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.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Rare Images of the Lorillard Cottage of "Coaching to Pelham" Fame


The Lorillard Cottage once stood overlooking Eastchester Bay in an area near the location where today's Pelham Bridge reaches the shores of Throgg's Neck.  Images of the "cottage" are somewhat rare.  Built by Pierre Lorillard, Jr., the two story "cottage" was a substantial structure highlighted by a distinctive two-story portico supported by four simple columns that were unfluted and capped with ionic-style capitals.  

 Although images of the Lorillard Cottage before it was razed by Robert Moses are somewhat rare, one recently popped up on eBay.  The image gives a clear picture of what the structure looked like at about the end of the 19th century or the very beginning of the 20th century.  

Undated Image of the "Lorillard Cottage" that Once Stood
on Throgg's Neck Near the Foot of the Old Pelham Bridge.
Source:  eBay.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

 I have written before about the Lorillard Cottage, a structure that later became the "Arcularius Hotel," as part of an article about the Grand View Hotel that once stood at Pelham Bridge.  See Thu., Jan. 21, 2016:  Research Regarding David Blizzard's 19th Century Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge.  In that article I included two additional images of the Lorillard Cottage, taken from tiny engravings depicting the structure on sheet music.


"ARCULARIUS HOTEL"
This is a Tiny Detail, Difficult to Reproduce, From Armstrong,
W.A. & Pratt, Charles E., Coaching To Pelham Song And Chorus
[Music Sheets], Pg. 1 [Cover] (NY, NY: American Music Publishing
Co. 1876). NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.


Image Depicting the Arcularius Hotel.
This is a Tiny Detail, Difficult to Reproduce, From Speck,
Samuel H., New Rochelle and Pelham Coach Galop [sic],
[Music Sheets], Pg. 1 [Cover] (Boston, MA: Oliver Ditson &
Co., 1876). NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

 Numerous sources indicate that the Lorillard Cottage was built by Pierre Lorillard II (also known as Pierre Lorillard, Jr.).  For a full biography of Pierre Lorillard II, see "Pierre Lorillard II" in Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia (visited May 14, 2016).  

 Pierre Lorillard II was born in New York on September 7, 1764.  He was a son of American tobacco magnate and founder of the Lorillard Tobacco Company, Pierre Abraham Lorillard, and Catherine Moore.  He married Maria Dorothea Schultz in 1788.  The couple lived at 521 Broadway in New York City and had five children.  

 Members of the Lorillard family became associated with the areas known today as Bronx Park, Pelham Bay Park, and Throgg's Neck due to the family business.  The original business, started by Pierre Abraham Lorillard was a small snuff-grinding factory located in a rented house in lower Manhattan known as "Lorillard's Snuff and Tobacco Company."  Id.  Peter Abraham Lorillard was killed during the Revolutionary War.  Two of his sons, Pierre Lorillard II and George Lorillard took over the business.  As the business prospered, the Lorillards moved the manufacturing concern in 1792 to an expanded location adjacent to the Bronx River.  Various members of the Lorillard family built a variety of mansions, homes and cottages in the region not far from the manufacturing facility. 

 In 1840, the Lorillards build the Lorillard Snuff Mill near an earlier such structure on the Bronx River , a building that still stands and serves as a cafe and meeting space on the grounds of today's New York Botanical Gardens.  

Lorillard Snuff Mill in 2011.
Source:  "Lorillard Snuff Mill" in Wikipedia -- The Free
Encyclopedia (visited May 14, 2016).  NOTE:  Click on
Image to Enlarge.

 Among the many such Lorillard structures built in the region was the "Lorillard Cottage" built by Pierre Lorillard II before his death on May 23, 1843.  By 1853, the structure seems to have been converted to a hotel as a map prepared that year seems to refer to the structure simply as "Hotel."

Detail of Map Published in 1853 Showing What
Is Believed to Be the Location of the "Lorillard
Cottage" Naming it "Hotel."  Source:  Detail from
Map Published in 1853, Ten Years After the Death
 of Pierre Lorillard II.  Source: Dripps, Matthew & Conner,
(1853) (Museum of the City of New York, No. 29.100.2628).
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

 By 1853, the Pelham Bridge area and City Island in the Town of Pelham already were known as a summer resort area and a sportsman's paradise.  By the 1870s, a man named George P. Arcularius began operating a hotel named the "Arcularius Hotel" in the Lorillard Cottage.  During the mid-1870s, the Arcularius Hotel became, for a short time, the destination of the famed "Pelham Coach" operated by Col. Delancey Kane.  As the destination for the famous "Tally-Ho" driven by Col. Kane, the Arcularius Hotel became well-known in its own right.  See, e.g., COL. DELANCEY KANE'S COACH -- The Trip to be Made To-Morrow to Pelham Bridge and Back -- The First Passengers, The Sun [NY, NY], Apr. 30, 1876, p. 5, col. 3.

 A number of sources of the day indicate that the Arcularius Hotel was established in the old "Pierre Lorillard mansion."  See, e.g., The New Coach Line. Charming Ride to Pelham Bridge, N.Y. Times, May 2, 1876, p. 10 ("Arcularius Hotel is the old Pierre Lorillard mansion, situated on the shore of the Sound, surrounded with beautiful lawns and shade trees, and affording excellent opportunity for boating, fishing, and bathing. There could not be a pleasanter place in which to while away an afternoon."). 

