January 1882 Account of the 1881 Christmas Festival Held at the Union Sabbath School in Pelhamville

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A quaint January 1882 newspaper account of a Christmas Festival held for the entertainment of young students at the Union Sabbath School at Pelhamville appeared in an issue of the Mount Vernon [New York] Chronicle.  The account, contained in a letter to the editor of the newspaper, is transcribed below.

"Pelhamville.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRONICLE

Dear Sir--Last Friday evening, the Union Sabbath school at Pelhamville were indebted to the Mt. Vernonites for a very pleasant Christmas festival. 

We wish the generous donors had been present to have enjoyed it.  One of your large hearted men is doing much for this interest.

Gifts were made to all the members of the school, also a large orange and a box of candies.  A few ladies furnished cake and lemonade for the audience.  About forty persons from Mt. Vernon, including some young minces from the Baptist Church, under the care of Miss J. Andrews, furnished a spirited entertainment, with Mr. Hill, for Santa Claus, and Mrs. Hill as organist.  Whenever you want the humorous and ridiculous to come in, just call on the master of the public school at Pelhamville.

This little meeting in the chapel is now greatly in need of steady permanent help.  We are very thankful to those who have assisted us, but there ought to be a reading or temperance gathering at least one evening every week.  There are no resorts for simple amusements in this place, and no one to lead them.

There are at least twenty five or thirty boys, perhaps more, at that critical age which often staggers even the best and most devoted of parents as to what shall be done to interest and 'save my son.'

Now, are there not gentlemen and ladies, both young and old, willing to work in this part of God's vineyard.

The Sunday school meets at 3:30 P.M., every Sunday, and a prayer or praise meeting is held in the evening. 

We are less than two miles from your depot.  A beautiful and invigorating walk on the rail road track, no danger of being run over on the Sabbath. 

An English man or woman would think nothing of walking twice this distance, so do not spend money for carriage hire, but for the love of Christ, and in His name 'come and help us.'"

Source:  Pelham Manor Protective Club, Mount Vernon [New York] Chronicle, Jan. ?, 1882, p. ?, col. 5 (the date of the issue and, possibly, the page number, have been obscured by tape applied to the paper near the upper left corner before the image of the page was created; copy in the possession of this author).

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Biography of Theodore Montgomery Hill, Justice of the Peace in Pelham in Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

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Below is a brief biography of Theodore Montgomery Hill who served as a Justice of the Peace in Pelham in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The biography appeared in a multi-volume work published in 1903 and cited following the excerpt below.

"HILL, Theodore Montgomery, 1874-

Class of 1894 Law.

Born on Staten Island, New York, 1874; studied in Trinity School, New York; graduated LL.B., New [Page 446 / Page 447] York University Law School, 1894; in practice since 1895; Justice of Peace; in U.S. Naval Service in Spanish War.

THEODORE MONTGOMERY HILL, LL.B., who was born on Staten Island, New York, on July 31, 1874, is a son of Jacob Clarkson Hill and Amanda M. (Harwood) Hill. He is descended from William Hill, a merchant of New York, who married Alethea Carmer in 1786, and had a son, Robert Carmer Hill. The latter married Susan Clarkson, and had a son, Jacob Clarkson Hill, the father of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Hill was educated at the Trinity School, New York, and in the Law School of New York University, from which latter he was graduated a Bachelor of Laws in 1894. He also spent three years in mercantile employment and three in a law office. He was admitted to the Bar in 1895 and since that date has been practicing his profession in New York, with offices at No. 44 Broadway. He lives at Pelham Manor, New York, where he has been Justice of the Peace for six years, and is Secretary of the Republican Town Committee. In the Spanish War of 1898 he served as Gunner's Mate on the U.S.S. 'Jason.' He is a member of Phi Delta Phi, Phi Gamma Delta, the Bar Association, the Republican Club, the Manor Club, the Huguenot Yacht Club, the New York University Alumni Association, the Trinity School Alumni Society, the Pelham Marine and Field Club, and other organizations."

Source: Chamberlain, Joshua L., ed., Universities and Their Sons: New York University Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni, Vol. II, pp. 446-47 (Boston, MA: R. Herndon Company 1903).



Source: Id., p. 447.

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