Marshall Pepoon had amassed a sizable personal fortune in the
years just before the outbreak of Civil War.
Married to the former Charlotte A. Mildeberger, he was a partner with
John P. Nazro in the brokerage firm of Pepoon & Nazro at No. 12 Wall Street,
and held directorships in the Grocers’ Fire Insurance Company and the North
River Bank.
By now the exclusive mansion district of lower Fifth Avenue
was creeping northward towards 23rd Street. In 1857 the Pepoons began construction of a
stylish 28-foot wide brownstone mansion at No. 182 Fifth Avenue.
The title of the new mansion, completed in 1858, was put in
the name of Charlotte, whom Marshall fondly called both Lottie and Dottie. As was the case with moneyed New Yorkers, the
couple collected artwork to display in their home. But unlike many, who relied on dealers and
buyers, the Pepoons traveled extensively throughout Europe personally choosing
their paintings and sculptures.
Marshall Pepoon’s diary mentions little sightseeing. Instead time was spent in museums and shops,
driving through the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, and having custom clothing
made. Pepoon was especially taken with
the Egyptian galleries of the Louvre and had jewelry created for himself and
Charlotte that incorporated scarabs, intaglios and cameos.
It was most likely one such trip that accounted for Robert
J. Livingston’s living at No. 182 Fifth Avenue during the winter season of
1861. Grand homes were often leased in
the owners’ absence, not so much for the needed income, but for the security of
having the residences inhabited. While
here Livingston continued his passionate involvement with the Children’s Aid
Society, while also turning his attention to war relief. That year he donated $100 to The Woman’s
Central Association of Relief for the Army.
On July 20, 1866 Charlotte wrote her will, leaving “that certain
house and lot in the City of New York, where I now reside, known as No. 182
Fifth Avenue,” to “my beloved husband Marshall Pepoon, for his life.” The couple was childless, prompting Charlotte
to add “and after his decease to my beloved niece, Margaret A. Tooker.”
The walls of the Pepoon mansion were hung with an impressive
collection ranging from Old Masters to contemporary paintings. Included were works by Holbein, Corregio, Cignani
Carlo, Peter Breughel, Nicolas Poussin and George Inness.
By 1870 a major change was being seen along this stretch of
Fifth Avenue. Already commercial
interests were pushing Manhattan’s millionaires further up the avenue. In 1871 the Pepoons, too, abandoned their
fine home, packing their artwork and furnishings and moving on.
That year they leased the house to Hugh B. Jackson for a term of
20 years. Jackson had run his high-end grocery
business from the nearby Fifth Avenue Hotel building for many years. He commissioned architect Thomas R. Jackson
to renovate No. 182 Fifth Avenue for business purposes.
Born in England, Thomas R. Jackson had come to America as a
child with his parents. He had held the
position of head draftsman in the office of esteemed architect Richard Upjohn
and worked with him on the design of Trinity Church. He now had his own practice and was
responsible for a wide-range of buildings.
The architect reconfigured the interiors and removed the
brownstone front and stoop. A modern
cast iron façade, similar to those being erected rapid-fire further downtown,
was attached. In December 1871 Hugh B.
Jackson announced in The National Quarterly Review that he had moved his “well-known
establishment” to the new location.
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| Hugh Jackson announced his "removal" to the new building in December 1871 -- The National Quarterly Review (copyright expired) |
He referred to the converted structure as “a handsome
spacious iron front building [designed] especially to meet the requirements of
the large increase in his business. The
new establishment will be provided with vaults, and all other appliances which
science and experience have proved to be necessary for such a business.”
His announcement added “Mr. Jackson trusts it is needless
for him to speak of the qualities of his Teas, Coffees, Wines, Fruits, Sauces,
Condiment, &c., further than to assure his customers that he will continue
to exert himself more and more to secure for them the best the European and
American markets afford.”
Although she no longer lived here, Charlotte Pepoon used the
address when she signed a petition to have Fifth Avenue resurfaced in 1875. The petition sought to have it “repaved with
such materials, and in such manner, as to produce neither mud nor dust, and
also, to be smooth, comparatively noiseless, and easily kept clean.”
Despite his 20-year lease, Hugh Jackson was gone by 1880. In the sidewalk level was W. Iauch’s “ladies’
restaurant and confectionery." Upstairs
were the tailor-merchant W. R. Bowne, who would stay on well into the 1890s; and
several publishing firms.
