Shooting Death at the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge in 1892

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There have been a host of sensational crimes committed in Pelham during the last 350 years.  Perhaps the earliest was in about 1760 when a "Great Rapier" and a silver tankard that once belonged to Pelham founder Thomas Pell were stolen from one of his descendants, Joseph Pell (b. 1740; d. 1776) and were pawned in New York City where they vanished.  I have written about many such crimes and have collected information on other sensational and notorious crimes about which I have not yet had the opportunity to write.  

In 1892 there was a shooting in the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge that led to the death of a young man.  The shooting arose from a "political quarrel" and attracted sensationalist attention from newspapers throughout the region.  The National Police Gazette even published a series of sketches that depicted the shooting and events surrounding it (see below).  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog documents the shooting and the interesting events that followed the episode.

On the eve of local elections in Westchester County in early November, 1892, Westchester residents were closely following the campaign for County Register.  The Republican candidate for the position was William V. Molloy.  The Democrat running for the office was William G. Graney.  

William John Elliott, who was known as John, Johnny, and Jack, was born on Throggs Neck.  His father drove a stage coach between Throggs Neck and Harlem before the advent of the railroad.  In the early 1880s, John Elliott became the proprietor of the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge.  Elliott was involved in local politics and the Grand View Hotel quickly became a favorite of local Democrats and New York City officials including New York City Aldermen.

Elliott was a sporting man who enjoyed prize fights, pigeon shoots, and betting.  The Grand View Hotel became the site of a number of illegal prize fights during his tenure.  Following one such prize fight, Westchester County authorities issued a warrant for Elliott's arrest.  The man who executed the warrant and arrested Elliott was Deputy Sheriff William V. Molloy.  Consequently, Elliott hated Molloy, the man who was the Republican candidate for County Register in the 1892 election.

Elliott had a good friend named John Hiney who was born only two blocks away from where Elliott was born on Throggs Neck. Hiney was unmarried and was 23 years old in 1893.  He lived with his mother and took care of her.  He was employed as a night watchman and, thus, carried a pistol.

On the evening of Sunday, November 6 -- two days before the county elections -- Hiney went out with his closest friend, John B. Colford.  Colford was a commission horse dealer who had worked for James M. Waterbury his entire adult life, as had his father.  Colford got his friend, John Hiney, the job serving as a night watchman for James M. Waterbury.  The two men attended a political meeting in the Town of Westchester and then went out drinking together.  Some accounts said Hiney drank only ginger ale and sarsaparilla, but others indicated plainly that he had a lot to drink that night.  

Colford and Hiney were avid Democrats.  Indeed, Colford was described as "something of a political boss" and Hiney was "a member of the Democratic Town Committee."  Colford, however, chose to support Republican William V. Molloy in the local race for unexplained "personal reasons."  Indeed, at the political meeting he attended in the Town of Westchester on November 6, 1893, he was denied the position of Committee Treasurer to penalize him for supporting Republican William V. Molloy in the local race.  

According to one account, Colford's close friend, John Hiney, merely "followed his friend in supporting the Republican."  In contrast, John Elliott, proprietor of the Grand View Hotel, hated Molloy and, thus, supported Democrat William G. Graney in the race for Westchester County Register.  

After drinking on the evening of Sunday, November 6, Colford and Hiney met a group of Molloy supporters who were out "electioneering" and agreed to join them at the Grand View Hotel for more drinks.  Colford and Hiney arrived at the hotel first and announced to the crowd and to the proprietor, John Elliott, that a group of Molloy supporters was about to "descend" on the place.  Elliott became upset, protesting that Colford and Hiney knew that he hated Molloy.  According to one account, at about that time "[t]he others came up and there were drinks all around.  In the course of the night they drank pretty near everything from beer to champagne."

During much of the evening, the men in the hotel bar argued politics, centered around the Molloy versus Graney race for County Register.  The hotel proprietor, Elliott, bet Colford $50 that Graney would win the race.  Both men gave the money to support their bets to John Hiney to serve as the stakeholder.

One of the men in the bar that night was Oliver ("Ollie") Molloy, a brother of the Republican candidate William V. Molloy.  At one point Elliott began arguing with Ollie Molloy about his brother and became enraged.  Elliott became abusive from behind the bar.  Colford stepped behind the bar to tell Elliott that it was not Ollie Molloy's fault that his brother had arrested Elliott previously.  Elliott took the approach as a threat and the two men began to scuffle.  Elliott shoved Colford from behind the bar and raced upstairs where he grabbed a loaded revolver.

Stories of what happened next diverge at this point.  It appears that while Elliott was upstairs, John Hiney pulled out his night watchman's revolver.  When Elliott returned to the bar, he was carrying his pistol.  He shouted "John Hiney, you've got a gun.  You want to get out of here quick!"  Elliott then raised his pistol and fired toward Hiney who ducked and ran out of the bar.  Elliott then turned and with the butt of his pistol smashed it into the head of Hiney's friend, Colford, who fell senseless to the floor.  

Once Colford recovered, he went to his wagon and began a trip toward home.  Down the road he ran across Hiney walking quietly home.  Hiney climbed into the wagon and looked fine, but mentioned he was so frightened that he felt badly.  Colford drove him to his home and left him to walk the few paces to his door.  Colford departed shortly before Hiney collapsed in front of his own house.  

Later in the night he was found by a passerby and taken inside where it was discovered he had been shot in the right side.  The bullet passed through his right lung and lodged in his torso on his left side.  Though a doctor was called, the wound was mortal.

As Hiney lingered near death, a local constable was contacted.  He proceeded to the Grand View Hotel and arrested Elliott.  He took him to Hiney's home where Hiney's mother, sisters, and brothers held vigil.  Elliott turned his eyes away and the constable took him to White Plains where he was locked up until a Grand Jury could consider the case.  Elliott immediately hired attorney Martin Keogh of Pelham to handle his case.  

The Grand Jury heard the evidence and concluded that the evidence in support of self defense was overwhelming.  The Grand Jury refused to return an indictment against Elliott.

John Hiney's mother, Mary Ann Hiney, would have none of it.  She promptly filed a civil lawsuit against John Elliott in state court seeking $5,000 in damages "for loss of support &c."  The civil jury trial was held in early October, 1893.  The jury deliberated for a total of twenty four hours and finally returned a verdict for the defendant, John Elliott, finding that he acted in self defense.

By the way, John Elliott's favored candidate, the Democrat William G. Graney, lost the election for County Register on November 8, 1892.  Tragically, John Hiney never learned the results of that election.  Instead, he lost his life. 

*          *          *          *          *

"POLITICS LEADS TO MURDER.
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John Elliott Shoots John Hiney in the Pelham Bridge Hotel.
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THE MURDERER SAYS IT WAS DONE IN SELF-DEFENSE.
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A Row Occurred Over the Contest for Register in Westchester Late Sunday Night -- Hiney Drew a Pistol to Protect His Friend Colford, When Elliott Shot Him -- Elliott Surrenders and Is Now in White Plains Jail.

