The Peter and Nellie Radiker House - 159 West 87th Street

The frenzy of transforming undeveloped land west of Central Park in the last quarter of the 19th century was deemed the "Great West Side Movement" by the Record & Guide.  Highly involved in the frenzy were William C. G. Wilson and James Tichborne, who formed the real estate development firm of Wilson & Tichborne.  The partners erected rows of upscale  speculative homes.  Among their projects were six three-story-and-basement homes on the north side of West 87th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues.  Engulfing Nos. 159 through 169, they were designed by Gilbert A. Schellenger in 1889.  He blended historic styles in designing the homes, perhaps most conspicuously evident in No. 159.

Possibly because of its narrow proportions (just 18-feet wide), Schellenger emphasized horizontality.  The rusticated undressed stone of the basement parlor level, the rough courses of the second floor, and the incised lines of the third gave the impression of a wider structure.   

The heavy Romanesque Revival feel of the parlor level was softened with elegant fluted Renaissance Revival pilasters on either side of the entrance.  Intricate foliate carving ran below the striking curved bay at the second floor.  Schellenger introduced the Queen Anne style with the elaborate, three-part cast cornice--a regimented corbel table below a fluted fascia with brackets decorated with fish scales and sunflowers, and a dentiled cornice with offset arched pediment.

On February 1, 1890, the Record & Guide reported that Tichborne & Wilson had sold 159 West 87th Street "to Peter J. [sic] Radiker, a 9th avenue groceryman, for $22,500.  He will occupy it as his home."  The price Radiker paid for the new residence would translate to $800,000 in 2026.

Peter and Nellie Radiker.  from the collection of the Worthington Historical Society Archive.

Born in 1865, Peter Theron Radiker married Nellie F. Pease on June 27, 1889.  Their only daughter, Marguerite "Margaret," was born in 1891.

Radiker threw himself in the Great West Side Movement.  On March 1, 1891, the New-York Tribune reported, "A large and enthusiastic meeting was held...of property owners of the West Side."  They were preemptively fighting saloons in their developing neighborhood.  Among the attendees was Peter T. Radiker.  The article explained, "An association was immediately formed," said the article, which explained, "The objects and aim of the association will be the property regulation and restraint of the liquor traffic and prevention of the erection of improper buildings in the residential part of the West Side."

Radiker changed course in 1897.  That year E. C. Smith and his partner in Smith & Hempstead parted ways.  They had operated the Cedarhurst Stables on West 83rd Street since 1890.  Radiker replaced Hempstead and the firm's name became Smith & Radiker.  New York, 1895: Illustrated called them, "both natives of this city, and young men of excellent business ability."  Calling the Cedarhurst Stables "one of the foremost establishments" in the industry, it noted, "The establishment is heated by steam, has a steam power elevator, all modern sanitary improvements, a handsome ladies' reception-room, harness-room and all conveniences."

The Cedarhurst was a dual operation--both a livery and boarding stable.  On the livery side (equivalent to a rent-a-car business today), Smith & Radiker owned "forty fine road and saddle horses, [and] fifty carriages and wagons," according to New York, 1895: Illustrated.

As had been with his former business partner, Smith parted ways with Radiker after a few years.  Peter T. Radiker bought him out and renamed the business the Cedarhurst Stable Company.  He apparently stretched his finances in doing so, and on May 22, 1901, The New York Times reported that Radiker had filed bankruptcy.

The resourceful Radiker, however, survived.  He held onto the business and in 1906 sold the livery portion and now shared the 83rd Street building with Seaman's Stables company.  Radiker realized that horses were being replaced with motor vehicles and in 1908 he organized the Cedarhurst Motor Livery Company.  The Motor World reported that his partner was Nellie F. P. Radiker.  Their major client was Frayer-Miller cabs, which operated a taxicab service from the building.

The Radiker finances were, possibly, still thin and in 1911 they rented part of their home to Francis Conrad Elgar and his sister, Eleanor L.  Born in 1862, Elgar was a builder and real estate operator, a partner with his brother Alfred in James Elgar & Sons.  Eleanor L. Elgar died here on January 27, 1913.

Late in 1921, Peter and Nellie traveled to Southern Pines, North Carolina.  Peter died there on December 11 at the age of 56.  His funeral was held in the parlor of 159 West 87th Street just two days later.

Francis C. Elgar was still living at 159 West 87th Street in 1934 when, in December, Nellie Radiker sold the house to "a physician for his residence," according to The New York Times.  The article mentioned, "This was the first sale of the property in forty-four years."

That doctor was Harry C. Saunders.  He transformed the basement level of the house to his office, sharing the practice with Dr. William Mourtrier, Jr. and Dr. Allen F. Murphy.

Shockingly, on the night of October 19, 1939, Dr. Murphy was arrested from his house in Queens, where he lived with his wife and two children.  The Long Island Star-Journal reported that he performed "an illegal operation" on 29-year-old Alice Corbett on October 13.  The purposely vague term referred to an abortion.  The article said, "Miss Corbett died later in Murray Hill Hospital."  Taken immediately to Manhattan Homicide Court for arraignment, the newspaper said Murphy "appeared bewildered."

Murphy's trial did not begin for a year, opening on November 19, 1940.  His attorney denied that he "had performed an illegal operation."  The jury did not believe him and on December 16 Murphy was sentenced to "two to ten years" in Sing Sing prison for first-degree manslaughter.

