A Brazen Burglary at The Little Red Church in 1904

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In 1904, the Little Red Church still stood at the corner of Boston Post Road and Pelhamdale Avenue in the Manor of Pelham. On December 4 of that year, the Rev. George W. Knox of the Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church entered the sanctuary to prepare for services later that morning. To his dismay, he discovered that burgars had entered before him. The article below appeared the next day in The New York Times.

"BURGLARS IN CHURCH.

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Steal Altar Bible -- Enter House and Cut Telephone Wire.

Special to The New York Times.

PELHAM MANOR, Dec. 4. -- When the Rev. Dr. George W. Knox of Pelham Manor went to hold services in the Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church this morning he found that the large altar Bible was missing from its accustomed place. A hasty investigation showed that burglars had entered the church during the night by prying open a door in the basement and carried it away. The Bible was valued at about $50, and was the gift of the congregation.

The burglars also forced an entrance to the Sunday school room, where they stole the rugs and curtains.

The same burglars, after leaving Pelham Manor, went, it is believed, to the home of C. Everette Smith, at 82 Maple Avenue, New Rochelle. At any rate, burglars forced an entrance to that house while the family was asleep, collected all of the silverware and bric-a-brac, and carried it off. Before leaving the Smith cottage they took the precaution to cut the telephone wire, so that the family could not telephone to the police."

Source: Burglars In Church, N.Y. Times, Dec. 5, 1904, p. 2, col. 2.

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