Sale of The Pelham Horse Railroad in 1900

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It was a sleepy one-track horse railroad -- Pelham's first.  Beginning in the 1880s, it ran in two sections from Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line down City Island Road to Marshall's Corners near the beginning of City Island Bridge, then across the bridge to Belden's Point at the end of City Island.  Some called it a trolley.  It really was just a dilapidated trolley car pulled along on tracks by a pair of horses.  Yet, at the turn of the 20th century, the sleepy little horse railroad found itself in the eye of a business hurricane.

At the turn of the 20th century, two trolley companies were in a brutal corporate battle to be the first to acquire small trolley franchises throughout the region and connect their trolley tracks to permit travel by trolley from The Bronx to the Connecticut border roughly parallel to the New Haven railroad lines.  The New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company (also known as the "Traction Company" and the "P. H. Flynn Syndicate") was in a race against the Union Railway (also known as the "Huckleberry Railway").

Both companies were taking over and consolidating small trolley franchises and horse-drawn railroads along the coast.  Early in 1900, the Union Railway reportedly paid half a million dollars for the Tarrytown and Mamaroneck trolley line only to discover that the P. H. Flynn Syndicate had made strategic acquisitions in Larchmont and "other points" to block the ability of the Union Railway to connect its main trolley lines along the coast with its new acquisition.

The P. H. Flynn Syndicate then made its next strategic move.  The Pelham Horse Railroad was the only railway line that ran within Pelham Bay Park.  Moreover, it was the only line in that region that ran all the way to Long Island Sound.  The line pre-dated the final assemblage of the parcels that comprised Pelham Bay Park (and the annexation of the park lands by New York City).  Thus, it was permitted to continue to operate, though no further railways were permitted within the park.  

In January, 1900, newspapers began reporting breathlessly that the owners of the Pelham Horse Railroad were in talks with the P. H. Flynn Syndicate to sell a majority of their stock in the sleepy little railroad to give the syndicate control of the only railway in The Bronx that ran all the way to Long Island Sound.

The Pelham Horse Railroad was controlled by majority owner Judge Henry DeWitt Carey of City Island.  He was a colorful entrepreneurial character and a long-time, respected resident of City Island.  I have written before about him and his son of the same name who became a famous actor in Cowboy Westerns.  See, e.g.:

Mon., May 28, 2007:  Brief Biography of Henry DeWitt Carey, 19th Century Pelham Justice of the Peace.

Mon., Jun. 02, 2014:  Henry DeWitt Carey Of City Island in the Town of Pelham.

Wed., Jul. 01, 2015:  Western Actor Harry Carey of Pelham, Born Henry DeWitt Carey, Recalls His Boyhood Days in Pelham.

Tue., Mar. 28, 2017:  More on Famed Western Film Actor Harry Carey, Who Grew Up in Pelham.  

Rumors began circulating in January, 1900 that Henry DeWitt Carey was negotiating with a Mount Vernon attorney named William J. Marshall who represented the P. H. Flynn Syndicate to sell his majority stake in the Pelham Horse Railroad for $140,000 (about $4.75 million in today's dollars).  Newspapers further reported that the Flynn Syndicate made a deposit of $10,000 with Carey (and other stockholders) "as an evidence of good faith" as the negotiations proceeded.  

According to news reports, the P. H. Flynn Syndicate planned to "equip the line with electricity at once, and then build lines on its other franchises in the Borough of The Bronx, Pelham, Mount Vernon and New-Rochelle" as part of its plan to cover the entire Westchester and Bronx coastal regions with a lattice-work of trolley lines to serve New Yorkers.  

Finally on February 15, 1900, a local newspaper reported that the sale had been completed.  It said:

"The Bartow and City Island horse car line, owned by ex Judge Carey and others, has been purchased by the Westchester and Connecticut Traction Co.  The price paid was $140,000.  This is considered a great defeat for the Union Company.  The horse cars will be supplanted by modern electrical equipment as soon as Contractor O'Rourk completes the new bridge, now building at City Island.  The line will be extended to Mount Vernon and New Rochelle."

1910 Postcard View of the "CITY ISLAND HORSE CAR.  CITY ISLAND,

N. Y."  Source:  From the Author's Collection.  NOTE:  Click on Image

to Enlarge.

