The Sadly Altered 1855 James F. D. Lanier Mansion - 16 West 10th Street

 

In 1854, banker and importer Clinton Gilbert, who lived at 50 Tenth Street, joined with iron merchant Henry L. Pierson to erect two speculative mansions at 52 and 54 Tenth Street (renumbered 14 and 16 in 1868).  Almost assuredly nearly identical at their completion in 1855, they exhibited a blend of styles.  Faced in red brick and trimmed in brownstone, their squat, square-windowed fourth floor levels were hold-overs of the Greek Revival style, while the elliptically arched first floor openings drew from the Italianate.   Fluted Corinthian pilasters at the parlor level and arched Renaissance-style pediments at the second floor, however, anticipated the coming Renaissance Revival style.  (The elements survive in 14 West 10th Street.)

The pair of homes were among the most striking along the refined block.  At 36-feet-wide, 54 Tenth Street was more than ten feet wider than most of the others.  It was quickly purchased by James Franklin Doughty Lanier.

Born in Washington, North Carolina, on November 22, 1800, Lanier and his family moved from Madison, Indiana to New York in 1849.  He had married Mary McClure a year earlier, his first wife, Elizabeth Gardner, having died in 1846.  He and Elizabeth had eight children, and he and Mary had three more, one of whom, Katherine (known as Katie) McClure, would be born in the 10th Street mansion on January 7, 1858.

Originally an attorney, Lanier turned to banking in 1830.  He augmented his significant fortune through railroads.  He was the first president of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway.  When he moved his family to New York, he co-founded the banking firm of Winslow, Lanier & Co. with Richard H. Winslow.   

James F. D. Lanier, Indiana and Indianians, 1919 (copyright expired)

Lanier took his son, Charles, into the firm in 1857.  That same year, on October 7, Charles married Sarah E. Egleston and brought his bride to the West 10th Street mansion.  James Frederick Doughty Lanier III was born in 1858, two daughters, Sarah Egleston and Fannie, arrived in 1862 and 1864.  When Sarah became pregnant again in 1870, she and Charles took their expanding family to their newly-built Murray Hill mansion at 28-30 East 37th Street.

In the meantime, the Laniers' massive fortune was evidenced during the Civil War.  With the state in which he grew up teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, James F. D. Lanier loaned Indiana $1 million (around 20 times that much in 2025 terms).  In 1870, the state repaid the debt in full.

Like all wealthy New Yorkers, the Laniers withdrew from the city to fashionable resorts and country homes in the summer.  Late in the season of 1870, it appears that Lanier took 11-year-old Kate on a father-daughter side trip to Saratoga.  On August 12, the Evening Telegram reported, "Mr. J. F. D. Lanier and Miss K. Lanier, of 16 West Tenth street, are also staying at the Clarendon [hotel]."

Unscrupulous dealers mixed plaster of paris and marble dust into their horse feed, which was sold by the weight.  One of the Laniers' expensive carriage horses (The New York Times said, "The animal was worth $700," or $18,500 today) became one of the many victims.  On June 16, 1871, The Times reported that Lanier had applied to the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals "for a permit to kill one of his carriage horses."  An autopsy revealed a stone of "two and a half pounds, and as hard as granite."

Lanier retired that year "on account of ill-health," according to The New York Times.  Charles Lanier stepped into his father's former position at Winslow, Lanier & Co.  James Lanier's health problems worsened and on August 27, 1881, he died in the West 10th Street mansion.  Somewhat surprisingly, the funeral was not held in the parlor, but at the University Place Presbyterian Church.  The New York Times reported, "There was a large attendance and the congregation included many old and well-known citizens of New-York."

Following her expected year of mourning, Mary Lanier returned to social life.  On February 1, 1883, for instance, the New York Evening Telegram announced, "Mrs. J. F. D. Lanier, No. 16 West Tenth street, gives a german [sic] next Tuesday."   ("Germans" consisted of three-meter dances and included the waltz and allemande.)

