Plans in 1922 For Massive "Olgalorna" Apartment Complex Preceded Construction of Witherbee Court on the Same Site Overlooking Pelham Country Club

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It was a grand scheme!  Pelham real estate was just beginning to explode in value as the Roaring Twenties took off in 1922.  A New York City developer planned to build a massive Tudor Revival apartment complex along Wynnewood Avenue and Boston Post Road to be called the "Olgalorna."  The developer used Pelham architect George F. Pelham to begin preparation of plans.  

A breathless Announcement that appeared in the September 29, 1922 issue of The Pelham Sun.  It said, in part:

"A two million dollar apartment house, at the entrance to the Pelham Country Club, housing one hundred and thirty families, and claimed by its sponsors to surpass in appointment, accommodation, and size, anything of its kind in the world, will be constructed in Pelham Manor by the Olgalorna Realty Corporation, of 200 72d street, New York City, according to the statement of architect, George F. Pelham, made to the Pelham Manor Village Board, Monday night."

The massive complex was never built.  Instead, the beautiful but somewhat smaller apartment building we know today as Witherbee Court was built by different developers on the site and opened in 1926.  What happened to the original plans?

The developer that planned the complex was Olgalorna Realty Corporation.  F. S. Francis, of New York City, was president.  The building was to carry the corporation name of the firm, "The Olgalorna."  The same report quoted above described the planned complex in glowing terms:

"The structure will be six stories high on the Boston road end, and eight on the Country Club end.  The floors will be divided into apartments of from four to eight rooms and three baths.  The basement floors, will house an immense oil-burning heating plant, steam-drying laundry facilities, servants quarters, an immense ballroom and fully equipped gymnasium.  On the roof will be a children's play yard, fully enclosed, for safety, and a handball court.  In the rear will be a tennis court that can be flooded in winter for a skating rink."

The proposal, however, languished for nearly six weeks without action by the Pelham Manor Board of Trustees.  The developer began to agitate for a "tentative" decision from the Board, claiming that its "investors" were only willing to provide the necessary funding if a "tentative" decision could be released by the Trustees.  

Not only did the trustees not budge, but also questions arose over whether the planned development complied with local laws and whether it would be appropriate to approve such a large project that the developer said would be "semi-fireproof" rather than fully fireproof.  Finally, during a Pelham Manor Board of Trustees meeting held on December 18, 1922, the Board announced that "it would not favor any non-fireproof buildings of greater height than four stories."  

Plans for the project failed to materialize and, soon, the property changed hands and a different developer named George G. Duffy began construction of the complex we know today as Witherbee Court.  

Architectural Rendering by George F. Pelham Showing Planned

Olgalorna Tudor Revival Apartment Complex Once Planned for

the Site of Today's Witherbee Court.  Original Newspaper Marked

in Crayon for Newspaper Purposes.  Source:  $2,000,000 Apartment House For Manor --

George H. Pelham, Architect For Immense Building To Be Erected on Boston Road at

Pelham Country Club Entrance, Seeks Permit and Files Plans For Structure -- Will Be Last

Word In Up-to-Date Accomodations [sic] and Will Rent at $ [Illegible] a Room.-- Village

Board of Trustees Holds Up Issuance of Permit Until Sure That Project Does Not Conflict

With Building Code, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 29, 1922, p. 3, cols. 2-7. 

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"Witherbee Court Apartment Building, Pelham Manor.  Financed by

S. W. Straus & Co.  Charles G. Duffy Associates, Architects and Builders."

Architectural Rendering Showing Proposed Complex from Wynnewood

Road.  Source: HIGH-CLASS APARTMENTS BEING ERECTED IN THE SUBURBS,

N.Y. Times, Jun. 28, 1925, Sec. 11 [Real Estate Section], p. 1, cols. 6-8.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Witherbee Court Apartment Building Seen From Wynnewood Road.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"$2,000,000 Apartment House For Manor
-----
George H. Pelham, Architect For Immense Building To Be Erected on Boston Road at Pelham Country Club Entrance, Seeks Permit and Files Plans For Structure -- Will Be Last Word In Up-to-Date Accomodations [sic] and Will Rent at $[Illegible] a Room.
-----
Village Board of Trustees Holds Up Issuance of Permit Until Sure That Project Does Not Conflict With Building Code
-----

A two million dollar apartment house, at the entrance to the Pelham Country Club, housing one hundred and thirty families, and claimed by its sponsors to surpass in appointment, accommodation, and size, anything of its kind in the world, will be constructed in Pelham Manor by the Olgalorna Realty Corporation, of 200 72d street, New York City, according to the statement of architect, George F. Pelham, made to the Pelham Manor Village Board, Monday night.

The Olgalorna Realty Corporation is a new name to Pelham, and as far as could be learned has no local connections.  F. S. Francis, of New York City, is president.  The building will carry the corporation name of the firm, 'The Olgalorna.'

The structure, which will be erected on the south side of the Boston road, at Wynnewood road, a fronting on the first tee of the Pelham Country Club, will be of brick, following the Tudor design, as is used in other buildings of Mr. Pelham's design, such as the Pelbrook and Peldean in North Pelham.  The colossal apartment house will have every modern improvement in apartment house construction.  It will be of semi-fireproof construction as is used in building of modern New York City apartment houses.  The halls, stairways and elevator shafts will be of such fireproof construction that if the building were gutted by fire these portions would stand even if the rest of the building was burned.

The structure will be six stories high on the Boston road end, and eight on the Country Club end.  The floors will be divided into apartments of from four to eight rooms and three baths.  The basement floors, will house an immense oil-burning heating plant, steam-drying laundry facilities, servants quarters, an immense ballroom and fully equipped gymnasium.  On the roof will be a children's play yard, fully enclosed, for safety, and a handball court.  In the rear will be a tennis court that can be flooded in winter for a skating rink.

Every room will have windows opening on a wide court.  Electric refrigerators will be installed in all kitchens.  Garage accommodations will be constructed at a place over the New Rochelle line.

The property was purchased from the Witherbee estate and the Pelham Country Club through Fish & Marvin, who have been making negotiations for the Olgalorna Company for some time.  It was only after several other portions of land had been rejected that the proposed site was decided upon.  Fish & Marvin will act as the company's agents in the rents of the apartments after it is completed.

Mr. Pelham stated that the corporation was ready to start operations on the structure, within a month after the issuance of the permit, and that the building would be completed within seven months to a year after operations were started.

There was no permit issued by the Pelham Manor Village Board, Monday night, as it was thought better to thoroughly consult the building code and then report to Mr. Pelham.  Village Attorney, Edgar C. Beecroft, stated, however, that in his opinion there would be little difficulty in the proposed building conforming with the building code and zoning ordinance."

Source:  $2,000,000 Apartment House For Manor -- George H. Pelham, Architect For Immense Building To Be Erected on Boston Road at Pelham Country Club Entrance, Seeks Permit and Files Plans For Structure -- Will Be Last Word In Up-to-Date Accomodations [sic] and Will Rent at $ [Illegible] a Room.-- Village Board of Trustees Holds Up Issuance of Permit Until Sure That Project Does Not Conflict With Building Code, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 29, 1922, p. 3, cols. 2-7.  

"THE DAILY NEWS OF The Pelhams
----- . . . 
Pelham Manor . . .
-----
OFFICIALS FAVOR ERECTION OF $2,000,000 APARTMENT?

Although there is said to be a prejudice against the erection of apartments in the village, the village board is inclined to favor the erection of the proposed new $2,000,000 Olgalorna apartments, the plans for which have been filed for their approval. . . ."

Source:  THE DAILY NEWS OF The Pelhams -- Pelham Manor -- OFFICIALS FAVOR ERECTION OF $2,000,000 APARTMENT?, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Nov. 10, 1922, p. 18, col. 2.  

"Wants Ogalorna Apartment House Plans Approved
-----

Fred H. [sic] Pelham, architect of the big Ogalorna apartment house on Boston Road near Pelham Country Club, made a request to the Pelham Manor trustees on Monday that the plans as presented be approved officially.

