Fishing in Pelham Bay During the Early 1890s

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It was shades of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."  Internationally-acclaimed American actor William J. "Billy" Florence was in a small boat off the Pelham shores in October, 1890.  He was with John "Jack" Elliot who operated "Elliot's" hotel and bar at the Pelham Bridge near the settlement of Bartow.  The two men were fishing on a boat anchored in waters not far from Pelham Bridge.

Billy Florence hooked a monster.  He set the hook and the fight began.  Almost immediately the giant fish broke the surface and made a run directly at the small boat.  Neither man could believe it.  It was a giant striped bass that weighed at least thirty-five pounds.  Elliot looked at Florence and shouted "It's the old grandfather!  How many feet of line have you?"

"Six hundred" replied Billy Florence.  Jack Elliot immediately took out his knife and cut the anchor rope, setting the boat free to drift with the fish as the brutal battle began.  The monster striped bass pulled the little boat every which way as the fish struggled to escape.  

The bass tugged the little boat more than a mile into Long Island Sound.  The two men fought the monster for two hours before finally landing it in the boat, their second big striped bass of the day!  They then brought the monster "back in triumph" to Elliot's near Bartow.  According to one account:

"Talk about a barbecue!  It was nothing compared to this fish feast.  Events at [Bartow] are dated from the time they served two big bass swimming in champagne."

Billy Florence was merely one of hundreds and hundreds of the rich and famous who fished the waters of Pelham and enjoyed the resorts around Pelham Bridge and City Island during the 19th century.  Indeed, the infamous politician William M. "Boss" Tweed hosted clambakes on Pelham shores and enjoyed the waters of Eastchester and Pelham Bays before being jailed for corruption.  Even the Sheriff who jailed Boss Tweed enjoyed fishing and dining at the resorts in Pelham.   

Today's Historic Pelham article paints a picture of what it was like to fish the waters of Pelham and to enjoy its resorts in 1893, shortly before New York City annexed Pelham Bay Park, City Island, Hunter's Island, and other islands off the shores of the Town.

Throughout much of the nineteenth century, Pelham was a destination resort not only for wealthy New Yorkers, but also for blue collar workers and the middle class who lived in New York City and the surrounding region.  There were a host of hotels and resorts near Pelham Bridge and on City Island.  The waters of Eastchester Bay, Pelham Bay, and Long Island Sound teemed with game fish including striped bass, bluefish, snappers, weakfish, sea bass, flounders, and many, many others.

By the early 1890s, two local entrepreneurs had made names for themselves by serving fishermen of the region.  Indeed, it was said at the time that each day the fish of Long Island Sound reported each morning to these two men before locating in local waters for the day.  The two men were John "Jack" Elliot of Elliot's at Pelham Bridge and Fred Wesselmann who operated Wesselmann's at the foot of Main Street on City Island.  Both men rented boats, rods, and equipment.  Both also sold bait and tackle.  Both knew all there was to know about fishing the waters of Long Island Sound in the region.

I have written before about William John Elliott (known variously as John, Johnny, and Jack) who operated the Pelham Bridge Hotel known as "Elliott's" during the 1890s.  See, e.g.:

Fri., Jul. 29, 2016:  Shooting Death at the Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge in 1892.

Tue., Aug. 02, 2016:  More Research Regarding the 19th Century Grand View Hotel at Pelham Bridge.

Wed., May 17, 2017:  More on the History of the Pelham Bridge Hotel that Burned Down on October 28, 1882 (Noting that "in the years after the actual Pelham Bridge Hotel burned, the Grand View Hotel managed by William John Elliott frequently was referenced as the 'Pelham Bridge Hotel.'").

By 1893, Elliott's (occasionally spelled as Elliot's) had become the focus of anglers from throughout the region.  There the cream of society rubbed elbows with the common man, all enjoying the hospitality of the proprietor before or after a lovely day of fishing.  In one account published in 1893, a reporter breathlessly described the notables he saw when he visited Elliott's for a day of fishing in the waters off Pelham:

"At that table over in the corner are Superintendent Newell, of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and Ed Wilbur, the general manager.  They have been fishing, and are now dining upon their catch, a striped bass and two weakfish.  Near by sits Congressman Raines, of Rochester; Harry Childs, Harry Purdy of the Metropole; Assistant District Attorney McIntyre and William F. Howe of Howe & Hummel.  Down below in the anchored small boats are the rest, and a half mile away, lying in the cove like a swan resting in flight, sits the white steam yacht of Mr. Arthur Claflin, o H. B. Claflin & Co."

Each Sunday, it seems, was the big Sunday for fishing.  Trains coming from New Rochelle and beyond joined trains coming from New York City to dump sportsmen -- and, according to one account, a few sportswomen -- at Bartow Station.  There the rickety horse-drawn trolley cars took those who wished to City Island.  Those who headed to Elliott's at Pelham Bridge had to walk from Bartow Station along Shore Road to get there.  

An article about fishing off the shores of Pelham published in the New York Herald on October 8, 1893 provided not only descriptions of what it was like to fish near Pelham at the time, but also included a rare depiction of Elliott's hotel at Pelham Bridge.  The text of the article is transcribed in its entirety below, with all images that were published with the article also included below.

