1888 Notice of Sale of Bonds to Fund Construction of Second Hutchinson School in Pelhamville

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."

By 1887, the tiny one-room schoolhouse built in 1861 to serve the growing community of Pelhamville was so overcrowded that, according to one account, even the window sills were used to seat pupils.  On December 20, 1887, the Board of Education of the Union Free School District No. One of the Town of Pelham decided that a new school building was needed.  

A special meeting of the voters of the District was held in the Pelham Manor School on May 8, 1888. Rev. C. Winter Bolton was elected chairman, and Mr. Henry E. Dey as clerk of the meeting. 

The district voted $6,000 for the erection of a new school building at Pelhamville. On May 15, 1888, a building committee was appointed consisting of Mr. Robert C. Black, Mr. E. H. Gurney, and Mr. Henry N. Babcock.  The architect selected was Mr. F. C. Merry.  The new school was completed at a cost of about $6,500, the size of the building being 67.4 x 64 x 58.

I have written before about the history of the public schools that have served the community of Pelhamville, later the Village of North Pelham and, even later, the northern sector of today's Village of Pelham.  See, e.g., Thu., Sep. 18, 2014:  A History of the Hutchinson School and its Predecessors in Today's Village of Pelham Published in 1926.

The Board of Education sold $6,000 of ten-year school bonds with interest at four percent per annum paid semi-annually to fund the project.  On May 29, 1888, a "Notice of Sale of Bonds" appeared in at least one New York City newspaper announcing the plans to sell the bonds and soliciting proposals for purchases of the bonds.  An image of the Notice appears immediately below followed by a citation to its source as well as a transcription of its text to facilitate search.

1888 Notice of Sale of Bonds to Fund Construction

of Hutchinson School No. 2 to Replace the Original

One-Room Schoolhouse Built in 1861.  Source:  Union

Free School, District No. One, Town of Pelham, Westchester

Co., N. Y.  NOTICE OF SALE OF BONDS [Advertisement],

The Evening Post, May 29, 1888, Vol. 87, Last Edition, p. 5, col. 6.  

"Union Free School, District No. One, Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N. Y.

NOTICE OF SALE OF BONDS.

Notice is hereby given, according to law, by the Board of Education of Union Free School, District No. One, of the Town of Pelham, County of Westchester and State of New York, that proposals will be received by the undersigned until Tuesday, June 12, 1888, for the sale of six thousand dollars ($6,000) of the bonds of said district.  These bonds are to be issued by the said Board of Education, by authority of law, for the purpose of building a new school house at Pelhamville, N. Y.

The bonds will be dated July 1, 1888, and will be for the term of ten years, with interest at 4 per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually.  They will be issued in sums to suit purchasers, and will not be sold below par.  

The district has no bonded debt, and no obligations of any kind beyond ordinary current expenses, which are amply provided for.

The bids will be opened at the Prospect Hill Schoolhouse on Tuesday, June 12, 1888, at 8 o'clock P. M.

The right is reserved to reject any and all bids.  

Further information will be furnished by the undersigned.  

By order of the Board of Education.

HENRY E. DEY, Clerk.

Dated PELHAM MANOR, N. Y., May 28, 1888."

Source:  Union Free School, District No. One, Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N. Y.  NOTICE OF SALE OF BONDS [Advertisement], The Evening Post, May 29, 1888, Vol. 87, Last Edition, p. 5, col. 6.

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."

Brief History of Grace Church on City Island in the Town of Pelham Published in 1886

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."

Among the many beautiful churches built in the Town of Pelham is Grace Church, built in 1862-1863 on City Island when that area was part of the Town of Pelham.  Grace Church is located at 116 City Island Avenue, Bronx, New York.

The origins of Grace Church extend back to 1849 when Adele Bolton, a daughter of Rev. Robert Bolton of Christ Church in Pelham Manor, urged one of her brothers, the Reverend Cornelius Bolton, to offer a Sunday afternoon service every other Sunday for the benefit of the 800 residents of City Island.  The services were held in Union Chapel at the intersection of Tier Street and City Island Avenue.

