A The Brief History of Yetter and Moore
Franklin G. Yetter was born on July 25, 1863 to Salome (Rothermel) and John Yetter, both of whom had immigrated from Wurttemberg, Germany. They had at least eight children, Henry (1858); Mary (1869); Franklin (Frank G. 1863); Charles ( 1865); Charles (1868); Francis (1871); Christine (1873); Edward (1875). The first Charles, Francis and Edward all died as infants or young, Christine died when she was 15 years old. It was customary in those days, when a family had a name they wanted to use, or, if it was a family name, to give it to more than one child if the first did not live past infant stage. There also could have been other pregnancies. Sometimes, when there are large families with gaps of years in between children, it could mean lost pregnancy or another infant that did not survive. Frank G. was married twice. His first wife was Vera Terry, daughter of Captain James Terry. They wed on December 16 1885. They had two sons. Frank Woodward who was born in April 1888 and their other son only lived a short time, he died as a infant on April 23, 1892. Vera, unfortunately, passed away only three days later on April 26, 1892. It is possible that since there was no name noted of the newborn, that maybe she and the baby died of complications of child birth. Frank remarried Imogene Taft in 1894 and they had two children, Claus and Theresa.
George V. Moore was born in 1849 in Cutchogue to Silas and Mehitabel Moore, both of whom were born in New York. His father was a farmer and they had a large family. The children listed on the 1850 and 1860 census are Parker, Joseph, Joel, Deborah, William, Sarah E, George V and Maria. A brother, Sidney, was listed in his obituary so he must have been born after 1860. On the 1880 census George is listed as a farmer. He married Emma J. I also found a record where she was referred to as Emily. She was still alive at the time of his death in 1924. From what I found, they had two children, Harry and Jennie.
Frank’s father John is listed on the 1865 New York Census as a boot maker. By the 1880 federal census, he had become a saloon keeper with his son Henry who was still living at home working as a bartender. His name appears in the Civil War Registration draft record of 1863, but I did not see any record of service. He was arrested and pled guilty to selling liquor on a Sunday. In 1887, he had sold his land in Riverhead and was living in Greenport running the Saloon. Upon the death of his mother, ownership of this saloon went to Frank.
Frank and business partner, George V. Moore, started their brewing and bottling business Yetter & Moore in 1882. Business was booming and, in 1888, they announced an expansion of their plant on the corner of Griffing Avenue and Railroad Avenue (where the large parking lot is today). They hired George H. Skidmore to design and build it. The expansion was completed in 1889 and they held a grand opening for the public complete with free beer. By 1899, they had expanded to Center Moriches opening a bottling plant there.
Frank owned a lot of land in Riverhead. In addition to the property that the bottling and brewery plant was situated on, he also owned land on West Main Street from the Peconic River to maybe as far north as Osborn Avenue. His property neighbored St. Isador’s church. Long Ireland Brewery sits on some of this land today. In 1904, he bought ten acres in Quogue. He also owned multiple plots of land in Jamesport. One he bought from James Elton on which he planned to open a road house. In 1903, he and Moore bought land on Griffin Avenue in their wives’ names from the trustees of the Diocese of Long Island. He bought, sold, and rented land throughout his life. He would buy saloons then rent them out to others to manage. He had storefronts that he rented to grocery store keepers. He rented with an option to buy land and buildings to the US Title and Indemnity Co.
He did seem to help out those he could in his own way. Anela Victoria, wife of Joseph Victoria, owned a saloon on Peconic Avenue in Southold. Her land was being sold at auction. The implication in the papers was that the property, saloon, as well as another parcel with her home were to be sold. Yetter and Moore bought the land and saloon. They just so happened to overpay for that parcel by the exact amount she owed for her other bills and, therefore, she was able to pay the sheriff and he canceled he auction of the rest of her property. This was the second time he overpaid during an auction, in 1904 he bought 5 shares of the Suffolk County Bank, they were part of an estate that was in debt and had to be settled, maybe he was trying to help that family out also. It seems out of character for him to pay more than something was worth, that tells me it was probably done with purpose.
