The Luminous Lantern-Bearer of Baychester and Pelham Bridge

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Heinrich Nieman made a single mistake.  Actually, it was a teeny-tiny mistake.  Even a teeny-tiny mistake, however, typically is disastrous in Nieman's business.  

Heinrich Nieman, you see, worked in the acid house of the Dittmar Powder Works in Baychester, not far from Pelham Bridge.  There, workers were expected not to make ANY mistakes as they handled nitroglycerin and made gunpowder, dynamite, and other explosives.

As soon as Nieman made his teeny-tiny mistake, a chill enveloped him.  His first instinct was to flee.  Before he could turn toward the door, however, a light luminous wisp of smoke arose from the vat.  There followed a tremendous flash and an earth-shaking explosion.  The blast broke windows throughout Baychester and Pelham.  It blew the acid house and much of the remainder of the facility into teeny-tiny pieces that soon rained from the sky.  

Heinrich Nieman was no more.  He was "blown to atoms" as one report stated.

Nieman was one of a long line of employees of local explosives manufacturers in Pelham and the surrounding region who were blown to smithereens.  Indeed, by the time of Nieman's gruesome death, such manufacturing facilities already were known as "earthquake factories."  One article, published shortly after the explosion that killed Nieman, stated:

"New buildings for the manufacture of gunpowder and other explosives are nearly finished at Baychester, in Westchester County, and it is said that the operations of the powder company will be carried on more extensively than ever.  The first enterprise of the kind was established near the junction of the Harlem and New Haven Railroad, and it was destroyed by an explosion attended by the loss of five or six lives.  The company was prohibited by the town authorities from resuming business in the town.  The next giant powder factory was established near the railroad station at Pelhamville, and was destroyed by fire.  The operations of the company under a new name were then located at Baychester, a short distance north of the railroad station.  The works were destroyed by an explosion and resulted in the loss of several lives and injuries to others.  New workshops were erected and the manufacturing operations resumed.  Another explosion took place and several persons were seriously injured.  A resumption of operations at Baychester creates some alarm, for, although the neighborhood is sparsely populated, persons while waiting for the arrival or departure of trains from the railroad station, will be exposed to great danger."  

Source:  STORY OF EXPLOSIONS -- People Object to an Earthquake Factory In Their Midst, The Republic [Columbus, IN], Jan. 23, 1884, p. 1, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

Of course, those at the Dittmar Powder Works who survived the blast that obliterated poor Heinrich Nieman grieved his death.  All who worked at the facility knew him well.  All loved him.  Moreover, everyone thought much about the poor fellow's death because, to a man, each understood "There but for the grace of God, go I."  

Within a short time, new buildings for the manufacture of gunpowder and other explosives were completed and operations resumed at the powder works.  Almost immediately, workers on the night shifts began reporting a most unusual occurrence.  

The first worker to experience the oddity could not believe his eyes.  He stepped out of one of the oppressively-hot manufacturing buildings late one winter night to take a brief break in the cold air.  In the distance, he could make out the glow of a bobbing light.  It clearly was a lantern being carried through a wooded area near the facility.  As the bobbing light approached, the worker became increasingly alarmed.  The open flame of any lantern was a terrible risk to the explosives manufacturing facility.  It had no business anywhere near the powder works.

The worker stepped into the darkness and walked toward the lantern bearer, hoping to stop him and keep him away from the powder works.  In the distance, the lantern seemed to cast an odd, luminous glow that lit the hazy figure from head to toe without lighting the surrounding countryside.  

As the worker approached the lantern bearer he stared at the figure's illuminated visage.  The hair on the back of the worker's neck stood up.  He blinked and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.  The figure carrying the lantern was poor Heinrich Nieman!  More accurately, the figure carrying the lantern was a luminous figure that seemed to glide along the ground with a shimmering face that once belonged to Heinrich Nieman.  That face seemed angry and singularly-focused.  Indeed, it seemed to stare right through the worker while focused on the powder works behind him.

The worker stumbled backward in terror until he fell.  He scrambled to his feet to flee the apparition.  The ghostly lantern bearer continued to glide toward the worker even as he fled.  Not knowing the spirit's intentions, the worker ran past the powder works and continued into the night, utterly terrified that the phantom was there to ignite the facility and kill all inside.  The worker never returned to the facility.

