Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 44

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 44
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 44

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).

Charles Zeh is acknowledged in agricultural and produce circles to be one of Suffolk County's most skillful and progressive farmers. Like so many other Suffolk County growers, he specializes in potatoes and cauliflower, but also grows and markets strawberries, and even grows some grain. He is one of the largest growers of strawberries in that part of Long Island. having had eight acres under cultivation for the year 1947. During the strawberry season and also later in the year at harvest time, Mr. Zeh employs as many as forty workers in his fields.

Mr. Zeh built his present residence in 1919, at that time also installing a well. a windmill and modern plumbing. From time to time beginning in 1918 he has built a modern barn, and has also erected three cottages for the farm help, in addition to garages for the storage of his many cars and trucks. Conscious of the obligations of service to the community which rests upon all good citizens, Mr. Zeh gives of his time in serving on the board of education of district L.I .- 16

number four of the town of Riverhead. He has been a member of this body for ten years and has in the past served as its treasurer. He has long been an active and useful member of the Suffolk County farm Bureau, of which he was elected vice chairman in 1946, advanced to the chairmanship in 1947, and re- elected for an additional three year term at the annual meeting on December 2, 1947. In religious matters Mr. Zeh is an adherent of the Lutheran Church of Riverhead. He is fond of fishing as a sport.

At Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York, on Sep- tember 7, 1919, Charles Zeh was married to Elizabeth Veronica Zimmerman, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Zimmerman of Jamesport, Long Island. Mr. Zeh sincerely attributes to his wife a due share of the credit for the success of the Zeh farming operations and for the fame of the Zehs as a family of farmers. Mr. and Mrs. Zeh like to indulge a fondness for travel whenever their busy life affords them a holiday.

To Charles and Elizabeth Veronica (Zimmerman) Zeh, six children have been born: I. Richard, born at Calverton in the town of Riverhead; he graduated from the Riverhead High School. 2. Marion Eliza- beth, born in the town of Riverhead, and a graduate of the Riverhead High School. 3. Gerald Henry, born in the town of Riverhead and a graduate of the River- head High School. 4. Roger James. Born, like all of his brothers and sisters, in the town of Riverhead, he graduated from the high school there and since then has been associated, as have his older brothers Richard and Gerald Henry, in the conduct of the Zeh farm's extensive operations. 5. Elmer Horace, born in the town of Riverhead and now following the family tradition by attending the Riverhead High School and is a member of the Riverhead High School football team. 6. Winfred George, who at this writing is a student in the first year of high school.

Marion Elizabeth Zeh after graduation from the Riverhead High School, attended the Potsdam State Teachers College at Potsdam, New York, from which she received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. She has subsequently taken her Master's degree, and is now engaged as a teacher in the school system of the town of Hempstead in Nassau County. Roger James Zeh, in addition to being associated with his father on the family farm, also owns and operates a poultry farm of his own.

Mr. Zeh's son built and is having patented a new type of potato picker.

USHER BENJAMIN HOWELL-"A very large measure of credit for the success of the Riverhead Savings Bank is due to his efficient management. pru- dent counsel and sound judgment in financial affairs."

So wrote one Suffolk County paper on the death of Usher Benjamin Howell, president of the Riverhead Savings Bank, on March 2, 1932.

Said the same paper: "Mr. Howell was of a quiet and retiring disposition and one who shunned osten- tation. Yet he had long been recognized as one of Riverhead's foremost citizens. Not only the residents of this section generally but of the entire county took pride in pointing to his achievements. Pos- sessed of high ideals, both in his private and business life, his opinions commanded and received the ut- most consideration and respect. In full measure he had the attributes that go to make a desirable type of character."

Active in numerous aspects of community life until a few years before his death. Mr. Howell made his contribution to progress and culture by serving on

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the Riverhead board of education and as an official of the Public Library and the Cemetery Association. Mr. Howell was born in Riverhead on December 17, 1858, the son of Daniel Griffing and Jemima A. (Ben- jamin) Howell. The Howell family has for genera- tions been identified with the history of Suffolk County, its ancestors having been among the earliest settlers there. Silas Howell, grandfather of Usher B. Howell, was a lieutenant in the New York Militia. Daniel G. Howell, his father, was a native of River- head, having been born there in 1819. He was a farmer. In 1842, he was appointed a lieutenant in the State Militia and the following year was promoted to captain. For many years he was a member of the Methodist church. He died in 1895. He and Jemima A. Benjamin, daughter of Mrs. and Mrs. Usher Benjamin, of Moriches, were married in the town of Brookhaven. She died in 1885. Two other chil- dren of their marriage became prominent, like Usher, the last born, in Suffolk County-the Reverend Frank G. Howell and School Commissioner Charles H. Howell, both of whom preceded their younger brother in death.

