Historic Pelham

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

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

More About Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel, and Colonial Inn


A spectacular mansion known as Hawkswood once stood on Pelham Neck overlooking Long Island Sound and City Island.  Hawkswood was built in the 1820s by Elisha W. King.  King was a successful and wealthy New York City lawyer who practiced with Peter W. Radcliff in a law office at 27 Beekman Street in Manhattan.  King also served as a City Alderman for more than twenty years.  King also served as a member of the New York State Assembly (1813-14). 

Late in his life in about the 1820s, Elisha King built his lavish mansion in Pelham on Pelham Neck (today's Rodman's Neck) opposite City Island.  King reportedly purchased nearby High Island in 1829 and quarried stones from the island which he used in the construction of a foundation for his country mansion.  

Hawkswood faced the Long Island Sound.  Its grounds were nearly as lovely as the mansion itself.  In the 1881 edition of Bolton's History of Westchester County, Bolton noted that the "grounds, containing a great variety of choice trees, were laid out by the celebrated gardener, Andre Parmenteer." Bolton, C.W., ed., The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement To the Present Time Carefully Revised by its Author By the Late Rev. Robert Bolton, Vol. II, p. 71 (NY, NY: Chas. F. Roper, 1881).  King built his mansion on a lovely little knoll that looked over the waters of the Sound and City Island.  Once his mansion was built, King retired there and lived in it until his death in 1836.  Following King's death, his Pelham estate was sold.



"VIEW FROM COLONIAL INN.  CITY ISLAND, N. Y."
Postcard View Looking from Hawkswood in About 1917.

Today's Historic Pelham Blog article reproduces an advertisement published in 1853 offering the Hawkswood estate for sale.  The advertisement is significant for a number of reasons.  It reveals how much it cost King to build the mansion.  It reaffirms that Martin Euclid Thompson was the architect and builder of the mansion and that famed landscape architect André Parmentier laid out the grounds.  

Hawkswood clearly was a lavish and stunning master work designed by Martin Euclid Thomson, about whom I have written before.  See Fri., Feb. 14, 2014:  Martin Euclid Thompson, the Architect of the Pelham Mansion Known as Hawkswood and the Marshall Mansion.  According to the advertisement, it cost $30,000 to build the Hawkswood mansion.  That would be roughly the equivalent of about $1.31 million in today's dollars.

I never have written about the famed landscape architect, André Joseph Ghislain Parmentier, who laid out the grounds of the estate.  Parmentier was born July 3, 1780 in Enghien, Belgium.  He and his wife emigrated to the United States in 1821 and lived in Brooklyn.  He was an active and successful horticulturalist who created a magnificent garden of ornamental trees and shrubs and greenhouse plants that he sold from "The Horticultural and Botanic Garden of Brooklyn."  

In 1828, Parmentier published an important horticultural catalog entitled "Periodical catalogue of fruit & ornamental trees and shrubs, green-house plants, etc.. Cultivated and for sale at The Horticultural and Botanic Garden of Brooklyn, corner of the Jamaica and Flatbush roads, about 2 miles from the city of New-York."  The publication included a plan and description of his famed Brooklyn garden and likely caught the attention of Elisha W. King who hired Parmentier to lay out the grounds of his new estate.

The advertisement published in 1853 makes brief reference to Parmentier's work on the estate.  It says "The surrounding lawn, consisting of about twelve acres was laid out and planned with American and European ornamental trees of every description, by the late Andrew Parmentier."

The advertisement also sheds light on some of the grounds and outbuildings associated with the mansion.  According to its text:  "The Farm House, Barns, and all necessary outbuildings, built in the best manner, are in complete order, and are conveniently near the house, being effectually screened by ornamental shrubbery.  The farm consists of about 60 acres of the richest land, and walled in by stone fences.  --  The waters of Long Island Sound surround the estate on three sides, presenting some of the finest views in America, and affording an excellent opportunity for yachting, fishing, &c."

An image of the advertisement appears immediately below.  It is followed by a transcription of its text to facilitate search and a bibliographic reference with link to the source.




1853 Advertisement Offering Hawkswood Estate for Sale.
Source:  FOR SALE [Advertisement], Morning Courier and New-York
Enquirer, Apr. 4, 1853, Vol. XLVIII, No. 8047, p. 5, col. 7.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

"FOR SALE.
-----
COUNTRY SEAT FOR SALE -- THE ELEGANT residence of the late ELISHA W. KING, known as Hawkswood, situated in Pelham, Westchester County, New York.  The mansion was designed and erected by the eminent architect, Martin E. Thompson, Esq., at a cost of $30,000.  The surrounding lawn, consisting of about twelve acres was laid out and planned with American and European ornamental trees of every description, by the late Andrew Parmentier.  The Farm House, Barns, and all necessary outbuildings, built in the best manner, are in complete order, and are conveniently near the house, being effectually screened by ornamental shrubbery.  The farm consists of about 60 acres of the richest land, and walled in by stone fences.  --  The waters of Long Island Sound surround the estate on three sides, presenting some of the finest views in America, and affording an excellent opportunity for yachting, fishing, &c.  There are few, if any country seats in the United States, more beautifully located, elegant, and altogether desirable in every respect, than Hawkswood, the immediate neighborhood being exclusively occupied by the country seats of some of the first families in the State.  The access to the city is easy and frequent; a steamboat landing and a station of the Boston, New Haven and New York Railroad being within a distance of three miles, and a new track will soon be laid, to pass within three quarters of a mile of the premises.  For further particulars apply to

P. V. KING, 41 South street,
J. B. KING, Brooklyn,
B. W. BONNEY, 38 Wall street
Or to E. H. LUDLOW, 11 Wall st.

ap4 2taw1m     (B698)"

Source:  FOR SALE [Advertisement], Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, Apr. 4, 1853, Vol. XLVIII, No. 8047, p. 5, col. 7.



