Alexander Smith Cochran
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, President Emeritus Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History and the Key to the City of Yonkers, Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board Member, Founder of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, February 2nd
February 2, 1926: Two prominent Yonkers families merged when General Joseph Stilwell’s brother, Colonel John Stilwell, married Mabel Halliwell Duell, former wife of Colonel Holland Duell.
Stilwell’s first wife died shortly after giving birth in 1924.
Mabel Stilwell’s first husband, who served as both a NYS Assemblyman and State Senator, had eloped with Mabel’s cousin Emilie Brown. Mabel immediately filed for divorce.
An intimate ceremony was held in New York City, attended only by immediate family: Stilwell’s parents, his late wife’s mother, his 18-month old daughter, and Mabel’s five children from her first marriage.
Her estate Ardenwold was on North Broadway, just north of William Boyce Thompson’s estate.
February 2, 1931: For the second time, Carlos Henriquez of Yonkers won the wrestling championship of all Spanish Speaking countries! Henriquez defeated Jack Russell in Mexico City after 32 minutes of grappling, by employing a flying tackle. He tackled Russell three times before throwing him flat. The audience of 8000 people included President of Mexico Ortiz Rubio, Governor Alfred Gomez of Toluca and the American Ambassador J. Reuben Clark; this was one of the largest wrestling tournaments ever staged in Mexico City.
Tuesday, February 3rd
February 3, 1939: Mayor Loehr’s World’s Fair Committee appealed to all homeowners to register their vacant rooms for rental! The committee wanted to house as many visitors to the New York World’s Fair as possible to bring business to our merchants and businesses. Chair H. Armour Smith said unoccupied rooms could be “money-makers” for homeowners. Accommodations needed included bedrooms, parking spaces, information booths, information booklet and available transportation to the fair by railroad, river and other transportation.
February 3, 1944: After Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company increased company efforts to “Speed the Surrender,” with Smith design department employees Richard Hargreaves and James Engel designing posters and signboards stimulating sales, it passed its quota of $510,300 in bond subscriptions well ahead of schedule.
The Company’s total bond subscriptions for all drives totaled $2,110,000!
Wednesday, February 4th
February 4, 1942: New Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Frank Wartur was well known for his crusade for safety… and his hate for ticket-fixing. Once he assumed office, he began getting requests to fix tickets, many from friends teasing him. While speaking to the Kiwanis Club, he announced he was having a personal card printed, stating: “The bearer is a friend of the Commissioner; any courtesy you can extend to him will be appreciated. If the bearer shows this card… fine him double!”
February 4, 1944: Samuel Hayward, President of the Yonkers Chamber of Commerce, sent letters to Senator James Mead and Congressman James Fitzpatrick urging them to introduce a Congressional bill creating an award for Yonkers and other communities with “no strike” records.
Hayward wanted recognition for Yonkers because seventeen of our factories were manufacturing parts for planes, tanks, warships and general ordnance… and there were no job actions!
Chief of the Awards Branch of the Individual Services Division Major Robert Clark told Hayward only the companies could receive the “E” awards for outstanding production.
Thursday, February 5th
February 5, 1910: The Sherman Memorial Dispensary of St. John’s Riverside Hospital was opened formally by Charles E. Gorton, Committee Chairman. The building was erected by Alexander Smith Cochran as a memorial to his friend, the late Dr. William T. Sherman.
Friday, February 6th
February 6, 1944: John Estvanik, in England, was thrilled to get a piece of home!
A Red Cross “clubmobile” made regular visits to his base, bringing coffee and doughnuts. One day, instead of coffee, they passed out wool sweaters; he was surprised to read his sweater’s label.
He wrote to our Red Cross Branch, “on the label I saw the name of my own city, good old Yonkers! I was so happy!” He thanked them on behalf of all the sailors who received the “neat looking woolen sweaters,” and asked them to “keep up the good work.”
Saturday, February 7th
February 7, 1925: Hundreds of gypsies, representing 48 tribes throughout the United States, wound through the walkways of Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers to attend the funeral of Nicholas John, the King of the Gypsies.
The procession included women dressed in colorful garments, beads and earrings, wailing their sorrow: men chanting prayers; a spokesman reading the gypsy ritual for the dead; and a band playing the funeral airs of the gypsy. He was buried in the same plot as his father and his predecessor 25 years earlier; his father’s body was shipped back to Russia, as per Gypsy protocol.
John was 65 years old, born in Russia; he came to the US with his dad, whom he succeeded as ruler of the tribes. It was rumored his brother Ristra Jurka of 72 Riverdale Avenue would succeed him as ruler of the gypsies; instead, the Gypsy fathers elected Frank Mitchell of New York City to be the new ruler of a million and a half Gypsies in this country.
Sunday, February 8th
February 8, 1965: Rumors were buzzing around Yonkers about the Proctor Building, 53 South Broadway, one of the Getty Square Landmarks. Why? Tenants, all with month-to-month leases, were told to vacate within 30 days. Fifty year tenant Dentist Barnett Hordes, New York Archdiocese Catholic Charities, New York State Training School for Boys, and the Moving Picture Machine Operators Union were among those told to move.
All wondered why the building was being vacated; a local reporter contacted its property owners, Manhattan’s Glen Alden Company, and asked; the answer was “So?”
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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 info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.
