USA > New York > Suffolk County > Portrait and biographical record of Suffolk county (Long Island) New York, Pt. 1 > Part 43
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
born in this town, and is a daughter of John E. and Phoebe (Ketchum) Seaman. There have been no children born to them.
The subject of this writing remained at home until he had reached the age of twenty-four, when he spent a short time in New Jersey, but returned home at the solicitation of his father, and remained here for three years. He then spent some months at Brentwood in the study of telegraphy, but after he had become quite proficient, he found that it was too confining for his health and therefore did not follow it. We next hear of him working for some months for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in the city of New York, and then he found employment with F. W. Werner in the manufacture of picture mouldings. This kept him for a year and a-half, and then he secured a position as conductor on a street car line in Brooklyn, which he held for some two years or more. In 1891 he secured a placc in the wholesale drug house of Arthur Still- well, and here he was employed for the next four years. He again returned home at his father's urgent request and is now conducting the old homestead, proving himself a proficient farmer.
Jesse N. Seaman, the father of the subject of this writing, was born at Dix Hills, and was the son of Phineas and Hannah (Nicoll) Seaman. He was reared on a farmi, receiving fair school privileges, and won a good standing in the com- munity ; with the exception of about three monthis spent in teaming in New York, he has always lived on the farm. When he was a little past twenty-two his father gave him seventy acres of iand, being part of the old homestead. This he sold after a time and bought the farm where he now resides. Five children were born of his marriage, all of whom are married and happily settled in life. Edwin is a carpenter. Emma married Alonzo Willis, and has her home at Hempstead. Henrietta, who died November 17, 1895, was married twice; her first husband at his death left her with one child. Her second husband, Charles C. Denton, who resides in Brooklyn, belongs to an old and prominent fan- ily, who came from England to America at a very early period in the settlement of this coun-
J. EUGENE PARKER.
399
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
try. Ellen married John Bundrick and lives in New York City. Charles N., who is the subject of this sketcli, is the youngest of the family. In early life Mr. Seaman was a Democrat, and voted for General Jackson, but receiving, as he thought, new light on the subject of politics, he became a Republican. He is a man of martial instincts, and was for a long time in the militia service of the state with the rank of captain. In early life he was intimately associated with the Quakers, and while not a member of that body, he is in close sympathy with them in many important respects.
J EUGENE PARKER, of Shelter Island, is a prominent and successful agriculturist, owning a farm and leasing the tract of one thousand acres that belongs to the estate of the late Prof. E. N. Horsford. He also owns several orange groves near Sorrento, Fla.
Mr. Parker was born in New York City No- veniber II, 1847, and is a son of Samuel Parker, who was a leather merchant in the "Swamp," New York, in 1850 and owned a fine farm in New Jersey, on which Seabright is now located. He was educated in the New York public schools and also attended the Free Academy, or what is now the College of the City of New York, in 1863. The death of his father compelled him to leave school at the age of sixteen, and he took charge of the farm at Seabright, also cared for his mother, two sisters and a brother. In 1870 the farm was sold and he moved to Shelter Island. He mar- ried Sarah A., the daughter of Joseph L. Hance, of Seabright, and they have two children, namely : Elizabeth, wife of Charles F. Chase, of New Brit- ain, Conn., and Samuel, a boy of nineteen, who is about to enter Columbia College.
Politically Mr. Parker is a prominent Republi- can. He is a member of the Suffolk County Re- publican Committee and has been a delegate to the State conventions on several occasions. A student of the tariff question, he is a strong writer on that subject, and has contributed many able articles on matters relating to the tariff. In 1888,
at the request of the County Committee, he went before the Senate Committee having charge of the substitute to the Mills bill with a petition for more protective duties on agricultural products, especially the principal products of his county. June 8 to 12, 1890, he was again in Washington before the Ways and Means Committee and af- terward before the sub-committee, of which Hon. S. E. Payne, of New York, was Chairman. The duties on cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, turnips, eggs, hay, etc., in the McKinley bill are substan- tially what Mr. Parker asked for, his arguments and proofs convincing the committee that the farmers needed protection as well as the manu- facturers.
