George Keister's 1899 35-37 East 20th Street

 

John H. E. Whitney was born in New York City on July 30, 1840.  He became an expert engraver but in 1861, as noted decades later by The Printing Art, "the Civil War opening at this time, patriotism took the place of self-interest and we find instead of a wood engraver, a 'Hawkins Zouave.'"  Following the conflict, Whitney returned to New York and to engraving, becoming an expert in his craft.  Whitney lived in a high-stooped brownstone at 37 East 20th Street.  He died there on November 22, 1891.

At the time of his death, Whitney's once-refined residential block was seeing change as commerce inched northward into the neighborhood.  Six years later, in July 1897, the Knickerbocker Realty Improvement Company was formed for "the erection of business buildings which are to be constructed and operated by the company," as reported by Building & Architecture in New York.  Its first project was the demolition of the former Whitney house and its neighbor at 35 East 20th Street, and the erection of an eight-story loft-and-store building.

Only a month into the firm's existence, its architect George Keister filed plans.   Unlike many of the mercantile buildings at the time, which were faced in cast iron, the 50-foot wide structure would be clad in limestone and granite.  Prominent cornices marked the entrances that flanked the vast ground floor show window--one to the upper floors and one to the store.  The rusticated second floor was distinguished by a frieze of interlocking palmettes and a striking, classical caryatid between the show windows.  Bowed balconettes at the fourth floor almost assuredly had stone or iron railings, removed later to accommodate fire escapes.  Two-story arcades at the top section featured elaborate Corinthian capitals and foliate keystones.  A bracketed cornice completed the design.

A sedate caryatid looks out at 20th Street from the second floor.  The two blank spaces on either side of the classical urn in the panel directly below would have held the name of the ground floor store.

The building would have a wide variety of tenants.  As construction neared completion in October 1898, The Jay C. Wemple Company leased the store and basement "for a term of five years," according to The Sun.  The firm's residency would be far longer.

The Drapery Sketch Book, 1914 (copyright expired)

In 1901, E. Haertel & Co., "retailers of high-class fur garments and furs," as described by Cloaks and Furs in May that year, moved into its "handsome new showrooms" here.  Also in the building were H. Curtis, makers of The Curtis Hose Supporter; and the Brooklyn Chair Company.  The latter's factory was, as the name suggested, in Brooklyn.  Among the "high grade goods" offered in 1903 were "office chairs, dining chairs, bedroom chairs, Mission chairs, slipper chairs, and ladies' desk chairs," as well as "a line of good reed rockers."

This 1903 Curtis ad bordered on racy.  Beauty & Health, May 1903 (copyright expired)

Alonzo E. Wemple was secretary of the Jay C. Wemple Company.  He and his wife and two daughters lived in a handsome house at 180 West 59th Street.  The wealthy window shade manufacturer was a member of the Atlantic Yacht, the New York Athletic and Brooklyn Clubs.

At 4:45 on the afternoon of May 17, 1904, Wemple entered Shanley's restaurant at Broadway and 42nd Street.  The New York Sun reported that he "ordered a light luncheon.  He told the waiter that he felt ill and asked that a glass of water be brought to him as soon as possible."

The Evening World said, "The music was playing and about him everywhere was life as it is known on Broadway.”  The carefree atmosphere was about to darken.  The New York Sun reported, "After Mr. Wemple had drunk the water he collapsed in his chair."  A physician who was dining a few tables away ordered Wemple taken to an apartment upstairs.  He died there a short time later.

The wide variety of tenants continued.  Kate E. Tirney ran a purchasing agency in the building at the time of Wemple's unexpected death.  In January 1904 she began publishing Shop Talk, a monthly magazine "on feminine attire and the contents of the shops," according to the New-York Tribune on January 31.

The premier issue of Shop Talk.  (copyright expired)

Oriental carpet merchants and importers Sjun & Tehelram also operated from 35-37 East 20th Street at the time.  In 1904, Hadji Hassonoff, a Turkish-born Brooklynite, brought $250,000 worth of rare rugs into the country and dropped them off with the firm, presumably on consignment.  The value would translate to a staggering $8.9 million in 2024.

On April 1, 1905, Sjun & Tehelram went out of business.  Upon hearing the news, Hassonoff went to 35-37 East 20th Street two days later to retrieve his rugs.  The offices were locked and dark.  Then, two days later, he recognized Frederick Comp, the 40-year-old bookkeeper of Sjun & Tehelram, going into the office of carpet broker Charles H. Climper at 10 East 17th Street.  He followed him and discovered "two beautiful rugs set out for sale" in Climper's office, according to The New York Times.  The newspaper said, "he almost shouted for joy, and he lost no time in claiming them as his own."

Hassonoff found a police officer and returned.  He pointed to one, saying, "This one is 500 years old.  It is made by hand.  It is 16-1/2 feet long and 7 feet wide, and it is worth more than $10,000.  This smaller one is worth over $8,000."  As Policeman Tyndale took Frederick Comp into custody, Hassonoff grabbed him by the shoulders demanding, "Where are my other rugs, you?"

