The Henry H. Keeler House - 128 East 31st Street

 

On November 11, 1856, Henry H. Keeler was married to Rachel C. Crane in "the Lafayette-place Church," as reported by the New-York Tribune.  Keeler was a partner with Julius A. Candee and Cornelius C. Demarest in the lime business Candee, Keeler & Co.  The newlyweds moved into the new three-story-and-basement house at 74 East 31st Street (renumbered 128 in 1867).  

The 16-foot-wide, brownstone-faced residence had been completed around December 1855.  Its cutting-edge, French Second Empire design included an arched pediment supported by foliate brackets over the doorway, and a projecting, three-sided parlor oriel.  The upper floor openings sat within robust architraves with molded cornices.  The leafy entrance brackets were echoed in the cast metal cornice.

Keeler was drawn into the mysterious case of Jane Augusta Blankman's death in 1860.  He and five other businessmen were impaneled as the coroner's jury to investigate the woman's "sudden demise, burial, and subsequent exhumation."  Jane Blankman's body had been exhumed "on the supposition that her decease was occasioned by sinister means," explained The New York Times on October 22.  After hearing lengthy testimonies, Keeler and his peers ruled that the 35-year-old had died from a stroke.

By 1864, the Keelers had moved to West 26th Street.  Merchant John Johnson and his family occupied the 31st Street house, while broker Conrad Phillip Bruns lived on Staten Island.

Bruns married 22-year-old Charlotte Emilie Switzer on December 16, 1863.  Interestingly, both of them went by their middle names.  Around 1866, they moved into the former Keeler house.

Born in Bremen, Germany on February 23, 1837, Bruns emigrated to the United States in 1858.  He found a job as a clerk in a brokerage house and rose within the firm.  The young man arrived at a propitious time.  In 1859, Edwin Drake successfully struck oil in Pennsylvania.  It triggered a frenzy of trading in "paper oil" and oil certificates.  The Evening World would later comment that Bruns, "made a fortune in the early days of oil speculation."

Not long after the couple moved into the East 31st Street house, twin boys--Philipp and William Ferdinand--were born on January 6, 1867.  Sadly, Philipp died five months later on June 24.  Another son, Edwin George, arrived on March 3, 1870.

Charlotte Emilie Bruns died at the age of 30 on April 23, 1872.  Her funeral was held in the parlor at 2:00 on the afternoon of the 25th.

Emilie had had domestic help, of course, but now servants were even more essential in the all-male household.  On April 25, 1873, an advertisement in the New York Herald sought: "Wanted--A cook; one who has lived in a German family preferred; also a chambermaid to assist in washing.  Apply, with reference, at 128 East 31st street."

Phil Bruns (as he was known familiarly) was "noted for his open-handed generosity," according to The Evening World.  His son seemed to have inherited the trait.  The 1888 Annual Report of The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children noted that William F. Bruns had donated "25 books for reception-rooms" to the facility.

Known to his friends as Willie, William Ferdinand Bruns died in the house on July 25, 1889 at the age of 22.  His funeral was held in the parlor two days later.

By then, Philip Bruns was well-known and well respected in Wall Street circles.  He had purchased his seat in the New York Stock Exchange in 1869 and now he and his surviving son were partners in the firm of Edwin G. Bruns & Co.  

At some point Philip Bruns had begun a romance with Madge M. Gurney.  It is possible that the two never married because Madge was "a victim of an incurable disease," according to The Evening World.

Conrad Philip "Phil" Bruns (original source unknown)

On the evening of August 4, 1893, Bruns met Henry G. Hilton to have dinner at the Casino in Central Park.  They rode in Hilton's surrey and, as reported by the New-York Tribune, "In turning the corner at Fifty-eighth-st. and Seventh-ave. the vehicle went around so quickly that Mr. Bruns was thrown out and he fell heavily on the pavement."  Hilton rushed back to his friend, "who was bleeding profusely."  Bruns was taken back to 128 East 31st Street where Dr. Henry Forbes said he was suffering with a broken nose and two fractures of the collar bone.  "The most serious injury, however, was the cutting of the artery under the right eye, which had caused a great loss of blood," said the article.

The next day Bruns was described as "delirious" and "in an exceedingly critical condition."  That evening, Madge Gurney visited him and "remained with him for sometime," according to The Evening World.  

Phil Bruns lingered for nearly two weeks, dying in the East 31st Street house at 6:15 p.m. on August 15 at the age of 56.  The Evening World commented, "The death of Philip Bruns removes from Wall street one of its most familiar and well-known personages."

