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.

Thursday, August 04, 2016

Research Reveals Earliest Reference Yet to Football Played in Pelham


The Town of Pelham long has been a sports-crazy town.  From its hockey and baseball, to its football, soccer, basketball, tennis, rowing, swimming and, yes, even diving (among many other sports), Pelham residents long have devoted amazing amounts of time, money, and effort to sports of every type.  Chief among the crown jewels of Pelham sports have been the many world-class athletes of the New York Athletic Club who have trained and competed on the club's grounds on Travers Island in Pelham Manor during the last 125 years.

 No history of Pelham would be complete without considering the evolution of sports and recreation in our region and its impact on the development of our town.  Among such notable sports is football.  As with baseball, I have tried to document early instances of football games played in Pelham.  Until now, the earliest game I have been able to document was played on Thanksgiving afternoon in 1894.  To learn more about early football in Pelham, see:

 Wed., Dec. 02, 2015:  Earliest Football Games Played in Pelham.

 Thu., May 08, 2014:  Thanksgiving Day Football Game in 1895 Between Pelham Manor and Mount Vernon Teams.

 Today's evidence of football played in Pelham admittedly is based on a brief, passing reference.  Yet, it provides evidence that football was being played recreationally in our Town as early as 1877, albeit merely at the equivalent of a company picnic on City Island!

 On Wednesday, September 26, 1877, about one hundred people associated with the "Wm. Cook Association" of the Eleventh Ward in New York City traveled to the Minnieford Shore House on City Island for a large social gathering.  Research has not yet revealed the nature of the organization referenced as "Wm. Cook Association," although the reference to its being from the "Eleventh Ward" suggests it may have been a political organization.  (The Eleventh Ward was a 19th century Manhattan political district covering much of today's Lower East Side.)  A man named William Cook was involved in New York City politics and was paid by the city for "fitting up" polling booths in the Eleventh Ward at about this time.

 I have written before about the Minnieford Shore House run by Charles McClennon where the football games were played.  It was located at the steam boat landing on City Island before.  See:

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

  Thu., Feb. 11, 2016:  Was a City Island Hotel Keeper Among the First to Learn of the Great Oyster Bed Discovered in 1859?

 During the gathering on Wednesday, September 26, 1877, according to a brief newspaper reference quoted in full below,  "[a]mong the diversions employed to while away the time" were "baseball, football matches, boat races, foot races, etc."  (See below.)

 Thus, it seems, football was being played on City Island in the Town of Pelham as early as 1877.  Of course, the rules of football were still developing in 1877.  The year before, the American Intercollegiate Football Association had been created in Springfield, Massachusetts.  The Association adopted rules that were a modified version of Rugby Union Rules.  In 1877, when the "football matches" were played near the Minnieford Shore House on City Island, teams consisted of fifteen players with nine on the so-called "rush line," a quarterback, two halfbacks, a "1 three-quarter back" and two fullbacks.  Games where ninety minutes long.  Players wore no helmets and uniforms were archaic by today's standards.    

 The sport of football, in short, was developing.  There were only eight college football teams in 1877.  According to the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book, there was no clear national collegiate champion team that year with both Yale and Princeton selected as national champions.  That year there was a major dispute over whether the Intercollegiate Football Association rules should be amended to reduce the number of players per team on the field from fifteen to eleven.  Only a couple of years before the rules had been changed to reduce the number of players on the field per team from twenty five to fifteen.

 One thing is certain, however.  By 1877 enough excitement regarding the young sport of football had developed in the New York City region so that young men from New York City gathered on City Island in the Town of Pelham to play football matches.

Engraving Depicting a Late 19th Century Football
Game. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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 Below is the text of the brief newspaper references to football matches played on City Island in the Town of Pelham on September 26, 1877.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

 "City Island.

 The Wm. Cook Association from the Eleventh Ward, New York City, about 100 strong, visited McClennon's Minneford Shore House [sic; the business was named "Minnieford Shore House"], last Wednesday, and had a jolly good time.  Among the diversions employed to while away the time were baseball, football matches, boat races, foot races, etc.

 Messrs. Liming & Co. of the City Island Hotel, have just fitted up a very neat and tasty ladies' and gents' oyster and dining room adjoining the barroom of the hotel.

