USA > New York > Noted living Albanians and state officials. A series of biographical sketches > Part 19
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GEORGE S. MUNSON, M. D.
N ALBANIAN who, by his talents and energy, has already risen to eminence in a special department of science, is Dr. George S. Munson, ophthalmologist and aurist. Born in the village of Waterford, Saratoga county, N. Y., on the 4th of April, 1856, he passed his infancy there. He is the son of Stephen Munson and Unice A. Munson, who were highly respected citizens of Albany. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of the celebrated theologian and metaphysician, Rev. Jonathan Edwards of Northamp- ton, Mass., and afterward president of Princeton college, New Jersey. His mother was a native of Westfield, Mass., and possessed many of the ennobling qualities which have distinguished the women of the old Bay State. She died in March, 1886, at New Orleans, while traveling for her health with her youngest son. The parents of Dr. Munson removed to Albany when he was scarcely two years old. Here his father was then in the shoe manufacturing business on Broadway, and soon established the largest concern of its kind in the city. It continued to flourish from year to year, commanding a large patronage both in and out of the city. Here the tender years of Dr. Munson were spent under the parental roof, with the careful attention and in- struction of loving and intelligent parents, who took a pride
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in witnessing the budding of his young life unfold into man- hood. Observing with interest and gratification his taste for books when a child, his parents determined to give him all the advantages of a good education within their power. He was first sent to a private school, and afterward placed under the care of a private tutor at home. He was soon prepared for the higher public school No. 2, on State street, from which he graduated in 1868. His young and ardent desires for literary instructions on a broader scale were more fully gratified when, in 1870, he entered the Albany Free academy, then on State street, in a building which is now used as a dancing school. Here the boy of twelve years pursued his studies with zest. His mind was wrapped up in his school-books, not in the usual sports of the majority of boys of the town. He found his pleasure and even re- creation in trying to master the contents of his text-books. His especially favorite study was that of elocution, in which he made steady and commendable progress, his declama- tions showing careful study and graceful delivery.
After four years of very hard study at this academy, young Munson graduated with high honor, and was regarded as the best speaker in the institution. He never lost his in- terest in elocution, and has since spoken before different literary societies and in various churches. On leaving the free academy he was thoroughly prepared for a collegiate course. Princeton college, of which his mother's ancestor, Jonathan Edwards, was chosen to the presidency in 1757, and of which the Rev. Dr. McCosh was now the president, was selected by the parents of Dr. Munson, and accordingly the young man, in 1874, at the age of 16, entered that ven- erable, historic institution, with a cheerful heart and lofty purposes. There during four years, he pursued the usual
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college curriculum with the enthusiasm of a devoted student, and the success which follows a careful and persevering in- vestigation of the wide fields of literature and science. Study, to him, was no toilsome work, but around it were thrown many irresistible charms. He delighted to live among books and breathe the atmosphere of the intellectual world, while at the same time he was not insensible to the beauties of nature around him or the wondrous manifesta- tions of her powers. While at college, attending to his regular studies he continued to cultivate his taste for elo- quence and a polished style of English composition.
In 1876 - the centennial year - he took the first college prize in oratory, a handsome gold medal, devised by Tiffany & Co., N. Y., and valued at $50. The title of his oration on that occasion was "The Spirit of '76; no Taxation Without Representation." It is said to have contained a vivid presentation of the just cause of the struggling pa- triots and of the wrongs inflicted on them by Great Britain, and to have been delivered with great force and patriotic fervor. It was much applauded by the college faculty, stu- dents and others who were present, and at once established the reputation of young Munson as an earnest and graceful speaker. While at Princeton he also took a deep interest in the more profound course of study on Biblical criticism and philosophy, instituted by Dr. McCosh, whose lectures and class examinations were so thorough and instructive. And so high were his attainments in this sacred department of study, that on his graduation he took the Bible prize, offered by Dr. McCosh, for the best Bible student.
