New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia Used Bartow-Pell Mansion as a Summer City Hall

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The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and Carriage House is yet another Pelham landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Located in today's Pelham Bay Park a few hundred yards from the Pelham Manor border, the Bartow-Pell estate is one of the most stunning reminders of what life was like in the grand estates that once lined the shores of Eastchester Bay and Pelham Bay overlooking Long Island Sound.

The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Part of Bartow-Pell's illustrious history includes its use as a Summer City Hall by New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia during the 1930s.  Today's Historic Pelham article provides a little more on the history of Bartow-Pell and its use by La Guardia.

According to tradition, Thomas Pell gathered with a great multitude of Englishmen and Native Americans beneath a giant oak on the land that later became the Bartow-Pell estate and signed the deed by which the Native Americans transferred about 50,000 acres of land to Pell.  This land became known as the Manor of Pelham.  

John Bartow, who married Ann Pell, bought a large estate that included the lands that form the grounds today in 1790.  He sold the property to a wealthy New York City Merchant, Herman LeRoy, in 1813.  More than two decades later, Bartow's grandson, Robert Bartow, purchased the property, thereby returning ownership of the property to the Bartow family.  Bartow built the mansion and carriage house by 1842.  Members of the Bartow family owned and managed the estate for nearly the next fifty years until Bartow heirs sold the estate and grounds to New York City in 1888 as the City was assembling the parcels necessary to form today's Pelham Bay Park.

Although the mansion, carriage house, and estate were used by various charitable organizations for a number of years, it was leased to The International Garden Club in 1914 for use as its headquarters.  For the next four years the mansion and carriage house were restored and formal gardens were designed by Delano & Aldrich.  

Because of the foresight and efforts of The International Garden Club, soon the mansion was the only one along Pelham Road (Shore Road) that still stood by the mid-20th century.  All the other grand estates that once stood in that area were demolished.

During the summer of 1936, the Bartow-Pell Mansion had a particularly notable resident.  Beginning on Wednesday, July 1, 1936, New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia moved into the mansion and used it for more than a month as New York City's "Summer City Hall."

Countless news articles were written about La Guardia's time in Bartow Mansion.  Many were intensely critical of his choice of the mansion as a Summer City Hall because it was located more than a mile away from the end of the Pelham Bay subway line and, thus, was considered inaccessible to the many supplicants who visited the Mayor's office daily.  Indeed, the Mayor was the target of so much criticism, before the end of his time in the Bartow Mansion he announced that the following summer he would find a location "somewhere" in the borough of Queens to serve as his Summer City Hall.  

On July 2, 1936, The Pelham Sun reported:

"Mayor LaGuardia Now A Neighbor
-----

Another Mayor came to Pelham this week, but this time it's Pelham Bay.  Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, chief executive of New York City, has moved his office to the old Bartow mansion on the Shore road, near Split Rock road, and now the business of the biggest city in the United States is transacted right on Pelham Manor's doorstep.  La Guardia, who makes his summer home at Westport [CT], will commute between that place and the Bartow Mansion during the summer.  In the winter the Bartow Mansion, one of the old historical relics is used as the headquarters of the International Garden Club."

Source:  Mayor LaGuardia Now A Neighbor, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 2, 1936, Vol. 27, No. 13, p. 1, col. 3.  

Today's Historic Pelham Article presents newspaper articles regarding Fiorello H. La Guardia's use of the Bartow-Pell Mansion as a Summer City Hall during July and August, 1936.  

"Mayor La Guardia Speaks Over WNYC on Grade A Milk

from Budget Room" on March 23, 1940.  Source:  Library

of Congress Prints and Photographs Division No. LC-

USZ62-132498 (visited May 6, 2017).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

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I have written extensively about the Bartow-Pell Estate and the Bartow family on numerous occasions.  For a few of many more examples, see, e.g.: 

Mon., May 01, 2017:  Tragic Accident Marred Pell Treaty Oak Ceremony at Bartow-Pell in 1915.  

Wed., Oct. 26, 2016:  The Ghost of the Murdered Traveler Who Wanders the Bartow-Pell Grounds.

Thu., Aug. 25, 2016:  Pelham's Thriving and Living Memorial to the Pell Treaty Oak That Once Stood on the Grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion.

Wed., Aug. 24, 2016:  Washington Post Report of the Final Destruction of the Pell Treaty Oak in Pelham Bay Park in 1909.

