Historic Pelham

Presenting the rich history of Pelham, NY in Westchester County: current historical research, descriptions of how to research Pelham history online and genealogy discussions of Pelham families.

Friday, April 05, 2019

Plans Underway to Build an Eco-Friendly Yoga, Canoeing or Fishing Retreat on Historic Rat Island, Once Part of Pelham


Scattered off the shores of Pelham in Long Island Sound are many islands that were part of Thomas Pell's purchase of lands from local Native Americans on June 27, 1654.  Principal among these islands, as they are known today, are:  City Island, Hart Island, High Island, Hunter's Island and the Twins, Travers Island, Neptune Island, Glen Island, David's Island, Huckleberry Island, Big Pea Island, and Little Pea Island.  There are, of course, many, many other rock outcroppings and granite shelves referenced as "islands" and "islets" in the same region.

One of the most notable such islets is one known as "Rat Island."  Rat Island is privately owned.  It lies in City Island Harbor roughly midway between City Island and Hart Island.  Historic Rat Island may soon add yet another fascinating chapter to its long and storied history.


Detail from 1851 Bache and Hassler Nautical Map of Hart and City Islands and
Sachem's Head Harbor Showing Rat Island Between City Island and Hart
Island.  Source:  DavidRumsey.com.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.


 Rat Island on October 8, 2006, as Seen from City Island.
Source:  "Rat Island, New York" in Wikipedia - The Free
Encyclopedia (visitedAug. 28, 2016).  NOTE:  Click on
Image to Enlarge.

I have written extensively about the history of Rat Island.  See Thu., Sep. 08, 2016:  Historic Rat Island, One of the Pelham Islands First Purchased by Thomas Pell.  

No one knows how the islet received its name.  There are two traditions.  The first recounts that rats once were prolific on the little islet though a number of 19th century reports noted that no rats had ever been seen on the tiny islet that, in any event, has been a barren, rocky location unlikely to sustain a colony of rats.  Another tradition holds that 19th century prisoners held on nearby Hart Island, known as prison "Rats," used the islet as a resting spot during daring escape attempts as they swam away from Hart Island.  Thus, locals labeled the rocky outcropping "Rat Island."  

The little island once was the home of retired City Island Pilot Gilbert ("Gill") Horton, born in 1825 who built a home on the islet that stood for many years before it was demolished in 1893.  Rat Island has been the scene of a number of shipwrecks such as the wreck of the coal schooner Lena B. Kaplan of Nova Scotia that struck the rocky islet and sank in January 1886.  After New York City annexed the area in the mid-1890s, it sold the island in 1908 to a private purchase due to unpaid taxes on the property.  Since then, the island has passed through the hands of a number of owners.

In 2011, the islet was auctioned.  Eight bidders battled over the 2-1/2 acre rock with City Island resident Alex Schibil prevailing.  He purchased the island for $176,000.  Since then, according to one account, he has "mainly used the island, accessed via a 10-minute canoe ride, for family picnics, barbecues and private outings with his long-term girlfriend, Noelva Vigoya, 69, who works as a babysitter for her grandchildren."  See Ridley, Jane, Bronx Man Envisions Hotel on City's Barren Rat Island, N.Y. Post (Apr. 3, 2019).

Recently the New York Post reported that Mr. Schibil envisions developing the tiny islet as an eco-friendly "hotel" or "camp" for yoga, canoeing, and fishing with ten solar-powered, self-contained wooden cabins around the islet and a small jetty and boat dock to facilitate arrivals and departures from the islet.  Because there is no running water on the island, there are plans to harvest rainwater for toilets and showers.


Rendering of Planned Eco-Friendly Development on Rat Island.
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Plans for development of Rat Island are in the earliest stages and funding has not been arranged.  Indeed, Mr. Schibil is seeking investors for the project.

*          *          *          *          *

In addition to many articles about City Island, Hunter's Island, and Travers Island, I have written before about a number of the islands and rocky islets off the shores of Pelham that are -- or once were -- part of the Town.  See, e.g.:

Fri., May 12, 2017:  Where in Blazes Were "The Blauzes" in Pelham?

Tue., Feb. 28, 2017:  A Little History of the Chimney Sweeps, Two Diminutive Pelham Rocky Islets.

Fri., Feb. 17, 2017:  More on the History of High Island in the Town of Pelham.

Wed., Feb. 15, 2017:  Captain Kidd's Treasure: Buried on High Island in the Town of Pelham.

Thu., Sep. 08, 2016:  Historic Rat Island, One of the Pelham Islands First Purchased by Thomas Pell.  

Tue., May 05, 2015:  More About the History of Goose Island, Once the Home of Mammy Goose.  

Mon., May 26, 2014:  James D. Fish and the Mansion He Built that Once Stood on the Most Easterly of the Twin Islands in Pelham.

