The Three Villages of Pelham Embraced the Notion of Consolidation in 1923 as a Defensive Measure

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On Tuesday, April 10, citizens of the Town of Pelham gathered at a meeting of the Pelham Men's Club in the auditorium of the Pelham Memorial High School to discuss something the whole town was considering:  the benefits of consolidating the three villages that comprised The Pelhams.  

Learning of this, one might be tempted to glance at the calendar.  Might today be April Fools Day?  Have we slipped into an alternate universe where our consciousness and memories remain the same but our collective history is different than what we previously thought?  No. . . . .

In 1923, the three villages that comprised "The Pelhams" faced a common enemy and, thus, were contemplating a defensive maneuver of consolidation.  The gathering at the high school was simply an example of the common belief that there is "strength in numbers."  

In 1923, Pelhamites felt that they were under siege.  Pelhamites feared that the behemoth known as New York City that bordered the Town of Pelham on one side was looking to expand yet again, placing Pelham square within the crosshairs of another annexation.  The County of Westchester, at the same time, seemed fearful of the same thing and was contemplating the creation of a "City of Westchester" that would include the entire Town of Pelham (and other Westchester towns) with a Commission form of government to block annexation of parts of the County such as the Town of Pelham by the City of New York.  The three villages of Pelham, in short, feared loss of self-government and were at least open to the idea of consolidation as a defensive measure.  The three villages explored merging and converting to a city form of government.

With the subsequent cessation of New York City's desire to annex the area, the concept of a "City of Westchester" withered on the vine and the people of the Pelhams returned to their vision of three-village governance within the Town of Pelham.   

1950 Map of the Town of Pelham Showing the Town

Bounded by the City of New York, the City of Mount

Vernon and the City of New Rochelle.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

Below are two articles about the discussion of consolidation in 1923.  The text of the second article is what can be transcribed of an item that appeared in the only extant -- though badly damaged -- copy of The Pelham Sun published on April 13, 1923.  Much of that article is illegible due to damage to the original newspaper.  Still, enough can be transcribed to provide a sense of what was going through the minds of Pelhamites in 1923 as they explored consolidation of the three villages as a way to defend against loss of self-government.  

The text of the two articles appears immediately below.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"Will Discuss Consolidation Of The Pelhams
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Members of Men's Club Will Meet at Memorial Auditorium Tuesday
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Believed That Consolidation Will Be Protective Measure Against Loss of Authority
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Must the Pelhams seek amalgamation of its three villages as a protective measure against the possible annexation by New York City or its loss of local governing authority by the consummation of the plan to create a commission government in the county?

The question is to receive close study by members of the Men's Club at the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday night at Memorial Auditorium.  President James Elliott in a circular letter to the members, has pointed out the element of danger confronting the Pelhams at the present time, and its possible loss of local powers of government unless preventive steps are taken, and urges that serious thought be given to this subject which vitally concerns every homeowner in the community.  

The executive committee of the Men's Club has prepared a short report in which is outlined the probabilities of future changes in village government and a free discussion of the problems presented will be sought.  If consolidation is deemed advisable, a committee of representative citizens will be appointed to further the matter.  This committee will consist of representatives from each of the three villages who will delve into every problem and angle presented to the proposed amalgamation and report on its possibilities and probable saving to the taxpayers.

Members are urged to attend."

Source:  Will Discuss Consolidation Of The Pelhams, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 6, 1923, Vol. 14, No. 6, p. 1, col. 1.  

"The report of the executive committeee of the Men's Club on the new County Commission Plan, following a motivating talk delivered by Judge William Cravath of Pelhamdale, resulted in action being taken at the Men's Club meeting Tuesday night, at Memorial Auditorium.  The action took the form of appointing a committee of fifteen representatives of all of the Pelhams, headed by Harry W. Nuckols, former president of Pelham Manor, which will at once take up complete investigation of the plans now being made for installing a new form of government in the county and take steps to oppose any plan by the Commission which will interfere with the present form of government.  This committee will also investigate and consider the consolidation of the three Pelham villages and the creation of a city form of charter, which, it is believed, will place the government out of the control of the Westchester County.  

