The Historical Assoc. of Lewiston will host Richard Waite at its March 2025 program “The Life and Times of Jacob Friedrich Schoellkopf, Master Entrepreneur and Family Patriarch.”
The presentation will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday at Lutheran Church of the Messiah Fellowship Hall, 915 Oneida St., Lewiston.
Jacob Friedrich Schoellkopf was one of 19th-century Western New York’s greatest entrepreneurs. An Immigrant to Buffalo’s German community in 1844, Schoellkopf rose to such prominence in WNY’s business community that some would admiringly call him “King Jacob.” Buoyed by financial successes in the tanning and flour milling industries, Buffalo’s Jacob Schoellkopf and his sons launched pioneering enterprises in the nascent electrical and chemical industries of 19th-century America.
Waite is a graduate of Alfred Tech where he studied industrial chemistry, and both Canisius College and University at Buffalo where he studied European intellectual history and historiography. After retiring from Williamsville North High School where he taught history, psychology and sociology, Dick has written a series of articles for the Western New York Heritage Magazine which highlight several intriguing events, institutions and personalities encountered in our Western New York past.
The community event is free and open to all but donations are greatly appreciated to help support the museum. Refreshments will be served.