They say in Westchester that 'Johnny Elliott is terrible quick with a pistol.'  He bore out this reputation on Sunday night when he fatally shot John Hiney, whom he had known all his life.  It began in a friendly discussion of politics, or rather of candidates.  It ended in murder.

William John Elliott was born in Throgg's Neck, the village which is really a part of Westchester.  His father, Alec Elliott, used to drive a stage from Throgg's Neck to Harlem before there was a railroad.  Old-timers remember that the elder Elliott was forced to leave the country during war times.  One day he beat Sergt. Dolan, who was stationed at Fort Schuyler.  When Dolan returned to the barracks the men on post asked him who had beaten him.  Dolan told them.

The men left their posts and went to Elliott's house.  They demanded admittance.  A voice said that Elliott was not there.  They fired throught the window.  Elliott's niece, a beautiful young woman was killed.

'Johnny' Elliott, as every one calls him, was a tiny boy then, and John Hiney hadn't been born.  The two men were born within two blocks of each other.  They grew up together and have always been good friends.  Hiney's father was a stone mason.  He died when John was a baby, and Matthew Colford was made his guardian.  As 'Johnny' Elliott grew older he displayed sporting tastes, coupled with a capacity for making money.  Hiney was staid and serious.  He lived with his mother.  He was only 23.  Elliott is 5 years older.

Eight or nine years ago Elliott leased the yellow roadhouse, which rests on piles over the Pelham river at the north end of Pelham bridge.  It is now a part of Pelham park.  The road-house is called the Grand View Hotel.  It is popular with fishermen and with people who drive along Pelham road.  It is about 2 miles from Westchester.  In the old days it was more of a sporting place than it is now.  Many prize fights have taken place there.  The fight between Le Blanche, the Marine, and Henry took place there.  That fight plays an important part in this murder.

A warrant was sworn out for Elliott's arrest because of this fight.  It was place in the hands of William V. Molloy, a deputy sheriff, to serve.  Elliott was arrested, and it was an expensive arrest for him.  But of late years Elliott's place has been more quiet.  The young proprietor has indulged his sporting tastes elsewhere.  He has always lived at the hotel.  With him are his wife and two children and his aunt.  Mrs. Byzzard [Editor's Note:  Could this be a mistaken corruption of "Blizzard" who once ran the Grand View Hotel?], who cared for him.

Hiney was unmarried.  He always said that he had his mother to care for.  Two years ago he was made night watchman for James M. Waterbury, who has a big estate in Westchester.  There was no more popular young man in the town of Westchester than Hiney.  He was very quiet.  No one ever knew him to get into trouble.  Last year he ran for Constable and he ran 200 ahead of his ticket.

Hiney's warmest friend was John B. Colford, a commission horse dealer, who enjoys an enviable reputation.  He has worked for Mr. Waterbury all his life, as did his father before him.  Colford buys horses for all the rich men in the vicinity.  It was through him that Hiney got his job as night watchman.

Hiney and Colford are both Democrats.  Colford is something of a political boss.  Hiney was a member of the Democratic Town Committee.  This year Colford has warmly supported William V. Molloy for the position of County Register.  Molloy is a Republican, a member of the railroad contracting firm of Molloy Bros., of New Rochelle.  Colford supported Molloy for personal reasons.  Hiney followed his friend in supporting the Republican.  

On Sunday night Colford drove Hiney down to the town hall of Westchester to attend a meeting of the Town Committee.  Before they went there they drove to the Morris Park race-track.  There were three or four rounds of drinks, but Hiney took ginger ale and sarsaparilla.   Then the two friends went into the village.  While Hiney was in at the meeting Coloford went across the street.  After a while Hiney came out and told Colford that he was not to be made treasurer of the committee, as was planned, because he was going to vote for Molloy for Register instead of W. G. Graney, the Democratic nominee.

Colford had just met four New Rochelle men who had started out early in the day on an electioneering trip in the interest of Molloy.  These four were Oliver Molloy, William V. Molloy's brother, and a member of the firm of Molloy Bros.; Daniel H. Hynes, a saloon keeper in New Rochelle and the agent of the Yuengling Brewing Co.; John Farley, another New Rochelle saloon keeper, and William Quinn, who is a brother-in-law of Gen. Sickles.  They had a few drinks together and then went into a restaurant and had something to eat.  About 9 o'clock the four New Rochelle men started home in the coach in which they had been riding all day.  Colford and Hiney started in the former's yellow-wheeled wagon.  They met at the gate leading into Mr. Waterbury's grounds, about a mile from Elliott's road-house, and it was suggested that they go in there and have a drink.  Colford and Hiney reached there first, because they had a fast horse.  When they went in Elliott was in the saloon, which is in the back part of the house.  When Colford went in he remarked that there was a Molloy crowed descending upon the place.  Elliott replied that they knew he was against Molloy.  The others came up and there were drinks all around.  In the course of the night they drank pretty near everything from beer to champagne.

The talk was upon politics.  The candidates for Register were the most discussed.  The Molloy who is the candidate is the same Molloy who arrested Elliott as a deputy sheriff.  Elliott hates him cordially.  In the course of the talk Elliott drew several $1,000 bills from his pocket and offered to bet Colford one of them or any part of it that Graney would be elected.  Colford replied that he couldn't bet that much.  He said he had never before seen a $1,000 bill.  Finally they bet $50.  The money was placed in Hiney's hands as stakeholder.

Up to this point the stories agree.  From this point on there is a divergence.  That of Colford seems to be the straightest and clearest.

'Everything had been very pleasant and comfortable,' he said yesterday.  'No one had the slightest idea of any trouble.  We had been talking warmly but there was no personal feeling.  After a whilte Elliott began talking roughly to Molloy.  He was behind the bar and Molloy was in front of it.  The rest of us were along the bar.  Elliott was villifying Molloy frightfully.  'Olly' Molloy is a college-bred man and he isn't used to the rough ways of politics.  I thought that Elliott was going it too strong.  He had talked until he was in a terrible rage.  I started back of the bar to try and draw his attention from Molloy.

'I took him by the arm and started to say that it was not 'Olly's' fault that his brother had arrested him, when Elliott turned on me and said:

'You're trying to do me, are you.'

'He grappled with me.  That made me mad and there was a scuffle.  He pushed me out from behind the bar.  Hiney was standing next to it, beside the ice-box.  Then Elliott rushed upstairs.

'In a few seconds he came down again with a revolver in his hands.  He said 'John Hiney, you've got a gun.  You want to get out of here quick!'  Hiney had a revolver.  In his capacity as night watchman he carried a pearl-handled one, which I gave him myself.  Earlier in the evening he had taken the revolver from his pocket and laid it on the bar in order to find some change in his pockets with which to pay for drinks.

'Almost before the words were out of Elliott's mouth he fired at Hiney, who turned and ran out.  Then Elliott turned towards mem and struck me over the eye with the butt of the revolver.  I was knocked senseless.  When I recovered consciousness Hynes was saying, 'I hope you didn't hit him,' and Elliott replied, 'Did I ever shoot at anything I didn't hit?'

