USA > New York > Bronx County > History of Bronx borough, city of New York : compiled for the North side news > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
ANTON HUPFEL
Adolph G. Hupfel was born in Orange County, N. Y., receivers lais education in public and private schools, coming to the Berry in 1853. By political affiliation he is a Democrat, but has never held or sought a political office. Among the organization of which he is an active member may be mentioned the New York Produce Exchange: ex-President Brewers' Board of Trade: Associated Brewers: Trustee and Treasurer State Brewers a"! Maltsters: ex-Director of the Union Railway: North S; le Board of Trade: New York Botanical Society: Wieland Lodge No. 714. R. and A. M .; Freundschaft Lodge. No. 4. Impasse! Order of the Knights of Pythias; Melrose Turn Verein: \ri Liedertafel: Central Turn Verein: German Hospital : Deutsch. Gesellschaft: Terrace Bowling Club: Manhattan Club: Per .. cratic Club, and Schnorer Club. On May 13. 18;3. he was marry ; to Miss Magdalena Kuntz, and four children. Catherine G. Adolph G., Jr., Antoinette G. and Otto G. all living. Mass blessed this union.
GEORGE EURET'S HELL GATE BREWERY Hell Gate Brewery was established by George Ehret in der (866; hence, at a time when the annual production of mu !:
GEORGE EHRET
----
---
299
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
liquors had increased to 5,115.140 barrels. He had then just at- tained the age of thirty-six years, the date of his birth being April 6, 1835. Nine years before the establishment of this brew- ery, Mr. Ehret came to America (1857) to join his father, who had emigrated from Germany in August, 1852. Mr. Ehret, being a thoroughly practical brewer, strictly devoted to his calling, had not long to serve in the brewery of A. Hupfel before he rose to the foremanship and gained the full confidence and friendship of his employer. When he made known his intention to start a brewery for himself, Mr. Hupfel, a man ot generous instincts and philanthropie disposition, at once promised and, at the proper time, gave his support and assistance to the new enterprise. The site selected by Mr. Eliret for his brewery was at that time of a decidedly rural character. It was opposite a dangerous passage in the East River which had been desig- nated "Hell Gate." From this fact Mr. Ehret decided to name his brewery "The Hell Gate Brewery." The building in which he began brewing was erected under his supervision at the lower part of the block, between Ninety-second and Ninety-third Streets and Second and Third Avenues, and its interior appoint- ments were completed at the beginning of the year 1867. This building is no longer standing. It was succeeded by another in 1871, which formed the nucleus of the establishment that now covers the greater part of an entire block. It is at present almost hidden by the over-towering brewery buildings which have sprung up around it in the course of a quarter of a century, and a full view of it can only be gained from the quadrangular yard, of which it forms the interior side, the buildings flanking it being the offices and the storehouse, both fronting on Ninety- second Street. Mr. Ehret, from the very beginning, aimed at the brewing of a beer as nearly like the best quality of Munich lager as the difference between our water and that of the River Isar would admit. How well he succeeded in this way may be in- ferred from the popularity which his beer attained in a few years. As has been said, he began brewing immediately after the completion of his plant. At the beginning of January, 1867. the first brew was stored in the cellars; in March of the same year, his wagons, freighted not only with kegs, but also, met- aphorically speaking, with all his expectations and anxieties, left his yards for the first time to serve his new customers. Five years after that time he sold 35.512 barrels; seven years later, 74.497 barrels; and in 1874 he produced and sold 101,150 barrels-a quantity which thirty years ago was manufactured by but very few of the largest establishments. This growth was then all the more remarkable, because Mr. Ehret's operations had suddenly been checked for a considerable time on account of a fire which, on the 19th of September, 1870, destroyed the greater part of his brewery, including books and papers. It is owing to this fact that we are unable to give the quantities of beer brewed during the four years preceding the fire. The vear 1870 may be called the second starting point in the growth of Hell Gate Brewery. In a certain sense the fire was not all unmixed evil, especially in view of the fact that the demand for Ehret beer was fast outgrowing the capacity of the original plant, necessitating a considerable extension of the premises and buildings, and many additions to the machinery and other ap- pointments. As stated above, the amount of beer produced and sold by the Hell Gate Brewery in the year 1874 amounted to 101,150 barrels; in 1880 the production amounted to 220.006 barrels, an increase in six years of over one hundred per cent. Ten years after, in the year 1800. the production amounted to 412853 barrels, making another increase of almost one hundred per cent. for the decade. In the year 1900 the production was . 601,000 barrels, showing an increase of forty-six per cent. This is a record to be proud of, and one that has seldom been equalled
