News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

The Chronicle, a newspaper published in Mount Vernon, NY, periodically included news from the Town of Pelham (including City Island, at the time).  On July 14, 1882, the newspaper reported news of Pelham Manor and City Island.  There were a number of interesting reports regarding the Pelham Manor Depot on the Branch Line.  The news items are transcribed below in their entirety.

"PELHAM MANOR.

The telegraph office at Pelham Manor will be open hereafter daily (Sundays excepted) from 6 A.M. till 8.45 P.M.

Messrs. Cochran & Mulvey, the former the [sic] telegraph operator, have opened a grocery in the depot building.  The young men have put in a nice stock of selected groceries, and are deserving of liberal patronage.

A week ago last Sunday night, the ticket office at Pelham Manor and the residences of Mr. W. E. Barnett and Mrs. Graham were broken into.  From the ticket office 126 tickets were stolen, but a little cash and the baggage were not disturbed.  At Mr. Barnett's the articles taken were of a trifling character, and at Mrs. Graham's the thieves were caught while in the cellar.    They proved to be Edward and Joseph, two sons of James Morgan, of Pelham Manor.  The tickets have been recovered and the boys are to be sent to the Catholic Protectory.

-----

CITY ISLAND.

A soiree was given at Flynn's pavilion on Wednesday evening last. 

Capt. Samuel Dayton has sold his sloop E. H. Dayton, to a gentleman of Staten Island for $1,800.

One of Benj. Barstow's children aged about two years died on Monday last of Cholera Infantum.  Three others of the family are seriously ill.

While hauling out the schooner Sam'l S. Thorpe on the large railways at Carll's on Monday afternoon, the chain broke.  The vessel was however held in place by a capstan.  The schooner Minnie Griffin is hauled out for overhauling.  The schooner W. H. Baily is expected at the yard for repairs."

Source:  Pelham Manor / City Island, The Chronicle, Jul. 14, 1882, p. ?, col. 4 (no page number is printed on the newspaper page).

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Disputed Pelham School Board Election of 1882 Led to Charges of Fraud

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Yesterday I posted to the Historic Pelham Blog an item regarding the Pelham School Board elections of 1881. One year later, the School Board election was much more controversial and led to charges of voter fraud. A lengthy article about the election appeared in the October 15, 1882 issue of The Sun, published in New York City. The article provides important and fascinating background regarding the battle for control of the School Board fought between the citizens of Pelham Manor and those of Pelhamville. The text of the article appears below.

"ELECTED BY WOMEN'S VOTES.

-----

Alleged Fraud at the Polls in Pelham School District.

Pelham Manor and Pelhamville are one school district. A colony of well-to-do New York and other business men inhabit the Manor. No stores are allowed to be built there, no dogs are allowed to go abroad loose, and the tramp is confronted with notices that $10 reward will be paid for his arrest. The little village, two miles away, is clustered about half a dozen country stores. There is said to be a notion in Pelham Manor that the village is not nice, and an impression in the village that the Manor is haughty. Among the residents of Pelham Manor are Mr. R. C. Black, of Ball, Black & Co.; T. D. De Witt, the coal merchant, of this city, and W. E. Barnette, counsel for the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.

Last Tuesday night the annual meeting of the school trustees of the district was held. About 100 men and 30 women assembled in the little school house. The large number of women was a surprise to the Pelhamville people. The terms of two trustees had expired and the election was to fill the vacancies. There were two tickets, on one of which Mr. George H. Reynolds, the President of the Board, a Pelham Manor man, ran for reelection, and upon the other Mr. W. Scott Bertine, the candidate of the villagers. When the polls were opened, Mr. Reynolds marshalled the women, and voted them solid for himself, to the consternation of Bertine's friends. They had counted upon his election by 17 majority, whereas they only got 52 out of 125 votes.

Immediately after the election, when it became known that Mr. Reynolds had again been chosen to the office he had held for six years, charges of fraud were made, and a movement was set on foot to prosecute him for violation of the State Election law. It was charged that many of the women who had voted were not only not entitled to vote, but were not even residents of the district.

