More on the Impact on Pelham of the Financial Panic of 1857

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On August 24, 1857, the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, an Ohio Bank, failed.  The failure of the bank focused attention on the financial state of the overextended railroad industry and the inflated real estate markets associated with the railroad industry.  Financial confidence quickly waned and, on October 13, 1857, a financial panic gripped the New York Stock Exchange.  By the time the panic settled, hundreds of banks had failed.  Individual investors were ruined.  Although the financial crisis began to level off and the U.S. economy began to stabilize by 1859, a true recovery was not felt until after the American Civil War.

I have written a little about the impact of the Financial Panic of 1857 on the Town of Pelham.  See Thu., Nov. 20, 2014:  Pelham Responds to the Financial Panic of 1857; Steps to Alleviate Plight of the Poor of the Town.  As noted in that article, according to an account of the Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Westchester following the Board's annual session in late 1857, during the annual meeting Pelham Town Supervisor George Washington Horton of City Island offered a resolution that was adopted by the Board authorizing the Town to raise $50 "for the temporary relief of the poor in said town" and to assess taxes to raise, among other sums, $20 "to defray the expenses for house for town paupers."  This suggests, of course, that like many small communities in the New York region, only weeks after the panic the Town of Pelham was struggling to assist citizens who had been affected by the Financial Panic of 1857 and the subsequent financial downturn.

Shortly after the stock market panic, The New York Times complained that the oystermen in Pelham had not yet reduced the price of their oysters as should be the case to respond to the financial panic.  In its report, dripping with sarcasm, the newspaper stated:

"The restaurants and the refectories of the City feel the effects of the panic almost as much as the other establishments.  Men's appetites are accommodated with fewer viands, in times like these.  In the oyster saloons, we are informed that the receipts are fully one-third less than they were a few weeks ago, with out taking into consideration the present propition -- season for oyster eating, when those vi valvular delicacies are most inviting, and when, consequently, the receipts under usual circumstances would be three times as large as in the latter part of August or the early part of September.  Yet the merchants of oysters, who deliver them to our Broadway saloons, have not, as yet, thought it necessary to lower the wholesale prices.  City Island has not, as yet, felt the effects of the panic, and as they never read newspapers in that Robinson Crusoe spot, it may be some time before they find it out.  In the meantime, they keep up the price of oysters, although the appetites or the pockets of purchasers are rather turned against such luxuries."

Though it took quite some time for the American economy to recover, by late 1859 the economy had stabilized, though not yet improved.  As one might expect, with the decline in shipping and rail transportation during the years following the panic, the maritime community of City Island suffered.  It was not until after the Civil War that the economy of Pelham, and that of the nation, truly recovered.

"RUN ON THE SEAMEN'S SAVINGS' BANK DURING THE PANIC."

Source: Harper's Weekly, Oct. 31, 1857, Vol. I, p. 692. NOTE: This

Engraving Shows an Unruly Crowd Outside a Seamen's Bank Shoving

and Gesturing. A Ragpicker Can Be Seen Picking Up Worthless

Stock Certificates and a Pickpocket Can Be Seen Working the Crowd.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"THE HARD TIMES.
-----
RECOVERING FROM THE PANIC.
-----
The Gold Going Back to the Savings Banks --- The Effect of the Revulsion on Tradesmen, &c., &c. . . .
OYSTERS AND THE PANIC.

The restaurants and the refectories of the City feel the effects of the panic almost as much as the other establishments.  Men's appetites are accommodated with fewer viands, in times like these.  In the oyster saloons, we are informed that the receipts are fully one-third less than they were a few weeks ago, with out taking into consideration the present propition -- season for oyster eating, when those vi valvular delicacies are most inviting, and when, consequently, the receipts under usual circumstances would be three times as large as in the latter part of August or the early part of September.  Yet the merchants of oysters, who deliver them to our Broadway saloons, have not, as yet, thought it necessary to lower the wholesale prices.  City Island has not, as yet, felt the effects of the panic, and as they never read newspapers in that Robinson Crusoe spot, it may be some time before they find it out.  In the meantime, they keep up the price of oysters, although the appetites or the pockets of purchasers are rather turned against such luxuries. . . ."

Source:   THE HARD TIMES -- RECOVERING FROM THE PANIC -- The Gold Going Back to the Savings Banks --- The Effect of the Revulsion on Tradesmen, &c., &c., N.Y. Times, Oct. 16, 1857, p. 1, cols. 1-3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

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Grand Regatta, Ball, and Clam-Bake on Davids Island in 1857

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More than 160 years ago, on August 13,1857, nearly two thousand local residents gathered on Davids Island off the shores of New Rochelle and Pelham for a grand celebration.  Davids Island is a 78-acre island in Long Island Sound adjacent to Glen Island. The island is named after Thaddeus Davids who lived in New Rochelle and was famous for "Thaddeus Davids Electro Writing Fluid" and "Thaddeus Davids Ink" during the 19th century.  Davids bought the island in November, 1856.

Only a few months after purchasing the island, Thaddeus Davids permitted his island to be used for the celebration.  The celebration included a grand ball, an "Indian" clam bake, and a hotly-contested regatta held offshore.  

A short time before the celebration, Thaddeus Davids permitted the construction of "a very spacious building" on the island to serve as a ballroom for the event.  Selection of the island for such a grand party was no accident.  At the time, Davids Island was entirely undeveloped.  It was covered with wooded valleys and groves of old-growth trees.  It had "bold, rocky shores and sandy beaches."  Moreover, the view from the highest point on the island was spectacular.  According to one report published in 1857, "From its highest point can be seen the shores bordering on Long Island Sound, taking in at a glance City Island, Hunter's Island, Hart Island, Manursing Island, Throgg's Neck, Glen Cove, Orienta, Mamaroneck, Rye, and other suburban villages."

The location of the island also was important.  It was only a few hundred feet off the mainland shores of New Rochelle and Pelham Manor.  Moreover, it was only a quarter mile from an important steamboat landing at New Rochelle.  

On the morning of Thursday, August 13, 1857, people began streaming onto Davids Island.  The spacious ballroom building was decorated festively with flags and more.  At about 11:00 a.m. Dodworth's Band arrived from New York City to provide music throughout the day and evening.  The Dodworth Band of New York City was the premier brass band in the United States from the 1840s to the 1880s.  The band was founded by the Dodworth family in 1825 and grew to become one of the famous American bands of the 19th century.

With festive music as a background, a little after 1:00 p.m. the regatta began.  The yachts raced over a twenty mile course laid out in Long Island Sound.  There were four classes of competitors:  first class, second class, third class, and fourth class.  The winners of the top three classes each received a substantial $50 prize (about $1,850 in today's dollars).  The winner of the fourth class received a $30 cash prize.  

The Excelsior, owned by L. D. Huntington of New Rochelle, won the first class race.  The Electric Spark, owned by J. E. Ebling of Harlem, won the second class race.  The Emma, owned by Thaddeus Davids of New Rochelle, won the third class race.  The Dan Smith, of Oyster Bay, won the fifth class race.

