Henry Piepgras Made Improvements to His Pelham Shipyard in 1888 and 1889

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Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras purchased the David Carll Shipyard at the eastern end of Pilot Avenue (today's "Pilot Street") on City Island in the Town of Pelham in about 1885.  (To read more about the origins and history of the David Carll Shipyard, see Mon., Nov. 16, 2015: David Carll's Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island.)  Henry Piepgras was a talented and masterful shipbuilder and ship architect.  He brought the art of iron and steel ship construction to Pelham after having become an expert in crafting lead keels (and building hollow masts for such ships) while working as a shipbuilder in Germany and, later, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. 

Previous Historic Pelham articles have dealt with Henry Piepgras and his Pelham shipyard.  See, e.g.:

Mon., Nov. 27, 2006:  The 19th Century Ejectment of Henry Piepgras from Land Beneath the Waters Surrounding City Island.

Mon., Sep. 7, 2009:  More on the Ejectment of Henry Piepgras from Land Beneath the Waters Surrounding City Island.

Tue., Dec. 08, 2015:  Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras and His Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island.

Thu., May 19, 2016:  Descriptions And Rare Drawings of Shipyards in 1892 on City Island in the Town of Pelham.

Wed., May 10, 2017:  More on 19th Century Efforts To Eject City Island Businesses from Land Beneath Waters Surrounding the Island.

Thu., Aug. 03, 2017:  Brief 1894 Account Shows Devastating Impact on City Island from Ejectment Action Pursued by Elizabeth De Lancey.

By 1889, Henry Piepgras had converted the old Carll Shipyard into a modern marvel.  That year it was described as "[o]ne of the principal features of City Island" with "better facilities than any other ship builder in the State of New York; in fact, with a few more improvements, would no doubt have the best of any on this continent."

When busy, as it was in 1889, the Piepgras Shipyard employed up to one hundred men -- the largest employer in Pelham.  The shipbuilding industry at the time likely was the second largest industry in Pelham, led only by the oystering industry that involved hundreds of small family-owned vessels.  

The economic impact of shipbuilders such as Henry Piepgras on such a small community as Pelham, of course, was substantial.  According to the same account quoted above, "[t]he benefits to be derived from this establishment to the store keepers and other men of business on this island can hardly be estimated."

By 1889, the Piepgras shipyard machinery alone was valued at $90,000 (about $3.1 million in today's dollars).  Piepgras had been engaged in extensive improvements to the yard calculated to expand the business.  For example, at about this time he used a steam dredger around the dock of the shipyard so that at low tide there still would be eleven feet of water allowing enough clearance for yachts of virtually any size of the day.  He also extended the shipyard one hundred feet further down the sloping "basin" that led to the water at that location to provide room for "more facilities for building purposes."  In addition, Piepgras had solidified all abutments at the water (and in the water) by building "crib work" around each abutment and filling that crib work with stone to secure the abutment.

At the very beginning of 1889, the Piepgras Shipyard was extremely busy.  A local newspaper reported on February 1 as follows:

"At present there are the keels of three yachts laid, one of which is all plated up.  The work is progressing as rapidly as workmen can be obtained.  There are now employed at this yard 82 men, and Mr. Piepgras expects shortly to have work enough for over 100 men.  Preparations are going on for the laying of two more keels, which will make five down at once.  All will be steel plated vessels and it is hoped that they will be all finished in time to take part in the coming spring races."  

Significantly, Piepgras clearly envisioned further expansion of the shipyard.  On November 1, 1889, Piepgras published notice that he intended, on December 24, 1889, to apply to the Commissioners of the Land Office of the State of New York in Albany "for a grant in perpetuity of certain lands under the waters of the Long Island Sound on the east shore of and adjacent to the upland now owned and occupied by said applicant."

Sadly, the application and the subsequent grant of such rights to Piepgras set into motion a series of events that virtually broke Piepgras and his shipyard.  Elizabeth De Lancey and other members of her family eventually sued Piepgras Shipyard and other City Island businesses, successfully obtaining court orders ejecting them from such land beneath the waters of Long Island Sound.  See the numerous articles cited and linked in the list above for more information about the extensive ejectment dispute that lasted throughout a large portion of the 1890s.

For a shining moment in the late 1880s, however, the Piepgras Shipyard on City Island in the Town of Pelham was a shining example of the best of the shipbuilding industry.

Henry Piepgras in an Undated Photograph (Detail from Advertising

Brochure for his Shipyard). Source: Ancestry.com Genealogical

Data for Heinrich Carl Christian Piepgras (Paid Subscription Required).

NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

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"City Island.

Scarlet fever is quite prevalent here at present.  Mr. Robert Newman lost two children with that dreaded disease inside of two weeks, and fears are entertained by the people that it will spread all over the island.  Diphtheria is also raging here.

The Ben Franklin, an oyster sloop, was wrecked on the Sound during Sunday's gale.  The crew are supposed to be lost.  This fact was reported by Mr. Horton, a City Island pilot.

