USA > New York > Bronx County > The Bronx and its people; a history, 1609-1927, Volume III > Part 64
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On October 2, 1903, in The Bronx, Walter A.
Walsh married Alice F. Cahill, daughter of Sargent and Mary Cahill, representatives of an old Bronx family. Children: 1. Agnes, born November 24, 1905. 2. Florence. 3. Alice. 4 Marion.
HARRY STEINBOCK-With a lifelong interest in a continuous study of the law in all its branches, Harry Steinbock has made a success of the profes- sion in which he has engaged in The Bronx since he was first admitted to the bar, and in whose activities both in the courts and as a general counsellor he has won a foremost place among the younger group of attorneys. He is a son of Saul Steinbock, a native of Warsaw, Russia, and of Annie (Ritter) Stein- bock, both residing in The Bronx. They had four children: 1. Harry, of whom further. 2. Emmanuel, who died about twenty-four years ago. 3. Theresa, who married Abraham Sossonsky. 4. Sylvia, who married Isador Kinbar.
Harry Steinbock was born October 7, 1883, in Warsaw, Russia, and when he was two and a half years old he came with his parents to the United States. He attended Public School No. 20, on Christie Street, between Broome and Delancey streets and afterwards Public School No. 79, on First Street between First and Second avenues, the Evening High School on Fifth Street, between First and Second avenues, and East Side Evening High School No. 20. Both there and under private tutors, he prepared for his Regents' examination, finishing in 1906. He then attended the evening session of the New York. Law School, passing the bar examinations, December 14, 1908, and has been in practice in his own name to the present. Mr. Steinbock is a member of the North End Democratic Club; and of the Knights of Pythias. His hobby is that of playing piano by ear; and his recreation is automobiling.
Harry Steinbock married, June 1, 1912, at No. 835 Beck Street, in The Bronx, Bessye Schwartz, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, daughter of Max A. Schwartz, who is now deceased, and Rose S. (Geiger) Schwartz, who resides in The Bronx. Their children are: Elmer Lincoln Steinbock, born Febru- ary 17, 1914; and Maxwell Albert Steinbock, born November 24, 1915.
JOHN FRED FETZER-A resident of The Bronx for almost four decades and for more than half of this time engaged in the real estate business, Mr. Fetzer has naturally been an important factor in the remarkable development which The Bronx has en- joyed since the beginning of the twentieth century. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany, March 10, 1865, a son of Anton and Mary Fetzer, his father coming with his family to the United States in 1880 and be- ing engaged in his trade of cabinetmaker until his death in 1905.
John Fred Fetzer was educated in the public schools of Germany and, after he had come to this country at the age of fifteen, attended night school in East New York. He came to The Bronx in 1888 and at first worked in the butcher business. In 1900 he entered the real estate business and since 1905 has been located at No. 966 Boston Road where he conducts a general real estate brokerage and insur- ance office in which his two sons, John Fred, Jr.,
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and Frank, are associated with him. He is a member of The Bronx Board of Trade and the South Bronx Property Owners' Association. His religious affil- iations are with the Roman Catholic church and he is a communicant of St. Philip Neri Church, No. 3021 Grand Concourse, The Bronx.
Mr. Fetzer was married in February, 1892, in The Bronx, to Mary Stengele, daughter of Andrew and Rose Stengele. Mr. and Mrs. Fetzer are the par- ents of five children: 1. Julia, now Mrs. Ralph Weir. 2. Rose, died October 7, 1925. 3. Frances. 4. John Fred, Jr., (see following biography). 5. Frank. The family home is located at No. 2975 Valentine Avenue, The Bronx.
JOHN FRED FETZER, JR .- His native district, The Bronx, has been the scene of Mr. Fetzer's pro- fessional activities as a member of the New York bar since he established his own practice in Septem- ber, 1925. He was born in The Bronx, March 31, 1902, a son of John Fred and Mary (Stengele) Fet- zer, his father (see preceding biography), a promi- nent realtor.
John Fred Fetzer, Jr., was educated in the public schools of The Bronx, graduating from grammar school in 1916 and from high school in 1920. He then took up the study of law at the Fordham Uni- versity School of Law from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1923. He was ad- mitted to the bar in the twelfth division of the first department in November, 1924, at which time he was connected with the law office of Cohalan and Cohalan, No. 100 Broadway, Manhattan, a connection which he maintained from February, 1923, until September, 1925. At that time he opened his own law office at the same address at which his father's real estate and in- surance business is located, No. 966 Boston Road, where he conducts a general law practice, besides being associated with his father and brother. He is a member of Guiding Star Council, No. 212, Knights of Columbus. In politics he is a supporter of the Re- publican party and as such a member of The Bronx County Committee from his district. His religious affiliations are with the Roman Catholic church and he is a communicant of St. Philip Neri Church, No. 3021 Grand Concourse, The Bronx. Mr. Fetzer is unmarried and makes his home with his parents at No. 2975 Valentine Avenue, The Bronx.
