Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 51

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y. > Part 51

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

ELIT TLE

IMCampbell

JOSEPH W. CAMPBELL .- Prominent among the many men of Brooklyn who have attained to positions of honor through their own unaided efforts, is Mr. Joseph W. Campbell, of No 315 Carlton avenue. His parents were Aaron T. and Phebe (Mitchell) Campbell, and he was born at Morristown, New Jersey, August 11, 1819, and removed to Brooklyn, with his father's family, in 1826. He learned the builders' trade when young, and since 1840 has been prominently identified with the building interests of Brooklyn.

PATRICK F. O'BRIEN was born in the year 1839, near Manor Hamilton, County Leitrim, Ireland. His parents dying when hic was quite young, he was brought up by his grandparents, and received his education at the parish school, and learncd his trade in his native place.

Ile came to America in 1848, locating in Brooklyn, and first obtained work on the City Hall, which was then in the course of erection, as a journeyman carpenter, with Mr. Leonard Cooper, the contractor, with whom he remained in that capacity for three years, when, ou the death of Mr. Cooper's forcman, he was offered the position, which he filled two years. At this time, having purchased some lots, he engaged in business for himself in a small way, building three eot- tages of his own. At that time there were scarcely any houses in the vicinity of Skillnan street at its junction with Myrtle avenne, and people in that neighborhood were obliged to go to and from the ferry in stages, no car lines having been built in the city. From this beginning, having secured shops, Mr. O'Brien began to do a general contracting business, building public institutions, churches, schools, residences,

manufactories and many dwellings. Among the many churches built by him may be mentioned the Church of the Holy Redeemer, St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church, West- minster Presbyterian Church, St. Agnes' Roman Catholic Church, and the Church of the Holy Family, in Brooklyn, besides many in New York, including the Church of the Transfiguration and St. James' Roman Catholic Church, and the Church of the Sacred Heart at West Point. Hc also built the beautiful convent and other buildings of the Sisters of Mercy in Brooklyn, and the chapel and couvent of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Flushing, Queens county, and a large number of public school buildings, including those of Brock- lyn Schools Nos. 3, 7, 13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 28, 41, 42 and 43, be- sides many wings and alterations to such structures. St. Patrick's Academy and St. Anne's Schools are buildings put up by Mr. O'Brien, as were also the Cochrane building. and many others of the fine business houses which ornament the city; many expensive residences on Columbia Heights, and in other parts of the city; and some beautiful residences on Long Island, among them those of Hon. R. O'Gorman, Cornelius Deverand John W. Harper, at Sands' Point, where, for many years, Mr. O'Brien had a summer residence.

Mr. O'Brien has dealt heavily in real estate, and built some fine buildings as an individual investment on Bedford and Clermont avenues, and ou Hewes and other of the best streets in the city. He continues in business with nnabated energy, being of such an active temperament that it would be next to impossible for him to remain idle for any length of time. He was one of the organizers, and for many years president of the Globe Marble Mills Compauy of this city, I which, at one time, practically controlled the marble bnsi-

Oho. B. Rutan

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ness of Brooklyn. His connection with the Nassau National and East Brooklyn Banks is well known to those acquainted with the history of the commercial interests of the city.

In 1877, Mr. O'Brien made a trip to Rome with the Irish- American Pilgrimage, in the steamship City of Brussels, which, owing to a broken shaft, consumed 39 days in the passage from New York to Queenstown, and was, for a time, by many thought to have been lost at sea. This event was a source of great anxiety to Mr. O'Brien's family and friends, until intelligence of his safety reached them. Leaving his fellow pilgrims at Rome, Mr. O'Brien made an extended tour on the Continent, and visited his old home in Ireland.

Mr. O'Brien was married, in 1856, to Miss Anne Hughes, daughter of an old and respected resident of Brooklyn, and the marriage was blessed with four children, two sons and two daughters. Mrs. O'Brien promises to live to a ripe old age, in the enjoyment of the comforts and luxuries of the beautiful home her husband has provided for her.

