USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 20
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and Theresa (Huppuch) Bentz, the father, born in Eppingen, Baden, in Germany, in 1812, died in 1885, in his native town, the mother, born in Nienburg, Baden, died while still a very young woman. Mr. Bentz's father for many years operated his own interior trim, sash doors and moulding mill in Ep- pingen.
John Jacob Bentz was born on June 18, 1863, in Eppingen, Baden, Germany, and attended the public school in Eppingen, from which he graduated, later attending the high school. He came to the United States in March, 1882, at the age of nineteen, and settled in New York City. Here he began work as a mural decorator for Baumgarten & Company, and Lissner, and continued in this field for about two years, being associated with work on important public buildings and churches in New York City, and work- ing under some of the noted architects, among them Stanford White. He then became an engraver of watch cases for Joseph Fay, who conducted a fac- tory in Carlstadt, New Jersey, later moving his factory to Sag Harbor, Long Island. After three years with Mr. Fay, he returned to New York City and for the next year worked at mural decorating on his own account. He then bought two lots on One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Street and Hall Place, on which he built two houses in the year 1894, this marking his first entrance into the building business as general contractor. In this field he was very successful, and was engaged on such enterprises as overhauling the Court House and City Hall in New York City as well as many schools and other public buildings. In the year 1904 he began building on his own account in The Bronx and has erected one hundred and fifty homes and business buildings, including all the store-front buildings on Westchester Avenue on both sides of the avenue, north and south, from Zarega Avenue. Mr. Bentz is a member of the Chippewa Democratic Club of The Bronx, and has many friends in the borough.
Mr. Bentz married (first), in 1885, in Carlstadt, New Jersey, Annie Bentz, a cousin, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Liebold) Bentz, the father born in Eppingen, Germany, in 1843, died in 1919, the the mother born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, in 1844. died in 1906. By this marriage there are two children: 1. John Edward, born July 27, 1886. 2. George Wendel, born March 4, 1890. Mr. Bentz married (sec- ond) Lillian Lanbrecht, daughter of Frank and Bar- bara Lanbrecht. Her father and mother are both na- tives of New York, the father being a letter carrier. Mr. Bentz and his two sons now form the Bentz Contrac- ting Company; they built forty-five buildings in 1925, and have under construction now (July, 1926) thirty- five houses.
ALBERT H. LEVINSON, one of the most widely known men in insurance circles of The Bronx, has been engaged in the insurance business for some twenty-one years, with headquarters in recent years, until May, 1926, at No. 391 East One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, The Bronx, when he established his present office at No. 75 Maiden Lane, where he carries on a general insurance agency under the name of the A. H. Levinson agency. His extensive
knowledge of the business, his wide acquaintance among all classes of people, his industry, pleasing personality and unusual business ability have secured for him a large and ever-growing circle of clients. He was born in Manhattan, January 1, 1884, a son of Louis and Rose Levinson, the former having come to the United States from Wales as a boy of twelve years and having lived in this country until the time of his death, March 1, 1920, having been pre-deceased, February 1, 1915, by his wife.
Albert H. Levinson was educated in the public schools of Manhattan, attending Vandewater School in the Sixth Ward. He then entered the loan business which he left after some years to engage in the insurance business. In the latter he has continued since about 1905 and has been unusually successful. He carries on a general insurance agency and is also general agent of the Northwestern Cas- ualty & Surety Company, of No. 75 Maiden Lane, Manhattan. Mr. Levinson is very active in fraternal affairs and is a member of Bronx Lodge, No. 871, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Audubon Lodge, No. 930, Free and Accepted Masons; as well as of the Consistory and Shrine of the latter order. He is also of a very benevolent nature and is a liberal contributor to many charitable organizations.
Albert H. Levinson married, in The Bronx, De- cember 24, 1925, Lillian E. Sisenwein, a native of The Bronx and a daughter of Louis and Esther Sisenwein, the former engaged in the woolen business. After having been a resident of The Bronx for over twenty-one years, Mr. Levinson, since his marriage, has moved to Manhattan where he maintains his home at No. 359 Fort Washington Avenue.
