USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 43
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Gelir m. Sinirtien
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room of his uncle's establishment for a more elaborate entertainment. This attracted a very large patronage and virtually was considered the first cabaret estab- lished in Chicago. After about a year and a half he re- turned to New York and began to appear in bur- lesque under the stage name of Arthur A. Edwards. At the same period he continued, when not otlierwise engaged, to appear in cabarets as a very successful performer. One of these appearances was attended by his mother, who objected so strenuously to his further appearance on the stage or in cabarets, that he decided then and there to end his theatrical ca- reer. Mr. Zeitlin immediately secured a position with the National Cloak & Suit Company, with which concern he remained for the next four years. The following four years were spent with the firm of Cohen Brothers, furriers, on Twenty-seventh Street. He severed this connection to enter the real estate field, specializing in the sale of Bronx homes. In the latter part of 1925, he engineered one of the largest real estate transactions in the history of The Bronx, the sale for development of 134 acres of land, belonging to the Watson Estate and involving about $2,000,000. At about the same time he joined a newly formed firm which assumed the style of Wol- ins, Spitzer & Zeitlin, which opened offices for the transaction of a general real estate business on West- chester Avenue, corner of Morrison Avenue.
Mr. Zeitlin was married in The Bronx, April 9, 1916, to Rose Kushner, daughter of Noah and Ger- trude (Wersba) Kushner. Mr. and Mrs. Zeitlin are the parents of two children: Bernice Aurora, born January 28, 1917, and Lucile Ida, born June 20, 1921.
NATHAN SPITZER-Real estate development in The Bronx has been the exclusive aim and purpose of Mr. Spitzer's business activity during recent years. He was born January 8, 1895, at No. 52 Ridge Street, Manhattan, a son of Frank and Lena Spitzer, his father having been born in Galicia, in 1870, which at that time was part of Austria.
Nathan Spitzer was educated in Public School No. 160, Rivington and Suffolk streets. At the age of fifteen he began work as a clerk with the Phil- lips Jones Company, manufacturers of shirts. After three years he went with the Lightolier Company, manufacturers of lighting fixtures, at Broadway and Prince Street. He then entered the real estate busi- ness in association with Jacob Wolins and Irving Allen Zeitlin under the firm name of Wolins, Spitzer & Zeitlin, with offices at Westchester Avenue and Sound View Avenue. Though of comparatively re- cent organization, this firm has figured in some of the most important transactions in Bronx real estate during recent years, especially noteworthy being the sale of one hundred and thirty-four acres belonging to the Watson Estate. Judged by the success with which this large transaction was carried through, the future of the new firm appears to be particularly promising and it will undoubtedly take a leading place in the further development of The Bronx.
Nathan Spitzer was married, October 28, 3924, in Brooklyn, to Ida Davidson, daughter of Solomon and Lena Davidson, the former a native of Russia, who had come to the United States as a young man.
JEROME FRANCIS HEALY-At No. 361
Pearl Street, Manhattan, New York City, Jerome Francis Healy was born on August 7, 1858, and died December 29, 1925. He attended Grammar School No. 1, on Vanderwater Street, and later en- tered the College of the City of New York, then located on Twenty-third Street. When his education was com- pleted, he went to work with the Martin Brown Printing Company, serving his apprenticeship with this concern and learning the printer's trade. After nine years with them, he accepted a position with the Methodist Book Concern, as mechanic and fore- man. While there, he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Typographical Union No. 6, of New York City, and he held this position for several years, until he resigned to become cashier in the County Registrar's office, Manhattan, filling this position from 1906 to 1910, when he went to work on the "New York World," as proofreader. After two years of association with this newspaper, he was elected coroner of The Bronx, and this office he held until his appointment to the position of deputy registrar of The Bronx.
Mr. Healy was a charter member of Lodge No. 871, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he was treasurer for twenty-four years; and he was a member of Typographical Union No. 6, with which he had been actively connected for forty- six years. A staunch Democrat in politics, Mr. Healy belonged to the Arthur H. Murphy Association of The Bronx, and was a member of the General Coun- ty Committee of the Democratic organization.