Knowing the high class residential character of Pelham Manor and its antipathy toward apartment houses, some investors are loath to enter into the new deal unless assured that the plans are approved by the local authority.  The plans were taken under advisement to see if they are in entire harmony with building code."

Source:  Wants Ogalorna Apartment House Plans Approved, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 3, 1922, p. 4, col. 3.  

"More Than Four Stories Must Be Fireproof
-----
Pelham Architect So Advised When He Asks Approval of Plans For Big Apartment
-----

The sponsors of the Olgalorna, Pelham Manor's proposed $2,000,000 apartment house, are not going to see the smooth sailing they expected in gaining a permit from the Pelham Manor Village Board.  The Board put on record, Monday night, that it would not favor any non-fireproof buildings of greater height than four stories.  The Olgalorna plans and specifications call for a six-story building of semi-fireproof construction.

George F. Pelham, the architect of the Olgalorna Realty Company, addressed a communication to the Board and stated that the financing of the proposition has reached a point where the Board's tentative approval of the plans is necessary before anything more is done.

Village Clerk Leeds was authorized to communicate with the architect and inform him of the Board's decision."

Source:  More Than Four Stories Must Be Fireproof -- Pelham Architect So Advised When He Asks Approval of Plans For Big Apartment, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 22, 1922, p. 12, col. 2.

"HIGH-CLASS APARTMENTS BEING ERECTED IN THE SUBURBS
-----

THE demand for suburban property is one of the strongest features of the present realty market.  

This is not only true of the territory adjacent to Manhattan, but of the entire country.

American cities are expanding rapidly in their residential areas.

A survey by the National Association of Real Estate Boards finds the market for subdivisions showing even greater activity than the lively market of last year.

Demand for single-family dwellings is the strongest impulse of the real estate market in 157 of the 225 cities reporting.

In eighty-nine of the cities the demand four city lots for residence sites is leading the market.

Demand for suburban lots leads in sixty-four of the cities:  this demand is greatest, of course, in the larger cities.  

Demand for business property is at the head of the market in fifty of the cities reporting.

The reports also show a greater stabilization of rents than has been indicated in any previous survey conducted by the association, and a steady progress of American cities in overcoming the building shortage left by the war.

Sixty-seven of the 225 cities reported overbuilding in some form.  A remaining shortage of dwellings was reported by 32 per cent, of the cities, a shortage of apartments by 29 per cent. and a shortage of business structures by 25 per cent.

High-class suburban apartments within easy commuting distance of Manhattan are in great demand.

This is shown by the fact that hundreds of them have been built in the metropolitan area during the past twelve or fifteen months.

The majority of them have been completely leased before completion.

$500,000 Apartment House for Pelham Manor.

If Thomas Pell, the Lord of Pelham Manor, in the Bronx [sic], who in 1654 paid the Indians a few hundred dollars for 10,000 [sic] acres of land on Pelham Bay, could come back today and see his old property selling for $50,000 an acre, to men who are building apartment houses worth $500,000 and more, he would indeed realize that the Indians were not very good judges of the value of land near New York City.

The increase in land values in Pelham is equally surprising, when it is realized that the value of the 1 3/4-acre site for the Witherbee Court Apartment building has increased in the 280 years from 3 cents to $50,000 per acre.

George G. Duffy, engineer and builder, who is erecting the Witherbee Court Apartment Building, adjoining and overlooking the Pelham Country Club and golf course, expects to derive a rental of more than $53,000 per year from the suites in this building, probably more money than Lord Pell ever had, despite his vast landed possessions in America.

The new development was financed by S. W. Straus & Co., who have underwritten an issue of $425,000 first mortgage 6 per cent. sinking fund coupon gold bonds, secured by the land and building.  The structure was designed by Charles G. Duffy Associates.

The garage, with space for one car for each tenant, will form a decorative terrace in the front of the building.  There will be a large garden and fountain in front of the garage and the cars will enter and leave from the sides via a wide semicircular drive.

At both ends of the building there will be suites on the ground level, looking on gardens, and the suites on the fifth floor will have story and a half living rooms overlooking Pelham Bay. . . ."

Source:  HIGH-CLASS APARTMENTS BEING ERECTED IN THE SUBURBS, N.Y. Times, Jun. 28, 1925, Sec. 11 [Real Estate Section], p. 1, cols. 1-8.  

"In Retrospect
-----
Ten Years Ago

Announce plans for $2,000,000 apartment house on Wynnewood road overlooking Pelham Country Club in Pelham Manor.  New building will be known as the 'Olgalorna.'  (ed. note - This plan failed to materialize until a few years later when Witherbee Court was built on the site). . . ."

Source:  In Retrospect -- Ten Years Ago, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 30, 1932, p. 2, col. 7.

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Thanksgiving Celebrations Throughout Pelham in 1925

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I awoke this morning with a devout thanksgiving

for my friends, the old and the new.  Shall I not

call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself

to me in his gifts?

Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Friendship" in Essays, First Series (1841).

Happy Thanksgiving dear Pelham!

Pelham may have been a very different place 92 years ago in 1925.  Yet, were we to be transported back in time to November 26, 1925, we would recognize the warm and sincere giving of thanks and the many celebrations of Thanksgiving held in our little Town that Thanksgiving week.  Indeed, Pelham's Thanksgiving celebrations of today remain rich with tradition and look much like the Thanksgiving celebrations of Pelham in 1925.

College students flooded into Pelham to gather with their families for the holiday.  Pelham families hosted out-of-town guests for the celebration.  A surprising number of Pelhamites attended the Army-Navy football game at the Polo Grounds Thanksgiving weekend.  Some Pelhamites traveled elsewhere to spend the holiday with out-of-town families and friends.

Throughout Thanksgiving week there were grand gatherings and parties, particularly on Thanksgiving Eve (Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1925).  For example, that Wednesday night, the Liberty Engine and Hose Company hosted a massive "fancy dress carnival" attended by 400 people at the firehouse on Fifth Avenue.  Prizes for best costumes included, among other things, a fifteen-pound turkey.  A six-piece orchestra provided music for a ballroom dance until midnight when the costume party attendees were unmasked.  Then, three additional musicians helped provide music for continued dancing that lasted until 3:00 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.

At the same time on the same evening, the Pelham Country Club hosted its own Thanksgiving dinner and dance.  Neighbors and friends reserved tables together and enjoyed a massive Thanksgiving celebration.

Even Town Justice Anthony M. Menkel got into the Thanksgiving spirit on that Thanksgiving Eve in Pelham.  He held a Town Court session that evening.  When Thomas Grivffre of Mount Vernon appeared in Court to answer for an unspecified infraction, the Judge fined him $10.  When the poor fellow emptied his pockets, he only had $8.  Judge Menkel, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, reduced the fine to $8.  

The Manor Club, in turn, hosted its annual "Thanksgiving Feast" on the evening of Friday, November 27, 1925.  The annual Manor Club Thanksgiving celebration was the hottest ticket in town each year.  Seating was limited to 150, so tickets had to be bought for the event.  The Manor Club clubhouse was decorated in "Harvest" decorations for the traditional turkey dinner and the grand dance that followed.

Thanksgiving celebrations began as early that week as Sunday, November 22.  For example, that day the Young People's Society of the local Congregational Church hosted a lecture by Catharine Garber on the subject of "Thanksgiving Day" in which she "contrasted the spirit in which it was first celebrated and the way we celebrate it today."  Additionally, Dr. William Milton Hess explained to the audience "the difference between the Pilgrims who came to America for complete religious independence and the Puritans who came later and founded Massachusetts Bay Colony although they were not determined to entirely separate from the English church. . . ."

Thanksgiving Day in 1925 dawned bright and brisk.  The Young People's Society of the Congregational Church sponsored a pre-Thanksgiving dinner hike.  The group and guests hiked to Scarsdale and back before sitting down to their tables for a turkey feast.

At mid-day, Pelhamites throughout the Town sat down to their own turkey feasts with family and friends.  It was the height of the Roaring Twenties and the price of turkeys was up that year.  The Pelham Sun reported as follows:

"Pelham residents were just as anxious to buy their gobblers for the annual feast despite the fact that the price was about 5 to 10 cents higher [per pound] than last year.  Most of the turkeys came from Maryland and Ted's Market, People's Market and Pelham Heights Market reported that the price ranged from 40 to 65 cents per pound.  Although the majority of Pelham people wanted the usual Thanksgiving delicacy all markets reported a brisk demand for ducks and geese.  The prices for cranberries and the rest of the makings were correspondingly higher this year but that fact apparently made little effect on the Thanksgiving buyers."

