Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 33

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 33
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 33

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).

On June 28, 1933, John Oakey McKnight was mar- ried in New York City to Kathryn Brassil, a daughter of Joseph P. and Lilla G. Brassil. Of this union there are three children: I. Lilla Giles, who was born on April 30, 1934. 2. Mary Dudley, born on August 17, 1937. 3. John Oakey, Jr., who was born on July 29, 1946.

John Oakey McKnight had a grandmother named Dr. Frances Allen Monell, M.D., who was a native of Glen Cove. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a member and one of the founders of the Daughters of the Union. His grandfather, John Oakey, was former district attorney of Kings County and United States commis- sioner and a founder of the Amaranth Society of Brooklyn.

JOHN GORDON-Seven years after coming to the United States from his native Scotland, John Gor- don was in business for himself as a painter and de- corator on Long Island-first at Sea Cliff, now at Glen Cove. For thirty-two years he operated the busi- ness alone except for an ever-increasing number of employees, but in 1946 his son John, completing his World War II service in the United States Army, joined him. The firm, which until then had borne only John Gordon's name, became John Gordon and Son. The Gordon home and office are located at the same address: 38 Forest Avenue, Glen Cove.

John Gordon was born at Hawick, in Scotland. After obtaining a public school education there, he came to the United States in 1907. The next seven years he worked as a painter and decorator in New York City. In 1914, he set himself up in business in Sea Cliff. In 1923, he built his present home and office building in Glen Cove. For the paperhanging, paint- ing and decorating business the Gordons now employ from twenty-five to one hundred persons. The elder Mr. Gordon is a director in the Nassau Union Bank of Glen Cove. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Glen Cove and the Brookville Country Club. A Mason, he is a life member of the Glen Cove Lodge, No. 58, Free and Accepted Masons, and a member of Melchizedek Chapter, No. 273, Royal Arch Masons, at Glen Cove. His church is the Presbyterian.

Mr. Gordon married Agnes Heatlie of Scotland on December 31, 1897, the marriage taking place in their native land. Mrs. Gordon is the daughter of the late James and Mary (Cook) Heatlie. There are three children: Mary, now the wife of Charles Robertson, and the mother of Charles Gordon Robertson, who served with the United States Coast Guard in World War II; Janet, now Mrs. Albert Duck and the mother of Gordon Duck, born in 1933; and John W., born in New York City on April 7, 1909. In World War II, the younger Mr. Gordon was with a photo-mapping company of Army Engineers and served overseas nearly three years, chiefly in Europe. He married

Elizabeth Lutman of Versailles, Missouri. Both the Gordons are addicts of the old Scottish game, golf.

WILLIAM EDWIN LOTZ-The latest honor to come to William Edwin Lotz, former village attorney for Williston Park, is his election to the presidency of the board of education of the Mineola public schools. His term, which started on July 1, 1946, will terminate in 1947.

Mr. Lotz was born in New York City on August 14, 1909, the son of Ernest and Charlotte (Ruhl) Lotz, and was educated in public schools in New York City. During his youth when his parents moved to Queens County, he attended Richmond Hill High School in Richmond Hill, and later Jamaica High School, graduating from the latter in 1927. He studied for three years at Washington Square Col- lege of New York University, and in 1932 received his Bachelor of Laws degree from the Brooklyn Law School of St. Lawrence University. He was admitted to the New York State bar in 1933 and to the Federal bar in 1944.

A year after receiving his law degree, Mr. Lotz started practice with William O. Badger at 116 John Street, New York City, and is now associated with Lewis, Welch and MacDonald of 15 Broad Street, New York City. He also maintains an office at 149 Hillside Avenue, Williston Park.

Before his election to the presidency of the board of education of the Mineola public schools, Mr. Lotz served as trustee since 1943. Active in support of the war effort, Mr. Lotz served as village chairman of the National War Fund from 1943 to 1945. In- terested in youth work for a number of years, Wil- liam Edwin Lotz was chairman of the Boy Scout troop committee, 130, of Williston Park, during 1942 and 1943.

As a member and general counsel, Mr. Lotz has taken active participation in the activities of the board of governors of the Williston Park Republican Club since 1942. One of the organizers and a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Williston, Mr. Lotz takes a keen interest in the business affairs of his community. He is also a member of the American Bar Association. His contributions to religious and philanthropic projects are generous.

