By Mary Hoar, President Emerita, Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday January 24th
January 24, 1935: Orlando Nichols, the only surviving member of the first Yonkers regiment to join the fight for the Union in 1861, strongly opposed moving the Civil War Monument from the grounds of Manor Hall. Nichols reminded everyone the monument had been erected and paid for by the citizens of Yonkers, the Manor Hall was City Hall when it was placed there, and the dedication was attended by all remaining Civil War survivors. Unfortunately, when the state had taken control of the Manor House, the monument went with it.
One local organization suggested it be moved because members felt the monument was not appropriate for a pre-Revolutionary building; others felt the monument “played second fiddle in the time-honored site of the Lords of the Manor.” The Ewing Circle, Ladies of the Grand Army, specified the state should pay to move the monument to a new site selected by a committee of accredited architects, but only with the approval of surviving veterans and affiliated organizations. Mayor Joseph Loehr said he would not approve the move without the “full sanction of the men who fought for the Union’s preservation.”
Tuesday January 25th
January 25, 1935: After spending three days clearing a 17 inch snowfall, Yonkers was finally dug out. As was the custom at the time, DPW dumped truckloads and truckloads of snow into the river near the pier, creating huge piles of snow more than 40 feet high. The river was so frozen, DPW crews had to use dynamite to blast the mountainous piles and ice so the tide could carry it away!
January 25, 1945: The Common Council voted to name two Yonkers parks after outstanding Yonkers citizens. The ruins of the Hendrick Hudson Hotel in Park Hill would be named for former Mayor Leslie Sutherland; Morsemore Park would be named for E. Wetmore Kinsley, longtime head of the Recreation Commission.
Wednesday, January 26th
January 26, 1936: It was announced Pennsylvania Avenue resident Eleanor Powell would not rejoin the cast of “At Home Abroad,” and would be replaced by Mitzi Mayfair. Although making progress after her collapse from overwork, she was resting at her home in Crestwood.
January 26, 1945: US War Secretary Henry Stimson announced Yonkers native General Joseph Stilwell would command the Army Ground Forces, succeeding Lieutenant General Ben Lear.
Thursday January 27th
January 27, 1935: South Yonkers residents were concerned by an airplane flying very low over their homes every Sunday; they wanted to know who he was… and why he kept making return trips. He buzzed their homes, making figure eights and loops too close to for comfort. The pilot? Tom Brennan. His mom lived on Purser Place and had become concerned about his safety when he started flying. Acrobatics were his way of letting her know he was just fine.
January 27, 1945: Retired YPD Captain Thomas Morrissey was elected President of the new Retired Policemen’s and Firemen’s Association of the City of Yonkers at a meeting held at the Exempt Firemen’s Hall on Buena Vista Avenue.
An outstanding marathoner and member of the Mercury Athletic Club, Morrissey won the National Indoor 25-mile championship in 1907. Morrissey won the first indoor marathon held in Brooklyn in 1908; a month later he won the Boston Marathon, earning him a spot on the 1908 US Olympic Team. At the event in London, he won his first heat. In the finals, although running towards the front of the crowd, a side stitch combined with the London humid summer heat forced Morrissey to drop out of the race at mile 20.
Friday January 28th:
January 28, 1946: Yonkers resident Captain Daniel Unangst, with the Japanese Naval Hospital in Kure, reported he visited Hiroshima. He said, “The devastation in major portions of that once great city is frightening… the whole picture is one of utter destruction. It makes the question of world security a real one.”
January 28, 1947: Private William Hogel of Tibbetts Road reported Korea was being “Yonkersized!” Within a short time, he met three Yonkersites in his post in Seoul, Korea. He met Hugo Estberg of Sedgwick Avenue, with the 31st Infantry Regiment, and J. Patrick McLean of Bronx River Road, a Field Coordinator in a nearby PR Office. He also frequently visited Virginia von Lampe of Highland Avenue, an assistant in Club and Recreational Work in the area Red Cross Headquarters.
Saturday, January 29th
January 29, 1927: After serving in China for more than 15 years, Rev. S. Harrington Littell and his family were recalled by the China Mission and forced to leave Hankow, because of the severe unrest there. They planned to travel home through Europe and arrive in Yonkers late spring.
January 29, 1927: Four well-known Yonkers companies announced they were planning to put bids in to build the new Yonkers Post Office: Triangle Construction Company, Lynch and Larkin, Inc., A. D. Vinci and George T. Kelly. None of them got the contract.
Sunday, January 30th
January 30, 1935: A chance tire chain mishap led Detectives William Daly and Edward O’Connor with Detective Sergeant Henry Murphy, to discover a huge bootlegging plant! Led by the strong smell of mash, they called Chief Edward Quirk who came with a carefully selected team of officers. Unable to get it, they used a police car as a battering ram on a garage at 927 Old Nepperhan Avenue. The car had forced the door open a few inches; Detective Edward O’Connor, the slimmest of the group, was able to get inside and open it to the rest of the raiders to discover a giant illegal distillery with an estimated value of $100,000.
The police believed “powerful gangland interests” ran the operation. Chief Quirk said the operation was the “most elaborate and complete” he had seen in his 25 years with the police. Ten wooden vats held 8,000 gallons of alcohol ready for distribution, and 5,000 gallons were in production. Quirk estimated the operation could produce 3,000 gallons daily.
Questions or comments? Email YonkersHistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming events, please visit our website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email yhsociety@aol.com.
Saturday, January 29th
January 29, 1927: After serving in China for more than 15 years, Rev. S. Harrington Littell and his family were recalled by the China Mission and forced to leave Hankow, because of the severe unrest there. They planned to travel home through Europe and arrive in Yonkers late spring.
January 29, 1927: Four well-known Yonkers companies announced they were planning to put bids in to build the new Yonkers Post Office: Triangle Construction Company, Lynch and Larkin, Inc., A. D. Vinci and George T. Kelly. None of them got the contract.
Sunday, January 30th
January 30, 1935: A chance tire chain mishap led Detectives William Daly and Edward O’Connor with Detective Sergeant Henry Murphy, to discover a huge bootlegging plant! Led by the strong smell of mash, they called Chief Edward Quirk who came with a carefully selected team of officers. Unable to get it, they used a police car as a battering ram on a garage at 927 Old Nepperhan Avenue. The car had forced the door open a few inches; Detective Edward O’Connor, the slimmest of the group, was able to get inside and open it to the rest of the raiders to discover a giant illegal distillery with an estimated value of $100,000.
The police believed “powerful gangland interests” ran the operation. Chief Quirk said the operation was the “most elaborate and complete” he had seen in his 25 years with the police. Ten wooden vats held 8,000 gallons of alcohol ready for distribution, and 5,000 gallons were in production. Quirk estimated the operation could produce 3,000 gallons daily.
Questions or comments? Email YonkersHistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming events, please visit our website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email yhsociety@aol.com.
