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, October 26, 2018

The Ghostly Gunship That Sails Off the Shores of Pelham


Pelham was desolate; almost ghostly.  Warring armies battled across the region and left little standing in their wakes.  The Revolutionary War fought between American Patriots and their British oppressors was underway.  The so-called "Neutral Ground" of the Manor of Pelham, in those days, was nearly ground zero in the midst of the conflict.

 Not a soul then could be found in Pelham.  All had fled or had learned to spend their days and nights in hiding to avoid the brutal sadism of rogue "Cowboys" and "Skinners" who scoured the region looting, burning homes, and torturing residents.

 Off the shores of Pelham large British naval ships prowled the waters.  Occasionally American patriots known as "whaleboatmen" would pilot long rowboats with small cannons among the massive naval vessels firing at them and their crews with tiny cannons and small muskets, worrying the naval gunboats like pesky mosquitoes that often were swatted away with massive cannonades and hails of musket fire from the decks of the large ships.  Occasionally, though, the mosquitoes drew blood.

 On one such occasion, the winter evening was particularly dark and biting.  Even worse, a thick fog shrouded the waters and the mainland of the Manor of Pelham.  Not far from Locust Point on today's Throggs Neck, near the southern tip of City Island, a hulking British naval vessel rested on the black water silently.  With no moon and thick fog the black night hung thickly.  It was nearly impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face.  Moreover, the soupy fog seemed to muffle noises across the water, distorting the sounds of lapping water until the sounds became almost unearthly.

 American Patriots on the mainland knew the hulking gunship skulked off their shores.  Word had spread quickly among the Patriots even as the ship previously had departed New York City and made its way to the Sound  Americans were hiding along the shore.  Other courageous Patriots dragged a long whaleboat fitted with a small cannon into the inky black waters and slipped silently into the dark fog, headed in the direction of the massive gunboat.

 The entire region at the time was in the midst of the famed "wood famine" of 1777.  For more than a century settlers had leveled forests for farmland and chopped every tree in sight for firewood.  Matters only worsened as the two warring armies battled and camped throughout the region felling what few trees remained.

 On that dark, foggy night during the war, the crew of the British gunship skulking off the shores of Pelham was low on wood.  They needed wood for cooking and warmth.  They also knew that their local garrison always needed firewood.  Their captain was concerned enough to detail his men to proceed ashore to scrounge for wood despite the wood famine.  Knowing wood would be hard to come by and assuming neither man nor beast would be afoot on such a black, biting, and foggy night, the Captain foolishly detailed nearly all his crew to head ashore for wood.

 The large group of British sailors slithered off their mother ship under cover of fog and darkness and made their way by small boats to Locust Point on Throggs Neck, clearly up to no good.  They muffled their oars with rags wrapped around the oarlocks and remained silent as they eased ashore.   

 As the British navy men left their mother ship, thinking they were undetected, they could not see that a group of armed Patriot whaleboatmen also were skulking silently in their long boat only yards away from the British ship, hidden in the inky blackness of the foggy night.  The Patriots heard their enemies depart the ship and formed their own plan.

 The whaleboatmen waited silently in the fog and darkness until the British sailors seemed long gone.  Remaining deathly silent, they maneuvered their whaleboat alongside the British vessel and scaled it, springing onto the deck with boarding axes and muskets to the shock of the guard left aboard to protect the vessel.  The surprise was so complete that not a shot was fired.  The guard was quickly tied and stowed below while the Americans prepared to sail their massive prize into the night and northward to Connecticut.

 Slowly the Americans got the great ship underway.  They knew the waters off the Manor of Pelham like the backs of their hands.  They steered the Leviathan northeast and slowly made their way around City Island into the inky black night.  Had any been left behind, they might have been able to see the dark hulk of the giant vessel slithering slowly into the fog ahead until the black night enveloped it completely as it disappeared.

 Once the British ship disappeared into the foggy night, neither it nor its Patriot crew were ever seen again.  Its disappearance was complete.  It vanished without a trace.  No word ever was heard from any of the brave whaleboatmen who steered the vessel into the maw of darkness that terrible night.

 Since that terrible night, according to veteran sailors on Long Island Sound, on dark foggy nights, a ghostly British naval vessel may be seen gliding along the water with a crew of specters dressed in 18th century sailing garb staring silently with ghostly eyes from the rails of the deck.  Though the ship seems luminescent, there are no lights aboard.  It glides silently with utterly no sound.  Indeed, some say that as the ship passes in the fog, the waters of the Sound grow eerily quiet and even the wind seems to pause as the ghostly Patriot sailors continue to make their silent getaway with their British prize for all eternity.  As one account published in 1897 put it:

 "'Day after day, day after day, and still no tidings of the captured ship, until the heart was weary, and the eye was dim with watching. At last the skipper of a coaster gave the somewhat startling report:  'While lying-to off New London, in a fearful gale, he saw a small war-ship approach, apparently of English build, with every stitch of canvas set, even to her royal studding-sails. She heeded neither bar, shoal, nor rock, but kept steadily on her course, until nearly abreast of him, when sail after sail and mast after mast began to vanish, until nothing but the hull of the vessel with her open ports, through which the guns were projecting, was visible. Slowly and silently [p. 72 / p. 73] the outlines of the ship became less and less clearly defined, until nothing of the majestic vessel was left.' 'What this vision of another world portended nobody ever knew, but even to our own time many old salts are willing to swear that often, before the most terrific storms, when their vessels were compelled to lay-to under reefed topsails, they have distinctly seen an old-fashioned war-ship, under a cloud of canvas, approach near to them, and then gradually vanish into air. Some go so far as to say they could see the crew on her deck, and plainly recognized the knee-breeches and cocked hats of the last century. But, be this as it may, the vessel or crew, so far as I am able to learn, never reached port in this world, and was probably lost in one of the severe spring gales, so prevalent in this latitude at that season.' 


