USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 55
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 55
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ALBERT W. CONKLIN-As a young man Albert W. Conklin engaged in several lines of work before finding in the ice business the key to a successful career which has made him one of the leading busi- nessmen of Riverhead, Suffolk County.
Born at Lakeville in Nassau County on April 22,
4 . Greent
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1883, Albert W. is a son of J. W. and Margaret (Van Nostrand) Conklin. After attending public schools in Lakeville and Bridgehampton, he took his first employment with Fahy's Watch Case Factory at Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, where he remained three years. He then followed the silver smelting trade for two years, after which he became general assistant at the Long Island Rail Road station in Southold. In 1901 he came to Riverhead, and from 1901 to 1904 he was employed with the Corwin and Vail Lumber Company, driving a lumber wagon and acting as yard foreman.
Subsequently Mr. Conklin became associated with his father-in-law, the late W. H. Sweezy in the latter's haberdashery and tailoring business, which dealt in both men's and women's clothing, at River- head. This remained his occupation until 1918. In that year Mr. Conklin bought the ice plant in River- head from Welz and Zerweck, which he operated with great success until April, 1930. Later in that year the Long Island Ice Corporation was formed with Mr. Conklin as president, a position which he has continued to hold since that time. His business interests also extend to the Eastern Oil and Gas Cor- poration, of which he is president and a member of the board of directors; the Suffolk County National Bank, of which he is a director and member of the finance committee and "The Riverhead News," of which he is a director.
Mr. Conklin's business and civic interests include the Riverhead Rotary Club, of which he is an active member, and the Riverhead Hotel Association, which he serves as secretary. His fraternal connections are with Riverhead Lodge No. 645 of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His favorite recreation is golf, and his favorite course is that of the Southampton Golf Club of Southampton, to which he belongs.
Albert W. Conklin on February 14, 1905, married Jennie C. Sweezy, a daughter of William H. and Elizabeth (Vail) Sweezy, who were married in and reside in Riverhead. The children of Albert W. and Jennie C. (Sweezy) Conklin are: I. William Sweezy, who was born at Riverhead on May 31, 1906. After attending the Riverhead High School, he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, from which he graduated with the class of 1930, receiving the degree of Me- chanical Engineer. He is associated with his father in the ice business. William Sweezy Conklin is the father of two children, namely Barbara and William, Jr. 2. Duane Van Nostrand, born at Riverhead on March 31, 1908. He attended school at Riverhead and also Blair Academy at Blairstown, New Jersey; he married Helen Laux of Mount Vernon, New York, and they have one child, William. 3. Eleanor, born at Riverhead on May 23, 1915, graduated from Skid- more College. On May 30, 1940, she was married to William J. McGraw, with whom she now resides at Morristown, New Jersey, and by whom she is the mother of one child, Jane Elizabeth.
AUSTIN FELLOWS KNOWLES and GEORGE BROWN KNOWLES-The Austin F. Knowles Funeral Home in Port Washington, known through- out Long Island, was established by the mortician whose name it bears in June, 1905. In 1932 the found- er's son, George Brown Knowles, became associated with him in the operation of the home. Together, father and son have extended the reputation of the business and each, in the meantime, has become im- portant in the community through a variety of in-
terests unrelated to their business. Both have long been volunteer firemen, both are war veterans, the father of the Spanish-American War, the son of World War II. Both are active in a host of clubs and fraternal organizations.
Austin Fellows Knowles, the father, was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on May 27, 1875, the son of Austin Fellows and Mary Martha (Angus) Knowles. The first Austin F. Knowles, a native of Pennsyl- vania, was superintendent of the Elizabeth General Hospital and president of the board of directors of the Evergreen Cemetery at Elizabeth. Mary Martha (An- gus) Knowles was a native of Mexico City.
The future mortician, after receiving his preliminary education in the public schools, was engaged in various lines of work until he entered the Renouard Training School for Embalmers in New York City. From this he was graduated in August, 1905. He had, how- ever, in the previous June already established the Austin F. Knowles Funeral Home in Port Wash- ington. Prospering, he moved to the present site of the home in 1907, two years later. The present modern building was constructed in 1932. It is located at 128 Main Street.