Those wanting summer homes on the Sound will do well to call on Mr. Reynolds, at his pharmacy, City Island.

A sociable was held at Mr. S. D. Horton's last night and a good time was spent by all present.

One of the principal features of City Island is Mr. Piepgras's ship yard.  At present there are the keels of three yachts laid, one of which is all plated up.  The work is progressing as rapidly as workmen can be obtained.  There are now employed at this yard 82 men, and Mr. Piepgras expects shortly to have work enough for over 100 men.  Preparations are going on for the laying of two more keels, which will make five down at once.  All will be steel plated vessels and it is hoped that they will be all finished in time to take part in the coming spring races.  Mr. P. has been using the steam dredger around the dock so that at low water, there will be 11 feet, and yachts of any size can lay up.  The yard has been extended 100 feet down into the basin, giving more facilities for building purposes.  The yard has been made perfectly solid at abuttments [sic] by building crib work and filling in with stone to properly secure it, and the earth taken from the basin has been used to fill in the 100 foot extension above mentioned.

It is said by those well posted in ship building, that Mr. Piepgras has better facilities than any other ship builder in the State of New York; in fact, with a few more improvements, would no doubt have the best of any on this continent.  The machinery alone in this yard has cost in the neighborhood of $90,000, not speaking of many other improvements that have been made since Mr. Piepgras took possession, about three years ago.

The benefits to be derived from this establishment to the store keepers and other men of business on this island can hardly be estimated.  It is well worth the while of those who have never seen a place of this kind to pay it a visit, and from the genial disposition of Mr. Piepgras, plenty of useful information can be obtained.

Quite a little interest is being manifested on City Island and in the neighborhood, over a case that is going through the Court here.  It is a case of cruelty to children.  The victim is a child only seven months old.  The grandmother of the infant testified on oath that the mother had brought the child to her and shown her its body covered with black and blue marks and had said that the father, Jonathan Bean had given it a severe whipping.  At the trial, however, Mrs. Bean claims that she did not say anything of the kind, and that she had never seen the father whip the child.  She had told the grandmother previously that she was afraid to have the father arrested for fear of the people.  The case was to come on again yesterday, but too late for us to repost it in this issue.  We hope, however, to have full particulars by our next."

Source:   City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 1, 1889, Vol. XX, No. 1,164, p. 3, col. 4.  

"NOTICE is hereby given that the undersigned applicant will apply to the Commissioners of the Land Office of the State of New York, at their office in the City of Albany, in said State, on the twenty-fourth day of December, A. D., 1889, at ten o'clock in the forenoon or as soon thereafter as said Commissioners may meet, for a grant in perpetuity of certain lands under the waters of the Long Island Sound on the east shore of and adjacent to the upland now owned and occupied by said applicant, and described as follows, viz:  All that certain piece or parcel of land under the waters of Long Island Sound, in front of and adjacent to uplands owned by Henry Piepgras situated on the easterly shore of City Island, in the Town of Pelham, County of Westchester, State of New York, described as follows:  Beginning at the most easterly corner of a grant to David Carll of December 3rd, 1863; the said point being distant three hundred feet north eighty-six degrees and forty-five minutes, east (true) from high water mark where the same is intersected by the southerly line of the upland of the said Henry Piepgras, and running thence north three degrees and fifty minutes west, (true) four hundred and forty three feet along the most easterly line of the said grant of December 3rd, 1863, and a grant to David Carll dated October 21st, 1875; thence north eighty-six degrees and forty-five minutes east, (true) two hundred and twenty-five feet; thence south three degrees and fifty minutes, east, (true) four hundred and forty-three feet; thence south eighty six degrees and forty-five minutes west, (true) two hundred and twenty-five feet to the place of beginning; containing two acres and twenty-nine one hundredths of an acre of land under water.  The upland adjacent thereto is owned and occupied by said applicant and is bounded as follows:  North by lands of the Duryea Estate, east by the Long Island Sound; south by lands of Benjamin F. Wood, and west by lands of George Horton and lands now or late of David Carll.  The soundings taken once in every fifty feet on the whole exterior water line of the land under water above described commencing at the most easterly corner of grant to David Carll above mentioned, are as follows:  eight and a half feet, ten feet, twelve and a half feet, thirteen feet, thirteen and a half feet, fourteen and a half feet, fifteen feet, fourteen and a half feet, fourteen and a half feet, fourteen feet, thirteen and a half feet, twelve and a half feet, twelve and a half feet, eleven feet, nine and a half feet, eight and a half feet, eight and a half feet, eight feet.  The mean rise of the tide is seven and a half feet.

Dated November 1st, 1880.

HENRY PIEPGRAS, Applicant.

A. B. CHALMERS,
Attorney for Applicant, 117 Nassau street, New York City."

Source:  NOTICE [Legal Notice], The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Nov. 15, 1889, Vol. XXI, No. 1,246, p. 1, col. 4.

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