Landmarks of Albany County, New York online

receiving the latter at Boston, September 18, 1894; a trustee of the Scottish Rites,
illustrious potentate of Cyprus Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, first lieutenant
commander of Albany Sovereign Consistory, sovereign grand inspector-general of
the thirty-third and last degree, and a trustee of the Masonic Hall As.sociation.
September 12, 1893, he was elected eminent grand warden of the Grand Command-
cry, K. T , of the State of New York. While eminent commander of Temple Com-
mandery No. 2 he inaugurated the annual pilgrima,ge on Christmas day to the Albany
Orphan Asylum, which has been observed every year since. In 1891 he also inaug-
urated the trip of Temple Commandery to Europe, and there he was made a member
of Quator Coranota Lodge of London. He is also a member of the Craftsman Club
of New York city, vice-president of the Albany Bicycle Club, a manager of the
Acacia Club of Albany, member of the Empire Curling Association, president of the
local branch of the Mercantile Co-operative Bank, a founder of the Albany Mutual
Boat Club in 1868 and in 1870 won several trophies for rowing on the Hudson. He



130

is also president of the New Democracy. In 1S70 he married Susan Denison of Al-
bany, whose grandfather donated the site on which stands the Leland Opera House.
Their children are Carrie G. and Elmer E.

Downs, Michael B., one of the leading politicians of Cohoes, represents the Fourth
ward in the Albany County General Committee. He is a Democrat, and his first
public office was that of commissioner of police in 1888, which he filled with efficiency
four years. In 1895 he was elected one of the four coroners of Albany county, which
position he at present occupies. Mr. Downs was born at West Troy in 1854. When
two years of age he removed with his parents to Lock No. 8 Erie Canal, in the town
of Watervliet. He received his education at St. Bernard's Parochial School and
St. Patrick's School, West Troy. He also attended St. Joseph's Academy of Troy
for a short time. In 1870 he moved with his parents to Cohoes, where he engaged in
bu.siness as clerk for his father, who opened a canal grocery and provision store at
Lock No. 9, Erie Canal, which he conducted for nineteen years. He is a member
of St. Bernard's church, a member of the Young Men's Sodality, of which he was
prefect and treasurer for four years. He is ex-president and treasurer of St. Bernard's
Sunday School Teacher.s' Association, charter president of Talevera Council No. 411
C. B. L. and treasurer of Division No. 1 A. O. H., Cohoes.

Clarke, John Mason, M. A., is a descendant of William Clarke, of England, who
came to Dorchester, Mass , in 1637, settled in Northampton in 1656, and was a rej)-
resentative at the General Court for seventeen years (see life of William Clarke, by
John M. Clarke, 1892). Descendants of this family still live at Northampton but
various of its branches moved to Lebanon, New London and Saybrook, Conn.
William Clarke, great-grandfather of John M., bought with three others from Phelps
& Gorham, the present town of Naples, Ontario county, and there his grandson,
Noah T., was born in 1817. The latter was for nearly forty years principal of the
Canandaigua Academy and is one of the few survivors of the original University
Convocation. He married Laura M. Merrill, of Caslleton, Vt., who died in 1887.
John M. Clarke, the fifth of their si.\ children, born in Canandaigua, April 15, 1857,
was graduated from the academy in 1874 and from Amherst College in 1877, and for
one year was instructer in geology in the latter institution. He taught a year each
in the Canandaigua and Utica Academies, in 1881-82 was profes.sor of geology in
Smith College, and then spent two years in studying geology, zoology and mineral-
ogy at the University of Gottingen. Germany. In 1885 he returned to Smith Col-
lege, and thereafter became lecturer on geology at the Massachusetts State College.
In January, 1886, he was appointed by the Regents of the University of the State of
New York to special work on the geological survey, and soon after to his present
position of assistant State geologist and paleontologist at Albany. Since 1895 he
has also been professor of geology and mineralogy in the Rensselaer Polytechnic In-
stitute at Troy. In 1880 Amherst College conferred upon him the degree of M. A.
He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the
Geological Societies of Germany and Westphalia, the Imperial Mineralogical Society
of St. Petersburg, and the Psi Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa fraternities ; and since
1894 has been an editor of the American Geologist. His writings cover a wide field
of technical and scientific literature. In 1887 he married Emma, daughter of Joseph
Juel, of Philadelphia, Pa., who died March 18, 1893. leaving a son, Noah T. Octo-



137

ber 33, 1895, he married Mrs. Fannie (Hoffman) Bosler, also of Philadelphia. Pro-
fessor Clarke's mother, a daughter of Selah H. and Laura (Mason) Merrill, was con-
nected with the families of Elder Brewster of the Plymouth Colony, Jonathan Trum-
bull of Connecticut. John Brown of Harper's Ferry fame, Gov. William Bradford
and John Mason, the Pequod Indian fighter.

