USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preeminent in their own and many other states, Vol. 2 > Part 52
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
358
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
land. He served his full term in the Ger- man army, and being a man of very large build was one of those selected for the Emperor's Guard. For a number of years he was in attendance on Kaiser Wilhelm I., the grandfather of the present emperor. After completing his military duties, Mr. Parpart set sail for the United States and upon arriving in this country made his home in New York City, later moving to Mount Vernon, New York. He at once identified himself closely with the affairs of his adopted city and became a promi- nent figure in its life. His business asso- ciations were with the Westchester Fire Insurance Company for which he was the chief adjuster of losses, as well as special agent in charge of eastern agencies. For above twenty years he served this company most effectively and his services were greatly in demand by other com- panies by reason of his comprehensive knowledge of adjustment of losses. He was also the president of the New York & Wakefield Co-Operative Building & Loan Association, a most successful con- cern which took a large part in the build- ing up of the residential districts of the suburbs around New York City. Mr. Parpart was still active in these concerns at the time of his death, which occurred in his home at No. 127 South Third ave- nue, Mount Vernon.
It was not alone in the world of busi- ness that Mr. Parpart played an impor- tant part in the life of Mount Vernon. He was a man of strong social tastes and impulses, and besides taking part very largely in the informal social life of the community was a member of a number of important organizations there. Among these should be numbered the Old City Club of Mount Vernon and the Republi- can Club of New York City. Perhaps the strongest interest of Mr. Parpart outside that of his business and family relations
was that in connection with the art of music, of which he was a devoted lover. He himself was an accomplished pianist and cellist and he was one of the organ- izers and for several years the president of the Mozart Club of Mount Vernon. This club took a very active part in the musical life of the community and did a great deal to cultivate taste in this art.
Shortly after Mr. Parpart's arrival in the United States, he was united in mar- riage with Ottilia Berger, whose death occurred on August 5, 1901, after more than twenty-five years of wedded life.
The character of Mr. Parpart was a particularly pleasant one and combined many admirable traits. His honesty was beyond impeachment and was apparent to the most casual observer in his frank and open manner and bearing. What he thought he said, but with an appearance of sincerity and friendliness of intention that disarmed offence, and won him a host of devoted friends. He was in addi- tion possessed of a heart which could not brook oppression or endure human mis- fortune, and he was accordingly a cham- pion of the poor in his city, and not only resisted many attempts at their exploita- tion, but materially aided them with his own wealth. His many charities were not of an ostentatious kind, however, and the majority of them would probably never have been heard of but for the gratitude of the beneficiaries. His death, therefore. was not only a loss to his immediate fam- ily and his many personal friends and ac- quaintances, but to the community at large, so many members of which were thus deprived of a ready champion and benefactor.
HEYERDAHL, Valentin, Expert in China Goods.
America owes a deep debt of gratitude to many of the European countries for
359
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
those of their enterprising sons who have come to its shores and have helped to form our own strong and independent citizenship, but to none does she owe more than to Norway which, if it has not contributed so great a proportion of its population as some other countries where the oppression has driven forth the in- habitants to seek new homes in strange lands, has yet sent thither so fine a type of manhood that it cannot fail to prove a most valuable factor in the future con- stitution of the American people. No- where could be found a better and more characteristic example of this splendid type than in the person of Valentin Hey- erdahl, of Mount Vernon, New York, whose death on November 25, 1907, de- prived that place of one of its most promi- nent citizens and the importing business of one of its most enterprising exponents. His career in the United States has been one of which both that country and his native land may well be proud.
Born at Bergen, Norway, March 25, 1870, Valentin Heyerdahl passed the early years of his life in that far Northern city, gaining the splendid health and vigorous strength which characterizes the rugged sons of that wholesome, if inclement, clime. While still a mere youth, he moved to the capital city of Sweden, Christiania, but did not remain there long. His next move was a much longer one and brought him all the way to New York City, in the far Western Republic of which he had heard tales in his child- hood. He was but fifteen years of age when he made this trip and he brought with him his mother and a sister, who lived in the City of New York for about a year. Their migration to the "New World" was occasioned by the death of Mr. Heyerdahl's father, who, like himself, was named Valentin. The elder Heyer- dahl was a very prominent physician in
Norway and was connected with a num- ber of the largest hospitals in that coun- try. He was a man of unusual brilliancy, a popular and learned lecturer and spoke eight different languages. His wife, Bernhardine Sophie (Rosener) Heyer- dahl, was a native of Norway but of Ger- man descent. The death of Dr. Heyer- dahl, which caused his family to travel abroad, occurred when he was still a young man.
