Landmarks of Albany County, New York online

etta L. Filkins of Albany, and they have one daughter, Gertrude.

Woodward, Major James Otis, was born in the city of Albany, N. Y., October 1,
1863. He is a son of Royal Woodward, of the well-known medical family of Mans-
field, Conn., and is a descendant of some of the foremost Americans whose names
adorn the pages of the hi.story of this country. Cotton Mather, Miles Standish,
Colonel Knowlton, a member of George Washington's stafl^, and James Otis, a



354

signer of the Declaration of Independence, are among those alhided to. He attend-
ed the academics at Albany, N. Y., and East Hampton, Mass., and was in the class
of 1882 at Hamilton College, from which institution he received the degree of M. A.
Although educated for journalism, his chosen profession, he studied law in the
office of the late Judge Samuel Hand, but later went upon the staff of the Troy
(N.Y.) Daily Times. Subsequently he became business manager of the Troy News.
Major Woodward also acted as correspondent for the New York Mail and Express
and other Metropolitan papers and became widely associated in newspaper work.
Leaving the work of the press. Major Woodward turned his attention to the cotton
business in the South, in which he is now somewhat engaged. Recently he became
interested in theatrical matters and is associated with a number of metropolitan
attractions. He is also interested in a number of theaters. He has always taken
an active part in politics. In 1885 he was elected alderman from the old Fifth ward
by the narrow majority of five, overcoming an adverse Democratic majority of
several hundred, and being the first Republican to carry that Democratic stronghold.
Twice he was tendered the nomination for mayor of Albany, but declined both
times. He was secretary of the Special State Prison Commission appointed by
Governor Hill. In fraternal organizations he is very auspicious; he was at the
head of the Odd Fellows of the State and was grand commandant of Patri-
archs Militant, I. O. O. F., division of the Atlantic, for four years. He is
not only prominent in Odd Fellowship, but holds distinguished honors among the
Masons and Knights of Pythias. He was president of the Chi Psi Alumni Associa-
tion of New York State two years; is a life member of the American Numismatic
and Archaeological Society; a member of Mecca Shrine of New York; the Elks;
Thirteen Club of New York, and the Fort Orange Club of Albany. In military
circles Major Woodward is very prominent; he was for five years commander of the
Albany Burgesses Corps, the oldest military organization in the State, and was in
command of the corps upon the occasion of its celebrated trip to New Orleans and
the Mardi Gras in 1895. He is also an active member of the Old Guard of New
York. He attained the rank of major in the N.G.S.N.Y. He served on the stafts of
Colonel Brooks, General Oliver and General Carr. Major Woodward also attained the
rank of general in the militant branch of Odd Fellows. He was a member of the Bi-
centennial Committee of the city of Albany and was grand marshal of the great
Bi-Centennial parade, one of the largest ever held in the city, and of the great Odd
Fellows' parade upon the occasion of the laying of the corner stone of the New Tem-
ple at Albany. He represented New York State upon the staff of General Schofield
upon the occasion of the great centennial parade at New York. Canton Woodward
of Newburgh was named in his honor.

Austin, Arthur C, born in San Francisco, Cal., in November, 1859, received his
early education in the California Military Academy at Oakland, Cal,, and in ]8i9,
just before his majority, came East, contra to Greeley's famous advice, to seek his
fortune, simply because he could not go farther west. His first effort in this direc-
tion on his own behalf was in the photograph business in Nashua, N, H., where he
remained with moderate success for five or six j-ears. About this time photo process
engraving began to meet with public approbation, and Mr. Austin determined to
dispose of his portrait gallery and devote himself to the process of engraving, be-



