USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 45
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 45
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At Oceanside, Nassau County, New York, on July 7, 1935, Joseph R. Ganter was married to Pauline Sokoloff of Freeport, Nassau County, who is a daughter of George and Emma Sokoloff. Of this mar- riage there are three children: I. Robert Joseph, who was born on February 2, 1937. 2. Linda Joyce, born on October 3, 1940. 3. Susan Joan, born on June 4, 1945.
Mr. Ganter, who played professional baseball for several years, considers all sports his hobby, being particularly fond of golf and bowling, and having a bowling team of his own.
HENRY BOGART SEAMAN-Combining not- able success in the field of business with able and efficient service in public office, Henry Bogart Sea- man of Glen Cove, while still on the good side of middle age, has become one of the most popular men in Nassau County and a leading citizen in his com- munity.
A native Long Islander, Mr. Seaman was born in Roslyn, Nassau County, on December 24, 19II, a son of Samuel J. Seaman, Junior (q.v.) and his wife Effie (Bogart) Seaman. Samuel J. Seaman, Junior, is one of the leading automobile dealers in that section of the Island. The young Henry Bogart Seaman's educa- tion began in Friends' Academy at Locust Valley, and after leaving this school in 1928 he entered New York University in the city of New York, from which he graduated with the class of 1932, obtain- ing at that time the degree of Bachelor of Com- mercial Science.
Upon leaving college, Mr. Seaman at once became associated with his father in the Seaman Motor Car Company, Inc., which is located at Glen Cove. and has the Buick agency in that area. This continues to be Mr. Seaman's principal business interest to the present time, and his business ability and progressive spirit are counted valuable assets in the continued prosperity of that company during war and peace alike.
In May, 1942, Mr. Seaman answered the call to the colors in the second World War by enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps, in which, with the rank of captain, he saw two and a half years of service as a member of the Eleventh Air Force in the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. Captain Seaman remained in the service until his honorable discharge in April, 1946.
Active in the affairs of the Republican party in Nassau County, Mr. Seaman was called into public service as early as 1936, when he became commis- sioner of accounts of the village of Glen Cove, a position he held through 1941. In 1942 he was further honored by election to the offices of mayor and of supervisor of Glen Cove. As a further mark of public confidence in his ability and integrity, he was selected for the position of treasurer of Nassau County, taking office on January I, 1947.
Mr. Seaman's participation in the business and civic affairs of the community largely center in his interest in the Rotary Club of Glen Cove. Of this group he is a past president. In religious matters
he is a member of the Presbyterian Church. His hobby and recreation is gardening.
On February 6, 1935, Henry Bogart Seaman was married at Locust Valley, New York, to Harriet Dudgeon Kohler, a daughter of Ernest and Phoebe (Dudgeon) Kohler.
EARL A. TOWERS-The Towers Funeral Home, established by Earl A. Towers, at 243 Long Beach Road, at Oceanside, New York, in 1933, is one of the most modernly equipped in the section.
Born June 6, 1904, at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, he is the son of Charles A. and Bertha (Marshall) Towers, the latter of whom passed away August 12, 1942, and the former, a native of St. Thomas, On- tario, Canada, has retired from activity as a funeral director in that city. Earl Towers completed his early education in the public schools of St. Thomas, graduating from the St. Thomas College in 1922, and, in preparation for his field of business, graduated from the Cincinnati School of Embalming in 1925. He was an instructor there for a few months. Until June of 1933, he was associated with Fairchild Sons, funeral directors in Brooklyn, New York, at which time he established his own business in Oceanside, New York, under the name of the Towers Funeral Home, where he maintains a modern home fully equipped with the most up-to-date conveniences for gracious service. A Republican in his political in- terests, Mr. Towers is past president of the Ocean- side Board of Trade, one of the founders of the Ki- wanis Club of that city, and his activity as a member of the Oceanside Lutheran Church includes several years of service as a member of the board of council- men, and other offices. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, Massapequa Lodge No. 822, and the Knights of Pythias, Chegonoe Lodge No. 272, at Baldwin.
Earl A. Towers married October 12, 1929, at Brook- lyn, New York, Florence Hamre, daughter of Henry and Irene Brandenburg Hamre, and they are the parents of Robert Earl, born January 14, 194I.
