Manager of Pelham Manor Golf Links Committed Suicide in 1899

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A sad article appeared in the December 7, 1899 issue of the New York Times.  It recounted the suicide of Frederick B. Russell, manager of the Pelham Manor Links.  It seems certain the reference to "Pelham Manor Links" is a reference to "The Pelham Manor Golf Club" organized by Mrs. John Cunningham Hazen and Miss Edith Cunningham Hazen in 1895.  The origins of the nearby Pelham Bay Golf Course that sometimes was referred to as the "Pelham Manor Golf Club" in some reports date to 1900.  

It would seem that The Pelham Manor Golf Club never became thoroughly established.  Its records appear to have disappeared and there is little written about it after the summer and fall of 1895 during which "golf fever" supposedly struck Pelham Manor.  To read more, see Bell, Blake A., The Early Days of Golf in Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 36, Sep. 10, 2004, p. 12, col. 2. 

If the reference in the article transcribed below relates to The Pelham Manor Golf Club, it sheds some light on two issues:  (1) the Club appears to have operated for at least four years; and (2) the death of the manager, Frederick B. Russell, may have played some role in the end of the Club.

Below is the article, followed by a citation to its source: 

"GOLF CLUB MANAGER'S SUICIDE.

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Frederick B. Russell of the Pelham Manor Links Shoots Himself.

NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y., Dec. 6. -- Frederick B. Russell, manager of the Pelham Manor golf links and formerly a real estate broker, with an office at 19 Liberty Street, Manhattan, shot and killed himself to-day in Alderman Daniel D. Brady's hotel here.  He had been connected with the golf club about two months.  He had a room of a relative at 451 South Seventh Street, Mount Vernon.  Business troubles are supposed to have led to the suicide.

According to Henry Dreyfus, proprietor of the Dreyfus House, who made a statement to the police, Mr. Russell was worried over his inability to raise $65, which he desired to pay to the club.

Mr. Russell was about forty years old, and had been employed with Davis, Collamore & Co., glassware, up to about three years ago.  William C. Findlay, attorney for the Russell family, said that Mr. Russell had not been well of late, and he knew of no reason for the suicide unless ill-health had brought about despondency.  Mr. Russell came originally from Hudson, N. Y."

Source:  Golf Club Manager's Suicide, N.Y. Times, Dec. 7, 1899, p. 2, col. 3.

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