An apartment door was installed in the basement in 1990 and the parlor windows shortened. photograph by Anthony Bellov
It appears that in 1855 Mary Edmonds, the widow of William Edmonds, was leasing the newly built house at 118 East 32nd Street (renumbered 212 in 1865). Three stories tall above a high brownstone basement, it was one of a row of identical, brick-faced homes. The architect straddled the Greek Revival and emerging Italianate styles in his design. The double-doored entrance, for instance, sat within a purely Greek Revival frame of paneled pilasters upholding a cornice-topped entablature. The full-height third floor, the delicate cast iron stoop and areaway railings, and the bracketed cornice, however, were Italianate. Floor-to-ceiling French windows at the parlor may have had a cast iron balcony.
Mary Edmonds was followed in the house by John Coughtry in 1857. He listed his profession as "cards." Then, in 1859, Moses M. Bradley purchased the house. Bradley was in the fancygoods business at 5 Barclay Street. He was, as well, secretary of the Star Fire Insurance Co. Born in 1820, he and his wife, Mary S., had a son and a daughter.
Like many families, the Bradleys took in a boarder. In 1859 it was George F. Coachman, a "measurer." Starting about 1863, Daniel S. Briant, who worked as a clerk, lived with the family. He would remain until 1866.
On December 13, 1865, U.S. Representative William E. Dodge filed papers in Congress challenging the election of Representative James Brooks for the Eighth Congressional District of New York. Both Moses M. Bradley and Daniel S. Briant were subpoenaed to Washington D.C. to testify about the procedures that surrounded their voting that previous November.
A contemporary photo reveals the transitional styles inside. The marble mantle is purely Italianate, while the earred woodwork is Greek Revival. (The doorway has been narrowed from what originally would have been about twice as wide.) image via compass.com
In 1866, the Bradley family moved to Brooklyn. The East 32nd Street house became home to the Lambert family. George F. Lambert, who listed no profession, was most likely retired. Benjamin H. and Frederic Lambert were in the fruits and produce business at 239 Washington Street. They would remain here until 1870 when George Asmus moved in.
Asmus was a metallurgist, engineer and inventor. In 1867 he received a patent for an improved blast furnace. As early as 1879, he was a manager of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Asmus and his family remained here until about 1880.
They were followed by Francis Fox Bussell and his wife, the former Virginia Alwaise. Members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, the couple had three children, Alice Virginia, Francis Jr., and Charles Baner who were 27, 23, and 16 years old respectively in 1880.
Born in 1828, Bussell was a partner with Edward Bussell (presumably a brother) in Francis F. Bussell & Co., dealers in lumber (specializing in mahogany) at First Avenue and 80th Street. Their parents had come from Cornwall, England shortly before Francis's birth. Francis was involved with charity work and was a member of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor.
Virginia's American pedigree, on the other hand, was far-reaching. The 1916 History of Seattle said she "traces her ancestry in America back to 1640 through English and Dutch lineage, one of the early representatives of the family being the famous Anneke Jans."
Francis F. Bussell died on September 11, 1887 at the age of 60. His funeral was held in the parlor on the 14th. Virginia and Charles, who was 23 years old now, moved to Seattle, Washington. The East 32nd Street house became home to Francis's sister, Sophia Jane, and her husband Christopher Wray.
Sophia Jane Bussell was born in 1823. She married Christopher Wray on December 9, 1846. Wray, who was born in Derby, England on April 8, 1817, came to New York City as a boy. The New-York Tribune would later recall, "in the course of time [he] became proprietor of a hardware store in Third-ave., near Twenty-eighth st." Like his brother-in-law, he was altruistic and served as secretary of the New York Colored Mission.
The couple had seven children, only three of whom were alive when they moved in. Two of them, Samuel Bussell and Anna Maria, lived with their parents. They were 28 and 24 years old respectively in 1887.
In 1889, Christopher Wray retired at the age of 72. Two years later, on October 23, 1891, he died in the East 32nd Street house. The New-York Tribune reported, "His death was due to old age." The New York Herald added, "he was a retail hardware dealer, having been engaged at that business for forty years," and said, "He was a prominent member of the Society of Friends." His funeral was held on October 26.
In 1941, the house to the left was being converted to apartments. The French windows of 212 East 32nd Street have been replaced by double-hung panes. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Shockingly, three weeks after the parlor had been the scene of her father's funeral, Anna Maria's wedding was held there. The Delta Upsilon Quarterly reported, "Harry N. Hoffman, of Elmira, N. Y., was married November 19, at 212 East 32d street, N Y., the residence of Christopher Wray, Esq., the bride's father, to Miss Anna Wray." The article mentioned, "Mr. Hoffman has built a house on Hoffman street, Elmira, where the young couple are now residing."
