Take the Money and Run: Pelham Town Supervisor Sherman T. Pell and the Worst Political and Financial Scandal in Pelham History

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Small town scandals inevitably set small town tongues wagging.  Pelham tongues were wagging from Pelhamville to City Island during the spring and summer of 1893.  Democrat Sherman T. Pell, who had just completed seven years of service as Town Supervisor but recently had been defeated in his bid for reelection, had disappeared.  So too, it seems, had much of the Town’s money.  Rumors swirled.  Pell was on the run.  Pell was in Pittsburgh.  He was in Florida.  He was in South America. 

This is the sad story of the worst political and financial scandal in Pelham history.  It involved Sherman T. Pell who took the money and ran. 

Background 

Sherman T. Pell was a son of Samuel Pell.  Samuel Pell, in turn, was a descendant of John Pell, so-called Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham (the first of the Pell family to reside, permanently, in the Manor of Pelham).  According to one account, by 1850 Samuel Pell lived on City Island in the Town of Pelham working as an oysterman.  Known as “Captain Pell”, he married Elizabeth Scofield and built a Second Empire style home that still stands at 586 City Island Avenue.  The couple had twelve children including Sherman T. Pell, the oldest son (born in 1853).  

The Samuel Pell House that Still Stands at 586 City Island Avenue,

Built in About 1876.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

It is believed that before his marriage Sherman T. Pell lived for a short time in the Samuel Pell House after it was built in about 1876.[1] Shortly after Samuel Pell built his beautiful home, Sherman T. Pell married Alzina Aurelia Rowland.  The couple had two children.

Detail from a Samuel Pell Family Photograph Showing a Young

Sherman T. Pell Standing Behind His Mother, Elizabeth Scofield

Pell, at About the Age of Fourteen.  This May Be the Only Surviving

Photograph of Sherman T. Pell.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

As a young man, Sherman T. Pell worked as a “provision merchant” in the South Street Seaport.[2]   His firm, Seymour & Pell located at 237 Front Street in New York City, seems to have run into some difficulty in 1883.  In an account entitled “Business Embarrassments”, The New York Times reported: 

“Bradford S. Seymour and Sherman T. Pell, comprising the firm of Seymour & Pell, wholesale provision-dealers at No. 237 Front-street, made an assignment yesterday to Henry C. Henderson, giving a preference to [Sherman Pell’s father] Samuel Pell for $7,807.15.  They succeeded J. W. Norris & Co., in September, 1879”[3] 

According to another account, thereafter Sherman Pell “entered the real estate business.”[4] 

Sherman Pell Enters Pelham Politics 

Sherman Pell reportedly was popular in Pelham.  People remarked that he carried the town “in his pocket.”[5]   In 1885, Pell ran as a Democrat against Republican Robert H. Scott for Town Supervisor of Pelham.  The election was a close one.  Scott beat Pell by ten votes.[6] 

The following year, Sherman Pell ran once again against Republican Robert H. Scott for Town Supervisor.  The election was even closer than the previous one.  On March 30, 1886, Sherman Pell won the election by a single vote, but not without the shadow of scandal. 

Pell’s Republican opponent announced that he intended to contest the election.  He alleged that Democrats had imported non-resident paupers from Hart Island to vote for Pell.  According to one account, Scott said he would contest the election results “on the ground that 25 persons who voted for Mr. Pell were brought over from Hart’s Island, and that two-thirds of them were New-York paupers having no right to vote.”[7] 

Election authorities declared Pell the winner of the 1886 election.  Pell then worked tirelessly to consolidate his political power.

The Postmaster Flap 

Soon Sherman T. Pell became known as “The little Democratic Napoleon of Pelham.”[8]   He called in political favors and had himself appointed as local postmaster by the Democrat Grover Cleveland administration after he worked tirelessly toward Cleveland’s first term victory.[9] 

The ham-handed way Pell gained the postmaster’s position and its $1,600 salary (about $56,000 in today’s dollars) upset most of the Town of Pelham.  At the time, the acting postmaster was a popular City Island resident named James Hyatt.  According to one news report, in seeking the appointment, Pell called in favors owed him by ex-Assemblyman Billy Catlin of Rye who was well-known to President Cleveland and had done him “valuable service.”[10] 

When Pelhamites learned what Pell was trying to do, they circulated a petition opposing Pell’s appointment and asking that the acting postmaster, James Hyatt, be appointed permanently.  According to one report, 190 of the 238 voters on City Island signed the petition.[11] 

