Richard Bell was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 1, 1797. He immigrated to Baltimore in 1830 where he worked in the banking house of George Peabody before moving to New York and becoming affiliated with the Bank of Montreal on Wall Street.
For years he and his wife Harriet lived on East 18th Street. Then in 1859 they moved into their newly-built mansion in the fashionable Murray Hill district. At 25-feet-wide and four stories tall above an English basement, the brownstone-fronted 255 Lexington Avenue (renumbered 251 in 1868) reflected the couple's wealth and social position. A stone stoop led to the parlor level's impressive Italianate entrance and floor-to-ceiling windows. A cast metal cornice included scrolled brackets and a paneled fascia.
The Bells' home would have been furnished in exquisite style, with rosewood or mahogany parlor and bedroom suites, marble and bronze statuary, and costly imported carpeting.
With no children, the Bells lived here alone with their staff of servants. Richard Bell retired in 1876 at the age of 79.
On July 6, 1890, three decades after moving into the Lexington Avenue mansion, Harriet Bell died. Interestingly, her funeral was not held in the house, as was customary, but at the Church of St. John the Baptist, steps away on the corner of 35th Street and Lexington Avenue. It would be the scene of Richard's funeral two years later. He died at the age of 96 on November 4, 1892, The New York Times mentioning, "Mr. Bell had survived most of his relatives and old comrades."
Among the relatives who did survive was Isaac Bell. Unlike Richard's branch of the family, Isaac's had been in America for generations. He was born on Greenwich Street in 1814. The New York Times would later recall, "He came from good stock, and...was the twelfth descendant of that name from the sturdy adventurers who accompanied the New-Haven colony." The first Isaac Bell arrived in America in 1640.
On March 11, 1893, the Record & Guide reported that the estate of Richard Bell had sold 251 Lexington Avenue for $40,000--about $1.4 million in 2024--to Louis Valentine Bell and Anna Wood Bell, Isaac's son and daughter-in-law. The deed was put in Anna's name (as was common) and a separate article mentioned that Isaac Bell had supplied the mortgage money.
Louis's middle name came from his mother's side. Adelaide Mott Bell was the daughter of renowned Dr. Valentine Mott. Anna Wood Bell was the daughter of Dr. James R. Wood. Both she and Louis were born in 1853. They had one daughter, Louise Mott. (Another daughter was lost during childbirth in 1876.) The family's summer estate was on Long Island.
Before moving in, the Bells hired architect P. McCormick to extend the house twelve feet to the rear and make "interior alterations" at a cost of nearly $340,000 in today's money.
Louise was 18 years old when the family purchased 251 Lexington Avenue. That winter season she would be formally introduced to society. On December 17, 1893, the New-York Tribune reported that Anna "gave a reception to introduce her daughter, Miss Louisa [sic] Bell" the previous afternoon.
As was often the case in high society, debuts were quickly followed by engagements. On October 25, 1894, The New York Times on Louise's engagement to Stephen Whitney, the son of Stephen Suydam Whitney and grandson of William Whitney. The article noted, "Miss Bell has been very prominent in the younger set since her debut here...She is a petite brunette of vivacious and attractive manners. Miss Bell has spent the Summer for several years on Long Island, where she has been very popular with the 'riding set.'"
By 1896, Louis's youngest brother, Edward, and his family moved into the house. (They had lived nearby at 321 Lexington Avenue and their summer estate was in Bayshore, Long Island.) He and his wife, the former Helen A. Wilmerding, had two sons, Harold W. and Edward.
Edward Bell was born on February 28, 1860. A former Park Commissioner, he was the senior member of Bell & Co., brokers.
On March 24, 1896, Bell was crossing Broadway at 34th Street when a streetcar stopped in the crosswalk, blocking the way of pedestrians. The New-York Tribune reported, "Mr. Bell appealed to Officer Clark to get the car moved ahead, and asked him why he let the car stop on the crossing, which was a violation of the law. He also called attention to the fact that he had to go around through the slush." Edward Bell's tone apparently reflected his annoyance and the officer, according to Bell, "replied in profane and insulting language." When Bell "told the officer who he was," according to the article, Patrolman Edgar T. Clark repeated what he had said. Bell filed a formal complaint of "conduct unbecoming an officer and using profane and indecent language."
In 1901, the Bells moved to the fashionable Hotel New Netherlands and the Lexington Avenue house was purchased by Arthur Murray Sherwood and his wife, the former Rosina Emmet. The couple were married in 1887 and had five children: Arthur, Jr.; Cynthia Townsend, Philip Hyde, Robert Emmet, and Rosamund. Also living with the family was Rosina's unmarried aunt, Lydia Hubley Emmet.
While Arthur Murray Sherwood was a stockbroker and a principal in Tower & Sherwood, the family was highly artistic. Sherwood's mother, Mary Elizabeth Wilson Sherwood had been a well-known writer, and Arthur was an accomplished painter. Robert Emmet Sherwood would have a celebrated career as an author and playwright, earning four Pulitzer Prizes and an Academy Award.
