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, January 26, 2018

Why Were the Leaders of Early Pelham Villages Titled "Presidents" Rather than Mayors?


When the Village of Pelham Manor incorporated in 1891, followed by the Villages of Pelham and North Pelham which both incorporated in 1896, each of the villages and their boards of trustees was led by a "President" who served a one-year term -- not a "Mayor."  Today, of course, our two villages are led by Mayors, not Presidents.  What changed and when did it change?

The answer, as one might expect, is that the applicable village law changed.  In 1927, New York Stated amended its village law effective July 1, 1927.  On that dated, all incumbent Village Presidents throughout New York State were re-designated as Village Mayors.  Thus, on that date, President Elliott C. House of Pelham Manor, President Maxwell B. Nesbitt of Pelham, and President James Reilly of North Pelham became the Mayors of their respective villages.  Additionally, each enjoyed the good fortune of having their one-year term extended to a new two-year term as the amended law provided.  See N.Y.S. Village Law, Ch. 650 (effective Jul. 1, 1927).

On that day in 1927, the concept of "Presidents" of the Pelhams faded into the history of our small Town of Pelham. 

"GOOD MORNING, MR. MAYOR!  MAYOR HOUSE of
Pelham Manor -- MAYOR NESBITT of Pelham -- MAYOR
REILLY of North Pelham.  These three chief executives of
the Pelham Villages today assume their new titles according
to the provisions of the amended law relating to the village
government.  All of them are in office for two years under the
new statutes."  Source:  GOOD MORNING MR. MAYOR!,
The Pelham Sun, Jul. 1, 1927, p. 4, cols. 2-4.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"Mayors To Relieve Village Presidents
-----
New Village Law Tenders Higher Honor on Village Chief Executive
-----

'Hizzoner the Mayor!'

After July 1, the Chief Executive of the three Pelham villages will be known by the lofty titles of Mayors.  Under the amended Village Law which becomes effective on that date the office of Village President is discontinued and the incumbent is designated as the Mayor of the Village.  It is thus that James Reilly, Elliott C. House and Maxwell B. Nesbitt presiding officers of the local Boards of Village Trustees will be known in their official capacity.

Among other changes in the village law is the appointment of a village assessor who will prepare the assessment roll of the village before November 1.  Taxes for the succeeding year will be collected on this roll.  Heretofore the Village Trustees have made assessments in the spring of the year and collected current taxes on the current roll.

Opportunity is afforded the taxpayers to inspect the roll in time for Grievance Day which has been set between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15."

Source:  Mayors To Relieve Village Presidents -- New Village Law Tenders Higher Honor on Village Chief Executive, The Pelham Sun, Jun. 10, 1927, Vol. 18, No. 16, p. 1, col. 5.


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Friday, August 28, 2015

North Pelham Blacksmith James Reilly Was Known as "Honest Jim Reilly" for a Reason



Honest Jim Reilly, who served as President and Mayor of the Village of North Pelham for ten years, was a village blacksmith who became a North Pelham resident whose personality was larger than life.  A political lightning rod, his escapades and deeds were the stuff of legend during the earliest years of the 20th century.  I have written about Honest Jim Reilly on a number of occasions.  See:

Mon., Jun. 08, 2015:  Was "Honest Jim Reilly" Really So Honest? Blacksmith and, Later, Politician in the Village of North Pelham Died in 1937.

Fri., May 22, 2015:  History of Pelham's Beloved "Nott Steamer" Known as "Jim Reilly's Boiler."

Fri., Feb. 27, 2009:  More on the 1906 Village of North Pelham Elections in Which the Village Blacksmith Surprised Republicans and Democrats Alike and Won

Fri., July 8, 2005:  How Did a Village Blacksmith Win the 1906 North Pelham Election by Cornering the Market on Sleighs? 

Wed., Aug. 17, 2005:  More on the Village Blacksmith Who Won the 1906 North Pelham Election by Cornering the Market on Sleighs.

In 1929, long-time North Pelham resident J. Gardiner Minard, a friend of James Reilly, wrote an article for the local newspaper, The Pelham Sun, in which he recounted two fascinating anecdotes, one of which affirmed Honest Jim Reilly's honesty.  Both articles shed light on what North Pellham and Pelham Heights were like when horses ruled the roads and the local blacksmith was essential to functioning local transportation. 



Honest Jim Reilly at the Age of 72 in 1935.
The Pelham Sun, Dec. 6, 1935, Vol. 26, No. 35,
Second Section, p. 1, cols. 3-5.
NOTE: Click Image To Enlarge.

Immediately below is J. Gardiner Minard's entertaining article, followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"REILLY AS VILLAGE BLACKSMITH LOVED THAT HONESTY IS BEST POLICY
-----
Another Story Of Early Pelham.  How An Unscrupulous Coachman Attempted To Use the Village Blacksmith To Further His Own Financial End, But He Reckoned Without Reilly
-----
By J. Gardiner Minard
-----

Last month I told the story of the fire department snap harness and how George P. Robbins of Pelham Heights contributed $25 towards its purchase.  Mr. Robbins lived in the large residence which is now the Cole apartment on Pelhamdale avenue, near First street, Pelham Heights.

