Portrait and biographical record of Queens County (Long Island) New York, Part 62

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

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a pistol only about two years, though he never used it, and never struck but two men with his club.

Our subject was married in this city to Miss Anne C. Smith, a native of New York, and four children have been given them: Margaret C., now in the high school; Philip, William and May. In his social relations Mr. Darcy is a member of John Allen Lodge No. 330, A. O. U. W., and is a charter member of the American Order of Fire- men, Long Island City Council No. 17. Politi- cally he is a Democrat, and in his religious views he is a Catholic, as is also Mrs. Darcy.

S AMUEL J. SEAMAN, senior member of the firm of S. J. & W. H. Seaman, is one of the prominent and well-to-do business men of Glencove. Aside from carrying on a prosperous business as plumbers, slate and tin roofers, and manufacturers of all kinds of tin- ware, they deal extensively in stoves, heaters, china, glass, crockery, lamps, agate, tin and wood- enware, having one of the best equipped house furnishing establishments in the place.

At Jericho, town of Oyster Bay, S. J. Seaman was born October 9, 1857, the son of Elias H. and Phebe (Underhill) Seaman, the former of whom is still living at Jericho, where he is fol- lowing the peaceful pursuits of a farmer. For many years during his younger days he was suc- cessfully engaged as a liveryman in New York City. He is a grandson of Elias Hicks through a daughter Sarah, who married Robert Seaman. On his mother's side our subject is a descendant of Capt. John Underhill, one of the original set- tlers of Matinecock, near Locust Valley, Queens County, where the Friends Academy is now lo- cated.

Samuel J. grew to manhood in his native place, and after completing his education in the com- mon schools there became a student in the Adel- phi Academy of Brooklyn. After taking a short course in that institution he carried on his studies for three years at Swarthmore College, which was located near Philadelphia. On his return home he engaged in business in his native town and for eleven years carried on a prosperous busi- ness alone. About 1890 he formed a partnership with his brother William H., with whom he is associated at the present time. Mr. Scaman cast his first presidential vote for Garfield in 1880 and since that time has generally supported the Re-

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publican ticket. He has never been an office- seeker, but through the wishes of his fellow townsmen he was prevailed upon to accept the position of commissioner of highways, entering upon his term of three years in 1895.

Mr. Seaman has been unusually successful in a business way and has come to be recognized as one of the substantial citizens of the county. He is a stockholder and has been director of the Bank of Glencove, which was organized in 1892. Religiously he is a member of the Society of Friends, as were his ancestors for many genera- tions back.

The marriage of Mr. Seaman and Miss Matilda Willets, of Jericho, occurred September 10, 1879. The lady was born and reared here and was the daughter of William and Mary (Valentine) Will- ets. To them were granted five children, four of whom are living: Mary W., Samuel J., Jr., Anna Louise and Frederic W. Lewis V. departed this life in infancy.

H AMILTON K. ROBERTS. Ever since books have existed they have possessed an almost irresistible fascination for many, who find their chief enjoyment in the perusal of the works of our famed and gifted writers of his- tory, essay or the ever-popular novel. The time has come when the literature of a land, whether the same be written in prose or poetry, in book form or the daily and weekly papers, wields the greatest influence the world has ever known. Hamilton K. Roberts, of Glencove, has taken ad- vantage of this fact and is the proprietor of a well- appointed book store, in connection with which he deals in all grades of wall paper and foreign exchange.

Mr. Roberts was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., De- cember 21, 1854, a son of Solomon V. and Mary (Brown) Roberts, the former of whom was born in the state of New York in 1820. He was for a number of years a commercial traveler for the Babbitts Soap Company, but later became a wholesale liquor dealer. His marriage resulted in the birth of six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the next to the eldest. Three of this family are now living. When Hamilton was nine years of age his father moved to New- burg, N. Y., after which he spent one year in school at East Norwich, the rest of his education being acquired in Brooklyn. He must have been about eleven years of age when he began clerking

in a grocery belonging to John H. Waters & Son, of Newburg, and for seven years he continued in the employ of these gentlemen. Although he started at the lowest round of the ladder he was head clerk when he left them, at the age of eighteen. At that time he came to Glencove and became a clerk for Hegeman & Cocks, in whose employ he remained until the firm failed two years later, after which he was with the assignee for one year.