Some of the sportsmen who fished in the area in 1893 reportedly had "not missed a Sunday in the fishing season for thirty years."  Others arrived on Saturday night and fished through the night and the entire following day until the last train on Sunday night departed and then went "to work on Monday morning as though nothing had happened."  

Each Sunday, small boats crowded the waters off the shores filled with fishermen.  The shores and bridges also were lined with fishermen trying their luck as well.  Some, according to the New York Herald, had some of the best fishing tackle then available with outfits that cost "hundreds" of dollars.  Meanwhile, others used homemade rods and hand lines and caught many fish as well.

The New York Herald article describing fishing off the shores of the Town of Pelham in 1893, quoted in full below, makes fascinating reading for students of Pelham history.  It is well worth a read.

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"FISHERMEN OF PELHAM BAY.
-----
All Manner of Men Who Make Sunday Pilgrimages to City Island and Bartow for Sport.
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NEARBY RESORTS OF THE CITY.
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The Rocks Where Tweed Held Clambakes When He Was the King of New York Politics.
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PEOPLE WHO GO THERE NOW.
-----

THERE are no vacant seats on the Sunday morning trains which leave the Harlem depot for points along the Sound.  Sunday is fisherman's day, and the mechanic who works six days at the lathe, if he loves to angle, goes to Bartow or City Island, does the hardest and healthiest work of the week and returns at night to his city home refreshed and with more or less fish.  He doesn't mingle with autocrats of the rod and reel -- men whose outfits cost hundreds of dollars and would scorn any kind of a reel but a German silver four time multiplier.

He rubs shoulders with other mechanics and clerks who come to this fishing ground of the people with curious homemade rods, hand lines and rods that are not rods at all -- simply poles.  They all come with the fishing fever burning deep within them.  Their conversations are brimming over with bait, tackle and wonderful catches.  They are honest fishermen, with nothing against them except their motto, which is to pull a fish out of the water quickly -- any way -- get him at all hazards, even if you have to hit him with a club.

"FISHING FOR ALL THEY ARE WORTH."  Source:

FISHERMEN OF PELHAM BAY, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 8,

1893, Third Section, p. 9, cols. 4-5.  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

NEVER MISS A SUNDAY.

There are men going up to City Island and Bartow to-day who have not missed a Sunday in the fishing season for thirty years; there are men who have been known to go up on Saturday night and fish right through until the last train on Sunday night and then go to work on Monday morning as though nothing had happened.

Why do they go?

Because I believe there is born in every human being a love for nature.  Because in twenty-five minutes they are under green trees, walking past apple orchards, along shady roads, where the breezes of the sea sweep softly.  They are away from the interminable rows of stone and piles of bricks; from stuffy rooms and pavements radiating with heat.  Isn't that reason enough?

OVER THE BRIDGE.

The fishing fleet of these waters is divided into two sections.  There is one at Bartow and another at City Island.  When they speak of Bartow they say 'Over the bridge to Elliot's.'  Over the bridge is an even six mile drive along the picturesque Westchester road from the Harlem River.

It is Pelham Park, one of the most beautiful places of land in the State.  It is a city park and is patrolled by mounted Park police.  It is to Bartow the big men come and mingle with the others -- lawyers, bankers, politicians and men whose names are up near the top in the city's roster.  They ignore the trains.  They drive up to this place.

Take a glimpse at the great porch of Elliot's looking Soundward, and you will be surprised.

At that table over in the corner are Superintendent Newell, of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and Ed Wilbur, the general manager.  They have been fishing, and are now dining upon their catch, a striped bass and two weakfish.

Near by sits Congressman Raines, of Rochester; Harry Childs, Harry Purdy of the Metropole; Assistant District Attorney McIntyre and William F. Howe of Howe & Hummel.  Down below in the anchored small boats are the rest, and a half mile away, lying in the cove like a swan resting in flight, sits the white steam yacht of Mr. Arthur Claflin, o H. B. Claflin & Co.  Some day this property of the city will be made easy of access, and then -- then places further away will be the losers and the people will crowd to the city's banquet of beautiful surroundings, fresh air, pure water and wild flowers.

TWEED USED TO FISH HERE.

Tweed came here when he was in the heyday of his power and glory, and he brought his henchmen with him.  Upon the wave washed rocks they had their clambakes and talked of things which it might be interesting to know of now.

Later ex-sheriff William C. Conner, the man who had Tweed in his keeping after the great politician had been found out, was wont to drive along the Westchester road behind his matchless team of bays with coachman in front and tiger behind.  He never went further than 'across the bridge to Elliot's.'  He and his friends stirred up the dead ashes of the Tweed crowd which the indulgent wind had left on the rocks, builded [sic] new fires over the heaps of moist clams and began where Tweed left off.

Both men -- the dishonest and the honest -- are dead and gone.  But others of the old days still come, bake clams on the rocks, tell stories well worth space in any book and then go cityward [sic] to take up the battle of finance or politics.  Sheriff Conner's bays have taken his place and are following in the footsteps of the father.  Frank handles the ribbons over a fine horse; George makes his pilgrimage with rod and reel.  So it goes.

If rocks could talk, if the waters would only give up secrets, if the air would receive impressions which could be returned, what intensely interesting reading the open book of the past would make!

