The 1887 Calvary Methodist Church (Salem United Methodist) 2190 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.

 

photograph by the author

On New Year's Day 1887, the Record & Guide recapped the "notable additions to the architectural attractions of New York for the past year."  On the long list of "the costly and substantial buildings of 1886" was the West Harlem Methodist Episcopal Church, chapel and parsonage, at the northwest corner of 129th Street and 7th Avenue (later Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard).  Designed by John Rochester Thomas, according to the article the cost of construction was $150,000, or just under $5 million in 2024.

Thomas's brawny, brick-faced Romanesque Revival structure featured nearly mirror-image facades on the avenue and side street.  A prominent bell tower rose at the corner rose to a high conical cap topped with a crocket.  King's Handbook of New York City was tepidly impressed, saying the "massive tower [is] impressive from its size, but not strikingly picturesque in treatment."

In its January 1, 1887 article, the Record & Guide had mentioned that John Rochester Thomas was also designing a structure for Calvary Church on 57th Street near Sixth Avenue.  Calvary Methodist Episcopal was formed just four years earlier.  The two congregations soon merged and on December 22, 1890, The New York Times reported, "The new edifice of the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church...was dedicated yesterday with appropriate services in the morning, afternoon, and evening."

During the morning service, at which "fully 2,500 persons were present," according to The Times, "An earnest appeal to the congregation was made for money to clear the debt incurred in the remodeling of the church, and $18,000 was raised."

In 1892, King's Handbook of New York City said, "Calvary Methodist church is said to have the largest congregation of any church of that denomination in the city, although it is of recent formation...The main auditorium is among the largest of the Protestant churches in the city, seating 2,200 people."  The article continued:

It is attractively furnished and decorated, and abundantly lighted from the three large Catharine-wheel windows and numerous smaller ones, and from the stained-glass opening in the flat panelled [sic] roof.  A spacious gallery, with graceful horse-shoe curve, sweeps around three sides of the auditorium, and there is a feeling of roominess and light which adds to the general attractiveness.  A large chapel and several class-rooms are connected with the church.

The status of Calvary Methodist Church was evidenced on Sunday morning, April 30, 1899 when the President of the United States, William McKinley, attended services.  The President was accompanied by his brother, Abner, since, as reported by the New York Journal and Advertiser, "Mrs. McKinley, who as still wearied from the trip on Saturday, remained quietly in her room at the Hotel Manhattan."

Unthinkable today, President McKinley gave his bodyguards the day off.  "He was sure nobody would hurt him," explained the article.  "A mounted policeman, however, rode with the carriage through Central Park."  Because McKinley had asked the press not to announce where he would be worshiping, the church was only normally crowded.  The congregation, however, had been tipped off and over the entrance was a large American flag and the pulpit was decorated with a flag and flowers.  "One great bunch of roses was sent by the ladies of the church for Mrs. McKinley."

After McKinley placed a dollar bill "fresh from the mint" in the offering plate, a deacon "put a silver dollar in the plate and proudly kept the bill," said the article.  "The service concluded with the singing of America, in which the President joined."

Rev. Dr. Willis P. Odell had been pastor of Calvary for two years at the time of McKinley's visit.  He and his wife, the former Eva Josephine Beede, had met at Tilton Seminary in New Hampshire and had graduated together.  They lived in the rectory and summered at The Laurels at Sandow, New Hampshire.  The estate had been in Eva's family for years.  (Churches with well-heeled congregations routinely closed during the summer months, since the members were, for the most part, away.)

Rev. Odell was transferred to the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1904.  His last sermon here was scheduled for Easter Sunday.  Eva Odell would not live to see it.  She died of a heart attack on March 26 at the age of 52.  Her husband officiated at her funeral in Calvary Methodist Church two days later.

Eva's will provided firm restrictions on the title to The Laurels.  She named her husband as life tenant, and cautioned that if it were to be sold, "the purchaser shall not be a drunkard, a spend-thrift, or a speculator, because it has been the home of one God-fearing, sober, industrious family for generations."