A SUN reporter obtained the following statement from Jacob Heisser, a school trustee:

'Up there at Pelham Manor, you see, they don't want their children to mix with ours, and they want to run the whole business. We have two school houses in the district, one here and one at the Manor. While there are but fourteen children attending school there, there are two teachers and they have a fine brick school house. We have forty-two children, and but two teachers. The meeting the other night had only just begun when Mr. Reynolds sprang the election upon us, contrary to the usual custom. He marched the women up to the box and voted them. Half of them had no right to vote, some of them didn't even live here, and one was a servant who had not been in town three days. One hundred and twenty-five votes were cast, 30 by women. Last year only 9 women voted. Mrs. J. Mary, an English woman, came up to vote three times, and I challenged her each time, but she swore her vote in. A Miss Underhill, who was on a visit here and who had not been in town two weeks, swore her vote in. Mrs. Godfrey, a German and not a citizen, voted, and so did Miss Mary Donlon, a young girl, who pays no taxes. You see the law says that a woman to vote must either have paid taxes upon $50 worth of property the year before or have a child down on the school census list. I know that neither Miss Donlon nor Miss Underhill is assessed.'

Mr. Heisser said that money is being subscribed to defray the cost of carrying the matter into the courts and prosecuting Mr. Reynolds. The Board, he said, will recognize Mr. Bertine only, and allow him to take his seat, leaving Mr. Reynolds to oust him if he can.

Mr. Reynolds, who owns one of the finest houses at Pelham Manor, and who for twenty years has been the chief engineer of the Delamater Iron Works, laughs at the threat against him. He offers to bet any amount of money that the Board of School Trustees will not even unseat him.

'Why,' said he, 'Pelham Manor pays ninety per cent of all the school money. They are too poor to pay it over there at Pelhamville. The follow a dog in the manger policy, and don't even wish to allow us to spend our own money. As to the women voting, while I deny that a single servant was in the school house, I admit that Miss Donlon and other ladies voted. I claim that the law does not require a woman to pay taxes or be mother or guardian of a school child. The law places no disability whatever upon women that does not lie upon men.'

Mr. Bertine, the defeated candidate, seconds Mr. Heisser in his views, and says that he expects to be sustained by the courts."

Source: Elected By Women's Votes, The Sun, Oct. 15, 1882, p. 1, col. 2.

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Photograph and Biography of William E. Barnett, a Founding Member of the Pelham Manor Protective Club

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

According to the minutes of the Pelham Manor Protective Club, on December 3, 1881, "[a]n informal meeting of citizens at Pelham Manor was held at the residence of Mr. H. Reynolds . . . for the purpose of organizing a Protective Club." The citizens of Pelham Manor selected three men to create the articles of association of the new organization: William E. Barnett, H. Q. French and George H. Reynolds.

As I have written on the Historic Pelham Blog before, the population of Pelham grew quickly after the Civil War. With development came problems, particularly as “tramps” found the area enticing and hitched rides to Pelham on trains running on the New Haven Main Line and the Branch Line. Before the Village of Pelham Manor was incorporated in 1891, local residents founded the Pelham Manor Protective Club as a means of working together for the good of their community. The organization essentially served the purpose of a village government in the decade before incorporation of the Village of Pelham Manor.

Nearly the entire adult male population of the area – 52 local residents – subscribed as members. The purpose of the club was “to assist the public authorities in maintaining law and order within a radius of one mile from Pelham Manor Depot....” The club raised money to fund its work, which included guarding against tramps, petty thieves, stray livestock and other local problems. The records of the club, which was disbanded once the village of Pelham Manor was incorporated, provide documentation of the development of a local government in lower Westchester County in the 1880s.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog provides a photograph and biographical data for one of the most active members of the Club: William E. Barnett. His photograph appears immediately below.