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Below are transcriptions of references on which today's Historic Pelham article is based.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"THE WOOD FAMINE. 

 IT was March -- cold, cheerless, windy March. The roads were in that terrible condition between mud and frost that makes driving at this time of the year in the fair county of Westchester unpleasant, not to say almost impracticable. The sun of spring had scarcely yet caressed the southern slopes into a shade of green, while many a snowdrift still bade defiance to its power on the northern side of fences and hills. 

 The day itself was no exception to the characteristic weather of the month; the thermometer was just above the freezing-point and the sun was obscured by heavy, dark masses of cloud, while gusts of wind sighed [p. 65 / p. 66] in the trees and around the chimneys, making it anything but tempting to leave the cozy fireside and face the raw atmosphere outside. Still, I had been in the house so long, that I began to suffer from ennui, and resolved to take a ride, bad as the roads were, as far as Pelham, to visit an old gentleman, long a friend of the family, and hear him talk of his boyhood's days. 

 After a long, slow jouncing, mud-splashing ride, I arrived at the house of my old friend, and while I am sitting with my feet upon the andirons before the crackling hickory fire of the library in his comfortable old-fashioned mansion, sipping a glass or two of his choice wine, allow me to describe my host. 

 He is a grand-looking man of fully eighty-seven years, with fine features, and though he has now lost the straightness and suppleness of early manhood, and his eyesight is rapidly failing, in other respects his age sits [p. 66 / p. 67] lightly upon him.* [Footnote Transcribed Below at End of This Page.] But what is more remarkable is that his intellect is as clear and keen as though he were still in the prime of life, and he retains a quickness of perception that many a young man might envy. 

 As the cheery fire begins to have a soothing effect upon us and the discomforts of my boisterous ride commence to wear away, our conversation turns from the events of the day, back to that land of mist and fable called the past. There is nothing around us to jar upon our dream-land; the glowing hickory logs, the bright-polished fire-dogs, the low ceilings of the old homestead, and the old gentleman himself, as he sat there in his great easy chair, all seemed to belong to the epoch of which we were talking. 

 I remember admiring some fine trees that I could see through a window, upon an island in the bay, a short distance off. 

 'Yes,' said the old gentleman, 

 * Died about 1890. [This is the Footnote.] [p. 67 / p. 68] 

 'those trees have not been disturbed since the wood-famine of 1777.' 

 Upon my asking the particulars of that event, he continued: 'I well remember hearing my father speak about it some eighty years ago. The winter of 1777 was an intensely cold one, and the British troops posted in the city, as well as the town-people, suffered much for want of fuel, as the country was in such a disordered state that the farmers of the surrounding districts did not bring in the usual supply. Towards the close of the season the fuel became so scarce that something had to be done, as the entire population were brought to such a strait that much suffering and inconvenience was occasioned, and the price of even the poorest wood was something appalling. 

 'Under these circumstances, the commander of the post thought it advisable, as soon as the Sound opened, to send a small war-vessel a short way to the eastward to procure a load of [p. 68 / p. 69] cord wood for the use of the garrison. The point selected for cutting the wood was this same island at which we are now looking. Accordingly, the little sloop-of-war left port upon her not very nautical or romantic mission; and, doubtless, much to the disgust of her officers and crew, took a couple of large scows in tow, and proceeded slowly up the Sound. On through Hell Gate and past many a quiet farmhouse she sped, now sending her men aloft to set her royals, and now training her guns upon some imaginary enemy on shore. The sun set, and the stars twinkled in the frosty sky, but the wind was light and the progress slow. Several watches were set and relieved ere she rounded Throggs Neck, and the sun of a chill March morning was just rising when she anchored as near the island as her draught of water would allow. 

 'The expedition of the wood foragers had, however, not been kept as quiet as prudence and military caution [p. 69 / p. 70] ought to have suggested, for, in some unknown manner, the news had been spread abroad throughout the county of Westchester that a British man-of-war with a crew of wood-choppers was about to ascend the Sound, to give the city a supply of fuel. The movements of the ship had been eagerly watched from the shores as she passed along, and word carried to several irregular bodies of colonial troops and other persons favorable to the cause of the revolted provinces. So that a large body of armed men were secreted in the bushes of the main-land near the island when the English sloop-of-war anchored and prepared to land her party. 

 'Very foolishly, the captain sent nearly all his men ashore to chop and carry the wood, reserving only barely enough to attend to mooring the vessel, little thinking an enemy was in the vicinity. The colonists watched all these proceedings carefully, and saw that their chance had come. [p. 70 / p. 71] 

 Rushing to their boats they crossed the narrow channel, and boarded the ship before the wood party had time to observer their movements, or to give the slightest aid to their few companions left in charge. The resistance was necessarily feeble, and the ship's company was soon overpowered and compelled to yield the vessel to their captors, who no sooner got possession than they began to train their guns upon the wood-choppers, now deeply interested but helpless spectators of their proceedings. 

