Portrait and biographical record of Queens County (Long Island) New York, Part 13

Author: Chapman, firm, publishers
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1220

USA > New York > Queens County > Long Island City > Portrait and biographical record of Queens County (Long Island) New York > Part 13

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

William Gosman was married in Long Island City in 1822, after which he located upon a tract of land in the town of Newtown. this county. Later. however, he purchased a tract of land formerly owned by Andrew Bragaw, and from 1849 until 1872. the year of his death. lived on that place. The wife of William Gosman was Margaret. daughter of Richard Bragaw, both of whom were born in Skillman Avenue. Long Island City. While driving cattle on the plains of Hempstead during the Revolutionary War. the father of Mrs. Gosman was captured by the Hessians and im-

prisoned on the ship "Jersey," where he was near- ly starved to death. Through the assistance of a Tory friend he effected his escape, and, making his way to New Jersey, found the American army, which he joined and served until the close of the war. His eldest son. brother of Mrs. Gosman. later served in the War of 1812 with the rank of Major. The latter lived to the advanced age of ninety years. The Bragaws are French Hugue- nots and the first settlers came to America in 1675- They made their home for a time at Bushwick. L. I., and later, in 1088, settled at Dutch Kills. The mother of our subject departed this life in 1850, at the age of sixty-one years. She reared a family of eight children, of whom Elizabeth A. resides in Long Island City; Janet D. is Mr .. Richard Bragaw, and makes her home in Brook- lyn; Richard died in May, 1892. at Dutch Kills. where he was engaged in farming: Johanna M. is now Mrs. Van Alst of Newtown; Hester B. mar- ried J. M. De Beroise of Queens County: Maria L. became the wife of A. Vanderveer of Brook- lyn: Henrietta B. is Mrs. Schoonmacker of Flat- bush, L. I., and George MicA. is the subject of this sketch.

The youngest member of the above iamil; mas reared in Long Island City and first attended school at Cook's Academy in Newtown. Later he carried on his studies in what is now the Fourth Ward school-house in Astoria under Professor Mason. He remained at home until the out- break of the late war and in August, 1862, vol- unteered and was mustered in as a member of Company B, Fifteenth New York: Engineers. With his company he was ordered South, and formed a part of the Army of the Potomac during his entire period of enlistment. Among the im- portant battles in which he participated were Fredericksburg. Gettysburg. the Wilderness and the siege of Richmond. Our subject was offered a commission, but refused to accept such honors, as he very much preferred fighting with the boys. During the last years of his service. however. he was made Dispatch Orderly under the Adjutan :- General at brigade headquarters. In discharging the duties of this position he was obliged to work very hard. and was also placed in many danger- ous positions in order to convey messages to and from his superior. On the close of the way he was warmly congratulated for his brave conduct. and after participating in the grand review a Washington. was honorably discharged and re- turned home. In the year 184. when the old vet-

150

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

erans all over the country returned to the capital and took part in the second grand review, Mr. Gosman formed one of the eighty thousand in line.

After his return to the peaceful pursuits of farm life, our subject continued to reside on the farm of his father until 1879, when he purchased the property which forms his present es- tate. It was known in former years as the old De Bevoise farm, and comprised six- teen lots on Hill Street and Anable Avenue, Mr. Gosman has made many improvements in the place, which is one of the oldest on the island, and is therefore very valuable. In addition to this property he owns a portion of the old Bragaw homestead and is the owner of considerable prop- erty in Skillman Avenue. In the year 1879 Mr. Gosman completed arrangements with a real es- tate firm in New York City whereby he was to look after their interests in this section, and al- though his own affairs occupy a great deal of his time and attention, he has transacted business for this firm ever since.

The marriage of Mr. Gosman with Miss Jennie E. De Bevoise occurred in Long Island City. Mrs. Gosman was born here and is the daughter of Andrew De Bevoise, deceased, formerly a well-to- do farmer of this locality. Grandfather John De Bevoise was also a substantial farmer of this part of Queens County for many years. The De Be- voise family is of Holland extraction and the first representative who came to America very many years ago located in Bushwick and later moved to Long Island City.

