Famous Meyers Mansion in Pelham Manor Burned Down in 1897

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During the mid-1890s, the Village of Pelham Manor Fire Department suffered turmoil that led to the resignation of most members of the volunteer fire department.  Since its founding, members of the volunteer department had elected their own Fire Chief.  In about early 1896, the Fire Commissioners determined that the Commission would exert control over the department by removing the selection from the members of the department and, instead, providing for the appointment of a Fire Chief by the Fire Commissioners.  In response, all but seven members of the fire department resigned, leaving the village with a meager force. 

This dispute, of course, foreshadowed a similar dispute involving the Village of Pelham Manor Fire Department nearly three decades later when the Village Board of Trustees took steps to exercise control over the Department and its ability to elect its own leaders without oversight by the Board of Trustees.  That dispute led to the disbandment and subsequent rebuilding of the entire department.  See Mon., Jan. 04, 2016:  Pelham Manor Voters Voted to Disband the Pelham Manor Fire Department in 1928.  

In 1897, the turmoil involving the Pelham Manor Fire Department had dire consequences.  On the windy afternoon of Wednesday, March 31st, young boys were playing in an empty lot along Wolfs Lane next to the home and carriage house of Henry Iden.  Somehow, the boys started a fire that burned the tall grass in the empty lot.  The winds fanned the flames toward the Iden Estate.  

There stood on the Iden estate a lovely old home built in about the late 1860s.  The structure had been converted to a carriage house to serve the Iden mansion on the estate grounds.  

The history of the old home converted into a carriage house was quite fascinating.  The home was built in the late 1860s by a well-known New York City wine merchant named James Meyers.  At the time, the Coudert estate centered around the home known as "Pelhamdale" and "Pelham Dale" (located at 45 Iden Avenue) was the adjacent property, bordering the property acquired by Myers for his home.  

Myers built his new home on the border between his estate and the Coudert estate.  It turned out that the eaves of his new home extended over the Coudert property line by about four inches.  After the Coudert family discovered the issue, they demanded that Myers move his home.  Myers refused.

Coudert, an attorney, filed suit against Myers.  No records of the lawsuit yet have been located, but according to a newspaper account, Coudert obtained a court order authorizing him to saw off four inches of the eaves of the Myers home which he had a Westchester County sheriff handle, thereby removing the incursion from his property.

Detail from 1881 Bromley Map Showing Location of the

Meyers Estate Along Wolfs Lane Near Center of Image.

Source:  "Town of Pelham. (with) Pelham-Manor. (From

actual surveys and official records by G. W. Bromley & Co.,

Civil Engineers" in Atlas of Westchester County, New York.

From Actual Surveys and Official Records by G. W. 

Bromley & Co., Civil Engineers, pp. 56-57 (NY, NY: Geo.

W. & Walter S. Bromley, 1881).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Myers later sold his home to Henry Iden who incorporated it as part of an estate with three structures including a grand home that no longer stands on the site.  For a time, Henry Iden allowed a family member to live in the old Myers Mansion.  During the 1890s, however, the family member moved out and Iden converted the structure to a carriage house.

On that windy afternoon, March 31, 1897, the fire sparked by the young boys in an adjacent field whipped sparks into the air, some of which landed on the carriage house, setting it afire.  The alarm was sent to the Pelham Manor Fire Department.  Alas, all but one of the seven village firefighters were out of town at the time.

A single, brave Pelham Manor fire fighter drafted a group of boys who struggled with him to pull the hose carriage to the scene of the fire.  Upon arrival, the fire was raging and looked as though it might leap to the nearby Iden mansion.  The firefighter organized a group of bystanders into an "impromptu volunteer fire department," but the fire was simply too big.  To make matters worse, according to one account, the former Pelham Manor firemen who had resigned from the force in connection with the dispute over electing a fire chief "would not give any assistance."   A call was sent to the nearby Mount Vernon Fire Department which sent two steam engines to the scene.  The two streams of water soon brought the fire under control.  Although the main Iden mansion was saved, the carriage house originally built as a home for James Myers was destroyed.

