Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 35

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 35
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 35

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Mr. Latham married Antoinette Vail, daughter of Ernest and Lulu (Holmes) Vail, of Orient, in that community, and they became the parents of a son, George E., Jr., born in Orient Point on December 28, 1925. The younger Mr. Latham, a graduate of Greenport High School, is now associated with his father in the management of the farm. Mrs. Antoinette Latham died in 1943. Mr. Latham re- married in 1944. His present wife is the former Betsy Brooks of Greenport, daughter of the late Edgar Brooks and Jennie (Corwin) Brooks. She has two children by her own first marriage: Joyce, born August 6, 1930, and Bryant Young, born February II, 1936. She is a member of the Daughters of America.

CARL AUGUSTUS ESPACH-Formerly an at- torney of New York City, Carl Augustus Espach has been engaged in the general practice of law in Hemp- stead for a number of years. He is interested in all activities of a civic and fraternal nature in Nassau County, and has participated actively in all of them.

Carl Augustus Espach was born in Jefferson Centre, Butler County, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1902, the son of Augustus C. and Ella M. (Kuhn) Espach, both born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was born February 22, 1870, and died June II, 1944. He was a Presbyterian minister and had charge of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Elmont, from 1904 to 1936. His mother was born July 24, 1873.

The early education of Mr. Espach was acquired in the public schools of Elmont and in Hempstead High School. He then attended Brooklyn Law School from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1923. In October, 1924, he was admitted to the bar of the State of New York. For the next fourteen years he practiced law in New York City in association with Macdonald De Witt. Then he came to Hempstead where he has conducted a general prac- tice of his profession to the present time.

In connection with his profession he is a member of the Nassau County Bar Association. He also be- longs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Hempstead Lodge No. 1485; and within the Free and Accepted Masons, Massapequa Lodge No. 822, and the Valley of Rockville Centre Consistory. He is a former trustee of the village of Rockville Centre and its former village counsel. In addition he was president of the Elmont School Board, past president of the Elmont Republican Club, and past president of the Rockville Centre Republican Club. He is a trustee of the Presbyterian Church in Rockville Centre. His hobbies are hunting and fishing.

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On September 29, 1934, Carl Augustus Espach married Rosemarie Rydeski, of Laurelton.

ALEXANDER BERMAN-Since his admission to the bar of the state of New York, Alexander Ber- man has been a practicing attorney in Hempstead. At the present time he is police justice of this com- munity and is active in all of the worthwhile civic projects.

Alexander Berman was born, August 23, 1908, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Samuel and Lena (Kasselheim) Berman. His father was a merchant, and is now deceased.

After attending the public schools of Rockville Centre and being graduated from the South Side High School in Rockville Centre in 1925, Mr. Ber- man attended Columbia University for one year and then was graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1929 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.

After being. admitted to the bar in 1930, Mr. Ber- man began the practice of law in Hempstead. From 1936 to 1938 he was the attorney for the Welfare De- partment of the town of Hempstead. In 1944 he was acting police justice and in 1945 he was elected for a four-year term as police justice.

Among the. organizations to which Mr. Berman belongs are the Nassau County Bar Association, the. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks No. 1485, the Knights of Pythias No. 656, and the Lions Club. He is a Republican and a member of the Hemp- stead Hebrew Congregation. His hobbies are tennis and fishing.

On April 17, 1931, Alexander Berman married Regina Goldberg, of Lawrence, New York. They are the parents of two children: 1. Rhoda, born February 18, 1935. 2. Sheila, born January 28, 1938.

W. HALSEY WOOD-Among the businessmen of Hempstead, who have contributed to the prosperity and well-being of this community, is W. Halsey Wood, the manager of the Long Island agency of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. He has resided here since 1927 and opened this new office of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1939. He takes a leading part in the social, civic and educational institutions of the vicinity and is re- garded as one of the citizens who has heped to make this such a thriving community.

W. Halsey Wood was born in Newark, New Jersey, September 7, 1892, the son of W. Halsey and Florence (Hemsley) Wood. His father was born in New Jersey in 1852 and was a very prominent architect in New York City. He won the original competition for the plans of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and was the architect of many churches and other buildings throughout the country. He died in March, 1896. His mother was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1865.