Dr. Saunders sold 159 West 87th Street in May 1945 to "an investor," according to The New York Times.  It was operated as unofficial apartments until a renovation completed in 1991 restored it to a single family home with the owner's dentist office in the basement.

photographs by the author

The Lost Manhattan Academy Building - 213 West 32nd Street

 

from the Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1870 (copyright expired)

An announcement in the New York Herald on September 29, 1864 informed New Yorkers about the newly opened Manhattan Academy, a branch of Manhattan College.  It said:

This new academy is now ready for the reception of students.  Its object is to afford the important advantages of commercial, scientific, classical and moral education.  Terms: Classical department, $12 per quarter; Commercial department, $12 per quarter; Intermediate department, $8 per quarter; Primary department, $5 per quarter.

The more expensive tuition would translate to about $250 per quarter in 2026.  That initial ad, however, did not mention  the non-educational costs.  There were also an entrance fee, board, a "washing" fee, and a physician's fee.  The total yearly cost would equal $5,700 today.  

Operated by the Brothers of Christian Schools, the Manhattan Academy was organized in 1864 and chartered the following year.  An ad in King's Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York commented, "The location is healthy, and a few minutes' walk distant from Central Park."  (The 27-block stroll might not be described as "a few minutes' walk" today.)

The academy's newly built structure at 127 West 32nd Street (later 213 West 32nd Street) was four stories tall above a high English basement.  Shallow buttresses divided its symmetrical, Gothic Revival-style facade into five vertical sections.  The large Gothic-pointed arch that held the double-doored entrance was echoed in the windows of the first through third floors.  The exception were the centered openings, which, like the fourth floor, were square-headed and wore Gothic drip moldings.  A regimented corbel table ran below the minimal cornice, and a mansard-capped cupola or bell tower sat atop the roof.

Each year, the students underwent a three-day "annual examination," or what today might be called finals.  The tests culminated with an awards and honors ceremony.  The New-York Tribune reported on the 1868 ceremony on July 1.  "The exercises were held at the Everett Rooms, where a very large audience was assembled, among whom were a number of clergymen," said the article.  "The Manhattan College band furnished the music on the occasion, discoursing some very fine airs."

The newspaper reported on the academy's "rapid progress" on July 2, 1869, saying it, "now presents the combined advantages

of classical, scientific, and commercial course of instruction."  In also noted, "An excellent musical corps has been organized from among the 250 students of this institution."

A rare instance of criminality within the confines of the Manhattan Academy came in the summer of 1888.  On August 22, The Evening World reported, "George Burns was held in $300 bail, at Jefferson Market, this morning, for stealing a picture of Pope Pius IX, from the wall at the Manhattan Academy."

By 1891, the formerly bucolic neighborhood around Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street had changed.  Now part of the often notorious Tenderloin District, its demographics had severely changed as the Black community moved here from Greenwich Village.  

On January 31, 1891, The New York Times reported that the Christian Brothers had erected a new academy building at 50 Second Street.  "The new academy will be opened Monday," said the article.  On the same day, the Record & Guide reported that the "property known as the 'Manhattan Academy,' a five-story school building, Nos. 209 to 213 West 32d street," had been sold to Benedict Fischer for $90,000 (about $3.2 million today).

Fischer made substantial renovations and on February 14, 1892 advertised in the New York Herald, "For Sale on Favorable terms, the five story Building...formerly Manhattan College, suitable for manufacturing or business purposes."

The buyer defaulted, and in September 1898, Benedict Fischer foreclosed on the building.  On November 6, the New York Herald reported that he hired architect Joseph Wolf to make additional renovations.  The changes, including converting part of the building to a stable for the New York Fire-Proof Stabling Company, cost Fischer the equivalent of $195,000 today.

Fischer preserved the school's auditorium.  It became home to St. James's Presbyterian Church with its all-Black congregation.  Its pastor, Rev. P. Butler Thompkins, explained in the New York Observer on October 13, 1898, "Instead of the old 'Tenderloin,' we now have 'Little Africa,' for this has become the great centre of our colored population."  The article said, "This entire district is without a church of any denomination for these people, except St. James's Church, which was organized by the Presbytery of New York, April 26, 1895."  It noted, "The hall, 213 West Thirty-second-st., in which the congregation is now holding services, is in the same building with a stable.  The ventilation is poor, the odor is bad, and the rent is high."

Three years later, St. James's Presbyterian Church was still struggling to raise funds for a permanent structure.  On December 28, 1901, The Evening Post reported,

St. James Presbyterian Church, at No. 213 West Thirty-second Street, the only church of any denomination in "Little Africa" that ministers solely to the colored people, is still without a church edifice.  Thirty-four thousand dollars in cash and subscriptions has been raised.  Sixteen thousand dollars must be secured within the next five days, that is, by January 1, or a very large part of the $34,000 already secured will be lost to the work.

The deadline mentioned in the article was very real.  The church was about to be evicted at the end of its lease.  A month earlier, on November 26, The New York Times reported that Benedict Fischer's son, William H., had sold the building, calling it a "five-story stable."

The property sat within land that Alexander Cassatt was quietly amassing.  On December 11, 1901, he announced the "New York Terminal and Tunnel Extension Project."  The greatly abused Manhattan Academy building was erased as part of the massive venture that would bring trains directly into Manhattan from New Jersey and would include the masterful McKim, Mead & White-designed Pennsylvania Station.  

The Cornelius Graham House - 218 West 20th Street

 

The door at lower right originally opened into a horsewalk.  photograph by Beyond My Ken

The families of Samuel Dearborn and John Gould shared the recently built house at 144 West 20th Street in 1847.  (The address would be renumbered 218 West 20th Street in 1865.)  The two men had much in common.  Dearborn was a shipmaster and Gould a steamboat captain.  The builder of the 25-foot-wide house straddled the Greek Revival and Italianate styles--the former was currently passing from favor and the latter quickly becoming the most popular domestic style.  

