The Lost Charles Lanier House - 30 East 37th Street

 

photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

James Franklin Doughty Lanier was born in North Carolina on November 22, 1800.  His earliest ancestor in America was Thomas Lanier, who arrived with his friend, John Washington, in Virginia in 1655.  (Washington's great-grandson, George, would become America's first President.)  

In 1849, James Franklin Doughty Lanier moved his family to New York City.  His first wife, Elizabeth Gardner, had died in 1846 and he married Mary McClure in 1848.  Lanier, who started out practicing law, turned to banking in the 1830s and became president of the Bank of Indiana in 1833.  The year he moved his family to New York, he co-founded the banking firm of Winslow, Lanier & Co. with Richard H. Winslow.

The Laniers moved into a fine residence at 16 West 10th Street.  Charles Lanier was 12 years old at the time.  Two years after he married Sarah E. Egleston on October 7, 1857, he was taken into his father's banking firm.  The newlyweds remained in the West 10th Street house, increasing the population with a son, James Frederick Doughty Lanier III, born in 1858; two daughters, Sarah Egleston, born in 1862; and Fannie who arrived two years later.

Sarah Egleston Lanier was pregnant again in 1870 when she and Charles left West 10th Street for their own opulent, double-wide mansion at 28-30 East 37th Street.  Elizabeth Gardner Lanier would be born there on October 29, 1870.

Charles Lanier later in life.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

The family's brownstone fronted, Italianate house rose four stories above an English basement.  The arched entrance sat within a Corinthian columned portico.  In a highly unusual move, the architect chamfered the western corner.  His doing so strongly suggests the Laniers' property extended a few feet into a narrow garden between the mansion and the carriage house of the former Isaac Newton Phelps mansion which was erected on the Madison Avenue corner in 1854.

The drawing room of the mansion was the scene of Sarah's marriage to Francis Cooper Lawrance, Jr. on the afternoon of December 14, 1881.  The choice of a house wedding rather than a more socially visible ceremony was, no doubt, because of James F. D. Lanier's death three months earlier.  The New York Times said, "The wedding was private, owing to recent deaths in the bride's family, and the guests were limited, therefore, to near relatives and most intimate friends."

The family's summer estate, Allen Winden, was in Lenox, Massachusetts.  Fannie married Francis R. Appleton in Trinity Church there on October 7, 1884.

The residence at Allen Winden was designed by Peabody & Stearns in 1882.  from Lenox, 1886 (copyright expired)

James F. D. Lanier III was the next to marry.  His wedding to Harriet Bishop in the West Presbyterian Church on West 42nd Street was a socially prominent affair.  On November 25, 1885, The New York Times reported, "In the rear of the church was a grouping of luxuriant tropical plants, palms and ferns stretching above the organ loft.  The pulpit was buried under a mass of roses."  Among the long list of socially elite guests at the wedding and reception were Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, Mrs. Oliver Belmont, Mrs. Seward Webb, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. D. O. Mills and Ogden Mills.

As his father had done, James brought his bride to his parents' home.  Two sons would be born in the East 37th Street house--Charles Day in 1886, and Reginald Bishop in 1888.

Four months before James's and Harriet's wedding, Charles had hired builder G. Mulligan to install a bay window on the parlor floor.  The handsome alteration cost him the equivalent of $19,600 in 2024 terms.

The social spotlight finally landed on Elizabeth (known within the family as Lizzie) in 1889.  On December 13, the New-York Tribune reported, "Mrs. Charles Lanier, No. 30 East Thirty-seventh-st., gave a reception yesterday afternoon for her daughter, Miss Lizzie Lanier."  Among those assisting in receiving were Lizzie's sisters.  The article noted, "About 1,000 people were present."

Two years later, Lizzie married George Evans Turnure in  Trinity Church in Lenox.  The Springfield Daily Republican reported, "a large and fashionable company of guests were present," adding, "The wedding breakfast at the country house of Mr. and Mrs. Lanier was the scene of a delightful gathering immediately after the ceremony."  Astoundingly, the article said, "More than 1000 varieties of roses were used in decorating the entire lower level of the house."

James and Harriet still lived in the townhouse with Charles and Sarah.  In October 1891, they were looking for a governess for their eldest son.  Their ad read, "Wanted--German governess, able to give English lessons to a boy until he goes to school, and take entire charge of him; must have best references."  (The mention of taking "entire charge" of the boy before entering school suggests Charles Day Lanier would be going away to a high-end boarding school.)

Charles had the house updated in 1896, apparently modernizing the interiors.  On March 22, The New York Times reported that his alterations would cost $15,000.  The significant expense would translate to half a million in 2024 dollars.

Up-to-date décor was necessary for the Laniers' extensive entertaining.  The 1895 America's Successful Men of Affairs mentioned, "His wife and he are hospitable entertainers and welcome in the most cultivated circles."  The article listed his exclusive club memberships, including the Union League, the Union, the Metropolitan, Knickerbocker, Century, Tuxedo, and Players' Clubs among others.

In February 1898, Sarah caught the flu and never recovered.  She died in the East 37th Street mansion on April 18 at the age of 61.  Somewhat surprisingly, her funeral was not held in the house, but at the Church of the Incarnation on Madison Avenue and 35th Street.

Equally surprising, ten months later James and Harriet left Charles, still in mourning, for an extended period.  On December 1, The Sun reported they, "will go abroad this month, to remain until the summer at least."  The article noted that earlier they had leased their country house, Sunridge Hall, at Westbury, Long Island, to Clarence H. Mackay and his wife for three years."