On November 24, 1890, Jerome Francis Healy was united in marriage to Margaret Ufer, daughter of John and Sabina Ufer, of New York City. To Mr. and Mrs. Healy four children were born: Flor- ence, William J., John F., and Jerome Francis, Jr. During the World War, the two sons, William J. Healy and John F. Healy, enlisted for service and went overseas with the 53rd Pioneer Infantry, the old 47th, of New York. On Tuesday, August 6, 1918, they boarded the transport "Mongolia," and sailed from Hoboken, landing at Brest on the after- noon of August 18. Their notes of the weeks and months spent on foreign soil are full of interest, recording the events in which they personally had a part. Despite fatigue and suffering, despite hours of extreme peril, they are written in the matter-of- fact spirit with many a touch of humor that marked the behavior of the boys who carried the American colors. That this particular contingent of American troops did its share in the work "over there," is attested by the fact that they received their baptism of fire at St. Mihiel, and among other offensives took part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. John F. Healy is now manager for Lee Brothers' large storage warehouse. Jerome Francis Healy, Jr., is a mem- ber of the class of 1926, New York University Law School, and is also in the law office of John A. Wise, No. 25 Broad Street, New York City.
William J. Healy has been connected with the New York Edison Company the past thirteen years.
PETER M. SIVERTSEN-One of the well- established manufacturers of The Bronx is Peter M. Sivertsen, inventor and patentee of a widely used
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slicing machine, and founder and head of the Globe Slicing Machine Corporation, which has its head- quarters in the top lofts of the Wilfred Piano Com- pany Building, at No. 758 Whitlock Avenue, The Bronx. Mr. Sivertsen formed his corporation in 1919 and since that time has created a world-wide market for his slicing machine.
Peter M. Sivertsen was born on Hitteren Island, Norway, March 21, 1891, son of Ole Sivertsen, who was born on Hitteren Island, Norway, and died in 1913, and of Margrethe Jacobsen (Auland) Sivert- sen, also a native of Hitteren Island, a daughter of Jacob Jacobsen and Severine (Salvesen) Auland. Mr. Sivertsen's mother is still living on Hitteren Is- land, where she is enjoying good health (1927). His paternal grandfather, Sivert Olsen, also a native of the Island, died in his ninety-third year.
Peter M. Sivertsen, son of Ole and Margrethe Jacobsen (Auland) Sivertsen, attended the public. schools of his native land, and when he was sixteen years of age came to this country and settled first in Brooklyn, New York, where he found employment in a grocery and delicatessen store. While thus em- ployed he attended the evening sessions of Pratt In- stitute, taking up the trade of the machinist. After the completion of a two-year course he gave up his position in the grocery and delicatessen store and followed the trade of machinist. He had for some time been working on an invention of his own, the need of which had been suggested by his experience in the delicatessen business, and in 1918 he perfected and patented the Globe Slicing Machine. In that same year he formed the Globe Slicing Machine Cor- poration, for the purpose of manufacturing and mar- keting his machine, and in 1919 he formed an as- sociation with Louis Novoting. These two have been very successful in creating a big market all over the world for Mr. Sivertsen's simple and effec- tive invention, and they have built up a business which has furnished employment to a large number of people in The Bronx. Mr. Sivertsen has taken out six patents on his machine, and at the present time (1927) has more pending. His factory in the top lofts of the Wilfred Piano Company Building, at No. 758 Whitlock Avenue, is a busy place, and is a substantial addition to the manufacturing interests of The Bronx.
Fraternally, Mr. Sivertsen is identified with Sun- set Lodge, No. 936, Free and Accepted Masons of Brooklyn; and he is also a member of The Bronx Board of Trade; and of The Bronx Chamber of Com- merce.
Peter M. Sivertsen was married, in the Norwegian Lutheran Church on One Hundred and Twenty- fifth Street, Manhattan, November 10, 1916, to As- trid Andersen, daughter of O. A. and Severine An- dersen, both natives of Norway.
CHARLES KREYMBORG-Life on this earth would be most monotonous were it consistently a "bed of roses." To gain the fullest measure of pleasure and benefit one must cope with the good and the bad-with fortune and with adversity. The man of ability, reinforced with dauntless determina- tion, conquers in the end, no matter how great the handicaps. Thus it has been with Charles Kreym-
borg, now well upon the road to fame as an archi- tect, who, not so many years ago, witnessed the finan- cial ruin of a great enterprise of his conception. Practically forced to make another start in life, he did so without hesitation, and wasted no time by grieving the loss which fate had brought upon him.
The parents of Charles Kreymborg, Herman and Louise (Nasher) Kreymborg, were natives of Bre- men, Germany, and New York City, respectively; the former was born in 1836 and died in 1911, in The Bronx, in his seventy-fifth year; his wife, born in 1850, died in 1906, in her fifty-sixth year.