NORMAN CLARKSON BOLTON-As an ex- ecutive official for the Highways Department of the city of New York, Norman Clarkson Bolton is well qualified for his responsible position through many years of intensive business training.
A son of John and Virginia (Burris) Bolton, Nor- man Clarkson Bolton was born on March 3, 1876, in the then village of Bronxdale, now within the corporate limits of The Bronx. His father, John Bolton, son of John Bolton and Anna (Booth) Bol- ton, was likewise born in Bronxdale; his mother, Virginia (Burris) Bolton, daughter of George and Mary (Roberts) Burris, was a native of New York City. John Bolton was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted at the outbreak of hostilities as a member of the 145th New York Volunteers.
Norman Clarkson Bolton attended as a youth, the old Bronxdale school, the Mott Haven Public School, and Morris High School, being a graduate of the latter institution. He went to work, at the age of sixteen, in The Bronx Company Mills, an industry with which the Bolton family had been identified since its founding more than one hundred years ago. Mr. Bolton labored faithfully to learn every phase of the mill activities during his three years' association with the company. He subsequently ac- cepted a position as special representative for the Barber Asphalt Company, No. 11 Broadway, New York, his duties being to exploit the superior qualities and merits of their products in various markets. His extensive knowledge of materials resulted, in
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1902, in his selection by the Highway Department of the city of New York (Bronx Borough Division) as General Inspector, which position he continues to occupy.
Mr. Bolton holds membership in the North End Democratic Club of The Bronx; and The Bronx Old Tiniers' Association, one of the qualifications for membership in the latter organization being the stipulation that members must have been residents of The Bronx for not less than fifty years; he also is a member of the American Legion. During the World War, Mr. Bolton served in France as a mem- ber of the 23rd Engineers Corps, being with his comrades in the Argonne Sector during 1917, 1918 and 1919.
On April 20, 1916, in the Episcopal Church at Jersey City, New Jersey, Norman Clarkson Bolton was united in marriage to Mabel Katherine Bass- ford, daughter of Colonel Stephen Bassford, member of one of the oldest families of The Bronx, and Anna (Roemer) Bassford, a resident of the same section.
JACOB ZIMMERMAN-As president of the Zim- merman Realty Corporation and a half dozen other real estate projects in The Bronx, Jacob Zimmerman is playing a prominent part in the upbuilding of that section. Mr. Zimmerman is prominently identified with many charitable organizations and has an en- viable reputation for his public spirit. That he is not the usual New York City landlord is indicated by the fact that far from trying to avoid renting his houses and apartments to families with children, he gives a premium of five dollars to each newborn child among his tenants and twenty-five dollars to twins, sixty children having been born in his houses during 1925. Mr. Zimmerman is the son of Samuel and Chaja Zimmerman, the father having died in Austria in 1903, the mother still living there at the age of ninety-one.
Jacob Zimmerman was born in Sandowa, Wischnia, Austria, November 20, 1879. He came to the United States in October, 1899, at the age of twenty-one and almost immediately enlisted for service in the Spanish- American War but was never called. Mr. Zim- merman's education was received in the public and high schools of his own country and in the night schools of New York City. He has been very suc- cessful in his undertakings and many of the new apartment houses in The Bronx were erected and are owned by him or by one of the concerns with which he is identified. In addition to being president of the Zimmerman Realty Corporation, he is president of the following concerns: S. & Z. Building Corpora- tion, Brad Realty Company; was president of the National Estates Corporation, L. W. & Z. Realty Corporation, Venus Construction Company, Inc. He is a member of the Pondiac Democratic and Patrick Kane clubs, The Bronx Board of Trade, and the recently organized Building Industry League. During the World War, Mr. Zimmerman was an assistant superintendent of Fields, at Colonial, New Jersey and assistant superintendent of Fields at Washington Park, New Jersey.
He is a leading member of the Temple Beth Elohim; and is a member of The Bronx Home for Incurables,
The Bronx Hospital Association and many other philanthropic institutions.
Mr. Zimmerman married on January 8, 1902, and has three children, two sons and one daughter, namely: 1. Samuel, born July 31, 1904. 2. Mildred, born September 20, 1916. 3. Paul, born October 10, 1919.
