Landmarks of Albany County, New York online

H. Haines has always been a farmer and rents 167 acres of land in Westerlo from
Henry Hunt. He is a Democrat and has been collector and road commissioner and
has taken great interest in having good schools. In 1859 he married Eraehne Coons,
niece of Abram Co(ms of Albany, and they have seven children : Myron A., Jacob L.,
Ambers S., David, Ella, wife of Clarence Hopkins, Maggie, wife of Manley Mark,
and Orson L. Mr. and Mrs. Haines attend the M. E. church.

Clyckman, Frederick L., was born in the town of Knox, July 1, 1819, a son of
Lawrence Clyckman, who was born in the same town about 1778, who was one of
two sons and two half-brothers, sons of a native of Germany who served in the
Revolutionary war, was a farmer by occupation, and began farming in the town of
Knox, where he cleared a farm and built a log house and where he lived till his
death, at the age of eighty years. Lawrence, the father of Frederick L., also spent
his life as a successful farmer in the same town, owning a fine farm of 150 acres; he
was a volunteer in the war of 1812; his wife was Maria Batcher, and their children
were Jacob, Mary, Frederick, Gertrude, Adaline, Elida, Katie, Margaret and Sarah.



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Mr. Clyckman was an elder in the Lutheran church for a number of years. Fred-
erick L. Clyckman remained on the homestead with his father until he was thirty-
eight years of age, when he came to Guilderland and bought a farm of 100 acres,
where he has since resided ; by industry and perseverance h^ has paid for his farm,
erected good and commodious buildings, and made many other improvements; he is
an up-to-date and prosperous farmer. In 1850 he married Eva, daughter of Peter
Walker, who bore him two children, Angelica M. and Jessie F. His second wife
was Lydia, daughter of Conrad Batcher of Knox, who bore him one child, Jane A.
Mr. Clyckman has been deacon and elder in the Lutheran church for several years.
The oldest daughter, Angelica, married William J. Alkenbrack of New Scotland in
November, 1884; Jessie married William D. Relyea of New Scotland in November,
1882; and Jane A. married Shubael C. Jaycox of Bethlehem, March 14, 1892.

Hoskins, Charles M., son of Martin and Helen (Pratt) Hoskins, was born in
Jamaica, Windham county, Vt., June 25, 1861. He received his education in the
public schools of Vermont and then learned the trade of shirt cutter in the factories
of Starbuck and Joseph Fowler in Glens Falls, N.Y , where he remained five years.
He then removed to Leominster, Mass., where he was employed by the Leominster
Shirt Company and remained there three years, rising from cutter to the position of
superintendent of the factory. Friuii LL-omiiister he removed to Albany, N. Y.,
where he was given the position of cutter ihi special orders in the factory of S. L.
Munson. He stayed with Mr. Munson two and one-half years, leaving in February,
1895, to accept his present position of manager of the Albany Shirt Company. Mr.
Hoskins is a member of Temple Lodge No. 14, F. & A. M., and Clinton Lodge No.
7, I. O. O. F. August 21, 1889, he married Frances Mary Harris of Garrettsville,
N. Y., and they have one son, Charles Albert.

Steenberg, Byron V., M. D., son of Henry W. and Amelia C. (Usher) Steenberg,
was born in Malta, Saratoga county, N. Y., April 18, 1839. He attended the Jones-
ville Academy and Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, after which he went into busi-
ness in Mechanicsville as a clerk in Hatfield's general store. He remained there a
few years, after which he was made bookkeeper for W. J. & R. H. Scott at Albany.
N. Y. He then went West and was connected with the dry goods house of C. J.
Pettibone & C9. at Fon du Lac and Green Bay, Wis. While West he determined
to study medicine and m 18R8 he returned East and entered the medical department
of Vermont University at Burlington, where he took one course of lectures. Subse-
quently he removed to Albany, N. Y., and in 1870 he received his degree from the
Albany Medical College and has since practiced in Albany. Dr. Steenberg is a
member of the Albany County Medical Society, of which he has been secretary,
vice president and president. He is also a member of the New York State Medical
Society and is a master Mason. In June, 1880. he married Ada H. Higgs of Albany,
and they have one son, Victor.

