Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 85

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

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ance. He is a local director of the New York Mutual Savings and Loan Associa- tion, a charter member (1886) of the Empire Curling Club, and has been secretary of the latter since its incorporation in 1891. He has been prominently identified with, and a subordinate officer in, the Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F., is a member of Temple Lodge No. 14, F. & A. M., the Albany Club, and other local institutions. The fol- lowing in relation to the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Albany is quoted from " The Industries of Albany ":

For sixty years the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of this city has ably demonstrated the beneficence and usefulness of its policy of fire insurance, which being divested of the purest commercial element that attaches to that of the great majority of insurance companies, results in a great saving to its patrons, while at the same time affords them equal safety and positive in- demnity in case of loss and damage by fire. This company was organized in 1836, and its busi- ness is a purely mutual one, every policy-holder being a beneficiary in the profits arising from the business. What the savings bank is in banking, the Mutual Fire Insurance Company is in fire insurance, and during its long and honorable career it has saved to its customers over $500,- 000, while it has paid all just claims for losses that have been incurred. The company insures all desirable property for one or three years on the cash or note plan, and all its risks are carefully placed, the business being conducted with the greatest caution. From the last public statement (dated January 1, 1897, we note that the net cash assets of the company were $183,118.21, which amount would be entirely used for the payment of claims before the premium notes of $319,- (13.81 would be resorted to. The gross available assets are $502, 182.02.) The company's rates are as low as any other first-class fire insurance company, and as the profits are divided among the policy-holders, are in fact much lower than those obtainable elsewhere. The company's line of business under the able management of the executive committee and of Mr. H. S. Foster, secre- tary and general manager, has been very desirable.

Mullenneaux, Marcus H., of French Huguenot and English stock, son of Tunis T. and Mary Wright, was born near Newburgh, N. Y., January 5, 1852; passed his boyhood on the the farm until fifteen years of age, then taught school several years; was graduated from the Albany Normal School in the spring of 1873. He taught natural science and mathematics in Claverack College and Hudson River Insti- tute until 1877; was graduated with the degree of LL. B. from the Albany Law School in 1878, read law with Newkirk & Chase of Hudson, and was admitted to the bar in the fall of that year at the General Term of the Supreme Court in Brooklyn. He prac- ticed law in Newburgh until 1885, when he accepted the general agency for Eastern New York of the National Life Insurance Company of Montpelier, Vt., which posi- tion he has since held. He is a member of the executive committee of the Life Un- derwriters' Association of Eastern New York and a director of the Albany Musical Association. Mr. Mullenneaux has built up a large and satisfied constituency for his company in the Hudson River valley, notwithstanding the company had not before been represented by a general agency in this part of the State. In the spring of 1893 he moved his general office from Newburgh to Albany. In 1880 he married Ella, daughter of Elbert Verity of Brooklyn, and they have two sons: Elbert V. and Marcus H., jr.

Hollands, William, was born November 4, 1837, in the town of Watervliet, Albany county, and is the son of William and Mary (Palmer) Hollands. He was educated in the public and private schools of West Troy and was graduated from the Albany Law School in 1862. After the death of his father in 1853 he assumed the con- trol of the West Troy Advocate, which his father had successfully conducted prior to his death, and continued the publication until its abandonment in 1864.

He was elected justice of the peace of the town of Watervliet for an unexpired term 1868 to 1865, and from 1865 to 1873 he was engaged in mercantile business with Thomas and James Scarborough. Mr. Hollands was postmaster of West Troy from September, 1865, to March, 1878. In 1873 he began the practice of law, which he has since continued, and is also engaged in the fire insurance business. He is a member of the Watervliet Social Club and warden of Trinity Episcopal church. October 3. 1867, he married Harriet N., daughter of Thomas S. Truair, of Syracuse, N. Y.

Hickey, Dennis, jr., is the representative of one of the oldest families of the south end of Albany, is a son of Dennis Hickey, for forty years a wholesale liquor dealer here, and who died in 1893. Mr. Hickey was born in Albany in 1867, and was educated at the Christian Brothers' School. He first entered the grocery business, the manage- ment of which in 1889 he gave over to a younger brother. In 1890 he opened a large store in Gloversville, then retured to Albany, locating at the corner of Elm and Swan streets; after one year he came to West Troy, and is now proprietor of the United States Grocery and Provision Co., situated on Broadway and Nineteenth streets. The success of this establishment attests the energetic capabilities and shrewd busi- ness policy of its manager.

