Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 21

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 21
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 21

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Mr. Heilman married Bertha C. Miller, in Sayville, on December 25, 1929. Mrs. Heilman, born in Cutch- ogue, is the daughter of Henry and Amelia (Mautoux) Miller.

WILLIAM EDWARD HALSEY, D.D.S .- Older members of the profession in Brooklyn recall Dr. William E. Halsey as one recognized for his character and integrity during the thirty-two years that he gave himself to the cause of advancing the dental profes- sion.

Born in Chatham, Columbia County, New York, July 5, 1868, Dr. Halsey was the son of William Henry and Ellen (Toby) Halsey, natives respectively of Long Island and West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Coming from England, the family were among the early settlers of Southampton, Long Island.

After attending the public schools of Chatham, Dr. Halsey, at the age of seventeen, became assistant to Dr. C. M. Harmon in Chatham, and two years later associated himself with Dr. J. J. Mills of Port Jervis, New York, to complete his dental education. He earned his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1891 from the Philadelphia Dental College, and established an office in the eastern district of Brooklyn. After developing a good practice he moved, in May, 1901, to Jefferson Avenue. In his practice he followed up the inspiring friendship of an instructor whose attention he attracted in the dental college, Professor J. Foster Flagg, then one of the outstanding dentists of the country, known as "the father of the new de- parture core." As a disciple of Professor Flagg, Dr. Halsey began to attract attention widely in his profession by advocating the use of plastics in den- tistry. The papers he presented to dental societies on this subject later were printed in medical journals. Dr. Halsey was a member of the Second District Dental Society and the Odontological Society of New York and had been a delegate from the former to the New York State Dental Society. He was a famous sportsman well-known in hunting and fishing circles.

E'Curtis Sellegue

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

Dr. Halsey married April 29, 1891, Mrs. Ella Remey of Unionville, New York. Mrs. Halsey died in 1932. They were the parents of two children: I. Lillian, who married George A. Robinson of Say- ville, Suffolk County, New York, son of Dr. George A. and Amelia (Foster) Robinson of Sayville. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are the parents of a daughter, Lillian Halsey, who married Robert W. Adams of Ridgewood, New Jersey, September 30, 1940. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are the parents of two children: i. Robert W., Jr., born October 24, 1944. ii. Lillian Halsey, born December 24, 1946. Mr. and Mrs. Adams live at 42 River Street, Sayville. Both attended William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. Robert Adams was a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in World War II and saw action in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. The family worships at St. Ann's Episcopal Church in Sayville. 2. Gertrude, married William E. Brown, and is the mother of a daughter, Betty Halsey, who married Clinton Ramsay. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have a summer home in Wilton, Con- necticut, and are in the New York Social Register. Since Dr. Halsey's death, November 20, 1923. in Brooklyn his elder daughter, Mrs. George A. Robin- son, has been earning distinction in her own right. She conducts a real estate and insurance business in Sayville, under the name of Lillian H. Robinson, and is a member of the Long Island Real Estate Board. She was graduated from Adelphi College and is a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, as is also her daughter. Mr. Robinson died November 30, 1936.

Dr. Halsey's dental career will be remembered in Brooklyn by all who realize the importance of the spirited efforts he made for advancement in dentistry through utilizing the newest and most scientific methods and material, particularly in plastics.

GEORGE A. ROBINSON-In the demanding field of salesmanship, George A. Robinson was active throughout his years. He pursued his chosen vocation in at least three types of business with success.

Born in Sayville, on February 4, 1888, he was the youngest son and namesake of Dr. George A. Robin- son and Amelia (Foster) Robinson. His father was greatly beloved as a practicing physician for many years in Sayville; a Republican in politics, he was a local leader, member of the assembly, and active in all public affairs. The son not only greatly resembled him in personal appearance, but like him was an athlete, a crack shot and an all-round good sports- man.

George A. Robinson entered business early with the Barrett Company as a salesman and for sixteen years was associated with them, for several years as sales manager. For the last six years he had been connected with Gordon and Whitney, stock brokers in Wall Street, New York City.

Mr. Robinson was very fond of Long Island, parti- cularly of Sayville, and for some years had been active in the promotion of real estate heareabouts. He was president of the G. A. and W. B. Robinson Company, vice president of the Sayville Heights Realty Company, and vice president of the William B. Robinson Company. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Connetquot Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and was a life member of the Island Hills Golf Club.