Cady, Harvey J., son of Eli F. aild Eunice P. (Parish) Cady, was born in Windsor,
Mass., June 10, 1843, attended the public schools and the High School at Huntington,
Mass., and was graduated from the Westfield Academy in 1861; he al.so took a
course in a business college at Syracuse, N. Y., and became a clerk in the commis-
sion office of Charles J. White, in New York city, who was engaged in shipping
goods South to the army. Mr. Cady finally went South with goods and continued in
that capacity for Mr. White until 1864, when he became a partner in the firm of Mc-
Murray, Hunt & Cady, general merchants of Delhi, N. Y. Three years later Mr.
Cady sold out and entered the employ of Morris Brothers, Hour and grain merchants
of Oneonta, N. Y. , with whom he remained eight years, being a partner the last
two year.s. He was then in the employ of O. H. Hastings & Co., proprietors of the
Cumberland Mills of Oswego, N. Y., for eight years. In 1888 he came to Albany
and engaged in the wholesale flour and grain business. In 1866 he married Minnie
E., daughter of Henry G. Smith, a lieutenant in Ellsworth's Zouves, 44th Regt., in
the Civil war. She died August 3, 1895, leaving five children: Lizzie P., Pardee
Eugene, Frank Thurber, Annie M., and Minnie E. (who died December 13, 1895).

Townsend, Rufus King, son of General Franklin and the late Anna (King) Town-
send, was a descendant of Henry Townsend, who came from Norwich, England, to
Long Island about 1645. He was born in Albany, March 18, 1853, was educated at
the Albany Academy and afterwards became proprietor of the Townsend Furnace,
a business established in 1807, which has always remained in the family and in active
operation since that time, and of which his father now is the executive head. Very
early in life Mr. Townsend manifested an absorbing interest in everything pertain-
ing to the fire department and spared no pains nor money in the advancement of it.
Later on he offered his services and many times bravely risked his life. April 18,
1893. he was appointed by Mayor Manning a fire commissioner, in which capacitvhe
served faithfully and well up to the time of his death, which occurred December 31,
1895. For several years Mr. Townsend was a member of the Board of Directors of
the New York State National Bank and also of the Albany Savings Bank. Generous
and genial in disposition, Mr. Townsend gathered to himself many friends, and yet
it can be truly said of him (as of few others of hke temperament), that he neither sac-
rificed honesty of action to sympathy, nor permitted a kind and noble nature to be
led into an approval of doubtful measures because of his regard for their author.
He seldom failed in correctness of judgment and never in impressing his associates
with his candor and fairness. By his death the city has lost a faithful public officer.
He was stricken down in the midst of a most brilliant career, but had already won
lasting honor and fame in the hearts of those he had helped and encouraged. On
June "23. 1891, he married Ida Jerone, daughter of the late Avery Smith and Nellie
Corbett Willey of Milwaukee. Wis., who survives him, as does an only child, Anna
Jerone Townsend, liorn June 30, 1893,



138

Rogers, Howard Jason, born in Stephentown N. Y., November 16, 1861, is a son
of Edwin A. and Laura (Howard) Rogers, and a lineal descendant of Deacon Joseph
Rogers (1), who moved from Rhode Island to Stephentown in 1765. The line from
him is (3) Joseph, farmer, local magistrate and a captain of militia; (3) Joseph,
captain of cavalry in the war of 1813; (4) Alonzo Joseph, one of the earliest seeds-
men in the State; and (5) Edwin A., who enlisted in 1862 in the 135th N. Y. Vols.,
was wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania and died from the effects of the wound
in 1878. In his mothers line Howard J. Rogers is lineally descended from Nicholas
Howard, who came from England to Salem, Mass., with Endicott in 1638; and from
Gen. Hosea Moffit, a member of the New York Legislature from 1794 to 17S8, sheriff
of Rensselaer county in 1810, and a member of Congress from 1812 to 1817. In 1879
Mr. Rogers removed to Pittsfield, Mass., and was graduated from the Pittsfield High
School in 1880 and from Williams College in 1884, winning among other honors the
Graves prize for the best English essay, and taking an active part in athletics. On
leaving college he came to Albany, N. Y., and taught English literature and rhetoric
in the Albany Boys' Academy for eight years, reading law meanwhile with Heyward
& Pruyn. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1887. In 1892 he was made super-
intendent of the New York State Educational Exhibit at the World's Columbian E.\-
position at Chicago ; in the latter part of 1893 he became acting secretary for the New
York Board of General Managers at the World's Fair, and as such wrote their elab-
orate report, " New York at the World's Columbian Exposition." April 8, 1895, he
was appointed deputy State superintendent of public instruction. He was one of the
of the organizers of the Albany Chess Club in 1886 and served as its secretary until
1888 and as president from 1888 to 1890, and is now vice-president of the Albany
Chess and Whist Club. He was secretary of the New York State Chess Association
from 1889 to 1893, and has since been its president. In December, 1887, he married
at New Haven, Conn., Anne North, daughter of Jonathan Turner, and their chil-
dren are Kathryn Howard and Joseph Edwin.

