USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 74
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 74
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Joseph F. Fiigon, Jr., was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on May 16, 1898, the son of Joseph F. and Alice T. (Hartman) Fiigon. He was educated in Perth Amboy's public schools, being graduated from the Perth Amboy High School, and at Cole-
W. Worden Hier
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Sanford a. Davison
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man's Business College in Newark, New Jersey. For nearly a decade he was a cost accountant in the em- ploy of T. A. Gillespie and Company, contractors in New York City.
In 1925 Mr. Fiigon came to Long Island to as- sume the duties of personnel manager for the Fisher interests at Montauk. Soon after taking this position, he established a garage in the same community. He resigned the personnel managership in 1936 to de- vote full time to his garage. But a year later he moved the business to its present location in Water Mill, where he provided a modern building for the storing, servicing and repairing of automobiles and for the sale of a complete line of accessories. The extent to which this enterprise flourished has already been suggested. Under the son's guidance it con- tinues to grow.
Mr. Fiigon, Jr., has been secretary and treasurer of the Water Mill Community House since 1943. He has been a notary public for twenty-seven years. Aside from being past master of the Southampton Grange, he is a member of the Water Mill Improve- ment Association, the Rotary Club of Southampton, and various Masonic and related organizations, in- cluding Old Town Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at Southampton; the East Hampton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Patchogue Commandery, Knights Templar, and Kismet Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Brooklyn. His hobbies are fishing and golf.
Mr. Fiigon married Mabel Zyfers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Zyfers of Jersey City, New Jersey. Mrs. Fiigon is a member of Osawah Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star of Southampton. Mr. and Mrs. Fiigon have the one son, Joseph F., III. Born in Perth Amboy on March 3, 1920, the younger Fiigon is a graduate of Southampton High School. He served throughout the major portion of World War II in the United States Army Air Forces in the European Theater of Operations. Since his dis- charge from the service, he has been assuming more and more responsibility in the management of his father's business-the business which eventually will be his altogether. He is a member of the American Legion and, like his father, of the Old Town Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons at Southampton.
Mr. Fiigon, III, married Marjory Helen Allen of Galena, Kansas, and they have one son, Joseph F. Fiigon, IV, born in 1944. Mrs. Fiigon, III, is also a member of the Osawah Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.
RAYMOND L. MAGEE, JR .- Four generations of Magees have farmed the same land at Water Mill, in the town of Southampton. And Raymond L. Magee, Jr., the present owner and cultivator of the land, is one of the most prominent farmers in Suffolk County. He is active in cooperative farming activities and in the Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Magee was born at Bridgehampton, September 9, 1921, the son of Raymond L. and Nora (Grimes) Magee. Raymond L. Magee, Sr. was born in Deer- field, New York, 1888, educated in Southampton public schools and followed the occupation of farming during his lifetime. He was a member of the Roman Catho- lic Church. In 1915 he married Nora Grimes of Genesee, Pennsylvania. Raymond L. Magee, Jr., was one of six children, all living. His grandfather, John Magee was born in Deerfield and followed the occupation of farming. Raymond L. Magee, Jr. is a graduate of the East Hampton High School. On the death of his father in 1944, he inherited the two
hundred and seventy acres comprising the farms in Water Mill and Sagaponack and there he raises potatoes exclusively. The farm was originally owned by his grandfather John Magee. Mr. Magee is a member of the Suffolk County Farm Bureau and is a trustee of the Bridgehampton Roman Catholic
Church.
He married June Meschutte, daughter of Stephen and Emma (Sayre) Meschutte, on October 31, 1942. They have three children: Sharon L., born August 13, 1943; Patricia L., born January 17, 1945, and Raymond L., born August 29, 1947. Mr. Magee's hobby is owning and training trotting horses.
SANFORD ALZIER DAVISON was born at Christian Hook, Oceanside, on September 27, 1880, the son of Lorenzo and Hester (Abrams) Davison. Lorenzo Davison operated a large general country store at Oceanside and for many years, until 1910, was postmaster of that community.