In April 1901, James and Harriet began construction of a sumptuous townhouse nearby at 123 East 35th Street.  Two months earlier, Charles had given the family a scare when he was injured in a serious accident.  On the evening of February 14, he and the housekeeper, Miss Bigelow, were being driven in the Lanier coupé by coachman Christopher Hayer to visit Louisa Minturn at 22 Washington Square.  At the corner of Madison Avenue and 29th Street, the hose wagon of Engine Company No. 1 collided with the carriage.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Hayer attempted to get out of the way, but before he succeeded the pole of the hose wagon had pierced the side of the coupé."

The speeding wagon pushed the carriage to the curb and both teams of horses fell to the pavement.  The two drivers were thrown from their seats.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Mr. Lanier was injured on the side and chest and Miss Bigelow suffered considerably from shock."  After being taken to the home of Vernon H. Brown at 95 Madison Avenue, the pair was brought home in a cab.  The newspaper noted, "The coupé was badly wrecked, but none of the horses were injured."

James and Harriet moved into their new home in 1903.  The following year, Charles's grandchildren, Charles Lanier Lawrance and Katherine "Kitty" Lanier Lawrance moved into 30 East 37th Street.  They were 22 and 11 years old respectively.  Their mother, Sarah Lanier Lawrance, died in 1893, the year Kitty was born.  Their father married Susan Ridgway Willing the following year.  After his death in 1904, Susan surrendered the custody of her step-children to their grandfather and moved to Paris with the daughter she had with Francis Lawrance.

On September 21, 1915, Kitty was married to William Averell Harriman in Trinity Church in Lenox.  The reception was held at Allen Winden.  The New York Times said, "breakfast will be served on the porches and at small tables on the terraces...The villa and the grounds are most inviting."  Harriman would go on to become Governor of New York and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The younger Charles Lanier had moved to a ranch in Omaha, Nebraska by the time of his sister's wedding.  He died there at the age of 32 on December 4, 1918.

On January 19, 1926, Charles gave "an informal reception" to celebrate his 89th birthday.  Less than two months later, on March 8, The Springfield Daily Republican reported, "News was received here this afternoon of the death at his home in New York city of Charles Lanier, 89, who has made Lenox his summer home for the past 60 years."  The newspaper mentioned that he was "a close friend of the late [J.] Pierpont Morgan and was a member of the little group, informally called the Corsair club, which met on Mr. Morgan's yacht."

The Lanier house became the Harvard Business Club.  While the club occupied the lower floors as its clubhouse, certain unmarried members lived in the upper floors.  It remained here until 1938 when the Dartmouth Club moved in.  In its March 1938 issue, the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine reported, "By the time this appears the ritzy Dartmouth Clubhouse at 30 East Thirty-seventh Street should be in use."  The article mentioned that the "extensive refurbishing was almost completed."

The Dartmouth Club was replaced by the Andrew Furuseth Club in 1942.  The Seafarers Log reported on October 1, "The most sumptuous quarters ever set aside for the exclusive use of the merchant seaman was dedicated today in a ceremony which included prominent speakers from all walks of American life."  The article said, "This entire structure is for the exclusive use of the merchant seamen.  They have only to show their discharges at the door and all facilities are at their disposal."

A postcard depicted activities in the Andrew Furuseth Club--a stark contrast from entertainments during the Lanier years.

The Andrew Furuseth Club would have to find new quarters in 1949.  The former Lanier mansion was demolished to make way for the Emery Roth & Sons designed Morgan Park apartment building, which survives.

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The 1827 Charlotte Selby House - 44 MacDougal Street

 Little remains of the structure's 1827 appearance.

Lewis P. Perego, a mason, lived at 42 MacDougal Street in 1826, the year he began construction of a house next door at 44 MacDougal.  Completed in 1827, it was most likely a near match to his own home.  Faced in Flemish bond brick, it was originally two-and-a-half stories tall with a peaked, dormered roof.

In 1828, Perego sold 44 MacDougal Street to Charlotte Selby.  Born Charlotte Sanxay, she was listed in city directories as "widow of Skeffington Selby."  Whether she was stretching the truth is debatable.  Skeffington Selby was born in England in 1767 and immigrated to Philadelphia around 1799.  If he and Charlotte were married, there are no records that survive.  In 1820 he returned to England where he died on March 30, 1821.

Before leaving New York,  Selby wrote his will.  He left Charlotte several Manhattan properties, referring to her as "Charlotte Sanxay alias Selby (who sometime since resided with me at New York)."  The city council added to the mystery in 1822 when, in discussing her property, called her "Charlotte Selby, alias Sanxy" [sic] and in 1823 as "Charlotte Selby or Sanxay."  Charlotte also inherited $6,000 in Government stocks (equal to about $167,000 in 2024 terms) and 71 shares in the Globe Insurance Company.

The enigmatic Charlotte Selby remained in the house until around 1832, when it was shared by the families of cabinetmaker Elihu Rose and grocer John P. Haffjun.

The Woodruff family moved in around 1836.  Born in New Jersey on October 29, 1802, Amos Thomas Woodruff was a mason.  He and Sarah Scudder were married in November 1827 and were the parents of at least 10 children.  Around 1840, the family moved to 158 Laurens Street (today's West Broadway) and for several years 44 MacDougal Street was home to Valentine Sillcocks, relatives of the Woodruffs.

The Sillcock family was followed by the Hatfields, here in 1850.  Both Samuel and Samson Hatfield were tailors at 164 Broadway.  Finally, in 1855, 44 MacDougal Street saw a long-term residents.

