Pelham Once Had a "Fountain of Youth" That Was Believed to Cure Illnesses Including Polio

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During the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, Pelham had a fabled "Fountain of Youth" believed to have miraculous powers to cure all ailments.  News accounts noted that "thousands" journeyed "by auto and on foot to drink the waters."  Pelhamites collected bottles of the magical water to maintain youthfulness and to cure all ailments and diseases.  

Where was this magical fountain of youth?  

The elixir of youth bubbled from a spring beneath the fabled Split Rock that stood adjacent to Split Rock Road.  For many years, the crystal clear and cool water seemingly bubbled from sands at the bottom of the giant cleft that gave Split Rock is name -- and fame -- as Pelham's best-known landmark.

According to one account:

"If Willie cut his finger, it would soon heal it washed with water from Split Rock spring; if Mary got a bad cold, or some member of the family was stricken with some disease, Split Rock spring water was used in the sickroom.  In the infantile paralysis epidemic it was believed that the water would cure the illness.  Much of the water was used at that time."

So many people traveled to Split Rock to drink its fabled waters and collect some to take home that during the teens, well after the area had become part of Pelham Bay Park annexed by New York City, the City Parks Department "placed a pipe through one of the rocks" so that the water would flow "in such a way that it is easy to fill a glass or bottle."

The cool spring waters nourished and refreshed the entire area surrounding Split Rock.  One "product of the spring" during summer months was a luxuriant carpet of water cress.  Pelham Manor residents often enjoyed walks in the cool of the evening to Split Rock where they collected water cress and drank what they believed were healthful waters of Pelham's Fountain of Youth.

The waters, however, turned out to be not so healthful.  With so many Pelham Manor residents drinking from the fabled fountain, in 1922 the Pelham Manor Board of Trustees asked the Village Health Officer, Dr. Augustine C. McGuire, to look into whether the waters of the Fountain of Youth were safe to drink.

McGuire collected water and submitted it for laboratory analysis.  When the results came back, he was shocked.  The water was profoundly contaminated with bacteria and was absolutely unfit for human consumption.  He promptly issued the following announcement:

"'The residents of Pelham Manor should be warned against drinking any of the water from the Split Rock Spring.  It is contaminated.  Many Manor residents are in the habit of drinking the water, because it is noted to be the coolest in the district, it also is supposed to have medicinal properties, but at present the water is not in fit condition for drinking.  Boy scouts have in the past, on hikes, gone to the spring for water.  I have notified Commissioner of Health Royal S. Copeland, of New York City.  Within which territory the spring is, of the condition and facts.  It is hoped that action will be taken to purify the water of the spring."

Dr. McGuire notified the New York City Health Officer, Dr. Royal B. Copeland, of the findings.  Dr. Copeland promptly "promised to see that the spring is closed to the public."

Clearly, however, the spring was not closed permanently.  Indeed, for years thereafter Pelham Manor residents were still able to drink and collect waters from their beloved Fountain of Youth at Split Rock.  One report, for example, indicates that five years later in late August, 1927, "Pelham Manor residents who favor a drink of the cool water which flows from the spring near the Split Rock in Pelham Bay were disappointed Saturday to find that the spring had been blocked off.  The New York City Park department men cleaned the spring trough on Wednesday and the clear water is again flowing."

Detail from Undated Post Card Showing Split Rock in

About 1915.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"'Fountain of Youth' Will Be Analyzed
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Split Rock Spring, Guaranteed By Many to Cure All Known and Unknown Diseases
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Pelham Manor's 'fountain of youth' is to be analyzed.  The Split Rock spring, for many years the standby of the older settlers in case of illness or ailment, is to be tested by Health Officer McGuire.  Some of the older residents of the Manor guarantee the spring to cure all diseases or ailments.  If Willie cut his finger, it would soon heal it washed with water from Split Rock spring; if Mary got a bad cold, or some member of the family was stricken with some disease, Split Rock spring water was used in the sickroom.  In the infantile paralysis epidemic it was believed that the water would cure the illness.  Much of the water was used at that time.