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Immediately below is the transcribed text of an article describing the events that are the subject of today's article.  Following the text are a citation and link to its source.

"CALLED FOR HELP.
-----
Mount Vernon Fire Department goes to Pelham.
-----
A FAMOUS HOUSE BURNED DOWN.
-----
Blaze Started by Some Boys Who Set Fire to Dry Grass in a Lot Next Door.  Owing to Friction Among the Pelham Firemen They Didn't Respond Promptly.
-----

Fire, Wednesday afternoon, destroyed the old Meyers mansion at Pelham Manor.  It was owned by Henry Iden and until recently had been occupied by his brother-in-law.  The house was a frame structure and of antique design.  It has quite a history.  It was built about thirty years ago by James Myers,  a wine merchant of New York city.  The adjourning [sic] property was owned by Mr. Coudert.  When the house was built Coudert learned that the eaves projected four inches on his property.  He brought suit and demanded Myers to move his house.  Myers refused to do so and Coudert ordered the sheriff to saw four inches off the eaves, which he did.  Myers later sold the house to Henry Iden.  After Mr. Iden's brother-in-law moved out he used it as a carriage house.

Wednesday, it is alleged, some boys in that neighborhood set fire to the dry grass.   heavy wind was blowing and the sparks from the flames caught on the house.  An alarm was sent to Pelham [Editor's Note:  actually the Village of Pelham Manor Fire Department] and the Hook and Ladder and Hose companies attempted to respond.  It is said that one brave fireman turned out and with the assistance of a number of boys dragged the hose carriage to the scene.  Meanwhile the flames had spread rapidly and the fire was now beyond control.  An impromptu volunteer fire department was organized on the spot among bystanders and work was commenced to keep the flames from spreading.  It was feared that the sparks might set fire to Mr. Iden's big residence which is nearby.  The firemen worked earnestly but the flames kept spreading.  Word was sent to Mount Vernon asking for assistance.  Niagara and Steamer No. 3 responded.  Two streams of water were now playing on the fire and it was soon gotten under control.  Chief Jewell and his men did excellent work.  The loss is about $2,000.  The fire probably would not have gained much headway had the fire department at Pelham been united.  A disruption occurred about a year ago over the action of the fire commissioners in taking the power to elect a chief away from them and only seven members remained.  When the alarm sounded Wednesday most of the men were out-of-town and the others who had resigned would not give any assistance, there was much delay in getting to the fire.  The term of office of the present fire commissioners expire this spring.  New commissioners will be elected and probably the companies will be reorganized."

Source:  CALLED FOR HELP -- Mount Vernon Fire Department goes to Pelham -- A FAMOUS HOUSE BURNED DOWN -- Blaze Started by Some Boys Who Set Fire to Dry Grass in a Lot Next Door.  Owing to Friction Among the Pelham Firemen They Didn't Respond Promptly, Mount Vernon News, Apr. 2, 1897, Vol. IV, No. 217, p. 1, col. 3.  

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The Henry Iden, Jr. Property on Wolfs Lane -- An Ice Skating Paradise

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During the late 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, there was a low region located roughly in the area now bounded on three sides by Reed Avenue, Wolfs Lane, and Iden Avenue in the Village of Pelham Manor.  The section was owned by Henry Iden Jr., an affluent son of Henry Iden, a wealthy acetylene lamp and lighting magnate.

In the late 19th century, there were two large ponds on the Iden estate.  One was kidney shaped and lay on the eastern side of Wolfs Lane roughly straddling what is, today, that portion of Iden Avenue that extends between Wolfs Lane and Pelhamdale Avenue.  (That extension had not yet been built at the time.)  The second pond was slightly smaller and lay just south of the kidney-shaped lake very near Wolfs Lane.