The yacht Ambassadress, which was so successively [sic] launched on Saturday last, was towed from Carll's ship yard to New York on Wednesday last.

 Get your rods and reels ready, bass are beginning to bite and Flynn can furnish you with bait."

 Source:  City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Sep. 28, 1877, Vol. IX, No. 419, p. 1, col. 6.  

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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Was a City Island Hotel Keeper Among the First to Learn of the Great Oyster Bed Discovered in 1859?


The discovery was monumental.  It was compared to the discovery of gold that led to the famous goldmines of Pike's Peak in the west.  It led to a mad rush of people from Rhode Island to Connecticut hoping to get rich quick in the waters between City Island and Huntington, Long Island.  The mad rush has been described as one that rivaled "the Oklahoma Land Run thirty years later when an estimated 50,000 people lined up at high noon on April 22, 1889 competing for their piece of the available two million acres of Federal lands."  

 The discovery involved a massive bed of ancient oysters in the waters of Huntington Bay.  It was described in the press as "AN INEXHAUSTIBLE PLACER OF BIVALVES."  The oystermen of City Island were among the first to "mine" the placer.  The oyster bed was so massive and valuable that, tradition says, its discovery and harvesting in 1859 played a role in a massive and violent "oyster war" between the region's oystermen ten years later in 1869.  

 There is no doubt that the discovery of the massive oyster bed was a monumental discovery that, eventually, made many oystermen wealthy including City Island oystermen.  Only a few months after word of the discovery leaked out, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported:

 "about three-quarters of a million dollars' worth of oysters [NOTE:  Roughly $29,164,000 in 2016 dollars] have been taken without any visible difference in the seemingly inexhaustible beds.  The oysters are nearly all above medium size, and many are very large -- fully up to those often exhibited in oyster saloon windows.  The flavor is equal to any oyster before planting, and they only want a few weeks with fresh water to be equal, if not superior, to any sold in the market."

 There are, however, a number of different and competing accounts detailing how the giant oyster bed was discovered.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham blog details two newly-discovered accounts contained in the same article published in 1859 describing how the bed was discovered.

 I have written before about the discovery of the "Great Oyster Bed" in Long Island Sound in 1859.  See, e.g.:  

 Thu., Mar. 25, 2010:  Discovery of "The Great Oyster Bed" in Long Island Sound in 1859.

 Thu., Mar. 18, 2010: 1859 Town of Huntington Record Reflecting Dispute with City Island Oystermen.

 Fri., Jul. 27, 2007:  Possible Origins of the Oyster Feud Between City Islanders and Huntington, Long Island. 

 Thu., Jul. 26, 2007:  Pelham's City Island Oystermen Feud with Long Islanders in 1869.

 The account transcribed today claims that a well-known City Islander learned of the existence and location of the giant oyster bed in a most unusual way about a year earlier and kept the secret while he quietly harvested oysters to his heart's content.  In 1859, five fishermen from Darien, Connecticut accidentally stumbled onto the bed and agreed to keep it secret.  Unlike the City Islander, however, they could not keep the secret and the mad rush began.

 According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in 1858, a steam engine propeller ship sank near Eaton's Neck near Huntington Bay.  In connection with salvage efforts, the owners of the ship hired a diver to inspect the wreck below and report on the results.  When the diver reached the floor of the Sound where the wreck had settled, he found himself and the wreck on an immense "foundation" of live oysters.  He returned to the surface and reported what he had discovered to Charles McClennon of City Island.

 Charles McClennon was a well-known proprietor of an important hotel on City Island who later operated The Minnieford Shore House, an early hotel and service establishment located at the steam boat landing on City Island where it could conveniently serve excursionists and visitors from New York City and the surrounding region.  (McClennon was not an oysterman himself.  However, he was known to engage in efforts to collect oysters for his restaurant business so he would not have to pay what he considered to be high prices charged by local oystermen.  See Mon., Dec. 01, 2014:  Jury Finds City Island Oystermen Guilty of Stealing Oysters from Planted Bed in 1878.  

 According to the account, McClennon "kept the information to himself for some time, while availing himself of the knowledge" for about a year.  Then, about a year later in September 1859, five fishermen from Darien, Connecticut were fishing near Eaton's Neck.  They found themselves drifting too far from shore and tossed an oyster dredge into the water as a temporary anchor.  When ready to weigh anchor, they began to pull up the dredge only to discover it was heavy -- laden with about two bushels of large oysters.  They repeated the process and filled the dredge again.  They had discovered McClennon's "Great Oyster Bed" and understood its value.  The five men agreed to keep the secret.