Frank also sat on many professional boards and civic associations. In 1887, he was a trustee of the the Rough and Ready Engine Company. In 1896, he was the treasurer for the Peconic Bay Steamboat Company and was a member of the Commercial Travelers Association. He, like his father, was a well known horseman. They owned and raced horses. They kept a stable for both racing horses and work horses. Frank also liked to travel in addition to the usual going to Brooklyn for business. In 1904, he went to the St. Louis Worlds Fair.
Frank was no stranger to legal troubles and darkened the doorway of the court house more than once. According to news accounts, in February 1895, he had gotten into an altercation with a Polish person and his finger had been bit. He then suffered from a blood infection, and, ultimately, his finger had to be amputated. One of his employees was arrested at the Center Moriches plant in 1888 for selling a bottle of less than five wine gallons. From about 1901 to 1903 Riverhead was a dry town, meaning one could not sell liquor or beer. This presented many problems for Yetter and Moore. They could no longer legally sell their spirits at their saloon on Griffing Avenue. So, they ceased this part of their operation. They still had the bottling plant and bottled many drinks including: mineral water, soft drinks, cider, and ginger ale among others . In 1903, when Riverhead became “wet” again, they had to go to court over their license. They wanted to pick up where they left off and reopen the saloon. The fight was with the excise department which issued the liquor pouring licence. They said that any establishment that ceased operation could not get a new license. Their lawyer argued that their cease of business was not of their decision, but rather to remain in compliance with the new law and outside their control, so with the reversal of the law their license should remain valid. The first judge agreed with the county, the second went in their favor, and Justice Smith told Counselor Belford that he must compel County Treasurer Brush to give them a new licence.
The first record I found of Frank being arrested was in 1904. He was trying to unplug the sewer that was laid in front of his property and ran down the street. He decided that the backup was being caused by a blockage under his neighbor Hudson V. Griffin’s house and asked the Griffin to fix it. He refused and an altercation ensued. Frank landed a punch on him and, by all accounts, it sounded like he broke Griffin’s nose. For his defense, he stated in court that the punch was not for Griffin’s unwillingness to fix the problem, but for Griffin calling him a “Damned two faced Dutchman”. Griffin said that he just called him a “Two faced Dutchman”.
Frank also did not shy away from bringing legal trouble on others. In 1896, New York passed a law, Chapter 966 “The Bottling Act”, saying that a person could not refill a bottle. He suspected Harrison Rogers of Eastport of breaking this law with his bottles and send Detective Joseph Brand to investigate. Yetter was correct and Rogers was arrested. Since Yetter was just trying to make a point he asked the judge to fine him, but not jail him, even though under the law it was part of the punishment. The judge listened and only imposed a fine on Rogers. This law applied to anyone and this case was printed in the papers as part of the deal to inform everyone that it was illegal. It specifically says that even families cannot refill bottles for things like “root beer and catsup”.
Every two years from at least 1901 to 1907 the towns, in addition to the usual election votes, held votes on if they should be dry or not. More often than not, in those years, the vote came back in favor of being dry. This brought more legal troubles for Mr. Yetter. In 1907, he was arrested for at least the second time. This time for selling alcohol in dry Westhampton. He was put on trial. It was revealed during the trial that he had been set up. The people of the Temperance movement that had kept the vote a yes all those years had a man they identified as Gordon approach him to buy alcohol. Yetter, never one to miss a chance to make a buck, sold him a flask of whisky. His defense furnished the court with a petition asking for leniency. However, when the signers of the petition for leniency were interviewed by the court it turned out that a good number signed it because he did them a favor at one point, but the majority did it because they feared losing their business. I think this shows how deep he had his hands in everything from Moriches to Greenport and into Southampton. The judge was not amused at this finding. It also stated that he had been caught the prior December selling in dry towns and, at that trial, he had promised not to do so anymore. The judge fined Yetter $1,200 and sentenced him to 30 days in jail. This was the only reference to jail time I found in all the newspapers spanning his life.
