USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 14
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CHARLES SCHAEFER, Jr .- A native son of New York who has devoted his whole life and his tremendous energies to the inspiring task of sup- plying the rapidly growing city with suitable build- ings for business and residence is Charles Schaefer, architect, with offices at Third Avenue and One Hundred and Forty-eighth Street, The Bronx. For thirty-four years he has been associated with the
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planning of buildings. His activities have kept pace with the northward progress of the city and his part in the upbuilding of The Bronx has been significant.
Charles Schaefer, Jr., was born September 10, 1876, on Forty-eighth Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, in the Borough of Manhattan, New York, son of Charles Schaefer, also a native New Yorker, and his wife, Anna (Enck) Schaefer, born in Mamaroneck, New York. The father, who died in 1922, two years before his wife's death, was a representative of the fine type of builder who learns by way of the trade of the carpenter. After fol- lowing his trade as journeyman-carpenter for many years, he successfully engaged in business for him- self as carpenter and builder.
His son, Charles Schaefer, Jr., inherited his fath- er's love for construction. Although he began on his life-work at the age of sixteen, after completing the public school course, he studied for years at his profession. He is now a registered architect in New York State and New Jersey and professional engineer in the former, ranking high in his profes- sion. He took the course in architecture and engi- neering throughout eight years of study at Cooper Union Institute and supplemented it with a course at the Brooklyn Institute of Science and Arts. His first practical efforts in his professional progress oc- curred when he was office assistant and draftsman for H. W. Smith, of Babb, Cook & Willard, archi- tects, at No. 55 Broadway, New York City. He then served as inspector and examiner for the Bureau of Buildings of the city from 1898 to 1907. This broad experience gave him an excellent foundation on which to build when he opened his own offices as an independent architect at No. 1 Madison Ave- nue, in the Metropolitan Life Building. A year there convinced him of the desirability of locating in a newer section of the city, where building opera- tions were more active. His first office in The Bronx was at No. 461 Tremont Avenue. Later came his removal to the Melrose section, center of banking and financial operations. For the past three years Mr. Schaefer has occupied an office in the Bank Building at One Hundred and Forty-eighth Street and Third Avenue, and has come to occupy the posi- tion of leading architect for his neighborhood. Many distinctive and admirably planned buildings through- out the upper borough and county of The Bronx tes- tify to his skill and industry. Mr. Schaefer is a member of the Munn Lodge, No. 190, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Ivy Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Constantine Commandery, Knights Templar; and Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also enrolled in the Builders' Protective Asso- ciation.
In November, 1897, at the Cornell Memorial Metho- dist Episcopal Church in New York City, Charles Schaefer, Jr., married Sarah Browning, daughter of Charles S. Browning, born in Yorkshire, England, and his wife, Sarah (Douglas) Browning, born in County Tyrone, Ireland. Children: 1. Ethel Douglas Schae- fer, married Robert Williams, by whom she has a daughter, Dorothea Williams. 2. Mildred Brown- ing Schaefer, now attending Teachers College of Columbia University, and received her degree of Bachelor of Science.
CHARLES FRANK GIRAUD is one of the best- known citizens of The Bronx because of his public spirit and activity in the promotion of general wel- fare, while he is prominent throughout all New York and vicinity because of his professional eminence as a licensed engineer. Together with his partner, James M. Welsch, president of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers and Land Survey- ors, of which Mr. Giraud is a director, he is in the front rank of city engineers and is called on to per- form much of the important construction work un- der way throughout the Metropolitan area today. The partners have also lent themselves vigorously to the promotion of the above-mentioned society, the ob- ject of which is cooperation with the New York State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and other engineering associations in or- der to enforce the license law, and to insure the public, one the one hand, of well-trained engineers, and the engineers, on the other, of remuneration commensurate with the training they have acquired and the responsibilities they assume.
