A Sensational Burglary in 1899 at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor

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Grace Thompson was a mere teenager on November 27, 1899.  A student at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls, officially named "Pelham Hall," she lay asleep in her bed at 2:00 a.m. that night in the Edgewood House dormitory on Edgewood Avenue at Boston Post Road.  Her sleep became disturbed.  She stirred a bit, finally opening her eyes.  There, in her room, stood a strange man.

Grace froze for a moment.  Apparently sensing that he might have awakened her, the man slipped out of her room into the hallway where a kerosene lamp was burning dimly.  For a moment Grace Thompson looked and saw that the burglar was a short man with a handkerchief that concealed his face.

A westerner and daughter of a western banker, Grace Thompson was good with a revolver.  She reached into her things and pulled out her loaded handgun. Knowing the man had slipped quietly into the hallway, Grace stepped to the open window of her room and fired a single shot into the open countryside outside the window.

The gunshot had its intended effect.  It awakened most of the seventy students and additional faculty.  Within a moment, the electric lights and the electric burglar alarm of Edgewood House were turned on.  The sounding of the huge gongs of the burglar alarm awakened anyone still asleep and much of the surrounding neighborhood.  

Amidst all the chaos, the burglar was still inside Edgewood House, hiding somewhere.

Those in Edgewood House, however, were nothing if not well armed.  A French teacher on the second floor pulled out her loaded revolver.  A night watchman on the third floor began a search carrying his loaded revolver.  Mrs. Hazen's husband, John Cunningham Hazen, also was on the third floor.  He carried a loaded double-barrel shotgun as he searched with the night watchman for the hiding burglar.  

In the meantime, clusters of students wearing their nightgowns and robes "rushed from one room to another."  The French teacher with her revolver simply stood in her doorway peering up and down the hallway on the second floor of Edgewood House watching the chaos.  Something caught her eye.

The French teacher observed movement at one end of the hallway.  She turned and saw a man trying to slip quietly down a rear stairwell.  The unnamed French teacher had nerves of steel (readily apparent from the fact that she taught teenage students).  She never lost her nerve.

Slowly and stealthily the teacher followed the route of the man, at a distance, as he made his way down the stairs from the second floor past the first floor and into the basement.  The teacher creeped behind him through the basement until he reached a basement window through which he climbed.  As he climbed through the window, the teacher fired.  The shot missed as the burglar scrambled through the window onto the lawn outside.  The errant shot, however, alerted John Cunningham and the night watchman where the fleeing burglar might be found.

The burglar took off running across the grassy lawn of the campus.  The French teacher raced to the basement window and fired at him a second time.  Again she missed.  This time, however, her shot helped John Cunningham and the night watchman catch sight of the fleeing man.  Then the sharp crack of a revolver and the booming thunder of the shotgun shook the neighborhood.

As the smoke cleared, it became apparent that both John Cunningham and the night watchman had missed their mark.  The burglar disappeared into nearby woods never to be seen again.  

The students of Pelham Hall had a story to tell their friends and family -- a story that Mrs. Hazen did not really want told.  

Indeed, Pelham Hall experienced a number of sensational burglaries during the twenty five years it operated in Pelham Manor from 1889 until 1915.  I have written before about such burglaries at the school.  See, e.g., Thu., Jul. 12, 2007:  The Infamous Burglary of the Girls of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor in 1905.

"Edgewood House" Built Facing Today's Edgewood Avenue (with Rear

Toward the Esplanade). Edgewood House, Which No Longer Stands, is

the Pelham Hall Building Where the November 27, 1899 Burglary Occurred.

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Undated Postcard View of "MRS. HAZEN'S SCHOOL PELHAM MANOR,

N.Y." All Three "Houses" of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls Are Depicted in

the Photograph Which Was Taken From Across the Esplanade (Both Lanes

Visible in the Foreground). Chester House is on the Left.  Edgewood

House is in the Center, Slightly in the Rear (It Was Named After the Street

it Was Closest to).  Marbury House, named after Anne Marbury Hutchinson,

Is on the Right.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"A BURGLAR IN A DORMITORY.
-----
Consternation Caused by an Invader in a Female School.

PELHAM MANOR, N. Y., Nov. 28. -- Loud shrieks of 'Burglars!' followed by a fusillade of misdirected pistol shots, were the means of disturbing the quiet of this aristocratic suburb at an early hour yesterday morning.  The shots, which were fired at a fleeing burglar, who had forced an entrance into Mrs. J. Chunningham Hazen's school, in the Manor, did not take effect.  There are seventy students in the Hazen School, which is known throughout the country.  Among the students are daughters of supreme court justices, railroad presidents and millionaire business men.  It was shortly after 2 o'clock when Miss Grace Thompson, daughter of a western banker, awoke and saw a man in her room.  As the girl started to get up the burglar softly made his way out into the hall.  By the dim light of a lamp which was burning Miss Thompson saw the man as he passed her door.  He was short and his face was partly concealed by a handkerchief.  Miss Thompson jumped out of bed, and seizing a revolver fired a shot out of the open window.  