Yetter and Moore were definitely mover and shakers of their day. They had a hand in many towns and made many real estate deals. I won’t go into all the ones that I found, but a few of the most interest were in May 1900. He bought the east end of the Park Hotel in East Moriches and had it moved to adjoin Senix Hall in Center Moriches to be used as a liquor saloon. In 1909, they bought the old Grist Mill in Mattituck and converted it into a restaurant and added a saloon. This was the first time it was used for this and it continued to be a restaurant in some form until it was recently closed in 2017. There was some drama about this when Yetter and Moore owned it. The town wanted to put in a steel bridge and have the building moved at their expense. There was an ad saying that anyone interested in renting the building known as the Quogue Inn was to contact Yetter and Moore.
Frank also liked to be at the forefront of technology and, in February of 1919, he auctioned off all thirty of his horses which, since the start of his business, had pulled the wagons that moved their merchandise all over the island. He had moved on to the horsepower that came from engines. With this acquisition of new technology, he started offering services hauling loads long distance or local. Frank and George were never ones to miss an opportunity at making the most of everything they had and figuring out how it could make them money.
In 1911, it came out in the papers that they had sold to the Brooklyn brewers Welz and Zerwick for $100,000. However, they took out ads in the paper in 1913 saying that they were still in business, so this must have been a change in contract. According to their ad, they just changed some brands that they supplied. At that time, they supplied Pabst Famous Beer, mineral water, wines and other liquors.
Around this time, in the United States, there was a recession from January 1913 until the end of 1914. That may have played a part in what happened in early 1914. January started with Yetter and Moore filing foreclosure complaints against a lot of persons running businesses. Three of these were John and Sarah Loving and August Puchmuller. John and Sarah owned the land on Weesuck Avenue in East Quogue that they built their Pine View Inn on. They rented the inn and grounds to August Puckmuller on March 1, 1911. Loving had been running the Pine View as early as 1905, but he had his own troubles with the law and selling liquor, having been arrested at least once for selling without a license. With all the back and forth of Southampton Town being wet or dry, maybe he felt it better to let someone else worry about all that.
Puckmuller had experience in the field from helping his uncle with Canoe Place Inn in Good Ground (today Hampton Bays). By all accounts, Puckmuller seemed to be running a popular spot. The famous Author, Palmer Cox, stayed there. In June of 1913, over 200 people attended a summer kick off party starting the season. In September of that same year, the county Republicans held a large dinner there with over 220 attendees. Puckmuller was made a special deputy to Sheriff Adell to act as a peace officer. When Yetter and Moore named all three of them in their foreclosure complaints the lease seems to have terminated between Puckmuller and Loving. Yetter and Moore made F.J Corwin the receiver during this time and he made a new lease with Puckmuller to keep running his establishment. The Loving’s did not agree with this and said that, as part of the lease when it was terminated, the liquor license reverted back to Sarah Loving. In April of 1913, John went into Puchmuller Inn and removed the license. He was arrested for burglary and larceny. It doesn’t say if Puckmuller used his newly appointed position to arrest Loving himself. Either way, he ended up in court over it. At this time, Yetter and Moore held a Chattel mortgage on the furnishings of the building. This is what the foreclosure filed against them was for. The Loving’s retained possession of their land and building until January 1915 when a mortgage foreclosure was filed against the Loving’s by George M. Vail. It was sold under foreclosure of mortgage by Geo. H. Hildreth referee. Frank bid in at $7225 . The expectation was, barring any unforeseen problems, Frank would take ownership. The relationship between Loving and Puckmuller soured and he moved to Riverhead where his sister ran a restaurant. The Loving's are on the 1920 Federal Census still living in East Quogue, renting a house on Old Country Road, and John is working as a carpenter. Interestingly enough, months after they filed the paperwork of foreclosure on numerous persons, in February of 1915, the Yetter and Moore bottling building in Center Moriches mysteriously burned down. It was a complete loss. Insurance covered the loss for $5000.
The United States of America lived under the laws of Prohibition which outlawed the production, sale, and importation of alcoholic beverages from 1920 until 1933. In 1924 Yetter and Moore and sons took out an advertisement for their genuine cream of malt and hops, Now, I do not know much about beer, but I do know that malt and hops are two ingredients. So, why were brewers selling this during prohibition? Once more Frank and George were rolling with the changes around them. According to an article from 2005 written by Roger M. Grace that was published by the Metropolitan News Enterprise, during prohibition brewers sold cream of malt and hops legally as an ingredient for breads. However, one can of this could make up to 50 pints of beer. Judge Samuel Alschuler figured out that this was being used to make near beer which he responded was the same as the alcoholic beer that was outlawed. The federal and state authorities would conduct raids on places that made this extract. However, the courts were not interested in cases involving a product that was used for bread and being sold legally. Less than a year after this advertisement from Yetter and Moore saying that they were selling cream of malt and hops, they were raided by Prohibition Enforcement Agents. Perhaps they were after this ingredient.
