The Arthur and Anna Eisemann House - 212 East 31st Street

 

photograph by the author

A long row of modest houses on the south side of East 31st Street between Second and Third Avenues was completed around 1867.  Above rusticated brownstone basements, their upper three stories were faced in red brick.  At 20-feet wide, their stripped-down take on the popular Italianate style included a surprising vermiculated band below the parlor level (an unnecessary cost to the builder), floor-to-ceiling parlor windows, and individual bracketed cornices.

No. 212 East 31st Street was apparently leased, initially.  Adolphus Sinsheimer, an "agent," and his family lived here from 1868 to 1869, followed by Abraham Levy.  The clothier had two shops on the Bowery.  He and his family remained through 1874.

The residence next became a boarding house.  The small number of tenants reflected its high-end status.  Living here in 1876 were Edward S. Dex, Bartholomew and Felix Smith, and Catharine A. McLean, none of whom listed professions.  Catharine was the widow of Laughlin McLean, and it was possibly she who placed an advertisement in the New York Herald in March that year:

A young lady will give instruction on piano for $10 per quarter, with privilege of practice daily.  212 East 31st st.

The advertisements appeared routinely through 1879.  Bartholomew and Felix Smith were listed at the address through 1880.

Alice J. Bolmer, a widow, purchased 212 East 31st Street in August 1882, but she did not retain possession for long.  She placed an advertisement in the New York Herald on July 8, 1885:

A great sacrifice will be made if sold at once; must be sold, as the owner is going West; three story high stoop, all improvements, 20x45x100, 212 East 31st st.; this house is the most perfect home in the city; do not fail to examine at once.

Alice Bolmer sold the house to Jacob and Margaret Sauter for $13,000--about $438,000 in 2026.  It appears that the couple operated it again as a boarding house.  Among their boarders in 1886 was Mary Leonard, who abruptly moved out in September.  Soon afterward, men arrived at 212 East 31st Street to repossess a large amount of furniture.

Calling her "quite a business woman," the New York Herald explained on November 22, 1886 that Mary Leonard "at various times called herself Fanny Walsh, Duane, Stanley, Kelly and Lee, and that a large number of furniture dealers have made her acquaintance at considerable loss to themselves."

Mary Leonard had gone to several furniture dealers, telling them "she was honest, and had to have furniture because she was trying to support her four fatherless children by starting a boarding house."  She managed to purchase $190 worth of furniture from Thoesen & Uhl, a piano worth the same amount from Samuel Parsons, and $200 worth of furniture from George Reubel.  She had placed small amounts of money on credit and had the goods shipped to 212 East 31st Street.  She then waited on the sidewalk and when the deliverymen arrived, redirected them to an alternate address.  She was long gone before the dealers began looking for the unpaid goods.

Jacob Sauter died in 1887 and Margaret tried to hold on to the property, taking out a second mortgage in 1888.  She was not successful and the house was sold at auction on June 20, 1890 for $12,650.  It was sold again in 1892 to Lisette and Adolph Starke, who resold it in 1897 to Mary J. Mitchell.

The house finally returned to a single-family home in May 1903 when Martin L. Campbell purchased it from Mary Mitchell.  Campbell was a civil servant, working as a "tapper" in the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity.  

In the spring of 1909, a proposal was bandied about to change the title of "assistant tapper" to simply "tapper."  Campbell was not entirely on board with the move, and in April he and Thomas F. McCormick sent a letter to the department.  It pointed out that they were "the only persons registered as Tappers in the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx," and, while they did not oppose the change, "they would like to be protected in their higher position by a title such as Superintendent, Supervising or Foreman Topper, etc."  (It is unclear whether the proposal was accepted.)

In 1940, the rustication of the basement and its vermiculated band, along with the original floor-to-ceiling parlor windows survived.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Campbell remained at 212 East 31st Street until 1912, when he sold the house that December to Anna and Arthur Eisemann.  A graduate of Cooper Union, Arthur was an architect and independent contractor.  He and Anna had two daughters, Alma and Bertha.

His work drew important clients.  On September 17, 1921, for instance, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that John D. Rockefeller, Jr. had commissioned him to make "alterations" to the four-story residence at 24 West 54th Street.  Eisemann was, as well, the president of the Society of Painting and Decorative Trades.