"William Edward Barnett, LL.B. (West Haven, Conn.), the son of William Noyes and Mary Sullivan (Pritchard) Barnett, was born at Charleston, S. C., February 20, 1845. In college he was a member of Linonia and Δ.Κ. In Sophomore Year he received a first prize in Declamation. The first year after graduation he passed at home at West Haven, the second, was Principal of Staples Academy, in Easton, Conn., and the third was studying in the Law School at Albany, N. Y., where he received the degree of LL.B. in May, 1867. After spending the summer in a New Haven office, he formed, in September, 1867, a partnership with Norton '64, at Bridgeport, Conn. In 1868 he was Clerk of the Common Council of Bridgeport. In 1869 the partnership with Norton was dissolved, and he became Secretary to the President of the New York, New Haven and Hartford R. R., and Attorney for that Company, and for the Portchester and Harlem R. R., of which he was also a director, with offices in the Grand Central Depot, New York. In this business he has remained until the present time, but about 1887 his duties were changed and he became Executive Secretary of the Railroad, and his office was moved to New Haven, where he removed his family in 1888. From 1870 to 1880 his residence had been in New Rochelle, and from 1880 to 1888 at Pelham Manor, N. Y.

He attended the Class Meetings in 1867, 1889 with his wife, and 1894 with two daughters.

He was married March 30, 1875, at Trinity Church, New Rochelle (of which he was vestryman and organist), to Miss Marie A. Lockwood. They have had six children: --

I. William Lockwood, born Sept. 26, 1876, at New Rochelle, Yale '98; [Page 59 / Page 60]

II. Paul, born Dec. 16, 1877, at New Rochelle;

III. Edith, born July 27, 1879, at New Rochelle;

IV. Lillie, born March 22, 1881, at Pelham Manor; died March 22, 1881;

V. Helen, born August 3, 1883, at Pelham Manor;

VI. Edward, born May 13, 1887, at Pelham Manor; died February 4, 1888.

His address is care N. Y., N. H. and H. R. R., New Haven, Conn."

Source: History of the Class of 1864, Yale College. 1860 - 1895, pp. 59-60 (Princeton, N.J., C. S. Robinson & Co., University Printers, 1895).

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Text of January 1, 1885 Annual Report of the Pelham Manor Protective Club

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

The population of Pelham grew quickly after the Civil War. With development came problems, particularly as “tramps” found the area enticing and hitched rides to Pelham on trains running on the New Haven Main Line and the Branch Line. Before the Village of Pelham Manor was incorporated in 1891, local residents founded the Pelham Manor Protective Club as a means of working together for the good of their community. Nearly the entire adult male population of the area – 52 local residents – subscribed as members.

The purpose of the club was “to assist the public authorities in maintaining law and order within a radius of one mile from Pelham Manor Depot....” The club raised money to fund its work, which included guarding against tramps, petty thieves, stray livestock and other local problems. The records of the club, which was disbanded once the village of Pelham Manor was incorporated, provide documentation of the development of a local government in lower Westchester County in the 1880s. The page shown below is the cover of the annual report for the year 1884. It was read to members of the Club at a meeting on January 1, 1885. The entire text of the report follows the image below.



"REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Pelham Manor Protective Club.

January 1st, 1885.

Members of the Protective Club of Pelham Manor.

Gentlemen:

Another year has gone passed and you are again gathered together as you have been wont to do to elect your officers for another the ensuing year, and to hear from our Executive Committee – what of their doings during the year just closed, and to counsel together as to what should be done for your mutual benefit and protection during the year to come. The most important thing perhaps which your Committee has to report is, that they have done but little, and that mainly because there has been but little to do. During the year your Committee have held ten regular meetings. The first meeting being was held January 5th, at this meeting Geo. H. Reynolds was elected Chairman and David W. Johnson Clerk and Treasurer. On the first of July, Mr. De Witt, who was one of the chief promoters of the Club and has almost continuously since its organization been a member of the Executive Committee, retired from service upon the Committee. His associate members greatly regretted his retirement and the consequent loss to the Committee of his zealous, efficient and untiring aid in the transaction of the Club business. Mr. [Page 1 / Page 2] Wm. Allen Smith was elected to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. De Witt’s resignation. On the night of January 9th, two burglars forced an entrance to into the depot and post office, and while at their burglarious work were surprised by Mr. De Witt. His report to the Committee is as follows:

‘Mr. De Witt reported that the depot at Pelham Manor was broken into at about 2.30 A.M., January 9th. That he and others were aroused to the Station and endeavored to arrest the burglars, but they were well armed and escaped by jumping through a window, after exchanging several shots with Mr. De Witt. One of them was a tall man and the other was a short man. They left behind, a hat, a key and a blanket. The blanket was returned to Mrs. Condon of New Rochelle, from whom it was stolen that same night. No clue was found by which the burglars could be traced or identified.’ No other burglaries or misdemeanors have been committed within the jurisdiction of the Club during the year.

