The Fabulous, Fantastic Timeline Of Hunts Point, Bronx

History of Hunt’s Point
in the Bronx

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Hunts Point today
Population: 52,246 - 75% Latino, 22% Black, 1.3% White*

Famous Residents

Colin Powell
sec’y of state

Tony Curtus
actor

*2010 census

Betty Boop
actress

Herman Woulk
author

Bronx Geology
Hunts Point rocks originated When Africa and North America collided 250 million years ago.

Their are many
spectacular
exposures of
bedrock in the
Bronx. There are
numerous faults
that trace a
generally
northeastern
direction and
provide a course for
rivers and streams.


Ice Age Glaciers
The Wisconsin Glacier
covered New York City
with 1,000 feet of ice about
20,000 years ago. The ice
began its retreat about
13,000 years ago leaving
behind features such as
Long Island and the many
large boulders or “erratics”
found throughout the ﬁve
boroughs

Bronx River
Called Aquehung or River of High Bluffs by the

Mohegan Indians who first lived and fished along it.
The river attracted European traders in the early
1600s for the sleek, fat beaver living there.

Once heavily polluted action has been taken recently
by environmentalists to clean the river.

In February 2007 biologists spotted a beaver in the

river. There has not been a sighting of a beaver lodge
or a beaver in New York City for over 200 years.

Jose the beaver

Bronx River Tidal Estuary

Crotona Park
“Indian Lake”

Bound Brook

railroad

Forest Houses

upland

Leggett
Creek

salt marsh

Debatable
Ground

Bungay Brook
149th St.
Egbert Ludovicus Viele 1874Sanitary Map showing streams

NYPL

Map shows original ﬂow of
Bronx River NYC-Oasis

A Map of the
Country Adjacent to
Kingsbridge by
Andrew Skinner and
George Taylor, 1781

Debatable
Ground

Leggett’s Creek
Bungay Brook

Bronx
River
Hunts Point
Clements Library, University of Michigan

British military maps were the most accurate of the time

today

Native Americans lived in the Bronx
Language groups deﬁned Indians Nations

Kurt Griesshaber 1962

Indian Lake in Crotona Park

Remains of a Native American village show 2000 years of habitation

Indian paths in the great metropolis, Part 1 By Reginald Pelham Bolton

Indian T
rails in upper Manhattan and the Bronx

Native
Villages in
the South
Bronx

Quinnahung

Siwanoy name for Hunts Point. Quinnahung means “Long High Place.”



We k k g u a s e ge e c k L i fe

Woodland people lived in houses made of sticks and tree bark called wigwams.


Mohican Vocabulary
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•


Mohican word
aquai
nomasis
achwahndowagan
aki
mbei
stau
we-ku-wuhm

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

English translation
hello
little grandmother
love
earth
water
ﬁre
wigwam or house

Henry Hudson 1609

T
rading House, 1615

Dutch and other traders
came to the Hudson valley
to trade with Indians for
beaver furs and other
products before settlers
arrived.


Beaver

Birth of the Bronx 1642

Joanas Broncx Signs Treaty with the Indians.


Warfare was common and brutal
Major wars involving settlers northeastern Indians

Pequot War 1636
King Philip’s War 1675
Queen Anne’s War 1702

warclubs
AMNH


1641 Faced with British encroachment from
Connecticut New Amsterdam makes terms
On Thursday, being the 6th of June 1641...

Whereas a considerable number of respectable Englishmen with their
clergyman have applied for permission to settle here and to reside among us
and request that some terms might be offered to them, we have therefore
resolved to send them the following terms:


Pell

West Farms

Grove Farm

Broncx 1644

Morris 1671

Hutchinson massacre 1643

Leggett

Hunt

1664

Th
roc
km
ort
on
164
2

1. They are bound to take the oath of allegiance to the honorable Lords the States
General and the West Indies Company under whose protection they will reside.
2. They shall enjoy free exercise of religion.
3. In regard to political government, if they desire a magistrate, they shall have the
privilege of nominating three or four persons from the fittest among them, from
which persons so nominated the governor of New Netherland shall choose one,
which magistrate shall be empowered in all civil to render final judgement not
exceeding 40 guilders: above this amount an appeal may be made to the governor
and council of New Netherland; and in criminal cases he shall have jurisdiction
except in cases involving corporal punishment.
4. They shall not be at liberty to erect any strongholds without permission.
5. The land shall be granted to them in fee, free of charge, and they shall have the use
thereof for ten years with out paying any dues at the expiration of the said ten year
be obliged to pay tithes.
6. They shall enjoy free hunting and fishing and freedom of trade according to the
charter of New Netherland

New Haven

Anne Hutchinson
Religious Dissenter in the Bronx.

Anne, her servants and 5 of her children
were allegedly killed by Indians in 1643.
Anne’s daughter was kidnapped, married an
Indian and resisted returning to the colony.


Anne denied the
dogma of original
sin. A controversial
idea in colonial
America.

Hutchinson River
The Hutchinson River is a small
freshwater stream in New York. It
ﬂows 5 miles south through
Westchester and the Bronx, until it
empties into Eastchester Bay. The
Hutchinson River Parkway follows
the river for most of its distance.The
river is named for Anne Hutchinson.


Thomas Hunt is banished from New Haven
Establishes Grove Farm in Throggs Neck along Westchester Creek
1 March 1643, Goodman Hunt and his wife were banished from the New
Haven Colony. "...for keepeing the councells of the said Willaim Harding,
bakeing him a pasty and plum cakes, and keeping company with him on
the Lords day, and she suffering Harding to kisse her... Mr. Harding
himself was convicted "of a great deale of base carryage and filthy
dalliances with divers yong girles, together with his inticeing and
corrupting divers servants in this plantation, haunting with them in night
meetings and juncketting etc."
John Throckmorton (Throggs Neck)arrives in from Rhode Island about 1642

In 1652 Thomas Hunt bought from Augustine Harmons land on Spicer
and Bracketts Neck which became the nucleus for his famous Grove
Farm. He apparently did not move there at that time because of disputes
between the English and the Dutch who at that time occupied and
claimed the New York area.


