Terrifying Pelham Lightning Storms in 1895 and 1906

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The lazy late summer evening turned ominous rather quickly in the Pelham region on September 12, 1895.  Judge Van Cott and one of his relatives, Mme. Albert, were relaxing on the veranda of the Judge's beautiful home on High Island.  On the back porch of the home, Civil War Veteran Joseph Alicolos was relaxing with his pipe as curls of tobacco smoke swirled about his head.

Angry clouds gathered; the wind began blustering.  Judge Van Cott heard a tent in his nearby orchard flapping.  He hustled down the steps of the veranda and into the orchard to secure the tent before the rain began.

Mme. Albert knew a thunderstorm was brewing.  She also knew it was time to retreat inside and wait for the Judge to return.  She wore a lovely straw hat.  Though it was secured to her hair with hat pins, the relentless winds tugged at her lovely chapeau.

Mme. Albert arose from her veranda chair.  Instantaneously a blinding flash and explosive clap seemed to stagger her.  The lightning bolt killed her before she fell to the veranda floor.  Her straw hat was in tatters.  Her hat pins were melted.  Her eyebrows and eyelashes were entirely burned away.

The bolt continued into and through Judge Van Cott's home.  On the back porch, it knocked the pipe out of the teeth of Joseph Alicolos, then leaped to a post three feet away and exploded it into splinters.  The walls of the home "were scarred as if by red hot pokers."  Alicolos was stunned, but unhurt.  Judge Van Cott's life likely had been saved by the sound of the flapping tent.  

The lightning storm became even more tragic and horrific as it spread eastward.  Mrs. Oliver Bennet was caught outside in Roselyn during the storm.  The lightning struck her.  The bolt ran down her right side, leaving bluish black streaks, but did not kill her.  

At Oyster Bay, lightning killed a horse owned by New York broker Thomas Young, Jr. and knocked his coachman, Thomas Palmer, unconscious for "several hours."  The lightning also struck Young's barn and burned it to the ground.  Several farmhouses near Watertown were struck by lightning and burned.  At West Sayville, Seymour Burr was struck by lightning and severely burned.

The high winds of the same storm also did tremendous damage.  Descriptions of a "whirlwind" during the storm suggest the region was struck by a tornado.  Indeed, a heavy water tank cover was sucked into the sky and carried eight miles away where the winds smashed it into a fence, demolishing the fence.  The winds blew down trees.  Indeed, "fallen trees block[ed] the highway in many parts of the country."  According to one accounts although the storm lasted only an hour, "It was the most severe storm in years."

Severe weather, of course, long has been a part of Pelham history.  Indeed, I have written before about severe lightning storms and the damage they have done in our region.  See Tue., Sep. 13, 2005:  A Lightning Bolt Out of the Blue - Electrical Storm in 1895.

Occasionally, there are inspiring stories of survival in the face of such terrible lightning storms in Pelham.  One such incident occurred at noon on Saturday, July 21, 1906.  

Mrs. William Christal of Ninth Avenue in the Village of North Pelham was engrossed in the care of her nine-month-old infant on the first floor of the family home.  The skies darkened; winds howled; she heard the rumbles of thunder.

Mrs. Christal suddenly realized she had left a bedroom window open upstairs.  She stood from an armchair and gently laid her sleeping baby on the cushion of the chair next to a throw pillow also on the cushion.  As the storm swept over the neighborhood, she raced upstairs to close the bedroom window.  

No sooner did she reach the bedroom than there was a blinding flash and simultaneous explosive clap of thunder.  Mrs. Christal felt the electrical shock and staggered.  Nevertheless, she turned and raced back downstairs to her baby.

There, on the armchair where she had left the infant, was a pile of plaster and rubble from a portion of the ceiling above blown apart by the lightning bolt.  She raced to the chair and scrambled to claw away the plaster.  Beneath the plaster and debris was the pillow that had been knocked on top of the baby, protecting it from the force of the falling plaster.  Her child was unhurt.

Only then did Mrs. Christal realize that she was deaf in her left ear.  Soon, inspection of the home revealed that the lightning bolt had struck the side of the house, knocked off a piece of board, ripped up the floor in a second floor bedroom and knocked off the plaster from the parlor ceiling directly beneath the damaged floor "for the length of several feet."  

