Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 98

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 98

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).

Morrow, Samuel Roseburgh, M. D., was born in Albany, N. Y., May 6, 1849. He graduated from the Albany Academy in 1866 and from Yale with the degree of A.

140

B. in 1870, and received the degree of A. M. from the same college in 1874. He was tutor at Yale in Greek and mathematics from 1873 to 1876. He then attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York city, from which he received the de- gree of M. D. in 1878. He served on the house staff of Bellevue Hospital, New York, from October, 1877, to April, 1879. Doctor Morrow then studied further at the London Hospital, London ; General Hospital, Vienna, and at Halle until 1880, when he commenced the practice of medicine and surgery in Albany, N. Y. In 1883 he received the honorary degree of M. D. from the Albany Medical College. He has been lecturer on minor surgery, Albany Medical College, spring term, 1881-82; ad- junet lecturer to the chair of surgery, 1884-86; adjunct professor of surgery, 1886-88; lecturer on anatomy, 1887-89; professor of anatomy and orthopaedic surgery since 1890; visiting surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital since 1881 ; to the Hospital for Incura- bles since 1885 ; to the Albany Hospital since 1888; to the Child's Hospital since 1886; was vice-president Medical Society of the County of Albany, 1886-87. Doctor Morrow was examiner in anatomy in the State Board of Medical Examiners until 1891, when the board was abolished. He is a member of the State Medical Society and has con- tributed several articles to the leading medical journals.

Whitbeck, Henry T., born in Coeymans, December 9, 1847, was a son of William A. Whitbeck, son of Thomas, who spent most of his days in Coeymans, where he died. The father of Henry T. Whitbeck now lives at Coeymans a retired life. His wife was Annie Tompkins, daughter of John Tompkins, son of Daniel Tompkins, mentioned in this work. To William A. Whitbeck and his wife were born ten chil- dren, and six are now living. Mrs. Whitbeck died in 1886. Henry T. Whitbeck was reared on a farm and was educated in the common schools. He has 147 acres of land on which he has lived since April 1, 1873. In politics he is a Democrat, being assessor nine years and was elected justice in 1891, which he held four years and re- elected again in 1895. September 13, 1872, he married Rosalie Gifford, daughter of John H. and Caroline Gifford of Rensselaerville, N. Y. They have one child, John H. Mr. Whitbeck is a member of Cascade Lodge No. 427, F. & A. M.

Mickel, Charles, born in Darmstadt, Germany, August 26, 1847, is a son of Eman- uel Mickel, a native of Darmstadt, Germany, who came to America in 1849. The father was long engaged in business as a decorative artist in New York city, being a member of the firm of Delamano, then the largest house of the kind in the coun- try. He died in Albany in 1891. Charles Mickel was educated in New York city, came to Albany with the family in 1860 and remained with his father until 1876, when he established himself in the business of decorating, frescoing, painting, etc., and as a dealer in decorative specialties and paper-hanging. He has been located at Nos. 594-596 Broadway, corner of Columbia street, since 1887. In 1874 he married Louisa Faroldt of Albany and they have three children: Ezra, Mary and Ella.

Kelly, James J., born May 3, 1833, in Ireland, came to America about 1850 and settled in Albany, where he first learned the boat builder's trade, and later the trade of carpenter, which he has since followed. About 1865 he began contracting and building. He has considerable inventive genius, and on February 28, 1888, obtained a patent for a circular show case. In 1893 he invented and patented the "Capital City dumb waiter," which he manufactures in several different styles and sizes. He

141

has also originated a number of other mechanical devices, and is a member, trustee, and ex-president of the Carpenter's Union of Albany. In 1861 he married Delia Kiernan, and they have four children living: John T., Frank J., Mary A., and Cecelia.

Collin, Capt. T. Campbell, is city edititor of the Cohoes Daily News, of which he is one of the stockholders, and was for three years superintendent of the Granite Knitting Mills, with which he had been connected as an employee for fourteen years. He was born at Leicester, England, in 1856, and brought by his parents to America the following year. He is a Republican in politics and has advanced to the front, now serving his fifth term as alderman from the Fourth ward. In 1890 he was nom- inated for mayor, and officiated three years as water commissioner. At the twentieth anniversary of the Seventh Separate Company of the N. G. S. N. Y., held in 1896, he was the only one left of the original members. Since its organization in Febru- ary, 1876, he has been closely identified with the fortunes of the company, entering first as a private, and serving in all the grades, gradually rising towards the position of captain, to which he was promoted in 1890. In 1893 the company presented him with an elegant gold-mounted sword; he also has a beautiful gold watch, presented him by the George Campbell Hose Company, of which he was a member for ten years. He has held many offices in the Masonic fraternity of the highest degree.