With no bridge to City Island from the mainland during this era, Adele Bolton and Cornelius Bolton rowed to the island to oversee the Sunday services until Rev. Cornelius Bolton was called to serve in a parish in Maryland.  Adele Bolton and her sister, Nanette Bolton, continued to minister to the residents of City Island until Cornelius Bolton returned in 1855 to become rector of Christ Church, the church founded by his father in Pelham Manor.

During Rev. Cornelius Bolton's absence from the area, the tiny little Union Chapel became a Methodist Church.  Rev. Bolton and his sisters, Adele and Nanette, pushed for the construction of a new Episcopal church building on the island and enlisted the services of the students of the Pelham Priory School for Girls to raise money in support of the endeavor.  

Noted City Island resident George W. Horton, Jr. donated land for the church and construction began in 1862.  Construction was completed by 1863.  The church was constructed by ship carpenters from the nearby shipyard founded by David Carll who became a member of the church.

The Church building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and includes a stunning stained glass altar window depicting "The Trial of Christ" that was crafted by John Bolton, another son of Rev. Robert Bolton (the founder of Christ Church).

"The Trial of Christ" by John Bolton,

The Altar Window of Grace Church, City Island.

Grace Episcopal Church in an Undated Photograph

Believed to Have Been Taken in About 1904.

Undated Post Card View of Grace Episcopal Church, Ca. 1906.

Adele Bolton, a Founder of Grace Episcopal Church,

City Island, in an Undated Nineteenth Century Photograph.

I have written about Grace Church before.  See:

Fri., Jan. 5, 2007:  The Early Years of Grace Church, City Island -- Once a Church in Pelham. 

Fri., Apr. 04, 2014:  Death During Evening Service: The Shocking Death of Rev. Joshua Morsell of Grace Episcopal Church in the Town of Pelham.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of a brief history of Grace Church published in 1886 as part of the celebration of the 1885 centennial of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of New York.  The brief history is followed by a citation to its source.  

"GRACE CHURCH, CITY ISLAND,

Was organized in 1862.  The first services were held in May, 1861.  The church was built in 1863.  The rectors have been:  Rev. William V. Feltwell, 1868; Rev. George Howell, 1871; Rev. Joshua Monsell, D.D., 1874, and Rev. John McCarthy Windsor, since 1885, and at present, incumbent.  A rectory was procured in 1868.  There is a record of 108 baptisms and 87 have received confirmation.  The record of communicants is incomplete; the present number is 52.  The wardens in 1862 were George W. Horton and Charles Stoltz, Jr.; in 1872, George W. Horton and E. L. Worden, and Jacob Ulmer, junior warden from 1882.  The church lot was given by Mr. George W. Horton and his wife, Margaret, of City Island, and the church was erected largely under the generous auspices of the Misses Bolton, of Pelham Priory.  For several years it was part of the property and under the control of Christ Church, Pelham, whose assistant minister resided on the island and officiated as its pastor.  Thus, Rev. Mr. Bartow, Rev. Mr. Cheevers, and Rev. Mr. Feltwell were successively in charge, the latter becoming its rector in 1868.  The records of the parish have been imperfectly kept; and the testimony on which the above facts are based, gathered chiefly and necessarily from persons connected with both churches, is, in some respects, conflicting."

Source:  Wilson, James Grant, ed., The Centennial History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New York 1785-1885, p. 356 (NY, NY:  D. Appleton and Co., 1886).  

To read more about the history of Grace Church, see:

Grace Church City Island - History, Part 1 (visited Sep. 28, 2014).

Grace Church City Island - History, Part 2 (visited Sep. 28, 2014).

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."

The Mystery of the Missing Bridegroom: Pelhamville Rocked by Mystery in 1893

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."

The newly-built Church of the Redeemer was full and was decorated gloriously for a lovely wedding.  The pews were packed with guests.  The organist was in the organ loft ready to play the wedding march.  The prospective bride was radiant in her wedding gown and stood in the vestibule with her beaming father who was ready to walk her down the aisle.  All that was missing from that perfect autumn day on October 5, 1893 was . . . the bridegroom!

An hour passed with no bridegroom.  Finally, the Rev. Dr. Cornelius W. Bolton was forced to address the assembled guests.  He announced that the wedding would be "postponed."  

