USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume I > Part 44
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
Borough Presidents, elected for a four-year term: Louis F. Haffen, (1898-1909) ; John F. Murray, part of 1909; Cyrus C. Miller, (1910- 1913) ; Douglas Matthewson, (1914-1917) ; Henry Bruckner, (1918-1929) ;
Consulting Engineers: During the presidency of Mr. Haffen, the Borough President was his own Consulting Engineer. Amos Schaeffer, (1910-1913) ; J. W. F. Bennett, (1914-1917) ; Louis F. Haffen, (1918-).
Commissioner of Public Works: Henry Bruckner, (1898-1905) Re- signed ; John F. Murray, (1905-1909) ; Thomas W. Whittle, (1910-1913) ; John R. Burgstede, (1914-1917) ; William J. Flynn, (1918-).
Chief Engineer : Josiah A. Briggs, Chief Engineer of Highways (1898-1901), Chief Engineer of Borough (1902-1910) ; Richard H. Gil- lespie, (1910-1917) ; Josiah H. Fitch, (1918-).
The Bronx County Administration at Present Time-Richard H. Mitchell, Supreme Court Justice; George V. Mullan, Supreme Court Justice ; John M. Tierney, Supreme Court Justice ; Leonard A. Giegerich, Supreme Court Justice ; Peter A. Hatting, Supreme Court Justice ; Louis D. Gibbs, Supreme Court Justice ; Edward J. Glennon, Supreme Court Justice ; Ernest E. L. Hammer, Supreme Court Justice ; Joseph M. Calla- han, Supreme Court Justice; John E. McGeehan, District Attorney ; Albert Cohn, County Judge; James M. Barrett, County Judge; George M. S. Schultz, Surrogate; James W. Brown, Public Administrator ; Lester W. Patterson, Sheriff; Louis A. Schoffel, Register; Robert L. Moran, County Clerk; John A. Mason, Commissioner of Jurors; John J. Knewitz, Commissioner of Records.
New York City Administration in The Bronx-Commissioner of
383
OFFICIAL RECORD AND PERSONNEL
Parks, The Bronx, Joseph P. Hennessy ; Deputy Commissioner, Depart- ment of Street Cleaning; Deputy Commissioner, Department of Water Supply.
Gas and Electricity : Superintendent, Tenement House Department ; Department of Assessments and Arrears; Department of Public Wel- fare; Department of Taxes and Assessments; Board of Elections; Re- ceiver of Taxes; Deputy City Clerk; Marriage License Bureau ; Depart- ment of Health; Assistant Medical Examiners.
Board of Aldermen in The Bronx: Edward W. Curley, 25th District ; Albert G. Halberstadt, 26th District; James M. Fitzpatrick, 27th Dis- trict (Elected to Congress; term beginning March 4, 1927), (24th District) ; William P. Sullivan, 28th District; Peter Donovan, 29th District; Edward J. Walsh, 30th District; Rudolph Hannock, 31st District; Alfred J. Williams, 32nd District.
Justices of the Municipal Court in The Bronx: Peter A. Sheil; Wil- liam E. Morris ; James J. Fitzgerald; Ely Neumann.
State Administration in The Bronx-State Senators: Henry G. Schackno, 21st District; Benjamin Antin, 22nd District; John J. Dun- nigan, 23rd District.
Members of Assembly: Nicholas J. Eberhard, 1st District; William F. Smith, 2nd District; Julius Berg, 3rd District; Herman M. Albert, 4th District; Harry A. Samberg, 5th District; Thomas J. McDonald, 6th District ; John F. Reidy, 7th District; Joseph E. Kinsley, 8th District.
National Administration in The Bronx-Collector of Internal Reve- nue, 14th District. Representatives in Congress : Anthony J. Griffin, 22nd District; Frank Oliver, 23rd District; Benjamin L. Fairchild, 24th Dis- trict. James M. Fitzpatrick, 1927.
Local Improvement Boards; Morrisania, 21st District-25th Alder- inanic District; Chester, 22nd District-26th and 27th Aldermanic Dis- tricts ; Crotona, 23rd District-28th and 29th Aldermanic Districts ; Van Cortlandt, 24th District-30th, 31st, and 32nd Aldermanic Districts. The Secretary of the Borough of The Bronx is Secretary of all the Local Boards.
