USA > New York > Bronx County > History of Bronx borough, city of New York : compiled for the North side news > Part 39
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continued to live. In the late sixties he came with his family from the lower part of the city, and took up his residence in what was then the town of Morrisania; and the northern bor- ough has, since then, formed his home. At the time of his com- ing to this section there was little indication of the great march of the future city northward, nor had that spirit which was content in earlier years to have the out-of-town side of City Hall built of cheaper stone than the front, yielded place to any comprehensive idea of the growth of a greater metropolis of which the Harlem River should divide the center. As a gen- cral theory every one knew that the city would extend north- ward along the island, and that the suburbs would increase on the main land. But this idea did not influence the practical schemes of even the most far-sighted men farther than to in- cline them to hold their suburban property for a rise; largely because the means of transit fromin the city were so futile, and because no one could include in his working formulas the pos- sibilities of communication which are making the growth of the larger city possible, for a new generation. At such a time as this, with the field of opportunity open and very little occupied, and with all the possibilities of development unknown, which have long since materialized and are now becoming common- place experiences, the subject of this review turned his atten- tion and energies to the latest possibilities of the waterways of the northern end of the city which as yet had been entirely unused for commerce, although the far-sighted De Witt Clinton had discussed them, and there had been in carlier years some in- effective legislation for their improvement. In undertaking this his view embraced the use of the Harlem River and the Kills as a water route from the Hudson River to the Sound and thence outward to the ocean, avoiding thus the enforced use of the Sandy Hook channel with its tidal limitation: and adding enormously to the available dock room of the city along the northern shores. It involved the strategic value of Port Morris and adjacent shores in affording suitable railway connections for the tran-shipment of passengers and freights- even now not existing in Manhattan-and the advantage of the direct passage for freight boats serving this tran-shipment. from the Hudson River to the Sound. He further called at- tnetion to the possible and, in fact, inevitable use of the Sound port and the Sound itself in connection with the railways, by the existing trans-Atlantic steamship companies, and by nex ones, and he showed that this would, in effect, create a new continental route so far as the city is concerned, between the East and West. Pursuing this idea, on the twelfth of October, 1876, he called a meeting of the citizens at his home, and is- sued a missive, expressing the essential proposition which he was to amplify in subsequent papers. The invitation stated as the intent of the meeting, the solving of the following problems: "First. Is Port Morris the central point in our city. in the world's great highway, from Europe to New York, Chi- cago; San Francisco, Japan and China, if connected by steam- ships and railway? Second. Could or would a steamship in a round trip from the said point or port, to and from Europe, save a day of twenty-four hours, rather than from and to Jer- sey City or the North River, thereby lessening the steamship's expense some St,ooo? Third. Couldl a company of travellers of 10, 50 or 100 persons, in urgent haste from one continent to the other continent, or further on by the said route, save a day in time, also twenty or more dollars in expense each, in sach a route and trip? Fourth. Could the passage ticket by such a European route be reduced ten to fifteen dollars Fifth. Could
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LOUIS ALOYS RISSE
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HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
corn be sent to Port Morris and shipped to Europe fully one cent a bushel cheaper than by any other route, also wheat and all kinds of products that go forward for the world's con- sumption be sent with corresponding less expense, and a quick- nes, of time, and merchandise be returned in like manner at less expense for our great continent than any other route By the desire of many, C. S."
The questions thus propounded were answered in the af- firmative by the gentlemen who attended this and subsequent meetings and who were themselves the pioneers in that public spirit and in those enterprises which inaugurated the develop- ment of the present borough. But to every enterprise that suc- ceeds it is necessary for some one to give to it unstinted time and energy to push it as he would his own business; and this he alone did and has done through most of the intervening years, while the government engineers have trifled with it, and while it has been sported with from time to time by ambitious statesmen. He prepared memorials to Congress, and went from man to man for signatures, travelling as far as Chicago for them; he presented them in person in Washington for introduction by the senators or representatives; he fol- lowed them up by printed statements addressed to citizens and to the members of Congress, setting forth the ad- vantages to accrue to commerce from the use of these waters and the port, and indicating the means for the ac- complishment of the improvement, and also the obstacles that would have to be removed. In this long campaign many other citizens have freely assisted, signing memorials, attending meet- ings and appearing before congressional committees, and the magnitude of the undertaking, or rather the subtle adverse in- fluences in its way. became apparent in considering the length of time that has elapsed since its active inception, nearly a generation ago. Their efforts at first met with immediate suc- cess. A Congress not noted for liberality appropriated $400.000 for the improvement of the Harlem River, and after a long de- lay in applying it, work was commenced. There was then every reason for its immediate completion, which as other enterprises are carried out in this city, should have been a matter of a year or two at most; and the Harlem Kills Canal should in like manner have been taken up by the government and finished within a reasonable time. On the contrary both works are almost as far as ever from the possibility of their intended use. Those only who have advocated some work great enongh to absorb their utmost resources of power and endurance and who have given up all other interests while striving for its ac- complishment through many years, until it has become for them the main issue of their existence, can realize the devotion to a large conception which has sustained these years of unavailing effort extending at last nearly to the limit of life.
