Notables

THE BOHACK FAMILY For Young Bohack Men, It Was A Rite Of Passage To Work In A Bohack Store In their heyday in the '30s and '40s, Bohacks grocery stores blanketed Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens. The last store may have closed in 1977, but the Bohack family is still here. At least 25 family members live in Queens and Long Island, and a few still remember the chain's legendary founder, H.C. Bohack. As the family story goes, Bohack left his native Germany in 1883 at the age of 17, and upon arriving in America became an apprentice at a grocery store in Brooklyn. He saved every nickel of his meager wages, and in 1887 opened his own store. "He had a theory that every time he saw a lot of baby carriages, he opened a store," said Bob Bohack of Woodhaven, H.C. Bohack's great-nephew and company personnel director from 1967-77. By 1939, H.C. Bohack and Co. owned 740 stores. The Bohack headquarters in Maspeth was a small city, with its own railroad line, fire department, meat tenderizing plant, warehouse and bakery.

OTTO BOTTICHER: American Military Artist- Lithographer-  Soldier Otto Botticher (pronounced Boo ti scher), one of America's most consummate 19th century military lithographers, was born Sunday, May 19, 1811, along the Baltic Sea, in the nation of Prussia. The country of Prussia was a mixture of granduer, royalty, nobility and was ruled by a central German government. It was also a vast land of dangerous political strife and struggle. In 1885, Mrs. Botticher died at home in Brooklyn. Continuing to the point of declining health, Otto worked as a "Consular Agent". Sometime during the month of February, 1886 the old soldier began to experience heart problems. In his house at 98 Madison Street, Brooklyn, New York, at 1 AM, July 1, 1886, Otto Botticher was pronounced dead by Dr. Herman Offarius. He expired from acute heart failure. The Charles E. Earl mortuary at 3 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn took care of the remains. There seems to have been no formal obituary, just a three line death notice in the Thursday evening, July 1, 1886 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. The next day Col. Botticher's funeral notice was in the newspaper. His funeral was held at home and on Saturday, July 3, 1886, he was laid to rest in Lutheran Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York. Many of his works can be found in the Smithsonian and the National Museum of Art History.

THE GENERAL SLOCUM The General Slocum was a steamship launched in 1891. She caught fire and burned to the water line in New York's East River on June 15, 904. More than 1,000 people died in the accident, making it New York City's worst loss-of-life disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks. On June 15, 1904, the ship had been chartered for $350 by the St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in the German district Little Germany, Manhattan. This was an annual rite for the group, which had made the trip for 17 consecutive years. Over 1,300 passengers, mostly women and children, boarded the General Slocum. By the time the General Slocum was beached at North Brother Island, just off the Bronx shore, an estimated 1,021 people had been killed by fire or drowning, with 321 survivors. Two of the 30 crewmembers died.

FRANK T. HOPKINS Biographer Charles B. Roth considered him the "supreme rider." Famed western historian J. Frank Dobie listed him in his homage to the country's best and last true mustangers, and Albert Harris dedicated two chapters to him in his famed book, Blood of the Arab. According to the U.S. Remount Service Journal of 1936, he competed in and won over 400 long-distance races, including a legendary 3,000-mile endurance ride across the Arabian Desert in 1890 on his mustang stallion, Hidalgo. Now a popular Touchstone Pictures' movie, HIDALGO, has been based on his life and legend. Still, few have ever heard the name Frank Hopkins.

JOHN KISSEL Birth: Jul. 31, 1869 Brooklyn (Kings County) Kings County New York, USA Death: Oct. 3, 1938 US Congressman. He was elected to represent New York's 3rd District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1921 to 1923.

JOHN PETER 'RED' KLEINOW Birth:   Jul. 20, 1879 Milwaukee Milwaukee County Wisconsin, USA Death:   Oct. 9, 1929 New York New York County New York, USA   Professional Baseball Player.

WILLIAM LORD William Lord Birth: Feb. 13, 1841 Death: Aug. 4, 1915   Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He served as a Musician in the Union Army in Company C, 40th Massachusetts Infantry. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on May 16, 1864 at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia. His citation reads, "Went to the assistance of a wounded officer lying helpless between the lines, and under fire from both sides removed him to a place of safety."

CORD MEYER President of the Cord Meyer Company, 68 William Street, New York, was one of the major real estate developers of the Borough of Queens in the City of New York. Exquisite Forest Hills Gardens is one of his best well-known projects.

CHARLES W. "Charlie" REIPSCHLAGER Birth: Feb., 1854 Death: Mar. 16, 1910 Atlantic City Atlantic County New Jersey, USA   Major League Baseball Player. He was a member of the New York Metropolitans of the American Association from 1883-1886 and purchased by the Cleveland Blues in 1887.

