USA > New York > Rensselaer County > Landmarks of Rensselaer county, New York, pt 2 - 3 > Part 8
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From boyhood until after sixty years of age Mr. Parks's life was almost one con- tinual struggle with ill-health. This compelled him to retire from active service in the Christian ministry and caused several of the changes in his business life. Only strong will power and great natural energy of character enabled him to accomplish anything. Yet now he is considered unusually vigorous for a man nearly eighty years of age.
Mrs. Stephen Parks died October 15, 1895, at her home in Lansingburgh, N. Y.
P. J. FITZGERALD.
P. J. FITZGERALD was born in Ireland in 1846, and was brought to this country when six months old by his parents, who settled in Waterford, Saratoga county, N. Y. He was educated in the public schools, and worked in King's machine shop, and later for Titcomb & Co., distillers, of Waterford, until 1866, when he established the firm of Fitzgerald & Sultaman in the wholesale liquor trade. In 1868 he moved to Troy and became sole owner of the business. In 18ST he became interested in the College Point brewery on Long Island, and was elected secretary and afterwards vice-president and general manager. lle sold out this interest in 1890 and was elected president of the Donohue-Tierney-Isengart Brewing Co .. which office he now holds. He was president of the Wine, Liquor and Beer Dealers' Association from 1884 to 1887. In 1891 he was commissioned by Governor Hoffman captain of Co. H, 24th Regiment National Guard of the State of New York. In 1874 Mr. Fitz- gerald was a delegate to the Democratic State Convention at Syracuse, which nom- inated Samuel J. Tilden for governor. Captain Fitzgerald has also always taken an enthusiastic interest in firemanie affairs, and was long connected with the fire department of Troy, serving with honor as eaptain of the Hugh Ranken Steamer Company from 1878 to 1882.
In 1873 he was married to Miss Mary J. McKenna, who bore him three children : Elizabeth A. and Edward J., and one who died in infancy. Mrs. P. J. Fitzgerald died July 30, 1882.
P. J. FITZGERALD.
HERMON C. GORDINIER, M. D.
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DAVID LINK.
DAVID LINK was born in the town of Schaghticoke, N. Y., September 11, 1823, only son and child of Peter and Mary (Strunk) Link. Peter Link was born at Sand Lake, N. Y., about 1785 and died in 1845, and his wife Mary died in 1844, when David was but two years old, and when his father removed from Schaghticoke to Sand Lake.
David Link obtained his education in the common schools and for many years fol- lowed the occupation of farming. He was married four times. Ilis first wife was Mary Clapper, whom he married in January, 1844; she died the following summer. His second wife was Catherine, daughter of John W. Vanderberg, of North Green- bush, by whom he had one daughter, Cynthia M., now living. For his third wife he married Mrs. Mary G. McChesney. His fourth wife, a very estimable lady, was Mrs. Frances Simpson born in Le Roy, Genesee county, who resides in Lansing- burgh, leading a retired life. His daughter Cynthia M. married Joseph Phillips, of East Greenbush; they have had three sons: David L., George S. and Joseph. Mr. Link is one of the solid men of the county. The ancestry of the family on both sides is German.
JOHN E. GAITLEY.
JOHN E. GMITLEY is of Irish parentage, was born in Boston, September 23, 1854, was educated in the public schools and afterwards learned the trade of silver- plating. Ile first engaged in business in 1873 under the firm name of Gaitley & Gustafson, which interest he sold out and came to Albany; there he was with R. Strickland in the nickel-plating business until 18G8, when he came to Troy and started the nickel-plate department of the Bussy & McLeod Stove Works; he was with them until 1880 when he, with George W. Percy, under the firm name of Perey & Gaitley, started the manufacture of stove trimmings. Ile purchased Mr. Percy's interest in the concern in 1892 and since that date has been sole proprietor of the business. He manufactures the Maska stove trimmings and other hardware specialties; his business has mercased annually, and he ships goods to all parts of the world. He was captain of the Eddy Steamer Company for three years, and is a member of the B. P. O. Elks, and now is park commissioner of Troy, being appointed July, 1896.
Ile married Anna A. Weldon, of Ballston, N, Y., in 1879, and has one son, John Percy Gaitley, born March 10, 1886.
HERMON C. GORDINIER, M. D.
DR. II. C. GORDINIER was born in Troy, N. Y., May 21, 1864. His father, Robert G. Gordinier, was born in Brunswick, N. Y., and died in 1889; his mother, Mahala Dow, was born in Stillwater, N. Y., and died in 1868.
