USA > New York > Suffolk County > Yaphank > Yaphank as it is, and was, and will be. Containing biographical sketches of all its prominent men, the characteristic proclivities of its "funny" people, its business and business "monarchs," its facilities for enterprise and improvement, > Part 3
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Bellport, Brookhaven, Southaven, Mastic, and Moriches, use his merchandise. From the Manor and Eastport, and other Eastern villages. the people come to buy their goods. and to drive hard bargains. In Middle Island, Sweezy- town, and the Ridge he is known as the luminary of " Mills' store."
His books will favorably compare with any similar establishment in Suffolk Co.
The head-light of his house is politeness. The tottering old lady, with a dozen eggs and a pound of butter, is granted an exchange as pleasantly and with the same air of polite- ness that is showered upon the " upper tens," who carry a rustle of nacarat and an odoriferous scent of band-boxes about them.
PERSONAL.
Mr. Mills is about five feet eight inches in height, and more handsome and prepossessing than business men gen- erally are. His cheerful, agreeable manners win him friends among the stern sex, while the Napoleonistic twists of his elegant moustache charm the gentle element to perfection.
He has mastered the "dips" that fascinate the tender ones, and while he possesses all the art requisite to win the good graces of both sexes, he is also as undeniably popular in the parlor and home circle as in the business sphere.
A polite " good morning." and a graceful bow, are ar- ticles connected with his establishment that cost no outlay, but are priceless to him.
He is slight in build : compact and lithe : while a merry twinkle beams from his guileless orbs.
He never boasts, says but little regarding his private af fairs, and carries concealed the tide that turns the wheels of his business.
He is very fond of music, and is quite an Arion in his way. For years he has sung in the Presbyterian choir. and he moves conspicuously at their meetings.
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
His heart is centered in his increasing business, in the young ladies of his acquaintance, and in the friendship of all. In consummation he is a model merchant, a model Yaphanker, and ah ! were it my privilege to declare him a model husband and papa ! Well, he is a model beau, ne- vertheless, as many blushing damsels are willing to verify.
May his lines ever be cast in pleasant places ; may his voice never lose its ring, or his smiles fail to plant roses in the hearts of the dear ones !
VIII. ALFRED ACKERLY.
HIS BUSINESS-IN THE CHURCH.
Alfred Ackerly was born in Patchogue. Suffolk County, September 16th, 1818.
He came to Yaphank, December 9th, 1843, and began his apprenticeship with Tunis Whitbeck, a wheelwright.
He is fifty-six years old, but looks much older. Like Hawkins Gerard, his daily worth is daily substantiated ; and it can never be said of him that his every day life and examples have guided souls astray.
In the death of Mr. Smith, he suffered the loss of a Chris- tian friend and confidant ; indeed, he lamented much his tragic end.
His is the blended features of benevolence, consecration, and sincere piety. His heart is so evidently in consolida- tion and in unison with his missionary spirit. the warm- hearted Christian man, and not the egotist, wins the esteem of all.
During the great revival of 1853, in Yaphank, he found peace in a Saviour's love, and bowed before the God of his fathers. He has since been a supporting pillar of the Church ; in fact, one of the most supporting.
Many affairs of the Yaphank Presbyterian Church are trusted with him ; and the minds of its members rest un- alloyed by fears of his abusing their confidence, so un- bounded is their faith in his honesty and integrity. Mr. Ackerly wears the garb of every-day Christianity, and dons no pharisaical robes to make good impressions, and in- dulges in no crocodile tears to melt the hearts of the worldly.
.
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
He prays with unassuming earnestness and a heart over- flowing with Godly and philanthropic love. He is a repre- sentative Yaphanker, because, if there is any external and internal virtue in the place, he is a representation of that limited morality.
His habits are regular; and it would not be difficult to meet him on weekdays, or on the Sabbath. He seldom deviates from the beaten routine of his business and habits.
Mr. Ackerly is a friend to every man, woman and child, and is an earnest advocate of the Golden Rule. He knows how to touch the hearts of sinners. Unlike many co-work- ers in the same vineyard, he never startles his hearers with a dreadful catalogue of crime attached to their individual selves, except those guileless ones within the partial walls of the church ! He shuns egotism in his walks with men, thus escaping the rock upon which so many Christians split.
He was for years the chorister of the Yaphank Presby- terian Church and Superintendent of the Sabbath-school. The former position he probably would have occupied to this day, but the church, growing more aristocratic. he gave way to an imported bellowing machine.
HIS BUSINESS.
