During the early nineteenth
century, the behemoth city growing adjacent to the Town of Pelham began to spill over into Pelham in interesting ways. “As New York City
became a commercial and mercantile center in the early 1800’s, its wealth
spilled over into Pelham, as the well-to-do sought out property with water
views for summer homes and country estates.”
Bruzelius, Ellen, From Pells to Parks (Part I) – A History of
Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, The Island
Current [City Island, Bronx, NY], Jan.-Feb. 2010, p. 14, cols. 1-4. Wealthy merchants, businessmen and attorneys
built more than 20 grand country and summer estates with elegant mansions in
Pelham. Most were on the mainland near City Island and along today’s Shore Road. I have written about a few of these grand
estates on several occasions. For a few examples, see:
Much of the area along Shore Road
(about 220 acres) once was owned by Herman and Hannah LeRoy who acquired the
land in 1813. In 1836, Robert Bartow, a
businessman and a descendant of John Pell (nephew of the original owner of the
lands that became Pelham), acquired the lands.
Bartow built the grand gray stone mansion with Greek Revival interiors
known today as the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum on Shore Road in the Bronx. He and his family moved into the mansion in
1842.
On May 13, 1846, Robert Bartow and his
wife, Maria R. Bartow, sold a swath of land to the north of their residence (and nearby carriage house) located on both sides of today’s Shore Road. The tract that they sold contained nearly 34
acres and included rights to use a dock and pier to give access to the tract
from Long Island Sound and also from Shore Road. The Bartows sold the land to a brother and
sister from New York City: James
Augustus Suydam and his older sister, Letitia Jane Suydam. See
Westchester County Archives, Westchester County Deeds, Liber 115, pp.
272-276. (I have transcribed the
entirety of this May 13, 1846 deed filed on May 18, 1846, and have included its text among the
research materials I have placed at the end of this posting.)
James Augustus Suydam, who was an
architect, lawyer and artist, later became one of the premier Luminism painters
and, today, is widely-known as an American landscape painter and an important
member of the Hudson River School of Artists.
Watercolor
on Ivory Portrait of James Augustus Suydam;
Date: 1822 - 4.4 Inches x 3.6 Inches;
Smithsonian
American Art Museum, Accession Number 1974.13.1.
“Long
Island”
By James
Augustus Suydam, 1862
Oil on
Canvas, Private Collection
James Augustus Suydam built a grand
and beautiful mansion as a summer retreat on the tract he and his older sister acquired from the Bartows. It was in the “Italian villa style.” Its southeast front commanded a beautiful
view of Pelham Neck and the Long Island Sound. Its northwest facade faced Pelham Road, known today as Shore Road.
James
Augustus Suydam and Letitia Jane Suydam
James Augustus Suydam was born on
March 27, 1819 in New York City. He was
a son of successful New York City Merchant John Suydam and his wife, Jane
Mesier. John Suydam (1763-1841) was
known as “Boss John” and was a descendant of a storied Dutch family that once
owned a large tract in Bushwick. Boss
John was a merchant, first with R. & J. Suydam in 1791, then with Suydam
& Wyckoff in 1794, selling teas, wines and groceries.
During the 1830’s and early 1840’s,
shortly before his father’s death, James Augustus Suydam attended the
University of the City of New York, later known as New York University. Initially he studied medicine, but became
interested in architecture. Soon, however, his interests turned to painting. According to one source:
“In 1842, after the death of his
father a year earlier, Suydam traveled to Europe where his artistic development
began. Traveling with one of his brothers, the young aspiring artist arrived in
Florence in 1843. Here, without any practical knowledge of art but a keen appreciation,
Suydam met and befriended the American artist Miner Kilbourne Kellogg. Over the
next few years, Suydam accompanied Kellogg throughout Europe studying the
artistic treasures that the continent had to offer, including works by the
Carracci family, Guido Reni, Correggio, and Guercino. During these years he
also ventured beyond Italy to Switzerland, Germany, and France. In 1844 Suydam
followed the taste of his drawing instructor and traveled to Constantinople,
Turkey and then on to Malta. Departing Malta in early 1845, the artist, his
brother, and Kellogg sailed to Naples before making their way back to America.”
Source: Questroyal Fine Art, LLC – Important American
Paintings, James Augustus Suydam (1819-1865), available at http://www.questroyalfineart.com/artist/james-augustus-suydam (visited Mar. 3, 2014).
Interestingly, Suydam returned to New
York in 1845 and joined his brother in partnership in the family dry goods
business. He lived in the Suydam family
home at 25 Waverly Place near Washington Square Park. Id. He continued to paint, but made no effort at
that time to earn his living from painting.
Shortly after he returned to New York,
Suydam joined his older sister, then-unmarried 37-year-old Letitia Jane Suydam, and
purchased from Robert and Maria Bartow the 33-acre estate in the Town of Pelham with the apparent intent to develop a country home. Suydam built a lovely home on the tract in the style of an Italian villa. No record of the architect of the home (if any) or of the date it was built has yet been located by this
author. Clearly, however, the home that Suydam called “Oakshade” had been built by 1848. See
Bolton, Jr., Robert, A History of the County of Westchester, From its First
Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. I, p. 552 (NY, NY: Alexander S. Gould 1848) (noting “The
adjoining estate [to Bartow’s on the east], Oak-shade, is the property of James
A. Suydam, Esq. The house is a very
beautiful specimen of the Italian villa style.
The south front commands a fine view of Pelham neck and the Sound.”).
“Map of Land
Sold by
R. Bartow
Esq
To
James A.
Suydam Esq. &
Letitia J.
Suydam
Situated in
the Township of
Pelham W.C.
County N.Y.
D.B. Taylor,
Surveyor
May 1st
1846.”
Source: Westchester County Archives.
Undated Post Card view of the Suydam Mansion Known as "Oakshade"
After its Conversion to a Roadhouse; Post Card Ca. 1918-1923;
Notation on Card Says:
"SHANLEY'S PELL TREE INN. Pelham Shore Road, N.Y."
By 1849, James Augustus Suydam’s early
art works were beginning to attract attention.
He was elected to the prestigious Century Association, "which also
claimed the poet William Cullen Bryant, painters Asher Brown Durand, Winslow
Homer, John Frederick Kensett, and architect Stanford White as members.” Questroyal Fine Art, LLC – Important American
Paintings, James Augustus Suydam (1819-1865), available at http://www.questroyalfineart.com/artist/james-augustus-suydam (visited Mar. 3, 2014).
This honorific seems to have prompted
Suydam to focus more seriously on his art.
He became close friends with Asher Brown Durand and John Frederick
Kensett who mentored him and “offered informal lessons.” See id. Suydam also began collecting art by others at
this time, including works by these two important American artists. One source says:
“The wealth and social status
inherited by Suydam from his father allowed him to both collect art and to
practice his artistry in an unimpeded gentlemanly manner. Although he was often
branded an amateur—mainly because he did not rely on art for a living—Suydam
was held up as a model to other wealthy men for his dedication to the subject.
It has been argued that Suydam’s ability to rely on his inherited wealth for
sustenance had positive impact on his art because it allowed him to experiment
in his work in ways that his colleagues, bound by the tastes of their clients,
were not. This being so, his success as
a painter was validated by his close relationship with the National Academy, to
which he was elected an honorary member in 1858.”
Id. (citing Manthorne, Katherine E., “Becoming A
Landscape Painter,’ in Luminist Horizons:
The Art and Collection of James A. Suydam, p. 23 (NY, NY: George Braziller, 2006).
With his election as an honorary
professional member of the National Academy of Design in 1858, Suydam’s
artistic success seemed assured. (He was
granted full membership in the National Academy of Design in 1861.) He established himself as a full-time painter
and began to rent studio space in the “Tenth Street Studio Building” located at
51 West 10th Street in New York City where other notable artists
including Winslow Homer, Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt
worked. Id.
For the rest of his life, Suydam
traveled throughout New York and New England “from landscape to seascape, in
search of subjects for his art, often in the company of his friends Kensett and
Durand.” Id. While on a sketching
trip in North Conway, New Hampshire, accompanied by Sanford Robinson Gifford,
Suydam contracted dysentery and died on September 15, 1865. He was only 46 years old. He never married.
Suydam made a very substantial bequest
to the National Academy of Design. One
source notes:
“Suydam bequeathed $50,000 along with
his collection of art to the Academy. The Suydam Collection was exhibited by
the National Academy at the Annual Exhibition the very next year. The
collection had been carefully amassed by Suydam over his career as an artist
and included twenty-eight European works by artists including Émile Charles
Lambinet, Narcisse-Virgile Díaz de la Peña, Jules Achille Noël and Alexandre
Calame, and fifty-five American paintings by some of his closest friends including
Kensett, Gifford, Durand, Kellogg, Church, William Hart, Jasper Francis Cropsey
and others. The importance of Suydam’s
gift to the National Academy cannot be overlooked for it was one of the first
to establish a serious permanent collection at an American institution.”
