Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 11

Author: Bailey, Paul, 1885-1962, editor
Publication date: 1949
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 922

USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 11
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 11

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).

Dr. Corwith married Caroline Hyde at Middletown, Connecticut, on June 27, 1927. Mrs. Corwith, the daughter of the Reverend E. R. and Catherine (Far- well) Hyde, was graduated from Elmira College in 1925. She and the doctor are the parents of two children: Jean, born in Middletown in November, 1929, and Arthur C., Jr., born in Bridgehampton on February 10, 1931. Jean Corwith was graduated from the Bridgehampton High School in 1946, after which she entered Colby Junior College in New Hamp- shire. Arthur, Jr., was in 1946 a student at Bridge- hampton High School.

Dr. Corwith's diversions are fishing and hunting.

LAWRENCE JOSEPH BENNETT-From hum- ble beginnings as a gardener's helper, Lawrence Joseph Bennett rose to his present successful estate as president of a plumbing and heating contractor's firm which also distributes oil burners and fuel oil through- out an extensive area of the island. His has been a typical American success story once more emphasiz- ing the rewards attendant upon acumen, energy, in- dustriousness and recognition of opportunity. His firm, Lawrence J. Bennett, Inc., maintains its main office and main plant at 265 Hempstead Turnpike, West Hempstead; a fuel oil plant on Roger Avenue, Inwood, and a branch on Merrick Road, Valley Stream.

Mr. Bennett was born on his father's farm on the Jericho Turnpike, near Westbury, on December 31, 1881. His parents, both long dead, were John and

Lowrance & Bummelt

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

Anna (Breen) Bennett. He was educated in the Northside School, East Williston, and on leaving school became a gardener's helper on a "gentleman's estate" not far from home. Later, his interest switched to plumbing and for five years he was a plumber's helper. He followed the plumbing and heating trade as an employee of others until 1904. Then he be- came a plumbing and heating contractor under his own name, with headquarters in West Hempstead. Eventually, the business was incorporated and Mr. Bennett, retaining control and administrative au- thority, assumed the corporation's presidency. Later, distribution of oil burners and fuel oil was added to the operations. In 1947, the firm employed twenty- eight persons.

Mr. Bennett, a Republican, is active in such or- ganizations as the Hempstead lodges of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus and the Cherry Valley Golf Club. He is a communicant of the St. Thomas Roman Catholic Church in West Hempstead.

On November 18, 1906, in New York City, Mr. Bennett and Margaret Curran, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Curran, were married. Four children were born to the marriage. The first was Lawrence Joseph, Jr., who died. The others are Mrs. Mar- guerite Lobdell, widow of the late Robert Lobdell; Mrs. Marion McEwan, wife of James McEwan; and Charles E., a veteran of World War II who served with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the European Theater of Operations and who mar- ried Grace Carney. There are four grandchildren- Charles' daughter Patricia; James McEwan, Jr., and Jane and Peggy Lobdell.

DAVID EDWARDS, M.D .- The Edwards family is now in its thirteenth generation in East Hampton. None of the many descendants of William Edwards has achieved greater distinction that Dr. David Ed- wards, tenth generation, who for more than forty-five years has ministered to the health of a host of patients in that section of Suffolk County and who, as a physician and surgeon, enjoys the highest standing among his professional colleagues.

Dr. Edwards' father, Joshua B. Edwards, who was born at Amagansett, on November 7, 1830, and died in May, 1915, was a captain of fishing and whaling craft, and also a farmer. He married Adelia S. Conklin, and of this union David Edwards was born in Amagansett on January 12, 1877. He attended public school in his native place, for a time had a private tutor, and after attending the high school at Southampton entered the New York University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which he received his medical degree upon graduation with the class of 1899. Immediately after graduation, after an examination, he was appointed one of the staff at Bellevue Hospital, where he remained one year. The following year he became house physician and member of the staff at the New York Foundling Hospital; and one year later resident physician at the Seaside Hospital on Staten Island, connected with the St. John's Guild floating hospital during the period July to October, 1901. In that year he returned to Long Island and opened an office for general medical and surgical practice in his native town of East Hampton, where he has served his numerous patients ever since.

