Production Note
Cornell University Library produced this volume
to replace the irreparably deteriorated
original. It was scanned using Xerox software
and equipment at 600 dots per inch resolution
and compressed prior to storage using CCITT
Group 4 compression. The digital data were used
to create Cornell's replacement volume on paper
that meets the ANSI Standard Z39.48-1984. The
production of this volume was supported in part
by the New York State Program for the
Conservation and Preservation of Library
Research Materials and the Xerox Corporation.
Digital file copyright by Cornell University
Library 1994.ANDREW LANGDON.
President, Buffalo Historical Society.(&C
THE NEW HOME OF
54i^
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
IN DELAWARE PARK.	.
I. NOTES ON THE EARLIER YEARS.
Compiled by the Secretary.
At the annual meeting of the Buffalo Historical Society,
held January io, 1899, the secretary related the following
incident:
Some years ago I was making a Sunday drive around Grand
Island with the Hon. Lewis F. Allen, when he said to me: • “Did
you ever hear how the Historical Society was started ?”
Mr. Allen and I used to make very pleasant excursions together.
Though more than half a century lay between us, in age, we had a
common interest in the history of the Niagara frontier—that history
which he knew so well ; so large a part of which he was.
“Tell me of it,” I said
“I was coming up Court Street one day,” he continued, “when I
met Orsamus H. Marshall. I knew him. well—knew that he was one
of the few men in Buffalo who gave any thought to the preservation
of the records or relics of our history. Marshall, you know, was a
scholar. Put him on to anything relating to our Indians, and off he’d
go as long as he could follow the trail. He spoke of something that
he wanted to get, or that had been destroyed, I don’t remember now
just what.	_
“ ‘Marshall,’ I said, Sve ought to do something about these
things. Somebody should take care of them.’
38s
S3386
THE NEW HOME OF
“It was a raw, windy day early in the Spring, along in March,
1862. He said, ‘Come up in my office and we’ll talk it over.’
“The result of that talk was that we got a few others interested
and published a call for another meeting, to be held at Mr. Marshall’s
office. The rest of it,” said Mr. Allen, “is matter of record. We
named a committee to draw up a constitution and by-laws, which
were submitted to a meeting of citizens held in the rooms of the old
Medical Association on South Division Street. Millard Fillmore
was made chairman of that meeting, and a little later, at our first
election, he was chosen the first president of the Society.”
The society’s records show that the first meeting at which Mr.
Fillmore presided was held on April 15, 1862. Mr. Allen was chair-
man of the earlier meeting, held at Mr. Marshall’s office, and was the
first vice-president of the society.
The foregoing incident may perhaps stand as a preface
to the entirely adequate sketch of the origin and progress
during its earlier years of the Buffalo Historical Society,
written in 1873 by Oliver G: Steele, and published in the
first volume of the society's Publications. That sketch tells
of the awakening of interest on the part of many of the
older citizens, in matters pertaining to the history of Buffalo
and Western New York; and of the organization of the so-
ciety, the first election of officers being held on the first
Tuesday in May, Hon. Millard Fillmore being chosen presi-
dent and Hon. Lewis F. Allen chosen vice-president. Oddly
enough—when we note his zeal in the formation of the so-
ciety—Mr. Allen was never its president, though he con-
tinued devoted to its welfare throughout his long life.* Mr.
Steele has related how, at the suggestion of Mr. Fillmore,
50 gentlemen bound themselves to pay $20 each per year for
five years, as a maintenance fund for the society. This plan
was later modified by the creation of a life-membership class,
the payment therefor being $50, increased in 1897 to $100.
For some time after its organization in 1862, the society
had no home. Its record books and first collections—the
nucleus of its present museum—were deposited in the office
of Hon. William Dorsheimer, No. 7 Court Street, and there
too, its early meetings were held. From 1865 until January,
* Lewis F. Allen died May 2, 1890, in his 91st year.387
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
1873, the society occupied rooms, rent free, in the Young
Men's Association building, southeast corner of Main and
Eagle streets. That building was far from fire-proof; but
the new building of the Western Savings Bank, northwest
corner of Main and Court streets, constructed in 1871-'2,
did appear to offer the security which the society sought for
its possessions. The annual income of the society at that
time was between $500 and $600, not enough to pay the
salary of the secretary, and it is not strange that there was
hesitancy about moving to quarters for which a considerable
rent must be paid. The matter was placed in the hands of
Orlando Allen, Orsamus H. Marshall and Gibson T.
Williams; and this committee reported; Dec. 10, 1872, that
the Young Men’s Association, in consideration of the sur-
render of the Historical Society lease, would pay to it $1600
in four years, in quarterly instalments. The Historical So-
ciety accepted the terms, named Orlando Allen, James Shel-
don and Alopzo Richmond, a committee to circulate sub-
scription papers, hoping that a sufficient fund might be guar-
anteed to warrant leasing the rooms in the Western Savings
Bank building; and in January, 1873, feeling warranted in
assuming the expense, moved to its new quarters.'*
Here the society's home continued to be until January,
1887, when it took possession of the more ample rooms—
though again on the third floor, reached only for many years
by wearying stairs—in the new building of the Young Men's
Association, now Buffalo Library building; from which it
migrated in April, 1902, to take possession for the first time •
in its history, and just 40 years after its organization, of “a
home of its own.”