Samuel B. Wray was, by now, treasurer of his father's favorite charity, the New York Colored Mission. He and his mother remained at 212 East 32nd Street until May 1892, when Sophia sold it to James M. Fitzsimons and his wife, Matilda, for $11,200, or about $398,000 in 2025 terms. (Sophia moved into Anna Marie's Elmira house where she died on January 24, 1894 at the age of 71.)
Fitzsimons was born in New York City in 1858 and graduated from the Columbia Law School when he was just 19 years old. Because he was too young to be admitted to the bar, he worked as a practitioner in the law officer of Nehbras & Pitshke until 1879. Two years before buying 212 East 32nd Street, he was appointed to the City Court bench.
Fitzsimons owned several rental properties, one of which was nearby at 345 East 33rd Street. On December 23, 1894, a reporter from The World asked him about the policy shop that was being operated there. (A policy shop was a gambling place where lottery-type games were played.) Having illegal activities operating from one of his properties would have been highly embarrassing for the judge. He told the reporter that he visited his properties once a week, but had not been in that particular apartment for several months.
At 8:00 that night, the reporter and Judge Fitzsimons went to the apartment of John Simmer, with the judge posing as a potential buyer of the building. It was clear that Simmer's apartment was doubling as a gambling den. The following morning, the newspaper reported, "Judge James M. Fitzsimmons [sic], of the City Court...said last night that he should go to the house this morning and order John Simmer, the tenant, on the ground floor, to vacate at once."
Shortly after the humiliating episode, James and Matilda Fitzsimons moved to 12 West 121st Street where the judge died at the age of 46 on March 4, 1904.
The East 32nd Street house became home to Robert and Karoline (known at Katie) Rosenthal. The couple had three children, Irving, Rebecca (known as Becky), and Fannie Leah.
photograph by Anthony Bellov
In January 1896, Katie purchased a goose for $1.50. When the butcher's delivery boy brought it, according to the New York Herald, "as she does not believe in confiding such matters to her servant, she proceeded to open it." Not only did Katie open the package, she personally plucked the goose and prepared it for roasting.
The New York Times reported on January 20, "while preparing the bird for the oven, she felt a hard substance in the interior which, upon examination, appeared to her to be very much like a diamond with a small fragment of gold attached to it, as though it had been set in a ring." She took the stone to a friend "who is a judge of precious stones," according to the New York Herald. "After inspecting it he declared it to be a diamond of excellent water, worth in the neighborhood of $150." (The windfall would equal about $5,780 today.) The New York Times remarked, "Mrs. Rosenthal has been buying geese ever since, and she always takes charge of the preparation and cooking herself. The butcher has raised his prices."
Robert Rosenthal died at the age of 53 on June 2, 1897. His funeral was held in the house the following morning.
Katie announced the engagement of Fannie Leah to Louis B. Wasserstrom on January 8, 1899. Louis was a leather merchant and the newlyweds moved into the East 32nd Street residence. By then, Irving was operating a successful real estate business from the house. On October 16, 1901, for instance, he advertised in The World, "Business Places, every description sold; city or country; capital procured. Irving Rosenthal, 212 East 32d st."
Fannie and Louis Wasserstroms would have two sons. Silas was born in 1900 and Robert, known as Bobby, was born in 1902. On June 23, 1904, The New York Press reported that Louis B. Wasserstrom "was in no hurry to go to his office yesterday morning. Instead he decided to spend another hour at home in No. 212 East Thirty-second street." The article said he lighted his pipe and sat by the window to watch Silas and Bobby playing in a sandpile across the street.
Silas suddenly ran home, darting across the street. "Then came Bobby, 2 years old, ambitiously trying to catch up with his older brother," said the article. As Louis watched, a patrol wagon from the East 35th Street police station tore down the street on a call. "All the father remembers seeing is a driver throwing his horses in the air and a child crushed beneath an iron hoof." Louis ran into the street, but Bobby was dead.
No. 212 East 32nd Street was owned by Thomas and Mary Reid by 1910. The couple had two daughters, Anna and Katherine. The family remained here until 1951, when they sold the house to Jack S. and Dorothy M. Bryant. The couple converted it to apartments, one per floor.
photograph by Anthony Bellov
In 1990, a renovation returned the upper three floors to a single family home. A door to the basement apartment was installed, its earred frame valiantly echoing Greek Revival precedents.
many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post.
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