Even to this day the spring is a favorite with many.  It is located at the Split Rock, on Split Rock Road, about a quarter mile south of the Pelham Summer Home.  The water used to seep through the sand in the split in the rocks, but a few years ago the Department of Parks of the City of New York placed a pipe through one of the rocks, and now the water flows in such a way that it is easy to fill a glass or bottle.  Even now, daily, a steady stream of motorists fill large bottles with the water.  Water cress is another product of the spring.  In summer the spring is covered with the greens and many Manor residents enjoy a walk in the cool of the evening for water and water cress."

Source:  "Fountain of Youth" Will Be Analyzed -- Split Rock Spring, Guaranteed By Many to Cure All Known and Unknown Diseases, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 28, 1922, p. 7, col. 2.  

"Water At Split Rock Spring Unfit To Drink
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Health Officer Finds That 'Fountain of Youth' In Pelham Manor Is Contaminated

The 'Fountain of Youth' is not.  Moreover, the water is contaminated and unfit for drinking purposes.  This is the decree of Health Officer McGuire of Pelham Manor, in regards to Split Rock Spring, long famed as a remedy for all ailments and diseases.  The village board ordered the water tested and the reply was unfavorable.

Dr. McGuire said, 'The residents of Pelham Manor should be warned against drinking any of the water from the Split Rock Spring.  It is contaminated.  Many Manor residents are in the habit of drinking the water, because it is noted to be the coolest in the district, it also is supposed to have medicinal properties, but at present the water is not in fit condition for drinking.  Boy scouts have in the past, on hikes, gone to the spring for water.  I have notified Commissioner of Health Royal S. Copeland, of New York City.  Within which territory the spring is, of the condition and facts.  It is hoped that action will be taken to purify the water of the spring."

Source:  Water At Split Rock Spring Unfit To Drink -- Health Officer Finds That 'Fountain of Youth' In Pelham Manor Is Contaminated, The Pelham Sun, May 5, 1922, p. 5, col. 4.  

"Water Condemned.

The thousands who have journeyed by auto and on foot to drink the waters from the spring on Split Rock road, known as the Split Rock spring, and take a bottle or more away to drink, will be disappointed to hear that the waters are condemned as polluted.  Dr. McGuire, the health officer, was asked by the village board to have the waters analyzed to ascertain the truth of the claim that the water had certain medicinal properties.  Dr. McGuire did so and reports the water polluted.  He has gone still further and notified the health department of the Bronx and asked that action be taken to prevent its use for drinking purposes.  It was near this spring that Anne Hutchinson was murdered by the Indians."

Source:  Water Condemned, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], May 9, 1922, p. 10, col. 3.  

"Medical Officer of Health McGuire has received a reply from Dr. Royal B. Copeland health officer of New York City, to the notification sent last week regarding the Split Rock Spring, which on investigation by Dr. McGuire, was found to contain poisonous bacilli.

The spring is located in New York territory, but many Pelham Manor residents have been drinking water from the spring in the belief that it had peculiar medicinal properties.

Dr. Copeland will take steps to prevent any further use of the Split Rock Spring."

Source:  [Untitled - Headline Cut Off], The Pelham Sun, May 12, 1922, Vol. 13, No. 11, p. 10, col. 2.  

"Will Close Spring.

Dr. Royal B. Copeland of the New York Department of Health has acknowledged receipt of the complaint sent by health officer Augustine C. McGuire of this village to the effect that the waters of the Split Rock spring are contaminated and has promised to see that the spring is closed to the public."

Source:  Will Close Spring, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], May 15, 1922, p. 8, col. 4.  

"Split Rock Spring Blocked Off For Cleaning
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Pelham Manor residents who favor a drink of the cool water which flows from the spring near the Split Rock in Pelham Bay were disappointed Saturday to find that the spring had been blocked off.  The New York City Park department men cleaned the spring trough on Wednesday and the clear water is again flowing."