He is a wheelwright by profession. and is considered an excellent workman. After he was married he came to Yap- hank and mastered his trade in his brother-in-law's shop. After he became a journeyman, and anterior to his perma- nent residence in Yaphank, he worked as a ship mechanic in Drowned Meadow-Port Jefferson.
His patrons know him. and his work meets satisfaction. Men that wish a job done on which reliance can be placed carry it to his shop.
A movement was set on foot in 1872 to establish a car- riage factory in Yaphank, and Mr. Ackerly was conspicu- ous as one mover. It is a work still in contemplation, and one the vicinity is incomplete without.
SAMUEL F. NORTON.
AS A NEIGHBOR AND FRIEND-IN THE CHURCH- - AT HOME.
Mr. Norton was born at Selden, Soffolk Co .. in 1814 ; he is. consequently, 60 years of age. He married Eliza Sweezy, a daughter of Christopher Sweezy, Yaphank, and settled here in 1847.
AS A NEIGHBOR AND FRIEND.
If smiles and jokes scatter flowers along Life's rough path, Dea. Norton is a benefactor to mankind. His kind words and ever-smiling face have lightened the burdens of many weary travelers on the Great Highway ; and where thorns would have grown, he planted the sweet rose by his cheering words and generous deeds.
If a neighbor or friend is in distress, succor and aid can always be found in Dea. Norton. Whether you meet him on the street or in the social circle, a pleasant word and smile will greet you. He never changes. He wears the same geniality under Winter's dark and lowering clouds as in the sunny days of June. When clouds obscure the sun. his jokes are just as pithy. While the storms of life are raging without, he has an Eden within. God bless such men ! If more fathers were like him. and more husbands imitated his example, less tears would be shed. and less anguish be suffered !
IN THE CHURCH.
Dea. Norton is purely Presbyterian in his religious be- lief. He has been an elder in the Yaphank Presbyterian
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
Church for many years, and the position he will probably hold until he is borne to his grave. The same sympathetic cheerfulness characterizes his movements in the church that makes him popular without. No man in Yaphank possesses the qualifications, or could give the universal satisfaction that is annexed to his connection and relationship with the church and its affairs.
He is elastic and sprightly in his disposition ; cheerful, open-hearted, and honorable. The honor of Yaphank, his adopted village, is always dear to him ; and the spiritual and physical wants of his townsmen find a home in his heart.
As long as Yaphank has a being, his name will form an important part of its historic interest.
AT HOME.
In the family he is jovial and genial. To appreciate his true merit, he must be seen "At Home." His primitive occupation is "tilling the soil." but he is ingenious at any- thing, and worked for a long period in the shop where Alfred Ackerly is now settled. In the phrase of the country, he is a jack-at-all-trades.
Mr. Norton is well versed in the history of his age, and is an interesting conversationist ; not dignified and ostenta- tious, but social and instructive. An evening could not be whiled more integrally pleasant than with Samuel F. Nor- ton.
.Y.
JOHN HAMMOND.
PERSONAL- AT HOME, ABROAD, AND IN THE CHURCH.
Sketches of prominent Yaphankers, minus the history of John Hammond, would not be complete. His burly figure towers prominently everywhere. Strangers don't appre- ciate the beauty of Yaphank until they gaze upon his ele- phantine form. He is acquainted with the history of nearly every citizen-old and young. Their lives-good and bad- lie buried in his astounding memory. He can rake over the bones of the past at will, and excite his hearers with a re- cital of the events connected with the career of "So-and-so.' To insure the success of any undertaking in Yaphank, he must first be interviewed, his advice obtained, and ideas consulted ; then rush impetuously onward-success is yours !
If a sensation throws the village into excitement, the de- tails of the case can earliest be obtained of him. If one be in doubt regarding "the scandal about So-and-so," he di- rects his steps toward Mr. Hammond's shop. That shop is famous ! It is as well known in this vicinity as the Man- moth Cave is in Kentucky, or the City Hall in New York City.
PERSONAL.
Mr. Hammond was born in Yaphank, Nov. 25, 1814. He is, accordingly, 60 years of age. He has a large, heavy frame, fully six feet in height-ponderous and powerful. Mr. Hammond is a pleasant companion, abounding with anecdotes and humor ; and did he not dive too often into
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
personalities, and unlock his knowledge of men and things a more agreeable neighbor and citizen could not embellish the record of any village.