Sanford A. Davison began his education in the elementary school at Oceanside, after which he at- tended the Southside High School at Rockville Centre, from which he graduated in 1899. In 1901 lie graduated from the New York Law School with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. For a year and a half thereafter he served. his clerkship in the law offices of William Clark Roe, Pierre W. Brown and Albert W. Brown. On November II, 1902, he was admitted to the New York State bar. For a time thereafter he was associated with former Assembly- man George Wallace, of Jamaica and Rockville Centre, while he maintained his own law office in Lynbrook, Nassau County, New York, where he has maintained his offices ever since and up to the present time.
From the earliest days of his career, Mr. Davison was active in the Republican party, but when that party withheld the presidential nomination fram Theodore Roosevelt, Mr. Davison and two others took the initiative and formed the Progressive party throughout the County of Nassau, which party sup- ported the famous "rough rider" for the presidency in 1912. Afterward, like the former President, Mr. Davison returned to the Republican party and has since been one of its prominent members in Nassau County.
A lawyer since 1902, Mr. Davison has been promi- nent throughout Long Island and in Nassau County in particular for his successful achievement in the many and diverse activities which have enlisted his interest. Since the beginning of his career he has been active in the politics of the county, taking an active part with the leaders of the Republican party and was closely associated in the old days with Presi- dent Theodore Roosevelt.
In the year 1927 and in the year 1928 Mr. Davison held office as president of the Bar Association of Nassau County. It was during this period that he promoted a doubling of the membership in that asso- ciation which led to the building of the Association's own headquarters structure in Mineola, Nassau County, New York, in the year 1930, a dream which materialized through his leadership two years after he left the presidency. The Bar Association of Nas- sau County has for its headquarters a building which is unique and is the only building of its kind in this country having been constructed along the architec- tural lines and style of the "Inns of Court" in London, England.
Mr. Davison has been for many years past and still is very active on many important committees of the
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New York State Bar Association. He is a life mem- ber of the Nassau County Bar Association; is one of the directors thereof and is a member of many of its committees He is also a member of the Ameri- can Bar Association and has served on many of its committees.
In his recent professional activities, Mr. Davison has been engaged in litigation involving the consti- tutionality of village ordinances and has been success- ful in securing court decisions for the stabilization of such ordinances which will be of great benefit and a guide in the adoption of ordinances in villages and other municipalities throughout the state.
In the Presidential election of 1928, Mr. Davison served as deputy attorney general for the county of Nassau and made an outstanding record as such deputy in charge of that election throughout the county, in the conduct of which election he had ap- pointed to be associated with him, as deputies, about one hundred lawyers from both major parties.
During World War I, Mr. Davison served on the draft board for a district comprising Lynbrook, East Rockaway, Hewlett, Woodmere, Valley Stream, Mal- verne, West Hempstead, Franklin Square, Munson, New Hyde Park, Floral Park and Bellerose. During World War II Mr. Davison was on the advisory board of the Selective Service System for one of the largest districts in the county.
For many years, Mr. Davison has been associated with a number of financial and business organizations on Long Island including a bank, a finance company, title company and several mortgage companies.
Mr. Davison was instrumental, in cooperation with a number of banks of the county, in organizing the Nassau County Bankers' Association which developed into one of the most active and prominent Banking Associations in the State of New York. Mr. Davison is active in numerous other public enterprises and movements. Aside from organizations already men- tioned, Mr. Davison is a member of the Massapequa Lodge No. 822 Free and Accepted Masons; the Long Island Scottish Rite bodies and is a past officer of one of these. He is also a member of the Freeport Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons, and a member of the Massapequa Masonic Club.
On a number of occasions, Mr. Davison has been approached as a candidate for public office, including the New York State Assembly and the Supreme Court, but declined by reason of his desire to remain in the general practice of law and general public and civic activities.
Mr. Davison is a member of St. Marks Methodist Episcopal Church of Rockville Centre, Nassau County, New York, where he served on the official board and was a trustee for many years. He was a member and chairman of the pulpit supply committee for a number of years which brought to the church many of its outstanding ministers. He was also a member and chairman of the music committee which laid the foundation for the organization of the out- standing choir and musical program of the church and was active in organizing the men's Bible class and men's association of the church, which became two of the most important religious organizations in Rock- ville Centre during the period between 1912 and 1928.
On September 14, 1905, Sanford A. Davison mar- ried Sarah Sephronia Field, daughter of Hiram and Sarah (Ingalls) Field, in Rockville Centre.