After a year spent in New York, young Mr. Heyerdahl came with his mother and sister to Mount Vernon, which town has been their home from that time to the present. He secured a position with the Haviland Company, importers on a large scale of Limoges china. Being of an ex- tremely ambitious temperament, he did not discontinue his studies, however, but attended night school while working for this concern. His association with the Haviland people was a very satisfactory one and continued for seventeen years, at the end of which time Mr. Heyerdahl was one of their most trusted and important employees. He severed this connection, however, to become a representative of the important firm of Gerard, Dufrasy & Abbott of New York City, and remained in this association until the time of his death. Mr. Heyerdahl's business involved his traveling every year in Europe, in the interests of the American trade, especially in connection with the importation of fine wares and china from the famous Li- moges factories in France.
Mr. Heyerdahl was one of those men whose interests are of so wide a character that they find it impossible to confine their efforts to the business of making a living. He was interested in well nigh every aspect of the life of the community and took a very active part therein. He belonged to a great many organizations of prominence and was a conspicuous
360
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
figure in them all. He joined the Seventh Regiment, New York National Guard, and continued a member of that body for a number of years. He was a very active Free Mason and was a member of all the related bodies in his neighborhood. He also belonged to the Mecca Lodge, Royal Arcanum, and to the Westchester Wheel- men Club and the Hardware Club of New York City. He was a Republican in his politics and took an active part in local affairs, holding office in the Mount Ver- non Republican Club for a long period. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon.
Mr. Heyerdahl was united in marriage, on October 1, 1890, with Ida Elizabeth Tobin, of Mount Vernon, a daughter of John and Phoebe Jane (Pease) Tobin, old and highly respected residents of that city. The Pease family is a very old one in Mount Vernon, it having resided there from pre-Revolutionary times, children of the fifth generation from the original Pease living there at the present time. To Mr. and Mrs. Heyerdahl two children were born: Valentin, the fourth consecu- tive generation to bear this name, and Maude. These two children are at present attending school in Mount Vernon, where the son is taking a course in architectural drawing and designing in the Commercial Art School of Mount Vernon.
RAY, James,
Veteran of Civil War, Express Official.
Among the well-known old New York families, those of Ray and Willett are ex- ceedingly prominent. The members of both of these houses have distinguished themselves in the affairs of their respec- tive communities for a number of genera- tions. The late James Ray, whose death in New York City, on October 28, 1893. was felt as a loss by a host of his associ-
ates, was a descendant of both of these houses and in his life maintained the worthy standards set by his ancestors.
Born May 23, 1836, in the City of New York, James Ray was a member of a well- known family which had resided in that. region for a number of generations. His grandfather was Colonel Marinus Wil- lett, of Revolutionary War fame, and the talent for military matters descended upon James Ray. His parents were James Hawes and Margaretta Marinus (Willett) Ray, of New York City, where they were prominent in the social world of their time.
The early life of James Ray was spent in the city of his birth and his education was procured in the various educational institutions there. The preliminary part was gained in the private schools where he proved himself, even as a boy, an ex- cellent student and made the most of all the advantages which those schools of- fered even in those days. Upon com- pleting his preparatory studies here, he matriculated at Columbia University, it being his father's and his own desire that he should have a college course. At Columbia he continued the excellent rec- ord made as a student in the private schools and won for himself the regard of his masters and instructors and the affec- tion of his fellow students. The home of his parents at this time stood about where the present Williamsburgh Bridge is now situated so that he was very conveniently located for his studies at the university, which was then located at Murray street. He graduated from this famous institu- tion with honors.
