Another Account of The Great Blizzard of 1888 that Raged in Pelham 129 Years Ago Yesterday and Today

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As Pelham awaits Stella, the Nor'easter threatening to overrun the region tonight and tomorrow, it seems appropriate to remember that one hundred twenty nine years ago yesterday and today, Pelham was overrun by "The Great White Hurricane," also known as the "Blizzard of 1888."  As one Pelham resident wrote more than fifty years later, it "became one of the times from which things were dated.'  The blizzard's fury reached its height on March 12, 1888.

One of the most colorful stories about Pelham residents during The Blizzard of 1888 is one that could have ended in tragedy but, happily, did not.  Like thousands of other working men and women who awoke to nearly 10 inches of snow early in the morning on Monday, March 12, two Pelham residents failed to grasp the magnitude of the massive storm and tried to reach the City for work early that day.  

The two residents, Henry W. Taft and Alfred L. Hammett, clambered aboard the tiny little Harlem River Branch Line train that left Pelham Manor Depot at 7:37 a.m. Monday morning.  Little did they know the life-threatening risk they were taking. 

The tiny little train on which they traveled was so small it was called “the little peanut train”.  It consisted of a steam locomotive, a fire tender and two passenger cars.  At that early date there reportedly was no steam heating system for the passenger cars, so “the cars were heated by a stove at the end of each car.” 

After leaving Pelham Manor, the little train passed Bartow Station and Baychester Station (and its bridge) and made it to Westchester Station.  Just past Westchester Station, however, the tracks passed through a “cut” that had filled with drifting snow.  The train plowed into the deep snow drift until it began "to labor" and after a few "convulsive" thrusts, stopped dead in its tracks, unable to proceed.  Shovels were quickly deployed to attempt to remove snow from the front of the train, but the effort was futile.  The train was hopelessly stuck just as the storm entered its most furious phase, stranding the crew and the few passengers on board like those of so many other trains in the region. 

The furious winds blew tiny particles of through every crack around every window where the snow melted inside and dampened everything.  Soon the passengers and crew had depleted all available fuel for the little stoves that heated the cars.  Next they began to break up and burn the seats of the cars for additional warmth. 

The poor engineer of the train began to suffer "an agony of rheumatic pain" as the terrible hours slowly passed.  According to one account, his groans of pain began to mingle with the whistling of the wind.  As the day wore on and it became devastatingly clear that the storm was not subsiding and no help was coming, the passengers and crew were faced with a terrible conundrum.  Should the exit the train and head into the storm on foot to find shelter, or should they remain on board the little peanut train?  Either choice risked freezing to death.

Late in the day on Monday, March 12, it became apparent that they were on their own.   Messrs. Taft and Hammett of Pelham Manor decided to take matters into their own hands, concluding that “their only escape lay in an attempt to get back on foot through the drifts.”  They decided to exit the train and attempt to make their way in the blinding snow and high snow drifts back to Pelham Manor.  

Only Known Image of The Little Peanut Train on the Branch

Line Stuck in the Snow Near Westchester Station.  Photograph

Taken Several Days After the March 12-13, 1888 Blizzard.

Photo Courtesy of The Office of The Historian of The Town of

Pelham.  Note:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

At about 4:00 in the afternoon, Taft and Hammett pried open the door of the train car and climbed into the snow.  The pair began trying to follow the train tracks hidden beneath snow and drifts that stood face-high in some places.  They had to push through banks of snow and, occasionally, could not make out where the train tracks were, so they found the barb wire fences that stood along the tracks and used the wire to guide themselves along.  

After hours of effort, the pair reached the railroad bridge over Eastchester Bay at the mouth of the Hutchinson River.  There the railroad tracks rested on short pilings across the waters of the Bay.  Completely exposed to the elements, the howling wind and piercing pellets of ice and snow had the "impact of shot from a gun."  The high winds risked blowing the pair into the water below to certain death.  All the men could do was to hold onto the planking and the railroad cross-ties and crawl across the trestle, holding on for dear life.  During any lull in the wind, the men would spring to their feet and try to sprint along the cross-ties to "make the best use of that always short interval."

After exhausting efforts, the pair made it across Eastchester Bay and bulled their way along the tracks through the snow to Bartow Station.  Night had fallen and an ink-black darkness descended.  

At Bartow residents helped the men warm up and offered a horse to help.  Recognizing that a horse would be useless in the high snow banks and drifts, Taft and Hammett declined.  The two men were anxious to return to their families to allay worries and to help them pass through the remainder of the storm safely.  The two never even removed their outer garments at Bartow.  They simply warmed themselves, then plunged back outside along the railroad tracks to return to Pelham Manor.  

According to one account, as the men made their way between Bartow Station and Pelham Manor:

"The snow was deep all along and the drifts frequent and formidable.  The darkness was so nearly utter and total that these would not be discovered until all of a sudden a white wall, apparently sheer and insurmountable, would rise within a few inches of their faces.  How best to flank or surmount them was then the question.  Sometimes there was resort to the fence, and a hand over hand progress was made through them despite the wounding of the iron barbs.  Again those constantly recurring barriers were overcome by lying down and rolling over them!"

