USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
Mr. Romano enjoys the respect and confidence of his associates and neighbors and maintains a com- mendable social standing. He is a third degree mem- ber of Guiding Star Council, No. 212, of the Knights of Columbus, and belongs to the Order of Mount Carmel, the Sons of Italy, La Bormida, and Cava- lierre Giuseppe Tozoli; also the St. Vincent de Paul
179
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
Society, and the Holy Name Society of the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of The Bronx.
Mr. Romano was married in November, 1902, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, by Father Cassenetti (Costondino), to Rachele Serrilli, daugh- ter of Pietro Serrilli, a native of St. Marco in Lames, province of Foggi, Italy, and Celesta (Cuoco) Ser- rilli, a native of the same place. - Their union has been blessed with six children: Frank, Pietro, Po- tenza, Nicola, Luigi, and Antonio.
EDWARD PRESCOTT BECKETT, well-known Bronx undertaker, was born March 25, 1887, on East Thirty-seventh Street, Manhattan Borough, New. York City. His parents, John and Ellena (Stack) Beckett, moved to The Bronx when he was a child, and there he began his schooling. John Beckett, born in 1846, on Chambers Street, New York City, was a city surveyor many years and helped lay out many New York streets; he died in 1894. His mother was born in Canada and still enjoys good health in the sixty-fifth year of her age.
Mr. Beckett attended St. Jerome's Academy in The Bronx and later entered Public School No. 85, on East One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street, and also Public School No. 61, on One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street. After this preparation he ma- triculated at Fordham University, New York City, and pursued his studies in the academic department, whence he was graduated in the class of 1912, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1913 he decided to enter the undertaking business by buying out the old-established concern conducted by James F. En- nis, who was a brother-in-law to the original founder, John Doherty, at Willis Avenue and One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street, who established the bus- iness in the early eighties, and later at No. 3156 Third Avenue, opposite The Bronx County Court- house. This is thus one of the oldest undertaking parlors in The Bronx. Since 1913 Mr. Beckett has conducted the establishment under his own name, Edward P. Beckett, and has been very successful from the start, giving the people the same class of service it has rendered ever since its establish- ment nearly fifty years ago.
Mr. Beckett is popular in social, club and civic circles. As a secret order leader Mr. Beckett is Past Exalted Ruler of Bronx Lodge, No. 871, Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, and member of St. Augustine Council, No. 286, Knights of Colum- bus. He belongs to the Fordham University Alumni Association, and Club, the Society of the City of New York, The Bronx Catholic Club and the Schnorer Club of The Bronx. In politics he is a Democrat, and as such is a member of the Jackson Democratic Club. He is one of the organizers and secretary of The Bronx County Undertakers' Asso- ciation.
Mr. Beckett married (first), June 24, 1915, in St. John's Chapel, Fordham University, Rev. Father William H. Murphy officiating, Marie G. Berman, daughter of Alois A. Berman, native of Alsace- Lorraine, and Mary (Mosback) Berman, native of Germany. His wife died July 19, 1920. He married (second), January 6, 1924, Anna Mary Rauth, daugh- ter of Joseph Rauth, the ceremony having been
performed in the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception by the Rev. Father Bau- mann. By his first wife he had a son, Alois Edward Beckett, born July 4, 1916.
JOSIAH ACKERMAN BRIGGS-Descendant of five of the oldest families in the Borough of The Bronx, all large property holders in this territory for about two hundred years, Josiah Ackerman Briggs, one of the editors of this historical work, can be said to be the last of the "old timers" in the Ford- ham section of New York City. The families of which Mr. Briggs is today the representative are those of the Briggs, the Ackermans, the Valentines, the Garrisons, and the Bussings. For almost sixty years Mr. Briggs has been engaged in the engineer- ing profession in Westchester County and New York City, mainly on municipal work, and much of this time has been spent in The Bronx. For nearly a decade he was chief engineer of this borough, having charge of all topographical and construction work in this section, thereby adding much to his vast store of knowledge regarding the structural forma- tion of this part of the city.