"OVER THE BRIDGE TO ELLIOT'S."  Source:

FISHERMEN OF PELHAM BAY, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 8,

1893, Third Section, p. 9, cols. 4-5.  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

THE FISHING IS GOOD.

The fishing!  Under that iron bridge which leads to Elliot's the waters of the sound rush in with the flood and out with the ebb as if they were always trying to catch up.  In this cove the weakfish come and the striped bass -- the gentleman king of the salt water.

Around those rocks which are the foundations of the bridge lurk the sharp blackfish, who run like rats for rocky coverts the moment the hook is felt.  A few inches below the surface of the incoming tide are the young bluefish -- snappers, locally -- twisting and turning and rushing, more voracious by far than their parents, biting at anything.  But they are sharp and they can fight, and you have to know a thing or two before you can get a two-pounder into your boat.  They are the acrobats of the sea -- the ground a lofty tumblers.

It was here that Tom Murrey, caterer now for the Congressional restaurant in Washington and fishing mate of Mayor Gilroy, ex-Sheriff Flack and the late Billy Florence, used to come.  It was here he 'struck' a thirty-five pound striped bass, October three years ago.  Jack Elliot was in the boat with him at the time.

The bass broke water coming toward the boat.  

'It's the old grandfather!' yelled Jack.  'How many feet of line have you?'

'Six hundred.'

Jack took out his knife and cut the anchor rope. 

It was a two hours' fight and was ended out in the Sound, a mile away.  They brought the monster back in triumph.

Talk about a barbecue!  It was nothing compared to this fish feast.  Events at Barton [sic] are dated from the time they served two big bass swimming in champagne.

"JACK ELLIOT, WHO KNOWS WHERE THE BIG" 

FISH LURK."  Source:  FISHERMEN OF PELHAM BAY, N.Y. Herald, 

Oct. 8, 1893, Third Section, p. 9, cols. 4-5.  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

Meanwhile the fellows with the home made rods and hand lines are fishing away for dear life over at City Island.  

With the flavor of this last story you can drive over there -- going directly through Pelham Park.  

A few warning notices -- stereotyped ones of the Park Commissioners -- are stuck up here and there.  But everything is so free, apparently, and wild, that no one thinks of abusing Mother Nature's hospitality.  The route from the one place to the other lies past beautiful forests of giant chestnuts and oaks, a quaint little brick church, which looks as if it might have been cut from the frame of an Italian painting, and past fields yellow with golden rod, with dashes of color here and there.

There are horse cars from the depot to City Island, cars pulled by one horse, which run on a rocky pair of tracks and give one a slight touch of mal de mer.  You go past woodland nooks with dusky recesses, and ponds bordered with bull frogs, blinking their eyes out in placid contentment, until you reach the settlement -- the grocery store, the shoe shop and the agent's office.  A wooden bridge, about three hundred feet long, connects the island with the mainland.

You are among the fishermen -- men who will sit in a boat all day with nothing to eat or drink but a bottle of beer and a sandwich.  The bridge is lined with them.  The water, looked at generally, is a polka dot figure of boats.

Here are blackfish, flounders, a few bass and that favorite of the New England coast, the tom-cod.  Twenty boats and all let.  It is a good Sunday this, although the fish are not running large.

At the foot of Main street, on the island proper, is Fred Wesselmann's.  They say he was anchored in a boat somewhere around Bartow before there ever was such a thing as City Island, but no one believes he is quite as old as that.  But he knows a thing or two besides selling bait and renting boats.  

'Weakfish?' he reiterates in response to a customer's query.  'Very slow.  See that big rock over there, about half a mile out!  Well, anchor there and use soft crabs.'

Tom Murrey once said that the fish in the sound used to come up every morning and report to Jack Elliot and Fred Wesselmann before locating for the day.

Out here on the west shore the boats are full; lines are radiating into the water from every conceivable angle.  And they are all kinds of lines, too, from the linen line, which cost from seventy-five cents to $1, to the cotton twine, which is sold by the ball.

They are all -- the goods ones, I mean -- looking for striped bass, and they fish for his kingship with remarkable persistency [sic].

AFTER THE SPORT IS DONE.

The day is about done.  The tide is running out like a boy who is afraid of a whipping.  The fishermen are coming in and weighing their catches.  They never go back from here empty handed.  A few of the more economical ones set out on the long trudge to the depot, but it is a beautiful road and it doesn't seem long to them.  The others crowd into the cars.  They all meet at the depot -- a jolly, sun scorched crowd.  A few women are sprinkled about among the men, with their arms full of golden rod.  Everybody is good natured.  There is no drunkenness.

The train coming around the upper curve from New Rochelle shrieks out a hoarse warning to a few who have wandered on the track.  There is a general scrambling and picking up of baskets, a gathering together of rods and nets and other paraphernalia.  Then comes a rush for seats in the cars; the gong rings.  Vale, City Island and Bartow -- until next Sunday.

"HOMEWARD BOUND."  Source:

FISHERMEN OF PELHAM BAY, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 8,

1893, Third Section, p. 9, cols. 4-5.  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

GOOD FALL FISHING.