The third class race clearly was the most exciting of the day.  Two of the yachts in the race were running neck-and-neck as they neared the end of the course at Davids Island.  The Emma and the Silence battled to the very end as crowds on shore cheered the two yachts jockeying side-by-side for a "considerable distance" to the very end.  The Emma finally edged out the Silence by about two boat lengths as the yachts crossed the finish line.  

The third class race was a bitter disappointment for the owner and friends of the Silence who had "bet very freely in her favor."  They immediately challenged the Emma to a rematch for a $200 stake which Thaddeus Davids immediately accepted.  The rematch was scheduled on the spot for two weeks later on August 27, 1857.  Sadly, no record of the result of the rematch has yet been located!

While the regatta was underway, an unusual "Indian style" clam bake was being prepared.  One account noted that the Indian style of clam bake was "quite a novelty on this end of the Sound."  The preparations were described as follows:

"Long pieces of wood were piled up in cross layers, with large paving stones interspersed, until the pile was about six feet high.  It was then set on fire, and when the wood was all burned out, the stones were nicely and evenly placed, and swept clean.  Forty bushels of Little Neck hard-shell clams were then dumped upon the hot stones, and the surface of the clams covered with green corn in the husk; and these covered over to the depth of six to eight inches with fresh seaweed.  The whole was then covered with a large sail.  In five minutes clouds of steam arose from the pile, and in about fifteen minutes more, the great clam-bake was ready; when there were plenty of anxious lookers-on, equally ready to go in for a share.  Two large boilers of chowder were also made, and said to be quite equal to that made at Marshfield by the late Daniel Webster."  

It did not take two thousand celebrants long to devour forty bushels of Little Neck clams and the two large boilers of chowder.  Once the food was gone, the crowd retired to the ballroom and surrounding area for a grand dance with the music of the Dodworth Band of New York City.  They danced the night away until 2:00 a.m.

Detail of 1867 Beers Map Showing Davids Island Adjacent to

Locust Island (Known Today as Glen Island). Source: Beers, Ellis

& Soule, Atlas of New York and Vicinity From Actual Surveys By

and Under the Direction of F. W. Beers, Assisted by Geo. E.

Warner & Others, p. 7 (Philadelphia, PA: Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1867)

("Plans of East Chester, Pelham and New Rochelle Westchester Co.").

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Thaddeus Davids in 1879, from the January 21, 1879

Issue of the Graphic. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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I have written before about Davids Island, particularly Pelham's involvement with it during the Civil War.  For examples, see:

Wed., Apr. 26, 2017:  Thaddeus Davids of Davids Island Off the Shores of Pelham and New Rochelle.

Wed., Oct. 19, 2016:  Valor in the Waters Off Pelham During a Monumental Snowstorm in 1871.

Wed., Feb. 03, 2016:  Pelham Women Assisted Union Troops and Confederate Prisoners on David's Island During the Civil War.

Wed., Oct. 21, 2015:  Ministering to Troops on Hart and Davids Islands During and Shortly After the Civil War. 

Tue., Nov. 03, 2009:  Pelham Students Help Civil War Soldiers on Davids' Island in 1864. 

Fri., Jun. 3, 2005:  Davids' Island Off the Coast of Pelham Manor During the Civil War.

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"REGATTA, BALL, AND CLAM-BAKE AT DAVID'S ISLAND. -- Notwithstanding the extreme heat of the weather on Thursday, a vast concourse of persons visited David's Island, Long Island Sound, on that day, for the purpose of witnessing a regatta, and participating in a grand ball, Indian clam-bake, and other festivities.  David's Island comprises about one hundred acres of land, and is a quarter of a mile from the steamboat landing at New Rochelle.  The island is picturesquely diversified by dell and grove, alternated with bold, rocky shores and sandy beaches.  From its highest point can be seen the shores bordering on Long Island Sound, taking in at a glance City Island, Hunter's Island, Hart Island, Manursing Island, Throgg's Neck, Glen Cove, Orienta, Mamaroneck, Rye, and other suburban villages.  On reaching the island, we found that a very spacious building, which has recently been erected for a ball-room, was decorated with flags, &c., ready for the festive occasion.  About 11 o'clock, Dodworth's Band, from the city, made its appearance on the ground, and discoursed most excellent music at intervals, from that time until about 2 o'clock yesterday morning.

Shortly after 1 o'clock p.m., the regatta took place, over a course about 20 miles in length.  The judges decided the Excelsior, owned by L. D. Huntington of New-Rochelle, the winner of the first-class prize of $50; the Electric Spark, owned by J. E. Ebling of Harlem, winner of the second-class prize of $50; the Emma, owned by Thaddeus Davids of New-Rochelle, winner of the third-class prize of $50, and the Dan Smith of Oyster Bay, winner of the fourth-class prize of $30.  The race between the Emma and Silence was a most exciting one; running as they did side by side for a considerable distance, the Emma finally coming in by about twice her own length.  The owner and friends of the Silence having bet very freely in her favor, appeared sadly disappointed at the result and challenged her against the Emma for $200 a side, which was accepted; the match to come off at the City Island on the 27th inst.

While the yachts were pushing their way through the rippled waters, a clam-bake in the genuine Indian style was made on the island, and proved quite a novelty on this end of the Sound.  Long pieces of wood were piled up in cross layers, with large paving stones interspersed, until the pile was about six feet high.  It was then set on fire, and when the wood was all burned out, the stones were nicely and evenly placed, and swept clean.  Forty bushels of Little Neck hard-shell clams were then dumped upon the hot stones, and the surface of the clams covered with green corn in the husk; and these covered over to the depth of six to eight inches with fresh seaweed.  The whole was then covered with a large sail.  In five minutes clouds of steam arose from the pile, and in about fifteen minutes more, the great clam-bake was ready; when there were plenty of anxious lookers-on, equally ready to go in for a share.  Two large boilers of chowder were also made, and said to be quite equal to that made at Marshfield by the late Daniel Webster.  The knife, fork and spoon exercise being terminated, the party now numbering about 2,000 persons, dancing began, and was kept up until about 2 o'clock yesterday morning."

Source:  REGATTA, BALL, AND CLAM-BAKE AT DAVID'S ISLAND, New-York Tribune, Aug. 15, 1857, p. 7, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

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More on Brutal Winters in Pelham During the 1850s

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Pelham experienced a series of terrible winters during the 1850s.  The first was the winter of 1852-53.  Another was the winter of 1855-56.  A third was the winter of 1856-57.  I have written before about some of these terrible winters and the major storms they produced.  See, e.g.:

Thu., Jul. 27, 2017:  Terrible Storm of 1856 Wrecks Dozens and Dozens of Ships Including Many on Pelham Shores.

Fri., May 26, 2017:  The Significance of the Wreck of the Steamer Plymouth Rock in Pelham in 1855.

