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, March 21, 2017

Report From Natchez, Mississippi After the Civil War Possibly Written by Levin R. Marshall Who Owned Hawkswood


On December 12, 1867, The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer published on its front page a shockingly racist letter by an unidentified author who sought to switch a newspaper subscription from Pelham, New York to Natchez, Mississippi.  The letter said:  "A state of desperation exists here, such as has no parallel in the world's history" and purported to indict the earliest years of the Reconstruction Era and efforts to provide Black Americans in Mississippi and the surrounding region with at least the seeds to grow emerging civil rights.  

Though ostensibly a simple request to switch the address of a newspaper subscription, the letter was more of a bitter and darkly brooding rant against the devastation of the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, and freed slaves.  The author of the letter was not identified.  It is, however, readily apparent and nearly certain that the letter was written by Levin R. Marshall who once owned the elegant mansion on Pelham Neck near City Island Bridge known as Hawkswood.  Throughout the time he owned Hawkswood, he remained a resident of Natchez from which he oversaw his plantations and slaves, but summered in Pelham in the mansion which became known as the "Marhsall Mansion" at "Marshall Corners."  See Mon., Feb. 10, 2014:  Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel and Colonial Inn, Once Stood in Pelham Near City Island.  

Levin R. Marshall was originally from Virginia.  He became a successful banker in the river city of Natchez, Mississippi.  He invested in cotton plantations, a hotel, and a steamboat packet company.  By the start of the Civil War, he had amassed more than 25,000 acres of farmland in three states.  Five of his plantations, totaling 14,400 acres, were located in Adams County, Mississippi and in Louisiana.  He owned 817 slaves in 1860 and lived on an estate known as "Richmond" just south of Natchez.  He had 32 slaves at Richmond to tend to his family's needs and take care of the estate.  Marshall was a millionaire -- reputedly "one of only 35 millionaires in the entire country" at the start of the War.

As one would expect, Marshall's plantations and agricultural businesses were destroyed by the War.  His 817 slaves were freed.  His finances were devastated.

Levin R. Marshall died in Marshall Mansion in the Town of Pelham while visiting his summer home on July 24, 1870.  As part of its effort to develop the area as Pelham Bay Park, the City of New York thereafter purchased the Marshall estate in 1888 although the property was not maintained thereafter with the attention to detail and loving care that had been lavished on it for many decades.  Bolton wrote about the Marshall Mansion in the 1881 edition of his History of Westchester County published after his death saying: 

"Hawkwood, the residence of the late Elisha King, Esq., is now owned by the widow of the late Levin R. Marshall, and adjoins the property of Captain J.R. Steers, on the south. The house is built of stone, in the Grecian style, and presents a fine front of columns to the water.  The beauty of the scenery in this vicinity is greatly heightened by the close proximity of City Island, and the richly wooded shores of the Point. The grounds, containing a great variety of choice trees, were laid out by the celebrated gardener, Andre Parmenteer.  Nearly adjoining Hawkwood, in the south-west, is Longwood, the residence of A. Newbold Morris, Esq." 

Source: Bolton, C.W., ed., The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement To the Present Time Carefully Revised by its Author By the Late Rev. Robert Bolton, Vol. II, p. 71 (NY, NY: Chas. F. Roper, 1881).  

The letter published by The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer on December 12, 1867, a little less than three years before Marshall's death, sheds fascinating light on Marshall at the end of his life if, indeed, the letter was his.  It seems to be a dark and hopeless letter filled with racist rants against the freed slaves of the region, the early years of the Reconstruction Era and the "Black Republican Party" that controlled the politics of the region.  The letter describes the United States as "in a most deplorable condition" mired in the muck of "lamentable" politics.  It says that "the crops have so signally failed in Louisiana and Mississippi that real want and suffering are staring most of us in the face."  It further states, rather dramatically, that "Ruin, ruin is a word that all in this section comprehend, without a reference to Webster or any other lexicographer."  

The author of the dark and brooding letter notes that landowners are unable to pay wages to freed slaves to do the work to harvest crops and that the region, like the nation, was in a "deplorable condition" with "no immediate prospect of any improvement" and "worse off than ever!"  

According to the author, there was "No business of any kind doing" and no money, saying further:  "This you may think a gloomy picture, but a more truthful one never was drawn."

At this point the letter devolved into a combination of complaints regarding the reconstruction process, the Freedmen's Bureau, and freed slaves, concluding with the statement:  "A state of desperation exists here, such as has no parallel in the world's history."