355

lieving that the field was larger and more fruitful. He obtained employment in
Philadelphia, and by close attention soon fitted himself to accept a more responsible
situation in Boston. Here he remained for some time, until he took charge of the
Hyde Park Company, Hyde Park, Mass. In 1893 Mr. Austin removed to Albany
and organized an engraving company. This was successful from the start, but be-
cause of uncongenial surroundings and lack of opportunity for development, Mr.
Austin withdrew in 1895, and together with Jarnes Ten Eyck, Howard Martin, C. S.
Pease and others, organized the A. C. Austin Engraving Company, a successful cor-
poration from its inception, with a bright future, employing a goodly force of skilled
labor, and altogether a credit to Albany. Mr. Austin is a member of Temple Lodge
No. 14, F. & A. M., Capital City Chapter No. 342, R. A. M., De Witt Clmton Coun-
cil No. 33, R. & S. M., Temple Commandery No 3, K. T.. Cyprus Temple, A. A. O.
N. M. S., Capital City Lodge, L O. O. F., and the Albany Camera Club.

Green, Col. G. James, son of John R. and Ann (Vosburgh) Green, was born in
Albany, N. Y., June 4, 1860. His great-grandfather, John, an Englishman, came
from Dublin to America and settled in Niskayuna, N. Y., where he married Rebecca
Groot. They had a son, Cornelius, who married Gertrude Tymerson. G. James
Green received his education in the Albany public and high schools. In 1875 he
went into the employ of the D. & H. C. Co. as clerk, and for three years following
was paymaster for Curtis &â–  Whalen, railroad contractors. In 1884 he was tendered
the position of bookkeeper with McKinley & Co., and remained with that company
until 1893, when he resigned to accept a similar position with Weidman & Co. Jan-
uary 1, 1894, he was appointed chief clerk in the office of the inspector general of
the State of New York and on January 3, 1895, he was appointed assistant inspector
general of the State, whicli position he now holds. Colonel Green enlisted in Co. B,
10th Regt., November 13, 1879; was promoted corporal, January 4, 1881; dropped
on account of removal from the city, November 30, 1881 ; taken up as private in Co.
B, 10th Battalion, June 6, 1884; promoted corporal, September 7, 1885; sergeant,
January 18, 1886; first sergeant. May 3, 1886; second lieutenant, October 15, 1887;
lieutenant-colonel and assistant adjutant-general, 3d Brigade, December 11, 1889.
Upon the resignation of Brigadier- General Parker, he was placed upon the super-
numerary list, at his own request, January 2, 1891, and on August 19, of the same
year, he was elected captain of his old company, vice Stacpole, promoted major of
the battalion. Colonel Green resigned the captaincy of Co. B, January 1, 1895. He
is a member of the United Service Club of New York City, the Military Service In-
stitution of the United States and the Unconditional Republican Club of Albany,
and the Military Club of New York city.

Bleecker, W. Rutger, son of Thomas S. and Catharine (McCullock) Bleecker, was
born in Albany, N. Y., in 1869. He received his education in the Albany public and
high schools, which latter institution he left in 1886 to accept the position of messen-
ger in the New York State National Bank. Since his connection with this institution
he has won the trust and confidence of his employers and has been deservedly pro-
moted up to his present position, that of individual bookkeeper, to which he was ap-
pointed in April, 1896. He is a member of Wadsworth Lodge No. 417, F. & A. M.,
Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order, and is an honorary member of the Philidoxia
Society of the Albany High School. March 14, 1894, he married Elizabeth Pendell
of Monticello, Sullivan county, N. Y.



35fl

Babcock, Robert, M. D., son of John and Hester (Van Derzee) Babcock, was born
in Bethlehem, Albany county, N. Y., December 2, 1857. He attended the Albany
Academy in 1873 and was graduated in 1877. He graduated from the University of
Rochester in 1881, with the degree of A. B.. and from the Albany Medical College in
1884, with the degree of M.D. For a year and a half Dr. Babcock was assistant
house physician and surgeon at the Albany Hospital. He then moved to Holyoke,
Mass., where he practiced for a short time, and in 1886 returned to Albany, where
he has since practiced. He has been instructor in materia medica and therapeutics
at the Albany Medical College and has been on the surgical staff of the dispensary
connected with the Albany Hospital. He is a member of the Albany County Medi-
cal Society. February 18, 1886, Dr. Babcock married Maria Witbeck and they have
one son, Robert Witbeck.

