The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III, Part 48

Author: Wells, James Lee, 1843-1928
Publication date: 1927
Publisher: New York, The Lewis historical Pub. Co., Inc.
Number of Pages: 618

USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 48

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Frank X Itolabau.

Stange AV.Holding

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in The Bronx. The club, which is incorporated under the name of the Building Industry League, maintains offices and clubrooms in Mr. Just's newly erected building at No. 2454 Grand Concourse, and as sec- retary Mr. Just devotes much of his time to pro- moting the interests of the new organization. Its members include contractors, bankers, real estate brokers and representatives of many other branches of the industry, the total charter membership being over a hundred at the present time, although the club has only recently been got under way. Its organization represents a constructive, far-sighted effort to insure harmonious cooperation among the various members of the building trade, with a view to promoting better business conditions for all of them. As secretary of the League Mr. Just has had a leading part in the working out of its plans and will continue to play such a part as the work of the League materializes. His genial personality as well as his long experience in The Bronx make him peculiarly well fitted for this position. Mr. Just is associated with a number of business enterprises in The Bronx aside from his own immediate interests, being a stockholder in the Plaza Hotel, president of A-1 Building Corporation, Hazel Real Estate Company, Arborview Realty Company, and Wood- Just Realty Company. During the World War he was in the forefront of all the war drives, including the Liberty Loan, Red Cross and Salvation Army organizations. He is a member of the Bedford Park Congregational Church, and an old member of the Baptist Tabernacle.

Mr. Just married, in New York City, October 28, 1901, Louise Helena Adelman, and they have one child, Evelyn Marian, born August 6, 1906.

GEORGE WILLIAM HOLDING-The Holding family, of which George William Holding, of The Bronx, assistant superintendent of the General En- graving Department of the American Bank Note Company, is a member is unique in that out of six- teen members, fifteen have been designers, engravers or artists, while the sixteenth was a merchant. It is doubtful if any family in this country can surpass this record in the similarity of businesses or profes- sions, for of this number, four are designers, four are engravers and seven are artists, one of the artists being an author as well. The Holdings proceed from England, where their artistic temperament for gen- erations has impressed itself on national life, and in this country they have well lived up to the reputa- tion set by their forbears.

George Holding, the original paternal American ancestor, born in 1814 at Manchester, England, of French-English descent, became a designer, and married Frances Catherine Jackson, born March 27, 1823, died in 1894; he died February 27, 1896, in The Bronx. These became the parents of George Wil- liam Holding, whose great-grandfather, George Holding, of French ancestry, was the first designer in the connection and became the father of Henry and Cuthbert Holding, designers, and George, Wil- liam and James, engravers. Henry Holding had sons George, designer, and John, Fred and Henry, artists. John Holding had sons Robert E., Casper, and George, artists, and Emma, artist and author. George

William, son of George Holding, is an engraver, while William R., nephew of George William and great-great grandson of the original George Hold- ing, of England, was a merchant.

George William Holding was born March 29, 1855, on Franklin Avenue, near One Hundred and Sixty- ninth Street, in the old town of Morrisania, now a part of The Bronx. His father, George Holding (2), was Master of Arts from the Royal Academy at Manchester and a finished artist in his designs.

Mr. Holding first attended the old frame school in Morrisania, located on Third Avenue, north of One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street, known as old Sev- enth Street, which later was burned to the ground. Presently his parents removed to Melrose, where he attended the Melrose School at Third Avenue and One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Street under Prin- cipal Hyer, graduating in the class of 1870. He then studied art under the tutelage of his father for two years. In 1872 he accepted a position in the Engraving Department of the American Bank Note Company, and has remained with them steadily fifty- five years as one of their most valuable officers. The Engraving Department of this concern is of supreme importance because of the fine work that must be done on bank notes for the leading banks of the country and on various stock and bond forms, the business from which totals much more than any simi- lar concern in existence. With several generations of artisans back of him Mr. Holding has held his.posi- tion with an ability and grace that reflect great credit upon himself and his ancestors, and during many years of his service he has been assistant superinten- dent of the General Engraving Department. Five years ago he qualified for membership in the organi- zation known as the "Old Timers" of The Bronx, who must have resided in this borough fifty years before they can qualify for inclusion. He was one of the organizers and president of the West Mor- risania Club. For nine years he was a trustee of the North New York Congregational Church.

