USA > New York > Suffolk County > Portrait and biographical record of Suffolk county (Long Island) New York, Pt. 1 > Part 33
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management then put him in charge of the en- tire road as trackmaster, and nearly one hundred and fifty miles of track were under his charge.
During the time Mr. Terrell was in the service of the railroad he became interested in the insur- ance business, and has had to do with this for more than thirty years, having now an extensive- patronage. Associated with him at this writing is Ex-Supervisor Gilbert H. Ketcham. He was also engaged in the handling of farm produce, which has become a very considerable interest, and in which he now has a son as partner. For twenty-two years he has been connected with William H. Taft in the stationery business, under the firm name of Terrell & Taft. For twelve years he was the head of the firm of Terrell & Hagen in the boot and shoe business. In his various enterprises he has been very successful.
Interested in local affairs, Mr. Terrell has been active in promoting projects of general benefit to the people. He bought the first steam fire en- gine, contributing the first $75 for the purpose, and for several years he was Fire Commissioner of the village. To him is due the credit of origin- ating the location of the Suffolk County fair grounds at Riverhead, and he subscribed the first $100 given for this purpose. He was chairman of the committee appointed to select and purchase grounds, and to secure the success of the fair worked indefatigably. Politically he is associated with the Republican party. Active in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the past thirty years, he has been Trustee and Steward of the church, served as chairman of the building committee for the new church, parsonage and chapel, and was chairman of the committee to improve the camp-meeting grounds at Jamesport by the construction of its new buildings.
Eleven children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Terrell, of whom seven are now living. Sarah Ellen is the wife of II. H. Corwin, of the lumber firm of Corwin & Vail, of Riverhead. Eva married Henry T. Vail, a merchant of Brook- lyn. Addie is the wife of J. Egbert Corwin, manager of the Hampton Lumber Company at Southampton. Ada Alice married Byron Rogers, and died in March, 1881. M. Althea is the wife
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of George M. Vail, of Corwin & Vail. Allen G. prepared for college at the Hackettstown Col- legiate Institute, spent two years at Cornell Uni- versity, graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, where he spent three years, and is now a successful physician of that city, and a member of the Vanderbilt Clinic. He married Estell E. Richards, of New York. John R. and Adelle M. complete the family circle, the latter being with her parents. The former, who prepared for college at the Hackettstown Col- legiate Institute, gave up his studies on account of his father's pressing business, to which he wished one of his sons to succeed. He is now closely connected with the various enterprises above mentioned, and is a man of excellent judg- ment and strength of character. He married. Jennie I .. , daughter of Jedediah Hawkins, of the Monhaden Fisheries, and a niece of ex-State Senators Simeon and Edward Hawkins, of James- port.
While he has always been an active business man, Mr. Terrell has found time for much read- ing, and is considered to be one of the best-read men of his section, and as he has a wonderful memory he has kept his store of knowledge at his command. Though he is now past three- score and ten, lie.still has an active mind, clear as a bell, and converses with ease upon subjects that men with more school training than he was able to gain seldom understand so clearly, or take the pains to inform themselves upon.
OF EORGE C. WHITE. One of the younger professional men located in Bay Shore, and carrying on business as a furnishing under- taker, is he whose name appears above. He has been in Bay Shore about five years, having bought out the establishment and good-will of E. A. Pitt. He was born at Brooklyn, August 18, 1847, and is a son of Charles White, who died five years ago, at the age of sixty-eight. He was a carpenter and builder and erected many houses on the island. Father White was a na- 1
tive of New Jersey, first beginning in life for him- self at Newark, later engaging in business at Brooklyn, and finally locating at Bay Shore. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Snidle; she still survives, making her home with our sub- ject. She also was a native of New Jersey, and met her husband at Newark. There she was wooed and wedded, the ceremony taking place where the depot now stands in the last-named place. The family came to Long Island before it was extensively settled.
Our subject is one of five children born to his parents: William Henry, a resident of Brook- lyn; our subject; Mary Elizabeth, who resides in this village and is the wife of Edgar W. Wicks; Emma, who died in infancy; and Jolin, who died at the age of twenty-five years. George C. White remained in his native place, Brooklyn, until eight years of age. At this time his parents came to Bay Shore. As a boy he attended the public schools, but had comparatively few educa- tional advantages, for he was required to begin the serious business of life while yet a boy .