Charles Frank Giraud was born March 26, 1888, on Eighth Avenue, New York City, son of Louis Hubert and Louisa Caroline (Volz) Giraud. The father, born in 1850, is now in his seventy-seventh year, and the mother, born in 1862, in Philadel- phia, daughter of Frederick G. and Louisa Caroline Volz, is in her sixty-fifth year. The family resided in Boston, Massachusetts, between the second and twelfth years of Charles Frank Giraud, who conse- quently began his elementary education in the Bos- ton schools. He continued at Public School No. 9, on East One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street and Brook Avenue, The Bronx, graduated from Morris High School in 1904, and studied engineering in the day school of Cooper Union Institute, which he at- tended for four years, graduating with a degree of Bachelor of Engineering in 1908, and that of Civil Engineer in 1912. He then completed his prepara- tion for the pursuit of his profession by a post- graduate course at Columbia University. His first professional position was with the engineering de- partment of the New York Central Railroad, where he remained until 1924. He then formed his pres- ent partnership with Mr. Welsch (whose record ac- companies this), under the firm name of Giraud and Welsch, engineers and surveyors, with offices and drafting rooms at No. 470 East Tremont Avenue, The Bronx. As each partner is a licensed engineer for the States of New York and New Jersey, and licensed by the city of New York as city surveyors, they are recognized as fully qualified for the most important and responsible work. The excellent
training of each confirms their position in the front rank of their profession. Such construction as the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre at One Hun- dred and Sixty-eighth Street and Broadway is en- trusted to them, as is the Psychiatric Institute, the Theodore Roosevelt High School in The Bronx, and the New York Training School for Teachers. The firm has been called on to develop transit projects for various civic organizations, and their work ex- tends throughout New York, New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Long Island.
Membership on the New York State and New
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Jersey State societies of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and The Bronx Board of Trade in- dicate Mr. Giraud's interest in general affairs. He is also a member of the Cooper Union Alumni So- ciety and the Trowel Lodge, No. 873, Free and Ac- cepted Masons.
In September, 1919, Charles Frank Giraud mar- ried Elsa Ruhl, daughter of Dr. Henry and Annie C. (Lauer) Ruhl. Two children were born of the union: Frank Hubert, October 27, 1920; and Bar- bara Ann, May 15, 1925.
JAMES MAYBURY WELSCH, of the widely known engineering firm of Giraud and Welsch, now engaged in construction and designing of an impor- tant character, was the chairman of the committee which placed the license law for professional en- gineers and land surveyors on the statute books of New York State, and he was founder of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, which he has served as president since its organization. He and his partner, Charles Frank Giraud (whose record accompanies this), are in the front rank of engineers in the Metropolitan district today.
James Maybury Welsch was born July 27, 1887, on Lawrence Street, Upper Manhattan, New York, son of John Frederick and Margaret (Maybury) Welsch. The father was born in New York in 1860, where he died in 1926, and the son of Wolfgang Frederick and Rubina (Danzberger) Welsch, the father the first man to establish a brewery in New York City and the first to set up there a rye bread bakery, was himself for many years proprietor of a wholesale rye bread bakery, which distributed the popular "Bloomingdale" bread. The mother was born in Scotland in 1863, daughter of James and Margaret (Mitchell) Maybury, and still enjoys good health. Three children were born to John Frederick and Margaret (Maybury) Welsch: 1.
Wolfgang Frederick, married to Juene Lester, and they have five children: Robert William, John Fred- erick, James Lester, Winifred, and Ruth. 2. Marion Esther, married to Clarence A. Tileston. 3. James Maybury, the subject of this sketch.
Good educational opportunities were afforded James Maybury Welsch, who attended Public School No. 154, which he completed, and Morris High School, from which he graduated. He then took a course in bookkeeping and stenography and type- writing at Bird's Institute, after which he entered Cooper Union Institute, where he completed the four-year day course in Civil Engineering, graduat- ing June, 1910, with the degree of Bachelor of En- gineering, and in June, 1913, received his degree in Civil Engineering. After wide engineering experi- ence, he associated himself with Mr. Giraud in the present partnership of Giraud and Welsch, engi- neers and surveyors, with offices and draughting rooms at No. 470 East Tremont Avenue, The Bronx. As each partner is a licensed engineer for the States of New York and New Jersey, and licensed city surveyors by the city of New York, the firm is rec- ognized as fully qualified for the most important and responsible of work. The excellent training each partner has received confirms the advanced position
occupied professionally by the firm. Such con-
struction as the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre at One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Street and Broadway is entrusted to them, as is the Psychiatric Institute, the Theodore Roosevelt High School in The Bronx, and the New York Training School for Teachers. The partners have also been invited to develop transit projects for various civic organiza- tions, and their activities extend throughout New York, New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Long Island.
