USA > New York > Bronx County > History of Bronx borough, city of New York : compiled for the North side news > Part 38
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LOUIS F. HAFFEN .- A little more than fifty-one years ago, on November 6, 1854, Louis F. Haffen was born in the Village of Melrose, then part of the manor of Morrisama and within the precincts of the old township of West Farms (after- wards, in 1856, the town of Morrisania ) and the County of West- chester. What is now a busy, crowded and prosperous section of the Borough of the Bronx was then a rural township with a mneagre population scattered in small hamlets or having its. homes on the many farms which extended from the Harlem River northiward to Yonkers and white Plains. Mr. Hatten is of a family which has no small distinction in the borough as pioneers in its business, social and religious life, and is of that sturdy substantial German and Irish stock, which figures in- Huentially in the population of our borough and city. The vil- lage school was located on Denman Street, now 150th Street, between Melrose and Courtlandt Avenues. It was here that the subject of our sketch commenced the scholastic and pro- fessional training which, combined with personal qualities of the highest order, has made his public career by far the mos: dis- tinguislied and useful in the history of the evolution of the old l'wenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards into the present popu- lous Borough of the Bronx. From 1866 to 1868 he was a pupil in the old Melrose Public School, a modest frame structure which stood on Third Avenue in the vicinity of 157th or 158th Streets. In the fall of 1868, when fourteen years of age, Mr. Haffen entered St. John's College, then as now, located at Ford- ham. Two years later he began a course of study at Niagara University. In 1872 he returned to St. John's and in 1875 gradu- ated from the college with the degree of A.B. Having decided to become a Civil Engineer, Mr. Haffen began to equip himself for the practice of his chosen profession by entering the School of Mines of Columbia College, the present School of Science of Columbia University. With the full honors of the scientific course he graduated from the School of Mines in 1879. In the meantime, St. John's College, now Fordham University, be- stowed upon him the degree of A.M., and he was again honored by his alma mater last year (1905) when the degree of L.L.D. was conferred upon him. With characteristic energy Mr. Haffen lost no time in entering upon the active work of his profession. After two years of home practice and study, in the fall of 1881 he emigrated to Colorado and spent a busy twelve months in the Rocky Mountain country and other sections of the far West. flis labors as a mining and civil engineer carried him to what were. then almost unexplored sections of the western country between. lower California and Washington Territory. In 1882, that he might begin the practice of his profession in his native city. Mr. Haffen returned to New York and established himself as a Civil Engineer. One year later, in April. 1883, he entered the service of the municipality as an engineer in the Park De-
partment. From 1890 to 1893 he was engineer-in-charge and superintendent of the new parks in the Twenty-third and 'I wenty- fourth Wards and adjacent territory, now the Borough of the Bronx. On May 1, 1893, Louis F. Haffen began his remarkable career as executive and administrator of the territory of the City of New York, north and east of the Harlem River. On that day Mayor Gilroy appointed him Commissioner of Street Improve- ments for the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards to fill the vacancy caused by the untimely demise of Louis J. Heintz. In the fall of 1893 Mayor Gihoy's act was confirmed by the people, who by a large majority elected Mr. Haffen for the unexpired term as Commissioner of Street Improvements. The recital of Louis F. Haffen's public career since that time constitutes the his- tory of the extraordinary development and progress of the great North Side. He served as Commissioner of Street Improve- ments until the end of 1897, when the Department went out of existence to give way to the borough government created by the Greater New York Charter, which went into effect January 1, 1898. In 1897 Mr. Haffen was elected for a term of four years as first President of the Borough of the Bronx. In November, IGOI, he was re-elected for a term of two years; in 1903 again re-elected for a term of two years, and in 1905 once more re- elected, this time for a four-year term, which began January I, 1906. and will expire December 31, 1909. Twenty years ago Mr. Haffen was happily married. Nine children, six of whom sur- vive, have been born to him and his wife. His residence is at 524 East 162d Street, near the Melrose Depot. His present home is within a stone's throw of the village home where he first saw the light of day. Except for the year spent in the West in the early practice of his profession, Louis F. Haffen has lived every day of his life in the Bronx and the only home he has known has been within the precincts of the old village of Melrose. It is no occasion for wonder that the name of Louis F. Haffen is a household word to the people of the Bronx. The citizenship which bestows the highest honor upon the community in which we live is concerned less with schemes of gain and profit than with broad plans of government and development that make New York a better place for the millions to live in and thereby aug- ments the happiness of the masses whose energy and ability create the wealth and true greatness of the city and whose homes must be within its borders. Measured by this standard the Presi- dent of the Borough of the Bronx is in the front rank of the really successful nien of the metropolis. His true proportions as an administrator and his achievements as the master mind of the development of the Bronx will be appreciated in ever in- creasing measure with the lapse of time and the accumulation of years and generations. During his successive terms of office as Commissioner and Borough President, the Bronx has grown from a conglomeration of scattered villages to a great thriving
