Talk:Thomas Yenser

Context for re-review and Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Hello!

I want to disclose that I am Thomas Yenser's great-grandson. I'm sharing this upfront for transparency sake as I understand this disclosure is encouraged in the rules. I've made sure to use only verified, independent sources this time around.

As a bit of context on this re-review, my first few submissions were declined while I was still figuring out how Wikipedia's formatting and notability rules work. Since then, I have overhauled the draft to focus only on documented history to address any remaining notability concerns.

Also, I’m happy to share that an article on my great grandfather’s work, Who’s Who in Colored America, has now been approved and published (and is linked in my updated draft). This is my first approved article.

Finally, I have recently established a temporary redirect from Thomas Yenser to Who's Who in Colored America to clear a red link. However, it is my hope that this updated draft will now meet requirements to justify a standalone article under his name.

Thanks for taking the time to take another look at this.Genes100 (talk) 12:09, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. Track your hook after promotion. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Z1720 (talk) 02:16, 10 September 2026 (UTC)

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• Comment or view
• Article history

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• ... that American publisher Thomas Yenser traveled more than 30,000 miles across the United States to personally compile biographical data for the historical directory Who's Who in Colored America?
  • Reviewed:

Created by Genes100 (talk). Number of QPQs required: 0. Nominator has fewer than 5 past nominations.

Genes100 (talk) 09:08, 3 August 2026 (UTC).

• Source: Verified by contemporary newspaper accounts cited inline in the "Who's Who in Colored America" section of the Thomas Yenser biography article. Genes100 (talk) 10:06, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

• This is my second approved mainspace article submission. I am exempt from the QPQ review requirement. Thank you! Genes100 (talk) 09:08, 3 August 2026 (UTC)

General eligibility:

• New enough:
• Long enough:
• Other problems:

Policy compliance:

• Adequate sourcing:
• Neutral:
• Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:
• Other problems:

Hook eligibility:

• Cited:
• Interesting:
• Other problems:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Earwig shows 2.0%, irrelevant here and for the title of the work.

One of the sources for the 30k claim wasn't linked but I got it added here, so that all checks out. The Newspaper clipping doesn't say more than 30,000; just 30,000. This loc.gov source doesn't mention the 30k, and the other one doesn't mention the value either. Tweak that from more than to just say 30,000 which is still beyond impressive.

Source Poors Manual of Railroads has a different title name on Google Books, and 1922 vs 1921?

Seems ok otherwise with those adjustments. — Very Polite Person (talk/contribs) 17:11, 8 September 2026 (UTC)

Photo Submission: Only Known Photograph of Thomas Yenser

I have uploaded the only known historical photograph of the article's subject, Thomas Yenser Sr., to Wikimedia Commons. Since no individual studio portraits survive, this family photograph is a vital addition to his biography.

Please review and add the image to the main article infobox:

The Yenser family in New York, circa 1913. Back row (left to right): Mary, Agnes, and publisher Thomas Yenser Front row (left to right): Theresa, Tom (Thomas Jr.), Edna, and John.

Thank you for your assistance in completing this biography!Genes100 (talk) 01:03, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

 Done. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits; 08:53, 14 September 2026 (UTC)

COI Edit Request: Add expanded early Long Island real estate and civic career

I am disclosing that I have a Conflict of Interest (COI) regarding this subject. I am requesting that the "Career" section be expanded to add this subsection documenting Thomas Yenser's early 1900s real estate development, political activity, and school board trusteeship in Suffolk County, New York. Thank you!

Long Island real estate and civic career (1904–1914)

In 1904, Yenser relocated from Queens to Copiague in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County, New York, where he was initially associated with the Long Island Rail Road and operated a poultry farm. By the late 1900s, he had shifted his focus to real estate development and land subdivision in the growing South Shore communities.

Yenser established a real estate office in Copiague and developed residential properties. He filed subdivision maps for residential development and promoted home construction and local investment opportunities. Property originating from one of his subdivision maps continues to be identified in Suffolk County land records as part of the Thomas Yenser subdivision.

In addition to his business activities, Yenser participated in local civic affairs and politics. He served as a trustee of Babylon School District No. 5, was active in the Independence League, chaired local party meetings, and was nominated in 1909 as a fusion candidate for Town Assessor. During this period, he also advocated for local infrastructure improvements, including transportation access, public lighting, road improvements, and waterfront development projects in the Copiague area.

Financial difficulties eventually affected portions of Yenser's Long Island real estate holdings, resulting in foreclosure proceedings. He returned to Brooklyn by 1915, concluding a decade of business and civic involvement in Suffolk County.

Thank you! Genes100 (talk) 17:02, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

References

Proposed Expansion: Automotive Career (1918–1922)

• Subject to be expanded: Thomas Yenser (Early printing and business career section)
• Specific change requested: Expand the mention of his automotive career with primary sources detailing the company's timeline, capitalization, and dissolution.
• Justification: Adds specific figures and dates verified by historical newspaper records from the Library of Congress (Chronicling America).

