Portrait and biographical record of Queens County (Long Island) New York, Part 47

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 47

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In 1879 Henry Doht located in Newtown, this county, making his home on Fresh Pond Road, known as the Dairymen's Feed Company, of which, on its incorporation, he was made director and general manager, both of which positions he still holds. Mr. Doht was highway commission- er for a period of five years, rendering very ef- ficient service, and during four years of that time he served as chairman of the board. In the fall of 1894 he was nominated on the Republican tick- et as candidate for sheriff, and being one of the party's most popular men, ran five thousand ahead of his ticket, in fact receiving more votes than was ever before accorded a Republican can- didate for that responsible office. In January, 1895, he took the oath of office and entered upon a term of three years. Although Queens County is not so large as many others in the state, yet it is very thickly populated, and Sheriff Doht has seventy-five deputies and five hundred special as- sistants.

The marriage of our subject, which occurred in Newtown, in 1888, united him with Miss Louisa Bimbrink, also a native of the Fatherland, but who during the greater part of her life has made her home in Newtown. She has become the mother of four children, Annie, Augusta, Louisa and Frederick.

Socially Mr. Doht is a Knight of Honor and belongs to the Knights of Temple Lodge of . Long Island City. He is a devoted member of the Lutheran Church, attending services at Mid- dle Village. He has been an active worker in the county Republican central committee for a period of nine years and is one of the best known men on the island.

T HERON H. BURDEN is a self-made man, one of those men whom the American people have always delighted to honor. Garfield drove a canal mule, and afterwards be- came president. The tannery experiences of Grant, the rail-splitting of Lincoln, are familiar to the world. Those employments were honor- able, and the men were not ashamed of them. They had ability and were honest, so the people honored them. Theron H. Burden, our subject, started life as the driver of a New York horse car. He is not ashamed of it. He has ability and he is honest, so he has made his way to the front, un- aided and alone. His career has been an interest- ing one, showing as it does, how a poor boy,

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endowed with brains and ambition, can make his way in the world by close application to busi- ness, honesty, and a determination to treat every man fairly.

Mr. Burden was born in New York November 8, 1857, but has lived the greater part of his life in Ravenswood and Steinway, each now a por- tion of Long Island City. His education was acquired in the public schools and at Grammar School No. 40, in New York, of which William H. Harrison of Flushing is principal. When eighteen years old young Burden started life in earnest as the driver of a horse car on the Battery Place line, and afterwards went to work for the East River Ferry Company as gateman at the Thirty-fourth Street ferry, continuing in this em- ployment until 1880. On the 10th of October of that year he was appointed by President Garfield to the position of postmaster of Steinway with a salary of $300 per year, and out of this he was obliged to pay $29 per month rent. While acting as postmaster William Steinway discovered that Mr. Burden was a trustworthy young man, and let him handle some of his real estate. It was there that he got his first real start in life.

In 1883 Mr. Burden opened the Ravenswood granite quarries. He continued to hold the posi- tion of postmaster until 1888, when President Cleveland removed him for being an "offensive partisan." In the same year George W. Smith, of Hempstead, L. I., declined the nomination of sheriff conferred upon him by the Republican County Convention, and on September 27 the county committee met at Mineola and insisted on Mr. Burden accepting the nomination at their hands and staying in the race until the polls closed. He acceded to their request, no other member of the party being willing to make the sacrifice for the good of the party, and he went into the campaign so heartily that he was de- feated by only one thousand and sixty votes, and in Long Island City by only three hundred and fifty-eight. The rest of the ticket ran behind about fifteen hundred in this city. Mr. Burden lost money in this and had to sell his coal yards to pay his debts.

On the 15th of November, 1889, our subject was appointed deputy collector of internal reve- nue for part of Queens County, and held that office until July 20, 1892. October 6, 1891, Mr. Burden was nominated for sheriff for the second time, and although it was an unfavorable time for the Republicans and the whole ticket went

down, Mr. Burden led all the other candidates in the number of votes polled, again demonstrat- ing his exceptional strength. This left him again bankrupt, but he was never the man to be deterred by temporary adversities, as his success has since demonstrated. In 1894 he was again solicited to try for that position, but failed to get the nomina- tion, although Long Island City's twenty-six del- egates were solid for him.

