Introduction
Hicksville grew substantially in the late 1800s, attracting newcomers from many places, including Indiana, Illinois, and (of course) Brooklyn. Many of them had served in the Civil War, and they saw the post-war years as a time to try to make new starts.
Prussian-born August Fleischbein left behind his Brooklyn butcher shop to become proprietor of the Grand Central Hotel. Irish-born tinsmith James de St. Legier also left Brooklyn, and set up shop on Broadway. Eventually, his son John opened a bicycle shop next door. A growing village like Hicksville offered lots of opportunity for veterans who were ready to set out on new ventures.
 Huntington Long-Islander, November ? 1896 |
 deliberately inverted to attract more attention, an ad for John De St. Legier's shop Huntington Long-Islander, April 23, 1900 |
In this article, I focus on another of those veterans, Herman Menge, someone whose name you're not likely to recognize. Since I began writing Ancient Hixtory, however, almost every time I've tried to research my topics, I've come across old news items that mention him.
By now, I've developed quite a liking for this man, and I think that his contemporaries did, too. When Hicksville had a parade, Henry Menge would be given a place of honor in it. A public ceremony? He'd be on the dais, and most likely, he'd be asked to speak. He may have lacked higher education, and yet he was chosen as a delegate to a state Republican convention. When Father Lawrence Fuchs organized a charity auction at St. Ignatius, who other than Henry Menge would have thought of donating gilded potatoes as auction items?
Let's take a look at his life. Along the way, we're bound to acquire some new insights into old Hicksville.
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