The Pelham Sun lamented what it viewed as a decline in the nature of the Thanksgiving holiday spirit.  In an editorial that week, the newspaper stated:  

"[W]hen the first bountiful harvest came and a few of the Indian savages showed their friendship, [the Pilgrims] were certain that God had smiled on their religious venture and they hastened to give thanks.  The tables were heaped high with game from the forests and corn from the fields.  All feasted that day in a manner befitting a people who recognized the fact that their God had seen fit to treat them well.  Today this holy day has degenerated into little more than a mechanical holiday and the true fervor of the Thanksgiving spirit is experienced by few.  It is a day of rest and amusement from the tasks of the previous weeks instead of a day of prayer for the escape from dangers past."

Pelham, it seems, celebrated Thanksgiving in grand style in 1925 just as it is doing this day, ninety-two years later.

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"Good Turkeys Were Higher This Year
-----
Demand for Ducks and Geese in Advance of Last Year's and Higher in Price
-----

Pelham residents were just as anxious to buy their gobblers for the annual feast despite the fact that the price was about 5 to 10 cents higher [per pound] than last year.  Most of the turkeys came from Maryland and Ted's Market, People's Market and Pelham Heights Market reported that the price ranged from 40 to 65 cents per pound.

Although the majority of Pelham people wanted the usual Thanksgiving delicacy all markets reported a brisk demand for ducks and geese.  The prices for cranberries and the rest of the makings were correspondingly higher this year but that fact apparently made little effect on the Thanksgiving buyers."

Source:  Good Turkeys Were Higher This Year -- Demand for Ducks and Geese in Advance of Last Year's and Higher in Price, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 1925, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 3, col. 2.  

"THE MANOR CLUB. . . . 

THANKSGIVING FEAST

One of the most important, and certainly one of the most enjoyable social events of the Manor Club season is the Thanksgiving Feast which will take place tonight at the club house.  The attendance has been limited to 150 and that number of tickets is reported as having been sold for some time past.  Each year the club members look forward to this event, when a feast is served in the old-fashioned way and followed by music and dancing to bring in the modern note.  The club will be attractively decorated in Harvest atmosphere and those of the members who are fortunate will enjoy one of the most delightful affairs that the Manor Club program has to offer. . . . 

AT THANKSGIVING FEAST OF MANOR CLUB
-----

One of the tables at the Thanksgiving feast at the Manor Club this evening will be occupied by Mr. and Mrs. William Currie, Mr. and Mrs. Julius A. Migel, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph C. Angell, Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood Barr, Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hull, Mr. and Mrs. Herber Elliott, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hess, Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Cutting and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Tuttle and Mr. and Mrs. Theodore H. Dauchy."

Source:  THE MANOR CLUB, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 1925, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 7, cols. 4-5.  

"Four Hundred at Annual Ball of Liberty Hose Co.
-----

Over four hundred attended the annual dance and fancy dress carnival of Liberty Engine and Hose Company at fire headquarters on Wednesday night.  Mrs. Jennie Pickard won first prize, a silk umbrella, for her Santa Clause costume.  Miss Katherine Tully was awarded a silver compact for her costume.  William Heisser won a fifteen-pound turkey.

A six-piece orchestra supplied music until midnight when the unmasking took place.  After midnight the orchestra was augmented by three extras and dancing kept on until 3 a.m."

Source:  Four Hundred at Annual Ball of Liberty Hose Co., The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 1925, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 1, col. 7.

"CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Y. P. S.

Catharine Garber gave a talk on the subject of 'Thanksgiving Day' Sunday night at the meeting of the Young People's Society at the Congregational Church in which she contrasted the spirit in which it was first celebrated and the way we celebrate it today.  Dr. William Milton Hess explained the difference between the Pilgrims who came to America for complete religious independence and the Puritans who came later and founded Massachusetts Bay Colony although they were not determined to entirely separate from the English church. . . ."

Source:  CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Y. P. S., The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 1925, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 7, col. 3.

"HIKED TO SCARSDALE FOR THANKSGIVING APPETITE

The annual Thanksgiving hike of the Young People's Society of the Congregational Church was held Thursday morning when a small band of determined spirits walked ten miles in the bracing autumn air before coming back to attack the gobbler and fixings.  Dr. William M. Hess was with the party and they got as far as Scarsdale before turning back."

Source:  HIKED TO SCARSDALE FOR THANKSGIVING APPETITE, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 1925, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 1, col. 5.  

"Judge Reduces Fine on Account Of Thanksgiving

Judge Anthony M. Menkel gave Thomas Grivffre of Mount Vernon something to be thankful for Thanksgiving eve at Town Hall where Grivffre's fine was reduced from $10 to $8.  When the fine of $10 was first announced, Grivffre searched his pockets and was able to gather only $8.  Judge Menkel thereupon declared the fine $8."

Source:  Judge Reduces Fine on Account Of Thanksgiving, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 1925, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 4, col. 4.

"THANKSGIVING

'A solemn day set apart wherein we return glory, honor, and praise with all Thanksgiving to our good God' -- that was the first Thanksgiving Day according to that redoubtable religious leader of Massachusetts, Governor John Winthrop, who wrote down this interesting commentary in his diary in 1623.  In those days it was a heartfelt giving of thanks, for hostile Indians lurked in the shadowy forests and it was with great difficulty that the little hands of the settlers raised enough food to last through the long and bitter winters.  Plague and pestilence combined with the savages and grim hunger to make their lives a hard and disappoint trial.

Consequently, when the first bountiful harvest came and a few of the Indian savages showed their friendship, they were certain that God had smiled on their religious venture and they hastened to give thanks.  The tables were heaped high with game from the forests and corn from the fields.  All feasted that day in a manner befitting a people who recognized the fact that their God had seen fit to treat them well.

Today this holy day has degenerated into little more than a mechanical holiday and the true fervor of the Thanksgiving spirit is experienced by few.  It is a day of rest and amusement from the tasks of the previous weeks instead of a day of prayer for the escape from dangers past."

Source:  THANKSGIVING, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 1925, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 2, col. 1.

"NEWS AND PERSONALS

Miss Edith Jackman of 545 Fowler avenue, Pelham Manor, will be home for Thanksgiving vacation from Russell Sage College, Troy, New York.

Miss Winifred Leo of Benedict Place had several out-of-town friends as her guests at the Thanksgiving dinner-dance at the Pelham Country Club on Wednesday evening.  Her guests were Miss Elizabeth Stirling, of Montclair, N. J., and Mr. Monroe Dreher and Mr. Charles Durr, of Newark.

Mr. and Mrs. William Currie of the Esplanade will attend the Army-Navy game on Saturday.

Mr. James F. Wilkinson, of Rochester, N. Y., was the guest of Mrs. Washington Cockle and Miss Anna Secor at their home on the Boston Post Road over the holiday.

Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Junker and family, formerly of Mount Vernon are now residing in Pelbrook Hall.

Robert and Lloyd Brook are spending the Thanksgiving recess with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Brook, of Monterey avenue.  They arrived from Amherst on Wednesday.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Coulson of Witherbee avenue entertained at the dinner-dance at the Country Club on Thanksgiving Eve.  Their guests were Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Shipman, and Mr. William B. Warner of Pelham, Mr. Lewis Calder, of Greenwich, Conn. and Miss Mary Berke and Mr. Charles Lovering, of New York City.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lyon, Jr. formerly of New York City, have taken up their residence in Peldean Court.  

Mrs. R. Rice of the Esplanade is in Elmira, N. Y. for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Miss Mary Beutell of the Esplanade returned today from The Castle, Tarrytown-on-the-Hudson, to spend the week end with her family.

Mr. and Mrs. J. Odell Whitenack of Monteret avenue are in Washington, D. C., where they are spending the holidays with their daughter, Janet, a student at National Park Seminary.