Hessberg. Samuel, son of Simon and brother of Albert Hessberg, was born in Al- bany, June 13, 1859, was educated in the public and high schools and in 1876 entered the telegraph department of the N Y. C. & H. R. R. R. under Henry R. Pierson, who was the resident director of the road at that time. In 1879 he became superin- tendent of the telegraph lines between Albany and Buffalo, a position he resigned in 1881 to enter the employ of Mr. Pierson, who had engaged in the banking and brokerage business In September, 1889, as manager, he opened a banking and brokerage office in Albany for J. S. Bache & Co., and in April, 1893, became a mem- ber of the firm. As a business man Mr. Hessberg's career is one of uninterrupted success. In financial matters his opinion is often sought and highly valued. He was especially active in reorganizing the Distillers and Cattle Feeding Company in March and April, 1895. He has been for a number of years a manager of the Young Men's Association, a member and ex-president of the Adelphi Club, and a member of the Albany Club. He is prominently connected with several charitable organiza- tions. February 5. 1896, he married Rose G., daughter of Isaac Brilleman, one of the leading jewelers of Albany.

Viele, Maurice Edward, is descended from Cornelius Cornelison Viele, who fled from France to Holland to escape persecution, came to Fort Orange, now Albany, and subsequently removed to Schenectady, where he resided when that place was destroyed by the Indians, and whence he returned to Albany in 1670. His son, Ludovickus Viele, born 1709, married Maria Frear; their son, Jacob, married Eva Le Fort ; and their son, Ludovickus, married Effie Toll. Hon. John L. Viele, son of the latter, 1788-1832, married Cathalina, daughter of John and granddaughter of Col. John Knickerbocker, of Schaghticoke, where Col. John raised and commanded a regiment in the Revolution, participating in the battle of Saratoga. She died in 1837. Hon. John L. Viele was assemblyman from Saratoga county, senator from the Fourth district, two terms each, and was a Regent of the University of New York at the time of his death. Maurice E. Viele, his son, born in Waterford, N. Y., May 17, 1823, attended the academy at Lansingburgh and in 1837 came to Albany to finish

his education in the academy here. After clerking in Albany and New York, lat- terly for Boorman, Johnston, Ayers & Co., iron merchants, he formed in November, 1845, a partnership with Alexander Davidson, and as Davidson & Viele purchased the hardware store in Albany of M. Van Alstyne & Co. Mr Davidson died in 1859 and Mr. Viele continued the business with other parties until 1864, when he became sole owner. In 1891 he transferred the stock to the Albany Hardware and Iron Company and retired from active life, being at that time the oldest hardware mer- chant in the capital city. During his career he bought out six different hardware concerns. He was an organizer and long a director of the Merchants Bank of Albany, was for several years a director in the Commercial National Bank, was an organizer and president of the old Albany Agricultural and Art Association, and has been a trustee of Rutgers College since 1853, being the second oldest member of that board. He has been a trustee of the Albany Orphan Asylum since about 1850 and of the Albany Academy since 1872, was president of the Albany County Bible Society, and Albany City Tract and Missionary Society several years, and was an incorporator in 1876 and since 1892 president of the Home for Aged Men. For eight years he has been a trustee of the Berkshire Industrial Farm at Canaan Four Corners, Columbia county, and in politics has been a Republican since the formation of that party. In 1850 he married Maria, daughter of Charles De Kay Townsend, M. D., of Albany. She died in 1889.

Wing, Albert J., was born in Albany, N. Y., September 18, 1859. He was gradu- ated from Cornell University in 1880, and subsequently entered business life as a member of the firm of Albert Wing, Sons & Co., wholesale grocers. He was for several years actively connected with the N. G. S. N. Y., being a captain in the 10 h Battalion, when he received his honorable discharge in 1889. He is a member of the Fort Orange Club, of which he has been a trustee, and is a trustee of the Albany City Homeopathic Hospital. Albert Wing, his father, born in Dutchess county in 1815, came to Albany about 1836 and in 1841 founded on Quay street the pres- ent wholesale grocery business of Wing Brothers & Hartt. His first partner was William Cook, the firm being Cook & Wing. They were followed successively by Cook, Wing & Wooster, Cook & Wing again and Wing & Wooster. On Mr. Wooster's death in 1871, Mr. Wing became sole owner. In 1873 his son, James C., was admitted under the firm name of Albert Wing & Son, which in 1876 became Albert Wing, Son & Co., and in 1881 Albert Wing, Sons & Co., by admitting Albert J. into the firm. Mr. Wing died in May, 1887, and the present firm name of Wing Brothers & Hartt was adopted. Albert Wing was a director in the First National Bank and one of the leading business men of Albany. He mar- ried Maria Carle of Charleston, Montgomery county, N. Y., who died November 16, 1895. They had three children: Kate A., James C. (who died in March, 1893) and Albert J.