September 18, 1893, Mr. Parker was again be- fore the Ways and Means Committee, of which Hon. William L. Wilson was Chairman, and pro- tested against any reduction of duties on agricul- tural products. In 1894 his friends put him for- ward for the nomination for Congress, but he was beaten in the convention at Jamaica October *8 by Hon. Richard C. McCormick. A change of two votes would have given him the nomination. Interested in local affairs, he is a Trustee of the Shelter Island Public Library and President of the Long Island and New England Steamboat Company.
The family of which Mr. Parker is a member originated in France. Elisha Parker, a Hugue- not, the founder of the family in this country, set- tled in Woodbridge, N. J., in 1675. The grand- son of that gentleman was James Parker, a fel- low apprentice with Benjamin Franklin and Wil- liam Bradford. He established the first printing press in New Jersey and his paper was the organ of the Colonies before the Revolution, while most of the other newspapers were openly or secretly in the interest or pay of Great Britain. He was a magistrate, captain of a troop of liorse, Comp- troller, and Secretary of the general postoffice for the Southern District of the British Colonies. His publications included books, papers, maga- zines and bank notes. When Washington re- treated across New Jersey he accompanied him, carrying his printing press in a wagon, and after the battle of Trenton lie established his paper
400
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
there; it is now known as the "State Gazette." He printed the Burlington County money known as the "sage leaf currency." His death occurred at Burlington in 1790. The subject of this sketch is a member of the fourth generation in descent from the founder of the family in America. The family of Hon. Courtlandt Parker and of the late Joel Parker, the War Governor of New Jersey, claim descent from the same Elisha Parker.
The personal attributes of J. Eugene Parker are of such nature as to win the friendship and es- teem of his associates. A man of firm convic- tions, with superior executive ability and sagacity of judgment, he is fitted for positions of responsi- bility and trust. His character is without a blem- ish. In his friendships he is strong and faithful and in his religious convictions sincere and firm. On the subject of the tariff and how it affects the farmer he is said to be the best posted man in the country, and to him more than any other man was due the agricultural schedule of the McKin- ley bill. His friends hope yet to give him a seat in the House of Representatives at Washington.
E DWARD OSBORN, M. D., one of the largest general practitioners in East Hampton, is a gentleman of extended knowledge, both in the leading affairs and inter- ests of the day and in the line of his life work. He was born in this village September 8, 1836, and is the son of Samuel and Mary Ann (Smith) Osborn, the former of whom was a well-to-do farmer of this locality.
Like many families on Long Island the Os- borns are able to trace their ancestry back to the year 1649, when Thomas Osborn, a native of County Kent, England, crossed the Atlantic and made his home on this island. The various mem- bers of the succeeding eight generations became very prominent in the professions, among their number being one minister, Rev. William Heilg- es, of Harwinton, Conn .; two judges, H. P. Hedg- es, of Bridgehampton, and John P. Osborn, of Nyack; one attorney, Jeremiah Osborn, who died
at Troy, N. Y., and one physician, our subject. One Edwin Hedges, who was also an attorney, died at Bridgehampton when a young man. All of these prominent men were graduates of Yale, with the exception of the subject of this sketch.
Samuel Osborn departed this life when forty- seven years of age. At that time he was living on property which came into the family in 1724 and the dwelling which stood thereon was erect- ed in 1693. This estate the Doctor inherited on the death of his father. The parental family in- cluded four children. Gloriana married Judge H. P. Hedges, of Bridgehampton, whose death occurred in 1891; Mary married Dr. John L. Gardiner and departed this life May 11, 1865; Emmett went to sea on a whaling and merchant vessel and was lost on one of their voyages. Ed- ward, of this history, was the youngest of the household. The wife and mother lived to be seventy-four years of age. Her inother bore the maiden name of Gloriana Brewster, and was a descendant of William Brewster, of "Mayflower" fame. Of his immediate family the Doctor is the only one in this locality bearing the name of Osborn.
After completing a common school education Mr. Osborn entered Columbia College, of New York City, from which institution he was gradu- ated with the Class of '85. Previous to this he had read medicine in the office of Dr. Charles B. Dayton, of East Hampton, and was thus pre- pared to take an advanced place among his asso- ciates when he went to college. After receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he returned to this village, where he soon built up a large and lucrative practice, and has found his time amply occupied with the constant demands which are made upon him by his many patrons. He makes a specialty of general family practice, although he is also a skilled surgeon.
