Grand Regatta, Ball, and Clam-Bake on Davids Island in 1857

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More than 160 years ago, on August 13,1857, nearly two thousand local residents gathered on Davids Island off the shores of New Rochelle and Pelham for a grand celebration.  Davids Island is a 78-acre island in Long Island Sound adjacent to Glen Island. The island is named after Thaddeus Davids who lived in New Rochelle and was famous for "Thaddeus Davids Electro Writing Fluid" and "Thaddeus Davids Ink" during the 19th century.  Davids bought the island in November, 1856.

Only a few months after purchasing the island, Thaddeus Davids permitted his island to be used for the celebration.  The celebration included a grand ball, an "Indian" clam bake, and a hotly-contested regatta held offshore.  

A short time before the celebration, Thaddeus Davids permitted the construction of "a very spacious building" on the island to serve as a ballroom for the event.  Selection of the island for such a grand party was no accident.  At the time, Davids Island was entirely undeveloped.  It was covered with wooded valleys and groves of old-growth trees.  It had "bold, rocky shores and sandy beaches."  Moreover, the view from the highest point on the island was spectacular.  According to one report published in 1857, "From its highest point can be seen the shores bordering on Long Island Sound, taking in at a glance City Island, Hunter's Island, Hart Island, Manursing Island, Throgg's Neck, Glen Cove, Orienta, Mamaroneck, Rye, and other suburban villages."

The location of the island also was important.  It was only a few hundred feet off the mainland shores of New Rochelle and Pelham Manor.  Moreover, it was only a quarter mile from an important steamboat landing at New Rochelle.  

On the morning of Thursday, August 13, 1857, people began streaming onto Davids Island.  The spacious ballroom building was decorated festively with flags and more.  At about 11:00 a.m. Dodworth's Band arrived from New York City to provide music throughout the day and evening.  The Dodworth Band of New York City was the premier brass band in the United States from the 1840s to the 1880s.  The band was founded by the Dodworth family in 1825 and grew to become one of the famous American bands of the 19th century.

With festive music as a background, a little after 1:00 p.m. the regatta began.  The yachts raced over a twenty mile course laid out in Long Island Sound.  There were four classes of competitors:  first class, second class, third class, and fourth class.  The winners of the top three classes each received a substantial $50 prize (about $1,850 in today's dollars).  The winner of the fourth class received a $30 cash prize.  

The Excelsior, owned by L. D. Huntington of New Rochelle, won the first class race.  The Electric Spark, owned by J. E. Ebling of Harlem, won the second class race.  The Emma, owned by Thaddeus Davids of New Rochelle, won the third class race.  The Dan Smith, of Oyster Bay, won the fifth class race.

The third class race clearly was the most exciting of the day.  Two of the yachts in the race were running neck-and-neck as they neared the end of the course at Davids Island.  The Emma and the Silence battled to the very end as crowds on shore cheered the two yachts jockeying side-by-side for a "considerable distance" to the very end.  The Emma finally edged out the Silence by about two boat lengths as the yachts crossed the finish line.  

The third class race was a bitter disappointment for the owner and friends of the Silence who had "bet very freely in her favor."  They immediately challenged the Emma to a rematch for a $200 stake which Thaddeus Davids immediately accepted.  The rematch was scheduled on the spot for two weeks later on August 27, 1857.  Sadly, no record of the result of the rematch has yet been located!

While the regatta was underway, an unusual "Indian style" clam bake was being prepared.  One account noted that the Indian style of clam bake was "quite a novelty on this end of the Sound."  The preparations were described as follows:

"Long pieces of wood were piled up in cross layers, with large paving stones interspersed, until the pile was about six feet high.  It was then set on fire, and when the wood was all burned out, the stones were nicely and evenly placed, and swept clean.  Forty bushels of Little Neck hard-shell clams were then dumped upon the hot stones, and the surface of the clams covered with green corn in the husk; and these covered over to the depth of six to eight inches with fresh seaweed.  The whole was then covered with a large sail.  In five minutes clouds of steam arose from the pile, and in about fifteen minutes more, the great clam-bake was ready; when there were plenty of anxious lookers-on, equally ready to go in for a share.  Two large boilers of chowder were also made, and said to be quite equal to that made at Marshfield by the late Daniel Webster."  

It did not take two thousand celebrants long to devour forty bushels of Little Neck clams and the two large boilers of chowder.  Once the food was gone, the crowd retired to the ballroom and surrounding area for a grand dance with the music of the Dodworth Band of New York City.  They danced the night away until 2:00 a.m.

Detail of 1867 Beers Map Showing Davids Island Adjacent to

Locust Island (Known Today as Glen Island). Source: Beers, Ellis

& Soule, Atlas of New York and Vicinity From Actual Surveys By

and Under the Direction of F. W. Beers, Assisted by Geo. E.

Warner & Others, p. 7 (Philadelphia, PA: Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1867)

("Plans of East Chester, Pelham and New Rochelle Westchester Co.").

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Thaddeus Davids in 1879, from the January 21, 1879

Issue of the Graphic. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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I have written before about Davids Island, particularly Pelham's involvement with it during the Civil War.  For examples, see:

Wed., Apr. 26, 2017:  Thaddeus Davids of Davids Island Off the Shores of Pelham and New Rochelle.

Wed., Oct. 19, 2016:  Valor in the Waters Off Pelham During a Monumental Snowstorm in 1871.

Wed., Feb. 03, 2016:  Pelham Women Assisted Union Troops and Confederate Prisoners on David's Island During the Civil War.

Wed., Oct. 21, 2015:  Ministering to Troops on Hart and Davids Islands During and Shortly After the Civil War. 

Tue., Nov. 03, 2009:  Pelham Students Help Civil War Soldiers on Davids' Island in 1864. 

Fri., Jun. 3, 2005:  Davids' Island Off the Coast of Pelham Manor During the Civil War.