Clearly much of the value of Levin R. Marshall's assets had been destroyed by the Civil War and its aftermath.  His affluent lifestyle and, indeed, his pre-war way-of-life had been entirely destroyed.  He know longer had available to him the laborers he misused to build his lifestyle and his holdings.  He seemed to have grown bitter over the reconstruction efforts during the early years of the Reconstruction Era.  He complained that the few planters in the region able to harvest any cotton saw most, or all, of that cotton simply confiscated by the Freedmen's Bureau.  He even lamented the fact that freed slaves had "thoroughly organized in every county in the State, such as Loyal League clubs, G. A. R., and other such imitations of their worse white brethren."  

Levin R. Marshall's life, as he once knew it, was over.  This letter reflects both his consequent anger and bitterness.  It reveals much about the man who once summered in Pelham.



Above:  Detail from Engraving of Hawkswood (the Marshall Mansion)
Published in 1831.  Below:  Detail from Early 20th Century Post Card
Showing Levin R. Marshall's Mansion Named "Richmond" Near Natchez.
Note:  Click on Image to Enlarge.


Detail from Page 35, Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity,
1868 (Published by Beers, Ellis & Soule, New York) ("City Island,
Pelham Township, Westchester Co., N.Y. with Town of Pelham,
Westchester Co., N.Y.") Shows Estate of L.R. Marshall Known
as "Hawkswood."  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.


Hawkswood / Marshall Mansion in the 1930s.
New York City Parks Department.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of the letter published in the December 12, 1867 issue of The Cincinnati                            Daily Enquirer.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"FROM MISSISSIPPI.
-----
Condition of the Country -- A Sad Picture.
[Correspondence of the Cincinnati Enquirer.]

NATCHEZ, MISS., December 3, 1867.

I write to request that you will have my paper sent me here.  I left a memorandum with one of the employes of your office while in Cincinnati, giving my change of address from Pelham, Westchester County, N. Y., to Natchez, Adams County, Miss., but presume, in the excitement of the election returns from New York, Minnesota and elsewhere, it has been laid aside.  It is the only paper I take pleasure in reading, and in this God-forsaken, devil-taken country I can not do without it.

Our country is in a most deplorable condition.  Aside from its political aspect (which is lamentable), the crops have so signally failed in Louisiana and Mississippi that real want and suffering are staring most of us in the face.  Ruin, ruin, is a word that all in this section comprehend, without a reference to Webster or any other lexicographer.  Not a single crop has been made, where expenses will be met.  On the contrary, the advances for supplies and wages of negroes can not be paid.  We are in a deplorable condition, and no immediate prospect of any improvement.  Instead of bettering ourselves, as most of us thought we could, we are worse off than ever!  No business of any kind doing, from the fact of there being no motive power, in the shape of money.  This you may think a gloomy picture, but a more truthful one never was drawn.  Where any cotton was made, most of it, and in some cases all that planters made, has been seized by the 'Freedmen's Bureau,' perhaps (?) for the benefit of the worthless, idle negro; and this, too, after the planter has been at the expense of feeding, housing, and otherwise caring for the miserable vagabond.

And this the return!  Every thing taken for the darky, and absolutely nothing for the white man and his dependent, perhaps starving family!  How long are we to endure this state of things?  I have not yet seen the man who says he intends planting again -- in fact, such a man will be a curiosity, and could well be exhibited by the side of Barnum's gorilla (or, 'may be,' future candidate of the Black Republican party for the next Presidency).  I mean, the gorilla, of course.  No one has the money to invest in negro labor.

Other troubles we may look for in a few weeks, as an immense number of negroes will be thrown out of employment, with no prospect for being employed for the coming year.  As a consequence, theft, robbery, and, perhaps other far worse outrages, that we all anticipate, without the power to avert.

The negroes are thoroughly organized in every county in the State, such as Loyal League clubs, G. A. R., and other such imitations of their worse white brethren.  A state of desperation exists here, such as has no parallel in the world's history."

Source:  FROM MISSISSIPPI -- Condition of the Country -- A Sad Picture, The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, Dec. 12, 1867, Vol. XXXL, No. 336, p. 1, col. 4 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

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I have written about the Hawkswood / Marshall Mansion on other occasions.  Below are a few linked examples:

Mon., Feb. 10, 2014:  Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel and Colonial Inn, Once Stood in Pelham Near City Island.  