The cornice survived in 1941.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Comp pleaded that he had not seen his employers in days and that he had he been instructed to sell the two rugs on commission.  He and Climper were arrested for selling and receiving stolen property.  Whether Hassonoff ever regained his other valuable rugs is unclear.

Around 1906, hospital supply firms began taking space in the building.  The first was the Greenpoint Metallic Bed Company, whose Brooklyn factory manufactured "metal bedsteads and furniture; hospital supplies; operating tables; dressing, water and instrument sterilizers; metallic and glass cabinets."

It was soon joined in the building by the Watters Laboratories and the Hospital Supply Co. of New York.  Both firms manufactured medical instruments.  The latter advertised itself as "The largest manufacturers of Hospital Furniture Sterilizers."  

The Post-Graduate, April 1911 (copyright expired)

The building saw an influx of new tenants in 1915.  They included the Gutman Novelty Company; Simon Durlacher; Rosenberg & Rosenberg, makers of "novelties and muslin underwear;" Edwin Horrax, "notions and small wares;" and the Apartment House Decorative Co., which leased the fifth floor in April that year.

Jay C. Wemple died in 1917.  In its June issue that year, The Upholsterer and Interior Decorator announced that Charles Breneman & Co., had purchased "the business, including the good-will, trade-marks, etc." of Jay C. Wemple & Co.--the first tenant of 35-37 East 20th Street.  William T. Haywood, who had been president of Jay C. Wemple & Co., was apparently not offered a position by the new owner.  He opened a competing company in the same building.  The article noted he "has started in business for himself under the name of William T. Haywood, Inc., with general offices and salesrooms at 35-37 East Twentieth Street, New York."

Hand Book of the Upholstery and Allied Trades, 1921 (copyright expired)

The post-World War I years saw apparel manufacturers in the building.  These were not the run-of-the-mill clothing makers, however.  The Universal Dolls Outfitters leased the fourth floor in November 1919.  The following year, in June, it advertised for, "Experienced crocheters and knitters on infants' and doll's sacques, bootees, etc."  The successful applicants (who were required to submit samples of their skills) would work from home making doll clothes.

Similarly, Cupid Knitwear Co., Inc. created knitted outerwear for dolls.  The miniature sweaters and coats were sold to toy wholesalers.

Playthings magazine, June 1926 

All of the building's tenants would have to find new space in 1947.  On January 23 that year, The New York Times reported that the Expert Cloth Sponging Co., had purchased the building.  The article noted that the firm would occupy all eight floors.

As the neighborhood changed once again in the third quarter of the 20th century, Hadler Galleries occupied the former Jay C. Wemple & Co. space.  The New York Times reported on a one-man show of weaver Lewis Knauss's works on September 30, 1975, for instance.

The gallery's existence was indicative of changes to come.  A renovation completed in 1981 resulted in apartments above the ground floor.  It was possibly at this time that the cornice was removed.  Rather than leave a blank scar, as most owners did at the time, the architects fashioned a parapet.  It was a laudable, if wholly unsuccessful, attempt to disguise the architectural loss.

photographs by the author

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La Riviera Apartments - 230 West 99th Street

 

image via apartments.com

J. C. Burne acted as both architect and real estate developer when he planned an apartment building at the southeast corner of Broadway and 99^th Street just before the turn of the last century.  Above the two-story stone base, five stories of beige brick were trimmed in terra cotta.  His Renaissance Revival design included elaborate Italian style pediments over certain openings.  Burne placed the entrance at 230 West 99^th Street within a stately portico upheld by paired columns.
 
Called La Riviera, its apartments contained eight “very large, sunny rooms,” according to an advertisement.  They rented for $1,000 per year, or about $2,858 per month in 2024.  The residents ranged from businessmen—like Louis Heidenheimer, who owned a hops business on South William Street—to artists and musicians, like soprano Ethel Crane and organist and composer Charles B. Hawley.
 

from Empire State Notables, 1914 (copyright expired)

The widely talented Hawley was born in Brookfield, Connecticut and began playing the church organ there when he was 12 years old.  By the time he moved into La Riviera, he was the music director and solo basso at the Broadway Tabernacle Church.  In addition, he was a vocal instructor and composer, having written popular songs like "Spring’s Awakening,” “Ah! ‘tis a Dream,” and “The Sweetest Flower that Blows.”
 

In April 1904, resident Mrs. Vienna Gano found herself in serious legal trouble.  A Christian Scientist, Mrs. Gano accepted “patients” whom she would cure by faith.  Among them was actress Loretta Young, who came with a disturbing problem.  (This stage actress should not be confused with the later motion picture star of the same name.)  She was engaged to be married to actor Earl Dewey in May and in mid-April had undergone an operation performed by Dr. Charles M. Tobynne.  The police became involved when Young died on April 20.  It appears, since both Tobynne and his nurse were arrested, that the procedure had been an abortion.  The New York Times reported, “a subpoena was issued for Mrs. Vienna Gao of La Riviera Apartments, 230 West Ninety-ninth Street, a Christian Scientist, to whom Miss Young had applied for treatment, but who, according to Detective Short, stated that she had abandoned Miss Young’s case because the actress lacked faith.”

