USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume III, Pt. 2 > Part 28
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
.
--
624
HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
the Union League, New York Athletic, Colonial, and Suburban Driv- ing clubs. He is a keen sportsman and an artist:
BERGMANN, SIGMUND, is the founder and head of the well- known electrical manufacturing establishment of S. Bergmann & Company, of Berlin, Germany, and is at the head of the still more extensive Bergmann Elektromotoren und Dynamo Werke, of the same city. In 1892 he organized in New York City the New York Electric Equipment Company, of which he is President and principal owner, to take over the electrical equipment department of the Edison Elec- tric Illuminating Company of New York. He also organized the General Incandescent Are Light Company, of New York, and is its President and principal owner, the specialty of this corporation being the manufacture of arc lamps; switches, switchboards, and simi- lar electrical apparatus. He was born in Mühlhausen, Thuringia, Germany, June 9, 1851, the son of Karl Bergmann and the grandson of Adolf Bergmann. He was edu- cated in the public schools, and at fourteen years of age was appren- ticed to the trade of machinist and tool maker. In 1870, after follow- ing his profession in different parts of Germany, he canie to the United States and secured a posi- tion with Thomas A. Edison, whose fame was just then dawning. After an engagement of several years with Edison, he established SIGMUND BERGMANN. his own business, manufacturing private line telegraph printers for the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company, together with burglar alarms, bells, batteries, telephones, and other electrical apparatus. Many of Edison's experiments, as well as the first telephones, were made in Mr. Bergmann's shops. Mr. Edison's phonograph was to a great ex- tent developed in this establishment, with Mr. Bergmann's assistance, and for a number of years the latter was the sole manufacturer of this apparatus. A few years later appeared Mr. Edison's most important - invention, the incandescent electric light, in the development of which Mr. Bergmann took a prominent part. At this time Mr. Edison, his well-known co-worker, Edward H. Johnson, and Mr. Bergmann, en- tered into a business partnership which continued successfully and harmoniously for a period of ten years, until the business was reor- ganized under one general corporation. Many of the devices for elec-
625
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
tric lighting now in general use were originated by Mr. Bergmann. At the end of the ten years' partnership, upon the reorganization of the Edison industries by prominent financiers, Mr. Bergmann profit- ably disposed of his monopoly of manufacture. He was thus enabled to devote himself to the organization of the electrical manufactur- ing corporations of New York City and Berlin already referred to. At the present time he is erecting large factories in Berlin for the manufacture of electric motors and dynamnos. He is a director of the German Exchange Bank of New York City, is a trustee of the German Hospital and the Isabella Home, and is a member of the Ger- man Society, the Liederkranz Society, and the Ation, Manhattan, and Washington Heights clubs ..
CREIGHTON, HENRY JAMES, born in Gaspé, Canada, March 14, 1839, was educated in the Brooklyn public schools and high school. For about twenty years he was connected with the drygoods firm of J. W. Page & Company, continuing until their dissolution in 1861. He then engaged in the cotton business for himself as a member of the firm of G. Schroeder & Company, one of the prominent houses, with dealings in the millions, and the senior firm on the Cotton Exchange. In 1891 he retired from this business. He had become a large property owner on Staten Island, and about five years ago he engaged in the real estate business. He is a member of St. Mary's ( Episcopal) Church of Castleton, S. I .; is an exempt member of the Volunteer Fire Department of West New Brighton, and for three years was its Presi- dent, and is a member of the Staten Island Athletic and the Staten Is- land Cricket clubs. For many years he has been a director of the Young Men's Christian Association of West New Brighton. He also helped to organize the Staten Island Interior Railroad, of which he is a director. He descends from the Creightons, earls of Erne, Ireland. He is the son of Henry James Creighton, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Mary Stayner; is the grandson of Alexander Creighton and Harriet Newton, and is the great-grandson of James Creighton, who, about 1740, came from Somerset, England, and was one of the first settlers of Halifax, having a patent from the Crown for Citadel Hill, now the Fortress of Citadel Hill, which he sold to the Duke of Kent.
MELVIN, DAVID NEILSON, mechanical and civil engineer and inventor, since 1874 has been Superintendent of the extensive works of the American Linoleum Manufacturing Company at Linoleum- ville, Borough of Richmond, New York City. He was born in Glas- gow, Scotland, July 21, 1840, and has been a resident of the United States since 1867. During the year of his arrival in this country he obtained a patent for an improved steam boiler. He has also taken out other patents, including important ones connected with the manu- facture of linoleum. He is the patentee of the new process of manu-
-- -.