An able and keenly interested president of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, Mr. Welsch perceives for it the same objective as that of the medical and bar as- sociations; i. e., the raising of the general standards of requirement for entering the practice of the pro- fession and the standardizing of remuneration com- mensurately with the quality of the service. As a means to this end, law enforcement was to be made more strict, if possible, by the society's effort. A meeting, presided over as chairman by Mr. Welsch, was held to discuss the amalgamation of this society with members of the uptown medical and bar as- sociations. The chairman reported that the organ- ization in 1920 resulted in the preparation of a report which requested a graded increase in the salaries of men in the engineering and surveying pro- fessions of from twenty to seventy-three per cent, which figures are indicative of what the Society hopes to accomplish. The Society is also to func- tion as State headquarters for surveyors and engi- neering groups in New York. Mr. Welsch was president of the Day Alumni Association of Cooper Union in 1922-23, and retains an active member- ship. He is a member also of The Bronx Board of Trade and Lodge No. 1323, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, Patchogue, Long Island, and the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
On June 9, 1915, in old Saint Ann's Church, on Saint Ann's Avenue, The Bronx, James Maybury Welsch was married, by Rev. Dr. Stevens, to Violet Amelia Leube, daughter of Randolph Paul Leube, born in Manhattan, New York, and his wife, Amelia Agnes (Heupper) Leube, born in New York in 1863, died in 1925.
HOWELL TAYLOR MANSON-From his as- sociation with every department of activity in or- ganized finance throughout National and savings institutions, Howell Taylor Manson, president of the Dollar Savings Bank, has the abundant and broad experience of the financier who has specialized in practical banking from the details of the clerical office to those of the directorship of the bank's chief execu- tive officer. Mr. Manson is widely known and highly respected by his colleagues in the banking world in The Bronx and throughout the State for far-sighted and prudent enterprise in all business matters; and few men in his profession are more accurately in- formed with regard to the history and the status of banking institutions in this section of the coun- try. Mr. Manson is a son of Donald A. and Eliza J. Manson; Donald A. Manson, a builder, was a Civil War Naval veteran, and a member of the crew of
Storech 19 Hours
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the United States Ship "Savannah," that was blown up by the "Merrimac."
Howell Taylor Manson was born September 19, 1875, in Brooklyn, where he attended the public schools and was graduated from the high schools with the class of 1891. He immediately entered upon a career in banking that has a record of pronounced success, at first starting as a messenger in the em- ploy of the United States National Bank in New York City, and in 1895 becoming associated in a clerical capacity with the Third National Bank. In 1897, upon the voluntary liquidation of this bank and its merging with the National City Bank, Mr. Manson joined Goldman Sachs in the commercial paper and bonds business, and a year afterwards, in 1898, he joined the Gallatin National Bank. He was made an officer in that bank in 1902, and so continued until its consolidation with the Hanover National Bank in 1912, with whose further interests he was associated for eight years, to 1920, in one year traveling over 42,000 miles in a confidential capacity with regard to its relationships with small country banks.
Meantime, Mr. Manson had been elected a member of the board of trustees of the Dollar Savings Bank, in 1911; on the death of John Haffen, Sr., and in 1920, he was elected treasurer; and again, in 1922, upon the retirement of William M. Kern in July of that year, he was made comptroller. Mr. Manson was elected president of the Dollar Savings Bank in February, 1925, succeeding Brian G. Hughes. In political matters, he is an Independent. During the World War, he was prominent in the activities of the time, particularly in the drives and the Liberty Loan matters. He is a member of the New York Athletic Club; and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.
Howell Taylor Manson married, March 26, 1899, in Brooklyn, Edna M. George, daughter of Charles B. and Tillie George; and they are the parents of a son, Donald G. Manson, who was born Septem- ber 2, 1900, and is a member of the clerical force of the Dollar Savings Bank.
