GOELL, Charles

For nearly 30 years Charles Goell, of 1418 Carroll Street, has been a builder of a variety of structures, and there is not a single instance in his career of a project that failed once he put his mind and shoulders to it.

Goell started his business career as a mere youth so that at seventeen he had already had sufficient knowledge of construction to have been appointed foreman of a sizable building which, years ago, was being erected in the Morris Park section of new York. He was born Dec. 1877, in Dvinsk, Russia, where his father had a notable prestige as a general builder as well as the man responsible for the largest synagogue in that city. It was this act in his father's activities that suggested to Goell the vision of a large Jewish Center which subsequently became a reality as the Brooklyn Jewish Center, in the erection of which he is largely instrumental.

Young Charles was brought to the United States when he was thirteen, and after he had been thoroughly trained in Judaism. Here, for a brief time, he had been attending the van de Water Street High School, the night session, in which he picked up the rudiments of English, which with his innate quest for culture, flowered into the mastery of the tongue which he now possesses. At fourteen he was already working his way up in the world of harsh business.

After a span of several years as an employee, chiefly foreman, for a number of structures, Goell definitely set out for himself as, first, a builder in the East New York section of Brooklyn. To date he built 350 various types of buildings, of which some such as the 4-story apartment house of his on Carroll street near Albany Avenue are pioneers in type. The exquisite Martens Court, Flatbush, is another of his projects, which, amazing as it may seem, he fully visualized in the course of a mere street car ride to Flatbush. Martens Court is thus the embodiment of a half-hour's mental manipulation which evolved into the mind's eye image of which it is the concrete prototype. Vassar Hall, on Eastern Parkway, is still another of his buildings.

Despite his hectic career, Goell finds time to allay his intellectual zest, principally by delving into the classics. Tolstoy, Maupassant, Hugo and Zola are his favorites. He is a sustaining conversationalist. he married in 1904. The couple have three daughters.

GOELL, Jacob

Jacob Goell, of 576 Eastern Parkway, is one of Brooklyn's leading veteran builders. He had had an impressive record, in construction long before the advent of the newer element in the comparatively recent building.

Jacob Goell has built numerous apartment houses and private dwellings in Brownsville, Bay Ridge, Williamsburgh and Eastern Parkway. It would suffice to say, without elaboration, that he is concededly one of the most-highly regarded builders in the boro.

Goell was born in Russia, in July of 1870. There he attended public school and Hebrew school. He came to the United States in 1889, and, at first, engaged in carpentry which presently evolved into contracting and eventually building. He came to Brooklyn twenty-five years ago.

While he is an enthusiast about the possibilities for growth for Brooklyn, Goell is also cognizant of the possibility of retrenchment if the present tendency in rise upon land values continues.

Goell is a member of the Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities, the Brownsville-E. N.Y. Hospital, Beth Moses Hospital, Hebrew orphan Asylum, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and director of the Municipal Bank. He is a member of nearly all the national Jewish organizations, and is interested in the Palestine movement.

His recreations consist in reading, music and walking. He was married twenty-seven years ago, is father of two sons and three daughters, and lives at 576 Eastern Parkway.