Mr. Briggs' ancestry traces to John Briggs, who came from England to Boston in 1635-37 with, or was followed by, his sister, Rebecca Briggs, who had married Thomas Cornell, in England. John and Rebecca are supposed to be descendants of Richard Briggs, of Halifax, York County, England. (See "History of Cornell Family," by Rev. Thomas Cornell, and "Certain Come-Overs," by Crapo). John Briggs was born in 1609 and died in 1690. From him and his wife, Sarah, descent is as follows: John (2) Briggs, born in 1642, died in 1690, married Han- nah Fisher; their son, Edward Briggs, born in 1665, died in 1718, married Sarah Wilcox; their son, Wal- ter Briggs, who married Lydia Hunt; their son, Josiah Briggs, who married Bathsheba Williams; their son, Walter Briggs, a trustee of the Town of Westchester, who died in 1813 and who married Mary Bussing; their son, Captain Josiah Briggs, born in 1792, died in 1866, like his father a trustee of the town of Westchester, married Maria Valen- tine, daughter of Dennis and Sarah (Bussing) Valen- tine and granddaughter of Isaac Valentine; their son, John Valentine Briggs, born in 1822, died in 1905, married Sarah Jane Ackerman, born in 1825, died in 1866, daughter of Garrett and Susanna (Garrison) Ackerman; and their son, Josiah Ackerman Briggs, of whom further.
Josiah Ackerman Briggs was born in Fordham, then the town of West Farms and part of Westches- ter County, in the year 1852, the son of John Valen- tine and Sarah Jane (Ackerman) Briggs. The former was a farmer and merchant, and he also acted as executor and trustee of his father's and mother's es- tates, together with the estates of others in the neighborhood. The elder Briggs was born April 9, 1822, and died March 17, 1905, while his wife was born in 1825 and died in 1866. Josiah A. Briggs was educated in the public schools of what was then West Farms, and he also received some private instruction. He chose the profession of engineering as his life-work and entered into active practice un- der Colonel M. O. Davidson, W. W. Wilson, and J. A. Lockwood, all civil engineers of note, when
Bronx-12
180
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
about sixteen years of age, keeping up his studies in the meantime under private instructors. His life has been devoted to the engineering profession and his experience has been varied and extensive, in- cluding the laying out, designing and constructing of highways, sewers, bridges, tunnels and viaducts, the depression of tracks, the elimination of grade crossings, railroad construction, the building of water- works, etc.
A complete record of Mr. Briggs' engineering ac- tivities from 1869 to 1914, comprises the following: From 1869 to 1877, was employed as rodman, com- puter, draughtsman and assistant engineer under the Central Park Avenue Commission, the Midland Avenue Commission and the Yonkers Water Com- mission in Westchester County and elsewhere; 1877 to 1891, in the Department of Public Parks, New York City, as surveyor and as assistant engineer in charge of street construction, sewers and other util- ities in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth wards, which are now Bronx Borough; rebuilt Jerome Park race-track in the winter of 1886 and 1887, eliminating dangerous reverse curves; 1891 to 1895, civil en- gineer in private practice in New York City and else- where, laying out and developing large tracts of land; 1895 to 1898, Chief Engineer of Construction of the Department of Street Improvements, Twenty- third and Twenty-fourth wards; 1898 to 1902, as- signed under the Charter of Greater New York to the post of Chief Engineer of Highways, preferred to remain in The Bronx under the same title; 1902 to 1910, Chief Engineer of the Borough of The Bronx, in full charge of all topographical and con- struction work in the borough; 1910 to date, con- sulting civil engineer in private practice.
During the period of his incumbency of the vari- . ous positions he held under the city of New York, Mr. Briggs supervised the designs and construction of about three hundred miles of sewers and two hundred and fifty miles of highways, together with numerous bridges, tunnels, and other structures. The construction of the Grand Boulevard and Concourse is, to a great extent, due to Mr. Briggs' initiation and urge, and the same can be said of the storm relief sewer, tunneled from Webster Avenue to the Harlem River, thus relieving the valley from over- flow. Other important work supervised by Mr. Briggs, was the building of storm, relief sewers in many watersheds where the regular sewers had been overtaxed. The depression of the New York and Harlem tracks, together with those of the Port Morris branch, and the elimination of grade crossings on the New York Central and New Haven railroads, came under the supervision of Mr. Briggs, who urged the elimination of all grade crossings in The Bronx Borough. As a result of his efforts and advice, all but a few grade crossings in The Bronx were abol- ished. While Chief Engineer, Mr. Briggs had the whole responsibility for all engineering work and all contract construction work, as well as for the many details of his office, without the assistance of a deputy chief engineer or of a consulting engineer. In addition, he served on committees of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, notably on the City Beautiful Committee, and the Committee of En- gineers which was appointed to investigate the proposed high-pressure river water system for fire
protection below Fourteenth Street, in Manhattan Borough, and to report on the same with recom- mendations. The committee reported favorably and the system' was introduced. Mr. Briggs was several times named as commissioner of estimate, appraisal and assessments in proceedings for acquiring lands for streets and for other public utilities. He served on the first Grand Jury which sat in Bronx County, of which body George B. Cortelyou was foreman.