Wed., Jan. 06, 2016:  A Brief History of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Published in 1931.

Tue., Jul. 28, 2015:  John Bartow Who Lived in the Manor Home Built by John Pell in About 1672.

Thu., May 21, 2015:  Pelham Manor Romance: A Tale of Aaron Burr and His Love, Theodosia Bartow Prevost of the Manor of Pelham.

Mon., Nov. 03, 2014:  More on the 17th Century Location of the Manor Home of John Pell of the Manor of Pelham.

Thu., Nov. 29, 2007:  John Bartow Offers His Pelham Farm for Sale in Advertisement Published in 1807.

Mon., Jul. 2, 2007:  Notice of Auction Sale of Lots at Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham in 1874.

Mon., Jun. 4, 2007:  Abstract of 1797 Will of John Bartow, Sr. Who Owned Land in Pelham and Whose Family Became Early Pelham Residents.

Wed., Feb. 28, 2007:  Lord Cornbury Installs John Bartow as Rector of the Parish of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham in 1702.

Tue., Sep. 12, 2006:  Evidence Sheds Light on Location of An Early Home of John Pell, 2d Lord of the Manor of Pelham. 

Fri., Dec. 30, 2005:  Subdivision Development Map Created in 1873 for Bartow Village in the Town of Pelham.

Mon., Dec. 12, 2005:  19th Century Subdivision Map of Planned Bartow Village.

Thu., Jul. 21, 2005:  Today's Remnants of the Bartow Station on the Branch Line Near City Island.

Tue., June 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.

Thu., Mar. 24, 2005:  The Bartow Area of Pelham in the 19th Century: Where Was It?

Bell, Blake A., The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and Carriage House, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 31, Aug. 6, 2004, p. 9, col. 1.

Bell, Blake A., The Manor House of John Pell, Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 51, Dec. 24, 2004.


Bell, Blake A., Bartow-on-the-Sound, Once a Hamlet in the Town of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 5, Feb. 3, 2006, p. 13, col. 1.

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"Mayor to Be a Long Way Off
-----
Select an Almost Inaccessible Spot for His Summer City Hall.
-----

In choosing a site for the Summer City Hall Mayor LaGuardia selected a spot almost as far from City Hall Park as is Tottenville, Staten Island.  As a matter of fact the Bartow mansion, in Pelham Bay Park, is harder to reach than Tottenville unless one has a car.  

A tourist desiring to do business with the Mayor after next Wednesday will take the Lexington avenue I. R. T. subway at the City Hall station, and ride to 125th street.  There he will change to the Pelham Park line and ride to the end of it, which is the Pelham Bay Park station.  If he is lucky he will find a bus waiting at the foot of the stairs leading from the Pelham Bay Park station, which is elevated at that point.  Five minute ride will take him to Prospect avenue where a short walk will deposit him at the temporary home of the municipal government.  The Mayor plans to remain there until the end of August.

If the tourist is fortunate enough to own a car he can follow the Boston Post Road to the junction of Pelham Bay Parkway and follow the parkway to the summer City Hall.  Thousands who frequented the Hunters Island Inn during prohibition days will have no difficulty in finding the Mayor.  The summer City Hall can be seen from the road leading to Hunters Island Inn.

Seeks to Discourage Visitors.

It is known that the Mayor chose the Bartow mansion for the summer City Hall because of its inaccessibility.  He seeks to discourage visitors.  But it is a safe bet that bright and early next Wednesday morning there will be a line of taxicabs under the Pelham Bay Park station of the I. R. T. ready to whisk traveler to the summer City Hall in five minutes or less.

The Mayor can sleep in the summer City Hall if the mosquitoes, which are particularly ferocious in the swamps of Pelham Bay, when the tide is out, will allow him to sleep.  If he finds the mosquitoes beyond endurance he can jump into a car and motor up to his summer home at Westport, Conn., where his wife and children will be located for the summer.

The grounds around the Summer City Hall are full of poison ivy.  Whether the Mayor was aware of this when he picked the place is not known, but it is known that he would be overjoyed if a few of the pests who surround the downtown City Hall, and will get to the Summer City Hall if they have to walk or swim, would mistake the poison ivy for a harmless vine and eat some of it.

Mansion is 100 Years Old.

