photograph by Ted Leather
The developing Murray Hill district drew millionaires like the Phelps and Dodge families in the 1840s. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Lexington Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets was lined with the handsome residences of affluent bankers, brokers, attorneys and merchants. Among them was the Sewell residence at 292 Lexington Avenue (renumbered 320 in 1867).
Faced in sandstone, the four-story-and-basement Italianate residence featured an arched, double-doored entrance above a high stoop. Its triangular pediment sat upon scrolled brackets. Almost assuredly, the full-height parlor windows were originally fronted by a cast iron balcony. Prominent cornices sat atop the architrave frames of the openings. The fourth floor took the form of a slate-shingled mansard.
William Sewell, Jr. (original source unknown.)
Born in 1810, William Sewell, Jr. was Chief Engineer of the United States Navy. He and his wife, the former Caroline Matilda Dunscomb, had three children, Julia Elizabeth, Walter Dunscomb, and Henry.
Sewell's engineering expertise went further than military vessels. On April 14, 1860, for instance, The New York Times reported on the launching of the Adriatic, "the most comfortable passenger-ship in service." The article mentioned that it was outfitted with the "fresh water condenser of Mr. Sewell," as well as the "excellent life-preserving pillows of Mr. William Sewell, C.E." (Two buoyant pillows were connected, "as to be easily slipped on under the arms, and firmly secured.")
The Civil War demanded much of Sewell's talents. On April 7, 1863, the Harbor Defense Commission met to discuss means of protecting New York Harbor. The New York Times reported, "Mr. William Sewell submitted a communication and charts explaining a plan for blockading the harbor against the entrance of a hostile fleet."
Before the end of the war, Sewell retired. He died in the Lexington Avenue house at the age of 55 on May 12, 1865. His funeral was held in the parlor on May 15th.
Caroline Matilda Dunscomb Sewell (original source unknown)
Julia Elizabeth was married in Trinity Chapel to Adam Scott Cameron on June 2, 1874. The couple moved into the Sewell residence. They would have two sons, Walter Scott, born in 1875, and Aubrey Sewell, born in 1877.
Adam Cameron was in the "pumps" business. Also moving into the house around this time was John L. Cameron, a relative, who listed his profession as "treasurer." Walter D. Sewell became a physician around 1877.
On October 15, 1877, one month before Aubrey Sewell Cameron was born, Adam Scott Cameron died at the age of 37. His funeral was not held in the house, as might have been expected, but at Trinity Chapel, where he and Julia had been married just three years earlier.
Caroline and Julia would appear in the society columns for years. On January 8, 1881, for instance, The Daily Graphic announced, "Mrs. Sewall [sic] and Mrs. Cameron, of No. 320 Lexington avenue, leave shortly for Aiken," and on March 25, 1888, The World reported, "Mrs. Cameron, No. 320 Lexington avenue, gave a luncheon on Tuesday morning."
In July 1888, Caroline hired the architectural firm of D. & J. Jardine to enlarge the house with a one-story rear extension.
Julia Elizabeth Sewell Cameron. (original source unknown)
The women's entertaining was vividly described by The New York Times on March 17, 1892, which wrote:
The luncheon table around which Mrs. Cameron of 320 Lexington Avenue had twelve guests yesterday at 1 o'clock was a "dream in pink and lavender." A great mound of Catharine Mermet roses and lilacs from the greenhouses of Siebrecht & Wadley occupied the centre of the table, and at each lady's right was an imported basket of the most delicate china with raised hand-painted forget-me-nots and roses upon them. To these were tied bunches of Catharine Mermet roses with pink ribbons.
Dr. William Dunscomb Sewell still lived with his mother and sister. He operated his private practice from the house, most likely in the basement level.
Caroline Matilda Sewell died of pneumonia on December 4, 1896 at the age of 72. Julia inherited the Lexington Avenue house. At the turn of the century, she leased it to William Watson Shippen, Jr. and his wife, the former Alice Gerald Wood.
Born in 1858, Shippen was secretary-treasurer of the Hackensack Water Company, an engineer of the Lackawanna Railroad, and a director of the First National Bank of Hoboken. He and Alice were married in 1886 and had a son, Edward, who was born the next year.
Living with the couple were William's unmarried sisters, Ettie, Georgia, Sofie Morton, and Caroline. Like the women in the house before them, they routinely appeared in the society columns. On January 18, 1902, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mrs. W. W. Shippen and the Misses Shippen, 320 Lexington Avenue, received yesterday."
In the summer of 1907, the Shippens embarked on a thorough housecleaning. On June 6, the "big wagon of the Vacuum Cleaning Company" arrived and parked in front of the house. The Evening World explained,
The cleanser on wheels had been standing in front of No. 320 Lexington avenue, while its apparatus, carried into the house by means of air pipes and operated by the electric plant in the wagon, was furbishing walls and floor coverings.
When the cleaners were done, the wagon, "which runs by its own power," according to The Evening World, made a U-turn on the avenue to leave. "At that instant a [street] car came rushing down the hill," said the article. It struck the wagon "with terrific force." The three-man crew of the cleaning company was severely injured, and two of them later died.
The Shippen family remained here until March 1916, when Julie Cameron leased it to James Geraghty. By then, the stretch of Lexington Avenue had changed from an upscale residential neighborhood to one of shops, apartments and commercial buildings. At the end of World War I, the former Sewell house was operated as rented rooms.
Living here in 1934 was 23-year-old waiter Charles E. Folsom, the son of a Boston newspaper editor. On January 15 that year, he pleaded guilty for the murder of Abraham Borsun. Folsom and another striking union worker, George Johnson, shot Borsun during labor tensions. According to Folsom, they only intended to frighten Borsun by shooting at him. Instead, they killed him. The Ossining, New York Citizen Sentinel reported, "Folsom faces a sentence of from 20 years to life imprisonment at Sing Sing."
A renovation completed in 1939 resulted in apartments and furnished rooms throughout the building. The stoop was removed and the entrance lowered to the former English basement level.
The original entrance was converted to French windows. A "Rooms to Let" sign hangs above the doorway. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Living here in 1982 was Kuno Laren, the chairman of the board of the Sentry Armored Car Courier Company. In June that year, he and two other officials stole $100,000 from a $500,000 revolving fund the firm maintained for one of its customers. A month before Laren and his co-workers were arrested on January 12, 1983 for the crime, one of the company's armored cars was robbed of $11 million. In arresting the trio, District Attorney Mario M. Merolo said they "could not be ruled out or excluded as suspects" in the December theft.
The building was remodeled again in 1988. In the renovation, the Italianate frame was removed from the former doorway. Despite the loss, the removal of the stoop and a restaurant in the basement level, the Sewell house retains much of its domestic appearance.
many thanks to reader Ted Leather for suggesting this post
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