Historic Pelham

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

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

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

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

Background

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

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

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

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

Detail from a Samuel Pell Family Photograph Showing a Young

Sherman T. Pell Standing Behind His Mother, Elizabeth Scofield

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

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

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

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

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

Sherman Pell Enters Pelham Politics

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

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

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

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

The Postmaster Flap

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The 1893 Town Supervisor Election

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where Is Mr. Pell?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Scandal Grows Darker

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

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

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

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

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

Lawsuits Fly

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

ENDNOTES

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

[2] Id.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

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

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

[15] Id.

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

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

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

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

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

[21] Id.

[22] Id.

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

[24] Id.

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

[26] Id.

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

[28] Id.

[29] Id.

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

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

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

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

[34] Id.

[35] Id.

[36] Id.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, Crime, James Hyatt, Scandal, Sherman T. Pell, Town Supervisor

Monday, October 14, 2019

Sixteen-Year-Old Received a Reward of a Nickel for Saving Six Lives in Pelham

In 1892 a smart aleck and street-smart sixteen-year-old newsboy nicknamed "Swipes" (after a famous prize fighter of the day to be a subject of a future Historic Pelham article) saved the lives of six people off the shores of City Island in the Town of Pelham. The story of the courage and quick thinking of Swipes made newspaper headlines throughout the United States from New York to California. People throughout the nation marveled at his feat and laughed at the disdain he showed for those whom he rescued. Today's Historic Pelham article tells the story of the rescue by Swipes and his subsequent determination that each of the lives of the six people he saved was worth only five-sixths of one cent. . . .

In the summer of 1892, the fishing village and summer resort known as City Island in the Town of Pelham was at the height of its renown as a vacation resort. Each weekend (and many weekdays) thousands crowded onto trains, wagons, small ships, and even horseback and made their way to City Island in the Town of Pelham to enjoy bathing and boating in the waters offshore as well as wandering the streets of the quaint settlement.

One of those who visited City Island on Monday, August 8, 1892 was sixteen-year-old Edward Gallagher. He was known as "Swipes" and lived in Manhattan at 330 West 42nd Street. He was described as "black-eyed, brown haired and small. What his muscular development lack[ed] in quantity it more than [made] up in quantity."

Swipes worked as a newsboy. He spent the better part of the day that Monday hauling armloads of newspapers and hawking them between New York City and City Island. Having sold all his copies by late that day, he decided to hop into a rowboat at City Island and enjoy a little time on the waters of Long Island Sound.

At the same time, a small land-lubbing group of four men and two women from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, were wading and bathing in the waters near Belden Point at the tip of City Island. Earlier, the group had sailed up the East River and lower Long Island Sound in the small sloop Agnes during the morning of the day.

At about 6:30 p.m., with "Swipes" enjoying a leisurely row off the shores of Belden Point, the small group of landlubbers from Greenpoint commandeered a tiny skiff. Three men and two women climbed in and paddled into the Sound while a fourth man swam leisurely behind them, trailing the skiff.

When the skiff made it about two hundred yards offshore, the man swimming behind it grew tired and decided to climb aboard. Rather than climbing safely over the stern, he tried to climb over the side of the skiff and upset it, tumbling all five occupants into the water. Several, apparently, were unable to swim.

Swipes noticed the commotion and heard the cries for help. He rowed furiously to the upset skiff and found six flailing in the waters around the skiff. As he arrived, one of the men shouted forlornly "We're all lost!" Swipes dragged all six to safety and paddled them back safely to the shores of City Island.

When the rowboat arrived and the landlubbers scrambled out, one of the men exclaimed to young Swipes, somewhat condescendingly:  "that was great work you done." He turned to the other landlubber survivors and collected what money they had to gift as a reward to young Swipes. The landlubber passed the hat among his compatriots and raised only thirty cents . He then handed it over to Swipes explaining sheepishly that it was only thirty cents because "You're only a boy, you know."