The Bartow mansion was built about 100 years ago and was the home of the Pell family [sic].  It stands on the spot where John [sic] Pell signed a treaty with the Indians in 1654 and purchased Pelham Manor and all the surrounding territory for $17.50 [sic].  Since 1915 it has been the home of the International Garden  Club.  About a dozen [sic] of the original Pells are buried in a family cemetery on the grounds of the Summer City Hall.

John Robertson, who is steward of the International Garden Club, has lived in the Bartow mansion with hi wife for the last thirteen years.  They will keep house for the Mayor.

The house is built of granite with walls at least two feet thick.  Mr. Robertson says it is always at least 15 degrees cooler within the mansion than outside.  The main floor has a dining room, a parlor, a conservatory, a smoking room, a music room, a library, a ladies' dressing room, a men's room and a kitchen.  On the second floor are four large bedrooms."

Source:  Mayor to Be a Long Way Off -- Select an Almost Inaccessible Spot for His Summer City Hall, The New York Sun, Jun. 26, 1936, p. 40, cols. 2-3.  

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Catharine Ann Bartow, A Daughter of Robert Bartow of Pelham

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Catharine Ann Bartow was a daughter of Robert Bartow and Maria R. Lorillard who built the mansion known today as the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in about 1842.  Catharine was born April 16, 1830 and married Rev. Henry Erskine Duncan, D.D. on Thursday, September 7, 1848 at St. Paul's Church in Eastchester.  At the time, Catharine's father, Robert Bartow, was a Warden of St. Paul's Church.

Henry Erskine Duncan was a son of Ralph E.E.P. Duncan and Jane Bartow.  Jane Bartow was a daughter of Augustus Bartow and Clarina Bartow.  (Clarina was a second cousin of her husband, Augustus Bartow.)  Catharine Ann Bartow's father, Robert Bartow, was a son of Augustus Bartow and Clarina Bartow, making Henry Erskine Duncan and Catharine Ann Bartow first cousins.  

Henry Erskine Duncan was born in New York City on April 7, 1824.  He attended St. Paul's College in College Point, Long Island from 1840 to 1843.  He attended the General Theological Seminary in New York from 1844 to 1847.  He received his A.B. in 1844 from the University of the City of New York.  He received his D.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and was ordained as a Minister in the Episcopal Church in 1847.  He and Catharine had four children:  Anna, Jeanie, Henry Erskine, Effie and Edith.  According to one source, Henry Erskine Duncan became an "Invalid" in 1881.

Catharine Ann Bartow Duncan died in her home at 50 East 58th Street in New York City on Thursday, December 12, 1907.  Funeral services for her were held two days later at St. Luke's Church in Mattaeawan, New York.  

Announcement of Wedding of Catharine Ann Bartow and

Henry Erskine Duncan.  Source:   MARRIED, Morning Courier

and New-York Enquirer [NY, NY], Sep. 9, 1848, Vol. XXXVIII,

No. 6623, p. 3, col. 9.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum on Sep. 29, 2007.

Source:  "Bartow-Pell Mansion" in Wikipedia - The

Free Encyclopedia (visited Jul. 16, 2016).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the transcribed text of a number of resources that shed light on the lives of Catharine Ann Bartow and her husband Henry Erskine Duncan.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"MARRIED . . . 

At St. Paul's Church, East Chester, N. Y., on Thursday, 7th inst., by the Rev. Dr. Cott, Rev. HENRY E. DUNCAN to CATHARINE A. daughter of Robert Bartow, Esq., of Pelham."

Source:  MARRIED, Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer [NY, NY], Sep. 9, 1848, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 6623, p. 3, col. 9.  

"Died. . . . DUNCAN. -- On Thursday, Dec. 12, 1907, at 50 East 58th St., New York City, Catharine Bartow, wife of the late Rev. Henry E. Duncan, D.D., and daughter of the late Robert and Maria Lorillard Bartow.  Funeral services at St. Luke's Church, Mattaeawan, N.Y., on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 11:45 o'clock.  Carriages will meet train at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson leaving New York at 9:40 A.M."

Source:  Died . . . DUNCAN, N.Y. Times, Dec. 14, 1907, p. 9, col. 6 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"DIED. . . . DUNCAN. -- Entered into life eternal.  On Thursday, Dec. 12, 1907, in New York City.  Catharine Bartow, wife of the late Rev. Henry E. Duncan, D. D., and daughter of the late Robert and Maria Lorillard Bartow, in the 78th year of her age.

'I will give you rest.'

'And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since and lost awhile.'"

