Historic Pelham

Presenting the rich history of Pelham, NY in Westchester County: current historical research, descriptions of how to research Pelham history online and genealogy discussions of Pelham families.

Monday, October 29, 2018

The Ghost of the Insane Pelham Lover Banished to His Attic Cell


The young man from Pelham was madly in love.  He was in the midst of an affair with a young and beautiful Pelham woman.  The pair were residents of the tiny settlement of Bartow that once stood on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham in the last half of the 19th century not far from today's Pelham Bit Stables (the Bronx Equestrian Center) in Pelham Bay Park.  

 Yes, the young man was madly, madly, madly in love.  All he could ponder was his beautiful belle.  He spent every waking hour thinking of her and planning his next opportunity to be with her.  He spent every sleeping hour dreaming of his lovely coquette.  It seems, however, that the object of his adoration was interested only in a flirtatious fling.  She was, indeed, quite a coquette who flirted lightheartedly with the young man precisely to encourage his admiration and affection.  She did not, however, share his insanely-intense devotion.  

 When the beautiful Pelham belle tired of the young man's attentions, she simply ended all contact with him.  The young beau was crushed.  For weeks he made every attempt to recapture the flirtatious attentions of his beautiful belle.  With each passing week of failure, the young man grew ever-more despondent.  As the object of his mad love began seeing others, ever flirtatiously, his despondency sank into a gloomy sadness that could not be shaken.

 The young man's family grew ever more concerned as he began wandering the halls of the family's dark home at night.  He muttered as he shuffled up and down hallways and stairs, though muttering the family could understand was the name of his young belle.  

 Concerned for the young man's safety, members of the family stayed with him day and night.  They sat with him as he rocked back and forth, muttering as tears streamed down his face.  The weeks turned to months and it became clear that the young man's mind had departed him.  He had descended into madness.

Soon exhaustion set in.  At night, the young man's family simply could not handle him.  His mind may have left him, but his youth and strength had not.  When his mutterings seemed to turn suicidal, the family began locking him inside the unfinished attic of their Bartow home with nothing but a mattress on the floor each night.

 The walls of the attic were unfinished.  Its rafters hung heavily above.  There was a single window at one end.  At night the room was exceedingly dark since the family was unwilling to leave a burning lantern with the young man overnight.  Even worse, the home stood in an infinitely lonely and silent spot on the outskirts of the tiny Bartow settlement that consisted of only a handful of homes and commercial buildings near the old Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line railroad tracks.  The family put a strong bolt on the outside of the door that led to the attic room to keep the young man locked inside.  They also put strong iron bars on the attic window to prevent his escape.  Soon, the young man had to be kept in the room around the clock rather than only at night.  

 Thankfully, the young madman was not violent.  He was fed, clothed, and cared for tenderly, but his madness worsened.  

 His mental illness seemed intensely worse during each thunderous storm that swept over Pelham.  When torrents of rain beat upon his roof, lightning crackled above, and thunder shook the house, the young man became uncontrollable.  With each thunderbolt he wailed in despondency and even pounded his fists on the floor and walls of his attic cell.  It was as if each thunderous blast drove him deeper into the dark depths of insanity.  

 During one terrible storm on All Hallows' Eve, lightning pierced the skies all over Pelham.  Thunder blasted the region and shook the home.  After one nearby lightning strike that was followed instantaneously by an ear-splitting blast of thunder, the young man wailed and pounded so violently that his family feared for him.  They scrambled up the stairs and unbolted the attic door hoping to do something -- anything -- to settle and console him.

 As the door opened, the young man bolted through it and bounded down the dark stairs as his family gave chase.  Down the stairs and through the house he ran.  He threw open the front door and plunged into the curtains of rain.  As the family ran into the torrential downpour behind the young man, he began outdistancing them until the family could no longer see through the rain far enough ahead to see him clearly.  Only because occasional flashes of lightning illuminated the entire region were they able to follow the fleeing madman from a distance as he ran toward Long Island Sound.

 The howling wind drove the rain into wet needles that felt as though they would pierce the skin.  The family was not certain if the howling they heard that night was only that of the wind as they ran after the young man.

 He ran with insane purpose straight to Flat Rock.  He looked directly into the howling wind over the frenzied waters whipped to a froth by the storm.  He squinted for a moment as the driving rain blinded him.  Just as members of his family arrived at Flat Rock, the young man turned and stared at them wild-eyed, then leaped into the churning waves, drowning himself.  His body was never recovered.

 His body was never seen again, but soon his spirit was.  Each night, after darkness descended, the ghost of the anguished young man wandered the rooms and halls of the old house in which he had been held captive during life.  All in Bartow soon knew that the home was haunted by the ghost of the insane Pelham lover.  

 Soon no one in the settlement of Bartow would go near the house.  As one published account noted, "no villager can be found who will venture near the spot at night."

