LOCKPORT, N. Y. HON. THOMAS THORN FLAGLER, president of the Holly Manufacturing Company and of the Niagara County National Bank, was born at Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, N. Y., October 12, 1811. He received such schooling as the schools of those days afforded, and became an apprentice in the office of the Chenango Republican, at Oxford, N. Y. At the age of eighteen he purchased an interest in the paper, and was for several years its publisher and editor. In 1836 he sold his interest to his partner, W. E. Chapman, and removed to Lockport, where he ever after resided. From 1838 to 1843 he edited and published the Niagara Courier, a successful pioneer newspaper. It was the Whig organ of this section. 1843 he quit journalism for the hardware business, and was for twenty-seven years identified with it. It was through his efforts that the Holly Manufacturing Company was established at Lockport, in 1859. He was In elected president, and held the office until he died, November 6, 1897. He saw this vast industry grow from a $25,000 yearly business to one of over $1,000,000. He was one of the organizers of the Niagara County Bank in 1860, which subsequently became a National Bank. He was president of the Lockport Gas Light Company, and the Lockport and Buffalo Railroad Company, and was connected with the Lockport Hydraulic Company in an official manner. He was married in 1838 to Miss Huldah M. Barrett. Three of their children survive. He represented his district in the Assembly in 1842, 1843, and 1860. In 1843 he voted in favor of the release by the Legislature of the Erie's $3,000,000 debt to the State. He was chosen county clerk in 1848, and held the office three years. He was a member of the thirty-third and the thirty-fourth Congresses, and distinguished himself by an eloquent and forcible speech in opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. He was one of the one hundred memorable Congressmen who voted against the nursery business, and served as president of the County Agricultural Society. In politics Mr. Babcock is a Republican. He served as supervisor of his town two years, and represented the First Assembly District of Niagara County in the Legislatures of 1872-73. The first year he was an active member of the Committee on Insurance, and as a result of the thorough investigation by this committee a corrupt superintendent had to step down and out. In the second year he was chairman of the special committee which investigated charges against the conduct and affairs of the Erie Railway Company. (See chapter in this History, "Under the Legislative Probe," for details of this investigation.) He still resides in a beautiful country home at the city limits. He was married January 16, 1861, to Sarah L. Newhall, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Newhall, who were prominent residents of Lockport, and natives of New England. As a result of this happy union three children were born to them, Mary E., Henry J. and Frederick N., the two former only being now living. Mr. Babcock was for twelve years a trustee and the secretary and treasurer of the Farmers and Mechanics' Savings Bank, and afterward vice-president. Since 1891 he has been its president. The history of the bank during all this time has been a record of constantly increasing prosperity and usefulness. He has been and is interested in several successful business enterprises, and has for the past eighteen years been the treasurer and an executive officer of the American District Steam Company. His success in life may be attributed to an energetic and intel measure, and was prominent in the struggle for the speakership of the House of Representatives which resulted in the election of Nathaniel P. Banks. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of the State of New York in 1868. Mr. Flagler was justifiably proud of his efforts in behalf of the Lockport and Buffalo Railroad, which went so far toward insuring the completion of the railroad, and because that work resulted so greatly to the advancement of Lockport generally in so many ways. HON. ISAAC H. BABCOCK.-Our esteemed subject was born at Rensselaerville, Albany County, N. Y., September 20, 1830, the son of the Hon. Jephtha W. and Mary Hoag Babcock. He comes of good old New England stock, a number of his later ancestors having been members of the Society of Friends. His remote ancestry came from England, James Babcock having emigrated from there to this country, and located in Plymouth, Mass., in 1623. The father of our subject came to Niagara County when the son was four years of age, and settled on a farm in Somerset, on the banks of Lake Ontario, where the family resided for nearly thirty years. The elder Babcock represented the Second Assembly District in the Legislature of 1851-52. The subject of our sketch was educated at the Lockport Union School and the Wilson Collegiate Institute. He spent several years on the farm, and removed to Lockport in 1860, where he engaged in fruit growing and the HON. TIMOTHY EDWARDS ELLSWORTH . ligent application of business principles to whatever he undertakes, coupled with an honesty and integrity of purpose which inspires with confidence and respect all with whom he comes in contact. HON. TIMOTHY EDWARDS ELLSWORTH is one of the well-known members of the bar in the Empire State. He was president pro tempore of the State Senate in 1896-98, and the representative of the Forty-fifth Senate District. He was born at East Windsor, Hartford