Wed., Apr. 5, 2006:  "Hawkswood", Later Known as the Marshall Mansion on Rodman's Neck in Pelham

Thu., Jun. 28, 2007: 19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King.

Fri., May 07, 2010:  Image of Hawkswood Published in 1831.

Thu., June 28, 2007: 19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King.

Mon., Apr. 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.  


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Wednesday, March 01, 2017

More About Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel, and Colonial Inn


A spectacular mansion known as Hawkswood once stood on Pelham Neck overlooking Long Island Sound and City Island.  Hawkswood was built in the 1820s by Elisha W. King.  King was a successful and wealthy New York City lawyer who practiced with Peter W. Radcliff in a law office at 27 Beekman Street in Manhattan.  King also served as a City Alderman for more than twenty years.  King also served as a member of the New York State Assembly (1813-14). 

Late in his life in about the 1820s, Elisha King built his lavish mansion in Pelham on Pelham Neck (today's Rodman's Neck) opposite City Island.  King reportedly purchased nearby High Island in 1829 and quarried stones from the island which he used in the construction of a foundation for his country mansion.  

Hawkswood faced the Long Island Sound.  Its grounds were nearly as lovely as the mansion itself.  In the 1881 edition of Bolton's History of Westchester County, Bolton noted that the "grounds, containing a great variety of choice trees, were laid out by the celebrated gardener, Andre Parmenteer." Bolton, C.W., ed., The History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement To the Present Time Carefully Revised by its Author By the Late Rev. Robert Bolton, Vol. II, p. 71 (NY, NY: Chas. F. Roper, 1881).  King built his mansion on a lovely little knoll that looked over the waters of the Sound and City Island.  Once his mansion was built, King retired there and lived in it until his death in 1836.  Following King's death, his Pelham estate was sold.



"VIEW FROM COLONIAL INN.  CITY ISLAND, N. Y."
Postcard View Looking from Hawkswood in About 1917.

Today's Historic Pelham Blog article reproduces an advertisement published in 1853 offering the Hawkswood estate for sale.  The advertisement is significant for a number of reasons.  It reveals how much it cost King to build the mansion.  It reaffirms that Martin Euclid Thompson was the architect and builder of the mansion and that famed landscape architect André Parmentier laid out the grounds.  

Hawkswood clearly was a lavish and stunning master work designed by Martin Euclid Thomson, about whom I have written before.  See Fri., Feb. 14, 2014:  Martin Euclid Thompson, the Architect of the Pelham Mansion Known as Hawkswood and the Marshall Mansion.  According to the advertisement, it cost $30,000 to build the Hawkswood mansion.  That would be roughly the equivalent of about $1.31 million in today's dollars.

I never have written about the famed landscape architect, André Joseph Ghislain Parmentier, who laid out the grounds of the estate.  Parmentier was born July 3, 1780 in Enghien, Belgium.  He and his wife emigrated to the United States in 1821 and lived in Brooklyn.  He was an active and successful horticulturalist who created a magnificent garden of ornamental trees and shrubs and greenhouse plants that he sold from "The Horticultural and Botanic Garden of Brooklyn."  

In 1828, Parmentier published an important horticultural catalog entitled "Periodical catalogue of fruit & ornamental trees and shrubs, green-house plants, etc.. Cultivated and for sale at The Horticultural and Botanic Garden of Brooklyn, corner of the Jamaica and Flatbush roads, about 2 miles from the city of New-York."  The publication included a plan and description of his famed Brooklyn garden and likely caught the attention of Elisha W. King who hired Parmentier to lay out the grounds of his new estate.

The advertisement published in 1853 makes brief reference to Parmentier's work on the estate.  It says "The surrounding lawn, consisting of about twelve acres was laid out and planned with American and European ornamental trees of every description, by the late Andrew Parmentier."

The advertisement also sheds light on some of the grounds and outbuildings associated with the mansion.  According to its text:  "The Farm House, Barns, and all necessary outbuildings, built in the best manner, are in complete order, and are conveniently near the house, being effectually screened by ornamental shrubbery.  The farm consists of about 60 acres of the richest land, and walled in by stone fences.  --  The waters of Long Island Sound surround the estate on three sides, presenting some of the finest views in America, and affording an excellent opportunity for yachting, fishing, &c."

An image of the advertisement appears immediately below.  It is followed by a transcription of its text to facilitate search and a bibliographic reference with link to the source.