The meeting was well attended and the reading of the report of the executives of the club [illegible] keen interest, a lively discussion following the conclusion of Judge White's remarks.  The report in full follows:

To the President and Members of the Men's Club of the Town of Pelham

Gentlemen

Your executive committee to which was referred the work of investigating and making a report on the plan for creating a City of Westchester out of the present County of Westchester hereby begs to report as follows.

Early in 1922 Surrogate Juge George A. Slater, in addressing a gathering of school teachers at Portchester declared his opinion in effecct that before two years had passed Westchester Count would adopt a form of government which would virtually make a city out of Westchester County.  This followed the support by the voters in the fall election in 1921 of a proposition to change the form of gorvernment in Westchester and Nassau Counties.  Judge Slater's speech was given a great deal more publicity than its casual utterance would seem to have warranted and coincident with it came a renewed activity on the part of the County Commissioners, a body which originally intended to formulate some plan for the improvement of Westchester County [illegible]

The City of Westchester plan as it was called, at once became a vital topic of discussion [illegible] in the Pelhams [illegible].

[Illegible] the Board of Supervisors introduced a motion to abolish the County Commission, and intense policitical activity was directed against this action so that it was lost and soon afterward an act of the legislature on February 6, 1922, empowered the Board of Supervisors to enlarge the membership of the commission to 32 and gave to the Commission powers to expend such amounts of money as was deemed necessary to pursue investigation toward improving the county form of government.

From out of their deliberations of almost a year has arisen one plan, definite, and with strong political backing, which will place the government of Westchester County in the hands of a county president, with almost despotic powers over the destinies of Westchester County.  At first this plan called for the creation of a commission of five, three of the members to be elected and two appointed by the County Commissioner, thus giving the chief commissioner control of the board by his appointive power of two members.  Lately, in the face of opposition, this plan has been altered [illegible] vice-president and a county commissioner of finance.  The other members of the board, a commissioner of public welfare, an engineer, a county attorney, a county sealer of weights and measures, are appointed by the president, ths again centering control in the hands of the President by his appointive powers.  This has not yet been officially approved.  The charter is [illegible].

The rest of the charter remains the same as that under [illegible] of the seond class operating [illegible], Yonkers for instance.  I [illegible] was to brake of the Bos [illegible] visors purely a legislative [illegible] student all [illegible] to the County Commissioner, but [illegible] plan now makes it possible for Supervisors to pass an ordinance over the president's veto by a three-fourths majority of all members of the Board of Supervisors.  If this plan, known as the Wallin plan, by reason of its sponsor being ex-Mayor William Wallin of Yonkers [illegible] Board of Estimate consisting of the president, vice-president and commissioner of finance, county attorney and county engineer, has control over all financial matters of the county.

An alternative plan has been submitted by Commissoner Morse, which provides for Board of Supervisors as the legislative control of the county.  The [illegible] of the county president is [illegible] in a county-wide vote, the board of supervisors is reduced from 41 to 17, this reduction being accomplished by grouping all townships of less than 10,000 population and naming them districts for the election of a single supervisor.  Under this plan Pelham would be grouped with Eastchester as one district.  The representation of the cities to be based on assessed valuation.  There would be no Board of Estimate and Apportionment.  

In connection with the Wallin plan it must be remembered that Mr. Wallin has gone on record publicly as stating the at the plan is elastic enough to take over the administration of village government if such a course is deemed necessary.

Wherein does the proposed County Commission plan of government hold anything at all of benefit to the Pelhams?  We are told in a large way that the centralization of authority also means a centralization of responsibility, but what assurance have we that we can find the right man to assume all this responsibility which will go with the office of county president, especially as the office is a political one and politics is today more a matter of popularity than of merit.  The centralization of so much authority in one man may be good in business but politics is not business and generally speaking political authority is used as a means of handing out patronage to a favored crowd who are looking for soft jobs at the taxpayers' expense.  

