USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 30
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John Paul Collins was born August 25, 1865, at Cornwall, England, the son of James and Margaretta (Driscoll) Collins, both born in County Cork, Ire-
Brad L. Grausman
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land. The mother died in England, and in 1886, the father came to this country and until his death in 1894, was employed as a builder. The early educa- tion of John P. Collins was obtained in his native country, but when he was thirteen years of age, in 1881, he came to this country and settled in The Bronx. Here he associated himself in the contract- ing business, continuing along these lines for the next twenty years. In 1902 he was appointed sexton of the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church, and in conjunction with this duty he began the undertaking business, continuing in same up to the present time (1927). His funeral parlors were originally situated at No. 8 Burnside Avenue, The Bronx, at which ad- dress he continued to function until 1922, and then due to the necessity for more commodious and up-to- date quarters, he removed his parlors to their pres- ent location at No. 1945 University Avenue, also in The Bronx, in which community he is very widely known and enjoys the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact.
His political preference is with the Democratic party, and as a member of the Democratic County Committee has taken an active interest in its affairs. He is a charter member of St. Martins of Tours Council, Knights of Columbus, and is a devoted com- municant of the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church.
John Paul Collins married, May 4, 1886, in the Roman Catholic Church of The Paulists, or St. Paul the Apostle, Fifty-ninth Street and Ninth Avenue, Anna Lee, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Bannon) Lee, both born in Fermanagh County, Ireland, where they lived and died. To John Paul and Anna (Lee) Collins were born seventeen children, of whom the following have lived to maturity: 1. John Joseph, married and has six children. 2. Edgar A., married and has four children. 3. Leonard S., married and is the father of one child. 4. Arthur B., (see following biography). 5. Maria A., married John J. McGowan, and they are the parents of one child 6. Margaret A., married Francis I. McCormack, and they have two children.
Mr. Collins has every reason to be proud of the fact that his sons all occupy positions of trust and responsibility, and he, too, has added not a little to the growth and development of The Bronx.
ARTHUR B. COLLINS, son of John Paul and Anna (Lee) Collins (see preceding biography), is his father's associate in the undertaking business. and is also exceedingly active in local, county, State and national politics. A Democrat, he serves his party as captain of his district, and is an understudy of Charles Buckley, the district leader. During the period of the World War he served his country as a seaman, second-class, United States Navy, stationed at various ports along the Eastern Atlantic seaboard. He is a member of the Democratic County Commit- tee, and of the North End Democratic Club.
Arthur B. Collins married, September 26, 1922, in the Holy Spirit Church, Rev. Father John D. Roche officiating, Marie C. Shaughnessy, and they are the parents of one child.
GEORGE FREDERICK FROST-In The Bronx, Mr. Frost, vice-president of the Manufacturers'
Trust Company, and manager of The Bronx branch of that institution, has found the opportunity for the exercise of specialized talents in finance that has re- sulted in substantial service to the district. Mr. Frost was born in Harlem, New York City, Febru- ary 28, 1875, son of George Frederick and Eliza E. (McGivern) Frost. The father, born likewise in New York City, in 1849, died in 1898, after many years of service in charge of the loan and transfer department of the Merchants' National Bank, New York.
George F. Frost attended public school No. 39, in his native city. Although his formal schooling ended there, he continued to read, to study, and to observe broadly until he had made of himself an unusually well-educated man. At the age of fourteen he en- tered the employ of the Ocean Steamship Company of Savannah, Georgia, for a two-year period. He then became messenger for the Fifth National Bank of New York City, where he was advanced through every department of the bank, always alert, always dependable, always ready to accept and to discharge responsibilities. He resigned ยท to accept the position of manager of The Bronx branch of the Corn Ex- change Bank. From that position he passed to his present office of vice-president and manager of The Bronx branch of the Manufacturers' Trust Com- pany. The main office is at No. 139 Broadway, and the fifteen branches do a thriving business in various sections of the city. Mr. Frost has built up The Bronx office, which is located at No. 1042 Westches- ter Avenue, by virtue of and unflagging attention to its needs and a thorough knowledge of banking practice.
During his active and progressive life, he has not neglected public duties. He was a first lieutenant in Company I, Eighth New York National Guard, dur- ing the Spanish-American War, and from 1892 to 1898 was a member of Company B, Seventy-first Regiment. He is now a member of the Veterans' Association of the Eighth Regiment, of the Schnorer Club of The Bronx, and of The Bronx Board of Trade.