 The family moved out of the sad haunted house and left it to the spirit of the mad lover.  The isolated house sat forlornly on a hill at the edge of the settlement for a number of years until a New York City charity named the "Little Mothers Aid Association" decided to use the home and its grounds as a summer camp for "Little Mothers."  These "Little Mothers" were young girls whose family circumstances required them at a tender young age to serve as substitute mothers to care for even younger siblings.  See:

 Fri., Apr. 15, 2016:  The Little Mothers Aid Association and its Use of Hunter's Mansion on Hunters Island in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries.

 Thu., Jun. 28, 2018:  More on the Little Mothers Aid Association and its Use of Hunter's Mansion on Hunter's Island.  

 Though the haunted house at Bartow sat empty throughout the fall and winter each year, it became a cheery summer camp center for happy "Little Mothers" from New York City during the spring and summer.  Despite the happy occupants of the home, the anguished mad specter of the insane Pelham lover continued to stalk the hallways and rooms of the home after dark frightening all who saw him.

 Wise camp counselors and experienced campers made certain to warn new campers of the ghost of the insane Pelham lover as each new wave of campers arrived.  Each new wave of little campers who arrived, after hearing the terrible story, ventured to the top of the attic stairs, pulled back the heavy bolt on the outside of the door, and peered timidly into the dark attic room where they could see the heavy iron bars at the window of the room that once housed the captive.  Of course, the little campers only ventured to the top of those stairs during bright, sunny days. . . . 

 During about the mid-1890s, on a dark and cold winter day when, of course, the Little Mothers camp was not in session and the haunted house sat empty, a New York City Policeman patrolling in Pelham Bay Park stopped by the house to check on it.  

 The first thing Officer Gilmartin noticed as he approached the house was an outside cellar door that had been broken in leaving the basement open.  The officer climbed into the cellar and groped about in the semi-darkness.  When he reached a rear corner of the dark room, he felt an odd, irregularly-shaped bundle that "rattled as if in protest as he dragged it out into the air."

 Tied up in what evidently had been a bed sheet was a human skeleton.  The policeman recoiled in horror, tucked the bundle under his arm, and raced on foot to the nearby police station that once stood near the Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line.  There officers at the station contacted the local coroner and wired a report to New York City.

 Word in the little settlement spread quickly regarding the skeletal remains at the police station.  Nearby residents began crowding into the tiny police station to view the skeleton.  According to one account:  "much alarm was felt. . . . [t]hat a horrible crime had been committed."  Had the ghost of the insane Pelham lover turned violent in the afterlife?  

 Thankfully, the skeleton was not that of a little camper.  Rather, it "was evidently that of a full grown man of large stature."  

 It took a reporter for the New York Herald to solve the gruesome mystery.  According to a newspaper account, the ghost of the insane Pelham lover had not turned to murder.  The reporter visited an official of the Little Mothers Aid Association, told her about the alarm in the settlement of Bartow, and inquired about the origins of the skeletal remains.

 After the official finished laughing, she explained that the skeleton was a medical specimen that belonged to Dr. William Percy who had practiced for many years in New York City but since had moved his practice to Elmira, New York.  According to the official, Dr. Percy became fascinated with the many accounts of the ghost of the insane Pelham lover and decided the previous summer to try to frighten the ladies who ran the Little Mothers Aid Association.  

 He sneaked up to the attic, known to all as the "Haunted Room" and strung up the skeleton like a marionette puppet, rigged for motion when anyone entered the room.  One night he enticed the ladies who ran the camp up to the Haunted Room, expecting to frighten them out of their wits.  Instead, according to the New York Herald, "His effort failed ignominiously."  The women were neither frightened nor amused by the amateurish efforts to scare them.  

 Dr. Percy bashfully wrapped up the skeleton and hid it in a corner of the basement so as not to frighten the little campers.  He forgot, however, to remove it when he departed and, despite numerous requests from the staff that he remove it, he never did before the camp ended for the summer.  Only a short time later, the Little Mothers Aid Association seemingly could take the ghost no more and moved its camp to the Hunter Mansion on nearby Hunter's Island off the shores of Pelham.

 Thus, the ghost of the insane Pelham lover murdered no one of which we know (at least no one whose remains have been found).  The settlement of Bartow is now simply a ghost town with all structures except the stone remnants of the Bartow train station long gone.  In this case, the Bartow area is a true ghost town as the "Ghost of the Insane Pelham Lover" who once was banished to an attic cell can still be seen running from the area to the Long Island Sound where he leaps from Flat Rock and disappears beneath the inky waters. . . . 