This merely was the first sighting of the ghost of Heinrich Nieman.  Most workers at the facility who worked in the evening or night hours soon reported seeing the apparition carrying its lantern.  The sightings frightened so many that a number quit their jobs.  One local newspaper reported that "the ghost of the man blown up has been seen perambulating about the premises at night, carrying a lantern, and the workmen, not caring to be in company with that kind of 'spirit' have all cleared out."  Another local paper reported "Since Heinrich Nimen [sic] was blown to atoms by the explosion of dynamite at Ditmar's works at Baychester, there are some persons who affirm they have seen his ghost about the works at night.  Some of the employees have left in consequence."

For years, explosions at Dittmar Powder Works continued to rock the Baychester and Pelham Bridge region.  For example, on September 30, 1886, a massive explosion killed four workers and scattered their body parts throughout the grounds.  On April 5, 1890 another explosion tore through the running house of the facility and killed two men and rocked houses at Pelham Bridge, in Bartow-on-the-Sound, and on City Island.  Some claimed that on each occasion the spirit of Heinrich Nieman carried its lantern into the facility, causing an explosion.

To this day the spirit of Heinrich Nieman wanders the Pelham Bridge and Baychester region.  Though explosives manufacturers no longer dot the heavily-populated region, the luminous phantom continues to search for powder works, apparently hoping to use its lantern to ignite a blast to blow all within to atoms -- exactly the fate that befell poor Heinrich Nieman more than 135 years ago.  

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Below are transcriptions of various brief newspaper references that relate to today's ghost story.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"An explosion occurred in the acid house about three years ago, and Heinrich Nieman, one of the workmen, was killed. It was said at the time that the explosion was caused by carelessness on the part of Nieman, and this explanation was generally accepted."

Source:  GIANT POWDER LET LOOSE -- FOUR MEN KILLED AND EVERYBODY STARTLED FOR MILES AROUND -- A Thousand Pounds of the Explosive Ignite in the Dittmar Works -- The Shock Felt on the West Bank of the Hudson and Across the Sound -- Mistaken for Wiggins's Quake, The Sun [NY, NY], Oct. 1, 1886, Vol. LIV, No. 31, p. 2, col. 5.

"WESTCHESTER. . . .

The Ditmar powder works at Baychester, have been abandoned.  Recently the ghost of the man blown up has been seen perambulating about the premises at night, carrying a lantern, and the workmen, not caring to be in company with that kind of 'spirits' have all cleared out. .. ."

Source:  WESTCHESTER, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 19, 1886, Vol. XVII, No. 864, p. 1, col. 5.  

"THE COUNTY. . .
-----
A GHOST SCARE. -- Since Heinrich Nimen was blown to atoms by the explosion of dynamite at Ditmar's works at Baychester, there are some persons who affirm they have seen his ghost about the works at night.  Some of the employees have left in consequence."

Source:  THE COUNTY -- A GHOST SCARE, The Yonkers Statesman, Mar. 20, 1886, Vol. III, No. 722, p. 1, col. 4.  

"An explosion occurred in the acid house about three years ago, and Heinrich Nieman, one of the workmen, was killed. It was said at the time that the explosion was caused by carelessness on the part of Nieman, and this explanation was generally accepted."

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1883 Budget for Pelham School District No. 2 on City Island in the Town of Pelham

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The schools within our little Town of Pelham operate within the "Pelham Union Free School District."  What, exactly, does that mean?  

The concept of a union free school district reflects the historical evolution of public school systems within the State of New York.  Such a district results from the union of multiple common school districts that, by virtue of such a combination are rendered free from previous State-law restrictions that barred smaller so-called "common school" districts from operating high schools.  

In 1795, the State of New York established a Statewide system of support for public schools.  In 1812, the State established common schools that operated within "common school districts" and provided public support for such schools.  Common school districts tended to serve small localities and were not authorized to operate high schools.  

With the proliferation of common school districts throughout the State, New York embarked on a major reorganization of its public school system in 1853.  Part of that reorganization involved the establishment of so-called "union free school districts" authorized to operate secondary schools.  To reduce the proliferation of common school districts and to gain some economies of scale, the State authorized the combination of common school districts into union free school districts authorized to operate high schools.  