Three stories tall, its brownstone stoop with Italianate railings rose to a paneled door flanked by narrow pilasters which upheld a generous, three-paned transom.  The doorway, the simple brownstone lintels and sills, and the no-nonsense bracketed cornice were Greek Revival in style.

To the right of the stoop, a doorway opened into a horsewalk, or passage to the rear yard, where there was a secondary building.  John E. Caffrey operated his carpentry business there, specializing in making blinds and sashes.

Public pumps were dotted throughout residential districts, often in the middle of the street.  One of those sat directly in front the house.  It seems to have been an obstacle for Caffrey's wagons that brought supplies and removed finished goods.  On October 4, 1848, The Evening Post reported that he had petitioned the Board of Aldermen "to have pump removed and well filled, in front of lot No. 144 West 20th street."

As early as 1850, John E. C. G. Cooper and his wife occupied the house.  They had recently arrived in America and John worked as a steward while his wife operated her medical practice from the house.  Catering only to women patients, she advertised in the Sunday Dispatch on August 5, 1850:

Mrs. Cooper, hygeist and oculist, from Europe informs the afflicted that they may obtain her advice and pure Herb Medicines, at her office, No. 144 West Twentieth Street, N.Y., near 7th and 8th Avenues.  Mrs. C. has had 25 years practice, and has testimonies to prove that she succeeded in curing many cases which previously baffled the skill of the leading physicians of London and Dublin, and is now curing nine cases out of ten, by her superior treatment.

(It is unclear whether Mrs. Cooper invented the title "hygeist" or if it were merely a typo.)

John E. Caffrey's business flourished.  By 1855, David Flandreau was listed as working with him, and by 1859 Caffrey had expanded into construction.  On May 17, 1859, he advertised "the new finely finished four story basement and sub-cellar brick house" at 129 West 38th Street.  He boasted that it was "built in the best manner, and replete with all the modern improvements."

The main house was home to the Cornelius Graham family as early as 1864.  Cornelius worked as a clerk.  They occupied the top two floors while leasing the lower two.  Their advertisement in the New York Herald on September 19 that year offered, "To Let--First story and basement of house 144 West Twentieth street--four large rooms, five bedrooms, pantries, &c.  Rent $30 per month."

Living in the lower portion that year was Allan William, a teacher, and the following year, John Warren signed a lease.  The Civil War directly affected the household that spring.  On March 16, 1865, John Warren's name was pulled in the Union Army's draft lottery, and the next day the name of Cornelius Graham's son, listed only as P. Graham, was called.

The Grahams remained in the upper two floors and, little by little, raised the rent on the lower floors.  An advertisement in the New York Herald on May 30, 1865 listed "rent $38 per month.  Possession immediately."  Two years later, the rent had jumped to $55.  The price would translate to about $1,200 in 2026.

As early as 1868, Thomas Rusk, who lived on West 35th Street, had taken over the carpenter shop in the rear.  Around 1876, George Cavanagh and William Cameron took over the space, operating their Cameron & Cavanagh carpentry business.  And on February 1, 1880, J. E. Pearce and A. Lauzon partnered to form J. E. Pearce & Company, "to manufacture upholstered furniture," in the rear building, according to The Carpet and Upholstery Trade Review.  It noted that they made "principally lounges and couches."

In the meantime, among the tenants in the lower portion of the house in 1870 were Michael Donahue, who ran an ice business; and Samuel T. Munson, who was both a smith and a councilman.  Munson contracted "a severe illness," as described by the New York Herald, the following year, and died on June 6, 1871 at the age of 54.  His funeral was held in the house two days later.

The Grahams left West 20th Street that year and it appears that No. 218 became a rooming house throughout.  The tenant list was highly varied.  In 1876, it included James Carroll, a clerk; Michael and Thomas Cullen, an engineer and cartman respectively; Martin Maher, who ran a saloon; and Sarah Thompson, the widow of Dr. Joseph Thompson.

Starting around 1887, Philip and Mary Schmidt owned the property.  They converted the basement and parlor levels for factory purposes.  Cast iron piers were installed to support a storefront.  

In 1941, the stoop and railings were intact, as was the Greek Revival-inspired doorway.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The factory was leased by H. Y. Castner, who manufactured sodium.  In 1886, he had patented the "Castner's Process."  In his Aluminum; Its History, Occurrence, Properties, Metallurgy and Applications, Joseph William Richards quoted "one of the New York daily journals," which said, "Mr. H. Y. Castner, whose laboratory is at 218 West Twentieth Street, New York, has the first patent ever granted on this subject in the United States, and the only one taken out in the world since 1808."

Castner's "laboratory" had a decidedly industrial bent.  "The metal is reduced and distilled in large iron crucibles," said the article, "which are raised automatically through apertures in the bottom of the furnace, where they remain until the reduction is completed and the sodium distilled."

It appears that Philip Schmidt used part of the new space for his own manufacturing.  An article in The Independent Practitioner in May 1888 reported on improved "polishing wheels and points for cleansing teeth."  It said, "The manufacture of them has been placed with Philip Schmidt, 218 West Twentieth Street, New York, who is well known as a first-class repairer of dental instruments."

While the Schmidts occupied part of the upper floors, they continued to rent rooms.  William H. and Julia P. Ferre lived here in 1888 when the couple was drawn into a highly visible domestic case.  Ferre was a friend with Samuel Henry Agnew, described by The Sun as "a cloth merchant in Ireland, who is reputed to be a millionaire."  In 1883, Agnew married an American girl from Bowling Green, Virginia named Pauline and they had a son, Albert, Jr. the following year.