LOUIS J. HEINTZ (deceased ) has been dead these ten years, but the fact that his name, character and services are still frequently recalled over that North Side which he championed and whose favorite son he was, shows plainly how deep and last- ing the impress was he made. He was only thirty when he died; he was rich, and might have taken life at ease; but he was enter- prising, aggressive and public-spirited, and threw himself instead , into the work of upbuilding and developing the community in which his lot was cast. From one of the numerous obituaries published at the time of his death, March 12. 1893. we take the following account of his life: He was born in Manhattan, at 54th Street, near Tenth Avenue. His father died when he was a boy, and after his school days were over he entered the brewery
of his uncle, and thoroughly mastered the business. He was sec- retary and treasurer of the John Eichler Brewing Company, and married the daughter of the millionaire brewer, Ebling. He was president of the Brewers' Board of Trade of New York and vicinity, and was identified with other important interests. It was, however, in his public career that he cut the most distin- guished figure. Ilis admirers still hold that, as a man of the people, he would have risen, had he lived, to high political station. Until he came to the front misgovernment had been very much the lot of the "Annexed District." Ile it was who succeeded. after much opposition at Albany, in getting through an act pro- viding a separate board of improvements for the district. Under this statute the district obtained the power to have its own depart- ment of street cleaning and improvement. Toward the expense incidental to the passage of this bill he contributed out of his
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LOUIS J. HEINTZ
own pocket liberally. This action in behalf of the taxpayers of the 23d and 24th Wards was appreciated; he was selected as the proper man himself to put the law in motion, was nominated accordingly as the first Street Commissioner, was endorsed by the Taxpayers' Association, the County Democracy and the Re- publicans, and triumphantly elected. His administration-of which it was said that, in the discharge of his duty, he did more even than the public could reasonably expect-was interrupted by his sudden taking off His death was due primarily t> 3 cold contracted during a trip to Washington for the Cleveland inaugural ceremonies. He was taken down while in the capi: . i. and was brought home for treatment. An operation for appen- dicitis performed upon him was unsuccessful, and he f !! ! : recover from the effects of it. He was a member of many : ganizations. He founded the famous Schmorer Club, and was :s president five terms. He belonged to the Produce Exchanes. the Central Turn Verein, the Lexington Democratic Chib. .
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HISTORY OF-BRONX BOROUGH
! harmonie Singing Society. the Morrisania Liedertafel, tle Arion, the German Press Club, and many more. He is buried in Woodlawn. Remembering his devotion to their interests, the people of the Bronx still mourn his loss. Some day, perhaps, they will give him a public memorial-for certainly he well deserves it.
JOHN H. J. RONNER, Register of the County of New York, was born in 1866, in New York, within rifle shot of the new Hall of Records. He attended the public schools and a German-American Academy. Later he established a successful business in the manufacture of office fixtures Having a taste for politics, he became the Tammany Hall leader in the 23d Ward, of which he had become a resident and where he was exceedingly popular as a young man. Ile was one of the or- ganizers of the famous Schinorer Club, its first president and president for five terms. He also organized the Powhatan Tam- many Club. When, in 1890, Louis J. Heintz, whose campaign lic managed, was elected Commissioner of Street Improvements for the 23d and 24th Wards, Mr. Ronner became the Deputy Commissioner ; and under luis personal direction the new system of street improvements was begun and carried forward which has had such beneficial results for Bronx property owners. Upon Mr. Heintz's death in 1893 Mr. Ronner resigned his posi- tion and resumed his private business. More recently he or- ganized the Bronx Club, which has an exceptionally large mem- bership and a fine club house; and its public entertainments have been notable in the Bronx. Mr. Ronner has served fully four years as Register of New York County. The ability which he displayed as Deputy Commissioner has been also displayed in the Register's office. His public service has given universal satisfaction. The office was never so well administered. Law- yers, title companies and persons interested .in real estate gen- erally, unite in praising the manner in which the work of the Register's office has been conducted. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church, is of German parentage, and is un- married. There are few men in public life who have not been subjected somehow or somewhere to criticism; but Mr. Ronner seems to be an exception to the rule. Everybody who knows him-and he has a wide circle of acquaintances-speaks well of him as a genial and capable man. He is popular in his home section, and possesses emphatically the confidence of his neigh- bors. He is also well known and highly esteemcd throughout the city. He is a noted organizer of men, and renowned for his earnestness and for his careful application to any cause which he espouses.