One of the tables at the dinner-dance at the Country Club on Wednesday evening was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Maxwell, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Dodge, and Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Passmore.

Miss Winifred Leo of Benedict Place will attend the Army-Navy game tomorrow at the Polo Grounds with a party of friends from Washington, D. C.

Miss Katherine King, of the Esplanade, is home from Wells for the holiday season and will attend the Army-Navy game on Saturday with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. C. King, and her brother, Seymour.

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis J. Kennedy, formerly of New York City, now made their home in The Peinord.

Miss Elizabeth Doherty has returned to her home in East Orange, N. J. after spending a few days as the house guest of Mrs. Walter Browne, of Pelham Manor.

Mr. and Mrs. Dwight E. Wheeler and Mrs. E. L. Wheeler of Storer avenue left on Wednesday to spend the holidays in Trenton, N. J. with their children, Miss Dorothy and Mr. Clarence Wheeler.

Mr. and Mrs. William L. Bradley of Elderwood avenue have as their house guests Major and Mrs. William E. Larned of Watervilet Arsenal arrived for Thanksgiving and will remain over the week end, attending the Army-Navy game with Mr. and Mrs. Bradley tomorrow.

Mr. and Mrs. Northrup Dawson of Pelham Manor Road will be among those from Pelham who will witness the Army-Navy game at the Polo Grounds on Saturday. 

Mrs. Harry B. Swayne of Monterey avenue was hostess to a number of friends at her home on Friday afternoon.  Mrs. S. L. Hale of Winchester, Mass. was the guest of honor.  Two tables of bridge were arranged, the players including Mrs. William L. Bradley, Mrs. Northrup Dawson, Mrs. Louis Carreau, Mrs. W. B. Holton, Jr., Mrs. A. Baker, Mrs. H. A. Wyckoff, and Mrs. John Duncan.

Dr. and Mrs. E. A. Schminke of Fourth avenue entertained a number of relatives over the holiday.

Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth L. Peck of Suburban avenue, and Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Clark of Scarsdale will attend the Army-Navy game tomorrow.

Mr. Frederick B. Davies of Storer avenue leaves on Saturday for an extended southern trip.

Mr. and Mrs. Harry S. Abbott of the Esplanade entertained on Thanksgiving Day at a family dinner.  Mr. and Mrs. Alpheus M. Geer of Clay avenue will be among those present.

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Loney of Pelhamdale avenue will attend the Army-Navy game with Mr. and Mrs. Grenville Keogh of New Rochelle.

Mrs. Robert C. Black of Pelham Manor will leave for Palm Beach on December ninth.  Mrs. F. Rice leaves on the sixth.

Mrs. Walter B. Parsons has returned to her home on Bolton Road after a visit to Syracuse, N.Y.

Mrs. Dawson Furniss of Corlies avenue will attend the Army-Navy game, she will be accompanied by her young son, Harry, and his friend, Bill Parks.

Mrs. S. D. Hines has returned to her home in Bowling Green, Ky., after having spent two weeks as the house-guest of Mrs. Lockwood Barr of Highbrook avenue.

Mr. and Mrs. William B. Randall of Pelham Manor are leaving in the week for their home on Christopher street, New York City, where they will pass the winter.

Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Waters of Monterey avenue spent Thanksgiving Day as the guests of friends in Forest Hills, L. I.  Miss Betty Waters will spend the week end at home and Miss Jane will be in Philadelphia for the holiday season.  Both are students at National Park Seminary, Forest Glen, Md.

Lieut. Frederick E. Phillips and Mrs. Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Edward McGee, Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Crowell and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Knight of Mount Vernon and Miss Marian Johnson and Miss Alice Bentley are among those who will be present at the Army-Navy game tomorrow.

Mr. and Mrs. D. Gleason and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O'Rourck were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Engerud and Mr. Louis Engerud on Thanksgiving Day at their home in The Peldale.

Miss Helyn McGovern of Haverstraw, New York, was the week end guest of Miss Evelyn Lahey of Pelham Manor.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Emmons Pervear of Pelbrook Hall motored on Wednesday to Pawtucket, R. I. to spend Thanksgiving with Mr. Pervear's mother, Mrs. C. E. Pervear.

Miss Floy Anderson of Pelbrook Hall is spending the holiday season at the home of her brother, Ross Anderson of East Orange.

Mr. and Mrs. Claude Joslin of Fifth avenue, North Pelham, and their daughter, Alice, and her fiance, Mr. William Frederick, of Westfield, N. J., were among the guests at a family gathering on Thanksgiving Day at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Darby of Brooklyn, N.Y.  Mr. and Mrs. William Weber of Philadelphia, who were also guests of the Darby's, accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Joslin home and are spending the week end with them.  

Mr. and Mrs. William Wind of Mamaroneck are spending a few days with their daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. H. Hermanson of Fourth avenue.

Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Schulte and Miss Charlotte Schulte of Bronxville and Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Woodward were the Thanksgiving dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. S. E. Shanks, of Wolf's Lane.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Constable of New York City are spending the holiday season with Mr. and Mrs. Victor G. Beutell of the Esplanade.

Mr. and Mrs. E. O. Trohe of Syracuse, N. Y. and their daughter, Mary, and son, Edmund, are spending Thanksgiving and the week end with Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Early of Pelhamdale avenue.  On Saturday they will attend the Army-Navy game with Mr. and Mrs. Early, their son Melvin, Jr., and Raymond McNeil, of Nyac avenue.  Melvin Early, Jr. and Raymond McNeil are home from Colgate for the holiday and will motor back with Mr. and Mrs. Trohe on Sunday.

Dr. and Mrs. Ken G. Hancher, of Pelbrook Hall and their children are in Elwood City, Penna., where they are spending the Thanksgiving holidays with Dr. Hancher's parents.

George Cottrell of Prospect avenue is spending the week end with Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cook, at their Belleport, L. I. home.

Mr. and Mrs. William A. Rose, and their sons, Herbert and Kenneth, and daughter, June, spent Thanksgiving with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Abel of Hartsdale, N. Y.

Mr. Paul Bosse of Storer avenue, has returned from a hunting trip in the Canadian woods.

Mr. and Mrs. J. Monel of Mount Vernon were the dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Emile Ericson of Benedict place on Thanksgiving Day.

Mr. and Mrs. John N. Young of Highbrook avenue, entertained Mr. and Mrs. Bryon Benton and family of Milford, Conn. on Thanksgiving.

Mrs. B. F. Jacobs of Peldale, and her daughter, Miss Betty, are spending the holiday season with Mrs. Folger Framingham of Boston."

Source:  NEWS AND PERSONALS, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 27, 2017, Vol. 18, No. 39, p. 7, cols. 1-3.  

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For more Historic Pelham articles about the celebration of Thanksgiving in Pelham over the years see, e.g.:

Thu., Nov. 24, 2016:  An Important Thanksgiving Sermon Delivered in 1865 at Christ Church at the Close of the Civil War.

Thu., Nov. 26, 2015:  Thanksgiving in Pelham 75 Years Ago.

Thu. Nov. 27, 2014:  By 1941, Most Pelhamites Celebrated "Franksgiving" Rather than "Republican Thanksgiving."

Thu., May 08, 2014:  Thanksgiving Day Football Game in 1895 Between Pelham Manor and Mount Vernon Teams.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

The Bonnie Brae Inn Property Bought by the Pelham Country Club in 1920

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

There once stood on Boston Post Road in Pelham Manor and New Rochelle a beautiful tract of land with a lovely home known as "Bonnie Brae."  Indeed, as you leave Pelham Manor and enter New Rochelle via Boston Post Road, if you look to the right near the bus stop, two large rough stone columns that once were part of the estate still stand -- the only reminders of what once was.  The columns are visible on each side of the bus stop opposite Cleveland Avenue that turns off Boston Post Road and enters the New Rochelle neighborhood known as "Sycamore Park."  

The lands that formed the Bonnie Brae estate is now part of the Pelham Country Club golf course.  Though the estate straddled the border between Pelham and New Rochelle, the vast majority of the estate, and the home itself, were located across the border in New Rochelle.  