In May 1887, the family traveled from Ireland to Virginia to visit Pauline's family.  In August, Henry went back to Ireland on business and when he returned, 'he found that his wife had left Bowling Green with valuables belonging to him."  (The valuables were bonds worth $2,000, or about $68,000 in today's money.)  He tracked her as far as Texas, then went back to Bowling Green, Virginia and took four-year-old Alfred from his in-laws.  The Sun reported on October 4, 1888 that he "brought him to the house of a friend, William H. Fore [sic], who lives at 218 West Twentieth."

Pauline Agnew tracked her husband to New York City and filed charges against him for kidnapping.  The Evening World reported that Agnew was arrested in the restaurant of the St. Denis Hotel on October 3, 1888, but he "absolutely refused to reveal the whereabouts of little Albert."  Nevertheless, detectives had their suspicions.  The newspaper reported that they "had been on Agnew's track and had seen him enter 218 West Twentieth street, and it was supposed that the child was there at the residence of W. H. Ferre."

Pauline Agnew and her attorney took a carriage to West 20th Street.  The Evening World reported, "in passing No. 218 the mother caught a glimpse of her child in the window.  The woman screamed, leaped from the carriage and frantically demanded admission."  The boy was "snatched away from the window and the shade hastily drawn."  While Pauline banged on the door and cried loudly, a crowd gathered.  Finally, officers arrived and the boy was removed.

The Ferres were still living here when Julia suffered a fatal heart attack on the morning of October 23, 1890 at the age of 70.  By then, the tenant list of 218 West 20th Street was racially mixed.  

Living here the following year was Lewis Washington.  He attended a ball where he got into an argument with Winfield Pope White "about a colored woman," according to the New York Herald.  White threatened to kill Pope "on sight."  

On the night of January 17, White spied Washington at Macdougal and Houston Streets.  In 19th century racist terms, the New York Herald reported, "Pope armed himself, and as soon as he caught sight of his dusky rival waiting on the corner he began to shoot."  After firing off two shots, Pope fled.  When he ran into a policeman, he surrendered, saying he had shot a man, but did not know how badly he had injured him.  Amazingly, one shot had gone wild, and the other "struck a button on his coat and glanced off."  As a result of his heavy brass button, Lewis Washington was uninjured.

Philip Schmidt died around 1896 and in January 1905, Mary sold 218 West 20th Street to William Hoehn and his wife, Emma.  The Record & Guide reported that they "will occupy the premises after alterations."  

Those alterations had much to do with the factory portion, which became home to the W. Hoehn Iron Works.  William Hoehn was born in Prussia in 1840 and became a blacksmith upon his arrival in New York.  Now his foundry produced manhole covers, fire escapes, and other industrial products.

Emma Hoehn died at the age of 54 on March 12, 1908.  Her funeral was held in the upper portion of the building on the 15th.  

Architect Joseph Harding was hired in May 1912 to design a new storefront.  Rather surprisingly, throughout these several renovations, the stoop and original doorway were untouched.

As early as 1925, the John McCrossin, Sr. family lived here.  On March 3 that year, The New York Times reported that 17-year-old John McCrossin had been captured with two other teens "after an attempted hold-up at the jewelry store of Samuel Shisko" in Astoria, Queens.  When the trio pulled out a gun, Shisko yelled so loudly that a policeman half a block away heard him.  He captured the boys as they ran out of the store.

The family was still here five years later when Mrs. McCrossin's letter to the Rinso laundry soap company was used in an advertisement.  She raved, "There's no scrubbing to wear out the clothes--they last much longer now."

Following William Hoehn's death in 1921, the firm continued at 218 West 20th Street.  After operating nearly half a century at the address, it closed in 1955.  That year, in April, the property was sold to Arthur Reich.

A renovation initiated in 2018 resulted in residential units throughout.  The factory front was converted to windows, and the former entrance to the rear yard became a door.  There are three apartments in the building today.  And while its lower portion smacks of a Mondrian composition, the upper floors retain their early 19th century appearance.

The 1892 Francis J. Schnugg House - 127 East 95th Street

 

In 1890, real estate operator Francis Joseph Schnugg completed construction of eight rowhouses on East 95th Street.  Designed by Frank Wennemer, they started near Lexington Avenue and stretched westward toward midblock.  The following year, Schnugg hired architect Louis Entzer, Jr. to design nine abutting houses that would fill the block to Park Avenue.

Completed in 1892, Entzer's row would compliment the earlier houses, while slightly exceeding them in visual interest.  Like its architectural siblings, the easternmost, 127 East 95th Street, was three stories high above a basement.  The undressed stone blocks and the heavy voussoirs over the arched parlor windows were Romanesque Revival in style.  Above the double-doored entrance, a stained-glass transom incorporated the address.

Entzer gave the planar sandstone of the upper two floors interest by striating it with bands of rough cut stone.  A sheet metal oriel dominated the second floor--its whimsical bosses along its base and the artistic panes of the upper sashes were Queen Anne in design.  The architect continued to blend styles by placing Gothic Revival, square-headed drip moldings above the top floor windows.  An elaborate and highly unusual pressed metal cornice completed the design.

Francis Joseph Schnugg and his family occupied 129 East 95th Street while this house was being constructed.  Upon its completion, they moved in.  Schnugg was born in 1859 and graduated from St. Francis Zavier College in 1882 and from Columbia Law School in 1883.  While matriculating in the latter, he delved into real estate.  It proved lucrative and he never used his law degree.  Schnugg and his wife, Carrie H., had three children, Joseph F., Elsie and Marion.

