History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 73

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 73

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Methodist Episcopal Church .- In 1854 a Methodist Episcopal society was organized at Maspeth and a church built, which was burned in 1868. Shortly after- ward a new church was built here on land given by Baldwin Pettit. The first pastor in the old church was Rev. Mr. Pratt, who was succeeded by John

H. Stansbury. When the new church was built Rev. J. M. Hall was pastor. Since that time the church has been served by the following preachers: Joseph R. Ham- mond, Benjamin Powell, Abraham Belmont, William Twiddy, Joseph l'atterson, Isaac S. Brundage. A Sun- day-school was organized in 1854. Joseph H. Way was superintendent from 1869 until 1875. Since then Gus. Haflinger has had charge of the school.

The Catholic Church at Maspeth was built in 1871 by Father Zeller, then located at Winfield. Subsequently Father Mcllhinny, assistant at Winfield, took charge of this parish in conjunction with Corona, where a church had just then been erected. Father McElhinny continued in charge until relieved some three and one-half years later by Father Baxter, who continued until July 1880, when he joined the Jesuits and the parish again came under charge of Father John McElhinny, of Corona.

MOUNT OLIVET CEMETERY.

This cemetery, one of the most beautifully situated of the many cemeteries included in the town of Newtown, is near Maspeth, about three and a half miles from the fer- ries at Williamsburgh. The situation is eminently rural, and sufficiently remote to be free from the liability of being overrun by population. The grounds are elegantly diversified with hill and dale, wood and water, lawn and thicket, and present beautiful changes of surface and scenery at every step. Mt. Olivet was chartered under the general laws of the State in 1850, by New York and Brooklyn capitalists, who purchased some sixty acres of ground, nearly all of which has been laid out. It is en- tirely undenominational. The first officers of the cor- poration were: Noah Waterbury, president; Rev. Samuel M. Haskins, vice-president; Hon. James Maurice, treas- urer; David Longworth, secretary. The present officers are: Hon. James Maurice, president; J. Howard, secre- tary; Charles M. Chamberlain, superintendent.

HON, JAMES MAURICE.

James Maurice is a son of James Maurice and Jean his wife, who resided for many years in the city of New York. His father was a native of Ireland, of English an- cestry-English in race and in religion-and was born in the parish of Maryborough, Queens county, August 16th 1777; emigrated to America immediately after the sup- pression of the rebellion, in which he took part against the insurgents, and landed in Philadelphia in 1799; died at Maspeth, Queens county, N. Y., March 22nd 1842. His mother was born in Philadelphia, December 14th 1792, of pure Scottish descent; and, her mother dying while she was yet an infant, she was brought up in the family of her uncle, John Rutherford, of Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, N. Y. She died at Maspeth, Decem- ber 19th 1877, aged 85 years and 5 days. They had six children, three sons and three daughters.

James was the second son, and was born at No. 39 Water street, near Coenties slip, in the city of New York, November 7th 1814. He was sent at a very early age to

Coton

383

HON. JAMES MAURICE.

the Broad Street Academy, a famous institution in those days, where he studied the branches usually taught in a good school, and became noted for his remarkable skill in penmanship. He narrowly escaped death by drowning on two occasions, and was in very great danger for some months in the year 1822 from an attack of yel- low fever, being one of the very first cases at the time that dreadful disorder became epidemic. He continued at school until the spring of 1826, and on July 6th in that year, recommended by his handwriting and being not quite 12 years of age, he entered the office of Messrs. William Seaman and Thomas Wills, attorneys and coun- sellors at law, as a clerk. The firm kept their office at No. 3 Peck slip, then a great business quarter of the city, and had a large and somewhat miscella- neous business-law, equity, admiralty, conveyancing, and every branch, indeed, of the profession-which was all the better for such of their clerks as were disposed to learn; but Mr. Wills was most eminent as an equity law- yer, and held for some time before his death the appoint- ment of injunction master for the first circuit; he died in January 1831, and Mr. Seaman, who was of the old Long Island family of that name, followed him to the grave in January 1832. John I. Cameron, the law part- ner of Mr. Seaman, continued the business, and soon after Mr. Seaman's death formed a connection with Philo T. Ruggles, who also was appointed a master in chancery; and Mr. Maurice continued with them and with Mr. Ruggles-who still survives-after Mr. Cameron's death, until his admission to practice. He was admitted as an attorney at law and as a solicitor in chancery-the offices at that time being quite distinct-in 1835, and immedi- ately afterward began business on his own account, in the old office of Seaman & Wills. Here he remained some two or three years and then returned to the office of Mr. Ruggles. In May 1839 he was admitted as coun- sellor in the supreme court and in the court of chancery.

