Albany County New York Family Sketches - Surnames O

Transcribed by Lynn Tooley

Albany County New York Family Sketches - surnames O, extracted from the Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Edited by Amasa J. Parker of Albany, N.Y., Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co., Publishers, 1897.

OGSBURY, Junius D., Family Sketch

Ogsbury, Junius D., and John D., comprise the Enterprise Company, editors and proprietors of the Altamont Enterprise, and are kinsmen. Junius D., the senior member of the company, was born in the town of New Scotland, February 14, 1857. James, the father of Junius D., was born in Guilderland in 1832; his wife was Almira Wands and their children were Junius D., Maggie, Stanley, William, Ella, George and Jennie. He died in 1890 and his wife survives him and resides in Altamont, where they were both members of the Lutheran church. Junius D. was reared in the village of Altamont, attended the village school, and when eighteen spent a year in Michigan with an uncle who conducted a printing office, where he acquired his first practical knowledge of the art of printing. Upon his return he engaged in school teaching and clerking for a few years, and in 1885 purchased the Enterprise, which was then but sixteen months old and known as the Knowerviile Enterprise. A year later he associated with him his present partner, a cousin, John D. He is an Odd Fellow and one of the consistory of the Lutheran church. In 1880 he married Anna, daughter of James Ostrander of Guilderland, and they have five children: James, Nettie, William, Junius, jr., and Charles. His wife died in November, 1893, In August, 1896, he married Margaret J. Bell, a daughter of the late Chauncey Bell, of Rensselaerville. John D. Ogsbury was born in the town of Guilderland, August 31, 1856. His father. John P., was born in Guilderland, November 7, 1818. In 1839 he married Margaret J. Van Valkenburgh, a daughter of Johoicam Van Valkenburgh, and their children were Charles A. (who died when two years old). Peter J., Mary C. (who died when twelve years old), David Clayton (who went west and became city marshal of Silverton, Col.; he was called upon in August, 1881, to make an arrest of a party of ruffians and was fired upon by one of the party and killed; his body was brought back for interment and now lies in the family cemetery in the old Helderberg Cemetery), Ella (wife of Peter Vanderpool), and John D. John D. received a common school education and his life was spent on the farm until twenty six years of age, when he went on a canvassing tour through the South and West. In 1885 he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business in Altamont, and in December, 1886, he purchased a half interest in the Enterprise. He is a Republican and filled the office of the first village tax collector. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Altamont Reformed church, in which he is deacon. June 1, 1885, he married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Brunk of Guilderland, and their children are Bessie Margaret, De Witt Clayton, Milton J., Merlin L., John P., and Howard F.

OLIVER, George, Family Sketch

Oliver, George, is one of the wealthiest men of Cohoes, inheriting with his six brothers and sisters a large farm property, which they have sold. He has interests in many parts of the United States, among which are the Oliver Bros. Grist Mill, flour and feed at 297 Ontario street, brass and iron bedstead manufacturer at Lockport, N. Y., Green Island Knitting Mill, phosphate and fertilizers and oil works in North Carolina, and the oil business at Atlanta, Ga. He was born at Argyle, N. Y. in 1839, and was the son of John Oliver, a farmer of Cambridge, who died in 1861. Mr. Oliver was born on a farm in Washington county, came to Waterford in 1839 and to Cohoes in 1860, building a cider mill in 1862. His wife was Isabella Frink, who bore him three children: Harrison G., Grace, and Marion Ruth.

OOTHOUT, Volkert J., Family Sketch

Oothout, Volkert J., born in West Troy, N. Y., July 6, 1855, is a son of Jonas V. and Helen M. (Lobdell) Oothout. Mr. Oothout entered the law office, as a student. of Elias Van Olinda, counselor at law, of West Troy, and also attended the Albany Law School, from which he was graduated on May 27, 1881. He was admitted to the bar on May 28, 1881, and ever since that time has been engaged in the practice of law at West Troy, now the city of Watervliet. June 30, 1896, he was married to Sarah E. Blunn. Mr. Oothout is a descendant of Hendrick Oothout, who came from Holland and settled in Albany, and in 1713 purchased a large tract of land on the west side of the Mohawk River and settled there. A greater part of the land has been sold and is now populated with residences and manufactories, and includes the lands now comprising the village of Green Island, also a portion of the lands lying between the cities of Cohoes and Watervliet.

OPPENHEIM, Leo, Family Sketch

Oppenheim, Leo, born in Albany, July 4, 1856, is a son of Gerson Oppenheim, who died in 1886. highly respected by his fellow-townsmen and deeply mourned by his appreciative children, who have since been singularly fortunate in carving out for themselves enviable names in their respective lines of endeavor. Gerson Oppenheim was a successful merchant, a well known Odd Fellow and occupied many positions of trust in the community and in the synagogue of which he was one of the helpful pillars. During the panic of 1857 many of the senior Mr. Oppenheira's co-religionists withdrew their money from the banks and placed it in his hands for safe keeping; that he was scrupulously faithful to the trust thus forced upon him was one of the reasons for the esteem in which he was held. Leo Oppenheim is up to date, fin de siecle, as a merchant and as an artictic designer of men's wear; his store is said to be the most tastefully arranged, luxuriously fitted up and bountifully stocked tailoring establishment north of New York city. With other environments, Leo Oppenheim might have made name and fame as an artist; as it is, his love of the beautiful as the highest principle and the highest aim of art, expends itself in endeavoring, artistically, to clothe his fellow men, in hiding their deformities and in bringing out their silent good points. His ambition is to dress people well in harmony with their form aud build; that he succeeds is evidenced by the increasing number of his fastidious patrons.

[ Surnames P-Q ]