USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 41
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 41
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Mr. Dangerfield's association with Kirwin Esta- brook continued until 1928, in which year he en- tered the organization of George M. Estabrook of Hempstead, and they have built the outstanding structures of Nassau County.
Mr. Dangerfield has entered deeply into the civic and public life of Nassau County. He is a member and past president of the Hempstead school board, chair- man of the local board of zoning appeal, and chair- man as well of the appeal board of construction codes for the same village. His business interests include the Central Nassau Building Corporation, in which he is a member of the board of directors, and the Cathedral Apartments, where he also sits on the directorial board. He is a member of the Republican party. His fraternal affiliations are with the Morton Lodge No. 63, of the Free and Accepted Masons and with Lodge No. 1493, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Thomas M. Dangerfield on July 14, 1915, was mar- ried to Mabel G. Cusack of Brooklyn, a daughter of Charles and Eleanor (Hermance) Cusack.
WILLIAM E. WOOD-Although he has been identified with various enterprises, William E. Wood has directed the greater part of his business activities toward the field of real estate, and since 1938 has operated his own business at 267 Sunrise Highway, in Rockville Centre, New York.
He was born in Jersey City Heights November 21, 1888, son of Oliver and Frances Wood, both of whom have passed away, the latter a native of New York City, and the former, who conducted his own interior decorating business in Baltimore, was born in New Market, Maryland. William Wood was educated in the elementary and high schools of Balti- more, and continued his training at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. His first association with the insurance business was with the New York Life In- surance Company with both sales and office experi- ence for several years. He then became associated with the Thanhouser Film Corporation at New Roch- elle, New York, and later became office manager of the firm's laboratories in that city. In 1921, turn- ing his interests toward the real estate field, he entered into association with Edward J. Farrell at Long Beach for about ten years, and from 1938 to the present time Mr. Wood has conducted his own
real estate agency at Rockville Centre under his own name. In his earlier life he served three years as a non-commissioned officer with the regular United States Army. A Republican in his political views, he belongs to the Long Island and the New York State and National real estate boards, is a member of the Rockville Centre Luncheon Club, and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, where he serves as trea- surer.
William E. Wood married January 22, 1926, in New York City, Lillian Millot, of Newark, New Jersey, daughter of Eugene and Elizabeth Fisher Millot.
JOHN A. WILBUR, founder and developer of Ocean Beach, Fire Island, one of the most remarkable family seashore developments near New York City, with a summer population of over seven thousand people, has had a full and varied life, and today at the age of eighty-two is still active and busy with new ideas. Mr. Wilbur has served in a number of public posts, and he is a member of many clubs and other organizations, as well as a prominent Mason.
He was born March 16, 1866, at Manorville, in Suffolk County, New York, the son of William Hutton and Ameria L. (Tillotson) Wilbur. His father was a lieutenant on the New York City police force. The Wilburs are descended from "a Yankee pioneer family" and it is Mr. Wilbur's belief that the Wilbur family of Manorville are the descendants of Oliver Wilbur, a native of Scituate, in Providence County, Rhode Island, and the son of Abner and Sarah (Rath- bone) Wilbur. He, in May, 1775, enlisted in the Continental Army, serving until January 1, 1777, when he was discharged probably as the result of a wound received in the Battle of White Plains. He married Elizabeth Benjamin, of Plainfield, in Windham County, Connecticut, where he lived for many years and raised a large family of children. Later the family moved to Delhi, in Delaware County, New York, where he died in 1837. His will was recorded in Delhi and probated December 1, 1837. It was from Delhi that John A. Wilbur's grandfather, Jeremiah Greenfield Wilbur, came to settle at Manorville, Long Island, where John A. Wilbur was born.
Mr. Wilbur attended the district school at Southold, in Suffolk County, and also Southold Academy, but did not graduate from the Academy owing to the fact that the family moved to New York City. Beyond his fifteenth year he was self-educated. His first occu- pation was as a telegraph operator, and he followed it for about fifteen years, being cmployed in that capacity first on the Long Island Railway and then on the Manhattan Elevated Railway in New York City, up to 1897. In that year he accepted an appoint- ment as special agent in the Department of Excise for New York State at Albany, having headed the list of eligibles in a civil service examination in which several hundred competitors took part. He made a creditable record, but served for only a short period, since a good opportunity for him to become connected with an established commercial business opened up. In 1898 he became sales manager of the Salem Nail Company of New York City, wholesale dealers in nails, tacks, and spikes, and also engaged in the manufacture and sale of special nails and in the gal- vanizing of such products. Within a few years Mr. Wilbur became president of the company.