In October 1840 he purchased from Garrit Furman a few acres at Maspeth, and began the erection of a dwell- ing house thereon, which was completed and occupied in June 1841, and in which he still resides, with the surviv- ing members of his father's family. About February 1841 he formed a professional partnership with James T. Brady,* and for some eight or nine years thereafter the firm of Brady & Maurice was one of the best known and most considerable legal firms in the city. He received the appointment of master in chancery from Governor Bouck in March 1843. At this period there were only ten masters for the whole city and county of New York, and the office was a very important one. He continued in the discharge of the duties of this office until the court of chancery itself became extinct, July Ist 1847. He also assisted Mr. Brady-who had been appointed

counsel to the corporation of the city of New York in 1845-to discharge the many duties of that position, and had under his control the practical management of the suits and street openings to which the city was a party; and had besides to act in a general advisory capacity in regard to the current business of the different city de- partments.

In the fall of 1850 he made his first essay in political life, and was elected member of Assembly for Queens county on the Democratic ticket in November of that year, after a most exciting contest. The Democrats were in the minority in the Assembly, having only about one-third of the members. Henry J. Raymond was chosen speaker at the regular session, and Joseph B. Varnum at the extra session held in July 1851. Mr. Maurice served on the judiciary, privileges and elections and manorial rents committees and on local general or- ders, commonly known as the "grinding committee," and was rarely absent from his seat in the House except when acting upon a committee. He represented his district in the Democratic convention held at Syracuse in 1851, and took a prominent part in the debates and proceed- ings of that convention. In 1852 he received the nomi- nation for representative in Congress from the first dis- trict, at the Democratic convention. He was elected a member of the XXXIIId Congress by a very satisfactory majority over John A. King, afterward governor, and serv- ed from March 4th 1853 to March 4th 1855. Ile belong- ed to the Hunker or Hardshell division of the Democratic party, and he and his party friends were practically ignored by President Pierce; but he still kept up his connection with the organization. He represented Queens county in the Democratic convention of 1853, and was very active in promoting the nomination of George W. Clinton for secretary of state and increasing the majority which Mr. Clinton obtained, in November of that year, in Queens county. In 1856 he attended the Union State convention-the precursor and harbinger of the Repub- lican organization-at Albany, as a delegate from Queens county, his collaegue being John A. King, his former competitor for Congress; and was very instrumental in effecting the nomination of Mr. King for governor and aided efficiently in securing his election. In 1865 Henry W. Genet, of the city of New York, bought (as was sup- posed) the nomination for member of Assembly in the second district of Queens county from the Democratic nominating convention. Mr. Maurice was prevailed upon to run against Genet, and defeated him, after a bitter struggle, by a large comparative majority. He served in the Assembly of 1866, Lyman Tremain being speaker, on the judiciary committee and on the committees on cities and the rules of the house, and contributed his best efforts to the business of the session; but had lost his relish, if he ever had any, for public employment, and was very well satis- fied to leave Albany for a "private station " when the time came for final adjournment. His three nominations for the Assembly and Congress were the only occasions on which he offered himself for the support of the peo-

* James Topham Brady was born in the city of New York, April 9th 1815, and.died there, February 9th 1869. Ilis father was of Celtic and lils mother (whose malden name was Topham) of English ancestry. He was a very able lawyer and a highly eloquent speaker, and withal one of the most gifted men that ever practiced at the New York bar. The present John Riker Brady, one of the justlees of the supreme court for the first judicial department, Is lils only surviving brother.

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HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

ple, and he was successful in all. In 1855 he was offered the nomination for justice of the supreme court for the second judicial district, by gentlemen belonging to both wings of the Democratic party (a nomination equivalent, probably, to an election), but deeming himself unsuited to the position he declined to become a candidate. He has acted as referee in several important cases, and some- times, although rarely, as counsel in others, and has always had a place of business in the city of New York since the expiration of his Congressional term in 1855; but he is not now nor has he been for some years past actively engaged in his profession. His health has usu- ally been, and still continues, very good.

CHARLES G. COVERT.