1898 map showing the
Lorrilard estate at the
site of “Grove Farm”
near today’s Throggs
Neck bridge.

The land is purchased from Indians
Deeds are rarely enforced to the beneﬁt of the native people

This may certify whom it may
concerne that we Shonearoekite,
Wapomoe, Tuckorre,
Whawhapenucke, Capahase,
Quannaco, Shaquiski,
Passachahenne, Harrawooke, have
aleined and sold unto Edward
Jessup and John Richardson, both
of the place above said, a certain
Tract of land bounded on the east by
the River Aquehung or Bronxkx... from original deed with native signers 1664

Similar deed signed by native sachem’s for Rye 1661

Grove Farm passes to the Ferris family
On Sept. 6, 1664, Col. Nichols took possession of "New Amsterdam" and the English took
over from the Dutch. Thomas Hunt moved on to his Westchester Grove farm and in October
1664 he is described as "a delegate from Westchester." From 1664 until his death in 1695 he
resided on his Grove Farm. He left a will in which he identiﬁed his children as Thomas,
Joseph, John, Josiah, and Abigail, and left his Grove Farm, entailed (to pass on to eldest
sons of successors) to his grandson Josiah, son of Josiah, who was subsequently known as
"Grove Siah."

modern Throggs Neck
The pioneer Thomas Hunt left his Grove Farm to his grandson Josiah who
left it to his son Jacob who died without heirs and title passed to Jacob's
brother Caleb and then to Caleb's son Gilbert, who died without children
leaving a Will which authorized his mother, brothers, and unmarried sisters
to live on the farm for 12 years after which it was to be sold and the proceeds
divided. The property was sold by Gilbert's brother Marmaduke in 1760, and
then purchased in 1775 by John Ferris who was m. to Marianne (usually
seen as Miana or Myana) Hunt.

old Ferris home on Grove farm

West Farms established
Richardson gets permission to build a mill that continues for 250 years
West Farms 18th Century
DeLancey family owned
the mill in West Farms and
lived in an estate along the
banks of the Bronx River
until 1780.


West Farms 19th Century

West Farms early 20th Century

The British Invasion 1664

Peter Stuyvesant

James Duke
of York

King Charles II Land Grant 1666
[A]Parcell of Land within this Government
Scituate, lying and being heare unto and
within the Limitts of the Towne of Weftchester,
uppon ye maine, being Bounded to the Eaft by
the River commonly Called by the Indyans
Aquehung; otherwife Bronckx River, extending to the midst of the said River to the north
by the markt Trees and by a Piece of Hafsock
meadow weftward by a little Brooke called by
the natives Sackwrahung and Southward by
the Sound or Eaft-River including within itt a
certaine neck of Land called Quinnahung…

Jessup and Richardson buy Hunts Point
The first landholders on Hunts Point
were Edward Jessup and John
Richardson. They bought the land
from Native Americans in 1664. The
land was inherited by both Gabriel
Leggett (1637-1700) who married
Elizabeth Richardson daughter of
John Richardson, and Thomas Hunt
of Grove Farm, who married Jessup’s
daughter also named Elizabeth.


The Grange

Built in 1668 the first house in Hunt’s Point.

18th C. addition


Original 1668 residence

19th C.

Morrisania established 1670
old Morrisania seat of the manor built on the site of Jonas Bronck’s original settlement now rail yards
The patent for Hunts Point claims a creek as
boundary. The dispute over whether a certain
creek called Wigwam (Leggett Ave.) or another
further west called Bungay (149 St.) divides West
Farms and Morrisania fuels a century of disputes.

Joanas Broncx dies in 1643. His
estate passed through several
owners until it was purchased by
Richard Morris in 1670. Morris
and his wife died in 1672 and
their infant son became Lord of
the Manor known as Morrisania


Morris mansion

Lewis Morris
First lord of the manor of Morrisania
(15 October 1671 – 21 May 1746)

“Debatable ground” 1666-1740
Bitter dispute between Morris and Leggett, “on the 4th of February 1712,
Elizabeth Leggett, widow of Gabriel releases her title” [to the Morris claim.]

Lewis Morris
Stephen Jenkins

Richardson & Jessup
later Leggett & Hunt

debatable land

The Stabbing of James Graham
JAMES GRAHAM (1656 - 1700)
James Graham arrived New York on the Blossom, on the 7th of August, 1678... Graham held political ofﬁces in the province of New York, including
those of attorney-general...

At a meeting of the Deputy mayor and Aldermen at the
City Hall, the 21 day of July, 1682. Present Mr. William
Beekman, Deputy mayor. Mr. Johanes Van Brugh, Mr.
Thomas Lewis, Mr. Peter Jacobse, Aldermen. The
occasion of this meeting was about the examination of
Captain JARVIS BAXTER, who the last night, being the
20th instant, stabbed with a Rapier, Mr. James Graham,
one of the Aldermen of this city in the Body, by which
he is dangerously wounded.

Isabella Graham Morris
November 3, 1691
Graham’s daughter Isabella marries Lewis Morris.
Soon after Graham leased a mansion at Jeafferds Neck, later known as
Leggett’s Point and then Oak Point. Part of the “debatable ground” it was a
conﬂicted area claimed by both Morris and the owners of the West Farms
from the earliest days before passing to Morris in 1740.


Morris family crypt
St. Anne’s Morrisania,
Bronx

Graham’s Point

1700: The death of New York State Assembly Speaker James Graham
Hells Gate
Debatable Ground
This strong piece of land named after the Graham family in the early 19th
century is now called Oak Point and was called Jeafford’s Neck at the time
of the Revolution and later Leggett’s Point.