SS MORRO CASTLE 6 Victims of the SS Morro Castle The SS Morro Castle was a luxury cruise ship of the 1930s that was built for the Ward Line for runs between New York City and Havana, Cuba. The Morro Castle was named for the Morro Castle fortress that guards the entrance to Havana Bay. In the early morning hours of Saturday, September 8, 1934, en route from Havana to New York, the ship caught fire and burned, killing a total of 137 passengers and crew members. The ship eventually beached herself near Asbury Park, New Jersey and remained there for several months until it was eventually towed away and sold for scrap. The devastating fire aboard the SS Morro Castle served to improve fire safety for future ships. Today, the use of fire retardant materials, automatic fire doors, ship-wide fire alarms, and greater attention to fire drills and procedures resulted directly from the Morro Castle disaster.

Charles Stephen Schepke Birth: Dec. 26, 1878 Death: Feb. 27, 1933   Peacetime Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He served in the United States Navy. He was awarded the CMOH as a Gunner's Mate First Class. His citation reads "For extraordinary heroism while serving on the USS Missouri in remaining by a burning magazine and assisting in extinguishing the fire, 13 April 1904."

September 11, 2001 (Attack on America) The All Faiths Cemetery is the final resting place of several Americans that were killed when New York City was attacked on September 11, 2001. Not since the General Slocum tragedy of 1904, would there be a greater loss of life in NYC. A Memorial was erected shortly thereafter and dedicated to those Americans whose lives would be affected forever.

CHRISTIAN STREILE Birth: 1839 Death: Dec. 4, 1886   Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Served in the Civil War as a Private in Company I, 1st New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry. He was awarded the CMOH for his bravery at Paines Crossroads, Virginia on April 5, 1865. His citation simply states "Capture of flag". His Medal was issued on May 3, 1865. He was one of twelve 1st New Jersey Cavalry soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War (the others being Sergeant James T. Clancy, Corporal William B. Hooper, Private Lewis Locke, Sergeant William Porter, Sergeant John C. Sagelhurst, Sergeant David Southard, Sergeant George W. Stewart, Sergeant Charles Titus, Sergeant Aaron Thompkins, Sergeant Charles E. Wilson, and Sergeant John Wilson).

Frederick Christ "Fred" Trump (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was the father of the prolific real estate/entertainment magnate Donald Trump, his fourth of five children. Fred Trump was born on October 11, 1905 in Woodhaven, Queens, New York. His parents, Friederich and Elizabeth Trump were German immigrants. His father, Friederich, was an entrepreneur who began his fortune running the Arctic Restaurant and Hotel in Bennett, British Columbia, during the Klondike Gold Rush, but died during the 1918 Spanish Flu when Fred was only 13. In 1936 Fred Trump married Mary MacLeod, a Scottish immigrant, in New York City. Trump started his career as a real estate developer and became rich by building and operating affordable rental housing in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Trump amassed a $200 million fortune, which was largely left to his children, forming the bulk of Donald Trump's wealth. Fred Trump died of pneumonia in June of 1999 at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York.

GEORGE UHRL Birth: Oct. 21, 1838 Death: Sep. 28, 1911   Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. His true name was George Uhrie. He served as a Sergeant in the Union Army in Light Battery F, 5th U.S. Artillery. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on June 30, 1862 at White Oak Swamp Bridge, Virginia. His citation reads, "Was one of a party of three who, under heavy fire of advancing enemy, voluntarily secured and saved from capture a field gun belonging to another battery and which had been deserted by its officers and men."

JOHN HERMAN GEORGE VEHSLAGE Birth: Dec. 20, 1842 Death: Jul. 21, 1904   US Congressman. Born in New York City, he served during the Civil War in the New York National Guard, rising to Captain in the 3rd New York National Guard Cavalry regiment. He was appointed as a National Guard inspector of rifle practice, an office he would serve in until 1880, when the regiment was mustered out of New York State service (he remained as a supernumery officer until discharged in 1883). A successful coal and wood merchant, he served a term in the New York State legislature before being elect to represent New York's 7th District in the United States House of Representatives. He served a single term from 1897 to 1899, and was not a candidate for re-election. He passed away in New York City only a few years later.  HENRY WOLFERT Birth: Unknown Death: 1898 Of Brooklyn, Kings County N.Y. Member of the NYS Senate 6th District from 1894 – 1895 (Republican). Anti-Civil service and its corrupt system of hiring and employment practices (NY Times 1894).