Few in Pelham realize that the Town once had two school districts:  School District No. 1 that served the mainland and School District No. 2 that served City Island when that community was part of the Town of Pelham.  Today's Historic Pelham article presents the 1883 budget for Pelham School District No. 2 as reported in a local newspaper on October 14, 1882.

On October 10, 1882, the annual meeting of Pelham School District No. 2 was held at the local school house.  This school house was the second one built on City Island.  It was built in about 1860 and was located on land once owned by David Scofield located at the intersection of Orchard Street (today's Hawkins Street) and Main Street (today's City Island Avenue).  The detail from a map published in 1868 shown immediately below indicates the location of the school building where this annual meeting was held on October 10, 1882.

Detail from Map of "City Island, Pelham Township, Westchester Co.,

N.Y. [with] Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N.Y.," Published by

F.W. Beers in 1868 in the "Atlas of New York and Vicinity from

Actual Surveys by and Under the Direction of F.W. Beers,

Assisted by A.B. Prindle & Others." NOTE: Shows the Location of

the Second Dedicated School Building on City Island on Property

Acquired in 1860 from David Scofield on the Northwest Corner of

the Intersection of Orchard Street and Main Street (Now City Island

Avenue).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The report suggests that the entire budget for Pelham School District No. 2 for the 1882-83 school year was about $2,970 (about $98,700 in today's dollars).  Pelham taxpayers funded $2,270 of that amount with New York State providing $700 from the State school fund (23.7% of the total annual budget). 

There were at least three teachers (described as "under teachers" so there may have been one or more additional).  The budget provided $1,800 for teachers' salaries.  Interestingly, although the budget provided $150 for "incidental expenses," nowhere does it provide any explicit appropriation for books or other academic resources.  The budget appropriated $100 for each of three categories:  janitor, cleaning (presumably supplies), and fuel (likely coal -- or wood -- for a heating stove).  The budget also provided $20 to pay for "census" taking (presumably the need to determine the number of school age children within the district for planning purposes).  

In addition to passing the school budget for the year, the annual meeting elected a trustee, a clerk and a tax collector to collect school taxes.  Mr. Thomas Martin was elected trustee.  William Anderson was elected Clerk.  William E. Loundes was elected collector.  The meeting then adjourned to the second Tuesday of October in the following year (1883).  

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I have written a number of times about the early public school system in the Town of Pelham.  See, e.g., 

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

Mon., Jun. 19, 2017:  A Little About the History of the Pelham School System During the Mid-1850s.

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

Thu., Feb. 26, 2015:  The Use of Pelham's Town Hall on Shore Road as a Public Schoolhouse During the 1880s.

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Transcribed below is the text of the news article on which today's Historic Pelham article is based, followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"CITY ISLAND.  --  At a meeting of the Republican Association of the town of Pelham on Saturday last, Dudley R. Horton was elected President.  There was a full attendance, and much earnestness was manifest.  It was unanimously resolved, not only to vote the straight Republican ticket, but to use all honorable means to elect the entire ticket.  The following named were elected delegates to the County convention:  Dudley R. Horton, Jerome Bell, and W. H. Sparks, the above named also to the Assembly convention.

The annual school meeting of District school No. 2, of Pelham, was held at the school house, City Island, on the 10th inst.  Mr. Thomas Martin was elected Trustee, Wm. Anderson, Clerk, William E. Loundes, Collector.  After which the following appropriations made:

For teachers salary,         -          $1,800
"     janitor,     -     -     -     -     -         100
"     fuel,        -      -     -     -     -         100
"     cleaning school,  -     -     -         100
"     taken census      -     -     -            20
"     incidental expenses  -     -          150

Total             -      -     -     -     -    $2,195 [sic]

Seven hundred dollars is received from the State school fund.  The yearly salaries of the three under teachers were raised $100 each.  After which the meeting adjourned until the second Tuesday in October, 1883."

Source:  CITY ISLAND, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 14, 1882, Vol. XXIII, No. 27, p. 3, col. 7.

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Receipt for Subscription to Pay the Salary of Reverend Daniel N. Freeland, the Second Full-Time Pastor of Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church

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The brief and simple little document that is the subject of today's Historic Pelham article does not seem to tell much of a story.  Indeed, at first blush it might not seem particularly interesting, at least on its face.  Deeper inquiry, however, reveals that the document sheds fascinating light on the history of the little settlement of Pelham Manor before it became a village as well as that of the Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church that stood in the very heart of that settlement.