Belding, Samuel B., son of Hiram and Elizabeth (Brown) Belding, was born in
Charlton, Saratoga county, N. Y., April 26, 1847. He is descended from one of three
brothers who came from England to America with the Puritans and settled near
Lenox, Mass. Their descendants fought bravely in the French and Indian and
Revolutionary wars Prof. Belding's immediate ancestors settled in Saratoga county
in 1793, and his maternal great-great-grandfather, Robert Barckley, was a provin-
cial governor of New Jersey. Prof. Belding graduated from the Charlton Academy
m 1865, and then pursued a study of organ music under J. Augustus Read of Albany,
N. Y. In 1866 he secured the position of organist in the Tabernacle Baptist church
and remained there one year, when he went to the Fourth Presbyterian church,
where he was organist for five and one-half years. Prof. Belding then removed to
Boston, Mass., and studied under Dudley Buck. In 1874 he returned to Albany and
became the organist of the First Reformed church, where he is at present; in 1876
he secured the position of organist at the Temple Beth Emeth which he ably fills at
the present time. In May, 1886, Prof. Belding assumed control of the music at the
Albany State Normal College and is the instructor there at the present time ; he
also has many private pupils and is recognized to be one of the finest musicians in
this State. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and is a member of Mt. Vernon
Lodge No. 3, Temple Chapter No. 5, De Witt Clinton Council No. 22, Temple Com-
mandery No. 2, A. S. R., and Cyprus Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also the organ-
ist for Mt. Vernon, Masters, Wadsworth and Washington Masonic lodges and the
Shrine. In March, 1874, he married Elfiida St. J. Weeks of Albany, and they have
one child, Elizabeth Brown.

Dearstyne. Chester F., was born in Reidsville, Albany county, N. Y.. July 22,
1851. He is a son of John Dearstyne and belongs to the old Dearstyne family which
was among the first to settle in Albany county. His ancestry is from the same
branch as that of the Dearstyne family of Bath-on-the-Hudson, numbering among
its members the first settlers of that place who gave their name to the Dearstyne
Hose Company. Mr. Dearstyne was educated at Reidsville, and at the age of six-
teen he became a clerk in East Berne in the grocery store of Z. A. Dyer, whose
daughter he afterwards married. He is therefore a brother-in-law of William S.
Dyer, the well known lawyer of Albany. Mr. Dearstyne was employed as clerk by
Albert Gallup in the Kimball House, In 1874 he started in the cigar and tobacco
business on Washington avenue, taking into partnership five years later, Mr. Isaac



357

B. Cross, recently sheriff of Albany county. In 1883 he engaged in the tobacco busi-
ness for himself at No. 385 Broadway, where he has done a prosperous business.
In 1894 Dr. Uearstyne was appointed superintendent of the Albany county Peniten-
tiary and during his incumbency of that office he has given very general satisfaction
and has conducted the institution on an economical basis.

Droogan, Cornelius J., son of Cornelius and Mary (Brown) Droogan, was born in
Albany, N. Y., December 24, 1867. He attended the Christian Brothers' Academy,
from which he was graduated in 1865, and the Manhattan College in New York city,
from which he was graduated in 1888 with the degree of A. B. , and from which he
received the degree of A. M. in 1890. Mr. Droogan also completed the course at the
Albany Law School in 1889, and has enjoyed an extensive practice in Albany since
then. He is a member of the Dongan Club, the Catholic Union and the Catholic
Club of New York.