In 1910, Mr. Wood was graduated from the Kent School, in Kent, Connecticut, and in 1914 he was graduated from Columbia University with the de- gree of Bachelor of Architecture. Following his . education he was a registered architect in New York State after working for the firm of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson in New York City. During 1915 and 1916 Mr. Wood was a member of the Ist Armored Motor Battery of the New York National Guard. He entered the First Officers Training Camp at Platts- · burg, New York, in April of 1917. He rose from the

rank of private to first lieutenant in the Infantry, first with the 108th Regiment of the 27th Division and later the 380th Infantry Regiment of the 95th Division. His army service lasted for three years. After his discharge from the Army, Mr. Wood went into busi- ness for himself in New York City at 217 Broadway under the name of the Wood Employment Service for the following twelve years. Then he became asso- ciated with the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States from 1931 to the present time. From a one man office this agency now employs sixty people and at present is the fastest grow- ing agency in the United States. Just before opening this agency, Mr. Wood was assistant manager of the T. M. Riehle Agency, in New York City.

Mr. Wood takes an active part in the civic and social activities of Hempstead. In 1946 he was presi- dent of the Hempstead Rotary Club, and before this was vice president and secretary. On the Hemp- stead board of education since 1937, he has been president of the board for two years and has also been secretary, treasurer, and vice president. In addition he is a director and member of the Garden City Casino, member of the Columbia University Club, and Lawrence Beach Club, trustee for the past twelve years of the Kent School, Kent, Connecticut, and for two years was president of the Alumni Association. He is president and director of the Hempstead Young Men's Christian Association, member of the American Legion, Hempstead Post No. 390, and past presi- dent of the Long Island Life Underwriters Associa- tion. During World War II he was in charge of the payroll deduction plan for War Bonds in Nassau County under Judge Leone D. Howell. In politics he is a Republican, belonging to the Hempstead Re- publican Club, and he attends the Cathedral of the Incarnation at Garden City. His favorite sport is tennis, and he was a tennis player with a national ranking for six years. He now umpires and referees at Forest Hills.

On February 12, 1926, W. Halsey Wood married Elvira L. Stumpf, of Brooklyn, the daughter of Joseph G. and Caroline Travis Stumpf. They are the parents of two children: Carolyn Louise, born September 25, 1929, a student at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; and William Halsey, III, born June 9, 1931, a student at Kent School, Kent Connec- ticut.

ALVIN K. MASON-The combination of a res- taurant and an antique shop is one frequently found along the highways and byways of motorized America, and a pleasant example of this combination is found in the Washington Tavern at Roslyn. In this case the proprietor, Alvin K. Mason, came to the antique business by way of an apprenticeship in the hotel field.

Mr. Mason's father is Peter Mason, manager of Swift and Company. To him and his wife Lillian Mason, the son whom they named Alvin K., was born on June 29, 1905, at Paterson, New Jersey. His education was obtained at grammar school and Pen- nington Preparatory School, in Pennington, New Jersey. About 1932 he entered the service of the American Hotel Chain, remaining with them until 1934. At that time the antique business attracted his interest, and he engaged in it in combination with interior decorating, until about 1941, when he entered the field of the war industries as an employee of the Sperry Gyroscope Company at Brooklyn, New York.

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In 1945, Mr. Mason acquired the property at Roslyn, on the North Shore of Long Island, known as the Washington Tavern, and this he is now operating with great success as a combined restaurant and antique shop. Fraternally Mr. Mason is affiliated with the Great Neck, Nassau County Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Nassau Historical Society and Esther Stevens Brazer Guild of American Decoration.

On February 15, 1941, Alvin K. Mason married Dorothy Leis, daughter of Adam and Carolyn Leis.

ROBERT J. HARTNETT-Coming from one of the counties in the "Southern Tier" of New York State, Robert J. Hartnett established himself in Hempstead, Nassau County, more than twenty years ago, to become one of the leading funeral directors on Long Island, and one of the most respected and popular citizens of his community, active in patriotic, civic and religious affairs and in the faithful dis- charge of the duties of public office.