The next business in which Mr. Roberts en- gaged was that of assistant postmaster under John H. Thurston, but three years later he was appointed to the position of postmaster by Presi- dent Arthur, and continued as such until a change of administration. He then started in the sta- tionery and news business, together with foreign exchange, and in 1887 moved to his present place of business, of which he became the owner about 1890. Although his father was a Democrat in his political views, he died while Hamilton K. was a mere lad and the latter grew up a Republican and cast his first presidential vote for Hayes in 1876. At one time he was the Republican nom- inee for clerk of the town of Oyster Bay, but as this has long been a Democratic stronghold he was not, nor did not expect to be, elected. He is a member of Pembroke Lodge No. 372, I. O. O. F., and also belongs to Seawanhaka Council No. 362 of the Royal Arcanum. He has charge of the telegraph office of the Western Union Tel- egraph Company, and is its manager at this place. Mr. Roberts is enterprising, wide awake and pushing and has been successful in all his busi- ness ventures.

In Glencove, October 9, 1889, Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Mary C. McCarthy, a daughter of Professor McCarthy, of Astoria, in which place she was born. She is a graduate of St. Bridget's Seminary, New York, and is an intelligent and cultivated woman. Her union with Mr. Roberts has resulted in the birth of one child, Helen J., who was born in Glencove, April 21, 1895. Mr. Roberts is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Glencove.

G EORGE L. BROWN. This prominent citizen of Astoria, Long Island City, is one of the oldest firemen of the place and his many narrow escapes while saving the lives and property of his fellow-men would fill a vol- ume, for he has ever been fearless in the dis-

RICHARD A. HOMEVER.

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charge of his duties. He is at present foreman of Engine Company No. 4, and is filling that po- sition in a most satisfactory manner. Mr. Brown is a native of Astoria, born April 12, 1852, and is a son of Robert and Eliza (Livingston) Brown, both natives of Ireland. The father was an old settler of Astoria, locating there as early as 1835, and he followed general contracting until his death in 1861. Mrs. Brown's father, Samuel Liv- ingston, was also a contractor and a prominent business man. He was of Scotch descent. Both the Browns and Livingstons were Presbyterians in their religious views. Mrs. Brown is now a resident of Astoria.

Of the seven children born to his parents, six are now living, and our subject is fourth in order of birth. He grew to manhood in Astoria, re- ceived his education in the Fourth Ward schools, and then began learning the tinsmith's trade un- der his uncle, Charles Livingston, who is still in business. George L. continued with him for three years and then engaged as a teamster for King & Ingram, dyers in Astoria, remaining with them for fourteen years. He was then appointed ser- geant on the police force by the Bowery Bay Improvement Company, and filled that position for two years and a half. After that he returned to the employ of David Ingram, remaining with him three years, but resigned when appointed on the fire department. He was first man next to Chief Casey and was appointed to that position on the Ist of February, 1891. On the 20th of March of the same year he was appointed fore- man of Engine Company No. 3, the same posi- tion that he holds with Engine No. 4 at the pres- ent time. During a fire in ex-Sheriff Henry's house, January 28, 1878, he fell from the top of a ladder, breaking two ribs, and was laid up for a month. A brother fireman, Charles Bennett, was killed at the same fire. During a fire in 1894 he sprained his ankle.

In Astoria Mr. Brown married Miss Mary Fitzpatrick, a native of New York City, and of the five children given them two are now living, Sarah and Robert. Mr. Brown has a pleasant home at No. 53 Flushing Avenue and is interest- ed in all that pertains to the public good. He ran for alderman in 1879, on the regular Democratic ticket from the Fifth Ward, but lost by twenty- one votes. He was an active member of Mo- hawk Hose Company No. I, from 1873 until the company disbanded in 1891, and was fore- man. and assistant foreman for four years in all.

For a number of years he has been a member of John Allen Lodge, A. O. U. W., and for a time was a member of the orders of Firemen and Vet- eran Firemen, but now has not the time to keep it up. In politics he is an earnest Democrat and an ardent supporter of the principles of his party. Mrs. Brown is a member of the Catholic Church.