Goold, James, was born in Granby, Hartford county, Conn., in the year 1789. When he was four years of age his parents removed to Stephentown, Rensse- laer county, where he remained until he was ten or twelve years of age. In the winter of 1804 he went to Troy, N. Y., as an apprentice in the bookbinding es- tablishment of Obadiah L. Penniman & Co. He left Troy shortly after and removed to Pittsfield, Mass., where he entered the carriage factory of William Clark and

commenced to learn the trade that was to be his life work. After eighteen months' service, Mr. Clark failed and Mr. Goold engaged himself to Jason Clapp and com- pleted his trade. In August, 1809, he went to Coxsackie, N. Y., where he worked for John R. Vandenburgh. The following winter he attended school at Lebanon, N. Y., and in May, 1810, after visiting New York, Newark and other places, in search of employment, he reached New Haven and worked with various firms until the following December. After a brief visit to his home in Stephentown, he worked for 1 .. Thrall in Troy. April 15. 1813, he moved to Albany, N. Y., and commenced business on the corner of Maiden Lane and Dean street, on ground now occupied by Stanwix Hall. The building was leased from the late Peter Gansevoort; two years afterward, owing to increased business, Mr. Goold leased premises on Division street, below Broadway, then known as South Market street. In 1823 he moved part of his business to new buildings on Union street and in 1836, after having erected a sufficient number of buildings, he moved the entire plant thither. May 25, 1838, the works on Union street were totally destroyed by fire, and such was the feeling of sympathy that a meeting of citizens was called, at which meeting a committee was appointed which tendered to Mr. Goold a loan of a large amount, without in- terest, to enable him to re-establish his business; needless to say, all this money was duly paid back in the required time. Since the rebuilding at that time the business has been continued uninterruptedly, with the exception that after Mr. Goold'sdeath, the plant was moved from Union street to lower Broadway, where it is now located and doing business under the name of the James Goold Company, William D. Goold being president. In 1814 Mr. James Goold was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Vail. They lived together to celebrate not only their golden wedding, but the sixtieth anniversary as well. Such was the feeling existing between Mr. Goold and his employees, that when he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the establish- ment of the business, they presented him with a silver service. He was one of the oldest members of the Young Men's Association and served one term in the Common Council as alderman, having been elected by the Whigs. He was a prominent member of the Second Presbyterian church. He died October 1, 1879, in his ninetieth year, having won the respect and esteem of all who met him, and many were the hearts saddened by his demise.

Jones, Andrew B., son of Benjamin G. and Almira E. (Morhouse) Jones, was born in Whallonsburg, Essex county, N. Y., May 19, 1840, and when very young moved with his parents to Clintonville, Clinton county, where he received a district school education. When thirteen he entered a general store as clerk, and when sixteen spent about six months at the Keeseville Academy. In 1858 he became a clerk in a general store in Shushan, Washington county, and later was a clerk for George Bristol & Co., dry goods dealers in Troy, where in 1862 he became bookkeeper and cashier for Moore & Nims, booksellers, with whom he remained eight years. In the spring of 1870 he engaged in the wholesale millinery business in Albany, as a member of the firm of Heller & Jones, but five years later sold out and became a partner in the Hudson Valley Paper Company, wholesale paper dealers. In the year 1862 Mr. Jones enlisted as a member of Co. G, 24th Regt. N. G. N. Y., and was later appoint- ed successively quartermaster-sergeant, commissary of subsistence, and quarter- master of the regiment. He is a vestryman of St. Paul's P. E. church of Albany.

In 1871 he married Alice Louise, daughter of Pomeroy Tucker of Palmyra, N. Y .; she died June 10, 1891, leaving four children: Lucy Elizabeth, Alice Frances, Flor- ence Juliette and Sydney Tucker.

