Yale alumni magazine. ([New Haven]) 1937-1976, April 07, 1898, Page 6, Image 6

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    6 YALE ALUMNI WHEEEKILWY
OBITUARY. Col. Oakey was 45 Het : his aogsie: An Inter-Department Debate.
of his family, as his brothers had no ; 3
: children and he himself no son. His An inter department debate between
[Continued from 3d page.] wife and youngest daughter, Fanny the Yale Union and the Sheffield Debat- :
in 1857. The previous year he waS Wallach, survive him. ing Society has been arranged to take THE LARGEST MANUFACTURERS O
city attorney. For several years he was
Chairman of the State Democratic Com-
mittee. As a lawyer Mr. Brisbin_at-
tained high rank, being the counsel. in
many celebrated cases.
Mr. Brisbin was married twice, first
in 1850, to Miss Almira George, who
died in 1863. In 1866 he married Miss
Margaret M. Jones, who survives him
with one child.
COL. JOHN OAKEY, 749.
John Oakey of the Class of Forty-
Nine, died at his home, 865 Union
street, Brooklyn, N. Y., at an early
hour on the morning of March 24th.
Mr. Oakey went to bed the evening
before in apparently good health, with
the exception of a slight bilious attack,
such as he had been accustomed to for
the last twenty-five years. He was
heard moving about very early in the
morning, but when the family went to
call him at at eleven o’clock he was
found dead in bed. His death is sup-
posed to have been caused by gastric
apoplexy.
Col. Oakey was born in Brooklyn,
N. Y., on September 12th, 1829. He
was a lineal descendant of the famous
Col. John Oakey, who commanded a
regiment in Cromwell’s army and was
celebrated in story and song as one of
the great warriors of the seventeenth
century. Col. Oakey prepared for Col-
lege at the Erasmus Hall Academy in
Flatbush, N. Y., and entered the Fresh-
man class at Yale in 1845, graduating in
1849. While in College he devoted a
great deal of time to the study of
music, and was for a time the leader
of the Beethoven Society’s Orchestra.
After a little preliminary study Col.
Oakey entered the law office of James:
Humphrey of Brooklyn, and in 1851
he was admitted to the bar. For the
two years following he was managing
clerk in the office of C. T. Crowell,
N. Y. In October, 1854, he began the
practice of law in Brooklyn, where he
had an office until 1874, when he trans-
ferred his practice to New York. From
1861, Col. Oakey was Justice of the
Peace for King’s County, L. I., until
he was appointed Commissioner of
Excise for the same County in 1865, a
position which he held for six years.
In 1866-7 he was also a member of the
New York State House of Representi-
tives. In 1872 he was elected U. S.
Assessor and held this office until 1878,
when he was elected District Attorney
for Brooklyn, holding this latter office
for eight years. On September rst,
1889, he was appointed Assistant U. S.
District Attorney for the Eastern Dis-
trict of New York under General Isaac
S. Catlin. Five years later he became
District Attorney for the same District.
In 1896 he resigned this office and re-
sumed his law practice.
Col. Oakey was one of the veterans
of the famous Seventh regiment of the
N. Y. S. N. G., serving with his reg-
ment in the Civil War from 1861 to
1863. For five years previous to 1873
he was Judge Advocate, with the rank
of Colonel, on the Staff of Major-
Socal Shaler, First Division, N. Y.:
He was at the time of his
death an active member of Mansfield
Post, No. 35, G. A. R.
For many years Col. Oakey has been
familiarly and effectionately known to
his friends as “Our John,” a name
which he won from a humorous lecture
of that title which he delivered, per-
haps a hundred times in Brooklyn and
neighboring cities in aid of works of
charity. He has lectured on many
subjects, his favorite being “The Mus-
sulman of America.” He delivered the
oration at Admiral Farragut’s grave
some years ago and also at the dedica-
tion of the Soldiers’ Monument. at
Canarsie.” He was a member of many
social clubs, among them being the
Lincoln Club, the Society of Old
Brooklynites, the Yale Alumni Asso-
ciation of Long Island and the Rocky
Mountain Club. He was also an en-
thusiastic yachtsman, having been for
‘many years a member of the Brooklyn
Yacht Club and of the Atlantic Yacht
Club.