The choice of his profession was now more plainly indi- cated, and during, the last years of his collegiate course at Princeton, he devoted himself more particularly to the study
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of medicine under the direction of his brother, Dr. Frank A. Munson. By this means he shortened his regular medical college course by one year. Besides his general academical and collegiate studies his tastes from a boy also ran in the direction of medical science, and when a mere lad he loved the elementary study of anatomy and kindred sciences, trying his hand in dissecting animals, birds, insects, etc. He entered the Albany Medical college in 1878, and gradu- ated from that institution in 1880. During his terms of medical instruction he was a student of Dr. Van der Veer, and particularly of Dr. Snow, whose profound and masterly teachings were of great advantage to him in after life. After his graduation, the late lamented Dr. Snow, as well as Dr. Van der Veer, continued to manifest a deep interest in his success, often sending him patients and assisting him in various other ways in his profession.
Shortly after receiving his medical diploma, his brother, Dr. Frank A. Munson, died. He was an accomplished ocu- list and aurist, and on his death left his valuable books and instruments to George, who now thought it to be his duty to take up the study of the special department in medical science in which his brother was engaged. And for the pur- pose of finishing his education in this department he went to New York and entered Dr. Knapp's excellent ophthalmic and aural institute on Twelfth street. After six months of close study and observation, Dr. Knapp made him his first assistant, and in this capacity he remained at the institution nearly two years, doing a great deal of fine and difficult work, especially in microscopic examinations, and in descrip- tions of the diseases of the eye and of the ear. In order to perfect as far as possible his studies in this new chosen field for life work, Dr. Munson while in New York at this time,
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took a special course of instruction under Drs. Noyes and Agnew, both so eminent as specialists.
At the very time when Dr. Munson had fully completed his medicinal course, in 1882, his father's establishment was burned down, entailing a heavy pecuniary loss, and it be- came necessary for the young graduate to go to work with all his energy for himself. To him his father's loss was probably a blessing in disguise, for it called forth all his pro- fessional resources into greater activity. He first opened an office at 138 State street in 1882, where he carried on his practice for about a year, when he removed to 47 Eagle street, occupying the office of Dr. Stevens, who had recently changed his residence to New York city. In 1885 Dr. Mun- son returned to his former place, No. 138 State street, at- tending closely to his private practice, and filling the posi- tions of ophthalmic surgeon to St. Peter's hospital, Albany, ophthalmic and aural surgeon to the Schenectady hospital and dispensary, and assistant surgeon in the Albany City hospital. Having purchased the desirable house No. 30 Eagle street, he removed there with his family on the Ist of May, 1889.
On the death of Dr. Robertson of Albany, Dr. Munson purchased his entire library, which contains a large collec- tion of ophthalmic and aural books, some of which are ex- ceedingly rare, one set of ten volumes alone costing $300.
Dr. Munson is a member of the Fort Orange club and of the Albany Medical Library and Journal association. He is a frequent contributor to the medical literature especially relating to his chosen department, and is the author of treat- ises on " The Removal of Foreign Bodies from the Interior of the Eye by the use of the Magnet," " Use and Abuse of Astringents in Eye Diseases," "Contagious Ophthalmia
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with History of Cases," " Abscess of the Middle Ear with Brain Abscess, Death and Autopsy," " Cold Applications in Eye Diseases," etc. His knowledge of all the various branches of human learning is also quite extensive, the re- sult of close, studious application from early youth.
Dr. Munson's practice has increased till to-day it is one of the largest in his special line of work in the city. His prac- tice is also largely drawn from the neighboring country. He is pleasing in his manners, courteous and gentlemanly in his attention to patients, and skillful in his treatment of the many different ailments of the eye and ear which come under his care.
In 1884, Dr. Munson married Miss May S. Downing, the accomplished daughter of George S. Downing, Esq., a law- yer and prominent citizen of Albany. By this union he has one child, a boy, who was born on the 3Ist of March, 1888.
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SAMUEL LYMAN MUNSON.
·T IS both interesting and profitable to trace the pros- perous career of men of enterprise in our midst, whose highest aim is to keep abreast with the progressive com- mercial spirit of the day and to develop or carry on some important branch of industry. Of this class we have a nota- ble example in the following portraiture of Samuel L. Mun- son, the well-known manufacturer in Hudson avenue - a man of uncommon pluck, courage, executive ability and untiring perseverance in his business undertakings.
