Where in the World Is Pelham's "Clovelly" Neighborhood?

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There is in Pelham a lovely neighborhood known as the "Clovelly-in-Pelham" section and "Clovelly" (for short).  Where is this section?  What is its story?

Clovelly is a neighborhood in Pelham Heights in the area around the Clovelly-in-Pelham development bounded by today's Parkway Drive, Brookside Avenue, Carol Avenue, and Hillside Avenue.  The initial section of the Clovelly-in-Pelham development was created in 1927 after local contractor (and then former member of the Town Board) Manning Stires battled the Village of Pelham Planning Board in Court and won a decision permitting him to build so-called "multi-plex" housing units consisting of attached -- rather than free-standing -- single family homes despite local zoning ordinances banning such construction.  Stires slowly expanded the small development and continued to battle the Village of Pelham (Pelham Heights) and the local zoning board for years as he attempted to expand his development efforts.  

Slowly the area adjacent to Clovelly-in-Pelham became known, colloquially, as "Clovelly."  The name became so ingrained locally that the residents of Carol Avenue reportedly successfully petitioned the Village to permit them to change the name of Carol Avenue to "Clovelly Place."  A local newspaper report indicates that the Village Board actually changed the name of the street to Clovelly Place at a meeting held the evening of Wednesday, February 19, 1930.  The name of the street today, of course, is Carol Avenue.  Research has not revealed how or why the name reverted to Carol Avenue, assuming that the decision to change its name to Clovelly Place was actually implemented.

The map detail from a map published in 1929 below shows "Clovelly-in-Pelham" and the Clovelly section that surrounds it.  

Detail From 1929 Map Showing Clovelly Development That Became

Known as Clovelly-in-Pelham and the Clovelly Section.  Source:  G.M.

Hopkins Co., Atlas of Westchester County New York Complete in Four

Volumes, Vol. 1, p. 4 (Philadelphia, PA:  G. M. Hopkins Co., 1929).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"STIRES RESENTS EXAMINATION AT ZONING BOARD HEARING; RETIRES THREATENING ANOTHER ZONING SUIT
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Builder of Clovelly Proposes Another Multi-Plex Group In Pelham Heights.  Zoning Board of Appeals Refuses To Allow Him To Build Within Two Feet Of Property Line.  Judge Menkel's Questions Antagonize Him.  Board Upholds Attorney's Action
-----

Blocked in his attempt to break for a second time the Pelham Heights zoning restrictions, Manning Stires, former member of the Town Board, quit the meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeal, Tuesday night, when he resented cross examination by Village Attorney Anthony M. Menkel.  Mr. Stires withdrew, stating that as he considered the attitude of the board unfair, he would take the matter to court, where he hoped to gain a more favorable decision.

Mr. Stires won a similar case in the Supreme Court two years ago, effecting a change in the zoning ordinance which permitted the construction of the multi-plex house group which is known as Clovelly-in-Pelham.  The zoning ordinance has since been reenacted and the zoning board feels confident that Mr. Stires will not meet with the same decision in court.

Later in the evening, B. H. Simonson, architect for Mr. Stires, appeared before the board and was told of certain modifications in the plans which were advised by the zoning board.  These will be submitted to Mr. Stires for his consideration.  The zoning board adjourned the matter without date.

Mr. Stires proposes to construct a group of eight houses in a single unit on a plot of ground with 150 foot front on Manning Circle, adjacent to the Clovelly section.  The plan is so laid out as to violate the setback rule both on the front and rear lines of the property.  At one place only two feet is allowed at the rear of the building.  The members of the Zoning Board objected to this inasmuch as it would set a precedent whereby the owner of adjacent property could construct a building within two feet of the line also, creating a hazardous condition with two buildings only four feet apart.

Attorney Menkel put a few questions to Mr. Stires relative to the legal points of the matter and the former answered some of them, but apparently considering the cross questioning as an indication of a dissenting attitude of the board, refused to go further with his application, and retired.

After his withdrawal the zoning board approved the action of the village attorney.

Mr. Stires told The Pelham Sun that he had no statement to make at this time.

Objection to the proposed houses was made by Mrs. Weston Roberts, of No. 159 Sparks avenue, who told the zoning board that Mr. Stires had told her when she purchased her property from him that there would never be anything but one-family houses on his property.  She would make no official protest."

Source:  STIRES RESENTS EXAMINATION AT ZONING BOARD HEARING; RETIRES THREATENING ANOTHER ZONING SUIT -- Builder of Clovelly Proposes Another Multi-Plex Group In Pelham Heights.  Zoning Board of Appeals Refuses To Allow Him To Build Within Two Feet Of Property Line.  Judge Menkel's Questions Antagonize Him.  Board Upholds Attorney's Action, The Pelham Sun, May 3, 1929, Vol. 20, No. 5, p. 1, cols. 6-7.

"NO LONGER CAROL AVENUE
-----

The name Carol avenue has been changed to Clovelly Place.  The change was made by the village board at a meeting held Wednesday night at Pelham village hall".

Source:  NO LONGER CAROL AVENUE, The Pelham Sun, Feb. 21, 1930, p. 1, col. 2.  

"Ten New Houses To Be Built In Pelham Heights
-----

Plans for another real estate development in Pelham Heights were announced this week with the purchase of ten lots on Brookside avenue by the Bergenwood Realty Corporation of New York City.  Ten attractive brick and stucco dwelling houses are to be constructed on the property, each with an individual value of $10,000,000.00.

The transfer of the property was made this week by Gordon E. Ferguson.  The trustees of the Westchester Title Company received $9,000 for the property which has 250 feet frontage on Brookside avenue.

The new development which overlooks the Hutchinson River Parkway, is the third such undertaking to be announced for the section of Pelham Heights known as Clovelly, within the last few weeks.  Manning Stires, who built the first Clovelly houses will soon file plans for another group of buildings on Manning Circle.  Building permits have already been issued for two houses to be constructed by the Gramatan Construction Company, one on Manning Circle and another on Sparks avenue."

Source:  Ten New Houses To Be Built In Pelham Heights, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 1, 1935, Vol. 26, No. 30, p. 1, col. 2.  

"SEEK VARIANCE FOR 4 MULTIPLEX HOMES IN HEIGHTS
-----

The Pelham Heights Zoning Board of Appeals will meet Wednesday night September 14, to hear the application of Manning Stires, developer of the Clovelly-in-Pelham section for a variance to permit the erection of another unit of multiplex house on the northerly side of Manning Circle in the Sparks avenue section of the village.  Mr. Stires has filed tentative plans for four six-room houses.  A permit has been denied by Building Inspector R. I. Dodge, because the property is zoned for single-family unattached dwelling houses.