R ICHARD A. HOMEYER. As a town advances and its various interests multiply there is need of men adapted to all kinds of pursuits-business, professional and mechanic- al-and by a happy dispensation of Providence some men are adapted to one calling and some to another. The fact that Mr. Homeyer is suc- cessful in the business in which he is now engaged indicates in a marked manner his adaptation to this line of work. He is energetic, industrious and judicious, and as business manager of the marble works of John Sutter has proved that he possesses ability and wise discrimination.

Now a resident of Middle Village, the subject of this sketch was born in Ridgewood, November 29, 1859, and is a brother of Christian D. Ho- meyer, concerning whom mention is made on an- other page of this volume. His education, which was a good one for those days, was obtained in the public schools and Carpenter's Business Col- lege in Brooklyn. At the age of sixteen he be- gan life as a grocery clerk with Herman Ringe, of East Williamsburg, but after eighteen months he returned home to assist his father on the farm, as his brother had married and left home. There he remained for three years, driving a produce wagon for his father and in other ways assisting in the work.

October 17, 1881, Mr. Homeyer married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of John Sutter, the well- known dealer in monuments and tombstones at Middle Village. Soon after his marriage he be- came connected with the business of his father- in-law and for several years has served in the capacity of business manager. Under his care- ful oversight the business has continued to be increasingly prosperous, and the firm has gained an excellent reputation in financial circles. Of his marriage seven children were born, of whom four are living, Sinnie M., John F., Henrietta M. and Caroline C.

For two years Mr. Homeyer served as chief of the Newtown fire department, and much of its efficiency is due to his wise management. Social-

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ly he is connected with United Brother Lodge No. 356, F. & A. M., of New York; Royal Arca- num, Newtown Council No. 717, and Templars of Liberty of America No. 37. For the past eight years he has been treasurer of the school board of this district, and is also treasurer of the Provi- dent Association. In religion he is a member of the German Lutheran Church of Middle Village.

B ENJAMIN T. BERGEN, who passed from this earth life in August, 1890, was born on the old homestead at Bergen's Landing, in Jamaica South, in the year 1819. He was reared and educated in this vicinity and spent his entire life on the old farm, with the exception of five years when he made his home in the village of Queens. He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he was deacon for many years.

The father of our subject was Jacob Bergen, whose birth occurred on the farm adjoining the estate we have mentioned above, and which is now included in the Hopkins place. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, in which conflict he gained the good will of the officers of his com- pany by his brave and fearless conduct. He mar- ried Miss Ann Smith, a most estimable lady, who was born in Jamaica. Jacob Bergen was like- wise a consistent Christian and one of the lead- ing members of the Presbyterian Church.

Benjamin T. Bergen had two brothers and two sisters. Of these Cornelius died as the result of an accident; Jacob J. departed this life when fifty years of age; Phebe Ann is living at the age of seventy-seven years; while Mary Elizabeth is in her sixty-ninth year. Neither of these sisters have married and are living together on the old es- tate of their father.

The lady to whom our subject was united in marriage December 16, 1846, was Miss Mary Ann Bergen, who was born in East Jamaica, now Hollis, December 5, 1825. Her parents were Benjamin and Phebe (Skidmore) Bergen, well-to- do residents of this community for many years. Jacob Bergen, a brother of our subject's wife, is a resident of Queens and is regarded as one of its leading citizens.

Mrs. Mary A. Bergen is still living on the prop- erty which her husband owned in this town. It is under the best methods of improvement and since his death has been so managed that it makes good returns for the care and labor expended

upon it. To our subject and his estimable wife there were born two children, a daughter Anna, who is now the wife of Charles G. Strang of New Jersey ; and Cornelius J. The latter was born No- vember 21, 1860, and is at present at home with his mother assisting in the management of the estate. He was educated in the public and pri- vate schools of Jamaica, and having been reared to a full knowledge of farm life, is in every way capable of carrying on the home place in the most profitable manner. With his mother, he is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church.

