USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 31
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cess in this field of endeavor until September, 1897, when he established an undertaking business on Tremont Avenue, where he remained for two years, becoming well known as a highly efficient mortician. In the year 1906 he moved his establishment to his present address, No. 1908 Bathgate Avenue, and since that time he has built up an extensive business, housed in his own modern building, where will be found the most up-to-date burial parlors and chapels in the entire Bronx. With his sons, John Joseph Fox, Jr., and Joseph J. Fox, whom he has taken into the business as partners, under the firm name of John J. Fox & Sons, he gives his personal and undivided attention to the business, and, as a consequence, has been very successful.
Mr. Fox is a man of unusually high public spirit, with a deep interest in civic advancement and a strong devotion to his church, in which he is a pew- owner and an active participant in the work of its affiliated religious societies. He is the organizer and a member of the Friends of Erin, of which he is also president; a past member of the Executive Com- mittee of the North Side Board of Trade; organizer of the City Island Association; a member of the Taxpayers' Association; a director of the Bayonne Signal and Light Company; one of the organizers of the North Side Savings Bank of The Bronx; chair- man of the local Draft Board during the late World War; for many years a member and foreman of The Bronx Grand Jury; and a member of the Board of Education for a period of five years under the ad- ministration of Louis Haffen, and during his mem- bership was responsible for some of the most ad- vanced changes in the school and educational sys- tems, as well as serving with great ability as chair- man of the Board. Politically, Mr. Fox is an ardent Democrat, and is a member of the Democratic County Committee as well as the General Commit- tee of Bronx County. He is the present treasurer of the North End Coach and Auto Club; and a member of the Arthur H. Murphy Association, and the City Island Yacht Club. Fraternally, he holds active membership with the Knights of Columbus, and was chairman of the local board during the World War; also is a Past Grand Knight of Unity Council; Past Exalted Ruler of Bronx Lodge, No. 871, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and at present time a trustee; the Royal Arcanum; the Modern Woodmen of America; the Ancient Order of Hibernians; is Past President of the Emerald As- sociation; member of Clan Na Gael; Bunker Hill Club; Old Timers' Association; and the Friends of Irish Freedom. He has been a most valued member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church since the year 1874, and at the present time is both a trustee and a sexton. He has been a member of the Holy Name Society of St. Joseph's Church since its or- ganization; is a past treasurer of the Catholic Big Brothers' Association; treasurer of St. Vincent de Paul Society of the church; was chairman of the Committee on St. Joseph's School Drive and Catholic Charities; is a member of the Champlain Assembly of the Catholic Summer Schools; and is also identi- fied in various capacities with several other church and allied societies and organizations. Probably no layman in The Bronx has been more deeply inter-
ested and active in the welfare of his church than has Mr. Fox.
John Joseph Fox was married, by the Rev. Father Peter Farrell, in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, to Elizabeth L. Bracken, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Kirby) Bracken. The father, Henry Bracken, was the first tax commissioner of The Bronx after its annexation by the city of New York. The mother, Mary (Kirby) Bracken, was a sister of John Kirby, well-known contractor and builder, who built St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. John Joseph and Elizabeth L. (Bracken) Fox are the parents of the following children: 1. John Joseph, Jr. 2. Joseph Justin. 3. Mary. 4. Catherine. 5. Elizabeth.
WALTER WILKENS-With the exception of two years, during which he was a resident of Mount Vernon, New York, the entire life of Walter Wil- kens has been identified with the growth and devel- opment of The Bronx. He is now associated with Jeffrey Smith in the real estate business, occupying offices at No. 5 East Burnside Avenue, The Bronx. His father was one of the large landholders of the early years of The Bronx, and both father and son continued to take an active part in the development of this section, even while they were engaged in business down town.