Van Derzee, John A. — Storm Van Derzee came to Rensselaerwyck in the year
1030, having previously emigrated from Holland. He was a trader at Beverwyck,
or Albany, in 1661. He married Hilletje, daughter of Gerrit Lansing, and had at
least two sons who lived to maturity, viz. : Albert and Wouter. Albert, son of Storm
and Hilletje Lansing Van Derzee, married Hilletje Gansevoort, January 20, 1706;



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their children were Ariaantje, born May 32, 1707; Storm, born June26, '[109; Harmon,
born March 4, 1711. Harmon Van Derzee, son of Albert and Hilletje Gansevoort

Van Derzee, married Eva (surname unknown); their children were Albert.

baptized June 28, 1738; Cornells, baptized August 10, 1740; Storm, July 11, 1742.

Cornells Van Derzee. son of Harmon Vaii Derzee and Eva , married Agnes

Whitbeck, October 27, 1763; their children were Harmon, born September 3, 1774;
Andrew, born May 23, 1766; Eve, born October ;3, 1769; Moyaca, born April 2.5,
1783. Agnes Whitbeck Van Derzee died November 10, 1831; Cornells Van Derzee,
her husband, died March 19, 1823. Andrew Van Derzee, son of Cornells Van Derzee
and Agnes Whitbeck Van Derzee, married Jane Ten Eyck, March 17, 1797; their
children were Agnes, born March 20, 1798; Garritie, born Septemcer 16, 1801, died
October 9, 1889; Cornelius, born April 7, 1804, died April 11, 1885; Conradt Tin
Eyck, born May 30, 1806, died September 36, 1865; John, born October 8, 1808, died
December 3, 1861; Caroline, bbrn September 26, 1811; Barent, born December 22.
1818, died December 39, 1857. Jane Ten Eyck Van Derzee, wife of Andrew \&n
Derzee, died June 4, 1827.- Andrew Van Derzee married for the second time widow
Charlotte Snyder (born Sherwood); their only child, Andrew S. Van Derzee, was
born November 22, 1828. Andrew Van Derzee died April 23, 1835. Conradt Ten
Eyck Van Derzee, son of Andrew and Jane Ten Eyck Van Derzee, married
Maria Shear, June 19, 1834; their children were Jane, born August 19, 1836;
Peter, born August 24, 1838; Agnes, born February 13, 1841 ; Elizabeth, born
March 10, \9,iZ\ John A., born February 1, 1845; Albert, born May 9, 1847;
Charles, born July 24, 1849; Caroline born January 16, 1856. Maria Shear
Van Derzee died December 27, 1876. John A Van Derzee, son of Conrad Ten Eyck
Van Derzee and Maria Shear Van Derzee, married Josephine Waterman October 22,
1874; their, children were Jesse W., born October 30, 1875, died February 6, 1896;
Florence G., born November 28, 1880; John Jay, born December 1, 1888. John A.
Van Derzee is the present owner and occupant of the old homestead farm which con-
tains 240 acres. He is engaged in raising grain, dairying, fruit culture, and stock
raising. This farm, which is in a good state of cultivation, is located south of the
Haanakrois Creek, about one-half mile from the Coeymaris and Westerlo stone road,
formerly the old turnpike. Just one hundred years after the grant to the territory
included in the town of Coeymans was made by Governor Lovelace to Barent Peterse
Coeymans, the two brothers, Cornelius Van Derzee and Storm Van Derzee, bought
from John Barclay and Anna Marghritta, his wife, on the 17th of March, 1673, the
lands south of the Haanakrois Creek for ;^1,300. (The deed for the above property
is at present in possession of one of the descendants.) A substantial stone structure
took the place of the log house which was at first built by Cornelius Van Derzee.
This house, having been remodeled, is still in a good state of preservation and oc-
cupied by Mr. John A. Van Derzee and family.