 Unlike McClennon, however, the five fishermen could not resist telling their fishing tale.  Soon word of the discovery leaked.  Within mere days, oystermen flooded into the area and newspapers along the northeastern seaboard were reporting the discovery.  The "Great Oyster Rush" of 1859 had begun.  Soon, the supposedly "inexhaustible" supply of oysters was exhausted and City Islander hotelier Charles McClennon had to find a new source of oysters. . . . . 

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 Transcribed below is the text of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle article asserting that Charles McClennon availed himself of oysters in the Great Oyster Bed in Huntington Bay beginning about a year before its existence became generally known.  The text is followed by a citation and link to its source.

 "A GREAT OYSTER DISCOVERY. -- AN INEXHAUSTIBLE PLACER OF BIVALVES ON LONG ISLAND SHORE. -- A discovery almost equal in importance to the Pike's Peak gold mines, has been made in Huntington Bay, L.I., of an immense bed of oysters, at least, five miles long, and capable of furnishing an inexhaustible supply of the much relished bivalves, which have shared the distinguished consideration of Governor Wise.  The people of Northport, and of Fire Island, being severely addicted to oyster dredging, have in former times waged terrible war on each other, for encroaching on their respective territories.  The Fire Islanders, with a commendable desire to be independent of their neighbors for a better supply of oysters, planted seed-beds, and were duly rewarded by a plentiful crop.  But it seems that bivalves, like bipeds, are of an emigrating turn, and starting with a favorable tide, they floated off to 'Long Island's sea girt shore,' into Huntington Bay, and west of Eaton's Neck Reef they found an oyster paradise, a fine cobble stone bottom, and sheltered from the rude elements.  Here the pilgrim fathers of the tribe, the bearded ancestors of the new-formed colony, settled and prospered, increased, multiplied and replenished the waters. -- Like Rasselas, in his happy valley, shut out from the envious world, generation after generation were born to blush unseen, until the bed expanded to proportions quite gigantic, and the 'natives' grew in size and vigor, to rival the offspring of the Virginia femdum.  But in the course of human events, or oyster events, the bed was discovered.  America had its Columbus, the principle of gravitation couldn't escape Newton, and Meriam has unveiled the Aurora Borealis.  About a year ago, a propeller, unable to keep itself above water, selected Eaton's Neck as an eligible point to sink at.  The owners of the propeller sent a diver down after it to see how things stood.  The diver found himself on a foundation of oysters, and when he came to the surface again, reported the fact.  He told Charles McClennon, proprietor of the City Island Hotel, who kept the information to himself for some time, while availing himself of the knowledge, but at last the secret came out.  About two weeks since, five fishermen from Darien, Conn., while fishing off Eaton's Neck, finding themselves drifting out too far, dropped overboard their oyster dredge for an anchor.  When they undertook to weigh anchor, they found it weighed more than expected, and required an expenditure of muscular effort to get it on board.  To their astonishment, they found they had caught about two bushels of large oysters.  They tried again, and weighed anchor once more, with a similar result.  The five lucky men tried tried to keep the secret but couldn't.  It leaked out, and now everybody knows that oysters are in abundance, inlimitable oysters, are to be found in Huntington Bay.  People from Long Island, Connecticut, New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Jersey, and other adjacent territories, who can command a scow, and an oyster dredge, are flocking to the bay, and come home laden with the spoils.  It is computed that already about three-quarters of a million dollars' worthy of oysters have been taken without any visible difference in the seemingly inexhaustible beds.  The oysters are nearly all above medium size, and many are very large -- fully up to those often exhibited in oyster saloon windows.  The flavor is equal to any oyster before planting, and they only want a few weeks with fresh water to be equal, if not superior, to any sold in the market."

 Source:  A GREAT OYSTER DISCOVERY -- AN INEXHAUSTIBLE PLACER OF BIVALVES ON LONG ISLAND SHORE, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 1, 1859, p. 2, col. 2 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via link).  

