Building a Basic Library on the History of Pelham, NY

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In the last several months I have received several inquiries from people interested in building a basic library on the history of Pelham, NY and asking for recommendations concerning which books and publications should be included in such a library. This post will discuss a few of the publications that might be assembled to create a basic library on the history of Pelham and surrounding areas.

The seminal publication on the history of Pelham is the book published by Lockwood Anderson Barr in 1946. Its name is a mouthful. The full citation to the publication is:

Barr, Lockwood A., A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of The Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of New York Known One Time Well & Favourably as the Lordshipp & Mannour of Pelham Also the Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946).

Copies of the book published in 1946 are fairly easy to purchase online. For example, click here to see sale listings for copies of the book priced between $22.45 and more than $50.00 from a variety of rare book sellers who participate in Bookfinder.com. In addition, the book is now in the public domain. Thus, the full text of the book (full text searchable) is available on the HistoricPelham.com Web site. Click here to see the text of the book from that Web site. In addition, because the book is in the public domain it has been reprinted by The Higginson Book Company. To learn more about and to purchase a reprint from that company, click here and scroll down (or search) to find the book title (company catalogue reference - NY0326). The reprint costs $29.00 plus tax, shipping and handling.

A more recent book on the history of Pelham during the last 100 years was written by long-time resident Thomas B. Fenlon before his death and published by Klein Information Resources, Inc. The citation for the book follows:

Fenlon, Thomas B., Pelham New York - Memories of a Century After Incorporation (Klein Information Resources, Inc. 1996).

This wonderful paperback publication is still available for sale from Klein Information Resources, Inc. via Maggie Klein at the offices of The Pelham Weekly on Fifth Avenue in Pelham. For more information you can contact Maggie Klein via e-mail or by calling the offices of The Pelham Weekly at (914) 738-8717.

In 1991, as part of its Centennial Celebration, the Village of Pelham Manor published a wonderful book filled with photographs relating to the history of the Village. The book was published in hard cover and in paperback formats. The citation for the book follows:

Saunders, James B., ed., The Pelham Manor Story - 1891-1991 (Village of Pelham Manor, NY: 1991).

The book is rather difficult to find these days. Although a copy recently was available from a rare book seller via Bookfinder.com, a search earlier today revealed that the book is no longer available. It appears on the marketplace periodically and a diligent reader willing to search such Web sites periodically likely will run across one or two for sale every few months.

I authored a book that was published last year in honor of the 350th Anniversary of the signing of the Pell - Siwanoy Treaty on June 27, 1654 by which Thomas Pell acquired the lands that became Pelham and surrounding areas. The book deals with Thomas Pell, his treaty and the legend of the Treaty Oak beneath which the treaty supposedly was signed. The citation for the book follows:

Bell, Blake A., Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak (NY, NY: iUniverse, Inc. 2004).

The book is available from a large number of online booksellers including Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com and iUniverse, among many others, for $11.95 plus tax, shipping and handling. It is also available from iUniverse as an e-Book.

A wonderful book relating to the history of Pelham is a book devoted to the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776. The book was published in 1963 but was reprinted in 1975 by The Bicentennial Committee of the Town of Pelham as part of Pelham's celebration of the nation's bicentennial. Citations to both versions of the book appear below:

Franko, Alfred Michael, Pelham Manor: The Forgotten Battle of the Revolution: Near Mount Vernon, N.Y. (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.; s.n., 1963) (67 pp., 12 pp. of plates, ill., 22 cm with bibliographic references, Library of Congress Control Number 89828076, Library of Congress Call Number MLCS 89/13655, also in New York Public Library Collection).

Franko, Alfred Michael, Pelham Manor: The Forgotten Battle of the Revolution: Near Mount Vernon, N.Y. (Pelham Manor, N.Y.: The Bicentennial Committee of the Town of Pelham, New York Oct. 1975) (republication of 1963 publication, revised in 1966; 67 pp., 12 pp. of plates, ill., 22 cm with bibliographic references).

The version published in 1963 and revised in 1967 rarely appears for sale online and is difficult to locate through rare book dealers. The 1975 reprint may be found with much more frequency. Click here and search for "Pelham Manor:  The Forgotten Battle of the Revolution" to see if any copies of the reprint are currently offered for sale by a book dealer via the Web site Bookfinder.com.

There are hundreds of books and publications that deal with Pelham history or that touch upon organizations, events or places important to the history of Pelham. The few listed above are "must-haves" for anyone interested in developing a basic library on the history of Pelham.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."