 'Although for the present masters of the situation, it was far too dangerous for the visitors to let the ship remain where she was. It was determined that the best plan would be to run her into some eastern port, and there fit her out as a colonial cruiser: so a sufficient crew was selected from among the most daring and best sailors in the neighborhood, and, under the command of a master of a coasting-vessels, the man-of-war again [p. 71 / p. 72] crossed her yards, shook out her canvas, and pointed her prow seaward. Out into the gray mists of the Sound she sped, every stitch of canvas drawing. Slowly, slowly she sank from the view of the watchers on shore behind the eastern horizon, and never by mortal eye was ship or crew seen again. 

 'Day after day, day after day, and still no tidings of the captured ship, until the heart was weary, and the eye was dim with watching. At last the skipper of a coaster gave the somewhat startling report: 'While lying-to off New London, in a fearful gale, he saw a small war-ship approach, apparently of English build, with every stitch of canvas set, even to her royal studding-sails. She heeded neither bar, shoal, nor rock, but kept steadily on her course, until nearly abreast of him, when sail after sail and mast after mast began to vanish, until nothing but the hull of the vessel with her open ports, through which the guns were projecting, was visible. Slowly and silently [p. 72 / p. 73] the outlines of the ship became less and less clearly defined, until nothing of the majestic vessel was left.' 

 'What this vision of another world portended nobody ever knew, but even to our own time many old salts are willing to swear that often, before the most terrific storms, when their vessels were compelled to lay-to under reefed topsails, they have distinctly seen an old-fashioned war-ship, under a cloud of canvas, approach near to them, and then gradually vanish into air. Some go so far as to say they could see the crew on her deck, and plainly recognized the knee-breeches and cocked hats of the last century. But, be this as it may, the vessel or crew, so far as I am able to learn, never reached port in this world, and was probably lost in one of the severe spring gales, so prevalent in this latitude at that season.' 

 And now the old gentleman ceased speaking, took a sip of wine, and indicated that his story had concluded, [p. 73 / p. 74] though he soon informed me that this was far from being the only tale he could relate of the olden time, and the exciting doings of the people now silent, and, except by him and a few tradition-hunters, forgotten." 

 Source:  Pryer, Charles, Reminiscences of an Old Westchester Homestead, pp. 65-74 (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons The Knickerbocker Press 1897).

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Below is a local newspaper article published in 1959 recounting the tale of the Patriot Ghost Ship that sails off the shores of Pelham.  The transcription of the text is followed by a citation and link to its source.

 "GHOST SHIP:  Did you know The Bronx had a mysterious 'Flying Dutchman' all its own.  Neither did I until I read John McNamara's account in 'Alarm,' publication of the Edgewater Park Volunteer Fire Co.  It seems that during the Revolutionary War a group of British soldiers came ashore to Locust Pt. from a sloop, leaving only a few sailors aboard.  American patrols sighted the vessel, rowed out silently, captured the vessel and set sail around City Island for Connecticut.  Alas, they disappeared in the fog and never again were heard of, though veteran schoonermen do say that on foggy nights you can see an old-fashioned sloop sailing up and down Long Island Sound.  The crew, dressed in 18th century clothes stares silently from the rails." 

 Source:  Gumpert, Bert, The Bronx Bandwagon . . . GHOST SHIP, N.Y. Post, Aug. 12, 1959, p. 13, col. 1.

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I have collected ghost stories and legends relating to the Town of Pelham for more than fifteen years.  To read more examples that now total in the several dozens, see: 

Bell, Blake A., Pelham's Ghosts, Goblins and Legends, The Pelham Weekly, Oct. 25, 2002, p. 1, col. 1. 

Bell, Blake A., More Ghosts, Goblins of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 43, Oct. 29, 2004, p. 12, col. 1. 

Bell, Blake A., More Ghosts & Goblins of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 40, Oct. 13, 2006, p. 10, col. 1.

Bell, Blake A., Archive of HistoricPelham.com Web Site:  Pelham's Ghosts, Goblins and Legends (Oct. 2002). 






Thu., Oct. 26, 2017:  The Cow Rustler Ghosts of Pelham Road.

Tue., Oct. 25, 2016:  The Suicidal Specter of Manger Circle.

Mon., Sep. 08, 2014:  In 1888, The "Ghost of City Island" Upset the Town of Pelham.



Wed., May 03, 2006:  Another Pelham, New York Ghost Story.

Thu., Oct. 13, 2005:  Two More Pelham Ghost Stories.  

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posted by Blake A. Bell @ 5:06 AM 0 comments

Monday, October 01, 2018

Pelham Had "Whaleboatmen" Nearly 250 Years Ago, But They Were Not What You Might Think


They were "whaleboatmen."  They were among the bravest ever to grace the region once known as the Manor of Pelham.

Let your imagination soar!  The term "whaleboatmen" evokes thoughts of whales, harpoons, courage, small boats, and Long Island Sound.  Imagine heroes who embraced the risk of death.  They were whaleboatmen! 

 Yet, such heroes chased no whales in Pelham waters.  Instead, they chased true Leviathans.  Such heroes used long rowboats that remotely resembled real whaleboats to annoy monumentally-large, British Navy ships that deigned to ply Pelham waters during the Revolutionary War.  Occasionally, like mosquitoes, the pesky little Patriots who became known as "whaleboatmen" sucked British blood.

 Today's Historic Pelham Blog article tells a story of such whaleboatmen.  It is a story told before in these Historic Pelham digital pages.  See:

 Tue., Oct. 10, 2006:  Yet Another Account of the Capture of the British Ship Schuldham Off Pelham Shores During the Revolutionary War.

 Fri., Jul. 14, 2006:  Capture of the British Ship Schuldham in Pelham Waters During the Revolutionary War 

 Tue., Aug. 29, 2006:  Another Brief Account of the Capture of the British Ship Schuldham in Pelham Waters During the Revolutionary War. 