In 1907, having made a success of this enterprise,
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he sold out his interest in order to enter the real estate business. The following year he organized and became president and manager of the Ocean Beach-Fire Island Company, and started the unique and very successful development of the family sea- shore resort to be known as Ocean Beach, on Fire Island, near New York City. Within five years he had sold nearly a thousand lots and helped to prepare plans for the construction of several hundred bunga- lows and cottages for the purchasers. He established and supervised the operation of a ferry to Bay Shore, Long Island, eight miles distant across Great South
Bay. On Ocean Beach itself he built over five miles of boardwalks, a large boat basin for the safe and comfortable landing of the ferry boats, a new and larger passenger boat, and a water plant to supply the entire community with running water. He also built a hotel, a casino equipped for moving pictures, social affairs, dances, and other amusements, and two stores. He established a post office and was ap- pointed the first postmaster. As a result of his able and ingenious solution of the many economic, civic, and social problems he had to solve in this develop- ment, Ocean Beach is regarded as one of the most extraordinary family seashore developments in the entire area. It became an incorporated village in 1921. Including its adjoining environs, it has become a community of over six hundred bungalows and cot . tages and has a summer population of over seven thousand people. Its up-to-date sewerage system, pure drinking water, pure dustless air, and its natural advantages for water sports and other recreation, to- gether with its admirable civic and community spirit, make it one of the most healthful, progressive, and popular resorts on the eastern coast.
Mr. Wilbur still retains a small furnished apartment at Ocean Beach and frequently during the summer season spends a day or two there, since, as the pioneer developer, he derives great pleasure "in observ- ing the hundreds of happy faces of the youngsters" and of the residents generally. In developing his resort. he had the welfare of the children particularly in mind, and he has been very widely complimented for his bit of verse entitled "Our Little Folk."
In 1906 and 1907, during the administration of Mayor George B. McClellan, Mr. Wilbur served as a member of the board of education of New York City, and was a member of the standing committees on building and supplies and on finance. In 1920 he was appointed supervisor of recreation by the Federal Board for Vocational Education in Washington, D. C., to assist in the rehabilitation of ex-service men re- ceiving vocational education and training throughout the United States. Beginning January 2, 1919, he consummated arrangements for summer recreation camps, summer camp homes and summer camp schools for Federal Vocational Board trainees in the suburbs of large cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, taking the attitude that the "war was not over" until disabled service men were back in the community as producers. He continued this work until August, 1921, when it was taken over by the newly formed Veterans Bureau. During World War II, Mr. Wilbur was for three and a half years confidential investigator for the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, to help prevent foreign- directed sabotage in their plants at Bethpage and adiacent thereto.
A man full of ideas and eager to put them to use, Mr. Wilbur has always taken, keen interest in the art of expressing himself. The above-mentioned verses on "Our Little Folk" at Fire Island, which attracted considerable attention when printed in the Ocean Beach booklet, are a case in point. Another is the advertisement on Ocean Beach which appeared first during the summer of 1911 in the "New York Herald Tribune" and has since appeared in the Ocean Beach booklet. When this advertisement first appeared. under the heading "Where," stating in succinct fashion the charms of Ocean Beach in a list of eighteen "wheres" concluding with "Where health and happi- ness go hand in hand," the advertising manager of the "New York Herald Tribune" stated that it was "the best real estate ad that he had ever read." Hence it is not surprising that today, at the age of eighty-two, Mr. Wilbur is in the midst of writing a book the probable title of which he thinks will be "Vision, Courage, Health and Happiness." He aims to make it inspirational and helpful to young people in par- ticular and interesting to readers generally, distilling into it the spirit in which he has lived his own very active life.
