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

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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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More Early References to Development of Prospect Hill by the Prospect Hill Village Association in the Early 1850s

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With the coming of the railroad to the Town of Pelham from New York City in late 1848, real estate developers seized on the opportunity.  They formed a number of so-called "building societies" to develop the areas known as Pelhamville and Prospect Hill within the Town of Pelham.  (Other building societies operated nearby at the same time, particularly in Mount Vernon.)  Building societies were an early form of financial institution owned by members as mutual organizations. Building societies offered banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending to support new home construction and purchase.

By about 1850, in the midst of national 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 Main Line.  Developers formed the freehold land society named United Brothers' Land Society to sell lots in Pelhamville.  Another building society named the Prospect Hill Village Association was formed to sell lots in the Pelham neighborhood known today as Prospect Hill.  There was some overlapping management and involvement between the two associations that strongly suggests a coordinated effort to sell real estate in the two sections of the Town.

The United Brothers' Land Society arranged purchase of the Anthony Wolf Farm (John Anthony Woolf) north of the New Haven Main Line railroad tracks and arranged for surveyor William Bryson to survey and prepare a development plan for the development of Pelhamville by mapping proposed streets and building lots.  At about the same time, Bryson was involved in surveying and mapping another section for development in the Town of Pelham. The section was to be named Prospect Hill Village.  The section eventually became one of the two principal real estate developments from which much of today's Village of Pelham Manor evolved. (The other section, of course, was the development of the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association organized two decades later on June 3, 1873 by Silas H. Witherbee, Henry C. Stephens, Robert A. Mitchill, Charles J. Stephens, Charles F. Heywood and other local landowners.) 

On August 11, 1852, William Bryson filed a development map entitled "Map of Prospect Hill Village, Town of Pelham, Westchester County, New York." The map encompassed a prime area described by Lockwood Barr as "on the crown of the ridge near the Boston Post Road, bounded by what are now Highland, Prospect, Esplanade, New Haven Branch, Washington and Old Split Rock Road." Barr, Lockwood, A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of the Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of New York Known One Time Well & Favourably as The Lordshipp & Mannour of Pelham Also the Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams, p. 123 (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946).

Today's Historic Pelham Blog article transcribes a few very early newspaper notices seeking proposals for the surveys and grading necessary to develop the new Prospect Hill Village settlement.  Included are images of the newspapers notices, followed by transcriptions of their text as well as citations and links to their sources.

The development area was about 96 acres owned by the Prospect Hill Village Association.  The Society facilitated savings by its members to acquire building lots and, in some instances, to construct homes on the lots.  

In early October, 1851, the Association sought proposals "for surveying and staking off the land."  The proposals were to be submitted to the office of the President of the Association, Mr. Alfred S. Peace (after whom Peace Street on Prospect Hill is named) at 161 Third Avenue in Manhattan.  The Association required all proposals to include "References as to ability" as well as "security . . . for the faithful performance of the work."  A notice published in the October 1, 1851 issue of The New York Times placed by William Parker, Secretary of the Association, appears immediately below.

Prospect Hill Village Association Notice.  Source:  MISCELLANEOUS. -- 

PROSPECT HILL VILLAGE ASSOCIATION, N. Y. Times, Oct. 1, 1851,

p. 3, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.  Transcription Immediately Below.

"MISCELLANEOUS.

-----

PROSPECT HILL VILLAGE ASSOCIATION.  --  SEALED PROPOSALS for surveying and staking off the land (96 acres) belonging to the above Society, near New Rochelle, will be received until Monday, M., October 5th, by the President, Mr. Alfred S. Peace, 161 3d-av.  References as to ability and security, will be required for the faithful performance of the work.
WM. PARKER, Sec'y.
192 Canal st.
ol-lt*"

Only a few weeks later, in January, 1852, the Association was ready to begin grading its land on Prospect Hill.  Again the secretary of the Association, William Parker (who operated out of an office at 192 Canal Street in Manhattan), placed a notice in The New York Times asking for proposals to be sent to the President of the Association, Alfred S. Peace.  Such proposals were due by January 10, 1852.

