USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, 1609-1909 > Part 63
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 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
He was twice married, and by his first wife has three children: Paul Franklin, George Lincoln, and Ella Katharine Reichhelm.
709
CHARLES HERBERT SIMMONS
C HARLES HERBERT SIMMONS, merchant, was born in New York City in 1862, the son of John and Mary (Rutzler) Simmons. His father, who was of Irish birth and ancestry, came to this country in 1837, and engaged in business in New York City for many years.
Mr. Simmons was educated in the public schools of New York City, and in a business college; and in 1880, when his father founded the business now known as the John Simmons Company, he entered the office, where he practically grew up in the business, advancing in position with his growth in experience, and upon the death of his father suc- ceeded to the presidency of the company, which he still holds.
He is also president of the Simmons Realty and Construction Company, the Vulcan Rail and Construc- tion Company, and the Sim- mons Pipe Bending Works; treasurer of the Powhatan Brass and Iron Works, and vice president of the Essex Foundry; the products of these works being in the main handled through the John Simmons Company.
He is a member of the National Association of Manufacturers, Chamber of Commerce of New York, CHARLES HERBERT SIMMONS Union League, Engineers' Club, and Merchants' Club, of New York; and Ardsley Club, of Ardsley- on-Hudson, N. Y. He has his town house at 777 Madison Avenue, and his country residence at Stonington, Conn., where he spends the summer months.
Mr. Simmons married, in Brooklyn, New York, November 26, 1894, Elizabeth Eagle, and they have two children, Ethel H., and Charles H., Jr.
710
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
cap
LOUIS K. COMSTOCK
711
LOUIS K. COMSTOCK
L OUIS K. COMSTOCK, who is numbered with the foremost electrical and mechanical engineers of the country, is of Western birth and New England lineage, having been born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, January 8, 1865, the son of Charles Henry Comstock, a merchant, and Mercy Carolyn (Bronson) Comstock.
His first American ancestor in the paternal line was William Comstock, of Pequot (now New London), who came from England about 1637. He was one of the twenty-six from Wethersfield, Connecticut, who took part in the expedition commanded by Captain John Mason, which captured the Pequot Fort at Mystic, Connecticut, May 26, 1637, killing more than six hundred In- dians. This expedition finished the Pequots. Through his maternal grand- mother, Mary Doan Bronson, wife of Daniel Bronson, Mr. Comstock is also descended from John Done, a friend and fellow-passenger across the Atlantic of Edward Wynslow and Myles Standish.
Mr. Comstock entered the University of Michigan in 1884, where he received the degree of Ph.B. in 1888. Following graduation he entered upon his professional career as an electrical engineer, in which he has ever since been engaged. He advanced rapidly, and in 1897 was appointed superintend- ent of construction of the Western Electric Company. He remained in that position for nearly four years, resigning in August, 1900, to accept an appoint- ment as electrical engineer and manager of the mechanical department of the George A. Fuller Company, and so continued until January 1, 1904, when he organized and became president of L. K. Comstock & Company, Incorporated, of which important engineering organization he is still the head.
There is no man in the engineering profession who has mastered more completely the technical and practical engineering problems connected with the construction of great modern buildings than Mr. Comstock. He has con- tributed much, from his own research and testing, to the perfecting of meth- ods of construction and of installations, electrical and mechanical, in such structures.
Mr. Comstock has added to the benefits of liberal education and distin- guished professional achievement the advantages of extensive travel through- out the United States, and in Mexico, the West Indies, Central America and Europe. He is identified with the leading technical organizations and profes- sional societies, including the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Western Society of Engineers, American Electro-chemical Society, Illuminating Engineering Society, and the Engineers' Club. He is also a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Associa- tion of New York.
Mr. Comstock married, in New York, September 12, 1902, Anne Stevens Wilson, and has a son, Thomas Brownell Comstock, born June 12, 1904.
712
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
N ATHAN FLEISCHER, now vice president of the International Steam Pump Company, is of Austrian nativity, having been born at Saaz, Austria, January 16, 1857. He attended the schools of that place until he was over fourteen years of age, when he came to the United States.
