USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 54
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 54
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A son of Emil and Amelia (Cooke) Hackwitz, Ernest Hackwitz was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Feb- ruary 6, 1886. He began his education in the public schools of Cincinnati in his native state, but being brought during boyhood to Farmingdale, finished his schooling there. His first employment was with the Bausch Picture Frame and Moulding Manufacturing Company in Farmingdale, rising from errand boy to shipping clerk, after which he worked for six months as an assistant bookkeeper in the office of a lumber company at Amityville, New York.
Meanwhile on October 1, 1907, the First National Bank of Farmingdale was organized and opened its doors for business. Within a month the business of this new financial institution was growing so fast that the cashier needed an assistant. Ernest Hack- witz attracted attention as an industrious, alert young man, and was offered, and accepted, a clerkship in the bank, beginning on November 10, 1907.
The First National Bank of Farmingdale, Long Island, started its operations with a capital of $25,000. Its growth is graphically illustrated by the fact that today its capital funds are over $450,000 including surplus and profits. It shows total resources of more than $8,000,000, and is the custodian of deposits in
excess of $7,500,000, as against deposits of $50,873 on December 1, 1907. As Mr. Hackwitz says, "That is progress; and we are proud of that record. Our bank has ceased to be a little country bank (as one man called it)."
Mr. Hackwitz rose from clerk to teller, from teller to assistant cashier, to cashier and to vice president. Upon the death in 1938 of the former president, the late Dr. James F. Michel, Ernest Hackwitz became president, and has held this office to the present time. Much of the growth and success of the First National Bank of Farmingdale in recent years is at- tributed to the far-seeing, wise and experienced man- agement of Mr. Hackwitz. In a brochure issued on October 1, 1942, in celebration of the bank's thirty- fifth anniversary, Mr. Hackwitz attributed its growth to the fact that it has been an institution devoted to public service, based on three factors: I. Faith in the Farmingdale community, in its depositors and clients, and their reciprocal faith in the bank. 2. Courage in wise and prudent investments, in people, their industries and businesses, their farms and homes. (Farmingdale, the location of a New York State agricultural school, is the center of a rich farming district.) 3. Vision in performing our part in making Farmingdale and its adjacent area an industrial and business center where there is employment in indus- try, good business opportunities, and happy com- fortable living, with parks for recreation. Mr. Hack- witz doubtless was thinking particularly of the Beth- page State Park, adjacent to Farmingdale.
As of the thirty-ninth anniversary of the founding of the First National Bank of Farmingdale, the officers in addition to President Ernest Hackwitz, were Aaron Stern and Rudolph H. Weber, vice presi- dents; John V. Donlon, cashier; Joseph G. Brune, Jr., assistant cashier. The board of directors includ- ing Ernest Hackwitz, are Robert H. Bailey, George C. Berger, John E. Duryea, W. Dwight Nostrand, P. Howard Ohm, Aaron Stern and Rudolph H. Weber. The bank holds membership in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The First National Bank of Farmingdale today is concededly one of the leading banking institutions, and one of the soundest as well as one of the most progressive in all of Nassau County. Eloquent evi- dence of the astuteness and soundness of its manage- ment down the years is the fact that to the present time it has paid dividends of $240,000 on its common stock.
Mr. Hackwitz was associated with the late Dr. Michel, his predecessor as president of the First Na- tional Bank and an outstanding citizen of Farming- dale, in the J. F. Michel Realty Corporation, which developed a plot of forty acres of vacant land in East Farmingdale during 1925-1930 on which they erected one hundred and fifteen homes, nearly all of which were sold on the pay-as-you-go principle-a plan later used and refined by H. O. L. C. and in the F. H. A. type of home purchase plan.
Mr. Hackwitz has always taken a keen interest in public affairs in his community. He has served as clerk of the board of education of Farmingdale and later as a member of that body, and he has also sat upon the board of trustees of the village government. At this time he is a member of the Nassau County board of public welfare. In politics he is an active member of the Republican party. He is also inter- ested in the work of the Rotary Club, to which he belongs and finds time for fraternal life as a member of Bethpage Lodge, No. 975, of the Free and Ac-
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cepted Masons, in Farmingdale, of which he is a charter member and a Past Master since 1927. In religion he is a Protestant.