In religion, Mr. O'Brien is a Roman Catholic, and has long been connected with charitable objects in the city. He was one of the founders, and for many years the treasurer, of St. Mary's Hospital, and has been a trustee of St. Patrick's Church since its foundation. Though a staunch Democrat, and often asked to accept public positions, he never mingled in politics nor held any office. He is a man of wide acquaint- ance, and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him. A noted patron of education, he has given his children fine educational advantages, of which he was himself deprived when young. He is known as a kind and indulgent husband and father, a true friend. and a man of public spirit and gen- erous impulses; and those near and dear to him rejoice that his robust health and fine physique indicate that many more years of usefulness have been allotted to him.

THOMAS B. RUTAN was born in Newark, N. J., February 10th, 1837, and is a son of Henry A. and Harriet (Burnet) Rutan. He removed to Brooklyn, with his parents, in 1845, and his father, a builder, carried on his business there until his retirement, and died, at the age of sixty-three, July 1st, 1873.

Mr. Rutan was educated in the public schools of Brooklyn, and, at the age of fourteen, began to learn the trade of builder with his father, serving an apprenticeship of five years. From its expiration until 1862, he worked as a jour- neyman carpenter and builder. In September, 1862, he en- listed in Company A, 139th New York Volunteers, was mustered in as a sergeant and served as such till, in the fall of 1864, he was detailed as a sharpshooter and served as one until mustered out of service at the close of the war.

Returning north, Mr. Rutan went to Bridgeport, Conn., and worked at his trade about nine months, again tak- ing up his residence in Brooklyn at the expiration of that time and engaging in business as a builder on his own ac- count, in which he has continued very prosperously to the present time, being among the prominent men of the city in his line, and having erected some of the largest buildings in Brooklyn.

Mr. Rutan is a staunch Democrat, and has long been an active politican, but never an office-seeker, or an office- holder.

JOHN J. FROST, 574 Franklin avenue, builder and contractor ; established 1866. EDWARD FREEL, 484 Lafayette avenue, builder and contractor ; es- tablished 1859.

EDWARD FREEL .- This well-known gentleman, one of the most prominent of the contractors of Brooklyn, is a son of Edward and Elizabeth Freel, and was born in Ireland in 1829. When he was about ten years old, with his mother and others of his family, he came to America, his father having preceded them by a few months, to found for them a home in the new world. The family lived in East Brooklyn some years, and then moved to Eighteenth street, in the section of the city known as Gowanus. Young Freel attended the pub- lic schools during his boyhood, and at the early age of four- teen was apprenticed to the once well-known Stephen Haynes, to learn the trade of bricklayer, attending night schools as opportunity afforded. After acquiring his trade, he worked as a journeyman mason in New York and Brook- lyn and vicinity, rising after a few years to the position of foreman. and as such he found employment in different places, until he began to take small contracts on his own ac- count. In 1859, he was appointed to be one of the inspectors of the Brooklyn Water Works, serving in that capacity till sometime in 1860, when he relinquished the position to en- gage more largely in contracting than he had done before. Since that date he has done an extensive and increasing busi- ness, and has erected many large buildings in and about New York and Brooklyn, both private and public, among them the Kings County Jail, D. Appleton & Co.'s printing house and bindery on First street, and numerous elegant residences and business blocks. He has also constructed much sewerage, and performed other important public contracts in New York and Brooklyn, and is now constructing the water-works of the town of New Lots. He has opened and improved several streets in the city, and done much toward the public im- provement in many quarters, and is the owner of much real estate in many advantageous localities.

In 1859, Mr. Freel married Miss Catharine Murray, of New York. They have two sons and a daughter. Edward F. Freel, the eldest son, is regularly employed in his father's business; and the younger son, Francis J. Freel, though yet in school, renders valuable assistance therein. In a quiet way, Mr. Freel, who is a staunch Democrat, is interested in politics, but though he has repeatedly been proffered places of honor and trust, he has refused to accept them, partly be- cause his tastes do not incline him to active participation in political affairs, and partly because he has thought best, in the days of his prosperity, to give to his business the same undivided time and attention which contributed so largely to establishing it, and increasing it to its present enviable proportions. Mr. Freel, with his family, are identified with the Roman Catholic Church, of which he has ever been a willing and a liberal supporter.

