Tragic Accident Marred Pell Treaty Oak Ceremony at Bartow-Pell in 1915

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On Saturday, May 1, 1915, New York Governor Charles Seymour Whitman was on hand for a special ceremony at the Bartow Mansion on Shore Road.  There was a ceremony that day to celebrate the transfer, by lease, of the mansion and its lovely grounds to the International Garden Club and to plant an oak tree to replace the Pell Treaty Oak that had died in 1906 after lightning struck the tree blowing off its top, followed by a fire set by youngsters that damaged the trunk, and a windstorm that finally toppled what was left of the legendary tree.

Photograph of the Pell Treaty Oak from The Office of The Historian of

the Town of Pelham and Painting of the Pell Treaty Oak by John M. Shinn,

Both Showing the Tree As It Looked Shortly Before its Destruction

in 1906.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

A Pelham legend, since determined to be apocryphal, said that local Native Americans signed a deed granting Thomas Pell the lands that became the Manor of Pelham under the branches of this mighty oak on June 27, 1654.  By the earliest years of the 20th century, little remained of the mighty oak as it neared its end and, finally, its destruction in 1906.

Thus, on May 1, 1915, Governor Whitman arrived at the mansion to plant a replacement oak.  The crowd that day was large -- much larger than anticipated.  Indeed, the planners of the event had expected up to 1,000 visitors.  Instead, more than 5,000 visitors showed up, along with more than eight hundred automobiles.  

As the Governor arrived, members of the New York State National Guard were on the scene to fire a nineteen-gun artillery salute to the Governor.  When the first round was fired, a troop horse harnessed to a caisson was spooked and reared straight up with his front hoofs flying.  As the horse came down, his hoofs struck a young private in Battery D named Charles Vail on the head.  Once Vail collapsed to the ground, the frightened horse trampled him, crushing his skull.  

Reports differed over Vail's injuries.  He was rushed to Fordham Hospital.  At least two newspapers reported that his injuries likely were fatal.  Another speculated he would recover.  Reports also differed over whether Governor Whitman was aware of the accident.  In any event, the ceremony continued after Vail was removed to the hospital.

With spectators and International Garden Club officers and members gathered around him, Governor Whitman used a silver trowel with blue, orange and white ribbons signifying the colors of New York City to toss dirt ceremonially on the newly-planted oak tree.  The tree was planted only a few feet from where the original Pell Treaty Oak had stood.

As noted in the book entitled "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak" published in 2004, the location of the oak planted by Governor Whitman is now lost to us.  Eventually the iron fence used to protect the original Pell Treaty Oak was placed around the tree planted by Governor Whitman that day.  During World War II, however, the historic and protective fence was taken down to prevent its theft by those hoping to sell scrap iron to salvagers.  After the war, the fence was put back up around the wrong tree.  The fence and the tree it protects may still be found on the grounds of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion.

Bartow-Pell Mansion in an Undated Post Card View.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Following the tree planting that day, a tea was held in the Bartow Mansion.  During the evening, the President of the International Garden Club, Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, and her husband hosted a dinner for the Governor at their home located at 620 Fifth Avenue in New York City.  

No account yet has been located that reveals the fate of poor Private Charles Vail who was so terribly injured in the ceremonies held at the Bartow Mansion that day more than a century. ago.

New York Governor Charles Seymour Whitman in 1915 as He

Looked at the Time of the Ceremonies at Bartow Mansion on

May 1, 1915.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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I have written before of the tragedy that occurred at the Bartow Mansion on May 1, 1915.  See Tue., Jun. 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.  Below is the text of a number of articles that addressed the events of that day.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"GOVERNOR PLANTS A NEW TREATY OAK
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Bartow Mansion in Pelham Bay Park Turned Over to the International Garden Club
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MANY NOTABLES TAKE PART
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Private Charles Vail of Battery D Is Crushed by Horse Frightened by a Salute.
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When the first gun of a nineteen-gun salute for Gov. Whitman was fired at the International Garden Club at the Bartow Mansion, Pelham Bay Park, yesterday afternoon, a troop horse reared and fell back, crushing Charles Vail, a private in Battery Day. The guardsman, with a fractured skull and probably mortal injuries, was rushed to the Fordham Hospital. Vail was standing at the head of a horse attached to a caisson wagon. As the first fun boomed out, the animal reared straight up, and, descending, struck him on the head with its hoofs and trampled on his body as he lay helpless on the ground.