Oystermen Dredging in Long Island Sound in 1883.
Source: Harpers Weekly, Aug. 18, 1883.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

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 The oystering industry was, for decades, a critically-important economic activity in the Town of Pelham.  Many residents of City Island made their living from the industry or ran businesses that catered to the oystermen.  Accordingly, I have written about Pelham oystering on many, many occasions.  See, e.g.:

 Wed., Jun. 24, 2015:  The 1895 Oyster War Involving City Island Oystermen - Part I.

 Thu., Jun. 25, 2015:  The 1895 Oyster War Involving City Island Oystermen - Part II.

















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Monday, December 01, 2014

Jury Finds City Island Oystermen Guilty of Stealing Oysters from Planted Bed in 1878


Oystering was the earliest successful industry in the Town of Pelham.  Indeed, the local history of that industry, centered around City Island in Long Island Sound, extends back to at least the late 18th century with substantial efforts to grow the industry beginning in about the 1830's.  

 With the rise of oyster planting techniques and as oystering grew more and more lucrative for more and more City Islanders, local oystermen grew more and more insular and protective of their planting grounds.  Oyster wars involving Pelham oystermen broke out repeatedly including in 1869, 1877, 1878, 1884, and 1895.  

 In 1878, some City Island oystermen resorted to the courts to resolve an epic oyster battle.  It seems that in September, 1877, a local City Islander named Charles McClennon decided he wanted to break expand into the insular oystering business. He hired a local pro -- Joshua Leviness of City Island -- to help him plant a massive oyster bed in the waters of City Island.

 The law at the time distinguished between "planted" oyster beds created by planting live oysters and their spawn on barren underwater land and "natural" oyster beds where oysters grew on their own with artificial planting.  Planted beds typically were staked off by their owners and could be harvested only by them.  Natural oyster beds were considered a public resource and could be harvested by anyone.  According to the law at the time, if an oysterman planted oysters on a natural bed, he gave up his property rights to the planted oysters and the natural bed could still be harvested by anyone.  

 Ambiguity arose, of course, when a natural oyster bed was exhausted and oysters no longer could grow on their own in that area.  If someone came along and planted oysters on the exhausted bed, conflict was almost inevitable.  The planter inevitably would consider the bed his own.  All others inevitably would consider the bed natural and fair game for all.  Therein lies the basis for the dispute involving City Islander Charles McClennon who hired Joshua Leviness to plant hundreds of bushels of live oysters in City Island waters in 1877.

 There were a few undisputed facts.  In September, 1877, Joshua Leviness planted several hundred bushels of live oysters in waters off City Island and staked off the waters on behalf of Charles McClennon.  The same month, "a number of City Island oystermen" entered McClennon's staked-off bed and "removed several hundred bushels of oysters."  McClennon and his supporters claimed that the insular fraternity of City Island oystermen were determined to exclude any new entrant.  They claimed that the established oystermen would not tolerate the creation of any new plantings and, thus, entered the properly-planted grounds and stole the several hundred bushels of live oysters planted by Leviness on behalf of Charles McClennon.  

 McClennon was incensed.  He brought charges against three of the City Island oystermen.  A grand jury was empaneled. It returned an indictment under a statute making it a misdemeanor to remove oysters from a lawfully-planted bed.  

 There was a fascinating back story to this entire dispute that one simply cannot derive from reading the accounts of the grand jury proceeding or the trial that followed.  Charles McClennon was NOT trying to become a local oysterman.  Rather, Charles McClennon was a local hotel proprietor and restauranteur who simply wanted to grow his own oysters to serve his patrons without paying City Island oystermen prices.  McClennon owned and operated The Minnieford Shore House, an early hotel and service establishment located at the steam boat landing on City Island where it could conveniently serve excursionists and visitors from New York City and the surrounding region.  It was one of the few businesses located on City Island in the Town of Pelham during the late 1870's and early 1880's.  Robert Bolton, Jr. mentioned the establishment in the second edition of his History of Westchester County published in 1881.  

 McClennon had several hundred bushels of oysters planted around the dock that served his establishment.  According to one account at the time:

 "Stephen and Morris Leviness, Eugene Williams and Samuel Billar took oysters from the grounds above referred to, Mr. McClennon brought an action against the parties named, and the case is to come off at White Plains on the 11th inst.  We understand the defendants claim that the ground was a natural oyster bed, and if Mr. McClennon planted on it while the natural oysters were there, it was no fault of their's [sic], and he must therefore be the loser."  [Citation:  City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Vol. IX, No. 472, Oct. 4, 1878, p. 2, col. 5.]

