Pelham Manor Firemen Helped Their San Francisco Brethren After the Great Earthquake in 1906

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Most were asleep when disaster struck that day.  At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of XI (Extreme) virtually destroyed the City of San Francisco.  More than 80% of the city was destroyed and about 3,000 people were killed.  It was, of course, one of the deadliest earthquakes in United States History.  

Though the earthquake caused terrible damage, the fires that followed were even more destructive.  According to one source:

"It has been estimated that up to 90% of the total destruction was the result of the subsequent fires.  Within three days, over 30 fires, caused by ruptured gas mains, destroyed approximately 25,000 buildings on 490 city blocks.  One of the largest of these fires was accidentally started in a house on Hayes Street by a woman making breakfast for her family.  This came to be known as the 'Ham and Eggs Fire.'  Some were started when firefighters, untrained in the use of dynamite, attempted to demolish buildings to create firebreaks.  The dynamited buildings themselves often caught fire.  The city's fire chief, Dennis T. Sullivan, who would have been responsible, had died from injuries sustained in the initial quake.  In all, the fires burned for four days and nights."

Source:  "1906 San Francisco Earthquake" in Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia (visited Oct. 29, 2017).

Though many San Francisco firemen suffered personal losses, including the death of their beloved Fire Chief who was killed in the initial quake, they battled fires for four days to limit the damage as best possible under brutal circumstances using rudimentary fire fighting equipment.  Their valor did not go unnoticed.

Three thousand miles away, their brethren in the Pelham Manor Fire Department felt their pain.  From such a distance in such a day of limited travel means and speeds, there was little Pelham Manor firefighters could do except offer their prayers, their condolences, and money to help their fellow firefighters in San Francisco. Thus, on Friday, May 11, 1906, Pelham Manor firefighters hosted a grand fundraiser in the old Manor Club clubhouse (predecessor to today's Manor Club building).

Pelham Manor was, of course, an affluent New York City suburb.  The Pelham Manor Fire Department was known at that time as the "Millionaire Volunteer Fire Department" because it was composed of wealthy lawyers, brokers, businessmen, captains of industry, and other professionals.   

The lovely old Manor Club clubhouse was decorated with flowers including Dogwood blossoms.  Wives and friends of members of the Department assisted with the decorations and the refreshments for the grand ballroom dance.  Eight members of the Department oversaw the fundraising event.  They were:  Robert Beach (a civil engineer), Foreman;  Witherbee Black, First Assistant and a real estate speculator who was one of the wealthiest men in Westchester County; George Breckenridge, a successful attorney and Second Assistant; John Peck, treasurer for the event; Henry Dey, clerk and long-time associate editor of The New York Evangelist; mega-millionaire Martin Condon who was President of the American Tobacco Company; and W. P. Brown and Edmund Seymour. 

According to a local news account of the grand event:  "It has probably been some time since there has gathered such a body of prominent men as the fire fighters in a ball of the kind that was held last night.  The men wore full dress suits and the ladies appeared in handsome gowns.  The sight was one of unusual beauty."

The event raised several hundred dollars (roughly $8,700 in today's dollars) for the benefit of San Francisco firefighters who had suffered in the Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906.  Pelham was continuing what even in 1906 was already a long tradition of charitable giving.  

 Old Manor Club "Manor House" Where the Fundraising Ball Was Held

on Friday, May 11, 1906.  Image Published in 1892.  Source:  Manor

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

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"PELHAM MANOR.
-----
FIREMEN'S DANCE
-----
For the Benefit of the San Francisco Sufferers Last Night.
-----

The 'Millionaire Volunteer Fire Department,' of Pelham Manor, so-called, held a ball in the Manor club house last night, for the benefit of the San Francisco firemen.  This department is composed entirely of New York business men, lawyers, brokers, and other professional men, who live in and own handsome residences in the Manor.