Source:  "DIED. . . . DUNCAN," in The Churchman, Dec. 28, 1907, p. 1016, col. 3.  

Catharine Bartow was listed in the 1908 New York Social Register (released in November, 1907, shortly before her death) with a telephone number and address as follows:

"Duncan Mrs. Henry E. (Catharine Bartow). . . . . . Phone No. 4424jPlaza  50 E 58"

Source:  "Duncan Mrs. Henry E." in Social Register, New York, 1908, Vol. XXII, No. 1, p. 165 (Nov. 1907).  

"Died -- DUNCAN -- Jeanie, on August 13, 1942, daughter of the late Dr. Henry E. and Catharine Bartow Duncan.  Funeral service at St. Thomas Church, 5th ave. and 53d st., on Friday, at 10:30 A.M.  Interment St. Lukes Church Yard, Beacon, N.Y."

Source:  Died -- DUNCAN -- Jeanie, N.Y. Sun, Aug. 19, 1942, Real Estate Section, p. 35, col. 1.  

"ROBERT BARTOW, eldest son of Augustus and Clarina Bartow,, was born at Westchester, Jan. 12, 1792, went to New York, m., March 20, 1827, Maria R., daughter of Blase Lorillard, by who he had five sons and four daughters.  In 18[36], he purchased the country-seat of his late grandfather, at Pelham, where he resided till his death, June 24, 1868, near 3 P.M.  Buried Friday, June 26, in S. Peter's churchyard, Westchester.  He was Warden of S. Paul's Church, Eastchester, and of Trinity, New Rochelle, and a Delegate to the Convention.

Children of Robert Bartow and Maria R. his wife:

1.  George Lorillard Bartow, b. March 5, 1828, d. unm. at S. Augustine, Florida, March 23, 1875; buried at Westchester, March 31, 1875.
2.  Catharine Ann Bartow, b. Apr. 16, 1830, m. Rev. Henry Erskine Duncan, D. D.
3.  Clarina Maria Bartow, b. 1832, d. Dec. 18, 1835, buried in S. Peter's churchyard, Westchester.
4.  Robert Erskine Bartow, b. Dec. 22, 1834, d. Dec. 21, 1835, buried in S. Peter's Churchyard, Westchester.
5.  Clarina Bartow, b. Jan. 31, 1838, m. Sept. 18, 1861, in Christ Church, Pelham, to Rev. James Hervey Morgan.
6.  Robert Erskine Bartow, A.B., b. May 22, 1840, grad. at Columbia College, 1862, and received the degree of A.M. in 1865.  In 1864, he was elected one of the Vestry of Christ Church, Pelham, d. unm. June 24, 1867, at Pelham, and buried June 26, in S. Peter's churchyard, Westchester.
7.  Reginald Heber Bartow, b. Feb. 16, 1842, grad. at Columbia College, 1864.  He is the eldest male heir to the name.
8.  Henrietta Amelia Bartow, b. Aug. 26, 1843, m. William Jackson, son of Rev. Chas. D. Jackson, D.D., Rector of S. Peter's Church, Westchester.
9.  Theodoret Bartow, b. Apr. 16, 1846, unm., resides at Pelham."

Source:  "ROBERT BARTOW" in Bartow, Evelyn P., Bartow Genealogy:  Containing Everon One of the Name of Bartow Descended From Doctor Thomas Bartow Who Was Living at Crediton, in England, A.D., 1672 with References to the Books Where any of the Name Is Mentioned, pp. 91-92 (Baltimore, MD:  Innes & Co., 1875).

"DUNCAN, HENRY ERSKINE.  507 N. Broad St., Elizabeth, N.J.
Son of Ralph E.E.P. Duncan and Jane (Bartow) Duncan; b. N.Y. City, Apr. 7, 1824.
St. Paul's Coll., College Point, L.I., 1840-43; Gen. Theol. Sem., N.Y., 1844-47.
Ordained Minister, Episc. Church, 1847.  Invalid since 1881.
A.B., 1844, from Univ., City of N.Y.  D.D., Univ. of Penn.
Married, Sept. 7, 1848, Catharine A., da. of Robert Bartow.  Children:  Anna, Jeanie, Henry Erskine, Effie and Edith."

Source:  "DUNCAN, HENRY ERSKINE" in Biographical Catalogue of the Chancellors, Professors and Graduates of the Department of Arts and Science of the University of the City of New York, p. 37 (NY, NY:  Alumni Association, 1894).  

