USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 5
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 5
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106
Many of the above articles have been reprinted in newspapers of eastern Long Island. Some have been reproduced in pamphlet form for wider distribution.
After Mr. Wood prepared his article on the history of Southold, Riverhead and Shelter Island for this work, he discovered belatedly that the town of South- old celebrated in 1850 the two hundredth anniversary of its settlement. It had theretofore been generally supposed that the celebration of 1890 was the first in the ancient town. The story of the long forgotten event of 1850, he narrated in the "Forum" of Febru- ary, 1947. In the following April issue, he gave an account of a similar celebration in 1849 at East Hampton.
At the Oneonta Normal College, Mr. Wood had as an instructor in beginning Latin, Vernon P. Squires, a graduate of Cortland Normal College. Years afterwards they were both graduate students at the University of Chicago. Professor Squires be- came dean at the University of North Dakota and inaugurated a state-wide plan in that state of giving credit toward graduation from public schools for study of the Bible pursued in church schools. Mr. Wood, while a resident of Albany marshalled all
Clarence asliton wood
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available data wherever the plan had been put in prac- tice and wrote a book on the subject entitled, "School and College Credit for Outside Bible Study."
Edmund H. Lewis, an associate judge of the court of appeals and also a trustee of Syracuse University, has said of Mr. Wood: "I recognize in Mr. Wood's writing not only an unusual faculty of expression, but also a rare ability to collate and set forth histori- cal facts."
Mr. Wood has been twice married, first to Mary Ann Page of Oneonta, a classmate there. After her death and his return to Southold, he married Clara Adelia Horton, a contributor during many years to island and metropolitan newspapers. She died July 4, 1947. He has four married daughters, eight grand- children and a great-granddaughter. The daughters are Mrs. John O. Russell, of Syracuse, New York; Mrs. Laurence M. Warner, of Roselle Park, New Jersey; Mrs. Cora Wood Becker of Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Mrs. George R. Raab of Rock- ville Centre.
Florallure, among the hills of Tompkins County, ten miles from Ithaca, is evidence that Mr. Wood swings not only a literary pick. During a long period of years, this picturesque hillside country home over- looking a valley and distant hills has been developed by his efforts. There he spends a portion of each year among landscaped terraces, rock gardens and lily ponds and pools.
MRS. LORENA MARGARET SHAFFER FREVERT (Mrs. Warner Frevert), official histor- ian of the Village of Lindenhurst, Long Island, and 1948 president of the Lindenhurst Historical Society, was born in Hudson, New York, as Lorena Margaret Shaffer, daughter of the late Clifford C. and Bessie M. (Wilcox) Shaffer.
Mrs. Frevert attended the public schools of Albany, New York, and was graduated from the Albany High School. She then studied at New York State Col- lege for Teachers in Albany, where she was gradu- ated with the degree of Bachelor of Science.
Prior to her marriage Mrs. Frevert was a teacher in the Babylon, Long Island, High School. Since coming to Long Island she has taken a keen interest in local history and in 1945 won a "Long Island Forum" essay contest on Breslau's First Thirty Years." In 1946 she was appointed official historian of the Village of Lindenhurst, receiving her appoint- ment from the mayor of the village. Mrs. Frevert is the founder and first president of the Lindenhurst Historical Society. Since 1947 she has been a mem- ber of the Board of Directors of the Lindenhurst Memorial Library and at the present time is its vice president. She is an active member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lindenhurst.
Lorena Margaret Shaffer was married in 1928 in New York City to Warner Frevert, a descendant of one of Lindenhurst's pioneer families.
NATHANIEL ROBINSON HOWELL, high school teacher, town historian of Islip Town and lecturer on "Historical Long Island," was born in Eastport, June 15, 1888. He is the son of Nathaniel W. and Anna (Edwards) Howell, his father being a miller and farmer.
Mr. Howell attended Patchogue High School, Oneonta Normal School and Teachers College, Co- lumbia University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science and later received the degree of Master of Arts. Mr. Howell has been
principal and a teacher all his life and at present is a teacher in East Islip. He has become an authority on the history of Long Island and is a popular lec- turer on this subject. Himself descended from an old American family that traces its lineage back to Colonial days, he has the ability to make historical events come alive in the minds of his listeners. Mr. Howell is a member of the New York State His- torical Society, a life member and first vice president of the Suffolk County Historical Society, a member of the Sayville Historical Society and of the Hunt- ington Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion and the leader of a large group of historically minded people representing almost every community in Long Island. He is the official historian of the Town of Islip and is also a trustee of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities.
