USA > New York > Noted living Albanians and state officials. A series of biographical sketches > Part 31
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Howard Van Rompclass
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HOWARD VAN RENSSELAER.
care and love he was tenderly nursed and reared by his mother, a woman of many virtues, whose maiden name was Laura Reynolds, daughter of the celebrated Marcus Tullius Reynolds, who in his day was one of the brightest stars in the legal profession in Albany. This estimable lady still lives to receive the grateful homage of her sons for training them in ways of usefulness, gentleness, morality and intel- lectual aspiration.
At an early age Howard was placed in the Normal school at Albany, where he learned the elementary branches, and was inspired with a deep love for the pursuit of knowledge. Later on he became a pupil of the Albany academy, where so many of our Albany boys have received the best instruc- tion under well-known, competent and painstaking teachers. On leaving the Albany academy, after having been there two terms, he was sent to a private boarding school at Cats- kill, noted for its excellency in the instruction of boys and for its grand, natural, healthful surroundings. He remained there three years, when he went to St. Paul's school at Concord, N. H. He was but twelve years of age when he entered that quite noted school of the granite state, where larger boys are thoroughly trained both in in- tellectual and physical education. And there during six years he pursued his literary course with great interest and improvement, paying special attention to his favorite department -- that of scientific study and investigation. His diligence and proficiency were clearly shown while at St. Paul's school by his there taking a yearly testimonial for high standing and two literary prizes, also the school medal, the highest honor given at St. Paul's. But while a studious youth he did not overlook the importance of phys- ical exercise in the preservation of health or in the strengtli-
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ening of the muscles. He became much interested in athletic sports, and being very agile in his movements suc- ceeded in some of the school pedestrian contests and in making the record of three-mile walk and one-mile walk, which have never since been beaten. He was also stroke in the successful school crew; on first eleven in cricket club, and got in that when he was in the third form, which was rather early; and was also president of the athletic associa- tion.
On leaving the school in Concord at the age of eighteen, Mr. Van Rensselaer attended the Yale Scientific school, taking the course preparatory to medicine, graduating there with honor in 1881, and taking the degree of Ph. B. He was also a student for some time in the Yale Art school. He took a literary prize at Yale and made the record there in walking. On his college graduation he was not at a loss what profession to chose for life work; for from the early age of thirteen the study of medicine was uppermost in his thoughts, and to gratify his desires in this respect, at some future day, was his highest ambition. Accordingly, when he had fully completed his scientific studies he immediately started for New York and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, then under the direction of Drs. Clark, Dalton, Sands and other eminent medical instructors. He was now more than ever in his element, and for three years attended the regular courses of lectures and read with avid- ity and a retentive memory all the principal standard works relating to the various branches of his profession. To gain a more practical knowledge of medical science and a larger experience in the best methods of treatment he went for some time into the Chambers Street hospital as an assistant practitioner, and also became a student in the post
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graduate medical school. Finding hospital experience of so great advantage to him in rounding out his medical attain- ments he passed the severe competitive examination for the New York hospital and as interne remained there the re- quired eighteen months. While there he entertained the idea of visiting the old world with a view of studying disease in its various forms and symptoms and the different modes of treatment as adopted in the largest hospitals by the most celebrated physicians.
Carrying out his plans for foreign study and observation we next find him crossing the Atlantic, and landing on the shores of Germany in January, 1887. He visited all the great hospitals of Europe, excepting those of Spain, study- ing in the hospitals of Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Munich, Lon- don, Edinburgh, etc. He was careful to embrace and im- prove the rare opportunities then offered to him, and two years were thus passed -- years which were not spent in vain - in the search after new medical light, and the latest and most scientific modes of treatment in multitudes of cases. In the meantime, he partially changed his medical investi- gations by making flying visits to many a famous place in European history. From the North cape he found his way through romantic regions to Constantinople and the classic soil of Greece. While in Norway he made a special study of leprosy in the hospitals there, and saw more than four hundred cases.