Late that evening, Taft and Hammett noticed a light in the distance.  That guiding light came from within the Pelham Manor Station along the railroad tracks near their homes.  They quickened their pace and stumbled to the station, onto the station platform, and toward their homes near the station.  Taft left Hammett in front of Hammett's home and, luckily, did not depart immediately.  Hammett stumbled and fell in the snow in front of his home and did not get up.  Taft helped him up and into the home before continuing to his house.  Hammett insisted for years thereafter that had Taft not helped him at that moment, he would have frozen to death in front of his own home after nearly completing his ordeal.

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I have written about The Great White Hurricane of 1888 and its effects on Pelham.  See:

Tues., Apr. 22, 2014:  Another Story of the "Great White Hurricane" that Struck Pelham and Surrounding Regions in 1888.

Thu., Mar. 13, 2014:  The Great Blizzard of 1888 in Pelham: 126 Years Ago Yesterday and Today.

Tue., Feb. 14, 2006:  An Account of the Blizzard of 1888 by Pelham Manor Resident Henry W. Taft. 

Thu., February 20, 2014:  Pelham Manor in 1883 and in its Early Years - Recollections of An Early Pelham Manor Resident.

Bell, Blake A., The Blizzard of 1888: Pelham in the Midst Of the "Great White Hurricane," The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 34, Aug. 27, 2004, p. 9, col. 1.

Below is yet another account of the travails of Messrs. Taft and Hammett as they fled the little peanut train for their homes at the height of the Blizzard of 1888.  The account is reprinted from The New York Evangelist.  This strongly suggests that the account was written by John Henry Dey, a Pelham Manor resident and close friend of Messrs. Taft and Hammett, who served as Associate Editor of The New York Evangelist at the time.  The text appears immediately below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

"A TALE OF THE BLIZZARD.
-----
A Graphic Account of the New York Snow Storm.

The following is taken from the New York Evangelist concerning the snow storm.  In speaking of being caught out the writer says:  

The writer only escaped a similar or worse experience by missing a train on the branch road extending from New Rochelle to the Harlem river, and which was quite out of time on that furious morning.  Three of his neighbors were at the station, however, and as in the case of the early bird, caught the passing worm.  And this was a subject of much felicitati on, as we are assured, for the next fifteen minutes or so.  But just on the hither, side of the Westchester station, their train and themselves encountered 'the unkindest cut of all.'  They left that station on time and cheerful, but ere they were fairly under way the locomotive began to labor, and presently after a convulsive effort or two, there was no more progress.  Shovels were used for a little, thereby enacting Mrs. Partington's broom against the tide; but even the track made in coming, was quickly obliterated, and the snow banked behind as well as before the train.  There were only a few passengers, but several of these spent two nights just there.  And miserable nights just there.  And miserable nights they were -- as miserable nights they were -- as miserable as deficient warmth and covering and food and a temperature without close to zero, could make them.  The fine snow particles sifted in at every window, so that at last there was not a dry seat in the single car to which they were confined in order to economize the fuel.  The engineer of the train was of the number, and poor fellow, he was in an agony of rheumatic pain all those terrible hours.  His groans mingled constantly the last night with the whistling of the wind.

Several soon became impatient to learn how their wives and little ones were faring in the waxing storm.  With such preparation as they could make, which was but little, they crowed open the door of their car, and sallied forth a little after four o'clock, resolved to make the four or five miles they had traversed so speedily and gaily in the morning, and over the same route, as on the whole, the best and safest.  It was a struggle from the start.  A hat blew off, and was secured with difficulty.  Their course was nearly in the teeth of the storm, and they could only average about a mile an hour.  They were not very long in coming to a stage of their journey entirely exposed to the force of the wind, and it seemed to come down upon them at times with a full fifty-mile an hour sweep and momentum.  We refer to the salt meadows section between Timberson's and Bay Chester stations, the level reach of which extends well toward Mount Vernon on the west, and on the east to the Sound, which it finds between the uplands of Westchester on the south and Fort Schuyler on the north.  This great level area is, at intervals of perhaps two or three years, and under pressure of a long prevalent and powerful wind in the right quarter, quite overflowed from the piled-up waters of the Sound, and turbulent as an arm of the sea.  The railroad track hence rests upon short piles, and one needs to walk with some circumspection upon it at any time.  On this terrible day the wind and snow played upon this bare scaffolding with something of the impact of shot from a gun, and there was nothing for it but for our two friends to seize the planking or crossties [sic] and cling for dear life until the lull came, and then to spring to their feet and make the best use of that always short interval.  Had it not been that nature herself seemed to require a moment to recover her spent breath, their case would have been hopeless.

Arrived at Bartow a short halt was made, and there were offers of a horse or any other assistance of avail.  But the only progress possible was by foot and so the last half of the journey was begun, with a little rest, but without removing outer garments.  Fairly on the rails again, or rather over them, this was found to be the most 'laborious and dangerous' part of the adventure.  The stations here are far apart and the grade steadily rises, so that the charged wind -- as sometimes the engineers on this best stretch of the road -- rejoiced to run a race.  Toiling on for an hour, the situation grew forlorn and desperate.  The cold increased, also the wind and snow, and it became very dark.  There was not a star or friendly light to guide, and but for the wire fencing on either hand, and the driving snow which impinged constantly on the ice-laded [sic] face and ear, when progress was being made in the right direction, our friends would inevitably have lost their way.  