Katherine married civil engineer Miles Standish in Grace Church on July 2, 1890.  The New-York Tribune noted that the groom was "a direct descendant of Miles Standish of the Plymouth Colony," and reported that the ceremony "was followed by an informal breakfast, served at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. James F. D. Lanier."  The newlyweds moved into a nearby mansion at 27 Fifth Avenue.  

Mary received a terrifying note on May 4, 1896.  Signed "R. Wilson," it said in part, "I have just learned that an attempt is to be made at once to blow up your house with dynamite...This is what comes of starving men, without work, money or bread."  The writer closed saying, "If you want further particulars, send word to me before 2 o'clock to-morrow.  No. 127 Bowery."

Understandably, Mary Lanier was upset and frightened.  R. Wilson, who was actually Edward G. Meserve, was arrested on May 7.  The New York Press said, "Miles Standish, of No. 27 Fifth avenue, her son-in-law...will appear against him today."  In court, Standish told Magistrate Mott that although money was not explicitly expressed in the note, "It's a case of malicious annoyance."  He said, "Mrs. Lanier is an old lady, and he undoubtedly meant to extort money from her."

Meserve's attorney said that his client was merely acting out of concern for Mrs. Lanier's welfare.  Surprisingly, Magistrate Mott said that, "so far as he could see, there was nothing criminal in the letter," reported the New-York Tribune.  "After calling the man a liar, a sneak and a coward, the Magistrate discharged Meserve."

Mary McClure Lanier died of pneumonia in the mansion on June 21, 1903 at the age of 82.  In reporting her death, the New York Herald mentioned, "After her husband's death in 1881, Mrs. Lanier devoted herself to charitable work."

The following year, on January 22, The New York Times reported, "Lawyer John G. Milburn of Buffalo, in whose residence in that city President McKinley died, has purchased from Charles Lanier the four-story dwelling 16 West Tenth Street.  Mr. Milburn will occupy it upon his removal to this city in the near future."

Born in England in 1851, John George Milburn was induced to emigrate to America in 1869 by a letter from his 18-year-old sister, who lived in Batavia, New York.  He married Mary Patty Stocking in 1875.  In addition to his law firm, he was president of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition (or World's Fair) in Buffalo.  (President William McKinley was a house guest during the fair.  He was shot at the exposition on September 6 and died in at the Milburn house on September 14.)

Before they moved into the West 10th Street mansion, the Milburns made minor renovations.  On February 27, 1904, architect William Welles Bosworth filed plans for a $1,500 remodeling.  (The figure would translate to $54,500 today.)

Now in New York, Milburn joined the law firm of Carter, Rollins & Ledyard, the name of which was changed to Carter, Ledyard & Milburn.  He would represent high-powered clients like the Metropolitan Street Railway, the Standard Oil Company and the New York Stock Exchange.

New York State Men Biographic Studies, 1910 (copyright expired)

John and Mary had three sons, Devereux, born on September 19, 1881; John George Jr., born in 1882; and Ralph, who was born in 1888.   In 1899 Devereux and John entered Oxford University where Devereux first exhibited his athleticism.  He was on the university's rowing, swimming and polo teams.    

John George Milburn, Jr. married Madeleine Scatcherd on June 2, 1906.  The New York Herald reported that following their "ensuing three weeks at the seashore," they would live at "the residence of Mr. Milburn's parents."

John George Milburn, Jr. (original source unknown)

On June 22, 1913, The New York Times reported that Devereaux Milburn, the "well-known polo player," was engaged to Nancy G. Steele.  Saying that he graduated from Oxford in 1903 and Harvard in 1906, the article said, "He is perhaps best known as the star of the American polo team in England in 1909."

The John G. Milburns spent the summer of 1914 in Europe.  On July 14, the New York Herald reported that John and Mary would board the Lusitania that day and would be in Europe "until the end of September."  The article added, "With them will be Mr. and Mrs. G. Milburn, Jr., and the Misses Patty and Dorothy Milburn."  (The "misses," of course, were the daughters of George and Nancy.)