 
Another early resident was James Curran, president of the James Curran Manufacturing Company.  Born in 1841, he was a veteran of the Civil War.  According to the Building Trades Employers’ Association Bulletin in December 1905, “For the past forty years he was actively engaged in the business of steam heating, having installed the steam heating plants in many of the public and large office and commercial buildings in this city.”
 
Actress and singer Bertha Shalek lived in La Riviera by 1908.  Born in Chicago on January 2, 1884, she first appeared on stage “as a violinist,” according to the 1908 Who’s Who on the Stage.  Her debut in the title role of Carmen came in 1903 at the Providence Opera House.   The article noted that in the fall season of 1907 “she was with the Van den Berg Opera Company at the West End Theatre, New York.”
 

Bertha Shalek in costume in a 1906 publicity photo.  from the J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs of the University of Washington.

Joan Schon, who also lived here that year, was marginally involved in the theater.  She was a masseuse and among her well-known clients was opera star Emma Calve.  Their relationship was both professional and social.  The New York Press said on January 9, 1908, “Miss Schon is a great friend of Calve.”
 
When Joan’s dentist, Dr. Allison W. Harland, discovered the friendship, he sought to profit from it.  The Sun explained, “he felt he would get the singer as a customer if Miss Schon would recommend him.”  Joan considered the request and said she would speak to Madame Calve.  The newspaper added that she cautioned, “But, I will not do that for a song.  I must get something out of it.”  Dr. Harlan promised Joan Schon he would give her one-third of any bill paid by Calve.
 
On March 17, 1907, acting on Schon’s recommendation, the diva visited Dr. Harlan’s office.  Her bill totaled $900 (nearly $29,000 today).  The Sun said that Madame Calve was “so pleased with the work that she paid without a murmur.  She told her friend Joan about it.”  When Joan visited the dentist for her cut, according to The Sun, he told her, “it would be a breach of professional ethics for him to pay for even friendly 'touting.'"  And so, the dentist and the masseuse ended up in court.
 
The building’s most colorful resident was Professor W. Bert Reese, a mentalist who had appeared (according to him) before several crowned heads of Europe.  Around the time of Joan Schon’s lawsuit, he visited Thomas A. Edison uninvited and, according to the inventor, “gave him information which he lacked, concerning certain ingredients needful in his storage batteries.”  The two men had not previously met.  

Having reservations, Edison later sent a telegraph to Dr. W. H. Thomson which read, “See Prof. W. Bert Reese, 230 West Ninety-ninth Street, New York City.”  The New York Times recalled on November 13, 1910, “Dr. Thomson tested him and found him genuine.  Being a fair-minded man, he wrote at once to Mr. Edison and told him that the mind reader, or whatever he may be, had done extraordinary things.”
 

W. Bert Reese, Psychical Research Review, Volume III No. 2 August 1917 (copyright expired)

Reese would be tested again in January 1913.  An undercover female detective appeared at his apartment, “representing herself as a single woman burdened with wealth and real estate, but troubled far more by her inability to attract mankind,” said The New York Times on January 18.  He advised her not to sell her real estate, saying he thought it would “increase twofold in value, owing to the election of a Democratic President.”  Although he refused payment of any kind, she arrested him for fortune telling.
 
At the station house, detectives poked fun at the 62-year-old.  Eventually, Reese asked one, Detective Sussillio, “to write down on a piece of paper any question he desired answered,” said The New York Times.  Sussillio wrote down his question, showed it to another detective, and folded it away. 
 
“You have asked me to tell you the first name of your mother.  Her first name is Pauline,” said Reese.
 
He had gotten both the question and the answer correct.
 
In night court, Magistrate Krotel questioned the female detective.  The New York Times reported, “after learning that she had put false questions to Reese told her she could not complain at receiving false answers.”   Reese was released.
 
He was not so lucky two years later when another undercover detective came to his apartment.  This time he accepted five dollars from Adele Priess.  He began his plea in court, “No, I am not a low fortune teller, I’m an entertainer.  I have entertained James J. Hill, William Travers Jerome and Charles Dillingham.  The crowned heads…”  He was cut off at that point by the Magistrate who asked whether he had accepted the five dollars. 
 
“That was just part of the entertainment,” Reese responded.
 
He was released under $1,000 bond and ordered “not to entertain that way for a year.”
 
The Reeses were still living here in 1926 when W. Bert Reese died in Europe.  His widow continued to live in their apartment.
 
By 1913, Lucille Dreyfous and Florence Dreyfous occupied an apartment.  The 45-year-old Florence was an artist who exhibited two watercolors, A Boy and Mildred, in the landmark International Exhibition of Modern Art that year.  She had studied at the Chase School of Art and under Robert Henri at the Henri School of Art.  The Brooklyn Museum of Art included her work in its 1921 watercolor exhibition.
 

Florence Dreyfous's A Boy's Portrait was typical of her style.

On the night of June 1, 1920, a burglar entered the apartment of Gilbert Kuh and his wife by shimmying up the dumb water.  He made off with “jewelry and wearing apparel valued at several hundred dollars,” according to the New-York Tribune.  Working on the statement from the building’s janitor that he saw the crook stashing “part of the loot in the courtyard of the building,” a detective hid in there in the shadows.  The plan worked.  Before dawn the thief returned to recover his booty.  John Buckley, a 29-year-old tile layer, was arrested.  He denied any knowledge of the crime.
 
