USA > New Jersey > Bergen County > History of Bergen county, New Jersey > Part 38
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
genial scientists whose warm friendship he enjoyed until his death.
In 1850 Dr. Thurber was appointed quartermaster and commissary on the United States and Mexico Boundary Survey, and with the special object to explore the flora of the hitherto unknown border regions. This task he accomplished in a most excellent manner, collecting and bringing home with him specimens of nearly all the native plants of that territory.
In 1853 he received an appointment at the United States Assay Office, of which he and Dr. Torrey were then the Assayers. Here he remained until 1856, when for political reasons he was forced to resign. In 1859 he was appointed professor of Botany and Horticulture at the Michigan State Agricultural College, which he held four years and only resigned to accept the editorship of the American Agriculturist in 1863.
Few men, if any, have exerted so powerful and effective an in- fluence on American Agriculture and Horticulture as has Dr. Thurber through the pages of this magazine. The botany of Appleton's Ency- clopedia was contributed entirely by Dr. Thurber. This excellent phar- macist, splendid botanist, admiral teacher and genial man, died at his home, at the "Beeches," in his sixty-ninth year.
His remains were buried in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, R. I., a locality where a young man he spent many happy hours in collecting and studying the botanical treasures formerly found in such abundance in this portion of the state. His affection for the young was very marked, and nothing so delighted him as to find a young man who was interested in his favorite sciences of botany and chemistry, and he was always ready to give that advice and friendly suggestion which so en- deared him to those brought into intimate relations with him. For many years no book was issued by the firm with which he was connected without his critical examination, and many of them show his handiwork which served to render them more practical and intelligent to the gen- eral reader.
MR. JACOB WAGNER.
Jacob Wagner, the first Mayor of the Borough of Wallington, is a native of Germany, born in Grasapsach, in the county of Backnang, in the year 1835. Christian Wagner, the father, died when Jacob was but eleven years of age. His mother lived to the advanced age of eighty- six years, dying in May 1897. Mr. Wagner attended the schools of his native town and worked on the farm until nineteen years old, when ac- companied by two elder sisters, he sailed for America in the old ship Queen Victoria landing in New York on August 19, 1854, forty-nine days after leaving the father-land. During the first eighteen months, after coming here, Mr. Wagner worked as a hired hand for a farmer on Long Island, beginning on a salary of five dollars per month. Follow- ing this came six years or more of service for the Erie Railroad Com- pany, working as a common laborer. As early as 1861, he found him- self the happy possessor of a few hundred dollars which he immediately
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
invested in real estate and through other investments in realty his hund- reds were soon converted into thousands. Now he has large interests in Jersey City and elsewhere. In 1858, Mr. Wagner was married to Miss Whilhelmina Brecht and in 1861 he bought a lot and built a house in Jersey City, continuing to live there until 1891 when he removed to Wallington, where he now resides. His wife, after bearing him ten children, and enjoying the comforts resulting from a well ordered life, passed away in June 1895, leaving the husband and six children to mourn their loss. In 1891, Mr. Wagner purchased of George Engle- man fifty acres of the old Theodore Van Idestine estate and since that time his interests have been centered in this borough. In 1896 he was chosen Mayor of his borough, which position he held till March, 1897, when he insisted upon retirement.
BERNARD KOSTER.
Bernard Koster, Mayor of Wallington, is a son of Henry Koster and Catharina Weber. He is German by birth and education, born in Atten- dorn, province of Westphalia, Germany, August 8, 1860. His parents early placed him in the elementary public school, where he remained until it became necessary for him to assist his father in the maintenance of a large family. From September 1874, he was employed in the chem- ical works until October 30, 1880, when he sailed for this country. In December 1880 he came to Bergen county locating at Englewood. From April 1883 until September 1887, he was with the late Andrew S. Ful- ler of Ridgewood, one of the oldest horticulturists in America. He then took his family to New York city, returning to Bergen county in Febru- ary 1889, and located in Wallington his present home. Since his return to Bergen county he was foreman for a number of years at the nurseries of Woolson & Co., hardy plants, the last five years having been spent as superintendent of Mr. Peter Reid's greenhouse and grounds which are the finest in Passaic.
