Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 68

Author: Bailey, Paul, 1885-1962, editor
Publication date: 1949
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 922

USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 68
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 68

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MALCOLM ACKERLY ROGERS-After twenty- seven years in the banking business, Malcolm A. Rogers opened at Southampton, in July, 1947, a store dealing in stationery and sporting goods.

Mr. Rogers was born at Stony Brook, Suffolk County, New York, July 23, 1903, the son of Gilbert Woodhull and Phebe (Ackerly) Rogers. His father was born at Northport, Suffolk County. Malcolm Rogers attended public schools at Stony Brook and became a clerk in the First National Bank at Freeport, Long Island, leaving that post to be assistant cashier for the Peoples State Bank at Baldwin. From 1933 to 1947 he served as cashier of the Bank of Malverne, which post he relinquished to establish his store.

On September 8, 1935, Mr. Rogers married Marie G. Dohl of Freeport, daughter of Frederick and Sophie (Schriefer) Dohl. Mr. Rogers is the father of three children: 1. Cole, a son by a previous marriage, born September 23, 1927, was a private first class in the

Harry J. Julles

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Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater. 2. Malcolm A., Jr., born September 23, 1936, at Hempstead, attends Southampton Junior High School. 3. Frederick L., born January 18, 1939, at Freeport.

GEORGE H. DENSING for years was known throughout Suffolk County as a printer, especially for newspapers, and as an active Republican. Today, after repeatedly being elected to the office, he is clerk of the town of Southampton. A veteran of World War I, he is active also in the American Legion, as well as in Free Masonry.

Mr. Densing was born at Bayport on January 26, 1891, the son of Henry and Katherine (Habermann) Densing. His father, a gardener, was also a native of Bayport. His mother was born in Holbrook, another Suffolk County community.

George H. Densing attended the elementary and high schools of Bayport, after which he served an apprenticeship in the printing trade under Francis Hoag in the "Suffolk County News," at Sayville. Sub- sequently he worked with the Patchogue "Advance," and in 1909 he went to the Sag Harbor Press as fore- man of the composing room. Four years later he left the Sag Harbor paper to become associated with the Hampton Publishing Company at Bridgehampton. In 1917, he enlisted in the United States Navy for service in World War I. Given the rating of printer first class, he was stationed at the submarine base at New London, Connecticut. Upon his discharge in 1919, he became New England representative of the Alvin Silver Company of New York.

Through the years Mr. Densing maintained his resi- dence in Suffolk County and his activity in the Re- publican party. On June 1, 1932, he was appointed to fill an unexpired term as town clerk of the town of Southampton. Since 1933 he has held the office by election and re-election. He is a member of the American Legion and of the Sag Harbor Lodge, No. 437, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is also past master. Since 1918 Mr. Densing has been a vestryman of Christ Episcopal Church at Sag Harbor. His diversions are golf, fishing and gardening.

In 1914 at Sag Harbor Mr. Densing married Eleanor G. Glaessner, daughter of Frederick and Mary (Fordham) Glaessner.

HARRY M. KETCHAM-When he was barely half-way through his teens, Harry M. Ketcham began working in the building and construction field, and after nearly forty-five years he is still actively asso- ciated with that industry. To any man who delights in constructive achievements, these forty-five years have been an exciting period in the history of Long Island, for they have seen the transformation of its broad agricultural acres and its quiet little fishing villages into the world's greatest and most beautiful suburban area, a populous region of lovely homes and of bustling, modern communities. The Nassau Suffolk Lumber and Supply Corporation has had a great and important part in this development, together with its constituent companies and branches, and for something like twenty years Harry M. Ketcham has played an important role in the Nassau Suffolk Lumber and Supply Corporation.

The Ketchams have been associated with Long Island life for several generations. The late Stephen Ketcham, grandfather of Harry M., was captain of the Jones Beach life saving station for thirty-five years. His son, Jesse Ketcham, was born in Amityville and was long connected with the coast guard. Jesse Ketcham married Harriett Adams, and to them the

son they named Harry M. was born at Amityville, Suffolk County, on November 13, 1886. His formal education was obtained in the public schools of his birth place, but as early as 1903 he took employment as a store keeper with the firm of S. Peirson and Sons, contractors, who were then building the Penn- sylvania Railroad tunnel.