He has compiled and completed a book entitled "Islip Town's World War II Effort." A book of 768 pages, 5500 copies, he will begin to distribute the same to the veterans of Islip Town.
He married Elizabeth Wright Valentine, the daugh- ter of Thomas and Katherine Layton (Hutton) Val- entine, in Bellport on July 1, 1922. In addition to his home in East Islip, Mr. Howell has a large farm at Speonk.
CYRIL ARTHUR LEWIS-Among the painters who find the rural and suburban areas of Long Island an ideal place to live and to work, one of the most notable and distinguished is Cyril Arthur Lewis, of East Williston.
He was born on July 24, 1903, in Birmingham, England, his parents being Arthur Lewis, an engineer, and Lilian Elsie Lewis.
At the age of twelve, Mr. Lewis painted a portrait of William Gladstone and Queen Victoria, for which he was awarded a silver watch. His grandmother, overwhelmed by the experience, began to take an active interest in directing his talents in the field of art.
Mr. Lewis studied painting at the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts, and during this time won the William Kenrick and Louis Anne Ryland scholar- ships.
Despite his talents, Mr. Lewis discovered that he needed more practical experience, and in order to earn his livelihood became an apprentice in the field of advertising art and did this work for five years. He then went to London and was employed for three years with one of the largest firms engaged in advertising art.
I11 1927 Mr. Lewis sailed to America by himself and the first firm he contacted upon arrival here, Risidro, in Brooklyn, New York, offered him work immediately upon seeing samples of his craftsmanship. During the years that followed, Mr. Lewis made several other worthwhile business connections and in 1936 became associated with the leading publica- tion in the boys' apparel field. For the past twelve years, he has been art director for that magazine.
In April, 1937. Mr. Lewis moved to East Willis- ton, Long Island, and enjoyed living on the Island to such an extent, that the surroundings became the subject of his palette.
Mr. Lewis has painted many subjects on the Island -large estates, historical landmarks, detailed draw- ings of the industries, vegetation, etc.
At present, he is compiling a book entitled, "Long Island Sketch Book," a picture book of fine quality, containing some three hundred and fifty subjects, a number of which will be in color.
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Mr. Lewis has many interests in the art world. He is an active member of the Allied Artists of America, and won the society's gold medal in 1943 for the most distinguished water color in that year's exhibition, "4 A.M.", a dramatic painting of the East Williston Station.
In 1941, during National Art Week, Mr. Lewis won the International Business Machine purchase prize for his art group, the Long Island Artists.
He has also been the recipient of the American Red Cross award for the most creative and original painting to be submitted by the Island Artists, as well as numerous other citations.
Mr. Lewis has done much to stimulate the interest of art throughout the Island. He was president of the Brooklyn Society of Artists for many years and worked closely with the Brooklyn Museum in seek- ing out Brooklyn's most talented artists. For the past eight years, he has been president of the Art League of Nassau County and has taken an active part in many of the art activities on the Island.
Among other groups he is active in is the Audubon Artists Group, of which he is a member of long standing. He also holds membership in, and serves as assistant curator of, the oldest and most dis- tinguished painters' organization in America, the Salmagundi Club of New York.
His other activities have included lecturing in art schools, to high school students and college students and at exhibitions. He has acted as judge at many exhibitions of various art groups and schools and is well acquainted with the contemporary art of the Island.
These outside activities have taken much of Mr. Lewis' time, and in order to devote more of his energies to painting the scenes and landscape he loves so well on Long Island, he has resigned his post as art director and is now operating his own studio in New York.
In 1935, Mr. Lewis married Ruth I. Wilson, a daughter of John and Margaret Wilson. Of this marriage. three children have been born, David Arthur, Richard John and Audrey Ruth. In religious affiliation, Mr. Lewis is a member of the Church of the Brethren. He became an American citizen in 1938.