When only twenty-two years of age young White was married, his bride being Lavina Lloyd, a native of New York City. She died in 1887. Mr. White contracted a second marriage, the lady of his choice being Zella R. Woodman, of Philadelphia. They were married April 11, 1889. Edith L. was the only offspring of the first marriage. The second union was graced by the advent of a son, George L.
On entering business our subject first worked with his father for two years. He then entered the building department of an organ-shop at Bloomfield, N. J., remaining there four and a- half years. All his natural inclination was in the direction of wood-working machinery, and he became very skillful in this line. After leav- ing Bloomfield, he went to Washington, N. J., and was engaged in the organ-shops of Daniel F. Beatty for ten years. There lic had charge of the action department, and on the failure of Mr. Beatty our subject continued his work under the management of the receiver. He had charge of the same department as before, continuing there from 18So to 1890. Upon the death of his father,
JAMES CLINCH SMITH.
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he removed to Bay Shore, and now runs a job- bing shop in addition to the undertaking busi- ness.
In politics Mr. White is an ardent Democrat. Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a member of Fire Island Lodge No. 636, of which he is Past Grand Mas- ter. He also belongs to the Royal Arcanun. Our subject was reared a Baptist, but finding no organized church of that denomination in this place, lie joined the Methodist Church. He is a Christian gentleman, of genial and accommodat- ing personality.
AMES CLINCH-SMITH. No family on Long Island has been identified with its his- tory for a longer period than that of which the subject of this narrative is a member. The first of the name to come to this country was Richard Smith, a native of Yorkshire, England, whose father was an officer, and who himself had been a soldier in Cromwell's army. Having resolved to seek a home in the New World, he crossed the Atlantic to America, and for a brief period made his home in Boston. From that city, some time between 1650 and 1660, he came to Long Island, where he acquired his title to a tract of land in 1664. By energy and perseverance, united with good business qualifications, he secured a com- petency. Without doubt he was a man of extra- ordinary natural ability, as well as indomitable will and determination, and these qualities have descended through successive generations to tlie present representatives.
In Smithtown there were originally two dis- tinct families of Smiths, and these are still desig- nated as the Bull and Tangier Smiths. The orig- inal owner or patentee of the tract of land in- cluded in Smithtown was Richard Smith, known as the Bull-rider, and whose descendants were known as the Bull Smiths. Not only did he de- rive the name from riding a bull, but also from
the fact that after signing his name to all docu- ments he would stamp his crest. According to tradition, hie purchased from the Indians as much land as he could ride around in one day on the back of a bull. It is said that he succeeded in compassing the entire tract of Smithtown. The late Judge J. Lawrence Smith, who aided in the compilation of the history of Suffolk County. states in that work that "this tradition of his sharp bargain with the Indians is partly draw: from the classic story of Dido's purchase of the site of Carthage."
The family coat-of-arms, of which Richard Smith was quite proud, is thus described: Sable. Six fleurs de lis argent. Crest: Out of a duca. coronet, or a demi-bull salient, argent, armed c: the first. Motto: "Nec timeo nec sperno." Accom- panying this original representative of the family to Long Island were his wife, who bore the maid- en name of Sarah Folger, and was a native of Newburyport, Mass., and their nine children. Jonathan, Obadialı, Richard, Job, Daniel, Adam. Samuel, Elizabeth and Deborah. The childre :: established homes of their own near their father's place, and to each one he gave a portion of the old homestead. Obadiah was drowned, Augus: 7, 1680, at the inlet of Smithtown Harbor, and was the first white man buried in Smithtown. His grave is in the old Nissequoque Cemetery. Elizabeth first married Col. William Lawrence. and after his death was united with Philip Car :- eret, Governor of New Jersey; her third husbasi was Col. Richard Townley, who came from Ens- land in 1683, in the suite of Lord Effingham Howard, Governor of Virginia. Deborah, the youngest child, became the wife of William Latv- rence, the second son of Colonel Lawrence.