Mr. Briggs and all his progenitors have been mem- bers of the Dutch Reformed Church, more particu- larly of the edifice in Fordham now designated as the "Fordham Manor Reformed Church." He has been a member and officer of this church for over fifty years, serving as the clerk of consistory for a period of forty-two years, which office he resigned in 1923. Mr. Briggs has been a member of many clubs and social bodies, but is not affiliated with any of them at present. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, holding the office of director from 1900 to 1902, inclusive; a member of the New York section of the same or- ganization; director of the Society of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors; a city surveyor of New York City, and a member of the Old Timers' Association, of the Borough of The Bronx. At the time of its organization he was a director of the Cosmopolitan Bank, but has since resigned that of- fice. Mr. Briggs is very fond of traveling, and since 1923, has spent several months each year in taking extended trips through the United States and Can- ada. He has visited most of the States and has traversed the Pacific Coast from Vancouver to San Diego, and Canada from Montreal to Vancouver. During his travels he has visited his daughter, Mrs. Forrest Allen Pruitt, at Pittsburgh; his other daugh- ter, Mrs. Merton W. Wales, at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and his son, Josiah A. Briggs, Jr., formerly engineer on the first subway construction in New York and later an assistant engineer in The Bronx, who is now living in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Briggs is now residing with his younger daughter, Mrs. Atley W. Henry, in The Bronx. He declares his intention of taking a trip across the Atlantic Ocean as soon as possible, but announces that he has promised his family that he will not attempt to do so by aeroplane.
On March 15, 1876, Mr. Briggs was married in Fordham to Julia Wheatly, daughter of Charles and Nancy (Hutchinson) Wheatly. Charles Wheatly was an editor of the "Kentucky Statesman" and in Kentucky was known as "the mouthpiece of Brec- kenridge," vice-president of the Confederacy. He came North after the war and, himself a lover of horses, was one of the chief sponsors and officials of organized horse-racing as a sport in the North. He was a son of Walter Wheatly, born in 1791, died in 1880, and Eliza Maria (Roe) Wheatly, born in 1797, died in 1821; and a grandson of William Wheatly, who married a daughter of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Maryland. Nancy (Hutchinson) Wheatly was born in 1821 and died in 1908, daugh- ter of William and Fannie (Scanlan) Hutchinson, and granddaughter of Dr. Richard Scanlan, of Mary- land.
Josiah A. and Julia (Wheatly) Briggs had six children, as follows: 1. Malcolm Hutchinson, was
Isiah a Suggs
181
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
born November 24, 1877, and died January 11, 1879. 2. Josiah Ackerman, Jr., born July 19, 1880; a record of his work and place of residence is given above. 3. Ernest Wheatly, born April 8, 1884; died August 20, 1884. 4. Ruth Edna, born September 3, 1887. 5. Julia Wheatly, born June 12, 1889. 6. Gladys Regina, born July 28, 1894. Mrs. Briggs was born October 4, 1855, and died in the month of July, 1909.
ANTHONY C. LA ROCCA-As president of the Melrose Concrete Company and of the Dollan Con- tracting Company of The Bronx, Anthony C. La Rocca has been actively identified with building proj- ects in that borough. Mr. La Rocca is also identi- fied with a number of other concerns, particularly the La Rocca Building Corporation, the Algo Rock Realty Corporation, and the La Rocca Construction Corporation, the last-named having been organized in January, 1926, and being successful bidders for a large subway unit.
