USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 52
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 52
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The writer continues,
"Its homes, ancestral, broad and free, Its tables groan with plenty,"
and he rejoiced that
"No iron rails its roads have crost
Its hearts are just as warm as ever."
Today, the writer of the lines to which we refer says, eleven of the old houses have fallen but here and there
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an old dwelling still stands, "maintaining its dignity of Colonial repose. Although concrete roads have re- placed tree shadowed lanes, certain woodland trails endure. There are gasoline stations but also arbutus haunts in pine groves. "Coram," says this writer, "de- lights in remembrance of the past but forgets not to meet the present and face the future."
A quaint document entitled "Source of Income of Davis Family, Coram, Long Island, 1818-1934" shows that Daniel Davis lived from 1782 to 1829 and con- ducted a general store and tavern. The family grew various grains, raised hogs and used as well as sold the meat, raised sheep for meat and for wool spun and woven at home, had cows to provide milk, butter and meat, as well as hides for sale, and chickens for eggs and eating; flax which was spun and woven at home, wood for family use and sale and as dunnage for ships, and hay for the family's animals and for sale. The Davis family today also possesses receipts for the purchase of slaves in 1811. Lester Hopkins Davis, 1807-1886, carried on in much the same way except that he stopped the sale of liquor at the tavern, grew fruits and potatoes, and also asparagus which was shipped to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and to New York City.
Daniel Roe Davis, born in 1854, also carried on much the same variety of agricultural activities. The present Lester Hopkins Davis sells milk to hospitals. grows hay and corn mostly for use on his farm, sells wood for fuel and for ship timber, raises hog's for sale and personal use, sheep for the sale of lambs and wool, and chickens mostly for personal use. Tractors now replace horses.
Lester Hopkins Davis was born at Coram. Suffolk County, on February 18, 1891, being a son of Daniel R. Davis, a native of Coram and of his wife the former Nellie J. Randall, who was born on Middle Island in the town of Brookhaven. Educated in the district school at Coram and at the Port Jefferson High School, from which he graduated, Lester Hopkins Davis devotes himself to farming and to public serv- ice. The farm of about two hundred acres was for- merly managed by Daniel R. Davis, who died in 1944, and was a commissioner of highways for the town of Brookhaven. Today the farm is largely devoted to dairy operations and to growing potatoes. One of the substantial citizens of the community, highly respected and trusted, Lester Hopkins Davis was elected justice of the peace of the town of Brookhaven on January I, 1946, to serve a term of four years.
Judge Davis' brother, Dr. Homer W. Davis, is president of Athens College in Athens, Greece. He is a graduate of Hamilton College, from which he re- ceived the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. Another brother, Charles J. R. Davis, is a lawyer of prominence in the state of Virginia. Judge Davis' sister, Mrs. Eleanor (Davis) Erhardt, is the wife of John G. Erhardt, well-known in diplo- matic posts in Athens, Greece; Winnipeg, Canada; Bordeaux, France; Hamburg, Germany; London, Eng- land; and is now United States Minister to Austria.
Judge Lester Hopkins Davis is a member of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau and of the Suffolk County Historical Society. In religion he is a Pres- byterian. On April 2, 1921, he was married at Wald- wick, New Jersey, to Alma V. Quakenbush, a daugh- ter of Abram and Matilda (Litchult) Quackenbush. Mrs. Davis is a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College at South Hadley, Massachusetts. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and is active in club affairs. being a member of the Patchogue Study Club and of the Port Jefferson Study Club,
as well as of the Mt. Holyoke Club of New York City. She also takes a great interest in the work of the League of Women Voters.
Lester Hopkins and Alma V. (Quackenbush) Davis are the parents of two sons: I. John A. Q., who was born at Stony Brook. He attended the Port Jefferson High School and the Avon Preparatory School at Avon, Connecticut, before entering Union College at Schenectady, New York. During World War II he answered the call to the colors by enlisting in the United States Army. He is now attending college in the state of Idaho. 2. Lester H., born on November 19, 1926, at Patchogue, Suffolk County. He is a graduate of the Port Jefferson High School and after a year at Cornell University, is operating the farm. He is a pilot and his hobby is flying.
FREDERICK FISCHLER, M.D .- A leading phy- sician and surgeon of St. James, Dr. Frederick Fischler has done much toward maintaining the health and well-being of this city.
