Pelham Once Had its Own Toboggan Course

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The Olympic sport of luge is one of the most thrilling winter sports.  Racers rocket down icy chutes that twist and turn to the finish line at speeds of nearly ninety miles per hour.  They travel on the very precipice of death, always at risk of an icy wreck that makes all wince even to consider. 

Pelham, it turns out, once had its own such course, albeit a nineteenth centry version on which toboggans rocketed down icy chutes.  The story behind construction of the course is fascinating.

It truly is impossible to trace the origin and history of the "toboggan."  According to one book published on the subject:

"THE word 'Toboggan' is said to have originated among the North American Indians who applied it to the flat wooden sledges which they used for carrying provisions from camp to camp.  From them the use of the toboggan spread to the more civilised inhabitants of Canada, and for many years tobogganing has been looked upon as the great winter amusement of that country.  Of late years it has been taken up keenly in the United States, where 'coasting' and 'Bob-sleighing' have now become very popular. . . ."

Source:  Gibson, Harry, TOBOGGANING ON CROOKED RUNS, p. 18 (London and New York:  Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894).  

During the 1880s, toboggan fever swept the world.  The first International Race among toboggans was run on February 12, 1883.  id., p. 23.  For a brief summary of the many, many toboggan clubs and courses that popped up in the northeastern United States and in lower Canada during the early 1880s, see Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 712, col. 2 & p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).  Though it took a little time, by late 1885 toboggan fever had reached the tiny little Town of Pelham on the outskirts of New York City.  

At the time Pelham was the site of one of the nation's earliest "Country Clubs."  Known simply as "The Country Club," "The Country Club at Pelham," and "The Country Club at Westchester," the organization was begun in the Autumn of 1883.  At that time a group of Pelham Manor residents led by James M. Waterbury joined with a group of New York City “club men” and organized a new “Country Club” dedicated to the enjoyment of all “legitimate sports.” 

By 1884, the Club commenced operations in the nearly-34-acre area encompassed by the Suydam / Morris Estate adjacent to the Bartow property (the site of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and carriage house. The group converted a mansion on the property known as “Oakshade” (built by artist James Augustus Suydam between 1846 and 1848 and later owned by Richard Lewis Morris) into a clubhouse. The group was unable to buy the property, so it leased the property for five years. 

The property was adjacent to and just northeast of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum property, but straddled today's Shore Road with most of the property on the Long Island Sound side and about one-third of the acreage on the opposite side of Shore Road now covered by a portion of the Pelham Bay Golf Course.

The Country Club was extraordinarily successful.  Yet, it faced issues.  One such issue was that revenues and member interest declined precipitously during the winter months despite the fact that the Club offered a host of winter sports.  That seemed to change in the winter of 1885-1886.  The President of the club, James M. Waterbury, paid for construction of, and donated to the club, a massive toboggan course that quickly became "the most popular attraction of anything ever started there."

Actually, the course was a marvel.  It was a pair of toboggan slides (known as "chutes") that ran parallel to each other permitting informal and formal races.  Built by James Henderson in about mid-December 1885, various reports described the course as between 750 feet and 800 feet long with a decline of about thirty degrees from its top to its base.  Thus, the two "slides" as they were called were at least as long as two and one-half modern football fields.  

The toboggan chutes began near the clubhouse formerly known as the Oakshade mansion originally built by famed Hudson River School artist James Augustus Suydam.  The clubhouse stood on the Long Island Sound side of today's Shore Road only dozens of yards away from the carriage house that stands on the grounds of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.  The toboggan chutes extended from near the clubhouse toward Long Island Sound and, shortly before reaching the water's edge, turned southward where, according to one account, the chute emptied onto the adjacent Bartow estate.  The image below shows a very rough approximation of the location of the toboggan chutes built in late 1885.

Google Maps Detail With Arrows Showing A Very Rough Approximation

of the Location and Direction of the Toboggan Chutes Built and Used by

Members of The Country Club in the Winter of 1885-1886.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

The toboggan course was opened by at least January, 1886.  It became an immediate success.  Parties of happy tobagganers spent afternoons and evenings racing down the chutes, then ended each day with a fine dinner in The Country Club dining room followed by a relaxing evening in front of a roaring fire in the clubhouse fireplace.  According to one report published on February 5, 1886:

"Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis."

Another account published at about the same time said:  "Small and gay parties . . . have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse."  

Club members and their guests found that roaring down the toboggan chutes was thrilling and exhilarating.  One account describing the toboggan chutes at Pelham said:  "Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter."

The sport of tobogganing, of course, was new to Pelhamites at the time.  It seems they could not agree on what should be the proper attire for the sport -- something that seems to have been particularly important to members of The Country Club at Pelham.  One publication noted Pelhamites' faux pas in this respect:

"There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club."

It appears that the toboggan chutes operated each winter until The Country Club moved its facility across Pelham Bridge to the opposite side of Eastchester Bay at the end of the 1880s.  For a time, however, it was an amazingly successful winter sport embraced by Pelhamites and members of The Country Club at Pelham.

"WINTER SPORTS IN ALBANY.  THE RIDGEFIELD TOBOGGAN CHUTE"

in 1886.  Lithograph.  This Shows a Pair of Side-by-Side Toboggan Chutes

Similar to the One that Once Stood in the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

German Toboggan Course Shown in 1886 Lithograph From

Illustrated Journal of The Times, Published in Germany.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

"TOBOGGANING 1886," a Lithograph Published in 1886 by L. Prang

& Co.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. . . .

-- The members of the Country Club intend to enjoy themselves this winter in Canadian style.  They are building a 'toboggan' slide, between 700 and 800 feet long, from the house toward the Sound, and then turn off on to the Bartow estate.  Mr. Jas. Henderson is doing the work. . . ."