Mr. La Rocca is still a young man, not yet having reached his thirties. He is a son of James and Margaret La Rocca, both natives of Italy, and both still living; and he himself was born in Italy, Feb- ruary 11, 1897. But at the age of only two months he came to America with his parents and grew up in New York City, attending Public School No. 83, Manhattan, where he graduated in 1913. Rayford W. Attey, an attorney, with offices on lower Broad- way, took an interest in Mr. La Rocca and gave him his start in business. His first job was as a newsboy with Charles J. Mooney, and he was later employed by the Dollan Contracting Company, a concern in which he now holds the office of presi- dent. In 1916, Mr. La Rocca resigned a $6.50 position with this firm and went into the grocery business, buying two stores. By 1920 he had been so successful that he was able to purchase a one-third interest in the Dollan Contracting Com- pany, with whom he had previously been connec- ted, becoming at the same time secretary of the firm. Three years later, in September, 1923, he bought control and became president. The Melrose Concrete Company was organized in 1921, and of this concern Mr. La Rocca became president at the start. The next year he organized the Algo Rock Realty Corporation and become its president. In January, 1926, the La Rocca Construction Corpora- tion was organized for the purpose of building sub- ways and they were the successful bidders for Route 78, Section 4A, estimated at over $5,000,000. Mr. La Rocca is a director of the Italian American Discount and Trust Company, of the Consolidated Can Com- pany of Long Island City, and E. F. Gillespie & Company, bankers, of lower Broadway, and he is treasurer and secretary of the Wainwright Corpora- tion, a general insurance concern, and vice-president of the Beechmere Realty Corporation. He is a mem- ber of The Bronx Board of Trade, the Chamber of Commerce, the New York Athletic Club, New York Building Congress, and Masters' League of Cement Workers; he is a lay member of the N. V. A .: a member of the National Democratic Club and vice- president of the Italian American Business Men's Association.
Mr. La Rocca married, in New York City, Feb- ruary 23, 1919, Maria Galindo, daughter of Masa- donia and Rosenda Galindo, the father deceased, the mother living. Mr. and Mrs. La Rocca have three children: James, born December 15, 1919; Margaret, born January 12, 1920; and Anita, born November 9, 1923.
JOHN KELLY-Among the established and suc- cessful business men of The Bronx, whose personal advancement has materially enhanced the progress of the community is John Kelly, realtor and broker. His offices are in the Bergen Building, No. 1932 Arthur Avenue.
John Kelly was born in Golan Village, Trillick, County Tyrone, Ireland, November 19, 1876, son of John and Rosanna (Minnaugh) Kelly. The father, son of Terrence and Margaret Kelly, was also a native of Golan Village, where he was a prosperous farmer throughout his mature life, while the mother was the daughter of John and Bell Minnaugh.
John Kelly was educated in the National School in his native village, spending his vacations at work on the paternal farm. At the age of sixteen he came to the United States alone, settling in New York City, where he found employment in a grocery store. In May, 1898, he entered business on his own ac- count in New York and made a success of his enter- prise until he observed the rapid development of The Bronx. His keen intelligence and foresight then took him to that section, where his subsequent success has proved the wisdom of his decision. He established a real estate brokerage business on East Tremont Avenue, at the corner of Webster Avenue, in 1908, and has followed that business ever since, moving, some years later to his present advantageous site, on the ground floor of the Bergen Building, No. 1932 Arthur Avenue. A wide variety of transac- tions coming under the head of general real estate brokerage takes place under his astute and able leadership. These have proved profitable to him and to the clients who make use of his services. He is a member of the North End Democratic Club of The Bronx.
On June 15, 1898, in New York City, John Kelly married Elizabeth Monahan, the ceremony being performed at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church on East One Hundred and Seventeenth Street. Mrs. Kelly's father was William Monahan. Four children were born of the union: 1. Joseph William, mar- ried Cecile Murphy, and they have two children: Dorothy Jane and Joseph William, Jr. 2. John Arthur. 3. Isabelle Dorothy. 4. Thomas Edward.
JOSEPH I. BERRY, at present an assistant cor- poration counsel, and a lifelong resident of the Borough, since becoming of age has devoted his energies to public service, a field in which he attained distinction, and has taken a prominent part in every phase of community development. Born July 31, 1868, on Abingdon Square in the old Ninth Ward of Manhattan, he is a son of Richard A. and Bridget (Shea) Berry. His mother, a native of Fordham, shortly after the birth of her son, returned to The Bronx, where the boy grew up.
