USA > New York > Comley's history of the state of New York, embracing a general review of her agricultural and mineralogical resources, her manufacturing industries, trade and commerce, together with a description of her great metropolis, from its settlement by the Dutch, in 1609 > Part 14
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merce from this section, aside from the navy-yard, is somewhat more than $49,000,000. All through the year, with more or less activity, the business, of loading and unload- . ing vessels is going on. It is estimated that 2500 vessels are unloaded every year between Red Hook and Main street. In the business of warehousing alone some 5000 men are engaged along the shore-line. Brooklyn is already the largest grain depot in the world. Immense steam elevators are employed to lift and deliver the grain. The stores of E. C. Lockwood & Co. have storage for 3,000,000 bushels at a time, employ 1000 hands, and pay to the city a tax of $50,000. The flour-mills of F. E. Smith & Co. deliver 1200 barrels a day. During the receiving season, from October to December, canal-boats arrive by the hundred to be discharged. On the closing of navigation, as many as 600 canal-boats loaded with grain lie up for the winter in the basins, in many cases, with the captains and their families on board, until the cargoes can be sold. The value of the boats engaged in the grain-carrying trade is estimated at $18,000,000. The bulk of grain afloat seeking port frequently amounts to 5,000,000 bushels at one time.
Continuing the shore line from Main street to the navy-yard, and beyond to the north-eastern boundary, including the large interior dockage made by the Wallabout improvements, on the Newtown Creek, and at Gowanus Creek and Canal, it is appa- rent that the capacities of the city for extensive commerce can hardly be over-esti- mated. These are likely to be greatly aided by the removal of the obstacles at Hell Gate, at the confluence of the East River with the Sound. Five lines of steamships now ply between Brooklyn and their respective ports: the State line, to and from Glasgow; the North American line, to and from London, Newcastle, Christiania, and Bergen ; the South American line, with U. S. mail, to and from Rio and other ports ; the White Cross line, to and from Antwerp; the Netherlands and Rotterdam line, to and from Rotterdam. The Brooklyn Eagle now gives daily reports of arri- vals and departures to and from this port.
The census gives, as the true valuation of Kings County in 1870, $700,000,000. The valuation of the other towns of the county in 1873 was $11,626,043. The assessed valuation of 1872 was $207,952.332.
Brooklyn has four daily papers, nine weeklies, and several monthlies, mostly advertising journals. There are, however, two monthly magazines, not very large circulation. The morning newspapers of New York City circulate almost as largely in Brooklyn as in New York, but the Brooklyn evening papers have a very large circulation.
History .- Brooklyn was named from Breuckelen ("marshy land"), in the pro- vince of Utrecht in Holland, six miles from the city of Utrecht, from which some of its earliest settlers came. The first step toward its settlement was the purchase from the Indians in 1636, by Willem Arianse Bennet and Jaques Bentyn, of a tract of 630 acres, lying at Gowanus, between Twenty-seventh street and the New Utrecht line; the second step, the purchase by Joris (George) Jansen de Rapalje of 325 acres at the Wallabout Bay, June 16th, 1637.
At the time of the discovery of Long Island shores, in 1609, by Hendrik Hud- son, several tribes or settlements occupied Long Island, one of which was at Canar- sie, and another, the Mareckawick tribe, at Brooklyn, which, from the spot where they were located (sandy place or shore) at the Wallabout, gave the name Ma- reckawick to that locality. Brooklyn Heights, overlooking the East River, was called in the Indian dialect Ihpetonge (highlands).