Soon, development of today's Prospect Hill neighborhood was underway. . . .

Prospect Hill Village Association Notice.  Source:  PROSPECT HILL

VILLAGE ASSOCIATION, N.Y. Times, Jan. 3, 1852, p. 3, col. 5 (Note:

Paid subscription required to access via this link).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.  Transcription Immediately Below.

"PROSPECT HILL VILLAGE ASSOCIATION.  --  PROposals will be received for grading the land of the association until the 10th January, 1852.  Plans and specifications may be obtained of the President, with whom all proposals must be left, marked,, 'Estimates for Grading,' &c.

ALFRED S. PEACE, President.
161 Third avenue.
WM. PARKER, Secretary,
192 Canal street."

*          *          *          *          *

I have written before about Prospect Hill Village, the Prospect Hill Village Association, and the neighborhood known today as Prospect Hill.  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.

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. 

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More About the Prospect Hill Village Association in the Mid-19th Century

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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

The "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.

For example, 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 and arranged for surveyor William Bryson to survey and prepare a development plan for the development of Pelhamville by mapping proposed streets and building lots. Bryson completed two maps. The first, Map 346 of Pelhamville dated August 4, 1851, depicted the planned development north of the New Haven line railroad tracks.  This map eventually governed the development of Pelhamville. The second map prepared by Bryson was dated October 11, 1851. It is entitled "MAP OF BUILDING LOTS Being a Continuation of PELHAMVILLE Westchester County N.Y. The Property of John B. Coppinger. Scale 132 feet to one Inch." According to the map, it depicted plans for the development of lands that were not part of the United Brothers' Land Society purchase of the Anthony Wolf farm. Rather, the map depicted proposed development of "The Property of JOHN B. COPPINGER" located south of the railroad tracks.

Bryson Map of Pelhamville, Aug. 4, 1851, from Original

Hanging in a Home on Mount Tom Road in Pelham Manor.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Legend of Bryson Map of Pelhamville, Aug. 4, 1851, from Original

Hanging in a Home on Mount Tom Road in Pelham Manor.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Detail from Bryson Map of Pelhamville, Aug. 4, 1851, from Original

Hanging in a Home on Mount Tom Road in Pelham Manor.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

At about the same time, Bryson was involved in surveying and mapping a third section for development in the Town of Pelham.  The section was to be named Prospect Hill Village.  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. On August 11, 1852, William Bryson filed a development map entitled "Map of Prospect Hill Village, Town of Pelham, Westchester County, New York." The map encompassed a prime area described by Lockwood Barr as "on the crown of the ridge near the Boston Post Road, bounded by what are now Highland, Prospect, Esplanade, New Haven Branch, Washington and Old Split Rock Road." Barr, Lockwood, A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of the Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of New York Known One Time Well & Favourably as The Lordshipp & Mannour of Pelham Also the Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams, p. 123 (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946).

I have written before about Prospect Hill Village and the Prospect Hill Village Association.  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.

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

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

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. 

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog publishes the image and transcribes the text of a legal notice reflecting what appears to be a foreclosure sale scheduled on March 10, 1856 of Prospect Hill Village properties owned by William Parker, George Robinson, John T. Lynch, and Andrew Woolf.  

1856 Prospect Hill Village Association Legal Notice.

Source:  SUPREME COURT -- WESTCHESTER COUNTY. --

The Prospect Hill Village Association against William Parker,

George Robinson, John T. Lynch, and Andrew Woolf [Legal

Notice], Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Mar. 7,

1856, p. 4, col. 1.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"SUPREME COURT -- WESTCHESTER COUNTY. -- The Prospect Hill Village Association against William Parker, George Robinson, John T. Lynch, and Andrew Woolf.

