Caspar Biele and the Three Wise Men

Caspar Biele was the first Biele of my family to come to the United States.  In some records his name is listed as Caspar Melchoir Balhasar Biele.  Caspar, Melchoir and Balhasar are the names attributed to the three wise men or magi.  

More on the three wise men can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi

  

Caspar Biele was born in Hovestadt, Germany on December 4, 1823.  He was the first member of his family to immigrate to the United States.  Caspar was the fifth child of August Clemens Bernard Biele and Maria Theresia Brigitta Adolphine Vernholz (also spelled Vernholtz) of Hovestadt.  Hovestadt is in the state of Westphalia in west central Germany on the Lippe River near Lippstadt.  

Some time before 1852, Caspar moved to Barmen where he married Wilhelmine Baacke.  Barmen, located about 50 miles southwest of Hovestadt near Dusseldorf and Cologne (Koln), is now part of Wuppertal.  Wilhelmine Baacke, the sixth child of Henrich Christian Baacke and Wilhelmine Wülfing was born in Barmen in 1830.

Caspar came to America around 1865 and was soon joined by his wife and five children.  Wilhelmine and the children arrived in New York City from Bremen on the S.S. America on Dec 19, 1865.  

The family settled in the lower East side of Manhattan in New York City.  A final child was born in New York.  

The children of Caspar Biele and Wilhelmine Baacke:  

Child	Place of Birth	Birth Date
Wilhelmine Bertha (Bertha)	Barmen, Germany	February 05, 1853
Friedrich Carl (Charles Fredrick)	Barmen, Germany	January 24, 1854
Emil	Barmen, Germany	September 27, 1857
Anna (Annie)	Barmen, Germany	March 14, 1861
Ewald	Barmen, Germany	September 15, 1863
Ida	New York City	January 18, 1869

Soon after arriving in America, Caspar worked as a cabinet maker.  He is listed in Trow's 1868 directory as a cabinet maker and in his occupation is listed as "showcases" This business was carried on by his son and eventually became Charles F. Biele & Sons.

Caspar died on June 16, 1875 in New York City of carcinoma vertricula (gastric cancer) and marasmus (progressive emaciation presumably cause by gastric cancer).  He died at his home on the second floor of 218 Rivington Street in southeast Manhattan.  Caspar is buried in Lutheran cemetery in Queens in lot 10802.  He is joined in the plot by his wife Wilhelmine and his son Friedrich Carl (Charles F.) and Charles' wife Fredericka.

Pictures of the plot can be found at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=130773237&PIpi=102755409

Biele Business with the Rockefellers

Charles F. Biele and Sons did work for the Rockefeller Family, most extensively at John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s apartment at 740 Park Avenue from 1937 to 1939.

The following documents are from the Rockefeller Archives.  Thank you to Kenneth Rose.

1. Index of Domuments (PDF file)

2. Correspondence December 1937 (PDF file)

3. Correspondence  October 1938 to December 1938 (PDF file)

4. Correspondence December 1938 to June 1939 (PDF file)

The work at 740 Park Avenue was overseen by the famous architectural firms of Mott B. Schmidt and Marc Eiditz.

In "740 Park" by Michael Gross there is a reference to the work on page 173:

"Parquet was ordered to match that floor, and velvet for inside the porcelain cabinets.  In the midst of his micromanaging, Junior got truly manic about those cabinets.  "We must insist on the velvet being in better condition," he wrote the contractor."

Charles F Biele and Sons

Soon after arriving in America, Caspar Biele started a business manufacturing cases.  His son Charles F Biele joined Caspar's showcase business and took over after Caspar's death in 1875.  Working with his brothers and later his sons, Charles F grew the business into a premier showcase, metal working, and mouldings company.  The business later known as Charles F. Biele and Sons manufactured custom showcases for the top museums and private collections of the day.  A New York Sun article from 1938 provides a great description of the business.  Examples of the company's correspondence including letterhead from museum archives and an engraved envelope bought at auction, provide additional insight into the business.

The first business address for the family is in 1871 at 59 Canal with a single listing for Caspar Biele with occupation as "cases".  This was near Caspar's residence on Rivington Street in the lower East Side on Manhattan in New York City.  From 1872 until 1876 (just after Caspar's death), the business address was 219 Centre.

