Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 2 - 3, Part 68

Author: Anderson, George Baker
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > New York > Rensselaer County > Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 2 - 3 > Part 68

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MeMurray, Alfred W .- David McMurray was the first to introduce the manufac- ture of brushes in Lansingburgh. David had fom sons who took a prominent part

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in the business. These gentlemen learned the business from their father. William McMurray always remained in Lansingburgh, were he was interested in the man - ufacture of brushes, until the time of his death. Robert and David went to Troy, where they conducted the business all their lifetime. John G. MeMurray first started in Boston and later operated the business in Lansingburgh until his death. He was the first who introduced all of the machinery adapted to the manufacture of brushes. Associated with him was his son Alfred, and his son-in law, Jacob HI. Dater. The business afterwards was conducted by the sons of John G. until 1889, whey they re - tired from business. The business of brush making was first started by David Me- Murray in Lansingburgh in the beginning of the century. This business gradually increased until Lansingburgh was acknowledged to be the headquarters of the brush manufacturing business in the United States. Among the principal firms was that of John G. MeMurray & Co., descendants of the pioneer in the brush manufacturing business in Lansingburgh. The firm gave employment to about 1,000 people. All the firms are out of business with the exception of one at the present time. Many of the firms in the business to-day learned the trade in the employ of John G. Mc- Murray & Co. Mr. Alfred W. MeMurray conducted the active management of the business of John G. McMurray & Co. for ten years before the death of his father, and until the dissolution of the firm in 1889, a period of nearly twenty-five years. It was during this period that the brush business was at its height. This is the history of the principal and only considerable industry Lansingburgh ever had.

Cornell, Gerothman W., was born in Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y., Jan- uary 4, 1817. He was the oldest of a family of six children of Govit and Phebe (Almy) Cornell; his ancestors were from New England. He received a common school education, but at the age of thirteen, because of the straitened circumstances of his parents, he left school and went into the world to care for himself. He be- came a elerk for his uncle in New York city, where he remained for two years, and subsequently was employed as a clerk in a general merchandise store at Buskirks Bridge, at which place he remained for four years. In 1836 he came to Lansingburgh, Rensselaer county, N. Y., and served as clerk for Alexander Walsh, but soon after established himself in business as a general merchant and dealer in grain, &c., which business he carried on with varying success for many years. May 20. 1844, Mr. Cornell united in marriage with Mary F., daughter of the late William MeMurray, of Lansingburgh, Three children were born to them: William M., Sarah M. and Mary F. Mr. Cornell was an interested party in all matters of local interest and a very active member of the Republican party. He was honored with positions of trust and responsibility by the citizens of his town and county, and always endeav- ored to discharge the duties incumbent upon him with justice to others and with credit to himself. Ile was trustee of the village of Lansingburgh and represented the town in the Board of Supervisors for four years in succession. In 1858 he was elected sheriff of Rensselaer county, and re-elected to that office in the fall of 1864. He was appointed postmaster of Lansingburgh in 1874 during the presidency of U. S. Grant, and reappointed to that office in 1878. Mr. Cornell died in April, 1885.

Snyder, A. C., was born in Pittstown, N. Y., in 1834. He was a son of Christo- pher and Elizabeth (Stover) Snyder. Christopher Snyder was a farmer in the township of Pittstown up to the time of his death. A. C. Snyder received a com-

+3 +

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mon school education in Pittstown, then attended the academy in Lansingburgh for two years. Mr. Snyder was in business in Lansingburgh as a member of the firm of Harrison & Snycer in 1852, where they conducted a general drug business until the time of the dissolution of the firm in 1868. Since that time Mr. Snyder has con- dueted the business alone. During the period of forty-three years that Mr. Snyder has been a merchant of Lansingburgh he has held many public offices of trust in the village. He was a member of the fire department of Lansingburgh (being one of the reorganizing members of the Hook and Ladder Company of Lansingburgh) and was elected secretary and treasurer of the company, which position he held for four years. He was then foreman of the company for eight years, chief of the de- partment two years, and was also treasurer until its organization under the present system in 1874. He was appointed fire commissioner in 1876, which office be held till March, 1895, when he was legislated out of office by the new charter. Mr. Sny- der has been connected with the fire department for more years than any other per- son in Lansingburgh, and has been a strong and efficient worker during that time. Ile was elected receiver of taxes in 1885, which office he held four years. Mr. Sny- der's long and efficient service in the fire department has been one of the features of the history of Lansingburgh, as his connection with that department extended over a period of forty years and during the time that Lansingburgh was the acknowledged leader of the manufacturing industry of the county. Mr. Snyder married Miss Julia A. Fields, by whom he has two childten: Lizzie M. and Carrie L.