On April 22, 1933, Mr. Lotz married Alice Beck- with, daughter of Henry S. and Mary (Ward) Beck- with, in New York City, and they are the parents of three children: I. William Philip, born November 6, 1935. 2. Paul Beckwith, born on November I, 1938. 3. Alice Charlotte, born on April 30, 1941.

HAROLD FISHER MASON, who has held a number of responsible public positions, is one of the best-known and most popular figures in Mineola and Glen Cove, and an active participant in civic affairs and political life.

Mr. Mason's father, William Luke Mason, was a native of England, a glass blower and glass manu- facturer, who came to the United States. He married Harriet Amelia Lingley, and their son Harold Fisher, one of six children, was born at Brentwood, on May 22, 1894. The other children in the family were Wil- liam, Harry, Maude, Elizabeth and Helen. Harold Fisher's education was obtained in the public schools of Brentwood. When he was about sixteen years of age he went to work as a meter reader and setter and a lineman for the Long Island Lighting Company. Later he set up in business for himself as a painter,

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and subsequently he worked as a contractor for sev- eral years up to 1933 for the city of Glen Cove. In 1933 he was appointed postmaster of Glen Cove, holding that office through 1934. In 1940 and 1941 he was foreman of the county painters, and in the latter year he was appointed as superintendent of the new Nassau County Court House at Mineola and of various other units. He has charge of the grounds of the court house and of these other build- ings.

From 1934 to 1940 Mr. Mason was mayor and supervisor of the city of Glen Cove, Nassau County. He is one of the most active leaders of the Republican party in that county, and has been a member of its county committee for twenty-five years, and of the executive committee of the county committee for twelve years. He also holds membership in the Re- publican Club of Glen Cove.

During the first World War Mr. Mason was line sergeant of a regiment attached to the 78th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces which carried the war to Germany under the leadership of General John J. Pershing. He was in active service for one year before his honorable discharge in April, 1919. He was a member of the 14th Infantry, National Guard of the State of New York. As a veteran he belongs to the Richard E. Byrd Post of the United States American War Veterans, and to the James Irwin Donahue Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; of this post he is a charter member.

Mr. Mason is an ardent adherent of the Masonic order, being connected with Glen Cove Lodge No. 580 of the Free and Accepted Masons; and a member and past president for two years of The Square Club of Glen Cove. He is also a past commander of Glen Cove Post No. 76. having held that office in 1943. Mr. Mason is a Presbyterian in religion, and ever ready to help forward the good works of his church. His wife is a communicant of the Episcopal church. For recreation he enjoys gardening and digging hard clams.

At Glen Cove, on February 6, 1937, Harold Fisher Mason was married to Violet Amy Jensen, who is a daughter of John and Anna Sandahl. There are no children of this marriage.

WILLIAM LYLE WISNER, SR .- One of those able public servants whose efficiency and devotion to the discharge of their duties is so important a factor in the smooth operation of the machinery of public business, William Lyle Wisner, Sr., brings to the responsible post of chief index clerk of the county court of Nassau County many years of experi- ence, not only in the work of that office, but also in the field of real estate title examination, which is so important in an area characterized by rapid growth and development, and a consequent high rate of turn- over in property ownership.

Mr. Wisner is a native of Michigan, born at Caro in that state on January 17, 1887. He is a son of Franklin Erwin and Adelle (Whitney) Wisner, his father be- ing a builder and contractor. Coming to Long Island in early life, William Wisner was educated at the public grade and high schools of Hempstead, Nassau County. In December, 1904, at the age of seventeen, he became one of the first three employees of the Title Guaranty & Trust Company, serving as a title examiner at Mineola. He remained with Title Guarantee & Trust, noted as one of the leading companies in its field, until August, 1910, when he

first entered the public service as a typewriter copyist in the Nassau County Clerk's office. Presently Mr. Wisner was promoted to the office of index clerk, and subsequently to the position of chief index clerk, which he continues to fill to this day with an efficiency that has earned the grateful appreciation of the great numbers of lawyers and laymen who have business with the county clerk's office.