The story of the capture of the Schuldham in February 1777 is only a tiny part of the incredible story of Pelham during the Revolutionary War.  Preparations already are underway throughout Westchester County for the upcoming 250th anniversary of American Independence and the War for freedom from British tyranny.  Work by "Revolutionary Westchester 250" is well underway to ensure that celebrations of the 250th anniversary beginning in 2025 and 2026 will be spectacular.  

 The Town of Pelham played critical and repeated roles in the history of the Revolutionary War.  Though most students of Pelham history think only of the "Battle of Pelham" on October 18, 1776 when they think of Pelham's role in the war, Pelham's contributions and the stories that can be told of the war that raged across Pelham for years are much broader and more important than a single battle.  Pelham was within the Ground-Zero of "no man's land" -- the so-called "neutral ground" between the lines of the two warring armies.  The British controlled New York City and north including much of today's Bronx.  Americans controlled northern Westchester and south to a line north of the Croton River stretching roughly from Peekskill to Connecticut and down to Long Island Sound.  Pelham and other nearby communities, of course, sat right in the middle of this no-man's land.  

 British Loyalists and sympathizers in the region supported the "Cowboys" (or "Cow Boys"), a rampaging group of marauders led by two men hated by all Patriots:  Major Andreas Emerick and the detestable Colonel James DeLancey.  The Cowboys were so-named because the group rampaged across Pelham and the region and stole cattle to be taken to the British market to support British and German troops.  The Cowboys terrorized Pelham and the entire neutral ground, stealing cash and valuables and burning local homesteads including, it is believed, the old 17th century John Pell homestead that once stood near today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.

 Rival marauders known as "Skinners" were organized, supposedly in support of the Americans and to oppose the Cowboys.  In reality, however, the Skinners similarly terrorized and robbed nearly all who tried to remain within the neutral ground without regard to whether they were Loyalists or Patriots.  Both Cowboys and Skinners were documented to torture, murder, and rob many victims in the region.  Things became so terrible that local residents organized Ranger Corps, the principal purpose of which was to protect local residents from both Cowboys and Skinners.  In 1975, Pelham Town Historian Susan Cochran Swanson wrote:

 "Although Westchester was called the 'Neutral Ground', it was neutral only in the sense that the inhabitants were liable to attack by Cow Boys or Skinners, British or American soldiers.  Some people left their farms and moved to other areas until the end of the war.  Most buried their valuables and tried to hide the few horses and cows they had managed to keep in the woods.  Few men of fighting age dared to sleep at home for fear of capture and imprisonment.  Women, children and old people stayed on to protect their property.  Almost every family had a secret retreat in which to hide during a raid or attack.

 "Out of this chaos, where families often sacrificed greatly for the principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, many true heroes emerged.  Local men, for example, organized Ranger Corps to protect the county from Cow Boy and Skinner raids.  Trained by volunteer French and German officers in the art of saber fighting from horseback, they became a real match for the British trained Cow Boys of Morrisania."

 Source: Swanson, Susan Cochran, Between the Lines:  Stories of Westchester County, New York During the American Revolution, pp. 3-4 (Pelham, NY:  The Junior League of Pelham, 1975) (Copyright Susan Cochran Swanson).

 Pelham also was in the cross-hairs of the British and Germans during the War because of its strategic location and its (then) lengthy shoreline on Long Island Sound.  The passageway between the East River that extended alongside Manhattan and Long Island Sound was strategically important to the defense and safety of New York City which was held by the British.  Pelham's shores stood nearly at that passageway that threaded between Throggs Neck on the mainland and the Great Neck / Kings Point region of Long Island.  Thus, the British kept a substantial naval presence in the waters off the shores of Pelham and southern Westchester County for most of the war, constantly harassing local shipping.  The British also stationed troops on local islands like today's City Island (then part of the Town of Pelham).  Although there was naval activity throughout Long Island Sound off the shores of both northern Westchester and southern Westchester, such activity was very concentrated near the shores of Pelham and the strategically-important island known today as City Island.  Hence, today's story of the American capture of the British ship Schuldham in Pelham waters.  

 Indeed, among the countless stories of heroism and patriotism in Pelham during the Revolutionary War is the story of the capture of the Schuldham in February, 1777.  During 1777, Americans throughout our new nation were inspired by the gallant exploits of a group of American Patriots who captured a massive British gunboat serving as a guard-ship off the shores of City Island in the Manor of Pelham.  A small group of Patriots reportedly from Darien, Connecticut successfully executed a daring capture of the Schuldham, a British guard-ship that patrolled near Hell Gate and the "entrance" from Long Island Sound to the East River route to New York City.   

 An account of the event was published in 1886.  It said: 

 "It was near City Island that a daring and successful enterprise was accomplished by a few of the Americans in the year 1777, being no less than the capture of a British gun-boat used as a guard-ship, and stationed at the mouth of East Chester Creek. The particulars, as related by one of the party engaged in the capture to an aged citizen of Pelham, now in his ninety-second year, and by him communicated to the writer, are as follows: 

 'The guardship 'Schuldham' was one of several vessels stationed by the British along the shores of the Sound, through whose instrumentality most of the hardships complained of by the Americans, such as those referred to in the petition by Benjamin Palmer, were inflicted. The officers and crews of these vessels often treated the inhabitants of the towns and villages along the shore with great severity. They were consequently regarded with no friendly feelings by the oppressed people, and plans for their capture were frequently discussed. 

