a member of the present firm of Bowman & Sons,
manufacturers of linen collars and cuffs, No. 555 to 561 Federal street, Troy. This
200
firm was established in 1876 with Cassius M. Howman and Joseph Bowman, jr., as
active members, and employed about 100 people. C. M. Bowman has been a resi-
dent of Green Island since 1882, and has taken an active part in local government.
Zeilman, Charles H., was born in Albany, N. Y., September 35, 1839. He received
a common school education and later went into the employ of Steele & King, where
he learned the paper hanging business and subsequently served as an apprentice at
the carpenter's trade, at which he was employed at the breaking out of the Rebellion.
August 8, 1861, he enlisted in the 44th N. Y. Vols, and was successively promoted
from the ranks to first sergeant, second and first lieutenant and captain; and com-
manded Company F, the Albany company, from the Peninsula campaign until the
company was mustered out of service in Albany, October 11. 1864. He participated
in most of the battles in which the regiment was engaged, was severely wounded in
the side at Gettysburg, and was slightly wounded in the left arm in the battle of the
Wilderness. He has been a prominent member of the G. A. R. since 1867. January
1, 1865, when the free delivery system was put in operation in Albany, Postmaster
Dawson appointed him as a letter carrier and subsequently to a clerkship in the dis-
tributing department, from which he resigned in the September following, to accept
the position of chief clerk and property clerk of the Capital police force. He re-
mained in that position until September, 1870, and on the fifteenth of that month he
re-entered the postal service under Postmaster Smyth and for nineteen years was
clerk at the stamp window. When Gen. James M. Warner was appointed postmaster
in 18S9, Mr. Zeilman was appointed assistant postmaster and has held that position
ever since, having been reappointed by the present incumbent, Hon. Francis H.
Woods. He was a member and secretary of the Board of Civil Service Examiners
for the Albany post-office from its establishment to the time he became assistant
postmaster.
Baxter, William C. , secretary of the David Judson Coal Company of Troy, is the
son of the well known William E. Baxter, an early settler of West Troy, who is
prominently connected with the Warford & Robin.son Transportation firm, and owns
several boats. William C. is a native of West Troy, born in 1866; he finished his
education at the Troy Business College, after which he entered the firm with which
he is now identified. Mr. Baxter is a trustee of the Second ward, to which office he
was elected in 1895, by one of the largest majorities ever given in the ward, and re-
elected alderman, November, 1896, under the new city charter. He is a member of
the Watervliet Club of West Troy, secretary of the Troy branch of the Commercial
Travelers' Home Association, a member of the Y. M. C. A., Royal Arcanum, and
Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order.
Happel, Dr. William H., son of John II., and Caroline (Kilzer) Happel. was born
in Albany, April 22, 1866, and was graduated from the Albany High School in 1884
and from Concordia College at Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1886. He taught for one year
as adjunct professor of languages in St. Paul's College at Concordia, Mo., and then
entered the Albany Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1890. In
April of that year he was appointed house physician in the Albany City Hospital
and served eighteen months. In October, 1891, he began the practice of his pro-
fession in Albany. He is a member of the Albany County Medical Society, and its
present treasurer, and is a Mason, a member of Temple Lodge No. 14, F. & A. M.,
Temple Chapter. De Witt Clinton Council, Temple Commandery No. 3, K. T.,
Cyprus Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the Scottish Rite bodies. In 1891
he married Irene, daughter of the late Elisha Schill of Ballston, N. Y., and they
have two children : Ralph Schill and Irene Kilzer.