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A Brief History of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Published in 1931

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The mansion that houses today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and the property on which it sits together have quite a storied history.  Scholars believe that John Pell, a nephew and the principal legatee of Manor of Pelham founder Thomas Pell, built a home near today's mansion in the early 1670s.  Four generations of Pell family members resided in the home until, according to a variety of sources, it was destroyed by fire during the American Revolution.  

The property passed from the Pells to Herman and Hannah Leroy in 1813.  Robert Bartow, a New York city merchant, bought the property in 1836.  Shortly thereafter, he built the native stone mansion and moved with his family into the home by 1842.  The Bartow family remained in the home for more than four decades.  They attempted to develop an area around the nearby City Island Station on the New Haven Branch Line into a settlement that came to be known as Bartow and "Bartow-on-the-Sound."  (The station likewise came to be known as "Bartow Station.")

In 1888, while assembling parcels to create today's Pelham Bay Park, New York City acquired the Bartow estate.  (It likewise acquired the lands that formed the tiny little settlement of Bartow nearby.)  For nearly the next three decades, mansions in the region acquired by the City of New York -- including the Bartow mansion -- languished scandalously.  They were subject to vandalism, squatters, and municipal corruption involving "rentals" of some of the structures to well-placed City employees for virtually nothing.  

In 1914, the International Garden Club was formed "to promote hoticultural knowledge and to save the Bartow-Pell Mansion."  The organization raised funds and restored the mansion.  Today, the mansion and grounds including the Bartow carriage house built in the 1840s are owned by the City of New York but are operated by the International Garden Club, Inc..  The Mansion-Museum is a member of the Historic House Trust and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1931, The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon, New York, published a brief history of the Bartow Mansion.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of that article and reproduces a photograph that appeared with the article.

I have written about the Bartow-Pell Mansion-Museum and members of the Bartow family on many occasions.  For examples, see the extensive bibliography with links at the end of today's posting.

"THE BARTOW MANSION  A view of the century-old house

builty by Robert Bartow on Pelham Road near Split Rock Road.

Robert Bartow was a descendant of the lords of Pelham, and

this house is near the site of Pelham Manor.  It is now the home

of the International Garden Club.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Source:  Cushman, Elizabeth, Near Pelham Manor In New York

Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance --

It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road,

The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 29, 1931, p. 3, cols. 1-2.

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"Near Pelham Manor In New York Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance
-----
It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road
-----
By ELIZABETH CUSHMAN

'Three goes into nine three times; three goes into 12 four times --'

What could this have to do with pink and blue water lilies drifting placidly in the square pool of a sunken garden behind an old stone mansion on the shores of Long Island Sound?  What could it have to do with high-ceilinged rooms and old marble fireplaces, with oil paintings of lords and ladies of long ago, with inlaid tables and slim-legged chairs?

What could it have to do with a wide shady walk, leadning among tall bushes to a little plot of land enclosed by low iron bars, meeting at the four corners, stone pillars on which pelicans are carved?

'Three goes into --' would have more to do with this old cemetery, a stone's throw from the water, than with the dignified old stone mansion known as the Bartow House, standing on Pelham Road not far from where it is joined by Split Rock road.  All this land has belonged to New York City since 1888, but in the days when the Bartow Mansion was built, in the days when those graves were dug, this was an important part of Westchester County.  Historically, it is essentially all Westchester, for its past is the past of this county.

The Bartow Mansion is now the home of the International Garden Club; the garden in back of it was created only in 1916, though it has about it the peace and the permanency usually associated with centuries of existence.  But before this estate was known by the name of Bartow -- which has been, probably, for something around a hundred years -- it was the site of the Manor house of Pelham; the lords of one of Westchester's greatest grants of land lived here for five generations.

The Pells of Pelham Manor were descended from a famous English mathematician who is credited with having been the first to use the present signs for division -- who then, would not stand by the lily pool on the old Pell land and repeat softly to herself, 'three goes into -- '?  This reverend and right honorable John Pell, who spoke 10 languages, taught at the University of Breda by invitation of the Prince of Orange, lectured in London and Switzerland and received a special card of invitation to Oliver Cromwell's funeral, was the husband of Ithamaria Reginolles, and the father of another John, second lord of the Manor of Pelhamm, here in Westchester.

