The Civil War Military Service of Cortlandt W. Starr, Pelham Manor Resident, of Black, Starr & Frost Fame

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Cortlandt Way Starr was one of the principal partners of famed Fifth Avenue jeweler Black, Starr & Frost during the latter part of the 19th Century.  Starr lived in Pelham Manor where his partner, Robert C. Black, also lived.  Various members of the Black family who lived in Pelham Manor were principals in Black, Starr & Frost for many years. 

I have written about this early, notable Pelham Manor resident before.  See, e.g.:

Fri., May 05, 2017:  Pelham Manor's Cortlandt W. Starr of Famed Jeweler Black, Starr & Frost.

Tue., Aug. 05, 2014:  Obituaries of Cortlandt W. Starr of Pelham Manor, a Principal of Jewelry House Black Starr & Frost. 

Thu., Feb. 09, 2006:  Cortlandt W. Starr of Black Starr & Frost.

Cortlandt W. Starr, known by his friends as "Colonel" and also as "Cort," became a notable Pelham Manor resident and an important leader within the Pelham Manor Protective Club, a predecessor to village government in Pelham Manor.  He served as a Vestryman of Christ Church in Pelham Manor and was serving in that capacity at the time of his death in 1888.  He also was elected as a member of the Pelham Manor Protective Club on November 29, 1884.  He was elected to the Executive Committee of the Club at the annual meeting held on January 1, 1886 and was a member of the Executive Committee at the time of his death in 1888.

Starr had brief service on behalf of the Union during the Civil War before he moved to Pelham Manor.  Today's Historic Pelham Blog article transcribes the text of a brief book entry that describes Starr's brief military service as well as his service after the war as a member of a local veterans' organization.  The text is followed by a citation and link to its source.

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"LIEUT. CORTLANDT W. STARR,
COMPANY I, 37TH REGIMENT.
-----

COMFORT STARR, the American ancestor of the family came from Ashford, County of Kent, England, and settled at Duxbury, Mass., about 1634.  His descendants scattered through different parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, some of whom became quite prominent in the early history of Middlesex and New London Counties, Conn.  One of these was among the slain at the Groton massacre.  The subject of this sketch is descended from the New London branch.

Cortlandt W. Starr, son of Marcus A. Starr and Elizabeth S. Griffing, was born in New London, Conn., February 17, 1833.  He removed with his parents in infancy to Sag Harbor, L. I.  After completing his studies in the common branches of education he was sent to Trinity school, New York, from which he was graduated in 1849.

After leaving school he entered the well known jewelry house of Ball, Black & Co., and during his twenty-five years of service with that firm he filled every position from errand boy to cashier.  In 1874 Ball, Black & Co., went out of business, and a new co-partnership was formed under the name of Black, Starr & Frost.  The reputation of the old firm has been fully sustained by the new.

Mr. Starr commenced his military service in 1861.  He with a number of others formed a private company, and were thoroughly instructed in military tactics for upwards of a year.  On October 28, 1862, Mr. Starr joined Company I, which was then being formed as a part of the 37th Regiment.  Owing to his previous knowledge and experience he was made Orderly Sergeant within six months after he joined.  In July, 1863, he was mustered into the U. S. service with his regiment for thirty days.  They went into camp at Harrisburg, where they remained about a week.

On June 28, the regiment started from camp in light marching order and were kept on the march for 225 miles.  On June 30, they had a skirmish at Sporting Hill.  On the morning of July 1, they marched into Carlisle, immediately after the enemy had evacuated it.  The rebels returned the same night and demanded the withdrawal of the Federal troops.  On their refusal the enemy shelled the place.  Mr. Starr, while in a kneeling position had his musket struck by a piece of shell which bent and partially shattered it.   The musket being on a line with his face doubtless saved his life.  He has carefully preserved this, which will doubtless be treasured by his children as an interesting relic of 'the late unpleasantness.'

After his return from the front, Mr. Starr remained on duty in New York, in the State service, for about thirty days.  On April 1, 1864, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant.  He was exceeding [sic] popular with his men, and on January 10, 1865, in token of their appreciation of his services the company presented him with an elegant sword duly inscribed.

The company was disbanded about 1867, and Mr. Starr was placed on the supernumerary list.  He was not one of those who joined the 71st after the disbanding of the 37th Regiment, but when the 71st Veteran Association altered its By-Laws, so as to admit members of the 37th, Mr. Starr was elected to membership.  He held the rank of Adjutant in the Association for 1883-84, and was again elected in 1886.

In 1868 he married Miss Lydia B., daughter of Samuel Cook, Esq., of New York city.  They have three children, viz., Georgia E., Fannie B., and Mary L."

Source:  "LIEUT. CORTLANDT W. STARR, COMPANY I, 37TH REGIMENT" in Whittemore, Henry, History of the Seventy-First Regiment N.G.S.N.Y.:  Including the History of the Veteran Association With Biographical Sketches of Members, pp. 220-21 (NY, NY:  W. McDonald & Co., 1886).  

Grave Marker of Cortlandt Way Starr in the Cedar Grove Cemetery,

New London, New London County, Connecticut (Section 1).

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Visit to the Wrong House Uncovered Massive Pelham Manor Bootlegging During Prohibition

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Everything was set.  It was nearly 2:00 a.m. in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, August 6, 1927.  Philip Oldwell of the Bronx and his two compatriots, Frank Reilly and Arthur Schiller of New York City were slowly cruising the streets of Pelham Manor in a Chrysler roadster.  They were searching in the dark for 1318 Roosevelt Avenue.  

The new tenant who had rented 1318 Roosevelt Avenue only two months before, 31-year-old Harold L. Peterson was ready for the three men.  He had placed a signal light in a front window of the house for the three men to see.

In the darkness, the three men in their Chrysler roadster weren't certain if they were on Roosevelt Avenue or connecting Bolton Road.  They had a good description of the home, however, and soon found what they were looking for.  The three pulled up to the house and banged on the door.

A sleepy and annoyed Pelhamite opened his front door and was a bit startled to see three visitors on his doorstep.  One stepped forward and, "in a guarded whisper," asked "Got the stuff?"  According to one account:

"Dumbfounded, the householder asked, 'What stuff'?

'Quit your kiddin',' the leader of the trio responded.  'We're here for it.  Let's have it.'"

It took quite a while before the homeowner convinced the bumbling visitors that they had the wrong house.  Indeed, it was only "after much argument" that the three men departed.  Surprisingly, having awakened the Pelhamite and having aroused his suspicions, the three inept thugs simply continued their search for 1318 Roosevelt Avenue which they shortly found.

Of course, the homeowner they had awakened called the Pelham Manor police and reported the encounter.  According to The Pelham Sun:

"Sergeant McCaffrey and Patrolman Karp were detailed to investigate.  They searched the neighborhood in question, and found the Chrysler machine parked in the driveway at Peterson's house.  They watched and saw the men bringing cases out of the house and storing them in the car.  Waiting until the machine was loaded and the trio had prepared to drive away the officers stopped the car.  A search revealed a bottle half filled with whisky in a pocket of the machine.  Oldwell was ordered to drive to police headquarters as McCaffrey placed the trio under arrest. At police headquarters the machine was searched and 24 bottles of Creme de Menthe and 12 bottles of Benedictine were found.  The trio were locked up in the cells."

The three men were put into a holding cell at police headquarters that night.  Later in the night, as the police opened the cell to release another prisoner on bail, the three men tried to overpower the cops and escape.  A ten-minute melee ensued.  It was not until the police pulled out their clubs that they were able to take control of the situation.  In addition to bootlegging charges, charges for assault were added.

With plenty of evidence of wrongdoing, later that afternoon Chief of Police Philip Gargan accompanied Federal Prohibition officers to 1318 Roosevelt Avenue where they found Harold L. Peterson still on the premises.  The officers searched the home.  According to the same newspaper account:

"The place was a veritable bottling works.  Champagne, Benedictine, Creme de Menthe, and a large assortment of wines and cordials were found in the hosue, as well as an extensive stock of labels, bottles, corks, and bottling apparatus.  Peterson was affable to the officers.  He showed them about the place, explained the operation of the apparatus and submitted to arrest without protest.  The Federal authorities agreed to his release on his own recognizance.  He appeared before Commissioner O'Neill Tuesday and was released under $500 bail."
Pelham, once again, had prevailed in its efforts to help enforce Prohibition.  

 

1318 Roosevelt Avenue Where the Illegal Liquor Bottling Plant

Was Discovered on Saturday, August 6, 1927.  Source:  Google

Maps.  NOTE:  Click on Link to Enlarge.

 

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"BOOTLEGGERS' MISTAKE LEADS TO DISCOVERY OF $5,000 LIQUOR STOCK AND BOTTLING PLANT IN MANOR
-----
Four Prisoners Taken After Pelham Manor Resident Warns Police of Visit of Bootleggers.  Trio Makes Bold Attempt to Break Jail.  House of Mystery Proves Liquor Storehouse
-----

A midnight visit to the wrong house, a few whispered words and a warning to the police  led four bootleggers into cells at Pelham Manor police headquarters Saturday, and disclosed a $5,000 stock of illicit liquor and a complete bottling plant in the heart of the residential  district of Pelham Manor.  Harold L. Peterson, 31, a salesman, mysterious tenant of No. 1318 Roosevelt avenue; Philip M. Oldwell, 33, of No. 2337 Andrew avenue, Bronx; Frank Reilly, 32, of No. 150 Sherman avenue, New York City, and Arthur Schiller, 23, of the same address, are held in $500 bail each on charges of violation of the Volstead Act.  The Pelham Manor police are responsible for the arrest of the latter three.  Chief Gargan and operatives of the office of Prohibition Enforcement Director Maurice Campbell took Peterson and discovered the bootlegging plant.

Including the three men taken in the raid on Newman's Drug Store, two days previous, a total of seven bootleggers were arrested in the same neighborhood within three days.  

After being incarcerated in the Pelham Manor lockup, Reilly, Schiller and Oldwell made a bold attempt to escape.  Sgt. James McCaffrey and Patrolman Stanley Karp battled with the prisoners in the cell room for ten minutes before they were finally returned behind bars.  The prisoners faced additional charges of assault and were fined $50 each, when taken before Judge Rice on Saturday afternoon.

Although the residence rented by Peterson at No. 1318 Roosevelt avenue had been under police surveillance for the last two months the quartet can blame their downfall on the mistake made by Oldwell, Reilly and Schiller, who came to Pelham Manor shortly after two o'clock in order to get liquor from Peterson.  Having a description of the house and the locality and being instructed to watch for a signal light in a window, the trio mistook a residence on Bolton road for the home where they were to get the liquor.  Believing they were on the right street they stopped their machine, a Chrysler roadster, outside of a house that tallied with their description and went to the door.

Awakened from his sleep, the householder was surprised to find three visitors, one of whom in a guarded whisper, asked 'Got the stuff'?

Dumbfounded, the householder asked, 'What stuff'?

'Quit your kiddin',' the leader of the trio responded.  'We're here for it.  Let's have it.'

It was some time before the householder could satisfy the visitors that they had the wrong house.  Convinced, after much argument, they departed.

Being suspicious of his callers the householder immediately notified Pelham Manor police headquarters.  Sergeant McCaffrey and Patrolman Karp were detailed to investigate.  They searched the neighborhood in question, and found the Chrysler machine parked in the driveway at Peterson's house.  They watched and saw the men bringing cases out of the house and storing them in the car.  Waiting until the machine was loaded and the trio had prepared to drive away the officers stopped the car.  A search revealed a bottle half filled with whisky in a pocket of the machine.  Oldwell was ordered to drive to police headquarters as McCaffrey placed the trio under arrest.

At police headquarters the machine was searched and 24 bottles of Creme de Menthe and 12 bottles of Benedictine were found.  The trio were locked up in the cells.

A short while later McCaffrey and Karp opened the cell door to release a prisoner on bail.  The trio made a break for liberty and a free for all ensued.  The officers were forced to use their clubs in subduing their prisoners.

Saturday morning the trio appeared before Judge Charles E. Rice and were held for the Prohibition Commissioner.  They paid fines of $50 each on disorderly conduct charges as a result of their attack on the officers in their attempted jail break.

Chief of Police Philip Gargan in questioning the trio obtained enough evidence on Peterson to warrant an investigation; in company with Federal Prohibition officers he searched the residence Saturday afternoon.  

The place was a veritable bottling works.  Champagne, Benedictine, Creme de Menthe, and a large assortment of wines and cordials were found in the hosue, as well as an extensive stock of labels, bottles, corks, and bottling apparatus.  Peterson was affable to the officers.  He showed them about the place, explained the operation of the apparatus and submitted to arrest without protest.  The Federal authorities agreed to his release on his own recognizance.  He appeared before Commissioner O'Neill Tuesday and was released under $500 bail.

Little activity has been noticed about the house since it was rented by Peterson two months ago.  Chief of Police Gargan aroused by the veil of mystery woven around the apparently deserted house had instructed the officers of the department to keep a close vigil.  Peterson apparently kept his activities well covered.  The illicit liquor stock was reported to be of the best imported brands, running mostly to wines and liqueurs.

The Federal authorities removed the liquor early this week."

Source:   BOOTLEGGERS' MISTAKE LEADS TO DISCOVERY OF $5,000 LIQUOR STOCK AND BOTTLING PLANT IN MANOR -- Four Prisoners Taken After Pelham Manor Resident Warns Police of Visit of Bootleggers.  Trio Makes Bold Attempt to Break Jail.  House of Mystery Proves Liquor Storehouse, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 12, 1927, Vol. 18, No. 25, p. 3, cols. 1-3.

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I have written extensively about Pelham's struggles with Prohibition and the enforcement of the unpopular laws that it spawned. See: 

Wed., Jan. 03, 2018:  The Massive Illegal Still Discovered at 137 Corlies Avenue During Prohibition in 1932.

Wed., Jun. 21, 2017:  The Infamous Ash Tree Inn of Pelham Manor and its Prohibition Violations During the 1920s.

Thu., Feb. 02, 2017:  Bootleggers Began to Feel the Heat in Pelham in 1922.

Mon., Dec. 26, 2016:  Pelham Stood Alone in Westchester When It Voted to Go Dry in 1896. 

Mon., Aug. 22, 2016:  Pelham, It Seems, Became a Hotbed of Bootlegging and Illegal Stills During Prohibition.

Mon., Jul. 06, 2015:  Police Raided a Massive 300-Gallon Illegal Liquor Still on Corlies Avenue in 1932.  

Fri., Jun. 19, 2015:  More Liquor Raids in Pelham During Prohibition in the 1920s.

Wed., Jun. 17, 2015:   Prohibition Rum-Runners Delivering A Boatload of Booze Were Foiled in Pelham in 1925.

Fri., Apr. 24, 2015:  The North Pelham "Speakeasy Section" Created Quite a Stir During Prohibition.

Tue., Nov. 18, 2014:  More Bootleggers and Speakeasies Raided in Pelham in 1929 During Prohibition.
Fri., May 23, 2014:  How Dry I Am -- Early Prohibition Efforts Succeed in Pelham in 1896.

Thu., Apr. 03, 2014:  The Prohibition Era in Pelham:  Another Speakeasy Raided.

Tue., Feb. 18, 2014:  Pelham Speakeasies and Moonshiners - Prohibition in Pelham: The Feds Raid the Moreau.

Thu., Feb. 07, 2008:  Village Elections in Pelham in 1900 - New York Athletic Club Members Campaign Against the Prohibition Ticket in Pelham Manor.

Thu., Jan. 12, 2006:  The Beer Battle of 1933.

Thu., Aug. 11, 2005:  How Dry I Am: Pelham Goes Dry in the 1890s and Travers Island Is At the Center of a Storm. 

Bell, Blake A., The Prohibition Era in Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 25, June 18, 2004, p. 12, col. 2.

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Construction of the First Clubhouse of the Manor Club in 1887 and 1888

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Currently among the many, many eBay auction offerings related to the history of Pelham is a lovely postcard entitled "Manor Club, Pelham Manor, N. Y."  It depicts the original clubhouse of the Manor Club, known as the "Manor House," built in 1887-1888 (see image below).  The cornerstone of the structure was laid on Thanksgiving Day, 1887 (November 24, 1887).  Construction was completed and the Manor House opened in June, 1888.  The structure stood where today's clubhouse of the Manor Club stands.

Postcard View of the "Manor House," the Original Clubhouse of the

Manor Club Built on the Site of Today's Clubhouse in 1887-1888.

Postcard is Postmarked July 5, 1917.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Detail from 1899 Map Published by John F. Fairchild Showing

Location of the Original "Manor House" of the Manor Club.  Red

Arrow Shows View of Photographer Who Created the Image

of the Manor House on the Postcard Immediately Above.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

The precise origins of the Manor Club, unfortunately, are unknown. Some believe that in 1878, only five years after the Pelham Manor and Huguenot Heights Association formed to develop the area that came to be known as Pelham Manor, a few local residents began gathering socially in local homes. This group, with no organizational structure, is believed to have evolved into the Manor Club.

On January 10, 1882, “the greater part of the residents” of Pelham Manor gathered at the home of Mr. E.E. Hitchcock. See The Manor Club, THE HISTORY OF THE MANOR CLUB, p. 6 (Pelham Manor, NY: 1973). Their purpose was to “reorganize” the Manor Club which, for some unknown reason, “had formally been disbanded at a meeting held December 9, 1881” according to the minutes of the January 10 meeting.  Id.  A history of the club published in 1973 says that during the “reorganizational” meeting: “a constitution and by-laws were drawn up and unanimously adopted. Mr. John H. Dey, temporary chairman of the meeting, appointed a committee to nominate the officers of the new club and said officers were elected by acclamation.  This new constitution provided that the offices of vice president and treasurer must be filled by ladies.”  Id. 

Early meeting minutes suggest that the club held monthly meetings in various members’ homes.  Entertainment included recitations, singing and – even as early as 1882 – simple plays such as “a serio-comic representation of Oscar Wilde’s Dream”.  Id.

A previous Historic Pelham article detailed how the original clubhouse depicted in the postcard view set forth above came to be:

"There is a fascinating story about the origins of the Manor Club’s first clubhouse.  According to William Barnett, a member of the original Club and an early Club historian, it seems that Pelham Manor residents were unhappy with their lack of influence in local school affairs.  They decided to acquire lands, erect a clubhouse and give all members a "freehold interest" in order to qualify all members (including women) to vote as property owners during school elections. 

It appears that residents of Pelhamville (the area north of the New Haven line) dominated school affairs.  In the fall of 1882, residents of Pelham Manor supported one of their own, Mr. George H. Reynolds, as a candidate for the school board. At about this time, it was “suggested that lands be purchased under the auspices of the Club and freehold interest conveyed therein to each member, in this way qualifying all members (including the ladies) to vote at school elections.”  Id., p. 7. 

In effect, Pelham Manor residents had formed a plan to stuff the ballot box in school elections.  To implement that plan, however, they needed a large number of landowners. Common ownership of land set aside for a new clubhouse seemed to be the perfect solution.  According to a history of the Club prepared by Mrs. Earle E. Bradway: 

'In May 1883 the Club voted to purchase, for three hundred dollars, two lots of land on the Esplanade, numbers 161 and 162.  In order to effectuate the object of the purchase, it was desirable that an incorporate institution should first take title to the land from Mrs. [Robert C.] Black and then convey undivided interests therein to the voters.  Accordingly, Mr. Robert C. Black, Mr. John H. Dey, Mr. W.R. Lamberton, Mr. George H. Reynolds and Mr. G. Osmar Reynolds signed and filed articles of association under the provisions of an Act of the Legislature passed in 1875, and on the 28th day of May 1883 became incorporated under the name of the Manor Club.  This incorporated club in June 1883 took title to the land referred to and carried out the intention of the purchase by conveying life interests to the several members of the old Manor Club.'  Id.

At a meeting of the club held on June 7, 1883, members voted to build a permanent clubhouse. Mrs. Robert C. Black, whose family founded the settlement and owned large swaths of land in the area, donated a lot on the Esplanade as the site for the new clubhouse. 

During the summer of 1887, the Club raised $10,000 by subscription to fund construction of the new clubhouse. Club members selected Pelham resident F. Carles Merry as the architect. He designed a lovely shingle-style building with a large auditorium in the center and a deep “piazza” (porch) that surrounded nearly the entire building."

The day after the cornerstone laying ceremony on Thanksgiving that year, a local newspaper reported as follows:

 "The Manor Club of Pelham Manor, in Westchester County, is erecting a very picturesque and substantial club-house to be called the Manor House, from plans furnished by Mr. F. Carles Merry.  The material is the rough stone found upon the place, and it has been treated in a simple but very effective manner.  The Club subscribed $10,000 for building purposes during the summer, and broke ground this fall.  Yesterday the corner-stone was laid by Mrs. Robert C. Black with appropriate ceremonies."

The club completed construction of the "Manor House" over the next few months and opened it to members in June, 1888.  

Only a few weeks after the Manor House opened in June 1888, another local newspaper reported:

"An attractive, cozey [sic] and popular resort for Manorites and their friends is the Manor House, but quite recently opened by the Manor club.  It presents an appearance of ease and comfort well calculated to attract after a day spent in the busy metropolis over scorching pavements and within sizzling brick walls."

Little did anyone suspect that the Manor Club would still be going strong nearly 130 years later, in an even larger and more impressive clubhouse built to replace the first one.

Manor Club Advertisement From Local Newspaper Published Only

a Few Months After the Original "Manor House" of the Club Opened

in 1888.  Source:  THE MANOR CLUB, AMATEUR THEATRICALS

[Advertisement], The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Nov. 2, 1888,

p. 2, col. 4.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

I have written about the original Manor Club clubhouse built in 1887-1888 on several previous occasions.  See:

Early History of the Manor Club, The Pelham Weekly, May 14, 2004, Vol. XIII, No. 20, p. 12, col. 2.

Tue., Dec. 13, 2005:  The Manor Club's First Clubhouse Built in 1887-1888. 

Wed., Dec. 28, 2005:  The Mystery of the "Manor Club Girl" That Set Pelham Tongues Wagging in 1913. 

Fri., Aug. 4, 2006:  Early Images of the Original and Current Clubhouse Structures of the Manor Club in the Village of Pelham Manor, New York. 

Mon., Feb. 15, 2010:  Early History of the Manor Club in the Village of Pelham Manor. 

Thu., Sep. 25, 2014:  The Manor Club's Celebration of its Golden Anniversary in 1932.

Mon., Feb. 08, 2016:  Laying of the Cornerstone of the First Manor Club Clubhouse on Thanksgiving Day in 1887.

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"New York.

A NEW CLUB-HOUSE AT PELHAM.

The Manor Club of Pelham Manor, in Westchester County, is erecting a very picturesque and substantial club-house to be called the Manor House, from plans furnished by Mr. F. Carles Merry.  The material is the rough stone found upon the place, and it has been treated in a simple but very effective manner.  The Club subscribed $10,000 for building purposes during the summer, and broke ground this fall.  Yesterday the corner-stone was laid by Mrs. Robert C. Black with appropriate ceremonies."

Source:  New York -- A NEW CLUB-HOUSE AT PELHAM, The Evening Post [NY, NY], Nov. 25, 1887, p. 3, col. 5.  

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND.

The Public School of Pelham Manor has lost the valuable services of Mr. E. B. Dumond who for the past six years has been its able principal.  Mr. Dumond's resignation takes effect September 1st.  He will be greatly missed as he has made a host of friends by his gentlemanly deportment and upright character.  He goes back to Fishkill where he taught for a period of twelve years previous to his coming to Pelham Manor.

The Trustees of School District No. 1, Pelham, have appointed a young lady Principal of the Pelham Manor School in place of Mr. Dumond.  The schools of this town will re-open September 4th.

Mr. W. E. Robinson of Pelham Manor has gone to Buffalo.  Mr. James M. Townsend, Jr., and family have left for New Haven.

A week from to-morrow the New York Athletic Club will have their annual swimming match from headquarters on 'Traver's' formerly 'Hunter's' Island.  September 23 they will have their annual regatta and games.  On Monday next, it is understood, the club will break ground for the new club house which is to cost sixty thousand dollars.  This will add another to the many fine club houses which already grace the north shore of Long Island Sound. 

Quite a lively school election is anticipated in the First District on the 28th.  Pelham Manor proposes to place a ticket in the field for Trustees.  There is some talk of dividing this district by setting either Pelhamville or Pelham Manor off by itself.  It is certainly a good suggestion; this having the entire main land of the town one school district should not be; it is too large a territory.

Mrs. A. S. Wilson of City Island died on Sunday last of pneumonia and was buried Tuesday.

Miss Annie Horton is putting up a handsome residence near Belden's.

Arrangements are making for Grace Church pic-nic which will be at Glen Island as heretofore.

An attractive, cozey [sic] and popular resort for Manorites and their friends is the Manor House, but quite recently opened by the Manor club.  It presents an appearance of ease and comfort well calculated to attract after a day spent in the busy metropolis over scorching pavements and within sizzling brick walls.

Miss Windsor, daughter of Rev. Windsor of Grace Church is going to give a lawn party to-morrow, Saturday evening, on the grounds of Mr. George W. Horton.  The revenue will be devoted to the church.

Fishermen are said to be having some fine sport these days taking blue-fish and weak-fish from LeRoy's Cove on the banks of which Mose Secord holds forth to fit one out with necessary tackle, bait, etc.  It is convenient to Barton [sic; should be Bartow], being but a short distance on the road to City Island.  Mose had a big clam bake on the Point, Wednesday, for the delectation of his patrons and friends.

An Electorama was given in Trinity M. E. Church, City Island, last night, by Mr. Elmer Poulson.  Some very fine views were exhibited.

Mr. E. W. Waterhouse has set an example that others would do well to emulate.  He has place in his grocery store what is known as the O. M. Whitman Patent Butter Cooler.  It is, without exception, the finest thing in the line of a refrigerator that we have seen.  Besides holding about 400 pounds of ice, this one is also calculated for three tubs or firkins of butter, besides a large quantity of small articles.  It is fitted with oval glass fronts for each firkin of butter which stand on revolving pedestals and when open there is no escape of cold air.  Should any of our enterprising Mount Vernon grocers read this, we advise them to take a look at the 'cooler.'

By the burning of the house occupied by Mr. Jacob Gruse on City Island, last week, that gentleman loses about $1,200.  His total loss was $1,700 and he had insurance for $600, but the Insurance Companies, we understand, claim about $75 salvage.  The report that two men called at Mr. Gruses' in the night for drink and were refused and that when he discovered his house on fire he saw two men running away, was untrue.  Mr. Gruse attributes the barking of his dog, which woke him, not to any noise made by persons outside, but to animal instinct, that there was danger.  The old German is very loud in praise of his dog to which he owes so much; a few minutes more and escape from the burning building might have been cut off unless, possibly, by hazarding a jump from windows.  The dog saved him and his family."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 17, 1888, Vol. XIX, No. 1,116, p. 3, col. 3.

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Delay in Completion of the Pelham Region's First Telephone Circuit in 1882

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Like so many other American inventions, the telephone changed life in the little Town of Pelham in the 19th Century.  Indeed, United States Patent No. 174,465 for "Telegraphy" was issued to A. G. Bell on March 7, 1876.  Within only a few short years, residents of Pelham began telephone installations throughout the region.

The telegraph, of course, pre-dated the telephone.  It was developed by Samuel Morse during the 1830s and 1840s.  Despite the earlier development of the telegraph, Pelham seems to have remained cut off from the rest of the world regarding electronic communications until June, 1878, when financier William Belden had a telegraph line installed by the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company to an office in his home on Belden's Point, City Island in the Town of Pelham.  The telegraph was manned by a private telegrapher employed by Mr. Belden.  See City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], May 31, 1878, Vol. IX, No. 454, p. 2, col. 5 (reporting that "Mr. Wm. Belden is having the A. & P. Telegraph wire extended as far as his house, and has an operator and an office of his own at his private residence.").  In 1882, the telegraph system was expanded when the Western Union Telegraph Company installed telegraph lines between Williamsbridge and City Island to connect with the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company.  See Fri., Nov. 27, 2009:  Telegraph Wires Connected Pelham to the Outside World in 1882.  The same year (1882), a telegraph office began operating in Pelham Manor daily (except Sundays) from 6:00 a.m. until 8:45 p.m. each day.  See Tue., Aug. 11, 2009:  News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882.

A Morse Telegraph from 1872-73 of the Type Likely

in Use at About the Time William Belden of City Island

Had a Telegraph Line Extended to His Residence There.

Source:  Wikimedia Commons. NOTE: Click to Enlarge.

I have written on numerous occasions of the histories of telegraph and telephone communications in the Town of Pelham.  See, e.g.:

Tue., Mar. 29, 2005:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor? 

Tue., Aug. 11, 2009:  News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882.

Fri., Nov. 27, 2009:  Telegraph Wires Connected Pelham to the Outside World in 1882.

Mon., Dec. 21, 2009:  More on What May Have Been the First Telephone Installed in Pelham. 

Mon., Mar. 24, 2014:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham? When and Where Was it Installed?

Mon., Mar. 02, 2015:  The Telegraph in Pelham: Pre-Telephone Communications with the Outside World.

Tue., May 03, 2016:  More on the Earliest Installations of Telephones in the Town of Pelham.

By 1882, it seems, Pelham and the entire region were clamoring for installation of telephone lines and telephones.  There was talk of the creation of a telephone circuit through installation of telephone poles and wires throughout the City Island, Pelham, New Rochelle, and Larchmont region with a central office ("general office") to be located in New Rochelle.  The concept was to have merchants and residents in the region who wished telephone service to pay "monthly dues" to fund installation of the poles and wires as well as creation of the telephone circuit.  

By late summer of 1882, however, it became clear that the initiative would not proceed that year.  Residents of the lovely summer resort community of Larchmont did not want "ungainly" telephone poles erected along their streets.  Instead, they wanted telephone wires to be laid underground.  Additionally, the entire summer resort was more seasonal than residential.  Because most in Larchmont at the time closed their resort homes for the winter and departed to other locations including New York City until the spring, Larchmont residents did not want to begin paying "monthly dues" until the following spring season when they would return to their vacation homes.

New Rochelle merchants who wanted phone service raised similar concerns.  They noted "now that the season is so far advanced, [they] would rather commence paying the monthly dues for the same in the spring."

Given such concerns, on August 26, 1882 the New Rochelle Pioneer reported that "telephone managers at present are not making arrangements to erect poles about New Rochelle, Larchmont, Pelham and City Island, with a general office at New Rochelle."  It also reported that "From the present outlook the telephone circuit will not be perfected before the winter sets in."

Pelham would have to wait a little longer before its residents could install the latest technology:  the telephone.

1884 Telephone, From a Newspaper

Advertisement Published that Year.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"The telephone managers at present are not making arrangements to erect poles about New Rochelle, Larchmont, Pelham and City Island, with a general office at New Rochelle.  The Larchmont people do not care to have the ungainly poles erected about their streets, and there is a strong possibility that the wires will be laid under ground.  This will delay the work until late in the fall, and by that time Larchmont will be deserted.  We understand that a number of the New Rochelle merchants, now that the season is so far advanced, would rather commence paying the monthly dues for the same in the spring.  From the present outlook the telephone circuit will not be perfected before the winter sets in."

Source:  [Untitled], New Rochelle Pioneer, Aug. 26, 1882, Vol. XXIII, No. 20, p. 3, col. 2.  

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John T. Brush of Pelham Manor, Owner of the Famed New York Giants Baseball Club

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The only part of the old Polo Grounds stadium that once stood in Coogan's Hollow in Upper Manhattan that still stands is a beautifully-ornate stairwell that leads from Edgecombe Avenue at the top of Coogan's Bluff down to Harlem River Driveway at about 158th Street.  The famed stairway opened in 1913.  At its base was a ticket booth that sold tickets to the baseball, football, and other sports events hosted in the stadium.  During sporting events (particularly New York Giants baseball games), fans who had no tickets for the game typically thronged the stairwell which offered a clear view of the field.  A damaged marker at the stairwell reads:  "THE JOHN T. BRUSH STAIRWAY PRESENTED BY THE NEW YORK GIANTS."

John T. Brush Stairway in a Recent Photograph.  Source:

"Polo Grounds" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited

Oct. 29, 2017).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Damaged John T. Brush Stairway Plaque in a Recent Photograph.

Source:  "Polo Grounds" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia

(Visited Oct. 29, 2017).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

John Tomlinson Brush (June 15, 1845 - November 26, 1912) was the owner of the New York Giants baseball team, a Major League Baseball franchise, from 1890 until his death.  He also was a leading force behind the crystallization of the rules that govern the modern World Series.  He was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame on its Roll of Honor in 1946.  At the time of his death in 1912, John T. Brush was a resident of Pelham Manor.  

New York Giants Owner and Pelham Manor Resident

John Tomlinson Brush in 1911.  Source:  Library of

Congress "George Grantham Bain Collection," Reproduction

No. LC-DIG-ggbain-09870 (visited Oct. 29, 2017).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Pelham Manor, it turns out, has a long and storied history with the New York Giants of Major League Baseball.  Indeed, one of the nation's biggest sports celebrities of the teens, 1920s, and 1930s lived and died in Pelham Manor:  Baseball Hall of Famer John McGraw who lived at various times at 915 Edgewood Avenue and 620 Ely Avenue.  Known as "Little Napoleon," McGraw was one of the greatest players of his day and became a Hall of Fame manager with the New York Giants.  He and his wife, Blanche, moved to Pelham in 1921 and remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1934.  Mourners clogged the streets of Pelham as his body lay "in-state" in his home at 620 Ely Avenue.  See John McGraw of Pelham Manor: Baseball Hall of Famer, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 28, July 16, 2004, p. 10, col. 1.  See also Wed., Oct. 08, 2014:  Only Known Motion Picture Footage of 1924 World Series Championship Game Found! 

John T. Brush was born June 15, 1845 in Clintonville, New York.  Orphaned as a youngster, he was raised by a grandfather.  He left for business college at seventeen, but enlisted in the First New York Artillery in 1863 during the Civil War. Brush became a successful clothier after the war.  He opened clothing stores in Troy, Lockport, and Albany, New York.  

In 1875, Brush moved to Indianapolis where he opened a successful department store.  As his wealth grew, he "became involved in local baseball as a means of promoting his store" and built a local ballpark in 1882.  In 1886, Brush bought the National League baseball franchise St. Louis Maroons and relocated the club to Indianapolis.  According to one account:  "When the Indianapolis team folded after the 1889 season, Brush was compensated with $67,000 and a share of the Giants franchise, along with a promise of the next available team; he quickly acquired the [Cincinnati] Reds club after its financial collapse" in 1890.  He kept the team in Cincinnati.  

Brush became increasingly involved with the New York Giants as a minority owner.  He joined with Giants majority owner Andrew Freedman to lure John McGraw ("Little Napoleon") away from from Baltimore to manage the Giants.  

In the early years of the 20th century, Freedman left the Giants and Brush took over as majority owner and team president, selling his interest in the Cincinnati Reds for $180,000 (about $5.67 million in today's dollars).  According to one biography of Brush:  "When the Giants won the 1904 NL pennant, Brush refused to allow the team to meet Boston's defending champions in the World Series due to his animosity toward Johnson; a permanent agreement between the leagues was eventually made after meeting some of Brush's conditions, and the Giants won the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics."

Beginning in the early 1890s, Brush became afflicted with "locomotor ataxia," also known as tabes dorsalis, a loss of coordination of movement, often (but not always) associated with a syphilitic infection of the spinal cord.  By the early 20th century he also suffered from rheumatism.  

Despite his tremendous success as owner of the New York Giants, Brush's health deteriorated in the first decade of the century.  By this time he had moved to Pelham Manor which was not far from the storied Polo Grounds where the Giants played their games.  (Research has not yet revealed the home in which he lived.)  Indeed, despite his illness, Brush oversaw a complete reconstruction of the Polo Grounds in 1911.

In 1912, the New York Giants and the Boston Red Sox advanced to the World Series (or, the "World's Series" as it was known at the time).  Shortly before the Series, Brush was involved in a car accident on September 11, 1912.  A truck barreled into his car overturning it.  Though he was not thrown from the vehicle, he suffered two broken ribs.  He was confined for a time in his home at Pelham Manor.


The august members of the National Baseball Commission were forced to travel to Pelham Manor for a meeting regarding the upcoming World Series with their ailing co-member of the Commission.  Thus, on September 25, 1912, the following members of the Commission gathered in Pelham Manor for a critical meeting concerning the upcoming 1912 World Series between the New York Giants and the Boston Red Sox:  "Ban" Johnson, President of the American League; Thomas Lynch, President of the National League; "Garry" Hermann, Chairman of the National Baseball Commission; John Heydler, Secretary of the National League; John T. Brush, owner of the New York Giants; Joe O'Brien, Secretary of the New York Giants; James R. McAleer, President of the Boston Red Sox; and Robert McRoy, Secretary of the Boston Red Sox.  The group reached a decision at the meeting to start the upcoming World Series at the Polo Grounds and alternate between New York and Boston one game at a time until conclusion.   See YALE WINS; YANKS LOSE; WORLD'S SERIES OCT. 8 -- Giants and Red Sox Start at Polo Grounds and Games Will Alternate Between Boston and New York, The Evening Telegram [NY, NY], Sep. 25, 1912, Vol. XLVI, No. 25,365, p. 1, cols. 1-7.

Despite his failing health, Brush attended the 1912 World Series, though his Giants lost to the Red Sox who took the Series with four wins, three losses, and a single tie.  Thereafter his ataxia grew worse and doctors feared for his life.  Believing that a change of venue to the milder West Coast (where special treatments also would be available), his doctors arranged for him to travel by his own private railroad car across country in November.  At the time he was resting and receiving treatment in the Imperial Hotel in Manhattan.  

At the scheduled departure date, Brush became gravely ill.  He was removed unconscious from the Imperial Hotel and placed on his rail car.  The train actually rushed across country to get him to his destination but Brush died in his private car near Louisiana, Missouri on November 26, 1912.  His railroad car was detached from the train and routed to St. Louis where his body was removed and transported to Indianapolis, where his married daughter lived, for his funeral.  His daughter's husband, Harry Hempstead, succeeded him as President of the New York Giants.  See "John T. Brush" in Wikipedia:  The Free Encyclopedia (visited Oct. 29, 2017).

Soon after Brush's death, the Giants organization, led by Hempstead, built and dedicated The John T. Brush Stairway at the Polo Grounds.  It stands today in silent homage to Pelham Manor resident John Tomlinson Brush.  

*          *         *          *          *
"Brush Strong Enough To Go Driving To-Day
-----
Head of Giants Making Game Fight for His Life and Expects to Win.
-----
By BOZEMAN BULGER.

FRIENDS of John T. Brush, owner of the Giants, say that the fans might as well cease their speculations as to his successor.  At the Imperial Hotel, where Mr. Brush is ill, it was said this morning that he had made up his mind on a thing he usually goes through with it.  For twenty years now he has fought a game fight against a disease which attacked him when the present players on the New York team were in knickerbockers and short skirts and he expects to win again.

Notwithstanding his weakened condition Mr. Brush wanted to go out driving in the park Saturday and would have done so but for the weather.  It is his intention to go out to-day.

Mr. Brush attended the first game of the world's series at the Polo Grounds and contracted such a severe cold that he was unable to attend the other games.  Instead of going to his home in Pelham he went to the Imperial Hotel hoping to be able to see some of the later contests.

It was feared for a while that the owner of the Giants would not recover and there has been much speculation as to his successor.  It was reported that Harry Stevens would buy the controlling interest of the club but nothing was known of this at the offices of Mr. Stevens in Madison Square tower.  Mr. Stevens has sufficient financial backing to take over the club and would be a good man in the place but it was said last night that if anything should happen to John T. Brush that his son-in-law, who lives in Indianapolis would become the head of the club.

Baseball men all over the country are pulling for Mr. Brush to get back his health and continue at the head of the Giants.  He is the man who framed most of the rules for governing baseball in the United States.  He started with the game when its future was uncertain.  While owner of the Cincinnati Reds his wonderful brain for organization gradually brought order out of chaos.  Mr. Brush is also the author of the present rules and regulations governing the playing of world's series.  Hiss loss to baseball would be a severe one."

Source:   Bulger, Bozeman, Brush Strong Enough To Go Driving To-Day -- Head of Giants Making Game Fight for His Life and Expects to Win, The Evening World [NY, NY], Oct. 22, 1912, p. 16, cols. 4-5.

"JOHN T. BRUSH DIES IN PRIVATE CAR ON HIS WAY TO FRISCO
-----
Owner of Giants Succumbs as He's Being Rushed in Search of Health.
-----
WAS LONG A SUFFERER.
-----
Only Partly Conscious When Taken From Hotel Imperial Sunday Night.
-----

ST. LOUIS, Mo., Nov. 26. -- The body of John T. Brush, owner of the New York National League Baseball Club, who died early to-day in his private car near Seeburger, Mo., arrived here this morning.  In the car accompanying the body were two nurses, a valet and a railroad man.  The body was forwarded to Indianapolis, where the funeral will be held Thursday or Friday from the home of Mrs. Harry Newton Hempstead, the daughter of Mr. Brush.

Mr. Brush, who was seriously ill from locomotor ataxia [Editor's Note:  also known as tabes dorsalis, a loss of coordination of movement, especially as a result of syphilitic infection of the spinal cord] when he left New York Sunday, failed rapidly on the trip.  At Indianapolis yesterday the railroad company considered detaching the baseball magnate's private car because of his serious condition, but they decided to attempt to rush him to the Pacific Coast.

The car was here two hours last night and a tank of oxygen was placed in it for emergency use.
-----

HARDLY CONSCIOUS WHEN HE LEFT THIS CITY.

When Mr. Brush was placed in an automobile at the Hotel Imperial Sunday night and taken to his private car he was hardly conscious, but his physicians thought his life might be prolonged for a time if he could reach California.  The decision to remove him was a last resort, for he was known to be in very critical condition.  

Early in 1910 Mr. Brush came near dying of the locomotor ataxia, which finally did cause his death, but he spent the winter in Texas and was much improved when he returned in time to see the Giants capture the pennant.

Lately he had been unable to see friends and had been out of doors only for an occasional automobile ride in Central Park.  His health became much worse after an automobile accident last summer in which his hop was broken.

He put the active direction of the Giants' affairs in the hands of H. M. Hempstead, his son-in-law, some time ago, and also made R. H. McCutcheon secretary and treasurer of the club in the place of J. D. O'Brien and John Whalen, who, respectively, had filled those offices.  Mr. Hempstead will be the principal owner of the Giants as a result of Mr. Brush's death.

THE 63-YEAR-CAREER OF JOHN T. BRUSH.

Mr. Brush was sixty-three years old and a native of Clintonsville, N. Y.  His parents died when he was about four years old and he was cared for by an uncle, a farmer.  At the age of twelve the boy went to work in a general store.  Later he became a clothing store clerk and a member of the firm of Owen Pigley & Co., clothiers, of Utica.  He opened clothing stores at Lockport and Troy, N. Y., and then went to Indianapolis, Ind., where he established himself in the same business, becoming president of one of the largest clothing concerns in Indiana.

He had a beautiful home in Indianapolis which he called 'Lombardy,' in honor of his wife, who was Miss Elsie Lombardy, an actress.  It was in the Indiana city that he became interested in baseball, acquiring the franchise of the Indianapolis team.  He became a figure in the baseball world when he acquired a National League franchise for that team."

Source:  JOHN T. BRUSH DIES IN PRIVATE CAR ON HIS WAY TO FRISCO -- Owner of Giants Succumbs as He's Being Rushed in Search of Health -- WAS LONG A SUFFERER -- Only Partly Conscious When Taken From Hotel Imperial Sunday Night, The Evening World [NY, NY], Nov. 26, 1912, p. 12, col. 1. 


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