Ernest Keyser's 1837 78 East 2nd Street

 

No. 78 and its mirror-image at No. 80 (seen in part at right) were originally three bays wide and two-and-a-half stories tall.  photo by Carole Teller

In 1831, the New York City Marble Cemetery was opened on the north side of Second Street, between First and Second Avenues.  There may have been contentious negotiations between its trustees and the owner of the vacant lots at 76 through 82 East 2nd Street, because the otherwise rectangular cemetery did not include those parcels, but extended behind them.

Around 1837, owner Ernest Keyser erected two mirror-image houses at 78 and 80 Second Street.  (The "East" would come later)  Two-and-a-half stories tall and 27-feet wide, they were faced in red Flemish bond brick and trimmed in brownstone.  Originally, each of their peaked roofs would have been pierced with two dormers.  Keyser's architect gave the windows especially attractive paneled lintels, their end blocks carved with leaf-backed flowers.

The complex lintels were costly and handsome additions.  photo by the author

Because the cemetery backed up to the property line, Keyser's houses were necessarily shallow and had no rear yards.  Keyser apparently solved the problem by keeping the lots at 76 and 82 vacant--providing a side yard to each house.

Keyser leased the houses.  As early as 1840, Elizabeth, the widow of Samuel A. Tatnall, occupied No. 78.  She was followed by the Thomas J. Ireland family by 1845.  The parlor was the scene of the funeral of six-year-old Thomas J. Ireland, Jr. on September 11, 1846.

The tenants were middle-class.  Living here during the Civil War years were George N. and Catherine C. Franklin and their son, Peter B.  Although Peter was 22 years old when the war broke out, he was exempt from fighting.  The Franklins were members of the Society of Friends, known as the Quakers, and were religiously bound not to engage in violence.

The cemetery behind them necessitated the shallowness of the houses.  photograph by Carole Teller

Around 1869, the Keyser family raised the attic to a full floor.  At the same time, they doubled the house by erecting a two-bay addition on the vacant lot.  Amazingly, the architect went to extraordinary pains to perfectly match the lintels at the parlor level and give the upper floor openings paneled lintels appropriate to the now-outdated Federal style.  Perplexingly, though, after taking the efforts to keep the original house and its addition architecturally congruous, he designed the addition with four floors.  Both sections were given matching, understated cornices and the stoop railings were updated.

Ernest Keyser's son, Isaiah, died in 1879.  His widow, Augusta W. Keyser, sold 78 and 80 East 2nd Street to Emilia Sauer on January 26, 1880.  Sauer paid $8,182 for both homes, or about $260,000 in 2025 terms.

As the Keyser family had done, Sauer leased the houses.  Living in No. 78 in the early 1910s was Reverend J. W. Geyer.  He was the president of the Ottilie Orphan Asylum Society of New York.  Established in March 1892 with the ungainly title The Orphan Asylum Society of the Reformed Church of Brooklyn and New York, it provided "the care, support, education, maintenance and disposal of orphan, pauper and destitute children," according to the Directories of Charities in 1912.

In 1913, Darchel Noam Talmud Torah was organized here.  The yeshiva was described by The Jewish Communal Register of New York City as a "communal school" in 1918.  That year it employed three teachers for its enrollment of 28 girls.  The school operated from 3:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. during the week and from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sundays.  In 1925, the school moved next door to 80-82 East 2nd Street.

photograph by Carole Teller

No. 78 East 2nd Street returned to rented rooms.  Then, in 1970, it was converted to a two-family residence--one apartment having three bedrooms and the other having two.  It was renovated again in 2012, resulting in an apartment in the basement and a single family home above.

many thanks to historians Bellov & Teller for suggesting this post

The 1891 Olivet Memorial Church - 59-63 East Second Street

 

In 1855, the Olivet Memorial Church was established on East Second Street, between First and Second Avenues.  The refined residential neighborhood in which it sat, however, was already seeing change, as waves of German immigrants poured into the district.  That year, New York City had the third largest German population in the world--outranked only by Berlin and Vienna.  The demographics affected the Olivet Memorial Church, as well.  In 1891, The New York Times recalled that in 1867:

When that portion of the city where it is situated changed its character as regards to the nationality of its population, it was determined to make it largely a mission church, and it was placed under the care of the New-York City Mission and Tract Society.

The newspaper explained that the Olivet Mission at the time, "stood back from the street and was accessible only by an alleyway."  On April 26, 1885, The New York Times described, "Olivet Mission, situated in one of the most densely populated German quarters of the city, is the centre of a wide and varied system of practical and intelligent work among the poor."  Its outreach included an Industrial School where boys learned manual crafts and girls were taught domestic skills like cooking and sewing.