1853 Advertisement Offering Hawkswood Estate for Sale.
Source:  FOR SALE [Advertisement], Morning Courier and New-York
Enquirer, Apr. 4, 1853, Vol. XLVIII, No. 8047, p. 5, col. 7.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

"FOR SALE.
-----
COUNTRY SEAT FOR SALE -- THE ELEGANT residence of the late ELISHA W. KING, known as Hawkswood, situated in Pelham, Westchester County, New York.  The mansion was designed and erected by the eminent architect, Martin E. Thompson, Esq., at a cost of $30,000.  The surrounding lawn, consisting of about twelve acres was laid out and planned with American and European ornamental trees of every description, by the late Andrew Parmentier.  The Farm House, Barns, and all necessary outbuildings, built in the best manner, are in complete order, and are conveniently near the house, being effectually screened by ornamental shrubbery.  The farm consists of about 60 acres of the richest land, and walled in by stone fences.  --  The waters of Long Island Sound surround the estate on three sides, presenting some of the finest views in America, and affording an excellent opportunity for yachting, fishing, &c.  There are few, if any country seats in the United States, more beautifully located, elegant, and altogether desirable in every respect, than Hawkswood, the immediate neighborhood being exclusively occupied by the country seats of some of the first families in the State.  The access to the city is easy and frequent; a steamboat landing and a station of the Boston, New Haven and New York Railroad being within a distance of three miles, and a new track will soon be laid, to pass within three quarters of a mile of the premises.  For further particulars apply to

P. V. KING, 41 South street,
J. B. KING, Brooklyn,
B. W. BONNEY, 38 Wall street
Or to E. H. LUDLOW, 11 Wall st.

ap4 2taw1m     (B698)"

Source:  FOR SALE [Advertisement], Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer, Apr. 4, 1853, Vol. XLVIII, No. 8047, p. 5, col. 7.



"G. Kotzenberg's 'Colonial Inn' City Island, New York"
A Post Card View of Hawkswood On Pelham Neck,
Overlooking City Island.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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I have written about the Hawkswood / Marshall Mansion on other occasions.  Below are a few linked examples.

Thu., Jan. 14, 2016:  1846 Notice of Executor's Sale of the Estate of Elisha W. King Who Owned Estate in Pelham.

Tue., May 19, 2015:  Advertisements for Two Nineteenth Century Sales of Large Properties on Rodman's Neck in the Town of Pelham.

Fri., Feb. 14, 2014:  Martin Euclid Thompson, the Architect of the Pelham Mansion Known as Hawkswood and the Marshall Mansion.

Mon., Feb. 10, 2014:  Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel and Colonial Inn, Once Stood in Pelham Near City Island.

Thu., Feb. 13, 2014:  More Information About Elisha W. King, the Builder and Original Owner of Hawkswood

Wed., Apr. 5, 2006:  "Hawkswood", Later Known as the Marshall Mansion on Rodman's Neck in Pelham

Thu., Jun. 28, 2007:  19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King

Fri., May 07, 2010:  Image of Hawkswood Published in 1831

Thu., June 28, 2007:  19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King

Mon., Apr. 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.

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Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Images of, and Information About, Pelham Bay Park Mansions in 1896


As New York City began to assemble land northeast of the city to create new parks during the 1880s, little thought was given to the maintenance, use, and preservation of the many structures including grand, historic mansions, located within the new park lands.  Instead, once the parklands were assembled, the corrupt Tammany Machine of the city worked with local bureacrats and park officials to allow favored cronies to live in many of the properties either rent free or for nominal payments, many of which were never made.  Repeatedly there were waves of progressive angst and media investigations that led to repeated promises that the city would do a better job of maintaining the properties and renting them for fair market value to support necessary repairs to the properties.  Repeatedly the city failed at keeping those promises.

In 1896, the city made yet another effort to "reform as a landlord."  An article published in the New York Herald on April 26, 1896 noted that the "fine old mansions in suburban parks are going to decay for lack of attention," but the city had promised that it would manage the seventy park residences it owned to produce "greater revenue."  

The article is significant because, among other reasons, it included sketches of a number of the structures located in Pelham Bay Park.  Among those sketches was one that depicted the Gouverneur Morris, Jr., residence at Bartow.  That sketch is the only image of the Gouverneur Morris Jr. residence I have ever been able to locate.  I have written before about Gourverneur Morris Jr. and his residence in Bartow-on-the-Sound.  See Thu., Aug. 28, 2014:  Gouverneur Morris Jr. Lived His Later Years, and Died, in Bartow-on-the-Sound in the Town of Pelham.