According to a contemporary account, young Swipes shook his head and gave the man back twenty-five cents. Swipes next said to the group "I ain't goin' to overcharge you. The hull gang of yer ain't wort' more'n 6 pence." Young Swipes then turned and left the landlubbers, later telling a New York Herald reporter that he first became disgusted with the group when one of the men cried from the water "We're all lost!" According to Swipes, the entire group made him "weary."

Swipes, it seems, had the final say. Though he was "only a boy, you know," newspapers throughout the United States reported this Pelham vignette. Virtually all reported that Swipes had affirmed the lives of such people off the waters of Pelham to be "dull and in small demand -- spot cash, five-sixths of a cent each person."

Undated Postcard View of Belden Point and the Waters Off its Shores

in About 1914. "ST. BARTHOLDI CAMP, BELDEN POINT, CITY ISLAND,

N.Y." NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

* * * * *

Below is the text of a newspaper article on which today's Historic Pelham article is based. The text is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"SWIPES KNEW THEIR VALUE.
-----
A Newsboy Who Would Only Accept Five Cents for Saving Six Lives

Human life is dull and in small demand -- spot cash, five-sixths of a cent each person -- at Belden Point, on City Island. These figures are the result of the and experience of Edward Gallagher, of 330 West Forty-second Street New York. Edward is a newsboy, sometimes called 'Swipes the Newsboy,' as a compliment to his ability. He is not the original 'Swipes.' Edward is 16 years old, black-eyed, brown haired and small. What his muscular development lacks in quantity it more than makes up in quantity. He sold a big armful of newspapers between this city and City Island on Monday afternoon and then went rowing near Belden Point. Four men and two women who had sailed up from Greenpoint in the small sloop Agnes went in bathing at half past 6 o'clock so 'Swipes' says. Three of the men and the women presently got into the skiff and paddled out into the sound followed leisurely by the fourth man, who swam. Two hundred yards from the shore he grew tired, tried to climb into the skiff over the side instead of the stern and upset it. 'Swipes' said he rowed fiercely to the rescue and saved them all.

'They make me weary,' he confided to a New York Herald man. 'When I began taking them in all the men could say was: 'We're all lost!' Soon's I got 'em ashore one says: 'Johnny, that was great work you done. I'm goin' to take up a c'lection.'

'He passed the hat and raised 30 cents out of all their clothes. When he give it to me he says: 'You're only a boy, you know,' an' I gave him back his quarter an' says: 'Yes, an' I ain't goin' to overcharge you. The hull gang of yer ain't wort' more'n 6 pence.' Then I skipped.'

But will not some society or some kind individual give 'Swipes' a medal?"

Source: SWIPES KNEW THEIR VALUE -- A Newsboy Who Would Only Accept Five Cents for Saving Six Lives, St. Hilaire Spectator [St. Hilaire, Polk County, MN], Aug. 10, 1892, Vol. XI, No. 3, p. 4, col. 5. See also WIPES [sic] KNEW THEIR VALUE -- A Newsboy Who Would Only Accept Five Cents for Having Six Lives, The Daily Leader [Gloversville, NY], Aug. 4, 1892, Vol. V, No. 308, p. 4, col. 2 (same text); WIPES [sic] KNEW THEIR VALUE -- A Newsboy Who Would Only Accept Five Cents for Having Six Lives, Bridgeport Chronicle-Union [Bridgeport, Mono County, CA], Nov. 19, 1892, Vol. XXXI, No. 1,585, p. 4, col. 4 (same text).

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Labels: 1892, Belden Point, City Island, Drowning, Edward Gallagher, Reward, Swipes, Swipes the Newsboy

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Additional Information About Pelham Heights Architect, Engineer, and Map Maker John Fletcher

John Fletcher Fairchild lived in Pelham in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Trained as an architect and engineer, he worked as a civil engineer with offices in Mount Vernon. He served as Town Engineer for the Town of Pelham for a portion of his career. He also served as engineer of the Pelham Heights Company and was principally responsible for the layout and civil engineering aspects of that lovely neighborhood. In addition, he prepared and published two local Atlases that are considered today rare examples of the art of such local atlases at the time. He published the Atlas of the City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham in 1899. He also updated and revised the Atlas in a second edition published in 1908.