He was born on the 14th of June, 1844, in the town that is now known as Huntington, Mass. He belongs to the old Puritan race that did so much toward the establishment, civilization and growth of New England as well as other portions of this broad land of free institutions. His father, Garry Munson, was a man of noble impulses and remarkable industry - a descendant in the eighth generation in America from old Thomas Munson, who came to this country in 1621, a year after the landing of the Pilgrim fathers at Plymouth Rock, and who was one of the founders of New Haven, Conn., just two hundred and fifty-one years ago.
Garry Munson married Harriet Lyman, a descendant of Richard Lyman, another dauntless Puritan who crossed the Atlantic in a frail vessel, and who, as early as the year 1635,
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was among that heroic little band of pioneers that started out from the city of Boston in search of new settlements. Pushing their way through dense forests where perhaps the foot of the white man had never trod, infested by wild, fero- cious animals, where the Indian war whoop was heard and the dreaded tomahawk gleamed in dark recesses, they at last reached the shores of the Connecticut river, and founded the now flourishing city of Hartford. Around those daring pioneers the thick, tall old trees soon began to fall before their sturdy blows, and rich landscapes were opened to their delighted view. Rude log cabins were first built in great numbers which in subsequent generations were to be re- placed by stately buildings, when the wheels of industry were to be fully set in motion, and the tide of commerce was to flow in ever-increasing volume. A man of more than ordinary intelligence, strict integrity, fine business qualifica- tions, Garry Munson was very popular among his old Mass- achusetts fellow-citizens, who honored him with various offi- ces of public trust, of a state and local nature. He pos- sessed a mind of great vigor and comprehensiveness, which enabled him to carry on successfully, at the same time, the work of a farmer, a dealer in wool, and a manufacturer. In his moral and religious principles, and in his just and hon- orable dealings with his fellow men he was a good represent- ative of those liberty-loving men who, driven by persecution for conscience sake from the old world, first sought an asylum in the wild forests of America. He succeeded in se- curing an ample store of the good things of this life, and after reaching the allotted period of " three-score years and ten," passed calmly away, leaving a fragrant name and the . marks of a true nobility, which his descendants will always be proud to cherish.
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The parents of Samuel L. Munson spared no pains in training him up in right ways and industrious habits, and in giving him all the educational advantages available. At a tender age he was sent to the common school of his neigh- borhood, and when he grew older performed the usual man- ual labor of boys on his father's farm. But his parents, dis- covering that his tastes lay rather in the line of business than that of farming, determined to give their boy a chance to become an accomplished business man ; and as a prelim- inary course of training they sent him at the age of twelve to the Williston seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts, de. lightfully located in the midst of fine landscapes in view of the old villages of Northampton, Hadley and Amherst, with Mt. Holyoke and Mt. Tom rising in grandeur in the dis- tance. There young Munson passed three years as a dili. gent and successful student under excellent teachers, and much pleased with the charming natural scenery around him. On leaving this seminary at the age of fifteen, he sought and obtained a situation as a clerk in a first-class dry goods store in Boston, where he remained two years, gaining a practical knowledge of trade in its various departments, and laying the foundation of a substantial mercantile career. But the close confinement and hard work in the store, with the lack of sufficient outdoor exercise soon began to tell upon a constitution not at any time the most robust, and he was obliged to relinquish his clerkship, return home and try by regular daily exercise on the farm to regain his failing strength. This change had the desired effect, and after a year of farm life his health was re-established. And now again the thoughts of a mercantile life began to fill his youth- full imagination with pleasing anticipations of future success in the same calling. With an enterprise characteristic of his
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ancestors, he left home and came to Albany, where he soon obtained a situation as a commercial traveller in the store of Messrs. Wickes & Strong, manufacturers of clothing, his territory lying principally in the west. In this new field of labor, for which he was admirably fitted by natural tastes and gifts, he met with unexpected success in selling goods, while at the same time his health was greatly benefited by fre- quent trips through the country and breathing its pure, in- vigorating air.