MATTHEW SHAPIRO, M. D .- With his thor- ough professional training in both the theory and practice of medicine, and with his natural aptitude for the work, Dr. Matthew Shapiro has already in his youth won a prominent place with the physicians and the public of The Bronx, New York City. He was born in New York, August 15, 1898, son of Max and Ester (Polak) Shapiro, both residing in that city, where the father is a manufacturer.
Matthew Shapiro was educated in the local pub- lic schools, De Witt Clinton High School, New York University, and Bellevue Medical School, which be- stowed on him in 1921 the degree of Doctor of Med- icine. He supplemented his broad theoretical train- ing with practical expericence with a variety of human ills during an interneship at various city hospitals. In 1923 his independent practice in The Bronx began, including general diagnosis and treat- ment by internal medicine. Dr. Shapiro is instructor of medicine at the Post-Graduate Hospital. He is professionally affiliated with the State and County and American Medical associations, through which agencies he keeps abreast of all developments and progress in the medical world. He is alert and studious, as well as sympathetic, and sure of himself and his facts so as to rouse confidence in all who seek help from him. He is a member of Phi Delta Epsilon, and the Tackama Democratic Club.
In New York City, in September, 1924, Dr. Matthew Shapiro married Emily Frank, one of the city's most prominent fashion designers and artists, and daughter of Robert Frank.
ALFRED KOCH has had a noteworthy career in the fields of public accountancy and banking, in both of which he has proved himself a man of outstanding ability, efficiency and probity. He is well and widely known throughout The Bronx and the metropolitan area today (1926) as the cashier of The Bronx Borough Bank.
Mr. Koch was born in Columbus, Ohio, on March 10, 1888, a son of Thomas F. M. and Katherine (Fal- or) Koch, the father having for many years been the proprietor of a clothing store in Columbus, where he was well known and highly respected.
Alfred Koch received his education in the grammar and high schools of his native city, and was graduated from the Columbus (Ohio) High School with the class of 1902. He then took a thorough and com- prehensive course in accountancy, becoming an ex- pert public accountant, and embarked upon his busi- ness career, at the age of eighteen years, by entering the employ of the Ohio Electric Railway Company. His first work with this company was in the ticket office, later working in several of the many depart- ments until 1918, when he was advanced to the im- portant position of chief clerk and general freight and passenger agent of the company. He then accepted a position with the Central Leather Company, of
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No. 17 Battery Place, New York City, as expert accountant, in which business he remained for two years. At the end of that time he became associated with Dr. Becker, president of The Bronx Borough Bank, in the employ of one of his many business enterprises, manufacturers and importers of carbon brushes. In January, 1926, Alfred Koch was ap- pointed by Dr. Becker as cashier of The Bronx Borough Bank, which position he holds today, and which he fills with his customary ability and efficiency.
Alfred Koch was married, in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, on April 27, 1911, to Pearl Ward, a daughter of John B. and Elizabeth Ward, residents of that city. Alfred and Pearl (Ward) Koch are the parents of one son: Alfred Ward Koch, who was born on October 20, 1912. Mr. Koch's business address is No. 464 Tremont Avenue; while the family residence is at No. 120 Park Avenue, Jamaica, Long Island.
AUGUST H. DAUM-A native of The Bronx, August H. Daum has all his life centered his busi- ness, social and religious interest in that borough, in whose progressive activities he is playing an im- portant part. He has, for the past twenty years been engaged in the promotion of realty enterprises, through which, as by a general movement, The Bronx is making remarkable gains. For nearly three decades prior to his entrance into the business which now commands his undivided attention, he was engaged in the bakery business, in which line his father and uncles, who were the first bakers in The Bronx, had achieved a goodly measure of success. It is in the broader field in which Mr. Daum now operates that he believes he is giving his best service to the community, and he is enabled to behold in concrete example the net results of the transactions that pass through his offices. In this way, too, he gratifies a laudable ambition, and is conscious of the fact that his efforts in behalf of the community forward move- ment have not been in vain. He has also another phase of reward in the form of the approval of his spirit of enterprise, not only by the clients whom he serves, but also by the people of the borough at large.
