Was this the First Automobile Accident on Today's Pelham Bridge?

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For about the last two hundred years, some form of bridge has stood above the waters of Eastchester Bay where the Hutchinson River meets Long Island Sound.  The histories of the several bridges that have stood there over the years are fascinating.  Often referenced as Pelham Bridge and, occasionally, Eastchester Bridge, the current version was built more than a century ago and opened to the public on October 15, 1908.  The Department of Transportation has announced that it plans to replace the current Pelham Bridge entirely with construction scheduled to begin in 2022.

I have written about the histories of the various bridges at that location numerous times.  A number of such articles, with links, are listed at the end of today's Historic Pelham article.

An odd incident in the early history of the current Pelham Bridge occurred only a few weeks after the bridge opened in mid-October, 1908.  The dramatic incident involved a 17-year-old young person named Henry Goodsell.

Though accounts differ, Henry Goodsell lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  Late in the day on Friday, November 6, 1908, he was in his large touring car on Shore Road after dropping friends off in the region.  He was on his way back to the Upper West Side as he approached Shore Road.

Ahead, in the darkness, the draw of Pelham Bridge was open to let a vessel pass on the waters below.  The bridge tender, a man named Michael Selig (or Seelig, depending on the account) stood on the roadway tending a rope stretched across the roadway with two red signal lanterns hanging from the rope to warn approaching motorists.

As the vessel in the waters below passed, the bridge engineer began lowering the two halves of the draw.  As the two giant halves of the draw closed slowly, young Henry Goodsell came burning down Shore Road at the then incredible speed of thirty miles per hour.  The bridge tender saw the touring car approaching too fast and grabbed one of the two lanterns hanging from the rope.  He began swinging the lantern frantically, to no avail.

Henry Goodsell's touring car blew through the rope, slicing it like a hot knife through butter.  Goodsell realized his circumstance at the last moment and slammed on the brakes.  The car climbed the inclined draw just as the two halves were about to close.

The touring car barely made it through the steel jaws of the closing draw and plunged over the edge.  The bridge tender hear Henry Goodsell's scream as the touring car made a complete "somersault" before plunging into the waters of Eastchester Bay below, sending a "geyser" of water into the night air.

The bridge tender began scrambling down from the bridge to get to a nearby rowboat.  A second bridge tender, Elijah Miller, and the bridge engineer, John Beyer, also witnessed the accident and likewise scrambled down from the bridge to try to save the young man.

Once again, accounts differ, but clearly the car sank immediately.  The young driver was unconscious, but reportedly -- according to one account -- was found floating face up before he was dragged into a rowboat and taken ashore.  The three men called an ambulance and tended to the young man until he was transported to the hospital.

Miraculously, Henry Goodsell survived.  He was badly hurt with broken ribs and was in serious condition when taken to the hospital.  Yet, the three men had saved the young lad's life.

The touring car was left at the bottom of Eastchester Bay, although its location was marked with a float.

"NEW PELHAM PARK BRIDGE OVER EAST CHESTER BAY.

Formally opened yesterday.  Source:  NEW BRIDGE OPENED,
New-York Daily Tribune, Oct. 16, 1908, p. 12, cols. 2-3.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"AUTOMOBILE LEAPS THROUGH DRAW INTO BAY
-----
With Driver at Wheel Plunges Into 60 Feet of Water While Going at Full Speed -- Driver, Floating Unconscious, Rescued and Revived.
-----

New York, Nov. 8. -- A big motor car traveling more than thirty miles an hour, driven by Henry Goodsell, 17 years old, of No. 324 West Seventy-second street, its sole occupant, went through the open counter-balance draw on the new Eastchester bridge over Pelham bay last night, and plunged down into sixty feet of water.

Young Goodsell, who said he was the owner of the car, had taken a party of friends to New Rochelle and was returning to his home alone and driving at high speed along the road when he came in sight of the bridge.  The structure was recently opened and is not completed.  Instead of iron gates to protect passengers a heavy rope was used.

Michael Selig, one of the bridge tenders, was standing at the rope barrier as the draw had been opened to permit a vessel to pass through.  He saw the lights of the approaching car and realized that it was travelling at a high rate of speed.  The red lanterns hanging to the rope had evidently failed to warn the driver of the car, and Selig picked up one of them and waved it frantically as a signal for the automobile to stop, shouting a warning at the same time.

Goodsell put on the brakes, but too late, and the car tore through the rope barrier, ran up the platform and with a loud splash disappeared beneath the water.  The car barely missed being caught between the ends of the platform as they came together.

Selig shouted for help and called over the rail of the bridge below in a vain attempt to get a response from the driver of the car.  Failing, he climbed down one of the piers and set out in a rowboat to try to find the man.

Engineer John Beyer and Bridge Tender Elijah Miller, stationed on the opposite side of the span, had witnessed the accident and heard Selig's call for aid.  They also set out in a small boat and joined in the search.  After a few minutes they came upon the body of Goodsell.  He was unconscious, but was floating face up on top of the water.

A call was sent to the Fordham hospital, three miles away, and the three men worked over Goodsell while waiting for the ambulance.  They succeeded in resuscitating him and bringing him back to consciousness just as the ambulance arrived.  He gave his name and address.  The surgeon found that several of his ribs had been fractured and removed him to the hospital.  No attempt was made to recover the automobile, but a float was set to mark the place where it had disappeared."

Source:  AUTOMOBILE LEAPS THROUGH DRAW INTO BAY -- With Driver at Wheel Plunges Into 60 Feet of Water While Going at Full Speed -- Driver, Floating Unconscious, Rescued and Revived, The Topeka Daily Capital [Topeka, KS], Nov. 9, 1908, Vol. XXXII, No. 264, p. 1, cols. 4-6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"AUTOMOBILE AND BOY DROP INTO BAY
-----
Large Touring Car, Driven by Henry Goodsell, Plunges Through Draw of East Chester Bridge.
-----
LAD'S LIFE IS SAVED
-----

Driving a large touring automobile at a high rate of speed, Henry Goodsell, seventeen years old, who lives at No. 234 West Seventy-second street, plunged through the open draw of the East Chester Bridge, over Pelham Bay, yesterday afternoon, and the boy and machine tumbled thirty-five feet into the stream below.  Young Goodsell was rescued just in time to save his life, but the automobile lies at the bottom of the bay.  The boy was taken to the Fordham Hospital, where it was found he was suffering from a fractured rib, possibly internal injuries and submersion.