In 1890, A. K. Ely, "who was interested in the church," according to The New York Times on December 28, 1891, "purchased the lots in front [of the mission]...and Mr. D. H. McAlpin and Mrs. Pyle, his sister, gave $65,000 for the new church building."  The commission was given to the architectural firm of J. C. Cady & Co., founded by Josiah Cleaveland Cady.

Completed in December 1891, the church was clad in undressed Kentucky limestone.  Unlike many Gothic Revival churches of the period, with airy spires and bell towers, Olivet Memorial Church presented a somewhat fortress presence, with full-height crenulated turrets that divided the severely rectangular facade into three bays.  The square-headed openings of the first floor gave way to striking Gothic windows at the second that rose to dramatic points decorated with crockets.  The top floor morphed to Romanesque with the windows forming regimented arcades.

Two boys play on the otherwise deserted sidewalk across from the church on May 9, 1934.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

The Olivet Memorial Church opened on December 27, 1891.  The New York Times commented, "Indeed, in many respects it resembles the new buildings in England that are being built in harmony with the forward movement there."  The article described, "it has been treated in so pronounced an architectural style, and has such pleasing features of decoration and fitting, that it is not surpassed in beauty by any of the more costly churches in town."

The auditorium accommodated about 1,000 people, "in view of the pulpit," said The Times, adding, "there are fourteen handsome class rooms, five halls for large classes, and a gymnasium about 50 by 70 feet."  There were, as well, rooms for the teachers and workers and an apartment for the janitor.  Calling it "a practical building," it was designed not only for church services, but for instruction, "secular, industrial and religious."

Among the "industrial" spaces in the building was "the great sewing room," as described by The Evening World, where local women and girls worked at needlework.  On April 13, 1895, the newspaper remarked, "there is a cheery hopefulness in their worn faces, for they are earning 15 cents an hour with their needles, and the 15 cents buys double its value in the made-up garments they turn out."  (The 153 women did not receive cash money, but credit to buy the finished clothing.)  The article said, "each of them is wed to poverty, and but for the two or three hours spent in the great sewing-room each week they and their loved ones could never have aprons, undergarments, sheets and pillow cases, which they are able to earn in this way."

Women working in the Sewing Room.  The Evening World, April 13, 1895 (copyright expired)

The Lower East Side continued to attract immigrants from various European countries.  On December 5, 1895, The Sun noted that at the Olivet Memorial Church, "services in English, German, and Armenian are conducted."

Women and children in the tenements could look forward to one day away from their drudgery each year.  Churches of the Lower East Side annually hosted an excursion to a picnic grounds where members enjoyed music, food and games.  Because the men had to work, the excursions were almost entirely made up of women and children.

On July 21, 1905, 500 women and children from the Olivet Memorial Church lined up on the dock to board the iron steamboat Sirius to go to Huntington Harbor, Long Island.  The vessel would have 50 men aboard, including the crew and band.  Everyone in line assuredly knew that this was the very same dock which, a year earlier, women and children from St. Luke's German Lutheran Church lined up to board the General Slocum.  That excursion ended tragically, with the General Slocum burning to the water line and 1,000 passengers killed.

As the Sirius neared North Brother Island, where the General Slocum disaster had occurred, a "screw boat," the W. G. Payne, forced the Sirius off course and into the rocks.  The Sun reported, "The grinding as the Sirius went aground scared her passengers, and a moment later, when the boat suddenly stopped, men, women and children were thrown from their camp stools.  The band was playing, and it stopped suddenly."

As panic began to sweep throughout the crowd, according to The Sun, "Then some one with horse sense ordered the band to get busy, and the music acted like magic."  Captain William Pierce got the vessel off the rocks, but it was rapidly taking on water.  He beached the Sirius on the mud flats to prevent it from sinking.  The Evening World praised, "A few moments' hesitation, an unsteady hand at the wheel, and the steamer would have gone to the bottom, carrying hundreds of dead with her."  The passengers were offloaded from the disabled vessel, and while the steamboat company offered a substitute boat to continue to the Long Island Sound, "none of them felt in any mood to continue on the voyage," said The Evening World.

Dressed in white, this Vacation Bible School of Olivet Memorial Church graduated in the auditorium on August 24, 1905.  Federation magazine, April 1906 (copyright expired)

The Olivet Memorial Church continued its work in the neighborhood until 1942, when it merged with the Middle Collegiate Church at Second Avenue and 7th Street.  A few months later, on January 22, 1943, The New York Times reported that "the old stone building at 59-63 Second Street" had been sold by the New York City Mission Society to the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America.