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"REGATTA, BALL, AND CLAM-BAKE AT DAVID'S ISLAND. -- Notwithstanding the extreme heat of the weather on Thursday, a vast concourse of persons visited David's Island, Long Island Sound, on that day, for the purpose of witnessing a regatta, and participating in a grand ball, Indian clam-bake, and other festivities.  David's Island comprises about one hundred acres of land, and is a quarter of a mile from the steamboat landing at New Rochelle.  The island is picturesquely diversified by dell and grove, alternated with bold, rocky shores and sandy beaches.  From its highest point can be seen the shores bordering on Long Island Sound, taking in at a glance City Island, Hunter's Island, Hart Island, Manursing Island, Throgg's Neck, Glen Cove, Orienta, Mamaroneck, Rye, and other suburban villages.  On reaching the island, we found that a very spacious building, which has recently been erected for a ball-room, was decorated with flags, &c., ready for the festive occasion.  About 11 o'clock, Dodworth's Band, from the city, made its appearance on the ground, and discoursed most excellent music at intervals, from that time until about 2 o'clock yesterday morning.

Shortly after 1 o'clock p.m., the regatta took place, over a course about 20 miles in length.  The judges decided the Excelsior, owned by L. D. Huntington of New-Rochelle, the winner of the first-class prize of $50; the Electric Spark, owned by J. E. Ebling of Harlem, winner of the second-class prize of $50; the Emma, owned by Thaddeus Davids of New-Rochelle, winner of the third-class prize of $50, and the Dan Smith of Oyster Bay, winner of the fourth-class prize of $30.  The race between the Emma and Silence was a most exciting one; running as they did side by side for a considerable distance, the Emma finally coming in by about twice her own length.  The owner and friends of the Silence having bet very freely in her favor, appeared sadly disappointed at the result and challenged her against the Emma for $200 a side, which was accepted; the match to come off at the City Island on the 27th inst.

While the yachts were pushing their way through the rippled waters, a clam-bake in the genuine Indian style was made on the island, and proved quite a novelty on this end of the Sound.  Long pieces of wood were piled up in cross layers, with large paving stones interspersed, until the pile was about six feet high.  It was then set on fire, and when the wood was all burned out, the stones were nicely and evenly placed, and swept clean.  Forty bushels of Little Neck hard-shell clams were then dumped upon the hot stones, and the surface of the clams covered with green corn in the husk; and these covered over to the depth of six to eight inches with fresh seaweed.  The whole was then covered with a large sail.  In five minutes clouds of steam arose from the pile, and in about fifteen minutes more, the great clam-bake was ready; when there were plenty of anxious lookers-on, equally ready to go in for a share.  Two large boilers of chowder were also made, and said to be quite equal to that made at Marshfield by the late Daniel Webster.  The knife, fork and spoon exercise being terminated, the party now numbering about 2,000 persons, dancing began, and was kept up until about 2 o'clock yesterday morning."

Source:  REGATTA, BALL, AND CLAM-BAKE AT DAVID'S ISLAND, New-York Tribune, Aug. 15, 1857, p. 7, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

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Yet Another Pelham Oyster War: This One in 1881 Between Pelham and New Rochelle

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One hundred twenty one years ago yesterday, on Friday, May 17, 1895, Pelham oystermen based on City Island assembled in a fleet of forty oyster sloops and headed for the waters off Matinecock.  According to one account, "[e]very man at the wheel had a double-barrelled shotgun across his knee, and in his weather-beaten face a look of fixed determination."

The Pelham oystermen were off to fight yet another "oyster war" -- another battle to protect their right to plant beds and harvest oysters in Long Island Sound.  In addition to the 1895 Oyster War about which I have written extensively (see below), there were local oyster wars in 1877, 1878, and 1884, as well.  Additionally, there were a host of lawsuits, arrests, and arguments over local oyster beds and allegations of oyster poaching.  At the end of today's posting I have included an extensive list of prior articles with links regarding Pelham's rich oystering traditions.

It seems that there were full-blown oyster wars, and then there were oyster skirmishes.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog details one such "skirmish" between Pelham oystermen and New Rochelle clammers off the shores of Hunter's Island in 1881.  The "skirmish" resulted in criminal charges and a trial of the New Rochelle clammers.

The oystering business in Long Island Sound was rife with potential for dispute.  The law recognized a distinction between "natural" oyster beds that were viewed as natural resources to be harvested by all in a first-come, first-served basis.  Private "planted" or artificial beds created by oystermen who found a pristine area without natural beds and planted oyster spawn to grow into a planted oyster bed belonged to the oysterman or oystermen who planted the bed.  They typically marked off the bed and protected it passionately against oyster thieves.

Of course, often other oystermen claimed the planting had been done on a natural bed and, thus, was ineffective at securing ownership of the bed.  Other times it was difficult to tell where natural beds ended and planted beds began.  At other times, unabashed thieves simply took what they could from planted beds before they were caught or run off.  

In 1881, John O. Fordham of City Island in the Town of Pelham claimed he owned private oyster beds northeast of City Island off the shores of Hunter's Island.  It seems that three young men from New Rochelle named Robert Graham, Richard Hanna, and William Odell were clamming in the area and raked up a large number of the oysters and greatly disturbed the beds.  This was not a simple case of New Rochelle men stumbling upon oyster beds, however.  All indications are, as one report stated, "For a year past there has been a constant warfare between the New-Rochelle and Pelham, or City Island, oystermen, owing to the disputed ownership of certain oyster-beds in the Sound off Hunter's Island."

Fordham pursued criminal charges against the three men who were indicted for the misdemeanor of "disturbing oysters" in a planted bed.  The three men were hauled before the Court of Sessions in White Plains for a criminal jury trial.

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants were raking clams on a private oyster bed owned by John O. Fordham of Pelham, thus "disturbing" the bed.  The three defendants defended that there were not on the private oyster bed of John O. Fordham but, instead, were raking clams on a bed owned by the father of Robert Graham, one of the defendants.  The jury returned a verdict of "not guilty."