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 "SPOILED A FINE GHOST STORY.
-----
Accounting for the Mysterious Skeleton Found in Bartow's Haunted House.
-----
IT BELONGED TO A PHYSICIAN.
-----
Neighborhood Residents Feared That It Might Be Evidence of a Dreadful Crime.
-----
MERELY PART OF A JOKE.
-----

 The residents of the village of Bartow, two miles above West Chester, were greatly agitated yesterday over the finding of a nearly perfect skeleton in the empty, rambling old Holcomb House, known in town tradition as the 'haunted building.'

 The house is perched on a high hill, overlooking Long Island Sound, on the southern side of Pelham Bay Park.  It is nearly a mile from any human habitation, and was purchased by New York when the city acquired the 1,700 acres around the village for a public playground several years ago.

 An infinitely lonely and silent spot it is in winter, but in summer troops of merry children transform the house and grounds into a place of life and laughter.  Mrs. John H. Johnston makes semi-weekly trips there with half a hundred New York children, under the auspices of the United Charities.  They are known as the 'Little Mothers,' because as far as possible they are girls of tender age on whom devolves the care of their younger brothers and sisters.

 The half dozen park policemen visit the premises at irregular intervals during the winter months to see that nothing has been disturbed or stolen.  Numerous tramps haunt the wooden slopes, and frequently signs are found to show that they have used the house as a lodging place.

 SHUNNED BY VILLAGERS.

 It is no chamber of horrors to the uninformed itinerant vagabond, but no villager can be found who will venture near the spot at night.  It is generally accredited in town lore that a ghost stalks abroad throughout the rooms of the old structure after darkness has descended. 

 The villagers say it is the shade of the young man who went crazy over a love affair and was confined in an attic room for many years.  He escaped from custody one stormy night and drowned himself from Flat Rock, in the waters of the Sound.  The iron barred windows and heavy bolted door of the room are still to be seen.

 Policeman Gilmartin set out to inspect the premises late Monday afternoon.  It was so late, in fact, and so well aware was he of the house's grewsome [sic] reputation, that he wished before he started that his errand was completed.  As he climbed the steep heights to his destination, he perceived that the outside cellar door had been broken in.  Entering and groping about in the semi-darkness his hands touched an irregular shaped bundle in a rear corner which rattled as if in protest as he dragged it out into the air.

 Tied up in what had evidently been a sheet, the light disclosed the nearly perfect skeleton of a human body.  Without continuing his search the policeman, greatly excited at his find, hurried with his burden to the police station, near the little railroad station.

 Resident Policeman Hodgins and the chief of the Pelham Bay Park force sent immediate notice to Coroner Banning, of Mount Vernon, and a report was despatched [sic] to the Central Park Arsenal.

 The news spread rapidly throughout the village and numbers came to view the bones at the police station.  Many wealthy New York people spend the entire year in handsome cottages outside the town, and not far from the scene of the ghastly find, and much alarm was felt.  That a horrible crime had been committed in the neighborhood at some distant date and that its discovery had just been made was the only explanation.  The tramps infesting the wide, open territory were at once suspicioned as the authors of the deed.

 THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED.

 The skeleton was evidently that of full grown man of large stature, and the oldest inhabitant cogitated in vain to identify the remains.  

 Bartow was in a state of nervous excitement yesterday afternoon when I departed, and went at once to the residence of Mrs. Johnston, at No. 305 East Seventeenth street.  The mystery was soon solved.

 'Why, I can very easily account for the presence of the skeleton,' said she, after her laughter at the alarm of the village had subsided.  'It is the property of Dr. William Percy, formerly of this city, but now, I think, practising [sic] in Elmira.  You see, he visited us at our summer quarters last summer, and was much amused over the ghost story associated with the old house.

 'He placed the skeleton in the 'haunted' room and attempted to give some of the ladies a fright.  His effort failed ignominiously, however, and I suppose he concealed his improvised puppet in the cellar afterward and forgot to remove it.

 'We were afraid some of the girls would find the skeleton and become really excited, and enjoined the physician to effectually dispose of it.'

 Coroner Manning has sent notice that he will view the sheet of bones to-day.  His services are not in as urgent demand as Bartow has led itself to believe."

 Source:  SPOILED A FINE GHOST STORY -- Accounting for the Mysterious Skeleton Found in Bartow's Haunted House -- IT BELONGED TO A PHYSICIAN -- Neighborhood Residents Feared That It Might Be Evidence of a Dreadful Crime -- MERELY PART OF A JOKE, N.Y. Herald, Mar. 21, 1894, No. 21,030, p. 13, col. 6.


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I have collected ghost stories and legends relating to the Town of Pelham for more than fifteen years.  To read more examples that now total in the several dozens, see: 



Bell, Blake A., Pelham's Ghosts, Goblins and Legends, The Pelham Weekly, Oct. 25, 2002, p. 1, col. 1. 



Bell, Blake A., More Ghosts, Goblins of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 43, Oct. 29, 2004, p. 12, col. 1. 

Bell, Blake A., More Ghosts & Goblins of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 40, Oct. 13, 2006, p. 10, col. 1.