JOHN S. FROST was born in Plymouth, Devonshire, Eng- land, July 23, 1830, a son of Richard and Ann (Shepard) Frost. His father was steward on a vessel in the service of the East India Company, the duties of his position keeping him absent from home most of the time, and was lost at sea in 1843. The family moved to the city of London when John S. Frost was three years old, and there he passed his boy- hood and attended school. His mother married George H. Grandfield, who brought the family, consisting of liimself and Mrs. Grandfield, and John S. Frost and a half brother of the latter, to the United States in 1849, locating in Brooklyn, but shortly removing to Germantown, Pa.

John S. Frost did not accompany the other members of the family to Pennsylvania, choosing rather to remain in Brooklyn and learn the trade of bricklaying and plastering, which he accomplished under competent instruction, and was afterward, foreight or nine years, in the employ of Mr. Jolın

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R.LITTLE PPILA

John & groot-

French, afterward Building Commissioner of the city of Brooklyn. In 1863, he embarked in business as a contractor and builder on his own account, in which he was very suc- cessful. During the past ten years he has been engaged in speculative building and in real estate operations, his im- provements in the portion of the city known as Bedford hav- ing been quite extensive.

Mr. Frost's interest in public affairs is such as must be felt by all true citizens ; and as a politician he is quiet rather than active, though his influence in his section of Brooklyn is by no means small. He favors the Republican view of matters political, and has served the Ninth Ward as a mem- ber of its Republican Association, with which he has been for some years and is now connected. He is a member of Atlantic Lodge No. 50, I. O. O. F., with which he has been identified since 1852, and of which he has served as Noble Grand.

In April, 1854, Mr. Frost married Miss Sarah L. Whitney, a native of Northamptonshire, England, but at that time a resident of Brooklyn. The family are connected with the New York Avenne Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Frost has been one of the trustees since its organization. He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at the age of fourteen, and has ever since been an active and consistent member of that denomination, having served officially in connection with several church organizations.

It is as a self-made man that Mr. Frost takes rank among his contemporaries in this city. His reputation is that of an

honest and thorough-going business man, and iu all of the relations of life he has won the esteem of those who know him best.

T. B. JACKSON, 424 Clinton avenue, builder ; es- tablished 1854. DAVID JENKINS (Jenkins & Gillie), 366-72 South 5th street, E. D., carpenter and buil- der ; established 1872; from no capital invested, business has increased to $100,000; first firm of builders in Brooklyn to make use of the telephone. CARDWFLI & HAWKINS (Charles W. and Henry S.), 15 Lawton street, builders ; established, 1880, 144 Devoe street ; creeted Reformed Episcopal church, corner Keep street and Marcy avene, and the Janes M. E. church, corner Reid avenne and Monroe street. ABRAM RUTAN, 957 Putnam avenne, mason and builder ; established 1865. JOHN ROME, 334 Schermerhorn street, carpenter and builder.

JOHN ROME .- In Dumfriesshire, Scotland, near the village of Annan, on the banks of Solway Firth, John Rome was born in 1815, the eldest son of a large family of children. His ancestry on his mother's side belonged to the family of the Grahams, descendants of the numerous and powerful clan of that name, who are prominent in the annals of Scottish history, while the family of the Romes lived on the

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John Rome

border for many years. His father was a farmer, a man of excellent character, highly respected in Annan, but not wealthy. He found the support of his family from the farm to be difficult, and therefore decided to emigrate to the newer country, where the soil made more generous returns for the labor expended in its cultivation, and the conditions of life were more favorable for the industrious poor man. So in 1820, he sailed for New York with his wife and little family, landing there on Christmas Day. The first year he rented a farm in Oyster Bay, but the next year, 1822, he bought a tract of land in the town of Huntington, where he lived during the remainder of his life. The farm lay near the hamlet of West Hills, the highest land on Long Island, and there his son John, the subject of this sketcli, grew up, assisting his father during the season in out-of-door work, and attending the district school for three months in the winter. Affairs prospered with the family until the loss of their house by fire, in 1831, entailed additional labor and somne privation, while replacing what had been destroyed. When a young man, Mr. Rome showed a good degree of mechanical ingenuity and aptness in the use of tools, making all the wooden implements needed on the farm, and even being employed upon buildings that were in process of con- struction in the neighborhood. With his taste inclining in this direction, and ambitious to excel, he studied what books upon architecture and building he could procure, uniting theory with practice, until he was able to successfully plan and build several houses in the vicinity. As his younger brothers grew up and took their part in assisting in the farm work, Mr. Rome felt that he ought not to stand in the way

