WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES DECEMBER 5, 2019 23
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Deaf boxing instructor was among
the fi rst Woodhaven residents
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
George Yoerger was born in
Manhattan in May of 1867 and
raised on his family’s farm in
East Norwalk, Connecticut. When
he was around 10 years old, his life
changed when a muscular stranger
with a handlebar mustache walked on
to his farm and inquired about renting
the family’s barn.
“I’m John L. Sullivan,” the man said,
introducing himself. “I’m champion of
the world.”
The legendary Sullivan, also known
as “The Boston Strong Boy,” was the
fi rst heavyweight champ and he spent
the next few months training on the
Yoerger farm — and young George soon
knew what he wanted to do for the rest
of his life.
Inside the ring he was a tough fi ghter,
but his true calling was outside the
ring, where he became a well-respected
boxing and self-defense instructor. At
the turn of the century, he moved to
Brooklyn and opened a gymnasium at
Broadway and Myrtle which was an
almost immediate success.
Dubbing himself “Professor” Yoerger,
he lured in customers with the promise:
“Six lessons free if you hit me on the
nose!”
Yoerger became well-known for his
role in a complicated attempt to scam
him out of some money. Two men who
hung around the gym off ered him a
pawn ticket for a blue diamond for $5.
The diamond was worth at least $50, they
claimed, and said that if it was worth less,
they would compensate him.
When he went to cash it in, it was
worth far less than $50 and when he
complained, the two men refused to
make good on their deal. Instead, they
came to the gym with a few other accomplices
to try and beat up the boxing
and self-defense instructor.
They failed to see the fl aw in that plan.
Aft er Yoerger fi nished whipping them
soundly, he called for the police who
promptly arrested them, and also found
cocaine in their possession. A brief but
colorful trial followed and the men went
to jail.
Later in life he met a much younger
woman and they fell in love. The woman
was Florence Lott, whose family was
among some of the earliest residents
of Woodhaven, many of whom are still
buried in the Colonial Era Wyckoff-
Snedicker Family Cemetery (on 96th
Street in Woodhaven). They moved
into Lott’s family home on Lott Avenue
(named for the family, and today known
as 76th Street), a few hundred feet south
of Jamaica Avenue, where it stood until
just a few years ago.
Yoerger semi-retired from the boxing
profession and closed the gym in Brooklyn
(though he opened a small private
gymnasium in the backyard of his home
in Woodhaven). Since training was still
in his blood, he embarked on a second
career – training dogs. He started his
training with his own dog, Trixie, who
he would take out for paid exhibitions.
Trixie’s most popular trick was to sit
at a table, open a menu, select a meal, go
through the motions of eating and when
fi nished, wiping her face with her paw.
Trixie was also able to imitate a boxer,
throwing paw punches at a mini-heavy
bag.
Trixie was advertised as the dog
“with the mind of a child,” and with each
public appearance, his renown as a dog
trainer grew, and this business fl ourished
as well. He was commissioned to
write several newspaper articles giving
owners advice with their dogs and
his fame was such that he and Trixie
were asked to take part in a dog show at
the Jamaica Arena to help raise funds
for the Helen Keller Free Clinic.
Helen Keller herself attended the
show and it was said that she aff ectionately
pet many of the hundreds of
children and their dogs that took part
in the show. She told one reporter that
if she was to be granted but a single
split-second of sight that she would
choose to see “a child and its dog.”
In his later years, Yoerger added
fencing, trick pistol shooting and
diamond appraising to his activities,
also fi nding time to found the Long
Island Society of Magicians. In 1949,
Professor Yoerger (in his 80s at the
time) appeared on television, providing
commentary for live bouts being
broadcast from the boxing arena at
Ridgewood Grove.
Professor George Yoerger died in
1951 shortly aft er his 84th birthday (his
young wife Florence would outlive
him by over 20 years, passing away in
late 1973). He had a long, remarkable
life, and it’s even more remarkable
when you discover the fact that he was
deaf his entire life. Professor George
Yoerger was one of the more colorful
fi gures in Woodhaven’s long history.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood: The
Way It Was” that you would like to share
with our readers, please write to the Old
Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com. Any
print photographs mailed to us will be
carefully returned to you upon request.
Professor Yoerger with Trixie (l.), “the dog with the mind of a child,” and
Skippy. Courtesy of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
Letterhead from Professor Yoerger’s gym. Courtesy of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
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