The brunt of the lightning storm seems to have been felt in the Ninth Avenue neighborhood.  Tragedy was averted at G. Bowden's barn and paint shop on Ninth Avenue.  There in the barn was a wooden work bench with a large grindstone beneath which were stored pots of paint and oil.  A lightning bolt struck the work bench, charring it and smudging the grindstone with smoky residue.  Yet, only inches away the oil and paint were untouched.  As a newspaper report noted:  "Why the flames did not ignite these Mr. Bowden is at a loss to explain."  Bowden was fortunate the barn and paint shop was not burned to the ground.

Nearby, a tall tree in the woods directly behind Mrs. Christal's home was struck by lightning.  The bark was split and blasted by the bolt.  

These are simply two stories of notable lightning storms in and around Pelham.  Searches, of course, reveal dozens and dozens of news stories over the decades reflecting lightning strikes of homes, trees, businesses, telephone poles, and more.  As one might expect, Since the late 19th century, virtually every neighborhood in Pelham has suffered lightning strikes at one time or another.  Yet, the lightning storms described in today's Historic Pelham article appear to be two of the most notable -- and violent -- such lightning storms in our region.

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"NORTH PELHAM
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Lightning Struck Several Places in This Village on Saturday Afternoon.
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CHILD'S NARROW ESCAPE.
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Was in a Chair Asleep and Pillow Saved It from Fall of Plaster -- Workshop Hit.
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North Pelham, July 23. -- A pillow saved a child's life last Saturday noon, when lightning struck the house of William Christal on Ninth avenue.  It was in the midst of the storm, when Mrs. Christal rushed upstairs to close a window.  She had no sooner reached the bedroom than there was a blinding flash of lightning which was followed by a loud report.  She rushed downstairs, and as she reached the first floor her first thought was that of her nine months' old child, whom she had left asleep in the parlor lying on an arm chair.  As she entered the room she found the baby buried beneath a quantity of plaster, underneath which was the pillow.  She is quite confident that the child would have been killed but for the pillow.

The lightning struck the side of the house, knocked off a piece of board, ripping up the floor in a bedroom on the second floor and knocking off the plaster from the ceiling of the parlor directly underneath for the length of several feet.  Mrs. Christal was shocked by the lightning and was deaf in one ear all afternoon.

The lightning played a prank in G. Bowden's barn and paint shop on Ninth avenue Saturday.  It struck a work bench upon which was a grindstone.  The side of the bench was ignited and from the charred condition of the bench and the smoky appearance of the grindstone Mr. Bowden is at a loss to account for the fact that the barn was not consumed.  Directly beneath where the flames had charred the bench were pots of paint and oil.  Why the flames did not ignite these Mr. Bowden is at a loss to explain.  He considers himself fortunate that the barn was not burned to the ground.

The storm must have centered its destructive forces about Ninth avenue for a tall tree in the woods directly in the rear of the house was struck by the lightning and the bark split.  The storm was very severe throughout the neighborhood.  During the past two weeks Pelham has suffered considerably from thunder storms."

Source:  NORTH PELHAM -- Lightning Struck Several Places in This Village on Saturday Afternoon -- CHILD'S NARROW ESCAPE -- Was in a Chair Asleep and Pillow Saved It from Fall of Plaster -- Workshop Hit, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 24, 1906, p. 5, col. 1.

"A HEAVY STORM EAST.
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The Work of Destruction in New York by Wind and Rain.
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The Display of Lightning Was Terrifying -- Several Houses Burned, Roads Washed Out.
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NEW YORK, Sept. 13. -- A heavy storm struck City Island last night.  The display of lightning was terrifying.  Judge Van Cott and a kinswoman, Mme. Albert, were on the veranda of the Judge's house on High Island, while the clouds were gathering and the wind growing higher.  The Judge went into his orchard to secure a tent that was flapping and Mme. Albert finally decided to go into the house.

Just as she arose from her chair a bolt of lightning struck her and she fell dead.  The electricity burned off her eyebrows and eyelashes, tore her straw hat in tatters and melted the pins in her hair.  

On the back porch of the same house sat Joseph Alicolos, a veteran of the Civil War.  The same bolt knocked the pipe he was smoking out of his mouth.  It then jumped to a post three feet away and split it into splinters.  Alicolos was not hurt but the walls of the cottage were scarred as if by red hot pokers.