"G. Kotzenberg's 'Colonial Inn' City Island, New York"
A Post Card View of Hawkswood On Pelham Neck,
Overlooking City Island.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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I have written about the Hawkswood / Marshall Mansion on other occasions.  Below are a few linked examples.

Thu., Jan. 14, 2016:  1846 Notice of Executor's Sale of the Estate of Elisha W. King Who Owned Estate in Pelham.

Tue., May 19, 2015:  Advertisements for Two Nineteenth Century Sales of Large Properties on Rodman's Neck in the Town of Pelham.

Fri., Feb. 14, 2014:  Martin Euclid Thompson, the Architect of the Pelham Mansion Known as Hawkswood and the Marshall Mansion.

Mon., Feb. 10, 2014:  Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel and Colonial Inn, Once Stood in Pelham Near City Island.

Thu., Feb. 13, 2014:  More Information About Elisha W. King, the Builder and Original Owner of Hawkswood

Wed., Apr. 5, 2006:  "Hawkswood", Later Known as the Marshall Mansion on Rodman's Neck in Pelham

Thu., Jun. 28, 2007:  19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King

Fri., May 07, 2010:  Image of Hawkswood Published in 1831

Thu., June 28, 2007:  19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King

Mon., Apr. 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

More Information About Elisha W. King, the Builder and Original Owner of Hawkswood

Recently I have devoted much effort to assembling and distilling information about Hawkswood, the Greek Revival mansion that once stood in Pelham, as well as information about the architect and early owners of Hawkswood.  For examples of prior postings I have published about the mansion, see:

Mon., Feb. 10, 2014:  Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel and Colonial Inn, Once Stood in Pelham Near City Island

Wed., Apr. 5, 2006: "Hawkswood", Later Known as the Marshall Mansion on Rodman's Neck in Pelham.  

Thu., Jun. 28, 2007: 19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King

Fri., May 07, 2010: Image of Hawkswood Published in 1831

Thu., June 28, 2007: 19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King

Mon., Apr. 26, 2010: Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.  

Today's Historic Pelham Blog posting provides a detailed biography of the man who first built Hawkswood:  Elisha W. King.  Friday's posting will finish the series by identifying the architect of the mansion and providing a detailed biography of that gentleman.  



Detail from Photograph of Hawkswood (aka the Marshall Mansion) During the 1930s.


Elisha William King was a successful New York City lawyer and a City Alderman in New York City for more than twenty years.  He built the estate known as Hawkswood in the Town of Pelham near City Island Bridge during the 1820s.  

King was born on March 19, 1781 in Lyme, Connecticut.  He was the penultimate child of the nine children born to Jeremiah King and his wife, Deborah Dominy King.  Elisha W. King's parents were residents of Long Island when the Revolutionary War began, but fled to Lyme, Connecticut when the British took possession of parts of Long Island early in the War.  During the family's period as refugees in Lyme, Elisha was born.  See Elisha W. King, Esq. in Thompson, Benjamin F., The History of Long Island From Its Discovery And Settlement, to the Present Time, Vol. II, pp. 524-25 (2d Ed., NY, NY:  Gould, Banks & Co. 1843) (hereinafter "Thompson II"). King's ancestry has been described as follows:

"[Elisha W. King] was the son of Jeremiah, grandson of William, and great-grandson of John King, who emigrated from England to Salem, Mass., in 1650, came to Long Island in 1654, and settled at Southampton, from whence he removed to Southold in 1664, after the conquest of New Netherlands by the English.  His wife was Frances Ludlow, whom, it is believed, he married in New England, and by whom he had issue three sons, John, Samuel and William, and six daughters.  These sons purchased a part of Oyster Ponds, where they settled.  Jeremiah, one of the sons of the said William, married a Miss Dominy of Easthampton, by whom he had nine sons . . ."  Thomson II, p. 524.  

Several of Elisha King's brothers were sea-faring men.  This apparently influenced King as a youngster.  He "likewise manifested a strong propensity for the same employment."  Thomson II, p. 525.  Although King's parents attempted to dissuade him from going to sea, he made an attempt to accompany one of his brothers on a "distant voyage."  This attempt turned out to be quite fateful as it led King to the discovery of an entirely different line of employment -- one in which he eventually succeeded mightily.  The story is told that young Elisha King ignored his parents' wishes and:  