Present Borough and City Officials-Henry Bruckner, President of the Borough of The Bronx; Thomas J. Dolen, Secretary to Borough President ; Solomon Boneparth, Secretary Borough of The Bronx; Wil- liam J. Flynn, Commissioner of Public Works; Arthur J. Largy, Super- intendent Bureau of Highways; Patrick J. Reville, Superintendent Bureau of Buildings ; George T. Brown, Superintendent Bureau of Pub- lic Buildings; Josiah H. Fitch, Chief Engineer, Engineering Bureau ; Louis F. Haffen, Consulting Engineer; Joseph P. Hennessy, Commis-
384
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
sioner of Parks; James W. Brown, Deputy Commissioner, Street Clean- ing Department; Albert H. Liebenau, Deputy Commissioner, Water Supply, Gas and Electricity Department; Walter Martin, Superin- tendent Tenement House Department; Dr. Karl S. Kennard, Assistant Medical Examiner; Dr. John Riegelman, Assistant Medical Examiner.
The part of The Bronx community annexed to the City and County of New York on January 1, 1874, was designated as the 23rd and 24th Wards, and the development of the territory was placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Parks of New York City, which body had succeeded the Central Park Commissioners.
At the time of annexation the population of the 23rd and 24th Wards was about 35,000, and a speedy development of this territory was anti- cipated, but was not realized. The new part of the city of New York was looked upon as a mere suburban locality, more to be tolerated than recognized as a part of the City.
Finally, after many years of dissatisfaction over the administration or rather the lack of it by the Park Department, property owners in the 23rd and 24th Wards joined activities in behalf of a local bureau or department that would prove more beneficial to them as well as to the City at large.
In 1890, the campaign bore fruit with the Governor's approval of a Legislative Bill creating the Department of Street Improvements of the 23rd and 24th Wards, transferring to the new body the jurisdiction over the improvement of this territory up to that time reposing in the Park Department.
The new Department of Street Improvements became a functioning body on January 1, 1891, with Louis J. Heintz as the first Commissioner of the Department.
By virtue of Chapter 378 of the Laws of 1897, the territories em- braced within the annexations to the City and County of New York in 1874 and 1895 became the Borough of The Bronx, on January 1, 1898, and the Department of Street Improvements ceased to exist as an independent body, being merged with the Borough government.
Louis F. Haffen had the honor of being the first President of the Borough of The Bronx.
On January 1, 1914, by virtue of Chapter 548 of the Laws of 1912, Bronx County came into being, the first group of County officials, who had been elected at the November, 1913, election, taking office.
We shall end this chapter on a personal note. Mr. Louis F. Haffen's name occurs frequently in the modern chapters of this work. He was the first President of the Borough of The Bronx and remained its president twelve years. He has been continuously in the public service of the borough since its formation and has indeed been one of its
MARKET
-----
---
WTHE
PHYSICAL CULTURE SHOES
RELIANCE MOD
W> HENNE & CO
4199-0201:3 2
Harcy ltaacy
Fifth Ave Store: 60. West 45° St
Winterroth& C. PIANOS
BRONX BIRDSEYE VIEW
7
GOLD
-
PURITAN STEAM LAUN
BRONX BIRDSEYE VIEW
385
OFFICIAL RECORD AND PERSONNEL
architects during the period of striking development in which the present generation has lived. It will perhaps not be out of place to put on record the appreciation of the contemporaries who have been his con- tinued supporters. The tribute from them is not merely a tribute to him but a tribute also to others and a succinct account of political events that preceded the date of writing. For these reasons we think, though written some years ago, it will form a fitting conclusion to a chapter dealing with the activities of officials, of whom the man addressed and some of the signers are still the modern successors. The letter is in the form of an appeal asking Mr. Haffen to run again as candidate for the presidency and is in part as follows :
Your predecessor in the office of Commissioner of Street Improvements, the late Louis J. Heintz, made rapid and skillful progress in the making and filing of maps and when, after about two years of public service, death closed his career, you were called upon to take up the work and you have guided its progress and prosperity ever since. To Louis J. Heintz is due the affection and gratitude of the people, no one being more generous in praise of him than yourself. To you, who have since his death conducted our public affairs in their enormously enlarged proportions, is due the confidence and respect of every unbiased citizen of our Borough. Under both of these administrations our Borough has far outstripped in proportionate increase of population and material prosperity any other Borough of our great city. Nor should we omit to say that it ought to be a source of great pride and gratification to all our citizens of The Bronx, that, with the vast volume of public business conducted, the great extent and variety of public improvements and the large expenditure of public funds since 1890, a period of fifteen years, no charge of corruption or no scandal worthy of the name against either of these administrations has ever assailed the public ear.
