Exhibit 24.1


                                POWER OF ATTORNEY


         KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned director and/or
officer of M&T Bank Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the
State of New York, (the "Corporation"), hereby constitutes and appoints Richard
A. Lammert, Timothy G. McEvoy and Steven Kaplan, and each of them (with full
power to each of them to act alone), his or her true and lawful
attorneys-in-fact and agents with full power of substitution and resubstitution,
for him or her and on his or her behalf and in his or her name, place and stead,
in any and all capacities, to sign, execute and file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (or any other governmental or regulatory authority) a
Registration Statement on Form S-8 (or any other appropriate form), and any and
all amendments (including post-effective amendments) thereto, with all exhibits
and any and all documents required to be filed with respect thereto, relating to
the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, of shares of the
Corporation's common stock authorized to be issued or sold pursuant to the
Corporation's 1983 Stock Option Plan, and of plan interests in such plan,
granting unto said attorneys, and each of them, full power and authority to do
and to perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done
in order to effectuate the same as fully to all intents and purposes as he
himself or she herself might or could do if personally present, hereby ratifying
and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, may
lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned director and/or officer has
hereunto set his or her hand as of the 15th day of September 1998.


/s/  William F. Allyn                  /s/  Richard E. Garman
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William F. Allyn                       Richard E. Garman

/s/  Brent D. Baird                    /s/  James V. Glynn
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Brent D. Baird                         James V. Glynn
                                                          
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John H. Benisch                        Roy M. Goodman

/s/  Robert J. Bennett                 /s/  Patrick W.E. Hodgson
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Robert J. Bennett                      Patrick W.E. Hodgson

/s/  C. Angela Bontempo                                           
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C. Angela Bontempo                     Samuel T. Hubbard, Jr.

                                       
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Robert T. Brady                        Russell A. King

                                       /s/  Lambros J. Lambros
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Patrick J. Callan                      Lambros J. Lambros





/s/  Wilfred J. Larson                                           
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Wilfred J. Larson                      Herbert L. Washington

/s/  Reginald B. Newman, II            /s/  John L. Wehle, Jr.
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Reginald B. Newman, II                 John L. Wehle, Jr.

/s/  Peter J. O'Donnell                /s/  Robert G. Wilmers
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Peter J. O'Donnell                     Robert G. Wilmers

/s/  Jorge G. Pereira                  /s/  Michael P. Pinto
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Jorge G. Pereira                       Michael P. Pinto

/s/  John L. Vensel                    /s/  Michael R. Spychala
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John L. Vensel                         Michael R. Spychala