Dr. Van Rensselaer is, moreover, a great lover of the fine arts, and has visited nearly all the famous galleries of Eu- rope and looked with admiring eyes upon the works of the grand old masters.
On the Ist of February, 1889, after an absence of two years, he returned from Europe greatly benefited both pro-
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fessionally and physically, and settled down again in his na- tive city. He was at once appointed visiting physician to St. Peter's hospital and the dispensary of the Child's hospi- tal - positions which by previous education and experience he is well qualified to fill. During the fall of 1889 he was appointed instructor of nervous diseases, and diseases of the chest, at the Albany Medical college. In December he was given the position of attending physician to the Hospital for Incurables. In January, 1890, he was elected visiting phy- sician to the Home of the Friendless. In June he was called to the position of lecturer on materia medica at the Albany Medical college.
Besides his visits and studies abroad, Dr. Van Rensselaer has traveled extensively on the American continent, and with keen observation of human character and natural scen- ery, has looked upon the wildness of the Rocky moun- tains, the wonders of Colorado, the Yellowstone regions and the glories of southern California. He has also visited the West India islands.
He is a member of several well-known clubs and literary societies in the country, such as the Calumet club of New York ; the Berzelius club of Yale college - the oldest scien- tific society in the Union ; and the Fort Orange club of our city.
In his personal appearance Dr. Van Rensselaer is of the medium size, with an impressive countenance, dark hair and eyes, easy and gentlemanly in his manners, with the thought- ful look of the student, and without the least affectation. He is altogether a person who apparently takes real enjoy- ment in his chosen profession, in books, in artistic designs, and in the beauties and sublimities of nature.
SAMUEL M. VAN SANTVOORD.
I N THE exhibition of those qualities which go to form a popular and successful merchant and a true and useful citizen, we have a notable example in the career of Mr. Sam- uel M. Van Santvoord, who for the past twenty-seven years has been a prominent figure in Albany. He is a self-made man in the mercantile line, who has gained a most enviable reputation, reflecting honor upon himself and the useful oc- cupation which he early chose for a life-long pursuit. From a humble origin, and amidst difficulties before which many a young heart would have quailed, he succeeded in laying a solid foundation as a business man, showing what opportuni- ties our country affords to those who, well grounded in cor- rect principles, set out in life's pathway with a determina- tion to rise in the world.
Born in the city of Schenectady on the 2d of October, 1819, he is a descendant of the old Hollanders, many of whom came to this county long before the revolutionary era, in the interests of trade, religion and human progress, settling in dense forests, which, under their industrious hands, were finally turned into fruitful fields. Schenectady and the rich valley of the Mohawk were favorite places for the set- tlement of those sturdy old Dutch pioneers. Among these early settlers was the Van Santvoord family of Schenec-
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tady - a family noted in the old history of that place for many sterling qualities.
Samuel M. Van Santvoord, the subject of this sketch, is a son of Zeger Van Santvoord, who was born on the 21st of June, 1783, and who died on the 28th of November, 1824, when his son Samuel was but five years old. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Loague. His grandfather, Cornelius Van Santvoord, was a son of Zeger Van Sant- voord, of Schenectady, who married Eva, daughter of Abra- ham Swits, and who died on the 12th of March, 1845, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. His wife had preceded him to the grave on the 8th of June, 1835, in the seventy-fourth year of her age.
The first of the Van Santvoord family in America was the Rev. Cornelius Van Santvoord, who was born in Holland in 1637, and who came to this country about the year 1718, . and became pastor of the Reformed Dutch church of Staten Island. At the University of Leyden he had been highly educated in classical and theological science. From Staten Island he was called in the year 1740 to the pastor- ate of the old Reformed Dutch church in Schenectady, and became its fifth minister. There he labored twelve years in the ministry, dying in 1752, aged fifty five years. He was twice married. His first wife was Anna, daughter of Jo- hannes Staats of Staten Island, where all his children were born. His second wife was Elizabeth Toll, of Schenectady, who left no issue. He was a man of eminent piety and of profound and varied learning. It is said that he could preach equally well in the English, French and Dutch languages.
