Franklin Street between West Broadway and Church Street was a
quiet residential block lined with Federal style brick homes throughout most of
the first half of the 19th century.
But by 1860 most residents had moved away as their homes were razed or
remodeled for commercial purposes.
In 1861 two seemingly unlikely partners joined forces to
replace two properties with a modern loft and store. Ann Richardson listed her profession as “seamstress;”
however her apparent financial status suggests that she was most likely a
dressmaker. William Bowne was a
businessman whose well-respected family had been in America since the 17th
century.
The two old structures at Nos. 108 and 110 Franklin Street
were demolished and the replacement buildings—designed by an unknown
architect to appear as one—were completed in 1862.
The matching shop fronts at street level were executed in cast iron—the material
quickly gaining favor for its versatility and fire-proof qualities. Thin piers with Corinthian capitals were
moderately decorated, including attractive address plates.
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| Cast iron Victorian plaques identify the street numbers. |
The four floors above were clad in sandstone. Italianate elements included protruding sills
sitting on stone brackets, handsome arched lintels with prominent keystones,
and a stone cornice with foliate brackets.
By 1868 the combined buildings were occupied by the wholesale
dry goods operation of James Talcott. A
commission merchant, he sometimes offered what today would be called “overstock”
or “close-out” merchandise. On November
17, 1873, for instance, he offered “by order of several leading manufacturers”
750 cases of “knit shirts and drawers,” 100 cases of ladies’ vests, 100 cases
of cardigan jackets, 100 cases of double brown jackets, and 500 cases of
hosiery. His sale prices were offered “to
close the product of the mills.”
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| Another small iron tag announces the date of construction. |
Like William Bowne, Talcott’s family had been in America
since the 17th century; the original John Talcott arriving in
Massachusetts in 1632. Talcott started
his business in 1854 at the age of 19 with one account. By the time he moved into the Franklin
Street building he had established himself as one of the leading merchants of
the city and had garnered a large personal fortune.
Despite his wealth (or perhaps because of it), Talcott was intensely concerned about
the conditions of the poor. In 1879 he
announced his concept of a “stock company for the erection of tenement-houses
on an improved plan.” His idea was to induce ten or more millionaires to invest in improved tenements with better ventilation and lighting, playgrounds and courtyards.
A committee was formed in Talcott's Franklin Street office which told reporters “Our ideas may, perhaps, be a little in advance of the
times in which we live, but we have at our back, encouraging us, a strong army
in the large mass of tenement occupants who only want a way opened to enable
them to quit their wretched quarters.”
James Talcott’s broad range of interests included the
business community and social reforms movement.
He was President of the National Knit Goods Association in 1882 and that
year held a large meeting of knit goods manufacturers in his office “to urge
upon Congress the necessity of correcting what is claimed to be an error” in
the tariff laws.
In 1885, when the Young Women’s Christian Association,
desperately needed larger accommodations, James Talcott was named Treasurer of
its building fund; and two years later he served in the same position for the
construction of evangelist Dwight L. Moody’s schools in Massachusetts.
In addition to his dry goods commission house, Talcott’s
business interests included directorships in three banks and he was a member of
the Chamber of Commerce. His success did
not distance him from his employees. In
1889 William H. Allen, Jr. had been in charge of the woolen department of
Talcott’s store for several years. The
40-year old died suddenly of diphtheria on Monday evening, December 23. The following day Talcott closed his
operation “out of respect to the memory” of his employee.
The scandal-free reputation of John Talcott’s business was
tarnished in 1895 by 31-year old salesman John A. Brown. Four years earlier Brown had married 20-year
old Bertha Liebert “despite the opposition of her family,” according to The New
York Times. The newspaper said “Mrs. Brown’s father is a retired iron
manufacturer, and wealthy, and Brown was never in a position to support the
girl he made his wife in the manner in which she was accustomed to live.”