The snow was deep all along and the drifts frequent and formidable.  The darkness was so nearly utter and total that these would not be discovered until all of a sudden a white wall, apparently sheer and insurmountable, would rise within a few inches of their faces.  How best to flank or surmount them was then the question.  Sometimes there was resort to the fence, and a hand over hand progress was made through them despite the wounding of the iron barbs.  Again those constantly recurring barriers were overcome by lying down and rolling over them!  A blessed suggestion from the contrasted sunny days of youth coming to the rescue!  Finally, after long hours of this work, and when strength and resolution were sorely tried, if not quite spent, the welcome, thrice welcome light of the Pelham Manor station was discerned at only a little distance off!  

That such a genuine Dakotan adventure as we have here sketched could have occurred on the afternoon and evening of Monday week and within the bounds for the most part of one of our projected city parks, who would have believed possible."

Source:  A TALE OF THE BLIZZARD -- A Graphic Account of the New York Snow Storm, Randolph Register [Randolph, NY], Mar. 29, 1888, Vol. XXIII, No. 45, p. 8, cols. 1-2.  

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Brief History of the Pelham Park and City Island Railway

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The archives of the University of Michigan contain a bound typewritten manuscript entitled "Toonervilles of the Empire State" by Felix E. Reifschneider, prepared in 1947.  Among the fascinating summaries of tiny railroads and trolley lines that once crossed communities throughout the State of New York is a summary of the history of the Pelham Park and City Island Railway.  I have written extensively regarding this railway that began as a so-called horse railroad.  A bibliography of articles with links appears at the end of today's article.

Reifschneider's brief summary of the history of the railway stitches together various stories of the "Railway's" many iterations over the nearly forty years that some form of public transportation served the route between Bartow Station on the Branch Line and Belden Point on City Island.  The Reifschneider summary is only a page long and is well worth a read.  

"City Island Car"
Source: "Chapter XX: City Island" in History of Bronx Borough City Of
New York Compiled for The North Side News By Randall Comfort,
p. 62 (NY, NY: North Side News Press: 1906). NOTE: Click on Image
to Enlarge.

A 1.6 mile horse railroad named the "Pelham Park Railroad" opened between Bartow Station and Marhall's Corner near the Marshall Mansion on May 20, 1887.  According to Reifschneider, the line was built with thirty pound rail at three-feet-six-inch gauge.  Five days later a "companion enterprise" named the City Island Railroad "extended the operation another mile and a half to Brown's Hotel on City Island."  As I have written before, people in the Town of Pelham -- particularly those who lived on City Island -- were furious because two fares had to be paid to the two inter-related railroads to ride the single short line between Bartow Station and Brown's Hotel.

"No. 28 -- All Aboard for City Island"  An Undated Postcard

View of Passengers Boarding the Horse Railroad Heading

for City Island.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Within a few years, the City Island Railroad track was extended several times until it finally reached Belden's Point at the southern tip of City Island, a distance of 1.8 miles.  According to Reifschneider, "[c]ars made thru trips from Bartow to City Island over the single track, as the two roads were always operated jointly as one."

After the annexation of the Pelham Bay Park and City Island region by New York City in 1895, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company "[f]or some mysterious legal reason," bought the two horse car lines "so as to use their charters as the basis of its vast subway-elevated system."  A few years later, on July 9, 1914, the "Interborough disposed of them" to the Third Avenue Railway.

In 1910, the railway companies became involved with the Monorail Construction Company which led to a particularly famous (or, better said, infamous) chapter in the history of City Island.  Reifschneider says the Monorail Construction Company "was probably looking for a likely place to try its invention."  Clearly, the technology was unproven.  An article published in 1910 called it "The One Legged Railroad of Tomorrow."  

The monorail was constructed in early 1910 and began operation, according to Reifschneider, on July 15, 1910 from Bartow Station to the north end of the City Island Bridge near Marshall's Corners.  There passengers disembarked and either walked the rest of the way or had to board a horse railroad car.  

"THE MONORAIL IN PELHAM BAY PARK, BRON, N.Y., 1910-1914"

As Reifschneider noted and the image above confirms, the monorail car "was rather narrow with wedge shaped ends.  A single rail was supported on ties in the ballast in the usual manner, with a second rail supported by a steel overhead structure.  Wheels on the roof of the car pressed against the overhead rail which kept the car upright, a much more expensive scheme than using two rails on the ground."

"MONORAIL CAR, CITY ISLAND R.R."

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

On July 19, 1910, while loaded with passengers, the newly-opened monorail derailed.  The structure was badly damaged a number of passengers were seriously injured.  The monorail car and the superstructure were quickly rebuilt and service resumed on November 14, 1910 "with speed restricted to 15 miles per hour."

The passengers injured during the monorail derailment, however, filed damage claims that forced the companies into receivership "from which emerged a consolidated Pelham Park and City Island Railway Co. on July 1, 1913."  Less than a year later, on March 16, 1914, the monorail was taken out of service.