Tue., Apr. 25, 2006:  More About "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.

Thu., Mar. 10, 2005:  "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, May 21, 2018

The Story of Mary Blizzard, a Pelham Squatter on an Island in Eastchester Creek


In about 1867, Mary A. Blizzard took over a tiny little island in Eastchester Creek.  She didn't own the one-acre island and made no pretense to try to gain title to the land.  She simply began building on the island adjacent to Pelham Bridge.  No one seemed to object.  She built several buildings including a hotel and connected buildings on the southern end of the island and a boat-house on the northern end.

The little hotel and boathouse became a destination for anglers and sporting types who came to Pelham, usually from New York City, to fish and hunt.  As the years passed, Mary Blizzard continued to improve the island, the hotel, and the boathouse.  

Members of the Blizzard family owned a good deal of land in the region from today's Westchester Square through much of the Pelham Bay area.  Indeed, David Blizzard operated a hotel built on pilings adjacent to Pelham Bridge during the 1870s.  Known colloquially as "Blizzard's," the establishment became known as the Grand View Hotel.  It seems likely that the hotel Mary A. Blizzard and Blizzard's (aka the Grand View Hotel) were one and the same, but extensive research efforts have not yet resolved this issue which remains confused because there were a surprisingly large number of hotels situated at the Pelham Bridge during the late 19th century.

Another important clue that suggests the two may have been one and the same is the following.  Mary A. Blizzard was an aunt of a man well known to readers of the Historic Pelham Blog:  William John "Jack" Elliott.  Jack Elliott managed the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge for a time.  To learn more about Jack Elliott and the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge, see:

Tue., Aug. 02, 2016:  More Research Regarding the 19th Century Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge.

Thu., Jan. 21, 2016:  Research Regarding David Blizzard's 19th Century Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge

Fri., Jul. 29, 2016: Shooting Death at the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge in 1892.

In the 1880s, of course, New York City began assembling the lands necessary to form Pelham Bay Park.  Among those lands was the tiny little island on which Mary Blizzard's hotel and boathouse stood.

Because Mary Blizzard could not establish title to the island, the Commissioner of Estimate charged with valuing such properties and awarding the fair value for the properties taken by New York City to the properties' owners valued the island and its buildings but awarded the estimated amount to "unknown persons."  The Commissioner of Estimate valued the land of the island at $5,000 and the buildings that stood on the island at $8,350 for a total of $13,350 (about $450,000 in today's dollars).  Mary A. Blizzard immediately filed a petition seeking an award of the $13,350.

A referee heard the matter and concluded that Mary's possession of the property for more than twenty years constituted sufficient evidence that she was the rightful owner for purposes of receiving the money.  Mary Blizzard then petitioned the New York Supreme Court, General Term in the First Department seeking a confirmation of the referee's report in her favor.

The Court denied the petition, thereby ruling in favor of New York City.  The Court found that Mary Blizzard was a mere "squatter" whose use of the island failed to rise to the level necessary to establish the requirements of "adverse possession" under New York law -- a doctrine whereby someone who takes possession of another's real estate and claims title to the real estate exclusive of the right of any other actually takes title to the property after the passage of a sufficient period of time.  The Court ruled "It appears from the evidence taken in this proceeding that the taking of possession by the petitioner was not, in its commencement, hostile to the true title, and it does not appear when the petitioner commenced to claim title to the premium exclusive of any other right, if she ever did so; and as under no circumstances can possession be deemed adverse until this condition of affairs is made to appear, it is not in proof that there was any adverse possession of the petitioner for 20 years."

Mary Blizzard and her lawyer immediately turned to the State of New York where they were able to obtain special legislation entitled "AN ACT for the relief of Mary A. Blizzard" passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor on May 2, 1892.  The act required the Comptroller of the City of New York to advertise for seven weeks seeking to have anyone else who claimed and could prove title to the little island to come forward and so prove or the money would be paid to Mary Blizzard.

Eventually Mary Blizzard received substantial compensation not only for her little island and hotel, but also for other properties she owned that were taken by New York City as part of the creation of Pelham Bay Park.  Mary Blizzard became a wealthy woman with an estate worth $110,000 at the time of her death in July, 1912 (about $2.84 million in today's dollars).

Mary's story did not end with her death.  Mary left her entire estate to her "favorite nephew," Jack Elliott.  Jack went on one of the greatest benders ever seen in the history of Pelham -- indeed, a bender that may have killed him!  

Despite his past, by 1912 Jack Elliott was known as a responsible family man -- married with two sons.  When he received the fruits of his aunt's estate he took off, leaving his wife and sons behind.  He spent profligately.  He moved from roadhouse to roadhouse buying drinks for all and leaving tips of hundreds of dollars for barkeeps, cabbies, and others everywhere he went.  In only two months, Jack Elliott spent $75,000 (about $1.93 million in today's dollars).  Within a short time thereafter, Elliott spent $90,000 of the money left to him by his aunt.  Elliott was known to pick up a $150 bar tab for his pals, toss a $500 bill at the bar tender, then walk out without waiting for change.