In 1907 Ernest Hackwitz was married to Maud Powell, a native of Farmingdale and a daughter of Waite and Catherine Maxson Powell. In 1922 Mr. and Mrs. Hackwitz moved to their home at 9 Clinton Street, in that village where both reside at this time.
MERRITT H. STIERHEIM-From the far Northwest, the Rocky Mountain region, by way of the prairies of the Middle West, Merritt H. Stierheim came to the garden spot of the East, Long Island, to join his father in establishing a notably successful business venture, and to become in his own right one of the most highly-regarded members of the business community of Mineola, county seat of Nas- sau County.
Born at Butte, Montana, on September 16, 1909, a son of Merritt R. and Stella (Hatherall) Stierheim, the young Merritt H. Stierheim attended public grade school in Omaha, Nebraska, graduated from the Omaha High School, and studied for two years at a business college in that city. His first employment was with the Willys Overland Company in Omaha, and this connection lasted for eight years. In 1930 Mr. Stierheim came East, and joined his father in a dry cleaning business which the latter had estab- lished, with plant at Rockville Centre and at Hemp- stead. This business became highly successful, and in 1938 the present premises housing the main office and plant were purchased, at 246 Mineola Boulevard in Mineola. Receiving stores are now maintained in Manhasset and Hempstead, and the firm has about thirty employees. The business is organized as a corporation, of which Merritt R. Stierheim is presi- dent, Merritt H. Stierheim, Jr., is vice president, and Veda Stierheim is treasurer.
Mr. Stierheim takes an active part in the life of his adopted community, as a member of the Mineola Fire Department and of the Mineola Rotary Club. He also holds membership in the Rotary Club of Garden City. In religion he is affiliated with the Methodist Church.
Merritt H. Stierheim is married and is the father of two children: 1. Merritt H., Jr., who was born on September 25, 1934. 2. Linda L., who was born on September 20, 1945.
GEORGE W. HILDRETH-One of the older members of the Suffolk County bar, an attorney whose career has been marked by professional suc- cess and by long. distinguished and faithful public service, George W. Hildreth stands among the lead- ing citizens of the populous village of Riverhead, respected by all classes and widely popular.
Born on August 23, 1874, in what was then known as Good Ground and is now Hampton Bays, Suffolk County, George W. Hildreth is the son of the late George W. Hildreth who died in 1922, and of his wife Rose A. (Wells) Hildreth, who is still living at the age of ninety-three years. The elder George W. Hildreth was a farmer and bayman. In addition to the son named for him, the elder George W. Hil- dreth and his wife were the parents of a daughter, Grace, who now resides in Hampton Bays.
The younger George W. Hildreth attended the district school in his native Good Ground and the Bridge Hampton Literary and Commercial Institute as well as the New York Preparatory School. Am- bitious for a career in the law, he studied in the office
of the late Judge George S. Stackpole, and to such effect that he passed the examinations for admission to the bar of the state of New York on May 28, 1901. Hanging out his shingle as an attorney in the village of Riverhead, he has continued in general practice there for more than forty-five years, ably serving many important clients. He has also acquired banking interests, and sits on the board of directors of the Suffolk County National Bank.
Active in political and public affairs from his early days, Mr. Hildreth as long ago as 1905 was elected a justice of the peace of the town of Riverhead, in which capacity he served until December 31, 1918. In the following year he was appointed assistant district attorney of Suffolk County, and in recognition of the ability and integrity with which he discharged the duties of this office, he was elected district at- torney in 1922, holding office through 1923. In 1926 he was again elected to the district attorneyship, serving until December 31, 1929. Since 1918, Mr. Hildreth has been a member and chairman of the board of fire commissioners of Riverhead, and since 1919 he has been president of the board of education of that village.
During the first World War Mr. Hildreth was United States government appeal agent for Suffolk County, and during the second World War he served both in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and on the Civil Defense Council. He is a member of. the Suffolk County Bar Association, and has long been a popular participant in fraternal affairs, being affiliated with the Riverhead Lodge No. 645 of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, with Roanoke Lodge of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and with the Foresters of America. Mr. Hildreth is senior commodore of the Riverhead Yacht Club, commander of Flotilla 1310, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Royal Arcanum, and a past president of the River- head Rotary Club. He belongs to the Methodist Church and serves as a member of its board of trus- tees. Yachting, fishing and hunting are his recrea- tions.
