In the early 1830s, prim Federal-style houses rose along the new streets laid out on the former Rutgers Farm. One of these, at 267 Henry Street (named for Henry Rutgers), was completed in 1834. Like most of its neighbors, it was two-and-a-half stories tall with red brick cladding and two attic dormers. In November 1834, an advertisement in the New York Morning Courier offered for sale, "the two story House and Lot No. 267 Henry st...house 24 by 42 ft., finished in modern style, with under cellars, finished attic, &c."
Nathan Cobb, a shipmaster, occupied the house in 1836. Cobb owned the coastal steamer Savannah and had become a member of the Marine Society of the City of New York on May 12, 1828. Following his retirement, Cobb relocated to Tarrytown, where he erected a stately mansion that survives.
Nathan Cobb assuredly was well-acquainted with Herbert Lawrence, one of the preeminent ship builders of the East Coast. Their relationship likely resulted in Lawrence's purchase of 267 Henry Street in 1846.
Herbert Lawrence was born in Pallisades, in Rockland County, in 1778. He arrived in New York City in 1809 and became "a practical ship-builder, entering a yard near the Battery," according to The New York Times decades later. He co-founded Lawrence & Sneden in 1816 as the senior partner. The following year the firm was given an important commission for the steamboat Bolona by Cornelius Vanderbilt I. The New York Times reported,
She was a model of beauty and marveled at of account of her size. She was built to compete with a line of boats owned by a company which was monopolizing traffic on the Hudson River. The wonderful craft was 80 feet long, 20 feet beam, and 6 feet hold, and was propelled by paddle wheels.
In appreciation of the lucrative commission, Lawrence presented Vanderbilt with a scale model of the Bolona, which was prominently displayed in the Vanderbilt parlor at 10 Washington Place.
Herbert and his wife, the former Sarah Freelove Mann, had two sons, William and Herbert, Jr. (Somewhat morbidly, the boys' namesakes were their parent's first sons--also William and Herbert--who died in infancy.)
By 1852, Herbert, Jr., still in his 20s, was a co-proprietor of his father's firm. That year William Foulks established a partnership with Herbert Lawrence, and the firm was renamed Lawrence & Foulks. With the seaport bustling and crowded, in 1854 the firm moved its shipyard to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During this period, Lawrence & Foulks built oceangoing steamships outfitted with lavish accommodations for passengers.
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Lawrence & Foulks built the luxurious Commonwealth in 1854. from the collection of the Athenaeum.
The firm turned from luxury travel and shipping to warfare with the outbreak of the Civil War. Several crafts in the process of construction were remodeled for gunboats. The sidewheel steamer Thomas Freeborn was engaged in an attack on Mathias Point, Virginia on June 16, 1861 and his commander, James H. Ward, became the first U.S. Navy officer killed in the war.
Following the war, Lawrence & Foulks resumed the construction of a variety of vessels, like the Sylvan Dell, a ferry built for the Harlem & New York Navigation Company (it earned the nickname the "Queen of New York Harbor"), and the first schooner built after the Civil War, the Jennie Stout.
On October 20, 1877, Sarah Lawrence died a month before her 84th birthday. Her funeral was held in the house on October 24, at 11 a.m. By then, Herbert, Sr. had retired and Herbert, Jr. had stepped into the senior partnership role.
On March 1, 1882, The New York Times reported, "Mr. Herbert Lawrence, a very old resident of this City and one who was closely identified with ship-building interests here in the early years of the century, died yesterday at his residence, No. 267 Henry-street." The article commented, "he bought the house in which he died yesterday 36 years ago, when Henry-street was a fashionable locality." His funeral on March 2 would be the last in the venerable house.
The "fashionable locality" mentioned in the article had greatly changed since the Lawrence family moved in. The district was now mostly filled with Eastern European Jewish immigrants. On June 16, 1888, the Record & Guide reported that the Lawrence house had been sold to "The Louis Down-Town Sabbath School." The cost had been $14,250, and "with an additional expenditure of $5,000, was converted into a well-appointed schoolhouse," according to The New York Times. The total expenditure would translate to about $636,000 today.
The girls' school was founded in 1880 by Mrs. A. H. Louis. Seven years after it moved into 267 Henry Street, on June 16, 1895, The New York Times praised, "The Louis Down-Town Sabbath and Daily School is a magnificent example of what can be accomplished by noble-minded women among the young and old of their sex in the hearts of the slums." The article said the sponsors, "by the hand with kindness and tact, has induced these little girls to go to the schoolhouse and receive not only the rudiments of an English education and that of the ancient faith of Moses and the children of Israel, but lessons in decorum, cleanliness, and useful knowledge to the housewife."
The 50 students were from 8 to 15 years old. The curriculum focused on preparing the girls for life later. The morning consisted of "plain sewing, fancy needlework, dressmaking, millinery, and cooking." In the afternoons, they were instructed in "stenography, typewriter, bookkeeping, and in elementary English." The article stressed, "The officers and teachers endeavor to place the girls with families and business houses and thereby counteract...as possible the evils of the sweatshop system."
The New York Times, June 10, 1905 (copyright expired)
On February 10, 1902, The Evening World reported, "Adolph Lewisohn to-day gave $75,000 to the Hebrew Technical School towards a fund for another school building," and that Nathaniel Meyers had added $5,000. The article recalled, "The school is located at No. 267 Henry street for the education of poor east side girls." The massive funding resulted in an announcement on May 5, 1903 that a planned building at Second Avenue and 15th Street was planned.
The school relocated in 1906 and on May 11 Morris Loeb purchased the building for $28,000 (about $978,000 today). The Federal style residence was given a remarkable re-do. The attic was raised to a third floor, the entrance dropped below grade, and the facade given a Georgian inspired transformation, including handsome arched tympana over the floor windows and Colonial splayed lintels at the second floor.
The renovation of 267 (right) was remarkable. Next door, at 265 Henry Street was the original Henry Settlement House property. from the NYC Records & Information Services.
At the time, Lillian D. Wald had operated the Henry Street Settlement next door at 265 Henry Street since 1894. Loeb donated 267 Henry Street to the Settlement as administrative offices.
Eventually, 263 Henry Street would be acquired by the organization as well. When a proposal in 1964 threatened to raze and replace the properties, the officers chose instead to restore the historic structures. The work of the Henry Street Settlement continues within the three vintage structures. No. 267 Henry Street--which would be unrecognizable to the Lawrence family today--is as important for its social history as for its striking architecture.
photographs by the author
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