The Poltergeist of Pelhamdale

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There is a lovely historic home located at 45 Iden Avenue in the Village of Pelham Manor. It is known as "Pelhamdale." Portions of the home including the rear basement with entrance and massive fireplace are believed to pre-date the Revolutionary War. The home once was owned by American Patriot David Jones Pell. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home has been significantly altered since the eighteenth century. 

The home, known also as the Old Pell Place and the Old Pell Home, is located today on a triangular tract bounded by Carol Place, Iden Avenue, and the Hutchinson River Parkway. The plot on which the home sits was part of a large 18th and 19th century farm that once was bounded by today's Colonial Avenue (the Old Boston Post Road), the Lane that became known as Wolf's Lane, today's Boston Post Road, and the Hutchinson River. 

Col. Philip Pell III (1753-1811) owned an adjacent farm, the farmhouse of which once stood at the intersection of today's Cliff and Colonial Avenues. Col. Pell was a son of Philip Pell II who, in turn, was son of Philip Pell who was a son of Thomas Pell (so-called Third Lord of the Manor of Pellham). The original farm cottage that forms a portion of today's "Pelhamdale" at 45 Iden Avenue was built by Philip Pell II around 1750-60. 

Philip Pell II was the father of Col. Philip Pell III (often referenced, oddly, as Philip Pell, Jr.) and David Jones Pell. Both the sons were American Patriots. After the death of the elder Pell, his son David Jones Pell became owner of "Pelhamdale." David Jones Pell's brother, Philip Pell III, built his adjacent farm and farmhouse. That farm included the land on which today's Pelham Memorial High School stands. A memorial marker and date stone of the home built by Col. Philip Pell III stand next to the front entrance of the high school. 

After the death of David Jones Pell in 1823, Pell's widow sold the farm to James Hay who owned it until his own death in the 1850s. Hay extensively expanded and renovated the home, giving it an appearance similar to the home's appearance today. Apparently during the expansion of the home, James Hay embedded in the north wall of the home a large block of sandstone on which is carved in relief the Hay family coat-of-arms. 

As one might expect, with a portion of the home now nearly 270 years old, there has been a long succession of owners and tenants who have lived in the home over the years. Also, as one might expect, the home is associated with a number of entertaining and important Pelham ghost stories. One of several such stories associated with the home is that of the poltergeist of Pelhamdale. 

Mrs. Garnett Mabel Winslow was visiting Pelhamdale, the stunning home of her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Le Roi Layton Elliott, some time ago. After a pleasant Friday evening with the family, Mrs. Winslow retired to an upstairs guest bedroom where she slept soundly in the supremely-appointed bed. 

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, before the sun had risen, Mrs. Winslow was startled awake by the screech of furniture being dragged on a floor. It took her a few moments to clear the fog of sleep from her mind until she heard the banging of chairs and, again, the dragging of furniture above her bedroom. 

Mrs. Winslow loved her daughter and her son-in-law, but it was a little annoying so early on a Saturday morning that they had chosen to rearrange furniture in the room above her as she slept. To make matters more annoying, the sounds suggested that furniture was being dragged from one side of the room to another and then back again, repeatedly! 

As the banging and scraping grew more frantic, Mrs. Winslow realized that she was wide awake and unlikely to slip back into sleep. She lay in bed awake as the bumps and scrapes continued until the sun rose and dawn crept into her room. At that moment, the noise from the studio above ended. Mrs. Winslow got up, dressed, and wandered downstairs for coffee and to visit with her daughter and son-in-law. 

When she made it downstairs, not a soul was there. Pelhamdale was quiet. Neither her daughter nor son-in-law was downstairs. Thinking it odd that they would work so hard in the third-floor studio overnight then return to bed, Mrs. Winslow shrugged, made the coffee herself, and waited for pair to come downstairs. 

Soon Le Roi Elliott and his wife wandered downstairs. Still sleepy, they were surprised to find Mrs. Winslow and a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen. The trio sat to enjoy the morning together when Mrs. Winslow remarked that the work in the studio in the wee hours of the morning must have been exhausting since it sounded as though her daughter and son-in-law had been rearranging furniture for much of the night. 

Mr. and Mrs. Elliott stared at her in disbelief, then glanced at each other. “Mom,” Mrs. Elliott said, “we just got up. There was no one in the studio last night.” 

Mrs. Winslow felt a chill run up her spine. She knew better. Someone had, in fact, been in the studio last night. That someone, it turns out, was the poltergeist of Pelhamdale. . .

Pelhamdale, 45 Iden Avenue, Pelham Manor, New York.

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Revolutionary War Patriot David Jones Pell Served as Westchester County Coroner After the War

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John Ryer was drunk.  He was really, really drunk.  He also was a ne'er-do-well who came from a respected and affluent cattle family.  He was, however, a black sheep of the family.