Dr. Gordinier received his carly education in the public schools of Troy, and en-
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tered the Albany Medical College from which he was graduated in 1886. He then took a post-graduate course at the New York Polyelinie and spent one year in medical work at Prague, Vienna and Berlin, after which he returned to Troy and began the practice of his profession, which he has continued there since. In 1889 he was ap- pointed lecturer on anatomy of the nervous system and instructor of physical diag- nosis in the medical department of Union University; three years ago he received the professorship of physiology and anatomy of the nervous system in the same institution. In 1894 the honorary degree of Master of Arts were conferred upon him by Williams College.
He is a member of the New York State Medical Society, the Rensselaer County Medical Society, and the Troy Scientific Association. In 1894, in connection with Dr. Elliot C. Ilowe, he compiled a catalogue of the flora of Rensselaer county.
Dr. Gordinier was married to Miss Alice M. Beattie, of Troy, in 1892; she is a daughter of the late David Beattie, superintendent of the public schools of Troy for many years. They have two daughters, Muriel and Hermione.
DAVID H. KELLYER.
DAVID 11. KELLYEK was born in Hoosick, Rensselaer county in 1836. His father was llenry Kellyer, and his grandfather was one of the early settlers of Rensselaer county, having purchased and settled upon a portion of the Van Rensselaer tract.
Left fatherless at an early age, David Il. was obliged to earn his own livelihood, which he did in a variety of ways for several years, in the mean time gaining his ed- ucation. By his own efforts he was enabled to enter Fort Edward Institute, from which he was graduated, and was for a time engaged as a teacher, teaching in Boyn- tonville alone for seven years. When about thirty years of age he moved to Peters burgh and formed a partnership with C. W. Reynolds of that place and engaged in a general merchandise business, which they conducted for several years, finally em- barking in the manufacture of shirts, which business was in a flourishing condition at the time of his death, and is now carried on by the surviving partner under the firm name of Kellyer & Reynolds.
He was one of the foremost citizens of the county of his birth, holding many of- fices of trust, and always bore an enviable reputation. He was a director in the National Bank of Troy, was identified with the Andrew M. Church Co., and was a member of the East Side Club, and King Solomon Lodge F. & A. M. During his residence in Troy Mr. Kellyer was an attendant at the First Baptist church, lle died May 20, 1896.
His first wife was Emily Gardner, a granddaughter of John Gardner, one of the pioneers of Rensselaer county, who came from Rhode Island in 1700; she died about two years after her marriage, and for his second wife he married Mrs. Adelaide (Reynolds) Green, of Petersburgh, who died some years later. November 16, 1892, he was married to Mrs. Minnie (Bailey) Mercer, who now lives in Troy. Two chil- dren survive their father, Orange E., and Jessie M .; the former is married and resides in Denver, Col., and the latter resides in Troy.
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E. D. FERGUSON, M. D.
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WILLIAM L. MCDONOUGH.
WILLIAM L. MCDONOUGH was born in West Troy, N. Y., in January, 1871. He is the son of Michael McDonough, a contractor, and treasurer of the Troy Pubhc Works Co. His mother is Mary (Freleigh) McDonough. William L. received his education at St. Mary's Academy at Troy and graduated in the class of 1889, and since that time he has been secretary of the Troy Public Works Co. He is also the junior partner in the drug house of Mansheffer & MeDonough of Lansingburgh, N. Y., and is now secretary of the Troy Cold Water Kalsomine Co., which company was organized in November, 1894.
GEORGE O'NEIL.
GEORGE O'NEIL was born in Troy, June 18, 1855. His father, Thomas O'Neil, was born in Ireland, came to Troy in 1844, and was for many years in the cider and vin- egar business. His mother is Bridget (Connolly) O'Neil; both are still residing in Troy.
George attended the public schools, and in 1870 entered the store of Boardman Bros. where he remained until 1880, when he engaged in the tea, coffee and spice business, which he carried on until 1892. In that year he bought an interest in a cuff and collar business, the firm taking the name of M. F. Gaffey & Co. ; this part- nership continued until December, 1895, when the Troy Collar Co, was formed, of which he became secretary and treasurer. He was supervisor from 1885 to 1887 in- clusive, and was member of assembly in 1888 and 1889. He has been police com- missioner since 1892 and at present is president of the board.
Ile was married in June, 1889, to Miss Sarah Kennedy, of Troy, who died in Feb- ruary, 1892. He has one daughter.