Theodore Wilkens, father of Walter Wilkens, was of Scotch ancestry and was born on Hanover Square, New York City, February 19, 1825. He was for many years a prominent resident of The Bronx, and an extensive property holder there. He and his brother were the sole manufacturers of hair cloth in the United States at that time, operating their factory in Baltimore, Maryland, with offices on the old Bowery, at No. 67. About 1871 he purchased the old Stillman Estate on One Hundred and Sixty- first Street, running back to One Hundred and Sixty- fourth Street and Prospect Avenue and to West- chester Avenue. This estate, which was one of the show places in The Bronx, comprised about five acres, and was one of the very valuable properties of this section. Theodore Wilkens owned most of the property included in Crotona Park, which he sold to the city, and just before his sudden death, which occurred as a result of heart failure, while riding on the elevated train, September 22, 1886, he had taken title to property extending from One Hundred and Sixty-first Street to One Hundred and Sixty-second Street, and from One Hundred and Sixty-first Street to One Hundred and Sixty-third Street on Third Avenue and running along Eagle Avenue. He mar- ried Emma Zum Berg, whose grandmother, was Lady-in-Waiting to the Court of King George III, that is in the Hanoverian Court, and hence the Zum in her name.
Walter Wilkens, son of Theodore and Emma (Zum Berg) Wilkens, was born on Fulton Avenue, The Bronx, New York City, October 6, 1865, in the home owned by his father, which was later sold to Mr. McCartney, commissioner of the street cleaning department. When he was six vears of age his father purchased the old Stillman Estate mentioned above, and there the family resided for several years. Walter Wilkens attended the old Thirteenth Street
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Public School and later was a student in Paine's Business School on the Bowery. After the death of his father in 1886, he purchased a ~~~ 1 yard of James Fitzgerald, on One Hundred and Thirty-third Street and Southern Boulevard, continuing his resi- dence on the Stillman Estate purchased by his father. He was married in 1888, but continued to live in The Bronx and to operate the coal yard until about 1901. About that time he purchased a home in Mount Vernon, New York, formerly owned by William Hart, the well-known artist, located on the corner of Archer Street and Sydney Avenue. After two years of residence in Mount Vernon he returned to The Bronx and built a home on property he had purchased from George W. McAdam, many years before, lo- cated on Mott Avenue between One Hundred and Sixty-fourth and One Hundred and Sixty-fifth streets and overlooking the continuation of the Grand Con- course. This property he finally sold to the Ursuline Academy and moved into the old Stately home next door, formerly occupied by Caroline Roe and her sis- ter, nieces of General Shailer, which property he had purchased several years earlier. Meantime, about 1901, Mr. Wilkins became associated with Geoffrey M. Smith, son of E. Osborne Smith, who was one of the pioneers in the real estate business in The Bronx, and engaged in business as realtors. They occupy offices at No. 5 East Burnside Avenue, The Bronx, and are conducting a very prosperous real estate business. Mr. Wilkens takes an active interest in civic affairs in The Bronx and has contributed in no small measure to the advancement of the rapidly growing borough of New York City. He is a mem- ber of Darcy Lodge, No. 187, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Rotary Club of The Bronx.
Walter Wilkens was married, in The Bronx, June 27, 1888, to Florence Smith, daughter of George David Smith, who was born in Strasburg, Alsace- Lorraine, in 1836, and died in 1916, and of Catherine (Howarth) Smith, born in County Longford, Ire- land, in 1838, died in 1920, daughter of James Ho- warth. James Howarth was engaged in the man- agement of large cotton print mills in Manchester, England; fought under the Duke of Wellington, and was cited for having saved the life of the Duke on three different occasions. When he came to this country he continued to be a subject of Great Britain and received a pension from that government to the time of his death. George David Smith was engaged in the manufacture of furniture, and his mother owned a farm on the Mott Haven Canal, in Mott Haven. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkens are the parents of one daughter, Nerna Howarth, who married Stuart Otto, and has two children: Stuart Otto, Jr., who was born April 20, 1914, and Juliette Otto, born February 12, 1920.
JOSEPH RALPH DAMICO-For considerably more than a decade and ever since he had first es- tablished himself in the practice of law, The Bronx has been the scene of Mr. Damico's professional ac- tivities. He was born in New York City, Septem- ber 28, 1890, a son of Raffaele and Anna T. (San- sone) Damico, both natives of Italy. His father was engaged in the real estate business in New York City until his death at the age of fifty-five, January
5, 1922, being survived by his widow, now a resident of The Bronx, and by three of their six children: 1. Joseph Ralph, of whom further. 2. Michael. 3. Fred A.
