HARINGX, GEORGE
Copyright John N. Lupia, III 2011-2018
Fig. 1. George Haringx at age sixty in 1933.
George Haringx was a carpenter, sash & door manufacturer, dance teacher, and a coin and stamp dealer in Rochester, New York. Rochester has been a hub for coin and stamp dealing since the time Haringx was born in 1870's; resulting some forty years later in the establishment of the Rochester Numismatic Association (R.N.A.), founded in 1912. Haringx joined the R.N.A. in 1917 since he was already a stamp and coin collector and dealer since at least 1914. There he was contemporary with George Bauer, Dr. George French, and the Canadian immigrant Joseph Hooper, to mention just a few whose biographies appear on this website. He knew Henry Chapman, Wayte Raymond and other numismatic notables who frequented meetings and events of the R.N.A.
George Haringx (1873-1957), was born in Rochester, New York in 1873, son of Christian Francis Haringx (1835-1898), and Julia Schlitzer Haringx (1849-1921). His father was born in Holland and came to America settling with his family in New York in 1848.
In 1893 he was a member of the Rochester Rifles.
In January 1900 he opened Haringx Dance School with his studio in the Powers' Mirror Hall, Powers Building, Rochester, New York. He was known as Professor Haringx.
He married Martha Louise Large (1872-1945), and they had four children : George Ralph (1903-1918), Earl Carl (1904-1927), Vivian (1907-), and Robert (1910-1998).
Fig. 2. In June 1914, he learned to fly a bi-plane at Conesus Lake, and he was mentioned in the July 4, 1914 issue of Aero and Hydro, page 172.
He began as a stamp dealer in 1914 publishing advertisements in Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News. Shortly afterwards he added coins to his business inventory.
In 1917 he joined the Rochester Numismatic Association (R.N.A.)
Fig. 3. An early stamp dealing advertisement published in the Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, January 28, 1917, page 9. He was a member of the American Philatelic Association and is APS Member No. 6432. The 1917 Rochester City Directory lists him as a stamp and coin dealer.
Fig. 4. An early coin dealing advertisement published in the Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, September 22, 1918, page 7.
The 1923 Rochester City Directory lists him as a coin dealer.
Fig. 5. Advertisement in the Democrat and Chronicle, Friday, February 13, 1925, page 31.
The 1930 Rochester City Directory lists him as a coin dealer.
Fig. 6. Correspondence from Haringx to William Frederick Sunday (1889-1967), 13th President of the Rochester Numismatic Association (an RNA medal was struck in his honor), postmarked nearly one year after the Depression began from the Stock Market crash on Black Thursday, October 6, 1930, franked with an 1887 antique Scott #213, American Bank Note, George Washington - Green 2c stamp. There are most probably correspondence with Haringx in the Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, Chapman Family Correspondence Archive, to the best of recollection. However, due to failure of the back-up support system the lion's share of the digital archive has been lost and retrieval at the present time requires manual searching through 325 volumes of 27,000 pieces of mail. A plan to reconstruct the digital archive is expected to commence sometime in September. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
Fig. 7. The Rochester Philatelic Association Picnic, during the "Depression Era", July 24, 1933. Haringx is the first man standing on the far left.
His advertisement in the Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, October 26, 1941, page 51 lists him as the owner of Haringx Stamp Shop, 501 Cox Building, Rochester, New York, where he sold stamps and coins.
His wife died on October 9, 1945 and was buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
His advertisement in the American Philatelist Vol. 60, 1946, page 246, lists him as the owner of The Stamp Shoppe, 36 St. Paul Street, Rochester, New York.
He died at the age of 85, on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1957, in New York.
Bibliography :
Democrat and Chronicle, Tuesday, February 14, 1898, page 9
Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, May 8, 1898, page 18 father's obit
Democrat and Chronicle, Thursday, January 11, 1900, page 8
Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News, Vol. 28, November 14 (1914) : 407
Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, January 28, 1917, page 9 stamp ad
Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, September 22, 1918, page 7 coin ad
Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, October 27, 1918, page 31 obit of son George.
American Philatelist and Year Book (1921) : 448
Democrat and Chronicle, Friday, February 13, 1925, page 31.
Democrat and Chronicle, Thursday, October 11, 1945, page 35. wife's obit.
The Numismatist, (1917)
The Numismatist, May (1922) : 251