J ESSE BROWNE, JR., of Jamaica, was born in the seventh ward of New York City, July 29, 1837. His father, George B. Browne, who was of English birth and lineage, accompanied his parents to America in childhood and passed the years of youth in their home in New York. On starting out for himself, he en- gaged in the coal business. For many years he was major of the Eighth Regiment Washington Greys in New York. For twenty-five years or more he has made his home in Jamaica, where he still resides, being now (1896) eighty-five. Not- withstanding his advanced age he is hale and hearty, retaining much of the physical and men- tal vigor that characterized him in earlier life. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Clark, was born in New York City, being a mem- ber of an old family of that place; she is still liv- ing and is now advanced in years.

Our subject was named for his grandfather, Jesse Browne, who was engaged in business in New York and Philadelphia, and was a man of considerable prominence in his day. In the pa- rental family there were four sons, namely : Jesse, the eldest of the number; Charles, who is con- nected with the Westinghouse Electric & Manu- facturing Company of Pittsburg, Pa .; George B., who has been connected with the Bank of Sav- ings of New York City for a quarter of a century and is a resident of that place; and Sylvanus. At the beginning of the Civil War Charles enlisted in the Union army, in which he served until the close of the Rebellion, holding a commission as lieutenant; during the engagement at Fair Oaks he was wounded.

In New York, where he was reared, our subject received an excellent education, graduating from the Mt. Washington Collegiate Institute, and for several years he practiced as an architect. Later

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he removed from New York to Roslyn, and dur- ing the period of his residence there he served as president of the board of education for some time. He devotes considerable attention to the Jamaica Choral Society, with which he is ac- tively connected. He believes that every citizen should feel a personal interest in any enterprise that will promote the prosperity of the village and its inhabitants, and, true to that belief, we find him serving as foreman of the Atlantic Hook & Ladder Company of the Jamaica fire department. His interest in this direction extends beyond the limits of his home. He is a member of the State Firemen's Association and was one of the char- ter members of the Order of American Firemen, in which he has held all the offices, and was state president for two years.

In the Queens County Agricultural Society, with which he is identified, Mr. Browne served as superintendent for some time. Besides this, he is a member of the Suffolk County Agricultural Society and the New York State Agricultural So- ciety, having been a department superintendent of the latter organization for a number of years. Since 1885 he has been connected with the tax collector's office in Jamaica, serving under the various collectors that have been at the head of the office. The marriage of Mr. Browne united him with Miss Minnie L., daughter of Daniel Bo- gart, a merchant of Roslyn, and sister of Dr. J. H. Bogart, also of that place, where she was born. Two children complete the family circle, Lillian B. and Gertrude B.

B FRANK WOOD. Among the news- pers of Long Island perhaps none have wielded a more potent influence in local affairs than has the "Jamaica Standard," of which Mr. Wood is editor and proprietor. On questions of national importance the paper has always taken a bold stand, and it is equally aggressive and fearless in matters affecting the welfare of the people of Jamaica. Like its editor, it is decid- edly Republican in principles, but at the same time never displays an unfair partisan spirit, but adheres to independence of thought and opinion. As the official organ of the Republican party in Queens County, it has been foremost in upholding the men and measures advocated by the party, believing that its political principles, applied to the national government, will promote the prosperity of the people.

In presenting to our readers a sketch of the editor of the "Standard," it may be well first to briefly record the ancestral history. He is a member of a family long and honorably asso- ciated with the history of New York. Prior to the Revolutionary War his great-grandfather, Ebenezer Wood, was sheriff of Orange County, which then comprised all the territory of the present Orange and Rockland Counties. Dur- ing the trying times of the Revolution every effort was made to entice him, as a conspicuous public man, into the support of the British cause. He was approached from the standpoint of cor- ruption, and from that of intimidation, but when neither of these could move him he was from that time bitterly hated, sharply marked and actively abused by the enemy. His official pa- pers and the accumulations of his industry during the preceding twenty years or more were all car- ried off by a raid. At the close of the war he found himself with about $1,600 in continental money, which proved entirely worthless, owing to the fact that the British inundated the country with counterfeit money, so that the genuine could not be distinguished from the worthless. Throw- ing the paper money in the fire, he quietly re- marked: "We have our independence and I am satisfied." He died in New York City at the age of eighty years. For many years afterward his descendants found his name a sure passport wherever they went in Rockland County.