Source:  Split Rock Spring Blocked Off For Cleaning, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 2, 1927, p. 14, col. 2.  

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Bitten by a Dog Showing Rabies Symptoms, Pelham Woman Traveled to Europe to See Pasteur

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After developing the process of pasteurization whereby liquids such as raw milk are boiled to kill microorganisms that might spoil the liquid or cause illness in those who consume it, French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur turned his attention to a more thorough study of bacteria and other microorganisms.  During the 1880s, Pasteur's work as the director of scientific studies at the Ecole Normale in Paris focused on so-called germ theory and efforts to develop vaccines against some of the most prevalent diseases of the day.  Pasteur worked on a rabies vaccine, initially, by infecting rabbits with the rabies virus then, after death, drying their affected nerve tissue to weaken the virus so it could be applied as a safe vaccine.

On July 6, 1885, nine-year-old Joseph Meister was brought to Pasteur.  The young lad had been attacked by a rabid dog.  Pasteur administered his experimental vaccine to the boy who survived the ordeal and was spared a painful death from rabies.  

The world was stunned.  Pasteur became a national hero and an internationally-acclaimed scientist.  Publications throughout the world breathlessly acclaimed his success with treating the rabies virus.  People throughout the world read about his successful vaccination against the disease -- people including many who lived in the Town of Pelham, an ocean away from Paris, France.  

Among those who heard about the rabies vaccine was Mrs. John S. Ellis of the tiny settlement of Bartow-on-the-Sound in the Town of Pelham.  She was a sister of John M. Waterbury who also resided at Bartow.

Mrs. Ellis and her family had a beautiful collie as a family pet.  In the first week of January, 1887, the family collie had a fight with another local dog.  As Mrs. Ellis tried to break up the fight, her collie bit her on the hand and arm.  

She was shocked that the gentle family pet had turned on her, but attributed it to the fear and confusion of a dogfight.  As her wounds healed, however, the family pet became sick.  Soon the collie was acting mad and, shortly, it died.  Family and friends were terrified.  The dog exhibited signs of hydrophobia -- rabies!

Mrs. Ellis and her family became "greatly alarmed."  So did the local Board of Health.  A number of local dogs were killed and the Board ordered that all dogs that may have been bitten by the collie before it died were to be chained until further notice.

On Tuesday, January 4, 1887, only days after she suffered the dog bite, Mrs. Ellis and her husband boarded the Arizona and set sail for Liverpool from which they planned to travel to Paris to place Mrs. Ellis under the care of the famed Louis Pasteur who had previously saved the life of little nine-year-old Joseph Meister with his rabies vaccine.  

We may never know whether the collie did not have rabies or the rabies vaccine was administered by Louis Pasteur and saved the life of Mrs. Ellis.  We do know, however, that the following autumn, a healthy and robust Mrs. Ellis was hosting parties for members of The Country Club at Pelham. . . . . 

Louis Pasteur in His Laboratory.  A Painting by A. Edelfeldt.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"THE COUNTY. . . .

A little over a week ago, Mrs. John S. Ellis, a sister of John M. Waterbury, who resides at Bartow, was bitten on the hand by her pet dog, while she was trying to stop him fighting with another dog.  The wound healed up and nothing more was thought of it until a couple of days afterward, when it was discovered the dog was mad.  This greatly alarmed the lady, and on Tuesday she sailed for Paris, to be treated by Pasteur.  A number of dogs have been killed, and the Board of Health has ordered that all dogs that may have been bitten by the Ellis dog, be chained."

Source:  THE COUNTY, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jan. 7, 1887, Vol. XVIII, No. 948, p. 2, col. 4.  

"CHATTER. . . .

