Starin, Hon. John Henry, ex-member of Congress, whose name for many decades was so prominently identified with New York’s railroad and steamboat transportation, was born in Sammonsville, N. Y. His paternal ancestor, Nicholas Starin (or Sterne, as the name was then spelled), was a native of Germany, and came to America about the year 1720, and settled in the Mohawk Valley, upon the German Flats. John Starin, his seventh son, fought in the Revolutionary War, being one of ten members of the Starin family who served in the American army under Washington.
William Havemeyer, founder of America’s great sugar refining industry, came here from Germany in 1799, and settled in New York. He brought with him a knowledge of his business from Bückenburg, Germany, and started what was one of the earliest refineries in New York, and has later developed into the Sugar Trust with which his descendants have been identified as leaders. (Makers of New York, Hamersly & Co., Philadelphia, 1895.)
Bergh, Henry, founder of the first society in America for the prevention of cruelty to animals, was born in New York, 1823. He was of German descent, the family having come to America about 1740. Christian Bergh, father of the philanthropist, was a ship builder. (Makers of New York, Hamersly & Co., Philadelphia, 1895.)
Gunther, Charles Godfred, mayor of New York in 1864, was born in that city in 1822. His father, Christian G. Gunther, a German by birth, was for more than half a century the leading fur merchant in the metropolis. (Makers of New York, Hamersly & Co., Philadelphia, 1895.)
Mayer, Charles Frederick, former president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., was a son of Lewis Mayer, one of the first men to develop the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania. The father of Lewis Mayer was Christian Mayer, who emigrated from Germany and settled in Baltimore, where he became one of the leading merchants. (Makers of New York, Hamersly & Co., Philadelphia, 1895.)
Ottendorfer, Oswald, was born at Zwittau and educated at Vienna. He came to New York in 1850, having been involved in the revolutionary outbreak in Vienna. He became eminent as the editor and proprietor of the “New Yorker Staats-Zeitung.” (Makers of New York, Hamersly & Co., Philadelphia, 1895.)