Variance was granted Mr. Stires in the construction of the previous units of the Clovelly development."

Source:  SEEK VARIANCE FOR 4 MULTIPLEX HOMES IN HEIGHTS, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 9, 1938, Vol. 28, No. 23, p. 1, col. 6.

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Death by Train in Pelhamville While Fighting in 1893

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The morning began quite beautifully on Friday, July 14, 1893.  Both Mount Vernon and the little adjacent settlement known as Pelhamville were bustling.  Indeed, the area around the border between the two communities along the New Haven Main Line railroad tracks was particularly busy that summer morning.

There was new construction underway nearby in view of the railroad tracks.  John Deveaugh was one of five carpenters standing on scaffolding working away on that new construction that morning.  Additionally, a number of women including one known as "Mrs. Brachman" were working away in homes scattered near the railroad tracks in the area.

At about 8:00 a.m., many in the area heard shouts.  In fact, they heard angry shouts.  John Deveaugh and his fellow carpenters looked in the direction of the noise.  Several women, including Mrs. Brachman, stepped outside to see what was happening.

Two young men, both about 25 years old, were on the railroad tracks shouting angrily at each other.  The pair had been walking from Mount Vernon toward Pelhamville along the railroad tracks when they stopped and began to argue opposite Holler's ice houses.  Soon, the bigger of the two removed his jacket, tossed it aside, and took a swing at the smaller man.

The fight began.

The men began swinging wildly at each other.  Though it was 8:00 in the morning, they seemed obviously drunk as they quarreled and fought.  The pair grabbed each other in a clinch as they fought.  The five carpenters and the local women watched the pair grapple.

Then came the shrill shriek of a steam locomotive whistle. . . . . 

The New York bound New Haven Express Train No. 12 was bearing down on the two men.  The carpenters began screaming warnings to the pair from their scaffolds.  The train engineer blew the steam whistle repeatedly and applied the air brakes.  The violent squeal of the train wheels sliding on the iron railroad tracks filled the air.  The women watching then "shrieked in terror."

The pair fighting on the tracks were so engrossed in their anger and their fight they did not realize that the train was bearing down on them.  It was only when the train was about five hundred feet away from them that they first realized their danger.  They loosened their grip on each other.  Then, as the onlookers watched in terror, the smaller man grabbed the bigger man again. . . .

The express train barreled into the pair nearly at full speed.  The bigger man was thrown headlong into the air so high that he struck the telegraph wires strung adjacent to the tracks, then fell to the embankment below and tumbled down the slope "among great rocks that lined its base."  The smaller man simply disappeared as if swallowed by the massive steam locomotive.

The carpenters and women scrambled to the scene.  Soon, as a result of the commotion, others appeared.  The bigger man was found at the foot of the embankment.  He was dead with every limb shattered.  The smaller man, however, was nowhere to be found.

A gathering crowd began searching for the smaller man.

It was a young boy who found the first clue.  The boy found one of the man's legs "under a pear tree near the scene of the accident."  It was quite some time before trainmen found the mangled remnants of the body of the smaller man beneath one of the railroad cars.  According to one report, "The fragments were taken to New Rochelle."

Soon, tongues were wagging.  All were talking about how the smaller man grabbed the bigger one as the train bore down upon the pair.  It seems the smaller man had not grabbed the bigger man to hold him in place and die together.  Rather, it was an attempt to save the life of the bigger man.  According to John Deveaugh "I saw him seize his companion just as the train struck them.  He may have intended to save him, but they had been fighting the minute before."  Mrs. Brachman also saw the small man grab the big one.  She said "I thought maybe he was trying to save the other's life."

Who were these men?  What was their story?  

Newspapers throughout the United States reported on the terrible quarrel and the gruesome deaths that resulted.  Initially, they reported that the bigger man whose body was tossed into the telegraph wires and down the embankment was "Thomas Sweeney of Kingsbridge."  The reports were wrong.  It turned out that the man was named "Wier" and was from Wakefield.  The smaller man whose mangled body was found beneath one of the railroad cars was Thomas Burke of Mount Vernon.

Their story was this.  The evening before their deaths, Thomas Burke stole $2.00 from his landlady, a woman known as Mrs. McLaughlin.  It was believed that the two men used the stolen money to get drunk in Mount Vernon during the overnight and early morning hours.  According to one report, the men "were so intoxicated that they narrowly escaped arrest" in Mount Vernon overnight.  The pair apparently were still intoxicated when the express train ended their quarrel on the tracks in a most gruesome fashion.

There have been, of course, many deaths and injuries on the railroad tracks of the New Haven Main Line that pass through Pelham during the last 167 years.  For many decades the railroad tracks were a principal pathway for people traveling back and forth between the communities of Pelham and Mount Vernon.  The horrific pair of deaths that occurred on the tracks in the little settlement of Pelhamville on July 14,1893, however, remain to this day among the most terrible such accidents in the history of Pelham.

Ca. 1893 Steam Locomotive Train Likely Similar to the One

that Killed Two Men at the Pelhamville Border on July 14,

1893.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"KILLED BY A TRAIN WHILE FIGHTING.
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Thomas Sweeney and an Unknown Companion Mangled Near Pelhamville, N. Y.
-----
UNMINDFUL OF THE WHISTLE.
-----
It Is Thought That One of the Men Saw the Danger and Tried to Save His Antagonist.
-----
WOMEN SAW THE TRAGEDY.
-----
[BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.]

MOUNT VERNON, N. Y., July 14, 1893.  --  Two men who had been drinking chose the tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, half a mile east of here, to settle a quarrel this morning.  They clinched and paid no heed to an approaching express train, which proved itself a terrible peacemaker.

One of the men was Thomas Sweeney of Kingsbridge.  The other is as yet unidentified.  Their mangled bodies are in Davis' morgue at New Rochelle.

Half way between here and Pelhamville Holler's ice houses stand on one side of the track.  Employes there noticed the two men walking east on the tracks about eight o'clock in the morning.  They were quarrelling and passed around a curve, but shortly returned.  They were talking more heatedly, and then Sweeney took off his coat and struck at his companion.  They grappled, and then seemingly agreed on a temporary truce.

WOMEN WITNESS THE TRAGEDY.

Each then ate some cherries which one of them carried in a box, but the quarrel began again in so boisterous a way that five carpenters working on a new house three hundred yards from the tracks rested their tools to watch the men.  Their loud words also attracted women from their homes near the icehouse.

The men clinched and occasionally struck at each other.  They were very drunk.  Suddenly the spectators were startled by the shrill whistle of the New Haven express train, No. 12.  It was bearing down upon the struggling men.  The carpenters called out warning from their scaffolds and the women who looked on shrieked in terror.

