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Friday, August 31, 2007

Announcement of the First Services Held in the Little Red Church of the Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church on July 9, 1876

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Periodically I have posted items to the Historic Pelham Blog regarding the fascinating history of the church known today as Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church in Pelham Manor. For a few of many such examples, see:Thursday, August 16, 2007: Biographical Data About

Thursday, August 30, 2007

More About the Wartburg Orphans' Farm School on the Border of Pelhamville

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Yesterday I posted to the Historic Pelham Blog an item about the Wartburg Orphans' Farm School founded in 1866. The school began on a 200-acre tract along the border of the tiny settlement known as Pelhamville. See Wednesday, August 29, 2007: Construction of Main

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Construction of Main Building on Grounds of The Wartburg Orphans' Farm School Near Pelhamville in 1869

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1866, the Wartburg Orphans' Farm School opened. Founded by Evangelical Lutherans of New York, it provided orphaned children with a home and an education. The school taught trades such as farming, printing and homemaking. The school acquired about two hundred acres

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Laying Out of Pelham Avenue from Fordham to Pelham Bridge in 1869

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1869, authorities laid out a more direct roadway from Pelham Bridge to Fordham. Known as Pelham Avenue, the roadway shortened the seven-mile circuitous route between Fordham and Pelham Bridge to a more direct distance of three miles. Below is a brief record of the

Monday, August 27, 2007

1861 Judicial Decision Involving Collision of Two Ships in Pelham Waters

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Pelham's maritime traditions have contributed to the body of legal knowledge known as maritime law. In 1861, a federal court in New York released a decision involving two ships that collided in Pelham Waters. See Randall v. The Zebra, 20 F. Cas. 241 (Cir. Ct.,

Friday, August 24, 2007

More About the Wreck of the Steamer Plymouth Rock in Pelham Waters in 1856

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Yesterday I published to the Historic Pelham Blog an item about the wreck of the steamer Plymouth Rock during a snow storm in early 1856. See Thursday, August 23, 2007: The Wreck of the Steamer Plymouth Rock in Pelham Waters in 1856. Additional information about the

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Wreck of the Steamer Plymouth Rock in Pelham Waters in 1856

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Given that the City of New York annexed large portions of the Town of Pelham including City Island, Hart Island and much of today's Pelham Bay Park in the mid-1890s, it is easy to forget Pelham's rich maritime heritage. The Town's history is littered with unusual

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Israel Pinkney of the Manor of Pelham, Held in Confinement for Debts in 1769

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.A brief notice that appeared in the June 5, 1769 issue of The New-York Gazette; and the Weekly Mercury sheds light on an unfortunate debtor who lived in the Manor of Pelham at the time. His name was Israel Pinkney. The item suggests that he was held in confinement (

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

1752 Advertisement for Sale of Home on Boston Post Road in the Manor of Pelham

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.An interesting little advertisement offering for sale a home on Boston Post Road in the Manor of Pelham appeared in the May 11, 1752 issue of The New-York Gazette Revived in the Weekly Post-Boy. The advertisement is transcribed below, followed by a citation to its

Monday, August 20, 2007

Canadian Records of Claim Asserted by Joshua Pell, Formerly of Pelham Manor, A Loyalist Who Fought for the British in the Revolutionary War

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Following the close of the Revolutionary War, the "Commissioners of Forfeitures in the Southern District of New York State" conducted sale proceedings involving lands of those who were not loyal to the Patriot cause during the War. On August 23, 1784, the

Friday, August 17, 2007

Advertisement Offering Alexander Henderson's Island Estate To Let Published in 1807

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Alexander Henderson once owned the island that later became known as Hunter's Island (now connected to the mainland by the Orchard Beach parking lot in Pelham Bay Park). I have posted quite a number of items to the Historic Pelham Blog about Alexander Bampfield

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Biographical Data About Rev. Charles Eliphalet Lord Who Served as an Acting Pastor of Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1874-79

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.A book published in 1906 included a brief biography of Rev. Charles Eliphalet Lord who served as an acting pastor in Pelham Manor while the Huguenot Memorial Presbyterian Church was being formed. That biography is quoted below, followed by a citation to its source."

