A Mystery: The Club House Built by the Pelham Shore Improvement Company
I have a very vague recollection from some time in the distant past of reading a brief, humorous reference to the creation of a social Club in the early 20th century to allow members to enjoy water activities and boating on Long Island Sound along Pelham’s tiny shoreline. Neither the Club nor its organizers were, to my recollection, named in the brief account that I read, but the account claimed that the Club was entirely unsuccessful and folded quickly because the location was particularly poor for such a club. I have not been able to locate that account again, but as best as I can recall it, twice a day as the tide rolled out, the Club was faced with extensive, unappealing, and smelly mud flats that precluded launching boats or returning launches to the Club house until the tide rose again.
Admittedly, the account that I vaguely recall may not relate to the Pelham Shore Improvement Company of Pelham Manor but, then again, it may. The purpose of today’s posting to the Historic Pelham Blog, however, is to document the brief history of the Pelham Shore Improvement Company of Pelham Manor as it can now be pieced together in the hope of later solving this Pelham history mystery.
For those who are interested, I have faced (and subsequently solved) such mysteries before. For an example, see:
Mon., Apr. 10, 2006: A Mystery Yet To Be Solved: The Pelham Trading Company Incorporated in 1901.
Wed., Feb. 21, 2007: A Pelham Mystery Solved: The Pelham Trading Company Incorporated in 1901.
Incorporation of “Pelham Shore Improvement Company of Pelham Manor”
In or about August, 1900, the “Pelham Shore Improvement Company of Pelham Manor” was incorporated with capital of $2,500. The initial directors of the corporation were three prominent residents of the Village of Pelham Manor: Henry Beidlman Bascom Stapler, William Bradley Randall, and Dr. Edward Payson Fowler (after whom today’s Fowler Avenue is named). See New Corporations, N.Y. Times, Aug. 8, 1900, p. 9, col. 7; Recent New Corporations, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 8, 1900, p. 5, col. 1; [Untitled], New Rochelle [NY] Press, Aug. 11, 1900, Vol. XXVI, No. 10, p. 1, col. 1.
The Three Original Directors
The three original directors of the corporation were prominent men who were active in the affairs of the Town of Pelham and the Village of Pelham Manor. Henry B. B. Stapler was an active member of the Pelham Manor Protective Club, a predecessor organization to the Village of Pelham Manor, in the last few years of the existence of that Club before it was disbanded at the time the Village of Pelham Manor was incorporated in 1891. Stapler was born on February 24, 1853 in Mobile, Alabama. He grew up and attended school in Wilmington, Delaware. On November 10, 1880, he married Helen Louisa Gause of Wilmington, Delaware. The couple had four children. Stapler graduated from Yale University and became a “classical instructor” in the Hartford, Connecticut Public High School while he completed a law degree from Yale which he received in 1876. He clerked with the law firm Fowler & Taylor in New York City and was admitted to practice in May, 1878. Soon he formed a partnership with a classmate, John L. Wood, which continued for ten years. Thereafter, Stapler practiced on his own and served as an assistant district attorney for the City and County of New York from 1891 until 1893. After serving as an ADA, Stapler entered partnership with George P. Breckenridge and the pair practiced in the law firm of Stapler & Breckenridge. Stapler died of pneumonia at his home in Pelham Manor on December 1, 1906, at the age of 54. See Biographical Record of the Class of 1874 in Yale College – Part Fourth 1874-1909, pp. 196-97 (New Haven, CT: The Tuttle Morehouse & Taylor Co., 1912).
William B. Randall lived in a magnificent home that no longer stands called The Hermitage located at 1385 Park Lane on a large plot of land that extended from Park Lane through to today’s Beech Tree Lane in the estate section of the Village of Pelham Manor. William B. Randall was born in South Lee, Massachusetts in 1859. He was a son of Abel Bradley Randall (an executive of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company), and Ann Eliza Ormsby Randall. He was educated at Prospect School in Bridgeport, Connecticut and, according to one biographer, "began his financial career as trust officer of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, 1894-1908". French, Alvah P., ed., History of Westchester County New York, Vol. III, p. 119a (NY, NY & Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Co. 1925). In 1888, William Randall married Evelyn Smith. Evelyn Smith Randall was a daughter of Addison P. Smith and Phoebe Smith. The couple had two children including Bradley Randall, born in 1890 and Phoebe Randall born in 1895. Phoebe later married Mr. Vernon Radcliffe. Id. William B. Randall eventually became President of the Security Transfer and Registrar Company and was a notable businessman with a wide variety of interests. According to his biography published in Alvah P. French's History of Westchester County New York published in 1925: "Mr. Randall's career has brought him into intimate contact with a number of large business concerns of every kind, in which he holds leading positions. He is a director of the Coal and Iron National Bank; the Mount Vernon Trust Company; Winyah Park Realty Company; vice-president and director of the Southern States Lumber Company; the Fairfax Realty Company; the Suburban Land Improvement Company; director of the Puritan Mortgage Corporation, Metropolitan Realty Corporation; Pelham Leasing Corporation; Electro Coach Corporation; Electro Bus Corporation, and the Pioche & Pacific Railroad." Id. William B. Randall was involved in public service. From 1882 until 1888 he served as a private in the 7th Regiment of the New York National Guard. He also served as President (i.e., Mayor) of the Village of Pelham Manor, 1902-1903. He also was a member and director of the Chamber of Commerce of Westchester County and held memberships in the following clubs: National Arts, St. Maurice, Pelham Country Club, Wykagyl Country Club, New York Athletic Club and the Railroad Club. Id. Randall died in 1940.