He learned chain-making in the jewelry trade and worked at that occu- pation until he was nineteen years old, and then entered the grocery business, in which he was employed as a clerk until 1887, in which year he started in the grocery business for himself at Paterson, N. J. He made a substantial success in that business, but in 1897 sold out his grocery busi- ness to his partner, in order to connect himself with financial interests in Pater- son, N. J.
NATHAN FLEISCHER
After a few years he became associated with Mr. B. Guggenheim in the Power and Mining Machin- ery Company, of which he was the treasurer until that company was combined with the International Steam Pump Company, of which he was elected treasurer, later being elected vice president of the company, which office he now holds. He also fills the duties of foreign representative of the company.
Mr. Fleischer having made his way by his own efforts and reached a position of prominence and success, has also done valuable public service. In Paterson, New Jersey, where he long resided, he served for some time as a park commissioner. He was also on the first Finance Commission appointed by the mayor of the city of Paterson, a body which is in full charge of the finances of that city.
713
LEON PHILIP FEUSTMAN
L EON PHILIP FEUSTMAN, of the International Steam Pump Com- pany, was born in Philadelphia, March 6, 1861, the son of Bernard and Rosalie (Mayer) Feustman.
He was educated in Philadelphia Central High School and the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated as a mining engineer, with the degree of Bachelor of Science, in 1882. After leaving the university he located in Leadville, Colorado, where he was em- ployed as a chemist and assayer for several mining and smelting companies until 1888, when he went to Mexico for the Consolidated Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company (after- ward merged in the Amer- ican Smelting and Refining Company). He remained in that employ in various positions up to manager of the company's affairs in Mexico, until 1898, when he became manager in Mex- ico for M. Guggenheim's Sons. In 1900 he was transferred to the executive offices of the American Smelting and Refining Company in New York. He remained there until 1903, when he became vice presi- dent of the Power and Min- ing Machinery Company, which position he still holds. LEON PHILIP FEUSTMAN Since 1907 he has been vice president and general manager of the International Steam Pump Company.
He is a member of the Lawyers', Machinery and University of Pennsyl- vania Clubs in New York City; the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the National Geographic Society and the Pennsylvania Society of New York.
He married, in St. Louis, Missouri, May 23, 1892, Josephine Thatcher, and has a son, Bernard Henry, and a daughter, Marian Thatcher Feustman.
714
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
ROBERT ROGERS
715
ROBERT ROGERS
R OBERT ROGERS has for more than half of a century held an active and prominent place in the business life of New York City. He was born in the city of Nottingham, England, December 28, 1834, and in that ancient city he received a classical education and grew up to manhood.
After completing his education he learned the art of manufacturing hosiery, which constitutes one of the industries for which that city is famous, and after acquiring a thorough knowledge of that business and establishing connections with the leading hosiery mills, Mr. Rogers came to New York City, in 1856, and engaged in the sale of foreign and domestic hosiery, in which line he established a very large business and achieved a notable success.
In 1867, Mr. Rogers was appointed a special agent for the Lawrence Manufacturing Company of Lowell, Mass., which connection he retained until 1901, and during that period he was a partner in the late firm of Townsend & Yale, of New York, a house which held a position of distinguished promi- nence as one of the leaders in the dry goods commission business in New York City. During that connection Mr. Rogers became widely acquainted in the dry goods trade and achieved an enviable position in the business world.
Upon retiring from that firm in 1901, Mr. Rogers took a rest of two years' duration, and then feeling a desire to return to the activities of business, he became connected with the firm of Lamson, King & Company, as a special partner, that firm being dry goods commission merchants at 55 Leonard Street, with excellent mill connections. He still remains identified with that firm.
About the same time Mr. Rogers became interested in the DeWitt Wire Cloth Company, of which he was elected president, and still holds that posi- tion. The DeWitt Wire Cloth Company is a manufacturing corporation which operates a most complete plant for the prosecution of the industry from which the company takes its title, and both for the quality and volume of its produc- tion holds a position of leadership in that line. It has had a continuously successful business under the executive direction of Mr. Rogers, the office of the company being at 299 Broadway.
During his identification with the business life of New York for the past fifty-four years, Mr. Rogers has been most favorably known through the New York mercantile district for his sound and conservative business methods, and has gained the general esteem of friends and competitors, not only in the city, but also in the trade throughout the country.