Elliott has the reputation of being one of the finest pigeon shots in the country.  Colford went on to say that when he regained his senses the others were looking to see if they could find where the bullet struck.  He went out directly, climbed into his wagon and started home.

'It was as cold-blooded a murder as was ever done,' said Colford in conclusion.

'Elliott killed the man in self-defense,' said Daniel Hynes when he was asked about the affair.  'We had been talking politics and it was all pleasant enough until Colford went behind the bar.  Then Elliott had some words with Colford.  The two grappled and Elliott pushed Colford from behind the bar.  Then Elliott went out and got his revolver.  He told Hiney to get out.  Hiney had been flourishing a revolver about earlier in the evening.  I was dead leary of him myself.  Hiney didn't go and Elliott fired.  Then Elliott turned and knocked Colford down.

After Colford went out Elliott fired a shot at the wall to see if we could find the mark of the bullet.  We could find no trace of the first bullet.  We stayed at Elliott's for several hours after the shooting.  We didn't think that Hiney had been shot.  He didn't act like it after he went out.'

I may be remarked, paranthetically [sic], that Hynes is a saloon-keeper and something of a sporting many himself.  In New Rochelle he is known as 'Pop' Hynes.  He is a large, powerful and fine-looking young man.  For the other New Rochelle members of the party Molloy's story rather inclines to that of Colford, while Farley, who is also a saloon-keeper, thinks that Hynes has it about right.  All of those who were there say that they were not drunk.  Taking into account the number of drinks they took during the evening, most people would arrive at a different conclusion.  It will take a trial to settle the disputed points.

Strangest of all is the story of Hiney after the shooting.  When he ran out of the saloon he started to walk homme.  He had not the slightest idea that he had been shot.  Colford, in his wagon, caught up with him.  Hiney climbed in, and the two drove along together.  Hiney said he was very much frightened, which he thought accounted for his uncomfortable feeling.  It never entered Colford's head that Hiney was wounded.  He let the young man out of the wagon almost at his house -- they live only a block apart.  Colford went on home.  Hiney walked scarcely twenty feet when he fell to the ground fainting.  There Joseph Sterrett found him before midnight and took him home.  Dr. Dennen came.  He found that the bullet had entered the right side, just below the nipple.  It passed through the right lung and buried itself in the left side.  He saw that Hiney could not live.  At 3 o'clock Justice Skennion was summoned and he took Hiney's ante-mortem statement.  At 5 o'clock Constable Bradley was told of the shooting and he started for Pelham Bridge.  He found Elliott in bed.  Together they drove down to Throgg's Neck.

Constable Bradley took Elliott into the room where Hiney lay dying.  The mother was there, the sisters and the three brothers.  They looked at the pale white face on the pillow and the rugged one of the man who turned his eyes away.  Hiney said Elliott was the man who shot him.  Then Constable Bradley took Elliott to the station at Westchester and from there to the jail at White Plains.  Hiney lingered until 1.30 o'clock in the afternoon, when he died.

Elliott made a statement to Justice Skennion and Constable Bradley.  He said that he shot Hiney in self-defense.  He said that Colford and Hiney came into his saloon to pick a fight.  He asked Colford if he came there to do him up and Colford said he did.  Then Colford went behind the bar and picked up a bottle.  Elliott says he saw Hiney flourihsing a revolver and he made up his mind that they were bound to kill him.  He says he made up his mind that he had to protect himself.  He ran upstairs and got his revolver.  When he came down Hiney was standing alongside the door with his gun in his hand showing through the pocket of his overcoat.  Elliott continued:

'I said to him, You get out of here, John Hiney, you've got a gun.'  Hiney didn't go so I fired at him.  I didn't know whether I hit him or not.  He turned and ran out.  After I fired I knocked Colford down.'

Elliott was pretty badly broken up over the shooting when he heard that Hiney was dead.  He wasn't apprehensive, however.  He is certain that he will get out of it all right.  One of the first things he did after he landed in the White Plains Jail was to engage Martin J. Keogh to defend him."

Source:  POLITICS LEADS TO MURDER -- John Elliott Shoots John Hiney in the Pelham Bridge Hotel, The World [NY, NY], Nov. 8, 1892, Vol. XXXIII, No. 11403, p. 1, cols. 6-8.  


"A FATAL QUARREL. -- In a quarrel Sunday evening before election at Pelham Bridge, John Hiney was fatally shot by John Elliot [sic].  Reports as to the origin of the affray, and the circumstances connected with it, are very conflicting.  Some of the parties present claim that Elliott is solely to blame, while others allege that he only acted in self-defense.  Elliott is a sporting man and a crack pigeon shot.  He keeps a hotel at Pelham Bay Park, leased to him by the Park Commmissioners.

It is a resort for the sports of that part of the county.  The politicians too make it a rendezvous to compare notes.  On Sunday night John Colford and John Hiney of Westchester got into a quarrel there with Elliot.  They were friends of William V. Molloy, the republican candidate for Register.  While they were arguing and quarreling, several of Molloy's friends came in from New Rochelle.  It is said that they all formed to talk Elliot down, and Elliot fearing violence, went to another room and get [sic] his revolver.  When he came back in the bar-room Elliot says he saw Hiney apparently awaiting him and holding a revolver in his hand.  He raised his pistol and fired at Hiney.  The ball entered his left breast, inflicting a fatal wound.  As he fell to the floor, Elliot went up to Colford, and without any warning knocked him down.  Then Hiney and the witnesses of the shooting dispersed.  

Strangest of all is the story of Hiney after the shooting.  When he ran out of the saloon he started to walk home.  Colford in his wagon caught up with him.  Hiney climbed in, and the two drove off together.  Hiney said he was very much frightened, which he thought accounted for his uncomfortable feeling.  It never entered Colford's head that Hiney was wounded.

He left the young man out of the wagon almost at house.  They lived only a block apart.  Colford went on home.  Hiney walked scarcely twenty feet when he fell to the ground fainting.  There Joseph Sterrett found him before midnight and took him home.  Dr. Denneg [sic] came.  He found that the bullet had entered the right side, just below the nipple.  It passed through the right lung and buried itself in the left side.  He saw that Hiney could not live.  At 3 o'clock Justice Skennion was summoned and he took Hiney's ante-mortem statement.  At 5 o'clock Constable Bradley was told of the shooting and he started for Pelham Bridge.  He found Elliot in bed.  Together they went down to Throgg's Neck.

Constable Bradley took Elliott into the room where Hiney lay dying.  The mother was there, the sisters and the three brothers.  They looked at the pale white face on the pillow and the rugged one of the man who turned his eyes away.  Hiney said Elliot was the man who shot him.  Then Constable Bradley took Elliot to the jail at White Plains.  Hiney lingered until 1.30 o'clock in the afternoon, when he died.

David H. Hunt with Martin J. Keogh and the great New York criminal lawyer, Howe, are employed to defend Elliott.

He claims he shot in self-defense, believing his own life to be in danger John Hiney, the man who was shot, had for some time been a watchman for James M. Waterbury of Westchester, and on account of his business was in the habit of carrying a revolver."

Source:  A FATAL QUARREL, The Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Nov. 19, 1892, Vol. XLVIII, No. 34, p. 3, col. 6.  