Downs, J. Murray, is a son of James H. Downs, who settled in Albany about 1855,
and Mary B. Murra)^ his wife, whose father was a prominent contractor in the
capital city. He was born in Albany, July 9, 1872, was graduated from the High
School in 1889, and from that time until 1892 held a clerkship in the State Law
Library. Meanwhile he read law with Reilly & Hamilton, was graduated from the
Albany Law School in 1893 and was admitted to the bar in February, 1894. He re-
mained in the office of his preceptors as managing clerk until April 1, 1895, when he
formed a copartnership with Hon. Robert C. Scherer, as Scherer & Downs, which
still continues. Mr. Downs's maternal ancestors were soldiers in the English army
at the time of the Robert Emmet uprising in Ireland. Two of his mother's brothers
served in our Civil war and one of them, John Murray, died in Andersonville
prison.

Flanigan. Eugene D., was born in Albany, N. Y., September 25, 1863. He re-
ceived his education in the Christian Brothers' Academy, from which he was gradu-
ated in 1888; he then studied law with Nathan P. Hinman and was admitted to the
bar in September, 188G. He is a member of the Catholic Union and the Old Guard
Albany Zouave Cadets. Mr. Flanigan married Maud N. Edwards in October, 1884,
and they have one daughter, Marjorie.

Fursman, Jesse 'William, son of 'William H. and Elizabeth (Rastall) Fursman, was
born in Schenectady, N. Y.. December 4. 1865, and is descended from a long line of
English ancestors who settled in Westchester county in the early part of the seven-
teenth century. On the maternal .side, Mr. Fursman is descended from Johannes
Halsaerdt of Holland, who came to America in 1690; many of the descendants of
this Hollander are now living in 'Washington county. Jesse W. Fursman was edu-
cated in the Rome Free Academy, from which he was graduated in 1883; after leav-
ing the academy he was emplojed in Rome four years as traveling salesman for the
Aland Patent Blower Co. He left this position to accept a similar one with a trunk
and bag house of Herkimer, N. Y., and after two years he moved to Oswego, N. Y. .
where he learned shorthand in the business college, subsequently being employed by
T. Kingsford & Son as stenographer for three years. From Oswego Mr. Fursman
moved to Syracuse, N. Y. , where he was employed for a time by the Sherwood Har-
ness Co.. and for the past five years he has been engaged with the Albany branch



358

of the Smith-Premier Typewriter Co. Mr. Fursman i.s very popular with the young
men of Albany and is a member of Temple Lodge, F. & A. M., the Knights of
Pythias and Co. B, 16th Batt., N. G. N. Y. October 20, 1891. he married Kate
Dwyer of Herkimer, N. Y., and they have two children. Edgar Seward and Marian.
Goodwin Albert C. is descended from Ozias Goodwin, who came with his brother.
Elder William, in the ship Lion, from Braintree, England, arriving at Boston, Sep-
tember. 1632, with his wife, Mary Woodward. He settled in Cambridge, Mass., and
later in Hartford, Conn. The line is (1) Ozias; (2) William; (3) Deacon Nathaniel;
(4) Isaac; (5) Uriah,' of Ashfield, Mass., member of the committee of safety 1778, of
the committee to raise troops, 1780, and array supplie.'^, 1781, and selectmen and as-
sessor, 1781; (6) Eldad Francis, 1761-1827, born in Hartford. Conn., and was the
millwright in the town of his birth for many years, moved to Watervliet, Albany
county, and kept hotel, and after the death of his first wife, Lucy Scott, came to
Albany; (7) Albert, born in Ashfield, Mass., September 3, 1803, died February 10,
1869, in Albany, where he was alderman, city assessor and mason and builder; (8)
Thomas Laing: and (9) Albert C. Albert (7) married, October 13, 1828, Jane Laing,
who died May 31, 1835. Of their seven children, Thomas Laing Goodwin, born in
Albany, January 24, 1835, married May 23, 1860, Pamelia Batchelder Clark, born
August 7, 1841, daughter of Daniel Parsons and Catharine (Russ) Clark. He died
in November. 1888; he had three children; Albert C, born February 14, 1861, and
two who died young. Educated in the Boys' Academy and learning the lithographic
trade with Harry Pease, he formed in 1860 a copartnership with George W. Lewis,
which was succeeded by Murray & Goodwin; about 1872 he became sole owner and
in 1882 admitted his son, Albert C. under the firm name of Thomas L. Goodwin &•
Son. Thomas L. was an active, prominent Democrat, foreman of the Volunteer
Tivoli Hose Company, member of the Old Guard of the Burgesses Corps and the
Fourth Presbyterian church, and a trustee of the Home Savings Bank In 1886 Mr.
Goodwin retired and since then Albert C. has conducted the genera] lithographic and
engraving establishment alone, largely increasing the business, which is the only
one of the kind between New York and Buffalo. Albert C. was educated in the Boys'

' Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of Secretary. RevoUitionary War Service. Uriali

Uriah Goodwin appears with rank of Sergeanl on Muster Roll of Capt. Benjamin Phillips' Co.,
I-t.-Col. Timothy Robinson's Regt. Enlisted Dec. 23, ITTIi, discharged April 1, 17T7; len.ifth of
service 3 mos: 10 days. Reported— Hampshire Co. Regt. Dated, In garrison at Ticonderoga, Feb.
■iA, 17T7. Reported— Lame in barracks.- Vol. 4", 180, and Vol. 32, "9.

Appears in a Descriptive List of men raised to reinforce the Continental Army, for the term
of six months, agreeable to resolve of June 5, 17S0; age 42 years; stature, 5 feet 4 in.; complexion
light; residence, Ashfield; time of arrival at Springfield, July 21, I?«). 23d Division. Marched to
Camp July 2), 1780, under command of Capt. Isaac Pope.— Vol. *>, p. 205.

Uriah Goodwin appear.s on a Pay KoU for six months men raised to the town of Ashfield for
-•iervice in the Continental Army during 1780. When marched, July 21, 1780; when discharged,
Dec. .■), 1780; length of service, 4 mos. 23 days.— Vol. 4, p. 21.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of Secretary, Boston, May 1, 18fl5.

IcertifytheforegoingtobetrueabstractsfromtlieReord Index to the Revolutionary Arch-
ives deposited in this office.

Witness the Seal of the Commonwealth,

Wm. M. Olin,

(L. S.) Secretary.



359

Academy, has passed through the chairs and is the present master of Ancient City
Lodge No. 452, F. & A. M., a member of Temple Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M.,and
Temple Coramandery, No. 2, K. T. He was secretary and superintendent of the old
Menand Mission from 1880 to 1885, and with Rev. Charles Wood organized the
Viaduct Mis.sion in 1886, of which he was superintendent several years. He was a
trustee of the Fourth Presbyterian church for eight years, until his removal to
Menand's in 1895. and has been secretary, treasurer, trustee and president of the
Albany County Sunday School Teachers' Association, and director of the South End
Bank. In 1839 he married Sarah Alice Higgs, of Brooklyn, daughter of (Jeorge
Henry, and the late Frances (Fisher) Higgs, and their children are Alice Lloyd and
Albert C, jr.

Harris, Frank S., son of George O. and Mary (Salisbury) Harris, was born in Al
bany, N. Y., in 1868. He received his education in the public schools and Albany
Academy and subsequently spent three years at Lake George and New York city.
In 1885 he assumed management, for his mother, of the large livery business which
was started about 1835 by his grandfather, George, and which has been in the familv
ever since. In military circles there is none more popular and it would be hard to
find a better drilled member of the National Guard. For ten years Mr. Harris was
a member of Co. A, 10th Bat., N. G. N. Y., and during part of that time was a ser-
geant of the company. He is now first lieutenant and commissary on Colonel
Fitch's staff of the lOth Bat. N. G. N. Y. He is also a member of the Albany Club.

