The Lost Jotham Force House - 305 Bowery

 

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

As early as 1821, Jotham Force occupied the two-and-and-half story house-and-store at the northeast corner of the Bowery and First Street.  The Federal-style building was one of at least two brick-faced, nearly identical structures.  Two bays wide and two-and-a-half stories tall, its gambrel roof harkened to the Dutch residences generations earlier.  The commodious attic was illuminated by two dormers each on the back and front, and an arched window flanked by quarter-round openings on the side.

Born in 1791 in Bergen, New Jersey, Force could trace his American roots to Benjamin Force, who arrived in Massachusetts before 1689.  He married Catherine Earl on April 20, 1811.  Force was a cordwainer, or a maker of new leather shoes (as opposed to a shoemaker, who sometimes repaired or refashioned used footwear).  It is likely that he operated his business in the ground floor shop.

The store and its upstairs rooms saw a rapid turnover of occupants.  In 1830 James S. Smith, who lived on Cherry Street, ran a grocery store here while David Marsh, Jr. lived upstairs.  Joshua Moore and his family lived here in 1835 when he joined neighbors applauding streetcar service on the Bowery.  A letter to the Common Council said in part that they, "do not consider the single track of rails, nor the running of the cars any way injurious to our interest; but think the conveyance in Rail Road Cars a great public convenience."

In 1842, Samuel Riker and his wife, Helena, purchased 305 Bowery and took over the grocery.  Around this time, a small addition was placed at the rear to access the upper floors.  It took the address of 2 First Street.  The alteration made possible a second commercial space.  The Rikers now shared the upper floors with the family of Isaiah Valleau, a shoemaker, who opened his business in the new shop.

Samuel Riker died early in 1850.  Helena J. Riker leased the grocery to Vanbergen & Browning, run by William Browning and Nicholas Vanbergen.  Browning and his family moved into the upper floors with Helena Riker.  (Valleau, his family, and his shoe store had left by then.)  Two years later, on April 7, 1852, Helena sold the "2 story brick house and lot of ground No. 305 Bowery," at auction.  It was purchased by Heinrich Martens (who sometimes listed his name as Henry).

Martens made changes.  While still listed as a "grocer," he converted part of the ground floor to a beer saloon.  When summoned to testify about a murder case in January 1861, he identified himself to the court saying, "I live at No. 305 Bowery, and keep a grocery and liquor store there."  

The murder involved two patrons, Edward Doyle, a young butcher, and John Sexton, a 26-year-old Irish immigrant.  The two entered the saloon between 5:00 and 6:00 on the evening of January 14, 1861.  According to Martens, "Doyle seemed to be under the influence of liquor, but [Sexton] did not appear to be greatly affected; he asked for a glass of beer and invited those present to drink with him."  Martens said, "they had no quarrel while at my house; it was about 6 o'clock when they left."  Less than an hour later, John Sexton was found dead on the stoop of 205 Bowery.  Doyle was acquitted and, although Sexton's death was listed as a homicide, the case was dropped.

When the Civil War broke out, Heinrich Martens's son, Henry, joined the Union Army.  Unlike many soldiers, he safely returned home after the conflict.

In 1869, Martens sold the property to Albert B. and Ann B. Dill.  Living upstairs with them was John Phillips, who was involved in the saloon with them.  Surprisingly for the time, Ann B. Dill was listed as a co-owner of the establishment.

The saloon was taken over by McNulty & Hennessy in 1873.  William Hennessy, who lived at 83 East 1st Street, divided his time between the tavern and his plumbing business on East 5th Street.

By then, the Bowery neighborhood had changed from one of refined private homes to a boisterous district of saloons and music halls.  The upper floors of 305 Bowery were converted to rented rooms which McNulty & Hennessy operated as the Clinton House.

Among the roomers in 1875 was Irish-born James H. McKenny.  He got into a fight with John Riley on Saturday night, November 6 that year.  The New York Herald reported that it "resulted in McKenney receiving a stab wound in the left side.  Riley was arrested."