We would perhaps favor consolidation of government in Westchester County if the various cities, towns, and villages which lie within its [illegible]."

Source:  Will Discuss Consolidation Of The Pelhams -- Members of Men's Club Will Meet at Memorial Auditorium Tuesday -- Believed That Consolidation Will Be Protect
ive Measure Against Loss of Authority, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 13, 1923, p. 1, cols. 6-7.  

"Will Discuss Consolidation Of The Pelhams
-----
Members of Men's Club Will Meet at Memorial Auditorium Tuesday
-----
Believed That Consolidation Will Be Protective Measure Against Loss of Authority
-----

Must the Pelhams seek amalgamation of its three villages as a protective measure agaisnt the possible annexation by New York City or its loss of local governing authority by the consummation of the plan to create a commission government in the county?

The question is to receive close study by members of the Men's Club at the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday night at Memorial Auditorium.  President James Elliott in a circular letter to the members, has pointed out the element of danger confronting the Pelhams at the present time, and its possible loss of local powers of government unless preventive steps are taken, and urges that serious thought be given to this subject which vitally concerns every homeowner in the community.

The executive committee of the Men's Club has prepared a short report in which is outlined the probabilities of future changes in village government and a free discussion of the problems presented will be sought.  If consolidation is deemed advisable, a committee of representative citizens will be appointed to further the matter.  This committee will consist of representatives from each of the three villages who will delve into every problem and angle presented to the proposed amalgamation and report on its possibilities and probable saving to the taxpayers.

Members are urged to attend."

Source:  Will Discuss Consolidation Of The Pelhams -- Members of Men's Club Will Meet at Memorial Auditorium Tuesday -- Believed That Consolidation Will Be Protective Measure Aaginst Loss of Authority, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 6, 1923, p. 1, col. 1.

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Pelham Opposed Plan by Lawmakers to Consolidate Westchester Towns Into "Westchester City"

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In 1922, lawmakers floated a plan to consolidate a large number of Westchester communities including the three villages of the Pelhams and the Town of Pelham to create a Westchester City.  Known as the "City Plan in Westchester," the proposal faced intense opposition from prominent Pelham residents including William T. Grant (head of the famous Grant's "twenty five cent" nationwide store chain), Lockwood Barr (former managing editor of the Wall Street Journal and head of investor relations at General Motors) and others.

The article below details the opposition to the City Plan in Westchester.

"Home Builders Fear 'City' Plan In Westchester
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Commuters Can See Equity Swept Away by Greater Tax Burdens if Project of Politicians Succeeds
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Anti-Ward Revolt Spreads
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Civic Groups Throughout County Join in Denouncing Scheme as Vicious
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[This is the second of a series of articles on 'The City of Westchester' plan.  The third article will appear in The Tribune to-morrow.]
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The most important aspect of the campaign that is developing against the City of Westchester project is the situation of thousands and thousands of persons who earn their living in New York, but who are trying to create homes for themselves in Westchester County.

Ordinarily the mass of these persons take little interest in the affairs of the politicians of the county.  For some of them, however, the difference between a Westchester County and a City of Westchester might be the difference between possessing an equity in their homes and not possessing one.  A sharp rise in taxes might upset the calculations of countless adventurers in the field of domestic economics.

That is a hazard, though, that has not been dwelt upon in the numerous condemnatory resolutions that have been adopted recently by civic bodies and other organizations recording themselves as opposed to a City of Westchester.  The consensus as expressed in these documents is that the plan would be destructive of all hope of intelligent application of the principle of self-rule.

Few Openly Champion Project

There is so little feeling favorable to the City of Westchester scheme that it is difficult to get any one to say a kind word for it.  Even Surrogate George L. Slater, whose prophecy, made last January, that Westchester would be a single municipality within two years has had surprisingly little to say about it.  Nevertheless, the Republican organization, headed by William L. Ward of Port Chester, is not permitting any of its members to participate in the attacks upon this plan.