Id. (citing The National Academy Airs Some Lesser-Known
Work, N.Y. Times, Apr. 28,
1989).
Less is known of the sister of James
Augustus Suydam named Letitia Jane Suydam.
She was about ten years older than James. She was born in New York
City on September 30, 1808. In 1846,
when she and her brother bought the tract in Pelham from Robert Bartow and his
wife, Letitia Jane Suydam was unmarried.
According to genealogists, about six years later, on June 16, 1852,
Letitia married Charles Jeffery Smith.
At some point after the wedding, Letitia and her husband moved to Mastic
on Long Island. In 1872, after
Letitia’s death on February 1, 1872, Charles Jeffrey Smith liquidated a $500
debt on the tiny little St. Andrew’s Church in Yaphank as a contribution to the
Church in memory of his wife, Letitia, so that the Church could be consecrated. See
Foley, Tricia & Monzakes, Karen, Images of America: Yaphank, p. 72 (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2012).
Suydam Biography Sources: Manthorne, Katherine E. & Mitchell, Mark
D., Luminist Horizons: The Art and
Collection of James A. Suydam (NY, NY: George Braziller, 2006); Questroyal Fine Art,
LLC – Important American Paintings, James Augustus Suydam (1819-1865),
available at http://www.questroyalfineart.com/artist/james-augustus-suydam (visited Mar. 3, 2014); Wikipedia –
The Free Encyclopedia, James Augustus Suydam, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Augustus_Suydam (visited Mar. 3, 2014); The New York
Society Library, John Suydam, available at https://www.nysoclib.org/collection/ledger/people/suydam_john (visited Mar. 3, 2014).
Richard
Lewis Morris
Shortly after James August Suydam’s
death on September 15, 1865, Oakshade was sold.
Diligent searches for the deed reflecting the transaction have not yet
turned up the precise day, but by 1868, the estate is reflected as the home of
Dr. Richard Lewis Morris, a grandson of General Lewis Morris of Morrisania, one
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. See
Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity from Actual Surveys by and Under
the Direction of F.W. Beers, Assisted by A.B. Prindle & Others, p. 35 (Philadelphia, PA: James McGuigan, 1868) (Plate entitled “City
Island, Pelham Township, Westchester Co., N.Y. (with) Town of Pelham,
Westchester Co., N.Y.” reflects the old Suydam estate as the residence of “Dr.
R. L. Morris”); cf. Bolton, Robert,
The History of The Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of
Westchester, From Its First Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. II, p. 88 (NY,
NY: 2d Edition, Chas. F. Roper 1881) (“The adjoining estate to the Bartows
[sic] on the east is Oakshade, the property of Richard Lewis Morris, M.D., son
of James Morris and grandson of General Lewis Morris of Morrisania, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The house is a very beautiful specimen of the Italian villa style. The south front commands a fine view of the
Pelham Neck and the Sound. The old Le
Roy mansion, now the estate of the Rodgers’ family, is also finely situated,
and embraces every variety of water view.”).
Source: Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity
from Actual Surveys by and Under the Direction of F.W. Beers, Assisted by A.B.
Prindle & Others, p. 35
(Philadelphia, PA: James
McGuigan, 1868) (Plate entitled “City Island, Pelham Township, Westchester Co.,
N.Y. (with) Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N.Y.”).
Richard Lewis Morris was an
illustrious resident of Pelham during the 19th century. He was born on his family’s estate in
Morissania on November 4, 1805. He was
one of the twelve children of James Morris (1764-1827) and Helen Van Cortlandt
(1768-1812).
Richard L. Morris entered Hamilton
College in 1821 where he studied for a year.
Next he entered Columbia College from which he graduated in 1826. He next studied medicine in the New York Medical
College, then studied with Dr. Alex H. Stevens, “a celebrated surgeon, who
married one of Dr. Morris’s sisters.”
Dr. Morris married Elizabeth Sarah
Stuyvesant Fish in New York City on October 15, 1829. Elizabeth was a daughter of Colonel Nicholas
Fish (1758-1833) and Elizabeth Stuyvesant Fish (1775-1854) and was a sister of
Hamilton Fish, twenty-sixth Secretary of State of the United States and
sixteenth Governor of the State of New York.
The couple had at least eight children. (See research notes and materials below.)
Dr. Morris served as Health
Commissioner of New York City from 1841 to 1852. From 1852 to 1854 he served as Health Officer
of the Port of New York. He lived in New
York City, for many years at 9 St. Marks Place.
After he retired from service as Health Officer of the Port of New York,
he moved to Mamaroneck where he lived for a year or so before moving to the
Town of Pelham.
By 1868, Dr. Morris and his wife
resided at the former James August Suydam mansion which they also called
“Oakshade.” Cf. Bolton, Robert, The History of The Several Towns, Manors, and
Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement to the Present
Time, Vol. II, p. 88 (NY, NY: 2d Edition, Chas. F. Roper 1881) (“The adjoining
estate to the Bartows [sic] on the east is Oakshade, the property of Richard
Lewis Morris, M.D.”).
The couple lived the remainder of
their lives in Oakshade. According to an
obituary published soon after Dr. Morris died on June 14, 1880, when Dr. Morris was at Oakshade:
“his
chief delight at twilight was to sit on the veranda, surrounded by his family,
and watch the sailing vessels and steamboats pass by an opening in the grove at
the foot of the lawn.”
Source: Dr. Morris's Death, The Sun, Jun. 15, 1880, p. 1, col. 6. See
also Personal, The Port Chester
Journal [Port Chester, NY], Jul. 1, 1880, p. 1, col. 7.
In about 1876, while climbing the
steep stone steps in the rear of Oakshade, Dr. Morris slipped and fell. He was injured and became an invalid who
could only walk “at times” thereafter.
In early June, 1880, Dr. Morris suffered his “last and fatal illness”
from which he died on June 14, 1880. His
wife, Elizabeth, followed him in death only a few months later on March 25,
1881.
The following obituary appeared
shortly after Dr. Morris died:
"DR. MORRIS'S DEATH.
-----
Grandson of One of the Signers of the
Declaration of Independence.
Dr. Richard L. Morris died yesterday
morning in his country residence at Pelham, Westchester County. While ascending
the stone steps in the rear of the old mansion, four years ago, he fell, and
was afterward an invalid, but able to walk at times until his last and fatal
illness attacked him about ten days ago. Before that accident he was robust and
hearty, entering into all the pleasures and enjoyments of younger persons. The
mansion is on the shore of the Sound and his chief delight at twilight was to
sit on the veranda, surrounded by his family, and watch the sailing vessels and
steamboats pass by an opening in the grove at the foot of the lawn. He was tall
and stout, being six feet and three inches in height, and weighing more than
200 pounds. He had a genial nature, and was a friend to many in more humble
circumstances. He leaves a wife and five children.
Dr. Morris was born in the old Morris
homestead at Morrisania on Nov. 4, 1805. He was one of the twelve children of
James Morris. His grandfather, Lewis Morris, half brother of Gouverneur Morris,
was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and he had his manor laid
waste in consequence thereof. Dr. Morris entered Hamilton College in 1821, but
he remained there only a year. Afterward he entered Columbia College, and was
graduated in 1826. Then he studied in the New York Medical College, and
subsequently he studied in the office of Dr. Alex H. Stevens, a celebrated
surgeon, who married one of Dr. Morris's sisters. Dr. Morris took little
interest in politics, and he held only two public offices -- that of Health
Commissioner from 1818 [sic] to 1852, and that of Health Officer from 1852 to 1854.
He had lived at 9 St. Marks place, but after he retired from office he went to
Mamaroneck to live. A year afterward he purchased the Le Roy mansion at Pelham
and began to lead a quiet life.
The funeral services are to be
performed on Thursday in St. Peter's Church, Westchester, of which Dr. Morris
was the warden until a year ago. The body is to be placed in the Morris Family
vault."
Source: Dr. Morris's Death, The Sun, Jun. 15, 1880, p. 1, col.
6. See
also Personal, The Port Chester
Journal [Port Chester, NY], Jul. 1, 1880, p. 1, col. 7.
The
Country Club Years
The Suydam / Morris Estate was clearly
a beautiful and appealing country location with beautiful views of Pelham Neck
and Long Island Sound. At the same time,
it was convenient to New York City and was near City Island and the
newly-developing suburb of Pelham Manor with its wealthy homeowners.
