Laying of the Cornerstone of the First Manor Club Clubhouse on Thanksgiving Day in 1887

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The Manor Club, located at 1023 Esplanade in Pelham Manor, is a cultural, civic and social club for women. Although it had its beginnings in the 1870s, it was not organized formally until January 10, 1882. 

The precise origins of the club, unfortunately, are shrouded in the mist of time. Some believe that in 1878, only five years after the Pelham Manor and Huguenot Heights Association formed to develop the area, a few local residents began gathering socially in local homes. This group, with no organizational structure, is believed to have evolved into the Manor Club. See The Manor Club, THE HISTORY OF THE MANOR CLUB, p. 6 (Pelham Manor, NY: 1973).  See also 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, pp. 160-61 (The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946).

Despite such humble beginnings, what these early residents of Pelham Manor crafted has since become a social and cultural force in Pelham. 

The “Reorganization” of the Club in 1882 

On January 10, 1882, “the greater part of the residents” of Pelham Manor gathered at the home of Mr. E.E. Hitchcock.  See id.  Their purpose was to “reorganize” the Manor Club which, for some unknown reason, “had formally been disbanded at a meeting held December 9, 1881” according to the minutes of the January 10 meeting.  Id.  A history of the club published in 1973 says that during the “reorganizational” meeting: 

“a constitution and by-laws were drawn up and unanimously adopted. Mr. John H. Dey, temporary chairman of the meeting, appointed a committee to nominate the officers of the new club and said officers were elected by acclamation. This new constitution provided that the offices of vice president and treasurer must be filled by ladies.”  Id.  

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

Efforts to Influence School Elections Prompted Creation of a Clubhouse 

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

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

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

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

Example of One of Many Deeds Issued as Part of

the Manor Club's Scheme to Stuff the School Elections

Ballot Box.  (Page 01 of 02)  By This Deed the Manor

Club Conveyed to One of Its Members, Henry Dey,

"During the Term of his Natural Life, One Undivided

One-Hundredth Part" of Two Lots Owned by the Manor

Club.  Source:  Manor Club "Memory Book."

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Second Page of Deed Granted to Henry Dey as Part of

the Manor Club's Scheme to Stuff the School Elections

Ballot Box.  (Page 02 of 02)  Source:  Manor Club 

"Memory Book."  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge. 

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

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

The Laying of the Cornerstone of the First Clubhouse in 1887

On Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1887, a crowd gathered for the laying of the cornerstone of the Manor House, the new clubhouse. The Order of Exercises for the ceremony suggests that those who participated believed that they were shaping the history of their village – three of the speakers addressed the following topics: “History of Pelham Manor”, “The Early History of The Manor Club”, and “The Later History of The Manor Club”.  See Order of Exercises at the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Manor House at Pelham Manor, N.Y., on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 1887 At 10 o’clock, A.M. (Handbill in Memory Book of the Manor Club). Construction proceeded smoothly and the new clubhouse opened in June 1888.

A brief announcement of the cornerstone laying appeared in one New York City newspaper.  The reference read as follows:

"SUBURBAN NEWS. . . . 

New York.

A NEW CLUB-HOUSE AT PELHAM.

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

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

Immediately below is the program entitled "ORDER OF EXERCISES" provided at the laying of the cornerstone of the Manor Club clubhouse on November 24, 1887.  Below the image I have transcribed the text of the program.

"ORDER OF EXERCISES AT THE LAYING OF THE

Corner-Stone of the Manor House, At PELHAM MANOR,

N.Y. ON THANKSGIVING DAY, NOV. 24, 1887, At

10 O'Clock, A.M."  Source:  Manor Club "Memory Book."

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"ORDER OF EXERCISES AT THE LAYING OF THE Corner-Stone of the Manor House, At PELHAM MANOR, N.Y. ON THANKSGIVING DAY, NOV. 24, 1887, At 10 O'Clock, A.M.
-----

1.  INVOCATION, by the Rev. Charles Higbee, Rector of Christ Church.
2.  CONGRATULATORY REMARKS,.....Mr. Henry W. Taft, President.
3.  SINGING,
4.  HISTORY OF PELHAM MANOR,.......Mr. David M. Johnson.
5.  THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE MANOR CLUB,.......Rev. Henry Randall Waite.
6.  SINGING,
7.  THE LATER HISTORY OF THE MANOR CLUB,.......Mr. Wm. E. Barnett.

[NOTE. -- Should the weather prove stormy or chilly, the proceedings up to this point will take place at the residence of Mr. Dey -- the procession thence proceeding to the site of the Manor House for the purpose of laying the corner-stone.  The architect, Mr. F. Carles Merry, will supervise any arrangements necessary at the building.)

LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE.
-----

8.  ANNOUNCEMENT OF CONTENTS, WITH ANY PARTICULARS, Mr. Robert C. Black.
9.  LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE,.......Mrs. Robert C. Black.
10.  POEM,............Mr. Wm. Allen Smith.
11.  SINGING,
12.  VOLUNTEER REMARKS, as may be invited by the President.
13.  THE LORD'S PRAYER, AND BENEDICTION, Rev. D. N. Freeland, Pastor of the Huguenot Memorial Church.