John F. Fairchild designed and built the lovely home that still stands at 334 Pelhamdale Avenue. An image of the home, including its famous carriage stone with a large "F" carved into it, appears immediately below.

The John F. Fairchild Home Located at 334 Pelhamdale

Avenue with its Carriage Stone in the Foreground. Source:

Google Maps, 2016. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written about John F. Fairchild, who was a brother of Pelham Heights founder and United States Congressman Benjamin L. Fairchild, on numerous occasions. See, e.g.:

Thu., Dec. 6, 2007: Biography of John F. Fairchild, Engineer of the Pelham Heights Company During the 1890s.

Thu., Feb. 26, 2009: Photograph of John F. Fairchild Published in 1905.

Thu., Jun. 11, 2015: Two Pelham Brothers Lost Their Only Sons in Eerily-Similar Early Aviation Incidents.

Mon., Dec. 19, 2016: Biography of Famed Pelham Heights Resident John Fletcher Fairchild.

John Fletcher Fairchild of Pelham Heights in 1905.

Today's Historic Pelham Blog article transcribes the text of a brief article with biographical information about John F. Fairchild published in a local newspaper in 1892. Though Fairchild was a young man about 25 years of age at the time, he already had a notable local reputation as a civil engineer. The article is followed by a citation and link to its source.

* * * * *

"JUNIOR OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
-----
John Fletcher Fairchild of Mt. Vernon, N. Y. -- An Expert in the Profession.

In 1867 Mr. Fairchild's birth took place in Washington, D. C. He received his education in the public schools of that city and at Columbia University. With Mr. Henry H. Law he studied architecture, and civil engineering with Mr. Herman K. Viele. Two years ago he came to Mt. Vernon principally to take charge of the improvements at Pelham Heights. His residence is at that place but he has his office at Mt. Vernon, in the Mt. Vernon Bank building. Since coming to the place he has built up a large outside business and keeps a force of assistants constantly at work in his offices. He is engineer of the drainage commission at Elmsford and of several parks at Kennico and also of the Mt. Vernon Suburban Land Company. Mr. Fairchild has an intelligent apprehension of all matters pertaining, not only to his profession but also to kindred topics and as he possess an extremely gentlemanly manner of doing business he is rapidly rising in social circles as well as in a professional way. Mr. Fairchild is a member of the Methodist church and is the editor of the Epworth League paper published at that place.

He is a Junior of the American Society of Civil Engineers and keeps well posted on topics pertaining to the advancement of the profession."

Source: JUNIOR OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS -- John Fletcher Fairchild of Mt. Vernon, N. Y. -- An Expert in the Profession, Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press [Elmira, NY], May 10, 1892, p. 6, col. 4 (Note: Paid subscription required to access via this link).

Labels: 1892, 334 Pelhamdale Avenue, Benjamin Fairchild, Benjamin L. Fairchild, John F. Fairchild, Pelham Heights, Pelhamdale Avenue

Monday, September 09, 2019

More on the Town of Pelham's Consideration as a Potential Site for the 1893 World's Fair Eventually Held in Chicago as the Columbian Exposition

In 1889, Americans already were preparing for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. A grand "World's Fair" was planned to open in 1892 as part of the "Great Columbus Celebration" in honor of the 400th anniversary.

Eventually the event opened as the "World's Columbian Exposition," a world's fair held in Chicago. Although dedication ceremonies were held on October 21, 1892, the fairgrounds were not ready for the public. Thus, the World's Columbian Exposition did not open to the public until May 1, 1893. Consequently, the Exposition often is referred to, informally, as the "1893 Chicago World's Fair." It also is referred to as the 1892 World's Columbian Exposition and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

In 1889, organizers of the upcoming Exposition were still searching for a site on which to build the fairgrounds. Believe it or not, the Town of Pelham was in the running as a possible fairgrounds site for the World's Fair.