626
HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
facturing "inlaid " linoleum. He was educated in private schools and the Andersonian University of Glasgow, Scotland, and served seven years as an engineer and draughtsman with Crawhall & Camp- bell, the eminent engineers and tool makers. A little later he designed fireproof buildings for some of the largest sugar-refining houses in Scotland, as well as machinery for the sugar business in Cuba and the West Indies. He also purchased an interest in paper mills near Oxford, England, and suc- cessfully operated them until the abolition of the British tariff on paper made the business unprofit- able. He then followed his profession for some time in Manchester and Birmingham, England. Forming a connection with T. A. Weston, inventor of the differential chain-pul- ley, he came to the United States in 1867 and opened an engineering office in Buffalo, N. Y. Subse- quently, for four years, he followed his profession in the Michigan lumber re- gion, where he erected some of the largest lumber mills. In 1873 he formed a connection with Freder- ick Walton, the inventor of linoleum, and erected the DAVID NEILSON MELVIN. large works for its manu-
facture on Staten Island. When the works were completed, he succeeded Mr. Walton as their Superintendent, and has carried on the business since. In 1888, when the Walton patents expired, he invented what is known as inlaid lino- Jeum. These goods, which are very popular, are manufactured ex- clusively under his patents. He is a niember of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and was one of the original members of the Ameri- can Society of Mechanical Engineers, of which he is also a life member. He married, in 1868, a daughter of Alderman Watson, of Oxford, Eng- land. He Jineally descends from Sir James Melvin, page to Mary, Queen of Scots. He is the son of the late David Melvin, a native of Pais- ley, Scotland, a graduate from the University of Glasgow, and a suc- cessful paper and card manufacturer of Oxford. England. The latter
627
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
was also a notable figure in the temperance movement in Great Brit- ain. He assisted in organizing the Paisley Youths' Total Abstinence Society in 1832, the first organization of total abstainers from alco- holic beverages in the United Kingdom. When he died he was the only survivor among the original members. He continued to be prominent in this movement, was a Radical in politics, and was a prominent member of the Congregational Church in Glasgow.
SLEICHER, JOHN ALBERT, editor of Leslie's Weekly, was born in Troy, N. Y., October 4, 1848, and was graduated from the Troy High School. He entered the counting-room of the Troy Morning Whig,. subsequently the Troy Record, and also did work as a reporter. He became eventually its city editor. Later on he became city editor of the Troy Press, and in 1874 accepted the same position on the Troy Times. In 1877 he came to New York City as the representative of the New York State Associated Press. He resigned in 1880 to take charge of the Denver Tribune, then recently purchased by George B. Robinson, but the death of Mr. Robinson occurring, he resumed as manager of the New York State Press Association service. He served as President of the New York State Editorial Association, and was the organizer and first President of the New York Republican State Editorial Asso- ciation. He next became a joint proprietor of the Troy Times, once more becoming its city editor. He withdrew, and purchased the Schenectady Union, and, in five months, quadrupled its circulation. and disposed of it at a handsome profit. He joined with William J. Arkell and the late JJoseph W. Drexel in the purchase of the Albany Evening Journal, becoming its Editor-in-Chief. This paper was sold in 1889. Mr. Arkell having purchased Leslie's Weekly, while Mr. Sleicher became the editor of the latter journal. He resigned in 1892 to become Editor-in-Chief of the New York Mail and Express. In 1894 he accepted his appointment by Mayor Strong as Supervisor of the City Record, holding this position for nearly three years, since which he has held his old position as Editor of Leslie's Weekly. He married, in 1873, Ella S., daughter of Reuben Peckham, paper manu- facturer, of Troy, N. Y. He is a member of the Union League, Repub- lican, and Quill clubs, and the Methodist Social Union, of New York City, and the Fort Orange Club, of Albany. He served two terms as Supervisor from the Second Ward of Troy, N. Y., and. by appointment of Governor Hill, served a term as Civil-service Commissioner of the State of New York.
O'DONOVAN-ROSSA. JJEREMIAH, the advocate of home rule for Ireland, has been a resident of New York City since 1871, engaged in the hotel business or as a newspaper editor and publisher. He is now the editor of the United Irishman. He was born in Ross Carbery. Ireland, about 1839, the son of Denis O'Donovan-Rossa and Ellen.
1
.