Lloyd, Will Lyman, great-grandson of Andrew Lloyd, of East Otis, Mass., and grandson of Lyman J. Lloyd, a large manufacturer of harness and trunks in Albany. until his death April 23, 1889, was born in Albany, May 27, 1860; he attended the public schools and Albany Business College. In 1872 he became a page boy in the Legislature and continued as page boy until 1878; In 1879 he was appointed messen- ger to the Assembly Judiciary committee ; in 1880 he was made superintedent of the wrapping department of the Assembly; in 1881 he became a clerk in the New York Custom House, and in 1882 the Assembly correspondent of the Brooklyn Eagle; in 1883 he was the Assembly representative of the United Press Association, and in 1884 the legislative correspondent of the New York Truth. In January, 1885, he be- came secretary at Albany to Chauncey M. Depew, and later assistant general tax agent of the N. Y. Central Railroad which position he still holds. He is one of the governors of the Albany Club, a member of the Acacia Club, a life member of Mt. Vernon Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M., a member of Capital City Chapter and De Witt Clinton Council, junior warden of Temple Commandery No. 2, K. T., a life member of all the Scottish Rite bodies and Cyprus Temple, N. M. S. He is a noted statisti- cian, was the originator of the Legislative Red Book and has a valuable collection of photographs, autographs, etc., largely relating to the State Legislature, with which he has been identified for twenty-five years. February 21, 1884, he married Ida C., daughter of Charles Hauptner of New York city, and they have had five children: Valeria Louise, Gladys Viola, Will Lyman, jr., Clifford Gregory, and Chauncey Depew. The latter died November 13, 1888, aged one and one-half years.

Pinkerton, Robert, son of James and Mary (Martin) Pinkerton, was born in Bel- fast, Ireland, in 1841. He was educated in the private schools and learned the trade of boilermaker in Greenwich, Scotland. In 1862 he came to America, settling in New York city, and obtained work in the Hutchinson boiler shops in Brooklyn. After a few years he went to Callao, Peru, South America, where he remained a

142

short time, and returning spent a short period in New York and in New London, Conn. In 1871 he came to Waterford, N. Y., where for fourteen years he worked in the Steam Fire Engine Works. In 1885 he removed to Green Island, Albany county, where he established himself as a boilermaker. In 1892 he entered into partnership with Abram Mull, with whom he is now engaged in the manufacture of boilers, under the firm name of Pinkerton & Mull. Mr. Pinkerton is a member of the Exempt Firemen's Association, Waterford, Clinton Lodge No. 140. F. & A. M., and Water- ford Chapter No. 169, R. A. M. In 1863 he married Rachel Adams, of New York city, and they have six children: Mary (Mrs. James Sinclair of New York), James (deceased), John, Robert, jr., Nancy and Joseph G.

Ridgway & Russ .- This is the oldest plumbing firm in Albany and one of the old- est in the State, having been established in Albany in 1843 by J. & F. W. Ridgway, who came here from New York city, being located there at 145 Broadway. They continued business in this city for three years, when the brothers separated, Jonathan going to Boston and F. W. continuing here alone until his death in 1851, at the age of thirty-four. His widow carried on the establishment for a year or two, when it passed into the hands of Mrs. Ridgway, Herman H. Russ and Edmund Nes- bitt, who composed the firm of Ridgway & Co. About sixteen years later Mr. Nesbitt retired and the firm of Ridgway & Russ was formed. Mrs. Ridgway withdrew about 1870 and her interest has since been represented by her son, Frederick W. Herman HI. Russ, born in Albany, October 22, 1829, is one of the best known busi- ness men in the State, and has been street commissioner and one of the public building commissioners of the capital city and is at present a member of the Board of Health. He is a prominent and highly respected Free Mason, 33d degree, is grand treasurer of the Grand Chapter R. A. M., and a charter member of the Albany Club, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of all good citizens. He has been engaged in business in the firm's present building for fifty years and is now the oldest active merchant on State street in Albany. Adam Russ, his father, born in Germantown, N. Y., in 1774, came to Albany in 1790 and died here in 1863. He was for a long time inspector and measurer of grain, carried on a large freight business by teams between Albany and Buffalo until 1825, when the canal was opened, collected State taxes, served as alderman of the Fourth ward in 1815-16, and was a member and elder of the Second Reformed Dutch church, now located on the corner of Madison avenue and Swan street. Mr. Ridgway, born in Albany, July 19, 1849, has been connected with the firm for thirty years, is a member of the Masonic order, was for- merly a member of the National Guard, is a charter member of the Old Guard of Co. A. 10th Bat., N. G. N. Y., and is one of the water commissioners appointed by Mayor Wilson. He is also a charter member of the Albany Club and one of its board of governors. He is an active and progressive business man and highly respected. The firm does a large business in plumbing and heating all over the country and has executed heavy contracts in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and several other States.

