Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 67

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 67

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Dr. Van Rensselaer, at an early age, was placed in the State Normal School at Albany and later in the Albany Academy. In these two institutions he developed a deep love for the pursuit of knowledge and won a warm place in the affections of his teachers and companions. After leaving the academy he spent three years in a pri- vate boarding school in Catskill and six years in St. Paul's School at Concord, N. H., where he gave special attention to scientific study, and where he took a yearly testi- monial for high standing, two literary prizes, and the school medal, the highest honor given by that institution. There he also took an active part in athletics, be-

HOWARD VAN RENSSELAER, M. D.

ing president of the Athletic Association and stroke in the successful school crew. He was graduated with the degree of Ph. B. from Yale Scientific School in 1881, and also spent some time in the Yale Art School, taking a literary prize. At both Yale and St. Paul's he made records in walking contests.

Having completed his literary studies he immediately entered the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons of New York City and received the degree of M. D. in 1884. He became an assistant in the Chambers Street Hospital and a student in a post-gradu- ate medical school, and on competitive examination secured a post as interne in the in the New York Hospital, where he remained eighteen months. The years 1887 and 1888 he spent in Europe, where he studied in the hospitals of Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Munich, London, Edinburgh, and other cities, and also visited the noted art galleries of the Old World. Returning to America in February, 1889, he began the active practice of his profession in Albany and was at once appointed visiting physician at St. Peter's Hospital and attending physician at the dispensary of the Child's Hospital. In the following autumn he became instructor in nervous diseases and diseases of the chest at the Albany Medical College, and in December was made attending physician to the Hospital for Incurables. In January, 1890, he was elected visiting physician to the Home of the Friendless and in June was called as lecturer on materia medica at the Medical College. In 1891 he was appointed lecturer on diseases of the heart and lungs in the Albany Medical College. In 1892 he was chosen editor of the Albany Medical Annals. In 1893 he was elected attending physician in the City Hospital, and was also made president of the Country Club. In 1894 he was appointed associate professor of materia medica in the Medical Col- lege. In 1895 he was elected as State medical examiner for the Civil Service Com- mission. In 1896 he was promoted to the associate professorship on thereapeutics, and was also made associate professor on general medicine in the Albany Medical College.

Dr. Van Rensselaer, besides visiting and studying abroad, has traveled exten- sively on the American continent, and possesses an interesting fund of reminiscence and learning. He is a member of the Fort Orange Club, the Albany County Club, the Calumet Club of New York, and the Berzelius Society of Yale Scientific School.

ANTHONY N. BRADY.

ANTHONY N. BRADY. who for many years has been prominently identified with various gas and electric street railway enterprises of the State, was born, a son of Nicholas and Helen (Malone) Brady, in Lille, France, August 22, 1843, and came with his mother to this country in 1845, settling in Troy, N. Y., where he received a thorough public school education. He first engaged in the tea business in Albany, Troy and Cohoes, and subsequently became a contractor in all kinds of work, executing among his numerous contracts the stone work of the Hawk street viaduct in Albany:

In 1885 Mr. Brady became interested in the gas business and later in electric street railway enterprises, and since then he has been actively and prominently con- nected with various large corporations of this character. These enterprises are

associated with the progress and development of a number of the chief cities of the Empire State. He is president of the Municipal Gas Company of Albany, vice- president of the Albany and Troy City Railway Companies, and a director in several other gas and electric street railway corporations operating in the States of New York, Indiana, Rhode Island and Illinois. He is also a director in the Commercial National Bank of Albany, and served that city for several years as a fire commis- sioner, being first appointed by Mayor Nolan. He is a member of the Albany and Fort Orange Clubs of Albany and of the Manhattan and New Club, the Downtown Association, and the Fifth Avenue Democratic Club of New York city. He has never sought publie preferment, but has always taken a lively interest in every movement affecting the general welfare and advancement.

Mr. Brady was married in 1866 to Miss Marcia A., daughter of Harmon Myers, of Bennington, Vt. They are the parents of six children, and reside in Albany.

JOHN A. DELEHANTY.