Banker, E. Warren, was born in the town of Half Moon, Saratoga county, No- vember 30, 1843. Ile was educated in the public schools and came to Troy in 1863; he was a clerk until 1869; he made Lansingburgh his permanent home in 1871, and began in business on his own account, with a general stock of hardware, which he still continues with success. May 9, 1877, he married Mary E. Whitaker of this place, by whom two children have been born: Edward W. and Carrie E. The father of Mr. Banker was William S., born in this State February 8, 1809. He married Catherine E. Brown of Saratoga county, by whom eight children have been born: E. Warren, Chauncey B , James C., Phebe A., Emma, and Carrie E., and two died in infancy. Mrs. Catherine E. Banker died July 18, 1890. The grandfather of E. Warren was James Banker. He was a soldier and drummer boy under General Washington in the Revolutionary war. He lived until he was 105 years of age, and his great-grandfather lived until 108 years of age, and his great-great-grandfather until 112 years of age. Mr. Banker is a member of Clinton Lodge No. H0 F. & A. M., of Waterford, N. Y., of the Waterford Chapter No. 169, R. A. M. He has served his town as clerk, and for the second year is village treasurer. The ancestry of the family is Dutch and English.

Groesbeck, William Chichester, was born in Lansingburgh, July 19, 1838. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy. He began as clerk in the Farmers' Bank of Lansingburgh in 1851, and was teller 1857-1860, In 1865 he entered the employ of the Bank of Lansingburgh, which was in 1877 merged into the private bank of D. Powers & Sons. Mr. Groesbeck was retained m their employ and took the position of cashier January 1, 1896. September 6, 1860, he married Anna G. Swetland of Jonesville, Saratoga county, by whom one child, a son, has been born: George S., born in 1868. He married Edna V. Pierey, of New York

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city; they have one daughter: Mildred P. George S. is a civil engineer by profes- sion, a gradnate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is chief engineer and treasurer of the Springfield Construction Co. of Springfield, Mass. The father of William C. Groesbeek was Anson Groesbeek, born in the town of Schaghtieoke in 1809. He was educated in the schools of his day and came to Lansingburgh when a boy and was clerk in Alexander Walsh's general store. He married Lousia Chiches- ter of Lansingburgh, by whom six children were born: William C., Jennie L., Edward A., Leonard II., John II, and Helen M. Anson Groesbeek was cashier of the Rensselaer County Bank and afterwards of the Farmers' Bank (both of Lansing- burgh) for about twelve years. He died January 1, 1863, and his wife died in Octo- ber, 1867. William C. succeeded his father as a member of the board of trustees of the First Methodist church and is secretary of the board. He is also secretary of the Police Department, secretary of the Sans Sonei Club, and president of the Half- moon Bridge Company. He represented the First ward for two years in the Board of Village Trustees, and is a member of the Board of Managers of Leonard Hospital, Lansingburgh. The Groesbeck ancestry is from Claase Jacobse Groesbeek of Rot- terdam, Holland, who settled in Albany, N. Y., prior to 1662. Ilis son, William Claase, married Gertrury daughter of David Pieterse Schuyler, who was unele of Col. Pieter Schuyler, the first mayor of Albany. On the Chichester (his mother's) side the ancestry is English. Her grandfather was a practicing physician in England. Members of the Chichester family were among the first settlers on Long Island, and have many descendants now living there. Mr. Groesbeek is a member of the Holland Society of New York, which requires its members to date from male ancestors who settled in this country as early as 1675. He has been a vice-president of this society for several years, representing Lansingburgh, which was an original Dutch settle- ment. Edward A. Groesbeek, brother of William C., is cashier of the National Com- mereial Bank of Albany, and Leonard Il., another brother, is cashier of the Third National Bank of Syracuse N. Y.

Brooker, George, was born in the town of Mansfield, Orleans county, N. Y., Feb- ruary 4, 1826. Ile came to Pittstown with his parents when seven years of age. Ile was educated in the public schools, and was a dealer in live stock with his brother James for over forty years. In 1552 he married Caroline, daughter of Nicholas Weaver of Lansingburgh, by whom six children were born. George, who died in his fifth year; Emma, Clara A., Albert L., Arthur S., deceased ; and Harriet A. Clara A. married George B. Fonda of this town; Arthur S. married Mary E. Laith of Waterford; he died March 20, 1896. Mr. Brooker's father, Riley, was born in Con- nectient in 1787 and came to this State when a single man. lle married Mary Cor- nell of Ballston Spa, by whom seven children were born: Adelia, George, James, Eliza, Luey, Samuel and Leonard. Riley Brooker died in about 1874, and his wife died in 1879.