Charles Kreymborg, son of Herman Kreymborg, was born on June 18, 1876, on Fifty-second Street, east of Third Avenue, Manhattan. He was first a student at the primary school on Fifty-seventh Street between Second and Third avenues, and later attended the grammar school located on Fifty-first Street between Lexington and Park avenues. In his fourteenth year he obtained employment as an errand boy for the Ladies' Dress Company, was next a runner for the East River Bank on Grand Street, and for a period of two years after quitting his posi- tion with the bank was associated with the E. G. Saltman Drawing Materials Company, No. 119 Ful- ton Street, Manhattan. His connection with the latter firm awakened in the lad an interest in draw- ing and consequently in the architectural profession. Determined to secure the technical training essential to the career which he visualized. young Kreymborg entered the offices of Charles Stegmeyer, prominent architect who was engaged in practice at No. 302 East Eighty-second Street, and with whom he re- mained for two years, having worked the first year without compensation; during the second year he re- ceived a salary of two dollars weekly. For the fol- lowing two years, Mr. Kreymborg served several other architects, and was then retained by James F. Meehan, at that time famed as the youngest and among the most successful builders in The Bronx. Mr. Meehan paid the aspiring architect the sum of ten dollars weekly in exchange for services as architect and superintendent of construction. The association with Mr. Meehan continued for twelve years, and the attendent training and experience were of incalcula- ble value to Mr. Kreymborg, he having drawn all the plans and supervised all construction projects handled by the prominent builder. Later with Jo- seph Leitner as an associate, Mr. Kreymborg formed a concern styled Leitner & Kreymborg for the pur- pose of erecting eleven five-story apartment build- ings on Fox Street, in The Bronx. No sooner had the project been developed to a stage of seemingly assured success, than the dread panic of 1907 spelled financial ruin for the partners, as well as other and older realty concerns of The Bronx district. Undis- mayed by his misfortune, Mr. Kreymborg im- mediately began to labor to the end of rehabilitating his financial position. Year after year, his ability as an architect became increasingly well known, and finally, in 1917, he engaged in the practice of his pro- fession on his own account, with offices located at No. 830 Westchester Avenue, where he remained for two years and then, due to lack of sufficiently large quarters, changed office locations on two dif- ferent occasions. It so happened, however, that a
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large concern, Newinghouse Brothers, desired to re- tain him to attend to all their numerous building pro- jects, and made Mr. Kreymborg a proposition which he accepted, gave up his offices and clientele, and worked for the Newinghouse Brothers, exclusively until the latter part of the year 1919. In 1921, the de- mand for his services from other sources having be- come so insistent, he opened his present suite of offices at No. 2534 Marion Avenue, The Bronx, where several assistants are employed to attend to the numerous details of his operations. His promi- nence in professional pursuits have brought Mr. Kreymborg many friends, and have incidentally re- sulted in his connection with several business organi- zations and social clubs of the district, including The Bronx Building Industries Association, The Board of Trade, Lions Club, Chippewa Democratic Club, Dunwoodie Golf Club, and Bronx Lodge, No. 871, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On June 18, 1902, in St. Paul's Church, The Bronx, Charles Kreymborg was united in marriage to Emma Holz, daughter of Carl Holz, the mother having died when she was five years of age. To this marriage have come the following children: Charles Henry, Jr., born April 19, 1903; Evelyn Isabelle, born Oc- tober 8, 1905; Clara Louise, born July 23, 1907; Al- fred and Arthur (twins), born July 9, 1910; Howard Holz, born February 26, 1912; and Raymond, born October 31, 1913.