in the history of brewing. This immense production has been attained without any forced efforts to open new channels out- side of the limits of the State of New York; althoughi, natur- ally enoughi, whenever a demand was shown to exist in outside markets, Mr. Ehret endeavored to supply it, and thus established a number of agencies. The home demand always proved so great that the idea of engaging in an extensive export trade be- yond the sea could not be entertained, save in conjunction with plans for a further enlargement of the brewery premises and increase in equipment.On approaching the brewery, one is im- pressed with the unusually large dimensions of the grounds upon which the buildings are erected. In a smaller city this. would not be anything worthy of note, but in New York, and especially in that part of it to which we refer, where scantness of territory and an immense and ever-growing population render necessary the utmost economy in the utilization of space (muchi to the' detriment of architectural beauty), such extended premises as those we speak of cannot fail to make an impression. The grounds, extending from within a short distance of Third Ave- nue to Second Avenue, and from Ninety-first to Ninety-fourth Streets, comprise, inclusive of stables and storage buildings on Second Avenue, between Ninety-first and Ninety-third Streets, seventy-five city lots or one hundred and eighty-seven thousand five hundred square feet. The main building, an imposing struc- ture, surmounted by a graceful clock tower, fronts on Ninety- third Street, extending southward to a considerable depth; it is flanked on either side by lower wings which, in point of archi- tecture and symmetrical proportions harmonize perfectly with the principal facade. Ornamental gables, rising from the cor- nices of every building, enhance the impression of uniformity which, next to utility, was manifestly one of the prime objects of the architect.
THE EBLINGS .- For half a century the name of Ebling has been prominent in social as well as business circles in New York, and no history of the Bronx would be complete without a sketch of the men who have done so much to make this. bor- ough one of the greatest sections of one of the greatest cities of the world. In the early thirties in the little town of Shorns- heim, near Worrstadt, Germany, the brothers were born and there received their early education and training. Philip Eb- ling came to America in 1850 and engaged in the wine and vinegar business as an importer and distributor, and three years later was joined by his brother William. Both brothers worked long and hard in a little establishment in Thirty-ninth Street, and soon became known as shrewd business men. About this time German emigration was in full swing and every steamer brought to our shores hundreds of sturdy men and women who have since become honorable citizens of our great republic. It was during this period that lager beer brewing took its place among various American industries. The Ebling brothers see- ing the possibilities of this business, and being of a saving and economical nature, soon accumulated enough capital to purchase the beautiful piece of property known in the early days as Au- rora Park, now a part of the Borough of the Bronx, where they established in 1868 the Ebling Brewery. Time has proven the wisdom of their course, and to-day their establishment stands as a worthy memorial to their business acumen. Fortune smiled upon the brothers year after year and their fame and business grew until they found themselves among the great brewers of the United States. The Ebling Brewery is one of the most attractive group of buildings of their kind in the Bronx, and at the present time cover a frontage of coS feet. with a depth of 200 feet; they are built of plain red brick and
.
-
300
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
are of a composite style of architecture. The breweries, malt houses, ice houses, etc., are equipped with the latest modern mentions known to the art of beer brewing. The output to- day umbers between 150.000 to 200,000 barrels of beer per year. The quality of the Ebling beer is always kept at the high- est standard of excellence. It was the purity of their beverage that made Philip and William Ebling famous. In December. 181, Philip Ebling bought his brother's interest in the brewery and with other members of the family assumed the manage- ment of the business. The present officers of the Ebling Brewery are as follows: William Ebling, president ; Louis M. Ebling, vice-president; Theo. Hoebler, secretary-treasurer. Philip Ebling in 1860 was united in marriage to Miss Katharine
PHILIP EBLING
Baum, of Mainz. Three sons and two daughters were born to them ( Philip, Jr., deceased ), William and Louis, and Louise and Pauline Ebling. On October 12, 1895, Philip Ebling, after an illness of several months was taken away, loved and es- teemed by all who knew him. After William Ebling retired irom the brewing business he interested himself in real estate matters, and was the first one in the Bronx to undertake the (rection of a steel skeleton building, the dry goods house of Lyons & Chabot, 150th Street and Third Avenue. During the last few years Mr. William Ebling has spent much of his time 11 travel, and at the present time resides in a comfortable man- ston at the corner of East 163d Street and Prospect Avenue, where he enjoys the society of his children and friends. Philip and William Ebling belonged to all the social clubs and organi- rations of the Bronx, and were members of the United States Brewing Association, the Board of Trade, and of the Produce Exchange of New York City. Philip Ebling, Jr., son of Philip L'ing, one of the founders of the Ebling Brewing Company, "a, bori and educated in New York City, and died Septem-
WILLIAM EBLING
ber the 26th, 1896, in the thirty-sixth year of his age. He studied the brewer's art and became an expert and a practical brewer and maltster, and at the time of his death was superin-
PHILIP EBLING. JR.