At the present time Mr. Burden is engaged to some extent in the real estate business and for some time has been connected with the firm of Smith & Burden, contractors, which is one of the best known on Long Island. They have had a quarter of a million dollars of sewer work in Long Island City in the last two years, about five miles of macadamizing in the town of Jamaica, and four miles in Flushing. These are the best roads in the county to-day, the two cost- ing about $100,000. This firm, which does all of Mr. Steinway's work here, employs three hun- dred and fifty men, and daily pays out $800 for services.

Mr. Burden has a beautiful residence at No. 449 Ditmars Avenue, Steinway, Long Island City, all improved from the rough, and which was erected in 1889. He was married in New York City, in 1875, to Miss Margaret Loonie, a native of that city, and daughter of James Loonie, a prominent merchant there. Five chil- dren were born to this union. Margaret is a graduate of the high school, as is also the sec- ond child, Minnie. The others are, Harry, Flor- ence and Eugene Platt.

Henry Burden, the father of our subject, was a native of New York City, and there grew to manhood. He became captain of the police there and filled that position until 1876, when he re- tired. Since 1844 the Burden family has resided in Ravenswood, the old homestead having been bought by the grandfather in that year, and there the father of our subject resided until his death, October 30, 1895, at the age of seventy-one years. His wife was formerly Miss Lavinia Adelaide Hebberd, a native of New York City, and a de- scendant of old Peter Stuyvesant, ex-governor of New York. She is now sixty-two years old. Of their children, four are now living: Lavinia, now Mrs. William Wilson, of Ravenswood; Walter H., with Steinway & Sons, in the New York office; and Charles E., who is with the same company. Our subject. the second child, has served as a delegate to county conventions since 1884, and

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GEORGE L. PECK.

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also to the state conventions since about 1886. The family holds membership in the Dutch Re- formed Church. Socially Mr. Burden is a Knight of Pythias, belonging to Astoria Lodge, and Ad- vance Lodge, F. & A. M., of Astoria. He was appointed police commissioner in February, 1889, but resigned in July of the same year.

G EORGE LYMAN PECK, who is en- gaged in the drug business at Jamaica, was born in Wallingford, Conn., Septem- ber 30, 1834. The family of which he is a mem- ber dates back to Deacon William Peck, who re- ceived from the English government a grant to a tract of land at New Haven, Conn., and became one of the earliest settlers of that place, where his body lies in the old Central churchyard. The grandfather of our subject, Ward Peck, was born in New Haven, Conn., and often referred to the fact that in childhood he sat upon the knee of his great uncle, Gen. Artemus Ward, for whom he was named. During the Revolutionary War he served for seven years in the Continental army and rendered valiant service in the cause of inde- pendence. For several years he represented his district in the Connecticut legislature and was regarded by his fellow-citizens as a man of supe- rior ability and sound judgment.

William .A. Peck, father of our subject, was born in Waterbury, Conn., in August, 1804, and followed agricultural pursuits the greater part of his life. He owned a farm at what is now West Haven, and this land he divided into town lots and platted an addition to the place. There the last twenty-seven years of his life were quietly and happily passed, and there he died in June of 1891, aged nearly eighty-seven years. His wife, Lucretia, was a daughter of George Leete and a lineal descendant of Governor Leete of Connec- ticut. Her parents died when she was a child and she was reared by her grandmother Sanford, of North Haven, Conn .; she died in 1870.

Of the brothers and sisters of our subject, the following is noted: Eliza J. is the wife of Joseph Andrews, of Orange, Conn .; William A. is an engineer in the service of the United States gov- ernment and resides in Orange, Conn .; Caroline D. is the wife of George H. Anderson; Nancy is the widow of Albert Chase; Sherman died at the age of twenty years; James H. resides in West Haven; Emma L. is unmarried; and Clara A. M. died when twenty-three years of age.

The early years of our subject were spent in Waterbury, Conn., where he received an academi- cal education. At the age of nineteen he came to Jamaica as a clerk in the store he now owns, then carried on by the late J. S. Seabury. A few years later he bought the business and took a partner, the title being G. L. Peck & Co., but after two and one-half years he took back as part- ner the former proprietor, and for the five suc- ceeding years the firm name was Seabury & Peck. In 1865 he became the sole proprietor and has continued as such from that time. In everything pertaining to the progress of the village he takes a warm interest. He is one of the trustees of the Jamaica Savings Bank, was a director in the Elec- tric Railroad Company and also in the Jamaica Gas Company. Various other public enterprises have received his stanch support. In the Presby- terian Church he served for twenty years as trus- tee and president of the board of trustees.