JOHN A. DELEHANTY was born in Albany, N. Y., May 18, 1857, and received his earlier education in the public schools and Free Academy of his native city. He was graduated with honor from Union College in 1877, read law in the office of Hon. Simon W. Rosendale, ex-attorney general, and was admitted to the bar in Septem . ber, 1879, when he at once began the active practice of his profession. In 1881 he was appointed assistant district attorney of Albany county by District Attorney D. Cady Herrick, and held that position until Judge Herrick became corporation coun- sel of the city of Albany in May, 1886, when he resigned to accept the appointment of assistant corporation counsel under Mr. Herrick. Upon Judge Herrick's elevation to the Supreme Court bench on January 1, 1892, Mr. Delehanty succeeded him as corporation counsel, and continued in that capacity until May 1, 1894. He was appointed corporation counsel January 1, 1896, and is the present incumbent of the office.

The office of corporation counsel is perhaps the most important and responsible position connected with a municipal government, as the incumbent of the office is not only required to represent the corporation in all litigation in which it is interested, but the relations between the various departments are determined and regulated under his advice and direction. The subject of reform in the method of governing municipal corporations which is now attracting such widespread attention is a prob- lem, to which Mr. Delehanty has devoted much time and study. His experience has made him a firm believer in and advocate of the theory that the most businesslike administration of city affairs depends upon the concentration of the exclusive power of appointment of all subordinate officers in the chief executive, thus imposing responsibility where it rightfully belongs. With this idea in view during his connec- tion with the city government he has been instrumental in effecting legislation which has entrusted such power in the mayor of Albany to a greater extent perhaps than in any other city in the State of New York; in fact it now applies to almost every de- partment of the city government. He is also the author of a proposed charter for a city government which follows this doctrine to its fullest extent and provides for de-

JOHN A. DELEHANTY.

JAMES M. BORTHWICK.

partments each under the management of a single individual instead of boards and commissions as now generally administered. Although the measure has not as yet become a law, the plan proposed has received favorable comment from students of municipal reform, who are of the opinion that it will in a great measure solve this much vexed question. The commissions appointed by Governor Morton to report uniform charters for cities of the second and third class have reported proposed charters, based upon the plan which Mr. Delehanty devised incorporating therein many sections of his proposed charter in their entirety without change of language.

During the administration of the office of corporation counsel by Mr. Delehanty the city has been unusually successful in its litigations. His great experience in corporation law has been valuable and useful in his private practice, and he has been successful in a large number of cases involving intricate points of municipal law.

Mr. Delehanty is a member of the Fort Orange and Albany Clubs, and takes an active interest in the welfare of his native city. He was married in 1884 to a daugh- ter of the late Hon. Daniel Manning of Albany, and they have two children: Mar- garet Manning Delehanty and Raymond Manning Delehanty.

JAMES M. BORTHWICK.

JAMES M. BORTHWICK, son of William D. and Maria (Russell) Borthwick, was born on a farm in Broome, Schoharie county, January 29, 1849, was educated in the com- mon schools and when seventeen began teaching a district school, an occupation he followed winters until 1874. In 1875 he engaged in mercantile business in Hunters- land, N. Y., and continued until the spring of 1877, having for one year Holmes Wiltsie as a partner. Selling out he became a clerk for G. B. Russell at Clarksville, Albany county, one year and then spent two years on the farm and two years as a general merchant at South Berne.

In 1882 he came to Albany and, forming a partnership with George B. Russell, engaged in the grocery, flour and feed business. Five years later he sold out to Mr. Russell and went to Coeymans Junction (now Ravena) as a general merchant, being also postmaster. In 1890 he sold out to Bentley & Shultes, and for a short time en- gaged in real estate operations. Returning to Albany in September, 1890, he became proprietor of the Pearl Street House, which he sold in 1891 to John G. Myers. On May 1, 1891, he became proprietor of the Kimball House on Washington Avenue, which he has since conducted.

He has always been an active Republican, a delegate to several political conven- tions, and in 1895 was elected county clerk of Albany county, over Joslyn Nodine, receiving the largest majority (1,032) of any man on the ticket. He is a member of Middleburg Lodge No. 663, F. & A. M., Capital City Chapter No. 242, R. A. M., De Witt Clinton Council No. 22, R. & S. M., Temple Commandery No. 2, K. T., Cyprus Temple, N. O. M. S., and the Republican Unconditional Club and was some time a member of the Jackson Corps.

In 1869 he married Charity, daughter of Cook Sisson, of Huntersland, Schoharie county, and they have two children: Acton S. and Blanche M.