"The church now will be known as the Pro-Cathedral, and will house the Cathedral Church and the executive offices of the chancery of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church," explained the article.  Prior to the Russian Revolution, the episcopal seat in New York City was St. Nicholas Cathedral on East 97th Street.  After the change of government, a battle erupted between the Most Reverend Metropolitan Planton and the Soviet Government.  The Soviets won.

On November 21, 1926, The New York Times reported, “Trinity Episcopal Parish has turned over to Archbishop Platon, deposed Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church in America, and to the thousands of New York Russians who remained faithful to him, one-half of St. Augustine's Chapel, 105 East Houston Street, for a Russian Cathedral”  The parish worshiped there until finding a permanent home here.  The former Olivet Memorial Church was rechristened the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection.  The interior was redecorated in traditional Byzantine style, including bold colors and iconography.  

As had been the case with the Olivet Memorial Church a century earlier, the services here were not only in English.  On January 6, 1964, the Slavic Christmas Eve, The New York Times reported, "At the Metropolitan's cathedral, the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection, 59 East Second Street, there will be a Slavonic service tonight at 7 o'clock and an English one at midnight."

Two years later, on October 27, 1966, The Villager reported on an upcoming three-day bazaar.  The article said in part, "Times changed; buildings were torn down; the parish dwindled, a familiar situation with urban churches.  But the cathedral remains, and continues to be the episcopal seat, and as such, it has to sustain a choir, clergy, servets, and staff, which have been increasingly difficult to finance.  That is why the coming bazaar is being held."

Despite the changes in the neighborhood--or because of them--nearly a century after the parish moved into the building, the Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection continues to be an important presence in its community.  Its website says, "Though founded by immigrants from the former Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, our parish membership is ethnically diverse including a large contingent of Georgians, and nearly 40 percent of our members are adult converts to the Orthodox faith."

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

photographs by the author

The Alois Kirchgassner House - 191 East 2nd Street

 

The 1840's saw an increasingly large number of Germans leaving their homeland for America.  While the farmers moved west, many to Pennsylvania, others clustered in the East Village neighborhood.  By 1845 the district had the largest German-American population in the city, known to non-Germans as Dutchtown, and to Germans as Kleindeutschland.

The newcomers brought skills learned in their homeland--like cabinetmaking, brewing, and piano making.  Among the new arrivals was Alois Kirchgassner, who with his wife Mary, moved into the new house at 191 East Second Street, between Avenue A and B in 1853.  

The Kirchgassners' modest, brick-faced house was designed in the Italianate style, although it exhibited none of the more showy details like the molded lintels or elaborate entrances found in the Italianate homes of more affluent citizens further west.

Kirchgassner ran a beer saloon nearby, and Mary ran a boarding house from their home.  (Alois may have been a bit controlling.  He listed himself, rather than his wife, as the proprietor of the boarding house, as well as of his beer saloon.)  All the boarders in 191 East 2nd Street were fellow Germans.  In 1857 they included, Jacob Berge and John Seiberg, partners in a butter business in Washington Market; two tailors, Leopold Raufer and John Schweighoefer; Adam Reis, a stonecutter; and Sebastian Neuburger, who worked as a porter.  That year John Kirchgassner, presumably a son, worked in the saloon.

As they became old enough to work, two other sons, Alois, Jr. and Albert, became machinists.  Alois was first, listed professionally in 1872.  That year the boarders included another machinist, Charles Brandt; yeast merchant Henry Kraatz; and John M. Widmayer, listed as "segarmaker."  Albert followed his brother as a machinist in 1876.

The Kirchgassners were victims of a crime on February 16 that year.  The Record of Crime released by Central Office of the police department reported, "Licensed vender's wagon No. 164 was stolen from in front of the owner's house, No. 191 Second Street."

After the Kirchgassners left, around 1879, the house underwent a series of owners (although it contined to be operated as a  German boarding house).  Adam P. Bautro was, perhaps, the first Polish-born boarder, here by 1895.  He was the publisher and editor of the Polish language weekly newspaper Gazetta-Polska.

On March 10, 1895 he was arrested and charged with criminal libel on the complaint of Dr. H. P. Lewanslowski, who had earlier been connected with the newspaper.  Lewanslowski, described by The New York Times as "a well-known physician," was no stranger to disputes.  

Three years earlier he had been accused of cheating a Polish priest in a New Jersey property purchase.  Additionally, cigar maker John Misiewicz said that when he came to the priest's defense, Lewanslowski "persecuted him with tales derogatory  to his character, thereby injuring his business."  According to The New York Times on August 10, 1892, the Polish newspaper Postep had demanded the doctor "appear before a 'Jury of Honor,' chosen from among the Polish citizens of New-York."