Families of these were at New Utrecht and Gowanus, in 16So, on the visit of the Labadists to those places in that year. The first ferry was established by license
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in 1642, running from Peck Slip to a point near the present Fulton ferry, from this period named " The Ferry." There were at that time five hamlets -- " The Ferry," " Breuckelen," near present Hoyt on Fulton street, where stood the church ; " Gowanns," around Gowanus Bay; "Bedford," inland; and " the Wallabout," around Wallabout Bay. The first house known to have been built in Brooklyn was that of Willem Arianse Bennet, located on his purchase with Jaques Bentyn, from the Indians, prior to 1643, as in that year it was burnt by the Indians in the Indian wars, and replaced by the Schermerhorn House, on or near the same site ; and the second, probably that yet standing, and known as the De Hart or Bergen House, which was existing and visited by the Labadists in 1680, being then occupied by Simon Aertsen de Hart, grantee of Bennet. George Jansen de Rapalje did not come over from New Amsterdam to occupy his farm till about 1654. Later his- tory has entirely exploded the story that his daughter, Sarah Rapalje, was the first Christian born child in New Netherlands, and also that her birthplace was Brooklyn, at the Wallabout. The Labadist manuscript, published by the Long Island Historical Society, shows that this distinction of first birth in the colony pro- bably belongs to a male person, Jean Vigne, who was born in New Amsterdam in 1614, eleven years before the birth of Sarah, who was born in 1625. Besides, it is clear that Sarah, instead of being born at the Wallabout, as often asserted by early historians, was born in Albany (Fort Orange) in 1625, removed with her parents to New Amsterdam in 1626, lived there till after her marriage, between the age of fourteen and fifteen, was a church member in New York, and united with the Brooklyn church by certificate in 1661; was twice married in the Wallabout, gave birth to fourteen children, and died in 1685, age about sixty. There is no proof than any white person lived upon Long Island prior to 1636. Immediately upon the establishment of the ferry in 1642, grants of building lots at that point began, and that locality, as well as the other hamlets, increased. The union of all the hamlets into one incorporated jurisdiction named Brenckelen, took place in 1646, under Director-General Kieft. The Labadists, who crossed this ferry in September, 1679. speak of it as " a considerable thoroughfare," and say, " A considerable number of Indians live upon Long Island, who gained their subsistence by hunting and fishing ; and they, as well as others, must carry their articles to market over this ferry, or boat themselves over, as it is free to every one to use his own boat if he have one, or to hire one for the purpose. The fare over the ferry is three stuivers in German (less than half a cent English) for each person."
In 1665, Breuckelen had attained the leading position among the towns in point of population and wealth, and was granted the privilege yearly of " a favre and mar- ket near the ferry for all graine, cattle, or other produce of the country." What- ever the increase of population, it must have been very gradual, as (to skip a long period) the canvasser for the " New York and Brooklyn Directory" in 1796, passing up "the old road " (Fulton street), and down " New Ferry" (Main street), and through the intervening streets, gives but 125 names. The statistics of population, and the picture painted by Francis Guy of its condition up to 1820, also show that, up to this time, it held but the rank of an inconsiderable village, without insti- tutions, commerce, or manufactures.
Over the space now occupied by Prospect Park, Washington Park, Greenwood Cemetery, Evergreen and Cypress Hills Cemeteries, was fought. on the 27th of Au- gust, 1776, the important battle which has been properly designated "the battle of Brooklyn," the first great battle of the Revolution after the Declaration of Indepen- dence. The British army was under the command of Lord Howe, the Hessians under
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General von Heister. Gen. Greene being ill, Gen. Putnam was in command of the American forces. The result is well known. An important pass was left unguarded in Howard's Hills, just beyond Bedford, by which the English troops gained the rear of the American army, and defeated it with heavy loss. Those who escaped within the lines were rescued by the masterly retreat effected by General Washing- ton on the 28th to New York, by means of boats, and under cover of a heavy fog, by which their movements were concealed. A memorable incident of this battle was the death of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull, of Suffolk County, Long Island, while engaged on the 28th, the day after the battle, in driving the cattle eastward. He had entered the "Increased Carpenter house," two miles east of Jamaica. While there, a body of horsemen rode up, commanded by Captain Oliver de Lancey, who struck the general several times with his sword, and wounded him so severely that he died a few days after at New Utrecht, where he had been conveyed as a prisoner. The Brooklyn navy-yard was begun with the purchase, by the United States gov- ernment, of forty acres in ISo1, which were converted into a navy-yard, and which was designated in 1824, by the secretary of the navy, as one of the first-class navy-yards of the nation. It has since added largely to its domain by other valuable purchases, upon which are placed the United States hospital, a dry dock, and costly buildings for the repair and construction of the largest vessels.