In pursuance and by virtue of a judgment or decree made in this action on the 15th day of January, 1856, will be sold, by or under the direction of the undersigned, Sheriff of the county of Westchester, at Gould's Hotel, in the village of Mount Vernon, on the 10th day of March next, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon of that day, all that certain piece or plot of ground situate lying and being in the town of Pelham, Westchester county, and State of New York, known and distinguished by the Number 13, (thirteen) on a map of property belonging to the Prospect Hill Village Association, entitled 'Map of Prospect Hill Village, town of Pelham, Westchester county, New York, surveyed and laid out by William Bryson, Architect and Civil Engineer, New Rochelle, November 22d, 1851, bounded and described as follows, viz:  Beginning at the point of intersection of the easterly line of Peace street with the northerly line of Prospect avenue, as laid out on said map, and running thence north-easterly along the northerly line of Prospect avenue, two hundred feet, to lot Number 14 (fourteen) on said map; thence north-easterly along said lot Number 14, two hundred feet, to lot Number 5 (five) on said map; thence south-westerly along said lot No. 5 and lot No. 4 (four) on said map, two hundred feet, to said easterly line of Peace street; thence south-easterly along said easterly line of Peace street, two hundred feet, to the place of beginning.  Containing forty thousand square feet -- be the same and the said several dimensions more or less; also, the land adjacent thereto in said street and avenue, to the centre thereof, to be used forever as public streets. -- Dated White Plains, January 22d, 1856.

DANIEL H. LITTLE, Sheriff.
B.V. BAGLEY, Plaintiffs' Attorney."

Source:  SUPREME COURT -- WESTCHESTER COUNTY. -- The Prospect Hill Village Association against William Parker, George Robinson, John T. Lynch, and Andrew Woolf [Legal Notice], Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Mar. 7, 1856, p. 4, col. 1.  

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Prospect Hill Landowners Face Loss of Their Properties in1900 Due to Allegedly Defective Deeds

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I recently ran across an odd, yet interesting, little item published in 1900.  It indicates that heirs of a landowner who once owned the Prospect Hill area of today's Pelham Manor planned in 1900 to file suit to recover the entire area under a theory that the property owner's deeds were defective.  The article is transcribed below in its entirety, followed by a citation to its source.

"PELHAM MANOR NEWS.
-----
Townsend's Heirs Will Sue to Prove They Own the Entire Manor.

Residents of Pelham Manor are interested in a suit to be brought in the Supreme Court of Westchester County to recover practically the whole of the manor for the heirs of John E. Townsend, who owned the property in 1819, and died intestate.  The property consists of ninety acres, used for residential purposes.  The value of this is said to be about $350,000.

Those heirs who are about to begin suit to recover are poor.  They live in Brooklyn.  They are Andrew E. Townsend and Herman Fischer.

Townsend is employed in the Navy Yard, and lives at No. 653 Metropolitan avenue.  Fischer is an electrical worker, and lives with his wife and two children at 287 Bleecker street.

Fischer is a grandson of the original owner of the Pelham Manor property, John E. Townsend.  The other contestant is an uncle of Fischer.

John E. Townsend sold the property to Andrew J. Conselyea, who made a contract with the Prospect Hill Village Land Association to sell it.  No deed was given to the association, it is held, therefore the titles to all the property, which it afterward disposed of in villa sites, are said to be defective.

The association went out of existence in the early seventies.

Some heirs of Andrew Conselyea have joined their claims with those of Fischer and Townsend.  The latter have retained Henry Bonowitz, a lawyer of Brooklyn.

The whole of the disputed Pelham property is occupied by handsome residences."

Source:  Pelham Manor News -- Townsend's Heirs Will Sue to Prove They Own the Entire Manor, New Rochelle Pioneer, Feb. 24, 1900, p. ?, col. 2 (newspaper page contains no printed page number).

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19th and Early 20th Century Newspaper Notices Relating to the Prospect Hill Village Association

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site

Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.

Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Prospect Hill Village was one of the two principal real estate developments from which today's Village of Pelham Manor evolved. The other, of course, was 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.

On August 11, 1852, a man named William Bryson filed a development map entitled "Map of Prospect Hill Village, Town of Pelham, Westchester County, New York." The map encompassed a prime area described by Lockwood Barr as "on the crown of the ridge near the Boston Post Road, bounded by what are now Highland, Prospect, Esplanade, New Haven Branch, Washington and Old Split Rock Road."  Barr, Lockwood, A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of the Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of New York Known One Time Well & Favourably as The Lordshipp & Mannour of Pelham Also the Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams, p. 123 (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946).

Juxtaposition of Detail from Plate 35 of the 1868 Beers Atlas Showing

Prospect Hill (On Left) with a Satellite Image of the Same Area in Today's Pelham.


I have written previously about the history of Prospect Hill Village and the Prospect Hill Village Association.  See:

Bell, Blake, 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.

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

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

Today's Historic Pelham Blog transcribes a number of important legal notices involving the Prospect Hill Village Association that appeared in New York City newspapers between 1852 and 1906.  A number of these notices were referenced in the 2006 article about Prospect Hill Village published in The Pelham Weekly.  Each notice below is transcribed in full and each is followed by a citation to its source.


July 26, 1851 Notice of Regular Meeting of Association and Advertisement of Sale of Lots

"Prospect Hill Village Association. -- The next regular meeting will be held at American Hall, corner of Grand-st. and Broadway, on MONDAY EVENING, July 28, at 8 o'clock, for the purpose of receiving subscribers to acre and half acre plots.  This delightful spot requires no puffing, it only wants to be seen to be admired.  The public are invited to attend, get the prospectus of the Constitution free, and if they like it, join and get a good home at the agricultural price.  Full plots, 200 feet square, $2 per week; half plots, 100 feet front by 200 fee deep $1 per week.  For further information, apply to ALFRED S. PEACE, President, 161 Third-av., or of WM. PARKER, 192 Canal-st., Secretary."

Source:  Prospect Hill Village Association, New-York Tribune, Vol. XI, No. 3205, July 26, 1851, p. 1, col. 1. 


August 6, 1851 Announcement of Visit to Prospect Hill in Special Train to View Lots

"Prospect Hill Village Association. -- The members and friends of this Society will meet at the Canal-st. Station at 11 o'clock on THURSDAY MORNING, August 7th, for the purpose of proceeding to Pelhamville Station, and from there to view land.  All persons desirous of accompanying the officers are requested to attend.  The books will be open for subscribers on the ground.  N.B.  The special train of cars will be in readiness.

ALFRED S. PEACE, President.

WM. PARKER, Sec'y."

Source:  Prospect Hill Village Association, New-York Daily Tribune, Vol. XI, No. 3214, Aug. 6, 1851, p. 1, col. 1. 


September 8, 1851 Advertisement for Sale of Lots and Upcoming Meeting of Association

Prospect Hill Village Association!  One of the most desirable spots in Westchester County, has been secured for village purposes, to be divided into acrea and half-acre plots, and paid for by weekly installments.  A few more members will complete the required number.  Applications may be made at the next regular meeting to take place on MONDAY EVENING, Sept. 8, at American Hall, at 8 o'clock, corner of Broadway and Grand-st., or of ALFRED S. PEACE, President, No. 161 3d-av., or of WM. PARKER, 192 Canal-St., Secretary, where Prospectus and Constitution may be obtained free.

N.B. -- This Association is chartered by the State Legislature."

Source:  Prospect Hill Village Association, New-York Daily Tribune, Vol. XI, No. 3242, Sep. 8, 1851, p. 1, col. 2.


October 6, 1851 Notice of Meeting of Association Urging Payment of Back Dues

Prospect Hill Village Association. -- The next regular Meeting of this Association will be held at American Hall, corner of Broadway and Grand-st., MONDAY EVENING, Oct. 6, at 8 o'clock.  Every member is requested to be present.  Those who have not paid up their back dues, please come up.  Room for a few more members.