The life of the little railway line between Bartow Station and Belden Point was coming to an end.  According to Reifschneider, after discontinuing monorail service:

"The company leased a gasoline bus and a horse drawn stage while new standard gauge track was being built.  On August 17, 1914 thru operation began with 12 leased single truck storage battery cars over a 3-mile route, as a part of the Third Avenue Railway System. The little battery cars were a familiar part of the scene on City Island, a favorite resort for fishermen and boat enthusiasts.  But rising expenses forced abandonment of the line on August 9, 1919."

"Bartow and City Island Stage Coach Line."

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"PELHAM PARK AND CITY ISLAND RAILWAY

The Pelham Park RR was a 1.6 mile horse car line built with 30 lb. rail, at 3 ft. 6 in. gauge.  It ran from Bartow station on the NY New Haven & Hartford RR to Marshall's Corner, and started operation on May 20, 1887.  Five days later a companion enterprise, the City Island RR, extended the operation another mile and a half to Brown's Hotel on City Island.  Within the next few years, the track was extended several times for short distances until it reached Belden's Point, a total distance of 1.8 miles.  Cars made thru trips from Bartow to City Island over the single track, as the two roads were always operated jointly as one line.

For some mysterious legal reason the Interborough Rapid Transit Co. bought the two tiny horse car lines in 1903 so as to use their charters as the basis of its vast subway-elevated system.  The Interborough disposed of them to the Third Avenue Ry. on July 9, 1914.

In 1910, the companies became entangled with the Monorail Construction Co.  The latter was probably looking for a likely place to try its invention.  A single monorail car began operation on July 15, 1910 from Bartow to the north end of the City Island Bridge, where passengers had to transfer to a horse car to complete their trip.  The car was rather narrow with wedge shaped ends.  A single rail was supported on ties in the ballast in the usual manner, with a second rail supported by a steel overhead structure.  Wheels on the roof of the car pressed against the overhead rail which kept the car upright, a much more expensive scheme than using two rails on the ground.  On July 19th, the monorail car was derailed, damaging the structure and seriously injuring a number of passengers.

After reconstruction, operation was resumed on November 14, 1910 with speed restricted to 15 miles per hour.  Damage claims from the accident had forced the companies into receivership, from which emerged a consolidated Pelham Park and City Island Railway Co. on July 1, 1913.  

The monorail system was discontinued on March 16, 1914.  The company leased a gasoline bus and a horse drawn stage while new standard gauge track was being built.  On August 17, 1914 thru operation began with 12 leased single truck storage battery cars over a 3-mile route, as a part of the Third Avenue Railway System.

The little battery cars were a familiar part of the scene on City Island, a favorite resort for fishermen and boat enthusiasts.  But rising expenses forced abandonment of the line on August 9, 1919."

Source:  Reifschneider, Felix E. Toonvervilles of the Empire State, p. 26 (Orlando, FL:  Sep, 1947) (typewritten manuscript).

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I have written about the City Island Horse Railroad more than thirty times.  For examples, see:

Thu., Jan. 22, 2015:  Lawsuit in 1884 Cleared the Way for Construction of Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to Lower Part of City Island in Pelham.  

Mon., Sep. 22, 2014:  New York City Sport Fishermen Travel the Horse Railroad in 1886 to Fish in Pelham.

Mon., Jul. 18, 2011:  City Island Horse Railroad Temporarily Shut Down in 1892 Over Cruelty Concerns.

Thu., May 13, 2010:  More on the Early History of the Pelham and City Island Railroad.

Tue., May 4, 2010:  Questions Regarding the Trolley Franchise from Bartow Station to the Tip of City Island Arose in 1915.

Mon., May 3, 2010:  Efforts To Reorganize the Operators of the City Island Horse Railroad and Monorail in 1914.

Fri., April 30, 2010:  "Truly, An Illuminating Little Passage in the History of New-York!" - Efforts to Develop Shore Road Trolley Line in 1897.

Thu., April 29, 2010:  City Islanders Complain and Force the Operators of Their Horse Railroad to Agree to Replace Antiquated Cars in 1908.

Wed., April 28, 2010:  Efforts by the Pelham Park Horse Railroad to Expand and Develop a Trolley Car Line on Shore Road in 1897.

Tue., April 27, 2010:  New York City's Interborough Rapid Transit Company Sued to Foreclose a Mortgage on the Horse Railroad in 1911.

Mon., April 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

Fri., March 5, 2010:  Construction of the City Island Horse Railroad in 1887.

Thu., March 4, 2010:  Beginnings of Horse Railroad - News from Pelham and City Island Published in 1884.

Wed., March 3, 2010: 1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad.

Tue., March 2, 2010:  1901 Report Indicated that The Flynn Syndicate Planned to Buy the Pelham Bay Park & City Island Horse Car Line.

Mon., March 1, 2010:  Flynn Syndicate Buys the City Island Horse Car Line in 1907 to Incorporate It Into Electric Trolley Line.

Fri., February 26, 2010:  1913 Decision of Public Service Commission to Allow Reorganization of City Island Horse Railroad for Electrification.

Thu., February 25, 2010:  Photograph of Patrick Byrnes and Article About His Retirement of the City Island Horse Car in 1914.

Wed., February 24, 2010:  Attempted Suicide of City Island's Long-Time Horse Car Driver

Wed., February 3, 2010:  Early Information Published in 1885 About the Organization of the "City Island Railroad", a Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to City Island

Tue., February 2, 2010:  Information About the Pelham Park Railroad at its Outset

Fri., January 22, 2010:  1884 Account of Early Origins of Horse Railroad Between Bartow Station and City Island.