THOMAS BIBLE-The guiding principle adopt- ed by Thomas Bible early in life, of service to his fellows and to his community, is a contributory fac- tor to his personal success in the undertaking busi- ness he conducts at No. 16 Westchester Square, The Bronx, and to the value of his business enter- prise in the community. He is popular in social and fraternal organizations and an important factor in the activities of St. Peter's Church. Mr. Bible was born May 12, 1870, on Throggs Neck, formerly part of Westchester County before its amalgamation with The Bronx. His father, John Thomas Bible, born April 11, 1843, in Liverpool, England, son of Thomas Bible, of County Cork, Ireland, and his wife, Hannah (Horrigan) Bible, moved to Throggs Neck, where he was long engaged as a painter and
decorator, and where he died on June 12, 1891. His mother, Emma (Parrott) Bible, was born in Man- chester, England.
Thomas Bible attended the old district school in Throggs Neck and old No. 1 School in the town of Westchester. As a boy he supplied him- self with pocket money by working on the farms in that section, minding the cows in the Morris Park race-track before that famous resort was dreamed of, finding Charlie Zimmer the "strictest of all his bosses." Following in his father's footsteps, he became a painter and decorator, for twenty-five years continuing in that business. In 1912 he be- came sexton of the church with which he had been connected since he was ten years old, St. Peter's Church. He sang in the choir as a child, and in 1921 he was presented with a gold watch as "an appreciation of forty years of devoted service as chorister." In 1918 Mr. Bible was elected treasurer of the church corporation, and he has been a factor in the subsequent real estate transactions. When Mr. Bible found painting injurious to his health in 1917, he established himself in business as a funeral director in his present location, remodeled the old building, and now conducts an up-to-date estab- ushment, with a modern funeral chapel and a well- appointed funeral parlor.
"Tom" Bible is one of the familiar figures of the Franklin Athletic Club, of which he has been a member since the days he helped found it, twenty- five years ago. In 1904 he was presented with a medal for "faithful services as president." He joined the Wyoming Lodge, No. 492, Free and Accepted Masons, in 1912, and in 1920 was made Master; a member of Chester Hill Lodge, No. 576, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he was elected Noble Grand in 1912, and during the next three years represented his lodge at the Grand Lodge conventions, becom- ing, in 1915, Grand Marshal of the district. For twenty-five years he was secretary of the Free Will Council, No. 1487, Royal Arcanum, which presented him with a gold coin in token of his services; and in 1923 he was regent. His clubs are the Chippewa Democratic and the Van Nest Square. He is a member of the New York Undertakers' Association.
On February 7, 1901, in St. Peter's Church, West- chester, Mr. Bible married Caroline Stein, the cere- mony being performed by Rev. Frank M. Clendenin. Mrs. Bible is the daughter of Conrad Stein, deceased, and his wife, Kate (Klaus) Stein, who was born in 1854 and still enjoys good health. To Mr. and Mrs. Bible were born: Margaret K. Bible, born August 6, 1904, a teacher in Public School No. 14, Throggs Neck; and Thomas Charles Bible, born January 5, 1906, employed by F. B. Keech, stock brokers, of No. 52 Broadway, and soon to join his father in the undertaking business.
JOHN J. REYNOLDS-Among the younger men who have achieved outstanding success in the real estate field in The Bronx in the last few years is John J. Reynolds. He is a son of Michael M. and Mary E. (Lovella) Reynolds, the father a real estate builder and operator, for many years occupied in subway construction work, but now practically re-
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Thomas Bible
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tired. The elder Mr. Reynolds came to the United States from Mayo, Ireland, at the age of sixteen.
John J. Reynolds was born in New York City, November 3, 1904, and received his education in Clason Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1919. He began to conduct real estate transac- tions as a boy of fourteen, and has been in his present office for seven and a half years, with steadily in- creasing success in his business operations. In 1925, Mr. Reynolds is said to have sold more than $6,000,000 worth of real estate. He is a member of The Bronx Chamber of Commerce, is a director of the Melrose National Bank, and holds the reputa- tion of being the youngest bank director in the United States, being now (1926) not yet twenty-two. Mr. Reynolds is unmarried.
