Landmarks of Albany County, New York online

war and was mustered out September, 1865. Undoubtedly the extensive practice in
surgery he obtained during this period largely influenced him to make that his life
work.

Upon returning to New York he attended a full course of lectures at the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, and in the spring of 1866 established himself in Albany as
a general practitioner. In July, 1869, he was called to the chair of general and
special anatomy in the Albany Medical College, and was also appointed attending
surgeon Albany Hospital. At this time he became attending surgeon to St. Peter's
Hospital. Several of our leading literary institutions now gracefully recognized his
intellectual qualities by the bestowraent of their honors. In 1883 Williams College
gave him the degree of A. M., and in 1883 Hamilton and Union Colleges that of Ph.D.

In January, 1882, he was appointed professor of surgery in the Albany Medical
College and at the present time is professor of Didactic, Abdominal and Clinical
Surgery. He has given much time and study to the advancement of this institution,
in which he has a keen interest. On the death of Dr. Thomas Hun, in 1896, Dr.
Vander Veer was appointed Dean of the Faculty of the Albany Medical College, an
honor worthily bestowed.

He has spent several months, at various times, in earnest study abroad, visiting
the great centres of medical instruction, where he watched with absorbing interest
the brilliant operations of renowned surgeons and specialists. Duringhis last sojourn
in Europe he was accompanied by his wife, formerly Miss Margaret E. Snow, daugh-
ter of his old preceptor, and his eldest son Edgar. While in England he was enter
tained by Mr. Lawson Tait, whose fame as a surgical specialist is known all over the
world. During this trip he also read a paper before the International Medical Con-
gress at Copenhagen.

In addition to being a very active working member, and ex-president of both the
County and State Medical Societies, Dr. Vander Veer is also a member of the Boston
Gynecological Society, the British Medical Association, the Southern Surgical and
Gynecological Association, an active memberof the American Association of Obstet-
ricians and Gynecologists, an ex-president, one of the executive officers of the Pan-
American Medical Congress, having attended the recent meeting in Mexico and
presented a paper. He is also vice-president of the Holland Society of New York,
Albany Branch, and has had conferred upon him the order of •' Oranje-Nassau "
by the Queen of Holland. Dr. Vander Veer is also a member of the Military Order
of the Legion of the United States. He has recently been appointed a delegate
to the Loyal British Medical Association at Montreal.

As the power to grant certificates to physicians and surgeons educated in New
York State is entirely in the bands of the Board of Regents of the University of the
State of New York, the medical profession were naturally interested in having a proper
representative of their profession in the board; therefore, the election of Dr. Van-
der Veer as a Regent of the University in 1895 was hailed with great pleasure by his
many friends, not only in this locality but in the neighboring counties. Since his




DR. CHAKLhS b. JONbS.



155

election he has still continued to be, as he was previously, an earnest advocate of
higher education in each and every profession.

To all of these duties hegives some portion of his time systematically divided. In
addition he is busily at work every possible moment upon his college lectures or
gathering in writing the results of his varied surgical experiences for the benefit of
his professional brethren.

Among the subjects upon which Dr. Vander Veer has lectured or written are the
following, most prominent and recent:— " Some Personal Observations on the Work
of Lawson Tait," "The Use of the Curette in Uterine Surgery," •' Uterine Hemor-
rhage, Puerperal and Non-Puerperal," " Managementof Cancer in the Uterus, Com-
plicated with Pregnancy, with Repcrt of a Case," " Hystero-Epilepsy, with Report
of Ca.ses," "Retro-Peritoneal Tumors; Their Anatomical Relations, Pathology,
Diagnosis and Treatment," "Tubercular Peritonitis," "Report of Cases of Cho-
lecystotomy with Special Reference to the Treatment of Calculus Lodging in the
Common Duct," " The Relation of the Board of Health to the Public," " Appendi-
citis, the Relation of the Physician and Surgeon in the Care of Cases," " Comparison
Between Perineal and Suprapubic Cystotomy," "The Medico-Legal Aspect of Ab-
dominal Section," " E.xtra-Uterine Pregnancy," " Fifty Years in the History of the
Albany Medical College." "Concealed Pregnancy, Its Relations to Abdominal Sur-
gery," " The Relation of the Abdominal Surgeon to the Obstetrician and Gynecolo-
gist," " Intestinal Obstruction," " Report of Cases of Coeliotomy Performed at the
Albany Hospital from July 15, 1803, to November 1, 18'J5," " Report in Abdominal
Surgery, Being an Analysis of 145 Operations not Previously Reported, Done Upon
the Ovaries, and Uterine Appendages, with Special Remarks as to Preparation of
Patient, Place of Operation, Use of Drainage, Treatment and Results," " Report of
Seven Cases of Abdominal Surgery in which the Murphy Button was Applied,"
" Tuberculosis of the Female Genital Organs (Including Tuberculosis of the Kidney), '
" Uterine Fibroids Complicated with Pregnancy," etc., etc.