LESTER E. WEIDNER entered the business field as a young man by way of accountancy, for which profession he had especially prepared himself. When opportunity knocked, he was ready to pool his spe- cial business knowledge with the special experience of Howard E. Schenck in the automotive field to establish the Schenck Transportation Company, Inc., an enterprise whose remarkable growth and success constitutes one of the modern business romances of Nassau County.
The late Ernest W. Weidner, who was a farmer and who died in 1908, was a native of the Gravesend section of the old city of Brooklyn. In Gravesend also was born Mary Gordon, whom Ernest W. Weidner married, and who is still living. Their son Lester E. Weidner is likewise a native Long Islander, hav- ing been born at Huntington on July 12, 1899. He attended public school in Mineola, the county seat of Nassau County, and graduated from the high school there with the class of 1917. Ambitious for a business career, Mr. Weidner enrolled at the Pace and Pace School, where he received a thorough grounding in accountancy. For nine years following his training with Pace and Pace, Mr. Weidner fol- lowed accounting as a profession.
On April 16, 1926, the Schenck Transportation Company, Inc., was formed, with Howard E. Schenck
Verdner
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as president and Lester E. Weidner holding the posi- tions of vice president and general manager. Since 1927 the affairs of the Schenck Transportation Com- pany, which has grown rapidly and become a highly successful enterprise, have been Mr. Weidner's sole interest in the field of business.
When it began operations, the Schenck Transpor- tation Company, with its headquarters in Mineola, had a fleet of four A. B. Mack buses. Before long headquarters were moved to 372 Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park, where Mr. Schenck had an automobile agency known as Park Auto Sales. This is still the company's address, but its operations today are on a vastly greater scale. Their original route was from Mineola, the county seat of Nassau County, to 212th Place in Queens Village. They have kept pace with the phenomenal development of central, western and northern Nassau County and almost all of their routes have been pioneered in the town of North Hempstead, and parts of the towns of Oyster Bay and Hempstead. Camparative figures are always interest- ing. At the beginning of operations in 1926 they had four buses, seventeen employees, and covered seven route miles. Today ninety buses are operated, with one hundred and ninety-four employees, and seventy route miles are covered. Their buses pass the former Sperry Gyroscope Company plant at Lake Success, which is now the temporary home of the United Na- tions organization.
Schenck Transportation Company buses thus af- ford facilities for the people over a wide area of Nassau County and into the borough of Queens, where they connect with the terminals of the New York City subway system in Jamaica and Flushing. During World War II, the company was called upon with heavy demands in carrying war plant personnel on schedule, and stood ready in an emergency for any assignment by the Government.
Mr. Weidner is a member of the congregation of the Roman Catholic Church of Corpus Christi at Mineola. His hobby and principal recreation is golf, which he plays particularly at the Wheatley Hills Golf Club, to which he belongs.
On July 8, 1922, Lester E. Weidner married Florence Ann Downs of Mineola, Nassau County, daughter of Patrick and Lenora (Carney) Downs, and they are the parents of a son, Lester E., Jr., born March 3, 1929.
HARRY . J. KRATOVILLE-One of the most popular and highly regarded men in the town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, is Town Clerk Harry J. Kratoville, who ably carries on the tradition estab- lished by his father, of able and faithful public service.
Charles P. Kratoville, who was a cigar manufac- turer, held the office of assessor of the town of River- head, discharging his duties to the eminent satisfac- tion of the townspeople. He died September 28, 1944. To him and his wife Mary (Jedlicka) Kratoville, the son whom they named Harry J. was born at River- head on December 17, 1896. He was educated at the Riverhead High School and at Union College. Dur- ing the first World War he served in the United States Marine Corps. Since January 1, 1934, he has been town clerk of the town of Riverhead, retained in office by an appreciative electorate.
A communicant of Grace Episcopal Church at Riverhead, Mr. Kratoville is also a leading member of Riverhead Lodge No. 645, Free and Accepted Ma- sons. His other fraternal affiliation is with Roanoke
Lodge No. 462 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to Riverhead Post No. 273 of the American Legion.
On October 23, 1922, Harry J. Kratoville was mar- ried at Aquebogue, New York, to Dorothy Howell, a daughter of William H. and Mary (Shira) Howell. Of this marriage the three children are: I. Harry, J., Jr., who was born on November I, 1930. 2. John H., born on January 21, 1933. 3. Virginia, born April 20, 194I.