In the borough of Brooklyn, New York City, George WV. Hildreth married on October 11, 1900, Lucie Raynor, a member of one of the oldest and most prominent families of Suffolk County, and a daughter of Captain James E. Raynor and his wife, the for- mer Lydia Edwards. To George W. and Lucie (Ray- nor) Hildreth two children were born: I. Lionel R., on October 23, 1905. He died on August 27, 1917. 2. Lydia, on January 10, 1910. She is a graduate of Riverhead High School and of Mt. Holyoke Col- lege at South Hadley, Massachusetts, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and is married to Russell H. Moore, of Riverhead, a member of the firm of F. H. Hill and Brother, which Mr. Moore's father George H. Moore and he conduct together there.
ROBERT E. WILSON-Long ago, in his capacity as banker, Robert E. Wilson assumed a major role in the development of East Hampton. He was active in all the phases of banking as well as in the Coast Guard Reserve throughout World War II and stepped into a role of leadership in the postwar reconstruction period. Through that long period he was first vice president and then president of the Osborne Trust Company in East Hampton.
Mr. Wilson was born in Albany, New York, on January 23. 1884, the son of William J. and Katherine (Grogan) Wilson. The elder Mr. Wilson, also a
Mange W. liedroth.
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native of Albany, was associated with the Kennedy- Murphy Brewing Company of Troy.
Robert E. Wilson was educated in Albany's grade schools, the Christian Brothers Academy there and finally in the Albany Normal School. From 1908 to 1919, he was manager of the Foreign Exchange De- partment of the Empire Trust Company in New York City. When he resigned from that post, he became a foreign exchange broker, operating from his own offices, in New York City. In 1925, he returned to the banking business as vice president of the Penn Exchange Bank of New York, a position he held for two years. From 1927 to 1931 he was executive vice president of the Midtown Bank of New York. In 1932 he became vice president of the Osborne Trust Company in East Hampton. Eleven years later he was promoted to the presidency.
Mr. Wilson married (first) Catherine O'Brien in 1906, and their children were: I. Robert E. Wilson Jr., born October 28, 1907. He served in the United States Navy in World War II, enlisting in 1941, and was discharged in 1945 as a boatswain's mate, first class. Most of the period was spent in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He married Helen Schellinger of Amangansett. 2. Mary E., born in 1910; her death occurred in 1945. 3. Katherine B. was born in 1913 and she married David Dakers, of East Hampton. Catherine (O'Brien) Wilson passed away in 1920. Mr. Wilson married (second) Jane Shriver, daugh- ter of Charles and Margaret (Hobbs) Shriver, in Bos- ton, Massachusetts, in 1922.
OLIN FORREST WARNER-Throughout the United States the name of Warner is associated with Long Island duck, for the Warner family has been breeding this fowl for food since the middle 1800s. Hollis Warner is the world's largest duck raiser, Olin Forrest Warner one of the largest. The latter's duck farm is in the village of Calverton, near River- head, and there he produces about sixty thousand ducks a year.
Olin Forrest Warner was born in Baiting Hollow, in the town of Riverhead, on November 27, 1904, the son of John Benjamin and Carrie (Terry) Warner, the former a native of Baiting Hollow, the latter of Pe- conic. John Benjamin Warner, one of Suffolk County's leading citizens, was an important duck breeder, as well as active in a variety of other fields.
Olin Warner was educated in the elementary and high schools of Riverhead. For a few years, until his father's death in 1920, he worked with his father on the family farm, which was then at Aquebogue. From 1923 to 1933, Mr. Warner was employed by his brother, J. Wesley Warner, in the duck business at Aquebogue. In 1933 Olin Warner purchased the duck farm of Porter Howell, in the village of Calverton, where he has since expanded the activities to a sixty-thousand-a-year production. Mr. Warner is ac- tive in the Suffolk County Farm Bureau and the Long Island Duck Association.
He married Agnes King, daughter of George and Sadie (Rowan) King, in Brooklyn on November 16, 1929. They are the parents of two children: Gloria Agnes, born in Riverhead November 13, 1930, and Olin F., Jr., born in Riverhead May 7, 1935. Gloria was one of the ten honor students in her graduating class of 1948 and has entered the Lasell Junior College at Auburndale, Massachusetts; she then ex- pects to enter the nursing profession. Mrs. Warner is a member of the Riverhead Chapter, No. 399, Order of the Eastern Star and of the Home Bureau.
