The double doors to the right mark the horsewalk that once provided access to the rear yards.
The houses were completed in the spring of 1830. An auction notice in the Morning Courier and Enquirer on March 18 offered:
Elegant houses in Vandam-street. Two elegant two story brick houses, and 36 years lease of the lots, Nos 11 and 13, Vandam st. near Mcdougal st. The lots are 25 feet by 100. The lease from Trinity Church, without ground rent. The houses have each a brick tea room in the rear; 14 feet by 18. There is a covered gangway of 7 feet leading to the brick stables in the rear, which are 14 feet by 50. The houses are finished in the most costly manner, with sliding doors and Egyptian marble mantels, &c. Vaults under the tea rooms--marble stoops, sills, lintels, &c.
As the listing mentioned, the houses sat on land known as the Trinity Farm. When John Jacob Astor took over the lease of the sprawling Richmond Hill estate around 1805, he paid the rent for decades in advance, making the plots he laid out and the houses on them more marketable.
The buyer of 13 Vandam Street leased the house. His initial residents did not stay long. An auction was held of the furnishings a year later, on April 16, 1831, the listing explaining the family was "leaving the city." It hinted, however, of the family's upscale surroundings. Included was a "splendid side-board" which had cost them $120 (about $4,300 in 2025), mahogany "card, tea & dinner tables, chairs, beds," and "a splendid assortment of China, Cut-Glass & plated ware."
The house saw a steady turnover of tenants until around 1844 when Francis Martin and his family moved in. In 1845, the family took in a boarder, Dawson Wilson, who ran a grocery at 195 Spring Street. Francis and Jane Martin's daughter Adelia Ella married William Oland Bourne around 1850. The newlyweds moved in with the family.
Born in 1819 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, William Oland Bourne was a remarkable figure. In 1851, he listed his profession as "registrar," but he wore many other hats. He was an ordained minister; the composer of poetry, books and hymns; and was highly involved in politics. By 1841, he was associated with the Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association. While living here in the 1850s, Bourne published three children's books, Little Silverstring: Or Tales and Poems for the Young; Gems from Fable-Land: A Collection of Fables Illustrated by Facts; and Goldenlink: Or Tales and Poems for the Young.
The outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 would drastically change William Oland Bourne's focus. He was appointed the chaplain of the Central Park Hospital, a military hospital, and became editor of The Soldier's Friend. His work among disabled soldiers in the hospital prompted him to sponsor a contest in 1865-66 for Union soldiers and sailors who had lost their right arms. They were encouraged to practice using their left arms and to submit samples of their penmanship. In the June 1865 issue of The Soldier's Friend, Bourne wrote:
Penmanship is a necessary requisite to any man who wants a situation under the government, or in almost any business establishment. As an inducement to the class of wounded and disabled soldiers here named to make every effort to fit themselves for lucrative and honorable positions, we offer the following premiums.
The "premiums" Bourne offered ranged from $50 to a $1,000 first prize--a generous $19,300 by 2025 conversion.
Jacob C. Scwitzer submitted his sampler-like entry on July 4, 1865. from the collection of the Library of Congress
Bourne's work with the wounded went further. On July 4, 1866, The New York Times reported,
The disabled soldiers on David's Island will have an entertainment, provided by the public. William Oland Bourne has purchased, with contributions he has received, a considerable quantity of refreshments, comprising fruits and other delicacies, for the veterans. Fire-works are not forgotten. The steamer Benton carried supplies from the Battery at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
In the meantime, Francis Martin had died in 1857, before the outbreak of the war. It was most likely William Oland Bourne who updated the house following the Civil War, raising the attic to a full third floor and adding a modern Italianate cornice.
The Bournes and Jane Martin remained in the Vandam Street house until 1869. It was leased to a series of tenants until 1879, when Fire Chief Robert King moved in.
Born in New York City in 1836, King was a bachelor. He joined Hook and Ladder Company No. 9 of the old Volunteer Fire Department. In January 1865, a bill was introduced in the State Senate to establish a professional fire department. In October that year, King was hired as a fire fighter with Hook and Ladder Company No. 7 on East 28th Street.
King's rise within the new professional fire department was rapid. Finally, in 1878 he was promoted to Battalion Chief "and placed at the head of the Third Battalion," as reported by The New York Times. "This is considered in the department a most onerous and responsible position, as the section of the City covered by the battalion comprises the dry goods district," said the article.
In January 1881, Robert King was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died in the Vandam Street house on May 10. In reporting his death, The New York Times noted, "The funeral will take place on Friday, from the late residence of Mr. King. The remains will be escorted to their last resting-place by a detachment of 60 firemen, selected from different companies, divided into 6 companies of 10 men each."
In May 1885, Samuel and Maria Scott took over the leaseholds of both 11 and 13 Vandam Street. It appears both were initially operated as boarding houses. A couple living here in 1891 had their hands full with their seven-year-old nephew, Tommy Mulligan, who lived with them. That summer Tommy disappeared. The Evening World reported, "He ran away, and was thought to have gone West to kill Indians." The other possibility, said The Evening Post, was that he was dead. "For some days after the child disappeared from this city his relatives and friends, supposing that he had been drowned, watched the river for his body." Instead, Tommy had embarked on a great adventure to see the world.