-
-
-----
------..
.
301
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
tendent of the breweries and malt houses of the Ebling Brew- ory, and for over a year was the acting president of the com- pany. Ilis unexpected death was a shock to his family and friends. He was a young man of great promise and was highly esteemed in the Bronx. Socially he was popular, and no func- tion was considered complete without his presence. He was a member of Wieland Lodge, No. 714. F. and A. M., the K. O. S. Bowling Club, the Schnorer Club, Aurora Liederkranz, and the slelrose Turn Verein. He was an active member of the Lager Beer Brewers' Board of Trade of New York and vicinity and the Brewmasters' Association. Mr. Ebling was of a kindly nature and genial disposition, and took a keen interest in the borough. He was liberal and kind to the employees of the brewery, and always took an interest in their welfare. Ile left a widow and one daughter.
NORTH SIDE BREWING CO .- This company is a co. operative or consumers' brewing company, owned and controlled by retail liquor dealers and is the direct outcome of the fact that the Central Brewing Co. of New York, of which the founder of this company, Mr. Geo. F. Gminder, was the first vice-president from its inception to the time of his resignation, which occurred about May, 1902, was averse . to catering and supplying the
or buying a plant in view of the fact that at this time there were several plants in operation in the Bronx that were in the market The directors discarded the idea of building a plant and imme. diately began negotiations with the trustees of the Henry Zeli ner Brewing Co., as well as with the American Brewing Co for the purchase of their respective plants. After considerable conferring and figuring and negotiating, the directors finally made a contract with the American Brewing Co. to purchase their plant, which contract being ratified by the stockholders of both companies and the American Brewing Co. did by deed dated July 10, 1903, convey to the North Side Brewing Co. a !! its right, title and interest to all its real estate, machinery. stock on hand, as well as chattel mortgages and outstanding accounts: so in consequence the North Side Brewing Co. formally took possession and began business July 10, 1903, and began at once to make a product which the company put on the market about three months later, or to be exact, on Thanksgiving Day, 1903. which event was celebrated by a great procession of the directors and stockholders, as well as the employecs, together with their horses and wagons through the Bronx Borough, which was in part gayly decorated to celebrate the event, and which wound up by a reception at the brewery, which was very largely attended by retail liquor dealers. That the immense space allotted io'
1681451
North Side Brewing Co.
Bronx and annexed territory with its product. Mr. Gminder being a resident of and doing business in the Bronx, conceived the idea of organizing a co-operative brewing company to supply the demand for ale and lager to the retail dealers of the Bronx and Westchester County. In accordance with this object in view, Mr. Gminder called a council of some of his trusted friends in good standing in the retail liquor business and an- notneed his intentions, which were seriously considered at severa! conferences and took root by the appointment of a committee on organization, which after some weeks of deliberation, brought in a report requesting the formation of a co-operative brewing company, to be located in the Borough of the Bronx and to get up a prospectus and send a copy to every licensed dealer in Man hattan, the Bronx and Westchester County, which was done with such gratifying results that by the 7th of August, 1902, a company had been formed and the officers and directors elected and the company incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and authorized to capitalize for $1.000,000, and was named the North Side Brewing Co. The officers and directors . for the ensuing year were kept busy getting subscriptions to the capital stock and deciding as to the advisability of building
the reception of guests proved to be too small, the product dis pensed on this occasion was of such quality that it inspired confidence with the trade from that time and to this very das it has the just reputation of being one of the finest beet- brewed. The result being the North Side Brewing Co. is slowly but surely coming to the front ; this in spite of the fact that sofie of our unkind competitors have by all the means at their com mand tried to discourage the trade from becoming interested in the enterprise, but in spite of which the management has been able to show a steady increase of business, as well as 3 healthy financial condition. The plant owned by this company was originally founded by the Kuntz family, who built the brew ery in 1857 on its present site. It occupies about one and a ha !: acres of ground in the heart of the Borough of the Bronx, has ane about 200 feet front on Third Avenue and running about 350 feet on 168th Street, with a front on Fulton Avenue. Some of the original buildings of the Kuntz Brewery are still on the ground, but the majority of the buildings are of more recent construction and quite up to date. The machinery, as well as the buildings, vats, wagons, cte., have been entirely overhaste ; since the North Side Brewing Co. have become the owner :.