Usher Benjamin Howell received his primary edu- cation in the public schools. Later he attended the Bridgehampton Literary Institute. For a period thereafter he read law and, subsequently, matriculated at Claverack College, in Columbia County. When he left the college, he accepted the post of assistant teacher at Franklinville Academy, then headed by his brother Charles. Within a year he was principal of the academy.

Despite his success as a teacher, Usher Howell decided to abandon that profession for a business career. On resigning, he became a clerk in a drug store, where he remained four years. Later, he entered a business house in Riverhead and kept books for a few years.

From this position he was called in 1883 to occupy the place of occasional secretary of the Riverhead Savings Bank. In 1887, he became assistant secre- tary; in 1899, he was promoted to secretary and in IgII he added the duties of vice president to those of the secretaryship. In 1918 he was elected president, and this post he retained until his death fourteen years later.

"It was his connection with the Riverhead Savings Bank that made him best known," said another paper after his death. "He had faithfully served that in- stitution for nearly fifty years, watching it and help- ing it grow from a weak institution to the pinnacle of being the wealthiest country savings bank in the state. . . No man could have served an institution more faithfully, efficiently or zealously than he, and the good work he did will forever stand as a monu- ment to his character and industry."

When Mr. Howell died, the bank had $16,000,000 in resources and a surplus of $3,000,000. State banking authorities recognized it "as one of the strongest and most efficiently conducted savings banks in rural New York State."

Aside from his work with the bank, his activity in community affairs, his interest in public educa- tion and other preoccupations, Mr. Howell followed an avocation that alone would have brought him public recognition. It was handcraft, the fashioning of ship models, gavels and other small wooden ob- jects of intricate or simple design but built for beauty. For years he labored in the workshop in the basement of his home. responding to the artistic creations of his own origin and finding relaxation from the strenu-

ous days in the bank or in public affairs. One of the possessions of the Suffolk County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is a gavel made by Mr. Howell. He made it of a piece of wood that had been part of an oak beam or sill in the old Barnabas Horton House, once on the corner of Main or "Village" Street and Horton's Lake, Southold. This house was the first Suffolk County Court House. The piece of wood was don- ated to the Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter's Regent, Mrs. Linn B. Young, by Mrs. May Horton Hummel, daughter of Professor D. P. Horton. Mr. Howell then shaped the gavel and today it takes part in the proceedings of an organiza- tion commemorating the founding of the nation and of its ideals of freedom and equality.

In his own fraternal interests, Mr. Howell was a past master of Riverhead Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and a former member of the Grand Lodge of Masons of New York State. He was also a member of Our Council, Junior Order of United American Me- chanics, of Riverhead. In politics he was a Republi- can and by religion a Methodist.

Mr. Howell married Minnie Maria Miller, daughter of Gilbert L. and Cherry M. (Benjamin) Miller, in East Moriches on June 3, 1885. They became the parents of four children: I. Grace A., born September 24, 1888; 2. Edith M., born September 20, 1891; 3. Helen, born December 21, 1893, died July 12, 1894, and 4. Marion, born August 17, 1897, died March 30, 1923. Mr. Howell lies at rest in Riverhead Cemetery.

LOUIS F. GARBEN, M.D .- Widely known as a leading physician on Long Island, with his home and office in Islip, Dr. Louis F. Garben has made many valuable contributions toward maintaining the health and well-being of his community. Through his efficient service to the people of Long Island, he has gained a sterling reputation as an obstetrician and general practitioner.

Louis F. Garben was born December 4, 1889, at Arroyo, Puerto Rico, West Indies, son of Laue B. and Felicita A. (Monefeldt) Garben. His father was a prominent chemist and pharmacist, who migrated from his native Copenhagen, in Denmark, to the West Indies in 1860. Thirty years later he came to the United States, settled in Brooklyn, in 1894 moved to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and became a promi- nent druggist there. Felicita A. (Monefeldt) Garben was a native of Puerto Rico.

