History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 25

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703

USA > New York > Queens County > History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals. > Part 25

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The interest thus early awakened in public instruction has been well sustained ; and in the early years of the present century the village of Flushing was more than ordinarily well supplied with private schools and academ- ic institutions. Lindley Murray Moore, and after him Joshua Kimber and William Chase, taught a boys' school, dating back to about 1810 and closing its doors finally in 1858. In 1818 a building was erected for an academy at an expense of $1,250, which was borne by John As- pinwall, Hutchins Smith, William Prince and two other gentlemen. It was opened by Professor William A. Houghton, in 1819, and conducted until 1825, when its place was filled by other institutions, and it was aban- doned. The building was afterward used many years as a lecture room for St. George's church. Rev. Charles Carpenter kept a boarding school from 1820 to 1824, a few doors above the Ewbank store, on Washington street. Mrs. Sarah K. Roberts's young ladies' school dates back to about 1854. Other private schools were short lived and of little note.

The following are the most important of the educa- tional institutions of to-day:

The first public school in this village was opened in a dwelling standing near the site of the present negro school, in Liberty street, on the 6th of April 1814, with

nineteen scholars. It was at first taught gratuitously by members of the Flushing Female Association, two of whom served at a time. In July of that year this associ- ation, which was the founder of the school, engaged a teacher, paying a salary of $60 a year, and an allowance of $2 per week for board. The school was regularly visited by members of the guardian society, and on June roth 1815 the first public examination occurred, "to the satisfaction of the audience, several being present from New York, one of whom evinced his approval by a do- nation of $20 to the school, and $10 to the teacher for her becoming behavior on the occasion." It was at first supported by voluntary contributions, scholars both white and colored being admitted free of charge, except where the parents were able and willing to pay. In 1829 schol- ars were required to pay two cents a week. The number in attendance on the day of opening was nineteen, which was afterward swelled to more than one hundred. The original idea of its founders was the education of the colored children, sums of money having been bequeathed by several Quakers for that purpose, and it was believed by them that the advantage of free instruction would also draw in all the children of the poor white people in the village. This hope, to a great extent, proved delusive, and since about 1844 the school has been taught exclusively for colored children. It has a revenue of about $300 a year, derived from the income of the following bequests: Thomas Tom, $250; Thomas Lawrence, $100; Nathaniel Smith, $500, and James Boyd Matthew Franklin, £150 (the interest to be applied to buying books for poor negro children, and also toward paying their schooling), and from fees of members of the association, which also erected the building in 1819, at a cost of $845, and still owns it.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

At the time of the incorporation of the village its ter- ritory included nearly all of district 5, a small part of districts 2, 3 and 4, and a considerable portion of district 6; the only buildings within the corporate limits being that of No. 5 and the school just mentioned.

By an act of the Legislature in 1841 the boundaries of district No. 5 were defined as follows : Beginning in the southwest corner of the village, running easterly to the street called Long lane; thence southerly along Long lane to its end; thence by the road eastward to a point two hundred yards southeast of the dwelling of G. S. Mitchell; from thence northwardly to a point one hun- dred yards east of the dwelling of Willet Bowne; thence northwesterly to a point one hundred yards east of the farm-house of Walter Bowne; thence in the same direc- tion one hundred yards east of the dwelling of Daniel Higgins; thence also in a northwesterly direction to a point one hundred yards north of the house of G. S. Howland; thence westerly to Flushing Bay at a point two hundred yards south of the dwelling of Platt Strat- ton; thence southwardly by the west line to the place of beginning.

The first entry on the earliest village school records in

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SCHOOLS OF FLUSHING.

the possession of the present secretary is that of the meeting for organization under the law just quoted, at which John W. Lawrence, John Wilcomb, W. W. Valk, Samuel Willet and Robert B. Parsons were elected trustees. Steps were then taken toward the erection of a new school building, for which $400 was appropriated. This was afterward increased to $950. The building erected then, the Garden street school-house, was in 1844 supplemented by the basement of the Macedonia church, which, consisting of two rooms, accommodated the pupils until 1848, when the friends of education can- vassed the subject of free schools, and on due notice a special meeting was held March 29th of that year, when the question was decided in the affirmative, by a vote ot 140 to 87. A school-house site was then purchased of the Orthodox Friends, for the sum of $630, and a new building commenced. At the next regular meeting, November 27th 1849, new by-laws were adopted, and Thomas Harrison was engaged as principal, at a salary of $900. In 1855 the principal's salary was increased $50 per annum, and at this time three lady teachers were employed. In 1855 an offer was made by the Flushing Female Association to turn over the colored school to the board of education, renting to them the building occupied by it, and agreeing to furnish suitable teachers for $300 per annum. As under the general school law this offer was advantageous to the district it was accept- ed, and that school has since been a part of the depart- ment.