Elliott's wife and sons, of course, were aghast and resorted to the courts.  They filed every conceivable claim they could muster against Jack Elliott.  They charged him with "abandonment, non-support, insanity, and everything else they could think of."  However, first they had to serve Jack Elliott with process.

Eventually, they used an army of process servers to present Jack Elliott with legal papers.  Elliott slipped out the back doors of many roadhouses avoiding such process servers.  By attaching various bank accounts, the family was able to slow Elliott's spending, but he maintained so many accounts that they could not stop his reckless ways.  


Finally, the army of process servers closed in on William John "Jack" Elliott.  According to one account, the process servers "established a line across Westchester County, particularly over the Pelham Parkway.  Guards were doubled and the party began to close in."  

The process servers, however, never got to Jack Elliott.  One fine morning they tracked the happy fellow to a roadhouse known as Bradley's only to learn that Jack Elliott had dropped dead of "apoplexy" (i.e., a stroke) at the age of 50.  Jack Elliott's days of profligate spending were over.  
     



Detail from Engraving Published in 1884 Showing Pelham Bridge. Structures
in the Background May Possibly Include Blizzard's Grand View Hotel, But This
Is Not Known With Certainty. Source: "PELHAM PARK, NEW YORK. --
DRAWN BY CHARLES GRAHAM.", Harper's Weekly, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1442,
1884, pp. 514 & 521. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.


*          *          *          *          *

"In re MAYOR, ETC., OF CITY OF NEW YORK.
In re BLIZZARD.
(Supreme Court, General Term, First Department.  February 18, 1892.)

ADVERSE POSSESSION -- RIGHTS OF SQUATTER.

A woman, finding a small island in Westchester creek [sic], near New York city, unoccupied, entered thereon without claim or color of title, record or otherwise, erected buildings thereon, and remained in possession for 20 years.  Held that, being a mere squatter, she could not obtain title by adverse possession.

Proceedings by the mayor, alderman, and commonalty of the city of New York to acquire lands under Laws N. Y. 1884, c. 512.  Mary A. Blizzard filed a petition therein, claiming a portion of moneys awarded by the commissioner of estimate to unknown persons.  Petitioner moves to confirm the report of a referee in her favor.  Denied.

Argued before VAN BRUNT, P. J., and BARRETT, J.

W. R. Lambertson, for petitioner.  C. D. Allendorf, for the city.

VAN BRUNT, P. J.  The commissioners of estimate, by their report in this proceeding, awarded the sum of $13,350 to unknown owners for parcel 691, in Pelham Bay park.  Of this, $5,000 was made for the land, and the balance, $8,350, for the buildings.  The petitioner claims to have been the owner of parcel 691 at the time of the confirmation, and of the report of the commissioners in said proceedings, and the referee has so found.  Her claim of ownership is not based upon any record title to said premises, but is founded wholly upon possession and occupancy of said property for a period of more than 20 years.  The parcel stands in an island in Westchester creek [sic], and is divided into two parts, which may be described as the northerly and southerly parts of the island, the dividing line being a public highway extending the whole length of the island, upon each side of which highway there is and was at the time the claimant went into possession a substantial stone wall or fence.  The petitioner went into possession of the southerly portion of the island more than 20 years prior to the confirmation of the report, and erected an hotel and buildings connected therewith, and has ever since remained in possession thereof.  Her entry does not seem to have been under any claim of title, and her occupation has been that of a squatter.  It is true that upon her examination she stated that she took possession of this property, claiming title thereto.  But it is apparent from her cross-examination that she made no claim of title at the time of her entry; but, to use her own language, she 'just squatted there, as it were.'  It further appeared that she had no record title to said premises, either by way of deed, grant, devise, or writing of any kind.  Her only acts of ownership in respect to the northerly portion of the island consisted in building a boat-house, and planting oysters and clams in the waters adjacent to the island.  Upon these facts the referee reported that the petitioner was entitled to the award made for the island in question.  In this, we think, he clearly erred.  It is plain that whatever the possession of the petitioner was, it was not under any claim of title, nor does it appear that she ever asserted ownership except by being in possession.  Under the definition of adverse possession, such possession, to be adverse, must be under claim of title; and naked possession, unaccompanied by such claim, can never ripen into a good title.  It necessarily follows that, where possession is under a claim of title, it must be made under some distinct claim of title, and not by a mere general assertion of ownership, without reference to any source from which such ownership can arise.  In other words, a mere squatter can never obtain title by adverse possession.  In order that possession of land shall be adverse, it must be shown that the land is held in hostility to the true owner's claim of title thereto.  It appears from the evidence taken in this proceeding that the taking of possession by the petitioner was not, in its commencement, hostile to the true title, and it does not appear when the petitioner commenced to claim title to the premium exclusive of any other right, if she ever did so; and as under no circumstances can possession be deemed adverse until this condition of affairs is made to appear, it is not in proof that there was any adverse possession of the petitioner for 20 years.  In view of the conclusion at which we have arrived in regard to the main question involved, it is not necessary to discuss the distinction between the nature of the possession of the northerly and southerly half of the island.  Upon the whole case we think that the claim of the petitioner is defective in establishing a right to the moneys which have been awarded for the taking of the premises in question."