 References to the "Lorillard mansion" at Pelham Bridge would seem to be references to the "neat cottage" of "Mr. Pierre Lorillard Jr." that stood on the on the "north side of the neck [i.e., Throgg's Neck] at Pelham Bridge" referred to in Thomas Scharf's History of Westchester County published in 1886.  See Scharf, J. Thomas, History of Westchester County New York, Including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, Which Have Been Annexed to New York City, Vol. I, p. 816 (Philadelphia, PA: L. E. Preston & Co., 1886).

Once New York City acquired Lorillard Point and the Lorillard Cottage as it assembled parcels and estates in the region to create Pelham Bay Park, the property became one of many in the park that were repeatedly misused in a pattern of graft.  Commissioners "rented" the properties for amounts that were well below market rent to cronies and local politicians and other insiders who curried their favor.  

 For example, in 1895 the New York Times reported that the secretary of the City Parks Department, Charles De Forest Burns, admitted to one of its reporters that he lived in the Lorillard Cottage rent free and even had his personal coachman carried on the City's payroll as a "laborer."  The newspaper made much of the fact that on his simple City salary, Burns had a vast coterie of "servants" who served him at the Lorillard Cottage.

 Later, after the Burns scandal had passed, the Lorillard Cottage was "leased" to the "Tallapoosa Club" for only $25 per month.  The Tallapoosa Club was an organization headed by then-Bronx President Louis Haffen that used the Lorillard Cottage as a hotel and roadhouse  at great profit.

 New York City newspapers repeatedly probed misuse of such properties as the Lorillard Cottage.  With each new probe, another great scandal unfolded and played out in the local newspapers for months.  A few examples of such articles that mention the Lorillard Cottage at Pelham Bridge appear below.

 *          *          *          *          *

 "MAY DISMISS MR. BURNS
-----
Park Board Not Prepared Yet to Discuss Charges Against Him.
-----
THE SECRETARY BECOMES ENRAGED
-----
Admits However, that He Lived in Lorillard Cottage and Employed Brown -- Some Wonder at His Array of Servants.

 The Park Commissioners declared yesterday that they were not prepared to discuss in detail the revelations made in THE NEW-YORK TIMES regarding Charles De Forest Burns, the Secretary of the department, and the frauds and pillage at Pelham Bay Park.  They acknowledged that stories affecting Burns, and the manner in which he had lived, rent free, in one of the park houses, using a park laborer as his private watchman, had reached them, and they intimated that these stories had been discussed at their meeting last week, and that some action would probably soon be taken.

 'The public may rest assured,' said Col. Cruger, President of the board, 'that we will go to the bottom in all matters affecting the department, and that our action will be as prompt as circumstances will permit.  During the short time we have been in office we have already found much that should be changed, and as fast as we can get at it improvements will be made.  There is much to clean out, I believe, and we will not shirk our duty.'

 'Have you decided on any action regarding Burns?' Col. Cruger was asked.

 'I cannot speak in advance of what we have decided to do,' was the answer.  'It would not be good policy.'

 Commissioner Stiles was equally guarded.  He said the charges made by THE NEW-YORK TIMES would be carefully considered, and prompt action would follow.

 'Supposing it is proved to your satisfaction,' said the reporter,  'that Burns occupied the Lorillard cottage without paying the department a cent of rent, and that he caused his coachman to be carried on the city pay rolls as a laborer?'

 'Then,' replied Mr. Stiles, with much vehemence, 'I would insist that he be turned out at once.'

 This opens a very sorry prospect for Burns, as he himself admitted to a reporter for THE NEW-YORK TIMES that he lived in the Lorillard cottage in Pelham Bay Park, without paying any rental, and there are dozens of persons who can testify that Peter Brown acted as coachman and man of all work for the Secretary during all the time the department pay rolls show that Brown drew regular laborer's pay from the city.

 Mr. Burns grew furiously angry when the charges regarding himself and his political friends at Pelham Bay Park were submitted to him.  He first insisted that he did not know any such man as Peter Brown; had never known; but after a time, when his growing excitement made him less cautious, he admitted a rather intimate and extended acquaintance with the man.

 'Never heard of a man named Peter Brown,' insisted Mr. Burns in the beginning.  'I don't know that there is such a man.'

 'Then he did not act as your coachman during your stay at Pelham Bay Park?'

 'No, Sir.'

 'You are quite sure of that?'

 'I am.'

 'As a matter of fact, Mr. Burns,' asked the reporter, 'isn't the man working for you now at your place at Riverdale?'

 The Secretary's face grew fiery red, and his rage went beyond all bounds.  He gave vent to a stream of violent language, and finally shouted:

 'What business is it of yours who my servants are?  I employ a cook and a housemaid and other servants.  I suppose you want to know who they are.'

 The excited Secretary stopped here as if waiting for an answer, and, getting none, he grew angrier than ever, finally blurting out:

 'Yes, Peter Brown is my coachman today,' he exclaimed, pounding the table in front of which he sat.  'Whose business is it?  I employ him and I pay him.  He works for me, as he has a right to do.'

