In the first years after the Civil War, the enterprising Jonas Stoltz had two diverse professions. He was an undertaker at 237 Bowery and ran a stables at 194 Elizabeth Street. The Elizabeth Street property was leased from Catharine L. Van Rensselaer. The vernacular style building was faced in red brick above the ground floor where a central carriage bay was flanked by two openings. Four stories tall, the building terminated in a dentiled brick cornice more expected in a much earlier structure.
John Green, who listed himself as a "shoer," leased the stable portion of the building from Stoltz in 1871 and 1872. On March 31, 1872 he advertised, "Truck, team and harness for sale--Inquire at stable, 194 Elizabeth street."
On February 27, 1874, Catherine L. Van Rensselaer transferred title of 194 and 196 Elizabeth Street to Jonas Stoltz. He converted the stable to a bakery, but would not be in business here for long. On June 18, 1875, he advertised, "A bakery for sale in one of the best neighborhoods in the city, baking over 15 barrels per week; all cash over the counter; must be sold on account of sickness."
The building was purchased by Michael Murray and the bakery became Ward's Bakery. It advertised on July 1, 1875, "Baker wanted--A good second hand on bread. Apply at 194 Elizabeth st."
Among the bakery's employees in 1876 were James Kellner and and Max Hoppe. While the two men were talking on December 28 that year, as reported by the New York Herald, Kellner "produced a bottle and invited Hoppe to take a drink, stating that the fluid was whiskey." Hoppe took a swig, and quickly passed out. When he awoke, he discovered his gold watch and $40 were gone, and so was Kellner.
The next day, Kellner appeared at the 57th Street Police Court and complained that Simon Lanigan, "in whose company he had been the night previous," had stolen his watch and some clothing. Lanigan was arrested and the clothing and a pawn ticket for the watch was found in his rooms. Kellner identified the watch as his.
Informed that Kellner had been robbed, Hoppe gave police a detailed description of his missing watch, including the letters "F. V. D." inscribed in the case, "the initials of the gentleman who had presented him with it while in Germany." He described perfectly the watch which Lanigan had stolen from Kellner. Now Kellner, too, was arrested.
In court, Henry Kiel testified that Kellner had bragged to him about stealing Hoppe's watch, "but that it did not do him much good, as it had been stolen from him." Kellner testified that the watch was his and the initials were those of his mother. Despite the overwhelming evidence, Kellner insisted the watch was his and he deserved to keep it. The New York Herald reported,
The Recorder, in passing sentence, severely rebuked the prisoner for his unblushing audacity, adding that the law might have thrown over him the mantle of mercy had he availed himself of his privilege to enter a plea of guilty, instead of which he supplemented the larceny which he committed by the crime of perjury.
He was sentenced to four years and six months of hard labor at the State Prison.
In the meantime, the upper floors of 194 Elizabeth Street were home to mostly immigrant, Irish-born tenants. In 1876, eleven families were listed here, with professions like laborer, tailor, soap-maker, and painter. Around 1879, the bakery was run by Dominick Fralliciardi.
Irish-born Maurice Flynn lived here in 1880. He had become an American citizen in 1868 when he was a teen. When he headed off to vote on October 12, 1880, he took along his naturalization papers with him to avoid any problems. Instead, he was confronted by one of the election supervisors, George Connell, who not only refused to allow him to vote, but confiscated his paperwork and refused to return it. Flynn made a complaint and the United States Commissioner issued a warrant for the arrest of Connell. (Whether Flynn ever cast his vote is unclear.)
A month later, another Irish tenant was in the news. John Bryce was a waiter in a Brooklyn restaurant. Early in the morning of November 7, Thomas Lovitt came into the restaurant "and began to act in a disorderly manner," according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He ordered a plate of pork and beans from Bryce, who refused to serve him. Lovitt responding by stabbing Bryce in the back with a pocket knife. The New York Times reported that Lovitt was arrested and Bryce was brought home to Elizabeth Street.
At the time, Irish immigrants were being supplanted by Italians in the district. On December 12, 1881, The Sun said, "A small colony of natives of Salerno is clustered in the neighborhood of Elizabeth and Spring streets. Nearly all are tailors and shoemakers." Two of those shoemakers, Augustiro Ispeni and Amidio Cusitare, were old friends and both lived at 194 Elizabeth Street.
On the afternoon of December 11, 1881, the two became embroiled in a quarrel "as to which was the better workman," according to The Sun. The dispute became heated and other occupants of the room fled from what promised to be violence. They told a reporter later, "the men were then confronting each other, each with the left hand on the other's shoulder. Ispeni's right had held a knife, and in Cusitare's was a pistol." A pistol shot was heard and Cusitare ran out of the room and down the stairs. Ispeni was found in the room with two bullet wounds, one in the chest and another in the groin. A policeman tracked down Cusitare in a Spring Street house. "He was suffering from stab wounds," said The Sun.
Both men were taken to St. Vincent's Hospital as prisoners. One of Cusitare's wounds, which caused massive internal bleeding, was fatal.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Around 1885, the building was leased and converted for the Philip Happersberger & Son wagon business, run by Philip and Francis (known as Fred) Happersberger. It was now described as a "four-story brick factory" by the Record & Guide. In March 1893, Philip Happersberger purchased the building for $20,000 (just under $700,000 in 2025 terms). It appears he retired that year, and Fred renamed the business the Empire Wagon Works.
Purchasers' Guide and Commercial Register, 1893 (copyright expired)
Happersberger employed ten men who worked 59 hours per week at the turn of the century. On October 15, 1903, the American Carbonator and American Bottler wrote,
The Empire Wagon Works, 194 Elizabeth street, New York, are making the finest wagons we know of for the bottling trade...Bottlers wagons always on hand, as well as made to order on short notice. They also do repairing, painting, lettering and ornamenting. Mr. Fred Happersberger, the gentlemanly proprietor, will be pleased to quote prices and give full particulars.
American Carbonator & American Bottler, July 15, 1903 (copyright expired)
Happersberger repeatedly updated the facility, renovating the building in 1911, 1913 and 1914.
The Empire Wagon Works was replaced in the building in the post-World War I years by the Anchor Manufacturing Company, a glass firm. In its December 16, 1920 issue, The Potter, Glass & Brass Salesman reported on the firm's new line, saying, "The items include compotes, sandwich trays, cracker-and-cheese dishes, candy jars, cake plates, as well as vases and boudoir pieces." The article praised the hand-decorated items as "most attractive and original."
Crockery & Glass Journal, December 16, 1920 (copyright expired)
The Depression years were unkind to the business, and the building was lost in foreclosure in 1930. The ground floor was converted to a "non-storage garage" in 1964, with factory space on the upper floors.
The third quarter of the 20th century saw change in the Nolita neighborhood. In 1999, the ground floor was converted for an Italian restaurant, Peasant. In his A Man and His Meatballs, John LaFemina tells of leaving his job in the New York Jewelry Exchange to open a restaurant with friend and chef Frank DeCarlo.
Less than one year after our first conversation about opening a restaurant, Frank and I walked into an old garage at 194 Elizabeth Street in downtown New York City, a place where locals went for oil changes and used parts. I immediately turned to him and said, "This is home."
The venerable building received another renovation in 2009-2010. While Peasant still occupies the ground floor, an office is on the second floor and there are two apartments on the third, and one apartment on the fourth floor.
photographs by the author
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