Mr. Hartnett's father, the late Jeremiah Hartnett, a native of Moravia, New York, and a foreman by occupation, married Margaret McDowell, who was born in Ireland, and who is now also deceased. Of this marriage Robert J. Hartnett was born at Cort- land, Cortland County, New York, on January 15, 1894. After attending the public grade and high schools of his native city, the Cortland Business Academy and the Utica Free Academy at the nearby city of Utica, he decided to engage in the funeral business, and to that end enrolled in the Renouard School of Embalming, from which he graduated with the class of 1921.

It was in 1926 that Mr. Hartnett set up in business in Hempstead, under his own name. In the interven- ing years the tact and sympathy, and the ethical principles, with which he has conducted his opera- tions, have eased the moments of grief for many of the people of Hempstead and adjacent communities. His funeral home at 148 Greenwich Street in Hemp- stead is beautiful, tasteful and thoroughly modern in its appointments and equipment. Mr. Hartnett is a member of the Metropolitan and the National funeral directors associations.

In 1935 and 1936, and again in the period 1938 to 1941, Robert J. Hartnett served his adopted com- munity as a trustee of the village of Hempstead. As a veteran of the first World War, in which he served for two and a half years as a member of the 55th Pioneer Infantry Regiment, holding the rank of first lieu- tenant, he is a member of Hempstead Post No. 390, American Legion. A Roman Catholic in religion and a communicant of Our Lady of Loretto Church, Mr. Hartnett is active in the affairs of the national Catho- lic fraternal order, the Knights of Columbus, in which he has served as district deputy for five years. He was a supreme delegate to the national con- vention of the Knights of Columbus at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1934. He is also affiliated with I.odge No. 1485, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He participates in business councils and civic affairs as a member of the Kiwanis Club of Hempstead, and in politics as a member of the Democratic party. He was a trustee of the village of Hempstead for six years. His interest in religious affairs is further evidenced by his membership in the Holy Name Society of his parish. His hobby is golf, and he is often to be seen playing on the course of the Hempstead Golf Club, of which he is a member.

On December 20, 1922, Robert J. Hartnett was married to Catherine Walsh of Fulton, New York, a daughter of Joseph and Catherine (Agnew) Walsh. Of this marriage of Robert J. and Catherine (Walsh) Hartnett, there are three children: I. Elizabeth J., who was born on August 13, 1924. 2. Mary, born on January 18, 1929. 3. Rosemary.

THOMAS K. HADDATH-A native of England who came to the United States in his boyhood days and chose the funeral business as the field of his activities, Thomas K. Haddath now has the distinc- tion of heading one of the oldest, and according to some accounts actually the oldest establishment of that kind in Long Island's Nassau County.

A son of William Haddath, a farmer, and his wife Phoebe (Freers) Haddath, both of whom were natives of England and both of whom are now deceased, Thomas K. Haddath was born at Barrow-in-Furness, England, on August 9, 1887, and came to this coun- try in the year 1900. Settling first in New York City, he attended the Renouard School of Embalming there, and was subsequently associated with various undertaking establishments in that city, gaining in- valuable experience, until 1936. In that year he came to Hempstead, Nassau County, to join the firm then known as the F. E. Cornell Funeral Chapel.

This business was established by John A. Whit- taker more than one hundred years ago. The founder was succeeded by William Anderson, from whom Clarence E. Cornell purchased it. The business was incorporated on January 1, 1923, as the F. E. Cornell Company, Inc., with Mr. F. E. Cornell becoming president and Mr. Hazen N. Witty, secretary and treasurer. Mr. F. E. Cornell was a native of Hemp- stead, Nassau County, born on June 25, 1885, a son of Clarence E. Cornell and a grandson of James G. Cornell. The last-named was a farmer and later en- tered the butter and egg business, in both of which activities Clarence E. Cornell was associated with him until, as noted above he entered funeral work by purchasing the interest of William Anderson in the business originallly established by John A. Whit- taker. F. E. Cornell in turn, after receiving his education in the public grade and high schools of his native place, became associated with the business, and from an early age thoroughly mastered its details. He was a man of natural executive ability and of pro- gressive spirit. Mr. Cornell's attitude toward his chosen work was one of reverence, sympathy, and strict observance of all ethical principles and obliga- tions, and under his management the business ex- panded and became very well-known and highly regarded in that section of Long Island.