Col. Oakey was twice married. On
June 3d, 1857, he married Sarah Spof-
ford of Flatbush, L. I. They had one
daughter, Martha ‘Tileston.
Oakey died on August 26th, 1862. On
November oth, 1871, he married Fanny
Wallach Allen of Brooklyn, and they
had three daughters, Mary Woodworth,
Lillian Allen, and Fanny Wallach.
Mrs. -
VOLNEY HICKOX, ’57.
Volney Hickox of the Class of Fiity-
Seven, died at Springfield, IIl., on
Saturday, March t2th, 1898, aged 62
years, 4 months and 11 days.
He was for many years the Circuit
Court stenographer, but retired from
the office some time ago. He served in
the war on the ceneral staff of the
Department of the South, and also on
the staff of the Department of the East,
being mustered out of service on ac-
count of severe inflammatory rheuma-
tism from which he never recovered.
As a reporter he was the first man to
bring to Washington the news of Sher-
man’s arrival on the coast after his
famous march, beating the government
messenger by two days. He was the
only correspondent present at Durham
Station between Kirkpatrick and Johns-
ton, (the last opposing leaders of the
war) and rode with the news directly
across rebel territory to bring home the
report.
GIDEON WELLS, ’58.
Gideon Wells of Springfield, Mass.,
died at his home in that city on the
morning of March 26th, of Bright’s
disease. Three weeks ago to-day Mr.
Wells went to Fortress Monroe, Va.,
in the hope of benefiting his health.
He did not improve however, and re-
turned to Springfield last Thursday.
Although his intimate friends knew his
health to be very poor, his sudden death
was a great surprise and shock.
Gideon Wells was the son of
Romanta and Mary Morgan Wells,
and was born in Wethersfield, Conn.,
on the 16th of August, 1835. He re-
ceived hs preparation for College at
Windsor, Conn’ and at the Williston
Academy, Easthampton, Mass., and en-
tered Yale with the Class of Fifty-
Eight. For two years after graduation
Mr. Wells studied law in Springfield,
and was admitted to the bar in 1860.
The next year he became junior part-
ner of the firm of Ashmun, Leonard &
Wells, and a year later, on the retire-
ment of Mr. Ashmun the firm became
Leonard & Wells, and thus continued
for many: years. |
On August 15th, 1862, Mr. Wells en-
tered Co. A, 46th . Massachusetts... In-
fantry as a private. Two years later at
Newbern, S. C., he was promoted to be
a first lieutenant. When his term of
enlistment was over he immediately
re-enlisted as a first lieutenant in the
8th Massachusetts Infantry, and was
mustered out of the service on the
roth of November, 1864. He spent
most of the time during the war near
Newbern, S. C., but was in Baltimore
a short time and was with the army of
the Potomac after the battle of Gettys-
burg.
Returning after the war to Spring-
field, he was a member of the City
Council during the years 1866-7, and on
January Ist, 1867, was appointed Reg-
ister of Bankruptcy for the U. S. Dis-
trict Court, a position which he held
until July of the year, when he resigned
to. become Judge of the Springfield
Police Court. This position he held
until 1880.
Mr. Wells had interests in many con-
cerns. He has been a Director and
Attorney for the Massachusetts Mutual
Life Insurance Company since 1877; a
Director of the Springfield Street Rail-
way since 1886; President of the
Holyoke Water Power Company since
1889; a Director of the John Hancock
National Bank since 1884, and since
1893 its Vice-President. He was also
President of the Springfield and of the
Richmond, Va., Electric Light Com-
panies for many years. Besides the
above he was connected as Director or
other officer with a large number of
Western mining companies.
Mr. Wells was married on October
13, 1875, to Miss Marietta Gilbert,
daughter of Merritt S. and Esther Gil-
bert. His wife and one son, Gilbert,
survive him.