Mr. Charles F. Roper and Mr. Wm. Allen Smith have kindly consented to take charge of the singing.  

All former and present members of the Club, any residents of the Manor, and all to whom this Order of Exercises is addressed, are cordially invited to be present on this occasion.

By order of the Board of Directors,

ROBERT C. BLACK,   )
                                     }  Committee.
JOHN H. DEY              )

PELHAM MANOR, 
NEW YORK, Nov. 21st, 1887."

The new Manor House that opened in June 1888 was two stories in height plus a basement.  The building was eighty feet by sixty-five feet.  On the first floor was the "Main Room," 30 x 32 feet with a stage that was sixteen feet deep and with an inglenook (a fireplace corner) on the south side of the room, 7 x 16 feet.   The first floor also included a billiard room, 16 x 28 feet, a card room, 16 x 20 feet, and:  a gentleman's dressing room, a "green room," kitchen, and pantries.  The second floor included a ladies' dressing room, a stage dressing room and gallery.  In the basement there was a bowling alley.  See COUNTY NEWS, The Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Jun. 23, 1888, Vol. XLIV, No. 12, p. 3, cols. 3-4.  

Conclusion

Though the original Manor House of the Manor Club was razed to make room for today's clubhouse opened in 1922, the original Manor House cornerstone laid by Mrs. Robert C. Black on November 24, 1887 with its time capsule contents remains part of the building today.

Image of the Manor Club's "Manor House" Taken as a Detail

from an Engraved Membership Certificate (No. 11) Issued to

Mr. Robert C. Black on February 24, 1888.  Source:  Manor

Club "Memory Book."  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Photograph of the Manor Club's "Manor House" Published

in 1892.  Source:  Manor Club "Memory Book."  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

I have written about the Manor Club and its history on a number of occasions.  See, e.g.:  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Are These Eerie Coincidences Involving the Pelham Town Historian Worthy of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not"?

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I have had the honor, privilege, and pleasure of serving as the Historian of the Town of Pelham since 2004.  Before then, I served as Deputy Town Historian, working with Town Historian Mimi Buckley.  While I heartily embraced the positions of Deputy Town Historian and, later, Town Historian of Pelham, New York of my own free will, I have since come to wonder whether it truly was a matter of free will.  There simply seem to be so many eerie coincidences that connect me, my family, and our ancestors to Pelham and its history that I must question whether it has all been a series of coincidences worthy of "Ripley's Believe it or Not," or a matter of fate.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog gives you a chance to decide and . . . believe it or not. . . .

Coincidence Number 1

In 1974, I was a sixteen-year-old kid growing up in Mississippi.  New York City was a distant metropolis that I never had visited.  I had never heard of any of its suburbs, much less one called "Pelham."  

Following a statewide competition, I was selected to receive a scholarship to attend, with boys from many other states and countries, an international leadership camp based in New York State known as Camp Rising Sun, founded by Louis August Jonas.  Among the many highlights of the camp program was the practice of arranging for campers to arrive one to two weeks early and to be hosted by families residing in the New York City region to give the campers -- most of whom, like me, had never set foot in New York City -- a chance to visit the grand metropolis.

Forty-one years ago this summer I flew from Mississippi to New York to join my host family before camp began.  Who was my host family?  The Dietermeyer family who, at the time, lived at 31 Highbrook Avenue in the little Town of Pelham, New York,  I stayed in their lovely home in historic Pelhamwood for a week and enjoyed not only daily excursions from the Pelham Train Station into New York City, but also daily activities in the lovely Town of Pelham. . . . 

The Lovely Pelhamwood Home Located at

31 Highbrook Avenue, Village of Pelham, in

the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Coincidence Number 2

Following college and law school, I began working in New York City, living in a studio apartment on Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan.  Ready to settle down with my college sweetheart, Janice Faye Ingram, I shopped tirelessly at many, many jewelers for what I hoped would be the "perfect" engagement ring.

I found that ring.  I bought it from an historic jewelry firm that had competed for more than a century against the likes of Tiffany and Cartier.  The firm, which subsequently failed and dissolved after more than 150 years (although recently the name has been acquired and a west coast jeweler has opened under the same name), had a fascinating history of its own.  It was known as Black, Starr & Frost.  Robert C. Black and Cortlandt W. Starr of the firm were prominent nineteenth century residents of . . . . . . the little Town of Pelham, New York.  (I have written before about both men.)  Should we cue music from "The Twighlight Zone" yet?  No?  Simply another coincidence?  Well, let's keep going.  

Coincidence Number 3

Fast forward to the late 1990s when my wife and I, both working long hours in New York City with brutal travel schedules, began looking to move from our apartment on the upper east side of Manhattan to a nearby New York City suburb.  We looked all over lower Westchester County and finally settled on the perfect home located at 20 Beech Tree Lane in the beautiful Town of Pelham.  At the time, I did not even remember that I had visited Pelham as a sixteen-year-old and did not have a clue that Robert C. Black and Cortlandt W. Starr were once Pelham residents.

The home, it turned out, had a fascinating history.  It was built in 1927 by Lockwood Anderson Barr.  Barr was an interesting man.  He was a Pelham historian and author of a book on the history of Pelham.  (Not only did I subsequently become Pelham Town Historian, but I published two books on the history of Pelham.)  Now can we cue the eery background music?  

