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 63

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 63

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The doctor has been connected with St. Matthew's Protes- tant Episcopal Church since 1863, is Superintendent of its Sunday-School, and a member of its vestry, and for many years has been one of the managers of the Brooklyn Sunda - School Union. He is one of the trustees and the Secretary of the East Brooklyn Savings Bank, He was married, in 1863,

to Mary F. Pelton, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and has three daughters and three sons.

DR. HOMER L. BARTLETT.

DR. HOMER L. BARTLETT was born in Jericho, Chittenden county, Vermont. His father's name was Elias. He was a wealthy and highly intelligent New England farmer, and a descendant of Dr. Josiah Bartlett, of Revolutionary memory. His mother's name was Eliza Wheelock, a descendant of the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, an early missionary to the Indians.

The subject of this sketch received his early education at an academy in his native village, and later at the Academy of Bakersfield, N. Y., then under the care of J. S. Spalding. a most successful and painstaking educator. At school he was noted for his proficiency in mathematics and the natural sciences, and especially for his facility in writing and speak- ing. In the weekly debates of the " Debating Society" con- nected with the institution, he was considered one of the fore- most champions. He had, in common with most New Eng- land yonths, been accustomed from his childhood to the practice. His father, being the possessor of large landed property, was anxions that his sons should be farners like himself, but only the eldest yielded to his wish, Homer and his younger brother, Edwin, both determining to keep up the family name of a " race of doctors." Accordingly, after hav- ing acquired sufficient knowledge of the classics to master the technicalities of the profession, he commenced the study of medicine in the office of his early friend and family physi- cian, Dr. J. Hamilton, in his native village. Shortly after this, Dr. Hamilton removing to Albany, N. Y., his student accompanied him, remaining one year; in the meantime attending a course of lectures in the Albany Medical College. He had previously attended a course of medical lectures in the College of Woodstock, Vermont. At the conclusion of his year in Albany, by the advice of his former preceptor, he went to New York and entered the office of Professor Willard Parker, then in the zenith of his splendid career. Here he fonnd ample opportunity for acquiring both the theoretical and practical branches of his profession, and enthusiastically he embraced them. In the winter of 1854-'55, he attended his third course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, N. Y., and graduated from this admirable institution in 1855, in company with Drs. Henry D. Noyes, George F. Shrady, Edward W. Lambert, and other men now prominent in the profession. After his graduation, he received the appoint- ment of Assistant Physician to the Kings County Hospital, in Flatbush, L. I., then under the care of Dr. Thomas Turner, one of the best read and most efficient superintendents that institution has ever possessed. During his term of service, in addition to his nsnal duties in the Hospital, he, in connection with Dr. D. B. Simmonds-afterwards medical missionary to Japan-arranged a complete anatomical cabinet, besides pre- serving numerous pathological specimens. Just before the close of his service, he contracted erysipelas of the face and head, which nearly proved fatal, and obliged him to go home for the summer to recruit his strength. In the autumn of 1856, he returned to New York, and, by the advice of Prof. Parker, opened an office in Eighty-sixth street. Here be re- mained one week, when he was sent for to take the place of Drs. Dubois and Crane, who had just died in New Utrecht of yellow fever. This call coming to him like the voice of God, he did not feel at liberty to decline it. Consequently, with- ont delay or hesitation, he closed his office in Yorkville and removed to New Utrecht, although the fever was still preva- lent. There he remained until the following spring, when he removed to Flatbush, where he still resides. On his return to Flatbush, in the spring of 1857, he was made Consulting Physi-

Amen Bureau of Design- MurST

RESIDENCE OF H. L. BARTLETT, M. D., AT FLATBUSH, L. I.

B.LITTLE.

(See page 904.)

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

cian to the Kings County Hospital, by the advice of Dr. Tur- ner, which position he still holds. He is also Physician to the Kings County Penitentiary. He originated the Health Board of the town of Flatbush, of which he was Health Officer for twelve years. He was also largely instrumental in securing a Police Board, of which he was the first president. He is a member of the Kings County Medical Society; a permanent member of the American Medical Association, of which he was a delegate to the Medical Congress held in London, August, 1881; and member of the Physicians' Mutual Aid As- sociation. Like many professional men, Dr. Bartlett has car- ried his researches beyond the strict domain of his profession- al pursuits. At one time he devoted much time and study to Freemasonry. He was Master of his own Lodge for three years, in the meantime contributing papers and giving lec- tures on various subjects connected with Masonry.