Source:  LOCAL INTELLIGENCE, New Rochelle Pioneer, Dec. 19, 1885, p. 3, col. 1.  

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. . . .

The toboggan slide at the Country Club grounds, has become the most popular attraction of anything ever started there.  It is 750 feet long and was built and donated to the Club by Mr. J. M. Waterbury, the president of the Club.  Members and their friends come in large groups from the City to enjoy the sport, returning the same day.  The slide is patronized by all the elite of society.  Messrs. Delancy [sic] and Woodbury Kane, and Smith Haddon, of New York, also Messrs. Bull, F. A. Watson, Wm. Watson, Sands Waterbury and others, have given toboggan parties during the season.  The club grounds pay much better with the toboggan slide, than during the summer with polo and tennis. . . ."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 5, 1886, Vol. XVII, No. 855, p. 1, col. 6.  

"A SLIDE has been built on the grounds of the Country Club, at Pelham, Westchester county.  The slides are two in number, facing each other, after the fashion of the Russian ice-mountains.  Their length is 800 feet.  Steps lead from the sharp ascent up which the toboggan shoots to the starting platform of the other track.  The angle of descent is about 30 [degrees].  It was through the exertions chiefly of Mr. James M. Waterbury, the president of the club, that the slide was built.  The secretary is William Kent."

Source:  Outing, Vol. VII, No. 6, p. 713, cols. 1-2 (Mar. 1886).

"THE WORLD OF SOCIETY.
-----
WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED.
-----
Sleighing and Tobogganing Monopolize the Attention of the Members of the Gay World -- The Opera and Three Private Dances the Leading Society Events of the Week in the City -- Numerous Teas and Receptions -- The Season Continues Dull -- Weekly Budget of Notes from Connecticut Towns -- Notes from Philadelphia and Albany.

After long delay, the desired advent of the snow king has brought to society its long-desired opportunity for the indulging in winter sports, and almost everything else has been forgotten in preparations for and enjoyment of sleighing, skating, and the new and imported pastime of tobogganing.  The toboggan slides erected by the Essex County Club at Orange, and by Mr. James M. Waterbury in the grounds of the Country Club at Bartow, have been resorted to every afternoon and evening of the week by merry parties of New Yorkers, many of whom have experienced for the first time the delights of the sport, and who, overcoming their first feeling of timidity, are now its devoted enthusiasts.  Would that all imported pastimes and customs were as healthful and beneficial as tobogganing.  Who that has ever ridden can forget the swift mad rush through the air, with the sensation of flying that it brings, the streaming eyes and tingling cheeks, and then the gradual and delicious slowing down, and then the toiling up the hill to return, a task made light by pleasant companionship and cheery laughter.

While the Orange slide has been widely described and heralded, that of the Country Club has crept into notice very unpretentiously.  Small and gay parties, however, have gone out there almost every afternoon and, after enjoying the slide, have dined and spent the evening around a blazing wood fire in the clubhouse.  There is a wide divergence of opinion among society men and women as to what is the proper and respective tobogganing costume, and all resident Canadians or persons who have visited Canada during the winter are eagerly consulted as authorities upon the subject.  Some of the hurriedly made costumes are gorgeous in the extreme, but hardly suited to the rough sport.  The general idea of the proper attire is that it shall surround the body with layers of wool, impervious to cold and invaluable as padding in case of a tumble, for a Canadian tobogganer, when pitched from his conveyance, simply rolls and bounds down the slide after it, like a foot-ball, until he either brings up against some obstacle or reaches the level.  Mr. and Mrs. Teall have set the fashion in tobogganing costumes at Orange, but there is somewhat of a chaos of ideas regarding them at the Country Club. . . ."

Source:  THE WORLD OF SOCIETY -- WINTER SPORTS AFTER LONG WAITING NOW THOROUGHLY ENJOYED, The World [NY, NY], Jan. 17, 1886, p. 16, col. 1.  

*          *          *          *          *

I have written extensively about The Country Club at Pelham and its famous steeplechase races, rides with the hounds, baseball games, polo matches, and other such events of the 1880's.  For a few of many more examples, see:  

Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.

Thu., Mar. 23, 2006:  Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884.

Tue., Apr. 14, 2009:  1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

Wed., Apr. 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Thu., Apr. 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.

Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.

Wed., Sep. 09, 2009:  1884 Engraving of Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Barometer, and His Owner and Rider, J. D. Cheever. 

Wed., Sep. 16, 2009:  September 1884 Advertisement for The Country Club Steeplechase.

Thu., Sep. 17, 2009:  Controversy in 1887 When The Country Club Tries to Dedicate a Large Area of Pelham as a Game Preserve.

Wed., Sep. 30, 2009:  Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between The Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.

Mon., Oct. 19, 2009:  Polo at the Country Club in Pelham in 1887.

Fri., Oct. 30, 2009:  Preparations for Annual Country Club Race Ball Held in Pelham in 1887.

Thu., Apr. 15, 2010:  Account of Baseball Game Played in Pelham on June 9, 1884: The Country Club Beat the Knickerbockers, 42 to 22.  

Tue., Feb. 25, 2014:  An Interesting Description of the Country Club at Pelham Published in 1884.

Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.  

Fri., Sep. 12, 2014:  Reference to an 1884 Baseball Game Between the Country Club of Pelham and Calumet.

Fri., Feb. 27, 2015:  Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889.

Thu., Jul. 16, 2015:  More on the History of the Country Club at Pelham in the 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 03, 2015:  A Major Tennis Tournament was Played in Pelham in 1885.

Tue., Feb. 09, 2016:  Polo Played in Pelham in 1887.