E. D. FERGUSON, M. D.
DR. E. D. FERGUSON was born in Moscow, Livingston county, N. Y., May 9, 1843. Ilis grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father was Smith Ferguson, who was born in Orange county in 1797; he died in 1885.
Dr. Ferguson received his education at Starkey Seminary in Yates county, N. Y., Genesee College, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, graduating in the science of medicine in 1868. He began practice in Essex, N Y., and in 1875 went to Dannemora, N. Y., as surgeon of the Clinton Prison, where he remained three years. In 1878 he came to Troy, where he has since been engaged in the successful practice of his profession.
Dr. Ferguson is a member of the New York State Medical Association, of which he has been secretary since its organization ; also a member of Rensselaer County Med- ical Society, the Medical Association of Troy and Vicinity, and the American Medical Association.
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He married Marian A. Farley, of Crown Point, Ind., in January, 1865, by whom he has two children: Mrs. Hortense E. Childs, who resides in Omaha, Neb., and Smith F. Ferguson.
GEORGE B. WARREN, JR.
HON. GEORGE B. WARREN, JR., was born in Troy, N. Y., June 9, 1828. Esaias Warren, his grandfather, was the first elected mayor of Troy and served for many years until he died in 1829. His son, George B. Warren, father of the subject, was at the time of his death the oldest native resident of Troy, where he was born Septem- . ber 25, 1797; he was for several years president of the Troy City Bank, and at the time of his death in 1879 was president of the Troy Union Railroad Company; for many years he was a wholesale dry goods merchant of Troy, the firm name being Southwick, Cannon & Warren, being one of the successful men of Troy. He was an attendant at St. Paul's Episcopal church ; politically he was a Whig, and as the can- didate of that party for Congress, was beaten by an Anti-Rent candidate. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Meyer Bowers; she was born in Cooperstown, N. Y. ; her death occurred in 1851.
George B., jr., was a wholesale buyer and seller of wool for many years, and re- tired from business in 1870. He is a director of the United National Bank and has been president of the Young Men's Association and is still one of the trustees of that institution. In 1861 he was elected mayor of the city of Troy, that being the year of the breaking out of the Civil war. It was a very exciting period owing to the raising of troops, riots, etc. As chief executive he did all in his power to pre- serve order and sustain the national government. He has always acted with the Democratic party.
Mr. Warren's tastes are hterary and artistic, and his late years have been spent in the study of literature and art. llis collections of objects of art, especially in the line of old Chinese porcelains, are quite remarkable.
lo 1856 he married Engenia Phebe Taylor, daughter of Benjamin Ogle Tavloe, of Washington, D. C. They have three sons and one daughter living. Mr. Warren and family are members of St. Paul's Episcopal church.
WILLIAM KEMP.
IlON. WILLIAM KEMP, one of the comparatively few men whose names are indis- solubly linked with a full half century of Troy's development, the period during which that city made its most rapid strides in the march of commerce, trade and manufactures, is the son of James and Elizabeth (Haggerty) Kemp. He was born in Troy, N. Y., Jannary 14, 1829. Leaving school at the age of nine years, he be_ came a clerk m a drug store in Watertown, N. Y .. afterwards typesetter in the office of the Troy Post, then clerk in a grocery store in Troy. A love for mechanics led him to learn the trade of machinist, and before he left the shop he was able to construct
GEORGE B. WARREN.
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any kind of an engine. In 1851 Mr. Kemp began the business of brass founding. His operations in this direction gradually increased, and for many years it has been among the most successful enterprises in Troy. . For a long term of years Mr. Kemp was also prominently identified with the Troy Steel and Iron Company, one of the most gigantie enterprises of its character in the country. Ile served in an official capacity for several years, and during its latter years was its vice-president and gen- eral manager. He has also been interested in a variety of other business enterprises, and has been the promoter of many industries which have combined to give Troy the standing in the industrial world which it now maintains.
lle has been one of the foremost practical friends of the cause of education in Troy, having served as member of the municipal Board of Education from 1855 to 1872, fourteen years of which period he was president of the board. He has also been a trustee of the Emma Willard Seminary for over twenty-five years. In the war of the Rebellion he served with honor, his official position being that of paymas- ter of the Second Regiment N. Y. State Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment of volunteers going to the front in that memorable struggle. For two years he repre- sented the Fourth ward in the board of aldermen, and from 1878 to 1875 was mayor of the city of Troy. Ile is a trustee of the Troy Orphan Asylum, for several years has been a trustee of the Episcopal Church Home, is vice-president of the Troy Gas Light Company, a director in the Troy City Railway Company, was one of the orig- nators of and is now one of the directors in the Citizens' Line of Steamboats, navi- gating the Hudson River between Troy and New York. He has been connected with the Mutual National Bank for years and has been its president since 1878. Ile was also president of the Mutual Savings Bank at the time of its liquidation, and has been a trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since 1868. As a banker he is looked upon as one of the most astute financiers Troy has ever produced.