Rochford, W. P .. a resident of West Troy, is at present engaged as superintendent at Tim & Co.'s Shirt, Collar and Cuff Manufactory. He is of French ancestry, born at Chester, Vt., in 1859. After residing in Montreal and North Bennington for a short time, he came to Troy in 1874. He had learned the shoemaking trade of his

143

father, Peter Rochford, but went to work at Holmes & Ide's collar shop, also E. L. Killop's laundry, and spent one year in Richard Davis's laundry. He left Cluett, Coon & Co., where he had been nearly thirteen years superintendent of the shirt, collar and cuff laundries, and in 1894 went to Clifton, Staten Island, to engage in business for himself, laundering new goods only. He has only recently returned here, where he is well known for his sterling worth and enterprising abilities. Mr. Roch- ford now owns a custom laundry at Bennington, Vt., which is operated by a resident manager.

Gallien, Edward J., is the eldest son of the late Henry Gallien, who came to Al- bany from the Island of Guernsey when a boy and spent the most of his life in the offices of the canal auditor and State comptroller, covering a period of about thirty years, during fourteen years of which he was depaty State comptroller. Henry Gallien's fidelity under all administrations is a part of the financial history of the State of New York. He died in January, 1884. Edward J. Gallien was born in the town of Watervliet, Albany county, June 12, 1858, was educated in the Albany Academy, Public School No. 11 and the High School. For several years he was a messenger in the State comptroller's office. He was five years assistant bookkeeper for the National Commercial Bank and later accountant for the National Savings Bank. In 1883 he went with several of his brothers to the "Bad Lands" of North Dakota and started a cattle ranch, but soon returned to St. Paul, Minn., as book- keeper for the Germania Bank. Returning to Albany, he became bookkeeper for Barnet Bros. & Aufsesser, wool merchants, and later accountant for the Albany City Savings Institution, of which bank he afterwards became secretary and treasurer. In 1893 he established his present business as a dealer in investment securities. He is a trustee of the Albany City Savings Institution and has served for a number of years as a member of its finance committee. He is a member of the Unconditional Republican Club. In November, 1880, he married Jean, daughter of the late J. Wesley Osborn of Albany, and they have five children: Edward J., jr., Winifred Le Page, Leila Osborn (deceased), Ruth Osborn and Marion Ackroyd.

Frederick, Nathan, was born in the town of Guilderland, August 21, 1851. Mi- chael Frederick, his great grandfather, was a native of Germany, born in 1725, and migrated to America when a young man, settling in the town of Guilderland on a tract of 270 acres, which was then a forest, and there made him a home. Mathias, the grandfather of Nathan Frederick, was born on his father's homestead in Guil- derland in 1775. He came in possession of half of his father's farm and there spent his life. His wife was Anna Van Auken, and they had four sons and three daugh- ters. He died June 13, 1848 ; his wife survived him many years and died September 28, 1875. Peter M. Frederick, the father of Nathan, was born in Guilderland on the homestead in 1818. He was the oldest of his father's sons and after the death of his father took charge of the farm. He and his brother Henry later purchased the farm from the heirs and they subsequently divided. To his share Peter M. added until he owned 153 acres; here he raised his family and lives at the present time, and two of his sons now run the farm. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Hart, and their children are: Ann Eliza, Mary, William, Sarah, Martha, Nathan, Henry, Al- fred and Amanda. His wife died in February, 1876, at the age of fifty-five. She was a member of the Lutheran church; Mr. Frederick is also a member of the same