There was a meeting of the Republican City Committee of Yonkers on April 17 in which there was a demonstration of the vitality of the City of Westchester project.  Ulrich Weisendanger, formerly sheriff of Westchester, introduced a resolution denouncing the city government scheme.  The Ward forces knew that the resolution was to be introduced and they were prepared for it.  The chairman of the meeting was Wade Hampton, of Yonkers, a Ward supporter.  One of the Ward men moved to table the resolution and it was tabled with the assistance of about thirty proxies, which were voted over the vociferous protests of the anti-Ward crowd, a group generally referred to as the Sutherland-Weisendanger forces.

The tabling of the resolution was declared by persons hostile to Ward to be a complete demonstration of the actual sympathy entertained by Ward for the plan to fuse the scattered towns

(Continued on page six)  [Page 1 / Page 6]

Home Builders Fear 'City' Plan In Westchester
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(Continued from page one)
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and villages of Westchester into a single municipality.

The resolution that was defeated by the Ward forces was as follows:

'Whereas, Statements have appeared in the public press which indicate that a movement is on foot for the creation of a so-called City of Westchester, into which shall be incorporated all the towns and cities in the southern part of the county; and

'Whereas, The establishment of such an institution would take away from the people of the City of Yonkers the right to govern themselves and to exercise control over their own local affairs; and

'Whereas, The right of local self-government is one of the oldest established principles of our democracy and necessary to the continued existence of our form of government; and

'Whereas, There has been established a county government commission which exists for the purpose of formulating a proposed new plan of county government, of which commission ex-Mayor Wallin of this city is a member; and

'Whereas although the law provides for a referendum to the people of the county on the question, it also provides that the adoption by the county of any new plan of government shall not preclude the Legislature from amending or modifying such plan; therefore be it

'Resolved, That the Republican City Committee of the City of Yonkers does hereby express its unqualified disapproval of the creation of a City of Westchester, and that it further urges the County Government Commission to adopt no plan of county government which may include the transfer to the county or county officers of any functions now exercised by the city or city officers; and be it further

'Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the chairman of the County Government Commission and to the members of the State Legislature representing the territory included within the limits of the City of Yonkers.'

Called Ward Patronage Scheme

Ward's opponents say he favors this scheme because in no other way can he continue to be the patronage dictator of the county, Yonkers, a city of 115,000, and Mount Vernon, a city of approximately 50,000, are growing rapidly and in both places there are vigorous revolts against Ward's exercise of power revolts, moreover, which menace the rest of the county with infection.

The first revolt was five years ago when Lee Parsons Davis, then Assistant District Attorney ran for District Attorney in the primaries, beating Francis A. Winslow, the Ward candidate.  The next revolt came in Yonkers when Ward refused to nominate for Sheriff Robert Ferguson, an under-sheriff.  This attempt to depose Ward was even more successful.  About 40 per cent of the enrolled Republican vote in the county was gained by Ferguson.  Last year the Wallin-Ward forces in Yonkers were beaten in the primaries by the Sutherland-Weisendanger 'rebels.'  Ulrich Weisendanger, running for Mayor, carried the city by 2,000 votes, but was defeated in the election by the Democrat, Walter M. Taussig.  'Knifed,' was their succinct explanation of this curious defeat in a city normally Republican.  Robert Ferguson, in the same election, was elected Comptroller.

All of this demonstrates the metal of the politicians fighting Ward, but now they have found in the city of Westchester project an issue that is unpoplular in every town and village in the county, and they are preparing to make the most of it.

It is their contention that Ward, and Ward alone, wants a City of Westchester in order to suppress the Yonkers and Mount Vernon insurrections by bringing these cities under a larger tent.  As proof that the Ward forces are not sitting idly by the Sutherland-Weisendanger forces point out that in recent months nineteen Federal state and county jobs have been created in Yonkers.  All of these places have been filled with Ward men.