JOSEPH BUCKBEE HARE-One of the men who can look upon the hustling and progressive life of The Bronx, New York, today and take pride in it as in part his handiwork is Joseph Buckbee Hare, treasurer and trustee of the Dollar Savings Bank. In addition to being a good business executive, Mr. Hare is civic minded, and it is this combination which has been of such value to the community in which he has lived since it seemed a small town and far away from New York. Mr. Hare moved there in 1888, when he was twenty-one years of age. He was born in Esperance, New York, on April 4, 1867, son of James Jay and Harriett Elizabeth (Conklin) Hare. His father was in the hotel business.
Joseph B. Hare's first position was that of clerk in the Delevergne Machine Company's offices, after he completed his education in the country schools of Schoharie County, New York. From that work he passed to the Central Union and Northern Union Gas Company, with whom he remained for twenty- six years, for the most part in the capacity of as-
sistant superintendent. In 1914 his long years of capable and dependable service began to count, and he was appointed trustee of the Dollar Savings Bank. Here his business acumen and his readiness to assume responsibility and to do more than his share of work won recognition, and in 1922 he was elected treasurer of the bank. His absorption in business has not prevented his enthusiastic support of the excellent work being accomplished by The Bronx County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, of which Mr. Hare is treasurer. He is an Independent in politics, a Mason, member of the Bunting Lodge, No. 655, Free and Accepted Masons; a member of Sylvan Chapter, No. 188, Royal Arch Masons; Constantine Commandery, No. 48, Knights Templar; and Mecca Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also treasurer of The Bronx Legal Assistance Society. His church affiliation is with the M'ott Haven Re- formed Church. He is a member of the Scarsdale Golf Club, and the Harlem Yacht Club.
On September 19, 1893, in Amsterdam, New York, Mr. Hare married Adeline Coley Greene, daughter of Robert and Dorothy Greene. Mrs. Hare passed away July 1, 1926. Mr. Hare resides at No. 900 Grand Concourse, The Bronx.
JOSEPH JAMES DUNNE-Being talented as an architect, Joseph J. Dunne, of The Bronx, although now the occupant of a responsible position in con- nection with the city administration, nevertheless continues to maintain an interest in the architectural profession, and is duly licensed and registered as an architect, should he choose at any time to resume active practice. Philip Dunne, father of Mr. Dunne, was born and reared in New York City, and was engaged for a period of many years in the butcher business at the intersection of Twenty-fourth Street and Second Avenue, Manhattan. He was married to Mary Haugh, also a native of New York City.
Joseph James Dunne, son of Philip and Mary (Haugh) Dunne, was born on March 11, 1878, in the then family residence at No. 227 East Twenty- first Street, Manhattan. He was originally a student in the grammar school situated at Twenty-third Street between Second and Third avenues, later at- tended Saint Stephen's Parochial School, and finally matriculated at Saint Francis Xavier College, on Sixteenth Street, Manhattan. Having from boyhood evinced a great interest in architecture, he entered the offices and studio of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, who were at the time leaders in the architectural profession in New York, and under which able men Mr. Dunne studied for a period of six years, having during that time assisted his em- ployers in the designing of several important projects, including various public buildings and institutons, among which were the Columbia University buildings, the Rhode Island State House, at Providence, and many others.
Mr. Dunne is a member of the Knights of Colum- bus body, including the Century Council and the Archbishop Hughes Council, also a life-member of the New York Chapter, Knights of Columbus, at Fifty-first Street and Eighth Avenue, New York
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City, and is an instructor in the plan reading classes of the order. He holds membership in the James W. Brown Association, in The Bronx.
On December 28, 1925, at St. Jerome's Roman Catholic Church, in The Bronx, Joseph James Dunne was united in the bonds of holy matrimony to Mary Elizabeth Skiffington, daughter of Edward and Mary (McLaughlin) Skiffington, both natives of the Seventh Ward, Manhattan, New York City.
Mr. Dunne accepted the appointment of deputy commissioner of tenement houses, Borough of The Bronx, some time ago, and his official offices are located at No. 1932 Arthur Avenue, corner of Tremont Avenue, Bergen Building, The Bronx. His residence is at No. 340 East One Hundred and Forty-second Street, The Bronx.