In 1880, Charles F is listed with an occupation of "cases" at 112 West Broadway, in 1885 and 1890 at 42 West Broadway and in 1895 at 143 West Broadway.  His brother Emil is also listed as being in the cases business in 1885 and 1890 at the 42 W. Broadway address.  In 1890 there is also a listing for a "C. F. & E" company at 45 West Broadway.  The engraved envelope from 1893 lists the address as 45 & 47 West Broadway and the business "C. F. & E. Biele". 

(see the New York City Directory for these and other Biele business and residential listings)

In 1898, the business moved to 379-381 West 12th Street and 120 Jane in the Greenwich Village area of New York City and remained there for the next 28 years.  During this period, Charles F was joined in the business by his sons Carl and Eduard.  In 1910, the company was incorporated in the state of New York as "Charles F. Biele & Sons Co."  Charles F. was the President and Treasurer of the company, Carl the Vice President, and Eduard the Secretary.  Ewald (Charles F's youngest brother) is listed as a foreman or superintendent for the business from 1895 to 1910. 

In the 1926, after a fire, the business moved to its final location at 33-39 Bethune Avenue just a block over from the prior location.  33-37 Bethune, a large commercial building,  housed the operations and 39 Bethune, an adjoining townhouse, housed the offices.  (Both structures survive to this day.  33-37 Bethune later housed a business known as Pickwick Papers and was finally converted into residential lofts called Pickwick House.  39 Bethune is now a residential townhouse.  39 Bethune was also the fictional residence of the villainess in the best selling fictional novel "The Angel of Darkness" by Caleb Carr. 

Charles F. led the business until his death in 1930.  Carl then became President and Eduard the Vice President.  Other family members also worked in the business at various times including Carl's' son Charles and Eduard's son Edward. 

Eduard left the business in 1938 and after enduring the hardships of the Great Depression, the business went under in the early 1940's.  Carl is listed as President on the 1943 papers of dissolution.

Notable customers included (hyperlinks to pages with more details):

Albright Galley, Buffalo, New York - Charles F. Biele and Sons did at least one custom display case for the gallery in 1934

American Museum of Natural History, New York City

American Numismatic Society - A 2003 article in the ANS magazine references correspondence I had with them.   I bought an envelope at auction that was sent by CFB and Sons to ANS.

Cunard Lines - Charles F. Biele and Sons built a case to house a model of the RMS Majestic for the Cunard building in New York

Katherine Dreier - Charles F. Biele made at least two cases in 1936 to Ms. Dreier, an artist and art collector.

Charles Lang Freer -

Metropolitan Museum, New York City

The Rockefeller family - Charles F. Biele and Sons did work for the Rockefeller Family, most extensively at John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s apartment at 740 Park Avenue from 1937 to 1939.

Jacques Seligmann and Company - Charles F Biele and Sons did business with the New York City office of this famed art dealer.

Smithsonian, Washington DC

St. Regis Hotel, New York City - Charles F. Biele and Sons executed an Anna Tiffany design for a new bar in the King Cole Room

Arthur Wendell - Charles F. Biele and Sons made at least two display cases for Arthur R. Wendell.  The first in 1911 and the second in 1915.

Torre di San Biele (Tower of Saint Biele)

Recently there was a postcard for sale on Ebay with the description "Viterbo -Torre di San Biele-1916". The seller was from Italy, but there was not any other information about the origin of the postcard or what it showed.

Picture of the Postcard from Ebay

There were Biele families from Italy though it is not clear that the tower was really named after a Biele 

A quick web search yielded the following description:

Built by Raniero Gatti in 1270, is one of the most beautiful towers in the territory of the city of Viterbo.

http://viterbo.artecitta.it/scheda.php?idOpera=82&Audio=


A more detailed description of the tower is as follows:

TOWER OF SAN BIELE

Traduzione di Marissa Navarro, studentessa dell’Università di Boise State, Idaho.Studentessa del Programma USAC presso l’Università degli Studi della Tuscia.

