Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 101

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374

USA > New York > Albany County > Landmarks of Albany County, New York > Part 101

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).

161

laer and Courtland streets, since 1891. Mr. Walker in his busy life has little time to devote to political matters, yet he has served five terms as alderman and [is] now a member of the Board of Health. He is of New England ancestry, and his mother was a native of this State. He is a native of Delaware county, born in 1831, and is a son of Horace Walker, also a native of that county and a lumberman on the Dela- ware River in early life. Mr. Walker's early manhood was spent at his birthplace, New Berlin and Utica. He is the father of one son and five daughters. " He is a member of Cohoes Lodge No. 116, F. & A. M., and of Cohoes Chapter R. A. M.

Ball, Dr. Ogilvie D., son of Joseph S. and Freelove (Mitchell) Ball, was born at Schuyler's Lake, Otsego county, February 4, 1840, was graduated from Hartwick Seminary in 1858 and then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York city, where he remained one year. In November, 1861, he entered the U. S. volunteer service as medical cadet, attached the 3d N. Y. Light Artillery, and in 1864 was transferred to the line of the same regiment, becoming regimental quarter- master; later he served in various capacities, being assistant adjutant-general of North Carolina, and was mustered out in August, 1865, with the rank of first lieu- tenant. Returning home he re-entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons and graduated therefrom as M. D. in 1867. He began the practice of medicine at Schenevus, Otsego county, and served as county coroner for three years. He was a member and for one year president of the Otsego County Medical Society. In 1874 he came to Albany, where he has since resided. He joined the Albany County Medical Society in 1874 and has been its censor, vice-president and president. He is a member of the New York State Medical Society and a member and past master of Schenevus Valley Lodge No. 592, F. & A. M. ; he was also for several years con- nected with the Albany Medical College as demonstrator of and adjunct lecturer on anatomy. In 1871 he married Addie Van Derzee, of Trumansburg, N. Y., and they have one daughter, Fannie D. Dr. Ball received the honorary degree of A. M. from Union College in 1376.

Barker, James F., M. D., son of William and Catherine Barker, was born in Sche- nectady, N. Y., July 1, 1851, was graduated from Union College as A. B. in 1874 and as A. M. in 1877, read medicine with Dr. James H. Armsby, of Albany, and graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1877 under the degree of M. D. He began the practice of his profession in Albany the same year in partnership with Dr. Armsby, and since 1879 has continued alone. Dr. Barker is a member and ex-vice-president of the Albany County Medical Society, a member of the New York State Medical Society, a member and senior warden of Masters Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., a member of Capi- tal City Chapter, R. A. M., Temple Commandery, K. T., and the Scottish Rites bodies, a 32d degree Mason: also a member of Cypress Temple, Nobles Mystic Shrine; he is also a member of the Albany Unconditional Club, the Albany Club, and the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, through his great-great-grandfather, Lieut. Walter Switz, on his mother's side. In 1887 he married Miss May E. Evans, of Albany.

Cooper. John L., Dr., son of Jacob L. and Mary J. (Core) Cooper, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., March 17, 1857. He was graduated from the Philadelphia High School in 1874, attended Pierce's Business College and the medical department of

162

the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the latter in 1877, with the degree of M. D. He was resident physician in the Philadelphia Hospital for a short time after graduation and practiced in Philadelphia until 1880, when he came to Albany, where he has since resided. He is a member of the Albany County Medical Society, Masters Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., Capital City Chapter No. 243, R. A. M., De Witt Clinton Council No. 22, R. & S. M., Temple Commandery No. 2, K. T., Cypress Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. November 3, 1880, he married Anna, daugh- ter of Mathew Wallace of Albany, and they have two children: John L. and Eliza- beth W.

Dyer, Zeb A., is a son of David S., a grandson of Bradbury, and a great-grandson or James Dyer, an Albany county farmer and a Revolutionary soldier. His mother was Louisa Bell. The family were early settlers of Berne, Albany county, where Zeb A. Dyer was born December 1, 1860. He received a common school education in that town and in Albany, learned the trade of cigarmaker and was graduated from the Albany State Normal School in 1882. He then taught school in Berne and Guilderland and meantime read law in Albany with John B. O'Malley, and was graduated from the Albany Law School and admitted to the bar in 1885. He at once began active practice in the office of Isben Hess, then collector of internal revenue, and in May, 1893, formed a copartnership with Henry S. McCall, which still continues. He is a leading Democrat, a member of the Democratic General County Committee and has been a delegate to several political conventions, includ- ing the judicial convention of 1891 which nominated Hon. D. Cady Herrick for jus- tice of the Supreme Court. He is a member of Ancient City Lodge, Temple Chap- ter and De Witt Clinton Council of Masons; past noble grand of Friendly Union Lodge No. 381, I. O. O. F., of Slingerlands; a member of New York Encampment, I. O. (). F., and of the Albany Press and Acacia Clubs; and a charter member of the Albany Club. In 1889 he married Jessie L., daughter of John R. Adams, of Delmar, Albany county, and they have one son, John Adams Dyer.

