The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I, Part 167

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I > Part 167

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ELIHU SPICER, JR .- This gentleman, who is familiarly known as Captain Spicer, is a son of Elihu and Jemima (Fish) Spicer, both of English descent, and was born in Groton, Connecticut, April 13th, 1825. It is a fact curious enough to be worthy of note that Groton was the native place of five generations of the ancestors, both on his father's side and

his mother's. His father, who was formerly a ship captain, is still living there in his eighty-eighth year.

Attending the public schools of Groton during his boy- hood, Captain Spicer went to sea at the early age of sixteen aboard the ship John Minturn, Captain Stark. This vessel was subsequently lost on the New Jersey coast, with all on board, including the captain and his whole family, except one member, who is now the wife of Mr. D. D. Malley. His advancement was such that he became the second mate of the John Minturn, and in his twenty-fourth year he took command of the bark Fanny, owned by Charles Mallory and others, and employed in the Mobile line of packets of E. D. Hurlbert & Co. In 1850, this vessel, with Captain Spicer still in command, was loaded for San Francisco by Messrs. A. A. Low & Co., and sailed thence to China and back to New York. Captain Spicer continued in the San Francisco, China and East India trade till 1863, when he retired from active connection with sailing vessels, though retaining an interest in some.

At the time last mentioned, Captain Spicer, in company with Mr. C. H. Mallory, engaged in the transportation busi- ness, and so successful were they that two years later the since well-known house of C. H. Mallory & Co. was estab- lished, the firm consisting then of Messrs. C. H. Mallory and Elihu Spicer, Jr., and now of those gentlemen and three sons of Mr. Mallory, who have since acquired an interest in the business.

Immediately after the close of the rebellion, Messrs. C. H. Mallory & Co. embarked in business very extensively, and have since added largely to their facilities. In 1866 they es- tablished a line of vessels to Galveston. Texas; in 1867, a line to New Orleans, Louisiana; in 1876, a line to Florida; in 1879, lines to Brazil and to Nassau and Cuba. The New Orleans line was abandoned in 1876; the Brazilian line in 1882, and the Nassau and Cuban lines in 1883, leaving the Galveston and Florida lines still in operation. Both of these lines are well equipped and of extensive carrying capacity, and the firm of C. H. Mallory & Co. is one of the most favorably and widely known in New York, having long had, besides the steamships employed upon the above-named lines, a larger or smaller number of sail vessels plying to the different ports of the world, though, during recent years, most of this class of craft have been disposed of, the firm owning at this time ten steamers running on the lines above mentioned. Their office is on Pier 21, East River, where Captain Spicer first began his seafaring life.

Captain Spicer was married in 1853 to Miss Mary Dudley, of Mystic, Connecticut, who died in 1871. having borne him three children, all of whom are dead. His eldest son, U. D. Spicer, who was widely known and beloved in Brooklyn, died at the age of twenty-three, in October, 1877.

Captain Spicer has been a resident of this city since 1864, and takes a deep interest in its growth and prosperity. A democrat prior to the late war, he has been a republican since, though not by any means active as a politician. He is connected with various commercial interests, among them the New York Chamber of Commerce, the New York Produce Exchange, and the New York Maritime Exchange. He is liberal in religious belief, belonging to no Christian organiza- tion, but sympathizing with what is good in all, and isa pew owner and attendant at Plymouth Church.

JOSEPH J. O'DONOHUE .- Few names are more generally known or highly respected in Brooklyn and New York than that which heads this sketch. Mr. O'Donohue was born at No. 40 Peck slip, New York, January 8th, 1834, His father

664

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

was John O'Donohue, an Irish gentleman, who had re- ceived a liberal education at Dublin and had established himself in New York as the proprietor of a grocery and ship store. He subsequently became a prominent mer- chant in that city; reputable for all that makes a man honorable and trustworthy, and beloved for a generous charity that has caused his name to be remembered most gratefully by many a poor man whose necessities he relieved, or whom he assisted to obtain a home- and such might be counted by hundreds. Mrs. John O'Don- ohue was a lady of rare attainments and such commendable Christian virtues as rendered her a fit wife for such a man. Her benefactions were many and unostentatious, and she is remembered by many of the residents of the Eastern District of Brooklyn, and by numerous others who were so fortunate as to know her, as a musician of wonderful talent and pro- ficiency. This excellent and, in every way, admirable couple were the parents of five sons, all of whom lived to be honored and respected by their fellow-men, and to attain prominence among the merchants of New York.