Mr. Knowles is a member of the board of directors of the Port Washington Building and Loan Associa- tion and of the zoning board of the town of North Hempstead. He is treasurer of the Metropolitan Funeral Directors Association of New York City. Also, he is a member of the Spanish-American War Veterans at Mineola, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Grand Jurors Association, the Atlantic Hook and Ladder Company, the Lions Club, of Port Washington, Port Washington Lodge, No. 1010, Free and Accepted Masons, Stromness Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, the Manhasset Glee Club and the Port Washington Yacht Club.
Mr. Knowles married Florence May Brown in Port Washington on June 17, 1907. Mrs. Knowles, daughter of George G. and Fanny (Taylor) Brown, was born on November 14, 1878. Her father, born in Finland on December 29, 1839, served in the Union Navy in the Civil War as a gun captain under Admiral Farragut. He settled in Port Washington with his family in 1884.
George Brown Knowles is the only son of Florence and Austin Knowles. He was born in Port Washing- ton on May 21, 1913. His early education took place in the elementary and high schools of Port Washing- ton. Afterward, he attended New York University, from which he was graduated in 1938 with the degree of Bachelor of Commercial Science. In 1936, he graduated from the Cincinnati College of Embalming.
George Knowles joined his father in the manage- ment of the Austin F. Knowles Funeral Home in 1932. Since 1938, he has given a day each week as an instructor in funeral management and embalming in the New York School of Embalming and Restora- tive Art. Mr. Knowles enlisted as a private in the United States Army in April, 1942. When he was discharged after the end of World War II, he was a lieutenant of ordnance. His father had been a quar- termaster sergeant with Company C, Third Regiment of the New Jersey Volunteers in the war with Spain.
George Knowles is also a member of the Atlantic Hook and Ladder Company. In addition, he is a captain of Fire Police at Port Washington. He is past noble grand of the Seawanhaka Lodge, No. 670, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, past district deputy grand master of Nassau District, No. I, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and is organist of
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Port Washington Lodge, No. 1010, Free and Accepted Masons; Stromness Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Trinity Commandery, No. 68, Knights Templar. He is also in the American Legion, the Military Order of World Wars, the Heroes of '76, the National So- journers, the Port Washington Yacht Club and the Manhasset Glee Club. The Knowles family attends the Methodist Church. Father and son are world travelers by avocation.
George Brown Knowles and Martha Burtis Mon- fort, daughter of Burtis Hegeman Monfort, Sr., and Maude Edna Hyde, both lifelong residents of Port Washington, were married in Port Washington on June 21, 1941. She was born on January 10, 1919, and is a graduate of the Harriett Melissa Mills School for Kindergarten Teachers in New York City. They have three children: Katherine Karen, born December 17, 1942, in Port Washington, Mary Martha, born September 6, 1944, and Judith Ann, born August 7, 1947 in the Mineola Hospital.
CHARLES W. GATZ-One of the younger Long Island attorneys, for whom a brilliant career at the bar may be predicted because of his sound legal education and his natural abilities, is Charles W. Gatz, of Riverhead.
Born on Sound Avenue in Riverhead in the year 1918, Charles W. is a son of Joseph and Lenora (Wienewski) Gatz. Joseph Gatz has owned produc- tive and prosperous farmns in the famous Sound Avenue section of Riverhead for more than thirty-five years. The young Charles W. Gatz attended the Don Bosco Preparatory School at Ramsey, New Jersey, after which he entered Manhattan College in New York City. From this institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1942. He had deter- mined on a career at the bar, and to this end he studied at the Fordham University School of Law in New York City, and took his Bachelor of Laws de- gree upon graduation from that school with the class of 1944.
Mr. Gatz was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court, Second Department of the State of New York, in October, 1945. He is now engaged in the general practice of his profession in Riverhead and through- out Suffolk County. He was also admitted to prac- tice before the Federal Courts.
Two of Mr. Gatz' brothers saw active service in the armed forces of the United States during World War II. Edward Gatz was a member of the United States Marine Corps, with which he served through four major campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Opera- tions. John Gatz as an enlisted member of the United States Army took part in the great invasion of Normandy which brought the war in Europe into its final stage leading to the defeat of the Nazi enemy.