 'A party of whale-boatmen from Darien, Connecticut, were fortunate enough to carry enough such a design into execution. They conveyed their boat by hand across the Neck, and took possession of the market sloop which plied regularly between East Chester and New York. From the master of this sloop they ascertained that on his weekly passages to the city he was sometimes hailed from the guardship, and requested to sell them fresh provisions, such as eggs, chickens, vegetables, &c., for which, to insure their delivery, he was liberally paid. These Connecticut whale-boatmen, to the number of ten or twelve, armed, concealed themselves in the hold of the sloop. Their leader, however, remained on deck, and forced the owner to lay his craft alongside the sloop, as if for the purpose of furnishing the usual supplies. It was early in the morning, before daylight, and the moment the two vessels touched, the boatmen rushed up from below, boarded the British vessel, and took the crew prisoners before they were fairly awake. They then compelled some of the prisoners to help navigate the vessel, and making sail on the prize, ran her into the port of New London.'"

Source:  See Lindsley, Charles E., Pelham [Chapter XVII] in HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK, INCLUDING MORRISANIA, KINGS BRIDGE, AND WEST FARMS, WHICH HAVE BEEN ANNEXED TO NEW YORK CITY, Vol I, p. 705 (Scharf, Thomas, ed., Philadelphia: L.E. Preston & Co. 1886).  See also Weigold, Marilyn, THE LONG ISLAND SOUND - A HISTORY OF ITS PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENT, p. 26 (NY and London: New York University Press 2004); Mullaly, John, NEW PARKS BEYOND THE HARLEM WITH THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENERY NEARLY 4,000 ACRES OF FREE PLAYGROUND FOR THE PEOPLE, p. 88 (NY, NY: Record & Guide 1887).

 This brief account published in 1886 relates the capture of the British gunboat, but does little to reveal the true nature of the violent encounter and the amazing courage of the Americans involved.  A more recent account based on interviews with the whaleboatmen involved in the courageous exploit contained in the famed McDonald Papers published in 1923 by the Westchester County Historical Society tells the story of the capture of the Schuldham in greater detail.  

 In 1975, Pelham Town Historian Susan Cochran Swanson published a book entitled Between the Lines:  Stories of Westchester County, New York During the American Revolution (Pelham, NY:  The Junior League of Pelham, 1975) (Copyright Susan Cochran Swanson).  In it she included a chapter with a brief but exciting account of the capture of the Schuldham.  Her account is quoted below.

"Yankee Whaleboatmen Capture British Gunboat
February, 1777

 Whaleboatmen of Westchester County and Connecticut villages along Long Island Sound usually went out in groups of two or three boats.  Each boat carried eight to ten oarsmen, a helmsman and a man to handle a swivel gun on the bow.  Commissioned by the Governors of New York and Connecticut, the whaleboatmen were really rowboat privateers preying on Tory farms and sloops headed for the British food markets in New York.

 The most famous whaleboat exploit was the capture in February, 1777, by Major Samuel Lockwood's crew of about twenty men, of the ten-gun British guardship Schuldham, anchored near Minneford Island (City Island) in Eastchester Bay.  It is retold here from the stories of two of the crew, Isaac Quintard and John Dibble, and the widow of another crew member, Andrew Mead.

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 Early on a cold February afternoon in 1777 Major Samuel Lockwood of Stamford, Connecticut, stood in the bow of his whaleboat straining to spot familiar landmarks along the shore.  His upraised hand signaled silence to the men rowing soundlessly behind him.

 'Good!  This thick mist is a perfect cover,' he thought.  Slowly the whaleboat slipped around the north end of Hunter's Island and moved into Pelham Bay at the head of Pell's Point in Long Island Sound.  The two whaleboats behind slowly edged toward the beach and slid softly into the mud.  Wordlessly the men pulled their long whaleboats into the tall marsh grass that hid them completely from view.

 Isaac Quintard stretched his legs.  It felt good to walk again after hours of rowing.  At the Major's signal he hurried over to join the crew.

 'I'm calling off our original plan to take the Fort at White Stone Ferry,' Major Lockwood announced.

 'Why, Sir?' Andrew Mead spoke up.  A good man when action was involved, he had been looking forward to attacking the fort.

 'I received some news from Fade Donaldson last night, in New Rochelle,' continued the Major.  'There's a brig and another armed vessel tied up alongside the fort now.  It's too risky. 1  [Footnote 1, below.]  Besides, I've got a better idea.  How would you like a real prize this time . . . something more than just intercepting a few chickens or pigs bound for his Majesty's soup kettles in New York . . . something that would put some real silver in your palms?'

 'Aye, that's what we need!!' Isaac exclaimed.

 'Fade tells me that a Tory market sloop called the Little Stanton plies between East Chester and New York.  She sells fresh vegetables and poultry to the Schuldham, that guardship off Minneford Island.  The Little Stanton is due back in a couple of hours.'

 'We haven't taken a Tory prize all day,' said Andrew Mead.  'Perhaps the Captain of the Little Stanton would like a holiday in Connecticut -- in jail!'

 'I've got a better idea,' said Lockwood.  'Johnson, you and your crew stay here on Pell's Point and keep watch.  DeForest, you and I and our crews will carry out boats across Pell's Neck to Eastchester Bay.  The master of the Little Stanton doesn't know it yet, but we are going to borrow his sloop and use it as bait to catch us a nice fat fish!'

 'You don't mean we are going to try to take the Schuldham?' exclaimed John Dibble.