20 Beech Tree Lane, Village of Pelham Manor,

in the Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Coincidence Number 4

Lest one believe that such developments suggest nothing of fate but, rather, are simple coincidences and nothing more, consider the following.  It seems that my ancestors include one who has been in the Manor of Pelham before.

Among my Sixth-Great-Grandfathers was Johann Jakob Holzapfel who served as a Private in the 4th Company, Hesse-Kassel Regiment Erbprinz, on Muster Roll 0/1775 (HETRINA III, #8113-14).  Holzapfel's regiment was sent to America in the summer of 1776.  

Holzapfel was in America at the time of the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776.  Extensive research for nearly two decades has established that his regiment EITHER fought in the Battle of Pelham or was among those shipped from Staten Island to New Rochelle (once part of the Manor of Pelham) a few days after the Battle of Pelham to join with those who fought in the battle for a long march to White Plains for the subsequent Battle of White Plains.  Perhaps Johann was simply checking out the area for one of his great-great-great-great-great-great grandsons.  

Coincidence Number 5

Could it be that the girl from southwest Virginia whom I married and whose ancestors have remained in southwest Virginia for three hundred years since at least 1698 had her own ancestral ties to the northern Town of Pelham?  Certainly that seems so far-fetched as to be the stuff of fiction.  

After moving to Pelham, I discovered that one of my wife's Great-Great Grandfathers, Nathaniel H. Bouldin, was a Confederate soldier who was captured in the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865 in the very last days of the Civil War.  He was shipped north where he was held as a prisoner of war in a camp located on Hart Island.  Hart Island then was part of . . . the Town of Pelham.  

Nathaniel Henry Bouldin died of "chronic diarrhea" while being held as a prisoner in Pelham.  He was buried on Hart Island in the Town of Pelham.  (In the twentieth century, his remains and those of other Confederates who died while being held on Hart Island were moved to Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.  Bouldin is buried in Grave Number 2677 at Cypress Hills.)

Conclusion

Is it mere coincidence that I made my way to Pelham, New York and now have the honor, privilege, and pleasure to serve as Historian of the Town of Pelham?  I think not.  I prefer to think of it as fate.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. . . . . . . 

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Recollections of Manor Circle and Pelham Manor in the Late 19th Century

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Until 1886, there had been virtually no development of any of the area east of the Branch Line railroad tracks all the way to Christ Church, Bolton Priory and Shore Road.  Indeed, for much of the nineteenth century, that pristine, undeveloped area was known as a local picnic ground filled with primeval forrest trees including ancient chestnut trees, beech trees, white oaks and more.  

In September, 1886, the very first efforts to develop the area began.  A brief news account published on October 1, 1886 stated:

"Extensive improvements at Pelham Manor, east of the railroad track, are in progress.  Streets are being laid out and graded, and much of the low land is being filled in.  The improvement will be very decided.  The work is being done by the association."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Oct. 1, 1886, Vol. XVIII, No. 920,  p. 4, col. 2.  

The first neighborhood to be populated was the area immediately adjacent to the Branch Line railroad tracks known today as Manor Circle.  Real estate interests led by Robert C. Black sold lots to individuals who began to build homes on the circle.  The first five families to build homes and reside on Manor Circle were the Coupier, Rathbone, Heath, Beach, and Wahn families.  Mr. and Mrs. H. G. K. Heath bought a lot on Manor Circle in 1889 and built their home the following year, but the home promptly burned to the ground without local firefighting equipment readily available.  The Heaths rebuilt their home and resided there for many years.

In 1938, Mrs. Heath provided her recollections of Pelham Manor and the Manor Circle neighborhood in the 1890s to a reporter from The Pelham Sun.  The resulting article provides an idealistic description of a simpler time when all local homes had horse teams, open and closed carriages, sleighs with sleigh bells for winter travel, and when it was not unusual to wake up in the morning to discover a stray horse or cow munching on the vegetable garden behind the house.  

Such published recollections and reminiscences have provided a rich source of descriptive narratives of the early days of the Town of Pelham.  Mrs. Heath's recollections are transcribed below followed by a citation and link to its source.  For only two of the many, many examples of such reminiscences that I previously have published, see:

Thu., Feb. 20, 2014:  Pelham Manor in 1883 and in its Early Years - Recollections of An Early Pelham Manor Resident. 

Mon., May 05, 2014:  Reminiscences of Pelham Manor in 1910, Published in 1931.

Detail from 1899 Map Showing Manor Circle Area of

Pelham Manor and Locations of Homes of the Earliest

Residents of the Area Including Mr. and Mrs. H. G. K. Heath.

Source:  Fairchild, John F., Atlas of City of Mount Vernon

and Town of Pelham, Double Page Plate No. 24

(Mt. Vernon, NY:  1899)  NOTE:  Click Image To Enlarge.