At the early age of ten years, Joseph J. O'Donohue entered his father's store, the business of the latter having, before this time, advanced to the dignity of a wholesale trade, to learn the business and make himself generally useful. His brother, James, was similarly employed; and, in order that they might not be kept from obtaining the rudiments of an education, the two brothers were allowed to attend school on alternate days, each of them receiving thus three days of business training and three days of schooling each week. That the policy of the elder O'Donohue in thus early famil- iarizing his sons with the every-day routine of business life, and teaching them the paramount value of time, both in work and study, was not a mistaken one, is evidenced by the subsequent successful career of each of them. That the boy turned his opportunities to advantage during the ensuing five years is proven by the fact that, at the age of fifteen, at a period when most boys have not taken even the initial steps in business ways, he had entire charge of his father's stores; and, with his brother James, he was a part- ner in the firm of Jolin O'Donohue & Sons, wholesale dealers in tea and coffee, before he had attained to his ma- jority.

To the firm of John O'Donohue & Sons, which originally consisted of John and James and Joseph J. O'Donohue, Peter O'Donohue, another son of John O'Donohue, was ad- mitted in 1861, and John and Thomas O'Donohue, two younger sons, in 1868. Late in the year last mentioned, the senior member of the firm died, and the house has since been known as that of John O'Donohue's Sons. John O'Donohue had removed his stores from Peck Slip to No. 234 Front street, and thence to 239 Front street. In 1865, the stores of the firm were removed to No. 88 Front street. James O'Donohue retired from the business in 1872, and Joseph J. O'Donohue, in 1880, the firm now consisting of Peter and John O'Donohue and two sons of Peter. Novem- ber 1, 1880, Joseph J. O'Donohue and Atherton Foster estab- lished themselves as importers of coffee and tea, at No. 101 Front street. On account of ill-health, Mr. Foster found himself obliged to retire from active business life, and the partnership was terminated by mutual consent January 1, 1882. One year later, Mr. Joseph J. O'Donohue, Jr., beca.ne a partner with his father, and the house has since been known as that of Joseph J. O'Donohue & Son. The firm takes high rank among houses of its class in New York, and is doing a large and rapidly increasing trade, which Mr. O'Donohue has seen advance from $40,000 per annum, to $6,000,000 per annum, with a yearly average of fully $4,000,000 for some

time past; the firm having numerous branch houses and a very extensive foreign correspondence.

For many years the name of O'Donohue has been closely and conspicuously interwoven with the history of Williams- burg, which was, until his death, the residence of John O'Donohue, Sr., and, until 1867, that of Joseph J. O'Dono- hue, and, to the present time, the abiding place of others of John O'Donohue's sons. In connection with plans for public improvement and the advancement of the general interest of that locality, the name has been represented dur- ing a protracted period by father and sons, and in such a manner as to leave its impress on the prosperity and present status of the entire Eastern District. It is doubtful if a more popular young man than Joseph J. O'Donohue was ever reared in Williamsburg, where, from early in life to the present time, he has been honored and trusted as very few of his fellows have been. His name is a favorite one there, as it is one of prominence in the commercial circles of New York; and there are few; indeed, of the middle-aged or elderly men of that section of Brooklyn who do not regard him as an old friend, tried and staunch, enterprising in all that promises to serve the public welfare, generous to a fault; a man in whom are combined all those admirable qualities which characterize the faithful friend, the good citizen, and the ready, liberal and efficient helper of all de- serving causes.

It would be almost superfluous to remind any resident of Brooklyn of the former suicidal mismanagement of the ferry interests connecting New York and Brooklyn, E. D., which was long a fruitful theme of discussion, both ver- bally and by the press of both cities. Elsewhere in these pages may be found sketches of the history of the several ferry companies wnich have from time to time been organ- ized to afford means of communication between Brooklyn and New York; though, for reasons which must be obvious to every fair-minded reader, little of the acrimony and ill-feel- ing of the past, engendered by the mismanagement of these great public interests could be depicted in this work. That the citizens of Williamsburg had just griev- ances under the old regime no one will deny at this time. That they were practically at the mercy of men who placed their own ends above the interest of the public is conceded by all who are informed upon this subject. The dawning of a new era in ferry management occurred in 1858, when Joseph J. O'Donohue and his father, together with other well-known gentlemen and citizens of Williamsburg, organ- ized the Long Island Ferry Company, and instituted a for- midable rivalry against the Brooklyn Ferry Company, of which the late George Law was the head and controlling spirit. The projectors of the new company had at heart the interests of Williamsburg, which had been prevented from obtaining a growth and prominence to which its location and numerous manifest advantages unquestionably entitled it, by a policy on the part of those who had dictated in ferry mat- ters, which has since been proven to have been as antag- onistic to their own interest as it was detrimental to the interest of the public. In 1864 a compromise was effected by which the two rival companies were merged into one, which was called the New York and Brooklyn Ferry Company. Upon Mr. O'Donohue's accession to the presidency of this corporation, he at once inaugurated certain improvements in ferry accommodation, which did more than any other interest has ever done to enhance the prosperity of Williamsburg. Boats were rebuilt; ferry-houses were enlarged and made more attractive, externally and internally, and vastly more comfortable; fares were reduced; and, in a word, everything was done that was dictated by a liberal