The estate owned by his family was a very old one and had been granted to his ancestors by the government for services rendered it by them, and the old home possessed many delightful associations for the young man in the impressionable
361
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
years of his youth. One of the most im- portant events in the early manhood of Mr. Ray, as it was in the life of so many at that period, was the breaking out of the terrible struggle between the North and South into civil war, and the call which was made upon the patriotism of its citizens by the Union was instantly re- sponded to by him. He enlisted in Com- pany K, Seventh Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, and fought in the war with the rank of lieutenant. After the close of hostilities, Mr. Ray returned to New York City, was associated with an important company, the East India Brokerage Company, and later became connected with the National Express Company, holding an excellent position in the auditing department of that great concern, and remained with it until his death, in 1893.
Mr. Ray was a prominent figure in the social life of the city and was a member of a number of clubs and similar organ- izations. He never gave up the military associations formed by him during the war and was a member of Lafayette Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Veteran Organization of Company K, Seventh Regiment, being especially ac- tive in the latter. He was captain of the' Veterans. Through his grandfather, Colonel Willett, he was eligible to mem- bership in the National Society of the Sons of the Revolution and was for many years a most prominent member of that organization. In his religious belief Mr. Ray was an Episcopalian and at- tended St. Andrew's Church of that de- nomination.
Mr. Ray was married, on October 12, 1864, to Caroline Patrick, like himself a native of New York City, and a daughter of Robert M. and Caroline (Halsey) Pat- rick, old and well-known residents of that place. To Mr. and Mrs. Ray were born
four children as follows: Kate, who was married to Joseph E. Lloyd, of New York City ; Roberta, who was married to Harry P. Sackett, also of New York City, and they have one son, Ray P .; James, died in infancy; and Margaretta Willett.
Mr. Ray's character was an unusually attractive one and combined many of the traits that are associated with success A face in which strong will and a genial temper seemed equally to rule was the accurate mirror of his mind and heart, and his objects were won as much by his power of persuading the thoughts of others as by his own direct and forceful efforts to reach them. His friends were many and true, and his death caused a feeling of deep sorrow to spread through a wide circle of his friends. His tastes were of the manly, open sort that are so powerful in their appeal to men; life in the open air and the hardy sports con- nected therewith, formed his recreation which he indulged in as often as the opportunity arose. He was an influential and a popular figure in the general life of the community, as was well shown by the many testimonials of admiration called forth by his decease.
MORAN, Daniel,
Enterprising Citizen.
The long life of Daniel Moran, which touched octogenarian distinction, was lived on two continents, eighteen years in Ireland, sixty-two years in the United States, and over half a century of those years in Lyons, New York, to which place he came a young man of twenty-seven years, splendidly equipped for success. For fifty-three years he was a man of ac- tion, tireless in his energy, at his place of business every day, his home his only recreation and his greatest joy. He con- ducted large business dealings and as the
362
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
head of several enterprises gave each his personal attention. He bore his full share of care with never failing good nature, and with skillful management and rare judgment brought his various undertak- ings to a successful issue.
The long span of business years with great responsibilities brought generous returns and left few imprints of their weight. His fine face did not indicate the more than eighty years he had attained, and he also retained a splendid mental poise and his keen sense of humor to the last. He went through life with a clean mind, clean heart and clean hands, and as husband, father, friend and citizen his record shines as a bright example fitting to accompany his record of strict ad- herence to right as a business man. He left to his family and to his friends a spotless reputation and the record of an honorable life, a heritage which shall never pass away.