Charles W. Gatz is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association and is affiliated with the Delta Theta Phi law fraternity. He was a charter member of the Riverhead Lions Club and is a member of the Sound Avenue Grange, Riverhead Athletic Association, Jamsport Athletic Club, Republican party, Timber Point Republican Club, Riverhead Republican Club, Jamesport Republican Club and a committeeman there, Riverhead Polish Independent Club, St. Isa- dore's Holy Name Society, and served in 1947 as chair- man of the Riverhead town Red Cross Drive. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, Polish Na- tional Alliance, and served on the committee for the American Relief for Poland. He is a Roman Catholic
in religion, and a communicant of St. Isadore's Church.
At Bayonne, New Jersey, on October 27, 1945, Charles W. Gatz married Agnes Merkowsky, a daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Merkowsky, of that city.
F. BURTON PHANNEMILLER-A pharmicist by profession, F. Burton Phannemiller owns and operates The Rexall Store, one of Amityville's lead- ing pharmacies. He is known throughout Suffolk County not only through this business but also through his activities in various bodies of the Ma- sonic order and Lions International.
Mr. Phannemiller was born in Patchogue on May 29, 1901, the son of Edward and Lillian (Upton) Phannemiller. The elder Mr. Phannemiller, born at Patchogue, is a lace weaver. The mother, a native of New York city, died in 1939 and was buried at Patchogue.
The pharmacist was educated in the Patchogue High School and at Columbia College of Pharmacy. From the latter he received the degree of Graduate in Pharmacy in 1923. Even before he went to Co- lumbia, Mr. Phannemiller had begun training in his profession. In 1919, he became an apprentice pharm- acist under Nelson McBride of Patchogue.
He continued with Mr. McBride through 1925. Then he accepted employment as a pharmacist in Northport and Amityville. In 1943, Mr. Phanne- miller purchased his present business. This was formerly known as Albertson's Pharmacy and was established in 1898. Affiliating himself with the great national Rexall chain without giving up autonomy of ownership, management or policy. it is known as Phannemiller's Pharmacy.
Mr. Phannemiller is a member of Amityville Lodge No. 977, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; the Rockville Center Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, in which he holds the thirty-second degree, and of the Lions Club of Amityville, of which he was second vice president and a director, Also, he is a member of Kappa Psi, the graduate chapter of Co- lumbia College of Pharmacy. He is an Episcopalian.
Mr. Phannemiller married Marion Egelund of Amityville in that community on May 10, 1936. She is a daughter of Oscar and Louise (Pearsall) Egelund. The Pearsalls are an old Long Island family. Mr. and Mrs. Phannemiller have two children, Eloise Alice, born August 25, 1940, and Burton Edward, born February 19, 1944.
NELSON TERRILL DICKINSON-A veteran of World War II, Nelson Terrill Dickinson is now an attorney in his native Suffolk County, with offices at the county seat, Riverhead.
Mr. Dickinson was born at Southold, on November 6, 1917, the son of John Edward Dickinson, a real estate broker, and Blanche (Terrill) Dickinson. He was educated first in the Southold Grammar and High schools. Afterwards, he attended Columbia College, Columbia University, from which he re- ceived the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1937, and the Brooklyn Law School, which awarded him the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1940.
Admitted to the New York State bar in 1941, Mr. Dickinson practiced his profession in Riverhead until called to the service. He entered the United States Army in April, 1942, serving until January, 1946. Since his discharge he has been back in practice. He main-
Charles W. Satz
Viola L. C. Billings
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tains his offices in the Perkins Building on Main Street, Riverhead.
Mr. Dickinson is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association, the Columbia University Club and the East End Surf Club. A Republican, he is active in the Suffolk County Timber Point Club. With his family he worships at the Methodist Episcopal Church of Bay Shore.
Mr. Dickinson and Thelma DeFriest, daughter of Irad B. and Elizabeth G. DeFriest, were married on May 18, 1943, the ceremony being performed in the Bay Shore church. They have become the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth Blanche, born in' New York City on November 30, 1946.
WILLIAM J. LEONARD-In two vital ways William J. Leonard is serving his native community, Riverhead, and Suffolk County in general. He is justice of the peace as well as an operator of the Leonard Funeral Home. He is a leader both in the Republican party and the Knights of Columbus.