Alone in the car, Goodsell was on his way home from City Island when he approached the bridge.  The structure has not been finished, and in lieu of a gate which could be closed against vehicles and pedestrians when the draw is open ropes are stretched across the roadway.

It was about half-past five o'clock when Michael Seelig, watchman on the bridge, saw the automobile coming along at a furious pace, and he ran out and waved his arms, at the same time shouting to John Byer, engineer in charge of the construction work, to close the draw.

Before Byer could reach the levers the car had cut through the ropes as if they were threads of silk, and as the boy uttered a scream of fright the machine turned a somersault in the air and, striking the water with a splash that sent up a geyser, sank to the bottom.  Seelig ran to the foot of one of the piers, jumped into a boat and rowed toward the spot where the machine and boy had gone down.  Byer and Elijah Miller, a bridge tender, also put out in another rowboat, but before they could pull far Goodsell had risen and sunk several times.

He had gone under the surface again when both boats reached the spot, and Byer, stripping off only his coat, plunged overboard.  He caught the lad in his arms and just managed to lift him into Seelig's boat.  When the shore was reached Goodsell was taken to Geck's Hotel and a call for an ambulance was sent to Fordham Hospital, three miles away.  Meantime, the three men worked over the unconscious boy, and when Dr. O'Reilly arrived he said that while his condition was serious it was likely that he would recover.

In the hospital Goodsell told the policemen that he as the owner of the automobile, but because of his youth this statement was doubted, and an investigation was begun.  It was promptly learned that the lad had told the truth.  He is the son of a lawyer now dead, and lives with his mother at the address he gave.  When an inquirer called there Mrs. Goodsell was at a front window, watching for her son, and she fainted when she learned of the accident.  When she had been revived sufficiently she started for Fordham Hospital to see the boy."

Source:  AUTOMOBILE AND BOY DROP INTO BAY -- Large Touring Car, Driven by Henry Goodsell, Plunges Through Draw of East Chester Bridge -- LAD'S LIFE IS SAVED, N.Y. Herald, Nov. 7, 1908, p. 1, col. 5.  

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Below are examples of previous postings that address the histories of the various Pelham Bridges that have spanned Eastchester Bay for the last two centuries.

Thu., Oct. 13, 2016:  The Eastchester Bridge Company Raised Tolls on Pelham Bridge Before It Was Even Built.

Wed., Oct. 12, 2016:  More on the Early History of Pelham Bridge Including Ownership of the Bridge Between 1834 and 1860.

Tue., Oct. 11, 2016:  Is It Possible The First Pelham Bridge Built in About 1815 Was Repaired After Near Destruction by a Storm?

Wed., Oct. 1, 2014:  Bridge Keepers of the Pelham Bridge from 1870 to 1872.

Mon., Jul. 21, 2014:  Image of the Second Pelham Bridge Built in 1834 From a Sketch Created in 1865.

Thu., Jul. 17, 2014:  Sabotage Brought Down the 70-Ton Draw Span of Pelham Bridge in 1908 and Delayed its Opening. 

Tue., Jun. 10, 2014: Construction of the Concrete Arch Pelham Bridge.

Mon., May 12, 2014: The March 6, 1812 New York Statute Authorizing Construction of the Pelham Bridge.

Tue., Sep. 22, 2009: Names of Early "Keepers of Pelham Bridge" Appointed by Westchester County.

Thu., Jan. 08, 2009: Another Brief History of The Pelham Bridge.

Thu., Jan. 1, 2009: A Brief History of Pelham Bridge.

Wed., Jan. 2, 2008: New York State Senate Report on Petition by Inhabitants of Westchester to Allow Construction of Toll Bridge Across Eastchester Creek in 1834.

Tue., Aug. 28, 2007: The Laying Out of Pelham Avenue From Fordham to Pelham Bridge in 1869.

Wed., Jul. 4, 2007: 1857 Real Estate Advertisement for Sale of the Pelham Bridge.

Fri., Jul. 22, 2007: 1857 Real Estate Advertisement for Sale of "Country Seat" at Pelham Bridge.

Fri., May 18, 2007: Celebration at Pelham Bridge in 1872.

Wed., May 16, 2007: Board of Supervisors of Westchester County Vote to Build New Iron Bridge to Replace Pelham Bridge in 1869.

Tue., May 15, 2007: The Owner of the Pelham Bridge Hotel Sold it for the Princely Sum of $22,000 in 1869.

Mon., May 14, 2007: Plans to Widen Shore Road in the Town of Pelham in 1869.

Fri., May 11, 2007: A Sad Attempted Suicide at Pelham Bridge in 1869.

Thu., Dec. 08, 2005: The First Stone Bridge Built Across Eastchester Creek in Pelham, 1814-1815.

Thu., Aug. 18, 2005: The Opening of the New Iron "Pelham Bridge" in 1871.

Tue., Aug. 9, 2005: Cock Fighting at Pelham Bridge in the 19th Century.

Thu., Jul. 21, 2005: Today's Remnants of the Bartow Station on the Branch Line Near City Island.

Tue., Jun. 28, 2005: The Hotel and Bar Room at Pelham Bridge.

Thu., Mar. 24, 2005: The Bartow Area of Pelham in the 19th Century: Where Was It?

Wed., Mar. 23, 2005: Prize Fighting at Pelham Bridge in 1884.

For more about the Pelham Bridge and its history, see Pelham Bridge, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelham_Bridge (visited May 6, 2014).

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "The Haunted History of Pelham, New York"
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

Pelham Had "Whaleboatmen" Nearly 250 Years Ago, But They Were Not What You Might Think

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Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
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They were "whaleboatmen."  They were among the bravest ever to grace the region once known as the Manor of Pelham.

Let your imagination soar!  The term "whaleboatmen" evokes thoughts of whales, harpoons, courage, small boats, and Long Island Sound.  Imagine heroes who embraced the risk of death.  They were whaleboatmen! 

Yet, such heroes chased no whales in Pelham waters.  Instead, they chased true Leviathans.  Such heroes used long rowboats that remotely resembled real whaleboats to annoy monumentally-large, British Navy ships that deigned to ply Pelham waters during the Revolutionary War.  Occasionally, like mosquitoes, the pesky little Patriots who became known as "whaleboatmen" sucked British blood.