Daniel Moran was born in Queens county, Ireland, August 15, 1833. In 1851 he came to the United States, locating at Waterloo, New York, where his father had established a merchant tailoring and clothing business, and with the assistance of this son conducted it for several years. Daniel Moran became familiar with the management of the business in its every detail and continued in Waterloo until 1861, locating in Lyons in July of that year. There he established a similar line of business, rapidly gained public favor, and as the years passed transacted an ex- tensive trade. His first business place, which he opened July 25, 1861, was on Canal street, but a year later he moved to the location next door which he ever after occupied and shortly afterward pur- chased the same. In course of time he admitted his son, Daniel P. Moran, as a partner, the firm conducting business as the D. P. Moran Company. The founder
of the business, as the years rolled by, never surrendered his active interest in it, but was regularly at the store and kept in close touch with the business until his last illness. As his own fortunes im- proved with each year, he took a deep in- terest in the prosperity.of Lyons and was a constant worker for the establishment of new industries in the village. He gave financial aid and his personal support to many projects, and to his aid and that of others is due the establishing in Lyons of the Silver Plate Company, the Lyons Pottery Company, the Electric Light Company, the Lyons Cut Glass Com- pany, etc. He was one of the prime movers in the building of the Lyons Water Works, Lyons being the first vil- lage between Syracuse and Rochester to build water works and install a system of public water supply.
Mr. Moran was a Democrat in politics, but would not accept any office in the village, except membership on the board of education for several terms. He was also the first president of the Lyons Board of Trade. He was a man whose sympathies were readily awakened and he was a generous contributor to charity. to what extent will never be known, as he was very unostentatious in his giving, mak- ing no mention of his gifts to anyone. He was most genial and friendly, witty in speech and very companionable. He was a member and liberal supporter of St. Michael's Church, he having been the leading factor in securing for that parish the beautiful site on which the church edifice was erected.
Mr. Moran married Bridget A. FitzPat- rick, daughter of John and Mary (Kelly) FitzPatrick, and a direct descendant of the house of Ossory, Ireland, a family noted for military valor and missionary service. Mrs. Moran survives her hus- band. Her brother, the Rev. Father Fitz-
363
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Patrick, at the time of her marriage was rector of St. Michael's Church, Lyons, New York. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Moran: I. Marie, became the wife of Burton Lawler, of Boston, Massachu- setts. 2. Fitz James, deceased. 3. Eliza- beth, Mrs. Finigan, lecturer in the paro- chial and other schools for the State De- partment of Health of New York; she is the mother of two children: John Joseph, medical student of Buffalo, and Daniel Moran. 4. Daniel P., his father's part- ner and successor in business. 5. Emily, became the wife of William I. Dean, M. D., of Rochester ; eight children : Daniel, William I., Marie Louise, Paul David, Sterling Michaga, Richard, Emily, Alice Elizabeth. 6. John J., M. D., deceased. 7. Birgitta, became the wife of Thomas P. Farmer, M. D., of Syracuse; she won the Hiram Gee prize and a fellowship from the University of Syracuse; they are the parents of one daughter, Mary Margaret. 8. Genevieve A., deceased.
Daniel Moran died at his home on Phelps street, Lyons, New York, May 14, 1914. The funeral services were con- ducted in St. Michael's Church, Right Reverend Bishop Hickey, of Rochester, and several priests officiating. A male quartette from St. Patrick's Cathedral sang the Gregorian Mass and every honor of the church was paid him. The busi- ness men of Lyons closed their stores and attended in a body, and delegations were present from many localities. The in- terment was in Elmwood Cemetery.
DELANEY, Bernard A., Revered Priest.
Whatever the satisfaction enjoyed by the man who makes a success of some worldly project, it is, of necessity, a little thing in comparison to that which comes to him from the surrender of all earthly
aims in the dedication of himself to the greatest of all works, the making of God's will prevail upon this earth. They are incommensurate, for not only is the one greater than the other, but different al- together in type and in some respects even its opposite. For if it be a satisfac- tion to achieve material success, it is still more so voluntarily to give it up. Fore- bearance is always greater than fulfill- ment, for forebearance is only the nega- tive of another and greater fulfillment. Therefore it is that we experience a cer- tain feeling of reverence when he ap- proach the records of those devoted men who have abandoned earthly objectives in their zeal for heavenly, the awe that we might feel for a great temple into the threshold of which only we were ad- mitted but from which we might catch a glimpse of the lovely interior. Of such men the Catholic church offers us innu- merable examples in the persons of its countless priests, none of whom but have surrendered all of those things which to most men appear chiefly to make life desirable in order that they may follow the great calling they have chosen with as few of the entanglements of the world as the frailty of human flesh makes pos- sible. But it is her wise, if austere, policy to demand that final sacrifice of her priest- hood that shall consummate and confirm the rest, that of giving up even the honor which the world might accord them for their deeds, to lose almost their personal- ities in the greater one of the church. It is, therefore, appropriate in setting forth the career of a priest of the Catholic church that this should be borne in mind, that he should be treated merely as one of a great company who have thus de- voted themselves to the great work and not as a brilliant or learned or profound individual. He shall have an impersonal, not a personal glory ; his honor shall be
364
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
that of a class, not of an individual; he shall be praised as a priest but not as a man.