The train was within five hundred feet of the men, when they appeared to cease their quarrel and realize their danger.  The engineer had applied the air brakes, but the train was coming swiftly on.  The men did not attempt to leave the track, though they had loosened their grip on each other.  The train was within an engine's length of them, when the smaller man again seized Sweeney.  Then the train struck them.

Sweeny [sic] was tossed headlong over the embankment.  His body struck the telegraph wires and pitched foremost down the bank among great rocks that lined its base.  Every limb was shattered.

GROUND INTO FRAGMENTS.

At first search for the other man was vain, but a boy found one of his legs under a pear tree near the scene of the accident.  Trainmen later on took the remainder of his body from under one of the cars.  The fragments were taken to New Rochelle.

'The big man was pitched as high as the telegraph wires, while the other man disappeared under the cars,' said John Deveaugh, one of the carpenters.  'I saw him seize his companion just as the train struck them.  He may have intended to save him, but they had been fighting the minute before.'

Mrs. Brachman also saw the smaller man take hold of the other.

'I thought,' she said, 'maybe he was trying to save the other's life.'


Each of the men were [sic] about twenty-five years old and had been in Mount Vernon early this morning.  They were so intoxicated that they narrowly escaped arrest.  They visited the railroad yards, where Sweeney told a workman that he had a mother and two sisters living in New York.

Coroner A. J. Mixsell will hold the inquest on Monday."

Source:  KILLED BY A TRAIN WHILE FIGHTING -- Thomas Sweeney and an Unknown Companion Mangled Near Pelhamville, N. Y. -- UNMINDFUL OF THE WHISTLE -- It Is Thought That One of the Men Saw the Danger and Tried to Save His Antagonist -- WOMEN SAW THE TRAGEDY, N.Y. Herald, Jul. 15, 1893, p. 5, col. 6.

"STOLE TO GO ON HIS FINAL DRUNK.
-----

The two men killed by an express train Friday, at Pelhamville, N. Y., while fighting on the track have been identified.

The body supposed to be that of Thomas Sweeney, of Kingsbridge, is that of a man named Wier, of Wakefield.  The other dead man is Thomas Burke of Mount Vernon.  He stole $2 from Mrs. McLaughlin, his landlady, and it is supposed he and Wier became drunk with the money."

Source:  STOLE TO GO ON HIS FINAL DRUNK, N.Y. Herald, Jul. 17, 1893, p. 9, col. 5.

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Early Essay on the History of Pelham Manor Published in 1901

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As one might surmise from the 2,206 Historic Pelham articles published online so far, Pelham Manor -- indeed, the entire Town of Pelham -- is a very historic place.  Histories of the Town have been written and published since at least 1848.  See Bolton, Jr., Robert, A History of the County of Westchester From Its First Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. I, ch. "Pelham", pp. 513-59 (New York: Alexander S. Gould 1848) (this is a single chapter from the two volume 1st edition of Bolton's seminal history of Westchester County; a revised edition was published in 1881 and an extremely rare revised 3rd edition was privately printed in 1905).

In 1899, the little settlement of Pelham Manor was only 26 years old.  The formal Village of Pelham Manor was only eight years old.  Yet, the New Rochelle Pioneer recognized that the region long had been of historic significance and, thus, published an essay on the history of Pelham Manor.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the brief essay was its focus on the fact that famed 19th Century authors Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper had close ties to Pelham Manor and were influenced in many of their fictional accounts contained in some of their most famous works by their experiences in Pelham Manor.

For example, it long has been known that important parts of "The Spy:  A Tale of the Neutral Ground," an early novel by James Fenimore Cooper first published in two volumes in 1821, are set in parts of the Manor of Pelham once known as "Roosevelt's Wood."  Indeed, a few years ago this author hosted a "Novel Night" dinner for the Public Library of the Town of Pelham using "The Spy" as the "theme" for the dinner given that portions of the novel were inspired by Roosevelt's Wood of Pelham Manor.  (See photograph below.)

The Author, Dressed for a Pelham Public Library "Novel

Night" Dinner Using James Fenimore Cooper's "The Spy:

A Tale of the Neutral Ground" as the Theme.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

The full text of the history essay appears below.  It summarizes a host of historic events that occurred in and around Pelham.  Interestingly, near the end of the essay it describes what then were current events.  Even these descriptions shed additional light on the history of the Town including the founding of the Pelham Marine and Field Club on Shore Road and the Pelham Summer Home for children once supported by the entire town.

The brief history essay is recommended reading for aficionados of Pelham history.  It appears immediately below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

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"Few of the persons who live in, or visit Pelham Manor, know the many historical spots of that pretty village, or recall the many great men who have gathered material for the Nation's history in the garden spot where the English, French and Dutch originally settled.  In this the 20th century, when one looks back upon the days when Washington Irving and William [sic] Fenimore Cooper lived, it is hardly possible to realize that Pelham Manor and the other villages between the Harlem River and East Chester were the scenic ground from which the authors of the 'Sketch Book' and 'The Spy' drew their inspiration.

That famous story citing early Colonial Annals:  Ann Hutchinson, after which Hutchinson's Creek is named forms part of the history of the place, Revolutionary history centered there, though to-day one cannot find much to connect it with the early struggle for American independence.  In those bye-gone [sic] days, there were Indian traditions, there was the bartering Dutch French Protestantism reigned for a time, and then there came the English allegiance from which the present village of Pelham has grown.

To speak of Pelham, is to speak of Westchester county for the ground formed the scene of many battles lay between the Harlem River and White Plains.  Many of the incidents took place in what formerly was called Roosevelt's Wood, where the Manor now stands.  This village was established 25 years ago.  Prior to the Revolution, Pelham formed a portion of the old Manor of that name.  It contained 9166 [sic] acres, the Lordship and the Manor of Pelham being the title under the original grant.  Thomas Pell was the first owner.  John, his nephew, was the second lord of Pelham.  Descendants of these Lords lived in the Old Pelham House, a ruin just over the brow of Prospect Hill and in view of the Boston post road [Editor's Note:  This is a somewhat tortured and inaccurate reference to the home known today as "Pelhamdale" located at 45 Iden Avenue and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.]

The spot is one which has been visited often of late, because it is upon Revolutionary ground, and many a bullet has been taken from its walls, while repairs were being made.  Some of the locks and keys taken from the doors, show that they were made more than a century ago.  A walk toward the Sound from Prospect Hill over the shore road, and one comes to Bartow, called after Bartow's of Georgia, relatives of the present Bartow's of Astoria, L. I.  It is at Bartow that one finds the last resting places of the Pells.  Further on, one comes to the 'Old Boston Road' or Kingsbridge Turnpike, the first direct stage coach line to Boston.  It passed through East Chester, followed the course of Hutchinson's Creek, in a shallow spot where the creek was forded.  The continuation of the Boston Road is now known as the Reynolds property and now marks the boundary between Pelham Manor and Pelham Heights.