For many interesting particulars regarding the early
years of the society—its accumulation of books and relics,
almost wholly by gift; its delightful club meetings, for
which many a valuable chronicle of the earlier days was pre-
pared ; its slow accumulation of a permanent fund; and the
changes which as the years passed brought in turn many a
representative citizen to the head of the society; for these
and related data the reader may properly be referred to the
volume already cited. The object of the present notes is to38S
THE NEW HOME OF
deal more particularly with the later history of the society,
and especially to tell the story of its new building.
A. word of appreciation may, however, fittingly be writ-
ten of the men who, through many years of cramped re-
sources and the indifference of a large part of. the com-
munity, kept the society not only alive but progressive. The
decade following the Civil War was not a propitious period
for such an institution. There were times—not altogether
remote, even now—when very few men kept up the or-
ganization and carried on a work in which they would gladly
have had the cooperation of very many of their fellow-
citizens. In this category of the faithful were Hon. James
Sheldon, William Clement Bryant, Capt. E. P. Dorr, Hon.
William P. Letchworth, William H. H. Newman, Hon.
Elias S. Hawley, Hon. James M. Smith, William Hodge,
William Dana Fobes, Emmor Haines, James Tillinghast,
William K. Allen, George S. Hazard, Dr. Joseph C. Greene,
Julius H. Dawes, and others, their associates in the manage-
ment of the society’s affairs for the last quarter of the nine-
teenth century. After the death of Millard Fillmore and
others who had shared in the founding of the society, its
interests suffered a decline for a period. A more vigorous era
was begun under the presidency of William D. Fobes in
1884, who, in the words of the annual report made in Janu-
ary, 1885, retired from office “leaving the society 20 per
cent, better than he found it, such have been the accessions
made in the interval to the valuable archives of the society.”
It was during Mr. Fobes’s presidency that the Fillmore fam-
ily library, through the settlement of the contest of the wiH
of Mrs. Caroline C. Fillmore, passed into the possession of
the society. The arrangement which was made in April,
1884, with the Young Men’s Association for free occupancy
of the third floor of its projected building, was a great finan-
cial help. Prior to its removal to what is now the Library
building, the society had been paying, since 1873, $400 a
year rent for its quarters in the Western Savings Bank
building.
The board meeting of Jan. 4, 1887, was the-first which
the society held in the new Young Men’s Association (nowBUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILDING! MUSEUM, FROM CENTRAL GALLERY.THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.	'389
Public Library) building, which was to be its home for 15
years. It was at this meeting that Judge Sheldon, then com-
pleting his last term as president, proposed the name of An-
drew Langdon for life membership.. Mr. Langdon was duly
elected, and at the annual meeting held on Jan. nth, was
chosen one of the board of councillors (now called board of
managers). In 1894 Mr. Langdon was elected president,
and he has been reelected to that office—more than once in
opposition to his expressed wish-—every year since. Mr.
Langdon’s presidency marks a distinct era in the fortunes of
the society. From the first he took an active interest in its
affairs, and worked with untiring zeal to promote its pros-
perity. Its need of a building of its own was early apparent
to him, as indeed it long had been to others; but none other
was so constant in the effort to find a way-—or if none could
be found, to make a way—towards the desired consumma-
tion. These notes are not the place to detail the many plans,
the many consultations and conferences and projects which
came to naught. If they were dropped it was only because
something more promising was hit upon; but it is fitting to
put on record a word of appreciation for Mr. Langdon’s
persistent and undiscouraged efforts to put the society on a
securer financial basis than it had ever known, and thereby to
open the way for its legitimate work on broader and more
effective lines. In his efforts he was ably helped by others,
who shall be duly named.
The building idea was an old one, and had had many
forms even before Mr. Langdon’s day. In his address on
retiring from the presidency in 1883, William Hodge offered
as “a suggestion”:	“Would it not be pleasing to many to
perpetuate the memory of relatives and friends .	. by
giving some amount towards our building fund, or better still
to purchase or erect a suitable building for the Buffalo His-
torical Society. Such noble deeds,” he added, “have often
been done.” He had long thought, he said, that the old
Waldon homestead, at Main, Edward and Franklin streets,
was a suitable house for the Historical and other societies of
the city. “The location may be considered by some to be too
far up town, but to me it certainly seems not.” How great39a
THE NEW HOME OF
would have been his wonder could he have been told that
the society’s first building of its own—and a marble palace
at that—would be beyond the far Seajaquada!
This suggestion bore no fruit; nor was there any tan-
gible building fund until on March 4, 1894, Judge James M.