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city whose ultimate extent in population, wealth, area and power no man can foresee or describe. Not less than $40,000,- 000 have been expended in public improvement and assessment work during the official incumbency of Louis F. Haffen. Since he was placed at the head of the local government in 1893 the population of the territory within the Bronx has multiplied several times and is now larger than the population of any one of several States. In the laying out and grading and pav- ing of streets and boulevards; the establishment of vast sewer systems ; solving problems of rapid transit and dock and water facilities; advancing the educational interests of the borough; initiating and carrying to a consummation public improvements of every sort, including bridges and viaducts, public baths, parkways, the boulevard and concourse, borough court house, and others too numerous for specific mention, the record of President Hlaffen's borough administration is unique in the annals of municipal government. It may be said in truth and moderation that the city north of the Harlem is the crowning monument of his achievements. In the political life of the borough, Mr. Haffen has necessarily been a factor of the largest dimension. For many years he was the acknowledged Demo- cratic leader in the Thirty-fifth Assembly District and only re- cently has he laid that responsibility down. As a party leader his influence has always been on the side of good government and honest politics and to this fact is due in no small de- gree his hold upon the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens. They support him irrespective of party when a candi- date for office. In no election since 1893 have they failed to give him the victory. Not once but many times his record has been submitted to the people for their judgment and always the verdict has been one of emphatic approval. While a strong partisan in matters that are purely political in character, he re- gards local government as wholly outside the sphere of party politics. . To the Democratic convention which last fall re- nominated him for Borough President, he expressed himself in this vigorous language: "It is my intention that there shall be no misunderstanding between you as the delegates of a great political party and myself as the candidate you have se- lected for the office of President of the Borough of the Bronx. On all proper political and party questions I am, as you know, a partisan. No more sincere or sterenuous advocate exists of the American idea that in the conduct of State and National affairs strong and vigorous political parties are absolutely es- sential to the success and permanency of representative govern- nient. Questions of economics and of radically different theo- ries of government are involved in State and nation, and they call for the application of principles purely political in origin and in character. But I know of no political principle that can have any proper or legitimate relation to the administration of the local affairs of the Borough of the Bronx of the City of New York. In accepting your nomination I do so with the distinct understanding that, should I be re-elected President of the Borough, I will not be the agent or the representative of any political faction or party, but I shall be the servant of all the people and all the taxpayers of the Bronx, irrespective of their party affiliations or political creeds. The interests of every taxpayer and resident in the borough will receive prompt and equal consideration. Whether a citizen owes allegiance to the Republican party or to the Democratic party, or whether he affiliates with any other political organization, he has a right equal to the right of every other citizen to be heard and con- sidered on all questions of local administration. Good admin- istration of borough affairs is not a matter of politics or parti- sanship, but of conserving the welfare of the entire community by meeting the just and righteous demand of the people for
honesty, efficiency and economy in the conduct of their local government. The aim of a borough government must be an upright and clean administration. An administration that will attract and encourage local industries, and invite the in- vestment of capital and the incoming of new population; that will provide adequate school facilities, rapid and comfortable transportation ; streets well paved, well lighted and well cleaned ; proper supervision of building operations that the health and safety of occupants may be safeguarded; the construction of sewers and extension of water mains; the opening of streets and boulevards and building of bridges, and the erection and maintenance of public baths. In a word, the carrying out of public improvements of every sort that a wise and far-sighted policy may approve and the resources of the city and borough permit. Politics and partisanship have no proper place in such a scheme of local government. The guiding principles must be honesty, efficiency and economy, and if I am to be president of the borough, politics and partisanship will not be allowed to either intrude or control. One pledge I make and only one. That pledge is to give the best there is in me and all my time, ability and thought to a conscientious discharge of the duties of the great office of President of the Borough of the Bronx." The spirit of independence and sincerity with which this declaration vibrates is the key to President Haffen's con- ception of his duty as chief executive of the borough and the foundation of his career in the public service. Louis F. Haf- fen is a constructive force in the community. He is an unpre- tentious, honorable, high-minded citizen. His stern honesty and sterling worth are everywhere acknowledged, and the residents and taxpayers of the Bronx know that at the Muni- cipal building, as president of the borough, there presides over the local government an intelligent and incorruptible citizen. who by the personal qualities of honesty, courage. experience and efficiency, meets every requirement of the high position he fills.