Ecker, Jerome W., descends from one of the early families of the Schoharie valley, one of whom was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war. David Ecker, his father, born in Berne, Albany county, in 1815, was a farmer and died March 17, 1896. His wife, Mary E., daughter of Adam Saddlemire, also born in 1815, died in February, 1892. One of their sons, Miner, enlisted in the 62d N. Y. Vols., and died from dis- case contracted in the service. Jerome W. Ecker, born in Knox, Albany county, July 21, 1847, was educated at the Knox Academy, the Albany State.Normal School and the Fort Edward Institute and was graduated from the Albany Law School and admitted to the bar in February, 1872. He afterward continued his legal studies with Hungerford & Hotaling and since 1877 has been in the active practice of his profession. In October, 1862, he enlisted in Co. G, 172d N. Y. Vols., under Capt. Morgan L. Filkins, and served ten months, participating in the siege of Port Hud- son and the two expeditions to the Amite River. He is past officer in the subordi- nate lodge and encampment of I. O. O. F., member of the Grand Lodge and the daughters of Rebekah, member of Chancellors Lodge No. 58, K. of P., Albany Divi- sion No. 2, Uniformed Rank, K. of P., the Grand Lodge of this order since 1888, and Lewis O. Morris Post No. 121, G. A. R. June 12, 1872, he married Charlotte ()., daughter of Jacob Kniskern of Knox, and they have had six children: Nellie G.,

163

Frederick (died aged nine months), George W. (a student at Rutgers College, class of 1899), Edward, Howard J. and Eva (deceased).

Greene, Dr. Frederick R., son of Warren S. and Celia (Randall) Greene, was born June 8, 1862, in Petersburgh, N. Y. He was educated at the district school in Peters- burgh and at Hoosick Falls Academy, and after reading medicine one year with- Dr. L. B. Newton, of North Bennington, Vt., entered the Albany Medical College in the fall of 1881, graduating in 1884 with the degree of M. D. He practiced in Peters- burgh, N. Y., for a year and a half, and in the fall of 1885 located in Albany, where he is now practicing. Dr. Greene is a member of the Acacia Club, Ancient City Lodge No. 452, F. & A. M., Mountaineer Lodge, I. O. O. F., New York Encamp- ment No. 1, K. P., and the Albany County Medical Society. October 6, 1886, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas R. Blackburn, of Albany, and they have one son, Frederick R., jr.

Hendrick, James, is the son of a Dutch merchant in the West India trade and on his mother's side is of English descent. He was born in Walsall, England. October 10, 1825, was brought to America when five years old, and received a private school education in New York city. He read law in Albany and was admitted to the bar in 1852, but in 1853 became a local insurance agent here, and in 1859 was appointed general agent of the Liverpool & London Insurance Company, which absorbed the Globe Insurance Company in 1864. Mr. Hendrick was general superintendent of the Inland Navigation Department of the Mercantile Marine Insurance Company from 1861 to 1876 and of the same department of the Orient Mutual from 1867 to 1886. He was president of the board of Lake Underwriters, vice-president of the Atlantic Mutual Life of Albany in 1868, president of the Albany City Fire Insurance Company in 1868; has been connected with many industrial, mining and transportation enter- prises as president or trustee; was associated with J. H. Ramsay, J. Pierrepont Morgan and others in the celebrated railroad war between Fisk and Gould of the Erie and the directors of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroads in 1867; was en- gineer and inspector of the Third Division, New York State Militia, from 1853 to 1860; and was a member of the State Board of Charities under Governor Seymour. Has also served as president of the Board of Trade of Albany. Latterly he has con- fined his attention chiefly to his local insurance agency and to his extensive dairy farm and nurseries at Fort Grove, near Albany.