The bride fainted.  According to one account, she "had to be carried home in a carriage, and now lies in critical condition from shock.  It is feared that she will lose her reason."

The case of the missing bridegroom caused a sensation.  Newspapers in cities as far away as Washington, D.C. published stories about the mystery.  Where was the bridegroom?  What had happened?  Why did he fail to appear at his own wedding?  The prospective bride simply refused to believe that she had been left at the altar.  She feared that her beloved had met with foul play.  

Two days later, the bridegroom showed up.  He had a wild story that strained credulity.  Yet, according to an account published at the time, "He spoke earnestly and apparently truthfully."

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of two articles published at the time that detailed these strange events.  To find out what happened, and whether the prospective bride married her beau or kicked him to the curb, read the remainder of today's posting. . . . 

1910 Post Card View of the Church of the Redeemer
Which Was Newly-Built When the Wedding Was Scheduled
To Be Held on October 5, 1893.

"HE COMETH NOT, SHE SAID.
-----
Mystery Connected With the Disappearance of a Bridegroom.

A special to the New York World from Mount Vernon, N.Y., says:  Pelhamville, a hamlet one mile east of this city, has a sensation.  Miss Kate, the pretty nineteen-year-old daughter of George McGalliard, a well-to-do mason and builder of New York city, was to have been married to MacDonald Cross, a middle-aged widower, employed by the Wilson Adams Lumber Company of this city, but he failed to meet her at the altar.

Cross came here six months ago from Glen's Falls.  He owns considerable property in that city.  
He had not been in Pelhamville long when he met Miss McGalliard.  He paid frequent visits to her home and was well liked by everybody there.  Shortly after meeting her he proposed and was accepted.  The wedding day was set for a week ago, but on account of the bride being taken ill it was postponed until last Monday.  Invitations had been sent out for the wedding, which was to have been celebrated at the Church of the Redeemer, in this village, by the Rev. Dr. Bolton.

At the appointed time the church was crowded.  The pastor was in his study awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom to sign the marriage license, the organist was in the organ loft ready to play the wedding march and the bride, dressed in her wedding gown, was in the vestibule with her father waiting for the bridegroom.

An hour passed and he did not put in an appearance.  The Rev. Mr. Bolton had to announce to the guests that the wedding must be postponed.  The bride fainted, and had to be carried home in a carriage, and now lies in critical condition from shock.  It is feared that she will lose her reason.

Miss McGalliard will not believe that she has been deserted.  She fears that Mr. Cross has met with foul play or has been taken suddenly ill in New York.

On Saturday Mr. Cross spent the evening with his intended.  He had already given her the wedding ring to take care of, but on that evening asked her for it, so that he could have a proper inscription engraved on the inside of it.  Miss McGalliard gave it to him, and he parted with her and said that he would call on Sunday.  He did not do so, but the young lady thought nothing of it.  

Cross' absence and strange conduct is a mystery."

Source:  HE COMETH NOT, SHE SAID, The Evening Star [Washington, D.C.], Oct. 5, 1893, p. 8, col. 2.  

"THE MISSING BRIDEGROOM.
-----
Croff's Strange Story of Why He Was Not at the Marriage Altar.

Kitty Byrd McGilliard, the pretty nineteen-year-old daughter of George McGilliard, a wealthy contractor of Pelhamville, N. Y., who was to have been married on Monday last to Isaac McD. Croff, a widower who lives at Mt. Vernon, N. Y., but who failed to appear, as narrated in yesterday's Star, has been married at last.

Croff returned to Pelhamville Wednesday night about 5:30 and at 7:30 the Rev. C. Bolton was called to the McGilliard residence, where he tied the nuptial knot.  

To a reporter who called at the McGilliard residence yesterday afternoon Mr. Croff told a remarkable story and apparently truthfully.  

'On Monday morning last,' he said, 'the day I was to be married, I left Mount Vernon for New York, where I desired to make some purchases.  I had very nearly $600 in my pockets when I started.  I made my purchases in the city and took them to Mendel's package office at the 42d street depot, as I desired to go and see a lady who had been a most excellent friend of mine and tell her I was to be married.  Her name I do not care to give, as I do not consider it necessary.  