McKinney, James & Son. — James McKinney, son of James and Jane Frances
(Netterville) McKinney, was bora in Duanesburg, Schenectady county, August 39,
1835. His father, a farmer who came to America about 1810, was born of Scotch-
Irish stock in the North of Ireland and was the son of Rev. James McKinney, a
Scotch Covenanter minister. James McKinney, the subject of this sketch, was edu-
cated in the public schools and at the Canajoharie Academy, and in the latter vil-
lage became a clerk in his grandfather's store. When eighteen he began learning
the iron business at Palatine Bridge, N. Y., and in 1846 came to Albany to follow
his trade, which he subsequently followed in New York city for a time. Returning
to Albany in 1857, he formed in that year a copartnership with Abram Mann, and
under the firm name of McKinney & Mann established the first architectural iron
business in the capital city in a building on Lumber street, now Livingston avenue,
near where the railroad bridge now stands. In 1863 the firm removed to De Witt
street, to buildings specially erected for them. In 1867 Mr. McKinney became sole
proprietor, and in 1873 erected and occupied the present plant at Nos. 935-933
Broadway. In 1883 his son Edward N. was admitted as partner, under the firm
name of James McKinney & Son, which still continues. This is the most extensive
architectural iron works in Eastern New York outside of New York city, and fur-
nished a large part of the iron work for the Albany post-office building, the State-
Capitol building, the D. & H. C. Co.'s office building, the new Albany Safe Deposit
and Storage Company building, the Dudley Observatory, and numerous other
structures in Albany and elsewhere. Besides e.\ecuting contracts for heavy struc-
tural work in buildings, such as columns, girders, trusses, etc., this firm makes a
specialty of all kinds of the finest ornamental work in the line of stairs, elevator en-
closures, wrought iron gates, railings, etc. They do a large business in New York
city and vicinity, having put this class of work in many of the largest structures
there. On account of their reputation for fine work they are asked to compete with
the foremost concerns in the country in this line. Mr. McKinney is a vice-president
of the Albany Exchange Savings Bank, a director in the Standard Emery Wheel
Company and the Marshall & Wendell Piano-forte Manufacturing Company, Limited,
and has been a member of the Fourth Presbyterian church for forty years, an elder
for twenty-two years and connected with its Sunday school for twenty-five years.
He is a Republican, and was alderman of the Seventh ward one term. In 1850 he
married Julia A. Poole of Albany, and of their six children three are living. Ed-
ward N. McKinney, their only son, was born in Albany May 17, 1857. Since leav-
ing school in 1874 he has been associated in business with his father, becoming a
member of tlje firm in 1883. He is a director in the New York State National Bank,
vice-president and treasurer of the Standard Emery Wheel Company, secretary and
treasurer of the Albany Terminal Warehouse Company, manager and treasurer of
the Marshall & Wendell Piano-forte Manufacturing Company, Limited, a director in
the Albany Chamber of Commerce, and a trustee of the Albany Savings Bank and
Second Presbyterian church. He was a member of the Albany Building Commis-
202
sion, which erected a number of school houses, engine houses and other public
buildings in Albany. In 1888 he married Marion Louise Roessle of Washington,
D. C, and they have three children.
Hatt, Samuel S.— Among the members of the Albany county bar there are none
more favorably known than Samuel S. Hatt. His education was obtained at the
Fort Edward Institute, where he prepared for college, and at the Law Department
of Union University, from which he was graduated in 1877 with the degree of LL.B.
In the same year he formed a partnership with Charles \V. Mead, which has con-
tinued until this day, and is one of the representative and successful law firms of the
State. He has never entered the field of politics, preferring to devote himself strictly
to the practice of bis profession. In addition to his extensive practice, however, he
is prominently identified with the business, charitable and educational interests of
Albany. He is a trustee of the Albany County Savings Bank, of the Albany Orphan
Asylum, treasurer of House of Shelter, a member of the Historical Society of Albany
and of the Fort Orange Club, and a trustee and the treasurer of the Emmanuel Bap-
tist church, and an active member of the New York State Bar Association. In pub-
lic and professional life he has always been held in the highest esteem and confidence.
He married into one of Albany's oldest families, a daughter of Dr. Peter P. Staats,
fcr many years one of Albany's prominent physicians, and has one son, now prepar-
ing for college at the Albany Academy.