In an instant the dormitory was in an uproar.  The electric lights were turned on and the burglar alarms were ringing.  The sounding of the huge gongs aroused every person in the four cottages.  The burglar was hiding somewhere in the Edgewood cottage, but just where no one knew.  Clusters of students attired in their night robes rushed from one room to another.  

Mr. Hazen, who was armed with a double-barreled shotgun, and O'Brien, a watchman, who had a revolver, were searching every corner.  While the men were on the third floor the French teacher stood in her doorway on the second floor with a revolver in her hand.  Suddenly a man was seen sneaking down through one of the rear halls.  

The French teacher did not lose her nerve.  Clutching her revolver, she followed the burglar, who had a long start.  As the man was leaving the building by way of a basement window the teacher fired, and again as he was running across the lawn.  This time O'Brien and Mr. Hazen, who also had caught sight of the fleeing man, fired at him, but their shots went wide of the mark.

The burglar escaped into the woods.  Examination showed that he had gained entrance by way of a basement window."

Source:  A BURGLAR IN A DORMITORY -- Consternation Caused by an Invader in a Female School, The Evening Times [Washington, D.C.], Nov. 28, 1899, No. 1352, p. 1, col. 6.  

*          *          *          *          *

I have written extensively about the private school known as "Pelham Hall" and "Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls."  For a few of the many examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls: Pelham Hall, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 40, Oct. 8, 2004, p. 12, col. 1.

Fri., Apr. 07, 2017:  The Twentieth Annual Commencement of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls Held on June 2, 1909.

Wed., Dec. 30, 2015:  Interesting Account of 1894 Graduation Exercises Conducted by Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Wed., Mar. 18, 2015:  Account of Women's Cricket Match Played by Pelham Manor Women in 1898.

Tue., Feb. 03, 2015:  1907 Commencement Exercises at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Mon., Feb. 02, 2015:  The Three Houses of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in the Late 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 25, 2014:  Too Smart for Late 19th Century Scammers: Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Tue., Mar. 11, 2014:  An Early History of Mrs. Hazen's School For Girls in Pelham Manor, Published in 1913.

Tue., Feb. 16, 2010:  Photograph of Only Known 19th Century Women's Baseball Team in Pelham, New York.

Fri., Jul. 24, 2009:  Late 19th Century Photos of Students with Tennis Rackets at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Mon., Mar. 3, 2008:  1891 Advertisement May Reflect Summer Rental of One of the Dormitories of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Thu., Jul. 12, 2007:  The Infamous Burglary of the Girls of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor in 1905.  

Wed., Sep. 6, 2006:  Pelham Hall Shelter, a "Refuge for Erring Girls", Founded by Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.  

Tue., Aug. 22, 2006:  Early Advertisements for Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.  

Fri., Oct. 14, 2005:  A Reunion of Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls. 

Mon., Aug. 15, 2005:  952 Pelhamdale Served as a 19th Century School for Girls, Then a School for Boys. 

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

The Twentieth Annual Commencement of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls Held on June 2, 1909

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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

In 1889, Emily Hall Hazen who had taught at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York, opened a private girls' school in Pelham Manor.  It almost immediately became one of the finest girls’ schools in the country.  The school closed twenty-five years later at the end of the 1914-1915 school year. 

Officially named "Pelham Hall," the school was known far and wide as "Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls."  By the time the school reached its final academic year, it had served over a thousand students from forty-two States and over two hundred and fifty towns and cities throughout the country.  

I have written about Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls on many occasions.  I have included a list of links to numerous such articles at the end of today's posting.  

The year 1909 was a special year for Pelham Hall.  On Wednesday, June 2, 1909, Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls held its twentieth annual commencement ceremony.  The ceremony was held in a large auditorium in "Edgewood House," one of the three school buildings on the campus, a large gray building that faced Edgewood Avenue that was built by Benjamin Corlies and was leased to the school.  The other two buildings, also built by Corlies and leased to the school, faced Esplanade and were known as "Chester House" and "Marbury House."

1906 Post Card View of the Pelham Hall Complex, Showing

Chester Hall on the Left, Edgewood House in the Center and

Marbury House on the Right.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Source: Double-Page Map on Plate 22 in Fairchild, John F.,

Atlas of the City of Mount of Vernon and the Town of Pelham.