Rockwell Hiram J., son of George T., was born in Luzerne, Warren county, N. Y.,
July 13, 1832, was educated at the Glens Falls Academy, and was afterwards asso-
ciated with his father at the Rockwell House at Luzerne until 1866, when he assumed
charge of the Lake House at Lake George, which he successfully conducted for five
years. In 1871 he built with his brother, Charles L., the Rockwell House at Glens
Falls, which they kept until 1878, when Hiram J. became manager of the Fort Will-
iamt Henry Hotel at Lake George for one season. He was then proprietor of the
American House in Troy for nine and one-half years, being al.so manager of
the Wayside Inn at Lake Luzerne for seven years. May 14, 1888, he came to Al-
bany as proprietor of the Hotel Kenmore, which was built in 1878 by Dr. James
McNaughton for Adam Blake, the noted landlord of the old Congress Hall. Later
this popular hotel received several additions and now occupies a whole block, except-
ing Jermain Hall, fronting on North Pearl street. It is the largest and foremost
hotel in Albany, and under the able management of the Rockwells has attained a
wide popularity. In December, 1895, Mr. Rockwell admitted his son Frederick W.
as partner, under the firm name of H. J. Rockwell & Son. Both are members of the
New York Hotel Association, of which Hiram J. is one of the originators and
founders, and which he served as treasurer until the spring of 1896.



130

Daubney, William H., is of English ancestry. His father was a remarkable man,
having served for seventeen years in the British Royal Artillery. He was a skillful
swordsman and horseman and taught the art to the nobility. He came to Montreal
in 1846, and died in 1893 at the age of eighty-one. He was the only man who ever
received a pension from the British Government after becoming a citizen of the
United States. Mr. Daubney spent three years in Montreal, thence to Plattsburg,
where he learned the blacksmith's trade, and came to Troy in 1855 and opened a
shop until 1872; after that he engaged in the news business and book store until
1884, when he went to Virginia for one year. On his return he worked as agent for
the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company for two years, and then opened the pres-
ent grocery. Mr. Daubney has been trustee of the Fourth ward twice, and was
canal collector from 1890 up to 1895. He has a fine tenor voice, which be has devo-
ted to the churches, having sung for fifty-three years and at present sings in St.
Patrick's church of West Troy.

Evory Frank H., son of James and Alice J. (Hickok) Evory, was born in Indian
Fields, Albany county, June 26, 1864. His parents moved from Durham, Greene
county, to Indian Fields in 1863, and thence to Albany in 1870, and here Frank H.
received a public school education. His great-great-grandfather came from Holland
to Connecticut in the early history of the country. Here his great-grandfather,
Obadiah Evory, was born in July, 1775; he married Alcha, a daughter of Peter
Vermilyea, whose father Johannes was one of the early settlers of New Amsterdam.
Later Obadiah moved to Durham, Greene county, N. Y. Here seven children were
born, one of whom (Peter) served with distinction as a soldier during the war of
1812. The youngest son, James, married Margaret, a daughter of John W. Welch
and Hannah Van Etten, in 1832, and remained on the old homestead until his
death in 1860 Here James, jr., the father of Frank H., was born in 1839, and
married Alice J. Hickok in 1860. His mother is of an old New England family;
her grandparents were Gideon Hickok and Annie Buckingham on her father's
side, and Roswell Post and Temperance Kirtland on her mother's side. Her father,
David Hickok, who died in 1870, aged seventy-two, was a well-to-do farmer of
Greenville, N. Y., an elder and one of the pillars of the Presbyterian church; he
married Lydia Ann Post, who died in 1883, aged eighty-two, a daughter of Ros-
well, who was a large land and mil! owner of Durham, Greene county, N. Y. Frank
H. Evory learned the printer's trade with the Prouty Printing Companj', and in 1885
entered the employ of Brandow, Barton & Co. On November 1, 1887, the Brau-
dow Printing Company was incorporated with A. S. Brandow president; W. B.
Jones treasurer, and Mr. Evory secretary snd superintendent. January 1, 1890,
Richard W. Brass succeeded Mr. Jones as treasurer; the other officers remained the
same. Mr. Evory is an active member of the Y. M. C. A. and the Tabernacle
Baptist church, and assistant superintendent and chorister of the Sunday school.
Also a charter member of Albany Senate No. 641, K. A. E. O. November 23, 1887,
he married Estella J., daughter of Ithamar Spencer of Albany, and they had two
sons: Clifford Spencer Evory, born September 10, 1889, who survives, and Harold
Evory, deceased.