Ward, John G., was born in the town of Westerlo in the year 1849 and is the pro-
duct of Revolutionary stock, taking his name from Gen. John Ward who achieved
signal military honors in the struggle of the American Colonies for independence.
Mr. Ward also traces his ancestry back to Gov. Daniel Tompkins of this State. Mr.
Ward's father is the Rev. Gilbert Ward, a retired and honored minister of the Meth-
odist church. Mr. Ward's great-grandfather, Nathan Ward, came from Westchester
county in 1797 and was one of the pioneer settlers of the town of Westerlo. The
Hon. William L. Ward, congressman from the Westchester District, is a member of
the same family. Mr. Ward's education was obtained at the local school and at Fort
Edward Institute. His father owned large landed interests in Westerlo, and young
Ward remained on the farm for several years, prosecuting his agricultural work
along the most approved lines. He had erected a cider mill on his farm, where he
also had a productive apple orchard. Mr. Ward's business ability could not be con-
fined to his native town and with his clear and judicious insight into the future he
saw that a splendid opportunity was presented for a cider and vinegar factory at
Ravena, formerly Coeymans Junction, a growing and enterprising village on the
West Shore Railroad in Albany county. He removed to Ravena, therefore, and
erected an extensive plant ; which, with its improvements in the shape of modern
machinery, etc., is one of the largest institutions for the manufacture of pure cider
vinegar in the United States, turning out 50,000 barrels each year. His eldest son,
Gilbert E., who possesses the keen business instinct of his father, is also interested
in the business. Several thousand carloads of produce also are shipped yearly by
the firm. Mr. Ward married Cecilia, a most estimable woman, daughter of Dr. John
Keefer, and their home has been blessed with five children: Gilbert E., John H..
Grace L., Walter K., and Raymond; a happier family will not be found anywhere.
Mr Ward's second son, John H., who has not yet chosen his life profession, has re-
303
cently graduated with high honors at Wesleyan University. Mr. Ward is one of the
best known and popular men in Albany county and is well and favorably known
throughout Eastern New York. He is what is called a big-hearted man, and many
are the deeds of charity and kindness to those in need that he performs, alway.s,
however, without ostentation. From the time he cast his first vote Mr. Ward, as a
staunch Republican, always has taken a lively interest in politics and in every con-
test of his party with its opponents he has ever been found doing faithful work for
Republican success. In 1882 he was the nominee of his party for member of con-
gress in a hopeless struggle against Democratic fraud at the polls. Mr. Ward is now
a candidate for the appointment as collector of internal revenue for the Eastern
New York District at the hands of President McKinley, and a look at the political
horoscope indicates that he is to get the appointment, which will be a reward only
in part for his party services. Mr. Ward possesses rare political sagacity, and
with his ability to make and keep friends he is a political power in his county.
His brother, the Hon. Walter E. Ward, who is an ex-member of the Assembly, owes
a great deal of his political success to the unselfish efforts and splendid political judg-
ment of his brother. Mr. Ward is a member of the M. E. church, to whose needs
he subscribes liberally. Public spirited, amiable, and upright in his dealings with
his fellows, he enjoys the esteem and respect of all who know him.
Pearsall, G. L., represents one of the younger successful business men of Albany.
While but comparatively young, he has established a business that extends over the
larger part of the United States and Canada, and enjoys an enviable reputation
among not only the business men of Albany, but throughout the country. Mr. Pear-
sall is the son of S. W. Pearsall and Synthia E. Pearsall, and was born at Groomes
Corners Saratoga county, N. Y., September 14, 1865. His father was the inventor
of several photographic processes connected with the old wet plate process, and
for years carried on a successful manufacturing business at Groomes Corners, N. Y.
Mr. G. L. Pearsall came to Albany in 1886, and after completing his education at
the State Normal College, entered on a business life, the success of which has few
equals. Until 1895 he conducted the photographic business with his present busi-