There is another road equally as old as the Old Boston Road -- that is the Split Rock Road.  At one time it was the single highway between City Island and the Pelhams.  Because of a fissure in a huge rock, not far from Boston Road, the road was called Split Rock.  It was along this road that Washington's army retreated [sic] after his defeat at the battle of Long Island, during the war of the Revolution.  Another land mark, of much interest is St. Paul's Church in East Chester.  It was founded 200 years ago.  Though the present edifice is not so old, it is still considered to be quite ancient, having been erected in 1765.  Many of the tombstones in the yard bear date of 1710 and 1712.  Christ Church, founded in 1843, was the first building devoted to religious worship and instruction ever commenced in Pelham.  'The Priory,' now a private residence, fifty years ago was a fashionable boarding school for New York girls.  

One thing which always attracts the attention of strollers on Boston Road, between Pelhamdale Avenue and the Esplanade is a small brown stone bearing the mark '17 m.'  It indicates the distance from that point to New York City [sic; should be City Hall in New York City] is 17 miles.  It has been where it now stands for over 100 years, and is undoubtedly one of the first mile stones placed to mark the Boston Road.  Some of the things which have disappeared, are the toll gates between Pelham Manor and New Rochelle, Glen Island, at one time the residence of the Depan family, was for a long time the retreat of Louis Napoleon while he was in exile.  

There are no persons living now who remember Pelham Manor as it was 200 years ago, still tradition remains, and there are many persons who read today of the beautiful flower garden of Westchester County.  Still there are many others who possess no knowledge of its peculiar character or exact location.  So within 50 years ago, the boundary of New York City was no more limited than at the present time.  The residents were mostly the descendants of the early settlers. Pelham Manor was suggestive of large handsome old mansions, the name not being intended to convey the geographical location.  It meant beautiful wooded drives, horseback rides, rowing and sailing, in fact an ideal existence.

From what was once a veritable country has now sprung up the city, the heart of which can be reached in half an hour from Pelham Manor.  One of the great advantages of the Manor is that the summer temperature is from 6 to 8 degrees less than that of the city.  Pelham Manor is growing rapidly, improvements are being made almost daily, so that soon the name of Pelham Manor will be the envy of the surrounding country.

What greatly impresses visitors to Pelham Manor the beauty of the village and that is due in a great measure to the Village Improvement Society.  Members of the American Scenic and Historical Society approve of the many steps which has [sic] been taken by the local organization for adding to the natural beauties for which Pelham Manor is noted.  Who is generally responsible for the great improvement in Pelham Manor it is impossible to state, for every one in the village seems to have been imbued with the idea that something should be done and before any organization was effected the residents of the place each constituted himself a Committee of One, to see that something necessary was done.

True the improvements were in a great measure, to the individual property owners, residences, still such wholesaled enthusiasm was bound to lead to the organization of a village improvement society.

To these residents of New York city, John Jay, Peter Bayard and John Chambers belong the credit of being the first public improvers.  They inaugurated the public park system now in vogue, and the first sight [sic] was Bowling Green, near the Battery.  In Pelham Manor the Esplanade is the public monument to Mrs. Robert C. Black and Messrs. David and John Johnson, who in Pelham Mano, are now what John Chambers, Peter Bayard and John Jay were in New York city when the now great metropolis, had a population of only 50,000 persons.

At a recent meeting of the Society for the Improvement of Pelham Manor, an interesting paper on the subject 'What I know about trees,' by Joseph Arthur, was presented for the consideration of the members.  His paper in part was:  'Too many trees were unhealthy.  When too close together, they became diseased; and not only kill the grass by absorption, but they kill each other, and it is an admitted fact that a sickly tree emits odors and malarial poisons depressing and injurious, and sometimes fatal for humanity to breathe.  I believe that two out of every three trees on a lawn are tramps, and should be treated like tramps -- driven off.  I regard the majority of trees as useless except perhaps for the posting of a 'Lost Dog' notice or a warning from the tax collectors, not to dodge him.

'The most beautiful boulevard in America is Euclid avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.  The trees there will not exceed an average of three to an acre.  At least its freedom from an indiscriminate growth of trees and bushes (and its trolley) are the principal features, that have made the magnificent thoroughfare famous throughout the world.

'Oh, woodman, spare that tree,' yes spare that tree, but do not spare all trees.'

All of which may be very true Mr. Authur, but in Euclid avenue, a business thoroughfare, with a trolley line up and down, one does not look for shade trees.  In the country though, it is different.  The only persons who really want trees cut down, are the owners of saw mills and paper mills, and their object is not for health or beauty, but simply for gain.

When a member of the Pelham Manor Club wants to be particularly agreeable to some of his out of town friends, he invites him to the Pelham Manor Club.  It is a social organization, and if a college would be called a 'Co-Ed' Institution as both men and women are admitted to memberships.  The deed calling for the ground for the club house becomes void the moment spiritous [sic] liquors are used or sold in the club.  Pelham Manor is perhaps one of the few places in the country where a club of this kind can be supported.

At last there is general joy among the residents of Pelham Manor because of the Field and Marine Club.  This is due largely to the efforts of Ezra T. Gilliland and B. M. Staples who have devoted time and money to the development of a recreation place such as would afford both entertainment and exercise to the club members.  For a long time the club has been wanted and the inability of the Manorites to locate a suitable spot for a [illegible] cause of much [illegible].  Recently the great advance in the price of water front property caused residents to realize that if ground was not secured at once, soon valuations would be so high that it would be impossible to secure the necessary location.

It was then that Messrs. Gilliland and Staples took a hand in the play.  A company was formed and stock to the amount of $10,000 issued at a par value of $25 a share.  Then an acre of land was purchased on the water front and a picturesque little club house was constructed, facing the Long Island Sound.  The club house is complete even to the smallest detail and in the club, members may eat and sleep while a pier 100 feet long affords a suitable landing place for craft of limited size.

Although this is late in the season, many persons who have resided in Pelham for the last summer are making arrangements for the return there next year.

The last season has been a very successful one as far as the Summer Home is concerned.  From July 1st to the middle of September, hundreds of children from the nurseries and settlements in New York City were housed there.  As the home is maintained solely on the annual subscription of the members, it is a worthy thing, indeed, for all to send in his or her donation."