The petition was presented to the Grover Cleveland administration.  Cleveland promptly appointed Sherman T. Pell as postmaster, effectively ending James Hyatt’s employment.  Pelhamites were “indignant at the insult which the President has put upon them by his deliberate disregard of their wishes.”[12] 

Not long afterward, another local dispute foreshadowed what was to come.  Sick of Pell’s heavy-handed tactics, Town officials began calling for an investigation of him in 1890.  A New York City newspaper, writing of the dispute, stated: 

“Justice of the Peace John P. Hawkins accused Supervisor Sherman T. Pell of trying to ‘boss’ the town, of mismanaging its finances, failing to report his transactions to the Justices, and acting generally in so negligent a way that the tax rate has been raised very materially.”[13] 

A group of Pelham residents decided to act.  Twenty-five of them filed a special petition to commence a proceeding before New York Supreme Court Justice Bartlett seeking “a summary investigation of the financial affairs” of the Town on the grounds that “public moneys are being unlawfully and corruptly expended.”[14] Justice Bartlett promptly dismissed the proceeding, finding that the petition was based on mere rumors and lacked the factual allegations necessary to support entry of an order directing an investigation of Town of Pelham finances.[15] 

Sherman Pell had defeated his opponents again.  That said, local residents were sniffing around the edges of his administration and Town finances.  Pell, however, was emboldened.  He sued one of the principal proponents of the petition, John F. Scheller of City Island, for defamation, seeking $10,000 in damages.[16] 

First the provisioning business failure, then allegations of voting fraud, then calling in political favors to destroy a man’s livelihood for his own benefit, claims that Pell acted as a Democrat “Boss” who was mismanaging Town finances, failing to report financial transactions, and driving up the Town tax rate, and now a court proceeding asking for a financial investigation of Pell – what might be next?  Pelham soon would learn. 

The 1893 Town Supervisor Election 

For the next couple of years, Pell secured successive, close (and some would say “suspect”) reelections to retain his position as Town Supervisor.[17]   In 1893, however, Pell faced stiff competition in his reelection bid from Republican William McAllister.  The 1893 Town Supervisor election turned out to be Pelham’s own version of the hanging chad dispute that marked the 2000 U.S. presidential election. 

On Tuesday, March 28, voters in Pelham went to the polls to choose between Pell and McAllister.  Early the next morning, The New York Times reported that Democrat Sherman T. Pell had won the election.[18] 

The following day, however, the Times retracted its report, saying “William McAllister, Republican, was elected in the town of Pelham, instead of Sherman T. Pell, Democrat.”[19]   Subsequent reports indicated that on election night, “the count showed that Mr. McAllister had been successful by a narrow margin of two or three votes."[20]   Pell demanded a recount. 

Two constables reportedly guarded the ballots for nearly a week “to prevent their being tampered with.”[21]   On April 6 a recount gave Sherman T. Pell an incredible sixty-five vote lead.  According to one account: 

“An examination of the ballots to-day showed that the apparent majority of Mr. McAllister had been caused by an error on the part of some of the Inspectors.  In many cases the Inspector in detaching the numbered stubs had failed to follow the scored line, and in this way had torn into the tickets and thus cut off Mr. Pell’s name.  The recount gives Mr. Pell a majority over Mr. McAllister of sixty-five votes.”[22] 

Pelham Republicans cried foul and demanded another recount.  When the Town Board (led by Sherman T. Pell) refused, the Republicans applied to New York Supreme Court Justice Jackson O. Dykman (also known as J. O. Dykman) in White Plains for an order directing such a recount.  Justice Dykman issued the order, but four members of the Town Board still refused to conduct the recount:   Sherman T. Pell, John P. Hawkins, Charles Wand, and Ethan Waterhouse.[23] 

Justice Dykman had a simple solution to the standoff.  He imposed $250 fines against each of the four men, held them in contempt of court, sentenced them to imprisonment for thirty days in the county jail and issued arrest warrants to be executed by the Sheriff.[24]   Soon the Republican candidate, McAllister, was declared the winner. 

It turned out that there was a significant reason that Pell had orchestrated such a vigorous scam to retain his elected position.  He had been engaged in a fraud involving Town funds for years.  The jig was up.

Where Is Mr. Pell? 