of their advancement, but rather to seek new fields of labor. With his practical knowledge of building, natural aptness, good judgment and industrious habits, he felt confident of making a living, at least, at the carpenter's vocation. In 1844 he came to Brooklyn and found work, at first by the day, until his savings had given him a little capital. After a time, he happened in at a sale of real estate at an auction room in New York, where two lots on Schermerhorn street, in this city, were under the hammer and going at a figure within his means. Confident that city lots in Brooklyn would increase greatly in value, he bought the property, and it proved to be the "flood tide " in his affairs that led him on to fortune. He built two houses, which sold advantageously, paving the way for future investments of a similar kind. By faithful, honest work, done under his personal super- vision, he acquired a reputation for thoroughness and excellence in construction, so that his houses sold readily at remunerative prices. He has continued in this business of buying, building and selling for many years, erecting many first-class residences in various parts of the city, building into his work the honest faithfulness of his Scotch ancestry, and gaining for himself a good name, of which any man might well be proud.

The lack of educational advantages in his youth he made up by learning of his younger brothers and sisters as they studied at home, and by a course of careful reading in leisure hours; when he was sixteen he applied for and obtained the office of librarian of the school district, and read with eager- ness the well selected, though small, collection of books thus placed in his charge. The love of good reading has always

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been a characteristic of him, while a close observation of men and things has given him that practical knowledge which is preferable to mere book education.

As a citizen, Mr. Rome is one of the intelligent, thinking, better class, who constitute the safeguard of the body politic and who make up enlightened public opinion. Well informed on the topics of the day, he lives up to his convictions of right, expressing his preferences at the polls, generally favor- ing the Democratic side, but not entering into the details of politics or taking any active part in caucuses and primaries. He thinks, with Sam Slick, that there are " cleaner things to handle and pleasanter to smell." As might be supposed from his Scotch descent, he is an attendant npon the Presby- terian Church, and a staunch supporter of religious and charitable institutions. His business, his reputation and his fortune have grown apace, while he is as generous in the use of money as he is honorable in its acquisition. Still actively engaged in the duties of his calling, he manifests all the enterprise and energy of his earlier years, with additional knowledge, skill and caution, gained from ex- perience.

Mr. Rome is tall, broad-shouldered and robust in person, the weight of years resting lightly upon him. In a hand- some home he enjoys with his family the rewards of his industry, and among men he is valued for his honor, integrity and manhood.

BURDETT STRYKER, 260 Jay street, builder and carpenter; established 1834; joined the Volunteer Fire Department of Brooklyn, 1827 ; elected assistant engineer, 1836 ; elected chief engineer, 1839 ; served 10 years; elected Fire Commissioner of Western Dis- triet, 1858 ; served 9 years ; served I year as Collector of 3d ward, and 4 years as Alderman for 4th ward. HI. M. SMITHI, Van Sielen avenue, E. N. Y., mason and builder; established 1857. STILLMAN SOULE, 412 Gates avenue, carpenter; established 1882; direet descendant of a Pilgrim, who landed at Plymouth, 1620. MORRIS & SELOVER, 39 DeKalb avenue, carpenters and builders; established, 1868, corner DeBevoise place. THEODORE W. SWIMM, 389 Putnam avenue, builder and real estate ; established, 1882, 394 Gates avenue ; native of Michigan ; came to Brooklyn in his 16th year ; served his apprenticeship as carpenter with Mr. William M. Thomas, in a shop on Livingston street, where the Court-house now stands. LEWIS J. WARD, 248 South 5th street, carpenter ; grandson of Lawrence Brower, who kept the old Black Horse Tavern, on the site of the Brooklyn Theatre. JAMES P. MILLER, 299 Sumner avenue, carpenter and builder; established, 1849, at 60 Wyckoff street. THOMAS B. WATSON, 363 Atlantic auenne, mason and plasterer; established, 1866, at 196 Pacific street, succeeding his father at that time; was a member of the Brooklyn Fire Department ; assistant foreman Enreka Hose Company, No. 14; member Pacifie Hose Company, No. 11; Master of Long Island Lodge, No. 382, three years in succession, and Alderman, 3d ward, 1893. Among others in this line are, also, AN- DREW MILLER, 1,527 Pacifie street, established 1856 ; EDWIN H. BURNETT, 56 and 58 Poplar street, who

carries on the business ; established on Henry street, near Clark, 1839, by his father, John O. Burnett ; moved to present location in 1846; partnership formed, 1857; the father retired 1868; he came originally from Elizabeth, N. J., in 1824, and was foreman for D. Val- entine, whom he succeeded, in 1829.