Smith (who had been the society’s president in 1881 and
never lost his interest in its welfare) gave to it five bonds of
the Crosstown Street Railroad, Nos. .19-23, valued at $5,000,
“as a nucleus for a building fund.” This was a profit-earn-
ing property. To it was added $3,000 received by bequest
from Mrs. C. L. Fobes, on Oct. 6, 1898. These sums, with
accrued interest, amounted to $11,064.39 on May 1, 1899,
when the account was closed. Prior to this time the society
had begun to direct its efforts in a new channel.
II. A RECORD OF LEGISLATION.
At the session of the Legislature of 1897, Hon. Henry
W. Hill, Member of Assembly from the Second District of
Erie County, and one of the councillors of the Historical So-
ciety, introduced in the Assembly two bills providing for the
construction of an Historical Society building on Park lands
in the city of Buffalo, both of which were enacted into law.
The first of these is Chapter 239 of the Laws of 1897, an(3
authorizes the investment of the Historical Society trust
funds in the purchase of the site and the erection of the
building for the uses of the Buffalo Historical Society.
The second of these acts is Chapter 310 of the Laws of
1897, which authorized the construction of an Historical.
Society building on Park lands in the city of Buffalo, and
which also provided that the city of Buffalo might appro-
• priate $25,000, towards the construction of such a building,
and should annually thereafter make an appropriation for its
lighting and heating, and also a sum of not less than $5,000
for its care and maintenance and for the care, maintenance
and preservation of the historical and scientific collections,
books, papers and properties of the society in said* building;THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
391
the act further provided that the mayor, the comptroller, the
corporation counsel, superintendent of education, the presi-
dent of the Common Council, and the president of the Board
of Park Commissioners should be ex officio managers of said
Historical Society in addition to the managers elected from
the membership of the society.
By Chapter 728 of the Laws of 1897, which was
superceded and repealed by Chapter 65 of the Laws of 1898
(owing to a clerical error in Chapter 728 of the Laws of
1897), the city of Buffalo was authorized to issue its bonds,
among other things to raise funds to the extent of $25,000,
to be used in the erection of an Historical Society building.
Anticipating construction under this law, the society took
steps for legislation to permit the use of moneys of its per-
manent fund, which at this time amounted to $36,173, as
a building fund; and a committee, consisting of J. N. Adam,
George H. Lewis, Hon. James M. Smith, Dr.> Jos. C. Greene
and President Langdon, was appointed to confer with a
committee of the Board of Aldermen, or of the Board of
Park Commissioners, or of both bodies, regarding further
legislation. Inspection of park sites followed. The Board
of Managers of the society were unanimous in expressing
their preference for the site then known as the Concourse,
now occupied by the Albright Art Gallery. The Board of
Park Commissioners were divided, six approving, six dis-
senting. Mr. Bronson C. Rumsey, not favoring that choice,
offered to give to’ the society a site for its building on land
owned by him, adjoining the south line of the Park, on the
east side of Elmwood Avenue. This offer the Board voted
not to accept, the decision being reached at one of the Board's
“open-air meetings" at Delaware Park, May 8, 1897. The
Board informed Mr. Rumsey. that it did approve of a site on
his lands fronting on Lincoln Parkway; but this site the
owner did not offer to the society.
Much public interest had been aroused by the legislation
above indicated, and by the efforts to agree upon a site.
There were those who held that the society was ungrateful
to refuse the free site which had been offered it on Elmwood
Avenue. Others contended against any removal to park392
THE NEW HOME OF
lands;* but the active workers in the society’s behalf con-
tinued practically unanimous in their view and steadfast in
their purpose. The sentiment of the society at this time is
embodied in the following paragraph which was written by
Judge Smith, appended to a resolution offered by Mr.
George A. Stringer, declaring the.Concourse to be the so-
ciety’s choice, and adopted, May 27, 1897:
The law enacted by the Legislature commits the selection of the
particular site for the building of the Historical Society to two bodies
of our citizens, the Board of Park Commissioners being one body
and the trustees (managers) of the Historical Society the other.
These two bo'dies are to select the site by agreement and to per-
petuate their agreement by writing. The trustees of the Historical
Society are 20 and are unanimously in favor of the site at the Con-
course. Of the Park Board only six have manifested any opposition
to the site at the Concourse. The Historical Society respectfully
submits that the views of 26 of our citizens, charged by the law with
their public duty, should prevail over the opinion of six others, and
that equity, justice and duty require that the minority yield to the
very strong majority.