Along the Sound the fall fishing is just beginning.  The bass, sea and striped, are running up slowly.  The blackfish, averaging about three-quarters of a pound, are numerous, and the flounders run small.  In the Sound proper, outside of the coves, there are plenty of weakfish, and bass can be picked up in a morning's fishing without much trouble if the right kind of bait and tackle is used.  The spring fishing was poor; the midsummer is a poor time to put a line in the water.  What fishermen are praying for now is cool weather.  That will bring the bass along lively.  September and October are considered the best months in the year for fishing along the Sound.  It is always fair in the coves of Pelham Bay on the incoming tide.  Outside, around the rocks, where the water runs swiftest, or in channels, the bass lie in wait for prey.  The acrobatic snappers are larger, too, out in the free water.

Within the past few years City Island has been pretty well built up.  Modern houses are set in between the old fashioned houses, and the swell trap of the city man gives all the dust to the seasoned fishermen plodding along the road.

It is an island of boats.  They are in evidence from the swelling cat to the humble dingey [sic] with the flat bottom and the snub nose -- the kind of which it has been said they were built by the mile and cut off in lengths to suit.  It is almost safe to say there is not a human being on the island who does not either own a boat or have an interest in one."

Source:  FISHERMEN OF PELHAM BAY, N.Y. Herald, Oct. 8, 1893, Third Section, p. 9, cols. 4-5.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

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More on New York City's Plans to Annex Pelham and Lower Westchester County in 1870

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."

The tiny little town of Pelham, next to the metropolitan behemoth New York City, has long had a target on its back for annexation or consolidation.  Indeed, as early as 1824 -- nearly two hundred years ago -- some already were calling for the consolidation of Pelham and other nearby towns under a single government.  See Spafford, Horatio Gates, A Gazetteer of the State of New-York: Embracing an Ample Survey and Description of its Counties, Towns, Cities, Villages, Canals, Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks, and  Topography, p. 406 (Albany, NY: B.D. Packard, 1824) (stating, in describing the Town of Pelham, "In some of the freaks of our legislation, it would be well, perhaps, to consolidate some of these little towns, though it might diminish the number of those little-great-men, who derive all their importance from an office. But -- 'the more teats the more puppies,' a fact perfectly understood by all the managers, as well on the smaller as on the greater scale, and division and subdivision are the order of the day").  Similarly, barely two decades later, in 1843, there was an unusual call to annex the southern portion of the Town of Pelham to Queens County.  See Thu., Feb. 22, 2007:  An 1843 Plan To Annex Southern Portion of Pelham to Queens County?

By 1870, the corrupt Tammany Hall Ring that controlled New York City and, some would say, New York State politics turned its attention north of New York City in the hope of annexing much of Westchester County including the entire Town of Pelham.  As I have written before, Tammany Hall was looking to expand its tentacles to encompass new public works to feed its voracious need for jobs, public contracts, and public funds to keep its graft and corruption scheme afloat.  Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall looked toward Pelham and lower Westchester County hoping to annex the region to fulfill its evil needs. 

Eventually, much of the region fended off the initiative by New York City which ultimately annexed the settlements of West Farms, Morrisania, and the Town of Westchester, followed later by City Island, other nearby islands and the land that now forms today's Pelham Bay Park.  

I have written repeatedly about New York City's plans in 1870 to annex Pelham and a host of other towns in lower Westchester County.  See:

Fri., Jan. 29, 2016:  Did Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall Have Designs on Pelham and Plans to Annex It to New York City in 1870?  

Wed., Jan. 16, 2008:  Plans To Annex Pelham and Make It Part of New York City in 1870. 

Thu., May 10, 2007:  Report That Pelham Favored Annexation of Much of Westchester County by New York City in 1870. 

Wed., Apr. 6, 2005:  A Behemoth Looks to the Suburbs: Talk of New York City Annexing Pelham As Early As 1870.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes a newspaper article that, in turn, transcribed a committee report of a committee of property owners who considered the initiative by New York City to annex much of Westchester County.  The report considered the so-called "Corson Bill" named after Cornelius Corson, President of the New York Printing Association, purported drafter of the bill that proposed to annex nearly two-thirds of the County of Westchester north of New York City.  

The Committee unanimously recommended against passage of the Corson Bill, noting that it proposed to annex Westchester County lands that were three times the size of the entire County of New York.  The report further warned against the evils of allowing a government controlled by Tammany Hall to wrap its tentacles about Westchester, stating:

"The well-recognized fact that the city of New York is now governed by a 'Tammany ring,' consisting of not more than five prominent members, should induce the people of Westchester, from motives of personal respect, from their intelligence and integrity, and in protection of their interests to long hesitate before consenting to confer additional power of assessment and taxation, already too much concentrated in and upon this 'ring.'"

The report became a bit prone to hyperbole when it compared the "robbery" by William the Conqueror who invaded and conquered Britain to New York City's efforts to "conquer" Westchester County.  Yet, the point was clear.  Many in Westchester County wanted nothing to do with the proposed annexation by New York City.

William M. "Boss" Tweed in Photograph Believed To

Have Been Taken in 1869 or 1870.  Source:  WIKIPEDIA - 

The Free Encyclopedia:  William M. Tweed (visited Jan.