Hungerford, Sidney A., is a member of an old Berne, Albany county, family, the first of whom was John, who came from Connecticut. His father, Alexander Hun- gerford, was born there December 23, 1823, and in 1870 removed to the foot of the Indian Ladder road, in Guilderland, where he still resides. He had twelve children ; Daniel, John V. S., Eleanor C. (Mrs. Isaac B. McNary), Morgan (deceased), Lewis A., Barbara (Mrs. Peter F. Barkhuff), Myron, Sidney A., Isaac, Mary E. (Mrs. Jacob M. Chesbro), Chester and Ira. Sidney A. Hungerford, born in Berne, June 11, 1858, attended the district school, also the old State Normal of Albany, read law with John Folmsbee and later with Hungerford & Hotaling, of Albany, and was admitted to the bar November 23, 1883. Since 1884 he has been engaged in the active practice of his profession, having an office at No. 50 State street. He is an active Democrat, a member of Chancellors Lodge No. 58, K. P., and the K. O. T. M., and councillor

164

of Capital Council, Order of the Chosen Friends. October 28, 1885, he married Eva A., daughter of John Furback, of New Scotland.

Jones, James, is the eldest son of William Jones, born of Welsh parentage in 1816, who came from England to America about 1832 and soon afterward settled in Al- bany, where he died in September, 1889, having long been engaged in the cooperage business. Mr. Jones's mother, Ellen Cahill, of Irish descent, died in 1861, leaving six children. Mr. Jones was born in Albany, July 4, 1839. He received a public school education and while yet a youth became a clerk in the shoe store of George A. Woolverton & Co. In 1873 he acquired a partnership in the firm and in 1883 suc- ceeded to the old firm and has successfully conducted the business alone, carrying on a large wholesale trade at 330 Broadway. July 29, 1875, he married Catherine, daughter of James Dolan of Albany, and their children are James W. and Mary T. M.

La Rose, Anthime Watson, son of Anthime F. and Kate (Kappes) La Rose, of French descent, was born December 6, 1865, in Albany, where his father settled about 1858, coming from Canada. The latter started with his brother Peter the first steamboat (freight) line between Albany and Troy. Mr. La Rose was educated at the Albany Academy and in 1883 engaged in the manufacturing business with his father. He was graduated from the Institute of Technology at Boston in 1888 and then spent a year each with Ogden & Wright, architects, and Sullivan & Ehlers, contractors, of Albany, receiving with the latter practical experience in iron con- struction. January 1, 1890, he opened his present architectural office. Among the many structures designed by him are several fine residences and manufacturing plants and the brew house for the Dobler Brewing Company, recognized as one of the best of its kind in the State. October 16, 1883, he enlisted in Co. D, 10th Bat., N. G. N. Y., was promoted first sergeant October 20, second lieutenant July 10, 1884, and first lieutenant May 30, 1888, and resigned January 19, 1892. September 20, 1892, he was appointed assistant inspector-general with rank of major, which posi- tion he still holds. He is a member of Wadsworth Lodge No. 417, F. & A. M., Temple Chapter No. 5, R. A. M., the Albany Press and Camera Club and the New Manhattan Athletic and United Service Clubs of New York city, and an honorary member of Delta Chapter of the Theta Xi fraternity.

Michel, Fred G., M.D.S., son of Dr. Frederick W. and Saloma (Bergman) Michel, was born in Boonville, N. Y., July 16, 1851, and was educated in the public schools of Utica, where the family settled about 1855. He first learned the trade of manu- facturing jeweler with Jeremiah Gumph of Utica. March 8, 1871, he came to Al- bany and entered the employ of H. G. Gumph, manufacturer of fine tools, with whom he remained until 1883. He then began the study of dentistry with Dr. S. W. Whitney, and in 1889 associated himself with Dr. H. L. Whitbeck. In 1892 he re- ceived the degree of M. D. S., from the State Board of Examiners, and in April, 1893, began the practice of dentistry alone. He is a member of Wadsworth Lodge No. 417, F. & A. M., a charter member of William Macy Lodge No. 93, I. O. O. F., and was a charter member and is past chancellor of Flower Lodge No. 336, K. P., and was a charter member and is now commander of Albany Tent No. 363, K. O. T. M. In 1873 he married Charity, daughter of Alanson Hitchman, of Howe's Cave,

165

N. Y., and they have had two children: Emily and George C., both deceased. Dr. Michel is treasurer and trustee of All Souls Universalist church.