He is an old whaleman, and made a number of voyages to "Greenland's Icy Mountains," during the whaling fever. During James Weeks' administration, he was conductor on the Long Island Railroad, and during his three years of office he lost not one day. Mr. Hammond has traveled uch, and has a knowledge of the great events of his day. e can recall, with remarkable exactness, what transpired a half century ago. It is interesting to listen to stories of his school days, and the incidents familiar with the names of our most prominent men.
AT HOME, ABROAD, AND IN THE CHURCH.
If John Hammond's pleasantry was not fitful and varia- ble, and his spirits governed by the clouds, and changing events, a kinder father and husband could not exist. In the language of an old villager : "He can be the most agree- able, or the most disagreeable cuss on earth." But I would inform my readers that there are more despicable characters than John Hammond, and they exist in a land of civiliza- tion, too, and under the ring of the Gospel. His disagree- ableness is an exception, and not the rule of his life. He is very blunt in the use of language, and what slumbers in his heart. he pours out on friend and foe alike.
Mr. Hammond is a pleasant man at home, and the wants of his family are few. The attractions of home are dear to him, and he never wearies in extolling his children.
Abroad, Mr. Hammond would be taken for an old school merchant, or a railroad king ; in fact, one of the solid men of the times. At home, he would be taken for what he is.
In the church he figures conspicuously. He is called a man of rare musical attainments, but has superiors.
Mr. Hammond is considered a partisan of the "Iron Government"-a denouncer of improvement as circum-
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PAPHANK AS IT IS.
vention. Gyneocracy, Woman's Rights, and Ben. Butler would be buried in one tomb if his will was supreme.
He is termed J. P. Mills' vindicator, confidant, and champion. What Mr. Mills don't like, Mr. Hammond will not endorse. What he does like, will be attained, if com bined efforts possess power. It is astonishing what vast in- fluence Mr. Mills sways over the minds of some of our most solid citizens ! He is indirectly responsible for the present state of affairs in this place. In obeyance with his will. one hundred thousand dollars would be invested in embel- lishing the place, introducing new improvements and busi- ness, and trebling the census of Yaphank in one year. A dozen prospering factories would raise their smoky peaks heavenward, and send the cheering din of trade to the lan- guid homes, in accordance with his wish.
XI.
SAMUEL LESTER HOMAN.
PERSONAL.
S. L. Homan was born in Henry street, Brooklyn, Jan. 31, 1823. He is not a decidedly prominent Yaphanker at the present time, but sixteen years ago was the largest farmer in the place. He employed more laborers, and did more toward advancing the Noble Art, than any citizen in Yaphank.
But fire, fraud, war and ill-health did its work with him. When the Great Joel Smith Fire crossed the Island. it swept away his woodland. Affliction after affliction fol- lowed like an armed man. Piles of cord-wood rotted by the L. I. Railroad track, which he was obliged to lose through the rascality of the company. He looked blindly through a veil. To recover his losses, he purchased another farm, and enlarged his business. Ton on ton of fertilizing ma- nure was plowed under the sod of his new purchase, and the sky looked clear once more. Soon the boom from Fort Sumter rolled over the land. That gun was the signal of his downfall. The men who grasped him by the hand in prosperity, refused him compromise or aid. He never asked for quarter, and it never was granted. His Summer dreams had vanished, and he went down as many strong men have gone before. His relations proved foes, and the waves of adversity dashed and beat him to pieces. He was a great conceptualist, with defective concentrativeness. When the clouds gathered, he was obliged to succumb to unrelenting creditors, and conceded without a murmur.
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
His new purchase faded from view, and his loss was another's gain.
PERSONAL.
He is a very retired and unobtrusive man. Failure has darkened the sky of his life, and the society of men is nn- congenial to him. He believes honest men are exceptions. and not universal. He delights to talk of the smart men that are gone, and dotes much on the ability of his grand- father, Esq. Mordecai Homan. With his grandfather he always lived, and stood beside his couch when he expired.
It has been publicly declared that Esq. Homan was, and always will be. the most illustrious Homan that ever lived. or ever will live, in Brookhaven Town. That assertion re- mains to be substantiated by time ! but it is remarkable. that among all his descendants, not one has inherited his indomitable will and enterprise.
SERENO BURNELL OVERTON.
XII.
SERENO BURNELL OVERTON.
PERSONAL-EMBARKS UPON A MERCANTILE SEA -THE TRUE MAN.
PERSONAL.
S. B. Overton was born on the 6th day of August, 1827. which makes him forty-seven years old. He has a talland muscular form. well proportioned and developed. Person- ally and physically he appears not over twenty five. His invariable pleasantry and good humor have made him friends of all who enjoy his acquaintance and society.