Compiled from Official Records, Personal Surveys and Other

Private Plans and Surveys. 1899. Compiled and published by

John F. Fairchild. Civil Engineer and Surveyor. Rooms, 10-11

Bank Buliding, Mount Vernon, N.Y. (1899) (Lionel Pincus and

Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

"Edgewood House" Built Facing Today's Edgewood Avenue

(with Rear Toward the Esplanade).  Edgewood House, Which

No Longer Stands, is the Pelham Hall Building that Included

an Auditorium in Which the 1909 Graduation Exercises Were

Held.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Ten young women graduated from Pelham Hall that late spring day.  Because it was the twentieth annual commencement exercise, former graduates of the school came "from all parts of the United States" to attend the ceremony and various events that were held during commencement week.  Although it rained heavily throughout the morning, attendance at the ceremony was "good."  

Commencement ceremonies had been held in the large auditorium of Edgewood House since that building was constructed on the campus in 1894.  As was the annual custom, the auditorium was decked with evergreen boughs.  Evergreens carried important symbolic significance.  Because they stay green through the winter, they symbolized such qualities as strength, revitalization, invincibility, determination, and stoicism -- a perfect symbol for a high school graduation celebration.

Seated on the platform during the ceremony that day were:  (1) Mrs. Emily Hall Hazen, founder and headmistress of Pelham Hall; (2) "Miss McKay" and "Miss Tracy," the two Associate Principals of the school; (3) Rev. Lewis Gaston, pastor of Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church, located nearly across the street from the school; (4) Rev. Herbert Haight Brown, pastor of the Church of the Redeemer in the Village of North Pelham; and (5) keynote speaker Dr. Edward Howard Griggs. 

Dr. Edward Howard Griggs (1868-1951) was a noted historian, lecturer, author, and inspirational speaker of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  He compiled and published dozens of biographies as well as social and moral critiques of history's greatest thinkers, philosophers, religious figures, and humanists.  Later in his career, during the 1930s, Griggs became known for a regular radio program broadcast nationally known as the "Lives of Great Men Program."  

Undated Photograph of Edward Howard Griggs.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

In 1904, only a few years before he was the keynote speaker at the 1909 commencement ceremony at Pelham Hall, Griggs published an influential book entitled "Moral Education" that undoubtedly was one of the principle reasons he was invited to speak to the graduating class of Pelham Hall that day.  See Griggs, Edward Howard, Moral Education (NY, NY:  B. W. Huebsch, 1904).  According to one reviewer of the work:

"The first seven chapters deal with fundamental principles of education, laying the foundation in the nature of the child.  Here Mr. Griggs follows closely the methods and results of the child-study movement; and his treatment culminates in the consideration of the type of character to be fostered by moral education, which is described as 'a strong and effective moral personality, reverently obedient to the laws of life and controlled by clear-sighted reason; seeing, loving, and willing the best on the plane of life that has been reached, strong in moral initiation, and able to grow independently ever toward the loftier vision and nobler action' (p. 66).  In connection with this ideal of character, it will be well to cite the author's conception of a moral life, which is that of 'happy and helpful living':  and this is to be attained, on the whole, by the kind of culture which initiates one into the best life of the race, but which tends to strengthen the individual to independent living in all the ranges of thought and conduct."

Source:  Sprague, Leslie Willis, "MORAL EDUCATION.  By Edward Howard Griggs, Author of 'The New Humanism,'" in International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 15, No. 3, April 1905, pp. 379-81 (Chicago, IL:  University of Chicago Press, 1905).

All students of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls attended the commencement ceremony that day.  During a processional hymn sung by the attendees, the non-graduating students marched into the auditorium to their seats, then waited as the ten graduating students marched in dressed in white graduation gowns and white graduation caps.

At the conclusion of the hymn, attendees were seated and Mrs. Hazen spoke.  Her brief remarks focused on the fact that those in attendance were part of the twentieth annual commencement ceremony at Pelham Hall.  Following Emily Hazen's remarks, Associate Principal Tracy delivered an annual report on the school and its students.

Following the annual report, the students sang songs for the crowd.  Thereafter, academic awards and prizes were given to the students.  Six of the graduating seniors received awards:

Helen Audry Almy - Abbe Hageman Hall Memorial Prizes in United States History, Second Prize
Katherine Lea Donald - Corlies Literary Prize
Frances Emily Gwyer - Robert C. Black Recreation Prize
Gladys Shafer - Houghton Scholastic Prize
Mary Arnold Swoope - Abbe Hageman Hall Memorial Prizes in United States History, First Prize
Georgie Derrick Temple - Edith Hazen Tiers Honor Prize

Ten other students who were not graduating 

Mabel Marie Damon - Intermediate First Prize 
Marie Madeline Doelger - A Testimonial
Winifred Mary Margaret Heath - A Testimonial 
Helen Rogers - A Testimonial
Anne Hubbell Seymour - Primary Second Prize
Aline Katherine Tiedemann - Primary First Prize
Helen Dorothy Tiedemann - Intermediate Second Prize
Gertrude Schultz Watson - Hatch Medal
Alys Sinclair - Hazen Medal
Agnes Winston - A Testimonial

In addition, because Associate Principal McKay was retiring after serving at Pelham Hall for eleven years, the students of the school presented her with "a beautiful silver cup."  After the presentation, the attendees sang The Star Spangled Banner.