In 1850 Mr. Kemp married Rebecca Cantrell of Troy. They had five children, three of whom are living: William Kemp, jr., of Troy, Rev. Robert Morris Kemp, assistant minister of Trinity parish, New York, connected with St. Paul's Episcopal church, and Mrs. Reuben R. Lyon of Bath, N. Y. His first wife died in 1872, and in September, 1873, he married Martha E. Bogart. Mr. Kemp has always taken a deep interest in religions matters, and at the present time is senior warden of Christ Episcopal church of Troy. In politics he is recognized as one of the leading Repub- lieaus of the State, and was the last Republican mayor of Troy.
Mr. Kemp is by nature a clear-headed, able and far-seeing business man, and is recognized by all as one of the ablest financiers of Troy. A man of indomitable per- severance and energy, he knows no such word as fail, as his record shows. In the broadest sense of the term he is a self-made man, having begun at the bottom round of the financial ladder, and what he has accomplished is due to his own unaided efforts. Many of the best enterprises of the city of Troy have been aided by his wise counsels and means. Such a career as his is an inspiring example for the youth of our land. Quiet in manner, he is a pleasing conversationalist, and at his elegant home he dispenses a liberal and graceful hospitality.
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JOSEPH M. WARREN.
HON. JOSEPH MABBETT WARREN was the eldest son of Stephen and Martha C. Warren and a grandson of Eliakim Warren, and was born in Troy, N. Y., on Janu- ary 28, 1813. Eliakim Warren came to this city from Norwalk, Conn., in 1798, and with his sons Esaias, Nathan, and Stephen established one of the first business houses in Troy under the firm name of E. Warren & Co. Stephen Warren was a successful merchant and esteemed citizen, and was one of the originators of the Troy Water Works Company.
Joseph M. Warren received an academie education in the Troy Academy and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which he entered in 1827, leaving in his eighteenth year to become a student in Trinity College, Hartford, where he was graduated in full course in 1834, with high honors. Manifesting a preference for mercantile pursuits he abandoned the idea of a profession and accepted a clerkship in a store in New York city. lle soon returned to Troy and became a member of the firm of Rosseau & Warren, wholesale grocers at No. 217 River street. Later he retired from this business and in 1840 became interested in the hardware trade under the firm name of Warrens, Hart & Lesley. The firm was organized at a very carly date in the history of Troy, which was changed on February 1, 1855, to J. M. Warren & Co., his partner being Charles W. Tillinghast. On February 1, 1864, Mr. Warren's son, Walter P, was admitted, and in 1867 another member was added in the person of 'Thomas A. Tillinghast, who continued until his death, Jannary 10, 1879. In 1870 the handsome structure at the corner of Broadway and River street was erected, and has since been occupied by the firm. In 1870 Walter P. Warren withdrew. On February 10, 1887, the firm of J. M. Warren & Co. was incorporated with Joseph M. Warren, president; Charles W. Tillinghast, vice-president; Joseph J. Tillinghast, secretary ; II. S. Darby, treasurer; and C. Whitney Tillinghast, 2d, Frederick A. Leeds, and N. F. Woods. This membership remained unchanged until the death of the senior partner, J. M. Warren, on September 9, 1896. The business, founded in 1840, has enjoyed uninterrupted success for a period of fifty-six years, and is the oldest and most extensive in the hardware line in Eastern New York. Its prosperity is due largely to Mr. Warren's ability and personal attention, and to the honesty and uprightness which he displayed in all his commercial relations. He was a man of unquestioned integrity, and his career is marked with deeds of kindness that live in history.