JAMES WEAVER .- The late James Weaver was a son of Benjamin and Mary (Engle) Weaver, and was born in New York in September, 1814, and in infancy removed to Brook- lyn with his parents. He was reared and educated in the city where he afterwards became so well known; and, in company with his brother, William Weaver, built and oper- ated for a short time the old Weaver sash and blind factory, on Nassau street. The building is yet standing, but has been converted to other uses.

Retiring from that enterprise, Mr. Weaver began specula- ting in real estate, was very successful, and came to be recog- nized as an authority on all questions of values arising in Brooklyn real estate transactions. He was long the owner of the valuable plot at the corner of Court and Remsen streets, on which the building of the Dime Savings Bank has recently been erected. Having amassed a competency, he retired from active business, but was afterward identified with banks, insurance companies and other corporations. At the time of his death, which occurred June 22, 1881, he was director of the Nassau Insurance Company.

He married Anna Katharine Willis, daughter of Leonard Willis, of New York. They had one son, James E. Weaver, who married the youngest daughter of Mayor Kalbfleisch, and died at the age of thirty.

Early in life, Mr. Weaver was an old line Whig, but in the transitions in political matters which marked the period in which he lived, he became a Democrat, and so continued un- til his death. But he was in no sense a politician; and, though often solicited to do so, resolutely refused to be iden- tified with political movements of any kind. In private life he had numerous warm friends, numbering among them many of the most prominent men of New York and Brook- lyn. He was known in business circles as a man of uncom- promising integrity. His death was deeply regretted by all who knew him.

JOHN H. O'ROURKE .- The name of O'Rourke has for half a century or more been known in modern Brooklyn. In 1830, about the time of the first general influx of Irish emigrants into the then small city, Patrick O'Rourke arrived, and not long afterward opened a blacksmith shop in Jay street, near High, which was burned in 1832. Later, Mr. O'Rourke be- came a contractor, and as such was for many years favor- ably known in Brooklyn. He died in 1879.

John HI. O'Rourke, son of Patrick and Mary O'Rourke, was born in February, 1840, in Dean street, near Court, in an old farm-house which was at that time his father's residence, and was torn down only a year or so ago. He attended the public schools, thus gaining the rudiments of a practical edu- cation, and at the age of nineteen began to learn the brick masons' trade with James Ashfield. He was thus employed about three years, and was then ready to trust his fortunes to his skill as a workman.

From 1861 to 1861, Mr. O'Rourke was attached to the en gineer corps of the department of the Gulf and served in Florida, working on government fortifications. Returning to Brooklyn, he resumed operations in his line; and, in 1566, was appointed superintending mason for the l'ark Commis-

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A LITTLE

sion, a position of responsibility, which he filled with credit till 1871.

Mr. O'Rourke now became a contractor, and, in 1872, built the Thirteenth Regiment Armory, a structure which will long remain as a monument to his skill. Since that date he has erected numerous churches, public buildings, stores, warehouses, business blocks, public school buildings and residences, and is regarded as one of the most enterprising men in his line in this city.

Though a Democrat, Mr. O'Rourke has always been too busy to become an active politician, though in a quiet way he has much influence in his ward, and his name has been more than once mentioned in connection with places of pub- lic trust. In 1872, he married Miss Agnes Lennan, of New York.

FREDERICK HERR .- The family of Herr originated in Saxony. Christian Herr, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was in Bavaria with the German army early in this century, and, falling in love with a native woman, married her, and remained in Bavaria during his life, found- ing the Bavarian branch of the family. One of his sons, Johannes, was Frederick Herr's grandfather, and Frederick Herr's father bore the same Christian name, and married Magdalena Boell, who had three sons and a daughter, of whom Frederick, the youngest, was born in Bavaria, March 28, 1829.

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Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 51

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : Munsell Number of Pages: 1360

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360