The rapid growth of the village and the demand for a higher standard of popular education led the board in 1873 to decide upon the issue of bonds and the erection of a high school building, which should be adequate to the wants of an increasing population and creditable to a village whose wealth and refinement had already placed it foremost in the list of rural municipalities. Here, as is sometimes the case, the friends of better schools met with the opposition of a class of taxpayers who regarded the question of cost as of prime importance; and after a long struggle they failed to secure the two-thirds majority necessary for their purpose. At the next meeting of the Legislature, however, a bill was passed making a majority vote sufficient, and after its passage the necessary vote was taken, and bonds to the amount of $40,000 were issued, grounds purchased of James B. Parsons, at a cost of $9,500, and the erection of the present handsome edifice commenced on the corner of Barclay street and Sandford avenue; the corner stone being laid October 17th 1873, with impressive ceremonies, in the presence of a large assembly, comprising many of the best known friends of public schools on the island. The board of education under whose care this important work was completed consisted of W. H. Farrington, Thomas Leg- gett jr. and Samuel B. Parsons. In 1876 the present efficient secretary, Marquis D. Gould, became a member of the board, and steps were taken to form the inde- pendent district of Flushing, with boundaries corres- ponding to the village lines, which was consummated by act of Legislature of June 15th 1877. The only town

district suffering materially by the change was district No. 6, which lost thereby some $30,000 of assessable property.

Acts of the Legislature in 1876 and 1878, conferring increased prerogatives and placing the school under the supervision of the regents of the university, have added to its efficiency, and made it popular with a class of non- resident pupils, who can here secure the benefits of an academic course at a low price, and of whom the reports for 1880 show over fifty in attendance.

Some indication of the growth of the schools may be found in the fact that at the time of opening the high school building 416 pupils were reported on the rolls; while during the year 1880 there were 1,210 in attend- ance. The board reports to the regents in 1880 showed the number of children in the district to be 2, 167; num- ber of buildings (inclusive of the negro school building, leased), 3; value of buildings owned, $67,000; bonded indebtedness, $53,000; mortgage indebtedness, $11,000; number of volumes, 1,339, valued at $961.93; apparatus, globes, etc., $755.14.

The teachers consist of one superintendent, who is also principal of the high school, at a salary as principal of $1,000 and as superintendent of $800 annually, and twenty lady teachers at salaries ranging from $120 to $600. The assessed valuation of the district is $1,745.341.

The members of the board for 1881 were: W. Downing, whose term expired during the year; C. W. Brown, whose term expires in 1882; Marquis D. Gould, whose term ex- pires in 1883; Isaac Bloodgood, who serves until 1884, and Samuel C. Parsons, whose term of office runs until 1885. Of these Isaac Bloodgood is president, Samuel B. Parsons treasurer, and M. D. Gould secretary.

FLUSHING INSTITUTE.

The property occupied by this institution was first used for educational purposes by Rev. Dr. W. A. Muhlenberg. He came from New York to Flushing in 1826 to take charge of St. George's Protestant Episcopal parish for two years. Hearing some gentlemen conversing one day about building an academy, with provision for a family and boarding pupils, he said if they would erect such a building as he desired he would occupy it and conduct the institution himself; and so the Flushing Institute was built, the corner stone being laid, with appropriate ceremonies, August 11th 1827.

In April 1845 Ezra Fairchild transferred to the insti- tute from New Jersey the school which he had begun in 1816. It is now conducted by his son E. A. Fairchild, as principal, and A. P. Northrop as vice-principal. It is a private institution, unsectarian, and is designed for the higher education of young men and boys.

ST. JOSEPH'S ACADEMY.