Ryer was in Hunt's Inn (also known as Hunt Inn), a tavern and stagecoach stop in the Hunt's Point area of Westchester County (now the Bronx).  It was the evening of May 17, 1792.  Ryer, who already had had frequent run-ins with the law, was making trouble in the tavern; so much trouble that he had attracted the attention of a local Constable who found it nearly impossible to deal with the drunken rascal.  The Constable asked for local Westchester County Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith to help him subdue Ryer.  

Deputy Sheriff Smith burst into the tavern that night and encountered Ryer who held a loaded flintlock pistol in each hand.  Smith courageously told Ryer he was under arrest.  Ryer raised the pistol in his left hand and fired a bullet deep into the chest of the law enforcement officer.  

As Deputy Sheriff Smith lay dying on the tavern floor, Ryer ran outside, took Smith's horse, and fled.  Smith, a Revolutionary War veteran, farmer, and doctor who served as the first Supervisor of the Town of New Castle in Westchester County, died that evening.

Hunt's Inn.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

During the Revolutionary War, Tory James DeLancey

frequented Hunt's Inn with other like-minded Tories

during the British occupation of New York City.

In contrast to American Patriot Isaac Smith, his murderer fought with the British during the Revolution.  After murdering Smith, John Ryer fled to Canada.

The next day, one of the Westchester County Coroners from Pelham, David Jones Pell, held a coroner's inquiry into Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith's death.  David Jones Pell was a son of Philip Pell II and Gloriana Tredwell Pell.  He was an officer during the closing days of the Revolution and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the 3rd New York Militia.  Pell was born in the Manor of Pelham on January 13, 1761.  On March 7, 1790 he married Hester ("Hetty") Sneden.  David J. Pell inherited the farmhouse built by his father that now forms a portion of the home known as Pelhamdale that still stands at 45 Iden Avenue and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The couple had at least ten children whom they raised in the Pell farmhouse that, at the time, overlooked Old Boston Post Road (today's Colonial Avenue) and a valley that swept down to the Hutchinson River.  

After the Revolutionary War, David Jones Pell served in a number of local capacities including, for a time, as one of the coroners of Westchester County.  The day after the murder, on May 18, 1792, Pell's inquest concluded that Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith was "inhumanly murdered, while in the due execution of his said office."  Despite fleeing the jurisdiction, Ryer was charged with the murder of the peace officer.  

Within a week, New York Governor George Clinton issued a proclamation offering a $500 reward "to any person or persons who shall apprehend and deliver the said John Ryer to the keeper of the common Gaol of the said county, so that he may be brought to justice."  The proclamation specifically noted that David Pell had conducted a coroner's inquest.  The proclamation stated, in part, as follows:

"WHEREAS by an inquisition taken before DAVID I. [sic] PELL, Esquire, one of the Coroners of the county of Westchester, on the eighteenth day of May, instant, it appears that ISAAC SMITH, deputy Sheriff of the said county, was on the seventeenth day of the said month, inhumanly murdered, while in the due execution of his said office; and that a certain JOHN RYER, late of the town of Westchester, in the county of Westchester aforesaid, stands charged with the commission of the said horrid crime".

Apparent bounty hunters from Westchester County took off for the Canadian frontier to track down John Ryer.  John Hutchens and two others found Ryer in New Brunswick and took him into custody.  

Ryer was returned to the "gaol" (i.e., jail) in White Plains.  After a one-day trial held in September, 1793, Ryer was found guilty of the murder of Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith.  

Thereafter Ryer confessed to the crime and published it with an account of his life.  See Ryer, John & Ryer, Margret, Narrative of the Life, and Dying Speech, of John Ryer:  Who Was Executed at White-Plains, in the County of Westchester, State of New-York, on the Second Day of October, 1793, for the Murder of Dr. Isaac Smith, Deputy-Sheriff of that County (Danbury, CT:  Printed by Nathan Douglas for the Publisher, 1793).

As the title of the book indicates, on October 2, 1793, Ryer was marched to a tree behind the old Westchester County Courthouse where a kerchief was tied over his face.  After he prayed next to his waiting coffin and thanked jailers and family for their help in his travails, he was hanged from a limb of the tree until dead.  See Liebson, Richard, Crime Scene:  Deputy Sheriff Was Felled by Flintlock, LoHud.com (Mar. 24, 2015) (visited Oct. 12, 2019).

At about the turn of this century, Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith's name was added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.  See Forgotten No Longer, Law Enforcement News, Jun. 30, 2000, Vol. XXVI, No. 536, p. 4, col. 4.  

Pelham's David Jones Pell, a Westchester County Coroner, played a role in bringing the rascal John Ryer to justice -- another brief chapter in Pell's long life of service in a host of public roles.

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Proclamation by New York Governor George Clinton

Offering Reward After Westchester County Coroner's Inquisition by

Coroner David Jones Pell Concluded a Local Deputy Sheriff Was

Murdered.  Source:  Proclamation by His Excellency George Clinton,

Esquire, Governor of the State of New York, May 24, 1792, From Printed

Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera

Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

American Memory Collection.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Proclamation

BY His Excellency GEORGE CLINTON, Esquire, Governor of the State of New-York, General and Commander in Chief of all the Militia, and Admiral of the Navy of the same.