Gov. Whitman came down from Albany to be present at the opening and to take part in the replacing of the Treaty Oak in the grounds of the clubhouse, and the officers of the International Garden Club sent out many invitations to view the ceremony, meet the Governor, and have tea in the historic Bartow mansion. The city turned over the house to the club with seventeen acres of wooded ground surrounding it, without rental. In return the club has put the house, which was sadly in need of it, in good repair, furnished it, and laid out the grounds, which are to be transformed by gardens. Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman is President of the club, Dr. George Norton Miller, Vice President; Mrs. H. de Berkeley Parsons, Secretary, and William A. Jay is the Treasurer.

Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, Honorary President of the club, made the speech of the day, and greeted the Governor, who arrived at 4 o'clock, accompanied by two aids [sic] ablaze with gold. After the ceremonies attending the planting of the oak, the Governor visited the clubhouse and had tea. He left a little before 5 o'clock.  

In the evening the Governor attended a dinner, given for him and Mrs. Whitman by Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Hoffman, at their residence, 620 Fifth Avenue. The rest of the day, however, he spent on the thirty-day bills, and received no callers except Bainbridge Colby, an old college friend. On May 26 the Governor will start for California, and his Military Secretary, Major J. Stanley Moore, is now working out his iternerary [sic].  

A walk marked by many little red flags showed the way from the clubhouse to the roped-in inclosure, in which the speeches and the planting took place, and ropes marked with red flags indicated the parking space for the many motors. Tea and other refreshments were were served in the Colonial dining room and on the veranda and terrace outside.

The oak planted yesterday took the place of the famous treaty oak recently destroyed by lightning [sic], which was planted in 1643 [sic] when the Pell family obtained from the Indians the property on which Bartow Manor stands for $17 [sic].

Dr. Butler outlined the history of the tree, and said the city had now turned the ground over to the International Garden Club to be made into a breathing spot for the people. The club, whose headquarters will be in the Manor house, has already spent $25,000 in improvements.

The Governor used a silver trowel in planting the tree, and said that the new treaty between the city and the public was more important than the orginal one. The exercises also marked the turning over of the property to the club's use.

Bartow Mansion is a substantial and roomy stone house, and the front lawn is one of several acres. In the rear the ground slopes away to the Sound, and a series of descending terraces has been arranged. In the center of the middle terrace is a large fountain.  

On either side are tall old trees, and a wide veranda taken in the entire back of the house. On this and the upper terrace many pale-green tables, with lattice chairs to match, are placed. At the right of the house is a large conservatory, done entirely in white and pale, dull green. As yet few flowers are seen, but some rare orchids were on view yesterday, and outside the trracs [sic] showed some old-time gardens in pansies and primorses [sic].  

The walls throughout are done in palest dull blue and the woodwork in dull finished white. Each room is in a different color. One upstairs room is done in the most vivid colors in old-time chintz, with flowers of many kinds. Another is done in black and white stripes, with an occasional flower, and pink roses abound in another. A reception room on the first floor is done in brownish orange, with old-time black wooden plaques, and another room is in deep blue.  

Mrs. Hoffman, the President; Mrs. Parsons, the Secretary, and others received, and the official receiving committee included the President of the Board of Aldermen.

Commissioners of Parks for the Bronx and Manhattan and Richmond, the President of the Botanical Garden, the President of the New York Horticultural Society, the President of the Florists's [sic] Club of New York. On the committee also were Mrs. C. B. Alexander, Mrs. A. B. Boardman, Mrs. Amory S. Carhart, Mrs. Alfred Ely, Miss Sarah Cooper Hewitt, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver J. Jennings, Mr. and Mrs. F. K. Pendleton, Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Parsons, Mrs. Moses Taylor Pyne, Mrs. James Speyer, Mrs. Charles H. Senff, Miss Amy Townsend, Mrs. H. McK Twombly, Mrs. John Hobart Warren, Mrs. J. J. Wysong, Mrs. Newbold LeRoy Edgar, Mrs. J. Archibald Murray, Mr. and Mrs. John Callender Livingston and William Adams Delano.  