Brooks, Samuel, was born in the town of Townsend, Middlesex county, Mass., September 20, 1820. lle was educated in the public schools. His early days were spent on his grandfather's farm. Hle afterwards learned to be a cooper, came to Lansingburgh in 1840, and carried on the cooper business for two years; he was then engaged in the manufacture of scales for about six years; he then manufactured paper boxes on a large scale until 1876, when he retired. He has been trustee of the

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First ward for eight years, trustee of the public schools for twelve years, and assessor for twenty-one years. In 1843 he married Sarah Snyder of Lansingburgh, by whom he has had six children; Alfred W., Henry F., Emily P., Laura V., Nellie P. and Carrie A. (twins); all of whom are dead except Henry F., who is now a resident of Honeoye Falls, Monroe county, N. Y. They had three sons: Edward G., William N. and Samuel G. Mrs. Samuel Brooks died March 25, 1885, mourned by her be- reaved husband and family. Mr. Brooks is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M. The ancestry of the family is of New England stock, and on the mater- nal side Dutch. In his political faith he is an ardent Republican, and cast his first vote for William Henry Harrison in 1840.

Derrick, Adam, was born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, N. Y., August 28, 1843. ITis parents moved here when he was a boy. He received his education in the con- mon schools and had a variety of occupations. He operated in real estate; he has also been a merchant, and is now a farmer and market gardener. March 5, 1874, he married Marion Smith of Herkimer county, N. Y., by whom he has had two chil- dren: Andrew D. and Margaret Jane. Mr. Derrick's father, Andrew, was born in the town of Brunswick about the year 1815. He was educated in the schools of his day, and was a farmer by occupation and afterwards a merchant. He married Jane Mansfield of Orange county, N. Y .. by whom he has had five children: Thomas, Adalaide, Margaret, Adam, the subject of our sketch, and William, Mr. Derrick died May 10, 1883, and his widow October 18, 1890. His grandfather, Adam Derrick, was born at the old home in the town of Brunswick, and his great-grandfather Derrick was born in Germany and came to this country in the seventeenth century. The ancestry of the family, as now composed, is German and Scotch.

Chambers, John M., was born in Ireland, July 21, 1845, and came to the United States with his parents when he was five years of age, first located in Delaware county and settled in Lansingburgh in 1851. He was educated in the public schools. lle was clerk for Charles J. Lansing for two years, and the next two years was clerk in the grocery store for William Humphrey. He was afterwards with A. B. Elliott in the sale of sewing machines for two years. He was bookkeeper in the Burton saw mills in Cohoes for two years and then came to Lansingburgh and engaged in business on his own account, in fine groceries, which he continued for eight years. In 1875 he went in partnership with Ira E. Davenport under the firm name of Day- enport & Chambers, which has continued since. He has been village clerk for two years, collector for two years and was supervisor for five successive terms. He has been school trustee for six years, village trustee for four years, and was elected to the assembly in 1892 and served in an able manner for three years. Mr. Chambers was married twice, first, April 28, 1873, to Anna E. Densmore, who died in 1878. Angust 26, 1882, he married for his second wife Olive A. Howes of Dennis, Cape Cod, Mass., by whom three children were born: Margaret II., who died in her fourth year; Anna M., and Mary C. He is a member of Jerusalem Lodge No. 355, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Phoenix Chapter, R. A. M. He has been master in the Jerusalem Lodge for six years, and was high priest in the Chapter for five years, and is also a member of the Royal Arcanum.