628
HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
daughter of Cornelius O'Driscoll. His family is one of the old stocks of Irish aristocracy, claiming descent from a number of kings, princes, and chieftains of Ireland. He was educated at Ross Carbery, in private schools, and at the National School. Early in life he en- gaged in Skibbereen in the ironmongery business, and in the sale of agricultural seeds. He was afterward manager of the Irish People of Dublin. He was sentenced to penal servitude for life for being the registered publisher of that newspaper, and spent six years in ten prisons in Ireland and England. In 1871, the British Government sent him from Chatham Prison to New York City. He is a member of the Irish Revolutionary, Fenian, Clannagael, United Irishmen, and Knights of Columbus clubs.
THIRY, JOHN H., is the founder of the School Savings Bank sys- tem in this country. The suggestion which resulted in the introduc- tion of the School Banking system into the public schools of America arose from his observation of the successful operation of that system in foreign lands, particularly in France and Belgium. Adopted by the schools of Long Island City in 1885, the schools of seventy cities and villages, representing eight States of the Union and an educa- tional corps of 1,809 teachers, now operate the system. Mr. Thiry was born in Belgium, in 1822, and was graduated in 1815 from the normal school. He entered the Govern- ment service in the Department of Public Works, where he remained until 1859. He then resigned, and JOHN H. THIRY. came to New York City, where he engaged in the book business. In a few years he was the proprietor of one of the largest book stores in the city. Thirteen years later he retired from business, making Long Island City his home. In 1884 he was appointed to the office of School Com- missioner by Mayor George Petry, and was instrumental in establish- . ing the monthly meeting of the teachers of Long Island City under the supervision of the Superintendent, which meetings have been since continued with good results. The abolition of the mid-session recess, after the plan adopted in Albany and Rochester, was favored by him. and was brought about while he was a member of the Board. On the election of Mayor Gleason, Mr. Thiry retired from the Board of Edu- cation. but when Mayor Sanford took office, Mr. Thiry again took his
الك
629
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
place in the Board. He favored the placing of the public schools of the city under the Regents, and had the satisfaction of assisting in accomplishing this soon after Mr. Sanford's administration came into power. His greatest achievement was the introduction of the School Savings Bank system. At the solicitation of the United States Com- missioner of Education, he made an exhibit at the World's Fair in Chi- cago, in 1893, showing the workings of the system and what had been accomplished since its introduction. He is one of the oldest members of the Universal Provident Institution, the meetings of which are held every five years in Paris. He is also an active member of the Ameri- can Social Science Association, the National Charity Organization. the National Educational Association, the Council of School Super- intendents of the State of New York, and the New York State School Board.
WAITE, HENRY RANDALL, organized the American Institute of Civics, and has been its President since 1885. He also founded the Patria Club of New York, and has been an officer of the Quill Club of Manhattan Borough, and of the Union League Club of Brooklyn. From 1877 to 1880 he was President of the Political Science Asso- ciation of New York, the first organization of its kind; from 1878 to 1879 was Chairman of the National (Civil Service) Reform League: from 1882 to 1881 was President of the District of Columbia Social Science Association, and from 1885 to 18ST was Secretary of the In- terstate Commission on Federal Aid to Education. He was born in Copenhagen, N. Y., December 16, 1846, the son of Rev. Hiram H. Waite and S. Maria, daughter of Benajah Randall, a volunteer in the War of 1812, and lineally descends from Richard Wayte, who was Marshal of the Colony of Massachusetts under Governor Winthrop, and commander of troops in King Philip's War. Mr. Waite was grad- uated from Hamilton College in 1868, studied at the Union Theolog- ical Seminary, and subsequently studied economics in Europe. He was Literary Editor of the Utica Morning Herald from 1868 to 1870. and from 1869 to 1871 was Editor of the University Quarterly Review. HIe was Pastor of the American Union Church, at Rome, Italy, from 1872 to 1875, and during this period established the Italian Sunday- school Union, founded an undenominational school for the instruction of Christian workers at Rome, established the - Scuola Evangelica Militare " among the soldiers of the Italian Army. founded the Italian Young Men's Christian Association in Rome, the first of the kind in Italy, and established American chapels in Lucerne. Interlaken. and Geneva, Switzerland. Returning to America, he was Editor of the New Haven Evening Journal in 1876 and 1877, and, in the latter year, was Editor of the International Review at New York. From 1STT to 1881 he was minister of the Huguenot Memorial Church at Pelham- . on-Sound. He was Statistician of the Tenth United States Census,
630
HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
in charge of the collection of social statistics, from 1880 to 1884. From 1884 to 1887 he was book editor of D. Lathrop & Company, of Boston, while he was also Editor of the New England Magasine in 1886, and of the Citizen of Boston in 1887. He was Editor of Citics, at New York, from 1887 to 1895. From 1887 to 1890 he was Secretary and Treasurer of the Julien Electric Company, which operated the first street cars propelled by storage battery in the United States. He organized the Church of the Covenant, at Pelhamville, and was its minister without salary from 1887 to 1889. He organized Trinity Congregational Church (in 1893 changed to Bedford Presbyterian Church), and was its minister from 1890 to 1893. In 1894 he traveled abroad. He married, in 1876, Cara A. Huntoon, of Boston, and has a son, Winthrop, and a daughter.