Winter of 1855 - 1856

On January 5, 1856, a terrible nor'easter and monster blizzard pounded the New York region and continued overnight and well into the following day.  Pelham, Long Island Sound, and Long Island were particularly savaged by the massive storm.  More than a dozen ships were wrecked on Pelham shores including the massive steamer Plymouth Rock about which I have written before.  (See above.)

Within a few weeks, the brutal cold of the winter and the repeated snow storms meant that Long Island Sound off Pelham shores was completely iced over from the mainland to the shores of Long Island.  Near Throgg's Neck, the ice was more than a foot thick and was covered with an additional foot of snow.  Indeed, the ice was so thick by early February that, according to one account, teams of horses could "pass over from Morrisport on the West side [the mainland], to Sand's Point, on the Long Island Shore."  

Viewers who climbed to the masthead of a ship anchored at Hart Island in the Town of Pelham could not see any water at all -- only ice -- as far as the eye could see.  Thick ice covered Long Island Sound in an area about eighteen miles long above Hell Gate.  

This, of course, was devastating to local shipping.  About thirty vessels including brigs, schooners, sloops, and others were ice-bound between Sand's Point and Riker's Island.  The thick ice and brutal cold brought efforts to re-float the massive Plymouth Rock from where it wrecked on the shores of City Island to a standstill.  Indeed, the ship's crew abandoned the steamer for a time, leaving it in the care of one or two members of the crew.

By late February, a few moderate days started to reduce the ice on the Sound.  A Brooklyn newspaper reported that:

"A few more moderate days will open the East River for navigation.  On Friday last the propeller Westchester, from Providence, which, with many other vessels, has been ice bound in the vicinity of Hart Island, started to work her way through, if possible; the Pelican, also from Providence, following in her wake.  On Saturday they had proceeded round Throgg's Point, a distance of three or four miles.  They were aided in their progress by nicking with the ice axes at intermediate Points ahead of them.  When off Throgg's Point, the ice was so soft that three of the men who were employed in the operation fell through, but were taken out safe."

By early March, the weather had moderated and the Sound was open to navigation.  Finally the Plymouth Rock was re-floated off the shores of City Island in Pelham.  

Winter of 1856 - 1857

The following year, the brutal cold arrived even earlier in the winter.  By January 9, 1857, there was "considerable ice" in the East River.  Indeed, the massive ice "cakes" were so dangerous to shipping that they began to delay shipping.  Ships picking their way through the considerable ice were delayed for hours as they made their way to the docks of New York City.

The brutal cold was even more relentless than that of the previous winter.  By January 10, according to one report, there was "as much ice in the Hudson river now as at any time during last winter."  Cakes of ice a third of a mile wide and five or six inches thick were plaguing the New York City region, causing ferry delays and requiring some vessels that were so suited to cut through the ice to make good time navigating the region's waters.  

At sunrise on January 10, the temperature in the New York region was two degrees above zero.  That morning, two homeless people were found frozen to death, one in New York City and the other in Brooklyn.  By sunset of that day, tides and wind had caused an aggregation of a massive field of ice from the Battery to Brooklyn that, according to one account, "made the crossing to and from Brooklyn easy."

Within a few days, a massive field of ice was blockading the East River and beginning to cause "marine disasters."  A Philadelphia newspaper reported:

"A variety of marine disasters in the [New York] harbor are reported.  Schr. Isaac M. Conkling, that had been employed in getting the ship Cultivator's anchor and chain sunk off Whitehall, was cut through off pier 7, East River, and went to the bottom at once.  The crew were saved.  Steamer John Hart went ashore at the Narrows, in the forenoon, but was subsequently relieved.  Br. schr. Hero, from Montego Bay, was driven ashore at Fort Hamilton, but has been got off with loss of rudder. . . ."

By January 13, 1857, the mouth of the East River was blocked by a fifteen-acre field of ice through which nothing could pass.  That day a Hamilton Avenue Ferry became ice-bound for several hours.  The U.S. Frigate Wabash became ice bound at its dock.  In fact, so many vessels began having significant difficulties in the ice -- so much so that the local Board of Underwriters decided:

"to send out a vessel, at their own expense, provided with clothing, provisions and an extra complement of men, to cruise off the harbor of New York, in a circuit of two or three hundred miles, to give relief to any vessels to be found needing assistance.  The Treasury Department at Washington city have telegraphed to Captain Faunce orders to fit out the revenue cutter Washington, from this port at once, and proceed to sea in search of vessels in distress."

By the same day (Jan. 13), the snow on Long Island had become so "unusually deep" with massive drifts that the Long Island Railroad shut down on the eastern end of the island.  Then, on Saturday, January 17, 1857, a memorable event witnessed by thousands of New Yorkers occurred.

That day, an ice bridge formed between Manhattan and Brooklyn strong enough and reliable enough to permit passage back and forth.  A group of entrepreneurial New Yorkers grabbed long ladders and propped them on the shores of Manhattan and Brooklyn leading down to the ice and began charging New Yorkers two cents a pop to use the ladders to clamber on and off the ice bridge.

New Yorkers began scrambling back and forth across the ice between Thompson's Slip in Brooklyn and the foot of Wall Street in Manhattan.  News of the unusual event spread quickly and over a five-hour period an estimated 25,000 people crossed back and forth on the ice including a few venturesome women according to docks.  

Thousands lined the shores simply to watch the madcap scramble.  Indeed, the sight was "a magnificent one" according to one account.  The unbroken mass of ice covered an area of about five square miles.  The massive white surface was speckled with thousands of dark, moving specks as predominantly men and boys cavorted on the ice.  Everyone "seemed to think it very fine fun" . . . . until the unthinkable.  

At about 4:00 p.m., the tide began to turn and the water level in the bay began to lower as the tide ebbed.  Thousands realized it was time to get off the ice and did.  Many, many others, however, did not heed the fissures that began to appear in the ice near the shorelines.  People on the shore were the first to realize what was about to happen and began shouting to those on the ice to get off.  

The fissure on the Manhattan side soon was too large to cross.  Those on shore shouted for those on the ice to run to the Brooklyn side to get off.  As the alarm spread, nearly five hundred people still on the ice began running for the Brooklyn shore where only a few clamored ashore before fissures opened in the ice along the Brooklyn shore.  The ice mass was now a monumentally-large floating ice cake with hundreds and hundreds of New Yorkers trapped on it.  

According to one account, the hundreds who had failed to heed the alarm and now were trapped began "running wildly from side to side, not knowing what to do -- the ice in the meantime drifting slowly down the river with a precious freight of human lives upon it."  People on the docks realized the gravity of the situation and began to fear that many lives would be lost.  

Within minutes, however, three tugboats and countless small boats made their way to the floating ice cake where they hoped to take aboard the "terrified ice bridge travelers"  The vessels, however, found it virtually impossible to pull alongside the floating ice cake and moor themselves in any way that would allow the safe transfer of the frightened people.