WM. PARKER, Secretary,
No. 192 Canal-st."

Source:  Prospect Hill Village Association, New-York Tribune, Vol. XI, No. 3266, Oct. 6, 1851, p. 2, col. 1.

 
January 6, 1852 Notice Seeking Bids for Grading Prospect Hill Lands

"PROSPECT HILL VILLAGE ASSOCIATION. -- Proposals will be received for grading the land of the Association until the 10th day of January, 1852.  Plans and specifications to be obtained of the President, with whom all proposals must be left, marked 'Estimates for grading Prospect Hill Village.'

ALFRED S. PEACE.  President, No. 151 3d-av.
WM. PARKER, Sec'y, No. 192 Canal-st."

Source:  Prospect Hill Village Association, New-York Daily Tribune, Jan. 6, 1852, p. 2, col. 3.




May 4, 1852 Notice of Meeting of Association to Address "Business of Great Importance"

"Prospect Hill Village Association. -- A Special Meeting of this Association will be held TUESDAY EVENING, May 4, at No. 103 Bowery.  As business of great importance will be presented, members are particularly requested to attend.  By order.

BENJAMIN L. HANNAH, Rec. Sec."

Source: Prospect Hill Village Association, New-York Tribune,  Vol. XII, No. 3,446, May 4, 1852, p. 3, col. 2.


April 1, 1854 Notice that Members in Arrears Will Forfeit Their Lots to the Association

"NOTICE. -- PROSPECT HILL VILLAGE ASSOCIATION. -- All members of this Association, over twelve weeks in arrears for dues, are hereby notified, that their lots will be forfeited to the Association, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and By-Laws of said Association, unless the same is paid within six weeks from the date of this notice.  The books may be found at the office of the Financial Secretary, No. 1 Ann-st., from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. daily; or at the house of THOMAS SPOTTEN, No. 116 Bowery, from 7 A.M. to 9 P.M., until further notice.  By order of the Trustees, OSCAR F. BENJAMIN, Financial Secretary.

NEW-YORK, March 18, 1854."

Source:  Notice - Prospect Hill Association, New-York Daily Times, Apr. 1, 1854, p. 3, col. 6.


1906 Legal Notice Regarding Action to Affix Seal to Unsealed Deed Filed in 1854


"LEGAL NOTICES.
------
SUPREME COURT.  NEW YORK COUNTY. -- 

In the matter of the petition of DANIEL F. TIEMANN.

To Prospect Hill Village Association:

Gentlemen:  Please take notice that upon the petition of Daniel F. Tiemann, duly verified April 30, 1906, and the affidavit of Thomas Kilvert thereto annexed, duly verified the 30th day of April, 1906, filed in the office of the Clerk of New York County, May first, 1906, and upon all the proceedings in this matter a motion will be made at Special Term, Part One, of this Court, to be held at the County Court House, in the City of New York, on the first Monday of July, 1906, at 10:30 A.M., for an order of this Court appointing the Register of Westchester County, State of New York, as a suitable person to complete the execution of an unexecuted trust imposed upon William Dally as a trustee for the Prospect Hill Village Association, to the extent of directing him to affix a seal to the execution and attestation clause of a certain deed of conveyance of real estate from said William Dally as said trustee to Philip Bruckman, recorded as an unsealed deed in said Register Office, Liber of Deeds 288, Page 450, Sep. 29, 1854, and to amend the said record to conform to his said act of affixing such seal.

This notice of motion is published and served pursuant to an order of this Court made by Hon. Joseph E. Newburger, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, duly entered in the foregoing entitled matter in the Clerk's office of New York County on the first day of May, 1906.  Yours, etc.

PORTER & KILVERT,
Petitioner's Attorneys,
No. 154 Nassau Street.  New York.
Dated New York, May first, 1906."