At a meeting of the St. Paul’s School
Club on last Friday evening, officers
were elected as follows: President,
Alfred: G. Vanderbilt, ’99; Vice-Presi-
dent, E. T. Nugent, ’99 S.; Secretary
and Treasurer, F. B. Adams, 1900. .
pointed later.
place on April 209th. The choice of
sides has fallen to the Sheffield Society,
which has taken the negative on the
question, “Resolved, That street rail-
way systems should be owned and con-
trolled by the municipal government.”
The judges and speakers will be ap-
THE OLD .
RELIABLE
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The Parker Gun has stood the test of over
Thirty years. ‘ Most perfect shooting Gur
made.” Send for Catalogue.
N. Y. SALESROOMS, 96 CHAMBERS ST.
PARKER BROS., MERIDEN, CONN.
Yale Entrance Examinations in Mathematics.
CoMPILED BY RICHARD MATHER.
Including all papers in Plane and Solid Geometry,
Algebra to and from Quadratics, and Trigonome-
try, for the Scientific and Academic Departments,
between the years 1884 and 1898. 8vo, cloth, 146
pages, substantially bound in cloth. Price $2.00.
Address: T. W. MATHER,
Boardman School Press, New Haven, Conn.
YALE MEW {
When you are ready to talk about your
Class Supper, or Spreads of any description,
you can avoid lots of trouble by addressing
the old reliable Yale Caterer.
J. W. STEWART, New Haven, Conn.
J. EDWARD SOMERS,
IMPORTING TAILOR,
63 Center Street,
NEW HAVEN, - CONN.
F. R. BLISS & CO.,
Oo TAT ORS Oe
CHURCH AND CHAPEL STREETS,
New Haven, Conn.
CHARLES T. PENNELL,
Successor to Wm. Franklin & Co.,
IMPORTING J AILOR,
40 Center St., New Haven, Conn.
ATHLETIC AND BICYCLE SUPPLIES
AND UNIFORMS IN THE WORLD. .« -
x x
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A. G. SPALDING & BROS.
‘¢ THE NAME THE GUARANTEE.”
Official Outfitters to the Leading College,
..... Athletic Club and School...-.-
‘did ge PeaMS OF The Uk Sisis . = -.« »
EVERY REQUISITE FOR BASE BALL,
ATHLETIC SPORTS AND PASTIMES.
The Spalding Official League Ball
adopted by National, Minor, College and
: School Leagues,
BASE BALL UNIFORMS, BATS, GLOVES, MITS,
CHEST PROTECTORS, SHOES, ETC.
The Spalding Chainless "ca
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The Spalding Blue Racer (chain) E
The Spalding Road Wheel chain)
Send for Illustrated Catalogue of all
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A. G. SPALDING & BROS.
_NEW YORK. CHICAGO.
WINDSOR HOTEL
Under new and liberal management.
Fifth Avenue, 46th to 47th Sts., New York.
Offers superior accommodations
GP Ponuiar PRICES. 6 ee
WARREN F. LELAND, Proprietor.
THE MurRAY HILL HOTEL,
Park Ave., 40th and 41st Streets,
NEW YORK.
AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN PLANS.
Headquarters for Yale Men.
COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHERS,
1024 Chapel St., New Haven.
Branch of No. 935 Broadway, - New York
ASHEVILLE and HOT SPRINGS, N. C.
“THESE two charming resorts, located in the mountains of Western North
Carolina, are now being rapidly
North. A more delightful place cannot
filled with winter tourists from the
be found to avoid the disagreeable
March winds. They are easily reached from New York, via Pennsylvania and
Southern Railway, by the Washington and Southwestern Limited, which leaves
New York daily at 4.20 P. M., making the trip within twenty-two hours in
through Pullman drawing-room sleeping
Cars.
For full particulars, etc., call on or address Alex. S. Thweatt, Eastern
Passenger Agent, 271 Broadway, New York.