Deitz, Alanson F., was born in the town of Schoharie, Schoharie county, in 1819.
He was a son of William D. Deitz, a native of the same place, who was born in
1818. He was one of four sons; Peter, John. Jacob and William, and three daughters,
born to Philip A. Deitz. a native of Holland, who settled in Schoharie county about
1808, and became a successful and quite wealthy farmer, owning four farms at the
time of his death. His brother, who came with him from Holland and settled in



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Schoharie county, was with his whole family murdered by Indians during the war of
1813. William A., the father, was a farmer and lived on one of the farms left by his
father, and was also very successful. His second wife was Alvina Fanning, by
whom he had six children. He died in 1862. Mr. Deitz attended school during the
summer until he was sixteen years of age, when he .started out for himself with but
forty-eight cents. 'He went to work on a farm for his cousin, following farming for
some time, and managed to go to school during the winter. At the age of twenty
years he purchased a patent right of a fruit and lard press, which he sold for some
time with success. He then carried on a beer bottling establishment for a short
time, and in 1871 he engaged in the bottling business in East Worcester, Otsego
county, which he sold two years later and removed to Guilderland Center, where he
established a small bottling business. In addition to this business he has bought at
different times different wood lots, which he has cleared, making posts, rails, lum-
ber, etc. Mr. Deitz is of an inventive turn of mind, having invented and patented
at different times several useful implements; among the more prominent was a wire
hay binder which he manufactured for six year.s. In 1885 he established his present
botthng works, and in addition to his bottling business he is also interested in the
poultry business. He was one of the village trustees of Altamont in 1894, and in
the spring of 1896 was elected water commissioner. He is ^ member of Voorhees-
ville Lodge of Odd Fellows. In 1871 he was married to Mary La Grande, who was
born in Guilderland, a daughter of Andrew La Grande. Mr. Deitz was treasurer
and deacon of the Reformed church. Mrs. Deitz is a member of the Missionary
Society.

Hunter, James, son of Robert and Elizabeth, was born in County Down, Ireland,
January 4, 1865, and was educated and reared on a farm in his native country. He
came to America in 1883, settling in Albany, where he lived with and was employe'd
by Robert H. Moore, a lumber merchant, remaining with him two years; he was
then with Hugh Patterson and E. P. Bates one year each, learning the gas and
steam fitting trade, and was subsequently with the Ferguson Boiler Company, be-
coming their superintendent. In January, 1893, he engaged m the steam and gas
fitting business for himself at Nos. 9 and 11 Liberty street, and in May, 1894, bought
out the Ferguson Boiler Company. In April, 1895, he occupied their old quarters on
Church street, where he manufactures high and low pressure steam boilers and
steam and hot water heating apparatus, doing also a general contracting business in
steam and hot water heating, and dealing in boilers, engines and general steam sup-
plies. June 24, 1891, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Babcock of Albany,
and they have two children, Henry Babcock and Charlotte.

Shields, Francis, son of Adam, was born in Albany in 1822. Adam Shields, who
was born in Ireland in 1798, came to America in 1819 and settled in Albany, where
he entei-ed the employ of Levi Solomon, a well known tobacconist. In 1833 he
formed a partnership with Samuel Townsend, as Townsend & Shields and engaged
in the manufacture of tobacco. On Mr. Townsend's death, which occurred in 1836,
Mr. Shields formed a partnership with Charles Chapman and William Taylor, under
the name of Chapman, Shields & Taylor, and continued until 1840, when Mr. Shields
withdrew. In 1850, with Daniel Adams, under the style of Shields & Adams, he
started the present tobacco manufacturing business of Francis Shields in Church



208

street. Mr. Adams withdrew in 1860 and Mr. Shields's son Francis became a part-
ner under the name of Shields & Son ; this continued until 1880, when Mr. Shields
retired. He died in 1888 and since that year the business has been successfully con-
ducted by Francis Shields, and is the largest tobacco manufactory in the city.

