Farm Versus Village: Gamber's Animal Menagerie on Maple Avenue in North Pelham During the 1930s

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For nearly four decades during the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s Alfred L. Gamber of Chester Park, a banker with the Pelham National Bank, Bankers Trust Company, and other institutions at various times, also served as secretary, executive secretary, clerk, assistant treasurer, and treasurer of the Board of Education in charge of the Pelham Union Free School District No. 1.  Gamber also owned and lived on a small "farm" at 16 Maple Avenue.

Well, truth be told, Chester Park residents called the property a farm.  In reality, Alfred Gamber lived in a small residence on a small lot near the front entrance to the Chester Park Green.  On that property he kept a chicken coop filled with prize Rhode Island Red Roosters and hens.  He also bred and raised pedigreed bird dogs (Irish Setters and English Setters), exhibition pigeons (twenty four of them kept in "one little coop") and other animals on his premises.  As one might expect, the noisy animal menagerie and its irksome odors drove his neighbors crazy.  

Rhode Island Red Rooster.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Though a respected citizen of the Village of North Pelham, during the 1930s Gamber and his tiny "farm" were responsible for the enactment of Village ordinances adopted to deal with nuisances arising on his property.  The drama evoked a case of Farm versus Village, one of the last of many such battles experienced by Pelham as the Town became fully developed entirely within its boundaries with no room remaining for farm animals -- much less farms.  


Most nights, the yelping, barking, and baying bird dogs sang to the moon.  One Rhode Island Red rooster began to crow every morning at 3:00 a.m.  Then, each morning at dawn, the rooster began crowing incessantly for at least forty minutes.  Throughout each day the dogs howled and barked.  All day and all night all the time the traditional odors of a hen yard and a dog kennel wafted over the Chester Park neighborhood.

According to countless news stories, in 1934 the women of Chester Park rose in resistance to shut the animal menagerie down.  They were mad as Hell and weren't going to take it anymore.  Five women living in nearby homes on Maple Avenue and Linden Place banded together.

At first, one of them called the police.  She later lamented, however, that "I got no satisfaction."

Next they complained to the Westchester County Health Department.  That government office sent an inspector to Gamber's home at 16 Maple Avenue.  No health violations were found and the County Health Department "approved" Gamber's assemblage of animals.

Next, they demanded a hearing before the Board of Trustees of the Village of North Pelham, hauling Alfred Gamber before the Board to respond to their complaints.  On Thursday evening, September 13, 1934, the five women and Alfred Gamber appeared before the Board of the Village of North Pelham.  The women told of sleepless nights, terrific odors, and an inability to sell or rent property due to the nuisance.  They alleged Gamber was operating a business in a residential neighborhood in violation of a Village zoning ordinance.  They said he was selling puppies as well as eggs laid by his hens.  They demanded the whole affair be shut down with an "or else" quality in their presentations.

Alfred Gamber countered that he was a sporting man who raised bird-dogs and kept chickens and pigeons as a hobby.  He pointed out that others in the Village of North Pelham kept chickens.  He asserted that there was nothing wrong with selling puppies rather than keeping them after birth, particularly when the complainants claimed he had too many dogs.  He pointed out that neither dogs nor eggs were his business.  He also said that he would give up his chickens if everyone else in the Village of North Pelham who kept chickens gave them up as well.  He presented a pair of friends who testified his property was not a nuisance that that he harbored the animals as a sportsman, not as a business.

The Board of Trustees indicated that it might enact an ordinance to deal with the situation at its next meeting.  The Board knew, however, that an ordinance banning dogs, kennels, chickens, and the like would have wide-ranging implications that could ripple throughout the village and adversely impact others whose animals presented no nuisances.

The following Thursday, September 20, the Board met again.  It implemented a partial solution.  It enacted an anti-noise ordinance "against off-key sounds of the type that can be classed as noise.  This means barking dogs, crowing roosters, ringing bells, grinding machinery, or any sound whatsoever that would tend to interrupt the slumbers of the villagers during the night (thus impairing their health) and any other unnecessary noises that would disturb the peace and quiet of the village during daylight hours."  Those who violated the ordinance were subject to a $25 fine and five days in jail.

Within days a copy of the new anti-noise ordinance was served on Alfred Gamber who immediately took action.  According to one account, noisy fowl were "eliminated by culinary preparation."  

As one might expect, however, the matter did not end there.  Gamber still maintained hens, pigeons, Irish Setters, and English Setters on his premises.  A long-running feud seems to have continued.

The neighbors continued to complain about the nuisance presented by the animals on Gamber's property.  Thus, in mid-1935 the Village Board asked the Westchester County Board of Health to visit Gamber's premises again for another inspection.  The Board of Health inspected the chicken coop, finding that it held 14 Rhode Island Red hens and "a number of pigeons."  To the disappointment of the Board and Gamber's neighbors, however, the Board of Health further concluded that the animals were "kept according to statute and violated no provisions of the Health Code."