Mr. Rogers was married, June 2, 1858, to Miss Cornelia M. Dowling, daughter of the late Rev. John Dowling, for many years a well-known pastor in the Baptist denomination in the City of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have two children living, viz: E. Russell Rogers, who is associated with his father in the wire cloth business, and Clarence DeWitt Rogers, of the law firm of Holden & Rogers, of the City of New York.
716
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
C YARL F. BOKER, merchant in steel, metals and hardware, is a native I of New York City, where he was born December 27, 1847, the son of Hermann and Mathilde (Herberts) Boker. His father was a German merchant who came to New York in May, 1837, and established the business of Hermann Boker & Company the same year.
Carl F. Boker was educated in Germany and began his business experience there. He afterward returned to New York City, and in September, 1883, he established business, under his own name of Carl F. Boker, as an importer of steel and metals. In Janu- ary, 1891, he combined this business with that of Her- mann Boker & Company, then in its fifty-fourth year of successful activity, and since January, 1900, he has been sole owner of the busi- ness of Hermann Boker & Company, which he now conducts at 101-103 Duane Street. The prestige of this old and honorable house has been fully maintained and its business greatly enlarged by him.
CARL F. BOKER
Mr. Boker is a Repub- lican; and is a member of the Merchants', New York Athletic, and Ardsley Clubs, Deutscher Verein and Rum- son Country Club.
He married, in Ham- burg, Germany, December 10, 1889, Therese A. Sendel, and has two sons, Hermann D. Boker, born January 6, 1891, and Carl F. Boker, Jr., born June 20, 1893, and a daughter, Rita M. Boker, born January 4, 1895. His town residence is at 23 West Seventy-sixth Street, in New York City, and his coun- try home is on Rumson Road, at Seabright, N. J., where the family usually spends the summer months.
717
URI T. HUNGERFORD
U RI T. HUNGERFORD, who has long been prominent as a leader in the brass and copper industry, was born in Torrington, Connecti- cut, December 14, 1841, the son of John and Charlotte Mills (Austin) Hun- gerford. His family is of English origin, his first American ancestor, John Hungerford, having come from England to New England in 1749. Uri T. Hungerford's father was a manufacturer of brass and copper.
The son received a good education in a military academy at Ossining, New York, and under private tu- tors, and he began his ac- tive career in his father's business. Acquiring a thor- ough and practical knowl- edge of the copper and brass business in all its branches and details, he continued to advance in position until he became president of the U. T. Hun- gerford Brass and Copper Company of New York, which, under his executive and general management. he has developed to a high plane of efficiency and pres- tige as one of the foremost representatives of the in- dustry. He is also presi- dent of the American Man- ganese Bronze Company of Philadelphia, which has also thrived greatly under his experienced direction.
URI T. HUNGERFORD
He is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Hardware, Fulton, and Railroad Clubs of New York. He has traveled extensively in America and Europe.
Mr. Hungerford married, in New York, June 29, 1887, Sillora Ritchie. He had a son, Wallace W. Hungerford, who is now deceased. Mr. Hunger- ford's city residence is at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street, and he has a country place at Bronxville, New York.
718
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
J AMES EDWARD POPE, president of the Pope Metals Company,
was born in New York City, July 5, 1863, the son of Thomas J. and Catherine A. (Buxton) Pope. He is of English descent on both sides, and his maternal grandfather was Dr. Charles Buxton, physician to President George Washington.
Mr. Pope was educated in private schools and in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, from which institution he was graduated in the Class of 1882.
JAMES EDWARD POPE
In July, 1883, he en- tered the metal business with his father's firm of Thomas J. Pope & Brother, and has since continued in that business, now being president of the Pope Met- als Company, of 90 West Street, New York. He is vice president of the New York Metal Exchange, a member of the Statistical Committee of the Board of Trade of Jersey City, and was a shade-tree commis- sioner of Jersey City, New Jersey. He was elected to the office of president of the University of the State of New Jersey in July, 1909. Mr. Pope is a member of the Berzelius Society of Yale College, the Yale Uni- versity Club of New Haven, Connecticut; the Meridian
Club and the Drug and Chemical Club of New York.
He is also a member of the Hudson County Historical Society of Jersey City, New Jersey; of the National Municipal League, and of the American Civic Association.