In the rear, which has also been converted into an apartment called the Highbrook Arms, was his immense barn and stables.  He had a string of twleve very fine coach, carriage and saddle horses which were his pride.  His harness room resembled an exhibition with its dazzling rows of single and double sets of brass, nickel and silver mounted harness.  The coach room had open and closed carriages of all descriptions, including a tally-ho.  These skyscrapers on wheels, which had almost disappeared in these parts until recently revived, are practically unknown to the younger generation.  Two or three times a week the residents of Pelhams were aroused by the bugle notes and rushed to windows and doors to view with pride the Robbins family and guests dashing along with their tally-ho drawn by four spirited horses.  Robbins and the coachman were on the front seat and the guests with Mrs. Robbins in the other two seats, while on a step in the rear, was the footman.

This footman's name was Wellman, a short, fat Englishman who was a thypical John Bull in dress as well as stature.  He wore a short top hat, yellow breeches and top boots.  He even wore the mutton chop side whiskers.  It was his duty to toot the horn.

Away they go about the streets of the town and then a spin a few miles to some road house for a meal, after which they would return to Pelham.  Their departure and return was a rival attraction to the fire company responding to an alarm.

The most fashionable event in the county was the annual horse show of the Westchester County elite, which was held at the old fair grounds at White Plains, and the people of Pelham persuaded Mr. Robbins to enter the tally-ho contest.  The Pelhamites were always looking for new worlds to conquer and felt sure Robbins would capture the trophy.  Little did he know that to do this he must compete with such experienced drivers as William K. Vanderbilt, Harry Payne Whitney, Mrs. Kernoghan, Hamilton Fish, Foxhall Keene and Herman Gelrich, but he entered his name.

There was a goodly attendance from Pelham when he entered the arena, but trouble developed.  Scattered all over the place were artificial barriers, fences, gates, trees, hedges, boxes, barrels, etc., and he was expected to worm his horses and trap around them without colliding.  Driving through the streets of the Pelhams was easy, but this was another matter, and after he had knocked down everything in his way he was ordered out of the ring before he could complete the work of demolition.

In concluding with the following anecdote, let the reader banish all thoughts of politics and consider only the moral contained therein.  In those days, James Reilly had a blacksmith and horseshoeing shop on Fifth avenue on the site of the present Westchester and Boston station.  He had a shock of coal black hair and long moustache, neither containing a single gray hair.  It was a hard struggle in those days to pay rent for both hoe and shop and at the same time raise his little family, and he worked often late into the night by the light of a dingy central burner kerosene lamp which was suspended from a brace in the roof.  The price for shoeing a horse all around in those days was $1.50, out of which the coachman expected to receive a quarter for bringing the trade.  It took a lot of shoeing to earn a decent day's pay.

Any blacksmith can nail shoes on a horse, but not all can do it properly.  You have often seen a horse with raw sores on the ankle.  This is caused by the ankles rubbing together and is called 'interfering.'  Improper shoeing is generally the reason for this and the ordinary horseshoer would advise the owner to buy leather boots to prevent the ankles chafing.  You have also seen a horse trotting along the street and heard a constant click, click.  This is called over-reaching and is the shoe on the descending hind foot striking the shoe on the rising front foot.

Now Reilly was more than a horseshoer and blacksmith.  He was a farrier; [NOTE:  "Farrier" is a British term for a formally-trained blacksmith.] and in the old country where he learned the trade, it was first necessary for the apprentice to master the anatomy of a horse's foot, Reilly knew as well what was inside the foot as outside.  He could cut or burn out a corn; treat a thrush; he knew how to trim the frog and how much of the hoof should be removed.  By shifting the weights on the shoes he could stop interfering and over-reaching.  Robbins was very particular about his horses and insisted every one be shod all around each month, regardless the amount of work the animal had done or the condition of the shoes.  As an extra inducement for special attention he paid $2.50 each, or $1 extra for each horse.  This made Robbins a customer that any horse shoer would fight for.  Reilly did all his shoeing.

One summer the Robbins family left for a six weeks' sojourn in Europe.  A month passed and the Robbins family did not put in an appearance at the shop.  Reilly wondered at this but knowing of the absence of the family decided that instructions not to have the horses shod must have been given.

Three days before Robbins was scheduled to return, the footman dressed in the latest style, strutted into the shop.  Reilly was shoeing William Barry's white horse and was holding the rear foot between his knees and rasping the hoof.  'Jim,' he said sharply.  'Robbins will be home on the steamer Saturday and I want you to make out a bill for shoeing the horses last month and when you get the check turn it over to me.'

Reilly looked up from his work and said:  'the horses were not here last month.'

'Never mind; do as I tell you,' replied Wellman impatiently.

Reilly put the horse's foot on the floor and straightened up and, walking up to Wellman said, 'now let's get this thing right; Robbins' horses were not here last month, but you want me to make out a bill for shoeing them all and when Robbins sends me the money, you want me to give it to you?'

'Precisely,' replied Wellman.

'Well, you can go to hell!' exclaimed Reilly.

'All right:  I will take the horses away from here,' replied Wellman angrily.

I was in the shop at the time and told Reilly to see Robbins when he returned and tell hime what had happened, but Reilly replied, 'No; if he wants to hire a thief, let him find out for himself.'

True to his threat, when Robbins returned he informed hi that Reilly was not shoeing the horses properly and was told to take them to some other shop.

Now let us see what followed.  A short time later there came a crash in Wall Street and Robbins' fortune was wiped out.  Mrs. Robbins, who had a fortune of her own, turned it over to him to help wipe out the debts and they lost everything.  About two years later Robbins died, broken in health and spirit. Wellman died soon after and Mrs. Robbins, as brave a little woman as ever lived, gave music lessons on the violin to raise money to support her two children.  If ever a smiling face covered an aching heart, it was here, for she never lost her sunny disposition.  She, took died recently.  But Reilly prospered and since the event has served ten years successively as president and mayor of North Pelham.  Here at least is one instance where honesty paid."