23, 2016).  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

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Immediately below is the text of the article regarding the Committee Report on the Corson Bill and New York City's efforts to annex up to two-thirds of Westchester County including the Town of Pelham.  The text of the article is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"PROPOSED NEW CITY.
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At a meeting of property owners, held in Fordham, Westchester County, on the 15th inst.,  committee of five was appointed to consider the proposed annexation of seven of the lower towns of Westchester County to New York, and prepare another bill for legislative action at the approaching session, having in view the organization of a new form of government for three of the lower towns of the county.  The committee accordingly prepared the following report, which was presented at an adjourned meeting, held in the above-named village last Saturday.

THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE is as follows:

That the committee have had under consideration the subject referred to them, and have given it that attention which its public importance demanded.

In considering the subject embraced within the resolution, your committee have necessarily had also to consider the question of the proposed annexation to the city of New York of the greater part of the county of Westchester -- nearly two-thirds of it in population and wealth is proposed to be annexed.  The bill on this subject, which has been prepared and printed, is understood to have emanated from Mr. Cornelius Corson, President of the New York Printing Association.  The bill to which he has given paternity includes for annexation seven of the most populous and wealthy towns of the county of Westchester, containing a population of about 75,000 people out of 132,200, which is about the population of the whole county.  The towns which he proposes to annex compose the heart of the 

MOST WEALTHY PART OF THIS COUNTY.

A very natural inquiry suggested by so radical a measure of change as is proposed by this bill is whether the people to be affected by its provisions have asked for or desire its passage; and, if they do, whether the terms and provisions of the proposed act are such as will mete out equal and exact justice to all of its citizens in the way of representation, assessment, and taxation, and in connection with prospective benefits which are claimed to flow from the adoption of this measure.  Certainly no Democratic Legislature should be guilty of annexing to the imperial city of New York so large a territory, with a population of 75,000 people, against their well.  It is a cardinal principle of the Democratic party that no people should be governed without their consent, constitutionally expressed and obtained, which suggests that this bill, if it should be considered at all by the Legislature, should first be submitted to the people who are to be affected by the radical changes proposed; and, if a majority of them should desire its passage, then, if there be no constitutional obstacles in the way, it might be passed with propriety.

Your committee unanimously report 

AGAINST THE PASSAGE OF THIS BILL

by the Legislature, because the area of territory proposed to be annexed is treble in extent that of the present territory of the county of New York.  A diffusion, therefore, of municipal regulation and government over so large a territory would result probably in expensive and inadequate improvement, while if annexation is to be desired at all, a concentration of improvement produced by additional political power, conferred by a municipal government, might with propriety be considered in reference to that portion of Westchester County which lies immediately easterly and southerly of the norther point of the present county of New York -- namely, a line drawn in an easterly direction from Spuyten Duyvil creek at King's Bridge to the Sound, just above Fort Schuyler.  An annexation of this territory, containing now a population of nearly 40,,000 people, provided it were made upon fair and just terms, would be one that the people of this section, if it were submitted to them for their vote, might approve.  But 

THE RADICAL CHANGES PROPOSED 

by Mr. Corson's bill in the creation of four wards out of the seven towns of Westchester County and having those four wards represented in the Board of Aldermen of the city of New York by two additional Aldermen, making seventeen in all (why not the old Hasserach and Ali Baba number!), to be elected by a general ticket, and having those four wards each with representatives in the Board of Assistant Aldermen, with a most unequal population in each ward -- 20,000 in the Twenty-third ward, 30,000 in the Twentieth ward, 10,500 in the Twenty-fifth ward, and 11,000 in the Twenty-sixth ward -- is so radically unjust and anti democratic that no fair-minded citizen could support it.

The change of the entire school and of the judicial systems now existing in this portion of Westchester County to that of the present Police Justice and District Justice and Court of Sessions jurisdiction of the city of New York, all of which is to occur in 1872 if this bill becomes a law, and the additional change proposed of making this portion of Westchester, after the next census in 1875, part of a New York city Senatorial and Congressional District, and of a New York city Supreme Court Judicial District, and the other additional change of removing by 

'A GREAT BIG RECORD COMMISSION JOB,'

proposed by the bill, all the county records of titles and judgments from the county seat at White Plains to the city of New York, thus uprooting and overturning the existing titles of more than one-half of the citizens of the county to their real and personal property, would result in creating chaos where order, system, and good government now exist.

It is for this and other reasons, which would occupy too much space to be embodied in this report, that your committee have unanimously reported against Mr. Corson's bill as unworthy of serious consideration by any intelligent Legislature.

The resolution, under which your committee act, provides for the preparation by them of a new form of government for the lower towns of Westchester County; and in pursuance of this portion of the resolution they have the honor to submit for your consideration their unanimous views in favor of the incorporation of the old township of West Chester, now constituting the towns of Morrisania, West Farms, and West Chester, under one form of municipal government, similar to that which was given to the city of Brooklyn in the year 1834.  The time has arrived when the population of this old township of West Chester, amounting to about 40,000 -- nearly 20,000 more than the number which Brooklyn had when she  received the benefits of a city charter -- should receive the 

ADVANTAGES AND POWER OF A GOOD CITY GOVERNMENT

The growth of Brooklyn, marvellous in extent, and greater, perhaps, than that of any other city in the United States, if not in the world, may have been mainly attributable to the fact that her own people received from the Legislature a charter which conferred upon them the power of making all the internal improvements which were necessary for her development and progress, and which have, since she became a city, made her, within the last ten years the third city in the Union, and in her improvements one of the most beautiful.