He married, at Anniston, Alabama, October 20, 1898, Fanny Ford No- ble, and has one son, James Noble Pope.
719
JOHN JAMES AMORY
JOHN JAMES AMORY, manufacturer, was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, son of John Amory (capitalist) and Jane (Smith) Amory. He was educated in Saint Paul's School, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and Riverview College, at Poughkeepsie, New York; entered a railroad office at Fond du Lac in 1876, and later went to the Pacific Coast, becoming a livery man at Santa Monica, California, and Tucson, Arizona, 1877-1878; miner at Tombstone, Arizona, 1879-1880; express com- pany agent at Texarkana, Arkansas, 1881-1882; hotel proprietor at Billings, Mon- tana, 1883-1884; then at Bridgeport, Connecticut, as secretary and treasurer of the Armstrong Manufac- turing Company, 1885-1886. In 1886 he became secre- tary and treasurer of the Gas Engine and Power Company and Charles L. Seabury & Company, Con- solidated, of which he after- ward became and is still president. The company has large works at Morris Heights, New York City, and builds steam and sail yachts, gasoline engines and launches, naphtha launches, wooden vessels, marine en- gines and boilers.
He is a director of the Mount Morris Bank of New York, and the Dutchess JOHN JAMES AMORY Manufacturing Company of Poughkeepsie, and vice president of the North Side Board of Trade of New York. He is a vestryman of Saint James Episcopal Church, Fordham; mem- ber of the National Civic Federation, Navy League, New York, Larchmont and Columbia Yacht Clubs and Transportation and New York Athletic Clubs.
He married, at Poughkeepsie, September 1, 1881, Mary S. Hull, and has three sons: John Hull, Eugene Horton, and Clement Gould Amory.
720
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
F REDERICK MARTEN ASSMANN, one of the more prominent of the German-American citizens of the metropolis, was born in North Germany, February 8, 1858, and was educated in the excellent public schools of his native country.
Beginning his business career in Germany, he decided, after a few years, to try his fortunes in America, and twenty-six years ago he landed in this country. After a short time in other lines of activity he established himself in the can business, and he has since conducted it with such success that Mr. Assmann is now president of the Export and Domestic Can Company, one of the most extensive and prosperous of the concerns in that busi- ness. The company has its offices and headquarters at 616 West Forty-third Street, New York. Mr. Assmann has ably assisted in bringing this company from modest beginnings to its present prominence, through executive ability and careful supervision.
Mr. Assmann has al- ways taken an active inter- est in public affairs, and is a Republican in his political views, and an earnest and active supporter of Republi- FREDERICK MARTEN ASSMANN can principles. He is a member of the Republican Club of East Orange, New Jersey, in which beautiful suburb he is regarded as one of the most public-spirited citizens. He has his home at 151 North Grove Street.
Mr. Assmann, who was married in New York City, May 2, 1887, is now a widower, and has three sons: Martin F., born March 23, 1889; Arthur A., born August 2, 1891; Wilbur A., born November 27, 1892.
721
ALLAN C. BAKEWELL
A LLAN CAMPBELL BAKEWELL, president of the Sprague Elec- tric Company, was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, June 16, 1847, the son of William and Jane Hannah (Campbell) Bakewell. He is of English and Scotch descent, his ancestors on both sides having settled in America early in the Eighteenth Century.
He was educated in the public schools of his native county and in the Western University of Pennsylvania, going from that institution into the Union Army during the latter part of the Civil War. He engaged in the iron manufacturing business, afterwards becoming identi- fied with the manufacture of electrical machinery and apparatus, and upon the organization of the Sprague Electric Company, in 1897, he became its general man- ager, afterwards being elec- ted vice president, and in 1902, president of the com- pany. Mr. Bakewell is also a director of the Gramercy Company, and is identified with other interests.
In 1898 Mr. Bakewell was appointed assistant ad- jutant general of the State of New York, with the grade of lieutenant-colonel. He was formerly the de- partment commander of the ALLAN C. BAKEWELL Department of New York of the G. A. R. He is a Republican in politics, and has been active in party affairs, although never in the sense of seeking office.
He is a member of the Union League, the Metropolitan, the Engineers', and the Players' Clubs, of New York City.