Wed., Sep. 07, 2016:  Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890.

Thu., Jan. 26, 2017:  The First Formal Country Club Hunt in Pelham Began on October 2, 1886 at 2:30 P.M.

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."

The First Formal Country Club Hunt in Pelham Began on October 2, 1886 at 2:30 P.M.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

In 1885, James M. Waterbury, principal founder and President of the Country Club on Shore Road in Pelham, imported a pack of Harriers.  (A Harrier is a medium-sized hound popular in England for use in hunting.)  Waterbury gave the pack to the Country Club which raised money through subscriptions and built kennels for the dogs on the Country Club grounds.  By 1886, members of the Club were ready to hunt.

I have written a number of times about the sport of riding to hounds by members of the Country Club in Pelham.  See:

 Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.  

Thu., April 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889. 

Wed., April 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham. 

Tue., April 14, 2009: 1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

There are different types of "hunts" performed when riding to hounds.  One such type is the so-called "drag hunt."  A drag hunt involves a pack of hounds hunting a scent (a combination of aniseed oils and, sometimes, animal meat or urine) that has been "laid" (i.e., "dragged") over a course with a defined beginning and end.  After the scent has been laid, the hounds are released and riders on horseback follow the dogs.  

Drag hunts typically covered ten or more miles with the "hunt" divided into "legs."  The scent is laid on each "leg" of the course.  As each leg is completed, the hounds are gathered and held while the scent is laid on the next leg of the course.  

The principal purpose of a drag hunt is to allow the riders following the hounds to ride at high speed in a "natural" environment where fences, streams, underbrush, hedges, fallen trees, and other such obstructions serve as obstacles to be overcome by the horses and their riders.  Yet, at least in the 1880s, drag hunting was considered safer than fox hunting or even the related sport of trail hunting intended to simulate the hunt for a live fox.  In drag hunting, the path on which the scent is laid can be chosen carefully to ensure a thrilling ride but to make certain that obstacles are not too dangerous or difficult for the riders and their horses -- unlike the more random and devious path that might otherwise be chosen by a live fox or someone laying a scent for a trail hunt intended to simulate an escaping fox.  

The logistics underlying a drag hunt are understandably difficult.  First there is the challenge of obtaining the permission of nearby landowners (in a territory large enough to permit a thrilling hunt) to permit riders, their horses, and the dogs to cross their lands.  Then there is the matter of compensation for inadvertent damage to fences and crops, among other things, even if such permission is obtained.  Finally, such challenges were multiplied because the courses the hunts followed were rarely, if ever, the same so that the dogs, horses, and riders were always challenged.  Indeed, every drag hunt had a different starting point, typically distant from previous starting points.

On October 2, 1886, the Country Club opened its first formal hunt season.  It planned eight drag hunts during the month of October.  Its published schedule showed dates, starting locations and starting times as follows:

Sat., Oct. 2:  Starting from the Country Club at 2:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 6:  Starting from the Thomas Paine Monument in New Rochelle at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 9:  Starting from Corson's Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 13:  Starting from Mamaroneck at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 16:  Starting from Palmer's Four Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 20:  Starting from Larchmont at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 27:  Starting from Cooper's Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 30:  Starting from Pelhamville at 3:30 p.m.

At the outset of the 1886 hunt season, the Committee in charge of the sport announced that the Country Club had chosen the "drag hunt" form of riding to hounds for a number or reasons.  The announcement said:

"Ours is to be a drag-hunt, as that is the only kind that can be indulged in by men who have to devote most of their days to work and must have their runs, and take their exercise at a fixed hour.  The hounds are small, being not over 18 to 20 inches in height, and are what are called in England 'harriers'; they run at considerably less speed than for hounds, although they give more tongue.  They are much safer to follow by all those who enjoy seeing them work, and also enjoy spending a few hours in the open air, but who can not risk being laid up and kept away from their business by an accident."

The Country Club announcement, published in a local newspaper, also pleaded with local landowners to cooperate and grant the necessary permissions to permit the club's drag hunts to cross their lands.  The announcement included an invitation for all to ride to the hounds, at no expense, regardless of whether they were members of the club and offered the following arguments for why such hunts were beneficial to all and why such permission should be granted to the club:

"Before anything can be done in the matter, it is necessary to get your permission to ride across some of your property.  If any damage is done to fences or crops, it will be gladly, quickly and fully paid for.  We would like to say a few words in favor of hunting, to induce you to approve of it, in case you do not already do so.  A single ride across country will yield more exercise, fun and excitement than can be gotten out of a week of ordinary riding, besides laying in a stock of health.  It is one of the best and most manly of sports.  It requires courage, good temper and discretion, as well as the exercise of some of the best qualities of man, both physical and mental.  It is essentially an American sport for it is the only one that is open to everybody.  Anyone who can manage to keep a horse and come to a meet, can follow the hounds; and be his subscriptions small or nothing, it will neither affect his welcome nor his pleasure.  The expense of our pack is to be paid entirely by those who approve of, and are fond of the sport.  We should always like to have in the field a number of hard-riding farmers, who will certainly enjoy it, and who will find that the breeding and selling of good hunters is a very valuable part of their stock raising.  Moreover, the fact of having cross-country riding in Westchester will attract a number of men to that part of the county, who otherwise would not come there.  These are men of wealth, who are often induced to buy and settle on account of the sport they have, and on account of their attention being called to the beauties of the place, a fact which they otherwise would be ignorant of.  All real estate owners should certainly favor this project."

The Country Club only rode to the hounds for several years out of Pelham.  It moved its clubhouse to a larger facility on Throggs Neck in 1890.