Dr. Osborn was married November 11, 1874, to Miss Phoebe M. A. Hendrickson, of Jamaica. who was the daughter of Isaac C. Hendrickson, of that village. The Doctor and his wife have no children of their own, but have adopted a son, Harry Smith Osborn, who is now a student in Yale. In politics our subject is a Republican,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
401
although he takes no active part in public affairs. He is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, and for fifteen years was Superintendent of the Sunday school at East Hampton. At Free- town he conducted the colored missionary Sun- day school for twenty years.
M ARCUS WILLIAM TERRY, who for several years has held the position of Postmaster at Orient Point and is also agent for the Suffolk County Mutual Insurance Company, is one of the native-born sons of the island, and has spent his entire life here. His father, David, was born in Orient in 1808, and was · by occupation a farmer and dealer in stock, car- rying on quite extensive operations for that day. In public affairs, too, he was deeply interested, and for a number of years he held the office of Assessor of the town of Southold. With his wife he took a leading part in the work of the Congre- gational Church, and held various offices in the congregation. He died at Orient in 1869, aged sixty-one years.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Daniel T. Terry, who was born in Orient in 1759 and passed his entire life here, taking a leading part in public affairs and serving for several terms as a member of the Assembly. He died in this village in 1830. Our subject's mother, Caroline, was born here in 1807 and died in 1864. Her father, Joseph Raymond, was a well known citi- zen of Orient and for many years officiated in the capacity of Justice of the Peace. The parental family consisted of five children, namely: Ange- line B., who lives in Orient; Orville Howard. who married Rhoda T. Latham, resides in this village, and is a Deacon in the Congregational Church; Marcus W .; Ellen C., and Charles David, who married Adelaide L. Prince. .
-
The village of Orient is the birthplace of our subject and May 7, 1842, the date of his birth. He received a good education in the common schools and the academy at Franklinville, and by careful and thoughtful reading has kept
abreast with the times. At Panton, Vt., Decem- ber 21, 1869, he married Clara G. Spencer, who was born there July 17, 1846. Her parents, George and Matilda (Walker) Spencer, were born in Panton, the former October 12, 1800, and the latter April 6, 1811. Their seven children are Harriet H., Gideon, Jonathan, Freeborn (de- ceased), Leviah, Clara G. and Luna. Mr. and Mrs. Terry are the parents of two children, name- ly: Caroline M., born April 3, 1871, and Edith M., July 18, 1873.
In all local affairs of importance, Mr. Terry has maintained a deep interest, and his co-operation has always been extended in behalf of worthy measures. For several years he has held the office of Postmaster at Orient Point, having been appointed by Postmaster General Wanamaker. He is agent for the Suffolk County Mutual In- surance Company and a Director in that insti- tution. In politics he is a Republican. With his wife and daughters he belongs to the Congrega- tional Church, in which he has for two years been Superintendent of the Sunday-school, and they have been teachers. He is President of the Wash- ingtonian Temperance Society, which was estab- lished some fifty years ago, and has taken a prominent part in that organization.
J OSEPH BAILEY. The name of Bailey is one of the oldest and most honored in Sui- folk County. The gentleman concerning whose life we wish to give a few facts is a shrewd and active business man of Patchogue. He is one of the junior members of the firm of E. Bai- ley & Sons, dealers in lumber and all kinds of building materials at Patchogue. They also have a branch yard and mill at Islip, to which the father gives his attention, while this part of the business is managed by our subject and his brother, Ed- win Bailey, Jr. For a full history of the business we refer those interested to either the sketch of Edwin Bailey or his son, Edwin, Jr., which occu- pies another portion of this volume.
The subject of this sketch was born in Pat-
402
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
chogue November 4, 1856. He gained a good education in the schools of his native village and then, wishing to fit hintself for a business life, took a course in the commercial college at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. His father was at that time the proprietor of a thriving business, and Jo- seph, desirous of aiding him, learned the carpen- ter's trade and after following it until 1881 was taken in as the partner of his father. He gives his attention largely to outside matters, such as buying material, etc. The firm has also done considerable contract work for the Government and built stone jetties at Patchogue and Sayville, to which Joseph gave his personal attention.
