SATAN’S CANDY SHOP (1911)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** If a man named Hell offered you some candy – would you take it? That was Otto Herman Hell’s problem. And, yes, in fact he was about to open a confectionery in Brooklyn on Broadway. THE DEVIL’S CONFECTIONER It must have been difficult growing up with a name like Hell. There were probably countless jokes and plays on the name. Otto must have been quite tired of it all by the time he reached the age of maturity, at which point he began thinking seriously about changing it. Having emigrated from Germany in 1891, he was 25 when the immigration officials must have looked up at him in surprise as he stood before them hoping to gain entry into the country. “Hell? Hell?” the official must have half-asked, half-shouted, incredulously. “O’Connor, come quick, or you’ll have Hell to pay!” Lots of uproarious laughter here, then a loud stamp, and then Hell was on to the next set of jokes somewhere in his new country. He probably found it curious in the early days, perhaps a bit enjoyable if he had had a playful streak. But, by George, it was 1911 now, and Otto was 36 with a wife and two children. He was more than ready to get serious with his […]
AUNT CAR vs. THE IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1917
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** (In the process of writing a House History Book, we research the history of a home’s owners. While researching one particular brownstone, we discovered that – soon after purchasing her brownstone in the 1950s – the Federal Department of Justice issued a warrant for one owner’s arrest and deportation. Sadly, this was not a rare event in Bedford-Stuyvesant at the time.) JAMES GILL MEETS “AUNT CAR” It was probably at some point after James Henry Gill, a mechanic from Trinidad, had registered for the Selective Service in 1942 that he met Caroline Beatrice McLean. McLean, a former schoolmarm from Barbados was then working as a garment worker and living with her sister in an apartment in Harlem. The exact date, time and place of the encounter is lost to the ages. What we do know, however, is that once they did meet they made a great match. Eventually, the couple would take the “A” Train – soon to become famous by way of Duke Ellington’s song – to Bedford-Stuyvesant. Once in Bedford-Stuyvesant, they moved into a brownstone at No. 9 Arlington Place, close to Bedford Avenue. MOVING TO MACON STREET A few years later, on 15 May of 1951, James and Caroline purchased 738 Macon Street from the former owners, the […]