The club house was handsomely decorated with dogwood blossoms and other flowers.  Several hundred dollars were realized from the benefit.  The patronesses were the wives and friends of the members of the department.  The gathering was a large one.

The officers having in charge the ball were as follows:  Robert Beach, foreman; Witherbee Black, first assistant; George Breckenridge, second assistant; John Peck, treasurer; Henry Dey, clerk; together with W. P. Brown, Martin Condon and Edmund Seymour.

Mr. Beach is a well known civil engineer with offices at 32 Broadway.  Mr. Witherbee Black, the first assistant, is a member of one of the wealthiest families in Westchester county; George Breckenridge, the second assistant foreman, is a New York lawyer, and is representing the Pelham Manor property owners in their fight against the proposed route of the New York, Boston and Westchester railroad.  Martin Condon is president of the American Tobacco company, and Edmund Seymour is a brother of Ed. Seymour, the Republican leader of the west side of New York.

It has probably been some time since there has gathered such a body of prominent men as the fire fighters in a ball of the kind that was held last night.  The men wore full dress suits and the ladies appeared in handsome gowns.  The sight was one of unusual beauty."

Source:   PELHAM MANOR-- FIREMEN'S DANCE -- For the Benefit of the San Francisco Sufferers Last Night, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], May 12, 1906, p. 5, col. 3.

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Famous Meyers Mansion in Pelham Manor Burned Down in 1897

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During the mid-1890s, the Village of Pelham Manor Fire Department suffered turmoil that led to the resignation of most members of the volunteer fire department.  Since its founding, members of the volunteer department had elected their own Fire Chief.  In about early 1896, the Fire Commissioners determined that the Commission would exert control over the department by removing the selection from the members of the department and, instead, providing for the appointment of a Fire Chief by the Fire Commissioners.  In response, all but seven members of the fire department resigned, leaving the village with a meager force. 

This dispute, of course, foreshadowed a similar dispute involving the Village of Pelham Manor Fire Department nearly three decades later when the Village Board of Trustees took steps to exercise control over the Department and its ability to elect its own leaders without oversight by the Board of Trustees.  That dispute led to the disbandment and subsequent rebuilding of the entire department.  See Mon., Jan. 04, 2016:  Pelham Manor Voters Voted to Disband the Pelham Manor Fire Department in 1928.  

In 1897, the turmoil involving the Pelham Manor Fire Department had dire consequences.  On the windy afternoon of Wednesday, March 31st, young boys were playing in an empty lot along Wolfs Lane next to the home and carriage house of Henry Iden.  Somehow, the boys started a fire that burned the tall grass in the empty lot.  The winds fanned the flames toward the Iden Estate.  

There stood on the Iden estate a lovely old home built in about the late 1860s.  The structure had been converted to a carriage house to serve the Iden mansion on the estate grounds.  

The history of the old home converted into a carriage house was quite fascinating.  The home was built in the late 1860s by a well-known New York City wine merchant named James Meyers.  At the time, the Coudert estate centered around the home known as "Pelhamdale" and "Pelham Dale" (located at 45 Iden Avenue) was the adjacent property, bordering the property acquired by Myers for his home.  

Myers built his new home on the border between his estate and the Coudert estate.  It turned out that the eaves of his new home extended over the Coudert property line by about four inches.  After the Coudert family discovered the issue, they demanded that Myers move his home.  Myers refused.

Coudert, an attorney, filed suit against Myers.  No records of the lawsuit yet have been located, but according to a newspaper account, Coudert obtained a court order authorizing him to saw off four inches of the eaves of the Myers home which he had a Westchester County sheriff handle, thereby removing the incursion from his property.

Detail from 1881 Bromley Map Showing Location of the

Meyers Estate Along Wolfs Lane Near Center of Image.

Source:  "Town of Pelham. (with) Pelham-Manor. (From

actual surveys and official records by G. W. Bromley & Co.,

Civil Engineers" in Atlas of Westchester County, New York.