One of the steam tugs named the "Ratler" tried a new approach.  It backed away from the ice cake and revved its engine.  It started headlong into the ice cake and "pushed into the floe so as to bury her bow in the thick drift."  The tug then lowered a ladder and began taking aboard the terrified people on the ice, as many at a time as possible.

It took time, but at last the whole five hundred were removed from the floating ice cake.  Within an hour, the tide and winds had carried the massive ice bridge away.

By the following day, the temperature had plunged to four degrees above zero.  Even at that brutally-low temperature, a massive snowstorm blanketed the area for more than twelve hours.  By midnight "it blew a hurricane and the air was full of snow."  The ice returned.  

For the next few weeks, the ice grew worse and worse.  By late January. the East River and Long Island Sound well past Pelham were iced over with thick ice.  The effect on shipping was so devastating that merchants of New York City actually raised money to charter the steam tugboat Webb to cut through ice off the Brooklyn shore between Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Before the tug could do its work, however, the temperature moderated and a massive rainstorm let loose over the region.  Over the next few days small parts of the East River and the Sound began to clear.  Ice along the Long Island shore from Hamilton Ferry to Gowanus parted from the shore and began to float down the bay with the ebb tide forming an ice floe a mile and a half wide.  A "strait" opened in the ice on the north shore opposite Rye opened up, but the area of the Long Island Sound near Pelham and particularly surrounding Execution Rocks Lighthouse remained iced over for quite some time.

Indeed, it was well February and early March before the last of the ice began to clear.  Spring finally made it to Pelham after two brutal winters in a row.

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Winter of 1855 - 1856

"A Fleet Frozen Up.

According to accounts, which were yesterday given by pilots and captains of vessels, who had just come in from City Island and vicinity, the ice in the river above Hell Gate, is more abundant and solid than it has been for many years past.  The whole river, they say, is frozen over, between Lent's Point, above the Gate, to Sand's Point, a distance of about 18 miles.  Near Throgg's Point the ice is over a foot thick, and much of it covered with snow of an equal depth.  Teams can pass over from Morrisport on the West side, to Sand's Point, on the Long Island shore.  No water can be seen by a person looking in the direction of the Sound, from a vessel's mast-head at Hart Island.

About thirty vessels, brigs, schooners, sloops, &c., are ice-bound between Sand's Point and Riker's Island, among which are the following that were not reported on the 22d ult.  British brig Elsworth Horton, from Nova Scotia; British schooner Emma, from St. Johns, N. B.; schooners Start, from Boston; Angler, for Bridgeport; Caroline H., from Eastport; Delaware, from Rockland; Lion, for Providence; sloop Empire, from Southport, Conn., and a schooner from Saco, name not known, which lies beyond Sand's Point.  Also, three propellers, the Pelican and Westchester, from Providence, and the Westernport, from Portland.  Schooner Vulcan, with coal, bound to Norwich, was cut through and sunk at the pier just below Throgg's Point.  Beside the captains, who have thus left their vessels, the crew of the steamer Plymouth Rock, at City Island, having despaired of getting her away at present, have abandoned her, leaving her in charge of but one or two as boat-keepers."

Source:  A Fleet Frozen Up, N.Y. Times, Feb. 7, 1856, p. 4, col. 4 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"The Ice in the East River. -- The New York Evening Express, of the 7th inst., (which we have in advance of the mail,) says:

According to accounts which were given yesterday by pilots and captains of vessels, who had just come in from City Island and vicinity, the ice in the river above Hell Gate is more abundant and solid than it has been for many years past.  The whole river, they say, is frozen over between 70th street, above the Gate, to Sand's Point, a distance of about eighteen miles!  Near Throgg's Point the ice is over a foot thick, with much of it covered with snow of an equal depth.  Teams can pass over from Morrisport, on the west side, to Sands's Point, on the Long Island shore.  No water can be seen by a person looking in the direction of the Sound, from a vessel's mast head, at Hart Island.

About thirty vessels -- brigs, schooners, sloops, &c. -- are ice-bound between Sands's Point and Riker's Island."

Source:  The Ice in the East River, The Times-Picayune [New Orleans, LA], Feb. 15, 1856, p. 4, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"NEW YORK BLOCKADED BY ICE. --  According to accounts, which were yesterday given by pilots and captains of vessels who had just come in from City Island and vicinity, the ice in the river above Hell Gate is more abundant and solid than it has been for many years past.  The whole river, they say, is frozen over, between Lent's Point, above the Gate, to Sand's Point, a distance of about 18 miles.  Near Throg's Point the ice is over a foot thick, and much of it covered with snow of an equal depth.  Teams can pass over from Morrisport on the West side, to Sand's Point on the Long Island shore.  No water can be seen by a person looking in the direction of the Sound, from a vessel's mast-head at Hart Island.  About thirty vessels, brigs, schooners, sloops, &c., are ice-bound between Sand's Point and Riker's Island.  Buttermilk Channel is frozen over from South Brooklyn to Governor's Island.  -- N. Y. Times, 7th."

Source:  NEW YORK BLOCKADED BY ICE, The Morning Democrat [Davenport, IA], Feb. 16, 1856, p. 4, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"EAST RIVER. -- A few more moderate days will open the East River for navigation.  On Friday last the propeller Westchester, from Providence, which, with many other vessels, has been ice bound in the vicinity of Hart Island, started to work her way through, if possible; the Pelican, also from Providence, following in her wake.  On Saturday they had proceeded round Throgg's Point, a distance of three or four miles.  They were aided in their progress by nicking with the ice axes at intermediate Points ahead of them.  When off Throgg's Point, the ice was so soft that three of the men who were employed in the operation fell through, but were taken out safe."

Source:  EAST RIVER, Brooklyn Evening Star, Feb. 25, 1856, p. 2, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  "The Sound Boats.

Winter of 1856 - 1857

"JAN. 9.  --  There is considerable ice in the East River causing delay to navigation.  The Fall River boat, State of Maine, arrived about 9 o'clock.  The Stonington and Norwich boats did not reach their docks until nearly one o'clock."

Source:  The Sound Boats, Hartford Courant [Hartford, CT], Jan. 10, 1857, p. 3, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Balls and Festivals -- The Transit Company's Troubles -- Ice in the Rivers -- Difficult Navigation -- Frozen to Death -- Fare on a Ferry Boat, &c. . . .

There is as much ice in the Hudson river now as at any time during last winter.  The ferry-boats are much delayed in their trips.  Some of the cakes of ice yesterday appeared to be one-third of a mile in width and five to six inches in thickness.  The boats of the Jersey city and Hoboken ferries were in some instances delayed an hour in crossing yesterday.  The jersey city ferry-boats, being heavy and strong, are better adapted to cutting through the ice than other ferry-boats are, and usually make good time in crossing.

At sunset the East river, from the Battery to Governor's Island, was blockaded by a field of ice, which made the crossing to and from Brooklyn easy.  Previous to this the boats ran at long intervals.

Two of the South Ferry boats got on to a cake about mid day, and were floated down to Governor's Island, where they were comfortably moored in for several hours.