Dr. Edwards is acting assistant surgeon of the United States Public Health Service, with which he has been connected since 1903. He served as asso-

ciate visiting physician and surgeon, consulting and chief surgeon, at the Southampton Hospital, and as vice president of its medical board, for many years; aiter the death of Dr. Joseph Wheelwright he became its president until retired by age in 1947. His professional organizational affiliations include the American Medical Association, the New York State Medical Association, the Suffolk County Medi- cal Association, the Associated Physicians of Long Island, and he has been a member of the Suffolk County Health Board since its organization.

Dr. Edwards was health officer of his village and town until the county health board was organized.

He served as president of the board of education in East Hampton for over twenty years; his ability, vision and high sense of public duty have been assets in the cause of educational progress.

In politics an independent voter, and in religious matters a member of the First Presbyterian Church of East Hampton, Dr. Edwards enjoys for recreation gunning and fishing. His interest in Masonry is of long standing; he is affiliated with the Star of the East Lodge No. 843, Free and Accepted Masons; with the Nunnakoma Chapter, No. 308, of the Royal Arch Masons; with the Patchogue Commandery No. 65 of the Knights Templar, and with Kismet Temple in Brooklyn, of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In one of his Masonic lodges Dr. Edwards is an ex-high priest. He also enjoys membership in the Hampton Chapter of the Indepen- clent Order of Odd Fellows. Another of his organiza- tional interests is the Camp Fire Club of America. At East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, on May 6, 1903, David Edwards was married to Carrie Mulford, who is a daughter of Jeremiah Hedges and Phoebe Hedges Mulford, both natives of East Hamp- ton. Mrs. Edwards was also born at East Hampton, on July 15, 1883. To David and Carrie (Mulford) Edwards, four children have been born; namely Richard, on December 22, 1904; Margaret M. (Mrs. George Starke) on November 17, 1906; Katherine I., on August 13, 1910, and James, on June 20, 1914.

FRED ZEH-Member of a family engaged in agri- cultural pursuits since the turn of the century, Fred Zeh was reputedly one of the finer large-scale farmers of Long Island; a region famous for its farms and farmers. As many others in Suffolk County, he specialized in potatoes and cauliflower, and he em- ployed the most modern of cultivation methods. He farmed for six years at East Moriches before pur- chasing the farm of his step-father, Horatio Lowe, at Calverton, which he operated for a number of years in association with his brother, Charles Zeh, and then independently until his death.

Fred Zeh was born in Brooklyn, New York, June 18, 1889, a son of the late William Zeh, who died when he was twenty-nine years of age, and his wife, Re- becca Zeh. Although his mother had the same sur- name as his father, she was not related to him. Mrs. Rebecca Zeh subsequently married Horatio Lowe. The Zehs lived for a time in Elmhurst, Queens County, before settling in Calverton on De- cember 7, 1906. At that time Suffolk County was a remote rural area and the family recalls that it required two days to travel from Elmhurst to Cal- verton. Fred Zeh worked on the family farm until 1913, and later, as has been noted, he purchased a considerable share of it. He eventually became one of the largest farm owners in the county. In addi- tion to supervising these extensive interests, he kept

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

well-informed on the activities of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau. He was also a leading and active member of the Long Island Farmers' Institute.

For several years Mr. Zeh devoted his energies to educational matters as a school trustee. He wor- shipped in the Congregational church and was gen- erous in his contributions to religious and philanthropic causes. Prominent, too, in fraternal affairs, he had long been a member of the Riverhead Lodge No. 645, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Riverhead chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On December 31, 1913, he married Julia M. Perry, the daughter of Henry and Fannie I. (Edwards) Perry, of Calverton and East Moriches. The cere- mony was performed at East Moriches. They became the parents of two children: 1. William Arthur, born in East Moriches, who was associated with his father in farming. He married Dorothy Vicik and they are the parents of two daughters, Julie Ann and Marjorie Ann. 2. Fannie Rebecca, the wife of A. Myron Howell, of Wading River, and the mother of three children, Mary Lou, Diane Helen, and Donna Lynne.

Fred Zeh died November 25, 1947. In his passing Suffolk County, particularly the district about Cal- verton, has lost one of its more capable and progres- sive citizens; one who was industrious, public spirited, devout, and commiserate.

SHIRLEY A. EHMAN-Since 1943 Shirley A. Ehman has been a member of the New York bar, engaged in general practice under her maiden name at Lake Ronkonkoma, and she is married to a lawyer.