Apparently widowed, William Moore did not list a profession in 1855, suggesting he was retired.  Living with him were his two grown sons, Henry and Elias.  The brothers were merchants, both doing business on Canal Street.  Henry's drygoods store was at 66 Canal Street.  Also living here was Philaretta Tombs, who was presumably William's sister-in-law (she was listed as the aunt of Henry Moore).  Philaretta was 87 years old in 1855 when the family moved in.

The Moores placed an advertisement in the New York Herald on October 5, 1859: "Wanted--An active, tidy young girl for kitchen work; must be a plain cook and first rate washer and ironer; none others need apply at 44 Macdougal st."

At the time of the ad, Henry was married and his wife, Harriet was pregnant.  They had a baby girl, Harriet Gertrude, in November 1859.  Sadly, she died at the age of one-and-a-half on May 16, 1861.  Her funeral was held in the parlor the following afternoon.

Philaretta Tombs lived to be 96 years old.  She died on July 16, 1864.  Her funeral was held here on July 18.

As his brother had done, when Elias B. Moore married, he brought his bride back to MacDougal Street.  Elias and Sarah E. Moore had a son, John W., in November 1870.  In a tragic case of dé​jà vu, he died at the age of one-and-a-half on May 9, 1872.  

There would be another Moore funeral in the house two years later.  William Moore died at the age of 81 on July 16, 1874.

After William's death, Elias and Sarah Moore left MacDougal street.  In 1874, Henry and Harriet took in a boarder, Peter Eckler, a printer/publisher.   

The Moores sold the house to Thomas Norton in 1875.  In September 1875, he filed plans to raise the attic to a full-third floor and make interior alterations.  The renovations cost him the equivalent of $63,000 today.  It does not appear that Norton ever lived here.  Rather, the enlarged house was operated as a boarding house.  Peter Eckler remained through 1877 before moving to Brooklyn.  Other white collar residents at the time were Louis Lee, a clerk; and John W. Brittingham, a counsel to the City of New York.

Despite his respectable position in city government, Brittingham seems to have been a bit shady.  On December 4, 1878, The New York Times reported, "The DeGreiff-Triacca-Begley conspiracy case was to have been resumed before United States commissioner Shields yesterday morning, to begin the cross-examination of Mr. John W. Brittingham, the principal witness for the Government."  But Brittingham did not show up.  A week earlier, the trial had to be adjourned for the same reason.  That time, said the article, "it was said that he was in Washington" but, "Mr. Brittingham was not absent from the City, but was in his residence at No. 44 Macdougal-street."  Calling Brittingham's delays "vexatious," Assistant United States Attorney Butler declared that Brittingham should be formally subpoenaed.  

Three years later, Brittingham was not a witness in a government case, but the defendant.  He was sued by his brother, John W. Brittingham for the theft of  $10,000 and by the city for embezzlement.  His trial began in December 1881.

No. 44 MacDougal Street remained a boarding house until around 1886 when the Sharkey family moved in.  Patrick D. Sharkey was born in Ireland in 1831 and his wife, Mary Dougherty, was born there in 1832.  The couple had nine children.

In 1887, Patrick earned extra money as a "watcher" during the November elections.  Poll watchers were hired by candidates to ensure there was no tampering with the election process.  

Living with his parents in 1891 was 33-year-old Michael T. Sharkey, who was an attorney.  On June 15 that year, he was among the guests of shipping agent John L. Eccles on his 46-f0ot luxury sloop yacht Amelia.  The afternoon started out nicely.  The New York Times reported, "The pleasure seekers took dinner at Nyack, strolled about the town, and boarded the yacht again about 5 o'clock."  But at around 1:00 in the morning, the yacht was struck by a tugboat, "cutting her nearly in two," according to the newspaper.  "She sank almost instantly, leaving her passengers struggling in the water."

Sharkey and the other passengers and crew who were on deck at the time survived.  But two, Frank Jennings and William Bahn, Jr., had gone below to sleep.  They both drowned.

In 1898's Michael Sharkey was elected to the assembly.  His successful legal and political career was cut short after he suffered sunstroke in the summer of 1900.  On March 20, 1901, the New York Morning Telegraph reported, "Michael T. Sharkey, former Assembly man, was sent to Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum yesterday, having become violently deranged from the effects of a sunstroke which he suffered last Summer.  At his home, 44 Macdougal street, his mother and wife said his condition became serious a few days ago, when he was sent to Bellevue for treatment."

In 1906, Dr. James F. Navoni purchased 44 MacDougal Street.  He lived and practiced here until 1916, when he purchased a house on Washington Place.

Change came to 44 MacDougal Street in 1920 when owners Peter Nervo and Joseph Balbiani hired architect Frank E. Vitolo to remodel the the ground floor for their P. Nervo, Balbiani & Co. bakery.  The renovations cost them $5,000, or about $76,000 today.

Both the Nervo and Balbiani families lived in the upper floors.  They brought Vitolo back two years later to remodel the storefront and bring the first floor even with the sidewalk.  

Peter Nervo's wife and daughter were active in local politics.  On February 21, 1933, the Queens newspaper The Daily Star reported, "William J. Sbarra, chairman of the 1933 ball committee of the James J. Paretti Association, Long Island City, was given a surprise party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Nervo, 44 Macdougal street, Manhattan.  The party was arranged by Rose and Mildred Nervo, who are members of the ladies' auxiliary."