The weather continues intensely cold.  At sunrise this morning the mercury in the thermometer marked only 2 degrees above zero.  Two persons were frozen to death last night, one in Brooklyn and the other in New York.  Both were miserable, homeless beings. . . ."

Source:  Balls and Festivals -- The Transit Company's Troubles -- Ice in the Rivers -- Difficult Navigation -- Frozen to Death -- Fare on a Ferry Boat, &c., The Baltimore Sun, Jan. 10, 1857, p. 4, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Milder Weather -- Porridge Ice Plenty, but no Blockade.

There is a great deal of misapprehension outside of New-York about the amount of ice in our harbor.  The loose way of stating things has conveyed the notion that we are suffering an ice blockade, than which nothing could be less true.  No ice has yet made in the rivers, nor from present appearances will any, for the mercury last night at 11 o'clock stood at 26 [degrees], instead of 10 [degrees] as the night before.  But from the Hudson River we have been enjoying very liberal supplies during the cold snap, which seems to have reached the highest point yesterday morning.  It will be remembered that the tide sets flood two hours earlier in the East than in the North River; this gives all the ice that comes down on the last of the North River ebb two hours to flow up the East River.  It is this chopped 'porridge ice,' with occasional large cakes, that is filling up our rivers at certain hours of the day, and leaving them entirely or almost clear again at others.  No ferry accidents (except, of course, on the Staten Island route) have occurred yet, though the delays have been sufficient to furnish a fruitful topic of gossip.  Indeed, the ice has been a godsend to our people, who were beginning to weary of the usual Winter entertainments, such as big parties up town, sleigh-riding on the avenues, and slipping down on the sidewalks.  They have hailed, with a hearty welcome, the sport to be had daily now on the ferries, and many turned out, last night, especially to enjoy it.  It was a magnificent night by the way.

The Canadian and Amboy Railroad boat John Potter in going to Perth Amboy, goes outside Staten Island, instead of taking the usual route up the Kills, which are frozen completely over.  The Water Witch and Red Jacket, which also go up the Kills, are not able to make their trips twice a day, as usual, but get through once only, by a narrow channel, which is kept open with great difficulty, and through which their progress is very slow.

The steamboat Connecticut, of the Norwich and Worcester line, on entering her slip between 9 and 10 o'clock on Thursday morning, came in contact with a large cake of ice, and carried away her stem, which disabled her from making her usual trip on Thursday evening.  Yesterday workmen were engaged in replacing her stem-piece, and they have also put on a sheathing of oak, extending 30 feet on each side from the bow, which is covered to the distance of six feet from that point with a double thickness of boiler iron.  The workmen in doing this had to stand on the drift ice, in the slip which had wedged itself in as solid as a rock.  The C. will resume her trips to-night."

Source:  Milder Weather -- Porridge Ice Plenty, but no Blockade, N. Y. Times, Jan. 10, 1857, p. 4, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"THE ICE. -- The accumulation of ice in the East River has rendered the trips of the Peck Slip ferry boats so uncertain that a great many people take the cars down to Fulton ferry and thence to New York, that being the quickest and most reliable mode of reaching the lower part of the city."

Source:  THE ICE, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jan. 12, 1857, p. 3, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"BY MAIL PILOT LINE.
-----
[Correspondence of the Public Ledger.]
THINGS IN NEW YORK.

NEW YORK, Jan. 12.

The East River was in a state of blockade this morning.  From Buttermilk Channel to Green Point, on the Long Island shore, the ice was almost impenetrable.  The South Ferry ran a boat only once an hour.  The Hamilton Avenue Ferry was obliged to suspend its trips altogether.  The Fulton managed to wedge a boat through occasionally, but at great hazard of knocking a hole through the hulls.  The Peck Slip boats did not attempt to break the embargo at all, and the consequence was that thousands of mechanics who desired to cross over to New York, so as to be at work by 7 o'clock were disappointed, and had to lose half a day.  On the turn of the tide, about 10 o'clock, the harbor was temporarily cleared, and communication was resumed.

A variety of marine disasters in the harbor are reported.  Schr. Isaac M. Conkling, that had been employed in getting the ship Cultivator's anchor and chain sunk off Whitehall, was cut through off pier 7, East River, and went to the bottom at once.  The crew were saved.  Steamer John Hart went ashore at the Narrows, in the forenoon, but was subsequently relieved.  Br. schr. Hero, from Montego Bay, was driven ashore at Fort Hamilton, but has been got off with loss of rudder. . . ." 

Source:  BY MAIL PILOT LINE -- [Correspondence of the Public Ledger] -- THINGS IN NEW YORK, Public Ledger [Philadelphia, PA], Jan. 13, 1857, p. 2, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"NEW YORK, Jan. 13.

The Ice in the Rivers -- Relief for Disabled Vessels -- Young Men's Bail -- Huntington -- Advances in Breadstuffs, &c.

The mouth of the East river was blocked up yesterday morning by a field of ice about fifteen acres in extent, through which nothing could pass.  One of the Hamilton avenue ferry boats got fast in it, and was detained there for several hours.  The East river ferry boats were much obstructed by ice during the day.  The U.S. frigate Wabash, which arrived and took her position opposite the Mississippi, Sunday evening, was frozen about so solid that yesterday morning the crew of the St. Mary's passed over it several rods in extent, with all their luggage, to the dock.  Never, it is said, since the famous winter of 1852, have the difficulties on the ferries been as sever as this.

The Board of Underwriters have determined to send out a vessel, at their own expense, provided with clothing, provisions and an extra complement of men, to cruise off the harbor of New York, in a circuit of two or three hundred miles, to give relief to any vessels to be found needing assistance.  The Treasury Department at Washington city have telegraphed to Captain Faunce orders to fit out the revenue cutter Washington, from this port at once, and proceed to sea in search of vessels in distress.  The Washington was expected to leave port last evening.

The snow is unusually deep and drifted on the eastern extremity of Long Island, and the trains of the Long Island Railroad have discontinued running beyond Riverhead. . . ."

Source:  NEW YORK, Jan. 13 -- The Ice in the Rivers -- Relief for Disabled Vessels -- Young Men's Bail -- Huntington -- Advances in Breadstuffs, &c., The Baltimore Sun, Jan. 14, 1857, p. 4, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"There is more ice in the East River at the present time that there has been for years previous; not because the weather has been unusually cold, but because there have been no strong winds.  A stiff north wind would blow most of the ice out to sea so far that the tide would not float it back, but now all the ice that accumulates remains inside of the Narrows."

Source:  [Untitled], The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jan. 15, 1857, p. 3, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"HARD NAVIGATION.

NEW YORK, Jan. 14. -- This morning immense floes of ice entirely choked up the East River, so that most of the ferry boats ceased running.  The ice was about six inches in thickness, and some times formed unbroken fields of several acres.  --  The shipping was greatly exposed to serious injury.  Navigation around the city was never more difficult, vessels being frequently detained several days, from the impossibility of leaving the harbor.  Most of the ferry boats are more or less disabled, so that the number available for service is quite reduced."

