The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III, Part 10

Author: Wells, James Lee, 1843-1928
Publication date: 1927
Publisher: New York, The Lewis historical Pub. Co., Inc.
Number of Pages: 618


USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 10


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Mabel Kaneen in 1913, a contractor and builder, in- terested in building on the Mapes Estate and the development of The Bronx.


William Archer Mapes died February 19, 1913, in his seventy-fourth year, at his home in The Bronx, New York City. His life was one of continuous and generous service within his ever-widening sphere of influence. In business he was upright, in politics a consistent and sincere advocate of the purest prin- ciples of community, State and national life, and in his contacts with his fellows a fine exemplar of the ideal citizen.


PATRICK HENRY FITZPATRICK-Engaged in the building and real estate business in the Throggs Neck section of The Bronx since 1924, Mr. Fitz- patrick, during the few years of his residence in this part of The Bronx, has become one of the leaders in the development of real estate and in the upbuilding of this community. His previous experience of many years as assistant New England superintendent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and later as Eastern representative of the Salem China Company stood him in good stead in his more re- cent enterprise. Not only is he considered a very energetic and able business man with an unusually keen business judgment, but he is also active in the civic, fraternal and religious life of the community.


Patrick Henry Fitzpatrick was born August 31, 1872, at Southbridge, Massachusetts, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Fitzpatrick. His father, Thomas Fitzpatrick, born in Derrynaveigh, County Clare, Ireland, a son of Patrick and Mary (Ryan) Fitzpatrick. He came to the United States as a boy of fourteen years, settling first in Troy, New York, and later in Worcester, Massachusetts. There he married at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Elizabeth Kennedy, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, and a daughter of Patrick and Bridget (Ro- nan) Kennedy. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick removed to Southbridge, Massachusetts. It was in this town that their son, the subject of this article, received his education, graduating from grammar school and then attending high school for two years. At the age of sixteen years, Mr. Fitz- patrick began work in one of the local mills, where, however, he remained only for a short time. He then entered the employ of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad as a clerk in the freight department, a position which he filled with much ef- ficiency for seven years. At the end of this period he became connected with the Metropolitan Life Insur- ance Company, a connection which endured for twelve years. Of this important organization he was assistant superintendent in New England, with head- quarters in Worcester and Roxbury, Massachusetts, his work taking him to the various New England cities and towns in his territory, in which this com- pany had local agencies. In 1919 he accepted the position of representative for the Salem China Con- pany, of Salem, Ohio, covering New York, Penn- sylvania, and part of New England. In this work, too, his ability and energy gained him success and recognition. He continued in it until 1924, when he entered the building and real estate business in The Bronx, in which he has been engaged ever since


then. His operations are centered in the Throggs Neck section and he has been responsible for bring- ing many new settlers and buyers to this part of The Bronx. Mr. Fitzpatrick has always taken an intelligent interest in public affairs and, while he was still a resident of Southbridge, Massachusetts, he served for four years as assessor of this town, a position which he resigned only when he moved away.


In politics Mr. Fitzpatrick is a supporter of the Democratic party and as such is a member of the Chippewa Democratic Club of The Bronx. He is also a member of Trienna Council, No. 199, Knights of Columbus, and of the Holy Name Society of the Church of Our Lady of Assumption, of The Bronx. His religious affiliations are with the Roman Catholic church, and more particularly with the Church of Our Lady of Assumption.


Mr. Fitzpatrick married at Southbridge, Massa- chusetts, in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, February 19, 1900, Mary Tobin, a daughter of Pat- rick and Julia (Kelly) Tobin. Mrs. Fitzpatrick's father was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, a son of Ber- nard and Bridget Tobin, but her mother was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts, a daughter of Pat- rick Thomas and Mary Kelly. Mr. and Mrs. Fitz- patrick are the parents of four children: 1. Margaret Mary, born July 23, 1902. 2. Leo Francis, born July 31, 1904. 3. Thomas Bernard, born August 4, 1906; married, October 10, 1925, Dorothy Meyers. 4. Pat- rick Henry, Jr., born December 1, 1908. The family home is located at No. 3364 Eastern Boulevard, The Bronx.