Source:  [Untitled], The New Rochelle Press, Nov. 9, 1901, Vol. XXVII, No. 24, p. 2, cols. 3-4.

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More Lovely Images of "Greystones," The Delancey Mansion That Became Hunter Island Inn on Shore Road

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You know right where it stood.  You have passed the site hundreds of times and likely never have given a thought to the location.  The site overlooks Shore Road just within today's New York City boundary on a small hill on the side of the roadway away from Long Island Sound.  The hill is just past the low spot on Shore Road near the Pelham Manor boundary at the small cove often referenced as "Plum Cove" where a small creek sometimes called "Roosevelt Creek" still floods the roadway occasionally.  The roadway curves at that spot and, consequently, was the scene of countless automobile accidents in the early days of the twentieth century.  

There is nothing there today -- only trees.  What once stood there?  It was the site of "Greystones," a beautiful Delancey Family mansion built of native granite in the Second Empire style that was popular between about 1865 and 1880.  The mansion was repurposed in the early years of the 20th century to serve as the clubhouse for the public golf courses built behind it in Pelham Bay Park.  Later, the mansion was renovated with additions and served as the Hunter Island Inn, a famous roadhouse and speakeasy until it was demolished at the direction of Robert Moses in the 1930s.  I have written extensively about the Hunter Island Inn including, more particularly, the history of "Greystones" and its use as a golf clubhouse and a roadhouse.  See, e.g.:  Wed., Feb. 26, 2014:  Research Regarding "Greystones," The Elegant DeLancey Estate that Became Hunter Island Inn and Once Stood in Pelham on Today's Shore Road.

Two map details immediately below show the location where Greystones once stood.  The first is from Google Maps with an arrow showing the rough location as it exists today.  The second is a detail from a map of the area published in 1868 also showing the location of the mansion, listing it as "GREYSTONES Wm. H. De Lancey."

Google Maps Image of the Region With Yellow Arrow Pointing

Roughly to the Area Where Greystones Once Stood.  Shore Park

is Visible in the Upper Right Corner of the Image.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

Map Detail from Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity, p.

35 (NY, NY: F.W. Beers, et al., 1868) (plate entitled "City Island,

Pelham Township, Westchester Co., N.Y. (with) Town of Pelham,

Westchester Co., N.Y."). Note: References the structure and estate

as "GREYSTONES Wm. H. De Lancey."  NOTE:  Click on Image

to Enlarge.

Recently Historic Pelham published a few rare images of the Hunter Island Inn.  See Fri., Jan. 05, 2018:  Rare and Unusual Images of Hunter Island Inn, Once a Pelham Landmark.  Today's Historic Pelham article publishes another rare image of the Hunter Island Inn as well as a higher resolution version of a previously-provided image.  Both shed interesting light on the Hunter Island Inn as noted below.

The first image, immediately below, is a rare colorized version of of a rare sepia tone postcard view of the Hunter Island Inn in about 1915 or a few years thereafter as seen from Shore Road directly in front of the Inn.  

Undated Colorized Postcard, Ca. 1915 or Shortly Thereafter, Depicting

"HUNTER ISLAND INN, PELHAM BAY PARK, N. Y. C. TEL. 800

WESTCHESTER.  A. E. MacLEAN, PROPRIETOR."  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

The colorized postcard is interesting for a host of reasons, not the least of which is the phone number it provides for the Inn:  "TEL., 800 WESTCHESTER."  The Inn, of course, stood at the time barely within New York City's Pelham Bay Park -- not Westchester.  This suggests, though does not establish, that a telephone was installed (and the telephone number was assigned) before New York City annexed the area in 1895 when the area still was part of Westchester County.  Additionally, the postcard clearly was printed between 1915 and the early 1920s not only because it shows Arthur E. MacLean as the proprietor but also because of the nature of the roadster shown in the circular driveway of the Inn.  

It is possible to see much of the native grey granite DeLancey mansion (behind the roadhouse addition with the red and white striped awnings).  One can also almost make out the statue on the small pedestal standing in the center of the circular lawn within the driveway and can easily see the "HUNTER ISLAND INN" set into the lawn to be seen by passing automobiles as well as the "HUNTER ISLAND INN" sign standing on the right side of the lawn as seen from Shore Road.  Visible as well is the classic Second Empire style mansard roof shingled with red shingles.  

The distinctive single-headlight roadster in the foreground should be fairly easy for an expert on early automobiles to identify.  Extensive amateur efforts, however, have failed so far to identify the make, model, and year of the vehicle with the male driver and the two female passengers in the rear.  

"VIEW FROM HUNTER ISLAND INN.  PELHAM BAY PARK. N. Y. C.

A. E. MACLEAN, PROP."  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The second image, immediately below, helps understand how Greystones was sited within the landscape and shows a good bit of additional renovation performed on the structure.  The colorized postcard, previously published via Historic Pelham in a lower resolution image, shows the curve of Shore Road as it passes over the location where Roosevelt Creek empties into the Plum Cove of Long Island Sound.  

Careful analysis of this image from an undated postcard shows that the circular driveway that previously existed has been removed.  Additionally, the roadhouse addition constructed in the front of the original mansion structure has been slightly redesigned with more of an effort to incorporate the entrance to the main structure into the roadhouse addition.  (Such changes are more easily visible if you click on the image and continue to enlarge it.)  The statue on the pedestal is still visible, but the "HUNTER ISLAND INN" sign has been changed with addition of a feature that now can be seen between "HUNTER ISLAND."  At first it might look like a hyphen, but it is not and the feature cannot be readily identified.

In this later image of the mansion, the awnings have been removed from all the windows visible in the photograph.  The shrubbery in front of the roadhouse addition has been allowed to grow taller and several of the trees can be seen to have grown much larger.  

Clearly Greystones was a beautiful place even during the years it served as a local roadhouse.  These rare images shed even more light on the beauty of both the structure and the site on which it stood.

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How the Women of Pelham Saved the Manor Club From Poor Management by the Men Who Founded It

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In 1899, a group of local women began gathering informally in Pelham Manor homes “to do fancy work.”  As they worked, one of them read aloud from a local resident’s lecture notes about “some famous character in history.”  From this modest beginning grew a second club in the area that came to be known as “The Tuesday Afternoon Club.” 

According to an article published in The Pelham Sun in 1914, The Tuesday Afternoon Club of Pelham Manor was “a women’s study club, which meets weekly for four months each winter to give its members an opportunity to come together and to study some subject more or less seriously.  Its aim is to give purpose to the reading of the busy housewife so that the years may not drift by in desultory fashion but with passing time may yield some substantial intellectual accomplishment, some definite spiritual gain.” 