Source:  Legal Notices - Supreme Court New York County - In the Matter of the Petition of Daniel F. Tiemann, N.Y. Times, June 9, 1906, p. 7, col. 5.

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Windsor Heights, an Area South and East of Prospect Hill Village, Sold to Developer in 1921

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In 1921, a brief item appeared in The New York Times announcing that a developer had acquired eighty-four lots in the Windsor Heights section of Pelham Manor, an area south and east of the development once known as Prospect Hill Village. The Windsor Heights area had been slated for development since at least 1904 when a development map had been filed for the area. See Barr, Lockwood Anderson, A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of the Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of New York Known One Time Well & Favourably as the Lordshipp & Manour of Pelham Also The Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams, p. 129 (The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946) (referencing "Map filed Sept. 24, 1904--Windsor Heights: section south and east of Prospect Hill village.").

Below is the text of the item that appeared in the July 24, 1921 issue of The New York Times, followed by a citation to its source.

"Pelham Manor Lots Sold.

The Anoka Construction Company of New York bought eighty-four lots in the section formerly called Windsor Heights, at Pelham Manor, near the New York City boundary line and overlooking Pelham Bay Park. The property was held at $60,000, and was sold through George Howe as broker.

It is the intention of the buyers to improve the property with a number of dwellings to be constructed on large plots at a cost of $15,000 each."

Source: Pelham Manor Lots Sold, N.Y. Times, Jul. 24, 1921, p. 103.

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A Reference to Voluntary Dissolution Proceedings Involving the Prospect Hill Village Association Instituted in 1906

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Occasionally, I have written about the Prospect Hill Village Association that developed portions of Prospect Hill now located in today's Village of Pelham Manor. See, e.g.:

Wednesday, March 30, 2005: Prospect Hill Village -- Yet Another Early Hamlet Within the Town of Pelham

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

Friday, April 14, 2006: Three of the Original Homes of the Prospect Hill Village Association Founded in 1851

Tuesday, July 3, 2007: 1855 Tax Collection Notice for Pelhamville and Prospect Hill Village

Monday, November 21, 2005: Prospect Hill and Pelhamville Depicted on the 1868 Beers Atlas Map of Pelham - Part I

Friday, April 7, 2006: A View from Prospect Hill Looking West Published in 1887

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

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog conveys a tiny tidbit of additional information about the Prospect Hill Village Association. According to the Annual Report of the Attorney General of the State of New York for 1906 published in 1907, the Association was involved in voluntary dissolution proceedings instituted on June 8, 1906. The reference appears below, followed by a citation to its source.

"VOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION OF CORPORATIONS.

------

Voluntary Dissolution Proceedings Instituted During the Year 1906

* * * *

June 8. Supreme Court -- Westchester county. Prospect Hill Village Association."

Source: Annual Report of the Attorney-General of the State of New York 1906, Transmitted to the Legislature January 2, 1907, pp. 119, 120 (Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers 1907).

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1855 Tax Collection Notice for Pelhamville and Prospect Hill Village

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Two small hamlets were developed in Pelham at essentially the same time in the early 1850s: Prospect Hill Village and Pelhamville. New York City land speculators snapped up lots in both the tiny developments. In fact, so many New York City residents owned lots in Pelhamville and Prospect Hill Village that Pelham's tax collector, Benjamin F. Horton, occasionally published notices in New York City newspapers stating that he would be in the City to collect real estate taxes from non-resident owners of such lots. The text of one such notice appears immediately below, followed by a citation to its source.

"NOTICE. The Collector of the town of Pelham will meet at the North American Hotel Bowery corner of Bayard st to receive taxes of non resident owners of lots of Pelhamville and Prospect Hill, in said town on the 16th day of February in the City of New York.

BENJAMIN F. HORTON, Collector"

Source: Notice, N.Y. Daily Times, Feb. 14, 1855, p. 7, col. 6.

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