Mon., January 4, 2010: 1888 Local News Account Describes Altercation on the Horse Railroad Running from Bartow Station to City Island.

Wed., December 2, 2009:  Accident on Horse-Car of the Pelham Park Railroad Line in 1889.

Thu., December 31, 2009:  1887 Election of the Board of Directors of The City Island and Pelham Park Horse Railroad Company.

Tue., September 1, 2009:  Pelham News on February 29, 1884 Including Talk of Constructing a New Horse Railroad from Bartow to City Island.

Wed., Jan. 04, 2006:  Another Post Card Image of the Horse Car That Ran Between Bartow and City Island.

Fri., Dec. 30, 2005:  Subdivision Development Map Created in 1873 for Bartow Village in the Town of Pelham.

Mon. Dec. 12, 2005:  19th Century Subdivision Map of Planned Bartow Village.

Thu. Jul. 21, 2005:  Today's Remnants of the Bartow Station on the Branch Line Near City Island.

Thu., June 23, 2005:  Horse Cars Come To City Island in the Town of Pelham in the 1880s.

Thu. Mar. 24, 2005:  The Bartow Area of Pelham in the 19th Century: Where Was It?

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Football and Tennis Star George Adee Lived In Pelham

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During the final decades of the 19th century, there was an area in the Town of Pelham known as Bartow (also known as Bartow-on-the-Sound, Bartow Village, and Bartow Station).  Bartow was a quaint and tiny settlement located on the mainland near City Island.  The settlement sprang up around the railroad station serving City Island that was built on the Branch Line that opened in late December, 1873.  The entire area -- as well as City Island -- was annexed by New York City in 1895, effective in 1896. Before then, however, Bartow became an important part of Pelham and its history.

One notable Bartow resident during the 1890s was George Adee.  At the time, Adee was a college All-American quarterback at Yale who attracted national attention as a celebrity athlete.  He later became a champion tennis star and tennis administrator who was named to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

1894 Mayo's Cut Plug Tobacco Trading Card No. 2 Featuring

College Football Player George Adee of Yale.  Source:

Wikipedia.  NOTE:  Click on Link to Enlarge.

George Townsend Adee was born January 4, 1874 in Stonington, Connecticut.  He was a son of George Augustus Adee (b. Apr. 11, 1847; d. Aug. 12, 1908) and Adelaide Palmer Stanton (b. Aug. 18, 1844; d. 1931).  By the age of six, George Townsend Adee had moved with his family to the town of Westchester (now part of the Bronx, but then in lower Westchester County, New York).  

He attended the Harrington School in Westchester.  At about this time, his family moved to Bartow in the Town of Pelham.  Adee's father, George Augustus Adee, long had been involved with the Country Club at Pelham located at Bartow.  He was a notable real estate lawyer and yachtsman.   When the Country Club at Pelham moved to Throgg's Neck in the late 1880s, George Augustus Adee (who was described as the "boating expert of the club"), supervised the construction of a "very substantial dock and float" to assure at least seven feet of water at low tide at the new club location on Throgg's Neck.  

Members of the So-Called "Fleeing Club" Who Fled The City

Whenever Possible to Enjoy Themselves.  Photograph Taken

in 1898.  Left to Right:  George Augustus Adee, Father of

George Townsend Adee, Julian Curtis, Otto Bannard (President

of New York Trust), Henry James, William Milo Barnum (Founder

of Simpson, Thacher & Barnum, Now Known as Simpson Thacher

& Bartlett LLP), and Thomas Thacher (Name Partner of Simpson

Thacher & Bartlett).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

George Townsend Adee attended Yale University during the mid-1890s.  Quite an athlete, Adee became a star quarterback for the Yale Football Team (1892-1894) and made the Whitney-Camp All-America team in 1894.  That honor earned Adee a card (Card No. 2) in the 1894 Mayo's Cut Plug Tobacco Card trading set (see image above).  While at Yale, Adee was also a celebrated oarsman on the Crew team and served as Team Manager as well.  From 1895 to 1911 (excepting his service service in the Spanish American War), Adee coached quarterbacks part-time for Yale and became an active member of the Yale Football Association and various Yale alumni associations for much of his life.

George Townsend Adee served as a private in the New York Volunteer Cavalry during the Puerto Rico Expedition of the Spanish American War in 1898.  He continued his military service during World War I, attending Officer Training Camp in Plattsburg, New York and serving as a commissioned infantry Major in the United States Army.  He served in the American Expeditionary Forces under Blackjack Pershing in France in 1917 and fought in the Battle of Saint Miheil and the Meuse-Argone Offensive.

Major George Townsend Adee in an Undated Photograph Taken

in About 1917 or 1918.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.  

After his graduation from college, George Townsend Adee joined the investment banking and brokerage firm of Culyer, Morgan & Co.  In 1899 he left the firm and formed the partnership Batcheller & Adee (1899-1905) operating on the New York Curb Exchange (a predecessor to AMEX).  He reformed the partnership as Batcheller, Adee & Rawlins operating on the New York Stock Exchange and continued working as an investment banker for the remainder of his life.