On July 1, 1899, in The Bronx, George Frederick Frost married Emma Wack, daughter of Henry and Emma C. (Krack) Wack. Her father was born in Germany, and her mother in New York City. Chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Frost: 1. Emma C. Frost, born March 28, 1900. 2. George Frederick Frost, 3rd, born July 1, 1909.
ISRAEL L. CRAUSMAN-Ability of a high or- der, unflagging energy, and results in the shape of attractive and valuable structures, have given to Israel L. Crausman, architect, No. 341 East One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, The Bronx, a place in the first rank of architects and have placed him in the fore of those prominent in building up The Bronx. It has been Mr. Crausman's desire to make of The Bronx the leading one in architectural beauty, and he has received hearty recommendation of the borough authorities. Mr. Crausman is still young, twenty-seven years old, but at the end of seven years of work he has designed three hundred buildings, ag- gregating in value $50,000,000, including apartment houses, stores, garages, dwelling houses and three of
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the leading theatres of The Bronx. These theatres are widely known for their beauty and economic structure.
Israel L. Crausman was born in Russia, Septem- ber 14, 1899, son of Hyman and Eva Crausman. The father was engaged in real estate at No. 2284 Grand Avenue, and before he came to this country served in the Russian Army, and as an accountant in his native country. The death of Mr. Crausman's father, May 4, 1926, instigated the desire in Israel L. Craus- man to build a monument in his father's name; he is therefore demolishing several stores on East Burn- side Avenue, which were owned by the deceased, and erecting a theatre which will be the leading one of its kind in The Bronx.
Israel L. Crausman immigrated to America at the age of thirteen and therefore received part of his edu- cation in Russia, the rest at Public School No. 40, New York City, at Morris High School, and at Cooper Union, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in engineering in 1919. He be- gan as an architect in 1920 in offices at No. 2035 Southern Boulevard. The year 1923 found him es- tablished at No. 370 East One Hundred and Forty- ninth Street, and he has recently moved to larger quarters at. No. 341 East One Hundred and Forty- ninth Street. As most of his work has been done in The Bronx, Mr. Crausman may literally be said to have contributed largely to the building up of the section.
Of the total of the $50,000,000 worth of work of construction he has designed, only $230,000 worth was in the shape of alterations. Most of his buildings have been apartment houses, and he has more or less specialized in the five and six-story brick variety. He has, however, designed many dwelling houses, in- cluding twenty-eight two-story brick dwellings for the newly developed section between Bronxwood and Spalding avenues, and he has been called on for plans for theatres, school buildings and almost every type of commercial structure. He served as presi- dent of the B. R. C. Building Corporation for a year, and supervised the erection of a building worth $250,000 on the southeast corner of Grand Avenue and Evelyn Place. Mr. Crausman has worked out a unique plan for better serving a large group of clients by confining his office hours to five days a week and devoting the rest of his time individually to clients.
Mr. Crausman is affiliated with Veritas Lodge, No. 734, Free and Accepted Masons; and with the Brooklyn Consistory, No. 75; also with Comet Lodge, No. 483, Knights of Pythias; Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and is an active member of the Zionist organization.
DR. HENRY AMLING, a veterinarian of note, in the Eastern part of the United States, is a man who, through his love for animals, has devoted a lifetime around them, in observation and caring for their ills. He has been a racehorse trainer, conditioner, rider, driver and educator for various owners, having done much for all species of wild animals in captivity, such as birds, reptiles, seals, etc. He was with the New York Zoological Park, and various traveling circuses and menageries; represented Frank C. Bostock (wild animal king of the world), for twenty-five years in
various and remote parts of the world in person and by cable; represented also, all of the largest and best known dealers in zoological subjects in America and the World.
Dr. Henry Amling eliminated tuberculosis in the Anthropoid Apes, such as Chimpanzees and etc .; prolonging their lives, especially those appearing in public as entertainers throughout the world. He is still professionally and advisorily engaged in practice for all domestic animals. He is examiner for the American Live Stock Company, export and import, since 1894, and is engaged by the pioneer subway builders, J. B. McDonald, J. C. Rogers, and others. In 1892 Dr. Amling was one of the first to use Koch's Lymph or Tuberculin as a diagnostic agent in detect- ing tuberculosis in food-producing animals that are transmitters to the human family, such as birds, poul- try and other animals. The same method is now employed by the United States Department of Agri- culture, Division Bureau Animal Industry, in the eradication of tubercular animals from our country.