In 1923, Frank brought his son Claus into the business and George brought in his son Harry. They renamed the business “Yetter and Moore and Sons”. Unfortunately, the foursome was short lived. George died at his home from complications of a disease on May 9, 1924, and was buried in the town of his birth, Cutchogue. At the time of his death, Yetter and Moore had been in business for 42 years. He was 75 at the time of his death. He left a sizeable estate. He left his part of the business to Harry. Frank continued to run the business with the boys. After George’s death, they had more problems with prohibition (the aforementioned raid of 1925). In the evening of September 8, 1929 Frank was not feeling well. He had a history of heart problems. His wife went to call the doctor and, before the doctor could arrive, Frank succumbed to his final heart attack. He was 65 years old. At his death, it was reported that his estate was worth upward of $10,000 (approximately $150,860 today). Like George, he left his portion of the business to the son that had followed him into the business, Claus.
With both fathers passed on, Harry and Clause were now in complete control. Whether they didn’t have the business savvy of their fathers, the heart, the ambition, or just couldn’t keep up with the challenging times of the great depression, by the end of the 1930’s they were having their own foreclosure issues and, in 1939, the bank had foreclosed on their Riverhead plant on Griffing and Railroad among their other properties. In 1940, this property was sold to settle the debt.
The final blow to the memory of all that Frank and George had built came in the form of a wrecking ball to their buildings on the corner of Griffing and Railroad Avenues. On August 19, 1948 the new owner had the buildings torn down.
I found no mention of Yetter and Moore past that date.
Sources used:
Ancestry.com
Live-brary.com
New York Historic Newspapers
Newspapers.com
Findagrave.com
Franklin G. Yetter was born on July 25, 1863 to Salome (Rothermel) and John Yetter, both of whom had immigrated from Wurttemberg, Germany. They had at least eight children, Henry (1858); Mary (1869); Franklin (Frank G. 1863); Charles ( 1865); Charles (1868); Francis (1871); Christine (1873); Edward (1875). The first Charles, Francis and Edward all died as infants or young, Christine died when she was 15 years old. It was customary in those days, when a family had a name they wanted to use, or, if it was a family name, to give it to more than one child if the first did not live past infant stage. There also could have been other pregnancies. Sometimes, when there are large families with gaps of years in between children, it could mean lost pregnancy or another infant that did not survive. Frank G. was married twice. His first wife was Vera Terry, daughter of Captain James Terry. They wed on December 16 1885. They had two sons. Frank Woodward who was born in April 1888 and their other son only lived a short time, he died as a infant on April 23, 1892. Vera, unfortunately, passed away only three days later on April 26, 1892. It is possible that since there was no name noted of the newborn, that maybe she and the baby died of complications of child birth. Frank remarried Imogene Taft in 1894 and they had two children, Claus and Theresa.
George V. Moore was born in 1849 in Cutchogue to Silas and Mehitabel Moore, both of whom were born in New York. His father was a farmer and they had a large family. The children listed on the 1850 and 1860 census are Parker, Joseph, Joel, Deborah, William, Sarah E, George V and Maria. A brother, Sidney, was listed in his obituary so he must have been born after 1860. On the 1880 census George is listed as a farmer. He married Emma J. I also found a record where she was referred to as Emily. She was still alive at the time of his death in 1924. From what I found, they had two children, Harry and Jennie.
Frank’s father John is listed on the 1865 New York Census as a boot maker. By the 1880 federal census, he had become a saloon keeper with his son Henry who was still living at home working as a bartender. His name appears in the Civil War Registration draft record of 1863, but I did not see any record of service. He was arrested and pled guilty to selling liquor on a Sunday. In 1887, he had sold his land in Riverhead and was living in Greenport running the Saloon. Upon the death of his mother, ownership of this saloon went to Frank.