Today's Historic Pelham Blog article tells a story of such whaleboatmen.  It is a story told before in these Historic Pelham digital pages.  See:

Tue., Oct. 10, 2006:  Yet Another Account of the Capture of the British Ship Schuldham Off Pelham Shores During the Revolutionary War.

Fri., Jul. 14, 2006:  Capture of the British Ship Schuldham in Pelham Waters During the Revolutionary War 

Tue., Aug. 29, 2006:  Another Brief Account of the Capture of the British Ship Schuldham in Pelham Waters During the Revolutionary War. 

The story of the capture of the Schuldham in February 1777 is only a tiny part of the incredible story of Pelham during the Revolutionary War.  Preparations already are underway throughout Westchester County for the upcoming 250th anniversary of American Independence and the War for freedom from British tyranny.  Work by "Revolutionary Westchester 250" is well underway to ensure that celebrations of the 250th anniversary beginning in 2025 and 2026 will be spectacular.  

The Town of Pelham played critical and repeated roles in the history of the Revolutionary War.  Though most students of Pelham history think only of the "Battle of Pelham" on October 18, 1776 when they think of Pelham's role in the war, Pelham's contributions and the stories that can be told of the war that raged across Pelham for years are much broader and more important than a single battle.  Pelham was within the Ground-Zero of "no man's land" -- the so-called "neutral ground" between the lines of the two warring armies.  The British controlled New York City and north including much of today's Bronx.  Americans controlled northern Westchester and south to a line north of the Croton River stretching roughly from Peekskill to Connecticut and down to Long Island Sound.  Pelham and other nearby communities, of course, sat right in the middle of this no-man's land.  

British Loyalists and sympathizers in the region supported the "Cowboys" (or "Cow Boys"), a rampaging group of marauders led by two men hated by all Patriots:  Major Andreas Emerick and the detestable Colonel James DeLancey.  The Cowboys were so-named because the group rampaged across Pelham and the region and stole cattle to be taken to the British market to support British and German troops.  The Cowboys terrorized Pelham and the entire neutral ground, stealing cash and valuables and burning local homesteads including, it is believed, the old 17th century John Pell homestead that once stood near today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.

Rival marauders known as "Skinners" were organized, supposedly in support of the Americans and to oppose the Cowboys.  In reality, however, the Skinners similarly terrorized and robbed nearly all who tried to remain within the neutral ground without regard to whether they were Loyalists or Patriots.  Both Cowboys and Skinners were documented to torture, murder, and rob many victims in the region.  Things became so terrible that local residents organized Ranger Corps, the principal purpose of which was to protect local residents from both Cowboys and Skinners.  In 1975, Pelham Town Historian Susan Cochran Swanson wrote:

"Although Westchester was called the 'Neutral Ground', it was neutral only in the sense that the inhabitants were liable to attack by Cow Boys or Skinners, British or American soldiers.  Some people left their farms and moved to other areas until the end of the war.  Most buried their valuables and tried to hide the few horses and cows they had managed to keep in the woods.  Few men of fighting age dared to sleep at home for fear of capture and imprisonment.  Women, children and old people stayed on to protect their property.  Almost every family had a secret retreat in which to hide during a raid or attack.

"Out of this chaos, where families often sacrificed greatly for the principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, many true heroes emerged.  Local men, for example, organized Ranger Corps to protect the county from Cow Boy and Skinner raids.  Trained by volunteer French and German officers in the art of saber fighting from horseback, they became a real match for the British trained Cow Boys of Morrisania."

Source: Swanson, Susan Cochran, Between the Lines:  Stories of Westchester County, New York During the American Revolution, pp. 3-4 (Pelham, NY:  The Junior League of Pelham, 1975) (Copyright Susan Cochran Swanson).

Pelham also was in the cross-hairs of the British and Germans during the War because of its strategic location and its (then) lengthy shoreline on Long Island Sound.  The passageway between the East River that extended alongside Manhattan and Long Island Sound was strategically important to the defense and safety of New York City which was held by the British.  Pelham's shores stood nearly at that passageway that threaded between Throggs Neck on the mainland and the Great Neck / Kings Point region of Long Island.  Thus, the British kept a substantial naval presence in the waters off the shores of Pelham and southern Westchester County for most of the war, constantly harassing local shipping.  The British also stationed troops on local islands like today's City Island (then part of the Town of Pelham).  Although there was naval activity throughout Long Island Sound off the shores of both northern Westchester and southern Westchester, such activity was very concentrated near the shores of Pelham and the strategically-important island known today as City Island.  Hence, today's story of the American capture of the British ship Schuldham in Pelham waters.  

Indeed, among the countless stories of heroism and patriotism in Pelham during the Revolutionary War is the story of the capture of the Schuldham in February, 1777.  During 1777, Americans throughout our new nation were inspired by the gallant exploits of a group of American Patriots who captured a massive British gunboat serving as a guard-ship off the shores of City Island in the Manor of Pelham.  A small group of Patriots reportedly from Darien, Connecticut successfully executed a daring capture of the Schuldham, a British guard-ship that patrolled near Hell Gate and the "entrance" from Long Island Sound to the East River route to New York City.   

An account of the event was published in 1886.  It said: 

"It was near City Island that a daring and successful enterprise was accomplished by a few of the Americans in the year 1777, being no less than the capture of a British gun-boat used as a guard-ship, and stationed at the mouth of East Chester Creek. The particulars, as related by one of the party engaged in the capture to an aged citizen of Pelham, now in his ninety-second year, and by him communicated to the writer, are as follows: 

'The guardship 'Schuldham' was one of several vessels stationed by the British along the shores of the Sound, through whose instrumentality most of the hardships complained of by the Americans, such as those referred to in the petition by Benjamin Palmer, were inflicted. The officers and crews of these vessels often treated the inhabitants of the towns and villages along the shore with great severity. They were consequently regarded with no friendly feelings by the oppressed people, and plans for their capture were frequently discussed. 

'A party of whale-boatmen from Darien, Connecticut, were fortunate enough to carry enough such a design into execution. They conveyed their boat by hand across the Neck, and took possession of the market sloop which plied regularly between East Chester and New York. From the master of this sloop they ascertained that on his weekly passages to the city he was sometimes hailed from the guardship, and requested to sell them fresh provisions, such as eggs, chickens, vegetables, &c., for which, to insure their delivery, he was liberally paid. These Connecticut whale-boatmen, to the number of ten or twelve, armed, concealed themselves in the hold of the sloop. Their leader, however, remained on deck, and forced the owner to lay his craft alongside the sloop, as if for the purpose of furnishing the usual supplies. It was early in the morning, before daylight, and the moment the two vessels touched, the boatmen rushed up from below, boarded the British vessel, and took the crew prisoners before they were fairly awake. They then compelled some of the prisoners to help navigate the vessel, and making sail on the prize, ran her into the port of New London.'"