"He traveled to New York, and went, with his brother, to the office of Francis Lynch, Esq., a practising [sic] lawyer in that city, to have some necessary papers drawn for his protection as an American citizen, in case of capture.  His personal appearance made such a favorable impression upon Mr. Lynch, as induced him to request the brother to leave the youth with him, till he should return from the present voyage, when, if still inclined to the seas, he might accompany him on the next.  The boy was then but twelve years old, and his new friend treated him with so much kindness and affection, that he became attached to him, and was, at the time, so much pleased with reading law, that he abandoned all thoughts of the sea, and resolved to make the law his profession.  For the more than parental attention of his excellent instructor, Mr. King was ever most grateful and always spoke of his professional preceptor with affectionate respect.  So assiduously did he apply himself to his juridical studies, and so great was his proficiency, that at the age of nineteen years, he felt himself qualified to pass an examination for admission to the bar.  But the rules of the supreme court required all candidates for this purpose to be of the age of twenty-one years.  In this emergency, Mr. King applied for diretion and advice to his friend, the late Col. Richard Varick, a veteran lawyer of the day, stating his wishes, and the obstacle that presented to prevent their gratification.  The answer he received from the venerable counsellor, reminded him that the first duty of a lawyer was to keep council, to which he added, 'keep your own council, and if no one asks your age, you need not disclose it.'  It is almost needless to say that this sage advice was strictly obeyed, and the applicant was admitted to the bar in the year 1800."  Thomson II, p. 525.

Indeed, records confirm that Elisha W. King was admitted as an "attorney at law" in New York County in 1800, a "counsellor at law" in New York County in 1806, and a "counsellor in chancery" in New York County in 1825.  See Skinner, Roger Sherman, The New-York State Register, For the Year of Our Lord 1830, the Fifty-Fourth Year of American Independence, with a Concise United States Calendar, p. 205 (NY, NY: Clayton & Van Norden, 1830).  

Shortly after he was admitted to the New York bar, Elisha W. King married Margaret Vandervoort (Born about 1783 - Died April 14, 1863).  Elisha was only twenty years old at the time.  Margaret, who was about 17 when the couple married, was a daughter of Anne Kouvenhoven Vandervoort and Peter Vandervoort of Bedford, Long Island, "a gentleman of great respectability, and who had frequently represented Kings county, in the legislature of the state."  Thomson II, at p. 525.  Margaret Vandervoort King's portrait, painted by famed artist Samuel Morse, is in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museums, control number IAP 83760060. The couple had at least eight children:  Sarah Chandler King, William Sterling King, John Bowne King, Peter Vandervoort King, Theodore Frederick King, Eliza Antonia King, Percy Rivington King, and Helen Frederika King.

King's marriage connected him with Peter Vandervoort and the well-connected Vandervoort family.  As one biographer has said:  "Perhaps no event in the life of Mr. King more advanced his happiness and success than this first and most important one.  By this means, he not only became connected with a family of great influence,, but found a companion every way qualified to aid his onward course to reputation and fortune.  She even assisted him in copying papers, when the urgency of his professional business made it necessary, and he ever found her, as she should be, his first, best friend in every emergency."  Thomson II, at p. 525.  

King practiced with Peter W. Radcliff in a law office at 27 Beekman Street in Manhattan for some period of time.  His law practice took off.  "As an industrious and sound lawyer, Mr. King rose rapidly into public notice, and acquired in a short time a high reputation, and a profitable professional business.  He was highly esteemed for his integrity, and a nice sense of honor, in all his engagements, and strict fidelity to the interests of his employers.  Few men possessed a more pleasing or effective elocution, and his persuasive eloquence procured him great success before a jury of his fellow citizens.  His personal appearance was highly prepossessing, and he possessed a voice which was harmony itself."  Thomson II, at p. 525-26.  

Elisha W. King clearly was a talented and respected attorney.  Indeed, he was remembered for his talents and integrity by those who knew his work for decades after his death in 1836.  See, e.g., Silliman, Benjamin D., Personal Reminiscences of Sixty Years at the New York Bar in McAdam, David, et al., eds., History of the Bench and Bar of New York, Vol. I, pp. 226 & 243 (NY, NY: NY History Company, 1897) (from an address by Benjamin D. Silliman at a complimentary dinner tendered to him by the bar of New York and Brooklyn, May 24, 1889, the sixtieth anniversary of his admission to practice). See also Chester, Alden & Williams, Edwin Melvin, Courts and Lawyers of New York: A History, 1609-1925, Vol. 1, p. 924 & n. 25 (The American Historical Society, Inc., 1925).

Throughout his illustrious legal career and even after, Elisha W. King was very involved in public service, philanthropic initiatives, and corporate endeavors. For example, in 1816, King gathered with others to participate in the first meeting that led to the establishment of the New-York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb.  See Twenty-Fifth Annual Report of the Directors of the New-York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb - Appendix No. 1: List of Officers and Directors of the New-York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, from 1817 to 1844 in pp. 31-33 (also noting Elisha W. King was deceased as of the publication date of 1844).  King served as a Director of the New-York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb 1818-1819.  See Picket, Albert & Picket, John W., The Academician, Containing The Elements of Scholastic Science, and the Outlines of Philosophic Education, Predicated on the Analysis of the Human Mind and Exhibiting the Improved Methods of Instruction, pp. 137-38 (NY, NY: Charles N. Baldwin, 1820). He remained involved with the institution in his later years.  See Skinner, Roger Sherman, The New-York State Register, For the Year of Our Lord 1830, the Fifty-Fourth Year of American Independence, with a Concise United States Calendar, p. 205 (NY, NY: Clayton & Van Norden, 1830) (noting that King was elected as 2nd Ward School Fund Commissioner for the New-York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in May 1829).  

