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 54

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 54

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Mr. Eadie has often visited his old home on the other side, 80 that he is welcomed there by numbers of relatives and friends who are among the best people. His departure on such an excursion in June, 1873, was made the occasion of a farewell dinner, given in his honor by some two hundred of his friends, which was a brilliant gathering. They, with the 47th Regiment full band, also accompanied him down the New York Bay, in the steamer Geo. Fletcher, to wish him bon voyage. This incident, unexpected and unsolicited, an honor not before bestowed on a private citizen, testifies to the esteem and regard in which Mr. Eadie is held in the community. He owes none of this kindly feeling to political or interested motives, inasmuch as he has never cared to take an active interest in politics, beyond depositing his ballot in behalf of good government, but it is a spon- taneous tribute to manly worth. Like all good citizens, he favore the cause of education. Possessing a fine literary taste, he has accumulated a choice collection of the best books; and is also a liberal patron of art, music and the drama. Occasional conversaziones at his parlors are musical and literary treats, which his friends are delighted to attend.

James le Cadre

861

ARCHITECTS, BUILDERS AND REAL ESTATE AGENTS.

In person, Mr. Eadie is tall and well built, with features of the Scottish type, as his portrait shows. This sketch would be incomplete without mention of Mr. Eadie's busi- ness ability, his shrewdness and farsightedness, which have been a source of great practical benefit, not only to himself, but to the Eastern District, in investing and inducing others to invest in real estate; and has built up that section of the city, drawing population, and thus adding to the material wealth and prosperity.

Says an intimate friend, Rev. Newton Maynard, D. D .: "I do not know a more upright and honorable, cultured and kind-hearted man, or a more polished gentleman of the old school, than Mr. Eadie. He is universally liked here and looked up to as a friend by all. Though not a church mem- ber, he contributes liberally of time and means to help church work, in which his practical aid is of much advantage. When any worthy organization is to be started or helped, no one is more public-spirited than he to assist, and no one so ready to entertain friends or public guests. He is the very prince of hosts. Mr. Eadie is modest and unassuming withal, not thinking of himself more highly than he ought, but pre- fers to let his acts speak rather than his own words. He exerts a strong influence for good here, not only in the way `of business, but also socially; always on the side of religion, good morals and refinement."

WILLIAM O. SUMNER, a successful and prominent gentle- man in Brooklyn business circles, whose real estate office is at No. 68 Broadway, was born in the town of Stockbridge, Madison county, N. Y., in 1843. Mr. Sumner's father, after whom he was named, was a native of Gilead, Tolland county, Conn., son of Rev. Henry P. Sumner, one of the Sumners of Massachusetts. When a young man he removed to Stock- bridge, N. Y., where he married Adaline C., daughter of John H. Warren of that town, who, with his son, Wm. O., and two daughters, survive him. Mr. S. was one of the influential men of the town. As a citizen he was generous and public- spirited. He was a man of extensive reading, and on local history was regarded as an authority. In political affairs he took a deep and intelligent interest; he was no office-seeker, although for several years Postmaster at Munnsville. He died at Munusville, in his adopted State, in July, 1883, at the ". age of 79.

Young Mr. Sumner, the subject of this sketch, having re- ceived his education in the schools of Madison county, en- gaged in the hook trade for a time, but in 1867 removed to Brooklyn. For about two years he was in the mercantile business, and then opened a real estate and insurance office on Broadway, near 4th street. His good character made friends. and his manner of dealing rapidly built up a large business, which assumed such dimensions after a few years that he was compelled to give up the insurance department, and his branch office in New York, and confine his attention to real estate and investments exclusively. He published the first Real Estate Journal in the Eastern District.

Mr. Sumner has become one of the best known men in the city. He is a member of the New York Board of Trade, also of the Long Island Historical Society, the Williamsburgh Benevo- lent Society, the Brooklyn Civil Service Reform Association; A director of the Brooklyn Library, The Eastern District Hos .. pital and Dispensary, and formerly of the Dime Savinge Bank. A gentleman of literary tastes and habits, Mr. Sumner is prominently connected with the leading literary and musical societies. His church relations are with Plymouth Church. Though not an office-holder or office-seeker, he is a politician in the best sense; believing it to be every man's duty to pro- mote the public welfare. He is a Democrat of the inde-

pendent type, and is active in interesting business men in political affairs, in this respect inheriting his father's temper- ament and qualities. A man of untiring energy, always earnest in promoting charitable interests, his benevolence is widely felt. He is also a zealous friend of education, and is amongst those practical and careful observers who believe there is room for, and that the public needs demand, radical improvements and reforms in this department; and that, in the administration of its affairs, the fullest liberality within reason is true economy. It is to such citizens as Mr. Sumner, deeply interested in all that affects the welfare of the com- munity in which they dwell, and alert to render it such per- sonal services as their influence, means and time may enable them, that the city is indebted for its vigorous growth and prosperity.