JONATHAN D. HYATT'S name is a familiar one in the Bronx-familiar to the children, to grown-ups and the public generally. He is a retired schoolmaster, but this brief state- ment hardly expresses, to those unacquainted with the man, his real place and standing in the community. The fact is, he re- tired last year, 1904, after a continuous service-"long and hon- orable" as the phrase is, truly-of forty-seven years as principal in the public schools. This year he is So years old. When he retired thousands gathered to do honor and pay respect to the teacher and the man and he was the recipient of valuable gifts- sets of scientific books, a costly arm chair, scientific instruments, a loving cnp, testimonials to his character and ability. His long and honorable connection with the public schools of New York City began in 1857, when he was appointed to Public School No. 2 of the Union Free School District of the towns of Morrisania and West Farms. This school was later known as No. 63. and is now No. 4, the Bronx. For twenty years he was principal of old Public School No. 60, College Avenue and 145th Street. During
the Civil War he was principal of the old Melrose School, Third Avenue, near 150th Street, and at the time of the Draft Riots the rioters passed his school one recess and carried off all the older boys, who, however, escaped later and returned to school. When the present building, known as Public School No. 9, the Bronx, was opened in June, 1889. he became its principal, and has re- mained at the head until 1904. Louis Haffen, President of the Borough of the Bronx; Theodore Thompson, of the Board of Education, and Sidney R. Walker, Chairman of the Local School Board, were once pupils of Mr. Hyatt. Mr. Hyatt is thoroughly modern in his ideas. He did away with corporal punishment in his schools forty years ago. Manual training, nature study and cooking lessons were branches whose value he early perceived, and after they were introduced into the schools he used to take his teachers to his house every Saturday and instruct them in the chemistry of foods. He also took them on excursions into
JONATHAN D. HYATT
the country for the study of nature. His school building not being provided with suitable quarters for the teaching of cookery and manual training, he made application for extensions, and these were added to his school plaut. Notwithstanding his exact- ing duties as principal of a great public school, Mr. Hyatt has still found time for advanced scientific studies. He was one of the founders of the New York Microscopic Society, and its president for several years. In 1879 he was elected fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society of London. He was also a member of the Torrey Botanical Club. the New York Mineralogical Club and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His work as an original investigator has received world-wide recognition. His most important contributions to knowledge are his series of articles on the structure and anatomy of the bee, which embodied the result of original researches covering a period of five years. His work referred principally to the mouth and sting It is said to be the first correct investigation along these lines, and has proved of inestimable value to bee growers throughout the world. Mr. Hyatt was born of Quaker stock in Stanford, Dutchess County, N. Y., on July 4. 1825. His father
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HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
was James Hyatt, his mother Sarah Deuel, who lived to the good ripe age of 101 years. His ancestors came from England and settled in Dorchester, Mass., in 1633. Thomas Hyatt, one of them, removed from there to Stamford, Conn., in 1656. Others of the family migrated to Flushing, L. 1., and Mamaroneck, and some also settled in Dutchess, Westchester an! Putnam Counties. State records show that twenty-six Hyatts fought in the Revolutionary War. The Professor, as they call him, lives in a handsome cottage in New Rochelle. He married in 1854. Sarah A. N., daughter of Rev. William Grant Heyer. They have one child, a daughter, Lucy, now Mrs. V. C. Barlow. He has been all his life long a consistent Republican, though never a politician. He voted for Fremont in 1856, and has sup- ported the national ticket of his party ever since.