The benefits of a city government are exemplified not only in the growth and prosperity of Brooklyn, but also in the growth and prosperity of Jersey City, which has more than quadrupled in population within the last ten years.

No good reason can be assigned why the lower part of Westchester County, with its natural facilities for great development and improvement, should not grow as rapidly within the next twenty years as Brooklyn and Jersey City have grown within the past.  She is bounded on the south by the Harlem river, with a proposed canal connecting it with the North river, and which will probably be speedily constructed, the two forming

A NATURAL CATCH BASIN

for the laying up of vessels in Winter superior to the Atlantic dock at South-Brooklyn, and the bank of the river affording greater facilities for commodious stores and warehouses.

On the east it is bounded by the East river and by Long Island Sound.

On the East river, just north of Harlem, we have Port Morris, unsurpassed for the anchorage of large vessels by any port in the world.

The Great Eastern, with her immense size and capacity, formerly laid safely at one of her docks.  And just above Port Morris and opposite Riker's Island, fronting the property of the late B. M. Whitlock, is a bay affording the best place for a navy-yard in any of the States, inasmuch as here, alongside of the East river salt-water frontage, might be constructed a large fresh-water basin, to be supplied by water about a mile distant from the Bronx river, in the village of West Farms, large enough to float all the iron clads of the world, and the corroding of the iron of these vessels, when not in actual service, lying in salt water, requires their anchorage in such a fresh-water basin.

THE CONCENTRATION OF THE HUDSON RIVER, the Harlem and New Haven Railroads, in their freighting and passenger business at their proposed new grand depot, near Melrose, and at Mott Haven, indicate that their immense freight and passenger traffic from the Pacific Coast, and from the West and the East, all must, within a few years, centre near the Harlem river, within the present town of Morrisania.  The land contained within this old township of West Chester, topographically considered, is more easily and better adapted to drainage than any piece of territory of like extent in the State of New York.  Sewers, streets, and avenues may be thereon constructed, so that for health and comfort no city could, in this respect, be better improved.

In the centre of these towns we have a valley, which is indicated by Millbrook, through which a grand sewer (like the old Canal street in New York) might be constructed from the northern boundary line of West Farms to the southerly boundary line of Morrisania on the Harlem river.

The ridge of land west of this Millbrook, and bounded on the west by Harlem river and the large easterly plateau extending toward the East river and the Sound, is unsurpassed for natural beauty of scenery, for suitability of building sites, and for elegant houses, by any other in the State; while the Harlem river, the Bronx river, and the East river, lying in the centre of east and west and on the sides of this territory, form the 

NATURAL AND COMPLETE OUTLETS

for thorough drainage and sewerage.  To illustrate that the time has come when every citizen will admit that the government now existing in West Chester, West Farms, and Morrisania, should be abolished -- that this portion of Westchester County is in a transition state, and is in many of its features a semi-city.'  That a government lacking proper checks and balances, and power and responsibility of officers, which is the fact as to these rural town governments, is now totally inadequate for the march of improvements, which can only be legitimately produced by a city government having proper power to make 

NECESSARY PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS,

now so greatly desired by those who now are and who are to become citizens of the lower part of the county.  The wonderful increase of population in Brooklyn and in New Jersey, contiguous to the great city of New York, proved that the time has arrived when a city government should be conferred upon this portion of Westchester County.  The following enumeration of population demonstrates this:

[Illegible Table Showing Population Growth of Counties in New York and New Jersey Omitted]

PLAN FOR THE CITY GOVERNMENT.

The plan for a new city government which the committee have reported, is nearly identical with that of the city of Brooklyn, differing only in its having a Board of Assistant Alderman in addition to the Board of Alderman.  This was deemed proper because of its being more in accordance with the upper and lower House of the Senate and Assembly of the State and of the two legislative branches of the New York city government.

A brief synopsis of this plan shows that the proposed new city government would be composed of a Mayor and Common Council, with nine wards, four of which are now the existing wards of the town of Morrisania, three of which are created in the town of West Chester.  These wards will each have an alderman, constituting the Board of Aldermen of nine members, and from each of these wards the assistant aldermen are to be elected, making eighteen, constituting the Board of Assistant Aldermen.

The Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen are to serve, as was formerly the case in the better days of New York city government with the Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen, without pay.

A SMALL SALARY

for the first few years of the existence of the new city government would be paid to the Mayor and a fair salary to the different heads of departments created by this bill -- the different departments contemplated by the change, consisting of the Finance Department, with its head, the Comptroller, and the Department of Public Works -- included within which would be jurisdiction over the streets, the water, gas, and other local improvements, as now conferred upon the Commissioner of Public Works, in the city of New York.  The Law Department would consist of a Corporation Counsel and Corporation Attorney, to whom during the earlier existence of this government small salaries would be paid.  There will be a grand Tax Department, containing two bureaus -- one to look after the assessments of property upon fair and equal terms, and to be known as the Board of Assessors; and the other bureau to consist of a Tax Receiver and necessary deputies.