In the early years of the Twentieth Century, Adee became an outstanding tennis player.  He played in the United States Championships six times (1903-1909).  Thereafter, he became passionately involved with the sport and rose through administrative ranks to serve as President of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association from 1916 until 1919.  He became Chairman of the United States Davis Cup Committee, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association Amateur Rules Committee, and held other notable administrative positions in the sport of tennis.  Adee was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum for such endeavors.  

Even after Bartow was annexed from Pelham to become part of the Bronx, George Townsend Adee and his family remained for a time and are even reflected as residing in the Bronx in the 1900 United States Census.  The 1910 United States Census reflects George Townsend Adee living with his mother, an older sister, and two "servants" in The Knickerbocker Apartments at 247 Fifth Avenue at 28th Street in New York City.  The 1930 United States Census shows Adee living with his 85-year-old mother in an apartment in the building located at 50 East 58th Street in New York City.  

George Townsend Adee received an honorary degree from Yale in 1931.  Throughout his life he was an active sportsman who enjoyed sailing, shooting, tennis, and golf.  He was fond of opera and was a Republican and an Episcopalian.  Adee died in New York City on July 31, 1948.  

To read more about George Adee, see:

"George Adee" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jul. 17, 2016).  

"George Adee" in International Tennis Hall of Fame (visited Jul. 17, 2016).


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"NEWS FROM OUR ENVIRONS.
-----
(From Our Correspondent.)
PELHAM MANOR. . . . 

BARTOW.
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-- Mr. Henry Castrop, the hotel keeper, and wife of this place have gone to Germany for the winter.

-- Mrs. Hogan a widow who has lived in this place for more than fifteen years, has moved to New York City.

-- The schooner Clara Waples which ran into Pelham Bridge some weeks ago has been newly fitted out and she looks as good as new.

-- An unknown man from New Rochelle went on the ice in Turtle Cove, on Saturday last, spearing eels and fell through the ice and was drowned.

-- Louis Ritter of Pelham Bridge has got the contract from the Riverside Steamboat Company to light the red light on Buck rock for the winter.

-- The Tallappoise Fishing Club has closed its summer home at Pelham Bridge, and opened their winter house at 150th street and Third avenue.

-- Mr. Barker of New York, a stockholder in the New York Central, has hired Goose Island from the Park Department and stocked it with water fowl.

-- Jos. Schock who found the body of the drowned man in East Chester Creek has received a reward of fifty dollars from the family of the deceased.

-- George Adee, champion quarterback football player on the Yale team arrived at his home in Bartow Wednesday night, for the first time since the season began.

-- The Westchester County Electric Light Company have got permission from the Park Department to put the electric light through the park.  It will not make driving very pleasant in the park in the evening.

-- At the last meeting of the Pelham Park Board it was decided to discharge the sixty men who have been employed in the park all summer and fifteen teams.  There are but one team and five men in service now. . . ."

Source:  NEWS FROM OUR ENVIRONS . . . BARTOW, New Rochelle Pioneer, Jan. 12, 1895, p. 8, col. 4.  

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108 Years Ago Today: Freight Train Wreck on the Branch Line Between Pelham Manor and Bartow Station

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Pelham is a town once tied to the sea.  Yet, it developed its unique character, principally, from the multiple railroads that later muscled through the town from the adjacent metropolis of New York City.  

In the early to mid-19th century, railroads blossomed from New York City. The New Haven Line, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (the "Branch Line") and, in the early 20th century, the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway crossed Pelham.  There were bound to be accidents.  

Accidents there were.

I have written of major railroad accidents in and around Pelham.  One such accident, known as the "Pelhamville Train Wreck," attracted truly international attention and was featured on the cover of the January 16, 1886 issue of Scientific American.  The Pelhamville Train Wreck occurred at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and First Street on December 27, 1885.  There have, however, been many other railroad accidents in and near our town. 

Detail from Front Cover of the January 16, 1886 Issue of

Scientific American that Featured a Cover Story About the

Pelhamville Train Wreck Entitled "A Remarkable Railroad

Accident." NOTE:  Click on Images to Enlarge.

In 2004, I wrote an article that collected information about all the train wrecks that have happened near the Pelham Manor Station that once stood at the end of today's Esplanade.  See Train Wrecks Near Depot Square in Pelham Manor, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 44, Nov. 5, 2004, p. 13, col. 1.  For a list of articles regarding Pelham train wrecks, see the bibliography with links, where available, at the end of this article.  

One such wreck occurred on the Branch Line between Pelham Manor Depot and Bartow Station on February 26, 1908.  It was a particularly tragic, and deadly, accident.

The Branch Line between Pelham Manor and Bartow Station during the 19th and early 20th centuries was treacherous.  Just east of the Bartow Station was a place where the tracks were laid across a short bridge known as "Rock Cut Bridge" and then through a cut into a large rock outcropping.  The cut through the rock outcropping that gave the bridge its name was known, appropriately, as "Rock Cut."  Between Rock Cut and the Bartow Station (immediately to the west of Rock Cut) was an area where -- even as late as 1908 -- two tracks from the east turned into four tracks from that point onward toward the east into New York City.  To make matters worse, as westward trains that were headed toward New York City approached the area, there was a curve in the tracks immediately before Rock Cut known as "Pelham Manor Curve."  If this all seems a recipe for disaster, consider the following:  through the entire area, trains from the west headed eastward toward New York City were barrelling down an incline . . . . 