Morrow, .Samuel Roseburgh, M.D., was born in Albany, N. Y., May 6, 1849. He
graduated from the Albany Academy in 1866 and from Yale with the degree of A.



uo

B. in 1870, and received the degree of A. M. from the same college in 1874. He was
tutor at Yale in Greek and mathematics from 1873 to 1876. He then attended the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York city, from which he received the de-
gree of M.D. in 1878. He served on the house staff of Bellevue Hospital, New
York, from October, 1877, to April, 1879. Doctor Morrow then studied further at
the London Hospital, London ; General Ho.spital, Vienna, and at Halle until 1880,
when he commenced the practice of medicine and surgery in Albany, N. Y. In 1883
he received the honorary degree of M.D. from the Albany Medical College. He has
been lecturer on minor surgery, Albany Medical College, spring term, 1881-82; ad-
junct lecturer to the chair of surgery, 1884-86; adjunct professor of surgery, 1886-88;
lecturer on anatomy, 1887-89; professor of anatomy and orthopaedic surgery since
1890; visiting surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital since 1881 ; to the Hospital for Incura-
bles since 1885 ; to the Albany Hospital since 1888; to the Child's Hospital since 1886;
was vice-president Medical Society of the County of Albany, 1886-87. Doctor Morrow
was examiner in anatomy in the State Board of Medical Examiners until 1891, when
the board was abolished. He is a member of the State Medical Society and has con-
tributed several articles to the leading medical journals.

Whitbeck, Henry T., born in Coeymans, December 9, 1847, was a son of William
A. Whitbeck, sou of Thomas, who spent most of his days in Coeymans, where he
died. The father of Henry T. Whitbeck now lives at Coeymans a retired life. His
wife was Annie Tompkins, daughter of Jolm Tompkins, son of Daniel Tompkins,
mentioned in this work. To William A. Whitbeck and his wife were born ten chil-
dren, and si.x are now Hving. Mrs. Whitbeck died ii 1886. Henry T. Whitbeck
was reared on a farm and was educated in the common schools. He has 147 acres
of land on which he has lived since April 1, 1873. In politics he is a Democrat, being
assessor nine years and was elected justice in 1891, which he held four years and re-
elected again in 1895. September 13, 1873, he married Rosalie Gifford, daughter of
John H. and Caroline Gififord of Rensselaerville, N. Y. They have one child, John
H. Mr. Whitbeck is a member of Cascade Lodge No. 427, F. & A. M.

Mickel, Charles, born in Darmstadt, Germany, August 26, 1847, is a son of Eman-
uel Mickel, a native of Darmstadt, Germany, who came to America in 1849. The
father was long engaged in business as a decorative artist in New York city, being
a member of the firm of Delamano, then the largest house of the kind in the coun-
try. He died in Albany in 1891. Charles Mickel was educated in New York city,
came to Albany with the family in 1860 and remained with his father until 1876,
when he established himself in the business of decorating, frescoing, painting, etc.,
and as a dealer in decorative specialties and paper-hangiug. He has been located
at Nos. 594-.')90 Broadway, corner of Columbia street, since 1887. In 1874 he
married Louisa Faroldt of Albany and they have three children ; Ezra, Mary and
Ella.

Kelly, James J., born May 3, 1833, in Ireland, came to America about 1850 and
settled in Albany, where he first learned the boat builder's trade, and later the trade
of carpenter, which he has since followed. About 1865 he began contracting and
building. He has considerable inventive genius, and on February 28, 1888, obtained
a patent for a circular show case. In 1893 he invented and patented the "Capital
City dumb waiter," which he manufactures in several dififerent styles and sizes. He



141

has also originated a number of other mechanical devices, and is a member, trustee,
and ex-president of the Carpenter's Union of Albany. In 1861 he married Delia
Kiernan, and they have four children living: John T., Frank J., Mary A., and
Cecelia.