RICHARD H. MITCHELL, Assistant Corporation Counsel in charge of the Bronx, was born in Mckeesport, Pa., in I8;0 He was educated at the Morrisania Public School, then known as Grammar School No. 61, at the College of the City of New York, where he graduated in 18SS, and at Columbia University Law School in 1890 and 1891, and in June of the latter year was admitted to the Bar. He associated himself with Morgan & Ives, a well-known law firm of New York City, and soon after be- came a member of the firm with Rollin M. Morgan, with whom he has since continued in partnership. The firm of Morgan & Mitchell has during the last ten years taken charge of much important litigation, and both members of the firm have been very active in public affairs. Mr. Mitchell is the younger son of Dr. James B. Mitchell and Emma Henry Mitchell. He is a descendant of Irish and German ancestors, his grandfather, James Henry, having been a native of the town of Colerain, County of Londonderry, Ireland, and he is also related to the Eckfeldt family, of whom Adam Eckfeldt was an appointee of President Washington in the United States Mint. He has lived for the last twenty-eight years in the Borough of the Bronx in the part formerly known as Morrisania, and since 1890 has been well known as a Democrat and a strong adherent of Tammany Hall. In 1807 he was elected Member of Assembly from the 35th Assembly District by a majority of 1,462 votes, and the follow- ing year, 1808, he was elected Senator by a majority of 6,rv6. lle remained in the Senate during the years 1809 and 1 200. serving during that time on the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Privileges and Elections. In February, 1904, Cor-
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poration Counsel Delany selected Senator Mitchell as one of his assistants and placed him in charge of the Corporation Counsel's Office in the Borough of the Bronx. In the early part of 1904 some of Senator Mitchell's friends enlisted his interest in a movement for the advancement of the political and commercial interest of Puerto Rico. A very strong association was formed in this city, known as the Puerto Rican American League, and Senator Mitchell has been chosen President. Mr. Mitchell is now a member of the Bar Association of the City of New York, Democratic Club, New York Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, Fordham Club, Schnorer Club, Jefferson Tammany Club, Pennsylvania Society, Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Kane Lodge, No. 454, F. & A. M .; Jerusalem Chapter, Coeur de Lion Conunandery, Washington Club, Pawnee Club, League of Ameri- can Wheelmen, Bar Association of the Borough of the Bronx, Taxpayers' Alliance, Alumni Association of College of City of New York, and Bronx West Side Association. Mr. Mitchell resides at 1216 Washington avenue, Borough of the Bronx, New York City.