The late Judge J. Lawrence Smith, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at the family liomestead in Smithtown, September 20, 1510. being the son of Richard Smith, the fifth of the: name on the island. His maternal great-gra :: c- father was Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull, of Revolt :- tionary fame. His maternal great-grandmother was a sister of William Floyd, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and his grand- mother, the only daughter of General Woodhu ...
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was first married to Henry Nicoll, after his deatlı becoming the wife of Gen. John Smith.
In early life Judge Smith received exceptional educational advantages, and being of a studious disposition, he availed himself of these to the ut. most, thus gaining a broad and liberal education. He prepared for college at Clinton Academy, East Hampton, after which he entered Vale Col- lege. In that classic institution he had among his classmates many men afterward illustrious in the annals of the country, including Samuel J. Tilden, William M. Evarts, Edward Pierrepont, Morrison R. Waite, William W. Eaton, Benjamin Silliman and John P. Putnam. In 1833 he en- tered Princeton College, from which he was grad- uated in 1837. At the close of his literary educa- tion he began the study of law in the office of Hon. John L. Lawrence, of New York City, and was admitted to the Bar in 1840. After a practice of four years in the metropolis he removed his office to Suffolk County, and in 1846 was elected te represent this district in the Assembly. Four years afterward he was chosen District Attorney of Suffolk County, and in 1858 became County Judge. The efficiency with which he discharged the duties of the latter position, as well as his popularity with the people, may be judged from the fact that in 1862, when he was a second time nominated for the office of County Judge and Surrogate, he was elected, upon the Democratic ticket, by a majority of eleven hundred, notwith- standing the fact that the county usually gave a Republican majority of six hundred.
Nature endowed Judge Smith with rare gifts, among which was intellectual ability of a high order, logical, discriminating and comprehensive. He was a close reasoner, quick in discernment and decisive in action, and acquired an enviable reputation at the Bar. During his long and hon- orable career he filled many positions of honor, nor did he ever betray the least trust reposed in - him as a public official. An eminent lawyer of this county, an article that appeared in the Ro- chelle Press May 22, 1880, pays liim this tribute, which shows the estimation in which he was held by his contemporaries: "Judge Smith unites le- gal learning with strong common sense, and has
an intuitive perception of the controlling princi- ples involved in cases before him, which he is quick and ready to determine. He is industrious and conscientious in the performance of duty. and enjoy's the respect and confidence, not only of his brother members of the Bar, but of the people generally, wherever he is known."
The mother of the subject of this sketch was Sarah Nicoll Clinch, a niece of Mrs. A. T. Stew- art, wife of the merchant prince of New York. She died in 1890, and was buried in St. James' Cemetery, by the side of her husband, who had passed away in April, 1889. They were the par- ents of two sons and five daughters. Lawrence, the eldest, died when a cadet at West Point: Cornelia Stewart is the wife of Prescott Hall But- ler, of the law firm of Evarts, Choate & Beaman, New York City; Louisa N. is the wife of Frank Sayre Osborne, a prominent attorney of Chicago: Kate A. is the widow of Rev. J. Bloomfield Weth- erell, who was formerly connected with Trin- ity Church Parish in New York; Ella B. married Devereaux Emmet, an extensive property owner of St. James, Suffolk County; Bessie S. is the wife of the well known architect, Stanford White. who designed Madison Square Garden, New York, and many of the most substantial public buildings of the East.
In the family mansion, where he still resides. the subject of this biography was born April 3. 1856. His primary education was received under the instruction of a private tutor at home. At the age of fourteen he entered the General Russell Military Academy of New Haven, where lie re- mained for two years, and afterward he took a two-years course in the Anthon Grammar School of New York City. He then entered the School of Mines, the scientific department of Columbia College, and, after completing a three-years course there, he entered the law school connected with the same institution, from which he was graduated, and was admitted to the Bar in 1878. In partnership with his father, he commenced the practice of his profession, but prior to any active work he made a tour of Europe, spending nearly a year in traveling.