The War of 1812 .- On August 9th 1814, the patriotic citizens of Brooklyn and the surrounding country flocked to Fort Greene, and aided in rehabilitating that old fortification and following out the line of earthworks across the island, conformably to the plans of Gen. Joseph G. Swift, after whom one of the forts which cornered on Atlantic street (the "Cobble Hill Fort" of 1776) was named "Fort Swift." Every preparation was made to meet the dangers to which New York was liable from her exposed situation by sea and land. By these precautions or otherwise, Brooklyn did not, as in the Revolution, bear the brunt of the first systematic strategic conflict. .
The Civil War of 1861-65 .- In this emergency the city of Brooklyn was not exceeded by any other city in raising regiments and supplying material aid. Her Sanitary Fair of February 22d, 1864, was extraordinary as an effort of local unity and successful effort, the pecuniary realization reaching the magnificent sum of $402,- 943.74. This was aptly characterized as the first great act of self-assertion ever made by the city of Brooklyn, and did much to bring her citizens together for other efforts. :
The village charter of Brooklyn is dated April 12th, 1816 ; the city charter was passed April 8th, 1834; the consolidation act uniting Williamsburg and Greenpoint with it passed April 17th, 1854, and took effect January Ist, 1855.
The new charter was passed in 1873, and went into effect the same year. The institutions which have had the greatest influence upon the social organization and material progress of the city have been the Apprentices' Library and Graham Insti- tute (founded July 4th, 1825), the Academy of Music (open January 15th, 1861), the Mercantile Library Association, the Atlantic Docks, and the Long Island Historical Society. (Alden J. Spooner, late Editor of " The Long Island Star.")
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA,
COMPRISING
THE LIVES AND RECORDS
OF MANY OF
THE LEADING PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS MEN OF NEW YORK STATE. ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.
WRITTEN AND COMPILED EXPRESSLY FOR
COMLEY'S HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, AND
ILLUSTRATED
WITH NUMEROUS PORTRAIT-ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL AND STONE, FROM PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN FROM LIFE, AND ENGRAVED BY OUR FIRST ARTISTS.
NEW YORK : COMLEY BROTHERS, 767 AND 769 BROADWAY.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
BIOGRAPHY is the most important feature of history, for the record of lives of individuals appears to be invested with more vitality and interest than the dry details of general historical narrative. In biography, the attention is not distracted by a multiplicity of leading and discon- nected events, but every incident that is related serves to illustrate the character of some eminent person, and is another light by which we can see more clearly the elements which form their being.
The gentlemen whose biographies make so large a portion of the work have not been selected on account of their wealth, their social position, or their particular avocation, but from other and more worthy motives. In the number are em- braced the professions and most of the other call- ings of life, and they find a place in this book from the circumstance that they excel in their respective vocations, are men of sterling virtue, and in their efforts to establish position and for- tune they have given wealth, stamina, and char- acter to the State of New York. We have no favorites to support, no political or sectarian inte- rest to advance, but in choosing the subjects of these biographies have been guided by a sense
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of duty, and a wish to pay some tribute to well- deserved merit.
Biographies of those who have become iden- tified with the progress of the great State --- who have guided and directed its business currents year by year, swelling with the elements of pros- perity, and who have left the impress of their genius and judgment upon the legislative enact- ments of our State-must be sought after with avid- ity, and must be fraught with useful information.
It will be a source of satisfaction to the reader to know that the biographies of individuals who adorn this work are not drawn by the flighty ima- gination from airy nothingless, but represent the lineaments of men, nearly all of whom are living, have achieved lofty positions, are still active in the busy, bustling world, and afford sterling examples of business excellence and moral and social virtues.
In writing the lives of these men, the author has not attempted to swell facts beyond their proper magnitude, for the incidents which make up the biographies are of sufficient importance in them- selves to vest them with interest, without the adventitious aid of the imagination.
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Allen, Lewis F., of Buffalo, N. Y., de- 1 scended from Pilgrim ancestry, who emigrated from England during the seventeenth century, and settled in the colony of Massachusetts. He was born at Westfield in that State, on the first day of January, ISoo, and there re- ceived most of his early education.