The ‘society had had preliminary building plans prepared,
and had entertained hopes of going on with the work under
the acts of 1897, but the division in the Park Board arrested
progress. The way to a consummation of its project con-
tinued dubious and uncertain until, in the spring of 1898, a
new opportunity most happily was found. On March 14,
1898, Hon. Henry W. Hill, then Member of Assembly, in-
troduced the following concurrent resolution, which was
unanimously. adopted:
Whereas, Certain prominent substantial and reputable citizens of
the cities of New York, Buffalo and Niagara Falls have under the
title of the Pan-American Exposition Company, become duly incor-
porated under the laws of the State and formed an organization for
the purpose of promoting and conducting an exposition to illustrate
the material progress of the New World during the nineteenth cen-
*In September of this year (’97) a formal protest against the removal of the
society’s collections to a building in the Park was sent to the society, signed by
sundry citizens.LECTURE ROOM, HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILDING.THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
393
tury, to be held at some suitable location on the Niagara Frontier;
and	-
Whereas, Such exposition is to be held within the borders of the
State of New York during the summer of 1899; and
Whereas, No exposition on a large scale of a similar character
as that proposed has ever yet been held in this State ; be it
Resolved, That the Legislature (the Senate concurring) hereby
respectfully urges the President and Congress of the United States
to recognize in an appropriate official manner the said Pan-American
Exposition and to extend to it such substantial aid as may be deemed
fitting and proper; and further
Resolved, That this Legislature (the Senate concurring) .re-
spectfully requests the Senators and Members of the House of Repre-
sentatives from the State of New York to aid in the immediate pas-
sage by Congress of favorable legislation in behalf of such Pan*
American Exposition.
This resolution, on motion of Senator George A. Davis,
was concurred in by the Senate on March 15, 1898, and
transmitted to the Congress of the United States. On March
28, 1898, Mr. Hill introduced in the Assembly the following
resolution, which was also adopted, viz.:
Whereas, At the present session of the Legislature a resolution
was adopted urging the President and Congress of the United States
to recognize in an appropriate official manner the Pan-American Ex-
position, which was to have been held on the Niagara Frontier in the
year 1899, and to extend to it such substantial aid as might be
deemed fitting and proper; and also requesting the United States
Senators and Members of the House of Representatives from the
State of New York to aid in the passage by Congress of favorable
legislation in behalf of such Pan-American Exposition; and
Whereas, The present unsettled condition of national affairs, on
account of the possibilities of war with Spain, renders it expedient
to postpone the date of holding such Exposition until the year 1901;
therefore, be it
Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the President and Con-
gress of the United States take the same action in regard to such
Pan-American Exposition to be held in the year 1901 as heretofore
urged for the year 1899; and be it further
Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the Senators and Mem-
bers of the House of Representatives from the State of New York,
be and are hereby requested to extend the same aid in securing fa-394
THE NEW HOME OF
vorable legislation in behalf of such Pan-American Exposition to be
held in the year 1901 as was heretofore requested for the year 1899-
This resolution was concurred in by the Senate on March
30, 1898, and returned to the Assembly and also transmitted
to Congress, and favorably acted upon by' that body, which,
gave to the Pan-American Exposition congressional ap-
proval a considerable time before the citizens of Detroit ap-
plied to Congress for an appropriation for a projected ex-
position in that city, and thereby settled the matter of Federal
appropriation in favor of the Pan-American Exposition on
the Niagara Frontier.
The original act, Chapter 36 of the Laws of 1899, making
an appropriation on the part of New York for an exhibit at
the Pan-American Exposition, provided the sum of $50,000
for a building, which would have been a temporary struc-
ture, to be demolished at the close of the exposition. At the
close of the legislative session of 1899, Mr. Hill, at a Board
meeting of the Managers of the Buffalo Historical Society,
stated the substance of the various legislative acts, thereto-
fore enacted, looking toward the erection of an Historical
Society building on park lands, and presented a plan for the
aggregation of the funds of the city of Buffalo and those of-
the Buffalo Historical Society, and the moneys to be ex-
pended by the State in the erection of a Pan-American build-
ing whereby a permanent fire-proof building might be
erected on park lands, contiguous to other Pan-American
buildings, which would be suitable for the use of the State of
New York at the Pan-American Exposition, and which
might thereafter become the permanent home of the Buffalo
Historical Society.
Mr. Hill offered a resolution to that effect and providing*
for the appointment of a committee from the Board of Man-
agers of the Buffalo Historical Society to confer with the
Directors of the Pan-American Exposition Company, and
with the Managers of the State exhibit at the Pan-American.
Exposition, with the view of securing their approval of such
plan and their cooperation in its execution.
This resolution was unanimously adopted by the Board
of Managers of the Buffalo Historical Society on the 1st dayTHE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
395
of June, 1899, and the president appointed as such committee
on the part of the Buffalo Historical Society, Henry W. Hill,
chairman; Charles W. Goodyear, Hon. Wilson S. Bissell,
G. Barrett Rich and Frank H. Severance, of which com-
mittee President Langdon was a member ex -officio.
The committee at once presented the plan to the Directors
of the Pan-American Exposition Company and to members
of the Board of General Managers of the Exposition of the
State of New York at the Pan-American Exposition, ap-
pointed by Governor Roosevelt and confirmed by the Senate
on the 21st day of April, 1899. The board consisted of Hon.
