USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 76
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 76
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The Hon. L. Barron Hill of Southold, justice of the County Court of Suffolk County, was elected to the Supreme Court of New York in 1946. It was to fill the vacancy thus created that Governor Thomas E. Dewey appointed D. Ormonde Ritchie to the County Court. The Suffolk County Republican party organization and its leader, Congressman W. Kings- land Macy, were among those who earnestly en- dorsed Mr. Ritchie for this appointment. According to the newspaper, "Bay Shore Sentinel and Journal," for Thursday, January 2, 1947, "countless rumors . . had been sweeping the county" since election day, 1946, concerning the likely choice of Governor Dewey as a successor to Justice Hill. The Governor's deci- sion to appoint Mr. Ritchie was considered an ideal choice by all who were acquainted with his abilities as a lawyer and familiar with his record as secre-
tary and law research aid to the late Justice Furman. On the afternoon of Thursday, January 2, 1947, Judge Ritchie took the oath of office in the Brookhaven Townhouse, the ceremonies being conducted by County Clerk R. Ford Hughes. Judge Ritchie now sits also as Judge of the Children's Court of the County of Suffolk. On November 4, 1947 Judge Ritchie was elected to the bench for a term of six years.
A Republican in politics, as we have seen, and long active and influential in the councils of his party, Judge Ritchie holds membership in the Suffolk County Re- publican Club and in the National Republican Club, located in New York City. He belongs to the Suffolk County Bar Association and to the American Bar Association. He is active in local business and civic affairs as a member of the Lions Club of Bay Shore. Another of his affiliations is with the Penataquit Lodge, No. 1043, of the Free and Accepted Masons. His religious allegiance is to the First Congregational Church of Bay Shore. Judge Ritchie's recreation and hobby is trout fishing.
At Grace Church in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, D. Ormonde Ritchie married in June, 1933, Elizabeth Quinn of the borough of Brooklyn. Mrs. Ritchie is a daughter of the late John Quinn and Anna (Campbell) Quinn. Of this union there are three children: I. Faith, who was born in Bay Shore, Suffolk County, New York, on January 28, 1937. 2. Barbara, born at Bay Shore on February 14, 1938. 3. Constance, born May 25, 1941.
JACOB W. HIRSCHFELD-The Hirschfeld family has been prominent in Suffolk County since it first settled in Huntington in 1860. The father of Jacob W. Hirschfeld constructed many of the business buildings in Huntington and his son has carried on the family's building operations chiefly in the resi- dential field. Mr. Hirschfeld, recently joined by his son, Seymour, conducts a large real estate, building and insurance business, with headquarters at 259 Main Street, in Huntington. He is also a director of the Bank of Huntington.
Jacob W. Hirschfeld was born in Huntington, and was educated in Huntington's schools. In 1908, he established a haberdashery in Huntington and in the next seventeen years developed it into a lucrative business. In 1925, he sold out and entered the real estate and insurance business. By 1947 he had erected about thirty residences in his native city. He became a director of the Bank of Huntington in 1929. He was a charter member of both the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce of Huntington and remains active in both organizations. He is also a member of Jephtha Lodge, No. 494, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, in Huntington.
Mr. Hirschfeld married Elsie J. Popper, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Popper of New York City, in June, 1909. The marriage took place in New York City. There are three children: Dorothy H .: Shirley A .; and Seymour J. Both the daughters are graduates of Huntington High School. Dorothy is now the wife of Dr. Herman P. Saltz, who served three years in World War II and is practicing at Northport. Dr. and Mrs. Saltz have a son, George J. Saltz.
Seymour J. Hirschfeld, a graduate of Huntington High School, also served in World War II. He was a corporal in the United States Army Air Forces. Upon being discharged from the service he returned home and joined his father in business-becoming the third generation of Hirschfelds to enter the economic and social life of Huntington and to participate in the com- munity's development.
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Um & Jeaman
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WILLIAM H. SEAMAN-In the course of a long life marked by success in business, devoted in large measure to public service, and crowned with many well-deserved honors, there are few phases of the life and affairs of Glen Cove and the Town of Oyster Bay, or indeed of Nassau County as a whole, upon which William H. Seaman has not left his mark.