Source:  REILLY AS VILLAGE BLACKSMITH LOVED THAT HONESTY IS BEST POLICY -Another Story Of Early Pelham.  How An Unscrupulous Coachman Attempted To Use the Village Blacksmith To Further His Own Financial End, But He Reckoned Without Reilly, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 26, 1929, p. 12, cols. 1-4.

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

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Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Stories About The Old Wolf Homestead in Pelhamville, Told by J. Gardiner Minard


For many years there stood in Pelhamville a house built by Anthony Wolf.  It stood on the north side of Third Street between today's Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.  The home was said by many to be the oldest home in the Village of North Pelham.  It stood along a dirt pathway barely wide enough for a single horse and cart.  That simple, unpaved roadway followed a pathway once carved into the countryside by local Native Americans that ran parallel to the Hutchinson River.  The pathway extended from the Boston Turnpike (today's Boston Post Road) all the way to the little house built by Anthony Wolf.  Today we know that little country lane as Wolfs Lane and Fifth Avenue.  

In about 1898, Henry Straehle, Sr. and his wife took possession of the Anthony Wolf home.  They redesigned the interior and converted the home into a boarding house.  Henry Straehle also installed bottling equipment and, later, refrigeration equipment in the basement.  He operated a soda bottling business from the basement for about a decade.  Straehle sold and delivered his bottled sodas along a route that covered mostly City Island and Mount Vernon, although he had some soda bottling business customers in Pelham.  I have written about Henry Straehle, Sr. and his bottling business before.  See Fri., Jul. 11, 2014:  Bottlers Who Operated in the Pelhams in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries.



Anthony Wolf Farmhouse in an Undated Photograph.
Photograph Courtesy of The Office of The Historian
of the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

In 1908 or 1909 (J. Gardiner Minard believes it was 1909), the Wolf homestead was moved to make way for the Fifth Avenue Station and the tracks of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway that once passed through the Village of North Pelham.  The home was moved around the block to 210 Sixth Avenue.

J. Gardiner Minard was a former Pelham newspaperman who became one of the oldest residents of the Village of North Pelham.  He once boarded at the Wolf Homestead while it was operated by Mrs. Straehle as a boarding house.  Periodically Minard wrote about his reminiscences of Pelhamville and the early days of the Village of North Pelham.  In 1938 and 1939, he published in The Pelham Sun a three-part series in which he recounted anecdotes about the old Anthony Wolf Homestead.  The text of each of those three articles, followed by citations and links to their sources, appear immediately below.

"THE OLD DAYS 
By
J. GARDINER MINARD

In another column of The Pelham Sun is a legal ad that will probably be noticed by about one reader in a hundred; and about one in ten of those will read it through with interest.  It is a foreclosure sale of the house and lot on the east side of Sixth avenue between Fourth and Third streets.  More properly it may be identified as 210 Sixth avenue.  It is the Wolf homestead.  The oldest house in North Pelham, it stood originally on an acre of ground on the north side of Third street from Fifth to Sixth avenues.  In 1909 the property was sold to the new Boston and Westchester and the house moved to its present location.  The house has a peculiar interest to me for it was the house that I gave as my home when I enlisted in 1917 and it so appears in my enlistment papers.

But here is another story; in 1908 on a bright June morning I was seated on the front porch when my attention was attracted by a short, stout man:  almost bald, with ruddy face and snow white moustache.  He was coming up the driveway, his eyes sweeping the entire front of the building and smiling broadly.  He greeted me cordially and said:

'I am Andy Wolf; the last of the tribe.  I was born in this house and a short time ago a notion occurred to me to find out whether the house was still standing and, if so, to see it once more before I die.  I wrote a friend to that effect and he replied that the house was still standing so I have come all the way from California to see it.'

I called Mrs. Straehle who gave him a hearty greeting and after explaining that she was very busy, asked me to show him over the house.  We first went down the stone steps to the basement and his eyes danced with joy as he identified the flat slabs of sandstone with which the areaway was paved and remarked that his father laid those stones.  He chuckled upon entering the kitchen in the basement and remarked that his family also had used the basement for a kitchen but the wood burner had given way to a coal range and there was no hot water boiler then.  We entered the cellar but he was not so sure of himself as now it was filled with bottling machinery and and a big ice box had been built there; but he showed some excitement when he pointed to the girder and floor beams overhead which showed the marks of the adz.  These timbers, he explained, were all hewn by hand from trees felled on the spot.  We now went up the same cellar stairs that he had ascended as a child and he again registered joy as he found the dining room unchanged and the old fireplace still there.  The pantry was now Mr. Straehle's office.  

His eyes glistened as he stood in his old bedroom which had not been divided into two rooms, as were two other bedrooms.  We now went down to the front door and first opened the two glass doors in the panels and pointed to the iron grill covering it from the outside.  This, he explained, was for the purpose of identifying anyone who came knocking at the door at night.  You carried the lamp to the door and opened one of these little doors and asked the caller to come close so you could see who he was.  Again he registered happiness when he beheld the old original door bell.  You pulled a handle and it drew a wire and started the bell on the end of a spiral spring jingling.  Again and again he pulled the knob and told how as a child he liked to ring it and was often scolded for it.