 The trial that followed attracted attention far and wide.  It resulted in an "important decision."  Yet, the jury that heard the case took only fifteen minutes to return its verdict.  That verdict is revealed in the article below that appeared in the December 5, 1878 issue of The Port Chester Journal.  

 "The City Island Oyster Case -- Important Decision.
-----

 An exchange says:  'The oyster case, of great importance to oystermen and other citizens of this State, was tried at Whites Plains, Monday last.  The question involved was, what constitutes a natural oyster bed and when can private persons acquire a right to oyster grounds to the exclusion of the public.  In September, 1877, Charles McClennon, of City Island, planted several hundred bushels of oysters on a large tract of land beneath the water at City Island; and at the time staked off the ground to indicate that it was planted.  The law is that if there are any natural oysters growing spontaneously on the ground, no private individual can acquire title to it, and if he mingles his private property with them by planting they all become private property and any citizen can remove them.

 Last September, a number of City Island oystermen went on the grounds referred to, and removed several hundred bushels of oysters, claiming it was a natural oyster ground, that natural oysters had grown upon it for years.  That Mr. McClennon appeared before the grand jury and procured an indictment against three of the men who had removed oysters from his beds, the law ranking it a misdemeanor to remove oysters lawfully planted.  Joshua Leviness testified on behalf of the prosecution that he searched the ground for natural oysters before planting any upon it for Mr. McClennon, and that he found none.  A colored man named Scarboro testified to the same effect.  The defense called about eighteen of the oldest oystermen in Pelham, and they each testified that they knew the grounds for from twenty to fifty years, and that it was always regarded as a natural oyster bed.

 P. L. McClellon, Esq., on behalf of the defendants, argued that it had been incontestably proven that the ground was a natural bed, and therefore common to all the inhabitants.  Martin J. Keogh, Esq., on behalf of the prosecution, contended that conceding that this ground was once a natural bed, if there were no oysters growing spontaneously upon it 'all the time' (in the words of the statute) when Mr. McClennon planted and staked it off, it became his against the world.  Counsel urged the jury to find the defendant's [sic] guilty and it would scatter a combination which oystermen had formed to exclude all outsiders from enjoying the privileges which the State has guaranteed to all citizens who make prolific the barren land beneath the water.

 The jury, after fifteen minutes' deliberation, pronounced the prisoners guilty.  Hon. Nelson H. Baker and Martin J. Keogh appeared for the prosecution and P. L. McClellon for the defence.'"

 Source:  The City Island Oyster Case -- Important Decision, The Port Chester Journal [Port Chester, NY], Dec. 5, 1878, Vol. XI, No. 524, p. 2, col. 1.

Oystermen Dredging in Long Island Sound in 1883.
Source:  Harpers Weekly, Aug. 18, 1883.

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Below are links to more stories about Pelham's rich oystering traditions.
















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Friday, March 21, 2014

Examples of Very Early Merchant Advertisements in the Town of Pelham


The Town of Pelham is lucky to have had so much attention devoted to its history by so many dedicated historians for the last 166 years.  One area that, quite unsurprisingly, has been ignored relates to the records of very early businesses that began to arise as the Town's population expanded during the mid-19th century.  

 Today's Historic Pelham Blog Posting includes multiple images of newspaper advertisements for businesses within the Town of Pelham during the late 1870's as well as transcriptions of the text reflected within such images to facilitate search.  


Source:  New Advertisements, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon],
Aug. 16, 1878, p. 3, col. 3.


 The above advertisement reads as follows:

 "New Advertisements.
-----
Grand View Hotel, 
PELHAM BRIDGE.
-----

 THIS comfortable and delightfully located SUMMER HOTEL IS NOW OPEN for the season. The view of the Sound and Pelham Bay is unsurpassed and the facilities for Boating, Fishing, Yachting and Riding are unequaled.

 PICNIC PARTIES and EXCURSIONISTS accommodated at the shortest notice.  Boats kept constantly on hand.

 Terms for Regular Boarders very moderate.

 Adress D. BLIZZARD, Bartow Station, Westchester Co., N.Y."