The text of the New York Herald article and several of the sketches included with it appear below and provide yet another window into the repeated failures of New York City to protect the grand historic assets it inherited when it assembled the lands that became city parks including today's Pelham Bay Park.

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"GOUVERNEUR MORRIS HOUSE PELHAM BAY PARK"
Source:  CITY TO REFORM AS A LANDLORDN.Y. Herald,
Apr. 26, 1896, Sixth Section, p. 13, cols. 2-5.
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.



"OLD STONE MANSION -- PELHAM BAY PARK"
[Today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum on Shore Road]
Source:  CITY TO REFORM AS A LANDLORDN.Y. Herald,
Apr. 26, 1896, Sixth Section, p. 13, cols. 2-5.
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.


"CORNER OF THE FISH HOUSE."  [On Twin Island]
Source:  CITY TO REFORM AS A LANDLORDN.Y. Herald,
Apr. 26, 1896, Sixth Section, p. 13, cols. 2-5.
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.


"STATELIEST OF THE PARK HOUSES"
[The Marshall Mansion that Later Became the Colonial Inn]
Source:  CITY TO REFORM AS A LANDLORDN.Y. Herald,
Apr. 26, 1896, Sixth Section, p. 13, cols. 2-5.
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"CITY TO REFORM AS A LANDLORD.
-----
The Seventy Residences It Owns Are, After May 1, to Produce Greater Revenue.
-----
WILL MAKE NO REPAIRS.
-----
Fine Old Mansions in Suburban Parks Going to Decay for Lack of Attention.
-----
NO MORE HOUSES RENT FREE.
-----

Reform has taken hold of the administration of the Park Department's business as a landlord, and after May 1 a new system will be enforced.  The department has had for more than a dozen years the renting of between sixty and seventy houses, some of them laborers' cottages, others stately mansions, once the property of rich New Yorkers or of old Westchester county families.  There are nearly fifty houses in Pelham Bay Park, eight in Bronx Park, four in St. Mary's, four in Van Cortlandt, two in Claremont, one in Cedar and one in Crotona.  There are, besides, two in Central Park, one a lovely gray gabled structure of granite, opening on the transverse road that runs between the upper and lower reservoir; the other a neglected wooden cottage set high on a picturesque mound, near the upper end of the Park.  The first of these is occupied by the superintendent of the reservoir, while the second is not to be rented, though the superintendent of gardeners, for whom it was intended, has not used it in many years.

When the city became owner of the great suburban parks and of the several smaller parks in the annexed district, it found them dotted with houses, some of them long cherished homesteads, some the summer homes of New York business memn.  Many of the owners pocketed the award for their homes, taken to make a pleasure place for New York's mmillions, and sought shelter elsewhere, but others remained as tenants of the city and have lived on undisturbed by the change of ownership, and secure amid beautiful surroundings.

A POOR LANDLORD.

The Park Department has always been, in one sense, a bad landlord.  It makes no repairs.  This has been because the business of being a landlord was unwillingly accepted, and rentals were hardly enough to pay for repairs.  Renters are merely tenants at will, occupying their houses and grounds subject to the rights of the great public.  No gate may be shut against any person, and not even the vegetable gardens are fenced.  The rentals of park houses last year were only $10,500 although there are half a dozen places in Pelham Bay Park which, under ordinary conditions, would rent for $2,500 to $3,500 each.  Favoritism crept in.  Houses were given rent free to park employees, and some tenants were permitted to fall in arrears.  This is to be changed.  Every house that can be rented will be rented on the best terms the department can make.  Employees will pay rent.  Tenants will pay up or vacate.  There are a few persons occupying little houses in Bronx Park to whom leniency will be shown, because they are laboring people whose homes were condemned, and who could not go elsewhere without hardship.  Many, however, will go out, never to return.

TWO FINE OLD MANSIONS.

The department will be no better landlord than before, but an effort will be made to rent houses to persons who will keep them in condition.  Some of the finest old houses in Pelham Bay Park are going to ruin for lack of repairs.  Trustworthy persons who will take these houses and risk repairing them are likely to have a long and undisturbed occupancy, for the chances are that it will be many years before the houses will be needed for park purposes.  