In literary pursuits, Dr. Bartlett is no tyro. For many years he has been a frequent contributor to the daily papers, as well as to medical journals, and is the author of a series of "Sketches of Long Island," some of them strictly historical, while others are romances from old legends. In 1859, Dr. Bartlett was married to Margaret Strong Scott, daughter of Henry Scott, Esq., of Cooperstown, N. Y., who died in 1876, leaving four children.

Dr. Bartlett's residence in Flatbush, of which we give an engraving, is named " Fenimore," after J. Fenimore Cooper, the novelist, a neighbor and a life-long friend of the Scott family.

DR. CORNELIUS OLCOTT.

DR. CORNELIUS OLCOTT, M. D., a prominent citizen and physician of Brooklyn, N. Y., was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on the 21st day of January, 1828. He comes of an old and honorable English family, members of which in ancient times held high rank under the Crown, and is a lineal descendant of Thomas Olcott, one of the first settlers of Hartford, Conn. It is well known to every one en- gaged in genealogical research, that much confusion prevailed in early Colonial times as to the orthography of proper names. This confusion, or rather irregularity. was not peculiar to any class, but seems to have been more or less general, for even those two distinguished New Englanders, Endicott and Winthrop, appear to have indulged in more than one style. The present spelling of the name of Olcott, is that which was adopted by the founder of the American family now bearing it; as is sufficiently proved by his autograph, appended to a legal document executed in Hartford, Conn., April 22d, 1650 (and preserved in the Colonial records) and by the initial T. O. on his seal, a wax impression of which, affixed to the will of Timethy Hyde-a grandson of the first Thomas Olcott-was discovered in 1845. According to the learned Col. Henry S. Olcott, the American name Olcott is a more modern form of the English name Alcock, variously spelled by the New England settlers. In the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland there are several families of this name, all of whom bear, as a crest, a cock, in some cases represented as crowing, in others as silent (with the motto Vigilate-be watching); probably in allusion to the name, which some say is of Saxon origin and derived from cald (German ald, alt) meaning old, and coc, meaning a male bird. In a work entitled "Derivations of Family Names," by the late Rev. Dr. Wm. Arthur (father of the President of the United States) the name is said to come from Hal or Al, a nickname for Henry; and Cock, a termin- ation meaning little, or diminutive, the same as ot or kin; little Hal or Al. The first member of the family of whom a definite account has come down to his descendants, was the

distinguished Dr. Alcock, Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VII .- a man who shed lustre on net only the name of his family, but on the entire country. Accord- ing to Rose's Biographical Dictionary, published in London in 1848, Lord Chancellor John Alcock was born at Bevelny, Yorkshire. He completed his education at Cambridge, and at this University took the degree of Doctor (f Laws. In rapid succession he was Dean of Westminster, Bishop of Rochester, Worcester, and, in 1486, he succeeded Morton in the See of Ely. His secular advancement was equally rapid; in 1462 he was made Master of the Rolls; in 1470, a Privy Councillor and Ambassador to the Court of Castile, a Com- missioner to treat with the Scotch Commissioners, Lord President of Wales; and in 1472 he was made Lord Chancellor by Henry VII. His skill in architecture was so eminent that the King appointed him Comptroller of the Royal works and buildings. His Episcopal palaces, especially that of Ely, were improved by his taste. He founded, in 1486, a school at Kingston-upon-Hull. In 1496, he founded Jesus Col- lege at Cambridge, and appropriated to its use a house for- merly occupied as a nunnery (that of St. Rhodegund). Ho was as distinguished for his virtues as for his learning and abilities. He died at Wisbeach, October 1st, 1500, and was buried in a beautiful chapel in Ely Cathedral, built by him- self. He wrote various works in Latin, of a religious charac- ter, and a little treatise entitled, in allusion to his own name, " Galli Cantis ad Confrates Suos."