Towards the turn of the century, Schnugg sold the 18-foot-wide house to Julius Doernberg and his wife, the former Ida Stern.  Julius was born in Thüringen (today's Thuringia) Germany on May 7, 1848.  He and Ida, who was 20 years younger than he, had five sons: Milton, Dudley, Edmund, Walter, and Arthur.  The youngest, Arthur, was a toddler when the family moved in.

Julius Doernberg, The new York Lumber Trade Journal, November 1, 1908 (copyright expired)

Doernberg was the senior partner in the lumber and box manufacturing firm of Doernberg & Goodman.  He came to America in 1866 and after working in the men's apparel business for years, organized Doernberg & Company in the 1880s.  Henry D. Goodman partnered with him a few years later.

Like all well-to-do New Yorkers, the Doernbergs summered at fashionable resorts.  On July 11, 1908, The New York Times remarked, "The Hotel Kaaterskill, always the centre of interest in the Catskills, is attracting more interest than ever because it is having the most brilliant social season in the history of the house."  The article went on to list some of the distinguished guests that season, including Julius and Ida Doernberg and Arthur, who was now 15 years old.

It would be the last summer season Julius Doernberg would enjoy with his family.  He died in the East 95th Street house at the age of 60 on October 24, 1908.  His funeral, which was held in the parlor two days later, "was attended by a host of friends," according to The New York Lumber Trade Journal.

Six months later, on April 2, 1909, The New York Times reported that Doernberg's estate had sold 127 East 95th Street.  It was purchased by William Pabst, the assistant cashier of the Second National Bank.  He and his wife, Grace R., had two daughters, Elise and Grace.

William Pabst retired in 1923.  In the meantime, the Pabst daughters had grown to young women.  Lillian, for instance, attended the Barnard School for Girls and Columbia University.  The New York Times would later say that she, "has traveled extensively in this country and abroad."

Two decades after moving in, William Pabst died "after a short illness," according to The New York Times, on March 1, 1929.  Interestingly, his funeral was not held in the house, but at the Church of Our Lady of Esperanza, far north at 157th Street and Broadway.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Rather shockingly, three months later--in the midst of the family's expected mourning period--on June 2 The New York Times reported, "Announcement has been made of the engagement of Miss Lillian Pabst, youngest daughter of Mrs. William Pabst, of 127 East Ninety-fifth Street, to William Paul Wilson."

The wedding took place in the drawing room on July 11, 1929.  Frederick Pabst, William's brother, gave Lillian away.  The New York Times noted, "Only relatives and a few intimate friends had been invited to the ceremony, owing to the recent death of the bride's father."

Grace R. Pabst remained at 127 East 95th Street through 1942.  The following year artist and printmaker Karl Schrag occupied the house.  Born in 1912 in Karlsruhe, Germany, he studied art in Germany, Switzerland and Paris.  He arrived in New York City in 1938, entering the Art Students League.  Among his fellow students there were artists Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock and Marc Chagall.

Karl Schrag, from the collection of the Dixie Art Colony Foundation.

While living here, in 1947 Schrag had a solo show at the Krauschaar Galleries.  He would remain at 127 East 95th Street at least through 1959.  Deemed by the National Gallery of Art as "among the most important printmakers in America during the 1950s," his works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The Schnugg house remains a single-family house today.  When it was placed on the market in 1999, the realtor touted the five-bedroom, three-bath home as having "original mahogany woodwork and detail."

photographs by the author

345-347 East Ninth Street

In the 1850s, waves of European immigrants began changing the demographics and personality of the East Village.  To accommodate the exploding population, tenements and flat buildings replaced private homes.  As early as 1853, a four-story flat-and-store occupied 250-252 Ninth Street (renumbered 345-347 East 9th Street in 1868) just west of First Avenue.  An early example of Italianate design, the upper floors were faced in red brick.  At street level, the centered entrance was flanked by two wooden storefronts.  Cast sills and corniced-lintels decorated the upper openings (other than the smaller, hallway windows in the center).  The edifice was capped with an elaborate pressed metal cornice.  Its fascia was decorated with unusual, embossed imitation blocks; and a host of scrolled brackets crowded one another to uphold the cornice.

The building was a "double flat," meaning that there were apartments on either side of a centered hallway--two each, front and back, in this instance.  The professions of the tenants reflected their working class status.  In 1853, they included a marble cutter, a painter, two coachmen, an ostler (or stable hand), and an upholster.  The surnames of the residents in 1855 were mostly Irish, including Kelly, McCarthy, O'Brien, O'Reilly, and O'Shea.  Downstairs, one of the shops was occupied by James Mewkill, a "paperstainer," or maker of wallpapers.  He lived rather inconveniently far away at 234 West 27th Street.

Women and children worked to augment the families' income, as reflected in the "situations wanted" pages of local newspapers.  One, on March 12, 1856, read: "Wanted--A situation, by a young woman, as chambermaid and waiter, or to do general housework in a small private family.  Can be seen for two days, if not engaged, at 250 9th st., between 1st and 2d avenues, third floor, front room."  And the following year, on April 27, an ad in the New York Daily Herald said, "A most respectable young woman wishes a situation as chambermaid and waitress or [to] take care of children and do plain sewing."