Daniel N. Lockwood, chairman, and Messrs.- Jacob Amos,
Gaines C. Bolin, Nicholas V. V. • Franchot, William H.
Gelshenen, Fred Greiner, John T. Mott, Leopold Stern and
George E. Yost. The committee on the part of the Buffalo
Historical Society pointed out that portion of the Delaware
Park' on the north side of the North Bay of the Park Lake
near Elmwood Avenue as a suitable location for an His-
torical Society building, which would also be accessible and
a convenient site for the New York State building at the
Pan-American Exposition, as it was immediately south of
the proposed location of other buildings to be erected on the
Pan-American grounds. Such location, however, would
necessitate some modification in the plans of the Pan-Ameri-
can Exposition Company for the location of some of the ex-
position buildings, and it became necessary to submit the
matter to the Board of Architects, who were in charge of the
location and plans of the Pan-American buildings. After
due consideration, they approved of the location of the New
York State building as proposed by the committee of the
Historical Society.
The plan was fully presented to the managers of the State
exhibit at a meeting held in Buffalo in December, 1899.
They visited the grounds and inspected the site, and gave
their approval of the proposed location as well as of the plan
for the erection of the New York State building to be used
at the Pan-American Exposition. Thereupon Mr. Hill pre-
pared a bill to enable the New York State board to expend
$100,000 toward the erection of a building out of the396
THE NEW HOME OF
$300,000 appropriated by the State for its use at the exposi-
tion, and also providing for uniting therewith and adding
thereto the $25,000 to be expended by the city of Buffalo
and the money to be expended by the Buffalo Historical So-
ciety toward the erection of an Historical Society building
on park lands; and also providing that such building should
be a fire-proof and permanent structure, and at the close of.
the exposition should become the property of the Buffalo
Historical Society for its use and the preservation of its his-
torical properties.
This bill was approved by the managers of the State ex-
hibit and introduced on Jan. 15, 1900, by Mr. Hill in the
Assembly. It passed that body on Jan, 30th, but was
amended in the Senate, and thereafter passed the Senate,
which amendments were concurred in by the Assembly. It
was then sent to Butfalo, and after due notice was approved
by Hon. Conrad Diehl, Mayor, and returned to Albany and
approved by Governor Roosevelt on March 26, 1900, and
became Chapter 230 of the Laws of 1900, which amended
Chapter 36 of the Laws of 1899, the original Appropriation
Act of the State of New York of $300,000 for its use at the
Pan-American Exposition. It was under this law that the
New York State building was erected. There were several
conferences between the managers of the exhibit on the part
of the State of New York, and the building committee on
the part of the Buffalo Historical Society, on the question of
plans and specifications, material to be used in construction,
etc.; and conferences with the Board of Park Commission-
ers as to the location. Fortunately there prevailed a dispo-
sition on the part of the conferees to carry out the purposes
of the law and to secure a building which would be eminently
serviceable during the Pan-American Exposition, and well
adapted for general historical purposes thereafter.*
* The story of the building from the time of its erection until it was for-
mally turned over to the Historical Society belongs properly to the history of
the Pan-American Exposition, and will no doubt be included in the narrative of
that undertaking, now in preparation by the Director General, the Hon. William
I. Buchanan. The report of the board of managers for New York State at the
exposition, when published will probably contain suitable mention of the uses
to which it was put as the New York State building. As matter of record,BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY BUILDING! THE DR. JOS. C. GREENE COLLECTION OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
897
III. THE BUILDING DESCRIBED.
By George Cary,
Its Architect.
At one of the meetings of the Boara of Architects in
Boston, Mr. Heins, the State Architect, conversed with me
on the State building, for which he was preparing plans. “If
only we could get the State to make its building a permanent
one, that could be used afterwards for the Buffalo Historical
Society!” was my expression. This same idea occurred to
others, and Mr. Hill, our representative at Albany^, is the
however, it is well to note here the more important events which occurred
within the walls of what is now the home of the Buffalo Historical Society, dur-
ing the period of the Pan-American Exposition.
The first announced gathering held at the completed building appears to
have been a convention of coal dealers, on June 12, 1901. On July 5th the
edifice was informally opened to the public, without ceremony. During the
remainder of the exposition period, it was daily visited by thousands. It con-
tained a collection of paintings, some miscellaneous objects of historical or
curious interest, and the “special art grand” piano exhibited by the Messrs.
Steinway & Sons of New York. This instrument, at the close of the exposition,
was given by the makers to the Historical Society, and now stands in the
central hall, one of the society’s most notable possessions. It is of the highest
quality of excellence as a musical instrument, ana in its construction is excep-
tionally artistic. The case is of mahogany, carved in classic style, with bronze
mountings, and bronze electric light fixtures. On the top cover, inlaid and
hand-painted, are the arms of the State of-New York. The money value of the
instrument is stated as $2,500. Under the touch: of skillful players it con-
tributed greatly to the enjoyment of many of the gatherings in the building
during the exposition.