Clarkson, Sarah A .- The late William C. Clarkson was born in New York city

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September 9, 1839. He was educated in Columbia College, and was cashier for Dickerson, Van Dusen & Co. of New York city for about twenty-two years. Sep- tember 5, 1866, he married Sarah A. Greene of the town of Brunswick; they have two daughters; Ella M. and Carrie E. ; the latter married John Consaul, jr., of this. town. Ella married Curtis W. Dormandy of Lansingburgh. Mr. Clarkson died December 21, 1887. Mrs. Clarkson's father, Daniel S. Greene, was born in the town of Berlin, Rensselaer county, in 1802. He was educated in the district schools, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Elizabeth Maxon of Petersburgh, by whom eight children were born: Edgar, Caroline E., Maria L., Charles H., Thomas, Sarah A., Helen A. and David M. Mr. Greene died in 1868, and his wife died in 1876. Mrs. Clarkson and daughter are related, through her father, to General Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame. The late Mr. Clarkson was a soldier in the late war, with the rank of lieutenant in the 12th Regiment Cavalry, N. Y. Volunteers, serving from June 19, 1863, until the beginning of 1865, when he was honorably discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability. Mr. Clarkson descended from William Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Gardner, Wright J , was born in Troy, August 31, 1850. He was educated in the public schools and Lansingburgh Academy, and began business with his brother, Anson G., when he was eighteen years of age, in the laundry business. When he was twenty-two years of age he went West and established a large laundry for a gent's farmshing goods industry, which is now located in Chicago, and which was organized and put in running order for the Wilson Bros. He then returned to Troy and conducted a collar landry business, and is now in company with Thomas S. Stone and his brother's son, William L. Gardner, under the firm name of Gardner, Stone & Co. June 24, 1884, he married Catherine A. Keefe, of West Troy, by whom three children have been born . Marion S., who died in her tenth year; Helen, and Edgar Betts. The father of Mr. Gardner was Jefferson, born in Dutchess county in 1802, and came to Troy when a young man. He was one of the pioneers in the collar business and was the first to adopt and apply the Wheeler & Wilson sewing machine in the collar industry. He married Mary A. Wright, who was born in Troy in 1806, by whom twelve children were born, eight of whom grew to maturity: Hannah M., who married William S. Earl, of Troy; Mary J., who married James I1. Nichols; Richard 11., now conducting a laundry business in Brooklyn; Emma F., who mar. ried Le Grand Benedict, now of Brooklyn; Elizabeth II., who married John L. Bene- diet, now of New York; Anson G., who died at the age of thirty-three; Harriet L., who married E. K. Betts; and J. Wright. Jefferson Gardner died in 1889 and his wife in 1892. Mr. Gardner is a member of King Solomon's Primitive Lodge No. 91. F. & A. M., of Apollo Chapter No. 48, R. A. M., of Bloss Conneil No. 14, R. & S. M., of Apollo Commandery No. 15, K. T., and Oriental Temple A. A. O. U. M. S., and is a life member in all the above branches of the Masonic order. He is past high priest of Apollo Chapter, and is now semor warden of the Commandery. He isof English descent, and the family name of Gardner is found to-day on the Plymouth rock stone, the rock where the Pilgrim fathers landed.

Locke, Sylvanus Dyer, was a descendant of John Locke, who landed on American shores with the tide of Puritans, and settled in Dover. N. 11., about 1644. But Mr. Locke may well put lineage in the background, for it was upon his own efforts that

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he succeeded in the battle of life, and by his own genius that he rose from the com- parative obseurity of his birth to the place among men he occupied. He was born at Richfield, N. Y., September 11, 1833. At the common school he mastered sur- veying and geometry and by a continued personal research acquired a good knowl- edge of more abstruse sciences. When seventeen he began teaching, four years later becoming principal of a Union school at Herkimer, N. Y. In 1860 he was a law student at Janesville, Wis., and during the next year was formally admitted to the bar. During his residence in Wisconsin he also practiced his profession of civil engineering, and was county surveyor and city engineer at Janesville. August 13, 1861, he married Ellen Josephine Parker, of an old and prominent New York family. Mr. Locke is best known as the inventor of the automatic binding harvester, and indeed it is very largely to his genius and indefatigable efforts, that the world is in- debted for that wonderful machine which has revolutionized the world of labor. It was at Hoosick Falls in 1870 that he was finally crowned with success and of the de- tails of that achievement, and of the co-operation of the late Walter A. Wood, an- other portion of this volume will treat. Of Mr. Locke personally we cannot do better than to quote from another biographer. "Generons and publie spirited, he is one of the representative and ideal Americans to whom wealth, coming as the reward of real genins, only widens the sphere of personal usefulness." Mr. Locke died sud- denly September 27, 1876. Mr. Locke's inventions extended over a wide field, over 200 patents in all having been granted him. His last invention, at which he had been at work for the past four or five years, recently perfected, is a machine for mak- ing a detachable steel link belting for sprocket wheels, the machine stamping a con- tinnous chain out of a continuous strip of steel. The machine is perfected and Mr. Locke had about completed arrangements for establishing a plant for its manufac- ture. In politics Mr. Locke had always been a strong Repubhean, having united with the party at its inception. In 1884 he served as a member of Assembly from his district in this county. Ile was about to become a member of the Sons of Revo- lution, the necessary papers having been filled out. Mr. Locke was a sincere Chris- tian, and during his entire residence at Hoosick Falls had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of that place, For twenty years he had been a trustee of the church. He is survived by a wife and three children: Lilla J. and John P. Locke, who reside at the homestead, and Sylvanus D. Locke, jr. Another son, the eldest, Norman W. Locke, died in 1890. Mr. Locke was generous, open hearted, publie spirited -- a typical American citizen -- and as such his name will be handed down in love and honor to posterity,