Dr. Lewanslowski explained at the time, "My countrymen in America are hot-blooded people, as hot-blooded as they are honest and unsophisticated."  Now, as Misiewicz had done, he charged that Adam P. Bautro had damaged his honor and reputation through an article in Gazetta-Polska "based on facts connected with [his] control of the paper."

By 1929 the house was home to the Hertz family.  Ernest Hertz was an attorney and his brother, Benjamin was a doctor.  The Hertzes would remain in the house into the 1940's.

Rather surprisingly, the 19-foot wide house has never been converted to apartments.  One of the few survivors along the block that escaped the tenement building phase of the late 19th century, it is a reminder of a time when German was the predominant language in the neighborhood.

photographs by the author

LaptrinhX.com has no authorization to reuse the content of this blog

The 1836 Nathaniel T. Weeks House - 26 East 2nd Street

 

Builder Ephraim H. Wentworth completed a long row of upscale homes along the north side of Second Street between Bowery and Second Avenue around 1836.  (The street would not become East 2nd Street for decades.)  The identical, three-bay wide Greek Revival houses were faced in red Flemish bond brick and trimmed in brownstone.   Stone wing walls which flanked the stoops were originally graced with elegant iron railings which most likely terminated in ornate basket newels.  The windows of the squat attic floors peeked through the broad fascia boards below the cornices.

No. 26 was sold to George Tappen, Jr., but he apparently never lived here.  In 1837 the family of Nathaniel Tyree Weeks was listed in the house.  Born in Jericho, Long Island in 1798, Weeks was married to the former Mary Flynn.  The couple had two children, Caroline Matilda, who was 17-years old in 1837, and Henry Astor, who was 15.

Nathaniel Weeks was both a butcher and the owner of an ale house on the Bowery.  He had been nominated for a city position in 1833 which prompted a letter to the editor of the New York Herald on March 30 that year:

To The Editor--Having been under the painful necessity of discharging several of my Apprentices, whom I found as late as 12 o'clock at night drinking and card playing at the Porter House of Nathaniel T. Weeks on the Bowery, I wish to be informed if he is the same individual who is nominated for City Collector.  (Signed) Tax Payer.

In 1839 the Weeks house received another occupant, a relative of Mary's (quite likely her sister).  On March 23, 1839, New York newspapers announced, "At Buenos Ayres, January 1st Mr. Whitehead H. Andrews, [was married] to Miss Catharine Flinn [sic], both of New-York."  The groom was significantly older than his bride.  He had been a tallow chandler in New York, was now living and working in Argentina.  (How he met and wooed the teenaged Catharine is a mystery.)  Tragically, Andrews died in Buenos Aires on October 8, just ten months later, at the age of 40.  The 19-year-old widow returned to New York and moved into the Weeks house, never to marry again.

By the mid-1840's Henry was working as a druggist at 30 Fulton Street and had married the former Alathea H. White.   A decade later he was an officer in the Twelfth Regiment, known as the Independence Guard.

The family had a pedigree pet which slipped in 1854.  An advertisement in the New York Herald offered a $5 reward:

Lost, Sept. 17, A long-haired white poodle dog, with nose and feet clipped.  Any person returning him, or giving information of his whereabouts, at 26 Second street, will receive the above reward.

That the dog was professionally groomed, and that the family offered a reward of more than $150 in today's money, reflects both on the value of the dog and the affluence of the family.  The incident did not improve the watchfulness of the family nor the servants.  The following year, on September 28, an advertisement read: "$3 Reward--For a mouse colored grey hound, with scar on nose.  Inquired at 26 Second street."

On September 29, 1860 the Twelfth Regiment announced the resignation of Lieutenant Colonel Henry A. Weeks, saying "it is but justice to express the regrets of the entire command at the loss of an officer whose devotion to the interests and welfare of the regiment have won for him the high esteem of every member."  But seven months later, following the firing upon Fort Sumter, Henry not only returned to his regiment, but was its commander.  He issued a strict announcement in the newspapers in January 1862:

12th Regiment, New York State Militia--The members will report to their commands on or before the 10th instant, or be considered and treated as deserters...By order, Henry A. Weeks, Colonel Commanding.

Henry returned safely from the war and in 1876 was elected president of the Old Guard of the Twelfth Regiment.  It was perhaps the city's most venerated military organization.

The Weeks house had been the scene of a somber gathering on June 19, 1872.  Jacob Weeks was the 35-year-old son of Nathaniel's brother, Benjamin T. and Catharine Weeks.  He died on June 15 and his funeral was held in their Yonkers home at 10:00 on the morning of June 19.  The New York Herald announced, "relatives and friends are invited to the concluding ceremonies, at three o'clock P.M., from 26 Second street, New York."