Among others who were present to receive or as guests were Mr. and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, Bishop David H. Greer, Mr. and Mrs. Seth Low, Mrs. Herbert C. PYell [sic], Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee, Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Taft, Mrs. Whitney Warren, Mr. and Mrs. James B. Clews, Mr. and Mrs. F. Ashton de Peyster, Mrs. Lewis Cruger Hassell, Mrs. George B. de Forest, Mrs. Burke Roche, Mrs. Lauterbach, Mrs. Nicholas Murray Butler, the Misses Catherine and Margaret Leverich, Mrs. Gouverneur Kortwright, Mrs. E. Reeve Merritt, Lady Herbert, Mrs. E. H. Harriman, Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert C. Pell, Mrs. Oakleigh Thorne, George I. Rives, John D. Crimmins, Frederick C. Bourne, Miss Eleanor Hewitt, Mrs. James O. Green, A. M. Bagby, and Mrs. Henry S. Redmond."

Source:  Governor Plants A New Treaty Oak, N.Y. Times, May 2, 1915, p. 14, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link; free version available here).

"Governor Whitman Plants Treaty Oak for Garden Club
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Hundreds of Persons of Prominence Attend Ceremonies When Historic Tree, Destroyed by Lightning, Is Replaced in Pelham Manor Lawn.
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The celebration which included the planting of a new 'Treaty Oak' by Governor Whitman and reception in the Bartow Mansion yesterday afternoon marked the turning over to the International Garden Club b y the city of the twenty-five acres in Pelham Bay Park which surround the historic manor house.  Hundreds of persons prominent in society who are interested in the Garden Club attended the ceremonies.

For more than a year the society has been hard at work.  Its purpose in taking the grounds around the Bartow Mansion is to establish experimental gardens, such as those of the Royal Horticultural Society near London.  The other objects of the society are to hold monthly exhibits, to form a library, to give monthly lectures, to establish a department to give certificates to gardeners and to assist other horticultural societies and clubs.  

The appearance of the ground yesterday, the throng which attended the opening and the presence of the Governor told of the interest aroused by the undertaking.  The officers of the society were congratulated repeatedly.  They are Mrs. Charles F. Hoffman, president; Dr. George Norton Miller, vice president, and Judge William A. Day, treasurer.  Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler is honorary president.  

Eight Hundred Automobiles.

The arrangements for the opening exercises were in the hands of a committee which included persons of prominence.  Park Commissioner Thomas Whittle, of the Bronx, had prepared to accommodate nearly one thousand guests, and it was estimated that fully eight hundred automobiles were parked on the grounds.  Mr. Whittle has taken an active interest in the society, and recently $25,000 was expended to restore the Bartow Mansion.

Soon after the arrival of the Governor's party, which included Mrs. Whitman and Major J. Stanley Moore, the Pell 'Treaty Oak' was planted.  The new oak is to replace [the] old 'Treaty Oak,' which was destroyed by lightning in 1906.  According to legend, it was under the old tree that Thomas Ball [sic], in 1654, signed a treaty with the Siwanoy Indians for the purchase of the land which later was known as Pelham Manor.

When Governor Whitman arrived and the first gun of salute was being fired by Battery D, of the Second Field Artillery, one of the battery horses became frightened.  The animal reared, and in coming down struck Private Charles Vail.  His head was crushed by the horse's hoofs.  He was taken to Fordham Hospital, probably fatally injured.  Most of the guests were unaware of the accident, and Governor Whitman did not hear of it.

The new 'Treaty Oak' was planted only a few feet from where the former tree stood on the lawn in front of the mansion.  Governor Whitman, Mrs. Hoffman and George L. Rives led the procession of guests to where the young oak stood.  Dr. Butler introduced the Governor.

Governor Whitman threw dirt on the tree with a trowel, tied with the orange, blue and white of New York city."