Anna Eisemann died on May 27, 1927.  Arthur moved permanently to Elmhurst, New York and the East 31st Street house was rented by Anna's estate.  Her will directed, "Income from the property at 212 East Thirty-first street, Manhattan, is to be divided among the children equally."

The house was converted to apartments in 1946.  A subsequent renovation completed in 1959 resulted in a duplex in the basement and parlor level, one apartment on the second floor and two on the third.  During one of those renovations, the rustication and vermiculated band of the basement were erased and the parlor windows shortened.

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 Andrew W. Bogert House - 222 East 32nd Street

 

image via douglaselliman.com

In the 17th century, the farm of Dutch settler Jacobus Hendrickson de Kype stretched northward along the East River from what today is East 30th to about 37th Street, and west beyond First Avenue.  In 1655, De Kype erected his large brick and stone house on the property.  The family let its surname, anglicized to Kip, to the river's bay and to his property, which was known as the Kip's Bay Farm.

By the decade prior to the outbreak of civil war, the Kip's Bay neighborhood had seen the opening of streets and avenues and the erection of rowhouses and shops.  Around 1855, a trio of Anglo-Italianate rowhouses was erected on East 32nd Street between Second and Third Avenues.  Faced in brownstone, the 16-foot-wide homes featured rusticated bases with fully arched openings.  Graceful molded lintels sat upon the elliptically arched upper floor windows.  A cast iron balcony ran the width of the second floor.

Andrew W. Bogert, a cabinetmaker and furniture dealer, moved his family into the westernmost of the three homes, 128 East 32nd Street.  The address would be changed to 222 in 1864.  The Bogerts remained through 1858.  The following year, Sara Gough began operating a boarding house here.

Her advertisement in the New-York Tribune on March 9, 1859, read:

Board for One Family, with the whole parlor floor, or the third floor, in the English basement house, with all the improvements, No. 128 East 32d st.  Few if any other boarders in the house.  Sarah Gough

Sarah's mention of "few if any other boarders" was important.  The higher class boarding houses took in only a few select tenants.  In 1860, living in the house with Sara were her son, Adna H. Gough; and Jonathan Dickinson and Henry R. Cooper, who were both clerks.

In 1863, Adna H. Gough traveled to Michigan, presumably with his mother, where he purchased land on August 5.  He is listed as among "the first land purchasers of Saginaw County, Michigan," by the Saginaw Genealogical Society.

The East 32nd Street house became home to the John Turnbull family.  On April 18, 1863, Turnbull wrote a testimonial letter for a Dr. Lighthill, who treated "diseases of the Eye, Ear, and Air-Passages," according to his ad.  Turnbull's letter appeared in The New York Times:

A member of my family had had a troublesome affection of the ears since infancy.  I was recommended to place her under the treatment of Dr. Lighthill, and I am happy to state that he has been completely successful in her case.  Those who desire to know the particulars may apply at my residence.

                                        John Turnbull, No. 128 East 32d-st.

That family member was, most likely, daughter Agnes Turnbull.  Beginning in 1864, she taught in the primary department of School No. 53 on West 13th Street near Sixth Avenue.

Also living in the house was Agnes's brother, George R. Turnbull.  On March 9, 1865, he was summoned to testify in the alleged corruption in the election of William E. Dodge to Congress.  His testimony revealed the general confusion being created by the city's comprehensive address renumbering program.  When asked where he lived, he answered, "128 East 32nd Street, old number; the new number is 222."

The house appears to have been operated as a boarding house again in the 1870s.  Then, in 1879, it was purchased by 24-year-old Dr. Robert John Heinmuller.  Born in New York City in 1855, he received his medical degree from the University of the City of New-York in 1875.  The bachelor was an attending physician at the Bellevue Hospital Dispensary, and in 1877 was appointed an Assistant Sanitary Inspector in the Bureau of Contagious Diseases within the Department of Sanitation.

In 1941, the house next door retained its second-floor balcony.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

In 1881, Heinmuller married Amalie Neuman.  The groom was now 26 and the bride 21.  They soon had a daughter, Ilsa Georgina.  Living with the family in 1883 was Albert Heinmuller, obviously a relative, who was attending the Free Academy of New York.