WHEREAS by an inquisition taken before DAVID I. [sic] PELL, Esquire, one of the Coroners of the county of Westchester, on the eighteenth day of May, instant, it appears that ISAAC SMITH, deputy Sheriff of the said county, was on the seventeenth day of the said month, inhumanly murdered, while in the due execution of his said office; and that a certain JOHN RYER, late of the town of Westchester, in the county of Westchester aforesaid, stands charged with the commission of the said horrid crime; and whereas it is represented to me, that the said JOHN RYER hath fled from justice:

NOW THEREFORE, I have issued this my proclamation, hereby offering a reward of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, to any person or persons who shall apprehend and deliver the said John Ryer to the keeper of the common Gaol of the said county, so that he may be brought to justice. And I do by these presents strictly enjoin and require all officers, civil and military, and all other the good citizens of this State, to be aiding and assisting in the premises to the utmost of their power.

And I do further hereby enjoin and require the Magistrates of the said county, to cause to be apprehended (if that is not already done) every person who may have been in any wise accessory to the said offence, who may have aided the said John Ryer in his escape, or who may have with-held that assistance which was required of them by the said deputy-sheriff in the execution of his said office, and which, by law and their duty as good citizens, they ought to have rendered, in order that they may be held to answer for the same.

GIVEN under my hand and the privy Seal at the City of New-York, this twenty-fourth day of May, in the year 1792, and in the sixteenth year of the Independence of the said State.

GEO. CLINTON."

Source:  Proclamation by His Excellency George Clinton, Esquire, Governor of the State of New York, May 24, 1792, From Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress American Memory Collection.

*          *          *          *          *

I have written about David J. Pell on numerous occasions.  For a few of many other examples, see, e.g.:

Thu., Oct. 26, 2006:  Genealogical Data Regarding David Jones Pell of the Manor of Pelham, Revolutionary War Officer.

Thu., Jan. 03, 2008:  Charges in 1808 Against Lieutenant-Colonel David J. Pell of Pelham that He "Indulges in Inebriety and Habitual Drunkeness".

Tue., Jun. 24, 2014:  Story of Pelhamdale, the Old Stone House by the Bridge, Once Owned by David J. Pell.

Wed., Mar. 08, 2017:  Stephen S. Pell of the Town of Pelham, a Son of Colonel David Jones Pell of Pelhamdale.

Thu., Mar. 09, 2017:  Record of Intestate Death of David Jones Pell of Pelham in 1823.

Wed., Mar. 22, 2017:  Ogden Philip Pell, a Grandson of David Jones Pell of Pelham Manor.

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Bounty Land Awarded to Pelham Executors of the Estate of Captain Samuel Tredwell Pell for His Revolutionary War Service

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Pelham's Revolutionary War history is surprisingly rich, yet nearly all that has been written about it has focused solely on the Battle of Pelham fought on October 18, 1776.  Today the Historic Pelham Blog will focus on the life and death of an American Patriot who was born, and died, in the Manor of Pelham.

That notable Pelhamite, who served as an officer in the American Army during the War, was Samuel Tredwell Pell.  After the War he became a member of The Society of the Cincinnati, an organization consisting of officers who served during the Revolutionary War.  He died tragically on December 29, 1786 at the age of 32 from injuries he sustained in a fall of his horse.

I have written before about Samuel Tredwell Pell.  See:

Thu., Oct. 12, 2006:  Biographical and Genealogical Information Regarding Revolutionary War Officer Samuel Tredwell Pell of the Manor of Pelham.

Tue., Jun. 12, 2007:  Amorous Exploits of Captain Samuel Tredwell Pell of the Manor of Pelham in 1778.  

Fri., Jun. 20, 2014:  Brief Letter Dated June 13, 1776 from Samuel Tredwell Pell of Pelham Manor and Others to General George Washington.

Samuel Tredwell Pell was born in the Manor of Pelham on July 26, 1755, a son of Philip Pell Sr. and Gloriana Tredwell.  He was a brother of Philip Pell Jr. and David Jones Pell, both of whom also were notable Patriots who fought for and served the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War.  

When only twenty years old, Samuel T. Pell applied for a commission in the army.  On June 28, 1775 he was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Regiment, New York Continental Infantry under Colonel James Holmes.  Only a few weeks later he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.  He served with the 4th Regiment during an unsuccessful campaign to capture Canada and convert it to the 14th colony.  After that campaign, the 4th Regiment was disbanded.  Pell and a number of his 4th Regiment colleagues wrote to General George Washington in June, 1776 seeking further deployment in support of the Patriot cause.  See Fri., Jun. 20, 2014:  Brief Letter Dated June 13, 1776 from Samuel Tredwell Pell of Pelham Manor and Others to General George Washington.