I have written before about the history of the Tuesday Afternoon Club.  See Thu., May 26, 2016:  A Brief History of the Tuesday Afternoon Club Before It Merged Into the Manor Club of Pelham Manor.  

Founded formally in 1900, the Tuesday Afternoon Club paid the Manor Club to permit it to meet in a room of the Manor Club.  Throughout the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the Manor Club served as a social and cultural center for the little Village of Pelham Manor.  Though at that time members included men and women, men held the principal governing positions in the Manor Club.  Indeed, according to one historian of the club, it was “run” by the men – a fact that the same historian notes with some satisfaction when pointing out that in 1913 “the Manor Club . . . ran into financial difficulties.” 

The Manor Club’s financial difficulties arose at just the time The Tuesday Afternoon Club was beginning to flower.  According to one account, at about this time an unidentified member of The Manor Club “almost in jest, suggested that they offer the Clubhouse along with the Club name, to the Tuesday Afternoon Club.”  The same account notes that although the Manor Club was heavily in debt, “the ladies could not resist the temptation to own their own clubhouse.”  Within a short time, the Tuesday Afternoon Club became the new Manor Club, “taking over its name, its clubhouse and a debt of several thousand dollars.”

The ladies of the Tuesday Afternoon Club proceeded to reform the club and its finances.  They cleared its debt and raised sufficient funds so that, by 1922, they could build a new clubhouse on the site of the original clubhouse -- a structure that still stands and is still used by the club.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The First Clubhouse of the Manor Club Where The Tuesday Afternoon

Club Met During the Fifteen Years Or So It Existed Before Taking Over

and Merging Into the Manor Club.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Our Clubs, Societies and Fraternal Organizations. . . .

The Tuesday Afternoon Club OF PELHAM MANOR.
-----

The Tuesday Afternoon Club is a woman's study club, which meets weekly for four months each winter to give its members an opportunity to come together and to study some subject more or less seriously.

Its aim is to give purpose to the reading of the busy housewife so that the years may not drift by in desultory fashion but with passing time may yield some substantial intellectual accomplishment, some definite spiritual gain.  

Of course, not every member can nor will give the time necessary for serious work, but lecturers and books are supplied, and members are encouraged to go as deeply into a subject as they can.

In the beginning, some fifteen years ago, the club was a little group of perhaps a dozen women who met to do fancy work while some one read aloud one of Dr. Lord's lectures about some famous character in history.  The women were too timid to write papers or to read them if they had been written.

In course of time the lectures proved tiresome and a novel was ventured upon which proved still more fatiguing.  The club was at its lowest ebb intellectually.  But a decided reaction set in which showed itself in a desire for more worthy things and which lasted for some years.

The first expression of this desire was a season spent in reading Homer's Iliad and in studying the Hellenic period, and excellent papers were not only prepared but read.

Refreshed by contact with virile Greek life the club women then pressed on to another great masterpiece and read the entire Divine Comedy of Dante which was followed by a season's study of the Renaissance in various countries.  This latter year was the first time that the club had ventured to do without a text book, depending entirely upon a plan arranged by itself.  Many of us remember with pleasure the hard work of these two seasons, especially the study of this medieval poem and its early Italian background.

Coming a little closer to modern times another great poem was chosen for study, and a season was well spent in reading both parts of Goethe's Faust.  This poem proved heavier reading than most busy women cared to undertake alone, but under the stimulus of weekly meetings and the companionship of earnest minds many of them persevered to the end which brought its own reward.

Two delightful seasons were then given to Shakespeare, which were followed by the study of a group of leaders of modern thought.

A winter's study of Browning was to have rounded out the cycle of the masters of literature, but the club, now grown large, decided to turn its attention away from the realm of the imagination and toward the problems of daily living.  The growth of feminism brought with it a certain sense of responsibility toward practical mundane affairs which caused the club to give several seasons to the study of Political Economy, Elementary Law and kindred civic subjects until after a time another current turned the tide in the direction of the arts.

Because it was the most vital and personal of the arts as well as one which combined not only literary and pictorial interest but the representation of human emotion and struggle, the art of the Diana was chosen as the subject both for last year and this.

It is gratifying to look back and to note the healthy development of the Tuesday Afternoon Club during the past fifteen years, from a dozen members to more than a hundred, and from the reading of a printed lecture to the program for the present season of 1914, when the members of the club will listen to eight lectures on the Theory of the Theatre by Clayton Hamilton, of Columbia University, and will themselves conduct discussions upon eight subjects of present day interest, such as socialism, suffrage, modern religion, modern literature, music and art.

The spirit of the club is most generous and kindly and there is shown a steadily increasing interest in the higher things of life, both intellectual and spiritual, which is due in large measure to the influence and inspiration of the President of the club, who has held that office since the beginning.

EVELYN RANDALL."

Source:  Randall, Evelyn B., Our Clubs, Societies and Fraternal Organizations. . . . The Tuesday Afternoon Club OF PELHAM MANOR, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 20, 1913, p. 3, col. 2. 

*          *          *          *          *

"Mrs. Joan E. Secor Dies In San Francisco; Manor Club President 26 Years
-----
One of Pelham Manor's Most Revered Citizens; Was First President of Tuesday Afternoon Club Founded in 1900; Later Merged With Manor Club; Town Historian for Five Years.
-----

Mrs. Joan Elizabeth Secor, who for twenty-six years was president of the Manor Club and the guiding spirit in the growth of the club, died suddenly on Saturday at San Francisco, where she has made her home since May, 1925.  Funeral services were held at San Francisco on Monday.  The remains will be brought east for interment.  Plans for interment have not been arranged yet.

She was the widow of James F. Secor, old resident and at one time school trustee.

Mrs. Secor was the aunt of Miss Anna Cockle and Isla V. Cockle of Pelham Manor.  She is also survived by four sisters, Mrs. Vincent Cottman and Miss Jane Klink of San Francisco, Mrs. Emil Theiss and Mrs. Franklin Huntington of Norfolk, Va., and two brothers, George T. Klink and William M. Klink, of San Francisco..

Mrs. Secor was born at Vallejo, Calif., in 1858.  In 1880 Mr. Secor while inspecting the dry docks at Vallejo, which were constructed by his father, met Miss Joan Elizabeth Klink, and after a short courtship the couple were married at Vallejo.  They came to the Secor home in Pelham Manor to live shortly after.  The dynamic personality of the young bride soon established her as a leader.

In 1900 the need for a women's club in Pelham Manor was recognized and Mrs. Secor was instrumental in establishing the Tuesday Afternoon Club whose meetings soon became the culture center of the village.  Mrs. Secor was elected president of the club.  Other officers were Mrs. Charles B. Hull, vice-president; Mrs. William B. Randall, secretary; Mrs. Charlotte E. Cowles, treasurer.