Heinmuller's position with the Department of Sanitation brought him into contact with dangerous communicable diseases like cholera and yellow fever.  Other times, he was tasked with tracking down the cause of what appeared to be the beginnings of a mysterious outbreak.  In February 1883, the family of Gustav Stepbach fell ill with trichiniasis--a parasitic disease caused by roundworms found in undercooked meat.

The New York Herald reported, "It was learned that the three had eaten freely of raw ham about a month previously."  Now, said the article, Dr. Heinmuller, "began an investigation with a view of fixing the responsibility for the sale of the diseased meat which communicated the malady."

Later that year, according to the New-York Tribune, Heinmuller, "began to suffer from brain trouble."  The article did not specify what the disorder was, however it may have been a slight stroke.  Then, in August 1884, while working in the laboratory, he spilled acid onto his foot.  Because of the injury, he "was obliged to stay in doors," said the New-York Tribune.  On August 29, Robert John Heinmuller suffered a fatal stroke at the age of 29.

To make ends meet, Amalie Heinmuller took in boarders.  One of the earliest was 33-year-old Annie Bennett, who took a room in May 1885.  She told Amalie that she came from Baltimore and had left her husband, a restaurant owner.  The New York Herald explained, "She left home, accusing him of infidelity."  Annie said she would need a room only until her divorce was finalized, after which she would have the means to settle somewhere permanently.  

The newspaper said, "During her stay at the Heinmillers' [sic] Mrs. Bennett worked hard all the time, working for the family and taking in sewing from outside; a good deal of it from the wife of a baker living at 485 Third avenue."  According to Amalie, said the article, "After she had been there a short time her husband came to see her, and repeated the visit once or twice.  The interviews were evidently not pleasant ones, and each left the young woman nervous and excited."

Annie Bennett's sewing jobs were not earning enough money.  By the end of summer, she told Amalie, "she did not know what she should do.  She had scarcely anything left."  Finally, acknowledging that she owned Amalie back rent, in September Annie packed her trunks, asked Amalie to hold them for her, and left, without saying where she would go.  The New York Herald said, "Mrs. Heinmiller [sic] supposed that she was going to visit her husband or her relatives to get assistance, and kept her room waiting for her; but days and then weeks slipped away until it was decided that she would not return."

Finally on September 30, Annie returned only to find her room was rented.  She sat in the parlor and wept, telling Amalie that her friends and family had not answered her letters and she was desperate for money.  The following day Annie Bennett's body was discovered in the Morton House, where she committed suicide by inhaling lighting gas.

Edward Bessinger rented a room here in 1902.  On July 29 that year, he was walking along Fifth Avenue with James Pardee, the sexton of St. Stephen's Church, when someone cried, "Fire!" and another person yelled, "There's a watchman in there!"  The vacant brownstone house at 304 Fifth Avenue had caught fire.  Bessinger "darted into the building, through the smoke which was coming from the cellar in suffocating volumes," as reported by The New York Times.  Policeman Barbour had been holding back the crowd of spectators.  He and Edward Costello ran into the building.  The newspaper said, "Groping their way down the cellar stairs, they came across Bessinger unconscious at the foot of the stairway."  He was carried out and transported to the New York Hospital.  Bessinger survived, but, unfortunately, the body of the aged watchman whom he had hoped to rescue was discovered later.

  

By the mid-1920s, 222 East 32nd Street was operated as a rooming house.  On September 20, 1927, "Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan" took a room.  In fact, the couple were Alfred and Helen Morin.  Alfred was arrested for burglary and jailed in The Tombs shortly after they moved in.  On September 23, Helen went to The Tombs to visit him, but was quickly intercepted by detectives.

Since his arrest, Morin had been subject to questioning concerning the murder of Patrolman Henry E. A. Meyer.  Getting nowhere with him, the authorities turned their attention to Helen (who initially told them her name was Helen Moroney).  Perhaps fearing that she, too, would end up behind bars, she told officials where to find Edward J. "Red" Reilly, an accomplice in the shooting.  He was picked up that afternoon.

photograph by Anthony Bellov

The house was renovated in 1961, resulting in a duplex apartment in the basement and first floor, and one apartment each on the upper floors.  