"A MEET OF THE COUNTRY CLUB HOUNDS."

Source: 'MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS, New-York

Tribune, May 4, 1890, p. 20, cols. 4-6 (NOTE:  Paid

subscription required to access via this link).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

1916 Postcard View of Drag Hunt in Southern Pines,

North Carolina.  Photograph by E. C. Eddy.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *   

Below is the text of an article that appeared in the October 2, 1886 of the New Rochelle Pioneer that forms the basis of today's article.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"THE COUNTRY CLUB HUNT.

To-day, (Saturday, Oct. 2,) the first hunt of the Club will take place, starting from the Country Club House at 2:30, P.M.  The following is the official programme:

Saturday, October 2nd. Country Club, 2:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 6th, Tom Payne's [sic] Monum't, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 9th, Corson's Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 13th, Mamaroneck, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 16th, Palmer's Four Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 20th, Larchmont, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 27th, Cooper's Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 30th, Pelhamville, 3:30 P.M.

To the Property Owners of Westchester County:

DEAR SIR:  --  It is proposed to start a pack of hounds, this autumn, under the auspices of the Country Club at Pelham, which we trust will meet with your approval and encouragement.  Before anything can be done in the matter, it is necessary to get your permission to ride across some of your property.  If any damage is done to fences or crops, it will be gladly, quickly and fully paid for.

We would like to say a few words in favor of hunting, to induce you to approve of it, in case you do not already do so.

A single ride across country will yield more exercise, fun and excitement than can be gotten out of a week of ordinary riding, besides laying in a stock of health.  It is one of the best and most manly of sports.  It requires courage, good temper and discretion, as well as the exercise of some of the best qualities of man, both physical and mental.  It is essentially an American sport for it is the only one that is open to everybody.  Anyone who can manage to keep a horse and come to a meet, can follow the hounds; and be his subscriptions small or nothing, it will neither affect his welcome nor his pleasure.  The expense of our pack is to be paid entirely by those who approve of, and are fond of the sport.  We should always like to have in the field a number of hard-riding farmers, who will certainly enjoy it, and who will find that the breeding and selling of good hunters is a very valuable part of their stock raising.  

Moreover, the fact of having cross-country riding in Westchester will attract a number of men to that part of the county, who otherwise would not come there.  These are men of wealth, who are often induced to buy and settle on account of the sport they have, and on account of their attention being called to the beauties of the place, a fact which they otherwise would be ignorant of.  All real estate owners should certainly favor this project.

Ours is to be a drag-hunt, as that is the only kind that can be indulged in by men who have to devote most of their days to work and must have their runs, and take their exercise at a fixed hour.  The hounds are small, being not over 18 to 20 inches in height, and are what are called in England 'harriers'; they run at considerably less speed than for hounds, although they give more tongue.  They are much safer to follow by all those who enjoy seeing them work, and also enjoy spending a few hours in the open air, but who can not risk being laid up and kept away from their business by an accident.

Trusting that our project will not meet with your opposition, we remain, yours truly,

F. O. Beach, John C. Forman, H. N. Potter, J. M. Waterbury, Committee." 

Source:  THE COUNTRY CLUB HUNT, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 2, 1886, p. 3, col. 5.  

*          *          *          *          *

I have written extensively about The Country Club at Pelham and its famous steeplechase races, rides with the hounds, baseball games, polo matches, and other such events of the 1880's.  For a few of many more examples, see:  

Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.

Thu., Mar. 23, 2006:  Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884.

Tue., Apr. 14, 2009:  1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

Wed., Apr. 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Thu., Apr. 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.

Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.

Wed., Sep. 09, 2009:  1884 Engraving of Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Barometer, and His Owner and Rider, J. D. Cheever. 

Wed., Sep. 16, 2009:  September 1884 Advertisement for The Country Club Steeplechase.

Thu., Sep. 17, 2009:  Controversy in 1887 When The Country Club Tries to Dedicate a Large Area of Pelham as a Game Preserve.

Wed., Sep. 30, 2009:  Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between The Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.

Mon., Oct. 19, 2009:  Polo at the Country Club in Pelham in 1887.

Fri., Oct. 30, 2009:  Preparations for Annual Country Club Race Ball Held in Pelham in 1887.

Thu., Apr. 15, 2010:  Account of Baseball Game Played in Pelham on June 9, 1884: The Country Club Beat the Knickerbockers, 42 to 22.  

Tue., Feb. 25, 2014:  An Interesting Description of the Country Club at Pelham Published in 1884.

Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.  

Fri., Sep. 12, 2014:  Reference to an 1884 Baseball Game Between the Country Club of Pelham and Calumet.

Fri., Feb. 27, 2015:  Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889.

Thu., Jul. 16, 2015:  More on the History of the Country Club at Pelham in the 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 03, 2015:  A Major Tennis Tournament was Played in Pelham in 1885.

Tue., Feb. 09, 2016:  Polo Played in Pelham in 1887.

Wed., Sep. 07, 2016:  Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890

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

In late 1883, a group of Pelham Manor residents and New York City "club men" organized a new "Country Club" in Pelham Manor dedicated to the enjoyment of all "legitimate sports."  By 1884, the Club commenced operations on a 34-acre tract between Shore Road and the Long Island Sound with a club headquarters in the Italian Villa-style mansion known as "Oakshade" built some forty years earlier by well-known Hudson River School artist David Lydig Suydam.  The club grounds were located adjacent to the Bartow-Pell property.

I have written extensively of the history of the mansion used by the Country Club as its clubhouse during the 1980s.  See Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.

"Oakshade," the Mansion Built by David Lydig

Suydam on Shore Road and Used as the Clubhouse of

the Country Club at Pelham During the 1880s.