A direct descendant of Capt. John Seaman and a great-grandson of Elias Hicks of Jericho, men famous in Long Island history, William H. Seaman was a son of the late Elias H. Seaman, who was born at Jericho about the year 1855, and died in January, 1904, and of his wife Phoebe (Underhill) Seaman, who was also a native of Jericho and who pre-de- ceased her husband in December, 1903. The date of William H. Seaman's birth was February 12, 1868. He attended the Friends' Academy in Locust Valley, Long Island, graduating with the class of 1884, and from there went to Swarthmore College at Swarth- more, Pennsylvania, from which he received the de- gree of Bachelor of Science in engineering in 1888. Two years later he also was given the degree of Civil Engineer at Swarthmore.
Mr. Seaman's first employment was with the Phila- delphia and Reading Railroad Company, with which he remained for one year. Thereafter, returning to Long Island, he entered the field of commerce in the general house furnishing line, setting up in busi- ness with his brother Samuel J. Seaman in Glen Cove, under the firm name of S. J. and W. H. Seaman. This business prospered, continued to be William H. Seaman's principal occupation for ten years, but in 1901 he turned to engineering, setting up in the prac- tice of that profession in Glen Cove under his own name, and so continuing until 1925.
In that year, Mr. Seaman was elected mayor of Glen Cove. He had long been active in public and political life, and in 1917 had been elected supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay, which office he filled until January 1, 1920. It was during this time, speci- fically in 1918, that Glen Cove became a city as the result of a referendum to the electorate. Supervisor Seaman presided over this referendum, and as noted above, became one of the early mayors of the newly incorporated city, serving from January 1, 1926, to January I, 1930. Twelve years later, in June 1942, he again became mayor of Glen Cove by appointment, and his term of service, ending on January 1, 1944, covered much of the period of World War II. The records disclose that Mr. Seaman had, in fact, begun his career in public employment as long ago as 1909, when he became county engineer of Nassau County, a position he held until 1915. In each of the public offices which he held, William H. Seaman displayed conspicuous ability and by his exemplification of the highest standards of integrity, earned the respect and gratitude of the community. He is a staunch Repub- lican in politics, and long an influential figure in the councils of his party in Nassau County.
Mr. Seaman has acquired extensive banking in- terests, and 'sits on the boards of directors of the Glen Cove Trust Company at Glen Cove, the Matine- cock Bank at Locust Valley, and the Roslyn Savings Bank at Roslyn. In January, 1929, he became chair- man of the board of directors of the Glen Cove Trust Company, a position from which he resigned in the summer of 1942 when he was summoned to resume the mayoralty of the city. From January 1944 until the cessation of hostilities in the late war, Mr. Sea- man served on the Glen Cove city rationing board.
Mr. Seaman's interest in education has been life-
long and deep. From 1898 to 1903 he served by elec- tion on the board of education of Glen Cove, and since 1914 he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Friends' Academy in Locust Valley. Of this in- stitution he was elected treasurer in 1929, and in July of 1932 he was chosen, again by election, presi- dent of the Academy. He continues to the present writing to discharge the duties of both the treasurer- ship and the presidency of this old and honored seat of education.
Another of Mr. Seaman's active interests is the Rotary Club of Glen Cove, to which he has belonged for many years. An interesting resume of the many aspects of Mr. Seaman's unusually busy and useful lite and public services is to be found in the 1930 edition of the reference work, Who's Who in the East. His religious affiliation is with the Society of Friends.
William H. Seaman is married, his wife being the former Margaret J. Laurie of Jericho, New York, a daughter of William W. and Frances (Seaman) Laurie. Of this marriage there was one son, William Laurie, who is now deceased. William Laurie Sea- man married Chrissie Bell, a native of Sydney, Aus- tralia, and he is survived by two sons, Bruce Laurie and E. W. Laurie Seaman. Bruce Laurie Seaman was a member of the United States Navy, in service in the l'hilippine Islands. Discharged in the spring of 1947, he entered Swarthmore College in September, 1947.
MICHAEL JOSEPH RYAN-Except for the four years he spent in the United States Coast Guard in World War II, Michael Joseph Ryan was village attorney of Babylon from 1939 to 1947. He also has a large private practice as a lawyer and is a former member of the Babylon Board of Education.
Mr. Ryan was born in Babylon on August 27, 1900, the son of the late John and Mary (Maher) Ryan, both of whom were natives of Ireland. John Ryan settled in Babylon in 1888 and for the rest of his lite worked there as a gardener.
Following his graduation from the Babylon High School in 1924, Michael J. Ryan entered St. John's College, Brooklyn, from which he was graduated four years later with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Another four years were spent at the New York University School of Law. The university awarded him the degree of Juris Doctor in 1932.