Rev. Dr. Charles L. Goodell took over the pastorship, and it was not especially long before he was faced with a crisis.  On February 12, 1906, The New York Times reported, "the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church...said to have one of the largest Methodist congregations in the United States, has always borne the reputation of having a first-class choir."  The 25-member choir was headed by organist and choirmaster A. Y. Cornell.

A week before the article, on the night of February 5, the church board met.  One member mentioned that the attendance had noticeably increased, adding, "I think it's due to the fine work of the choir."

Another board member reacted, "What?  The choir?  That howling mob!"  He then attributed the increased attendance  to "the fine preaching" of Rev. Dr. Goodell.

Someone leaked the "howling mob" comment to a choir member.  By Saturday all members had agreed to strike, refusing to sing until a formal retraction was published.  The following Monday, The New York Times reported, "When services began in the church yesterday morning the choir filed down the main aisle of the church and took seats...Instead of twenty-five men and women occupying the accustomed choir seats there were only two women and two men, professional singers."

After the service, Rev. Goodell "immediately called a meeting of the board," said The Times.  After an hour's discussion, a statement was given to the press that said, in part, that the word "howling" was not used "in any sense as a term of opprobrium" and that the choir's "services are highly appreciated by every member of the official board." 

Dr. Rev. Goodell had mended the wound and the choir was back in its seats for evening services.

The tall conical tower cap was intact when this 1910 postcard was published.

The demographics of the upscale suburb were noticeably changing after World War I.  Mass transportation made the district easily accessible.  On November 5, 1922, The New York Times began an article saying, "very few of the old families remain which made the Harlem section of the city a delightful community residential locality a quarter of a century ago and more."  The article said the Calvary Church property had been sold "for $25,800, with the understanding that the present congregation will not leave for two years."

Rev. Willis P. Odell had returned to the congregation three years earlier.  He explained the membership had dwindled from more than 2,000 to "barely 800, as so many of the old families have moved away."  Many of those congregants were reacting to what would later be termed "white fear."  The article noted, "Practically all of the Seventh Avenue area down to 126th Street has been captured by the colored population."

The property had been purchased by the Salem Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Rev. Frederick A. Cullen as a mission of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in the East Village in 1902.  In 1908, Salem Chapel became an independent congregation: the Salem Methodist Episcopal Church.

Frederick A. Cullen was born in Maryland in 1868.  In 1919, he married Carolyn Belle Mitchell, who worked closely with him in the church.  Like so many Harlem religious leaders, Cullen was also highly involved in civil rights and would serve as the president of the Harlem branch of the NAACP.  In 1917, he was vice-president of the Negro Silent Protest Parade, commonly known as the Silent Parade.  On July 28 that year, 10,000 Blacks marched along Fifth Avenue to protest racist violence like the lynchings in Waco, Texas and Memphis, Tennessee.

Not long after their marriage, the Cullens adopted a teenage boy, Countée Porter.  He would become a recognized poet and important member of the Harlem Renaissance.  Rev. Cullen officiated over many marriages, but none was so personal as the wedding of Countée Cullen to Nina Yolande Du Bois in April 1928.  The bride held a Masters Degree from Columbia University and the groom had recently won a Guggenheim fellowship.

In 1942, after heading Salem United Methodist Church for four decades, Rev. Frederick Cullen stepped down because of failing health.  He was, nevertheless, no doubt among the congregation who assembled in the church on September 24, 1944 to hear Secretary of State Thomas J. Curran speak.

Curran defended the Republican Party, saying that, "while the Negroes of America had been the subject of political exploitation for many years, the party of Lincoln had not done the exploiting."  He promised that the party would push for a Congressional inquiry "to ascertain the extent of mistreatment, segregation and discrimination against Negroes in the armed services and establishment of a permanent Fair Employment Practice Commission."

Rev. Frederick A. Cullen died on May 25, 1946.  The following year, Rev. Charles Young Trigg oversaw a six-year renovation to the church by Joseph Judge and Samuel Snodgrass.  It may have been at this time that the tower cap was replaced with a shorter version.  The sanctuary received a new organ at the time--the rebuilt 1931 Möller Organ Company instrument removed from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue.  It was rebuilt for the church at the Möller factory.

