John Jacob Astor I paid "handsomely" for the former Aaron Burr estate, Richmond Hill in 1817. At the same time, he took over the land lease from Trinity Church on which the estate stood. Within a few years, Astor had leveled the land and begun lining the newly laid streets with prim, brick-faced homes. Among them was 17 King Street, one of a row of identical two-and-a-half-story homes. Its Federal design included a peaked attic roof pierced by two dormers.
It appears that 17 King Street was initially rented. The family of John Johnson lived in 17 King Street in the late 1820s. The funeral of his father-in-law, Rev. Josephus B. Loring, was held in the parlor on October 18, 1830. The cleric was 67 years old.
Within six years, the Gideon Fountain family occupied the house. A merchant on Whitehall Street, he and his wife, the former Maria Slover, had seven children. Fountain had deep American roots, his first French Huguenot ancestor, named de la Fontaine, arriving in Staten Island before 1658.
The parlor was once again the scene of a funeral on November 29, 1837. Gideon Fountain, Jr., who was just eight years old, had died two days earlier.
In 1840 the Fountains moved next door to 15 King Street. No. 17 was purchased by William Christie, who listed his occupation as "carman." Although the term normally referred to the driver of a delivery truck, Christie's ability to purchase a home suggests he owned the trucking firm. The Christies, who had a son, David W., took in a boarder. In 1840 it was Daniel B. Pierson. A mason, Pierson would remain with the family for about five years.
Even middle-class families like the Christies had domestic help. On August 8, 1843, an advertisement in the New-York Tribune read, "Wanted--At No. 17 King-street; a Girl about 13 or 14 years old, to go of [sic] errands and to assist in housework. Good reference required."
In December 1846, William Christie died. David Christie took over the business.
Around 1851, the Christie family leased 17 King Street to Daniel Pierson and his wife Jemima. The couple did not take in a boarder until 1860. Charles Bernard, an engineer, lived with the family that year. He was replaced in 1864 by William James, a "scavenger." (The term referred to either to a scrap metal or rags seller, or a second-hand furniture dealer.)
Around 1868, the Christie family moved to River Edge, New Jersey. The King Street house was rented to a boarding house proprietor who took in only a select number of residents, reflecting on the high-end tenor of the house. Leon Remus, who ran a millinery business on Broadway, boarded here for at least five years, from 1872 to 1877.
Another boarder was Dr. John G. Lang. Born in Bremen, Germany in 1812, he had attended the medical college at Gottingen, German, in 1837. Dr. Lang found himself in trouble in the fall of 1876.
On October 5 that year, the New York Herald began an article saying, "The most important trial of the day, and one which will doubtless attract very much attention, was that of an old German named John Lang, of No. 17 King street, indicted for practising [sic] medicine without a regular diploma." The article noted that the New York Medical Society had "determined to wage universal war upon quacks," and the Lang case "was intended to be a test one."
Testimony was heard by members of the Medical Society who recalled Lang's failing examinations and not receiving a certificate to practice. Patients told of Lang's treating them and prescribing medicines, and the arresting officer testified that Lang told him "that he had been practising [sic] for about forty years."
Lang's own testimony did not help his case. He swore that his diploma from Gottingen "was stolen from him in 1843." Later he served as surgeon aboard a Dutch whaling ship, the Spitzbergon, for about four years. To obtain that position, he underwent an examination and was given a certificate "to practise [sic] anywhere." But that document, too, had been lost.
The jury found Lang guilty. His attorney pleaded for leniency, noting that during the cholera epidemic he treated many patients while many licensed doctors had fled. "He urged that it would be cruel to send a weak and gray haired man to jail and cast his family into disgrace," reported the New York Herald. The judge, after "carefully weighing all the facts," imposed the lightest penalty allowed--a fine of $50 (about $1,500 in 2024).
On August 9, 1888, an advertisement in The Sun offered, "A newly furnished boarding house, light airy rooms; parlor privileges; price reasonable, 17 King st."
David W. Christie had died the previous year, on December 29, 1887. Jemima Christie quickly remarried. Now Jemima Doremus, she sold 17 King Street in December 1889 to Wauhope and Anna N. Lynn. The couple paid $9,500 for the property, or about $325,000 today.
Born in Ireland on December 14, 1856, Wauhope Lynn had received his law degree at New York University Law School in 1882. In 1891 he was appointed assistant district attorney, and the following year was made a judge of the First District Municipal Court.
There was a great deal of excitement in front of the Lynn home on the morning of July 24, 1896. Policeman John H. Foley lived a few houses away, at 37 King Street. He was just about to enter his home that morning when he heard a commotion. The World reported, "Looking up the street he saw a fireman and a woman holding a man in the doorway of No. 17 King street."
The woman, Julia Field, told Foley she had discovered Louis Wendell sitting on the stoop "while scattered about him was a quantity of parlor matches." She said she feared he was about to set fire to the house. Foley arrested him, and in the Jefferson Market Police Court he insisted he was merely selling matches. Wendell was fined $5 "for peddling without a license."
Justice Lynn's decided opinions regarding the British were so pronounced that they made it to a New Zealand newspaper. On April 19, 1899, the Poverty Bay Herald reported, "An unpleasant incident is reported from New York in connection with the annual dinner of the St. David Society last month, at which 350 guests were present." The article said that among them was "Tammany Judge Wauhope Lynn, who created somewhat of a sensation by refusing to rise and drink a toast of Queen Victoria. Mrs. Lynn, who was with her husband, also remained seated." After declaring he "would rather serve 20 years in the State prison than toast the health of Queen Victoria," he and Anna left the banquet hall.
It was likely the Lynns who updated the house with a Victorian cornice over the doorway. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
The Lynns leased the house in 1903 to William J. La Roche, who would remain here for years. The couple would not have a new tenant until August 1919, when the Record & Guide reported that Justice Wauhope Lynn leased the house to Rocco P. Timpone.
Timpone was employed by the Empire Carting Company. Shortly after moving into 17 King Street he was called as a witness in the corruption investigation of the state insurance fund by the State Industrial Commission. The state accused doctors who examined injured workmen of demanding a percentage of their compensation.
Timpone testified that he had broken an arm while working for Empire Carting Company. "He said when his claim had been allowed he called at the office of the fund...and received a check for $500." He was told that he had to pay half of that amount to the claim adjuster.
Justice Wauhope Lynn retired in 1919 after having served on the bench for 23 years. He died the following year, in October 1920, at the age of 64. His estate sold the house in 1922.
Living here around mid-century was writer James Rufus Agee, his wife, the former Mia Fritsch, their two daughters Julia and Andrea, and son John. The family maintained a summer home in Hillsdale, New York. James Agee's broad resume included novelist, poet, film critic, screenwriter, and journalist. Two of his screenplays, the 1951 The African Queen and the 1955 The Night of the Hunter, were among the most highly praised films of the decade.
James Agee, from the collection of the Library of Congress
Agee left the house for a doctor's appointment on May 16, 1955. On the way there, he suffered a fatal heart attack in the taxi. He was buried on the Hillsdale property. Two years later, his autobiographical novel A Death in the Family was published, winning him a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.
A restoration in 2017 stabilized the facade, which was noticeably bowing. After nearly 200 years, 17 King Street remains a single family home.
photographs by the author
no permission to reuse the content of this blog has been granted to LaptrinhX.com
Very well done.
ReplyDelete