George W. Holding was married November 22, 1879, in the church in The Bronx now known as the Forest Avenue Congregational, by Rev. William Westfield, to Matilda Riehl, of Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of William Riehl, a native of Germany, and their union has been blessed with five children: 1. May Ethel, born May 10, 1881. 2. William,

born February 10, 1884, died March 23, 1919; he married May Porter and they had a son, Horace. Mr. Holding was a recognized leader in the United States in the mercerized cotton business, and his son is now finishing his studies (in 1927) at Kings High Preparatory School, Stamford, Connecticut, as a preliminary to entering college in 1928. 3. Edna Frances, born June 1, 1891. 4. Mildred Ger- trude, born August 11, 1895; married Frank Sauter, and they have a daughter, Doris Mildred Sauter. 5. Edith Hazel, born September 18, 1897.

PAUL HENRY DUMA, partner in the architec- tural firm of Glick and Duma, No. 400 East Ford- ham Road, The Bronx, and like his partner, Michael Glick (q. v.), a native of Russia, he has done unusual- ly well since coming to this country in 1914, at the age of seventeen years. He began his career as an

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employee of the Cheney Organ Company in Castle- ton, New York, but ere long changed to an architec- tural course, and finally entered upon a period of gratifying artistic success and monetary prosperity.

Mr. Duma was born November 9, 1897, in Guid- ava, province of Podolsk, Russia, son of Daniel and Anastasia (Kryca) Duma. His father, born in 1869 in Guidava, died in 1916; he served as a wheelwright and wagon builder and remained in his native town until he died. His mother, a woman of strong character, native of Guidava, died in 1911. Mr. Duma attended the public schools at Guidava and later a technical institution, at the conclusion of which course he and his father decided that he should seek opportunities in the United States. He accordingly came to this country, remained some time at New York City, and then obtained employ- ment at Castleton, as set forth above. He worked at his tasks diligently for eight months, then began an architectural course with the International Cor- respondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He then went to Hartford, Connecticut, where he worked daily for four years in factories, while pursuing his studies at night; and in these sacrifices to get an education we may see how he later established him- self so firmly. He then returned to New York and entered Columbia University for the short archi- tectural course, but presently continued the course with the International Correspondence School. For the next nine years he worked with various archi- tects to obtain practical working knowledge of the art of architecture, and while thus employed took up painting as a side issue, painting landscapes and other interesting subjects. For his painting of Washington Bridge over the Harlem River he re- ceived an offer of $300; thus finished his second large painting. In 1925, he formed a partnership with Mr. Glick for the practice of architecture, and this firm established offices in the Rogers Building, where they have executed numerous large orders.

Mr. Duma married June 28, 1922, at Hartford, Connecticut, Mazie Weyman, a native of that city, daughter of William Weyman, born in Lexington, Kentucky, and Marie (Whiteley) Weyman, who is a native of Brooklyn. They have a daughter, Lorna Duma, born September 2, 1925.

· EUGENE SUE ODELL-Few persons have had a more varied, interesting or fruitful career than Eugene Sue Odell, retired, resident of No. 675 East One Hundred and Seventieth Street, The Bronx, and once chief inspector of buildings in this borough. Mr. Odell, a native of New York State, studied with the idea of becoming a pharmacist, then went into the piano manufacturing line with the Steinway people as an expert woodworker, assembler and fin- isher. After having been with this concern fifteen years, he was laid off in a period of depression, and for sustenance turned to carpentry, then building construction. He erected some houses in Harlem, at Lenox Avenue and One Hundred and Twenty- ninth Street, which are standing to this day, after which he joined a brother in the construction of a railroad in New Mexico and Arizona. Their suc- cess with this development brought them a contract for the construction of the Tehuantepec Railroad,

which extended one hundred and twenty-five miles or more across the isthmus which is the narrowest part of Mexico, between Coatzocoalos, on the Mex- ican Gulf, and Salina Cruz, on the Pacific Ocean, which was opened in 1895 and was hailed as one of the world's greatest engineering feats. It may be thought that these achievements would have been sufficient to have lasted Mr. Odell a life-time, but no, he returned to New York City, pursued the car- pentry trade, and became a Brotherhood of Car- penters organizer, which for five years took him into various States and Canada. Mayor Gaynor then appointed him a city marshal, a position he filled creditably for three years. When Bronx County was created, he was made a deputy sheriff under Sheriff O'Brien; then he was made deputy clerk of Bronx County, and finally chief inspector of build- ings in The Bronx, in which he became incapacitated by illness and retired on a pension in 1924.