Charles G. Covert was born at Maspeth, September 30th 1826. For his first wife he married Nancy Leonora Aldrich, of Newtown, October 29th 1840. Mrs. Covert died April 8th 1845, having borne him three children, as follows: Underhill J., October 19th 1841; Henry Ald. rich, September 29th 1842, and Charles Johnson, March 27th 1845, who died in infancy. March 29th 1850 Mr. Covert married Elizabeth Welch, of New York, who sur- vives him and who has borne him four children-George, Cornelia Maria, Annie Louise and Lizzie Grace, born respectively May 15th 1851, May 31st 1856, July 22nd 1859, and July 11th 1865. Mrs. Covert was born in New York, December 24th 1827. Mr. Covert died deeply and widely regretted for his many amiable and admirable qualities as a husband, a father, a neighbor, a citizen and a helper to those in need of timely and friendly assist- ance.

Mr. Covert was born in a house still standing on his estate, only a short distance from his late residence. His father was Underhill Covert; his mother Maria (Johnson) Covert, a daughter of Charles Johnson, who resided at Maspeth, near the Covert place. Mr. Covert remained at home, assisting on his father's farm, until he attained his majority, after which for a few years he kept a store in Maspeth, later engaging in the lumber trade, in which he was succeeded by his son George. He was always prominent in affairs of the town. In 1858 he was first chosen supervisor, and discharged the duties of the office with great credit to himself. That his public service was also satisfactory to his constituents is well evinced by the record of his repeated re-election for several years, as shown on page 338. His time of ser- vice included those important years during the great Rebellion, and Mr. Covert is remembered as a faithful, efficient officer during that eventful period. Though not a professor of religion he was a respecter of righteous- ness, and always a liberal supporter of churches of all denominations.

EAST WILLIAMSBURGH.

The name of this village on the western border of Newtown signifies its position relative to Williamsburgh,

now the eastern district of Brooklyn. The Williamsburgh and Jamaica turnpike (built about 1813) and the placing of a toll-house here deterinined the location of this vil- lage. A hotel here was kept by Daniel Taylor as early as 1814. His successors were Albert Vanderwater, Wil- liam Roe, Stephen B. Masters and Samuel Masters 'deceased). The last two, who were brothers, operated the turnpike under a lease for fifteen or twenty years. The Long Island farmers en route for the city with hay made this a weighing station, and " Masters' toll-gate " was as well known then as East Williamsburgh is now.

The Metropolitan Park Hotel, now kept by M. Schu- macher & Son, was kept by Samuel Smith as early as 1840 and until his death. It was leased in 1877 by the present occupants, who enclosed the park and made the modern improvements.

In May 1881 George V. Todd established the Queens County Republican, a sprightly four-page weekly paper, devoted to the local news and politically allied with the Republican party.

John Cozine was an early settler in this vicinity. He owned the farm of the late Nicholas Schoonmaker. John Culver and Michael Venes were residents here about 1790. Francis Titus had a farm-house before the Revo- lution where Schumacher's hotel now stands. A part of General Howe's forces camped here. Francis White's farm has been occupied by his family since about 1700. His grandfather, Thomas White, kept the king's store in Maspeth before the Revolution.

THE EAGLE FIRE WORKS FACTORY.

Phillipp Licht, manufacturer of the Eagle Fireworks and patentee of the detached short stick rocket, was born in Bavaria in 1820 and came to America in 1832. His parents were Louis and Elizabeth Licht. Mr. Licht at first located in New York city, but began his present business on Forest avenue, East Williamsburgh, in 1859. His works cover an extensive area and consist of no less than fourteen shops, in which the several departments of pyrotechnical manufacture are carried on. There are four charging shops, a paper store and cutting shop, a finishing shop, a rolling and drying shop, five storage shops, a tool house, and a stable and wagon house. Mr Licht has a New York office at No. 12 Park place. He was married in 1842 to Mary Kreider, of New York, by whom he has two children, Phillipp and Mary.

During the civil war Mr. Licht made for the govern- ment large quantities of bomb fuse and signal rockets. He put the time fuses in the first Monitor shells that left New York, and during the war his whole force of men was employed principally in making time fuses. Subse- quently the business was increased, and all the modern inventions in pyrotechnics are here manufactured. Thirty persons are constantly employed. In 1876 his sales amounted to $78,000.

STARCH WORKS.

The inanufacture of starch by E. R. & R. B. Liver- more is carried on in the buildings erected by David

Phillipp' Licht

EAGLE OPE ATHY S

RESIDENCE AND EAGLE FIRE WORKS BUILDINGS OF PHILLIPP LICHT. FOREST AVENUE, EAST WILLIAMSBURGH, QUEENS CO,,L.I.

OLD HOMESTEAD OF THE WYCKOFF FAMILY, FLUSHING AVENUE, E.D. BROOKLYN, N. Y.

styckoff-

391

NICHOLAS WYCKOFF-MIDDLE VILLAGE.