A fatherless boy at the age of five, Samuel M. Van Sant- voord was soon to become the main support of his widowed mother. In the mean time he was sent to the Lancaster
SAMUEL M. VAN SANTVOORD. 465
school in Schenectady, where under its principal, old Nicho- las Van Vranken, a model Dutch pedagogue, he learned the first principles of reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic and grammar from the simple text-books of those days. He was an industrious and studious boy, and in a very few years had acquired a fair knowledge of the common, practical branches of education. But when he had reached the age of eleven it became necessary for him to leave school and try to earn something for the family, whose pecuniary means were very limited. Like a dutiful son, his young hands will- ingly undertook the task. He was not long in deciding what to do. There was one occupation that had strong at- tractions for him from his tenderest years, and that was the mercantile business. In this direction all his boyish ener- gies now turned, while new hope sprang up in his bosom. Fully determined to become a merchant, we find this boy of eleven a clerk in the dry goods store of William McCamus, a leading Schenectady merchant. It was a fortunate cir- cumstance for young Van Santvoord, for Mr. McCamus took a deep interest in the lively, plucky lad, who had made up his mind not only to earn his own living, but also to assist his mother in her struggles against poverty.
The step he now took was deserving of the highest praise and worthy of imitation by all youth similarly situated. For his filial obedience and his earnest and devoted efforts in behalf of the welfare of his mother, he has since been amply re- warded. Without the aid of the higher education of the schools he soon mastered the details of the dry goods busi- ness, and so harmoniously did he get along with Mr. McCamus that he remained in his store during the long period of twenty years. From the age of twenty-one until the time he left Schenectady he was a partner with Mr. McCamus;
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and it is doubtless true that to the counsels and training of this experienced old merchant he has been in some measure indebted for the success which has since attended his efforts in the same line of business.
In 1853 Mr. Van Santvoord removed to New York city, where for nine years he was engaged in the wholesale dry goods trade. In 1862, with a more extensive knowledge of his business and a much larger experience in its practical bearing, he came to Albany, where he has since resided, spending a busy life amidst the duties of his chosen occupa- tion. He has become strongly attached to the city of his adoption, while at the same time he has gathered around him hosts of warm friends. He was first engaged here in the old dry goods house of Strong, Whitney & Co., and afterward with Smith, Lansing & Co., until their business was closed in consequence of the death of the partners.
In 1869 Mr. Van Santvoord entered the store of William M. Whitney, and soon afterward became a general partner of the concern, in which, for about twenty years, he has been devoting his best energies in working to build up a large trade. His special department was the wholesale busi- ness, with which he had become so familiar while in New York, and the making of credits for the firm. It is but just to say that to his business tact and industry and his general perfect adaptation to mercantile pursuits, the store of W. M. Whitney is no little indebted for its present popularity and prosperity. Under the judicious management of Mr. Van Santvoord and his able assistants the business of the firm has steadily grown until now it is one of the largest estab- lishments of the kind in the country. It is also a fact worthy of mention and commendation, that during his twenty years' connection with this important mercantile cen-
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ter, Mr. Van Santvoord has given his closest attention to its business, as year after year has passed away, seldom enjoy- ing even a brief vacation.
On the 2d of February, 1889, Mr. Van Santvoord retired temporarily from business, and for the present enjoys a much needed relaxation and repose from the onerous duties of a merchant's life.
On the 29th of October, 1850, Mr. Van Santvoord was married to Miss Mary A. Lovett, daughter of Henry Lovett, Esq., of Schenectady, by whom he has had four children. Three of them are living, Mrs. Charles R. Hall, Mrs. E. B. Toedt, whose husband is the manager of Fairbanks' scale works, in this city, and a son, William M. Van Santvoord. In her severe, long protracted physical ailments of a spinal nature Mrs. Van Santvoord has the entire sympathy of all who are acquainted with her. For the past fifteen years, with the fortitude and patience of a true Christian lady, she has borne up bravely under the heavy load of bodily afflic- tion, with a faith directed toward that land where there shall be " no more pain." Mr. and Mrs. Van Santvoord are members of the church of the Holy Innocents. Of Mr. Van Santvoord's father's family of ten children only two members are now living - himself and Mrs. Margaret Bruen, widow of the late James D. Bruen, of Newark, N. J.