Mr. Wilbur is prominent in the Masonic order, being a life member of Bunting Lodge No. 655 of the Free and Accepted Masons of New York City, and senior past master of this lodge, having been master in 1897-1898. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason, holding a life membership in Sylvan Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Constantine Commandery, Knights Templar, Mecca Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and all of the bodies of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is a mem- ber of the Suffolk County Historical Society, the Ocean Beach Association, the Citizens Union of New York City, the Harlem Chamber of Commerce, of which he was president in 1907-1908, and the Bay Shore and Brightwaters Civic Association. He be- longs also to the Fire Island Fishing Club, the Bay Shore Tuna Club, the Wilbur Harbor Yacht Club, and the Masonic Club of Fire Island. For many years he held a pilot's license to operate vessels up to five hundred tons on Great South Bay. He is a member of the Penataquit Methodist Episcopal Church of Bay Shore and of the Free Union Church of Ocean Beach, Fire Island, of which he is also a trustee.
John A. Wilbur married on November 24, 1896, at the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church of New York City Julia A. Relay, the daughter of Abram S. and Helen W. (De Voe) Relay. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur are the parents of three children: Alma Phyllis Leach, born November 16, 1901; Charity Evelyn Fast, born December 1, 1903; and John A. Wilbur Jr. born February 16, 1911. John A. Wilbur, Jr., is manager of the Ocean Beach-Fire Island Company of Bay Shore, of which John A. Wilbur, Sr., is still presi- dent.
G. HOWARD HATFIELD-President and mem- ber of the board of directors of the Peoples National Bank of Patchogue, G. Howard Hatfield is a man and executive wholly of the present century by birth, activities and outlook upon life and affairs. He is a native of Patchogue, born on March 19, 1901, son of the late George B. Hatfield, and the former Jennie Quin.
Shortly after the turn of the century, his parents
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removed from Pennsylvania to the Long Island town, and it was in Patchogue that Mr. Hatfield was reared and educated. After being graduated from the Patchogue High School, class of 1917, he en- tered the employ of the Citizens Trust Company, as a clerk, and remained with this bank until 1922, resign- ing as pay teller. During the following two years Mr. Hatfield was a salesman with the William L. Mantha Company, of Bayport, dealers in automo- biles. In July, 1925, he returned to his first choice of a vocation, when he came to the Peoples National Bank of Patchogue as teller. Down through the fol- lowing years he acquired experience in many phases of banking, being assistant cashier, cashier, and in May, 1945, was elected president of the institution. As an official he has made a record of efficiency, judgment and enterprise and enjoys a reputation more than local in character.
In civic, social and fraternal activities, Mr. Hatfield is active and popular. He is a member of the Board of Education, School District No. 24, Patchogue; was at one time president of the Rotary Club; and fraternally is affiliated with Southside Lodge No. 493, Free and Accepted Masons, of Patchogue, and is a past president of the Suffolk County Bankers As- sociation. He attends the Congregational Church.
G. Howard Hatfield is married and the father of three children, all born in Patchogue: I. Joan C., born in June, 1928, a graduate of the Patchogue High School, now (1946) attending Alfred Uni- versity. 2. G. Howard, Jr., born in October, 1938. 3. Carol, born July 10, 1942.
PAUL O. MERCER-From inland Pennsylvania to the wave-washed far eastern tip of Long Island's Suffolk County has been the course of Paul O. Mer- cer's career, in the course of which, by ability and industry, he has achieved notable success in business and has become a substantial citizen of his adopted community.
Born at Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, on April 18, 1890, Mr. Mercer is a son of the late John Mercer, who died in 1911 at the age of thirty-eight, and of his wife the former Harriett Krebs, who is also de- ceased, having passed away in 1914. John Mercer, a native of Pennsylvania, was a salesman. He is buried at Mifflinburg. In that town Paul O. Mercer grew up and attended school, graduating from the Mifflinburg High School, after which for a time he studied at the Pennsylvania State College.
Since 1916 Mr. Mercer has been associated with the Bluepoints Company of West Sayville, and its predecessor companies. Starting as a clerk, he has grown with the growth of this successful enterprise, advancing to higher positions as his abilities have been demonstrated. In 1934 he was elected vice president of the Bluepoints Company, Inc., and in 1938 he became president, which office he holds to the present time. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of this corporation.