The Tremper house, in Van Cortlandt Park, at the corner of the Grand and Mosholu avenues, whence it overlooks Van Cortlandt Lake, is occupied by  police sergeant and is likely to be for rent.  It is a great wooden structure, not beautiful, but comfortable, and surrounded by ample grounds, with orchard and garden.  The department would like to get $1,200 a year for it.  The great granite Zabriskie house, near the northern entrance to Claremont Park, is occupied by a park employee, and the department has not been sanguine of renting it, though it is one of the largest and best built houses in the parks.  It was built in 1859, though a stone in one end bears the date 1676, as a memorial of the earliest American Zabriskie.  The public tennis courts are close beside the house and the park at that point is a good deal used, reasons why it is difficult to rent the great house.

HISTORIC SPOTS NEAR CITY ISLAND.

Tenants of the best houses in Pelham Bay Park have long enjoyed low rents and essential privacy.  One of the noblest old mansions is just off the City Island road, and looks to the Sound across a great rolling lawn.  The former owner has remained as a tenant.  Not far away is the charming old Gouverneur MMorris house, high roofed and shingled, with dormer windows, charming verandas and great low studded rooms.  It has long been occupied by the same tenants.

The Hunter house, on Hunter's Island never lacks a tenant.  It was a famous mansion seventy years ago, when James Stuart, who had shot the son of Boswell, Dr. Johnson's biographer, in a duel, was travelling in this country.  Stuart, in his book on the United States, says Joseph Bonaparte was anxious to buy Hunter's Island and its mansion.  Connected with Hunter's Island by a causeway is Twin Island, with the great stone house that old James D. Fish built shortly before his fall and imprisonment.  It is now tenantless, though one of the most delightful of the park houses.  A tenant of the Fish house a few years since endeavored to exclude the public from the lawns and water front on the ground that a decision had been rendered guaranteeing him this privilege, but the Park Department disclaimed such arrangement, and tenants must take the place subject to the rights of the public.

LORILLARD MANSIONS.

Some of the finest places in Pelham Bay Park lie between the Pelham Bridge road and the Sound, toward the Westchester Country Club.  Here Pierre Lorillard built a rather gaunt, high pillared house and flanked it with four or five cottages for his children.  The house is now occupied by a member of the New York Stock Exchange and the cottages are all tenanted and in good repair.  Next below this former nest of Lorillards is a charming stone cottage fast going to decay, set amid wood enclosed lawns, as lovely a spot as one can imagine.

The Lorillard house above the gorge, in Bronx Park, will probably not be rented.  The region has an ill name for malaria.  The other houses in Bronx Park are a few little cottages, renting at from $5 to $8 per month.  The houses in St. Mary's Park are not in first rate repair, though one of them, a low cottage, set amid vines, and long occupied by old Captain Samuels, is charmingly situated.  Immediately opposite are the ruins of a fantastic pleasure house, in what was once the garden of a large dwelling hard by.  Both the ruin and the dwelling are now within the park.

A careful and thorough administration of the Park Department's business as a landlord ought, it is thought, to double at least the revenue from rentals.  Means of communication with New York have vastly improved since the city became owner of the great suburban parks, and there is hardly a house in any part of the park area that is now more than an hour and a half from the City Hall."

Source:  CITY TO REFORM AS A LANDLORD, N.Y. Herald, Apr. 26, 1896, Sixth Section, p. 13, cols. 2-5.  

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Thursday, May 29, 2014

1910 Article Describes Mansions that Still Stood in What Once Was Pelham Overlooking Long Island Sound


During the nineteenth century, the beauty of the Town of Pelham situated on Long Island Sound attracted wealthy New Yorkers who built stupendous mansions and elegant summer homes on Pelham Neck and along Shore Road overlooking the Sound.  I have written on the histories of many such mansions and their owners.  I have included an extensive list of such postings at the end of today's article.


 
1868 Map Detail Showing Many Pelham Mansions and Summer Homes. 
Source:  Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity,
p. 35 (NY, NY: F.W. Beers, et al., 1868) (plate entitled
"City Island, Pelham Township, Westchester Co., N.Y.
(with) Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N.Y.").


Today's Historic Pelham Blog posting transcribes a lengthy exerpt from an article published in 1910 that describes many of the mansions that continued to stand at the time in Pelham Bay Park. 

"BRONX PARKS.
-----
Colonial and Revolutionary Landmarks.
-----
Homes of Romance, Tradition and Tragedy.
-----

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PELHAM BAY PARK.