Viewing the matter as a purely economic question, free from all other entan- glements, it is quite clear to us that there is still a large volume of unfinished business which can be best completed by you.
A new territory of 15,000 acres, larger in dimensions than the original territory under your jurisdiction when you first took office, has been added to the Borough. The layout and final mapping of this component part of the Borough is not yet completed. It is clearly advisable that there should be a symmetrical and con- sistent system throughout. A change of administration at this particular juncture might involve a change of treatment and policy.
There is still another most important reason for your continuance in office for another term. The Bronx Borough has water front of about sixty miles. This vast property is of incalculable value to the future growth and wealth not only of The Bronx but of the City. To lay the fundamental plans scientifically and judiciously for its future uses to meet the requirements of a large and ever in- creasing population and correspondingly increasing business, is a problem of the gravest importance.
Your skill as an engineer, added to your intimate and practical knowledge, acquired through years of professional and official observation, render your services in determining the time and manner of its development of vital importance to the people of The Bronx.
Believing it to be incumbent upon you, under all these circumstances, not to evade the responsibility, we earnestly request you, in the interest of property
Bronx-25
386
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
owners, business men and the general welfare, to serve us for another term as President of the Borough of The Bronx.
Respectfully,
John H. Knoeppel,
Wm. H. Schott,
Matthew P. Breen,
John Haffen,
Wm. G. McCrea,
R. D. Hamilton,
John McMahon,
John H. J. Ronner,
Arthur C. Butts,
John C. Heintz,
Gustavus Robitzek,
Louis A. Risse,
Bernard R. Guion,
William Ebling,
John Osborn,
Adolph G. Hupfel.
CHAPTER X CIVIL WAR
The Civil War did not come suddenly, like a bolt from the blue. It drew near slowly, propelled by those wavering human forces that exist in the pride and passion of men. It was preceded by a period of acer- bation, of feeling which every now and again threatened to run over the brink and carry the nation onward to a doom of which not the clearest- seeing of minds could foretell the outcome. It was preceded by innum- erable outbursts of passion on the part of individual partisans and the growing of a deep hatred that dug a chasm through the heart of the country and divided it into two formidable sections. The time came when the feeling grew so tense that men began to visualize the outbreak of war as a relief, and when that state of feeling prevails men in their hearts know well that the inevitable is at their doors. From the day when the votes were counted, after the famous election of 1860, the question of Civil War was reduced to one of time. The party that then came into power affected to believe that it would not come; but its adversaries steadily predicted its occurrence, or confined themselves to the expression of a hope, against probability, that "the evil might be spared the nation." The region of The Bronx and Westchester County in general, from their position close to the' metropolis of American commerce, might be expected to take in part a commercial view of the crisis. The distribution of parties within its limits was similar to the divisions in the city of New York, and the issue between the sup- porters of opposite views of the government was strongly marked. As in New York the three factions into which the one party was divided, sank their issue in a common electoral ticket, whose expressed bond of union was hatred to the "Black Republicans" and "Abolitionists" as a class. The leading papers of the territory just north of the Harlem were the "Eastern State Journal" of White Plains, the "Highland Demo- crat" of Peekskill, and the "Yonkers Herald." All three journals were well established, marked by vigorous writing, well able to support their editors. The attitude of parties in the valley of The Bronx and in Westchester County generally is best exhibited by the way in which these papers treated the question on the eve of election and immediately afterwards. The headlines of the "Eastern State Journal," which may be taken as a fair specimen of the whole, in which the tickets were printed on November 2nd-the Friday before Election Day-read thus :
Union Electoral Ticket, Anti-Lincoln, Anti-Black Republican.
388
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
No President is named. There are thirty-three electors and W. Kelly is named for Governor. The editorial on the subject says: "This is the day on which the fate of battle is suspended. Let every true man do his duty. . . . Be at the polls early. ... Vote before breakfast if possible. Permit no Black Republican enemy of his country to deprive you of a sacred right, or swerve you from your purpose. Challenge every illegal vote. Permit no insolent, paid and drilled Wide Awakes to dictate the law or your duty. Stand firm and defiant -- and get in every vote possible for the Union Ticket."