County, Conn., September 21, 1836. He received his education in the common schools and academies and Rochester University, graduating from that institution in the class of 1857. He studied law, and in 1858 was admitted to the bar. He came to Lockport and entered the law office of Gardner & Lamont. At the outbreak of the Civil War he raised a company of cavalry, which was attached to the Seventh New York Cavalry. He was elected captain of the company, and in 1862 was assigned to duty upon the staff of General James S. Wadsworth, where he remained until General Wadsworth was killed. Captain Ellsworth was then placed on duty with the adjutantgeneral of the army, and so continued to the close of the war. After the war he returned to Lockport and was associated in a law partnership with the late Judge Lamont, which was continued until Judge Lamont became one of the judges of the Supreme Court. Senator Ellsworth is a member of the law firm of Ellsworth, Potter & Storrs, which has been successful and enjoys the confidence of the entire community. In politics he has always been a Republican. He was appointed in 1870 collector of customs at Suspension Bridge, which office he held until 1878. In 1881 he was elected to the Senate from the old Thirtieth District. He was reëlected in 1883. In 1885 he retired from politics, but in 1895 he was elected to the Senate from the new Forty-fifth District. He was the party's leader in this important body during his term, and a member of the committees on finance, cities, and judiciary, and was chairman of the Committee of Rules. Senator Ellsworth is a director in the Holly Manufacturing Company, president of the National Exchange Bank, vice-president of the Niagara County National Bank, a director in the Niagara Paper Mills and Traders' Company and the Hartland Paper Company, at Middle port. WILLIAM WALLACE WHITMORE was born October 13, 1811, in the old Castile settlement in Ontario County, N. Y. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812. William received his education in the common schools of Geneva, Ontario County, and learned the trade of stone-mason, brick-layer, and plasterer. He engaged in the quarrying business at Lockport, Medina, Albion, and other places. He made a fortune, and retired in 1879. He was first married in November, 1836, to Sarah Ann Mead, of Lockport. One son was born. He was killed in battle during the Civil War. Mr. Whitmore married, for his second wife, Harriet E. Bushnell, of Lockport. Two sons and two daughters were born to them. His second wife died in 1855, and he married Mary Ann Gardner, of Lockport. HON. WILLARD A. COBB, editor of the Lockport Daily Journal, as it has been well said, "has been an active force in the formation of a sound and healthy public opinion in Western New York on every prominent question that has arisen during the last twenty-five years." WILLIAM WALLACE WHITMORE He was fitted for college at the Academy at Rome, N. Y., and Dwight's Rural High School, Clinton, N. Y., and was graduated from Hamilton College. Among his classmates were Elihu Root, Franklin D. Locke, and other men who have achieved distinction. Mr. Cobb began his career as a reporter on the Chicago Post. He became, successively, assistant editor of the Racine Advocate, city editor of the Utica Morning Herald, editor of the Dunkirk Journal, and editor-in-chief of the Lockport Daily Journal. His letters from Europe during a year's travel abroad exhibited remarkable powers of description and faculty of imparting information in an interesting way. His letters from Italy upon the economic, political, and religious condition of that country, and especially his account of an interview with Leo XIII., then recently elected, were in great demand by the press. In 1886 he was made a Regent of the University of the State of New York, which post of honor he held until 1895, when, Governor Morton having appointed him one of the three civil service commissioners of the State, he resigned from the Board of Regents, as the law did not permit commissioners to hold any other official position. At the first meeting of the commission he was elected president. It has been said by one of the United States civil service commissioners that "under President Cobb's administration more has been accomplished than by any former State Civil Service Commission." Mr. Cobb has been called upon frequently to speak before teachers' associations, and has always delivered addresses worthy of the occasion. Few men are more widely or more favorably known throughout the State. Mr. Cobb is a bachelor. JOSEPH A. WARD JOSEPH A. WARD was, born at Warren, Herkimer County, N. Y., March 31, 1832. He received his education in the Oxford Academy, Chenango County, and at Whitesboro, Oneida County. He began life as a schoolteacher, and was later a civil engineer. Subsequently he was bookkeeper and assistant cashier in the Exchange Bank of Lockport six years. In 1870 he purchased an interest in the Lockport Journal, and he has ever since been the business manager of that newspaper, which occupies a foremost place in the journalistic field. It enjoys a wide circulation and its advertising patronage is large and of the best. Mr. Ward is a Republican. He is a member of the Congregational Church, a member of Niagara Lodge, No. 375, F. and A. M., of Ames Chapter, No. 88, Royal Arch Masons, and of Genesee Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar. He married Josephine Cleland, of Herkimer County, in 1857. Their children are: Cleland