The tramp notices have been kept posted and we have issued a pamphlet containing our articles of association and suggestions to members. We have had placed in the Depot a Telephone which the members have the free use of to new Rochelle and to the whole Telephone District by paying small extra charges to points beyond New Rochelle The membership at your last meeting was 41, during the [sic]

Two members have resigned and six have been dropped from the rolls, making the present membership 43. [Page 2 / Page 3]

The Treasurer reports as follows: --

Amount on hand Jany. 1st, 1884, $151.62
Received for dues, 66.00
“ “ initiation fees, 30.00
Received for extra use of Tele-phone, 8.55
Total $256.17

Paid for Record Book and engrossing records of the Club 20.50
Paid for arrest of two tramps 20.00
Paid for impounding one cow 1.00
Paid for 100 copies of Pamphlet of Instructions to Members 11.75
Paid for Telephone Service 47.15
“ for Watchman’s Detective Clock 40.00
Paid for postage stamps 1.00
“ “ printed notices of Special Meeting 1.75
Total Expenditures $143.15
Leaving a balance on hand of 113.02

$256.17

And uncollected dues
Uncollected dues $2.00

At a meeting of the Executive Committee held September 13th, Mr. Wm. E. Barnett and Mr. Wm. Allen Smith were appointed a Committee to prepare a plan for bringing [Page 3 / Page 4] the night watchman and lamplighting service within the control of the Protective Club.

Their report was as follows: --

To the Executive Committee of the Pelham Manor Protective Club.

The undersigned, your Committee appointed at the meeting held September 13, 1884, to prepare a plan for bringing the Watchman and Lamplighting service, now existing in PELHAM MANOR, within the control of the PROTECTIVE CLUB, beg leave to report as follows: -

We have given the matter committed to us full consideration. At the outset, we find that the expense of the service amounts to about $2.35 per month to each of the twenty-five subscribers to the service. It would be obviously inappropriate to assess all the members of the Club for this service, which is of immediate benefit to a limited number. And those immediately benefited could not be thus specially assessed, under the ARTICLES of ASSOCIATION, without amending the ARTICLES so as to cover this case. An objection at once arises, that some members of the Club residing within the benefited district might, for various reasons, be unwilling to pay the necessary assessment.

Your Committee are of the opinion that, with a slight change in ARTICLE IId., of the ARTICLES of ASSOCIATION, there would be no question that, under ARTICLE IVth, [Page 4 Page 5] the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE would have full power to establish and maintain, under the auspices of the PROTECTIVE CLUB, such private Watchman, or other services as may be desired for special districts within the jurisdiction of the CLUB, provided that the expenses of such special services are all met by voluntary subscriptions; and it is evident that whenever there is a real demand for such service the voluntary subscriptions will be forthcoming.

In order to make it perfectly clear that the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE shall have power to provide any special services under voluntary subscriptions of the persons benefited and for the purpose of better defining the object of the CLUB we recommend that Article IId., be amended by the insertion, after the words ‘law and order’, of the words: ‘And otherwise to provide for the safety of members of the CLUB, their families and property’.

If the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE shall see fit to present this Amendment to the members of the CLUB for their adoption, we recommend that, for the sake of clearness and to provide for the proper expedition of Amendments which may subsequently be offered, the following be presented to the members of the CLUB at the same time.

Amend ARTICLE IXth., so that the ARTICLE shall read as follows:

‘These ARTICLES may be amended at any [Page 5 / Page 6] meeting of the CLLUB specially called for that purpose, by an affirmative vote, in person or by proxy, of two thirds of all the members of the CLUB’.