After remaining with the Peirson concern until 1909, Harry M. Ketcham became associated with the Wood Lumber Company in his home town of Amity- ville as a bookkeeper and later vice president and a director, and with this firm he remained until it was merged into the Nassau Suffolk Lumber Company in 1928. At that time the officers of Nassau Suffolk were H. H. Tinkham (now deceased), president; Stanley M. Cox and Harry M. Ketcham, vice presidents; Walter R. Pettit, secretary; and Benjamin Downing, treas- urer. W. Harold Van Tuyle was also an officer. At this writing the president of the corporation is Stanley M. Cox; Mr. Ketcham is vice president, Walter R. Pettit is treasurer, and W. Harold Van Tuyle is secretary.

With executive offices at Amityville, where all purchasing, bookkeeping, credit and collection work is done, the Nassau Suffolk Lumber and Supply Company boasts of ten yards located at strategic points on Long Island, from which all parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties can be completely and speedily serviced. In a set-up that might seem complicated only to the outside observer, these branches continue in some cases to bear individual company names. Thus the Amityville and Lindenhurst yards, which are particularly under the eye of Harry M. Ketcham, are still known as the Wood Lumber Company. The largest unit of Nassau Suffolk is known as A. S. Pettit and Sons and is located at Huntington. The century-old Hicks Lumber Company is the Nassau Suffolk affiliate at Roslyn; the Cox and Van Tuyl unit is at Wantagh; in the aristocratic estates section of Locust Valley, catering to customers who are listed among the "Who's Who" of business and so- ciety, is the unit known as Downing Brothers, Inc., under the direction of Ellis J. Seaman; the F. G. Booth Lumber Company is located in Smithtown, where for many years it has been one of the lead- ing business enterprises; and the Corwin and Vail Lumber Company, founded in 1860, represents Nassau Suffolk in Riverhead. There are also yards in West- bury and Brentwood, known by the corporation's own name.

The Nassau Suffolk Lumber and Supply Corpora- tion has long maintained a large fleet of fast trucks for the prompt and efficient delivery of material throughout its territory, and already some years ago it could boast that the mileage covered by these trucks in a single year was approximately equal to twenty-five times around the earth. The corpora- tion handles not only lumber but also millwork, paint, wallboard, roofing and siding, furnaces, refrig- erators, coal, seeds and other supplies, all in care- fully selected lines. The operating set-up is depart- mentalized into yard control, treasurer's, merchandis- ing, heavy construction, hardware and paint, and mill- work departments, and at the head of each division is a manager of experience, energy, vision, and particular knowledge of the requirements of the construction business in Long Island. By means of a subsidiary unit known as the Housing Guild, Nassau Suffolk maintains not only a consulting service for home builders, but also arranges for prospective home owners to finance construction on mortgage arrange- ments with one of the Federal Savings and Loan Associations, with which Nassau Suffolk officers are

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closely connected. Moreover, Nassau Suffolk's own associated company, the. Lumber Security Corpora- tion, is available for minor financing when additions are to be built or repairs made. Thus this very modern and forward-looking concern is in a position to extend assistance and expert guidance at every step to the home builders who continue to crowd into the health-giving countryside and seashore of breeze- swept Long Island.

Harry M. Ketcham's interests extend to the banking field also, and he sits on the boards of directors of the Bank of Amityville and the Bank of Farmingdale. Out of business hours Mr. Ketcham finds much in- terest in Masonic affairs. May 13, 1908, he became affiliated with Babylon Lodge No. 793 of the Free and Accepted Masons, and in 1919 he was instru- mental in forming the Bethpage Lodge, No. 975, at Farmingdale, and of this lodge he served as the first master. In 1924 he was appointed district deputy grand master of the Nassau District, and he is now serving in the grand lodge. He also belongs to the Freeport Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons and is a life member of the Scottish Rite Masons at Rockville Centre. He also holds membership in the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, his Temple being Kismet, of the Borough of Brooklyn.

J. AUGUSTUS HILDRETH-Belonging to a family which has long been rooted in the town of Southampton, Suffolk County, J. Augustus Hildreth throughout a long life has been identified with all that is soundest and at the same time most progres- sive in that town and that county. His long incum- bency of the town's most important public office and his ability and integrity in the discharge of his duties, have won him the ungrudging respect of his neigh- bors, who also know him as a successful businessman and banker.