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

The Edgar and Sarah Lasak House - 224 East 32nd Street

photograph by Anthony Bellov

In the 1850s New York City had expanded northward into the Kips Bay district.  Around 1855, a trio of Anglo-Italianate-style rowhouses was completed on East 32nd Street between Second and Third Avenues.  The 16-foot wide homes were faced in brownstone and their rusticated bases featured fully arched openings.  Cast iron balconies ran the width of the second floors, and graceful molded lintels sat upon the elliptically arched upper floor windows.

Born in 1827, Edgar F. Lasak was a partner with his father in the fur business F. W. Lasak & Son.  He lived with his parents, Francis W. and Harriett D. Lasak, in their mansion at 292 Fifth Avenue until his marriage to Sarah Wright Seaman on April 24, 1855.  Edgar took his bride to 130 East 32nd Street--the middle house of the newly built trio.  (The address would be changed to 224 in 1865.)

The couple's only daughter, Margaret Seaman, was born in February 1856.  The three did not fill the house, and an advertisement that year offered rooms to let in the "new English basement" residence.  Their tenants in 1859, Francis M. and Kate S. Randell, suffered a painful loss.  Their daughter, Mariana, died at the age of one-and-a-half on April 29.

The Lasaks left East 32nd Street in 1862, after which the residence was operated as a boarding house.  Living here in 1863 were William Elmer and Catharine E. Poole, W. Cavener, and Benjamin B. Dewitt.  Dewitt did not list a profession, suggesting he was retired.

Sadly, as had been the case with the Randells, on February 6, 1863 William and Catharine Poole's one-a-half-year-old son, William Elmer Poole, Jr., died here.  His funeral was held in the parlor on February 8.

Six months later, W. Cavener's name was drawn in the Union Army's draft lottery.  

The house became a private home when it was purchased by Joseph Seaich and his wife, the former Maria Griffith, in 1864.  The couple had three children, Joseph Jr., Williams, and M. Adelaide, who was born in 1861.  (Williams would later join his father's business.)

Born in 1811 in London, Joseph Seaich worked as a boy in the United States Hotel.  Then, in 1836, he started a carriage line taking freight and passengers from the railway stations and boat landings to hotels.  In 1857, Seaich opened a "large carriage stable," as described by The New York Times, on East 32nd Street.  The newspaper would later said, "While the Prince of Wales, the Duke Alexis, and other notables were in this country, Mr. Seaich supplied them with coaches."  By the time he moved his family into the East 32nd Street house, he had moved his business to East 82nd Street.  

In 1869, the Seaich family moved to 47 East 31st Street.  As was common at the time, rather than moving their things, they sold all the furnishings at auction.  The announcement on April 13, 1869, listed expensive items like a Decker pianoforte, "rich rosewood Parlor Suits, in silk reps," a marble top etagere, and marble top tables.

The house was purchased by Augustus L. Rapp, a dealer "in fancy woods and veneers."  He leased it to Mrs. Mary A. Howell, a widow, who operated it as a rooming house.  An advertisement in the New York Herald on December 8, 1870 offered, "Furnished Rooms to let, to gentlemen; also a suit for a quiet couple, with breakfast for gentlemen if desired; house neatly furnished and convenient to [street] cars."  (Why females were not offered breakfast is unclear.)

Mary A. Howell's roomers in 1872 were Merwin Deveau, Dr. J. Fitzgerald O'Connor, and George H. and Anna Bond Healy.  

That year Augustus L. Rapp made renovations to the house.  He explained to a judge later, "a cellar was built under the front part of my house; we dug out and built it."  Among the workmen on the project was George Rose, a mason.  On June 3, he left his wheelbarrow on the sidewalk.  The New York Times reported, "A number of mischievous boys rolled away the barrow several times."  Rose lost patience with the urchins and when he finally caught them moving his wheelbarrow, he "seized an ax and flung it at the nearest group of boys."  

The ax struck Henry Burke, who was five-and-a-half years old.  The little boy was not part of the gang, but was merely in the path of the flying weapon.  Henry fell to the pavement with a fractured skull.  Realizing what he had done, George Rose tried to leave, but the large group of adult witnesses stopped him.  He "was compelled by the witnesses...to carry the boy into the nearest drug store," said The New York Times.  Rose later took him to Bellevue Hospital where Henry Burke died.

Rose was arrested for manslaughter.  In court on December 18, he swore that he "threw up his arms in order to frighten the boys from the wheelbarrow, when the ax slipped from his grasp accidentally, and struck [the] deceased."  The testimonies of the numerous witnesses refuted his story.  Rose was convicted and sent to prison for a year.