In the Autumn of 1883, a group of
Pelham Manor residents and New York City “club men” organized a new “Country
Club” dedicated to the enjoyment of all “legitimate sports.” By 1884, the Club commenced operations in the
nearly-34-acre area encompassed by the Suydam / Morris Estate. They converted the “Oakshade” mansion into the
Club’s headquarters and laid out a steeplechase course on the other side of today’s
Shore Road (the north side), opposite the Club’s headquarters. See Pelham's Gay Pastime - A Day of Glorious Steeplechasing Provided by the
Country Club, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 17, 1884, p. 6, cols. 3-4 (referring to the new
“club headquarters in the Italian Villa-style mansion,” erroneously, as one
that was “built some forty years earlier
by wealthy New Yorker David Lydig Suydam” who, actually, was a brother of James Augustus
Suydam who bought the tract and first lived in the mansion).
Diagram of
the Pelham Steeplechase Course for the Race Run on October 18, 1884. Note the Reference to "Pelham Road" (Today's Shore Road) at the Bottom of the Map. Source:
Pelham's Gay Pastime - A Day of Glorious Steeplechasing Provided by the
Country Club, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 17, 1884, p. 6, cols. 3-4.
The Club was not a predecessor to
today's Pelham Country Club. To make
matters more confusing, the Club was known by many different names including
the Pelham Country Club, the Country Club at Pelham, the Country Club, the
Country Club at Westchester, and more.
Members of the Country Club at Pelham
rode to the hounds, sponsored and competed in steeplechase races, held grand polo matches, played
baseball, tennis, billiards and more at their Club.
The Club's great steeplechase races became nationally-renowned and
attracted gamblers and spectators from all over the northeast. I have written extensively about the Pelham
Country Club and, particularly, the baseball games and steeplechase races that
it sponsored. (See the lengthy list of links at the end of this posting.)
Grand balls were held inside
Oakshade, the Club's headquarters. During the country club years it was the scene of many dances,
parties and celebrations. The grounds of
the estate were particularly busy during the summer months when the weather was
fair. For nearly five years the Club
entertained 250-300 members, their families, and guests.
Many of the links at the end of this posting describe the grand scenes
of steeplechase races and the pageantry of early “base-ball” games held at the Country Club.
As New York City intensified its
efforts to purchase the entire area for inclusion within the new Pelham Bay
Park, however, the Club was forced to search for a new site. In early 1889, the Club settled on a new site
on Throgg’s Neck (about two and a half miles away) and arranged to move to a
new clubhouse and grounds in the fall of that year. An article about the move published at the
time said, in part, the following:
“The Country Club of Westchester
County will move into its new home early in the fall, probably during the month
of September. Since its foundation
[sic], in 1884, the club has occupied the old Morris estate and mansion on the
shores of the Sound in Pelham Bay Park.
When the park, extending in all over 1,750 acres, was purchased by the
city it became necessary for the Executive of the club to look around for new
quarters, and finally the new site, a most eligible one, was secured. It is on Throgg’s Neck, some two and a half
miles below the present one. The large
attendant expense was made easy to the club by the formation of the Country
Club Land Association, which company purchased the new estate, comprising about
130 acres, apportioning 100 acres into building lots and leasing the balance to
the club proper for its new club house and grounds.
The property is bounded on the north
by the Lorillard-Spencer estate, on the south by the William Laytin estate,
with the Eastern Boulevard and the waters of Pelham Bay as its western and
eastern boundaries respectively. The new
club house, which is now completed save for the interior decorations, stands
upon a knoll seventeen feet above the water level, and with a lawn in front of
it stretching down to the shore of the bay.”
Source: THE COUNTRY CLUB – A Description of the New
House of This Famous Organization, The
Press [NY, NY], Apr. 28, 1889, p. 7, col. 2.
The
Pell Tree Inn
Like other mansions within the
boundaries of the new Pelham Bay Park, Oakshade seems to have languished for a
number of years after the lands on which it stood were annexed by New York City in the mid-1890's. No records reflecting any meaningful use of the Oakshade
mansion have yet been found by this author for a number of years after the
departure of the Country Club of Westchester.
It seems certain, however, that by 1915, the building had been converted into a roadhouse and had been
renamed the “Pell Tree Inn” in honor of the nearby “Pell Treaty Oak.” The Pell Treaty Oak once stood on the grounds
of the Bartow-Pell Mansion (on the adjacent property) and was said to be the site
where Thomas Pell acquired the lands that became Pelham from local Native
Americans on June 27, 1654.
An item that appeared in the September 17, 1915 issue of Variety magazine referenced a car accident involving a group returning from the "Pell Tree Inn." See Cabarets, Variety Magazine, Sep. 17, 1915, p. 8. By at least November 10, 1915, New York City Police Captain John Tappin had joined with a man named Tonjes and converted Oakshade into a roadhouse that they named "Pell Tree Inn." See Pell Tree Inn, N.Y. Times, Nov. 10, 1915, p. 22. Cf. Tappin's, Evening Telegram [NY, NY], Jul. 1, 1916, p. 12, col. 3 (advertisement for "Tappin's . . . AT PELL TREE INN").
Undated Post Card View of Tappin's Pell Tree Inn (Ca. 1915-1918)
Notation: "PELL TREE INN, Pelham Bay Park, N.Y. City. Tonjes and Tappin."
Undated Post Card View of Interior of Tappin's Pell Tree Inn (Ca. 1915-1918)
Notation Says: "PELL TREE INN, Pelham Bay Park, N.Y. City. Tonjes and Tappin"
The Proprietress of the Pell Tree
Inn was listed in 1918 as “Mrs. John S. Tappin, wife of New York City Police Captain
Tappin.” See Ex-Jockey Pleads Guilty, The
Evening World [New York, NY], Aug. 27, 1914, Baseball and Racing Results
Page, col. 8.
New York City Police
Captain John Tappin seems to have had quite a moonlighting talent when it came
to arranging leases of New York City park lands with his New York City employer
to develop – and then to sell – leases for local roadhouses located in Pelham Bay Park. Only a few years prior to his (and his wife’s) involvement with the Pell Tree Inn, Captain Tappin “purchased the business at
the Hunter Island Inn” only a few hundred yards away, and ultimately sold out
to Arthur E. MacLean. See Town Topics, New Rochelle Pioneer, Apr. 15, 1911, p. 5, cols. 1-2 ("John F.
Tappin, a captain in the New York City police department, it is reported, has
purchased the business at the Hunter Island Inn and will continue that
hostelry.").
As was the case with the Hunter Island
Inn, the involvement of the Tappins with the Pell Tree Inn seems to have been
short-lived. In 1918, a well-known New
York City restaurateur named Peter F. Shanley took over the Pell Tree Inn. He retained the name of the inn, but remodeled the roadhouse completely and became its proprietor. The first World War, however, was underway.
Shanley was a showman. He immediately concocted an interesting scheme in an attempt to attract patrons to his new venture.
Victory Gardens were becoming popular as American citizens planted vegetable gardens as part of the home-front effort to support their nation at War. Shanley decided to capitalize on that trend. A newspaper account at the time said:
“Peter Shanley’s Pell Tree Inn.
At his new Pell Tree Inn, in Pelham
Parkway, Westchester, Peter Shanley offers an alluring opportunity to the
public to mix patriotism with its pleasure.
He has divided the 150 acres which surround the building into small
plots, which he is parcelling [sic] out to patrons for war gardening.
Already many patriots have taken
advantage of the novel offer. The only
condition attaching to temporary ownership by any given person is that he
assume full responsibility for the care of his garden. Before many months he will be able to gather
his own vegetables, and then, repairing inside the restaurant, have them served
in whatever style his taste dictates.
For the present many expect to spend the afternoons weeding their
gardens and when evening comes satisfy their appetites with the dinners for
which the Pell Tree is already famous.
Mr. Shanley has entirely remodelled
[sic] the inn at a cost of over $1,000.
The dining room has a capacity of 600, a new dance floor has been
installed and as a decorative feature of particular attractiveness excellent
paintings have been hung. Miss Agnes
Martin is the new hostess, and Cartonne and Joseph Closkin, both long at the
Plaza Hotel, have joined the staff, the former as chef, the latter as head
waiter.”
Source: Peter Shanley’s Pell Tree Inn, The Sun [New York, NY], Apr. 21, 1918,
Section 2, p. 5, col. 6.
Another account at the time noted that
Peter F. Shanley was the proprietor of Pell Tree Inn in the spring of
1918. Olga Cook was a singer who led Gus
Edwards’ “new song revue” at the venue.
Gus Edwards sang and served as the master of ceremonies. A jazz band played for the crowd which, at
times, could “overflow the large hall usually devoted to the night gathering
and occupy even the open air space skirting the edge of the roof.” See
To-Night The Night At Pell Tree Inn, The
Sun [New York, NY], May 10, 1918, p. 4, col. 1.
Undated Post Card View of Shanley's Pell Tree Inn from Shore Road. (Ca. 1918-1923)
Notation: "PELL TREE INN, Shore Road, Pelham Park, N.Y.C."
