Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 94

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 94
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 94

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Benjamin Winans Downing was born October 5, 1871, at Littleworth, now Sea Cliff, in the family homestead, on lands to which his forebears had re- ceived a deed from the Indians in 1666. He repre- sented the ninth generation of Downings on Long Island and was a direct descendant of George Down- ing, who at an early date settled in the Roger Wil- liams colony of Rhode Island.

The Downing family on Long Island were farmers and also engaged in the shipping trade. Mr. Down- ing's grandfather, George Downing, took hay, po- tatoes, cabbage and other produce raised on the farms of Glen Head and Brookville to the New York markets by sloop, in addition to engaging in farming himself. His grandmother, Emeline (Lewis) Downing, was very active on the farm.

Mr. Downing's father, Henry Downing, was born in Littleworth and grew up on the farm. He was a . birthright Quaker. In 1870 he was married to Sara S. Hurd, the ceremony being performed at his home by the pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Brookville. Sara S. (Hurd) Downing was the daugh- ter of a Congregationalist missionary at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in what was, in the days of her child- hood, wild western territory. She was educated in Massachusetts, where she lived with an uncle. She then taught school in Long Island, first at Black Stump, and then at Glenwood Landing. Later she became principal of the three-room Manhasset School. Henry and Sara S. (Hurd) Downing were the par- ents of three children: I. Benjamin Winans, subject of this sketch, 2. George, and 3. Grace deceased. Henry Downing died in or about 1884, when Benjamin was thirteen years old and his brother George was six. Four years later his grandfather died, leaving him the head of the family, which included his mother, grand- mother, and brother. The family then was living on the farm at Glen Head, of which Benjamin took charge, He also began to learn the carpentry trade, working with Eugene Monfort, a general jobber, for a period of three years before undertaking any work as a car- penter on his own account.

Mr. Downing's first job as a carpenter was on the county courthouse and jail at Mineola, which was the first reinforced concrete structure to be put up this side of Chicago. He used to like to recall how he put up the railing around the dais for the board of supervisors at the courthouse, where he himself was to sit twenty-nine years later as a member of the

board. He was elected supervisor from the township of Oyster Bay in 1930.

As a carpenter Mr. Downing worked at such places as William G. Whitney's, Wheatley Hills, the Vanderbilt home at Hyde Park and Newport, Rhode Island, and the Farmers National Bank at Pittsburgh. In 1902 he went into the contracting business and continued actively in this business until 1910 when he and his brother George started the Downing Brothers lumber yard at Locust Valley. For many years he was also active as treasurer of the coal and lumber firm of Titus, Bowne & Downing of Glen Cove, a business in which his brother and son were engaged. He was a director of the Glen Cove Trust Company from 1920 on, a director of the Matinecock Bank of Locust Valley from 1922 on, a director of the National Retailers Insurance Company, a trustee of the Roslyn Savings Bank from 1926 until 1941, a director of the North Shore Trust Company of Oyster Bay from 1925 to 1936. He served as president of the Northeastern Retail Lum- bermen's Association from 1928 to 1929 and a mem- ber of the board of directors from 1921 through 1931.

Mr. Downing was a member of the New York State harness racing commission, appointed by Gov- ernor Lehman in 1940, and he served as chairman of this commission. He had many vivid memories of the Vanderbilt cup races in the early years of the century, which were originally held on the highways, and was of the opinion that these races, in which he took a keen interest, were to a considerable measure responsible for the building up of Nassau County. Many people of wealth from the West and Midwest, he often pointed out, came to Long Is- land to race, became interested in the county and later bought land and built homes along the high- ways where they had raced or in the vicinity of these highways. Another local development, in which Mr. Downing took an active interest, through the years, was the work of the Queens-Nassau Agricultural Society. He was associated with this society for more than sixty years and served on its board of directors from 1920 on and as its president in 1926-27. He began as a boy by helping the ticket sellers at the gates on the occasion of the annual fair. Then he became a ticket seller, superintendent of gates and finally associated with the board of directors. Mr. Downing also held many local offices in addition to that of supervisor for the township of Oyster Bay, mentioned above. He was president of the board of education of Locust Valley from 1916 to 1928, chair- man of the Locust Valley water district from 1912 to 1926, chairman of the Locust Valley fire district from 1910 to 1922. He had been president of the Locust Valley Cemetery Association from 1920. He had served as a director of the North County Com- munity Hospital from 1921 on and was its president from 1921 to 1928. He was a member of the first county charter commission. Fraternally Mr. Down- ing was affiliated with Glen Cove Lodge of the An- cient Free and Accepted Masons. His hobbies were hunting, fishing, and gardening; he had hunted "all the way from Maine to North Carolina" and often fished in Canada.