King also served as a trustee and stockholder of the Manhattan Company in 1833. He held 50 shares on Sep. 1, 1833 and 50 shares on Oct. 1, 1833. See List of the Stockholders of the Manhattan Company, furnished in conformity with a resolution of the Senate of the United States passed on the 11th December, 1833, and by order of a circular of the Treasury Department, dated on the 16th December, 1833 in Public Documents Printed by Order of The Senate of the United States, First Session of the Twenty -Third Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 1, 1834, and in the Fifty-Eighth Year of the Independence of the United States in Ten Volumes, Vol. II, pp. 58 & 64 (Washington, D.C.: Duff Green, 1834).  Likewise he served as a Director of Tradesmen’s Bank (177 Chatham Street, NY, NY) in 1833. The bank was incorporated in 1823 for 10 years and the incorporation was renewed in 1831 for 24 years. It was capitalized with 400,000 through shares sold at 40 dollars each. Williams, Edwin, ed., New-York As It is, In 1833; And Citizens’ Advertising Directory, pp. 97-98 (NY, NY: J. Disturnell, 1833).

Elisha W. King made his mark on the City of New York through nearly two decades of service as a City Alderman and member of the New York City Common Council, a predecessor to today's City Council.  In addition to years of dedicated legislative and committee work as a member of the Council, as an experienced "elder statesman" member of the Council he often represented the City in ceremonial events.  For example, in 1825 King was a member of the Common Council of the City of New York. With the opening of the Erie Canal on October 26, 1825, celebrations were held throughout the State of New York. As part of the celebration, King and William A. Davis “journeyed to Buffalo to extend the hospitalities of New York City to the committees along the whole line of the canal; Henry I. Wycoff and Philip Hone were sent to meet King and Davis with the city’s guests as they should enter the Hudson at Albany, and provide facilities for their passage down the river.”  Lamb, Mrs. Martha J. & Harrison, Mrs. Burton, History of the City of New York – Its Origin, Rise and Progress, Vol. 3, p. 696-97 (A.S. Barnes & Co., 1877-1896).  Likewise, King was among those forming a corporation committee representing the City of New York in the arrangement of a banquet on May 4, 1813 at Washington Hall in Manhattan to honor Captain James Lawrence who commanded the Hornet during the War of 1812 and had a series of naval victories over the British including one against the British frigate Peacock off the South American coast on Feb. 22, 1813. See id., p. 624.  

One biographer has written about King's service in the municipal councils of the City of New York as follows:

"The services of Mr. King in the municipal councils of the city, will long be remembered.  Elected by no party, he was the representative of his ward.  Firm, judicious, independent and conscientious, he was swayed by no selfish motive; unfettered by party trammels, he followed the dictates of his own good sense, in the discharge of all his public duties.  He was elected assistant alderman of the fourth ward in 1810, and was continued till 1816, when he was chosen to the legislature.  He was afterwards elected alderman, and to the assembly again in 1825.  One of the most important and exciting questions discussed in the common council, while he was a member, was that of the law which prohibited interments in the city, in which he took a prominent and decided stand in favor of the act; and he lived to see it established, with the approbation of a great majority of citizens.  The dignity and sanctity of the pulpit, the talents of the medical profession, the rights of property, the prejudices and sympathies of the people, and the power of family pride, were arrayed against the law and its advocate; and though he strongly sympathized with those who desire, 'when life's fitful dream is o'er,' to repose with their kindred dead, yet he was not moved from his purpose, considering the safety of the living of more value than a regard for the last resting place of those who die."  Thomson II, p. 526.

Elisha W. King clearly had a profoundly positive impact on those with whom he worked and those whom he came to know during his legal career.  One of his nearly life-long friends was quoted saying about King:

"The late Hon. John T. Irving, whose acquaintance with Mr. King, for more than 30 years, was of the most intimate kind, and a person well qualified to judge, thus speaks of his friend.  'Mr. King's mind (says he) was of a varied character; for although his education had been limited, he had a natural tast for works of art, and possessed a genius which was original and refined.  This appeared espectially in his pleadings at the bar, which displayed great force and originality of thought.  There was nothing common place about him; he won the respect of his competitors by the great strenght and resources of his intellect.  Besides this vigor of understanding, which appeared to enlighten whatever it touched, his life was marked by a purity of purpose and by a spirit which was above every thing that was grovelling and mercenary.  He was a liberal practitioner, pursuing it with an elevation of mind, and a courtesy of manner toward his brethren of the bar, which soon obtained their confidence and esteem, and which he never lost.  Industrious, persevering, temperate and frugal, his reputation increased, and wealth flowed in upon him with an unfailing stream.  'Riches altered him not; they only enabled him to follow out more fully the benevolent impulses of his heart; his charity was 'fertile as the Nile's dark waters, undiscovered as their source.' And many objects of his bounty knew not whence relief came, until death stopped the source.'"  Thomson II, p. 526.

Throughout nearly his entire adult life, King was a Mason, having joined the organization as early as 1801.  He climbed the ranks of the organization until he became the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York in 1826.  He served in that role until the following year when he was renominated for further service but stepped aside to allow a colleague to take on the role.  King took the degrees of Knighthood in the organization at the same time as the Marquis de Lafayette, a fellow Mason, during General Lafayette's visit to the United States in 1825.  There is an interesting story of a Masonic relic that passed through King's hands at the time he served as Grand Master in New York.  The story is quoted in full, immediately below:

"AN INTERESTING RELIC.
Vergennes, August 17, 1854.