He came to Buffalo in April, 1827, and took charge of "The Western Insurance Company of the Village of Buffalo," as its secretary, in which he remained until the ex piration of its charter, about the year IS30. He then entered the office of "The Buffalo Fire and Marine Insurance Company," re- cently incorporated by the State legislature. as its first secretary, about the year 1831, and had the principal charge of its affairs for nearly or quite three years.
Becoming interested in real estate opera- tions soon after coming to Buffalo, in connec- tion with Col. Ira A. Blossom, then agent for the Holland Land Company at its Buffalo office, they erected, in 1830-31 and 1832, several of the largest blocks of brick stores, warehouses, and dwellings on Main and other streets, which then existed in the vil- lage.
In the year 1833-4, in conjunction with a few capitalists in Boston, Mass., they pur- chased about 16,000 acres of land on Grand Island, in the Niagara River, then a dense
forest, and built a large steam saw-mill for working up the extensive growths of white oak and other timbers with which the soil was clothed; and sent considerable quantities of it, for ship-building purposes, through the Erie Canal to New York and Boston-the first timber of the kind ever transported from the Western part of the State, and of such superior quality as to stand for many years at the head of the market quotations, 3: " Grand Island white oak." The timber finally becoming exhausted, the land, fertile in quality, was soll out in farms, and soon afterward became incorporated into a town under its original name, and is now populat- ed by a substantial body of farmers ; with two cominodious steam-ferries, one near the south end or head of the island, and the other op- posite Tonawanda, connecting with the main shore. A portion of the lower or northerly end of the island is celebrated for its valuable and productive apple, peach, and other fruit orchards.
This island, soon after its survey into farm-lots by its then proprietor, the State of New York, was selected as the proposed foundation for a Jewish colony, in the year 1825, though the scheme fell through and was abandoned.
In the year 1836, Mr. Allen became asso- ciated with several prominent business men in Buffalo and elsewhere, in purchasing and
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developing a large portion of the lands in the village of Black Rock, immediately adjoining the northerly side of the city, fronting the Niagara River. Its streets and extensive water- power were soon afterward thoroughly planned, and several large flouring-mills and other valuable manufacturing establish- ments have been since erected. Its territory is now incorporated with the city, and become an important part of its industries. In these developments, Col. William A. Bird, also an extensive land proprietor there, and other citizens, have been large and influential participators.
Possessing a decided taste for agricultural improvement and the finer breeds of farm stock, Mr. Allen has devoted much attention to those interests at his farm on Grand Island. He was one of the founders of the State Ag- ricultural Society, in the year 1841, and its President in 1848. In the year 1838, he was a member of the State Legislature for the county of Erie.
In the year IS46, he founded and edited the "American Short-Horn Herd-Book," since continued through sixteen large octavo volumes, now annually issued, of about 1000 pages each, comprising altogether more than 70,000 pedigrees of that noble race of cattle, the most numerous and valuable of all " im- proved " breeds in the United States.
In several of the useful institutions and associations of the city, he has also been associated with their founders and managers down to the present time.
State as a man of uncommon talent. In many prominent public positions he displayed great executive ability, rare industry, and in- flexible integrity. He made an admirable Mayor of the city in 1848, and his discharge of the responsible duties of the station won the approbation of all classes. He was for three years member of Assembly. The all- important lake and canal commerce was especially cared for and materially advanced by him. He was also for several years mem- ber of the Board of Supervisors, and twice chairman of the board. He was also Alder- man from the twenty-second ward, Trustee of the Western Savings Bank, Chairman of the Building Committee which superintended and. controlled the erection of the splendid edifice on the corner of Main and Court streets, Trustee of the Insane Asylum Board. As President of the Buffalo Historical Society, he displayed his characteristic ability and public spirit. Indeed, in all the stations which he ever filled, Orlando Allen proved himself fally equal to their responsibilities and require- ments. Deceased was a member of the First Presbyterian church for upward of forty- eight years. He died Sept. 4th, 1874, much respected by all who knew him.
