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 II, Part 51

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

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 II > Part 51

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JOHN S. FROST was born in Plymouth, Devonshire, Eng- land, July 23, 1830, a son of Richard and Ann (Shepard) Frost. His father was steward on a vessel in the service of the East India Company, the duties of his position keeping him absent from home most of the time, and was lost at sea in 1843. The family moved to the city of London when John S. Frost was three years old, and there he passed his boy- hood and attended school. His mother married George H. Grandfield, who brought the family, consisting of himself and Mrs. Grandfield, and John S. Frost and a half brother of the latter, to the United States in 1849, locating in Brooklyn, but shortly removing to Germantown, Pa.

John S. Frost did not accompany the other members of the family to Pennsylvania, choosing rather to remain in Brooklyn and learn the trade of bricklaying and plastering, . which he accomplished under competent instruction, and was afterward, for eight or nine years, in the employ of Mr. John

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John & drool-

French, afterward Building Commissioner of the city of Brooklyn. In 1863, he embarked in business as a contractor and builder on his own account, in which he was very suc- cessful. During the past ten years he has been engaged in speculative building and in real estate operations, his im- provements in the portion of the city known as Bedford hav- ing been quite extensive.

Mr. Frost's interest in public affairs is such as must be felt by all true citizens ; and as a politician he is quiet rather than active, though his influence in his section of Brooklyn is by no means small. He favors the Republican view of matters political, and has served the Ninth Ward as a mem- ber of its Republican Association, with which he has been for some years and is now connected. He is a member of Atlantic Lodge No. 50, I. O. O. F., with which he has been identified since 1852, and of which he has served as Noble Grand.

In April, 1854, Mr. Frost married Miss Sarah L. Whitney, a native of Northamptonshire, England, but at that time a resident of Brooklyn. The family are connected with the New York Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Frost has been one of the trustees since its organization. He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at the age of fourteen, and has ever since been an active and consistent member of that denomination, having served officially in connection with several church organizations.

It is as a self-made man that Mr. Frost takes rank among his contemporaries in this city. His reputation is that of an

honest and thorough-going business man, and in all of the relations of life he has won the esteem of those who know him best.

T. B. JACKSON, 424 Clinton avenue, builder ; es- tablished 1854. DAVID JENKINS (Jenkins & Gillie), 366-72 South 5th street, E. D., carpenter and buil- der ; established 1872 ; from no capital invested, business has increased to $100,000; first firm of builders in Brooklyn to make use of the telephone. CARDWELL & HAWKINS (Charles W. and Henry S.), 15 Lawton street, builders ; established, 1880, 144 Devoe street ; erected Reformed Episcopal church, corner Keep street and Marcy avenue, and the Janes M. E. church, corner Reid avenue and Monroe street. ABRAM RUTAN, 957 Putnam avenue, mason and builder ; established 1865. JOHN ROME, 334 Schermerhorn street, carpenter and builder.

JOHN ROME .- In Dumfriesshire, Scotland, near the village of Annan, on the banks of Solway Firth, John Rome was born in 1815, the eldest son of a large family of children. His ancestry on his mother's side belonged to the family of the Grahams, descendants of the numerous and powerful clan of that name, who are prominent in the annals of | Scottish history, while the family of the Romes lived on the

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John Rome

border for many years. His father was a farmer, a man of excellent character, highly respected in Annan, but not wealthy. He found the support of his family from the farm to be difficult, and therefore decided to emigrate to the newer country, where the soil made more generous returns for the labor expended in its cultivation, and the conditions of life were more favorable for the industrious poor man. So in 1820, he sailed for New York with his wife and little family, landing there on Christmas Day. The first year he rented a farm in Oyster Bay, hut the next year, 1822, he bought a tract of land in the town of Huntington, where he lived during the remainder of his life. The farm lay near the hamlet of West Hills, the highest land on Long Island, and there his son John, the subject of this sketch, grew up, assisting his father during the season in out-of-door work, and attending the district school for three months in the winter. Affairs prospered with the family until the loss of their house by fire, in 1831, entailed additional labor and some privation, while replacing what had been destroyed. When a young man, Mr. Rome showed a good degree of mechanical ingenuity and aptness in the use of tools, making all the wooden implements needed on the farm, and even being employed upon buildings that were in process of con- struction in the neighborhood. With his taste inclining in this direction, and ambitious to excel, he studied what books upon architecture and building he could procure, uniting theory with practice, until he was able to successfully plan and build several houses in the vicinity. As his younger brothers grew up and took their part in assisting in the farm work, Mr. Rome felt that he ought not to etand in the way