Today's Historic Pelham article is an effort to begin documenting the history of the Bonnie Brae Inn.  By no means is it a complete history.  Nor does it tell a complete story of the lovely home that eventually became a famous roadhouse before the land was acquired by the Pelham Country Club so it could build its golf course.  Today's article is merely an attempt to collect research regarding Bonnie Brae.  

The 1899 and 1908 maps of the area created by John F. Fairchild and included in the first and second editions of his Atlas of the City of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham both end roughly at the border between Pelham and New Rochelle.  Both show, however, that the property that came to be known as Bonnie Brae was owned by James L. Reynolds as early as 1899 and was still owned by him in 1908.

James L. Reynolds owned at least four markets in the region including one on Fourth Avenue in Mount Vernon, another in New Rochelle and two in White Plains.  A native of Stanwich, Connecticut, Reynolds started his first "meat and provisions market" in Mount Vernon and later started the remaining branches in New Rochelle and White Plains.  At these markets, Reynolds sold, among other things, meat, fresh fruits and vegetables.  

By 1902, Reynolds had turned his property known as "Bonnie Brae" into "one of the attractive garden spots in this vicinity."  The property had a lovely suburban home with meticulously-landscaped grounds and a rather astonishing "market garden" that he nurtured to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for his local markets.  It seems that Bonnie Brae was particularly well known for its "luscious" and "large, solid and fine in flavor" strawberries which Reynolds distributed among his markets for sale to local shoppers.  

In 1905, Reynolds' first wife, Georgianna, died.  Soon after her death, Reynolds "gave up the house and remodeled it for a hotel" which he named the "Bonne Brae Inn."  In 1908 the main home on the property opened as a restaurant and roadside inn.  As early as July 14, 1908, an advertisement appeared for "FRESH AIR DINING" at the new inn.  The advertisement read:

"FRESH AIR DINING.
-----

Get out and into the open!  Stop for lunch at the Bonnie Brae Inn, on the Boston Post road, New Rochelle.  Cooling breezes, scented by beautiful flowers.  Unexcelled table service.  Food from a culinary department not equalled [sic] elsewhere in the county.  Prices moderate."

Source:  FRESH AIR DINING [Advertisement], The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 14, 1908, No. 4976, p. 1, col. 3.  

Only eight weeks later, the New Rochelle Pioneer reported that "Mr. L. Brady, of Reid & Brady, New York, and of 47 Meadow Lane, this city, celebrated his silver wedding at the Bonnie Brae Inn, on August 26th.  It was a true family reunion -- happiness prevailed and fullest satisfaction was caused by the excellent service given by Messrs. Lutzer & Kill of the Inn."  Source:  [Untitled], New Rochelle Pioneer, Sep. 12, 1908, Vol. 50, No. 24, p. 5, col. 3.  Moreover, the October 2, 1908 issue of the New York Herald contained an announcement affirming that the new establishment was "ready to open for business."  The announcement read:

"BONNIE BRAE INN.

The most beautiful and ideal dining and stopping place in Westchester county; house completely and beautifully furnished, ready to open for business; stable and garage; must be seen to be appreciated.  Apply JAMES L. REYNOLDS, owner, New Rochelle, N. Y."

Source:  BONNIE BRAE INN [Advertisement], N.Y. Herald, Oct. 2, 1908, p. 2, col. 5.  

Within only a matter of months after the Bonnie Brae Inn opened for business, it appears that James L. Reynolds leased the Bonnie Brae Inn to Mrs. B. F. Arnold for a five-year period and sold her the furnishings.  It appears that Mrs. Arnold, or a proprietor selected by her, continued to operate the business as a roadhouse and Inn on the Boston Post Road.  An announcement of the lease transaction in a New York City newspaper stated:

"COUNTRY LEASES. . . . 

Stewart C. Schenck leased for James L. Reynolds to Mrs. B. F. Arnold, for five years, the Bonnie Brae Inn, facing the Boston Post Road, just south of New Rochelle, and has sold the furnishings to the new lessees."

Source:  COUNTRY LEASES, The Evening Post [NY, NY], Mar. 15, 1909, p. 8, col. 2.  

Advertisements the following year in local newspapers advertised "service a la carte" at the establishment.  One stated:

"Special Dinner composed of nine courses of excellent cuisine at $1.50 per plate to be served at Bonnie Brae Inn, New Rochelle, New Year's Eve.  Reserve your tables in advance.  Music by Celebrated Col. Met. Trio [i.e., "Colored Metropolitan Trio]."  

Source:  [Untitled Advertisement], New Rochelle Pioneer, Dec. 25, 1909, p. 5, col. 1.   

Many if not most of the advertisements for the establishment in those early days touted the music provided at the roadhouse by a "celebrated" group known as the "Colored Metropolitan Trio."  Research has not, however, yet revealed anything about this group of musicians.  

At about this time, the first friction seems to have arisen between the increasingly-popular roadhouse and its residential neighbors.  When the roadhouse opened in 1908, the Bonnie Brae Inn put up a simple painted sign on Boston Post Road that read simply "Bonnie Brae Inn" with a giant pointed finger directing visitors into the entrance drive that led to the inn.  The following year, James L. Reynolds asked New Rochelle officials to permit him to place an electric sign on a post that stood on private property.  Reynolds arranged permission from the landowner where the post stood.

A homeowner from Sycamore Park which stood on the opposite side of Boston Post Road across from the Bonnie Brae Inn objected and claimed that a "majority" of his neighbors agreed with his opposition to the sign.  Reynolds decimated that claim.  He immediately presented a petition signed by owners of 46 of the 50 homes in Sycamore Park supporting his request to erect an electric sign.  He further noted "that two or three that have not signed, I am satisfied are not opposed to the sign, but decline to sign for other reasons."  It appears that the sign thereafter was erected.  

Advertisements at about the same time (1910) make clear that the Bonnie Brae establishment also included a commercial nursery that sold California Privet Hedge (Ligustrum ovalifolium), Koster Blue Spruce, Boxus, and "other shrubs or shade trees to beautify your place."  The establishment also included a "poultry department" that raised and sold to customers "WHITE LEGHORNS and Imperial Pekin[g] ducks for breeding purposes or their eggs."  Leghorn eggs were $6.00 per 100.  Duck eggs were $8.00 per 100.  Source:  [Untitled Advertisements], The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Apr. 12, 1910, p. 4, col. 5.  

From nearly the start, the Bonnie Brae Inn became a popular roadhouse that attracted New York City residents.  It was possible to take the Bronx subway to 177th Street and then transfer to a trolley car and ride trolleys to the entrance of the Bonnie Brae Inn on Boston Post Road.  

It is not clear what happened with regard to the five-year lease that Mrs. B. F. Arnold signed in 1909 to least the property from James L. Reynolds.  In 1910, a man named John J. Cowan signed a lease to take over the Bonnie Brae Inn.  After signing that lease, Cowan changed his mind and refused to occupy the establishment or to pay the required rent.  James L. Reynolds sued Cowan.

In December, 1910, the Court ruled in favor of James L. Reynolds.  The trial was notable because Reynolds never called a witness.  According to a local news account, his attorney proved his entire case and achieved a directed verdict in favor of Reynolds merely by cross-examining witnesses offered by the defense in the case.  


By mid-1911, the Bonnie Brae Inn had changed its live music entertainment from the group known as the "Colored Metropolitan Trio" to a group known simply as "The Quartette."  In addition, advertising for the Bonnie Brae Inn made much of the fact that the main dining room of the facility was "cooled by electric fans."  Source:  [Untitled], New Rochelle Pioneer, Jul. 15, 1911, p. 5, col. 1.  

The fortunes of the Bonnie Brae Inn changed for the worse on July 26, 1911.  James L. Reynolds died that day.  A week before, Reynolds felt a small pimple behind his left ear and scratched it.  The pimple became infected.  Within a week, the wound had become septic.  Reynolds quickly developed pneumonia associated with the extreme infection and died.  He left a widow (his second wife), one son (Herbert Reynolds) and a daughter (Mrs. Andrew C. Scott of New Rochelle).