Photograph Taken on May 17, 1924.  Source:

William R. Montgomery Glass Negative and

Lantern Slide Collection, Courtesy of the Office

of the Historian of the Town of Pelham. NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

By 1889, the Country Club at Pelham Manor was thriving.  It was outgrowing its facility on Shore Road.  The Club, however, was organized at precisely the time New York City was engaged in purchasing estates in the region to develop Pelham Bay Park (before annexing the region, as a park, into the city in 1895). 

The handwriting was on the wall for the Club's Shore Road facility in the old Suydam estate that stood in the midst of what shortly would become a public New York City Park.  In 1889, the Country Club at Pelham Manor decided to move a few hundred yards away across Pelham Bridge onto Throggs Neck on the opposite side of Pelham Bay.  

On May 4, 1890, the New-York Tribune published a magnificent article, with sketches, describing not only the origins of the club, but also its lovely new facility on Throggs Neck.  Although the article included mistaken dates on the origins of the club, it provided a wealth of information about the early years of the club and information about the new clubhouse and surrounding acreage.  

When considered in the context of what is reliably known of the history of the Country Club at Pelham Manor, the New-York Tribune article adds an important part to the story of the history of the club.  Setting aside clearly erroneous dates (such as the telephone conversations in 1875, one year before the telephone was invented), it appears that in the autumn of 1883, James M. Waterbury sat down at the telephone in his lovely home known as "Pleasance" near Bartow-on-the-Sound and asked "Central" (i.e., the operator) successively to ring each of thirteen significant members of the New York social scene to discuss setting "up a club for the encouragement of country fun of various kinds."

Importantly, the article documents the thirteen men whom Waterbury called that day.  Waterbury and those thirteen men together became the "Governing Committee" of the club and remained so for many years.  Those men were:  George A. Adee, Henry A. Coster, John S. Ellis, John C. Furman, Edward Haight, Charles D. Ingersoll, C. Oliver Iselin, Frederick W. Jackson, Colonel De Lancey Kane, E. C. Potter, Alfred Seton, Jr., Thomas W. Thorne, James M. Waterbury, and Francis A. Watson.  According to the article, during each of those important telephone calls, James M. Waterbury:  

"invited them all to his house to perfect the idea over a jolly supper, with its usual accompaniments.  It is needless to say that they all came and that the club organization was accomplished with enthusiasm and a rush.  The assembled organizers constituted themselves the governing committee, and James M. Waterbury was elected president; W. S. Hoyt, vice-president; William Kent, secretary, and H. A. Coster, treasurer.  During the winter the new project was a leading topic of conversation in Westchester County, and in New-York society was greatly interested in its success."

A great success it was.  The Country Club, as it was known, outgrew its facilities and moved across Pelham Bridge only six years later.  The images below, and the text of the article, shed much light on the club's move and its new facility.

Detail from 1893 Map Showing Location of the

Country Club After It Moved Across Eastchester

Bay Onto Throggs Neck.  Note Not Only the

Polo Grounds, But Also the Nearby Homes of

a Number of Club Members Including President

James M. Waterbury and Pierre Lorillard Jr.  The

Area Is Now Covered by the So-Called Bronx-

Pelham Landfill.  Source:  Bien, Julius R.,

"Towns of Westchester and Pelham [with]

Villages of Westchester and Unionport [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, p. 3 (NY, NY: Julius Bien & Co., 1893).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

"THE CLUB HOUSE ON PELHAM BAY."
Source:  'MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS,

New-York Tribune, May 4, 1890, p. 20, cols.

4-6 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to

access via this link).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

"A MEET OF THE COUNTRY CLUB HOUNDS."
Source:  'MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS,

New-York Tribune, May 4, 1890, p. 20, cols.

4-6 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to

access via this link).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

"FIREPLACE IN THE ASSEMBLY ROOM."
Source:  'MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS,

New-York Tribune, May 4, 1890, p. 20, cols.

4-6 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to

access via this link).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"'MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS.
-----
DAY PASTIMES AT THE COUNTRY CLUB.
-----
A DESCRIPTION OF THE HANDSOME HOUSE AND BEAUTIFUL GROUNDS - SKETCH OF THE ORGANIZATION - WHO ITS MEMBERS ARE.

Telephones have been used for almost all purposes, some decidedly good, some decidedly bad, and some indifferent.  Matches have been made by telephone, courtships have been carried on over them, and lovers' quarrels over the wire have often afforded amusement for the young women usually known and addressed as 'Central.'  To get a fair idea of the possibilities of the telephone, however, one must see the Country Club of Westchester County.  This fashionable and prosperous organization, with its 117 acres of land (worth between $3,000 and $4,000 an acre), its magnificent new club-house on Pelham Bay, and its membership roll of 450 of the best-known names in and about New-York, was, strange as it may seem, organized by telephone.

It was on an autumn evening in 1875 [sic; typographical error; intended as1885, though the club was conceived in 1883 and organized in 1884] that James M. Waterbury went to the telephone in his luxurious library at 'Pleasance,' his country place near Bartow-on-the-Sound, and, much to the disgust of the young woman at the central office, called up successively George A. Adee, Henry A. Coster, John S. Ellis, John C. Furman, Edward Haight, Charles D. Ingersoll, C. Oliver Iselin, Frederick W. Jackson, Colonel De Lancey Kane, E. C. Potter, Alfred Seton, Jr., Thomas W. Thorne and Francis A. Watson.