"Mrs. Heath Recalls Horses and Cows As Garden Visitors In The Old Manor
-----
Mrs. H. G. K. Heath Who Came to Manor Circle in 1890 Remembers With Delight More Bucolic Days In Pelham Manor.  Old Resident Recovers After Serious Fall.
-----

By MARGARET LEARY

A slim blade of a woman, with something if the blade's exquisite pliability and its hidden strength concealed in its suppleness; old as the world reckons such things in un-subtle fashion, but young as humanity knows youth for a clear-eyed view of reality and interest in each passing moment, Mrs. H. G. K. Heath who spent 45 years in the Manor as a resident of Manor Circle takes her place among Pelham's oldest residents, with an easy grace that is characteristic of the woman.

Well on the way to a fine recovery after a serious fall in June 1937 that kept her in the hospital until the following September, Mrs. Heath, now in the 'crutches' stage looks forward from moment to moment to graduation to the more simple support of a cane and those who know her best, would not be surprised to see her navigating gailly, one of these days down Wolf's Lane.  Much of the character of the woman is implicit in that courageous expectation.

Mrs. Heath who makes her home now in Pelham Heights at No. 8 Parkway Drive with her daughter, Mrs. Louis Albert, is easily reckoned among the Manor's oldest residents -- that small group which knew the village when much of it was a pleasant wooded section and when the houses in the neighborhood of Manor Circle could be counted on one's fingers.  'I'm like one of the old chestnut trees,' Mrs. Heath blithely describes herself, referring to the staunch old trees that are mingled with her earliest recollections of the Manor.

Mrs. Heath and her husband, the late Henry G. K. Heath, a prominent lawyer, bought their land for their home on Manor Circle in 1889 from the late Robert C. Black.  On their property of more than an acre, they built their home the following year.  Mrs. Heath recalls her first visit to the Manor.  'We came up and sat on the old stone fence and brought a picnic lunch -- I promptly fell in love with the trees.'  This new home of theirs caught fire and with the inadequate fire apparatus of those long gone days, it burned right down.  They built another home, however, and began their long residence in the Manor on the same site.  Mrs. Heath recalls two other young married women also residents on the Circle in those days, Mrs. Robert Beach, and the late Mrs. Wahn.  The Coupier and Rathbone families were already Circle residents. 

This, the reader must remember was before the days of the late lamented 'Toonerville Trolley' which ended its career in a blaze of glory only last Summer.  Mrs. Heath well remembers when the 'Toonerville' came to the Manor.  She still sighs to think of the beautiful willow trees that had to be sacrificed to make way for 'progress.'  Apparently there was considerable feeling on the subject.

Like other residents of the Manor in those bucolic, non-automotive days, Mrs. Heath had a stunning team of horses and had both a closed and an open carriage.  The reporter from The Pelham Sun had a vivid image of her driving about the county in her open carriage, looking as she said for little travelled roads, carrying what she described as one of those 'mind your own business' little parasols -- which the user could adjust at the desired angle to obstruct any unwanted gaze.  In the Winter, there was a fine sleigh, drawn by the horses, gay with bells.  'I used to drive up to New Rochelle in that and remember the boys throwing snowballs,' Mrs. Heath recalled with a smile.  'We were the last residents on the Circle to give up our horses,' she added.  They hated to part with them.

The first automobile in the family was another red letter day.  Mrs. Heath recalled her early first fear of the horseless carriages.  Her husband called her outside the house one day to 'see something.'  The something was a new Reo which he had just driven up from New York with the automobile salesman.  That afternoon with no more driving experience, Mr. Heath motored his wife up to Mount Kisco and she 'was not really afraid.'

The memories of this real old-timer encompass the steady growth of St. Catherine's Church which she remembers as a tiny structure able to house only about a hundred parishioners.  Before they came to the Manor, at Mr. Black's suggestion, the Heaths joined the Manor Club, an organization of which Mrs. Heath is now an honorary member, after a remarkably long record of active participation and interest in club affairs.  For six years, Mrs. Heath was head of the Choral, for two years chairman of the Literature Section and she served as club vice-president for three years.  During a ten-year period, she missed only three meetings, a record which the late Mrs. Joan E. Secor, the club's first president, told her was not likely to be equalled.

Mrs. Heath's gifts in dramatic way, her aptitude for mimicry illustrated in her clever recitations, is well known not only to the Manor Club group, but to a wider Pelham audience.  Active in the work of the Queen's Daughters, Mrs. Heath became the first president of the Ladies of Charity and is now an honorary president of that charitable group of St. Catherine's Church.  Last March, on her first day 'downstairs,' after her fall in the previous June, Mrs. Heath was greeted by many friends at a party at the home of Mrs. Frederick B. Davies on Eastland avenue and presented some of her popular recitations on that occasion.

A lover of flowers, Mrs. Heath recalls the wealth of lovely ferns and jack-in-the-pulpit and such wild things that were found in the old days in the woods that stood in the Roosevelt avenue section of the Manor.  'It was not a particularly unusual thing to wake up in the morning and find a horse straying into one's garden, in those days,' she said and on one occasion a cow was the unexpected visitor.  A Swedish maid in the Heath household decided firmly, 'I'll milk heem' -- but the cow had already been milked.

The youngest in a family of seven children, Mrs. Heath has gone through life with and continues to display a fine adaptability hat stands any human being in good stead.  Manor Circle she calls her 'universal circle' -- 'everything that could, happened to her there in a full life.  Very fond of people she confessed herself immediately, 'I never yet have seen anyone who was not in some way interesting,' she declares.