Source:  Governor Whitman Plants Treaty Oak for Garden Club -- Hundreds of Persons of Prominence Attend Ceremonies When Historic Tree, Destroyed by Lightning, Is Replaced in Pelham Manor Lawn, N.Y. Herald, May 2, 1915, First Section, Part I, p. 5, cols. 2-3.  
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"WHITMAN SETS TREE IN HISTORIC SOIL
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Artilleryman Is Hurt by Horse Frightened at Firing of Salute.
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BARTON [SIC] TRACT GIFT TO THE PUBLIC
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International Garden Club to Make Breathing Spot Near Famous Treaty Oak.

While Governor Whitman was receiving a salute of nineteen guns on his arrival to open the International Garden Club, at Barton [sic] Manor, The Bronx, yesterday afternoon, a troop horse attached to a caisson wagon, frightened at the booming of the guns, reared and trampled Charles Vail, a private in Battery D, 2d Field Artillery, N. G. N. Y.  Vail had his skull fractured, and received other injuries.  He was taken to the Fordham Hospital, where it is said he will recover.

Governor Whitman, after witnessing the accident and inquiring about Vail's condition, proceeded with the exercises of turning over to the International Garden Club the seventeen acres surrounding the historic Barton [sic] Manor House, Pelham Bay Park.  Before 5,000 persons the Governor planted a small oak tree to replace the famous Treaty Oak, recently destroyed by lightning.

The Treaty Oak was planted in 1634 [sic], when the Pell family obtained the property from the Indians for $17.

Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, honorary president of the club, who presided at the exercises, said that the city had turned the ground over to the International Garden Club that it might be made a breathing spot for the people.  Improvements at a cost of $25,000 have been made recently, and it was announced that the club will have its headquarters in the mansion.  

Governor Whitman, before turning the soil with his silver spade, said that treaties had been signed under the old oak, but there were none of them as important as the treaty of yesterday between the city and the people, giving for public use such a large piece of property.

The exercises at Barton [sic] Manor saw the only public appearance of the Governor during his stay in New York.  In the morning he devoted himself to the consideration of several bills which he must pass upon within the thirty-day period.  In the early afternoon he had a long conference with several members of the Legislature.

Last night Governor and Mrs. Whitman were guests at a private dinner at the home of Charles F. Hoffman, 620 Fifth Avenue.

It was announced yesterday that the Governor has decided to set out on his trip to California on May 25.  The itinerary and make-up of the official party has not yet been determined, that matter being left largely in the hands of Major J. Stanley Moore, military secretary.

The Governor and his party will return to Albany to-day."

Source:  WHITMAN SETS TREE IN HISTORIC SOIL -- Artilleryman Is Hurt by Horse Frightened at Firing of Salute -- BARTON [SIC] TRACT GIFT TO THE PUBLIC -- International Garden Club to Make Breathing Spot Near Famous Treaty Oak, New-York Tribune, May 2, 1915, Vol. LXXV, No. 25,004, p. 6, cols. 6-7.  

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A Brief History of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Published in 1931

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

The mansion that houses today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and the property on which it sits together have quite a storied history.  Scholars believe that John Pell, a nephew and the principal legatee of Manor of Pelham founder Thomas Pell, built a home near today's mansion in the early 1670s.  Four generations of Pell family members resided in the home until, according to a variety of sources, it was destroyed by fire during the American Revolution.  

The property passed from the Pells to Herman and Hannah Leroy in 1813.  Robert Bartow, a New York city merchant, bought the property in 1836.  Shortly thereafter, he built the native stone mansion and moved with his family into the home by 1842.  The Bartow family remained in the home for more than four decades.  They attempted to develop an area around the nearby City Island Station on the New Haven Branch Line into a settlement that came to be known as Bartow and "Bartow-on-the-Sound."  (The station likewise came to be known as "Bartow Station.")

In 1888, while assembling parcels to create today's Pelham Bay Park, New York City acquired the Bartow estate.  (It likewise acquired the lands that formed the tiny little settlement of Bartow nearby.)  For nearly the next three decades, mansions in the region acquired by the City of New York -- including the Bartow mansion -- languished scandalously.  They were subject to vandalism, squatters, and municipal corruption involving "rentals" of some of the structures to well-placed City employees for virtually nothing.  

In 1914, the International Garden Club was formed "to promote hoticultural knowledge and to save the Bartow-Pell Mansion."  The organization raised funds and restored the mansion.  Today, the mansion and grounds including the Bartow carriage house built in the 1840s are owned by the City of New York but are operated by the International Garden Club, Inc..  The Mansion-Museum is a member of the Historic House Trust and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1931, The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon, New York, published a brief history of the Bartow Mansion.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of that article and reproduces a photograph that appeared with the article.