Without electric signals or radio communications, there were critical safety precautions to be taken in the area of Pelham Manor Curve, the Rock Cut, and the Rock Cut Bridge, particularly because freight and passenger trains shared the tracks.  Freight trains headed toward New York City frequently stopped where the tracks branched from two into four tracks as they awaited instructions from nearby Bartow Station as to the track they should take.  Any time, of course, a train stopped in such fashion, it was supposed to be protected with a flag and, in darkness, with railroad lanterns.  That meant that the train flagman was expected to hop down from the stopped train and carry a flag and lanterns to a point sufficiently behind the train to flag and signal any oncoming train that there was another train stopped ahead.  

At 5:00 a.m. on February 26, 1908, it was both dark and misty.  Freight Train No. 581, headed toward New York City, was a steam locomotive pulling 25 freight cars.  Charles Deenier was the train flagman.  No. 581 stopped where the two tracks from the east (headed toward New York City) branched into four tracks "to await orders to go on toward the Willis avenue terminus."  Deenier's job as flagman was to hop off the stopped train, head down the tracks behind the train and, at that time of the early winter morning, deploy a flag and railroad lanterns to signal any approaching train that there was a train stopped on the tracks ahead.  

God only knows why Charles Deenier did not do his job as flagman 108 years ago today.  

Approaching from the east toward New York City was a truly massive freight train, No. 561.  The locomotive pulling the freight cars was of the "monster type."  It had to be a monster.  It was pulling 45 freight cars -- not quite twice the size of No. 581 stopped on the tracks ahead.  

Train engineer Leonard Boat of Hartford, Connecticut was in the cab of No. 561 and looked for a flag at the Pelham Manor curve.  According to an important account, "when he did not find one he supposed he had a clear way in on to the freight tracks."  The way, of course, was not clear.  An account published the day of the massive wreck said:

"[The Engineer, Leonard Boat] let the train run on down the grade, which was sufficient to give the train quite a momentum.  The train went on through the cut and out on the Rock Cut bridge, and then Engineer Boat saw ahead of him, only about 150 yards away, the standing train.  The gloom and mist of the morning would have prevented a much nearer view had the track been straight and open. Engineer Boat at once applied the air brakes, but the slippery rails and badly working air operated to render this unavailing.  The train slid on with the weight of the forty-five cars and their down-grade momentum, and crashed into the caboose of train No. 581.  The force was such that the locomotive plowed through the caboose, or cabin car, and into the last freight car."

On the engine with Engineer Boat were firemen James Messner of Hartford and Walter Davis of Springfield.  It was unusual to have two firemen to feed the fire that powered the steam engine, but No. 561 was massive, requiring two.  In addition, "Head Brakeman" James Valver of West Springfield was aboard the engine as well.  

As No. 561 parted the gloom, darkness, and mist of the early winter morning, Engineer Boat was the first to see something ahead.  He jammed the brakes but instantly realized, in his heart, that the monster train he drove would not stop in time.  

Imagine this:  you are engineering such a massive train and perceive ahead a disastrous crash.  Your colleagues and friends are with you in the engine. You have only seconds to react.  What would you do?

Train Engineer Leonard Boat must have done something right.  "[J]ust before the moment of the crash," everyone in the engine of No. 561 leaped from the train into the darkness and onto the ground below.  Every man in the engine escaped injury except one of the two firemen -- James Messner "who rolled down a steep bank and received internal injuries and many bruises.  He was later taken to New Rochelle Hospital, in a serious condition." 

Flagman Charles Deenier on the stopped train was not so lucky.  Inexplicably he was in the last car of No. 561 rather than down on the tracks signaling the stoppage.  The monster locomotive, with no crew aboard, pushed by the weight of 45 freight cars barreling down the incline smashed into the stopped train.  

The locomotive tore through the last car of the stopped train.  Immediately the wreckage ignited and began to blaze.  An alarm was called to the City Island Fire Department which responded and extinguished the blaze.  Only then was the mangled body of flagman Charles Deenier discovered in the wreckage.

A wrecking crew was dispatched and quickly cleared the a track for passenger trains.  Within hours, all wreckage was cleared and all four tracks into the metropolis of New York City were open once again -- 108 years ago today.

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Below is the text of an important article about the February 26, 1908 freight train crash that is the subject of today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"FREIGHT TRAINS COLLIDE; ONE MAN KILLED, ONE HURT
-----
Negligent Brakeman on N.Y., N.H. and H.R.R., Met Instant Death in the Crash.
-----
ENGINE SMASHED A CABOOSE.
-----
Wreckage of Cars Began to Blaze Immediately After Accident Near Bartow.
-----

The misty weather and slippery condition of the rails are given as the causes for a serious wreck this morning on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company's old line from Willis avenue to New Rochelle, near Bartow, which is the City Island station.  A brakeman was killed and a fireman badly injured.

The dead man was Charles Deenoir, brakeman, on the first train, who was crushed and horribly mangled in the caboose of his train.  The injured man is Fireman Messner of the second train, who received internal and other injuries and was taken to the New Rochelle Hospital, where the doctors say he may not recover.