Dr. Fischler was born March 4, 1908, at Hamburg, Germany, son of Herman and Sura (Halberthal) Fischler. After having received his preliminary edu- cation, he entered the University of Florence in Italy, and subsequently received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at that institution of higher learning.
Dr. Fischler came to this country and served his internship at the Brooklyn Women's Hospital, of Brooklyn, New York. Later he established a general practice in medicine and surgery at St. James, Suffolk County, a practice which he has successfully con- tinued since. Dr. Fischler is active on the staff of the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital at Port Jefferson. He also acts as school physician for the village of St. James. In the professional world, Dr. Fischler is active as a member of the New York State Medical Society and the Suffolk County Medical Society.
On January 21, 1943. Dr. Frederick Fischler mar- ried Ann Martucci, of Nesconset, Suffolk County.
HARRY BURGESS CARTER-Weaving a net- work throughout the southern half of Nassau County and out into Suffolk County as far as Patchogue are the transportation lines headed by Harry Burgess Carter. He is president of such bus companies as The Bee Line, the Nassau Bus Lines, Inc., the Rockville Centre Bus Corporation, Utility Lines, Inc., and the Long Beach Bus Company, Inc. Mr. Carter is, in addition, vice president and a director of the County Federal Savings and Loan Association at Rockville Centre and is active in a variety of business, fraternal and social associations.
He was born in Brooklyn on July 10, 1892, the son of Harry DeForrest and Emma (Burgess) Carter. His father, who was an accountant with the General Electric Company, died some years ago and is sur- vived by the mother, who is a native of England.
Mr. Carter was educated in the public schools of Brooklyn and Lynbrook, was graduated from the Manual Training High School of Brooklyn and Stevens Institute of Technology, being graduated from the Hoboken institution in 1915 with the degree of Mechanical Engineer. For the next five years he followed the profession of engineering. In 1920, Mr. Carter undertook the management of a truck sales organization in Nassau County. Forming a partner- ship called Republic Motors, he operated this or- ganization. with offices at Far Rockaway, until Feb- ruary. 1922.
It was at this time that he entered the transporta-
Harry B Carter
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tion business. The first bus system under his control ran from Jamaica to Rosedale and was called the Orange Line. Soon after taking it over, Mr. Carter began expanding the line. Also, he changed its name to The Bee Line. Today it runs from Jamaica to I'reeport and Jamaica to Hempstead and operates two crosstown routes in Nassau County, serving Jones Beach exclusively from Wantagh Station, Freeport and Jamaica. There are approximately one hundred and twenty-eight units on the road, with two hundred and seventy-five persons in the various departments of the line. Mr. Carter is president and treasurer of the company; John R. Carter is vice president and secre- tary. They hold the same posts in the other com- panies-Nassau Bus Lines, Inc .; Rockville Centre Bus Corporation and the Long Beach Bus Company, Inc. These, with The Bee Line, cover about ninety- five percent of the southern half of Nassau County and provide vital transportation to Patchogue in Suffolk County.
Mr. Carter takes an active interest in the affairs of all the communities served by his lines, including his home community of Rockville Centre. Aside from his association with the Federal Savings and Loan, he is a member of the New York State Motor Bus Association, the Rockville Country Club, Massapequa Lodge, No. 822, Free and Accepted Masons, and higher Masonic bodies, including the Royal Arch Masons and the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He worships at the Episcopal Church in Rockville Centre His hobbies are golf, fishing and wood working.
Mr. Carter married Marjorie K. Fanning, daughter of John F. and Carrie E. (Moore) Fanning of New Suffolk, on September 27, 1916. They are the parents of three children: 1. John Richard, who served during World War II in the United States Navy, in the air service, married Frances Farrar of Oak Park, Illi- nois, and they have one daughter, Trudie Jeanne. 2. Jeanne Marjorie. 3. Carol. The last named is the wife of Roy Figueroa.
EBEN L. HISCOX-Prominent as a leading florist of East Patchogue, Eben L. Hiscox for many years has served the people of this city and those of Long Island well, and has made many contributions toward the growth and beautification of his community.