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM

would consist of a city judge, to be elected, and who should have, for the territory embraced within the new city limits, the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases that the county judge now has.  In addition, one justice of the peace is provided, to be elected for each of the wards within the proposed city, whose jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases should be the same as is now conferred upon the justices of the peace in the towns comprising the proposed new city.  In other respects the County Court and the Supreme Court and their jurisdiction are to remain the same as at present.  The police, with a Board of Police Commissioners and a Superintendent, would be in such numbers and in compensation as the Common Council in their wisdom would see fit to designate and appoint.

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM,

with the different Boards of Education, school-houses, apparatus, and property, would remain and continue as now existing and constituted, subject only in such changes for increase of scholars and better accommodation as might be provided by the new government.

The existing debts of each town are to be assumed and paid by the property and taxation thereon in the new city; but each of the towns of that city is to be assessed and to pay therefor in taxation in proportion to the indebtedness of each town at the time of the charter taking effect.  In connection with the indebtedness, it would be well to state that the present debt of the town of Morrisania amounts to over $400,000; West Farms, to over $700,000; of Westchester, over $400,000 -- making a total, say, of about $1,500,000..

Your committee believe that the work which has been done in the same way of public improvement, and for which this indebtedness was created, did not exceed sixty-six and two-thirds per cent. of its actual value.  This was caused by the

INCONGRUOUS SYSTEM

of a number of special Commissions appointed by different acts of the Legislature, and known as boulevard commissions, who have power conferred upon them of issuing bonds, and which bonds, owing to the lack of confidence of capitalists and banking institutions, have been negotiated and sold at sums varying from seventy-five per cent. up to, in a few cases, of their par value.

The contractors doing the work and receiving these bonds in payment for the work, instead of money, always in their estimates discounted the bonds at enormous rates.

Under the proposed new system, one of the main benefits which the community affected by it would receive would be in the credit of the bonds of the new government, being, as in the case of Brooklyn and Jersey City bonds, put at par in the market among capitalists, and a saving of at least thirty-three and one-third per cent. would be effected in the value of the work which would actually be thereafter done in the way of public improvements within the proposed new city territory.

The rights of property owners by the proposed change of government will be protected from special State legislation, from

SCHEMING AND SPECULATIVE BOULEVARDS

made at general expense, and where those immediately benefited should bear their just proportion of the expense of construction, and should pay for the improvement where they are largely benefited thereby.  In no case would any improvement of a street or avenue be made unless two-thirds of the property owners fronting upon such street or avenue petitioned and desired the same.

A general system of drainage and lamp districts, and of sidewalks and other legitimate improvements, would be made upon similar requisition of property owners.  By this plan would also be preserved intact by the present boundaries of the county, the Senatorial, Congressional, and Judicial districts, and the existing system of recording titles and judgments will be recognized.  The only

STRONG RECOMMENDATION OF THE PLAN

proposed for annexation to the city of New York is that by it privileges of the Croton water would be derived by the people living in the lower part of Westchester County.

Considering that the city of New York has now no more reservoirs than are necessary for the sufficient supply of that city with water, under the plan of annexation new reservoirs would have to be constructed in the lower part of Westchester County, the cost of which would have to be borne by its people.

Your committee can see no good reason why they should not, through their representatives and agents in the proposed new city governments, construct works for the use of the waters of the Bronx river, and other fresh water streams flowing into the lower part of Westchester County, for the erection of necessary reservoirs and works, and to give the citizens the same facilities and comforts of water which are now had in the city from the Croton Department, and this done, too, under the immediate supervision and direction of our people's representatives, and at a much less cost than would result from annexation.

THE AREA OF LAND

contained in the seven towns to be annexed by the Corwin bill is 46,517 acres, more than treble the area of land contained in the county of New York.  One of the objections which have been made to the plan of a new city government is that the expense will be large and burdensome.  This is erroneous.  The present town halls and other public buildings would answer the purposes for years to come of transacting the executive, legislative, and judicial business therein, and no new public buildings would be built until the increased population and wealth of the new city warranted and demanded their erection.  Your committee, taking into consideration the 

EXPENSES OF THE GOVERNMENT

of the present towns of Morrisania, West Farms, and West Chester for the last three years and for the present one, do not hesitate to say that the entire expenses of a new city government under the plan proposed would be much less than is now paid in by these incongruous governments, where proper responsibility and checks and balances do not exist, but which would be insured by the adoption of the new plan.

The well-recognized fact that the city of New York is now governed by a 'Tammany ring,' consisting of not more than five prominent members, should induce the people of Westchester, from motives of personal respect, from their intelligence and integrity, and in protection of their interests to long hesitate before consenting to confer additional power of assessment and taxation, already too much concentrated in and upon this 'ring.'

THE RIGHT OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

is one which under our system has hitherto commanded the respect of all communities, and they have been especially jealous of having this right destroyed, either by the centralization of the government in the Legislature at Albany, or in the legislation of the Federal Government at Washington.