George A. Robinson married Lillian Halsey, and thev became the parents of a daughter, Lillian.

News of the untimely death of George A. Robinson L.I .- 6

on November 30,, 1936,, shocked and caused deep regret among his host of Sayville, and New York friends: He was a gentleman of many talents and a broad icapacity for making and keeping friends. In both business and community relations his influence was constructive and progressive, while his personal reputation was based on the foundation of honor and integrity.

EARL CURTIS GILLESPIE-One of the older established businesses on Long Island is that which Earl Augusta Gillespie founded in 1881, and in the successful operation of which his son, Earl Curtis' Gil- lespie, has been associated for nearly forty-five years. Dealing in lumber, millwork and carpentry, this enter- prise, has profited throughout the years from the vast amount of construction which has made those areas of Long Island closer to metropolitan New York City, the most populous and most densely built-up subur- ban section in the world.

Earl Augusta Gillespie, whose death occurred De- cember 1, 1933, married Isabelle Curtis, and to them Earl ,Curtis .Gillespie was born on March 30, 1887, in Brooklyn, which was then an independent city. Earl Curtis .Gillespie attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic high school, going from there to Cornell University at. Ithaca, New York, from which he obtained the de- gree of Mechanical Engineer upon graduation with the class of 1912. In that same year he began learn- ing his father's business from the ground up. Origin- ally located in Brooklyn, this business had been moved to Ozone Park in Queens County, in 1885. Originally the Ozone Park establishment was a small lumber yard, but as it grew-which it did phenomenally-a planing mill and a carpenter shop were added. Up to 1914, steam provided the power for operations, but in that year the plant was modernized by the sub- stitution of electric for steam power. As the business grew, keeping up with the pace of construction, addi- tional property had to be acquired from time to time to take: care of the expansion of the lumber yard.

During the late 1920s, the myriads of home-seekers from New York City tended more and more to select building sites in Nassau County, which accordingly became the center of the heaviest demand for such merchandise and products as the Gillespies dealt in. The firm therefore decided to follow the trend of its trade. by locating in Nassau, and in 1929 property was purchased at Garden City, and 'in the following year they opened a retail lumber yard at the new location, Franklin Avenue and Twelfth Street in that centrally situated suburb. They, continued to operate both yards until December, 1945; when they sold the yard at Ozone Park, and have since operated the entire business from their headquarters in Garden City where they employ eighteen people. Although the total volume of business continued to expand, the de- mand for special millwork has decreased considerably in recent years, for which reason the new mill estab- lished at Garden City is smaller than the one formerly maintained at Ozone Park.

During the period of World War I, Earl Curtis Gil- lespie was a member of the famous Twenty-third Regiment. of Brooklyn. a unit of the National Guard of New York. From his college days he retains affi- liation with the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. In the field of his business interests, he is a member of the Northeastern Retail Lumberman's Association. His religious connection is with the Hollis Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the Cherry Valley Golf Club, of Garden City.

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

At Ithaca, New York, Earl Curtis Gillespie was married to Helen Dixon, a native of the collegiate city. Of this marriage three children have been born: I. Earl Curtis, Jr. who married Rosemary Hancock and they have two children, Paul Curtis and June. 2. Edward Augusta, now associated with his father in the operation of this business. He served in World War II with the United States Army for three and one-half years overseas in the European Theater of Operations. 3. Barbara Katherine, wife of Major Gordon Murray of the United States Army.

WICKHAM CORWIN TYTE-At Riverhead, Long Island, Wickham Corwin Tyte is one of its businessmen of note, a gentleman keenly interested in local affairs and an evangelical Christian leader. He was born at Baiting Hollow, Town of Riverhead, on March 6, 1911, son of the late Arthur M. and Miriam (Corwin) Tyte, his father being a composer and musician.

Wickham Corwin Tyte attended the public schools of his community and was graduated from the River- head High School, class of 1929. His first business activity was identified with the automobile glass sup- ply enterprises wherein he became an especially skilled glass craftsman, the head of a concern that is reputed to be the best equipped company of its kind in Eastern Long Island, carrying the largest stock of safety and related motor car glass in this sector of Long Island. Since 1930 Mr. Tyte has been the sole owner and di- rector of the company that operates under his own name. Outstanding among his personal interests is evangelical Christianity, and he figures prominently in a group of Christian business men of Riverhead who hold Sunday religious services at the Suffolk County Jail. He has published pamphlets, or tracts, for cir- culation among all classes of society.