of their advancement, but rather to seek new fields of labor. With his practical knowledge of building, natural aptness, good judgment and industrious habits, he felt confident of making a living, at least, at the carpenter's vocation. In 1844 he came to Brooklyn and found work, at first by the day, until his savings had given him a little capital. After a time, he happened in at a sale of real estate at an auction room in New York, where two lots on Schermerhorn street, in this city, were under the hammer and going at a figure within his means. Confident that city lots in Brooklyn would increase greatly in value, he bought the property, and it proved to be the "flood tide " in his affairs that led him on to fortune. He built two houses, which sold advantageously, paving the way for future investments of a similar kind. By faithful, honest work, done under his personal super- vision, he acquired a reputation for thoroughness and excellence in construction, so that his houses sold readily at remunerative prices. He has continued in this business of buying, building and selling for many years, erecting many first-class residences in various parts of the city, building into his work the honest faithfulness of his Scotch ancestry, and gaining for himself a good name, of which any man might well be proud.

The lack of educational advantages in his youth he made up by learning of his younger brothers and sisters as they studied at home, and by a course of careful reading in leisure hours; when he was sixteen he applied for and obtained the office of librarian of the school district, and read with eager- ness the well selected, though small, collection of books thus placed in his charge. The love of good reading has always

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been a characteristic of him, while a close observation of men and things has given him that practical knowledge which is preferable to mere book education.

As a citizen, Mr. Rome is one of the intelligent, thinking, better class, who constitute the safeguard of the body politic and who make up enlightened public opinion. Well informed on the topics of the day, he lives up to his convictions of right, expressing his preferences at the polls, generally favor- ing the Democratic side, but not entering into the details of politics or taking any active part in caucuses and primaries. He thinks, with Sam Slick, that there are " cleaner things to handle and pleasanter to smell." As might be supposed from his Scotch descent, he is an attendant upon the Presby- terian Church, and a staunch supporter of religious and charitable institutions. His business, his reputation and his fortune have grown apace, while he is as generous in the use of money as he is honorable in its acquisition, Still actively engaged in the duties of his calling, he manifests all the enterprise and energy of his earlier years, with additional knowledge, skill and caution, gained from ex- perience.

Mr. Rome is tall, broad-shouldered and robust in person, the weight of years resting lightly upon him. In a hand- some home he enjoys with his family the rewards of his industry, and among men he is valued for his honor, integrity and manhood.

BURDETT STRYKER, 260 Jay street, builder and carpenter; established 1834; joined the Volunteer Fire Department of Brooklyn, 1827 ; elected assistant engineer, 1836 ; elected chief engineer, 1839 ; served 10 years; elected Fire Commissioner of Western Dis- trict, 1858 ; served 9 years ; served 1 year as Collector of 3d ward, and 4 years as Alderman for 4th ward. H. M. SMITH, Van Siclen avenue, E. N. Y., mason and builder; established 1857. STILLMAN SOULE, 412 Gates avenue, carpenter; established 1882; direct descendant of a Pilgrim, who landed at Plymouth, 1620. MORRIS & SELOVER, 39 DeKalb avenue, carpenters and builders; established, 1868, corner DeBevoise place. THEODORE W. SwIMM, 389 Putnam avenue, builder and real estate ; established, 1882, 394 Gates avenue ; native of Michigan ; came to Brooklyn in his 16th year ; served his apprenticeship as carpenter with Mr. William M. Thomas, in a shop on Livingston street, where the Court-house now stands. LEWIS J. WARD, 248 South 5th street, carpenter ; grandson of Lawrence Brower, who kept the old Black Horse Tavern, on the site of the Brooklyn Theatre. JAMES P. MILLER, 299 Sumner avenue, carpenter and builder; established, 1849, at 60 Wyckoff street. THOMAS B. WATSON, 363 Atlantic auenue, mason and plasterer; established, 1866, at 196 Pacific street, succeeding his father at that time; was a member of the Brooklyn Fire Department ; assistant foreman Eureka Hose Company, No.14; member Pacific Hose Company, No. 14; Master of Long Island Lodge, No. 382, three years in succession, and Alderman, 3d ward, 1883. Among others in this line are, also, AN- DREW MILLER, 1,527 Pacific street, established 1856 ; EDWIN H, BURNETT, 56 and 58 Poplar street, who