Among the latter was the manufacturing department of G. P. Putnam’s
Sons. Here the firm did outside work for “every
description of printing and book manufacturing.” In 1880 an advertisement promised “Doing this
work upon their Fifth Avenue premises, and under their personal supervision,
they are enabled to fill all orders entrusted to them in the best manner and at
moderate prices.”
Also in the building was White, Stokes & Allen. As Valentine’s Day approached in 1885 the
publisher advertised Songs of the Roses,
A Valentine by Susie Barstow Skelding, described as “Colored designs of
Jacqueminot roses, moss roses, bale yellow roses, and wild roses. The store also offered a full range of
Valentine gifts: “Prang’s Valentines,
Flowers for Valentines, Hand-painted Valentines, Valentine Penwipers, Valentine
Knick-knacks.”
By 1890 the firm had become Frederick A. Stokes &
Brother. That year it published Charles
Driaste’s novel Gondola and Palace; the book of humor titled The Good Things of
Life; and patriotic-themed My Country ‘Tis of Thee by Samuel F. Smith; Babes of
the Nations; and The Star Spangled Banner, “with music.”
By 1891 the publishers were joined in the building by one of
New York’s oldest booksellers, A. D. F. Randolph & Co. The New York Times noted that the store “carried
a large stock.” Anson D. F. Randolph,
the senior member of the firm, had been in the bookselling business since
1850. The bookstore remained here until
February 1, 1896 when, owing to the 72-year old Randolph’s failing health, the
retail business was sold to the American Baptist Publication Society.
In addition to the bookstore the American Baptist
Publication Society took space for meetings.
On March 3, 1896 The New York Times reported that the “regular weekly
meeting of the Baptist ministers of New-York and vicinity was held in the new
hall at 182 Fifth Avenue yesterday.”
The ministers’ meetings would continue here for years; while
the bookstore offered both everyday and seasonal items to Fifth Avenue
shoppers. On December 17, 1898 an
advertisement in The Sun prompted readers to “Buy your Calendars, Christmas
Cards, and Holiday Books at the American Baptist Publication Society.”
As the new century progressed, things in the Flatiron
neighborhood of Fifth Avenue declined.
The shops which once housed the dressmakers, bookstores and art
galleries patronized by New York’s carriage trade were gone by the 1940s.
In 1940 the upper floors of No. 182 Fifth Avenue housed the
apparel factory of the Empire-Bilt Clothing Co. and downstairs at street level
was a poolroom. A gutsy group of
would-be bandits tried to hold up the poolroom on the afternoon of May 7, 1943;
with unexpected results.
Two men strolled into the place around noon and started to
play. About 40 minutes later two others entered. One of them, 27-year old
Millan Kovarick, an ex-convict on parole, flashed “an old-style Army automatic
pistol” and announced “This is a stick-up.”
The three robbers then started to herd the 15 customers to
the rear room. But they were unprepared
for the street-tough pool players’ reactions.
“Michael Walsh, 52…balked, and his cue-stick came down on
the leaders’ head. The other victims
took heart and in a short, swift battle knocked the pistol from the gangster’s
hand and all of the gang fled.”
The patrons rushed out onto Fifth Avenue and
yelled “Stick Up!” Their cries were
heard by two patrolmen, both 66 years old, half a block away. Calling Officers Sydney E. Hutchins and John
C. Matthews “slow of foot, but proudly wearing their medals for marksmanship,”
The New York Times recounted how they chased Kovarick into the subway at 22nd
Street.
“We knew we had him,” Hutchins told reporters, “It’s only a
turnstile exit. The entrance is a block
away.”
The parolee earned himself another 11 years in the State penitentiary.
In 1956 a restaurant opened in the former poolroom while the
upper floors were still designated as “factory” spaces.
In the mid 1960s No. 182 was home to the Off Broadway
theater, the Anthony Mannino Repertory Club.
At the same time one of the upper lofts was taken by figurative artist
Alex Katz.
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| Two other altered residences survive to the south of No. 182. |
The theater space became the ETC Theater Company around 1975. Today the mixed-use structure houses a yoga
studio, residential lofts and a convenience store behind a regrettable modern
storefront. But the upper floors remain
relatively unchanged since Thomas R. Jackson bolted his cast iron front onto the Pepoon
mansion in 1871.
photographs by the author
photographs by the author
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