In early May, William McAllister called on ex-Supervisor Pell and asked for the Town’s account books and moneys.  According to McAllister, “Mr. Pell then stated that he would deliver all books, vouchers, and moneys to me on Thursday, May 18.”[25] 

McAllister dutifully appeared on Mr. Pell’s doorstep on May 18.  McAllister later told one reporter: 

“’his wife informed me that he had sent her a message from New-York City by his brother, Henry Pell, stating that he was compelled to go to Pittsburg on business and thus could not keep his appointment with me.  I have called at Mr. Pell’s residence every day this week, and his wife has stated to me that she had received no word from her husband, and that she did not know where he was.  I hope Mr. Pell will return and thus put an end to the various ugly rumors that have been put in circulation.  If he does not return we will be compelled to take legal measures.  What these measures will be I cannot say, as the matter is now in the hands of my counsel, Martin J. Keogh.’”[26] 

Ex-Supervisor Pell had provided a $10,000 bond in support of the good faith discharge of his fiduciary duties as Town Supervisor.  There were several additional bondsmen including his father, Samuel Pell.[27]   Soon the additional bondsmen wished they had never agreed to bond Sherman Pell’s performance of his duties.  Indeed, Samuel Pell eventually was required to sell his house as a consequence of his son's dishonesty.

The newly-installed Town Board tried its best to audit Sherman T. Pell’s accounts.  Initially the Board concluded “there was an apparent balance of moneys in his hands of $1,700.”[28]   According to one report: 

“Nobody knows where that money is, nor does anybody know where Mr. Pell is.  He has been away from home for several days, and his counsel is reported to have said that he is in Florida looking after legal matters connected with the Carll estate which have arisen through a recent decision of the Court of Appeals giving a grant of land under water. In the absence of the ex-Supervisor’s books it is impossible to say how much he has taken in since his account was audited and how much he ought to turn over to his successor.  He officially receives the taxes collected by the Receiver of the town, back taxes, excise moneys &c.  The amount is variously estimated at from $8,000 to $10,000. It is not supposed that the town will lose anything, even if Mr. Pell is unable to meet the demands made upon him by the Town Board, as one of his bondsmen is James Hyatt, a wealthy City Island butcher.  Mr. Hyatt was Mr. Pell’s predecessor in office. [sic]”[29] 

Another report indicated that an audit of Pell’s accounts on March 27, 1893 showed a cash balance remaining in his hands of $8,585, but it was believed that “the total at this date will considerably exceed that sum.”[30] 

Little did they know the extent of Sherman T. Pell’s defalcations.

The Scandal Grows Darker 

By June 10, 1893, the extent of Pell’s scheme was becoming clearer.  For years Pell had executed notes on behalf of the Town, forged the signature of the Town Clerk, and sold the forged bonds on Wall Street to obtain funds ostensibly on behalf of the Town.  According to a variety of reports, in this fashion he raised amounts that totaled between $30,000 and $100,000.[31]   All of the money – and Pell – remained missing.  Moreover, Sherman T. Pell left his wife behind.  He also left his father, Samuel, and his brother, Percy, holding the bag.  They were two of his bondsmen who had provided $10,000 bonds to secure the honest performance of Sherman Pell’s duties as Town Supervisor. 

Pell’s scheme was devilishly simple.  State law at the time required the collectors of taxes in the various Towns of Westchester County to provide Town Supervisors with a sworn statement of unpaid taxes owed by Town taxpayers.  On or before May 1 each year, each Town Supervisor was authorized “to borrow, upon the credit of the town, a sum not exceeding the amount of the unpaid taxes” reported by the collector for use of the Town.[32]   Pell dutifully arranged for such borrowings from a single bank each year with the full knowledge and participation of the Town Clerk.  However, he also went to other banks and presented multiple sets of forged “certificates” for the same authorized amounts of unpaid taxes (i.e., municipal bonds) that he sold to different banks to avoid detection.  In this fashion he collected tens of thousands of dollars about which no one in Pelham knew until it was too late. 