JOHN BAMBEY .- There is perhaps no other branch of finance or banking which requires so high a standard of ex-
JOHN BAMBEY
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ecutive ability and keen judgment as a trust company. As a vocation it appeals especially to young men, which is well exemplified in the management of the Bronx Branch of the Knickerbocker Trust Company. Mr. John Bambey, the man- ager, by virtue of his position and connection with other moneyed interests and institutions, is one of the prominent men of the Bronx. Like so many notable men of the borough (those, in fact, that have been foremost in its financial development and up- lifting) he is still comparatively a young man. He was born May 18, 1873, and is therefore not yet thirty-three. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of the City of New Vork. Mr. Bombey is associated with a number of large and successful corporations. He is treasurer and trustee of the North Side Savings Bank, president and director of the Mott . Haven Apartment Company, president and director of the Willis Realty Company, director of the United States Title
Guaranty and Indenmity Company, director of the Sound Vies Land and Improvement Company, and a member of the North Side Board of Trade. He figures in fraternal affairs as a mem- ber of Benevolent Lodge No. 28, F. and A. M., and Suburban Council, No. 1654, Royal Arcanum. He is affiliated sociany with the Arion Society, and that famous organization for good fellowship, the Schnorers of the Bronx.
GEORGE J. GROSSMAN is a man of prominence in the Bronx, both in the business world and in public life. He is the president of the United States Title Company, and is in touch with other important interests, real estate and financial. Though not now actively identified with politics, he has held high office. In 1899 he was Bronx representative in the House of Assembly in Albany. There he made a record, not only thoroughly "clean," but businesslike and effective. Mr. Grossman is a native of the city; he was born here in New York ( Manhattan) April 14. 1862. He is of that sturdy, reliable old German stock which has contributed so largely to the population and progress of the Bronx. He came to this borough to live some twenty years ago, not very long after he had finished his course in the College of the City of New York. He married here also, March 25. 1885, Miss Matilda Wilkens, mother of his two sons, Mortimer M. and Wallace G. Grossman.
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EDWARD H. HEALEY
EDWARD 1 !. HEALEY, the founder of the Union Repe' .. lican Club and its guiding spirit is very prominent in politica' circles, He is leader of the Thirty-fifth Assembly District En . enjoys the confidence of his political confreres, as is attest ly the excellent showing he made in the last mimnicht ca. paign, standing third in percentage in the city. In tos be appointed by Governor Higgins to a responsible position 1 1. the excise law.
GEORGE J. GROSSMAN
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
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AUGUST MOEBUS, the well known ex-Park Commissioner of the Bronx, was born in New York City March 3. 1850. Re- ceiving his early education in the public schools, he entered Paine's famous business college, and graduated therefrom with honors, having taken a full and thorough commercial course. Securing a lucrative position in a broker's office, and serving four years, he accepted a position as bookkeeper with a wholesale paper warehouse which he occupied for two years, and resigned
AUGUST MOEBUS
to serve the United States Government as assistant agent of the Revenue Department. Resigning this position, he was employed by A. Hupfel & Sons, the prominent brewers of the Bronx, as collector, and in a few years was advanced to the position of cashier. In this position he exhibited qualities of such ability that his opinions and advice upon numerous financial and economical questions affecting the business interests of the brewery was ac- cepted, and generally proved to be correct. In 1903 he organized the Schlater Embroidery Co., in which he is to-day one of its most prominent factors. A Democrat in politics, and one of the unswerving kind, having always manifested a deep interest in political affairs Mr. Moebus has received several honors from his party, and his political, as well as his high standard of in- tegrity, has been endorsed and approved by his constituents on various occasions when his party called upon him to serve the people by accepting a public trust. For instance in 1889, he was urged to accept the nomination for Alderman, in order to save the party from numerous defeats it had sustained in his Alder- manic district for several terms previous, He accepted, and was elected over two other nominees. Votes-(3d term) renomin- ated in the fall of 1890 by 1268 votes, elected by 1084, renominated in the fall of 1891, but suffered defeat. He was elected leader of his district by Democratic General Committee of Tammany Hall in 1896, and continued as leader until the fall of 1902, and dur- ing the administration of Mayor Van Wyck was appointed by the latter as Park Commissioner of the Bronx, and served honorably and faithfully during the whole term of the Mayor, from 1898 until 1902. Mr. Moebus is a member of the N. Y. A. . C., the Allegheny Democratis Club, the A. O. U. W., Knights of Honor, a brave man of the Knights of Pythias, a member of the
Masonic Order, also of the Melrose Turn Verein, Union Lieder- tafel and many other societies. On September 26, 1881. he married Miss Clara Schlater, of Manhattan, and has five promi .. ing children, all living, viz. : Charles A., Sophia, August C., Lil- lian and Nettie.
