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Edward B. Cantine was educated in the public schools and academy of Rome, N. Y., and finished at Cazenovia Seminary. He then entered the employ of the wholesale grocery house of Alfred Ethridge & Co., of Rome, and contmued as traveling salesman for nine years. In 1890 he came to Albany as manager of the Albany office of the New York Life Insurance Company. In 1893, after the election of John A. McCall as president of the company, Mr. Cantine was made agency director, which position he still holds, having charge of the business in the counties of Albany, Columbia, Greene, and Schoharie. He is one of the best known insurance men in Eastern New York, and has directed the affairs of the New York Life in this section with great credit and ability.
Mr. Cantine has also taken an active interest in the welfare of the Republican party, which has honored him with several positions of responsibility. He has been for three years clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Albany county and in 1892 represented the 13th ward of the city in the Common Council. In 1893 he was the unsuccessful candidate for member of assembly from the Third assembly district, then as now a stronghold of Democracy. He has been chairman of the executive committee of the Albany County Republican organization since 1895, and is also chairman of the General Republican Committee of the city of Albany. He is a prominent Mason, being a member of Temple Lodge, No. 14, F. & A. M., Capital City Chapter, No. 242, R. A. M., De Witt Clinton Council, No. 22, R. & S. M., Temple Commandery, No. 2, K. T., and Cyprus Temple Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Elks, the Unconditional Republican and Capital City Clubs, Albany County Wheelman, Y. M. C. A., and the Albany Club, of which he is a member of the house committee. He is public spirited, enterprising, and progressive, and takes a lively interest in all that concerns the welfare and advancement of the community.
Edward B. Cantine, agency director for the Albany district of the New York Life Insurance Company, is a son of Col. George A. and Marion J. (Cook) Cantine, and was born in Rutland, Vt., August 4, 1860. He descends from a sturdy line of French Huguenots of illustrious origin, his first American ancestor being Moses Cantine, who fled from Bordeaux, France, to England, at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and afterward came to this country. He received, with others, from Queen Anne, a large grant of land in what is now Ulster county, N. Y., where the family became prominent in civil, social, and military life, many of them becoming associated with the political history of the State. Gen. John Cantine, a son of Moses, was conspicuous as an officer and legislator during the Revolutionary period, while Matthew Cantine was a member of the Provincial Congress in 1775, 1776, and 1777 and also a member of the first Council of Safety. The Civil List of the State of New York contains the names of several of the Cantine family who for long periods filled positions as Congressmen, senators, assemblymen, judges, etc. Moses I. Cantine, son of Gen. John Cantine, was for a time public printer of the State of New York. He and Martin Van Buren married sisters, and his daughter, Miss Christina Cantine, a niece of Van Buren's, presided at the White House during the latter's administration as president. Many of the family enjoyed high social distinction in this country and abroad. Col. George A. Cantine, father of Edward B., is widely known throughout the country as a soldier, orator, and lecturer. He served with distinction in the War of the Rebellion, being identified with the 7th Vt. Vols., and subsequently in the Sequestration Department. He also served as assistant quartermaster-general on the staff of Gen. Sylvester Dering and was later promoted assistant inspector-general with the rank of colonel. After the war he settled in Rome, Oneida county, and finally in Newburgh, N. Y., where he now resides.