Mr. Koster is at this time president of the Catholic Benevolent Legion in Passaic, treasurer of the Knights of Columbus in Passaic, treasurer and one of the directors of the Wallington Savings Loan and Building Association, of which he was one of the originators, treasurer of the Wallington Hall Association, and an active member and the treasurer of Wallington Hose Company, No. 1. In addition to these Mr. Koster is affiliated with a number of Church societies of the Roman Catholic Church in Passaic. His military record covers a period of nearly nine years having enlisted April 28, 1882, in Company B, Second Battalion, Infantry, First Brigade, National Guards of New Jersey, and discharged from the service March 10, 1891. In his public achievements and offices, Mr. Koster petitioned the court of Bergen county for the incorporation of the Borough of Wallington in December, 1894, which was granted. He was appointed President of the Board of Education of Wallington, by the County Superintendent in February 1895, remaining a member of that body continuously since that time; by re-election in
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
1895, for a term of two years, and again in 1897 for three years. In 1895 he was elected councilman for three years, and in 1897 Mayor of the Borough.
Mr. Koster's marriage to Bridget Cooney of New York was solemn- ized April 8, 1883, at Englewood, by Rev. Father McDonald, of the Roman Catholic Church.
JOHN J. POLMANN.
John J. Polmann, Recorder of the Borough of Wallington, was born in the old romantic and historic 'ALoo 'ALoo," in the Province of Gelder- land, Holland, July 18, 1860. At eighteen years of age young Polmann after a rigorous examination. was found fully competent to enter the profession of teaching, beginning work in the school room at once, a position for which he was well fitted both by education and natural ability. After teaching one year he was forced into the military ser- vice, where he served his country eighteen months. Upon his return home, he immediately entered again upon his chosen field of labor and taught school in Texel for a continuous period of five years. In 1883 he married Miss Cornelia Kooiman, and with his wife sailed for America in 1887. The struggle for a new home now began and after a trial, first in Chicago, then in Passaic N. J., and subsequently in Staten Island, they finally came to Wallington in 1894, where they have prospered and find a congenial home. Mr. Polmann purchased the property where he now lives, success having followed all his enterprises since coming here. He is recognized as a leader in public affairs and consequently many honors have been thrust upon him. He has been Clerk of the Borough, and is now by appointment, serving as Recorder of the Borough; is a member of the Board of Education and President of the Fire Depart- ment. He is also a director of the Wallington Building and Loan Asso- ciation, and a director of the Public Hall Association. In March 1898 the citizens of the borough elected him Justice of the Peace, by a nearly unanimous vote.
JAMES SOOP.
Mr. James Soop, Councilman of Wallington Borough, and for over twenty-five years engineer on the Pavonia Ferry, was born in Albany, N. Y., October 6, 1843. At the age of fourteen young Soop was earn- ing wages, as a deck hand, on board a steamboat. At sixteen he was made fireman on the "Ohio," and continued in that capacity till twenty- one years of age. In 1865 he received license as engineer and served first on the "Cayuga," a Hudson river boat that plied between Albany and New York.
After the war he served as oiler for a few years on steamships run- ning from New York to Richmond, New Orleans and other places South, but in 1873 accepted the position he still holds. March 19, 1873, he was married to Miss Emma J. Turner, of Albany, N. Y., and two days later the young couple began housekeeping in Jersey City. In 1888 two lots were purchased and a house built in Wallington, where they have since resided.
ADRIEN D. SULLIVAN
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
Mr. Soop was one of the promoters of the borough government and is at present a member of the council. He is president of the Building and Loan Association, of which he was one of the originators, and is now a director. He is also a trustee and treasurer of the Presbyterian Church; is a Mason and Past Master of a Lodge in Jersey City and for eighteen years he has been a member of Pioneer Council No. 22, Royal Arcanum.
ADRIAN D. SULLIVAN.
Adrian D. Sullivan was born in Saratoga county, New York, not far from the spot where was fought one of the decisive battles of the world's history.
He attended the public school of his native town, and later, the University of Ohio, where he also gained his legal education. Here his keen, penetrating, judicial mind made him a marked student.