In connection with the reorganization of the New York Line, Pell was made a captain in Colonel Philip Van Cortlandt's 2nd New York Regiment.  He served in that role until June 1783, shortly before the end of the war.  After the war, Pell returned to the Manor of Pelham and developed a farm near those of his brothers David Jones Pell (who owned the home known today as "Pelhamdale" at 45 Iden Avenue) and Philip Pell Jr. (who owned a home once located on today's Colonial Avenue -- the old Boston Post Road -- and what is now Cliff Avenue).

In December, 1786, Pell was badly injured when his horse fell.  He died of his injuries on December 29, 1786.  Interestingly, even after his death, Pell's estate benefited from land bounty programs that awarded land to War veterans to reward them for their service.  

After Samuel Tredwell Pell's death, his two brothers (David Jones Pell and Philip Pell Jr.) were appointed executors of his estate.  On behalf of his estate, the brothers pursued at least two claims for bounty lands to which Samuel Pell had been entitled:  one from the Federal Government and another from New York State.  Today's Historic Pelham Blog article documents a little about the two bounty land grants to Pell's estate.  

July 9, 1790 New York Bounty Land Warrant for 1,800 Acres

In addition to Federal bounty land warrants, a number of States including New York rewarded veterans of the Revolutionary War with bounty land warrant certificates that entitled them to public lands.  On July 9, 1790, the State of New York awarded a New York Bounty Land Warrant for 1,800 acres.  The record reference, transcribed in an important book collecting such records published in 1996, reads as follows:

"Pell, T. Samuel.  N. Y. Captain.  9 Jul. 1790.  1800 acres."

Source:  Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments, p. 412 (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996) (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link.

By the time of this grant, of course, Samuel Tredwell Pell had been dead for almost four years.  It appears that (as was another grant that occurred only five months later) this grant was sought and obtained for the benefit of his estate by his executors.

December 15, 1790 Bounty Land Warrant # 1681 for 300 Acres

A variety of records set forth below indicate that on December 15, 1790, bounty land warrant #1681 was issued to Philip Pell, Jr. and David Jones Pell as executors of the estate of their deceased brother, Samuel Tredwell Pell awarding an additional 300-acre tract as a land bounty for service during the Revolutionary War.   

*          *          *          *          *

Samuel Tredwell Pell was an illustrious American Patriot who, after the war, died an untimely death.  Yet, as executors of his estate, his two brothers honored his memory and sought on behalf of the beneficiaries of his estate the lands to which he was entitled as a veteran of the war.  Below are images of, citations to, and links to a variety of records demonstrating the existence of two such bounty land grants.

July 9, 1790 New York Bounty Land Warrant for 1,800 Acres

Reference to July 9, 1790 Bounty Land Grant of

1800 Acres Awarded to Samuel Tredwell Pell.

Source:  Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt, Revolutionary War

Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments,

p. 412 (Baltimore, MD:  Genealogical Publishing Co., 

Inc., 1996).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Transcription of Pertinent Line Immediately Below.

December 15, 1790 Bounty Land Warrant #1681 for 300 Acres

Below are images of, citations to, and links to a variety of official records that reflect the issuance of the December 15, 1790 bounty land warrant #1681 for 300 acres of public land to Philip Pell and David Pell, executors of the estate of Samuel Tredwell Pell.

Record 1 of 2 from the Indexes to U.S. War Bounty Land Warrants

Reflecting Bounty Land Warrant #1681 Issued to Philip Pell and

David Pell as Executors of the Estate of Samuel Tredwell Pell.

Source:  Ancestry.com. U.S. War Bounty Land Warrants,

1789-1858 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA (Original data:

U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S.

Military District of Ohio and Relating Papers (Acts of 1788, 1803,

and 1806), 1788-1806; Microfilm Publication M829, 16 rolls; ARC ID:

635444. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group

49; National Archives at Washington, D.C.War of 1812 Military

Bounty Land Warrants, 1815-1858;Microfilm Publication M848, 14 rolls;

ARC ID: 4923870. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record

Group 49; National Archives at Washington, D.C.)  (Paid Subscription

Required to Access Via This Link) NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

(Detail from Image and Transcription Immediately Below.)

"Pell P. & Pell D. . . . . . . . . 1681   300 . . . . . . . . . . ."

Record 2 of 2 from the Indexes to U.S. War Bounty Land Warrants

Reflecting Bounty Land Warrant #1681 Issued to Philip Pell and

David Pell as Executors of the Estate of Samuel Tredwell Pell.

Source:  Ancestry.com. U.S. War Bounty Land Warrants,

1789-1858 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA (Original data:

U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S.

Military District of Ohio and Relating Papers (Acts of 1788, 1803,

and 1806), 1788-1806; Microfilm Publication M829, 16 rolls; ARC ID:

635444. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group

49; National Archives at Washington, D.C.War of 1812 Military

Bounty Land Warrants, 1815-1858;Microfilm Publication M848, 14 rolls;

ARC ID: 4923870. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record

Group 49; National Archives at Washington, D.C.)  (Paid Subscription

Required to Access Via This Link) NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

(Detail from Image and Transcription Immediately Below.)