The oystermen of City Island in the Town of Pelham had lost yet another oyster war, albeit a mere skirmish among the many battles.

Oystermen Dredging in Long Island Sound in 1883.

Source:  Harpers Weekly, Aug. 18, 1883.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of a few articles written about the events that are the subject of today's posting.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"TROUBLE AMONG OYSTERMEN.
-----

There has for a long time been trouble among the oystermen on the Westchester side of the Sound concerning the ownership of the beds.  The dispute was finally carried into the courts in the shape of a criminal complaint against Richard Hanna, Robert Graham and William Odell, who, upon the testimony of John O. Fordham, of Pelham, were indicted for poaching on private oyster beds.  The case has been on trial two days before the County Court of Sessions.  Yesterday the jury rendered a verdict of 'Not guilty' and the prisoners were discharged.  The trial developed the existence of a very bitter feeling between the New Rochelle and the Pelham or City Island oystermen.  The City Island men accuse the New Rochelle oyster gatherers of constantly disturbing and otherwise destroying City Island beds.  The men on trial, it was charged, went upon the bed belonging to the complainant and carried away and destroyed a great many oysters.  Along the Westchester shore the Sound is liberally supplied with natural oyster beds.  These oysters are common property, but the City Island folks, it is claimed, are so very eager to keep others out that they complain of trespass without just cause.  The New Rochelle people also claim that the City Islanders have illegally staked off natural beds to keep rivals out.  This decision is considered a very important one and there will probably be other civil suits closely following with a view to determine by legal opinion what are natural and what are artificial oyster beds on the Westchester side of the Sound."

Source:  TROUBLE AMONG OYSTERMEN, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 13, 1881, p. 5, col. 5.  

"OFFICIALLY REPORTED FOR THE JOURNAL.
COURT PROCEEDINGS.
-----
COURT OF SESSIONS.

The Court of Sessions reassembled at the Court-House in White Plains on Monday, the 10th inst., pursuant to adjournment -- present, County Judge Gifford and the Justices of Sessions.  The following cases were tried: . . . 

The People vs. Charles Graham, Wm. Odell, and Richard Hanna. -- Indicted for a misdemeanor, in 'disturbing oysters' in a planted bed of the bivalves in the waters of Long Island Sound adjoining the town of New Rochelle.  The indictment was found under the law in relation to the planting of oysters in private oyster-beds.  It was claimed that the defendants were raking for clams on the ground claimed as a private oyster-bed, belonging to Mr. Fordham, by which act the oysters were 'disturbed.'  The defense was that the defendants were not on the grounds of Fordham, but on those of Mr. Graham, father of one of the defendants, and that they had permission from the owner to rake for clams.  The jury rendered a verdict of not guilty. -- For the people, N. H. Baker, District Attorney, and M. J. Keogh; for the defendants, C. E. Kene and Francis Larkin. . . ."

Source:  OFFICIALLY REPORTED FOR THE JOURNAL.  COURT PROCEEDINGS. -- COURT OF SESSIONS, The People vs. Charles Graham, Wmm. Odell, and Richard Hanna, Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Oct. 14, 1881, Vol. XXXVII, No. 27, p. 3, col. 4.  

"For a year past there has been a constant warfare between the New-Rochelle and Pelham, or City Island, oystermen, owing to the disputed ownership of certain oyster-beds in the Sound off Hunter's Island.  The fight culminated in the procuring of the indictment of Richard Hanna, William Odle and Robert Graham, of New-Rochelle, on the complaint of John O. Fordham, who alleged that they took oysters from and trespassed on his oyster-beds off City Island.  The case has just been tried at White Plains, and the three men acquitted, they proving that the beds in question did not belong to Mr. Fordham, but to Mr. Graham's father."

Source:  [Untitled], N.Y. Times, Oct. 13, 1881, p. 8, col. 4 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link.).

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

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.

Mon., Dec. 01, 2014:  Jury Finds City Island Oystermen Guilty of Stealing Oysters from Planted Bed in 1878.

Tue., Nov. 11, 2014:  Efforts by Herman Le Roy, Jr. of Pelham to Build an Oyster Pond in the 1830's.

Thu., Aug. 07, 2014:  Oysterman Joshua Leviness of City Island Accused of Stealing Oysters Near High Island in 1883.

Tue., Feb. 04, 2014: Pelham: Once Oyster Capital of the World.

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

Wed., Mar. 24, 2010: The Oyster War of 1884 Between Glen Cove and City Island Intensifies.

Tue., Mar. 23, 2010: Yet Another "Oyster War" in 1884; Glen Cove Officials Feud with City Island and Connecticut Oystermen.

Mon., Mar. 22, 2010: 77-Year Old City Island Oysterman Joshua Leviness Reminisces in Testimony Provided in 1884.

Fri., Mar. 19, 2010: The New York Legislature Stepped Into the Oyster War on Long Island Sound in 1895.

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

Wed., Mar. 17, 2010: Report of September 13, 1884 Tour of Oyster Beds by Captain Joshua Leviness of City Island.

Tue., March 16, 2010: More on 19th Century Oystering in Pelham - Descriptions of Oyster Beds Off Hart Island, City Island and in Pelham Bay Published in 1887.

Mon., Mar. 15, 2010: More on 19th Century City Island Oyster Industry - City Island Oystermen Complaint of Pollution.

Fri., Mar. 12, 2010: Early History of Oystering in the Waters Off City Island in the Town of Pelham.

Thu., Mar. 11, 2010: The "Great Oyster War" Between City Island and Tarrytown in 1877 and 1878.

Thu., Dec. 3, 2009: Pelham News on May 30, 1884 Including Allegations of Oyster Larceny and Meeting of the Pelhamville Improvement Association.

Mon., July 30, 2007: 1885 Report Notes Decline of Oyster Industry Near City Island in the Town of Pelham.

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.