To each of the fourteen he expressed his opinion that it would be a decidedly good idea to get up a club for the encouragement of country fun of various kinds, and by way of starting the ball rolling, he invited them all to his house to perfect the idea over a jolly supper, with its usual accompaniments.  It is needless to say that they all came and that the club organization was accomplished with enthusiasm and a rush.  The assembled organizers constituted themselves the governing committee, and James M. Waterbury was elected president; W. S. Hoyt, vice-president; William Kent, secretary, and H. A. Coster, treasurer.  During the winter the new project was a leading topic of conversation in Westchester County, and in New-York society was greatly interested in its success.

A HOUSE SECURED.

During the winter the organizers had several meetings, and on January 1 the old Morris homestead was leased and dedicated to the cause of good-fellowship.  In the spring the club moved into the house, and from that time until this there has been no doubt about the club's success.

Polo was taken up with the formation of the club, but it was not until 1886 that the members went in for hunting.  In that year Mr. Waterbury bought a pack of hounds and presented them to the club.  Since then drag hunting has become popular, and it is now carried on with more attention to detail than is usual with this form of sport.

Three or four years ago members of the Country Club began to see that more room would soon be needed, and that the old Morris place, beautiful as it was, was decidedly too cramped for comfort.  It was with an illy conceived pang that the members thought of giving up the picturesque old red house, with its broad lawns and gigantic trees.  Pleasant associations were connected with its every foot of ground.  Fascinating architectural drawings and visions of larger rooms for dancing, dining and ordinary accommodation at length reconciled those to whom the old place seemed dearest, and the moving and changes have been accomplished most satisfactorily.  A year ago last October the club bought the old Van Antwerp place on Pelham Bay, and just a year from the date of the purchase the new house was finished and ready to be occupied.

The new house is pure Colonial in style, and a pleasant departure from the Queen Anne designs in country architecture.  The exterior is of unstained shingles, the color of which has been agreeably softened by exposure to the elements.  The balconies, balustrades and trimmings of the porches are of white.  From the porch on the water-front side a fine view of the Sound's blue waters may be enjoyed, and the long line of deck chairs now ranged upon it shows that the view is appreciated.

THE HANDSOME OLD GATE.

The first thing that strikes the visitor to the Country Club is the massive stone gateway through which the house is approached.  This gate way formerly adorned the Castle Inn at New-Rochelle, and was presented to the club.  It is thoroughly in keeping with the old-looking house, and is an antiquarian treasure of which every member has reason to be proud.

As the visitor enters the house his attention is attracted by the main hall.  It reaches through the water-front side, where it terminates in a bay window as large as a gamekeeper's cottage.  This window is truly a fascinating spot for engaged couples.  The view from it tends to inspire sentiment, and the soft draperies screen its occupants from the unhallowed gaze of incorrigible bachelors and helpless Benedicts.

INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE.

In the hall is a fireplace of exceptionally beautiful design, and, like the woodwork of the apartment, it is entirely of white.  The walls are in a delicate shade of terra-cotta.  The apartment is twenty-five feet broad by thirty-six feet long.  To the left of the entrance hall is a smaller hall, from which a true Colonial staircase leads to the regions above.  At the right of the entrance hall is a smaller hall, from which a true Colonial staircase leads to the regions above.  At the right of the entrance is the women's drawing-room, which is, like the hall, fitted in white and furnished in the daintiest French way.  Beyond the drawing-room is the dining room, its walls richly colored in yellow and deep olive green.  The room is twenty-five by thirty-one feet, and a large fireplace, together with its warm walls and ceiling, makes it an unusually comfortable winter apartment.  Adjoining the drawing-room is the great assembly-room, the largest apartment in the building.  It is thirty-two by fifty-three feet and finished in oak.  Burning logs crackle in the enormous fireplace in winter, and after a long and cold drive this room is about the best place to get warm at within reach of New-Yorkers.  The assembly-room is decidedly the favorite lounging place of the members.  In it are the billiard and pool tables and files of papers and periodicals of all kinds, from sporting to religious.

Beyond the assembly-room is the card-room, complete and comfortable in every detail.  At the back of the main dining-room are two private dining-rooms, either of which will seat a score of feasters.  Beyond them is the butler's pantry and a most commodious series of 'offices.'

Upstairs are the sleeping apartments for the use of members.  The bachelors have their snug quarters in the western wing, while the dainty boudoirs and sleeping-rooms of the women are at the other end of the house.

AQUATIC AND OTHER SPORTS.

The choice of the site for the house was particularly happy.  To the water there stretches away a series of terraces that are utilized for tennis and for pigeon shooting.  George A. Adee, the chairman of the Tennis and Boating Committee, has left nothing undone that will help along his two special sports, and everything in his department is in shape for the summer season.  Comfortable piers, boathouses and floats are in readiness, and the sailing of small craft will begin shortly.

There is no doubt that gayety at and about the Country Club will be more continuous this summer than ever before.  From the first the organization had fewer existing difficulties to contend with than most similar organizations.  Westchester has been a county of country seats for many generations, and there were enough influential families in the neighborhood to take hold of the enterprise at its beginning and secure its social success.  And if the friendly neighbors had not been enough, the Country Club Land Association would have caused the same result.  Cottages (in reality mansions) have during the last year sprung up like mushrooms on the association's property.  Among those who have built are E. C. Potter, M. T. Campbell, C. P. Marsh, Howard Gallup, who leased his house to J. Borden Harriman, S. A. Reed, Pierrepont Edwards, who rebuilt the old Ferris house, Heward McAllister and Duncan Marshall.

The races at Morris Park will give members who ordinarily remain in town a good excuse for visiting the club, and during the meetings it is likely that the house will be crowded.

OTHER AMUSEMENTS.

Among the other attractions for this summer are the polo games, which will be played in June, and the afternoon teas, which will be begun shortly.  The public coach will materially increase the number of men who will occasionally go up from town, and if any Country Clubman imagines he will be popular as a 'squire of dames' on account of the scarcity of men, he will find himself mistaken.