In 1867, after an experience of four years in this special line of trade, Mr. Munson, in connection with Messrs. J. A. Rich- ardson and L. R. Dwight, two young Albanians, established a linen collar manufactory, under the firm name of Munson, Richardson & Co. Two years later this partnership was finally dissolved, by the retirement of Messrs. Richardson and Dwight, when Mr. Munson boldly and energetically carried on the business alone and became master of the sit- uation. He now began to show more fully his rare, wide- awake and superior business qualities by reorganizing his new concern on a solid and enlarged basis, and continuing it with a success that was truly remarkable at a time when. such an enterprise was only beginning to be developed and pushed in this city.
Mr. Munson at first continued his manufacturing business on a small scale at different places, in Broadway and in Green street, but his trade increased so rapidly that in a few years it became necessary for him to look around for larger ac- commodations to do justice to the requirements of his work. , In 1884 he made a grand, successful venture by the purchase of the old Hudson Avenue Methodist church, remodeling and enlarging it into a superb building, most suitable for the manufacture of shirts, collars, cuffs, lace goods, handker-
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chiefs, etc., on the largest scale. A brief description of this imposing edifice, one of the largest of the kind in the Union, may be appropriately introduced here. The building is 140 feet by 68 feet, four stories in height, constructed of pressed brick, the dome roof of the old church alone being retained, and occupies a lot 100 feet by 140 feet running from Hudson avenue to Plain street. On the first floor are the offices and warerooms, most conveniently and tastefully arranged. Mr. Munson's private office on this floor is fitted up in a beauti- ful and artistic manner in oak, with fine spruce ceilings and furnished with excellent taste. The sample office and stock- room occupies the entire length of the first floor south of the main offices, in which are systematically arranged in hand- some boxes and packages thousands of dozens of shirts, col- lars, cuffs, etc. The cutting-room, which occupies the entire second floor, and the stitching-room on the third floor, where hundreds of female operatives are busily engaged, are espe- cially interesting to visitors who wish to see work rapidly and extensively carried on by the industrious hands of women.
On the 21st of December, 1885, this entire building, splendidly illuminated, was thrown open to the inspection of the public in the presence of large numbers of business men, citizens and strangers. The various departments of this great factory are in charge of skillful and competent persons, and there every thing moves on with a system as "methodical as clock work." As an organizer to plan and conduct a business of such magnitude, Mr. Munson has but few equals and no superiors in the city of Albany. From very small beginnings he has gradually built up a business of vast dimensions, which fully illustrates the fine sentiment of his trade mark,- " Great oaks from little acorns grow."
Mr. Munson employs from four to five hundred hands in
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his factory, and his goods, which are manufactured from the best materials, find a ready sale in almost every part of the United States, while he fills numerous orders from abroad.
He is one of the trustees of the Home Savings bank of Albany, a member of the board of trustees of the chamber of commerce and chairman of the committee on manu- factures, etc., treasurer of Thepure Baking Powder Co., and is also identified with some of the literary, masonic, athletic and social organizations of the city. With all his pressing business concerns he is a lover of literature, and devotes many a spare moment to the perusal of valuable books and periodicals, of which he has a choice selection. And thus in the walks of an active business career and in general intelligence he is spending a life, now scarcely in its prime, which must command the respect and esteem of all good citizens as supremely devoted to one of the business interests of Albany.
In personal appearence Mr. Munson is of about the med- ium size, with dark hair and an expression indicative of a thorough knowledge of human nature, winning in his man- ners, sympathetic in his nature, strict in his integrity, fair and honorable in his dealings, and withal, a full confidence in his own ability to manage the affairs of a large business, in the improvement and steady growth of which his active mind is daily absorbed. In addition to his extensive and varied works here he erected in the spring of 1889 another shirt factory at Cobleskill, N. Y., for an equip- ment of two hundred more sewing machines. In 1868, Mr. Munson married Miss Susan B. Hopkins, daughter of Lem- uel J. Hopkins of Albany. They have a family of six chil- dren, four sons and two daughters, and his enjoyment of domestic life is peaceful. serene and happy.