 The Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge was more widely known as "Blizzard's."  The hotel was, in fact, extremely popular with excursionists and fishermen for many years.  It was located on the east bank of Eastchester Creek near today's Pelham Bridge.  The area was part of the Town of Pelham until it was annexed by New York City during the mid-1890's.  

Source:  ROBERT VICKERY'S STAGE LINE, The Chronicle
[Mount Vernon, NY], May 25, 1877, p. 4, col. 3.

The above advertisement reads as follows:

 "ROBERT VICKERY'S
STAGE LINE
Between
CITY ISLAND AND BARTOW STATION
Trips made to and from every train.  Parcels deliv-
ered with care and dispatch."

 Robert J. Vickery provided the first "public" transportation on City Island in the Town of Pelham when he opened a stage coach line in 1873.  At that time, before the so-called "Branch Line" with its "Bartow Station" opened, Vickery ran the coach from City Island to the Mount Vernon station on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad line.  After Bartow Station opened to serve the tiny community of Bartow and the nearby population center of Pelham on City Island, Vickery ran the stage coach from Bartow Station to City Island.  The stage coach met all trains stopping at Bartow Station and its fare was five cents.

Source:  Minnieford Shore House, CITY ISLAND,
The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 16, 1878, p. 3, col. 2.


 The above advertisement reads as follows:

"Minnieford Shore House,
CITY ISLAND.
-----
Clam Bake and Chowder Parties
Accommodated at Short Notice.

 GOOD DANCING PLATFORM, 25 x 100.

 Rhode Island Clam Bakes a specialty, by a new process, gotten up at the shortest notice, on very libera[l] terms.  Fish, Clams and Oysters in every style.

 Good Boating, Fishing and Bathing.

 Rhode Island Clam Bakes every Sunday.  Good Shore Dinner for 75 Cents.

 Communication Sundays by Steamers J.H. Schuyler and Seawanhaka from New York - see advertisement in Herald.  Steamboats from Fulton Market Slip 8 times a day, via Harlem River Branch to Bartow Station.

 Address,

 CHAS. McCLENNON, 

 City Island, Westchester Co., N.Y."

 The Minnieford Shore House was an early hotel and service establishment owned by Charles McClennon and located at the steam boat landing on City Island where it could conveniently serve excursionists and visitors from New York City and the surrounding region.  It was one of the few businesses located on City Island in the Town of Pelham during the late 1870's and early 1880's.  Robert Bolton, Jr. mentioned the establishment in the second edition of his History of Westchester County published in 1881, shortly after his death.  The reference said:

 "Upon the island [i.e., City Island] are five stores, three blacksmiths, small town house for Justice's Courts, and three hotels, viz:  Cunningham Villa, kept by Mr. Cunningham; City Island Hotel, kept by Capt. Joshua Leviness, and the Minnieford Shore House, by Charles McClennon, at the steam boat landing, well known for its clam bakes and refreshments.  Boats, tackling, &c., can be easily obtained at Captain C.H. Stringham's or Philip Flynn's, two well known fishermen.  Three lines of stages are in constant service running to and from the island to the Harlem River Railroad, a distance of only two miles."

 Source:  Bolton, Jr., Robert, The History of The Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement to the Present Time Carefully Revised by Its Author, Vol. II, p. 83 (NY, NY:  Chas. F. Roper, 1881) (edited by C. W. Bolton).  

Source:  ODELL's, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY],
May 25, 1877, p. 3, col. 1.

 The above advertisement reads as follows:

 "ODELL'S 
LADIES' AND GENTS' LUNCH ROOM
AND RESTAURANT,
Directly opposite the Dept, at BARTOW
STATION.

 Oysters and Clams, Clam Bakes, Cold Cuts, Pies, Cakes, Fine Confectionery and Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Chocolate, etc.

 IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC SEGARS [Cigars] & TOBACCO
PIC-NIC PARTIES SUPPLED."

 ODELL's was a tiny restaurant and business located only steps away from Bartow Station on the Branch Line.  It was strategically placed to attract excursionists as they got off the Branch Line trains headed for City Island.  It was located in the extraordinarily tiny settlement known variously as Bartow, Bartow-on-the-Sound, and Bartow Station.  It catered principally to a hungry summer crowd of vacationers, day-trippers and excursionists who needed snacks for their visits to City Island.


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