Source:  In re Blizzard, 18 N.Y. Supp. 82-84 (Gen. Term, 1st Dep't, Feb. 18, 1892).  

"CHAP. 430.

AN ACT for the relief of Mary A. Blizzard.

APPROVED by the Governor May 2, 1892.  Passed, three-fifths being present.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Advertising for claimants to awards.

SECTION 1.  The comptroller of the city of New York is hereby directed to advertise once in each week for seven successive weeks, as soon as practicable after the passage of this act, in a daily newspaper published in the said city for claimants to the awards now in his custody made for the parcel known as parcel number six hundred and ninety-one, Pelham Bay Park, made to 'unknown owners,' by the commissioners of estimated appointed under and pursuant to the provisions of chapter five hundred and twenty-two of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-four.

Payment of amount to M. A. Blizzard

[SECTION] 2.  If no other claimant shall appeal and prove title to the said awards to the satisfaction of the said comptroller within three months after the first publication of said notice, then the said comptroller is hereby authorized and directed to pay over the amount of said awards to Mary A. Blizzard of the town of Pelham, the present occupant of the said premises.

Release of city from liability.  Suits, etc., against city barred

[SECTION] 3.  Upon the completion of the advertising, as herein provided for, and upon the expiration of the said limitation, and upon the payment of the said awards to Mary A. Blizzard, the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of New York shall be forever released and discharged from any liability to any person or persons whomsoever for the said award or any part thereof, and any suit, action or special proceeding which may thereafter be brought against the said mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York to recover the said awards or any part thereof shall be deemed to be barred by the limitations of this act.

[Section] 4.  This act shall take effect immediately."

Source:  CHAP. 430 -- AN ACT for the relief of Mary A. Blizzard, The General Statutes of the State of New York for the Year 1892, p. 1035 (Albany, NY:  Weed, Parsons and Co., 1892).  

"A WOMAN SQUATTER.
-----
She Occupies an Island, Builds a Hotel and Tries to Sell the Property.

Mrs. Mary A. Blizzard is in a fair way to acquire property rather easily obtained.  More than twenty-five years ago she squatted on an island in Eastchester Creek, about an acre in area.  This land is now in Pelham Bay Park.  She built a hotel there valued at $8,350, the surrounding land being set down as worth $5,000.  When the city took possession of the Pelham Bay Park property Mrs. Blizzard put in a claim for payment of $13,350, but as she could give no title, the city refused to settle with her.  She brought suit in the courts, relying on her undisputed possession of over twenty years, but the general term decided against her.  A bill was passed by the last Legislature for Mrs. Blizzard's relief.  Under it the comptroller will advertise for owners.  If no one but Mrs. Blizzard appears her claim will be paid."

Source:  A WOMAN SQUATTER -- She Occupies an Island, Builds a Hotel and Tries to Sell the Property, The Hartford Courant [Hartford, CT], May 6, 1892, p. 7, cols. 1-2

"SUDDENLY RICH, SPENT $75,000 IN 2 MONTHS
-----
Widow Appointed Executrix of $25,000 Estate 'Jack' Elliott Left.
-----

In an effort to save for his family the remainder of the estate of William J. Elliott, better known as 'Jack' Elliott, who spent $75,000 in two months, his widow was appointed executrix yesterday.  Elliott reduced a fortune of $100,000 to $25,000 by lavish spending.  

Elliott died suddenly of apoplexy on Friday last in a roadhouse in Port Chester just before a warrant was to be served on him for abandonment.  He was buried the Sunday following in the Blizzard homestead, Pelham Bay.  Other legal proceedings having failed to check Elliott in his mania for throwing away money, his wife had decided to have him arrested for abandonment in hope of having him removed to a sanatorium.

Until last July, when Elliott's aunt, Mary Blizzard, died, he was a model as a family man.  He, his wife and two sons lived happily in the Pelham Bay homestead.  By the death of his aunt he inherited the greater part of her fortune.  Then came a whirlwind change in Elliott's life.

Frequented by Astor.

Six or seven years ago 'Jack' Elliott owned and conducted the Pelham Bay Park Hotel, a roadhouse frequented by Colonel John Jacob Astor and others who figured in finance and society.  He made hundreds of friends.