Cull, William H., was born in Albany, August 24, 1853, and is a son of David and
grandson of William Cull, who was born in the North of Ireland, 1800. He came to
America in 1820, lived in Albany and Brandon, Vt., dying in the latter place in 1876.
William married Letitia Campbell, of Scotch descent, who died in 1888, aged eighty-
four. Uavid Cull was born in Albany, became a well known telegraph operator, and
married Helen M., daughter of James H. Young of Schenectady, N. Y., and died in
1860. William H. Cull attended the private and public schools of Albany and
finished his education at the Albany Free Academy. When sixteen he entered the
office of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Troy, N. Y. , as a messenger boy.
There he worked faithfully in various capacities, until the American District Mes-
senger service of Albany was established in the fall of 1874. He was soon after
appointed superintendent of the company and continued in the same capacity until
January 1, 1877. A vacancy occurring about that time in the office of the Fire Alarm
Telegraph office in Albany, Mr. Cull was appointed by Mayor Banks to a position in
the department. He remained in the office of the Fire Alarm Telegraph Company
until the 19th of May, 1383, when he was chosen superintendent and electrician of
the Hudson River Telephone Company, a position which he filled till the 1st of Feb-
ruary, 1890, when he was invited to take charge of the electrical department of the
Albany Railway, of which he was speedily made superintendent. He had almost
everything to do about starting the electrical railway service and ran the first motor
cars on State street. On the expiration of his contract with the Albany Railway
Company, May 1, 1891, Mr. Cull again became connected with the Hudson River
Telephone Company as electrician, and on the 1st of January, 1893, he was appointed
its general superintendent, a position he has since filled. Mr. Cull is a member of
Temple Lodge and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has also been a
member of the L'nconditional Republican Club since 1876 and was one of its charter
members and first officers of the permanent organization; for the past five years he
has been the treasurer of the club. He has always taken a very active interest in
old Albany's welfare and has been an earnest and efficient worker on public cele-
brations and reception committees appointed by the different mayors. February 13,
1888, he married Miss Mary Estelle, daughterof the late James Sprinks of Albany.

Chase, Hon. Norton, son of Nelson H. Chase, a leading and respected citizen of
Albany, was born in the capital city, September 3, 1861, and was graduated from the
Albany Academy in 1878, winning five gold medals. The same year he entered
Yale College and subsequently became a student at the Albany Law School, from
which he was graduated as LL.B. and admitted to the bar in 1882. He began
active practice with, and continued until the death of, Judge Samuel Hand in 1886,
when he succeeded to the latter's law business. Mr. Chase was successfully con-
nected in litigation with the Lamson Consolidated Store Service Company, involving
over twenty different cases, and was also counsel for Tiffany & Company, when the
State comptroller levied a tax on that corporation of §237,000, which was reduced to
$6,000. He has also been identified with several criminal trials. He was for two



269

years assistant corporation counsel of the city of Albany, and in 1885 was elected
member of assembly from the Third assembly district. In 1887 he was nominated
for State senator in the 17th senatorial district; the election was carried into the
courts and his opponent was declared elected by a plurality of eight. In 1889 Mr.
Chase was elected State senator and was the youngest man in the Senate of 1890-91.
During his term he introduced the first bill extending registration throughout the
county. He is a prominent Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, a ready and fluent
speaker, a powerful debater and a forceful campaign orator and has been delegate
to many Democratic conventions. He is a member of the Democratic and Reform
Clubs of New York, is a trustee and counsel of the Albany Exchange Savings Bank,
and is a member of several social and other organizations of Albany. In 1881 he
was commissioned first lieutenant and appointed adjutant, and in 1886 elected major
of the 10th Battalion N. G. N. Y. In 1895 he was the candidate on the Democratic
ticket for the office of attorney-general of the State of New York. June 32, 1887, he
married Mabel Louise, daughter of Henry L. James of Williamsburg, Mass.