The document, images of which appear immediately below with a transcription to facilitate search, is a receipt reflecting payment of a subscription promised by a member of the congregation of the little wooden church to pay $25 toward the annual salary of the pastor of the church between October 15, 1883 and October 15, 1884, barely six years after the settlement and its little church were founded as part of the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association development.

Receipt Reflecting Payment of Subscription by C. R. Gillett to Provide $25 Toward the

Annual Salary of the Pastor of Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church

Between October 15, 1883 and October 15, 1884 (Obverse).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Reverse of Same Receipt Reflecting Payment of Subscription.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Below is a transcription of the obverse and reverse of the receipt.  Text that is italicized in the transcription represents handwriting rather than printed matter that appears on the receipt.  

[Obverse]

"Huguenot Memorial Church

Pelham Manor, N. Y. Jany 15, 1884
Mr  C. R. Gillett

To Huguenot Memorial Church, Dr.

$ 25.00 being one year quarter Oct 15 / 83 to Oct 15 / 84 
of subscription of $ Twenty five Dollars toward
pastor's salary for the current year.

Received payment, 
John H. Johnson Treasurer."

[Reverse]

"P. M. Church
83."

The receipt affirms that in the early years of the church, which opened in July 1876, the pastor's salary was paid by raising funds through subscriptions promised by members of the congregation.  This particular receipt reflects a $25 subscription payment by C. R. Gillett.  

The receipt reflects a payment toward the annual salary of the pastor of the little church at the time:  Reverend Daniel N. Freeland.  Reverend Freeland was the second full-time pastor of the church and the third to serve the congregation since the founding of the little church.

Huguenot Memorial was founded as the nation's only "Centennial Church" and, thus, opened its doors for its first service on the Sunday after the nation celebrated its July 4, 1876 Centennial.  Reverend Charles Eliphalet Lord (who was instrumental in raising funds to help erect and open the church) served as an acting pastor from the time the church opened until the congregation arranged its first full-time pastor.  That pastor was Rev. Dr. Henry Randall Waite.  Reverend Waite began service as the pastor of the Church in 1877 and was formally installed in that post on the afternoon of Tuesday, December 4, 1877.  Rev. Waite served as pastor of the church for a little less than three years.  He resigned the pastorate in November, 1880.

Thereafter the congregation arranged Reverend Daniel N. Freeland as its second full-time pastor.  Reverend Freeland served in that role for eight years.  Thus, this receipt reflects a payment toward Reverend Freeland's annual salary between October 15, 1883 and October 15, 1884.  

Interestingly, the payment was made by C. R. Gillett.  This was Dr. Charles Ripley Gillett who, at the time, was a new resident of the settlement of Pelham Manor.  Gillett moved to Pelham Manor in 1883 and was an early member of the Pelham Manor Protective Club, a forerunner to the village government formed when the Village of Pelham Manor incorporated in 1891.  

Gillett published his "recollections" of Pelham Manor in 1883 and in its early years.  See Thu., Feb. 20, 2014:  Pelham Manor in 1883 and in its Early Years - Recollections of An Early Pelham Manor Resident.  He was born November 29, 1855 in New York City.  He died September 3, 1948 in Norfolk, Connecticut.  He was an important and active member of the Pelham Manor community for decades and played important roles in the Pelham Manor Protective Club, Huguenot Memorial Church, the Manor Club, the Village of Pelham Manor, and other Pelham institutions.  

Charles Ripley Gillett in About 1903.  Source:  Chamberlain, Joshua L.,

Universities and Their Sons -- New York University Its History, Influence,

Equipment and Characteristics with Biographical Sketches and Portraits

of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni, Vol. II, p. 155 (Boston,

MA:  R. Herndon Company, 1903).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Gillett was an incredibly talented man.  At the age of fifteen he entered the College of Arts and Science of New York University.  He graduated in 1874 with a Bachelor of Arts but continued his education in the sciences and engineering.  In 1876 he received a Bachelor of Science, another degree in Civil Engineering, and a third degree of Master of Arts in cursu (following a specialized course of honors studies).  From New York University he entered the Union Theological Seminary.  He graduated at the top of his class in 1880 and, consequently, received a fellowship prize to study abroad for two years.  He studied in the theological and philosophical disciplines at the University of Berlin from 1881-83.  

