George Paulding erected three identical, brick-faced houses at 20 to 24 Charlton Street in 1826. Each just under 19-feet wide, they were two-and-a-half stories tall. While more upscale homes on the block had elegant doorways with fluted columns and leaded sidelights, these had modest entrances with simple pilasters and transoms.
No. 22 appears to have been initially rented. In 1827, the families of Dr. John F. Gray and James Perkins, a broker, shared the house. It was no doubt Dr. Gray who placed the anonymous ad in the New York Morning Courier on June 3, 1828:
Notice--German Anatomy--Whoever bought a volume of Explanation of Mayer's Anatomical Plates, at Henry's auction room, in February or March, last, will find a purchaser of the same (if disposed to sell) by calling at 132 Fulton, or 22 Charlton street. The volume in question is a small folio and in the German tongue.
The two families soon moved on--the Grays to 28 Vesey Street and the Perkins family to 37 Charlton Street. In 1830, the Joseph Finch family occupied 22 Charlton Street. They suffered a heartbreaking loss on August 30 that year, when their seven-month-old daughter, Elizabeth Margaret, died. Her funeral was held in the parlor on September 1.
It was most likely while a new tenant was moving in in 1836 that thieves made off with unusual items. An notice in the New York Morning Courier on May 27 read:
10 dollars reward--stolen from No. 22 Charton street, one Brussel Rug, red, white and yellow ground, 10 or 12 yards, three-fourth damask Venetian stair carpet. Also, large blue table cloth cover. Pawn-brokers and others are requested to stop if offered for sale, and shall be entitled to the above reward.
A rapid succession of tenants came and went through the next decades. In October 1870, a "well-to-do Texas family named Denis" arrived in New York "and took up their residence at 22 Charlton street," according to The New York Sun. Their eldest son, Edward, was about 15 years old and found a job in a bookstore near the Cooper Union. The New York Sun said, "His habits were studious and domestic."
On April 10, 1871, Edward left work and headed home. Four days later, The New York Sun reported he, "was seen at Eighth street and Fourth avenue, but since that time he has been missing. His employers speak of him in the highest terms." It is unclear if the teen was ever found.
No. 22 Charlton Street finally found a long-term resident around 1880 in Marietta Zanfretta, also known as Madame Siegrist. Born in Venice, Austria, in 1832, The World said, "She had been a marchioness, a clown's wife, an acrobat, a tight-rope walker, a dancer, a chanteuse, an impresario, a modiste, an artist and what not besides."
An early cabinet card depicted Maria Zanfretta in costume.
She grew up in a family that performed in circuses and became a favorite of audiences because of her skill on the tightrope. She performed pirouettes and somersaults above enthralled audiences. Following her marriage to Francois Siegrist, the two organized the Zanfretta Troupe, which included Marietta's brother, Alexander; and Francois's brother, Auguste.
Francois Siegrist died in 1878. On May 17, 1881, The New York Times recalled, "Mrs. Marietta Siegrist...under the stage name of Marie Zanfretti [sic], some years ago was a performer on the tight-rope, and her husband was noted as a pantomimist. Mrs. Siegrist is reported to be well off. She lives in good style in Charlton-street, in a house which she owns." Living with Marietta in the Charlton Street house were Alexander Zanfretta and Marietta's grown daughter, Blanche Siegrist, a "serio comic" whose stage name was Anneta L. Siegrist.
In March 1881, Marietta took in a boarder, Themoleon Calteau, described by The New York Times as, "a young Frenchman, who claims to be an educated electrician." Blanche Siegrist, whom The Times said was "a young and prepossessing woman," caught Calteau's romantic eye. Blanche spurned his "marked attentions," but Themoleon Calteau was undeterred. He "continued his attentions until they became persecutions," according to the newspaper.
Finally, on Sunday evening, May 15, Marietta called her boarder into the parlor. Blanche was already there. When Marietta told him he could no longer remain in her house, he snapped, drawing a large revolver from his coat. Blanche screamed and ran to her room, directly over the parlor. According to Marietta, Calteau exclaimed, "Ah, that is it. Since you will not give your daughter to me no one else shall have her."
When he heard Blanche's footsteps over his head, he fired three times into the ceiling. The New York Times reported, "The bullets passed through the ceiling of the parlor and the floor of the room above, but without doing any further damage." Calteau threw the revolver to the floor and ran out of the house. He was arrested shortly afterward.
In 1883, Marietta married Francois (known as Frank) Victor Kenebel. He listed his profession as "actor" as the time, and as "manager" in 1892.
In the meantime, Blanche had married the well-known athlete William J. "Billy" Madden, a champion boxer, trainer and manager. He was, as well, an author, playwright and sports promoter and until 1891 ran the Athletic Hall. By the fall of 1892, Blanche was back in the Charlton Street house. On September 17, The Evening World reported that she sought, "her most novel divorce suit from a common law marriage." As it turned out, according to Blanche, "Billy fixed up a fake marriage certificate at the store of his friend George Block in Harlem, to fool her mother, who couldn't read English. They lived together a long time, and acknowledge each other as man and wife."
But when Marietta refused to lend him money on July 15, 1892, "Billy got mad" and the next day the notice of his marriage to Eileen McGuinness at Mechanicville, New York was published. Despite the notice, there was no record of the marriage with the village clerk. Blanche stressed that despite the lack of marital documentation, Billy and Eileen were living together and "therefore she asks for a divorce," said The Evening World.
Alexander Zanfretta, called by the New York Herald "a professional dancer and acrobat," would also be having domestic problems before long. His second wife, Emma, was a dancer. The newspaper said, "The Zanfrettas, husband and wife, appeared at Miner's Eighth Avenue Theatre in the spring of 1895." During that appearance, they met railroad mogul Andrew Anderson, Sr. and his wife. Before long, Mrs. Anderson, was imploring her husband to cease his attentions to Emma Zanfretta. The New York Herald reported, "Zanfretta says his wife on May 1, 1895, left him, and took up her residence with Anderson not long afterward.
Zanfretta moved back to Marietta's house. A year later, he was appearing at a Coney Island music hall, when he looked into the audience and saw his wife and Anderson. Following his act, he changed into his street clothes, went into the auditorium, and "struck Anderson several times in the face, continuing the assault until he was dragged away," according to the New York Herald. In August 1897, he began divorce proceedings and filed damages against Anderson.
On March 20, 1898, The World began a lengthy article saying, "The head and progenitor of the most numerous and talented family of dancers, pantomimists, acrobats and chanteuses in all the world, died unnoticed in this city the other day." Marietta Zanfretta Siegrist Kenebel had died on February 8.
The Charlton Street house almost immediately became home to James Drury. He was the secretary of the Continental League, which railed against the United States' imperialistic expansion beyond the North American continent. On January 9, 1899, The Evening Post reported that the group met "to oppose the permanent retention of the Philippine Islands and entangling alliances with any European Power."
In 1919, William Sloane Coffin and his wife, Katherine, began buying up vintage houses in the neighborhood. In August alone, they purchased 14 properties, including 22 Charlton Street. They raised the attic to a full floor, giving it paired sets of casement windows. The Coffins sold the remodeled house in November 1921.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
The vintage house was renovated again in 1987, resulting in a basement apartment and single-family home on the three main floors. It drew the attention of entertainer Taylor Swift in the winter of 2014. On January 15, Metro reported she "checked out" the $6.25 million property. The star told Vanity Fair that she buys, "houses near every boy I like." In the end, she did not purchase 22 Charlton Street.
photograph by the author
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