"ELLIOTT MURDERS HINEY.
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A Fatal Political Discussion in Westchester.
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DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS HIT.
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Bitter Feeling Since the Dempsey-Le Blanche Fight.
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SAYS IT WAS SELF-DEFENSE.
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'Johnny' Elliott, a well-known sport of Westchester County, N. Y., shot and mortally wounded John Hiney in Elliott's road house near the Pelham bridge, on Sunday night last, during a political quarrel.  The two men had always been friends.

William John Elliott was born in Throgg's Neck, the village which is really a part of Westchester.  His father, Alec Elliott, used to drive a stage from Throgg's Neck to Harlem before there was a railroad.  Old-timers remember that the elder Elliott was forced to leave the country during war times.  One day he beat Sergt. Dolan, who was stationed at Fort Schuyler.  When Dolan returned to the barracks the men on post asked him who had beaten him.  Dolan told them.

The men left their posts and went to Elliott's house.  They demanded admittance.  A voice said that Elliott was not there.  They fired throught the window.  Elliott's niece, a beautiful young woman was killed.

'Johnny' Elliott, as every one calls him, was a tiny boy then, and John Hiney hadn't been born.  The two men were born within two blocks of each other.  They grew up together and have always been good friends.  Hiney's father was a stone mason.  He died when John was a baby, and Matthew Colford was made his guardian.  As 'Johnny' Elliott grew older he displayed sporting tastes, coupled with a capacity for making money.  Hiney was staid and serious.  He lived with his mother.  He was only 23.  Elliott is 5 years older.

Eight or nine years ago Elliott leased the yellow roadhouse, which rests on piles over the Pelham river at the north end of Pelham bridge.  It is now a part of Pelham park.  The road-house is called the Grand View Hotel.  It is popular with fishermen and with people who drive along Pelham road.  It is about 2 miles from Westchester.  In the old days it was more of a sporting place than it is now.  Many prize fights have taken place there.  The fight between Le Blanche, the Marine, and Henry took place there.  That fight plays an important part in this murder.

A warrant was sworn out for Elliott's arrest because of thise fight.  It was place in the hands of William V. Molloy, a deputy sheriff, to serve.  Elliott was arrested, and it was an expensive arrest for him.  But of late years Elliott's place has been more quiet.  The young proprietor has indulged his sporting tastes elsewhere.  He has always lived at the hotel.  With him are his wife and two children and his aunt.  Mrs. Byzzard [Editor's Note:  Could this be a mistaken corruption of "Blizzard" who once ran the Grand View Hotel?], who cared for him.

Hiney was unmarried.  He always said that he had his mother to care for.  Two years ago he was made night watchman for James M. Waterbury, who has a big estate in Westchester.  There was no more popular young man in the town of Westchester than Hiney.  He was very quiet.  No one ever knew him to get into trouble.  Last year he ran for Constable and he ran 200 ahead of his ticket.

Hiney's warmest friend was John B. Colford, a commission horse dealer, who enjoys an enviable reputation.  He has worked for Mr. Waterbury all his life, as did his father before him.  Colford buys horses for all the rich men in the vicinity.  It was through him that Hiney got his job as night watchman.

Hiney and Colford are both Democrats.  Colford is something of a political boss.  Hiney was a member of the Democratic Town Committee.  This year Colford has warmly supported William V. Molloy for the position of County Register.  Molloy is a Republican, a member of the railroad contracting firm of Molloy Bros., of New Rochelle.  Colford supported Molloy for personal reasons.  Hiney followed his friend in supporting the Republican.  

On Sunday night Colford drove Hiney down to the town hall of Westchester to attend a meeting of the Town Committee.

Upon their return when about a mile from Elliott's road-house, it was suggested that they go in there and have a drink.  

The talk was upon politics.  The candidates for Register were the most discussed.  The Molloy who is the candidate is the same Molloy who arrested Elliott as a deputy sheriff.  Elliott hates him cordially.  In the course of the talk Elliott drew several $1,000 bills from his pocket and offered to bet Colford one of them or any part of it that Graney would be elected.  Colford replied that he couldn't bet that much.  He said he had never before seen a $1,000 bill.  Finally they bet $50.  The money was placed in Hiney's hands.

Up to this point the stories agree.  From this point on there is a divergence.  That of Colford seems to be the straightest and clearest.

'Everything had been very pleasant and comfortable,' he said afterwards.  'No one had the slighest idea of any trouble.  We had been talking warmly but there was no personal feeling.  After a while Elliott began talking roughly to Molloy.  He was behind the bar and Molloy was in front of it.  The rest of us were along the bar.  Elliott was villifying Molloy frightfully.  'Olly' Molloy is a college-bred man and he isn't use to the rough ways of politics.  I thought that Elliott was going it too strong.  He had talked until he ws in a terrible rage.  I started back of the bar to try and draw his attention fromm Molloy.  

'I took him by the arm and started to say that it was not 'Olly's' fault that his brother had arrested him, when Elliott turned on me and said:  

'You're trying to do me, are you.'

'He grappled with me.  That made me mad and there was a scuffle.  He pushed me out from behind the bar.  Hiney was standing next to it, beside the ice-box.  Then Elliott rushed upstairs.  

'In a few seconds he came down again with a revolver in his hands.  He said:  'John Hiney, you've got a gun.  You want to get out of here quick!' Hiney had a revolver.  In his capacity as night watchman he carried a pearl-handled one, which I gave him myself.  Earlier in the evening he had taken the revolver from his pocket nd laid it on the bar in order to find soe change in his pockets with which to pay for drinks.

'Almost before the words were out of Elliott's mouth he fired at Hiney, who turned and ran out.  Then Elliott turned to me and struck me over the eye with the butt of the revolver.  I was knocked senseless.  When I recovered consciousness Hynes was saying 'I hope you didn't hit him,' and Elliott replied, 'Did I ever shoot at anything I didn't hit?'

Elliott has the reputation of being one of the finest pigeon shots in the country.  Colford went on to say that when he regained his senses the others were looking to see if they could find where the bullet struck.  He went out directly, climbed into his wagon and started home.

Strangest of all is the story of Hiney after the shooting.  When he ran out of the saloon he started to walk home.  He had not the slightest idea that he had been shot.  Colford, in his wagon, caught up with him.  Hiney climbed in, and the two drove along together.  Hiney said he was very much frightened, which he thought accounted for his uncomfortable feeling.  It never entered Colford's head that Hiney was wounded.  He let the young man out of the wagon almost at his house -- they live only a block apart.  Colford went on home.  Hiney walked scarcely twenty feet when he fell to the ground fainting.  There Joseph Sterrett found him before midnight and took him home.  Dr. Dennen came.  He founded that the bullet had entered the right side, just below the nipple.  It passed through the right lung and buried itself in the left side.  He saw that Hiney could not live.  At 3 o'clock Justice Skennion was summoned and he took Hiney's ante-mortem statement.  At 5 o'clock Constable Bradley was told of the shooting, and he started for Pelham Bridge.  He found Elliott in bed.  Together they went down to Throgg's Neck.