On August 4, 1935, at the Presbyterian Church, Wickham Corwin Tyte married Frances Downs of Quogue, daughter of Frank Downs, Sr., of Hampton Bays and the late Marcia (Griffin) Downs, Mr. and Mrs. Tyte are the parents of the following children: I. Carol Frances, born at the Greenport Hospital, January 4, 1936. 2. Betsey Ann, born on August 8, 1937 at Riverhead. 3. Shirley Marie, born September 13, 1938, at Riverhead. 4. Wickham Corwin, Jr., born October 9, 1939, at Riverhead. 5. Stephen Edward, born March 1, 1948 in Greenport.

REV. JOSEPH V. NICHOLS-For a quarter of a century the Rev. Father Joseph V. Nichols has been a shepherd of souls in the Roman Catholic faith, and his various assignments have been without exception to parishes in one part or another of Long Island, of which indeed he is a native, having been born in the old city of Brooklyn on February 14, 1896, shortly before that city became a borough of the Greater New York. Father Nichols' father, the late Frank J. Nichols, was also a native of Brooklyn, but his mother, Mrs. Anna (Logan) Nichols, was born in Dublin, Ireland, where both her parents were teachers in private schools.

The young Joseph V. Nichols attended and gradu- ated from the St. Francis Xavier High School, a noted Jesuit institution on West Sixteenth Street in the City of New York, but from there he went to the College of St. Francis Xavier in the Borough of Brooklyn. His inclination toward the religious life being manifest

at this time, he entered St. John's Seminary in Brook- lyn, and there he was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1923. In that same year he became curate at the Church of the Epiphany in his native borough.

In 1924 Father Nichols was transferred to the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, still in Brooklyn, and here he remained as curate until February, 1935. At that time he was appointed curate at St. Hugh's Church at Huntington Station, remaining there until June, 1936. He then became curate at the Church of St. Benedict Joseph at Richmond Hill in the Borough of Queens, city of New York, remaining there until April, 1946, when he was appointed pastor of the Church of St. Martin of Tours at Amityville. A devout priest and an experienced and able adminis- trator, Father Nichols continues to the present time in charge of this important parish.

STANLEY CORTLANDT RAU, M.D .- A vet- eran of World War II who served as a medical officer in the South Pacific Theater of Operations, Dr. Stan- ley Cortlandt Rau is now practicing his profession at Amityville. Though he maintains a general medical and surgical practice, 'he is specializing in traumatic surgery.

Dr. Rau was born in New York City on March 30, 1908. the son of Arthur and the late Ray (Bloom) Rau. His father, a native of New York City, is living in re- tirement in the metropolis.

The future physician and surgeon completed his preliminary education at the Stuyvesant High School, New York City, in 1926. In 1931 he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University. Three years later that university awarded him his de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. From 1934 to 1935, Dr. Rau was an intern at the Syracuse University Hos- pital. He then became an intern and resident physi- cian at the Reconstruction Hospital Unit of the New York Post-Graduate School and Hospital, where he remained until 1936. The following year he served as resident surgeon at Morrisania Hospital in New York City.

In 1939, Dr. Rau came to Long Island, where he established himself in practice at Amityville and began his specialization in traumatic surgery. When the United States entered World War II, he was com- missioned in the Army Medical Corps and served in the South Pacific Theater, chiefly as a neuro-surgeon at such points as New Guinea, New Britain and the Philippines. He emerged from the service with the rank of captain, and immediately resumed his practice at Amityville. He is on the staff of Southside Hospi- tal. Bay Shore, as an attending surgeon.

Dr. Rau is a member of the New York State and Suffolk County medical societies and of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Rotary Club of Amityville. He is school physician in the Amityville public school system.

He married in Maryland in 1938, Calista Jane Haff, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar L. Haff, of Fort Edward, New York, member of an old Long Island family (Vanderhaff). Dr. and Mrs. Rau are the par- ents of three children: Alan Spalding, born July 8, 1940; Lois Spalding, born March 6, 1942; and Kathleen Spalding, born November 18, 1946, all in Amityville.