. November 21, 1883, Mir. Bailey married Miss L. Belle, daughter of Capt. George W. Robin- son, of East Patchogue. To them Iras been born one child, a daughter, Anna G. Mrs. Bailey is an educated lady and an artist of considerable skill. The walls of her beautiful home on Ocean Avenue are adorned with pictures which she has painted, and the rooms are also made attractive by many pieces of needlework, as she is also accomplished in the art of embroidery. She and her husband attend the Congregational Church and take an active part in social affairs. Mr. Bailey is a Ma- son of high standing. In politics he has been identified with the Democratic party since at- taining his majority. He gives strict attention to the business in which he is engaged and is stead- ily working his way upward to a position of af- fluence. He is a man of unswerving honesty, whose word is considered as good as his bond, and the confidence of the entire community is his.
C HARLES R. LYON. It is an indisput- able fact that to become successful at the Bar requires not only capacity but un- bounded energy as well, and in the subject of this sketch these qualities are combined. . 11- though young in years he is one of the rising at- torneys of Greenport, and without doubt a bright future awaits him. A native of Brooklyn, N. Y., he was born March 6, 1862. His father, Capt.
George W. Lyon, was born in New York City in October, 1822. From the time he was sixteen years old Captain Lyon was much interested in military affairs, and although from the age of twenty-one years until about the opening of the Civil War, he was a merchant at Greenport, yet he also kept in touch with military affairs and was . captain of a company of militia. In 1860 he re- turned to New York City and engaged in the wholesale millinery business, receiving much of his patronage from the South. At the opening of the Rebellion he was financially ruined on ac- count of his Southern creditors, and as Captain of Company F, of the Thirty-seventh Regiment of New York, he was sent to Baltimore to help pre- serve order in that city.
After remaining in the service one year Captain Lyon returned to New York and in 1870, with his family, came to Greenport, disposing of his interests in New York shortly afterward. He successfully conducted a dry goods establish- ment until his death, which resulted from break- ing a blood vessel, March 30, 1875. His store had been burglarized and with several others he succeeded in capturing the robbers, but while on a boat returning home he met with the accident that resulted in his death. He was an active and progressive man in every respect. His brother, William, was Colonel of the old Seventh Regi- ment of New York and was at one time a candi- date for Sheriff of New York City. His eldest brother, Charles F., lost his life in the War of 1812. Another brother, Albert, was a wealthy merchant of New Orleans, and the latter's son, Rev. Albert, was an Episcopalian minister and Chaplain of the First Texas Volunteers in the Civil War.
Stephen Lyon, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a son of John Lyon and was born during the stirring times of 1776. He be- cante a clothing merchant of New York City and New Orleans, accumulated a large fortune and died at Yonkers, N. Y., in 1859.
The ancestors were of Scotch descent and the first representatives in this country settled in Massachusetts, whence about 1719 members of the family removed to Westchester County, N. Y.
1
PETER J. HARTMANN.
405
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
The mother of the subject of this sketch was Elizabeth S. Corwin, who was descended from Matthias Corwin, one of the first settlers of the town of Southold, and the first of the name in America. He was probably born in England be- tween 1590 and 1600 and died September 1-12, 1658. He settled at Ipswich, Mass., in 1633, but afterward joined the companies which went to the Connecticut valley, and his name appears among the first founders of New Haven. About this time Rev. John Young, with several families, ar- rived at New Haven, and this company bought from the Indians the east end of Long Island, and Mr. Young led his company thither, settling at Southold in October, 1640.