Source:  See Lindsley, Charles E., Pelham [Chapter XVII] in HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK, INCLUDING MORRISANIA, KINGS BRIDGE, AND WEST FARMS, WHICH HAVE BEEN ANNEXED TO NEW YORK CITY, Vol I, p. 705 (Scharf, Thomas, ed., Philadelphia: L.E. Preston & Co. 1886).  See also Weigold, Marilyn, THE LONG ISLAND SOUND - A HISTORY OF ITS PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENT, p. 26 (NY and London: New York University Press 2004); Mullaly, John, NEW PARKS BEYOND THE HARLEM WITH THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENERY NEARLY 4,000 ACRES OF FREE PLAYGROUND FOR THE PEOPLE, p. 88 (NY, NY: Record & Guide 1887).

This brief account published in 1886 relates the capture of the British gunboat, but does little to reveal the true nature of the violent encounter and the amazing courage of the Americans involved.  A more recent account based on interviews with the whaleboatmen involved in the courageous exploit contained in the famed McDonald Papers published in 1923 by the Westchester County Historical Society tells the story of the capture of the Schuldham in greater detail.  

In 1975, Pelham Town Historian Susan Cochran Swanson published a book entitled Between the Lines:  Stories of Westchester County, New York During the American Revolution (Pelham, NY:  The Junior League of Pelham, 1975) (Copyright Susan Cochran Swanson).  In it she included a chapter with a brief but exciting account of the capture of the Schuldham.  Her account is quoted below.

"Yankee Whaleboatmen Capture British Gunboat
February, 1777

Whaleboatmen of Westchester County and Connecticut villages along Long Island Sound usually went out in groups of two or three boats.  Each boat carried eight to ten oarsmen, a helmsman and a man to handle a swivel gun on the bow.  Commissioned by the Governors of New York and Connecticut, the whaleboatmen were really rowboat privateers preying on Tory farms and sloops headed for the British food markets in New York.

The most famous whaleboat exploit was the capture in February, 1777, by Major Samuel Lockwood's crew of about twenty men, of the ten-gun British guardship Schuldham, anchored near Minneford Island (City Island) in Eastchester Bay.  It is retold here from the stories of two of the crew, Isaac Quintard and John Dibble, and the widow of another crew member, Andrew Mead.

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Early on a cold February afternoon in 1777 Major Samuel Lockwood of Stamford, Connecticut, stood in the bow of his whaleboat straining to spot familiar landmarks along the shore.  His upraised hand signaled silence to the men rowing soundlessly behind him.

'Good!  This thick mist is a perfect cover,' he thought.  Slowly the whaleboat slipped around the north end of Hunter's Island and moved into Pelham Bay at the head of Pell's Point in Long Island Sound.  The two whaleboats behind slowly edged toward the beach and slid softly into the mud.  Wordlessly the men pulled their long whaleboats into the tall marsh grass that hid them completely from view.

Isaac Quintard stretched his legs.  It felt good to walk again after hours of rowing.  At the Major's signal he hurried over to join the crew.

'I'm calling off our original plan to take the Fort at White Stone Ferry,' Major Lockwood announced.

'Why, Sir?' Andrew Mead spoke up.  A good man when action was involved, he had been looking forward to attacking the fort.

'I received some news from Fade Donaldson last night, in New Rochelle,' continued the Major.  'There's a brig and another armed vessel tied up alongside the fort now.  It's too risky. 1  [Footnote 1, below.]  Besides, I've got a better idea.  How would you like a real prize this time . . . something more than just intercepting a few chickens or pigs bound for his Majesty's soup kettles in New York . . . something that would put some real silver in your palms?'

'Aye, that's what we need!!' Isaac exclaimed.

'Fade tells me that a Tory market sloop called the Little Stanton plies between East Chester and New York.  She sells fresh vegetables and poultry to the Schuldham, that guardship off Minneford Island.  The Little Stanton is due back in a couple of hours.'

'We haven't taken a Tory prize all day,' said Andrew Mead.  'Perhaps the Captain of the Little Stanton would like a holiday in Connecticut -- in jail!'

'I've got a better idea,' said Lockwood.  'Johnson, you and your crew stay here on Pell's Point and keep watch.  DeForest, you and I and our crews will carry out boats across Pell's Neck to Eastchester Bay.  The master of the Little Stanton doesn't know it yet, but we are going to borrow his sloop and use it as bait to catch us a nice fat fish!'

'You don't mean we are going to try to take the Schuldham?' exclaimed John Dibble.

'Why not?' broke in Andrew Mead.  'If we can catch the crew while they are still asleep, I bet we could do it!'  

'Are you willing to give it a try?' asked Major Lockwood.

'You bet!' cried the men.

'We'll give those British sailors a taste of real Yankee fighting!' 

Leaving Johnson and his crew to keep watch, Lockwood, DeForest and their men hoisted their whaleboat on their shoulders and set off.  When they reached the other side of the narrow neck of land, they stopped an peered cautiously through the tall marsh grass.  Through the mist they could just see the dim outline of the Schuldham.

They launched their boats and hugging the shore to keep out of sight, rowed from Eastchester Bay into the narrow Hutchinson River.  Then, hiding the boats in the marsh, Lockwood and his men waited an hour, shivering.  A small sloop sailed into Eastchester Bay.  It was the Little Stanton.  

With the precision of long practice the whaleboatmen swung into action.  Pulling alongside the sloop, Lockwood leaped on board, pointed his pistol at the Tory captain's head and said 'We'd like to borrow your sloop for the night, Captain.  If you don't give us any trouble, neither you nor your boat will be harmed.'  The Captain gave in without a struggle.

The whaleboats escorted the Little Stanton back to their secluded cove.  There they spent the night waiting for the tide to turn.  About five o'clock in the morning, Captain DeForest roused the men.

