Vincenty and Elizabeth were the patriarch and matriarch of the Secaucus Krajewski Family, who lived in Jersey City before settling in the town of Secaucus. They raised 10 children and were vegetable farmers, and also owned multiple butcher shops. Their son Henry, their eldest child, along with his brother Charles and other family members, operated and owned a five-acre 4,000-pig farm on Penhorn Creek.
Henry, the most colorful personality of the brood, also owned a saloon called the Tammany Hall Tavern on Secaucus Road in the 1930s. Henry was colorful and vibrant, and he ran for United States President in 1952 and also in 1956 for the Poor Man’s Party and the American Third Party, respectively. Henry also ran for U.S. Senate in 1954, and ran for governor three times, in 1953, 1957, and 1961. It is said that he was such an independent politically that he did not align himself with the ruling Democratic Party Boss John V. Kenny in Hudson County at that time. Mr. Kenny was the successor to the legendary Boss Frank Hague! However, it was Henry’s brother Charles who became an elected official in the Town of Secaucus, and that is where Charles Krajewski II, the present leader of the family in the town of Secaucus, comes into view!
Charles tells us that he and his wife Agnes opened up a small tavern called Charlie’s Corner in 1966 on Paterson Plank Road in Secaucus, and then later it moved to its present location near the Town Plaza. Charles Jr. also tells us that his father Charles Sr. began his political career in 1963 around the time of ownership of Charlie’s Corner, and successfully was elected a town councilman! Mr. Krajewski further tells us that he ran with his old friend and former Mayor Paul Amico, and they both were successful on the same independent political ticket! Former Mayor Amico’s tenure spanned some 29 years, until 1992!
Charles Jr., a.k.a. Charles II, a life-long resident of Secaucus, was also a graduate of Weehawken High School, and was a United States Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran who still keeps in contact with some of his Marine Corps friends. He proudly tells us that he and his lovely wife have two children, Charles, III an educator and recent Board of Education elected member, and a daughter Tara who is in the real estate business and a graduate of Montclair State University. He also proudly states that he has two grandchildren named Charles Joseph and Ava Rose.
Former Mayor Paul Amico, a legend in his own time, tells us that Mr. Krajewski’s father, his old friend, both broke the elected cultural barrier in 1963, as Charles Krajewski Sr. was the first Polish-American councilman elected in the town, and that Mayor Amico was the first Italian-American councilman and then mayor of the town. Former Mayor Amico is 96 years old this spring and enjoys visits from Charles Jr., his old friend’s son!
Furthermore, former Mayor Amico states that former Councilman Krajewski, as part of Amico’s former administration, is credited with the town of Secaucus building the ice skating facility, and also said that no doubt about it, the Krajewski family name helped put the town of Secaucus on the map!!!
Moreover, former Mayor Amico said that Charles Jr. is a hard worker and good businessman like his father, the councilman, and is also a good family man! Wonderful accolades are hard to come by, and former Mayor Amico lets this columnist know that Charles Krajewski and his family past and present, has earned them!
Thus, when this columnist told Mr. Krajewski that the photograph that he received from Charles III to use for this column, made him look like a college professor, Mr. Krajewski just laughed and said that he was just a regular guy! To the Krajewski family, all the best!!!
U.S. Army National Guard Private Carlos Cruz, son of Lucila Cruz of Union City, has completed basic infantry training at Fort Benning, in Columbus, Ga. Congratulations!…
Former Guttenberg Mayor James Hannon tells us that he has been feeling under the weather as of late, but is getting better, because you cannot keep a good man down for long. Former Mayor Hannon, get better soon!!!…
U.S. Army Private Joel L. Mederu, son of Leonard Mederu of West New York, has completed basic combat training at Fort Sill, in Lawton, Okla. Best wishes!…
Ditto for Army Private Rosalind Padilla, daughter of Anna A. Padilla of North Bergen, who has recently completed basic combat training at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, S.C.
Weehawken readers! Recently this columnist received a telephone call from old friend, and former Mayor Stanley Iacono formerly living in the township, and now living down in southern New Jersey. Firstly, he asked me to tell his fellow Weehawkenites that his lovely wife Anna Marie is doing much better with her health, and wants her many old friends to know this! Secondly, he asked this columnist for resource information about writing his memoirs regarding his tenure as Weehawken’s mayor under two different forms of government, of which I gladly obliged! Then he reminisced about how under his tenure(s) of mayorship, how the first volunteer ambulance squad was started under his administration, in 1969, and also the first senior citizen housing was also started under his watch! He also mentioned how as a toddler, he met Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt! Yes, memories! Stanley Iacono, may your memoirs be a best seller!!!
And so it goes…until next time …see you around town … “MATT”
(Readers who would like to contribute to this column can do so by mailing your news items and photographs, along with your name, address, and telephone number to: Matthew Amato, columnist, c/o The Hudson Reporter, 1400 Washington St., Hoboken, New Jersey 07030.)