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"AFTER CITY ISLAND FRANCHISE.
-----
THE FLYNN SYNDICATE ABOUT TO PURCHASE THE PELHAM RAILROAD.

Negotiations are pending and it is expected will be completed to-day for the purchase of the Pelham Railroad Company in the Borough of The Bronx by the New-York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, known as the P. H. Flynn syndicate.  The Pelham Railroad extends from the Bartow Station of the suburban branch of the New-Haven Railroad to Belden's Point, on the extreme end of City Island, a distance of about two miles.  Although it is only a single track horsecar line, with two antiquated cars which are run at irregular intervals, the franchise is regarded as one of the most valuable in The Bronx, as it is the only road which can run through Pelham Bay Park and thus reach City Island and Long Island Sound.

It is said that the traction company has arranged to purchase the majority of the stock, which is held by ex-Judge H. D. Carey, of City Island, at $140,000.  William J. Marshall, Corporation Counsel of Mount Vernon, who represents the Flynn syndicate in the transaction, is said to have made a deposit of $10,000 on Wednesday with Judge Carey and the stockholders, as an evidence of good faith.  Mr. Marshall was not at his office last night, and his assistant said that he had gone to New-York to complete the deal.  It is said that the traction company will equip the line with electricity at once, and then build lines on its other franchises in the Borough of The Bronx, Pelham, Mount Vernon and New-Rochelle.

By the acquisition of the City Island road the Flynn syndicate has stolen a march on its rival, the Union or 'Huckleberry' Railway, and the latter will not be able to reach Long Island Sound at any advantageous point in the Borough of The Bronx.

It is said that in some manner the New-Haven Railroad is interested in the New-York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, and also in the Port Chester Street Railroad and the Larchmont Horse Railroad.  These three companies now practically parallel the New-Haven lines from the Connecticut boundary line at Port Chester to the Harlem River."

Source:  AFTER CITY ISLAND FRANCHISE -- THE FLYNN SYNDICATE ABOUT TO PURCHASE THE PELHAM RAILROAD, New-York Tribune, Jan. 26, 1900, p. 12, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

"To Buy City Island Railroad.

Negotiations, it is expected, will be completed, to-day, for the purchase of the Pelham Railroad Company in the Borough of The Bronx, by the New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, known as the P. H. Flynn Syndicate.

The Pelham Railroad extends from the Bartow Station of the suburban branch of the New Haven Railroad to Belden's Point, on the extreme end of City Island, a distance of about two miles.  Although it is only a single track horsecar line, with two antiquated cars which are fun at irregular intervals, the franchise is regarded as one of the most valuable in The Bronx, as it is the only road which can run through Pelham Bay Park and thus reach City Island and Long Island Sound.

By the acquisition of the City Island road the Flynn Syndicate, it is said, has stolen a march on its rival, the Union Railway."

Source:  To Buy City Island Railroad, The Yonkers Statesman [Yonkers, NY], Jan. 26, 1900, Vol. XVII, No. 4,967, p. 2, col. 3.  

"TROLLEY LINE NOW BETWEEN CITY ISLAND AND MOUNT VERNON
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Flynn Syndicate Steals March on Rival and Gets Line Through Pelham Bay Park.
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(BY TELEGRAPH TO THE EVENING TELEGRAM.)

MOUNT VERNON, N. Y., Friday. -- The New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, better known as the P. H. Flynn syndicate, and which has been working to get a foothold in Westchester County, has stolen another march on its rival, the Union Railroad Company, and purchased the Pelham Railway, a horse car line two miles long, which operates between the Bartow station on the Harlem River branch of the New Haven Railroad, and Belden's Point on City Island.

For this franchise the Flynn syndicate is to pay $14,000 [sic].  The Pelham company held the only franchise through the Pelham Bay Park, and it is anticipated that the syndicate will immediately abolish the horse car line and replace it with a trolley line between City Island and Mount Vernon."

Source:  TROLLEY LINE NOW BETWEEN CITY ISLAND AND MOUNT VERNON -- Flynn Syndicate Steals March on Rival and Gets Line Through Pelham Bay Park, The Evening Telegram [NY, NY], Jan. 26, 1900, p. 6, col. 1.  