The pressure of increasing professional duties does not 'prevent Dr. Vander Veer
from taking an active interest in municipal aflfairs, and the value of his services as a
member of the Board of Health, the Historical and Art Society, etc., is fully recog-
nized. He is also an elder in the First Presbyterian Church.

Whatever of eminence Dr. Vander Veer has attained has been secured by close
application, unremitting labor, and a determined follownig of tho.se inclinations
which in his youth led him to choose for his own the responsibilities of the silent
profession.

Honored by his associates, beloved and respected by his patients, Dr. Vander Veer's
career may well be emulated by all young men who are ambitious to secure for them-
selves the approval of their fellows and the emoluments which come, of necessity, to
the leaders in any profession.



CHARLES EDMUND JONES, A. M., M. D,

CiiAKi.Ks El. MiM. Jones, A. M., M. D., is a son of the late Dr. R. Darwin Jones,
ud was horn in Albany on February 15, ts-1!). After graduating from the Albany



156

Academy in 18G0 he entered Hope College at Holland Cit)', Mich., and was graduated
from that institution in 1870 and also took the degree of M. A. in course in 1873,
when he delivered the master's oration. He read medicine with his father, was
graduated from the Albany Medical College with the degree of M. D. in December,

1872, and subsequently attended one course of lectures at the New York Homeo-
pathic Medical College, graduating therefrom in March, 1873. He went abroad in
the summer of 1875 and remained one year, spending the greater part of that time
in attendance at the Vienna General Hospital, where he pursued special courses of
study. He visited Europe again in 1878, being absent six months, attending the
World's Exposition at Paris, and acting as special correspondent of the New York
Evening Express.

For many years Dr. Jones has been a greater part of the time officially or semi-
oHicially connected with various positions of public trust and responsibility, the
duties of which he has uniformly discharged with fidelity, zeal, and marked effective-
ness. He became a member of the Albany County Homeopathic Medical Society in

1873, was elected its secretary in 1874, and served as its president in 1885, 1888, and 1889.
He was elected a delegate from the county society to the New York State Homeopathic
Medical Society in 1874, 1875, 1876, and 1877. Prior to his last visit to Europe he was
delegated by special resolution to represent the Albany County Homeopathic Medical
Society at the World's Homeopathic Congress held in Pans in August, 1878, and also to
meetings of other homeopathic medical societies which he might have opportunity to
attend. Since beginning the practice of his profession in Albany in 1873 Dr. Jones
has taken an active interest in the City Dispensary and Homeopathic Hospital, and
has devoted to its work and service a large share of his time, money, and influence.
He has ably assisted in its management, has supported all measures designed to
promote its financial prosperity, and has been a member of its medical staff since
1873, and a member of its executive and supervising committee since 1884. Since
November, 1876, he has had charge of the department of diseases of the throat and
respiratory organs.

Dr. Jones has been a permanent member of the Homeopathic Medical Society of
the State of New York since 1878, and was elected its president in February, 18U5.
He has been for several years chairman of its bureau on throat and lung disea.ses,
and has presented reports embodying a vast amount of important data gathered as
a result of months of original investigation and painstaking research. He became
a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1874 and of the AUjany In-
stitute in 1876. He was elected a member of the City Board of School Commission-
ers for a terra of three years, and during this service secured the appointment of n
permanent committee on hygiene, which became a very influential branch of the ex-
ecutive department of public instruction. He was a foundation member of the Fort
Orange Club, and for a number of years has been a member of its Board of Trus-
tees. In 1886 he was appointed a member of the Bi-Centennial Committee of
Albany, which was required to perfect and conduct arrangements for celebrat-
ing the 2()0th anniversary of the incorporation of the city. Following this he was
appointed a member of the committee having in charge the preparation, loca-
tion, and permanent preservation of more than twenty bronze tablets designed to
identify and describe the history of certain localities and important events. These
tablets were placed on various buildings, and perpetuate those historic names and