Mr. Overton is the sole surviving brother of a family of five-all falling victims to that implacable foe to mankind. consumption. He is a working member of the Yaphank Presbyterian Church ; and a supporter of that incorpora- tion.
In his dealings with men. he is sharp and shrewd, but honest and relenting. All his actions are characterized by an original system of his own. No man pays more regard to the laws of health. or the demands of nature. than does Mr. Overton. He has learned that the best is the cheapest: thus walking in light, while thousands grope in darkness to their graves. He has, long ago, arrived at the laudable conclusion that " it is not all to live, or all to die :" and made the choice of eternity in 1853. Mr. Overton builds not on the sand; he knows that life is but a breath com- pared to the great unfathomed. and sows his seed wisely. He is an unostentatious man at home, and in the church : and attracts no attention with pompous words and gilded
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
deeds. No man completes my beau ideal of perfection ; for no man is free from guile. As long as the sun throws its effulgent rays over the earth, so long will wickedness abound. But, if more were like S. B. Overton, the sun's beams would pierce less dens of horror, and the peals of Sabbath bells echo over less "waste places."
EMBARKS UPON A MERCANTILE SEA.
Mr. Overton was early apprenticed to the carpenter trade ; and after mastering it, he restlessly gazed over more fascinating fields than wielding the indispensable plane. In 1851, he cast aside his architectural tools, and opened a store in Yaphank, in partnership with his eldest brother, Osborn.
In combination with butchering and marketing, they did an extensive business. In 18-, Alfred Ackerly and Son purchased the business and good will, and the Overton partnership was dissolved.
Reverses are many. Bankruptcy, and not success ; ad- versity, and not prosperity, is the law of trade. While many around Mr. Overton envy him his success in life, but few possess his energy, shrewdness, and clear comprehen- sion of business. What sensible mind believes that the wheel of fortune is driven by the hand of luck ; and who credits the virtue of luck ?
Sereno Overton had fewer opportunities to rise in the world than most young men of his day. His parents were poor ; he early began to struggle for himself; and if the tide of fortune ebbed and flowed in his favor, and the billows of adversity beat and tossed those around him, it was due to superior business talent on his part, and poor management on the other.
While in mercantile business in Yaphank, he was saving, prudent, and judicious. He made money, friends, and an honorable name; and is more popular to-day than twenty years ago.
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
THE TRUE MAN.
No one can speak depreciatingly of Mr. Overton ; no one doubts his Christian integrity, and no one is too high or too low to cherish his name. In Yaphank, and wherever his popularity extends, he is honored and respected for his unchanging pleasantness, sociality, and honesty.
He is master of his business, and makes or refuses a bar- gain almost immediately. As a speculator in his business, he is very successful. He would be successful at anything he might apply himself thoroughly to. He is sagacious, has excellent judgment and much experience, and is candid and unwavering.
The struggle for wealth may prove the doom of many ; many memories may be destroyed by gold, and many may deviate from the pledged vows and narrow path, because the glittering god shines more transplendent in the broad : but there are men that we naturally credit with more stabil- ity of mind, and firmness of will, than to be swerved by even the powerful influence of gold; and one glance at the genial but firm-looking gentleman at the head of this sketch, will confirm that he can unquestionably be included in that list of lamentably scarce individuals who rank honor and friends and a hope in the good by-and- by above the short enjoyments of gold. Mr. Overton is a True Man.
-
EDWARD LIVINGSTON GERARD.
XIII. EDWARD LIVINGSTON GERARD.
PERSONAL-A REVIEW-HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Edward L. Gerard was born in Port Jefferson, March 11th, 1836. He came to Yaphank in 1842-when but six years old-and entered the family of his uncle, Hawkins Gerard.
He early evinced decided executive ability, and soon be- came manager of his uncle's business, and is his probable successor. While the giddy and gay were whirling their leisure hours in the mazy dance, or frequenting places of amusement. young Edward was poring over his books and storing up the knowledge that has proved so indispensable in his after life. Mr. Gerard began life with nothing but an honest purpose, an invincible will, and a kind unele and aunt : but by his untiring energy and his thorough compre- hension of the details of business, he has gained for himself an unquestionable business reputation. He is an industri- ous, hard-working, publie-spirited man, and has done much to improve Yaphank.
In the Autumn of 1871. he was elected a Superintendent of our county poor, in which capacity he reflects credit upon himself and his constituents.
