In 1819 a wooden building was erected at 23-25 Sullivan Street by carpenter David Mulford, who purchased the lot in 1807. It was one of the first structures built in the district. Within five years, the neighborhood was considerably developed. On December 15, 1825, The Evening Post reported on a conflagration, the story of which anticipated the legend of Mrs. O'Leary's cow in Chicago nearly half a century later. "It commenced in a stable where a carman had gone with a candle to feed his horse," said the article. The newspaper estimated that 35 buildings were destroyed, including 23-25 Sullivan Street.
Mulford sold half the plot to another carpenter, Drake Crane. The two men erected near mirror-image, brick-faced houses on the property, each having a smaller structure in the rear yard. Two-and-a-half stories tall above shallow brownstone basements, Mulford's house was slightly wider, because it included the horse walk--a shared passage to the back lots. Because of its necessarily narrower width, Drake Crane's entrance lacked the elegant columns seen in the doorway of its next door neighbor.
Born in 1781, Drake Crane married Elizabeth Woodruff in 1808. The couple had two sons, David and John, and a daughter, Jane L. As was common, the Cranes took in boarders. In 1827, for instance, John Combs and John Demarest, two smiths, lived in the rear house. Living with the Cranes in the main house were Joseph Conklin and Hezekiah Thorp, a carpenter and blind-maker respectively.
Following her husband's death in 1833, Elizabeth Crane continued to accept boarders. Living in the main house with her and Jane in 1836 were Clark Hall and Joseph Jenkins, both painters, while William McDougall, who listed his profession as "glassmender," occupied the rear house.
As it turns out, McDougall not only mended glassware. At the Fair of the American Institute in 1836, he was awarded a "diploma" for "a specimen of repairing china or earthenware."
Elias F. Crane, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, lived here in the early 1840s. He ran a drygoods store at 243 Greenwich Street and was flabbergasted in 1842 when he received his "bill of taxes" on his Greenwich Street property. He complained to the Committee on Assessments that he had "been assessed on personal property to the amount of two thousands dollars, which he alleges is one thousands dollars more than he posses[ses]." The Committee admitted the error, which had overtaxed Elias F. Crane by the equivalent of $38,600 in 2025 conversion. Elias Crane made a bold move in 1846, relocating to the Midwest and opening a general store in Mount Sterling, Illinois.
Elizabeth Marshall, known to friends as Eliza, was the widow of William Marshall. She moved into 85 Sullivan Street in 1851. Elizabeth Crane died on January 11, 1858 at the age of 74. Whether the two Elizabeths were related is unclear, but Eliza Marshall would remain here for more than a decade longer.
Jane L. Crane, still unmarried, continued to take in boarders. In 1860 Anne Morris, a widow, and Humphrey Richards, a tailor, occupied the rear house and Maximillian Zinner, who ran a shoe store, lived in the main house. Zinner would board here at least through 1865.
The parlor was the scene of the funeral of Eliza's daughter, Jane H. Stevens, who died on August 16, 1863. She was the wife of James A. Stevens. The New York Times announced, "Her friends, and those of the family, are invited to attend the funeral, on Tuesday afternoon, at 3 o'clock, from the residence of her mother, Mrs. Eliza Marshall, No. 85 Sullivan-st."
Jane L. Crane's sister-in-law, Eliza Crane, who was the widow of John Crane, was living here by 1867. Eliza Marshall remained with the women through around 1873 when the house was sold to Edward Elliott.
In February 1874, Elliott hired architect A. C. Crouter to raise the attic to a full third floor. The renovations cost him the equivalent of $69,000 today. Crouter was a partner with R. Watts in the construction company that executed the project. The sympathetic addition is seen in the slight change in brick color and from Flemish bond to running bond. The builders added a modest bracketed cornice. (Edward Elliot would own 83 Sullivan Street by 1880, when he raised the attic of that house to a third floor.)
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Elliott leased the house to John J. Foster, a clerk. The Fosters, as its predecessors had done, took in boarders. Listed with the family in 1879, for instance, were clerks William Brown and William Cadwell; Carl Christian, a postal carrier; and carpenter John Demarest.
On July 4 that year, 18-year-old William Brown took his handgun into the back yard and set up a target for practice. Living at 83 Sullivan street next door was Michael Tafore, who happened to be in his backyard, too. The New York Times reported, "One of the bullets missed its intended mark and lodged in the right arm of Michael Tarfore." Brown was arrested and the two faced off in court on July 22. The defendant and the plaintiff offered two very different versions of the story.
Brown admitted that he accidentally wounded his neighbor and insisted he "was positive that it was a gun." He stressed the point because Tafore testified he had been hit buy "a cannon on two wheels." The New York Times concluded, "The court decided that Brown was guilty of carelessly using fire-arms, and sentenced him to pay a fine of $25." (Brown's negligence cost him the equivalent of $788 today.)
John Mangfred lived here the following year on April 11 when he was mugged. He was walking along Mulberry Street at around 2:30 in the morning when he encountered four men on a corner. One of them asked the time. When Mangfred took out his watch, "the four men suddenly rushed upon him, and lifting him off the sidewalk by his head and feet, carried him into an alleyway at No. 51 Mulberry street," reported The New York Times. The thugs rifled Mangfred's clothing, and ran off with his watch, money, and other valuables. Mangfred's cries were heard by the beat cop, Officer Dugan, who quickly captured three of the muggers. It appears that Mangfred's possessions were retrieved.
Among those living here in 1891 was the William Banbrick family. Unthinkable today, on the night of April 30, William sent his four-year-old son, John, with a quarter to a butcher shop to buy a steak. The Sun reported, "He returned without the steak and said a black man had boxed his ears and taken the money from him." An 11-year-old boy, Millet Desconi, backed up the boy's story, and "said he had seen the robber go into a saloon on the corner of Broome street."
Determined to have justice, Banbrick found Policeman Cohen and stormed into the saloon. He accused Charles Wilson of stealing the quarter. (He was a likely-looking crook. The Sun described him as "about six feet tall, weighs over 200 pounds, and has only one eye.") Things quickly deteriorated. "A friend of Wilson, Nathan Salter, interfered and pulled a knife," said the article. Cohen disarmed Salter and arrested both men.
The burly Wilson turned the tables on his four-year-old accuser in the Jefferson Market Courthouse the following day. He testified that he was president of the Republican Club in the Eighth Ward and had had the same job for seven years. Then, reported The Times, "As proof of the absurdity of the charge he pulled out a large roll of notes and asked if it was likely that he would rob a 4-year-old boy of twenty-five cents."
Little John Banbrick clearly appeared to have stolen his father's quarter. And yet, in what appears to have been a case of the prevailing racism of the time, the judge was reticent to clear Charles Wilson. "Justice McMahon said he was not thoroughly convinced of Wilson's innocence, but would give the accused the benefit of the doubt."
Louis Fugazy and his wife were occupants here in 1903--or at least they lived together for part of that time. Fugazy faced a judge on January 26, 1904, "asking to be freed from Rosie Barberie Fugazy," reported The Evening World. He told the court that she "had left him and was known as Mrs. Borey in Waverly place and at Navesink Highlands where 'Mr. and Mrs. Borey' spend last summer."
photographs by the author
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