157

incidents which mark the growth of Albany as a burgh and city. In 1S80 Dr. Jones
was made a member of the citizens committee appointed to commemorate the open-
ing of the new caijitol building, and in 1893 he was appointed by the Civil Service
Commission a member of a Homeopathic Examining Board to examine and deter-
mine the fitness of candidates for the position of assistant physicians at homeopathic
hospitals for the insane. He was appointed by Governor Flower m June, 1894, a
member of the first board of managers of the Craig Colony for Epileptics and reaj)-
pointed by Governor Morton in \S9'). He has been a member of Masters Lodge No.
.5, F. & A. M., since 1873, and is also a member of Capital City Chapter No. 343,
R. A. M.,and an Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite mason, 32d degree.

Among the many notable papers and essays which Dr. Jones has contributed to
the medical literature of his time, the following titles are selected as showing the
breadth of scope, research, and versatility of his work: "Pathology and Treatment
of Diabetes," to which the McNaughton prize of .5100 was awarded by the faculty of
the Albany Medical College; "The Throat in Song and Speech," illustrated by
photographic slides; "The Differential Diagnosis of Diphtheria and Membranous
Croup;" "Tubercular Laryngitis and Cancer of the Throat;" "The Climatic
Treatment of Pulmonary Consumption and Chronic Bronchitis;" " The Treatment
of Laryngeal Tuberculosis; " and "New York's Leadership in Medical Education,"
the latter being delivered by him as the president's annual address before the New
York State Homeopathic Medical Society in 1896.

Dr. Jones has won distinction in his profession because of an inflexible purpose,
persistently carried out through years of effort, to acquire an exact and thorough
knowledge of all the practical details of applied medicine. With industry and en-
thusiasm he has never failed to avail himself of all the resources of standard litera-
ture, and the best appliances for the diagno.sis and treatment of disease, more par-
ticularly the diseases of the throat and chest, of which he makes a specialty. He is
unmarried.



JOHN PALMER.

Hon. Joh.n Pai.mf.k, secretary of state, is a son of John, who died in the Civil war
in 1803. He was born of English parentage in Stapleton, Staten Lsland, N. Y.,
March 22, 1842, and in 1843 went with his parents to England, where he lived ten
years, two of which were spent with his grandfather on the Black Sea, where he wit-
nessed the siege of Sebastopol. He spent three j'ears in a semi-military school near
Liverpool and in 1853 returned with the family to America and learned the trade of
fresco painting, meanwhile finishing his education at Bryant & Stratton's Busine.ss
College in Albany September 10, 1861, he enlisted as private in Co. B, 91st N. Y.
Vols., was commissioned captain March 1, 186.5, and was mustered out with the reg-
iment July 3, 1865, being brevetted captain N. Y. V. His first service was in the
department of the Gulf, where he displayed great bravery at Port Hudson in the
Red River campaign. He was afterward transferred to the Army of the Potomac
and at Five Forks received injuries from a falling horse from which he has never
recovered. In 1865 he resumed his trade as painter and frescoer, in Albany, which



158

he has since followed. In 1866 he became a charter member of Lew Benedict Post
No. 5, G. A. R., and in 1884-85 was department commander. He was elected com-
mander in chief of the National Commandery of the G. A. R. in 1891, when he led
a column of 60,000 veterans through the streets of Washington. He was prominent
in the erection of the Soldiers' Home at Bath, N. Y., and is president of the Board
of Trustees and has been indefatigable in promoting the interests of veterans of the
war. He has always been an active Republican, casting his first vote for Lincoln in
1860, and in 1893 was unanimously nominated by his party for secretary of state and
elected over Cord Meyer, Democrat, by 34,484 plurality. In 1895 he was re-elected
to this high office over Horatio C. King by a majority of 90,146.

In 1867 Mr. Palmer married Maggie Moore of Albany and they have one daughter
and three sons.



JOSEPH W. TILLINGHAST.