As things turned out, Pell’s house of cards had begun to collapse more than a year before he lost the election in March 1893.  Broadway Savings Institution of the City of New York acquired seven of the forged notes.  In February 1892, the bank commenced an action against the Town of Pelham seeking $6,800 payment on the seven notes.  The summons in the action reportedly was served on then Supervisor Pell, but he “put in no defense and judgment was taken against the town by default and was entered April 2, 1893.”[33] 

These seven notes were not the only ones Pell had forged.  By June 10, the Town of Pelham was aware of seven additional notes held by Broadway Savings Institution of the City of New York totaling an additional $7,600.  Other banks in Westchester County held even more such notes.  As The New York Times reported on June 11, 1893, “the financial affairs of the town are beginning to look worse than most of the townsfolk had expected.”[34] 

Supervisor McAllister was the first to discover the extent of Pell’s scheme.  Shortly after he became Town Supervisor, he learned of the default judgment entered against the Town.  He obtained copies of the notes and viewed the originals in the bank’s possession.  He arranged for the bank to show the original notes to the Town’s counsel and to the Town Clerk who confirmed that the “signatures” were forgeries.[35] 

Lawsuits Fly 

The Town of Pelham applied to New York Supreme Court to set aside the default judgment entered against it on the grounds that the notes were unlawfully issued and that the Town Clerk’s countersigning signatures were forgeries.  The Court set aside the default judgment and reopened the case for further proceedings.[36] 

The bank, in turn, commenced at least one additional lawsuit against the Town of Pelham on the seven additional notes.[37]   Other banks sued to recover on other notes.  In late July or early August 1893, the Town of Pelham filed a civil action against Sherman T. Pell, Samuel Pell and Percy W. Pell to recover on the $10,000 bond.[38] 

Bondsman Samuel Pell, Sherman’s father, saw the handwriting on the wall.  He sold his home to one of his daughters shortly before the Town of Pelham sued him on the bond.  According to one account: 

“On June 30th [1893], a little over a month before the Town of Pelham brought suit against him and Percy for $10,000, Samuel Pell sold [his house on City Island] and the lots on the west side of Main Street to his daughter Lydia Scofield, who had inherited considerable property from her late husband and had developed an extensive and successful real estate business.”[39] 

Initially, a verdict was rendered against the Town of Pelham finding the Town liable to Broadway Savings Institution of the City of New York to pay off seven notes worth $7,600, $85 interest and an additional $250 “allowance.”[40]   An appellate court quickly overturned that decision, directing that a new trial be held.[41] 

Things got even more interesting when New York City annexed portions of Pelham including City Island in 1895.  New York City assumed the “debts” represented by the forged bonds and took over the defense of the actions by the Broadway Savings Institution and several other savings banks seeking payment on the notes.  According to a report published in 1898, the case was tried before Justice Smith of the New York Supreme Court in the spring of 1898 and a verdict was rendered in favor of the City.[42]   This meant the banks would have to bear the losses.

Conclusion 

Sherman T. Pell, as they say, was never heard from again.  A news account published years later in 1906 claimed that Pell was “said to have died in South America a few years later, a penniless tramp.”[43]   Other accounts suggest that he fled to Florida though nothing more was heard of him.[44] Sherman Pell's wife, Alzina Aurelia Rowland Pell, soon moved to Brooklyn, then to Belvedere, California, and died in Los Angeles in 1929.  Census records for the intervening years before her death list her as a "widow."

Captain Samuel Pell, Sherman Pell’s proud father who had been forced to sell his beloved home on City Island, died in 1894 shortly after the scandal broke.[45]   Pelham weathered the defalcations and dishonesty of Sherman T. Pell, apparently without serious financial loss.  But the scheme did have an impact on Pelham.  Among other things, construction of the original firehouse located in Pelhamville (on Fifth Avenue on today’s parking lot next to the present firehouse) was delayed until early 1895 because another appropriation had to be made and levied in taxes due to financial uncertainties created by the scandal.[46]

ENDNOTES

[1] New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Samuel Pell House, 586 City Island Avenue, Borough of the Bronx, Built c. 1876,  p. 3 (Oct. 29, 2002) < http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2115.pdf > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[2] Id. 

[3] Business Embarrassments, N.Y. Times, Apr. 14, 1883, Vol. XXXII, No. 9861, p. 8, col. 2 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20489199/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019).  See also Business Troubles, The Brooklyn Union [Brooklyn, NY], Apr. 19, 1883, Vol. XX, No. 183, p. 1, col. 8 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/541840896/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[4] Samuel Pell House, supra, n.1, p. 3. 