Three weeks after the incident, the New-York Tribune reported that La Riviera had been leased to the West Ninety-ninth Street Corporation for 84 years.  The article noted, “The lessees have filed plans for extensive alterations…including the remodeling of the ground floor into stores.”  The renovations resulted in three stores on the Broadway side.
 

The cornice survived as late as 1941.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

In 1954 the corner store was home to the office of optometrist Murray M. Smolar.  Appropriately, today a branch of Cohen’s Fashion Optical occupies the space.  Coincidentally, 2616 Broadway, which was the Hong Liquor Store in the third quarter of the 20^th century, today houses Cork & Barrel, another liquor store.

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The Lost Charles Lanier House - 30 East 37th Street

 

photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

James Franklin Doughty Lanier was born in North Carolina on November 22, 1800.  His earliest ancestor in America was Thomas Lanier, who arrived with his friend, John Washington, in Virginia in 1655.  (Washington's great-grandson, George, would become America's first President.)  

In 1849, James Franklin Doughty Lanier moved his family to New York City.  His first wife, Elizabeth Gardner, had died in 1846 and he married Mary McClure in 1848.  Lanier, who started out practicing law, turned to banking in the 1830s and became president of the Bank of Indiana in 1833.  The year he moved his family to New York, he co-founded the banking firm of Winslow, Lanier & Co. with Richard H. Winslow.

The Laniers moved into a fine residence at 16 West 10th Street.  Charles Lanier was 12 years old at the time.  Two years after he married Sarah E. Egleston on October 7, 1857, he was taken into his father's banking firm.  The newlyweds remained in the West 10th Street house, increasing the population with a son, James Frederick Doughty Lanier III, born in 1858; two daughters, Sarah Egleston, born in 1862; and Fannie who arrived two years later.

Sarah Egleston Lanier was pregnant again in 1870 when she and Charles left West 10th Street for their own opulent, double-wide mansion at 28-30 East 37th Street.  Elizabeth Gardner Lanier would be born there on October 29, 1870.

Charles Lanier later in life.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

The family's brownstone fronted, Italianate house rose four stories above an English basement.  The arched entrance sat within a Corinthian columned portico.  In a highly unusual move, the architect chamfered the western corner.  His doing so strongly suggests the Laniers' property extended a few feet into a narrow garden between the mansion and the carriage house of the former Isaac Newton Phelps mansion which was erected on the Madison Avenue corner in 1854.

The drawing room of the mansion was the scene of Sarah's marriage to Francis Cooper Lawrance, Jr. on the afternoon of December 14, 1881.  The choice of a house wedding rather than a more socially visible ceremony was, no doubt, because of James F. D. Lanier's death three months earlier.  The New York Times said, "The wedding was private, owing to recent deaths in the bride's family, and the guests were limited, therefore, to near relatives and most intimate friends."

The family's summer estate, Allen Winden, was in Lenox, Massachusetts.  Fannie married Francis R. Appleton in Trinity Church there on October 7, 1884.

The residence at Allen Winden was designed by Peabody & Stearns in 1882.  from Lenox, 1886 (copyright expired)

James F. D. Lanier III was the next to marry.  His wedding to Harriet Bishop in the West Presbyterian Church on West 42nd Street was a socially prominent affair.  On November 25, 1885, The New York Times reported, "In the rear of the church was a grouping of luxuriant tropical plants, palms and ferns stretching above the organ loft.  The pulpit was buried under a mass of roses."  Among the long list of socially elite guests at the wedding and reception were Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, Mrs. Oliver Belmont, Mrs. Seward Webb, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. D. O. Mills and Ogden Mills.

As his father had done, James brought his bride to his parents' home.  Two sons would be born in the East 37th Street house--Charles Day in 1886, and Reginald Bishop in 1888.

Four months before James's and Harriet's wedding, Charles had hired builder G. Mulligan to install a bay window on the parlor floor.  The handsome alteration cost him the equivalent of $19,600 in 2024 terms.

The social spotlight finally landed on Elizabeth (known within the family as Lizzie) in 1889.  On December 13, the New-York Tribune reported, "Mrs. Charles Lanier, No. 30 East Thirty-seventh-st., gave a reception yesterday afternoon for her daughter, Miss Lizzie Lanier."  Among those assisting in receiving were Lizzie's sisters.  The article noted, "About 1,000 people were present."

Two years later, Lizzie married George Evans Turnure in  Trinity Church in Lenox.  The Springfield Daily Republican reported, "a large and fashionable company of guests were present," adding, "The wedding breakfast at the country house of Mr. and Mrs. Lanier was the scene of a delightful gathering immediately after the ceremony."  Astoundingly, the article said, "More than 1000 varieties of roses were used in decorating the entire lower level of the house."

