In the 1850s, elegant homes were being erected along the block of West 23rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. Among them was 336 West 23rd Street, completed around 1855. It was home that year to John Scott Boyd and his wife, the former Sarah Anna Root.
Like similar homes along the block, the Italianate style Boyd residence was three stories tall above a high English basement. Faced in red brick and trimmed in brownstone, its double-doored entrance sat above a high stone stoop. Its floor-to-ceiling parlor windows were most likely fronted by a cast iron balcony.
John and Sarah were born in Albany in 1820 and 1821, respectively, and were married there on June 23, 1851. They had two sons in 1855--Robert Lyman, who was two years old, and John Scott, who was one. The following year Marie Scott was born, and Allan Stuart Boyd would arrive in 1860.
John's grandfather, James Boyd, had founded the Albany Brewing Company in 1796. In 1850, when he and his brother David I. Boyd took over the business, it became Boyd Brothers & Company. The 1886 History of Albany and Schenectady Counties N.Y. said, "Their products are shipped through the New England States and to New York City, in which they have a depot on West Street." John relocated to New York City in 1844 to oversee that end of the business.
The wealthy brewer was visible within Manhattan's commercial circles. He was elected to the Chamber of Commerce in 1865 and by 1869 sat on the board of the Electric Life Assurance Society. The Boyds were interested in the conditions of the less fortunate, as well, and were members of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor and of the American Home Missionary Society. His social standing was evidenced in his membership in the exclusive Union League Club.
The Boyds moved to 28 West 38th Street around 1874. The West 23rd Street house became home to Cuban-born attorney Don Antonio Fernandez de Avis y Bramosio. Born in 1827, he had "ranked very high in his profession as an advocate in Havana," according to The New York Times, and had been a member of the Havana City Council. But following the Cuban uprising of 1868, the Government ordered his arrest for treason because of his support of the rebels. He escaped to the United States, after which he was condemned to death in Cuba.
A widower, the exiled attorney became a citizen of the United States, and on April 25, 1876 married Maria Dolores Francisca de Asís Agramonte y Zayas-Zamudio. The groom was 49 and his bride was 22. The couple had a strong connection with the ongoing rebellion at home. The New York Times said Dolores (who "is reputed to be quite young and very beautiful") was "a relative of the family of Agramontes who so especially signalized themselves in the Cuban struggle for freedom."
Don Antonio died in the spring of 1878. The New York Times reported that he "was reputed to be worth about $1,000,000 at the time of his death." Of his massive estate, equal to about $31.5 million in 2024, Dolores received the house and "the jewels, furniture and ornaments" in her use, plus $40,000 (about $1.25 million today). On July 16, 1879, six properties from the estate were sold, including 336 West 23rd Street.
The house was purchased by journalist Edward Jones Hale and his wife, the former Sarah Jane Walker. The Southerner was born on his father's plantation in Chatham County, North Carolina in 1802. His mother died when he was seven and his father when he was nine. He became the ward of his namesake Colonel Edward Jones.
Privately tutored, he showed remarkable literary talents as a boy. In 1825, at the age of 23, he purchased the Carolina Observer, renamed it the Fayetteville Observer, and was on his way "to amassing a considerable fortune," according to the Biographical History of North Carolina decades later in 1917. On May 24, 1828, he and Sarah were married.
Edward Jones Hale. Biographical History of North Carolina, 1917 (copyright expired)
Hale was an ardent Confederate and his newspaper became a target of General William T. Sherman, who ordered it destroyed. The Biographical History of North Carolina noted, "The last issue of the paper was printed while the Confederates were retreating through the town and copies were handed to the soldiers as they passed by." The Union Army burned the Fayetteville Observer building to the ground. Hale, who had converted his fortune into Confederate bonds, "was left with only his honor and his loyalty."
In 1866, Hale and his family moved to New York City and began anew, opening a printing business, E. J. Hale & Sons. Still loyal to his roots, Hale's firm specialized in printing works by Southern authors targeted to Southern audiences.
Hale died in the 23rd Street house at the age of 80 on New Year's Day 1883. His funeral was held in the parlor on January 4. While the New York Evening Post, apparently willing to forgive his rebellious background, listed many of the distinguished mourners, The New York Times said merely, "There were many floral offerings."
An auction of the Hale furnishings was held on March 25. The announcement provided a glimpse into the Hales' high-end Victorian home. It listed, "a fine rosewood piano, valuable oil paintings, engravings, marble and Parian figures, four pier mirrors," and such.
Frank Seely, a wealthy real estate developer, and his wife, the former Hattie Boggs, purchased the house in September 1890. Hattie seems to have been more involved in society than her predecessors had been. On February 14, 1892, for instance, the New York Herald reported, "Mrs. F. Seeley, of No. 336 West Twenty-third, will give a large dance Thursday evening, February 18."
Like their neighbors, the Seelys maintained a household staff. On April 17, 1910, Hattie advertised in The New York Times, "Chambermaid, &c.--Protestant white girl as chambermaid and waitress in small private family; best references required." (Chambermaids had the often unpleasant duties of housework while waitresses served in the drawing and dining rooms. Hattie's combining of the two job descriptions revealed that the Seelys were either a step below the wealthiest families or carefully parsimonious.) The following year she was looking for a new cook. "Protestant white woman as good plain cook in small private family; must be very neat."
Isabella Elsuer, a nurse, lived with the family in 1913. That year, on February 3, she dropped into St. Vincent de Paul's Church on 23rd Street near Sixth Avenue. While she knelt in prayer, John Grahn snatched her purse. He was quickly caught and explained, according to The New York Times, "that he had been cold and hungry and had stepped into the church to be out of the rain." Because Isabella Elsuer refused to appear against him in court, he could not be convicted of robbery. Nevertheless, he was sent to the workhouse for six months on a charge of disorderly conduct.
John Seely died on May 21, 1916. His funeral, which was private, was held in the house on the evening of the 23rd.
The house was next home to Charles C. and Hattie Klingelhoffer. Charles was a founder of the New York Athletic Club and a retired manufacturer of carbonated beverages. He died on August 10, 1933, leaving Hattie with an estate of $1,328,670, according to The New York Sun. The figure would translate to $30.2 million today.
On November 2, 1940, The New York Times reported, "J. Malloy & Sons [sic], funeral directors, who have been in the Chelsea section for more than seventy-five years, bought from Lulu Seymour the four-story building at 336 West Twenty-third Street." The lower two floors of the house were converted for the Molloy Funeral Chapel. The stoop had already been removed for the proposed widening of West 23rd Street. A stained glass window was now installed where the former doorway had been.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services
The following year Molloy Funeral Home expanded into the former bank next door at 338 West 23rd Street. It was taken over by the Horne-Dannecker Funeral home in 1957, which remained at least through 1999.
The second floor stained glass window is evident in this 1983 photograph. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
A remarkable renovation-restoration, completed in 2011, brought 336 West 23rd Street back to its 1855 appearance. The stoop, entrance and the window cornices were refabricated, including period appropriate Italianate iron stoop railings and newels. It is a two-family residence today.
many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for requesting this post
photographs by the author
no permission to reuse the content of this blog has been granted to LaptrinhX.com
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