He stood on the porch and waved his hand toward Lather's woods (Pelhamwood) and said 'The woods extended right down to the river.  My father and grandfather cleared it and where all these houses and stores are now was the farm lands and pasture.  There was a lane that began at the Boston Turnpike and came right up to the front door.  I noticed a street sign the other side of the track showing they still call it Wolf's Lane.'

What lucky star directed Andy Wolf to the house in 1908?  A year later he would have found it in a different location and he most certainly would never have derived the same amount of satisfaction."

Source:  Minard, J. Gardiner, THE OLD DAYS By J. GARDINER MINARD, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 4, 1938, p. 10, cols. 6-7.

"THE OLD DAYS 
By
J. GARDINER MINARD
 Tales of the Old Wolf Homestead No. 2

While cleaning up the pile of rubbish in the pavilion, Jack Pellicci, who was giving me a hand, called out, 'Hey!  What do you call this?' and held in his hand what looked like a cross on a long pole.  At sight of it my memory went back to a mid-Summer day in 1899.  The Straehles had taken possession of the old Wolf homestead in November, 1898.  Directly across the street, where the Boston & Westchester station now stands, was Reilly's blacksmith shop.  Mrs. Straehle came from the County Clare, Ireland, and spoke Gaelic fluently.  Reilly also spoke the language, but as he had no one to converse with for years, he was somewhat rusty in its use.  It did not take him long to discover Mrs. Straehle's familiarity with it and he spent much time there brushing up on his Gaelic.  In those days Reilly's shop was a favorite meeting place for all the famous characters of the 'Pelhamville' era.  

Being a news gatherer, I put in about an hour a day absorbing the village gossip.  A dime spent for a growler of beer was good for a column of news.  Reilly was welding old horseshoes together and showing much enthusiasm over it.  This evoked my curiosity, and when we were alone he confided to me that he was making an old-fashioned Irish pike such as the Irish in olden times used in opposing the attacks of the English soldiers.  It was to be a present for Mrs. Straehle.  He hammered out a spear head and across the shank one side soon had a long narrow axe like blade and on opposite side a hook.  When it was completed he went to Jake Heisser's store where you could buy anything from a pound of butter to a plow.  He purchased a long rake handle which he fitted in the pike head.

Learning from him the approximate time it would be ready for presentation.  I sat with a group in the bar room when Reilly entered with his pike.  Smiling broadly, he glanced about and taking a position in the middle of the floor where all could see, he held it up before Mrs. Straehle who was behind and asked, 'Did you ever see one of those, Mrs. Straehle?'

'I did not, Jim,' she replied.

'You're a fine Irishman,' he growled.  Let me state here that Jim Reilly in those days did not carry an ounce of fat.  He was slightly stoop-shouldered and his hair, eyebrows and flowing moustache were coal black.  Taking a half-squatting position, he held the pike firmly in his hands and with the lethal end up at an angle of 45 degrees, explained that the English soldiers, mounted, were charging the Irish who are afoot.  The glint of battle was in his eye as he watched his victim approach.  With a sudden lunge forward and a sweep of the arms he yelled, 'You take the hook and hook the bridle of his horse and break the reins -- that makes him lose control of the horse.  Now, (another hook in the air and yank) you hook him by the neck and drag him off the horse to the ground.'  Before the astonished soldier was aware just what had happened, Reilly sprang forward and placing a foot on the helpless victim brought the spear down.  'Then you drive the spear through his heart,' he explained.  Reilly now seized the handle with both hands near the end and gave an imaginary tug to withdraw the spear and jumping to one side he made a chop with the axe and said 'then you cut his head off.'

Having finished a good job, he turned in triumph to Mrs. Straehle whose face registered horror.  'And did he kill him, Jim?' she asked.  Reilly regarded her with disgust for a second.  Gentle reader, this is a family paper and I cannot repeat Mr. Reilly's exact words, but they implied that the Englishman was really dead.

*     *     *     *

In the pile of rubbish in the center of the floor I found an Irish blackthorn.  When Reilly completed his first term as Village President, he returned to Ireland, his first visit since coming to this country during the 80's.  Returning, he brought with him a half dozen blackthorns and this one he had presented to Mrs. Straehle.  [NOTE an "Irish Blackthorn" is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel typically made with a large knob at the top.]  What strikes one forcibly is with all the time, labor, material and expense to which people go to give pleasure to others, the articles become junk when the principals die."

Source:  Minard, J. Gardiner, THE OLD DAYS By J. GARDINER MINARD -- Tales of the Old Wolf Homestead No. 2, The Pelham Sun, May 12, 1939, p. 12, cols. 6-8.  

"THE OLD DAYS
By
J. GARDINER MINARD
Tales of the Old Wolf Homestead No. 3

I put a catch on the window of the bedroom at the southwest corner of the upper floor.  To my knowledge there has been no lock on that window in 45 years and I doubt if there ever was one, as no screw marks show.  That window has a little story of its own.  When the Straehle's took possession in 1898, Mrs. Straehle decided to take in boarders and had that room divided so as to increase the number of bedrooms.  The corner room was a spare and the adjoining one was occupied by Henry, Jr., better known as 'Son.'  I often used the spare room.  Straehle established a soda bottling plant in the basement and had two large routes; one in New Rochelle and the other in City Island.  He had a smaller route in Pelham.

