USA > New York > Kings County > Gravesend > History of the town of Gravesend, N.Y. > Part 12
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Those who have known Mr. MeKane longest and best ca :.- not fail to notice that courage and perseverance are also marked traits of his character. When once convinced that a certain course of action is right and in the line of duty. he does not hesitate to advance ou that line in spite of politi- cal opposition, and the probability of making political ene- mies. We can say of him what we wish could be sail of every public man. he is not afraid to do right. We fully believe him incapable of political intrigue, bribery or fraud.
He has nipped in the bud many a couspiracy to violate th- law. and has spoiled many a little scheme of the gamblin,; fraternity at Coney Island, which, if he had been willing to pass uunoticed, would have brought him no small gain, But he would spurn wealth that must be gainel in this way, at the expense of his houor. His physical courage is as marked as his moral: no threats of political destruction or physical violence deter him, for a moment, as chief of po- lice, from bringing the strong hand of the law to bear upon every form of iniquity which is properly brought to his no- tice. He also generally accomplishes what he undertakes. His perseverance is such as to overcome all obstacles iu his way. To this is owing, in no small degree, his rapid rise from the humble position of his childhood, to the highest honors in the gift of his fellow-townsmen.
But above all else, stands the modesty and grace of a Christian character. The demands which his position make upon him every day in the week, reuder it specially difficult to live in strict observance of all religious duties, as would be most congenial to him if he were master of his own time: but, in all his busy life as a master builder, he has made it a point never to yield to the many solicitations to do business on the Sabbath. That day, he has said, should be reserved for his own personal duties, aud as a day of rest.
He is also tender-hearted, and generous to a fault. We venture to say that he fills to-day more official positions than any other man in Kings Co. The present County Board of Supervisors have proved their confidence in him by electin. him president pro tem. of their honorable body: and. indeed. he seems to have been the only man in the Board upon whom both political parties were willing to unite.
His official life has been untarnished, and his private life above reproach. We do not for a moment suppose him to be above all the mistakes and frailties of human nature That he has done some things in public and private life which he regrets we have no doubt, but, as a public mat. we believe him to be honestly striving to do bis duty; and in his most trying position we believe no man could do bet- ter, or more wisely administer the responsible trust cor - ferred upon him by his fellow-citizens."
John y d'une
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BIOGRAPHY OF EDWARD RIDLEY.
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EDWARD RIDLEY .- The life and career of Mr. Rid- ley is an example of what may be attained by a well- balanced, vigorous mind, united with enterprise, en- ergy, industry and integrity ; characteristics which form the character of a successful merchant, and which, if possessed by a young man in the beginning of his business career, are equivalent to wealth, for they are sure to bring wealth. A discriminating writer has said, "Love of business, and capacity to conduct business, stand next to affluence."
These qualities entered largely into the character of Mr. Ridley-a character which needs no eulogistic lan- guage to array it for publication; for it is its own eulo- gist, speaking from a conspicuous position founded on a well-spent life. It would, therefore, be injured by any words of adulation.
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But a virtuous life demands our reverence; public and private worth, our admiration; long and practical usefulness, our gratitude; therefore, in referring to one whose life fairly elicits these sentiments, it is an act of justice to conscientiously and honestly speak of him as those who knew him best would and do speak. If he possessed rare, commendable, or even brilliant endow- ments, it is not adulation or undne eulogy, in writing his memoir, to give him all the credit they deserve; it is but speaking the language of truth and soberness.
This leads us to say that Mr. Ridley's character as disclosed in the record of his life, may be described as follows, and we believe all who knew him will say it is a true mental portrait of him.
His moral and intellectual qualities were in harmony; his principles commanded the respect of the great com- mercial community in which he lived; his private vir- tues attracted the affection and regard of his friends. He was modest, claimed no merit, assumed no import- ance and never alluded to the wealth he had acquired. He was charitable, not impulsively bestowing his means without discrimination, but with judicious selection, and from a sense of duty. His economy was exact, but liberal; the recipients of his bounty were numerous. He had a high sense of justice, and the elaims of hil- manity. His religion was a part of his being, and dis- played itself in the uniform tenor of his life. He acted under the habitual conviction of accountability; his feelings were always under the control of his will, hence he was never guilty of those extravagauces of conduct which too often mar the career of men in conspicuous positions.
He was tenacious in his friendships-equally so, we believe, in his emnities. Having onee had good cause to doubt a man's sincerity or integrity, he never after fully trusted him. His disposition was cheerful-his conversation instructive and entertaining. Whatever were his faults-for he was human and, of course, pos- sessed the weaknesses and frailties of human nature- they were overshadowed by his virtues.
naturally to the detail of business as he did ; few men were more evenly balanced or self-controlled under the sudden emergencies and vicissitudes of the commercial world than ho; if the tide was against him, he breasted it courageously and hopefully ; if in his favor, he was calm and complaisant.