Bell, Blake A., Archive of HistoricPelham.com Web Site:  Pelham's Ghosts, Goblins and Legends (Oct. 2002). 






Thu., Oct. 26, 2017:  The Cow Rustler Ghosts of Pelham Road.



Tue., Oct. 25, 2016:  The Suicidal Specter of Manger Circle.

Mon., Sep. 08, 2014:  In 1888, The "Ghost of City Island" Upset the Town of Pelham.





Wed., May 03, 2006:  Another Pelham, New York Ghost Story.



Thu., Oct. 13, 2005:  Two More Pelham Ghost Stories.  




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posted by Blake A. Bell @ 5:08 AM 0 comments

Monday, April 16, 2018

More on the Strange Disappearance -- and Stranger Reappearance -- of Mary Grote of Pelham in 1884


One of the strangest missing person cases ever to arise in the Town of Pelham occurred in 1884 involving a young woman servant who worked in a home at Bartow, a tiny settlement that once stood along today's Shore Road in the Town of Pelham.  Indeed, with uncharacteristic understatement, The Daily Brooklyn Eagle of October 11, 1884 reported on the matter, saying: 

 "The hamlet of Bartow, on the Sound, near New Rochelle, is excited over the mysterious disappearance of Mary Grote, a young woman employed as a domestic in the family of Mr. May, a well to do farmer, living in that neighborhood. She disappeared on Thursday from the grounds near the house, where she had gone to gather apples. It is feared that she has been murdered by tramps, who infest the country in that vicinity." Source:  Current Events, The Daily Brooklyn Eagle, Oct. 11, 1884, p. 6. 

 Saying that the little Pelham hamlet known as "Bartow," "Bartow-on-the-Sound," and "Bartow Village" was "excited" over the matter was putting it mildly. The entire Town was up in arms. There were no villages, nor village police departments, to provide police protection at the time. "Tramps" (as Pelhamites called them) were a constant problem with up to twenty-five a day hopping off New Haven Branch Line trains and camping in huts they built in the woods along today's Shore Road.  

 Such "tramps" became such a problem that residents of Pelham Manor formed the "Pelham Manor Protective Club" -- a vigilance committee -- in late 1881 to take matters into their own hands. The "Club" offered rewards for the arrest and conviction of tramps and, in effect, played the role of a local citizen police force. Mary Grote's "disappearance" led local residents to fear the worst -- that the buxom young beauty with dark hair and ruddy cheeks had been abducted and murdered.

 I have written before quite extensively regarding the strange case of Mary Grote.  See:

 Fri., Mar. 11, 2005: The Strange Disappearance -- and Reappearance -- of Mary Grote of Pelham in 1884: Part I.

 Mon., Mar. 14, 2005:  The Strange Disappearance -- and Reappearance -- of Mary Grote of Pelham in 1884: Part II.

 The young woman disappeared only a short time after she began working in the home of Bartow farmer Francis May.  The disappearance was so abrupt and the circumstances so mysterious that all of Pelham assumed the worst.  Convinced that the poor young woman had been kidnapped by tramps and murdered, farmer May and local citizens searched the countryside without success before going on a rampage and burning a dozen crude huts built by "tramps" in the woods near Shore Road.  

 Only a day or so later, Mary Grote was found!  She was hidden beneath hay on the grounds of farmer May's farm. . . . The true reasons for the young woman's strange disappearance and even stranger reappearance are lost to history.

 Today's Historic Pelham article transcribes the text of an extensive article on the disappearance and reappearance of young Mary Grote.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

Detail from 1893 Map by Julius Bien & Co. Showing the Bartow-on-the-
Sound Region of the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.


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 "THE ESCAPADE AT BARTOW
-----
MARY GROTE NOW UNWELCOME AT FARMER MAYS.
THE FARMER VERY ANGRY AND TRYING TO SEND THE GIRL AWAY -- BURNING THE TRAMPS' HUTS IN THE WOODS.

 BARTOW-ON-THE-SOUND, Oct. 12. -- Farmer Francis May was not in A1 spirits this morning.  After the excitement of yesterday and the weary work of sitting up all night, as he claims, to see that Mary Grote did not run away again from his hospitable board, he was, if the truth be told, decidedly ugly.

 'I ton't give a tam!' he remarked with emphasis.  'If anypoty say vone word against me I shoot 'em tam quick.  I come tam near shootin' one of de dirty tramps this morning, and, py tam, I shoot some neighbors if this talk not shtop.'