In 1707, another of the family, named Nathan Alcock, is mentioned as an eminent scholar. He was educated primar- ily in Lancashire; afterward studied at Edinburgh, and sub- sequently at Leyden, in Holland, under Boerhaave, Gaubins, Albinus Gravesand. He took the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine in 1737: and, in 1741, he was instituted Master of Art; of Jesus College, Cambridge. Thomas Olcott, the founder of the American family under considerat on, an ancestor of the subject of this sketch, was a native of England, and was born in the early part of the seventeenth century. It is sup- posed by some authorities that he came to America with Rev. Themas Hooker, in the ship Griffin, which left Holland in July, 1633, and, after a passage of eight weeks, reached New England September 4th following. Some two hundred pas- sengers came by this vessel. Governor Winthrop records the event in the following terms :

" Mr. Hooker arrived from England with John Cotton and Mr. Stone, also Ministers, September 4th, 1633, and many other men of good estates. They got out of England with great difficulty, all places being belaid to have taken Mr. Cot- ton and Mr. Hooker, who had long been sought for, to have been brought into the High Commission."

These emigrants settled at Newtown, now Cambridge, Mass. Mr. Hooker, being of an independent turn of mind, probably seeking to escape rivalry with Cotton, formed a com- pany of men, women and children from Newtown and other settlements on the seaboard of Massachusetts, and, in June, 1635, moved westward to plant a new colony on the banks of the Connecticut River. According to the belief of Nathaniel Goodwin, set forth in the preface to the first edition of his valuable genealogical work, entitled "The Descendants of Thomas Olcott, one of the first settlers of Hartford, Conn," Thomas Olcott, from whom sprang the Connecticut branclı of the Olcotts, was a member of this very company, and one of the original settlers at Hartford, then called by the In- dians Suckiaug, but named Newtown by the new-comers from the place of their residence in Massachusetts, and, in February, 1637, changed to Hartford. Col. Olcott, who edited a revised edition of Goodwin's work, says, in his pref- atory remarks, that there were two men in the Massachusetts

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

colony of the same name, one of whom reached the country about 1630, and settled in Boston, while the other did not come until several years later, and, in 1635, settled in Hart- ford. It is likely that the last named, who was the younger of the two, adopted the spelling "Olcott," since preserved by his descendants to avoid confusion with his namesake and possible relative. The Hartford settler had been educated in trade in Europe, and brought with him to the new world, the experience and fruits of successful enterprise. In common with Edward Hopkins, Richard Lord, William Whiting and others, he engaged in trade, for which the Connecticut was supposed to afford great facilities, especially in the traffic in furs. He " first located himself on the east side of the public (now State House) square, in Hartford. Subsequently he purchased one of the lots assigned to Edward Hopkins, in the original distribution of the town among the first settlers. This lot comprised the whole square fronting on Main street, and bounded by Pearl, Trumbull and Asylum streets. On the south-east corner he erected a dwelling for his own occu- pation, which continued in the possession of the family for several generations." Thomas Olcott wasa man of excellent standing in Hartford, and, in 1640, was one of the two con- stables of the place. He died in 1654, at the age of 45 years, probably, as it would seem from the records, while on a visit of business to Virginia. He disposed of his property by will on his death-bed. His estate, which was a large one for those days, aggregated nearly £1.500. He left a widow. three sons and two daughters. Mrs. Olcott, whose baptismal name was Abigail, proved fully equal to the management of the estate and family left in her sole charge by the death of her husband. She bought, let and sold lands, loaned money on mortgage security, made contracts for delivering goods, and, from all accounts, carried on her husband's business "like one to the manor born." She died May 26, 1693, aged 78 years, and was buried with her husband, in the public burying ground in the rear of the Centre Congregational Church, Hartford. In this burial place stands a plain but massive shaft of stone, erected "In Memory of the First Settlers of Hartford," whose names, including that of Thomas Olcott (here spelled Alcott) are chiseled in its surface.

The sons of Thomas Olcott, who were farmers, resided at Hartford, and were all men of consideration in the colony. Thomas, the eldest, was admitted a freeman May 20, 1658, and Samuel, the second son, on May 12, 1664.