Mr. Hildreth's father, a successful farmer, was a native of Southampton, as was his mother also. In that village J. Augustus Hidreth was born on Octo- ber 4, 1871, the son of J. Augustus and Elizabeth Frances (White) Hildreth. He was educated at the district school of his native place, and at the Cay- uga Lake Military Academy in Aurora, New York. Born to farming, which still flourishes on the rich soil of Suffolk County, Mr. Hildreth, when his formal education was completed, made this his occupation and his business until he entered political and public life with his election in the fall of the year 1929 to the office of supervisor of the town of Southampton. Entering upon his duties in 1930, Mr. Hildreth has filled this responsible position continuously since then with the exception of the years 1934 and 1935.

In those two years Mr. Hildreth was president of the First National Bank of Southampton. His in- terest in this financial institution has continued, and at this time he is chairman of its board of directors.

In politics Mr. Hildreth is a Republican, and a member of the Suffolk County Republican Club, Inc. He belongs to the National Association of County Officials. In local affairs he is affiliated with the Long Island Association, the Southampton Golf Club; is an associate member of the American Legion post in Southampton, and a member of the East End Surf Fishing Club. His fraternal allegiances are to the Old Town Lodge No. 908, at Southampton, of the Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Southam- ton Lodge No. 1574 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religion he is a member of the

Presbyterian Church. His favorite recreations are baseball and football.

J. Augustus Hildreth married Gertrude T. Hallock, a daughter of George and Mary A. (Neuman) Hal- lock, at Southampton, Suffolk County, New York, on November 16, 1896. Mrs. Hildreth is now deceased. The children of this marriage are: I. Elizabeth, who was born at Southampton, graduated from the high school there and subsequently from Smith College at Northampton, Massachusetts, and is now married to Richard Johnson, by whom she is the mother of three children, namely Gertrude Catherine, Mary A. and Laura, all of whom were born at Southampton. Richard Johnson during the Second World War served in the United States Coast Guard, holding the rank of lieutenant commander. 2. Mary, who was born at Southampton, and graduated from the South- ampton high school. Subsequently she attended and graduated from the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and served in World War II as a lieutenant in the WAVES. She is married to Louis Greenfield.

FRANK L. BROPHY-Since he left Patchogue High School in his sixteenth year, Frank L. Brophy has been prominent in the public life of that village. He is now Village Clerk and Receiver of Taxes. He is also a leader in the Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks, of which he was an important exectutive for fifteen years and is active in the Patchogue Volun- teer Fire Department.

Mr. Brophy was born in East Patchogue on Octo- ber 27, 1888, the son of the late Hugh and Ann E. (Rorke) Brophy. His father, a native of the County of Tipperary, Ireland, who came to the United States as a young man, settling first at Greenport, in Suf- folk County, was throughout his life a farmer. He had moved his farm to East Patchogue by the time his son Frank was born. Mrs. Brophy was a native of East Patchogue. Both she and her husband are buried at Patchogue.

When Frank L. Brophy began his education, it was in a little one-room district school at East Pat- chogue. He completed his education at the Patchogue High School, from which he was graduated in 1904.

The next two years he was a clerk for the Pat- chogue Manufacturing Company, now the Patchogue- Plymouth Mills Corporation. From 1906 to 1917, he was a clerk, then a bookkeeper and finally a teller in the Citizens' National Bank of Patchogue. In 1917, he returned to the mills, then still known as the Patchogue Manufacturing Company, and this time remained until 1925. His final position was that of cost accountant in the purchasing department.

Mr. Brophy had, in the intervening years, risen high in the Patchogue Lodge, No. 1323, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1925, he was made full-time paid secretary of that lodge, and this office he held until 1934, relinquishing it to become Village Clerk and Receiver of Taxes of the Village of Pat- chogue.

Mr. Brophy has continued active in the Elks lodge, in which he has held one office or another since 1915. He is also active in the St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church as well as in the volunteer fire de- partment.

Mr. Brophy married in Patchogue in 1923 Marion F. Treuer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Treuer of Mount Vernon, New York.

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JOHN D. HALLOCK-One of the foremost mem- bers of the legal profession in Suffolk County, John D. Hallock is also distinguished by his record of long and able conduct in important public office, and by his activities in civic works, especially in the field of the history not only of his native Suffolk County, but of storied Long Island as a whole.