St. Joseph's Academy is the most imposing institution in Queens county, and one of the most popular educa- tional establishments in the county. The buildings are large and commodious, having a front of 150 and a depth of 180 feet. They were erected at a cost of

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HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

$300,000. The grounds are beautifully laid out in shady walks and choice parterres. The traveling accom- modations are unsurpassed, the trains of the Flushing and North Side Railroad making hourly trips to New York. The course of study is divided into three grades, primary, grammar and academic; and at its completion diplomas are conferred on the successful competitors. Some two hundred graduates have already gone forth from the academy. From almost exery State in the Union pupils have come to this calm retreat of learning, and in many of the most distant homes of the land there are those who cherish the sweetest and happiest memo. ries of St. Joseph's.

MERCHANTS OF FLUSHING.

The name of the first resident trader, who exchanged salt, molasses, spices and rum for wampum and leaf tobacco, is unknown. The next is believed to have been John Bowne. From his day for many years the retail trade was mainly conducted by boatmen, who trans- ported produce to New York, and brought back the goods ordered by the shippers, thus obtaining freight both ways. The next resident merchant of any note was John Foster, who in 1736 suffered the loss of his house, store and contents by an incendiary fire. The New York Gazette reported but little saved, and the loss about £2,000. In 1757 Samuel Borden advertises in the New York Mercury that owing to his advanced age "he is leaving off trade and offers for sale his merchant shop in Flushing." In 1760 John Wilson ran a sloop between the village and New York and kept a stock of goods. About the same time the ubiquitous Jew makes his ap- pearance, and Hart Aaron and Jacob Cohen become dry goods dealers in the village. From the last date up to the close of the Revolutionary war there was no lack of mercantile establishments, nor has the village had cause to complain of their scarcity during the present century. The most prominent of the last generation of merchants here were the Peck family, who introduced the coal trade about 1820, and the Lowerrees, who were active and enterprising dealers.

The most important mercantile house of to-day is that of Clement & Bloodgood; while in specialties there are a number of houses worthy of mention. In coal and lum- ber George B. Roe & Co., J. Milnor Peck and the North Side Coal Company (successor to Robert Peck) share the trade. The book trade conducted by F. L. Prine, on Main street, includes as complete an assortment of literary, musical and artistic articles as can be found outside the counters of some large city house. In ice J. K. P. Bennett has practically a monopoly, but one judiciously and honestly nianaged. Mr. Prigge has a capital of $15,000 invested in the manufacture and sale of confectionery and ice cream, and employs four men, besides the saleswoman in his retail store. S. J. Hallett & Co. are the principal furniture dealers, and F. G. Fowler a prominent undertaker. The number of small stores, bakeries and groceries is legion.

INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS.

The sash, blind and lumber-mill of J. Milnor Peck and the Flushing Lumber and Building Company was erected by Isaac Peck sen. and his son, the present owner, in 1851, the original intention being to supply a local demand for builders' fittings. In 1868 the present proprietor commenced, in addition, the build- ing of ready-made portable houses, under a new and improved system, which branch of the business is now conducted under the name of the Flushing Lumber and Building Company, which is understood to mean Mr. Peck and those interested in the patents. A trade in articles of this nature is always slow of estab- lishment, but after a severe struggle against adverse cir- cumstances a growing trade has been opened through resident agents with South Africa, the West Indies, South America and the Isthmus, that indicates a successful future for a house well worthy of it. Mr. Peck also con- ducts the lumber and coal business, and employs, in all his enterprises, about forty men.