Joseph Ralph Damico received his early education in St. Ann's Parochial School and St. Francis Xav- ier's grammar school, graduating from the primary department of the former in 1898 and from the grammar department of the latter in 1904. He then attended Manhattan College High School, after which he took up the study of law at New York Uni- versity Law School, being admitted to the bar in 1913. In the same year he established himself in the practice of his profession with offices in the Woolworth Building. At No. 645 East Tremont Ave- nue, The Bronx, he has continued to carry on a successful general law practice. The latter, how- ever, was interrupted for some time during 1918 and' 1919 when Mr. Damico responded to his country's call to arms during the World War. Entering the United States Army in 1918 as a private, he was first stationed at Fort Slocum, Westchester County, and later at Camp Hancock, Augusta, Georgia, going overseas in July, 1918, and serving in the American Expeditionary Forces with the Mobile Headquarters Troop of the Third Army Corps. He was mustered out in July, 1919, when he resumed his law practice in which he has continued since with an ever-widen- ing circle of clients.
He is a member of the Independent Order Sons of Italy; of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bronx Post, No. 95; French Universities Post, American Legion; being eligible to French University Vet- erans Post, American Legion, because of the fact that while a member of the American Expeditionary Forc- es he was chosen from his outfit to attend the law school of the University of Dijon, at Dijon, France. He is also a member of The Bronx County Bar As- sociation, and of the Schnorer Club. In politics he is a supporter of the Democratic party and as such a member of the North End Democratic Club, while his religious affiliations are with the Roman Catholic church, and more particularly with the St. Nicholas of Tolentine Roman Catholic Church, Andrews Ave- nue and Fordham Road, The Bronx. His principal source of recreation is hiking and swimming.
Mr. Damico was married, in Westchester County, June 24, 1922, to Nuncia Rao, a native of New York City and a daughter of Louis and Letteria (Arcara) Rao, the former deceased and the latter a resident of Westchester County. Mr. and Mrs. Damico are the parents of two children: 1. Helena Anna, born April 28, 1923. 2. Joseph Ralph, Jr., born October 19, 1925. The family home is located at No. 2244 Cedar Avenue, The Bronx.
JOHN ALPHONSUS ROSSI-A fine reputation and a wide experience in architecture have been at- tained by John Alphonsus Rossi, of The Bronx, a native of New York City, born July 26, 1891. He was brought up in Saint Joseph's Convent, New York City; and in his school days contemplated the priesthood for his career. He afterwards attended Cathedral College, later entering an architect's office where he studied the profession he was to follow through life. He was graduated from Cooper Union
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Institute in 1911, and then attended Columbia Uni- versity for the extension course, taking up beaux arts atelier work in the city. He worked for Trowbridge & Livingston, and was connected with the move- ment for the monumental building of the city with other leading architects and was later employed by Marc Eidlitz & Son, prominent builders. Subse- quently he was for nine years supervising architect for the George A. Fuller Construction Company. In this connection he helped to design those modern of- fice buildings for Japan which withstood the earth- quake of 1924. During the World War he designed the first gas mask laboratory in Long Island City on a contract of the Fuller Construction Company for the United States Government. He also built the Columbia War Hospital Base for the same company. He entered the service in 1918, and was sent by the War Department, Washington, District of Columbia, to Mather Field, California, where he constructed the buildings in connection with the aviation field for the army. He was transferred to Langley Field to help complete the buildings in course of construction. In January, 1919, he received an honorable discharge, after which he returned to the Fuller Construction Company, and took an active part in the building of the supply base in New Orleans, Louisiana. He established a world record for the erection of a six- story concrete building, 140 by 600 feet, in thirty-four working days, a feat accomplished in 1919.
Mr. Rossi is a member of the Arthur H. Murphy Association, a political club; of the Briarcliff Coun- try Club; of the Knights of Columbus, in which he holds the fourth degree; and of St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church. He likes football and tennis as sports, and at one time was a devotee of ice skating. He is active in The Bronx Board of Trade.
John Alphonsus Rossi married, November 11, 1925, Lydia Giordano, a native of The Bronx, and daugh- ter of Tommasso Giordano, a prominent builder, and pioneer of this borough. He is in business at No. 563 East Tremont Avenue, The Bronx.