Born at Riverhead on January 14, 1886, Mr. Hallock is a son of Charles W. and Phoebe Jane (Benja- min) Hallock. His father was a prosperous farmer. Choosing the law as his profession, John D. Hallock was admitted to the bar of the state of New York in June, 1909. From 1926 to 1938 he filled the very im- portant post of clerk of the surrogate's court of Suffolk County, when the late Judge Robert E. Pelle- treau, of Patchogue, was surrogate. Excepting for this period of public service, Mr. Hallock has en- gaged in the general practice of law from 1909 to the present time, serving many important clients and standing high in the respect of his colleagues in the legal profession. He holds membership in the Suffolk County Bar Association, in the New York State Bar Association, and in the American Bar Association.

Apart from his profession, Mr. Hallock's most engrossing study is history. He is now serving as president of the Suffolk County Historical Society, and he is a member of the advisory board of the "History of Two Great Counties," by Paul Bailey.

In 1913 John D. Hallock married Lillian Swords of the borough of the Bronx, City of New York, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sword. Of this marriage there are three children: I. Jean. 2. Carol. 3. Ann.

LT. COL. H. ALAN ZWISSLER-Recently re- turned from service in the Pacific Theater of World War II, Lt. Col. H. Alan Zwissler has resumed his law practice in Patchogue.

He was born in East Orange, New Jersey, January 27, 1910, but was brought to Patchogue in that year, by his parents, Philip, Jr., and Herminia (Schoenfeld) Zwissler, the latter of whom, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Schoenfelt, came to Patchogue in 1890, has passed away. Philip Zwissler Jr., a retired execu- tive of the United States Steel Corporation, resides at Green Avenue, at Sayville.

H. Alan Zwissler, a graduate of Adelphi Academy, in Brooklyn, New York, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1930, and graduated from New York University Law School in 1934, being admitted to the New York State bar in that year. He became asso- ciated at this time with the law firm of Davis, Symmes, and Schreider in New York City, remaining until 1940. In 1941 he entered the service as a first lieu- tenant with the Seventh Regiment, 207th Coast Artil- lery, was promoted to captain, major, and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel on June 2, 1945. His assign- ment was in the Pacific Theater with the General Staff G-3 Antiaircraft Command, and he returned to the United States for discharge on February 22, 1946. Upon his return to civilian life, he immediately re- sumed his practice of law, in association with the late Herman J. Schoenfelt, a cousin. Lieutenant Colonel Zwissler is a director of the H. Clay Glover Company of New York City, is a member of the New York City and the Suffolk County bar asso- ciations, Williams Club of New York, Phi Delta Phi, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Seventh Regi- ment Veterans, Rotary Club and South Side Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons at Patchogue. He is also neighborhood commissioner of Boy Scouts of America.

H. Alan Zwissler married March II, 1943, at Or- lando, Florida, Bess Reich, daughter of William and Hannah (Green) Reich, of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

JOHN TRUESDEL PECK CALKINS, M.S., Ped.D .- To his career as an educator the late John Truesdel Peck Calkins devoted more than two fruitful decades. Practically all of his educational work was identified with New York State, by far the most of it carried on in Long Island in general and Hemp- stead in particular. Besides being a leader in his own field of endeavor he was prominent in business and banking, and in civic affairs.

Dr. Calkins was born at Brownsville, New York, on December 7, 1877, son of John and Julia Calkins. Reared on his father's farm located on Well's Island in the St. Lawrence River, he learned something of the difficulties of agriculture first hand. He prepared for higher education in the Hudson River Institute at Claverack, New York, and matriculated at Ohio Northwestern University, where he was graduated a Bachelor of Arts with the class of 1898. He re- ceived his Master's degree in Science in 1905; and was named a Doctor of Pedagogy in School Administra- tion, in 1931.