I have written about the Bartow-Pell Mansion-Museum and members of the Bartow family on many occasions.  For examples, see the extensive bibliography with links at the end of today's posting.

"THE BARTOW MANSION  A view of the century-old house

builty by Robert Bartow on Pelham Road near Split Rock Road.

Robert Bartow was a descendant of the lords of Pelham, and

this house is near the site of Pelham Manor.  It is now the home

of the International Garden Club.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Source:  Cushman, Elizabeth, Near Pelham Manor In New York

Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance --

It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road,

The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 29, 1931, p. 3, cols. 1-2.

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"Near Pelham Manor In New York Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance
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It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road
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By ELIZABETH CUSHMAN

'Three goes into nine three times; three goes into 12 four times --'

What could this have to do with pink and blue water lilies drifting placidly in the square pool of a sunken garden behind an old stone mansion on the shores of Long Island Sound?  What could it have to do with high-ceilinged rooms and old marble fireplaces, with oil paintings of lords and ladies of long ago, with inlaid tables and slim-legged chairs?

What could it have to do with a wide shady walk, leadning among tall bushes to a little plot of land enclosed by low iron bars, meeting at the four corners, stone pillars on which pelicans are carved?

'Three goes into --' would have more to do with this old cemetery, a stone's throw from the water, than with the dignified old stone mansion known as the Bartow House, standing on Pelham Road not far from where it is joined by Split Rock road.  All this land has belonged to New York City since 1888, but in the days when the Bartow Mansion was built, in the days when those graves were dug, this was an important part of Westchester County.  Historically, it is essentially all Westchester, for its past is the past of this county.

The Bartow Mansion is now the home of the International Garden Club; the garden in back of it was created only in 1916, though it has about it the peace and the permanency usually associated with centuries of existence.  But before this estate was known by the name of Bartow -- which has been, probably, for something around a hundred years -- it was the site of the Manor house of Pelham; the lords of one of Westchester's greatest grants of land lived here for five generations.

The Pells of Pelham Manor were descended from a famous English mathematician who is credited with having been the first to use the present signs for division -- who then, would not stand by the lily pool on the old Pell land and repeat softly to herself, 'three goes into -- '?  This reverend and right honorable John Pell, who spoke 10 languages, taught at the University of Breda by invitation of the Prince of Orange, lectured in London and Switzerland and received a special card of invitation to Oliver Cromwell's funeral, was the husband of Ithamaria Reginolles, and the father of another John, second lord of the Manor of Pelhamm, here in Westchester.

The first lord was Thomas, the Rev. John's brother.  Thomas died childless and left his manor lands to his nephew, 'John Pell, living in ould England, the only sonne of my brother . . . '  This was in 1669.

Provided For Huguenots

John Pell promptly came over from 'Ould England' and assumed his manorial rights in America.  He was an important personage in Westchester, for he was first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and first member of the Provincial Assembly for Westchester.  It was he who sold part of the Pelham Manor lands to Jacob Leisler, to provide a home for the French Huguenots, who in 1688, arrived here to found New Rochelle.  

In 1702, this second lord of the manor fell off his yacht and was drowned in the water of Long Island Sound.  His son, Thomas, born in Pelham Manor about 1675 then became third lord.  Thomas' wife is said to have been Anna, the daughter of Wampage, the Indian chief, who tradition tells us, slew Anne Hutchinson.  Wampage was also known as Annahock, a name relating to his great prowess in the massacre of the Hutchinson family.

A Few Names

The fourth Lord of the Manor was Joseph, son of Thomas and the Indian Princess, and with this family, the name Bartow appears for the first time in relation to the Pells.  Joseph Pell's sister, Bathsheba, married Theophilus Bartow.  This was the first of several marriages binding the two families.

In the next generation Thomas, son of Joseph and grandson of the Indian Princess, married Margaret Bartow.  Their daughter, Ann, also married a Bartow, and it was to this couple, Anna Pell Bartow and her husband, John Bartow, that Ann's father turned over the lands where the Bartow mansion now stands, but the mansion itself was not built for two generations.  Then, Robert, grandson of Ann Pell and John Bartow, erected the building that stands today, but the exact date it was put up has never been determined.