I propose expanding the "Early printing and business career" section to provide a verified timeline of Yenser's work with the American Motor Truck and Tractor Company.

Below is the updated text with inline citations:

Automotive Executive Career (1918–1922)

By 1918, Yenser had entered the automotive industry as a corporate executive. He served as President of the American Motor Truck and Tractor Company, an enterprise incorporated with an authorized capital stock of $1,000,000. Yenser operated the company alongside Vice President Emil M. Snyder and Secretary John V. Gormley. While the corporate headquarters were located at 110 West 40th Street in New York City, the manufacturing plant was a 40,000-square-foot facility on Freestone Avenue in Portland, Connecticut.

In late 1919 and early 1920, Yenser managed a regional stock promotion and marketing campaign across New England. The company advertised 2-ton and 4-ton commercial trucks built under the brand name "American." The vehicles were exhibited at the Hartford Automobile Show and the New Haven Truck Show to establish a regional dealer network.

Yenser placed financial advertisements in newspapers like the New Britain Herald and Lowell Sun to sell shares. The company sold 7% Cumulative Preferred stock for $12 per share, offering one share of Common Stock with each purchase. Marketing materials projected a production goal of 300 trucks for the year 1920. In September 1921, Yenser and company leadership expanded into commercial lending by co-founding a dedicated subsidiary, the American Motor Truck Finance Corporation, based in Newark, New Jersey.

The company continued operating during the post-war period, with New England business directories recording its presence in Portland through 1922. By 1930, Yenser had transitioned into biographical publishing with the launch of Who's Who in Colored America, a project that would become the final phase of his career.

Thank you! Genes100 (talk) 00:40, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

References

Edit Request: Create Personal life section and add family timeline

• Subject to be expanded: Thomas Yenser (New Personal life section)
• Specific change requested: Create a new standalone "Personal life" main section to house his childhood, marriage, and family residency timeline using verified vital and census records.
• Justification: Fills a major biographical omission by introducing exact names, dates, and locations verified by primary vital records from FamilySearch, separated cleanly from his professional history.

I propose creating a new standalone main section titled "Personal life" directly above "Death and legacy" to establish a verified chronology of Yenser's early life, marriage, and family timeline leading up to his publishing years.

Below is the proposed text structure with inline citations:

Personal life

Family and residence

Thomas Yenser was born in Pennsylvania circa 1866 to Charles Yenser, a native Pennsylvanian, and Mary E. Yenser. He spent his childhood in Lehighton, Carbon County, where he attended school in his youth. In his youth, he entered the professional printing trades as an apprentice in his hometown of Lehighton, Pennsylvania, receiving instructions in typography within the offices of the local Carbon Advocate before relocating to New York City in September 1886.

Following his relocation to the New York metropolitan area, Yenser established his family with Agnes Connelly (born c. 1875), a native of New York. Their daughter Mary was born in Manhattan on June 12, 1895. Yenser and Connelly were legally married on September 2, 1896, in Hoboken, New Jersey. By 1900, the family resided in Ward 26 of Brooklyn, New York, where their household included their daughters Mary and Edna (born February 24, 1897), as well as Yenser's sister-in-law, Theresa Connelly. On July 22, 1901, their son, Thomas Yenser Jr., was born in Brooklyn. The family subsequently lived in St. Albans, Queens, where their daughter Theresa was born on March 24, 1904, before they relocated east to Copiague in October 1904. While residing in Babylon, the couple had a third son, John, born circa 1908, with the complete household of five children recorded together in the 1910 Federal Census.

Following the foreclosure of his Long Island real estate holdings in early 1914, Yenser returned westward to New York City, establishing his household back in Brooklyn by 1915. He remained a resident of Brooklyn for the rest of his life, managing the operations of his biographical directories out of his family home at 2317 Newkirk Avenue until his death in 1949. Following his death, Yenser was cremated at the Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium in Middle Village, Queens, on September 13, 1949.

Thank you! Genes100 (talk) 09:06, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

References

Photo Submission: 1940 NYC Tax Photograph of 2317 Newkirk Avenue

• Subject to be added: Thomas Yenser (Who's Who in Colored America subsection)
• Specific change requested: Insert the existing Wikimedia Commons municipal photograph of 2317 Newkirk Avenue into the right-hand margin of the "Who's Who in Colored America" subsection.
• Justification: Visually documents the physical residential building where Thomas Yenser lived and operated his biographical directory business. This address is explicitly confirmed on the title page of the 1941–1944 6th Edition, as archived in the HathiTrust Digital Library.

Please add the following image code to the right margin of the Who's Who in Colored America subsection:

The apartment building at 2317 Newkirk Avenue in Brooklyn in 1940, where Thomas Yenser lived during the publication of Who's Who in Colored America and whose address appeared on the directory’s title page.

Thank you! Genes100 (talk) 09:45, 30 September 2026 (UTC)