Mr. and Mrs. Davison are the parents of four chil- dren: I. Margaret Hester, born October 24, 1906, who following World War II, became a leading or- ganizing librarian for all the armies of occupation
in conquered and liberated areas in Europe, where many libraries have been established under her super- vision. 2. Frances Eva, born May 8, 1909, whose hus- band, Colonel Daniel Walton Dawson, was killed in action in Germany, following the Battle of the Bulge. 3. Sarah Amelia, born August 15, 1913. 4. Sanford John, born May 6, 1917.
Mr. and Mrs. Sanford A. Davison reside at 75 Marion Place, Rockville Centre, Nassau County, New York.
FRANK H. CORWITH-The drug store which the late Frank H. Corwith has operated in association with his partner Alvah D. Ellsworth in Southampton was founded by his father in 1874 and is two years older than he. Paralleling his operation of the business has been his lifetime's activity in the civic affairs of the village. He has served it as village trustee, as a bank director and as a Presbyterian Church trustee as well as pharmacist.
Mr. Corwith was born in Southampton on August 27, 1876, the son of Caleb H. and Harriet (Culver) Corwith. After attending the public schools of South- lished in 1874. He was graduated from Eastman Busi- ness College and became a registered pharmacist in 1902. An older brother, William A. Corwith, had pre- ceded Frank H. Corwith in the association with the father. When Caleb Corwith died, William succeeded to the management of the business, with Frank's as- sistance. Later William A. Corwith died. Frank H. Corwith then formed a partnership with Alvah D. Ellsworth in 1907. This partnership has continued and now Mr. Corwith's son, Foster H. Corwith, a gradu- ate in pharmacy, is assisting in the business.
Frank H. Corwith served as a village trustee of Southampton for many years. He was long a trustee of the Presbyterian Church. He was a director of the First National Bank of Southampton and a mem- ber of the Old Town Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons at Southampton and of the Southampton Golf Club. He has served also as a member of the Village Zoning Board of Appeals, a trustee of Rogers Mem- orial Library, Southampton, and a charter member of the Suffolk County Tuberculosis and Health Associa- tion. He died at his home February 17, 1949.
Mr. Corwith married Clara Rogers Foster, a mem- ber of an old Southampton family, in that village on October 21, 1903. Mrs. Corwith is descended from Isaac Post Foster, her grandfather, who was born on December 8, 1815. Her grandmother was the former Mary R. Herrick, whom her grandfather married on May 12, 1842. Their son was Edward Herrick Foster, who married Adelaide E. Sayre on November 19, 1874. These two became the parents of Mrs. Corwith.
Mr. and Mrs. Corwith had two children: I. Adelaide Foster, born December 31, 1904, and 2. Foster H., born March 7, 1912. Adelaide Foster Corwith, a graduate of Wellesley College of the class of 1927, was married to David Ryerson Rutter. She is the mother of Sally Corwith Rutter, born on August 14, 1939.
Foster H. Corwith is a graduate of the Southampton High School. After attending Washington and Lee University, he was a student in, and was graduated from, the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy. He received his pharmaceutical degree in 1937 and immediately returned to Southampton to enter his father's drug store. He married Ruth Odelle Hudson of Kingston, North Carolina and they have three children: Jane Hudson, born on
John So Plandall
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March 7, 1941; Foster Howell, II, born on March 4, 1944, and Nancy Foster, born on February 28, 1945. During World War II, Foster H. Corwith served in the United States Army.
ALBERT P. LOENING-For nearly thirty years, Albert P. Loening has been interested in American aviation. Now president and a director of the Aga- wam Aircraft Products, Inc., at Sag Harbor, he is a former vice president and treasurer of the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation of New York. He is a director of the Grumman Aircraft Corpora- tion, Roosevelt Field, Inc., and former mayor of Southampton. He was in the Army Air Forces in World War I.
Mr. Loening was born in the United States Con- sulate at Bremen, Germany, where his father was serving as consul during the first administration of President Grover Cleveland. The consul, Albert Loen- ing, was born in Louisiana. The mother of Albert P. Loening was Hermine Loening.