About April, 1912, Elliott's aunt was awarded $75,000 from the city for Pelham Bay property.  She died in July.

On August 1 Elliott got $40,000 in cash, part being the city's award money and part from his aunt.  In less than fifteen days this money was nearly all gone.  He is said to have spent $500 a night, his wine bill for a week running over $1,000.  At different times he drew on his inheritance liberally.

Elliott's relatives and friends became alarmed.  Bennett E. Siegelstein, attorney, in No. 90 Nassau street, formerly Assemblyman from the old Eighth district, was engaged by Mrs. Elliott to see what could be done.  Three writs of attachment failed of their purpose.

Entertained the 'Boys.'

Elliott disappeared from his home, but his sons found he was living in the Colonial Hotel, Eighth avenue and 125th street.  Automobile trips from the hotel to roadhouses were features of entertainment for the boys as he called his friends.

In September, Siegelstein got a writ for the appointment of a receiver and an injunction to tie up the property Elliott kept him busy trying to find him.

Elliott deposited in the Nassau Trust Company on August 9 $26,000, but by the time the lawyer could get an attachment against the bank $14,000 had been drawn and spent by Elliott.

Elliott's widow was Sarah E. Doherty.  She was wealthy in her own right."

Source:  SUDDENLY RICH, SPENT $75,000 IN 2 MONTHS -- Widow Appointed Executrix of $25,000 Estate "Jack" Elliott Left, N.Y. Press, Sep. 25, 1912, p. 7, col. 5.  

"SPENT $90,000 IN TEN MONTHS, THEN HE DIED.
-----
Jack Elliott Didn't Go Near White Light District With His Roll.  --  Windfall From His Aunt.
-----

How to spend $90,000 in New York City in ten months and not go near Broadway and Forty-second street was told in detail last Tuesday about the time letters of administration in the estate of William J. Elliott were awarded to Sarah E. Elliott, the widow.

Elliott, universally known as Jack, was the man who did the spending.  He dropped dead at Bradley's roadhouse, Port Chester, September 20.

Bennett E. Siegelstein, attorney for the estate, told the story after the letters had been awarded.  He undid a large bundle of papers and pointed to about five check books which had been reduced almost to the covers.

'Those check books and the balanced bank books tell the story of how Jack Elliott spent $90,000 in this short space of time,' he said, 'and they show that out of $110,000 cash a year ago not more than $15,000 remains.  It also shows that at the moment he dropped dead he was just drawing another check for $500, which had become his average daily expenditure.'

Then Mr. Siegelstein illuminated his subject, Jack Elliott, about 50 years of age, was a member of the Blizzard family, which owned much of Pelham Bay  conjointly with the Doherty family.  He married Sarah E. Doherty nearly thirty years ago.  Elliott for years ran the Pelham Bay roadhouse, known to automobilists and drivers.  He was a steady family man.

Elliott had two sons, David, now 25, and Julian J., 20 years old.  The sole living representative of the old Blizzard family up to April of this year was Miss Mary A. Blizzard, and Jack Elliott was her favorite nephew.

When the city took part of the property for Westchester Square and then took some more for the bridge she got about $110,000 in cash, leaving more to come.

Miss Blizzard turned this money over to Jack, and when she died in April her will left everything to him.  At the time he got the money Elliott was living with his family in the old Doherty homestead up on the bay.  He started out to drink wine and to have all his friends and neighbors drink with him.

The family remonstrated and Elliott left home.  They complained, and he got a revolver threatening to use it on anyone who tried to stop him.  Inside of three months he was going strong and at the end of six months he was the most popular man from Port Chester to 125th street.  He had wine before he got up for breakfast, between meals and at all meals.  Also every one who came near him had it.

One night he went into the Colonial, according to Mr. Siegelstein, and ordered wine for everybody.  The bill ws $150.  He tossed over a $500 bill and walked out without waiting for change.  He had a regular arrangement with the taxicab men, who would charge him $25 for going from the Colonial to a Pelham Bay roadhouse.  His usual procedure was to tell the chauffeur to keep the change out of a $100 bill.

Elliott, it is said, met some Italian labors one day working on a new building.  He got their dinner buckets and filled them with champagne by permission of the owners.  The Contractor had his bricks laid to grand opera the rest of the day, and the inspector condemned the job at that.

His family got after the man in real earnest about the end of July.  They went to court and Mr. Siegelstein got an order to show cause why he should not be restrained from spending his money.  They wanted him locked up for observation.  A process server could not get within half a mile of him.  A process server would come in the front door and Elliott would take a taxicab from the back door to go whizzing to the next roadhouse.