In 1890, he married Miss Lucia Meek MacFaddin, a well known and highly respected young lady of Des Moines, Iowa. Three children, two sons and one daughter, have come to bless his home. He moved to Passaic in 1894, and was admitted to the bar in New Jersey the follow- ing June. The people were not slow to recognize his genius. His practice soon became eminent and lucractive, and he now numbers among his clients, many of the most prominent people of the city.
During his first year in practice, he gained a wide reputation as a jury lawyer. He ever shows a willingness to champion the cause of men unjustly attacked. For justice, he is bold and brave; toward oppression, scornful and fierce. He is free from the sordid mercenary motives that control too many men of the present day.
Lawyer Sullivan, on account of his location among the foreign element in Passaic, hasidentified himself in feeling with those oppressed people, and has frequently defended them without fees, when they were being made the victims of injustice. He understands the Slavonians and Hungarians in their virtues and in their vices; in their sufferings and in their wrongs. He is their friend, and they, in return, love him:
His personal manners are unpresuming and unpretending; his in- tercourse with people being marked by cordiality and dignity, and his demeanor as simple as his spirit is sincere. His candid, open manner and high sense of justice have made him universally respected, and his friends are numerous.
MR. THOMAS R. COLLINS.
Thomas R. Collins, the subject of this sketch is a prominent con- tractor in the plumbing business with offices in Passaic and Wallington. He is a native of Canada, born in Toronto, in 1864, and was educated in the public schools of that city. When sixteen years of age he came to New York, where he worked five years for Cassidy & Son, chandelier manufacturers, and the following eleven years was in the employ of J. W. Fiske in his Ornamental Iron Works. In 1885, he married Miss Mary Crone, removing to Wallington the following year. His brother
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
John Collins, who had carried on the plumbing business in Canada, came here in 1893, when a partnership was formed by the brothers, Thomas being a silent partner. In 1897, the shop was built in Wallington, while the office and show-room in Passaic, was opened in December, of the same year.
As plumbers the Collins Brothers do a large business. They have just completed St. Mary's Hospital, the largest plumbing contract ever given out in Passaic. Contracts have also been taken for five or six hotels belonging to the Midland Beach Traction Company, on Staten Island. Nine practical plumbers are in their employ.
Mr. Collins is also a member of the firm of De Vogel & Co., builders. He was one of the promotors of the borough system, of Wallington; was elected Councilman, holding the office two years and re-elected for three years, being made President of the Board. He was made Record- er in March, of this year, while two years ago he was elected Justice of the Peace. He is Vice-President of the Building and Loan Association. Secretary of the Public Hall Association, and was also one of the organizers of the Wallington Hose Company. He was a member of the School Board but resigned. His wife died in 1894, leaving him three children.
MR. LOUIS DANKHOFF,
Mr. Louis Dankhoff (1836-1893) was born at Pietz, near Berlin, Germany. He came to America in 1860 with his family settling at Pittsfield, Mass. Eventually he became superintendent of Libby's Woolen Mill at Warren, Mass., which position he held for fifteen years. In 1880 he settled at Passaic, N. J. He was appointed overseer at Am- midown's Woolen Mill. In 1882, Mr. Dankhoff purchased the well- known saloon on Passaic Street. In 1887 he bought a large tract of land in Wallington of the Anderson Lumber Company, and in the same year built a large hotel on the Plank Road. He was. one of the first business men to settle here.
Mr. Dankhoff was also an inventor. He invented a number of articles one of which was his double beer faucet which sold so widely. His father was known abroad as the inventor of the now lost art of permanently enameling the colors, red, blue and white on ironware. The book containing the formula was destroyed by fire, and when he died the secret died with him.
Mr. Dankhoff was an influential member of a number of lodges :- The Odd Fellows, Red Men, and United Friends. He died in his hotel, leaving a widow and two married daughters.
WOODRIDGE.
Woodridge is one of the most beautiful localities in this part of the county. The wooded ridge, suggesting the name, runs parallel with the Palisade from Rutherford to Hackensack at a high elevation, mak- ing a natural drainage of great value.
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
4
THE KOHBERTZ MANSION-FOR SALE
The two hundred acres of land covering this site was taken up by George Brinkerhoff who came from Holland to America in 1638, and to New Jersey in 1685. This property has remained largely in the family until the present time. About the close of the War of the Rebellion, Henry Gerecke purchased a part of this farm with a view of selling it out for building lots, and for which he paid $5,000 but the expectations of Mr. Gerecke were not realized and the land reverted to its former owners.