"REPORTED SALE CITY ISLAND RAILROAD.
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To Traction Company.
ADMITTED TO BE A VALUABLE PROPERTY.
-----
Flynn Syndicate Said to Have Acquired It -- It Holds a Valuable Franchise -- It is Within Park Territory -- No Similar Privilege to Others.
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It is reported that the New York, Westchester & Connecticut Traction Co., or P. H. Flynn syndicate, which is attempting to rival the 'Huckleberry' Railway in the Borough of the Bronx, has purchased the horse railway which runs from the Bartow Station of the New Haven Suburban Railroad to City Island on the Sound.  The price paid is said to have been about $150,000.  

The syndicate secures an outlet to the Sound for its lines in the Bronx, Mount Vernon, Pelham and New Rochelle, and also secures the privilege of running through Pelham Bay Park, which no other company can get without a special act of the Legislature.

If this sale proves to be true in every respect Mount Vernon is bound to have a most advantageous outlet to the southeast and through a territory sure to become as thickly populated as any part of Mount Vernon.

All shore property is destined to become more valuable both for resident and business purposes as the years go by and none more so than that lying and being on Eastchester Creek, which enters this city at the southeast, and all that territory in the vicinity of the great Pelham Park and City Island.

For many years the Hon. Henry D. Carey, at one time Justice of Sessions in this county, was President and principal owner of this line.  It is destined to be one of the most valued properties in any outlying section of Greater New York.  

With the granting of certain additional franchises to the Traction Company in this city direct connection could be made with this line and it is to be hoped such will be the early outcome.

The Pelham Railroad extends from the Bartow Station of the suburban branch of the New Haven Railroad to Belden's Point, on the extreme end of City Island, a distance of about two miles.  Although it is only a single track horsecar line, with two antiquated cars which are run at irregular intervals, the franchise is regarded as one of the most valuable in the Bronx, as it is the only road which can run through Pelham Bay Park and thus reach City Island and Long Island Sound.

It is said that the traction company has arranged to purchase the majority of the stock, which is held by ex-Judge H. D. Carey, of City Island, at $140,000.  William J. Marshall, Corporation Counsel of Mount Vernon, who represents the Flynn syndicate in the transaction, is said to have made a deposit of $10,000 with Judge Carey and the stockholders, as an evidence of good faith.

It is said that the traction company will equip the line with electricity t once, and then build lines on its other franchises in the Borough of the Bronx, Pelham, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle.

By the acquisition of the City Island road the Flynn syndicate has stolen a march on its rival, the Union or 'Huckleberry' Railway, and the latter will not be able to reach Long Island Sound at any advantageous point in the Borough of the Bronx.

It is said in some manner the New Haven Railroad is interested in the New York, Westchester & Connecticut Traction Co., and also in the Portchester Street Railroad and the Larchmont Horse Railroad.  These three companies now practically parallel the New Haven lines from the Connecticut boundary line at Port Chester to the Harlem River."

Source:  REPORTED SALE CITY ISLAND RAILROAD -- To Traction Company.
ADMITTED TO BE A VALUABLE PROPERTY -- Flynn Syndicate Said to Have Acquired It -- It Holds a Valuable Franchise -- It is Within Park Territory -- No Similar Privilege to Others, Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jan. 27, 1900, Vol. XXXII, No. 2,402, p. 1, col. 5.

"Its Outlet to the Sound.

It is reported that the New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, or P. H. Flynn Syndicate, which is attempting to rival the 'Huckleberry' Railway in the borough of The Bronx, has bought the horse railroad which runs from the Bartow station of the New Haven road to City Island on the Sound.  The price paid is said to have been about $150,000.  The Flynn Syndicate thus secures an outlet to the Sound for its lines in the borough of The Bronx, Mount Vernon, Pelham and New Rochelle, and also the privilege of running through Pelham Bay Park, which no other company can get without a special act of the Legislature.  It is said to be the syndicate's intention to equip the line with electricity as early as possible. -- N. Y. Sun."

Source:  Its Outlet to the Sound, New Rochelle Pioneer, Jan. 27, 1900, p. 4, col. 2.  