 Mr. May was in earnest.  He affirmed, by all the roast beef on the dinner table before him, that he had known nothing of Mary's whereabouts from the time of her disappearance on Thursday until she was found buried in the hay yesterday afternoon.  Neither did his son nor the red-headed boy called George employed as a farm hand.  Everybody about the homestead was innocent of everything that had been or might be charged.  All the same Mr. May made a mighty effort to ship Mary away last night.  Carrie Hartmann, her friend, who arrived from New-York in the morning, pleaded that she must go to City Island, but would meet Mary at the 9 o'clock train.  Mr. May took the buxom, red-cheeked Mary to the train at the hour named.  No Carrie was there.  So Mary refused to go alone, and went back to the May household for the night, says Mr. May.

 The May farmhouse was overrun with visitors to-day, mostly women.  Mary staied [sic] in the parlor and refused to talk with one and all.  She sat on her packed trunk, grinned bewitchingly to show her white, regular teeth, but never a word said she, excepting to admit that she lied yesterday when she said, 'Mrs. May made a face at me.'

 'What made you say that Mary,' was asked, 'if it wasn't true?'

 Then the damsel buried her rosy cheeks in her palms, pulled her flowing hair over her face, and was as dumb as a Sound oyster under 10 fathoms of water.  The Bartow hotels, too, were overrun with visitors to-day.  Mary's peculiar disappearance and still more peculiar finding formed the one topic.  All citizens were unanimous in the belief that something was very wrong, but each hesitated to take the initiative in demanding an investigation.  All sorts of wild rumors were afloat, and all the men of the May homestead were implicated therein.  To Justice Steve, yesterday, Mr. May gave his word of honor, heard by a TIMES reporter, that he would keep Mary there for at least a week until certain clues could be traced.  Scarcely had the Justice turned his back when Mr. May urged the girl to leave the place with Carrie Hartmann.  Mary's mouth is shut effectually, but by what means is a problem.

 At noon it had been decided to go north along the railway and break up some of the tramps homes.  Rain until 1:30 o'clock caused many to back out of the agreement, so that only a few started.  First was set on fire the tumble-down shanty of rails and saplings which had been occupied by one of the wandering arabs [sic] since 1878 until this Summer.  Other huts were found, and at 3 o'clock this afternoon half a dozen fires were blazing between here and Pelham Manor.  Since the excitement here not more than five tramps have passed through each day, where before there were 25 at a low average.  It is said they now take the main line out of the New-Haven Road, which leaves the Grand Central Station in New-York.  The branch starting at Harlem Bridge, joins the main line at New Rochelle.  Many weary miles are saved by this road, but that is nothing to the tramps compared with arrest.  To-morrow the tramp cave will be blown up.  

 'Py tam!' said Mr. May at 2 o'clock this afternoon.  'Mary must go to Niyarruck on the 4 o'clock train.'

 The 4 o'clock train was late.  Mary was not at the station at 3:55, and THE TIMES'S reporter cut through the woods to the May farm.

 'She gone, py tam!' said Mr. May.  Scarcely had he uttered the words when Mary appeared at the parlor door, showing her white teeth as she smiled.  'Well,' said Mr. May, 'I knew some tam man see her if I took her down.  I'll drive her into the city to-night.'

 He probably will.  Paying no attention to his word as given to Justice Steve, Mr. May is determined to railroad the girl away.  It is the best thing he can do, say his friends.  With Mary gone the case will be dropped.  With her here some who are loud in threats but afraid to act will be compelled to swear out a complaint on which rigid investigation will follow.  The action of the authorities is generally condemned in not at the outset acting vigorously."

 Source:  THE ESCAPADE AT BARTOW -- MARY GROTE NOW UNWELCOME AT FARMER MAYS -- THE FARMER VERY ANGRY AND TRYING TO SEND THE GIRL AWAY -- BURNING THE TRAMPS' HUTS IN THE WOODS, N.Y. Times, Oct. 13, 1884, p. 5, col. 5.
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Friday, September 05, 2014

Post Card Image of Bartow and City Island Stage Coach With Driver


Stage coaches once provided an important means of transportation in and around the Town of Pelham.   Perhaps the most famous regular stage line within the Town of Pelham was Robert J. Vickery's Stage Line that operated the short distance between City Island and Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line.  Vickery's stage coach met all the trains that stopped at, and departed from, Bartow Station.  

I have written about Robert J. Vickery, his father (William) and Robert J. Vickery's stage line on a number of occasions.  For examples, see: 

Fri., Jul. 25, 2014:  Stage Coach Accident in Pelham in Early 1883.

Fri., Mar. 21, 2014:  Examples of Very Early Merchant Advertisements in the Town of Pelham. 

Wed., Mar. 03, 2010:  1879 Advertisement for Robert J. Vickery's City Island Stage Line, A Predecessor to the City Island Horse Railroad.

Thu., Sep. 24, 2009:  Brief Newspaper Account of the January 1, 1883 Annual Meeting of the Pelham Manor Protective Club (article includes account of an accident involving one of Vickery's stages).