Frank and business partner, George V. Moore, started their brewing and bottling business Yetter & Moore in 1882. Business was booming and, in 1888, they announced an expansion of their plant on the corner of Griffing Avenue and Railroad Avenue (where the large parking lot is today). They hired George H. Skidmore to design and build it. The expansion was completed in 1889 and they held a grand opening for the public complete with free beer. By 1899, they had expanded to Center Moriches opening a bottling plant there.
Frank owned a lot of land in Riverhead. In addition to the property that the bottling and brewery plant was situated on, he also owned land on West Main Street from the Peconic River to maybe as far north as Osborn Avenue. His property neighbored St. Isador’s church. Long Ireland Brewery sits on some of this land today. In 1904, he bought ten acres in Quogue. He also owned multiple plots of land in Jamesport. One he bought from James Elton on which he planned to open a road house. In 1903, he and Moore bought land on Griffin Avenue in their wives’ names from the trustees of the Diocese of Long Island. He bought, sold, and rented land throughout his life. He would buy saloons then rent them out to others to manage. He had storefronts that he rented to grocery store keepers. He rented with an option to buy land and buildings to the US Title and Indemnity Co.
He did seem to help out those he could in his own way. Anela Victoria, wife of Joseph Victoria, owned a saloon on Peconic Avenue in Southold. Her land was being sold at auction. The implication in the papers was that the property, saloon, as well as another parcel with her home were to be sold. Yetter and Moore bought the land and saloon. They just so happened to overpay for that parcel by the exact amount she owed for her other bills and, therefore, she was able to pay the sheriff and he canceled he auction of the rest of her property. This was the second time he overpaid during an auction, in 1904 he bought 5 shares of the Suffolk County Bank, they were part of an estate that was in debt and had to be settled, maybe he was trying to help that family out also. It seems out of character for him to pay more than something was worth, that tells me it was probably done with purpose.
Frank also sat on many professional boards and civic associations. In 1887, he was a trustee of the the Rough and Ready Engine Company. In 1896, he was the treasurer for the Peconic Bay Steamboat Company and was a member of the Commercial Travelers Association. He, like his father, was a well known horseman. They owned and raced horses. They kept a stable for both racing horses and work horses. Frank also liked to travel in addition to the usual going to Brooklyn for business. In 1904, he went to the St. Louis Worlds Fair.
Frank was no stranger to legal troubles and darkened the doorway of the court house more than once. According to news accounts, in February 1895, he had gotten into an altercation with a Polish person and his finger had been bit. He then suffered from a blood infection, and, ultimately, his finger had to be amputated. One of his employees was arrested at the Center Moriches plant in 1888 for selling a bottle of less than five wine gallons. From about 1901 to 1903 Riverhead was a dry town, meaning one could not sell liquor or beer. This presented many problems for Yetter and Moore. They could no longer legally sell their spirits at their saloon on Griffing Avenue. So, they ceased this part of their operation. They still had the bottling plant and bottled many drinks including: mineral water, soft drinks, cider, and ginger ale among others . In 1903, when Riverhead became “wet” again, they had to go to court over their license. They wanted to pick up where they left off and reopen the saloon. The fight was with the excise department which issued the liquor pouring licence. They said that any establishment that ceased operation could not get a new license. Their lawyer argued that their cease of business was not of their decision, but rather to remain in compliance with the new law and outside their control, so with the reversal of the law their license should remain valid. The first judge agreed with the county, the second went in their favor, and Justice Smith told Counselor Belford that he must compel County Treasurer Brush to give them a new licence.
The first record I found of Frank being arrested was in 1904. He was trying to unplug the sewer that was laid in front of his property and ran down the street. He decided that the backup was being caused by a blockage under his neighbor Hudson V. Griffin’s house and asked the Griffin to fix it. He refused and an altercation ensued. Frank landed a punch on him and, by all accounts, it sounded like he broke Griffin’s nose. For his defense, he stated in court that the punch was not for Griffin’s unwillingness to fix the problem, but for Griffin calling him a “Damned two faced Dutchman”. Griffin said that he just called him a “Two faced Dutchman”.