Fri., Apr. 13, 2007: Oystermen of City Island (When It Was Part of the Town of Pelham) Pioneered Oyster Cultivation.

Fri., Jan. 26, 2007: A History of the Early Years of City Island When it Was Part of the Town of Pelham, Published in 1927.

Mon., Sep. 18, 2006: A Brief Description of Oystering in Eastchester Bay and at Pelham Published in 1881.

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"Fifty Years Behind the Times" - City Island After its Annexation by New York City

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In the mid-1890s, New York City annexed a large part of the Town of Pelham including City Island.  At the time, the City Island oyster industry was waning.  The remainder of the maritime traditions of City Island were holding on, barely.  The tourism industry, however, still looked like a growing market.

At the time, City Island remained a quaint New England-style fishing village.  New Yorkers and those who visited New York traveled to City Island via ferry and the Branch Line for fishing, boating, and to enjoy the quaint village.  Articles were beginning to appear in newspapers and publications throughout the United States portraying City Island as a quaint backwater fishing village that time had forgotten.

One such article appeared in The St. Louis Republic.  It described City Island as the place "where New York City is fifty years behind the times."  The article described City Island as it existed for much of the latter half of the 19th century with its horse railroad, its clam diggers, its "Pelham Cemetery," its old hotels, and its yacht-building tradition.  The article further included a couple of engravings of the City Island horse railroad and the tiny City Island fire house which still had a "hand fire engine."  The article includes a brief history of the island and provides a fascinating glimpse of its past at about the time the island left the possession of the Town of Pelham to join the behemoth Gotham nearby.

"WHERE NEW YORK CITY IS FIFTY YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES.
-----
Citizens Use a Hand Fire Engine, Ride on Horse Cars and Dig Clams for a Living at City Island, the Historic Shellfishing District of Manhattan.
-----

"Antiquated Railroad Car, Connecting City Island City With the Outside World"

Source:  WHERE NEW YORK CITY IS FIFTY YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES,

The St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, MO), Mar. 30, 1902, Part II, p. 12, cols. 3-4.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.  

Antiquated Railroad Car, Connecting City Island City With the Outside World.

The Republic Bureau.
146 Times Building.

New York, March 29. -- New York city's absorption of its suburbs has been fatal to the race of hardshell, brine-incrusted clam diggers that has for three hundred years or more peopled the little dot of sand in Long Island Sound known as City Island, which has recently been swallowed up by the great metropolis.  One by one the hunters for the bivalve are being laid away in the little cemetery overlooking the quiet waters of the Sound.  Those who have not yet succumbed to the hand of time are gradually drifting away, seeking other field, or are accepting the gold of associated capitalists who have within a month past seleccted the island as a fruitful field for speculation, or see in it golden returns for investment.

These 'clammers' have been really a race in themselves.  For more than a century the intrusion of the urban resident of the man of commerce was resented.  The native City Islander was content with his little world, measuring a half mile in width by a mile in length, and he hoped, as his ancestors had hoped before him, that the invasion, now at flood tide, would never come.  Within sight, and almost within sound of the nightly glare and daily tumult of a great city, the 'clammer' had lived from generation to generation, happy and undisturbed.

Market for His Wares.

His only use for the city was the fact that it was a market for his wares and a supply depot for his rum and his apparel.  He lived in dories or smacks most of the time, and his family dwelt in the little cottage in the queer, solemn streets of the island.  Until New York moved up beyond the Harlem River he believed that there would be eternal solitude in the little village where his forbears had settled and where he hoped to die.

The history of City Island has been the history of the shellfishing district of the East.  It has been as interesting as it has been lacking in excitement.  When New York was still little more than a village, City Island was settled by a coterie of hardy followers of the sea who bestowed upon it the name of Great Minnefords, the name by which the tribes which had peopled the place before the advent of the white race had been known, and the official records of the State of New York and of Westchester County contain many references to transactions at Minneford, or 'Minnifer,' a corruption of the Indian title.

In 1866 [sic, 1666], Thomas Pell, it is recorded, 'applied for letters patent from the Crown creating the Manor of Pelham, embracing all that territory between the Bronx and the Connecticut River, and the islands lying upon the tract before the mainland.'

City Island's Genesis.

That marked the beginning of City Island, and it remained very much the same as it was from the beginning of the Eighteenth Century till a very short time ago.  The master of Pelham, to be sure, sold it for 'five shillings and one pepper corn, if the same shall be lawfully demanded.'  Whether the payment was made has not been recorded.  Official statistics show that Samuel Rodman, early in the Eighteenth Century, paid £2,300 for the island.

Half a dozen changes in ownership were made within the next three or four generations, until one Benjamin Palmer, in May 1763, as then proprietor, divided the little sandheap in the Sound into thirty equal parts, twenty-six of which he sold to a stock company, reserving for himself the other four.  Four thousand five hundred building lots were laid out, and the new owners announced their intention of creating a great trading center, to be equal to New York, and to be known as City Island.

City Island the name has since remained, but the city has never had any existence.  The squatters who had made a living in fishing, seining and raking for oysters and clams acquired title to such 'city' lots as they desired at £10 each, and they and their successors have since remained in possession.  The dream of creating a new metropolis died away, more than a century ago, with those who had been responsible for it, and the colony lapsed into the staid old fishing village that it remained until the beginning of the present year.

British Ruled During Daytime.

No more patriotic Americans swore allegiance to the flag of freedom than the fishermen of City Island, and it is tradition there to-day that while the British held the island by daylight, the Yankees were in possession by night.  Raids were frequently made by the fishermen to all the adjoining points where the soldiers of the King were in possession.  In one of these John Dibble, one of the stoutest of the City Islanders, with a party of neighbors swooped down upon the British warship Schuldan, then anchored in Long Island Sound, and made her a captive, as well as six supply vessels containing stores and ammunition intended for the forces of the King.