Originally, Henry Iden, Jr. built a lovely home that stood along Wolfs Lane between today's Reed Avenue and today's Stellar Place.  It is shown on the 1899 Fairchild Map of the area (see detail below).  By 1908, Henry Iden, Jr. had built a larger mansion along Wolfs Lane immediately across from the portion of Iden Avenue that extends from Wolfs Lane westward looping into Murray Street.  In connection with the construction of that home, the larger kidney-shaped pond was filled, leaving only the smaller pond to the south, neatly nestled on the north side of Reed Avenue and the east side of Wolfs Lane where Reed Avenue intersects with Wolfs Lane.  

As an interesting aside, in the spring of 1908, the Pelham Country Club began. The first clubhouse was the original Iden house.  According to one account quoted more fully below, Henry Iden offered his original home to the club "on most liberal terms, and it would have been difficult for the club to have made such a successful start had it not been for the personal interest taken in the club’s welfare by Mr. Iden."  By 1911, the clubhouse in the original Iden home and the grounds of the club that included four tennis courts and a makeshift ball field were outgrown "with the result that a more commodious plant was found necessary whereby plans for the present quarters were finally decided upon.”

During the nineteenth century, both ponds were exciting locations for local ice skaters throughout Pelham.  There are many accounts of skaters enjoying the winter sport on the Iden estate.  With the filling, and thus disappearance, of the kidney-shaped pond, however, the smaller pond became the sole focus of local skaters for the next fifteen years.  It was known, rather unsurprisingly, as "Iden Pond."  Skaters had to pick their skating times carefully.  Periodically, Henry Iden, Jr. had men cut the ice on the ponds and harvest it for storage in an ice house for use later in the year. 

By the mid-1920s, Iden Pond was merely a memory for some Pelhamites.  The entire area had been filled.  Skaters had lost yet another winter sport paradise.  Lovely houses now sit on the land.  

Detail from Plate 23 of the John F. Fairchild Atlas of

the City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham

Published in 1899 Showing the Two Ponds on the

Iden Estate.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Detail from Plate 31 of the John F. Fairchild Atlas of

the City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham

Published in 1908 Showing the Last Remaining Ponds

on the Iden Estate.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

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Immediately below are a number of articles and excerpts from articles that mention members of the Iden family or the ponds that once stood on the Iden estate.  Each is followed by a citation to its source.  Many include links to their sources as well.

“Another low spot was near Wolf's Lane, down the slope on which the Iden house nows stands, on which was a body of water known as 'Iden's Pond' where the children used to skate. It has now been filled in and houses built there.” 

Source: Gillett, Charles R., Recollections Of Old Pelham Manor, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 29, 1941, p. 4, col. 3. 

“Outside the region which at the time was considered Pelham Manor proper (that is the territory between the Boston Post Road and the Old Post Road, which is now called Colonial avenue), there were three other houses. One was the dwelling of Mr. Henry Iden, still standing on Iden avenue, overlooking 'Iden Pond,' mentioned elsewhere.” 

Source: Gillett, Charles R., Recollections Of Old Pelham Manor, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 1, 1941, p. 4, col. 1. 

“The [Pelham Country] club started in the spring of 1908 with a membership of exactly fifty, the number which was originally decided upon by the founders as necessary in order to insure the institution’s success. The present enrollment includes 127 residents, 53 non-resident and 3 Army and Navy members, certainly an increase to proportion of which would be just cause for gratification to any club. 

The first home of the club was the original Iden house, the building and grounds being offered to the club by the late Mr. Henry Iden on most liberal terms, and it would have been difficult for the club to have made such a successful start had it not been for the personal interest taken in the club’s welfare by Mr. Iden. Within three years’ time the old club house and grounds which embraced four tennis courts and a makeshift ball field were outgrown with the result that a more commodious plant was found necessary whereby plans for the present quarters were finally decided upon.” 

Source: Phelps, George A., The Pelham Country Club, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 20, 1913, p. 8, cols. 1-2. 