The Weeks family took in boarders in 1873, John M. Irwin and his wife, Margaret.  Irwin was in the butter business at 42 Essex Market.  Troubles seem to have arisen between them and in 1876 only Margaret was living with the Weeks family and she was now listed as the proprietor of the business.  John had moved to 32 Second Street and opened a new butter establishment at 36 Essex Market.

Mary Flynn Weeks died on February 1, 1878.  As was customary, family members sat in shifts around the clock beside her casket until her funeral in the parlor on February 4.

Nathaniel Tylee Weeks survived his wife by five years.  He died on September 23, 1883 at the age of 84.  The Weeks siblings soon left the family home, but continued to lease it to Margaret Irwin, who remained at least through 1886.

In the 1890's 26 Second Street was home to the Frederick McManus and his family.  He got in trouble in August 9, 1896 for promoting a labor discord.  The World reported that he "was talking strike to a crowd of 200 people in front of Ives's shop, on Howard street, where there is a strike, and was arrested on the charge of disorderly conduct."  The following day the newspaper said, "In the Centre Street Court...he said he could prove that his talk was for peace, and he was given till today to get witnesses."

The once elegant residential neighborhood was noticeably declining by the World War I years.  The former Weeks house was being operated as a rooming house with at least two of the residents serving in the military.  William M. Fels was wounded in battle in 1918, and Jacob Uden, who was born in Russia, enlisted in the United States Army on August 6, 1918.  

Uden had barely returned to New York after being honorably discharged when he was arrested on November 7, 1919 as part of what The Sun called a "nationwide roundup of Reds made by Federal agents."  According to him he had been "merely passing the evening" in a cooperative club and school at 133 East 15th Street run by several Russian societies when the police rushed in.  

The New-York Tribune reported that following his release, Uden "nursed a large bump on his head, caused, he said, by a blow received when he resisted arrest.  Uden charged that the raiders were unnecessarily rough in their handling of the prisoners, and kicked and pummeled many of them."

Of these three surviving houses of the 1836 row, only 26 (left) retains most of its original appearance.

Amazingly, the venerable house remained essentially unchanged throughout the 20th century.  It was not converted to apartments until 1972 when it was divided into two duplexes.  A subsequent renovation completed in 2010 resulted in a total of five apartments.

photographs by the author

LaptrinhX.com has no authorization to reuse the content of this blog

The Richard Williamson House - 30 East 2nd Street

 

Ephraim H. Wentworth constructed a row of handsome Greek Revival homes along the northern side of East 2nd Street between Bowery and Second Avenue around 1835.  Faced in red Flemish bond brick and trimmed in brownstone, they rose two-and-a-half stories tall above basement level.  Solid stone wing walls flanked the stoops.

The first owner of 30 Second Street (the "East" designation would be added decades later) was grocery merchant Richard Williamson and his family.  It appears that in negotiating the purchase Wentworth offered to help rent the Williamsons' former home.  An advertisement on August 26, 1836 offered the three-story house at 220 Sullivan Street for lease and directed those interested to contact either Richard Williamson or E. H. Wentworth.

Richard Williamson & Co. was located at 19 Maiden Lane.  The term "grocery" had little to do with the word we commonly use today.  Williamson catered to the carriage trade, importing European wines and delicacies.  On a single day three separate ads appeared in the New York Evening Post, one touting "Rhenish Wines of the most approved growths and vintages," another announcing a shipment of "Mushroom Ketchup...of a superior quality," and the third advertising "Congress Water, in quart and pint bottles, in fine order, put up in boxes of 2 and 3 doz. each."

Williamson's business was apparently substantial.  On March 8, 1837 he announced the arrival of an enormous shipment of 

champagne.  "1203 baskets of a very superior quality, landing from ship Ann, from Havre, for sale by the quantity, or otherwise."

By the mid 1840's the family of fancy goods merchant Samuel B. Isaacs lived in the house.  He struck out on a new venture in 1848 when he partnered with Adolphus S. Solomons to form Isaacs & Solomons, "for the purpose of carrying on the Stationery and Fancy Good business, and manufacture of Account Books."

In 1855 the family of James D. McMann moved in.  At the time he owned a livery stables on Mott Street, but by 1864 his profession was listed as "liquors" at 597 Broadway.  The nebulous term could mean he ran an upscale wine and liquor store, or a saloon.   

Both of McMann's daughters, Catherine and Maria, were teachers.  Conveniently for them, they both taught in Public School No. 10 on Wooster Street.