Source:  HARD NAVIGATION, The Tri-Weekly Commercial [Wilmington, DE], Jan. 17, 1857, p. 2, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"New York, Jan. 17.

An ice bridge was formed in the East River this afternoon, and numbers crossed between New York and Brooklyn on foot."

Source:  New York, Jan. 17, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 19, 1857, p. 1, col. 6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Ice Bridge across the East River.

Not since the year 1852 until the present time has the East river being frozen over sufficiently strong to permit personal travel thereon until Saturday last, when it is calculated that 25,000 persons must have taken advantage of the circumstance to walk, instead of sail, from New York to Brooklyn and back.

On the change of the tide that morning the vast flood of ice in the bay were swept up the East River, which being already full of ice, soon wedged together and formed a homogeneous mass, extending from shore to shore, and bounded on the north by Fulton Ferry.  The fact that the river was frozen across soon became known and about half past ten o'clock the first adventurous traveller [sic] made his way over to the Brooklyn side.  The first attempt was made by four boatmen who tested the strength of the congealed element by pushing a boat before them from near the Wall street ferry to this side, which they accomplished with success.  --  They then procured short ladders and stationed themselves two on each side of the river, and aided parties to descend and ascend to and from the Ice Bridge, for which service they charged two cents, and from appearances we should say made a very profitable days work of it.  The news spread, and soon a continuous stream kept pouring across from the foot of Wall street, most of whom landed at Thompsons slip on the other side.  The novelty of the exhibition soon drew crowds to witness it, and the docks and ships soon became filled with interested spectators.  For five hours the travel was kept up, the ice to all appearances being strong enough to support a horse and cart on any part traversed by the multitude who were crossing.  Not only were men and boys taking advantage of this state of things, but females also ventured on the ice and over a hundred of them passed to this side.  The crowds on the docks cheered the courageous women loudly, and every body seemed to think it very fine fun.

The sight was a magnificent one.  Below lay an unbroken mass of ice, covering an area of five square miles -- the surface though of but one color, was variously tinted and relieved here and there by moving specks, for such the men and boys on the river seemed to be.  The shores on either side were lined with people shouting hurrahing and having a good time generally, and the utmost hilarity prevailed.

This continued until 4 o'clock, when the tide began to turn and the water sensibly to lower in the slips.  The mere cautious left the ice and came ashore, but it seemed impossible to warn the boys and men who were in the centre of the stream.

In a little while the ice near the docks became fissured on the New York side, and it was evident that the ebb tide would soon make short work of the ice.  The people on the dock saw this, and shouted to these on the ice to come off 'for God's sake,' but they had done so much shouting before that they were not heeded.  In a little while there was a great chasm near the shore this side, when the alarm spread to those on the ice to run to the other side.  At this time nearly five hundred persons were on the ice and running for the Brooklyn shore, where a few got off; but the ice broke there also, and matters began to look serious, as all communication with the shore was cut off, and the five hundred were running wildly from side to side, not knowing what to do -- the ice in the meantime drifting slowly down the river with a precious freight of human lives upon it.

At this time the anxiety of the people on the docks was intense, as it was feared that many lives would be lost.  While this fear was at its height, however, as if by magic three tow boats and numberless small boats made their appearance for the purpose of taking off the now terrified ice bridge travellers [sic].  They were all unsuccessful, until one of the tugs named the Ratler dashed down the river with the tide, and pushed into the floe so as to bury her bow in the thick drift.  A ladder was then put out, and soon the adventurers were seen clambering up to her decks.  All this was witnessed with breathless interest by the excited crowd, and as the men and boys were taken off one by one loud cheers were given and much enthusiasm betrayed.

At last the whole five hundred were taken off by the different boats, and the river in an hour's time was entirely clear of ice.  The South, Fulton and Grand street ferries were all running without much difficulty that night.

On Saturday the South and Hamilton ferries made about three trips.  Yesterday the boats at the Fulton ferry were the only ones that made any trips with success, but they were few and far between.  They were hauled off at 12 o'clock last night until seven this morning.  There was but one boat on each of the Houston, Grand, Division ave. and Peck Slip ferries.  During the forenoon the river was full of ice, and the boats ran more frequently.  The Peck Slip boat was withdrawn at dark last night and the night previous.  Saturday night no boat left the Grand street New York side from 9 P. M. until 9 A. M.  About 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon the beam of one of the Houston street boats got on half centre, and she was drifted to a dock some distance below the Navy Yard, and was still there at dark.

The oldest inhabitant would be puzzled to remember a snowstorm in this latitude with the temperature only four degrees above zero.  Usually the weather becomes milder, at midnight, although it had been snowing twelve hours, the mercury had fallen two degrees.  At midnight it blew a hurricane and the air was full of snow.

As this storm undoubtedly extends over an immense surface of country, we may expect of the mails being very much detained for some time.  Great damage is also to be apprehended to the shipping on the coast, as the wind last night blew directly upon the shore."

Source:  Ice Bridge across the East River, Brooklyn Evening Star, Jan. 19, 1857, p. 2, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).   

"CLEARANCE OF ICE. -- Last week money was raised among the merchants of New York for the purpose of cutting through the compact ice in Buttermilk Channel.  On Saturday the steam tug Webb was chartered to do the work, but the heavy rain which set in during the forenoon made its services unnecessary.  The ice along the Long Island shore from Hamilton Ferry to Gowanus, soon parted from the shore and floated down the bay with the ebb tide, forming a floe a mile and a half wide, but leaving the shore clear for the first time this month.  The field of ice was carried by the spring tide into the East River again, and so blocked up the river that the South and Wall Street Ferries relinquished their trips for some time.  In the course of the afternoon the tide and the strong East wind carried the ice out of the river.  The steamship Atlantic, for Liverpool, left her dock Saturday noon, and proceeded as far as Quarantine, where she encountered impassable fields of ice, and was compelled to put back.  She left this morning at nine o'clock, with an extra mail made up after the closing of the regular mail."

Source:  CLEARANCE OF ICE, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb. 2, 1857, p. 2, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"The Ice at New York and Vicinity. -- A letter, dated Glen Cave [sic], on the 2d inst., to the New York Journal of Commerce, says:

The East River below Martinscock is still firmly closed by ice, notwithstanding the northeast storm.  A strait is opened on the north shore about opposite Rye, to the east, apparently about a mile wide.  The propeller opposite Execution light is in communication with the shore, via the ice bridge.  Sleighing is still good, and our only real safe communication to the city is by stage."

Source:  The Ice at New York and Vicinity, The Times-Picayune [New Orleans, LA], Feb. 11, 1857, p. 1, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

A Little About the History of the Pelham School System During the Mid-1850s

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

Piecing together a history of the early years of the Pelham school system has proved maddeningly difficult.  I have written on the topic before.  See:

Thu., Jan. 28, 2016:  The Early Development of Pelham Schools in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries.