carries on the business ; established on Henry street, near Clark, 1839, by his father, John O. Burnett ; moved to present location in 1846; partnership formed, 1857; the father retired 1868; he came originally from Elizabeth, N. J., in 1824, and was foreman for D. Val- entine, whom he succeeded, in 1829.

JAMES WEAVER .- The late James Weaver was a son of Benjamin and Mary (Engle) Weaver, and was born in New York in September, 1814, and in infancy removed to Brook- lyn with his parents. He was reared and educated in the city where he afterwards became so well known; and, in company with his brother, William Weaver, built and oper- ated for a short time the old Weaver sash and blind factory, on Nassau street. The building is yet standing, but has been converted to other uses.

Retiring from that enterprise, Mr. Weaver began specula- ting in real estate, was very successful, and came to be recog- nized as an authority on all questions of values arising in Brooklyn real estate transactions. He was long the owner of the valuable plot at the corner of Court and Remsen streets, on which the building of the Dime Savings Bank has recently been erected. Having amassed a competency, he retired from active business, but was afterward identified with banks, insurance companies and other corporations. At the time of his death, which occurred June 22, 1881, he was director of the Nassau Insurance Company.

He married Anna Katharine Willis, daughter of Leonard Willis, of New York. They had one son, James E. Weaver, who married the youngest daughter of Mayor Kalbfleisch, and died at the age of thirty.

Early in life, Mr. Weaver was an old line Whig, but in the transitions in political matters which marked the period in which he lived, he became a Democrat, and so continued un- til his death. But he was in no sense a politician; and, though often solicited to do so, resolutely refused to be iden- tified with political movements of any kind. In private life he had numerous warm friends, numbering among them many of the most prominent men of New York and Brook- lyn. He was known in business circles as a man of uncom- promising integrity. His death was deeply regretted by all who knew him.

JOHN H. O'ROURKE .- The name of O'Rourke has for half a century or more been known in modern Brooklyn. In 1830, about the time of the first general influx of Irish emigrants into the then small city, Patrick O'Rourke arrived, and not long afterward opened a blacksmith shop in Jay street, near High, which was burned in 1832. Later, Mr. O'Rourke be- came a contractor, and as such was for many years favor- ably known in Brooklyn. He died in 1879.

John H. O'Rourke, son of Patrick and. Mary O'Rourke, was born in February, 1840, in Dean street, near Court, in an old farm-house which was at that time his father's residence, and was torn down only a year or so ago. He attended the public schools, thus gaining the rudiments of a practical edu- cation, and at the age of nineteen began to learn the brick- masons' trade with James Ashfield. He was thus employed about three years, and was then ready to trust his fortunes to his skill as a workman.

From 1861 to 1864, Mr. O'Rourke was attached to the en- gineer corps of the department of the Gulf and served in Florida, working on government fortifications. Returning to Brooklyn, he resumed operations in his line; and, in 1866, was appointed superintending mason for the Park Commis-

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Por rer toute >

sion, a position of responsibility, which he filled with credit till 1871.

Mr. O'Rourke now became a contractor, and, in 1872, built the Thirteenth Regiment Armory, a structure which will long remain as a monument to his skill. Since that date he has erected numerous churches, public buildings, stores, warshouses, business blocks, public school buildings and residences, and is regarded as one of the most enterprising men in his line in this city.

Though a Democrat, Mr. O'Rourke has always been too busy to become an active politician, though in a quiet way he bas much influence in his ward; and his name has been more than once mentioned in connection with places of pub- lic trust. In 1872, he married Miss Agnes Lennan, of New York.