Hidden Gold?

There had been a dwelling here previously, of course -- the famous Manor house of the Lords of Pelham.  Its site is not definitely known, but it is thought to have stood near the present Bartow mansion.  Those graves, hidden from today's mansion by thick clusters of trees, are Pell graves -- the birds carved on the corner posts are pelicans, the symbol of the Pells.  There is a marble tablet here, giving a clue to the identity of those who rest beneath the quaint old brown stones with their crude carving.  The tablet, erected in 1862 by James K. Pell, gives the date of John Pell's death as 1700.  As late as 1911 vandals dug here one night in search of the gold and jewels which, tradition declares, were buried with the Pells of long ago.

Meanwhile the Bartows, who have given their name to the place were of no little significance in Westchesterwhen they became affiliated by marriage with the Pells.

The Bartows

The family was founded in America by John Bartow, a minister.  Though he was an Englishman he came, curiously, of Huguenot stock.  His ancestor had fled from France to Holland in 1572, following the massacre of Saint Bartholomew.  The name was then Bertaud or Bretagne or Brittany, but when this refugee reached England from Holland, it became Bartow.

Early in the 18th Century -- probably about 1702, John Bartow came to Westchester to officiate as minister for the parish of Rye, but Caleb Heathcote, Lord of the Manor of Scarsdale and a prominent and indefatigable churchman, decreed he should remain in Westchester.  This parish then included the village or rather the borough town of Westchester-Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham.  The difficulties of administering a parish of that size, in days when horseback travel was over roads that were scarcely more than the ruts that had developed from Indian trails, were tremendous, and poor Mr. Bartow had his troubles.

His Troubles

Witness this letter which he wrote home to England in 1706:

'My great business is to plant the Church of England amongst prejudiced, poor, and irreligious people, who are more apt to receive than to give, who think it a hardship to pay their dues; and we dare not use the law for fear of bringing an odium on the Church, and on all occasions except to be civilly treated by the minister.  My task is greater than I can bear; I will hold out as long as I can with submission to the Divine will who feedeth the fowls of the air; trusting he will still feed me, by your means, when you come to be sensible of our wants.'

Was there a bit of sarcasm or bitterness in that last line?

More Connection

Despite his doubts, the Rev. John Bartow held out for more than a quarter of a century.  He had married Helena Redi, who bore him two [sic] sons three of whom died in infancy and one of whom died young.  It was their son, Theophilus, who became the husband of Bathesheba Pell; Theophilus and Bathsheba's son, John, took Ann Pell for his second wife.  Their daughter, Margaret, married Thomas Pell.  Thus, John Bartow, who inherited this portion of the Pell Manor lands, was the grandson of the first John Bartow.  (Incidentally, Theophilus had a brother, Theodosius, a lawyer.  The lawyer's wife was one Ann Stillwell; their daughter, Theodosia Bartow, had a British soldier, Colonel James Marcus Prevost, as her first husband, and an American soldier, Aaron Burr, as her second husband. . . .)  It gets more and more involved as it goes on. . . . 

Theophilus and Theodosius

Theophilus Bartow and his wife, Bathsheba, had nine children in all.  One of them, the Rev. Theodosius, named for his lawyer uncle, was rector of Trinity Church in New Rochelle for 29 years.  His grandfather had on occasion preached here before him.  A Theodosius Bartow also served as minister in Bedford, resigning in 1976 [sic], but whether or not this was the same person, let someone else decide.

You might think of these things -- beginning with the 'three goes into' -- as you motor along Pelham Road.  You might think of the fine traditions the Pells brought with them to America -- They had been manor lords in old England before they came, for the father of the famous mathematicians was second lord of the manor of Shouldham Priory and Brookhall and Mayor of Lynn Regis.

You'll see, as you ride down Pelham Road, a circular iron fence around a tree on the grounds before the Bartow mansiion.