Also in 1881, Gillett married Kate Van Kirk on April 26.  Upon completion of Gillett's studies at the University of Berlin, the couple returned to the United States and settled in the new community of Pelham Manor.  At about the same time Gillett began his lifelong professional association with the Union Theological Seminary when he was named to the position of Librarian.  During the remainder of Gillett's career he served in a host of positions including Dean of Students, Secretary of the Faculty, Instructor, and Librarian Emeritus at UTS between 1908 and 1948.  His papers are maintained in The Burke Library of the Union Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway, New York, New York, 10027.  

The $25 dollars paid by Gillett to help fund Reverend Daniel N. Freeland's salary was certainly not insubstantial.  Indeed, in today's dollars it was the equivalent of about $858.

Reverend Daniel N. Freeland likewise was an impressive man.  Born in Philadelphia, Freeland graduated first from the University of Pennsylvania in 1844 and from Princeton Seminary in 1847.  He married Mary Burwell.  His first call to serve as pastor was from Monroe Church in Orange County, New York where he served for thirty-four years.  From there he was called to Huguenot Memorial Church where he served as pastor for eight years until he resigned from the position.  After resigning, he was commissioned by the Presbyterian Church to take charge of two small churches in Florida:  Hawthorne and Waldo.  He served as pastor of those churches for six years until he retired.  He died in July, 1913 at the age of 88.  

In short, the tiny little receipt depicted in the images above may not seem like much.  Yet, inquiry and investigation reveals that it is related to significant aspects of the histories of the little settlement of Pelham Manor and the Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church.

A Glass Lantern Slide Created by Pelham Town Historian

William Montgomery Between December 10, 1916 and June

10, 1917. It Depicts the "Little Red Church," the Predecessor

Building to Today's Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church

Sanctuary.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"GILLETT, Charles Ripley, 1855 - 
Class of 1874 Arts, 1876 Sci.

Born in New York, 1855; graduated from New York University with A. B., 1874, B. S., 1876, C. E., 1876, and A. M., in cursu, 1876; graduated Union Theological Seminary, 1880; at University of Berlin, 1881-83; Librarian of Union Theological Seminary since 1883; also from 1893 to 1901 Instructor in Theological Propaedeutics, and since 1898 Secretary of Faculty; D. D., New York University, 1898; L. H. D., Beloit College, 1899.