JOSIAH G. ROOT.

JOSIAH GOODRICH ROOT, manufacturer, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., May 28, 1801. He was descended from an old Northamptonshire (England) family. His father being a farmer, the boy worked on the farm in the intervals of attendance at the town schools. At this period Pittsfield was becoming a home of woolen manu- facture, looms for the making of broadcloth having been set up there in 1804. Mr. Root entered one of these mills and soon acquiring a practical knowledge of the business he started for himself, setting up a small mill for dyeing and finishing goods. When wool spinning and weaving were transferred from the homes of the people to large establishments, Mr. Root devoted himself to setting up machinery and starting mills for other parties.

In 1833 he was employed to set up the machinery of a new woolen mill at Water- vliet, N. Y., of which he became manager, operating it with success for the next three years. This was the nucleus of the extensive establishment of James Roy & Co. In 1836 Stephen Van Rensselaer of Albany, the patroon, who had been running flour mills, desired to engage, instead, in woolen manufacture, and built the Tivoli Mills, engaging Mr. Root as manager, a position the latter continued to hold until 1839, when he became proprietor. For sixteen years thereafter he was well known as a woolen manufacturer. Then the city of Albany purchased the control of the water of the patroon's creek for the purpose of supplying the city of Albany with pure water, and this necessitated the closing of his mills.

He purchased the hosiery business and machinery of Thomas Fowler, at Cohoes, about the same time and became the largest manufacturer of knit underwear in the United States. He made many improvements in this manufacture by the introduc- tion of new machinery, and about 1859 erected a new and larger building, called the Tivoli Knitting Mills, one of the best appointed in the country, and received his sons, Andrew J. and Samuel G., into partnership under the firm name of J. G. Root & Sons. In 1869 the senior partner retired, the business being thereafter continued under the firm name of J. G. Root's Sons. Samuel Gilbert Root, the elder son, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., June 26, 1826, and Andrew Josiah Root, the younger, in Albany, January 12, 1834.

The panic of 1857 caused a general stoppage of the cotton and hosiery mills at Cohoes, but only for two weeks. In 1874 the firm suffered a loss of nearly $200,000, as well as a grave interruption of their business by the complete destruction of their mills by fire. This fire occurred when the operatives, about 350 in number, were all at work, but fortunately the fire escapes proved entirely adequate, and no employee was in any way injured. A new building was immediately erected, called like its predecessor, the Tivoli Hosiery Mill. It was built in the most substantial manner, provided with every reasonable safeguard in case of fire, and furnished with all the improved appliances for heat, light and ventilation.

January 1, 1875, the concern was reorganized as a corporation under the name of the Root Manufacturing Company, with Josiah G. Root president; Andrew J. Root, treasurer and general manager; Samuel G. Root, superintendent; George Water- man, jr., secretary. New facilities have since been added through the purchase of the Mohawk mill.

The subject of this sketch established, in 1859, the bank which is now the National Bank of Cohoes; he was one of the original directors and afterwards vice-president and acting president. He enjoyed in the highest degree the respect of the com- munity in which he resided. Josiah G. Root died February 2, 1883.

In 1881 S. G. Root withdrew and A. J. Root succeeded to the entire business, which has since been again enlarged by the addition of another mill to the plant, making in all three mills with an annual production of $1,000,000, and giving em- ployment to 550 operatives. The Root Manufacturing Company manufactures ex- tensively the famous "Tivoli Standard" all wool and merino knit underwear, which is unrivalled for quality, finish, durability and uniform excellence, and has no superior in the American or European markets. The present officers of the company are Andrew J. Root, president and treasurer; Charles H. Douglas, secretary ; Charles F. Root, superintendent.

JACOB H. CLUTE.

JUDGE JACOB H. CLUTE was born in the town of Guilderland, Albany county, N. Y., March 16, 1827, and is descended from Holland Dutch stock. The Clutes are a very old Albany county family. Mr. Clute has always been a resident of Albany county ex- cept for a period of six months, when he was about nine years of age, during which time his parents lived in the town of Rotterdam, Schenectady county. He was born on a farm and has always retained his affection for the life of the agriculturist. He still has a well kept farm within a mile of his birthplace where he spends a portion of his time. Until he was fourteen years of age he attended the district school of his town and then went to Schenectady where he entered the old Schenectady Lyceum, an advanced grammar school At the age of sixteen he began to teach school and study law.