The disrespectable tenor of the neighborhood was reflected the following year when two roomers were arrested.  The New York Herald reported on August 22, 1876 that "Thomas Varley and Thomas Nolan, of the Clinton House, No. 305 Bowery, [had been] charged with drugging and robbing Celestine Peuzler, a brewer, of Plymouth, Ohio, of $220 and checks for $2,000."

Daniel W. Patterson complained to police that on March 18, 1878 that he, Alexander Darragh, John M. Asbe, "together with several others," engaged in a game of faro at 305 Bowery.  The New York Herald reported, "The complainant alleged he lost $1 on the game and that [Darragh and Asbe] acted as dealers."  The pair were arrested, but Patterson's story quickly fell apart.  The article said, "When the prisoners were brought forward, Mr. Patterson at first said he lost his money during the hours of eleven and two o'clock of the day named, and then asserted it was between six and ten o'clock in the evening.  Finally his story became so contradictory that the Judge dismissed the complaint."

Eugene L. Armbruster photographed the corner in 1924.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

Simon Bower leased the saloon in 1879 and would continue to operate it through the turn of the century.  Under his management, in 1896 the Clinton House became what police called a Raines hotel.  The Raines Law, enacted on March 23, 1896, intended to curb the consumption of alcohol.  It included an exception to the Sunday liquor laws: patrons could be served alcohol with a meal.  Saloon owners circumvented the rules by giving customers a sandwich and, supposedly, a room. 

A disturbing incident occurred here on July 30, 1897.  The New-York Tribune reported, "A man about twenty-three years old, fairly well-dressed, yesterday afternoon shot himself dead in the toilet room of a Raines law hotel at No. 305 Bowery."  There was nothing on the body by which to identify him.

Raines hotels often doubled as brothels.  In 1900, the Annual Report of the State Superintendent of Elections described 305 Bowery as "being maintained for immoral purposes."  And in 1902, Francis V. Greene was removed from the Police Department for patronizing the saloon.  His charges said, "common prostitutes did solicit men for the purpose of sexual intercourse," adding that, "evil disposed persons and common prostitutes did commit whoredom and fornication to the great damage and common nuisance of all good people of the State of New York."

As early as 1908, Thomas (aka Bart) O'Connor and James  Brown, ran the saloon as O'Connor & Brown.  In its May 8 issue that year, Collier's ran an exposé on disreputable dives.  A problem, said the article, "is that certain of the most disreputable places are protected by certain of the prominent politicians."  Among them, it said, was "Bart" O'Connor's saloon at 305 Bowery.  O'Connor, it seems, was well-connected with Tammany Hall officials.

Despite signage that obscures the dormers of 305 and 307 Bowery in 1941, the 1820s appearance was apparent.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The less-than-respectable tenor of the Bowery neighborhood did not improve in the post-World War I years.  On the night of January 19, 1925, for instance, Patrolman Raymond E. McCarthy attempted to arrest a man in the restaurant at 46 East 1st Street whom he suspected had a jug of wine.  Martin Smith, who lived at 305 Bowery, was there.  He and several other men attacked Officer McCarthy and "beat him [and] took his hat and policeman's stick from him, after throwing him out of the place," reported The New York Times.  Smith was charged with felonious assault.

Against all odds, 305 Bowery and its near twin at 307 Bowery, survived while other vintage structures were replaced with apartment and commercial buildings.  On February 24, 1966, The Villager reported that 305 Bowery was on the Landmark Preservation Commission's list of structures proposed for individual landmark status.  Four years later, on January 29, 1970, the newspaper reported on urban renewal plans, noting "Site 2 was approved on condition the structure at 305 Bowery, under consideration for landmark designation, not be demolished."

It and 307 Bowery survived the redevelopment until 2009 when they were demolished for a residential building called Extra Place Apartments.

image via apartmentfinder.com