CHARLES RIPLEY GILLETT, A. M., D. D., L. H. D., is a son of the eminent and honorable theologian, preacher and teacher, the Rev. Professor Ezra Hall Gillett, D. D., whose history is recounted elsewhere in the annals of New York University.  His mother's maiden name was Mary Jane Kendall.  On the paternal side the family is of Huguenot origin, and was transplanted to New York in 1631.  On the maternal side it is English and Welsh.  Dr. Gillett was born in New York City on November 29, 1855, and was privately educated by his father.  In his fifteenth year he entered the College of Arts and Science of New York University, and was graduated from the Arts or Classical Course in 1874 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.  In 1876 he was graduated from the Scientific and Engineering courses, with the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Civil Engineer, and also received the degree of Master of Arts in cursu.  From the University he went to Union Theological Seminary, with which he has since been conspicuously identified.  He pursued the regular course with exceptional success, and was graduated in 1880 with the first honors of his class, receiving the prize fellowship which entitled him to two years of study abroad.  He spent the years 1881-83 at the University of Berlin, in the Theological and Philosophical faculties.  Upon his return to New York in 1883 he was elected Librarian of Union Theological Seminary, as the successor of Henry B. Smith, Edward Robinson and Charles A. Briggs, and still holds the place.  From 1893 to 1901 he was Instructor in Theological Propaedeutics in the Seminary, serving as the successor of the late Dr. Philip Schaff, and since 1898 he has also been Secretary of the Faculty and Registrar.  In 1898 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from New York University, and in 1899 that of I. H. D. from Beloit College.  Since 1901 he has been engaged in special work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, preparing, first, 'The Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities,' a volume of one hundred and fifty pages, which is about to appear in its third edition; and second, the third volume of 'The Descriptive Atlas of the Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City,' generally known as 'The Cesnola Collection.'  The work covers descriptions of the objects in gold, silver, bronze, engraved gems and seals, rock crystal, glass, alabaster, basalt, Egyptian pottery, lead, ivory and the inscribed stones containing inscriptions in Phoenician, Cypriote and Greek.  During this time he has been rated as Temporary Curator in the Department of Sculpture.  Ever since his connection with the Library of Union Theological Seminary he has written at times in connection with the Critical and Literary departments of various periodicals.  From 1891 to 1897 he was Literary Editor of the 'Magazine of Christian Literatures.'  He has been a contributor to the columns of such papers as 'The Nation,' 'The New York Independent' and 'The New York Evangelist,' and to such reviews and magazines as 'The Presbyterian Review,' 'The New World,' 'The Andover Review,' 'The Presbyterian and Reformed Review,' 'The Biblical World' and 'The American Journal of Theology.'  He has published several books as a compiler and translator.  Among these are two editions of 'The General Catalogue of the Alumni of the Union Theological Seminary,' one in 1886 and the other 1898.  In 1895 he published a translation of Adolf Harnack's 'Monasticism, its Ideal and its History, and in 1897 he published a translation of Kruger's 'History of Early Christian Literature.'  Since the latter date his time has been mainly devoted to the duties of his librarianship, his secretaryship and to his extra work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  He was married on April 26, 1881, to Kate Van Kirk, who has borne him five children:  Carrie Richardson (deceased), Ezra Kendall, Mary Marshall, Robert and William Gillett.  His office is at No. 700 Park Avenue, New York, and his home at Pelham Manor, Westchester County, New York."

Source:  Chamberlain, Joshua L., Universities and Their Sons -- New York University Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni, Vol. II, pp. 155-56 (Boston, MA:  R. Herndon Company, 1903).

"Ministerial Obituary
Rev. Daniel N. Freeland

Daniel N. Freeland died last month at his home in Elizabeth, N. J., after a brief illness at the age of 88.  Mr. Freeland at the time of his death was believed to be the oldest living graduate of Princeton Seminary and the second oldest of the University of Pennsylvania.  He was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1844 and from Princeton three years later.  His first call was from Monroe church in Orange county, New York, a rich agricultural section, to which he gave thirty-four years of service.  From thence he was called to Huguenot Memorial church at Pelham Manor, N. Y., where he remained for eight years.  After resigning from this church he was commissioned by the Home Board to take charge of two small churches in Florida -- Hawthorne and Waldo -- where he spent six years.  His wife was Miss Mary Burwell."

Source:  "Ministerial Obituary Rev. Daniel N. Freeland" in The Continent, Vol. 44, No. 32, p. 1113, (NY, NY:  Aug. 7 ,1913).   

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Pelham Once Had its Own Toboggan Course

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The Olympic sport of luge is one of the most thrilling winter sports.  Racers rocket down icy chutes that twist and turn to the finish line at speeds of nearly ninety miles per hour.  They travel on the very precipice of death, always at risk of an icy wreck that makes all wince even to consider. 

Pelham, it turns out, once had its own such course, albeit a nineteenth centry version on which toboggans rocketed down icy chutes.  The story behind construction of the course is fascinating.

It truly is impossible to trace the origin and history of the "toboggan."  According to one book published on the subject:

"THE word 'Toboggan' is said to have originated among the North American Indians who applied it to the flat wooden sledges which they used for carrying provisions from camp to camp.  From them the use of the toboggan spread to the more civilised inhabitants of Canada, and for many years tobogganing has been looked upon as the great winter amusement of that country.  Of late years it has been taken up keenly in the United States, where 'coasting' and 'Bob-sleighing' have now become very popular. . . ."

Source:  Gibson, Harry, TOBOGGANING ON CROOKED RUNS, p. 18 (London and New York:  Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894).  

During the 1880s, toboggan fever swept the world.  The first International Race among toboggans was run on February 12, 1883.  id., p. 23.  For a brief summary of the many, many toboggan clubs and courses that popped up in the northeastern United States and in lower Canada during the early 1880s, see Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 712, col. 2 & p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).  Though it took a little time, by late 1885 toboggan fever had reached the tiny little Town of Pelham on the outskirts of New York City.  