Pertinent Line Reads:

"[Checkmark] 1681     P. Pell & D. Pell      15 Dec. " [i.e., 1790]     300"

Page 1 of 5 of National Archives File on the Revolutionary War

Bounty Land Warrant Application File Reflecting Issuance of

Warrant #1681 to Executors of the Estate of Samuel T. Pell.

Source:  Fold3.com Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land

Warrant Application Files:  New York > P > Pell > Samuel T. Pell

(Content Source:  The National Archives, Case Files of Pension and

Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service

Compiled Ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, Documenting the Period Ca. 1775

- Ca. 1900, Record Group 15, M804, Roll 1905, National Archives Catalog ID:

300022).  (Paid Subscription Required to Access Via This Link).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge (Transcription Immediately Below).

"SERVICE

New York

Pell, Samuel T.

Number

B. L. Wt. 1681 - 300"

Page 2 of 5 of National Archives File on the Revolutionary War

Bounty Land Warrant Application File Reflecting Issuance of

Warrant #1681 to Executors of the Estate of Samuel T. Pell.

Source:  Fold3.com Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land

Warrant Application Files:  New York > P > Pell > Samuel T. Pell

(Content Source:  The National Archives, Case Files of Pension and

Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service

Compiled Ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, Documenting the Period Ca. 1775

- Ca. 1900, Record Group 15, M804, Roll 1905, National Archives Catalog ID:

300022).  (Paid Subscription Required to Access Via This Link).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge (Transcription Immediately Below).

"March 25 - 1933

Freeport Ill

33 St. Whistler Av

Dear Sirs

Will you please send me the War Record of Capt Jerry Vanderburgh [handwritten in pencil is an arrow pointing to the name and the words "See Misc file for this"] who served in the Revolutionary War The Line -- Third Regiment Colonel - James Clinton

Respectfully Yours

Mrs. Oscar R. Zipf

33 St. Whistler Ave

Freeport Ill

He may have served in other Company relisting"

Page 3 of 5 of National Archives File on the Revolutionary War

Bounty Land Warrant Application File Reflecting Issuance of

Warrant #1681 to Executors of the Estate of Samuel T. Pell.

Source:  Fold3.com Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land

Warrant Application Files:  New York > P > Pell > Samuel T. Pell

(Content Source:  The National Archives, Case Files of Pension and

Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service

Compiled Ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, Documenting the Period Ca. 1775

- Ca. 1900, Record Group 15, M804, Roll 1905, National Archives Catalog ID:

300022).  (Paid Subscription Required to Access Via This Link).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge (Transcription Immediately Below).

"Also Lieut Sam'l Tredwell Pell

4th Reg Late Line"

Page 4 of 5 of National Archives File on the Revolutionary War

Bounty Land Warrant Application File Reflecting Issuance of

Warrant #1681 to Executors of the Estate of Samuel T. Pell.

Source:  Fold3.com Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land

Warrant Application Files:  New York > P > Pell > Samuel T. Pell

(Content Source:  The National Archives, Case Files of Pension and

Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service

Compiled Ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, Documenting the Period Ca. 1775

- Ca. 1900, Record Group 15, M804, Roll 1905, National Archives Catalog ID:

300022).  (Paid Subscription Required to Access Via This Link).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge (Transcription Immediately Below).

"New York, 

Pell, Samuel T.

B. L. Wt. 1681 - 300 - Capt

Issued Dec. 15, 1790 to

Philip Pell and 

David Pell, executors.

No papers."

Page 5 of 5 of National Archives File on the Revolutionary War

Bounty Land Warrant Application File Reflecting Issuance of

Warrant #1681 to Executors of the Estate of Samuel T. Pell.

Source:  Fold3.com Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land

Warrant Application Files:  New York > P > Pell > Samuel T. Pell

(Content Source:  The National Archives, Case Files of Pension and

Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service

Compiled Ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, Documenting the Period Ca. 1775

- Ca. 1900, Record Group 15, M804, Roll 1905, National Archives Catalog ID:

300022).  (Paid Subscription Required to Access Via This Link).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge (Transcription Immediately Below).

"April 13, 1933

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Samuel T. Pell

B.L. Wt. 1681

BA-J / MCS

Mrs. Oscar R. Zipf

33 North Whistler Avenue

Freeport 

Illinois

Dear Madam:

Reference is made to your request for the Revolutionary War record of Samuel Tredwell Pell.

The Revolutionary War records of this office show that Warrant #1681 for three hundred acres of bounty land was issued December 15, 1790, to Philip and David Pell, executors, on account of the Revolutionary War service of Samuel T. Pell as captain in the New York line.

There are no further data on file relative to this soldier because of the destruction of papers in bounty land claims when the War Office was destroyed by fire in 1800.