'Let's go, boys!  Time to catch our prize.  Ten dollars to the first man to board the Schuldham and five dollars to the second.  If we succeed there will be dollars aplenty for all of us!'  The crew hid down in the hold along with the sloop's 300 barrels of salt and twelve ten-gallon kegs of brandy.  With the Tory captain at the helm and Lockwood at the bow, the Little Stanton sailed down Eastchester Bay under a light breeze from the west.

Suddenly out of the grey dawn loomed the Schuldham.  She was completely encased in a net that reached ten feet up from the water to act as protection against small rebel boats.  She resembled a shrouded ghost in the morning fog.  The man on watch was real enough however, and wide awake.

'What ship is that?' he called.

'The Little Stanton,' answered Major Lockwood.

'The rebel boats are out tonight and I want to lie under your stern lee for safety.'  2.  [Footnote 2 is below]

Just at that moment, the bowsprit of the little boat rammed the Schuldham's netting.  The whaleboatmen swarmed up out of the hold.  Andrew Mead leaped to the bow and slashed at the netting with his cutlass.  The sentry fired his musket at Andrew.  Only grazed, Andrew fired back, but missed.

'Leave your muskets, men.  Use your boarding axes.  Follow me,' Major Lockwood yelled.  The men rushed forward.  Andrew Mead climbed the netting, hooked his boarding ax over the railing and pulled himself on board thus earning the ten dollar reward.

'Lock the hatches!  Keep the marines below,' shouted Andrew to the men following him over the rail.  But they weren't fast enough.

A British officer burst through the nearest hatch yelling, 'Kill him!  Kill him!'  Mead came face to face with the British Captain Roney with a pistol in each of his hands.  Mead lunged at Roney with his boarding axe, wounding him severely in the chest and side, but the Scotsman fired his pistols wounding Mead in each shoulder.  As the other whaleboatmen guarded the hatches, Andrew Mead, now barely able to support himself, called on the Captain to surrender.  The Captain, lying on the deck replied, 'If I must, I must!' and surrendered.

The battle was over.  But not one of the whaleboatmen knew how to man the stern topsail of the enormous Schuldham!  And so a bargain was struck with two British crewmen:  their freedom in exchange for their sailing knowledge.

'Even so,' Andrew Mead said later, 'we sailed that vessel very slowly and very awkwardly, like an old woman, all the way home!'  4.  [Footnote 4 is below]

Triumphantly the Schuldham entered Stamford harbor.  Isaac Quintard took Andrew Mead to his father's house to recover and Captain Roney went to Isaac's aunt's, the Widow Hubbard's house nearby.  The two men became quite friendly during their recuperation.

'Mead, aren't you well yet?  I have almost recovered.'  5.  [Footnote 5 is below]  Captain Roney would say to tease Andrew.  Suddenly, just when he seemed almost well, Captain Roney hemorrhaged fatally.  He was mourned by Andrew Mead who lived on to have many more adventures as a whaleboatman.  But not one of them ever equaled the day he helped capture the Schuldham!

Footnotes:

1.  McDonald, John, The McDonald Papers, MSS, Huguenot-Thomas Paine Historical Assoc., New Rochelle, N.Y., 1844, 586.
2.  McDonald, op. cit., 613.
3.  McDonald, op. cit., 71.
4.  Ibid. 
5.  Ibid."

Source:  Swanson, Susan Cochran, Between the Lines:  Stories of Westchester County, New York During the American Revolution, pp. 23-28 (Pelham, NY:  The Junior League of Pelham, 1975) (Copyright Susan Cochran Swanson).

The story of the capture of the Schuldham in Pelham waters early in the Revolutionary War is only a tiny part of the history of the region during the tumult of the war.  Yet, it is among the most thrilling exploits during that terrible time.

Detail from 1776 Map by Charles Blaskowitz Showing Area Where the

Schuldham Was Captured in February 1777.   Source: Blaskowitz,

Charles, A survey of Frog's Neck and the rout[e] of the British Army

to the 24th of October 1776, under the command of His Excellency the

Honorable William Howe, General and Commander in Chief of His

Majesty's forces, &ca, &ca, &ca. (1776) (Library of Congress Geography

and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA; Digital Id g3802t

ar115200; Library of Congress Catalog Number gm71000648).

NOTE: Click to Enlarge Image.

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The Story of Mary Blizzard, a Pelham Squatter on an Island in Eastchester Creek

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In about 1867, Mary A. Blizzard took over a tiny little island in Eastchester Creek.  She didn't own the one-acre island and made no pretense to try to gain title to the land.  She simply began building on the island adjacent to Pelham Bridge.  No one seemed to object.  She built several buildings including a hotel and connected buildings on the southern end of the island and a boat-house on the northern end.

The little hotel and boathouse became a destination for anglers and sporting types who came to Pelham, usually from New York City, to fish and hunt.  As the years passed, Mary Blizzard continued to improve the island, the hotel, and the boathouse.  

Members of the Blizzard family owned a good deal of land in the region from today's Westchester Square through much of the Pelham Bay area.  Indeed, David Blizzard operated a hotel built on pilings adjacent to Pelham Bridge during the 1870s.  Known colloquially as "Blizzard's," the establishment became known as the Grand View Hotel.  It seems likely that the hotel Mary A. Blizzard and Blizzard's (aka the Grand View Hotel) were one and the same, but extensive research efforts have not yet resolved this issue which remains confused because there were a surprisingly large number of hotels situated at the Pelham Bridge during the late 19th century.

Another important clue that suggests the two may have been one and the same is the following.  Mary A. Blizzard was an aunt of a man well known to readers of the Historic Pelham Blog:  William John "Jack" Elliott.  Jack Elliott managed the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge for a time.  To learn more about Jack Elliott and the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge, see:

Tue., Aug. 02, 2016:  More Research Regarding the 19th Century Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge.

Thu., Jan. 21, 2016:  Research Regarding David Blizzard's 19th Century Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge. 

Fri., Jul. 29, 2016: Shooting Death at the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge in 1892.

In the 1880s, of course, New York City began assembling the lands necessary to form Pelham Bay Park.  Among those lands was the tiny little island on which Mary Blizzard's hotel and boathouse stood.

Because Mary Blizzard could not establish title to the island, the Commissioner of Estimate charged with valuing such properties and awarding the fair value for the properties taken by New York City to the properties' owners valued the island and its buildings but awarded the estimated amount to "unknown persons."  The Commissioner of Estimate valued the land of the island at $5,000 and the buildings that stood on the island at $8,350 for a total of $13,350 (about $450,000 in today's dollars).  Mary A. Blizzard immediately filed a petition seeking an award of the $13,350.