Mr. Warren always took an active interest in the welfare and advancement of his native eity. Ile was a commissioner of the Troy Water Works Company from 1855 to 1857, when he resigned, and was vice-president of the company at the time of his death ; and was a director in the first board of trustees of the okl Bank of Troy, his uncle, Esaias, being the president; subsequently his father was president. Ile was president of the latter institution from 1853 to 1865, when it became, in conjunction with the old Farmers' Bank, the United National Bank of Troy, and of this he was the first president and a member of the consolidated board of directors, and he re- mained a director until his death. He was president of the Albany and Vermont, and vice-president of the Saratoga and Schenectady, also the Rensselaer and Saratoga
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railroads, all leased to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. He was president of the Troy and Greenbush Railroad-leased to the N. Y. Central and Hudson River Railroad. For many years he was a trustee of the Troy Savings Bank. Ile was for a number of years associated as partner with Hon. Erastus Corning, of Albany, John F. Winslow and Hon. John A. Griswold, of this city, in the Rensselaer Iron Company, that being the foundation of the present Troy Steel Company. Mr. Warren was also for many years interested in other large manufacturing industries of Rensselaer county. In the commercial, manufactur- ing and banking interests of Rensselaer county he has all his life been an active participant. In 1849 he was elected a life trustee of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and under the act incorporating the Troy Young Men's Association Free Library he was named as a trustee for life. He was also a charter member and one of the first board of managers of the Troy Club.
In politics Mr. Warren was an Independent Democrat, and in 1851 was elected the first Democratie mayor of Troy by a large majority. Entering upon the duties of his office he found that, owing to the part the corporation had taken in railroad en- terprises, the city finances were in a very bad condition. He instituted a system of striet economy, and when his term expired had greatly improved the financial affairs of the city, reduced taxes, and made a thoroughly ereditable record. He declined a renomination, and for many years refused all political preferment. Ile donated his salary as mayor to the Troy Orphan Asylum. In 1870 he was induced to accept the Democratic nomination for Congress and was elected by a handsome majority over J. Thomas Davis.
Mr. Warren was a vestryman of St. Paul's church, Troy, for nearly fifty years, succeeding his father and grandfather in that office. He was long the senior warden and always a consistent and earnest member. His contributions to the church, to charity, and the other worthy objects were incessant. Honored and esteemed. and and active in advancing the best interests of humanity, his life was a model one. llis death occurred on the sixty-first anniversary of his marriage.
lle was married in 1835 to Miss Elizabeth A. Phelps, a native of Hartford, Conn., daughter of Walter Phelps, who died in 1891. Their surviving children are Walter P. Warren, Mrs. John 1. Thompson and Mrs, Isaac MeConihe, of Troy; and Mrs. John M. Glidden, of New Castle, Me.
The following is an echtorial tribute from the Troy Press of September 10, 1896:
Joseph Mabbett Warren, whose name has been an honored household word in Troy for two generations, and whose enterprise has been one of the foremost fulerums of its growth, in the plenitude of age has normally changed his world. Only the first decade of the closing century bad elapsed when Mr. Warren first saw the light of day in Troy, with whose manufacturing, mercantile, financial, municipal, political, social and religious activities he was destined to play so prominent a part. Although once mayor of the city and again representative in Congress, these offices were merely incidental to a prolonged and splendid career of usefulness rather than objective points of his ambition. His ancestry was distinguished, embracing sturdy pioneers of civilization upon this continent - men renowned in varied fields of endeavor- and his life was an embodiment of the axiomatic truth that blood tells. Mr. Warren was progressive in his ideas, yet his nature was so tempered with conservatism that he successfully withstood the many panies and perils that shook the business world during his day and maintained his large fortune substantially unimpaired. The great hardware store on River street and Broadway and the magnitude of its operations are alike monumental to the genius of The eminent citizen whose form has finally fallen under the weight ot years.
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Joseph M. Warren lived a simple, manly, noble life. His transition to a higher estate was calm, painless and unfearing.
"The winds breathe low, the withering leaf Scarce whispers from the tree; So gently flows the parting breath When good men cease to be."
THOMAS A. GRIFFIN, D. D.
REV. THOMAS A. GRIFFIN was born in Hastings, England, September 1, 1832, and was reared and educated in Canterbury, England, and came to Troy in 1853, where he placed his credentials with the State Street M. E. church and joined the Troy Con- ference in the spring of 1854. He was pastor at different times of churches, among others, at Albany, North Adams, Mass., Burlington, Vt., Gloversville and Green- bush, N. Y. Besides his various pastorates he has served two full terms as pre- siding elder of the Plattsburg and Saratoga distriets, and in 1894 was appointed pre- siding elder of the Troy district, in which capacity he is still serving. He was elected to the General Conference in 1876 and in 1884, and was a reserve delegate in 1896.
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