Jusiir-H Wii.HER TiLi.iNGiiAST, SOD of William Tilliughast, was born in Albany,
January, 18;!5, and descends from an old New England family. William Tillinghast,
a native of Wickford, R. I., was for many years a well known business man of
Albany, where he died in 1881. As a member of the firm of Wickes & Tillinghast,
he was engaged in the manufacture of sperm oils, and individually he waS a director
in the National Commercial Bank. J. W. Tillinghast was educated in the Albany
Academy, was a clerk for Wickes & Tillinghast from 1852 to 1870, and from time
until 1886 was engaged in the malting business, as a member of the firm of Tweddle
& Co. On June 24, 1868, he became a director in the Merchants National Bank of
Albany; on April 17, 1875, he was chosen vice-president; and on May 1, 1880, he was
elected president, which office he still holds. He is also a trustee of the Albany
Savings Bank, a foundation member of the Fort Orange Club, and prominently con-
nected with several other corporations and institutions. He is in every sense of the
word a representative business man. In 1859 he married Miss Sarah, daughter of
the late John Tweddle, one of Albany's most enterprising citizens. They have three
children; Frederick, William and a daughter.



GEORGE N. BEST.

(Jkorge N. BKsr, son of Thomas and Magdalene (Roseuberger) Best, was born in
the province of Quebec, Canada, June 13, 1845. His parents were natives of the
United States and moved to Canada to engage in farming. Mr. Best attended the
public schools and at the age of seventeen moved to New York State, settling at
Saratoga Springs. He worked on a farm one year and desiring to enter commercial
life he availed himself of an opportunity to go into the lumber business. He made his
home with his brother and engaged in transporting lumber from the western part of
New York State to New York city. His abilities were soon rec(jgnized and war-
ranted his filling, for several years, the position of foreman for C. U. & R. English,




GtORGH N. BhST.




THUHLUW Whhb BARNhS.



l.JO

timber dealers and lumber forwarders. Subsequently, Mr. C. D. English died and
Mr. Best entered into partnership with Mr. R. English. The name of the firm re-
mained the same as it was before Mr. English's death. This firm earned on an ex-
tensive business, doing government contract work on Lake Champlain and also en-
gagmg in the ice business. While connected with this work, Mr. Best made his home
in Schuylerville for five years. In 1878 he moved to Castleton, N. Y., and English,
Best, and a Mr. Washburn bought Campbell Island in the Hudson River opposite
Cedar Hill. Here ice houses were erected and a large ice business was carried on.
In 1881, English and Best bought the property on which Mr. Best now lives and
erected a mammoth ice house on the bank of the Hudson. In 1884 Mr. Washburn
sold out his interest in the island to English and Best, who thereupon formed a co-
partnership. In 1887 this firm commenced doing business in New York city under
the name of the Cedar Hill Ice Company. In 1890 Mr. English sold his interest in
the ice business to a Mr. Sherman and a Mr. Carmen, who became partners with Mr.
Best. In 1894 Mr. Best bought them out and continued the business alone. In Feb-
ruary, 1896, he discontinued the New York business, having sold it to the Consolidated
Ice Company, who contracted with him to purchase his ice for a term of years. Mr. Best
is now enjoying a large, well paying business and lives in a palatial residence over-
looking the Hudson River at Cedar Hill. He has twenty-five acres of land, used for
gardening, and also owns considerable property in Saratoga county. He is president
of the Albany and Castleton Ferry Company, and is an elder in the Reformed church
of Bethlehem. October 15, 1867, he married Ursula Lockrow of Saratoga. They
had one son, Harvey A., who managed the New York office and who died in 1894
in his twenty-sixth year.



georgp: s. haswell, m. d.

I)k. George S. Haswell was born in 1868 and is a son of Isaac M. Haswell, who
is a farmer. Dr. Haswell was graduated from the Troy High School in 1889, and
then from the Albany Medical College in 1893. He began his practice in New York
and then settled in Watervliet, where he has won the confidence of a large circle of
people of his native town. Dr. Haswell, although so young, is a Mason of the Order
of the Mystic Shrine and the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order. He was
elected coroner of Albany county in November, 1890. In 1893 he married Alice,
daughter of Edward H. Wiswall, of Colonic, by whom lie has one daughter, Mil-
.Ircd.



TIIURLOW WEED BARNES.