GROVER A. SILLIMAN, M.D .- One of best- known and most highly-regarded members of the niedical profession in Suffolk County and indeed in all Long Island, who had been called into public service to fill the office of coroner, the late Dr. Grover A. Silliman was a native of up-state New York, having been born at Westford on November 21, 1890. His parents, Harrison L. and Sally Ann (Whiting) Silli- man, were both natives of Otsego County. Harrison L. Silliman, was for many years a railroad bridge builder, and served with the Delaware and Hudson Railroad in that capacity for many years. The young Grover A. Silliman received his early education in Oneonta, the county seat of that county, where he graduated from high school. His ambition from an early age was set upon a career in medicine, and his premedical and medical studies were pursued at the University of Maryland, which conferred the degree of Doctor of Medicine upon him in 1913.
Dr. Silliman's period of internship was passed at St. Vincent's Infant's Asylum and Maternity Hospital and at The Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore. Returning to his native state, he established a prac- tice at Delhi in Delaware County, in 1914, and there he continued until 1925. During this period our country became involved in World War I, and Dr. Silliman entered the service of the United States Army Medical Corps, in which with the rank of lieutenant, he served from 1917 to 1919, at Base Hos- pital No. 43, located in France.
In 1925 Dr. Silliman established practice in Say- ville, Suffolk County. He was a staff member and a former president of the Southside Hospital at Bay Shore, Suffolk County, and he served as secretary and treasurer of the medical staff of this institution. He was also on the obstetrical and pathological staffs of the Southside Hospital. In addition he was a con- sultant of the Central Islip State Hospital, and a member of the courtesy staff of the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital located at Port Jefferson, both of these being Suffolk County institutions.
Prior to coming to Long Island from Delaware County, Dr. Silliman served as coroner of that county for six years. He was also health officer in Delaware County, and superintendent of the Delaware County Sanitarium. It was in 1928 that he was first elected to the office of coroner of Suffolk County, and since then had been re-elected six times.
For more than fifteen years Dr. Silliman served as treasurer of the Suffolk County Medical Society, and his memberships in the American Medical Asso- ciation and in the New York State Medical Society began more than thirty years ago. He was for- merly the president of the Southside Clinical Society. Apart from his professional affiliations, Dr. Silliman was active and prominent in the civic affairs of Say- ville and in the political circles of the Republican party in Suffolk County. He was a charter member of the Timber Point Republican Club, a prominent political organization in that county; a charter mem- ber of the Sayville Rotary Club, and was its first presi- dent. He was also a member, and former president, of the St. Ann's Men's Club of Sayville. The Ameri- can Legion he joined during his Delaware County days, and he was the first commander of the Delhi Post of that organization. In 1922 he held the office of New York State Adjutant of the American Legion. After coming to Sayville, he had been a member of the Legion Post in that village. His religious affilia- tion with the Episcopal Church in Sayville and he was a member of the Patchogue Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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At Sayville, Suffolk County, Grover A. Silliman was married in October, 1916, to Ada Herring of that village, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Stringer) Herring. The children of this marriage are: I. Grover A., Jr., who was born at Delhi, Dela- ware County, New York, in 1920. Brought to Long Island in childhood, he graduated from the Sayville High School, and subsequently from the Stevens In- stitute of Technology at Hoboken, New Jersey. Dur- ing World War II Grover A. Silliman, Jr., answered the call to the colors by enlisting in the United States Naval Reserve, in which, holding the rank of lieutenant junior grade, he served in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Lieutenant Silliman is now associated with the Sperry Gyroscope Company at Lake Success. 2. Arthur Cutler, born at Delhi, New York, in 1922. His schooling also was had in Sayville after the family moved thither, and he is a graduate of the Sayville High School. When our country entered World War II he enlisted in the United States Navy while in his second year at Northwestern Uni- versity, Evanston, Illinois, attaining the rank of en- sign. He was in service from 1942 to 1946, and follow- ing his honorable discharge, he resumed his studies at Northwestern and graduated and at present is assistant professor of music at Ashland College, Ashland, Ohio. 3. Sally Ann, born at the Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, Suffolk County, New York, in 1930. She is a graduate of the Sayville High School, and is now attending Western College at Oxford, Ohio.