Graham Point,
later Oak Point
History of the City of New York -Harrison

Lewis Morris about 1740 transfers the “debatable
ground” to James Graham (d. 1767) as a wedding gift
James Graham grandson of the Attorney General marries his ﬁrst cousin
Arabella Morris (daughter of Lewis & Isabella.)

“Wigwam Brook. But by some falsely called Sakrahunck...”

“by the House of Gabriel Legget...”

“Including the same Jeafards neck with the Hammock Meadows and Marshes thereunto...”

New York is dependent on the slave trade

Royal African Company
set up by James Duke of York (namesake
of New York) later King James II to
compete in the slave trade

Lewis Morris governor
of New York largest
slaveholder in the
province.

Frederick Philipse who founded
this manor in Yonkers owned
about 40 slaves

Slaves were property and could be inherited.
Indians were enslaved too
“By deed dated April 2, 1705, Westchester
Records, L. 3, p. 165: Elizabeth Legatt of West
Farms, widow, to her daughter Mary Legatt, gives
"unto the said Mary Legatt, her heirs and assigns
forever my two negro children born of the body of
Hannah my negro woman, and of the issue of the
body of Robin My Indian slave, the boy being
named Abram, and the girl named Jenny.*”

*EARLY SETTLERS OF WEST FARMS, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N. Y. Reprinted
from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, July, 1913.]


Helping a runaway
was a crime as well

Frederick Philipse and “the mariner”
Frederick Philipse, friend of John Leggett, “the mariner” and executor of Leggett’s will.
Philipse is a large land and slave owner in Westchester and Barbados.

Philipse Manor museum today

Barbados and the Caribbean are
major stops in the Atlantic
“triangle-trade” bringing raw
materials and slaves to the
colonies in return for
manufactured items from England

Will of John Leggett of Westchester,
made at Port Royall, in the Island of
Jamaica, dated Oct. 2nd, 1679. Letters
testamentary granted to Ffredrich
Phillips, as Executor by Sir Edmund
Andros, Feb 2nd, 1680.” - Philipse
was executor of Leggett’s will in 1679.
Contemporary map of Philipse Manor


Slave Trade Grows

Howard Pyle, "The First Slave Auction
at New Amsterdam in 1655" (1917).

Leisler a German born colonist would lead rebellion in New York

On May 29, 1664, Jacob Leisler made his ﬁrst
known slave purchase when he bought "a Negro
for 615 ﬂorins" from a shipment of 40 slaves on
the Sparrow.
Giving Names to the Nameless

My negro man Mungo is to live on the farm seven years and then to be free Thomas Hunt
About 1615 - 8 Feb 1693/94

"I leave to my son Moses Hunt... 5 shillings and my negro 'Robin.” To my daughter
Phebe, so much of the rest of my personal estate as my executors shall think
reasonable, and she is to maintain my woman slave 'Maria' while she lives. Josiah
Hunt 1665-1732

Slave Owner as Slave
1676 John Leggett (1628-1679)“the mariner” (brother of Gabriel 1637-1700)
builds a ship for merchant Jacob Leisler, founder of New Rochelle, NY. The ship
is named Susannah (Leisler’s mother’s name). Built on the Bronx River the boat
inaugurates shipbuilding in New Amsterdam.
Leisler sailed the Susannah to Chesapeake picking up a cargo of tobacco
and cow hides. North African Barbary pirates seized the ship in the
English channel. Leisler was freed on payment of nearly 2000 pieces of
eight raised from New York merchants. Excess money was seized by
Governor Andros to build a Dutch church. That church was St. Peter’s on
Westchester Avenue founded in 1693.

Ransom in Algiers 1677
It is still unclear who advanced the funds for Leisler's ransom, but he apparently left Algiers for London at the
end of March under cover of Sir John Narborough's ﬂeet.

The "Jew Salooment" was
active in ransoming the
crew of Leisler's Susannah
as Dr. Mose Rafael Salom,
a physician resident of
Amsterdam and the son
of Louis d'Azevedo, a
Netherlands national then
living in Algiers.

Slave market in Algiers

Glorious Revolution 1688
The governor, the hypocrite and the pirate who wasn’t

Edmund Andros Governor of New England
1686-1689

Richard Coote Governor of New York 1698-1701

William Kidd hanged for piracy 1701

“Stealing” the government
After the overthrow of James II merchant Jacob Leisler seized the Government of the Province of New York
Colonists signing up to follow Leisler a
radical who fears the restoration of a
catholic monarchy in Britain
The aristocracy smells treason in
Leisler’s designs
Governor Henry Sloughter signing Jacob
Leisler's death warrant.

Gabriel Leggett
disagrees when ordered
by Leisler to march on
the French
the anti-Leislerians found their revenge by securing Leisler's
sentence to death, and he was executed in New York in 1691

1691 Leisler is executed for treason
James Graham, father-in-law to Lewis Morris prosecutes Leisler for treason.

This execution divided the populace for decades. Leisler's head was sewn back on and
he was buried with fanfare. Relics were venerated as pieces of a Protestant martyr.

May 16, 1691 execution of Leisler

James Graham as Speaker of the New York
Assembly demands Leisler’s execution

Gabriel Leggett I

1637-1700

“Old Gabriel had with his boldness evidently a violent spirit.”

“Here comes the father of rogues”
"Capt. Barnes upon his oath as a Justice of the peace saith that Capt. Williams and
Gabriel Leggett being at his house was drinking together and he thinks Gabriel
was a little overtaken in drink, but he called Capt. Williams thief, murderer &
Iyer, & he would prove it, and repeated over many times, upon which Williams
being provoked got out a writt against him.