Till Ri.ow Wkki) Bakm:s is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation from
Thomas Barnes, who came from England and distinguished himself in the Indian
wars around Hartford, Conn., about 1630. On his mother's side he is descended
from Nathan Weed, a Revolutionary soldier of Stamford, Conn., and the grand-



ir.o

father of Thurlow Weed, a soldier of the War of 1812. Mr. Weed was distinguished
as the great Whig and Republican leader of New York and the life-long friend of
William H. Seward. His services are well remembered as a member of the .so-called
political firm of Seward, Weed, and Greeley, and also in connection with the admin-
istration of President Lincoln, who sent him to France and England in 1861 to avert
the recognition by those countries of the Southern Confederacy.

Mr. Barnes is a son of William Barnes, sr., and Emily Weed, his wife, and was
born in Albany, June 38, 1853. On graduating from Harvard University in 1876 he
took an editorial position on the Albany Evening Journal, and soon afterward was
elected president of the Young Mens As.sociation of that city and also of the Albany
County Repubhcan Committee. He held the latter position two terms, and took an
active part in politics and in the management of the newspaper, which was founded
by his grandfather as a political organ in 1830. Mr. Barnes was one of the founders
of the Fort Orange Club, in which he still retains his membership. He was active
in the National Guard as a member of the 10th Regiment, and held the position of
first lieutenant on the staff of Gen. Amasa J. Parker In 1886 Mr. Barnes took up
his residence in Boston, Mass., where he lived for five years as a member of the
well known publishing firm of Houghton, Mifflin & Co., his work in the firm being in
the department of literary criticism.

Mr. Barnes has made extensive journeys, including a trip around the world, and
has s])ent two winters in India. Soon after the death of his grandfather he wrote a
Memoir of Thurlow Weed, which was published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. He is
the owner of the published works of William H. Seward that were originally edited
by George E. Baker. Of late years Mr. Barnes has been a resident of New York
city, where he is a member of the Republican County Committee and of the Harvard.
Metropolitan, and other prominent social organizations. He was a delegate to the
Republican National Convention at St. Louis in 1896.



HENRY LUEKE.

TntRE are few residents of the city of Albany of German birth and parentage
who have done more for this city and whose name and memory will live longer than
that of Henry Lueke. He was born in Brakel, Westphalia, Prussia, February 1,
1808, and is a son of George and Margaret Liieke. George Liieke was a custom tailor
by trade and it must be borne in mind that the trade of his choice in those days de-
manded more care and study and closer application than the same trade does to day.
In the making of fine habits and uniforms George Liieke was looked upon as the
leader in the town of Brakel. The first eleven years of Henry Liieke's life were not
very promising. He was a sick boy during that time, but the tenderest care of his
loving parents and the best medical attention overcame the ravishes of disease.
When he became sufficiently strong he began his studies at the public school and con-
tinued them until he was fourteen years of age. During those few years he was
very attentive and ranked with the highest in his class, displaying both docility and
ability, characteristics which went a great way toward forming a suitable founda-




HHXRV I.I i:kl:



IGl

tion for his later years. It was contrary at that time for those learning a trade in
Europe to travel about from one country to another. Henry Liieke chose his father's
trade and in accordance with the custom above mentioned, he started at the early
age of fifteen to thoroughly acquit himself for his trade. He traveled through Ger-
many, Austria, Hungary and Poland, apprenticing himself to the best custom tailors,
and then went to London to put the finishing touches on his education. While
at London he learned how to make the most exquisite habits then in vogue,
and the dazzhng uniforms then used in the army and navy. But while preparing
to earn a livelihood he did not forget to educate the other sides of his nature. He
learned the English language and studied the customs of the people and in every
way sought to ennoble his character. The styles of England were not the only ones
he studied. During the three years spent in London he visited Paris and acquired
the language and styles of dress there. He therefore had visited the three greatest
cities for setting the style to the world — Berlin, London and Paris. With the knowl-
edge of his business thus acquired Mr. Lueke felt competent to carry it on anywhere.
America, to which many of his fellow-countrymen had gone and succeeded, appealed
to Mr. Liieke as being the most desirable place to start in business. Consequently
in 1837, he left London and sailed for the New World. He arrived at New York city
and spent si.K years there following his favorite vocation. He did a magnificent
business making uniforms for the army and navy officers and ladies' riding habits.
In those days a New Yorker was not considered well dressed unless his suit was from
Liieke's. In 1843 Mr. Liieke removed to Albany, N. Y., and located on Liberty
street as a custom tailor. Subsequently he moved to South Pearl street shortly be-
fore the war broke out. In 1848, at the time of the great fire, he lost almost every-