He early displayed that aptitude for the law which has characterized his whole professional career and long before he was old enough to be formally admitted to the bar was winning suits in the justices courts. In 1851 he was admitted, and in De- cember of that year opened a law office in Blunts building, now the Globe Hotel. From that time to the present he has steadily built up a large practice and has won for himself an enviable reputation at the Albany county bar.

In 1863 he received the nomination for county judge and was elected by a flatter- ing majority. Four years later, when his term expired, his ability and integrity up- on the bench were recognized by his fellow citizens, and he was again elected for another term of four years. After his second term expired Judge Clute confined himself to the practice of his profession and although numerous nominations were within his reach he steadily declined them. He has always been an earnest and re- liable adherent to Democracy and has done appreciative service for the party. In 1889 he was again nominated and elected to be judge of Albany county for a term of six years, which term expired in 1895. He has been a familiar figure in various National, State and county conventions.

He has a pleasant city home as well as one in the country. Few men are better known or more highly respected. Since his third term as county judge, Judge Clute has attended strictly to the practice of his profession in his office in the Tweddle

building. In April, 1896, he formed a partnership with Robert H. McCormic, jr., under the firm name of Clute & McCormic.

RICHARD W. BRASS.

RICHARD W. BRASS, son of Charles W. and Anna (Bay) Brass, was born in Brook- lyn, N. Y., January 28, 1861. His father, a native of Bremen, Germany, engaged in mercantile business in New York city and died in Brooklyn in April, 1863, aged forty-six. In 1869 his widow moved with the family to Binghamton, N. Y., where and in Munich, Germany (where they lived from 1863 to 1868), Richard W. received his education.

Mrs. Anna Brass was a daughter of Dr. John W. Bay and a granddaughter of Dr. William Bay, both prominent Albany physicians. His maternal great-great-grand- father was Dr. Samuel Stringer, also a noted Albany physician, who was held in high repute in the British army and later in the American Revolution. In 1775 Dr. Stringer was a member of the Albany Committee of Safety and was subsequently appointed by Congress director-general of hospitals in the Northern Department, and accompanied the troops to Canada. He was a charter member of Masters Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., Albany, and its master from 1768 to 1781, and in 1776 pur- chased the site upon which the new Masonic Temple now stands, deeding the prop- erty eventually to his lodge. He married Rachel Van Der Heyden, of a prominent Albany family.

John Bay, father of Dr. William, was born in Maryland in 1743, became a lawyer and a member of the Albany Committee of Safety in the Revolutionary war, and died in Claverack, N. Y., in 1818. Dr. William married Katherine Van Ness. Their son, Dr. John W. Bay, married Eliza Treat, a lineal descendant of Robert Treat, the loyal defender of the Charter of the Colony of Connecticut when surrender of same was demanded by Governor Edmund Andros by direction of King James, and for nearly thirty years governor of Connecticut. Her father was Judge Richard S. Treat, of Albany, a great-grandson of the colonial governor, and the son of Rev. Joseph Treat, born 1734, died 1797, who was commissioned chaplain of Colonel Mal- colm's regiment May 6, 1776, being at that time pastor of the First Presbyterian church of New York city.

Richard W. Brass remained in Binghamton until April, 1882, beginning the study of the law there with M. J. Keeler. Coming to Albany he completed his legal studies with Judge A. B. Voorhees and was admitted at Saratoga in September, 1883. May 1, 1884, he formed a partnership with Judge Voorhees, which continued for four years. Since then he has been associated with E. W. Rankin.

He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, a member of the Albany Camera Club, the Unconditional Club, the Albany Burgesses Corps, and the Wash- ington Continentals, and for five years has been a director and treasurer of the Bran- dow Printing Co. He was also for several years a trustee of the estate of Catherine W. Van Rensselaer under the will of her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Bleecker. He is a Republican and at one time was a candidate for justice of the City Court.

June 2, 1886, he married Harriet C., daughter of Jacob Neville, a merchant of Mid- dleburg, N. Y., and they have had four children: Harold Neville, Gertrude Stringer, (deceased), Janet Elizabeth, and Karl Van Ness.

RICHARD W. BRASS.