SIMON WHEELER COOPER, the head of the Babylon family of that name, was born September 29, 1779, at Bridge Hampton, Suffolk Countv. locating in Babylon in 1804, while a young man. He was a descendant of John Cooper, of Olney, in Bucking- hamshire, who came over from England in 1635, in the "Hopewell," and was one of the founders of the town of Southampton in 1640. He was a tanner by trade, and for many years conducted a tannery in Babylon. He was a large landowner, and operated a farm in connection with the tanning business. He married Grace Dibble of Stanwich, Connecticut, in 1824. Three sons were born to them: James Brown, Simon Wheeler, Jr., and George Dibble Cooper. The family homestead, on Main Street, now Montauk Highway, was long a local landmark, and was at one time the village post office in the days of stage coaches, when Mr. Cooper served as postmaster. In the early 8os the property was sold to Colonel H. A. V. Post. The buildings were retained by the former owner and parts of the old homestead are still standing in the upper part of the village, where they are occupied as residences.
James Brown Cooper, elder son of the founder of the family, was born in the old homestead on Decem- ber 1, 1825. He attended the village schools of that
period, and when still a young man was elected county clerk of Suffolk County-the youngest man ever to hold that office. Later he was appointed to a position in the New York Custom House, and while a resident of Hempstead served as assistant assessor of the In- ternal Revenue. Returning to Babylon in 1872, fol- lowing the death of his mother, Mr. Cooper was elected a justice of the peace, holding that office almost continuously until his death in 1907, in his eighty- second year. He also at one time served as justice of sessions, an office since abolished. During his resi- dence in Hempstead he owned and edited the "In- quirer," a local paper no longer existing. He sold the paper after a year's ownership. Justice Cooper was a well-known historian and genealogist, and was a fre- quent contributor to the local press. He was one of the organizers of the Republican party in the State of New York, and had served on the State Committee. In later years he affiliated with the Democratic party, as he had prior to the Civil War. He was a Mason and a member of the Episcopal Church, having served as a member and clerk of the vestry of Christ Church Parish, West Islip.
Simon Wheeler Cooper, Jr., second son of the founder, was a sea captain in the China trade, and made many voyages to the Orient. His life was one of adventure and more or less hardship. He never married, and died in Hankow, China, in 1869, at the age of forty years.
George Dibble Cooper, third son of Simon Wheeler, died in early manhood. He, too, never married.
James Brown Cooper married on June 9, 1863, Miss Gloriana S. Rice, daughter of David and Glori- ana (Hartt) Rice of Commack. Mrs. Cooper, prior to her marriage was a well-known teacher in the public schools of Suffolk County, following that vo- cation at Commack and Bellport before becoming principal of the Babylon School. In later life she conducted a private boarding and day school that became quite widely known. She was the first woman to be elected to the Babylon Board of Education, and served in that capacity until her death in 1912. She was the mother of five children, three of whom passed away in early life. One son, Simon Wheeler Cooper III, attained the age of 79 and passed away at Darien, Connecticut, November 21st, 1943, and James Brown Cooper II died at Babylon, New York, May 30, 1940.
JAMES BROWN COOPER II, was born on De- cember 8, 1871, in Hempstead, Nassau County, then Queens County, where the family resided for a few years, his parents returning to Babylon when he was six months of age, and where he resided until his death. He attended his mother's private school until he obtained employment as a clerk in the stationery store conducted by the late Benjamin B. Wood in the Sammis Block on what now is known as Mon- tauk Highway. In the store were the local telephone exchange and the village post office. After eighteen months of clerking he entered the employ of the late Henry Livingston, owner of the now defunct "South Side Signal," where he remained for a number of years, serving as a compositor, reporter, associate edi- tor and assistant managing editor. Following the sale of the paper to a syndicate in 1910, Mr. Cooper founded the "Babylon Leader," the first issue appearing in July of that year. The paper was published without a plant until the following year, when it was sold to the Babylon Publishing Company, which the founder organized, becoming its first president and continuing in the capacity of editor and manager. He later pur- chased seven-eights of the stock, and remained the head of the corporation until his death in 1940. The
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"Babylon Leader" has long had the largest circu- lation of any paper ever published in Babylon Town- ship.