This is certainly a humanitarian profession, for in all the world there is none so thankless as that of treating and caring for dumb animals. There is however, that one enheartening surety, while the dumb animal may not be able to speak, it expresses its appreciation of any kindness that may be shown, in its own way.
Dr. Henry Amling was born April 12, 1865, at the Amling home located on Kent Avenue near Grand Street, Fourteenth Ward, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Henry Amling, born in Koenigsburg, Germany, and Wilhelminna (Friederica) Amling, also born in Germany.
Henry Amling, Sr., was a scientific cooper, by pro- fession, constructing many difficult devises for the old type of fighting crafts of the United States Navy. He also served an enlistment in the navy. His life- long avocation pertained to nature, as he was a born naturalist.
Henry Amling, Jr., received his basic educa- tion in the public schools of Brooklyn and New York City. On March 14, 1876, he set out, all on his own for the West. Arriving at State Center, March 17, 1876, he entered into the commercial world as herder of livestock, later as breeder, agriculturist, trapper, etc .; he was a pioneer in this type of work. During the few short winter months he attended the little Prairie School House, where he was taught Huxley's physiology; his teacher was Miss Anna Summers. As the ranges became smaller and smaller by settlers coming in, Dr. Amling returned East, stop- ping for a year in the northwestern part of Ohio. In the winter he was employed in timber, becoming familiar with forestry and various growths and ani- mal life of the woods.
He finally arrived in Brooklyn, New York, in 1882, and continued to follow the live stock trade, attending night school, preparing for an academic course. For a period of three years he was employed by the pro- fessional interests at Brighton Beach Racing Associa- tion at Coney Island, New York. Later employed by the Hon. Judge James P. Neiman at Pearsalls, now known as Lynbrook, Long Island, and by Joseph Meads as trainer at Rockville Center, Long Island. He matriculated at the New York College of Veter-
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inary Surgeons and School of Comparative Medi- cine, graduating in March, 1893. He was appointed house surgeon and assistant to Professor Dr. Harry D. Gill at the above-mentioned college in theory and practice of surgery. Here he served until March, 1894. He established his practice and residence in the Borough of The Bronx where he has since re- mained.
Dr. Amling has rendered service to all the race- horse owners at the various tracks in The Bronx, Brighton Beach, Gravesend and Sheepshead Bay, as well as many industrial and commercial interests causing the horse, the "motor power" of earlier days to exert his maximum strength in the development of this metropolis. He scored a decided success through scientific and practicable application to relieve suf- fering, and happily protected human life and limb from contagious and infectious diseases.
Dr. Henry Amling married, September 28, 1893, in the Lutheran Church, on Drigg Avenue, near Broad- way, Brooklyn, New York, Minna M. C. Meyn, daughter of Klaus and Christiana Meyn of Neuhas on der Oster, Hanover, Germany. Dr. and Mrs. Amling are the parents of two children: 1. Henry William, born October 25, 1894, in The Bronx, who married Josephine S. Ellinger. They have two chil- dren, Minna Josephine, born August 13, 1922, and Henry William, Jr., born November 2, 1925. Henry William Amling served in the World War. He was in the Detached Veterinary Corps & Remount Serv- ice. 2. Frank Alfred, was born on September 24,
1898. He served with the United States Marine Corps during the World War, was attached with the American Legation Guard at Pekin, China; his sec- ond enlistment began at Quantico, Virginia, in the Aviation Corps, warrants calling for gunnery ser- geant, mechanic, and licensed pilot. During the ter- rible days after the World War, 1917 to 1922, Dr. Amling served as instructor at the New York Vet- erinary College, allied with New York University, as instructor of various surgical restraint and surgery. He was also associated inventor of submarines, semi-submergible and connected with the ordnance construction engineering, all of which was submitted to the various departments. He also appeared before the various department heads, receiving commenda- tions of the federal and foreign governments, which has adopted some of his devices. The above inven- tions are a matter of record, also letters patented, granted at the Patent Office.