Constable Bradley took Elliott into the room where Hiney lay dying.  The mother was there, the sisters and the three brothers.  They looked at the pale, white face on the pillow and the rugged one of the man who turned his eyes away.  Hiney said Elliott was the man who shot him.  Then Constable Bradley took Elliott to the station at Westchester and from there to the jail at White Plains.  Hiney lingered until 1:30 o'clock in the afternoon, when he died."

Source:  ELLIOTT MURDERS HINEY -- A Fatal Political Discussion in Westchester, The National Police Gazette [NY, NY], Nov. 26, 1892, p. 7, cols. 1-2.  

"The grand jury found no bill against John Elliott, the proprietor of the road house at Pelham bridge, who shot and killed John Hiney in a quarrel at Pelham Bay Park on the Monday night before election.  He claimed at the time that he shot in self defense when he saw Hiney had a revolver in his hnd and was in  temper to use it.  The grand jury took that view of the case and he was discharged from custody.  This act of violence seems to call for such legislation as will prevent the carrying upon one's person fire arms.  Hiney had a pistol in his pocket and exhibited it and was shot down by Elliott under the apprehension that it was intended to do him harm.  The testimony showed that 'drink' had been indulged in freely and wherever this is a condition the deadly revolver is a dangerous accompanient.  There certainly should be some effective legal method to prevent the carrying upon one's person death-dealing fire-arms."

Source:  [Untitled], The Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Nov. 26, 1892, Vol. XLVIII, No. 35, p. 2, col. 1.  

"Goes Scot Free.

The Grand Jury failed to find any indictment against Jack Elliott, the keeper of a road house at Pelham Bridge, who, during a political quarrel, recently, shot and killed John Hiney.  

When he was arrested he said he shot in self-defence, seeing Hiney with a revolver in his hand and in a temper to use it.

Since the shooting he has been 'committed to White Plains Jail,' but spent little time in it.  He had the free run of the Sheriff's office, and went to a hotel to his meals.  He was continually boasting of his 'pull' with the Democratic politicians.  It seems to have stood him in good stead.  He is discharged."

Source:  Goes Scot Free, The Yonkers Statesman, Nov. 23, 1892, Vol. X, No. 2770, p. 4, col. 4.  

"GENERAL NEWS NOTES . . . 

At White Plains, N. Y., Mrs. Bridget Hiney, mother of the young man who was shot and killed in an election quarrel on November 6 by John Elliott, proprietor of the Pelham Bridge hotle, has sued Mr. Elliott for $5,000 damages for the loss of her son's support.  The grand jury refused to indict Elliott for the shooting."

Source:  GENERAL NEWS NOTES, Hammondsport Herald [Hammondsport, NY], Feb. 1, 1893, Vol. XIX, No. 40, p. 1, col. 1.  

"COUNTY NEWS. . . 

--Mrs. Bridget Hiney, of Pelham Bridge, has sued 'Jack' Elliott, a sporting man and proprietor of the Pelham Bridge Hotel, for $5,000, for the loss of her son's services.  On the Sunday preceding the election last November, Elliott and John P. Hiney, the widow's alleged support, got into a quarrel at the Pelham Bridge Hotel over the relative merits of William Molloy and William Graney, the republican and democratic candidates for register.  In the war of words Elliott shot and killed Hiney; hence the civil suit.  An attempt to indict Elliott failed."

Source:  COUNTY NEWS, The Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY],. Jun. 10, 1893, p. 3, cols. 3-5. 

"COURT PROCEEDINGS. . . . 

Mary Ann Hiney vs. John Elliott. -- Mary Ann Hiney, of Pelham, as the administratrix of the estate of her son, John Hiney, who was shot and killed Nov. 6th, 1892 by 'Jack' Elliott, a well known hotel keeper at Pelham Bridge, brought this action under the statute to recover $5,000 damages for loss of support, &c.  After twenty-four hours' deliberation, the jury brought in a verdict for the defendant.  The evidence was so strong in support of the theory of self defense that the grand jury failed to indict Elliott, and hence this civil suit was brought.  The trial was ably conducted.  Mr. Hunt in summing up for the defense showed that he was an orator as well as a skillful lawyer.  Messrs. Emmett & Morris appeared for the plaintiff.  The verdict was a complete vindication of Mr. Elliott's act."

Source:  COURT PROCEEDINGS . . . Mary Ann Hiney vs. John Elliott, The Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Oct. 7, 1893, Vol. XLIX, No. 28, p. 2, col. 3.  

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The Chicago Tribune Lampooned Coaching to Pelham in 1884

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"It was an institution of democratic aristocracy.  Anybody could

ride who engaged a seat in advance and paid the regular fare. . . .

He enjoyed the trips for they afforded him occupation and amusement. 

The scheme was so popular that at the close of the season he sold

his horses and got out without loss."

-- The Chicago Tribune, June 8, 1884, Writing About Col. Delancey Kane's

First Season Operating His Coach to Pelham Known as the "Tally Ho"

In 1876 a horse-drawn road coach named the "Tally Ho" and known informally as “The Pelham Coach” began running between New York City’s Hotel Brunswick and the “Pelham Manor” of yore. This road coach was not a simple hired coach that ferried passengers between New York City and Pelham Manor.  Rather, this road coach was driven by Colonel Delancey Astor Kane, one of the so-called “millionaire coachmen,” who engaged in a sport known as “public coaching” or “road coaching” as it sometimes was called. 

The purpose of the sport was to rush the carriage between designated points on a specified schedule and to maintain that schedule rigorously.  Colonel Delancey Astor Kane became quite famous for his handling of The Pelham Coach, a bright canary yellow coach that was cheered along its route from the Hotel Brunswick in New York City to Pelham Bridge.

Colonel Delancey Astor Kane and The Pelham Coach

During a "Coaching to Pelham" Excursion.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Col. Delancey Astor Kane and the Pelham Coach made Pelham famous and played a critical role in shaping the nation's perception of Pelham as a playground of the rich and famous during the 19th century, just as the Town was beginning to grow explosively as a suburb of New York City.  People seemed to love the pageantry and excitement of the canary yellow Pelham Coach, pulled by four grand horses, racing through the streets of New York City and across the countryside.  Countless newspaper and magazine accounts describe crowds gathering at the Hotel Brunswick and along the streets to cheer the coach as it departed, arrived, or passed.

Yet, within a short time, some tired of the spectacle.  Some viewed the daily travels of the coach, in season, as a pointless exercise intended more to bring attention to Col. Delancey Kane and the various other mutton-chop millionaires who formed the Coaching Club of New York City and occasionally drove the Pelham Coach and other such sporting coaches in our region.  

Within a few years, some New Yorkers began to taunt and harass the various sporting coaches.  Indeed, I have written before of such incidents as the one in 1886, when a prankster hired four mules and hitched them to an English-style coach with a gaudily-dressed crew.  On the first trip of the Tantivy Coach to Pelham driven by Frederic Bronson that year from the Hotel Brunswick to the Country Club at Pelham, the mules pulled in behind the Tantivy as it rumbled over the streets of New York City and followed it as crowds along the roads roared with jeers and laughter, thoroughly humiliating the Tantivy, its coachmen, and passengers.  See Wed., Sep. 28, 2005:  Taunting the Tantivy Coach on its Way to Pelham: 1886.