Shirley Ehman was born in Newark, New Jersey, but spent most of her life in New York City. After finishing at Roosevelt High School, New York City, she took a prelaw course at the University of Mary- land and in 1943 won her Bachelor of Laws degree from Fordham University, New York City. She was admitted to the New York and Suffolk County Bar Association and the Bar Association of the City of New York, also the New York County Women's Bar Association and the National Association of Women Lawyers.

Miss Ehman married Frank X. Marino, of Flushing, New York, on April 29, 1944, in New York City. After attending Flushing High School he earned his Bache- lor of Arts degree at the City College of New York, and entered Fordham University in the same class with his wife, but because of war service was not graduated until 1947, when he received his Bachelor of Laws degree. He was admitted to the bar in November, 1947, and practices in Suffolk County. He served in the European and Pacific theaters in the United States Army with the commission of first lieutenant in the Signal Corps. They have one child, Paul Francis.

WENDELL SHIPMAN STILL-One of the pioneers and leaders in the broiler industry on Long Island, and today furthering the growth of this busi- ness by helping finance new men in this field, Wendell Shipman Still has made valuable contributions toward the growth and progress of Selden. His many business interests have earned for him a steady reputation for industry and efficiency.

Mr. Still was born April 14, 1806. at Coram. New York. son of Edward Stephen and Charlotte (Magil- ton) Still. His father was a farmer and poultryman. In 1903, Wendell S. Still entered the Coram public

school and remained there until 1910, at which time he became a student at the Port Jefferson High School. He was graduated from that school in 1914.

Three years later, on July II, 1917, Mr. Still en- listed in the United States Navy, and served on the U. S. S. "Panther," the U. S. S. "Pocahontas," U. S. S. "America," and the U. S. S. "North Pole," with con- siderable time spent in foreign waters. He was honorably discharged from the Navy with the rating of machinist's mate second class, April 14, 1919.

In 1920, shortly after his return to civilian lite, Mr. Still purchased a truck farm on which, in addi- tion to vegetables, he raised poultry, deriving a sub- stantial portion of his income from the sale of eggs. Ten years later he began concentrating on the pro- duction of broilers, and at the present time his poultry plant has the capacity to raise two hundred and fifty thousand broilers a year. Some years ago Mr. Still entered the oil industry, and became a wholesale gasoline distributor and retailer of fuel oil and kero- sene. In addition to his other business interests, he sells various types of feed and is engaged in the manufacture of a commercial fertilizer which is a by- product derived from poultry litter. At the present time, he indulges in the management of all these various productive interests, and has experienced a great measure of success.

Mr. Still is active in the life of his community, Selden. He is a member of the American Legion, the Selden Volunteer Fire Department, and the Port Jefferson Yacht Club. In politics he adheres to the Republican party, and is a charter member of the Timber Point Club. He served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Selden Public School District No. 12 for several years. While he served in this office, the present school was built, in 1935. He at- tends the Methodist church.

On March 29, 1920, at Selden, New York, Wendell Shipman Still married Pauline H. Dare, daughter of Samuel and Henrietta (Wicks) Dare, and they be- came the parents of the following children: I. May- belle Dare, who was born November 27, 1921. 2. Lucille Evelyn, who was born November 8, 1923. Mrs. Still is a full, active partner of the Still enter- prises. After Maybelle D. graduated from National Park College, Forest Glen, Maryland, and Lucille E. graduated from Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri, the girls became associated with their parents in these enterprises.

Mrs. Pauline Dare Still was born in Selden, New York, August 6, 1895. She attended the public schools of Selden, Patchogue High School, and Cortland State College, Cortland, New York, class of 1916. Mrs. Still taught school in the Selden and Centereach schools for a period of twelve years and is president of the Ladies Aid Society of the Coram Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Still is Regent of the General Spinola Chapter, Daughters of the Union (1861-65). She is also a member of the Woman's Auxiliary of the American Legion and a member of the Coram Community Club. Mrs. Still and her daughters are members of Old Glory Chapter No. 622 Order of the Eastern Star. Patchogue, New York. Mrs. Still, Maybelle and Lucille are charter members of Ruth Shrine, No. 24, the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, at Patchogue, New York.

CARL J. HEYSER, JR .- Combining an extensive legal practice with a lucrative real estate and insur- ance business. Carl J. Heyser, Jr., of Port Jefferson Station and Stony Brook, Suffolk County, is also a contractor and builder. In the middle years of his

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Pauline Dare Still

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

age, ne is one of the leading citizens and constructive forces in his community, and enjoys wide respect and popularity.