He married, in Pittsburgh, Alice C. Moorhead, member of an old Alle- gheny County family. Mrs. Bakewell and their two children are all deceased.
46
722
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
WALDO HALL MARSHALL
723
WALDO HALL MARSHALL
W ALDO HALL MARSHALL, now president of the American Loco- motive Company, and previous to that distinguished as an execu- tive in the motive power departments and general management of leading rail- ways, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 7, 1864.
He received a public school education and after that devoted himself by study and practical work to the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of me- chanics and mechanical engineering, which he attained in various shops and manufacturing institutions, becoming an expert of great skill. He also gained a practical knowledge of the principles of railway operation.
In May, 1897, he was appointed assistant superintendent of motive power of the Chicago and North-Western Railway, which position he held until June, 1899, when he was appointed superintendent of motive power of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, continuing in that position until Feb- ruary, 1902, when he was appointed general superintendent of this same road, later having his jurisdiction extended over the Lake Erie and Western Rail- road, and the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Railroad, continuing in that capacity until July, 1903, when he was promoted to general manager of these three roads. During his connection with the Lake Shore System Mr. Marshall had much to do with the designing of heavy passenger and freight locomotives, and his work in connection with the equipment of that road was of a pro- gressive character and had a lasting effect upon modern locomotive practice in this country.
In addition to his skill as a mechanical engineer, Mr. Marshall displayed signal ability as an executive officer during his connection, first with the mo- tive power department and later with the general management of the Lake Shore Road and his ability was generally recognized in railway circles.
In February, 1906, Mr. Marshall resigned from the general manage- ment of the Lake Shore Road, in order to accept the presidency of the Amer- ican Locomotive Company, which was organized in June, 1901, as a com- bination of several manufacturers of locomotives, including the Schenec- tady, Brooks (Dunkirk, N. Y.), Pittsburgh, and Richmond (Va.) Locomo- tive Works, Dickson Manufacturing Company, Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the International Power Company of Providence, Rhode Island. The company has since acquired the Montreal Locomotive Works, Rogers Locomotive Works, and the American Locomotive Automobile Company. In the manu- facture of railway locomotives, snow-plows, steam-shovels and dredges, it is the leading corporation of the country and is also one of the foremost in the manufacture of automobiles. Mr. Marshall's administration of the company's affairs has been eminently successful. He married Florence Hood Kilpatrick, and has his city residence at 135 Central Park West, and a country place at Barnstable, Massachusetts.
724
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
N IKOLA TESLA, electrical engineer, physicist and inventor, was born in 1857, in Smiljan, Lika, border country of Austria-Hun- gary; the son of a distinguished clergyman and orator, and of Georgiana Mandic, a famous woman and inventor, whose father was also an inventor. His education began in the elementary school of his native place, continued four years in the public school in Gospic, Lika; four years in Lower Real School in Gospic, and three years in Higher Real School, Carlstadt, Croatia, where he was graduated in 1873. Originally destined for the clergy, he prevailed upon his parents to send him to the Polytechnic School in Gratz, where for four years he studied mathematics, physics and mechanics, fol- lowing with two years of philosophical studies at the University of Prague, Bo- hemia. He started on his practical career in 1881, in Budapest, Hungary, where he made his first electrical invention, a telephone re- peater, and conceived the idea of his rotating mag- netic field; thence he went to France and Germany, where he was successively engaged in various branches of engi- neering and manufacture. Since 1884 he has been a NIKOLA TESLA resident of the United States, of which he is a naturalized citizen; and here his subsequent inventions originated.
Mr. Tesla is the author of numerous scientific papers and addresses, and honorary or regular member of many scientific societies, institutions and academies in the United States and abroad; he is a life member of the Brit- ish Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; M.A. of Yale, LL.D. of Columbia, and Doctor
725
NIKOLA TESLA
of Science of the Vienna Polytechnic School, the latter distinction being con- ferred upon him in acknowledgment of his discoveries of the rotating mag- netic field and principles of wireless energy transmission; the Elliott Cresson gold medal was awarded him in recognition of his original work first pre- sented before the Franklin Institute and the National Electric Light Associa- tion in 1883, in which one of the most important chapters was devoted to a description of his wireless method. Mr. Tesla's rank among those who have led in the advance in knowledge and application of electrical forces is among the foremost.
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.