"SUBURBAN NOTES.
-----

The New York Tribune says that the Union Trolley Company has recently paid $500,000 for the Tarrytown and Mamaroneck trolley line, and is now in a predicament.  Owing to the opposition of the Flynn syndicate, at Larchmont and other points, the company is unable to connect the main lines with this new and expensive purchase.
-----

The Bartow and City Island horse car line, owned by ex Judge Carey and others, has been purchased by the Westchester and Connecticut Traction Co.  The price paid was $140,000.  This is considered a great defeat for the Union Company.  The horse cars will be supplanted by modern electrical equipment as soon as Contractor O'Rourk completes the new bridge, now building at City Island.  The line will be extended to Mount Vernon and New Rochelle.
-----

It is reported that the extension of the Union Trolley line through Boston road, Eastchester, will be completed in time to allow the Crawford syndicate, Carroll and others to place their property on the market by Decoration Day, in which event one or more extensive auction sales will be the result. . . ."

Source:  SUBURBAN NOTES, Mount Vernon News [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 15, 1900, p. 7, col. 2.  

"-- Nine cars, containing 7,500 ties for the New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, have arrived in Mt. Vernon.  They will be used to complete the line which will connect Mt. Vernon with New Rochelle, Bronxville, Pelham Manor, Pelham, City Island and the Borough of The Bronx.  The work of building the lines, it is said, will be pushed with all speed."

Source:  [Untitled], New Rochelle Pioneer, Aug. 4, 1900, Vol. 42, No. 20, p. 5, col. 3.

"THE FLYNN SYNDICATE TO BEGIN RAILWAY BUILDING.
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New Rochelle, Aug. 15. -- The New York, Westchester and Connecticut Traction Company, of Flynn syndicate, which is attempting to rival the Union Railway in Westchester County, has announced that it will begin building lines over the routes upon which it has received franchises before next Monday.  The first tracks will be laid in Firth avenue, in Upper New Rochelle, to connect with the Larchmont Horse Railway.  After this connection is made the company expects to push through Wingate avenue to North Pelham to connect with a line built there several years ago.

It will then cross the Hutchinson River to Mount Vernon, where it will form a junction with the North Mount Vernon road operated by it."

Source:  THE FLYNN SYNDICATE TO BEGIN RAILWAY BUILDING, Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 15, 1900, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2,570, p. 1, col. 5.  

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More on Famed Western Film Actor Harry Carey, Who Grew Up in Pelham

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

Harry Carey, born Henry DeWitt Carey II, was one of the most successful western film actors ever.  He appeared in well over three hundred movies during the early years of Hollywood well into the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Carey was born on January 16, 1878 on 116th Street in New York City.  In 1884, he and his family moved to City Island before the area was annexed by New York City.  Carey grew up on City Island and rambled throughout the region of today's Pelham Bay Park during his youth.

Henry DeWitt Carey II was a son of Henry DeWitt Carey who served as a judge in the Special Sessions Court at White Plains for many years and founded a local dairy known as the Willow Brook Dairy in which he owned an interest for many decades until he sold that interest in the mid-1920s.  Judge Carey also served as president of the New Home Sewing Machine Company.  He also owned an interest in the little horse railroad that once ran from Bartow Station on the Branch Line to Belden's Point at the tip of City Island.  Thus, the Carey family was comparatively affluent.

I have written before about Western actor Harry Carey and his father, Henry DeWitt Carey.  See:

Wed., Jul. 01, 2015:  Western Actor Harry Carey of Pelham, Born Henry DeWitt Carey, Recalls His Boyhood Days in Pelham.

Mon., Jun. 02, 2014:  Henry DeWitt Carey Of City Island in the Town of Pelham.

Mon., May 28, 2007:  Brief Biography of Henry DeWitt Carey, 19th Century Pelham Justice of the Peace.

Today's Historic Pelham article provides more background information on Pelhamite Harry Carey.

Henry DeWitt Carey II was only six years old when his family moved to the Town of Pelham.  The family lived in a home on Terrace Point (sometimes called Carey's Point) on City Island.  

Newspaper reports say that Carey lived a "Huck Finn boyhood" in Pelham.  He hunted, fished, swam, and trapped game in the Pelham Bay region.  One of his most vivid boyhood memories involved driving a horse railroad car on one occasion on the City Island line.  After his death in 1947, a reporter recalled:

"Harry told me how he once drove a horse car in the Bronx.  His father owned and operated a street car line, horse-powered, with headquarters and barns at City Island.  Harry, as a boy, did chores around the barns, and learned to love the horses.  One day, before sunrise, the driver of an outbound car permitted young Harry to drive the team.  It was the great thrill of his life."