James and Harriet still lived in the townhouse with Charles and Sarah.  In October 1891, they were looking for a governess for their eldest son.  Their ad read, "Wanted--German governess, able to give English lessons to a boy until he goes to school, and take entire charge of him; must have best references."  (The mention of taking "entire charge" of the boy before entering school suggests Charles Day Lanier would be going away to a high-end boarding school.)

Charles had the house updated in 1896, apparently modernizing the interiors.  On March 22, The New York Times reported that his alterations would cost $15,000.  The significant expense would translate to half a million in 2024 dollars.

Up-to-date décor was necessary for the Laniers' extensive entertaining.  The 1895 America's Successful Men of Affairs mentioned, "His wife and he are hospitable entertainers and welcome in the most cultivated circles."  The article listed his exclusive club memberships, including the Union League, the Union, the Metropolitan, Knickerbocker, Century, Tuxedo, and Players' Clubs among others.

In February 1898, Sarah caught the flu and never recovered.  She died in the East 37th Street mansion on April 18 at the age of 61.  Somewhat surprisingly, her funeral was not held in the house, but at the Church of the Incarnation on Madison Avenue and 35th Street.

Equally surprising, ten months later James and Harriet left Charles, still in mourning, for an extended period.  On December 1, The Sun reported they, "will go abroad this month, to remain until the summer at least."  The article noted that earlier they had leased their country house, Sunridge Hall, at Westbury, Long Island, to Clarence H. Mackay and his wife for three years."

In April 1901, James and Harriet began construction of a sumptuous townhouse nearby at 123 East 35th Street.  Two months earlier, Charles had given the family a scare when he was injured in a serious accident.  On the evening of February 14, he and the housekeeper, Miss Bigelow, were being driven in the Lanier coupé by coachman Christopher Hayer to visit Louisa Minturn at 22 Washington Square.  At the corner of Madison Avenue and 29th Street, the hose wagon of Engine Company No. 1 collided with the carriage.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Hayer attempted to get out of the way, but before he succeeded the pole of the hose wagon had pierced the side of the coupé."

The speeding wagon pushed the carriage to the curb and both teams of horses fell to the pavement.  The two drivers were thrown from their seats.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Mr. Lanier was injured on the side and chest and Miss Bigelow suffered considerably from shock."  After being taken to the home of Vernon H. Brown at 95 Madison Avenue, the pair was brought home in a cab.  The newspaper noted, "The coupé was badly wrecked, but none of the horses were injured."

James and Harriet moved into their new home in 1903.  The following year, Charles's grandchildren, Charles Lanier Lawrance and Katherine "Kitty" Lanier Lawrance moved into 30 East 37th Street.  They were 22 and 11 years old respectively.  Their mother, Sarah Lanier Lawrance, died in 1893, the year Kitty was born.  Their father married Susan Ridgway Willing the following year.  After his death in 1904, Susan surrendered the custody of her step-children to their grandfather and moved to Paris with the daughter she had with Francis Lawrance.

On September 21, 1915, Kitty was married to William Averell Harriman in Trinity Church in Lenox.  The reception was held at Allen Winden.  The New York Times said, "breakfast will be served on the porches and at small tables on the terraces...The villa and the grounds are most inviting."  Harriman would go on to become Governor of New York and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The younger Charles Lanier had moved to a ranch in Omaha, Nebraska by the time of his sister's wedding.  He died there at the age of 32 on December 4, 1918.

On January 19, 1926, Charles gave "an informal reception" to celebrate his 89th birthday.  Less than two months later, on March 8, The Springfield Daily Republican reported, "News was received here this afternoon of the death at his home in New York city of Charles Lanier, 89, who has made Lenox his summer home for the past 60 years."  The newspaper mentioned that he was "a close friend of the late [J.] Pierpont Morgan and was a member of the little group, informally called the Corsair club, which met on Mr. Morgan's yacht."

The Lanier house became the Harvard Business Club.  While the club occupied the lower floors as its clubhouse, certain unmarried members lived in the upper floors.  It remained here until 1938 when the Dartmouth Club moved in.  In its March 1938 issue, the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine reported, "By the time this appears the ritzy Dartmouth Clubhouse at 30 East Thirty-seventh Street should be in use."  The article mentioned that the "extensive refurbishing was almost completed."

The Dartmouth Club was replaced by the Andrew Furuseth Club in 1942.  The Seafarers Log reported on October 1, "The most sumptuous quarters ever set aside for the exclusive use of the merchant seaman was dedicated today in a ceremony which included prominent speakers from all walks of American life."  The article said, "This entire structure is for the exclusive use of the merchant seamen.  They have only to show their discharges at the door and all facilities are at their disposal."

A postcard depicted activities in the Andrew Furuseth Club--a stark contrast from entertainments during the Lanier years.

The Andrew Furuseth Club would have to find new quarters in 1949.  The former Lanier mansion was demolished to make way for the Emery Roth & Sons designed Morgan Park apartment building, which survives.

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The 1827 Charlotte Selby House - 44 MacDougal Street

 Little remains of the structure's 1827 appearance.

Lewis P. Perego, a mason, lived at 42 MacDougal Street in 1826, the year he began construction of a house next door at 44 MacDougal.  Completed in 1827, it was most likely a near match to his own home.  Faced in Flemish bond brick, it was originally two-and-a-half stories tall with a peaked, dormered roof.