Eugene Sue Odell was born in 1857 in the village of Jefferson Valley, Westchester County, New York, son of Edgar Bishop and Caroline (Ridgeway) Odell. His father was the son of Matthew and Mary (Brown) Odell, both natives of Westchester County; his mother, a native of Wickabee, Putnam County, daughter of James and Rosetta (Bennett) Ridgeway. He attended Public School No. 49 in East Thirty-seventh Street near Second Avenue, Manhattan, and later attended the College of the City of New York on East Twenty-third Street for two years. While working by day, he attended night classes at Cooper Union Institute, general course, for five years, finally graduating and receiving a di- ploma; part of this time he studied pharmacy, but soon gave it up. He obtained a position with the Stein- way Piano Company as apprentice piano helper when but fifteen years of age, became an expert maker, and continued here eleven years. From this he went into carpentry and building, as stated above, and ceased this on being made assistant superin- tendent of buildings for the New York City Board of Education, a place he filled creditably for seven years. Returning to the trade of carpenter and builder, he filled a contract for a row of houses, totaling nine, which he built and sold. Sidney Smith Odell, a broth- er, then called him to the open spaces of the south- west, and he assisted in building the narrow gauge railroad from Lordsburg, New Mexico, to Clifton, Arizona, for the Clifton Copper & Mining Company. His progress from this point to Mexico and back to New York City has been covered above, except it may be stated that he served as deputy sheriff two and a half years under the administration of Sheriff O'Brien and as deputy county clerk under County Clerk Vincent Ganley.

Mr. Odell is a member of the Jackson Democratic Club and the Arthur H. Murphy Association. In religious circles he is a member of the Holy Name Society and the St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church. He has earned his retirement and is highly respected in this community

Eugene S. Odell was maried May 20, 1880, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Manhattan, by Monsignor La- Valle, to Annie F. Galligan, daughter of Patrick and Ellen (Cassidy) Galligan, natives of Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland, and their union has been

John murphy

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blessed with the following eight children: 1. Ada Gertrude, born March 1, 1881; married Roscoe C. Tygert. 2. Edward W., born July 3, 1882; married Cora Eustis and they have five children: Edward W., Jr., Roscoe, Leonard, Gertrude, and Harold. 3. Nellie Irene, born August 5, 1884; married John O. Muller, and they have three children: Helen, John O. Muller, Jr., and Arthur Robert Muller. 4. Mabel Gertrude, born November 5, 1885; secretary to the president of Manning, Maxwell & Moore. 5. Eugene Anthony, born February 5, 1887. 6. Sidney Vincent, born June 22, 1890; married Ida McAvoy. 7. Wal- ter Gregory, born July 17, 1891; married Elizabeth Bishop. 8. Arthur B., born June 8, 1897; married Evelyn Vasseur, and they have a daughter, Beatrice Odell.

JOHN CORONA-The beautiful stone and marble columns and figures which adorn the Vatican, St. Mark's Church and other structures at Rome are fitting tributes of the Italian stone cutter's and car- ver's genius. Now and then an expert in stone and marble work comes to this country and settles in New England or farther south on the Atlantic coast. Such a man is John Corona, who resides at No. 2810 Waterbury Avenue, and whose business address is No. 3201 East Tremont Avenue, The Bronx. Mr. Corona has done some of the most interesting jobs around New York, and with the assistance of his sons, Salvatore J. and Carmelo Corona, he has built up an unusually profitable business. The Coronas have taken a high stand in the affairs of The Bronx, and are ranked among its prominent citizens.

John Corona was born January 20, 1870, in St. Stephano, Camastra, province of Messina, Italy, son of Carmelo Corona, stone carver and cutter, born in Motta d'Affermo, and Angelena (Deleone) Corona, a native of St. Stephano. He attended the local pub- lic schools and began his career as an apprentice to his father, who was a finished artist in this line. He continued working diligently until 1898, when he was twenty-seven, and settled first in Manhattan, where he followed his trade for the next eight years. In 1920 he established himself at No. 3201 East Tre- mont Avenue, opposite St. Raymond's Cemetery, where his first-class work attracted such attention that he built up a most gratifying clientele. In 1925 he added the polishing stone process for the building trades, and extended his business by opening up a branch at No. 2715 Gifford Avenue, The Bronx, which has also prospered. Since this extension was made, his sons Salvatore J. and Carmelo Corona, have been associated with him.