The first wife of Mr. Peck was Fannie C. Fos- dick, daughter of Judge Morris Fosdick. She died in 1875. Of her five children, Catherine Lucretia died in 1874, Sherman Fosdick in 1873, and William Morris in infancy; George Leete, a graduate of the literary department of Yale College in 1893, and of the law department in 1895, is now a member of the Connecticut bar; Fannie C., a graduate of Mrs. Cady's Female Seminary at New Haven, is an accomplished young lady and has traveled considerably, both in this country and abroad. In 1889 Mr. Peck married Miss Elizabeth D., daughter of Isaac Hendrickson, of Jamaica.

H MELVILLE DE RONDE, one of the leading business men of Woodhaven, was born at Haverstraw, N. Y., May I, · 1856. His father was Jacob De Ronde, a native of Stony Point, which is located near the birth- place of our subject. For many years he was captain of a vessel which plied the Hudson. being well and favorably known among the river men, and was also appraiser of the Tomkins estate at Haverstraw. He now follows the trade of a car- penter, and has a comfortable residence at Ozone Park, L. I.

The paternal grandfather of our subject bore the name of William De Ronde. He was a ship carpenter by trade and in all he undertook in his department of work acquitted himself with great credit. The ancestors of H. Melville De Ronde

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were French Huguenots, who fled from their na- tive land during the Revolution and settled in Holland, whence several of the name came to America.

Jacob De Ronde married Elizabeth Miller, a native of Putnam County, N. Y., and a worthy representative of one of the oldest families of that section. This lady had three brothers, Charles, John and George. The second named volunteered his services in defense of the Union during the Civil War, and during the period of his enlistment participated in many hard-fought engagements. Mrs. De Ronde departed this life in 1865, leaving a family of four children. Of

these, George is employed in the shipping de- partment of the Lalance & Grosjean Manufac- turing Company, of Woodhaven; John W. is the partner of our subject in business, the firm name being De Ronde Bros. & Co .; and Carrie, the sister, makes her home with an aunt in Philadel- phia.

The father of our subject chose for his second wife Sophia Martin, and to them have been born three sons: Joseph, Jacob, and Arthur. H. Mel- ville, of this history, had only the advantages of a common-school education, and was not per- mitted to attend these institutions very long, for we learn that when only fourteen years of age he began running on the Hudson River on his fath- er's vessel. In 1872, however, he came to Wood- haven and began clerking in the grocery of W. E. Clark. He remained in the employ of that gentleman for a period of eight years, and then took a position as time-keeper in the Lalance & Grosjean factory, continuing thus until he re- signed and became a partner in the store of which he is now part owner. The gentleman associated with him was H. A. Cobleigh, and until 1886 they operated under the style of Cobleigh & De Ronde. The senior member wishing to retire about that time, our subject took in his brother, John W., as his partner, also Franklin Corwin, both of whom are still interested in the business. Mr. De Ronde deserves great credit for the posi- tion in life which he holds, for when he started out to battle with the world he had no capital, save a determination to make a success of what- ever he undertook. Through his good judgment and untiring efforts the business of which he is now the head has been increased until the sales of the firm now reach something like $50,000 per year. Mr. De Ronde is one of the most popular business men in the community and possesses the

entire confidence of the people. He has many other interests in the place, being treasurer of the Columbia Building and Loan Association and stockholder in the Woodhaven Bank. He is also interested in the contemplated bicycle railroad from the Brooklyn City Line to Far Rockaway. Socially he is a Mason and one of the leading members of Jamaica Lodge No. 546.

The marriage of Mr. De Ronde and Miss Anna S. Bergen occurred in 1879. The name of Bergen is a very familiar one on the island and those who bear it are invariably people of honest and up- right characters. Mr. and Mrs. De Ronde's only child, Howard Melville, died when eight years of age. Although our subject is not connected with any church organization, he attends the Con- gregational Church, of which his wife is an act- ive member. In politics he is an ardent admirer of Republican principles and never fails to vote for that party's candidates whenever an oppor- tunity presents itself.