Morrison in 1853. In 1854 Messrs. Livermore took pos- session and began making starch from damaged wheat recovered from defective canal boats. Thus a large amount of grain, formerly nearly worthless, was made valuable. The works were burned in 1868 and rebuilt the following year. Four runs of stones are now used for grinding merchantable wheat, and from 175 to 200 barrels of starch are produced weekly of standard quality. Samuel G. Morrison is general superintendent at the works.

In 1854 John Parr and John Barnett began the manu- facture of wheat starch at East Williamsburgh. Mr. Bar- nett bought his partner's interest, and in 1859 E. H. E. Dickson became a partner in the firm of John Barnett & Co. They have facilities for manufacturing 100 barrels of starch per week.

NICHOLAS WYCKOFF.

Nicholas Wyckoff was born in Bushwick (now in Brooklyn), October 30th 1799. The Wyckoff homestead, where he now lives, was in the possession of his ances- tors prior to the war of the Revolution; the residence, since repaired and remodeled, being the same that was then occupied. Mr. Wyckoff's grandfather on his father's side was Nicholas Wyckoff. His mother's father was Lambert Suydam. Both were active participants in the stirring scenes of the Revolutionary struggle. His father was Peter Wyckoff and his mother was Gertrude Suy- dam. It will be seen that Mr. Wyckoff is of that illus- trious race who laid in the Netherlands the foundations of modern civilization and taught the world its first les- son in regulated civil liberty and unrestricted religious toleration. He traces his lineage back to ancestors who were pioneers in the settlement of Long Island, and it is likely that the old homestead, with its hallowed memo- ries and historical associations, will be in the possession of his descendants generations after him.

In his childhood Mr. Wyckoff attended school at Bush- wick. Two subsequent years of schooling, at Darien, Connecticut, beginning when he was only about eleven, completed the sum total of such educational advantages as were available to him. From his youth up Mr. Wyck- off devoted his attention to farming, and was ever wide awake as a farmer and eager to adopt improvements in practical agriculture. Accordingly he studied such works as he thought useful and took pains to inspect the methods of others. He was for a time a member of the agricultural department of the American Institute, and has been otherwise prominently identified with agricul- tural interests and in every sense the friend of the farm- er. Ever since Williamsburgh first became known Mr. Wyckoff has labored assiduously to promote its best in- terests. He was one of the commissioners for the con- solidation of Williamsburgh with Brooklyn, and a mem- ber of the first board of commissioners for constructing the Ridgewood water works.

Mr. Wyckoff's connection with monetary institutions dates from 1852, when he helped to organize the First National Bank of Brooklyn and became one of its direct-

ors. At the resignation of the first president, Noah Waterbury, Mr. Wyckoff was elected to the presidency of the institution, and he has since continuously held the position. He is also a trustee of two savings banks and a director of the Williamsburgh City Insurance Com- pany and also of several horse railroads, mostly in Brooklyn.

A writer in the Brooklyn Herald, referring to Mr. Wyckoff, some years since, said of him: " He is truly a Christian man, for he practices what he professes. Hardly a public charity escapes his benefactions. He is full of gentle and generous sympathies for young men and takes pleasure in aiding them forward. He has stirred and stimulated rich and poor to push ahead. He has aided a great number of people in their first efforts to lay the foundations of their subsequent prosperity, and he has ever been willing to be among the first to project enterprises of local utility, sharing with others the pecu- niary risks. It is well known that there are some people whose wealth has been made for them by the industry and foresight of others, but who cannot be induced to do much to enhance the honor or prosperity of the com- munity in which they vegetate and where they will die and be forgotten. In no sense is it possible to impute to Nicholas Wyckoff the slightest proclivity to indulge in such unworthy use of the common weal."

Mr. Wyckoff was married in 1826 to Sarah Ann John- son (daughter of General Jeremiah Johnson, of Walla- bout), who still shares with him the comforts of the old home and the fruits of his labors.

MIDDLE VILLAGE.

The name of this village refers to its position between Williamsburgh and Jamaica on the old turnpike which connects them. The village is made up very largely of German families, and nearly all the business of the place is transacted in that language. A post-office was estab- lished here in the summer of 1881 and Christian F. Seibs was commissioned postmaster.

THE LUTHERAN CEMETERY.