In 1828, Perego sold 44 MacDougal Street to Charlotte Selby.  Born Charlotte Sanxay, she was listed in city directories as "widow of Skeffington Selby."  Whether she was stretching the truth is debatable.  Skeffington Selby was born in England in 1767 and immigrated to Philadelphia around 1799.  If he and Charlotte were married, there are no records that survive.  In 1820 he returned to England where he died on March 30, 1821.

Before leaving New York,  Selby wrote his will.  He left Charlotte several Manhattan properties, referring to her as "Charlotte Sanxay alias Selby (who sometime since resided with me at New York)."  The city council added to the mystery in 1822 when, in discussing her property, called her "Charlotte Selby, alias Sanxy" [sic] and in 1823 as "Charlotte Selby or Sanxay."  Charlotte also inherited $6,000 in Government stocks (equal to about $167,000 in 2024 terms) and 71 shares in the Globe Insurance Company.

The enigmatic Charlotte Selby remained in the house until around 1832, when it was shared by the families of cabinetmaker Elihu Rose and grocer John P. Haffjun.

The Woodruff family moved in around 1836.  Born in New Jersey on October 29, 1802, Amos Thomas Woodruff was a mason.  He and Sarah Scudder were married in November 1827 and were the parents of at least 10 children.  Around 1840, the family moved to 158 Laurens Street (today's West Broadway) and for several years 44 MacDougal Street was home to Valentine Sillcocks, relatives of the Woodruffs.

The Sillcock family was followed by the Hatfields, here in 1850.  Both Samuel and Samson Hatfield were tailors at 164 Broadway.  Finally, in 1855, 44 MacDougal Street saw long-term residents.

Apparently widowed, William Moore did not list a profession in 1855, suggesting he was retired.  Living with him were his two grown sons, Henry and Elias.  The brothers were merchants, both doing business on Canal Street.  Henry's drygoods store was at 66 Canal Street.  Also living here was Philaretta Tombs, who was presumably William's sister-in-law (she was listed as the aunt of Henry Moore).  Philaretta was 87 years old in 1855 when the family moved in.

The Moores placed an advertisement in the New York Herald on October 5, 1859: "Wanted--An active, tidy young girl for kitchen work; must be a plain cook and first rate washer and ironer; none others need apply at 44 Macdougal st."

At the time of the ad, Henry was married and his wife, Harriet, was pregnant.  They had a baby girl, Harriet Gertrude, in November 1859.  Sadly, she died at the age of one-and-a-half on May 16, 1861.  Her funeral was held in the parlor the following afternoon.

Philaretta Tombs lived to be 96 years old.  She died on July 16, 1864.  Her funeral was held here on July 18.

As his brother had done, when Elias B. Moore married, he brought his bride back to MacDougal Street.  Elias and Sarah E. Moore had a son, John W., in November 1870.  In a tragic case of dé​jà vu, he died at the age of one-and-a-half on May 9, 1872.  

There would be another Moore funeral in the house two years later.  William Moore died at the age of 81 on July 16, 1874.

After William's death, Elias and Sarah Moore left MacDougal street.  In 1874, Henry and Harriet took in a boarder, Peter Eckler, a printer/publisher.   

The Moores sold the house to Thomas Norton in 1875.  In September 1875, he filed plans to raise the attic to a full-third floor and make interior alterations.  The renovations cost him the equivalent of $63,000 today.  It does not appear that Norton ever lived here.  Rather, the enlarged house was operated as a boarding house.  Peter Eckler remained through 1877 before moving to Brooklyn.  Other white collar residents at the time were Louis Lee, a clerk; and John W. Brittingham, a counsel to the City of New York.

Despite his respectable position in city government, Brittingham seems to have been a bit shady.  On December 4, 1878, The New York Times reported, "The DeGreiff-Triacca-Begley conspiracy case was to have been resumed before United States commissioner Shields yesterday morning, to begin the cross-examination of Mr. John W. Brittingham, the principal witness for the Government."  But Brittingham did not show up.  A week earlier, the trial had to be adjourned for the same reason.  That time, said the article, "it was said that he was in Washington" but, "Mr. Brittingham was not absent from the City, but was in his residence at No. 44 Macdougal-street."  Calling Brittingham's delays "vexatious," Assistant United States Attorney Butler declared that Brittingham should be formally subpoenaed.  

Three years later, Brittingham was not a witness in a government case, but the defendant.  He was sued by his brother, John W. Brittingham for the theft of  $10,000 and by the city for embezzlement.  His trial began in December 1881.

No. 44 MacDougal Street remained a boarding house until around 1886 when the Sharkey family moved in.  Patrick D. Sharkey was born in Ireland in 1831 and his wife, Mary Dougherty, was born there in 1832.  The couple had nine children.

In 1887, Patrick earned extra money as a "watcher" during the November elections.  Poll watchers were hired by candidates to ensure there was no tampering with the election process.  