The Bluepoints Company, Inc., are wholesale deal- ers in oysters and other shell fish, and have plants at West Sayville, at Northport and at Greenport, in Suffolk County. Mr. Mercer has become an influential figure in banking in that section of Long Island, being president, and a member of the board of direc- tors, of the Oystermen's Bank and Trust Company of Sayville, and also president and member of the board of directors of the Sayville Federal Savings and Loan Association.
Mr. Mercer is a member of the Congregational Church. He is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to Connetquot Lodge No. 838, of Sayville. His recreations are sailing and fishing, for the enjoyment of which he is admirably situated by residence in Sayville.
On May 4, 1923, Paul O. Mercer was married at Norwalk, Connecticut, to Kathryn Hathaway, a native of that city, and a daughter of the late Addison F. Hathaway, Connecticut-born, and of his wife Esther (Smith) Hathaway, who was a native of Norwalk. Paul O. and Kathryn (Hathaway) Mercer are the parents of one son, Hugh H., who was born at the Bayshore Hospital, Bayshore, on January 15, 1927. After graduating from the Sayville High School, Hugh H. Mercer entered Dartmouth Col- lege at Hanover, New Hampshire, from which he was graduated with the class of 1948. He served with the United States Navy in World War II.
ECKFORD J. HALLOCK-When Eckford J. Hallock took over the management of his father's farm near Riverhead in his early manhood, its area was only fifty acres. Through Mr. Hallock's efforts, the farm reached its present tremendous size, two hundred and fifty acres. He specializes in potatoes and cauliflower and is thus at one with his neighbors. In his younger days Mr. Hallock was overseer of roads for the village of Roanoke.
He was born on the farm, on what is now Sound Avenue, Riverhead, on April 14, 1862, the son of Noah Terry and Elizabeth (Young) Hallock. Both his parents were members of families that pioneered in Suffolk County. Like his forebears, Noah Terry Hallock was a farmer who maintained a large dairy herd and raised cattle and horses on his fifty acres.
Eckford J. Hallock was educated in the district school at Roanoke and the Riverhead Union School. From his earliest childhood he had some hand in farm work. He helped his father in the milking of cows and selling the milk and in the work with the livestock. By the time he succeeded to the ownership of the farm, the entire district had begun to specialize in potatoes and cauliflower. Mr. Hallock followed suit and in time expanded the farm to its present di- mensions. He is prominent among the potato and cauliflower growers and in the general affairs of the county and is a member of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau and the Congregational Church at Northville. At the advanced age of eighty-four, Mr. Hallock is remarkably vigorous and alert.
He married Edith B. Thompson at Mattituck on November 9, 1886. Her parents were Captain James H. Thompson, a ship's master who was lost at sea with his three masted schooner "Addie Avery," and Harriet (Aldrich) Thompson of Mattituck. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hallock: James Thompson, now a farmer on land adjoining his father's; Avon Curtis, who served in World War I; Alta, now Mrs. Carl C. Young; and Wesley Curtis, who was killed years ago in a railroad accident which occurred when he was a student at River- head High School. James T. Hallock married Flor- ence Downs, daughter of Louis and Almie (Tuttle) Downs of Northville; they are the parents of two chil- dren, Florence and Edith. Avon Curtis first mar- ried Genevieve Luce, who died, and then married Sarah Edwards. He has one son, Wesley Curtis Hallock. who served two and one-half years in the second World War with the United States Navy in the Philippines.
L.I .- 15
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Juke G. Supercadente
Presiding at the trial of a German civilian in the Military Government Court-Kitzingen, Germany-May, 1945.
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LUKE A. MERCADANTE-Prominent as an at- torney and public official of Glen Cove, Luke A. Mer- cadante merits the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. During the second World War he achieved an enviable record for his work overseas.
Mr. Mercadante was born December 31, 1914, at Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, son of Antonio and Laura (Stango) Mercadante. Antonio Merca- dante was born in Naples, Italy, came to this country in 1898, and died in 1943. He married Laura Stango, who was born at Ovellino, Italy, came to the United States in 1903, and is now residing on Long Island. They became the parents of the following children: I. Stephen, who served during the second World War with the Thirty-sixth Division in North Africa, Italy, and Southern France, and was captured by the Ger- mans. 2. Philip, who served with the 737th Tank Battalion in Germany and Czechoslovakia. 3. James, who served as a dental surgeon in the Marine Hos- pital at New Orleans, Louisiana. 4. Luke A., of further mention.