Dr. Silliman died in Sayville, April 27, 1948.
JOHN MERCIER GREENE-A popular member of the professional coterie of Sayville, John Mercier Greene has been practicing law in this community in Suffolk County since his admission to the New York bar in 1933. He is a native of Sayville, born October 6, 1906, son of Ralph C. and Odessa (Mercier) Greene. His mother came originally from New Or- leans, Louisiana, while the father was also born in Sayville.
John Mercier Greene was prepared for higher edu- cation in the Flushing High School, from which he was graduated. Matriculating at the University of Pennsylvania, he took the degree of Bachelor of Science, with the class of 1928. Entering the Harvard Law School, he was graduated a Bachelor of Laws in 1932, and during the following year was admitted to the bar in New York State, and has since been asso- ciated with his father in a general practice of his profession with offices in Sayville, Suffolk County. He is an associate attorney for the New York State Tax Commission, Transfer and Inheritance Tax Divi- sion and assigned to Suffolk County, and is a member of the zoning board of appeals of the town of Islip. He has on numerous occasions represented the town of Islip and county of Suffolk and has been in charge of the town and county legal work in connection with MacArthur Airport, north of Sayville.
The father of Mr. Greene, Ralph C. Greene, was a graduate from Columbia University, and has been engaged in professional activities in Sayville since 1898. He was at one time district attorney of Suffolk County, was a former United States attorney, Eastern District of New York, and is affiliated with the Con- netquot Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Sayville. John M. Greene is a member of the board of governors of the Suffolk County Republican Club, Inc .. at Timber Point. and a member of the New York State and Suffolk County bar associations. One of his clubs is the Harvard Club of New York, and he
figures prominently in the Sayville Rotary Club. He attends the Eposcopal Church.
At New York City, on September 26, 1936, John Mercier Greene married Mrs. Kathryne Freess Van Sicklen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Freess of Flushing. Mrs. Greene takes a keen interest in civic affairs, and is a former president of Bayport Auxiliary of the Southside Hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Greene are the parents of one daughter: Marilyn, born July 4, 1937, at John Mather Memorial Hospital, Port Jefferson. Mrs. Greene has a daughter, Barbara, by a former marriage.
HARRY PAUL FISHEL-Since 1911, Harry Paul Fishel has been an exceptionally active attorney prac- ticing his profession in Babylon. He is a native of this town and with the exception of his technical studies in New York City, has been a lifelong resi- dent. Born here on May 9, 1889, he is the son of Gustav and Elsie (Ketcham) Fishel, his father being a business man of Babylon. He later retired and be- came associated with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York City. The elder man was born in New York City; the mother came originally from Amityville.
After attending the grade and high schools of Babylon, Harry Paul Fishel entered the law school of New York University, where he was graduated with the class of 1909, a Bachelor of Laws. He re- mained with his alma mater to take the degree of Master of Laws, a year later, in the meanwhile acquiring a great deal of legal experience and knowl- edge by specialized work. After being duly admitted to the bar of New York, he initiated a general prac- tice of his profession in Babylon. At first he was associated with Frederic J. Wood, but in 1919 this partnership was dissolved, and soon after the firm of Fishel and Oliver was established. One of the asso- ciates of the firm after 1920 until his death in 1926, was Willard P. Reid. Fishel, Oliver and Barnard was formed about 1930, and continued until Mr. Barnard's death in 1939. The firm is now Fishel, Oliver and Underwood, engaged in a general practice of law.
Mr. Fishel is a Democrat in political party affilia- tions, but without ambitions for public office. He is a member of the board of directors of the Babylon Na- tional Bank and Trust Company; is a member of the Suffolk County and New York State bar associations, and of the Babylon Yacht Club. As may well be inferred, Mr. Fishel is a sportsman, likes the water sports, plays golf and does some fishing when oppor- tunity and time permit. He is a past master and member of Babylon Lodge, No. 793, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; member of the Penataquit Chapter, No. 309, Royal Arch Masons; and Sampawans Lodge, Bay Shore, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A. member of Christ's Episcopal Church, he serves his church as senior warden.
On September 12, 1916, Harry Paul Fishel mar- ried Loreign C. Kitching, of New York City, and they are the parents of a son, Laurence Paul, born October 16, 1922, now a student at Brown University. He served in World War II with the United States Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He is a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
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