August H. Daum was born in The Bronx, June 15, 1859, the son of Henry and Catherine Daum. The former, born in Bavaria, Germany, came to the United States at the age of fourteen and died at the age of seventy-one, and the latter was of like age when she passed away.
August H. Daum attended the old Melrose Public School, One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Street and Third Avenue, and with his brothers and sisters was also taught by private tutors. From there he went into the bakery business, in which his father and the latter's brothers had been engaged for some years. He fol- lowed that trade for twenty-eight years, carrying on the family tradition for excellence of product and per- sonal and business integrity. At the end of that period he believed he had served his day and community to his best ability as a baker, and twenty years ago he launched out into the real estate business, in which he is still engaged as an important factor in Bronx life.
Mr. Daum is a bowling enthusiast, and was a member of the Prospect, Melrose and Hyperion
Bowling clubs. He also belongs to the Old Timers' Club. He and his family have their religious fellow- ship with the Lutheran Church, at Elton Avenue and One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, The Bronx.
August H. Daum married, April 22, 1888, in The Bronx, Anne E. Hoelland, daughter of William and Magdalene E. Hoelland. They are the parents of two children: 1. August H., Jr., born February 21, 1889; married Martha Hoffman, and has one daughter, Doris. 2. Mathilda E., born January 11, 1894; married John D. Kattenhorn, and has two children, Donald and Dorothy.
H. PETER MAUE, M. D .- No roster of the well- trained and earnest young physicians of New York City would be complete without the name of one who is unusually well fitted by native endowments for this humanitarian profession and whose education has been most thoroughgoing, Dr. H. Peter Maue, now a general practitioner of The Bronx. He was born in New York City, October 21, 1896, son of Frederick and Susanna (Armhurst) Maue. His father, a manufacturer, is now deceased.
H. Peter Maue was educated in the New York public schools and graduated from Morris High School. He studied medicine at the Columbia Uni- versity College of Physicians and Surgeons, which bestowed on him the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1920. He interned at Lenox Hill Hospital, where every variety of human ailment came under his obser- vation and gave him broad practical experience to sup- plement his academic training. In 1922 he began to practice in The Bronx and has since continued to minister to an ever-growing clientele. He is asso- ciated with the Lenox Hill and Beth David hospitals. Dr. Maue was a member of the Students' Army Training Corps. His professional affiliations are with the State and County Medical Association and The Bronx Medical Society. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Democratic Club. As he is studious and ambitious to further the general well-being of humanity, Dr. Maue reads widely in current medical literature and is conversant with the most modern theories and experiments. Open- minded, he is also prudent, and his methods have proved most beneficial.
WEBSTER F. LANGDON-A member of an old American family of English descent and representing the sixth generation from the original American ancestor, Mr. Langdon has been engaged in social work for more than three decades, ever since he chose this field of endeavor as his life-work at the age of twenty-three years. Practically all of his work has been done in connection with the Young Men's Christian Association, with which he has been affili- ated in various localities and positions since 1898, his most recent position, since 1922, being that of boys' secretary of The Bronx Young Men's Christian Association, with offices at No. 470 East One Hun- dred and Sixty-first Street, The Bronx. There, like in all of his previous activities on behalf of young men and boys, his executive ability, tact, patience and thorough understanding of and sympathy with the minds and problems of youth, qualities of which he possesses to an unusual degree, have made his work
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count for a great deal and have made him a powerful influence for good in the lives of a very large number of boys and young men.