On August 19, The Evening World reported that when Madge Gurney heard of Bruns's death, "she appeared to be greatly dejected."  The newspaper announced, "at 6:15 P. M. the next day she died at her rooms in the Milburn apartment house."  The article said they died 24 hours apart to the minute.

Perhaps because of the anticipated large attendance, Conrad Philip Bruns's funeral was not held in the house, but in the Church of the Transfiguration.  On August 17, The Evening World reported, "The casket was almost buried in flowers."

Before the turn of the century, George Bruns sold 128 East 31st Street to George Florence Scannell and his wife, the former Elizabeth Rafferty (known as Lizzie).  The couple had three sons: Frank Joseph, John Jay, George Jr.; and a daughter, Marie F.

Born on February 22, 1860, Scannell was highly involved in Tammany politics.  He worked as a clerk in the Surrogate's office and was the leader of the 25th Democratic District and the chairman of the Seneca Club.  

In the fall of 1900, the family received a horrific scare.  John, who was 15 years old, attended the College of St. Francis Xavier on West 15th Street.  He and a number of other boys were "playing leap-frog" in the gymnasium, according to the New York Herald on October 10.  The New-York Tribune explained that John, "had succeeded in jumping over two boys, and was trying to jump over three, when he fell, striking his head on the floor."  The New York Herald reported that he was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital unconscious and diagnosed with a "concussion of the brain."  The New-York Tribune's report was more dire, saying that the teen had sustained a skull fracture.  At the hospital that evening, his father was told "that his son would probably recover," said the New York Herald.  Happily, John Jay Scannell did recover.

On January 1, 1904, Manhattan Borough President John F. Ahearn informed the Municipal Civil Service Commission that George F. Scannell had been appointed Superintendent of Highways.  He replaced James G. Collins, whom The New York Times said had been "ousted" by Ahearn.  The position came with a salary of $5,000 (about $175,000 in 2026).

In 1905, a woman who said her name was Mary Scannell, began appearing at the stoop of 128 East 31st Street and at Scannell's office on Park Row.  She said she was the daughter of Scannell's brother, Thomas, and when he died, when she was five years old, she was sent to a convent.  She tracked down George Scannell, she said, through the New York Foundling Asylum.  Now she insisted that he support her.

The major flaw in Mary Scannell's story was that George never had a brother named Thomas.  She was, nevertheless, persistent.  Two years after she first rang the bell of 128 East 31st Street, George Scannell's patience was exhausted.  When she showed up at his office again on August 17, 1907, he had her arrested.  The New York Times reported, "She was sent to Bellevue Hospital for observation as to her sanity."

George Scannell's promotion to Superintendent of Highways in 1904 turned into a nightmare for the family.  James G. Collins had not gone quietly after being fired.  He sued the city and Scannell.  The New York Times reported, "To safeguard the city in case Collins should win the suit Scannell had to furnish a $10,000 bond to guarantee that he would turn back his salary to Collins.  His own house, which stood in his wife's name, was put up as security."

In December 1909, James G. Collins "bodily took possession of Scannell's office," reported The New York Times.  He barricaded himself inside and "held the fort for a number of days."  Astoundingly, Collins's ploy worked.  The newspaper said that Mayor William Jay Gaynor's "revocation of the office of Commissioner of Highways" finally "induced Collins to surrender his stronghold."  The article concluded, "Thus Scannell lost his job."

Not only did Scannell lose his job, Collins continued to sue him personally for his back wages of about $30,000, or about $1 million today.  In the meantime, Scannell was appointed the Superintendent of Records in the Surrogates' Office--the same position in which he had started.

George F. Scannell fell ill in May 1912.  On September 19, The New York Times headlined an article, "George F. Scannell Dead From Worry."  The 52-year-old had died in the 31st Street house the previous evening.  The Times reported, "It was the prospect of losing everything in the world, Mr. Scannell's friends said last night, which had suddenly made such a noted change in the man."

The original 1850s detailing was intact in this 1940 photograph.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

On January 3, 1913, The New York Times printed a one-line story:  "Frank J. Scannell, son of George F. Scannell, has been appointed to his father's place as Superintendent of Records of the Surrogates' office."

The Scannell family finally received welcomed news in June 1916.  A court ruled that James G. Collins was entitled only to $3,000.  Elizabeth Scannell's tenuous hold on her home was restored.

Two months later, on August 22, George was married to Elizabeth O'Brien in the Church of St. John the Evangelist on East 55th Street.  Marie (who would never marry) attended the bride and John J. Scannell was his brother's best man.  

Frank was still living here with his mother and Marie as late as 1920, when he was appointed a commissioner of deeds.  Elizabeth sold 128 East 31st Street in September 1924 to the 5 Gramercy Park, Inc.