NICHOLAS COOPER was born in Brooklyn in 1829, in an an- cient farm house, on the old turnpike, leading from old Brooklyn to Flatbush, which was torn down at the time the improvements of Prospect Park was begun, the property on which it stood now being included within the borders of that famous pleasure ground. Here he was reared, working on the farm, as liis ancestors had done before him, generation after generation. Richard Cooper, his father, lived and died in Flatbush. His mother, a daughter of John Blake, one of the earliest settlers of New Utrecht, was born in the old house which is now the parsonage of the old Dutch Church of New Utrecht.

Of an active temperament, and having a strong desire for mercantile pursuits, young Cooper found farm life distasteful to him. At the age of sixteen he apprenticed himself for three years to learn a trade at which he was employed a year after having served his time, and then opened, opposite the City Hall (then in course of erection), a store, which soon be- came extensively known as the N. Cooper house-furnishing and toy emporium. His first sale was of one dozen clothes pins for two cents. He continued the business for 19 years, his few closing sales aggregating many thousand dollars.

Having disposed of his business, Mr. Cooper determined to retire from active life; but he soon found time hanging so heavily on his hands that he opened a real estate office. Having seen Brooklyn grow from City Hall eastward, and knowing the value of real property, he felt confident of suc- cess, which he has won. He has ever been eager to improve the city and advance its general interests. As a merchant, conscious of the insufficiency of the old style many-paned windows to display goods, he was the first in Brooklyn to in- troduce a plate-glass front, which rendered his establishment an object of interest to all visitors. He lias since put in many of them, and has been one of those foremost in making improvements in the business portions of the city. Aware of the beauty of Flatbush and its desirability as a place of suburban residence, he early determined to open that section for building purposes. Negotiating for large farms, he cut streets through them and made other improvements, which resulted in numerous and advantageous sales to home seekers and the development of what must now be regarded as one of the most attractive portions of Brooklyn. Diamond street, the only paved street in that locality, was laid out and im- proved by Mr. Cooper, who, in 1880, formed the Flatbush Water Company, which supplies water to the town and also to the county buildings.

Never seeking notoriety as a public man, Mr. Cooper, in a quiet way, has been in more than one sense a public bene- factor, and long after he shall have closed his earthly career, the improvements he has made in the City of Churches will stand as monuments to his memory.

862

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

ALITTLE-PHILE

It Davenport

JULIUS DAVENPORT .- The branch of the Davenport family in America, to which the subject of this sketch belongs, traces its descent in an unbroken line from Ormus de Daune- porte, who was born in England in 1086, and who assumed the local name of Dauneporte or Devonport, a sequestered town- ship in the Hundred of Northwich, county of Chester. The family in England included many who were eminent in their time as clergymen, members of parliament, sheriffs and mayors. Prominent among the clergy was Rev. John Davenport, born in Coventry in 1597, educated at Oxford, who preached with great acceptance in London, but by the persecution of Archbishop Laud was driven with the Puritans to America in 1637. He was one of the little band that founded the colony of New Haven in 1638, and was its first pastor. To him Connecticut is largely indebted for her com- mon schools and colleges. His energy, probity, devotion to duty and religious zeal have been inherited by his descendants, and have enabled the members of the Davenport family to take the commanding position which they have enjoyed in the communities where they have resided.

Mr. Julius Davenport, whose portrait is given herewith, is the son of William and Abigail Davenport, and was born in New Canaan, Ct., May 26th, 1821. His father, born in 1781, lived in New Canaan and in Brooklyn, and died June 19, 1860, in his 79th year, widely honored and revered. Mr. Daven- port's mother was Abigail Benedict, a woman of great force of

character, blended with mildness and gentleness. Her death occurred in 1839. Mr. Davenport received his education in the common schools of his native place, and at the New Ca- naan Academy, under Prof. Thacher. of Yale. At the age of seventeen he began life for himself by engaging in teaching school. He taught five years in Connecticut and then removed to Brooklyn, where for ten years he was Principal of a private school.

On the fourth of June, 1846, he married Miss Mary A. Bates, of New York, and their family consists of two sons and one daughter.