Matthias Corwin joined this company. Tradi- tion says that he was a direct descendant of Matthias Corvinus, an impressive orator and an able general, who was King of Hungary, 1458- 1491. Nathaniel Corwin, grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born at Baiting Hollow, L. I., December 11, 1792, and died at Greenport, N. Y., June 16, 1868. He married Mary Ann Lemmaa, September 29, 1818, a daughter of John and Thankful (Jeffery) Lemmaa. When a young man Mr. Corwin went to New York City and for a time was in the ship chandler business, later was agent for a whaling vessel and had as many as one hundred men in his employ. During that time he built the first wharf at Greenport, of which he was one of the principal founders, and named the place. He also fitted out the first whaling ship that sailed from here. He was studious and gentlemanly, a true philanthropist, and one of nature's noblemen. He had a clear head, a pure heart, untiring energy, yet was modest as a child. More than once he refused the nomination to some of the highest offices of the state. He was quite active in inducing the farmers to give a right-of-way over their land for the building of the Long Island Railroad, traveling all through Suffolk County in its interest. He was active in all that concerned the village in which he lived, and took prominent part in the work of securing incorporation for Greenport. He was also an ac- tive temperance worker, and it was largely through his efforts that the sale of intoxicating
-
liquors in the village was almost done away with for a time, only one place being engaged in the traffic, and that secretly.
Mrs. Lyon had four brothers: John M., the first manufacturer of rubber coats, died in 1885: Seth M., is a farmer near Greenport: Walter E. is in the cloak manufacturing business in New York City; and Chatham, who was a member of Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh New York Infantry, was taken sick while in the service of his country and died soon after being brought home. Charles R. Lyon was one of the following children: William, a salesman for twen- ty-seven years in the house of E. S. Jaffery & Co .. of New York, died in October, 1891; Lucy E. and Kate I. have managed successfully the busi- ness left by their father at his death: Frederick W., of Brooklyn, is the manufacturer of the Lyon's Double Dress Stays, his own invention: Mary L. lives with her mother in their beautiful home on Bay Avenue.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the district schools and Southold Academy, took a course in Eastman's Commercial College and in 1886 entered Columbia Law School, from which he was graduated in 1888. He studied law with Timothy M. Griffing, of Riverhead, for one year and in 1889 opened an office in the Lyon building in Greenport, where he has established a large and constantly increasing practice. He is a Re- publican politically, and is a member of the Pres- byterian Church. October 2, 1895, he married Miss Rose Krancher, daughter of the late Anton Krancher, of Greenport. He is public-spirited and is one of the rising young professional men of his section.
P ETER J. HARTMANN was well fitted for the occupation which received his atten- tion during the active portion of his life- that of architect and builder-for he possesses an artistic and versatile, but decidedly practical. mind. He is an illustration of what may be ac- complished by those of foreign birth who seek a home on the shores of America and are compelled
.
406
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
to labor under the disadvantages of an unknown tongue and a marked scarcity of friends and ac- quaintances. He was born at Cologne, Ger- many, on the River Rhine, May 1, 1828, a son of Peter Hartmann, of that place. The father, a successful tiller of the soil, was a leading man of his section and for years held the position of Bur- gomaster in his district.
The subject of this sketch was one of five chil- dren born to his parents. Under the safe shelter of the parental roof he grew to manhood, and like the majority of Germans acquired a thorough ed- ucation, graduating from the school of survey- ing and architecture. Later he became one of Germany's most successful architects and build- ers, and among the many buildings that stand as monuments to his skill are the water works at Elberfeld, the water works at Dusseldorf, the gas works at Coblentz, the gas works at Kettwig, and at Gerresheim he built the first glass factory of the now exclusive plant owned by Ferdinand Heyer. He also erected the "Rhine Westphalische In- dustry" (manufacturing Portland cement) and many other buildings too numerous to mention.
In 1880 Mr. Hartmann came to the United States and secured employment with the Metro- politan Gas Company, of New York City, as their consulting architect, and was thus employed for some three years. Later he removed to Brook- lyn, and in that city made his home until 1891, when he bought his present delightfully located home, situated on one of the highest points in the county, from which a charming view may be obtained. On one side is the sound in full view and on the other the ocean. Here Mr. Hartmann expects to make his home the remainder of his days, and no more lovely spot could be found for a residence.
·
.
December 11, 1866, Mr. Hartmann was united in marriage with Miss Mathilda Kuefen, of Dus- seldorf, Germany, and to this union a family of five children was born, only two of whom are living at the present time, Henry J. and William Carl, the latter of whom is engaged in the rail- road business in New York City. He is married and has one child.
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.