Still the neighbors complained.  Perhaps in retaliation or perhaps not, Gamber began burning rubbish on his property periodically.  

One of the neighbors who had complained to the Board before enactment of the anti-noise ordinance appeared before the Board again on Wednesday, November 13, 1935.  She complained that "Farmer" Gamber was harboring 76 animals including chickens, pigeons, and dogs on his property.  She further complained that he had begun burning rubbish on his property in periodic "bonfires" and that the noxious fumes were a nuisance.

The reaction of the Board of Trustees was immediate and firm.  Upon hearing from the complainant, the Board adopted an ordinance banning the burning of rubbish within the Village of North Pelham.  According to one account, the debate was rather quick:

"'Then,' said the trustee, almost in a body, 'we'll make an ordinance against burning rubbish!'

'But will it be constitutional?' asked someone.

'Never mind about that,' replied Trustee Bollettieri.  'Everybody seems to be testing the constitutionality of laws these days.  We'll make the ordinance and let somebody else test it.'

The ordinance was adopted unanimously.'"

The Gamber "Farm" and "Animal Menagerie" at 16 Maple Avenue in Chester Park thus was responsible for yet another Village ordinance.  It seems that, rather quickly, the battle of farm versus village was ebbing in favor of village. . . . .

Detail from 1929 Map Showing Chester Park and the Maple

Avenue Area Where Alfred L. Gamber Lived and Kept His 

Animals.  Source:  Hopkins, G.M., Atlas of Westchester County,

Vol. 1, p. 11 (Philadelphia, PA:  G. M. Hopkins Co., 1929).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"SERIES OF CROWS, YELPS, ODORS IRK PELHAM WOMEN
-----
Quintet Prays Village Board to Do Something about 'Menagerie' of Neighbor, Complaining of Sleepless Nights and Much General Annoyance
-----

NORTH PELHAM.  Sept. 13. -- A rooster that crows for 40 minutes straight at dawn, bird dogs that rend the night with their yelps, pigeons that behave like pigeons and a hen yard with its traditional odor were on the mat last night at a Village Board meeting.

These combine to constitute an insufferable nuisance in a Maple Avenue section of Chester Park, five irate woman householders told the board.

Defending the bird-dogs, a litter of pups, the pigeons, the hens and the vociferous rooster, was their owner, Alfred L. Gamber, 16 Maple Avenue, executive secretary of the Board of Education.

The five angry women neighbors had fire in their eyes and in their voices as individually they told of sleepless nights, charging them up to the pedigreed Rhode Island Red boss of the chicken yard, disagreeable odors and general annoyance from barking dogs and visits of pigeons.

Rooster Up Early

The women want a stop put to the whole business by the Village Board.  There was a certain 'or else' quality to their grimness.

The complaining women were Mrs. J. K. Clarke, 25 Linden Avenue; Mrs. Herbert Zobel, 18 Maple Avenue; Mrs. Carl Becker, 15 Linden Avenue; Mrs. L. Gates, 19 Linden Avenue and Mrs. Harold Ring, 12 Maple Avenue.

Mrs. Clarke declaring that the rooster sounds off every morning without fail and sometimes makes his solo last 40 minutes, said she wants to sell or rent her house but can't do either because of the neighboring live stock.

All of the complaining women told the board that 'terrific' best described the odor from the hen-yard.  

The five women scoffed in chorus when Gamber produced two friends to testify to the inoffensive character of his place.

Michigan Neighbor

When Gamber offered Rose Fife as a witness, board members asked if he lived close enough to the Gamber home to offer an opinion.

'He lives in Michigan,' said one of the women, and they all five let forth peals of laughter.

Somewhat confused, Fife, started to explain that he had a Michigan license on his car but that he did not live there.

Board members interrupted his testimony as irrelevant, because he dwelt on such things as sportsmanship, the value of Gamber's pedigreed Irish and English setters, and allied subjects.

Gamber pointed out to the board that he had kept chickens since 1926 and that for eight years his neighbors had not kicked.  Now they kick, he maintained, on the dogs alone.

The board deferred action but indicated it would consider the adopting of a prohibitive ordinance in executive session."

Source:  SERIES OF CROWS, YELPS, ODORS IRK PELHAM WOMEN -- Quintet Prays Village Board to Do Something about 'Menagerie' of Neighbor, Complaining of Sleepless Nights and Much General Annoyance, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Sep. 13, 1934, p. 9, cols. 2-3.  

"Chester Park Dispute About Dogs And Chickens Is Carried To Village Board
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Beleaguered Trustees Listen to Argument About Animals and Fowl in Residential District.
-----

Can breeding pedigreed dogs and raising chickens and pigeons within the residential district of North Pelham be classed as 'sporting' or is it just a plain nuisance?