AUGUST WUENSCH-A friend to industry and its enterprises, and a pioneer in his own specialty in industry in The Bronx, that of the manufacture of paper boxes, August Wuensch is well remembered in this section of the city for his well-proven capabili- ties in the business world, for his courageous and suc- cessful venture into his own field, and for his rare qualities as a business associate, as a reliable friend and neighbor, and a lover of his home and family. He was a son of Carl Wuensch, a native of Lud- wigsburg, Württemberg, Germany, and Caroline Wuensch.
August Wuensch was born November 4, 1832, in Württemberg, Germany, where he attended the public schools, and he then served an apprenticeship in the trade of bookbinder, after receiving his master- piece certifying to his qualifications as a finished bookbinder and box-maker. When he was twenty years old, Mr. Wuensch came to the United States, and he settled first in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he remained but a short time, when he removed to the old German settlement on the lower east side of Manhattan. Here he entered upon the activities of his trade of paper box-maker, continuing until 1871, when he established his own paper box manufactory on One Hundred and Fifty-third Street, this being the first and the only manufactory of the kind in The Bronx. Mr. Wuensch remained active in the increasing interests of his business to the time of his death, in 1904.
Since the death of Mr. Wuensch, his widow, Wil- helmina (Schneider) Wuensch, has continued in the direction of the business of the concern, and as a re- markable instance of great activity at an advanced age, Mrs. Wuensch, although she has observed her ninety-first birthday, still gives her personal atten- tion to the industry that was founded many years ago by her husband; the business was incorporated in 1911 as the Wuensch Paper Box Company, Mrs. Wilhelmina (Schneider) Wuensch, sole owner. Mr. Wuensch was a member of the Arion Society, of New York.
Mr. Wuensch married, Easter Saturday, in 1857, in New York City, Rev. Dr. Heald, officiating, Wil- helmina Schneider, who was born in Rabelsdorf, Bavaria, June 24, 1835, and came to the United States when she was two years old, daughter of John Henry Adam and Dorothea (Ruff) Schneider, both of whom were natives of Bavaria.
CHARLES HENRY DERKSEN-Its leading place in its specialty in New York City's industry has been achieved by The Bronx Metal Ceiling Com- pany through the enterprise of its owner and pro- prietor, Charles Henry Derksen, who through years of application and training in metal manufacture, has won the repute of one of the best informed men as well as one of the most accurate and thorough- going industrialists in his line. He is a son of Ger- hard Derksen, who was born in Hamborn, Rhine Province, Germany, and was a farmer there, and Wilhelmina (Schumacker) Derksen, who was born in Hamborn, Rhine Province.
Charles Henry Derksen was born February 3, 1872, in Hamborn, Rhine Province, Germany, where he attended the public schools. He served an ap- prenticeship of three years without pay, learning the carpenter's trade, and after engaging in his trade for a year, he experienced a three years' service in the army. He came to the United States on June 1, 1900, and entering the employ of the Berger Manu- facturing Company, he served an apprenticeship learning the metal worker's trade on steel ceilings and metal furniture. Continuing at the factory for nine years, he was then made manager of the com- pany's branch in The Bronx, in 1909, and held that position until 1922, when he bought out the Berger Company's manufacturing plant in The Bronx. Or- ganizing The Bronx Metal Ceiling Company under the laws of New York, Mr. Derksen is president, treasurer, and sole owner of the concern. He .has an up-to-date, modern, and completely equipped plant at No. 402 East One Hundred and Fifty-second Street, near Melrose Avenue, The Bronx, and his business dealings extend to all parts of New York City, and throughout Westchester County and Long Island.
Fraternally, Mr. Derksen is a Past Master of Strict Observance Lodge, No 94, Free and Accepted Masons; a member of the Schnorer Club of The Bronx, and also of The Bronx Rotary Club.
Charles Henry Derksen married, September 7, 1912, at Greenwich Congregational Church, Rev. Dr. Lusk, pastor, Augusta Hannes, daughter of Aug- ust and Fredericka (Kling) Hannes, natives of Bar- men, Germany.