To Mr. and Mrs. Gosman were born three sons, George D. and Andrew D., who died in infancy, and Richard H., a wide-awake young man, who completed his studies in the Polytechnic School of Brooklyn. Richard H. is a member of Com- pany D, Twenty-third Regiment, National Guard. He was called out with his regiment during the recent strike in Brooklyn and manifested that true patriotism which has appeared in every gen- eration from his great-grandfather to the present time.

George McA. Gosman served as collector of school taxes for the town of Newtown for one year and when his friends wished him to accept the sec- ond nomination he refused to do so. In the year 1893 he was appointed a member of the Water and Fire Commission, but in 1895 resigned his posi- tion and has since that time given his undivided attention to his private affairs. He is a member

of the Exempt Fireman's Association and takes great interest in the meetings of Sheridan Post No. 628, G. A. R., department of New York. He is past commander of this body and for two terms was president of the Memorial and Executive Committee of Queens County. In 1894 he at- tended the National Encampment at Washington. In politics he is a stanch and enthusiastic Repub- lican, having voted that ticket ever since 1864, when he cast his ballot for Lincoln.

D IEDERICH THIELBAHR, who has been engaged in the grocery business at Steinway, Long Island City, since 1888, is a native of Germany, born in Hanover in 1858. He is the youngest of four children, whose par- ents, Diederich and Annie (Lampke) Thielbahr, were natives of Hanover and members of old German families. The father, who was a mer- chant in Ritterhude, died there at the age of forty- six, and the mother, who was a farmer's daughter, still makes her home in that place.

Until fourteen years of age the subject of this sketch attended the schools of his native place, and then, in 1872, he took passage on the steamer "Lloyd" at Bremerhaven and landed in New York after an uneventful voyage. Without trou- ble he secured employment in a grocery as errand 'boy, beginning at the bottom and working his way up. In 1874 he went to California and for seven years was clerk in a bakery in San Francisco, meantime making several trips into the mountain regions. On his return to New York City in 1881 he started in business, opening a grocery on Wooster Street, which he conducted for a num- ber of years.

Selling out his New York store in 1888, Mr. Thielbahr came to Steinway and bought a grocery business, which he has since carried on, enlarging the store and increasing the trade. To accom- modate his patrons, he runs two delivery wagons. He has a neat and commodious store, situated on Theodore Street and Old Bowery Bay road, and in his establishment he carries a full line of every- thing pertaining to the trade. Besides his private patronage, he supplies the majority of the large hotels on North Beach.

In New York City Mr. Thielbahr married Miss Annie Wittschen, a native of Oldenburg, Ger- many, and they have two children, Annie and Harry. During 1894 Mr. Thielbahr spent three months in Europe visiting his old home and re-

151

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

newing the associations of childhood, also spend- ing a short time in other places of historic interest and importance. Socially he is connected with the Knights of the Golden Eagle. He takes a warm interest in religious work and is a deacon in the German Reformed Church of Long Island City, to the support of which he is a regular con- tributor.

H ON. ABRAM D. DITMARS. It is the men of broad and comprehensive views who give life to communities-men who have foresight and energy, pluck and push to forward their enterprises and still retain an untar- nished reputation through it all. Such a man is Abram D. Ditmars, ex-mayor of Long Island City, and now an eminent legal practitioner of New York City, with office at No. 61 William Street, his residence being in the city of Brook- lyn. He was born in Newtown, February 14, 1822.

The Ditmars came from Holland, but are sup- posed to have been of Scandinavian lineage. The paternal grandfather, Abram Ditmars, was born in Jamaica, and here his son Dow (or Douwe), father of the subject of this sketch, was also born, June 20, 1771. The latter was reared in the town that gave him birth, but was principally educated in the schools of Hack- ensack, N. J., and finally graduated from the well-known Princeton College. After teaching school for a time he began the study of medi- cine under Dr. Ledyard, after which he went to Demerara and there practiced his profession from 1804 to 1816, when he returned to Long Island and located at Hell Gate, where the re- mainder of his life was devoted to farming. He died in 1860, at the advanced age of ninety years. Religiously he was a worthy member of the Dutch Reformed Church at Newtown, of which place his wife was a native and of which church she was also a member. She was known before her marriage as Anna E. Riker, and was a daughter of Samuel Riker, who was successfully engaged in tilling the soil at Newtown. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, as were several of his sons. Mrs. Ditmars was born May 16, 1785, and passed from life in August, 1860. Of a family of four children born to this worthy couple, only one is now living and he is the last one of his gen- eration.