In 1895 Benjamin Winans Downing married (first) Annie Kirk of Locust Valley. They lived at Glen Head until 1904, when they removed to Locust Val- ley. To this union were born two children. I. Grace. now a teacher. 2. William Kirk Downing, a member of the firm of Titus, Bowne & Downing, coal and lumber dealers of Glen Cove. Both Grace E. Down-

Burg. Wherewing

Howard S. Walters

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ing and William Kirk Downing live in Locust Val- ley. Mrs. Annie (Kirk) Downing died in 1930. In 1932 Benjamin Winans Downing married (second) Rose Beard, former superintendent of the North County Community Hospital of Glen Cove, of which he was one of the founders and first president, in 1921 to 1928, as noted above. At the time of his death, which occurred April 20, 1948 in his seventy-seventh year, Mr. Downing was a resident of Munsey Park, Manhasset.

HOWARD S. WALTERS-The leading figure in the organization of the Central Bank of Mineola, and its president for eight years, was Howard S. Walters. Mr. Walters has been in business in Mineola since 1916. Today he operates one of the largest wholesale automotive equipment and supplies businesses in Nassau County. Member of a family that on his mother's side is descended from pioneers who emi- grated to America in pre-Revolutionary War days, Mr. Walters enjoys prominence and leadership at Hempstead, seat of the family home, and is active in various club and social activities there as well as in the Presbyterian church.

He was born at Oyster Bay on December 5, 1883, the son of Sidney B. and Augusta (Van Velsor) Walters. His mother was a member of the Searing family which has lived in Hempstead since early Colonial days. His father, a building contractor, served seven years in the United States Navy and worked as a civilian in the Brooklyn Navy Yard at one time in his career. Howard S. Walters was educated in the Oyster Bay High School, from which he was graduated in 1900, and at Mount Hermon School, where he took a special college preparatory course. He then tried various lines of work.

On March 1, 1916, he obtained twenty by twenty feet of space and upon it opened his original business, the Walters Rubber Company, in Mineola. In July, 1929, he established himself at his present location, Washington Street and Old Country Road, where he has fifteen thousand square feet of space and has expanded the business to include every type of auto- mobile and radio part. The business is confined, how- ever, to the wholesale trade. Taking a leading part in the formation of the Central Bank of Mineola was not Mr. Walters only important civic activity. He has participated in a variety of other undertakings. He served as president of the Rotary Club of Mineola- Garden City in 1926-27 and is a member of the Hempstead Golf Club, which he has also served as president. He is also a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge at Hempstead.

Mr. Walters married Edith May Becker, daughter of William and Sarah Becker, at Oneonta on July 3, 1912. They have a son, William Searing Walters, born June 19, 1920; attended Hobart College and graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy. During World War II he was commissioned a second lieutenant and served as instructor in military science and tactics. He married Marion S. Snick of Hemp- stead.

JOHN HEAGY conducts in Riverhead a trucking organization that moves about eighty percent of the crop of the Long Island Distributors, Inc., going to all parts of the United States.

Mr. Heagy was born at Loch Raven, Maryland, July 10, 1909, the son of the late John Harris Heagy and Florence Riley Heagy. His father was a farmer. Mr. Heagy was educated in the public schools of

Westminster, Maryland, and for a number of years was employed as a race-horse trainer for W. F. McCarless of Salisbury, North Carolina. The or- ganization he heads, the Heagy Trucking Company, is a $75,000 concern, employing about one hundred people, owning and hiring over three hundred trucks. Mr. Heagy is a Republican and is a member of the Timber Point Club, the Stony Brook Yacht Club and the Baiting Hollow Methodist Church.

Mr. Heagy was married in Florida on March 17, 1941, to Miss Marian Stockinger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Stockinger of Setauket, Long Island. They are the parents of one child, John, Jr., born November 19, 1942.

NEIL EDGAR FALKENBURG-A recent presi- dent of the medical board of Huntington Hospital and former physician for the Huntington school sys- tem, Dr. Neil Edgar Falkenburg is now chief of the medical department of the hospital. He has long been one of Suffolk's prominent physicians.