For two years prior to the first World War, Mr. Wisner was a member of the National Guard of the State of New York. At another time he was en- rolled in the 14th Regiment, stationed in New York State, and was discharged with the rank of second lieutenant. Mr. Wisner is an active supporter of the Republican party and a member of the Republican Club of Freeport, Nassau County. He belongs to Spartan Lodge No. 956, Freeport, of the Free and Accepted Masons, and for five years served as secre- tary of that lodge.

At Hempstead, Nassau County, on April II, 1936, William Lyle Wisner was married to Lydia Helen Piquet, a daughter of Frank Piquet. There is one son, William Lyle, Jr., by a previous marriage, who was born on December 24, 1913.

EDWARD McGOWAN-In the business circles of Central Islip, Long Island, Edward McGowan is an exceptionally active figure. As a realtor, head of his own organized company, his operations are on a large scale that has proved to be remunerative, and of high value to the various communities wherein they are conducted. Like many of his generation, he served long in World War II, returning to civilian life as a former first lieutenant of United States Army.

He was born in Union City, New Jersey, on May 19, 1919, son of Sylvester and Grace (Kalbfleisch) McGowan. His father, now deceased, was engaged in a roofing business at Central Islip. The family moved about a great deal while Edward McGowan was a boy, and as a consequence he received his elementary edu- cation in a number of schools, including those of Woodcliff and East New York, New Jersey, and Medford, New York. He was graduated from the Patchogue High School with the class of 1936. He secured his first employment with the Island Coal and Lumber Company of Medford, and later went into business as a partner in the McGowan Roofing Company.

Entering the United States Army on January 27, 1941, Mr. McGowan was commissioned a second lieutenant on June 9, 1942, upon graduation from Officer Candidates School, Fort Benning, Georgia, He attained the rank of first lieutenant February 20, 1943, and was released from active duty on March 14, 1944.

It was then that Mr. McGowan entered the real estate field, first as a salesman and subsequently as a licensed broker. He has been very active with a general real estate business, being particularly so in the promotion of sales for new home developments as a broker. He is president, principal stock holder, and the chief executive of the McGowan Real Estate Corporation, an extremely profitable brokerage and real estate holding corporation at Central Islip. Con- currently, he is also an officer, director, and a large stock holder of West Hill Gardens, Incorporated, an enterprising mortgage house that has granted many G. I. loans to veterans. He is as well an officer and a director of Brentwood Square, Inc., a real estate devel- opment concern; and of the investment and develop- ment corporation known as Rolling Green, Inc.

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Although Edward McGowan is less than thirty years of age at this writing, already he has become well known in real estate circles, and he has played an extremely important role in the development and expansion of Central Islip and vicinity.

He is a member of the Timber Point Club, and at- tends the Protestant Episcopal Church. In politics he is a Republican. Bowling, golf and swimming are his favorite recreations, and his hobby is the taking of motion pictures, particularly in color.

On June 14, 1942, Edward McGowan married Vir- ginia Ann McKenna, of Patchogue, daughter of John J. and Augusta (Ehlers) McKenna.

HERBERT TRAFFORD, who is widely known in business, civic and patriotic activities in Mineola, was born in Paris, France, on December 19, 1911. He arrived in this country at the age of three and has enjoyed American citizenship for many years. He is a son of the late Herbert Fred Trafford, formerly of the editorial department of Doubleday, Page & Company, publishers, and associated with the Country Life Press at Garden City, and his wife Violet Mallet (Trafford) Trafford. Herbert Fred Trafford was a member of a cavalry regiment known as the 19th Hussars, of the British Army, in which he served under the late Lord French and the late Lord Kitchener on the Nile Expedition.

Herbert Trafford attended the Mineola High School and subsequently, being possessed of artistic talent and a paramount interest in art, studied at the New York School of Design for two years. Since 1928 he has been in business as a sign artist at 176 Mineola Boulevard in Mineola. During the second World War he was a member of the Coast Guard Reserve and also served in the airplane warning service and on the auxiliary police force. He was very active in civilian aspects of the national war effort, such as the war bond drives and in support of the United Service Organizations. He is vice president of the Mineola Chamber of Commerce, which he also served as secretary in 1942, 1943 and 1944, and he also be- longs to the Rotary Club of Mineola. His fraternal affiliation is with Mineola Lodge No. 125 of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

SAMUEL GREASON-Twice in the lifetime of the Hon. Samuel Greason, judge of the district court of Nassau County, war has taken him away from the peaceful pursuit of his chosen profession, and his military record is as distinguished as his civilian career. The law, however, is his first love, and his elevation to the bench was a merited recognition of his legal knowledge and acumen, his long and suc- cessful practice, and the high ethical standards which have guided his practice at the bar.