P. Nervo, Balbiani & Co. remained here for three decades.  In 1972 the former bakery space was converted to a garage and art studio for the single family home on the upper floors.  The several renovations starting in 1875 have left little trace of the home's appearance when Charlotte Selby moved into it just under 200 years ago.

photographs by the author

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Rouse & Goldstone's 1924 760 Park Avenue

 

In 1923, the 760 Park Ave. Corp. purchased and demolished the three rowhouses at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and 72nd Street.  The syndicate commissioned the architectural firm of Rouse & Goldstone (composed of W. L. Rouse and L. A. Goldstone) to design a sumptuous apartment building on the site.  Completed in 1924, 760 Park Avenue rose 13 stories, its nine-story, tan brick center section sat upon a three-story limestone base.  Stone returned at the 13th floor, where it morphed into the modillioned roof cornice.  The architect's reserved neo-Renaissance design included bowed, iron balconies at the second floor, brick and stone quoins, and recessed panels between the windows of the 13th floor.

As the building rose, its owners pre-advertised the apartments using unabashed snob appeal.  An advertisement in The New York Times on May 31, 1923 began,

The apartments in 760 Park Avenue are planned on a scale that automatically restricts them to those who, because of their standing in society, must exercise discretion as to where to establish their homes, as well as giving consideration to the character of the building in which they live.

There were only 12 apartments in the building, one to a floor, most with 14 rooms and 6 bathrooms.  The residents would buy, not rent, their apartments.  An ad explained, "They are being sold on a highly endorsed Cooperative Plan."

A typical floor plan.  The New York Times, May 31, 1923 (copyright expired)

The building opened in August 1924.  Its initial residents came from the upper echelons of Manhattan society.  Five months before construction was completed, the New York Evening Post reported that Colonel De Lancey Kountz had purchased "the entire top floor and part of [the] penthouse at 760 Park avenue, now being built."  De Lancey Kountz was a banker and the chairman of the board of the paint and varnish firm Devoe & Raynolds, Co.  His wife was the former Isabel Thomas, of Athens, Georgia. 

A month later, on April 17, the newspaper reported that Mrs. Benjamin Brewster had bought "the last remaining apartment of fourteen rooms and six baths," noting, "In addition, to the entire second floor, she has purchased two extra servants' rooms, giving her a total of sixteen rooms and six baths."  Elmina Hersey Dows Brewster was the widow of Benjamin Brewster, one of the original trustees of Standard Oil.  He died in 1897.  Elmina's country home, Scrooby, was in Cazenovia, New York.

On September 5, 1924, The New York Times reported, "Mrs. Phelps Stokes, after leaving her camp on Upper St. Regis Lake went to her country place in Ridgefield, Conn., where she will remain until moving to her new apartment at 760 Park Avenue."  Helen Louisa Phelps Stokes was the widow of Anson Phelps Stokes.  Born in 1846, she grew up in her family's brownstone mansion at 231 Madison Avenue.  Living with her here would be her granddaughter, Helen O. Phelps Stokes.  

All of the residents of 760 Park Avenue were listed in Dau's New York Social Blue Book and they appeared consistently in society columns.  On June 3, 1925, for instance, the New York Evening Post reported, "Mrs. W. H. La Boyteaux of 760 Park avenue and her daughter, Miss Mary La Boyteaux, who have been abroad, are returning on the Homeric, which will land tomorrow."

Less socially conspicuous was James S. Jones, the founder and president of the Jones Brothers Tea Company.  The Daily Worker called the company, "one of the largest tea concerns in the United States" and said Jones "was a pioneer in the chain stores idea and the application of factory technique to grocery workers."  His summer estate was in Sayville, Long Island.  Jones died of pneumonia in his apartment on May 13, 1927.  His funeral was here there three days later.  After the filing of his will on May 24, The Daily Worker reported, "The estate is understood to be several millions of dollars."

The following year, in February 1928, Velma Erminie Bailey Woolworth purchased the Jones apartment.  Born in 1875, she was the widow of Fred Moore Woolworth.  He was a cousin of F. W. Woolworth, founder of the five and ten cent stores, and in 1909 had traveled to England to establish a Woolworth chain there.  He died in the Ritz Hotel in London in 1923, leaving an estate of over $15 million in today's money to Velma and their son, Norman.

Among Velma Woolworth's neighbors were the Roland Livingston Redmonds.  Redmond had grown up in the massive mansion at 701-705 Park Avenue.  His wife was the former Sara Delano.  Their summer home was at Tivoli-on-the-Hudson.  A member of the law firm Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, he was for a period the personal attorney of Vincent Astor.  Starting in 1947, he would serve, as well, as the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Redmond apartment was unusual in that it was a duplex.  Because the servants were having lunch in the kitchen on the afternoon of November 9, 1927, they did not immediately notice a fire in the living room.  By the time it was discovered, it "had made rapid headway," according to The New York Times.  As one servant phoned the fire department, a pedestrian looked up and saw smoke rolling from the windows.  He, too, sent in an alarm.

The servants rushed the two Redmond children to the street.  The Times said the firefighters, "put out the flames within a few minutes," noting, "so much water was poured into the room, however, that numerous antique tapestries and other works of art on both floors of the apartment were damaged."

Helen Phelps Stokes died of a heart attack on June 30, 1930 at the age of 83.  In reporting her death, The New York Times recalled her many philanthropies, including the founding of the Grace Home for Children on Staten Island.