Tue., Jan. 27, 2009: Biography of William Vickery, a 19th Century Resident of City Island in the Town of Pelham.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog reproduces an image of the obverse of an undated post card showing a stage coach of the Bartow and City Island Stage Line pulled by a pair of horses with an unidentified driver on the seat holding the reins. 


"Bartow and City Island Stage Coach Line."
Obverse of Undated Post Card Issued by Artino Post Card Company.

The image is quite fascinating.  There is no explicit indication of precisely where the image was taken.  It is likely that the image shows the stage pulled over to the side of the roadway that forms a part of today's Orchard Beach Road.  There is a partial curb built of various stones along part of the roadway.  There do not appear to be any passengers in the stage which seems to have a rear entrance.  The tail of the white horse is bobbed (a bobtail).  The stage coach is right-driven and there appear to be carriage lights to be lit in the darkness on both sides of the front of the coach.  There are rails on the top of the coach presumably for securing baggage since the coach ran back and forth between Bartow Station and City Island, meeting all trains.  The driver seems to be seated on a blanket or cloth that extends along a portion of the driver's seat.

 Care must be taken in assessing this image.  Although it might seem that this image most likely shows Robert J. Vickery handling the reins on one of his stage coaches that ran between Bartow Station and City Island until about the late 1880's, there is evidence that stage coaches ran after the Vickery Brothers retired by early 1890  The post card itself gives no indication as to who the driver may be or who owned this line.  Although the post card likely was printed between about 1905 and 1915, it is at least possible that the image may be from that time or from an earlier time.  

 A detail from the image reflected on this post card appeared in the following book:  Flood, Allen  & Mullen, Robert, City Island History - Legend and Tradition - Yachting, pp. 42-43 (City Island, NY:  Allen Flood, 1949).  The caption that appears with the detail from the image of the post card in that book indicates that the image shows one of Vickery's stage coaches.  It states:  "Stagecoach once running between Bartow Station and City Island from the 1870's to 1884.  Vickery Brothers were the owners of the coach line."  For reasons stated above, it simply is not certain to this author whether the stage coach shown is one that belonged to Robert J. Vickery.  

 If nothing else, this lovely image shows an important example of a critical means of transportation at an earlier time in the Town of Pelham -- a time when horses ruled the dirt roads and pathways that wound through the region and "mass transit" consisted of horse-drawn stage coaches.

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Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Important Report of the Opening of the Branch Line Through the Manor of Pelham in November 1873



An important development in the transportation history of the Town of Pelham was the opening in 1873 of the so-called Branch Line that included two new train stations in the Town of Pelham:  Bartow Station near City Island along today's Shore Road and Pelham Manor Station that once stood at the end of the Esplanade near today's Manor Circle.

 The Branch Line opened for passenger traffic in November, 1873.  Its opening prompted real estate speculation in the area as well as major efforts to develop new suburban subdivisions that came to be known as Bartow (or, Bartow-on-Sound) and Pelham Manor.

 Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of an article published in 1873 shortly before the opening of the Branch Line.  It provides a fascinating description of the new line as well as references to its expected impact on the value of local real estate.  

Detail from 1881 Map Showing the Path of the Branch
Line Through the Town of Pelham.
Source:  Bromley, G.W., "Town of Pelham, (With)
Pelham-Manor.  From Actual Surveys and Official
Records by G.W. Bromley & Co." in Atlas of Westchester
County, New York, pp. 56-57 (Philadelphia, PA:  G. W.
Bromley & Co., 1881).

 "REAL ESTATE MATTERS.
-----
Near Opening of the Harlem and Portchester Railroad--A.  New Avenue to Westchester County -- Schedule of the Read's Influence -- Current Transactions.

 The principal item of interest in connection with real estate movements, which are at present centred in Westchester county, comes now from the Harlem and Portchester Railroad Company, who make the following representation of their ability to help the value of property: --

 THE LOWER TERMINUS OF THE ROAD

 is on the Westchester side of the Harlem River, a short distance south of Harlem bridge, and opposite the second avenue of this city, where the company has secured a valuable tract of land having a frontage of more than a thousand feet along the river.

 On the margin of the river a substantial dock, nine hundred feet long, has been constructed, and upon it a passenger and freight depot, three hundred feet long and thirty feet wide, has been nearly completed.  Passengers will be able to pass through the depot from the trains to the steamers without exposure.  

 A spacious engine house and car shed have been erected on the premises, and the grounds will soon be covered with tracks for the different passenger and freight trains.  

 It is intended to transfer the freight cars from the road to barges or steamers and thence to other railroads without breaking bulk, thereby saving time and expense.  

 The whole length of the new railroad, from Harlem River to its junction with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad at New Rochelle, is twelve and one-quarter miles, while the distance between the Harlem River and New Rochelle, by the present route, by way of Williamsbridge and Mount Vernon, is twelve and three-quarter miles.