Around 1862, Arthur Carey opened his boot and shoe making business in one of the shops and moved his family into an apartment upstairs.  Late on the night of May 18, 1866, two burglars broke into Carey's shop "by bursting in the front door," as reported by the New York Dispatch.  They gathered up $26 worth of goods and attempted to escape, but were seen by passersby who chased them.  The article said that the thieves, "dropped their plunder and fled."  Officer Callery, who had just gotten off duty and was on his way home, "joined the chase, and fired three shots at one of the thieves."  One shot hit George McGrath's hip, ending his flight.  

McGrath was taken to the 17th Street precinct station where a surgeon was sent for to treat his wound.  A search found a table knife hidden in one of his sleeves and a lock-pick in the other.  Had McGrath and his accomplices successfully made off with the shoes and boots, the value of their booty would translate to about $530 in 2026 terms.  Instead, McGrath, who was refused bail, faced serious consequences.  Two weeks later, on June 5, he faced a judge.  The New York Herald reported that he "pleaded guilty to an attempt and was sentenced to one year's imprisonment in the Penitentiary."

Arthur Carey remained in the space at least through 1870.  It was possible that two of his neighbors in the building worked for him.  Both Leonard Kantz and Charles Koener listed their professions as "shoemaker."  Other residents that year were George Johnson, a "seaman;" George Tugman, who drove a wagon; and James Shaw, a laborer.  Shaw was typical of the hard working residents.  Born in County Down, Ireland in 1830, he died on April 13, 1872 at just 42 years old.  His funeral was held in the family's apartment here.

In 1873, the stores were occupied by a fish and oyster market and a butcher shop.  The latter was operated by Abraham Altheimer, who moved his operation here from Avenue C.  That year the owner of the other store closed.  His advertisement in the New York Herald on November 4, 1873, read: "For Sale--Fish and oyster market, with a Horse and Wagon.  Inquire at 347 East Ninth street."

The space became home to D. C. Voss's jewelry store.  By 1876, Samuel C. Altheimer, possibly Abraham's son, had taken over the butcher shop.  He and his family lived nearby at 352 East 9th Street.  

As had been the case with Arthur Carey 12 years earlier, on the night of February 25, 1878, three thieves attempted to rob Voss's store.  And like that endeavor, they were unsuccessful.  They were hunted down and arrested a week later, on March 4, and held for trial.

The residents continued to be blue collar, listing commonplace professions like laborers and drivers.  One tenant in 1878, 16-year-old John Powers, however, had a much more unusual job.  That January, Elizabeth Cooley Ross, who was a dressmaker on Broadway, approached him with a proposition.  Her husband, Reuben Ross, operated a tea store at Third Avenue and 23rd Street.  Powers later explained that Elizabeth was jealous and suspected that her husband "was not true to his marriage vows."  She paid the teen (who looked "much older," according to The New York Times) to spy on Reuben Ross.  

Powers's covert surveillance went undetected by his quarry, but not by Joshua Davenport, who lived near the Ross tea shop.  Every time he left his home, reported The New York Times on February 1, 1878, he "noticed a strange young man standing in the doorway."  When Davenport came home for lunch on January 31, "he found as usual the stranger standing in the doorway, with his face muffled up in a woolen comforter with which he was trying to protect it from the fierce and raging storm."  Davenport had reached his breaking point.  Grabbing Powers by the collar, he demanded to know what his business was.

The New York Times reported, "The reply, which was not couched in very mild language, was to the effect that it did not concern in the least Mr. Davenport who he was or for what purpose he was there."  Davenport found Officer McKenna, who agreed that Powers was acting suspiciously and arrested him.  The next morning, Elizabeth and Reuben Ross were both summoned to court to testify about what they knew about the case.  Elizabeth admitted that the marital relations between her and Ross "were not the happiest kind," and that she had  been employing the teen for three weeks "to dog her husband's footsteps."  But before dismissing the case, Justice Smith gave the teenager some advice.  The Times said, "His Honor told him to be more careful hereafter, as his present business was not an enviable one, from the fact that he was liable to be 'thrashed' at any moment."

Two months later, the Wisenner family suffered horrific tragedy.  On May 3, 1878, the New York Herald reported, "Maggie Wisenner, two and a half years old, of No. 347 East Ninth street, was run over and instantly killed yesterday, at the corner of Eighth street and First avenue, by car No. 15 of the Crosstown line."

By 1881, a restaurant occupied one of the first floor spaces and the other was home to a cigar store.  Five years later, while the cigar store was still here, the restaurant had been supplanted by Lawrence H. Metzel's fish store.  A frightening incident happened on July 24, 1886, when an oil stove "exploded," as worded by the New-York Tribune in the fish store.  The article noted, "In putting out the flames Metzel burned his hands severely."

That year, Harrison M. Hayden arrived in New York from Chicago and took an apartment here.  His residency would be very short-lived.  On September 6, 1886, The New York Times reported that Hayden, "or Harry S. Smith," had been remanded at the Jefferson Market Police Court "to await the arrival of an officer from Chicago."  While boarding at the house of H. F. Liddell there, he stole $1,200 of property "by ransacking the house," according to the charges.  He had fled to Cleveland where he committed a similar crime.  The investigation of the Chicago police led him to New York "and it was found that the thief was Hayden."

An interesting tenant signed a lease in 1900.  On March 17, The New York Times reported, "The New York Checker Club will have a 'housewarming' in its new rooms, at 347 East Ninth Street, this evening."  That night the match for the "championship of Greater New York" would be played, said the article, "and $25 a side will be placed between the first and second prize winners."  (The price money would translate to about $950 today.)  A year later, the New-York Tribune reported on the preparations for the 1901 checker championship tournament to be held here.