CHARLES W. MOORE, Esq.-Dear Sir and Br:-I have thought the following incidents might possess interest enough for publication.  

A few months since Mrs. Ann Maria Sherman, of this city, presented to me, as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Vermont, a very splendid MASTER's APRON, for which, as well on my own behalf as that of my Brethren, I desire to make this public acknowledgment.  

Mrs. Sherman is the wife of Captain Iahaziel Sherman, of this city, and the daughter of Elisha W. King, Esq. formerly Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York.  

Brother King became a Mason as early as 1801, and was Grand Master of New York, in 1826 and 1827.  He took the degrees of Knighthood at the same time with Gen. Lafayette, during the visit of that Brother to this country in 1825.

During Brother King's Grand Mastership, Br. John Jacob Astor presented him with the Apron which Mrs. Sherman has now presented to me.  It was sent to Br. King with a letter of which the following is a copy, and the original of which was presented me with the Apron and is now in my possession.

'DEAR SIR:-I take the liberty to send you an Apron, which I hope you will do me the favor to accept, and to believe me to be, very respectfully, 

Dear sir, your obedient servant,

JOHN JACOB ASTOR.

E.W. King, Esq.                April 18, 1827.'

Brother King resigned the office of Grand Master in June, 1827, in favor of Br. Stephen Van Rensselaer, and on that occasion the following proceedings were had in the Grand Lodge of New York, as appears by an original copy from the records now in my possession.

Grand Lodge of the State of New York.

On motion - Resolved, That the R.W. Oliver M. Lownds, R.W. Welcome Esleeck, and the W. Brs. Lebbeus Chapman, Henry Marsh and John O. Cole, be a committee to convey to the M.W.P.G.M. Elisha W. King, the thanks of this Grand Lodge for the able and disinterested manner in which he has discharged the duties of the Chair, and to request his acceptance of a piece of plate, with a suitable inscription, in testimony of the high respect entertained for his services.

O.M. LOWNDS, G. Secretary.

Grand Master King died on the first of December 1836, and it gives me great pleasure to be able to preserve this evidence of the high esteem in which he was held by his Brethren.

The Apron presented is precisely such a one as such a man as Brother Astor might be expected to present to his Masonic Brother and personal friend - rich but not tawdry.  It is wrought wholly by the needle in silk and gold and silver tissue, upon a beautiful satin, with a very choice selection of Masonic emblems.  It is not overloaded, and the selection seems to me to be made in the purest Masonic taste.  The All-Seeing Eye is more perfect than any thing I have ever seen accomplished by needle-work; the coffin is perfect; the sprig of acacia appears as if just plucked from its native tree, and it is difficult to convince ones self that the three lesser lights are not actually burning.  Most Fraternally yours,

PHILIP C. TUCKER"

Tucker, Philip C., An Interesting Relic in The Freemason's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XIII, No. 11, Sep. 1, 1854, pp. 321 & 347.

In 1826, Elisha W. King ran for Congress within District New York 3, a plural district with three seats in Congress.  Of the five candidates for the three seats, all three Jacksonian Party incumbents held their Congressional seats in the election.  Elisha W. King finished fifth among the five candidates with only 13.1% of the vote.  See United States House of Representatives Elections, 1826, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_1826 (visited Feb. 12, 2014).  

It seems that after his loss in the Congressional campaign of 1826, Elisha W. King settled for lesser office.  He served as Justice of the Peace (together with Joseph Lyon) in the Town of Pelham, Westchester County, New York, where he built Hawkswood.  See Skinner, Roger Sherman, The New-York State Register, For the Year of Our Lord 1830, the Fifty-Fourth Year of American Independence, with a Concise United States Calendar, p. 280 (NY, NY: Clayton & Van Norden, 1830).

According to some sources, the same year (1827), King retired from the practice of law.  Yet, King is still shown in the New York City Directory of 1830-31 as an attorney and counselor with an address located at 27 Beekman in Manhattan.  See, e.g., 1830-1831 Longworth’s New-York Directory for the 55th Year of American Independence, p. 389.  In any event, at about this time, King moved to his country home known as Hawkswood in the Town of Pelham near City Island Bridge.  

King remained at Hawkswood as a retiree until November 1836 when he became ill.  He traveled to the home of his son, Dr. Theodore F. King, in Brooklyn where he sought medical relief. He remained under his son's care for a short time and died in his son's home on December 1 or December 3, 1836. Thomson II, p. 527.  

King's widow, Margaret Vandrvoort King, died at the age of 80 at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. A.T. Watson, on Staten Island.  See Died . . . King, N.Y. Times, Apr. 17, 1863.  

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Monday, February 10, 2014

Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel and Colonial Inn, Once Stood in Pelham Near City Island

During much of its storied history, the Town of Pelham was the site of many grand country estates built by wealthy New Yorkers seeking respite from the nearby metropolis of New York City.  For example, Hunters Mansion, on Hunters Island, was considered one of the grandest mansions in the United States where John Hunter maintained one of the nation's finest private art collections and entertained illustrious guests including President Martin Van Buren.  Other such showplace mansions included the Bartow-Pell Mansion, the Ogden Mansion, the De Lancey Mansion (also known as Greystones), and the subject of today's Historic Pelham Blog Posting:  Hawkswood (also known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel, and the Colonial Inn).  