The storm was particularly severe at the east end of Long Island.  Just before sunset the wind rose.  Then there was a lull, and it seemed as if the heavens had opened.  Rain came down in torrents, while the sheets of blinding lightning frightened women and children and drove the bravest men indoors.

The wind, while it lasted, had a hurricane's force.  Trees were leveled to the ground and telegraph and telephone wires were blown down in many places in the suburbs of New York.  The lightning struck in several places.

At Roselyn Mrs. Oliver Bennett was outdoors when the storm broke.  The lightning struck her and ran down her right side, leaving bluish black streaks, but did not kill her.

Several farmhouses near Watertown were struck by lightning and burned.  The roads were washed out in places and fallen trees block the highway in many parts of the country.  It was the most severe storm in years, although lasting only an hour.  

The storm was the severest of the season at Oyster Bay.  Lightning struck and burned a barn owned by Thomas Young, Jr., a New York broker, killed one of the horses and stunned the coachman, Thomas Palmer, who was unconscious for several hours.

At West Sayville Seymour Burr was struck by lightning and severely burned.  His condition is critical.  Telegraph and telephone wires and poles were broken down there and communication was cut off.

Telegraph wires and trees were blown down at Port Jefferson and the forces of the wind smashed the plate glass windows in some of the shops.

The heavy cover of Dr. Jones' water tank was carried eight miles off where it brought up against a fence demolishing it.  Up the Hudson the storm took the form of a whirlwind.  Crosswalks were swept away and deep ruts washed into the roads.

Haverstraw also suffered, many brickyards having been flooded."

Source:  A HEAVY STORM EAST -- The Work of Destruction in New York by Wind and Rain -- The Display of Lightning Was Terrifying -- Several Houses Burned, Roads Washed Out, Santa Cruz Daily Sentinel [Santa Cruz, CA], Sep. 14, 1895, Vol. XXIII, No. 127, p. 1, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

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Pelham's Most Famous Lovers' Lanes: Beech Tree Lane Was the Favorite

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There was a time when the road we know today as Pelhamdale Avenue was little more than a winding cowpath leading inland from Long Island Sound toward today's Boston Post Road.  During the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, a second pathway slowly extended from the pathway that became Pelhamdale.  The second pathway grew toward today's Pelham Bay Park and on toward Hunter's Island in Long Island Sound.  That unpaved country path eventually became an unpaved country roadway, known today as Beech Tree Lane.  

The pathway, even before it became "Beech Tree Lane" in 1927 was famous as a "Lovers' Lane" where lovers strolled while visiting the "picnic grounds" as the woods from the New Haven Branch Line tracks to the Bolton Priory estate were known.  

Once Beech Tree Lane was paved and opened in about 1927, its honor of being the most celebrated lovers' lane in the Town of Pelham only grew.  That honor was quite an accomplishment given that all three villages at the time had their own lovers' lanes.  Those of the Village of Pelham Manor were better-known, however, and, thus, were more frequented  by Pelhamites and non-Pehamites alike.

Every small town and community, of course, likely has had at one time or another one or more lovers' lanes.  Lovers' lanes became more widespread with the development, during the early twentieth century, of the culture of the automobile.  For much of the first half of the twentieth century, Pelham's dark and quiet streets seemed to have served as excellent lovers' lanes, although few seemed to have rivaled the lane that had no name until it became "Beech Tree Lane."  The issue seems to have grown particularly annoying to local residents, however, during the mid-1930s.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog documents a few of the lovers' lanes in our Town.  There were several dark and secluded lanes, mostly in Pelham Manor where lovers spent their precious time.  Most interestingly, Beech Tree Lane always seemed to be the prime destination for lovers, but the lane parallel to it that, like Beech Tree Lane, ended at Pelham Bay Park was another lovers' lane:  Park Lane.  Undeveloped portions of Secor Lane and Wolfs Lane in Pelham Manor were other well-known lovers' lanes during the 1930s.  In today's Village of Pelham, the principal lovers' lane during the 1930s was Ninth Avenue.