The firm operated the property as a rooming house and it continued to be such for decades.  When Mary Macfayden and her husband, Frank Netter, purchased the house in 1960, it was described as being vacant.  It was resold in 1964 when the couple began divorce proceedings.

A renovation completed in 1969 resulted in a photography studio in the basement.  It was most likely during this time that the Victorian details were removed from the doorway and windows.  

Shocking publicity came in 1981 when, on January 15, The New York Times reported that four men had been arrested for "operating houses of prostitution," one of which was 128 East 31st Street.

Renovations done in 2009 returned 128 East 31st Street to a single family home.  Despite the loss of most of the Italianate details, the Keeler house manages to retain its architectural charm.

photographs by the author

The Lost Rebecca Mason Jones Mansion - 705 Fifth Avenue

 

from the collection of the New York Public Library

John Mason began his career as a dry goods merchant and branched into banking and railroads.  (He was the second president of the Chemical Bank and a founder of New York City's first railroad, the New York & Harlem.)  In 1825, he purchased several acres of rocky terrain north of the city in what would become Midtown Manhattan.  Three of Mason's daughters married into the socially prominent Jones family.  Mary, the eldest, married Isaac Jones; Rebecca married his cousin, Isaac Colford Jones; and Serena married George Jones.

Mason died in 1839 but his will was tied up in court for 15 years.  Heirs, including Mary Mason Jones, charged that as he was dying, unscrupulous relatives (including Rebecca and her husband) propped him into a sitting position, tied him between a chair in the back and a board in front to keep him from slumping over and forced his signature.  Finally, in 1854, the case was settled and the midtown property divvied up.  Mary Mason Jones received the vacant land between Fifth to Park Avenue and 57th to 58th Streets.  Rebecca inherited a like amount--Fifth to Park Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets.

Both women were widows.  In 1867, Mary Mason Jones commissioned Robert Mook to design a striking row of marble-faced mansions on Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets, anchored by her own home at 1 East 57th Street.  Rebecca Jones followed suit, hiring architect Detlef Lienau in 1869 to fill the blockfront from 55th to 56th Streets with resplendent Second Empire-style mansions. 

Lienau had come to New York from Paris in 1848.  Called by the Columbia Spectator decades later in 1936 as "the first architect with Paris training to practice in the United States after Colonial times" and a "leading architect of the period," he was instrumental in introducing the Second Empire style to America.  By now, he had designed the mansions of millionaires like Hart M. Shiff at 32 Fifth Avenue, William C. Schermerhorn at 49 West 23rd Street, and John Jacob Astor III at 338 Fifth Avenue.

 

Lienau designed the eight, five-story mansions in an A-B-A-B-B-A-B-A configuration, the mansards of the A models rising slightly higher than those of the others.  Unlike Mary Mason Jones's marble row, Lienau faced these with "Ohio stone," a type of sandstone.  The 1881 New York Illustrated said that, rather than the ubiquitous brownstone in New York City, this gave the homes "the happy union of lightness with the ideal of mass and dignity."  It said the mansions had a "genial, homelike aspect."

(Interestingly, Rebecca's niece, author Edith Jones Wharton, did not agree.  In an article in Harper's Weekly in 1938, she called the row, "a block of pale greenish limestone houses (almost uglier than the brownstone ones)."

Rebecca Colford Jones initially lived in 705 Fifth Avenue, at the far right.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Like her sister had done, Rebecca retained the southernmost mansion, 705 Fifth Avenue, for herself.  Her country homes were in Saratoga, New York and Newport, Rhode Island.  Rebecca retained possession of the entire row, reserving two of the homes for the use of her children, Helen and Lewis Colford.  Helen and her husband, Woodbury Langdon, moved into the mansion at the far end of the block; and Lewis and his wife Catharine, moved into No. 707. 

Rebecca's townhouse was the scene of the dowager socialite's polite entertainments.  In 1873, for instance, The Daily Graphic reported on her "rose-bud party."  (The term "rose-bud" referred to debutantes.)  The young women would meet "a select company of gentlemen," and each would receive a bunch of rosebuds.

In 1880, The New York Sun described the entertainments within Rebecca's home, saying that "many luxuries and delicacies, as well as many European forms of entertainment, were introduced which had been unknown to the thrift and simplicity of our grandfathers."

Rebecca Mason Jones died in 1879.  On February 15, the New-York Tribune reported that she left Helen Langdon "the east side of Fifth-ave., from Fifth-fifth to Fifth-sixth-sts."  Rebecca had been concerned that her heirs would break up the handsome row.  She wrote in her will:

It has long been a favorite idea with me that this property should be kept together, both because it was so derived by me from my father, and because it is my judgment that is can be more advantageously improved for future uses if held entire than if I were to divide it by my will.