His fraternal affiliations are with Marion Lodge, No. 278, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is Past Master; various Masonic bodies, including Mecca Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is an active member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, New York State Veterinary Medical Association, and the New York County Veterinary Medical Association.
JOHN MAXCY KNEESHAW, a native of Ire- land, but a resident of this country for more than four decades, ever since he had come here as a young man of twenty years, after some fifteen years' con- nection with construction and engineering work of various kinds, has been connected with the public school system of New York City since 1899, and in
recent years has been in charge of one of the public schools in The Bronx. His extensive engineering knowledge and experience have enabled him to ren- der valuable services to the city in his particular field, and he is widely and favorably known in that part of The Bronx where he has worked and lived for so many years.
John Maxcy Kneeshaw was born February 28, 1865, in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, a son of William and Bridget Mary (Maxcy) Kneeshaw. His father, who was born in Sheffield, England, Jan- uary 2, 1838, and died in Clonmel, March 21, 1919, in his eighty-first year, was for many years in charge of the gas works in Clonmel. His mother was born in Noan, County Tipperary, Ireland, February 21, 1845, and died May 14, 1905, in Clonmel.
Mr. Kneeshaw was educated in the Model Na- tional District School in his native town, and after leaving school learned construction engineering. The oldest of nineteen children, of whom seventeen are still living, he came to the United States in 1885 and settled in New York City, where he entered the employ of his maternal uncle, Thomas F. Maxcy, who had been established as an undertaker for many years at No. 504 East Fourteenth Street, Manhat- tan. He remained with his uncle for two years, and then decided to take up again engineering work, in which he continued until 1899. In the latter year he was appointed superintendent of the building of Public School No. 24 in Harlem. In this type of work he has continued since then with much effici- ency and ability, and he has made a very high repu- tation for himself for his conscientious and painstak- ing work. Later on he was transferred to Public School No. 31, at Monroe and Gouverneur streets, on the lower east side, and still later to Public School No. 40, on Prospect Avenue and Jennings Street, The Bronx, where he has remained to the present day. He is a member of Audubon Coun- cil, No. 1611, Royal Arcanum, and of the Holy Name Society.
Mr. Kneeshaw married (first), April 25, 1885, in Clonmel, Ireland, at SS. Peter and Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Mary A. Meagher, a daughter of Thomas F. and Mary A. (Higgins) Meagher, the former, born in Clonmel, a cousin of General Thomas F. Meagher, of Civil War fame, the latter a native of Anner, near Clonmel. He married (second), in New Rochelle, New York, April 24, 1920, Elizabeth Roberta Raymond, a daughter of George and Eliza- beth (Gillespie) Raymond, the former a native of Canada, the latter of Ireland. Mr. Kneeshaw is the father of six children: 1. William David, born April 11, 1888; married Florence Brown and they are the parents of one daughter, Patricia, born March 19, 1922. 2. Elizabeth Frances, born July 1, 1889; mar- ried, June 24, 1913, John Hinck, and they are the parents of two children, Melva, born June 11, 1914, and Valda, born July 15, 1916. 3. Marie Theresa, born May 25, 1891; married Leo J. Schott and they are the parents of two children, Lucille, born July 12, 1912, and John, born February 17, 1916. 4. Emily Hague, born April 24, 1894; married William Kay, in 1917, and they are the parents of two chil- dren, Mildred, born November 22, 1918, and John William, born June 9, 1926. 5. Clarence Meagher,
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born December 11, 1896; married, in 1922, Ethel Brown, the sister of the wife of his eldest brother. 6. Evelyn Frances, born July 13, 1899; married, in February, 1922, Harry W. Johnson, and they are the parents of one daughter, Anna Marie, born March 28, 1924. The family home is located at No. 2001 Morris Avenue, The Bronx.
WILLIAM JOHN JACOB GOEBEL-A native of the Harlem section of New York City, but a resident of The Bronx ever since he was one year old, when his parents moved there, Mr. Goebel, after having been connected for some fifteen years with a real estate concern, entered the real estate and in- surance business on his own account in 1916. With offices at No. 761 Morris Park Avenue, The Bronx, he has been engaged in this business since then and during the ten years elapsed he has built up a very large and prosperous business, having handled many important realty deals in The Bronx, especially in the Morris Park section. As the local representa- tive of several important fire insurance companies he has also met with marked success, and in every re- spect he is considered one of the most successful of the younger generation of business men of The Bronx.