Dr. Edward P. Fowler. He resided for many years in New York City but had a summer estate with a home once known as the Grenzebach Home that once stood on the hill where the chapel of today’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help now stands. The address of the home was 4743 Boston Post Road. While Dr. Fowler owned the estate, he allowed the first Pelham Country Club (the predecessor to today’s Wykagyl Country Club) to lease large parts of the estate for use as a golf course. Though Fowler began as a summer resident of Pelham Manor, Fowler became active in Village affairs and moved to Pelham Manor to become a permanent resident late in his life. After some time, Dr. Fowler decided to divide his property into building lots, and forced the first Pelham Country Club to look for a new home. For more than fifty years, Dr. Fowler was a well-known physician in general practice in New York City. He was born in 1833 in Coshocton, New York. He graduated from the New York Medical College in 1855 and served as a visiting physician at Ward’s Island and the Hahnemann Hospital. His son, Edward Mumford Fowler, also was active for many years in the affairs of the Village of Pelham Manor. Fowler authored a number of medical works and was a member of the New York Academy of Medicine, the New York Neurological Society, and the Medical Society of the County of New York. Dr. Fowler died of pneumonia at his home in Pelham Manor on January 29, 1914. See Dr. Edward P. Fowler Dead – Old New York Physician and Author of Several Medical Works, N.Y. Times, Jan. 30, 1914.
Detail from 1901 Map Showing Location of the One-Story
Frame Clubhouse Just South of the New York City
Boundary on Shore Road by the Pelham Shore
Improvement Company. Source: Fairchild, John F.,
STREET MAP OF THE City of Mount Vernon
AND THE Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N. Y.,
COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY John F. Fairchild,
ASSOC. M AM SOC C. E. CITY OF MOUNT VERNON,
N. Y. (T.S. STRANGE, DEL.: Oct. 1901) (copy in collections
of Museum of the City of New York, No. 53.191.4).
"RECENT NEW CORPORATIONS
-----
Pelham Shore Improvement Company of Pelham Manor: capital, $2,500 Directors -- H. B. B. Stapler, New York City; W. B. Randall and E. P. Fowler, Pelham Manor."
Source: RECENT NEW CORPORATIONS, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 8, 1900, p. 5, col. 1.
"The Pelham Shore Improvement Company of Pelham Manor was incorporated at Albany this week; capital, $2,500. Directors -- H. B. B. Stapler, New York City; W. B. Randall and E. P. Fowler, Pelham Manor."
Source: [Untitled], New Rochelle [NY] Press, Aug. 11, 1900, Vol. XXVI, No. 10, p. 1, col. 1.
"Pelham Shore Improvement Company of Pelham Manor; capital, $2,500. Directors -- H. B. B. Stapler, New York City; W. B. Randall and E. P. Fowler, Pelham Manor."
Source: NEW CORPORATIONS, N.Y. Times, Aug. 8, 1900, p. 9, col. 7.
"REAL ESTATE STATISTICS.
-----
Tables Showing the Transfers, Mortgages and Plans for New Buildings Filed in Manhattan and the Bronx in Corresponding Weeks of 1900 and 1899. . . .
RECORDED TRANSFERS. . . .
Pelham Bay Park, at Long Island Sound, runs w 290.6 to Pelham road x n e 150x e 273.3 to Sound x s -- to beg; William B. Randall to the Pelham Shore Improvement Co. (r s $10, mtge $7,000)...............................10,000"
Source: REAL ESTATE STATISTICS . . . RECORDED TRANSFERS, New York Herald, Dec. 23, 1900, Second and Third Editions, p. 9, col. 5.
"GENERAL FUND.
-----
RECEIPTS. . . .
Tax on Organization of Corporations -- Chapter 908, Laws of 1896. . . .