After the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, Edward Howard Griggs delivered an "interesting address."  Research has not revealed any record of the substance of the address by Dr. Griggs that day.  

At the conclusion of the keynote address by Dr. Griggs, Pelham Hall students sang "Alma Mater."  The ceremony closed with a prayer by Reverend Leary, the singing of the Doxology, and a benediction by Rev. Brown.   

Indeed, today's students of Pelham Memorial High School would recognize the commencement ceremony -- indeed, it would seem familiar today -- though it was celebrated nearly 108 years ago by the students of Pelham Hall, Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.    

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"AT THE HAZEN SCHOOL
-----
Commencement Exercises Hold Attention.

Pelham Manor, June 3.  --  The twentieth annual commencement exercises of Mrs. Hazen's school, Pelham Manor was held in Pelham hall yesterday morning.  In view of the fact that it was twenty years ago since the school was founded, many of the former graduates came from all parts of the United States to be present at the various events which take place during commencement week.  

Notwithstanding the rain, the attendance was good.  The interior of Pelham hall presented a scene of unusual beauty with its decorations of green boughs, while in the rear of the platform was the word 'Pelham Hall' in white letters on a green background.  Seated on the platform were Mrs. Hazen, Miss McKay and Miss Tracy, associate principals, the speaker of the day and the well known writer, Edward Howard Griggs; Rev. Lewis Gaston Leary, Ph. D., pastor of the Pelham Manor Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. H. H. Brown, rector of the Church of the Redeemer, in North Pelham.

The exercises opened with the processional hymn, during the singing of which the scholars marched to their seats in the hall, followed by the graduates, attired in white gowns and white caps.  

At the conclusion of the hymn, Mrs. Hazen made a few remarks, in which she called attention to the fact that it was twenty years ago that the school was established.

After the annual report of the department work had been read by Miss Tracy and singing by the school, the awards of prizes, testimonials and diplomas took place, as follows:  Abbe Hageman Hall memorial prizes in United States history, first, Miss Mary Arnold Swoope second prize, Miss Helen Audry Almy; Corlies literary prize, Miss Katherine Lea Donald; Houghton scholastic prize, given by two sisters who succeeded each other in the school as graduates who wished to perpetuate their name for all around scholarship, Miss Gladys Shafer; Robert C. Black recreation prize, Miss Frances Emily Gwyer; Edith Hazen Tiers honor prize, Miss Georgie Derrick Temple; intermediate first prize, Mabel Marie Damon; intermediate second prize, Helen Dorothy Tiedemann; Hatch medal, Gertrude Schultz Watson; primary first prize, Aline Katherine Tiedemann; primary second prize, Anne Hubbell Seymour; Hazen medal, Alys Sinclair.

Miss McKay, who retired as associate principal after being in the school eleven years was the recipient of a beautiful silver cup from the pupils.

Testimonials were awarded to Miss Marie Madeline Doelger, Miss Winifred Mary Margaret Heath, Miss Helen Rogers and Miss Agnes Winston.

The following were the graduates:  Margaret Adams, Helen Audry Almy, Katherine Lea Donald, Frances Emily Gwyer, Marion Winston Hoyle, Helen E. Williams Hyde, Gladys Shafer, Minnie Carlotto Splane, Mary Arnold Swoope, Georgie Derrick Temple.  As each graduate stepped to the front of the platform when her name was called Mrs. Hazen made brief remarks about the young lady's attainments during her school course.

After the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, Mr. Griggs delivered an interesting address.

The exercises were brought to a close with the singing of 'Alma Mater' by the school, prayer by the Rev. Lewis Gaston Leary, Ph. D., while the benediction was pronounced by the Rev. H. H. Brown after the doxology was sung."

Source:  AT THE HAZEN SCHOOL -- Commencement Exercises Hold Attention, New Rochelle Pioneer, Jun. 12, 1909, Vol. 51, No. 11, p. 2, col. 4.  

*          *          *          *          *

I have written extensively about the private school known as "Pelham Hall" and "Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls."  For a few of the many examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls: Pelham Hall, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 40, Oct. 8, 2004, p. 12, col. 1.

Wed., Dec. 30, 2015:  Interesting Account of 1894 Graduation Exercises Conducted by Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Wed., Mar. 18, 2015:  Account of Women's Cricket Match Played by Pelham Manor Women in 1898.

Tue., Feb. 03, 2015:  1907 Commencement Exercises at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Mon., Feb. 02, 2015:  The Three Houses of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in the Late 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 25, 2014:  Too Smart for Late 19th Century Scammers: Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Tue., Mar. 11, 2014:  An Early History of Mrs. Hazen's School For Girls in Pelham Manor, Published in 1913.