Arthur W. Lawrence, of Bronxville, also classed as loyal to the Ward organization, recently lent a hand by purchasing 'The Yonkers Statesman.'  The price was said to have been $100,000.  There are scores of other incidents, all of which have a bearing on this fight to give a city government to nearly 500,000 people, who, if allowed to vote on the question would probably be overwhelmingly opposed to it.

Whatever the motives behind the actions of the politicians engaged in these skirmishes there can be no question about the sincerity of some of the organizations that have attacked the scheme.  For example, the Men's Club of Pelham, with a membership of nearly 500, is reported by the president, W. T. Grant, as being strongly opposed.  Mr. Grant is the owner of the chain of twenty-five cent stores that bear his name throughout the country.

'The executive committee of the club is against the plan to a man,' said Mr. Grant.  'Among these men are James Elliott, an advertising man; Lockwood Barr, of the General Motors publicity department; D. H. H. Brown, a minister; Walter S. Findlay jr., and James R. Gerry, an attorney.

Informal Plebiscite To Be Taken

'We are trying to figure out ways of aligning all the churches, social organizations, chambers of commerce, secret orders and other bodies of citizens in Westchester County.  For Pelham we are planning to conduct a straw vote.  A resolution for this purpose is being drafted.  Just as soon as we get one which all can approve it will be mailed out to the people of Pelham, and if other committees want to use the same ballot we'll be glad to assist them.

'I haven't heard a kind word for this proposal since it was broached.  But the people have got to get up on their hind legs about it if they want to kill this most absurd and vicious plan.'

The Board of Trustees of the Village of Ardsley adopted a resolution placing that community's feeling on record.  The village government there is an excellent example of the thing the people would lose if a City of Westchester were created.  They are getting 100 cents' worth of government for a dollar's worth of taxes, because the officials of the town serve without pay.  Their resolution is as follows:

'Resolved, That the Village of Ardsley, its board of trustees and a large majority of its resident inhabitants are unalterably opposed to any legislation having for its purpose or intent the establishment in Westchester County of a commission form of government in the place and stead of the present local self-government therein, or to any legislation looking to the consolidation of the several municipalities in the County of Westchester into one city to be known, as currently reported, as the 'City of Westchester,' believing that such legislation would be highly detrimental to the best interests and upbuilding of the several municipalities proposed to be included therein, thereby in a great measure at least depriving each municipality of the time-honored privilege of local self-government as exemplified in the Americanized ideals of unabridged home rule.'

In the northwest section of Yonkers the Moresmere Community Brotherhood, including about two hundred men in its membership, adopted a resolution protesting against the project on the ground that it would increase the cost of government and militate against democratic institutions, and that the proposed city would include large unpopulated areas.

William H. Anderson, state superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League, is a vice-president of the Central Brotherhood of Central Methodist Episcopal Church of Yonkers, which organization has joined the anti-City of Westchester forces.  Others in this organization are Frank Fowler, president; Alfred M. Reeves, chairman of the Automobile Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and James A. Jarvis, of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The resolution the brotherhood adopted at a meeting held March 20 follows:  'We approve any proposal in good faith to make a study of governmental conditions within Westchester County, and the various subdivisions thereof, with a view to consolidation of activities, where such consolidation will save money and increase efficiency.

'However, we oppose any attempt to revive the scheme for the so-called City of Westchester, which involves setting up of a government in the entire county, or in a considerable portion thereof, containing the largest cities of the county.  In our judgment it would aggravate the situation already existing in Yonkers, where there are large unimproved areas, which impose a burden out of proportion to their ability to support their fair proportion of same on a reasonable basis of taxation.'

There are more resolutions on record, but altogether they are but a start in the campaign, for this is a fight in which there can be no neutral person in Westchester."

Source:  Home Builders Fear 'City' Plan In Westchester, New York Tribune, Apr. 25, 1922, Vol. LXXXII, No. 27,554, p. 1, col. 3.

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