Mr. Hiscox was born July 4, 1892, at Long Island City, son of Jesse Freeman and Charlotte (Lloyd) Hiscox. David Hiscox, grandfather of Eben L. His- cox, was born at Newfoundland, New Jersey, in 1838, engaged in the production of toilet articles and chemi- cals used in the making of these products, and died in 1906; he married Mary Van Velsor, and their son, Jesse Freeman Hiscox, father of Eben L. Hiscox, was born October 14, 1868, in Brooklyn, New York, attended Packard's Business College in New York City, became associated with his father in the toilet articles and chemical enterprise, in 1906, with his brother, Everett, assumed operation of the plant, was active in his community, and held memberships in numerous drug associations and other prominent or- ganizations of his community; in August, 1891, he married Charlotte Lloyd, of Astoria, and they became the parents of the following children: 1. Eben L., of further mention. 2. David. 3. Mabel.
Eben L. Hiscox received his early education in the public schools of Long Island City, and attended Patchogue High School and the Mercersburg Acad- emy, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.
After finishing his formal education, Mr. Hiscox established a woolen business in New York City
with W. J. Garvey, known as the Garvey Hiscox Company. After four years in this line, Mr. Hiscox moved to East Patchogue, where he organized a thriv- ing florist business, which over the past twenty-five years has served the wholesale flower trade. He has developed one of the largest enterprises in New York State, cultivates, grows, and sells thousands of gar- denias, pinks, and numerous other species of flowers. Many of his customers were in Florida during the winter months, and he used to send the flowers down there to them, but during World War II the transpor- tation problem became acute. Therefore, he built a florist plant in Florida to take care of his needs there. Mr. Hiscox runs the Florida branch of the business, which has become very successful, and his sister, Mrs. Mabel (Hiscox) Harrison, manages the East Patchogue plant.
In 1917, Eben L. Hiscox married Carmen Bianchi. of Yonkers, New York, and they became the parents of the following children: I. Carmen, who was born in 1922. 2. William, who was born in 1923.
GEORGE HENRY GATJE-Trained both as en- gineer and educator, Dr. George Henry Gatje of Bay Shore has combined his two skills effectively in a career as teacher and school administrator. He is now superintendent of schools of Bay Shore, and is one of the most active citizens in Suffolk County.
Dr. Gatje was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on June 25, 1900, the son of George F. and Dora B. Gatje. In 1921 he received the degree of Chemical Engineer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, and in 1924 the degree of Master of Arts from Columbia University. Following further post- graduate work, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Education by Columbia in 1941. He served in the armed forces in World War I.
Dr. Gatje became principal of the Bay Shore High School in 1925. In 1939 he was elevated to the super- intendency of schools. He is active in such organiza- tions as the American Society for Engineering Educa- tion, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of School Ad- ministrators and the National Education Association. Outside the pedagogical profession, he is affiliated with the American Legion's Bay Shore Post, the Rotary Club of Bay Shore; Meridian Lodge, No. 691, Free and Accepted Masons, at Islip, of which he was master in 1930, and the Royal Arch Masons. Also. he is a member of Phi Delta Kappa and Kappa Delta Pi. His church is the Presbyterian.
Dr. Gatje married Marion Shand, daughter of James and Virginia Shand, at Patchogue on April 13, 1930. They are the parents of two sons: G. Car- lisle Gatje, born April 29, 1931, and David S. Gatje, born May 8, 1934.
REV. EDWARD J. KELLE-A native of Brook- lyn, New York, the Rev. Edward J. Kelle is com- paratively a newcomer to Greenport, but not to Long Island, for he has been curate or pastor in a number of churches in Kings and Nassau counties before coming to Suffolk, where his piety and truly Christian spirit have already endeared him to his parishioners, while his ability as an administrator of church affairs has won him the respect of the people of his adopted community without regard to creed or class.
Born at Brooklyn on February 26, 1897, Edward J. Kelle was a son of the late John Kelle, a factory superintendent in that borough of New York City. and of his wife, Elizabeth (Snyder) Kelle, who, like her husband, was a native of Brooklyn. The young
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Edward J. attended St. Bridget's Parochial School in his native place and went on to acquire his higher education at St. John's College and high school, at St. John's Seminary in Brooklyn, and at Fordham University in New York City, from which he re- ceived his degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was or- dained to the priesthood on May 26, 1923, at St. John's Seminary. In that year he became curate at the Church of the Holy Family on Thirteenth Street in Brooklyn, where he remained until 1933.