Col. Delancey Kane and his Tally-Ho to Pelham were not immune from such taunts.  Indeed, it seems that an earlier such incident involving the Tally-Ho to Pelham may have inspired the prank that humiliated the Tantivy in 1886.  In fact, this earlier incident involving the Tally-Ho so thoroughly humiliated Col. Delancey Kane that he reportedly became ill and temporarily abandoned his beloved sport of coaching in New York choosing, instead, to pursue the sport in London during the following year (1883).

The incident, it seems, turned out to be a brilliant stroke of marketing by a soap seller who sought to make fun of the Tally-Ho while bringing attention to its soap products.  One report described the incident that occurred in about 1882 in terms offensive to our sensibilities today:

"All went merry as a marriage-bell, till suddenly the Devil appeared to trouble our stage-driving aristocracy.  He took the form of a four-horse coach almost exactly like the 'Tallyho' and 'Tantivy' which stood waiting for them when they came trotting down in the afternoon.  This device of the Evil One lay in wait at the Central Park.  It even outdid the two other coaches in genteel splendor.  It was driven by two liveried negroes in high white hats and two other children of Ham similarly attired sat upright and perched high behind.  They wore very high collars, and on these was the strange device '----- Soap.'  When either the Pelham or the Yonkers coach came along the soap concern turned right in behind it and followed it down Fifth avenue and through the city, and when the professional guards on the real coach would sound their stirring horns the colored tooters blew an answering blast.  Forrest was thrown into a fever once by seeing the negro minstrels caricature his Virginius.  So did the African imitation annoy Col. Kane.  It made him sick and nervous, and his doctor ordered him off the road.  He left.  The 'Tallyho' was withdrawn, no doubt to the great chagrin of the gorgeous advertising dodge, and soon thereafter Mr. Roosevelt ceased to play the Jehu."  (See transcription of text of the full article below).

As the incident involving the Tally-Ho to Pelham suggests, by the early to mid-1880s, there were many critics who viewed the sport of coaching as a decadent display of the excesses of an out-of-touch wealthy class to be taunted, not admired.  The Chicago Tribune seemed to adhere to this view.  Indeed, in a lengthy article published on June 8, 1884, the newspaper lampooned the "Swell Drivers" and labeled Col. Delancey Kane and his sport of coaching a bunch of "English Society Nonsense."

The lengthy article by The Chicago Tribune is significant not only because it documents much of the early history of the sport of coaching in America, but it also included amusing caricatures of a number of the important millionire coachmen including Col. Delancey Astor Kane, Pierre Lorillard, Col. William Jay, Leonard Jerome, Lawrence Jerome, and August Belmont.

The article is well worth a read, rather than just serving as research documentation for today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog!

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"SWELL DRIVERS.
-----
The New York Coaching Club and the Characteristics of Its Members.
-----
Col. De Lancey Kane and His Following of English Society Nonsense.
-----
Pierre Lorillard, Leonard Jerome, August Belmont, Col. William Jay, and the Rest of the Boys.
-----

NEW YORK, June 5. -- [Special Correspondence.] -- The New York Coaching Club, which has just had its spring parade with an uncommon flourish of trumpets and flash of rainbow hues, is an exotic -- and English institution transplanted (in rather thin soil) to our shores.  By this characterization of the sort of soil in which it is set out I do not mean to depreciate either the character or the ability of the gentlemen who are trying to dig about the foreign plant and nourish it, but only to allude to the small motive for its being.

And before referring specifically to this let me say that the whole tendency of New York society of the present time is unmistakably English.  As London in the days of Addison mimicked the French, so does Fifth avenue now delight in bowing down in servile deference to Regent's Park and Rotten Row.  It imitates the English walk and the English talk, the way the Englishman dresses his butler, and the way he constructs his sentences.  The fast and fashionable set who centre at the Hotel Brunswick even keep their hats on when riding up on the elevator with ladies because the English do it -- forgetting that boorishness is scarcely a thing for fashion to approve, even though the Prince of Wales lead off for it.

These people are not all dudes and dudines by any means; they have generally some sense, as well as much money; they do not suck the heads of their canes or turn their elbows out, and at least half of them lead reputable lives.  But they say 'Good gwacious!  Oughtn't the English to know best how to speak the English language elegantly?'  So they allude to the 'nawsty, beastly weather,' and they intone their sentences to the Pall Mall inflection.  They ape English manners in every way.  There is not a bit of originality or manly independence in what calls itself high society in this city today.

These people are generally snobs and toadies.  They 'wegwet' that they were born this side the ocean.  They admit that Americans have no rights which English are bound to recognize.  They do not believe in a republican form of government.  They wish we had a nobility.  They have no respect for real work or workers.  And every year they are drawing closer the lines of exclusiveness and ordering out of their society everybody who is 'in twade.'  No active merchant, be he ever so wealthy or worthy, is tolerated in New York upper-ten-dom today -- though his children may sometime be, if they lie low, refuse to do any useful work, and say as little as possible about where they got their money.

So after polo had become acclimated the coaching was imported from England.  Its origin is due primarily to Col. De Lancey Kane, who was in England in 1877, and took part in the coaching there.  He joined other gentlemen drivers in driving swell coaches out from Charing Cross to the suburbs and back.  He procured a stylish turnout, and being a wealthy and fine-looking man, an enthusiastic lover of horses, and a good driver, his was one of the most prominent of the London coaches that season.  They drove in all sorts of weather, never losing a trip, and as they carried whoever wanted to ride at about double fare it seemed quite like a revival of the old stage coach days.

Returning here he broached the matter at the clubs, and immediately found others who wanted to hang on to the tail of the English kite -- notably Col. William Jay, August Belmont, and Fairman Rogers of Philadelphia.

They imported coaches and harness from Englan, and Col. Jay began the first season by running a coach out to Pelham and back every day -- fourteen miles up towards Connecticut.  It was started in May, and at the initial parade their were eight members and six coaches, five being for private use only.

Col. Jay's venture was a great success, and was followed the next year by Col. De Lancey Kane, who ran the 'Tallyho' over the same route.  A fixed charge of $3 a seat, up and back, was made, and the 'Tallyho' went full every day.  It was an institution of democratic aristocracy.  Anybody could ride who engaged a seat in advance and paid the regular fare.  Kane became a sort of society Weller.  [NOTE:  A reference to the fictional character of Sam Weller in Charles Dickens' "The Pickwick Paper," who served as Mr. Pickwick's personal servant and travel companion.].  He enjoyed the trips for they afforded him occupation and amusement.  The scheme was so popular that at the close of the season he sold his horses and got out without loss.

A SPECTRAL TERROR.

