Biographical Sketches of Monroe County Residents

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Arthur G. YATES

pages 567-568

There are found many men whose industry has won them success - men who by their perseverance and diligence execute well defined plans which others have made - but the men who take the initiative are comparatively few. The vast majority do not see opportunity for the co-ordination of forces and the development of new, extensive and profitable enterprises and therefore must follow along paths which others have marked out. Arthur G. YATES, however, does not belong to the designated class. The initiative spirit is strong within him. He has realized the possibility for the combination of forces and has wrought along the line of mammoth undertakings until the name of YATES stands, in large measure, for the coal trade. He is one of the leading operators in this great field of labor and well deserves to be ranked among the captains of industry.

His life record covers the period from the 18th of December, 1843. The place of his nativity is East Waverly, then Factoryville, New York, and he is representative of a distinguished English family. His grandfather, Dr. William YATES, was born at Sapperton, near Burton-on-Trent, England, in 1767, and studied for the medical profession, but never engaged in practice. Being the eldest son in his father's family, he inherited the estate and the title of baronet. Throughout his life he was distinguished as a philanthropist. He was a cousin of Sir John HOWARD, the philanthropist, and Sir Robert PEEL, the statesman, and was himself one of the most noted benefactors in England at the time. At his own expense he built and conducted an asylum for paupers and for the treatment of the insane at Burton-on-Trent. In 1792 he crossed the Atlantic to Philadelphia, in company with Judge COOPER and Judge FRANCHOT and General MORRIS, he ascended the Susquehanna river to Unadilla, Butternut creek valley. On that trip he met Hannah PALMER, the daughter of a prominent settler, and after the marriage of the young couple they returned to England, spending two years in his native land. Having disposed of his estate, Sapperton, to his brother Harry, Dr. YATES came once more to the United States and purchased a large estate at Butternuts, now the town of Morris, Otsego county, New York, where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring when he was in his ninetieth year. He was widely respected and esteemed. He spent a large fortune in carrying out his benevolent ideas and many there were who had reason to remember him with gratitude for his timely assistance. He possessed the broadest humanitarian views and his kindly sympathy was manifest in a most generous, but unostentatious, charity.

Judge Arthur YATES, his eldest son, was born at Butternuts, now Morris, New York, February 7, 1807, acquired a common school education and in 1832 located at Factoryville, New York, where he engaged in merchandising and lumbering, extensively carrying on business along those lines for thirty years. He was an active and enterprising citizen and did much to upbuild the beautiful village in which he made his home. In 1838 he was appointed judge of Tioga county, New York. He was prominent in financial circles, where his word was recognized as good as his bond. With banking and other business interests in Waverly he was actively connected, and was also prominent and influential in social, educational and church circles. His life was very helpful to those with whom he came in contact, and he enjoyed the unqualified regard of all. In January 1836, Judge YATES was united in marriage to Miss Jerusha WASHBURN, a daughter of Jeba WASHBURN, of Otsego county, New York and they became the parents of seven children. The judge died in 1880, but the influence of his life and labors is yet felt for good in the community in which he made his home, and where the circle of his friends was almost co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintances.

On the maternal side the ancestry of our subject can be traced back to Henry GLOVER, of Ipswich, England, who in 1634 emigrated to New Haven, Connecticut. The fourth of his six children was John GLOVER, who removed to Stratford, Connecticut. His son John removed from Stratford to Newton, Connecticut. His third child was Benjamin GLOVER and it was through the latter's daughter Mabel that the line of descent is traced down to our subject. She became the wife of Dr. Nathan WASHBURN, of Newton, Connecticut, and their son, Zenas WASHBURN, became resident of Otsego county, New York. He married Nancy NORTHRUP, the grandmother of our subject, their daughter Jerusha becoming the wife of Arthur YATES, of Factoryville, New York.