NATHANIEL B. SPALDING.

NATHANIEL B. SPALDING is of English descent, the first of that name, Edward Spalding, having come to this country about the year 1620 from Lincolnshire, Eng- land, and settled in Braintree, Mass.

The name it is said received its derivation from "Spall" English meaning shoul- der; and "ding" to strike. It is supposed the name originated in the middle ages when battles were fought hand to hand, and the two handed sword found in the coat of arms of the name, seems to strengthen this view.

The subject of this sketch is of the eighth generation descended from said Ed- ward Spalding, and was born in Saratoga, N. Y., in 1863, the youngest son of the Rev. N. G. Spalding, a prominent clergyman of that place. His mother was Miss Harriet Dorr, daughter of the late ,Dr. Russell Dorr of Chatham, a collateral relative of Thomas W. Dorr, the champion and fearless leader of the movement known in his- tory as the " Dorr Rebellion," which so called rebellion asserted and finally estab- lished the principle that manhood and not property was the proper and essential basis upon which should rest the right of suffrage, in the Commonwealth of Rhode Island. Mr. Spalding is a brother of Dorr Spalding, now deceased, Harriet Mabel Spalding and Dr. Warren Clyde Spalding of New York city. During his childhood the family removed to a suburb of Albany, N. Y., and at the age of fourteen he en- tered the Albany Boys' Academy, where he remained several years, later joining the senior class of the Union Classical Institute at Schenectady, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1881. He entered Union College the same year becoming a member of the class of 1885 and taking the classical course.

Finding it impossible to expend the time necessary to complete an academic course he subsequently withdrew from his class and entered upon the study of law in con- nection with teaching, completing his studies at the Albany Law School, from which he was graduated in 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.

In the following year he began the practice of law at Albany where he has since resided and devoted his time strictly to his chosen profession.

In 1891 he married Miss Matilda Garretson Galbraith, daughter of Judge Thomas J. Galbraith, an able and distinguished lawyer of the West, whose decisions on the many intricate questions affecting mines and water rights have been widely quoted.

In 1892 Mr. Spalding was admitted to practice in the Federal Courts, thus prepar- ing himself for more varied fields of professional activity.

He is an active member of the New York State Bar Association and has member- ship in several local and out of town clubs, societies and alumni organizations. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity.

Mr. Spalding is a polished and forceful speaker. His addresses upon public occa- sions have been highly commended and have gained for him a place among the gifted and eloquent young orators of the city.

In politics he has always been a staunch and unswerving Democrat, having held active membership in the Young Men's Democratic Club and other political societies.

Mr. Spalding has never been a candidate for office though always taking a keen interest in politics. During President Cleveland's first administration he was appointed to an office under the Treasury Department, but was unable to accept

it as it necessitated his removal from Albany and the abandonment of his profess- ional interests, which were already growing large. He has devoted himself un- tiringly to his profession and has gained a wide reputation in the department of practice to which he has mainly devoted his energies. Among the notable matters with which he has been professionally identified was the claim of the United States against the government of Venezuela, which came before the International Court organized at Washington in 1894 by which an award of over half a million was ren- ered the following year in favor of the American claimants.

In 1895 Mr. Spalding formed a partnership in the practice of law with Mr. S. J. Daring, which has since continued under the firm name of Spalding & Daring.

EDWARD DE L. PALMER.

EDWARD DE L. PALMER, son of Amos P. and Hannah B. (Crafts) Palmer, was born in Newtonville, Albany county, March 19, 1848. Amos P. Palmer, born in Otsego county in 1820, came to Albany county about 1837, was for many years a fire brick manufacturer and later a banker, and died in 1894.

Edward De L. Palmer received his education mainly at Newtonville under the father of the late President Chester A. Arthur. For eight years he was associated with his father's firm in the manufacture of fire brick, later he was for nine years chief clerk and private secretary to James W. Eaton during Mr. Eaton's incumbency as superintendent of construction of the new Capitol; and for two years thereafter he was a member of the firm of J. W. Eaton & Co., contractors and real estate dealers. When Mr. Eaton began to withdraw from active business, Mr. Palmer assumed the real estate department and is now one of the leading real estate operators in the city. He is a trustee of the Albany City Savings Institution, treasurer of St. Peter's Epis- copal church and a member of the Fort Orange club.

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Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 67

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