A referee heard the matter and concluded that Mary's possession of the property for more than twenty years constituted sufficient evidence that she was the rightful owner for purposes of receiving the money.  Mary Blizzard then petitioned the New York Supreme Court, General Term in the First Department seeking a confirmation of the referee's report in her favor.

The Court denied the petition, thereby ruling in favor of New York City.  The Court found that Mary Blizzard was a mere "squatter" whose use of the island failed to rise to the level necessary to establish the requirements of "adverse possession" under New York law -- a doctrine whereby someone who takes possession of another's real estate and claims title to the real estate exclusive of the right of any other actually takes title to the property after the passage of a sufficient period of time.  The Court ruled "It appears from the evidence taken in this proceeding that the taking of possession by the petitioner was not, in its commencement, hostile to the true title, and it does not appear when the petitioner commenced to claim title to the premium exclusive of any other right, if she ever did so; and as under no circumstances can possession be deemed adverse until this condition of affairs is made to appear, it is not in proof that there was any adverse possession of the petitioner for 20 years."

Mary Blizzard and her lawyer immediately turned to the State of New York where they were able to obtain special legislation entitled "AN ACT for the relief of Mary A. Blizzard" passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor on May 2, 1892.  The act required the Comptroller of the City of New York to advertise for seven weeks seeking to have anyone else who claimed and could prove title to the little island to come forward and so prove or the money would be paid to Mary Blizzard.

Eventually Mary Blizzard received substantial compensation not only for her little island and hotel, but also for other properties she owned that were taken by New York City as part of the creation of Pelham Bay Park.  Mary Blizzard became a wealthy woman with an estate worth $110,000 at the time of her death in July, 1912 (about $2.84 million in today's dollars).

Mary's story did not end with her death.  Mary left her entire estate to her "favorite nephew," Jack Elliott.  Jack went on one of the greatest benders ever seen in the history of Pelham -- indeed, a bender that may have killed him!  

Despite his past, by 1912 Jack Elliott was known as a responsible family man -- married with two sons.  When he received the fruits of his aunt's estate he took off, leaving his wife and sons behind.  He spent profligately.  He moved from roadhouse to roadhouse buying drinks for all and leaving tips of hundreds of dollars for barkeeps, cabbies, and others everywhere he went.  In only two months, Jack Elliott spent $75,000 (about $1.93 million in today's dollars).  Within a short time thereafter, Elliott spent $90,000 of the money left to him by his aunt.  Elliott was known to pick up a $150 bar tab for his pals, toss a $500 bill at the bar tender, then walk out without waiting for change.

Elliott's wife and sons, of course, were aghast and resorted to the courts.  They filed every conceivable claim they could muster against Jack Elliott.  They charged him with "abandonment, non-support, insanity, and everything else they could think of."  However, first they had to serve Jack Elliott with process.

Eventually, they used an army of process servers to present Jack Elliott with legal papers.  Elliott slipped out the back doors of many roadhouses avoiding such process servers.  By attaching various bank accounts, the family was able to slow Elliott's spending, but he maintained so many accounts that they could not stop his reckless ways.  


Finally, the army of process servers closed in on William John "Jack" Elliott.  According to one account, the process servers "established a line across Westchester County, particularly over the Pelham Parkway.  Guards were doubled and the party began to close in."  

The process servers, however, never got to Jack Elliott.  One fine morning they tracked the happy fellow to a roadhouse known as Bradley's only to learn that Jack Elliott had dropped dead of "apoplexy" (i.e., a stroke) at the age of 50.  Jack Elliott's days of profligate spending were over.  
     

Detail from Engraving Published in 1884 Showing Pelham Bridge. Structures

in the Background May Possibly Include Blizzard's Grand View Hotel, But This

Is Not Known With Certainty. Source: "PELHAM PARK, NEW YORK. --

DRAWN BY CHARLES GRAHAM.", Harper's Weekly, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1442,

1884, pp. 514 & 521. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"In re MAYOR, ETC., OF CITY OF NEW YORK.
In re BLIZZARD.
(Supreme Court, General Term, First Department.  February 18, 1892.)

ADVERSE POSSESSION -- RIGHTS OF SQUATTER.

A woman, finding a small island in Westchester creek [sic], near New York city, unoccupied, entered thereon without claim or color of title, record or otherwise, erected buildings thereon, and remained in possession for 20 years.  Held that, being a mere squatter, she could not obtain title by adverse possession.

Proceedings by the mayor, alderman, and commonalty of the city of New York to acquire lands under Laws N. Y. 1884, c. 512.  Mary A. Blizzard filed a petition therein, claiming a portion of moneys awarded by the commissioner of estimate to unknown persons.  Petitioner moves to confirm the report of a referee in her favor.  Denied.

Argued before VAN BRUNT, P. J., and BARRETT, J.