Abram D. Ditmars was reared in Newtown, in the public schools of which place he received a

practical education. In early manhood he began the study of law under John L. Riker, and was admitted to the New York bar in 1844, since which time he has been a successful practitioner in that city. Learned in the principles of the law, he never appeals to men's passions, but always to their intellect and reason, and whether in at- tack or defense, has proved himself a ready de- bater, full of resources. In connection with his practice he is a real estate dealer and in this has also been successful. Up to 1876 he lived on the Shore Road, then removed to Brooklyn, where he has since made his home. In 1870 he was elect- ed the first mayor of Long Island City, a posi- tion he held successfully for three years, and in 1875 he was again elected to this office, but resigned in the fall of the same year. He was an able and honest supporter of justice and right, did all in his power to prevent boodling and other evils, and his administration stands out promi- nently as one of the very best in the history of Long Island City. In 1871 he was very active in securing the amendment of the charter of Long Island City and since that time it has had one of the best charters in the state of New York.

In Newtown, in 1876, Mr. Ditmars married Miss Lavinia Riker. She was born in that vil- lage and is a daughter of John L. Riker, under whom her husband first studied law, and who was a brother of Richard Riker. Mrs. Ditmars died in Brooklyn in November, 1886, having become the mother of four children. John R. resides in Orange, N. J .; Anna M. makes her home with her father; Edward W., who is a graduate of a well-known educational institution of New York, also graduated from the Columbia Law School in 1884 with the degree of LL.B., and is now practicing law in the Morse Building, No. 140 Nassau Street, New York. He is a member of the Holland Society, the Sons of the Revolu- tion and the Crescent Athletic Club of Brooklyn. Samuel R. is a ranchman of Colorado. Their father, A. D. Ditmars, belongs to the Holland Society, and politically has always supported the men and measures of the Democratic party.

S MITH N. DECKER. Of recent years there has been a great development in the ice business throughout Long Island. and those who have taken up this industry have al- most invariably gained a fair measure of success in its prosecution. The first impetus to this oc-

152

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

cupation was probably given by Isaac Remsen, but there have not been wanting others to follow in its successful management, among whom stands the name of Smith N. Decker, of Far Rock- away. May 1, 1888, he succeeded Isaac Remsen in the business at this point, and in favorable sea- sons has put up as high as seven hundred thou- sand tons of Remsen Lake ice. He is now identi- fied with the Queens County Ice Company as president and manager.

Mention is made of the Decker family in the sketch of our subject's brother, which is present- ed on another page of this volume. Smith N. was born in Springfield, L. I., October 25, 1860, and received a good education in the public schools of that village and Jamaica, supplemented by a course in a business college. After working in his father's employ for a time, he commenced for himself, at the age of nineteen, being first em- ployed in the sewing machine business, and after- ward for seven years in a wholesale grocery, since which time he has been dealing in the Remsen Lake ice.

By his marriage to J. Estelle, daughter of Isaac B. Remsen, Mr. Decker has three children, name- ly: Smith Irving, Isaac B. Remsen and James Howard. Socially he is identified with Olympia Lodge of Masonry, while in politics he votes the Democratic ticket in national issues, but pre- serves an independence of thought and action in local matters. He is a member of the Presby- terian Church, which he is now serving as an elder and trustee. Local improvements receive his interested assistance, and he is now one of the directors in the electric light company. In addition to his ice business, he buys and sells horses, handling about one hundred each season.

H ENRY A. FRANCE, M. D. The medical profession in this county is ably repre- sented by the subject of our sketch, who came to Far Rockaway from Herkimer County in 1886 and has since conducted a general practice in the village and surrounding country. In edu- cational matters, too, he has been deeply inter- ested and has contributed not a little to promoting the standard of education in the village school.

The France family is of German origin and preceding generations, of former centuries, spelled the name Franz. Our subject's father, Jacob, was born in Schoharie County, but re- moved thence to Herkimer County, where he en-

gaged in farming until his death, at seventy-six years. His wife, whose maiden name was Lucy Robinson, was born of English extraction in Schoharie County, and died at the age of fifty-six years. Their family consisted of four sons and one daughter, namely: Theodore W., who lives in San Francisco; Spencer S., deceased; Henry A .; Mary Elizabeth, wife of Albert Gay, of Far Rock- away, and Luther G., a resident of Napa, Cal.