During the busy season the bottling machines had to be operated all day.  Son was a pretty good bottler, but he could not be gotten out of bed before noon.  This necessitated the hiring of a bottler.  In vain his father and step-mother tried to get him out of bed in the morning and would appeal to me as to whether they should get a doctor for him inasmuch as they thought he always retired early.  I knew what was the matter but kept it secret.  Son loved to dance and attended dances every night.  He knew just where the next one would be held, whether in New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Yonkers, Tuckahoe, etc.  He would start for bed at night, noisily undress, shake the bed and then quietly get dressed, sneak out that window, creep over the piazza roof and climb down the corner post and away.  After the dance he would return and get in the same way.  When I occupied this room it was necessary for him to pass through.

Around the top of the piazza is a row of heavy wooden fancy ornaments, one over each post.  The one on the corner he would put his arm about in order to swing over the gutter.  One morning while returning, this ornament broke loose and both came tumbling to the ground, hitting the tub of water below for watering the horses and dumping it over him.  He gave a yell that aroused the household.  I explained that he was walking in his sleep.  This satisfied Mrs. Straehle, but when his father could talk to me alone he winked and said, 'It's a good think the Missus didn't smell his breath.'"

Source:  Minard, J. Gardiner, THE OLD DAYS By J. GARDINER MINARD -- Tales of the Old Wolf Homestead No. 3, The Pelham Sun, Jun. 2, 1939, p. 4, cols. 1-2


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Monday, June 08, 2015

Was "Honest Jim Reilly" Really So Honest? Blacksmith and, Later, Politician in the Village of North Pelham Died in 1937


"Honest Jim Reilly" was a political force in the Village of North Pelham for nearly thirty years.  He served as President and, later, Mayor of the Village for twelve terms.  He served as a Deputy Sheriff for twenty-five years.  He served as a North Pelham firefighter for many, many years and was famed for operating "Jim Reilly's Boiler."  See Fri., May 22, 2015:  History of Pelham's Beloved "Nott Steamer" Known as "Jim Reilly's Boiler."

Clearly Honest Jim Reilly was a clever man.  He was the Village blacksmith in North Pelham in 1906 when he swept into office as Village President on the "Municipal Ownership" ticket and the "Independent Democratic" ticket.  He defeated his Republican and Democratic opponents in a most ingenious manner.  During a major snowstorm on election day, Honest Jim Reilly hired all available snow sleighs in the area to ensure that only his supporters could get to the polls easily.  I have written about his campaign and election that year on a number of occasions.  See:

Fri., Feb. 27, 2009:  More on the 1906 Village of North Pelham Elections in Which the Village Blacksmith Surprised Republicans and Democrats Alike and Won.




Jim Reilly came to America from Ireland when he was sixteen.  He lived for a short time in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where he learned and practiced the blacksmithing trade.  In 1893, he moved to Pelhamville where he set up shop as the local blacksmith.  His shop became a local gathering place for residents interested in local politics and the latest local gossip.  

In 1906, Jim Reilly decided to throw his hat into the ring of local politics, but could not convince entrenched local partymen that he deserved their nomination and support.  Instead, he was forced to run on the "Municipal Ownership" and "Independent Democratic" tickets.  In the famed North Pelham election of 1906, he won the election for Village President by beating the Republican and Democratic candidates.  

Holding onto power, however, became difficult.  The following year (Village President elections were held annually at that time), the local Democratic and Republican leaders refused to back Reilly again.  He ran as an independent and was re-elected.

In 1908, local Republican leaders relented and nominated Reilly as their nominee for Village President.  Reilly won easily and carried into office with him the entire Republican ticket.  The following year, the local Republican Party re-nominated Reilly who won the position of Village President handily by a vote of 155 to 88.  See Mon., Apr. 13, 2009:  1909 Village Elections in Pelham.

The following year, in connection with the 1910 election, the local newspaper questioned the integrity of "Honest Jim Reilly" and accused him and his camp of voter fraud to gain re-election.  The Pelham Sun published a front-page exposé shortly before the 1911 elections accusing Jim Reilly and David Lyon of paying for an ineligible minor to vote in the 1910 election and arranging for eleven non-resident sewer laborers to reside briefly in a shack to to enable them to vote in the election.  Reilly chose not to run for re-election in 1911 and decided to depart for a lengthy holiday in Ireland.  Only days before he and his family departed, someone tried to burn down his house by pouring gasoline along the back of the home and lighting it.  Reilly and his wife were awakened by the flames and were able to extinguish them.

The arrangement of sewer laborers to vote in the 1910 election was quite interesting.  In 1908, while still Village President, Honest Jim Reilly was appointed inspector of the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission. . . . . 

In 1911, Reilly became Deputy Sheriff, in which capacity he served Westchester County for 24 years, until State laws compelled him to retire.  In 1920 Reilly "retired" from his blacksmith shop, but he did not retire from local politics.  

Mr. Reilly ran again for Mayor in 1931, but lost by 27 votes.  In March, 1937, he decided to fight North Pelham Mayor Dominic Amato in the Republican primaries, but finally withdrew on the advice of his physician.  In the November elections of that year, he formed an independent party and backed the Democratic ticket.  Out of office, Jim Reilly famously held court on "Reilly's Bench" at Sixth Street and Fifth Avenue.

On December 22, 1937, Jim Reilly died of a heart attack at his home located at 11 Chestnut Avenue in Chester Park.  He was seventy-two.  It was the passing of an era.

