Pfaff, Charles Jr. (1857-?)

Charles Pfaff, Jr. is the son of Charles Pfaff, the owner of the cellar known as "Pfaff's" that became a celebrated Bohemian resort in New York in the late 1850s and early 1860s. Born approximately in the year 1857 or 1858, Pfaff Jr. is the only known surviving offspring of Charles Pfaff Sr. In the 1870s, Pfaff Jr. left New York City to attend Nazareth Hall, a boarding school located in Pennsylvania (Blalock).

Scholar Blalock insists that during his childhood, "it is certain that, on some occasions, he did go with his father to the restaurant."

After returning from Pennsylvania, Blalock speculates that Pfaff Jr. may have taken classes at Packard's Business school, where he would have learned the skills to become a clerk, the position he assumed a few years after his return back to the city by the time of the 1880 census (Blalock). In the years before assuming a clerkship, Blalock contends that there is evidence to suggest that he may have helped his father with "Pfaff's" located at 9 W. 24th Street. According to an article written in the New York Tribune, Pfaff opened a new establishment "'in connection with his son'" (Blalock). This new place was another relocation of Pfaff's, now to its final spot at 9 W. 24th Street (Blalock). He was also an avid participant in a variety of sporting contests from Knickerbocker Athletic Club's 25-mile championship walk to speed skating races throughout New York State and even Canada (Blalock).