In the meantime Mr. Frederick Kohbertz became interested in the success of the village and in 1870 the town was laid out and under his guiding hand buildings began to take the place of desert waste.
Originally the Dutch settled here and in this vicinity in the seven- teenth century, locating mostly on the Polifly road. Their houses were built one story principally, having walls of brownstone with a widely projecting roof shading a porch extending around on three sides of the building.
The borough of Woodridge was organized on the 19th day of Janu- ary 1895, at the office of Franz Fritsch. A. Molinari, was the first Mayor; the first Council consisting of Henry E. Brinkerhoff, Joseph H. Schmitt, Louis A. Eurrard, Franz Fritsch, Isidore Lazard, Fred Kohbertz; Assessor, Emil Pirovano; Collector, Alfred Gramlich; Clerk. W. H. White.
On March 14, 1899, the following officers were elected: Mayor A. Molinari; Council, Franz Fritsch, Frank C. Ball; Assessor, Emil H. Pirovano; Collector, Alfred Gramlich; Franz Fritsch, Freeholder; Clerk. W. H. White.
ANTON MOLINARI.
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
THE KOHBERTZ MANSION .- FOR SALE.
Mr. Frederick Kohbertz, one of the prime movers in the building up of the village of Woodridge, a man of great energy and perseverance, determined to use his best efforts to make it a model village of country homes. In 1870 the town was laid out and buildings began to take the place of trees and underbrush. Mr. Kohbertz's own residence and grounds, where he formerly lived, is a place of beauty and an ornament to that part of the country. It is a large and commodious mansion of twenty rooms, with wide halls. The house is supplied with gas and water, and all other modern improvements and equipments. Three acres of park laid out in the most artistic manner surround the house, fine stables built in a style of architecture to correspond with that of the house all go to make the whole a most beautiful and desirable property as a residence, a club house, or private school. Mr. Kohbertz aban- doned it as a family residence, only when his family became reduced and a small house better suited his convenience. The cost of this beautiful place, including grounds, was seventy-five thousand dollars, and now it can be bought for one third of its original value.
Mr. Kohbertz has expended large sums of money in various ways, for the benefit of the village, working for the introduction of electric light, water mains, street grading and other conveniences, at all times endeavoring to preserve a rural appearance. He donated a church plot, used his influence in securing good schools, and also a fire department.
He is still in the Real Estate business, seeking always to attract desirable settlers to his place by keeping the price of ground at fairly low prices, taxes being within proper limits.
ANTON MOLINARI.
Anton Molinari, Mayor of Woodridge, and proprietor of a mnanu- factory at that place is an Italian by blood but Polish by birth and American by adoption. His grandfather wasa native of Venice, Italy, but being disturbed by the Austrians under the great Napoleon, took up his residence in Lombardy, France. Julian, his son, father of our subject becoming interested as a Revolutionist in 1863, in the un- successful war Poland waged against Russia, lost his home, fortune and all in the part he took in that unfortunate struggle for liberty. Being proscribed he left the continent to avoid banishment to Siberia, after- wards visiting this country.
Anton Molinari was born in Poland in 1856. When seven years of age he attended school in Paris, France, and before eighteen years of age sailed for the city of New York, reaching that place July 4, 1874. After learning the trade of machinist in Boston he came to New York in 1884, where he worked as a common laborer until 1886, when he established a plant and laid the foundations of his present industry. In 1889 he moved his effects to Woodridge, built a house and factory here where he has continued to the present time. Mr. Molinari employs
ALFRED GRAMLICH
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
thirty-five hands in the manufacture of all kinds of surgical instru- ments for the trade.
January 15, 1895, Mr. Molinari was elected Mayor of Woodridge, and has been re-elected to that position three times since. He and his paternal ancestors have been Republicans. He himself takes great interest in Americanism, but eschews politics as a profession.
ALFRED GRAMLICH.