144

church, in which he has officiated as deacon and elder for many years. Nathan Frederick was educated in the common district schools and left home when twenty- three and engaged at farming in the town of Coeymans, where he lived but one year, when he returned to Guilderland and bought a farm in partnership with his brother-in-law. J. Oggsbury. After two years he sold his interest in the farm and removed to Clarksville, and rented the farm of 133 acres which he now owns, and has since been engaged in general husbandry. Mr. Frederick is a staunch Demo- crat. He is an active member of the Patrons of Husbandry, Clarksville Lodge No. :81, in which he is steward and was one of the leading charter members, the lodge being organized in his house in January, 1893. Mr. Frederick has manifested an active interest in the progress of the proposed Albany, Helderberg & Schoharie Electric Railroad, and was also a worker on the proposed New York, Schenectady & Ogdensburg Railroad, and was with the engineers five months while surveying the line. In 1873 Mr. Frederick married Miss Elena V. A. McCulloch, daughter of William and Maria (Slingerland) McCulloch, and their children are Maria, Peter M., Garrett and Helen. They are both members of the Reformed church, in which Mr. Frederick has filled the office of deacon for ten years. Mrs. Frederick was a teacher in the schools of the town of New Scotland for nine years before her marriage to Nathan Frederick.

Smelzer, Baxter T., M. D., was born in the town of Lodi, Seneca county, N. Y., March 27, 1852. He attended the common schools and the Genesee Wesleyan Semi- nary at Lima, N. Y., and Syracuse University, where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. Subsequently he was a student in the medical department of the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor and later entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York city, from which he was graduated in 1874. He there- upon commenced the practice of his profession in Havana, N. Y. Dr. Smelzer has always been an active Republican in politics. He is a member of the Republican State League and was for several years chairman of the Central Committee. He was president of the village for a number of years, member of the Board of Educa- tion for four successive terms, and its president for six years. In 1893 Dr. Smelzer was elected to represent the Twenty-seventh Senatorial District. While a member of the Senate he was chairman of the committee to investigate the State Board of Health. He introduced and ably supported very many important bills, among them being the Tuberculosis bill and the one maintaining the Public Health law. He is a member of the Schuyler County and State Medical Associations and the Elmira Academy of Medicine. In June, 1895, he was appointed secretary of the State Board of Health, which position he is now filling. In 1876 Dr. Smelzer married Lucy A. Tracy, whose father, Peter Tracy, was one of the first presidents of the Chemung Canal Bank of Elmira and president of the Chemung Railroad. They are the parents of two sons.

Vander Veer. Dr. Albert, was born in the town of Root, N. Y., July 10, 1841, and is a son of Abraham H. Vander Veer, who in 1828 built for tannery purposes the first building in what is now Rural Grove. His paternal ancestors came from Alk- maar, Holland, in 1639, and first settled in Long Island and then in New Jersey. His grandmother's ancestors, Vancovenhoven (abbreviated into Conover), were also Hollanders, and on her father's farm in New Jersey the battle of Monmouth was

145

fought, June 28, 1778. William Vander Veer, relative of Dr. Albert, was an officer in the Revolutionary war and a surgeon in the war of 1812. Colonel Frederick, a cousin, and Capt. Garret Vander Veer, a brother, served in the Rebellion. Dr. Albert Vander Veer attended the Union Free School of Palatine and the Canajoharie Academy, and at the age of eighteen began the study of medicine with Dr. Simeon Snow of Currytown, N. Y. One year later he came to Albany, entered the office of the late Dr. John Swinburne, and attended lectures at the Albany Medical College during 1861 and 1862. In the spring of 1862 he became one of the original "one hun- dred," commissioned as a U. S. Medical Cadet and ordered to duty at Columbian College Hospital, Washington, D. C. While there he attended lectures at the Na- tional Medical College, receiving from that institution the degree of M. D., graduat- ing (honorary) later from the Albany Medical College. In December, 1862, he was commissioned assistant surgeon 66th N. Y. Vols., in June, 1864, being raised to grade of surgeon with rank of major. He served with his regiment until the close of the war, being mustered out in September, 1865. During 1865-66 he attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, and since then has practiced his profession with signal success in Albany. He was appointed to the chair of general and special anatomy in the Albany Medical College in 1869, and at- tending surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital. On the reorganization of the Albany Med- ical College in 1876 he became professor of the principles and practice of surgery. In 1882 he was appointed professor of surgery and clinical surgery and still holds these positions. He is a member of the Boston Gynæcological Society, the British Medical Association, the International Medical Congress at Copenhagen in 1884, the British Gynæcological Society, the American Surgical Association, Holland Society of New York, the American Medical Association, the New York Medico-Legal Soci- ety, the Albany Institute and the American Association of Obstetricians and Gyna- cologists. He is a frequent writer and contributor to leading medical journals. He was a member and president of the Special Water Commission and has been for many years a member of the Albany Board of Health; he has also been president of the Albany County and New York State Medical Societies. Williams and Hamilton Colleges conferred upon him the degree of A. M. in 1882, Union College gave him the degree of Ph. D. in 1883, and the Queen of Holland decorated him with the order of "Oranje-Nassau," because of his services as vice-president of the local Holland Society. He is also one of the Regents of the University of the State of New York.