[5] No Tidings Yet of Mr. Pell, N.Y. Times, May 28, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,029, p. 9, col. 7 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20536988/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[6] City and Suburban News – Westchester County, N.Y. Times, Apr. 2, 1885, p. 8, col. 5 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20355513/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[7] Westchester County, N.Y. Times, Apr. 3, 1886, Vol. XXXV, No. 10,791, p. 8 col. 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20503908/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[8] City Island, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Dec. 16, 1892, p. 1, col. 7 < https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/Mount%20Vernon%20NY%20Daily%20Argus/Mount%20Vernon%20NY%20Daily%20Argus%201892/Mount%20Vernon%20NY%20Daily%20Argus%201892%20-%200853.pdf  > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[9] National Capital Notes, Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, NY], Apr. 19, 1888, p. 1, cols. 4-5 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/135100307/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019); Lord Pell’s Descendant Gets an Office, The Evening World [NY, NY], Apr. 19, 1888, Evening Edition, p. 1, col. 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/50639419/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[10] City Island’s “Reform” Postmaster, New-York Tribune, May 4, 1888, Vol. XLVIII, No. 15,146, p. 10, col. 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/85633796/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[11] Id. 

[12] Id. 

[13] Pelham’s Little Row, The Sun [NY, NY], May 23, 1890, Vol. LVII, No. 265, p. 2, col. 5 < https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%209/New%20York%20NY%20Sun/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201890%20Feb-July%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201890%20Feb-July%20Grayscale%20-%201382.pdf > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[14] Pelham Won’t Be Investigated, The Brooklyn Daily Times [Brooklyn, NY], Aug. 20, 1890, p. 1, col. 8 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/555837424/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[15] Id. 

[16] Campaign Lies and Libels, The Standard Union [Brooklyn, NY], Apr. 3, 1891, Vol. XXVIII, No. 7, p. 2, col. 4 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/542270223/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[17] See Barr, Lockwood, A BRIEF,  BUT MOST COMPLETE & TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ANCIENT TOWN OF PELHAM WESTCHESTER COUNTY, STATE OF NEW YORK KNOWN ONE TIME WELL & FAVOURABLY AS THE LORDSHIPP & MANNOUR OF PELHAM ALSO THE STORY OF THE THREE MODERN VILLAGES CALLED THE PELHAMS, p. 172 (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press 1946) < https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/21802/dvm_LocHist007642-00057-0 > (visited Nov. 23, 2019) (noting that Sherman T. Pell served as Supervisor from 1886 to 1893).  See also Elections in Westchester County, The Sun [NY, NY], Mar. 28, 1888, Vol. LV, No. 210, p. 2, col. 7 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/79114460/  > (visited Nov. 23, 2019); Westchester Elections, N.Y. Times, Mar. 27, 1889, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 11,724 p. 4, col. 6 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20380735/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019) (indicating Pell had been reelected Town Supervisor as a “Democrat”); Democrats in a Majority – Result of the Town Elections in Westchester County, N.Y. Times, Mar. 30, 1892, Vol. XLI, No. 12,666, p. 1, col. 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20521661/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019) (noting that early returns indicated that Sherman T. Pell likely had been reelected Town Supervisor on the Independent and Republican tickets); County Legislators 1892-3, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Apr. 5, 1892, Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 2, col. 1 < https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/Mount%20Vernon%20NY%20Daily%20Argus/Mount%20Vernon%20NY%20Daily%20Argus%201892/Mount%20Vernon%20NY%20Daily%20Argus%201892%20-%200014.pdf > (visited Nov. 23, 2019) (providing a “correct list of the Supervisors elected” including “Pelham – Sherman T. Pell, Dem.”). 

[18] See Westchester Elections – Supervisors and Town Officers Chosen – Sharp Contests, N.Y. Times, Mar. 29, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 12,978, p. 5, col. 2 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20507176/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[19] Westchester County Supervisors, N.Y. Times, Mar. 30, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 12,979, p. 9, col 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20508111/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[20] See Trouble at City Island, The Evening World [NY, NY], Apr. 6, 1893, p. 4, col. 2 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/78944284/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019).  See also Mr. Pell Is Supervisor of Pelham, N.Y. Times, Apr. 7, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 12,986, p. 5 col. 4 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20513235/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[21] Id. 

[22] Id. 

[23] Pelham Citizens To Be Fined – Judge Dykman Declares Them in Contempt for Not Recounting the Town Vote, N.Y. Times, Apr. 30, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,005, p. 3, col. 4 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20525216/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[24] Id. 