The Indians Treaty

This is supposed to encircle the site of the famous old charter oak under which Thomas Pell made his treaty with the Indians.  The claim, however, is disputed -- a local story says that one of the Bartows had a favorite horse which he buried here on this place.  But whatever the site is or is not, it helps to keep alive the story of Thomas Pell and the Indians and so serves the purpose quite adequately.

The windows of the Bartow mansion look out on lands that both British and American soldiers trod -- and disrupted in Revolutionary days.  The military history of this part of Westchester, however, does not belong here.  All that belongs here is a sign over a lilly pool, a glance at a grave and a thought of that gentleman of far away and long ago who first made up the signs for 'three goes into --'"

Source:  Cushman, Elizabeth, Near Pelham Manor In New York Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance -- It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 29, 1931, p. 3, cols. 1-2. 

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Below is a bibliography of articles I have prepared regarding the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, members of the Bartow family, the settlement known as Bartow, and the little horse railroad that once ran from Bartow to City Island.

Tue., Jul. 28, 2015:  John Bartow Who Lived in the Manor Home Built by John Pell in About 1672.

Thu., May 21, 2015:  Pelham Manor Romance: A Tale of Aaron Burr and His Love, Theodosia Bartow Prevost of the Manor of Pelham.

Thu., Jan. 22, 2015:  Lawsuit in 1884 Cleared the Way for Construction of Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to Lower Part of City Island in Pelham.

Mon., Nov. 03, 2014:  More on the 17th Century Location of the Manor Home of John Pell of the Manor of Pelham.

Fri., Sep. 5, 2014:  Post Card Image of Bartow and City Island Stage Coach With Driver.

Thu., Aug. 28, 2014:  Gouverneur Morris Jr. Lived His Later Years, and Died, in Bartow-on-the-Sound in the Town of Pelham.

Tue., May 4, 2010:  Questions Regarding the Trolley Franchise from Bartow Station to the Tip of City Island Arose in 1915.

Fri., Apr. 2, 2010:  More on the So-Called "Horse Railroad" that Once Ran from Bartow Station to City Island.

Wed., Feb. 3, 2010:  Early Information Published in 1885 About the Organization of the "City Island Railroad", a Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to City Island.

Fri., Jan. 22, 2010:  1884 Account of Early Origins of Horse Railroad Between Bartow Station and City Island.

Mon., Jan. 4, 2010:  1888 Local News Account Describes Altercation on the Horse Railroad Running from Bartow Station to City Island.

Fri., Jan. 1, 2010:  1886 Dynamite Explosion in Baychester Kills Four and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham.

Thu., Oct. 22, 2009:  Dynamite Explosion in 1890 Breaks Windows and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham.

Tue.,Sep. 1, 2009:  Pelham News on February 29, 1884 Including Talk of Constructing a New Horse Railroad from Bartow to City Island.

Thu., Nov. 29, 2007:  John Bartow Offers His Pelham Farm for Sale in Advertisement Published in 1807.

Mon., Jul. 2, 2007:  Notice of Auction Sale of Lots at Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham in 1874.

Mon., Jun. 4, 2007:  Abstract of 1797 Will of John Bartow, Sr. Who Owned Land in Pelham and Whose Family Became Early Pelham Residents.

Wed., Feb. 28, 2007:  Lord Cornbury Installs John Bartow as Rector of the Parish of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham in 1702.

Fri., Jan. 12, 2007:  A Brief Description of Scott's Grocery Store at Bartow Village in Pelham.

Tue., Sep. 12, 2006:  Evidence Sheds Light on Location of An Early Home of John Pell, 2d Lord of the Manor of Pelham. 

Wed., Jan. 4, 2006:  Another Post Card Image of the Horse Car That Ran Between Bartow and City Island.

Fri., Dec. 30, 2005:  Subdivision Development Map Created in 1873 for Bartow Village in the Town of Pelham.

Mon., Dec. 12, 2005:  19th Century Subdivision Map of Planned Bartow Village.

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

Tue., June 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.

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

Bell, Blake A., The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and Carriage House, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 31, Aug. 6, 2004, p. 9, col. 1.

Bell, Blake A., The Manor House of John Pell, Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 51, Dec. 24, 2004.

Bell, Blake A., Bartow-on-the-Sound, Once a Hamlet in the Town of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 5, Feb. 3, 2006, p. 13, col. 1.

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