 'Is he still on the department pay rolls?'

 'No, Sir; he is not.'

 'But he was.'

 'He never was.'

 'The pay rolls show it.'

 'I don't care what they show, and I will end this interview right here.'

 'Did you live in the Lorillard cottage rent free, Mr. Burns?' the reporter asked.

 'What of that?  That is an old story,' was the answer given after some moments of hesitation.

 'Nothing; only is it true you lived there?'

 There was another silence, and then Mr. Burns said:

 'Yes, I did.'

 'The records do not show that you paid any rental.'

 'Perhaps I didn't.  I went to live in the house at the request of the Commissioners, and therefore paid no rent.'

 The Commissioners, the Secretary went on in response to questions, had asked him to Pelham Bay Park in order to 'supervise the work that was being done.'

 He could not say which of the Commissioners had asked him to move there, and he could not explain how he could supervise the work being carried on, in view of the fact that he had to be in the Chambers Street offices of the department from 9 A.M. until 4 P.M., and it required three hours a day to travel back and forth.  The workmen, in consequence, were just beginning their labors when Mr. Burns left the park, and were just getting through in the evening when he returned.  The Secretary waved all these items aside, and, when he was too closely pressed, he took refuge behind the irrelevant exclamation:

 'What business is it of yours who my servants are, who my coachman is, who my cook is?  Simply because I am in a public office, can't I employ whom I please?'

 When these little interruptions were overcome, Mr. Burns was asked as to the pillaging of the park by the political gang that has held control there, and as to the doings of 'Jack' Elliott, his personal representative, and the carrying of the other saloon keepers on the department payrolls.

 'I don't know anything about them,' answered Mr. Burns to all these questions.

 'And William Burke, who, it is alleged, furnished you with a cow and with fresh vegetables in consideration of being carried on the payrolls?'

 'Don't know anything about him.  Never heard of Burke in my life.'

 This reference to Burke seemed to revive the memory of Peter Brown anew, and the Secretary broke forth wrathfully again:

 'Whose business is it whom I employ?'

 As to the free cow and vegetables, Mr. Burns declared that the story was 'a lie!'

 It is perhaps interesting, in connection with Mr. Burns's statement that he keeps a coachman, cook, housemaid, and other servants, to note that his salary is only $4,000 a year, or less than $80 a week -- a rather slender sum on which to keep up such an establishment.  The men who have known him for many years down town were surprised when they heard of the coachman and the rest.

 'What has he got for a coachman to drive?' they asked, and when told that he had a very complete stable outfit, they wanted to know where he could have gotten it.  There are no legitimate sources of income to be drawn on by the Secretary of the Park Department from the city, except the salary, and as Mr. Burns, previous to his advent to this department, had been merely an assistant secretary in the Fire Department, there is much speculation as to the probable manner in which he has grown rich enough to maintain the place where he now lives at Riverdale."

 Source:   MAY DISMISS MR. BURNS -- Park Board Not Prepared Yet to Discuss Charges Against Him -- THE SECRETARY BECOMES ENRAGED -- Admits However, that He Lived in Lorillard Cottage and Employed Brown -- Some Wonder at His Array of Servants, N.Y. Times, Nov. 23, 1895, p. 8, col. 1 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link.).  Click here for free version.

 "MORE 'HONEST' GRAFT.
-----
Big Houses Leased from City for Small Rents -- Exposed by Metz.

 Father Knickerbocker as a landlord is not a success.  Perhaps it is because he is such a plethoric old fellow financially that he does not look too sharply at the acts of his agents.  'See one of the commissioners' he says, possibly, when some one steps into his office in the City Hall to inquire about a house for rent, rattling his cane upon the floor in an irritated sort of way, as if it was too small a matter for him to attend to.  So off to the Park Commissioner or some other official the visitor hurries, almost glad to be out of the presence of the gruff old gentleman.  The visitor finds that he can get almost anything to fit his purse and his taste, from an unsanitary tenement house at $200 a month to a spacious mansion fronting on the shores of Long Island Sound and surrounded by several acres of shaded ground for $25 a month.  Father Knickerbocker's agents, even, will build additions to the better houses, costing several thousands of dollars, for the benefit of the tenants without increasing the rentals.  At least that is what recent investigations indicate.

 In Pelham Bay Park are still standing a number of the large country houses which were once the homes of those who owned the estates of which the park were made.  A recent report made to Father Knickerbocker's financial manager, Controller Metz, by the latter's bureau of investigation tells of some of the conditions in the Bronx parks.

 The stone De Lancey house, for instance, opposite the bridge leading to Hunter Island, is rented for hotel purposes for $30 a month.  The city added an extension in the rear, containing seven new rooms on the upper floor and a pantry, storeroom and barroom on the main floor, without adding anything to the rent by way of compensation for the increased value of the premises.  The house has large grounds about it and stands on the New Rochelle road, fronting the waters of Long Island Sound.

 On the same road, between Bartow and Baychester, is the Pierre Lorillard house.  It stands at the foot of a tree bordered drive on the crest of a gentle slope running down to the edge of Pelham Bay.  It is a three story house with Grecian pillars and presents a stately appearance.  A feature of the interior is the carved black walnut staircase.  This twenty room house is leased by the year at $25 a month to the Tallapoosa Club, known as the club of Louis F. Haffen, the President of the Borough of The Bronx.  It is used as a road house. . . ."