Frank also did not shy away from bringing legal trouble on others. In 1896, New York passed a law, Chapter 966 “The Bottling Act”, saying that a person could not refill a bottle. He suspected Harrison Rogers of Eastport of breaking this law with his bottles and send Detective Joseph Brand to investigate. Yetter was correct and Rogers was arrested. Since Yetter was just trying to make a point he asked the judge to fine him, but not jail him, even though under the law it was part of the punishment. The judge listened and only imposed a fine on Rogers. This law applied to anyone and this case was printed in the papers as part of the deal to inform everyone that it was illegal. It specifically says that even families cannot refill bottles for things like “root beer and catsup”.
Every two years from at least 1901 to 1907 the towns, in addition to the usual election votes, held votes on if they should be dry or not. More often than not, in those years, the vote came back in favor of being dry. This brought more legal troubles for Mr. Yetter. In 1907, he was arrested for at least the second time. This time for selling alcohol in dry Westhampton. He was put on trial. It was revealed during the trial that he had been set up. The people of the Temperance movement that had kept the vote a yes all those years had a man they identified as Gordon approach him to buy alcohol. Yetter, never one to miss a chance to make a buck, sold him a flask of whisky. His defense furnished the court with a petition asking for leniency. However, when the signers of the petition for leniency were interviewed by the court it turned out that a good number signed it because he did them a favor at one point, but the majority did it because they feared losing their business. I think this shows how deep he had his hands in everything from Moriches to Greenport and into Southampton. The judge was not amused at this finding. It also stated that he had been caught the prior December selling in dry towns and, at that trial, he had promised not to do so anymore. The judge fined Yetter $1,200 and sentenced him to 30 days in jail. This was the only reference to jail time I found in all the newspapers spanning his life.
Yetter and Moore were definitely mover and shakers of their day. They had a hand in many towns and made many real estate deals. I won’t go into all the ones that I found, but a few of the most interest were in May 1900. He bought the east end of the Park Hotel in East Moriches and had it moved to adjoin Senix Hall in Center Moriches to be used as a liquor saloon. In 1909, they bought the old Grist Mill in Mattituck and converted it into a restaurant and added a saloon. This was the first time it was used for this and it continued to be a restaurant in some form until it was recently closed in 2017. There was some drama about this when Yetter and Moore owned it. The town wanted to put in a steel bridge and have the building moved at their expense. There was an ad saying that anyone interested in renting the building known as the Quogue Inn was to contact Yetter and Moore.
Frank also liked to be at the forefront of technology and, in February of 1919, he auctioned off all thirty of his horses which, since the start of his business, had pulled the wagons that moved their merchandise all over the island. He had moved on to the horsepower that came from engines. With this acquisition of new technology, he started offering services hauling loads long distance or local. Frank and George were never ones to miss an opportunity at making the most of everything they had and figuring out how it could make them money.
In 1911, it came out in the papers that they had sold to the Brooklyn brewers Welz and Zerwick for $100,000. However, they took out ads in the paper in 1913 saying that they were still in business, so this must have been a change in contract. According to their ad, they just changed some brands that they supplied. At that time, they supplied Pabst Famous Beer, mineral water, wines and other liquors.
Around this time, in the United States, there was a recession from January 1913 until the end of 1914. That may have played a part in what happened in early 1914. January started with Yetter and Moore filing foreclosure complaints against a lot of persons running businesses. Three of these were John and Sarah Loving and August Puchmuller. John and Sarah owned the land on Weesuck Avenue in East Quogue that they built their Pine View Inn on. They rented the inn and grounds to August Puckmuller on March 1, 1911. Loving had been running the Pine View as early as 1905, but he had his own troubles with the law and selling liquor, having been arrested at least once for selling without a license. With all the back and forth of Southampton Town being wet or dry, maybe he felt it better to let someone else worry about all that.