Mon., Aug. 15, 2005:  952 Pelhamdale Served as a 19th Century School for Girls, Then a School for Boys. 

Fri., Oct. 14, 2005:  A Reunion of Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls. 

Tue., Aug. 22, 2006:  Early Advertisements for Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.  

Wed., Sep. 6, 2006:  Pelham Hall Shelter, a "Refuge for Erring Girls", Founded by Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.  

Thu., Jul. 12, 2007:  The Infamous Burglary of the Girls of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor in 1905.  

Mon., Mar. 3, 2008:  1891 Advertisement May Reflect Summer Rental of One of the Dormitories of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Fri., Jul. 24, 2009:  Late 19th Century Photos of Students with Tennis Rackets at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Tue., Feb. 16, 2010:  Photograph of Only Known 19th Century Women's Baseball Team in Pelham, New York.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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

Interesting Account of 1894 Graduation Exercises Conducted by Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

In 1889, Emily Hall Hazen who had taught at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York, opened a girls' school in Pelham Manor.  It almost immediately became one of the finest girls’ schools in the country.  The school closed twenty-five years later at the end of the 1914-1915 school year. 

Officially named "Pelham Hall," the school was known far and wide as "Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls."  By the time the school reached its final academic year, it had served over a thousand students from forty-two States and over two hundred and fifty towns and cities throughout the country. 

I have written about Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls on many occasions. I have included a list of links to numerous such articles at the end of today's posting.

The year 1894 was a special year for Pelham Hall.  Since its founding, the school had been relegated to the use of small residential structures along Pelhamdale Avenue modified to serve as school buildings.  In 1894, for the first time, the school held its graduation exercise in its own assembly hall.  Before then, the school held its largest assemblies such as graduation in the nearby Manor Club building.  

During 1893, a large gray building facing Edgewood Avenue was built by Benjamin Corlies and was leased to the institution, affording larger facilities for the increasingly-famous school.  Among the many new amenities available in the newly-constructed Edgewood Avenue facility was a sufficiently large assembly hall to permit Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls to host its own graduation exercises for the first time.  

The faculty and students of Pelham Hall in 1894 decorated the new auditorium in a rather spectacular fashion with bunting and field flowers "in abundance."  Among the many important elements of the graduation ceremony was the original music (with singing) of original music prepared as a "recessional hymn" by Professor Louis C. Jacoby entitled "Forward Be Our Watchword."  

The most moving aspects of the 1894 Pelham Hall graduation ceremony seem to have been quite clear.  A description of the ceremony noted:

"An exceedingly pretty feature of the exercises was the entrance of the young ladies of the school, seventy or more in number after the rest of the audience was seated, and their withdrawal after the benediction in procession, dressed in white, and singing appropriate hymns."

During the late afternoon of the day, an important organization met.  It was the "Pelham Hall League," an alumni organization established very early in the history of the school.  That alumni organization continued to operate for many, many years (long after the school closed upon the retirement of Ms. Emily Hall Hazen Cunningham's retirement).  

"Edgewood House" Built Facing Today's Edgewood Avenue

(with Rear Toward the Esplanade).  Edgewood House, Which

No Longer Stands, is the Pelham Hall Building that Included

an Auditorium in Which the 1894 Graduation Exercises Were

Held.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

Below is a transcription of the text of the article published in 1894 describing the graduation exercises of Pelham Hall in 1894.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"Miss Wells Gets the Prize.
[From the Tribune, Wednesday.]

The closing exercises at Mrs. J. C. Hazen's school, Pelham Manor, were held Tuesday in the large fine assembly hall of the additional building erected for this institution last year.  Heretofore these ceremonies have been conducted in the clubhouse of the Manor Club.  Bunting and field flowers in abundance constituted the decoration of the auditorium.  The Misses Catherine Fry, of Chicago; Bertha Swift, of New Britain, Conn., and Pauline Wells, of Brewster, N.Y., received full diplomas; and testimonials for excellence in elective courses were awarded to Misses Agnes Weed, Binghamton; Aria Avery, Detroit, and Sadie Furman and Lulu McAllister, of Rochester.  The Corlies prize for English composition was won by Miss Pauline Wells.  After the bestowal of these honors and the reading of reports on the standing of the pupils by the principal , an address was delivered by the Rev. R. R. Converse, Chaplain of Hobart College.  Mrs. Hazen was assisted in her duties on this occasion by the Rev. H. E. Adriance, of Pelham Manor.  Prayer was offered by the Rev. A. T. Tenney, of the same place, and the Rev. J. Nevett Steele, of New York city pronounced the benediction.  Professor Louis C. Jacoby conducted the singing, and furnished original music for the recessional hymn.  'Forward Be Our Watchword.'  An exceedingly pretty feature of the exercises was the entrance of the young ladies of the school, seventy or more in number after the rest of the audience was seated, and their withdrawal after the benediction in procession, dressed in white, and singing appropriate hymns.