In June, 1933, Mr. Ryan was admitted to the New York State bar. For the next three years he was with the well known law firm of Evarts, Choate, Curtin and Leon, 44 Wall Street, New York. In 1938 Mr. Ryan opened his present law offices in Babylon. He has been in general practice, without partners, ever since. From 1941 to 1945 he was with the Coast Guard.
From 1939 until he left for wartime service, Mr. Ryan was Babylon's village attorney. When after the war he returned to the village and resumed his practice, he once again assumed the official post. This he held until 1947. He was a member of the Baby- lon Board of Education from 1936 to 1939. Mr. Ryan has long been active in the Babylon Fire Department. He is a member of the Suffolk County Bar Associa- tion, Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, the Babylon Post of the American Legion, the Babylon Chapter of the Knights of Columbus and the South Bay Golf Club. Golf is his major recreation. He worships at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Babylon.
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STUART LOTHROP GIFFORD-Aside from a reputation as banker, Stuart Lothrop Gifford is known in Suffolk County for his activities on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America, the Babylon Fire Department and other welfare and civic organizations and move- ments. As a figure in the financial world Mr. Gifford is cashier of the Babylon National Bank and Trust Company and vice president of the Suffolk County Chapter of the American Institute of Banking.
He was born in Lynbrook on December 23, 1908, the son of Harrison T. and Mary (Lothrop) Gifford. The elder Mr. Gifford, a native of Fall River, Massa- chusetts, is a civil engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Stuart L. Gifford was educated in the elementary schools at Lynbrook, the Babylon High School and Staunton Military Academy, Staunton, Virginia. In 1929 he entered the employ of the Babylon National Bank and Trust Company as a clerk and by ability soon won promotion to positions of greater respon- sibilty. He rose first to teller, then to assistant cashier. In 1943, he was elected cashier, the post he retains today.
Mr. Gifford is chairman of the Babylon Troop Com- mittee of the Boy Scouts of America, chief of the Babylon Fire Department, a member of the board of governors of the Babylon Yacht Club and is active in the Lions Club of Babylon. His election to the office of vice president of the Suffolk County Chapter of the American Institute of Banking was one of the forms of recognition of his standing as a banker. His favorite recreation is horse-back riding.
Mr. Gifford married Sara Elizabeth Shiebler, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Moore Shiebler, in Baby- lon on October 8, 1932. They have become the par- ents of three children: Virginia A., born November 18, 1933; Thomas Moore, born June 30, 1939; and Mary Imogene, born January 9, 1942.
BAZIL C. KIME-Member of an ancient profes- sion always associated with development and progress, that of land surveyor, Bazil C. Kime has long been active at Babylon and in Suffolk County in general. He is a member of the firm of George H. Walbridge Company, with offices at 101 West Main Street, Babylon.
Mr. Kime was born at Apollo, Pennsylvania, on November 30, 1904, the son of Albert and the late Emma (Patrick) Kime. Both his parents were also born in Pennsylvania. His father is a retired car- penter.
Bazil C. Kime attended Horseheads High School and then took special and night courses in land sur- veying and civil engineering. In 1926 he settled at Babylon, associated with the New York State De- partment of Public Works, and later became a partner, with Howard C. Tompkins, of George H. Walbridge Company, civil engineering and land surveying firm. Mr. Kime is a member of the Bay Shore-Brightwater Civic Association, the Babylon Rotary Club, the Bay Shore Lodge, No. 1043, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons; the Penataquit Chapter, No. 309, Royal Arch Masons, at Bay Shore, and, with his wife, of the Mr. and Mrs. Club of St. Peter's Church of Brightwater.
Mr. Kime married Bessie Raymond, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Raymond, of Babylon, in that community on August 18, 1928. They are the parents of two children: Shirley, born in September, 1931. and Charles R., born in August, 1933. Both children were in 1947 at the Bay Shore High School.
CORBIN WHEELER-A native of Glen Cove, Corbin Wheeler has contributed much to its growth and development and has been active in its civic and welfare work. Since 1901 he has operated a real estate and insurance agency under his own name at 57 Glen Street and is chairman of the board of direc- tors of the Nassau Union Bank of Glen Cove. He is widely known in political circles.