Further on, and scattered through the paper, are statements that the "Black Republicans are panic-struck;" adjurations to "bring every man to the polls;" "to vote against the negro and Black Republican ticket. next Tuesday." "Cast your vote against Negro Suffrage. Be true," etc. The result of these appeals came out two weeks later in the official canvass of the vote: "Union Electoral" ticket, eight thousand, one hun- dred and twenty-six; "Republican" ticket, six thousand, six hundred and seventy-one. The majority of one thousand, four hundred and fifty-five cast against the latter ticket was not sustained in other cases, the majority for Kelly for Governor being about a thousand, while that for the Congressman was only six hundred and fifty. The neighboring counties of Putnam and Rockland show about the same state of parties.
A typical expression of opinion on the result of the election after an admission that the country districts had carried the State for the Re- publicans by "about six thousand majority," is as follows: "The result is deeply to be regretted, not so much on party ground, as for the con- tinued peace and prosperity of the country .. The election of a sec- tional President-against which Washington warned his countrymen in his farewell address-has now been tried, and we are to witness the re- sult. We hope for the best, yet we are not without serious apprehen- sions. ... The Union Electoral ticket gets about thirteen hundred ma- jority, but the State is black enough. New York City gives the Union Electoral ticket 28,000 majority."
Secession and Abolitionism-The feeling of pessimism was deep- seated and the assemblage of portents appeared to speak eloquently of the arduous times ahead. From that time forward the more thought- ful of the papers and publicists give expression to the sense of impend- ing tragedy. The tone is grave, but not many comments are made till the assembling of Congress, when President Buchanan's message is praised as being "an able, statesmanlike and patriotic production," and the rest of the State Journal up to March 4, 1861, is occupied with copies of letters from prominent Southerners in advocacy of secession, includ- ing the "farewell" of Howell Cobb, in which he alludes to Mr. Buchanan as the "last President of the United States." The points of Buchanan's
389
CIVIL WAR
message, briefly stated, were-that the Union was in peril; that there was no similarity between the attitude of South Carolina in the nulli- fication of 1832 and her secession of December 20, 1860; because, in 1832, the sympathy of the other States was against her; while, in 1860, that of the Gulf States was with her; that the trouble had arisen in con- sequence of the Northern States interfering with slavery-a thing they had "no more right to meddle with in other States than in Russia;" that the question had arisen, What was to be done? that he was of opinion that secession was "unconstitutional;" but also of opinion, "after much serious reflection ;" that the United States "had no power to coerce a seceding State," closing this part of the argument with the remark: "The fact is, the Union rests on public opinion, and can never be ce- mented by the blood of its citizens shed in Civil War."
Some days after the arrival of the news of the secession of South Carolina the "Eastern State Journal" published a sermon by the Rev. H. S. Van Dyke, in Brooklyn, on "Abolitionism," in which the Bible's defense of slavery was promulgated, and "Abolitionists" were de- nounced as "infidels." This sermon occupied ten columns of the paper, in small type, and the editor drew attention to the leading point-the "identity of Abolitionism and infidelity." Extracts from Southern papers formed the staple of news for the next few weeks and on January 11th the editor announced, "The mission of Black Republicanism is the de- struction of the Union. The mission is being rapidly accomplished. South Carolina leads off in seceding. Those who organized the Republican Party are responsible for the present condition of affairs." On January 18th the statement was made that "Yancey, Toombs and Rhett are no more disunionists than Horace Greeley." In this morbid strain the opinion of the majority of people in the territory of The Bronx and in Westchester County generally appears to have run till February 1st, when a "State Convention of Democrats" was announced to "insist" that there should be "no coercion, no civil war," with the assertion : "The border States will not permit Lincoln to coerce the Gulf States."