Mary A. Howell leased the house from Rapp until 1880.  It continued to be operated as a rooming house by its new proprietor, Kate Howard.  

Among her roomers in 1887 was the Krause family.  On August 12, 1887, 16-year-old George W. Krause was run over by a furniture van driven by Alfred Dorche.  The New York Times reported that Dorche, "injured him so badly that he died shortly afterward."  Dorche was arrested for manslaughter.  

An inquest was held on August 19.  Former alderman Charles B. Waite had witnessed the accident.  The New York Herald reported, "Mr. Waite said that he came 300 miles from Essex to testify that he saw the accident, and that in his opinion the driver, Alfred Dorche...was not to blame."  The article concluded, "The jury exonerated the driver."

via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The house continued as a rooming house into the Depression years.  Andrew T. Hoffman lived here in 1936 when he suffered a gruesome death.  He was in New Jersey on March 29 when he was "struck by a Pennsylvania Railroad train in Hamilton Township," according to The New York Times.  The article said, "A briefcase near the body contained religious tracts.  He was about 35 years old."

Carol Drosdick, who lived here in 1938, was described by The New York Sun as "an attractive brunette."  The 24-year-old worked as a waitress and was dealing with a stalker--a former boyfriend.  On July 18, Carol and her sister, Helen, were on their way to Brooklyn to visit another sister.  On the 34th Street subway platform, Carol's stalker approached.  He insisted that she go with him instead of accompanying Helen.  "Angrily she ordered him to go away," reported The Sun.

The former boyfriend pulled out a knife and began stabbing her.  He slashed her on the hand, the left shoulder and the lower part of her back.  "As she fell to the platform, her assailant fled up the stairs into the street and disappeared," said the article.  Carol was treated at St. Vincent's Hospital.  Whether her attacker (whose name was withheld) faced justice is unclear.

A renovation completed in 1961 resulted in two duplex apartments.  One of them was home to film maker and photographer Ralph Steiner and his wife, Caroline.  Steiner was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1899.  While living here, he created eight films under the grouping "The Joy of Seeing."  

Ralph Steiner created this self-portrait (what today would be called a selfie) around 1930.  from the collection of MoMA

On September 16, 1962, The New York Times reported that Steiner had announced the establishment of "The Photographs' Centre," described as "a nonprofit organization for teaching, lectures, print exhibits and services for photographers."  Steiner headed the new organization.

Following Steiner's death in 1986, Ann Hoy of the International Center of Photography called him "a key figure in winning vanguard status for photography comparable to such painting movements as Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism and the last of the American Modernist photographers."

photograph by Anthony Bellov

A renovation completed in 2005 returned 244 East 32nd Street to a single family home.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

The Nehemiah Cohn House - 250 East 33rd Street

 

photo by Anthony Bellov

Around 1855, a long row of brick-faced homes was erected on the south side of East 33rd Street between Second and Third Avenues.  Three stories tall above brownstone English basements, they exhibited elements of the waning Greek Revival style--particularly in the stone entrance frame, with its paneled stone pilasters and corniced entablature.  But even here, a decorative carved rosette above the doorway strayed from the expected sternness of Greek Revival.  Handsome Italianate-style cast ironwork originally protected the areaway and stoop, and individual cast cornices with foliate brackets, also Italianate in style, finished the design.

The cornice brackets are purely Italianate in style.  photo by Anthony Bellov

The presence of Irish immigrants in the Kips Bay district was reflected in the early inhabitants of 156 East 33rd Street (renumbered 250 in 1865).  In 1855, Michael Burke lived here.  He was a member of the Thomas Francis Meagher Club, which supported the Irish nationalist and leader in the Rebellion of 1848.  The Burkes were followed by Mary A. Rice, the widow of Henry Rice, and in 1864 by Daniel and Eliza Fitzgerald.  

The parlor was the scene of a somber funeral on November 23, 1864.  Jessie Fitzgerald, Daniel and Eliza's only son, had died two days earlier at the age of four-and-a-half.

The Fitzgeralds remained until 1865 when Nehemiah Cohn and his wife, the former Caroline Metzger, purchased the house.  Born in Germany in 1825, Cohn was in the tobacco and cigar business Nehemiah Cohn & Co. with his brother, Jacob.  They had two locations, one on Fulton Street and the other on South Street.  Nehemiah was a Master in the Darcy Lodge of the Freemasons.