The present officers of the club are:  President, James M. Waterbury; vice president, Colonel De Lancey Kane; treasurer, John S. Ellis, and secretary, Edward Haight.  The founders still act as a governing committee, and the chairmen of the various sub-committees are:  House and Grounds, F. W. Jackson; Tennis and Boating, George A. Adee; Races, James M. Waterbury; Shooting, C. Oliver Iseline; and Stable and Polo, E. C. Potter.

WHO THE MEMBERS ARE:

The membership list is as follows:  Edwin M. Adee, Ernest R. Adee, Frederic W. Adee, George A. Adee, Philip H. Adee, John G. Agar, R. Percy Alden, J. H. Alexandre, F. H. Allen, Philip Allen, Edward Anthon, Charles A. Appleton, Francis A. Appleton, William Waldorf Astor, F. McN. Bacon, Jr., George F. Baker, C. C. Baldwin, E. Baldwin, F. H. Baldwin, David S. Banks, James Barnes, John C. Barron, Theodore Bartow, G. W. Bartholomew, Charles S. Bates, D. K. Bayne, F. O. Beach, W. C. Beach, R. L. Beeckman, L. J. Belloni, Jr., August Belmont, Jr., Perry Belmont, Le Grand L. Benedict, James Gordon Bennett, Henry W. Bibby, R. C. Black, Ernest C. Bliss, Eugene S. Blois, John Bloodgood, Jr., H. A. Borrowe, J. A. Bostwick, Charles S. Boyd, William Lewis Boyle, George S. Bowdoin, Sidney Bradford, Henry M. Braem, James L. Breese, Frederic Bronson, M. W. Bronson, G. B. Brown, H. P. Brown, W. L. Brown, Carroll Bryce, T. C. Buck, O. W. Buckingham, E. H. Buckley, Jr., R. M. Bull, H. H. Burden, H. Burden, 2d, Drayton Burrill, William V. Burrill, McCoskry Butt, Ernest Carter, D. E. Cameron, M. T. Campbell, Clarence Cary, Hamilton W. Carr, R. G. Cary, W. H. Caswell, W. R. Chamberlain, Louis R. M. Chanler, W. V. Chapin, H. H. Chittenden, Percy Chubb, Crawford Clark, A. W. S. Cochrane, M. D. Collier, P. F. Collier, Howard Conklin, James C. Cooley, W. B. Cooper, W. A. Copp, Henry A. Coster, J. Leslie Cotton, R. Flemming Crooks, Philip Cross, S. V. R. Cruger, M. de la Cueva, C. M. Cumming, F. K. Curtis, F. B. Cutting, William Cutting, Jr., J. A. Davenport, J. W. A. Davis, M. V. B. Davis, A. De Bary, G. B. De Forest, P. R. De Florez, F. P. Delafield, Q. L. Delafield, Leon Del Monte, A. De Navarro, John De Ruyter, C. D. Dickey, C. D. Dickey, Jr., Hugh T. Dickey, G. E. Dickinson, A. M. Dodge, C. H. Dodge, N. W. Dodge, Arthur Duane, W. Butler Duncan, Jr., Godfrey Dunscombe, Stanley Dwight, Elisha Dyer, 3d, E. T. Dyer, D. Cady Eaton, Newbold Edgar, J. Pierrepont Dwards, A. V. H. Ellis, John S. Ellis, R. N. Ellis, H. C. Emmet, J. P. Emmet, T. H. Faile, Jr., Floyd Ferris, W. Gordon Fellows, T. P. Field, T. R. Fisher, Stuyvesant Fish, W. B. Fitts, C. R. Flint, Frederic Flower, W. C. Floyd Jones, Girard Foster, Theodore Frelinghuysen, Amos T. French, George B. French, C. F. Frothingham, John C. Furman, J. R. Furman, S. H. Furman, Albert Gallup, Howard Gallup, J. A. Gargulio, M. J. de Garmendia, H. E. Gawtry, J. W. Gerard, Jr., W. C. Gibson, J. L. Gladwin, H. S. Glover, W. E. Glyn, E. L. Godkin, G. De F. Grant, R. Suydam Grant, G. H. Gray, H. Winthrop Gray, W. C. Gulliver, J. W. Smith Hadden, E. Haight, F. A. Haight, G. A. Haines, W. H. Harrison, Jr., J. A. Harriman, J. Borden Harriman, Oliver Harriman, W. M. Harriman, H. P. Hatch, W. D. Hatch, C. F. Havemeyer, F. C. Havemeyer, T. A. Havemeyer, Jr., T. J. Havemeyer, G. G. Haven, Jr., E. M. Hawkes, R. S. Hayes, R. Henderson, W. H. Henriques, P. CooperHewitt, C. C. Higgins, Center Hitchcck, Thomas Hitchcock, Jr., C. B. Hoffman, W. H. Hollister, G. H. Holt, Henry Holt, R. G. Hone, M. Howland, Jr., Colgate Hoyt, Goold Hoyt, E. W Humphreys, Arthur M. Hunter, Frank K. Hunter, Seymour L. Husted, Jr., Lewis M. Iddings, Charles D. Ingersoll, N. G. Ingraham, Richard Irvin, Jr., Adrian Iselin, Adrian Iselin, Jr., C. Oliver Iselin, Columbus O'D. Iselin, Isaac Iselin, W. E. Iselin, William M. Ivins, Lawrence Jacob, Frank W. Jackson, Frederic W. Jackson, William H. Jackson, William Jay, F. M. Jencks, Frederic B. Jennings, Oliver G. Jennings, Walter Jennings, Leonard W. Jerome, Elliott Johnson, Jr. Harry M. Jones, C. F. Judson, Colonel DeLancey