In Herkimer County, where he was born De- cember 24, 1834, the subject of this notice passed his boyhood years upon a farm and early in life became familiar with the work incident to that occupation. His preliminary education was ob- tained in the district schools and under his father's instruction; his practical education was obtained by teaching, which was his work for eight years. During that time he also took a course in Fairfield Academy. He had a natural inclination for the study of medicine, and his work was directed with that end in view. After reading medicine with Dr. S. R. Milling, he attended a course of lectures, but his plans were disarranged by the outbreak of the rebellion.

With the enthusiasm of a patriot, our subject in 1862 enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of Company B, First Regiment, Berdan's Sharpshooters, and serving for seven months. When near Fredericksburg, and while he was suf- fering with typhoid fever, during extreme cold weather, he was obliged to sleep three nights on the ground, the consequence being that he froze his feet. His illness, with its subsequent under- mining of the constitution, rendered him unfit for duty, and he was honorably discharged on ac- count of disability. For a time he was hospital steward and assistant surgeon.

Returning to Herkimer County, as soon as re- cuperated our subject resumed the study of medi- cine, and in 1864 graduated from the Albany Med- ical College. The following year he commenced active practice in his native county, where he was alone for five years and in partnership with his former preceptor for three years, after which he was again alone until he removed from the county. His practice extended over a large ter- ritory. The work was hard and severe, the trips long and frequent, and these reasons caused him to establish his office in Far Rockaway, where the settlements are more compact.

By his marriage to Betsy D. Gilbert, of Massa- chusetts, Dr. France had one child, Lydia Alice, now the wife of S. S. Prentice, of Vernon, Oneida

JACOB HUNTER.

155

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

County. His second marriage united him with Ella Munn, of Herkimer County, and resulted in the birth of one child, Henry J., now in Far Rock- away. His present wife bore the maiden name of Jennie C. Evans and is a lady of amiable disposi- tion and hospitable manners. Politically a Re- publican, the Doctor cast his first vote for John C. Fremont. He is a charter member of Olympia Lodge No. 808, F. & A. M., and belongs to Sea- side Lodge, I. O. O. F., the Order of Foresters, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In former years he was a Methodist, but there being no church of that denomination in Far Rockaway, he identified himself with the Presbyterian Church. For twenty years he was school trustee. He was elected president of the board at a time when the increase of the population demanded additional school facilities, and to his labors, to- gether with those of other public-spirited men, is due the erection of the commodious and well- constructed school building. Wishing to get all the information possible, he investigated the school buildings elsewhere and eventually rccom- mended the plan that was, with slight alterations, adopted. Having accomplished this result, and seeing that the school was on a good footing, he refused to further serve in that capacity, and a worthy successor was chosen in the person of Archibald Mutch. However, he still maintains his interest in educational work, as in every good cause for the benefit of the people.

J ACOB HUNTER. The scythe of time cuts down all; nothing of the physical man is left. The monument which his children or friends may erect to his memory in the cemetery will crumble into dust and pass away; but his life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished, which would otherwise be forgotten, is perpet- uated by a record of this kind. A man who has fulfilled his destiny and is now no more was Jacob Hunter, one of Queens County's most honored and respected citizens. He was the last represen- tative of the original family line associated with Hunter's Point, Long Island City, and was a quiet, unassuming, but genial man, who possessed ex- cellent business acumen and a soundness of judg- ment which were the foundations of his prosper- ous carcer. In personal appearance he was fine looking and his dignity of manner proclaimed him a gentleman of the old school. He was singu- larly fortunate in all his undertakings and at the

time of his death, which occurred September 30, 1875, he was the possessor of a large amount of real estate in the city of New York. Honorable and benevolent in his intercourse with mankind, his popularity was often shown by the earnest- ness with which his friends sought to place him in positions of trust and honor. These positions he always declined, not because he did not appreciate the high esteem in which he was held, but from native modesty peculiar to his nature, he deem- ing the official mantle better suited for other shoulders than his own. The only office he was ever induced to accept was a position in the Eleventh Regiment, New York State Artillery, of which he became commander at an early period of his life. He seems thus to have been the only one of his family who inherited the peculiarities of his ancestor, Capt. Peter Praa.