Alfred Gramlich one of the officials of the Borough of Woodridge, and for a number of years train despatcher on the Erie railroad, Jersey City, is a native of Carlstadt, and was born June 29th, 1866. At twelve years of age young Gramlich left school, since which time, now a period
RESIDENCES OF F. KOHBERTZ AND ALFRED GRAMLICH
of twenty years, he has been engaged in the railroad business in some capacity. His father, one of the promoters of Carlstadt, was the first agent at that station for the New Jersey and New York Railroad Com- pany, and being in need of a telegraph operator, both of his sons were put into training, in due time becoming experts in the use of the wires. They were now assigned to positions by this company, and for years succeeding such appointments, hard work followed in offices at various stations along the line, until not only the needed experience was acquired, but also the confidence of the company respecting their worthiness and responsibility, was attained. Then followed better pay with less labor. Alfred Gramlich was stationed first at Cherry Hill, N. J., in 1878. In a year or so he was placed at River Edge, going from there to Hillsdale, in the Superintendent's office. In 1887 he left the New Jersey and New
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
11
RESIDENCE OF ANTON MOLINARI
York road and went to Jersey City, where in 1890 he became train despatcher for the Erie Railroad, which position he has filled with marked ability for the past eight years. In his present position Mr. Gramlich has oversight of all freight and passenger trains from Jersey City to Port Jervis, from eleven in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning, a responsible position, to which he was appointed because of his peculiar fitness for the place.
Mr. Gramlich has always taken an active part in politics. He was one of the first Republicans elected in the township of Bergen, being elected to the office of Township Clerk. He was also member of the Board of Education for the township, resigning both offices when the borough was organized. He is a member of the Republican County Committee, having been elected first to that office in 1895, and was elected Collector of the borough upon its organization and has held the office ever since. Although indifferent to office, he is yet public spirited enough to share in the responsibilities necessary to good government. Mr. Gramlich purchased ground and built his residence in 1890, and in the fall of that year married Miss Anna Kohbertz, cousin of Frederick Kohbertz of Woodridge. They have three children.
HENRY E. BRINKERHOFF.
George, the progenitor of the Brinkerhoff family in Bergen county, emigrated to America from Holland in 1638. He came to New Jersey
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
in 1685, and purchased a tract of two hundred acres of land which is still owned and occupied by the family. Of the three other brothers who came at the same time, one settled in New York, one went West and the other made a home in New Jersey. Two of George's sons, Henry G. and Jacob, settled in Lodi and divided the farm each taking one hundred acres. Henry married Rachel Vreeland, and of this union two sons were born. Enoch, the younger became a leading man in his locality, taking an active part in the political interests of his township which he represented in the Assembly during one term.
He married Mary Berry, a daughter of John W. Berry, who was one of the early settlers of the county. Enoch and Mary ( Berry) Brinker- hoff were the parents of Henry E., who was born at Polifly near Wood- ridge, April 8, 1833, and now resides on the old homestead. He was educated in New York city, at the Boys' High School.
Mr. Brinkerhoff served in the Hackensack Continentals about five years, until the militia was reorganized in the state under the "New Jersey Rifle Corps Act," when he was made lieutenant in Company G, and afterwards captain of Company A, when it became a part of the National Guard of New Jersey. Mr. Brinkerhoff is also prominent in his town in an official capacity, having filled many positions of trust. He is well known in business being an extensive farmer and a large land owner. His marriage to Miss Sarah Terhune connects him with another of the old families of the county.
CHARLES LINK.
Charles Link, present township clerk and Justice of the Peace for Bergen township, is a native of Berlin, Germany, and was born in 1848. Mr. Link was educated in the public schools of Germany. He came to New York immediately after leaving school, engaging for some time in manufacturing establishments as a common workman. In 1886, how- ever, he went to Philadelphia as foreman for a firm, and followed the profession of Veterinary Surgeon for several years in that city.
In 1891 Mr. Link came to New Jersey and established his bleachery in Jersey City, and in 1895 purchased property, and started a fac- tory in Bergen township, where he chemically treats some 50,000 sheepskins annually for the drug trade, employing three and four men constantly.
Mr. Link belongs to several clubs and societies, and is well and favorably known. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1898, and Township Clerk in 1899.
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS.
Hasbrouck Heights situated about two miles south of Hackensack on the Polifly road, has a territory of about one and a half square miles and lies about one hundred and seventy-five feet above tide water.
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