Benjamin Wood, grandfather of our subject, was born during the American Revolution and died in Brooklyn in 1875, at the age of ninety- five. His life was almost coincident with the first century of our Republic. At the outbreak of the War of 1812 he was engaged in business in New York City, but with the patriotic spirit character- istic of the family he abandoned other matters and enlisted a company of one hundred and twenty- one men, sixty-nine of whom he equipped at his own expense, for the defense of the city. He received a Captain's commission in the Twenty- seventh Regiment, United States Infantry. He was the first American to receive the "Declaration of Peace," being officer of the day at Sandy Hook when it arrived. It was one of the memorable incidents of his life that he mounted and fired the first gun that was placed in Ft. Lafayette. at the "Narrows." For a period of twenty years he was boarding officer of the port of New York, stationed at quarantine, an office not now in ex- istence.

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Our subject's father, Jacob B. Wood, was born in New York City August 22, 18II, and from boyhood until death was connected with the New York Custom House. He was the originator and senior partner of the house of Wood, Niebuhr & Co., one of the oldest and most successful firms of Custom House brokers. Love of country came in with the blood, but the period of the Civil War found him in broken health, and he died in 1865. His oldest son, Ed- win C., represented him in the great conflict, hav- ing enlisted in the United States navy when a lad of sixteen years. Mr. Wood was for many years chairman of the board of supervisors of Richmond County.

Thomas Lippincott, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a merchant tailor in Broad- way, New York, and was a member of a family tracing its ancestry back to William the Con- queror. He was also related to Rev. David Cole, D. D., of Yonkers, N. Y., author of a book giving the family genealogy, and a son of Rev. Isaac D. Cole, D. D., one of the most noted divines and educators of the country in his day. Our sub- ject's mother, Mary C. (Lippincott) Wood, was born in New York City May 21, 1825, and is now living with her daughter at Mt. Vernon, N. Y. Her only brother, Thomas Lippincott, Jr., was born in 1829, and in 1848 was capsized in a yacht in New York Bay and drowned; a sister, Margaret, was married in 1855 to John Brandt, Jr., who was superintendent of a western railroad.

The family of which our subject is a member consisted of nine children: Edwin C., born in 1845, took part in the Civil War as above stated, and is now a prominent business man of New York City; George H., born in 1847, at the time of his death, in 1884, was traveling auditor of the Northern Pacific Railroad, located at St. Paul, Minn .; Henrietta L., born in 1849, is the wife of William H. Edwards, a railroad man with head- quarters in Denver, Colo .; Mary C., born in 1851, married Charles W. Van Court, who is treasurer of the Lazell Perfumery Manufacturing Com- pany in New York and resides at Mt. Vernon; Thomas Lippincott, born in 1854, was for several years in the mining business with our subject in Colorado and is now general manager of the Carbondale Coal Company at Des Moines, Iowa, and John R., born in 1856, is a graduate of Rut- ger's College and a Methodist minister, located at Breckenridge, Colo.

Born on Staten Island October 3, 1852, B.

Frank Wood, at the age of nineteen, engaged in mining in the mountains of Colorado with his brother, Thomas L. They built the first house in the village of Sunshine, a place which they named and which grew to a population of one thousand within a year. On returning East he studied law, and is a member of the bar of New York State. For a few years he resided in Connecticut, also for a time he was in North Carolina and Georgia, but the most of his life has been passed in or near New York City.

An ardent Republican, during the Garfield campaign Mr. Wood was secretary of the New Haven City Republican Committee and received high commendation from the Republican leaders of the state for efficient political work planned and accomplished by him. Since coming to Jamaica, he has been for three years a member of the Republican County Comittee, being its secretary in 1894, '95, '96. At the town election in 1895 he was chosen justice of the peace (which office was then at the head of the ticket) by a majority of four hundred and thirteen over the Democratic candidate, George Lester, though the preceding year the town had given William E. Everett (Democrat) a majority of sixty for supervisor. Since 1892 Mr. Wood has been the publisher of the "Jamaica Standard," the official Republican newspaper of the county. Socially he is a member of the Jamaica Club and the Chub Club of Jamaica, also of the Lincoln Club, of Long Island City.

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Portrait and biographical record of Queens County (Long Island) New York, Part 62

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