HISTORY and DESCRIPTION

The tower of San Biele, built in 1270 by Raniero Gatti, is one of the most beautiful towers in Viterbo. Over the outer arch, surrounded by two coat of arms of the Gatti family, there is an inscription explaining that it was built without imposing new taxes on the city.  “In nomine D(omi)ni n(ost)ri Iesu Christi anno/ eiusd(em) MCCLXX ap(osto)lica sed(e) va/ cante XIII ind(ictione): ad honorem et reve/ re(n)tiam S(ancte) Rom(ane) Ecc(lesi)a ma(t)ris n(ost)re d(omi)n (u)s /Rain(erius) Gatt(us) novell(us) capit(aneus)P(o)p(u)li et Co(mun)is /Vit(er)bii pacis amator et ius(ti) tie cultor/ ann(o) s(ecund)o sui regim(in)is ha(n)c turrim he/ dificari et co(m)mpleri fecit absq(ue) gra/ vamine et collecta civitatis p(re)dicte”.

It was originally called Tower of San Miele.  However, the church to the left of the tower was named for the holy warrior San Michele or “Saint Michael”, like many churches in Tuscia.  To avoid confusion, the tower’s name was eventually changed to San Biele. The tower, also sometimes referred to as Pietraia, is considered a masterpiece of the art of war.  It is topped by Guelph battlements, with a coat of arms on the front design.  On the bottom left corner, you can still see the coat of arms as you look at the tower from the city.  The tower is divided into two parts, intricately designed to protect the city from the inside out.  Two sunken, round-headed, arches and a façade with a pointed arch surround the tower.  The tower sits in the lower section of the arches.  The door inside the arches leads for a length, and then ends at the pointed arch. The other opening aimed to leave the tower defenseless if under siege.  It allowed citizens to attack from within the city, and also allowed for immediate armament by the City by means of pulleys, without having to use the interior stairs. In a peace agreement made in 1291, the Romans wished to demolish the tower and its fortress. Although the fortress was eventually destroyed, the tower still stands. Today, in place of the fortress, stands the little house of Ferruzi.   In 1493, Brother Giovanni of the Towers also founded an oratory near the tower.  Perhaps this tower was part of a new section of the city walls to be erected on that side, where it was most often attacked.  Under the arch you can see a slot for the gate and there until 1973, it was possible to see the remains of a fresco of the Madonna Enthroned with Saints.  On the right is a portrayal of a woman praying, possibly Alessandra Alessandri, wife of Raniero.  She offers the protection for the Virgin and her child.  On the other side of the Madonna is Saint Antonio and the Baptist with the date 1611.  What remains of the fresco is in the Civic Museum.

http://viterbo.artecitta.it/descrizione.php?PPHSESSID=gct5h74rr3clcv2mv37i89nlm5&idOpera=82#inglese

Viterbo is located in central Italy, 50 miles north of Rome

Additional photos

Philip Seymour Hoffman Dies at Pickwick House - Former Charles F. Biele Operations Building

Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2013 at his apartment at Pickwick House.  Located at 35 Bethune Street in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan in New York City, the building now known as Pickwick House served as the base of operations of Charles F. Biele and Sons from 1926 through the early 1940s

More information on Pickwick House can be found in the September 2012 blog post and at the Biele Family website  

http://bielefamily.blogspot.com/2012/09/33-37-and-39-bethune-street.html

http://www.bielefamily.com/CFB_business.htm

Biele Showcase in Chile

While the Biele showcase in South Africa still holds the record for the farthest, there is now a close second with a showcase from Chile.

The email shared the following information along with the three photos:

"hola compré hace unos años en Mejillones, Chile un mueble de la fabrica de Charles F. Biele & Sons CO con asiento en New York.

Adjunto fotos, es de madera con su cubierta de acrilico, lo tenia en un museo pero lo traje de vuelta a mi hogar."

The Google translation is:

"Hi I bought a few years ago in Mejillones, Chile furniture factory of Charles F. Biele & Sons CO based in New York.

Attached photo is of wood with his acrylic cover, had it in a museum but I brought it back to my home."

This model is fairly common to others made by Charles F. Biele and Sons.  The second picture gives the address as 379-381 West 12th Street, New York, USA.  The business moved there in 1898 and remained there for the next 28 years.

More Charles F. Biele and Sons information can be found at:

http://www.bielefamily.com/CFB_business.htm

Thank you Claudio!