Hawkswood was built in the 19th century by Elisha W. King.  King was a successful and wealthy New York City lawyer who practiced with Peter W. Radcliff in a law office at 27 Beekman Street in Manhattan.  King also served as a City Alderman for more than twenty years.  See Special Meeting - Board of Assistant Alderman - Monday, December 5, 1836, p. 3 in Journal and Documents of the Board of Assistants of the City of New-York, Vol. 9 from 28th November to 9th May, 1837 (Printed by Order of the Board, 1837) (resolution upon King's death acknowledging his service for more than twenty years as a member of the Common Council, a predecessor to today's City Council).  As one would expect, King appears throughout the Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York on countless occasions.  See Minutes Of The Common Council Of The City Of New York 1784-1831 Volume X - September 7, 1818 to February 28, 1820, pp. 1, 14, 22, 35, 59, 66, 74, etc.  (NY, NY:  City of New York 1917).  King also served as a member of the New York State Assembly (1813-14).  

Late in his life in about the 1820s, Elisha King built a lavish mansion in Pelham on Rodman's Neck (today's Pelham Neck) opposite City Island.  According to one source, King purchased nearby High Island in 1829 and quarried stones from the island "which he used in the construction of a foundation" for his country mansion.  See Twomey, Bill, The Bronx, in Bits and Pieces, p. 83 (Lincoln, NE:  iUniverse, Inc. 2003).  

Hawkswood faced the Long Island Sound.  Its grounds were nearly as lovely as the mansion itself.  In the 1881 edition of Bolton's History of Westchester County, Bolton noted that the "grounds, containing a great variety of choice trees, were laid out by the celebrated gardener, Andre Parmenteer."  Bolton, C.W., ed., The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement To the Present Time Carefully Revised by its Author By the Late Rev. Robert Bolton, Vol. II, p. 71 (NY, NY: Chas. F. Roper, 1881).  King built his mansion on a lovely little knoll that looked over the waters of the Sound and City Island.

Once his mansion was built, King retired there and lived in it until his death in 1836.  Following King's death, his Pelham estate was sold at auction at the Merchants' Exchange in Manhattan at Noon on December 1, 1846.  See Business Notices, New-York Tribune, Dec. 1, 1846, p. 2, col. 7.  See also Executor's Sale, Estate of the Late Elisha W. King, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov. 10, 1846, p. 3. and Executor's Sale, Estate of the Late Elisha W. King, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov. 13, 1846, p. 3:  

"EXECUTOR'S SALE. - ESTATE OF THE LATE ELISHA W. KING. - The subscriber will sell at auction on Tuesday, 1st December next, at 12 o'clock, at the Merchants' Exchange (ANTHONY J. BLEECKER, Auctioneer,) the following property belonging to the estate of the late Elisha W. King, viz: . . . . 

Also, 80 acres of fine land beautifully situated on Rodman's Neck, in the town of Pelham, county of Westchester, being a part of the homestead of the late Elisha W. King. The land fronts on East Chester Bay, and affords several beautiful building spots, with a fine water prospect and privileges. It is bounded north and east by the main road, south by property of Samuel Bowne, Esq., and west by the Bay. The premises will be sold in one or more parcels. . . . . 

THEODORE F. KING, 

n7 2awts Executor, &c of Elisha W. King, dec'd."

Levin Rothrock Marshall bought the grand home and the eighty-acre estate on which it stood for $30,000.  The home became known as the "Marshall Mansion."  The area at the western end of City Island Bridge near the mansion became known as "Marshall's Corner."  



Detail from Page 35, Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity, 1868
(Published by Beers, Ellis & Soule, New York) ("City Island, Pelham Township, 
Westchester Co., N.Y. with Town of Pelham, Wetchester Co., N.Y.")
Shows Estate of L.R. Marshall Known as "Hawkswood"

Levin R. Marshall  was originally from Virginia.  He became a successful banker in the river city of Natchez, Mississippi.  He invested in cotton plantations, a hotel, and a steamboat.  Five of his plantations, totaling 14,400 acres, were located in Adams County, Mississippi and in Louisiana.  He owned 817 slaves in 1860 and lived on an estate known as "Richmond" just south of Natchez.  Marshall was a millionaire -- "one of only 35 millionaires in the entire country" at the time.  See Richmond Plantation, Sankofagen Wiki, available at http://sankofagen.pbworks.com/w/page/14230765/Richmond%20Plantation (visited Feb. 7, 2014).  Levin R. Marshall (1800-1870) was:

"a significant figure in the economic history of Natchez.  His vast fortune was made from banking and commerce and from the extensive agricultural investments he made in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.  Although powerful through wealth, Marshall never held political office, and his only recorded civic activity took place in 1825 when he led a group of children to welcome the Marquis de Lafayette to Natchez. . . . Marshall was born in Alexandria, Virginia,, and migrated to the newly admitted state of Mississippi when he was seventeen.  He settled in Woodville and began his business career as cashier of the Bank of Woodville.  In 1826 he married Maria Chotard, whose family was among the wealthiest and most aristrocratic in the state.  In 1831, he was appointed cashier of the Natchez branch of the Bank of the United States.  He established his residence at Richmond the next year.  After the charter of the Bank of the United States was allowed by the hostile Jackson administration to expire in 1836, Marshall was one of several prominent businessmen to establish the Commercial Bank of Natchez, and he served as its first president.  Another group of financiers, of which Marshall was a member, formed the Natchez Steam Packet Company in 1838 to provide planters with a means of transporting their cotton directly to the European markets.  Like many of his contemporaries, Marshall invested heavily in agriculture, and, by the outbreak of the Civil War,, he had amassed immense holdings totaling over 25,000 acres in three states. . . . In Adams County, Mississippi, alone, Marshall owned 2,500 acres worked by over 150 slaves, with another 32 servants at Richmond. . . . The value of his 5,250 acres in Louisiana sugar production was estimated to be $382,500 in 1860. . . . Other investments which kept Marshall in the forefront of financial activities included ownership of the fashionable Mansion House hotel in Natchez . . . and part ownership of the local merchandising firm of Marshall, Reynolds, and Company.  A contemporary biographical sketch said of Marshall:  'He began for himself with no capital but by his untiring industry and excellent business ability he became a leader in financial circles in the palmiest days of Natchez.' . . .After Marshall's death in 1870, Richmond became the property of his widow."  

Source:  U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, Section 8 Statement of Significance (June 12, 1978). 

It seems that Levin R. Marshall may have been attracted to purchase Hawkswood to serve as his summer home because it reminded him so much of the renovated plantation home he had acquired and redesigned near Natchez, Mississippi known as "Richmond."  When the two are compared from early images, there is an architectural resemblance.  



Above:  Detail from Engraving of Hawkswood Published in 1831
Below:  Detail from Early 20th Century Post Card Showing Richmond Near Natchez

During the mid-19th century, as Pelham and the City Island area became a popular recreational and tourist destination.  The Vickery Brothers saw an entrepreneurial opportunity and opened a stage coach service.  Robert Vickery operated the stagecoach that ran from City Island to Mt. Vernon before the establishment of Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line.  See Scott, Catherine A., Images of America: City Island And Orchard Beach, p. 43 (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing 1999).

As improving transportation made it easier for the masses of New York City to reach Pelham and City Island, the popularity of the area as a recreational destination exploded.  After Bartow Station opened making it easier to get to the area by train, horse-drawn street cars replaced the stagecoach line in about 1887.  The horse cars ran on tracks and carried passengers from Bartow Station to the Marshall Mansion where livery service was available.  Id.   Later the horse-drawn street car line was extended along City Island Avenue to the Grace Episcopal Church on Pilot Street.  Id.  The area where the horse cars stopped on the Pelham Bay Park side of the City Island Bridge came to be known as "Marshall Corners" for obvious reasons.  

The Ogden family owned a number of homes in the Town of Pelham very near Hawkswood including one on the easterly island of the Twin Islands and another at Pelham Bridge on the Pelham side of Pelham Bay.  One of Levin R. Marshall's daughters, Josephine E. Marshall, by his second wife, married a member of the Ogden family of Pelham:  John Routh Ogden.  

Levin R. Marshall died in the mansion while visiting his summer home on July 24, 1870.  As part of its effort to develop the area as Pelham Bay Park, the City of New York thereafter purchased the Marshall estate in 1888 although the property was not maintained thereafter with the attention to detail and loving care that had been lavished on it for many decades.  Bolton wrote about the Marshall Mansion in the 1881 edition of his History of Westchester County published after his death saying:

"Hawkwood, the residence of the late Elisha King, Esq., is now owned by the widow of the late Levin R. Marshall, and adjoins the property of Captain J.R. Steers, on the south. The house is built of stone, in the Grecian style, and presents a fine front of columns to the water. The beauty of the scenery in this vicinity is greatly heightened by the close proximity of City Island, and the richly wooded shores of the Point. The grounds, containing a great variety of choice trees,, were laid out by the celebrated gardener, Andre Parmenteer. Nearly adjoining Hawkwood, in the south-west, is Longwood, the residence of A. Newbold Morris, Esq." 

Source: Bolton, C.W., ed., The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement To the Present Time Carefully Revised by its Author By the Late Rev. Robert Bolton, Vol. II, p. 71 (NY, NY: Chas. F. Roper, 1881).

By 1910 there were great expectations for the development of City Island and the area near City Island Bridge.  Thus, in its Fifteen Annual Report, the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society wrote:

"Marshall Mansion: Opposite the upper end of City island, and surrounded by a forest of its own, the white Marshall mansion rears its stately walls, and presents in its handsome Grecian columns a most striking and picturesque appearance. The name, 'Hawkswood,' still clings to the place, and it will not be long before the snail-like horse car of a by-gone age will give place to the modern monorail system now under construction, whose dazzling cars are expected to fly past the Marshall mansion at 135 miles an hour." 

Source:  Fifteenth Annual Report, 1910, of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, p. 65 (Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, Printers 1910) (transmitted to the Legislature of the State of New York Apr. 19, 1910).



Undated Post Card Showing the "Colonial Inn" in About 1915.

Bill Twomey wrote about the later years of the Marshall Mansion in his lovely book The Bronx In Bits And Pieces.  He wrote:

"The city leased the building as a restaurant in 1913, and it became known as the Colonial Inn.  It was soon discovered by visitors to City Island and became quite popular.  Gas was piped into the building in 1931 to enhance their cooking facilities.  Age, however, was taking its toll on the old mansion, and it soon became uneconomical to maintain and it was forced to close.  It was razed in 1937 and now remains only in old photographs or in the memories of those who dined here during its heyday."