Detail from 1918 Insurance Map Reflecting "SHANLEY'S PELL TREE INN."
Source: Sanborn Map Company, Atlases of New York City / Insurance
Maps of New York / Bronx, Atlas 55, Vol. 18, Plate 97 (1918).
The following year, Shanley had what may have been his first brush with the law. He was among
those called to testify before a Federal Grand Jury in 1919 investigating
violations of the Wartime Prohibition Act.
See Liquor Graft Net Sweeps
Broadway; 20 Men Involved – Politicians, Café and Saloon Keepers, and Lawyers
to be Summoned, N.Y. Times, Oct. 24,
1919; Dry Law Graft Hunt Grows as One Confesses – Federal Grand Jury Starts
Hearing Men from Large Cafes and Roadhouses on Monday in Big Inquiry, New-York Tribune, Oct. 24, 1919, p. 3,
col. 1.
It seems that with the advent of Prohibition and the
Roaring Twenties, the Pell Tree Inn (also known as “Shanley’s”) became simply another
in a string of suburban roadhouse speakeasies that surreptitiously served
liquor to its happy clientele. Indeed, Peter
Shanley and his head waiter named John McNulty were caught selling liquor in
the roadhouse on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1920. A news report a few days later noted that
both were arrested and held on $1,000 bail each after selling liquor to
Prohibition agents:
“Peter Shanley, proprietor of the Pell Tree
Inn, at Pelham Bay Park, and his head waiter, John McNulty, were held in $1,000
bail each for trial after a hearing before United States Commissioner
Hitchcock. Prohibition agents testified
they bought liquor at the inn New Year’s eve.”
Source: More Arrests In Liquor Ring Expected Here, New-York Tribune, Jan. 5, 1921, p. 9,
col. 1.
The arrest may have played a role in
Shanley’s decision to sell the Pell Tree Inn.
The next proprietors turned out to be famous throughout the land. (See next section).
Peter F. Shanley died at the age of 72 in
1950. His obituary noted his involvement
with the Pell Tree Inn. See P.F. Shanley Dies; Restaurateur, 72;
Last of 7 Brothers in Field Here – Had Operated Eating Places in Yonkers,
Pelham, N.Y. Times, Mar. 3,
1950. (“After leaving the Shanley’s
restaurant at Forty-third Street and Broadway, Peter Shanley ran Shanley’s on
South Broadway, Yonkers, and then the Pell Tree Inn.”).
The
California Ramblers Inn
As the Roaring Twenties opened, jazz
was red hot. Two young college students
who loved jazz formed a partnership and created a jazz band. Arthur Hand and Wallace T. Kirkeby formed a
band the members of which were principally from Ohio.
According to tradition, the group chose the name “California Ramblers”
because they feared that the public would not be excited about a band if its name suggested it was from from the
midwest.
Young Arthur Hand became conductor of
the group, to the chagrin of his wealthy father, Joseph C. Hand. Arthur asked his father for a loan to help
him and his new partner get the band on its feet. The elder Hand refused and forbade his son
from involving himself with any jazz band.
Thereafter, Arthur Hand and his father “were not on speaking terms” and
the elder Hand repeatedly told his jazz-loving son that he had been
disinherited as a result of the decision to proceed with the band.
Soon, the band found itself riding the crest of the wave known as jazz. Its members changed over time,
but the California Ramblers became nationally-famous among college students and
young people in the United States. Three members of the band, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy
Dorsey, and Red Nichols, went on to front big bands of their own in later
years. In view of his son’s success,
Joseph C. Hand’s attitude toward his son and his son’s chosen profession
“became softer” and the elder hand even brought his friends to see the band
perform. Then, in July 1924, the elder
Hand died. In his will, he left his
jazz-loving son the then-substantial sum of $500,000, apparently having forgiven
Arthur for his career choice. Source: Green, Abel, Abel’s Comment in Variety Magazine, Feb. 4, 1925, p. 37,
col. 4.
The California Ramblers became stars
of the "Columbia Recording" orchestras.
Indeed, they became so successful that early in the band's career it was able to acquire the
lease to Shanley’s Pell Tree Inn. The band reopened the facility as a jazz roadhouse
named “California Ramblers’ Inn.” As one
article noted:
“CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS TO TAKE OVER INN – The
California Ramblers, a high class orchestra, which played last year at Post
Lodge in Larchmont and which appeared in vaudeville at Proctor’s here while on
tour this season, is to be located at Shanley’s restaurant on Pelham Parkway,
opposite the golf links in Pelham Bay Park.
Kirkeby and Hand, it is announced, have completed arrangements for the
California Ramblers to take over the establishment. The orchestra has a big following in
Westchester.”
Source: California Ramblers to Take Over Inn, The Daily Argus [Mt. Vernon, NY], May
18, 1923, p. 19, col. 2. See also Cabarets, Variety Magazine, May 24, 1923, p. 33, col. 1 (“An idea of the
prosperity usually visited on a successful band is gleaned from the opening of
the California Ramblers’ Inn Saturday [May 19, 1923]. The Ramblers have purchased the
property. It was the former Shanley’s,
located on Pelham Parkway, N.Y., overlooking the Sound.”); Byrnes, Marion T.,
Gilbert Kahn – Banker’s Son, The Strange Diversion of Otto Kahn’s Son, Who
Spends His Week-Ends From Princeton Blowing a Saxophone in a Manhattan ‘White
Light’ Restaurant, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Sunday Eagle Magazine, Mar. 30, 1924, p. 2, col. 1 (“The ‘Ramblers’ are a
group of young men who have won their fame as much through their personality as
their playing. They have played at many
well-known places: the Post Lodge,
Palais Royal, Hippodrome, and at their own ‘California Ramblers’ Inn’ on the
Boston Post road [sic]. Wherever they play
they have their following of college boys and girls who always give them the
‘glad hand’ in the manner of that genus.
They are owned and managed by Wallace Kirkeley [sic] and Arthur Hand.”).
Album Cover: "Hallelujah! Here Comes The California Ramblers 1925-29.
The California Ramblers used the
California Ramblers Inn on Shore Road in Pelham Bay Park principally as a summer
venue. Much of the rest of the year they
traveled and appeared in venues throughout the country. As their fame soared and they recorded more
songs (under their own name and under pseudonyms), they contracted to take over
other venues where they would play including the Supper Club in a new casino
located in Miami Beach, Florida. See Noted Musical Group Will Be At
Lafayette – California Ramblers, Recording Orchestra, Vaudeville Headliner for
This Week, Buffalo Courier-Express,
Aug. 22, 1926, p. 71, col. 8.
Hollywood
Gardens
As the Roaring Twenties drew to a
close, the proprietorship of the Oakshade mansion changed once again – though
its use as a roadhouse did not. In June
1930, the proprietors of the Hollywood restaurant on Broadway opened “Hollywood
Gardens” in the old Pell Tree Inn / California Ramblers Inn. The proprietors of the Hollywood restaurant
on Broadway were Jacob Amron and Joe Moss, well known New York City
restaurateurs. According to one
source: “Hollywood Gardens, on Pelham
Road, in Westchester county, opened this month with Paul Whiteman and his
orchestra and Florence Richardson and her Twelve Melody Boys furnishing the
continuous dance music. N.T.G. [Nile T.
Granlund] and his revue appear twice nightly.
As is the custom with the Hollywood restaurant on Broadway, which is
under the same management, there is no cover charge.” Source:
At Hollywood Gardens, The New York
Sun, Jun. 26, 1930, p. 21, col. 6.
Almost immediately, friction arose
with the nearby community of the Village of Pelham Manor. The following article describes that
friction:
“BROADCAST ENDS AT POLICE ORDER
-----
Pelham Manor Again Tranquil at
Night. Jazz Programs Confined to
Indoors.
-----
Mayor Lawrence F. Sherman’s complaint
about the broadcasting of music through powerful loud speakers outside the
Hollywood Gardens restaurant on the Shore Road had its desired effect and now
the residents of Pelham Manor are able to enjoy undisturbed sleep.
The New York City police department issued orders to stop the noisy
broadcasting which was being done to attract patrons to the eating place. Mayor Sherman is keeping a close check on the
situation to prevent a repetition of the nuisance.
Since the protest of Mayor Sherman was
filed with the New York City police department the jazz music has been confined
to the inside of the restaurant.”
Source: Broadcast Ends at Police Order, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 29, 1930, p. 2,
col. 4.
By 1931, the Hollywood Gardens’ claim
to fame was that it had an “open air restaurant” that seated up to 5,000
persons and, in good weather, featured NTG [Nile T. Granlund] as the master of
ceremonies with a chorus of girls and performances by Ben Bernie’s
Orchestra. Some programs were
“broadcast” which likely meant they were amplified by sound equipment. See First Street Boys Plan Fishing Trip, The Daily Argus [Mt. Vernon, NY], May 6,
1931, p. 6, col. 1.