SUTPHIN, JOHN H., has been County Clerk of Queens County, New York, since 1871, and is now serving his tenth consecutive term of three years each. He is a leader of the Democratic party, and has served many years as Chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee of Queens County, New York. He is a director and Presi- dent of the Bank of Jamaica, is a director and Vice-President of the Jamaica Savings Bank, and is a trustee of the Jamaica Normal School. He is a prominent mem- ber of a considerable number of clubs and social organizations and secret orders, and has occupied many official positions of honor in connection with them. Ile was born in Jamaica, L. I., in 1836, and received his education in the public JOHN H. SUTPHIN, schools. He held various public of- fices prior to his lection as Clerk of Queens County. He married, in 1857, Carrie M. Smith, of Jamaica, and has five children.
. ANDERSEN, HENRY, has been engaged in business on his own account as an architect in New York City since 1892, having pre- viously been engaged in the offices of several architects. The son of Peter Severein Sterm Andersen and Sophie Jost, he was born in Flensborg, Denmark, June 20, 1852, and received his early education in a private school and the college at Flensborg. At the age of six- teen he was graduated from a private college in Copenhagen, served
631
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
a few years with a mason contractor as an introduction to the study of architecture, and subsequently was graduated from the Technical and Polytechnical Institute. He also took a complete course in the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen, prior to emigration to the United States. While in the office of Thom & Wilson of this city he designed and constructed many buildings, including the Harlem Police and District Court, Sylvan Place and One Hundred and Twenty-first Street, and the Holy Cross Lyceum on Forty-third Street. Since he has been in business for himself he has constructed many private residences, apartment houses, stores, and warehouses, together with several churches. Among these are the Lutheran Church of the . Atonement, One Hundred and Fortieth Street and Edgecombe Ave- nue, and the Don Carlos Apartment, Seventy-sixth Street and Madi- son Avenue. He is a member of the German Liederkranz Society.
ANGELL, EDWARD L., born in Providence, R. L., March 11, 1847, studied under private tutors, studied architecture under Charles P. Hartshorn, of Providence, and, at an early age, was chosen advisory architect by the Building Committee of the Providence Council at the time the present City Hall of that municipality was contemplated. Many school buildings in Providence were erected from his drawings, some of which were submitted in competition. He was the architect of the Town Hall and High School Building of Wrentham, Mass. From 1878 to 1882 he was engaged on public buildings with some of the leading architects of the West. Since 1883 he has been in business in New York City, and has designed many notable private residences. apartment houses, hotels, and other structures, including the Hotel Endicott, the San Remo, the Hotel Grenoble, the Regent, the Ami- down Apartment, and the new Medical Pavilion of the Flower Hos- pital. He is the son of Tristam H. Angell and Caroline.M., daughter of . Bowers Lewis, and descends from Thomas Angell, who came from Eng- land with Roger Williams, and was a prominent founder of Provi- dence. On the maternal side he is of French Huguenot descent.
BAIRD, ANDREW D., at the head of a large stone-cutting business in Brooklyn, is interested in various financial enterprises, and has been prominent in public life. He is a trustee of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, and a director of the Nassau Trust Company, the Manufacturers' National Bank of Brooklyn, the Twenty-sixth Ward Bank of Brooklyn, and the New York and New Jersey Ice Lines. He was a trustee of the Kings County Trust Company, and is Vice-Presi- dent of the Brooklyn Throat Hospital, a trustee of the Eastern Dis- trict Industrial Home, and has been a liberal patron of the Y. M. C. A. He was Alderman of Brooklyn from 1876 to 1880; was Republican candidate for Mayor in 1885, when he withdrew in favor of an inde- pendent candidate; was'also a candidate for Mayor in 1887 and 1889,
632
HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
and in the latter year refused the appointment as Postmaster of Brooklyn, offered him by President Harrison. He is a member of the Union League Club of Brooklyn, and the Ross Street Presbyterian Church. He was born in Kelso, Scotland, October 14, 1839. When the Civil War broke out he went to the front as a private in the Seventy-ninth New York, and won the commission of Colonel. He participated in forty-five battles, was three times wounded, and twice was promoted on the field of battle for bravery in action.