Dr. Falkenburg was born in Brooklyn on July I, 1897, the son of Ernest and the late Charlotte (El- more) Falkenburg. His father is a retired pharmacist. Neil Falkenburg was graduated from Boys' High School, Brooklyn, and in 1922 from Columbia Uni- versity, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1925 he was graduated from the univer- sity's College of Physicians and Surgeons with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After completing his internship at Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, he estab- lished himself in practice at Huntington. In his early days in that community, he became a visiting physi- cian at the Huntington Hospital and physician in the public schools. During the war years, he served as chief of the Department of Anesthesia at the Hunt- ington Hospital, and has recently become chief of the Department of Medicine. He has several times been elected president of the Medical Board of the Hospital. His professional affiliations are with the Suffolk County and American Medical associations, the New York State Medical Society and the Asso- ciated Physicians of Long Island. Other affiliations are with the Jephtha Lodge, No. 494, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Huntington and the Hunt- ington Chamber of Commerce.

He is a member of the Methodist Church in Hunt- ington.

On May 3, 1928, at Brooklyn, Dr. Falkenburg mar- ried Henrietta Charlotte Tienken, daughter of John M. and Charlotte (Atkinson) Tienken of that borough. A daughter and son have been born to the doctor and his wife: Charlotte Ann, born on March 31, 1929, and Neil Edgar, Jr., born on June 14, 1931. The daughter, a graduate of the Friends' Academy at Locust Valley, and with two years training at Elmira College, is now a directing major at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research in New York. Neil E. Falkenburg, Jr., is a member of the class of '49 at the Phillips Exeter Academy at Exeter, New Hamp- shire.

REVEREND FRANCIS GEORGE MAKOWSKI -Native of Long Island, the Reverend Father Francis George Makowski has been a priest at Long Island Roman Catholic churches since the beginning of his career. He is now pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Ostrabrama at Cutchogue. Widely beloved as a priest, he has yet another reputation-in the world of golf-being one of New York State's best players of this sport.

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Father Makowski was born at Floral Park on No- vember 1, 1897, the son of the late Francis and of Victoria (Mazur) Makowski. His father, a native of Poland, came to the United States when he was eighteen years old, settling at Floral Park. He was a florist. At his death he was buried at Holy Rood Cemetery, Westbury, Long Island. Mrs. Makowski, born in Poland, resides at New Hyde Park.

The family moved from Floral Park to New Hyde Park when Father Makowski was less than two years old. Reared in that community, he began his education in its public schools. In preparation for the priesthood, he then studied at St. John Kanty College, Erie, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1918. In September, 1918, he entered St. John's Seminary, at Brooklyn, completing a course in philosophy and theology, and on Decem- ber 23, 1923, was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood.

From January, 1924, to January, 1929, Father Ma- kowski served as curate at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, in Patchogue. Next, he was curate at the Church of the Holy Cross, Maspeth, from January, 1929, to July, 1946. He was then trans- ferred to St. Joseph's Church, Bayside, which he served as administrator until October 15, 1946, when he was appointed pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Ostrabrama, in Cutchogue.

Father Makowski is a charter member of the Knights of Columbus at Floral Park. He is also a member of the Pomonok Country Club at Flushing, where he spends his leisure time on the golf links. His reputation as a golfer has been made by con- sistently playing in the low seventies.

CHARLES M. REED-Growth and progress in the past eighteen years of Karlson & Reed, Incor- porated, one of the major industrial concerns of Nassau County, has been due in no small measure to the ability and energy of Charles M. Reed, now presi- dent of the corporation. This organization, which had its beginning thirty-four years ago as a com- paratively small outfit engaged in well drilling and water supply contracting, has become an important factor in construction activities in this busy and popu- lous suburban area.

A son of Maynard W. Reed, a native of Pultney- ville, New York, who now is retired, and of his wife Nellie (Stansell) Reed of Newark, New York, Charles M. Reed was born in Newark, March 24, 1896. His schooling began in his native city, but he was brought as a boy to the Borough of Brooklyn where he com- pleted his elementary education and subsequently at- tended Pratt Institute. His first employment was with the Central Foundry Company of New York City, manufacturers of cast iron pipe, with whom he remained until 1928. In that year he became associated with Karlson & Reed, Inc., as vice president.