In the afternoon there was a reunion of alumnae, whose association is known as the Pelham Hall League."

Source:  Miss Wells Gets the Prize, The Brewster Standard [Brewster, NY], Jun. 8, 1894, p. 1, col. 4.  

*          *          *          *          *

I have written extensively about the private school known as "Pelham Hall" and "Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls."  For a few of the many examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls: Pelham Hall, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 40, Oct. 8, 2004, p. 12, col. 1.

Wed., Mar. 18, 2015:  Account of Women's Cricket Match Played by Pelham Manor Women in 1898.

Tue., Feb. 03, 2015:  1907 Commencement Exercises at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Mon., Feb. 02, 2015:  The Three Houses of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in the Late 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 25, 2014:  Too Smart for Late 19th Century Scammers: Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Tue., Mar. 11, 2014:  An Early History of Mrs. Hazen's School For Girls in Pelham Manor, Published in 1913.

Mon., Aug. 15, 2005:  952 Pelhamdale Served as a 19th Century School for Girls, Then a School for Boys. 

Fri., Oct. 14, 2005:  A Reunion of Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls. 

Tue., Aug. 22, 2006:  Early Advertisements for Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.  

Wed., Sep. 6, 2006:  Pelham Hall Shelter, a "Refuge for Erring Girls", Founded by Alumnae of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.  

Thu., Jul. 12, 2007:  The Infamous Burglary of the Girls of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor in 1905.  

Mon., Mar. 3, 2008:  1891 Advertisement May Reflect Summer Rental of One of the Dormitories of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls.

Fri., Jul. 24, 2009:  Late 19th Century Photos of Students with Tennis Rackets at Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls in Pelham Manor.

Tue., Feb. 16, 2010:  Photograph of Only Known 19th Century Women's Baseball Team in Pelham, New York.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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Famous 19th and Early 20th Century Actress Henrietta Foster Crosman Lived in Pelham Manor

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Henrietta Crosman was a famous Broadway, vaudeville, silent film, and movie actress known for her comedic talents.  Born in Wheeling, West Virginia on September 22, 1871, she became a famous star of the stage in the late 19th century.  She continued to act on Broadway and in national tours through the 1920s, but also appeared in numerous silent films and even made the transition to "talkies" late in her acting career.  Indeed, late in her career, Crosman appeared in Pilgrimage, a John Ford movie, in at least one Charlie Chan movie, and in a grandmotherly supporting role to Jean Harlow in the 1937 film Personal Property.  

Henrietta Crosman and her second husband, S. Maurice Campbell, moved to the Village of Pelham Manor in 1913 at the very height of Crosman's career.  The couple is shown in the 1930 U.S. Census as living at 1011 Prospect Avenue in the Village of Pelham Manor with their son, Maurice J. Cambell.

Crosman's second husband, S. Maurice Campbell, died in Pelham Manor on October 16, 1942.  By that time, the couple resided in an apartment within a building located at 908 Edgewood Avenue that no longer exists.  Henrietta Crosman died in her apartement on Edgewood Avenue, on October 31, 1944.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog includes several images of Henrietta Crosman and transcribes the text of two detailed biographies as well as Crosman's obituary published in The Pelham Sun shortly after her death.

1011 Prospect Avenue in April, 2012.  Henrietta

Crosman, Her Second Husband S. Maurice Campbell,

and the Couple's Son, Maurice J. Campbell Are Shown

as Living in the Home in the 1930 U.S. Census.

Henrietta Crosman on December 31, 1905.

Source:  Publicity Still for Madeline in 1906,

New York Public Library Billy Rose Theatre

Collection Photograph File, Image ID TH-06181.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

"HENRIETTA CROSMAN. STARRING FOR HER SECOND

SEASON IN THE COMEDY 'SHAM'.  Source:  Munsey's Magazine,

Vol. 43, Apr.-Sep. 1910, p. 130 (The Frank A. Munsey Co., 1910).

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Henrietta Crosman in an Undated Publicity Photograph.

Source:  New York Public Library Billy Rose Theatre

Collection Photograph File, Image ID TH-06170.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

"CROSMAN, Henrietta Foster (Sept. 2, 1861 - Oct. 31, 1944), actress, was born in Wheeling, Va. (later W. Va.), where her father, George H. Crosman, was stationed as a regular officer in the quartermaster corps of the Union Armey.  Her grandfather, Maj. Gen. George Crosman, originally from Taunton, Mass., was a graduate of West Point.  Her mother, Mary (Wick) Crosman, was a native of Youngstown, Ohio.  Henrietta -- named for her maternal grandmother, a sister of the composer Stephen Foster -- was educated in Wheeling and at the Moravian Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa.  With her father in poor health and retired on half pay, family funds were limited, and she was forced as a young woman to support herself.  Success in amateur theatricals in Youngstown, Ohio, where the family was then living, encouraged her to try for a stage career.  A great-uncle, Morrison Foster, introduced her to the Pittsburgh theatrical manager John Ellsler, and through his recommendation she made her debut at the Windsor Theatre in New York City on Aug. 13, 1883, as Letter Lee in Bartley Campbell's melodrama about the Old South, The White Slave.  