As an educator Dr. Calkins first became principal of the East Springfield Academy, was superintendent of schools at Catskill, New York, from 1903 to 1912, and then held a like post in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, from 1912 to 1915. In the latter-named year he accepted a call to become superintendent of schools at Hempstead, Nassau County, where he ac- complished notable results as a teacher, administra- tor of school matters, and the advancement of cur- ricula and cultural service rendered students and the community. Under his administration, from a two-school system the educational facilities increased numerically and in pupil attendance. A new high school was built in 1919, and the Franklin, Fulton, Ludlum and Jackson schools were erected. Inci- dentally, he early was an advocate of the construc- tion of public schools on a single story plan. In 1932 Dr. Calkins resigned as superintendent of schools in Hempstead and became associated with New York University, when Hofstra College, an affiliate of this great institution, was opened in 1935. He was chair- man of the board of trustees of the school, and when in 1939, Hofstra College severed its connection with New York University and received a full charter from the New York State Board of Education, Dr. Calkins was chosen as its first president.

Second among the outstanding features of the life of Dr. Calkins were his achievements as a business executive, although his works as a superintendent of schools reflect his abilities along this line. He was constantly to the fore in the promotion of the best interests of Hempstead. As one of the owners of The Fireside Realty Company, Inc., and the Physi- cian's Holding Company, of which Dr. Harry M. Warner was president, he was one of those respon- sible for the formation of Central Nassau, Inc., and its first president. Through his efforts and those of the board of directors of Central Nassau, Inc., The Frank- lin Shops became a reality and tenant of the Central Nassau building, located at 250 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead. At the time of organization this firm was headed by Arthur H. Phillips as president. At his death Dr. Calkins succeeded Mr. Phillips as president, which position he continued to hold until his passing. The Franklin Shops are recognized

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as Long Island's outstanding locally-owned depart- ment store; and the Hempstead Apartment Build- ing, at Fulton and Cathedral avenues. He also was a co-founder and long-time director of the Franklin Square -National Bank, and a director of the Second National Bank of Hempstead. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the Lions Club of Hempstead; a charter member of the Hemp- stead Golf Club. For several years he served the Nassau County Tuberculosis and Public Health As- sociation as treasurer; was a director of the local Young Men's Christian Association during and after World War I, and it should be emphasized that for a quarter of a century Dr. Calkins was keenly and constructively active in educational circles, at the time of his death serving his second term of five years as a member of the Hempstead Board of Education. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Masonic order, a past commander of Nassau Commandery, Knights Templar. He attended the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Dr. John Truesdel Peck Calkins married Harriette L. Cooke, of East Springfield, and they became the parents of two daughters: Marjorie S. and Virginia L. Calkins.

In the passing of Dr. John Truesdel Peck Calkins on June 8, 1942, Hempstead and Nassau County lost one of its exceptional men and leaders. He assumed the responsibilities for a school system, small and weak in practically all factors, and administered its affairs so that it developed equally with the rapid growth of the town and served the community extraordinarily well. He had the courage of his ideas and engaged in commercial and financial enterprises during unpropitious years in business. In the hearts and minds of the hundreds of those who came as stu- dents under his influence, teaching and provisions for their benefit, his memory will long be cherished. Paraphrasing from an editorial, John Calkins was an individual of imagination and long range of vision. He lived a busy, a full life, one "crammed full of good deeds. John Calkins was a friend of youth."

DONALD F. CURRIE, M.D .- The son of a father who came from the Province of Ontario in Canada and of a mother who was a native of the state of Missouri, Dr. Donald F. Currie, after being born at Bozeman, Montana, was brought up and educated in Canada's western Province of Alberta. All this seems a far cry from Long Island's Suffolk County, jutting out into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, to which, however, destiny directed the course of this renowned surgeon, who more than fifteen years ago chose lovely Shelter Island as his residence and the scene of his successful and distinguished career.

Dr. Currie's Ontario-born father, the late Alex- ander Currie, farmer, married Missouri-born Mary Fentie, and of this union Donald F. Currie was born on June 24, 1903. He was a boy when the family moved to Alberta, where he graduated from high school at Red Deer in that province and went on to the Uni- versity of Alberta, which conferred the degree of Bachelor of Arts upon him in 1924. From an early age he felt that the medical profession was his voca- tion, and continuing his studies at the University of Alberta, he received his Doctor of Medicine degree from that institution in 1928.

Dr. Currie's professional career began with an in- ternship in the Royal Alexander Hospital at Edmon- ton, Alberta, lasting from his graduation in 1928 till some time in 1930. In that year he came to the United

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Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 68

Author: Bailey, Paul, 1885-1962, editor Publication date: 1949 Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 922

Author: Bailey, Paul, 1885-1962, editor
Publication date: 1949
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 922