Greene, George E., the most prominent lawyer of Hoosick Falls, was born at Cam- bridge, N. Y., in 1860. His father was John Greene, an active, industrious man, who devoted his life to farming; hence George was reared on a farm, and his edu- cation was obtained at the Cambridge Washington Academy. Ile entered the law office of D. M. Westfall at Cambridge in 1880, where he remained over three years, teaching school winters. He came here in 1884, and besides his general practice he is attorney for various societies. Ile has a younger brother, Herbert J. Greene, asso- ciated with him. Mr. Greene is identified with the Republican party, and takes an active interest in the political affairs of the day, and is a zealous promoter of all en- terprises pertaining to the advancement of his town, He has never sought office.

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He married in 1884, Mary E. Foster, of a prominent Salem family. They have four children.

Nicholls, jr., George HI., has been for many years identified with the Walter Wood Co., going into their employ at the western office in Chicago in 1869. After a year he returned and became associated with the home office, and had charge of the pur- chasing department in 1872. In 1884 he went into business with the late Senator II. Barnum, manufacturing track bolts for railroad use, the first concern to make rolled thread screws. He returned here in 1888. He is a director of the Hoosac Club, but no office holder. Mr. Nicholls is largely engaged in the coal business, having ex- tensive sheds, offices and teams at . North Adams, at Williamstown and in Hoosick Falls, using principally the Pittston coal. He was born at Salisbury, Conn., in 1847, son of Rev. George Il. Nicholls, a native of Bridgeport, Conn., the rector emeritus of St. Mark's church and author of the history of that church. His mother was Julia Louisa Phelps of an old Hartford family. He began business life at fifteen as clerk for J. M. Warren & Co., hardware store, the leading member of the firm a maternal uncle of his. Here he remained for four years, during which time he was a member of the old Washington Volunteer Fire Company. In ISTS he united in marriage with Emma M. Smith of Greenwich, Washington county, daugh- ter of a prominent merchant there.

Nicholls, George Huntington, S. T. D., rector emeritus of St. Mark's Episcopal church at Hoosick Falls, is a man personally entitled to current consideration in this work, aside from his lineage and his position in the church. Ile was born at Bridgeport, Conn., in 1818. His father was Charles T. Nicholls, a merchant of that city, and his grandfather, Philip Nicholls, was the first lay-delegate sent from the Diocese of Connecticut to the General Convention of the Episcopal church. Doctor Nicholls was a pupil of the Diocesan School at Cheshire, Conn., and entered Wash ington, now Trinity College in 1835. It was in 1865 that he became so potent a factor in the social and clerical life of this place, at that date making Hoosick Falls his resi- dence as rector of St. Mark's church. The various improvements and enlargements, memorial and otherwise, previous to 1881, have been under his charge, and to the succinct and masterly historical pamphlet published by him in 1891 the author of this work acknowledges deep indebtedness. In 1812 Dr. Nicholls married Miss Julia Louisa Phelps, daughter of Walter Phelps, of Hartford, Conn. The ceremony was performed in St. John's church, Hartford, Conp., by Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Brownell, D. D., who also ordained him both deacon and priest. Three sons and three daughters were born to them: Charles Philip, deceased; Elizabeth Warren, wife of Hon. Walter A. Wood, both deceased; William Shelton, the well-known vice- president of the Walter A. Wood Company; George Huntington, jr., also associated with the same company; Julia Phelps, who died in infancy; Mary, the wife of Charles W. Barnum, of Lime Rock, Salisbury, Conn. ; Mrs. Julia Louisa Phelps Nicholls deceased, March 1892.

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Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 2 - 3, Part 68

Author: Anderson, George Baker Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Anderson, George Baker
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1424