Bernard A. Delaney was born onDecem- ber 13, 1889, in Yonkers, New York, and died September 7, 1915. From his early youth he exhibited those moral character- istics which, together with his training, led him to the priesthood. His early education was obtained in the parochial school attached to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Yonkers, where he came under the influence of the good men into whose company he was later admitted. Graduating from this in- stitution in June, 1904, he entered Cathe- dral College the following autumn and there continued his studies. Already with a strong purpose to become a priest, these gradually took on more and more the character of a preparation for that high office, and with his graduation there- from in 1909 he was ready to enter upon the final stage of the long and arduous studies prescribed for those who have formed his purpose. At the Seminary of St. Joseph, in Dunwoodie, Yonkers, he spent six years in the study of theology and philosophy and in becoming wholly steeped in the tradition and associations of Catholicism. From the outset his na- ture had been in harmony with this tra- dition and during the long schooling he was troubled with fewer of the doubts of the neophite as to the genuineness of his call than are experienced by the majority of his fellows. Of those other and nobler doubts as to his own worthiness for the great task he contemplated undertaking, he had his full share, however, and it was only his positive conviction that God may work with the humblest tool that nerved him to shoulder the immense responsibili- ties of his office. He persevered accord- ingly and at the age of twenty-five was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His
Eminence, Cardinal John M. Farley, of New York. The ordination took place on May 29, 1915, and on the following day that event occurred to which the novice looks forward with the greatest fervor, the cele- bration of his first mass. Father Delaney celebrated a solemn high mass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Yonkers, returning thus for this crown- ing happiness to the very cradle of his religious training. He was promptly as- signed to duty at St. Cecelia's Church, New York City, and there worthily per- formed the duties of his sacred office.
Much might be said of the talents and abilities displayed by Father Delaney during his childhood and youth, but for the consideration already noticed. To him, however, this is no hardship who has put ambition and the applause of the world behind him as of no value. To him the only honor that he is jealous of, the only praise that pleases, is that of God and the Holy Church to which he has dedicated his whole life and being.
RICKARD, Michael,
Leader Among Men.
In noting the rapid and spectacular rise to prominence of some of the natural leaders of men it often seems as though their achievements were the results of powers out of the possession of average men, and smacked rather of the miracu- lous and an intervening fate, so easily, apparently, are obstacles overcome and so completely does every factor seem to bend itself to the fore-ordained result. In the great majority of cases, however, such appearance is entirely deceptive and the brilliant outcome is the last terni in a series of events as logical and orderly as any in the most humble experience, and of effort as unremitting and arduous as that with which we ourselves are familiar.
365
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Often the most startling coup has been planned and pondered through long and dark preliminaries, like the meteor which only bursts into spectacular display after a long and chilly journey through outer space. Such, in a large measure, was true in the case of Michael Rickard, late of Albany, New York, whose name heads this brief appreciation and whose reputa- tion in the city and State for success, gained without the compromise of his ideals, is equalled by few of his fellow citizens. His rise to power and influence was doubtless rapid, but it was the out- come of conscientious labor and consis- tent effort, effort and labor which doubt- less felt discouragement and sorrow at their own limitations, such as we have all experienced in the course of our lives. If this were not so how would it be pos- sible to explain the kindly tolerance, the broad human sympathy and understand- ing which he displayed through all his wide and varied experience and inter- course with his fellow men, for what we have not ourselves experienced we have small patience with in others. It was thus that his death on December 12, 1896, was felt as a general loss to the community where he made his home, to his political party and to his State.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.