 Source:  MORE "HONEST" GRAFT -- Big Houses Leased from City for Small Rents -- Exposed by Metz, N.Y. Tribune, Mar. 31, 1907, Part V, p. 2, cols. 2-4 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access via this link.).

"SOME NOTABLE VAGARIES IN THE CITY'S SYSTEM OF
LEASING ITS PROPERTY. . . . No. 5.  The Pierre Lorillard
house, in Pelham Bay Park; leased to Louis Haffen's Tallapoosa
Club for $25 a month, and used as a hotel."  Source:  MORE
Rents -- Exposed by Metz, N.Y. Tribune, Mar. 31, 1907,
Part V, p. 2, cols. 2-4 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to
access via this link.).  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

"SOME NOTABLE VAGARIES IN THE CITY'S SYSTEM OF
LEASING ITS PROPERTY. . . . No. 2.  The Hunter Island Inn,
in Pelham Bay Park, leased for $30 a month after extensive
improvements by the city."  Source:  MORE

Rents -- Exposed by Metz, N.Y. Tribune, Mar. 31, 1907,
Part V, p. 2, cols. 2-4 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to

access via this link.).  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.  


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posted by Blake A. Bell @ 5:18 AM 0 comments

Friday, February 27, 2015

Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889


In the Autumn of 1883, 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.  

 The map immediately below shows the property leased by the club in 1883.  The roadway that bisects the property is today's Shore Road.  The smaller portion of the property "above" the roadway in this map is where the club located its steeplechase course.  Adjacent and to the "left" of the property as shown on the survey was the property of Robert Bartow (the site of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum).

"Map of Land Sold by R. Bartow Esq To James
A. Suydam Esq. & Letitia J. Suydam Situated in
the Township of Pelham W. C. County N. Y.
D. B. Taylor, Surveyor May 1st 1846."  Sourc:
Westchester County Archives.
NOTE:  Click to Enlarge.


Diagram of the Pelham Steeplechase Course for the Race Run on
October 18, 1884. Note the Reference to "Pelham Road"
(Today's Shore Road) at the Bottom of the Map. Source:
Pelham's Gay Pastime - A Day of Glorious Steeplechasing
Provided by the Country Club, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 17, 1884, p. 6, cols. 3-4.
NOTE:  Click to Enlarge.

 The Club was not a predecessor to today's Pelham Country Club.  To make matters more confusing, the Club was known by many different names including the Pelham Country Club, the Country Club at Pelham, the Country Club, the Country Club at Westchester, and more.  

 Members of the Country Club at Pelham rode to the hounds, sponsored and competed in steeplechase races, held grand polo matches, played baseball, tennis, billiards and more at their Club.  The Club's great steeplechase races became nationally-renowned and attracted gamblers and spectators from all over the northeast.  As the Club grew in fame and stature, it contributed to the cachet of "Pelham Manor" and the notion that the area was a country playground for the wealthy of New York City and the surrounding region.  I have written extensively about the Pelham Country Club and, particularly, the baseball games and steeplechase races that the Country Club at Pelham sponsored. (See the lengthy list of links at the end of this posting.)

 Grand balls were held inside Oakshade, the Club's headquarters.  During the country club years it was the scene of many dances, parties and celebrations.  The grounds of the estate were particularly busy during the summer months when the weather was fair.  For nearly five years the Club entertained 250-300 members, their families, and guests. Many of the links at the end of this posting describe the grand scenes of steeplechase races and the pageantry of early “base-ball” games held at the Country Club. 

Undated Post Card View (Ca. 1918-1923) of "Oakshade"
Once Used as the Clubhouse of the Country Club
at Pelham After Conversion of the Structure to a Roadhouse.

 As New York City intensified its efforts to purchase the entire area for inclusion within the new Pelham Bay Park, however, the Club was forced to search for a new site. In early 1889, the Club settled on a new site on Throgg’s Neck (about two and a half miles away) and arranged to move to a new clubhouse and grounds in the fall of that year.  

 Early in 1889, however, the Club began its preparations to move.  An article appeared in the January 26, 1889 issue of The Evening Post published in New York City.  It described the early history of the Club, its plans to move, and the construction of its new clubhouse on Throgg's Neck.  The article is transcribed in its entirety below, followed by a citation to its source.

 "THE COUNTRY CLUB.
-----
ITS NEW HOUSE AND GROUNDS ON PELHAM BAY.
-----
A Description of the Building as It Will Be -- The Club's Origin and Growth -- Why the Old House is to be Abandoned.
-----

 Pleasantly situated in Pelham township, amid grounds which slope gently down to the waters of Long Island Sound, is the old Morris homestead, or, as it has been known during the last six years, the house of the Country Club of Westchester County.  This Club, although not so old as some of the similar organizations in the neighborhood of New York, ranks among the first in the wealth and social position of its members, and is about to begin a new and important era in its history.  The old club-house is to be torn down, as the grounds upon which it stands are almost in the centre of the tract recently purchased by the city for park purposes.  The necessity of removal, known for some time to the members of the Club, led them to take measures for the purchase of a new site upon which to erect a more commodious house.  Resulting from this was the formation of the Country Club Association, an incorporated body, and the purchase of a desirable tract of land on Pelham Bay, upon which a large and beautiful club-house is now in process of erection.  Before a description of this house or of the property recently acquired by the Association is given, a brief account of the steps leading to the formation of the Country Club may be of interest.