-- Mrs. John S. Ellis of Bartow-on Sound has gone sailing over the sea to M. Pasteur.  A pet dog, a large and hitherto gentle collie, bit her somewhat severely in the arm.  Although Mrs. Ellis felt no apprehension regarding the injury, she has yielded to the persuasions of her family, and last Tuesday with her husband and son sailed for Paris.  Mrs. Ellis is the sister of Mrs. Pierrepont Edwards, wife of the British Consul, and of Mrs. C. C. Johnstou.  Her brother is James M. Waterbury, adjoining whose magnificent country seat, 'Plaisance,' is the handsome home of the Ellises where they live the year round.  Apropos of Mr. Waterbury's superb place, Baron Selliere (he with the noble showing of $5,000,000) says it is incomparably the prettiest and most complete country seat he has ever seen, excepting, of course, the show places of England."

Source:  CHATTER, The Daily Graphic [NY, NY], Jan. 8, 1887, p. 519, cols. 1-2.  

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOCIETY. . . .

The accident which has befallen Mrs. John S. Ellis at her home at Bartow on the Sound has cast a gloom over society in West Chester and caused grave anxiety in the Waterbury family.  The beautiful collie dog, which has been the special pet and companion of its mistress for several years, attacked her most unexpectedly a few days since and inflicted a severe wound on her arm with his teeth.  The animal soon afterward sickened and died, and Mrs. Ellis became so nervous and apprehensive that her medical adviser recommended her to go at once to Paris and put herself under Pasteur's care.  Mr. and Mrs. Ellis therefore sailed in the Arizona.  It is extremely unlikely that any serious consequences will follow, but if the patient can be persuaded in her own mind that M. Pasteur's treatment is infallible, more than half the battle will be won."

Source:  WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOCIETY, The Sun [NY, NY], Jan. 9, 1887, p. 8, col. 7 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"To be Treated by Pasteur.
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NEW YORK, Jan. 5. -- Mrs. John S. Ellis of Bartow-on-the-Sound, a well known society lady, sailed yesterday on the Arizona for Liverpoll and will go thence to Paris to be treated by Pasteur.  She was recently bitten by a pet dog which showed signs of hydrophobia, and while she does not apprehend danger her friends think it best to take all possible precautions."

Source:  To be Treated by Pasteur, The Daily News [Batavia, NY], Jan. 15, 1887, Vol. IX, No. 2,624, p. 1, col. 2.  See also Going to be Treated by Pasteur, Rome Daily Sentinel [Rome, NY], Vol. XV, No. 4,348, p. 3, col. 3 (same text).  

"SOCIETY SMALL TALK. . . .

Mrs. John S. Ellis, 'The Elms,' Bartow on the Sound, will give a dance at her country place tonight.  The guests will include the prominent members of the Country Club.  Pinard will serve the supper."

Source:  SOCIETY SMALL TALK, The Evening Telegram [NY, NY] Oct. 6, 1887, p. 2, col. 4.  

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The Tragic Case of Cassie Haggerty, a Pelham Manor "Servant" Who Died in 1897

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By all accounts, Cassie Haggerty was a beautiful 22-year-old "servant girl."  Cassie, however, was not well.  In early 1897, she had some type of "lung ailment" as one report put it.

Cassie had a friend named Mary Sweeney.  The two women, who lived in New York City, learned of a couple who lived in Pelham looking to hire two servants.  The couple, Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Whiting, lived in Pelham Manor.  

On Thursday, January 7, 1897, the two women applied for the positions and were hired.  The following morning they began working in the Whiting home.  Cassie was a "waiting maid."  Mary was a cook.  It appears that the two women were hired for a one-month trial period.

There are numerous differing accounts of what happened during the following six days.  It seems clear, however, that things did not go well the first few days. 

Things came to a head early on the morning of Tuesday, January 12.  Mrs. Whiting awoke expecting her breakfast, but there was none.  She bundled up and tramped downstairs to the kitchen where she found Cassie Haggerty and Mary Sweeney quarreling with no breakfast made.  To make matters worse, Mrs. Whiting thought Cassie Haggerty seemed intoxicated.  