Justice Leonard was born in Riverhead on August 24, 1909, the son of William H. and Johanna (Hav- ronek) Leonard. His father, a native of Farmingdale, was a railroadman for forty-six years. The future member of the judiciary received his early education in the public schools of Riverhead. While he was at the Riverhead High School, from which he was grad- uated, he was an outstanding athlete. To prepare him- self for the funeral business, he studied at the Ren- ouard School of Embalming, New York City, from which he was graduated in 1938. After considerable experience in the employ of other funeral homes, Jus- tice Leonard established his own in Riverhead-at 246 West Main Street-in October, 1941. The direct- orship he gave it soon put it in the forefront in the community. On April 1, 1947, Mr. Frank B. Rogers joined Mr. Leonard, and the firm is now Leonard and Rogers with a branch at Cutchogue.
In the fall of 1941, he entered the political field in Riverhead and in the fall of 1942 he was elected justice of the peace on the Republican ticket. The term was then three years. In the fall of 1945 he was re-elected to the bench, this time for a four-year term. Justice Leonard is vice president of the River- head Republican Club and Grand Knight of the River- head Chapter, No. 928, of the Knights of Columbus. He is also a member of the Holy Name Society, the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and is a communicant of the Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Evangelist. His recreations are bowl- ing, golf and fishing.
On November 15. 1934, William J. Leonard and Alice Bobinski, of Riverhead, were married in that community. Mrs. Leonard is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Maxim Bobinski. Two children have been born to Justice and Mrs. Leonard-William, Jr. on June 7, 1942, and Sharon Ann, on May 26, 1945.
VIOLA C. BILLINGS-One of the first women in this part of the country to be elected to a highly responsible executive position in a financial institu- tion, Mrs. Viola C. Billings, president of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hempstead, Nassau County, is ranked among the outstanding personalities in the constructive development of mod- ern suburban Long Island, and enjoys the ungrudging respect of the masculine majority in real estate and banking circles.
Born in Redwood, Jefferson County, New York, Mrs. Billings is a daughter of the late William H. and the late Harriet (La Croix) Courtenay. William H. Courtenay was a native of Cornwall, England, where he was born on December 31, 1831. After serving in the British Army during the Crimean War and in India, he came to the United States in the post-Civil War days, and lived to be ninety years of age. His wife, Mrs. Billings' mother, was born in Pulaski, New York. Mrs. Billings attended public school in her native place and in Watertown, New York. At that time teaching was almost the only profession open to a young woman, and Mrs. Billings taught school in Jefferson County for two years. But, conscious of a talent for business, she took a course in the Northern Business College at Water- town, and resolutely set out to achieve a business career.
Mrs. Billings was associated with the educational department of the Westinghouse Electric and Manu- facturing Company at East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for one year, and with the National Builders Supply Association at Indianapolis, Indiana, for several years, before coming to Hempstead in 1924. In 1930 she be- came associated with the Hempstead Co-operative Building and Loan Association, which is now the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hempstead. Within one year she became secretary and a member of the board of directors of this institution; a few years later she was promoted to the position of execu- tive vice president, and in 1945 she was elected to the presidency.
In a newspaper article, Mrs. Billings points out that, considering the First Federal Savings and Loan Association as the continuation of the Hempstead Co-operative Building and Loan Association, it is one of the oldest financial institutions in Hempstead, dating back more than half a century, having been organized in 1889 by a group of prominent citizens under the leadership of Eben Kellum, who became its first president. Other officers were George W. Earle, vice president; C. W. Hanford, secretary; and Bergen R. Carman, treasurer. Members of the first board of trustees were Lewis H. Clowes, Floyd Weekes, J. K. Gittens, William F. Weekes, Alonzo M. Onder- donk, Henry Agnew. Henry S. Starr, Lott Van de Water, Junior, William Gittens, John S. Nichols, John D. Fish, H. F. Denton, J. W. B. Van de Water and Charles F. De Mott.