HON. J. A. GOULDEN
HON. J. A. GOULDEN was born in Adams County, Penn- sylvania, near the famous battlefield of Gettysburg Ilis early life was devoted to teaching. He served in the Civil War. For many years he was prominent in public affairs in the City of Pittsburg. Pa. He was one of the managers of the State Re- formatory and a member of the Democratic State Central Com- mittee from Western Pennsylvania. Locating in New York (My in 1880, he soon became a leader in public affairs. As a Commissioner of Education, and as President of the Taxpayers' Mhance, which he organized, he became known throughout, not only the city, but the State. Through his activity many new schools were built, and numerous public improvements insti-
tuted. Ilis friends in the schools are legion, and his services at all public functions much sought after. He was the first chairman of the Local School Board of the Twenty-fifth District and the head of the combined boards of the Bronx. He re- signed to take a seat in Congress, to which he was elected by a majority of 13,567. The City Hall in Manhattan and the Capitol at Albany have frequently heard his voice pleading the wants of the people of the City of New York. For several years he has been a trustee of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Bath, .N. Y. His presence in Washington has been felt and his speeches in the House of Representatives have been favorably received. He is an active member of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. His untiring energy and forceful character are well known. His residence, where he has lived for fifteen years. is on Creston Avenue, noir 189th Street. Fordham. He is a member of the following clubs: Military Service, Catholic, Brownson, "Schnorer, Pawnee, Fordham and Jefferson.
LOUIS ALOYS RISSE, former Chief Topographical En- gineer of Greater New York, was born in France, and came to this country when 17 years old. He was first employed by the New York & Harlem Railroad. and afterwards by the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad on the projected Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris Branch Railroad. He was also engaged on a preliminary survey of a railroad between Portchester and Ridgefield, Coun. In 1868-1871, he made a map of Morrisania which territory was surveyed and laid out under a Special Com- mission enacted by Act of Legislature; 1871-1874 he was engaged in surveying and mapping the territory in Westchester County annexed to the city in 1874. After annexation he was ap- pointed Assistant Engineer in the Park Department, and in 1880 was made Superintendent of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards. On January Ist, 1891, he was appointed Chief Engineer by the late Louis J. Heintz, the first Commissioner of Street Improvements of that territory, and it was during Heintz's ad- ministration that Mr. Risse mapped and laid out the final street system of that part of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards lying west of the Bronx River. He conceived and laid out the Grand Boulevard and Concourse, as one of the features of that system and thus established the missing link between the park system of Manhattan and the Bronx. In 1895 he was ap- pointed by Commissioner Louis F. Haffen, Chief Topographica! Engineer and Engineer of Concourse, and during that ad- ministration made a complete topographical survey of the terri- tory annexed in 1895 and lying east of the Broux River. He also made a map showing a complete street and park system of that section on modern and progressive lines. This map was finally approved and adopted after numerous public hearings. In 1898, the year of consolidation, he was appointed Chief Topo- graphical Engineer of Greater New York by the Board of Public Improvements and in 1899 made the famous Topographi- cal Map of Greater New York which was shown at the Paris Exposition, and for which Mr. Risse received the first prize. On this map is shown for the first time. a tentative park and street layout of all the territories in the five boroughs. In 1900, Mr. Risse was selected to represent the city of New York at the Paris Exposition and was also appointed by the Commissioner General of the United States at that Exposition as a member of the International Jury of Engineers. In 1902. when the Greater New York charter was amended by abolishing the Board of Public Improvement., Mr. Risse retired as a public official, and has since continued in his profession with offices in the
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HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
Park Row Building. Last Spring Mr. Risse was selected to superintend the installation of the New York City Exhibits in the City Building at the World's Fair in St. Louis, and during the Summer traveled extensively in Europe, where he was sent to examine and report upon subjects in connection with the future improvements in this country. Mr. Risse is a member of the Democratic Club, Bronx Club, Schnorer Club, North Side Board of Trade, Municipal Art Society, the American Scenic and Historical Preservation Society, French Benevolent Society, and others. His wife's name is Marion D. Risse. Number of children five, three living and two deceased. Names of living children: Aloys C. Risse, Aimee A. Lord, Charles E. Risse; names of deceased : Aloysius G., and Arinand L.