FREDERICK HERR .- The family of Herr originated in Saxony. Christian Herr, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was in Bavaria with the German army early in this century, and, falling in love with a native woman, married her, and remained in Bavaria during his life, found- ing the Bavarian branch of the family. One of his sons, Johannes, was Frederick Herr's grandfather, and Frederick Herr's father bore the same Christian name, and married Magdalena Boell, who had three sons and a daughter, of whom Frederick, the youngest, was born in Bavaria, March 28, 1829.

Young Herr was reared on his father's farm, and received the rudiments of his education in a Catholic school, in his native town. At the age of ten, he entered a Protestant school, in a neighboring village, and remained there three years. Later, he was, for two years, a student in a higher school, at another town, about eight miles distant from his home. After he left this school, his father kept him busy on the farm for the greater part of a year, desiring that he should become a thorough farmer and take charge of the place, thus relieving his father of many cares. But the boy was bent on becoming a merchant, and, after vainly trying to enter upon a commercial career in his native land, re- solved to emigrate to America, a project which was long opposed by his father, but which he put into execution when he was only sixteen.

Young Frederick Herr arrived in New York with a capital of only five francs, and this he paid out for his first night's lodging in America, to a German farmer, at Broadway and Forty-second street (a locality then far beyond the city limits). The following morning he hired out to his enter- tainer, and for two months assisted him about his market- gardening, receiving for his services $3.50 per month, and his board. During this period, as he learned long after- ward, the youth was not so friendless as he seemed to him- self to be. His father had forwarded money for his use, if needed, to the German Consul, with instructions to employ a suitable person to keep an eye on Frederick, and assist him

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in the time of need if he showed a disposition to go to the bad or fell into difficulties of any kind. Leaving the scene of his first labors in America, Frederick crossed over to Wil- liamsburg, and was employed for three months, at $6 per month, and board, by another market-gardener, on Broad- way, near Maujer street.

Next we find the young emigrant in Houston street, New York, learning the trade of baker, and later, during a period of seven years, he was a clerk in a grocery, at the corner of Grand street and Goerck. Here he saved some money, and, in 1857, established a bakery in Brooklyn, on Bridge street, near York. He continued successfully in this business for six years, amassing the beginning of his present fortune, then engaged in the real estate business, in which he has con- tinued to the present time. In 1872, he began building, and has since combined the two businesses. He employs fifty carpenters and other laborers, and builds, on an average, from twenty to thirty dwellings a year, confining his opera- tions chiefly to the 16th, 18th, 21st and 25th wards.

Mr. Herr is prominently identified with many of the lead- ing interests of his part of the city. He is a trustee of Bush- wick Savings Bank, treasurer of St. Mark's Lutheran school, located at the corner of Evergreen and Jefferson streets, and manager of the Eastern District Dispensary, a charitable institution, on Myrtle avenue, near Throop.

father upon his retirement. November 24, 1882, Mr. Herr was married to his present wife, who was Miss Meta Gieseler, of Brooklyn.

JOHN DOHERTY was born in county Donegal, Ireland, sixty-seven years ago, a son of Roderick and Annie (Lynch) Doherty. Many generations of his ancestors had been born, had lived and had died in the same locality. Receiving a meagre education in his native place, Mr. Doherty came to America in 1837, located in Brooklyn and began business life as a contractor and builder. Gradually he extended his operations, speculating in real estate more and more as tims passed, until at this time he owns city property in nearly all parts of Brooklyn. In Brooklyn alone he has built four hun- dred to five hundred houses, and at different times he has erected many in New York and elsewhere.

Mr. Doherty's business career has been a remarkably suc- cessful one, and though its period has been marked by numer- ous financial crises, he has never compromised a debt and bas never had a lien upon any one of the many buildings he has put up, and no judgment has ever been obtained against him. His most conspicuous characteristic has been unyield- ing integrity, and no man has a better reputation for accord- ing to all mankind that which is justly due from him. Whether in his relations with real estate owners, with deal- ers in builders' materials or with thousands of employes, ths same straightforward course has ever characterized him. In every relation of life he is known as the Creator's noblest work-an honest man. It is probable that few men in