Arthur G. YATES, the fourth member of the family of Judge YATES, after acquiring a good education in his native town and as a student in various academies entered upon his business life in Rochester in March, 1865, as an employe [sic] of the ANTHRACITE COAL ASSOCIATION. He brought to the duties of the new position unfaltering energy, laudable ambition and a determination to thoroughly acquaint himself with the trade in principle and detail. He remained with that company for two years and laid the foundation upon which he has built the superstructure of his present success. He began dealing in coal on his own account, constantly enlarging the scope of his activity until he is today one of the foremost representatives of the coal trade of the country. Gradually he has developed the business until his shipments have extended far and wide into northern and western states and into Canada. He has built immense shipping docks at Charlotte, the port of Rochester, and has purchased a leading railway in order to place the fuel upon the market. At an early period in his business career he became a member of the firm BELL, LEWIS & YATES, which was organized for the purpose of mining and shipping bituminous coal from Pennsylvania. Marked success attended the enterprise from the start, the firm becoming the largest producer of its class in the United States. As the shipments of the firm were largely over the BUFFALO, ROCHESTER & PITTSBURG RAILROAD COMPANY Mr. YATES conceived and executed the plan of purchasing the line. Later he retired from the firm and while carrying on business individually at Rochester he became interested in the ROCHESTER & PITTSBURG COAL & IRON COMPANY, which had been formed by certain stockholders of the BUFFALO, ROCHESTER & PITTSBURG RAILROAD COMPANY. It was not long after this that Mr. YATES, associated with New York financiers, bought out the business of the firm of BELL, LEWIS & YATES, thus greatly increasing his individual holdings. Since that time the combined business of the two firms above mentioned, together with the railroad affairs, have been managed by Mr. YATES with marked success.

At different times Mr. YATES has been identified with various corporate interests aside from those mentioned. He has served as director or in other official capacities in connection with various banking institutions of Rochester and was at one time president of the ROCHESTER RAILWAY COMPANY. Since April, 1890, he has been president of the BUFFALO, ROCHESTER & PITTSBURG RAILROAD. Many business concerns of the city have profited by his financial investment, his wise council and his sound judgment, but more and more largely he has withdrawn from other lines to concentrate his energies upon his mammoth coal business and his railroad interests. All affairs have been systematized until the maximum results are reached with minimum expense of time and labor. This is the real secret of success in any business - a fact which Mr. YATES thoroughly realized and toward which end he has constantly worked. His success is so marvelous that his methods are of interest to the commercial world and investigation into his career shows that his actions have ever been based upon the rules which govern unfaltering industry and unswerving integrity. Moreover, he has had the power to bring into harmonious relations various factors in business life, coordinating plans and forces in the development of enterprises of great magnitude.

On the 26th of December, 1867, Arthur G. YATES was married to Miss Virginia L. HOLDEN, a daughter of Roswell HOLDEN of Watkins, New York. Their family numbered five sons and a daughter, but Arthur and Howard L., the fourth and fifth members of the family, are deceased. Those living are Frederick W., Harry, Florence and Russell P. Their attractive home on South Fitzhugh street is justly celebrated for its gracious and charming hospitality.

The family are communicants of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which Mr. YATES is the oldest warden, having filled the position for more than three decades. At one time he was a trustee of Rochester University and he is a valued member of various social organizations., including the Genesee Valley Club, the Ellicott Square Club of Buffalo, the Duquesne Club of Pittsburg, the Transportation Club of New York and the City Mid Day club of New York city. He is a man of kindly spirit, of generous disposition and of broad humanitarianism. The accumulation of wealth has never been allowed to affect his relations toward others less fortunate. While he has never courted popularity he holds friendship inviolable, and as true worth may always win his regard he has a very extensive circle of friends. The public work that he has done has been performed as a private citizen, yet has made extensive demands upon his time, his thought and energies. His aid is never sought in vain for the betterment and improvement of the city. In his life are the elements of greatness because of the use he has made of his talents and his opportunities, his thoughts being given to the mastery of great problems and the fulfillment of his duty as a man in his relations to his fellowmen and as a citizen in his relations to his state and his country.