Though accounts differ, it appears that Mrs. Whiting was furious with Cassie and called her to account for the supposed intoxication.  Cassie responded saying she was done and would return to New York City immediately.  Mrs. Whiting told her "the sooner she left the house the better she [Mrs. Whiting] would be pleased."

Cassie packed her things and reportedly trudged into the cold headed for the Pelham Manor Train Station to return to New York City.  She appears to have gotten no farther, however, than the clubhouse of the Manor Club.  

That night, Constable James Burnett was at the Manor Club.  Burnett held a host of positions.  In addition to being a Constable, he also was a janitor at the Manor Club.  The evening of Tuesday, January 12, he went to the woodshed behind the Manor Club to get wood for the clubhouse.  

The shed was dark.  As Burnett stepped inside, he heard a moan.  He discovered Cassie Haggerty lying in the cold darkness of the woodshed.  According to one of many, many accounts:  "She shivered with the cold, her eyes stared wildly up at him, her hands were hot and the skin rustled like parchment."  Cassie then spoke:  "I'm a servant," she said with a laugh.  "A servant dying of cold and exposure.  They said I was drunk.  Who knows?  They may be right."

Burnett also thought she was drunk.  Nevertheless, he coaxed from her not only her name, but also the name of Mrs. Whiting who had employed her.  All accounts agree that Burnett took the poor girl back to the Whiting house.

Some accounts say that Mrs. Whiting was home.  Others say that she was out of the home and returned later to find Cassie Haggerty in bed being cared for by servants.  In any event, accounts agree that Mrs. Whiting told the Constable that she would not house and care for an intoxicated girl and that he should lock her up for intoxication.

Pelham Manor did not have a working jail at the time.  Instead, it used an empty engine room of the firehouse as a village jail.  Burnett took Cassie Haggerty to the firehouse that stood along today's Black Street.  He started a fire in a stove that stood in the room and locked her inside.

First thing the next morning, Burnett hustled off to the firehouse to check on Cassie Haggerty.  When he opened the engine room, she lay motionless on the floor.  According to one news account:  "He found a corpse.  She had died alone."  She died overnight sometime late on Tuesday, January 12 or sometime early on Wednesday, January 13, 1897.

The story of poor Cassie Haggerty wasn't over, however.  Local Doctors, Flemming and Carlisle, performed an autopsy and Coroner Banning of Mount Vernon conducted an inquest.  The autopsy revealed that the "real cause of death was pneumonia" and that "not the slightest trace of alcohol was found in the girl's stomach."  Instead, it was hypothesized, "the girl had taken an overdose of quinine for a cold that eventually turned into pneumonia, and caused her death."

Newspapers throughout the United States wrote of the callousness of turning the poor, sick servant girl out into the bitter cold of a January night.  Within a short time, Mr. Whiting built a grand new home in Larchmont.  He and his wife moved there, leaving forever the little Village of Pelham Manor.

  

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"A WOMAN FOUND DEAD.
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AFTER A NIGHT IN A LOCK-UP.
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A Servant Suffering With An Over-Dose of Quinine, Supposed to be Drunk, Was Set adrift to Die Alone and Neglected.
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In Pelham Manor's shanty of an engine house, now used as an apology for a lock-up, was found the dead body of Cassie Haggerty, twenty-two years old, on Wednesday morning, the 13th inst.  She had been arrested for supposed intoxication, on the evening previous, on complaint of her employer, Mrs. H. S. Whiting, of the same place.