He was educated in the Cutler School in New York City and the Lawrenceville School at Lawrence- ville, New Jersey. In World War I he was con- missioned a major in the Air Corps and went abroad with the American Expeditionary Forces. From 1919 to 1930, he was vice president and treasurer of the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation of New York. In 1940 he organized Agawam Aircraft Products, Inc., at Sag Harbor, which made parts for Grumman carrier planes. This company was awarded the Army-Navy "E" five times.
In 1936 Mr. Loening was elected mayor of South- ampton. Re-elected twice, he served until 1943.
Mr. Loening is former president of the Southamp- ton Association. He is a director of the Long Island Association, a president and trustee of the Parrish Museum of Southampton, a governor of the South- ampton Club, president of the Southampton Hospital and a trustee of the Suffolk County Tuberculosis Association. He is a member of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences of New York, of the South- ampton Yacht Club, the New York Yacht Club, the Army and Navy Club of Washington, the National Golf Links of America, the Racquet and Tennis Club of New York and the American Legion.
He married Sarah E. Larkin in New York City in 1921. Mrs. Loening is the daughter of the late Adrian H. and Katherine B. (Satterthwaite) Larkin. Mr. Larkin was a prominent lawyer in New York City. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Loen- ing: Albert P., Jr., in June, 1925, at New York City. The younger Mr. Loening is a graduate of the Lawrenceville School and now attends Princeton University.
ERNEST H. EISEN-A native Long Islander, Ernest H. Eisen of Southold, Suffolk County. was born at 697 Broadway in the old city of Brooklyn, Kings County, on December 11, 1884, several years before Brooklyn became one of the boroughs of the Greater City of New York. He is a son of Charles and Caroline (Lehnert) Eisen, and his father has long been in the business of leather and leather find- ings. Mr. Eisen's mother's family, the Lehnerts, are known to have been the founders of the first brewery located on Long Island.
Ernest H. Eisen's education reflected the interest he manifested even as a boy in the arts and crafts. He attended Cooper Union in New York City and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, both famous for the
quality of their technical courses, and subsequently he studied at the Art Students' League in New York City.
During World War I Mr. Eisen did technical work for the United States Government.
Mr. Eisen has studied several art crafts, and in particular has acquired a thorough practical knowl- edge of all phases of lithography and lithographic techniques, and an equally expert command of photo- engraving and of all processes of printing, reproduc- tion and color photography, especially as used in the printing and production of catalogues, trade papers and magazines.
Mr. Eisen is politically a member of the Republican party. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and he be- longs to the Presbyterian Brotherhood at Southold, Suffolk County. He is also affiliated with the Masonic order, being a member of the Meadowbrook Lodge No. 1005.
On June 1, 1913, Ernest H. Eisen married Rose Margaret Hartel.
JOHN J. RANDALL-The second John J. Ran- dall, realtor of Freeport, Nassau County, has been engaged in developing properties in that village for forty years, during which he has also become an im- portant factor in the banking and general business life of that community, as well as in fraternal and social affairs, and has in addition served at times in public office. But indeed Freeport, one of the loveliest of the Long Island suburbs of the metropolis of New York, is largely a creation of the Randalls, and John J. Randall's father, who bore the same name, is known as the "Father of Freeport."
The first John J. Randall was born in Suffolk County, in October, 1845. He purchased large tracts of land in southern Nassau County, laid out streets, subdivided the tracts into small holdings, homesites and building lots, and was the developer of large sections of what is now the populous and lively village of Freeport. Moreover he donated to the village the piece of land which is now known as Randall Memorial Park. He married Mary Frances Overton, like himself a native of Suffolk County, where she was born in 18.18. She died in 1904.
In association with his brother Ernest S. Randall and his sister Lena, who became Mrs. Willetts, the younger John J. Randall for many years conducted his realty and development operations under the firm name of the John J. Randall Company. In more re- cent years he has done business simply in his personal name. He has continued his father's work of develop- ing various sections of Freeport, including over ten miles of that suburb's famous waterfront, where the waters of Middle Bay, carefully channelled, be- come as it were the front yards of the beautiful homes that line the banks, making boating and every sort of water sports and recreations immediately available to the home owners and their families.