17th century
rum bottle

By John Richardson's will the bulk of his property was left to his wife during life
without other conditions. She was a rich widow, and her marriage to Captain Williams
was apparently a great trial to the heirs; but what seemed to exasperate Gabriel the
most was that Capt. Williams would not vacate the house after Martha's death; as
appears by his petition to Gov. Fletcher. --Thomas Williams (stepfather to Gabriel
Leggett)

St. Peter’s on Westchester Avenue founded 1693
"land which my Lord of London obtained of her Majestie for the church at Westchester."
John Bartow, rector of St. Peter's Church

John
Richardson
1628-1679 daughter

Mary
Richardson

husband

son

Joseph
Hadley
sold 8 acres
Jan. 10, 1687/8

Thos.
Williams
died 1698


St. Peter’s rebuilt 1856

le
s sa
ge
llen
cha

Crown
Lands
escheated

marriage
1684
At Town meeting May 5, 1696, Gabriel
Legat and Josiah Hunt were appointed
to oversee repairs to be made upon
the Meeting House. It was not until
1700 that the town meeting house,
previously used for religious services,
was abandoned, and a church was
erected.

George
Hadley

Martha
Richardson
widow of John
Richardson

sold
March 3, 1695

Gabriel
Leggett
1637-1700
marriage
1676

Elizabeth
Richardson
1656-1724

St. Peters
founded
1693

Quaker Slave Traders

This monument on Main St. in Flushing
Queen is located across from the John
Bowne House. The stone commemorates
the place where George Fox preached a
sermon on June 7, 1672. Tradition also
holds that Fox spoke near the present site
of St. Peterʼs Episcopal Church on
Westchester Ave.


1642 engraving of
Quakers titled
“Englese Quakers en
Tabak Planters” In
the background is the
second oldest known
depiction of New
Amsterdam. Slaves
can also be seen
unloading cargo.
Quaker slave owners
began to question the
practice a century
later. Gradually they
freed their slaves and
between 1799 and
1827 slavery was
ended in New York.

Quaker Meeting and cemetery next door
Glebe Avenue near West Farms is an area of ancient settlement. A glebe is land given to a church
pastor in as a salary. Known here also as the Parsonage. The glebe originated in medieval England.

Quaker
burials

Two Quaker factions had meeting
houses across from each other on
Westchester Ave. adjacent to St.
Peter’s Episcopal Church as shown
on this map. One was the Friends
and the other the Orthodox
Friends. When the meeting houses
were sold St. Peter’s agreed to care
for the Quaker cemetery.


“Thomas Leggett Jr. in 1830 had
a large retinue of colored help,
some of whom had been slaves to
his father and others who were
children but were free now. They
were almost all born on the
place, and looked upon it as their
home.”
-Seaman Legett

West
Farms
Quaker land

St. Peter’s

The Glebe
Quaker
burials

“A faithful woman...”

Thomas (Leggett 1755-1843)

Thomas (Leggett 1755-1843) lies in the "Friends Burial
Place" perhaps always part of St. Peter's yard, but bought by
the Quakers next door]- and his old slave Rose ...........lies at
his feet by his request, a faithful woman indeed. The
Quakers liberated their slaves at a very early date but as a
rule they remained in the family rearing their children there.
-Elizabeth Seaman Legett’s Journal 1888

Slave Burial Grounds
Some Quakers began freeing their slaves and providing for their care.
Aunt Rose
Mr. Henry D. Tiffany, who resides at "Foxhurst" at the junction of
the Southern Boulevard and Westchester Avenue, is the son of
Mary L. Fox, whose mother Thomas Charlotte Legget, who was
was Leggett
1755-1843
descended from John Richardson, the original patentee of Hunt's
Point—or the planting neck of West Farms, as the point was
known in Colonial times. Mr. Tiffany's mother, who died in 1897,
had a clear recollection of the last black interred in the slave
plot. This was an old negress named "Aunt Rose." She had
formerly been a slave in the Legget family, but she and her
children had been manumitted. Aunt Rose was something of a
character in her way and a memory of her has consequently
survived to the present time in Mr. Tiffany's family. She was
buried in the slave plot some time away back in the forties.
--Valentine’s Manual of Old New York 1920


St. Peter’s
Church

Quaker Burying Ground
The Quaker burying ground is pictured in
this photo of St. Peter’s Episcopal church on
Westchester Ave. in the Bronx. The green
ﬁeld is the Quaker cemetery. Many Quakers
in the 18th century were buried without
headstones and sometimes separated from
other family members in strict accordance
with the faith’s early doctrine.

Hunts Point slaves

Hunts Point Slave Cemetery

Possible modern location

Slave rebellions rocked New York in 1712 and 1741
Many innocents are executed and fear of revolt drives a tyrannical reaction.
New York city hall
site of the “Negro
Plot” 1741 slave
rebellion trials

1712 revolt: 21
Blacks executed
(20 burned, 1 on
the “breaking
wheel,”) 6 Blacks
committed
suicide.

1741: 17 Blacks 3 whites hanged
13 Blacks burned at the stake

Justice Daniel Horsmanden presided over the trials authoring an account of the proceedings.

Slave Census 1755
“Leggett’s Slave Mercy...”

Gabriel Legget II, (1698-1786) a patriot slaveowner in lower Westchester
County... was turned out of his farm by Major Bearmore of the British army in
1779, who then occupied his farm. Legget's slave Mercy and her two children
left Legget shortly before his eviction from his property to live on Long Island
with Stephen De Lancey. Legget's wife then arranged for her to live with Mr.
Davenport at Morrisania and then with Capt. Kip, who had succeeded Bearmore
in occupying Legget's property. After Kip turned Mercy out, Legget asked Mercy's
husband to build a hut for her on the Legget farm where her third child was
born. Legget used his slave's family to maintain and safeguard his property
during the emergency. Upon the withdrawal of British troops from the farm,
Mercy and her three children went to New York City, where she sought freedom
under the British proclamation. Legget claimed her as his property prior to her
embarkation to go to Nova Scotia with the 1783 British evacuation of New York
and had her brought on shore for examination. The board ordered Mercy and
her children to be returned to Legget*
Petition of Gabriel Legget, August 7, 1783 Board Meeting, British Headquarters Papers, Document 10427, Manuscript Room,
New York Public Library.
*The proximity of the British lines in New York City also encouraged Westchester slaves to run away from their masters and
seek freedom within the British camps.