The population within the house quickly grew.  Cecilia Cohn was born in 1866 and her sister, Josie, arrived the following year.  A third daughter, Flora, would follow.  

In 1868, brothers Marx M. and Aaron Myres were also listed at the address, presumably boarders.  They, with their brother Daniel M., comprised the Myres Brothers drygoods business on Third Avenue.

Nehemiah and Jacob Cohn found themselves facing a judge in the United States Commissioners' Court on July 21, 1869.  The previous year, the Internal Revenue Service had passed a law requiring that tobacco offered for sale be stamped as evidence that the necessary taxes had been paid.  The Cohn brothers were charged "with fraudulently evading certain provisions of the Internal Revenue laws."  Four days later, the commissioner dismissed the charges, saying the Cohns "proved by their clerk that he never knew of any sale of tobacco that was unstamped."

Among Cohn's suppliers was tobacconist John R. Sutton & Brothers.  On September 5, 1871, Sutton & Brothers fired Charles Kohler, a young man who had worked there for some time.  Kohler walked directly to Nehemiah Cohn & Co. at 12 Fulton Street and said he had been sent to collect a bill of $95 for a recent purchase.  On April 18, 1872, the New York Herald reported, "Mr. Cohn, supposing Kohler was still in Sutton & Brothers' employ, paid the amount demanded, and did not find that he had been swindled until several weeks later."

In the meantime, Kohler had fled town and got a job with the Erie Railroad.  Unfortunately for him, the train on which he was working pulled into New York City on April 17, 1872.  He "was at once arrested and taken before Judge Dowling at the Tombs Police Court," said the New York Herald.  (Nehemiah Cohn's $95, which would translate to around $2,500 in 2025 terms, was gone.)

Caroline Metzger Cohn died on June 14, 1874.  Her funeral was held in the parlor of 250 East 33rd Street three days later.  

In the summer of 1879, Cohn was called as a potential juror in a sensational murder case.  Mrs. Jane DeForrest Hull, wife of Dr. Alonso J. Hull, was found dead in their mansion at 4 West 42nd Street on the morning of June 11, 1879.  She was blindfolded, gagged, and her feet and wrists were tied with strips of bedsheets.  Jane Hull came from the DeForrest family, who was described by the Colorado newspaper The Rocky Mountain News as "wealthy and aristocratic" and who had "left her a fortune."  Suspicion quickly focused on "a negro named Chastine Cox," according to the Rocky Mountain News, who had previously been the family's private waiter.  When Chastine Cox was arrested weeks after the murder, Mrs. Hull's watch was found on him.

Finding an unbiased jury would prove problematic.  Not only had Mrs. Hull been socially esteemed, the defense attorneys would be facing rampant racism.  On July 16, 1879, the New-York Tribune reported that the process had taken two days.  Among those selected was Nehemiah Cohn.  Describing him as "a dealer in cigars," the New-York Tribune said, "he had no opinion on the case that he could not lay aside on entering the jury box," adding, "He was regarded as a competent juryman, and took the last chair."

(On July 24, 1880, Chastine Cox was hanged in the courtyard of The Tombs, downtown.)

The molded window cornices, seen in the neighboring houses, had been shaved flat by 1941.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Among the 237 young women who graduated in the commencement exercises of The Normal College on June 26, 1884 was Cecilia Cohn.  She found a position teaching in the primary department of Grammar School No. 14 on East 27th Street, where she would remain for years.

Among the death notices in the New York Herald on May 17, 1890, was the astonishingly succinct announcement, "Cohn--On Thursday morning, Nehemiah Cohn."  The 65-year-old was buried next to Caroline in Machpelah Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.

Flora Cohn's engagement to Julius Starfield was announced on November 18, 1894.  The New York Herald noted that the intended couple would be "At home Sunday, November 25, 250 East 33d St." to receive congratulations.

Neither Josie nor Cecilia married.  Josie died on April 16, 1907 at the age of 40.  Vaudevillians Tom Noland and Cora White boarded with Cecilia, remaining here until Cecilia's death at the age of 42 on December 16, 1908.