CONSTANTIN WAGNER-Among those resi- dents of The Bronx who have rendered and are still rendering valuable service to their fellow-men is Constantin Wagner, who has devoted his active career to the work of devising and manufacturing glass testing instruments for determining the chem- ical composition of various foods, such as milk and butter. He has invented and is the sole owner and manufacturer of a number of glass testing instru- ments which are produced in the Wagner Glass Works, located at No. 697 East One Hundred and Thirty-second Street, The Bronx, where his labora- tories also are located. Mr. Wagner has received several medals for his contributions to science in the field of the analysis and testing of food, and in his laboratories he is still continuing the work to which his life has been devoted.
Constantin Wagner was born in Frauenwald, Thur- ingen, Germany, November 3, 1868, son of August Wagner, who was born in Frauenwald, in 1841, and died in 1890, and who for many years was super- intendent of a porcelain factory in his native town, and of Augusta (Spindler) Wagner, also a native of Frauenwald. He attended the public schools of his native town, and later became a student in an agricultural college in Berlin. When he was in his eighteenth year he came to this country, arriving in September, 1887, and settled in New York City. His first home in this city was on William Street, and there he began the chemical experimental work which he has loved throughout his life and to which he has made so valuable a contribution. He began experimenting in the effort to devise suitable glass instruments for use in testing food products, work- ing for the sole purpose of aiding those engaged in making laboratory tests for the purpose of determin- ing the varying proportions of fats, acids, and other elements contained in milk, butter, and other food products. He worked at this particular problem for the love of the work and without thought of personal gain, being absorbed in his problem and desiring greatly to contribute his share to human progress along these scientific lines. As time passed he became an authority on the subject of food analysis, and one of the leading chemical experts in the country. In his search for a means of producing better instruments for use in chemical laboratory tests he succeeded in devising a number of glass
testing instruments which are now used in govern- ment laboratories and in private laboratories through- out the world. Of these he is patentee, owner, and sole manufacturer, and in his manufactory at No. 697 East One Hundred and Thirty-second Street, The Bronx, built in 1902, he is producing instru- ments which go to all parts of the world, wherever scientific tests are made.
The Wagner Glass Works are known to laboratory experts everywhere, and during the years which have passed since the factory and laboratories were built, Mr. Wagner has been the means of contribu- ting much to the accuracy and ease with which scien- tific tests can be made. A modest man, working for the love of science and of humanity, he has found in the production of his glass instruments a source of large financial profit, but this phase of his work was no part of his aim in the beginning and still remains secondary to his intense desire to serve his day and generation by contributing to the development of the science of proper and accurate food analysis. His glass testing instruments have received several medal awards at national and international expositions as acknowledgement of his contribution to the science of chemical food testing, but he has never sought publicity for himself, prefer- ring that his skillfully devised and carefully produced testing instruments should represent him in the special field in which they serve. In addition to his responsibilities as a scientific laboratory expert and as a manufacturer, Mr. Wagner is also interested in the development of the financial institutions of The Bronx, and is a member of the board of direc- tors of The Bronx County Trust Company and also of the North Side Savings Bank.
Constantin Wagner was married, in New York City, February 10, 1897, to Dorothy Bernhardt, daughter of William Bernhardt, who was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, and of Mary Bernhardt, who was born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are the parents of one son, Constantin Wagner, Jr., who was born April 10, 1898, and who is associated with his father in the Wagner Glass Works.
CHARLES SPENCER CLARK, a well-known architect of The Bronx, and a man who has designed some of the most beautiful buildings in that part of the city, was born on September 7, 1864, on what was formerly Woodruff Street, in The Bronx. This address has since been changed to One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Street. Mr. Clark is a son of Charles and Imogene (Drake) Clark, both of whom are now deceased. Imogene (Drake) Clark, the mother, was born in 1835, at Wading River, Long Island, New York, and she died during 1924, in the eighty-ninth year of her age. Charles Clark, the father, who was born on Columbia Street, in New York City, and who died during 1888, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, was a carpenter and a builder, a man of much note in this field of endeavor.
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