Respectfully submitted

Wm. E. Barnett )
} Committee.
Wm. Allen Smith )

Pelham Manor, November 29th, 1884.

This report was accepted and the recommendations therein contained were approved by the Executive Committee,

All of which we beg most respectfully to submit.

[Signed] Geo H Reynolds
[Signed] D. M. Johnson
[Signed] Robert C Black
[Signed] Wm E Barnett
[Signed] Wm Allen Smith

[Page 6 / Page 7] [No text on page 7]"

Source: Collections of The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham.

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor?

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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

United States Patent No. 174,465 for "Telegraphy" was issued to A. G. Bell on March 7, 1876. For many years, however, the American population seemed unaware of the possibilities of the new-fangled telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell who was forced to lecture about his invention for pay as he fought -- and eventually won -- an expensive legal battle against inventor Elisha Gray. Gray claimed that he had invented the telephone and, indeed, lost the race to the patent office for his own invention by a matter of hours.

Residents of Pelham Manor seemed to recognize the importance and value of the new invention very early. Indeed, recent research has revealed the story behind the installation of what may have been the first telephone in Pelham Manor. A review of the minutes book of the Pelham Manor Protective Club (click here for the February 23, 2005 blog posting entitled "The Westchester County Historical Society Acquires Records of The Pelham Manor Protective Club From Dealer in Tarrytown, NY") has shed light on the topic.

The Pelham Manor Protective Club was established in late 1881 -- ten years before incorporation of the Village of Pelham Manor. Members of the Club took all kinds of steps to protect the area of Pelham within one mile of the Pelham Manor Depot located on the New Haven Branch Line from crime.

By June 2, 1884, members of the Executive Committee of the Pelham Manor Protective Club were considering the installation of a telephone at the Pelham Manor Depot to permit members of the Club to make calls and to report to New York and New Rochelle authorities instances of criminal activity. On that date, two members of the Executive Committee, Messrs. William E. Barnett and Thomas D. De Witt, reported to the full Committee on their efforts to prepare a pamphlet of "suggestions" to be distributed to all members of the Pelham Manor Protective Club. Among the many "suggestions" contained in the proposed pamphlet was one that read as follows:

"4. Telephone. - A telephone connecting with New Rochelle and New York will soon be placed in Pelham Manor Depot in the name of the Protective Club, which may be used by any member for the purpose, in case of necessity, of obtaining assistance as against vagrants and other criminals, and for other purposes." Records Pelham Manor Protective Club, Vol. 1, p. 75 (entry for Jun. 2, 1884; original in the collection of the Westchester County Historical Society).

During the same Executive Committee meeting, the "Chairman and Secretary were authorized to arrange with the Westchester Telephone Company for a Telephone at Pelham Manor Depot for the use of the members of the Club." Id., p. 76.

By July 9, 1884, arrangements had been made for seems to have been installation of the telephone and the Executive Committee authorized payment of a bill from the telephone company. The minutes for an Executive Committee meeting on that date state that the "Treasurer presented a bill of the Westchester Telephone Company for $20.20, which was ordered paid." Id., p. 77 (entry for Jul. 9, 1884). The nature of the bill is unclear. It may have been payment for installation of the phone or it may have been payment for phone service after the phone had been installed.

It seems fairly certain, however, that the phone had been installed by October 1, 1884. This can be surmised from the minutes of a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Club on November 29, 1884. Those minutes contain the following entry: "The bill of the Westchester Telephone Co. for service from October 1st 1884 to January 1st 1885, $26.95 was audited and ordered paid." Id., p. 82 (entry for Nov. 29, 1884).

Barely eight years after invention of the telephone, Pelham Manor had what may have been its first telephone. While there have been suggestions that Robert C. Black (one of the principals of famed jewelry firm Black, Starr & Frost) may have installed the first telephone in Pelham, the telephone installed in the Pelham Manor Depot in the autumn of 1884 is the earliest telephone installation that can be documented with some degree of certainty.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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