America’s Revolution

British and Hessian soldiers sweep through meeting stiff resistance

A cannonball, cutlass and
other Revolutionary war items
found in the Hunt Mansion.

DeLancey Pine was used by
rebel snipers aiming at
British troops

The Bronx is divided by war
West Farms

Last Revolutionary war era
houses in West Farms

West Farms SquareE Tremont Avenue /
Boston Road-Bronx Zoo

“Cowboys” were loyalist militia in
the “neutral ground” in todays’
Bronx. They constantly skirmished
with local people and the rebel
army.
A "Cowboy"
in the Neutral
Ground.
WCHS
Collection.

James DeLancey of West
Farms was military leader
of the “cowboys”

West Farms 18th Century showing DeLancy estate

P.O.W.
Thomas Leggett
(1755-1843) in
his later years.

American Warriors
Stockbridge Indians
Native Americans
who fought on the
Patriot side.
The Stockbridge
Indians were
originally from
the Bronx.


Queens Rangers
Simcoe’s men on patrol

The Queens Rangers. were Colonists
who remained loyal to the King. The
British commander in the Bronx was
John Simcoe, who went on to found
Toronto, Canada.

Native American Commander
Chief Daniel Nimham


Indian Fields Fight

AMBUSH
Brave Indian warriors
are ambushed by
Queens Rangers in
Van Courtland Park
on August 31, 1778.

Massacre in the Bronx



How did Fox St. get its name?
The oldest building in the Bronx, Hunt's
Inn was a stagecoach stop. A one story
wooden building with a pitched roof that
was used for many public purposes. Fox
hunting was a popular “sport” in the
woods around Hunts Point during colonial
times and the fox to be hunted was
released at the Inn. James DeLancey was a
wealthy pro-British land owner who
socialized with like minded Tories at the
Inn during the British occupation of New
York.


James DeLancey

Hunts Inn

Revolutionary War POW

Ruins of British
General Howe’s headquarters
erected on Hunts Point about 1778

Sugar House Prison

Major Abraham Leggett

Major Leggett as a POW of the British

Leggett Mansion taken by DeLancey
293 Lenox Ave.
New York, N.Y.
June 25, 1892
My dear Grandson,
One dark night, when all the family was asleep, a party of British soldiers under the command of Colonel Delaney surrounded the Leggett mansion
and took possession of it, with all its contents and other farm property, saying they were accused of being spies and giving information to the
American forces at White Plains. The family without notice were driven out in the dead of night to seek shelter wherever they could find it. My
grandfather, [Thomas Leggett (1755-1843)] who was at the time some nineteen years old, was seized with his two brothers, and made prisoners of
war, and conveyed, under the charge of a band of Indians to General Burgoyne’s camp, then at Saratoga.’’ After a long while of confinement, my
grandfather with another prisoner of war, effected their escape, and immediately made for the woods, hiding in hay stacks, under barns and other
places by day, traveling only at night, begging food and perhaps shelter as best they could, suffering much from cold, hunger and fatigue; liable at
any moment to be picked up by British spies and scouts, or tomahawked by brutal savages...
He immediately started for his father’s place, but what a sight he was to see. His father’s comfortable house with all its contents, burnt to the ground
by the British marauding troops... About all that was left of the house were the foundation walls...
On these same foundation walls, on which stood his father’s [Thomas Leggett (1721-after 1781)] house, my grandfather erected his house and lived in
it all his days...
Grandfather,
Thomas B. Leggett

Illustration shows 125th St.
near Lenox (6th Ave.) in
1891 near the home of
Thomas B. Leggett -nypl

Graham Graham descendant of James Graham -1779
Mansion Burns
House of Jonathan
“The destruction of the old house took place under the following circumstances Col
Fowler of the British army who had dispossessed the Graham family and made it his
own quarters invited all the officers and gentry in the neighborhood to dine with him
preparatory to his change of quarters The company were assembled and all seemed gay
and happy The more youthful of both sexes were wandering about the lawn enjoying
the beauty of the prospect when a servant one of Mr Graham's slaves announced the
important fact Dinner is on the table All turned their faces to the banqueting room but
before any one entered the door there was a cry of fire heard Col Fowler seemed to
think the dinner was more important than the building he ordered everything removed
from the table the gentlemen assisting and in a few minutes the table and contents were
removed to the shade of a large willow where all seated themselves and appeared to
enjoy the meal and the burning The house was utterly consumed with the contents
before the company separated No effort was made to save an article not required for
the better enjoyment of their meal The same evening Colonel Fowler conducted a
marauding party into the vicinity of Eastchester where he was attacked and fell mortally
wounded Being brought back to the house of Cornelius van Ranc overseer of Mr
Graham's farm he expired that night.”