Reynolds died without leaving a will.  Though he owned a great deal of real estate, it all was encumbered with mortgages.  Though he had personal property worth $47,365.03 at the time of his death, he owed creditors $42,275.82.  His second wife whom he married after his first wife died in 1905 became one of the administrators of his estate.  The administrators intended to continue to operate his markets for the benefit of the estate and in an effort to repay the creditors the $42,275.82 that he owed at the time of his death.  

Almost immediately the administrators of the estate began trying to sell the Bonnie Brae Inn.  An advertisement in a New York City newspaper only a few weeks after the death of James L. Reynolds stated:

"BONNIE BRAE INN; must be sold to settle an estate; prettiest and best furnished place in Westchester county.  Address ESTATE JAMES L. REYNOLDS, Mt. Vernon, N. Y."

Source:  BONNIE BRAE INN [Advertisement], N.Y. Herald, Aug. 13, 1911, p. 22, col. 4.  

Until the time of the death of James L. Reynolds, the Bonnie Brae property had been a fairly successful roadhouse, poultry farm, and nursery.  Reynolds' death, however, was not the worst blow.  

By 1912, the Bonnie Brae Inn was leased by a man named George Considine who was operating the establishment with his brother, James Considine.  The two brothers previously had operated the Hotel Metropole in New York.  According ton one report, by 1912 the establishment was "one of the best known road houses between New York and New Haven."  Advertisements that year referred to the establishment as "CONSIDINE'S BONNIE BRAE INN."  

On November 18, 1912, a fire erupted in the Bonnie Brae Inn.  James Considine was asleep on the second floor of the inn at the time.  He had a dog named "Mutt" who was elsewhere in the inn when the fire broke out.  Mutt dashed through flames to awaken and rescue Considine and was badly singed saving his master.  Considine, in turn, leaped from a second story window of the Inn and then raced back into the building to rescue two maids and three male employees of the establishment.  Considine suffered burns to his face and hands.  According to one report, the fire "destroyed" the Bonnie Brae Inn.  Authorities believed the fire was arson.  Though one report said the Inn was destroyed, it seems either to have been repaired or rebuilt since it was in operation at the same location in subsequent years.

For nearly six years after the death of James L. Reynolds on July 26, 1911, his widow and the other administrators of his estate tried to continue to manage his assets and operate his businesses for the benefit of the estate and to repay the $42,275.82 he owed creditors at the time of his death.  In effect, they made a true mess of things.

In the spring of 1917, a judicial accounting of the estate was conducted, led by a referee acting on behalf of the Surrogate overseeing administration of the estate of James L. Reynolds.  Creditors argued that after more than five years, they had been repaid only half of what they were owed.  They further argued that the estate had been negligently mismanaged in such a way to benefit the heirs of James L. Reynolds to the detriment of repaying the creditors.  The administrators denied the allegations, claiming they were continuing to repay the creditors and had administered the estate appropriately.  The administrators asked the referee to grant them commissions from the estate to compensate them for their years of work.

The referee agreed with the creditors, issuing an opinion in May, 1917.  The referee found that "No one can read the testimony without being impressed with the fact that the administrators have been grossly negligent and careless, and indifferent as to the interests of the creditors in the management of this estate.  They have acted with great laxity and altho there has been no personal misconduct and no intimation of improper motive, except that they seem to have acted more in the interest of the heirs than the creditors, yet they certainly have not exercised the diligence and attention that discreet business people would use in their own business; and because in certain matters of the estate they have been represented by attorneys, does not relieve them from the administrative duties which they are presumed and bound to know."

The referee denied the request of the administrators to be paid commissions for their work.

It seems to have taken the administrators additional time to close the estate of James L. Reynolds.  Nevertheless, the Bonnie Brae property became an important part of the history of the Town of Pelham and the Pelham Country Club in 1920.  

In 1919, one of the most influential members of the Pelham Country Club, Mont D. Rogers, pushed the club to develop a world-class eighteen-hole golf course.  The club set up the Pelham Leasing Corporation and sold stock in the small company.  The plan was to have two hundred people each pay $2,000 for twenty shares of stock in the newly-organized company.  

As money started to flow into the leasing corporation, the company acquired options on property owned by members of the Black Family, the Witherbee Family, the Edgar Estate, and the James L. Reynolds estate.  While the options for the Black, Witherbee, and Edgar lands were for fairly long periods of time, the option from the Reynolds estate for the Bonnie Brae Inn property was for a fairly shot period of time.  

In early 1920, the Bonnie Brae option was set to expire.  To make matters worse, a competitive buyer materialized and offered a higher sum to purchase the property than that required to exercise the option.  Without this roughly 22 or 23 acre tract, the Pelham Country Club would not be able to construct its planned eighteen-hole golf course.  According to one account:

"This option was fast expiring, and on a certain day (I am afraid it was a Sunday), twenty Pelhamites met at the clubhouse, and were advised that the Bonnie Brae option expired within 24 hours. Another would-be purchaser had loomed on the horizon and was ready to take over the property at a price in excess of our option figure. Without this tract of land, the golf course could not have been constructed.  When the situation was explained, we all sat and looked at each other bewildered -- until Elmore F. Higgins, took out his check book and wrote a check for $250, and 19 others followed suit. Our options were exercised and we were safe in starting the Pelham Country Club golf course."

Source:  The Pelham Country Club, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 14, 1960, p. 7, col. 1 (reprinting article from The Pelham Sun published on Aug. 4, 1954).

With the purchase of the tract by the Pelham Country Club, the history of the Bonnie Brae Inn and its surrounding estate evolved from that of a famous roadhouse to that of a famous golf course designed by famed golf architect Emmett Devereaux.

Undated Post Card Depicting the Bonnie Brae Inn in About

1909.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Detail from 1910 Map Showing Location of the Bonnie Brae Estate

and the "Bonnie Brae Inn" Near the Bottom in the Center of the Detail.

Source:  Bromley, George Washington, "Part of the Town and Village

of Pelham" in Atlas of Westchester County, New York, Vol. 1, p. 18

(Philadelphia, PA:  G. W. Bromley & Co., 1910).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"NATIVE BERRIES FROM BONNIE BRAE.
-----

The luscious strawberries that are now seen in the extensive market of James L. Reynolds on Fourth avenue, were grown on his beautiful suburban home 'Bonnie Brae,' on the Boston Post Road on the outskirts of New Rochelle, near Pelham Manor.  'Bonnie Brae' is one of the attractive garden spots in this vicinity, and under the supervision of its present owner, Mr. Reynolds, it presents a charming rural picture of modern art in landscape gardening.

Not only does Mr. Reynolds take pride in the beauties of nature and landscape, but also in the market garden, which he has developed to a high state of culture.  He begins early in the season and with fresh fruits and vegetables stocks his own markets with the best that nature can produce.

This year Mr. Reynold's markets fairly glow with the luscious strawberries that he daily gathers from his strawberry beds, and as the weather has been very favorable for this choicest of all the early fruits, these berries are beautiful specimens, large, solid and fine in flavor; in fact, it has been many years since anything like the Reynolds berries have been seen in this market.  

If you desire something extra choice in the strawberry line, take a look at the berries in Mr. Reynold's market, it will give you some idea of the perfection attained in raising high grade berries."

Source:  NATIVE BERRIES FROM BONNIE BRAE, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jun. 11, 1902, p. 4, col. 3.  

"CONTROVERSY OVER A SIGN
-----
James L. Reynolds and Sycamore Parkites Engage in a Talkfest.

June 28, 1909

To the Honorable Mayor and Common Council, City of New Rochelle, N. Y.

Gentlemen -- On May 25, 1909, I made application to your honorable body for permission to erect an electric sign on the pole near the entrance of Sycamore Park opposite the entrance to Bonnie Brae.  I also obtained permission from the owner of the property where the pole is situated for the erection of this sign and left that with your honorable body.

One of the reasons you assigned for not granting my request was that the residents of Sycamore Park were strongly protesting against it, and I am informed that at your last Tuesday's meeting, June 22nd, Mr. Alexander Hupplesburg addressed your meeting and said that 'he voiced the sentiment of the majority of residents in that locality in protesting against the erection of a sign by James L. Reynolds at the Park entrance, advertising the Bonnie Brae Inn.'  The speaker stated that 'the residents of the Park didn't want his sign in the park.'  With the permission from Mr. Flanigan, the owner of the lot adjacent to that pole, I stand in the position of that owner and his rights are my rights.

As to the truth of the statement as made by Mr. Hupplesberg, regarding the sentiments of the majority of residents of Sycamore Park, I submit a verified copy of a petition, dated June 25th, 1909, directed to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of New Rochelle in which 46 of the present residents of Sycamore Park petition your honorable Board to grant me the privilege of that sign at that place and I state further that there are but 50 occupied houses in the park.  In the 46 names that I submit, only in two cases I believe are there two families from one house.  I would further add that two or three that have not signed, I am satisfied are not opposed to the sign, but decline to sign for other reasons.

I trust your honorable Board will look over the names of signers and the standing of same in the community and grant my request for this sign.

Yours truly,

JAMES L. REYNOLDS.
-----

June 25, 1909.

To the Honorable Mayor and Common Council, City of New Rochelle, N. Y.

Gentlemen -- I, the undersigned, hereby request permission to place an electric sign on the pole at the entrance to Sycamore Park.  Same will not interfere with sidewalks in any way.

Yours truly, 

JAMES L. REYNOLDS.
-----

Letter Giving Consent of Park Residents to the Sign.

New Rochelle, N. Y., June 25, 1909.

To the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, City of New Rochelle, N. Y.

Gentlemen -- We, the undersigned, all either owners or tenants of houses in Sycamore Park, New Rochelle, consent that James L. Reynolds, owner of the Bonnie Brae property opposite Sycamore Park, be given the privilege to have an electric light sing on the electric light pole just west of the entrance of Sycamore Park in front of Mr. Flanigan's lot.  The sign to be about the same kind and sign as the one that was there last summer which read, 'Bonnie Brae Inn' and had a finger on same pointing toward the Inn.

Yours truly,

J. W. Russell, Jno. P. Bugden, M. C. Dreshfield, E. Kopff, Donald C. Brown, Elmer Doolittle, Samuel B. Rhodes, Andrew Larson, L. Hugle, F. G. Howard, Geo. H. Kuchler, C. T. Kuchler, William F. Hoffkins, George DeV. Clark, Elizabeth Chapman, E. J. Shaughnessy, A. H. Folger, Arthur N. Hosking, F. Schmid, Louise Rechen, Amy Connelly, H. D. Wallen, George Bavier, John J. Nesbit, J. G. Sherman, Jr., M. J. Luby, C. A. Sullivan, Gustave Eckstein, G. F. Hogenauer, Maria Victory, Rose M. Gillen, Henry Koch, George Grab, Jr., Frank E. Adams, R. Johnson, Maud A. Doty, Benjamin Hubbell, Agnes Beecher, John Hawley, John Kenyon, L. Lieberson, G. Eldred, Clarence Kelley, John Grossmann, Walter C. Tindell, Alfred C. Estes.

Certified to by James L. Reynolds, County of Westchester, ss.

On this 29th day of Juen, 1909, before me personally came James L. Reynolds, who hereby certifies that this is a correct copy of the original petition in his possession. 

William F. Hoffkins, Notary Public, Westchester County, N. Y."

Source:  CONTROVERSY OVER A SIGN -- James L. Reynolds and Sycamore Parkites Engage in a Talkfest, New Rochelle Pioneer, Jul. 3, 1909, Vol. 51, No. 14, p. 2, col. 3.  

"DEAD FROM PIMPLE SCRATCH.
-----
James L. Reynolds, New Rochelle Merchant, Contracted Septic Pneumonia.

James Lyon Reynolds, for years a prominent merchant in New Rochelle, died there yesterday of septic pneumonia as the result of scratching a pimple last Saturday.  Mr. Reynolds was 55 years old.  On Saturday he felt a pimple behind his left ear and scratched it.  It became infected and Sunday he called a physician, who lanced it on Monday.  A few hours after the operation pneumonia developed caused by blood poisoning.

Mr. Reynolds was a native of Stanwich, Conn.  In 1878 he established meat and provision markets in Mount Vernon and later started branches in New Rochelle and White Plains.  Bonnie Brae, his residence on Main Street, New Rochelle, was one of the handsomest in Westchester County.  Soon after the death of his first wife he gave up the house and remodeled it for a hotel, which is known as Bonnie Brae Inn.  He owned a large amount of property in New Rochelle.

Mr. Reynolds is survived by a widow, one son, Herbert Reynolds, and a daughter, Mrs. Andrew C. Scott of New Rochelle."

Source:  DEAD FROM PIMPLE SCRATCH -- James L. Reynolds, New Rochelle Merchant, Contracted Septic Pneumonia, N.Y. Times, Jul. 27, 1911, p. 11, col. 6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

"NEW YORK CULLINGS . . . 

New Rochelle. -- After being awakened by his mongrel dog 'Mutt,' who dashed through flames to his aid, James Considine escaped from a second-story window of Bonnie Brae Inn, New Rochelle, and later rescued two maids and three male employees.  The inn was completely destroyed by a fire which is believed to have been of incendiary origin.  It was leased by the Considine brothers, who formerly ran the Hotel Metropole in New York, and was one of the best known road houses between New York and New Haven."

Source:  NEW YORK CULLINGS, Portville Review [Portville, NY], Nov. 28, 1912, Vol V, No. 36, p. 3, col. 4.  

"SAVED BY DOG, HE SAVES FIVE.
-----
Brother of Geo. Considine Awakened by Mutt in Burning Inn.

NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y., Nov. 18. -- After being rescued by his dog Mutt who dashed through flames to his aid, James Considine leaped from a second story window of Bonnie Brae Inn in New Rochelle early to-day and rescued two maids and three male employees.

Considine was burned about the face and hands and his dog was badly singed.  The inn was destroyed.

Chief Ross believes the fire was incendiary and he is investigating.  

James Considine is a brother of George Considine, who formerly ran the Hotel [remainder illegible]."

Source:  SAVED BY DOG, HE SAVES FIVE -- Brother of Geo. Considine Awakened by Mutt in Burning Inn, The Sun [NY, NY], Dec. 19, 1912, p. 6, col. 4.  

"FINDINGS ARE MADE PUBLIC IN ACTION IN REYNOLDS ESTATE
-----
Are Denied Commissions by Referee -- Surcharges Are Imposed.
-----

The opinion recently filed with Surrogate Sawyer by Clifford Couch, referee in the judicial settlement of the account of proceedings of Eleanora Reynolds as administratrix and Paul R. Cutbill as administrator of the estate of James L. Reynolds, is of great interest to many Mount Vernon people having claims against the estate.  In this opinion the referee gives a history of the case as follows:

'James L. Reynolds died, intestate, July 26, 1911, leaving him surviving his widow, Eleanore Reynolds, and his children and only heirs-at-law and next of kin Jennie C. Scott and Herbert L. Reynolds.  July 31, 1911, letters of administration upon his personal estate were issued by the surrogate of Westchester county to Eleanora Reynolds, widow, and Paul R. Cutbill, who had been associated in business with decedent for several years as buyer and general manager of his several stores.

'Mr. Reynolds at the time of his death was a retail merchant having four stores, one at Mount Vernon, one at New Rochelle, and two at White Plains.  He also conducted a hotel or inn and nursery and poultry farm in New Rochelle and Pelham known as the 'Bonnie Brae Inn.'

'The inventory of his estate filed with the surrogate shows that he left personal property aggregating $47,365.03, not including his interest in the estate of Georgianna Reynolds, his first wife, who died in 1905.  He owed to his general creditors, exclusive of an annuity in lieu of dower to his widow, $42,275.82.  He owned many parcels of real estate, all of which were incumbered by mortgages.

'In an affidavit, which was submitted to the surrogate on October 27, 1911, made by Jennie C. Scott and Herbert L. Reynolds, the real property of which decedent died seized is described, together with their opinion of value, amount of incumbrance, and the estimated value of the decedent's equity therein.

'By it, it appears that they stated the total value of real estate to be $373,4000 [sic], mortgages $138,750, leaving an apparent equity of $234,650.  After the death of decedent, Mr. Cutbill, besides being administrator, was made manager of the markets continued by the administrators, at a salary fixed by them.

'At the beginning of the administration of the estate the situation appeared to be as follows:  Amount of inventory of personal property, $47,365.04; estimated value of equity in real property, $234,650; total value, $283,015.03.  Amount owing to general creditors, $42,275.82.

'Five and a half years have elapsed since the appointment of the administrators and this is their first judicial accounting.  The general creditors have been paid a fifty per cent dividend upon their original claims, amounting to $22,566.52.  During the administration period foreclosure proceedings have been instituted by mortgages and deficiency judgments entered amounting to $42,951.44.

'The administrators state in their account that they have a balance of $27,112.78 in their hands out of which they claim should be paid their commissions, the expenses of this accounting, and that the balance should be apportioned between the general creditors and foreclosure deficiency judgment creditors.

'The deficiency judgment creditors are the chief contestants upon this accounting.  The administrators in the proceedings to sell the real estate of the decedent to pay debts, realized the sum of $11,635.38, according to their account.  The administrators should have known who the general creditors were and the amounts owing to each one six months after decedent's death, which was in July, 1911, or at least by January, 1912.  They should have given some consideration to decedent's real property in view of the fact of his owning so many parcels, and ascertained the amount of the mortgages, taxes, interest, etc.

'The children of decedent have collected the income of all of the decedent's real property, and converted it to their own use, and they claim on this accounting that they paid the interest upon the mortgages and the taxes upon the property which they assert is in excess of what they received, which they ask should be paid from this estate.  It also appears that they collected the income of the interest of the decedent in the estate of Georgianna Reynolds, the first wife of James L. Reynolds.

'There is no charge against the administrators of personal misconduct or dishonesty, but the objections raised are based upon what the contestants allege as gross negligence in the administration of the estate.'

The referee here declares that it is the duty of administrators to collect the assets of the estate for the benefit of the creditors as a 'discreet business man would in his own business,' and 'if they do not and loss results, they become personally responsible to the parties interested.'  He then takes up the various objections by the creditors to the accounting, giving a decision in each of them.  He declared that the 'law is well settled that administrators may not continue the business of an estate and if they do so and a loss occurs, such loss is that of the administrators personally and not of the estate.'  The referee makes surcharges against the administrators which are considered sufficient to pay the other 50 per cent. owing the creditors and then he denies the claim of the administrators for commissions.  In concluding he states:

'No one can read the testimony without being impressed with the fact that the administrators have been grossly negligent and careless, and indifferent as to the interests of the creditors in the management of this estate.  They have acted with great laxity and altho there has been no personal misconduct and no intimation of improper motive, except that they seem to have acted more in the interest of the heirs than the creditors, yet they certainly have not exercised the diligence and attention that discreet business people would use in their own business; and because in certain matters of the estate they have been represented by attorneys, does not relieve them from the administrative duties which they are presumed and bound to know.  My conclusion is that they should be denied commissions.'"

Source:  FINDINGS ARE MADE PUBLIC IN ACTION IN REYNOLDS ESTATE -- Are Denied Commissions by Referee -- Surcharges Are Imposed, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], May 31, 1917, p. 8, cols. 1-4.  

"SUBURBAN TRANSACTIONS.

Harris B. Fisher sold to the Pelham Leasing Corporation the acreage known as 'Bonnie Brae' in the Boston Post road, partly in the village of Pelham Manor and New Rochelle.  The corporation acquired the property for the Pelham Golf and Country Club, recently organized, and will shortly exercise its options on the remainder of the tract necessary for the links. . . ."

Source:  SUBURBAN TRANSACTIONS, The Sun and New York Herald, Apr. 15, 1920, p. 20, col. 6.  

"New Country Club For Pelham Manor
-----
Bonnie Brae Property To Be Site of Golf Course and House of Pelham Golf Club

Harris B. Fisher sold to the Pelham Leasing Corporation the acreage known as Bonnie Brae, on the Boston Post Road, lying partly in the village of Pelham Manor and New Rochelle.  The corporation has acquired the property for the Pelham Golf and Country Club, recently organized, and will shortly exercise its options on the remainder of the tract necessary for the links."

Source:  New Country Club For Pelham Manor -- Bonnie Brae Property To Be Site of Golf Course and House of Pelham Golf Club, N.Y. Tribune, Apr. 15, 1920, p. 23, col. 3.  

"Pelham Club Buys Tract of 86 Acres To Complete Links
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$600,000 Involved in Project for Development of Eighteen-Hole Course at Town and Country Club
-----

Through the acquisition of an additional eighty-six acres the Pelham Country Club will have one of the finest eighteen hole golf courses in Westchester.  The property was bought yesterday by the Pelham Leasing Corporation, which is the holding company of the club, through Harris D. Fisher, from the Witherbee Real Estate and Development Company, Mrs. Robert C. Black and the Edgar estate.

Several weeks ago the company acquired through Mr. Fisher the Bonnie Brae property on the Boston Post Road, once the site of a well known house.  The tract contains twenty-two acres.  The clubhouse and grounds adjoin this property on the south.  It has been owned on a bonding plan for several years.

These two parcels and the eighty-six acres just acquired will give the golf course a tract of 114 acres, which will be developed by Devereaux Emmet [sic], golf course architect.

A feature of this links will be an elevation known as Mount Tom.  From it a good view of the country is to be had.  The tee for the sixteenth hole will be located there.

Entire project will cost about $600,000.  The organization will have a limited membership of 300."

Source:  Pelham Club Buys Tract of 86 Acres To Complete Links -- $600,000 Involved in Project for Development of Eighteen-Hole Course at Town and Country Club, N.Y. Tribune, May 18, 1920, p. 23, col. 3.  

"$600,000 Golf Course for Pelham Country Club
-----

The Pelham Leasing Company purchased a tract of sixty acres belonging to the Weatherbee [sic] Real Estate and Improvement Company and Mrs. Robert T. [sic] Black; also a tract of twenty-six acres from the Edgar estate, through Harris B. Fisher.  These two properties, incluuding the 'Bonnie Brae,' a plot of some twenty-two acres already sold to the same organization, together with the acquisition of the club house and grounds of the Pelham Country Club, will give the new club an area of 114 acres.  

Devereaux Emmett has been secured as golf architect, and work on the course has already been started.  It is anticipated to have the grounds ready for play in June, 1921."

Source:  $600,000 Golf Course for Pelham Country Club, The Evening Telegram [NY, NY], May 18, 1920, p. 6, col. 2.  

"Plan for Golf Course Started 

In the year 1919, the late Mont D. Rogers conceived the idea of converting the Country Club into a Golf Club. Mr. Rogers had courage and enthusiasm that bubbled like a spring. He was ably assisted by the late Edmund E. Sinclair, who acted as 'angel' for some prospective members who could not afford the entrance fee, which meant becoming a stockholder in Pelham Leasing Corporation. 

Since the golf course could not be easily built without funds, a plan was devised by the late Theodore M. Hill which turned out to be practicable. This called for 200 persons to pay $2,000 each, entitling them to twenty shares of stock in the new organized Pelham Leasing Corporation, the holding company for the Pelham Country Club. 

Options were taken on the property which was owned by members of the Black family, the Witherbee, the Edgar and the Reynold estates. The latter include Bonnie Brae, a roadhouse situated on the Boston Post Road, near the site of the present first green. It so happened that the options were for fairly long periods of time, except the option on Bonnie Brae. 

Bonnie Brae Proved an Obstacle 

This option was fast expiring, and on a certain day (I am afraid it was a Sunday), twenty Pelhamites met at the clubhouse, and were advised that the Bonnie Brae option expired within 24 hours. Another would-be purchaser had loomed on the horizon and was ready to take over the property at a price in excess of our option figure. Without this tract of land, the golf course could not have been constructed. 

When the situation was explained, we all sat and looked at each other bewildered -- until Elmore F. Higgins, took out his check book and wrote a check for $250, and 19 others followed suit. Our options were exercised and we were safe in starting the Pelham Country Club golf course."

Source:  The Pelham Country Club, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 14, 1960, p. 7, col. 1 (reprinting article from The Pelham Sun published on Aug. 4, 1954).

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