photograph by the author
In the late 18th century, the Rutgers and De Lancey estates abutted one other. Around the turn of the century, the families laid out streets on their properties, including the one-block long Oliver Street, named for General Oliver de Lancey, the younger of the two De Lancey brothers. (Oliver Street would be extended to two blocks in 1819.)
Perhaps the first structure on Oliver Street was erected in 1806. On April 7 that year, an advertisement in The Evening Post offered,
For Sale, the House No. 15, Oliver street. It has a brick front, two stories high, 10 rooms with 6 fire places, has every convenience for two families; the lot has 9 years unexpired Lease, subject to a ground rent of £ 5 per Ann[um]
Twenty-two-feet-wide and faced in Flemish bond brick, the Federal-style house would have had two dormers at the attic level.
Given the relatively quick turnover of residents over the next few decades, it appears the house was originally rented. Living here in the late 1820s was the family of Tobias Ezekiel, a quilldresser. (Quilldressers were skilled tradesmen who converted feathers into quill pens.) By 1830, attorney Peter A. Cowdrey lived here, and in 1836 Thomas J. Ireland and his family occupied the house. Ireland dealt in sailduck, a canvas-like material used for sails. Drygoods merchant Enoch M. Mead and his family lived here in 1840 and 1841.
William Reid purchased the house around 1842. The proprietor of a coffee house at 98 Wall Street, Reid was also an inspector of the Common Schools in the Fourth Ward.
Starting in 1851, the Reid family shared 15 Oliver Street with Patrick Merrick and his family. Merrick was a cooper (a barrel maker or repairer). It is possible he and Reid knew one another through their mutual positions as school inspectors. The Merricks would remain with the Reids through 1857.
In March 1864, William Reid sold 15 Oliver Street to Dr. Peter Burnett and his wife, Elizabeth, for $6,075 (about $125,000 in 2025 terms). The Reids operated their home as a boarding house. A boarder who lived here in 1872 published a heart-rending plea in the New York Herald on May 24 that year:
Information Wanted--Of Michael Cotter. Said Michael Cotter enlisted in Company F. Seventeenth regiment New York Volunteers, on the 22d of August, 1861. Any member of the said company or regiment who knows anything about his being living or dead will be suitably rewarded by sending word to or calling on his mother, at Dr. Burnett's, No. 15 Oliver street.
The relationship between Dr. and Elizabeth Burnett was more than strained by the winter of 1879-80. On February 14, 1880, The Sun reported, "Dr. Peter Burnett of 15 Oliver street had an iron poker in his pocket, yesterday, when he took the witness stand in the Special Sessions to accuse his fourth wife of trying to murder him." Burnett's testimony of his wife's murderous intentions fell short when Elizabeth took the stand.
"The accused woman had her scarred head done up in a red flannel shirt, and she said that her husband had thrown acid in her face, jumped on her foot and broken it, and had scarred her back with blows," reported The Sun. The judge pointed to Dr. Burnett and demanded, "Go home." Someone in the gallery shouted, "And be murdered!"
The couple was back in court just over a week later. On February 29, the New York Dispatch reported, "Peter Bennett [sic], residing at No. 15 Oliver street, had his wife Elizabeth arrested on the charge of taking him by the two ears and kicking him out of the house." Justice Kilbreth heard both sides and ruled, "that Peter only got what he deserved."
Soon afterward, the Burnetts were gone and Dr. Edward G. Tuffs occupied the house. The neighborhood was, by now, populated with working class immigrants. Several of the cases to which he was called reflected the sometimes violent nature within their households.
On July 25, 1882, he testified in the case of Cornelius O'Gorman, "a brutal-looking fellow," according to The Evening Post, who was being held for intoxication. Tuffs told the court of the condition of O'Gorman's pregnant wife, whom he had thrown down a flight of stairs the previous evening. The woman suffered "a broken arm and contusions of the neck and knee." Dr. Tuff added, "the assault may prove fatal."