Sydney Colford Jones was Rebecca's grandson, the only son of Lewis Colford Jones and Catherine Berryman.  Soon after his grandmother's death, the 26-year-old applied to the courts to change his name to Sydney Jones Colford.  On May 27, 1879, the New-York Tribune explained, "the reasons for the change assigned by the applicant...were that the surname Jones was too common to properly distinguish any one hearing it."

These interior shots do not identify the particular mansion within the row.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

While his widowed mother remained at 707 Fifth Avenue, Sidney and his wife, the former Laura Chartrand, moved into No. 705.  In the spring of 1881, The New York Times reported the heart-wrenching story of "Madani, the poor Arab in the New-York Hospital."  The article initiated donations from New Yorkers.  On May 11, the newspaper reported that a donor who signed his name "a New-Yorker" had sent in $2, and "Lately, a lady, who had also read in The Times about the poor refugee, left him $15."  The article continued, "Mr. Sidney [sic] C. Colford, of No. 705 Fifth-avenue, told the hospital authorities that if there was not a sufficient amount of money contributed for paying Madani's passage home he would make up the balance out of his own pocket."

As early as 1887, Margaret A. Oliver was operating 705 Fifth Avenue as an exclusive boarding house.  Also living in the mansion were her son, William B. Oliver, Jr. and his wife, the youngest daughter of multi-millionaire John W. Masury.  The upscale operation was reflected in her testimony in 1889 when she said:

About the 1st of May 1 [1888] I let [rooms] to Prof. Rees...In the family of Prof. Rees were a gentleman, wife, two children, and maid, five persons.  Prof. Rees paid $45 a week for the whole family.

The weekly board would equal $1,530 in 2026. When asked how she would describe her board (i.e, the food she supplied her guests) she replied, "First class.  Better than a hotel, there is nothing better than I would buy.  Yes, it was as good as a first class hotel board, yes."

Among Mrs. Oliver's boarders in 1887 was Rev. Sullivan H. Weston.  The unmarried cleric was born in Bristol, Maine on October 7, 1816 and had been assistant rector of St. John's Chapel since 1852.  In 1886 he developed a tumor, but only his physician was aware of it.  On the morning of October 3, 1887, "he arose before breakfast, left the house at 705 Fifth-avenue, where he was boarding," reported The New York Times, "and went to a private hospital."  That afternoon, he underwent an operation.  The surgery seemed to have been successful and The Sun reported, "He sent word daily to his boarding house at 705 Fifth avenue of his progress toward recovery."

But then, on October 15, the newspaper reported, "Last Tuesday, however, lockjaw set in, with fatal results."  The Sun commented that his friends "were shocked by the news of his death."  Extensive obituaries of the esteemed cleric were published in numerous newspapers.

Helen Jones Langdon died in 1895 and the Fifth Avenue block was inherited by her son, Woodbury Gersdorf Langdon.  On November 24, 1896, The New York Times reported that he was doing $4,000 worth of "alterations" to 705 Fifth Avenue.  He leased his grandmother's former mansion to railroad mogul Edward H. Harriman and his family.  Born in 1848, Harriman married Mary Williamson Averell in 1879 and they had six children (including William Averell Harriman who would become Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman, Governor of New York, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and to Britain.)  The family's country estate, Arden, was near Tuxedo, New York.

On March 19, 1910, The New York Times reported a shocking development.  "The Woodbury G. Langdon house, No. 705 Fifth avenue, was leased...to Eugene Glaenzer & Co., art dealers.  That was the first business invasion of this part of Fifth avenue."  

 

The Evening Post, November 29, 1910 (copyright expired)

In remodeling the mansion for commercial purposes, Langdon created a charming outdoor area with a fountain in his grandmother's rear yard for Glaenzer & Co.

The Air-Scout, January 1911 (copyright expired)

Langdon continued to garner upscale tenants for the property.  In 1912, Bagues Freres Co., a decorative ironwork designer and manufacturer, moved in.

Architecture & Building, November 1912, (copyright expired)

In what most likely would have troubled Rebecca Jones, on December 5, 1912, The New York Times reported that Woodbury G. Langdon had recently erected an apartment house "on the Fifth-sixth Street portion of the block."  Now, said the article, he had sold the entire blockfront to the Number 705 Fifth Avenue Corporation.  (What it did not mention was that Langdon was its president.)