These lovers' lanes were so widely known that most who used them were from outside Pelham.  Indeed, the problem grew so acute in 1934 that Pelham Manor police began hauling drivers out of the parked cars and taking them before the Village Court and charging them with "parking without lights" on the streets.  At about the same time, the Village Trustees of Peham Manor voted to prohibit parking on both sides of Park Lane for a distance of 350 feet west from the New York City line in an effort to shut down the portion of that lane used by lovers.  The following year, the Village of North Pelham began an initiative to prevent parking by lovers "admiring the scenery" along Ninth Avenue.

“Map of Section 2 Manor Circle Property of the Robert C. Black

Realty Co. Pelham Manor Westchester County, N.Y.” Certified

as Approved by the Planning Commission of the Village of Pelham

Manor on May 17, 1926.  Maps Shows the Winding Country

Road in an As-Yet-Undeveloped Area Centered Around

Beech Tree Lane.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Transcribed below is the text from a number of articles from local newspapers describing local lovers lanes in the Town of Pelham.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.  

"PETTERS, BEWARE!  BEECH TREE LANE NOT FOR LOVERS
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Village Board Orders Police to Route All Parkers From Sparsely Settled Section.
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Beech Tree Lane may be romantically titled, but the Pelham Manor village fathers are determined that it shall not be Lovers' Lane.  Monday night the police department was instructed to rout all motorists who park their machines on the thoroughfare after dark.  Complaint about the many parkers on the street was received by the trustees.

Beech Tree Lane is a new street and is close to the site of the old roadway through the woods from Pelham Manor to Hunter's Island.  The famous old Lovers' Lane has given way to a modern residential district which, although sparsely settled, is now one of the beauty spots of the village."

Source:  PETTERS, BEWARE!  BEECH TREE LANE NOT FOR LOVERS,  The Pelham Sun, Oct. 10, 1930, p. 10, col. 1.  

"Lanes In Manor Not For Lovers
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Although the street signs read Wolf's Lane and Secor Lane in Pelham Manor, they might just as well read, 'Lovers' Lanes,' for that seems to be the way they are known to out-of-town motorists.  Two men appeared before Judge Frank Roberson in Manor court Friday night and pleaded guilty to charges of parking without lights on these streets.

'Seems to be a favorite trysting place,' commented the Judge.  'I've never had a parking case of this type yet that wasn't within 100 yards of either Secor or Wolf's Lane.' 

The men, Robert Mattes, 29, of No. 1019 East 179th street, New York City, and Thomas Garner, 29, of No. 510 Dyckman street, Peekskill, paid fines of $3.00 each.  

The Pelham Manor trustees abolished one 'Lovers' Lane'  Monday night, when on recommendation of Trustee Christopher T. Chenery, the board voted to prohibit parking on both sides of Park Lane for a distance of 350 feet west from the New York City line.  Chief of Police Michael J. Grady was instructed to see that the ordinance was put in force immediately and also to have two signs installed on each side of the street, warning prospective parkers."

Source:  Lanes In Manor Not For Lovers, The Pelham Sun, Jun. 15, 1934, p. 2, col. 2.   

"Ninth Avenue Will No Longer Be A Haven For Parkers In North Pelham
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'Parkers' who have made a habit of parking on Ninth avenue are going to find themselves dispossessed.  John Grael of No. 314 Ninth avenue complained to the North Pelham police on Sunday night that couples in parked cars had become a nusiance.

Police willl not allow the couples who are frequently in silent automobiles 'just admiring the scenery,' to do their admiring in Pelham, especially since there is no scenery to be seen in that section of Ninth avenue.

The condition is one which annoys residents who live adjacent to some choice 'lovers' lane,' so called, and when a resident files a complaint with police, no time is lost in dispersing the 'sparkers.'  

Periodically the lovers of nature invade Pelham, or so it would seem as police of all the three villages get their complaints of the condition in groups.  And the trouble, the 'sparkers' have found, is that patrolmen are not the least bit sympathetic.

Pelham Manor police, because the village has many heavily treed avenues and outlying streets, have chased many a parked car off its highways.  Pelham Heights is visited by the 'petters' only infrequently as is North Pelham."

Source:  Ninth Avenue Will No Longer Be A Haven For Parkers In Noth Pelham, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 13, 1935, p. 3, cols. 1-2.  

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