The Finck family - Part IV (The Wright side)

The fifth child of Frederick & Marie Finck is Adam Finck (1867-1922), my great-great-uncle. Like his other siblings, he grew up in the Eldridge Street apartment building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan as noted in the 1870 & 1880 census. Adam was an attorney who had an office at 111 Broadway in NYC. There is not a lot of information that I have found about him except for a NYT newspaper article that an arrest that occurred on July 11,1894. Adam was arrested as a "suspicious person" after a male was robbed of a $1400 at Moulds' Saloon on Broadway near W 34 St. The victim showed his bankroll off inside the bar after winning on the races & a group of men rush him & removed the money. Adam was released at arraignment after the victim failed to file charges. According to the article Adam lived with his family at 138 East 19 St.

A year later, Adam is married to Priscilla Duke (1867-?) in Jersey City, NJ, on November 5, 1895. Researching this pair has been frustrating as several documents provide conflicting dates and information, as if they were hiding something. I have not been able to locate them in the 1910 census. The 1900 census shows their residence as 1412 Broadway, NYC & the 1920 census lists them at 540 Manhattan Ave, NYC. Adam died in June 1922 & is buried at the Finck family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery.

The sixth child is John Finck (1869-1951), who was a real estate broker located at 905 Third Ave, NYC. The 1900 census shows him residing with his mother at the East 19 Street building. In 1906, he married socialite Florence Moffett Mott (1877-1930) at the famed St Thomas' Episcopal Church at West 53 St & 5 Ave. Florence is listed often in the society pages and is a noted swimmer and crew competitor. Her family is pretty interesting, as well.

Florence Mott is the daughter of professor Dr. Henry A.J. Mott of #1 Gramercy Park. and the grand-daughter of Henry Augustus Mott, Law partner at a high end attorney officer on Broad Street. He was also a noted yachtsman at the Larchmont Yacht Club. Her great grandfather was Dr Valentine Mott (175-1865) a noted surgeon who was a graduate & professor at Columbia Medical University.

 

Dr Valentine Mott

A little aside,Florence had a sister, Genevieve Moffett Brennan (1875-1943) who married Isaac Bell Brennan. They had a son, Thomas Stanley Brennan (1902-1949), who was killed in Los Angeles when his car ran off the road down a 75 foot embankment, also killing actress Gladys Brockwell.

John & Florence, who lived at 143 West 75 St, enjoyed some wealth and were one of the first in the area to own an automobile. They actually owned an expensive 1913 Chalmers Roadster with the NY registration #8740. They later moved to 65 W 54 St and are listed on a few passenger manifests on cruises. Florence died in 1930 and her funeral was at St Thomas Church & buried at the Woodlawn plot. John died in April 1951 and does not appear to have the expansive wealth that is displayed earlier in his life. I have a copy of his last will and testament which directs $14,000 to be bequeathed to various employees and charities. His jewelry and remainder of his estate to be split among his nephew Frederick Eagle Finck and nieces, Gloria Finck Sloan, Elizabeth Finck Marrow, and Margaret Finck McGovern. He also leaves $1,000 to his cousin, Mae Niehaus of Leonia, NJ. I have not been able to make a connection to this person yet.

John died in 1951 & is buried at the family plot, also. In his will he leaves an undetermined amount of money to care for the plot and monument.

Next Finck entry brings us to matriarch Marie Antoinette.