It appears that Mrs. Whiting had hired two servants in New York city not many days before.  On Tuesday morning, Mrs. Whiting found no breakfast ready, inquired into the cause of it, and found the servants quarreling in the kitchen.  Mrs. Whiting, upon seeing the girl, supposed that she was intoxicated, and called her to account for it, whereupon the girl said she would return to New York, which she later attempted to do.  It is said that she proceeded on her way to the railroad station, and got as far as the Pelham Manor club house where she rested.  She was found there by Constable Jas. Burnett, in a helpless condition, and later conveyed her back to Mrs. Whiting's home.  The cook, Mary McSweeney, took the girl in and cared for her by putting her into a bed.  Mrs. Whiting had gone to New York in the meantime and did not return until the evening, and then insisted that the girl was intoxicated.  It is alleged that Dr. Washburn was summoned, and agreed with Mrs. Whiting.  It was then that Constable Burnett was sent for and he arrested the girl for intoxication and locked her up for the night in the discarded engine house and airy place at best.  The next morning the policeman found the dead body of the girl stretched upon the floor.

Coroner Banning, of Mount Vernon was notified and he is holding the inquest.  Drs. Flemming and Carlisle held an autopsy, which revealed that the real cause of death was pneumonia, not the slightest trace of alcohol was found in the girl's stomach.

It is now supposed that the girl had taken an overdose of quinine for a cold that eventually turned into pneumonia, and caused her death.  She should have informed her employer as what she had done, and it is more than likely the sad termination of her life would not have occurred."

Source:  A WOMAN FOUND DEAD -- AFTER A NIGHT IN A LOCK-UP -- A Servant Suffering With An Over-Dose of Quinine, Supposed to be Drunk, Was Set adrift to Die Alone and Neglected, The New Rochelle Press, Jan. 16, 1897, Vol. XXII, No. 33, p. 1, col. 3.  

"TURNED ADRIFT TO DIE.
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CASSIE HAGGERTY, ILL WITH PNEUMONIA, REFUSED A SHELTER.
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Alone in a Fire-Engine House, She Passed Away in the Bitter Cold Night.
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Her Former Mistress Would Not Take Her In When the Policeman Said She Was Sick.
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DOCTOR SAID SHE WAS DRINKING.
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The New York World tells the following true story.

While delirious with pneumonia, Cassie Haggerty, a pretty servant girl, twenty-two years old, was turned out of the house in which she had sought shelter Tuesday night, handed over to Constable Burnett, of Pelham Manor, and died of her malady in the lock-up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday.

Cassie and Mary Sweeney were engaged as servants by Mrs. H. S. Whiting of Pelham Manor, Thursday, and entered upon their duties Friday morning.  Mary Sweeney was engaged as cook and Cassie as waiting maid.  They did not like the place, and decided to leave.  

Cassie's trunk arrived from New York Tuesday and she determined to remain until her month was up.  But later in the morning she felt so ill that she told Mrs. Whiting she would leave then.  Mrs. Whiting told her that the sooner she left the house the better she would be pleased.  In fact the girl acted so queerly that Mrs. Whiting thought she had been drinking.  Cassie went down to the kitchen to inform the cook of her intention, and behaved so peculiarly while there that the cook said:

'Cassie, you act so funny that if you were in any other place than this little village I would think you were under the influence of liquor.'

The girl laughed and answered:

'Maybe I have been drinking -- who knows?  What do these people care for [a] poor creature like me?  I have taken too much quinine.  You see, I dare not let this mistress of ours know that I was ill with lung trouble when I came here, or she would have discharged me at once.  I cannot go on any longer.'

She kissed her fellow-servants and walked down the gravel path as if to go to the railway station.  Hours passed by; morning changed to afternoon, afternoon to evening.  In Pelham Manor they have one constable, James Burnett.  When he is not arresting tramps he fills his time in attending to the Manor Club house.

Groping around in the woodshed outside the kitchen of the Manor House on Tuesday night, he was stopped by the sound of a moan. 

He bent forward, peering into the darkness, and presently came upon a woman lying huddled in a corner of the shed.  She shivered with the cold, her eyes stared wildly up at him, her hands were hot and the skin rustled like parchment.

'I'm a servant,' she said, with a laugh.  'A servant dying of cold and exposure.  They said I was drunk.  Who knows?  They may be right.'