Fitzgerald Brothers, Edward J. and William R., are sons of Edward J. Fitzgerald,
who came to Albany from Ireland about 1840 and died here in 1884, aged fifty-four;
he was for many years a plumber, carrying on a successful business alone and later
under the firm name of E. Fitzgerald & Sons. Edward J. Fitzgerald, jr., was born
in Albany, December 30, 1864. and learned the trade of machinist at Green Island.
William R. was born in 1873. In April, 1892, they formed a copartnership under the
style of Fitzgerald Brothers and purchased of Peter Kinnear the old brass foundry
at the corner of Beaver and Grand streets, which they have conducted with marked
success. They manufacture an infinite variety of brass appliances, such as steam
engine work, iron turning, brass castings and couplings, copper and composition
castings, cocks, brass work for breweries, etc.

Ansbro, Thomas, son of Peter and Mary (McEvily) Ansbro, was born in Albany,
December'18. 1854. His parents were natives of Mayo, province of Connaught, Ire-
lend. Thomas Ansbro was educated at the Christian Brothers' Academy and in 1868
obtained a clerkship in Patrick Cuddy's grocery store, where he remained twelve
years; he then went to New York city and was for a time in the employ of Philip
Steiner, tea merchant. He came to Albany in 1881 and opened a restaurant on
Broadway, which he conducted for seven years. In 1888 he was appointed, by
Superintendent McEwan, as keeper in the Albany County Penitentiary, which he
resigned after five years, to accept the position of superintendent of the brush fac-
tory of the penitentiary, to which position he was appointed by Mr. Bronk, the con-
tractor. In 1893 he was appointed inspector of markets by Mayor Manning and held
the position until the expiration of Mayor Manning's term of office. In 1895 he was
appointed appraiser of customs by Hon. John P. Masterson and still occupies that
position. Mr. Ansbro represented the Fourth ward in the Common Council for si.x
years. He is a member of the Catholic Union, and m 1891 married Delia, daughter
of Michael Coughlin of Albany. They have one son, Anthony Brady.

Liscomb, Orlando P., son of Darius P. and Anna Gage (Clement) Liscomb,
farmers, was born in Hartland, Vt., January 1, 1838, and moved with his parents to
Rutland in 1841, where he received his education. His paternal ancestors were
early settlers of New England; on his mother's side he descends from Robert



270

Clement, who came in his own ship from Coventry, England, to Haverhill, Mass.,
about 1640. When twenty-two Mr. Liscorab engaged in mercantile business in
Castleton, Vt. In 1863 he enlisted in Co. M, 11th Vt. Vol. Inf. (later the 1st Vt. H.
A.), and served until the close of the war, participating in the battles of Spottsyl-
vania. Cold Harbor (where he was wounded) and North Anna. Returning from the
war he again engaged in mercantile business in Castleton, Vt., and since 1868 has
been identified with the oil trade. In 1868 he first associated himself in this busi-
ne.ss with E. W. Murphey, and in 1873 they became partners under the present firm
name of Murphey & Liscomb. The firm has a branch house in Springfield, Mass ,
conducted under the name of Murphey, Liscomb & Haskell, and another in Hudson,
N. Y., styled Murphey, Liscomb & Co. ; they are exclusively wholesale dealers in nil.
Mr. Liscomb is a member of Fort Orange and the Albany Country Clubs and of Lee
Lodge, F. & A. M. of Castleton, Vt. In 1873 he married Cornelia Speed of Ithaca,
N. Y., who died in 1884, leaving four children: Percival Clement, Margaret How-
ard, Orlando Parkhurst, jr., and Christina Morrell.