An appeal to the intelligence and sense of right of the people of the lower part of Westchester County, whose history has hitherto been patriotic and honorable, should induce them to unanimously oppose the Corson scheme of annexation.  When William the Conqueror invaded and conquered Britain, the Normans called it conquest, the Britains [sic] robbery.  When King William of Prussia obtains, if he does, Alsace and Lorraine, it will also be obtained under the right of conquest.  But this is in a case where a war was unnecessarily commenced and waged against him and his people, and where he may be justified by way of 'indemnity for the past and security for the future' in taking and exercising governmental control over those territories.  When 

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR,

of New York city, and his friends seek to take the lower part of Westchester County for an extension of their domain of spoliation and taxation, without the consent of the people of Westchester County, they may think, as the ancient Britons, that this, too, is robbery.   A territory may be annexed by treaty, as was the case in the annexation of Texas; but there, as in the case of marriage, which is a civil contract, there must be the consent of the bride, as well as the groom, to consummate it.

If the New York politicians, who are looking with rapacious eyes upon the lower part of Westchester County, have the true welfare of the city of New York, as well as of the people of the lower part of Westchester County, have the true welfare of the city of New York, as well as of the people of the lower part of Westchester County, in view, they will never attempt to make their conquest by legislative enactment without first submitting the question to the people to be affected by it for their approval or rejection.

The true mode of increasing the growth, wealth, and prosperity of the lower part of Westchester County, beside having a better local government of their own, is to afford to it

GREATER FACILITIES OF TRAVEL,

to have the various railroads running through it, initiating the example set by the railroads of New Jersey, which have been the means of increasing the population of Hudson, and other counties in that State, at a greater ratio within the last twenty years than any of the suburban parts of the city of New York.  The frequent trains, fifty four per day, with the cheap cost of commutation to Elizabeth (fourteen miles to the city of New York), have quadrupled that place in population within the last ten years.  The want of hourly and half-hourly trains between Williamsbridge, intermediate stations, and New York with rates of commutation largely exceeding those of New Jersey, has kept ll the lower part of Westchester County from

RECEIVING AN ACCESSION TO ITS POPULATION

even greater than Elizabeth and growing places in New Jersey have received during that time.  With three track lines of railroad the most extensive in their operations in the country, the Hudson River, the Harlem, and the New Haven, running through Westchester failing to give to it that accommodation which naturally it should have received, induces your committee to urge upon the representatives in the Senate and Assembly from this county the necessity of compelling these railroads, by suitable legislation at the next session, to afford to the residents of Westchester equal facilities for quick and cheap transit now given by the New Jersey city and who are now living in that State.

In conclusion, your committee suggests the appointment, by the meeting of a committee of three -- one from each of the towns of Morrisania, West Farms, and West Chester -- to watch the proceedings of the next Legislature in relation to any and all proposed bills for the annexatioin or spoliation affecting the lower part of this county, and to adopt and take all necessary mesures for the growth and prosperity of the old township of West Chester.

Respectfully submitted,

JOHN B. HASKIN,
SAMUEL M. PURDY,
JOHN HUNTER,
JOHN FLANIGAN.

FORDHAM, December 24, 1870.

The unavoidable absence of G. Hilton Scribner, Member of Assembly elect, prevented that gentleman from signing the report as one of the committee.

THE WARDS OF NEW YORK CITY

and their respective boundaries are as follows:

The first four wards shall consist as at present the four wards in the town of Morrisania exist and are bounded and described therein.

The three wards in the town of West Farms shall consist of the land and territory and be bounded and described as follows, and be known as the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh wards:

The fifth ward to consist of all the land and territory lying between the northerly boundary line of the town of Morrisania and the centre line of Locust avenue and Morris street, in the town of West Farms, running from the easterly boundary line of the Harlem Railroad to the end of Locust avenue, in the village of West Farms, and in a straight line from the end of the terminus of said avenue, in the said village, to the Bronx river (the boundary line between West Farms and West Chester), said ward to contain all the land and territory south and southeast of said last mentioned line and the boundary line between the towns of Morrisania and West Farms; and also easterly of the easterly boundary line of said Harlem Railroad and the extreme easterly boundary line of said town of West Farms.

The Sixth ward to contain all the territory of the town of West Farms, northerly of the northerly boundary line of Ward Five aforesaid; and all the land easterly from the easterly boundary line of the Harlem Railroad up to Williamsbridge; and from thence to the easterly boundary line between the towns of West Farms and West Chester.

The Seventh ward to contain all the land and territory in the present town of West Farms west of the eastern boundary line of the Harlem Railroad, from the southerly line between West Farms and Morrisania and the boundary line between West Farms and Yonkers.

The Eighth ward to contain all the land and territory in the present town of West Chester lying easterly and southerly of the highway leading from the iron bridge on the Bronx river; and running thence along said highway, passing the Methodist Church in West Chester; and thence until it comes to the highway leading from West Chester to East Chester; thence along the East Chester road until it comes to Pelham avenue; thence running easterly along Pelham avenue to the old road leading to Pelham bridge; and thence along said old road to East Chester creek or bay.  

The Ninth ward to contain all the land and territory in the present town of West Chester lying westerly and northerly of the Eighth ward, and boundary line between West Farms, Yonkers, and East Chester."

Source:  PROPOSED NEW CITY, Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], Dec. 30, 1870, p. 1, cols. 3-7.  

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