Bartow Mansion -- This beautiful and exclusive mansion, displaying such a striking Grecian front of native cut masonry, is a short distance northeast of the Bartow station of the New Haven road, and perhaps a mile south of Hunter's Island.  Standing on what was the Pell estate, it is but a stone's throw east of the fabled site of the ancient Pell manor house, where the manor courts were held and the tenants of Lord Pell would assemble in the early days.  The grizzled veteran of the forest, which up to a year ago stood on the immense grassy lawn in front of the Bartow mansion, was pointed out as the great tree under whose branches Lord Pell signed the celebrate treaty [sic] with the Indian sachems, on Nov. 14, 1654 [sic], the noted Pell treaty oak.  Closer to the water's edge a tiny cemetery proclaims from the quaint inscriptions on its well-worn tombstones that it is the last resting place of several members of the Pell family.  For a number of summers the courtesy of the Bronx park commissioner has enabled the Crippled Children's Asscoiation to have its little members bask in the warm sun and enjoy the cooling and refreshing breezes that circle around the old Bartow mansion.

De Lancey Mansion -- Almost opposite the twin gate posts of Hunter's Island is 'Greystones,' the former splendid residence of William H. DeLancey.  On the walls used to hang the original portrait of the Hon. Caleb Heathcote, lord of the Manor of Scarsdale.  This native stone building has been known as Hunter's Island Inn, and is situated at a sharp curve in the road that has proved such a thorn in the flesh to scorching automobilists.

Hunter Mansion. -- This elaborate stone residence lately used as an inn stands adjoining the athletic field, not far from the picturesque summer house by the shore, commanding a fine view of City Island across Pelham Bay.  Built in the fifties of the last century, it was styled
Annie's Wood' by the late owner E. Des Brosses Hunter, son of John Hunter of Hunter's Island.  It stands on part of the extensive estate of the Bayards, those well-known early settlers who came from France to escape the Huguenots persecution.  One of the three brothers who came as immigrants was Blathazar Bayard, a Huguenot clergyman, who accounts tell us, was shipped from Rochelle, France, in a hogshead.

Hunter's Island Mansion. -- Standing like a massive stone sentinel on the central crest of Hunter's Island in the very northeastern corner of Pelham Bay Park, this splendid old-time structure occupies the grandest location for a private residence along the whole length of Long Island Sound.  Any one who has seen its striking Ionic colonnade, or the magnificent panorama of sea and land, to be obtained from the upper windows, cannot but be lost in admiration of Mr. Hunter's good taste in the selection of a home.  History tells us that the Hunter family were related to that of Gen. Philip Schuyler, of Revolutionary fame.  Certain it is that the Schuyler mansion stood not so very far removed from that of Mr. Hunter, its site being about a mile to the southwest, back of the present Bartow station, and close to the banks of the Hutchinson River, named after that noted early settler, Anne Hutchinson, who braved the dangers of the primeval forest for a home in Pelham Bay Park, where she could enjoy religious freedom.  At one time the Hunter mansion was the residence of Mr. Henderson, a southern gentleman, once a surgeon in the British army, having seen service in distant Asia.  Under his ownership the mansion was a sumptuous bachelor's hall, and the 'Lonely Lord' is found to have made his homestead the palatial home of th finest prvate art gallery of its time in the whole United States, it having been filled to overflowing with the choicest treasures of the Italian masters.  For a number of years past the Hunter mansion has been the summer home of the Little Mothers' Association, and a more beautiful charity cannt be imagined than allowing these hard-worked children of the poor to have the enjoyments that this island affords.

Lorillard Mansion. -- Now known as the Tallapoosa Club House, this once splendid mansion was erected by Pierre Lorillard, Jr., and is a typical example of the grand array of country residences that once were the pride of lower Westchester County.  Its location, just this side of Pelham Bridge, commanding a glorious view of the waters of the sound, whose waves break almost at its very doors, cannot be excelled for romantic beauty.

Marshall Mansion -- Opposite the upper end of City Island and surrounded by a forest of its own the white Marshall mansion rears its stately walls, and presents in its handsome Grecian columns a most striking and picturesque appearance.  The name 'Hawkswood' still clings to the place, and it will not be long before the snaillike horse car of a bygone age will give place to the modern monorail system now under construction, whose dazzling cars are expected to fly past the Marshall mansion at 135 miles an hour.

Morris Mansion -- A few steps west of the Marshall mansion described above, 'Longwood,' A. Newbold M. Morris' late home, occupies one of the finest locations on Pelham neck with a beautiful view to the south.  Not far from this is the old shingle-sided Bowne homestead, near which, according to one account, was the old Pell residence, so located from the fishhawks' nests, which Mr. Pell felt sure would bring good luck to him and his family.