Mr. Corona is a member of the Societa di Mutuo Soccorso and of a number of other worthy organiza- tions engaged in civic, charitable or neighborhood uplift. He is a thorough-going business man and enjoys the respect and confidence of his associates and laymen alike.

Mr. Corona was married November 23, 1895, in St. Stephano, Camastra, Italy, by the Rev. Father Salvatore Ferrara, to Marie Grace Dragotto, daughter of Francisco and Marianna (Bentivegna) Dragotto, both natives of St. Stephano. This union has been blessed with three children: 1. Angelena M., born June 3, 1897; who married Matteo Napoli. 2. Sal-

vatore John, November 28, 1900; married Marie Per- rone and they have a daughter, Grace Marie; Mr. Corona was one of the organizers and is a member of the Square Italian Democratic Club, and is in business with his father, as stated. 3. Carmelo Joseph, born August 29, 1902; also associated with father in business.

JOHN H. MURPHY-No great municipality could do without its real estate appraisers, partic- ularly when it is considered that their absence would produce a state of confusion over the tax situa- tion. For twenty-two years John H. Murphy, of No. 1882 Grand Concourse, The Bronx, has faith- fully and efficiently served New York City as real estate appraiser in the law department, and his fine judgment of property values has saved the city many millions of dollars. During this time he has testified in eighty per cent of all the proceedings in which the municipality has been interested. To mention only a few of his activities, he was senior expert on subway routes in The Bronx for The Bronx Hospi- tal; the Terminal Market, Interborough Transit Storage Yard and other projects of gigantic size. The importance of these works can be realized when it is stated that the Terminal Market was an $8,000- 000 proposition, while $10,000,000 was involved in the storage yard venture. Under the Hylan mayoralty administrations he served eight years as an honorary inspector attached to the Police Department. From time to time he has been active and prominent in real estate and building operations and has won the confidence of his associates in business as well as of his neighbors.

Mr. Murphy was born October 15, 1858, at New York City, son of John Jerome and Hannah J. Mur- phy. His father, youngest police commissioner New York ever had, died in 1871, and his mother in 1896. He attended the New York public schools but early engaged in business pursuits, and eventually became secretary and director of the Silver Beach Realty Corporation, owners of Silver Beach Gardens. An ardent Democrat, he served ten years as chairman of The Bronx County Democratic Finance Committee under the leadership of Arthur H. Murphy and Ed- ward J. Flynn. In 1911 he was one of the auto- mobile party which crossed the continent to urge the construction of the Lincoln Highway. For thirty- six years he has been a member of the New York Athletic Club. For thirty-five years he has been a valued member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, first as a member of Lodge No. 1 and later as a member of Lodge No. 871. He belongs to The Bronx Board of Trade, The Bronx Real Es- tate Board and the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the SS. Margaret and Mary Roman Catholic Church. For twenty-two years he has been a resident of The Bronx, his advent having dated from 1905. He has long been a member of the Schnorer Club.

John H. Murphy was married at Jersey City, New Jersey, August 4, 1904, to Anna M. Matthews, daugh- ter of John and Margaret Matthews, of Tuckahoe, New York, who, like himself and his parents, came of a long line of ancestors who contributed much to pioneer and modern life. Mr. Murphy's people are

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of Irish extraction, his father having been born in County Cork, Ireland, and having come to the United States as a boy. Mr. Murphy's office is at No. 1910 Webster Avenue, while he resides at No. 1882 Grand Concourse.

LOUIS A. FAVERIO-Its secure place in the real estate business of The Bronx has been obtained by the Scott Caminiti & Company through the enter- prise and the intelligent application of the president of that company, Louis A. Faverio, whose early law training and study have become pronounced factors in its success. Mr. Faverio has aided the purposes of the founder of the company in establishing its activities as among the leaders, also, in mortgage, loans and insurance lines. He is a son of John B. Faverio, who came from Lake Maggiore, in Italy, during the Civil War, and engaged in the granite and monument business; he died in 1911, and his wife, Antoinette Faverio, mother of Louis A. Faverio, resides in Rhode Island,

Louis A. Faverio was born June 22, 1888, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and he attended the public and high schools at Westerley, Rhode Island. Tak- ing the course at the Law School of Yale University, he was graduated there in 1910 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After graduation, Mr. Faverio's eyesight failed him, and he removed to the country, where he engaged in farming for a while. He was afterwards associated with the automobile business at Greenfield, Massachusetts, and for twelve years he was agent for the Dodge automobile. Engaging in the real estate and insurance business in The Bronx in 1923, he has so continued to the present, and he is president of the Scott Caminiti & Com- pany, Robert C. Scott, vice-president (q. v.), which was incorporated in 1925, and has its offices at No. 2500 Webster Avenue.