As she sits and talks to you, she looks you right in the eye (without glasses too), she laughs eeasily and genuinely, delights in her many friends, in books, in the understanding companionship of her daughter, both the past and the present and the future are her interest -- one leaves her with the feeling that years have no power over such a human being -- that something like this we are all intended to be when we can no longer call ourselves 'young.'  But some of us get jolly well warped along the way."

Source:  Leary, Margaret, Mrs. Heath Recalls Horses and Cows As Garden Visitors In The Old Manor, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 22, 1938, p. 10, cols. 2-3.  

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Another Account of Gold and Silver Treasure Found in a Pelham Manor Backyard in 1889

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Gold!  Silver!  Treasure!  For almost as long as youngsters have let their imaginations run wild, words such as these have prompted them to dig in their backyards in search of riches.  Some parents may smile and shake their heads at the naivete of youth.  Others may angrily instruct their offspring to fill their trenches.  Perhaps Pelham parents, however, should listen to their youngsters and let them explore, for treasure actually has been found in the backyard of a Pelham Manor home before.

I have written before about the cache of silver found in an old safe in the backyard of Pelham Manor resident Robert C. Black, a principal of Fifth Avenue jeweler Black, Starr & Frost.  See Mon., May 16, 2005:  The Discovery of a Gold and Silver Treasure in the Backyard of a Pelham Home in 1889.  My earlier posting was based on a New York Times article about discovery of the treasure.  The story of the treasure, however, was recounted far and wide.  

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of an article that appeared in the Cumberland Daily Times published in Cumberland, Maryland on April 17, 1889.  It describes in detail how the treasure was found and recounts a couple of the many theories regarding the origins of the treasure.  The text of the article appears immediately below, followed by a citation to its source.

"SILVER IN AN OLD SAFE.
-----
A New York Boy's Rich Find -- Probably Burglars' Booty.

NEW YORK, April 17. -- Robert Black, of Pelham manor, a member of the firm of Black, Starr & Frost, of this city, recently gave an old iron safe on his premises to Peter Berger, who cares for the grounds of the manor.  Mr. Berger took the safe away, and tried on his way home to sell it to a traveling junk man, and would have succeeded had the man been able to take it away.

He then gave it to his son Robert, who broke it open and found inside a lot of old silver, handsomely engraved and lined with gold.  He took the set to Mr. Black, who valued it at $500.  The name, 'C. Stephens,' was engraved on most of the pieces, while one bore the letter 'E,' and several others were engraved 'Napoleon III.'

Supposed to Be 'Swag.'

It is thought that part of the silver was taken by the masked burglars who robbed the Emmet place on the Pelham road in 1874.  The safe had stood in Mr. Black's grounds since 1873.  C. Stephens lived in Pelham in 1870 and 1871, and had a real estate office in lower Broadway, but has since disappeared.  The silver has been placed in the New Rochelle bank vaults to await the owners' identification."

Source:  SILVER IN AN OLD SAFE, Cumberland Daily Times [Cumberland, MD], Apr. 17, 1889, Vol. II, No. 217, p. 1, col. 5 (paid subscription required).

In 1889, Robert C. Black and his family lived in The Dogwoods where the safe stood in the backyard.  I have written about The Dogwoods before.  See Thu., Feb. 05, 2015:  "The Dogwoods," Known as the Old Black Mansion on Esplanade, Was Razed for Property Development in 1931; Wed., Apr. 13, 2005:  "The Dogwoods" - The Estate of Robert Clifford Black of Pelham Manor.

"Residence of Mr. Robert C. Black (From photograph before completion.)"
NOTE:  "before completion" means before completion of the addition

of two wings to the original house in 1892.

Source: "PELHAM MANOR, PELHAM HEIGHTS AND VICINITY.

A Delightful Suburban Section Described. -- With Eleven Illustrations"

in Real Estate Record and Builders Guide Supplement, Dec. 17, 1892,

Vol. L, No. 1292, p. 3 (Click Image to Enlarge).  

Research has never revealed whether the owners of the silver were ever located.  Obviously, the fact that "C. Stephens" was engraved on most of the pieces was significant.  Charles J. Stephens and his brother, Henry C. Stephens, were nephews of the principal financial backer of the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association, Silas H. Witherbee.  The Stephens Brothers lived in Pelham Manor and, by 1872, were working as real estate agents in New York City.  Their firm, Stephens Brothers & Company, described itself as "conveyancers and commission dealers in real property" with "especial attention given to Westchester County, N. Y.'  The firm served as 'Managing Agents' for the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association.  During the early 1870s, the Stephens Brothers were heavily involved in efforts to market lots in the new suburban development known as "Pelham Manor and Huguenot Heights."  To learn more about Charles J. Stephens and Henry C. Stephens, see Mon., Mar. 20, 2006:  Charles J. Stephens and Henry C. Stephens of the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association.  