W. R. Lambertson, for petitioner.  C. D. Allendorf, for the city.

VAN BRUNT, P. J.  The commissioners of estimate, by their report in this proceeding, awarded the sum of $13,350 to unknown owners for parcel 691, in Pelham Bay park.  Of this, $5,000 was made for the land, and the balance, $8,350, for the buildings.  The petitioner claims to have been the owner of parcel 691 at the time of the confirmation, and of the report of the commissioners in said proceedings, and the referee has so found.  Her claim of ownership is not based upon any record title to said premises, but is founded wholly upon possession and occupancy of said property for a period of more than 20 years.  The parcel stands in an island in Westchester creek [sic], and is divided into two parts, which may be described as the northerly and southerly parts of the island, the dividing line being a public highway extending the whole length of the island, upon each side of which highway there is and was at the time the claimant went into possession a substantial stone wall or fence.  The petitioner went into possession of the southerly portion of the island more than 20 years prior to the confirmation of the report, and erected an hotel and buildings connected therewith, and has ever since remained in possession thereof.  Her entry does not seem to have been under any claim of title, and her occupation has been that of a squatter.  It is true that upon her examination she stated that she took possession of this property, claiming title thereto.  But it is apparent from her cross-examination that she made no claim of title at the time of her entry; but, to use her own language, she 'just squatted there, as it were.'  It further appeared that she had no record title to said premises, either by way of deed, grant, devise, or writing of any kind.  Her only acts of ownership in respect to the northerly portion of the island consisted in building a boat-house, and planting oysters and clams in the waters adjacent to the island.  Upon these facts the referee reported that the petitioner was entitled to the award made for the island in question.  In this, we think, he clearly erred.  It is plain that whatever the possession of the petitioner was, it was not under any claim of title, nor does it appear that she ever asserted ownership except by being in possession.  Under the definition of adverse possession, such possession, to be adverse, must be under claim of title; and naked possession, unaccompanied by such claim, can never ripen into a good title.  It necessarily follows that, where possession is under a claim of title, it must be made under some distinct claim of title, and not by a mere general assertion of ownership, without reference to any source from which such ownership can arise.  In other words, a mere squatter can never obtain title by adverse possession.  In order that possession of land shall be adverse, it must be shown that the land is held in hostility to the true owner's claim of title thereto.  It appears from the evidence taken in this proceeding that the taking of possession by the petitioner was not, in its commencement, hostile to the true title, and it does not appear when the petitioner commenced to claim title to the premium exclusive of any other right, if she ever did so; and as under no circumstances can possession be deemed adverse until this condition of affairs is made to appear, it is not in proof that there was any adverse possession of the petitioner for 20 years.  In view of the conclusion at which we have arrived in regard to the main question involved, it is not necessary to discuss the distinction between the nature of the possession of the northerly and southerly half of the island.  Upon the whole case we think that the claim of the petitioner is defective in establishing a right to the moneys which have been awarded for the taking of the premises in question."

Source:  In re Blizzard, 18 N.Y. Supp. 82-84 (Gen. Term, 1st Dep't, Feb. 18, 1892).  

"CHAP. 430.

AN ACT for the relief of Mary A. Blizzard.

APPROVED by the Governor May 2, 1892.  Passed, three-fifths being present.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Advertising for claimants to awards.

SECTION 1.  The comptroller of the city of New York is hereby directed to advertise once in each week for seven successive weeks, as soon as practicable after the passage of this act, in a daily newspaper published in the said city for claimants to the awards now in his custody made for the parcel known as parcel number six hundred and ninety-one, Pelham Bay Park, made to 'unknown owners,' by the commissioners of estimated appointed under and pursuant to the provisions of chapter five hundred and twenty-two of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-four.

Payment of amount to M. A. Blizzard

[SECTION] 2.  If no other claimant shall appeal and prove title to the said awards to the satisfaction of the said comptroller within three months after the first publication of said notice, then the said comptroller is hereby authorized and directed to pay over the amount of said awards to Mary A. Blizzard of the town of Pelham, the present occupant of the said premises.

Release of city from liability.  Suits, etc., against city barred

[SECTION] 3.  Upon the completion of the advertising, as herein provided for, and upon the expiration of the said limitation, and upon the payment of the said awards to Mary A. Blizzard, the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of New York shall be forever released and discharged from any liability to any person or persons whomsoever for the said award or any part thereof, and any suit, action or special proceeding which may thereafter be brought against the said mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York to recover the said awards or any part thereof shall be deemed to be barred by the limitations of this act.

[Section] 4.  This act shall take effect immediately."

Source:  CHAP. 430 -- AN ACT for the relief of Mary A. Blizzard, The General Statutes of the State of New York for the Year 1892, p. 1035 (Albany, NY:  Weed, Parsons and Co., 1892).  

"A WOMAN SQUATTER.
-----
She Occupies an Island, Builds a Hotel and Tries to Sell the Property.

Mrs. Mary A. Blizzard is in a fair way to acquire property rather easily obtained.  More than twenty-five years ago she squatted on an island in Eastchester Creek, about an acre in area.  This land is now in Pelham Bay Park.  She built a hotel there valued at $8,350, the surrounding land being set down as worth $5,000.  When the city took possession of the Pelham Bay Park property Mrs. Blizzard put in a claim for payment of $13,350, but as she could give no title, the city refused to settle with her.  She brought suit in the courts, relying on her undisputed possession of over twenty years, but the general term decided against her.  A bill was passed by the last Legislature for Mrs. Blizzard's relief.  Under it the comptroller will advertise for owners.  If no one but Mrs. Blizzard appears her claim will be paid."

Source:  A WOMAN SQUATTER -- She Occupies an Island, Builds a Hotel and Tries to Sell the Property, The Hartford Courant [Hartford, CT], May 6, 1892, p. 7, cols. 1-2. 

"SUDDENLY RICH, SPENT $75,000 IN 2 MONTHS
-----
Widow Appointed Executrix of $25,000 Estate 'Jack' Elliott Left.
-----

In an effort to save for his family the remainder of the estate of William J. Elliott, better known as 'Jack' Elliott, who spent $75,000 in two months, his widow was appointed executrix yesterday.  Elliott reduced a fortune of $100,000 to $25,000 by lavish spending.  

Elliott died suddenly of apoplexy on Friday last in a roadhouse in Port Chester just before a warrant was to be served on him for abandonment.  He was buried the Sunday following in the Blizzard homestead, Pelham Bay.  Other legal proceedings having failed to check Elliott in his mania for throwing away money, his wife had decided to have him arrested for abandonment in hope of having him removed to a sanatorium.

Until last July, when Elliott's aunt, Mary Blizzard, died, he was a model as a family man.  He, his wife and two sons lived happily in the Pelham Bay homestead.  By the death of his aunt he inherited the greater part of her fortune.  Then came a whirlwind change in Elliott's life.

Frequented by Astor.

Six or seven years ago 'Jack' Elliott owned and conducted the Pelham Bay Park Hotel, a roadhouse frequented by Colonel John Jacob Astor and others who figured in finance and society.  He made hundreds of friends.

About April, 1912, Elliott's aunt was awarded $75,000 from the city for Pelham Bay property.  She died in July.

On August 1 Elliott got $40,000 in cash, part being the city's award money and part from his aunt.  In less than fifteen days this money was nearly all gone.  He is said to have spent $500 a night, his wine bill for a week running over $1,000.  At different times he drew on his inheritance liberally.

Elliott's relatives and friends became alarmed.  Bennett E. Siegelstein, attorney, in No. 90 Nassau street, formerly Assemblyman from the old Eighth district, was engaged by Mrs. Elliott to see what could be done.  Three writs of attachment failed of their purpose.

Entertained the 'Boys.'