I have written about consideration of the Town of Pelham as the site of fairgrounds for the World's Fair before. See Tue., May 30, 2017: Parts of the Town of Pelham Were Considered as a Site for the 1893 World's Fair. Today's Historic Pelham article provides more information about early efforts to tout Pelham as the site for the fairgrounds.

At least as early as the summer of 1889, New York City Mayor Hugh John Grant -- who remains the City's youngest Mayor ever even to this day -- already was working to attract the planned World's Fair to the New York City region. That summer he reached out to five hundred notable New Yorkers to attend a massive meeting to begin planning New York's bid to attract the extravaganza.

One of the first issues the group had to confront was the site of the massive World's Fair. The event was expected to be so massive that there seemed to be a broad consensus that it could not be hosted on Manhattan island. Although there were suggestions that Central Park might be a suitable site, the news media was quick to object. One newspaper wrote:

"Central Park is not to be thought of. Any serious proposition to turn that beautiful breathing place into a big fair ground would probably kill the whole project. The people want Central Park for themselves, and won't give it up."

Attention quickly turned to the three new parks on the mainland north of Manhattan: Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx Park, and Pelham Bay Park (then part of the Town of Pelham before New York City annexed the region in 1895). Most agreed, as one newspaper put it, that Pelham was:

"delightfully situated for such a purpose as a grand world's fair. Its area is more than twice that of Central Park. It contains 2,700 acres of undulating land, with a water front of at least five miles on Long Island Sound. The question of drainage is one of much importance in the case of a great fair ground, and that is already solved by nature at Pelham Bay. The whole Park drains naturally into the deep water along its five miles of picturesque shore."

Pelham Bay Park was sufficiently large for the fair. Its picturesque shore front offered important opportunities for water activities associated with the fair. Additionally, Eastchester Bay and Pelham Bay offered important transportation opportunities. The construction of docks there would permit the transport of goods for the fair. As one article, quoted in full below, noted: "Ships from all parts of the world could go right up to a dock at Pelham Bay and land their cargoes close by the exhibition buildings." Moreover, fair visitors could be ferried cheaply to the site via waterways from all over the region. The same article stated: "If visitors to the fair preferred going by water, they could not desire a more delightful trip than up the East River and through the waters of the Sound into Eastchester Bay or Pelham Bay itself. This trip can be made from the Battery within an hour, and the fare need not be more than 10 or 15 cents."  Proponents of the plan further emphasized that the New Haven Branch Line that ran through Pelham also offered important transportation alternatives to and from the site.

Some, however, objected that New York should host the fair within its city limits -- not within the limits of the adjacent Town of Pelham. Proponents of the plan dismissed such objections with an interesting observation. As one newspaper put it:

"The objection that Pelham Bay Park is outside the city limits probably will not exist in 1892. Before the great fair was talked of at all, it was intended to ask the Legislature to extend the city line eastward from the Bronx River to the Sound, and thus take in the beautiful new Park, and the request will probably be made when the next Legislature meets."

Of course, New York City's efforts to annex the Pelham Bay Park region from the Town of Pelham did not bear fruit until 1895 -- long after the World's Fair ended. Nevertheless, even in the late 1880s (and earlier), all expected the new park to be annexed by the city.

Of course, efforts to hold the fair in the Town of Pelham failed. Eventually, the exhibition was held in Chicago and was wildly successful. For a time, however, the world watched as New York City notables discussed the little Town of Pelham as a possible site for the World's Columbian Exhibition.

"Bird's Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893"

Showing What the Area in Pelham May Have Looked Like Had Pelham

Bay Park Been Chosen as the Site. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

* * * * *

Below is the text of a newspaper article published on July 21, 1889 that forms the basis of today's Historic Pelham Blog article. The text is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"The Proposed Great Fair.