 Both tracks for the new road are laid for the entire length, and the only impediment to the immediate opening of the line is at the bridge across Pelham Bay.  The centre pier will be completed at or before the end of this week, when the draw will be replaced in position, and it is authoritatively announced that the road will certainly be opened for public travel by the 15th of next month.  

 The road has been built in the most thorough and substantial manner with double track, steel rails and broken stone ballast, at a cost of nearly $2,000,000.

 It is probable that commuters on the New Haven Railroad will have an opportunity of using either route to and from the city at a very slight advance on the present rates.  Local fares on the new road will be three cents per mile.  

 Negotiations are now in progress with one of the steamboat lines for the transportation of passengers and freight between the depot of North New York, north side of the Harlem River, and the lower part of the city.

 THE STATIONS.

 The first station above the Harlem River dock will be between 135th and 136th streets, and known as Port Morris station, a distance of one and one-fifth of a mile.

 The second station will be at the intersection of the railroad with Hunt's Point road, one mile and two-thirds above Port Morris station, and will be known as Hunt's Point station.  

 The third station east of the Harlem River will be the town of West Chester, opposite the village of West Farms, one mile and a quarter above Hunt's Point and will be known as West Farms station.  

 The fourth station will be in the village of West Chester, one mile and one-third east of the West Farms depot, and will be known as the West Chester station.  

 The fifth station will be in the town of West Chester, two miles east of the village of that name, and will be known as the Baychester station.

 The sixth station will be in the town of Pelham, opposite City Island road, one mile east of Baychester, and will be known as Bartow station.

 The seventh station east of Harlem River will also be in the town of Pelham, one mile and half above Bartow and two miles below New Rochelle, and will be known as Pelham Manor station.

 The new road will be operated by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, under a lease from the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad Company.  It will be known as the Harlem River Branch of the New Haven Railroad.

 The important announcements for the week now remaining are the sale on Wednesday, by James M. Miller, at the Exchange,, of 100 lots on Washington Heights, known as the Barney Bowers tract.  As a thoughtful investment this is one of the best offerings of the season.

 On Saturday Jere. Johnson, Jr., will hold his closing suburban auction sale at White Plains, when he will offer 200 eligible village lots, finely located on the Tarrytown road, and but five minutes walk from the railroad station.  There will be a free excursion, coliation, music and balloon ascension."

 Source:  REAL ESTATE MATTERS -- Near Opening of the Harlem and Portchester Railroad [The New Haven Branch Line], N.Y. Herald, Oct. 29, 1873, p. 4, col. 5. 


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Monday, January 04, 2010

1888 Local News Account Describes Altercation on the Horse Railroad Running from Bartow Station to City Island


An account of local news published in the May 1, 1888 issue of the Mount Vernon Chronicle included a number of interesting tidbits regarding developments in Pelham including an altercation that occurred on the horse-drawn trolley line that ran from Bartow Station to City Island.  The entire news article is transcribed below.

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND.

Governeur Morris has been confined to his house for the last two months with a severe rheumatic attack.  He is making a hard fight, notwithstanding he has stayed beyond his allotted time.

The New York Yacht Club are trying to secure the William Belden property.  If they succeed, they will move from Staten Island and make this place their headquarters.

It is about time that the question of incorporation was thoroughly agitated.  The feeling in the matter is pretty much all one way, but some one must move.  It will be a step in advance, and ought to be taken at once.

About 1,500 fishermen visited this rural summer resort, on Sunday last.  The Harlem branch is being unusually well patronized.  They may have to add still more trains, in order to accommodate the increasing demand.

Last Friday was lovely enough to be a blizzard precursor, and City Island and Pelham Bay bore evidence of Nature's good humor.  The lovely waters were thickly dotted with little craft, which were not 'floundering' aimlessly.

The school at Pelham Manor, of which Mr. DuMond is principal and Miss Edith Babcock associate, celebrated Arbor Day last Friday afternoon.  Appropriate songs and recitations were nicely rendered.  Short addresses were given by Reverends Higbee, Freeland and Patterson.  A fine maple tree was planted in the yard, the children conducting the ceremonies.  The children were much affected as this was the last day that their respected and beloved teacher, Miss Edith Babcock was to be with them, she having resigned her position there to take a place among the corps of teachers of the 5th avenue school Mount Vernon.

The great social event announced to come off on July 8, will be the recurring excursion of the Social Club.  The particulars will be fully made known in the near future.  A treat is in store for our Island neighbors, and their many friends in the surrounding towns.

Within the last week two weddings have been celebrated at City Island, viz., Wm Daton to Maria Ulmer, ceremony at the brides [sic] house, and Rochelle Horton to Ollie Sturges, Episcopal Rectory.

We are sorry to have to record the sad announcement of the death of Agnes Pell, daughter of Samuel Pell.  The deceased was a sister of Pelham's poplular Supervisor, and will be mourned by a large circle of friends.