Evelyn Isabella Marshall Field was the former wife of multimillionaire Marshall Field III.  Two years after their divorce in 1930, she sold their sumptuous mansion at 4-8 East 70th Street and moved into 760 Park Avenue.  Her country home at Lloyd's Neck, Long Island, was described by the New York Evening Post as having, "the largest acreage of any private estate within commuting distance of New York City."

Evelyn's widowed mother, Josephine Mozier Banks Marshall, arrived from London in August 1932.  She was described by The New York Times as being, "long socially prominent both here and in London."  Josephine, who was born in Newport, Rhode Island, was a great-niece of James Lenox.  She would never return to her home at 6 Grosvenor Square in London.  She died in the Park Avenue apartment on June 4, 1933.

Velma Woolworth had been ill for months at the time of Josephine Marshall's death.  She never recovered and died on February 8, 1934 at the age of 61.  Among her numerous bequests, many of them charitable, she left each of her three grandchildren a $1 million trust (equal to about $22.8 million today).

The year 1934 was a socially important one for residents.  On May 18, 1934, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. de Lancey Kountz...have announced the engagement of their younger daughter, Miss Helen de Lancey Kountze, to Jacquelin Allen Swords."  And on October 6, The Sun mentioned that daughters of three resident families would be introduced to society that social season: sisters Ruth Hilda and Prudence Anne Holmes, Sylvie L. Redmond, and Virginia Welsh.

In December, the Holmes girls' parents, Artemas Henry Holmes and the former Lillian Stokes, hosted a supper dance at the River Club to introduce their daughters.

Four years later, it was Joan Redmond's turn.  On June 25, 1938, The New York Sun reported she, "will make her debut at a diner dance at White Elephant Farm, Syosset," noting, "The debutante was graduated from the Spence School last month.  Her sisters, the Misses Sylvie and Sheila Redmond, also were presented at parties at the Redmond Syosset estate."

A name familiar to New Yorkers for other than social reasons was the recently divorced actor Tyrone Power, who moved into 760 Park Avenue in 1957.  He married Deborah Jean Smith on May 7, 1958.  But his residency here would be short-lived.  He died of a heart attack at the age of 44 in Madrid, Spain on November 15, 1958.

The application of former President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, passed the coop board in February 1984.  But then, on March 2, The New York Times reported that the couple "decided yesterday not to go ahead with the move."  (The Nixons had recently been rejected at 19 East 72nd Street because the residents feared the media spotlight the couple would bring.)

A politically-connected couple who did move in were Edward Schlossberg and his bride, the former Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, Jr.  According to C. David Heymann in his American Legacy, The Story of John & Caroline Kennedy, following their honeymoon in 1986, "they paid $2.5 million for a third-floor co-op apartment at 760 Park Avenue."

The staid building is as exclusive today as it was when Elmina Brewster purchased the last available apartment in 1924.

photographs by the author

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De Lemos & Cordes's 1890 247-251 Elizabeth Street

 

The architectural firm of De Lemos & Cordes would be best known for the Beaux Arts commercial buildings it designed in the 1890s, like the massive Siegel-Cooper Department Store on Sixth Avenue.  In October 1889, six years before designing that building, De Lemos & Cordes filed plans for a much different commission--two five-story store-and-tenements at 247 through 251 Elizabeth Street.  Interestingly, because the two buildings would occupy three 20-foot wide plots--splitting the middle plot in half--the southern building had two addresses, 247-249, while the identical northern building went by 251 Elizabeth Street.

At a time when tenement buildings often displayed overblown ornamentation, De Lemos & Cordes designed the two buildings in a dignified take on Renaissance Revival.  Faced in red brick above the cast iron storefronts, the buildings were divided into three horizonal sections by terra cotta intermediate cornices--each decorated with a frieze of terra cotta ornaments.   A frieze of blind rondels and fluted pilasters ran below the terminal cornice.  Each of the buildings cost $18,000 to construct--equal to about $615,000 in 2024.  There were two apartments per floor in each building, and two stores each at ground level.

The new structures sat within what newspapers called the "Italian community" and nearly all the tenants had Italian surnames and, most likely, spoke Italian as their first language.  

Among the initial residents of 251 Elizabeth Street were Antonio Gravallese, a tailor, and his family.  He had left his wife and children in Italy and established himself in New York before sending for them in 1886.  Life in America was good for the family.  The Evening World commented, "All the family were industrious and they prospered.  The eldest daughter married a young Italian tailor and then Filomena went out to sew and help swell the family treasury."

Filomena was 18 years old in 1891, described by the newspaper as, "a pretty, plump, red-cheeked Italian girl."  Boarding with the family was Antonio Cerriglio.  Although he did not have a regular job, The Evening World said he "made money nevertheless in speculating and acting as a real estate agent."  Unknown to the family, who considered him "more like a relative than a boarder," he was falling in love with Filomena.

Filomena found a job working in a shop where she had caught the eye of Cyrille Buhot, "a dashing Frenchman, thirty-three years old," according to The Evening Word, which added, "It is little wonder that her brilliant black eyes and cherry lips captivated Cyrille."  The two fell in love and, after Cyrille found a better paying job in a Fifth Avenue tailoring shop, he asked Filomena to marry him.

The proposal caused heated arguments in the Gravallese apartment.  Filomena's father reportedly said, "Do not wed a Frenchman.  Wed one of your own countrymen.  You are too young to marry, anyway."  The love-struck teen rebelled, threatening to elope.  In the meantime, Antonio Cerriglio listened in, his jealousy mounting.  Not long afterward, in April 1891, he stalked the couple along the Bowery.  The Evening World said he, "glowered threateningly."