With the Revolutionary War fought and won, City Islanders returned to their nets, their trawlers and their clams.  The same families who figured in its history then are in possession to-day, or, at least, were in possession until the tales of syndicates and fortunes in real estate resulted in a great boom which dazzled most of the natives and sent those who were not dazzled to other districts in quest of new clam beds and more solitude.

Practically all of the southerly end of the island at that time was owned by George W. Horton.  Much of it is still in possession of his descendants, Stephen Decatur Horton and George Washington Horton and their heirs, though within the memory of many at present living in the southerly end, jutting out toward the Stepping Stone Lighthouse, and Forts Schuyler and Willets Point, that guard the New York harbor entrance, was sold to a New York banker and came to be known as Belden point.  The Horton property was officially described in a contemporary record as 'overlooking Hutchinson's Bay, Throgmorton's Neck, the Stepping Stones Lighthouse and the Great Necks upon Long Island.'  This meant the jutland know [sic] to-day as Throg's Neck and Great and Little Neck.

Old Tavern Still Thrives.

The clam digger of City Island still remains, the old volunteer fireman's hook and ladder company in the main street of the quaint old village is still there, the old village tavern continues to thrive, albeit usurped by Tammany, and the Macedonian Hotel, built from the timbers of the British [sic] frigate and prison ship Macedonia, captured in the War of 1812, still stands, despite the ravages of storm and wind on the lonely shore of 'Dead Quiet,' in close proximity to the graveyard in which repose the bodies of the City Islanders who have passed away during many decades.

Every morning as soon as the tide begins to fall the clam digger goes to the sandy beach on the shore of the island, and with his clam hook scratches away the sand and exposes and captures the elusive bivalve which forms the nucleus of many a good dinner, both on the island and in New York.

The clam diggers are a peaceful race.  No one encroaches upon the territory claimed by another.  The first comer has the selection of the ground upon which he will work, and the second does not presume to interfere with him or to step upon the section over which he is fishing for the clam.

Groups of these clam diggers can be seen at all times when the tide is out, bent almost double on the sand and digging with their hooks or shovels, stopping every now and then to lift the clams from their resting place and put them in the basket which they set upon the ground just beside them.  Many of those who visit the island during the summer -- and there are many, for City Island is a favorite haunt of the angler as well as a resort for those who enjoy a truly rural place for passing a day of quiet enjoyment -- walk to the sandy shore and watch the clam digger at his work.

"Fire Headquarters Building, Ten Feet Wide."

Source:  WHERE NEW YORK CITY IS FIFTY YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES,

The St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, MO), Mar. 30, 1902, Part II, p. 12, col. 4.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Many Old-Time Hotels.

Then they visit one of the oldtime hotels and partake of a clambake or shore dinner, with the clams just fresh from their sandy bed and cooked as only the native City Islander can cook them.  

Only a few steps from the sandy shore where the clam digger pursues his vocation, and in the loneliest part of the island, stands the Macedonian Hotel.  When the wreck of the famous British frigate [sic] and prison ship Macedonia was bleaching her hulk on the shores of Hart's Island, directly across the water from City Island, a native conceived the idea of putting the solid and age-protected timbers to good use.  With boats and assistants he made many trips to the old hulk, gathering the timbers and towing them to the beach in front of a piece of property which he owned close beside the shore.

From the wreckage he erected what has ever since been known as the Macedonian Hotel, and on its side are inscribed these words, which tell of the history of the famous old house:

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This House is the remains of the English frigate Macedonian, captured on Sunday, October 5, 1812, by the United States frigate United States, commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur, U. S. N.

This action was fought in latitude 24 deg. north, longitude 29 det. 30 min. west.  That is about 600 miles northwest of the Cape de Verde Islands, off the west coast of Africa, and towed to Cow Bay in 1874.
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Used as a Bar.

The main room used as a bar, on the first floor, is framed of the heaviest timbers from the old ship.  To many of them are still fastened the old hooks to which the sailors of the British fighting ship hung their hammocks.  An old cupboard from the galley of the ship serves as a bar, and the cabin used by the petty officers is used as the place wherein mine host of the Macedonian keeps his stock of ripe old liquor for dispensation among his customers and the clam diggers who work along the beach in his neighborhood.

On the second floor is the 'music room' that is none other than the main cabin of the Macedonian.  In removing the lumber from the ship those who did the work took pains to preserve each piece and place it in its proper place in the Macedonian Hotel.  The old 18 and 24 inch iron barred windows on the man-of-war were carefully preserved, and these now let in the light to the music room in this unique hotel.  

Timbers of Britain's vanquished war ship also form part of the northerly fence line of the quaint village burying ground.  This resting place for the dead is small, but interesting in its solitude.  Its eastern limit is the beach on which fretful Long Island Sound beats incessantly, claiming more and more of the bluff in which generations of the natives are buried.

Waves Have Washed Away Land.

The dashing of the waves has already eaten away much of the headland, and the old picket fence has partly disappeared, carried off on the bosom of the tide.  No pretentious monuments have been erected there.  Most of the graves are marked only by little mounds or slabs of marble, many of which have crumbled and are held in place only by iron clamps placed in position by the descendants of those who sleep beneath.  A wooden segment over the little picket swinging gate bears the legend: -- 

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PELHAM CEMETERY.
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Lanes, avenues or walks there are none.  This hamlet of the dead, though in the City of New York, seems like a bit of quaintest Europe transplanted.  The plots, nevertheless, are not neglected, for here and there are flower beds or artificial funeral offerings, while newly-made graves, alas, are plentiful.  It is still the burial place of the native, who gives never a thought of the grand cemeteries of the metropolis, with their mausoleums, monuments and vaults.

Graveyard of Famous Racers.