Elliott disappeared from his home, but his sons found he was living in the Colonial Hotel, Eighth avenue and 125th street.  Automobile trips from the hotel to roadhouses were features of entertainment for the boys as he called his friends.

In September, Siegelstein got a writ for the appointment of a receiver and an injunction to tie up the property Elliott kept him busy trying to find him.

Elliott deposited in the Nassau Trust Company on August 9 $26,000, but by the time the lawyer could get an attachment against the bank $14,000 had been drawn and spent by Elliott.

Elliott's widow was Sarah E. Doherty.  She was wealthy in her own right."

Source:  SUDDENLY RICH, SPENT $75,000 IN 2 MONTHS -- Widow Appointed Executrix of $25,000 Estate "Jack" Elliott Left, N.Y. Press, Sep. 25, 1912, p. 7, col. 5.  

"SPENT $90,000 IN TEN MONTHS, THEN HE DIED.
-----
Jack Elliott Didn't Go Near White Light District With His Roll.  --  Windfall From His Aunt.
-----

How to spend $90,000 in New York City in ten months and not go near Broadway and Forty-second street was told in detail last Tuesday about the time letters of administration in the estate of William J. Elliott were awarded to Sarah E. Elliott, the widow.

Elliott, universally known as Jack, was the man who did the spending.  He dropped dead at Bradley's roadhouse, Port Chester, September 20.

Bennett E. Siegelstein, attorney for the estate, told the story after the letters had been awarded.  He undid a large bundle of papers and pointed to about five check books which had been reduced almost to the covers.

'Those check books and the balanced bank books tell the story of how Jack Elliott spent $90,000 in this short space of time,' he said, 'and they show that out of $110,000 cash a year ago not more than $15,000 remains.  It also shows that at the moment he dropped dead he was just drawing another check for $500, which had become his average daily expenditure.'

Then Mr. Siegelstein illuminated his subject, Jack Elliott, about 50 years of age, was a member of the Blizzard family, which owned much of Pelham Bay  conjointly with the Doherty family.  He married Sarah E. Doherty nearly thirty years ago.  Elliott for years ran the Pelham Bay roadhouse, known to automobilists and drivers.  He was a steady family man.

Elliott had two sons, David, now 25, and Julian J., 20 years old.  The sole living representative of the old Blizzard family up to April of this year was Miss Mary A. Blizzard, and Jack Elliott was her favorite nephew.

When the city took part of the property for Westchester Square and then took some more for the bridge she got about $110,000 in cash, leaving more to come.

Miss Blizzard turned this money over to Jack, and when she died in April her will left everything to him.  At the time he got the money Elliott was living with his family in the old Doherty homestead up on the bay.  He started out to drink wine and to have all his friends and neighbors drink with him.

The family remonstrated and Elliott left home.  They complained, and he got a revolver threatening to use it on anyone who tried to stop him.  Inside of three months he was going strong and at the end of six months he was the most popular man from Port Chester to 125th street.  He had wine before he got up for breakfast, between meals and at all meals.  Also every one who came near him had it.

One night he went into the Colonial, according to Mr. Siegelstein, and ordered wine for everybody.  The bill ws $150.  He tossed over a $500 bill and walked out without waiting for change.  He had a regular arrangement with the taxicab men, who would charge him $25 for going from the Colonial to a Pelham Bay roadhouse.  His usual procedure was to tell the chauffeur to keep the change out of a $100 bill.

Elliott, it is said, met some Italian labors one day working on a new building.  He got their dinner buckets and filled them with champagne by permission of the owners.  The Contractor had his bricks laid to grand opera the rest of the day, and the inspector condemned the job at that.

His family got after the man in real earnest about the end of July.  They went to court and Mr. Siegelstein got an order to show cause why he should not be restrained from spending his money.  They wanted him locked up for observation.  A process server could not get within half a mile of him.  A process server would come in the front door and Elliott would take a taxicab from the back door to go whizzing to the next roadhouse.

The sons who led in the search came upon their father one day and tried to get him to go with them.  They were holding him by conversation until an officer could arrive.  He gave them $1,500 and told them to buy a motorboat, then vanished.  A process server chased the man down to a house in East Eighty-fourth street owned by the estate, but not yet turned into money.  The process server was greeted by a dog which bit him.  While the process server was attending to the dog, Elliott was flying uptown in a convenient taxi.

Then the family got real busy.  They got a summons, a warrant, an injunction, a mandamus and a few other writs in the hope of getting the man on something.  They charged him with abandonment, non-support, insanity, and everything else they could think of.  The company of process servers did not fare any better than the original scouts.  They were always close on the trail, but the man was ahead of them.

Finally they established a line across Westchester County, particularly over the Pelham Parkway.  Guards were doubled and the party began to close in.  They arrived at Bradley's that morning of the 20th to find the search ended.  The doctors said that apoplexy had ended the man's career.

Nobody seems to have been particularly hurt by the man's weird career of prodigality.  The estate is still large in property.  The city still owes $15,000 and Mrs. Elliott has the Doherty estate in addition."

Source:  SPENT $90,000 IN TEN MONTHS, THEN HE DIED -- Jack Elliott Didn't Go Near White Light District With His Roll  --  Windfall From His Aunt, Dobbs Ferry Register [Dobbs Ferry, NY], Sep. 27, 1912, Vol. XXX, No. 39, p. 5, col. 3.  

"Spent $75,000 In Two Months.

New York, Oct. 15.  --  In an effort to save for his family the remainder of the estate of William J. Elliott, better known as 'Jack' Elliott, who spent $75,000 in two months, his widow was appointed executrix.  Elliott reduced a fortune of $100,000 to $25,000 by lavish spending.

Elliott died suddenly of apoplexy in a roadhouse in Port Chester just before a warrant was to be served on him for abandonment.  He was buried the Sunday following in the Blizzard homestead, Pelham Bay.  Other legal proceedings having failed to check Elliott in his mania for throwing away money, his wife had decided to have him arrested for abandonment in hope of having him removed to a sanatorium.

Until last July, when Elliott's aunt, Mary Blizzard, died, he was a model as a family man.  He, his wife, and two sons lived happily in the Pelham Bay homestead.  By the death of his aunt, he inherited the greater part of her fortune.  Then came a whirlwind change in Elliott's life."

Source:  Spent $75,000 In Two Months, Journal and Republican and Lowville Times [Lowville, NY], Oct. 17, 1912, Vol. 53, No. 49, Sec. 2, p. 9, col. 2.

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