Historic Pelham: 1877 Advertisement for Colonel Delancey Kane's Pelham Coach Known as the "Tally Ho"

In 1876 a horse-drawn road coach known as “The Pelham Coach” (also known, informally, as the "Tally Ho!") 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 from New York City in the days before Henry Ford mass produced his Model T. Rather, this road coach was driven by Colonel Delancey 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, with quick changes of horses at strategic points along the way, and to maintain that schedule rigorously.

Colonel Delancey 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 in the Town of Pelham. The iconic image included at the end of today's Historic Pelham article appeared on song sheets, in etchings and engravings distributed throughout the United States. It shows The Pelham Coach.

Colonel Kane changed the terminus of the Tally Ho! a number of times. In various years the coach traveled to the Lorillard cottage (Arcularius Hotel) at Pelham Bridge, the Pelham Bridge Hotel, the Huguenot House in New Rochelle, and a number of other locations in the region. The coach route always, however, either terminated at Pelham Bridge or continued through Pelham along Shore Road past the settlement of Bartow and Bolton Priory on its way to New Rochelle.

A fascinating advertisement for the Tally Ho! appeared in the June 9, 1877 issue of The Spirit of the Times, a sporting magazine of the day. An image of the advertisement (and a transcription to facilitate search) appear below. The advertisement provides a detailed time table showing the route of the coach, locations of horse changes, and the exact fares from each location during the second coaching season of the Tally Ho!

The advertisement shows that there was an "office" located within the Hotel Brunswick in Manhattan where seats on the coach could be arranged. The coveted box seat atop the coach cost an extra fifty cents each way.

The advertisement further reveals that passengers were permitted luggage up to fifty pounds for free. The coach also carried parcels "at moderate rates" between stops and would pick up and "set down" passengers "wherever hailed, except between the Brunswick and Fifty-ninth Street."
The changes of horses during the rides were always among the most exciting parts of each trip. As the time table makes clear, during the 1877 coaching season which began May 1, changes of horses took place at Mott Haven, Union Port, and Pelham Bridge. Such changes were necessary to ensure that the four horses that pulled the coach would not be overworked as they raced their portions of the two-hour twenty mile trip from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon to New Rochelle each morning and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. back to the Hotel Brunswick each afternoon (except Sundays).

Passengers either brought picnics for the trip or enjoyed sumptuous repasts at a local hotel at the terminus. During the 1877 coaching season the coach took passengers to the Huguenot House where they could enjoy a lovely lunch before departing for New York City promptly at 2:00 p.m.

Below are an image and transcription of the text of the 1877 advertisement for the Tally Ho! They are followed by a citation and link to their source.

"NEW YORK

AND

NEW ROCHELLE

VIA PELHAM.

COMMENCING MAY 1.

-----

The 'Tally Ho!' Coach leaves the Brunswick, New York, at 10 A. M., and the Huguenot New Rochelle, at 2 P. M., daily (Sundays excepted).

TIME TABLE AND FARES.

Fares.	Down.		Time.	Fares.	Up.		Time.
	LEAVING New York	…..	A.M. 10.00		LEAVING New Rochelle	…..	P.M. 2.00
$	ARRIVE AT	…..		$	ARRIVE AT	…..
0.50	Harlem	…..	10.33		Neptune House	…..	2.10
0.50	*Mott Haven	…..	10.36	0.25	Bolton Priory	…..	2.15
0.75	Fox’s Corner	…..	10.58	0.25	Bartow	…..	2.26
1.00	*Union Port	…..	11.08	0.50	*Pelham Bridge	…..	2.30
1.00	Westchester	…..	11.15	0.75	Westchester	…..	2.45
1.50	*Pelham Bridge	…..	11.30	0.75	*Union Port	…..	2.58
1.75	Bartow	…..	11.36	1.00	Fox’s Corner	…..	3.00
1.75	Bolton Priory	…..	11.45	1.25	*Mott Haven	…..	3.18
2.00	Neptune House	…..	11.50	1.50	Harlem	…..	3.25
2.00	Huguenot House	…..	12.00	2.00	Hotel Brunswick	…..	4.00

*Change Horses.

Box Seat, 50 cents Extra each way.
Distance 20 Miles. Time 2 Hours.

Passengers' luggage up to 50 lbs., free. Parcels carried at moderate rates and punctually delivered. This coach stops to pick up and set down passengers wherever hailed, except between the Brunswick and Fifty-ninth Street.

N. B. -- Passengers cautioned to be on time.

Seats secured and all information given in Office, Hotel Brunswick."

Source: NEW YORK AND NEW ROCHELLE VIA PELHAM COMMENCING MAY 1, The Spirit of the Times, Jun. 9, 1877, p. 510, col. 3.