From Actual Surveys and Official Records by G. W. 

Bromley & Co., Civil Engineers, pp. 56-57 (NY, NY: Geo.

W. & Walter S. Bromley, 1881).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Myers later sold his home to Henry Iden who incorporated it as part of an estate with three structures including a grand home that no longer stands on the site.  For a time, Henry Iden allowed a family member to live in the old Myers Mansion.  During the 1890s, however, the family member moved out and Iden converted the structure to a carriage house.

On that windy afternoon, March 31, 1897, the fire sparked by the young boys in an adjacent field whipped sparks into the air, some of which landed on the carriage house, setting it afire.  The alarm was sent to the Pelham Manor Fire Department.  Alas, all but one of the seven village firefighters were out of town at the time.

A single, brave Pelham Manor fire fighter drafted a group of boys who struggled with him to pull the hose carriage to the scene of the fire.  Upon arrival, the fire was raging and looked as though it might leap to the nearby Iden mansion.  The firefighter organized a group of bystanders into an "impromptu volunteer fire department," but the fire was simply too big.  To make matters worse, according to one account, the former Pelham Manor firemen who had resigned from the force in connection with the dispute over electing a fire chief "would not give any assistance."   A call was sent to the nearby Mount Vernon Fire Department which sent two steam engines to the scene.  The two streams of water soon brought the fire under control.  Although the main Iden mansion was saved, the carriage house originally built as a home for James Myers was destroyed.

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Immediately below is the transcribed text of an article describing the events that are the subject of today's article.  Following the text are a citation and link to its source.

"CALLED FOR HELP.
-----
Mount Vernon Fire Department goes to Pelham.
-----
A FAMOUS HOUSE BURNED DOWN.
-----
Blaze Started by Some Boys Who Set Fire to Dry Grass in a Lot Next Door.  Owing to Friction Among the Pelham Firemen They Didn't Respond Promptly.
-----

Fire, Wednesday afternoon, destroyed the old Meyers mansion at Pelham Manor.  It was owned by Henry Iden and until recently had been occupied by his brother-in-law.  The house was a frame structure and of antique design.  It has quite a history.  It was built about thirty years ago by James Myers,  a wine merchant of New York city.  The adjourning [sic] property was owned by Mr. Coudert.  When the house was built Coudert learned that the eaves projected four inches on his property.  He brought suit and demanded Myers to move his house.  Myers refused to do so and Coudert ordered the sheriff to saw four inches off the eaves, which he did.  Myers later sold the house to Henry Iden.  After Mr. Iden's brother-in-law moved out he used it as a carriage house.

Wednesday, it is alleged, some boys in that neighborhood set fire to the dry grass.   heavy wind was blowing and the sparks from the flames caught on the house.  An alarm was sent to Pelham [Editor's Note:  actually the Village of Pelham Manor Fire Department] and the Hook and Ladder and Hose companies attempted to respond.  It is said that one brave fireman turned out and with the assistance of a number of boys dragged the hose carriage to the scene.  Meanwhile the flames had spread rapidly and the fire was now beyond control.  An impromptu volunteer fire department was organized on the spot among bystanders and work was commenced to keep the flames from spreading.  It was feared that the sparks might set fire to Mr. Iden's big residence which is nearby.  The firemen worked earnestly but the flames kept spreading.  Word was sent to Mount Vernon asking for assistance.  Niagara and Steamer No. 3 responded.  Two streams of water were now playing on the fire and it was soon gotten under control.  Chief Jewell and his men did excellent work.  The loss is about $2,000.  The fire probably would not have gained much headway had the fire department at Pelham been united.  A disruption occurred about a year ago over the action of the fire commissioners in taking the power to elect a chief away from them and only seven members remained.  When the alarm sounded Wednesday most of the men were out-of-town and the others who had resigned would not give any assistance, there was much delay in getting to the fire.  The term of office of the present fire commissioners expire this spring.  New commissioners will be elected and probably the companies will be reorganized."