Devereaux served as a major in the field artillery in France during World War I.  In 1917, he served as an aide-de-camp for Major-General James H. McRae.

Devereaux Milburn in uniform in France in 1917.  History of Buffalo and Erie Country, 1920 (copyright expired)

On November 26, 1920, the Record & Guide reported that John G. Milburn had sold the West 10th Street mansion for $75,000 (about $1.17 million today).  The New York Times said that the purchasers were artist Thomas Bevans and his illustrator wife, Margaret (known as Marjorie).  Although The Times said they "will occupy the premises as a residence," the couple remodeled the interiors to "studio apartments."

Among their first tenant was portrait artist Leo Mielziner and his wife, the former Ella Friend McKenna.  They moved in on October 1, 1921.  Born in December 1869, one of seven children to Rabbi Dr. Moses Mielziner and Rosette Levald, he studied art in Paris.  He and Ella had two grown children, Kenneth and Jo.  (Kenneth would become an actor and MGM Story Director, and Jo Mielziner would win five Tony Awards for his stage designs.)

Leo Mielziner in 1924.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

The Mielziners and their landlords had a rocky relationship from the beginning.  On December 30, 1921, the New York Herald began an article saying, "Two artists glared at each other in Essex Market Court yesterday.  One, the complainant, was Leo Mielziner.  The other, the defendant, was Thomas Bevens [sic].  Greenwich Village sat breathless in the courtroom."

Because Mielziner did not approve of the wording in the lease for his studio apartment, he did not sign it.  He paid Bevans the rent for October, and subsequently paid it to his lawyer while awaiting a newly worded lease.  The Mielziners held a party on December 18.  As their guests arrived, Thomas Bevans stood in the ground floor doorway directed them, "Oh, yes, he lives on the top floor, but he doesn't pay any rent," according to Mielziner.  The New-York Tribune reported that at one point during the party, Margaret Bevans, "slammed the door open and yelled, 'Pay your rent!'"

The Bevans sold the building to the Pagliacci Land Co. in March 1931.  In reporting the transaction, The New York Times mentioned that John Barry Ryan, son of the millionaire Thomas Fortune Ryan, lived next door at 18 West 10th Street.  Only five months later, on August 4, The Times reported that Pagliacci Land Co. had sold 16 West 10th Street to John Barry Ryan.  (Thomas Fortune Ryan had died in 1928, leaving one-fifth of his more than $200 million estate to John.)

Unfortunately for John Barry Ryan, he suffered what was diplomatically termed "reversals."  On November 24, 1934, The New York Times reported that the Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company had foreclosed on 16 West 10th Street.

In 1940, the once magnificent mansion was renovated to apartments, two per floor.  The 1855 exterior architectural elements were removed and a coating of stucco applied.  

Other than its substantial width, little was left as evidence of the mansion's former striking appearance.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The apartments continued to attract artists.  Living here in the 1940s were Jon Carbino, Frances Kent Lamont, and Albert Urban.  Born in 1905, Jon Carbino was known for his muscular, animated Depression Era style.  Frances Adams Kent was born in 1899 and her portrait sculptures evolved to Art Deco figures and, by the time she lived here, as modern abstractions.  

Albert Urban fled Germany during the Nazi regime.  He died here at the age of 50 in 1959, The New York Times commenting, "His work hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and in the Rosenwald Collection of the National Gallery in Washington."

Around 1975, the former Lanier mansion was acquired by Modern Psychoanalytic Studies, described by the Department of Buildings as an "eleemosynary institution chartered by the University of the State of NY."  The facility converted the basement and first floors to a "professional school."  Called the Peterson House today, rather astoundingly (given the butchering of the exterior) much of the 1855 interior details remain.

many thanks to Seth Weine for prompting this post

photographs by the author