Having considerable business in New York
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City, James Clinch-Smith located there in 1882, and took charge of that portion of the clientage, . opening an office on Wall Street, but afterward removing to the Stewart Building. Since the death of his father he has given his attention largely to the care of the family estate, but still retains his office, and has considerable special practice. He is a member of many of the lead- ing social organizations of New York, among them the Union, Metropolitan, Calumet, Coun- try, Seawanhaka, Riding, Michaux, Larchmont, Meadow Brook Hunt and the New York Yacht Clubs. An ardent lover of fine horses, he has indulged his taste in that direction, owning sev- eral fine carriage and saddle horses. His collec- tion of prizes is the largest, probably, owned by any one in the state, and includes silver cups, vases, pitchers, etc., all of which were won in competitive exhibitions at noted horse shows.
June 5, 1895, James Clinch-Smith was united in marriage with Miss Bertha Ludington Barnes, daughter of Charles J. Barnes, of Chicago. This lady was born at the family homestead on Calu- met Avenue, Chicago, and received an excellent education at Ogontz. An accomplished linguist and charming conversationalist, she is, however, perhaps best known through her musical compo- sitions, having composed "Traumerii", "Es- telle" and "Michaux Club" waltzes, and other pieces of acknowledged merit.
James Clinch-Smith occupies the family man- sion in Smithtown, and takes great pride in pre- serving the grounds and residence as his father had arranged them. The room used as his study and library is kept exactly as it was left by the Judge, and contains his large collection of legal works. The history of the family, through the two and one-half centuries that it has been rep- resented on Long Island, is one reflecting the highest credit upon its members, and one in which they may justly take great pride, for it has furnished patriotic soldiers in time of war, gifted men in the professions, and honorable men in every walk in life.
He lias in his possession two guns, one a single- barrelled and the other a double-barrelled flint- lock, together with a spear, which was worn by
Richard Smith while riding the bull. The single- barrelled flint-lock gun is known as "Old Crio." and was used by Richard Smith's father in the Cromwellian War. This gun is well known to o.d sportsmen throughout the county, and had the reputation of shooting further and hitting harder than any other gun in the town.
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ETH RANSOM JAGGER. deceased. wa! born in West Hampton, on the farm where his widow now lives, April 29, 1830, and was the son of Oliver and Mehitable (Tuttle) Jagge :. he being one of a family of five children, of wicz only one daughter is now living. Of his brott. ers and sisters, we mention the following: Joza. than L. was born April 3, 1814, and died on it same month and day nineteen years later: Mrs. Eliza R. Wells was born July 26, 1815, and died in March, 1881, leaving four children; Oliver Pierson was born November 14, 1820. and died in August, 1836; Sarah Ellen, who was born: Oc- tober 28, 1822, is the widow of George Waide, and the mother of seven children. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of this fasis group.
The father of Seth R., who was a son of Jons- than Jagger, was born on the old family home- stead in West Hampton, November 13. 1;9: Growing to manhood, he became a farmer. ati followed that occupation until his death, Septe =:- ber 2, 1831. Grandfather Jonathan Jagger was a son of Steplien Jagger, and was born May 23. 1764. His father was the son of Jonathan. S ... and was born September 27, 1719. His grazi- father, the first of the ancestors of whom the rec- ord gives any information, was born about the year 1677, and was a farmer, as all his descend- ants have been to this day.
The subject of this sketch grew to manhood under the parental roof, and acquired a good ede. cation in the common branches, which he reis- forced in after years by broad reading and fee; thinking. Reaching manhood, he devotes time to farming, and soon won a fine repetitive
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as a man and a citizen in the community in which he lived and died. He was elected to the office of Commissioner of Highways, and for twenty-one years held that important position. He was a man of tempefate habits, strong-minded, and a power in the Republican party. An important event of his life was his marriage to Miss Mercy Gager, of New York City, daughter of William Gager, a prominent real-estate man of that city. The marriage occurred April 7, 1857, and to it there have been born three children, all of whom are still living. Mary Ann, the eldest daughter, is at home; Frederick Ransom is also single, and is engaged in the carrying on of the home farmn; Archie Ward is a promising young physician, located at the Brunswick House at Amityville. He is a graduate of the New York University, and has a record of two years' practice in Lebanon Hospital.