Luke A. Mercadante received his early education at St. Patrick's Parochial School and, in 1933, was gradu- ated from the Glen Cove High School. He attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute for two years and then studied for the degree of Bachelor of Laws at the University of Georgia Law School. In 1938, he was admitted to the bar.
After completing his formal legal training, Mr. Mercadante established a general law practice at Mineola. He remained there until October, 1942, at which time he entered the United States Army.
Joining as a private, he went to Officer Candidate School, and in May, 1943, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery. Later he was assigned to work in the military government. After having taken special courses at Fort Custer, Michigan, and at Boston University, he was sent overseas in January, 1944. He landed in England and was attached to the British Army there and in France. He was eventually assigned as instructor in a military government school in France, where he taught international law, and courses on military government courts, the German police system, and the Nazi party. He then commanded a detachment of men administering civil affairs in Luxembourg and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. He be- came a military government officer, having under his control at one time or another as many as five hundred German cities and towns. For his splendid work he was promoted to the rank of captain. In addition to his other duties, he served on three different types of military government courts. He received the Bronze Star Medal for his valiant efforts during a riot at "Hanau." On July 23, 1946, he received his honorable discharge from the service.
Upon his return to civilian life, Mr. Mercadante re-established his law practice, this time at Glen Cove, where he has continued successfully since under his own name.
In November, 1947, Mr. Mercadante was elected mayor of Glen Cove for a two-year term. The "New York Times" described his election as the biggest up- set in Nassau County political history. He has been active in many phases of community life. From Jan- uary I, 1940 until 1942, he acted as chairman of the Municipal Civil Service Commission of Glen Cove. Since 1946, he has served as a member of the Glen Cove Board of Education. He also holds member- ships in the Knights of Columbus, the Sons of Italy, Sigma Delta Kappa law fraternity, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the James E. Donahue Post of the
American Legion at Glen Cove, and the Byrd Post of the United American War Veterans. In religious faith he adheres to the Roman Catholic Church and belongs to the Holy Name Society.
On April 21, 1945, Luke A. Mercadante married Juliette Molling, of Bettemburg, Luxembourg. They became the parents of the following children: I. Mar- guerite. 2. Laura.
JESSE ROBINSON GOODALE, JR .- Member of a family that for generations has achieved pros- perity in agricultural pursuits, Jesse Robinson Good- ale, Jr., is associated with his father and brother in the operation of a large farm situated on Route 25 in the town of Riverhead in Suffolk County.
He was born at Aquebogue, August 13, 1917, son of Jesse Robinson and Lavinia O. (Ketcham) Good- ale, the latter of whom, a native of Shelter Island, formerly taught school. His father, who was born in Riverhead is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in his native town, and considered one of the outstanding farmers of Long Island. At pre- sent, with his two sons, he farms three hundred acres of potatoes and cauliflower, and they are members of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau.
Jesse R. Goodale, Jr., graduated from Riverhead High School in 1935, where he distinguished himself in many athletic interests, chief among these being his star track performances of that year. He also holds the high jump record of the school, was the amateur Suffolk County table tennis champion in both singles and doubles, and is outstanding in his town in his skill in badminton and tennis. He served in World War II from 1941 to 1946 as lieutenant in Company A, 2nd Separate Battalion of the New York State Guard, and he is a trustee and superin- tendent of the Old Steeple Church at Aquebogue. He married Mary Case Lupton April 6, 1942, daughter of the late Russell and May (Conklin) Lupton, and their children are: I. Diane Conklin, born July 13, 1943. 2. Carol May, born May 2, 1945. 3. Jesse R., 3rd, born December 15, 1946. All the children were born at the Long Island Hospital at Greenport. His brother, Harold Ellsworth, who is associated with him in the family farming interests, was born at Aquebogue, September 20, 1922. Also keenly in- terested in all forms of sports, his prowess at River- head High School included track, tennis and wrestling, being the Long Island scholastic champion in the latter, and achieving the school championship in tennis, table tennis, and cross country running. He was a member of the New York State Guard from 1942 to 1945. On December 9, 1944, he married Gene Tyte, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Tyte of Riverhead, and they became the parents of Noel Susan, born December 25, 1945, at Long Island Hospital.
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