Kane, S. Nicholson Kane, Woodbury Kane, Horace R. Kelly, Edward Kemeys, W. B. Kindall, H. Van R. Kennedy, William Kent, Martin J. Keogh, Percy R. King, C. L. Knapp, Benjamin Knower, Adolph Ladenburg, C. Grant La Farge, R. M. Laimbeer, F. G. Landon, Charles Lanier, J. F. D. Lanier, David Lapsley, John Howard Latham, Prescott Lawrence, J. Bowers Lee, Charles H. Leland, Robert W. Leonard, Newbold LeRoy, Edward Livingston, Philip L. Livingston, J. Brown Lord, Jacob Lorillard, Jacob Lorillard, Jr., Larkis L. Lorillard, Pierre Lorillard, Pierre Lorillard, Jr., James B. Ludlow, William T. Lusk, E. T. Lynch, Jr., Gordon MacDonald, DeForest Maurice, S. Duncan Marshall, Bradley Martin, C. P. Marsh, Heyward McAllister, G. F. McCandless, N. L. McCready, George W. McGill, W. Harry McGill, H. G. McVickar, James B. Metcalfe, H. Ray Miller, Philip S. Miller, Abrham Mills, E. D. Morgan, J. Pierpont Morgan, Gouverneur W. Morris, J. A. Morris, A. Hennon Morris, D. Hennon Morris, Richard Mortimer, Jordan L. Mott, Jr., H. W. Monroe, J. Archibald Murray, W. S. Neilson, R. Lanfear Norrie, Oliver N. Northcote, Walter G. Oakman, John R. Ogden, William Butler Ogden, T. L. Onativia, H. Osborn, Henry C. Overing, J. Seaver Page, R. S. Palmer, H. DeB. Parsons, F. Pearson, Charles S. Pelham Clinton, H. Archibald Pell, Dr. G. A. Peters, H. D. Phelps, Lloyd Phoenix, H. W. Poor, Clarence Postley, E. C. Potter, Howard N. Potter, Julian Potter, R. F. Potter, R. M. B. Potter, F. J. Pultz, J. Henry Purdy, W. M. Purdy, Percy R. Pyne, Jr., Moses Taylor Pyne, G. W. Quintard, Edmund Randolph, James Raymond, George R. Reed, Henry S. Redmond, Roland Redmond, Nathaniel Reynal, Albert S. Reed, T. J. Oakley Rhinelander, Sidney D. Ripley, R. W. Rives, S. Howland Robbins, Charles M. Robinson, Fairman Rogers, George L. Ronalds, J. Roosevelt Roosevelt, Archibald D. Russel, Charles H. Russell, Jr., S. Howland Russell, William H. Russell, John A. Rutherfurd, A. H. Sands, C. E. Sands, Harry N. Sands, W. D. Sands, W. C. Sanford, J. F. Schenck, F. A. Schermerhorn, J. E. Schermerhorn, E. S. Schieffelin, Frederic Schuchardt, William Schramm, John S. Screven, W. X. Sellar, Alfred Seton, Jr., F. W. Sharon, N. S. Simpkins, H. T. Sloane, J. C. Smith, J. G. Smith, W. B. Smith, Grenville Snelling, Victor Sorchon, Lorillard Spencer, H. L. Sprague, Henry Stanton, S. H. Sterett, B. K. Stevens, J. S. Smith, Joseph Stickney, H. R. Stokes, W. E. D. Stokes, Marion Story, F. K. Sturgis, A. Van H. Stuyvesant, E. N. Tailer, J. Lee Tailer, Alexander Taylor, Jr., H. A. Taylor, Oliver Summer Teall, P. G. Thebaud, P. L. Thebaud, Roland Thomas, F. S. Thompson, T. W. Thorne, Newberry D. Thorne, W. K. Thorne, Jr., J. Kennedy Tod, Jr., John S. Tooker, Stevenson Towle, H. G. Trevor, R. J. Turnbull, G. E. Turnure, W. McK. Twombly, J. J. Van Alen, P. J. M. Van Cotlandt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, W. K. Vanderbilt, Cortlandt S. Van Rensselaer, J. K. Van Rensselaer, Herman Vogel, J. H. Wainwright, J. T. Wainwright, W. P. Wainwright, Jr., George S. Wallen, R. M. L. Walsh, Raymond L. Ward, James M. Waterbury, Francis A. Watson, R. H. C. Watson, E. H. Weatherbee, John C. Westervelt, Dr. W. Seward Webb, C. W. Wetmore, William C. Whitney, Worthington Whitehouse, William Whitlock, F. W. Whitridge, M. Orme Wilson, R. T. Wilson, Jr., F. L. Winslow, Frederic J. Winston, E. L. Winthrop, Charles R. Wissmann, F. DeR. Wissmann, P. R. Wyckoff, George F. Wyeth, A Murray Young, Fernando Yznaga, John A. Zerega, T. C. Zerega, Lieutenant F. S. Carter, U.S.N.; the Rev. F. M. Clendenin, the Rev. Charles Higbee, Captain John H. Coster, U. S. A.; Captain R. T. Emmet, U. S. A.; and Surgeon H. L. Haskell, U. S. A."

Source:  MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS -- DAY PASTIMES AT THE COUNTRY CLUB -- A DESCRIPTION OF THE HANDSOME HOUSE AND BEAUTIFUL GROUNDS - SKETCH OF THE ORGANIZATION - WHO ITS MEMBERS ARE, New-York Daily Tribune, May 4, 1890, p. 20, cols. 4-6 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

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