The David and Emily Kearr House - 397 Manhattan Avenue

 

Real estate developer Edward Cunningham purchased the western blockfront of New Avenue (renamed Manhattan Avenue the following year) between 116th and 117th Streets from John M. Pinkney in February 1886.  A partner in the contracting firm of Cunningham & Henderson, he seems to have acted as his own architect in filling the plots with 11 three-story houses before the year was out.  A medley of Queen Anne designs, the houses--some faced in brick, some in brownstone, and others in both--created a charming streetscape.

No. 397 Manhattan Avenue was faced in brownstone at the basement and parlor levels.  Beefy cast iron newels and railings flanked the stoop, which led to the double-doored entrance beneath a generous transom and intricate carvings.  The paired parlor windows sat within an arch, its transom filled with colorful stained glass.  The upper two floors, outlined in stone quoins, were clad in brick.  Additional quoins framed the second floor windows and their carved panels above.  A pressed metal cornice with a fanciful fascia completed the design.

The house was sold to newlyweds David Kearr and the former Emeline Irene Russell.  Kearr was a butcher and real estate operator who had previously lived in Islip, Long Island.  He had operated a butcher stand in the Washington Market since 1859.  The couple was married on June 23, 1887.

They were not in the Manhattan Avenue house long before scandal arose.  On July 25, 1888, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Jennie Scammel had sued Kearr for $100,000.  Her suit maintained that between 1885 and 1886 he had promised to marry her and "that relying on such promises she consented to live with him in his home at Islip, and that there her child was born."  

Additionally, she accused him of physical abuse, including an incident on August 30, 1887 when, according to The Evening World, he "assaulted her and threatened to cut her throat."  In addition to the breach of promise amount, she requested an additional $115,000--$5,000 for each assault.  (The damages would total more than $7 million in 2024 terms.)  The Brooklyn Daily Eagle commented, "Whether Kearr is able to pay a tenth of that sum does not appear."

The readers of newspapers across the country who followed the story for weeks were even more titillated when a second breach of promise suit was filed in February 1889.  This one, filed by Margaret Louise Williams, was even more startling.  Margaret was the sister of Kearr's first wife, and at the age of 15 "she was led astray" when Kearr began "an intimacy with her that extended over a number of years."  When his wife died, she claimed, he promised to marry her and they lived together.  She told the court on February 11, 1889 that she discovered love letters from Jennie Scammel and he promised to give Jennie up.  Margaret's suit asked for $100,000 damages, but she was awarded $3,500--about $120,000 today.

Through it all Emily remained with her husband.  In the meantime, the case brought by Jennie Scammel dragged on for months.  Although the Kearrs retained possession of the Manhattan Avenue house, they quickly moved out.  

Their tenant, Conrad Schlotterer, also brought notoriety to the address.  The volatile bachelor went through "a long succession of...housekeepers," according to The Star on March 23, 1889, "nearly all of whom have had trouble with him before retiring from his household."

The day before the article, his latest housekeeper, Amelia Hagan, had accused him in court of assault.  She sought $1,000 in damages.  She testified, 

I was his housekeeper.  On October 15 he called me names, struck me and told me to get out.  I said I'd go when he paid me my wages.  He struck me with his hand, took hold of me and threw me out of the room, then tried to throw me down stairs.  I cried for help and he struck me again, put his hand on my mouth and threw me against the wall.  I then went to my room and he ordered me to leave there, saying that it was his.  He again put me out.  Then I went to a house of a lady friend.

Another servant, Maria Alberts, was brave enough to testify on Amelia Hagan's behalf.  Schlotterer was found guilty and fined $50.  Amelia Hagan was not awarded any damages.

The names of the Kearrs' tenants continued to appear in newspapers for legal troubles.  The widowed mother of George W. Bloomfield followed Schlotterer in the house.  Upon the death of her husband in 1891, Mrs. Bloomfield inherited "about a million dollars," according to The Sun.

On November 14, 1892 she answered the door to find her son and his wife, Caroline, there.  Caroline said (according to George), "I won't bother him any longer.  You take care of him."  The two had been married for about ten years.  In 1891 George suffered "paralysis" (possibly the result of a stroke) and had "almost completely lost the use of his right side," according to The Evening World.   They lived nearby at 313 West 116th Street.  

In December 1893, Caroline sued for legal separation and temporary alimony.  She denied that she had taken George to his mother's house, and said, instead, that he "deserted her and went to live with his mother at 397 Manhattan Avenue."  George protested that Caroline grew tired of caring for him since his affliction.  He added that he could not pay, saying, "all the money he has is $10 a week allowance from his mother."  The Evening World reported, "He says he pays $5 a week of his allowance for board."

In 1941, while the house was operated as a rooming house, the stained glass and original stoop newels survived.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Finally, in 1902, a Kearrs' tenant appeared in newsprint for noncontentious reasons.  On March 9, the New York Herald reported, "Thirty of the friends of Miss Grace Halleck, of No. 397 Manhattan avenue, were present yesterday afternoon at an enjoyable musical tea which she gave from three until six o'clock.  The decorations were in white and green."

Around 1905, Dudley Returned Horton and his wife, the former Florence Cromwell, leased the house.  The couple was married on October 17, 1903.  Horton had four children from a former marriage, Fannie C., Florence E., Dudley, Jr., and Cromwell S.

Horton was born in New York City on December 17, 1854 and studied under a private tutor before entering Cornell University.  He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1879 and was admitted to the United States Supreme Court on May 28, 1900.  The family remained here through 1909, when Emily Kearr leased the house to "a Mrs. Goldie," according to The Evening Post on August 28.

After David and Emily Kearrs' deaths, their estate continued to manage and lease 397 Manhattan Avenue for years.  Although it was operated as a rooming house by the World War II years, it was never divided into apartments.   Still a single-family home, at some point the stained glass transom in the parlor was removed and the robust stoop newels replaced.

photographs by the author