The first lord was Thomas, the Rev. John's brother.  Thomas died childless and left his manor lands to his nephew, 'John Pell, living in ould England, the only sonne of my brother . . . '  This was in 1669.

Provided For Huguenots

John Pell promptly came over from 'Ould England' and assumed his manorial rights in America.  He was an important personage in Westchester, for he was first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and first member of the Provincial Assembly for Westchester.  It was he who sold part of the Pelham Manor lands to Jacob Leisler, to provide a home for the French Huguenots, who in 1688, arrived here to found New Rochelle.  

In 1702, this second lord of the manor fell off his yacht and was drowned in the water of Long Island Sound.  His son, Thomas, born in Pelham Manor about 1675 then became third lord.  Thomas' wife is said to have been Anna, the daughter of Wampage, the Indian chief, who tradition tells us, slew Anne Hutchinson.  Wampage was also known as Annahock, a name relating to his great prowess in the massacre of the Hutchinson family.

A Few Names

The fourth Lord of the Manor was Joseph, son of Thomas and the Indian Princess, and with this family, the name Bartow appears for the first time in relation to the Pells.  Joseph Pell's sister, Bathsheba, married Theophilus Bartow.  This was the first of several marriages binding the two families.

In the next generation Thomas, son of Joseph and grandson of the Indian Princess, married Margaret Bartow.  Their daughter, Ann, also married a Bartow, and it was to this couple, Anna Pell Bartow and her husband, John Bartow, that Ann's father turned over the lands where the Bartow mansion now stands, but the mansion itself was not built for two generations.  Then, Robert, grandson of Ann Pell and John Bartow, erected the building that stands today, but the exact date it was put up has never been determined.

Hidden Gold?

There had been a dwelling here previously, of course -- the famous Manor house of the Lords of Pelham.  Its site is not definitely known, but it is thought to have stood near the present Bartow mansion.  Those graves, hidden from today's mansion by thick clusters of trees, are Pell graves -- the birds carved on the corner posts are pelicans, the symbol of the Pells.  There is a marble tablet here, giving a clue to the identity of those who rest beneath the quaint old brown stones with their crude carving.  The tablet, erected in 1862 by James K. Pell, gives the date of John Pell's death as 1700.  As late as 1911 vandals dug here one night in search of the gold and jewels which, tradition declares, were buried with the Pells of long ago.

Meanwhile the Bartows, who have given their name to the place were of no little significance in Westchesterwhen they became affiliated by marriage with the Pells.

The Bartows

The family was founded in America by John Bartow, a minister.  Though he was an Englishman he came, curiously, of Huguenot stock.  His ancestor had fled from France to Holland in 1572, following the massacre of Saint Bartholomew.  The name was then Bertaud or Bretagne or Brittany, but when this refugee reached England from Holland, it became Bartow.

Early in the 18th Century -- probably about 1702, John Bartow came to Westchester to officiate as minister for the parish of Rye, but Caleb Heathcote, Lord of the Manor of Scarsdale and a prominent and indefatigable churchman, decreed he should remain in Westchester.  This parish then included the village or rather the borough town of Westchester-Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham.  The difficulties of administering a parish of that size, in days when horseback travel was over roads that were scarcely more than the ruts that had developed from Indian trails, were tremendous, and poor Mr. Bartow had his troubles.

His Troubles

Witness this letter which he wrote home to England in 1706:

'My great business is to plant the Church of England amongst prejudiced, poor, and irreligious people, who are more apt to receive than to give, who think it a hardship to pay their dues; and we dare not use the law for fear of bringing an odium on the Church, and on all occasions except to be civilly treated by the minister.  My task is greater than I can bear; I will hold out as long as I can with submission to the Divine will who feedeth the fowls of the air; trusting he will still feed me, by your means, when you come to be sensible of our wants.'

Was there a bit of sarcasm or bitterness in that last line?

More Connection

Despite his doubts, the Rev. John Bartow held out for more than a quarter of a century.  He had married Helena Redi, who bore him two [sic] sons three of whom died in infancy and one of whom died young.  It was their son, Theophilus, who became the husband of Bathesheba Pell; Theophilus and Bathsheba's son, John, took Ann Pell for his second wife.  Their daughter, Margaret, married Thomas Pell.  Thus, John Bartow, who inherited this portion of the Pell Manor lands, was the grandson of the first John Bartow.  (Incidentally, Theophilus had a brother, Theodosius, a lawyer.  The lawyer's wife was one Ann Stillwell; their daughter, Theodosia Bartow, had a British soldier, Colonel James Marcus Prevost, as her first husband, and an American soldier, Aaron Burr, as her second husband. . . .)  It gets more and more involved as it goes on. . . . 