That was the subject of controversy at the meeting of the beleaguered North Pelham Board of Trustees on Wednesday night.  Five Chester Park women declared that their lives were being made miserable by barking dogs, crowing roosters, and offensive odors which they claimed emanated from the property of Alfred L. Gamber, whose home is at No. 16 Maple avenue.  Mr. Gamber is the clerk to the Board of Education.  He denied all their contentions, declaring that he raised a few puppies as a hobby and that his chickens were no more annoying than the fowl of several other residents of the village.

After listening to arguments and cross-talk for almost two hours, Mayor Eugene L. Lyon announced that the board would consider the adoption of an ordinance regulating the keeping of animals and fowl within the village limits.

The complainants, all nearby residents were Mrs. Harold S. Ring, of No. 12 Maple avenue; Mrs. J. K. Clark of No. 25 Linden avenue; Mrs. H. Zobel of No. 18 Maple avenue; Mrs. Mabel Gates of No. 19 Linden avenue; and Mrs. Edith Becker of No. 15 Linden avenue.

They see Mr. Gamber's interest in dogs and fowl as a business, in violation of the zoning ordinance.  They charged him with selling dogs and eggs and pointed to an advertisement in a New York newspaper offering puppies for sale.  The told the Board also that he had sold eggs.

'We tried to buy some one eggs and he told us that he had only enough for his Pelham Manor customers,' said one of the complainants.

His rooster starts to crow every morning at 3 o'clock,' said another.

'And his dogs howl all day long.'

'--and the odor from the place

(Continued on Page 7)

CHESTER PARK'S DISPUTE BEFORE VILLAGE BOARD
-----
(Continued from Page One)

is terrific.'

'He has two dozen pigeons in one little coop.  I cannot sell or rent my property because of this nuisance.'

'I called the police and I got no satisfaction.'  These were just a few of the remarks.   

In response, Mr. Gamber denied that he was commercializing his property.  'I am breeding fine hunting dogs because I love dogs.  I am not breeding them for sale,' he said.  'It seems funny to me that although I have kept chickens since 1926 no one has complained until now.'

He said that his place had recently been inspected by the county health department, and it was approved.  

Gamber offered the testimony of friends to show that he had a sportsman's interest instead of a business interest in raising dogs.

The trustees discussed the possibility of passing an ordinance regulating the harboring of dogs and fowl in the village.  Gamber said he would be willing to get rid of his chickens if others in the village did likewise.  The matter of adopting an ordinance will be discussed at a meeting next Thursday night."

Source:  Chester Park Dispute About Dogs And Chickens Is Carried To Village Board -- Beleaguered Trustees Listen to Argument About Animals and Fowl in Residential District, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 14, 1934, Vol. 25, No. 26, p. 1, cols. 7-8 & p. 7, col. 4.

"COMPANIONS IN MISERY

Crowing roosters, yelping hounds, and fluttering pigeons have caused North Pelham officials to scratch their heads in bewilderment over a problem, simpler but very similar to one that has aged many a Mount Vernon office holder.

'How can we rid the community of 'noisy' animals and birds and still satisfy animal and bird lovers?' is what the Village Board members are asking themselves.

For 20 years Mount Vernon's civic leaders have asked themselves the same thing when indignant residents demanded that grackles be driven from the city.

The otherwise peaceful village housewives have taken to the warpath because Alfred L. Gamber, executive secretary of the Board of Education, 
keeps dogs, hens, roosters and pigeons -- (and they all have pedigrees.)

'Pedigrees or no pedigrees, they must go,' was the housewives' ultimatum.

But the Village Board's problem is nothing compared to Mount Vernon's.  

Should the board members decide Mr. Gamber's pets create a nuisance, one single ordinance would be the solution -- although Mr. Gamber might not like it.

All Mount Vernon officials should join in passing a 'super-law' and the grackles would still make Mount Vernon their Summer home."

Source:  COMPANIONS IN MISERY, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Sep. 17, 1934, p. 6, col. 1.  

"Anti-Noise Ordinance Adopted to Make North Pelham Quiet Village
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North Pelham, Peaceful village.  

That is the hope of the board of trustees who last night adopted an ordinance directed against off-key sounds of the type that can be classed as noise.  This means barking dogs, crowing roosters, ringing bells, grinding machinery, or any sound whatsoever that would tend to interrupt the slumbers of the villagers during the night (thus impairing their health) and any other unnecessary noises that would disturb the peace and quiet of the village during daylight hours.

The ordinance, which was prepared by Village attorney Thomas E. Fenlon, covered almost every noise but those heard at sessions of the board of trustees at which village fathers are besieged by irate citizens complaining about noise.  The adoption of the ordinance followed a complaint made by Chester Park householders directed at a neighbor who is a farmer of chickens and thoroughbred dogs.

A fine of $25 or five days in jail or both is the penalty for violation of the ordinance."

