A Few of Buffalo's Prominent
German-American Citizens in 1901¹

Dr. Conrad Diehl

Conrad Diehl, the son of a German immigrant from Wittgenbron, Hessen Kassel, was born in Buffalo in 1843. He was a physician who graduated from UB's Medical School, served at Buffalo General, Deaconess Hospital, the 65th Regiment, the Buffalo Almshouse, and as City Coroner. He was a member, then President, of the Buffalo School Board before he was elected Mayor in 1897, as a Democrat. He was also a member of the Orpheus musical society and the Sangerbund (Singers' Association). As Mayor, Dr. Diehl played an important role in bringing the Pan-American Exposition to Buffalo.

Edward G. Becker

Edward G. Becker

Edward G. Becker was involved primarily in banking, holding positions with both the German Bank and the Buffalo Savings Bank. He would be appointed secretary of the latter by the bank's board of trustees in 1902. Becker served president of the Buffalo Co-Operative Brewing Company which at the time was one of the largest brewing enterprises in the Eastern United States. He was a member of the Buffalo Club and a life long member of Orpheus.

Charles Fix

Charles Fix

Charles Fix was descended from what the editors of A History of the City of Buffalo, (1908) referred to as "sturdy German stock from Baden Germany." His father Nicholas, was one of the pioneer citizens of the city. Charles Fix learned the printing trade and advertising business and worked for a number of newspapers, including the Buffalo Courier and the Daily Arbeiter Zeitung. He left that profession to work in business for a number of years. At the time of the Pan-American Exposition he was a very successfull entepeneur. He would enter politics and serve as Alderman of the 15th Ward and eventually be appointed Erie County Treasurer. Fix was involved in Buffalo's cultural institutions as well, including the Buffalo Orpheus, the Buffalo Saengerbund, and the Turn Verein.

Frank Snyder

Frank Snyder

The entry for Frank Snyder in A History of the City of Buffalo, (1908) began as follows: "The subject of this sketch is one of many Buffalonians of German nativity who have helped so much to build up the city's industrial and commercial supremacy, a class of foreign born men whom the city has always been glad to receive and proud to extend the priviledges of citizenship."

Snyder became successful in the trucking and cartage business, founding the Buffalo Storage and Carting Company. The entry in the above mentioned publication states that it was Mr. Snyder's company that "placed the great marble lions on the pedestal of the McKinley Monument." This known one can predict that the Buffalo Storage and Carting Company played a significant role in the building of the Pan-American Exposition.

Buffalo Storage and Carting Company

Jacob Dold & Christian Klinck²

Christian Klinck

The meat packing industry was well established in Buffalo. By the turn of the century, two of the most well-known names were German--Dold and Klinck. While the Jacob Dold Packing Company was certainly the the largest, the Christian Klinck Packing Company was the oldest. Dold and Klinck were both from Germany, having learned the trade there, and found Buffalo to be a prime market for the packing industry. Klinck's cousins, Christian and Charles, also came to Buffalo, where they were employed by their elder cousin. By the mid-1880's they were able to form their own meat-packing business, Klinck Brothers.

Jacob Dold would eventually become a leading authority among his contemporaries on meat packing industry of Buffalo. His company would also delve into the canning of fruits and vegetables and the "Dold-Quality Pure Food Products" would come to have a wide national market. Thus, when an event as important as a world's fair came to Buffalo, the Dold Packing Company took advantage of the exposure. They not only hosted a booth at the Pan-American Exposition, where samples of their products were provided, but, like many of their contemporaries in business and manufacturing, they incorporated the event into their advertising.

Jacob Dold

Notes(s)
1. Unless otherwise noted, all biographical information on this web page can be found in A History of the City of Buffalo : its Men and Institutions : Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens. Buffalo : Buffalo Evening News, 1908.
2. Biographical information on Dold and Klinck from Municipality of Buffalo, New York : a History, 1720-1923. Henry Wayland Hill, ed. New York : Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1923. vol.2, pp.820-823.
For additional information on Jacob Dold, Christian Klinck and the meatpacking industry of Buffalo's East Side, see Fred Jablonski's East Buffalo 1846-1976 at http://geocities.com/richslon/eastbuf.html. There is a "Pan-Am" section as well as a "Gallery," which discusses the East Side stockyards, meatpackers and purveyors, most of whom were leaders in the German or Polish communities. Update Sept. 2009: Unfortunately, as of 2008, the link is no longer valid. Try using the Wayback Web to access the archived pages at http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://geocities.com/richslon/eastbuf.html

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