This photograph around 1912 shows Langdon's new buildings on the northern part of the block.  Only a sign for Eugene Glaezner & Co. discreetly placed on the 55th Street side of the Jones house hints that it is no longer a private mansion.  photograph by George P. Hall, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

The Rebecca Mason Jones mansion remained, relatively intact, until it and the houses at 707 through 711 Fifth Avenue were demolished for the National Broadcasting Company Building, which survives.

photograph by the author

The 1851 Henry P. Marshall Residence - 214 East 17th Street

 

Developer James Foster erected five upscale, high-stooped residences in 1850-51 on the southern blockfront of East 17th Street between Rutherford Place and Third Avenue.  The Greek Revival-style homes were three stories tall above English basements.  Faced in red brick and trimmed in brownstone, they originally exhibited the distinctive entrances of the style, with sturdy pilasters upholding a heavy entablature.

Foster originally leased 115 East 17th Street (renumbered 214 in 1867).  The De Marcarty (sometimes spelled Demacarty) family were the first occupants.  Gustave de Marcarty was a teller with the Bank of New York.  The family of Ebenezer R. Duplignac, Jr., who operated a varnish business on Peck Slip, lived here in 1855 and 1856.

Henry Perry Marshall next leased the house, finally buying it from Foster in 1859.  Born in Woodbury, Connecticut in 1814, he married Cornelia E. Conrad on November 28, 1840.  The couple had five small children--Julia Perry, Blandina Tappan, Frederic Panet, Henry Rutgers and Cornelia Ellsworth.  They ranged from 3 to 14 years old in 1859.  (The couple's first child, John Henry, had died in 1850 at the age of nine.)  The family's country homes were in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York and Woodbury, Vermont.

Henry P. Marshall started out in the importing business.  In 1840, he was appointed American Consul in Muscat, remaining there until 1843 when he joined the Seamen's Bank for Savings.  As the cashier of the bank, his highly responsible position tasked him with tracking its transactions and balancing its books.  

Henry Perry Marshall.  (original source unknown)

The two Marshall boys attended Columbia College.  By 1879, Frederic was an attorney and Henry was an architect and author.  Henry married Julia Robbins Gillman in 1881.  Among his designs would be Rudyard Kipling's home, Naulakha, in Vermont, and the original Brearley School in New York City.

Frederic Panet Marshall was in Thomasville, Georgia in the winter of 1886.  He died there from Bright's Disease on December 30.  Marshall's body was brought back to New York for his funeral in the nearby St. George's Church on January 2, 1887.  (Henry P. Marshall, incidentally, had been treasurer of the St. George Episcopal Church Society for years.)  

There would be two more Marshall funerals within a short period.  The family was at Hastings-on-Hudson on September 7, 1887, when Cornelia died at the age of 72 "after a lingering illness," according to The New York Times.  

The following summer, Henry Marshall "suffered an attack of malaria," as reported by The New York Times on November 17, adding that he "had not been the same man since."  On November 16, Marshall was busy at his office until 2:00, when he and William C. Sturges, the bank's president, went to the dining room adjacent to the two men's offices for lunch.  Their food was served and, according to The New York Times, Marshall said to Sturges, "Mr. Blank called this morning," and then "his head fell forward on his breast and he was apparently dead."

In reporting his death, The New York Times said,

Perhaps no bank Cashier in this city was known to more people than Mr. Marshall...Not only did he know most of the New-York financiers of to-day, but through his long banking career had a fund of personal reminiscences of great speculators whose doings on the street are now only a memory.

Just weeks after Marshall's funeral, his sterling reputation was tarnished.  On January 19, 1889, The Sun ran the headline, "Mission Moneys Missing / $20,000 That The Late Henry P. Marshall Held Vanished."  In addition to the St. George's Episcopal Church Society, Marshall had been treasurer of the Protestant Episcopal Church Missionary Society for Seamen.  The Sun explained, "Other church societies came to him with their money, until he cared for the funds of half a dozen of the largest and richest of Bishop Potter's societies."

After Marshall's death, the books of the Missionary Society were audited.  Although they showed a balance of $20,000, there was no money in the society's account.  The following day, The New York Times reported that the deficit had risen to $60,000 (about $1.9 million in 2025 terms).  The article was titled, "A Great Trust Betrayed."

The two unmarried daughters, Julia and Cornelia, continued to live in the East 17th Street house at least through 1891.  That year Julia was a trustee of the New York Infirmary.

At the turn of the century, Dr. David D. Jennings and his wife, who was a nurse, rented 214 East 17th Street.  They remained until April 1903, when Julie Faversham and her mother, Mary Opp, purchased the house.

Julie and William Faversham were well-known to theater audiences.  Born in New York City in 1873, Julie Opp began writing in 1893, focusing on theater journalism.  She traveled to Paris to interview the world famous opera singer Emma Calvé and actress Sarah Bernhardt.  According to Who's Who on The Stage in 1908, "Both urged her to adopt the stage as a profession, offering their advice, influence and support."