The
End of Oakshade
On October 15, 1932, Hollywood Gardens
was destroyed by fire. A series of
articles set forth below describe what happens.
The facility had been closed for the season about a month before. Shortly before 11:00 p.m. that evening, a
fire of undetermined origins broke out.
Though the newspaper articles at the time suggested nothing untoward,
one article referenced what it called an incredible “coincidence” the same
evening – a coincidence that suggests to this author that the fire may not have
been accidental. The articles transcribed
below detail the story.
“Hollywood Gardens Destroyed by Fire
-----
Many Pelham Residents Attracted to
Scene of Fire on Shore Road in New York City.
-----
Many Pelham Manor residents were
attracted to the fire which destroyed the Hollywood Gardens, dance resort on
the Shore road, west of the New York City line, late Saturday night. The origin of the fire has not been
determined. The firemen were seriously
handicapped by smoke. The building is
situated several hundred feet off the highway and it was necessary to stretch
long lines of hose from hydrants on the Shore road.
Traffic was detoured through Split
Rock road to the Boston road.
The main building which was formerly
known as the California Ramblers, was completely gutted. The dance resort was constructed on property
which was included in the original Pell grant and is situated to the east of
the old Bartow Mansion, which is now the property of the International Garden
Club. It was recently extended to
include a seating capacity of more than one thousand diners.—E.F.”
Source: Hollywood Gardens Destroyed by Fire, The Pelham Sun, Oct. 21, 1932, p. 3,
col. 1.
There were some very unusual
circumstances regarding the fire. It
seems that at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 15, 1932, the wife of Mr. Moss,
the proprietor of Hollywood Gardens, left the Park Central Hotel in
Manhattan. She walked to where she had
parked her $4,000 sedan in front of the hotel only to find that her sedan had
been stolen. Only two hours later, she
learned that her husband’s Shore Road nightclub was ablaze and was being
destroyed by flames. In the middle of
the night, after the fire had gutted her husband’s nightclub, her stolen car
was discovered abandoned on Peace Street in Pelham Manor, only a short distance
from Hollywood Gardens. See Fortune Spins a Fast Wheel, The Daily Argus, Oct. 17, 1932, p. 9,
col. 7.
“FORTUNE SPINS A FAST WHEEL
-----
Speaking of coincidence, how is this
for hard luck?
Mrs. L. E. Moss, wife of the owner of
Hollywood Gardens night club on the Shore Road, left the Park Central Hotel in
New York City about nine o’clock Saturday night to discover that her $4,000
sedan had been stolen from in front of the hotel.
Shortly after 11 o’clock she learned
that her husband’s Shore Road night club was being destroyed by flames. About two o’clock yesterday morning she
learned that her car had been recovered by Sergeant James McCaffrey and
Patrolman Michael Spillane on Peace Street, Pelham Manor, not far from Hollywood
Gardens.
Speaking of hard luck followed by a
little good luck, how is that for coincidence?”
Source: Fortune Spins a Fast Wheel, The Daily Argus, Oct. 17, 1932, p. 9,
col. 7.
The fire played havoc with traffic in
the area, so much so that it attracted attention in local newspapers. For example, one report noted:
“BLAZE AT RESORT HAMPERS TRAFFIC
-----
The Village of Pelham Manor felt the
effects of Saturday night’s fire which destroyed Hollywood Gardens, the
restaurant and night club which occupied a prominent site on the Shore Road in
the Bronx not far from the Village line.
Village streets were jammed with traffic for several hours from about 11
o’clock, shortly after the fire broke out, until after 2 o’clock in the
morning.
New York police found it necessary to
detour Shore Road, south of the fire and Pelhamdale Avenue, north of the fire,
to the Boston Post Road. Tieups [sic]
were frequent during the three hour jam of cars and Village police were taxed
in straightening out tangles.
Hollywood Gardens, a favorite
entertainment place for many Pelham residents, stood on property acquired by
the Pell family in Revolutionary days.
It had closed for the season a month ago.”
Source: Blaze at Resort Hampers Traffic, The Daily Argus, Oct. 17, 1932, p. 9,
col. 6.
Plans were immediately commenced to
rebuild some venture on the site. It
appears that the proprietors intended to use the site to recreate an Old World
beer garden. One article stated:
“Jacob Amron of the Hollywood
Restaurant will cross the big pond this Winter for the purpose of studying the
Berlin and Vienna Biergartens.
Upon his return, the Amron-Moss
combine will start the construction of a replica of the Famiena at Berlin, or
some other equally famous Old World spot, on the seventeen acre site of the
recently fire-destroyed Hollywood Gardens on Pelham Parkway.
Commissioner Dolan of the Park
Department has granted permission for the enterprise.”
Source: Where To Dine, Daily Star, Nov. 19, 1932, p. 14, col. 1.
Some form of Hollywood Gardens
apparently was resurrected after the devastating fire, because a year later,
according to one report, a wedding anniversary celebration was held at
“Hollywood Gardens, Shore Road.” Source: Three Anniversaries Are Marked At Party, The Daily Argus [Mt. Vernon, NY], Jun.
19, 1933, p. 4, col. 2.
Nevertheless, the fire was the end of
the Oakshade Mansion. Today the
overgrown, wooded area provides little reminder of the grand mansion, country
club headquarters and roadhouse that once stood on the site.
* * * * *
I have written extensively about the Country Club of Pelham and events that were held on its grounds in the 1880s. Below are a few examples of such postings.
Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.
* * * * *
Miscellaneous Research Materials and Research Notes Relating to the Topic of This Blog Posting Appear Below.
The clubhouse of the Pelham Country
Club which was organized in the autumn of 1883 was “old, but substantial, and
was built by Mr. Lydig Suydam, about 40 years ago, as an Italian villa.” Country Club Meeting, The Chronicle [Mt. Vernon, N.Y.], Oct. 17, 1884, p. 2, col. 3.
Substantially similar accounts appeared at about the same time in a
variety of other publications. See, e.g.,
The Country Club of Westchester County - The Steeplechase Meeting, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 18, 1884, p.
3, col. 5; Pelham's Gay Pastime -- A Day of Glorious Steeplechasing Provided by
the Country Club, N.Y. Herald, Oct.
17, 1884, p. 6, col. 3.
Note:
Lydig Suydam was a brother of James Augustus
Suydam who bought the property in Pelham where the Pelham Country Club was
located. It appears that James Augustus
Suydam built the home – not Lydig Suydam as the quote above -- some 38 years later -- suggests.
“The Bartow mansion was not the only
grand home in the Pelham Bay area. As
New York City became a commercial and mercantile center in the early 1800’s,
its wealth spilled over into Pelham, as the well-to-do sought out property with
water views for summer homes and country estates. Prominent neighbors included James Augustus
Suydam, a well-known art collector, and Dr. and Mrs. Richard Lewis Morris. Dr. Morris had been a New York City
Commissioner of Health, and Mrs. Morris was the sister of the renowned
statesman Hamilton Fish. In all, some 20
grand houses dotted the Pelham Bay landscape.”
Source: Bruzelius, Ellen, From Pells to Parks (Part
I) – A History of Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, The Island Current [City Island, Bronx, NY], Jan.-Feb. 2010, p. 14,
cols. 1-4.
The property on which the Suydam home
was built was acquired by James Augustus Suydam and his then-unmarried sister,
Letitia Jane Suydam, on May 13, 1846. See Westchester County Archives,
Westchester County Deeds, Liber 115, pp. 272-276 (“ROBERT BARTOW & WIFE TO
JAMES AUGUSTUS SUYDAM & OTHER”). The
deed is quoted in full at the end of this material. At the time of the purchase, Letitia Jane
Suydam was the unmarried 37-year-old sister of James Augustus Suydam. According to genealogists, about six years
later, on June 16, 1852, Letitia married Charles Jeffery Smith. At some point after the wedding, Letitia and
her husband moved to the Manor of St. George near Yaphank on Long Island where,
after Letitia’s death, in 1872 Charles Jeffrey Smith liquidated a $500 debt on
the tiny little St. Andrew’s Church as a contribution to the Church in memory
of his wife, Letitia. See Foley, Tricia & Monzakes, Karen,
Images of America: Yaphank, p. 72
(Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing,
2012).
“The adjoining estate [to Bartow’s on
the east], Oak-shade, is the property of James A. Suydam, Esq. The house is a very beautiful specimen of the
Italian villa style. The south front
commands a fine view of Pelham neck and the Sound.”
Source: Bolton, Jr., Robert, A History of the County
of Westchester, From its First Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. I, p. 552
(NY, NY: Alexander S. Gould 1848).