Mon., Apr. 07, 2014:  History of A Few of the Earliest Public Schools in the Town of Pelham.

By the 1856-57 school year, the long-running battle between Pelham mainlanders and City Islanders may have extended to the Pelham school system.  Unlike the single Pelham school district of today, in 1857 Pelham had two school districts.  School District No. 1 covered the students of the mainland and, quite frankly, seems to have been a total mess.  School District No. 2 covered the students of City Island and appears to have been well run.  There may, however, have been a sneakier (and arguably more sinister) motive for two school districts as noted below.

During the 1856-57 school year, the Pelham Board of Education that governed the mainland students in School District No. 1 included William Samuel Coffey, James Hinman, William Dally, and John M. Lockwood.  The Pelham Board of Education that governed the City Island students in School District No. 2 included Samuel Lippencott and Thomas Jenning.

The 1856-57 school year was a time of momentous change in the way schools were funded in New York.  In the years leading up to 1856, New York law provided that each year one-third of the sum of $600,000 plus "all other school monies" would be divided equally among all school districts regardless of the number of children educated in each district.  This was known as the "one-third apportionment."  This meant that a district with ten students received exactly the same sum as a district with one thousand students.  Moreover, the fact that each district received the same sum may explain why the Town of Pelham had two school districts at the time -- to receive twice the money.

In 1856, New York enacted a new school-funding law that entirely changed the calculus.  In addition to changing the way school taxes were raised, the new law recognized the same "one-third apportionment" but distributed the shares to school districts in an entirely different fashion.  Each district received a single "part" of the one-third apportionment for every qualified teacher who taught for six months during the year.  Thus, for example, if a district had two qualified teachers who taught during an entire six-month school year, the district would receive two parts of the "one-third apportionment."  If a district, for example, had two teachers who split the school year with each teaching three months of a six-month school year, the district would receive one part of the apportionment, and so on.

During the 1856-57 school year, Pelham's mainland School District No. 1 had no teacher.  The position was denoted by the School Commissioner of the Second Assembly District (Westchester County) as "Vacant."  Pelham's City Island School District No. 2 had a single teacher named John H. Brooks.  Thus, it seems likely that before the change in law, the Town of Pelham was receiving two parts of the one-third apportionment (each equal to every part received by every other school district) but, after the change in law, likely received only a single part, thus placing a greater burden on Pelham taxpayers to fund their local school located on City Island.

This inference seems to be borne out by a host of considerations.  First, in addition to the mainland having no teacher, the annual report submitted by the Board of Education for Pelham's mainland School District No. 1 as required by law was deemed by the School Commissioner to be "very deficient in statements."  Indeed, according to the Commissioner, rather than answering the required questions in their report, the School Board members simply stated that "their school is a free school governed by a board of education, and [that they] cannot therefore [respond] to all those questions."  In contrast, the annual report submitted for Pelham's City Island School District No. 2 was deemed "satisfactory and explicit."  Those responsible for mainland School District No. 1 clearly did not want to reveal much about their district. . . .

Second, Pelham seems to have been so upset with the School Commissioner in 1857 that during his bid for reelection in November of that year, the entire town (with the exception of a single voter) voted to replace him.  Samuel U. Berrian was the School Commissioner of the Second Assembly District during the 1856-57 school year.  He supported the State's bid to change the way schools were funded in New York.  He was defeated in the November election that year and, thus, was succeeded by William G. Weston.  The Town of Pelham voted 46 to 1 to replace Berrian with Weston.  In short, it seems likely that a monumental issue -- such as a substantial reduction in school funding provided by the State -- turned the entire voting population of Pelham against School Commissioner Berrian who had supported the change in funding.

As an aside, City Island teacher John H. Brooks who taught on City Island during the 1856-57 school year likely was the third teacher to oversee the tiny little City Island school house built in about 1838.  The first teacher at that school was Rachel S. Fordham who had taught students in her home for a number of years during the 1830s but who began teaching in the school when it opened.  The woman who may have been the second teacher at the school was Mary A. Tooker.  She began teaching at the school after it was enlarged in 1847.  

John H. Brooks may have been the third.  In 1854, a notice appeared in The New York Herald published in New York City that read:

"WANTED -- A MALE TEACHER, TO TAKE CHARGE of a school on City Island.  Address A. Pendleton, 81 Catherine street."

Source:  WANTED -- A MALE TEACHER, TO TAKE CHARGE [Advertisement], The New York Herald, Oct. 28, 1854, Morning Edition, No. 6638, p. 5, col. 5.  

Though it seems far from certain, it seems likely that John H. Brooks was the "male teacher" hired to take charge of the tiny school on City Island in response to this notice.  If so, that means he likely was hired in late 1854 or early 1855, a short time before he was named as the teacher on City Island during the 1856-57 school year.  Interestingly, in a column written by School Commissioner Weston in early 1858, City Island teacher John H. Brooks was denoted as an instructor who had not been properly licensed by the School Commissioner and was not instructing "under license from the State Normal School, former County or Town Superintendents, or (in the 'Union Free Schools') the Boards of Education."  It was suggested, though it has not been established, that Brooks was teaching "independently of license" as School Commissioner Weston put it.   

Undated Photograph of the One-Room Schoolhouse

Built in About 1838 in City Island on Land Now Thought

To Be the Current Playground of Public School 175 Located

at 200 City Island Avenue, City Island, The Bronx, NY,

10464.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"WANTED -- A MALE TEACHER, TO TAKE CHARGE of a school on City Island.  Address A. Pendleton, 81 Catherine street."

Source:  WANTED -- A MALE TEACHER, TO TAKE CHARGE [Advertisement], The New York Herald, Oct. 28, 1854, Morning Edition, No. 6638, p. 5, col. 5.  

"SCHOOL COMMISSIONER'S DEPARTMENT, 2d District, Westchester County.
-----
THE DISTRICT QUOTA.

This Commissioner has, on several previous occasions, called public attention to the effect of the important change made in the late school law, by one of the acts of Legislature of 1856, in relation to the mode of apportioning the one-third part of the public moneys among the districts of the State.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction, in his recent excellent 'Circular' to the Trustees of the school districts, thus perspicuously presents the subject to which we have alluded.

'Under the old law, one third of the whole sum of $600,000, and of all other school moneys, was divided equally among all the districts, regardless of the number of children to be educated.  A district containing only ten children, between the ages of four and twenty-one, received just as much of the one-third so distributed as one having fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand children between the same ages.  To remedy in part this inequality and injustice, some large villages and cities had obtained the passage of special acts, by which every seventy-five children should be enumerated as one district. *     *     *  The new law, while graduating the state tax according to the valuation, and thereby decreasing the local or district taxation, has also established a uniform and more just rule of distribution.  Each district is to receive one part in the one-third apportionment, according to the number of teachers employed for six months or over.  The employment of a qualified teacher for six months, or two teachers, each for three different months, will entitle a district, however destitute of property or children, to one part.  A district in which the trustees employ teachers, each for the requisite and the same period, will have two parts.'