Although no one in Pelham knew how to locate Charles J. Stephens in 1889, his obituary indicates that at about that time he lived with his family at 163 West 12th Street in New York City.  During many of the intervening years, however, he had traveled extensively throughout South America, Central America, and Cuba.  He died August 9, 1891 in Mexico City while collecting material for an illustrated text on Central America.  See Obituary . . . Charles J. Stephens, The Sun [NY, NY], Aug. 12, 1891, p. 2, col. 6.  See also  Wed., May 19, 2010:  Obituary of Charles J. Stephens of the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association; Thu., Apr. 9, 2009:  The Death of Charles J. Stephens in City of Mexico in 1891.  Additionally, Charles J. Stephens seems to have had some involvement with renting at least one property in Pelham Manor as late as 1884, only five years before the "treasure" was found.  See Mon., Mar. 2, 2009:  1884 Advertisement Placed by Charles J. Stephens of the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association Offering Home for Rent.    

Since most of the silver found in the safe taken from the backyard of Robert C. Black's home was engraved "C. Stephens," it seems unlikely that the items were part of what was stolen from the home of Richard J. Emmett on December 22, 1873 as noted in the article quoted above.  The Emmett home still stands at 145 Shore Road and is one of the most historic homes in all of Pelham since a portion of the house pre-dates the Revolutionary War.  

The Emmett robbery was one of the most notorious crimes in Pelham history.  On December 22, 1873, a band of robbers broke into the Emmett home, placed handcuffs and gags on all of the occupants, ransacked the residence and escaped with many valuables including material taken from a safe in the home.  No expense was spared in bringing the robbers to justice.  The robbers were identified, captured, tried and convicted.  I have written about the notorious crime on several occasions.  See:

Tue., May 17, 2005:  The Masked Burglar Robbery of the Emmett Home in Pelham on December 22, 1873 (Part I).

Wed., May 18, 2005:  The Masked Burglar Robbery of the Emmett Home in Pelham on December 22, 1873 (Part II).

Fri., Jun. 06, 2014:  More on an Infamous Crime:  The Masked Bandit Robbery of the Kemble House on Shore Road in 1873.

The Kemble House, 145 Shore Road, in 2005.

Photograph by the Author.

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Like ghost stories, treasure stories involving the Town of Pelham abound.  I have written about a number of such treasure stories, some real and some apocryphal.  See:

Mon., Jan. 26, 2015:  Hidden Treasure that Once Belonged to the Father of John Hunter of Hunter's Island in Pelham Found in a Discarded Chest in the 19th Century.

Mon., May 16, 2005: The Discovery of a Gold and Silver Treasure in the Backyard of a Pelham Home in 1889. 

Wed., Jun. 11, 2014:  Buried Treasure Off the Shores of Pelham: The Legend of Pirate's Treasure. 

Mon., May 01, 2006:  The Legend of the Recovery of Pirate's Treasure on an Island Off Pelham.

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"The Dogwoods," Known as the Old Black Mansion on Esplanade, Was Razed for Property Development in 1931

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Robert C. Black, a member of the well-known Fifth Avenue jeweler Black Starr & Frost, lived with his wife, Mary Witherbee Black, in a splendid mansion that stood on a large tract (sometimes described as six acres and, sometimes, eight) where the homes between 958 and 1000 Esplanade now stand.  The couple moved to Pelham Manor in the 1870s and originally lived in the home that still stands at 1057 Esplanade, an example of the "Esplanade Villa" style of home offered  in the early days of the development efforts of the Pelham Manor and Huguenot Heights Association. 

Robert and Mary Black built their splendid home in about 1886.  They called it "The Dogwoods."  In 1892, the couple hired noted architect Clarence S. Luce of New York City to enlarge the home by adding two wings.  The western wing addition was two stories high with the upper story being devoted to a "music-room" about 40 feet in length and 20 feet in width.  The room was used as a ballroom and became the center of the Pelham Manor social scene for decades..  The room included a musician's gallery and "a superb mantel reaching nearly from floor to roof with an immense brick open fireplace and tiled hearth."  

At the time the home was enlarged, Real Estate Record and Builders Guide published an article that included a photograph of the home under construction and an architect's rendering of the music room.  (Both images appear below.)  The article further noted:  

"SOME RESIDENTS AND RESIDENCES.

The Esplanade is lined with pretty cottages and attractive villas, the majority of which are the all-year-round homes of their owners.  By far the largest and most costly of these is the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Black, which is shown below.  This structure was recently enlarged by the addition of two wings, from plans by Clarence S. Luce of New York.  The western wing is two stories high, the upper portion being devoted to a music-room, about 40 feet in length and about 20 feet in width.  This is just about completed, and its distinguishing features are a musicians' gallery and a superb manel reaching nearly from floor to roof, with an immense brick open fireplace and tiled hearth.  It is to be decorated in white and gold and furnished artistically.  The building occupies a total frontage of 135 feet and there are numerous reception-rooms on the first floor, which connect with the music-room by a grand stairway."

Source:  "PELHAM MANOR, PELHAM HEIGHTS AND VICINITY.  A Delightful Suburban Section Described. -- With Eleven Illustrations" in Real Estate Record and Builders Guide Supplement, Dec. 17, 1892, Vol. L, No. 1292, pp. 1-8.

"Residence of Mr. Robert C. Black (From photograph before completion.)"

Source:  "PELHAM MANOR, PELHAM HEIGHTS AND VICINITY.

A Delightful Suburban Section Described. -- With Eleven Illustrations" 

in Real Estate Record and Builders Guide Supplement, Dec. 17, 1892, 

Vol. L, No. 1292, p. 3.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

"Music Room in residence of Mr. Robert C. Black."