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DAVID MURRAY.
O NE of the most accomplished scholars and educators of our city and country is Dr. David Murray. Born in Bovina, Delaware county, N. Y., on the 15th of October, !830, his earliest years were spent amidst the grand, rugged, picturesque scenery of his native place. He is of Scottish descent, his parents being William Murray and Jean (Black) Murray, natives of Ecclefechan, Scotland. In 1818 they emigrated to the United States of America. Possessing the sterling qualities of true, intelligent Scotch people, and im- pressed with the great value of education in its broadest sense, both moral and intellectual, they determined to give their children all the advantages of an education which lay in their power. Accordingly David, the subject of our sketch, was sent at a very early age to the district school of his rural home, and at the age of twelve we find him in the academy at Delhi, pursuing his studies with increasing in- terest and delight. " He left this academy to engage in a brief business career, which was not so congenial to him as the calmer walks of science and literature. At the Fergu- sonville academy he was prepared for a collegiate course ; and in 1849, at the age of nineteen, he entered the sophomore class of Union college, then in the days of its great pros- perity and popularity under the presidency of Dr. Nott,
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when students from all parts of the United States were at- tracted to its justly renowned halls. And here during three years young Murray was a most careful and devoted stu- dent, pursuing his college curriculum with the greatest pleasure, and laying the foundation of his future usefulness and eminence as an educator.
In 1852 he graduated from Union college. Among his classmates were Silas B. Brownell, now a lawyer in New York city ; Dr. T. P. Seeley, now of Chicago ; Allen Wright, formerly governor of the Choctaw nation ; Dr. James Dema- rest, and others who have become prominent in church or state. After graduating, Mr. Murray's superior intellectual qualifications were not long to remain unrecognized. He received an invitation from the trustees of the Albany acad- emy to become one of its teachers. Accepting the propo- sition, he entered at once upon the work of teaching mathe. matics and natural philosophy in the year 1853. For the laborious duties of this professorship he was admirably quali- fied, for he inherited the well-known traits of the educated Scotchman, excelling principally in the knowledge of mathe- matics, philosophy and logic. His career as a professor in the Albany academy was so highly successful that in 1857 he became its principal. In this position he succeeded the Rev. Dr. William A. Miller, who, as professor of languages, took the place of Dr. Peter Bullions, a man whose scholarly attain- ments and rare Christian virtues will not soon be forgotten.
Mr. Murray was principal of the Albany academy during a period of six years. Under his principalship the academy attained a degree of prosperity which has never been sur- passed, and many young men received the training which fitted them to enter upon careers of great usefulness and prominence.
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In 1863 Mr. Murray was chosen professor of mathematics and astronomy in Rutgers college, New Jersey, where a still wider field for his varied knowledge was afforded. He en- tered upon the duties of his new professorship with great earnestness, and his reputation as a successful teacher and educational organizer was speedily recognized.
It was while a professor at Rutgers college, where many of the Japanese students were receiving their education, that Mr. Murray became deeply interested in the education of Japan. At this time he prepared an able paper on this subject, for the volume of Japanese education which Mr. Mori, the acting minister from that country, had published by the Messrs. Appleton of New York This paper excited so much interest that Dr. Murray was called into consulta- tion by the members of the embassy sent from Japan to in- vestigate the governments of western nations. His views on education met with such approval from the members of the embassy that he was invited to accept the position of educational adviser to the Japanese government. He ac- cepted the mission, and sailed for Japan in the spring of 1873. There he devoted himself to the work of organizing a national system of education. Highly appreciating his ser- vices in this department, the Japanese government sent him to the Philadelphia centennial exhibition in 1876, to attend to its educational interests. And here, in connection with the Japanese officials, he made extensive collections of mate .. rials for the museums of that country. Returning to Japan in the autumn of 1876, he continued in the service of the government until the winter of 1879. And on the resignation of his position at that time, he was honored with every testi- monial of respect that the government could bestow, the emperor conferring on him the decoration of the Rising Sun.
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