 In the autumn of 1883 it occurred to Mr. James M. Waterbury, whose country residence is at Pelham, that a club of this description would be an excellent thing.  The more he thought the matter over, the more favorably impressed he was with the idea.  Then he discussed it with some of his friends in the neighborhood, and finally invited fourteen gentlemen to a supper, after which the subject was broached.  Every one present received the suggestion enthusiastically, and the Country Club was then and there started.  The names of the gentlemen who thus became the founders of the organization were:  H. A. Coster, J. M. Waterbury, J. S. Ellis, J. C. Furman, Edward Haight, jr., C. O. Iselin, F. W. Jackson, Delancey A. Kane, William Kent, Alfred Seton, jr., Alexander Taylor, jr., F. A. Watson, W. S. Hoyt, Pierre Lorillard, jr., and Lorillard Spencer, jr.  J. M. Waterbury was chosen President; W. S. Hoyt, Vice-President; H. A. Coster, Treasurer; and William Kent, Secretary.  Mr. Waterbury immediately proceeded to look for desirable quarters for the new club, and finally decided that the Morris house and grounds, formerly known as the Suydam property, were best suited for the purpose.  An effort was made to buy this property, but was unsuccessful, and accordingly a lease of it for five years was secured.  From the start the Club was successful, and its membership is now filled to the limit.

 A reporter of THE EVENING POST recently called upon J. C. Furman, Chairman of the Building Committee which has in charge the erection of the new club-house, to obtain from him a description of the structure and its surroundings.  'When the necessity of seeking new quarters was forced upon us,' said Mr. Furman, 'by the acquisition by the city of the 1,750 acres now known as Pelham Bay Park, in which our old club-house stood, it was decided, as the original club was not an incorporated body, to form an organization to be known as the Country Club Association.  This was done, and there were purchased by the Association about 120 acres of beautifully wooded and rolling land on Pelham Bay, two miles nearer the city than our former site.  The tract purchased is known as the Van Antwerp property, and is situated on Throgg's Neck, in the township of West Chester, Westchester County.  It is bounded on the north by the Lorillard Spencer estate and on the south by the William Laytin estate.  The Eastern Boulevard forms the western boundary, and on the east the land is washed by the waters of Pelham Bay.  Naturally,' continued Mr. Furman, '120 acres have been reserved for its purposes, the remainder being divided into villa sites, many of which have already been sold.  Among those who have purchased sites are:  J. M. Waterbury, John S. Ellis, C. H. Leland, C. P. Marsh, F. Pearson, Howard Gallup, George B. French, Paul Thebaud, Moses Taylor Campbell, S. A. Read, Renwick Aspinwall Russell, and Edward Clarkson Potter.  Mr. Potter has already begun the erection of a beautiful stone and brick villa near the new club-house.  The association has issued bonds, and from the money accruing from the sale of these has advanced to the Club a certain sum for the erection of the new house, the purchase of grounds, and the laying out of the same.  These bonds the club has the privilege of redeeming.  The site for the club-house is on a natural terrace, or elevation, seventeen feet above the waters of the bay, and we think can scarcely be excelled.  Digging for the foundation was begun in September, and the contract calls for the completion of the house by the first of next May.  The building is to be of the colonial style of architecture and will have a length of about 300 feet, with an average depth of 50.  The foundation will be of pressed brick, and the sides will be shingled.  The roof will be shingled and painted red, and all of the trimmings are to be plain white.  The idea is to combine beauty of general effect with extreme simplicity and convenience.  

 'As you enter the house you pass into a wide hall extending across the entire width, at the further extremity of which will be a billiard table more especially devoted to the use of the ladies who may wish to play.  Branching off on each side of the main entrance which is on the side of the house away from the bay, are corridors, leading on the right to the large club-room, in which there are to be three billiard tables.  The corridor on the left leads directly to the servants' room, and on the sides of this corridor are the large dining room and a small private dining-room.  At the rear of the house, facing the bay, the hall opens on a broad veranda, which extends the full length of the building, and is seventeen feet broad.  From the veranda a magnificent view may be obtained, four miles across the water to Long Island, through the uninterrupted space between Throggs Neck and City Island Point.  The two upper stories are to be devoted to the members of the Club and their wives (no children), who are permitted to occupy rooms for two weeks at a time only, providing the rooms are called for at the expiration of that period.  If occupied rooms are not called for, they may be retained indefinitely.

 'The initerior will be finished very simply.  The colors of the Club are red and white, and they will be made, so far as possible, predominant.  The servants will wear black liveries trimmed with red and white cord.  The wood principally to be used for the interior finish will be pine, painted white, the whole idea being to carry out, so far as it may be done, the effect of the colonial style.  The whole house -- two stories and attic -- will contain in the neighborhood of fity rooms, and the estimated cost of the building alone is $35,000.