While at Southbridge, Massachusetts, Mr. Fitzpat- rick saved the life of a woman by the name of Bridget McGrath, for which he received the Carnegie. Hero Medal and the Massachusetts Humane Society Medal, and $1200 in cash. Mr. Fitzpatrick was a great athlete and was a swimmer of note.


WILLIAM AINSLIE GOODALL, M. D .- Now living quietly at the Concourse Plaza Hotel and de- voting himself to the unceasing demands of a large consulting practice and the duties which his con- nection with many of the large New York hospitals lays upon him, Dr. William Ainslie Goodall's life is a story of long years of closest application to study and research in many foreign lands and of thrilling episodes in many wars in which he was actively en- gaged in Egypt, Afghanistan, and South Africa. He has traveled all over the world in quest of more and more knowledge on the subjects which are of ab- sorbing interest to him, studying in the great uni- versities and hospitals of many lands, and doing much original research.


His life began in our own southland just as the terrible Civil War began its devastation. He was born on January 9, 1861, in Louisville, Kentucky, son of Gavin and Jeanette (Ainslie) Goodall. His father was a native of that city, and a well-known foundry- man, who built most of the boats and bridges of his day used on the Ohio and southern rivers. His mother was born on the old family estate, known as "The Moat," in Edinburgh, Scotland. While he was still a child his parents moved to Galt, Canada, and


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there he was placed in Dr. Tassie's College, from which he was graduated in 1878. This was the first step in an education which is not yet completed, for Dr. Goodall belongs to that class of men who are ever on the search for knowledge, a search which lasts as long as life itself. From his prepara- tory school, he entered the Medical School of To- ronto University, and graduated with the class of 1883. Then a year of post-graduate work followed at Victoria University, with the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and M. C. H. Feeling that he had but crossed the threshold of the palace where Truth is enthroned, he began his restless search for entrance to her sanctum. He then went to Edinburgh, Scot- land, and from this University he received the de- gree of L. R. C. P., in 1884. He then entered the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin where he studied for a year, adding to his honors the degree of L. R. C. P. I. These special courses of study he supplemented by visiting all the medical centers of Europe, Heidelberg, Berlin, Vienna, and Paris, con- centrating his attention upon pathology. When the British-Egyptian War was on, he joined the British forces and served as medical surgeon with the com- mission of lieutenant. Later he joined the British forces in Afghanistan where he served with a like commission as a surgeon in the army. Again he did service with the British soldiers, this time in South Africa, where he took part in the battles against Somkelli and Dinizulu when they were sent to quell the Zulu uprising there.


And so driven on by his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Dr. Goodall faced perils and traveled all over the world for many years. In 1888, he de- cided to return to America and upon landing in his native land, he established himself in The Bronx, where he quickly assumed a leading position in the medical profession. He is now the oldest practicing physician in that borough of New York City, and in addition to caring for his very heavy private prac- tice, he is visiting physician of the Post-Graduate Hospital, the German Luthern Hospital, and the Columbus Hospital, as well as director of medicine of The Bronx General Hospital. He is also a mem- ber of many professional and scientific societies and organizations, including the British Medical Society; the Medical Society of British India; the Medical Council of New South Wales, Victoria and Queens- land; the Medical Council of Cape Colony, Natal and Capetown, South Africa; the Medical Council of Ontario and Quebec, Canada; The Bronx County Medical Society; the New York State Medical So- ciety; the Bronx Medical Association; the Clinical Society of the Post-Graduate Hospital; the Royal Geographical Society; the American Geographical Society; and the Canadian Club. Fraternally, he is identified with Guiding Star Lodge, No. 321, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Suburban Council, No. 1654, Royal Arcanum.


In 1902, Dr. William Ainslie Goodall married Eliza- beth Anderson, daughter of William H. and Elizabeth (Moore) Anderson, of The Bronx. Her father was formerly superintendent of all Canadian railways and perhaps more than any other single man was responsible for their construction and development. Her mother was a grand-niece of Thomas Moore,


the famous Irish poet, who was her grandfather's father's brother.