'After I had called on the lady in question.  I started to walk to the Grand Central depot.  When I reached 57th street and 8th avenue, I glanced at my watch and discovered I had but ten minutes in which to reach the depot in time to take the 1:02 train for Pelhamville.  Seeing a cab standing by the curb, apparently disengaged, with the driver on the box, I stepped in and told him to drive me to the Grand Central depot as quickly as he could.  While I spoke, two strangers, well dressed, followed me into the cab, one of them saying, as he got in:  'This is the best chance we have had in a year.'  I paid no attention to them or the remark, and the driver started off at a rapid pace.  

'Suddenly, before I could make a move, one of them (I noticed he was tall and had a gray mustache and wore a silk hat) sprang toward me and grasped me by the throat with one hand, while the other man, a short, thick-set fellow, pushed a handkerchief under my nose.  This is the last thing of which I have any recollection until I found myself on Wednesday morning, two days after, standing two blocks away from the depot in Troy, N. Y. [Editor's Note:  North of Albany, about 155 miles away.]  I was too bewildered to know where I was, and I felt weak and sick.  

'I examined my pockets and found that all my money was gone except what I had stowed away in one of my inside pockets.  I believe the two men took the $567.  At any rate it was gone; also my watch and two rings, which I wore on my finger.  One of them I valued very highly.  The wedding ring which I was to use was also gone.  I then telegraphed to Pelhamville that I was in Troy, and did not know how I got there.  This is all I can say except that I called on Dr. Carlisle of Mount Vernon, and he, after a thorough examination of me, said that I was suffering from a strong dose of chloroform, but would be all right in a few days.  

'I intend to go to New York and see Supt. Byrnes and lay the facts before him.  I am a poor man, and the loss of that money, at present, is the loss of a fortune to me.  You might also say that Mrs. Croff and I will start on our wedding trip tomorrow night.'

Croff's truthfulness has never been questioned before, and all his neighbors in Pelhamville believe his story."

Source:  THE MISSING BRIDEGROOM, The Evening Star [Washington, D.C.], Oct. 6, 1893, p. 7, col. 3.  See also KITTY MARRIED AT LAST, The Anaconda Standard, Oct. 26, 1893, p. 7, col. 1; Why He Was Not Married. -- Mr. Croff of Pelhamville Says He Was Chloroformed and Robbed in a Cab, N.Y. Times, Oct. 6, 1893, p. 3; THE BRIDEGROOM RETURNED -- Mr. Croff Tells a Remarkable Story of Adventure, The Indianapolis News, Oct. 7, 1893, p. 1, col. 4; A BRIDEGROOM MISSING, The Sun [NY, NY], Oct. 4, 1893, p. 1, col. 6.  

I have written about this strange turn of events that included a happy ending before.  See Thu., Apr. 21, 2005:  Can You Imagine What The Bride's Father Was Ready To Do?

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."

Death During Evening Service: The Shocking Death of Rev. Joshua Morsell of Grace Episcopal Church in the Town of Pelham

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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

A sad chapter in the history of Pelham religious organizations is the tragic death of Rev. Joshua Morsell, Rector of Grace Episcopal Church on City Island in the Town of Pelham during evening services at the Church on Sunday, December 16, 1883.  The event was so tragic and shocking that accounts of Rev. Morsell's death appeared in newspapers throughout the eastern United States.  At the end of today's Historic Pelham Blog posting, I have transcribed a number of such articles and obituaries of Rev. Morsell recounting the events of that sad day.  

City Island once was part of the Town of Pelham before its annexation by New York City in the mid-1890s.  In the early 1860s, the family of Rev. Robert Bolton (who built Bolton Priory and Christ Church in Pelham Manor) developed a new Episcopal Church on City Island. I have written before of the early years of that important Pelham church.  See Fri., Jan. 5, 2007:  The Early Years of Grace Church, City Island -- Once a Church in Pelham.  

According to tradition, in the mid-19th century, perhaps as early as 1849, one of Rev. Robert Bolton's daughters who lived with the family at Bolton Priory in Pelham Manor, Adele Bolton, rowed a little boat across the waters off Rodman's Neck to City Island to bring the Gospel to inhabitants of City Island. Cornelius Winter Bolton, one of Adele's brothers, preached when he could to the City Islanders.  In about 1857, however, the City Islanders arranged for the Rev. M. M. Dillon to minister to their needs.