Source:  Anti-Noise Ordinance Adopted to Make North Pelham Quiet Village, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 21, 1934, Vol. 25, No. 27, p. 1, cols. 7-8.  

"COMPLAINT SUBJECT SCANS NOISE LAWS
-----
(Special To The Argus)

NORTH PELHAM, Sept. 24. -- A copy of the newly created Village Ordinance banning maintenance of noisy fowl and other animals was served Saturday on Alfred L. Gamber, 16 Maple Avenue, against whom neighbors recently complained to the Village Board because of his hens, rooster, dogs and pigeons."

Source:  COMPLAINT SUBJECT SCANS NOISE LAWS, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Sep. 24, 1934, p. 7, col. 3.  

"FLY-BY-NIGHT MERCHANTS TO BE BARRED IN PELHAM
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Village Board Passes Ordinance Imposing Sales Tax and Requiring Bond on Transient Stores -- Parking Limit Reduced
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(Special to The Daily Argus)

NORTH PELHAM, June 20: . . .

The Gamber chicken coop at 16 Maple Avenue was given a clean bill of health by an inspector from the County Health Department.  The Board asked for an inspection after receiving a complaint from H. Zobel, a neighbor of Alfred L. Gamber.

The report stated that the coop housing 14 Rhode Island and a number of pigeons was kept according to statute and violated no provisions of the Health Code."

Source:  FLY-BY-NIGHT MERCHANTS TO BE BARRED IN PELHAM -- Village Board Passes Ordinance Imposing Sales Tax and Requiring Bond on Transient Stores -- Parking Limit Reduced, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], June 20, 1935, p. 8, cols. 2-3 (unrelated text omitted). 

"Gamber's 'Farm' Is Responsible For Another Ordinance In North Pelham
-----

Just as an ordinance was passed against noise a few years ago was prompted by a complaint about the 'farm' of Alfred L. Gamber of Maple avenue, secretary to the Board of Education, more complaints prompted the adoption of another ordinance in North Pelham at a meeting of the North Pelham Village Board, Wednesday night.  Mrs. Harold Ring, also of Maple avenue, complained about smoke and obnoxious odors which she alleges are caused by a rubbish bonfire at the Gamber residence.

Mrs. Ring told the Board that the 'farmer' secretary to the school board harbors 76 pets, including chickens, pigeons and dogs, and although the county board of health has inspected the property and has found no violation of the health code, nevertheless she considers Gamber's animals and fowl an annoyance.

She wanted to know what could be done next.

The anti-noise ordinance passed two years ago when complaints had  been made against Gamber was referred to.  It was summed up briefly by Trustee James T. Bollettieri who said, 'This ordinance practically makes it a crime to be awake after 12 o'clock midnight.'

Mrs. Ring said that she was not complaining about noise, since three annoying roosters had been eliminated by culinary preparation perhaps, but against the burning of ill-smelling refuse.

'Then,' said the trustee, almost in a body, 'we'll make an ordinance against burning rubbish!'

'But will it be constitutional?' asked someone.

'Never mind about that,' replied Trustee Bollettieri.  'Everybody seems to be testing the constitutionality of laws these days.  We'll make the ordinance and let somebody else test it.'

The ordinance was adopted unanimously."

Source:  Gamber's 'Farm' Is Responsible For Another Ordinance In North Pelham, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 15, 1935, p. 8, col. 7.  

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More on "The King of Pelham" -- The Most Ornery Bull Ever Kept in Pelham

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He was called "The King of Pelham."  He was big.  He was mean.  He was the most ornery Holstein bull ever kept in Pelham.  He ruled the pasture located on the property of Colonel Richard Lathers adjacent to Lathers Woods.  The property later became what we know today as Pelhamwood.  The story of The King of Pelham is a tragic one that reminds us of days of yore when large farms dotted the North Pelham countryside.

I have written before about the ornery bull called "The King of Pelham," saying:

"The Walsh family supplied butter, milk, and other dairy products to residents of North Pelham, Pelham Manor, and New Rochelle. The dairy farm included a large pasture and cattle barn. The pasture was enclosed by stone walls and, in some parts, by a wire fence. Patrick Walsh followed a daily routine. Each morning he opened his cattle barn and drove his cattle into the pasture to graze. Every afternoon he went to the pasture and drove the cattle back to the barn. The King of Pelham, however, was a different matter. He was so mean and ornery that Patrick Walsh had to keep him chained while in the pasture. Walsh often kept the old bull tethered to a forty-feet long chain for his own protection and that of his family. According to a report in the New-York Tribune published on July 14, 1900, 'the bull had a reputation in the neighborhood for being vicious' and 'it was a menace to the neighborhood.'"

Source:  Wed., May 11, 2016:  "The King of Pelham" -- Pelham's Most Ornery Bull That Chased Pelhamites and, in the End, Killed His Owner.  