On April 13, 1953, The New York Times reported, "Five hundred worshipers at the Salem Methodist Church, 129th Street and Seventh Avenue, celebrated the church's fiftieth anniversary yesterday...The sanctuary, which was recently renovated, was reconsecrated."  The article recalled, "Early in its history the church formed athletic and cultural groups."  It mentioned that Sugar Ray Robinson had "graduated into the prize-fighting ring" from the church's athletic club, and noted that Countée Cullen "became one of the most famous Negro poets of this century."

The tradition of activism and support for civil rights continued throughout the decades.  On May 2, 1971, The New York Times reported that a "small group of prestigious black New Yorkers" had formed the Committee for the Legal Defense of the Harlem Five" and had met in the basement of the Salem Methodist Church "to mobilize support for the Harlem Five, a group of youths on trial for allegedly conspiring to kill policemen."

image by ajay_suresh

Despite its reduced tower cap, John Rochester Thomas's striking 1887 structure commands as much attention today as it did nearly 140 years ago.

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The 1894 Benjamin Olio House - 62 West 71st Street

photo via streeteasy.com

At a time when real estate operators were throwing up rows of houses in the quickly-developing Upper West Side, on October 1891 developer John S. Hawley paid $16,000 to Francis Crawford for a single vacant lot at No. 62 West 71st Street, between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West.   The price, equal to about $464,000 today, spoke of the skyrocketing property values in the neighborhood.  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide commented that Hawley bought the empty plot "for improvement."

Improve it he did.  He hired John Rochester Thomas to design a high-class residence on the 25-foot wide plot.  His choice of architects was a bit surprising.  Thomas was not known for his domestic work, but for his designing of prisons, armories, college buildings and churches.  His 71st Regiment Armory, completed in 1893, would loom over Park Avenue like a brooding medieval fortress.  

Shortly after accepting John S. Hawley's commission John Rochester Thomas would begin work on the 71st Regiment Armory.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Construction on the 71st Street house began in 1892 and was completed two years later.  Thomas's familiarity with prisons and armories was evident in the striking Romanesque Revival residence.   

Approached by a dog-legged box stoop, the wide, arched entrance sat within a slightly projecting rusticated stone base.  The second and third floors held a dizzying array of shapes--an angled bay at the second floor topped by grouped openings within a large arch at the third, and and a two-story bay with gently rounded corners.  The fourth floor took the form of an arcade with engaged Corinthian columns.  Rather than a cornice, Thomas topped the structure with a corbelled, battle-ready parapet.

photo via the NYC Dept of  Records & Information Services

In April 1894 Hawley sold the house to Benjamin Odio for $60,000--or about $1.84 million today.  Odio was a partner with Felipe Perozo and Jose Lavandeyre in Odio & Perozo.  The firm dealt in a broad variety of imported products like tobacco, mahogany, cedar and coconuts.

Odio's residency was short-lived.  By 1896 the family of Salvador Ros occupied No. 62.  Born in Cuba, Ros was a naturalized citizen.  He controlled the 80,000-acre plantation, the Santa Fe Plantation and Sugar Company, in the Dominican Republic.  In 1896 the factory on the plantation was producing 40,000 bags of sugar per year.

Ros and his wife had three sons, Salvador E., Osvaldo and Leonico.  The boys enjoyed the privileges of massive wealth, including educations in the United States and France.  

On November 3, 1896 the Evening Telegram announced "The marriage of Miss Seltman to Dr. Osvaldo Ros, son of Mr. and Mrs. Salvador Ros, of West Seventy-first street, will be solemnized to-morrow evening in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament."  The bride was Olga T. Seltman, whose well-to-do family had immigrated from Germany.

The family's joy turned to grief six months later.  On April 30, 1897 26-year old Leonico had died.  His funeral was held in the 71st Street house on May 2.