The Tuesday Afternoon Club used to meet in one of the alcoves of the Manor Club building.  The Manor Club had been established as a men's club in 1887, and for years it has been successful.  However, at the time of the organization of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, the Manor Club was experiencing difficulties, and the organization was glad to encourage the use, at a nominal fee, of the building by the women's club.

(Continued on Page Four)

MRS. JOAN E. SECOR DIES SUDDENLY
-----
(Continued from Page One)

In 1914 the Manor Club joined with the Tuesday Afternoon Club, and the women replaced the men as officers.  Mrs. Secor was elected president of the new Manor Club and she remained in the chair until her departure from Pelham in 1925.  After that she was honorary president.

It was under the guidance of Mrs. Secor that the Manor Club extended its membership from a handful of women to more than 500.  It was also under her direction that the present clubhouse of the Manor Club was financed and constructed.  She officiated at the laying of the cornerstone in 1921 and at the dedication of the building in 1922.

Mrs. Secor retired as president of the club in May, 1925, at which time she left Pelham to take up her residence in San Francisco.  Glowing tribute to her 26 years as president of the club was paid by the members of the Manor Club at the annual banquet.  An engrossed resolution was presented to the retiring president as well as handsome gifts in token on the esteem in which Mrs. Secor was held.  

Mrs. Secor was unanimously elected Honorary President and in recent years acted in an advisory capacity.  

Annually at the final meeting of the Manor Club a telegram of love and congratulation was forwarded to the honorary president of the club.  A similar greeting was received from Mrs. Secor.  At the last annual meeting she sent the following message:

'Greetings from the far away California coast, where I lived until I was in my 23rd year and then upon occasion of my marriage to Mr. Secor in 1880, I came to New York and shortly afterward to Pelham Manor.  I can truly say that I have lived my life in Pelham Manor, that is, in its working years, and they are the years that count.

'It was the Manor Club which gave me my first experience in the art of managing public affairs, and I learned during the years I was its president.  It is not the length of time one is in office, but what one accomplished while there which counts.  I now see that the whole-hearted cooperation in things that are uplifting, the generous willingness to do something to make the club better, more stimulating to what is highest and best in our daily lives, had made the Pelhams a finer place in which to live.  This was the great aim of our young years, and it has been accomplished as I see and feel although so many miles away.

'Life in the Pelhams is a finer thing by reason of the influence of a group of women who worked and still do, to bring out the best qualities of those about them through the study of literature, music, art, the drama and the various sections.

'Therefore, I say to you who thus labor, 'go forward, be not weary of well-doing.'  To my dear friends Mrs. Longley, who is to retire from the office of president, I send my warm love and congratulations upon her successful presidency, and now will close, my dear Sophie (Mrs. H. E. Dey) with kind remembrances to my many friends in the Manor Club, among whom you are surely included.

'JOAN E. SECOR,

'Honorary President.'

Mrs. Secor was for many years a contributor to The Pelham Sun.  Her historical articles were widely read and her history of Pelham, which she compiled as Town Historian, is very interesting.

Mrs. Secor's love for Pelham is shown in the tribute, 'A Toast to Pelham' which is printed in this issue of The Pelham Sun.  A framed copy of this tribute was presented to The Pelham Sun by Mrs. E. T. Gilliland, old resident who was a dear friend of Mrs. Secor.

As a tribute to the memory of the late Mrs. Secor the flag on the clubhouse grounds will be flown at half mast staff for a month.

The portrait of Mrs. Secor, painted by George Brehm and hanging in the assembly room of the club is draped in black.

A large spray of flowers to entirely cover the coffin was sent by the Manor Club to San Francisco."

Source:  Mrs. Joan E. Secor Dies In San Francisco; Manor Club President 26 Years -- One of Pelham Manor's Most Revered Citizens; Was First President of Tuesday Afternoon Club Founded in 1900; Later Merged With Manor Club; Town Historian for Five Years, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 29, 1932, Vol. 23, No. 19, p. 1, cols. 1-2 & p. 4, cols. 4-7.  

"Pelham Manor:  Manor Club Directors To Open Season Tuesday. . . .

Mrs. William B. Randall, the Manor Club Bulletin, which contains an apt summary of the club's later history.

Founded Afternoon Club

'In 1900 a small group of women of the Manor arranged to read and study together.  They founded the Tuesday Afternoon Club, which for 14 years had but one president, Mrs. James Secor.  This little club held its meetings in the Manor Club house, and it grew as the village grew.  It developed a fine spirit and a real love for culture.  In congenial company the members felt equal to almost any task, and were wont to spend an entire year studying Homer, Dante, Goethe or Browning.'

As the village was not large, the income of the Manor Club was totally inadequate to the task of financing itself.  After 20 years of effort, the club was ready to give up the struggle, when Mr. Harry Dey suggested turning the Manor Club over to the women of the Tuesday . . .'

'So it was that the old Manor Club became a typical women's club, devoted a typical women's club, devoted to study and to the personal development of its members, and again it continued to grow . . . On a certain Winter evening in 1922 the new club house was formally opened by a gala performance on the stage, with flowers and speeches and congratulations on both sides of the curtain.' . . . .

Source:  Pelham Manor:  Manor Club Directors To Open Season Tuesday, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Oct. 3, 1937, p. 14, cols. 1-2.  

"40th Birthday Of Tuesday Afternoon Club Is Observed At Gala Luncheon
-----
Mrs. Hillard Birney, Manor Club President, Hostess at Luncheon Honoring Tuesday Afternoon Club, Honorary Club Members and Past Presidents.  Mrs. Dey is Made an Honorary Member.
-----

Mrs. Hilliard C. Birney, president of the Manor Club was hostess at a gala luncheon party in the clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon, honoring members of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, honorary members of the club and past presidents.  The occasion marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, one of the predecessors of the present woman's club.  Reminiscences of members of the early club added interest to the occasion which also marked Mrs. Birney's own birthday, and brought out the fact that the Manor Club was founded in 1882 as a social organization for both men and women.

The Tuesday Afternoon Club, after 14 years independent existence was merged with the Manor Club in 1914 and the organization has continued to flourish as an outstanding woman's club.  The Manor Club will observe its 60th birthday in 1942.  

At the luncheon party which was also attended by presidents of nearby women's clubs and by Mrs. Edward Whitney, president of the the Westchester Federation, Mrs. Birney announced on behalf of the Board of Directors, the election of Mrs. Henry E. Dey of Pelham Manor as an honorary member of the Manor Club.  Calling Mrs. Dey, 'one of the most beloved members of both the Tuesday Afternoon Club and of the Manor Club,' Mrs. Birney made known the honor paid to her in recognition of long and devoted service.