Starting in business only fifty-eight years after the organization of The Oxford Provident Building As- sociation of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, which was the first building and loan association in the United States, the Hempstead group at first did busi- ness in a one-room office with office hours from seven-thirty to nine-thirty o'clock only one night a week, to receive the dues of members. Each member was entitled, for each share held in the association, to a loan of $240 from the organization's funds. The board of trustees from time to time as sufficient funds were accumulated, determined when one or more loans could be made or sold. Notice of such sale was posted in the meeting room at least three weeks before the day of sale, and sale was by auction, the loan going to the member who bid the highest premium per month per share. It was the duty of two trustees, chosen in rotation, to attend each weekly meeting to assist the secretary, and any trustee fail- ing to meet this obligation for any reason other than sickness was fined thirty cents. The board of man- agement met each month under strict rules of de-
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corum, and there was an annual meeting of members at which "all females and also members residing more than two miles from the place of meeting, might vote by proxy."
All savings and loan or building and loan associa- tions, Mrs. Billings points out, operate with two co-ordinated purposes. First, they provide a safe place for the savings of the community in which they are located, and second, they reinvest these sav- ings in first mortgages, thus providing credit to the community with which to build or purchase its homes.
In 1934 the Hempstead Co-operative Building and Loan Association applied for and received a Federal charter. As the First Federal Savings and Loan As- sociation of Hempstead, its savings accounts up to $5,000 for any individual are insured by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation of Wash- ington, D. C., an agency of the United States gov- ernment established by act of Congress. In 1937 the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hemp- stead moved into its own specially constructed prem- ises at 196 Fulton Avenue. This institution since that time has grown rapidly, until it is now one of the largest savings and loan associations in Nassau and Suffolk, Long Island's two non-metropolitan counties, and commands assets of over $12,500,000. For some years prior to August, 1945, the late Dr. Francis P. Hamlet was president of this flourishing institution, and it was at his death in that month that Mrs. Viola C. Billings was chosen in his place. Under her guidance the association continues to grow, and will realize to the full the opportunities for service presented to such organizations by the post-war de- mand for increased housing facilities.
In June, 1944, Mrs. Billings was elected president of the New York State League of Savings and Loan Associations and served for two years. She is active in business and civic circles in her community, and has in the past served as treasurer of the Hempstead Association of Commerce and as treasurer of the Hempstead Women's Club. She is of the Episcopal religion and is a communicant of St. George's Church. Her political affiliation is with the Republican party. She has two hobbies, namely gardening and interior decorating. Mrs. Billings now makes her home with her daughter, Miss Joan C. Billings, at Cricket Hill in East Meadow.
BENJAMIN F. POWELL-As one of the lead- ing funeral directors of Amityville, Benjamin F. Powell has gained an excellent reputation in his pro- fession through dignity and refinement of service.
Mr. Powell was born February 19, 1890, at Amity- ville, Long Island, New York, son of Frederick B. and Delia (Kissam) Powell. The Powell family has long been a prominent one on Long Island. Thomas Powell, grandfather of Benjamin Powell, was a na- tive of Farmingdale. His son, Frederick B. Powell, father of Benjamin F. Powell, was born on a farm near Amityville, followed farming as an occupation, and, in 1902, served as postmaster of Amityville. Interested in community activity, he was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons.
Benjamin F. Powell received his early education in the local schools, and, in 1905, he was graduated from the Amityville High School.
In 1910, Frederick B. Powell, father of Benjamin Powell, in association with Samuel H. Robbins, started the present business, then known as Powell & Robbins. Benjamin F. Powell acquired the Robbins'
interest in 1922 and the name was changed to F. B. Powell and Son. Mr. F. B. Powell died in 1934, but the name F. B. Powell and Son is still used.
Mr. Powell takes an active interest in many phases of community life. He is vice president and a di- rector of the Bank of Amityville. A prominent Re- publican, he is a trustee of the Village of Amityville. He holds directorships in the Lions Club of Amity- ville and the Rotary Club of Amityville. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, being affiliated with Lodge No. 977 at Amityville, and is a past grand sword bearer. In religious affiliation he is a Methodist and attends the First Methodist Church of Amityville.
On October 26, 1918, Benjamin F. Powell married Mary L. Ketcham, daughter of Delancey and Susan J. Ketcham. Mrs. Powell is a former matron of the Order of Eastern Star.
CONVAS LANE MARKHAM, M.D .- For more than forty years prominent in the medical profession of Amityville, and of Suffolk County, Dr. Convas Lane Markham has rendered eminent service to these communities in maintaining the health and well-being of the people of Long Island.
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