*          *          *          *          *

Transcribed below are a host of articles that shed light on the life of 12-term North Pelham Manor Honest Jim Reill.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"HOW MINORS WERE IMPORTED TO VOTE IN NORTH PELHAM
-----
SAD STORY OF A YOUTH OF 19, ONE OF A BAND OF ILLEGAL VOTERS WHO ELECTED REILLY AND DAVID LYON LAST SPRING. -- INFAMOUS METHODS USED. -- DEBAUCHING THE RIGHT OF FRANCHISE. -- MORE REVELATIONS TO FOLLOW.
-----

That neither James Reilly nor Trustee David Lyon were elected by legally qualified voters is something that has been known to North Pelhamites ever since the election took place about a year ago.

David Lyon had a 'majority' of two over Dr. C. A. Pickhardt.  Besides the numerous sewer laborers who were placed in a shanty just previous to election and allowed to vote (at $2 per head, paid in Lowery's saloon) for the Republican ticket, minors were collared and, although challenged, were allowed to vote.

John Lantier's Case.

A case in point is the one of John Lantier, a boy of 19, who not only voted last spring, but also last fall.  The boy comes from respectable parents in Long Island City, and although well brought up, appears to have fallen a willing victim to the wiles of the crooked North Pelham politicians.

When this boy voted last spring, he was promptly challenged, but with Jim Reilly at his back he swore in his vote and it was accepted.  Not only was John Lantier only 19, but he had no legal residence here, having been brought here by a man named John Gruber, who came from Union Corners and was given the job to take care of the fire horses.  

The John Gruber mentioned now lives in Reilly's old rooms over the blacksmith shop and is still employed in caring for the fire horses.  He is said to have married an adopted sister of John Lantier.

Lantier Gets Arrested.

The boy Lantier kept bad company, frequented saloons too much and went on a rampage in New Rochelle on September 19th last.  With a loaded revolver he tried to shoot some one, was arrested, charged with felonious assault and with carrying concealed weapons, and after a hearing before Judge Swinburne was held in $1,000 bail for the action of the Grand Jury.

Record at Police Station.

The blotter of the New Rochelle Police Station contains the following record of John Lantier's pedigree as given by himself when arrested:

Arrested, September 19, age, 19; resides at 123 Fifth street, Long Island City; charge, assault second degree and carrying concealed weapons.

David Lyon Steps In.

Village Trustee David Lyon, who together with Reilly had profitted by the boys illegal voting, after some persuasion from the inner circle of crooked politicians went Lantier's bail, and he was released and awaiting trial.  Lantier promptly showed up here at the election in November and voted ballot No. 57 against the protest of P. Ceder [i.e., Peter Ceder who opposed Jim Reilly in the election for Village President].  He claimed a residence with the above mentioned John Gruber, and swore he was 21.

Lyon Gets Scared.

About a month ago, David Lyon 'by advice of counsel,' (Harry A. Anderson) decided to be released from the responsibility of that bail bond.  And so a letter was sent to the boy Lantier in care of his parents at Long Island City, where he was living, telling him to come on to North Pelham as his case was to come up and would be 'settled.'  Unsuspectingly the boy responded to the summons, only to be taken into custody and lodged in the County Jail at White Plains.  David Lyon had surrendered him to the police.

Loughran Enters Here.

The boy communicated with a politician of some local renown named Dan Loughran, and the latter paid a visit to the jail, telling Lantier, so the latter says, that a short time in jail would do no harm, and ending by handing the boy a dollar bill 'to buy cigarettes for.'

Thoroughly alarmed and feeling himself deserted, the boy now wrote a pathetic letter to his mother at Long Island City, telling her to go and see Loughran.  Mortified and sorrowful, Mrs. Lantier arrived at North Pelham where she found a friend, Mrs. Joseph P. Ryan.  To her she confided her troubles.  Mrs. Ryan knows the boy John Lantier well, but never knew he had been or was in Pelham.

Joseph P. Ryan to the Front.

Mr. Joseph P. Ryan, thoroughly disgusted with the story unfolded to him and determined if possible to help Mrs. Lantier and her son, went with Mrs. Lantier one evening about three weeks ago to Dan Loughran's house.  Ryan demanded to know the whole story and why the boy had been abandoned.  Loughran telephoned for James Reilly, the worthy Village President, and he came at once.

'To Think He's Only 19.'

Mrs. Lantier, who was near a collapse from the terrible strain, after she had heard the charges against her son, cried out:  'And to think he's only 19 years old.'

'For God's sake, don't tell that, Madam, for he has already voted here twice.' promptly exclaimed Dan Loughran.

That made the mother still more miserable.

'Well, I thought he was 21,' carefully put in Mr. Reilly.

Ryan Bails Him Out.

It was finally agreed that Joseph P. Ryan should go to White Plains to bail the boy out the following morning.

'I will go with you,' volunteered Mr. Reilly.

And bright and early next morning Mrs. Lantier, the mother, and Ryan and Reilly went to White Plains, where before Justice Morschauser.  Mr. Ryan gave $1,000 bail for the boy, who was immediately taken home by his mother to Long Island City, although Mr. Loughran had expressed a desire to see him before he went to Long Island City.

Beecroft Intercedes.

Supervisor Beecroft was asked to intercede for the Lantier boy, and he did so, but of course was not apprised of the fact that the boy had committed the crime of voting illegally herre.  His case was simply presented to Mr. Beecroft as that of a wild boy, who was not really bad, but had gotten into an unfortunate scrape.  On Monday last Mr. Beecroft pleaded the boy's case before Judge Platt, who upon the defendant's plea of guilty as charged in the indictment, fined him $30.