Source:  "PELHAM MANOR, PELHAM HEIGHTS AND VICINITY.

A Delightful Suburban Section Described. -- With Eleven Illustrations" 

in Real Estate Record and Builders Guide Supplement, Dec. 17, 1892, 

Vol. L, No. 1292, p. 4.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

After the Death of Robert C. Black, The Dogwoods passed to his son, R. Clifford Black.  With the onset of the Great Depression and the death of R. Clifford Black, the property taxes on the magnificent home and its surrounding six-acre lot became burdensome.  

R. Clifford Black died on January 26, 1931.  Within months, the estate of R. Clifford Black announced that the home would be razed and the six-acre tract would be broken into smaller lots for the development of twenty smaller residences.  Plans also were announced to auction much of the contents of the home, including a magnificent "pipe organ which graced the huge ballroom where 200 or more guests have danced at many of the Manor's brightest social events."

By late September, 1931, the Black Mansion was being razed.  One of the last remaining grand mansions of Pelham Manor would be no more.  The matter was not, however, over.

Detail of 1914 Map Showing Location of

"The Dogwoods," Listing It as "Mary G. W. Black."

Source:  Plate 129 in Atlas of Westchester County,

N.Y. Pocket, Desk and Automobile Edition. Vol. I,

Mount Vernon, Pelham, New Rochelle, Mamaroneck,

Rye, Harrison, White Plains, Scarsdale and

Eastchester, Vol. I, p. 129 (NY, NY:  G.W. Bromley & Co., 1914).

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Twice in 1931, as the mansion was being torn down, attorneys for the Black family presented plans to develop the property to the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor led by William B. Randall.  On both occasions, the development plans were rejected by the Planning Commission.  See PLAN FOR TEN ACRE DEVELOPMENT IN MANOR APPROVED; MARINER IS SPONSOR -- Planning Commission Rejects Plan for Improvement of Black Estate Property Again; New Development Projected Between Pelhamdale Avenue and Pelham Country Club, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 20, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 35, p. 1, cols. 1-2.  

According to one account, the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor concluded that the proposed plan to build twenty smaller residences on the former Black estate "was not in keeping with the high priced residential district in which the mansion" was located.  See Black Development Plan Is Rejected; To Raze Mansion, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 21, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 21, p. 1, cols. 7-8.

The battle raged for a number of years.  A member of the Black family and heir of Mary G. W. Black and R. Clifford Black named Witherbee Black was involved in the plans for developing the six-acre tract.  Among other things, Witherbee Black requested the Village of Pelham Manor to make changes to applicable zoning ordinances to permit the construction of multiplex houses on the property.  Village residents rose up in protest and created a taxpayers' activist organization named the Pelham Manor Property Owner's Association.  See Property Owners Rally To Support New Pelham Manor Taxpayers' Ass'n -- Many Offers of Financial Support Received by Joseph Carreau, Chairman of Organization Committee; Incorporation Meeting Monday; Public Session to be Held Next Week, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 29, 1936, Vol. 27, No. 39, p. 1, col. 1.    

The Pelham Manor Property Owner's Association and the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor battled valiantly, but the property eventually was subdivided and about twenty or twenty one beautiful homes relatively large for the size of their lots were constructed.    

"Pelham Manor

BLACK MANSION TO BE RAZED
-----
Esplanade Landmark Must Make Way for New Development
-----

In the razing of the old Black mansion on Esplanade, Pelham Manor, to make way for a development of the six-acre tract upon which the mansion stands, the village will see its most ambitious development in five years.

It was reported today that the venture by the owners of the property will also entail auctioning many valuable furnishings of the home, including the large pipe organ which graced the huge ballroom where 200 or more guests have danced at many of the Manor's brightest social events.  

It is expected the work of tearing down the 45-year-old home, valued at $75,000, will be started within two weeks, after its contents have been removed.

Two streets will be cut through the six acres, according to the plans of the developers, and the property will be divided into 20 building lots.  In real estate circles, it is spoken of as close to a million dollar development, in view of the type of homes which must necessarily be built to conform to zoning law provisions, by the buyers of the lots.  

The property is owned and will be developed by the estate of the late R. Clifford Black.  The Black family have been prominent through several generations in the social life and physical growth of the village.  

Originally 80 acres were held by the family, extending over the land now traversed by Esplanade, one of the village's most beautiful thoroughfares.  Mary G. W. Black gave the land now occupied by the Manor Club and her father was the donor of the land to the Huguenot Memorial Church, which is the site of the church edifice now standing at the corner of the Boston Post Road and Pelhamdale Avenue."

Source:  BLACK MANSION TO BE RAZED, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 17, 1931, p. 9, col. 1.  

"Black Development Plan Is Rejected; To Raze Mansion
-----
Black Estate to Develop Six Acre Tract in Pelham Manor; Mariner Also Plans Development of Another Large Parcel of Property; Mansion Was Scene of Many Important Social Gatherings.
-----

Plans which included the razing of the famous old Black Mansion on the Esplanade and the development of the six acre estate with the construction of a group of twenty small residences have been rejected by the Planning Commission of Pelham Manor, The Pelham Sun learned this week.  William B. Randall, former village president, chairman of the Planning Commission announced that the proposed plan was not in keeping with the high priced residential district in which the mansion is located.