This company originated as Karlson & Lee in 1912, being a partnership of Carl J. Karlson and Hugh Lee. Its office was located at Hicksville, Nassau County, and its business, as noted above, was well drilling and water supply contracting. At the time of its incorporation as Karlson and Reed, Carl J. Karlson became president, and so remained until his death in 1945. At that time Charles M. Reed was elected to succed Mr. Karlson as president, while Mr. Karlson's son, George C. Karlson (q. v.), who has been associated with the concern since 1934, be- came vice president. Since 1928 Joseph H. Jung has served as secretary and treasurer of the corporation,

which now engages in all types of utility contracting and employs as high as two hundred people. The principal office is located on West Barclay Street in Hicksville, and there is a branch office at Riverhead in Suffolk County.

During World War I, Charles M. Reed was in mili- tary service from June, 1917, to December, 1918, hold- ing the rank of sergeant in the 472nd Engineers. His business interests extend to banking, and he is a mem- ber of the board of directors of the Second National Bank of Hempstead. He has served the Town of Hempstead as a member of the school board of Dis- trict No. I from 1941 to 1946 inclusive and was president of that body in 1945. In politics Mr. Reed is a Republican. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian Church in Hempstead. Mr. Reed has two hobbies, gardening and bridge.

On June 26, 1929, Charles M. Reed married May Eisemann of Hollis, New York, a daughter of John and Rose Eisemann. Of this union there is one child, a son, Charles M., Jr., born May 8, 1933.

GEORGE C. KARLSON-As a young man just. past his majority and fresh from college, George C. Karlson brought his youthful energy into the affairs of Karlson & Reed, Inc., one of Long Island's im- portant industrial concerns, which had made remark- able progress from modest beginnings under the management of his father, Carl J. Karlson.

A native of Gefle, Sweden, Carl J. Karlson had come to the United States as a boy, and as a young man had entered the contracting business in Hicks- ville, Nassau County. In 1912 he formed a partner- ship with Hugh Lee is a well drilling and water sup- ply contracting business with an office in Hicksville. In 1928 the business was expanded to engage in all types of utility construction, and was incorporated as Karlson & Reed. Of the new corporation Carl J. Karlson became president, and Charles M. Reed (q. v.), who acquired an interest in the concern at that time, was named vice president.

George C. Karlson, son of Swedish-born Carl J. Karlson and his wife Nancy S. (Bischoff) Karlson who was a native of Hicksville, was born at Hicks- ville January 2, 1913. His elementary and high school education was obtained in the public schools of his native village and after graduation from high school in 1930, he attended St. Paul's School in Garden City, Long Island, for one year before matriculating at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, where he remained for three years. It was in 1934 that he entered the organization of Karlson & Reed, Inc. and in 1936 was named vice-president of the corporation, which office he continues to fill. His father Carl J. Karlson died in 1945, at which time Charles M. Reed succeeded to the presidency of the concern. Since 1928 the posts of secretary and treasurer of the cor- poration have been held by Joseph H. Jung. In something of a key position with respect to construc- tion work, Karlson & Reed, Inc. directed by the team of Charles M. Reed, George C. Karlson and Joseph H. Jung, has prepared itself to cope with the anti- cipated heavy demands of the post-war period. The firm has offices in Hicksville and Riverhead. Mr. Karlson is a supporter of the Republican party, and a member of Trinity Lutheran Church at Hicksville.

On November 24, 1938, George C. Karlson married Katherine M. O'Donnell, of Huntington, Long Island, daughter of William and Mary O'Donnell. Of this marriage there is one child, a son, Kenneth Douglas, born May 5, 1945.

Charles . Read

George C. Karlsen

L.I .- 42

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SHIRLEY YOUNG HALLOCK-With some phase of agricultural production and distribution on Long Island, Shirley Young Hallock has been iden- tified since boyhood. He is a native of Riverhead, Suffolk County, born in May, 1910, son of Herman Halsey and Sarah K. (Young) Hallock, and a des- cendant in the tenth generation from Peter Hallock who came to the Southold section of Long Island in 1640, and developed a farm at Aquebogue. His father, who died on April 2, 1942, was a thoroughly modern agriculturalist who made good on the family home- stead on Sound Avenue, Riverhead, on which the gentleman whose name heads this article was born and reared.

