The story
It was a partnership of German-born August Esenwein (1856-1926) and James A. Johnson (1865-1939). The partnership was started in 1898; the firm designed "many of Buffalo's outstanding buildings including the Lafayette High School and the General Electric Building".
A number of their works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In 2007, the Buffalo History Museum, then called the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, held an exhibition of their work entitled, "Art Nouveau and Other Expressions: Rediscovering the Architecture of Esenwein & Johnson."
From Wikipedia’s article on Esenwein & Johnson, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3