“The adjoining estate to the Bartows [sic] on the east is Oakshade, the property of Richard Lewis Morris, M.D., son of
James Morris and grandson of General Lewis Morris of Morrisania, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The house is a very beautiful specimen of the Italian villa style. The south front commands a fine view of the
Pelham Neck and the Sound. The old Le
Roy mansion, now the estate of the Rodgers’ family, is also finely situated,
and embraces every variety of water view.”
Source: Bolton, Robert, The History of The Several
Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First
Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. II, p. 88 (NY, NY: 2d Edition, Chas. F.
Roper 1881).
"Hollywood Gardens on Shore Road
(August 1, 2002)
I recently came across a program for the
Fourth Annual Dinner of the Throgg’s Neck Property Owners and Welfare
Association. The event was held at
Hollywood Gardens on Thursday, July 20, 1933.
The catering hall and restaurant was located on the Shore Road opposite
the Split Rock Golf Course, just north of the Bartow-Pell Mansion. It was built by R. L. Morris and served the
family well as a rural homestead until the Parks Department acquired it in
1888.
A gentleman by the name of [Shanley]
then leased the mansion and turned it into a roadhouse under the name Pell Tree
Inn. He chose that name due to its close
proximity. To the large oak tree under which Thomas Pell purchased much of the
east Bronx and lower Westchester from the Siwanoy sachems on November 14,
1654. This tree, called Treaty Oak, was
destroyed by fire in 1906, but a fenced-in area still marks the site, and the
name of the inn certainly was wisely chosen.
The building later became known as the
Ramblers’ Inn after the backup group for Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, who became the
main attraction at the inn. The backup
group was called the California Ramblers.
The mansion then became known as Hollywood Gardens, and Paul Whiteman
and his orchestra were hired and also attracted great crowds. This would be the last cognomen for the
roadhouse, as Robert Moses ordered it destroyed [Page 43 / Page 44] circa 1934,
along with the 600 or so bungalows at Old Orchard Beach and all buildings
thereon. . . .”
Source: Twomey, Bill, The Bronx in Bits and Pieces,
pp. 43-44 (Bloomington, IN: Rooftop
Publishing, 2007).
1918, Apr. 21: The Proprietress of the Pell Tree Inn is Mrs.
John S. Tappin, wife of New York City Police Captain Tappin. See
Ex-Jockey Pleads Guilty, The Evening
World [New York, NY], Aug. 27, 1914, Baseball and Racing Results Page, col.
8.
1921, Jan. 5: “Peter Shanley, proprietor of the Pell Tree
Inn, at Pelham Bay Park, and his head waiter, John McNulty, were held in $1,000
bail each for trial after a hearing before United States Commissioner
Hitchcock. Prohibition agents testified
they bought liquor at the inn New Year’s eve.”
More Arrests In Liquor Ring Expected Here, New-York Tribune, Jan. 5, 1921, p. 9, col. 1.
1923, May 24: INFORMATION ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS
Liner Notes History of the California
Ramblers: http://www.redhotjazz.com/caramblers.html
INFORMATION ABOUT JAMES AUGUSTUS
SUYDAM (A WELL KNOWN HUDSON VALLEY LUMINIST PAINTER) AND LETITIA JANE SUYDAM
INFORMATION ABOUT RICHARD L. MORRIS
Richard L. Morris was an illustrious
resident of Pelham during the 19th century. He had a "country home"
in the Town. He was a grandson of Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. He died at his home in Pelham on June 14, 1880. An obituary
appeared in the June 15, 1880 issue of The
Sun, published in New York City.
"DR. MORRIS'S DEATH.
-----
Grandson of One of the Signers of the
Declaration of Independence.
Dr. Richard L. Morris died yesterday
morning in his country residence at Pelham, Westchester County. While ascending
the stone steps in the rear of the old mansion, four years ago, he fell, and
was afterward an invalid, but able to walk at times until his last and fatal
illness attacked him about ten days ago. Before that accident he was robust and
hearty, entering into all the pleasures and enjoyments of younger persons. The
mansion is on the shore of the Sound and his chief delight at twilight was to
sit on the veranda, surrounded by his family, and watch the sailing vessels and
steamboats pass by an opening in the grove at the foot of the lawn. He was tall
and stout, being six feet and three inches in height, and weighing more than
200 pounds. He had a genial nature, and was a friend to many in more humble
circumstances. He leaves a wife and five children.
Dr. Morris was born in the old Morris
homestead at Morrisania on Nov. 4, 1805. He was one of the twelve children of
James Morris. His grandfather, Lewis Morris, half brother of Gouverneur Morris,
was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and he had his manor laid
waste in consequence thereof. Dr. Morris entered Hamilton College in 1821, but
he remained there only a year. Afterward he entered Columbia College, and was
graduated in 1826. Then he studied in the New York Medical College, and
subsequently he studied in the office of Dr. Alex H. Stevens, a celebrated
surgeon, who married one of Dr. Morris's sisters. Dr. Morris took little
interest in politics, and he held only two public offices -- that of Health
Commissioner from 1818 to 1852, and that of Health Officer from 1852 to 1854.
He had lived at 9 St. Marks place, but after he retired from office he went to
Mamaroneck to live. A year afterward he purchased the Le Roy mansion at Pelham
and began to lead a quiet life.
The funeral services are to be
performed on Thursday in St. Peter's Church, Westchester, of which Dr. Morris
was the warden until a year ago. The body is to be placed in the Morris Family
vault."
Source: Dr. Morris's Death, The Sun, Jun. 15, 1880, p. 1, col.
6. See
also Personal, The Port Chester
Journal [Port Chester, NY], Jul. 1, 1880, p. 1, col. 7.
See The New York City Society Library,
New York City Marriage and Death Notices, Vol. III, 1857 to 1870, p. 17
("MARRIED 1859: On the 23d of June,
by the Rev. Mr. Jackson, William St. John Elliot Marshall, of Natchez, Miss.,
to Elizabeth Stuyvesant Fish, daughter of Richard L. Morris, M.D., of Oaksdale,
Westchester county, N.Y.”). NOTE: This notice is all the more interesting
because Morris’s daughter, Elizabeth Stuyvesant Fish Morris, was marrying a son
of Morris’s neighbor and owner of the estate known as “Hawkswood” on the
mainland near City Island in the Town of Pelham, Levin Rothrock Marshall.
“RICHARD LEWIS MORRIS, son of James
and Helen (Van Cortlandt) Morris, was born November 4, 1805. He was graduated from Hamilton College, and
in 1826 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York). From 1841 to 1852 he served as health
commissioner of New York City, and from 1852 to 1854 as health officer of the
port of New York. He was a prominent and
successful medical practitioner of his times.
Died at Pelham, N.Y., June 14, 1880.
Married Elizabeth S. Fish, daughter of
Colonel Nicholas Fish and sister of Governor Hamilton Fish.
Issue:
1.
James Morris, b. October 2, 1832.
He received his preparatory education in a select school in New York,
entered Harvard University, and was graduated there in 1852, also being
graduated as bachelor of laws from the Harvard Law School in 1854. He [Page 431 / Page 432] is a lawyer in New
York City, where he resides; a member of the Association of the Bar, St.
Nicholas Society, and Delta Phi. M.
Elizabeth W. Gray; one child, Marion Gray Morris, who d. young.
2.
Elizabeth S. Morris. M. William
St. John Elliot Marshall of Natchez, Miss.
Issue:
i. William St. John Elliot Marshall.
M. Constance B. Runcie, daughter of Rev. Dr. Runcie. Issue:
1. Jean Dale Marshall. 2. William St. John Elliot Marshall.
ii. Elizabeth Morris Marshall. M.
Francis L. Mordaunt. Issue: 1. Elizabeth Morris Mordaunt. 2. Mildred C. Mordaunt.
3.
Nicholas Fish Morris; lost at sea in the United States sloop of war
‘Albany.’
4.
Richard L. Morris, d. young.
5.
Richard L. Morris. M. Lillian
Monson. Issue:
i. Monson Morris.
ii. Helen Van Cortlandt Morris.
M. Nelson Burr.
6.
Stuyvesant Fish Morris: graduated
from Columbia College in 1863; physician in New York; member of the Century
Club and St. Nicholas Society. M. Ellen
J. Van Buren, daughter of Smith Van Buren and granddaughter of President Martin
Van Buren. Issue:
i. Elizabeth M. Morris.
ii. Van Buren Morris, d. young.
iii. Ellen Ban Buren Morris. M.
F. Livingston Pell.
iv. Stuyvesant Morris, d. young.
v. Richard L. Morris.
vi. Stuyvesant Fish Morris. M.
Elizabeth H. Wynkoop. Issue: 1. Stuyvesant Fish Morris. 2. Martin Van Buren Morris.