--A history of the county of Westchester, from its first settlement, Robert Bolton Vol.2 1848


Leggett’s house occupied the site
of the Graham house. The
property between Bound and
Wigwam Brooks (Leggett Creek)
was granted by Judge Morris to
his son-in-law James Graham
(grandson of Graham), on April 2,
1740; Mr. Graham died here in his
house on Jeafferd’s Neck (Leggett
Point), in 1767... It was later sold
and divided up among several
owners including Joshua
Waddington and in 1830 to
William H. Leggett where it was
named Rose Bank. -Stephen Jenkins

Mayanna Hunt 1738-1809
Survival story told by granddaughter Eliza Seaman Leggett

Abolitionists

So many homes were left unprotected with women and a few servants, perhaps slaves in
those days... in those days farms were not bought by the acre but by the mile so Grove Farm
extended for many miles. Grandfather was often way with his sloop, perhaps taking a load of
oysters or farm truck to the city, New York... Now too there came tramping a set of these
outlaws; our little grandmother knew no fear - but she knew well enough what this sudden
incoming meant. Always there was a plan laid, if an attack threatened.
Oh, the grand-mothers of the war time. She joked with the boys saying you've caught us this
time, you are more lucky than those fellow who came around last, but be easy with us. I'll
treat you well. The cider began to work, the hot good cakes did their share and knowing the
man of the house was away, they ate and snoozed a little. Finally they went to the barns - to
find that all the live stock had been driven to West Chester, and a small army of neighbors
had come with guns to help their neighbor - they had been fairly beaten and no blood shed then our little grandmother laid her hands on her hips and laughed for she was a merry
woman, and old Sam, the master par excellence among the servants, said, "We did better
then the masta could." And for his ready wit was filled with cider and dough-nuts. Journal of

Gerrit Smith

Sojourner Truth

Elizabeth Seaman Leggett Detroit Public Library, The Burton Historical Collection, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.

Eliza Seaman Leggett (1815-1900)
Abolitionist and Suffrage Activist
Laura Smith
Haviland

Eliza’s grandfather James Ferris bought
Grove Farm in 1775 and was listed as a
slave owner in the 1755 slave census.

The slavery question interested Mrs. Leggett deeply and she was an ardent and outspoken
Abolitionist. She was closely in touch with the Underground Railroad and helped many a poor
creature to escape into Canada. Detroit Free Press - 10 February 1900

Massacre at the Indian Cave
“genuine human bones”

Close to the winding lane, under a grove of
immense forest trees, was situated some
years ago a little cave almost hidden by the
green turf. In its dark recesses once lay a
pile of human bones, ghastly, gruesome and
white. During the Revolution there was a
sharp skirmish hereabouts between the
Americans and the British, with the
unfortunate result that the former were only
"almost successful." In their hasty flight
they carried their dead with them, until the
little cave was reached, when they halted
just long enough to hide the bodies in its
black interior. An old resident recently
told me that man" years ago she had often
visited the place and seen the white bones,
which a physician who had examined them,
declared were genuine human bones.

Indian Cave, Hunts Point 1915, nypl


History of Bronx Borough; RANDALL COMFORT, Member of the New
York Historical Society, 1906

Salvaging the HMS Hussar
1780: “Bill,” a slave pilot belonging to the Hunt family is commandeered by a British captain
escaping with the British Army payroll. The HMS Hussar sinks near Hunts Point
Sir Charles Pole ignores his pilot, a local slave named Bill
and sails east through Hell Gate. Bill is said to be buried in
the slave burying ground at Hunts Point

A renowned
“Black Jack”
slave ship pilot
Slaves were
seafarers from the
earliest days of the
slave trade. Slaves
often guided ships
into local harbors.

King George III on
a golden Guinea.

Hells Gate

The name “Guinea” comes from the coast of Africa where
gold was traded. Guinea’s were used to pay soldiers.

Fatal Route of the Hussar

Cannon and powder salvaged from the Hussar in possession of the NYC Parks Dept.

Hunts
Point

“We silenced British cannon ﬁre in 1776
and we donʼt want to hear it again in
Central Park,” the New York Police
Department said in a statement

Trying to save
the Hussar.

Joshua Waddington’s Point
Waddingtonton lived here between from 1808 until 1828 when the land was sold to Francis J. Barretto
Joshua Waddington was a
merchant at the time of the
American Revolution. His estate
was at the southeastern point of
the Long Neck later known as
Barretto’s Point. Waddington was
represented by lawyer Alexander
Hamilton in an important legal
case involving the treaty that
ended the revolution.

The view of Waddington’s residence from Rikers Island

This would have been a dangerous area to live
during the revolution. Gen. Howe of the British
Army was encamped nearby and guerillas
ﬁghting for both sides and themselves roamed
the woods.

Barretto Point today
Francis J. Barretto was a merchant and member of the Westchester Assembly

Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment plant at Barretto Point

Barretto Point in 1936

Gouverneur Morris Battles Thomas Leggett
Westchester Road (Avenue) is cut through Morris land 1808-1814

Thomas Leggett

Gouverneur Morris

1755-1843

1752-1816

Bronx Accent: A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough
edited by Lloyd Ultan, Barbara Unge


Anna Maria Julia Coster 1804-1871
Heiress to a large fortune, was the
granddaughter of prosperous New
York City merchant Henry Arnold
Coster. In 1821, when she was only
17, Anna Maria married shipping
baron Francis Barretto (1794-1871).
The couple, who had 11 children,
built an estate, Blythe Place, on
Barretto Point, across from Riker's
Island.

Francis Barretto

Elle Shushan - Fine Portrait Miniatures, Philadelphia, PA
Provenance: By direct descent.


Joseph Rodman Drake 1795-1820
Poet and resident of Hunts Point
Hunt Inn

Among the relics of the
old Hunt Inn is a pane
of glass with a diamond
the names of Drake and
Nancy Leggett, joined
at the end with a
bracket and the single
word “Love.”
-City History Club of New York

Fitz Greene-Halleck was Drake’s friend

The American Flag
When freedom from her mountain height
Unfurled her standard to the air
She tore the azure robe of night
And set the stars of glory there!
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies,
And striped its pure celestial white
With streakings of the morning light…
-Drake

Lafayette visits 1824
Hale
• Nathan Hale who said "I only regret that I have but one life
to give my country,” crossed Hunts Point. He was later
hanged by the British as a spy.
• In 1824 the French general Lafayette traveled from Boston
to New York via Fox Corners, presumably to stay at one of
the Leggett houses on Hunt's Point. George Fox was one of
the marshals of a delegation of New York citizens to meet
and escort him. The lane was thus named in his honor.
• Lafayette is said to have "paused in silent meditation at the
grave of Joseph Rodman Drake.”
-- HISTORICAL GUIDE TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK


Lafayette’s carriage

Joseph Rodman Drake Park

--NYTimes 1903


Saving the old cemetery 1903
A doctor, Drake was only 25 when he died from TB. He’s buried in the Hunt family cemetery.