.
-
MATHIAS HAFFEN ( THE ELDER)
JOHN HAFFEN
MATHIAS HAFFEN
JOHN M. HAFFEN
303
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
and is to-day in an up-to-date condition ; as well as the product of the company has a well merited reputation. It would be well to note here that in consequence of the very reasonable purchase the company has made in acquiring the plant at the price they did, the company concluded and did reduce their capital stock to $500,000, feeling that this would be amply suffi- cient to carry on a business commensurate with the size of the plant. The company enjoys good patronage, not alone from its stockholders but from the trade at large, and is destined to be- come one of the leading business concerns of Bronx Borough. The success of the North Side Brewing Company is largely due to the individual efforts of its officers who have given their
GEORGE FREDERICK GMINDER
devoted time and energy to this great enterprise, and being backed by these gentlemen is a guarantee of a continuous suc- cess. The officers of the company, who are serving their third term, are as follows: George F. Gminder, President; John J. Wager, first Vice-President; William Callahan, second Vice- President; Christian Georges, Treasurer; August Welps, Secre- tary. The Board of Directors are as follows: George F. Gniinder, 4029 Third Avenue, hotel; John J. Wager, Alexander Avenue, Yonkers, General Agent; William Callahan, 145th Street and Eighth Avenue, cafe; Christian Georges, 15 Short Street, Mount Vernon, Real Estate; August Welps, 113th Street and Third Avenue, cafe; Jacob Pritz, 2179 Morris Avenue, hotel ; Martin Hoffman, Tenth Street and Avenue B, Unionport, hotel ; Christian Schlobohm, I Beuna Vista Avenue, Yonkers, hotel ; Thomas F. Brenner, 2926 Eighth Avenue, cafe; Joseph Forest, 84 Lawrence Street, Manhattan, cafe; Gaetano Del Bello, 242 New Main Street, Yonkers, cafe; John P. O'Connell, Golf Course. Van Cortlandt Park, hotel; William Carroll, 155 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn, cafe; Daniel O'Sullivan, 2013 Boston Road, cafe.
.
THE HAFFENS, SENIOR AND JUNIOR .- A well known namc, this of Haffen in the Bronx. The name of one of its most notable public characters, the President of the Borough, and in that particular. a name which is a tower of strength. The name also of the great brewery in that section and of its pro- prietors, father and son, of whom especially we speak. The Haffen brewery is one of the oldest business institutions of the Bronx. Its widespread patronage makes the name practically a "household word." It was founded in 1856 by Mathias Haffen.
first of the name in this country, who was born in Germany in 1814, and came to America in the early part of the nineteenth century. He married in 1845, Miss Catherine Hays. His sons and successors, John and Mathias, Jr., were born on Long Island in 1847 and 1850 respectively. John Haffen married Miss Caroline Hoffman in 1868, and his son, John M., of the third generation, was born in Melrose in 1872. Mathias, brother of John, Sr .. married Mena Schuman in 1872; John M. married Miss Bertha Helen Eckert in 1896; so much for the family tree. In 18 ;! John and Mathias Haffen, sons of the founder of the business, succeeded to the brewery as the firm of J. & M. Haffen. They. in turn, were succeeded by the J. & M. Haffen Brewing Co., in 1900, John Haffen president, John M., his son, secretary, an 1 Mathias, his brother, treasurer, he having banking interests requiring his attention. He has been president, in fact, of the Dollar Savings Bank in the Bronx ever since it was organized in 1889. This bank, located in the Haffen building at 2SoS Third Avenue, is a savings bank and is one of the most prosperous banks of the borough.
GEORGE FREDERICK GMINDER, president of the North Side Brewing Co., Third Avenue and 168th Street, was born here and has been a resident of the city fifty-five years. His education was obtained here also in the public schools; in fact. his whole business life and career has been spent here. He is first vice-president of the National Retail Liquor Dealers' Asso- ciation, with headquarters in Washington; is a member of Wie- land Lodge, F. and A. M., Freilgrath Lodge of Odd Fellows. and Ranaque Lodge of Red Men. Mr. Gminder was the chief promoter of the well known Central Brewing Company of this city, and was first vice-president for three years. In 1903 he resigned this position to head the North Side Brewing Company. This company is based on the co-operative principle and is de- signed to be one of the most prosperous in this State. He is not active politically but he professes himself an advocate of the protective tariff. He has never held public office, barring such as of an honorary character, as delegate to National and State conventions ; lieutenant in the National Guard; notary pub- lic, etc. He married Augusta Edlich in June, 1887. They have no children.