 'Why not?' broke in Andrew Mead.  'If we can catch the crew while they are still asleep, I bet we could do it!'  

 'Are you willing to give it a try?' asked Major Lockwood.

 'You bet!' cried the men.

 'We'll give those British sailors a taste of real Yankee fighting!' 

 Leaving Johnson and his crew to keep watch, Lockwood, DeForest and their men hoisted their whaleboat on their shoulders and set off.  When they reached the other side of the narrow neck of land, they stopped an peered cautiously through the tall marsh grass.  Through the mist they could just see the dim outline of the Schuldham.

 They launched their boats and hugging the shore to keep out of sight, rowed from Eastchester Bay into the narrow Hutchinson River.  Then, hiding the boats in the marsh, Lockwood and his men waited an hour, shivering.  A small sloop sailed into Eastchester Bay.  It was the Little Stanton.  

 With the precision of long practice the whaleboatmen swung into action.  Pulling alongside the sloop, Lockwood leaped on board, pointed his pistol at the Tory captain's head and said 'We'd like to borrow your sloop for the night, Captain.  If you don't give us any trouble, neither you nor your boat will be harmed.'  The Captain gave in without a struggle.

 The whaleboats escorted the Little Stanton back to their secluded cove.  There they spent the night waiting for the tide to turn.  About five o'clock in the morning, Captain DeForest roused the men.

 'Let's go, boys!  Time to catch our prize.  Ten dollars to the first man to board the Schuldham and five dollars to the second.  If we succeed there will be dollars aplenty for all of us!'  The crew hid down in the hold along with the sloop's 300 barrels of salt and twelve ten-gallon kegs of brandy.  With the Tory captain at the helm and Lockwood at the bow, the Little Stanton sailed down Eastchester Bay under a light breeze from the west.

 Suddenly out of the grey dawn loomed the Schuldham.  She was completely encased in a net that reached ten feet up from the water to act as protection against small rebel boats.  She resembled a shrouded ghost in the morning fog.  The man on watch was real enough however, and wide awake.

 'What ship is that?' he called.

 'The Little Stanton,' answered Major Lockwood.

 'The rebel boats are out tonight and I want to lie under your stern lee for safety.'  2.  [Footnote 2 is below]

 Just at that moment, the bowsprit of the little boat rammed the Schuldham's netting.  The whaleboatmen swarmed up out of the hold.  Andrew Mead leaped to the bow and slashed at the netting with his cutlass.  The sentry fired his musket at Andrew.  Only grazed, Andrew fired back, but missed.

 'Leave your muskets, men.  Use your boarding axes.  Follow me,' Major Lockwood yelled.  The men rushed forward.  Andrew Mead climbed the netting, hooked his boarding ax over the railing and pulled himself on board thus earning the ten dollar reward.

 'Lock the hatches!  Keep the marines below,' shouted Andrew to the men following him over the rail.  But they weren't fast enough.

 A British officer burst through the nearest hatch yelling, 'Kill him!  Kill him!'  Mead came face to face with the British Captain Roney with a pistol in each of his hands.  Mead lunged at Roney with his boarding axe, wounding him severely in the chest and side, but the Scotsman fired his pistols wounding Mead in each shoulder.  As the other whaleboatmen guarded the hatches, Andrew Mead, now barely able to support himself, called on the Captain to surrender.  The Captain, lying on the deck replied, 'If I must, I must!' and surrendered.

 The battle was over.  But not one of the whaleboatmen knew how to man the stern topsail of the enormous Schuldham!  And so a bargain was struck with two British crewmen:  their freedom in exchange for their sailing knowledge.

 'Even so,' Andrew Mead said later, 'we sailed that vessel very slowly and very awkwardly, like an old woman, all the way home!'  4.  [Footnote 4 is below]

 Triumphantly the Schuldham entered Stamford harbor.  Isaac Quintard took Andrew Mead to his father's house to recover and Captain Roney went to Isaac's aunt's, the Widow Hubbard's house nearby.  The two men became quite friendly during their recuperation.

 'Mead, aren't you well yet?  I have almost recovered.'  5.  [Footnote 5 is below]  Captain Roney would say to tease Andrew.  Suddenly, just when he seemed almost well, Captain Roney hemorrhaged fatally.  He was mourned by Andrew Mead who lived on to have many more adventures as a whaleboatman.  But not one of them ever equaled the day he helped capture the Schuldham!

 Footnotes:

 1.  McDonald, John, The McDonald Papers, MSS, Huguenot-Thomas Paine Historical Assoc., New Rochelle, N.Y., 1844, 586.
2.  McDonald, op. cit., 613.
3.  McDonald, op. cit., 71.
4.  Ibid. 
5.  Ibid."

 Source:  Swanson, Susan Cochran, Between the Lines:  Stories of Westchester County, New York During the American Revolution, pp. 23-28 (Pelham, NY:  The Junior League of Pelham, 1975) (Copyright Susan Cochran Swanson).

 The story of the capture of the Schuldham in Pelham waters early in the Revolutionary War is only a tiny part of the history of the region during the tumult of the war.  Yet, it is among the most thrilling exploits during that terrible time.

Detail from 1776 Map by Charles Blaskowitz Showing Area Where the
Schuldham Was Captured in February 1777.   Source: Blaskowitz,
Majesty's forces, &ca, &ca, &ca. (1776) (Library of Congress Geography
and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA; Digital Id g3802t
ar115200; Library of Congress Catalog Number gm71000648).
NOTE: Click to Enlarge Image.