Source:  Twomey, Bill, The Bronx In Bits And Pieces, pp. 39-40 (Bloomington, IN: Rooftop Publishing, 2007).

Below are a few additional images of Hawkswood over a number of years, each followed by a citation to its source.



Hawkswood in 1831.
Source:  Atkinson's Casket Or Gems of Literature, Wit and Sentiment, 
No. 10, p. 457 (Oct. 1831) (image appears between pages 456 and 457).

The image above appears with the following description of the estate:

"PELHAM - RODMAN'S NECK, N.Y. 
The seat of E. W. King, Esq. 

This beautiful edifice is fifty feet in breadth and sixty-two in depth, composed of stone. It is entirely of the Grecian order, and was planned by, and executed under the superintendence of Mr. Martin E. Thompson, Architect of New York, in the year 1828-9. The Lawn is enriched with almost every variety of tree and shrub, and its arrangement is one of the happiest efforts of the late distinguished Landscape Gardener, Mr. Andrew Parmentier, of Brooklyn. It is situated on a point of land jutting into the East River, or Long Island Sound, in Pelham, about sixteen miles east of New York; and is the property of E. W. King, Esquire. The situation is peculiarly picturesque; in the rear are woodlands of great height, having one ravine, through which the banks of the Hudson are visible; on the east and west the shores are skirted with seats of uncommon beauty. In front are three small inhabited Islands of great fertility. The river affords an ever varying scene of vessels, with sails and steamers passing to and from the great commercial emporium of the west."


Hawkswood / Marshall Mansion in the 1930s.
New York City Parks Department.

I have written about the Hawkswood / Marshall Mansion on other occasions.  Below are a few linked examples:

 Wed., Apr. 5, 2006:  "Hawkswood", Later Known as the Marshall Mansion on Rodman's Neck in Pelham

Thu., Jun. 28, 2007: 19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King.

Fri., May 07, 2010:  Image of Hawkswood Published in 1831.

Thu., June 28, 2007: 19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King.

Mon., Apr. 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.  

Additionally, below is a transcription of another biography of Levin R. Marshall, followed by a citation to its source:  

"Levin R. Marshall (deceased), one of the wealthy banker and business men of Natchez, formerly, was born in Alexandria, Va., on the 10th of October, 1800; was the son of Henry Marshall, who was a native of Maryland, but who spent his latter years in Virginia.  The older Marshall was of English parentage and he was of the same family as the distinguished Chief Justice Marshall.  Levin R. received a good practical education and when about seventeen years of age went to Mississippi, located in Woodville, where he was soon made cashier of the United States bank at that place.  While there, and in 1826, he married Miss Maria Chotard, daughter of the celebrated John Marie Chotard . . . . She was born in Mississippi territory in 1807 and died in Natchez in 1834.  She was the mother of four children, all deceased but Hon. George M. Marshall, of Natchez.  Mr. Marshall afterward married Mrs. Sarah E. (Elliott) Ross, widow of Isaac Ross and daughter of Dr. Elliott.  The latter came to Port Gibson at an early day and spent the balance of his days as a successful physician and a prominent citizen.  His wife's maiden name was D'Evereux.  She was a native of the Emerald isle and a sister of John D'Evereux, who was an officer in the English army and who, after the Irish troubles, was under Robert Emmett and served in a very satisfactory way to Ireland.  For this he was banished from the country and after a short time in Baltimore, Md., he went to South America, where he was made a general under General Bolivar, serving in the Bolivian army.  After this he was pardoned by the English government and allowed to return home, and there spent the closing scenes of his life in peace and quiet.  He made frequent visits to his relatives and numerous friends at Natchez, but made his permanent home in his native county [sic].  By his second marriage, Mr. Marshall became the father of eight children, only two of whom survive:  Josephine E., wife of J. R. Ogden of New York, and Stephen Duncan Marshall, who was born in Natchez, educated principally in New York, and who married Miss Catharine Maria Calhoun in 1872.  she was a native of Natchez and a daughter of the late Dr. Gustavus Calhoun, a Pennsylvanian by birth but a pioneer of Natchez, where he died.  Mrs. Calhoun is still living at Natchez and is quite aged.  Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Marshall are prominent members of the Episcopal church.  As a financier and general business man Levin R. Marshall was probably now excelled in the Southwest.  He began for himself with no capital, but by his untiring industry and excellent business ability he became a leader in financial circles in the palmiest days of Natchez.  He began his career at Woodville and, as before stated, he became cashier of the United States bank.  In 1831 he removed to Natchez and became cashier of the United States bank there.  He was afterward instrumental in establishing the Commercial bank at Natchez, of which he served as president for a number of years.  He also followed merchandising quite extensively and was at one time connected with the commission house of J. B. Byrne & Co., of New Orleans, also the commission house of Marshall, Reynolds & Co., at Natchez.  He became the owner of extensive sugar and cotton plantations, and soon after removing to Natchez he erected a magnificent suburban residence one mile south of the city, it being known as Richmond.  He passed his time alternately between that place and Westchester county, N.Y. and his death occurred in the last named place on the 24th of July, 1870, after a long and useful life.  He was one of the class of men singled out by nature to show what a man can do when he sets his mind on it.  He began for himself with no capital but by his untiring industry and excellent business ability he became a leader in financial circles in the palmiest days of Natchez."

Source:  Godspeed, Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Vol. II, Part I, pp. 397-98. 
  

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