Mr. Herr was married, in 1857, to Miss Mary Lauth, a German lady-resident in Brooklyn, who died in 1874, leaving two sons named Charles and John, one of whom is fitting himself to become a carpenter and builder, while the other is studying architecture, and who will worthily succeed their | Brooklyn have done more than Mr. Doherty to extend its

John Thirty

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visible limits, to build it up and to make it desirable as a city of homes. It is estimated that the houses he has built and owned, and the lots on which they stand, constitute an as- sessable addition to the tax budget of the city of over $130,- 000. Go where one may within the city limits, few blocks will be passed that do not contain houses built by Mr. Doherty, and they are especially numerous on " the hill," in Eighth avenue and Berkeley Place, where he has operated extensively during the past few years. Mr. Doherty was married, May 7th, 1846, to Miss Elenor Gelston, of New York, who has borne him five children-two sons and three daughters. Politically, Mr. Doherty is a Democrat in opinion, and takes a deep interest in all questions affecting our re- publican institutions, but he is not, as the term is ordinarily applied, a politican, and has resolutely refused to become a candidate for office, though often strongly urged to permit his name to go on the ticket, preferring to devote all of his time and attention to his large and increasing business.

DANIEL MCCABE, one of Brooklyn's best known real estate operators and general business men, was born in County Carlow, Ireland, in 1832, and came to America at the age of twelve. He was educated in the public schools of Brooklyn, and at the age of twenty began to speculate in real estate, buying and selling building lots and residences in different parts of the city, a business in which he has continued to the present time. Formerly he was prominently identified

with the building interests of the city. In 1865, he built the first brown stone houses erected on Fulton street, between Washington avenue and St. James's Place, and later bought largely between Franklin and Classon avenues. He now owns and leases many buildings throughout the city, the majority of them being located on Fulton street and Myrtle avenue. These enterprises of Mr. McCabe's, while projected and prosecuted primarily for private gain, have inured greatly to the benefit of the city and the public at large. Mr. McCabe has also been long interested in movements having. the general development and improvement of the city for their primary object. He was conspicuous among those who first encouraged rapid transit for Brooklyn; was one of the organizers of the Fulton Bank, of which he was for some years a director and is at present a stockholder; he served about six years gratuitously as the president of the Park Savings Bank, and managed the creditable winding up of its affairs so often referred to in these days of doubtful banking transactions, and has been for more than twenty years a. director of the Nassau Fire Insurance Company. In his political affiliations Mr. McCabe is a Democrat, but he has ever been too busy to interest himself actively in politics. During the administration of Mayor Kalbfleisch, he was for some years a member of the Board of Education.

MR. ROBERT THOMAS has been a citizen of Williamsburg during the past forty-four years, and has seen that section

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Rob Thomas

of Brooklyn grow from a country village of 4,000 population to its present important proportions. He is a son of Robert and Mary (Heaman) Thomas, and was born August 16th, 1823, at Torrington, Devonshire, England, where his father, a carpenter and builder, lived until 1831, when, with his family, he emigrated to America, locating in New York, the subject of this sketch being at that time eight years of age.

Mr. Thomas enjoyed only brief and meagre educational advantages, after his arrival in New York attending a private school kept by a Mr. Lockwood, in Wooster street, until he reached the age of thirteen, when he became a clerk in the grocery store of Brilton & Young, at the corner of Greene and Amity streets. At the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to George Higgins, on Frankfort street, between Cliff and Jacob streets, to learn the manufacture of archi- tectural wrought-iron work and of tools for use by manu- facturing jewelers and silversmiths, where he remained five years, becoming master of both branches of industry.

In 1844, Mr. Thomas removed to Williamsburg and opened a shop, in the line of his former employer, on South Fourth street, where he was measurably successful until 1849, when, having become a victim of the then prevalent "gold fever," he went to California, delving with indifferent success in the mines of that region from May to September of the year mentioned, and losing his left eye by an accident while blasting. Returning to Williamsburg, he again embarked in his former business, his shop being on Broadway, near Fourth street, and from 1851 to 1858 was so energetic and successful that, during the last mentioned year, he was enabled to buy the establishment of George Higgins, his once employer, which had some years before been removed to

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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 II, Part 51

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345