F. E. Cornell made the establishment which housed his business one of the most attractive and up-to-date on Long Island outside the Borough of Brooklyn, with complete modern equipment. The building houses the various departments of the business in suitable sections and includes a handsome chapel. Under Mr. Cornell's management a large fleet of Cunningham motor vehicles and hearses, expressly made for funeral purposes by the noted Rochester manufacturer specializing in that line, was used, and there was also a private ambulance.

Association with such a progressive ethical firm was a happy one for Thomas K. Haddath, and when Mr. F. E. Cornell retired in 1945, Mr. Haddath be- came president and manager of the concern, which is now known as the F. E. Cornell Funeral Chapel,

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Inc. The chapel and office, formerly at 268 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, is now situated at 375 Fulton Avenue. Under Mr. Haddath's management, the same high standards that have guided this business for more than a century are still observed, and al- ways will be; and in every respect the equipment is kept constantly up-to-date. A Cadillac hearse and Cadillac coaches are now used to ensure the com- fort of mourners and the smooth and flawless con- duct of every funeral entrusted to the direction of the F. E. Cornell Funeral Chapel.

During the first World War Mr. Haddath en- listed in the British Navy and was in service for three years. He is an Episcopalian in religion and a mem- ber of St. George's Church of that denomination. He is affiliated with Zetland Lodge No. 15, on the Island of Malta, of the Free and Accepted Masons; with Signet Chapter No. 323 Royal Arch Masons; with the Nassau Commandery, No. 73, of the Knights Templar; and with the Valley of Newark Consistory.

In 1928 Thomas K. Haddath was married to Kate Clarissa Dyer, a native of Gloucester in England, who died in 1940. In 1943 Mr. Haddath re-married, the bride being Emeline Tracy Loomis of Colchester, Connecticut, whose family was noted among the old settlers of West Chester in that state. Mrs. Haddath is a member of Lord Stirling Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Hempstead, New York.

HAROLD E. WILLIAMS-The Williams family has been settled in Queens and Nassau counties for many generations, and has had a part in the amaz- ing development of the western portion of Long Island from a sparsely-populated, placid farming country to an area where thriving and populous sub- urbs constitute one almost continuous garden com- munity. More than fifty years ago, when the Long Island landscape was still a vista of farms and Long Island roads were still traversed only by easy-going horses-and-buggies or lumbering horse-drawn trucks, the late Silas A. Williams decided to get a share of the lucrative business of feeding and sheltering horses. That was in 1894, and so well did his grain and livery business thrive that sixteen years later he was able to retire. His son took over the business at about the time it was becoming evident to far- sighted minds that the horse was on the way out, and the motor-driven vehicle on the way to triumph; so the grain and livery business was transformed to meet the changed conditions, into a motor fuel and service station business.

Silas A. Williams, who was born at Roslyn on the North Shore of Long Island on February 7, 1868, and who died on January 17, 1944, married Ella L. Ham, also a native of Brooklyn, born on June 14, 1870. She died on January 6, 1937. Of this marriage Harold E. Williams was born at Roslyn on May 12, 1889. He attended public school in Freeport, and at an early age began to work in his father's grain and livery business located on Main Street in that village, on the site now occupied by Bauman's furniture store. After working with his father for five years, Harold E. Williams became a salesman and buyer for the American Hay Company in New York, an occupation which he continued for three years. In 1910 he returned to Freeport and took over the management of the business started by his father, which he continued until 1922. By that time his plans were made to transfer his business opera-

tions to the new field of servicing motor vehicles, and he entered the oil and service station business as treasurer of Long Island Service Stations, Inc. Along with the radical change in transportation, there was at that time a marked trend toward the use of oil as an industrial and household fuel, and Mr. Williams entered this field also. In 1928 he sold out his service station interests and concentrated on the fuel oil busi- ness under the name of the Arrow Head Oil Com- pany, Inc., of which he became secretary and treas- urer. In 1944 he became sole owner and president of this company, dealing in fuel oil at retail and em- ploying twelve people at the office and plant located on Commercial Avenue in Garden City.