The grandfather of the subject of this sketch was John Easton Olcott (born July 24, 1749), son of Thomas Olcott of Stratford, Conn., and his first wife Sarah Easten, daughter of John Easton of Hartford. He was lineally descended from Thomas Olcott and of the sixth generation of the name in America, and married Hannah Sands of Hempstead, Long Island. For some time after his marriage he resided at Strat- ford, Conn., but subsequently both he and his wife removed to Cornwall, Conn., where they died. Their oldest son, John Sands Olcott, born in the last-named place, removed to Hud- son, N. Y., but subsequently went to Jersey City, then known as Paulus Hook, where he engaged in the manufacture of cordage, and built the first two rope-walks in the State of New Jersey. One of his brothers, Joseph H., located as a planter in Louisiana and died there during the first year of the Civil War. Another brother, Rev. James S. Olcott, was the first ordained clergyman who officiated in Jersey City, and it was through his instrumentality that the first church edifice (Dutch Reformed), was erected in that city. He mar- ried Sarah Batcheler, of England, and had nine children- eight sons and one daughter. Sands Olcott, one of these sons, went to New Hope, Penn., and established extensive

manufactories. He was a born inventor, and expended sev- eral fortunes in carrying on his plans and experiments. One of his projects, undertaken with the hope of competing with the foreign productions, was a manufacture of linen from flax grown in New Jersey. All the machinery used in this work was of his own invention. At one time he had five large factories in successful operation in New Hope, and also the largest rope-walk in the country. Two of his inventions have become widely known-the " Equalizer," for producing uniformity in thread, used in nearly every cotton factory, and the "Walking Jack," extensively employed in the man- ufacture of rope.

The youngest of these sons, Dr. CORNELIUS OLCOTT, of Brook- lyn, whose portrait appears in connection with this sketch, received his early education at the academies of New Hope, Penn., and Lambertsville, N. J. He returned to Jersey City in 1843, and soon afterwards began the study of medicine. Having finished the prescribed course of training, he was graduated in 1849 at the University of New York, with the diploma of Doctor of Medicine. He established himself in Brooklyn in March of the same year, and devoting himself with great earnestness to perfecting his knowledge of surgery, soon acquired such a mastery of this department as gave him great reputation both with the medical profession and the general public. As a volunteer surgeon he served in the Federal army under McClellan at Fortress Monroe, and under Grant in the Fredericksburgh campaign. Since the war he has devoted liimself to general practice in the City of Brook- lyn, and has earned a name as a family physician and a sur- geon of eminence scarcely second to any other in the State. He is a member of the Kings County Medical Society, and takes a deep interest in all that pertains to his chosen calling. In November, 1874, Dr. Olcott performed with signal success the difficult operation in midwifery, technically known as the "Cæsarian section." An account of this surgical operation, the first successful one of the kind ever reported in Brooklyn or New York, originally appeared in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, April, 1879. It was subsequently republished in pamphlet form. In surgical cases requiring more than ordinary skill, his services are in continual request by his brothers in the medical pro- fession in Brooklyn and vicinity, and he has performed with marked success nearly all the more difficult operations of the present day.

Dr. Olcott was the original pioneer settler of Greenwood Lake, and it is mainly through his efforts that this beautiful resort has been made what is now is. In 1869, being attracted by the possibilities of the spot, he purchased an extensive tract of land at the lake and built a cottage and began other improvements. The sheet of water now known as Green- wood Lake is partly of artificial construction, some three hundred acres of land having been flooded after having been cleared of trees. At the time Dr. Olcott became a property owner at the lake, the stumps of these trees projected above . its surface, but he determined to get rid of these unsightly objects, and having first drained the lake, through the co- operation of President Randolph of the Morris and Essex Canal, he had the objectionable stumps sawed off close to the roots. This undertaking-one of no slight magnitude-was conducted entirely under his supervision and at his own ex- pense.

Observing the success of Dr. Olcott's plan, the Greenwood Lake Railroad Company (which had previously tried in several ways to remove the stumps in another part of the lake), subsequently adopted it, with the happiest effect. The change wrought by this proceeding was remarkable, and the lake, which had heretofore seemed-to the casual ob-

899

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

server-to possess no special charm, speedily became noted for its beauty. In a short time pleasure-seekers and tourists began to be attracted to it ; and with a view to its further development, a number of prominent and wealthy citizens of New York and New Jersey originated the Greenwood Lake Association, of which Dr. Olcott became president. The combined efforts of this club resulted in very elaborate improvements. Besides building an elegant club-house at Warwick Woodlands, the Association has stocked the lake with fish; and, with a view to attracting game, has planted wild rice through the swamps and low-lands of the region. The lake, which is 900 feet above tide-level, is situated partly in Orange county, N. Y., and partly in Passaic county, N. J .; and the Greenwood Lake Association has secured from the Legislatures of both States game privileges cover- ing an area of nearly 50,000 acres of mountain land. This region is now pronounced one of the most attractive and healthful in the country. Its development has been rapid, and as a select summer resort it gives promise of becoming in time a powerful rival of some of the most noted watering places of the present day. It is due to Dr. Olcott to state that the opening of this region, and the impetus given its development was largely the result of his foresight, enter- prise and energy; and that its present condition and future prospects are based upon operations in which he is the mov- ing spirit. One of the recent results of the development of this place has been the founding there of the American In- stitute of Christian Philosophy, organized to promote the broad and' liberal discussion of theological questions; the object being to counteract the effect of the teachings of Spencer, Mill, Huxley, and others.