Smith, Dr. Charles H., was born on Madison avenue in Albany, July 14, 1830, and is a son of John and Sarah (Capron) Smith, natives of New England, who came here about 1810. John was a gardener and died about 1842; his wife died in 1881. Dr. Smith read medicine with Dr. Richard H. Thompson (later health officer of the port of New York) and was graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1854. Soon afterward he was appointed resident physician to the Albany County Alms House, where he had charge of the cholera patients during that memorable year. The last case in the institution was his own. After recovering he obtained through Dr. Thompson an appointment as physician and surgeon on Marshall O. Roberts' steam- ship line from New York to Havana, New Orleans and Aspinwall. He continued in this capacity for four years, acquiring a large experience in the treatment of yellow and other southern fevers, and returning to Albany in 1859 he has since practiced his profession. In 1864 and 1865 he was acting assistant surgeon in the Ira Harris U. S. General Hospital, located at the old barracks in Albany county. In 1859 he opened a drug store, which he has since continued, and which has been located at 246 Washington avenue since 1866. Dr. Smith has been a member of the Albany County Medical Society since about 1855, was president of the Albany County Phar- maceutical Association at one time, has served in the old volunteer fire department, and in Co. F, 10th Battalion, N. Y. N. G., was supervisor of Thirteenth ward for six terms, and was president of the Albany Business Men's Association for one year. He is now serving his third year as a member of the Albany Board of Health. In 1867 he married Lucy, daughter of John Blair of Albany, and they have four chil- dren: Dr. James E., a graduate of the Albany Academy and the Albany Medical College, inspector of rifle practice in the Tenth Battalion, and a practicing physician with his father; Lucy E., a graduate of the Albany Female Academy, the Albany State Normal College, and the Woman's College of Baltimore, Md .; Charles H., jr., a student of pharmacy associated with his father: and Charlotta J., a student at the Woman's College of Baltimore.

Toedt, Emanuel B., son of John C., was born in New York city, October 22, 1857, and was prepared for college, but in 1873 entered the New York office of Fairbanks & Co., where he remained eight years. He has ever since been connected with this well-known firm, rising from the humblest to a high post in their employ. In 1880 he came to Albany to take charge of their books and in 1882 was made manager of this branch, which position he still holds. The business of the Albany house was comparatively small when Mr. Toedt assumed charge, but he has successfully in- creased it eightfold. Since 1890 it has been conducted under the name of the Fair- banks Company, incorporated. This is the largest scale and mill, factory and rail- road supply business in this section of the State, and its growth and prosperity are largely due to Mr. Toedt's able management. He is a member of the Fort Orange Club and an associate member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. In February, 1889, he married Miss Lucy, daughter of Samuel M. Van Santvoord of Albany, and they have one daughter, Marian Van Santvoord Toedt.

Whitbeck, Theodore H., D. D. S., of Holland Dutch descent, is a member of an early Coeymans, Albany county, family, the first of whom was Thomas Whitbeck

166

and his son John T. Thomas, son of John T., married Rachel A. Garrett and they were the parents of Dr. Whitbeck, who was born near Coeymans, March 31, 1869. The latter was educated in the public schools and under private tutelage, studied dentistry with his brother, Dr. Henry L. of Albany, and received the degree of D. D. S. from the dental department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1891. Since then he has been engaged in the active practice of his profession in Albany. Hle is a member of the Third District Dental Society and of the Albany Press Club. He is also a knight of the Essenic order.

Walker, John M., descends from the Walker and Burt families, early settlers of New England, son of Samuel and Mary (Burt) Walker, born in Springfield, Mass., June 27, 1838. He was educated at the Springfield Academy and in April, 1861, en - listed on the first call for troops, in Co. F, 2d Conn. Vols., for three months. He continued in the service until the war closed as United States inspector of contract arms, under the War Department, and in 1865 became a traveling salesman for Milton, Bradley & Co., publishers, of Springfield, Mass., with whom he remained until January, 1874, when he came to Albany. In November, 1875, he founded the present business of the Hudson Valley Paper Company, and in 1876 Andrew B. Jones became his partner. They do an extensive wholesale business in paper, sta- tionery and printers' supplies. Mr. Walker is a Republican and a member of George Dawson Post No. 63, G. A. R. In January, 1879, he married Lucy P., daughter of Charles C. Russ of Albany.