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Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Early Essay on the History of Pelham Manor Published in 1901


As one might surmise from the 2,206 Historic Pelham articles published online so far, Pelham Manor -- indeed, the entire Town of Pelham -- is a very historic place.  Histories of the Town have been written and published since at least 1848.  See Bolton, Jr., Robert, A History of the County of Westchester From Its First Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. I, ch. "Pelham", pp. 513-59 (New York: Alexander S. Gould 1848) (this is a single chapter from the two volume 1st edition of Bolton's seminal history of Westchester County; a revised edition was published in 1881 and an extremely rare revised 3rd edition was privately printed in 1905).

 In 1899, the little settlement of Pelham Manor was only 26 years old.  The formal Village of Pelham Manor was only eight years old.  Yet, the New Rochelle Pioneer recognized that the region long had been of historic significance and, thus, published an essay on the history of Pelham Manor.

 Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the brief essay was its focus on the fact that famed 19th Century authors Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper had close ties to Pelham Manor and were influenced in many of their fictional accounts contained in some of their most famous works by their experiences in Pelham Manor.

 For example, it long has been known that important parts of "The Spy:  A Tale of the Neutral Ground," an early novel by James Fenimore Cooper first published in two volumes in 1821, are set in parts of the Manor of Pelham once known as "Roosevelt's Wood."  Indeed, a few years ago this author hosted a "Novel Night" dinner for the Public Library of the Town of Pelham using "The Spy" as the "theme" for the dinner given that portions of the novel were inspired by Roosevelt's Wood of Pelham Manor.  (See photograph below.)

The Author, Dressed for a Pelham Public Library "Novel
Night" Dinner Using James Fenimore Cooper's "The Spy:
A Tale of the Neutral Ground" as the Theme.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.

 The full text of the history essay appears below.  It summarizes a host of historic events that occurred in and around Pelham.  Interestingly, near the end of the essay it describes what then were current events.  Even these descriptions shed additional light on the history of the Town including the founding of the Pelham Marine and Field Club on Shore Road and the Pelham Summer Home for children once supported by the entire town.

 The brief history essay is recommended reading for aficionados of Pelham history.  It appears immediately below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

 *          *          *          *          *

 "Few of the persons who live in, or visit Pelham Manor, know the many historical spots of that pretty village, or recall the many great men who have gathered material for the Nation's history in the garden spot where the English, French and Dutch originally settled.  In this the 20th century, when one looks back upon the days when Washington Irving and William [sic] Fenimore Cooper lived, it is hardly possible to realize that Pelham Manor and the other villages between the Harlem River and East Chester were the scenic ground from which the authors of the 'Sketch Book' and 'The Spy' drew their inspiration.

 That famous story citing early Colonial Annals:  Ann Hutchinson, after which Hutchinson's Creek is named forms part of the history of the place, Revolutionary history centered there, though to-day one cannot find much to connect it with the early struggle for American independence.  In those bye-gone [sic] days, there were Indian traditions, there was the bartering Dutch French Protestantism reigned for a time, and then there came the English allegiance from which the present village of Pelham has grown.

 To speak of Pelham, is to speak of Westchester county for the ground formed the scene of many battles lay between the Harlem River and White Plains.  Many of the incidents took place in what formerly was called Roosevelt's Wood, where the Manor now stands.  This village was established 25 years ago.  Prior to the Revolution, Pelham formed a portion of the old Manor of that name.  It contained 9166 [sic] acres, the Lordship and the Manor of Pelham being the title under the original grant.  Thomas Pell was the first owner.  John, his nephew, was the second lord of Pelham.  Descendants of these Lords lived in the Old Pelham House, a ruin just over the brow of Prospect Hill and in view of the Boston post road [Editor's Note:  This is a somewhat tortured and inaccurate reference to the home known today as "Pelhamdale" located at 45 Iden Avenue and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.]

 The spot is one which has been visited often of late, because it is upon Revolutionary ground, and many a bullet has been taken from its walls, while repairs were being made.  Some of the locks and keys taken from the doors, show that they were made more than a century ago.  A walk toward the Sound from Prospect Hill over the shore road, and one comes to Bartow, called after Bartow's of Georgia, relatives of the present Bartow's of Astoria, L. I.  It is at Bartow that one finds the last resting places of the Pells.  Further on, one comes to the 'Old Boston Road' or Kingsbridge Turnpike, the first direct stage coach line to Boston.  It passed through East Chester, followed the course of Hutchinson's Creek, in a shallow spot where the creek was forded.  The continuation of the Boston Road is now known as the Reynolds property and now marks the boundary between Pelham Manor and Pelham Heights.

 There is another road equally as old as the Old Boston Road -- that is the Split Rock Road.  At one time it was the single highway between City Island and the Pelhams.  Because of a fissure in a huge rock, not far from Boston Road, the road was called Split Rock.  It was along this road that Washington's army retreated [sic] after his defeat at the battle of Long Island, during the war of the Revolution.  Another land mark, of much interest is St. Paul's Church in East Chester.  It was founded 200 years ago.  Though the present edifice is not so old, it is still considered to be quite ancient, having been erected in 1765.  Many of the tombstones in the yard bear date of 1710 and 1712.  Christ Church, founded in 1843, was the first building devoted to religious worship and instruction ever commenced in Pelham.  'The Priory,' now a private residence, fifty years ago was a fashionable boarding school for New York girls.  