On May 8, Antonio Gravallese and Filomena argued again, this time because she stayed out late.  The following day, Filomena and Cyrille decided to get married secretly.  As she waited outside Cyrille's boarding house, Filomena noticed Antonio Cerriglio.  When Cyrille appeared, she whispered, "See! There is Cerriglio following us.  I fear he means harm."

Cyrille replied, "Never mind, let us hasten along."

They had walked about a block when Filomena heard the report of a pistol.  As she whirled around, Cerriglio fired two more shots into Cyrille's back.  The young assassin turned to flee, but ran directly into the arms of Detective Sergeant Cosgrove.

The Gravellese family was shocked.  The Evening World said,  "Her family had never considered [Cerriglio] as Filomena's lover, thinking she was too young to marry."  The article added, "They knew little about Buhot, but objected to his attentions to Filomena simply because he was a Frenchman and not an Italian."

In 1893 a small pox epidemic broke out on New York City.  City officials struggled to educate tenement house residents about vaccinations.  The often ill-educated group distrusted the life-saving inoculations.  On April 30, 1894, The Evening World reported that 15-month-old Victoria Francesco, whose family lived at 251 Elizabeth Street, was one of six new cases of the disease.  A month later, on May 21, 1894, The Evening World headlined an article, "More Small-Pox Patients," and listed among the afflicted 37-year-old Mary Farra, who lived at 247 Elizabeth Street.  Somewhat interestingly, the article noted she "recently left the Ward's Island Insane Asylum."  She and little Victoria Francesco were now transported to another facility, the North Brother Island quarantine hospital.  

Like Antonio Cerriglio, the Italian-born residents of the buildings often settled their differences violently.  On June 13, 1896, Marie Nuccio was told that a neighborhood woman, Marie Franz, was repeating unkind rumors about her.  She stormed off to the Franz apartment at 129 West Third Street "for the purpose of asking what Mrs. Franz meant by spreading reports detrimental to her character," said The New York Times.

"Before she and Mrs. Franz had talked for three minutes they were pulling each other's white hair and punching each other in the face," said the article.  Zeni Franz came to his wife's aid just as a passing policeman heard the uproar and intervened.  While Franz was released because he "had only interfered to save his wife," Marie Franz was arrested on a charge of assault.

At the turn of the last century, the two commercial spaces in 247-249 Elizabeth Street held the Banco Italiano and Nicola Centocosti's cafe.  The private bank was run by Dominico Bonomolo.  Like Nicola Centocosti, he and his family lived in the rear of the commercial space.

The rooms behind the bank were apparently well-filled.  According to The New York Times, living with Dominico Bonomolo and his wife, Gracia, were "his cousins, his aunts, and a bright green parrot."  On January 16, 1900, Gracia Bonomolo attempted to light the kitchen stove using kerosene.  The Times said she, "absently spilled the oil, and when she added the lighted match the partition and its hangings blazed up."

 The Evening Post reported, "The occupants of the house rushed shrieking into the street, but Bonomolo rushed to the window of the bank, where there were several hundreds of dollars in gold and foreign exchange, and began throwing the money into a bag."

As passersby watched, Bonomolo was overcome by smoke and fell to the floor.  Seemingly fearing more for the money than for the banker, they smashed the window and "began sweeping the money into their aprons and pockets."  Happily, firefighters soon arrived and extinguished the blaze.  Bonomolo was rescued.  As it turned out, his neighbors had been concerned for his financial well-being.  "None of the money was lost," said the article.

The only casualty was the parrot.  On January 17, The New York Times wrote, "Bonomolo was in his counting room in the afternoon attending to business as usual, while Little Italy filed into the rear room, where the parrot lay in state."

Coffee, wine and pasta were not the only things served at the Centocosti cafe.  On January 26, 1901, two plain-clothes detectives "made a raid" on the establishment.  The New-York Tribune reported, "The policemen say that an Italian gambling game known as 'segment' was being played."  All the patrons escaped, but Nicola Centocosti was arrested.

The Formosa family lived at 247 Elizabeth Street in 1901.  On February 5 that year their son, Rosario, was hanging out with a gang of boys on Varick Street.  The New York Times reported that they, "resolved that it would be a great joke to kill the first policeman who passed.  Rosario was selected by lot in true Mafia style."  The teen was well equipped for the job.  The newspaper noted he, "whetted the edge of a stiletto, placed another in his belt, and unlimbered his trusty revolver."

A pedestrian who overheard the gang warned Policeman Wooley of its intentions.  So when he turned the corner, he had his nightstick ready.  As Formosa lunged with his knife, Wooley knocked it aside with his stick.  Changing to his stiletto, Formosa lunged again.  "Misjudging the location of the officer's vital organs on account of his girth, the point of the weapon landed on the patrolman's belt buckle," said The Times.

Rosario Formosa yelled, "He's got on a coat of mail," and ran, tossing his weapons one-by-one into snowbanks.  Policeman Wooley was right behind and captured the teen after a chase of three blocks.  He was held on $1,000 bail awaiting trial--a significant $37,000 in today's money.

Frank Bareale ran a grocery store in 251 Elizabeth Street by 1906.  At the time, the Italian community was plagued by a terroristic group called La Mano Nera, or the Black Hand.  The Italian-American group used violence, including assassinations and bombings, to extort money from well-to-do Italians.

On December 31, 1906, The Sun reported, "The ten families in the big tenement at 251 Elizabeth street were thrown into a panic early yesterday morning by an explosion under the window of Frank Bareale's grocery store on the ground floor."  The loud boom "alarmed all the tenants, who rushed from the building scantily clad and shrieking."