Today's Historic Pelham article details more about one of the many incidents that gave The King of Pelham his ugly reputation while reminding us of a time when much of Pelham remained rural farmland marked by croplands, dairy farms, and orchards.  Though The King eventually killed his owner, dairy farmer Patrick Walsh, today's article tells the story of The King and a pair of young Belles who dared to take a shortcut across The King's pasture, thinking the bull was chained as usual.  

September 4, 1898 seemed no different in Pelham than any other day.  Miss Ethel Fairchild was vacationing for a few weeks in the Village of North Pelham.  She was staying with Frank Dodge and his wife.  Frank Dodge was a famous scenic artist of the Herald Square Theatre, a major Broadway Theater in New York City.

Each day during Ethel Fairchild's vacation, part of the glorious enjoyment of Pelham included a beautiful stroll from the Dodge Household in North Pelham to the Pelham Station on the New Haven main line, accompanying Frank Dodge as he left on his daily commute to New York City.  

The early morning of September 4, 1898 was no different.  Vacationing Ethel Fairchild accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dodge all the way to Pelham Station where the two women watched him climb aboard the New Haven Line train and recede into the distance.

Miss Fairchild and Mrs. Dodge turned toward the Dodge home in North Pelham.  As the pair started to walk toward Fifth Avenue to head home, the vacationing Miss Fairchild suggested the pair should simply cut across the dairy farm pasture ahead.  That pasture was part of the Patrick Walsh Farm leased from Colonel Richard Lathers who owned Lathers Woods, what we know today as Pelhamwood.

The pasture was a small cleared area in one corner of Lathers' Woods.  It was located very roughly where today's September 11 Memorial, Daronco Townhouse (and parking lot) now are located.  In the midst of the clearing, farmer Patrick Walsh kept The King of Pelham tethered by a fifty-feet long chain attached to a ring in the bull's nose with the other end anchored to a tree.  

As the two women made their way across the woods of today's Pelhamwood toward the pasture clearing, Ethel Fairchild was the first to notice that the bull's chain had come loose from the tree.  She let out a little scream.  

According to the account quoted in full below, The King of Pelham was in a particularly ornery mood that day due to maddening heat and pesky flies.  As the bull turned toward the women, he reportedly "caught sight of a red ribbon on Miss Fairchild's hat."  The bull started toward the intruding women at a slow trot.  

The women gathered up their skirts and began running toward the pasture fence, an eight-feet high barbed wire affair.  As they began running, so did the angry bull, chasing after them.  

The King of Pelham was fast.  In mere moments, he closed the distance of the chase to only twenty feet as the two terrified women scrambled for their lives.  Providence, however, played its hand.  The bull's chain, dragging along behind the rushing animal, snagged for a moment in a sapling.  The Holstein had to stop and free itself from the snag.  Though the women were "nearly faint from terror and loss of breath," they raced ahead.  By the time The King of Pelham freed himself from the snag, the two women were one hundred feet away and nearing the fence.

The fence, however, was no simple affair.  Given the viciousness of the bull and its previous encounters with Pelhamites who tried to cross its pasture from the Pelham Train Station, farmer Walsh had built a sturdy barb-wire fence that was so high it could not easily be scaled.  

With the bull bearing down on them again, the two women raced to a small cedar tree that farmer Walsh had used as a fence post when building the fence.  Some of its branches were low enough for the women to grab and scramble up the tree.  As they did, the bull reached the fence as well, snorting and pawing the ground below the women.

Mrs. Dodge edged onto a limb that hung over the fence on the side opposite the bellowing, angry bull and dropped to the ground.  She fell directly into a pile of rusty tin cans and debris thrown behind the barn of a Mr. Lawrence.  Cut by the cans and rubbish, Mrs. Dodge lay in the debris exhausted.  Miss Fairchild thought she had fainted and began to shout for help from the tree branches above.  

Hearing the shouts, farmer Lawrence ambled out behind his barn.  He grabbed a pitchfork, used it to drive The King of Pelham away from the fence, and rescued the two women.  He took the two women into his farmhouse where he and his wife cared for them until they recovered.

According to the news account quoted in full below, "The bull, after being captured, was taken to Walsh's barnyard, and soon will be turned into dressed beef."

Alas, the bull was NOT turned into "dressed beef."  Months later, on July 13, 1900, farmer Patrick Walsh tried to control The King of Pelham with a pitchfork.  The angry animal ignored the pitchfork that the farmer jabbed into its face and, with the speed of a train, knocked the farmer to the ground and gored him through the temple, killing him.

Within hours The King of Pelham was turned into dressed beef.
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"BULL TREES WOMEN.

Mrs. Frank Dodge and Miss Ethel Fairchild, who are spending the summer at Pelham Manor, near Mount Vernon, N. Y., after running through the woods for nearly a mile only escaped being gored to death by a big Holstein bull by climbing into a low cedar tree, which grew near a barbed wire fence, through which they were unable to make their way.