JACOB RUPPERT'S ICE PLANT, NEW YORK CITY .- One of the most instructive and interesting sights for the visitor to New York, and for the ice man in particular, is the new ice factory built by Mr. Jacob Ruppert, located between Lincoln and Alexander Avenues, and facing 132d and 1334 Streets. Mr. Ruppert, universally known for his push, energy and sterling business qualities, is one of the pioneers in the manufacturing of ice in New York City. As early as 18;8 he realized the possibilities of the ice machine, which then was in its infancy, as far as general use was concerned, although the principles upon which it is constructed were well known long before that time. He had then an absorption ice machine erected in his brewery, which he later on replaced by compression ma- chines, still in use there. About ten years ago, realizing that the natural ice would sooner or later be superseded in all large cities by ice manufactured according to hygienic principles, owing to its sanitary qualities, as outlined by some of our most eminent scientists, such as Prof. Mitchel Prudens and Prof. Denton, etc., Mr. Ruppert built an ice plant of fifty tons capacity on Third Avenue, to which he afterward added a second plant of 250 tons daily output. The success which he inet with, and the constantly increasing demand for his Hygeia ice, stimulated him to erect the largest plant of its kind in the world. Anyone connected with ice manufacturing will realize the amount of work, time and
GEORGE KINKLE, JR., MANAGER
1 77
JACOB RUPPERT
M. KARLSTROM, CHIEF ENGINEER
...
4
JACOB RUPPERT'S ICE PLANT
385
HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH
ability it takes to conceive, design and build a plant of such gigantic dimensions as the one in question, and very few men in- deed would undertake such an enterprise single-handed, as Mr. Ruppert did, who is the sole owner of this new plant, as well as the one previously mentioned. It required considerable prelimi- mary work to determine the nature of the ground which was to carry such enormous weights, to drill the wells, and consider- ing all this, and in spite of delays due to the scarcity of iron in the market at the time when the progress of the building mainly depended on its prompt delivery, the factory was erected and ready for occupancy during the latter part of May, 1900, a monument to the indefatigable energy of Mr. Ruppert rarely excelled. Mr. Jacob Ruppert was born in New York in 1842. lle learned the brewing trade and at the age of twenty-five started to build a business of his own. From small beginnings he soon developed his business, and through strict attention to all details of the manufacturing as well as the selling of the product of his brewery, he increased his output from year to year, until he now ranks among the foremost brewers of the country. He employs a large force of men, and takes a very active part in the management of his brewery, as well as in that of the ice factories and numerous other enterprises in which he is finan- cially and otherwise interested. The new ice plant occupies a five-story steel and iron cage construction building, about 200 feet square. The provision for heavy storage, the operation of massive machinery on the upper floors, and the construction of large coal bins above the boilers, have developed some interest- ing features in the design and structural details. The estimated weight of the building and contents gives the following unit loads on the entire lot area under different parts of the building : Machine house, 2.800; freezing house, 3,400; boiler house, 5,100 pounds per square foot .. The 1361/2x172-foot freezing house in separated from the boiler and machinery house by a solid brick wall, into the thickness of which are built steel Z-bar columns, with 12-inch channel ties at the first, second and third floors. The machinery house is about 62x155 feet in plan, and has four full stories, besides the basement and a 12-foot deck house over part of the flat roof. The engines are set on concrete founda- tions built up solid from the pile grillages. The roof and floors are supported by twenty-two steel Z-bar columns, from twenty- two to thirty feet apart, in three longitudinal rows, thirty feet ten inches apart centers. The 62x47 boiler house is separated from the machine house by a heavy brick wall, and its sixteen steel Z-bar columns are arranged to support the coal bin and boilers, which are carried on a system of special beams and girders. The coal bin is, in plan, a 38x54-foot rectangle, and has vertical sides from fourteen to thirty-eight feet in height. In the selection of the many and various machines and con- trivances necessary for his factory, Mr. Ruppert carried out the idea of having nothing but the best, of having in duplicate such parts of the plant as are liable to get out of order, and having everything of ample size. The breakdown of any essential part would mean a loss of not hundreds, but thousands of dollars, considering that when fully equipped the plant will turn out 1,000 tous per day. The steam generating plant received very careful attention. The boiler room, which is 62x47x27 1-2 feet high, contains on the lower floor four boilers built for a working pressure of 150 pounds per square inch, each of 450-horse power capacity, and are equipped with mechanical stokers and "Re- hance" safety water colunis of polished brass. The boiler room also contains two boiter feed pumps of the compound type. One of these pumps is of ample size to supply all the water necessary for the present four boilers, and also for the additional floor,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.