Theophilus and Theodosius

Theophilus Bartow and his wife, Bathsheba, had nine children in all.  One of them, the Rev. Theodosius, named for his lawyer uncle, was rector of Trinity Church in New Rochelle for 29 years.  His grandfather had on occasion preached here before him.  A Theodosius Bartow also served as minister in Bedford, resigning in 1976 [sic], but whether or not this was the same person, let someone else decide.

You might think of these things -- beginning with the 'three goes into' -- as you motor along Pelham Road.  You might think of the fine traditions the Pells brought with them to America -- They had been manor lords in old England before they came, for the father of the famous mathematicians was second lord of the manor of Shouldham Priory and Brookhall and Mayor of Lynn Regis.

You'll see, as you ride down Pelham Road, a circular iron fence around a tree on the grounds before the Bartow mansiion.

The Indians Treaty

This is supposed to encircle the site of the famous old charter oak under which Thomas Pell made his treaty with the Indians.  The claim, however, is disputed -- a local story says that one of the Bartows had a favorite horse which he buried here on this place.  But whatever the site is or is not, it helps to keep alive the story of Thomas Pell and the Indians and so serves the purpose quite adequately.

The windows of the Bartow mansion look out on lands that both British and American soldiers trod -- and disrupted in Revolutionary days.  The military history of this part of Westchester, however, does not belong here.  All that belongs here is a sign over a lilly pool, a glance at a grave and a thought of that gentleman of far away and long ago who first made up the signs for 'three goes into --'"

Source:  Cushman, Elizabeth, Near Pelham Manor In New York Is Bartow Mansion, A House Which Holds Historical Importance -- It Is Hidden By Trees From View of Passersby on Pelham Road, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 29, 1931, p. 3, cols. 1-2. 

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Below is a bibliography of articles I have prepared regarding the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, members of the Bartow family, the settlement known as Bartow, and the little horse railroad that once ran from Bartow to City Island.

Tue., Jul. 28, 2015:  John Bartow Who Lived in the Manor Home Built by John Pell in About 1672.

Thu., May 21, 2015:  Pelham Manor Romance: A Tale of Aaron Burr and His Love, Theodosia Bartow Prevost of the Manor of Pelham.

Thu., Jan. 22, 2015:  Lawsuit in 1884 Cleared the Way for Construction of Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to Lower Part of City Island in Pelham.

Mon., Nov. 03, 2014:  More on the 17th Century Location of the Manor Home of John Pell of the Manor of Pelham.

Fri., Sep. 5, 2014:  Post Card Image of Bartow and City Island Stage Coach With Driver.

Thu., Aug. 28, 2014:  Gouverneur Morris Jr. Lived His Later Years, and Died, in Bartow-on-the-Sound in the Town of Pelham.

Tue., May 4, 2010:  Questions Regarding the Trolley Franchise from Bartow Station to the Tip of City Island Arose in 1915.

Fri., Apr. 2, 2010:  More on the So-Called "Horse Railroad" that Once Ran from Bartow Station to City Island.

Wed., Feb. 3, 2010:  Early Information Published in 1885 About the Organization of the "City Island Railroad", a Horse Railroad from Bartow Station to City Island.

Fri., Jan. 22, 2010:  1884 Account of Early Origins of Horse Railroad Between Bartow Station and City Island.

Mon., Jan. 4, 2010:  1888 Local News Account Describes Altercation on the Horse Railroad Running from Bartow Station to City Island.

Fri., Jan. 1, 2010:  1886 Dynamite Explosion in Baychester Kills Four and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham.

Thu., Oct. 22, 2009:  Dynamite Explosion in 1890 Breaks Windows and Shakes Residents of Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham.

Tue.,Sep. 1, 2009:  Pelham News on February 29, 1884 Including Talk of Constructing a New Horse Railroad from Bartow to City Island.

Thu., Nov. 29, 2007:  John Bartow Offers His Pelham Farm for Sale in Advertisement Published in 1807.

Mon., Jul. 2, 2007:  Notice of Auction Sale of Lots at Bartow-on-the-Sound in Pelham in 1874.