Mr. Van Santvoord is one of the most genial of men. Blessed with a sound, impressive physique, he is nearly six feet in height, with a clear, open countenance beaming with serenity and good will to all, and, at the same time, indica- tive of unusual mental activity. In every respect he has shown himself to be a thorough business man and a perfect gentleman - beloved by a large circle of friends and living, so far as we know, without an enemy. And now, in the
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fullness of his manhood he has won the reputation of being an accomplished merchant, and the still higher honor of being a true and faithful friend. And well may we ask what is to be seen on earth -
" More beautiful, or excellent, or fair, Than face of faithful friend - fairest when seen in darkest day - Some I remember, and will ne'er forget, My early friends - friends of my evil day, Friends of my mirth, friends of my misery, too, Friends given by God in mercy and in love - O, I remember, and will ne'er forget."
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Saml. R. Ward,
SAMUEL BALDWIN WARD.
T HIS gentleman was born in the city of New York on the 8th of June, 1842. His ancestry is found to be English on both sides. His great grandfather was named Samuel Ward and was born August 27, 1724. He moved from the state of Virginia to Morristown, N. J., and there married Mary Shipman, dying there on the 15th of April, 1799. Of the mother of our subject the maiden name was Abby Dwight Partridge, and the birthplace was Hatfield, Mass. She was the daughter of a distinguished clergyman and descended through both parents from the best New England and old England stock. A son of the Samuel Ward referred to was named Silas Ward, who was born in Morris county, N. J., in 1767, and who died at an extremely advanced age in 1862. He was the grandfather of Samuel Baldwin Ward ; and his wife, Phœbe Dod, a representative of a New Jersey family of distinguished literary and scien- tific attainments, was the grandmother of the Albany phy- sician whom this sketch is taking into account. From the sturdiness and the culture of the persons thus indicated the character of the immediate progenitors of our subject can be inferred. His father was named Lebbeus Baldwin Ward, son of the Silas Ward already named, and he was born on the 7th of April, 1801, and died in the city of New York on
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the 15th of June, 1885. Dr. Ward, of Albany, is thus united with the best middle state revolutionary stock on his father's side, and with the best Puritan Pilgrim blood that ran in the veins of his saintly mother. The father, Lebbeus Baldwin Ward, was a man of capacious mind, studious habits, trust- worthy judgment and invincible moral principle. To his large natural abilities were added the ripened fruits of a practical education to which he made all of his work in this world a constant contribution. The direction of his apti- tudes and tastes was mechanical. He won wide reputation as a builder of engines and afterward as a manufacturer of heavy wrought iron forgings. He built the Hammersley Forge Works on the North river at the foot of Fifty-ninth street in New York, and he was identified with several of the grand public improvements of the metropolis in the period of his active career. To a degree he was a man of affairs as well as a man of achievements, an original member of the metropolitan board of police, a member of the state assembly in 1851 and a member of various commissions to whom was delegated the construction of important city works by the municipality of New York. L. B. Ward and his two brothers, John D. and Samuel S., also built the first steam- boat and the first railroad that ever ran in Canada, the firm doing business in Montreal from about 1820-1838.
In a practical, cultivated and thoroughly American home, amid all the protections of love and surrounded by all the incentives of high example and true counsel, the boyhood of Samuel Baldwin Ward was passed. To private schools was due the first instruction which he received supplemen- tary to that of the household. So evenly sustained and so uniformly rapid was his progress in the acquisition of knowl- edge that he entered the freshman class of Columbia college
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at the age of fifteen. He there took the full four years' course and proved himself a good fellow as well as a good student. He was graduated in the class of 1861, with the third honors and his popularity among the alumni of the institution has been as marked as his intelligent promotion of the interests and the honor of his alma mater.