Puckmuller had experience in the field from helping his uncle with Canoe Place Inn in Good Ground (today Hampton Bays). By all accounts, Puckmuller seemed to be running a popular spot. The famous Author, Palmer Cox, stayed there. In June of 1913, over 200 people attended a summer kick off party starting the season. In September of that same year, the county Republicans held a large dinner there with over 220 attendees. Puckmuller was made a special deputy to Sheriff Adell to act as a peace officer. When Yetter and Moore named all three of them in their foreclosure complaints the lease seems to have terminated between Puckmuller and Loving. Yetter and Moore made F.J Corwin the receiver during this time and he made a new lease with Puckmuller to keep running his establishment. The Loving’s did not agree with this and said that, as part of the lease when it was terminated, the liquor license reverted back to Sarah Loving. In April of 1913, John went into Puchmuller Inn and removed the license. He was arrested for burglary and larceny. It doesn’t say if Puckmuller used his newly appointed position to arrest Loving himself. Either way, he ended up in court over it. At this time, Yetter and Moore held a Chattel mortgage on the furnishings of the building. This is what the foreclosure filed against them was for. The Loving’s retained possession of their land and building until January 1915 when a mortgage foreclosure was filed against the Loving’s by George M. Vail. It was sold under foreclosure of mortgage by Geo. H. Hildreth referee. Frank bid in at $7225 . The expectation was, barring any unforeseen problems, Frank would take ownership. The relationship between Loving and Puckmuller soured and he moved to Riverhead where his sister ran a restaurant. The Loving's are on the 1920 Federal Census still living in East Quogue, renting a house on Old Country Road, and John is working as a carpenter. Interestingly enough, months after they filed the paperwork of foreclosure on numerous persons, in February of 1915, the Yetter and Moore bottling building in Center Moriches mysteriously burned down. It was a complete loss. Insurance covered the loss for $5000.
The United States of America lived under the laws of Prohibition which outlawed the production, sale, and importation of alcoholic beverages from 1920 until 1933. In 1924 Yetter and Moore and sons took out an advertisement for their genuine cream of malt and hops, Now, I do not know much about beer, but I do know that malt and hops are two ingredients. So, why were brewers selling this during prohibition? Once more Frank and George were rolling with the changes around them. According to an article from 2005 written by Roger M. Grace that was published by the Metropolitan News Enterprise, during prohibition brewers sold cream of malt and hops legally as an ingredient for breads. However, one can of this could make up to 50 pints of beer. Judge Samuel Alschuler figured out that this was being used to make near beer which he responded was the same as the alcoholic beer that was outlawed. The federal and state authorities would conduct raids on places that made this extract. However, the courts were not interested in cases involving a product that was used for bread and being sold legally. Less than a year after this advertisement from Yetter and Moore saying that they were selling cream of malt and hops, they were raided by Prohibition Enforcement Agents. Perhaps they were after this ingredient.
In 1923, Frank brought his son Claus into the business and George brought in his son Harry. They renamed the business “Yetter and Moore and Sons”. Unfortunately, the foursome was short lived. George died at his home from complications of a disease on May 9, 1924, and was buried in the town of his birth, Cutchogue. At the time of his death, Yetter and Moore had been in business for 42 years. He was 75 at the time of his death. He left a sizeable estate. He left his part of the business to Harry. Frank continued to run the business with the boys. After George’s death, they had more problems with prohibition (the aforementioned raid of 1925). In the evening of September 8, 1929 Frank was not feeling well. He had a history of heart problems. His wife went to call the doctor and, before the doctor could arrive, Frank succumbed to his final heart attack. He was 65 years old. At his death, it was reported that his estate was worth upward of $10,000 (approximately $150,860 today). Like George, he left his portion of the business to the son that had followed him into the business, Claus.
With both fathers passed on, Harry and Clause were now in complete control. Whether they didn’t have the business savvy of their fathers, the heart, the ambition, or just couldn’t keep up with the challenging times of the great depression, by the end of the 1930’s they were having their own foreclosure issues and, in 1939, the bank had foreclosed on their Riverhead plant on Griffing and Railroad among their other properties. In 1940, this property was sold to settle the debt.
The final blow to the memory of all that Frank and George had built came in the form of a wrecking ball to their buildings on the corner of Griffing and Railroad Avenues. On August 19, 1948 the new owner had the buildings torn down.
I found no mention of Yetter and Moore past that date.
Sources used:
Ancestry.com
Live-brary.com
New York Historic Newspapers
Newspapers.com
Findagrave.com
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