Nolan & White listed their address within the Cohn house in 1908.  Variety, May 2, 1908 (copyright expired)

In the early 1940s, Edwin Schriver and his wife, the former Ruth Hafferkamp, lived here.  Their son, Gary Edwin, was born in the Woman's Hospital in November 1946.

Bishop Sears Harrold occupied the house at mid-century.  Born in 1888 and a 1913 graduate of Harvard, he was a stockbroker and a member of Filor, Bullard & Smith.  Never married, his country home was in Darien, Connecticut.  His deep American roots entitled his memberships in the Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Sons of the Revolution.  Harrold died while living here on December 30, 1954 at the age of 66.

Although the Italianate ironwork has been replaced, the unusual stone entrance framework and paneled doors survive.  photograph by Anthony Bellov

Six years later, the house was renovated.  There were now an office in the basement, one apartment on the parlor level, and a duplex apartment in the second and third floors.  Then, a subsequent remodeling returned 250 East 33rd Street to a single-family home.  Completed in 2007, the renovations included the addition of a fourth floor.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

The Matthew B. Wynkoop House - 153 East 33rd Street

 

photograph by Anthony Bellov

When he sat down to his drafting table to design a four-story house at 108 East 33rd Street (renumbered 153 in 1859) the  architect addressed a challenge.  The stoops of the English basement-style houses immediately to the east, running towards Third Avenue, meant the homes sat back from the property line.  The stoop-less American basement-style residences on the west side of the plot did not.  

The architect solved the problem of a potentially unattractive blank wall on one side or the other by designing the three-bay wide facade in a stylized piano lid shape.  The eastern bay, which held the arched entrance two steps above the sidewalk, was flush with its neighbors.  The architect projected the western two bays forward and rounding the corner.  Now this section, too, conformed to the houses on that side.  The house's Italianate design would have included molded lintels and a bracketed cornice.

The brickwork of the rounded corner was deftly executed.  Originally, curved glass panes would have conformed to its shape.  photograph by Anthony Bellov

The house was briefly operated as a rooming or boarding house.  Living here in 1855 and '56 were Sam Ellis, a carman, for instance, and engineer Solon Farrer.  The desperate lost-and-found ad of another tenant in 1856 hints at their general financial status:

$5 Reward--Lost in one of the Third Avenue stages, or near the corner of the Bowery and Grand street, twenty-three dollars in gold, rolled in a piece of calico, the property of a poor girl.  The above reward will be paid by leaving it at 108 East 33d st.

(The chance that the girl recovered the lost coins was slim.  The value of the gold would translate to about $840 in 2025, and the reward would equal just under $200.)

Around 1860, Matthew Bennett Wynkoop moved his family into 153 East 33rd Street.  Born in Zanesville, Ohio on February 16, 1830, he came to New York City as a boy.  The New York Times would later say, "He went into the printing business in a small way until he had amassed considerable money."  When he and his wife, the former Susan Vincent, moved in, he was the senior member of the printing firm Wynkoop & Hallenbeck.  The couple had an infant daughter, Madeline May, born on June 29, 1860.

Isaac and Margaret K. Van Cleef (sometimes spelled Vancleef), purchased 153 East 33rd Street around 1866.  Isaac was born in Seneca, New York in 1786.  

In 1867, they advertised, "To Let--Half of a four story house furnished, No. 153 East Thirty-third street, between Lexington and Third avenues."  The ad was answered by 25-year-old James Herbert Morse.

James Herbert Morse (original source unknown)

Born in Hubbardston, Massachusetts in October 1841, Morse graduated from Harvard in 1863 and received his M.A. degree in 1866.  He founded the Morse & Rogers Classical School in 1868, advertising in The New York Times on November 5:

J. H. Morse, A. M., graduate of Harvard and of long experience as a teacher, will open Monday, October 5, at Nos. 621 and 623 6th-av., a select English, Mathematical and Classical School for boys; number limited to twenty; highest references given.  Address J. H. Morse, No. 153 East 33rd-st.

Morse lived with the Van Cleefs until his marriage to artist Lucy Gibbons on May 12, 1870.  James Herbert Morse would go on to become a noted poet, author and educator.

Four months before Morse's wedding, on January 23, Isaac Van Cleef died at the age of 85.  His "sudden" death in the house, as reported by the New York Herald, hints of a heart attack or stroke.