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Plan of Pews in St. Paul's Church 1790

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries, St. Paul's Church in Eastchester was the principal church attended by residents of the sparsely-populated Manor (later Town) of Pelham. A book published in 1866 included a copy of the "Plan of Pews in St. Paul's

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Biographical Data About Thomas Pell, His brother, John, and His Nephew, John Pell of the Manor of Pelham

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.A multi-volume work published in 1912 included biographical information regarding Thomas Pell who acquired the lands that later became Pelham and surrounding areas, and his nephew, John Pell (often referenced as "Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham"). The biographical

Monday, August 13, 2007

1865 Comments of Rev. William Samuel Coffey of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester Regarding the Tenure of Rev. Robert Bolton of Pelham

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.On October 24, 1865, Rev. William Samuel Coffey of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester delivered a "Commemorative Discourse" during the Centennial Celebration of the erection of the church building. In the discourse, published by Perris & Browne in 1866, Rev. Coffey

Friday, August 10, 2007

Information About William Newman: A Witness to the Signing of Thomas Pell's Treaty with Local Native Americans on June 27, 1654

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Yesterday I published to the Historic Pelham Blog an item about "John Ffinch", one of the Englishmen who witnessed, and signed, Thomas Pell's "Treaty" with local Native Americans by which Pell acquired the lands that subsequently became Pelham and surrounding areas.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Information About John Ffinch: A Witness to the Signing of Thomas Pell's Treaty with Local Native Americans on June 27, 1654

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.On June 27, 1654, Thomas Pell signed a "treaty" with local Native Americans acquiring the lands that became Pelham and surrounding areas. A copy of that treaty, said to be in Thomas Pell's handwriting, exists. It is among the Pell family papers maintained by the Fort

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

A Description of an Eyewitness Account of Interior of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester During the Revolutionary War

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Following the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776, British and German troops occupied the still unfinished church building on the village green in Eastchester. On October 24, 1865, Rev. William Samuel Coffey of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester delivered a "

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

An Account of the Battle of Pelham on October 18, 1776 Contained in The McDonald Papers Published in 1926

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.In 1926, the Westchester County Historical Society published a two-volume set of "The McDonald Papers". The papers were based on 19th century interviews of American Revolutionary War veterans who fought in and around Westchester County. The first volume includes and

Monday, August 6, 2007

1714 Letter Reporting on the Establishment of the Church at East Chester Built in 1692

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.For more nearly two centuries after its first settlement, the sparsely populated rural settlement that came to be known as Pelham had no church of its own. Many Pelham residents traveled quite a distance to attend the church in East Chester. A church building was

Friday, August 3, 2007

Abstract of Sale of Lands of Joshua Pell of Pelham Manor by the Commissioners of Forfeiture in the Southern District of New York State in August, 1784

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Following the close of the Revolutionary War, the "Commissioners of Forfeitures in the Southern District of New York State" conducted sale proceedings involving lands of those who were not loyal to the Patriot cause during the War. On August 23, 1784, the

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Biography of Arthur Middleton Hunter of Pelham, A Descendant of John Hunter of Hunter's Island

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.Arthur Middleton Hunter was a descendant of John Hunter of Hunter's Island in Pelham. Like his noted ancestor, he became a noted amateur horseman who enjoyed horse racing and kept a stable of noted horses. Several years after his death in 1918, a brief biography

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

1805 Real Estate Advertisement Offering Prevost Estate in Pelham for Sale

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web SiteLocated at http://www.historicpelham.com/.Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.A small advertisement appeared in the April 24, 1805 issue of the Morning Chronicle published in New York City offering the Prevost estate for sale in Pelham. The pertinent excerpt of the advertisment appears immediately below."BY A. & R. S. BARTOW, . . .At private