History of New Brighton, (Richmond County) New York United States of America

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Biographies:

Thomas Brian Gunning, inventor, was born in London, England, in 1814. He immigrated to the United States and settled in New York city in 1840, where he studied and practised dentistry. He established himself in practice and applied himself to the invention of dental and surgical apparatus, inventing in 1861 the hard rubber interdental splits for fractured jaws, which proved to be valuable in surgery. He was appointed in 1867 a member of the commission to choose the medical and surgical instruments to be exhibited in the U.S. section of the Paris exposition, and made an exhibition of his inventions in that line at the Centennial exhibition in 1876. He is the author of Physiological Action of the Muscles concerned in the Movement of the Lower Jaw (1867); The Larynx the Source of Vocal Sound (1874); Hard Rubber Appliances for Congenital Cleft Palate (1878) He died at New Brighton, N.Y., Jan. 8, 1889.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Thomas Pattison, naval officer, was born in Troy, N.Y., Feb. 8, 1822. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. navy, March 2, 1839, and served on the St. Louis of the Pacific squadron, 1839-42. He attended the naval school at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1845, was promoted passed midshipman July 2, 1845, and served on the steamers Scorpion and Princeton, the frigates Raritan and Columbia, the ordnance ship Electra and the gunboat Referee, of the home squadron, during the Mexican war. He served with the coast survey, 1850-51; was promoted lieutenant, Sept. 12, 1854, and served on the Portsmouth of the Pacific squadron, 1852-55. He was the first American naval officer to enter Tokyo, Japan. He was stationed at the Boston navy yard in 1857, and was an officer on the Mississippi of the East India squadron, 1857-60. He was commissioned lieutenant-commander in 1861, and served as executive officer of the sloop Perry. During a night engagement off Charleston, S.C., June 4, 1861, he assisted in the capture of the Savannah, the first Confederate privateer taken in the war. He commanded the Philadelphia of the Potomac flotilla in October, 1861, and engaged the Confederate batteries on the Potomac river and Aquia creek. He was transferred to the Sumter of the South Atlantic squadron, in 1862, and to the Sarah Dolson of the Mississippi squadron, in 1863. He was in charge of the naval station at Memphis, Tenn., 1863-65; was promoted commander, March 3, 1865, and was in charge of the Muscota, of the Atlantic squadron, 1865-67. He was on duty at the Norfolk navy yard, 1867-69; was promoted captain in June, 1870, and commanded the Richmond in the West Indies, 1871-72; the Saranac and the receiving ship Independence, 1872-78. He was promoted commodore, Dec. 11, 1877, and commanded the naval station at Port Royal, S.C., 1878-80. He was transferred to the navy yard at Washington, D.C., in 1880, and served until July, 1883, when he was detached. He was commissioned rear-admiral, in November, 1883, and was retired Feb. 8, 1884. He died at New Brighton, N.Y., Dec. 19, 1891.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Charles Arthur Hollick, geologist, was born in New Brighton, N.Y., Feb., 6, 1857: son of Frederick and Eleanor Eliza (Bailey) Hollick, and grandson of Joseph and Mary Abbey (Eaton) Hollick, and of George and Maria (Hinton) Bailey. His father, a physician, was born in Birmingham, England, in 1818, and came to America in 1842, settling on Staten Island, N.Y. The son attended public and private schools in New Brighton, New York, and Wiesbaden, Germany, and was graduated from the Columbia College School of Mines, Ph.B., 1879. He was superintendent of the Mexican mine at Mariposa, Cal., 1880-81; private assistant to Dr. J. S. Newberry , at Colulnbia college, 1881-90; fellow in geology at Columbia, 1890-91; assistant in the department of geology, 1892-93, and was appointed tutor in geology there in 1898. He also engaged in geological field work for the U.S. geological survey and the state geological surveys of New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Louisiana, for all of which he prepared geological reports from time to time, mostly on the subject of fossil botany. He was married, Sept. 19, 1881, to Adeline Augusta, danghter of Frederick Wales and Sally Ann (De Voe) Talkington. He was assistant sanitary engineer and inspector and special inspector, of the New York city health department, 1881-92; sanitary expert of the New York state board of health, 1881-95; member of the board of health of New Brighton, Staten Island, N.Y., 1886-92, and held other important local offices. He was made associate editor of the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical club in 1888; was elected a member, fellow and curator of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1892; a member of the Natural Science Association of Staten Island, of which he was one of the founders; member and fellow of the Geological Society of America; member and fellow of the Botanical Society of America, which he helped to found, and member and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was a commissioner and then chairman of the Port Richmond, N.Y., boulevard commission from 1897, also commissioner and vice-president of the Richmond county, N.Y., park commission. He received the degree of Ph.D. from the Columbian university, Washington, D.C., in 1897. He is the author of frequent contributions to scientific periodicals; numerous works upon the geology and botany of Staten Island, Long Island, Block Island, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket; The Flora of the Amboy Clays; monographs of the United States geological survey, volume xxxvi., edited from the manuscript notes of Prof. John Strong Newberry; also The Later Extinct Floras of North America; monographs of the U.S. geological survey, volume xxxv., edited under the same circumstances. He is also joint author with Dr. N. L. Britton of The Flora of Richmond County, N.Y. (1879).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Ferdinand Schyler Mathews, author and artist, was born in New Brighton, Staten Island, N.Y., May 30, 1854; son of Ferdinand Schuyler and Frances (Coffin) Mathews, and grandson of William Edwin and Hannah Schuyler (Loree) Mathews and of William and Elizabeth Chase (Hussey) Coffin. His ancestor, Ephraim Loree, surgeon in Colonel Dayton's regiment during the Revolutionary war, was married to Gettie, daughter of Gertrude (Schuyler) Voorhis, a descendant of Abraham Schuyler of Albany, N.Y. William Coffin was a descendant of Tristram Coffin, ancestor of the Coffin family of New England. Ferdinand Schuyler Mathews attended the Wooster Street public school of New York city, and finally deciding on art as his vocation, studied at the Cooper institute, New York city; at a later period he studied in Rome and Naples, Italy. He began work with Russell Sturgis, architect, in New York city in 1872; entered the art department of Tiffany & Co., 1874-78, and became a special artist on the staff of L. Prang & Co. in 1879. He removed to Boston, Mass., in 1885. He was married, Nov. 17, 1886, to Carolina, daughter of Professor George W. Maynard of New York. He is the author of: The Golden Flower (1890); The Beautiful Flower Garden (1894); Familiar Flowers of Field and Garden (1895); Familiar Trees and their Leaves (1896, rev. ed., 1901); Familiar Features of the Roadside (1897); Familiar Life in Field and Forest (1898); The Writing Table of the Twentieth Century (1900).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor