Historic Pelham

Presenting the rich history of Pelham, NY in Westchester County: current historical research, descriptions of how to research Pelham history online and genealogy discussions of Pelham families.

Monday, September 30, 2019

When Were the First Municipal Street Lights Installed in North Pelham?


In early 1896, the citizens of the area we know today as Pelham Heights stole a march on the rest of Pelhamville and were able to have their neighborhood incorporated as the first village in the section known as Pelhamville.  Worse yet, to the consternation of the vast majority of Pelhamville residents, Pelham Heights incorporated using the name "Village of Pelham."  See Mon., Mar. 28, 2016:  Pelham Heights Really Pulled a Fast One on Pelhamville in 1896 -- Again! 

The remainder of Pelhamville kicked into high gear and promptly arranged a vote to incorporate as the "Village of North Pelham."  That vote, as well as an election to designate the first village officials, was held on August 25, 1896.  See Mon., Oct. 27, 2014:  Pelhamville Votes to Incorporate as the Village of North Pelham in 1896.

The proposal to incorporate passed by the slimmest of margins.  It passed by only two votes out of the 132 votes cast.  In addition, Pelhamville voters elected local grocer Jacob Heisser as the first President of the Village (the position now known as Mayor of the Village).

One of the very first official acts -- if not the first official act -- of the new Heisser administration in the new Village of North Pelham was to install municipal street lamps along village roads that were not yet even paved.  

The settlements of Pelham Manor and Pelhamville, before the incorporation of any villages, had improvement associations funded by local private dues.  Both improvement associations hung kerosene lanterns in strategic locations in the settlements during the 1880s.  Pelham Manor residents hired a lamp lighter who wandered about and lit the lamps at dusk, then extinguished them late in the evening.  Pelhamville, however, handled the matter differently.  It placed lanterns in places where at least two families resided nearby and agreed to fill, light, and maintain the lanterns.  In both settlements the lanterns, however, were few and far between and did little to light the way of Pelham travelers.

On August 27, 1896, only two days after the vote to incorporate and the associated election, the new Village of North Pelham began the installation of new open-flame municipal street lamps.  The village installed 71 so-called "naphtha flare" street lamps.

During the 1890s, Naphtha lamps were becoming popular and were being installed as street lamps across the region.  Communities such as Jamaica, Queens were installing the lamps a hundred or so at a time.  The new Village of North Pelham adopted the trend.

Naphtha is a colorless petroleum distillate that, typically, is an intermediate product between gasoline and benzine.  It is highly volatile and can be used as a solvent, a fuel, and the like.  Although research, so far, has revealed no record of the source of the naphtha used by North Pelham in its street lights, one source was its creation as a by-product when gas is produced from coal.  Gas was produced near Pelham and used in the new Village of North Pelham at the time.

There were a host of different types of naphtha flare lamps.  The precise model installed on the streets of the new Village of North Pelham on August 27, 1896 is, at least for now, lost to history.  There are common characteristics of such lamps, however, that provide a sense of what the first street lights in North Pelham were like.

Typically, naphtha flare lamps were gravity fed and had no wicks.  The liquid fuel fed from a small tank through a tube with a tap to a preheated burner.  When the tap was opened, the liquid fed to the burner where it evaporated.  The evaporating gas would light and burn as an open flame.  

Preheating the burner of the lamp so that the liquid fuel would begin to evaporate for ignition typically was a difficult task.  Depending on the model of the lamp, there could be a small metallic cup beneath the burner to hold a small fuel that could be ignited and burner beneath the burner for a time to preheat it until it grew hot enough to evaporate the liquid naphtha allowed to drip to the burner.

Naphtha flare lamps were notoriously hazardous.  There are many news accounts during the 1890s describing explosions of such lamps when the fuel tanks became overheated or were ignited in some fashion.  Additionally, if the flame of such a lamp was blown out by the wind, for example, the liquid would continue to drip from the tank and collect as a puddle below before evaporating.  That puddle, of course, could ignite as well.  

The lamps came with varying-sized fuel tanks.  Of course, larger tanks when full, would light longer than those with smaller tanks.  Some of the more common models could burn for as long as seven hours.  

Nevertheless, the need for street lights in the growing Village of North Pelham was undeniable in the latter half of 1896.  Despite the risk, the new village purchased and installed 71 of the lamps.  Progress continued its inevitable march through Pelham.



1905 Newspaper Advertisement for One Type of Naphtha Flare Lamp,
a Wells Lamp Known, Colloquially, as the Hydra Head.  NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.


Example of a Wells No. 14 Naphtha Flare Lamp Lit.
NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of a newspaper article on which today's Historic Pelham article is based.  The text is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"THE OLD DAYS

Back In 1896

Ran across a small bundle of the Pelham Press for the last six months of 1896.  In opening one a circular advertising a New York City evening paper fell out.  Before a law was passed making it a misdemeanor to insert circulars in newspapers without authority, it was the custom of chiseling merchants to have cheap circulars printed advertising their wares and for a nominal sum the newsdealer would insert one in Each paper sold or delivered.  Some big New York merchants had whole sections resembling a newspaper printed and many readers thought it was actually a section of the paper they bought.  Rival newspapers would print a circular criticising their opponent and have the newsdealer insert one in every one of the rival's papers.

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It Was Pelhamville Then

The edition of Wednesday, August 25 says 'Next Saturday is election and every respecting resident of Pelhamville should vote for the incorporation of the place as a village to be known as North Pelham.  It will bring modern improvements.'

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No Free Rides

Also in the same edition:  'Constable Paul Sparks was arrested in Mount Vernon last week for riding on a car without paying his fare.  He thought his badge was a pass but the conductor thought different.  The case came up before Judge William H. Bard who discharged him.

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Interesting Note

In the same issue we are told 'Today is the 84th birthday anniversary of Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher.  She was for many years famous chiefly as the wife of America's great orator-clergyman.  Of late years, however, she has won for herself a modicum of literary reputation as a writer on household articles.'

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Railroad Burglars in 1896

From the Sept. 1st:  'Div. Sup. Shepard of the New Haven road telegraphed Saturday night that a gang of burglars were coming down the tracks.  Constables E. L. Lyon, Bruce T. Dick and R. H. Marks stayed in the station all night but the burglars did not show up.  They did try to break into the Rye station but were fired on by the constables there.'

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Garden Work Fatal

From the same copy:  'George J. Pearson, aged 76, one of the oldest residents of Pelham, was stricken with paralysis while working in his garden last Wednesday and died Sunday.  The funeral was held yesterday.

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Who Remembers the Postmistress

Also:  'Miss Madge Collins, sister of Mrs. Katherine I. Merritt the local postmistress, and George Edward Meyers of Mount Vernon, were married last Thursday in Newark, N. J.  They came immediately to North Pelham to the home of the bride's sister, Mrs. A. B. Beckwith of Third avenue where a reception was held.'

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And Then Came The Light

'Incorporation' won and Jacob Heisser, the grocer, was elected first village president.  It will be a short term as all regular village elections will take place in March.  Two days after the election seventy-one street lamps were installed.  Each had a naphtha tank on top holding sufficient fuel to keep the light going all night.

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The Voice in the Presses

The August 26th copy has a two column illustrated article on the last page telling of the new 'Marvel of the Age,' 'The Linotype eclipses all modern inventions' and tells of the revolution in the art of type setting."

Source:  THE OLD DAYS, The Pelham Sun, Jun. 26, 1942, Vol. 32, No. 12, p. 8, cols. 4-6.  


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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Two Boston Globe Accounts of What Happened in the Mail Car During the Great Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885


On December 27, 1885, the mail express train out of Boston known as the late night "Owl Train" and the "Boston Express" reached Pelhamville during a major windstorm. The train was running late and was trying to make up some time by speeding along the downgrade that passed through Pelhamville.  The train was traveling between thirty five and forty miles an hour.  Just as the train sailed past the Pelhamville Station, the gale lifted the station's massive wooden passenger platform into the air and flipped it upside down onto the tracks. 

Engineer Riley Ellsworth Phillips saw swirling dust ahead, but did not see the platform on the tracks.  Accounts differ as to whether he cut the steam, and braked.  One account indicated he ran up on the obstruction too fast and never had time.  If he did apply the brakes before hitting the overturned platform, it did not help. The locomotive engine smashed into the obstruction, left the rails, and tumbled end-over-end down the 60-foot embankment, dragging the fire tender and a large mail car with it. Though the passenger cars left the rails and bounced along throwing the passengers inside about the cabins, no passenger car tumbled down the massive embankment.  The mail car, locomotive, and fire tender came to a crashing halt only a few hundred feet from the little wooden trestle that carried the train tracks over the Hutchinson River.  

Engineer Phillips and his fireman, recently-married Eugene Blake, were thrown out of the cab of the locomotive as it flipped end-over-end down the embankment. Phillips was bruised, but lived. Fireman Blake, however, was crushed during the incident. He was found at the foot of the embankment and was carried into the nearby Pelhamville train station. Some accounts say Fireman Blake was laid on a "cot" of some sort in the Pelhamville station. Others say he was laid on the floor. 

Most accounts agree, however, that once carried into the Pelhamville station, the mortally-injured Eugene Blake suffered tremendously for an agonizing forty minutes. During most of that time, he was administered to by an angel -- a woman who stepped out from among uninjured train passengers to offer help. The woman was Emma Cecilia Thursby, a famous American celebrity and singer who traveled the nation giving concerts.  Fireman Eugene Blake died of his injuries.  A number of others were injured including, as one might expect, most of the mail clerks who were in the mail car as it tumbled down the slope.

There are hundreds and hundreds of accounts of the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885.  There is one known photograph of the aftermath (see below) and a number of engraved images that appeared in an article about the wreck that appeared in Scientific American (see below).  

Two accounts of the wreck that appeared in The Boston Globe shortly afterward are particularly significant because they piece together what happened in the mail car during and shortly after the wreck.  Those accounts are transcribed below, followed by citations and links to their sources.

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"THE GLOBE EXTRA! 
3 O'CLOCK.
IN AN INSTANT, Enveloped in a Cloud of Dust, The Locomotive Takes the Fearful Plunge, Graphic Description by Engineer Phillips of the Disaster at Pelhamville.  Terrible Experience of the Men in the Mail Car.  Helpless, They Listen to Turner's Agonizing Appeals.  How Help Came When Hope Had Almost Fled.
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NEW YORK, December 28. -- Ira Phillips, the engineer of the Boston express which was wrecked at Pelhamville last night, gives the following account of the disaster:  'When I struck the crossing just north of the depot a cloud of dust rose up.  I had been keeping a sharp watch, as we were then a little behind time, and I was making it up on the down grade.  We were running about thirty-five or forty miles an hour.  Before I had time to put on the brakes, or, in fact, do anything, we came on the overturned platform.  The next I knew I was at the bottom of the ditch, where the water-boy found me.  After he had helped me, I sent him back to see if any one was signalling the Adams express train that I knew ought to be ten or fifteen miles behind us.  When the boy returned, we hunted for poor Blake.

The crash came in an instant, and there was nothing I could do to check the speed of the train.  It is a miracle we are not all killed.  On a straight track I could see a long distance ahead, and if there had been anything in the way I would have noticed it.  I am quite sure the platform must have been torn up by the same gust of wind that enveloped the track in dust less than 100 feet ahead of me.'

When the locomotive struck at the bottom of the ravine Phillips was thrown violently against the fire-box, the door of which was open.  He was stunned for a few moments, and when the water-boy found him the boot of his left leg was burned off, his heel burned and his overalls on fire.

'We had all our mail sacked and pouched,' said Chief Clerk F. S. MCausland, who was in charge of the mail car.  'Without any warning, we went tumbling down the embankment, and dust and dirt filled the car almost to suffocation, and, to make it worse, the lights were put out.  Oil from one of the lamps trickled down my back, and I thought it was water and supposed we had gone into Hutchinson's creek at the end of the filling, about 1000 feet from the depot where the accident happened.  It was very cold in the car, and the door of the safety -valve was opened.  My first thought was that perhaps coals might be shaken out among the sacks.  I called to some one to close the slide; but J. H. McCoy, one of my six assistants, with great presence of mind, had already done this.  Then I called each of them by name to learn if they were safe.  They answered me, and Turner, who was jammed between a table and the side of the car, said:

'For God's sake, help me.'

'The car had turned over on its side, the iron rods were twisted all out of shape, the sacks and pouches torn from the stanchions, and the heavy tables all heaped in the middle of the car.  Peter Conaty of Worcester and Charles Mitchell, the only New York boy, were buried under this, and were nearly smothered.  There was a glass window in the top side of the car, and McCoy smashed this, crawled out, and hastened for hep.  I told the men to save themselves, for I had no idea where we had landed, nor what might follow.  They did the best they could, but Turner cried piteously for help.

'I can't hold out much longer.  For God's sake hurry,' he called.

'Help came and I tried to encourage him by the light of a lantern, E. E. Clark of Haddam, Conn., C. P. Turner of Malden, Mass., W. F. Hart of Charlestown, Mass., Conaty, Mitchell and myself were helped out.  Clark, Turner and Hart were the ones most injured, although McCoy's ankle was twisted."

Source:  THE GLOBE EXTRA! 3 O'CLOCK.  IN AN INSTANT, Enveloped in a Cloud of Dust, The Locomotive Takes the Fearful Plunge, Graphic Description by Engineer Phillips of the Disaster at Pelhamville.  Terrible Experience of the Men in the Mail Car.  Helpless, They Listen to Turner's Agonizing Appeals.  How Help Came When Hope Had Almost Fled, The Boston Globe, Dec. 28, 1885, Vol. XXVIII, No. 181, p. 4, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

"BURIED UNDER THE SACKS.
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Mail Clerk Conaty's Graphic Story
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Of His Experience When the Awful Crash Awoke Him at Pelhamville.
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Turner Pinned to the Floor by the Mail Bags.
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WORCESTER, December 28. -- Peter F. Conaty, a mail clerk on the 'Owl,' which was derailed at Pelhamville Sunday morning, arrived home today.  He was seen at the residence of his brother, Rev. T. J. Conaty, and gave an account of the occurrence.  With six other clerks he was locked in the mail car, and all having finished their work, made beds of the mail sacks upon which they laid down.  Conaty and Mitchell were at the end of the car near the engine and Turner was lying on a table with McCoy, who got up at Stamford and threw off the mail.  Fortunately he did not return to the table or he would have been crushed also with Turner.  They were rushing, of course, at a high rate of speed and were startled by a crash and jarring of the car as if glasses were being broken.  The uproar seemed to increase until suddenly the car seemed to snap and jump the track.  In an instant it was tossed down the embankment, going lengthwise, so that all the mail matter crowded to the upper end of the car where Conaty and Mitchell were lying and entirely covered them.  The men at the other end were of course knocked about but escaped the accumulating baggage except Turner, who was caught under the table upon which he was lying and pinned to the floor.

Young Conaty tried to extricate himself from the burden, while his imprisoned companions were groaning and crying for air as they were nearly all suffocated.  He was fortunately near a window, and grasping with both hands the iron bars he pulled himself from beneath the mail bags and immediately drove his fist through the window.  In extricating himself the full weight of the mail matter fell upon Mitchell, whom, after a struggle, he succeeded also in getting out, and both then crawled through the window.  They then clambered up the hill to get at the other end of the car, where they heard their companions struggling and crying for fresh air.  They took a stone to break in the door, but just then McCoy, another mail agent, who had also climbed out of the car window, opened the door with a key he had.  All the other clerks were then easily assisted out except Turner, who was severely hurt and bleeding, and it required the efforts of two men to bring him to the open air.  He was bleeding badly, and after being carried to another car was cared for by a young lady passenger.  The clerks released themselves from the mail car by their own exertions, and it did not require the use of axes to break open their prison box.  They were not confined in all more than thirty minutes.  Mr. Conaty is injured much more seriously than at first supposed, and tonight was scarcely able to move on account of injuries to his leg and his spine.  He is under medical care, and will not be able to attend to his duties for several weeks."

Source:  BURIED UNDER THE SACKS -- Mail Clerk Conaty's Graphic Story Of His Experience When the Awful Crash Awoke Him at Pelhamville -- Turner Pinned to the Floor by the Mail Bags, The Boston Globe, Dec. 29, 1885, Vol. XXVIII, No. 182, p. 4, col. 6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

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I have written before about the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885 that resulted in the death of Fireman Eugene Blake and injuries to several others including a number of the mail clerks and the train engineer, Riley Phillips. See:






Mon., Sep. 24, 2007:  The Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885





Bell, Blake A., The Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885: "One of the Most Novel in the Records of Railroad Disasters, 80(1) The Westchester Historian, pp. 36-43 (2004).

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Only known photograph showing the aftermath of the
"Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885.” The January 16, 1886
issue of Scientific American included an artist’s depiction
of the same scene in connection with an article about the
wreck describing it as "A Remarkable Railroad Accident"
that occurred on the New Haven Line in Pelhamville
(now part of the Village of Pelham) at about 6:00 a.m.
on December 27, 1885. See A Remarkable Railroad Accident,
Scientific American, Jan. 16, 1886, Vol. LIV, No. 3, pp. 31-32.
The engine and tender lie in the foreground with the mail
car behind. NOTE: Click Image To Enlarge.





Front Cover and Images of the January 16, 1886 Issue
of Scientific American that Featured a Cover Story About
the Pelhamville Train Wreck Entitled "A Remarkable Railroad
Accident." NOTE: Click on Images to Enlarge.


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Monday, July 09, 2018

A Sheriff's Sale of William Parker's Property in 1852 Only Months After Parker Began Development of Pelhamville


The "main line" of the New Haven opened in December, 1848.  The "station" located within today's Village of Pelham soon was called "Pelhamville."  During the early to mid-1850s, the United States economy was prosperous, fueled by the rise of railroads, improved transportation, and large amounts of gold mined in the west during the California Gold Rush.  By about 1850, in the midst of this economic prosperity, land speculators converged on Pelham hoping to develop various sections of the town as a new railroad suburb serviced by the newly-opened New Haven Line.  

In 1850, a building society known as the United Brothers' Land Society (apparently referenced occasionally, and erroneously, as the "Pelhamville Village Association") was organized to develop certain tracts of unincorporated property in the Town of Pelham lying north of the railroad tracks and east of the Hutchinson River.  The association purchased the Anthony Wolf Farm (John Anthony Woolf) north of the railroad tracks, had the land surveyed, and began making lots available for installment payments to its members.

At about the same time (early 1850s), another section in the Town of Pelham was under development by another building society.  The section was named Prospect Hill Village, developed by the Prospect Hill Village Association.  It became one of the two principal real estate developments from which today's Village of Pelham Manor evolved. The other, of course, was the development of the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association organized on June 3, 1873 by Silas H. Witherbee, Henry C. Stephens, Robert A. Mitchill, Charles J. Stephens, Charles F. Heywood and other local landowners.

The Secretary of the Prospect Hill Village Association was named William Parker.  He operated out of an office at 192 Canal Street in Manhattan.  He and others including George Robinson, John T. Lynch, and Andrew Woolf were involved with the Association and owned land in the Prospect Hill neighborhood.  

As I have noted before, clearly there were overlapping efforts on the part of developers involved with the two building associations that developed Pelhamville and Prospect Hill during the early 1850s.  Indeed, William Parker served as the President of the United Brothers' Land Society as well as the Secretary of the Prospect Hill Village Association.  He also owned land in both the Prospect Hill development and the Pelhamville development.

To learn more about these early Pelhamville and Prospect Hill development efforts and the two building associations, see, e.g.:

Bell, Blake A., The Founding of "Prospect Hill Village" in the Early 1850s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 25, Second Section, Jun. 23, 2006, p. 34, col. 1.

Tue., May 08, 2018:  More Early References to Development of Prospect Hill by the Prospect Hill Village Association in the Early 1850s.

Fri., Feb. 10, 2017:  United Brothers' Land Society Involvement in Developing Pelhamville Lands in the Early 1850s.

Tue., Jul. 26, 2016:  More About the Prospect Hill Village Association in the Mid-19th Century.  

Fri., Jun. 17, 2016:  More on Efforts to Invalidate Deeds of Many Prospect Hill Homes in 1900.

Fri., Feb. 12, 2010:  Documentation of the Creation of the Building Association Known as Prospect Hill Village Association on August 11, 1852.

Thu., Feb. 11, 2010:  Prospect Hill Landowners Face Loss of Their Properties in 1900 Due to Allegedly Defective Deeds.

Thu., Oct. 15, 2009:  19th and Early 20th Century Newspaper Notices Relating to the Prospect Hill Village Association.

Wed., Jan. 07, 2009:  A Reference to Voluntary Dissolution Proceedings Involving the Prospect Hill Village Association Instituted in 1906.

Tue., Jul. 3, 2007:  1855 Tax Collection Notice for Pelhamville and Prospect Hill Village.

Fri., Apr. 14, 2006:  Three of the Original Homes of the Prospect Hill Village Association Founded in 1851.

Fri., Apr. 7, 2006:  A View from Prospect Hill Looking West Published in 1887.

Tuesday, April 4, 2006:  More Information About the Prospect Hill Village Association Formed in the Early 1850s.

Mon., Nov. 21, 2005:  Prospect Hill and Pelhamville Depicted on the 1868 Beers Atlas Map of Pelham: Part I.

Wed., Mar. 30, 2005:  Prospect Hill Village -- Yet Another Early Hamlet Within the Town of Pelham.

Some of the men involved in these early development efforts seem to have run into some sort of financial difficulties during the early to mid-1850s.  Indeed, I previously have presented legal notices for Sheriff's Sales of Prospect Hill lands owned by William Parker and others involved with the Prospect Hill Village Association.  See Tue., Jul. 26, 2016:  More About the Prospect Hill Village Association in the Mid-19th Century (reflecting notice of Sheriff's Sale of Prospect Hill Village Association lands in 1856 after judgment entered in lawsuit against William Parker, George Robinson, John T. Lynch, and Andrew Woolf).

Even earlier than that -- indeed, only months after development of Pelhamville began -- land owned by William Parker in the Pelhamville development was seized and subjected to notice of a Sheriff's Sale in a notice published on July 2, 1852.  The text of that legal notice appears immediately below, followed by an image of the item as it was published.

"SHERIFF'S SALE.  --  By virtue of an execution to me directed and delivered, I shall expose for sale at public auction, at the Rail Road Depot at Pelhamville, in the town of Pelham, in the County of Westchester, on the 26th day of July, A. D. 1852, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon of that day, all the right, title, and interest of William Parker, which he had on the 19th day of April, A. D. 1852, or at any time afterwards, in and to the following described premises, viz:  All that lot of land in the town of Pelham, in the County of Westchester, known as lot Number 50 on a map entitled 'Map of Pelhamville, Westchester County, New York,' dated February 151, made by Henry Hart, Surveyor, and filed in Westchester County Clerk's office bounded and containing according to said map as follows, viz:  on the north by Second Street one hundred feet; on the east by Fifth Avenue one hundred feet; on the south by Lot Number 35 one hundred feet; together with all and singular the appurtenances thereunto belonging -- Dated June 9, 1852.

BENJAMIN D. MILLER Sheriff
By JOSEPH M. KISSAM Deputy Sheriff."

Source:  SHERIFF'S SALE [Legal Notice], Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Jul. 2, 1852, Vol. VIII, No. 7, p. 4, col. 2.


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Thursday, March 29, 2018

Death by Train in Pelhamville While Fighting in 1893


The morning began quite beautifully on Friday, July 14, 1893.  Both Mount Vernon and the little adjacent settlement known as Pelhamville were bustling.  Indeed, the area around the border between the two communities along the New Haven Main Line railroad tracks was particularly busy that summer morning.

There was new construction underway nearby in view of the railroad tracks.  John Deveaugh was one of five carpenters standing on scaffolding working away on that new construction that morning.  Additionally, a number of women including one known as "Mrs. Brachman" were working away in homes scattered near the railroad tracks in the area.

At about 8:00 a.m., many in the area heard shouts.  In fact, they heard angry shouts.  John Deveaugh and his fellow carpenters looked in the direction of the noise.  Several women, including Mrs. Brachman, stepped outside to see what was happening.

Two young men, both about 25 years old, were on the railroad tracks shouting angrily at each other.  The pair had been walking from Mount Vernon toward Pelhamville along the railroad tracks when they stopped and began to argue opposite Holler's ice houses.  Soon, the bigger of the two removed his jacket, tossed it aside, and took a swing at the smaller man.

The fight began.

The men began swinging wildly at each other.  Though it was 8:00 in the morning, they seemed obviously drunk as they quarreled and fought.  The pair grabbed each other in a clinch as they fought.  The five carpenters and the local women watched the pair grapple.

Then came the shrill shriek of a steam locomotive whistle. . . . . 

The New York bound New Haven Express Train No. 12 was bearing down on the two men.  The carpenters began screaming warnings to the pair from their scaffolds.  The train engineer blew the steam whistle repeatedly and applied the air brakes.  The violent squeal of the train wheels sliding on the iron railroad tracks filled the air.  The women watching then "shrieked in terror."

The pair fighting on the tracks were so engrossed in their anger and their fight they did not realize that the train was bearing down on them.  It was only when the train was about five hundred feet away from them that they first realized their danger.  They loosened their grip on each other.  Then, as the onlookers watched in terror, the smaller man grabbed the bigger man again. . . .

The express train barreled into the pair nearly at full speed.  The bigger man was thrown headlong into the air so high that he struck the telegraph wires strung adjacent to the tracks, then fell to the embankment below and tumbled down the slope "among great rocks that lined its base."  The smaller man simply disappeared as if swallowed by the massive steam locomotive.

The carpenters and women scrambled to the scene.  Soon, as a result of the commotion, others appeared.  The bigger man was found at the foot of the embankment.  He was dead with every limb shattered.  The smaller man, however, was nowhere to be found.

A gathering crowd began searching for the smaller man.

It was a young boy who found the first clue.  The boy found one of the man's legs "under a pear tree near the scene of the accident."  It was quite some time before trainmen found the mangled remnants of the body of the smaller man beneath one of the railroad cars.  According to one report, "The fragments were taken to New Rochelle."

Soon, tongues were wagging.  All were talking about how the smaller man grabbed the bigger one as the train bore down upon the pair.  It seems the smaller man had not grabbed the bigger man to hold him in place and die together.  Rather, it was an attempt to save the life of the bigger man.  According to John Deveaugh "I saw him seize his companion just as the train struck them.  He may have intended to save him, but they had been fighting the minute before."  Mrs. Brachman also saw the small man grab the big one.  She said "I thought maybe he was trying to save the other's life."

Who were these men?  What was their story?  

Newspapers throughout the United States reported on the terrible quarrel and the gruesome deaths that resulted.  Initially, they reported that the bigger man whose body was tossed into the telegraph wires and down the embankment was "Thomas Sweeney of Kingsbridge."  The reports were wrong.  It turned out that the man was named "Wier" and was from Wakefield.  The smaller man whose mangled body was found beneath one of the railroad cars was Thomas Burke of Mount Vernon.

Their story was this.  The evening before their deaths, Thomas Burke stole $2.00 from his landlady, a woman known as Mrs. McLaughlin.  It was believed that the two men used the stolen money to get drunk in Mount Vernon during the overnight and early morning hours.  According to one report, the men "were so intoxicated that they narrowly escaped arrest" in Mount Vernon overnight.  The pair apparently were still intoxicated when the express train ended their quarrel on the tracks in a most gruesome fashion.

There have been, of course, many deaths and injuries on the railroad tracks of the New Haven Main Line that pass through Pelham during the last 167 years.  For many decades the railroad tracks were a principal pathway for people traveling back and forth between the communities of Pelham and Mount Vernon.  The horrific pair of deaths that occurred on the tracks in the little settlement of Pelhamville on July 14,1893, however, remain to this day among the most terrible such accidents in the history of Pelham.


Ca. 1893 Steam Locomotive Train Likely Similar to the One
that Killed Two Men at the Pelhamville Border on July 14,
1893.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"KILLED BY A TRAIN WHILE FIGHTING.
-----
Thomas Sweeney and an Unknown Companion Mangled Near Pelhamville, N. Y.
-----
UNMINDFUL OF THE WHISTLE.
-----
It Is Thought That One of the Men Saw the Danger and Tried to Save His Antagonist.
-----
WOMEN SAW THE TRAGEDY.
-----
[BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.]

MOUNT VERNON, N. Y., July 14, 1893.  --  Two men who had been drinking chose the tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, half a mile east of here, to settle a quarrel this morning.  They clinched and paid no heed to an approaching express train, which proved itself a terrible peacemaker.

One of the men was Thomas Sweeney of Kingsbridge.  The other is as yet unidentified.  Their mangled bodies are in Davis' morgue at New Rochelle.

Half way between here and Pelhamville Holler's ice houses stand on one side of the track.  Employes there noticed the two men walking east on the tracks about eight o'clock in the morning.  They were quarrelling and passed around a curve, but shortly returned.  They were talking more heatedly, and then Sweeney took off his coat and struck at his companion.  They grappled, and then seemingly agreed on a temporary truce.

WOMEN WITNESS THE TRAGEDY.

Each then ate some cherries which one of them carried in a box, but the quarrel began again in so boisterous a way that five carpenters working on a new house three hundred yards from the tracks rested their tools to watch the men.  Their loud words also attracted women from their homes near the icehouse.

The men clinched and occasionally struck at each other.  They were very drunk.  Suddenly the spectators were startled by the shrill whistle of the New Haven express train, No. 12.  It was bearing down upon the struggling men.  The carpenters called out warning from their scaffolds and the women who looked on shrieked in terror.

The train was within five hundred feet of the men, when they appeared to cease their quarrel and realize their danger.  The engineer had applied the air brakes, but the train was coming swiftly on.  The men did not attempt to leave the track, though they had loosened their grip on each other.  The train was within an engine's length of them, when the smaller man again seized Sweeney.  Then the train struck them.

Sweeny [sic] was tossed headlong over the embankment.  His body struck the telegraph wires and pitched foremost down the bank among great rocks that lined its base.  Every limb was shattered.

GROUND INTO FRAGMENTS.

At first search for the other man was vain, but a boy found one of his legs under a pear tree near the scene of the accident.  Trainmen later on took the remainder of his body from under one of the cars.  The fragments were taken to New Rochelle.

'The big man was pitched as high as the telegraph wires, while the other man disappeared under the cars,' said John Deveaugh, one of the carpenters.  'I saw him seize his companion just as the train struck them.  He may have intended to save him, but they had been fighting the minute before.'

Mrs. Brachman also saw the smaller man take hold of the other.

'I thought,' she said, 'maybe he was trying to save the other's life.'


Each of the men were [sic] about twenty-five years old and had been in Mount Vernon early this morning.  They were so intoxicated that they narrowly escaped arrest.  They visited the railroad yards, where Sweeney told a workman that he had a mother and two sisters living in New York.

Coroner A. J. Mixsell will hold the inquest on Monday."

Source:  KILLED BY A TRAIN WHILE FIGHTING -- Thomas Sweeney and an Unknown Companion Mangled Near Pelhamville, N. Y. -- UNMINDFUL OF THE WHISTLE -It Is Thought That One of the Men Saw the Danger and Tried to Save His Antagonist -- WOMEN SAW THE TRAGEDY, N.Y. Herald, Jul. 15, 1893, p. 5, col. 6.

"STOLE TO GO ON HIS FINAL DRUNK.
-----

The two men killed by an express train Friday, at Pelhamville, N. Y., while fighting on the track have been identified.

The body supposed to be that of Thomas Sweeney, of Kingsbridge, is that of a man named Wier, of Wakefield.  The other dead man is Thomas Burke of Mount Vernon.  He stole $2 from Mrs. McLaughlin, his landlady, and it is supposed he and Wier became drunk with the money."

Source:  STOLE TO GO ON HIS FINAL DRUNK, N.Y. Herald, Jul. 17, 1893, p. 9, col. 5.

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Friday, February 09, 2018

Fascinating Real Estate Puff Piece on Pelham with Interesting Historical Facts Published in 1906


Today's Historic Pelham article transcribes a fascinating real estate "puff piece" published in 1906 touting the Town of Pelham.  The article is significant because it purports to tell a number of stories about the earliest days of the Pelhamville settlement in the early 1850s that do not seem to be available elsewhere and, in fact, are new to this author.

For example, the most fascinating assertion contained in the article is one this author has never seen before.  According to the article, about three years after the New York and New Haven Railroad line began running through Pelham in 1848 -- and likely about the time the settlement of Pelhamville was first being laid out in 1851 -- "a substantial two-story building was erected" on the lot known today as One Wolfs Lane where the Pelham National Bank Building stands.  According to the account, that two-story building was "presented to the railroad company on condition that they stop their trains there, which they did."

This brief assertion seems to be one of the few references indicating roughly when the first Pelham Train Station was built.  It is not known with certainty whether the image below depicts that first station or some subsequent replacement, but the image -- which is known to depict the Pelham Train Station that stood on the same spot in late 1885 -- may be considered a two-story structure and likely is, in fact, the original station that was replaced after a fire in the mid-1890s with today's Pelham Train Station.


Image From the January 16, 1886 Issue of Scientific American that
Featured a Cover Story About the Pelhamville Train Wreck
Entitled "A Remarkable Railroad Accident."  This is One of the
Only Known Images of What May Be the Original Pelhamville Train
Station Built in About 1851.  NOTE: Click on Images to Enlarge.

Another brief story told about the early days of Pelhamville that is new to this author includes an assertion that the entire settlement was a haven for moonshiners -- long before the area became a thorn in the side of Prohibition enforcement agents during the 1920s and early 1930s.  According to the article:

"It is said that at one time in the early history of Pelhamville nearly every house in the old village sold rum privately.  This will probably be denied by the descendants of those who lived here at that time, but the information came from a pretty good source.  There were two or three 'moonshiners,' so called, in the village, and a brewery which was operated by a good old Dutchman by the name of Bigerchinsky, or something like that.  This brewery was located in the basement of a barn which was situated near where the pumping station at the reservoir is now located.  The old house in which the Dutchman lived is now standing, but the barn is extinct.  Ale was manufactured there.

There are interesting stories told concerning the old 'moonshine' establishments of the early fifties. . . . There was one in the northeast part of the village, somewhere in the vicinity of what is now Ninth avenue, and another in a house not far from where the North Pelham postoffice now stands.  It is said that the proprietors of this place had a very narrow escape from arrest one night.  The detectives were on their way to execute the law upon the heads of the owners when the latter got wind of what was going to happen and made good their escape.  When the detectives arrived, 'it was all over but the shouting,' and that was done by some of the villagers and not the detectives.  No one, of course, knew anything about the establishment and the detectives went away without their offenders."

The article includes a surprising number of rare and unusual photographs of Pelhamites and Pelham locations, though the quality of the images is not the best.  Those are reproduced below.


"RESIDENCE OF GEO. B. BRIDGMAN, NORTH PELHAM."


"R. H. MARKS,
Chief of Police."


"JACOB HEISSER,
Village President, North Pelham, 1896."


"ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH, NORTH PELHAM."


"UNION FREE SCHOOL OF DISTRICT NO. 1, TOWN OF PELHAM."
This is a Predecessor of Today's Hutchinson Elementary School.  It
Was the Third School on the Site and Stood from 1900 Until 1910.


"RESIDENCE OF JOHN H. YOUNG, NORTH PELHAM."


"JOHN CASE, Oldest Resident Member of Original
Association, Established Pelhamville."


"THE OLD WOLF HOMESTEAD, NORTH PELHAM."


"CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER, (Episcopal,) NORTH PELHAM."


"A VIEW IN PELHAM HEIGHTS."

*          *          *          *          *

"TOWN OF PELHAM INTERESTING, IMPORTANT, VALUABLE AND UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE VILLAGES OF PELHAM, NORTH PELHAM, PELHAM HEIGHTS AND PELHAM MANOR

Lying snugly between the flourishing cities of New Rochelle and Mount Vernon, on the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad, and covering an area of 2 1/2 square miles, is situated the hustling little town of Pelham divided into the villages of Pelham Manor, Pelham Heights [sic], Pelham and North Pelham.  Pelham Manor is strictly a residential village; Pelham Heights, which is a part of the village of Pelham, is also made up of residences; the original village of Pelham has within its midst a few stores, while the village of North Pelham has has a good business section.

The settlement of the town of Pelham, so history says, dates back to the times when the Huguenots were having their troubles in France and leaving that country in large numbers.  It is recorded that a number of these Huguenots came to that part of this country known now as New Rochelle and Pelham and settled here.

The town of Pelham was named after Lord Pell [sic], who was one of the earliest settlers in Westchester county [sic].  However, he was not the earliest by any means.  The following interesting facts are gleaned from 'The Drake Family Pedigree,' so called, by Jacob Bonnet, of New Rochelle, concerning the early settlers of Pelham.  The writer says:  'The settlement of New Rochelle dates back to 1689, when some 6,000 acres, previously included in the Manor of Pelham were made over to Jacob Leisler, of New York, in trust for the Huguenots, who then were arriving in large numbers from England.  These refugees were a portion of the 50,000 who left France for England in 1687.  Four years before the revocation traditions, unsupported, however, by evidencing, tell us that one of King Charles' ships brought out the founders of the town of New Rochelle.  And we find that during the year 1690 Leisler was parcelling out the Pelham purchase among the French families who preferred to sustain a new settlement which might possess all possible characteristics of their native land.

'Among the names of those to whom Leisler released portions of the Pelham tract are John Neuville, 200 acres; Alexander Allair, 100 acres; Louis Guion, 136 acres; and John Butiller.'

It will thus be seen that Pelham was settled by Huguenot refugees [sic].  As the years rolled by the settlement gradually grew until there were quite a number of people living here by the time the nineteenth century arrived.

In the section of Westchester county known as Pelham Manor the Huguenots settled.  To their memory there now stands the beautiful Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Pelhamdale avenue and the Boston Post road.  Pelham Manor boasts of a great many magnificent residences, which are inhabited by wealthy New Yorkers.  The streets are broad and lined by stately trees which in the summer are covered with beautiful foliage.  There are no public buildings in Pelham Manor [sic].  Everything there reminds one of home.  Outside of the residences there are also the fine Manor club house and the elegant school, with dormitories, of Mrs. John Cunningham Hazen, which is one of the most select private schools in the United States.

Pelham Manor was the first of the three villages to be incorporated, the incorporation taking place in the early nineties.  The present population in 679, according to the census just taken.  The village itself has for the most part grown up during the past twenty years and is now passing through stages of marked development.  The past year has seen the erection of several new residences and others are now in the course of construction.  The Witherbee Real Estate Improvement Company is building a house which is to be rented by Mr. Holland, of Highbrook avenue.  It will be completed in the spring.  John Farrington is building a house on Esplanade avenue, between Boston Road and Wolf's Lane.  Witherbee Black is completing a house on Esplanade avenue, near Pelham Manor station.  

The hilly and swampy land on the corner of Pelhamdale avenue and the Boston Road, opposite the Presbyterian Church is now being graded, and the probability is that it will not be many years before there will be located there handsome residences as well as on the two open places across the street.

Pelham was the second village to be incorporated.  At the time of its incorporation, Pelham Heights was a rocky woodland, one section of which every summer was used by the negroes as their camping ground.  However, no many years ago its value as a residential section began to be recognized with the result that many beautiful residences now stand where less than ten years ago, nothing but woodland could be seen.  Pelham Heights, to use the expression, seems to have 'sprung up in a night.'  Not only has its growth been rapid, but the future bids fair to exceed the past.  The past year has witnessed the erection of a number of elegant residences and others are now being constructed.

Mrs. E. E. Sinclair is building two houses on Corlies avenue, between First and Second street; Mr. Wormrath is finishing a house on Corlies avenue, between Second street and the Boulevard; Mr. Nesbitt is finishing a new house on the corner of Corlies avenue and Second street, and is about to move into it himself; Mr. White, of Brooklyn, is completing a house on Monterey avenue; Mr. Sneider, of Seigel, Cooper & Co., is erecting a new house on the corner of Second street and Monterey avenue; W. G. Fay, the optician, of New York, is building a house on Monterey avenue, between First and Second streets; William Dette has plans out for the erection of a handsome new house on Witherbee avenue, between Highbrook avenue and Monterey avenue.  Mr. Dette is with Crocker Brothers.

Mr. Murphy, the real estate dealer, stated not long ago to an Argus representative that there have been quite a number of purchasers looking around for houses and lots to buy in Pelham Heights and Pelham Manor.  That people are anxious to move into these two villages is attested by the fact that Mr. Murphy already has a list of twenty-five applicants for houses to rent.  The spring market looks very promising and healthy, and there will probably be considerable building going on before long.

The village of Pelham has one grocery store, which is owned by John Smith; a meat market, of which E. Paustian is the proprietor; a boarding and livery stable, of which R. L. Vaughan is the proprietor, all of which are located side by side on Fifth avenue, south of the railroad bridge.  In the same locality is situated Lyon hall, which is the rendezvouse for the people at social gatherings of any performance.

North Pelham was the last village in the town to be incorporated, the incorporation taking place in September, 1896.  North Pelham, previous to 1851, wsa made up of a farm, the northern half of which ws owned by John [sic] Wolfe, and the southern half by a Mr. Weeden.  Mr. Wolfe's old farmhouse is the building now occupied by H. H. Straehle and used as a barroom and a hotel.  Previous to the year 1851, an association was formed in New York city for the purpose of establishing homes for the members, of which there were quite a number.  The only living member of that association now living in North Pelham is John Case, the collector of taxes.  Mr. Case's father, Frederick Case, and his brother, John Case, were both members, but they are now dead.

The farm land was surveyed by William Bryson, of New Rochelle, and laid out into 406 lots, most of which were designated by number and some by letter.  The lots were laid out beginning at the north at Morgan's farm, where Chester Park is now locted, and extending down on the south as far as the railroad bank, there being only one track at that time, and the bank not being so high as it is now.  From east to west the boundary extended from Lather's hill on the east to the center of the channel of the Hutchinson river on the west.  As a rule, the lots were one hundred feet square.  Lot No. 1 was the most southern lot of them all and was located at the corner of Fifth avenue and First street, where Lyman's drug store now stands.  The map of the survey was filed in the register's office in White Plains, August 4, 1851.  Opposiite lot No. 1 was a vacant lot on what is now the corner of Fifth avenue and First street.  On this lot a substantial two-story building was erected and presented to the railroad company on condition that they stop their trains there, which they did.

At the time the lots were staked out the present streets of the village were marked out though not worked.  The street which is known now as Fifth avenue and is at present the principal street of the village, was at the time the land was bought from Messrs. Wolfe and Weeden the northern continuation of Wolfe's Lane, which led from the railroad across the fields to or near his farm house, the residence now of the Straehles.  This lane was worked up some.  There was no other public entrance to the village.  Fourth street, however, was usurped, though it was not worked as a public thoroughfare.

It is said that the first house to be built here was that of Michael O'Malley on Second avenue, which is now standing, and is occupied by F. L. Buckhaber.  If this is so, as it probably is, for the information came from a very reliable source, this is the oldest house in the village outside of the old farmhouse.  The second house was that of William Darby, a butcher, which stands on the corner of Second street and Second avenue, and is occupied now by Douglas Sprague.  Another old house, now standing, built in the early fifties, is that of a Mr. Barker, on Seventh avenue, where Mr. Church now lives.  Frederick Case, John Case's father, was one of the first to be located in the old village of Pelhamville, and build a house on the site of the present house owned by Mrs. Knox on Fifth avenue, between Second and Third streets.  Another old house stood on the southwest corner of Third street and Fourth avenue, where the house in which Mr. Stead lives is now located.

John Case, the present town tax collector, was the first one to occupy the old Wolf farmhouse after Mr. Wolfe moved out, when his property had been acquired by this association above mentioned.  

It is said that at one time in the early history of Pelhamville nearly every house in the old village sold rum privately.  This will probably be denied by the descendants of those who lived here at that time, but the information came from a pretty good source.  There were two or three 'moonshiners,' so called, in the village, and a brewery which was operated by a good old Dutchman by the name of Bigerchinsky, or something like that.  This brewery was located in the basement of a barn which was situated near where the pumping station at the reservoir is now located.  The old house in which the Dutchman lived is now standing, but the barn is extinct.  Ale was manufactured there.

There are interesting stories told concerning the old 'moonshine' establishments of the early fifties. . . . There was one in the northeast part of the village, somewhere in the vicinity of what is now Ninth avenue, and another in a house not far from where the North Pelham postoffice now stands.  It is said that the proprietors of this place had a very narrow escape from arrest one night.  The detectives were on their way to execute the law upon the heads of the owners when the latter got wind of what was going to happen and made good their escape.  When the detectives arrived, 'it was all over but the shouting,' and that was done by some of the villagers and not the detectives.  No one, of course, knew anything about the establishment and the detectives went away without their offenders.

North Pelham has developed more during the last twenty years than ever before.  Previous to 1886 there were not a great many houses in North Pelham, or what was known as Pelhamville.  Since that time the population has more than doubled.  In fact it has doubled since 1896.

It was in that year, in the month of September, that the village of North Pelham was incorporated with Jacob Heisser as the first village president.  The trustees were George A. McGalliard, L. C. Young, and Samuel E. Lyon.  B. S. Crewell was treasurer and John Case clerk.

The village of North Pelham is now in the midst of its prosperity.  Today there is a population of 872 persons.  Four years ago the population was given as 627, showing a gain of 245 in four years.  With new industries coming into the village, the village should make rapid strides in growth and the real estate business should boom there.

During the past year six houses have been erected in North Pelham and two more are in the course of erection.  Those built were by Mr. Murphy, on the corner of First avenue and Second street; Mrs. Pickhardt, on Second avenue; Mr. Ham on Eighth avenue; Mr. Brooks on Sixth avenue; Mr. Coe on Eighth avenue, and Mr. Miller on Seventh avenue.  The two houses being erected are those of Philip Godfrey, on Fourth avenue, and David Lyon, Second avenue.  Just as soon as the weather opens, Mr. Fritz of Third avenue, will build a house in back of the schoolhouse.

However, the most important building to be erected this coming spring and one which is looked forward to with a great deal of interest by the people is the handsome six thousand dollar convent, on which work will be commenced in the early spring.  As previously stated in these columns, this convent will be occupied by the Sisters from the Order of St. Francis.  The Sisters will have whole charge of the school, which is to be opened in the Lyceum building next fall.  They will also do much needed charitable work among the poor, irrespective of creed.  The convent wil face on First avenue, and will be located directly in back of the church.  A.G.C. Fletcher is the architect.