All went merry as a marriage-bell, till suddenly the Devil appeared to trouble our stage-driving aristocracy.  He took the form of a four-horse coach almost exactly like the 'Tallyho' and 'Tantivy' which stood waiting for them when they came trotting down in the afternoon.  This device of the Evil One lay in wait at the Central Park.  It even outdid the two other coaches in genteel splendor.  It was driven by two liveried negroes in high white hats and two other children of Ham similarly attired sat upright and perched high behind.  They wore very high collars, and on these was the strange device '----- Soap.'  When either the Pelham or the Yonkers coach came along the soap concern turned right in behind it and followed it down Fifth avenue and through the city, and when the professional guards on the real coach would sound their stirring horns the colored tooters blew an answering blast.  Forrest was thrown into a fever once by seeing the negro minstrels caricature his Virginius.  So did the African imitation annoy Col. Kane.  It made him sick and nervous, and his doctor ordered him off the road.  He left.  The 'Tallyho' was withdrawn, no doubt to the great chagrin of the gorgeous advertising dodge, and soon thereafter Mr. Roosevelt ceased to play the Jehu.

Last year no coach was run -- probably intimidated by the awful possibility of the African soap team falling in again.

This year Mr. J. R. Roosevelt and Mr. C. O. Iselin are running the 'Greyhound' every day from the Brunswick Hotel to the new clubhouse at Bartow on the Sound, near Pelham.  It was put on early in April, and will be taken off June 7, after which it is supposed to be 'too hot for fun.'  The price is reduced to $2.50, and the coach runs full every day.

It is but fair to say that the coach is run on the square; that the millionaire driver minds his own business and does not talk with the passengers unless first approached; and that, strange as it may seem, he is not above 'tips.'  In fact, being a driver, and doing his duty, he expects the 'perkisits' which pleased Tony Weller's soul.  [NOTE:  Tony Weller, in Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers," was Sam Weller's father.]  Some passengers do not 'tip' the driver, being restrained, perhaps, by the virtuous thought that it is demoralizing; but generally they give him $1 or 50 cents apiece.  I haven't known anybody to venture to offer Col. Kane or Mr. August Belmont (who sometimes drives) a smaller piece than a quarter.  Roosevelt, one of our nobby young men, with an income of $100,000, usually takes enough in tips to keep him in cigars and fluids.  If the English style is to be strictly adhered to, it seems to me that Jehu ought not to be above 'thrippence' or even 'tuppence,' and that he ought, on arriving at his destination to sit in the stable on a wheelbarrow, drink a glass of 'alf and 'alf,' and smoke a black pipe.

Col. Kane is in Europe this year and the mantle of management has fallen on the Chevalier Hugo Fritsch, the Austrian Consul here, who does much to keep up interest in the club.  

Other prominent members besides those already mentioned are Pierre Lorillard, Col. Isaac Reed (now 70 years old), F. A. Schermerhorn, George Beck, George P. Wetmore, F. R. Rives, E. D. Morgan (the millionaire grandson and adopted son of ex-Gov. Morgan), C. H. Joy, Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, and Theodore Havemeyer.

THE ANNUAL PARADE.

The spring parade of the Coaching Club is now one of the attractive sensations of the city.  Members of the club all turn out and drive their own coaches, with their wives, sisters, sweethearts, etc., on the coach with them, dressed in their best.  When I say 'best' I mean showiest.  They are generally in silks and satins, of Worth's make and kaleidoscopic colors.  This is in doubtful taste, even if these women are the leaders of society, but they have an idea that the ladies on coach-parade set the fashions for the summer, so they are somewhat elaborate -- delicate creations of lace and satin that would seem more at home in the drawing-room.  I am sure a dark costume would be more appropriate for the top of a coach.  In fact, the Princess of Wales has just set her face against this flamboyant style by appearing at the London coaching-parade in a dark-blue flannel dress -- or 'gown,' as New York society folks are now learning to say.  Mrs. John Sherwood, too, admirably criticizes this absurd gear of the New York ladies in her new book, 'Manners and Social Usages.'  After the wives and sisters of the 'gentlemen drivers' are seated, they reinforce themselves with the prettiest women in New York society, to whom the other seats are assigned.  Perhaps the lady who attracted most attention this year was Mrs. James B. Potter, the amateur actress, who, in a marvelous robe of lilac silk, occupied the box seat with old Col. Reed.  Among other noted belles and beauties who rode this year were Mrs. Maj. Wetmore, Miss Marion Langdon (who if New York had professional beauties would figure as perhaps the mmost attractive of them all), Miss Kate Bulkley (a tall and superbly-formed blonde), Mrs. E. D. Morgan, and Mrs. Frederick Bronson.  Shall I say something about the personnel of the club?

PIERRE LORILLARD.

Pierre Lorillard is about 44 years old and son of Pierre Lorillard, no longer living.  He is a heavy, solidly-built man, with a very florid complexion, resulting from the Dry Monopole, of which he is so fond, shining through.  He has a double chin, a bristly brown mustache, is always well dressed, and always in a perspiration.  His wealth is so great that, although a good business-man, he seldom goes to the factory, and lets his father's tobacco estate run up to weeds, as it were, while he devotes himself to sporting and society.  His father  was not in society, of course, because he worked and made the money.  His stud-farm out at Jobstown, N. J., is famous among sporting men throughout the country.  His wife, with a superb neck and shoulders and raven-black hair is one of the handsomest women in New York society; her Worth dresses are the envy of all women, and her diamonds are second only to those of Mrs. Astor.  She usually gives three balls each winter.

Lorillard's residence is the magnificent, spacious red-brick mansion on Fifth avenue and Thirty-sixth street.  His son, Pierre Lorillard Jr., now about 26, and a chip of the old block, was married three or four years ago to Miss Cassie Hamilton.  When their first child was christened the happy grandfather presented it with a massive silver cup bearing the device, 'From Pierre Lorillard 6th.'  A society paper in announcing the event added, 'Doubtless some ill natured people will now send us the query 'Who was Pierre Lorillard first?' but we positively refuse to open a conundrum department in this paper.'

Mr. Lorillard has just sold his superb summer residence at Ochre Point, Newport, and he will hereafter live here and cruise around in his fine steam yacht, the Radha.  If he runs into any more ferryboats with it, though, it may get to be an expensive vehicle.

COL. WILLIAM JAY

Col. Jay, President of the Coaching Club, is a son of John Jay, statesman and diplomatist, and a great grandson of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States.  He is about 42, tall, well-built, and rather imposing in appearance.  A man of sense in most matters and of some education, he yet imitates closely the manners and speech of Englishmen.  Is fond of society, and society reciprocates.  Puts a good deal of his surplus enthusiasm into coaching.  His wife was Miss Oelrichs, sister of Hermann Oerichs.  His home life is very quiet and comfortable.  His wife is one of the prettiest married women in New York.  He has an income of $50,000, and if he could only be born in England sometime he would be perfectly happy.

LEONARD JEROME

The first appearance of the Jeromes in New York was in 1856 or '57, I forget which.  The sons of a farmer near Rochester, N. Y., they got a notion that they were born to better things; and, possessing a fair common school education and much natural shrewdness and ability, they struck out for New York City with a handsome team of horses of their own breaking -- almost their entire capital.  These they managed to sell to old Diedrick Havemeyer, the first day of their arrival, for $800 -- a tremendous price in those days.  Mr. Havemeyer drove out that afternoon to exhibit his prize, when the team ran away with him, broke the wagon into toothpicks, and came near killing day, when he got one leg broken by proxy.  Then he sold the team for $150, but the Jerome boys did not buy.