Indeed, Harry Carey's exposure to the horses that pulled the street cars may well have played a role in his later love for the west and western-style entertainments.  

After graduating from college, for his health, young Carey took some time and traveled out west.  He reportedly spent some time working as a foreman of a ranch in Montana.  While working on the ranch, he wrote several scripts for "light melodramas."  

Carey's father was not happy.  He wanted his son to return home, attend law school, and settle down.  Carey finally returned home and entered New York University Law School.  According to one account, however, he studied law "against his will."  He wanted to be an actor.

Harry Carey's father, Henry DeWitt Carey, was happy when his son graduated with a law degree from NYU Law School.  He was not happy, however, when his son decided not to practice law and, instead, decided to try his hand at acting.  Carey joined a stock company at the Yorkville Theater where he had a brief run acting in a single show.  He then joined the "Ferris Circuit" playing in so-called "tom shows" at fairs in the region.  (Tom shows were shows based, even loosely, on the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe.)  

Finally, Harry Carey decided to try his hand at writing and starring in his own play.  At the age of 28, Carey fell seriously ill and used a lengthy convalescence at his family's home on City Island to write an epic western play titled "Montana."  He set about to have the play produced with him as the star.  

Carey's father was fed up.  He struck a deal with his son.  If the new play, Montana, was a flop, the son would "abandon the stage, and return to the practice of law."  

On April 26, 1906, "Montana" opened before a large audience in New Rochelle Theatre.  Harry Carey made his debut that night as a leading man, playing the role of Jim Graham, foreman of the ranch that was at the center of the show.  The show was a wild success.  The audience was overwhelmed and applauded the entertainment, and Carey, thunderously when the show ended.  There were curtain calls.  

Carey's father, a lawyer and ex-judge at the time, reportedly relented after the show with tears in his eyes and said "So long as it is Harry's choice and the people are with him, I humbly surrender."  Harry Carey took his show on the road for four years and earned $18,000 performing it throughout the country.

Harry Carey had an extraordinarily successful film career playing cowboy heroes for more than thirty years.  He was never truly affected by Hollywood or his success.  Late in life he repeatedly was described as "unaffected," "genuine," "unpretentious," and the like.  He and his wife, Olive, homesteaded a ranch in Saugus, California (part of today's City of Santa Clarita).  Early in his career, as they homesteaded the land, they made ends meet by raising and selling turkeys on the property.  By 1931, the couple had acquired by homesteading and by purchase 1,100 acres of ranch land in Saugus and maintained "a real ranch with no frills about it and . . . staffed with Navajo Indians."

Harry Carey died in Brentwood, California on September 21, 1947 with members of his family and his friend, famed Hollywood western film director John Ford, at his bedside.  Some have suggested he died of a broken heart.  His final stage appearance in New York was in a show titled "Ah Wilderness."  Carey reportedly was "extremely nervous" about the show because it had been done often in New York City and was considered by many to be "outmoded."  The show flopped.  Thereafter Carey reportedly "worried himself into a nervous breakdown, and was ill from that time until his death."

Actor Harry Carey in 1919. Source: Wikipedia.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

1920 Movie Poster for "Human Stuff" Starring

Harry Carey. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of a number of items that relate to today's Historic Pelham article.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"JUDGE'S SON TURNS ACTOR.

Father of Harry Carey, at First Opposed, Surrenders After Seeing Play.

Harry D. Carey, son of ex-County Judge Henry D. Carey of Westchester, capitalist and former President of the New Home Sewing Machine Company, made his debut last night as a leading man in 'Montana,' a play written by himself, before a large audience in the New Rochelle Theatre.

Carey, who is 28 years old, is an athlete and ranchman, and, although his father was strenuously opposed to his going on the stage, the elder Carey joined with the audience in its applause last night.  Laboring under a severe strain, Actor Carey, known in the play as Jim Graham, foreman of the ranch, responded to curtain calls.  As he left the stage Judge Carey's eyes filled with tears.  It is said that Judge Carey, who wished his boy to make a name for himself in the legal profession, said:

'So long as it is Harry's choice and the people are with him, I humbly surrender.'

Young Carey is a graduate of New York University.  After graduating he went west for his health and became foreman of a Montana ranch.  

