Before being updated in 1892, the lintels originally matched those of the house to the right.
John Jacob Astor I began a flurry of construction on the former Richmond Hill estate--leased from Trinity Church--in the 1820s. By paying the land leases decades forward, he made the new homes more marketable. Among the earliest was 43 Charlton Street, one of a row of homes completed between 1824 and 1828.
Two-and-a-half-stories tall above a stone basement, its openings wore stepped and molded lintels. A marble stoop and the delicate ironwork of the areaway and stoop were expensive touches. Two dormers originally pierced the peaked roof.
By the early 1830s, 43 Charlton Street was home to James and Rebecca Montgomery. Living with the family at least from 1836 through 1841 was George Lent, a clerk. He was most likely a boarder.
The Montgomerys' teenaged son became ill in 1837. On March 27 that year, The Evening Post announced in Victorian prose that Charles R. Montgomery had died, "early this morning, after a lingering illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude and resignation in the hope of a blessed immortality." Charles was 17 years old. His funeral was held in the parlor the following afternoon.
Around 1845, James Webb purchased 43 Charlton Street. He was listed in city directories as "mason," but was much more. Born in 1800, The American Architect and Building News would later call him one of the "best-known building contractors in New York," noting, "Mr. Webb was for many years employed by the great New York families of the Astors and Van Cortlandts." He was, as well, a trustee of the Hudson River Building and Mutual Loan Association.
Webb and his wife, the former Catherine Fawpell, had a son, Edward Dodge Webb, who was born in 1844. Living with the family was Catherine's widowed mother, Mary Elizabeth Fawpell.
The parlor was once again the scene of a funeral in 1847. Mary Fawpell died at the age of 76 on April 23, and her funeral was held two days later.
It was likely Webb's prominence in the construction community that led to his being placed on the Coroner's Jury on November 22, 1851 to investigate what newspapers called "The Ninth Ward Calamity." A day earlier, a false alarm of fire panicked the students in the Ninth Ward School on Greenwich Street. The staircase, unable to handle the weight of the throng of children, collapsed. The New York Times reported that scores of children plummeted to the stone floor. "In this way, the area was instantly filled, and there they lay, one upon another, to the depth of ten or twelve feet." The newspaper reported that 43 children were killed and many more severely injured.
The following year, Webb's firm began construction of the mansion of John Jacob Astor III on the northwest corner of 33rd Street. He would be hired by Astor's brother, William B. Astor, in 1855 to construct his mansion next door at the corner of 34th Street.
By then, Webb had moved his family to Morton Street. On February 8, 1853, 43 Charlton Street was sold at auction. The announcement described the 23-foot-wide house as being "built with all modern improvements" and noted "gas introduced into the house." Perhaps because special lighting fixtures were installed when the gas lines were brought in--replacing whale oil fixtures--the announcement noted, "Chandeliers go with the house."
It appears the house was leased for a number of years. The turnover of occupants included I. G. Klinck in 1855; John W. Buchanan, a dealer in gas fixtures in 1860-61; and real estate operator David Coleman in 1862. Coleman died at the age of 54 in the house "of heart disease" on February 10, 1863.
In 1872, Edward M. Plum purchased 43 Charlton Street. He was a clerk of records in the County Courthouse, earning $2,500 per year (equal to about $78,800 in 2024). A staunch Democrat, he was a member of the Tammany General Committee of the Fifth Assembly District in 1875. Also on the committee and boarding with the Plum family was William Cleary.
The Plums moved to MacDougal Street in 1880, and 43 Charlton Street became a boarding house run by Maria Joyce, the widow of James Joyce. Also living here was her son, John J. Joyce, who worked as a clerk.
On March 26, 1886, James W. Merritt rented a room in the house. The Sun explained he was a "butter maker of Flackville, St. Lawrence county, N.Y." and had come to New York on business. On St. Patrick's Day, Merritt went uptown to Central Park "to look at the animals" in the menagerie. "He met there a heavy, red-bearded man, with a businesslike air, who was accompanied by a young woman," said the article. George L. Morgan made small talk about the "curiosities in the Park," and asked Merritt if he were connected with the builders.
When told that the visitor came from Flackville, Morgan was delighted, saying he lived nearby the town. He then introduced Merritt to his wife and suggested they walk to his hotel, where he needed to take care of some business, after which they would "view the curiosities together." The two headed off, leaving Mrs. Morgan in the park.
At 65th Street, a man rushed up to Morgan "in hot haste," according to The Sun, asking why Morgan had not paid freight on certain goods that were shipped, Morgan had a check for $250, but the man did not have change. The article said, "Mr. Merritt had $35, which he advanced on the check, and Morgan asked him to go back and wait with his wife while he went to his hotel and finished his business." When Merritt arrived at the spot, the woman was gone.
Merritt reported the theft to the police, and resolved not to return to Flackville until he had his money (equal to more than $1,000 today) back. The Sun said he vowed, "he would wait in New York until the thieves were caught." Whether they were apprehended is unclear.
Michael Cohen and his wife Tillie purchased 43 Charlton Street in 1890, taking a $9,000 mortgage from William W. Astor. Cohen was a well-heeled "merchant tailor" whose shop was at 338 Hudson Street.
In May 1892, the Cohens hired architect L. F. Heinecke to enlarge and modernize the house. The attic was raised to a full third floor, interior walls were altered, and modern, pressed metal lintels were applied over the openings. The renovations cost the couple the equivalent of about $62,000 today.
Michael Cohen was involved in Jewish charities, and was president of the Darech Amuno Free Burial Fund Society. Its stated purpose in 1898 was to provide "the ground for burials of Hebrews dying in destitution."
In 1901, the Cohens sold 43 Charlton Street to Joseph and Angelina Personeni for $16,000 (about $592,000 today). Joseph Personeni was in the medicine business at 496-498 West Broadway. The couple would remain here until December 1919, when they sold the house to Joseph Veshi.
For several years, Veshi leased the house to William J. Duffy and his wife, the former Frances O. Welsh. Born on the Lower West Side of Manhattan in 1880, Duffy became a clerk in the County Clerk's office in 1906, where he eventually became associated with John F. Curry of Tammany Hall. The two became close friends and in 1913 Curry made Duffy Tammany's secretary. William J. Duffy died on October 5, 1930.
Around 1940, the house was unofficially converted to three apartments. An advertisement in 1942 offered apartments of "4 or 5 rooms" at $55 to $60 with "all modern improvements" including "refrigeration." Rent for the most expensive apartment would translate to about $1,120 per month today.
The configuration lasted until 2004 when a renovation resulted in a two-family residence.
photographs by the author
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