Ames, Leonard .- The subject of this sketch was born February 8th, 1818, at Mexico, Oswego County, N. Y., and was the tenth child of a family of thirteen. His par- ents moved to Oswego County in 1804, from Litchfield, Ct. Mr. Ames's early life con- sisted of being raised on the farm. At the age of twenty-three he commenced life himself by purchasing 150 acres of land, well stocked with cows. He soon became tired of farming. Being ambitious to attain business and social position, he sold his farm and commenced a
Allen, Orlando, was born in New Hart- ford, Oneida Co., N. Y., in 1803, and came to this city in 1818, and proved himself to be one of the most useful and enterprising citi- zens of Buffalo. He was widely known throughout the western portion of New York , small manufacturing business. Shortly after
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this, he went into beef and pork packing at | them the love and practice of moral attri- Syracuse, N. Y., and Delphi, Ind., which he continued nine or ten years; when he sold out, returned to his native village, and com- menced a private banking establishment. He has held several positions of trust and honor ; among them we may mention supervisor of the town of Syracuse. In 1857 he was a member of the State Assembly. He was also delegate to the National Convention held in Chicago, that nominated Abraham Lincoln. He afterward received the appointment of United States Assessor for the Twenty-second Congressional District, having twenty-two as- sistants. This position he occupied until re- moved by Andrew Johnson, for political reasons. In 1864, he started the Second National Bank of Oswego, was its first and only President. In 1870, he purchased one half interest in the Ames Iron-Works, which he still retains, operating the works success- fully. and turning out annually 250 to 300 engines. He is just in the prime of active manhood, eminent for his public enterprise, and popular with all classes of citizens.
Amsdell Brothers-George I. and Theodore M. They who have reaped a plenteous harvest in the fields where they have labored, and have won honorable names in the community where they have resided, well deserve an honorable record in the his- tory of their native State, and the events of their lives furnish a useful lesson to posterity. The subjects of this sketch are George I. and Theodore M. Amsdell. The former was born at Kinderhook, N. Y., and the latter at Troy. Their father. William Amsdell, was born in the county of Cambridge, England, and belonged to the honest yeomanry of that country, who brought up his children to habits of industry, and early instilled into
butes. Their mother, Abigail Millard, was born in 1803, in Ulster County, N. Y., and could trace her ancestry back to the Pil- grims, who landed at Plymouth Rock, on the May Flower. They gave their children a practical education, and then set them to work at suitable business. The subjects of this sketch moved to Albany when quite young, and, in 1845. entered their father's brewery, learning from him all that was prac- tical in this important branch of industry, and in which he had served a lifetime. In 185i, they went into business for themselves, taking their father's brewery, then a diminu- tive concern, and no more like their present structure than a pigmy is like a giant. In 1856, they commenced building their present premises, which now cover an area of 350 feet each on Jay and Lancaster streets, by 150 on Dove street. The main building is five stories high, fitted up with all the mod- ern improvements for turning out the best material at the minimum of cost. The capacity of this colossal establishment is 200 barrels of ale per diem, and 125,000 bushels of malt per annum. Their ales have become such general favorites that they supply an enor- mous trade all along the Hudson River, and the country tributary to it ; and in New York City they have a large distributing depot, from which they serve their products to their numerous customers in the city. The great reputation their establishment has made has been due to the fact that up till 1870, Mr. George I. Amsdell personally superintend- ed the malting, and Theodore M. per- sonally did the brewing for the whole estab- lishment. This, together with the location ; for there is none better in the State than Albany for brewing ale, it being the great central mart for barley and hops raised in the
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west, which, by the way of the Erie Canal, are brought to market at a cheaper rate than they could be by any other conveyance. The water, too, which is used, is particularly adapted by its purity and softness for making the best ales. Albany may well feel proud of her enterprising citizens, and especially of such men as George I. and Theodore M. Amsdell, who, by the erection and working of their immense brewery and malt-house, give employment to a large number of men, and indirectly add largely to the value of the agricultural portion of the State. Be- sides attending to the daily duties im- posed by this large concern, and its busi- ness details, George I. Amsdell has for four years represented the Ninth Ward in the aldermanic board, and is also a director in the Capitol City Insurance Com- pany. Theodore M. Amsdell is a director in the Albany Horse Railroad Company, and the Brewers and Maltsters' Insurance Com- pany, also one of the Governors in the Al- bany City Hospital; positions they have both served with marked distinction and fidelity. George I. Amsdell was married September 5th, 1847, to Miss Esther J. White, of Albany, by whom he has had six children, five still living.
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