OTTO THOMAS HAMMERLE-A lifelong resi- dent of The Bronx, New York City, Otto Thomas Hammerle has made rapid strides in securing a foot- hold in the business world and is highly regarded be- cause of his efficiency and enterprise in connection with his work as secretary of The Bronx Metal Ceil- ing Company, of which C. H. Derksen (q. v.) is pres- ident and treasurer. Mr. Hammerle was born on Hughes Avenue, The Bronx, July 12, 1903, son of Albert and Caroline (Boesch) Hammerle. The father, born in Austria in 1870, was an embroidery worker on fine laces, and is now in good health, as is the mother, who was born in Austria in 1874.
Otto Thomas Hammerle was well educated in Public School No. 14, from which he graduated, and in Evander Child's High School. He prepared him- self for business with a special course at Bird's Busi- ness School in The Bronx. At the age of sixteen he began his business career in the employ of The
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Bronx Branch of the Berger Manufacturing Com- pany, of Canton, Ohio, manufacturers of metal ceil- ings. The branch and its business were taken over by Mr. Derksen, the former manager, who organized and assumed the presidency of The Bronx Metal Ceiling Company, of which he is also treasurer. He owns the business and the buildings which house the plant and offices at No. 402 East One Hundred and Fifty-second Street. The whole city and West- chester County form a large market for the product of the company, and through the able efforts of the president and the efficient assistance of the secretary, Mr. Hammerle, the business has met with great prosperity and expansion.
On October 15, 1921, in The Bronx, Otto Thomas Hammerle married Charlotte Harsh, daughter of Andrew and Eva (Rodellsberger) Harsh, both born in Germany. Children: Evelyn Charlotte, born March 6, 1923; and Edward Otto Hammerle, born October 29, 1925.
EDWIN BENJAMIN, prosperous business man of The Bronx, and his brothers, George and Irving Benjamin, have conducted a remarkable adaptation of an old established business to modern conditions in making use of the good name of the carriage and wagon building shop of their grandfather and father, now transformed to an automobile agency and repair and supply station. Although the actual change from the needs of the horse-drawn conveyance to those of the automobile was made by their father, George Washington Benjamin, the sons have increased the business in keeping with up-to-date demands and have a plant said to be second to none in the Wil- liamsbridge-Wakefield section of The Bronx.
In 1853, Martin Everett Benjamin, grandfather of Edwin Benjamin, opened the carriage and wagon- making plant at Nos. 3445-49 White Plains Avenue. His son, George Washington Benjamin, succeeded to the business and carried it on in the same manner followed by his father until 1900, when changing conditions moved him to make the plant an auto- mobile supply and repair station. George Washing- ton Benjamin was born in Somerville, Massachu- setts, August 13, 1850, and died November 3, 1925, in his seventy-fifth year. He married Mary Matilda Bacheler. He was known as a public-spirited man, and was an active factor in the development of this section of the city. For several years he was a member of the School Board; a member of Em- manuel Baptist Church and thirty years its treasurer; and was one of the organizers, and Master for two years, of Hebron Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and was a No. 1 Fireman and a past presi- dent of Independent Hose Company No. 1, of The Bronx.
George Benjamin was born August 26, 1884. He married Jeannette Greenlees. daughter of Thomas Greenlees, and had two children: Georgette and Allen.
Irving Benjamin married Gladys Shirmer, daughter of George P. and Lillian (Love) Shirmer. They have two children: Dorothy May and Marjorie Love Benjamin.
Edwin Benjamin was born January 1, 1890, at No. 3453 White Plains Avenue, a few doors from
the plant established by his grandfather. He attended Public School No. 98, now changed to No. 13, and later graduated from Morris High School and for two years attended the College of the City of New York. He then began work in his father's plant and continued here until his father's death, when he became one of the active heads of the business. Just as was his father, Mr. Benjamin is interested in the welfare of his section and takes part in varied local activities. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Mt. Vernon, and for five years was cor- responding secretary of Bartholow Bible Class. He is enrolled in the New York Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Patriotic Order Sons of America. In 1924 he served as president of the Saturday Night Club of Mt. Vernon, of which he is a member, and belongs to the American Legion Post, having been for two years its financial ad- jutant.
Mr. Benjamin has been twice married. On July 30, 1919, by the Rev. Samuel J. Skevington, he was married (first) to Martha Dobbs, daughter of Joseph E. and Miranda (Groton) Dobbs, who died May 1, 1922. On August 15, 1925, at the parsonage of Rev. Albert D. Gantz, he married (second) Edith Mc- Kinley, daughter of Thomas Mckinley. By his first marriage Mr. Benjamin had two children: Mary Matilda, born April 6, 1920; and Edwin, Jr., born April 30, 1922.