Who Are the Guilty?

As to the instigators of the boy's illegal voting will shall give further particulars, based upon Lantier's own statement, in next week's Sun.  

At the same time we shall give the names of eleven other individuals, who voted at the village election a year ago without any other right than that they were paid for voting.  Extracts from the minutes of the Grand Jury investigation of testimony given by some of these individuals themselves will make interesting reading and show conclusive that both Lyon and Reilly were put into office by fraudulent votes."

Source:  HOW MINORS WERE IMPORTED TO VOTE IN NORTH PELHAM, The Pelham Sun, Mar. 4, 1911, Vol. 1, No. 48,, p. 1, cols. 1-2.  

"WAS REILLY'S HOUSE FIRED?
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Interesting North Pelham News via Mount Vernon.

The Mount Vernon Argus of yeterday contained the following:

'North Pelham, March 3. -- President Reilly and the members of his family had a scare at 5.15 o'clock this morning when the rear part of their residence in Chester Park was found to be on fire.  The rear stoop had been smeared with gasoline which was also spread along the foundation and the woodwork.  There is no doubt in the mind of President Reilly but that the place was set on fire and he told a reporter that he had his suspicions as to who was responsible.  The flames were discovered and extinguished by Mrs. Reilly with several pans of water.  The loss is about $100.  The fire department was not called out.  

'It was fortunate that the fire was discovered when it was for the reason that the flames were making considerable headway.  Mrs. Reilly was awakened by a glare against her bedroom window.  She aroused her husband and opening a rear door found the sloop, and a part of the lattice work underneath the kitchen window, and one blind burning.

'She filled a pan full of water and extinguished the flames on the stoop.  Then she with the assistance of her husband poured more water on the flames and the fire was soon out.  The glass in one window in the kitchen was broken and that in a window in the dining room was cracked.

'President Reilly said that there was no doubt in his mind but that the place was set on fire.

'That there had been a fire at the home of Mr. Reilly was not generally known in the village until this afternoon.  His residence in Chester Park is a comparatively new one and is located next to the home of Eugene Lyon.  President Reilly sails for Ireland tomorrow morning and expects to be back late in April.'

The above appears on the first page of the Argus, and on an inside page the following item appears:

'Will Nominate Reilly.'

'It was stated yesterday afternoon by Trustee David Lyon who is also a member of the primary committee of the Republicans that President Reilly will be nominated to succeed himself at the Republican primary next Monday evening in the town hall.'

-----

Now, who is telling the truth.  Jim Reilly or David Lyon?

Can it be possible that Jim is running away from his boast that he would run against Ceder?  Or is he going over to Kilkenny county to run for M.P.?"

Source:  WAS REILLY'S HOUSE FIRED?, The Pelham Sun, Mar. 4, 1911, Vol. 1, No. 48, p. 1, col. 3.  

"Will Jim Reilly Retire?  Only As Deputy Sheriff
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Village Blacksmith Deserted Forge to Enter Politics; Has Served as Deputy Sheriff for 24 Years.

By ED BOWNE.

Jim Reilly's retiring.  Well, we wonder. 

On Monday morning Pelham's most picturesque political figure began his last month as a deputy sheriff.  Jim's 70 now, and is eligible to retire on a pension, but somehow, even at 70, we can't believe that 'Honest Jim' is entirely through.

He said that he was through when we interviewed him on Monday, but he added, 'I feel just as young as I ever did,' and all of Pelham will agree that in spite of his gray hairs, Jim has been pretty active.  There have been few political campaigns recently in which his interest has not been felt.  If memory serves us rightly, Jim 'retired' in 1925 and again in 1929, but there he was back in the middle of things in the last race for the Republican nomination, and he came within 36 votes of getting it, too.

Jim retire?  Why even those who have been his bitterest opponents would not quite want to see that. 

'Honest Jim' Reilly, former village blacksmith, had such a keen political sense that the Republicans selected hi as their candidate for President of North Pelham in 1906, and he was elected, and that was the first of his 12 terms. 

In 192 he decided to quit, and a farewell banquet tendered to him at the New York Athletic Club at Travers Island, was attended by notables from all over the county.  But Jim couldn't remain out of things for long, and he was back again in 1927 as an independent, and he won.  He retired again after serving two years as Mayor, and again found political retirement irksome, so last Spring found him again seeking office.

Even the oldest of old-timers cannot recall the days when Jim Reilly was not a political power.  When the village was young, it was at Reilly's blacksmith shop, located on the easterly side of Fifth avenue, just north of Fourth street, that politics of the village centered.  Even now, on Election Day, Reilly holds political court at about the same spot, taking his stand just adjacent to the First District polling place.  Other communities may have had their cracker barrels in general stores, but in North Pelham it was from Jim Reilly's forge that the sparks of political ambitions flew.

Reilly was chief of the fire department, too, and as smithy he could be relied upon to get the best out of the old horse-drawn Knott [sic] steamer of the fire department.  'Jim Reilly's Boiler' she was, and before the days of motor pumpers there was none better than he at getting up steam.  It wasn't so long ago that Jim showed the youngsters in the fire department a thing or two about pumping water, and in a test of the old steamer it proved to be almost as efficient as the new apparatus.  The old steamer was retired ten years ago, sold to a motion picture company, but like its old boss it's probably had a couple of 'comebacks' since then.