The significant explosion blew out windows across the street.  Bareale and his wife and three children had been asleep in the apartment behind the store.  He told police that he had never received any Black Hand letters and he knew of no enemies.  The Sun reported, "The police, however, believe that Black Hand agents have been after him and that he is afraid to talk, fearing that they might resort to something more effective."  The article commented, "This is the third explosion that has occurred in the immediate vicinity within the last three months."

The lives of the tenants of both buildings continued to be marked by violence.  On December 25, 1916, the New York Herald reported that Salvatore Costa, a 28-year-old bricklayer who lived at 247 Elizabeth Street, had been arrested for "attempting to shoot Detectives Santanello and Terra."  The article explained, "Costa attacked a drunken man early in the morning at Elizabeth and Prince streets and when they interferred [sic] he drew a revolver and pulled the trigger twice, but the cartridges failed to explode."

By 1912, one of the ground floor spaces in 251 Elizabeth Street was home to the Goritza Social Club.  The Italian-American club was raided in December 1918 and 25 members arrested for gambling.  The New-York Tribune reported on December 16, "Evidence to show that the men had gathered to collect money for the Red Cross was given."  Whether or not the alibi was true, Magistrate Joseph Corrigan dismissed the charges, saying (surprisingly), "If a man wishes to bet on a ball game or a horse race it is his privilege to do so."

Residents of the two buildings, described as "cold water flats," continued to be the perpetrators or the victims of violence over the years.  In February 1920, 20-year-old Michael Romano, who lived at 251 Elizabeth Street, was arrested for armed robbery.  He and an accomplice had entered an elevator at 716 Broadway and held up the passengers.  

Salvatore Lolacano and his wife ran an Italian restaurant at 247 Elizabeth Street that year.  On the night of December 10, 1920, they were counting the day's receipts when the door burst open.  The Evening World reported, "three bullets sped over Mrs. Lolacano's left shoulder and her husband fell dead at her feet."

And on January 23, 1921, Angelo Patriocola was "shot and killed at 249 Elizabeth Street," according to the New-York Tribune.

The original storefronts can be seen in this 1941 photograph.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

A renovation completed in 1947 resulted in new storefronts and four apartments per floor.  The second half of the 20th century saw the Italian community being supplanted by Chinese immigrants.

Among the residents of 247 Elizabeth Street in 1973 was the Wong family.  Theresa Wong was 17 years old that year when she attended a party of about 100 Chinese American youths in the basement of a building on West 51st Street on March 18.  At around 3 p.m. five shots were fired through the basement window.  Theresa was shot in the right arm, one of three injured teens.

Theresa Hak-Kyung-Cha and her husband lived at 247 Elizabeth Street in 1982.  On November 5, a woman's body was found in a Lower Manhattan parking lot with a belt wrapped around her neck at around 7:15 p.m..  She was naked from the waist down.  After searching for his wife for two days, Theresa was identified by her husband on November 7.

The ground floor of De Lemos & Cordes's 1889 building has been brutalized.  The upper portion, however, retains much of its original appearance.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post.

photographs by the author

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The Altered James Cumings House - 126 East 35th Street

 

Irish-born real estate developer and architect Thomas Kilpatrick erected a trio of houses at 72 to 76 East 35th Street (renumbered 126 through 130 in 1868) in 1854-55.  The high-stooped, brownstone fronted homes were designed in the popular Italianate style.  Three stories tall above English basements, their elliptically arched entrances sat within square-headed frames.  Like the floor-to-ceiling parlor windows, the architrave openings of the upper floors sat on diminutive sills and wore molded cornices.

Kilpatrick sold 72 East 35th Street to James and Laura Melissa Shaw Cumings.  The couple had five children, James Maurice, Joseph, Mary Ida, Laura and Ira T.  

Cumings was the owner of the Columbian Foundry and president of the Morris & Cumings Dredging Company.  The New York Herald called him, "well known to all old New Yorkers and his active life is contemporaneous with the rapid development of the city."  Born in 1803, he entered the iron business as an apprentice to Robert McQueen in his Columbian Foundry.  In 1832, McQueen turned the business over to Cumings and his partner Peter Morris.

The Cumings family remained here through 1864, when they moved across the street to 81 East 35th Street.  William Speiden, a broker, next occupied 72 East 35th Street; and in 1872, Professor William G. Peck moved in.

Born in 1832, the erudite Peck was on the faculty of Columbia College.  He held the positions of Professor of Mathematics, of Astronomy and of Mechanics in the School of Mines.  He was the author of numerous educational books.

On December 27, 1874, Peck "rushed into the Twenty-first Precinct station house...and said that he wanted to see Capt. McElwaine immediately, as he had just been robbed of $40,000," reported The New York Times, which added, "Prof. Peck was very much agitated."

Peck's agitation was understandable.  He said two young men had carried a chest out of his house, in which were the family silver and securities equal in value to just over $1 million today.  Captain McElwaine's investigation suggested a surprising in-house conspirator.  He interviewed a servant who had been looking out the kitchen window when Peck's 19-year-old son, Henry, arrived with two teenaged friends.  The rest of the family was at church.  Instead of using the basement entrance, as family members most often did, they climbed the stoop and entered the front hall.

"She heard them walking overhead in the parlor, and then heard them apparently go upstairs to young Peck's room," said the article.  The inquisitive servant heard the front door open and watched the two young men carry the chest down the stoop.  "She went out, saw that they turned down Madison avenue to Thirty-fourth street, and on looking up saw young Peck watching them from the window of his room."