On July 5th the New York State Teachers Association was received at the
building by the Hon. Charles R. Skinner, State Superintendent of Public In-
struction. On July 23 d members of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association at-
tended a. reception there; a banquet was given in honor of Governor Odell, by
the New York State Commissioners, July 25th; and on Aug. 2d the Pan-
American Press Club used the building for a reception. The building was.
formally dedicated to the use of New York State and the Pan-American Expo-
sition, on Aug. 6th. Succeeding gatherings included the following:	Aug. 10th,
International Association - of Milliners,; Aug. 14th, a meeting of fire under-
writers; Aug. 19th, the National Shorthand Reporters Association; Aug. 20th,
the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, one. session of their 18th annUal
convention; Aug. 22d, the New York State Stenographers Association, 26th
annual convention. On Aug. 22d the building was headquarters for visitors
from Syracuse, with luncheon served to prominent guests by the Hon. Jacob-
Amos. On Aug. 24th, visitors from the Mohawk Valley held exercises in the
building, and on Aug. 31st it was headquarters for “Shriners.”398
THE NEW HOME OF
man to whom we are chiefly indebted for the passage of the
act, which allowed the State building to be given over, after
the exposition, to the Buffalo Historical Society.
Owing to the feeling of Mr. Heins, the State architect,
that this building should not come under the head of State
work, the committee opened the planning of the building to
competition. Because of the short time given for presenting
plans, there were but seven competitors. As the Park Board
selected one, and the president of the Historical Society an-
other, the State committee decided to choose as expert, R. W.
Gibson, president of the Architectural League of New York,
and he chose a third, whose plan was carried out in the build-
ing as it stands today.
September 5th. was President’s Day at the exposition. In this building
President McKinley and invited guests attended a luncheon given by the New
York State commissioners. The next day, in the Temple of Music, the
President received the shot from which he died, Sept. 14th.
There were three gatherings in the building on Sept. 6th:	One of “the
Mayflower descendants,” one of descendants of Pilgrim John Howland; and
the New York Heavy Artillery Veterans Association. Succeeding gatherings
were:	Sept. 10th and nth, Edison illuminating societies of the United States;
Sept, nth, National Association of Builders; Sept. 20th, National Wholesale
Lumbermen’s Association (meeting of 50 secretaries); Sept. 25th, American
Electro Therapeutic Association, with illustrated lecture by Dr. A. W. Bayliss
of Buffalo, on the use of electricity in general practice; Sept. 27th, luncheon
by the New York State commissioners to railway passenger agents; Sept. 28th,
reception to the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew (“Railroad Day”); Sept. 30th, Na-
tional Consumers League; Sept. 30th, exercises incident to “Central America
Day”; Oct. 5th, American Institute of Architects, 35th annual convention, two
sessions and luncheon; Oct. 5th, reception to Pan-American commissioners from
South American countries, Mexico, Canada, and various states of the Union, by
the commissioners from Peru; Oct. 9th, “New York Day,” luncheon to Gov-
ernor Odell and party; public reception, and evening dinner to the Governor
and guests; Oct. 12th, International Sunshine Society.
On Jan. 2, 1902, the deed of the building was formally delivered by the
Hon. Daniel N. Lockwood, chairman of the New York State board, to President
Langdon of the Historical Society. The Board of Managers of the society held
their first meeting in the new building, Aug. 8, 1901, and their last meeting in
the old rooms of the Public Library building on April 3, 1902. The work of
alteration and redecoration was soon begun, and on its completion, in Aoril, the
society began to move in. The work of installation continued until July 1st, on
which date the building was again opened to the public. Suitable dedication
exercises, including the unveiling of the Lincoln statue, are planned to be held
in the autumn of this year. A full record of them, together with a more
detailed account of the society’s museum, portrait gallery, library, special col-
lections and other features, than can be prepared for the present volume, will
appear in the succeeding volume of the society’s Publications.399
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The architect had an amusing conversation on the phone
when he was first informed of having been chosen, and a
Buffalo Express reporter made the following story out of it:
At a meeting of the committee at Murray Hill Hotel, New York,
on Saturday, May 5, 1900, R. W. Gibson, after a careful study of the
plans, decided in favor of Mr. George Cary of Buffalo. The com-
mitteemen were desirous of having Mr. Cary meet them in New
York, to give some added information about, his drawings, and Sec-
retary B. R. Newton was instructed to telegraph to him to come to
New York at once. A dispatch elicited the information that he was
in New York. More telegraphing brought forth his addres-s, and
then search for Mr. Cary began. Early in the afternoon, much to the
surprise of both, Mr. Cary and Mr. Newton were in telephonic com-
munication, and this is about the way the dialogue ran:
“This is Mr. Cary?”	x
“Yes, it is. Who is this? I have been pestered all day. Now
what do you want?”
“Well, this is the Secretary of the State Pan-American Board.
We want to see you down here in an hour without fail.”