ROBERT LAWRENCE MORAN-The only citizen of The Bronx who ever served as mayor of New York City, even though this honor came to him only in the capacity of acting mayor during one of Mayor Hylan's absences from the city, Mr. Moran has served his city faithfully and successfully in many other political offices. He was born in Man- hattan, on East Twenty-first Street, October 3, 1887, a son of Eugene and Delia Moran. His father, a native of that part of New York City known as Greenwich Village, was for many years a member of the New York City police force and died in 1912. The family moved to The Bronx in 1895 where Mrs. Moran still resides with her son.


Robert Lawrence Moran was educated in the pub- lic schools of his native city and attended New York University. As a young man he entered the real estate business in The Bronx and among the many operations with which he was connected should be mentioned the erection of the Theodore Roosevelt Apartments on the Grand Concourse. He became actively interested in politics very soon after having reached voting age and was elected a member of the Board of Aldermen in 1914 on the Democratic ticket. Reëlected at the expiration of each term, he served as minority leader and majority leader mem- ber of this board until 1920. When Alfred E. Smith, later Governor of New York, was elected president of the Board of Aldermen in 1916, Mr. Moran was made vice-chairman by the votes of his fellow-mem- bers and he, therefore, automatically became president of the Board on December 31, 1918, when Mr. Smith resigned to assume the office of Governor to which he had been elected that November. In the following year Mr. Moran became the candidate of his party for the presidency of the Board of Alder- men. But in the late summer he was suddenly taken ill and had to undergo an operation for acute ap- pendicitis. His subsequent recovery was complete, but so slow that it prevented him from taking any active part in the election campaign, and as a re- sult he was defeated by his Republican opponent, F. H. LaGuardia, by only eleven hundred votes. On January 2, 1920, Governor Smith appointed him coun- ty clerk of The Bronx, to fill the unexpired term of Joseph M. Callahan who had been elected City Court Judge. When Mr. Moran offered himself for elec- tion in 1920 for a full term, he was elected by a large majority and so successfully did he fill his office that he was reelected in November, 1924. During the World War Mr. Moran was barred from active service by his status as a public official, but he took a very active part in all of the patriotic movements of that period.


Besides being a member of The Bronx Board of Trade, he also holds membership in The Bronx Rotary Club, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Bronx Catholic Club, and Knights of Columbus. Mr. Moran also served as a member of the New York State Home Rule Commission, and helped frame the law setting up Home Rule for the munici- palities of the State. His religious affiliations are


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with the Roman Catholic church and he is a com- municant of the Church of Our Lady of Solace, Van Nest Avenue and White Plains Road. Mr. Moran is unmarried and makes his home with his mother and sister at No. 1565 Leland Avenue.


JOSEPH PATRICK RYAN-Much of the growth and prosperity that distinguish The Bronx as the most rapidly growing borough of New York City, must be placed to the credit of one of its foremost citizens and a "gentleman of the old school," Joseph Patrick Ryan, a self-made man, whose perspicacity, energy and the ability to embrace opportunity, en- abled him to seize upon the time and place wherein he has realized the accuracy of his vision of The Bronx as a source of revenue for the investor and business man far beyond the expectations of his contemporaries of less courageous nature. Today, this fine upstanding son of Irish parents, he himself being a native New Yorker, is one of the largest factors in the metropolis' northernmost community, and on all sides is looked upon as one of the sound- est exponents of Bronx history, tradition, realty and finance.


Born in New York City, March 17, 1863, Joseph Patrick Ryan is the son of Patrick and Catherine (Ryan) Ryan, his parents natives of Tipperary, Ire- land, the father born in 1834, and the mother in 1835. Having come early in life to New York, the elder Ryan engaged in the trucking business in that city for a number of years. The family home was on Twenty-first Street, between First and Second avenues, where the son Joseph Patrick spent his boyhood and youth. He received his early educa- tion at the old Public School No. 40, situated on Twenty-third Street, between Second and Third avenues, from which he was graduated to the Col- lege of the City of New York, Twenty-third Street and Lexington Avenue. While an academic course was one much to be desired, the young man Ryan believed at this time that a more practical contact with affairs was where he best could serve; therefore he obtained employment, and it was while thus en- gaged that he elected the profession of sanitary en- gineer, for which he fitted himself at Cooper Union Institute.