Adele Bolton, a Founder of Grace Episcopal Church,

in an Undated Nineteenth Century Photograph.

Grace Episcopal Church in an Undated Photograph Believed

To Have Been Taken in About 1904.

Undated Post Card View of Grace Episcopal Church, Ca. 1906.

According to a history of Grace Church City Island:

"The birth of Grace Church took place in 1849, when the Reverend Cornelius W. Bolton and Adele Bolton, son and daughter of the rector of Christ Church in Pelham Manor, New York, visited nearby City Island, which until 1895 was part of the town of Pelham. There he found a population of 800 souls "almost entirely neglected and destitute of the means of grace [and] offered them a Sunday afternoon service, every second Sunday, which was readily accepted and largely attended." The services were held in Union Chapel, a charming Picturesque cottage that still stands at the corner of Tier Street and City Island Avenue. 

Reverend Bolton subsequently moved to a parish in Maryland, and when he returned in 1855, he became rector of Christ Church, Pelham, following in his father's footsteps. He again visited City Island and renewed the offer of his services, but by then Union Chapel had become a Methodist church, so he had to look elsewhere for a location. In the meantime, Adele and her sister Nanette Bolton had remained intensely interested in the work of the church and in spreading the Gospel to Island residents. Adele is said to have been rowed to City Island from the mainland one Sunday a month to minister to the fledgling congregation, as there was no bridge at the time. 

In 1862 the Reverend M. M. Dillon, then pastor of Christ Church, reported that "a church is in the process of erection" on City Island (its total cost being $3,000, including contributions from the "young ladies of Pelham Priory" and City Island residents and $944 collected by Adele Bolton herself). The land was donated by G.W. Horton Jr., who served as church warden for 41 consecutive years, from 1866 to 1906.

The Bolton family was known for its artistic creativity, especially in the design and manufacture of stained glass. "The Adoration of the Magi" window at Christ Church (the first known figurative stained-glass window made in America) was designed and made by Cornelius’s brother William, assisted by their brother John. Grace's altar window, picturing "The Trial of Christ," was created by John Bolton, who was also an Episcopal priest, having been ordained at Christ Church, Pelham. John fashioned his window after a version made by William for the church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn. There has been much comparison of the two windows and opinions expressed as to which is of higher quality, but each has merit (although Grace parishioners tend to prefer John'’s version). 

If you look upward into the rafters at Grace Church, you will see evidence of craftsmanship of a different kind---that of ship building, for the church was actually constructed by carpenters from the nearby David Carll shipyard, the first yard of its kind on City Island. The architecture of the church is termed “carpenter Gothic,” a popular late Victorian style, but if you can imagine the church being upside down, you can see that the configuration of the beams resembles that of a ship’s hull. David Carll was a vestryman of the church for 24 consecutive years, from 1866 to 1889. 

In 1906 New York City began to widen City Island Avenue, and the church building incurred damages as a result of the project, which was completed in 1908. That year the church was wired for electricity for the first time, and the following year a church bell was installed in the belfry. In 1912 money was finally received from the city to pay for damages to the property, and some of these funds were used to raise the church building by five feet. Other improvements were made to the property over time, including the construction of a parish hall and the acquisition of a rectory. In 2007 Grace Episcopal Church was named to the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and historical significance.

In 2008, during the replacement of the church roof, Grace's original wooden cross was removed and donated to the City Island Historical Society and Nautical Museum. In its place are two new handmade crosses, constructed of wood and copper, which will be enduring symbols of God's grace for future generations."

Source:  Grace Church City Island, The History of Grace, available at http://www.gracecityisland.org/#!__history (visited Mar. 22, 2014).  

*     *     *     *     *

Transcribed below as research notes are some of the many obituaries and articles about the death of Rev. Joshua Morsell.  

"OBITUARY.

