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| Evidence of the raising of the top story to a full floor shows in the mismatched brick and the change in bond. |
In 1834, as commission merchant William Cooke erected his Greek Revival home at No. 141 West 4th Street, lavish mansions began ringing nearby Washington Square Park. While the Cooke home would be less grand, it nevertheless reflected its owner’s financial and social status.
The orange brick was laid in Flemish bond; a costly carry-over
from the high-end Federal style homes of a few years earlier. Instead of brownstone trim, Cooke opted for
white marble. The stoop, with its
interesting wing walls, sheltered the entrance to the English
basement; the areaway of which was protected by especially handsome iron
railings. Cooke’s house was two full stories tall, topped by an attic level
with shorter windows; as typical of the architectural style.
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| The handsome ironwork featured sideways palmettes within the bottom panels. |
William Cooke married Caroline Pratt, daughter of Anson
Pratt and Sally Beebe Pratt. Six years
after moving into the West 4th Street home they had
daughter Lucy in 1840.
In 1859 Dr. Shelling, the pastor of the Washington Square Methodist Episcopal Church, purchased the two butting lots towards the park. Three years later the elegant white marble
church edifice was completed.
The Cooke family lived on in their brick home drawing little
undue attention over the decades. That
would briefly change--tragically so--in 1887.
Not far away, on Seventh Avenue was the Central Methodist Church, which
was similar in appearance to the Washington Square M. E. Church. Next door to Central Methodist lived 75-year
old Henry Lockwood.
Lockwood came from an old and respected New York family. His grandfather was a Colonel in the
revolutionary army. The New York Times
mentioned “At the home of his brother, with whom he had lived, at 25
Seventh-avenue, there is an autograph letter from George Washington to his
grandfather.”
Henry Lockwood began his career as a compositor and in 1853
traveled to Boston to learn the new process of electrotyping. He returned to New York after six months and
set up an electrotyping office in the American Bible Society. Here he produced the first electrotyped copies
of the Bible.
On Friday evening, December 30, 1887 the elderly man left
his home to visit a friend on East 4th Street near the Bowery. Coming home in the dark, he apparently became
disoriented and mistook the Washington Square Church for the Central Methodist
Church; and subsequently the Cooke house for his own. At around 9:00 Cooke’s next door neighbor,
Mrs. Julia Hart, discovered his body “on the marble door steps at 141 West Fourth Street,” as
described by the American Printer and Lithographer. The New York Times opined “He had evidently
succumbed to heart failure, consequent upon old age.”
On Thursday, January 22, 1891, the 83-year old widow Caroline
Pratt died in the house. She had lived
here just short of six decades. Her
funeral was held in the parlor the following Monday morning.
In the meantime, on December 27, 1865 the Wetmore Home for Fallen and
Friendless Girls was opened on Houston Street.
The Home described its purpose as
“To provide a home for friendless girls who have fallen, or who are in
circumstances that may lead to their fall, from want of employment, from
destitution, or from evil associations.”
Three years after Caroline Pratt’s death, her house was acquired by the
Wetmore Home. On April 29, 1894 The Sun
wrote “It is called the Annex, and is a refuge for those girls who become
mothers. Girls in trouble often appeal
to the Home for help.”
“Girls in trouble,” in 1894 meant pregnant, unwed girls and
the stigma they carried was severe.
Here, however, “The mother is made to believe that there is still a
chance for her to become a good woman, and that it is her duty to bring her
child up to be upright.” The Annex
taught the girls a trade so when a place was found for her to live, she
could support herself and her baby.
“The Annex is a cosey little house which has been put in
thorough repair and furnished by generous donations,” said the newspaper. “It has a large sunny nursery for the babies,
with dormitory accommodations for ten women.
An experienced nurse is in charge and great pains are taken to teach
these ignorant young mothers how to care properly for their children as well as
to love them.”
The Annex took care of, on the average, eight mothers at a
time. By the time the article was
written, “thirty have been sent to places in the country, most of whom have
done well and are supporting themselves and their children.”
The Wetmore Home for Fallen and Friendless Girls continued
to help unwed mothers here until 1902 when it sold the house for $13,500 to the
Washington Square Methodist Episcopal Church for use as its parsonage. It was most likely at this time that the
attic was raised to a full floor, with a modillioned pressed metal cornice, and
an up-to-date doorway replaced the original.
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| A Colonial Revival doorway was introduced at the turn of the century, including a delicate leaded transom. |
The church used the house as its parsonage for nearly a
quarter of a century before leasing it in March 1926. The renter promised to use it “for residence
occupancy.” If he, indeed, use it as a single family home;
that situation would change within the decade.
In 1938 40-year old Joshua Nilo was renting here. An unemployed barber from Pennsylvania, he
was hiding from authorities. Earlier, Republican
leader Joseph Bruno had been imprisoned on murder charges “following the 1935
political parade ‘massacre’ of opponents of his organization,” described The
New York Times.
Nilo helped in the convict’s escape from Pottsville Prison, then
fled to New York City where he hid out.
His luck ran out on August 26, 1938 when police arrested him “as a
fugitive from justice.”
The Washington Square Methodist Episcopal Church leased the
house in September 1939 “to a tenant for altering and occupancy as a rooming
house.” Boarders in the once-refined
home continued to be blue-collar workers, like 32-year old Anthony Denardo who lived
here in 1945 and worked on the 40-foot water taxi, the Elkay.
The New York Times explained that the Elkay was “one of a number of small boats used to bring the crews
of merchant ships and workmen ashore from anchorages in the bay.” At 2:00 on the afternoon of July 3, 1945
there was an explosion in the engine compartment of the boat. “Captain Ballette, who was forward at the
wheel when the blast spread gasoline flames through other parts of the boat,
was the only one of the fifteen persons aboard who escaped injury,” reported
The Times.
The newspaper said “Most of the casualties were burned
fighting the fire that followed the explosion, but some of them suffered shock
and submersion also, when they jumped overboard to escape the fire.” Seven of the passengers jumped overboard and
were rescued by a Coast Guard patrol and two smaller nearby boats. The most seriously injured was Anthony
Denardo who “was said to have suffered serious burns.”
In 1947 the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Inc. purchased No.
141 West 4th Street from the church.
After renovations the group announced “On November
1, New York Gamma occupied its house at 141 West 4th Street. Arrangements had been made for the ‘quartering’
of the ‘advance party’ of eight men who moved in on that very first day. We’ve collected and purchased a good deal of
furniture and are halfway through redecoration.”
The house became a destination for out-of-town alumni. The May 1950 issue of the Sigma Phil Epsilon
Journal noted “The wonderful Sig Ep get-togethers that you remember are back
again…interest-packed meetings, fun-filled socials, top guest speakers are waiting
for you at New York Gamma House, 141 West 4th Street.”
Since 2006 the Malozzemoss House has operated from the old
structure. Run by AHRC, it provides treatment
to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and help for their
families. Only a subtle plaque on the façade
hints that it is not a single family house.
Well maintained, there is little change to the Cooke house
since its turn of the century facelift.
With its colorful and varied history as the home of a well-to-do
merchant family, a home for unwed mothers, a parsonage, and a frat house; it
survives as a remarkable survivor of the earliest days of Washington Square
development.
photographs taken by the author
photographs taken by the author
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