ARTHUR W. OVERTON-In both family lines Arthur W. Overton of Islip is of pioneer Suffolk County stock, and in his native neighborhood he grew up and here he has achieved business success and civic leadership, esteemed by his fellow-citizens for his public services.
Born at Patchogue on February 2, 1897, Arthur W. is a son of William and Annie (Swezey) Overton. His father is a native of Yaphank, and his mother of East Patchogue, both in Suffolk County. His early schooling culminated in graduation from the Patchogue High School. By that time he had de- cided to enter the funeral business, and to that end he attended the Renouard School on Embalming in New York City, from which also he graduated.
During the first World War Mr. Overton served in the merchant marine for some two years, as a seaman first class. After the war he entered the funeral business, establishing himself at Islip in 1923. From that time to the present Mr. Overton, by his skill, business ability, tact, sympathy and ethical practices, has built up a lucrative business, well-known in that part of Long Island.
Taking an active interest in community progress and public affairs, Mr. Overton accepted the position of commissioner of the Islip fire department, and he also serves as a member of the board of educa- tion of the town of Islip. He is active in civic and fraternal organizations, belonging to the Bayshore Rotary Club, to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Islip, Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and to several Masonic bodies, including Meridian Lodge No. 691 of the Free and Accepted Masons; the Pennatquit Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons of Bayshore; and the Patchogue Command- ery of the Knights Templar. In religion he is a mem- ber of the Methodist Church.
On April 2, 1921, Arthur W. Overton was united in marriage with Cora Van Essendelft of West Sayville, Suffolk County. Mrs. Overton is a daugh- ter of William and Marie (Verbeke) Van Essendelft. Of this marriage there are three children: I. Joyce, who was born on February 5, 1922, at Patchogue. She is a graduate of the Russell Sage College, Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, and is the wife of John P. A. Atherton, to whom she was married on January 4, 1943. The Athertons are the parents of one child, Kent, born on August 25, 1944. 2. Shirley, born on March 15, 1928. She is a graduate of the Islip High School. 3. Arthur Wayne, who was born on November 5, 1938.
ALBERT A. SCHNEIDER-The Babylon Na- tional Bank and Trust Company, of Long Island, celebrated its fifty-fifth year of banking in 1948. Its executive vice president and member of the board of directors, Albert A. Schneider, although born with- in the present century, has been connected with this
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financial institution for more than half of its existence, a notable record. As a youth, but not entirely with- out experience, he became one of the three persons employed in the bank; down through the years he has advanced throughout almost the whole gamut of offices in the institution, to the progress of which his own long and efficient labors have contributed invalu- ably.
Mr. Schneider was born at Lindenhurst, Suffolk County, on July 1, 1900, son of Frederick O. and Pauline (Schneider) Schneider. Although bearing the same name, Mrs. Schneider was not even dis- tantly related to her husband. Her death occurred in December, 1940. Frederick O. Schneider, son of Frederick Schneider, a native of Breslau, later Lin- denhurst, was prior to his death in 1938, the operator of an embroidery business at Lindenhurst. Both par- ents lived to see their son firmly established in his career in Babylon.
Albert A. Schneider was educated in the grade and high schools of Lindenhurst, and the School of Bank- ing, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He worked while he studied and especially during vacations, first in his father's factory, and from 1916 to 1918 was a clerk in the First National Bank of Lindenhurst. In 1918 he joined the small staff of the Babylon National Bank and Trust Company, a con- nection that never since has been broken. The history of this institution is that of one of those semi-country small enterprises undertaken to satisfy a demand for better local banking facilities. Some sixty years ago these facilities were those furnished by the village postmaster and book and stationery store of one A. Ellis Hawkins, who would cash checks for a fee of ten cents. In 1893 a group of citizens secured a charter for the Babylon National Bank, that opened its doors on May 8, of that year, with a capital of $50,000. Deposits a year later were $107,385, the population of Babylon was about three thousand. On April 1, 1943, The Babylon Na- tional Bank and Trust Company had capital funds of $310,552, deposits of $2,494,256, and the popula- tion of Babylon Village was about five thousand. The role this bank has played in the business growth of Babylon Village is easy to conjecture but im- possible of accurate appraisal.