On September 21, 1927, Mr. Cooper established the "Lindenhurst Star." Both papers are known through- out Suffolk County as fearless champions of any cause they espouse. Politically they are classed as Demo- cratic, but devote more space to civic betterments than to partisan politics.
Following the death of his father, in February 1907, Mr. Cooper was appointed to fill the existing vacancy in the office of justice of the peace resulting from the elder Mr. Cooper's demise. Later he was elected for a full term of four years, and was re-elected in 19II, 1915 and 1919.
He was induced to run for supervisor in 1923, and although he ran ahead of his ticket, he met defeat in a comparatively close contest.
In 1894 he was appointed clerk of the village and served one term. In 1908 he was again appointed to that office and served continuously, with the excep- tion of one year, until March 1925. In 1923 and 1924 he was elected to the clerkship, the office having been made an elective position.
Mr. Cooper was a sturdy advocate of greater riparion rights for both village and town, and led the successful movement to open the Shore Drive paralleling Sumpwams River and the extension of other highways to the bay and rivers. Mr. Cooper was married on December 31, 1915, to Miss Jean E. Campbell of Babylon and they had two children, James B. Cooper, Jr., born October 9, 1916, and Jean Olive, born June 8, 1924. James B. Cooper, Jr., is the editor and publisher of the Babylon Publishing Company and served the village of Babylon as police justice for four years, 1944-48. He is married to the former Mildred F. Tuthill of Amityville, and is the father of two children: James B., IV, born September 25, 1941, and Roberta Hartt, born February 14, 1949.
JOHN HENRY MORICE was born April 30, 1876 in Philadelphia, the son of John H. and Mary (Nelson) Morice. His father, who was a manu- facturer, died in 1908.
Mr. Morice is a graduate of the University of Penn- sylvania, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1897. After graduation he become as- sociated with the business of manufacturing and dis- tributing twine, yarn and cordage made of cotton and jute and in this he spent a total of thirty years un- til his retirement in 1930. He also served as a director of the Philadelphia Bag Company and other corpora- tions. He spends much time in Florida, where he has interested himself in local history and serves as presi- dent of the Palm Beach County Historical Associa- tion. Through the years Mr. Morice has devoted much keen interest and considerable research to the sub- ject of the Indians of Long Island and he now has ready for publication a history of the Long Island Indians. He has contributed articles and reviews to numerous magazines and newspapers, book reviews and articles on North American Indians being his specialties. Mr. Morice belongs to Phi Upsilon col- lege fraternity, to the University Club of Philadelphia, the Southampton Club, and the Four Arts Society of Palm Beach, Florida. He is one of the trustees of the Parrish Art Museum of Southampton and a governor of the Southampton Bathing Corporation. During World War I he served as director of production in the Clothing and Equipage Division, Quarter- masters Corps, : United States Army, and during
World War II held the civilian post of head of the Personnel Division of the Second Service Command. On November 5, 1910, in New York City, John Henry Morice was married to Marie Vernon Brown, the daughter of Vernon M. and Emma (Willard) Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Morice have one daughter, Mrs. Alison (Morice) Gibson of Sewanee, Tennessee, whose husband, Very Rev. Robert F. Gibson, Jr., is Dean of Theology at the University of the South.
'MARTHA KNOWLES (BARTON) HALL- In the course of an exceptionally full career, Mrs. Martha Knowles (Barton) Hall has been an educator, a mother and currently Librarian of the Huntington Historical Society. Of English nativity, she is well informed in the history of the United States and has made a special study of local history, particularly of Huntington.
Born at St. Helens, Lancashire, England, on De- cember 8, 1886, Mrs. Hall was the daughter of Joseph and Esther (Rigby) Barton, her father be- ing an engineer. A graduate of the Ardwick Sec- ondary School, Manchester, England, she attended the Graduate Teachers' College, where she com- pleted her studies with the class of 1906. In 1908, she received a certificate for extended training and scholarship. Miss Barton was a teacher in the Man- chester, England, schools from 1906 to 1913, when she resigned to marry Frederick E. Hall, of whom later. Mrs. Hall has served the Huntington His- torical Society exceptionally well as its librarian, since 1932.