Such we believe to be the characteristics of Edward Ridley; given without embellishment, with rigid adhe- rence to truth. It will now be our pleasant duty to briefly trace his life and career from its beginning to the time when summoned by death to the unseen world.
HIe was born in Leicester, England, in the year 1916, and was a lineal deseendant of Bishop Ridley, who, with his brother-martyr Latimer, suffered at the stake for his inflexible adherence to those principles which. his conscience assured him were right.
Mr. Ridley's father was James Mosley Ridley, gen- tleman; held in high esteem for those inbred qualities that qualified him for the respectable position he held in the place of his nativity, that of an accomplished English gentleman. Among his most intimate friends was Sir Edward Wilde, so well known in the English history of that day.
llis mother was a lady, in every respect qualifiedl for the wife of a man like James Ridley.
As Mr. Ridley desired his son to enter the legal pro- fession, he was carefully educated, and taught those religious principles which imbued his whole life. As his father was a member of the Church of England, he was reared under the teachings of that church.
There was much in the youth of young Ridley that gave indication of future eminence; but, as he advanced in years it became apparent that the tendencies of his mind were leading him to the ealling of a merchant. and not to the bar. Still, he was a constant and an appreciative student, devoting his leisure hours tu books.
With considerable reluctance his father assented to his choice of business; and, according to the custom of England, he was apprenticed to a highly respectable merchant. Having completed his mercantile education, he began business in his native town under prosperous circumstances; but, by the failure of business hous .- whose paper he had endorsed to a large extent, he was obliged to suspend. After honorably settling with bis creditors, with the means he had left, he emigrated to this country and became a resident of Albany.
Here he began business as a dry goods merchant. attaining such success that he was enabled to establish a branch at Saratoga. Ile was then but 30 years of age, and the management of these two concerns was a severe test upon his business ability. But he.was equal to the emergency, and success attended both houses. At length his enterprising spirit undneed hita to lo kk for a more extended field of exertion, dressing it- Few men ever assimilated themselves so easily and l'attention to the City of New York, that metroge is
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF GRAVESEND.
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which, while it affords great facilities for amassing wealth, presents gigantic difficulties in doing so.
Accordingly he drew his business at Albany and Sıratoga to a close, and early in the year 1849, became a competitor for commercial prosperity and wealth in New York. IIe entered upon his career in a careful and unpretending way, in Grand street. His store, when first opened, was 12x30 feet in extent; but his business gradually increased from this small beginning to be the most extensive and successful in the city.
It would be the work of supererogation to describe in detail his mercantile career. That he attained dis- tinguished success and great wealth by his sugular business accomplishments and honorable dealing, suc- cinctly describes it. It may not, however, be improper to add that the establishment of which Mr. Ridley was at the head at the time of his death, occupies four and one-half acres of ground, bounded by Grand, Allen and Orchard streets, and that in it 1,700 persons found and still find employment.
In 1879, Mr. Ridley returned to England for the pur- pose of discharging some debts which he left when he came to this country. The fidelity to conscience which governed him in the payment of those debts most truth- fully describes his real character. It is not strange that such a man should become an ornament to the merean- tile world, a stalwart pillar in the business fabric of the metropolis.
Mr. Ridley was twice married; first to Miss Elizabeth Smith, of Leicester, England, Oct. 23d, 1837. There were born to this marriage five children, three sons and two daughters-James Mosley, Albert and Arthur John, Fannie Louise, and Emma Elizabeth, all of whom are living except James M., who died several years ago. His two sons, Albert and Arthur, were his partners under the firm name and style of "EDWARD RIDLEY & SONS." The latter continue the business.
Mr. Ridley's first wife died in 1863. In Jannary, 1865, Mr. Ridley was united by marriage to Caroline Wilhelmina Yevance, of Philadelphia. His marriage relations appear to have been happy.
Most of the time during his second marriage, Mr. Ridley was subject to attacks of that fatal disease, apoplexy, which finally terminated his life; and it was only by the most tender care, faithful and untiring watchfulness, that the fatal stroke was so long averted.
To his second marriage there was born one daughter, Clara W. Ridley, born July 25th, 1867, a young lady of inany accomplishments, most tenderly attached to her father, an attachment which was mintual.
In his cirele of home life Mr. Ridley was chivalric in devotion and inexhaustible in affection. His elegant home at Gravesend was a pleasing retreat from the wearing eares and labors of Grand street. This had been his home for over seventeen years; a home built and furnished, its grounds beautified under the superin- i tribute paid to his memory by another.
tendence of Mrs. Ridley, with special regard to his health and comfort.
He usually reached his store about eleven o'clock in the forenoon; leaving it at six P. M. in his carriage. After the opening of the great bridge he crossed it every day, morning and evening, down to about the time of his death, reaching his home after a drive of over seven miles. As he left all the cares and responsibil- ities of his business in Grand street, his home to him was like another world-a world of peace, quiet and rest, and we may well say of happiness. Here he found time to study the contents of a library which he had collected with the judgment and taste of a scholar.