VITALE DELLA PENNA-Associated with many of the important interests of architectural engineering, and prominent in the municipal activi- ties of The Bronx, Vitale Della Penna is a talented and able representative of the present-day enterprises of a profession with a pronounced leadership in city building. From the beginning of his active career, Mr. Della Penna has demonstrated his abilities in the lines to which he has given special attention; and in the World War he was an efficient co-worker with the forces operating for the maintenance of the ac- tivities of that period. Mr. Della Penna is a son of Luigi Della Penna, for many years a prominent grocer and the owner of a macaroni manufacturing concern at No. 289 East One Hundred and Forty- ninth Street, The Bronx. He died June 5, 1924. He married Giovina Ruggiero, who was born in Italy in 1868, and died January 1, 1925. They had six children, all of whom reside in The Bronx: 1. Antoinette, who married Patrick Valentino. 2. Joseph, a grocer, who succeeded his father in the manufacture of macaroni. 3. Vitale, of whom further. 4. John, who is engaged in the insurance business.
5. Nicholas, who is employed as a clerk. 6. Assunta, a stenographer.
Vitale Della Penna was born August 18, 1893, in San Salvo, Italy, and he attended school there until he was nine years old, when he came with his mother to The Bronx, to join his father, who had already located there for ten years. In the fall of 1903 he began to go to school here at Public School No. 18, and was graduated at Public School No. 37 in 1910. He then attended Stuyvesant High School for three years, and completed a college course in the Chi- cago (Illinois) Technical College, where he was graduated with his degree of architectural engineer in 1916, when he established himself in business. Meantime, in 1918-1919, Mr. Della Penna was asso- ciated with the Engineering Division of the Public Service Commission of New York City while the World War was in progress. Mr. Della Penna is a member of the Municipal Engineers Association of New York City; of The Bronx Board of Trade; Municipal Business Men's Association; Bronx Auto- mobile Club; and Paramount Business Men's League. His hobby is motoring; and he was a member of his college football team. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church.
Vitale Della Penna married, August 18, 1925, at Grassy Point, New York, Lucille Dorothea Kelly, R. N., daughter of Thomas and Maria (Rogerson) Kelly.
AUGUST VOLLMAR-Brought up in The Bronx the entire active business life of Mr. Vollmar, cover- ing some fifteen years, has been spent there, too, and has been devoted to the further development of his home region. In this he followed in his father's foot- steps, the latter, Frederick Vollmar, also being one of the early believers in the future of The Bronx. After retiring from business he lived in The Bronx until his death in March, 1924, and was very active in its real estate development. He was a Mason, a charter member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Andreas Hofer, No. 294, and principally responsible for the foundation of the South Bronx Property Owners' Association.
August Vollmar was born in New York City, Janu- ary 10, 1889, a son of Frederick and Maria Vollmar. He was educated at Public School No. 85 in The Bronx and then attended the College of the City of New York and later New York University from which he graduated in 1911. In the same year he went into the real estate business in East One Hun- dred and Fortieth Street, moving his offices later to No. 499 East One Hundred and Sixty-first Street, where he conducts a general real estate business as well as the placing of mortgages and insurance. Dur- ing the World War he enlisted in the navy and was stationed at Pelham Bay. He is a member of Lily Lodge, No. 342, Free and Accepted Masons, The Bronx Taxpayers' Association, James Brown As- sociation, and the Monroe Democratic Club. His re- ligious affiliations are with the Lutheran Evangelical Church.
Mr. Vollmar married Marie Holland, in The Bronx, June 21, 1924. Mr. and Mrs. Vollmar make their home at No. 1236 Grand Concourse, The Bronx.
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FRANCIS XAVIER CONLON, attorney of No. 601 East Tremont Avenue, The Bronx, was born on January 9, 1894, son of Francis and Mary Ellen (Murphy) Conlon. His father was a native of County Armagh, Ireland, coming to the United States when twenty years of age. He now lives in The Bronx, where he holds the office of deputy sheriff of Bronx County, to which he was appointed six years ago.
Francis Xavier Conlon graduated from St. John's College in 1913, and entered the Law School of Fordham University, taking his degree, Bachelor of Laws, in 1916, and passing the bar examinations im- mediately thereafter. He volunteered for service in the army in September, 1917, and was discharged in May, 1919. He was first stationed at Camp Upton, attaining the rank of corporal. In March, 1918, he went overseas and saw action in several important offensives of the latter part of the war. From June 21 to August 4, 1918, he was stationed in the Baccarat sector; from August 11 to August 18, in the Vesle sector; Oise-Aisne offensive from August 18 to September 16, 1918; Meuse-Argonne offensive from September 26 to November 11, 1918, when the sign- ing of the Armistice brought hostilities to an end.