CoHin, Capt. T. Campbell, is city edititor of the Cohoes Daily News, of which be
is one of the stockholders, and was for three years superintendent of the Granite
Knitting Mills, with which he had been connected as an employee for fourteen years.
He was born at Leicester, England, in 1856, and brought by his parents to America
the following year. He is a Republican in politics and has advanced to the front,
now serving his fifth term as alderman from the Fourth ward. In 1890 he was nom-
inated for mayor, and officiated three years as water commissioner. At the twentieth
anniversary of the Seventh Separate Company of the N. G. S. N. Y., held in 1896,
he was the only one left of the original members. Since its organization in Febru-
ary, 1876, he has been closely identified with the fortunes of the company, entering
first as a private, and serving in all the grades, gradually rising towards the position
of captain, to which he was promoted in 1890. In 1893 the company presented him
with an elegant gold-mounted sword; he also has a beautiful gold watch, presented
him by the George Campbell Hose Company, of which he was a member for ten
years. He has held many offices in the Masonic fraternity of the highest degree.

â–  Lloyd, Will Lyman, great-grandson of Andrew Lloyd, of East Otis, Mass., and
grandson of Lyman J. Lloyd, a large manufacturer of harness and trunks in Albany,
until his death April 23, 1889, was born in Albany, May 27, 1860; he attended the
public schools and Albany Business College. In 1872 he became a page boy in the
Legislature and continued as page boy until 1878; In 1879 he was appointed messen-
ger to the Assembly Judiciary committee; in 1880 he was made superintedent of the
wrapping department of the Assembly; in 1881 he became a clerk m the New York
Custom House, and in 1882 the Assembly correspondent of the Brooklyn Eagle; in

1883 he Was the Assembly representative of the L'^nited Press Association, and in

1884 the legislative correspondent of the New York Truth. In January, 1885, he be-
came secretary at Albany to Chauncey M. Depew, and later assistant general tax
agent of the N. Y. Central Railroad'which position he still holds. He is one of the
governors of the Albany Club, a member of the Acacia Club, a life member of Mt.
Vernon Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M., a member of Capital City Chapter and De Witt
ilinton Council, junior warden of Temple Commandery No. 2, K..T., a life member
â–  â– i all the Scottish Rite bodies and Cyprus Temple, N. M. S. He is a noted statisti-
1 lan, was the originator of the Legislative Red Book and has a valuable collection of
jjliotographs, autographs, etc., largely relating to the State Legislature, with which
he has been identified for twenty-five years. February 21, 1884, he married Ida C,
daughter of Charles Hauptner of New York city, and they have had five children:
Valeria Louise, Gladys Viola, Will Lyman, jr., Clifford Gregory, and Chauncey
Depew. The latter died November 13, 1888, aged one and one-half years.

Pinkerton, Robert, son of James and Mary (Martin) Pinkerton, was born in Bel-
fast, Ireland, in 1841. He was educated in the private schools and learned the trade
of boilermaker in Greenwich, Scotland. In 1862 he came to America, .settling in
New York city, and obtained work in the Hutchinson boiler shops in Brooklyn.
After a few years he went to Callao, Peru, South America, where he remained a



142

short time, and returning spent a short period in New York and in New London,
Conn. In 1871 he came to Waterford, N. Y., where for fourteen years he worked in
the Steam Fire Engine Works. In 1885 he removed to Green Island, Albany county,
where he established himself as a boilermaker. In 1892 he entered into partnership
with Abram Mull, with whom he is now engaged in the manufacture of boilers, under
the firm name of Pinkerton & Mull. Mr. Pinkerton is a member of the E.\empt
Firemen's Association. Waterford, Clinton Lodge No. 140. F. & A. M., and Water-
ford Chapter No. 169. R. A. M. In 1863 he married Rachel Adams, of New York
city, and they have si.\ children: Mary (Mrs. James Sinclair of New York), James
(deceased), John, Robert, jr.. Nancy and Joseph G.

Ridgway & Russ. — This is the oldest plumbing firm in Albany and one of the old-
e.stin the State, having been estabhshed in Albany in 1843 by J. & F. W. Ridgway,
who came here from New York city, being located there at 145 Broadway. They
continued business in this city for three years, when the brothers separated, Jonathan
going to Boston and F. W. continuing here alone until his death in 1851, at the age
of thirty-four. His widow carried on the establishment for a year or two,
when it passed into the hands of Mrs. Ridgway, Herman H. Russ and Edmund Nes-
bitt, who composed the firm of Ridgway & Co. About sixteen years later Mr. Nesbitt
retired and the firm of Ridgway & Russ was formed. Mrs. Ridgway withdrew
about 1870 and her interest has since been represented by her son, Frederick W.
Herman H. Russ, born in Albany. October 23. 1829, is one of the best known busi-
ness men in the State, and has been street commissioner and one of the public