At some point following the Civil War years the house was significantly updated.  The attic floor was raised to a full story in the form of a stylish mansard, an important element in the highly popular Second Empire style.  Although the Greek Revival entrance was preserved, the brownstone enframement was mostly removed, and pressed metal cornices were installed over the stone lintels.

The house originally looked like 26 East 2nd Street, to the left.

The widow of Francois Fraprie, owned the house in 1873.  Born Abigail Lang in 1796, she had two sons, George and Stephen.  The Fraprie's first son, Francis Tarradin, had died in 1825 at the age of 11.   Stephen shared the house with his mother.  Never married, he was in the jewelry business at 16 John Street.  

Abigail died in the house at the age of 86 on March 10, 1882.  Somewhat surprisingly, her funeral was not held in the parlor, but at the Church of the Nativity around the corner on Second Avenue.   Stephen remained in the house until his death at the age of 68 on December 16, 1889.

The George and Elizabeth Herrmann next occupied the house.  It was the scene of their daughter Tena's funeral on October 23, 1898.

The once fashionable neighborhood declined in the 20th century.  A renovation to 30 East 2nd Street, completed in February 1949, resulted in small factory and office space in the former home.  Small businesses came and went until 2011 when the building was converted to a total of two apartments.

photographs by the author

no permission to reuse the content of this blog has been granted to LaptrinhX.com

The 1836 John B. Moreau House - 14 East Second Street

In the early 1830's Bond Street was arguably the most fashionable address in New York City.  Although its name changed to Second Street on the east side of Bowery, the upscale tenor spilled over.  Around 1835 or 1836 builder Ephraim H. Wentworth erected a long row of houses along the northern side of Second Street between Bowery and Second Avenue.  Faced in Flemish bond brick, the two-and-a-half story Greek Revival homes were trimmed in brownstone (a step down from the marble that adorned many of the Bond Street residences).  The brownstone framing and heavy entablature of the doorways were expected in the style and the sidelights and transoms of the single-doored entrance were handsome, if not exceptional.  The broad fascia boards below the cornices were punctured by the attic windows.

The family of E. Lane lived in 14 Second Street (the "East" would not be added to the block for decades) in the 1840's.  As was the case with most well-to-do socialites, Mrs. Lane's name appeared in newspapers and journals for her charity work.  

The Lanes took in a select few boarders.  In 1840 and '41 William H. Willcox lived with the family while he attended New York University, and in 1847 Mary W. Mason, a school teacher, lived here.  

An advertisement in the New-York Daily Tribune on December 30, 1847 read:

Board in a Private Family--Three young gentlemen or a gentleman and his wife can be accommodated with board and good rooms in a private family where there are no other boarders.  The best of references required.  Apply at 14 Second-st., near the Bowery.

At the time of the advertisement wealthy wholesale grocer John B. Moreau lived on Greenwich Street.  He had married Anne E. Ferris, the daughter of Lansing (who went by Laning) and Cordelia Ferris, in December 1845.  By 1851 the couple had moved to 14 Second Street, along with Anne's parents.

John B. Moreau was a partner in Moreau & Parker at 150 West Street.  He was, as well, a director in the Astor Fire Insurance Company.  Most notably, however, he was a noted bibliophile.  In 1859 he would found the Bradford Club, described by the American Art Association in 1915 as "one of America's foremost book-clubs."  His library in the Second Street house focused on New York history and also contained a collection of important American autographs.  

The paneled pedestals at the foot of the stoop most likely held ornate wrought iron basket newels.  Note the lyre motif in the areaway fencing.

In the meantime, John's brother Joseph and his wife, the former Aletta M. Faulkner, lived on West 20th Street.  The couple had been married in 1841 and had two children--Aletta and Fanny.  On August 3, 1854 Aletta died "after a short illness," according to the New York Herald.   Joseph and the girls now moved to 14 Second Street.

Now long afterward, Cordelia Ferris's health began failing.  After what the New-York Daily Times described as "a lingering illness," she died at the age of 69 on June 13, 1856.  Her funeral was held in the parlor two days later.  Laning Ferris survived his wife by two years, dying on April 8, 1858 at the age of 82.  His funeral, too, was held in the house.

The string of deaths and funerals in the house continued on February 25, 1862 when Joseph died at the age of just 44.  He left an estate valued at about $1.75 million in today's money. John and Anne were appointed guardians of Fanny and Aletta.

The family received a scare on December 30, 1872.  At just after 9:30 that morning a servant was at work "in the basement, in a smoke house," according to the New York Herald.  A few pieces of wood fell onto the fire, spreading it throughout the room.   While the panicked servants battled the small blaze, the fire department was having problems of its own.  "The large engine in the vicinity of the Fifteenth precinct station house got stuck in the snow on its way to this fire," said the New York Herald, "and Captain Byrne turned out with all his force and helped the engine out of the trouble."  The Moreau servants managed to extinguish the fire, but not before more than $4,000 in damages by today's standards was done.