PELHAM 30 YEARS AGO (Pelham Press January 23, 1897), The Pelham Sun, Jan. 28, 1927, p. 13, cols. 1-2 (“Henry Iden has men engaged in cutting the ice on his pond on Wolf’s lane. The work began last Wednesday and it is expected that the ice house will be filled with this crop.”). 

U.S. Patent:  Acetylene - Gas Lamp, Publication No. US1149522 A; Inventors Henry Iden, Julius John Suckert, and Henry Amrhein, Filing Date:  Jan. 29, 1910).  

"Henry Iden, president of the Acetylene Lamp Co., of New York City, died on Saturday, May 4, at his home, Pelham Manor, White Plains, N.Y."  

Source:  ACETYLENE RAYS, Vol. XIV, No. 1, p. 31, col. 2 (Chicago, IL:  Jul. 1912).  

“REMEMBERS HIS MEN. 
----- 
Millionaire Henry Iden Makes Bequests to 47 Employes [sic]. 

New York, Oct. 28. – Reisenberger of Henry Iden, of Pelham-on-the-Sound, who for a quarter of a century was the head of a big gas fixture manufacturing company in Manhattan, the Isabella Heimath, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the German hospital and St. Mark’s hospital each receive bequests aggregating from $200 to $300.

Fourteen of his employes [sic] are left $250 each, seven receive $200 each, five $150 each, five $100 each and sixteen $50 each, making a total bequest of $6,950 to employes [sic].

The bulk of his estate is inherited by his sons, Charles and Henry Iden. 

The estate is said to be worth a million.” 

Source: REMEMBERS HIS MEN – Millionaire Henry Iden Makes Bequests to 47 Employes, Geneva Daily News [Geneva, NY], Oct. 28, 1903, p. 1, col. 3. 

"Even within the twenty five years during which Mr. and Mrs. [William] Montgomery have lived in Pelham, the changes have been unbelievably great.  Mr. Montgomery tells of Iden Lake, where, until recent years, the young people of the town skated in winter.  This lake, which has been filled in, lay within the Iden property which extended from Colonial avenue to the Esplanade and from Wolf's Lane to Reed avenue."

Source:  Photos of Past Give Heritage Of Pride to Pelham -- W. R. Montgomery's Rare Historical Collection of Deeds, Maps and Indian Relics Makes Old Pelham Live, The Pelham Sun, Oct. 15, 1926, p. 18, cols. 1-7 (see col. 7).

 “The carriage house of Henry Iden on Wolf’s lane were completely destroyed by fire this afternoon. Someone setting fire to the dry grass in the adjoining field caused the trouble. Hose 2 of Pelham Manor closely followed by the hose and truck companies of the first district responded but were unable to cope with the flames. A call was sent to Mount Vernon and Washington Engine and the Steamer companies arrived just as the large barns caught fire. With four streams the fire was soon under control.” 

Source: PELHAM 30 YEARS AGO (Pelham Press, April 3, 1897), The Pelham Sun, Apr. 1, 1927, p. 14, cols. 1-2. 

“JURY DISAGREES. 
----- 

After sixteen days in court and speeches by eight lawyers, a jury Wednesday announced that it was unable to agree upon a verdict after deliberating four hours. The members announced they were hopelessly divided. Judge Mills discharged them. 

The case was that of Albert J. Pope, as receiver of the Pope-Iden Manufacturing Company, a lamp manufacturing concern of Massachusetts, against Henry Iden to recover $80,000 for royalties. The array of legal talent and the character of the evidence was confusing to some of the jurors, and when they retired to-day to deliberate there seemed little chance of a verdict. 

The claim was set up by Mr. Pope as receiver, that Mr. Iden had been paid royalties, on a lamp which he should not have received. This was estimated at $80,000, and it was for the recovery of this amount from Mr. Iden that the suit was brought.” 

Source: JURY DISAGREES, The Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Dec. 25, 1909, p. 2, col. 2.

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