Louis F. Garben received his early education in the Perth Amboy schools and was graduated from the Perth Amboy High School. In 1913 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Long Island College Hospital, which has since become the Long Island Medical College.

Some years after having finished his medical edu- cation and internship, Dr. Garben established his medical practice in Islip, serving as a general prac- titioner and a specialist in obstetrics. He has con- tinued with his medical work throughout the course of almost thirty-five years, gaining a large and highly satisfied clientele. For two years he was president and chief of staff of the Southside Hospital. He is on the courtesy staff of the Mather Memorial Hos- pital at Port Jefferson, and is a visiting physician of the Central Islip State Hospital. He has written on medical subjects, especially obstetrics.

During World War I, from 1917 to 1919, Dr. Gar- ben served as a lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the United States Navy.

Edward . Bower

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Dr. Garben is active in community and civic affairs. He holds memberships in the American Medical Association, the Suffolk County Medical Society, and the Southside Clinical Society, having served as a former president of the latter two organizations. He is a director of the First National Bank of Islip, and is a former member of the Islip Board of Educa- tion, having been active with the board for ten years. He is active as a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and is affiliated with Meridian Lodge No. 691 at Islip and the Bay Shore Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons. He belongs to the Suffolk County Republican Club and the Rotary Club of Bay Shore, of which he was president in 1939 and 1940.

Dr. Garben is fond of travel, and he has seen many portions of the United States and Puerto Rico. He has always been interested in music and travel. In politics, he is a staunch Republican, and he adheres to the Protestant faith. For recreation he enjoys sailing and swimming.

On January 10, 1918, at Bay Shore, New York, Dr. Louis F. Garben married Sarita Moore, a descendant of the Right Reverend Richard Channing Moore, second bishop of Virginia; and they became the parents of the following children: I. Louis F., Jr., who was born November 12, 1918, at Bay Shore, was graduated from the Islip High School, took pre- medical courses at Johns Hopkins University, re- ceived the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1944 from the Long Island Medical College, interned at Brook- lyn Hospital, was a resident physician at the Chapin Hospital at Providence, Rhode Island, served dur- ing World War II as a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps in the Pacific, and married Carol Stahl. of Glen Ridge, New Jersey; they became the parents of one child, Diane Garben. 2. Robert L., who was born December 14, 1922, at Bay Shore, New York, attended Islip High School, was gradu- ated from the Severn Preparatory School in Maryland, and served four years during World War II as a member of the United States Army Air Forces, dis- tinguishing himself as an aviation mechanic. 3. Allan C., who was born June 4, 1924, at Islip, was graduated from the Islip High School, received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Dartmouth College in 1946, and attended Long Island College of Medicine, class of 1948. 4. Bruce, who was born November 27, 1930, at Bay Shore, attended Islip High School, and the Dwight School in New York City.

ELMORE LEE KEENER, SR .- Keener is one of the newer names in real estate circles on Long Island, but one that is rapidly becoming well-known because of the successful operations of Elmore Lee Keener, Sr., in Freeport. Although principally en- gaged in another occupation for many years, Mr. Keener has long been an observant student of real estate trends and of the extraordinary development of the various Nassau County areas into a great belt of suburban home communities affording superior liv- ing conditions for hundreds of thousands of the busi- ness and professional workers of New York City.

Mr. Keener is a native of New York City, born on December 22, 1902, a son of the late Edward T. Keener, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and his wife the late Anna (Michaels) Keener, a native New Yorker. Educated at public school No. 87 in his native place, Mr. Keener as a young man learned the newspaper printing business in New York City, and has remained in that business to the present time. In 1943 he entered the real estate field at Freeport

in Nassau County under his own name, and he now conducts his business from new and modern offices at 29 West Sunrise Highway in that village.

Mr. Keener is an active member of the Long Island Real Estate Board. He is a member of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Freeport Lodge. In politics he is a member of the Republican party. In religion he is affiliated with Christ Lutheran Church in Free- port. He belongs to the South Shore Yacht Club, and his hobbies are surf casting and golf.