When the servant ran into Henry Peck in the hallway later and asked him what his friends had taken, "he told her to mind her-----business and he would mind his," reported The New York Times.  Doubly, suspicious now, the servant watched Peck leave and follow the same path as his comrades.

She notified another servant and they did a search of the house, quickly discovering the silver chest was missing from the dining room.  The two rushed to the church and pulled Professor Peck and his father-in-law, Professor Davis, from the service.  

Captain McElwain's probing revealed that young Henry "was keeping company with a dressmaker."  More importantly, he had accumulated significant gambling debts to the likes of James Oxley, "Seddons Mouse," "Owney" Geoghegan, "Paddy the Smasher," and "other sporting and notorious persons."  When confronted with the evidence, Henry Peck claimed he knew nothing about the robbery and his father refused to press charges.

The Peck family left 126 East 35th Street the following year.  The family of William W. Thompson occupied the house through the mid-1880s.  Like their predecessors, the Thompsons had a domestic staff and on October 28, 1879 advertised for two chambermaids.  Their wages were listed at $10 per month, about $315 today.

By 1894, the Gordon Wendell family owned 126 East 35th Street.  Born in 1859, Wendell married Frances Cadwalader Elwyn on April 20, 1887.  They had one child, Frances Gordon.  

Gordon Wendell was a wool commission merchant, a member of Jacob Wendell & Co.  (It was reorganized as Taylor, Wendell & Co. following the death of Wendell's father, Jacob, in 1898.)  Educated at Harvard, he was a member of the exclusive Union League, Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht, Merchants' and Harvard Clubs.  (Two of his sisters married titles.  Catherine Wendell married the the son of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, known for discovering and exploring the tomb of Tutankhamun.  Philippe Wendell married the Count of Galloway.)

Although Frances C. E. Wendell was a member of the Society of Colonial Dames and of the Colony Club, she was, perhaps, more active in political and civic issues than in society.  She was an early and ardent suffragist.  On April 19, 1894, The New York Times reported on "the political equality meeting" held in the parlor.  "A large number of guests were present, and both sides of the suffrage question were represented," said the article.  

Frances C. E. Wendell (original source unknown)

On April 25, 1895, The New York Times titled an article, "More Women as School Inspectors" and reported that Mayor William L. Strong had appointed Frances C. E. Wendell one of three new School Inspectors.  She was, as well, a trustee of the Babies' Day Nursery.  In reporting on her newest appointment, The Times noted that she "has long been identified with charitable and educational work."

In 1907, Gordon Wendell hired architect Richard Berger to make what the Record & Guide described as "extensive exterior and interior changes" to the house.  It appears from later photographs, that the alterations were mostly inside.

In the fall of 1908, Gordon Wendell was serving on the jury of the high profile trial of Charles W. Morse and Alfred H. Curtis "on the charge of having violated in several particulars the National banking laws," according to The New York Times on October 23.  Wendell brought the case to a temporary halt on the night of October 21.  The jury was sequestered at the Astor House hotel when Wendell became ill.  The New York Times said, he "had to be allowed to go to his home, 126 East Thirty-fifth Street, under guard of a Deputy United States Marshal."

Wendell's doctor sent a note to the judge the following morning, saying he was "suffering from an acute attack of indigestion and kidney trouble."  The judge told reporters, "I have no desire to kill a juror."  The doctor had assured him there was "plenty of room for the accommodation of a guard at Mr. Wendell's private residence."  Happily for the other jurors, Wendell was well enough to attend deliberations a day later.

On the night of January 31, 1910, Gordon Wendell died "suddenly" at his home.  The term most often referred to a stroke or heart attack.  His funeral was held in the parlor on February 3.

When this photograph was taken in 1941, the architectural personality of the house was about to be starkly changed.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Apparently boarding with the two Frances Wendells in 1914 was the young Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter.  The 24-year-old cleric's engagement to socialite Ida Miller Taylor was announced on June 14 that year.  Interestingly, the couple would have two daughters, Jayne and Audrey Meadows, who would well-known actresses.

New York society may have assumed that Frances Gordon Wendell would never wed.  But on January 24, 1920, she and U.S. Navy Lt. John Gilbert Marshall Stone were married in the parlor of 126 East 35th Street.  The bride was 29 years old.

Frances Cadwalader Elwyn Wendell died on June 19, 1929 at the age of 64.  Frances and John G. M. Stone remained in the 35th Street house until the fall of 1937.  On November 1 that year, The New York Sun reported that the Engineering Women's Club had leased the house, adding, "Mrs. Herbert Hoover is a member of the club."

The Women's Engineering Club opened its new clubhouse on December 1.  The New York Times explained that the club had been formed in 1928 "with a group of women who worked together in the first Presidential campaign of Herbert Hoover."  The article said, "it has served as an international center for women engineers and wives of engineers from all parts of the country and abroad."

The Women's Engineering Club remained in the house until 1941, when the Midhattan Realty, Inc. hired architect Stephen L. Heinrich to remodel it to apartments.  He removed the stoop, moved the entrance to the basement level, and converted the top floor to a tile covered mansard with a shed dormer.  Unlike many awkward remodelings at the time, Heinrich's design has a charming, cottage-like feel.

A subsequent renovation, completed in 1989, resulted in a duplex apartment in the basement and former parlor floors, and a triplex on the upper floors.  Outwardly, the house is little changed since the 1941 make-over.

photographs by the author

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