The wreck occurred in the dim light of the early morning, just east of the Bartow station.  A short distance beyond this station there is a big cut, known to the trainmen as 'Rock Cut.'  Between the cut and the station, freight tracks branch off on either side, making four tracks, on into the city.  Passenger and freight trains alike use the two tracks from New Rochelle to the point where the four tracks commence.  

A little after 5 o'clock this morning a freight train, No. 581, of twenty-five cars, pulled in on the freight tracks from the east and stopped to await orders to go on toward the Willis avenue terminus.  The train was supposed to be protected by a flag.  Deenier, the dead man, was the train flagman, and it was his duty to be back across Rock Cut bridge, through the cut itself, and out around Pelham Manor curve, with a flag, and at that hour with red and white lanterns.  That he was killed when the crash came and that his body was found in the ruins of the caboose proves that he was not at his post of duty.  The superintendent of the division says Deenier is to blame for the wreck which cost his life.  Whether he was asleep in the caboose or not can only be guessed.

While the train was thus standing unprotected, another freight train of forty-five cars came upon the scene.  Engineer Leonard Boat of Hartford, Conn., who was in the cab, says he looked for a flag at the Pelham Manor curve, and when he did not find one he supposed he had a clear way in on to the freight tracks.  Therefore, he let the train run on down the grade, which was sufficient to give the train quite a momentum.  The train went on through the cut and out on the Rock Cut bridge, and then Engineer Boat saw ahead of him, only about 150 yards away, the standing train.  The gloom and mist of the morning would have prevented a much nearer view had the track been straight and open.

Engineer Boat at once applied the air brakes, but the slippery rails and badly working air operated to render this unavailing.  The train slid on with the weight of the forty-five cars and their down-grade momentum, and crashed into the caboose of train No. 581.  The force was such that the locomotive plowed through the caboose, or cabin car, and into the last freight car.  

On the engine with Engineer Boat were firemen James Messner of Hartford and Walter Davis of Springfield -- there are two firemen on the monster locomotives of the type used -- and Head Brakeman James Valver of West Springfield.  These all stayed with the engine until just before the moment of the crash, and then tumbled off the locomotive on both sides.  All escaped without injury except Meesner, who rolled down a steep bank and received internal injuries and many bruises.  He was later taken to New Rochelle Hospital, in a serious condition.  

The wreck almost immediately took fire and a call was sent for the City Island Fire Department, which speedily extinguished the blaze.  The body of Deenier was found in the debris of the caboose, horribly mangled.  He had been killed instantly.  He lived at 171 Alexander avenue, the Bronx.  The body was later removed to the Fordham Morgue by order of Coroner McDonald.

During the first moments of excitement Conductor Louis Hagenar of train No. 581 ran up to the wreck.  When he was sought a few minutes later he could not be found, and it was reported that he had been killed also in the caboose, until some one remembered seeing him afterward.  He was missing for some time, but finally returned and said that the excitement had unnerved him and made him run away.  Conductor William McGill of train No. 561, the second train, remained on the scene.

A wrecking crew was sent to the scene from Manhattan in a short time, and the passenger tracks were quickly cleared of obstruction.  The inbound freight track was not cleared until several hours later.

Coroner McDonald later ordered the arrest of Engineer Boat on a technical charge of homicide, and he was taken in charge by the City Island police."

Source:  FREIGHT TRAINS COLLIDE; ONE MAN KILLED, ONE HURT -- Negligent Brakeman on N.Y., N.H. and H.R.R., Met Instant Death in the Crash -- ENGINE SMASHED A CABOOSE -- Wreckage of Cars Began to Blaze Immediately After Accident Near Bartow, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb. 26, 1908, p. 5, col. 2 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

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I have written many articles that document train wrecks in and near Pelham.  This is not a complete list, but it collectively should serve as a guide for those who wish to research the issue of train wrecks in the region.  

Fri., Mar. 27, 2015:  Compensation Paid by the Railroad After the 1885 Pelhamville Train Wreck.

Wed., Feb. 11, 2015: Coroner's Inquest Jury Found Railroad "Criminally Negligent" in the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885. 

Wed., Mar. 26, 2014:  Postscript To the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885 - Settlement of the Widow's Lawsuit Against the Railroad. 

Mon., Feb. 17, 2014: Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885:  Another Account Published with a Diagram of the Aftermath of the Crash. 

Fri., Jul. 15, 2011: Another Newspaper Account of The Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885. 

Thu., Apr. 2, 2009:  Biographical Data and Photo of the Engineer of the Train that Wrecked in Pelhamville on December 27, 1885.

Wed., Jan. 9, 2008:  The Aftermath of the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885.

Mon., Sep. 24, 2007:  The Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885

Tue., Sep. 25, 2007: More About the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885

Wed., Sep. 26, 2007:  The Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885 Continued . .

Thu., Sep. 27, 2007:  Findings of the Coroner's Inquest That Followed the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885

Fri., Dec. 21, 2007:  1886 Poem Representing Fictionalized Account of the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885.

Bell, Blake A., The Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885: "One of the Most Novel in the Records of Railroad Disasters, 80(1) The Westchester Historian, pp. 36-43 (2004).

Train Wrecks Near Depot Square in Pelham Manor, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 44, Nov. 5, 2004, p. 13, col. 1.

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