E RNST T. BURGER. Few persons realize the magnitude and importance of the business of the plumber and gas-fitter, or its relations to the general good and health of the community. In reality its importance cannot be overestimated, and is the one calling of all others which will permit none other than the most skillful workmen to engage in it. A man partic- ularly worthy of note in this line is E. T. Burger, whose work is done in the best and most satis- factory manner possible, neatness, thoroughness and dispatch being particularly observed. Feb- ruary 10, 1834, he was born in Berlin, Germany, which country was also the birthplace of the father and grandfather, both of whom bore the given name of Fritz. The latter was a prominent brickmaker in the old country. The father also followed the brickmaker's trade in Berlin, and was a soldier in the War of 1812-15. He married Miss Henrietta F. Wildbredt, a native of Meck- lenburg, Germany, and nine children were given them, only two of whom are now living.

Ernst T. Burger, the youngest child, and only one in America, was reared in Berlin, and there learned the machinists' trade. He was married in 1859 in Berlin, to Miss Louisa Schwartz, a native of Pasewalk, and to them were born two children: Max, who has been in business with a partner since 1885, is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and was in the

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fire department; Jennie died when but six years old. In 1863 Mr. Burger and family came to the United States and located in New York City, where he followed the plumber's trade until he became chief engineer in the Steinway Piano Factory, Fifty-third Street, New York City. After the works were completed in Steinway Mr. Burger became the first superintendent, holding this position for two years, when he resigned and became chief engineer of Holstgad & Co. Still later he became chief engineer for Church & Co., importers of Brooklyn, and was with this con- cern for eight years, or until 1883, when he started in business for himself. He is engaged in plumb- ing and gas-fitting, and dealing in steam and hot water pipes, roofing, metal, tin, etc., and is doing an excellent business. Mr. Burger owns resi- dences at Nos. 475 and 477 Flushing Avenue, and erected another building at No. 521 Titus Street. Besides this he owns other property in Long Island City. In 1872 he built a fine resi- dence in Astoria, and here he has resided ever since. He and his wife hold membership in the German Second Reformed Church and are most worthy and esteemed citizens. In politics he is a Democrat.

J OHN BRIANT WOODRUFF. The phil- osophy of success in life is an interesting study and affords a lesson from which others can profit. In choosing a pursuit in life, taste, mental gifts, opportunity and disposition to labor, should be considered, if any young man who has a disposition to become a respectable and useful citizen desires to succeed therein. John Briant Woodruff, now a resident of Arlington, N. J., but still a very large property holder in Long Island City, was one of the earliest settlers of Hunter's Point, a suburb of that thrifty city, and is a man who has made no mistake in his chosen calling, contracting. He possesses rare business ability, is well read and well posted on nearly every subject, and is a most entertaining and in- teresting conversationalist.

Mr. Woodruff was born in Elizabeth, N. J., October 29, 1830, and is of English origin on the paternal side, two members of the family leav- ing England for this country and locating in Connecticut as early as 1625. Great-grandfather Woodruff was born in Connecticut, but moved from that state to Westfield, N. J., where Noah Woodruff, grandfather of our subject, was born.

The latter became a successful farmer and passed his entire life there. His son, John T. Woodruff, father of our subject, was born in Westfield and there reached mature years. He became a brick and lime manufacturer, also a farmer, and for many years resided near Elizabeth, N. J., where his death occurred, the result of an accident. He was born in 1785 and died in 1854. His wife, whose maiden name was Betsey Briant, was born in Springfield, N. J., and was the daughter of Samuel Briant, who was also a native of Spring- field. She passed away when sixty-five years old.

The eight children born to this worthy couple grew to mature years: Amos C., a contractor and mason, died in Philadelphia; Mary A., widow of C. H. Tucker, resides in Orange, N. J .; Anna E. is now Mrs. Daniel Halsee, of Newark; John B. is our subject: Charles A., now deceased, was in the employ of the Standard Oil Company in New Jersey, in which state Jonathan Lyman also resides; Ithamar B. is deceased; and Sarah L. is now Mrs. J. F. Boyce, of Paterson, N. J.