Very truly yours

A. D. HILLER

Assistant to Administrator"

Gravestone of Samuel Tredwell Pell at Saint Paul's Church

National Historic Site in Mount Vernon, New York, with Footstone

of Grave Visible in Background.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Ogden Philip Pell, a Grandson of David Jones Pell of Pelham Manor

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Ogden Philip Pell was a son of Stephen Sneden Pell and a grandson of Revolutionary War hero David Jones Pell who once owned the Pell farmhouse now incorporated into the home known today as Pelhamdale at 45 Iden Avenue and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  He spent his youth in Pelham, but left and became a very successful man.  Today he would be described as a venture capitalist and start up specialist.  He was involved in a fascinating array of successful ventures including partnering with George Chorpenning in one of the earliest Pony Express mail lines, constructing the eastern end of the Panama Canal, building railroads, establishing the first subway line in New York City, the creation of the first successful steamship line between New York and Galveston, Texas to run from the end of the Civil War blockade of Galveston, and much more.

Ogden Philip Pell was born in what was known as as the old Ogden House that once stood on what once was part of the Secor estate near Boston Post Road and Wolfs Lane.  The Ogdens sold their farm to to Francis Secor in 1836, a year after Ogden was born.  The family later lived in the old homestead of James Pell nearby.  

At the age of seventeen, Ogden Pell left Pelham abruptly.  According to one account, he left due to a personal "tragedy."  

It seems that as a teenager, Ogden Pell fell in love with young "Jennett Hay," a daughter of James Hay who had purchased, and lived in, Pelhamdale -- once owned by Ogden's grandfather, David Jones Pell.  Ogden Pell spent several years "in the company of Jennett Hay."  The pair, in fact, had a special place where they spent time together.  It was the lake that once stood on the Henry Iden, Jr. property on Wolfs Lane.  I have written before of that lovely lake.  See Wed., Jul. 15, 2015:  The Henry Iden, Jr. Property on Wolfs Lane -- An Ice Skating Paradise.  The pair loved the lake and strolled its grounds, where children sailed their model boats during warm months and skated on the pond ice in the winter.

Jennett Hay, it seems, fell in love with another.  According to an account told in the 1920s, she married a member of the Lord family of Lord & Taylor fame.  According to a story purportedly told by Ogden Pell himself, the day Jennett Hay married, Ogden left Pelham for the South.  Soon, according to one account, he:  "prospered, and developed cotton plantations in Louisiana, owning at the time of President Lincoln's famous "Proclamation of Emancipation' over one thousand slaves.  After which event the slaves refused to work and his plantations were ruined."  This account, however, may be apocryphal.  According to another account:

"At the age of 22, Mr. Pell began his business career with the old house of Treadwell & Co. who supplied all sorts of goods to southern planters during the early prosperous days of the South.  In 1862, Mr. Pell succeeded the firm of Treadwell & Pell, who conducted the business of machinery and other supplies of that character until the close of the war, the affairs of the firm being liquidated in 1867."

Even before the liquidation of Treadwell & Pell in 1867, Ogden Pell started the business of H. Blagg & Co. in 1865.  The business involved transportation of goods between Texas and New York.  According to a brief biography of Pell:  

"They loaded the first vessel that entered the port of Galveston when that port was still under blockade at the close of the war.  The business proving highly successful was followed up by establishing the Pioneer Merchant Steamship Company between New York and Galveston, now the Mallory line."

In about 1879, Ogden Pell joined with a group to organize the Mining Exchange, later known as "the Consolidated of New York."  He became Secretary of the New York Mining Exchange.  He also:

"promoted with the Slavens of San Francisco, Cal., the American Contracting & Dredging Company, which company built the eastern end of the Panama Canal between Colon and the mountains, and later, in the year 1889, he became and is still largely interested in promoting and building railroads and other public improvements  in the island of San Domingo."  

At the age of 84, Ogden Pell moved to the "Home for Old Men and Aged Couples," also known as the "Episcopal Home" located at 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.  He lived there for nine years.  While living there on October 18, 1927, fewer than five months before his death, Ogden Pell was honored as the grandson of David Jones Pell when a historic marker for his grandfather's home known today as "Pelhamdale" was placed on the Hutchinson River Parkway near the home located at 45 Iden Avenue.  See:

Wed., Feb. 01, 2017:  Pelham Historic Marker Placed on Hutchinson River Parkway in 1927.  

Tue., Jun. 24, 2014:  Story of Pelhamdale, the Old Stone House by the Bridge, Once Owned by David J. Pell.

On March 1, 1928, Ogden Philip Pell suffered a devastating stroke.  Though he rallied briefly, he suffered a second stroke and died on Monday, March 12.  The Manor of Pelham had lost another native son. . . .

*          *          *          *          *

Below is the text of news stories, obituaries, and a brief biography of Ogden Philip Pell, as well as an image of him.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"OGDEN P. PELL.  Secretary N. Y. Mining Exchange."