On their wedding day Brown’s physical abuse of Bertha
started and “he went from bad to worse, abused his wife frequently, took to
drinking, and made little effort to support her.” Bertha left Brown several times, but always
returned. The birth of their child in
1893 “formed a bond of union between them,” said The Times.
Finally, early in 1895, Bertha took the toddler and left
Brown for good. She went to
Philadelphia to live in her father’s home.
On March 29 Brown showed up at the Liebert house. His father-in-law refused to see him and Bertha
was out; but when he asked to see his baby, he was allowed in.
Unaware that her husband was in the reception room, Bertha
returned home. Although her father
warned her against it, she went in. She
told Brown “that she would never return to him unless he ceased drinking and
could make a living for her and her child.
Upon this Brown took a revolver from his pocket.”
Bertha dodged, a movement that probably saved her life. Nevertheless, the bullet struck her in the
back of the neck and exited through her throat.
As he fired again, Bertha “in a frenzy of terror and desperation, threw
herself upon him and bore him to the floor.
She wrested the revolver from his hand, and springing up ran from the
room.”
While their two-year old child watched, Brown caught up with
her in the hall, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her backward. He snatched the handgun just as Bertha’s
sister and a female guest came down the stairs.
Brown’s attention suddenly turned on the toddler. “Miss Liebert fled through the front door,
but as Miss Stockton saw Brown turn his pistol toward his child, who was
standing in the hallway, she seized the little one and rushed into the dining
room.” The distraction gave Bertha the
opportunity to escape. She ran through
the hall and out the side door. Brown
fired a shot at her but missed.
The Times reported “When his wife disappeared through the
door Brown turned the revolver upon himself and sent three bullets through his
head.”
There were other dry goods merchants in the building by the
last years of the century. In 1895
Austin C. Trowbridge operated here, and in 1897 woolen importer Willard Braman
had space in the building.
On October 31, 1896 New York City turned out to see its
prominent businessmen march in The Great Sound Money Parade. A booklet commemorating the event said “In
the heat of presidential contests, popular demonstrations in behalf of opposing
candidates are often imposing in numbers and enthusiasm…None of the equaled, rivaled
or approached the Great Republican and Sound Money Parade in behalf of McKinley
and Hobart, October 31, 1896.”
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| Among the well-dressed marchers in the Sound Money Parade was John Talcott. photo by Byron Company from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York |
It noted “James Talcott, one of the substantial and veteran
merchants of the dry goods district, marched in the Great Parade in the famous ‘old
merchants’ division.’ Rank and authority
were not thought of by the spectators who understood the magnitude of the
interests represented by Mr. Talcott and his companions.”
At the turn of the century other firms in the building
included dry goods merchants Snedecker & Orchard, and the American Hosiery
Co., which cautioned buyers “Don’t buy Foreign Knit Underwear when there is
none better in the world than ours.”
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| New-York Tribune September 25, 1901 (copyright expired) |
On April 3, 1904 The Times announced that “J. H. English
& Co. is the name of a new commission house for the sale of cotton yarns.” The article added “They will have their
quarters at 108 Franklin Street and will be financed by James Talcott.”
After half a century in the building, James Talcott &
Co. moved to Fourth Avenue in 1911. The
other tenants left too, as the Richardson estate leased the building to Wright
& Graham Company, “a large linen company.”
Wright & Graham Company remained in the building through
the 1920s. Following the Depression the
Superior Knitting Mills and the Industrial Waste Corporation made No. 108-110
Franklin Street their home. Industrial
Waste recycled fabric remnants to be used in the doll and artificial flower
industries.
The dry goods district had abandoned the Franklin Street
area by mid-century and in 1957 Custom Craft Die Cutting Corporation took a
five year lease on a floor of Nos. 108-110.
By the end of the century The White Street Repacking Company occupied
the ground floor.
Although somewhat abused, the cast iron storefronts are
essentially intact after a century and a half.
Even the wonderful address plaques survive. And other than replacement windows and an
industrial fire escape, the upper floors are unchanged since the first tenants
moved in during the first year of the Civil War.
photographs by the author
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