GLENEN KING VARS-Among Brooklyn and Long Island automobile dealers, Glenen King Vars

Heute Kling Vars

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

of Great Neck has long been acknowledged an out- standing leader. Incorporated as the Vars Buick Corporation in 1929, Mr. Vars has been in the busi- ness since 1921. He was a veteran of World War I, a member of the North Shore Chapter, Officers of World War I, and past vice commander of the Ameri- can Legion. In the World War II period he was deputy sector warden in the Civilian Defense or- ganization. He has also been active in the banking world and in fraternal and social circles. Among his civic activities has been membership on the Nassau County grand jury.

Mr. Vars was born in New York City on Septem- ber 17, 1894, the son of George W. and Martha (Lape) Vars. He had a variegated education which, beginning in the public schools, took him to the Mount Hermon School at Mount Hermon, Massachu- setts, then to the Albany Chapter of the American Institute of Banking, from which he was graduated, and finally through the Albany Business College.

In the "preparedness" period preceding American entry in World War I, Mr. Vars attended the Re- serve Officers Training Corps camp at Plattsburg, New York. This was in 1916. In November, 1917, seven months after President Woodrow Wilson had successfully asked Congress for a declaration of war, Mr. Vars was commissioned a second lieutenant, Infantry, at Fort Niagara, New York. He trans- ferred with rank and grade to the Army Air Service at Kelly Field, Texas, in December of 1917, and trained at the Air Corps Ground School at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia; Aerial Gunnery School at what was then Wilbur Wright Field, Springfield, Ohio; and Aerial Observer School, Selfridge Field, Mount Clemens, Michigan. He re- signed his commission in October Ig19.

Prior to the war, he was associated with the Manu- facturers National Bank of Troy, New York. In 1921, however, Mr. Vars undertook the representation of the Buick Motor Company in Great Neck. In 1929 he incorporated the business and established its headquarters at 50 Middle Neck Road and in 1932 moved to 39 Cutter Mill Road. He has since become one of the most important men in his field on the Island. Mr. Vars is a former director of the Brooklyn and Long Island Automobile Dealers Association of Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. He was a director of the First National Bank of Great Neck until it was absorbed by the Great Neck Trust Com- pany. He continued as a director of the latter until 1934.

He is past vice commander of the Great Neck Charles A. Fowler, Jr., Post of the American Legion. He is past president of the Lions Club of Great Neck, past zone chairman of the New York State Association of Lions Clubs, a life member of the Automobile Old Timers Club of America, and is also a life member of the King Solomon's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at Troy, New York. He holds the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Ac- cepted Scottish Rite and is a life member of Oriental Temple, Troy, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Socially and recreationally he was a member of the Brookville Golf and Country Club for twenty years and also the University and Sound- view Golf Clubs. Currently he belongs to the Oak- land Golf Club of Bayside and Lake Placid Club. His church is Episcopalian.

Mr. Vars married in New York City on June 17, 1922, Florence Carolyn Lane, a native of Great Neck and graduate of Columbia University, class of 1920,

with a Graduate in Pharmacy degree. Their mar- riage took place in the famous Little Church Around the Corner. Mrs. Vars is the daughter of John Henry and Mariana (Doncourt) Lane. Mr. and Mrs. Vars have two children: Patricia Lane, born May 31, 1925, and Florence Carolyn, born September 5, 1932. Patricia Vars Nance, a graduate of Northfield Semin- ary, 1943, and of Barnard College, 1946, married on October 10, 1946, Lieutenant John William Nance at Fort Benning, Georgia. Lieutenant Nance is from Harrison, Arkansas, attended the University of Ar- kansas two years, graduated from and was commis- sioned a second lieutenant, Infantry, United States Army at the United States Military Academy, West Point, June 1946.

RICHARD TIMOTHY GILMARTIN-A native of East Hampton in Suffolk County, Richard Timothy Gilmartin is the son of the late Thomas D. Gilmartin, having been born at East Hampton, and his mother, who is also deceased, Emma J. (Maran), having been a native of Water Mill in the Town of Southampton.

Richard Timothy Gilmartin, after graduating from the East Hampton High School, attended Fordham University in the borough of the Bronx, New York City, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1925. In that same year he entered the general construction business in Montauk, Suffolk County, which occupied him until 1930, when he turned to the insurance business in which he has engaged to the present time, still maintaining his office in Montauk.