Pelham Shore Improvement Co. . . . . . . . . . . . 3.13
Source: Annual Report of the State Treasurer for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 1900 Transmitted to the Legislature January 2, 1901, p. 65 (Albany, NY: James B. Lyon, State Printer, 1901).
"MANHATTAN AND THE BRONX.
CONVEYANCES . . .
REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS. . . .
Pelham Bay Park, at Long Island Sound, runs w 290.6 to Pelham Road x ne 150x e 273.3 to Sound x s -- to beginning; William B. Randall to the Pelham Shore Improvement Company, R S, $10; mortgage, $7,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000"
Source: MANHATTAN AND THE BRONX CONVEYANCES . . . REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS, New-York Tribune, Dec. 23, 1900, Vol. LX, No. 19,761, p. 12, col. 3.
"IN THE REAL ESTATE FIELD
-----
Sales of Flats and Dwellings -- Records of Auctions and Building -- Important Transfers. . . .
THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT.
-----
List of Plans Filed for New Buildings and Alterations. . . .
Pelham Road, east side, at the intersection of Pelham Bay Park, for a one-story frame club-house. 48 by 36; Pelham Shore Improvement Company, Pelham Manor, owner; W. Lensining, 55 Broadway, architect; cost, 2,000."
BUILDING DEPARTMENT, N.Y. Times, Jul. 3, 1901, p. 11, col. 1.
"REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS. . . .
Recorded Mortgages.
Interest is at 5 per cent., unless otherwise specified. . . .
THE PELHAM SHORE IMPROVEMENT Company to Sidney D. Ripley and anothers [sic], as trustees; Pelham Bay Park, n s, at intersection of line of Long Island Sound, with riparian rights, &c., 5 years, gold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,000"
Source: REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS . . . Recorded Mortgages, N. Y. Times, Jul. 31, 1901.
"Editorial Notices.
-----
* * *
Notice Is Hereby Given
That a meeting of the stockholders of the Pelham Shore Improvement Company will be held at the office of the Company, at the residence of William B. Randall, in the village of Pelham Manor, on the fourth day of June, 1901, at 8:30 o'clock p.m. for the purpose of electing 12 Directors and two Inspectors of Election, pursuant to the provision of the By-Laws of said Company, and for the transaction of such other business as may properly come before said meeting. Polls will remain open from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Transfer books will be closed from May 23, 1901, to June 5, 1901.
THEODORE M. HILL, Secretary."
Source: Editorial Notices, The Statesman [Yonkers, NY], May 21, 1901, p. 2, col. 4.
"CORPORATION TAXES. . . .
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE TREASURER.
Tax on Organization of Corporations. . . .
Pelham Shore Improvement Co.....................9.38
* * *
CLASS IV -- Gas, Mining and Miscellaneous. . . .
P. . . .
Pelham Shore Improvement...........................4.80
Documents of the Senate of the State of New York One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Session, 1902, Vol. I, Nos. 1 to 9, pp. 88 & 263 (Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, 1902).
"Pelham Shore Improvement Company
The certificate of incorporation of the Pelham Shore Improvement Company has been filed in the County Clerk's office at White Plains. The purposes for which it is formed are to acquire by purchase, lease, or otherwise, lands to erect and construct houses, pavilions, piers, and buildings of every kind and to furnish the same, and to make general improvements in that line. The capital stock is $2,500."
Source: Pelham Shore Improvement Company, New Rochelle Pioneer, Aug. 18, 1900, Vol. Vol. 42, No. 22, p. 1, col. 6.
"ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER.
CORPORATION TAXES.
SCHEDULE OF MONEYS RECEIVED IN THE TREASURY DURING THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1903, FROM CORPORATIONS, ETC., FOR TAXES IMPOSED IN PURSUANCE OF CHAPTER 908, LAWS OF 1896, AND ACTS AMENDATORY THEREOF.
IV. MISCELLANEOUS COMPANIES.
(Tax based on dividend and capital only.)
Pelham Shore Improvement................................7.50"
Source: Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Session, 1904, Vol. I, Nos. 1 to 9, Inclusive, p. 453 (Albany, NY: Oliver A. Quayle, State Legislative Printer, 1904).
"Real Estate Transfers. . . .
BRONX.
(Borough of The Bronx.) . . .
Pelham Bay Park, n.a. at westerly line Long Island Sound, runs w 200.6x n e 150x e 273.3 s to beg; the Pelham Shore Improvement Co to Evelyn Randall, mtges $11,000....................11,750"
Source: Real Estate Transfers . . . BRONX . . . (Borough of The Bronx.), The Sun [NY, NY}, Feb. 19, 1904, p. 11, col. 2.
Labels: 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, Long Island Sound, Pelham Shore Improvement Company, Pelham Shore Improvement Company Club House, Recreation, Shore Road
posted by Blake A. Bell @ 4:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home