FRANK GASS, Register of New York City and real estate operator of Unionport, one of the most successful men in that line and best known resident of that part of the borough, is a German by birth, but has been in this country more than thirty- three years, and in the Bronx over twenty. He was born in Kers- bach, Bavaria, in 1850. He went to school over there and to college at Bambera, Bavaria, and served his time there to the confectionery business. After he came to this country in 1872, he took up painting and decorating for a living and put in several years at it, on Second Avenue in Harlem. In 1889 he moved to Unionport and went into the real estate line at that place in 1890. In 1892 he organized the Taxpayers' Association there and in 1893 the Hose Company of Unionport, of which he
FRANK GASS
was foreman till exempted. In 1897 he was elected Alderman from his district and was re-elected three times. Ile served in all eight years. He is a Tammany Democrat and member of the Chippewa Club, a Mason and Odd Fellow, and Exempt Fireman and a member of the Westchester Mannerchor. He married in 1873, Katherine Billhofer, but has no children.
OLIN JAMES STEPHENS, president of the North Side Board of Trade, was born in New York City October 30, 1859. He attended the public school and graduated from No. 60. He then entered the College of the City of New York and is an undergraduate of this well known institution. In 1878 he was employed by his father, James Stephens, in the coal business,
OLIN J. STEPHENS
which the latter established in 1853 at 129th and 130th Streets, immediately west of Third Avenue. In January, 1872, this busi- ness was removed to its present location in 138th Street, now Borough of the Bronx. In 1888 Mr. Stephens entered into part- nership with his father and at the latter's death, which occurred on May 23, 1904, he became sole proprietor of the business. Mr. Stephens' father was the pioneer coal merchant of Harlem and was one of the first citizens of the latter. He was a public- spirited gentleman and was held in the highest esteent by the entire community. His business grew up with the rapid rise and growth of Harlem and he always maintained the position of being the largest and most successful coal merchant of the place, which is the fact to-day. Since his son, Olin J. Stephens. succeeded to the business, he has followed out the precepts of his father and is recognized by the trade and the residents of Bronx Borough as the head and front of the coal business. His coal yards, located on 138th Street and the Mott Haven Canal, Bronx River, near Westchester Avenue, West Farms. Webster Avenue, Bedford Park, are perfect in construction and are supplied with every modern convenience for the receiving and discharging of the black diamonds. The first steam shovels ever used in the Bronx were put in by Mr. Stephens, three of them in all, each having a capacity of hoisting fifty tons an hour The yards have a storage capacity of 10,000 tons, and at the proper seasons of the year are filled with the best grades of coal. About fifteen barges are required to transport the coal sold.
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JOHN H. J. RONNER
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HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
From forty to fifty teams and one hundred men are employed to handle the business transacted by Mr. Stephens; its magnitude may be realized when it is considered that over 125,000 tons of coal are delivered from these yards to the residents, factories and buildings of the Bronx and Manhattan. Mr. Stephens has been a resident of the Bronx since 1869; he is a Republican in politics, a member of St. Ann's Protestant Episcopal Church, a life member of the New York Athletic Club, a member of the New York Botanical Garden, the New York Zoological Society, the Lothenian Club, a hunting and fishing organization of Canada, president of the North Side Board of Trade, and vice-president of the Nassau Boat Club.
CHARLES STOUGHTON .- The family of which Charles Stoughton is a member traces its descent through collateral branches in England back to the Norman conquest, and in New England from 1634, at which time certain members came to this country and took part in the founding of the Massachusetts
CHARLES STOUGHTON
Bay colony, settling in what is now Dorchester, from whence a part removed to the Connecticut River, where they were among the first settlers of the town of Windsor. From Wind- sor one branch of the family moved further up the Connecticut River to the village of Gill, Massachusetts, where the subject of this sketch was born in the carly part of the last century. There he lived, with three brothers and two sisters, until early man- hood, when, leaving the farm, he traveled extensively for those , primitive days, on business enterprises of his own choosing, which took him through. New England and into New York State, through the Southern States also, and as far as Cali- forma by way of the Isthmus. Ten years of this period were . spent by him in business in New Orleans, from which place he finally returned, in 1854, to reside in New York, where he has
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