Mr. Gilmartin's lively interest in public affairs led to his election in 1932 to the office of town clerk of the Town of East Hampton, which position he filled until 1940. In the fall of the latter year he was elected commissioner of welfare of Suffolk County, taking office on January 1, 1941. In this post he is still serving at this writing.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Gilmartin is a member of the board of directors of the Suffolk County Re- publican Club, and holds membership also in the Na- tional Republican Club. In the field of his particular interest as commissioner of welfare, he is affiliated with the National Conference of Social Work; with the New York State Association of Local Agents; with the American Public Welfare Association; with the New York State Conference on Social Work, of which he was vice president in the 1944-1945 term; and of the New York State Association of Public Welfare Officials, of which he became president in June, 1945, continuing to hold that office for two years.

Mr. Gilmartin also belongs to Lodge Number 1574, at Southampton, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A Roman Catholic in religion and a communicant of the church of that denomination at Bellport, Mr. Gilmartin is a member of Bishop Molloy Laymen's Retreat Guild of Jamaica, Queens County, City of New York.

At East Hampton, Suffolk County, in 1927, Richard Timothy Gilmartin married Winifred Jane O'Brien, a daughter of James O'Brien of Amagansett. Of this union five children have been born, all at Southamp- ton: I. James. 2. Jane. 3. Barbara. 4. Richard Tim- othy, Jr. 5. Thomas.

GEORGE G. TUTHILL-Long active in political life and prominent in the councils of the Republican party of Suffolk County, George G. Tuthill, of River-

LONG ISLAND - NASSAU AND SUFFOLK

head, both as a businessman and as a public official connected with the office of the sheriff of that county, has carried on the traditions of a pioneer Suffolk family which has been an integral part of the life of that section of Long Island for many generations.

George G. is a son of the late George Isaac and the late Phoebe Jane (Gerard) Tuthill. His father, a native of Mattituck, Suffolk County, died in 1946; he was pre-deceased by Mrs Tuthill, who was born in Baiting Hollow, in the town of Riverhead. and who died in 1941. George Isaac Tuthill was an industrious farmer and also a businessman who prospered in his undertakings.

George G. Tuthill was born at Mattituck on Decem- ber 24, 1896. He received his education in the public schools of his birth place. During World War I he served in the United States Navy. At an early age he became associated with his father in the produce and coal business at Mattituck, and later was a partner with his father in the Tuthill Lumber Company. Throughout his years in business he maintained a very keen interest in politics, which led to his becoming associated with the office of Sheriff William C. McCol- lum of Suffolk County, where his ability, his integrity and his intimate knowledge of the life and personalties of that county, make his service particularly valuable.

Mr. Tuthill is a member of the Riverhead Lodge Number 645 of the Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. As a veteran of World War I he belongs to the American Legion, Post Number 861, of Mattituck. He also holds membership in the Timber Point Club and in the North Fork Country Club of Cutchogue, Suffolk County. In religion he is affiliated with the Cutchogue Presbyterian Church.

At Mattituck, on April 7, 1923, George G. Tuthill married Katherine Bayles of that village. Mrs. Tut- hill is a daughter of Merwin Jarvis and Henrietta (Hudson) Bayles, her father being a native of Hunt- ington, while her mother was born in Long Island City, Queens County, now a borough of New York City. George G. and Katherine (Bayles) Tuthill are the parents of two children: I. Joyce Gerard, who was born at the Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, Suffolk County, on August 4, 1929. She is a graduate of the Mattituck High School, and in the fall of 1947 entered the Mansfield Teachers College at Mansfield, Pennsylvania. 2. David Baylis, who was also born in the Eastern Long Island Hospital, at Greenport, on March 29, 1934. At this writing he is a student in public school at Mattituck.

CLYDE HAMILTON KETCHAM-Through his political activities, through his service in the Navy in World War I, through public office holding and volunteer World War II civilian activities, as well as through his business, Clyde Hamilton Ketcham has spent a lifetime contributing to the welfare of the nation, Suffolk County and his native Islip. Formerly postmaster of Islip, he is now an insurance agent and broker in that town. By training and early experience, he is a marine engineer and naval architect.

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Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 21

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