Anne Moreau left Second Street in 1886 following her husband's death.  John's "valuable and interesting library" was auctioned that year by Bangs & Co., which described it as "comprising a carefully selected collection of Americana, standard literature, privately printed books; works relating to New York City; curiosa; extra illustrated works, &c."

The house next became home to the August Hassey family.  He and his three adult sons--August C., Emile A. and Edward F.--were lawyers in the same practice.  All three lived with their widowed father along with Emile's wife, Emma.  

Like the Moreaus, the respectable Hassey family drew little attention to itself.  But that would change two years after August C. Hassey's unexpected death on May 1, 1898 at the age of 40.

On the night of September 29, 1900 Alice Bolt "was seized...by a policeman just as she was about to leap into the North River at the foot of Fifteenth street," reported the New York Herald.  "All she would tell the police was that she had lived in New York for fifteen years at No. 14 Second street with August Hassey, a lawyer, who died about a year and a half ago.  His death, she said, left life not worth the living."

Alice Bolt was about 39-years old and was described as  being "handsome and well dressed."  The New York Times reported, "She met Mr. Hassey, she said, shortly after she came from Bar Harbor, Me., which was her home, and their friendship had continued up to the time of his death."  The article added, "since that time she had brooded until she no longer had any desire to live."

The next morning Alice appeared in the Jefferson Market Court.  Magistrate Crane asked her, "Would you promise not to make another attempt on your life if I should allow you to go?"

"No, I would not.  I would try to kill myself today," she replied.

And so Crane delayed the case for an hour, hoping that she would change her mind.  But she did not.

"Then I will have to commit you to Bellevue for medical examination," he told her.

"I suppose I can kill myself at Bellevue as well as any other place," she declared.

The entrance enframement originally matched this example, another of Ephraim Wentworth's row.

By now both Edward and Emile had moved out of the Second Street house.  A serious case of sunstroke the previous summer had made their elderly father an invalid.  Reporters rushed to the Hassey house after Alice Bolt's court appearance.  The New York Herald reported, "An old woman, who said she had been employed there for many years as housekeeper, admitted that August [C.] Hassey had died eighteen months before, but declared she had never heard of Miss Bolt."  She refused to allow anyone to disturb her employer.

On March 16, 1903, August Hassey died at the age of 81.   His funeral three days later would be the last held in the house.   The once-elegant residential neighborhood had greatly changed by now and in February 1908 Max Zierer moved his paper business into the former house. 

Zeirer had been in business for 12 years and his move may have been prompted by financial problems.  Only ten months later, on December 19, he filed for bankruptcy.

The Lower East Side was the center of the labor movement by now and following end the of World War I the basement of the house was known as Hennington Hall, where labor meetings were held.  It was possibly around this time that the Greek Revival enframement of the doorway was removed.  The brownstone cornices over the windows were also shaved off during the 20th century.

Amazingly, while the door itself has been replaced, the 1836 doorway survives intact, as does the broad fascia board and attic level.  With just a little imagine, one can imagine the house when well-to-do families and their servants lived here.

photographs by the author

many thanks to reader Joseph Ciolino for requesting this post

no permission to reuse the content of this blog has been granted to LaptrinhX.com

The 1834 Amelia Judah House - 65 East 2nd Street

 

photo via StreetEasy.com

Around 1834 Amelia Judah erected a 25-foot wide, brick-faced home at 65 Second Street (the designation "East" would not be used for decades to come) between First and Second Avenues.  Originally designed in the recent Greek Revival style, it featured an English basement below a two-step stoop and a full third floor in favor of the dormered, peaked roof of the Federal style.

Newspapers reported the death of an 88-year old spinster named Amelia Judah on April 22, 1849.  Presumably it was this Amelia Judah.

By 1853 No. 65 was home to the Rosenfeld family.  Emanuel, Jacob and Wolf Rosenfeld were partners in the E. & J. Rosenfeld cigar business.  Wolf was apparently a son and nephew.  While Emanuel and Jacob listed their professions as "segars," Wolf was listed as a "segarmaker."

It may be that the California Gold Rush lured the Rosenfelds West.  With hundreds of thousands of men streaming into the territory, a cigar business had every prospect to thrive.  In 1857 E. & J. Rosenfeld was operating from San Francisco.

That year James S. Hull purchased No. 65.  For years he had been a sexton of the Brick Presbyterian Church and the keeper and undertaker in charge of its cemetery.  His move to Second Street had everything to do with the church's relocation to Fifth Avenue and 37th Street and its moving of the graveyard.