182
THE BRONX AND ITS PEOPLE
Mr. Berry attended old Public School No. 65, in Fordham, from which he graduated in 1883, after which he entered Fordham College, in the academic department, graduating with the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts. His college career finished, Mr. Berry accepted the position of manager of the Fordham branch of Church E. Gates and Company, lumber company, and remained in that capacity for five years. By this time he knew something of business and the world in general, as well as his own inclinations. He determined, in the light of this knowledge, to take up the study of law, entering the New York Law School, from which he was graduated in 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. The same year he was admitted to the bar. His first practice was as an associate in the office of William B. Ellison, a prominent attorney, subse- quently corporation counsel of New York City, from whom the young lawyer acquired considerable legal knowledge and experience. Mr. Berry then entered the office of Henry D. Purroy, attorney-at-law, be- coming his partner in the law firm which continued until Mr. Berry was drafted by the Independent forces in The Bronx to run for coroner. Successful, he held this office from 1902 to 1906. He then formed a partnership with Henry K. Davis, with whom he had offices at No. 320 Broadway, New York, and No. 2649 Webster Avenue, The Bronx, their practice prospering until 1910. In 1906 Mr. Berry was appointed by Mayor George B. McClellan, com- missioner of parks for the Borough. He joined the National Guard of the State and became com- manding officer of the Battalion of Field Artillery stationed in the Borough. As his private practice grew, so did his activities in civic matters. He was one of the little band that began the agitation for the erection of the territory north of the Harlem River into a new county,-a movement which grew despite great opposition upon the part of both great political parties, and, which resulted, some eleven years later in the creation of the county of Bronx. Because of his popularity he was drafted as the political leader of the old Thirty-fifth District, and on the reapportionment of the State of the new Eighth District. He also held the office of State transfer tax appraiser. Rose Hill Park, the widen- ing of the Pelham Parkway, the development of De Voe Park, the extension of the public golf links and the creation of the Fordham Plaza are monu- ments of the efforts and labor of Mr. Berry and those he interested in these projects. In 1918 he was appointed an assistant corporation counsel of New York City by Corporation Counsel Burr. He is now in charge of the Bureau of Penalties.
Mr. Berry was one of the organizers of the Brown- son Literary Union, which afterwards became the Brownson Catholic Club, and served it as president for five years. He was also one of the organizers of The Bronx Bar Association. He belongs to a number of social and political clubs, and religious and fraternal organizations.
On November 10, 1897, Mr. Berry married Eva Harriett Baack, daughter of Edward and Margaret Baack. Mr. and Mrs. Berry live on Valentine Ave- nue in The Bronx.
FRANK L. LANDSIEDEL-A member of one of the oldest architect firms in the Borough of The Bronx, Frank L. Landsiedel has been closely identi- fied with the progress and development of Bronx County, since his profession brings him in direct touch and contact with every move for the advance- ment of his community. He has kept pace with modern movements in his profession, and possessing those fine qualities of an architect with a keen sense of utility and stability interrelated with the beauty of the structure which he designs. Active in the architectural field, and enjoying the good will and popularity of his host of friends and of the public in general, he has received the retainer to design many of the buildings throughout The Bronx, and at the same time several of the buildings in Man- hattan, which all stand as fitting evidences of his art and craftsmanship.
He was born in Manhattan at One Hundred and Ninth Street and First Avenue, September 5, 1873, a son of John and Elizabeth Landsiedel. The father was a court officer under Judge Blanchard of the Supreme Court, and was also a member of the Twenty-third Regiment of Westchester County, New York State Militia. Frank L. Landsiedel went to the Public School No. 45 at College Avenue and One Hundred and Forty-fourth Street, New York City, and thereafter attended the College of the City of New York at Twenty-third Street and Irving Place. Upon the completion of those courses, he entered Cooper Union Institute in New York City and studied architecture, being duly graduated in 1893. He became a registered architect and after a few years of the active practice of his profession established the firm of Moore and Landsiedel, May 5, 1899, in the site of their present location. The building in which they are located at No. 509 Willis Avenue was designed and built by them in 1901. Nearly a score and ten years of faithful devotion to their profession in The Bronx with strict attention and interest to the modern and up-to-date develop- ment of the community, brought to them substantial success in their chosen field, and won for them the high regard of all those with whom they came in contact. Among the important buildings which have come into their office and upon which Mr. Land- siedel has worked are The Pathe Building at No. 45 West Forty-fifth Street, New York City, and the large garage at One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Street and Riverside Drive, New York City. The Santini Warehouse at Jerome Avenue and Fordham Road and the Santini Warehouse at Westchester Avenue are products of his crafts. He has also de- signed the Traymore Dwelling at Palmer Avenue and Bronxville Road, the Jackson Apartments at Kingsbridge and University avenues, the Melrose Bank Building and numerous others throughout the county. Mr. Landsiedel is a prominent and active member of various civic organizations, and is affili- ated with the Municipal Business Men's Association, and is a member of the Grand Juror's Association. His fraternal memberships include the Gavel Lodge, No. 703, Free and Accepted Masons, and The Bronx County Council of the Royal Arcanum. He also is influentially associated with The Bronx Board of
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.