In 1857 George B. Roe, Charles A. Willets and Charles C. Hicks associated themselves together under the firm name of George B. Roe & Co., for the purpose of carry- ing on the lumber business. At first they rented a small yard on the south of Bridge street, now Broadway, where they kept a fair assortment of building materials. They continued at that place eight years, when they purchased the property they now occupy. Two years later Mr. Hicks withdrew from the firm. The property of the firm is on Flushing Creek, with a water front of 900 feet, a frontage of 900 feet on Lawrence street, and 160 feet on Broadway. The only steamboat dock in the village is on this property. The firm extended its business by erect- ing a steam mill and placing therein all kinds of wood- working machinery, for planing, sawing, turning and making scroll-work, mouldings, &c. In addition to a large and varied stock of all kinds of lumber, the firm deals largely in brick, lime, cement, plaster and stone, and also largely in coal for domestic purposes, handling more, perhaps, than is handled at any other two yards in the county. Messrs. Roe & Co.'s facilities for handling coal are very complete. The coal is elevated by steam some thirty feet and dumped in iron cars, which hold one ton each. The cars pass over a tramway, on which is laid a T rail. This tramway is two hundred feet long, with turntables to enable the cars to run in any direction. The coal is then dumped in large "bunkers," capable of holding about 15,000 tons. From a comparatively small beginning Messrs. Roe & Co. have built up a large and lucrative business.

Messrs. George B. Roe and Charles A. Willets are both natives of the village and town of Flushing. Their ancestors for several generations have also resided there.

The following notice of this concern is from the Trade Review:

" There is little doubt in our mind that one of the most extensive, if not the largest coal, lumber, lime, brick and shingle yard on Long Island, outside the boundaries of

WOULDINOS

GEO. B. ROE & Co. LUMBER COAL& WOOD YARA BRICK. LIME , PLASTER & CENENE

PLACER SAWING

LADOLORBINDUNG TURNINGE

ANNAMIAN

OFFICE CORNER OF BRIDGE & LAWRENCE STREETS.

GEO. B.ROE & Co. ILUMBER LYS COAL DEALERS

LATH LING BRIC

COAL LUMDES

OFFICE ON MAIN ST.

FLORENCE 0 0 5 0 9

LUMBER AND COALYARD OF GEO.B.ROE & CO.,CORNER OF BROADWAY AND LAWRENCE ST., FLUSHING, L.I. GEO.B.ROE.

C.A.WILLETS

109

BUSINESS INSTITUTIONS OF FLUSHING.

the city of Brooklyn, is that of George B. Roe & Co., corner of Broadway and Lawrence street (office No. 9 Main street), Flushing. The operations of the firm are extensive and varied, and of course occupy a large space in the industrial interests of the handsome suburban vil- lage that lies at the head of Flushing Bay. A reporter of this paper visited Flushing a few days ago, and among other establishments he visited in quest of information for readers of the Trade Review was the yard and office of the above firm. He was at once impressed with the extent and great value of its business, and on retiring found his note-book well filled with items of trade interest, of which in this article we will make liberal use. The firm of George B. Roe & Co. is one of the oldest in Flushing. It owns extensive properties, both on the water line and in the town. Its docks have a frontage of 900 feet, and the line of the yard has a corresponding length, with a depth of 140 feet. In this yard are im- mense coal sheds, filled with the various sizes and grades of coal, both hard and soft; many cords of pine, oak, ash and hickory wood for kindling, which are sawed and split on the premises, for the use of those who consume it in the town; a splendid planing and band saw-mill, where every class of moulding is made for the trade. In this mill turner work is also done by hand and machinery, and in every style that may be desired; and finally there are stocks of fine lumbers, lime in barrels, lath, brick from various well known yards, shingles in bundles, and additional to these tiling, and piping for draining, cement, and every other article needed by the carpenter and the mason for building or for repairing. The capital carried by the firm in general stock ranges from $80,000 to $100,000, In exceedingly active seasons it rises above the last named sum. The trade in coal, which is only one of the branches of the firm's business, is of itself no light matter. The sales average about one thousand tons per month. Of course the demand for coal as well as for kindling wood is larger at certain seasons than at others, but at the end of the year the wood runs into hundreds of cords, and the coal reaches and sometimes goes be- yond twelve thousand tons. Of the work of the planing and sawing-mill we have no special record, beyond the general statement that it is kept busy during the working hours of the day-the machinery, all of the best and most improved modern kinds, being driven by steam-and that to meet the demands of the trade a respectable number of hands are employed. In receiving and moving coal the firm has many advantages. Among the leading ones are ready capital, by which purchases from first hands can be made with the usual percentage deduction, a barge (the firm's property), as also the docks, yards, mills, etc., by which not only coal but lumber and other stock is floated up the bay to the wharves and then stored in the adjoining yard. Mr. Roe, assisted by a son, has charge of the out-of-door business, which of course in- cludes the docks, barge, yard, planing and sawing-mill and general stock; while Mr. Willets, with his son, has his field of operations in the office, where orders are received and business details and financial transactions are en-

tered on and concluded. An idea of the business trans- acted in Flushing and its immediate neighborhood by this firm may be obtained when we state that in average seasons eight carts and wagons are needed to convey coal and lumber to customers; and that on busy days, such as are liable to come to them when least expected, they have to go outside of the yard and employ extra assistants."