Witherbee Black, heir of the estate of Mrs. Mary G. W. Black and R. Clifford Black, who is responsible for the proposed development was asked to submit a more favorable plan.  Mr. Randall expressed an opinion that the property could be properly developed along the lines of the existing residential district of Pelham Manor, without loss to the owner.  

Announcement of the development of the Black property on the Esplanade was followed this week by a report that another Black tract is soon to be subdivided and developed by Guy C. Mariner.  this property is situated opposite the Black Mansion on Pelhamdale avenue and extends to the Pelham Country Club golf course.  Mariner who was responsible for the Bonmar addition plans to include the Black property in this section.  The Black mansion which was for many years the home of Mrs. Mary W. G. Black, widow of Robert C. Black, is fifty years old.  It was one of the show places of Westchester County and its spacious rooms were the rendezvous of the elite of Westchester.  Mrs. Black was a prominent figure in the Westchester County social swirl, and the leader in the benevolent activities of the Pelhams.  The large ballroom was frequently the scene of receptions to distinguished figures of the United States and Europe.

The handsome furnishings of the building have been removed and will soon be sold at public auction.  A massive pipe organ is still in the music room of the house.  It was at this console that the best musicians were heard in receptions before the music lovers of Westchester society.

The Black estate once covered the greater portion of Pelham Manor.  It extended from the 

(Continued on Page Four)

BLACK MANSION, ONCE CENTER OF SOCIAL LIFE IN PELHAM MANOR WILL BE RAZED
-----

(Continued from page 1)

Esplanade across the property which is now the Pelham Country Club, and across the branch line of the New Haven Railroad.  Another large section on Prospect Hill was held by Mrs. Black.  In 1874 when there were only ten homes in Pelham Manor, Silas Witherbee, father of Mrs. Black financed the development company which laid out the village.  At the failure of this company Witherbee took over the property and it was purchased by his daughter who had faith in the rising community.  She immediately moved to Pelham and began the career which has had much to do with the development of the village, its social life and charity activities.  

Mrs. Black took an active part in the organization of the Manor Club, and was one of the charter members of the Pelham Home for Children.  She was a member of the Huguenot Memorial Church and donated part of the property on which the church now stands.  

Robert C. Black, husband of Pelham Manor's dominant figure, died in 1907.  Mrs. Black continued to maintain her residence here until she died in 1928.  The property was bequeathed to her two sons R. Clifford Black and Witherbee Black.  The former died early this year. 

The furniture which includes several handsome antique pieces will be sold at public auction at the Neptune Storage Warehouse in New Rochelle early in September.  

Charles D. Fiske, president of Fish & Marvin, who are agents for the property announced that the work of razing the mansion will be started next week.

The plans for the new residential development included the construction of two streets from the Esplanade to Pelhamdale avenue.  The property will be divided into twenty building lots.

In his rejection Mr. Randall expressed an opinion that the property could be developed in large tracts and suggested that a winding road be laid out across the property instead of the two short streets.  He expressed the hope that the several splendid trees now on the property be preserved in the development."

Source:  Black Development Plan Is Rejected; To Raze Mansion, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 21, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 21, p. 1, cols. 7-8 & p. 4, cols. 1-2.

"BLACK MANSION IS BEING RAZED
-----
Famous Old Social Center of Pelham Manor Will Be Removed to Make Way for Residential Development.
-----

The most brilliant page in the social history of the Pelhams was turned on Monday when work of the razing of the Black mansion on the Esplanade was begun.  The handsome old residence which was at one time the social stronghold of the late Mary G. W. Black, is being removed to make way for a modern residential development.  Witherbee Black and the Estate of R. Clifford Black is responsible for the new development.  

Application for approval of the plan for the new development has been rejected by the Planning Commission."

Source:  BLACK MANSION IS BEING RAZED, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 25, 1931, Vol. 22, No. 26, p. 1, col. 3.  

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I have written about "The Dogwoods" and members of the Black Family on a number of occasions.  For more, see:

Wed., Apr. 13, 2005:  "The Dogwoods" - The Estate of Robert Clifford Black of Pelham Manor.

Thu., Jan. 29, 2015:  R. Clifford Black of Black, Starr & Frost Bought the Martin J. Condon Mansion in 1913.

Fri., Aug. 01, 2014:  Obituary and Photograph of R. Clifford Black, a Prominent Pelham Manor Resident in the Early 20th Century.

Wed., Jun. 27, 2007:  Dissolution of Firm of Black, Starr & Frost and Reconstitution of the Firm as Corporation After Robert Clifford Black's Death.

Thu., Sep. 28, 2006:  A Brief Biography of Mary Grace Witherbee Black of Pelham Manor. 

Tue., Apr. 11, 2006:  April 20, 1875 Marriage Certificate of Robert C. Black and Mary Grace Witherbee Black. 

Thu., Feb. 9, 2006:  Cortlandt W. Starr of Black Starr & Frost. 

Thu., Jun. 7, 2005:  Obituaries of Robert C. Black and His Wife, Mary Grace Witherbee Black. 

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