Mr. Heyser's father, the senior Carl J., married Catherine L. Horsfield. The mother was a native of Brooklyn, New York, at that time an independent city, and his father was born in Rochester, Monroe County, New York but lived in Brooklyn from boy- hood. Carl J. Heyser, Sr., graduated from the New York Law School in 1898, and practiced law in Brook- lyn and Port Jefferson from 1898 to 1926. Since the latter year he has confined his legal practice to Port Jefferson. It was, however, in Brooklyn that Carl J. Heyser, Jr., was born on October 25, 1904, and his education began in the public schools of that borough of New York City, but was continued at the Stony Brook School for Boys, from which he graduated before entering Lehigh University at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. From Lehigh he received the degree of Bachelor of Science upon graduating with the class of 1929.

Carl J. Heyser, Jr., served his clerkship in the practice of the law in his father's office in Port Jeff- erson, and was admitted to the bar of New York State. He has built up a wide practice, representing many important clients, and is recognized as a lawyer of great ability by his professional colleagues. He belongs to the Suffolk County and the New York County bar associations and the New York State Bar Association. He is also a member of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau and takes an active interest in community affairs. In religion he is a member of the Episcopal church.

At Brooklyn, New York, in December, 1932, Car J. Heyser, Jr., married Florence E. Heineman of Hollis, New York, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred- erick Heineman, her mother's maiden name having been Catherine Thompson. To Carl J. Heyser, Jr., and Florence E. (Heineman) Heyser, two children have been born, both at Stony Brook, Suffolk County, New York: 1. Sally Frisby, on June 16, 1936. 2. Mary Pitkin, on August 6, 1940.

ALBERT H. ULLRICH-In the Port Jefferson area of Suffolk County, Albert H. Ullrich, of Port Jefferson Station, has long been a prominent men- ber of the business community, having established there, after a varied commercial career, a real estate and insurance business which from the first has pros- pered and grown.

Mr. Ullrich's parents, the late Hermann and Emma (Vogt) Ullrich, were both natives of Germany. Her- mann Ullrich was brought to this country in his boy- hood days, and Emma Vogt was eight years of age when she arrived in Philadelphia. After their mar- riage this couple lived in the old city of Brooklyn, New York, and there on June 3, 1897, the year when Brooklyn became a borough of Greater New York, the son Albert H. was born. He attended the public schools of Brooklyn and the commercial high school in the borough, and later studied accounting under Pace and Pace, a firm of certified public accountants there. His business experience also began in Brook- lyn, where he found his first employment as a clerk with the freight department of Atlas Service, a steam- ship concern.

From Atlas Service, Mr. Ullrich, who was then still in his teens, went to the Innes Speiden Company, chemical manufacturers of New York City, where he served in the accounting department until, our coun- try being then in World War I, he entered the United

States Army, in which he was a private. Released from the armed service in 1918, he joined the Porto Rico Lines as a freight forwarding agent, and con- tinued in this position until 1925. In the following year he became associated with the export depart- ment of the National Cash Register Company.

In 1930 Mr. Ullrich retired and took up his residence in Mt. Sinai, Suffolk County, where he still lives. In that year he established at Port Jefferson Station the real estate and insurance business which has been so lucrative and successful. The office offers com- plete fire, fidelity, surety and casualty service.

Mr. Ullrich takes an active part in business counsels and civic affairs as a member of the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and of the Port Jefferson Sta- tion Lions Club, of which he is a former secretary. He belongs to the Wilson Reich Post of the Ameri- can Legion at Port Jefferson, and he gives time to public service as a trustee of School District Number Seven at Mt. Sinai. He is a member of the Brookhaven Planning Board. His recreations are fishing and boating.

On June 14, 1934, Albert H. Ullrich married Marie M. Fitzgerald, of Brooklyn, New York, the cere- mony taking place in that borough. Mrs. Ullrich is a daughter of George and Emma (Miller) Fitzgerald. Of this union there are two children: I. Marie H., born at Port Jefferson, on May 30, 1935. 2. Robert A., born at Port Jefferson on March 27, 1939.

CHARLES EDWARD ESTABROOK-Although never a resident of Long Island, Charles Edward Estabrook, a distinguished figure in Wisconsin, bears a maine that has been well-known in Hempstead, Nassau County, because of the important activities of his son, George Mitchell Estabrook, a record of whom accompanies this article in this volume.