During the next few years she toured and played in stock companies, concentrating on farce and light comedy, for which she seemed best suited.  She was married in 1886 to Sedley Brown, an actor, and a child, Sedley Brown, [Page 412 / Page 413] Jr., later called George Crosman, was born in 1887 in Youngstown.  On Dec. 17, 1889, she had advanced sufficiently to play Celia to ADA REHAN's Rosalind in Augustin Daly's production of As You Like It.  She worked in secondary roles with both Daniel Frohman's Lyceum Company and Charles Frohman's Commedians.  In 1896 she divorced Brown, receiving custody of their son.  That same year she was married to Maurice Campbell; they had a son, Maurice Campbell, Jr., in 1897.  The next three years were spent with stock companies in Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Denver, where Miss Crosman advanced to leading lady.  During this time her husband became her manager.  Together they bought the rights to George Hazelton's Mistress Nell, a romantic comdey based on the life of Nell Gwyn.  Despite the opposition of the then powerful Theatrical Syndicate or trust, they managed to book it into a New York theatre (the Bijou) on Oct. 9, 1900, where Henrietta Crosman was acclaimed as a star.  In 1902 she played Rosalind, a performance the critic John Ranken Towse considered 'one of the most satisfying expositions of the character I have seen.'  'The mantle of high comedy,' asserted the Evening Sun, '. . . has fallen more than gracefully on Miss Crosman's shoulders.'  Her most spectacular success (1903-04) was in David Belasco's Sweet Kitty Bellairs, a historical romance in which she played an Irish Miss Fix-It.

Over the next ten years she acted in two or three new plays each season, touring the United States and parts of Canada when a long New York run was not possible.  Most successful were Geraldine Bonner and Elmer Harris' Sham in 1909 and Catherine Chisholm Cushing's The Real Thing in 1911, both more admired on tour than in New York.  heavy losses from an ambitious but unsuccessful production of a play they commissioned in 1907 based on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress left the Campbells bankrupt, and for several years (1908-16) Miss Crosman recouped their funds by occasional tours in vaudeville, in which she appeared in one-act plays.  Having now outgrown youthful comedy roles, she began to receive more satisfying parts in the theatre.  In 1916 she played Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor with Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Constance Collier.  That autumn she won praise for her Mrs. George in Shaw's Getting Married.  Her professional appearances became less frequent after World War I; her most important role in the early 1920's was as Madame Atherton in Martin Flavin's Children of the Moon (1923).  Her last Broadway appearance was in Thunder in the Air in 1929, though she played occasional parts elsewhere during the 1930's.

Between 1913 and 1927 Miss Crossman found time to appear in silent films.  In 1930 she created the talking-picture role of Fanny Cavendish in Royal Family of Broadway, based on the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman.  Between 1933 and 1937 she appeared in seventeen films in Hollywood, most significantly, perhaps in John Ford's Pilgrimage (1933).  An ardent suffragist, she played in Percy MacKaye's suffrage drama Anti-Matrimony in 1910.  In an address in 1909 she told her se:  'You're too ladylike -- get together an army of women . . . and send them to Washington . . . [and] their employers would beg Congress for their immediate enfranchisement.  I have worked since I was sixteen and have supported not only mystelf but four or five others as well, and I have not omitted to darn my husband's stockings or to rock the cradle.  Some of those I took care of were men voters.'  (New York Sun, May 5, 1909, Robinson Locke Scrapbooks).  She died at her home in Pelham Manor, N. Y., in 1944 at the age of eighty-three, two years after her husband's death.

Henrietta Crosman never pretended to have a strong love for the theatre or for acting; it was, simply, a way of life she accepted in order to earn a living, but she gave herself to it without reservation.  Her distinctive features and graceful blond beauty were combined with great personal charm.  If her final reputation is not as great as that of her contemporaries Maude Adams (d. 1954), MINNIE MADDERN FISKE, JULIA MARLOWE, OR Ethel Barrymore (d. 1959), it is because she made her mark at first almost exclusively in comedy -- we reward Mrs. Siddons above Peg Woffington -- and because during her most active career, between 1900 and 1916, she found few suitable roles that could meet the taste of both the New York audience and the larger public on the road, where her real following was.  She could not, for example, accept the new realism, as her frequent public statements agaisnt Ibsen and 'sewer' drama attest.  Her long career spanned several eras in American theatrical history:  from Oceana in John Augustus Stone's Metamora in 1886 at Miner's Bowery Theatre to a grandmotherly supporting role to JEAN HARLOW in the film Personal Property in 1937.  Her charm and beauty, her acting and her sheer durability appealed to the American audience.