Johnson, James C., is of English and Dutch descent and a son of Peter and Abigail (Verplank) Johnson, and was born in Greene, Chenango county, N. Y., August 28, 1830. His grandfather, Isaac I. Johnson, was a farmer in New Scotland. His mother was a daughter of David I. and granddaughter of Isaac Verplank and a cousin of Hon. C. J. Colvin, the father of Verplank Colvin, the present State surveyor. Mr. Johnson waseducated in the common schools of New Scotland, Albany county, where the family settled about 1837, and in Albany, whither they moved in 1843. His father died at Schodack Landing in February, 1881. Pursuing his studies at the Albany Academy he finished his education at a private school kept by Mr. Helm. He read law with Craw- ford & Phelps of Cohoes, and with Cole & Geissenheimer of New York city, and was admitted to the bar in 1853, in the same class with Chester A. Arthur. He practiced law in New York and Cohoes until 1856, when he came to Albany, where he has since resided, being associated at different times with W. C. McHaig and Hon. Galen R. Hitt. In politics he is a Democrat. In October, 1857, he married Lydia A. Palmer- ton of Ballston, N. Y., who died in 1866, leaving one child, since deceased. He married, second, in January, 1871, Loretta C. Markle, of New Salem, Albany county, and they have two children: James Howard and Mary Loretta.

Lawyer, George, is a descendant of Johannes Lawyer, who came from Holland to Schoharie, N. Y., about 1700 on a surveying expedition, and whose son, Johannes H., was granted 36,000 acres of land in what is now Schoharie county, by King George II. The latter was commissioned by Governor Tryon in 1772 ensign in Shaffer's Company of Foot and by Sir Henry Moore, Bart., ensign of Grenadiers. He served as lieutenant in the 15th N. Y. Regt. through the Revolutionary war, as did also his son Jacob, who was an ensign. Jacob I. Lawyer, son of Jacob, suc- ceeded his ancestors as a large land owner in Schoharie, and married Nancy Spraker, who died in 1884, aged 101. Their son, George, who is living at Schoharie Court House at the age of ninety, owns much of the ancestral grant. Dr. James Lawyer, son of George, practiced medicine in New York city and at Middleburgh, N. Y., and was for six years treasurer of Schoharie county, where he died November 26, 1890. During the Rebellion he was assistant surgeon in Bellevue Hospital. He married, first, Eliza J. Irwin, who died in 1880, leaving an only son, George, of Albany. He married, second, her sister, Mrs. Marion K. Case, who survives. George Lawyer, born in New York city, September 24, 1864, attended Schoharie Academy, was graduated from Hamilton College in 1885, with membership in Phi Beta Kappa, and read law with Judge S. L. Mayham, of Schoharie Court House. He was graduated from the Albany Law School and admitted to the bar in May, 1887, spent two years in the office of Clark Bell in New York city, and in 1890 began the practice of law in Albany as partner of F. E. Wadhams. Since 1892 he has practiced alone. He is a foundation member of Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, and has been its secretary since 1895. He is one of the first members of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States and of Troop A, Cavalry of New York (in which he served two years), and of Temple Lodge No. 14. F. & A. M. He was ad- mitted to practice in the United States courts in 1890. In 1892 he married Agnes

Estelle, daughter of David B. Pershall, of New York city. Their children are James Pershall and George Irwin.

Moore. Charles H., M. D., was born in Albany December 7, 1857, and on his father's side is of Quaker descent. His great-grandfather, James Moore, was born in Albany county in 1450; his grandfather was Joseph Moore, also a native of this county. His father, Dr. Levi Moore, was born in the village of Quaker Street in Al- bany county, January, 1827, graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1851 and practiced medicine in Albany until his death, June 30, 1880. He married Georgenia, daughter of Adam Todd, the builder of Geological Hall and a prominent Albanian of Scotch descent. Dr. Levi Moore was one of the best known physicians of his day, and was president of the Albany County and a member of the New York State Med- ical Societies. Dr. Charles H. Moore was educated in the public schools and High School at Albany, read medicine with his father, and later with Drs. William H. and Theodore P. Bailey, and graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1887. He be- gan practice in Albany and since June, 1889, has been associated with Dr. C. S. Merrill. In 1888 89 he took a post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic, and was also connected with the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, where he spent much of his time. Since then he has made a specialty of diseases of the eye and ear. He is a member of the Albany County Medical Society and was made its secretary in 1896; he is a member of the Albany Camera Club, is assistant eye and ear surgeon to the Albany City Hospital and the Child's Hospital, and eye and ear surgeon to the Troy Hospital, also instructor in ophthalmology in the Albany Medical College. In 1892 he married Emma A., daughter of Walter Gaige, of Albany ; they had one son, Walter Gaige Moore, who died in August, 1896.