The sons who led in the search came upon their father one day and tried to get him to go with them.  They were holding him by conversation until an officer could arrive.  He gave them $1,500 and told them to buy a motorboat, then vanished.  A process server chased the man down to a house in East Eighty-fourth street owned by the estate, but not yet turned into money.  The process server was greeted by a dog which bit him.  While the process server was attending to the dog, Elliott was flying uptown in a convenient taxi.

Then the family got real busy.  They got a summons, a warrant, an injunction, a mandamus and a few other writs in the hope of getting the man on something.  They charged him with abandonment, non-support, insanity, and everything else they could think of.  The company of process servers did not fare any better than the original scouts.  They were always close on the trail, but the man was ahead of them.

Finally they established a line across Westchester County, particularly over the Pelham Parkway.  Guards were doubled and the party began to close in.  They arrived at Bradley's that morning of the 20th to find the search ended.  The doctors said that apoplexy had ended the man's career.

Nobody seems to have been particularly hurt by the man's weird career of prodigality.  The estate is still large in property.  The city still owes $15,000 and Mrs. Elliott has the Doherty estate in addition."

Source:  SPENT $90,000 IN TEN MONTHS, THEN HE DIED -- Jack Elliott Didn't Go Near White Light District With His Roll  --  Windfall From His Aunt, Dobbs Ferry Register [Dobbs Ferry, NY], Sep. 27, 1912, Vol. XXX, No. 39, p. 5, col. 3.  

"Spent $75,000 In Two Months.

New York, Oct. 15.  --  In an effort to save for his family the remainder of the estate of William J. Elliott, better known as 'Jack' Elliott, who spent $75,000 in two months, his widow was appointed executrix.  Elliott reduced a fortune of $100,000 to $25,000 by lavish spending.

Elliott died suddenly of apoplexy in a roadhouse in Port Chester just before a warrant was to be served on him for abandonment.  He was buried the Sunday following in the Blizzard homestead, Pelham Bay.  Other legal proceedings having failed to check Elliott in his mania for throwing away money, his wife had decided to have him arrested for abandonment in hope of having him removed to a sanatorium.

Until last July, when Elliott's aunt, Mary Blizzard, died, he was a model as a family man.  He, his wife, and two sons lived happily in the Pelham Bay homestead.  By the death of his aunt, he inherited the greater part of her fortune.  Then came a whirlwind change in Elliott's life."

Source:  Spent $75,000 In Two Months, Journal and Republican and Lowville Times [Lowville, NY], Oct. 17, 1912, Vol. 53, No. 49, Sec. 2, p. 9, col. 2.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "The Haunted History of Pelham, New York"
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, March 20, 2017

Was This the Town of Pelham's Largest Foreclosure Sale Ever?


On Hunter's Island during the 19th century, John Hunter created one of the grandest estates and mansions in the northeast.  Hunter died in 1852 and Hunter's Island, The Twins, and a rocky islet near The Twins called "Catbriar's Island" passed out of the Hunter family when it was sold in 1866 for $127,000 to Ambrose Kingsland who served as Mayor of New York City from 1851 to 1853.  See Westchester County Records of Land Conveyances, Liber 611, p. 374.  Barely two years later, Kingsland sold Hunter's Island, The Twins, and Catbriar's Island to Alvin Higgins of New Rochelle for $180,000.  See id., Liber 695, p. 220.  Higgins was a proprietor of the Neptune House, a famous hotel on Neptune Island originally built by Isaac Underhill in 1837 as a summer resort.



Lithograph of Neptune House and Neptune Island Created
by N. Currier.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

In 1879, as the U.S. economy was beginning to emerge from the so-called "Long Depression" (1873-1879), Hunter's Island changed hands again.  Higgins sold it to Gardiner Jorden, at a substantial loss, for $100,000.   See id., Liber 961, p. 89.  Jorden, however, may have had difficulty meeting his financial obligations in acquiring Hunter's Island, The Twins, and Catbriar's Island.  Within a short time, the islands were subject to foreclosure and were offered for auction at a foreclosure sale conducted at the county courthouse in the Village of White Plains at 11:00 a.m.  A legal notice of that foreclosure sale appears below, followed by a transcription of its text and a citation and link to its source.

*          *          *          *          *




Notice of Foreclosure Sale of Hunter's Island with Text
Transcribed Below.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.


"REAL ESTATE AT AUCTION.
-----
FORECLOSURE SALE.