The subject of this notice was reared in his native city and educated in the public schools of the same. When but twelve years old he in- vented the first propeller ever used, put it on a scow, but later the patent-right was sold by a Mr. Munn. When sixteen years old he went to Rahway, N. J., to learn the cabinetmaker's trade, and in 1849 was taken with a severe attack of gold fever, which he thought nothing would allay but a trip to the Pacific coast. He first went home, but there had to stay and take charge of his father's business, the latter having received an injury which disabled him. Later young Woodruff learned the trade of mason in Eliza- beth and was in the employ of Davis Brothers for eight months. On his own accord he built an annealing furnace for annealing iron, the first in the United States, and made a success of it. From there he went to Troy, N. Y., where he put in one that is still in operation, and then returned to Elizabeth, where he remained until 1851. From there he went to New York City, built the ware- house in John Street and then built the New York Bank Building. He also built thirty-one school houses in that city, and was engaged as foreman for Tucker until 1859. After that he began contracting for himself and his career has been a most successful one since then.

In the fall of 1860 Mr. Woodruff bought prop- erty in Long Island City, erected a fine residence. and in 1862 moved to this place. Many of the

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finest residences and most imposing business houses in this city and vicinity are his handiwork." He built a nine-story sugar house in Brooklyn in 1862 and has built a great many since, besides numerous buildings for the different oil com- panies. Mr. Woodruff has been a director in the Bank of Queens County since its organization, and for some time was interested in the Hildreth Varnish Works. He was one of the organizers of the Long Island City Savings Bank, of which he was trustee from the first, and was on the estimating committee until he resigned.

In the year 1891 Mr. Woodruff removed to Arlington, N. J., where he owns a beautiful place and where he is one of the representative citizens. He was first married to Miss Anna Randolph, a native of Elizabeth, N. J., and daughter of Louis F. Randolph. She was active in church work, being a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and her life was full of good deeds. The three children born to this marriage were as follows: Willetta Nutt, now Mrs. Daniel Creed, of Arlington; Ella L., who married George Sloan, of Roselle, N. J .; and Anna F., Mrs. Crow- el, of Arlington.

Mr. Woodruff is a member of the fire and water board, which he has benefited very mate- rially. He is a charter member of Island City Lodge, F. & A. M., taking a deep interest in the welfare of this order, and in politics is a Repub- lican, being a prominent man in his party. Our subject was one of the organizers of the board of trade in Long Island City and was its president for a time. He is a member of the Methodist Church, was Sunday-school superin- tendent for years, and class leader for over twenty- one years. At present he is helping to organize a second Methodist Church in the city. Mr. Woodruff's second marriage united him with Fannie H. Winans, of Elizabeth, N. J. Her mother's maiden name was Hatfield, which was also Mrs. Woodruff's middle name. Mrs. Hat- field was a daughter of Job Hatfield.

F RANZ BERGMANN inherits the energy and perseverance of his Austrian ancestors, and the practical value of shrewdness and discrimination is exemplified in his present pros- perous condition. He was born in Hungary, Austria, September 6, 1856, a son of Philip Berg- mann, who was a hunter under the Prince of Es- terhazy. His father, Franz, who came of an old

Saxon family, was born in Saxony, and was also a hunter under a well-known Prince of Hungary. Philip Bergmann died in his native land in 1870, at the age of fifty years, from an injury received by a fall while chasing poachers. His wife, Anna Hulper, also a native of Hungary of German de- scent, still resides in her native land. She bore her husband eight children, two of whom are resi- dents of the United States.

Our subject was the third eldest of the family and up to the time he was twelve years old attend- ed the schools of Hungary. From that time until he was about seventeen years of age he was an apprenticed clerk in stores, after which he worked for some time as a merchant journeyman, during which time he visited many of the most famous cities of Austria. His ambition and enterprise finally led him to cross the Atlantic in 1883, com :- ing thither via Rotterdam, where he embarked on the steamer "Scholden," which is now at the bottom of the sea. Soon after landing in New York City he made his way to Queens County, settling in Long Island City, where he has since made his home. For the first three years he was with Mr. Albrecht in the milk business in Eighth Avenue, then started an oil route with two teanis, and finally, in 1891 and 1892, gave his attention to the ice business in Long Island City, his efforts meeting with substantial reward. Since the 26th of August. 1895, he has been retired from the oil business.

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Portrait and biographical record of Queens County (Long Island) New York, Part 47

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