Mayor Grant's call for a meeting of 'representative citizens' to consider the question of a great world's fair in 1892, gives that question what may be called a boom. Mayor Grant sees Mr. McAllister and goes him a hundred better, for his call is issued to 500 New Yorkers, instead of 400. All of the 500 probably will not respond, for several are at the other side of the Atlantic, looking at the great show in Paris and having a good time in other ways, and many more are at summer resorts at home, and may not care to leave them just to attend a meeting. But a sufficient number of representative citizens will doubtless come together to consider the question in a practical and serious way. At the moment it seems highly probable that the idea of getting up a great fair for the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the land of the free and the home of the brave will be carried out. And should it be carried out, the show will certainly be on a magnificent scale, very different from the Crystal Palace affair of 1853, though that was considered a great thing then. One of my favorite early recollections is that of seeing President Franklin Pierce ride up Broadway at the head of a great procession to perform the important function of opening that exhibition, and I have a vivid remembrance of a sideshow near by, in which an armless young woman astonished me beyond measure by writing visiting cards with her toes, or rather with a pen held between two of them; also of a rickety 'observatory,' likewise near by, from the top of which, after one had climbed up to it, a pretty fair view of New York and a good deal of the surrounding country could be had. The Crystal Palace Fair was held in Reservoir Square, now Bryant Park, at Sixth Avenue and Forty-second Street. There was no Central Park then and above Forty-second Street there were very few houses. The population of New York was about one fourth of what it is to-day. The great metropolis of to-day was hardly imagined. Should the outcome of the meeting called by the Mayor be the appointment of a committee to make arrangements for a really great fair, it is to be hoped that men with axes to grind won't get the thing into their own hands. Satisfactory results certainly need not be expected if they do. Several years ago a movement was started for a grand centennial international exhibition in 1889, but the men with axes to grind spoiled the whole business. After the appointment of a committee the next step will be the raising of money. Millions will be needed. It is already proposed that the city shall subscribe generously, and then the State, and next the United States. All right, if they are willing. There will be use for every dollar. And it may be expected, as a matter of course, that a good many dollars will go astray.

The Question of a Site.

Next after determining upon the fair itself will come the question of a suitable site for it. Central Park is not to be thought of. Any serious proposition to turn that beautiful breathing place into a big fair ground would probably kill the whole project. The people want Central Park for themselves, and won't give it up. It is more than likely that the fair won't be held on Manhattan Island at all. A site for it will probably be selected in one of the new parks north of Harlem River. Three of these are mentioned as offering suitable grounds -- Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx Park, and Pelham Bay Park. The latter would be decidedly the best. Pelham Bay Park is delightfully situated for such a purpose as a grand world's fair. Its area is more than twice that of Central Park. It contains 2,700 acres of undulating land, with a water front of at least five miles on Long Island Sound. The question of drainage is one of much importance in the case of a great fair ground, and that is already solved by nature at Pelham Bay. The whole Park drains naturally into the deep water along its five miles of picturesque shore. Another important question is that of facilities for the delivery of goods for exhibition. Ships from all parts of the world could go right up to a dock at Pelham Bay and land their cargoes close by the exhibition buildings. New York City itself could not offer better facilities in this respect. Pelham Bay is about 12 miles from Union Square. It can be reached by rail from Harlem in about 10 minutes. The Westchester branch of the New York & New Haven Railroad runs through the Park. If visitors to the fair preferred going by water, they could not desire a more delightful trip than up the East River and through the waters of the Sound into Eastchester Bay or Pelham Bay itself. This trip can be made from the Battery within an hour, and the fare need not be more than 10 or 15 cents. The objection that Pelham Bay Park is outside the city limits probably will not exist in 1892. Before the great fair was talked of at all, it was intended to ask the Legislature to extend the city line eastward from the Bronx River to the Sound, and thus take in the beautiful new Park, and the request will probably be made when the next Legislature meets. Pelham Bay Park is by all odds the best place for the great fair, and it ought to be selected without hesitation. But the first thing is to organize for the fair itself, and that is likely to be done very soon."

Source: The Proposed Great Fair, Buffalo Courier [Buffalo, NY], Jul. 21, 1889, Vol. LIV, No. 202, p. 9, cols. 4-5.

Labels: 1889, 1892, 1893, 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Annexation, Great Columbus Celebration, John Hugh Grant, Pelham Bay, Pelham Bay Park, World's Columbian Exposition