Having laid a good foundation for the career of his choice, Mr. Ryan established himself in the plumbing business and as sanitary engineer, his headquarters for ten years being at Thirty-sixth Street and Lex- ington Avenue. Virtually from the beginning his enterprise was attended with success, and it was a logical step to the adoption of the building business as an adjunct to the plumbing establishment, to which it was kin. Through this expanded business, Mr. Ryan took upon himself the great task of re- building many of the fine old residences in the Mur- ray Hill section of Manhattan, later carrying on a similar work in The Bronx. In these buildings he also installed modern plumbing and bathroom fix- tures, making a specialty of the two lines for some thirty years, during which period he became a leader in that kind of business.


With Mr. Ryan's entrance into the activities of The Bronx on a major scale, he began to purchase


property in locations where his foresight told him that eventually there would be high increases in valuation. He is the owner of the entire block front on the south side of Fordham Road, between Elm Place and Marion Avenue, and of the attractive group of buildings at the northeast corner of the Grand Concourse and Fordham Road, this being one of the most important and valuable sections of build- ing in the West Bronx, and valuable properties on Broadway in the nineties and West Forties in Man- hattan.


Mr. Ryan's realty holdings reach into the millions; and his interests have multiplied so rapidly that he has created a number of corporations, in which he and his sons are officers and directors. These cor- porations are holding companies, also designed for the purpose of operating the properties, and are known as: the Westkell Realty Company, Inc., the Fordelm Realty Company, Inc., the Conford Realty Company, Inc., and Joseph P. Ryan, Inc., of each of which Mr. Ryan is president and treasurer.


Other interests in which Mr. Ryan is a command- ing shareholder are the Fordham, National Bank, of which he is president and a director; the Lewis Oil Corporation, a successful independent oil-refin- ing company, of which he is a director and a large stockholder; the Saligold Mills, Inc., of which he is chairman. This last-mentioned concern is the manufacturing plant of "Rayon" underwear, and they have assembled at the northwest corner of Willow Avenue and One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Street, The Bronx, a factory covering 30,000 square feet, thus bringing a new industry of importance to this section of the city. Mr. Ryan also has vested inter- ests in a number of other business enterprises.


In civic affairs and citizenship relationships Mr. Ryan plays an important part. He is a member of The Bronx County Grand Jury and of the Tam- many Hall County Committee for The Bronx, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Winged Foot Golf Club, and the New York Athletic Club. He is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of Columbus. His religious association is with the Roman Catholic church. He is president of Con- ference St. Nicholas of the Tolentine Roman Cath- olic Church and of the St. Vincent de Paul So- ciety of that church. He is also a member of the Holy Name Society.


Mr. Ryan married, April 4, 1893, in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Rev. John Whelan officiating, Mary Jane Daley. She was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, daughter of John F. Daley, born in Bandon, County Cork, Ire- land, in 1833, died in 1898, and Margaret (Wagstaff) Daley, born in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, in 1835, died in 1908. Children of Joseph Patrick and Mary Jane (Daley) Ryan: Walter Joseph, born Septem- ber 28, 1895; Charles Francis, born December 13, 1897; Henry Wagstaff, born January 22, 1899; and Margaret Mary, born December 1, 1904.


Joseph Patrick Ryan moved to the Borough of The Bronx from Manhattan, October 1, 1915, and has lived there to the present time, his home being on University Avenue, below Fordham Road, a fine old house of Colonial type and one of the few old houses remaining in this section.


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W. STEBBINS SMITH-A pioneer resident and lawyer of that part of The Bronx, known as Morri- sania until its annexation by New York City in 1873, Mr. Smith is able to look back on seventy years' active and very effective participation in the wonderful development which has been the happy destiny of the most northern borough of Greater New York. He was born at White Plains, West- chester County, September 16, 1849, but moved to Morrisania, then also part of Westchester County, with his father's family as a boy, he having lived in the Smith homestead over sixty-five years. He is a son of Chauncey and Hannah (Fowler) Smith, both members of pioneer Westchester families, his father being a prominent lawyer, his mother a de- scendant of Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of Major André, the English accomplice of Benedict Arnold in the latter's attempt to betray his country during the Revolutionary War.