Murray's Monumental Works, on Jaggar avenue and Bradford street, were established by J. F. Murray, a practical workman, and employ from two to four men in the manufacture of monuments, headstones, mantels and plumbers' slabs of marble or granite.

There are several cigar shops, one of them doing a wholesale business. Jules E. Cartier, manufacturer of cigars and wholesale and retail dealer in tobaccos, es- tablished business here in 1875, with a capital of $4,000. His store and shop is at 99 Main street. He now em- ploys five men, has one team on the road, and does an annual business of about $20,000.

The Ireland flouring mill, situated south of the vil- lage limits and run by the action of the tide, is believed to be on the site of the old Burling mill, of the seven- teenth century. It has been in the hands of a branch of the Bowne family since 1800, at which time the present building was erected. It is a frame structure forty feet square and four stories high, and has four runs of stones. It is owned and operated by the Bowne Brothers, dealers in flour, feed and grain at 83 and 85 Broadway, Flushing.

THE FLUSHING GAS LIGHT COMPANY

was incorporated October 6th 1855, with a cash capital of $20,000 and the exclusive right of supplying gas to the village of Flushing for twenty years. Its first officers were: James R. Lowerree, president; Gilbert Hicks, treasurer; Charles A. Willets, secretary. The first year's business of the company amounted to the putting in of fifty meters, supplying that number of customers; and it was not until five years later that they were able to re- port one hundred meters and eighteen street lamps, with a total of two and one half miles of street mains laid, and a monthly consumption of 100,000 cubic feet. The long distance to which pipes were laid to obtain custom, and the distances between the residences of patrons, rendered the cost of establishing a remunerative business very great; but the managers had a faith in the future of the village which was amply justified by the results, and continued to supply asked-for extensions, in many cases at a total loss for years. At one time one of the mains two miles long supplied but three meters. In 1868 the old works were replaced by the present substantial build- ings, with a generating capacity equal to the demand for many years to come; and the capital was increased to $41,000. The condition of the business in ISSo was as follows: Total length of street mains, nine miles; street lamps supplied, 101; private consumers, 271; monthly consumption, 5,110,000 cubic feet. The officers were: President, J. B. Brewster; secretary, R. S. Tucker; treasurer, C. A. Willets; superintendent, Dennis Sul- livan.

IIO

HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

PROFESSIONAL MEN.

Perhaps there is no village in the United States of its size that can count among its residents so many profes- sional men as this; and to that class of brain workers it still offers unusual advantages, as convenient to the great metropolis, and yet sufficiently remote from the dirt and turmoil of the scene of daily contests to offer home in its best sense to the weary votary of ambition or science.

The earliest known physician here was Dr. Henry Taylor, an Englishman, at one time an ardent advocate of royalty. A court record of 1675 relates his complaint against Francis Bloodgood and Myndert and Coerter for seditious words. In 1707 his barns at the village were destroyed by fire. The term of his residence and the time of his death are alike unknown; but, as his name appears prior to 1675 and after 1707 as that of a phy- sician in practice, more than thirty years of his life must have been passed here. Very nearly cotemporaneous with him was the well and widely known Rodman, physician, minister, farmer and Friend.

A community having in it such families as the Law- rences, Bownes and Bloodgoods was not at a loss for legal advice on the simple real estate titles of the day; but for some years the business of conveyancing seems to have been delegated to Edward Hart, the clerk of the town. Thomas Hicks, of Little Neck, was, with David Colden, of this village, engaged in the practice of law prior to the Revolution; and as he was of marked tory proclivities, a Connecticut whaleboat robbed his house one night, car- rying off his library, which the Yankee skipper might have deemed bad law and responsible for his ill-timed loyalty.

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History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 25

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co. Number of Pages: 703

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703