While there he wrote several light melodramas, which are now being produced.  When he returned home his father desired that he study law, which he did against his will.  It was young Carey's wish to become an actor and portray on the stage the part he played in 'Montana,' which he wrote while West [sic].

It was learned that Judge Carey and his son had a talk before the play was produced, and it was mutually agreed that if it was not well received in the opening night that the young actor would abandon the stage, and return to the practice of law.  Judge Carey's home is at Terrace Point, City Island."

Source:  JUDGE'S SON TURNS ACTOR -- Father of Harry Carey, at First Opposed, Surrenders After Seeing Play, N.Y. Times, Apr. 27, 1906, p. 11, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"Hollywood News - by John Chapman
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Hollywood, Cal., June 6 -- Harry Carey, who has been hot stuff in the films longer than anybody else I can think of, is the most homespun guy you'll meet anywhere -- and that goes for his wife, Ollie, too.

Harry is New York-born and his real name is Henry De Witt Carey, 2d.  Many a New Yorker has come out to the films and gone Hollywood.  Harry is one of the few who have come out here and gone genuinely and unpretentiously western.  The Carey ranch at Saugus is a real ranch with no frills about it and is staffed with Navajo Indians.  Harry and Ollie literally live out of mail-order catalogues and can quote Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck prices on anything from plows to chintz.  Harry even has coal oil lamps in his bedroom because electric light is too harsh for reading.
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Many a film star has acquired a 'ranch' after he's got his money.  It is usually very fancy and it rarely makes any money.  The Careys got their place the hard way -- by homesteading it, and Harry and the original Man Who Came to Dinner Joe Harris cleared it.  And before they filed the homestead claim the Careys had a seventeen-acre place in Newhall, just below where Bill Hart is now, and they pieced out Harry's Universal Pictures income by raising and selling turkeys.  They didn't have money enough for real turkey equipment and the birds would roost on the house.  They were restless sleepers, those turkeys, and frequently would keep Harry and Ollie awake.
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A week hence will be the 33d anniversary of Harry's movie debut, so Paramount is whooping up a big barbecue party at the ranch -- and, more than incidentally, whooping up interest in Carey's latest picture, The Shepherd of the Hills.  Which is all right, too, because The Shepherd is a big technicolor production and reportedly one of Harry's best jobs to date.  You have to be sort of vague and say 'one of' because Harry has been in more than 300 movies and even he can't remember half of them.
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Carey is 63; straight, lean, strong enough to outwork Indians on his place, quick of mind.  His father was a special sessions judge in New York.  Harry grew up on Carey Point of Pelham Bay.  He lived a Huck Finn boyhood, hunting, fishing, swimming and trapping.  First stage show he saw was Frank Mayo in Davy Crockett.  'There was some shootin' and I got scared and hollered.  The old man took me out in the lobby and walloped my tail,' he recalls.
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He went to military academy, then through the N.Y.U. Law School.  But he never hung out his shingle.  (A classmate, James J. Walker, was among those who did.)  Harry joined a stock company at the Yorkville Theater, played a villain in tights in When Knightwood Was in Flower.  Then played the ferris wheel circuit in a tom show.  [NOTE:  A "tom show" is a general term for any play or musical based even loosely on the 1852 novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe.]  Then he fell ill and spent his convalescence writing a play, Montana, which had its tryout at a city island [i.e., City Island] church.  In the fall of 1906 he got a Klaw and Erlanger booking for it, toured in it four years and made $18,000.  He lost it all on another epic he wrote, The Heart of Alaska.  During summer layoffs he and Joe Harris, a stage villain, lived in a shack on Chimney Sweeps, a little island off Pelham Bay Park.  Harry, a veteran of the stage from the time when actors wore cross-over beards, never played Broadway until a couple of years ago, when he appeared in Albert Bein's railroad fantasy, Heavenly Express.
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When Heart of Alaska flopped, Harry took a job making four westerns for the National Film Distributing Company.  And June 14, 1908, faced the camera in Bill Sharkey's Last Game.  Since then he has never been out of pictures for long, and his nearest competitors for the long-run record are Lionel Barrymore, Donald Crisp and Bill Farnum.  Right after he made Trader Horn it looked as though he'd be out of pictures for good -- for he had been in Africa so long that agents and bosses had forgotten him.  But Will Rogers, in a Satevepost piece, happened to opine that Carey was the best of all the western stars, and that compliment put him back in the game.
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Carey gave John Ford his start as a director, when Ford was eighteen.  One rainy day Harry and Jack were at the Newhall Turkey Farm doping out their first five-reeler, Hell Bent, when John Harris came to call.  'Who's that?' asked Ford.  'A heavy I used to know in Stair and Havlin shows,' said Carey.  'Let's use him,' said Ford.  So Joe got a job and Harry and Ollie asked him to stay with them during the shooting.  That was in 1915 or '16.  Joe is still the Careys' guest.
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The Carey fortunes have had their ups and downs.  As homesteaders, they added 420 acres to their original 160, then bought more, now have about 1,100.  They built a clapboard house, added to it from time to time instead of building one that would be more heat-resistant.  They were sentimental about the place because their children, Dobie and Cappy, were born there.  Dobie, twenty and a promising baritone, is so nicknamed because of his baked red complexion and hair.  He's really Henry De Witt Carey, 3d."  