Mrs. Dodge is the wife of the scenic artist of the Herald Square Theatre, New York city.  Miss Fairchild has been their guest for the last two weeks.  She and Mrs. Dodge, as was their custom every day, accompanied Mr. Dodge to the train at the Pelham station Monday morning.  Miss Fairchild suggested that they return home through the wood known as Winiah [sic; should be "Winyah"] Park, owned by Col. Richard Lathers.  In one corner of this wood is a small clearing, which had been leased by Col. Lathers to Patrick Walsh, a farmer.  In this clearing the vicious bull was tethered to a tree by a fifty foot chain, one end of which was attached to a ring in the bull's nose.

When Miss Fairchild and Mrs. Dodge were in the centre of the wood, within sight of the pasture, Miss Fairchild said, with a little scream:  -- 

'Oh, look at Walsh's bull!  I believe he's loose.'  

As they turned to jump over a fallen tree the animal, maddened by the heat and flies, caught sight of a red ribbon on Miss Fairchild's hat and started toward the women.  The clanking of the broken chain, mingled with the bellowing of the animal, which, with head down and tail up, was coming toward the two women at a trot, made them shake with terror.  Miss Fairchild was the first to recover herself.

'Come!' said she, gathering up her skirts.  'Let's run toward the fence.  Maybe the bull will get tangled in his chain.'

The two women scampered through the underbrush, the bull in close pursuit.  The animal was within twenty feet of the fleeing women when, as Miss Fairchild hoped, the chain caught in a sapling for a moment and gave them a chance to gain a hundred feet on the maddened bull.

Then the animal, loosening the chain, again started in pursuit.  The women were through the bushes now, and the bull was gaining on the women at every jump.  One hundred feet away was a barbed wire fence, eight feet high.  Around them were trees, which they could not climb.  It looked as if there was no escape from the animal.

The women were nearly faint from terror and loss of breath when Miss Fairchild spied a small cedar tree, which was used as a post in the barbed wire fence.  The tree's branches hung low to the ground.  The two women, their tattered skirts impeding their progress, headed for the cedar.  Just as they had climbed to the second branch of the little tree the bull reached the fence and stood pawing the earth.  The women were two much exhausted and frightened for a moment to scream for help.  In a few minutes Mrs. Dodge climbed out on a limb reaching over the side of the fence opposite the bull in the rear of a Mr. Lawrence's barn.

From here she dropped to the ground into a heap of tin cans and rubbish, which cut her about the face and hands.  She was stunned for a few moments, and Miss Fairchild, who thought she had fainted, called loudly for help.  Mr. Lawrence heard the cries, and, hurrying to the rear of the barn, rescued the young women from their predicament, driving the bull away from the fence at the point of a pitchfork.  The women were then taken to the farm house, where, under the care of Mr. Lawrence and his wife, they recovered from their fright and exhaustion.  The bull, after being captured, was taken to Walsh's barnyard, and soon will be turned into dressed beef."

Source:  BULL TREES WOMEN, Alexandria Gazette [Alexandria, VA], Sep. 7, 1898, Vol XCIX, No. 212, p. 1, col. 2.

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Evidence of Early Agricultural Exports from Pelham to England in the 1840s

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During the 1830s and 1840s, the rural Town of Pelham was beginning to awaken from its decades-long slumber following the devastation inflicted on it as part of the infamous "Neutral Ground" during the Revolutionary War.  The population of the town was finally beginning to grow at a healthier rate.  Its population in 1830 was 334, up 18% over its population of 283 in 1820.  By 1840, its population had grown an additional 136.2% to 789.

During this period, there seem to have been a host of efforts by Pelhamites to move beyond simple subsistence farming to broader agricultural, marine, and industrial pursuits.  For example, during the 1830s, a solar salt manufacturing plant was built in Pelham.  See Mon., Sep. 01, 2014:  Solar Salt Manufacturing Plant Built on City Island in the Town of Pelham in the 1830's.  Likewise, during this time, the oyster harvesting and planting industry began to grow in Pelham as did a host of related service industries such as shipbuilding, sail making, and the like.  

During the 1840s, one enterprising Pelhamite -- according to The New York Journal of Commerce -- developed a substantial apple orchard of about twenty thousand apple trees and began exporting his apples to London.  Robert Pell reportedly spent years developing a massive orchard of apples known as "Newtown Pippins."

Also known as the Albemarle Pippin, the Newtown Pippin is an American apple developed in the late 17th or early 18th century.  Although still cultivated on a small scale, it no longer holds the popularity it once did.  According to one account:

"The Newtown Pippin is typically light green sometimes with a yellow tinge.  It is often russeted around the stem.  The flesh is yellow and crisp.  The flavor is complex and somewhat tart, and requires storage to develop properly; some sources ascribe to it a piney aroma.  Green and yellow varieties are sometimes distinguished but it is not clear that they are in fact distinct cultivars.  It is one of the best keeping apples."