665

THE COMMERCE OF BROOKLYN.

spirit of enterprise to improve the communication between the Eastern District of Brooklyn and the city of New York. The benefits that have accrued to Williamsburg from Mr. O'Donohue's policy are practically incalculable. All that large portion of Brooklyn within the borders of the 13th, 19th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 21st, 22d, 23d and 25th wards, has been built up rapidly since the period of equitable and far-seeing ferry management began, and has assumed an importance to which it would never have at- tained under other conditions. Indeed, it is to Mr. O'Don- ohue, whose name is a veritable household word among them, that the citizens of the Eastern District give much of the credit for the many improvements around them. The value of real estate has greatly advanced as a direct result of Mr. O'Donohue's wise policy, and to the same influence is ascribed the great increase in the number of costly and elegant residences within the territory described and the growth of local commerce and manufactures. That the ferry accommodations of the Eastern District may be still further improved, Mr. O'Donohue admits, and in doing so is resolved to be one of the first to supply any want for further ferriage that may be seen to exist, and it is his intention at an early day to add to the accommodations provided by the Grand street, the Houston street, the Roosevelt street, and the Division avenue ferries, such as may be afforded by a new ferry from Broadway, Williamsburg, to 23d street, New York, of which he is the chief projector. Ground has been purchased for the purposes of this proposed improve- ment, and it is confidently predicted that the ferry will be in operation within a year.

It was not alone in connection with ferry affairs that Mr. O'Donohue was prominent in Brooklyn during his residence there. With its social, political, commercial and beneficial institutions he was closely identified. While yet a young man, he was a member of the old Fire Department of Wil- liamsburg. He was a constant and liberal contributor toward the maintenance of the causes of education and Christianity, and even to this day continues his benefactions to churches without regard to creed or denomination, though he has, perhaps, given more largely to St. Peter and Paul's church, of which Rev. Father Malone is pastor, than to any other religious organization in Brooklyn. With this church his family have been identified for two generations; and, speaking of him on a certain memorable occasion, almost twelve years ago, Father Malone said: "I have known Mr. O'Donohue for thirty years, and heis one of five sons, whose honored parents before them I also knew. He is a full-blood American, but half Irish, and liberal enough to love all his fellow-citizens, irrespective of religious or political differ- ences." Until his removal to New York, Mr. O'Donohue was a conspicuous member and, a portion of the time, chair- man of the Democratic General Committee of Kings county, and for a number of years he was a delegate from Kings county to the democratic state convention. He was, on one occasion, tendered the nomination for Alderman for the 13th Ward; and, later, was offered the nomination for Mayor of Brooklyn, but declined to allow his name to be used in that manner. Though a democrat from his youth up, Mr. O'Don- ohue was an outspoken supporter of the war for the sup- pression of the Rebellion from the time of its outbreak until its close; later advocating such measures as he believed would most speedily bring to both North and South the benefits of established peace and mutual commerce. In this connection it is remembered of him that he was secretary of the first "War Meeting " held in Williamsburgh, in 1861, to devise means to provide for the maintenance of soldiers' widows and orphans and the wives and children of men who had

gone to the front, leaving them but scantily provided for. At various times he was identified with important interests of Brooklyn of such a nature as to render them to a degree the concern of the public. One such may be referred to- the Cemetery of the Evergreens-of which, with Mr. Sylves- ter M. Baird and others, he assumed the ownership at a time when the project languished, and toward the later establish- ment of which he was in no slight degree influential.