There was considerable excitement stirred up at Bartow and City Island on Wednesday last, that has not altogether died out yet.  A party of about thirty car drivers came up from Harlem, to fish at City Island.  They boarded the horse car at Bartow.  In enforcing the rule lately adopted on the surface road, to collect fares before starting.  Baxter, the driver, claimed that several had not paid their fares and he refused to go on until they should do so.  Schneider, a Christopher street car driver, became impatient, threw Baxter off the car and took the reins himself.  Baxter was thrown off a second time.  He finally caught on behind, rode over to the Island and had Schneider arrested, the charge being for want of a better or worse, the detention of the U.S. mails.  He was permitted to go on the understanding that he would appear and stand trial.  He skipped in the meantime, but was afterward arrsested in New York city and brought back to the Island for trial."

Source:  Pelham and City Island, Mount Vernon Chronicle, May 1, 1888, p. ?, col. 3 (page number not printed on the newspaper page).

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Friday, January 01, 2010

1886 Dynamite Explosion in Baychester Kills Four and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham


I have previously written about a massive explosion that occurred on April 5, 1890 at a dynamite works in Baychester that killed two workers and shook the countryside.  See Thursday, October 22, 2009:  Dynamite Explosion in 1890 Breaks Windows and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham. 

It seems that the massive explosion was not the first at the dynamite works.  Another such explosion occurred four years before that when two squirrel hunters were told to leave the area and, in a huff, fired a shot into the works causing a massive explosion that killed four men.  It turns out that only a short time before that sad even, another explosion had occurred at the establishment.  The article below describes the event.

"BLOWN TO FRAGMENTS.
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Four Victims of a Tremendous Explosion at Baychester.
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Pieces of Charred Bodies Gathered in a Heap -- The Terrible Effect of an Angry Sportsman's Shot -- Heavy Damage to the Ditmer Dynamite Works.
----

NEW YORK, Sept. 30.--It is reported that the dynamite works at Baychester blew up this morning and that several persons were killed.  Baychester is on the Harlem railroad, eight miles from New York.

FOUR MEN KILLED.

BARTOW, Sept. 30.--A terrific explosion occurred at the Ditmer powder works at Baychester, on the Harlem river branch of the New York and New Haven railroad, about 10 o'clock this morning, resulting in the instantaneous death of four men who were employed in the factory.  The explosion occurred in the packing house, a one-story frame building 20 by 30 feet in the centre of the grounds, and about 200, yards from the main factory, a large building near the water where the bulk of the giant powder and nitro-glycerine used in the new aqueduct works is manufactured.  The men were hard at work putting up and packing cartridges when suddenly the explosion occurred, shattering the building to splinters and blowing four men to fragments.  The exploding powder, of which there was a large quantity, shot up in the air as high as 50 feet and splinters of the building were blown a great distance.  The names of the men were Ernest Dralen, John Rusch, Max Shafbolt and Reinhart.  Nothing was left of them except fragments of their bodies.  Hands, legs, feet, arms, pieces of skulls, backbone and charred bits of flesh were scattered in every direction from 500 to 600 feet from the packing house.  Max Cruger, foreman of the works, says the explosion was caused by two fellows shooting into the building.  He was in the packing house and going out found two fellows who said they were shooting squirrels.  He says he threatened them with arrest and they became impudent.  As the explosion occurred the fellows were seen hurrying away.  H. R. Stansfield, superintendent of the Thorite powder company, near by, picked up a boxful of fragments of dead men and others assisted in the work and the remains were all put in a heap to await the action of the coroner.  One man had a family in Germany and the others were said to be single.

THE EXPLOSION'S MIGHTY FORCE.

The main factory of the Ditmer works was nearly wrecked, one end being blown to pieces, exposing the interior.  After the explosion the lower timbers of the building took fire and burned fiercely.  A large tree near by was torn up by the roots and branches of other trees were blown away.  The ground for half a mile was strewn with fragments of the dead, splinters, packing paper, etc.  The violence of the explosion shook the houses in Bartow, across the creek from Baychester.  Many windows in Elliott's hotel at Pelham Bridge, over a mile away, were shattered.  Ditmore's blacksmith shop at Westchester shook like straw in the wind and the windows in many houses in the same village were shattered.  This is the second explosion that has occurred in these works this year, the one last winter blowing a man to fragments.  The window sashes and doors in the railroad station at Baychester, not far from the powder works, were blown to gragments and the windows in other houses were damaged, but happily no one was hurt.

FELT IN NYACK.

NYACK, Sept. 30.--Just about 10 o'clock this morning a heavy shock resembling an earthquake startled the people here.  The shock is supposed to have been caused by a heavy explosion of dynamite somwhere."

Source:  Blown to Fragments, Albany Evening Journal, Vol. 57, No. 61,676, Sep. 30, 1886, p. 1, col. 4.

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