Crandall, George H., prominent among the business men of Cohoes and a large operator in builders' material of all kinds, as well as a manufacturer of furniture. Mr. Crandall was born at Adams, N. Y., in 1839, of old Connecticut ancestors; his father, the late John M. Crandall, was an extensive operator in lumber and real estate in Lewis and Jefferson counties. George H. Crandall first engaged in busi- ness as a keeper of a general store at Glendale, N. Y., from 1861 to 1868, and then run a lumber yard for two years at Hoboken, N. J., furnishing material for the building trades. Then from 1870 to 1872, in Breslau, near Babylon, L. I., buying agent for all kinds of material to build about 400 houses; and from 1872 to 1878 man- aging a store and a large saw mill in Lewis county, N. Y., and wholesaling lumber and all kinds of turned work and dimension lumber, in New York city and vicinity ; and from 1878 to 1881 engaged in the furniture business, traveling by canal with

146

four canal boats, stopping from three to ten days in each city and town along the Erie Canal. This was a profitable business, as he could undersell all local dealers, until they got a special law passed by Legislature allowing each incorporated town and city to charge him a license of $25 per day ; this he could not stand, and he de- cided to settle in Cohoes and build a factory and store and manufacture furniture and sell at retail. The disastrous fire of 1891 was a serious check, but his indomita- ble energy soon replaced the plant. The Crandalls' career has been characterized by the qualities which makes success certain and failure an unknown word; he has done a good deal in the building line himself, having erected about 100 dwellings in the vicinity of Cohoes and Lansingburgh.

Bradley, Franklin G., is a grandson of Philo Bradley, an early settler of Berne, Albany county, and a son of Daniel G. Bradley, for many years deputy sheriff, and was born in Berne, December 28, 1849. Daniel G. came to Albany in 1857 and was long a prosperous merchant. He married Arvilla Nelson, and of their nine children seven sons are living. With the exception of six years spent on a farm in Guilder- land, Franklin G. Bradley has been engaged in the mercantile business since he reached the age of twenty. He established his present grocery and provision store on Beaver street in 1878 and in 1893 moved to No. 99 Hudson avenue. He is a member of Wadsworth Lodge No. 417, F. & A. M., Fort Orange Council. R. A., and American Lodge No. 32, I. O. O. F. In 1868 he married Alice M., daughter of Hiram Gardner of Franklin, Va., who died in 1891, leaving three children: Daniel G .. Jennie E. and Franklin G., jr. He married, second, in 1892, Mrs. Celia (Reed) Weidman of Summit, Schoharie county.

Gick, William H., son of Robert, was born on the Isle of Man, March 4, 1848, and came to America with his brother, Robert Gick, jr., in the spring of 1870, settling in Albany. He had learned the trade of carpenter and joiner in his native country, and coming here followed it as a journeyman about one year, when he became a builder. In the fall of 1873 he formed a copartnership with William Sayles (whose sketch appears in this volume), as Gick & Sayles. This firm has since conducted an extensive building and contracting business in Albany and vicinity, and many noted buildings are due to their skill and enterprise. In 1874 he married Mary E. Bulger of Albany and their children are Annetta E., Alice E. and William H., jr.

Best, John A., one of the most prominent farmers of Colonie, and also largely in- terested in manufacturing and mercantile life, was born in Watervliet in 1850. Abraham Best, his father, is now a retired resident of Saratoga county ; it is an old Columbia county family, whose paternal ancestors were from Germany, and on the maternal side from Holland. Mr. Best now operates five farms, aggregating 450 acres, chietly devoted to dairy products. At Crescent Station he has a coal yard, another at Vischer's Ferry, with a grocery business also. He is a heavy operator in ice and grain. For about five years he was also engaged in the manufacture of knit goods at Troy, the firm being known as the Brunswick Manufacturing Company.

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 98

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