Julie Opp made her debut in 1896.  At the turn of the century, she first played opposite English born William Faversham.  The couple was married in 1902.  Julie continued to use her maiden name on the stage.  

Julie Opp, The American Stage of To-Day, 1910 (copyright expired)

William Faversham's matinee idol looks made him a favorite leading man.  At the turn of the century, he was one of the highest paid actors in the country, reportedly earning as much as $5 million a year.

William Faversham in 1907.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

What today would be called a power couple, the Favershams maintained a Long Island residence and a sprawling estate, The Old Manor, in Chiddingfold, England.  The Jacobean-style mansion was built in 1503 and held 14 bedrooms and was surrounded by "25 acres of park land," according to The New York Times.

On May 6, 1908, The Evening Post reported that plans had been filed for adding a fourth story to the East 17th Street house "to be made for Mary Opp as owner."  Designed by Hunt & Hunt, the new floor took the form of a steep mansard punctured by three dormers.  The architects added sheet metal lintels to the lower floor windows, those of the parlor floor including dentils and egg-and-dart moldings.

The parlor floor cornices with their intricate details, are unusual.

Entertainments in the Faversham house included a blend of theater, musical and society figures.  On February 13, 1911, for instance, The New York Times reported on a dinner party the previous evening "in honor of Mr. Faversham's birthday."  Among the guests were conductor and violinist David Mannes and his wife, novelist Princess Troubetzkoy, and socialite Mrs. John Alexander.

Julie and William pose in the Rosemary Open-Air Theatre in Huntington, Long Island in 1917 with sons William and Philip.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

At some point, Julie took full ownership of the East 17th Street house.  Perhaps revealing the strained relationship between William and his mother-in-law, the couple charged Mary Opp rent--$800 per year.

In 1915, Faversham first appeared in motion pictures.  He continued to accept Broadway roles, and in 1921 was appearing at the Selwyn Theatre in The Prince and the Pauper.  

When he and Julie arrived home on February 13 that year, after being guests of a dinner party for his birthday, "they thought burglars were in the house," according to the New York Herald.  Instead, the parlors were filled with friends throwing a surprise birthday party for William.

It would be the last large entertainment in the house for the Favershams.  In 1915, Julie had appeared with William in The Hawk.  But illness ended her career after that.  Shortly after the party, William traveled to Columbus, Ohio with The Prince and the Pauper.  On April 8, 1921, he received a telegram that Julie had died that day at the Post-Graduate Hospital following an operation.  The New-York Tribune called her, "one of America's stage favorites."

The following month, William advertised Julie's 1918 Cadillac landaulet for sale, saying, "the car is now as good as new; property of the late Mrs. William Faversham."  

The acrimony between Faversham and Mary Opp soon became public.  In August 1922, Faversham sued Opp for $100,000 "for her support [during] twenty years at the East 17th Street home," reported The Evening World.  Mrs. Opp told the court "that she is in dire circumstances as a result of transactions in which the actor was concerned," said the article, explaining that she had loaned the couple $11,000 over the years.  Faversham insisted that the loans, "were actually advanced to his wife, Julie Opp Faversham, and that he made no promises to repay them."

In 1924, the once sumptuous residence was converted to a rooming house by the new owner, B. Leavin.  The Department of Buildings cautioned, "not more than 15 sleeping rooms" in the building.  In the renovation, the stoop was removed, the entrance lowered to the English basement level, and a fire escape attached to the facade.  

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Leavin advertised in The New York Medical Week in September 26, 1925, "Ground floor in newly altered house.  Will alter floor to suit responsible physician."

That ground floor space would remain a physician's office for decades, first occupied by Dr. Joseph S. Stovin.  In the mid-1930s Dr. Max K. Silverman's office was here.

In 1959, the building was converted to apartments, two per floor except the top floor, which held one.  Living here in the 1960s was well-known artist and designer Douglass Semonin.  His paintings were shown at the Graham Galleries in New York and the De Young Museum in San Francisco.  In 1964, the American Institute of Decorators awarded him the International Design Award for his "Town and Country" design.  He died in his apartment on October 26, 1971 at the age of 45.

A renovation completed in 1999 resulted in a total of four apartments in the house.  Even without its stoop, the building looks much as it did when two stars of the theater remodeled it in 1908.

photographs by the author

The Sorely Abused John Ward House - 326 West 23rd Street

 

The family of John Ward moved into the newly built house at 326 West 23rd Street around 1851.  It stood out among the Italianate mansions that filled the block with its handsome mansard roof--a nearly obligatory element of the French Second Empire style.  Four stories tall above a high English basement, the 21-foot-wide residence was faced in brownstone.  A cast iron balcony fronted the floor-to-ceiling parlor windows.