At the time Pelham was the site of one of the nation's earliest "Country Clubs."  Known simply as "The Country Club," "The Country Club at Pelham," and "The Country Club at Westchester," the organization was begun in the Autumn of 1883.  At that time a group of Pelham Manor residents led by James M. Waterbury joined with a group of New York City “club men” and organized a new “Country Club” dedicated to the enjoyment of all “legitimate sports.” 

By 1884, the Club commenced operations in the nearly-34-acre area encompassed by the Suydam / Morris Estate adjacent to the Bartow property (the site of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and carriage house. The group converted a mansion on the property known as “Oakshade” (built by artist James Augustus Suydam between 1846 and 1848 and later owned by Richard Lewis Morris) into a clubhouse. The group was unable to buy the property, so it leased the property for five years. 

The property was adjacent to and just northeast of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum property, but straddled today's Shore Road with most of the property on the Long Island Sound side and about one-third of the acreage on the opposite side of Shore Road now covered by a portion of the Pelham Bay Golf Course.

The Country Club was extraordinarily successful.  Yet, it faced issues.  One such issue was that revenues and member interest declined precipitously during the winter months despite the fact that the Club offered a host of winter sports.  That seemed to change in the winter of 1885-1886.  The President of the club, James M. Waterbury, paid for construction of, and donated to the club, a massive toboggan course that quickly became "the most popular attraction of anything ever started there."

Actually, the course was a marvel.  It was a pair of toboggan slides (known as "chutes") that ran parallel to each other permitting informal and formal races.  Built by James Henderson in about mid-December 1885, various reports described the course as between 750 feet and 800 feet long with a decline of about thirty degrees from its top to its base.  Thus, the two "slides" as they were called were at least as long as two and one-half modern football fields.  

The toboggan chutes began near the clubhouse formerly known as the Oakshade mansion originally built by famed Hudson River School artist James Augustus Suydam.  The clubhouse stood on the Long Island Sound side of today's Shore Road only dozens of yards away from the carriage house that stands on the grounds of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.  The toboggan chutes extended from near the clubhouse toward Long Island Sound and, shortly before reaching the water's edge, turned southward where, according to one account, the chute emptied onto the adjacent Bartow estate.  The image below shows a very rough approximation of the location of the toboggan chutes built in late 1885.

Google Maps Detail With Arrows Showing A Very Rough Approximation

of the Location and Direction of the Toboggan Chutes Built and Used by

Members of The Country Club in the Winter of 1885-1886.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

The toboggan course was opened by at least January, 1886.  It became an immediate success.  Parties of happy tobagganers spent afternoons and evenings racing down the chutes, then ended each day with a fine dinner in The Country Club dining room followed by a relaxing evening in front of a roaring fire in the clubhouse fireplace.  According to one report published on February 5, 1886:

"Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis."

Another account published at about the same time said:  "Small and gay parties . . . have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse."  

Club members and their guests found that roaring down the toboggan chutes was thrilling and exhilarating.  One account describing the toboggan chutes at Pelham said:  "Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter."

The sport of tobogganing, of course, was new to Pelhamites at the time.  It seems they could not agree on what should be the proper attire for the sport -- something that seems to have been particularly important to members of The Country Club at Pelham.  One publication noted Pelhamites' faux pas in this respect:

"There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club."

It appears that the toboggan chutes operated each winter until The Country Club moved its facility across Pelham Bridge to the opposite side of Eastchester Bay at the end of the 1880s.  For a time, however, it was an amazingly successful winter sport embraced by Pelhamites and members of The Country Club at Pelham.

"WINTER SPORTS IN ALBANY.  THE RIDGEFIELD TOBOGGAN CHUTE"

in 1886.  Lithograph.  This Shows a Pair of Side-by-Side Toboggan Chutes

Similar to the One that Once Stood in the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

German Toboggan Course Shown in 1886 Lithograph From

Illustrated Journal of The Times, Published in Germany.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

"TOBOGGANING 1886," a Lithograph Published in 1886 by L. Prang

& Co.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. . . .

-- The members of the Country Club intend to enjoy themselves this winter in Canadian style.  They are building a 'toboggan' slide, between 700 and 800 feet long, from the house toward the Sound, and then turn off on to the Bartow estate.  Mr. Jas. Henderson is doing the work. . . ."