Source:  "Newtown Pippin" in Wikipedia -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited Apr. 9, 2017).

The fact that the Newtown Pippin is one of the best "keeping apples" is likely what prompted Robert Pell to raise them for export to London.  He reportedly used special tree-trimming techniques and the application of "the best manures" to bring his Newtown Pippin apples "to unusual size and excellence."  

Pell reportedly harvested the apples and packed them into barrels rather than moving them by cartloads so the fruits would not be jostled and bruised.  Pell harvested up to 4,000 barrels of apples from his orchard and sold them, wholesale, for $6 a barrel -- earning $24,000 per season (about $1.125 million in today's dollars).  The London merchant to whom Pell sold, in turn, sold the apples in London for $21 a barrel.   

The London merchant who bought Pell's apples and resold them in London wrote to Pell and said "the nobility and other people of great wealth had actually bought them by retail at a guinea a dozen; which is some forty-five cents an apple."

For a time in the 1840s, Pelham was becoming quite the agricultural export center -- at least for Newtown Pippins. . . .

Detail from Untitled Folk Art Painting of Apple Pickers in an

Orchard by Arie Reinhardt Taylor.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*         *           *          *          *

"Apple Trade. -- The New York Journal of Commerce has the following statement:

Robert Pell, Esq., of Pelham, Westchester co., has an orchard of twenty thousand apple trees, all bearing Newton Pippins [sic; should be Newtown Pippins].  By trimming and the application of the best manures, he has brought the fruit to unusual size and excellence.  The apples are picked and packed in barrels without being rolled or jolted in carts, and so arrive in the very best order for shipment.  Last year they were sold in London at twenty-one dollars a barrel, and the merchant to whom they were consigned wrote the nobility and other people of great wealth had actually bought them by retail at a guinea a dozen; which is some forty-five cents an apple.

Mr. Pell has from three to four thousand barrels of the apples this year, which are sold as fast as they arrive in market, at six dollars a barrel, and are all shipped to England.  It is quite a business for one of our commission merchants to dispose of the produce of this noble plantation.  

The American apple, take it all in all, is the most valuable fruit which grows on the earth.  We undervalue them because they are so abundant; and even many American farmers will not take the trouble to live like an English lord, though the trouble would be very little."

Source:  Apple Trade, Huron Reflector [Norwalk, OH], Oct. 21, 1845, p. 3, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

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1805 Advertisement Reveals Much About the Pelham Farm of Rem Rapelje

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Rem Rapelje was born in Brooklyn, New York during the mid-1700s.  He lost his father as a young child.  His mother remarried but his relationship with his stepfather was quite poor and, according to his son, George Rapelje, Rem "sought for friendly aid elsewhere."  As a young man, Rem Rapelje hustled for his living.  As a very, very young man, he was a ship owner.  He also dealt in general merchandise and kept a store on Maiden Lane in New York City "directly in rear of his dwelling."  An uncle who was in the "corn, grain, and flour business" and owned a store for the business took him into the store "which was at the fork of Maiden Lane and Crown Street."  Soon, on behalf of the business, he was sent in a schooner to Curacao. 

Rem Rapelje was a Loyalist, but he remained in the New York region after the Revolutionary War.  When the war ended, he purchased a farm known as "Glass House Farm" located along the Hudson River about three miles from New York City. 

By 1790, according to both the 1790 U.S. Census and a plan of pews for St. Paul's Church in Eastchester, Rem Rapelje had moved to Pelham.  See Wed., Aug. 15, 2007:  Plan of Pews in St. Paul's Church 1790.  He purchased a massive 300 acre farm on Pelham Neck and the surrounding region.  He had a brother-in-law named John Hardenbrook who also resided in Pelham.  He lived in Pelham on that farm until his death in about 1805.

I have written about Rem Rapelje, his son George, and the Rapelje farm on Pelham Neck a number of times.  See, e.g.:

Fri., Jan. 08, 2016:  Pelhamite Rem Rapelje, a Loyalist, Was "Rode on Rails" During the Revolutionary War.

Wed., Oct. 03, 2007:  Book by George Rapelje, Pelham Resident Along With His Father, Rem Rapelje, Published in 1834. 

Mon., Feb. 27, 2006:  Another Description of the Farm of Rem Rapelje of Pelham Published in 1806. 

Wed., Aug. 24, 2005:  1807 Advertisement for Sale of Property of Rem Rapelje in Pelham.

A very interesting and detailed advertisement offering Rem Rapelje's Pelham farm for sale was published in early January, 1805, shortly before Raelje's death.  The advertisement sheds fascinating light on the farm, its layout, its farmhouse (and the layout of that home), outbuildings and more.

