image via douglaselliman.com
In the 17th century, the farm of Dutch settler Jacobus Hendrickson de Kype stretched northward along the East River from what today is East 30th to about 37th Street, and west beyond First Avenue. In 1655, De Kype erected his large brick and stone house on the property. The family let its surname, anglicized to Kip, to the river's bay and to his property, which was known as the Kip's Bay Farm.
By the decade prior to the outbreak of civil war, the Kip's Bay neighborhood had seen the opening of streets and avenues and the erection of rowhouses and shops. Around 1855, a trio of Anglo-Italianate rowhouses was erected on East 32nd Street between Second and Third Avenues. Faced in brownstone, the 16-foot-wide homes featured rusticated bases with fully arched openings. Graceful molded lintels sat upon the elliptically arched upper floor windows. A cast iron balcony ran the width of the second floor.
Andrew W. Bogert, a cabinetmaker and furniture dealer, moved his family into the westernmost of the three homes, 128 East 32nd Street. The address would be changed to 222 in 1864. The Bogerts remained through 1858. The following year, Sara Gough began operating a boarding house here.
Her advertisement in the New-York Tribune on March 9, 1859, read:
Board for One Family, with the whole parlor floor, or the third floor, in the English basement house, with all the improvements, No. 128 East 32d st. Few if any other boarders in the house. Sarah Gough
Sarah's mention of "few if any other boarders" was important. The higher class boarding houses took in only a few select tenants. In 1860, living in the house with Sara were her son, Adna H. Gough; and Jonathan Dickinson and Henry R. Cooper, who were both clerks.
In 1863, Adna H. Gough traveled to Michigan, presumably with his mother, where he purchased land on August 5. He is listed as among "the first land purchasers of Saginaw County, Michigan," by the Saginaw Genealogical Society.
The East 32nd Street house became home to the John Turnbull family. On April 18, 1863, Turnbull wrote a testimonial letter for a Dr. Lighthill, who treated "diseases of the Eye, Ear, and Air-Passages," according to his ad. Turnbull's letter appeared in The New York Times:
A member of my family had had a troublesome affection of the ears since infancy. I was recommended to place her under the treatment of Dr. Lighthill, and I am happy to state that he has been completely successful in her case. Those who desire to know the particulars may apply at my residence.John Turnbull, No. 128 East 32d-st.
That family member was, most likely, daughter Agnes Turnbull. Beginning in 1864, she taught in the primary department of School No. 53 on West 13th Street near Sixth Avenue.
Also living in the house was Agnes's brother, George R. Turnbull. On March 9, 1865, he was summoned to testify in the alleged corruption in the election of William E. Dodge to Congress. His testimony revealed the general confusion being created by the city's comprehensive address renumbering program. When asked where he lived, he answered, "128 East 32nd Street, old number; the new number is 222."
The house appears to have been operated as a boarding house again in the 1870s. Then, in 1879, it was purchased by 24-year-old Dr. Robert John Heinmuller. Born in New York City in 1855, he received his medical degree from the University of the City of New-York in 1875. The bachelor was an attending physician at the Bellevue Hospital Dispensary, and in 1877 was appointed an Assistant Sanitary Inspector in the Bureau of Contagious Diseases within the Department of Sanitation.
In 1941, the house next door retained its second-floor balcony. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
In 1881, Heinmuller married Amalie Neuman. The groom was now 26 and the bride 21. They soon had a daughter, Ilsa Georgina. Living with the family in 1883 was Albert Heinmuller, obviously a relative, who was attending the Free Academy of New York.
Heinmuller's position with the Department of Sanitation brought him into contact with dangerous communicable diseases like cholera and yellow fever. Other times, he was tasked with tracking down the cause of what appeared to be the beginnings of a mysterious outbreak. In February 1883, the family of Gustav Stepbach fell ill with trichiniasis--a parasitic disease caused by roundworms found in undercooked meat.
The New York Herald reported, "It was learned that the three had eaten freely of raw ham about a month previously." Now, said the article, Dr. Heinmuller, "began an investigation with a view of fixing the responsibility for the sale of the diseased meat which communicated the malady."
Later that year, according to the New-York Tribune, Heinmuller, "began to suffer from brain trouble." The article did not specify what the disorder was, however it may have been a slight stroke. Then, in August 1884, while working in the laboratory, he spilled acid onto his foot. Because of the injury, he "was obliged to stay in doors," said the New-York Tribune. On August 29, Robert John Heinmuller suffered a fatal stroke at the age of 29.
To make ends meet, Amalie Heinmuller took in boarders. One of the earliest was 33-year-old Annie Bennett, who took a room in May 1885. She told Amalie that she came from Baltimore and had left her husband, a restaurant owner. The New York Herald explained, "She left home, accusing him of infidelity." Annie said she would need a room only until her divorce was finalized, after which she would have the means to settle somewhere permanently.
The newspaper said, "During her stay at the Heinmillers' [sic] Mrs. Bennett worked hard all the time, working for the family and taking in sewing from outside; a good deal of it from the wife of a baker living at 485 Third avenue." According to Amalie, said the article, "After she had been there a short time her husband came to see her, and repeated the visit once or twice. The interviews were evidently not pleasant ones, and each left the young woman nervous and excited."
Annie Bennett's sewing jobs were not earning enough money. By the end of summer, she told Amalie, "she did not know what she should do. She had scarcely anything left." Finally, acknowledging that she owned Amalie back rent, in September Annie packed her trunks, asked Amalie to hold them for her, and left, without saying where she would go. The New York Herald said, "Mrs. Heinmiller [sic] supposed that she was going to visit her husband or her relatives to get assistance, and kept her room waiting for her; but days and then weeks slipped away until it was decided that she would not return."
Finally on September 30, Annie returned only to find her room was rented. She sat in the parlor and wept, telling Amalie that her friends and family had not answered her letters and she was desperate for money. The following day Annie Bennett's body was discovered in the Morton House, where she committed suicide by inhaling lighting gas.
Edward Bessinger rented a room here in 1902. On July 29 that year, he was walking along Fifth Avenue with James Pardee, the sexton of St. Stephen's Church, when someone cried, "Fire!" and another person yelled, "There's a watchman in there!" The vacant brownstone house at 304 Fifth Avenue had caught fire. Bessinger "darted into the building, through the smoke which was coming from the cellar in suffocating volumes," as reported by The New York Times. Policeman Barbour had been holding back the crowd of spectators. He and Edward Costello ran into the building. The newspaper said, "Groping their way down the cellar stairs, they came across Bessinger unconscious at the foot of the stairway." He was carried out and transported to the New York Hospital. Bessinger survived, but, unfortunately, the body of the aged watchman whom he had hoped to rescue was discovered later.
By the mid-1920s, 222 East 32nd Street was operated as a rooming house. On September 20, 1927, "Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan" took a room. In fact, the couple were Alfred and Helen Morin. Alfred was arrested for burglary and jailed in The Tombs shortly after they moved in. On September 23, Helen went to The Tombs to visit him, but was quickly intercepted by detectives.
Since his arrest, Morin had been subject to questioning concerning the murder of Patrolman Henry E. A. Meyer. Getting nowhere with him, the authorities turned their attention to Helen (who initially told them her name was Helen Moroney). Perhaps fearing that she, too, would end up behind bars, she told officials where to find Edward J. "Red" Reilly, an accomplice in the shooting. He was picked up that afternoon.
photograph by Anthony Bellov
The house was renovated in 1961, resulting in a duplex apartment in the basement and first floor, and one apartment each on the upper floors.
many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post
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