This cemetery is the principal feature of Middle Vil- lage, and the labor connected with it is the principal in- dustry of the people in the vicinity. This is perhaps the most important Protestant cemetery in the vicinity of New York; the interments here in 1879 were nearly twice as many as at Greenwood, and in 1880 more than in all the other Protestant cemeteries in Newtown. The existence of this cemetery is largely due to the efforts of the late Rev. Dr. Geissenhainer. In 1850, when the common council of New York forbade burial in the city, Dr. Geissenhainer was pastor of St. Paul's German Luther- an church in Sixth avenue. St. Matthew's church sent John H. Imbush and Benjamin Van Raden to confer with Dr. Geissenhainer as to some means of providing the two churches with a suitable and cheaper place of burial than Greenwood. Dr. Geissenhainer's church de-

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HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

clining to co-operate he took the responsibility individ- ually, and became half owner in this new cemetery at Middle Village. Ten acres were purchased of Jonathan Morrell and divided in halves, so that the part owned by St. Matthew's church was distinct from the part owned by Dr. Geissenhainer. F. W. Geissenhainer jr. purchased eight acres adjoining, which was subsequently added to the cemetery. St. Matthew's society also made addi- tions to its part of the cemetery. Dr. Geissenhainer's part was laid out and improved by him as a private en . terprise, until March 22nd 1852, when a company was organized under the general act of 1847, and the " Lutheran Cemetery " was incorporated. Dr. Geissen- hainer's part of the original purchase and the lands sub- sequently bought by his son were conveyed to this cor- poration. In 1860 the corporation bought the Harper farm of thirty-eight acres. St. Matthew's society had in the meantime purchased several acres, and during the eight years that followed a bitter rivalry existed be- tween the two parties. These differences were termi- nated in 1868 by the Lutheran Cemetery proprietors purchasing all the land belonging to St. Matthew's church.

The price of burials in this cemetery was originally $2.50, and lots were sold at $7.00. The managers have followed the design of the founder by keeping the price of lots as low as in any incorporated cemetery.

In 1880 16,844 interments were made in the several cemeteries in the town of Newtown, as follows: Method- ist Episcopal, Middle Village, 171 ; Machpela, Ridge- wood, 199; Cypress Hills, 949; Evergreen, Ridgewood, 1,693; Lutheran, Middle Village, 3,815; Calvary, Laurel Hill, 10,017.

REV. FREDERICK WILLIAM GEISSENHAINER.

Rev. Dr. Frederick William Geissenhainer was born in New Hanover, Montgomery county, Pa., June 28th 1797. His father was Rev. Dr. Frederick William Geissenhai- ner, a native of Prussia (whence he came in 1793) an early Lutheran minister in America and a man of remark- able literary and theological attainments, distinguished for his intelligence and particularly noted for his thorough scholarship in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, and as a pro- found mathematician, mineralogist and botanist of exten- sive scientific acquirements. The history of the iron and coal interests of Pennsylvania and the world pictures him as a character of importance in the infancy of those interests, with an influence upon their subsequent devel- opment which will be felt to the end of time. He was the first to discover the value of anthracite coal for smelt- ing iron, and his name is prominently identified with other important discoveries which have for years been a portion of the recognized system of iron manufacture. For a number of years he officiated as pastor of Christ Lutheran church, in Frankfort street, New York, which was distinguished as being the only church in New York besides the Episcopalian whichi escaped desecration at the hands of the English, it being attended by the Hes-

F.m. Dessenhaines D.D.

sian soldiers, who were Lutherans. The senior Dr. Geissenhainer died in 1838.

The subject of the present notice came to New York with his father at an early age, and received a thorough academical and theological education under the able preceptorship of his father and instructors whom the latter employed. In 1818, when he was only twenty years of age, he was licensed as a minister of the Luther- an church. He was first settled over a congregation at Vincent, Chester county, Pa., where he remained ten years, when he was called to the pastorate of St. Mat- thew's church in Walker street, New York, in which he continued about fourteen years. The congregation of Christ church after a time became the possessors of the property of St. Matthew's congregation and took the name of the latter organization. In pursuance of a re- solve to found a new church, Dr. Geissenhainer estab- lished St. Paul's, of which he was pastor until his death, June 2nd 1879. The first preaching was in a hall in Eighth avenue. A church was built in 1842, at the cor- ner of Sixth avenue and Fifteenth street, chiefly through the liberality of Dr. Geissenhainer himself. It is a fine stone structure and the valuation of the property now reaches $80,000. Dr. Geissenhainer organized St. Paul's church with eleven poor families. The congrega- tion now has about 1,300 communicants and the Sunday- school has a membership of over 600 scholars.

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History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 73

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