The Press published a sketch of the house on February 8, 1890.  (copyright expired)

John Ward listed his profession as "paperstainer" in 1851, changing it to "printer" in 1853.  That year the family advertised, "Boarding, two single gentlemen can be accommodated with board in a small, respectable family."  Their ad was answered by Jacob Ostrander, Jr., who was a bookkeeper.

A series of occupants, most likely renters, followed the Wards.  Richard Martin, who ran a coal and wood business at 344 West 23rd Street, lived here in 1856 and 1857; followed by John Edwin Brown by 1860.  Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown was a broker.  The 30-year-old died here at the age of 30 on November 25, 1861.

Around 1868, George Thomas Vingut purchased 326 West 23rd Street.  Born in Havana, Cuba, he had married Sarah Augusta Floyd on February 27, 1867 at the nearby Church of St. Vincent de Paul.  The house quickly filled with children.  George Floyd Vingus was born on March 19, 1868; followed by Harry Kermit in March 1871; Maria Augusta Floyd on November 13, 1873; Mary Elizabeth Kermit in 1877; and Benjamin Van Horne Vingut on December 23, 1879.  The social standing of the Vingut family was evidenced in all of the children's baptisms being held in St. Patrick's Cathedral--George's being performed by Archbishop McClusky personally.

The family moved to Eighth Avenue around 1876 and leased the 23rd Street house to street railroad operator Jacob Sharp.  The New York Times would later recall, "He was born of humble parents on a sort of a farm in Montgomery County, N.Y., in 1817, and for 20 years remained on it."  The newspaper said that for his first 20 years he was more focused on manual labor than in acquiring an education.  When his father died in 1837, the young man turned to rafting timber down the Hudson River to New York.

He sold materials to New York City for the construction of piers and bulkheads and before long, according to The New York Times, "he controlled the trade in his line."  The uneducated man next turned to street railroads in 1850 and formed Sharp & Co. to construct a railroad from the Battery to Manhattanville in northern Manhattan--The Broadway Railroad.  That project, faced with intense opposition from powerful figures like Alexander T. Stewart and D. H. Haight, stalled.  When he leased 326 West 23rd Street he was president of the Twenty-third Street Railroad and a director in the Bleecker & Fulton Railroad.

Sharp and his wife had four children, three of whom were still alive.  Two daughters were married, while George C. Sharp lived with his parents.  He died here on January 2, 1880 and his funeral was held in the drawing room on two days later.  Contrasting Jacob Sharp's humble roots with his current condition, the Middlebury Register said that George died "in a house worth $50,000."

The Evening Telegram, October 19, 1886 (copyright expired)

The Press described the residence saying, "'Jake' Sharp's house, at 326 West Twenty-third street, comes in the Mansard era."  The Middlebury Register noted that Mrs. Sharp, "took to painting, simply for recreation," and said, "Her whole house is filled with oil paintings, some of them quite creditable under all the circumstances."

After 33 years of litigation, the Broadway Railroad was finally opened in 1884 and was an immediate success.  Sharp and his wife enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle in the West 23rd Street house and at their "extensive and beautiful farm new Rome [New York]," as described by The New York Times.

But the opponents of the Broadway Railroad had not given up.   The New York Times reported, "In the first flush of victory came the...investigation into the rumors that were rife concerning corruption deep and flagrant" around the Board of Aldermen's granting the railroad franchise.  On October 19, 1886, The Evening Telegram reported, "Jacob Sharp was arrested at his house, No. 326 West Twenty-third street, at eight o'clock this morning."  He was indicted by a grand jury that morning and his trial set for a few months later.

On Christmas Day 1886, the New Haven Daily Morning Journal and Courier reported, 

Jacob Sharp has been under the weather for some days past.  He is suffering from his old dyspeptic troubles, for which he put himself on a milk diet.  He is able to move about the house, but has not been out of doors in two weeks.  He still lives in his hired house at 326 West Twenty-Third street, and the sign, “For Sale,’’ still hangs on the front balcony.  

Sharp was put on trial in 1887.  It was called by one newspaper, the most important trial "since 'Boss' Tweed's."  He was found guilty and on June 14 sentenced to four-and-a-half years in State Prison.  The ordeal had taken a severe toll on Sharp's health, however.  His condition was so bad that on November 29 the Court of Appeals overturned his conviction in return for $40,000 bail--around $1.1 million in today's money.