Source:  CALLED FOR HELP -- Mount Vernon Fire Department goes to Pelham -- A FAMOUS HOUSE BURNED DOWN -- Blaze Started by Some Boys Who Set Fire to Dry Grass in a Lot Next Door.  Owing to Friction Among the Pelham Firemen They Didn't Respond Promptly, Mount Vernon News, Apr. 2, 1897, Vol. IV, No. 217, p. 1, col. 3.  

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Pelham Manor Dutifully Extinguished a Fire That Nearly Burned Down its Hated Wooden Train Station in 1896

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An important development in the transportation history of the Town of Pelham was the opening in 1873 of the so-called Branch Line that included two new train stations in the Town of Pelham:  Bartow Station near City Island along today's Shore Road and Pelham Manor Station that once stood at the end of the Esplanade near today's Manor Circle. 

The Branch Line opened for passenger traffic in November, 1873.  Its opening prompted real estate speculation in the area as well as major efforts to develop new suburban subdivisions that came to be known as Bartow (or, Bartow-on-Sound) and Pelham Manor.

The 12-1/4 miles long Branch Line was built and owned by the Harlem and Portchester Railroad Company which promptly leased the line for operation by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company.  (The short Branch Line extended from the Harlem River to a junction with the main New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad at New Rochelle.)  The formal name of the Branch Line was "The Harlem River Branch of the New Haven Railroad."

Upon opening of the Branch Line, the railroad constructed a tiny wooden railroad station at the end of the Esplanade in Pelham Manor.  The map detail below, published in 1881, shows where the wooden train station was located.

Detail from 1881 Bromley Map Showing Location of

Pelham Manor Depot on The Harlem River Branch

of the New Haven Railroad.  Source:  "Town of Pelham

(With) Pelham-Manor From Actual Surveys and Official

Records by G. W. Bromley & Co., Civil Engineers. Published

by Geo. W. & Walter S. Bromley, 1881)" in Atlas of

Westchester County, New York, From Actual Surveys and

Official Records by G. W. Bromley & Co., Civil Engineers,

pp. 56-57 (NY, NY:  Geo. W. & Walter S. Bromley, 1881).

At the time the wooden Pelham Manor Station was built, there were only a handful of residents in the area that became the Village of Pelham Manor and, of course, even fewer commuters.  By the mid-1890s, in contrast, after the Village of Pelham Manor was incorporated, the area had about 300 residents and a much larger group of commuters.  By that time, the wood station known as Pelham Manor Depot had worn out its welcome.  

Pelham Manor residents felt the tiny wooden station was ugly and inadequate.  They believed it was inadequate for its purposes.  The lack of aesthetics was deemed inconsistent with the idyllic beauty of the tiny village.  The entire village began clamoring for the railroad to construct a new, larger station.

The railroad, according to one report, was "obdurate."  In its view, there were only 300 residents in the village with an even smaller number of commuters.  The cost of building a new station at Pelham Manor simply was not worth it.

The Village of Pelham Manor was so insistent regarding the need for a beautiful new station that it offered to provide the railroad with the stones necessary to construct a beautiful new station.  Still, the railroad remained "obdurate" and unwilling to construct a new station.

Pelham Manor residents grew to hate the decrepit old wooden station.  Burglars constantly broke into it and even used explosives several times to blow open the station safe.  

On Sunday, July 19, 1896, however, things looked a little brighter for those who hated the wooden station.  At about 5:20 p.m., the decrepit little station caught fire. . . . 

What was Pelham Manor to do?

An alarm was sounded and the Village of Pelham Manor Fire Department turned out.  Upon arrival, members of the Department were "of divided mind" regarding whether to fight the fire.  Nearby residents who turned out for the spectacle, however, were not of divided mind.  They wanted the Fire Department to let the tiny wooden structure burn to the ground.  