The building received a significant updating in the spring of 1914 when indoor plumbing was installed.  A building inspector, T. J. Donaghue, certified that a "peppermint test" had been done on the work, that included a first floor bathroom, and water closets upstairs.

The modifications were part of necessary repairs caused by a two-alarm fire on February 24.  At the time, the ground floor spaces held a saloon and a restaurant.  Describing the building  now as a "rooming house" by the New-York Tribune, the upper floors were operated by John and Edith Lemminn.  

A two-alarm fire had broken out in the building that night.  The New-York Tribune said, "There were two thrilling rescues," including three men trapped on the roof who "were hauled to safety on a clothesline."  Edith Lemminn saved her son, seven-year-old John, by carrying him out of the second floor window and carefully navigating across the sills.  Tragically, two kitchen workers in the restaurant, Ernest Schick and Adolph Erumo, were fatally burned.

The residents of 345-347 East 9th Street were predominantly honest and hard-working.  An exception was Nicholas W. Raditsky, who lived here at the time.  On September 9, 1914, he was arrested for stealing $1,462 from his employer, Gregory Kunashezsky, a steamship broker.  The New York Times explained, "The money was the price of seven steamship tickets sold on August 23, to seven German reservists."  When arrested, Radisky had the exact amount in his pocket.

Criminals would be less uncommon in the building by the Depression years.  Joseph Schmidt was 35 years old and living here when, at 10:50 on the night of May 28, 1930, he and Andrew Fidorko assaulted and robbed Harry Roman of $175 in Jamaica, Queens.  Roman telephoned a detailed description of the gunmen to police.  It triggered a cops-and-robbers type standoff only a few minutes later.  The New York Times reported,

After sixty policemen armed with machine guns, rifles and tear gas bombs had spent several hours last night maintaining a cordon around a residential block in Jamaica in an effort to trap a gunman who fired at detectives, the fugitive turned up at his East Side home at 1:45 o'clock this morning and was caught, following a chase of several blocks, during which the police fired twenty shots.  One took effect.

Joseph Smidt was hit in the back and was taken to Bellevue Hospital where his condition was deemed "not serious."

The hallway windows can be seen in this 1941 photograph and the wooden storefronts were intact.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Another resident who ended up behind bars was Henry Fourens.  He and Jacob Goldfarb were charged with grand larceny on January 17, 1934 after they broke into about 60 parked automobiles.  In reporting the arrest, The New York Times mentioned, "A bottle of germs valued medically at $10,000, was thrown away recently as worthless by two automobile burglars who found it in a physician's car, according to detectives."

A renovation completed in 1970 resulted in just two apartments per floor and the combining of the stores.  It was most likely at this time that the former hallway windows were closed off.  In the late 1980s, the ground floor was home to The Gold Bar, described by New York Magazine on May 4, 1987 as an "intimate bar, with no sign and sparse decor."

Today a modern storefront and replacement windows testify to the late 20th century renovations.  An unattractive fire escape, installed after the fatal fire of 1914, distracts from the early flat building's design.

photographs by the author

The 1839 Thomas Macfarlan House - 102 East 10th Street

 

In 1836, Peter Gerard Stuyvesant and his sister, Elizabeth Stuyvesant Fish, established the outlines of a double-wide lot that would become 178 and 180 Tenth Street (renumbered 102 and 104 East 10th Street in 1865).  Peter Stuyvesant's long-term real estate manager was Thomas Macfarlan and that year he was assessed $4,100 on the property.  Three years later, Macfarlan received a $400 tax increase, reflecting the construction of a house at 178 Tenth Street.  It was the first dwelling to be erected on the block.

Two stories tall above a brownstone basement, the house was faced in warm, red brick and trimmed in brownstone.  It likely exhibited elements of the Federal and newer Greek Revival styles.

The house was originally rented.  Although the first family's identity is unknown, an advertisement in The Morning Courier & New-York Enquirer on June 9, 1843 hints at life inside the home:

Wanted--A respectable middle aged Protestant woman, a good Seamstress, and one who has been accustomed to the care of children, and possessing the necessary qualifications and disposition to discharge when required, the duties of a house keeper.  Apply at No. 178 Tenth street.  City references required.

The following year, in September 1844, the family was looking for another servant:

Wanted--A girl accustomed to the duties of a waiter and chambermaid, with good city recommendations, may hear of a situation by applying at 178 Tenth street.

Around 1849, a two-story office building was erected next door.  It housed Peter Gerald Stuyvesant's real estate office.  Here Stuyvesant, Thomas Macfarlan and Daniel T. Macfarlan operated.  

Daniel T. Macfarlan was Thomas's son.  Born in 1828, he married Mary Jane Merritt on November 20, 1850.  His involvement with his father's real estate business would be relatively short-lived.  He was "converted in what was known as the Dry Dock Mission," according to The Christian Advocate later, and became a Methodist minister.

With the real estate office next door, Thomas Macfarlan moved his family into 178 Tenth Street.  Mcfarlan was born in 1793.  In addition to Daniel, he and his wife had two other sons, Ebenezer and Thomas Jr.  

Shortly after moving in, Thomas Macfarlan was drawn into a heated controversary.  His father was among the patriots who had been imprisoned and died in the Livingston Sugar House--used as a prison by the British during the Revolution.  Their remains were interred in Trinity Churchyard and were threatened with removal by a proposed public street through the churchyard.  (The project was successfully blocked.)

The parlor was the scene of a funeral on February 25, 1856.  Margaret Crawford apparently lived with the family.  The 80-year-old was the widow of Thomas Crawford, Mrs. Macfarlan's brother.  The notice of her death in the New-York Daily Tribune noted, "The relatives and friends are requested to attend her funeral from the house of her brother-in-law, Thos. Macfarlan, No. 178 tenth street, one door east of Third avenue, at 1 o'clock this afternoon."