Margaret remained here until about 1875.  The following year, 153 East 33rd Street was occupied by Peter Maguire, an "inspector;" printer Daniel A. Nolan; Mary Van Buskirk; and the Pierce family.  William H. Pierce did not list a profession, suggesting he was retired, and Elizabeth Pierce was a physician, as was Mary Van Buskirk.  (The two women most likely worked together).

Dr. Van Buskirk placed an understated advertisement in the New York Herald on September 13, 1877:  "Dr. Mary Van Buskirk, 153 East 33d st., between Lexington and 3d ave."  Her advertisement three months later on January 7 in The New York Telegram was more specific:  "Dr. Mary Van Buskirk treats female complaints scientifically.  153 East 33d st, between Lexington and third avs."  In fact, the "female complaints" she treated were unwanted pregnancies.

She narrowly escaped serious problems in the fall of 1870.  On September 19, Dr. Benjamin W. West, "Madame West," and Dr. Enoch Eastman were arrested and charged "with complicity in an attempt to commit an abortion on Maggie McLoon," as reported by The New York Times.  The 20-year-old woman had gone to a Dr. Eastman on July 8.  When his attempt to abort the fetus failed, according to McLoon, "he took her on August 18 to Mme. Van Buskirk, at No. 153 East Thirty-third-street, telling her that the Madame would relieve her, as she had the proper instruments."  While Maggie McLoon sat in Mary Van Buskirk's waiting room, another woman recommended that she go to Dr. West.  She left without consulting with Dr. Van Buskirk.

The house was purchased by George F. and Augusta W. Keim in 1879.  Keim listed his profession as "flowers."  He could have been either a florist or a dealer in artificial flowers, used as trimmings for women's millinery.  In 1888, the couple hired architect William B. Tuthill to do "interior alterations," and the following year commissioned contractor P. F. Loonam to erect a one-story addition to the rear.  

Augusta Keim's estate sold 153 East 33rd Street in May 1897 to Robert H. Roesel and his wife, the former Katharine Lichtenberger, for $12,250 (about $478,000 today).  Roesel was the principal in Roesel & Sons, upholsters and makers of furniture covers.  Robert's sons, Edward R. and Henry C. Roesel were partners.  The Roesels had two daughters, Elsie Caroline and Margaret.

Edward and his wife, the former Elizabeth Anacker, lived here with his parents.  He died on July 4, 1917 and his funeral was held in the parlor four days later.

The Roesels took in roomers, apparently just one at a time.  Their tenant in 1917, Gus Politaker, quickly disappeared when America entered World War I.  Four years later, he was still listed on the Government's list of draft evaders, noting that he was also known as Gus Polelakees and Gus Politakes.

Their roomer in 1922, 42-year-old Edward McGann, also found himself on the wrong side of the law.  He worked as a waiter in a First Avenue restaurant.  On December 14 he faced Magistrate Joseph E. Corrigan in Yorkville Court after serving a drink to an undercover Prohibition agent.  A search found a quart bottle of whiskey and McGann was charged with illegal possession of liquor.

Prohibition also affected Joseph Crowley, who roomed with the Roesels in 1928.  On October 10, The New York Times reported that the 43-year-old "was found with a broken nose and suffering from alcoholism at East Tenth Street and Third Avenue."

The Roesels made renovations to 153 East 33rd Street in 1938.  It was possibly during these modifications that the cornice was removed, and the elliptically arched upper windows changed to flat-headed openings and their 1850s lintels shaved off.

As early as 1941, the Roesels had modernized the facade.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

After their family had owned the building more than half a century, Henry C. Roesel and his sister, Elsie, sold 153 East 33rd Street in November 1950 to the Armenian Missionary Society of America, Inc.  The New York Times reported, "The buyer plans to use the property for a parish house for the Armenian Evangelical Church at 136 East Thirty-fourth Street."

photographs by Anthony Bellov

In 1952, the ground floor was converted to a commercial space with a separate entrance.  It was given a coating of stucco and the doors received Spanish-influenced iron grills.  In the early 1970s the ground floor space was home to the Mexican restaurant Chili Charlie's, followed by Mimosa around 1976.  Today a Thai restaurant occupies the space.

Sadly abused, the structure's brick facade has been painted and its windows replaced.  Little remains of the Italianate design created by a resourceful architect around 1854. 

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post