According to the advertisement, the Rapelje farm contained 350 acres, "70 of wood, 60 of salt meadow, 50 of fresh meadow, 30 of arable land, and 40 of pasture."  The advertisement touts the farm's 60 acres of salt meadow.  During the colonial era, proximity to salt marshes was considered important because the salt hay grass that grew there was harvested for bedding and fodder for farm animals and for use as garden mulch.  Additionally, in those days ordinary hay was much less likely to be bailed and stored under cover.  Consequently, when the hay stacks were left in the fields, salt hay grass was used to top the hay stacks to help protect the underlying hay from the elements.

The farm included extensive apple and peach orchards.  According to the advertisement, there were three "young" apple orchards containg about 450 trees "of the best grafted fruit."  Additionally there was "a large peach orchard, and large garden, filled with every kind of fruit in its season of the most delicate sort."  There also was an orchard nursery grafted the previous year (1804) containing "500 apple trees, fit to be transplanted."  

The main home on the farm was described in detail in the advertisement.  It was described as "commodious" with a cellar and two stories with a garret (small attic) above.  There were four rooms on the ground floor and "several rooms" on the second floor.  

The outbuildings were surprisingly numerous and extensive.  There was a kitchen with a servant's room.  There was a bake house.  The farm also included a dairy house and an overseer's house that had "several rooms and kitchen, and dairy room."  There also was a "large" barn that was 105 feet long, "with every convenience for hay and cattle."  In addition there was a "large coach house and stable" as well as a wagon house, a cart house, a work shop, a fowl house, a corn crib, a granery and "other out houses."  In short, in addition to the main house, there were more than a dozen outbuildings on the extensive Rapelje farm.  

The advertisement touted the farm as perfect for the farmer or a gentleman.  As the ad put it:  "The farm altogether has a superior advantage to most others, either for the farmer or gentleman, being surrounded with fish and game."  The ad also offered for sale the stock, the farming utensils, and "part" of the household furniture in exchange for a "fair valuation."  

In short, the advertisement published on January 8, 1805 sheds fascinating light on a large Pelham farm constructed over the period from roughly 1790 -- only two years after the Town of Pelham was formed by statute -- to about 1805.   

1805 Advertisement Offering Rem Rapelje Farm in Pelham

for Sale.  Source:  FOR SALE, The Evening Post [NY, NY],

Jan. 8, 1805, p. 4, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access

via this link).  Text of Advertisement is Transcribed Immediately Below

to Facilitate Search.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"FOR SALE, the Farm of the subscriber at Pelham, West Chester county, 19 miles from New-York, and 2 miles from the Boston post road, nearly surrounded by water, East Chester Bay on the southerly side, and New Rochelle Bay on the northerly and easterly side.  The Farm contains about 350 acres, 70 of wood, 60 of salt meadow, 50 of fresh meadow, 30 of arable land, and 40 of pasture.  The land is superior to most in the state, wanting no manure.  There are 3 young bearing apple orchards, containing about 450 trees of the best grafted fruit; also, a large peach orchard, and large garden, filled with every kind of fruit in its season of the most delicate sort.  There is also a nursery, grafted a year ago, of 500 apple trees, fit to be transplanted.  On the premises is a commodious dwelling, containing 4 rooms on the lower floor, a cellar underneath, several rooms upstairs, and a garret above; also, a kitchen and servants room, a bake house and dairy house, an overseer's house, with several rooms and kitchen, and dairy room, a large barn, 105 feet long, with every convenience for hay and cattle, and a large coach house and stable, a waggon house, cart house, work shop, corn crib, fowl house, granery, and other out houses -- The farm altogether has a superior advantage to most others, either for the farmer or gentleman, being surrounded with fish and game.  Any person purchasing, may have the stock and farming utensils, and part of the household furniture at a fair valuation.  A small part of the purchase money to be paid on delivery of the deeds, the residue secured by bond and mortgage.  Apply to

REM. RAPELJE,
On the premises, or
GEORGE RAPELJE,
13 Hudson-st head of Jay-st. New-York.

Who has also for sale,

A full blooded three years old stud HORSE, 18 hands high, the largest horse of his age ever seen in America.  For pedigree and terms apply as above.

Also, to Rent, from the first of April nexxt, the Country Seat where the subscriber formerly resided at Greenwich, joining the North-river, about a mile above the state prison, occupied last summer by Mr. Gilbert Robertson.

Also to Rent, joining the above, about 16 acres of Land, with house and barn, occupied several years past by a gardener.  They will be let separate or together.  Apply as above, to 

G. RAPELJE.
Jan. 3 cad 2w"

Source:  FOR SALE, The Evening Post [NY, NY], Jan. 8, 1805, p. 4, col. 2 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

Detail of Map Prepared in 1853 Showing Pelham Neck and Lands

Owned by the Rapelje Family. Source: Dripps, Matthew & Conner,

R.F.O., Southern Part of West-Chester County N. Y. (1853) (Museum

of the City of New York, No. 29.100.2628). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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