Mr. Wheeler was born in Glen Cove on September 12, 1877, the son of Henry Augustus and Ann Eliza- beth (Merritt) Wheeler. Henry A. Wheeler, born at Stepney, Connecticut, in 1832, came to Long Island when he was twenty-one years old. For nearly twenty years he was in business in Glen Cove with Tweet Watkins, manufacturing hods and dinner · pails. In 1872 he and a group of other Long Islanders became interested in the Long Island Rail Road and Mr. Wheeler was appointed an official of the line. He was an adjuster and legal advisor until 1902, when the railroad was sold. Mr. Wheeler then or- ganized the adjustment department for the first sub)- way system in New York City. Later he participated in the formation of the Nassau Union Bank in Glen Cove and was its president for four years. He was also one of the organizers of the Nassau County Water Company, now the New York Water Service Corporation. He died in May, 1913, at the age of eighty-six. Corbin Wheeler's mother was born in Glen Cove in 1840 and died there in March, 1929.
Corbin Wheeler was educated to some extent in public schools but chiefly in private schools and at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. On completing his school- ing, he was on the staff of the Long Island Rail Road a few years. Then for a similar period he was an engineer on the construction of many Nassau County roads. In 1901 he established his present real estate and insurance business, which has flourished through the years while its owner has participated in all the important activities of the community. In 1928 Mr. Wheeler organized and became president of the Long Island Fire Insurance Company, with headquarters on Fifth Avenue, New York City. A year later he sold the business to Caroon and Reynolds of New York. He has been chairman of the board of the Nassau Union Bank for many years. He is also president of the Nassau County Local Agents As- sociation. For many years he was treasurer of the Brookville Country Club and is still a member of that organization. He was one of the organizers of the Rotary Club of Glen Cove.
Mr. Wheeler is active in welfare work through his interest in the North Country Community Hos- pital of Glen Cove, of which he is a director, and the new Dr. Carlson Foundation for Spastic Children, of which he is also a director. He is on the board of the Nassau Country Club and is a member of the Hempstead Harbor Yacht Club, the Long Island Association and the Nassau County Grand Jurors As- sociation, and is active in Glen Cove Lodge, No. 580, Free and Accepted Masons, and Melchizedek Chapter, No. 273, Royal Arch Masons. A staunch Republican, he was delegate to the Chicago convention in 1912, the year the Republican party was split by opposing candidates. Since 1905 Mr. Wheeler has been on the vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Glen Cove. He is also a junior warden of the church. His hobby is golf.
Mr. Wheeler married (first) Minnie F. Miller of Glen Cove on February 22, 1914. Mrs. Wheeler was the daughter of Frank M. and Esther (Tucker) Miller. Three children were born to the marriage:
Corbin Terhelen
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Sylvia Adele, now Mrs. Fred J. Eissler; Corbin, Jr., who died at the age of eleven, and Franklin Marshall Wheeler. Mrs. Minnie Wheeler died in May, 1923. Mr. Wheeler remarried on June 29, 1929, his second wife being the former Marion J. Kirk of Glen Cove, the daughter of Daniel and Madeleine (Coles) Kirk.
HOWARD F. LeCLUSE-In the critical period following the depression, the Town of Brookhaven called Howard F. LeCluse to the public office which the times had made the most important in the town government-that of Commissioner of Public Wel- fare. The year was 1935, when throughout the country the Civil Works Administration, soon to be followed and supplanted by the Works Progress Administra- tion, was being establishd and private social agencies were admitting that, because they were unable to cope with the great problem of relief and unemploy- ment. the urgent job had better be placed in the hands of the public agencies. Mr. LeCluse demonstrated immediately that a public agency was the only one in a strategic position to handle the problem, and proved, simultaneously, his own peculiar ability to administer the monumental task on behalf of the Town of Brook- haven. He had had much other public experience, for he served in fire department administration and had long been a member and chairman of the board of education. He had had private administrative ex- perience as a greenhouse operator.
Mr. LeCluse was born in Bayport on April 30, 1888, the son of Charles and Sarah (McCune) Le- Cluse. His father, also a native of Bayport, was a wholesale oyster man there for many years, operating his own oyster beds. The mother, born in Ireland, came to Long Island when she was sixteen years old and settled immediately at Bayport.
Howard F. LeCluse was educated in the public schools of his native community, being graduated from the Bayport High School, after which he took special courses in electrical engineering at New York Uni- versity. He began his career as an electrical engineer, working chiefly at Great Neck until 1913. In that year he moved to Blue Point, where he established the LeCluse Greenhouses. His specialty was carna- tions. A carnation breeder of note, he introduced several new varieties. In 1934, however, he sold the greenhouses to Fred Klug.