Source:  Hollywood News - by John Chapman, Buffalo Courier-Express [Buffalo, NY], Jun. 7, 1941, p. 10, cols. 1-2.  

"Harry Carey, Who Portrayed More Than 300 Movie Roles, Dies at 69

HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 21 -- (AP) -- Harry Carey, 69, veteran motion picture actor and cowboy hero of the silent screen, died today at his home in suburban Brentwood.

The cause of death was given as a blood clot in the heart, following a weakened lung and heart condition from a recent illness.

The veteran of more than 300 movie roles succumbed as members of his family and Director John Ford, a long-time friend, gathered at his bedside.  

Surviving are his widow, Olive Golden, silent screen actress, and two children, Harry Carey, Jr., and Mrs. Ella Carey Taylor. 

Born Henry D. Carey on January 16, 1878, in New York City, the actor gained popularity as a hard-riding cowboy star in the early days of the motion picture industry -- although never west of the Hudson River until Hollywood beckoned in 1910.  

He was a graduate of New York University, where he was a classmate of the late ex-Mayor Jimmy Walker, of New York city.  His father was the late Justice Henry De Witt Carey, of New York.

Outstanding roles in recent films included parts in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,' 'They Knew What They Wanted,' 'The Shepherd Of The Hills,' and 'Sea of Grass.'"

Source:  Harry Carey, Who Portrayed More Than 300 Movie Roles, Dies at 69, The Cumblerland News [Cumberland, MD], Sep. 22, 1947, p. 1, cols. 1-2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"NEW YORK DAY BY DAY
-----
By CHARLES B. DRISCOLL
------

New York. -- Passing of Harry Carey, Hollywood movie star, affected New Yorkers as deeply as it touched the people of California and the addicts of the western movies in which Harry appeared as hero.

This cowboy hero, who was an honored guest in our home when he could steal time for relaxation, was a native New Yorker, and spent his youth on City Island, a long time ago.  He was nearly 70 at the time of his death.
-----
Harry told me how he once drove a horse car in the Bronx.  His father owned and operated a street car line, horse-powered, with headquarters and barns at City Island.  Harry, as a boy, did chores around the barns, and learned to love horses.  One day, before sunrise, the driver of an outbound car permitted young Harry to drive the team.  It was the great thrill of his life.
-----
At a Christmas party in our home, Harry and his brilliant wife were the center of much attention.  Both were unaffected, intelligent, and devoid of the appearance of boredom which so many Hollywood celebrated stars wear when being saluted by their fans.

Over the coffee at a midtown hotel, Harry and I often discussed farming, horses, and cattle.  Harry was a real farmer posing for the newsreels.  He worked hard at the job, between pictures, and managed to make money in a practical farming venture.
-----
We talked with Harry before and during his last stage appearance in New York, in 'Ah Wilderness!'  It was evident that the actor was extremely nervous about the play, which had been done often in New York and was a bit outmoded.  

Despite the fact that Carey turned in a perfect acting job, the production was not a great success.  Harry worried himself into a nervous breakdown, and was ill from that time until his death. . . ."

Source:  Driscoll, Charles B., New York Day by Day, Joplin Globe [Joplin, MO], Oct. 4, 1947, p. 6, cols. 2-3.

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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.

*          *          *          *          *

"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).

*          *          *          *          *

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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