Shirley Young Hallock learned farming and ac- quired an academic education on the home place while he attended the Northville district school and the Riverhead High School. He remained on his father's farm to 1936, when he entered the employ of the Long Island Produce and Fertilizer Company, as a sales- man. His first-hand knowledge of the special con- ditions that prevail on Long Island, which is peculiarly fortunate as regards climate, quick soils and proximity to large markets, proved eminently useful, particularly in the field of fertilizing, in his work as a salesman. In 1942, Mr. Hallock became manager of the Riverhead branch of the Suffolk G. L. F. Service, wholesale distributors of potatoes, cauliflower and a number of products of truck gar- dening and heavy agriculture. In this post he remains active and efficient. He belongs to the Riverhead Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and various agricul- tural and distributor organizations. He attends the Congregational Church in Riverhead and is affiliated with many local civic, social and humanitarian activi- ties.

On February 17, 1940, Shirley Young Hallock mar- ried Hilda G. Burd, daughter of Fred and Blanche (Adams) Burd of Jamaica. Mr. and Mrs. Hallock are the parents of three children, all born at the Greenport Hospital: I. Jane G., born December 7, 1943. 2. Susan L., born in February, 1945. 3. Geoffrey W., born June 30, 1946.

GEORGE ONDERDONK LINKLETTER, son of Justus O. Linkletter and Annie Brinkerhoff (On- derdonk) Linkletter was born June 25, 1880, on the Onderdonk estate at Manhasset, where he still re- sides in the same house in which he was born.

The Onderdonk roots were among the earliest planted by the Dutch settlers, and of their line were two significant branches, one remaining in Hempstead and vicinity, the other moving up into New York State. Both branches are represented in George O. Linkletter's family tree.

In the old Hempstead Harbor home Judge Hen- drick Onderdonk was host to General George Wash- ington in the days of his Presidency. This house has passed from the family possession. This Hen- drick built the paper mill at Roslyn, probably the first in New York State. Some of the paper there produced is still to be seen, the water mark clearly distinguishable. The paper mill still stands, also the grist mill.

The Linkletter family tree shows many of the early Holland Dutch names of New Amsterdam settlers and of Long Island: Hardenbroeck, Brinker- hoff, VanDerVoort, Onderdonk, with others in col- lateral lines.

From the Orkney Islands came the mariner, James

Linkletter who married at the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, in 1761, Catherine Harden- brook, daughter of Gerardus Hardenbrook and Heylte Cooley. James Linkletter moved his family into Orange County where he is listed as serving in the militia during the Revolution, as did two others of his Linkletter kinsmen who had settled in New York.

Linkletter history in the Orkneys goes back to the fifteenth century when among the early "Roith- men" was the Viking Criste Linckletor, as the name developed, Linklater and Linkletter. His titles "God- man" (gentleman) and "Roithman" (assemblyman) indicated his status, as did his being listed among the odallers or landholders of "the Earl's kin." From this Criste came the Linkletters of Housbie in Birsay who are the ancestors of the James Linkletter who came to New York and from whom George O. Link- letter is directly descended. History shows these Linkletters were jurors and baillies in Orkney and were one of the important families of the islands.

Catherine, wife of James Linkletter, was also of a family whose name appears in New York records with some prominence. At the time when pure drinking water was difficult to be had in the city, the Harden- brooks owned a spring which was called "Tea Water Pump," supplying fresh water for a small sum to its patrons. This spot became a fashionable gather- ing place and the "Tea Garden," was much liked by the British officers during their occupation of the city. It is recorded that after the Linkletter family went into Orange County, Catherine appealed to the British commanding officer for a pass per- mitting her to return to New York to collect the revenue due her from the tea water spring. Not until the canal was drained and Canal Street built over the bed, was suitable drinking water made generally available to the city residents who had previously been forced to use canal water, unless able to pur- chase the spring water. The Hardenbrook spring was at the corner of Chatham and Roosevelt streets.

From Orange County the Linkletters spread to other parts of New York State and some went farther West. Justus O., father of George O. Linkletter, be- came associated with drug store interests in the Chicago area and elsewhere over a period of years, then spent his later life in Manhasset. He married twice, both his wives being Onderdonk sisters, daugh- ters of Horatio Gates Onderdonk and his wife Eliza- beth Schenck also an Onderdonk; Annie B., mother of George O. Linkletter, died when he was about five years of age, and his stepmother was his aunt, Cather- ine Elizabeth Onderdonk. The Onderdonk family are associated with the Reformed Dutch Church of North Hempstead at Manhasset. They gave the land where the present church stands and the parsonage was built and presented to the church by her sisters as a memorial to Annie B., the mother of George O.

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Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III, Part 94

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