On September 8, 1934, Elmore Lee Keener was married to Emelia Zezima of New York City, a daughter of the late Louis Zezima and his wife Giacinta (Colarossi) Zezima. Elmore Lee and Emelia (Zezima) Keener are the parents of four children: I. Elmore Lee, Jr., who was born on November 4, 1935. 2. Edward Sid, born on April 18, 1937. 3. Eugene Leslie, born August 30, 1939. 4. Robert Joseph, born on September 17, 1944.

Mrs. Keener holds a real estate broker's license and is associated with her husband in business.

DR. EDWARD WILLIAM BOWER-When Ed- ward William Bower, A.B., Ped.B., A.M., and Ph.D., retired from an active role in the educational world on June 30, 1947, he rounded out a distinguished career of some forty-three and a half years of service in the public schools of New York State, as a teacher and a principal, and an association of some thirty- two years with the schools of Lindenhurst in Suffolk County, of which he had been for that exceptionally long period the supervising principal.

Born in 1884 at East Greenbush in Rensselaer County, New York, Edward William was a son of Peter John and Henrietta (Zweig) Bower. His father, a native of Sand Lake in that same county, was an industrious farmer and laborer, who died in 1942 and is buried at West Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, where Mrs. Henrietta (Zweig) Bower still lives. The young Edward William Bower attended high school in Rensselaer County's metropolis, Troy, and later studied at the Milne High School in Al- bany before entering the State Teachers College in that capital city. In the further study of pedagogical technique he next attended Oskaloosa College in Iowa, where he received a normal diploma and the degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy, and subsequently enrolled at Carnegie College in Rogers, Ohio, from which he received his teacher's professional diploma. Returning to Oskaloosa College, he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts at that institution in 1916, his Master of Arts degree in 1917 and his Doctor of Phil- osophy degree in 1918. Meanwhile in 1917 he was given his college graduate's life certificate and license by the University of the State of New York.

Long before this Mr. Bower's actual experience as a teacher had begun, when he was employed at the Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, school from March 2 to July 19, 1903. In the following year he was re- engaged at the Sand Lake School and taught there for one year. In 1905 and 1906 he taught for a year at North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, and from 1906 to 1909 he held the principalship of the school at Poestenkill, still in his native county. From 1909 to 1914 he was principal at West Sand Lake, and in 1914 and 1915 filled the like position at Moreau, or South Glens Falls, New York. It was in 1915 that Mr. Bower came to Long Island, with which his professional career was thenceforth to be uninter- ruptedly identified. In that same year he was ap-

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pointed supervising principal of the Lindenhurst schools. For thirty-two years thereafter he guided the educational development and administered the affairs of the Lindenhurst schools, as they grew with that progressive and growing community.

Throughout these more than three decades, Mr. Bower has been intimately associated with many phases of life in Lindenhurst. He served during World War II on Selective Service Board No. 705, Babylon, 1941-47, and holds the Certificate of Merit, and Selective Service Medal from the Congress of the United States expressing gratitude in public recognition of his patriotic services. He has been active in the affairs of the Lindenhurst Exempt Volunteer Firemen's Association and in the Linden- hurst Lions Club, of which he was a charter member. One of his chief interests has been the work of the Boy Scouts of America, and in this nation-wide or- ganization he has served as chairman of the board of review since 1916. Devoted to the Grace Methodist Church of Lindenhurst, Mr. Bower is treasurer of the board of trustees of that congregation, and is ac- tive in the work of the men's social club attached to that church. He is affiliated with the Babylon Lodge No. 793 of the Free and Accepted Masons, becoming a life member in 1946, and he belongs to the Sunrise Square Club.

Mr. Bower is the author of "Ambition," a journal of inspiration to self help, volume 37, number twelve, published by the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

At West Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, New York, on October 10, 1906, Edward William Bower married Caroline R. Bame, a daughter of Elmer A. and Catherine (Mohl) Bame. Of this union there is one child, Harold E., who was born on May 24, 1908. After graduating from the Lindenhurst High School with the class of 1925, he attended Union College at Schenectady, New York, the Brooklyn New School and the Hamilton Institute of Business Administra- tion in New York City. He now holds an executive position in the real estate department of the Gulf Oil Company of New York City. Harold E. Bower married Esther E. MacArthur, of Lindenhurst, the ceremony taking place at Rockville Centre, in June, 1931. Mrs. Bower is a daughter of Mrs. Sadie Mac- Arthur, and before her marriage taught in the Linden- hurst elementary school. To Harold E. and Esther E. (MacArthur) Bower one son, John E., was born at the Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, Suffolk County, on May 1, 1934.