HON. HENRY C. SCHRADER-Hon. Henry C. Schrader Commissioner of Parks in the Bronx Borough, was born and educated in Germany in 1853. He came to the United States in 1869, and removed into the Bronx in 1872, and was en- ployed by the celebrated firm of Fleishman & Co. He represented their interests above the Harlem River for several years, where he established the foundation of their famous business. In 1884 he became connected with the John Eichler Brewing Co., and was very successful as outside agent for this large and popular brewing establishment. In 1900 he became identified with vari- ous other financial and business interests. In the real estate business he was an active promoter, with offices in the Park Row Building, where he became an active and important factor in real estate transactions throughout the Boroughs of Manhattan.
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HON. HENRY C. SCHRADER
Mr. Schrader is a member of and was for five years President of the Schnorer Club, the leading social organization of the Bronx. He was a member of the Arion Liedertafel since 187; is a charter member of the Tallapoosa Club, a member of the German Press Club, and of Wieland Lodge, F. and A. M .. and has been District Deputy of the Knights of Pythias. In politics he has always been a staunch and loyal Democrat, a faithful adherent of Tammany Hall, a member of the German Democracy since 18;0, and from the leadership of Jolm Kelly in Tammany Hall, down to that of the present leader, Charles 1. Murphy, he has been one of the most prominent organisation
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HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
Democrats in the party ; was vice-chairman of the General Com- mittee of the Thirty-fourth Assembly District, North Side. In 1×42, he, with other prominent citizens of the Bronx, organized the first taxpayers' association from which has sprung the pre- went Taxpayers' Alliance, one of the strongest and most power- iul organizations in the Bronx. A resident of the Borough of the Bronx for the past 33 years, and but recently honored for his valuable services and loyalty to the Democratic party, by his appointment as Park Commissioner by Mayor George B. MeClellan, which has received the approval of the people of the Bronx, and the Democratic party of Greater New York. On March 25, 1880. Mr. Schrader was married to Miss Bertha Siemes, a lady of culture and refinement, and has two children, Heury C., Jr., and Lulu H. As Park Commissioner of the Bronx, with his well known executive ability and his large ex- perience as a thorough business man, the people of the Bronx are to be congratulated upon the wise selection for this im- portant position made by the mayor.
PATRICK J. REVILLE, Borough Superintendent of Build- ings, is a native of New York City. He is still a young man, but with a record of useful service in public and private life that places him among the prominent and most highly respected citizens of the Bronx. Mr. Reville's success in business and as a public official in charge of one of the most important depart- ments of our borough government, affords another proof that the very best endowment for a young man who in America ittust carve his own fortune is pluck, integrity, industry and good common sense. After graduating from the public schools the subject of our, sketch prepared himself for his chosen pro- fession of builder and architect by pursuing a course of special study in architectural drawing at the Bronx evening school. From this school he graduated, with high honors. Among the distinctions and prizes he won was the much coveted Beal Medal for architectural drawing and general excellence in technical studies. Immediately after leaving school Mr. Reville began his career as a builder and mason and achieved a success so marked that very few of our citizens have been more closely identified with the great building operations which have accom panied the remarkable development of the Bronx within the past fifteen years. For several years Mr. Reville filled the re- sponsible position of superintendent for the well known con- tracting firm of Thomas Cockrill & Son. While connected with Cockrill & Son, he supervised the construction of many public school buildings, besides a number of apartment houses and business structures. In the late nineties Mr. Reville went . into the contracting business on his own account and his en- ergy and fidelity to every obligation met with merited success. lle built the rectory of SS. Peter and Paul's Church, the Bar- vy apartment houses on the northeast corner of 167th Street and Fulton Avenue; the Kingston apartment houses and many similar structures in the Bronx and Manhattan. When in 1892 the American Building Company was awarded the contract to erect the American Bank Note Building on Library and Fourth Streets, Philadelphia (one of the best specimens of fire-re- ·isting buildings in the United States), Mr. Reville accepted an offer to take charge of the work as superintendent and for nearly a year he was engaged on this enterprise. Mr. Re- ville's training and experience fitted him most admirably for the jort of Borongh Superintendent of Buildings. His appoint- it was announced by President Haffen in 1903, to fill the va. 'ancy caused by the resignation of Mr. M. J. Garvin, and was approved by the entire community as an ideal selection for a
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