Little remains to suggest the nobility of the former mansion.
In 1839, William Beach Lawrence completed construction of three upscale Greek Revival homes at 8 through 12 Ninth Street (renumbered 60 through 64 West 9th Street in 1868). Faced in red brick, they rose three stories above rusticated English basements. Wide brownstone stoops rose to the entrances. The 25-foot widths of the homes suggested the affluence of their intended owners.
The easternmost house became home to Dr. Benjamin William McCready. Born in New York City in 1813, he started his medical practice in 1835. One of the founders of Bellevue Hospital, the St. Paul, Minnesota Daily Globe would later call him "one of the most eminent physicians in the country."
In 1858, McCready sold 8 Ninth Street to Judge William Mitchell. Born on February 24, 1801, he and his wife, the former Mary Leverich Penfold Berrien, had seven children: Edward, Cornelius Berrien, Elizabeth, William Jr., Grace, Marcey, and John Murray. (John was a newborn when they moved in.)
Mitchell's father, Edward, was a leading Universalist preacher who came to New York from Northern Ireland. Mary, on the other hand, had deep American roots. Her Huguenot ancestors settled at Newton, Long Island in 1656 and several of her relatives "were conspicuous patriots in the Revolutionary War," according to New York State's Prominent and Progressive Men in 1900.
William Mitchell had graduated from Columbia College in 1820. An attorney, he was appointed a justice of the State Supreme Court in 1849 and a year before moving into the Ninth Street house, was made Presiding Justice.
In 1862, Cornelius Berrian Mitchell graduated from Columbia. Immediately afterward, he joined the Anthon Battalion Light Artillery and the next year, in 1863, joined the 84th Regiment of the National Guard of the State of New York. He survived the Civil War, returning to 60 West 9th Street with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
On August 20, 1866, one of the Mitchells' servants, Bridget Coogan, went to the third floor where, according to The New York Times, she saw "two thieves running about from one room to another." Bridget stealthily crept back down the stairs and ran to the street for a policeman. One burglar escaped, but Judson Oliver was arrested. The newspaper said, "Wearing apparel of the value of $100 had been bundled up ready for removal, but was not carried off." Oliver as sent to the State Prison for two-and-a-half years.
By 1867, Cornelius was a successful merchant and Edward and William were attorneys working in their father's law office. Like his father and brothers had done, the youngest son, John Murray Mitchell, graduated from Columbia in 1875. He, too, joined his father's law firm.
William Mitchell died on October 6, 1886 at the age of 85. On October 10, The New York Times reported, "The funeral of ex-Judge William Mitchell, of the State Supreme Court, was attended yesterday morning by a throng that completely filled the Church of the Ascension at Fifth-avenue and Tenth-street." Among the pall bears were Professor Barnard of Columbia University, former U.S. Secretary of State William M. Evarts, and Judge Addison Brown.
On New Year's Day 1895, Mary Penfold Berrion Mitchell died in the house at the age of 79. As had been the case with her husband, her funeral was not held in the parlor, as was expected, but at the Church of the Ascension.
By now, her sons had made names for themselves. Cornelius was a highly successful merchant. He married Mary Elizabeth Davis in 1880 and was, according to one source, "an active member of many civic and religious organizations." Although William Jr., Edward and John Murray formed a law firm in 1889, it would not last long. William became a United States District Attorney under President Benjamin Harrison, and in 1894 John was nominated as a candidate to Congress.
United States Attorney General William Mitchell around 1905. from the collection of the Library of Congress.
John Murray Mitchell married Lillian Talmage in 1896. The couple remained in his childhood home. That same year he was elected to Congress. In 1900, New York State's Prominent and Progressive Men recalled, "The activity and enthusiasm with which Mr. Mitchell tackled the subject of sound-money reform...is evidenced by the fact that on the birth of his son, during the session of Congress, it was unanimously resolved by the committee that the boy should be named 'Currency Bill' Mitchell." Born in 1898, the boy's name was, in fact, John Murray Mitchell, Jr., but, according to the article, "A copy of the resolution, engrossed, attested, and appropriately framed, adorns the walls of the youngster's nursery."
Congressman John Murray Mitchell, New York State's Prominent and Progressive Men, 1900 (copyright expired)
By now only John and his family, and Grace Mitchell lived in the West 9th Street house. John's influence went beyond politics. New York State's Prominent and Progressive Men said, "Mr. Mitchell has long been interested in electrical matters, and built the first five electric railroads in the United States." The couple's significant wealth and social status were reflected in Mitchell's exclusive club memberships--the New York Athletic, the St. Anthony, and the Metropolitan among others. The owner of the yacht Bedouin, he was vice-commodore of the American Yacht Club and a member of the New York Yacht, the Corinthian Yacht and the Seawanhaka Yacht Clubs.
Like all monied New York families, the Mitchells summered away from the heat of the city. On June 6, 1897, for instance, the New York Journal and Advertiser reported, "Congressman John Murray Mitchell and Mrs. Mitchell and family, of No. 60 West Ninth street, New York, will occupy one of the General W. H. Catling's collages on Pine Island [New York]."
The family later owned a cottage at Tuxedo Park. It was there, on May 31, 1905, that John Murray Mitchell died.
Grace Mitchell never married. She lived on in the house in which she had grown up until her death at the age of 81 on February 23, 1936. Her funeral was held in Grace Church on February 25.
The Mitchell estate sold 60 West 9th Street to Samuel Ferster. He hired architect Frederick S. Keeler to convert the dignified mansion to apartments. The alterations, completed in 1938, removed the stoop and lowered the entrance to the former basement level, shaved the window cornices flat, and added a floor with artist's skylights. Despite the illustrious figures who had occupied the house, The New York Sun said "The Greenwich Village home of the late Mayor John Purroy Mitchel...was remodeled to provide four apartments and two studios." The newspaper had inexcusably confused "the boy mayor" with John Murray Mitchell.
The configuration lasted until 2011, when the once opulent mansion was reconverted to a single-family home.
photographs by the author
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