The sign on the window, Apotheke, reflects the drugstore's German owner. taken June 13, 1913, from Colonial Architecture In New York City, 1913 (copyright expired)
Around 1824, the two-and-a-half story house and store was erected at the northwest corner of Varick and Charlton Streets. Unlike the neighboring houses, the Federal architecture of which featured peaked roofs, this building had a gambrel roof that harkened to the Dutch houses that once lined the streets of Lower Manhattan. Faced in Flemish bond brick on the front and clapboards on the Varick Street side, its attic level had an arched window below the gable that mimicked those in the dormers.
The original occupant of the upper floors seems to have been Catharine Moncrieff, listed here in 1827. By 1830, William Cornell, a "measurer of grain," and his family lived here.
Around 1840, Lewis Radford moved his family into the upper floor and established his L. & T. Radford grocery in the store. He and his brother, Thomas, operated another grocery store at 653 Greenwich Street, as well.
The Radford grocery made way to Patrick Boylan's saloon around 1854. Boylan had another saloon at 68 Broome Street. By now, the upper portion was operated as a boarding house. Along with the Boylans in 1854, William Brown, a painter, boarded here and would remain at least through 1857.
By 1859, William H. Cleary and Charles Stammler owned 172 Varick Street, and around that time, Cleary became a partner in Boylan's saloon. The boarding house portion was now operated by Mary A. Wallace, whose husband Alexander, was an engineer.
On October 14, 1861, Mary visited the village of Fort Washington in the northern part of Manhattan. When she returned, she discovered her small purse was gone. Her advertisement in the New York Herald the following day read:
Lost--On Monday morning, on the Hudson River Railroad, half-past-nine train leaving Fort Washington, a Portemonnaie, containing about $50, the earnings of a hard working woman. The finder will be liberally rewarded by leaving it at 172 Varick street, corner of Charlton, with Mrs. Wallace.
Alexander Wallace died at the age of 47 on July 14, 1864. His funeral was held in the house the following afternoon. Mary A. Wallace would continue to operate the boarding house for a decade.
The saloon, in the meantime, became P. J. McQueeney & Co. around 1867, run by Edward and Patrick J. McQueeney. The brothers lived at 55 Charlton and 229 W. Houston Street, respectively. The saloon changed hands again in 1870 when Patrick McKenna, who had a second saloon at 107 Varick Street, took over the lease. McKenna and his wife, Catharine, lived at 89 Charlton Street.
An improbable situation began in 1880 when William H. Cleary and Charles Stammler divided the ground floor to two spaces. While Patrick McKenna continued his saloon here, the owners gave the second lease to Charles F. Jenssen for his drugstore. It was most likely at this point that the corner entrance was added.
The unconventional bedfellows seem to have coexisted well. The Irish saloonkeeper and the German pharmacist were well-known in their respective professions. In 1888, Patrick McKenna was on the committee of the annual ball held by the Wine, Liquor, and Beer Dealers' Central Association at the Metropolitan Opera House in March.
A month earlier, Charles F. Jenssen was involved in the death of the two-year-old daughter of William Seiberg, a shoemaker who lived at 241 Spring Street. According to the New York Press on February 27, 1888, the girl, "died from the effects of poison put up by mistake by the clerk of Charles F. Jensen [sic], a druggist at 172 Varick street." Jenssen was exonerated by Deputy coroner William T. Jenkins, who said the toddler died of "diphtheria and scarlet fever" and that the poison "did not in his opinion hasten the child's death," reported the New York Press.
Interestingly, in 1893, the Heath Department distributed "Culture Outfits" to certain pharmacies. The kits, free of cost, would be used to detect diphtheria in suspected patients. The Health Department's Annual Report that year noted that the Jenssen pharmacy was one of those "stations." In 1900, the Jenssen store was officially deemed a "Health Board Station." Here, said The Medical Directory of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, physicians could obtain, "culture Outfits, Bottles for Sputa, Antitoxin, etc."
A bizarre incident occurred on July 8, 1905. The New York Sun explained that Mrs. Annie Shaughnessy, who lived on Charles Street, was on Broadway near Bleecker Street when she, "blew her nose in a handkerchief that contained a pin, then snuffed the pin up her nose." The 30-year-old realized what she had done, and made it as far as the Jenssen pharmacy, "when she became hysterical." A police man responded, who took Mrs. Shaughnessy to St. Vincent's Hospital, "where the pin was soon removed," reported the article.
Around the time of Annie Shaughnessy's unfortunate pin incident, George H. Brennan took over the saloon portion of the ground floor. The family lived upstairs, including his adult sons William and Joseph R.
On the evening of March 15, 1907, George Brennan, described by The New York Times as, "an elderly man, who runs a saloon at 172 Varick Street," went uptown to attend the Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre on Times Square. As he started across the street, he was knocked down by a wagon. George told the driver "It wasn't your fault; drive along now." The article said, "He also tipped a boy who brushed him off and another who picked up his spectacles."
Police Sergeant Archie Taggart, "the giant of the traffic squad, an old friend," according to The Times, rushed over to see if Brennan was all right. George lamented to him,
It's a shame. Why couldn't this have happened two days later? I took out an accident policy only this morning, but if I put in a claim to the company for this they'd say it was a fake. Such luck!
Later that year, William H. Brennan had a much more serious encounter with the law. Unlike his brother, who worked in their father's saloon, William worked at Feltman's Pavilion in Coney Island. When the manager, Jesse F. Sherwood, fired him that summer, he suspected that Brennan, "harbored a grudge."
On the night of August 20, Sherwood was told that Brennan was "hanging around with a gun." The Brooklyn Standard Union reported, "Believing that a stich in time saves nine, Sherwood didn't wait for Brennan to get 'mussy.'" He had several waiters seize and frisk him. They found a loaded revolver. He was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, although Brennan pleaded innocent.
William H. Cleary died in the spring of 1914. His estate noted he still owned "one half interest in equity" of 172 Varick Street. At the time, the Jenssen pharmacy and the Brennan saloon still occupied the ground floor. But they--and the venerable building as well--would soon be gone.
On February 25, 1912, The Sun had reported on the proposed widening of Varick Street. "To carry out the proposed improvements the city will have to purchase all or parts of about 265 properties." By October 1914, 172 Varick Street was gone.
A very interesting article. Small correction: the building was at the northeast corner of Varick and Charlton, not the northwest.
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