Samuel Greason was born in Brooklyn on Septem- ber 2, 1887, ten years before that city became a borough of Greater New York, the son of a father who bore the same name, and who was a man of some affluence, a broker on the New York Stock Ex- change. The younger Samuel Greason attended the Boys High School in his native Brooklyn, graduat- ing with the class of 1905. Having determined on a legal career, he entered New York University, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1907. In that same year the young attorney became a junior associate of one of the leading law firms of New York City, James, Schell and Elkus, with whom he remained until 1914, when he set up for himself in

independent practice, becoming one of the first ten- ants of the building at 80 Maiden Lane which houses many of New York's leading law firms. The firm of Treacy, Rasquin and Greason, formed at this time, might have developed a clientele and a practice to rank it among the most eminent in that city of lawyers, but war, first on the distant Texas-Mexico border, and then in still more distant Europe, in- tervened.

For eight years prior to the first World War Samuel Greason had been a member of the famous Troop C, First New York Cavalry, a unit of the National Guard of the State of New York. In June, 1916, Troop C was sent to the Texas border, with Samuel Greason holding the rank of sergeant. Later he was assigned to the 77th Division, 304th Machine Gun Battalion, in the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe, after our entrance into the first World War. At this time he held the rank of captain of caval- ry. During the course of action along the Vesle and Aisne rivers in France, Captain Greason was wounded, and received the Purple Heart decoration. He was promoted to the rank of major, and was the commander of his outfit when it returned to the United States. He remained in Officer Reserve Corps and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1922 and to colonel of infantry in 1940.

After these martial experiences, Colonel Greason resumed the practice of his profession, and by 1937 was an acknowledged leader of the bar in Nassau County, to which he had removed at some time in the intervening years. His election to the bench of the district court gave satisfaction to the general public and the legal fraternity alike. In 1942, war for a second time called him into service. As a member of the Reserves, he was ordered back into active serv- ice in May, 1942, and assigned to the School of Military Government at the University of Virginia, where he remained until November of that year. At that time he was sent overseas, and until June, 1944, was stationed in England in the civil affairs section of government, E.T.O.U.S.A. He became a mem- ber of the E.T.O.U.S.A. staff and later of the staff of General Eisenhower and of the general staff corps at SHAEF, and spent some time over the Continent before returning to the United States on December, 1945. In March 1946 he received his honorable dis- charge. Colonel Greason in the course of his dis- tinguished military service has been awarded, in addition to the Purple Heart, the Legion of Merit, the Order of the British Empire, the Legion of Honor, the Croix de Guerre with palms, the Medal of Merit Maritime, the Couronne de Chene of Luxem- bourg, the Croix de Guerre of Luxembourg; and he is also entitled to wear various service ribbons.

During his term of service abroad, Judge Greason was re-elected in absentia to the bench of the Nassau County District Court, with no opposition, and upon receiving his discharge, he resumed his judicial duties.

Judge Greason is a past member of the Rotary Club of Garden City, which he served as president in 1930. His other fraternal affiliation is with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Hemp- stead. His clubs are the Cherry Valley Golf, the Lawrence Beach and the Hempstead Harbor. In religious matters Judge Greason and his family are attendants at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

At Brooklyn on March 13, 1918, Samuel Greason was married to Rita Pomeroy, a daughter of Harry and Ida (Pierce) Pomeroy. Of this marriage there is one son, Craig Pomeroy, who was born on March

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25, 1924. This young man was a student at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, until he answered the call to the colors in World War II. He entered the Air Corps as an air cadet in 1942, and in 1943 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps and assigned to the 8th Air Force for duty overseas. As a pilot Lieutenant Greason flew twenty- six missions, and was twice shot down. On the second occasion he was taken prisoner by the enemy, but within ten days made his escape and succeeded in reaching the American lines. After being returned to the United States, Lieutenant Greason entered Am- herst College at Amherst, Massachusetts, where he is continuing his collegiate studies.