Mon., Jun. 4, 2007:  Abstract of 1797 Will of John Bartow, Sr. Who Owned Land in Pelham and Whose Family Became Early Pelham Residents.

Wed., Feb. 28, 2007:  Lord Cornbury Installs John Bartow as Rector of the Parish of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers and the Manor of Pelham in 1702.

Fri., Jan. 12, 2007:  A Brief Description of Scott's Grocery Store at Bartow Village in Pelham.

Tue., Sep. 12, 2006:  Evidence Sheds Light on Location of An Early Home of John Pell, 2d Lord of the Manor of Pelham. 

Wed., Jan. 4, 2006:  Another Post Card Image of the Horse Car That Ran Between Bartow and City Island.

Fri., Dec. 30, 2005:  Subdivision Development Map Created in 1873 for Bartow Village in the Town of Pelham.

Mon., Dec. 12, 2005:  19th Century Subdivision Map of Planned Bartow Village.

Thu., Jul. 21, 2005:  Today's Remnants of the Bartow Station on the Branch Line Near City Island.

Tue., June 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.

Thu., Mar. 24, 2005:  The Bartow Area of Pelham in the 19th Century: Where Was It?

Bell, Blake A., The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and Carriage House, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 31, Aug. 6, 2004, p. 9, col. 1.

Bell, Blake A., The Manor House of John Pell, Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 51, Dec. 24, 2004.

Bell, Blake A., Bartow-on-the-Sound, Once a Hamlet in the Town of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XV, Issue 5, Feb. 3, 2006, p. 13, col. 1.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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The Feud Between Mainlanders And City Islanders in the Town of Pelham Turned Ugly in 1859

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During the mid-19th century, the Town of Pelham was splt politically.  Interestingly, it was not split on party lines but on geographic lines:  the islanders versus the mainlanders.  

The principal population of the Town resided on City Island.  The population on the mainland, however, was growing.  The mainlanders began to chafe at the refusal of City Islanders to vote in favor of authorizing funds to improve roads and infrastructure on the mainland.  In 1859, the feud prompted many of the most illustrious mainland residents to file an application with the Board of Supervisors of Westchester County to splt the Town of Pelham into two towns.  One was to consist of City Island, Hart Island, and High Island (and their "appurtenances") and the other was to consist of the mainland, Hunter's Island, the Twins (and their "appurtenances").

The application was made by members of the Marshall, Morris, Bartow, Grenzebach, Coudert, Roosevelt, Hunter, Schuyler, and Secor Families, among others.  On September 23, 1859, the group published notice of the application in the Eastern State Journal published in White Plains, New York.  

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of the notice in its entirety, followed by a citation (and link) to its source.

"NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. -- Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, freeholders of the town of Pelham, in the county of Westchester, will apply to the Board of Supervisors of said county, at the next Annual Session thereof, to commence at White Plains, in said county, on the fourteenth day of November next, for a division of said town of Pelham into two towns, by the following division, viz.""

That so much of the said town of Pelham as lies on the main land, with its present boundaries, except on the Sound side and the Islands known as Hunter's Island and the Twins, and each of their appurtenances, shall constitute a separate and independent township, and be known and designated as the town of Pelham -- the boundary on the Sound side being a line equi-distant between the main land, Hunter's Island, and the Twins with each of their appurtenances, on one side, and City Island, High Island, and Hart Island, with each of their appurtenances, on the other side.

That all the rest and residue of the present town of Pelham, as at present constituted, and not comprised in the above, including City Island, Hart Island, and High Island, and each of their appurtenances, shall constitute a separate and independent township -- thus diving the town of Pelham, as at present known, into two separate towns. -- Dated September 9th, 1859.

L. R. MARSHALL,
RICHARD L. MORRIS,
RICHARD S. MORRIS,
ROBERT BARTOW,
WILLIAM O'CALLAGHAN,
JAMES FLANEGAN,
HENRY GRENZEBACH,
JAMES HINMAN,
VALENTINE G. HALL,
E. A. PATTERSON, 
CH. COUDERT,
E. J. ROOSEVELT,
P. C. ROOSEVELT,
E. D. HUNTER,
PH. SCHUYLER,
FRANCIS SECOR."

Source:  NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY, Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Sep. 23, 1859, Vol. XV, No. 20, p. 3, col. 2.  

Map of Town of Pelham with Inset of City Island, 1868.

Source: Beers, F.W., Atlas of New York and Vicinity, p. 35

(NY, NY: Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868).

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

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