Living with his parents in 1891 was 33-year-old Michael T. Sharkey, who was an attorney.  On June 15 that year, he was among the guests of shipping agent John L. Eccles on his 46-f0ot luxury sloop yacht Amelia.  The afternoon started out nicely.  The New York Times reported, "The pleasure seekers took dinner at Nyack, strolled about the town, and boarded the yacht again about 5 o'clock."  But at around 1:00 in the morning, the yacht was struck by a tugboat, "cutting her nearly in two," according to the newspaper.  "She sank almost instantly, leaving her passengers struggling in the water."

Sharkey and the other passengers and crew who were on deck at the time survived.  But two, Frank Jennings and William Bahn, Jr., had gone below to sleep.  They both drowned.

In 1898 Michael Sharkey was elected to the assembly.  His successful legal and political career was cut short after he suffered sunstroke in the summer of 1900.  On March 20, 1901, the New York Morning Telegraph reported, "Michael T. Sharkey, former Assembly man, was sent to Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum yesterday, having become violently deranged from the effects of a sunstroke which he suffered last Summer.  At his home, 44 Macdougal street, his mother and wife said his condition became serious a few days ago, when he was sent to Bellevue for treatment."

In 1906, Dr. James F. Navoni purchased 44 MacDougal Street.  He lived and practiced here until 1916, when he purchased a house on Washington Place.

Change came to 44 MacDougal Street in 1920 when owners Peter Nervo and Joseph Balbiani hired architect Frank E. Vitolo to remodel the the ground floor for their P. Nervo, Balbiani & Co. bakery.  The renovations cost them $5,000, or about $76,000 today.

Both the Nervo and Balbiani families lived in the upper floors.  They brought Vitolo back two years later to remodel the storefront and bring the first floor even with the sidewalk.  

Peter Nervo's wife and daughter were active in local politics.  On February 21, 1933, the Queens newspaper The Daily Star reported, "William J. Sbarra, chairman of the 1933 ball committee of the James J. Paretti Association, Long Island City, was given a surprise party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Nervo, 44 Macdougal street, Manhattan.  The party was arranged by Rose and Mildred Nervo, who are members of the ladies' auxiliary."

P. Nervo, Balbiani & Co. remained here for three decades.  In 1972 the former bakery space was converted to a garage and art studio for the single family home on the upper floors.  The several renovations starting in 1875 have left little trace of the home's appearance when Charlotte Selby moved into it just under 200 years ago.

photographs by the author

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Rouse & Goldstone's 1924 760 Park Avenue

 

In 1923, the 760 Park Ave. Corp. purchased and demolished the three rowhouses at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and 72nd Street.  The syndicate commissioned the architectural firm of Rouse & Goldstone (composed of W. L. Rouse and L. A. Goldstone) to design a sumptuous apartment building on the site.  Completed in 1924, 760 Park Avenue rose 13 stories, its nine-story, tan brick center section sat upon a three-story limestone base.  Stone returned at the 13th floor, where it morphed into the modillioned roof cornice.  The architect's reserved neo-Renaissance design included bowed, iron balconies at the second floor, brick and stone quoins, and recessed panels between the windows of the 13th floor.

As the building rose, its owners pre-advertised the apartments using unabashed snob appeal.  An advertisement in The New York Times on May 31, 1923 began,

The apartments in 760 Park Avenue are planned on a scale that automatically restricts them to those who, because of their standing in society, must exercise discretion as to where to establish their homes, as well as giving consideration to the character of the building in which they live.

There were only 12 apartments in the building, one to a floor, most with 14 rooms and 6 bathrooms.  The residents would buy, not rent, their apartments.  An ad explained, "They are being sold on a highly endorsed Cooperative Plan."

A typical floor plan.  The New York Times, May 31, 1923 (copyright expired)

The building opened in August 1924.  Its initial residents came from the upper echelons of Manhattan society.  Five months before construction was completed, the New York Evening Post reported that Colonel De Lancey Kountz had purchased "the entire top floor and part of [the] penthouse at 760 Park avenue, now being built."  De Lancey Kountz was a banker and the chairman of the board of the paint and varnish firm Devoe & Raynolds, Co.  His wife was the former Isabel Thomas, of Athens, Georgia. 

A month later, on April 17, the newspaper reported that Mrs. Benjamin Brewster had bought "the last remaining apartment of fourteen rooms and six baths," noting, "In addition, to the entire second floor, she has purchased two extra servants' rooms, giving her a total of sixteen rooms and six baths."  Elmina Hersey Dows Brewster was the widow of Benjamin Brewster, one of the original trustees of Standard Oil.  He died in 1897.  Elmina's country home, Scrooby, was in Cazenovia, New York.

On September 5, 1924, The New York Times reported, "Mrs. Phelps Stokes, after leaving her camp on Upper St. Regis Lake went to her country place in Ridgefield, Conn., where she will remain until moving to her new apartment at 760 Park Avenue."  Helen Louisa Phelps Stokes was the widow of Anson Phelps Stokes.  Born in 1846, she grew up in her family's brownstone mansion at 231 Madison Avenue.  Living with her here would be her granddaughter, Helen O. Phelps Stokes.  