Mr. Randall is president of the Nassau County division of the Long Island Realty Board, and stands high among the real estate developers who have trans- formed Nassau County into a chain of beautiful home suburbs for the business and professional classes of New York City. Mr. Randall is also president of the Freeport Bank. He is active in the affairs of the Freeport Exchange Club, which he has in the past served as president. He is a member of Spartan Lodge, No. 956, of the Free and Accepted Masons and also of the Freeport Chapter, No. 302. Another of his fraternal affiliations is with the Benevolent
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and Protective Order of Elks, No. 1253. He belongs to the South Shore Yacht Club, and his hobbies are boating and fishing; for the devotees of these sports, Freeport is an ideal location. A member of the Re- publican party, Mr. Randall is also a supporter of the Methodist Church. At one time he served as chief of the Freeport fire department, and for two years he was a member of the board of trustees of the village of Freeport.
On Novmber 29, 1913, John J. Randall was married to Martha R. Godfrey of Cortland, Cortland County. Of this union there are two children, both sons: I. John J., III, who was born on February 21, 1915. After receiving his intermediate education at the Bordentown Military Academy in Bordentown, New Jersey, he attended Colgate College in New York State and the New York Law School. Admitted to the bar in 1942, his career in his profession was inter- rupted by the call to service in the second World War. Enlisting in the United States Army, he served overseas with the communications division of the Third Army. On December 30, 1945, he re- ceived his honorable discharge and has resumed the practice of the law. 2. Robert G., who was born on July 21, 1921. He also attended the Bordentown Military Academy and Colgate College, graduating from the latter institution in 1942. At Colgate he took pre-medical courses, and graduated from the New York Medical College in March, 1946, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and is now an intern at Bridgeport, Connecticut, Hospital. He married Fern Schley of Rockville Centre on June 21, 1946.
CARLYLE F. HODGKINSON-In addition to the farm supply and hardware business which he founded in Smithtown in 1928, Carlyle F. Hodgkinson also operates a feed and milling business which his father established in the 188os. He has taken an active part in communal affairs, having served as sec- retary of the board of trustees of the Smithtown Library, director of the Smithtown Cemetery, and as a member of the board of education of the Smith- town High School.
Mr. Hodgkinson was born in Smithtown on Janu- ary 31, 1901, the son of Maurice Elliott and Addie Belle (Hawkins) Hodgkinson and the grandson of George Smith Hodgkinson, a native of Saint James in Suffolk County. His father was born in Smithtown.
On completing his education, Mr. Hodgkinson be- came associated with his father in the feed and mill- ing business in Smithtown. In 1928 he established his farm supply and hardware business in Smith- town, with an extensive operation in machine tools throughout Suffolk County. When on January I, 1945, the elder Mr. Hodgkinson retired, the son took over the management of the feed and milling busi- ness. Since then he has operated the two enterprises jointly. Aside from his association with the Smith- town Library and the Smithtown Cemetery Associa- tion, Mr. Hodgkinson served for twenty-nine years as a volunteer fireman at Smithtown, holding posi- tions as secretary and later captain. He is now an honorary member. He also belongs to the Kiwanis Club of Smithtown and worships at the Methodist Church, of which he is a trustee.
On October 10, 1925, at Smithtown, Mr. Hodgkin- son married Harriet Smith, daughter of William Henry and Edna Smith and a direct descendant of the "Bull" Smith family, famous in Smithtown and Long Island history. Mr. and Mrs. Hodgkinson are the parents of a daughter, Miriam Smith Hodgkinson, who was born on April 3, 1932.
EDWARD A. HAMILTON-Although he is one of the comparatively young men practicing at the bar in Long Island, Edward A. Hamilton of Baby- lon is not only among the foremost in his profession, but is also a leader in public and civic affairs, espe- cially in the field of education.
Born in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City, on September 15, 1909, Edward A. Hamilton is thus a Long Islander by nativity, as he has remained throughout his career. He is the son of Stephen W. and Catherine (Cronin) Hamilton, his father being also a native of Brooklyn, where he was born while that borough was still an independent city. Stephen W. Hamilton, who for many years served as deputy collector of the marine division of the Port of New York, moved with his family to the Suffolk County village of Babylon while Edward A. was in his in- fancy, and the latter's boyhood days were spent in the pleasant environment of Long Island's South Shore, looking out over the waters of the Great South Bay. His father was one of the leading and most respected citizens of Babylon, having been for
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