The boy had gone to the steamship piers and mingled among the passengers boarding the R.M.S. Teutonic. The steamship was well out to sea when the purser, T. H. Russell, noticed Tommy Mulligan wandering around the deck. The boy explained "that his aunt at 13 Vandam street had put him on the ship and told him to stay there," reported The Evening World. The newspaper added, "Cable inquiries from the other side developed the fact that Tommy was a most consummate liar."
The elegant R.M.S. Teutonic, launched in 1890, was Tommy Mulligan's home during his adventurous voyage. from the collection of the Library of Congress.
The stowaway was given over to the care of the stewardess. When the Teutonic docked at Liverpool, she took him to her home there until the ship left again. The Evening Post said that on July 11 Tommy's aunt and uncle "received a letter from Mr. Russell telling of the boy's whereabouts." Finally, on August 22, The Evening World reported, "Tommy Mulligan, a bright young American for whom Inspector Byrnes has been watching for the last two or three weeks, was a passenger on the Teutonic this morning." The article ended saying, "He says he 'had a bully time' on his trip and has no fears of the Barge Office experience which he will be compelled to undergo."
Starting in 1892, 13 Vandam Street was home to the Buchan family and fireman Thomas Jordan. John Buchan was a clerk, and James Buchan was a seaman. They remained until 1897, when Ellen Cassin and her daughter, also named Ellen, moved in.
Ellen was the widow of Thomas Cassin. Her daughter, known as Nellie, was a teacher. Nellie P. Cassin died at the age of 44 on March 26, 1900. Somewhat surprisingly, her funeral was not held in the parlor of 13 Vandam Street, but in the old St. Patrick's Cathedral on Mott Street.
In 1919, Trinity Church began liquidating much of its real estate holdings. On August 9 that year, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that William Sloane Coffin had purchased 15 properties in the neighborhood, including 13 Vandam Street. Coffin converted the house to "bachelor apartments," meaning they had no kitchens. An advertisement offered, "Two rooms, kitchen, bath, entire third floor, $90 monthly." The rent would translate to $1,560 today.
Frederick Burlingham and his wife, Leontine, were among the initial tenants. A journalist, Burlingham had written for The Evening World before joining the Paris staff of the New York Herald. Somewhat eccentric, in Edwardian France he had drawn attention. The New York Times said, "He became a well-known figure in American circles there, partly on account of his unconventional attire, involving sandaled feet."
His unusual footwear had cost Burlingham his job with the Herald when James Gordon Bennett, Jr. saw him wearing sandals while interviewing a prominent American. In the meantime, Burlingham's name had become a household word when he was briefly connected with a double murder.
On May 31, 1908, Marguerite Steinheil was found bound and gagged in her Paris home. Elsewhere in the house, her husband and stepmother were discovered strangled to death. Marguerite's description of the killer closely matched Frederick Burlingham and he became a prime suspect. The New York Times reported, "He produced an impeachable alibi, however, and was completely exonerated."
Frederick Burlingham, Motion Picture News, Inc. October 1921
Burlingham then turned to exploration, cinematography, and adventure. His silent film travelogues between 1913 and 1918 documented his often dangerous expeditions. On June 11, 1924, The New York Times said, "Of recent years, Mr. Burlingham [has] taken many moving pictures under hazardous conditions, climbing Alpine peaks and descending the crater of Vesuvius to a depth of 1,212 feet, being almost asphyxiated on that occasion."
The 47-year-old died of "an affection of the kidneys, with complications," according to The New York Times, on June 9, 1924. The Film Daily commented, "We're going to miss Fred Burlingham...One of the unusual figures of the business."
The horsewalk can clearly be seen in this 1941 photograph. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
By 1965, Hugh and Marguerite Stix occupied the house. Saying, "He is a retired businessman, his Viennese wife a sculptor-ceramist," on November 9, 1965, World-Telegram staff writer Marilyn Milow wrote they, "maintain the Rare Sea Shell Gallery in their 130-year-old house at 13 Vandam Street." Her article continued, "Building their collection, now estimated at 15,000, included a year-long trip around the world during which they bought shells from native collectors in tropical countries."
Before embarking on their shell collection, Marguerite had created accessories for Paris fashion houses before fleeing the Nazis. Now she transformed some of the shells into jewelry, like "distinctive shell earrings, pins and cuff links," which visitors could purchase in the gallery. Her sculptures were eventually exhibited at the Bertha Shaefer Gallery and acquired by the New School and other institutions. Her jewelry was worn by the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and was sold at Cartier's as well.
The couple was still living in the Vandam Street house in January 1975 when Marguerite died at the age of 67. It is unclear how long Hugh remained here.
A renovation completed in 2013 resulted in an apartment in the basement and a single-family home in the upper floors.
photographs by the author
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