In 1920, Mr. LeCluse became a member of the board of education of the Village of Blue Point. Nine years later he was elected chairman of the board. This position he retained until 1947. For many years he was Fire Commissioner and Fire Chief of the Blue Point Volunteer Fire Department. He retains an active interest in the department and in all other phases of property protection and of community de- velopment. He worships at the Episcopal Church. His hobbies are sailing and fishing.
Mr. LeCluse married Marjorie Hicks at Great Neck in January, 1913. Mrs. LeCluse, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Austin Hicks, was born in Great Neck. For a score of years her father was president of the Bank of Great Neck. Mr. and Mrs. LeCluse are the parents of a daughter, Jean H., who was born in Blue Point in 1922. She is a graduate of the Bayport High School and the University of North Carolina. In 1946 she married Joseph Hertz of Los Angeles, Cali- fornia.
Mr. and Mrs. LeCluse make their home in Blue Point, though Mr. LeCluse's office as Commissioner of Public Welfare is in Patchogue.
HAROLD GREENE-Extensive study and a use- ful period of apprenticeship gave Harold J. Greene a thorough grounding in the modern principles and practices of architecture before he became associated, in 1946, with the veteran exponent of the profession, Alfred Brush Sammis of Huntington, Suffolk County. At that time Mr. Sammis was approaching the mature age of three score and ten years, while Mr. Greene had lately passed his thirtieth birthday. Thus an ideal combination was effected of long experience and youthful enthusiasm, for the continuation of the practice.
Harold J. Greene was born in Huntington on Janu- ary 17, 1916, a son of Joseph H. and Lavinia Ann (Par- menter) Greene. Joseph H. Greene, who was born at Centerport, Long Island, on March 8, 1888, is a gen- eral contractor at Huntington. His wife is a native of Brooklyn, New York, born there on August 24, 1880, before that ancient city became one of the boroughs of Greater New York. The elder Mr. Greene is a veteran member of the Jephtha Lodge No. 494 of the Free and Accepted Masons, meeting in Huntington.
Harold J. Greene attended the public grade schools of his native village and graduated from the Hunting- ton High School before enrolling for the study of architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. From this institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Architecture upon graduation with the class of 1938. From that year until some time in 1942 he was in the employment of various archi- tectural firms. Answering the national call to the colors in World War II, Mr. Greene enlisted in the United States Army. As a staff sergeant in the 1780th Engineer Parts Supply Company. Mr. Greene saw service in the Pacific Theater of War before receiv- ing his honorable discharge in 1946. In that year he received his license as an architect in the state of New York.
Mr. Greene is a member of the Brooklyn Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He belongs to the Huntington Post No. 360 of the American Legion, and is an active member of the Key Men Club of Huntington, which is an association of young pro- fessional and businessmen.
KENNETH LESTER MORRIS-Since 1930 Ken- neth Lester Morris has been active in the water business in Suffolk County. He was manager of the New York Water Service Corporation at Babylon. For a time he was acting manager for the same com- pany at Sag Harbor and for the South Bay Consoli- dated Water Company at Southampton; since July 14, 1947 he has been manager of the South Bay Consolidated Water Company, Patchogue Division, at Patchogue. Mr. Morris is one of Suffolk County's leading Masons and Rotarians.
Born at Richmond Hill. New York, on September 19. 1908, Mr. Morris is related through his maternal grandmother, Ann Swayze to the prominent pioneer family of that name. The Swayzes settled in Suffolk County in the earliest days of its development. Mr. Morris' parents are Isaac Jacob and Birdella (La Bonté) Morris. His father, born at Ronkonkoma in 1868, spent about fifty years in railroading and is now retired. A machinist all his life, he holds a patent on a device he invented -- a collapsible shipping crate. He served the Ronkonkoma School District as treas- urer from 1924 to 1944.
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Kenneth L. Morris began his education in New York City's Public Schools 53 and 57, at Richmond Hill. He completed his elementary school education at the Lakeland School, Ronkonkoma, from which he was graduated in 1923. In 1927 he was graduated from the Sayville High School. Through the years he has continued his education, taking postgraduate work in water works operation and related studies. In 1940 he was certified by the New York State Depart- ment of Health as an operator of public water treat- ment and purification plants.
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