Since his removal to New York in 1867, he has been a resi- dent of the 19th Ward of that city, and has been more or less prominent in local and national politics. He was for some time a member and vice-chairman of the Tammany Hall General Committee. At the municipal election of 1871 he was tendered the nomination for Mayor. In 1874 he was appointed Park Commissioner by Mayor Wickham and served as such until 1876, when he resigned on account of having become a presidential elector on the democratic ticket. Upon his appointment as Park Commissioner, the leading newspapers of New York commented favorably. In this connection, one prominent journal said: "Probably no appointment made by the Mayor will be more acceptable to democrats and republicans alike than that of Mr. O'Dono- hue. He is universally esteemed as a man of high character and one who will have but one object in view in the dis- charge of his duties as a public official-that of the public good." He was a prominent member of the celebrated Com- mittee of Seventy, organized during the Tweed régime, and it is worthy of note that he was the only Tammanyite se- lected as a member of that body. Beyond his earnest desire for the public good, and more conspicuous than any other principle advocated, Mr. O'Donohue has ever held the ad- vancement of the workingman; and it will not be soon for- gotten that in a speech made during his incumbency of the office of Park Commissioner, which was referred to by the New York Herald as "the sensation of the occasion," when the reduction of the wages of the laborers was being dis- cussed, he said that he would "resign the position rather than consent to the reduction."

Mr. O'Donohue is a trustee of the New York Coffee Ex- change and a member of the New York Chamber of Com- merce and the New York Board of Trade and Transportation. At different times he has been chosen director of banking, insurance, railway and other corporations, and among his important connections at this time it may be mentioned that he is a director in the Eighth and Ninth Avenue Elevated Railroads of New York. The important enterprises with which he is constantly solicited, but firmly refuses, to con- nect liimself, are so numerous that a mention of them would more than anything else, demonstrate the high degree of confidence of the general public in Mr. O'Donohue's integ- rity and sagacity. In 1880, with other gentlemen, he bought the stock of Daniel Drew in the People's Line of steamers, plying between New York and Albany, in which he has since been a director and large owner. For years he has had a membership in many of the leading clubs of New York, and as a "club-man" he is widely known and very popular. At this time he is a member of the New York Club, the Man- hattan Club and other similar organizations.

September 7, 1858, Mr. O'Donohue married Miss Teresa M. J. Riley, of New York. They have two sons and two daugliters living, and death has deprived them of two sons and one daughter. Mr. O'Donohue's eldest son, Joseph J. O'Donohue, Jr., is now a partner in his father's extensive business, to which it is likely he will succeed in due time : for liis business capacity and the rapidity and thorougliness with which he has acquired a knowledge of the trade, seem to give promise that the name of Joseph J. O'Donohue will

666

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

continue to be prominently identified with the coffee trade of New York long after the subject of this sketch shall have terminated his connection with it. Mr. O'Donohue has twice retired from business, but his life has been so busy a one that he found it impossible to remain long inactive. His first re- tirement was in 1872, when he went to Europe, making a somewhat protracted stay. On the evening of May 7, shortly before his departure, he was tendered a complimen- tary banquet at Delmonico's, at which were present a hun- dred well-known citizens, including senators, judges, jour- nalists, physicians and divines. Numerous witty and brilliant speeches were made; and a poem, full of good wishes and breathing the spirit of friendship, written by the late Hugh J. Hastings, of the New York Commercial Adver- tiser, who was unwillingly absent, was read ; and the oc- casion was, in all respects, one to be long and pleasantly remembered by all who participated in the pleasures of the evening. Mr. O'Donohue's retirement at the severence of his connection with the firm of John O'Donohue's Sons, January 1, 1880, was intended to be final, and it was only to establish his son in the coffee trade, for which he had ex- pressed a preference, that he sometime afterward re-entered the trade with which his name has been so long and favora- bly identified.

It may not be too much to say, in conclusion, that Mr. O'Donohue has been, in everything he has undertaken, as uniformly and signally successful as any man in the circle in which he moves. It would be idle to suppose that his suc- cess has been vouchsafed to him by "luck," or by fortuitous accidents, for in this practical age we look elsewhere for the source of all worthy achievements. Sagacity, foresight, liberality, an extraordinary judgement of men, and the de- served confidence of all with whom he had relations, have together combined to aid him in his well-directed efforts. In commerce, he has been amply rewarded. In politics, his honors have been limited only by his will to accept them. In society, he is the peer of the most distinguished in all walks of life. His management of a great Fair, by which nearly $75,000 was raised, for the benefit of the New York Found- ling Asylum, and his success in establishing various charita- ble and religious institutions, or freeing them from the incubus of debt, are simply examples of the success which has attended him through life.