The most important buildings in North Pelham are the court house on Fifth avenue, the fire house on the same street, in which are housed the two fire companies of the village, the postoffice and the fine school building, located on an eminence on Fourth street.  This schoolhouse is known as the Union Free School of District No. 1 of the town of Pelham, and was erected in 1888.  It is without any exceptions the finest edifice in North Pelham.  When the school was erected, William Allen Smith was president of the board, and the trustees were E. H. Gurney, Frank Beattie, Robert C. Clark, William Barry, H. N. Babcock.  F. C. Merry was the architect, John New & Son the masons, and James Thompson had charge of the carpentering.  I. C. Hill is the popular principal of the school.  In fact, he is the only man to boast of being at the head of this institution.,

There are three churches in North Pelham, all of which are located on the same street -- Second avenue.  In view of this fact, the religious influence on the neighboring ressidents should be quite marked.  They are the Congregational church, the Church of the Redeemer, which is Episcopal, and St. Catherine's, which is Catholic.  The pastor of the Congregational church is the Rev. Wayland Spaulding.  Rev. Cornelius W. Bolton is the rector of the Episcopal church and the assistant rector is the Rev. E. B. Rice.  Dr. Rice officiates now, as the rector is very ill and unable to attend to the duties of the parish.  The parishioners worship in a magnficent little edifice, a picture of which is seen elsewhere in this paper.  The corner stone was laid in 1892.  The church is built of native stone and will seat about three hundred.

The members originally worshiped in the little building on Fourth avenue, now used as a Sunday school room and a gathering place for the parishioners at various sociables.  The church was organized under the trees in North Pelham, it is understood, and worshiped for the first time in a room upstairs in the present Sunday school building.  This used to be an old carpenter's shop and was later remodeled and renovated for a church edifice.  The future prosperity of the church was assisted materially by Mrs. Seaver, who lived at one time in Mount Vernon.  She gave four lots where the present elegant church now stands.  On her death she willed the church a large sum of money.  Mrs. I. C. Hill raised the first hundred dollars for the new edifice, and Mr. Rapelye, of New Rochelle, was the architect, he donated the plans.  The church was opened for worship February 7, 1893, a little over thirteen years ago.

The corner stone of St. Catharine's church was laid in 1896.  The only pastor the church has ever had is the present incumbent, Rev. Father McNichol.  When Father McNichol arrived in North Pelham, which was eight years ago, he found the condition of things very bad.  There was no rectory and the only land the parish owned was that on which the church stood.  Since then the church has been beautifully furnished and both a rectory and lyceum have been built.  Six pieces of land have been purchased since he has been here, giving the church property a frontage of two avenues.  It is surrounded by an iron fence of handsome pattern which cost, it is said, $1,400.  A fine new convent is to be erected this spring which will cost $6,000.  When this is completed the value of the property will be about $36,000.  The buildings and church property are factors in making that locality of North Pelham the prettiest in the town.

There is no doubt that before long the members of the Congregational church will be putting up a fine new edifice.  As it is they worship in a cosy wooden church, the interior of which is a credit to the members.  This organization is one of the active ones of the village and is a factor for development of the religious tone of the town that cannot be lost sight of.  It is to be regretted that the Argus has not a cut of this church.

Beside the important buildings, North Pelham has three grocery stores, owned, respectively, by Jacob Heisser, R. H. Marks, and A. Smith; one blacksmith shop, operated by Mr. James Riley [sic], the fire commissioner; one barber shop, owned by F. Utano; two notion stores; a sheet iron shop, owned by W. Edinger; a butcher shop, owned by B. W. Imhof; a wheelwright industry, owned by A. G. Harris; S. T. Lyman is postmaster; a pharmacy owned by Mr. Lyman, and several places where some men spend their evenings where various kinds of refreshments are served.  There are one or two minor industries.  The fine railroad station is for the whole town, of course, though in the village of North Pelham.

William Edinger is the president of the village now.  The clerk is James W. Caffrey and the treasurer K. S. Durham.  The other trustees are M. J. Woods and Dave Algie.

The social life of North Pelham is well worth passing notice.  The old 'house sociables,' so called, used to be 'the thing' in North Pelham not so long ago.  Young ladies, who even now are living in the village, can remember how they used to attend them when they were young girls.  These house sociables used to be held every month, and what rousing times the people of the village used to have.  Jack Horny, with his fiddle, used to constitute a complete orchestra for the various dances held at these gatherings. . . . There is a very interesting story told about a dance which ws indulged in by a thin young man and a very stout woman.

This particular dance occurred in a house on Prospect street.  On this particular night, when old Jack Horney started up a jig, this fat woman was urged by the people there to dance a jig for them.  She consented
-----
(Continued on Page 14.)

TOWN OF PELHAM
-----
(Continued From Page 12.)
-----

and had as her partner the aforesaid mentioned young man.  The two kept it up for so long that as a result the woman was confined to her bed for three days.  In fact, she had to be taken home in a hack.  This woman now lives in North Pelham and the man is a resident of Mount Vernon.  

Today the people of North Pelham are very sociable and many are the good times they have among themselves.  The various affairs held by the three churches are the principal attractions, not to mention the dances held in Lyon hall and the various home gatherings and dinners.  Lucky is he who owns a home in North Pelham.

North Pelham has not been visited by a great many fires in her history; however, there were several worthy of notice during the last fifteen years.  The large old residence of Frederick Case, one of the earliest settlers here, was burned to the ground, and made a spectacular fire.  It was known as the Case homestead and was located on Fifth avenue.  Another big fire was that which destroyed the Delcambre house, which was situated on Fourth avenue, opposite the Sunday school building of the Church of the Redeemer.  This was a very large building, and also made a spectacular fire.

Probably the worst fire in the history of the village was that which destroyed the Pelham building, where the postoffice is now located.  One life was lost in this fire.  Fire also destroyed Penfield's store on Fourth street and Fourth avenue, J. Heisser's store on Fifth avenue, and Fourth street, a house belonging to George Bowden on Ninth avenue, and a house on the corner of Third avenue and Third street, where the McDonald house is now standing.  These latter fires did not occur at the same time, but at various times.  One of the latest fires was that in the house of Mr. Bovie last Monday noon, which caused little damage.

The officers of the town of Pelham are:  Louis C. Young, supervisor; Harry A. Anderson, town clerk; justice of the peace, Durham, Karbach, Hill, Beecroft; and collector of taxes, John Case.  The chief of police is R. H. Marks."

Source:  TOWN OF PELHAM INTERESTING, IMPORTANT, VALUABLE AND UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE VILLAGES OF PELHAM, NORTH PELHAM, PELHAM HEIGHTS AND PELHAM MANOR, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 17, 1906, p. 12, cols. 1-7 & p. 14, cols. 3-4.

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