 'As I have said already, the house will stand on a sort of natural terrace seventeen feet above the water level.  From the upper terrace the descent to the water will be broken by two other terraces, the lower one of which will be occupied as the shooting-ground.  Mr. Oliver Iselin, during a recent trip abroad, has visited the principal pigeon-shooting grounds of the Continent, and will have charge of the construction of these.  Above the shooting ground on the second terrace are to be four tennis courts.  A little to the rear and right of the house are to be the baseball grounds, and still further to the right the polo grounds.  These latter, when completed, will, I believe, be the finest of their kind in the country, as they are to be laid out after the most approved plans, and will be absolutely level.  The dimensions of the polo grounds will be 750x500 feet.  Surrounding them is to be a twenty-foot roadway, which in turn will be flanked on each side by grass walks each fifteen feet in width.  The roadway will be macadamized and dressed down with blue stone.  The steeplechase course will be flagged out when needed, starting with the polo grounds, which will form a part of it.  The stables, the site for which has not as yet been definitely determined, will be enclosed in a courtyard.

 'Below the house, a little to the left, there is to be a dock 250 feet in length.  It is proposed to build a fast steamer, which would be used, should the arrangement be made, in connection with the other clubs further up,, the New York Athletic and the American Yacht Club, for instance.  We think an arrangement of that kind can be made, in which case the boat will make regular trips to and from the city, stopping at the several docks at stated intervals.  Even should the proposed arrangement with the other clubs fall through, a boat will probably be provided by some of our members.  The distance by water to the city is about ten miles, though of course it depends in what part of the city the landing is made, and the trip would be a very pleasant one.'

 'What are the condition and prospects of the Club to-day?' was inquired.

 'The Club is in an excellent condition every way, and its prospects are very bright.  Three hundred and fifty is the limit of our membership, and the limit is now reached, a number of new members having recently been elected.  There are, besides, a number of names of proposed members on the list for admission.  While nothing has been decided in regard to an increase of membership, I think it quite probable that we may increase the present limit somewhat when we move into our new house.  At a recent meeting, the governors of the Club decided to raise the initiation fee from $50 to $100, to go into effect the first of March next, the yearly dues remaining the same as now, namely, $50.  This new rule will not affect those whose names are proposed for membership before March 1.  

 'In speaking of the house there were a few things I forgot to mention.  One is that it will be lighted by gas, and there will be running water on the first floor.  Heat will be supplied by three furnaces, and there will also be fireplaces in nearly all the rooms.  We propose to have an impressive entrance to the grounds from the avenue, probably a large gateway, with high and elaborately carved stone posts.  The walks will be covered with the white, pebbly Long Island gravel.'"

 Source:  THE COUNTRY CLUB -- ITS NEW HOUSE AND GROUNDS ON PELHAM BAY, The Evening Post [NY, NY], Jan. 26, 1889, p. 12, cols. 1-2.  

*     *     *     *     *

I have written extensively about the Country Club of Pelham and events that were held on its grounds in the 1880s.  Below are a few examples of such postings.

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














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Thursday, February 05, 2015

"The Dogwoods," Known as the Old Black Mansion on Esplanade, Was Razed for Property Development in 1931


Robert C. Black, a member of the well-known Fifth Avenue jeweler Black Starr & Frost, lived with his wife, Mary Witherbee Black, in a splendid mansion that stood on a large tract (sometimes described as six acres and, sometimes, eight) where the homes between 958 and 1000 Esplanade now stand.  The couple moved to Pelham Manor in the 1870s and originally lived in the home that still stands at 1057 Esplanade, an example of the "Esplanade Villa" style of home offered  in the early days of the development efforts of the Pelham Manor and Huguenot Heights Association. 

 Robert and Mary Black built their splendid home in about 1886.  They called it "The Dogwoods."  In 1892, the couple hired noted architect Clarence S. Luce of New York City to enlarge the home by adding two wings.  The western wing addition was two stories high with the upper story being devoted to a "music-room" about 40 feet in length and 20 feet in width.  The room was used as a ballroom and became the center of the Pelham Manor social scene for decades..  The room included a musician's gallery and "a superb mantel reaching nearly from floor to roof with an immense brick open fireplace and tiled hearth."  

 At the time the home was enlarged, Real Estate Record and Builders Guide published an article that included a photograph of the home under construction and an architect's rendering of the music room.  (Both images appear below.)  The article further noted:  

 "SOME RESIDENTS AND RESIDENCES.

 The Esplanade is lined with pretty cottages and attractive villas, the majority of which are the all-year-round homes of their owners.  By far the largest and most costly of these is the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Black, which is shown below.  This structure was recently enlarged by the addition of two wings, from plans by Clarence S. Luce of New York.  The western wing is two stories high, the upper portion being devoted to a music-room, about 40 feet in length and about 20 feet in width.  This is just about completed, and its distinguishing features are a musicians' gallery and a superb manel reaching nearly from floor to roof, with an immense brick open fireplace and tiled hearth.  It is to be decorated in white and gold and furnished artistically.  The building occupies a total frontage of 135 feet and there are numerous reception-rooms on the first floor, which connect with the music-room by a grand stairway."