The discipline of his early education, ripened by con- tact with the world, rendered him an appreciative and critical reader of books. Not long after he came to this country, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, sincerely attached to it by conviction but withont big- otry in head or heart.
In 1874 he was ordained a minister in that church, but his ministrations seem to have been confined, espe- cially during the absence of the pastor, to the church at Parkville, of which he was a member and the princi- pal founder. He occupied its pulpit on the Sunday before his death, and preached for nearly an hour with great earnestness and much interest to his auditors.
He was one of the most industrious of men; would leave his business in New York, and return to his home; and, after a pleasant reunion with his family, he would seek his study, where he often remained engaged until a late hour.
He was fond of music, especially sacred music. Every evening, before his family retired, with the accustomed family worship, he would unite with them in singing his favorite hymn-"Nearer my God to thee." This was repeated on the night in which, before the dawning of another day, he saw the last of earth, with singular solemnity and with something of a pre- monition of the sad event so soon to follow.
Mr. Ridley's death was very sudden and unexpected. On Monday afternoon he left Grand street, at the usual hour, for his home, apparently in his usual health. After spending the evening with his family, he retired. He remained in bed a half hour, when he arose, as Mrs. Ridley believed, for some purpose connected with his library, as he occasionally did. A brief time elapsed, when she was startled by his groans; she hastened to him, reaching him only in time to listen to the ntter- ance of a few affectionate parting sentences, and to his declaration that he was dying.
It needs no words of ours to describe, if we could, the bitter anguish that thus suddenly fell upon this happy household.
Thus lived and thus died Edward Ridley. We can- uot conclude our sketch of him in more appropriate language than that contained in the following beautiful
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RESIDENCE OF THE LATE EDWARD RIDLEY.
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RESIDENCE OF THE LATE EDWARD RIDLEY.
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WILLIAM H. STILL WELL.
" He had none of the pride of wealth or the arrogance of aristocracy; though giving largely to the church he never did so in a manner to inspire thoughts that he considered himself above others. During the many years that he passed at Gravesend, he never departed from his charming Christian simplicity; and, by everyone who knew him, he was looked up to more for his many virtues than his great riches. Even in matters of im- portance he was inclined rather to have others express their will than insist upon his own opinion. To his sons he has left an inheritance in his example of a good life, far richer and better than the munificent behests they received from him."
WILLIAM H. STILLWELL, a lineal descendant, in the eighth generation, of Nicholas Stillwell, the emigrant of 1638, was born at Gravesend, L. I., June 28, 1832, where he received such elementary education as the district-school there then afforded. At the age of nineteen. he accepted a position as teacher of the district-school at Grassy Pond, Queens County, and, in succession, in the schools at Gravesend Neck and Gravesend Village. Having taught himself the elements of land-surveying, he gradually worked himself into a consider- able practice as a land-surveyor. This extended, in time, till he came to be recognized as an authority on matters con- nected with his profession. Elected by his neighbors to the position of Justice of the Peace, for several successive terms, he left that office with a clear record as an upright, honest, fearless official. In 1857 he was chosen as clerk at the Alms- house department, which position he filled for seven years, during which time it was his province to examine and andit all bills, which amounted to some three hundred thousand dollars per annum in value; and, on his retirement, his em- płoyers unanimously gave him a certificate in which they bear witness to his fidelity to his trust, by saying that his ac- counts were " invariably correct in every respect." He next built and established a grocery store at Unionville, which he kept with moderate success for a year or more. During all this while, he occupied his leisure moments in studying law under the general direction of Hon. Philip S. Crooke, and for which his term of service as Justice bad given him a de- cided taste. Having been admitted to practice he removed to Brooklyn, and there opened an office. He has been en-
WILLIAM H. STILLWELL.
gaged in various matters of local enterprise, notably the pur- chase of the Manhattan Beach property, and perfecting the title thereto. In 1874, he accepted a position in the Corbin Banking Company's office, No. 61 Broadway, New York, where he remained for four years ; when he exchanged it for a better position with William A. Engeman, on Coney Is- land ; retaining, however, his Brooklyn office. His chief characteristic-unflinching honesty and integrity-has won him hosts of friends, while his intimate knowledge of all matters pertaining to real-estate in Gravesend, make his ser- vices much sought after by those who are interested. He is pleasant and social, yet domestic troubles have caused him to prefer solitude. His genealogical notes on the family whose name he bears, attest his aptitude for close, diligent, painstaking attention to details and office work. He has. also, in manuscript, a nearly completed History of Coney Island, of great antiquarian research and historical merit ; of which the editor of this work has, by his kind permission, largely availed himself, and which, we trust, will be pub- lished, at no distant day.
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