Ogden Mansion. -- In this remote yet romantic nook, on the easterly of the tiny Twin Islands, only reached by a winding roadway over the hills of Hunter's Island, is the magnificent stone Ogden mansion, for a while the home of one of Jacob A. Riis's settlements.  One cannot be but in rapture over the glorious landscape here, yet how few are allowed to enjoy it.

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Source:  BRONX PARKS -- Colonial and Revolutionary Landmarks -- Homes of Romance, Tradition and Tragedy, The Daily Standard Union [Brooklyn, NY], Oct. 17, 1910, p. 9, cols. 3-6. 
 
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Below is a list of prior postings that address the histories of some Pelham mansions and their owners.
 
Mon., May 26, 2014:  James D. Fish and the Mansion He Built that Once Stood on the Most Easterly of the Twin Islands in Pelham

Thu., May 15, 2014:  Edgewood, a Grand 19th Century Estate Owned by Frederick Prime Overlooking Long Island Sound

Mon., Apr. 28, 2014:  More on The Estate Known as "West Neck" that Once Belonged to Philip B. Schuyler

Wed., Apr. 23, 2014:  Philip B. Schuyler and the Burning of the Schuyler Homestead in What Once was Part of Pelham in 1895.

Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam
 
Wed., Feb. 26, 2014:  Research Regarding "Greystones," The Elegant DeLancey Estate that Became Hunter Island Inn and Once Stood in Pelham on Today's Shore Road.
 
Fri., Feb. 14, 2014:  Martin Euclid Thompson, the Architect of the Pelham Mansion Known as Hawkswood and the Marshall Mansion.
 
Thu., Feb. 13, 2014:  More Information About Elisha W. King, the Builder and Original Owner of Hawkswood.
 
Mon., Feb. 10, 2014:  Hawkswood, Also Known as the Marshall Mansion, Colonial Hotel and Colonial Inn, Once Stood in Pelham Near City Island.
 
Fri., May 07, 2010:  Image of Hawkswood Published in 1831.
 
Mon., Apr. 26, 2010:  Public Service Commission Couldn't Find Marshall's Corners in 1909.
 
Thu., Jun. 28, 2007:  19th Century Notice of Executor's Sale of "Hawkswood" After Death of Elisha W. King.

Fri., Mar. 2, 2007:  A Brief Account by American Author Margaret Deland of Her Education at Pelham Priory in the 19th Century

Thu., Dec. 14, 2006:  Items from Bolton Priory in the Collections of The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, The New-York Historical Society.
 
Tue., Oct. 03, 2006:  Two Interesting Photographs of Bolton Priory in Pelham Manor
 
Fri., Jul. 28, 2006:  Image of Bolton Priory in the Town of Pelham Published in an 1859 Treatise on Landscape Gardening
 
Wed., Jul. 26, 2006:  A Brief Account of Visits to Bolton Priory in the Early 1880s

Jul. 5, 2006:  Bricks Laid by Washington Irving and Ivy from Kenilworth Castle at the Bolton Priory in Pelham Manor.
 
Wed., Apr. 5, 2006:  "Hawkswood", Later Known as the Marshall Mansion on Rodman's Neck in Pelham

Wed., Mar. 15, 2006:  A Biography of Cornelius W. Bolton Published in 1899.

Wed., Mar. 1, 2006:  1909 Real Estate Advertisement Showing Bolton Priory.

Wed., Dec. 7, 2005:  The Sale and Subdivision of the Bolton Priory Estate in the 1950s
 
Fri., Dec. 02, 2005:  John Hunter of Hunter's Island in Pelham, New York

Tue., Nov. 29, 2005:  An Early, Interesting Photograph of Bolton Priory in the Village of Pelham Manor
 
Thu., Nov. 3, 2005:  President Martin Van Buren's Visit to Pelham in July 1839.

Tue., Aug. 23, 2005:  Society Scandal: The "Strange" Story of Mrs. Adele Livingston Stevens Who Acquired the Bolton Priory in Pelham Manor
 
Fri., Jun. 10, 2005:  Pelham's Most Magnificent Wedding Gift: The Bolton Priory.   

Tue., May 3, 2005:  Colonel Frederick Hobbes Allen, An Owner of Bolton Priory in Pelham Manor

Bell, Blake A., A Brief History of Bolton Priory in Pelham Manor, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No., 16, Apr. 16, 2004, p. 8, col. 2. 

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