Just beyond and in plain sight of this last resting place for this fraction of the human race is the graveyard of the proudest craft that ever floated.  Famous yachts, winners of great contests, defenders of the America's Cup and playthings of the wealthiest men in the mightiest of nations have ended their careers there.  To-day the famous sloop yacht Columbia is hauled out upon the shore, shedded, wind swept, weather beaten and lonely, on the very spot where but a few years ago her predecessor in the affections of the American yachting world, the game old Defender, last rested her bones and was torn into junk after as a great a struggle for the blue ribbon of the sea as had ever been fought.

Whether the Columbia is to end her days as have those that preceded her in the marine graveyard is still a moot question.  At any rate, there she is to-day, upon the very beach that saw the last of earlier champions of the sea.  Keeping her company at present, is Mr. August Belmont's famous 70-footer Mineola.  Captain 'Charlie' Barr, skipper of the Columbia, lives in a cottage within a stone's throw of the shipyard, and frequently strolls down to the beach to admire the lines of the fleet racer that twice carried the hopes of the American people and vanquished the most formidable craft that ever crossed the seas to test the supremacy of American yachts and yachtsmen.

As if mindful of the supremacy in the yachting world and still aware of the last resting palce of native pleasure craft, Thomas Ratsey, Britain's foremost designer of racing sails, is erecting an establishment that is to equal any in Europe or America."

Source:  WHERE NEW YORK CITY IS FIFTY YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES, The St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, MO), Mar. 30, 1902, Part II, p. 12, cols. 3-4.

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I have written about various aspects of the history of City Island, once part of the Town of Pelham.  For merely a few such examples, see:

Fri., Jan. 23, 2009:  Biography of Jacob Smith of City Island, Proprietor of the Macedonia Hotel.  

Mon., Dec. 15, 2014:  Brief History of City Island Including the Legend of the Macedonia Hotel with Photographs Published in 1906.

Thu., Dec. 04, 2014:  Park Department Commissioners Condemned -- But Didn't Close -- the "Dilapidated" City Island Bridge in 1894.

Tue., Oct. 07, 2014:  Legislative History of the 1775 Statute Authorizing Construction of City Island Bridge.

Tue., Jul. 22, 2014:  Stories of City Island Bridge Published in 1892.

Wed., May 28, 2014:  Description of City Island in the Town of Pelham Published in 1868.

Wed., Mar. 10, 2010:  1899 Article About City Island's New Bridge Describes History of Area and Includes Wonderful Images.

Wed., Dec. 05, 2007:  Photograph of the Old Wooden City Island Bridge.

Tue., Dec. 26, 2006:  1775 Statute Authorizing Samuel Rodman and Benjamin Palmer to Build City Island Drawbridge.  

Tue., Nov. 07, 2006:  Tour of City Island and Portions of Pelham Published in 1909.

Wed., Jul. 12, 2006:  A Brief History of City Island Published in a Book by Stephen Jenkins in 1912.

Tue., May 02, 2006:  Benjamin Palmer's Advertisement in 1756 To Raise Subscriptions To Fund a Free Bridge From Manhattan.

Wed., May 17, 2006:  More About Benjamin Palmer's Involvement With Raising Funds for a Free Bridge from Manhattan. 

Fri., May 05, 2006:  1763 Announcement That City Island in the Manor of Pelham Has Been Laid Out in Lots for Sale.

Mon., May 15, 2006:  Resales of Lots in the 1760s on the Island Known Today as City Island.

Thu., Apr. 19, 2007:  An Account of How Soldiers Were "Recruited" in Pelham in 1758 for the French and Indian War.  

Mon., Jan. 29, 2007:  Palmer Family Offers One Thirtieth of City Island for Sale in 1785.

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."

More Early References to Baseball Played in Pelham

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Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
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I continue to document every reference I find about baseball played in Pelham during the 19th century.  For some of the prior postings, see:

Wednesday, September 30, 2009:  Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between the Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.

Friday, March 20, 2009:  Another Reference to 19th Century Baseball in Pelham.

Monday, November 26, 2007: Box Score of a Baseball Game Played on Travers Island in Pelham Manor in July 1896.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007: Baseball on Travers Island During the Summer of 1897.

Friday, July 20, 2007: Account of Early Baseball in Pelham: Pelham vs. the New York Athletic Club on Travers Island in 1897

Friday, November 10, 2006: The Location of Another Early Baseball Field in Pelham

Monday, October 9, 2006: Reminiscences of Val Miller Shed Light on Late 19th Century Baseball in Pelham and the Early Development of the Village of North Pelham

Thursday, March 23, 2006: Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884

Tuesday, January 31, 2006: Another Account of Baseball Played in Pelham in the 1880s Is Uncovered

Thursday, October 6, 2005: Does This Photograph Show Members of the "Pelham Manor Junior Base Ball Team"?

Thursday, September 15, 2005: Newspaper Item Published in 1942 Sheds Light on Baseball in 19th Century Pelham

Thursday, February 10, 2005: New Discoveries Regarding Baseball in 19th Century Pelham

Bell, Blake A., Baseball in Late 19th Century Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 17, Apr. 23, 2004, p. 8, col. 2.

I have located some other brief references that reflect a baseball game scheduled to played on City Island in Pelham on September 18, 1884.  The entire article containing the reference is transcribed below.

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND.

--The Pelhamville Club and the Beldonites will play a game of ball on the Island next Thursday.

--The Beldonites and the Mamaroneck Club played a game of ball on Thursday which was won by the former by a score of 27 to 14.

--The Muffers or Vails have disbanded and the best players have joined the Beldonites, making the nine of that club a great deal stronger.

-- A clam bake was held at Hawkins shipyard on Wednesday.  A number of men calling themselves the bum carpenters of New York were the participants.  A good time was had by all present.

--There were three picnic parties at Von Liehn's pavilion on Sunday from Harlem.  They had a glorious time and kept things lively until they left.  They have promised another visit.

--An evening entertainment will be given by the Bartow Association at Seacord's Hotel on the 16th inst.  It is under the management of Messrs. Hogan, Vicery and Monroe, and will doubtless be a fine affair.