[The Robinson Locke Scrapbooks, Theatre Collection, N. Y. Public Library at Lincoln Center, especially for 1900-16, and other files there, including [Page 413 / Page 414] the Stella R. Newton Scrapbooks from Denver; George C. D. Odell, Annals of the N. Y. Stage, vols XII-XV (1940-49); Morrison Foster, My Brother Stephen (1896); Morrison Foster, 'Scrapbook Extracts' (typescript), Music Division, N. Y. Public Library at Lincoln Center; John Tasker Howard, Stephen Foster, America's Troubadour (1934); Lewis C. Strang, Famous Acresses of the Day in America, Second Series (1902); John Ranken Towse, Sixty Years of the Theater (1916); Walter Browne and F. A. Austin, eds., Who's Who on the Stage (1906); obituaries in N. Y. Times, Oct. 17, 1942 (on her husband), and Nov. 1, 1944, N. Y. Herald Tribune, Nov. 1, 1944, and Variety, Nov. 8, 1944; Archie Binns, Mrs. Fiske and the Am. Theatre (1955); George C. Hazelton's Mistress Nell, in J. B. Russak, ed., Monte Cristo and Other Plays (American's Lost Plays, vol. XVI, 1941); Henrietta Crosman, 'The Story of 'Mistress Nell,' ' Harper's, Feb. 1938; information from Maurice Campbell, Jr., and from George Freedley.]

ROBERT J. DIEHLAM"

Source:  James, Edward T., ed., et al., Notable American Women:  A Biographical Dictionary, Vol. I, pp. 412-14 (USA:  Radcliffe College, 1971).

"HENRIETTA CROSMAN.

MISS HENRIETTA CROSMAN is a Southern woman, being born in Wheeling, West Virginia, September 22, 1871, and comes of good old stock.  She is the daughter of Major George H. Crosman, of the United States Army, and is a niece of the late Alexander Crosman, a commander in the navy, who graduated from Annapolis in the class with Admiral Dewey, and who lost his life in attempting to save two of his men.

Miss Crosman's first aspiration was to become an operatic star, and she studied both in Paris and Vienna for that purpose, but she lost her voice, and later studied for the dramatic stage.  Her first appearance was at the old Windsor Theatre, in New York, as Lily, in 'The White Slave,' under the management of its author, Mr. Bartley Campbell.  She was at this tiime seventeen years of age.  Mr. Daniel Frohman next engaged her for his Lyceum Theatre Company, and later she played Celia to to Miss Rehan's Rosalind in 'As You Like It.' under the management of Mr. Daly.  She hass played the leads with Robert Downing, and under A. M. Palmer played Gladys in 'The Rajah.'  Miss Crosman will also be remembered in 'Gloriana,' 'Madame Sans Gene,' 'One of our Girls,' and will Mr. William Gillette in 'Mr. Wilkinson's Widows,' under the management of Mr. Charles Frohman.  In all of these she has been seen with more or less success and is this season making a great hit in the title role of 'Mistress Nell,' and the critics have been loud in their praises of her in this role which is justly and truly merited by Miss Crosman."

Source:  "HENRIETTA CROSMAN" in Storms, A.D., ed., The Players Blue Book, p. 86 (Worcester, MA:  Sutherland & Storms, Publishers, 1901).

"FAMOUS ACTRESS DIED ON TUESDAY
-----

Henrietta Foster Crosman, leading actress at the early part of the century, died on Tuesday at the age of 83 at her home on Edgewood avenue, Pelham Manor.  She had been ill for several months.  The funeral will take place this afternoon at 2 o'clock at Walter B. Cooke Parlors, No. 117 W. 72d street, New York.  

Miss Crosman was known in private life as the wife of the late Maj. Maurice Campbell [illegible].  He was her business manager.  He died in 1942.

She came to Pelham in 1913 and made her home on Prospect avenue.  She was an enthusiastic member of the Manor Club and occasionally graciously contributed her professional talents to productions of the Drama Section.  Renowned for her beauty and charm, she reached stardom in 1900 when she played on Broadway in the leading role of 'Mistress Nell' at the Bijou Theatre.

She was born in Wheeling, W. Va.  Her mother was a relative of the composer, Stephen Foster, composer of 'Home, Sweet Home.'  She began her career in her home town at the age of nine.  She appeared in later life in several motion pictures.

With her at her death was her son, Maurice Campbell and his wife.  Another son by a former marriage, George Sedley Browne, is deceased."

Source:  FAMOUS ACTRESS DIED ON TUESDAY, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 2, 1944, Vol. 35, No. 29, p. 1, col. 2.  

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