Mr. Conlon, who is a Democrat in politics, held the office of cashier in the Mortgage-Tax Depart- ment of The Bronx Register Office, and is now sec- retary to the county clerk of Bronx County. He is also a member of the Arthur H. Murphy Association, The Bronx Board of Trade, the Knights of Colum- bus, and the Fordham University Alumni Associa- tion. He is a member of the American Legion.
On July 7, 1919, Francis Xavier Conlon married Edna Marie Peterson, daughter of John R. and Eliza- beth A. (Powers) Peterson, of The Bronx. To Mr. and Mrs. Conlon two children have been born: Edna Elizabeth, November 15, 1921; Eileen Dorothy, September 24, 1924. Mr. Conlon and his family are members of the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas, Roman Catholic.
JOSEPH ORSI-A leading Italian banker, who combines a knowledge of his race and practical in- formation resulting from actual experience with American banks, is Joseph Orsi, vice-president of the Italian Discount & Trust Company and manager of its branch in The Bronx. He is also associated with other business and civic affairs of the borough on a large scale, and is an acknowledged leader of the community.
Born in Rome, Italy, January 4, 1886, Joseph Orsi is the son of Joseph and Amelia (Omenigrandi) Orsi, His father, born in Austria, was a builder in Rome, where he died in 1886, on the day his son was born. His mother was born in Rovereto, which now belongs to Italy, and died in New York City, July 1, 1917, at the age of sixty-seven. There were, besides Joseph, two children: Victor Amelia, and Ersilia.
Joseph Orsi attended school in Austria, and after he was brought to this country, at the age of ten, he completed the course in Public School No. 8, New York City. For one year he served as a messenger for the New York National Exchange Bank, which was the beginning of his connection with the banking business, in which line he has since been engaged.
On November 11, 1918, with the opening of the Italian Discount & Trust Company, Mr. Orsi be- came chief clerk, and in 1920 he was advanced to the position of credit man, being placed in charge of the Harlem office, which he opened in that year. He is now a director and vice-president of the bank, and manager of The Bronx Branch, which he opened in February, 1923, at No. 363 East One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street. Since his connection with that office, the deposits have increased one million dol- lars, due in great measure to his vision as a banker and his belief in the business progress of The Bronx. His former associates in the Bank of Manhattan Company and the Chatham & Phenix Bank, and other banks, have viewed with amazement and ad- miration his rapid rise in the field which he elected for his life-work.
Mr. Orsi is a member of the Italian-American Business Men's Association, of which he was elected the first president. This organization represents business interests in The Bronx aggregating ten mil- lion dollars, and does much for the welfare of men of Italian birth and parentage in this country and for those seeking admission. One of the many im- portant financial transactions with which Mr. Orsi has been connected was the absorption of the con- trol of the Italian Discount & Trust Company from the Banca Nazionale Di Credito, one of the largest banking institutions in Milan, Italy, by the Italian Discount & Trust Company, which gave the latter organization a much broader outlook and stronger alliances, its capital and surplus amounting to more than $1,600,000, and its deposits to more than $15,- 000,000. A service which the Italian-American Business Men's Association, of The Bronx, through its president, Mr. Orsi, and his colleagues, accom- plished, was the obtaining of legislation by Congress to permit disbarred alien soldiers of the United States to return to their homes in this country after their discharge on European soil. It seems that the im- migration laws automatically worked a severe hard- ship on these soldiers, many of whom had not been naturalized in this country, and following their dis- charge numbers of them were arrested and con- scripted into the services of the European countries engaged in the World War for an indefinite period. The lasting gratitude of these men was earned by Mr. Orsi and his associates by this worthy endeavor. In many other ways does this aggressive and progres- sive Bronx citizen and banker render invaluable as- sistance to his nationals and to the people of The Bronx in general.
He is a member of The Bronx Board of Trade, The Bronx Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Sheriff's Panel, the James W. Brown Association, the Democratic party, and a director of The Bronx Hospital. His religious association is with the Ro- man Catholic church.
Joseph Orsi married, on Labor Day, 1905, in New York City, Florence Orsi, born in Piacenza, Italy, June 14, 1887, daughter of Joseph and Maria Orsi. Her father is now deceased and her mother resides with her daughter. To Mr. and Mrs. Orsi have been born three children: Viola Marie, on August 4, 1906; Beatrice Amalia, May 9, 1908; J. Gerard, January 28, 1919.
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