Born at Platteville, Grant County, Wisconsin, on October 31, 1847, Charles Edward Estabrook was the son of Edward and Margaret (Mitchell) Esta- brook and was a direct descendant from the Rev. Joseph Estabrook, born in Enfield, Middlesex, Eng- land, who in about 1660, when twenty years old, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, studied at the new Harvard College and was ordained a clergyman in 1664. A further story of the Estabrook family in America can be found in the accompanying biography of George Mitchell Estabrook.

As a lad of seventeen years, Charles Edward Esta- brook joined Company B, 43rd Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served with the Union Forces in the War Between the States until honorably dis- charged in 1865. Resuming his education in the Platteville Academy and the State Normal School, also in Platteville, he taught for a time in schools at Platteville, Belmont and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. His ambition lay in the direction of the law rather than in remaining an educator, and he was admitted to the bar of the State in January, 1874. That his choice of a career had been wise was evidenced by the rapidity with which he rose in his profession and in public af- fairs.

Shortly after he was appointed city attorney of Manitowoc, and held this position by successive re- appointments until 1880, when he resigned to accept a seat in the Legislature of his State for the year 1881; he was reelected and served during the sessions of 1882 and 1885. During his term as a legislator he originated and secured the enactment of the law pro- viding for a State board of examiners for persons seeking admission to the bar, and the law providing

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

for the holding of farmers' institutes, the common schools of agriculture.

Mr. Estabrook served exceptionally well as State Attorney of Wisconsin from January 3, 188,, to Jan- uary 5, 1891. "While holding this office," wrote an earlier biographer, "he passed officially upon many legal questions, some of which were subsequently taken to the Supreme Court, and in each case the de- cisions of the attorney general were athrmed. In 1893 he edited a second edition of 'Rorer on Inter- State Law,' and has done other legal work, being a member of the commission to draft a general charter for cities in Wisconsin, which was adopted in 1889."

An outstanding personage in the councils and cam- paigns of the Republican party, Charles Edward Estabrook made many speeches and wielded his in- fluence broadly, and was a many time delegate to party conventions, State and national, doing valiant work as a delegate to the National Republican Con- vention held in Chicago, Illinois, in 1884. Among his dominant personal interests were those in education, to the advance of which he contributed a great deal, and in history, particularly that of a local character, which he followed as a member of the Wisconsin State Historical Society. From 1905 to 1918 until his death he was secretary of the Milwaukee County Park Commission, and today there is a park in the city of Milwaukee named for him, after his death, known as Estabrook Park. He was also the father of the "Wisconson Farmers' Institutes," organizing agri- cultural production in 1885-1886. The law that es- tablished this was a product of his practical and fertile mind.

On September 7, 1876, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Charles Edward Estabrook married Jennie Hodges, and they became the parents of two daughters and four sons, of whom one was George Mitchell Esta- brook, of Hempstead.

GEORGE MITCHELL ESTABROOK-Member of long established American families, conspicuous in his own personal achievements, George Mitchell Es- tabrook is a citizen of Hempstead, of four decades standing. In business he is widest known as a build- er, associated with the construction of many notable works. In public life he has served his community well as mayor and in other official capacities. Yet these are but few of the many facets of a brilliant career that has been and continues to be identified with a broad range of interests, for his activities have touched life on many sides.

The American progenitor of this branch of the Estabrook family, the name probably derived from a British place name Easter-brook, was the Rev. Joseph Estabrook who was born in Enfield, County Middlesex, England, about 1640, who in 1660 (circa) migrated to the New World, where he continued his education at Harvard College, Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and was duly graduated in 1664. Ordained to the Puritan ministry, he became in 1696 pastor in the Concord, Massachusetts, parish, where his older brother, Thomas Estabrook, had settled.

Family records indicate that the descent of the gentleman whose name heads this review is briefly as follows: I. The Rev. Joseph Estabrook and his wife, Mary Mason. 2. Joseph and Melicent (Woodis) Estabrook. 3. John and Prudence (Harrington) Es- tabrook. 4. Nehemiah, who served in the French and Indian and the American Revolutionary wars, who married Elizabeth Winship. 5. Nehemiah and Lucy (Davis) Estabrook. 6. Edward and Margaret (Mit-

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Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 11

Author: Bailey, Paul, 1885-1962, editor Publication date: 1949 Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 922

Author: Bailey, Paul, 1885-1962, editor
Publication date: 1949
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 922