A notice in the New-York Daily Tribune on May 15, 1856 had informed families:

Notice--The Brick Presbyterian Church, corner of Beekman and Nassau sts, having been sold, the Trustees have procured a beautiful Location in the Evergreen Cemetery, to which place all the remains of the dead found in their graveyard will be removed, unless otherwise indicated by surviving friends.  Mr. James S. Hull, Sexton of the Church, will attend daily at the Church from 9 to 10 o'clock a.m. to receive intimations from the friends of the departed, and give any information desired.

While Hull retained his position as sexton of the Brick Presbyterian Church, he now took the job as keeper and undertaker of the New York City Marble Cemetery directly across the street from his new home.  He was also involved in the running of the Hope Chapel on Broadway.  An advertisement in The Evening Post on May 20, 1857 offered "To Let--For Lectures or Public Meetings, The Lecture Room known as Hope Chapel."  The ad advised "Apply to James S. Hull, on the premises, from 1 to 2 o'clock daily, or at 65 Second street.'

By 1859 Hull shared the house with his sister, Phebe, and her husband John R. Spies.  Spies was a merchant at the time, dealing in "lighters" at No. 129 Wall Street.  

Another sexton, Nathaniel H. Hodgson, and his wife moved in in 1867.  Whether he had been previously affiliated with Hull in his undertaking duties is unclear, however in 1870 he added "undertaker" to his professional listing and that year the firm of Hull & Hodgson, "undertakers" was using 65 Second Street as its address.  

The house may have been a bit crowded that year, for also living here with Hull, the Spies and the Hodgsons, were two widows (both named Jane Johnson), possibly sisters-in-law.  Jane Johnson was the widow of Henry R. and Jane E. Johnson was the widow of William B. Johnson.  (It was apparently a temporary arrangement and the women are listed here only in 1870-'71.)

James S. Hull's several professions garnered him a comfortable income.  In addition to his townhouse, he owned a substantial summer estate with two residences.  John R. Spies appears to have been managing the property for him when he offered to lease it for the summer of 1877.  His advertisement read:

To Let--At Cornwall On The Hudson, on the bank of the river, and at the base of Storm King Mountain, the furnished 8-roomed cottage lately occupied by Andrew Fletcher, Esq.  Or the furnished double 16-roomed house in same location; all modern improvements, extensive lawns, garden, fruit trees, &c.; boating and bathing accommodations, ice-house' everything in first-class order, and will be let to a responsible party on reasonable terms.  Apply to Mr. John R. Spies, No. 65 2d-st., New-York, or on the premises to James S. Hull.

On April 24, 1877, two weeks after that ad appeared, Hull sold the Second Street house to Nathaniel Hodgson for $15,000 (about $378,000 today).  It may have been at this time that the house was remodeled from Greek Revival to the more up-to-date Italianate style with a new cornice and entrance.

Other than the name on the title, nothing changed within the house.  Hull, the Spies, and Hodgsons continued to lived together.  Hull remained keeper of the cemetery across the street and Hull & Hogdson, undertakers, still operated from the residence.

James S. Hull died in 1883 having never married.  His country estate was sold at auction the following year.  On May 27, 1884 The Evening Post reported "The homestead and a cottage adjoining, together with about nine acres of land, were purchased for $7,200 by ex-Assemblyman George M. Dean, of New York city."  That amount would equal about $195,000 today.

On March 5, 1889 Nathaniel Hodgson and his wife sold No. 65 to Charles Franck for $14,750.  He made a quick profit, selling it within a week to Claus F. Molzen and his wife, Helene, for $15,000.  By now the neighborhood had filled with immigrants and the Molzens used the property as a rooming house.  It was most likely the Molzens who added the "billowing wrought-iron fire escapes," as described by the 2010 AIA Guide to New York City.

Other than replacement entrance doors, the house was little changed from its 19th century appeared around 1941.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

When they sold it to John Porr three years later it was described as a "tenement."  The changing conditions in the area were reflected in the selling price.  Porr paid nearly $3,000 less for it than the Molzens had.

Red paint covered the red brick and the brownstone was painted white in the last quarter of the 20th century.  The colored glass panes above the parlor windows were removed in a recent renovation.  photo by Beyond My Ken

The residence continued as a rooming house and then small apartments throughout the 20th century.  When it sold in 1943 it was described simply as a "three story apartment house."  At some point the masonry was painted.

In 2016 No. 65 East Second Street was sold and a renovation begun which resulted in three apartments.  The paint was carefully removed from the facade.  Less than sympathetic replacements windows and window air conditions are regrettable, but overall the cleaned-up front is a welcome improvement.