Firing on Fort Sumter-Following the firing on Fort Sumter the first heading that strikes the eye, for the journals in the vicinity leave some- thing of a gap at this juncture, is that of the "Eastern State Journal," which is "Peace! Peace! Down with the Black Republicans ;" though among the news items appears the account of the drilling of a com- pany in White Plains, raised by Captain James J. Chambers, in which complimentary notice is given to the men. The news of the attack on Fort Sumter, and especially the tidings of its surrender, produced, as is well known, a great change of feeling in the city of New York, in favor of the administration of Lincoln and the effort made by him and
390
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
his party to put down the rebellion. The bombardment of the fort be- gan on Friday, April 12, 1861; the place was surrendered by Major Anderson on Saturday, the thirteenth, after an attack in which one man was wounded, none were killed, on the side of the United States forces. The news was published in the papers on Sunday, the fourteenth, with the headline in the "New York Herald," "Dissolution of the Union." The people had all Sunday to think over the news and the comments made on it by the opponents of the administration. The exasperation of feeling produced by the news itself was intensified by the way in which these comments were made, and especially by the call made for a "peace meeting" in New York City. 'The "Herald," in the same issue in which the surrender of the fort and "the dissolution of the Union" were announced, stated that a "preliminary meeting" had been held on Saturday evening, at which steps were taken to call a great mass-meet- ing to "force" the administration to surrender, and desist from Lin- coln's expressed intention to "coerce the seceding States." The Bronx territory and Westchester County in general were represented at this preliminary meeting by some prominent officials, who held to the ex- treme Democratic doctrines of "States rights."
In the country at large, however, and in the capital, things were mnov- ing in a manner that showed no lack of decision. On Monday, April 15th, appeared Lincoln's proclamation. It called for seventy-five thou- sand militia, for three months, to suppress the rebellion. The proclama- tion had the effect of a spark to a train of gunpowder in the city of New York, and the effect was felt north of the Harlem in a proportion- ate degree. Men who had been waiting, sick at heart, in view of the outwardly tranquil manner in which the government was submitting to destruction, realized that the end of toleration had come at last, and that public opinion might be invoked to foil the suicide of a nation. Then came the sudden outbreak in the city of a popular anger, which filled the streets, in five minutes from the first rush into the open air, with a dense crowd of excited men, whose only purpose seemed to be to make every Democratic newspaper in New York "hang out the flag." The populace had been aroused at last.
When demonstrations of this character could occur in a city that had cast a heavy majority against Lincoln it may well be supposed that in Albany, where his friends and partisans were in the ascendant in the Legislature, the state of feeling would rise still higher. Such proved to be the case; and the singular anomaly was presented in the history of that stirring time, that the President's demand found itself far be- hind the popular judgment of the needs of the case. The call was for seventy-five thousand militia for three months' service. It arrived on April 13th. On the day following the New York Legislature passed,
391
CIVIL WAR
with unexampled celerity, and the Governor signed, a law providing --- in addition to the quota assigned to New York State under the call (thirteen thousand, two hundred men)-for thirty thousand volunteers to serve for two years. The law authorized the Governor, Lieutenant- Governor, Comptroller, Attorney-General, State Engineer and Surveyor, and State Treasurer, "or a majority of them," to "accept the services, and to cause to be mustered into the service of the State" the volunteers named, "in addition to the present military organization of the State, and as a part of the militia thereof." It further provided for pay and al- lowances, the same as then prevailed in the United States service, to the force to be raised, and that the men should be "liable at all times to be turned over to the service of the United States, on the order of the Governor, as a part of the militia of the State, upon the requisition of the President of the United States."
Local Volunteers-The first formal identification of Westchester County with the two years' volunteers and the only one in the county in the shape of a body of men accredited thereto, came from the village of Port Chester in the shape of Company B, Seventeenth Infantry, known as the "Westchester Chasseurs." Interest attaches to this com- pany as being the first to volunteer, in a body, for the credit of the town. Captain Bartram, who headed the company, was at the time of his enlistment vice-principal of one of the New York public schools, earning a good salary; and many people thought him one of the most foolish of men, to throw up a good place, merely for the purpose of "serving his country," so low had then become the popular estimate of the value of patriotism. The influence of such publications as the White Plains paper, from which a number of editorial extracts have been given, uttering words that were echoed, with more or less degree of force, by other papers north of the Harlem, had certainly not tended to encourage good feeling; and it reflected much credit on the town of Port Chester as it did on no other town in Westchester, that Bartram managed to get his company mustered into the service, in its entirety, as he did. He appears to have begun his work almost on the day the law was promulgated in the form of a general order from the adjutant- general of the State-and had his men ready to leave Port Chester be- fore the end of the month. Even then, however, they might never have been mustered in as a company, had it not been for the energy and patriotism of a few men in Port Chester, who took hold of the matter and gave him their support.
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.