In 1913, Reilly was appointed a deputy sheriff and assigned to duty as attendant in the Supreme Court.  Daily attendance in court gained for him an extensive legal knowledge which he frequently put into evidence while transacting official business for the village.  Parliamentary proceedings were conducted in proper form when Jim was presiding at village board sessions and woe be it to those who trod on the executive toes of the Mayor.

As head of the village government he was ex-officio chief of police, and never let it be said that Jim Reilly didn't do every bit of his duty.  there have been occasions when the police department was undermanned and Jim Reilly buckled on a belt and took up a nightstick and patrolled an open beat.  He was charged with the responsibility for protecting the village and he took it literally.

His blacksmith shop is gone, but Jim still has his center of activity.  It's removed a few blocks down Fifth avenue to the corner of Sixth street, where the 'Grand Jury' bench is located.  It's on this site that Jim holds his court among old cronies, and comparative youngsters, too, who have recognized him as a political power.

But now Jim is going to retire.  Well, perhaps he won't be a regular attendant at White Plains court sessions.  Perhaps there's going to be a new deputy sheriff appointed, and maybe the appointment will come from Pelham, but it's a safe bet that the next village campaign will find 'Honest Jim' right in the middle of things.  Why not?  He'll have more time to devote to it.  Wait for something startling to come from the 'Grand Jury bench.'  Jim'll be there regularly on fair days after Jan. 1st.  No, we don't think he'll retire."

Source:  Will Jim Reilly Retire?  Only As Deputy Sheriff -- Village Blacksmith Deserted Forge to Enter Politics; Has Served as Deputy Sheriff for 24 Years, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 6, 1935, Vol. 26, No. 35, Second Section, p. 1, cols. 3-5. 




Honest Jim Reilly at the Age of 72 in 1935.
Source:  Will Jim Reilly Retire?  Only As Deputy Sheriff --Village Blacksmith Deserted Forge to Enter Politics;
Has Served as Deputy Sheriff for 24 Years
,
The Pelham Sun, Dec. 6, 1935, Vol. 26, No. 35,
Second Section, p. 1, cols. 3-5.  NOTE:  Click Image To Enlarge.


"'Honest Jim' Reilly Dead; Pelham Political Leader
 
Village Head 12 Times, Veteran Is Heart Attack Victim
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(Special To The Daily Argus)

NORTH PELHAM, Dec. 23. -- 'Honest Jim' Reilly has retired for the last time. 

The man who was Village head 12 times and Deputy Sheriff for 25 years died of a heart attack last night at his home, 11 Chestnut Avenue.  He was seventy-two.

Thirty of those seventy-two years Mr. Reilly, who once was a blacksmith, devoted to politics.  A Republican, he broke away from his party three times to run on an Independent ticket.  He was twice successful.

In the last Town campaign, he supported an Independent Party which backed the Democratic candidates. 

Left Ireland at 16

Mr. Reilly came to America from Ireland when he was sixteen.  He lived for a short time in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where he practiced the blacksmithing trade he had learned when he got to the 'new' country.

He came to Pelham in 1893, and 12 years later staged a whirlwind campaign for Village President, on an Independent ticket.  A picturesque figure, he played a prominent role in politics from then on.

Elected again when the Republicans and Democrats put up one slate, Mr. Reilly ran two more years on a victorious Pelham ticket.

Then he retired from Village politics for in 1908, while still Village President, he was appointed inspector of the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission.  In 1911 he became Deputy Sheriff, in which capacity he served the County for 24 years, until State laws compelled him to retire again.  In 1920 he 'retired' from his blacksmith shop.

'If automobiles hadn't become so fashionable,' he said last year, 'I'd be shoein' horses yet.'

Defeated in 1931

Despite his constant avowal that he was 'retiring', Mr. Reilly ran for Mayor in 1931 and lost by 27 votes.  Last March he decided to fight Mayor Dominic Amato in the Republican primaries, but finally withdrew on the advice of his physician. 

In the last town campaign in November, he formed an independent party and backed the Democratic ticket. 

While he was in office, 'Jim's' board meetings usually necessitated the presence of a police officer, whom he would call unhesitatingly at the first sign of mutiny.

Out of office, he held 'court' on 'Reilly's Bench' at Sixth Street and Fifth Avenue.

Lauded in White Plains

Gordon Miller, Village Counsel of North Pelham, paid tribute to Mr. Reilly in Supreme Court at White Plains today, stating that he was held in great esteem by members of the bar living in the Pelhams. 

The remarks will be written into the court record and copies sent to the family.

Supreme Court Justice Raymond E. Aldrich, presiding, said that although he had not known Mr. Reilly as long as some, he also thought highly of him. 

Surviving are four sons, Philip and Robert of Mount Vernon, John of White Plains and William of Pelham; a daughter, Mrs. Kenneth Stanley of Pelham, and 10 grandchildren. 

A solemn high requiem Mass will be offered by the Rev. Father Arthur Campbell in St. Catherine's Church, North Pelham, at 10 A.M. Monday.  Interment will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery."

Source:  "Honest Jim" Reilly Dead; Pelham Political Leader Village Head 12 Times, Veteran Is Heart Attack Victim, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Dec. 23, 1937, p. 1, cols. 2-3.


Honest Jim Reilly in an Undated Photograph Published
with an Obituary in 1937.  Source:  "Honest Jim" Reilly Dead;
Heart Attack Victim, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY],
Dec. 23, 1937, p. 1, cols. 2-3.  NOTE:  Click Image To Enlarge.


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