At 3:00 on the morning of January 12, 1887, Dr. Tuffs was awakened "by the violent ringing of his door bell," according to The World. The woman begged him to hurry to 64 Cherry Street where a female was dying. Tuffs was led to a room on the top floor where he found a dead woman lying in front of the stove. The woman's husband, Anthony Malledy, told him that his wife had fallen down the stairs. He later told officials that he had gone to a saloon and when he came back his wife was gone. After an hour he looked for her and found her at the bottom of the stairs. The coroner's report, however, suggested that her fractured skull "might have been inflicted by a kick with a heavy boot."
On July 16, 1889, Daniel Riordan purchased 15 Oliver Street for $12,o00, or about $422,000 today. He hired architect Bernard McGurk to raise the attic to a full third floor and add an extension to the rear. The updating included the replacement of the stoop and area railings with modern examples, new paneled entrance doors, and pressed metal sills and lintels. A bracketed cornice with a triangular pediment, perhaps more expected in a commercial building, completed the design.
A bachelor, Daniel Riordan was engaged in real estate when he purchased the house, but that would soon change. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1898.
On July 3, 1899, The Tammany Times reported, "Congressman Daniel J. Riordan...who was married last Wednesday to Miss Edith Caldwell, of Providence, will spend six weeks traveling through Canada and the West with his bride. Upon their return Mr. and Mrs. Riordan will live at 15 Oliver Street." The New York Press added, "The friends will be bidden to a housewarming at which the solid silver dinner service of 225 pieces, the gift of the Divver Club, and all the other presents, will be shown."
Daniel J. Riordan around 1912. from the collection of the Library of Congress
Before 1915, the couple moved to 26 Oliver Street. Riordan's widowed mother, Margaret, and his unmarried sister, Mary, moved into 15 Oliver Street. They shared the house with Tammany bigwig, Tom Foley, and his wife, Bessie Murphy. In its December 1918 issue, State Service mentioned, "Tom Foley occupies the first floor of the house."
Thomas F. Foley was known within political circles as "Big Tom." A saloon keeper, he was Tammany's political organizer. (Foley Square in Lower Manhattan would be named for him.) Having power within the political organization, however, came with danger.
On May 11, 1915, The Evening World reported, "A conspiracy to kill Mr. Foley and Congressman Daniel J. Riordan has been unearthed." The article said that Riordan, Foley and Michael Murphy had left the Tammany Clubhouse on Madison Street. Following them was a "would-be murderer." At 15 Oliver Street, Riordan and Murphy went on to their homes and Foley climbed the stoop. The article said, "as the big leader stooped to open the vestibule door with his latch key, [the attacker] attempted to plunge a long stiletto in Mr. Foley's back." Just then, Foley turned and his attacker fled.
Daniel and Edith Maude Riordan traveled to California in the spring of 1919 as part of a Congressional party touring army camps and naval stations. In their absence, their daughter, Marion, stayed with her grandmother at 15 Oliver Street. On March 13, Daniel and Edith were in a car with Representative William Kettner and his wife going to March Aviation Field. The Sun reported, "The chauffeur's hat was blown off and in his confusion, he lost control of the machine." All the passengers were injured.
Back home, Tom Foley telegraphed to California "in an effort to ascertain the extent of the injuries sustained by the Representative and his wife," said the article. "A telegram sent by Miss Riordan also remained unanswered up to a late hour." Happily, none of the injuries was serious.
Thomas "Big Tom" Foley, The New York Times, January 16, 1925
Daniel Joseph Riordan died on April 28, 1923. His mother continued to live in the Oliver Street house, as did Tom Foley. Foley's importance within the Tammany organization was evident on January 14, 1925 when The New York Times reported that he had contracted pneumonia. "Governor [Al] Smith and John E. Gilchrist, President of the State Tax Commission, hurried to this city to supervise Mr. Foley's removal to the hospital," said the article.
Foley died on January 15 at the age of 73. Two days later, The Evening Post said that "thousands" paid tribute to Foley. "In front of the home of Mrs. Daniel J. Riordan, at 15 Oliver street, where the body rested in state, were hundreds." His funeral was held in St. James's Church.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
As early as 1954, Dr. A. Sincoff occupied 15 Oliver Street and, as did Drs. Burnett and Tuff, operated his medical office in the house. Now, seven decades later, Dr. Arthur B. Sincoff, presumably his son, is at the address; and there are four residential units in the building.
No comments:
Post a Comment