CHARLES E. HYDE-More than three quarters of a century has passed since the birth of Charles E. Hyde but he is still one of the most active men in his native Port Washington. For many years he was the Republican leader of that community and for nearly a decade he was collector of Internal Revenue for Nassau County. Since 1892 he has been a member of the board of directors of the Port Washington Building and Loan Association and since 1906 he has been secretary of that organization. Once a pro- fessional musician affiliated with the famous Mineola Fair, and once in the sportings goods business known to numerous hunters, fishermen, athletes and sports- men, he has been in the real estate business in Port Washington since 1895. He is one of the most promi- nent club and fraternal men in the community.

Mr. Hyde was born in Port Washington on Oc- tober 18, 18;0, the son of Edward Mackey and Caroline (James) Hyde, the former, also a native of Port Washington, an oysterman. He attended what public schools there were in those early days in Port Washington. But he has found his lack of formal education no handicap to his career and activities. He has learned by experience and reading and participa- tion in every variety of social and communal or- ganization. His first business was as a sporting goods merchant. Later he converted a lifetime in- terest into a career-music. Long before Nassau County was a county, he had a band which won a wide following and which appeared at the Mineola Fair and elsewhere.

In 1895, Mr. Hyde entered the real estate business. He carried on alone in this business until 1906 when he made two major moves. He built his present headquarters, at 277 Main Street, Port Washington, and he formed a partnership with Allen P. Baxter. They called the firm Hyde and Baxter. Mr. Baxter died on February 10, 1945, and Mr. Hyde again be- came an independent operator. The firm is now called the Charles E. Hyde Agency and his grandson, Charles Hyde Walker is associated with it.

In 1900 Mr. Hyde became collector of Internal Revenue for Nassau County. Nine years later he resigned. He is former secretary of the Port Wash- ington Board of Trade and past noble grand marshall of the Port Washington district of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Sea- wanhaka Lodge of this fraternity. He is a member of the Atlantic Hook and Ladder Company, Exempt Firemen of Port Washington, of the Morton Lodge No. 63, Free and Accepted Masons at Hempstead (since February II, 1901); of the Great Neck Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (since 1891); of the Lions Club of Port Washing- ton; the North Hempstead Country Club and the

Port Washington Yacht Club, of which he is former treasurer. Though he resigned the leadership of the Republican party in Port Washington in 1938, he re- mains active in the organization. His church is the Methodist.

Mr. Hyde married Clare D. Lewis in Port Wash- ington in 1889. A daughter, Mrs. Lauretta Lewis Walker, was born to them on May 17, 1891. She is the mother of Charles Hyde Walker, born April 4, 1925. Mrs. Clare Hyde died on October 8, 1932. On January 17, 1934, also at Port Washington, Mr. Hyde married Marion Hester Collins, daughter of Mrs. Marion Buckley Collins.

HERBERT ARNOLD FALK, Ph.D .- As an edu- cator who has received national recognition, Dr. Her- bert A. Falk has been a factor in the civic and cultural life of Sayville since 1933.

Dr. Falk was born June 28, 1889 at Norwood, Minnesota, the son of Frederick and Augusta (Trick) Falk. His father was a building contractor. After attending public schools, Dr. Falk won his Bachelor of Arts degree in education at the University of Minnesota, his Master of Arts degree at Teachers College, Columbia University, and his Doctor of Phil- osophy degree at Columbia University. He was a teacher in the public schools of Minnesota from 1906 to I911, a student in the College of Education, Uni- versity of Minnesota, 1911 to 1914; principal of the Fairmount High School, in Minnesota, 1914-15; super- intendent of schools at Mt. Lake, Minnesota, 1915-22; superintendent of schools at Sauk Centre, Minne- sota, from 1922 to 1931, and did research and graduate study at Columbia University 1931-33. He has been superintendent of schools at Sayville since 1933. In his busy life in the field of education he also has found time for political service. He was city judge at Mt. Lake from 1918 to 1922, and was a Cotton- wood County and state party delegate in Minnesota. He was chairman of the Selective Service Advisory Board and the Veterans Reemployment Committee from 1941 to 1947 in the town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York. He served in the Minnesota National Guard in 1912-13.

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Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 33

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