Singing of the tradition 'Blessing' the words of which were written by Mrs. Joan E. Secor who was first president of the Tuesday Afternoon Club and also of the Manor Club when it became a women's organization in 1914, opened the exercises.  Mrs. Hugh G. Curran, widely known as Pearl Curran, the composer, who wrote the music was at the piano.  The 'Blessing' was sung by Mrs. Winfred B. Holten, Jr., Mrs. Clarence H. Connor, Mrs. Laurence T. Hemmenway and Mrs. Francis Moore.

Mrs. Birney paid tribute to the women who made up the Tuesday Afternoon Club, 'a forward-looking' group who grew from 1900 to 1914 at which date they merged with the older Manor Club, and developed into the large and flourishing woman's club of today.

Mrs. Francis T. Kingsley and Mrs. William B. Randall both presented intimate pictures of the days of the Tuesday Afternoon Club as they knew it.  Mrs. Kingsley, who became the first treasurer of the Manor Club as a woman's club in 1914, recalled the earlier days of the community when telephones were few and far between and when the work of organization was necessarily much slower than it is today.  In Pelham was to be found, she said, a very cultured group of people.  She described briefly the limited quarters of the old Manor Club, the scene of much cultural and social activity.  

Mrs. Randall, who was the first secretary-treasurer of the Tuesday Afternoon Club and the first secretary of the Manor Club when it became a woman's group in 1914, gave an interesting view also of the 'old days.'  She recalled a small group of about twenty women meeting once a week in the months after Christmas, in the music room of the home of Mrs. Robert C. Black and her own collaboration with Mrs. Secor in mapping out a five year study plan for the Tuesday Afternoon Group which studied the world's great writers.  Mrs. Robert C. Black became the first vice-president of the Manor Club as a woman's club in 1914.

Mrs. H. G. K. Heath, an honorary member of the Manor Club, and a vice-president of the Tuesday Afternoon Club spoke briefly and the past presidents of the Manor Club were presented by Mrs. Birney and also were heard briefly.  They are:  Mrs. James Longley, Mrs. Walter B. Parsons, Mrs. Charles M. Chenery and Mrs. Louis Carreau.

Mrs. James L. Gerry, club historian and Mrs. Manning Stires, club representative with the Westchester Federation, both of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, were also presented by Mrs. Birney.  Mrs. Henry E. Dey acknowledging the honor paid to her by making her an honorary member of the club, paid tribute to Mrs. Secor, 'the spirit of the old days was the spirit of Mrs. Joan Secor,' she declared.

Guests Are Introduced

Presidents of women's clubs in nearby communities were introduced by Mrs. Birney who also presented Mrs. Whitney the Westchester Federation head; Mrs. Wilfred Winaus, president of the New Rochelle Woman's Club; Mrs. Stirling Smith, president of Larchmont Woman's Club; Mrs. Albert Ferris, president of the Crestwood Woman's Club, and Mrs. F. Leslie Jones, president of the Rye Woman's Club.

Mrs. Birney also introduced members of the present Board of Directors of the Manor Club:  Mrs. Arthur Procter, Mrs. William G. Luke, Mrs. Charles M. Hart, Mrs. John F. Hamond, Mrs. James Aukland, Mrs. Richard G. Knowland, Mrs. J. Donald Robb and Mrs. Wm. R. Butler.  Alas Mrs. Alexander Freehold, editor of the Club Mullets and the chairmen of that section; American Home, Mrs. John W. Darr; Mrs. Edward Albright, Art; Mrs. William R. Bull, Choral; Mrs. Edward A. Scott, Jr., Civic; Mrs. Talbert Sprague, Drama; Mrs. Edmund D. Scotti, French; Mrs. James B. Thorpe, Garden; Mrs. C. Kermit Ewing, Junior; Mrs. H. Llewelyn Roberts, Literature; Mrs. Pike Waldrop, Travel; Mrs. Richard Block, Music; Mrs. Robert J. Woods, Chairman of the Holiday Dance Committee; Mrs. Forrest M. Anderson, Hospitality Chairman; Mrs. George Cusack, Social Committee Chairman, and Mrs. William S. Banks, Librarian.

A birthday cake with lighted candels, in honor of the occasion was carried to the speakers' table where Mrs. Randall, at the invitation of Mrs. Birney, cut the first piece of cake.  Birthday greetings appropriate to the anniversary and birthday greetings for Mrs. Birney were sung by the club members and guests.

Songs written by Mrs. Curran added to the anniversary luncheon.  Mrs. Moore sang a number called, 'Contentment,' and Mrs. Holton, daughter of the composer, sang 'The Best is Yet to Be.'  Mrs. Curran accompanied both singers.

Guests of honor at the anniversary luncheon included:  Mrs. R. Clifford Black, Mrs. William H. Blymer, Mrs. Danforth Brown (an honorary member); Mrs. Louis Carreau, Mrs. Charles Chenery, Mrs. Theodore J. Deuscher, Mrs. Dey, Mrs. J. T. Fenlon, Mrs. Albert C. Field, Mrs. Gerry, Mrs. E. Kendall Gillett, Mrs. Ezra T. Gilliland (an honorary member); Mrs. H. G. K. Heath (an honorary member); Mrs. Edward C. King, Mrs. Kingsley (an honorary member); Mrs. George W. Lawrence, Mrs. Longley, Mrs. Schuyler Mills, Mrs. William R. Montgomery, Mrs. Robert M. Morgan, Mrs. H. B. Mulliken, Mrs. William H. Orchard, Mrs. Walter B. Parson, Mrs. Edward Penfield, Mrs. William B. Randall, Mrs. Merton C. Robbins, Mrs. Manning Stires, Mrs. W. W. Warner, Mrs. Ellen S. Whitall, Mrs. Joseph C. Wilberding. 

Mrs. Randall and Mrs. Wilberding are both honorary club members also.

The luncheon tables were decorated with red roses and stocks.  Luncheon arrangements were made by the Social Committee and the Hospitality Committee.  About 100 club members and guests also made reservations.  

The musical part of the program was under Mrs. Curran's direction."

Source:  40th Birthday Of Tuesday Afternoon Club Is Observed At Gala Luncheon -- Mrs. Hillard Birney, Manor Club President, Hostess at Luncheon Honoring Tuesday Afternoon Club, Honorary Club Members and Past Presidents.  Mrs. Dey is Made an Honorary Member, The Pelham Sun, Jan. 12, 1940, p. 7, cols. 3-4.

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