Mr. Hunter was born in 1791 and when scarcely out of his boyhood was a soldier in the War of 1812. After the war closed he continued to be- long to the military corps, serving in an official capacity with such men in his rank as Prosper M. Welmore, Thomas M. Adriance and Joseph Hop- kins, who continued together until the close of Mr. Hunter's life. The latter became Commander- General of all the forces of New York City. In 1821 the requirements of his business obliged him to resign his position as Captain in the Eleventh Regiment of Artillery, which was later merged into Company D, Seventh New York. His sin- cere regret at leaving it was expressed in a letter which has been carefully preserved, viz .: "Cir- cumstances over which I have no control oblige me to take this step, while inclination strongly pleads to detain me in the ranks. But rest as- sured that while absent from my accustomed post I shall still watch with interest from the distance, and should any emergencies occur I can only add that when my country calls it will ever find me ready to follow." That pressing hour of need came not again until the War of the Rebellion, when Mr. Hunter was seventy years old, and conse- quently too far advanced in life to take any ac- tive part in the contest. Thus the antique sword rusted in its scabbard, watched over and cared for as a family relic, until recently, when it was placed in the relic room of the New York Seventh Regi- ment, at Sixty-seventh Street and Fourth Avenue.

In 1815 Mr. Hunter married Miss Charlotte Lahy, of an ancient and noble family, her father being the nephew and adopted son of General Gwynne, who was aide-de-camp in the courtly

156

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

retinue of King George III. Outliving his wife ten years, Mr. Hunter passed away at the ad- vanced age of eighty-four years, leaving four chil- dren. Of these Miss Louise O. Hunter resides at No. 47 West Ninety-fourth Street, New York City, and is a lady of unusual literary ability. Mr. Hunter was the son of Capt. George Hunter, who was born in England and married Miss Annie Bennett, a daughter of Jacob Bennett, who was the son of Mrs. Annettie (Praa) Bennett. The latter was the daughter of the celebrated Capt. Peter Praa, who purchased the Hunter's Point farm, then known as "Dominie's Hook." This farm became the property of Mrs. Annie Hunter, the wife of Capt. George Hunter. The former was born on the farm and died there March 10, 1833. For a number of years they had made their home in New York City, where Captain Hunter breathed his last in 1825. They left a fam- ily of eight children; and three sons, Jacob, John B. and Richard B., were appointed by Mrs. Hunt- er's will executors of her estate. The old home had long been known as Hunter's Point, and it was finally sold through Gen. J. Johnson to Dr. Eli- phalet Nott, president of Union College, Schenec- tady. Captain Hunter was a man much loved and admired. After his marriage he gave up the sea and became a shipping merchant in New York, and no name stood higher than his among the mercantile interests of the community.

E DGAR DUBS SHIMER, A. M., Ph.D., Professor of Psychology in the University of New York. It being generally con- ceded that heredity has much to do with the form- ation of character and that our lives are influenced by our progenitors, an account of the ancestors of Professor Shimer may serve as an index to the impulses that mark his character and that have won for him his place in the world of thought and action.

The founder of the family in America was Jacob Scheimer, whose name appears first in a Low- Dutch manuscript memorandum found among the "Rittenhouse Papers," dated 1722, in Ger- mantown, Pa., and later appears in a list of sub- scribers to Ax's Lutheran burying ground at Germantown in 1724. According to the Colo- nial Records, he was naturalized in 1730 and, prior to 1734, paid quit rent to the English gov- ernment on one hundred acres "situate in the township of Germantown, Pa.," and conveyed

to "John Ashmeed, blacksmith, of Philadel- phia, on the fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight." As no records of immigrants was kept until 1727, the date of his arrival is not known, nor whence he came; but as his auto- graph signature to his will is in German, and as many or nearly all the early German settlers of Germantown came from the Rhine Province, the latter was most likely his native place.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical record of Queens County (Long Island) New York, Part 13

Author: Chapman, firm, publishers Publication date: 1896 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Chapman, firm, publishers
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1220