TIMOTHY HOGAN .- There is probably. no other citizen of Brooklyn who has been so long and so prominently identified with the shipping aud steamship interests of the port of New York as the gentleman whose name heads this article. His father was Michael Hogan, a man well known among the warehousemen of his time in Liverpool, England, where Mr. Hogan was born February 17th, 1835. Early in life he de- veloped a love for the sea, and an unconquerable desire for the peril and excitement of a seafaring life; and in 1848, at the age of thirteen, we find him employed as an ordinary seaman on the ship St. George, owned by David Ogden, a merchant of New York, and plying between English ports and the metropolis of the New World. Later, he was em- ployed on board the Margaret Evans, belonging to Messrs. N. L. and G. Greenwald, and commanded by Captain E. G. Tinker, who was, a few years ago, Captain of the port of New York, and is now one of that city's wealthy and hon- ored citizens. After this, he served on the John R. Skiddy and Constellation, of the " Red Line," owned by Robert Ker- mit, holding the position of Chief Officer for some time prior to his abandoning a seafaring career in 1834.

In the year last mentioned, Mr. Hogan went to New Or- leans to become foreman for Messrs, Gale & Brown, a lead-

ing firm of stevedores. In 1858, this firm was succeeded by the firm of Brown & Hogan, Mr. Hogan acquiring the inter- est of the retiring partner, Mr. Gale, and becoming the junior member of the firm. A prosperous business was done for some years prior to the outbreak of the rebellion, which, in common with nearly every other branch of enterprise there, was suddenly terminated by the city's being declared under blockade June 10th, 1861. That was a memorable time in New Orleans. Men with thousands at stake were looking anxiously about for some means to bolster up or retrieve their failing fortunes. To many there who, like Mr. Hogan, had no sympathy with the Southern cause, discretion wisely persisted in proved of much service in the strait in which they were placed. He was not one to remain long inactive, and, seizing the first promising opportunity for business that offered, he was in July actively engaged, under contract with the Confederate government, fortifying New Orleans by throwing up earthworks at Chalmette, Pass Manshoe and the Rigolettes on Lake Ponchartrain. This work was yet un- completed when Farragut took New Orleans on the 20th of April, 1862, Butler assuming the government of the city about ten days later. Again, through the vicissitudes of war, Mr. Hogan found himself without occupation, and this time witli a claim amounting to many thousands of dollars against the Southern Confederacy; which, with accumulated interest, he would doubtless find it hard to give away at this time, though, had he chosen to remain in the South, he might at that time have realized considerable from it.

Returning to New York in the summer of 1862, he formed a copartnership with Mr. James Pinder, under the firm name of Pinder & Hogan, stevedores, which was dissolved in 1869. This Northern venture was very prosperous, principally on account of the business of New Orleans ship owners, which Mr. Hogan held and transferred to the firm of which he was a member. Many of these he had previously transacted busi- ness for in New Orleans, disposing of their wooden vessels and entering keenly into the East India and Calcutta trades to New York and employing iron ships instead. Iron ships superseded the wooden ones rapidly, and for a number of years the firm had a monopoly of the iron ships in the port of New York. When the Suez Canal had been proven a success, Mr. Hogan, in company with some of his English business friends, entered largely in the building of the kind of iron freight steamers with compound engines known as "tramps," and consuming a comparatively small quantity of coal. At that time, and for a number of years afterward, these steamers were a very profitable investment; for their utility was as yet conceded by only a few men of trained judgment and keen foresight, like Mr. Hogan and his companions, and ship-owners were ordinarily shy to invest in them; this fact insuring them a practical monopoly in that department of maritime property. The prevailing opinion, which has since been thoroughly exploded, was, that such vessels could not cross the Atlantic in the winter months. So thoroughly has this fallacious idea been removed, that at this time seventy- five per cent. of the exports of the United States to Europe is transported in this class of vessels. Mr. Hogan was one of the promoters of the Monarch Line of steamers from London, which was organized in 1880; aud is connected with six lines of steamers altogether, being an extensive owner in a major- ity of them. Some years since he organized the firm of T. Hogan & Sons, the partners in which are Timothy Hogan and his sons, Charles W. and Jefferson Hogan. The firm is heavily interested in floating property, such as elevators, tugboats, barges and other transportation facilities for har- bor use. Each member of the firm owns a membership of the New York Produce and Maritime Exchanges, advantages

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I, Part 167

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1114

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114