Cady, Dr. Frank William, son of Clark S. and Atalanta (Barrett) Cady, was born
in Warsaw, N. Y., 'December 13. 1863, and in 1871 moved with the family to Holley,
Orleans county, where he received a public school education. His maternal uncle.
Dr. W. C. Barrett, is the well known dean of Buffalo Dental University. Dr. Cady
studied dentistry with his brother. Dr. Edward Everett Cady, of Moline, 111 , and
was graduated from the Chicago College of Dental Surgery in 1888. He practiced
in Earlville, 111., until 1890, when he became associated with his preceptor brother at
Hoboken, N. J. In 1892 he came to Albany and organized the Cady Dental Com-
pany, which has a branch office in Troy and a force of eight assistants and of which
he has since been the proprietor. He is a memberof the Albany and Camera Clubs. In
March, 1891, he married Mary Louise, daughter of Orange J. Eddy, a prominent
lawyer and president of the Exchange Bank of Holley, N. Y. They have one son,
Frank William, jr., born January 26, 1893.

Murphy, Joseph A., son of James F. and grandson of Robert Murphy, a native of
Ireland, was born in Albany, April 22, 1873. James F. Murphy, born in Philadel-
phia, Pa., August 8, 1845, came to Albany in 1856 and for about twenty-eight years
has been a shipping clerk for the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. In 1861 he enlisted in Co.
D, 91st N. Y. Vols., and served four years, being honorably di.scharged as first lieu-
tenant. He married Margaret, daughter of Daniel Murphy of Troy and Albany,
who died October 19, 1894, leaving four children; John S., Joseph A., Helen M. and
Henry A. Joseph A. Murphy was graduated from St. Joseph's Academy in 1891, read
law with Edward J. Meegan and was admitted to the bar December 6, 1894. Since
then he has been associated with Delancy Potter in the practice of his profession.

Meegan, Thomas A., son of Thomas A., sr., a large lumber merchant and promi-
nent citizen, and a grandson of Thomas Meegan (see sketch of Edward J. Meegan),
was born in Albany February 3, 1862, and was graduated from the Christian Brothers'
Academy with honors in 1879. He read law with his uncle, Edward J., was ad-
mitted to the bar at Binghamton, N. Y., May 3, 1883, and since then has practiced
with his preceptor. April 11, 1893, he was elected justice of the Albany City Court,
by a majority of 3,900, for three years, but the new constitution reduced this term to
two years and eight months. In November, 1895, he was re-elected for a full term



271

of six years from January 1, 1896. He is judge advocate on the staff of tlie Jackson
Corps, a four year trustee of the order of Elks, and a member of the Royal Arcanum,

C. B. L., Catholic Union, and A. O. H. He is an active Democrat, has frequently
been a delegate and chairman of assembly, conventions and as a lawyer and judge
takes high rank among the leaders of the Albany bar.

Le Boeuf, Randall J., is a son of Peter J. Le Boeuf, who was born in France in
1834, came to Canada with his parents when young, and was graduated from the
Fort Edward Institute; he engaged first in the manufacture of axes in Cohoes and
later became a member of the collar, cuff and shirt firms of Wheeler, Allendorph &
Le Boeuf and Wheeler, Le Boeuf & Co., of Troy. His wife was Sarah A. Saunders.
Randall J. was born in Cohoes, March 10, 1870, and when nine years old came with
the family to Albany, where he finished his education at the grammar and High
Schools, graduating in 1887. He read law with Eugene Burlingame until the fall of
1889, when he entered Cornell University in the course of history and political science ;
at the end of the first year he discontinued these studies and entered the law depart-
ment, from which he was graduated in 1893, being one of the prize debaters and re-
ceiving also a thesis prize. He was made a member of the Uelta Upsilon fraternity
and was president of the junior and senior classes of the law school. He was ad-
mitted to the bar at Saratoga Springs, September 14, 1892, and was managing clerk
for Sackett & Bennett, elevated railroad attorneys, and assistant attorney for Carter,
Hughes & Kellogg, both of New York, until February, 1895, when he returned to