'In order,' says the Code, 'to entitle a district to the benefit of this provision of the law, it will be necessary to show a strict compliance with the prescribed conditions.  *     *     *  The statement of the report must be based upon these facts or they must be made to appear by an affidavit of the trustees transmitted to the department before the time of making the apportionment, viz:  1, That two or more teachers, each of whom possessed a legal certificate of qualification during the whole period which the trustees estimate as a part of the six months, have been actually employed in instructing the district school, at the same time, for the period of six months or over.  2, It must affirmatively appear that no one of the teachers referred to in the statement was a pupil, employed as a monitor or otherwise, during any portion of the period in which he is enumerated as a teacher.'

We have been thus express in copying the language above, as we find that several of the districts seem to be cherishing the hope, that they are this year to receive double 'district quotas,' in consequence of their having had two teachers employed at one time in their schools, for the supposed length of time in each particular case.  But if we take into consideration the exceedingly imperfect character of the Trustees' Reports of 1856, their vagueness and ambiguity of statement in relation to the teachers employed and their time of service, and the entire absence in those reports of any reliable statements establishing a claim to additional quotas, we cannot see on what ground the hope above mentioned is entertained.
-----
***  We regret to be obliged to say to the Trustees of our districts, that up to the present writing, we have not received from the Department their copies of the Code of Public Instruction.  The Superintendent's Circular to Trustees, which we are forwarding to those officers, will explain the cause of the delay in delivering the Code.  Directly on our receiving the books, we will deposit the same with the Supervisors of the towns, from whom the trustees of the districts entitled to the work will receive their copies.
-----
THE TRUSTEES' NEW ANNUAL REPORTS. . . .

(19) Rept. of Sch. Dist. No. 1 Pelham, signed Wm. Sam'l. Coffey, James Hinman, Wm. Dally, John M. Lockwood, Bd. of Educ. -- Rept. very deficient in statements. -- The Trustees say in their Report, that their school is a free school governed by a board of education, and [that they] cannot therefore [respond] to all those questions' [propounded in the blank.]

(20) Rept. of Sch. Dist. No. 2 Pelham, (City Island school,) signed Sam'l Lippencott, Thomas Jenning. -- Rept. satisfactory and explicit:  duly filed.  (Rec'd -- with precd. rept. -- from Town Clk. of E. Chester.) . . ."

Source:  SCHOOL COMMISSIONER'S DEPARTMENT, 2d District, Westchester County -- THE DISTRICT QUOTA, Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Feb. 6, 1857, Vol. XII, No. 39, p. 3, col. 1.  

"SCHOOL COMMISSIONER'S DEPARTMENT, 2d District Westchester County.
-----
SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND TEACHERS.

We have thought that we should be rendering an acceptable service to teachers and others, by presenting, in these columns, a carefully prepared TABULAR EXHIBIT of the names and designations of all the school districts in this 2D DISTRICT OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY, with the names of the TEACHERS at present engaged in the schools.  In some few cases we are unable to state names; and in others, our Table may need some revision, as teachers in several of the schools are known to b e about to change their employ.  It is our purpose to produce this article again, with amendments, in the course of a few weeks hence; and those teachers who may have any alterations of the Table to suggest, will please to inform this Commissioner of the name, and he will make the requisite alterations.

It is often satisfactory -- sometimes also desirable or necessary -- to trace out those of our teachers who, by change of abode, or other circumstances, have got 'lost sight of' by their friends.  Not unfrequently [sic] the desire arises, in school districts, to renew acquaintance and conexion [sic] with worthy teachers who, in past time, left a 'good report' behind them, and whose return to former positions would be a mutual benefit to teacher and district.

We have designated by the asterisk [*] those teachers who are instructing under this Commissioner's LICENSE, in full form; and by the obelisk [ƚ] lthose who are temporarily instructing by special arrangement and permit of the Commissioner.  It will be understood, that all names not thus marked, are those of teachers who are instructing under license from the State Normal School, former County or Town Superintendents, or (in the 'Union Free Schools') the Boards of Education.  A few of the teachers, it is intimated, are teaching independently of license! . . . . 

PELHAM -- Two School Districts.

Sch. of Dist. No. 1             Teachers.
No. 1 ................................(Vacant)
No. 2, City Island..............JOHN H. BROOKS. . . .

The foregoing Table, with such corrections as may be needed, will appear again in some successive issue of this paper.  Teachers will please to inform this Commissioner, if they discover any statement made that may require amendment.

SAM'L U. BERRIAN, 
School Commissioner.}"

Source:  SCHOOL COMMISSIONER'S DEPARTMENT, 2d District Westchester County -- SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND TEACHERS, Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Mar. 20, 1857, Vol. XII, No. 45, p. 3, col. 1.  

"SCHOOL COMMISSIONER IN THIS DISTRICT.

-- We regret the defeat of SAMUEL U. BERRIAN for School Commissioner in this District.  No more capable, assiduous, and faithful School Commissioner can be found, in the whole State, than Mr. Berrian, and intelligent men and friends of popular education in the District expected him to be elected.  His defeat will be a much greater loss to the schools than to himself.  We trust the successful candidate, Mr. Weston, will endeavor to discharge the duties of the office as diligently and as thoroughly as has Mr. Berrian.

Mr. Berrian is capable of filling the office of State Superintendent of Common Schools, and we trust to see him hereafter elevated to that position."

Source:  SCHOOL COMMISSIONER IN THIS DISTRICT, Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Nov. 6, 1857, Vol. XIII, No. 26, p. 2, col. 2.  

"TO THE TRUSTEES AND TEACHERS OF COMMON SCHOOLS IN THE SECOND ASSEMBLY DISTRICT. -- The undersigned would respectfully call the attention of Trustees of Common Schools who are about engaging Teachers, and also of all Teachers who have not procured their certificates of qualification, to the provisions of the Common School Law, according to which no Teacher is considered legally qualified to teach in any Common School in this State, unless he has obtained from the proper authority the certificate of qualification prescribed by law.  The undersigned would also hereby give notice, that he may be found at his residence, half a mile south of the village of Tarrytown, in the town of Greenburgh, every Saturday, for the purpose of examining Teachers, and granting certificates.  A new supply of the Code of Public Instruction for gratuitous distribution, has been sent to all the towns in this District except two or three, which will be supplied as soon as possible.  Any Trustee who may wish a copy, can obtain one by calling upon the Town Supervisor.

The Post Office address of the undersigned is Tarrytown, and not Greenburgh.

WM. G WESTON, School Commissioner, 2d Assembly District, Westchester County."

Source:  TO THE TRUSTEES AND TEACHERS OF COMMON SCHOOLS IN THE SECOND ASSEMBLY DISTRICT [Notice], Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY] Jan. 15, 1858, Vol. XIII, No. 36, p. 3, col. 4.

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