MAGNIFICENT SUBURBAN PROPERTY ON THE SOUND, known as
HUNTER'S ISLAND and the TWIN ISLANDS,
On TUESDAY, May 25, 1880,
At 11 o'clock A.M., at the Court-house in Village of White Plains, Westchester County, the following described property will be sold at auction, viz:

HUNTER'S ISLAND and the connecting TWIN ISLANDS, at New Rochelle [sic], fronting on Long Island Sound, most beautiful and complete suburban residence in America; ancient and lordly mansion of stone; gas, water, &c.; located in park of 250 acres of beautifully diversified woodland, meadow, and water front; its natural advantages are unsurpassed; location most prominent on the Sound; buildings are very complete; place is connected to mainland by a stone causeway, and has an imposing entrance; two miles from New Rochelle, eight miles from Harlem Bridge; 40 minutes from Grand Central Depot; very accessible; 10 trains daily by New-Haven Railroad, also branch from Fulton Ferry; one mile from depot.  For particulars inquire of FREDERICK DeP. FOSTER, Plaintiff's Attorney, No. 10 Wall st., New-York, or of HOMER MORGAN, No. 2 Pine-st., or RICHARD V. HARNETT, No. 111 Broadway."

Source:  REAL ESTATE AT AUCTION -- FORECLOSURE SALE, N.Y. Times, May 20, 1880, p. 6, col. 5.  



Detail from 1905 Map Hunter's Island and The Twins.  Source:
"Index [Map] to the Topographical Survey Sheets of the Borough
of the Bronx Easterly of the Bronx River" (1905) (Lionel Pincus and
Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library). NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *


I have written before about John Hunter and Hunter's Island on many, many occasions.  A few are listed below.  See, e.g.:

Fri., Jun. 03, 2016:  More Newspaper Accounts of President Martin Van Buren's Visit to Pelham in 1839.

Thu., Nov. 03, 2005:  President Martin Van Buren's Visit to Pelham in July 1839.

Fri., Dec. 15, 2006:  References to John Hunter of Pelham Manor in the Papers of President Martin Van Buren.

Tue., Nov. 21, 2006:  John Hunter Loses a Debate in the State Senate During the Winter of 1841.

Mon., Aug. 28, 2006:  John Hunter of Hunter's Island in Pelham Obtained Special Tax Relief in 1826..

Mon., Aug. 14, 2006:  An Early Account of a Visit to Hunter's Island and John Hunter's Mansion in Pelham.

Thu., Apr. 27, 2006:  Burial Place of John Hunter (1778 - 1852) of Hunter's Island.

Wed., Dec. 14, 2005:  New Information About John Hunter's Acquisition of Hunter's Island in the Manor of Pelham.

Fri., Dec. 2, 2005:  John Hunter of Hunter's Island in Pelham, New York.


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

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

More About the History of Goose Island, Once the Home of Mammy Goose


Goose Island is a tiny little island near Pelham Bridge in Eastchester Bay.  The island is only about one and a half acres in size.  Goose Island was so named because of a massive flock of wild geese that first landed on the island in about 1810 and thereafter made the island an annual resting place.  

The tiny little island has a storied history that revolves around a colorful character who resided there from about 1843 until shortly before her death in 1885.  Her name was Abigail Tice.  She was nicknamed "Mammy Goose."  I have written about Mammy Goose and Goose Island on a number of occasions.  See:

Thu., Mar. 10, 2005:  "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.

Tue., Apr. 25, 2006:  More About "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.



Detail from Map Published in 1893 Showing Goose Island
on Left Near Branch Line Railroad Tracks Crossing
Eastchester Bay.  Source:  "Towns of Westchester and
(With) Village of Pelhamville" in Atlas of Westchester
County, New York Prepared Under the Direction of Joseph
R. Bien, E.M., Civil and Topographical Engineer from
Original Surveys and Official Records, pg. 3 (NY, NY:
Julius Bien & Co., 1893).

As a young girl, Abigail eloped with a stone mason named William Tice.  The couple moved to Mount Vernon in about 1840.  William Tice began working for Joshua Leviness, a prominent oysterman on City Island in the Town of Pelham.  

In 1843, Abigail and William Tice reportedly visited Goose Island.  It was "a lonely, barren spot and hadn't even a good reputation".  Even so, according to one account, "it pleased Mrs. Tice and she said to her husband, "Here I'm going to make my home."  Captain Joshua Leviness provided building materials to the couple who cleared trees, stumps, and stones from the island and built a tiny home with the materials provided by Leviness.  

To support themselves, the couple fished and clammed throughout Eastchester Bay and its shores.  Abigail Tice began hosting local recreational fishermen with broiled clams, oysters, and beer.  Her reputation as a hostess grew and she became known as "Mammy Goose."  By about 1850 or early 1851, however, William Tice died.  Abigail buried her husband on Goose Island near their little house.

On June 11, 1851, Tice married her second husband, Ogilsby Stinard, in Pelham.  Reverend Henry E. Duncan performed the ceremony.  The couple lived in the tiny shack on Goose Island for more than thirty years.  Stinard died in 1884.  Accounts differ over how he died.  According to one account, during a terrible nor'easter in the winter of 1883-84, Stinard, froze to death in the couple's shack on the island.  According to another account, Stinard waded into deep water while drunk and sank to the bottom and drowned.  Accounts agree, however, that like William Tice, he was buried on the island after his death.  