It was in 1933 that Father Kelle became assistant curate of St. Patrick's Church at Glen Cove in Nas- sau County. There he served until 1944, when he was sent to Manhattan Beach, New York City, as admin- istrator of the Church of St. Margaret Mary. In June of the same year Father Kelle was given the pastor- ate of the Church of St. Agnes at Greenport, Suffolk County, and since September. 29, 1948, he is in resi- dencc at the St. Philip Neri Church, Greenport.
Father Kelle's parents are buried in St. John's Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
AMHERST WOODHULL DAVIS-One of the foremost among the six counties of New York State which, it was recently announced by the Department of Agriculture, are among the first one hundred coun- ties of the United States in the value of their agri- cultural produce, Long Island's Suffolk County has long specialized in the raising of potatoes (as to which it rivals the fabulous Aroostook County in the state of Maine) and cauliflower. The late William A. Davis and his son Amherst Woodhull Davis of Mt. Sinai, in addition to ranking among the foremost growers of these special crops, have demonstrated that fertile Suffolk can rival Orange and other more famous dairy counties in keeping cows contented and producing unsurpassed dairy products.
The Davis family may well be said to be rooted in the soil of Suffolk County, having lived in the vicinity of Mt. Sinai since 1685. The late William A. Davis was a citizen of prominence, whose story is related in the "History of the Boroughs," published in 1925 by the Lewis Historical Publishing Company. His son, Amherst Woodhull Davis, was born at Mt. Sinai on October 20, 1896. He attended public school in Port Jefferson, Suffolk County, and after graduating therefrom, enrolled at the Morrisville Agricultural College at Morrisville, New York, of which he is also a graduate. Even before the death of his father, Amherst Woodhull Davis had succeeded to the man- agement of the extensive Davis farm at Mt. Sinai, where, as we have intimated, in addition to the special crops of potatoes and cauliflower, a successful dairy business was carried on, with more than forty head of cattle.
While managing the farm with skill and profit, Mr. Davis has had time for civic service in his community, and for the assumption of public duties. He has been chairman of the board of fire commissioners of the Mt. Sinai volunteer fire department since it was instituted in 1930. He has long been active in the Mt. Sinai Civic Association, of which he is a past president. He is a member of the board of directors of the Suf- folk County Farm Bureau, and is an active Rotarian, belonging to the Port Jefferson club of that interna- tional organization. He serves as secretary and treas- urer of the Sea View Cemetery of Mt. Sinai, and for more than twenty-five years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Mt. Sinai Congrega- tional Church.
Amherst Woodhull Davis is married to the former Bertha S. Luce, a daughter of Scepter W. and Lydia
(Hulse) Luce. The Luces are a pioneer family in Baiting Hollow. Mrs. Davis is prominent in church work and serves as a member of the school board of the Village of Mt. Sinai. Of this marriage the children are: I. William Amherst, who was born on the old homestead farm in Mt. Sinai on May 8, 1926. He is a graduate of the Port Jefferson High School, and is now associated with his father in the manage- ment of the farm. 2. Carolyn Christine, born at Mt. Sinai on October 20, 1929. Having graduated from the Port Jefferson High School, she is now a student at the Moravian College for Women in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
GEORGE SMITH RHODES-As a youth, George Smith Rhodes, of Sayville, Suffolk County, found ample opportunity and used to the limit his abilities and skills in the building development of Long Island. As a boy of sixteen years he became a carpenter; at eighteen he was taking contracts for construction work. He built many homes during this early period of his career and even more later. In 1925, when it became rather difficult to secure building materials, he initiated a lumber business of his own that still remains under his sole owenership, the George S. Rhodes Lumber Company. During the last two decades and more he has witnessed and parti- cipated in the purchase of lumber in the far South and the Pacific Coast West, of the materials utilized in modern building. It further should be indicated that he has carried on successfully his enterprise through periods of war, depressions and booms and has met efficiently each problem as it came. He is widely recognized as an exceptionally progressive executive and leader in industry.