“Why—ah—what is wanted ?”
“You’re it; that’s all.”
“I’m it! (With worried inflection.) I don’t exactly get your
meaning.”
“Well, be here in an hour, at the Murray Hill, and I’ll ex-
plain it.”
There was a pause, during which, it is related, Mr. Cary’s face
assumed an expression of profound anxiety and perplexity.
“I can’t do it,” said he at length. “I’m at a wedding, am usher,
and the ceremony will begin in five minutes. Explain what you
mean by ‘it,’ will you, please?”
“To be brief,” replied Secretary Newton, “your plans for a State
building have been accepted.”
“Oh-h-h (with full swing), that’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it!”
In an hour Mr. Cary was at the Murray Hill Hotel. Whether
the wedding, ceremony was cut short or whether he shirked his
duties, he did not explain. Other things interested him. He had
been pitted against several firms of renown and had won.400
THE NEW HOME OF
At the first meeting the architect was called to attend/
one of the committeemen’; eying him with suspicion, re-
marked:	“Well,- I hear you have no political friends, and
you have pulled no wires to get this job. I know a thing or
two about horses and cows, as I am a farmer down East,,
but I ain’t nothing on architecture. Do you know Mr.
Gibson?”
“We have met, but perhaps he would not recall me.”
“Then he ain’t no friend of yours ? Well, I am glad you
got the job, for it will take it out of politics.”
Thanks to the State committee, especially to Messrs.
Lockwood, Greiner and Franchot, and the Buffalo Historical
Society for making an additional appropriation, we have the
building as it stands today.
The building is of white Vermont marble, in the classic
order of architecture known as the Greek Doric, being of the
same order as the Parthenon at Athens, by Pericles.* This
would seem best to harmonize with the Albright Art Gallery
on the opposite side of the Park Lake, designed in the spirit
of the Erechtheum, which stands with the Parthenon on the
Acropolis. The Greek Doric is suggestive of solidity and
force, has little carving, and its lines are all curved slightly
upward. As exhibited in the monuments of the age of
Pericles at Athens, the Greek Doric combines with solidity
and force, the most subtle and delicate refinement of outlines
and proportion that architecture has known.
Our building is a rectangle about 130 feet by 80 feet, and
50 feet high. On the north front, during the exposition, was
the statue “Aspiration,” by Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney
(formerly Gertrude Vanderbilt). The northern facade is
faced with three-quarter columns, and the entrance is
through the bronze doors which were the gift of Mr. Andrew
Langdon, president of the Buffalo Historical Society. The
*The Parthenon was built by Pericles, but the architects were Ictinus and Cal-
licrates, a part of the sculptured decorations being ascribed to Phidias. Ictinus de-
serves the credit which is usually given to Pericles. That the name of many am
architect of noble buildings is lost, is a reproach to history.THE LANGDON BRONZE DOORS, HISTORICAL BUILDING.THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.	401
panels in these doors, representing “History” and “Ethnol-
ogy,” are the work of R. Hinton Perry.*
On the south of the building, alongside of the marble
.eps leading to the lower path, were, during the exposition,
Andersen's equestrian groups called “Progress.” The broad
marble stairs, 40 feet in width, between two flanking pedes-
tals, lead up to the southern portico, 61 by 17 feet, embel-
lished by 10 Greek Doric columns. The stairs are one inch
higher in the middle than at the sides, giving what the
Greeks used so much, curved instead of straight lines.
The columns are the same proportion as those of the
Parthenon, and are made in three blocks of solid marble,
about three feet six inches in diameter at the base.
In the center, at the foot of these stairs and the terrace
landing, during the exposition, was Elwell’s statue “Intelli-
gence*” a female figure sitting on a throne.- *A ball in the left
nand represented the divine and perfect law out of which
crude man came. In order to receive this perfect divine law
•of intelligence, man must ; crucify himself, therefore the
crucifix. An open book on the lap of the statue represents
natural intelligence among men. The feet of the goddess In-
’* These beautiful bronze doors, one of the most notable features of the
building, merit a further word. The subjects and style of . execution were long
under consideration by President Langdon, and the leading sculptors of
America were consulted. The design was made by J, Woodley Gosling, de-
signer for the Henry Bonnard Bronze Company of New York, who worked it
out from the sketches and suggestions by Mr. Langdon. . The sculptor was
R. Hinton Perry and the plaster cast was made bygj^llison, Kitson & Co. of New
York. The bronze was cast by the Henry Bonnard Bronze Company and, in-
cluding the transom, weighs 3,900 pounds.. The work is twelve feet,six inches
high and six feet three inches wide. Each door, or gate, weighs 1,200 pounds.