In his political views Mr. Faverio is a Democrat, and with his vote and influence he supports the prin- ciples of that party. During the World War, he served as chairman of the local fuel committee. He is a member of The Bronx Real Estate Board and The Bronx Board of Trade; and he is a communi- cant of the Church of Our Lady of Refuge.

Louis A. Faverio married, January 14, 1911, Ger- trude Knee, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, and has resided in New York City, daughter of William and Katherine (Rath) Knee. Their children: Cath- erine, born December 19, 1914; and Louis A., born June 22, 1917.

ROBERT C. SCOTT-The field of operations of the Scott Caminiti & Company, of which Robert C. Scott is vice-president, is both a varied and a valued one in The Bronx, its activities having to do with the purchase and sales of real estate, the placing of mortgages and loans, and aiding worthy people to secure homes and places of business in this section. Mr. Scott is one of the leading factors in the success of the company that he so ably represents.

Robert C. Scott was born February 6, 1888, in The Bronx, a son of William Scott, inspector of public works in The Bronx, who died in 1908, and Mary Scott. After attending St. Jerome Academy and the Morris High School, Mr. Scott began to engage

in the realty and insurance business then conducted by the Scott Brothers, so continuing for eight years. This company was incorporated in 1925, under the title Scott Caminiti & Company, with Louis Fa- verio '(see preceding biography) as president and Robert C. Scott as vice-president, and with head- quarters at No. 2500 Webster Avenue. Mr. Scott is a member of The Bronx Real Estate Board and The Bronx Board of Trade.

HENRY CARBER-Fifty years as a tinsmith, and one of the best in the city, is the record of Henry Carber, of No. 1442 Williamsbridge Road, The Bronx. Mr. Carber was born December 12, 1861, at Twenty-third Street and Second Avenue, Man- hattan Borough, son of Charles Philip and Elizabeth (Knoll) Carber. His father, born in Frankfort-on- Main, Germany, in 1830, died in 1908; he became a carriage builder by trade, but in his later years en- gaged in the manufacture of soda water and ginger ale. His mother died in her early forties.

When Mr. Carber was two years of age, his par- ents removed to Third Street (now One Hundred and Sixty-fifth), between Washington and Railroad avenues. He attended the old German school, known as Fechner's, and old No. 3 School, later known as No. 61, at Third Avenue and One Hun- dred and Sixty-ninth Street, from which institution he was graduated with a creditable record. He be- gan his business career when he was seventeen, as an apprentice to Charles Edel, well-known tinsmith of that day, who also sold household supplies at Third Avenue and One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Street, and here Mr. Carber learned the trade thor- oughly. He continued with Mr. Edel twenty-five years, at the end of which time he decided to estab- lish a shop of his own, which he did on the old West- chester Road and West Farms Road, where he re- mained five years before moving twenty years ago to his present location. Mr. Carber has made a repu- tation for honesty and integrity, and has won an enviable place in the estimation of his neighbors, with whom he enjoys lasting friendships.

Mr. Carber married September 20, 1884, in The Bronx, Lena Daum, daughter of Henry Daum, na- tive of Bavaria, Germany, and Catherine (Dillette) Daum, and their union has been blessed with three children: 1. Caroline, born in August, 1887; married Charles Vitting, and they have a daughter, Grace Vitting. 2. Grace Margaret, born in 1889; married Arnold Kornicker and they have a daughter, Ruth Kornicker. 3. John Gottleib, born in 1891. Mr. Car- ber is a brother of Philip Carber, Sr. (see following biography).

PHILIP CARBER, Sr .- The oldest plumbing es- tablishment in this section of The Bronx is conducted at No. 142 Williamsbridge Road by Philip Carber, Sr., where he has been located since 1904, and where his brother, Henry Carber (see preceding biography), has conducted a tinsmith business for the same length of time.

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The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III, Part 48

Author: Wells, James Lee, 1843-1928 Publication date: 1927 Publisher: New York, The Lewis historical Pub. Co., Inc. Number of Pages: 618

Author: Wells, James Lee, 1843-1928
Publication date: 1927
Publisher: New York, The Lewis historical Pub. Co., Inc.
Number of Pages: 618