Little Brannon Street, named for the owner's garden, continued through the country estate of Aaron Burr, Richmond Hill. In 1817, streets began appearing in the district, followed by houses. The name of Brannon Street was changed to Spring Street, after the spring that provided water to the new residents.
In 1833, Thomas and Maria Ludlow sold a portion of their large property to three investors--merchant Ellison C. Scott, Israel Clark and John G. Hadden. The trio erected three similar Federal style houses on the plots. Clark, a mason, and Hadden, who was a carpenter-builder, were no doubt hands-on in the construction. Ellison C. Scott was the owner of the new structure at 193 Spring Street.
Originally two-and-a-half stories tall, the 25-foot-wide building and store would have had one or two dormers punching through the peaked roof. The occupants of the upper floors in 1836 was the family of James B. Bensel, a tailor whose shop was at 51 Fulton Street.
By 1840, the store was occupied by the confectionary store of Arthur Corry (sometimes spelled Cory). It was replaced by William Core's fancystore by 1845. (Fancystores offered a variety of items, from sewing needs to gloves and hosiery.) At the time, Leah Nagle, the widow of William Nagle, lived upstairs.
When 193 and 195 Spring Street were advertised for sale on December 19, 1845, they were described as, "2 story and attic brick front houses." The ad reflected the well-established neighborhood. "The situation, with regard to business is unsurpassed, it being regarded as the best stand on the street." The owner of 193 Spring Street raised the attic level to a full floor. When he sold the property in February 1850, it was now described as, "the lot of ground known as No. 193 Spring street, with the 3 story brick store and dwelling house thereon."
That year, Thomas Towle moved his drygoods store, Thomas Towle & Sons, from 313 Hudson Street into the shop and moved his family into the upper floors. Although the Towles continued to live here, in 1853 Peter B. and Charles L. Utley ran the drygoods store, named Utley & Brother. Sharing the upper floors with the Towles were the Mott family.
Tragedy occurred here on October 4, 1854. The Motts had a newly born girl, Ella. On October 14, the Mourning Courier & New-York Enquirer reported, "An inquest was held upon the body of Ella Mott, an infant, who died from the effects of scalds received ten days since, when a pot of boiling coffee was upset upon its chest at the residence of its parents, No. 193 Spring street."
The Utley & Brother store remained in 1856. That year Arthur Rogers leased the building, opening his pharmacy in the shop and moving his family into the upstairs. Born in 1817, Rogers had been a druggist for about 15 years.
When the building was sold at auction on March 18, 1856, the announcement mentioned it was "occupied by a drug store." The pharmacy would continue to be a neighborhood mainstay for decades to come.
Pharmacists routinely mixed and sold their own patent medicine. In April 1859, an advertisement in the New-York Tribune touted, "Rogers's Citrate of Magnesia--Try it! Try it! Large Bottles in Powder only 25 cents. One Bottle is equal to three of the Liquid. A very agreeable Purgative."
By 1868, Edward H. Rogers had joined his father's business, now named Arthur Rogers & Son's. In June that year, Kate Sloan, who was a servant in the house of James Hamilton at 99 Thompson Street, purchased a package of Epsom salts mixed with senna. (The compound was used as a laxative.) When she returned, Hamilton did not take it, and the package was placed on a shelf.
Around September 20, James Hamilton took the preparation. A week later, on September 27, the 42-year-old died. Both Arthur and Edward Rogers were arrested the next day, "to await an examination into the circumstances attending the dead," reported the New York Herald. The druggists were held until October 5 when they were exonerated "for all blame," as reported by The Evening Post. James Hamilton had accidentally ingested oxalic acid after, apparently, the packages had gotten confused.
The Rogers family routinely took in boarders, and in 1869 William Ferguson lived here. That year in April he joined scores of irate citizens who signed a demand that the New York Senate and Assembly investigate the recent Presidential election. Saying that prominent officials had "with the shrewdly-concealed connivance of others," they "robbed the people of that great State of their rightful choice of electors of President and Vice-President."
Arthur Rogers was at the Market Street train station in Newark, New Jersey when he was "robbed of fifty dollars and some valuable papers...by a Philadelphia pickpocket named Christian," said The Evening Post on September 22, 1870. The article reported, "The thief was at once arrested by the police, but he threw the pocketbook and its contents to an accomplice, who succeeded in effecting his escape." The cash Rogers lost would translate to about $1,200 in 2025.
Around 1876, the father-and-son business was successful enough that they opened a second drugstore at 281 Bleecker Street. The following year, an "annoying tumor," as described by The New York Times, developed on Arthur Rogers's neck. The pharmacist worried about his condition, eventually becoming despondent.
Around 5:00 on the morning of November 8, 1877, Rogers left the house, telling his wife "he was going to visit a relative in Brooklyn," said The New York Times. He would not return. The newspaper reported, "Between 8 and 9 o'clock yesterday evening the Harbor Police found the body of an unknown man floating in the East River at the foot of Montague-street, Brooklyn." Papers on the body suggested it was Rogers. Edward went to the morgue and identified his father. The body of the 60-year-old was brought here, where his funeral was held.
Edward continued to use the former name following his father's death. Decades after Arthur concocted the patent medicine, it was still was the firm's major draw. Friends' Intelligencer, September 21, 1878 (copyright expired)
The Rogers pharmacy remained at least through 1891. By then, the neighborhood was what newspapers called "the Italian Colony." The inspection that resulted in a violation at 193 Spring Street for "inadequate fire-escapes" described it as a "tenement," meaning that it was now a multi-family building. In April 1906, Sophia Longinotti sold the property to Antonio and Silvestro Sozio, presumably brothers.
The Sozios hired architect Frederick Musty in August 1908 to make minor renovations. The costs were only about $3,500 in 2025 terms. It was possible at this time that a veneer of stucco scored to appear as stone was applied.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
A more substantial renovation completed in 1944 that resulted in two apartments per floor above the storefront.
The Soho neighborhood retained its Italian personality into the second half of the century. In the 1980s, the former Rogers drugstore was home to the restaurant, Rocco & His Brothers. But as the 20th century drew to a close, the district was transformed by trendy cafes, art galleries, and boutiques. The change was evident when Baluchi's, a Northern Indian restaurant, opened in January 1993. Today a delicatessen occupies the space.
photographs by the author
No comments:
Post a Comment