MILTON L. BURNS-At present the county treasurer of Suffolk County, Milton L. Burns has held that post since 1943. Before that he had been an official of the town of Riverhead since 1926. In addition he takes an interest in the fraternal and social life of the area.

Milton L. Burns was born in Riverhead, April 5, 1897, the son of J. Mitchell and Catherine (Morris) Burns. His father was a native of Riverhead while his mother came from Brooklyn.

After attending the public schools and Riverhead High School, Mr. Burns became interested in a poli- tical career. From 1926 to 1933 he was the town clerk of Riverhead. Then until 1937 he acted as the supervisor of the town of Riverhead. Finally in 1943 he was elected county treasurer of Suffolk County and has held that office to date, being re- elected in 1946 for an additional three year term.

During the first World War, Mr. Burns was a

private in the United States Army, serving overseas with Troop B of the Second United States Cavalry. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Riverhead Lodge No. 645, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the American Legion and the Veterans of the Foreign Wars. His place of worship is the First Congregational Church of Riverhead. Sports are his chief recreation.

On September 4, 1920, at Riverhead, Milton L. Burns married Blanche Griffing, a native of Aque- bogue, Suffolk County, and the daughter of George B. and Lucy (Reeve) Griffing. Mr. and Mrs. Burns are the parents of two children: I. Robert M., born in Riverhead, September 12, 1921, a graduate of Riverhead High School and of Hobart College, in Geneva, New York, in 1942. He was an outstanding athlete in college, serving as the captain of the col- lege basketball team and playing on the football teams. He entered military service in 1943 and was made a first sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps. He was discharged in 1946. 2. John G., born March 3, 1925, a graduate of Riverhead High School in 1942 and in the class of 1946 at Temple University at Philadelphia. He was an outstanding football star, playing the position of quarterback, and is now taking his Master's degree there. He is freshman football coach and instructor in the physical education department.

WILLIAM J. HATTRICK-Originally a native of Canada, William J. Hattrick has been for a num- ber of years an attorney in Riverhead, engaging in the general practice of law here.

William J. Hattrick was born in Peterborough, On- tario, Canada, July, 1894, the son of Edward and Mary Jane (Crowley) Hattrick. His father was a farmer.

The higher education of Mr. Hattrick was acquired at the University of Toronto and the Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. He was admitted as an attorney in Ontario in 1925 and in New York State in 1933. At the present time he engages in the general practice of law in Riverhead.

During the first World War Mr. Hattrick was a pilot in the Royal Air Force. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus, as well as the Southampton and Ketchaboneck Golf Clubs. In politics he is a Republican and he attends the Roman Catholic Church.

On October 13, 1927, at Peterborough, Ontario, William J. Hattrick married Marion Hayes, daughter of John E. and Ellen (Hickey) Hayes. They are the parents of three children: I. Constance M., born August 26, 1928. She is a graduate of Sag Harbor Academy, with the class of 1946 and now is attend- ing Mary Mount College at Tarrytown, New York. 2. Edward V., born November 27, 1929. He is at- tending the Riverhead High School with the class of 1947. 3. William J., Jr., born July 17, 1935.

CLYDE TOOKER-The Tooker name has long been prominent in Suffolk County. Ernest W. Tooker, a leader at the bar, was once assistant postmaster of Port Jefferson, president of the Riverhead Board of Education, vice president of the Suffolk County Trust Company and trustee of the Riverhead Savings Bank. Today his son, Clyde Tooker practices law at River- head, is a trustee of the Riverhead Savings Bank and a man who saw service in World War I and was

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Fire Department, and in Youth Activities, Inc., in which he serves on the board of directors. A Roman Catholic in religion and a communicant of the Church of St. Anthony of that denomination in Oceanside, Mr. Ganter is also affiliated with the national Catholic fraternal order, the Knights of Columbus. In respect to politics, he is a member of the Republican party.

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Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 44

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