Balch, Lewis, M. D., Ph. D., of English and French ancestry, and eldest son of Rev. Lewis P. W. Balch, D. D., and Anna Jay, was born in New York city July 7, 1847. His father, born in Leesburg, Va., in 1810, died in Detroit, Mich., while rector of Grace Episcopal church, in 1874, was for three years a cadet at West Point, was educated at Princeton College, and for fifteen years was secretary of the House of Bishops of the United States. His grandfather, Hon. Lewis P. W. Balch, of Lee- town, Va., was a volunteer at Fort McHenry in the war of 1812, and afterward a United States judge, and was the son of Rev. Stephen Bloomer Balch, born in 1746, a graduate of Princeton College in 1774, pastor of a church at Georgetown, D. C., and died in 1833. Dr. Balch's mother was a daughter of Hor. William Jay, the second son of John Jay, and a judge of Westchester county, N. Y., one of the founders of the American Bible Society, and a prominent anti-slavery advocate and died October 14, 1858. John Jay was the first chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, governor and chief justice of New York, minister to Spain, and a celebrated factor in national history. Dr. Balch was educated at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore, the Berkely Institute in Newport, R. I., the Vermont Episcopal Institute in Burling- ton, and the medical department of McGill University at Montreal. He was grad- uated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city in March, 1870, served at different times in the Montreal General Hospital, the old New York Hos- pital on Broadway, the Children's Hospital on Ward's Island, and the Brooklyn City Hospital, and began practice in New York, where he was appointed attending sur- geon to the Northern Dispensary. In 1873 he came to Albany, where he has since resided and practiced medicine. He has been attending surgeon to St. Peter's Hos- pital and the Albany City Hospital and surgeon to the Child's Hospital and the Hom- oeopathic Hospital. In 1876, on the reorganization of the Albany Medical College,

167

he was appointed professor of anatomy in that institution. He was appointed by Hon. A. B. Banks a district physician, city physician, and health officer of Albany, and became secretary of the State Board of Health in 1886. Soon after his gradua- tion he entered service in the National Guard and was promoted to the post of sur- geon. In 1870 he married Miss Jane B. Swann, a niece of Governor Swann,¿of Maryland, and they have one son, born in 1872.

Cook, Hon. John T., was born in Albany, February 22, 1854, and is the eldest child of John and Martha Cook. His father, a native of Boston, Lincolnshire, Eng- land, came to this country and settled in Albany in 1848. John T. Cook was edu- cated at the public schools of his native city and in the autumn of 1868 entered the "Albany Free Academy,' now Albany High School, where he remained about a year. After learning a trade he, in 1876, entered the office of Smith, Bancroft & Moak as a clerk and student at law and prosecuted his studies until 1879, when he was admitted to the bar at the January term of the Supreme Court. He remained with Smith, Moak & Buchanan, the survivors of the old firm, until the spring of 1884, when he established an office for the general practice of his profession. He has edited the "Eastern Reporter" and "English Reports," and in connection with Irving Browne, then editor of the Albany Law Jouraal, he engaged in preparing Weed, Parsons & Co's. edition of the reprint of the New York Court of Appeals Re- ports, which is still under his charge. His annotated edition of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure of New York State is held in high estimation by the legal profession. The Albany Law Journal says: "Mr. Cook is one of the most ex- perienced, industrious, and capable law editors in this country and in these two vol- umes gives admirable evidence of comprehensive research and accurate discrimina- tion." He has a choice library containing 2,000 volumes, besides a select private collection of books on general literature. Mr. Cook is the present assistant district attorney of Albany county. and in 1894 represented the Seventeenth ward in the Common Council of 1894-96.

Eaton, James Webster, son of James W. Eaton, was born in Albany, May 14, 1856. His lineage is traced to John and Anne Eaton, who in 1634 settled in Salisbury and afterward in Haverhill, Mass., where the family lived for several generations. John Eaton was a soldier in the settlement of Haverhill. Ebenezer Eaton, the great- grandfather of James Webster Eaton, served in the Revolutionary war under his brother, Capt. Timothy Eaton. James W. Eaton was graduated from the Albany Boys' Academy in 1875 and from Yale University in 1879; in the latter year he be- gan the study of law in Columbia Law School, which he left in May, 1880, to become professor of Latin in the Albany Boys' Academy, which position he held until his admission to the bar in 1882. In 1883 Mr. Eaton formed a copartnership with George W. Kirchwey, a former Yale classmate, which continued until July, 1891. In the following autumn he was nominated by the Democrats and elected district attorney of Albany county and held that office until January 1, 1895. He has been instructor in the department of evidence and contracts of the Albany Law School for some years, and is engaged in active practice at the bar of his native city. As a lawyer he is strong in argument, candid and successful; he is strong at nisi prius, still stronger before the court in banc. It is said that in some respects his characteristics resemble those of the late Judge Ambrose Spencer. He is a member of Masters

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.

Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 101

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1374

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374