Burnett learned her name and the name of the woman who had employed her.  Dr. Washburn, of Pelham Manor, an intimate friend of the Whiting family, came into the club-house at this juncture.

'Looks like alcoholism,' he said.  

At last, as the easiest way out of the difficulty, Burnett led the girl back to Mrs. Whiting's house.

'They'll turn me out?' she said.  'Don't take me.  I can't face them again.'

Mrs. Whiting had not returned from a shopping expedition in New York when Burnett and the girl reached the house.  Mary McSweeney, the cook, laid the girl in her own bed.

Mrs. Whiting returned soon and told Burnett to lock her up.  

And so the unhappy creature, too weak to protest, was led out into the bitter wind.  Burnett took her to the fire-engine house, which also serves as a police station.  He lit a fire in the stove and with an encouraging word left her.  

With the first light of day Burnett hurried over to the lock-up and bent over the prostrate figure.  He found a corpse.  She had died alone."

Source:  TURNED ADRIFT TO DIE -- CASSIE HAGGERTY, ILL WITH PNEUMONIA, REFUSED A SHELTER -- Alone in a Fire-Engine House, She Passed Away in the Bitter Cold Night -- Her Former Mistress Would Not Take Her In When the Policeman Said She Was Sick -- DOCTOR SAID SHE WAS DRINKING, The Hartford Herald [Hartford, KY], Jan. 27, 1897, Vol. XXIII, No. 4, p. 1, col. 4.  

"She Was Turned Away to Die.

Cassie Haggerty, 22 years old, a domestic employed by Mrs. H. S. Whiting of Pelham Manor, was found dead on Wednesday in the Pelham Manor fire house which also serves as the village lock-up.  The girl left her home Tuesday morning and appeared to be under the influence of liquor.  She later returned to the house where she was examined by Dr. Washburn, who said she was intoxicated.  The girl was locked up in the station house that night and the next morning was found dead.  Drs. Fleming and Carlisle of this city held an autopsy and pronounced the cause of death as congestion of the lungs, a primary stage of pneumonia.  Coroner Banning was notified and had the body removed to Van Arsdale's morgue and will hold an inquest to-night in the City Court room."

Source:  She Was Turned Away to Die, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jan. 15, 1897, No. 1776, p. 1, col. 6.

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A Tragic Death in the Pelham Manor Fire House in 1897

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The Manor Club, it seems, had an odd history of stricken women found on its steps in its early years. I previously have written of one such incident. See Wednesday, December 28, 2005: The Mystery of the "Manor Club Girl" That Set Pelham Tongues Wagging in 1913.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes an article that appeared in the January 14, 1897 issue of the New-York Tribune about a young woman found at the Manor Club seemingly drunk. It turned out that she was not. She was deathly ill. The text of the article appears beneath the photograph below that shows the original Manor Club club house as it appeared at the time.

"MOUNT VERNON.

Cassie Haggerty, twenty-two years old, a servant employed by Mrs. H. S. Whiting, in Pelham Manor, was found dead yesterday morning in the Pelham Manor Fire House, which is also used as a police station. The girl had a disagreement with her employer on Tuesday, and had started to leave for her home in New-York. Before leaving the house she had complained to Mary McSweeney, a companion that she did not feel well. On her way to the station she stopped at the house of the Manor Club to rest. She then seemed to be suffering from the effects of drink. Constable James Burnett took her back to the house. The cook took the girl in and gave her a bed. Mary McSweeney alleges that Mrs. Whiting returned from New-York City in the evening and she said the girl had been drinking, and that there was no sickness about it. Dr. Washburn was summoned and agreed with Mrs. Whiting. The constable was again sent for, and locked the girl in the police station where she died. Drs. Flemming and Carlisle held an autopsy, which revealed that the real cause of death was congestion of both lungs, the primary stage of pneumonia. Not the slightest trace of alcohol was found in the girl's stomach."

Source: Mount Vernon, New-York Tribune, Jan. 14, 1897, p. 12, col. 1.

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