George Smith Rhodes was born on June 17, 1887, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Wells) Rhodes, members of long established families in New Eng- land and Long Island. His mother was descended from the Paynes who settled Smithtown in about 1648, and were connected directly with one John Wells, sheriff of Suffolk County for many years. Rhodes is a cognomen that evidently goes far back into European history. John was a constant given name in the family, and several John Rhodes or John Rhoades settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the sixteen hundreds. Descendants scat- tered widely, even in the seventeenth century. One William Rhodes was a resident of Block Island, Rhode Island, in 1678; a Rev. William Rhodes was a builder of a church on Long Island as early as 1724. The gentleman whose name heads this review, was the son of a carpenter, and himself has built churches as well as many homes. He likewise is much to the fore in civic affairs and projects that are in- tended to benefit Sayville and its neighboring com- munities. He is a Republican in political affiliations; popular member of the Civic Club of Sayville, and attends St. Ann's Episcopal Church.
On February 18, 1928, at Sayville, Long Island, George Smith Rhodes married Elizabeth E. Sevett- man, daughter of Charles D. and Eva (Wissell) Sevettman. Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes are the parents of two children: I. Elizabeth Gertrude, born November 27, 1928. 2. George Smith, Jr., born November 10, 1934.
ELWELL PALMER-Among the leading Citi- zens of Suffolk County's fine old village of Sayville, Elwell Palmer, who has made his home and con- ducted his business there since 1930, is noted for his
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success in a variety of related activities, as a lawyer, a realtor and a specialist in investments and securi- ties.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, where he was born before that city became a borough of Greater New York, Elwell Palmer is a son of George W. and Jane R. (Elwell) Palmer. George W. Palmer was born in the State of Iowa, to which his parents, English-born Benjamin and Mary Jane F. (Efford) Palmer had migrated prior to the Civil War. Mrs. Jane R. (Elwell) Palmer was a native of Brooklyn, where her father, James W. Elwell, was a citizen of prominence. Elwell Palmer was born on August 6, 1889. After graduating from the Polytechnic Prepa- ratory School in Brooklyn, he attended the Sheffield School of Yale University, at New Haven, Connecti- cut, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy upon his graduation with the class of 1910. Having chosen a career in the law, he entered the Law School of Columbia University in New York City, and from this institution received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1914. Admitted to the bar of the state of New York in that same year, he practiced until 1930, specializing in real estate law. His career was interrupted during World War I when he en- tered the United States Army. Holding the rank of a second lieutenant, Mr. Palmer saw active service in France for some eighteen months.
In 1930 Mr. Palmer moved to Sayville and estab- lished the business in real estate, real estate securi- ties and other investments and securities, which he still manages with great success. He takes part in business and civic councils as a member of the Say- ville Rotary Club. His religious affiliation is with St. Ann's Episcopal Church.
At Brooklyn, New York, in January, 1922, Elwell Palmer was married to Marjory Cleaveland, a daugh- ter of John and Grace M. (Law) Cleaveland of that Borough. Of this marriage there are five children: I. George C., who was born on December 24, 1922, at Brooklyn. After attending St. Paul's School at Garden City, Nassau County, he became a student at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated therefrom magna cum laude. During World War II he served in the United States Naval Reserve with rank of lieutenant junior grade. He graduated from the Harvard School of Business Ad- ministration, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, in February 1948. 2. Nancy, born in Brook- lyn on May 29, 1924. A graduate of St. Mary's School at Garden City, she attended Mt. Holyoke College at South Hadley, Massachusetts, for three years before becoming the wife of Lieut. Thomas P. Knapp of the United States Naval Reserve, the ceremony taking place at Sayville in January, 1947.
Also: 3. James Elwell, born in Brooklyn on Febru- ary 24, 1927. Like his older brother George C., James Elwell Palmer is a graduate of St. Paul's School in Garden City, and also served in the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. He is now a student at Yale University, being at this time a member of the sophomore class. 4. Anita, born on October 28, 1928, at Brooklyn. Having graduated from St. Mary's School in Garden City with the class of 1946, she is at this writing a member of the sophomore class at Bennington College in the Ver- mont city of that name. 5. Richard, a twin of Anita, born in Brooklyn on October 28, 1928. He is now a student at the Forman School in Litchfield, Con- necticut.
ARTHUR R. REICH-The citizens of the Town of Brookhaven elected Arthur R. Reich as justice of the peace in 1938 and have kept him on the bench for two terms until 1946 when he declined renomina- ation. Judge Reich is known throughout Suffolk County as a lawyer as well as a judge.
He was born in New York City on November 18, 1899, the son of George and the late Martha (Schmidt) Reich. His father, now a retired baker, resides at Sulphur Springs, Florida.
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