BERNARD FRANCIS MUNDY-For over three decades Bernard Francis Mundy was an important factor in The Bronx, New York City, as a funeral director of great public spirit and humanitarian prin- ciples. During the last fifteen years of his life he conducted an undertaking establishment of his own, which has since 1916 been continued under the able leadership of his wife. The location is at No. 2283 Bathgate Avenue. Bernard Francis Mundy was born on West Sixteenth Street, New York City, Oc- tober 27, 1866, son of Bernard Mundy, a prominent contractor and builder of New York City, born in Ireland, and his wife, Ann (Murphy) Mundy, also a native of Ireland. The son attended the first Saint Xavier's School taught by the Catholic Brothers, and later finished his education in the preparatory school of Manhattan College. He was sixteen years old when he entered the employ of Edward Gordon, at No. 27 Columbus Avenue, a well-known undertaker. Mr. Mundy remained in that association for several years, mastering all the details of the business and advancing to more important positions as his ability and faithfulness to duty proved themselves of unusual quality. In November, 1901, he was able to es- tablish an undertaking business of his own at No. 541 East One Hundred and Eighty-third Street, The Bronx. Success came to the venture from the start and continued during the first five years at the initial address. New and larger opportunity was offered at the present Bathgate Avenue quarters, and Mr. Mundy moved there in 1906. The business con- tinued to prosper until death deprived it of its head on January 27, 1916. His widow, a woman of un- usual intelligence and enterprise, well acquainted with undertaking in general and all the details of her husband's establishment, assumed the manage-
ment and has since been at the head of the under- taking parlors which have prospered as in the days of their founder. She has given the same high quality of service as did her husband, and has been popular with her patrons. She is a member of The Catholic Daughters of America, The Catholic Woman's Benevolent Legion, and the Woman's Auxiliary of the Democratic Club.
Mr. Mundy was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Bronx Lodge, No. 871; a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus; a charter member of St. Martin of Tours Council; and the Modern Woodmen of America. He was as- sistant sexton of the old Paulist Roman Catholic Church at Fifty-ninth Street and Columbus Avenue, New York City.
On April 26, 1893, in the old Paulist Church, Ber- nard Francis Mundy was married, by Rev. Casserly, to Mary Elizabeth Morris, daughter of Andrew and Jane Frances (McCarthy) Morris. The father, born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1837, the year Vic- toria became Queen of England, died in New York City in 1890, while the mother, born in Furmoy, County Cork, in 1839, died in The Bronx in 1922. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Mundy. Those living are: 1. Loretta Veronica. 2. Raymond Vin- cent, who married Catherine Powers Smith, of Pitts- field, Massachusetts. 3. Dorothea Mary. 4. Leonard Bernard Mundy.
Besides being a business man of the highest pro- fessional standing, Mr. Mundy early in his business career adopted the Golden Rule as his guiding prin- ciple, and adhered to it throughout his whole life. His kindly and sincere manner, his charming per- sonality, and his thorough-going honesty won for him a host of friends among great and small. Thor- oughly democratic, he mingled easily and happily with all sorts of people, studying the needs of man- kind and ever ready to extend a helping hand.
WALTER FRANCIS WARD-A man with an exceedingly varied experience, but with a life in which he has achieved a decided success, Walter Francis Ward is a man who is held in particularly high re- gard by all with whom he comes in contact.
Mr. Ward was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 23, 1876, the same year as the Phila- delphia Centennial Exposition. He is a son of Thomas Patrick and Sarah (Stoy) Ward, both of whom were born in Philadelphia-the mother, now eighty-seven years of age, is still living. Thomas Patrick Ward, the father, was for many years the proprietor of the old Keystone Hotel, in Philadelphia, and later, manager of the Hotel Albert, at Thirteenth Street and University Place, New York City.
Walter Francis Ward received his early education in the public and high schools of the city in which he was born, and later, when his parents removed to New York, he attended St. Francis Xavier's Paroch- ial School, at Nineteenth Street near Sixth Avenue, New York City. His parents moved again, in 1888, to The Bronx, and young Mr. Ward became a stu- dent in the St. John's College, where he completed his education.
His first contact with the world of commerce was received when, at the age of fifteen, he entered the
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employ of James W. Tappin, an agent of the Rubinat Water Company, with offices on Broad Street. He remained there about one year, and then resigned to enter the employ of the Mexican Northern Railway Company, whose offices were at No. 20 Nassau Street. Mr. Ward remained there over a period of three years, and then he left to become a member of the staff of John W. Meagher, an undertaker with funeral parlors at No. 3487 Third Avenue, New York City. Mr. Ward remained with this establishment a period slightly in excess of five years, but left to accept an appointment with the street cleaning de- partment of New York City. Municipal work was undoubtedly the line for this man to have followed, for, by steady application to the requirements of his various offices, he has steadily worked his way up- ward toward the top until, today he holds the rank of district superintendent. It is of interest to note that Mr. Ward is now rounding out a full twenty- eight years of active service in the department.