The announcement of the household sale in November 1901 hinted at the family's luxurious furnishings.  Among the items offered for sale were an Empire parlor suite, Persian and silk rugs, marble "figures and busts," and "a collection of Oil Paintings by the leading American and foreign artists."

No. 62 was purchased by Victor C. Cadieux, who not only changed homes that year, but professions.   In February The Morning Telegraph had reported "Mr. Victor C. Cadieux, who has for many years devoted a great portion of his time to the collection of art, has opened an auction gallery under the Victoria Hotel...where he intends to carry on monthly sales of high class art furniture and bric-a-brac.  Mr. Cadieux has felt the need, for many years, of a place where American artists could dispose of their work direct to the public."

The millionaire collector filled the 71st Street house with artwork, antiques and European furniture.  But his new venture was an almost instant failure.  The first hint of his financial collapse came a year later, in October 1902, when an "Announcement Extraordinary" appeared in the New-York Tribune.  It advertised the "absolute auction" of the artwork within "The Palatial Residence of Mr. Victor C. Cadieux."  The announcement described a "wealth of rarest art treasures," saying "seldom has a sale of equal importance and magnificence been ordered."

But it was not only the collection bronzes, porcelains and paintings Cadieux was selling.  The ad went on to describe his Steinway baby grand piano, a tall case clock, bedroom, dining room and library furniture, and even the china "from the art centers of Europe."

The sale did not stave off the inevitable and on July 30, 1903 Cadieux declared bankruptcy.  Five months later the house was sold at foreclosure auction for $45,000 (about $1.35 million today).  The buyer was socialite Mary Jay Schieffelin, the great-granddaughter of John Jay and the widow of millionaire William Henry Schieffelin.

She had no intention of living in the house, however, but had other designs for it.  On November 5, 1904 The Globe and Commercial Advertiser announced "The Vedanta Society, which removed during to the summer to its society house at 62 West Seventy-first street, will resume its lectures there to-morrow morning.  The opening theme of the Swami Abhedananda will be 'The Necessity of Religion."

The Vedantic faith first took root in Manhattan in 1894 when Swami Vivekananda arrived after delivering lectures in Chicago.  He founded the New York sect of the religion, first meeting in rented rooms.  In October 1899 the Vedanta Society established permanent headquarters in Tuxedo Hall.  Only five years later it needed the larger quarters.

In reporting on the Society's tenth anniversary celebrations in January 1905, the New-York Tribune noted "the members of the society follow the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, who came to this country from India in 1893 to represent the Vedantic philosophy at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago.  The work in this city is led by the Swami Abhedananda."

The 1907 issue of The World Almanac and Encyclopedia detailed the Vedanta explained "The object of the Society is not to form a new sect or creed, or to make proselytes, but to explain through logic and reason the spiritual laws that govern our lives."  It noted that in the 71st Street building were its "Circulating Library, Reading Room and Chapel."  During the winter season a service and lecture were held every Sunday morning by Swami Abhedananda.  "There are Yogo classes for practical training in the Science of Breathing, in Concentration, Meditation and Self-Control every Thursday evening," said the article.

In 1908 the Vedanta Society had again outgrown its headquarters  and moved to No. 135 West 80th Street.  No. 62 was leased to Mrs. S. M. Moody in 1910.  The family remained through 1913 when George F. Moody, presumably a son, purchased a house in the Bronx.   Once again a sale of the upscale furnishings, held on April 29, 1913, received significant attention. 

Around 1941 the had house survived with little change.  via the NYC Department of Records & Information Services

Mary Jay Schieffelin died on January 18, 1916 and the 71st Street house was soon afterward being operated as a rooming house.  One female renter hoped to find new roommates in April 1923, advertising "Young Lady shares rooms with girls.  Kitchenette."

In 1965 the once elegant home was converted to a total of 17 apartments.  It was most likely at this time that the stoop was removed, the entrance moved to street level, and the lower level given a bizarre space age remake.  The red brick and brownstone which once highlighted the contrast of color, materials and shapes, was painted white. 

Despite the abuse (and partly because of it) the former Olio residence stands out on the block just as it did in 1894.