WILLIAM FRANCIS FISCHER-A descendant of a noble Holland-Dutch family, whose first repre- sentative in the United States voluntarily dropped his title to become an American citizen and fight for the Northern side in the War of the Rebellion, Wil- liam Francis Fischer is a well-known and efficient New York City official as Deputy Collector of Taxes in The Bronx. He has a very wide acquaintance in Greater New York, having also served the United States Government in the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau.
Henry Palmer Fischer, father of William Francis Fischer, was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, Germany, of noble parentage, his name in that coun- try having been Henry Palmer Von Fischer Benzon. He was in his third year at Heidelberg University, when he left that institution, seeking an occupation fraught with adventure. In 1848 he chose a seafaring career, and aboard different vessels roamed the seven seas, visiting most of the principal ports of the world. This life he followed until 1859, when he came to the United States and determined to settle down to a more prosaic occupation. This was not to be, however, for he entered the government lighthouse service, in which he remained an efficient member, until 1861. In the latter year he responded to the tocsin of war, leaving his work in the lighthouse to enter the United States Navy. He was enlisted as coxswain on the gunboat "Tacoma," and was in the service for the duration of the Civil War, receiving his honorable discharge in 1865. He married Mary Ann McGur, and they settled on Staten Island, where they reared a large family of children, the surname standing for good citizenship and enduring worth. Of the children was William. Francis, of this review.
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William 7. Fischer.
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William Francis Fischer was born in Tomkins- ville, Richmond County, Staten Island, New York City. The first school he attended was one which had been improvised from Becker's Brewery in his native village, and he afterwards went to a public school at Stapleton, Staten Island, concluding his education in high school at Tynon's Hall, Staple- ton. At the age of fourteen years he started out to earn his own livelihood by working as a clerk in James E. Caffery's shoe store, on Bay Street, Staple- ton, and continued in that employment until he was seventeen. His next position was with the Rich- mond Gas Company, where he remained for one year, whence he entered the employ of Baker & Smith, contractors in heating, ventilating and power work. Here he served an apprenticeship in the trade, which having learned, he worked as a journeyman for the same firm for seventeen years, during which period he was esteemed one of its most efficient craftsmen.
The time had now arrived when Mr. Fischer con- cluded he should betake himself to some other oc- cupation of a less confining and less hazardous na- ture. Valued representations in his behalf to the Department of Commerce in the United States Gov- ernment served to secure for him a desirable posi- tion, and later he was appointed supervisor of the 14th Decennial Census in the Second District, cov- ering The Bronx from Harlem River to the city line. Both his superiors and he perceived that he had undertaken a task which he was enabled to accomplish with facility and satisfactory finish. He found that he had a liking for statistical and kindred work, so that it was quite a logical and pleasing thing when he was appointed, January 11, 1921, to the post of Deputy Collector of Arrears and Assess- ments for The Bronx, which office he has continued to hold to the present.
In politics Mr. Fischer is one of the strong and aggressive members of the Democratic party in The Bronx. He was one of the organizers and became a charter member of the Star Democratic Club, of The Bronx, of which he is financial secretary. He is a loyal adherent of the Society of Tammany of New York City.
Mr. Fischer married, November 30, 1911, in New- ark, New Jersey, at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Kathryn M. Towey, of that city, daughter of Hugh and Bridget (Hanlon) Towey, her father a native of Ireland. Children: Mary Agnes, John Jos- eph, William Francis, Jr., Kathryn, Helen, Joan, Claire, and Patricia.
Mary Ann (McGur) Fischer, mother of the subject of this review, was born in County Mayo, Ireland. Her father died when she was very young and with her mother went to Scotland at the age of eight years. The mother died and with an aunt she came to America from Scotland, to one of the Southern States, Virginia. She stayed there until twelve years of age, and came to Orange County, New Jersey, and there grew up to womanhood and married Henry Palmer Fischer, the father of the subject of this review.
JACOB S. FISHER, M. D .- Throughout the seven years of his practice in The Bronx, Dr. Jacob S. Fisher has been regarded as a dependable physi- cian, ambitious to keep abreast of modern develop- Bronx-17
ments in general medicine and alert to inform him- self of new fields demanding special emphasis. He is now highly regarded as a specialist in children's diseases. Jacob S. Fisher was born in Austria, March 10, 1888, son of Moses and Clara (Rudich) Fisher, both of whom are living in The Bronx, where Mr. Fisher is a retired merchant.
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