--John Elliot caught a drum fish near Pelham Bridge on Monday weighing 58 1-2 pounds.  He landed him with an ordinary bass rod and line, but he was more than two hours in doing it.  This is the largest fish caught with a line about here for many years.

--There was a large chowder party at Captain Stringham's last Saturday.  They came in a large stage drawn by six horses and judging from the manner in which they hid away the chowder, the captain had his usual success in making it.

--A concert will be given in the Union Chapel, Pelhamville, on Tuesday evening next, for the benefit of the Church of the Redeemer, at which it is expected Mrs. Wynant and the Meiggs' Sisters will take part.  We predict success to the concert as the talent engaged are well known in this vicinity.

Browning has a pretty little bat in a cage at his saloon.  The cage is neatly covered with netting and hid by papers so that the contents cannot be seen.  Those desiring to see the little bat draws aside the covering in a moment proceeds to the bar and asks his friends to take a smile which they do.  All seem amused excepting the new investigator.  No one will tell the kind of a bat the cage contains, but it is surmised that it is quite a regular bat no at all lively."

Source:  Pelham and City Island, New Rochelle Pioneer, Sep. ?, 1884, p. ?, col. 5 (the newspaper did not include the date or page numbers on each page at the time; the page includes a weekly almanac for the week ending Saturday, September 21, 1884).

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1878 Article Describing the "Attractions of Little-Known City Island" in the Town of Pelham

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On August 25, 1878, The New York Times published an interesting article describing the "Attractions of Little-Known City Island" in the Town of Pelham. The article provides a lovely snapshot of an important part of the Town of Pelham at the time -- a part of the Town that New York City annexed about two decades later. Below is the text of the article, followed by a citation to its source:

"THE PEARL OF THE SOUND.
ATTRACTIONS OF LITTLE-KNOWN CITY ISLAND.
A CHARMING COUNTRY LANE - HOME OF THE OYSTER AND CLAM - A TITLED POPULATION - RELIC OF THE MULTUM IN PARVO CLUB - WHERE THE BASS AND BLACKFISH ABOUND.

About a dozen miles from the City, on the Shore Line branch of the Harlem and New-Haven Railway, is a small station called Bartow. It is where one gets off the train to go to City Island. The ride to that little station is a very pleasant one; past long gleaming arms from the Sound, that at high tide reach far up in the land among the meadows of tall, rank, dark green grass; past brooks and mills and hamlets, while the cool salt air comes breezily from the shimmering bosom of the watery expanse gleaming in the distance. It is just after the train's hollow rumble over a long, low bridge that a forest is entered, and there, beneath the shadows of the trees, nestles Bartow. Opposite the station is a pretty little house, where, through a widely-opened door, one may see a table set out with bright service on a cloth of snowy whiteness for a dinner, for which the dinner never seems to come, though alluring signs on the dwelling's front invite the public. A little back in the woods, beside the New-Rochelle road, stands the 'Bartow Hotel,' which appears to do a composite business in beer and horse-shoeing. And those houses, with the depot, of course, are all there is of Bartow.

From the station a road extends, nearly all the way through a shady lane, over to City Island, one of the most delightful short drives -- little over a mile and a half -- that can be found anywhere along the shore. Overhead arch oaks, hickories, maples, and elms. On either side are rough stone walls. Cresting those walls with foliage and snowy bloom lie tangled masses of the flowering vine that people hereabouts call 'Aaron's beard.' Modest yellow and blue flowers nestle at the bases of the rocky piles. Here and there the golden rod uprears its yellow sprays, and on the little knolls beside the road the sumac's crimson tufts flare brilliantly. The sweet breath of the new-mown hay floats up from low meadows, and at the next turning of the road gives place to the saline scent of the still lower lands, where tall grasses leave their roots in the salt tides. Inlets from the Sound flash like burnished silver in the distance, losing themselves amid masses of heavy foliage, and seem little lakes, as they appear from the road. Now and then one catches, among the grasses nourished by those waters, the ruddy glow of the marshmallow's flower. The stubble on a far-off hill appears a sheet of dead gold. In the roadway are strewn forest leaves, already tinted by the frosty breath of Autumn, and from amid the boughs above the songs of birds make sweetest melody. Now and then one gets a glimpse of a stately mansion, far back from the road, to which, from massive iron gateways, run shell or pebble walks and carriage-ways. One of the handsomest of those is the residence of ex-Judge Steers, formerly of New-York, father of Henry Steers, the famous shipbuilder.

And so this charming road continues to the long, low, broad bridge which connects the mainland with City Island. At the mainland end of that bridge is a small hostelry, known as 'Flynn's,' if a curiously-contrived sign made up of oyster-shells is to be accepted as evidence, where anglers come from the City, and small parties of excursionists occasionally from Mount Vernon, Yonkers, and smaller places near by. Facing the other end of the bridge, on the island, is a handsome hotel, erected by Harry Cunningham, the once popular actor, who left the stage and became a still more popular restaurateur in the Bowery. He had great hope of making this a favorite road house; but hardly was it completed when he died, and now it is kept by his brother, who is an invalid and does not wish to be bothered with guests. From the bridge one can enjoy a delightful view of this arm of the Sound which cuts off City, High, and Rat Islands from the mainland. Below the bridge, far as one can see them, stakes mark out the boundaries of allotments of space on the bottom, where different owners have millions of oysters and clams stored away waiting for the New-York market, for this neighborhood is where the finest, fairest, and fattest of East River oysters and the sweetest of small clams are found. Upon the water, and half submerged, are ponderous 'oyster floats,' enormous boxes wherein the shell-fish are heaped by the ton for convenient transfer to the smacks. The tapering masts of scores of shapely little sloops and schooners, riding at anchor further down the stream, are sharply outlined against the sky, while here and there one with snowy wings outspread is to be seen, darting swiftly away, or returning home. Above the bridge can be seen, mostly in the forenoons, many small boats, in which men are going through strange pantomimic action. They seem to be making many obeisances, and waving their arms in fantastic fashion. Upon closer investigation, they prove to be fishermen, operating long tongs and rakes that clutch oysters and clams from the bottom, 20 feet below. The water is so clear that it reflects another sky, as varied and beautiful in its ever-changing tints as that above. The quiet is so profound that one hears the rattle of a few clams dropped from a rake into the bottom of a boat far away, and the ripple of a girl's laughter from another boat beneath the bridge wakes echoes on the shores.