The subject of this sketch died January 19, 1892, and is remembered as an honorable, capa- ble and upright man, who was numbered among the very best of the large number of men who have lived and died in this neighborhood. Mrs. Jagger still holds the old home open, and it has become a very popular one for summer boarders. She has for some ten years been accommodating an increasing number of these, her bright mind and entertaining manners making her home the center of a very select circle of choice spirits.
OHN P. HAFF. The name of Haff is justly entitled to a most enviable place in the history of Suffolk County, for the family is one of the representative ones of this section, and its members have been usefully and honor- ably identified with its best interests. John P. Haff was born in the city of New York, Febru- ary 25, 1838, a son of John P. and Ann E. (Stilwell) Haff, the father also a native of New York City. The grandfather, John P'. Haff, was born in Fishkill, Dutchess County, N. Y. and when a boy went to the city of New York, where lie later engaged in the leather business in what
was then known as"the Swamp." He was one of the founders and Directors of the Manhattan Water Works of that city, and was one of the founders of the Tammany Society. John P. Haff, the second, was one of the many men seized with the gold fever in 1849. He had been in the building and contracting business in New York previous to that time, and after reaching the Pacific Coast he was made one of the charter officers of the city of San Francisco. While in that position lie was engaged in cutting down the sand hills and filling in the bay, upon which a good portion of the city now stands, and remained tlere several years. After his return to New York he took a deep interest in politics for many years.
John P. Haff, our subject, reached mature years in New York City, and there received a good practical education, when sixteen years old graduating from Grammar School No. 9. Soon after leaving school he was engaged as salesman in a large establishment manufacturing firearms. Two years later, at the age of eighteen, he went to Waverly, Iowa, and there engaged in speculat- ing in real estate, at which he made consider- able money. Following this he embarked in the life-insurance business, which he continued for a few years, and then engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods in New York. He was married in Brooklyn, in 1869 to Miss Phoebe J. Pearsall, who was born and reared in Amityville, her par- ents being Jolin and Ann (Saxton ) Pearsall.
After his marriage, Mr. Haff purchased the small farm on which he now lives, carrying on his manufacturing in New York for' some time. This he abandoned in 1885, and was appointed Postmaster at Amityville, serving in that capac- ity until a change in administration. Mr. Haff was born and reared a Democrat, and voted for Breckenridge in 1860. He has never souglit po- litical honors, but has ever been interested in politics and active in promoting the success of his party, frequently serving as a delegate to various conventions. In 1877 he was elected a member of the Board of Education, in which capacity he has served ever since, and was the first President of the Board of Education of Amityville Union
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CHARLES N. BROWN.
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Free School. In 1887, he, with others, thought the village needed a better schoolhouse, and gave the people an opportunity to vote on it. It was voted out, but Mr. Haff determined that he would devote liis time in appealing to the peo- ple, and was so successful that their present school building was erected in 1894, and it is largely due to his persistent efforts that Amity- ville has one of the finest and best arranged brick school buildings on Long Island, outside the city of Brooklyn.
In his social relations Mr. Haff is a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to Orient Chapter, at Brooklyn, and has filled some of the chairs of the blue lodge. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, and has been Vice-Chancel- lor. His marriage resulted in the birth of two sons: Albert Douglas, an attorney of New York City, who makes his home in Brooklyn; and Raymond Colfax, a student in a law office in New York City. Mr. Haff is one of the founders of the bank at Amityville, having been a Director since its organization, and has been identified with several enterprises that have contributed to the growth of the village.
HARLES NATHAN BROWN was born in Hamburg. Conn., October 3, 1819. At the age of ten years he came to Sag Harbor, his present place of residence, and from that time he was employed with his brother Thomas in the mercantile business. Previous to the age above mentioned he liad attended school at Han- burg, the institution in which he was a stu- dent being known as "The Valley." Later lie clerked with his brother George B. in the gen- eral mercantile business, remaining with him until twenty years of age.
Just before reaching his majority, our subject entered into partnership with his brother, and re- mained with him until, his health failing, he went back to Connecticut, and settled in Hartford. He studied medicine under Dr. Silas Fuller about
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