Even before his graduation he was fortunate in finding out what he wanted to be and in determining to become it. He had resolved to devote his life to the study and practice of medicine and surgery. Circumstances favored this resolu- tion. One of the staunchest friends of his family was the celebrated Dr. Willard Parker. The latter became our subject's preceptor in medicine and from his office young Ward was entered as a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, the lecture courses of which he attended in 1861 and 1862. Those times were the makers of men and the creators of opportunity. The patriotism and ambition of every class of minds, the professional in- cluded, were profoundly appealed to. The young student coveted a chance to unite service for his country with the acquisition of his profession. The chance came. In the second year of the war he entered the United States service as a medical cadet and was enabled to carry on a course of invaluable clinical instruction, under circumstances which rendered his abilities and his activity helpful to the cause of Union and of freedom and to the needs and injuries of its defenders on the field of battle. The opportunity also con- curred with one to study the operation of large military and civic forces, the procedure of a great government at its high- est tension of energy and the methods and the policies of warriors, statesmen and philanthropists in a supreme emergency of liberty and nationality. The crystallizing
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effect of all this upon the career and character of our subject cannot be overestimated. He learned obedience and he learned to command. Self-reliance and co-operation were alike enforced upon him. The reality of patriotism and the worth of the results of the war were revealed to him, with a vision of the equal sincerity and valor of both sides in a struggle which set forth qualities that have become not merely the bulwark of the Union against internal dissension and external aggression but an invaluable asset in the com- mon fame of collective America.
Technical tuition divided his time with this heroic form of practical instruction. All the while he was entered as a student in the medical department of the Georgetown uni- versity, an institution not remote from his field of official duty, and from that school he received his medical diploma in 1864, although a year previous he had received a contract as an acting assistant surgeon of the United States army and following his graduation he was commissioned by Abra- ham Lincoln as an assistant surgeon of the United States volunteers. At this point the distinctly medical career of our subject may be said to have begun. He retired from the military establishment of the Union with the close of the war in 1865, returned to New York in October of that year, and embarked for Europe for still further medical study, which he pursued for a period of over twelve months. Coming back, Dr. Ward began the private practice of his profession in the city of his birth. He was soon chosen a professor of anatomy and afterward of surgery in the Wo- man's Medical college of the New York Infirmary. For six years he labored actively as a practitioner and instructor in New York. He was effectively connected with the medical charities of the city. He was attending surgeon of the
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Northern dispensary, as well as consulting surgeon of the Western dispensary for women and children and visiting surgeon to the Presbyterian hospital. In 1872 he was elec- ted assistant surgeon of the New York Seventh regiment of the national guard of the state, with the rank of captain, and filled the post until he reached the resolution to settle in the capital of the state.
That resolution was effected in May, 1876. He took at once an influential position in the ranks of his profession and in the social life at Albany. Almost directly following his arrival he was chosen professor of surgical pathology and operative surgery in the Albany Medical college. He also became one of the attending surgeons to the Albany City hospital and to St. Peter's hospital, and he is now professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the Albany Medical college ; a member of the Albany. County Medical society ; a permanent member and ex-president of the State Medical society ; a member of the executive committee of the State Normal college ; a trustee and the vice-president of the Dudley observatory ; a trustee of the Albany Female academy; the president of the state board of survey; as well as having been in the past a member of the board of health of the city ; one of the civil service examiners for state medical officials, and repeatedly a delegate to the American Medical association. He is a member of the Fort Orange club, of the Albany Camera club, being himself an accomplished amateur artist, and he is also connected with the American Climatological association, as well as of other scientific and social bodies not a few. In 1864, he received the degree of A. M. in course from Columbia college, and in 1882, that of Ph. D. ex honore, from Union university.
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