Webster F. Langdon was born at Dover, New Jersey, April 18, 1870, a son of Andrus C. and Sophia E. Langdon, the former for many years a successful contractor, and still, in 1926, living in retirement at the age of eighty-seven years, the latter deceased since 1897. He was educated in the public grammar and high schools of his native city and then took various courses in the extension department of Colum- bia University and of the College of the City of New York. As a young man he decided upon social work as best adapted for his abilities and convictions, a choice which his later successes in this field proved very wise. In 1898, he became connected with the Young Men's Christian Association of Jersey City, New Jersey, where he remained until 1905, when he affiliated himself with the Brooklyn, New York, branch of this association. There he continued with great success for eleven years, until, in 1916, he accepted a position with the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, being assigned to London, England, in charge of the American Association work at Eagle Hut. In this important and responsible position he remained for four years, becoming eventually national chief secretary and, upon his return from Europe, was stationed for about nine months at the New York City Headquarters, No. 2 West Forty-fifth Street. In 1922, he accepted the appointment as boys' sec- retary of The Bronx Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, a position which he has continued to occupy with the most notable success since then. In all of these various positions he has done work of the greatest importance to the welfare of boys and young men in the several communities in which he has been located at various times, while his services during the World War, and the difficult years in- mediately following it, were likewise most eminently useful. In his most recent position he has again repeated his previous successes, and his great and continued popularity with thousands of boys in The Bronx is a well-deserved tribute to his devotion and deep understanding of the problems of boyhood. He has been especially successful in connection with the annual summer camps conducted for boys by The Bronx Young Men's Christian Association, though in every other respect, too, his work among the growing generation of Bronx citizens makes him one of the most useful members of his community.
Mr. Langdon is a member of the Rotary Club, in which he is chairman of the committee on boys' work; the New York Numismatic Society; and the International Council of Religious Education. His religious affiliations are with the Congregational church, and more particularly with North New York Congregational Church, of which he is a deacon and in the work of which he takes a very active and helpful interest.
Mr. Langdon married at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, December 26, 1895, Harrie B. Lake, daughter of William and Hattie Lake. Mr. and Mrs. Langdon were the parents of one son, Frederick B., born Sep- tember 1, 1897, who died, March 18, 1917, as the result of an unfortunate accident suffered while play-
ing ball at the college of which he was then a student. Mr. and Mrs. Langdon make their home in Brooklyn.
ALBERT F. DEICHSEL is well and widely known throughout the business circles of The Bronx and its environs as a builder and contractor, and as a plumbing contractor, and in each of these lines of endeavor he has achieved a definite success, due to proved ability, great efficiency, high integrity, perseverance, unflagging industry, and absolute and unquestioned honesty of thought, purpose and deed. Mr. Deichsel is an excellent example of the self- made man, for he has reached a high place in the world of business solely through his own abilities and without "pull" or help of any sort. He has worked hard, and this attribute, together with the others above-listed, has made him an outstanding figure in his special fields of work. Mr. Deichsel was born in The Bronx, July 22, 1885, a son of Albert and Rosie (Ruhl) Deichsel, both of whom are now de- ceased, the mother's death having occurred in the year 1924. The father, Albert Deichsel, was born in Germany, came to the United States as a youth of sixteen, became a successful piano manufacturer of New York City, and died there in the year 1895.
Albert F. Deichsel grew to young manhood in The Bronx, and attended Public School No. 1, until 1899, in which year, at the age of fourteen, he em- barked upon his business career by starting in the building and contracting business as a plumber's help- er. He worked his way up in the business gradually, learning the many phases and intricacies of each and every department, and familiarizing himself completely with each varied ramification of the building game. How well he has succeeded is proved conclusively by the fact that today (1926) the is the sole owner and president of his own company, the Albert F. Deichsel Company, Inc., plumbing contractors, as well as treasurer of three allied concerns: The Johnson- Deichsel Building Company, Inc., the Corpus Realty Company, Inc., and the Dillman Real Estate Com- pany, Inc. As a builder and contractor Mr. Deichsel has been responsible for the erection of the follow- ing business buildings: Office buildings at the north- west corner of Decatur Avenue and Two Hundred and Fourth Street, Two Hundred and Fourth Street, fifty feet east of Hall Avenue, the northeast corner of One Hundred and Seventieth Street and Wythe Place, and the building at the northeast corner of Two Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street, near Bailey Avenue. He has also put up large apartment houses as follows: A building of seventy-two apart- ments at the corner of Crotona Park North and Prospect Avenue, an apartment house comprising one hundred and seven apartments at the northeast corner of Mosholu Parkway and Kossuth Avenue, as well as correspondingly large and handsome apart- ment houses at No. 9 East One Hundred and Ninety- third Street, and the corner of Two Hundred and Ninth Street and Decatur Avenue (southwest). Mr. Deichsel's extensive building operations have con- tributed in no small degree to the actual growth and tangible progress of The Bronx.
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