The nearest island to City Island is that denominated High by reason of the attitude of a mass of rugged rocks on its eastern front. Upon those rocks stands a house, once the Summer head-quarters of the now defunct 'Multum in Parvo Club,' an association of journalists and actors, which flourished here some years ago. They leased the island for a term of 10 years -- not yeet expired -- from Mr. Peter V. King, a rich Wall-street merchant. Boyhood's associations have endeared the lonely island to him, and he has been heard to say that 'There is not money enough in New-York to buy it.' There is an excellent spring of cold and pure water upon it, and the western half of it might, with some little trouble, be made productive. A man of means could establish here a most enjoyable Summer residence. Rat Island is simply a mass of rocks. There are said to be numbers of rats on it, but why rats should choose to live there, where they find shelter, and what they get to live on, are all questions which nobody answers definitely, and which must cast a shadow of doubt over the reality of the rodents there. Away, over to the eastward lies Hart's Island, and farther up the Sound is David's Island, from both of which at times one hears, distinct but mellowed by the distance, the music of drum and fife, for on both soldiers are quartered.

City Island is peculiar in many things, but in none more so than in that its men, leaving out of the count a very few professional persons, are all Captains, except two or three, who are Commodores. Mr. Belden, Jay Gould's partner, who owns a magnificent mansion on the lower end of the island, is one of the uncounted ones, and so are D. J. Bacon and a brace of parsons. But, inasmuch as the business of the place is entirely connected with the water either directly or indirectly, everybody nearly has at least one more or less pretenious bouat, and he who owns a boat -- that is, a boat with a sail to it -- is by consequence, a Captain. They seem to draw the line at the possession of a sail. Proprietorship of a row-boat does not invest one with the dignity of a Captaincy, but bore a hole in the front seat of the row-boat, step a little mast in it and fly a small leg-o'-mutton sail therefrom, and the rank is won. When a man gets a lot of sailing boats, like Pell, the famous oysterman -- who is building a great house here, and is said to be worth $1,000,000 -- they call him Commodore. Buty they have no Admirals as yet. A more thoroughly enjoyable place than this in the Summer season cannot be found in the vicinity of New-York, for those who want quiet, coolness, pure health-giving air, and that balmy indefinable sense of rest which is so grateful after the heat, noise, and turmoil of the City. There is absolutely nothing here to remind one that there is a great City within two hours sail, nothing, that is, which recalls the disagreeable features of town-life. No milkman's demoniac yell, no postman's piercing whistle; no rattling carts and rumbling trains and ragmen's clanging bells disturb the Sabbath-like peace that is over all. The avocations of the people are almost entirely pursued out on the water, and on shore the sounds one hears most are the merry voices of children playing on the grass beneath the shade of the elms and poplars along the bank. Sometimes a party of excursionists or picnickers drive over from Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle, or some other town on the mainland, and cross the island to Capt. Charley McLenon's place, where they revel in clam chowder -- for the making of which that place is famous -- roast clams, oysters, and fish. The steamboat Seawanhaka takes some excursionists up there every Sunday, but they are all quiet people, who look for calm pleasures, not the sort of tough citizens who afflict decent folks going to Rockaway and Coney Island. About this season of the year the anglers begin to constitute themselves the principal visiting population of City Island, and long before daylight every morning when the tide serves, numbers of earnest men, laden with fishing-tackle, pocket flasks, and hope, may be seen clustering about Capt. Stringham's place near the bridge, getting boats and informaiton, and setting out to ensnare bass or black-fish. Capt. Stringham knows all about the fish in these waters, just as muh as if he were personally acquainted with them. He can tell when to find the bass at home down in the inlet that runs up to Pelham Bridge, and, by the way, the bass there are now commencing to bite well. He knows, too, just where to place the man who wants blackfish, whether off the big reef above High Island or over the old schooner wreck near Hart's Island, or in any other of 50 places where those excellent fish are just at this season so crowded together that they are popularly supposed to be rubbing the scales off each other. The ways and resorts of the frost-fish, the flounder, and the young bluefish are alike known unto him, and not to him only, but to many City men, for whom this has been a favorite haunt for sport since their boyhood days. By the middle of next month, when there will be frosty mornings, the reefs, and inlets, and shoals in this neighborhood will be a very paradise for skillful anglers, but as yet the water is too warm for much sport with the big fish. Many persons make excellent catches of blackfish with hand-lines from the bridge on frosty mornings at flood tide, but just now the main captures effected there are toadfish, sea-spiders, and begalls -- and it may be casually remarked that, if there is anything more exasperating than a creditor, it is that abominable and useless little begall. When the time comes, say in a fortnight from now, for using the information, anglers who propose trying those waters for the first time may be interested to know that they need not load themselves with bait in the City. At low tide they can pick up on the beach any desired quantity of 'fiddlers;' with little trouble can dig for themslves all the soft clams and sand-worms they may want, and 'shedders' are almost as easily got.

Malarial fever and dyspepsia are unknown on City Island. Dr. Bacon, a resident there, says that he never expects any other practice than births and accidents, and the latter are very scarce. Taken all in all this is surely the choicest spot near the City for residence, and were it better known, and the facilities for reaching it so extended that it would not be practically cut off from the rest of the world after the 6 o'clock train, it would certainly ere long be covered with villas and gardens."

Source: The Pearl of the Sound. Attractions of Little-Known City Island, N.Y. Times, Aug. 25, 1878, p. 12.

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