[25] Ex-Supervisor Pell Missing – Considerable Money of the Town of Pelham in His Hands, N.Y. Times, May 27, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,029, p. 10, col. 6 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20536372/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[26] Id. 

[27] Id.  See also No Tidings Yet of Mr. Pell, N.Y. Times, May 28, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,029, p. 9, col. 7 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20536988/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[28] Id. 

[29] Id. 

[30] Ex Supervisor Pell Missing, Buffalo Evening News [Buffalo, NY], May 27, 1893, Vol. XXVI, No. 41, p. 5, col. 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/327111418/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019).  Other reports suggested up to $28,000 in Town cash was missing.  See News In Brief, The Standard Union [Brooklyn, NY], May 27, 1893, p. 8, col. 7 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/542157609 > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[31] Compare Pells of Pelham Sued – The Town Wants Them To Pay $10,000 on a Bond They Gave for a Relative, N.Y. Times, Sep. 8, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,118, p. 8, col. 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20386157/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019) (stating “In May Pell absconded, and the town believes he took with him $30,000 belonging to the Public Treasury”) with “Honest John Shinn” Short – Ex-Supervisor of Pelham’s Accounts out $17,971, N.Y. Times, Jun. 20, 1906, Vol. LV, No. 17,679, p. 1, col. 2 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20356428/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019)  (stating that Sherman T. Pell “forged the Town Clerk’s name to $100,000 worth of bonds and sold them in Wall Street”).

[32] Broadway Sav. Inst. of City of New York v. Town of Pelham, 83 Hun 96, 63 N.Y. St. Rep. 814, 31 N.Y.S. 402, 402 (App. Div. 2nd Dep’t 1894) (citing the provisions of Chapter 193, Laws 1877, entitled “An act to amend chapter 610 of the Laws of 1874 entitled an act to authorize the sale of lands for the nonpayment of taxes and for the collection of unpaid taxes in the several towns of the county of Westchester”). 

[33] Signatures Were Forged – Affairs of Ex-Supervisor Pell of Pelham Assume a Darker Aspect, N.Y. Times, Jun. 11, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,041, p. 8, col. 4 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20543424/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[34] Id. 

[35] Id. 

[36] Id. 

[37] Id.  See also Suit Against the Town of Pelham, N.Y. Times, Jun. 1, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,033, p. 8, col. 4 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20539034/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[38] See Pells of Pelham Sued – The Town Wants Them To Pay $10,000 on a Bond They Gave for a Relative, N.Y. Times, Sep. 8, 1893, Vol. XLII, No. 13,118, p. 8, col. 3 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20386157/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019); Samuel Pell House, supra, n.1, p. 3. 

[39] Samuel Pell House, supra, n.1, p. 3. 

[40] See Town of Pelham Must Pay, N.Y. Times, Mar. 31, 1894, Vol. XLIII, No. 13,267, p. 9, col. 6 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20449806/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[41] See Broadway Sav. Inst. of City of New York v. Town of Pelham, 83 Hun 96, 63 N.Y. St. Rep. 814, 31 N.Y.S. 402, 402 (App. Div. 2nd Dep’t 1894). 

[42] Old Town of Pelham Bonds – Indebtedness Assumed by the City Declared Fraudulent and Void, N.Y. Times, Jun. 7, 1898, Vol. XLVII, No. 15, 103, p. 12, col. 4 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20612745/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[43] “Honest John Shinn” Short – Ex-Supervisor of Pelham’s Accounts out $17,971, N.Y. Times, Jun. 20, 1906, Vol. LV, No. 17,679, p. 1, col. 2 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20356428/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[44] Samuel Pell House, supra, n.1, p. 3. 

[45] Obituary Notes, N.Y. Times, Mar. 30, 1894, Vol. XLIII, No. 13, 292, p. 5, col. 2 < https://www.newspapers.com/image/20449192/ > (visited Nov. 23, 2019). 

[46] Village of Pelham, Village of Pelham Online:  Village News – Interviewed in 1935 Mr. Edinger Told An Interesting Story (visited Apr. 24, 2005) http://www.villageofpelham.com/home/00-00-35.shtml (an archived copy of the article is available via the Way Back Machine via https://web.archive.org/web/20030304032321/http://www.villageofpelham.com/home/00-00-35.shtml) (visited Nov. 23, 2019).

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