On Sunday night last the Rev. Joshua Morsell, rector of Grace church, entered the church as usual at the hour for service and passing to the vestry room, robed himself in his surplice and re-entered the church; as he did so he made a faint sign and feebly asked for some one to open a window.  The members of the congregation seeing that the rector was in distress, went to his assistance.  Messrs. Robt. Vickery and Jacob Ullmer being the first to reach him.  He had himself opened a window and was in the act of falling, when Mr. Vickery caught him and gently seated him in a chair, where he almost immediately expired, of heart disease.  The funeral took place on Wednesday last from the church, and the remains were interred on City Island.  A number of clergymen from the surrounding country attended the funeral."  

Source:  OBITUARY, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Vol. XV, No. 744, Dec. 21, 1883, p. 3, col. 3.  

"SUDDEN DEATH IN THE CHANCEL 
-----

The Rev. Dr. Joshua Morsell, rector of Grace Protestant Episcopal Church at City Island, died suddenly on Sunday evening in the chancel of the church.  He had just begun the service, when he became pale and appeared to be faint.  He asked that a window might be opened.  These words were the last spoken by him.  Immediately afterwards he swayed backward and was caught as he fell by one of the persons present.  His death followed almost instantly.  

He was a man of learning and ability.  He was born in Calvert County, Maryland, and was descended from one of the oldest families of the State.  His education was received at Kenyon College, Ohio.  This institution conferred on him the degree of A.M.  He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but renounced that profession to enter the ministry of the Episcopal Church.  His title of Doctor of Divinity was conferred by the University of Maryland.  He was always a zealous and faithful pastor and a safe guide in his pulpit ministrations.  He leaves a wife and one son, the Rev. William C. Morsell, of Philadelphia."  

Source:   SUDDEN DEATH IN THE CHANCEL, New-York Tribune, Dec. 18, 1882, p. 2, col. 5.

"OBITUARY.
-----

The Rev. Dr. Joshua Morsell, Rector of Grace Church, City Island, died suddenly in his church on Sunday last when in the act of beginning the service, clad in his ministerial robes.  The congregation was shocked to see their venerable rector tottering toward a window which he wished to open; as he fell two of his parishioners were just in time to catch him in their arms and the good man died soon after in a chancel chair in full sight of a horrified and dismayed congregation.  

The Rev. Doctor Morsell was a man of rare qualities and attainments.  He was thoroughly a christian gentleman.  No higher praise can be accorded to any man.  A deep and thorough scholarship was joined with the manners of a born and bred gentleman of the highest school.  The Rev. Doctor, though a man of seventy years of age, was as bright and buoyant in disposition as any one in the community.  He was the light and cheer of every sircle; a man of sunshine to an eminent degree, and so genial and kindly was he that one could not know him without loving him, and it is safe to say that he had not an enemy in the world.  A native of Maryland, Doctor Morsell was rector of a leading church in Washington in the times of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, and many a valuable reminiscence could he bring forth of those exciting days.  After a life of the most exemplary activity in his holy calling, a noble, good and most lovable minister of the gospel has gone to rest in Euthanasia for the manner of his death, while it must have greatly shocked his congregation of witnesses was that which any faithful clergyman ought desire, a touching and fitting end to a long life of faithful [illegible] in the gospel of Christ his Master, whose departure from this world was staged in a striking degree [illegible] his disciples with uplifted hands, he was carried up into heaven.  The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Higbee of Pelham Manor, assisted by the Rev. Mr. [illegible] of New Rochelle, the Rev. Mr. [illegible] of Westchester and the Rev. Mr. [illegible] of Easthcester.  There were also present the Rev. Mr. [illegible] of New York city, the  [illegible] Episcopal Bishop [illegible] and was very highly [illegible]."  

Source:  OBITUARY, New Rochelle Pioneer, Dec. 22, 1883, p. 2, col. 1.  

"Rev. Dr. Joshua Morsell, while conducting the services in Grace church. City Island, Westchester county, N. Y., Sunday, motioned for a window to be opened and sank down in the pulpit as if in a faint. He was found, however, to have died from heart disease."

Source:  [Untitled], Arkansas City Weekly Traveler, Jan. 2, 1884, p. 4.  See also [Untitled], Daily Charlotte Observer [North Carolina], Dec. 22, 1883, p. 4 (same); [Untitled], Shenango Valley News [Greenville, Pennsylvania], Jan. 25, 1884, p. 7 (same); [untitled], The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Dec. 18, 1883, p. 2 (same). 
    

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."