As newspapers from New York City to San Francisco subsequently reported, "[t]he habit of devotion to duty triumphed . . . over the incendiary spirit of Pelham Manor."  The Village firemen rushed in and put out the fire.  Although the structure was badly damaged, all the money and papers in the station were saved.

Once the fire was out and the firemen and spectators began to depart, they reportedly "mourned the fact that the water supply had not been interrupted long enough to give the fire a fair chance."

The little wooden station was repaired.  It would not be until 1908 that the railroad built the lovely stone railroad station that Pelham Manor wanted.  It was designed by nationally-renowned architect Cass Gilbert and, indeed, was quite beautiful.

Image of the New Pelham Manor Depot Shortly After It

Was Built in 1908.  Source:  Source: "Along the Harlem River

Branch", The Architectural Record, Vol. XXIII, No. 6, Jul. - Dec.,

pp. 422-23 (NY, NY: McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Dec. 1908).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"Fire in the Pelham Manor Station.

MOUNT VERNON, N. Y., July 19. -- Fire almost destroyed the Pelham Manor railroad station about 5:20 o'clock this afternoon.  Pelham Manor is a station of a branch of the New Haven road between West Chester and New Rochelle.  All the money and papers in the station were saved."

Source:  Fire in the Pelham Manor Station, The Sun [NY, NY], Jul. 20, 1896, p. 5, col. 5.

"PELHAM MANOR'S VIRTUE.
-----
It Triumphs Over an Incendiary Spirit.

Pelham Manor's Fire Department was of divided mind on Sunday, when a fire alarm sounded and the local station of the New Haven Railway's suburban branch was found to be on fire.  Meanwhile residents of Pelham Manor outside the Fire Department were not of divided mind touching the fire, but were unanimous in the wish that the station might be damaged beyond repair.  The habit of devotion to duty triumphed, however, over the incendiary spirit of Pelham Manor and the fire was put out.  When all was over the firemen and every one else went belated to supper and mourned the fact that the water supply had not been interrupted long enough to give the fire a fair chance.

Pelham Manor, which is the most beautiful suburb of New York, has long been at odds with the railway company over its ugly wooden station.  Pelham Manor has offered to furnish stone for the building of a station that should be in keeping with the many beautiful stone houses of the place, but as Pelham Manor has but 300 inhabitants and comparatively few commuters, the railway company has remained obdurate and rested content with its ugly wooden station.  Virtue through force of habit triumphed on Sunday to the rescue of the threatened station, but when it next catches fire strong arms may hold back the firemen, and the structure mmay perhaps burn to the ground. -- New York Sun."

Source:  PELHAM MANOR'S VIRTUE -- It Triumphs Over an Incendiary Spirit, San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 16, 1896, p. 28, col. 4.  

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For additional information about the early days of the Pelham Manor Depot and the Pelham Manor Post Office, see, e.g.:  

Tue., Jan. 28, 2014:  The Pelham Manor Post Office.

Wed., Feb. 10, 2010:  Train Station Safe at Pelham Manor Was Blown Open with Dynamite Yet Again on April 24, 1902.  

Tue., Nov. 17, 2009:  1883 Advertisement by Pelham Manor Protective Club Offering Reward for Information About Pelham Manor Depot Burglary.  

Tue., Aug. 11, 2009:  News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882.

Fri., Mar. 6, 2009:  Burglars Blow the Safe at the Pelham Manor Post Office in 1894.  

Mon., Jan. 28,, 2008:  1884 Burglary and Gun Fight at the Pelham Manor Depot.  

Fri., Jan. 18, 2008:  Studies Created by Noted Architect Cass Gilbert for the Pelham Manor Station.  

Tue., May 22,, 2007:  Photograph of Pelham Manor Station on the Branch Line Published in 1908.  

Tue., Mar. 29, 2005:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor?  

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