7. Helen Van Cortlandt Morris. M. David King.
8.
Charlotte Louisa Morris. M.
Bayard U. Livingston of Albany, N.Y.
Issue:
i. Louisa Morris Livingston.
ii. Bayard Urquhart Livingston.”
Source: Spooner, W.W., “The Morris Family of
Morrisania” in American Historical
Magazine, Vol. I, No. 5, Sep. 1906, pp. 427, 430-31 (NY, NY: The Publishing Society of NY).
INFORMATION ABOUT DAVID LYDIG SUYDAM, BROTHER OF JAMES AUGUSTUS SUYDAM
David Lydig Suydam, known as “Lydig
Suydam,” donated the 184-pound church bell in the steeple of Christ Church of
Pelham Manor. See Bolton, Robert, The History of The Several Towns, Manors, and
Patents of the County of Westchester, From Its First Settlement to the Present
Time, Vol. II, p. 99 (NY, NY: 2d Edition, Chas. F. Roper 1881) (“The bell [of
Christ Church in Pelham Manor], weighing one hundred and eighty-four pounds,
was presented to the church by Lydig Suydam, Esq.”). See also Bolton, Robert, History of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the County of Westchester From its Foundation,
A.D. 1693, to A.D. 1853, p. 700 (NY, NY 1855).
David Lydig Suydam was an unmarried
bachelor whose parents were Jane Mesier and John Suydam. See Suydam, Henry, History and Reminiscences
of the Mesier Family, of Wappinger’s Creek, Together with A Short History of Zion
Church, p. 33 (Privately Printed, 1882).
He was a “socially prominent New Yorker”
linked with Swedish operatic soprano Christine Nilsson and was described
as one “who trots after her like a poodle” who could “talk of nothing but the
honour he enjoys in her friendship.”
Pease, William H. & Pease, Jane H., eds., The Roman Years of a South
Carolina Artist: Caroline Carson’s
Letters Home, 1872-1892, p. 153 & nn. 1-2 (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 2003).
“OBITUARY . . . DAVID LYDIG SUYDAM.
David Lydig Suydam died of pneumonia
at his residence, No. 40 East Thirty-first street, Friday night. He was the son of John Suydam, a shipping
merchant, and was born Jan. 24, 1812, at No. 4 Broadway. His father’s house was in the middle of a lot
of the space now occupied by the Produce Exchange. His parents feared the British might land and
take possession or demolish the lower part of the city, and prepared to move to
Fort Montgomery, a short distance below West Point, just after his birth, but the
outlook changed and they did not go. He
was in Paris from 1832 to 1837, representing the importing house in New-York of
Babcock & Suydam, of which he was a member.
Soon after his return to this country he retired from business. He was a member of the New-York Hose Company,
No. 5, composed of merchants, of which Carlisle Norwood was foreman. After his retirement from business he divided
his time between this country and Europe.
He was well known in both London and Paris, and had traveled all over
the Old World. Mr. Suydam had a wide
acquaintance in New-York society. He was
of a philanthropic nature and was a friend of the philanthropist Peabody. He was greatly interested in the Five Points
House of Industry and the Asylum for the Blind, both of which institutions he
was a Trustee. He belonged to the
Century and Union Clubs and was a bachelor.
His family was related to the Whitneys, the Phoenixes, and the
Schermerhorns. The funeral services will
take place Tuesday morning at 10 o’clock at Grace Church.”
Source: OBITUARY . . . DAVID LYDIG SUYDAM, N.Y.
Times, Dec. 21, 1884.
“BURIAL OF DAVID L. SUYDAM.
The funeral of David Lydig Suydam was
largely attended yesterday at Grace Church.
The Rev. Dr. W. R. Huntington officiated, assisted by the Rev. George F.
Nelson. Upon the coffin were a wreath
and a cross of white roses, and a wreath of ivy leaves. The pall-bearers were James M. McLean, Hugh
N. Camp, Murray Hoffman, Joseph Foulk, Justice A. R. Lawrence, Benjamin L.
Swan, Jr., William C. Schermerhorn and James C. Cartier. Among other persons present were Henry
Suydam, a brother of the deceased man; Dr. and Mrs. F. D. Weisse, Dr. and Mrs.
F. Leroy Satterlee, Jacob Reese and family, Mr. and Mrs. George K. Crocker,
William Reese, Mr. and Mrs. William Remsen, Henry Remsen, Dr. George Remsen,
Dr. Charles Remsen, Mr. and Mrs. C. Thompson, Judge and Mrs. John R. Brady, Mr.
and Mrs. David Lydig, Justice and Mrs. Charles P. Daly, Mrs. F. R. Sturges,
Mrs. John R. Staples, John S. Suydam, Jr., Walter Suydam, Charles Fearing,
Henry Bergh, Professor R. Ogden Doremus, Thomas Lawrence, Colonel T. Reed, D.W.
Bishop, Hugh Auchincloss, F.A. Schermerhorn, Charles W. Bathgate, Joseph T.
Beck, C.N. Jordan, Robert T. Whipple, A.W. Kreuger, Morris Feltman, Robert J.
Gilchrist and C.T. Roseman. The Union,
Century and St. Nicholas Clubs were represented. The body was buried in the family vault of
the Suydams, in St. Mark’s churchyard.”
Source: BURIAL OF DAVID L. SUYDAM, New-York Tribune, Dec. 24, 1884, p. 8,
col. 1.
FINDAGRAVE.COM INFORMATION:
David Lydig Suydam
Birth:
Jan. 24, 1812
New York, USA
Death:
Dec. 19, 1884
Born: January 24, 1812
Died: December 19, 1884
David was the brother of Peter, who is
also buried in the cemetery.
Contributed by The Genealogy Genie
(#46972727).
Burial:Saint Mark's
Church-In-The-Bowery
Manhattan, New York County, New York,
USA
Plot: No. 139
Created by: Rich H.
Record added: Sep 24, 2002
Find A Grave Memorial# 6800144
MAY 13, 1846 DEED FROM ROBERT AND
MARIA BARTOW TO JAMES AUGUSTUS SUYDAM AND LETITIA JANE SUYDAM
“ROBERT BARTOW & WIFE )
TO )
JAMES AUGUSTUS SUYDAM & OTHER )
THIS INDENTURE, made the 13th
day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty six,
BETWEEN ROBERT BARTOW, of the Town of Pelham, in the County of Westchester and
State of New York, Gentleman, and MARIA R., his wife, parties of the first
part, and JAMES AUGUSTUS SUYDAM and LETITIA JANE SUYDAM, of the City of New
York, of the second part. WITNESSETH,
that the said parties of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of
NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS, lawful money of the United States of America, to them in
hand paid by the said parties of the second part at or before the ensealing and
delivery of these presents, the receipt [Page 272 / Page 273] hereof is hereby
acknowledged, and the said parties of the of the [sic] second part, their
heirs, executors and administrators forever released and discharged from the
same, by these presents have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, remised,
released, conveyed and confirmed and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell,
alien remise, release, convey and confirm unto the said parties of the second
part, and their heirs and assigns forever, ALL that certain piece or parcel or
farm of land, situate, lying and being in the Town of PELHAM aforesaid, bounded
and described as follows: BEGINNING at a
point on the westerly shore of the waters of Long Island Sound at a rock where
is or is to be placed an iron bolt and being the westerly corner of the farm of
land now owned and occupied by the said parties of the first part, and running
thence north forty one degrees west along the said by fourteen chains and fifty
five links to an ash tree, thence along said farm [illegible] thirty eight degrees
west three chains and forty links, thence along said [illegible] north thirty seven degrees and
ten minutes west four chains and eighty eight degrees west eight chains and
sixty six links across said road and along said farm and other land of the said
Robert Bartow, thence north sixty eight degrees east twenty six links to land
of Mr. Coles, and thence in a continuous line twelve chains and twenty six
links to other land of Mr. Coles, thence south twenty three and a half degrees
east eight chains and twenty links along the lands of said Coles and across the
road aforesaid, thence south thirty seven and a half degrees east fourteen
chains and eighty one links along other lands of said Coles to the Peir [sic;
should be “Pier”] and dock at the shore, thence alond [sic] the easterly side
of said Dock or Pier, south by six and a half degrees east forty six links to
the end of said Dock or Pier thence westerly and southwesterly along the shore
of Long Island Sound to the place of beginning.