At the close of his engagement as Principal, Mr. Daven- port entered the real estate and insurance business on Fulton street, corner of Oxford; and from small beginnings, by his energy and industry, he has built up a large and prosperous business.

In 1859, when that portion of the city contained many va- cant lots, he erected the handsome building which he now occupies, on the north-east corner of Fulton and Oxford streets. Among business men, Mr. Davenport is every- where known and esteemed for his sagacity, enterprise and uprightness. He has been connected with the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church for over 30 years, and has filled the office of Deacon. He is known as a public-spirited citizen, and as a warm friend and liberal supporter of educational, charitable and religious institutions.

863

ARCHITECTS, BUILDERS AND REAL ESTATE AGENTS.

Among the best known Real Estate Brokers, we may mention the following:

George L. Ayers. 109 Flatbush avenue.

Real estate; established 1867.

Thomas C. Abbott

Coney Island.

V. B. W. Bennett.

525 Fifth avenue.

Daniel Bradley

92 Bridge street.

A. P. Bailey

11 Sands street.

C. C. Bradey

203 Montague street.

J. Burrill

289 Ninth street.

L. E. Brown

126 Herkimer street.

L. O. Brown (Brown Bros.).40 Fifth avenue and 1187 Fulton street.

Real estate, insurance and building; established 1878; succeeded his father in building business in 1882. Martin Breen 236 Baltic street.

L. Blumenau

161 Smith street.

W. H. Barker

189 Montague street.

E. D. Bushnell .

207 Berkeley place.

I. H. Carry, Jr

196 Fulton street.

Samuel D. Clark.

113 Franklin street.

F. W. Carruthers

1357 Fulton street.

G. S. Carpenter

1273 Fulton street.

Ralph L. Cook

810 Fulton street.

Real estate broker; established 1868, under the firm name of Candee & Cook, Mr. Cook succeeding to the bus- iness in 1878, at the death of Mr. Candee.

Stephen Clark

278 Manhattan avenue.

C. W. C. Dreher

. Wyckoff avenue, near Ful-

ton avenue, E. N. Y.

Real estate and insurance; commenced business in the Post Office building, removing to the above address in 1872; founder of a German weekly newspaper, the East New York Laterne; member of the Board of Education.

A. B. Davenport. 367 Fulton street.

Julius Davenport Oxford and Fulton streets. (See Biography, page 862.)

E. P. Day 55th street and Third avenue.

J. H. Doherty

280 Flatbush avenue.

J. V. Dorland

Broadway and 4th street.

George Damen

88 Luqueer street.

James C. Eadie

45 Broadway, E. D.

Norris Evans & Son

.391 Bedford avenue.

Norris Evans

. 449 Bedford avenue.

Real estate; born 1824, Brooklyn; established 1877, 391 Bedford avenue.

Edward Egolf 123 11th street.

Real estate; established 1873, at 13 Willoughby street; was Supervisor of the 22d Ward from 1877 to 1881. Jos. J. Eiseman. Bushwick ave. and Grand st. Ernest J. Eiseman 527 Grand street. Clarence C. Fleet Bushwick ave. and Grand st.

H. T. Frost

302 Henry street.

Paul C. Grening

363 Fulton street.

Wm. Gubbins

20 Seventh avenue.

E. Grening 1161 Fulton avenue.

John J. Hardy

788 Third avenue.

Henry Hauselman

106 Graham avenue.

James P. Hall & Son ..... 349 Franklin avenue.

Real estate and insurance; established 1867, on Mon- tague and Fulton streets, under the firm name of Hall & Fowler, Mr. Hall succeeding the firm in 1870, when he removed to his present address.

Edward T. Hunt

179 Montague street.

J. M. Hildreth

726 Fulton avenue.

H. Hauselman. .

160 Graham avenue.

Andrew Harrison

1107 De Kalb avenue.

John F. James

189 Montague street.

Real estate; established 1866, at 365 Fulton street; in 1871, formed a partnership with Wyckoff & Little, at 203 Montague street, Mr. Little retiring from the firm soon after, when the firm became Wyckoff & James; in 1874, Mr. James became sole proprietor, removing to his present location.

Harry O. Jones

171 Schermerhorn street.

Ira A. Kimball.

346 9th street.

Real estate; established 1867.

E. C. Litchfield

Ninth avenue and 3d street.

H. S. Lansdell.

328 9th street.

E. B. Litchfield

180 Congress street.

D. W. LaFetra

219 Montague street.

B. T. Lynch .

16 Court street.

Miller & Molloy

East New York.