They now had money enough to go into Wall street on margins.  They made $1,000; more; then another $1,000; and so on till they had amassed considerable fortunes and become double millionaires.  Leonard is the older of the two, and quite different to his brother Lawrence (as our superior British brethren would say.), being much more quietand reserved.  He is about 62 or 63, tall, sinewy, with an intelligent face.  He made very largely in Pacific Mail, and wasthe founder of Jerome Park and the American Jockey Club, which was merged into the Turf Club, and both perished in the mergence.

Leonard Jerome's daughter married Lord Randolph Churchill, after complying with a well-known English ceremony by executing a contract agreeing to pay $25,000 annually to the purse of Milud.

LAWRENCE JEROME

Lawrence (pronounced 'Larrence,' if you please) is the prince of good fellows.  For many years no social gathering in New York was complete without him.  As a successful diner-out and a brilliant talker he is almost as widely known as his confrere and intimate, W. R. Travers.  He is an enthusistic yachtsman and coacher.

AUGUST BELMONT.

August Belmont is a Hebrew of the Wall street persuasion.  When a witness in a celebrated trial, and asked his identity, he said boldly:  'I am a Jew.'  'Have you any other business?' inquired the lawyer blandly.  He is a German and is said to bear some sort of blood relationship to one of the Rothschilds.  He came to New York about forty years ago, and soon became the American agent of that family of Cruesuses, which gave him prestige and made it easy for him to gratify his social ambitions.  He came widely known on account of his duel with Col. Heyward, which resulted from quarrel about a New York lady, and in which he received a bullet in his leg, from which he is still lame.  He soon contracted marriage with Miss Perry, a grand-daughter of Commodore Perry, hero of Lake Erie.  

Mr. Belmont is famous for his enmities.  He is a man of about 60, short, thick-set, bullet-headed, of a most excitable temperament.  He must have some friends, but there are many of the best-known men in New York with whom he is not on speaking terms.  He is brusque, arrogant, and violent in much of his intercourse.  He is worth $15,000,000, and dwells in a large brick house on Fifth avenue at Eighteenth street, opposite Chickering Hall.  At the rear of the house is a rich gallery of paintings, but it is seldom seen.  He is a member of the Manhattan and Union Clubs, and was the chief adviser of Turnbull in his recent unsavory trouble.

His oldest son is Perry Belmont, the bright M. C. from the First District.  Another son, Oliver, was married a year and a half ago, and his wife has already obtained a separation from him on the ground of ill-treatment on the bridal trip.  A divorce suit is now in progress.  A third, Raymond Belmont, now in Harvard College, was arrested and locked up at Narragansett Pier for disorderly conduct; and a fourth, August Jr., has had to pay $2,500 damages for assaulting and beating a man named Tower down on Long Island, because when he rode over Tower's son Tower complained to him about it.  There is a coolness just now between the Belmonts and Astors because Miss Carrie Astor had the temerity to stand as godmother to Mrs. Perry Belmont's child, after Perry had been discarded.  The summer residence of the Belmont family is at Babylon, L. I.

"COL. DELANCEY ASTOR KANE"

COL. DELANCEY ASTOR KANE is a short, slight, and swarthy man of 45.  Is thoroughly English in get-up, manner, and conversation.  Never rides on the 'tramway,' and always has plenty of 'luggage.'  No higher compliment can be paid him than to mistake him for an Englishman.  Inherited a fortune, and has never soiled his hands with work.  Until the last few years he spent most of his time abroad, but the Coaching Club now keeps him here.  He is the best four-in-hand driver in the country, and handles the ribbons with consummate skill.  For many years he was famed as a leader of the german, an Puck gave him the soubriquet of 'Dancy Kane.'  At the F. C. D. C., the Patriarchs', and all the Delmonico balls, he was simply indispensable, and on West Thirty-fifth street; his summer retreat at New Rochelle.  His faults are amiable ones, and most popular of the society men of the metropolis.  

W. A. CHOFFUT."



Source:  SWELL DRIVERS -- The New York Coaching Club and the Characteristics of Its Members -- Col. De Lancey Kane and His Following of English Society Nonsense -- Pierre Lorillard, Leonard Jerome, August Belmont, Col. William Jay, and the Rest of the Boys, N.Y. Herald, Jun. 8, 1884, p. 12, cols. 1-3 (NOTE:  Paid subscription requited to access via this link).    

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Below is a list of articles and blog postings that I previously have posted regarding the subject of "Coaching to Pelham."  

Bell, Blake A., Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach" (Sep. 2003).

Wed., Jul. 30, 2014:  Yet Another Attempt in 1894 to Resurrect the Glory Days of Coaching to Pelham.  

Tue., Jul. 29, 2014:  Wonderful Description of Coaching to Pelham on the Tally-Ho's First Trip of the Season on May 1, 1882.

Wed., Apr. 14, 2010:  Col. Delancey Kane Changes the Timing and Route of The Pelham Coach in 1876.

Tue., Sep. 08, 2009:  1877 Advertisement with Timetable for the Tally Ho Coach to Pelham.

Mon., Mar. 23, 2009:  The Greyhound and the Tantivy-- The Four-in-Hand Coaches that Succeeded Col. Delancey Kane's "Tally-Ho" to Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 16, 2009: The Final Trip of the First Season of Col. Delancey Kane's "New-Rochelle and Pelham Four-in-Hand Coach Line" in 1876.

Thu., Jan. 15, 2009:  The First Trip of Col. Delancey Kane's "New-Rochelle and Pelham Four-in-Hand Coach Line" on May 1, 1876.

Thu., Mar. 06, 2008:  Auctioning the Tantivy's Horses at the Close of the 1886 Coaching Season.

Wed., Mar. 05, 2008:  Coaching to Pelham: The Tantivy Has an Accident on its Way to Pelham in 1886.  

Thu., Jan. 24, 2008:  An Account of the First Trip of Colonel Delancey Kane's Tally-Ho to Open the 1880 Coaching Season.

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008: Brief "History of Coaching" Published in 1891 Shows Ties of Sport to Pelham, New York

Thursday, August 3, 2006: Images of Colonel Delancey Kane and His "Pelham Coach" Published in 1878.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005: Taunting the Tantivy Coach on its Way to Pelham: 1886.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005: 1882 Engraving Shows Opening of Coaching Season From Hotel Brunswick to Pelham Bridge.

Thu., Jun. 09, 2005:  Coaching to Pelham: Colonel Delancey Astor Kane Did Not Operate the Only Coach to Pelham.

Fri., Feb. 11, 2005:  Col. Delancey Kane's "Pelham Coach", Also Known as The Tally-Ho, Is Located.

Bell, Blake A., Col. Delancey Kane and "The Pelham Coach", The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XII, No. 38, Sept. 26, 2003, p. 1, col. 1.

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