Honorable as is his record in business relations, it is as a Christian and neighbor that his name is cherished. He has long been a member of the Yaphank Presbyterian Church, and at the present writing officiates in the follow- ing capacities : elder, trustee, organist and secretary. In the infaney of that enterprise, its prosperity enlisted his
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
uncle's sympathy, prayers, and beneficence ; while Edward, in its success and firm establishment, in the beautiful little house of worship, and under able pastors, greatly rejoiced.
He married in 1873, and decided to settle in Old Yap- hank-a place made doubly dear to him by business suc- cess and friendship's sacred ties. Yaphank could ill afford to lose so honorable and enterprising a citizen as E. L. Gerard has ever shown himself to be.
PERSONAL.
Mr. Gerard possesses two peculiarities that won General Grant national fame. What he knows he uses practically, and for a purpose. He has chosen his calling, and mas- tered it. Like our illustrions President, he is not loqua- cions. What he says and does-although sometimes gov- erned by innate arbitrariness-is intended in strict conform- ity to honesty and honor.
He is a trifle below the average stature ; slender in build, with a wide-awake, Yankee look and action. His prosper- ity is due to personal exertions ; luck is limitedly attached to his success.
Men who envy Mr. Gerard his sunshine, could never be induced to follow his clouds to acquire it. No man in the town works harder, or labors more hours than he. He is invariably at his business. Agreeable and accommodating, he deserves success.
When Robert Smith was nominated a Superintendent of our county poor against Mr. Gerard, he was universally considered the strongest and most influential candidate. Mr. Gerard's election annihilated all party fears, and he has since grown stronger in public favor, for none doubted his business qualifications and veracity.
Mr. Smith's defeat-while it won Gerard victory -- reflects no discredit on his individual ability and qualification. The political sea ebbed and flowed against him. Majority won, d he lost the day.
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YAPILANK AS IT IS.
A REVIEW.
Mr. Gerard is sometimes amusing. but never alluring ; sometimes pleasant, never fascinating ; often spicy, never satirical. He would be successful in any mercantile or com- mercial department. Ile would be prominent as a mer- chant, banker, or broker ; but never as an orator or minis- ter. He might become a second Stewart, but never a Spur- geon.
By strangers, Mr. Gerard is seldom deemed prepossess- ing. He is too retired unassuming and unpretentious to please the fancy world. Steady, honorable, not supercili- ons, nor ostentatious, he must be known to be appreci- ated. In consummation, he is neat, but not gandy.
HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
He has what wealth or position cannot bny : a contented mind.
Dame Jenkins says "A man is contented while fortune smiles." Oh, yon cruel proverbial !
Mr. Gerard early took to beneficial study, and is consid- ered as well informed in the current lore as the prevailing privileges allow.
Within the classicial walls of the Miller's Place Academy. Edward mastered the rudiments of a common education. Even in his early life no great cables circumferenced the earth with bonds of electricity, and no iron horses thun- dered over the land as at the present day, snorting their civilization and steam enterprise into the trackless forests. Railroads were in operation, but not extensively. Galvanic batteries seldom shocked the skeptical nerves, and no Gre- cian bends frightened the superstitions. Science had made but little progress, and was erudely original. Now, steam plows uproot the sod, and golden grain waves over the land, where the original Americans slew the bison and built their wigwams but a little while ago. Thus E. L. Gerard acquired his education in an age-not over a quarter of a
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YAPHANK AS IT IS.
century ago-when science had not reached the culmination we now enjoy ; and arithmetic, writing, geography and spelling comprised the principal academic course.
Mr. Gerard is somewhat of a musician, and is regarded as good musical authority. He is ingenious, withal, and has produced articles possessing mechanical excellence.
XIV.
SAMUEL SMITH.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE-HIS INSANITY-HIS HORRIBLE END.
Mr. Smith was born at West Field, Selden. September 26, 1822. He came to Yaphank from the East ; he came in search of fortune and health, and found them : he found the inland air invigorating and bracing ; the society proved congenial, and he prospered and was happy. In the church he figured actively, and helped to sustain a num- ber of fruitful revivals. Mr. Smith was a working Chris- tian, and feared he failed to meet the demands of his Sa- viour. Some say Mr. Smith pounded the anvil of his own glory : but it is a eruel accusation. He was a semi- illiter- ate man, and where he erred he did it blindly. With his settlement in Yaphank, to the day of his tragie death. the same Godly spirit guided him ; and he often drank. with sorrow, the water of Jordan. Each heart knoweth its own sorrow! No one suspected the trouble battling in his bosom until the storm burst. Upon God's altar he often poured out his earthly tribulations, and wept over the in- difference of straying sheep.
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