William John Jacob Goebel was born, on One Hundred and Fifteenth Street, between Third and Second avenues, Harlem, New York City, April 26, 1887, a son of William and Anna (Rodenfels) Goebel; the former, born in 1861, in Kreis Alzei, Hessen- Darmstadt, Germany, for many years associated with Frederick Beck & Company, wall paper manufactur- ers, the latter a native of Bavaria, Germany. On March 1, of the next year his parents moved to The Bronx, where the family has resided ever since. When he was only five and a half years old he en- tered a private school on One Hundred and Nine- teenth Street, between Second and Third avenues, where he was taught both English and German. Later he attended the public school at One Hundred and Seventeenth Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, continuing there until he was fourteen and a half years old. He then went to work, his first posi- tion being that of stock clerk in the offices of the New York Bar Association. Six months later he ac- cepted employment with the firm of Jasper & Har- rington, certified public accountants, with which he remained for one year and a half, acquiring valu- able business experience. At the end of this period he became connected with the Netherland-American Steamship & Navigation Company. Eight months later he first entered the real estate business in the employ of D. H. Scully, with offices at No. 57 East One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street. During the fifteen months in which he was connected with this of- fice he laid the first foundations of his thorough knowledge and great interest in the real estate busi- ness. He then became a member of the office staff of the Folsom Estate, with offices at No. 1325 Astor Place, New York City. There he remained for al- most fourteen years, greatly adding to his knowledge of all branches of the real estate business and gradu- ally rising to a position of importance and responsi- bility. In 1916, when he was twenty-nine years old, he established himself in the real estate business un-
der his own name in The Bronx, and he has continued in it since then with marked and ever-increasing suc- cess. At the same time he is also agent for the Queen Fire Insurance Company, the Fidelity Phoe- nix Fire Insurance Company and the New Hamp- shire Fire Insurance Company of Manchester, New Hampshire. He is a member of Angle Lodge, No. 988, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Van Nest Square Club.
Mr. Goebel married, January 30, 1908, at the home of his parents, No. 13 East One Hundred and Twen- ty-fourth Street, in the Mt. Morris Park section of The Bronx, Wilhelmina Josephine Reichardt, a daughter of John and Sophie (Hansen) Reichardt, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Henry C. Steup, pastor of St. John's German Presbyterian Church. Mr. and Mrs. Goebel are the parents of one son, Frederick William, born January 27, 1913. The family residence is located at No. 1838 Vyse Ave- nue, The Bronx.
JOHN JOSEPH FOX has been a resident of The Bronx for more than half a century, and in that time he has been an eye witness of the miraculous progress and advancement of the community, proba- bly duplicated in the last one hundred years by no one other section of the country. Mr. Fox is one of the foremost morticians in the Metropolitan area, but his name has received additional significance throughout The Bronx and its environs as a frater- nalist of many affiliations, a prominent club man, an active Democrat, and a good citizen who is not only awake to the needs of the community, but is always found among the hardest workers in any worthy movement which has as its design the advancement of The Bronx and the betterment of its institutions and welfare conditions.
John Joseph Fox was born on May 24, 1867, in a house located at the corner of Third Avenue and Thirty-fifth Street, Manhattan, New York City, a son of Thomas and Catherine (O'Mara) Fox, who removed to The Bronx when their son was one year old. Thomas Fox and his wife were both natives of Roscria, County Tipperary, Ireland, coming to this country when they were both young people. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and for many years conducted a shop on Tremont Avenue, near Bathgate Avenue, where Winteroth's Piano Store now stands.
John Joseph Fox attended old Public School No. 63 in The Bronx under Principal Albro, and later attended the old West Farms Public School under Principal Buckhout, while the old school, No. 63, was replaced with a new one. He then returned to Public School No. 63, under Principal John Meyers, and was a daily attendant there when his father died and he was forced to leave school in order to assist his mother in taking care of the father's blacksmithing business. After the busi- ness had recovered from the shock of the senior Mr. Fox's death, and things were running smoothly again, John J. Fox took a two-year course in vet- erinary surgery at the New York Veterinary Col- lege, whence he was graduated with the class of 1892. He at once embarked upon the active practice of veterinary surgery and continued with great suc-
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