Charles R. Miller

17 Willoughby street.

Richard Marx.

16 Court street.

Wm. Mackey

456 Fulton street.

John B. Morgan

85 Broadway, E. D.

George Powers

540 State street.

George W. Palmer

.New Lots.

Francis P. Pike

167 Stirling place.

Henry A. Phillips

843 Willoughby avenue.

Noyes G. Palmer

East New York.

Francis E. Rogers

. 480 Grand street.

Wm. Stevenson

196 Fulton street.

Wm. O. Sumner

120 Broadway, E. D.

Theodore Swimm

394 Gates avenue.

Wm. Taylor

. 65 Cambridge place.

John Thompson

. 712 DeKalb avenue.

E. W. Van Voorhees (N. Y.) . 129 East 36th street.

E. H. Winchester 82 11th street. /

Among the best known Real Estate and Insurance Agents, we may mention the following:

David E. Austin.

Now in New York.

Charles A. Bryan

349 Atlantic avenue.

H. Blatchford

203 Montague street.

Wm. M. Cole

20 Nassau street.

W. L. Candee

13 Park Row, N. Y.

Stephen Crowell

195 Broadway, N. Y.

Geo. W. Chauncey

207 Montague street.

A. H. Creah

204 Keap street.

Jas. J. Darling

155 Broadway, N. Y.

Charles Dennis

164 Montague street.

Edmond Driggs

279 Washington,

George H. Pendleton

316 Cumberland street.

Chester DSnowy

C Leonard Taly

THE

JOHNSON STREET FEDERAL BUILDING SITE.

Submitted by Mr. LEONARD MOODY, and accepted by CHARLES J. FOLGER, Secretary of the Treasury.

HEN it was ascertained that the site suggested for the new Federal Building, on Myrtle avenue, could not be taken, as the appropriation was not sufficiently large to pay for the property, Mr. Leonard Moody, on January 31st, 1884, went to Washington and submitted to Secretary Folger a new site on Washington and Johnson streeta. At that time there were nine sites being pressed upon the Secretary for selection ; large poli- tical influence was brought to bear upon him to select the Dutch Church site, and also the one at the corner of Fulton and Flat- bnah avenues, both of which were considered undesirable. After fourteen days of hard labor, Mr. Moody succeeded in secur- ing the adoption of the Johnson street site, as will be seen by the following latter :

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 16, 1884.

To LEONARD MOODY,

Real Estate Agent, Brooklyn N. Y .:

SIR,-I have decided to select as a site for the public building to be erected in your city, the property offered by you, at four hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($450,000), consisting of one hundred and ninety-seven (197) feet on Washington street, two hundred and thirty-five (235) feet on Johnson street, and ons hundred and ninety-seven (197) feet on Adams street. In approving this location it is upon the unqualified condition that the Government shall receive a clear and perfect title to the property doscribed, at a price not to exceed in any event the amount named above.

Very respectfully yours, CHAS. J. FOLGER, Secretary.

Now that the Federal building controversy is at an end, and the location ia aa much a certainty as anything can be in a world of uncertaintisa, the atory of a project which has given riss to untold bitterness and exasperation will be read with interest. It might make the record more complete to trace back the enterprise to ths days of the Commission, but the leading facts concerning it are still fresh enough in the public mind to make repetition rather dreary. The point at which the project became really interest- ing, and began to arouse many animosities, was reached when the Secretary of the Treasury found himself confronted with a prob- lem very difficult of solution. None of the sites recommended by the Commission came within his financial reach, and the iron- clad phraseology of the law left him no discretion. Secretary Folger was incorruptible, sensitive and well-meaning. He has never been able to straighten out the literal and stereotyped twist which many years upon the Bench gives to the most elastic minda, and he saw nothing in his interpretation of the act but absoluts obedience to its letter. Where other men might have detectsd between the lines a apirit perhaps less arbitrary than tha actual reading, hs could ses nothing but words rigid and prsciss, and the possibility of impeachment in the presence of any attempt to stretch them. He faced the situation as any lawyer would, threw ont of court the Commissioners' recom- mendations, and looked about him for a site which would, in

cost, come well within the half a million which he had to spend. In parenthesis, it may be said here that his purposes were un- diluted in their purity. He meant to do for Brooklyn the best that for the money could be done, and the only men who have criticised either his motives or his actions at this end of the line have been those who had excellent reasons for hostility to the Johnson street selection. That Mr. Folger hesitated and wavered and gave many evidences of indecision, is no more apparent than that in everything he did his intentions were above reproach. Those who think otherwise are either able to see dis- honesty in honor, or are not able to ses rectitude in any- thing not a source of profit to themselves. No man went to Washington to say a word against the site which has been chosen, who had not more than an ordinary interest in the sale of some other property.