The President of the Institute is the Rev. Charles F. Deems, of New York city, and Dr. Olcott has been con- nected with it since its inception. Dr. Olcott possesses a great share of the modesty that generally accompanies superior merit. He is a man of broad culture and profound thought, and thoroughly versed in all the important sub- jects, which, during the last two or three decades have oc- copied the attention of the ablest thinkers and writers. He is an intelligent patron of the fine arts, and in his ele- gant home, in one of the most aristocratic parts of Brooklyn, are to be found many beautiful specimens of painting aud statuary, some of which are of great value. A man of large heart and kindly sympathies, he is esteemed in the community in which he resides, scarcely less for his unosten- tatious character than for his professional learning and skill.

Dr. Olcott married Miss Katherine M. Van Duzer, daugh- ter of James B. Van Duzer, Esq., and Letitia Van Winkle, his wife, of New York. Three children were born to this marriage - Philip Gordon, who died in infancy; Charles Augustus, and Ida Lillian.

Charles Augustus Olcott adopted the profession of his father, and was graduated in 1875, at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He is now Surgeon to the Fire Department of Brooklyn, and is associated with his father in general practice. Miss Ida Lillian Olcott, an accomplished young lady of rare mental qualities, although not adopting literature as a life work, signalized herself at the early age of sixteen by a literary attempt as remarkable as it was successful. This was nothing less than the giving to the English-speaking public a translation of a work entitled, La Morale Nella Filosofia Positiva, from the pen of Prof. Giacomo Barzel- lotti, of Florence, the American edition of which, under the title of "Ethics of Positivism," she edited with entire satisfaction to the learned Italian author, who compliments her labors in his preface to that edition in terms of unquali-

fied praise. She was led to this effort, extraordinary for oue of her years, through reading in one of Herbert Spencer's works, that that eminent psychologist regretted Professor Bar- zellotti's book had not been translated into English; and mas- tering difficulties that would have discouraged at the outset a much older and more experienced person, brought the translation successfully through the press, in her extreme youth braving criticism, from which, however, the merit of her labor effectually shielded her .*

THOMAS P. NORRIS, M. D.

THOMAS P. NORRIS, M. D .- Few men iu Kings county have been brought more conspicuously before the public than Dr. Norris.

He is conspicuous not only as a physician and surgeon, but as a politician and civilian who has discharged the duties of several official positions with marked ability; who has dis- tinguished himself as a logical, erudite and elegant writer, whose productions have been justly and widely commended. As a statistical writer, we. do not hesitate to say he stands pre-eminent, as his contributions in that department of writing for the New York Tribune, the Brooklyn papers, and many of the leading magazines, fully illustrate.

Thomas P. Norris was born December 23d, 1831, at the town of. Rush, fourteen miles from the city of Dublin, Ire- land. He came from an old and very respectable family in that part of the country. His father ranked among the most noted master builders and contractors of his time; he was a man of great purity of character, intelligent, of strong feel- ings, and a sympathetic nature. He fell a victim to the great cholera epidemic in 1832, leaving a widow and six children, of whom Dr. Norris was the youngest. His mother, before her marriage, was a Miss Rogers, of Rogerstown, Ire- land, a descendant of one of those old aristocratic families who are strongly attached to their homestead by virtue of the laws of primogeniture. She was a lady of unusual intelligence and force of character. After the death of her husband, the guidance and management of her six children imposed a great responsibility upon her, which she discharged with praiseworthy success. As she possessed in her own right considerable property, and received from her husband's estate a handsome allowance, she possessed the means of rearing and educating her children respectably. A few years atter the death of her husband she emigrated to the United States with her family, and settled in the city of New York.

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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 63

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