All of the residents of 760 Park Avenue were listed in Dau's New York Social Blue Book and they appeared consistently in society columns.  On June 3, 1925, for instance, the New York Evening Post reported, "Mrs. W. H. La Boyteaux of 760 Park avenue and her daughter, Miss Mary La Boyteaux, who have been abroad, are returning on the Homeric, which will land tomorrow."

Less socially conspicuous was James S. Jones, the founder and president of the Jones Brothers Tea Company.  The Daily Worker called the company, "one of the largest tea concerns in the United States" and said Jones "was a pioneer in the chain stores idea and the application of factory technique to grocery workers."  His summer estate was in Sayville, Long Island.  Jones died of pneumonia in his apartment on May 13, 1927.  His funeral was held there three days later.  After the filing of his will on May 24, The Daily Worker reported, "The estate is understood to be several millions of dollars."

The following year, in February 1928, Velma Erminie Bailey Woolworth purchased the Jones apartment.  Born in 1875, she was the widow of Fred Moore Woolworth.  He was a cousin of F. W. Woolworth, founder of the five and ten cent stores, and in 1909 had traveled to England to establish a Woolworth chain there.  He died in the Ritz Hotel in London in 1923, leaving an estate of over $15 million in today's money to Velma and their son, Norman.

Among Velma Woolworth's neighbors were the Roland Livingston Redmonds.  Redmond had grown up in the massive mansion at 701-705 Park Avenue.  His wife was the former Sara Delano.  Their summer home was at Tivoli-on-the-Hudson.  A member of the law firm Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, he was for a period the personal attorney of Vincent Astor.  Starting in 1947, he would serve, as well, as the president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Redmond apartment was unusual in that it was a duplex.  Because the servants were having lunch in the kitchen on the afternoon of November 9, 1927, they did not immediately notice a fire in the living room.  By the time it was discovered, it "had made rapid headway," according to The New York Times.  As one servant phoned the fire department, a pedestrian looked up and saw smoke rolling from the windows.  He, too, sent in an alarm.

The servants rushed the two Redmond children to the street.  The Times said the firefighters, "put out the flames within a few minutes," noting, "so much water was poured into the room, however, that numerous antique tapestries and other works of art on both floors of the apartment were damaged."

Helen Phelps Stokes died of a heart attack on June 30, 1930 at the age of 83.  In reporting her death, The New York Times recalled her many philanthropies, including the founding of the Grace Home for Children on Staten Island.

Evelyn Isabella Marshall Field was the former wife of multimillionaire Marshall Field III.  Two years after their divorce in 1930, she sold their sumptuous mansion at 4-8 East 70th Street and moved into 760 Park Avenue.  Her country home at Lloyd's Neck, Long Island, was described by the New York Evening Post as having, "the largest acreage of any private estate within commuting distance of New York City."

Evelyn's widowed mother, Josephine Mozier Banks Marshall, arrived from London in August 1932.  She was described by The New York Times as being, "long socially prominent both here and in London."  Josephine, who was born in Newport, Rhode Island, was a great-niece of James Lenox.  She would never return to her home at 6 Grosvenor Square in London.  She died in the Park Avenue apartment on June 4, 1933.

Velma Woolworth had been ill for months at the time of Josephine Marshall's death.  She never recovered and died on February 8, 1934 at the age of 61.  Among her numerous bequests, many of them charitable, she left each of her three grandchildren a $1 million trust (equal to about $22.8 million today).

The year 1934 was a socially important one for residents.  On May 18, 1934, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. de Lancey Kountz...have announced the engagement of their younger daughter, Miss Helen de Lancey Kountze, to Jacquelin Allen Swords."  And on October 6, The Sun mentioned that daughters of three resident families would be introduced to society that social season: sisters Ruth Hilda and Prudence Anne Holmes, Sylvie L. Redmond, and Virginia Welsh.

In December, the Holmes girls' parents, Artemas Henry Holmes and the former Lillian Stokes, hosted a supper dance at the River Club to introduce their daughters.

Four years later, it was Joan Redmond's turn.  On June 25, 1938, The New York Sun reported she, "will make her debut at a diner dance at White Elephant Farm, Syosset," noting, "The debutante was graduated from the Spence School last month.  Her sisters, the Misses Sylvie and Sheila Redmond, also were presented at parties at the Redmond Syosset estate."

A name familiar to New Yorkers for other than social reasons was the recently divorced actor Tyrone Power, who moved into 760 Park Avenue in 1957.  He married Deborah Jean Smith on May 7, 1958.  But his residency here would be short-lived.  He died of a heart attack at the age of 44 in Madrid, Spain on November 15, 1958.

The application of former President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, passed the coop board in February 1984.  But then, on March 2, The New York Times reported that the couple "decided yesterday not to go ahead with the move."  (The Nixons had recently been rejected at 19 East 72nd Street because the residents feared the media spotlight the couple would bring.)

A politically-connected couple who did move in were Edward Schlossberg and his bride, the former Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy.  According to C. David Heymann in his American Legacy, The Story of John & Caroline Kennedy, following their honeymoon in 1986, "they paid $2.5 million for a third-floor co-op apartment at 760 Park Avenue."

The staid building is as exclusive today as it was when Elmina Brewster purchased the last available apartment in 1924.

photographs by the author

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