Max Samuel Grifenhagen

Max Samuel Grifenhagen (May 12, 1861 – October 28, 1932) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, manufacturer, and notable Republican politician in New York City in the early 1900s. He was the noted sheriff of New York County (present day Manhattan), an alderman, and a city registrar.

Biography

Early life Max was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, where he attended the public schools there. His father died in 1866, when Max was only five years old. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 caused Max's family to lose all of their income, and two years later they moved to New York City and lived in the 7th Ward on the East-side. Max attended public schools on Monroe and Henry Streets. After school, Max had to work as an errand boy and a newsboy to help support his family financially.

After leaving school and while still in his teens, he went to Denver, where he engaged in cattle dealing. After remaining there for six years, he returned to New York City and married.

He then began his entrepreneurship on a grand scale, beginning "his business career as a poor boy and [making] a fortune in the manufacture and sale of bottles, cider, vinegar, and sacramental wines, among various other business ventures and real estate dealings."

Duffy-Mott Company, Inc. Monopole Vineyards Corp. business card and photoIn 1912, Max founded the Duffy-Mott Company, Inc., cider and vinegar manufacturers and wholesale dealers. Before prohibition, it manufactured and sold champagne and other fine wines. Following prohibition, manufacturing was limited to sacramental wines and non-alcoholic beverages. Max's son Herbert M. Grifenhagen served as Vice President while his brother-in-law Jacob C. Rosenblum served as Secretary and Treasurer. Max served as President of the corporation until his death.

Foss Wool Stock Co., Inc. Max also served as the Vice President of Foss Wool Stock Company, Inc., which was in the business of producing/manufacturing "Graded Wool Stock". H. Foss served as President of the company and Jacob C. Rosenblum served as Secretary & Treasurer. This is the building that the Duffey's (Duffey-Mott) lived in for many years.

Political life Alderman In 1904, representing the Washington Heights district, Max became a Republican Alderman, serving for five years.

In revising the code, Max believed that it "should be based upon thoroughly scientific grounds, taking advantage of the latest developments in municipal architecture, in sanitation and in civil engineering".

The headline states "The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree", implying that Max was continuing the righteous, selfless, outgoing and involved life that his grandfather Rabbi Mendel Menachem Grifenhagen maintained in the German town of Wollstein in the Posen Province, Prussia, Germany, now Wolsztyn, Poland. He was described in this article as being "famous...one of the great Rabbis of Germany from Poznań." He was a Rabbi for over 60 years and lived well past 90 years of age. The paper stated that "Max possesses all the traits of being a relative of such a great man."

The article also describes Max's father, Benjamin, as being "a great student in the works of God and in Judaic studies." It described his mother as a "fine woman from one of the Heildesheimer and/or Mischpocha families (we are unsure if this was the name of her community or a family name).