As already mentioned, Mr. Schneider entered the employment of The Babylon National Bank and Trust Company in 1919. He became bank teller, assistant cashier (1921), a director (1931), cashier (1931), and in 1942 was elected executive vice presi- dent of the institution. His personal activities have been those of a truly civic-minded citizen ready al- ways to further the best interests of the Village of Babylon and surrounding communities. He is a mem- ber and president of the Babylon Rotary Club, a former member of the Board of Education, School District No. 9, West Islip; and worships in the faith of St. John's Church, Lutheran, serving on the church council and liberal in his support of relig- ious and charitable works. Like many Long Island- ers, his favorite sport is fishing.
On March 26, 1932, Albert A. Schneider married Sarah A. Lawson, of Binghamton, New York, daugh- ter of William and Alma (Litz) Lawson, member of old families in that section of the state. Mrs. Schneider is a member of the Travellers Club of Babylon, and serves as secretary of the Girls Scout Alliance of this town. Mr. and Mrs. Schneider are the parents of three children, all born at West Islip: I. Elaine A., born March 20, 1933; a student at Baby-
lon High School. 2. Janet Beth, born July 5, 1935. 3. Albert Lawson, born April 20, 1939.
ELBERT W. ROBINSON-Aside from his suc- cess as a lawyer, Elbert W. Robinson is prominent at Southampton through his activity in the Masonic order, the Presbyterian Church and his home front work in World War II, especially as chairman of the town of Southampton War Finance Committee.
Mr. Robinson was born in Southampton on Janu- ary 21, 1908, the son of Harry C. and Etta A. (Ruland) Robinson. The elder Mr. Robinson, a native of Aquebogue, was a plumbing and heating contractor in Southampton. He died on November 7, 1938. The mother is a native of Center Moriches.
Elbert W. Robinson received his early education in the public schools of Southampton and was gradu- ated from the Southampton High School. He did his prelegal work at Washington and Lee University, from which he was graduated in 1931 with the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts. For a year before enter- ing law school he served a clerkship in the office of Harry M. Howell, Southampton lawyer. In 1935 Mr. Robinson was graduated from the Albany Law School with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Ad- mitted to the New York State bar in 1936, he estab- lished himself in general practice in Southampton and has since become a leading member of the Suf- folk County bar. Mr. Robinson is a past master of the Old Town Lodge, No. 908, Free and Accepted Masons, at Southampton, and treasurer of the board of deacons of the Southampton Presbyterian Church. As chairman of the town's War Finance Committee he led successful War Bond drives for the United States Treasury and participated in other essential wartime activities. He is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Chancery Society of Albany Law School, Alpha Sigma Phi, and the Rotary Club of Southampton. He was elected president of the Rotary Club, 1947-48; is a member of the Suffolk County Republican Club, Inc. (Timber Point), the National Republican Club in New York City and the Long Island Past Masters Association.
Mr. Robinson married Margaret Le Fevre, oi Brooklyn and Shoreham in Southampton, on No- vember 15, 1938. They are the parents of one daugh- ter, Carolyn Ross Robinson, born in Southampton on December 27, 1943, and a son Elbert W., Jr., born September 22, 1947.
JAC BULK-Enjoying an unusually equable clim- ate so far north along the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island is the seat of large plant nurseries, not the least of which are "Bulk's Nurseries, Inc," of Baby- lon, Suffolk County. Starting as an enterprise of minor character the concern has been developed on a large scale, mainly under the direction of Jac Bulk.
A native of the Netherlands, Jac Bulk was born on February 1, 1893, and educated in Holland, where he was graduated from one of the horticultural col- leges of that country, and came to the New World in 1919. To his technical training was added practical experience with an uncle under the trade name of Bulk and Company, of Boskoop, The Netherlands. Jac Bulk found employment at his profession in New York and within a year settled at Brightwaters, town of Islip. His first nursery headquarters were on the Montauk Highway and Windsor Avenue, Brightwaters. Later he removed to a place on the Montauk Highway,
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Babylon. His original tract of land comprised about thirty-two acres, most of which were undeveloped horticulturally. This acreage has been several times increased until about a hundred acres are under cul- tivation mainly to nursery stock and lands being rested and improved for further plantings. The estab- lishment is located on both sides of the much used Montauk Highway, and is a sight greatly enjoyed by motorists, and by a stream of visitors and custo- mers, during more than half of the year.