Containing thirty three acres one quarter and twelve rods more or less
of land after deducting the roads. Being
a portion of a tract of one hundred and eighty one acres of land which with
other lands was conveyed to the said Robert Bartow by Herman Le Roy, Jr. and
wife by deed dated 25th April, A.D., 1836, recorded in the Clerks
[sic] office of Westchester County in Liber 67 of conveyances page 175
&c. A map of the premises hereby
conveyed made by D. B. Taylor, Surveyor, dated May 1st, 1846, is
filed in said [Page 273 / Page 274] Clerks office of Westchester County. TOGETHER with all and singular the tenements,
hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining
and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues and
profits thereof. AND also all the
estate, right, title, interest dower and right of dower, property, possession,
claim and demand whatsoever, as well in law as in equity of the said party of
the first part, of, in, and to the same and every part and parcel thereof with
the appurtenances. TO HAVE AND TO HOLD
the above granted bargained and described premises with the appurtenances, unto
the said parties of the second part, their heirs and assigns to their own
proper use, benefit and behoof forever.
SUBJECT to a right of way and privilege to the assigns of Herman Le Roy,
[beginning of inserted material] Senior deceased reserved in his deed to H Le
Roy Junr., dated Feb 17th 1829 and also in the deed to said Bartow
above mentioned to have use of the said Dock or Pier as a landing place and to
have free ingress and egress to and from said Dock or Pier through the Gate now
standing on the northeasterly line of the premises hereby conveyed (described
in said deed from H. Le Roy, Junr. to said Bartow as the northeasterly line of
lot number eight) and which gate stands nearly adjoining said dock and is the
first gate therefrom and a right of way over the direct road now laid out and
leading from said gate to said dock or pier.
AND the said Robert Bartow for himself, his heirs, executors and
administrators doth hereby convenant, grant and agree to and with the said
parties of the second part, their heirs and assigns that the said Robert Bartow
at the time of the sealing and delivery of these presents is lawfully seized in
his own right of a good absolute and indefeasible estate of inheritance in fee
simple of and in all and singular the above granted, bargained and described
premises with the appurtenances and hath good right full power and lawful
authority to grant, bargain, sell and convey the same in manner and form
aforesaid. AND that the said parties of
the second part their heirs and assigns shall and may at all times hereafter
peaceably and quietly have, hold, use, occupy, possess and enjoy the above
granted premises and every part and parcel thereof with the appurtenances
without any legal suit, trouble, molestation, eviction or disturbance of the
said parties of the first part, their heirs or assigns or of any other person
or persons lawfully claiming [Page 274 / Page 275] or to claim the same. AND that the same now are free, clear,
discharged and unencumbered of and from all former and other grants, titles,
charges, estates, judgments, taxes, assessments and encumbrances of what nature
or kind soever, except the right of way and privilege above mentioned. AND ALSO that the said parties of the first
part and their heirs and all and every other person or persons whomsoever
lawfully or equitably deriving any estate, right, title, or interest of in or
to the herein before granted premises by from under or in trust for them will
and will at any time or times hereafter upon the reasonable request and at the
proper costs and charges in the law of the said parties of the second part,
their heirs and assigns make do and execute or cause or procure to be made done
and executed all and every such further and other lawful and reasonable acts,
conveyances and assurances in the law for the better and more effectually
vesting and confirming the premises hereby intended to be granted in and to the
said parties of the second part their heirs and assigns forever as by the said
parties of the second part, their heirs and assigns forever as by the said
parties of the second part, their heirs or assigns or their counsel learned in
the law shall be reasonably devised advised or required. AND the said Robert Bartow for himself, and
his heirs the above described and hereby granted and released premises and
every part and parcel thereof with the appurtenances unto the said parties of
the second part, their heirs and assigns all and every person and persons
whomseover lawfully claiming or to claim the same shall and will warrant and by
these presents forever defend. IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably
set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
The words ‘& to’ interlined.
Sealed and Delivered in the presence
of
ROBERT BARTOW (L.S.)
MARIA R. BARTOW (L.S.)
James P. Hinman
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, STATE OF NEW
YORK. SS. On the thirteenth day of May, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and forty six before me a Justice of the Peace for the
County of Westchester came ROBERT BARTOW and MARIA R. BARTOW, his wife, both
known to me to be the individuals described in and who executed the foregoing
conveyance and they severally [Page 275 / Page 276] acknowledged that they had
executed the same and the said Maria R. Bartow on a private examination apart
from her husband acknowledged that she executed the said conveyance freely and
without any fear or compulsion of her husband.
James P. Hinman, Justice.
A true copy of the original Deed and
acknowledgment thereof recorded May 18th, 1846, 12 oclock [sic] M.
Munson I. Lockwood, Clerk.”
Source: Westchester County Archives, Westchester
County Deeds, Liber 115, pp. 272-276.
"On the way to the Bartow-Pell mansion, I point out the Split Rock Golf course and the general direction where Anne Hutchinson got her head tomahawked by some unfriendly local Indians back in the 17th century. We park at the mansion, where I have a word with the old Scandinavian caretaker who I have come to know over the years. I sometimes wonder about his and his wife's situation in that big lonely house, relying for their only protection on the telephone to the police, some signs warning about guard dogs, and the dogs themselves. These are a couple of large old dogs, one of them a very friendly Shepherd and the other some mixed breed. One recalls the recent N.Y. Times article in which golfers on the Split Rock Golf course across the Shore Road are said to occasionally find unnatural hazards on the links in the form of dead bodies.
Finishing with the courtesy call, I take the students on a tour of the sites. We start by going south from the mansion road following the horse trail. Just a few feet from the left of the trail we come up Pell's treaty tree half hidden in the bushes and trees, encircled by an iron fence. There used to be a bronze plaque on the gate, which is presently propped up against the fence next to the opening. The original treaty tree had died, and the present tree, which is already fairly old, is a replacement. Continuing down the horse trail to the south, on one occasion this summer, we came upon a fairly new red Dodge sport car stripped of its tires, and its doors, hood and trunk wide open. Less than 25 feet farther down the trail we noted a number of items which heightened the mystery. This was a torn red dress lying next to a pair of beige colored high heeled shoes, lying together side by side. Tossed in the bushes was a fairly fresh bouquet of six red carnations. Wordlessly we hurried by. Farther along after pondering over this, I advised my group to stay together and not to wander off the trail into the bushes.
My objective on this sortie was the site of the original Pell House. We took a left before we came to the creek, threading our way eastward over a dim path through bushes and undergrowth. I had visited the site several times previously, but this time I seriously wondered if I could find it because of the verdant growth. It had been very obvious in the late 70's when a group of City Island collectors had been excavating there. The had exposed the house foundations and the chimney hearth. Jerry Jacobsen and I had surveyed these remains because we did not know whether the collectors had done so or not. Continuing on our way, we passed by the mill site on the old Pell property and the old Pell cold cellar. The ground was virtually white with shells in this area. This place, if I am correct, was known as 'Hollywood Gardens,' and my field notes dating back 50 years ago to my high school days identifies a number of collectors who had worked this and other sites in Pelham Bay Park. The Pell site gave PANYC some concern a few years ago when it was discovered that the City Island collectors were illegally excavating there. There was a serious suggestion that the parks department seal the site under a covering of asphalt as protection against further excavations. The caretaker informed me that he, as a single individual and not young, was no match for several tough young men armed with shovels. On Jerry Jacobson's and my surveying visit, we were confronted, surrounded from two directions, by armed policemen who were told to watch the site. All this is past history now, because it is quite evident that no one had disturbed the site recently, and it is fully overgrown with brush, etc. In fact, I doubt that the Pell site could be located without a guide. A.C. Parker in his Archaeological History of New York (1922, p. 490) notes that there was a burial place in this vicinity. Returning to the Bartow-Pell Mansion, we continue on the road toward Shore Road, where about opposite the Pell Treaty Tree we proceed northeastward on the horse trail. Not far from the mansion road was reportedly what may have been the principal village of the local Siwanoy Indians. The Reverend W.R. Blackie investigated here for the Museum of American Indian, Heye Foundation in the 1920's. Ed Kaeser excavated the 'Archery Range' site in this locale. It is marked today by a scatter of shells, and some disturbances in the terrain surface." Solecki, Ralph, A Contemporary View of Some Archaeological Sites in New York City, Professional Archaeologists of New York city, Newsletter No. 26, pp. 9-10 (Nov. 1985) available at http://www.panycarchaeology.org/newsletters/PANYC%20Newsletter%20026.pdf (visited Mar. 3, 2014). See also "William Stiles: Field Notes, Throgs Neck, Hollywood Gardens, Pelham Bay, 1930-1940, Box 275, Folder 9" in O'Neal, Jennifer & Menyuk, Rachel, Museum of the American Indian / Heye Foundation Records, 1890-1989, Dec. 13, 2012 available at http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/archivecenter/AC001_maiheye.pdf (visited Mar. 3, 2014).
Labels: California Ramblers Inn, Hollywood Gardens, James Augustus Suydam, John Tappin, Letitia Jane Suydam, Morris Estate, Oakshade, Pell Tree Inn, Peter F. Shanley, Richard L. Morris, Shore Road