Sharp and his wife went to the country house for a few weeks.  On January 4, 1888, The New York Times reported, "Jacob Sharp returned from his health trip to the country yesterday.  It has evidently been decidedly beneficial in his somewhat feeble health."  But, in fact, the decades-long ordeal had broken the millionaire.

On the night of April 6, 1888, Sharp died in his second floor bedroom.  The New York Times reported, "His death was sudden, his enfeebled heart ceasing to act after a violent and exhausting fit of coughing."  Sharp's obituary noted, "The disgrace attending his indictment and arrest was keenly felt, and the added ignominy of a public trial was borne with difficulty."

The next morning The Evening World reported that undertaker Charles Benedict "affixed to the front door of the house, this morning, the usual crepe symbol of mourning, and many a passer-by half stopped as his eyes fell on the sable draping."  The family, offended by the unrelenting treatment Sharp had endured, rebuffed most sympathizers.  The New York Times said on April 7, "The house 354 [sic] West Twenty-third-street...was kept tightly closed yesterday and very few callers attempted to enter the house."  The funeral was held in the drawing room, but the family kept it so private that the hour of the ceremony was not announced.

The "For Sale" sign in front of the house mentioned by the New Haven newspaper in 1886 had been removed, possibly because of the Vinguts' concern for their tenant.  In July 1887, title to the property was transferred by the family to Sarah A. Vingut, who ironically died a month later, on August 20.  

The house was sold on June 30, 1891 to Thomas Stokes, who paid $22,250, according to the Record & Guide (about $770,000 in 2024).  It appears he leased it to a proprietor who ran an upscale boarding house.

A Mrs. Waddington (possibly the landlady), took in her sister, Rosalie Dodge, in January 1893.  Rosalie was married to millionaire Jacob L. Dodge, described by The New York Times as "a wealthy young man about town" and "a man of fine appearance."  Dodge owned two sloops, the 60-foot Arrow and the 26-foot Coquette, which he sailed mostly on the Long Island Sound.  The Dodges had a summer estate at Huntington, Long Island.  Rosalie moved in with her sister after discovering that Dodge "had been untrue to her with a woman at the Hotel Vendome."

At their separation hearing on August 2, 1893, details were revealed that Rosalie, no doubt, had wanted to keep secret.  The New York Times reported, "She made no reference to the fact that she had lived with her husband before the formal ceremony until after that fact was accidentally brought out by Frank A. C. McLewee, a witness."  In fact, Rosalie and Jacob had lived together for ten years without being married.  Nevertheless, she testified, "He introduced her to his mother and relatives as his wife, and she executed deeds and mortgages with him."  

The couple had been married for four days before they separated.  Their divorce was granted on August 3, 1883.

William J. Stewart and his wife lived here in 1895.  Mrs. Stewart was treasurer of The Co-Operato, which opened a year earlier at 301 West 18th Street.  It  was described by the New York Charities Directory as, "A co-operative home for self-supporting and self-respecting women of unexceptional reference as to character, regardless of creed."  The residents were charged $2.50 and $3 per week, "with privilege of laundry."

Around 1899, Luke L. Fitzgerald (whose surname was spelled variously as Fitz Gerald and FitzGerald) and his wife, the former Elizabeth (known as Lizzie) Gay, purchased the house.  Fitzgerald was an auctioneer.  The extended Fitzgerald family filled the house.  

Living with her parents were 20-year-old Julia Annie and her husband, rubber merchant Edgar Howard Brown.  On January 13, 1899, the couple had a baby girl, Elizabeth.  Additionally, son Louis G. Fitzgerald and daughters Lulu and Adelaide lived here.  Adelaide would graduate from Normal College in 1901 and take her teacher's examination that year.

Louis G. Fitzgerald died on March 23, 1909.  His funeral was held in the drawing room on the 27th.

Nine years later, on December 1, 1918, Luke L. Fitzgerald died.  Elizabeth survived him by nearly two years, dying here on October 22, 1920.  Her funeral was held in the house on October 26, after which her casket was removed to the nearby Church of St. Columba for a requiem mass.

The 23rd Street house was sold in December 1923 to Michael Taggart, "who will occupy," according to The New York Sun.  Instead, Taggart significantly altered the structure, removing the stoop, installing a commercial space at sidewalk level, and furnished rooms on the upper floors.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

The Rhozis family rented rooms here from around 1936 through 1940.  Charatamas Rhozis and his son Harry (who changed the spelling of his surname to Rozis), were on the Government's radar for continually voting for Communist candidates while living here.

A renovation completed in 1967 resulted in two apartments per floor above the ground floor commercial space.  Little remains of the former mansion's appearance when well-heeled families lived here.

photographs by the author

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