Albert E. Davis letter to the NYTimes


PS 48 Memorial at Drake cemetery
In 1968 the cemetery was
vandalized . The community
came together to repair the
damage. More than 1,000 P.S.
48 students came to the
rededication ceremonies. Some
of the students planted an oak
tree near the grave. The tree is
still there.


A New Birth of Freedom

The Railroad comes to Hunts Point


Edward G. Faile on the Board of the New York Central 1855
Railroads in New York

1840s
1835 New York Central Rail Road


Hunts Point Station
Built in 1908 closed in the 1930s

Then Now

1921 map


A former Hunt Point Station?

Is this an even earlier HP station


Estates of Hunts Point
Elmwood owned by Paul N. Spofford,
Blythe owned by Francis Barretto,

Ranaque owned by A.G. Allen,

Greenbank owned by C.D. Dickey,

Ambleside owned by J.B. Simpson and
Sunnyslope owned by W.W. Gilbert.

Can you find them on this 1868 map?


Hunt Inn
Rockland

Ambleside

Foxhurst

Entrance to Hoe’s
“Brightside.”

Mansions of
West Farms
north of Hunts
Point including
Simpson, Fox,
Tiffany and
Vyse estates.

Rose Bank

(See slide “Graham Mansion Burns)

“In the Graham Mansion, which formerly stood on the site of Mr. Leggett’s farm house”
The Leggett family retained possession
of the property which was called Rose
Bank until near the middle of the last
century.
The story of the Bronx from the purchase made by the Dutch from the Indians ...
Stephen Jenkins

The view from Graham’s Mansion describes as
it was in the 17th century

Rose Bank
Archives of the General Convention Episcopal Church


1849

1819

Barretto Point Park

Near the site of Rose Bank, the Leggett estate

La Playita

The Brothers
The Pier


The Leggett’s of
Hunts Point

William Haight

Thomas Jr.

1789-1863

Mary Underhill
1770-1849
Text
1755-1843

Margaret Peck
1794-1878

Sarah Huggins

1826-1902

Thomas B.
1823-1895


1963

1888
1864

1844
Leggett estate over 300 years

1919

1675

Mystery of Rose Bank
How did the Leggett family lose its

patrimony - an estate that survived the

Revolutionary War and sprawled across much

of today's South Bronx for 200 years, only

to be dismantled under mysterious

circumstances? Florence Huggins Leggett,

writing in 1902, says her father was forced to
move from the estate, due to "financial

difficulties," around 1862.] -FAMILY HISTORY SHOWS

BRONX AS RURAL PARADISE, Gersh Kuntzman; The New York Post, Monday,
August 28, 2000


“That would follow a pattern,” said Bronx

historian Lloyd Ultan. When the city expanded
-- and annexed the Bronx in 1874 -- large

landowners sold their farms to reinvest in the
booming manufacturing, railroad or steel
industries.

"Some invested it badly, though," Ultan said.
"It's like I always say, `the first generation

makes the money, the second generation
preserves it and the third generation
squanders it." IBID Gersh Kuntzman

Paul N. Spofford 1792-1869
Elmwood Estate

Spofford was a merchant,
who traded in clothing,
coffee and sugar.
Spofford Tileston & Co.
26 Broadway, NYC


Spofford, Tileston & Co.
Until 1860 they had a mail contract to Charleston, Savannah, Key West and Havana

The partnership was formed by Paul N. Spofford and Thomas
Tileston in 1819. Owners of the first two coastal steamships
"Southerner" and "Northerner," which began trading in 1846.


William W. Fox 1783-1861
Descendant of the Quaker
leader George Fox
Built Foxhurst mansion at
167th & Westchester Ave.
One of the original Croton
Water Commissioners that
built the first aqueduct to
New York City.
Went into business with
brother-in-law Samuel
Leggett providing gas
lighting for the city.
Charlotte St. was probably
named after his wife.

Croton Aqueduct Bridge between
Morrisania and New York

Henry Dyer Tiffany
Descendant of Fox and Leggett families

1841-1917

Foxhurst at West Farms Rd. and Westchester Ave.

High Society Takes to the Waves
An example of a typical sloop
from the early 20th Century.
The Ventura was a 50 foot

long racing yacht built in the
Bronx and raced off shore

from Hunts Point. Similar to a

Yachting’s America’s cup was
designed by Tiffany Jewelers a
branch of the famous family
from Hunts Point.


boat owned by Fox family heir
Henry Dyer Tiffany whose
name is on Tiffany street.

Cornelius Poillon

Established around 1858, C&R Poillon
shipyards were the largest in New York
with 300 workers at their peak.

died 1881

...the boatyards were well established at producing
racing yachts. A columnist writing about the
upcoming racing season, of 1883, makes the
following comments in his article; “Among the
untried craft the three new yachts now substantially
completed at the yard of Messrs. C. & R. Poillon have
excited very general interest, and standing, as they do,
all three in a row, afford yachtsmen a sight which has
never before been had of so many new yachts
representing the most advanced ideas of the most
successful designer applied to different sizes of
boats.” Poillon Brothers were on the cutting edge of
design changes with some of the most beautiful
yachts of their era coming to life in their yards


Poillon & Staples Varnishes & Japans
A key component to the
longevity of yachts built by the
Poillon family were the
Varnishes and Japans supplied
from this Bronx factory.

148th St. & R.R Avenue, Bronx

GARRISON AVE.