Yet despite his many and varied activities, Mr. Ward has still found time in which to make and keep a number of important fraternal affiliations, among the more outstanding are the following: charter member of Bronx Council, Knights of Columbus; fourth degree member of Archbishop Hayes As- sembly. He also holds membership in the Chippewa Democratic Club of The Bronx.
Walter Francis Ward was married, June 15, 1898, by the Rev. Thomas F. Gregg, at the St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church, in The Bronx, to Catherine Burns, the daughter of Catherine (Wynne) Burns. Mr. and Mrs. Ward are the parents of five children: Richard Aloysius, born June 5, 1899; Walter Francis, Jr .; Joseph George; Catherine; and James Thomas. The entire family are devotees of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church of Williamsbridge.
DANIEL T. McENERNY-Though a member of the younger generation of The Bronx business men, Mr. McEnerny, as the result of his unbounded en- ergy, his great ability and his very attractive person- ality, has made his mark, not only in his own line of business-insurance-but also in a number of other activities. Prominent in athletics during his school and college years, he later played professional base- ball for some years with great success, as a member of several teams of the American League, served as a lieutenant in the United States Aviation Corps dur- ing the World War, has been very active in local politics, and in recent years has become especially well known in The Bronx as the very able and pro- gressive president of the Automobile Club of The Bronx, a powerful and useful organization with a membership of some 8,000.
Daniel T. McEnerny was born in the lower part of Manhattan, on Cedar Street, August 25, 1894, a son of Thomas and Mary (Kierce) McEnerny. His father died in the same year in which his son was born, while his mother is still a resident of The Bronx, where his maternal grandfather, John Kierce, too, makes his residence.
Daniel T. McEnerny was educated at Fordham University Preparatory School, at St. John's Hall, Fordham University, and at Villanova College, Villanova, Pennsylvania. He then took up profes-
sional baseball, being at one time a successful mem- ber of the Detroit, and later of the New York Club, of the American League. Eventually he entered the insurance business, in which he has continued since, building up a large and prosperous business, known as Daniel T. McEnerny & Company, Inc., with of- fices at No. 2432 Grand Concourse, The Bronx. His thorough knowledge of the business, the efficiency and promptness of his organization, and the extent and importance of the transactions of his firm, have combined to make it one of the best known and most highly esteemed enterprises of its type in The Bronx. He has been very active for a number of years in the affairs of the Automobile Club of The Bronx, Incorporated, of which he has been president since its birth. This club was formed in October, 1922, its first two members being Hon. Henry M. Bruck- ner, president of the Borough of The Bronx, and Hon. Edward J. Flynn, former sheriff of Bronx Coun- ty, and since January, 1926, chamberlain of the city of New York in the administration of Mayor Walker. In its few years of existence this organization grew tremendously, and in 1926 had a membership of 8,000, indications pointing towards a continued and steady growth. In its administration Mr. McEnerny has been ably and enthusiastically assisted and supported by an influential board of directors, consisting of Messrs. I. Newcorn, Joseph V. McKee, president of Board of Aldermen of New York City, James Meehan, Bart Graham and Charles A. Soteldo, the latter being sec- retary of the club. In order to take the best pos- sible care of the ever-growing activities of the orga- nization, new headquarters were engaged in 1926. The club is affiliated with the National Motorists' Association and the National Highway Association, and is thus connected with hundreds of other auto- mobile clubs over the United States and Canada. Among the many benefits and advantages derived from membership in the club should be especially mentioned: Free towing and emergency service, available day and night, within any of the boroughs of Greater New York; a very efficient touring bu- reau, supplying free maps and other valuable infor- mation; free membership emblem, membership card and leather wallet; legal advice; a saving on insur- ance in a reliable and long established stock company; wholesale prices on tires of high quality; liberal dis- counts on all accessories and repairs; license plates secured without trouble and inconvenience; a free $25 gasoline discount book; and many other valuable features. Much of the extraordinary development and the efficiency of the organization is due to the energy, devotion and ability of Mr. McEnerny and to his untiring work in behalf of the club and its members. He is also a member of the New York Athletic Club to which he has belonged since 1913, and of the Lions Club, and also the Penings Country Club, Theta Zi Society, State College, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Knights of Columbus. During the World War he served in the United States Avi- ation Corps with the rank of lieutenant, and at one time held the altitude record at Mineola, Long Is- land flying field, while at various other times he was stationed as an instructor at flying fields in Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and California. In politics he is a supporter of the Democratic party, and as such
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