Leonard Moody, the real estate man, spent fourteen days in Washington in February. He went at a time when Folger was perfectly in the dark, and only with the object of discussing the situation with the Secretary. He had never met Folger in his life, and did not know Bell. Folger soon made up his mind that Moody was the man he wanted. Moody was for any site- and a commission upon its purchase. He talked over the situation generally with the Secretary, and ventured the sugges- tion that, for the money, the Johnson street property was far ahead of competing locations. It was within a stone's throw of one of the sites recommended by the Commission; was almost as much a focus of travel as the City Hall itself, and faced a thor- oughfare destined, he submitted, to be widened, and then to become the greatest artery of the city. With the widening only a very thin slice would divide it from Fulton street, and its ad- vantage over the church site was, that the latter is a little out of the general line of travel, while the Johnson street property is literally in it. Fourteen days of constant hammering brought Secretary Folger to a determination. He told Mr. Moody to go back to Brooklyn, promising him to write to him on the subject as soon as it became apparent that the property could be had for $450,000. Mr. Moody hadn't been home a week before he re- ceived a letter which announced that the Secretary had selected the Johnson street property. It was dated February 16th, and from that moment the matter was virtually settled. Mr. Moody now undertook to hand the ground over to the Government at the stipulated figure, and Bell and Congressman James were let into the secret. It is just as well at this point to say a word for the consolation of those who went to Washington under the delusion that the matter was not disposed of, and that some other site might still be chosen. If the selection had been made. known outside of the circle, which included only four men, the value of the Jobnson street property would have doubled on the spot. Nothing but inviolable secresy could have prevented an inflation great enough to burst the balloon. Mr. Moody had a big job on his hands, finding himself in a situation which ren- dered it necessary that $450,000 in ready money should be at once available. In his search for a capitalist he naturally turned toward the man who owned the Tillary street end of the block, and who would be, more than any one else, interested in the con -

866a

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

summation of the project. There is not the least doubt that Mr. Liebmann's property is really worth a $100,000 more than it was before the Secretary wrote the letter, and as yet he knew noth- ing of what had happened. Mr. Moody applied to the dry goods man, pointed out the benefits certain to accrue in the event of such a purchase, and asked him if he would sign a contract agreeing to buy the site and hand it over to Mr. Moody for $450,000, no matter at what cost to himself. Mr. Liebmann asked for a day to think it over. On the following morning he announced that he would go ahead. There were eighteen owners to deal with, and the great point was to keep every one of them in ignorance of the real reason for purchasing their property. Accordingly, every man who was approached was told that Mr. Liebmann simply had some improvements of his own in contemplation. At any moment the secret might leak out, and every hour might be worth a thousand dollars. There was no time for dickering, and yet it would not do to seem to be over anxious. People are hard to deal with under euch condi_ tions, and most of them had a weakness for consulting lawyers. With the best manipulation, Federal Building suspicions could not be averted, but there could be no turning back when once the start was made. Some incidents which would bear elabora- tion made the matter lively. At the closing stages the work became more difficult. The friends of one of the owners se- cured some reliable information, and Moody knew it would be communicated without delay and send up the price without ceremony. He jumped into a carriage and told the driver not to spare his horse. It was the telephone and a horse in com- petition, however, and the animal was left very far behind, the superiority of the telephone costing Mr. Liebmann an additional three thousand dollars. In six days the dry goods man and the real estate dealer hurried nervous women and grasping men into bargains good for the seller and better for the buyer, and involv- ing an expenditure of $465,000. This is $15,000 in excess of the price the Government will pay, so that Uncle Sam has noth- ing to complain about. It was an excellently managed affair, in which the courage and judgment of Mr. Liebmann came as prominently to the front as the activity and business capacity of the real estate man. The facts are, that the Secretary wanted a site and was willing to pay $450,000, and that Mr. Moody dis- played his ability to accommodate him, when the talk of other men ended in the intangible. The Government would have had a fine time of it making such a purchase. Mr. Moody was animated by the prospects of a commission, and Liebmann by the certainty of & rise in the price of his property. It needed just such incentives as these to render possible the consum- mation of such a well-devised business enterprise.

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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 54

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