The panel of the right-hand gate is decorated with a female figure emblematic
of Ethnology. In her hands are gracefully held a skull and Indian implements
of peace and warfare. The opposite panel contains a female figure representing
History. One hand has pushed back a veil and shades her eyes while she peers
into the future. A lamp in her right hand is emblematic also of History’s
searching into the dark places of the past for knowledge.- The figures are
beautifully molded and constitute the chief charm of the work. Beneath each
figure is the inscription:	“These Gates the Gift of Andrew Langdon to the
Buffalo Historical Society. A..D., M. C. M.” Above the doors, in a bronze
transom of classic Greek design, is set the seal of the society. It is supported
on one side by a reclining figure emblematic of Science, and on the other by
a similar figure, carrying a palette and. brush, representing Art. Science bears
a globe in her hand. The work as a whole is of a high order of merit.402
THE NEW HOME OF
telligence rest on a stool with swine’s feet, representing the
lowest form of natural intelligence.*
The building is located on sloping land on the axis of a
semi-circle, in the northwest corner of the park, adjacent to
Elmwood Avenue, and is best seen from the park bridge.
Advantage is taken of the sloping ground to make a bicycle
entrance to the basement, under the portico stair, at grade
level. There are likewise entrances at ground level from
the eastern and western terraces directly into the basement
statuary hall, while to the north the entrance is up a flight of
steps to the first floor, leading into the lobby which gives ac-
cess to what was used, during the exposition, as the Gov-
ernor’s room at the east end; a committee-room at the west
end, to cloak-rooms or offices and toilet-rooms to the north;
as well as. entrances to all other roomsTo the south.f
Back or south, of the lobby, or between the audience hall
to the west, and the library to the east, is the grand hall,
opening out on the southern porch. The hall of statues is
under this, and the dining-room is under the library. The*
rooms of the first floor are 15 feet high, and the audience
hall seats 250 persons.
The grand hall has a black marble floor, wainscoting, col-
umns and door trim of the same material, and the decoration
for the exposition period was gold and royal purple. It is
the largest room in the building, opening up into the upper
floor.
The second floor runs up into the roof, making the rooms
18 feet high. It is entirely lighted by skylights and is in-
tended to be used for museum purposes, such as the Cluny
Museum in Paris.
On the landing at the head of the stairs the circuit of the
*This and other perishable figures that adorned the exterior of the building dur-
ing the summer of 1901, emphasized the architectural beauty of the structure, and
suggested the great desirability of statues of suitable subjects, as'permanent ad-
juncts.
t On taking possession of the building at the close of the exposition, the Histori-
cal Society removed the northern partition of the lobby, on either side of the north
entrance, thus adapting the building better to its own purposes. .For this feature
of the interior as it stands, therefore, the architect is obviously not responsible.403
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
♦
five museum rooms may be made without retracing one’s
steps.
The smaller rooms are proposed to be called the Lincoln
and Washington rooms, and the long room between is ar-
ranged for bronzes, statuary, etc., seen from all parts of the
museum floor. These upper rooms have Tennessee marble
floor, pedestals, etc., and green side walls.*
There are spandrels, lunettes, and panels waiting to be
painted or decorated through the generosity of our citizens.
The architect has given the canvas found over the central
lunette. It was painted by Tabor Sears. The vertical radius
is emphasized by a principal figure, “The Muse of Niagara,”
typifying in a single figure the artistic expression of the va-
rious fomjs of literary, musical, or artistic work, which the
inspiration of Niagara has prompted, or may suggest for the
future. This is significant, inasmuch as the falls have been
painted, and praised in literature, and so long as the falls
are impressive and magnificent they will be a subject for fu-
ture production. The genii at each side represent, first, the,
irrigation of the earth, in the form of a child with the water-
horn; second, the consequent fruition of the earth, repre-
sented by a child weaving a fruit garland. The background
is the Niagara Falls, and the primeval shore.
The outside pediment to the south is void of statuary,
waiting for a donation, and the exterior blocks of solid
marble over the window openings are ready to be carved at
some future date. Bear in mind that the Parthenon, which
was finished 2500 years since, or 436 B. C., cost $3,000,000
and was made beautiful and historic through its statuary and
friezes. Lord Elgin carried away 200 feet of the frieze, the
statues of the Parthenon, and everything he could lay his
hands on. These marbles are now to be seen in the British
Museum.
The Historical Society building is absolutely fire-proof,
built at a cost of $175,000, including everything as it stands.
*The building has been redecorated since the Historical Society took posses-
sion. The grand hall is finished in olive greens and gold, the lecture hall in cream
and ivory tints, the library and dining room in yellow and brown ochre, and the
museum and art gallery rooms on the second floor in greens.404	THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The State put in $100,000; the Buffalo Historical Society
$45,000; and the city $30,000, making $175,000 in all.*
It was planned to accommodate not only the needs of the
exposition, but the ultimate needs of the Historical Society.
It was opened to the public 12 months from the time the con-
tract was made, and required 140 different drawings to
properly guide the execution of the finish. It is provided
with a heating and ventilating plant, and is lighted by a
thousand electric lights, the fixtures being of an especially
high grade.
*This does not include the cost of alterations, redecorating, etc., incurred since
the society took possession.