Source:  Paton, Thomas B., ed., "The New York Mining Exchange"

in The Banking Law Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 117-18 (NY, NY:

February, 1896).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"Ogden Philip Pell, secretary of the New York Mining Exchange, was born in the year 1835 in Pelham, Westchester county, New York.  The Pells were one of the first English families who settled in the state in the state of New York, locating, as early as 1864 [sic], in that portion of Westchester county which, at that time, comprised the towns of New Rochelle, Eastchester, and what is known now as Pelham Manor, 'Pelham being a Saxon word -- 'Pell,' family; 'Ham,' remote.  At the age of 22, Mr. Pell began his business career with the old house of Treadwell & Co. who supplied all sorts of goods to southern planters during the early prosperous days of the South.  In 1862, Mr. Pell succeeded the firm of Treadwell & Pell, who conducted the business of machinery and other supplies of that character until the close of the war, the affairs of the firm being liquidated in 1867.  In 1865, Mr. Pell started the house of H. Blagg & Co.  He was the special of the firm, and resident partner in New York.  Their business was the Texas market.  They loaded the first vessel that entered the port of Galveston when that port was still under blockade at the close of the war.  The business proving highly successful was followed up by establishing the Pioneer Merchant Steamship Company between New York and Galveston, now the Mallory line, and about the year 1879, Mr. Pell was instrumental, with others, in organizing the Mining Exchange, now the Consolidated of New York.  Following this, Mr. Pell promoted with the Slavens of San Francisco, Cal., the American Contracting & Dredging Company, which company built the eastern end of the Panama Canal between Colon and the mountains, and later, in the year 1889, he became and is still largely interested in promoting and building railroads and other public improvements  in the island of San Domingo.  As will be seen, a large part of Mr. Pell's business career has been devoted to the promoting of large enterprises, both in the form of business firms and incorporated companies, and most of his undertakings in that line have proved successful ventures to himself and associates, and his last undertaking in connection with the Mining Exchange will doubtless prove equally successful.  

In 1875 Mr. Pell advocated the Rapid Transit Underground system, known as the depressed movement, to connect the City Hall with the Grand Central Depot by a route through Fourth avenue, via Lafayette Place, paralleling Broadway, to City Hall.  This system is the one advocated and commended by ex-Mayor Hewitt as the most practical solution of the rapid transit problem."

Source:  Paton, Thomas B., ed., "The New York Mining Exchange" in The Banking Law Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 117-18 (NY, NY:  February, 1896).  

"HONEST!  THIS MILLIONAIRE LIVES ON 50 CENTS A DAY
-----
Wall Street Wonders How Ogden P. Pell Does It, but He Hasn't Lived 78 Years for Nothing -- System Simple; He Just Signs Checks.
-----

All the men of the Wall street district who have known Ogden P. Pell ever since they were kids are chuckling over the notoriety which has come to the seventy-eight-year-old youngster since he made the statement in supplementary proceedings Friday that all he needs to live on is 50 cents a day, and that borrowed money.

Mr. Pell is a well known man of affairs, a member of the prominent New York family of that name, a lineal descendant of Lord Pell, who married an Indian Princess [sic].  At the age of twenty two he began an eventful career by inheriting $1,500,000.  The pamphleteers of that period spoke of him as the richest young man in the United States.

For many years he and Roger Foster, the lawyer, have been close friends.  Some time ago Foster represented Pell in legal proceedings and the two men of wit couldn't agree on the value of services rendered.  They have been having a friendly controversy over it, and as both are vigorous fighters the claim finally reached the courts.  Foster himself put Pell through the usual questions and forced him to admit that he could live on 50 cents a day, and that he even had to borrow that.

How Does He Do It?

And then the word was passed around that Ogden P. Pell, one of the best-known brokers in New street, member of the Belle Harbor Club, honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati and leading citizen of Richmond Hill, was living on fifty cents per day.  Because of the present agitation over the high cost of living everybody wanted to know how Pell could do it.  In order to avoid inquiries Pell could do it.  In order to avoid inquiries Pell took to his private yacht, the Queen City, and remained out of town over Sunday.  

A World reporter called on him yesterday at his office to learn how to manage living expenses.  Mr. Pell laughed and said:

'If I didn't like Roger Foster and didn't need him in some pretty important litigation I'd get his goat for giving out this yarn.

'But,' he continued, 'If you want to see how I do it come with me.'

Mr. Pell then became the host in a prominent restaurant  of the 'street,' and with the vigor of a college student set the following menu before his guest:

Some Bronx Cocktails and then some.
Bismarck Herring.
Little Neck Clams. 
Green Turtle Soup.     Imperial Brut (plenty).
Broiled Bonefish with Butter Sauce.
Sliced Tomatoes.
Porterhouse Steak with Mushrooms.
Potatoes au Gratin.     Fresh Asparagus.
Fried Eggplant.
Escarole Salad.  Peaches with Ice Cream.
Yellow Chartreuse.
Cigars imported for private use.

Simply Signs Check.

'You see,' said Mr. Pell after he signed the check.  'I haven't spent a cent yet.'

Mr. Pell admitted during the conversation that he had accomplished a few things in his reckless career of seventy-eight years.  He has built a few railroads and signed a $35,000,000 contract with Dr. Lesseps over the luncheon table in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco which involved digging the section of the Panama Canal from Colon to Gatun.  Mr. Pell's company was going right ahead with the canal when the bottom fell out of the old French canal company.  It was a subsidiary company which changed the course of the Chagres River.