TUCKER, JOHN JEROME, prominent builder and contractor of New York City, is Vice-President of the American Employers' Lia- bility Insurance Company, for more than a quarter of a century bas. been a trustee of the Bank for Savings, and is a director of the United States Life Insurance Company and the Bond and Mortgage Guarantee Company. He was formerly a direc- tor of the Seventh Ward Bank. He has been President of the Mason Builders' Association since its organ- ization. In 1890 and 1891 he was President of the National Associa- tion of Builders, and he is now a member of the Committee on Build- ers' Surety Company of the National Association of Builders. Ile has also been President of the General Society of Mechanics and Trades- men. He is a trustee of the New York Mechanics' and Traders' Ex- change, and is a member of its executive and finance committees. He is a trustee of the New York Orphan Asylum. He served ably JOHN JEROME TUCKER. as Aqueduct Commissioner for New York City, to which position he was appointed by Mayor Hewitt in 1888. He has been active in promoting arbitration in labor diffi- culties, and was instrumental in preventing several strikes by arbi- trating between the Mason Builders' Association and the Brick- layers' Union of New York. He married, in 1856, Mary A., daugh- ter of James T. Spear, of Belleville, N. J., and has two sons -- Edwin and Walter C. Tucker-both of whom are associated with him in business. Mr. Tucker was himself born at Shark River, N. J., Feb- ruary 26. 1828. At seventeen years of age he was apprenticed to his uncle, Joseph Tucker, a builder of repute in New York City. In 1853 he succeeded to his uncle's business.
633
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK BIOGRAPHY.
NEWHALL, JOHN BRADFORD, prominent financier and business man of Stapleton, Borough of Richmond, New York City, is a native of
Q.B newhall
Randolph, Mass., where he was born March 9, 1855. He is the son of Morris B. Newhall and Susan Dill; is the grandson of John Newhall and Martha Barrows; is the great-grandson of Cally Newhall and
634
HISTORY OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
Anna, daughter of Jonathan Harrington; and lineally descends from Joseph Newhall, whose parents, from England, were among the earliest settlers and founders of Lynn, Mass., their son, Joseph Newhall, being the first male child born there, of European parents. Jonathan Har- rington, great-great-grandfather of Mr. Newhall, was the celebrated lad who served as fifer in the Battle of Lexington, he having been six- teen years of age at the time. (See History of the Town of Lexington, Mass.) Having received his carly education in the public schools of South Boston, Mass., Mr. Newhall also pursued a course of drawing and mechanical engineering in the Boston evening schools. He learned the trade of a machinist in Boston, and became the Manager of the business with which he was connected. He then took up the study and practice of hydraulic and mechanical engineering, and was thus brought into that connection with water works which has continued during the twelve years to the present time. He was formerly connected with the Maine Water Company as its General Superintendent, while at the present time and for some years past he has conducted the Crystal Wa- ter Company, of Edgewater, S. L., as its Treasurer and General Mana- ger. In many other ways he has manifested his interest in the develop- ment of Staten Island, while he is a leading executive officer of other of its business corporations. He is President of the Richmond Construc- tion Company, is President of the South Shore Water Company, is Pres- ident of the West End Water Company, and is Treasurer of the Rich- mond Title and Realty Company, of Staten Island. He is Treasurer and Junior Warden of St. Paul's Memorial Church, Stapleton, and is a mem- ber of the Staten Island Club, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the New England and American Water Works Asso- ciation. Mr. Newhall married, in 1883, Miss Annie Frances Hubbard, of Oakland, Me., of the same family as the late Governor Hubbard, of Maine, and his son, General Hubbard, of New York City. Mr. and Mrs. Newhall have four children-twin sons, Guy and Morris, born in 1889. and twin daughters, Dorothy and Esther, born in 1897. They reside at 136 St. Paul's Avenue. Stapleton, S. I.
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.