Captain Leviness kept a close watch on Mammy Goose and helped her fill her basic needs by supplying her "few wants".  When she grew too old to take care of herself, he arranged to bring her as a guest to a hotel he owned on City Island.  Although he planned to open a small shop for her to oversee during the summer of 1885, Mammy Goose died in her room at the hotel on March 26, 1885.  People believed her to be about 92 since she always said she was born in 1793. 

Only two days before her death, Mammy Goose made a will. In it she gave everything she owned to her friend, Captain Joshua Leviness.  Among the things she bequeathed to Captain Leviness, was Goose Island "on which she has always paid taxes."

Mammy Goose, it turned out, did not own Goose Island even though she purported to bequeath it to Joshua Leviness when she died.  Rather, she had leased the island for her "natural life" in exchange for the payment of property taxes on the island.  The Town of Eastchester claimed ownership of Goose Island and claimed to have leased it to Mammy Goose.  About a year before the death of Mammy Goose, it was discovered by Eastchester authorities that Mammy Goose was in arrears on her property taxes.  The Town began efforts to address the issue.

With the death of Mammy Goose, Captain Joshua Leviness wasted no time.  Within a month he already began construction of a dock on the tiny island and announced his intention to open a "summer resort" on the island.  It is unclear whether he was aware that Mammy Goose leased the island and that the Town of Eastchester claimed to own it and claiimed that Mammy Goose had failed to pay the property taxes for the island as required under her lease.  It seems very odd, however, that the will that 92-year-old Mammy Goose prepared two days before her death while in the care of Joshua Leviness bequeathed to him Goose Island "on which she has always paid taxes."

Eastchester hired a Mount Vernon attorney named Norman A. Lawler to file a lawsuit to reclaim Goose Island from Joshua Leviness.  By late September, 1885, the case was ready for trial in what one report described as the Circuit Court in White Plains, New York.  Thorough search has been made, however, and no report of the case or its results has yet been located.  

Nevertheless, Goose Island was part of the lands that became part of Pelham Bay Park and that were annexed by New York City in the mid-1890s.  Joshua Leviness clearly reached some arrangement to continue his use of Goose Island after the dispute with the Town of Eastchester.  He received a license from the New York City Department of Parks to rent boats from Goose Island and to sell refreshments to boaters and fishermen there.  In 1894, that license was renewed in the name of his son, George Leviness.  See Minutes and Documents of the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks for the Year Ending April 30, 1893, p. 43 (NY, NY:  Martin B. Brown, Printer and Stationer, 1894).

"TOWN OFFICERS ACCOUNTS. . . . . 

The property known as Goose Island was also referred to in their report as having been originally leased to Mrs. Stinard during her natural life in consideration that she should pay the taxes on the same which she had failed to do, and that the Recever of Taxes had never made a levy.  They recommended that the receiver cause a levy to be made for this years [sic] taxes.  

That there should be a revenue from that pleasant little spot, Goose Island, there can be no question, and when a lease was given to Mrs. Stinard, some specified sum of money should have been named as the yearly rental, and that amount ought to have been collected or else she should have been compelled to vacate for a more profitable tenant, but why Goose Island should be assessed as taxable property, sold, and the town take leases of the same, any more than the town dock, or any other town property, we are certainly at a loss to know.  We certainly can see no reason why any of property owned or held by the town as town lands should be assessed.

The trustees recommended that $300 be appropriated for the purpose of taking action against some of the above named parties or any one occupying or claiming to own any town lands, that the same may be recovered for the use of the town. . . ."

Source:  TOWN OFFICERS ACOUNTS, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 28, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 758, p. 1, col. 7.

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. . . . 

--Capt. Josh Leviness is building a dock on Goose Island and intends to open a summer resort there.  He claims to own the Island under the will of Mrs. Tice, otherwise known as Mrs. Stinard, who lived there for nearly forty years.  She recently died at the residence of the Captain, City Island."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, New Rochelle Pioneer, Apr. 25, 1885, p. 3, col. 6.  

"COUNTY ITEMS. . . . 

--The Trustees of Public Lands have taken the initiatory steps toward getting possession of Goose Island, in the Sound, near City Island, now claimed by Joshua Leviness.  They have appointed Norman A. Lawler, of Mount Vernon, counsel, and proceedings will be instituted at once."

Source:  COUNTY ITEMS, Supplement to Eastern State Journal, Jun. 12, 1885, p. 1, col. 3

"LOCAL NEWS. . . . 

The town of Eastchester has taken steps to eject Capt. Josh Leviness from Goose Island, and get possession of the property.  The case may be reached on the calendar this week, in the Circuit Court, at White Pains. . . ."

Source:  LOCAL NEWS, The Chronicle [Mt. Vernon, NY], Sep. 25, 1885, Vol. XVII, No. 836, p. 3, col. 1.  


Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,