Mr. Williams is also president of Arrow Head As- sociates, and owner and president of the Colt- Worthington Oil Works, Inc. He is treasurer of the Bellmore Savings and Loan Association. Active in the business life of Nassau County in general, he belongs to the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce and the Hempstead Rotary Club. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Wantagh Republican Club. He is a life member and charter member of Spartan Lodge No. 956, of the Free and Accepted Masons, at Freeport, and a life member and charter member of Wantagh Lodge of the same order. He is also affiliated with Freeport Chapter No. 302.

In the borough of Brooklyn, New York City, on April 8, 1915, Harold E. Williams was married to Cecilia Edna Cowles, a daughter of John I. and Cecilia J. (Hannington) Cowles. Mrs. Williams is a member of Daughters of the American Revolution through the Cowles family.

ROBERT S. STILL-The representative today of one of the oldest families in the eastern part of Long Island, Robert S. Still, in that land of old families and old traditions, carries on the tradition of the Still family both as an industrious and practical farmer, and as a useful public servant.

Born on the family homestead and farm at Coram in Suffolk County on September 26, 1902, Robert S. is a son of Edward Stephen and Charlotte (Magilton) Still, who are natives of the town of Brookhaven. Growing up on the family farm, he attended grade school in Coram and high school in Port Jefferson. Until he was twenty years of age he remained on the Still family farm at Coram, but in 1922 he took employment on the dairy farm of Norman Roe in East Patchogue, where he worked until some time in 1924.

In 1926 Mr. Still entered public life and public serv- ice as street commissioner of the village of Patchogue, an office which he administered efficiently through- out a long term until the year 1942. His private in- terests during most of these years were centered in a milk distributing business which he maintained in Patchogue. In 1938 he entered into partnership with his brother Merwin Still in the conduct of a lucrative dairy and poultry business in the town of Coranı.

In 1942 Mr. Still was chosen for the office of super- intendent of highways of the town of Brookhaven, which important office he continues to fill with effi- ciency and credit to the present writing. On January I, 1948, he started his fourth term in this office.

Mr. Still participates in local civic and business councils, particularly as a member of the Rotary Club of Patchogue. For social and recreational life he belongs to the Timber Point Club. He is also a member of the National Republican Club, which has

Robert S. Still

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its headquarters in New York City. In religion he is a member of the Methodist Church.

Robert S. Still on March 15, 1922, married Mary Edwards, of Coram, Suffolk County, who is a daugh- ter of Leon Edwards and Christinia (Swezey) Ed- wards of that place. Of this marriage there are the following children: 1. Marion Louise, who was born at Patchogue on July 30, 1923, and is a graduate of the Patchogue High School. 2. Norman, born at Patchogue on June 27, 1924. After graduating from the high school at Patchogue, he entered the United States Navy during the course of World War II, and saw action in the South Pacific Theater of Operations.

HARRY W. WASTIE-One of the major indus- trial concerns in Hempstead, Nassau County, is the Hempstead Storage Corporation. As vice president and general manager, Harry W. Wastie brought to the service of this corporation the experience gained in more than thirty years in the storage warehouse business, in which his whole career has been made.

Born in New York City on August 10, 1884, Mr. Wastie was a son of the late George Henry Wastie, a native of London, Province of Ontario, Canada, and his wife the former Adaline Leamy, who was born in Brooklyn. George Henry Wastie was engaged in manufacturing in Brooklyn for many years prior to his death in 1935. Mrs. Adaline (Leamy) Wastie pre-deceased her husband, passing away in 1933. The young Harry W. Wastie attended public grade schools and the Boys' High School in Brooklyn, and also studied at the Marquard Preparatory School and at the Alexander Hamilton Institute in New York City.

His first employment was with the Brooklyn Ware- house and Storage Company, in Brooklyn, where he began as an office boy and rose through all grades, by his industry, ability and fidelity to the joint office of secretary and general manager. Mr. Wastie's association with the Brooklyn Warehouse and Stor- age Company continued for thirty years, terminating only when he accepted the position of vice president and general manager of the Long Island Storage Warehouses, Inc., also located in Brooklyn. This position he held for eight years. The Long Island Storage Warehouses, Inc., is one of the largest con- cerns in the storage business in the entire United States. It was in 1939 that Mr. Wastie came to Hempstead, to take over the double post of vice president and general manager of the Hempstead Storage Corporation, where he continues to the present writing to guide the affairs of this large and prosperous concern.

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Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 35

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