Source:  LOCAL INTELLIGENCE, New Rochelle Pioneer, Dec. 19, 1885, p. 3, col. 1.  

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. . . .

The toboggan slide at the Country Club grounds, has become the most popular attraction of anything ever started there.  It is 750 feet long and was built and donated to the Club by Mr. J. M. Waterbury, the president of the Club.  Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis. . . ."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 5, 1886, Vol. XVII, No. 855, p. 1, col. 6.  

"A SLIDE has been built on the grounds of the Country Club, at Pelham, Westchester county.  The slides are two in number, facing each other, after the fashion of the Russian ice-mountains.  Their length is 800 feet.  Steps lead from the sharp ascent up which the toboggan shoots to the starting platform of the other track.  The angle of descent is about 30 [degrees].  It was through the exertions chiefly of Mr. James M. Waterbury, the president of the club, that the slide was built.  The secretary is William Kent."

Source:  Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).

"THE WORLD OF SOCIETY.
-----
WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED.
-----
Sleighing and Tobogganing Monopolize the Attention of the Members of the Gay World -- The Opera and Three Private Dances the Leading Society Events of the Week in the City -- Numerous Teas and Receptions -- The Season Continues Dull -- Weekly Budget of Notes from Connecticut Towns -- Notes from Philadelphia and Albany.

After long delay, the desired advent of the snow king has brought to society its long-desired opportunity for the indulging in winter sports, and almost everything else has been forgotten in preparations for and enjoyment of sleighing, skating, and the new and imported pastime of tobogganing.  The toboggan slides erected by the Essex County Club at Orange, and by Mr. James M. Waterbury in the grounds of the Country Club at Bartow, have been resorted to every afternoon and evening of the week by merry parties of New Yorkers, many of whom have experienced for the first time the delights of the sport, and who, overcoming their first feeling of timidity, are now its devoted enthusiasts.  Would that all imported pastimes and customs were as healthful and beneficial as tobogganing.  Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter.

While the Orange slide has been widely described and heralded, that of the Country Club has crept into notice very unpretentiously.  Small and gay parties, however, have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse.  There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club. . . ."

Source:  THE WORLD OF SOCIETY -- WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED, The World [NY, NY], Jan. 17, 1886, p. 16, col. 1.  

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I have written extensively about The Country Club at Pelham and its famous steeplechase races, rides with the hounds, baseball games, polo matches, and other such events of the 1880's.  For a few of many more examples, see:  

Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.

Thu., Mar. 23, 2006:  Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884.

Tue., Apr. 14, 2009:  1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

Wed., Apr. 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Thu., Apr. 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.

Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.

Wed., Sep. 09, 2009:  1884 Engraving of Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Barometer, and His Owner and Rider, J. D. Cheever. 

Wed., Sep. 16, 2009:  September 1884 Advertisement for The Country Club Steeplechase.

Thu., Sep. 17, 2009:  Controversy in 1887 When The Country Club Tries to Dedicate a Large Area of Pelham as a Game Preserve.

Wed., Sep. 30, 2009:  Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between The Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.

Mon., Oct. 19, 2009:  Polo at the Country Club in Pelham in 1887.

Fri., Oct. 30, 2009:  Preparations for Annual Country Club Race Ball Held in Pelham in 1887.

Thu., Apr. 15, 2010:  Account of Baseball Game Played in Pelham on June 9, 1884: The Country Club Beat the Knickerbockers, 42 to 22.  

Tue., Feb. 25, 2014:  An Interesting Description of the Country Club at Pelham Published in 1884.

Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.  

Fri., Sep. 12, 2014:  Reference to an 1884 Baseball Game Between the Country Club of Pelham and Calumet.

Fri., Feb. 27, 2015:  Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889.

Thu., Jul. 16, 2015:  More on the History of the Country Club at Pelham in the 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 03, 2015:  A Major Tennis Tournament was Played in Pelham in 1885.

Tue., Feb. 09, 2016:  Polo Played in Pelham in 1887.

Wed., Sep. 07, 2016:  Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890.

Thu., Jan. 26, 2017:  The First Formal Country Club Hunt in Pelham Began on October 2, 1886 at 2:30 P.M.

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