A., Jessie A., and Willard M. It was on the motion of Mr. Ward, at a public meeting in 1868, that a committee was appointed to move in the building of a railroad to connect Lockport with the Erie. He was one of the committee, and had in charge the obtaining of the right of way for the railroad along the Niagara River, a delicate and difficult task. He succeeded so well in his negotiations that he secured the concession, at a saving of $6,000 to the company. He became the first secretary of the Lockport and Buffalo Railroad Company, and held the office until 1892. S. WRIGHT MCCOLLUM is a native of Lockport. He was born December 23, 1846, in the house he still lives in. Joel McCollum one of his ancestors, was the first judge of Niagara County, and he and Governor Hunt owned the land upon which the eastern part of this city is built. Mr. McCollum, was educated in the schools of this city, and in the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels at Suspension Bridge. He succeeded his father in business, who was the largest grower of strawberries in the State. Mr. McCollum is a member of the Catholic Church. was married November, 1873, to Ella K. Allen, of Houston, Texas. They have ten children. Mr. McCollum is a Democrat. In 1872 he was the Democratic candidate for mayor. He is a member of the Board of Education, the Board of Excise, and of the Police and other boards. He President Cleveland appointed him postmaster of Lockport in 1887. DR. CHARLES NEWELL PALMER was born in Oneida County, N. Y., in 1841. Roger Williams was one of his ancestors, and upon his mother's side he was descended from Benedict Arnold, first Governor of Rhode Island. His education was secured in the schools of this State and the University of the State of New York, from the medical department of which institution he was graduated. He was surgeon of the Twenty-second New York Cavalry during the Civil War, having first been in the detached service at Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington, D. C., the Floating Hospital "New World," and had charge of the "Thomas A. Morgan," a transport, and also as surgeon in the Ninth Corps Field Hospital near City Point. At the close of the war he located at Sauquoit, Oneida County. While there a terrible epidemic. of spotted fever occurred, and spread to the surrounding region. Dr. Palmer's services were in incessant demand, and he was meeting with remarkable success in battling with the scourge, when he fell a victim of the disease himself. He recovered, and in 1868 removed to Lockport, where he has continued in practice. As a medical expert Dr. Palmer is probably called into court oftener than any other person in his locality. He is an ex-president of the Niagara County Medical Society,'a member of the State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and the Sons of the American Revolution. He has the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the National Guard of the State of New York. He is a Mason of high degree, being a Right Worshipful, a title he gained by representing the Grand Master in the Twenty-ninth Masonic District, F. and A. M.; Past Thrice an Ancient Odd Fellow and a member of the G. A. R. DR. ROBERT S. BISHOP was born at Paris, Oneida County, N. Y., November 23, 1831, and died at Lockport, December 31, 1896. He graduated from the Western Homœopathic Medical College of Cleveland, O., in 1863, and practiced medicine in Lockport and Medina, N. Y., until 1886, when he removed to Lockport to become president of the American District Steam Company, manufacturers and constructors of the Holly system of steam distribution for heat and power, and of all devices in connecting the system. This company was organized in 1877, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. As president of this company Dr. Bishop achieved great success. Dr. Bishop was a member of the Presbyterian Church. He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Louise Hutchins, and his second wife Miss Katherine Fitch, who, with two sons, survive him. FERRIN BROTHERS.-The Ferrin Brothers Company is incorporated for the wholesale and retail dealing DR. ROBERT S. BISHOP in coal and jobbing in New York and Michigan farm products. Its general offices are at Rochester. This business was established by Remus Ferrin, grandfather of the brothers, in 1841, and was incorporated in 1888. Charles J. Ferrin, Jr., is president, and Francis G. Ferrin is the secretary and treasurer. These brothers are twins. They were born at Palmyra, Wayne County, N. Y., in 1859. They are the largest handlers of farm products in this country. They control nearly fifty branch establishments. Charles J. Ferrin, Sr., is manager of the business at Lockport. The company owns the New York Central Elevators in Lockport, with a capacity of 100,000 bushels of grain, and the D., L. & W. elevator at Mount Morris, N. Y. Charles J. Ferrin, father of the Ferrin brothers, was born July 28, 1833, at Port Gibson, Ontario County, N. Y. He spent his early life with his father in the produce trade. In 1856 he married Frances Butler, of Palmyra, N. Y. They had five children. Mr. Farrin is a Knight Templar, and a member of the Episcopal Church. DANIEL E. BRONG was born in Scipio Township, Seneca County, O., June 9, 1857. He is a graduate of the normal school at Republic, O., and of the legal department of the University of Ann Arbor. He was admitted to practice in 1880, and formed a partnership with Eugene M. Ashley. The firm was dissolved when our |