 Source:  "PELHAM MANOR, PELHAM HEIGHTS AND VICINITY.  A Delightful Suburban Section Described. -- With Eleven Illustrations" in Real Estate Record and Builders Guide Supplement, Dec. 17, 1892, Vol. L, No. 1292, pp. 1-8.

"Residence of Mr. Robert C. Black (From photograph before completion.)"
in Real Estate Record and Builders Guide Supplement, Dec. 17, 1892, 
Vol. L, No. 1292, p. 3.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

"Music Room in residence of Mr. Robert C. Black."
in Real Estate Record and Builders Guide Supplement, Dec. 17, 1892, 
Vol. L, No. 1292, p. 4.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

 After the Death of Robert C. Black, The Dogwoods passed to his son, R. Clifford Black.  With the onset of the Great Depression and the death of R. Clifford Black, the property taxes on the magnificent home and its surrounding six-acre lot became burdensome.  

 R. Clifford Black died on January 26, 1931.  Within months, the estate of R. Clifford Black announced that the home would be razed and the six-acre tract would be broken into smaller lots for the development of twenty smaller residences.  Plans also were announced to auction much of the contents of the home, including a magnificent "pipe organ which graced the huge ballroom where 200 or more guests have danced at many of the Manor's brightest social events."

 By late September, 1931, the Black Mansion was being razed.  One of the last remaining grand mansions of Pelham Manor would be no more.  The matter was not, however, over.

Detail of 1914 Map Showing Location of
"The Dogwoods," Listing It as "Mary G. W. Black."
Eastchester, Vol. I, p. 129 (NY, NY:  G.W. Bromley & Co., 1914).
NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

 Twice in 1931, as the mansion was being torn down, attorneys for the Black family presented plans to develop the property to the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor led by William B. Randall.  On both occasions, the development plans were rejected by the Planning Commission.  See PLAN FOR TEN ACRE DEVELOPMENT IN MANOR APPROVED; MARINER IS SPONSOR -- Planning Commission Rejects Plan for Improvement of Black Estate Property Again; New Development Projected Between Pelhamdale Avenue and Pelham Country Club, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 20, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 35, p. 1, cols. 1-2.  

 According to one account, the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor concluded that the proposed plan to build twenty smaller residences on the former Black estate "was not in keeping with the high priced residential district in which the mansion" was located.  See Black Development Plan Is Rejected; To Raze Mansion, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 21, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 21, p. 1, cols. 7-8.

 The battle raged for a number of years.  A member of the Black family and heir of Mary G. W. Black and R. Clifford Black named Witherbee Black was involved in the plans for developing the six-acre tract.  Among other things, Witherbee Black requested the Village of Pelham Manor to make changes to applicable zoning ordinances to permit the construction of multiplex houses on the property.  Village residents rose up in protest and created a taxpayers' activist organization named the Pelham Manor Property Owner's Association.  See Property Owners Rally To Support New Pelham Manor Taxpayers' Ass'n -- Many Offers of Financial Support Received by Joseph Carreau, Chairman of Organization Committee; Incorporation Meeting Monday; Public Session to be Held Next Week, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 29, 1936, Vol. 27, No. 39, p. 1, col. 1.    

 The Pelham Manor Property Owner's Association and the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor battled valiantly, but the property eventually was subdivided and about twenty or twenty one beautiful homes relatively large for the size of their lots were constructed.    

 "Pelham Manor

 BLACK MANSION TO BE RAZED
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Esplanade Landmark Must Make Way for New Development
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 In the razing of the old Black mansion on Esplanade, Pelham Manor, to make way for a development of the six-acre tract upon which the mansion stands, the village will see its most ambitious development in five years.

 It was reported today that the venture by the owners of the property will also entail auctioning many valuable furnishings of the home, including the large pipe organ which graced the huge ballroom where 200 or more guests have danced at many of the Manor's brightest social events.  

 It is expected the work of tearing down the 45-year-old home, valued at $75,000, will be started within two weeks, after its contents have been removed.

 Two streets will be cut through the six acres, according to the plans of the developers, and the property will be divided into 20 building lots.  In real estate circles, it is spoken of as close to a million dollar development, in view of the type of homes which must necessarily be built to conform to zoning law provisions, by the buyers of the lots.  

 The property is owned and will be developed by the estate of the late R. Clifford Black.  The Black family have been prominent through several generations in the social life and physical growth of the village.  

 Originally 80 acres were held by the family, extending over the land now traversed by Esplanade, one of the village's most beautiful thoroughfares.  Mary G. W. Black gave the land now occupied by the Manor Club and her father was the donor of the land to the Huguenot Memorial Church, which is the site of the church edifice now standing at the corner of the Boston Post Road and Pelhamdale Avenue."

 Source:  BLACK MANSION TO BE RAZED, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 17, 1931, p. 9, col. 1.  

 "Black Development Plan Is Rejected; To Raze Mansion
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Black Estate to Develop Six Acre Tract in Pelham Manor; Mariner Also Plans Development of Another Large Parcel of Property; Mansion Was Scene of Many Important Social Gatherings.
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 Plans which included the razing of the famous old Black Mansion on the Esplanade and the development of the six acre estate with the construction of a group of twenty small residences have been rejected by the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor, The Pelham Sun learned this week.  William B. Randall, former village president, chairman of the Planning Commission announced that the proposed plan was not in keeping with the high priced residential district in which the mansion is located.