Bulk's Nurseries, Inc. of Babylon, is incorporated with Jac Bulk as president and treasurer, and David R. Bulk as secretary, together with a large corps of capable associates and employees. They serve an area extending far beyond the bounds of Long Island, with about everything connected with the planting of ornamentals and of fruit trees, berry bushes, and perennial vegetables. The firm sells fertilizers and plant food, soil improvers and gardening tools, to- gether with a landscaping service highly appreciated by the clientele.
Jac Bulk is president and a director of the Babylon National Bank, was a former president of the Long Island Nurserymen's Association, is vice president of the New York State Nurserymen's Association, and a member of the Long Island Horticultural So- ciety. In civic and local organizations he is a former member of the board of education of West Babylon; member of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau, and at one time was president of the Babylon Town Economy League, and now a member of the Babylon Rotary Club. A lover of sports, he is a popular figure in the Babylon Yacht Club; is vice president of the Southward Ho Country Club. Fraternally he is affiliated with Babylon Lodge No. 793, Free and Ac- cepted Masons. His winters are spent in Florida en- joying boating and golf.
At Buffalo, New York, in 1921, Jac Bulk married Althea B. Reid, a native of this city, daughter of Professor David Reid, former professor of mechanical engineering, Cornell University, and Bertha (Birk- holder) Reid. Mr. and Mrs. Bulk are the parents of two children: I. David Reid, born at Bright- waters, New York, February 1924; a graduate of Peddie School, Hightstown, New Jersey, and at- tended Cornell University until the outbreak of World War II, when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, served in the Pacific Theater of war, and after three and one-half years' service was hon- orably discharged with the rank of corporal; he is a member of the American Legion; now associated with his father as secretary of Bulk's Nurseries, Inc., married, in April, 1946, Hope Doxsee, of Islip, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. H. Doxsee. 2. Janet A., born at Brightwaters, in April, 1926; attended Baby- lon High School, is a graduate from the Mary Burn- ham School, Northampton, Massachusetts, and is now a student nurse at St. John's Hospital, Brooklyn, New York.
PIERSON R. HILDRETH-The distinguished member of the legal profession who is at this writing president of the Suffolk County Bar Association, Pierson R. Hildreth is a native of Suffolk, a son of the late Charles A. Hildreth and his wife, Alice (Rogers) Hildreth.
Charles A. Hildreth was a farmer at Sagaponack, where Pierson R. Hildreth was born on January 8. 1907. After graduating from the Bridgehampton High School in 1924, he attended Blair Academy at
Blairstown, New Jersey, in 1925. He attended Wes- leyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Philos- ophy in 1924. Having chosen the law as his career, he entered the Law School of Harvard University at Cambridge, Massachusetts, from which he gradu- ated with the class of 1932, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws at that time. In April, 1933, he was admitted to the bar of the state of New York, and since that time he has practiced with great success as a member of the firm of Hildreth, Fowler and Hildreth. While furthering his lucrative prac- tice, he has not neglected to take an active and useful part in civic, political and social affairs.
Having his home and office in Amityville, Mr. Hildreth serves as a member of the board of educa- tion of that village, and he is an active and leading member of the Amityville Rotary Club. In politics he is a Republican, and a member of his party's county committee. His hobbies are golf and sailing, and he holds memberships in the Unqua-Corinthian Yacht Club and in the Narrasketuck Yacht Club. His fra- ternity is Delta Kappa Epsilon. During the second World War he held the rank of a first lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General's Department, and he is a member of the American Legion at Amityville. He also belongs to the Timber Point Club. It was in 1946 that Mr. Hildreth was elected to the presidency of the Suffolk County Bar Association.
At Malden, Massachusetts, on June 1, 1933, Pierson R. Hildreth married Kathryn Staples, a daughter of the late Clarence Staples, of that town, and his wife, Ruth (Clarke) Staples.
WILLIAM S. HULTS, JR .- A descendant of one of Long Island's oldest families, William S. Hults, Jr., who was born at Detroit, Michigan, on June 18, 1906, on the threshold of middle age has already made his mark both as a highly successful businessman and as a power in political life and an able public servant.
Mr. Hults' father, was a native of Brooklyn, but has lived most of his life in Port Washington, where he was engaged in the mason contracting business, in his own name, for many years. Now eighty-three years of age, he is living in retirement. He married Nellie Maloney, who died on July 16, 1943.
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