Wackerhagen, William B., is a grandson of Augustus Gunther George Wacker- hagen, a Lutheran clergyman, who came to this country from Hanover, Germany, in the latter part of the last century. The latter's son Edward, born in Clermont, N. Y., in 1825, was a merchant and manufacturer in Greenville and later a manu- facturer of agricultural implements in Albany and in Racine, Wis., and died in Albany in 1890. Of his seven children, six are living: Charles Edward of Canaan Four Corners, N. Y., Charlotte Antoinette of Chicago, William Burroughs of Albany, Philip Mayer of Racine, Wis., Henrietta Litell of Albany, Kate King of Elyria, Ohio: Susan Elizabeth, deceased. William B. came to Albany with his parents and with them removed to Racine, Wis., where he graduated from the high school in 1878, returning in the same year to Albany with the family. After a course in the Albany Business College he entered in 1874 the employ of Maurice E. Viele, a whole- sale hardware dealer. Rising rapidly, he was promoted in 1878 to position of buyer, remaining with Mr. Viele till June, 1891, when with his present associates he helped organize and incorporate the Albany Hardware and Iron Company, who purchased the stock and fixtures and succeeded to a business which had been carried on with- out interruption for over one hundred years. Of this company Mr. Wackerhagen has since been secretary, the other officers being Charles H. Turner, president, and James K. Dunscomb, treasurer. He is a member of the Fort Orange Club, the Mo- hican Canoe, the Albany Whist & Chess, the Empire Curling and Albany County Wheelmen's Clubs, the Ridgefield Athletic and American Canoe Associations of which he was secretary and treasurer in 1893, and a member of the Board of Man- agers of the Young Men's Association.

Bedell, Edwin A., who comes of Huguenot stock on his paternal and of English and Dutch stock on his maternal side, is a son of Edwin T. and Rachel A. Bedell, both of whom died while he was very young. He was born in Albany, October 9, 1853, and was reared in the home of his grandfather and the late Philip Phelps, for more than fifty years the deputy comptroller of the State and well known in financial and religious circles throughout the country. Mr. Bedell's school life was commenced under Professor Anthony, continued at the Boys' Academy and completed at the Western College of the Reformed Church in Michigan, of which his uncle, Rev. Philip Phelps, jr., was president. His preparation for college was under the private tutorage of Professor Swan. Graduating in 1873 as the salutatorian of his class, he entered the Albany Law School and also the law office of Peckham & Tremain, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1874. After spending some time in travel, he began the practice of his profession. He served five years as one of the assist- ants to the attorney-general of the State, leaving in 1889 to become one of the assist- ants reporters of the Court of Appeals. He has had a large experience in the law and is an expert in the law of copyright and trade marks In 1883 he married Car- oline E., eldest daughter of Hon. Hiram E. Sickels, the late reporter of the Court of Appeals. He has had two children, one of whom survives. He is a member of the Fort Orange Club and is a man of rare literary ability. When twenty years old, he began to devote his leisure time to the study of sacred music in all its branches, and later he began the study of hymnology. For many years he has been an active member of the Madison Reformed church and for twenty-three years has had charge of its music and been its organist. Some years ago he compiled a hymnary for the exclusive use of his Sunday school. This was so great a success that he prepared in 1891 the "Church Hymnary," for the church at large, which has met with warm approval throughout the religious world, its sales running up into the thousands.

Bridge, Charles F., son of Charles and Lucy M. (Tinker) Bridge, was born in Albany, February 26, 1865. His great-grandfather, Col. Ebenezer Bridge, born February 3, 1742, died February 13, 1823, served at Lexington as captain of the Fitchburg Minutemen, and is mentioned by Bancroft as a general at Bunker Hill. He served through the Revolution and in the Massachusetts Legislature, and was the grandson of Matthew Bridge, a soldier in King Philip's war. A monument to Ebenezer Bridge stands at Fitchburg, Mass. The first American ancestor was John Bridge, of England, who settled in Cambridge, Mass., in 1632, and was one of the founders of Harvard College, where a monument stands to his memory. Charles Bridge settled in Albany about 1859 and in 1860 became one of the wholesale beef and pork firm of Hawkins Van Antwerp & Co., which was later changed to Van Antwerp, Bridge & Co., and still later Bridge & Davis, from which Mr. Bridge re- tired in 1884. Charles F. Bridge was educated at the Boys' Academy, received the degree of A. B. from Union College in 1887, was graduated from the Albany Law School with the degree of LL B. in 1889, read law with I. & J. M. Lawson, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1889. In December following he formed the present copartnership of Mills & Bridge (Charles H. Mills). He is a Republican, and a member of the I. O. O. F., K. A. E. O., and B. P. O. E., the Sons of the Revolu- tion, the Order of Founders and Patriots, the Psi Upsilon fraternity, and the legal fraternity of Phi Delta Phi. October 14, 1891. he married Elizabeth B., daughter of Franklin D. Tower, of Albany.

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Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 85

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