 Witherbee Black, heir of the estate of Mrs. Mary G. W. Black and R. Clifford Black, who is responsible for the proposed development was asked to submit a more favorable plan.  Mr. Randall expressed an opinion that the property could be properly developed along the lines of the existing residential district of Pelham Manor, without loss to the owner.  

 Announcement of the development of the Black property on the Esplanade was followed this week by a report that another Black tract is soon to be subdivided and developed by Guy C. Mariner.  this property is situated opposite the Black Mansion on Pelhamdale avenue and extends to the Pelham Country Club golf course.  Mariner who was responsible for the Bonmar addition plans to include the Black property in this section.  The Black mansion which was for many years the home of Mrs. Mary W. G. Black, widow of Robert C. Black, is fifty years old.  It was one of the show places of Westchester County and its spacious rooms were the rendezvous of the elite of Westchester.  Mrs. Black was a prominent figure in the Westchester County social swirl, and the leader in the benevolent activities of the Pelhams.  The large ballroom was frequently the scene of receptions to distinguished figures of the United States and Europe.

 The handsome furnishings of the building have been removed and will soon be sold at public auction.  A massive pipe organ is still in the music room of the house.  It was at this console that the best musicians were heard in receptions before the music lovers of Westchester society.

 The Black estate once covered the greater portion of Pelham Manor.  It extended from the 

 (Continued on Page Four)

 BLACK MANSION, ONCE CENTER OF SOCIAL LIFE IN PELHAM MANOR WILL BE RAZED
-----

 (Continued from page 1)

 Esplanade across the property which is now the Pelham Country Club, and across the branch line of the New Haven Railroad.  Another large section on Prospect Hill was held by Mrs. Black.  In 1874 when there were only ten homes in Pelham Manor, Silas Witherbee, father of Mrs. Black financed the development company which laid out the village.  At the failure of this company Witherbee took over the property and it was purchased by his daughter who had faith in the rising community.  She immediately moved to Pelham and began the career which has had much to do with the development of the village, its social life and charity activities.  

 Mrs. Black took an active part in the organization of the Manor Club, and was one of the charter members of the Pelham Home for Children.  She was a member of the Huguenot Memorial Church and donated part of the property on which the church now stands.  

 Robert C. Black, husband of Pelham Manor's dominant figure, died in 1907.  Mrs. Black continued to maintain her residence here until she died in 1928.  The property was bequeathed to her two sons R. Clifford Black and Witherbee Black.  The former died early this year. 

 The furniture which includes several handsome antique pieces will be sold at public auction at the Neptune Storage Warehouse in New Rochelle early in September.  

 Charles D. Fiske, president of Fish & Marvin, who are agents for the property announced that the work of razing the mansion will be started next week.

 The plans for the new residential development included the construction of two streets from the Esplanade to Pelhamdale avenue.  The property will be divided into twenty building lots.

 In his rejection Mr. Randall expressed an opinion that the property could be developed in large tracts and suggested that a winding road be laid out across the property instead of the two short streets.  He expressed the hope that the several splendid trees now on the property be preserved in the development."

 Source:  Black Development Plan Is Rejected; To Raze Mansion, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 21, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 21, p. 1, cols. 7-8 & p. 4, cols. 1-2.

 "BLACK MANSION IS BEING RAZED
-----
Famous Old Social Center of Pelham Manor Will Be Removed to Make Way for Residential Development.
-----

 The most brilliant page in the social history of the Pelhams was turned on Monday when work of the razing of the Black mansion on the Esplanade was begun.  The handsome old residence which was at one time the social stronghold of the late Mary G. W. Black, is being removed to make way for a modern residential development.  Witherbee Black and the Estate of R. Clifford Black is responsible for the new development.  

 Application for approval of the plan for the new development has been rejected by the Planning Commission."

 Source:  BLACK MANSION IS BEING RAZED, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 25, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 26, p. 1, col. 3.  

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 I have written about "The Dogwoods" and members of the Black Family on a number of occasions.  For more, see:

 Wed., Apr. 13, 2005:  "The Dogwoods" - The Estate of Robert Clifford Black of Pelham Manor.

 Thu., Jan. 29, 2015:  R. Clifford Black of Black, Starr & Frost Bought the Martin J. Condon Mansion in 1913.

 Fri., Aug. 01, 2014:  Obituary and Photograph of R. Clifford Black, a Prominent Pelham Manor Resident in the Early 20th Century.

 Wed., Jun. 27, 2007:  Dissolution of Firm of Black, Starr & Frost and Reconstitution of the Firm as Corporation After Robert Clifford Black's Death.

Thu., Sep. 28, 2006:  A Brief Biography of Mary Grace Witherbee Black of Pelham Manor. 

Tue., Apr. 11, 2006:  April 20, 1875 Marriage Certificate of Robert C. Black and Mary Grace Witherbee Black. 

Thu., Feb. 9, 2006:  Cortlandt W. Starr of Black Starr & Frost. 

Thu., Jun. 7, 2005:  Obituaries of Robert C. Black and His Wife, Mary Grace Witherbee Black. 

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