W. Stebbins Smith was educated in private schools and then took up the study of law at the School of Law of Columbia University from which he was graduated in 1871. He was admitted to the bar at Poughkeepsie, New York, June 12, 1871, and has been engaged in the practice of his profession ever since, with offices formerly both in The Bronx and in the Bennet Building, Fulton and Ann streets, New York City, and during recent years at No. 462 East One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Street. Not only is he one of the pioneers of The Bronx bar, but is considered also one of its leaders in legal learning and experience. He is a charter member of The Bronx Bar Association of which he was also the first president. Of The Bronx Board of Trade he was also a charter member, and he was one of the founders and a member of the original board of directors of the Cosmopolitan Bank which has since grown into one of the most popular and strongest banking institutions located in The Bronx. He is also a member of the Alumni Association of the Columbia University Law School; Society of Arts and Science, of which he is a past president; the Archae- ological Society of America; the old North Side Board of Trade, of which he was one of the founders; the Taxpayers' Alliance, of which he is one of the oldest members; The Bronx County Property Own- ers' Association; the Young Men's Christian As- sociation, of which he is vice-president of the Board of Managers; the Fortnightly Association, of which he is vice-president; and the Jimmie Creek Rod and Gun Association, of which he is president, also mem- ber of the Old Timers' Association. During the Civil War he tried to enlist, although only a young lad at that time, but was rejected on account of an injured arm. During the World War he served his country as chairman of his local Draft Board. In politics Mr. Smith is a supporter of the Repub- lican party and served as president of the Board of School Inspectors, during the administrations of Mayors Strong and Van Wyck, in 1895 to 1901. His religious affiliations are with the Methodist Episcopal church through his membership in the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, No. 1074 Washington Avenue, of whose Board of Trustees he served as president for many years. He is also an official of the New York City Society of the Metho-


dist Episcopal Church, and of the Old Folks Home located on Amsterdam Avenue, and other associa- tions.


Mr. Smith was married in New York City, October 24, 1878, to Lillie Jackson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Jackson, members of an old New York family. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the parents of three children, two of whom died in infancy, the surviving child being Grace E. Waterman, now the wife of George W. Waterman.


The family home is at No. 204 Mount Hope Place, The Bronx.


HARRY PIKE, M. D .- Within the field of sur- gery, Dr. Harry Pike is making a fine contribution to that rapidly growing division of the metropolis known as The Bronx, whose people are justifiably proud of the generally high standing of its profes- sional and commercial elements that are continu- ing to make for the progress of their community. While Dr. Pike is of the younger generation of phy- sicians and surgeons, his innate capacity, plus a wide and related training, has placed him among the lead- ers of his profession in The Bronx, and he enjoys the esteem of a large and exacting practice.


Dr. Harry Pike was born in Russia, June 7, 1891, the son of Mandel and Rebecca (Miller) Pike, both of whom are living, his father being engaged in the mercantile trade in New York. He attended the grade and high schools of the city, and having elect- ed the medical profession, entered the Long Island College Hospital. There he completed his training in medicine and was graduated in the class of 1914. He served his interneship in the Kings County Hos- pital, Brooklyn, and in 1916 entered upon his private practice in The Bronx. His practice was of a gen- eral nature until 1925, in which year he began to make a specialty of surgical cases. He has made consistent and timely advance in his profession, and is on the staffs of the Post-Graduate Hospital, Bronx Maternity Hospital, and the new Bronx General Hospital.


Dr. Pike rendered a fine service to the United States Government during the World War. He en- listed and was assigned to the transport department, in which he found his place as a naval surgeon. He is a member in good standing of the New York State Medical Association, and The Bronx County Medical Society. He has contributed many papers on surgical subjects in different journals, and also is the author of a book on diseases of women. In politics, he is a Democrat, and belongs to the Jackson Demo- cratic Club. His interests, though of broad and es- sentially helpful relation, are naturally centered in The Bronx, which is the scene of his professional endeavors. Coming in contact with large numbers of the community's people, he has made for himself a large place in their regard, and his active sympa- thies embrace all forward movements for the im- provement of their affairs, physical, educational, and civic.




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