By 1859, Thomas Jr. was working with his father and the business became T. Macfarlan & Son.  (The younger Thomas and his family lived significantly north at 132 East 53rd Street.)

Thomas Macfarlan died at the age of 73 on June 26, 1866.  Both the house and the real estate office were taken over by Charles C. Wakeley.  (Peter Gerald Stuyvesant continued to maintained his office at 104 East 10th Street as he pursued his political career.  He was elected New York Governor in 1848, senator in 1851 and United States Secretary of State in 1869.)

The Wakeley household was thrown into turmoil on November 18, 1875.  The Hudson Daily Star reported, "This morning Mary Ann Fitzmorris, aged forty-five years, a servant at No. 102 East Tenth street, drank a quantity of oxalic acid with suicidal intent."  A family member found her and two doctors were summoned to the house.  The article said, "a stomach pump was applied, and the patient at present is doing well."

On March 24, 1879, The City Record reported that Rutherford Stuyvesant had hired architects Peter T. O'Brien & Sons to "alter and enlarge the brick dwelling No. 102 East Tenth street."  (Rutherford had inherited 102 and 104 East 10th Street from Peter Gerald Stuyvesant, his great-uncle.  At the same time, he demolished the office building next door and replaced it with a house.)  The renovations to 102 East 10th Street cost Stuyvesant $1,000 (just under $32,500 in 2026asdf terms).  Included in the modifications were sheet metal cornices above the openings and a neo-Grec style cornice.

No. 102 East 10th Street became a boarding house.  Among the residents in 1884 were Joanna M. Bourke, a public school teacher; and William H. McGiven, a theatrical business manager.

In 1888, Herman S. Clark, alias Harry Johnson; and John H. Williams, alias Henry H. Williams, shared a room here.  Clark, who was 24, was an artist; and the 27-year-old Williams worked as a bookkeeper.  And they had a sideline to augment their finances.

On May 26 that year, The Evening World began an article saying, "The operations of two young men who have preyed upon the occupants of boarding-houses for some weeks were brought to an abrupt close yesterday by the arrest of the thieves."  Using 102 East 10th Street as their base of operations, the two men would engage a room in other boarding houses, ransack other boarders' rooms, then make off with the loot.  Their luck ran out when Mary A. Hogan, the proprietor of their most recent exploit, pointed them out to police officers on Lexington Avenue.  "The officers overhauled the fellows in Thirty-seventh street, near Fifth avenue, and soon had them behind the bars," said the article.

In their room on East 10th Street, police discovered pawn tickets for, "dress suits, sealskin sacques, meerschaum pipes, diamond collar buttons, and many other articles of value," reported The Sun.  Judge Martine sentenced Clark, a.k.a. Johnson, to four years in prison, and Williams to four-and-a-half.

Born in Germany, Helen Fischer lived here in 1892.  At just 18 years old, she was already noted as a singer.  She fell in love with another German immigrant, Gustave Bruder.  Then, early that summer, the young man broke up with her.  Helen was devastated and on June 2, she walked into Stuyvesant Park and shot herself in the chest.  Three weeks later, The Sun reported, "she has recovered from her injury, but is insane."  The newspaper said that the promising young singer "will be sent to the lunatic asylum on Blackwell's Island to-day."

Two years later, the residents were terrified--although they were not certain why.  On January 7, 1894, the New York Herald reported, "Boarders at No. 102 East Tenth street do not know whether it was a burglar or spook that invaded the house, rapped at doors and thumped Mr. Koeniges' head."  (It is unclear if the source of the unnerving occurrences was discovered.)

The boarders here continued to be middle-class professionals.  In 1899, George M. Silverberg was appointed a commissioner of deeds (a civil service position similar to a notary public).  He was still living here and holding the position in 1903 when another resident, Daniel Morgan, was appointed a commissioner of deeds, as well.

Mrs. Frieda McCarthy ran the boarding house in 1912.  Among her residents was Marie Fueler, who informed Mrs. McCarthy early in March that she would be sailing to Europe soon.  On the afternoon of March 11, while Mrs. McCarthy was away from the house, Marie used a skeleton key to enter her room.  She stole $60 in cash (about $2,000 today), a gold watch and chain, and five rings that Frieda McCarthy valued at $130, and then packed her bags and left.

Mrs. McCarthy notified Detective McGrath, stressing the importance of finding Marie Fueler quickly, since she had a ticket to sail on the Crown Prince Wilhelm the next day.  McGrath soon arrested her on the street not far from the East 10th Street house.  Marie admitted having taken the items, but insisted that Frieda McCarthy "owed her a large sum of money which she refused to pay."  She had merely taken the cash and valuables as partial payment, she said.  While she was in jail, the steamship left port with Marie Fueler's luggage on board.

In 1941, a laundry occupied the basement and French-style doors filled the entrance.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

By the time Louis Bass purchased 102 East 10th Street in August 1919, the New-York Tribune described it as a "two-family house."  Toward the end of the Great Depression, the basement was converted to commercial use, and in the early 1940s, it housed the Third Avenue Laundry.

The somewhat beleaguered house was purchased in 1966 and its owner initiated a sympathetic renovation to a single-family home.  Among the most striking elements of the project was the entranceway, designed to resemble one that would have been seen in a period Greek Revival home.  Its fluted, Ionic pilasters support an blank frieze and transom.

The oldest house on the block, 102 East 10th Street is still a single family home.

photographs by the author