 One thing which always attracts the attention of strollers on Boston Road, between Pelhamdale Avenue and the Esplanade is a small brown stone bearing the mark '17 m.'  It indicates the distance from that point to New York City [sic; should be City Hall in New York City] is 17 miles.  It has been where it now stands for over 100 years, and is undoubtedly one of the first mile stones placed to mark the Boston Road.  Some of the things which have disappeared, are the toll gates between Pelham Manor and New Rochelle, Glen Island, at one time the residence of the Depan family, was for a long time the retreat of Louis Napoleon while he was in exile.  

 There are no persons living now who remember Pelham Manor as it was 200 years ago, still tradition remains, and there are many persons who read today of the beautiful flower garden of Westchester County.  Still there are many others who possess no knowledge of its peculiar character or exact location.  So within 50 years ago, the boundary of New York City was no more limited than at the present time.  The residents were mostly the descendants of the early settlers. Pelham Manor was suggestive of large handsome old mansions, the name not being intended to convey the geographical location.  It meant beautiful wooded drives, horseback rides, rowing and sailing, in fact an ideal existence.

 From what was once a veritable country has now sprung up the city, the heart of which can be reached in half an hour from Pelham Manor.  One of the great advantages of the Manor is that the summer temperature is from 6 to 8 degrees less than that of the city.  Pelham Manor is growing rapidly, improvements are being made almost daily, so that soon the name of Pelham Manor will be the envy of the surrounding country.

 What greatly impresses visitors to Pelham Manor the beauty of the village and that is due in a great measure to the Village Improvement Society.  Members of the American Scenic and Historical Society approve of the many steps which has [sic] been taken by the local organization for adding to the natural beauties for which Pelham Manor is noted.  Who is generally responsible for the great improvement in Pelham Manor it is impossible to state, for every one in the village seems to have been imbued with the idea that something should be done and before any organization was effected the residents of the place each constituted himself a Committee of One, to see that something necessary was done.

 True the improvements were in a great measure, to the individual property owners, residences, still such wholesaled enthusiasm was bound to lead to the organization of a village improvement society.

 To these residents of New York city, John Jay, Peter Bayard and John Chambers belong the credit of being the first public improvers.  They inaugurated the public park system now in vogue, and the first sight [sic] was Bowling Green, near the Battery.  In Pelham Manor the Esplanade is the public monument to Mrs. Robert C. Black and Messrs. David and John Johnson, who in Pelham Mano, are now what John Chambers, Peter Bayard and John Jay were in New York city when the now great metropolis, had a population of only 50,000 persons.

 At a recent meeting of the Society for the Improvement of Pelham Manor, an interesting paper on the subject 'What I know about trees,' by Joseph Arthur, was presented for the consideration of the members.  His paper in part was:  'Too many trees were unhealthy.  When too close together, they became diseased; and not only kill the grass by absorption, but they kill each other, and it is an admitted fact that a sickly tree emits odors and malarial poisons depressing and injurious, and sometimes fatal for humanity to breathe.  I believe that two out of every three trees on a lawn are tramps, and should be treated like tramps -- driven off.  I regard the majority of trees as useless except perhaps for the posting of a 'Lost Dog' notice or a warning from the tax collectors, not to dodge him.

 'The most beautiful boulevard in America is Euclid avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.  The trees there will not exceed an average of three to an acre.  At least its freedom from an indiscriminate growth of trees and bushes (and its trolley) are the principal features, that have made the magnificent thoroughfare famous throughout the world.

 'Oh, woodman, spare that tree,' yes spare that tree, but do not spare all trees.'

 All of which may be very true Mr. Authur, but in Euclid avenue, a business thoroughfare, with a trolley line up and down, one does not look for shade trees.  In the country though, it is different.  The only persons who really want trees cut down, are the owners of saw mills and paper mills, and their object is not for health or beauty, but simply for gain.

 When a member of the Pelham Manor Club wants to be particularly agreeable to some of his out of town friends, he invites him to the Pelham Manor Club.  It is a social organization, and if a college would be called a 'Co-Ed' Institution as both men and women are admitted to memberships.  The deed calling for the ground for the club house becomes void the moment spiritous [sic] liquors are used or sold in the club.  Pelham Manor is perhaps one of the few places in the country where a club of this kind can be supported.

 At last there is general joy among the residents of Pelham Manor because of the Field and Marine Club.  This is due largely to the efforts of Ezra T. Gilliland and B. M. Staples who have devoted time and money to the development of a recreation place such as would afford both entertainment and exercise to the club members.  For a long time the club has been wanted and the inability of the Manorites to locate a suitable spot for a [illegible] cause of much [illegible].  Recently the great advance in the price of water front property caused residents to realize that if ground was not secured at once, soon valuations would be so high that it would be impossible to secure the necessary location.

 It was then that Messrs. Gilliland and Staples took a hand in the play.  A company was formed and stock to the amount of $10,000 issued at a par value of $25 a share.  Then an acre of land was purchased on the water front and a picturesque little club house was constructed, facing the Long Island Sound.  The club house is complete even to the smallest detail and in the club, members may eat and sleep while a pier 100 feet long affords a suitable landing place for craft of limited size.

 Although this is late in the season, many persons who have resided in Pelham for the last summer are making arrangements for the return there next year.

 The last season has been a very successful one as far as the Summer Home is concerned.  From July 1st to the middle of September, hundreds of children from the nurseries and settlements in New York City were housed there.  As the home is maintained solely on the annual subscription of the members, it is a worthy thing, indeed, for all to send in his or her donation."

 Source:  [Untitled], The New Rochelle Press, Nov. 9, 1901, Vol. XXVII, No. 24, p. 2, cols. 3-4.

 Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

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posted by Blake A. Bell @ 4:45 AM 0 comments