'I have never been sick a day in my life,' he said, 'and the only time I ever needed a doctor was when I had a boil on my neck two years ago.  After the doctor fixed it up he told me I was good for twenty-five years more.'"

Source:  HONEST!  THIS MILLIONAIRE LIVES ON 50 CENTS A DAY -- Wall Street Wonders How Ogden P. Pell Does It, but He Hasn't Lived 78 Years for Nothing -- System Simple; He Just Signs Checks, The New York World, Thrice-A-Week Edition, Jul. 12, 1911, Vol. LII, No. 6138, p. 3, cols. 6-7.

"Pioneer In Pony Express Dies at 93

New York, March 13 (AP).  --  Ogden Pell, 93, a partner in one of the earliest pony expresses to carry mail across the continent, and an organizer of the first steamship company to operate boats between New York and Galveston; died Monday in a home for the aged where he had lived for nine years.

He was born in Pelham where his grandfather had been one of the founders of the settlement, now one of the most exclusive in the metropolitan area, and left there as a young man to begin a varied and colorful career.

He was associated with a man named Chopenning [sic; George Chorpenning] in organizing a pony express, and was once connected with a New York banking firm which obtained land concessions from the government of Liberia.  These lands are now controlled by the Firestone Rubber company."

Source:  Pioneer In Pony Express Dies at 83, El Paso Herald, Mar. 13, 1928, p. 8, cols. 7-8 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).   

"Pony Express Pioneer Dies in New York City
-----

NEW YORK, March 12 (AP). -- Ogden Pell, 93, a partner in one of the earliest pony expresses to carry mail across the continent, and an organizer of the first steamship company to operate boats between New York and Galveston, died today in a home for the aged where he had lived for nine years.

He was born in Pelham, where his grandfather had been a founder of the settlement, now one of the most exclusive in the metropolitan area."

Source:  Pony Express Pioneer Dies in New York City, Schenectady Gazette, Mar. 13, 1928, p. 8, col. 4.  

"Died in Poverty

New York, Mar. 14 -- Ogden Pell, grandson of one of the first settlers of Pelham, organizer of the first steamship line to Galveston, partner in the first pony express, one of the promoters of the first subway, and winner of the first land concession from the government of Liberia, is dead without funds, as an inmate of the Home for Old Men and Aged Couples."

Source:  Died in Poverty, Rochester Times-Union, Mar. 14, 1928, p. 5, col. 5.  

"OGDEN PHILIP PELL
1835 -- 1928
By William R. Montgomery
-----

Pelham lost its oldest son, when Ogden P. Pell passed away in his ninety-fourth year on Monday, March 12, 1928, at the 'Home for Old Men and Aged Couples' in New York.  This institution though termed 'home' is in reality a club with all the comforts and conveniences of a rich man's residence.

Mr. Pell suffered a stroke on March 1st.  He rallied, but succumbed to a second attack on Monday.  Funeral services were held yesterday.

Mr. Pell was born February 20, 1835, in the old Ogden House, that once stood directly in front of the well on the lawn of Mr. Julius Manger's estate at Boston Post road and Wolf's Lane, formerly the property of the Secors.  Later he lived in the old homestead of James Pell nearby, when the Ogdens sold their farm to Francis Secor in 1836.

Mr. Pell left Pelham about 1852 and had not returned until October 17th of last year, when the D. A. R., Bronx Chapter, unveiled the New York State marker on the Hutchinson Parkway at Iden avenue.

This tablet marks the old homestead of Mr. Ogden P. Pell's grandfather, Colonel David J. Pell, and the birthplace of his father, Stephen S. Pell.

There is rather an interesting story, though a tragedy connected with Mr. Pell's sudden departure from Pelham.  When he approached 'Pelhamdale' last October he anxiously inquired about the brook and the pond.  The pond that he was interest in was, in those days, a beautiful lake, near Wolf's Lane and Colonial avenue, now covered by a dozen or more homes.  On this lake the children sailed their boats in the summer time, and skated in the winter.  It was here that he spent several years in the company of Jennett Hay, the daughter of James Hay, who had purchased Mr. Pell's grandfather's place, 'Pelhamdale' in 1827, now the property of Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Wagner.

He told the story himself, of his love for Jennett, and of her promise, and of the day he left Pelham, for it was on that day Jennett Hay married Mr. Lord, one of the founders of the firm of Lord & Taylor.

Ogden Pell went South, prospered, and developed cotton plantations in Louisiana, owning at the time of President Lincoln's famous "Proclamation of Emancipation' over one thousand slaves.  After which event the slaves refused to work and his plantations were ruined.

Later, he opened up various steamship lines for the transportation of cotton.  He developed a line of steamships that became known as the Mallory Line."

Source:  Montgomery, William R., OGDEN PHILIP PELL -- 1835 -- 1928, The Pelham Sun, Mar. 16, 1928, p. 3, cols. 4-5.  

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