Rosina was an established artist. Born into a socially prominent family on December 13, 1854, she was presented to Queen Victoria during a European trip in 1876-1877. Her mother, Julia Pierson Emmet had first trained her in art, and in 1878 Rosina began studying with William Merritt Chase. She attended the Académie Julian in Paris in 1884-1885.
Rosina Emmet at around the age of 16. from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
Somewhat surprisingly for a woman of the period, Rosina continued working following her marriage. In 1893 she painted the mural The Republic's Welcome to Her Daughters for the Women's Building of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. She continued to exhibit paintings at shows like the annual Exhibition of Water Colors, Pastels and Miniatures at the Art Institute of Chicago for decades.
Rosina Emmet Sherwood's Cynthia Reading captured her daughter in an unposed moment in 1900. private collection
On October 5, 1909, Cynthia's engagement to James M. Townsend was announced. The prospective groom had graduated from Yale the previous year.
Rosina's aunt died here on February 14, 1912. Born in 1824, Lydia Hubley Emmet was the only daughter of Judge Robert Emmet and a great-niece of the Irish patriot Robert Emmet. In reporting her death, The New York Times mentioned that she "spent most of her life at New Rochelle, where she was greatly beloved by the poor and other classes." The New-York Tribune added, "When her niece, Rosina Emmet, an artist, was married to Mr. Sherwood she went to live with them."
One by one, the Sherwood children married. Arthur Jr.'s engagement to Evelyn Wilson was announced in January 1913, and Philip Hyde Sherwood's engagement to Elsie Burr was announced in May 1917. (Philip was a lieutenant in the United States Calvary at the time and would see action on the Mexican border that year, and in World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel.)
The Packard Commercial School had replaced the brownstone mansion next door to the Sherwood house at 253 Lexington Avenue in 1910. Shortly after Philip's engagement was announced, the family left 251 Lexington. Their former home became an annex to the Packard building. It would be a short-lived venture, however.
On August 10, 1918, the Record & Guide reported that the Stage Women's War Relief Association had rented the house. Part of it would be used for the Soldiers', Sailors' and Marines' Club, while sleeping rooms would accommodate military men passing through New York. A bed for the night cost 25 cents.
A year late, with the war ended, the group (which the New-York Tribune said "was the pioneer organization of its kind in this city") changed its focus. The Soldiers', Sailors' and Marines' Club closed on August 25, 1919 and the rooms were now used for wounded military men returning from combat.
On April 22, 1920, the New York Herald reported that the Stage Women's War Relief had expanded its work and leased the two connected houses at 38-40 West 48th Street. The article noted that it would continue to use the Lexington Avenue house "for the care of disabled soldiers."
In 1924, the former Bell mansion was converted to the Matthew S. Higgins Institute. The highly specialized school trained prospective retail executives. An advertisement in Popular Mechanics that year began:
Chain Store Organizations everywhere are looking for trained men to act as store managers, district managers, sales and advertising managers, merchandise managers, credit managers, road men, personnel directors, statistical control men, accountants.
Students did not have to give up their present jobs, since classes were held one night a week--"one evening of pleasant, fascinating and profitable study," said the ad.
Matthew Higgins's wife, Bertha Hayward Higgins ran her own classes from the building. Her ad in The New York Times in 1925 read:
THE MAN who understands words and is able to converse fluently without making the common mistakes in English finds in quick promotion that good English has a cash value. Improve your English. Free lecture and lesson Tuesday evening, March 11, at 8:30 o'clock. Bertha Hayward Higgins. 251 Lexington Av.. cor. 35th St.
Matthew and Bertha Higgins would soon have to find an alternate place of business. On December 18, 1925, the New York Sun reported that the building had been sold. It was converted to non-housekeeping apartments (meaning they had no kitchens). The stoop was removed and a commercial space, home to The Erkins Studios, was installed in the former basement. Founded in 1900, The Erkins Studios sold decorative garden furniture.
The cover of a catalogue suggested the variety of garden furniture offered by The Erkins Studios
A subsequent renovation completed in 1948 created three apartments per floor on the third through fifth floors. The former Erkins Studios space was converted to a beauty parlor, and the parlor level became a doctor's office and one apartment.
Tony Fiore lived here in 1968. A friend, Richard Corsini was visiting on the afternoon of February 5 when another tenant, Blanka Eckstein, who lived in the apartment directly above, dropped by. She stayed for about 20 minutes, then returned to her apartment. A few minutes later, Fiore heard her scream, "Stop! Thief!" When he looked out his door, he saw two men running out of the building.
The block was still lined with converted brownstones in 1941. image via the NYC Dept of Records &Information Services.
Upon returning to her apartment, Blanka had noticed splinters of wood on the floor and saw that the door jamb was broken. According to her testimony later, she yelled, 'Who the hell is in there?" and entered. The two men Tony Fiore would see rushing out pushed past her and down the stairs--one of them carrying Blanka's radio under his arm. Fiore and Corsini were close behind.
At 34th Street and Third Avenue, Fiore and Corsini overtook one of the robbers. Fiore "physically jumped" on the thief and he and Corsini held him until a policeman arrived. The cohort with the radio got away.
photograph by the author
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