Haswell, William H., son of Justus and Nancy L. (Ransom) Haswell, was born in
Albany, N. Y., September 29, 1853. He attended the public schools and High
School, graduating from the latter in 1872. He spent one year in the employ of his
father, dealer in hay and grain, and for three years was special deputy county clerk
under his uncle, William E. Haswell, who was county clerk. While in this position
Mr. Haswell performed the duties of court clerk. After the expiration of his teim
of office he returned to business with his father, with whom he remained until 1888,
for seven years managing the Brooklyn office of his father's business. In 1888 he
became connected with the Ronan Towing and Transportation Line as bookkeeper,
and during Mr. Ronan's absences, which are frequent, he has full charge of the
business. He is a member of the Albany Club, Old Guard. Albany Zouave
Cadets and the Friendly Few, an organization composed of graduates of the High
School.

Hollenbeck, Frank, is the son of Jacob, grandson of Jacob; his great-grandfather
came from Holland. Mr. Hollenbeck remained on the homestead, where his grand-
father settled, until 1880, when he came to his present farm. He married Lucy M.,
daughter of Cornelius Mosher.

Hitt, Hon. Galen R., is the son of New England ancestors and was born in Paw-
let, Vt., August 16, 1843. He received his preliminary education in the public
schools and in 1859 he entered the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney, Vt.,
where he remained four years. He then began the study of law at Rutland, Vt.,
and finished his studies in Albany, N. Y., where he was admitted to the bar by the
General Term in the spring of 1865. In the fall of the same year he married Sarah
J. Crowley, daughter of the late Hon. John Crowley of Mount Holly, Vt., and took



up his residence in Albany. He has built up a very large practice, especially in
criminal cases. In 1874 he helped to organize the Albany Boatmen's Relief Asso-
ciation, of which for six years he was a director and for four years attorney. In
1877 he joined the Albany Burgesses Corps and has held the offices of president and
vice-president. In politics Mr. Hitt has always been a hard worker for the Demo-
cratic party. In the spring of 1884 he was elected alderman from the Sixth ward
and in 1888 was alderman-at-large. He served four years in the Common Council
and was a very instrumental member of that body. He was chairman of the Com-
mon Council committee on celebration of the Albany bi-centennial. In the winter of
1888 he was the first to start the carnival and he was also interested in the move-
ment to furnish the city of Albany with pure water. In the fall of 1888 Mr. Hitt
was chosen to represent the Third district of Albany county in the State Legisla-
ture and served during that session on the Committee on Cities and State Prisons.
He also introduced the bill for the repaying of State street. Again in 1889 he was
elected a member of the Legislature and was one of the most eloquent debaters on
the floor of the Assembly. He was ever on the lookout for Albany's best interests
and so well did he serve the first two terms of his election that in 1890 and 1891 he
was re-elected. Mr. Hitt is now practicing law at No. 93 State street. He is a
member of the Democratic Phalanx and chairman of the commission on the Northern
Boulevard.

Kirkland. George W., born in Albany, February 22. 1858, is a son of Abrani S. ,
who was born in Albany county near Slingerlands, and was a farmer and cooper in
Albany and in 1861 enlisted and served through the war of the Rebellion. George
W. Kirkland went to Michigan with his parents in 1866 and in 1870 returned to Al-
bany, where he finished his education in the public schools. He became a clerk in
the drug store of Collins & Kirk and later a clerk for White & Co., lumber dealers.
He subsequently learned the trade of wood carver and followed it till 1894, when he
was appointed city marshal, which position he still holds. He is a member and past
noble grand of Fireman's Lodge No. 19, I. O. O. F. In 1883 he married Margaret
Fowler, daughter of Charles Fowler, of Albany.

Lynch, John H., was born in Albany, N. Y., in 1851; he was educated in the
public schools. Christian Brothers' Academy, and Albany Academy, from which he
graduated in 1870. While a pupil of the academy he was elected president of "The
Beck Literary Society" and served in that capacity for one year. After leaving