The Huntington Historical Society is housed in the Conklin Homestead, an excellent example of the typical old Long Island farmhouse, built in part in the early eighteenth century. Here is housed a fine collection of antiques-furniture, kitchen and farm equipment, portraits and historic records. Its library is especially appreciated by antiquarians, local and national, by those interested in ancestral research and genealogy and the casual visitor who wants to enjoy the atmosphere and memories of olden days. While serving as librarian, Mrs. Hall has worked closely with Mrs. Romanah Sammis, who was presi- dent of the Historical Society and official town his- torian. Mrs. Sammis's, "Huntington-Babylon" town history was published in 1937 and was illustrated by Beatrice M. Hall, a Pratt Institute graduate. After the death of Mrs. Sammis in 1946, Mrs. Hall continued to work with her successor, the Rev. Edward J. Humeston, until his death in 1948. As genealogist for the society, Mrs. Hall established correspondence with people in many parts of the United States and has gathered and assembled many records for use in the society's library.
Equal to the variety of the contacts of Mrs. Hall is the breadth of her interests. She has explored many fields of human activity, fact and fiction, especially national and international events. She studies poli- tics, notably American politics and government and while remaining independent in regard to party af- filiations, she has voted regularly since she became a citizen of the United States in 1925. In community organizations, she is a member of the Huntington Historical Society; was a member of the Bel Canto Club, a prize choral group of women, now disbanded and in past years served as president and in other official capacity in church groups. She worships at St. John's Episcopl Church.
At St. Agnes' Church, Reddish, Manchester, Eng- land, on March 22, 1913, Martha Knowles Barton
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married Frederick Emanuel Hall, son of John Henry Hall of Manchester, a brick manufacturer, who was engaged in the building business in England. Mr. Hall came to the United States in 1911, and has since continued in this same industry. At first he returned several times to his native land and it was on the third trip that his wife accompanied him to America to settle on March 28, 1913, in Huntington. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are the parents of three children: I. Beatrice Mary, born Februray 18, 1914. 2. Fred- erick E., Jr., who was born April 17, 1916; served in World War II, from 1941 to 1946 in Army adminis- tration with the rank of first lieutenant. He was on his way to the Japanese theater of war when the war ended and since his honorable discharge from the Army he has been employed as a civil service worker in "Special Devices" at the Navy Head- quarters, Sands Point. 3. John Barton, who was born April 7, 1918, served in World War II as a radio operator, Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Division, which landed on "Utah" Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944; he fought in the fol- lowing battles: at the fall of Cherbourg; Hedgerows, the break-through at Saint Lô, Hurtgen Forest, and while "resting at Eichternach," the Battle of the Bulge, through Germany to Nürnberg; he received his honorable discharge on June 23, 1945, since which time he has been connected with the Long Island Lighting Company.
All of the above children are married, and there are eight grandchildren.
Two brothers of Mrs. Hall, John and Frank Bar- ton, served in World War I, with the British Army. Frank Barton was killed in the Battle of the Somme, in 1916.
GRUMMAN AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING COR- PORATION-To the post-war world-at-large the name "Grumman Aircraft" recalls the Wildcats, Hell- cats, Tigercats, Bearcats, and the Avengers, types of airplanes that played important and spectacular parts in the winning of World War II. James Forrestal then Secretary of the Navy, in concluding a letter of praise of the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, commented: "A couple of years ago I said that, in my opinion, Grumman saved Guadalcanal; that is to say, Grumman airplanes were largely responsible for saving a most important foothold in the Pacific. Grum- man Aircraft has been a mainstay of the Navy's carrier forces since your earliest days, and you have never failed us. On behalf of the United States Navy, and of the American people, I give you hearty thanks."
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation did not spring full-fledged to the defense of our country in a time of dire need. It was born a decade prior to 1939, and the beginning of international war in Europe. It was initiated when our nation was mired down in a financial depression that continued with varied ups and downs for more than a decade, during which Grumman progress was, nevertheless, steady and significant.
Late in 1929, a small group of men pooled their rela- tively small means to form the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, which was duly incorpor- ated on December 6, 1929. Its future was uncertain; its resources meagre. A rundown garage was rented in Baldwin, in which the company set up shop on June 2, 1930. Six office men were supposed to get business, and fifteen shop men were depended upon to do everything else. Ideas were plentiful and the
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