Named after real estate speculator C.K. Garrison


The Locusts, Faile family ancestral home 1905
The home of the tutor of the Faile family, there teacher was Sir Walter Scott.

The Locusts Today
Built in the 17th Century

The corner of Hunts Point
and Garrison Ave.


Edward G. Faile d. 1864

1832 Edward G. Faile named his mansion “Woodside.”
E.G. Faile building
236 Front St.
preserved as part
of the South Street
Seaport. It’s now a
restaurant.

Surrounded by a glorious
forest, its sloping lawns
boasted two signal
attractions, a flock of
beautiful peacocks and a
splendid Cedar of Lebanon,
the gift of a United States
consul.


Faile Mansion Interior
Two chairs Faile family heirlooms said to have been on the Mayﬂower
Faile bred cows as a hobby

Titania 358 (1084) Calved March 1853. Owned and imported in
1853 by Edward G Faile, West Farms, Westchester Co., NY. Bred
by George Turner of Barton, Near Exeter, England. Sire Kossuth
93. Dam Calystigia 39. Winner of the ﬁrst prize in the two year old
class of Devons at the New York State Agricultural Show at Elmira
in 1855, and at the United States Agricultural Show at Boston in
1855.


American Bank Note Company
Built in 1912 on the site of the Faile mansion, now a charter school

Mexican Pesos where just some of
the money printed in the Bronx


The Springhurst Dairy
33 cows grazed on property
belonging to the Faile family. Joe
Duffy ran the Springhurst Dairy
in Hunts Point supplying milk for
8 cents a quart to families in he
surrounding area. His sons used
milk wagons to make deliveries.

Joe Duffy was born in Monaghan Ireland in 1861 and married a
Lucy Ann Devlin from County Armagh. He or his family moved
to New York and was the proprietor of the Springhurst Dairy in
Hunts Point NY. -- Ellen Storer


Sunnyslope Mansion
1851 “Sunnyslope” home of Peter A. Hoe Brother of Colonel Richard March Hoe.
The “neo-gothic” style mansion survives at Faile & Lafayette streets.


Richard M. Hoe was an Inventor
• In 1843, Richard Hoe
invented the rotary
printing press.
• His mansion was called
Brightside and covered a
vast area of 53 acres.
• He raised prize cows as a
hobby.
• Hoe St. where Brightside
was located is named
after Mr. Hoe

B.G. Arnold was a merchant. He lived in a Hunts Point mansion
called “Ranaque” after the original Indian name for the Bronx.
NY Times Dec. 8, 1880

Benjamin G. Arnold was a
wealthy Coffee merchant.


William Mortimer Allen
Cosey Nook was his estate near Leggett Point

1814-1878

wife Catherine Maria (Leggett) Allen
and her mother Margaret Peck (Wright)
Leggett

Corpus Christi Monastery
Then

Lafayette & Barretto St. Built 1889 on
the site of the Oliver Bryan mansion.

Dominican monastery
incorporating the Bryan
mansion. Supported by
real estate developer
John D. Crimmins as a
memorial to his wife. He’s
buried in a crypt there.

Now

Simpson Homestead

New York Times 1878
The Cheeryble
Brothers; painting by
Harold Copping ,
scanned by Philip V.
Allingham


Haunted House of Hunts Point
1859 “Whitlock’s Folly” near Southern Boulevard “Cradle of Cuban Liberty.”
Built in 1859 by Benjamin M. Whitlock, a
wealthy grocer of New York, on a property
consisting of fifty acres. The mansion
cost $350,000 ($10 million today) when
completed, and was the most imposing
residence above the Harlem at that
time.It is said that the door knobs were
made of solid gold. As a carriage
approached the gates of the estate the
horses stepped on a hidden spring causing
the gates to fly open ; and the house had
secret underground passages. The house
contained one hundred rooms and the
beauty in the decoration of these rooms
has not been surpassed to this day,


Sold toLeggett
Benjamin M. Whitlock
by Thomas B.
Hommock Manor, the country seat of
B. M. Whitlock, Esq., is situated in
West Farms Township, on the East
river, or Sound, about 3 miles from
Harlem. The estate contains several
hundred acres; but that part on which
the dwelling is situated, is, as its
name implies, a complete Hommock
of about 20 acres - which at high
tides is nearly surrounded by water and is approached from the main part
of the estate by a causeway.
--"The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art
And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J.
Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward,
Henry T. Williams.


Ea

r
Rive
st

Ea

r
Rive
st

Benjamin Whitlock’s store on Beekman St. at
the Old Brick Church

The church, was used as a hospital during the revolution.
In 1856 it was ripped down and replaced by the ﬁrst
New York Times building.

Whitlock traded
in tobacco, wines
and cotton. This is
a bottle of his
Ambrosia.

Built with Windows from the old
Brick Church

B. M.WHITLOCK ROSE HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY

“All the circular-headed windows, with a corresponding number of square ones,
belonged to the old Brick Church in Beekman Street, which was pulled down to
make room for stores; so that the plan had to be got up to meet the material, and
not, as is usually the case, the materials to suit the plan. ” -- NY Times

Merchant Prince Art Lover
Records of the National Academy of Fine Arts show Whitlock purchased this painting.

The American Academy of Fine Arts
and American Art Union inﬂuenced
artistic tastes in the 19th century
United States

P. 178 Waldo & Jewett
1845 Address: 1 Cortlandt Street
82. Portrait of a Gentleman

National Academy home on Broadway
from 1859 to 1865

B.M.WHITLOCK

l New York Historical Society - Vo I. 77
American Academy of Fine Arts and American Art Union ...Exhibition Record

Civil War Intrudes

John Brown raid
on the Federal
Arsenal at
Harper’s Ferry
October 16, 1859
helped start the
Civil War

Whitlock spoke at this angry pro-slavery meeting “[against]The
treasonable raid of John Brown and his followers...” December 19,
1859

Whitlock sat on many political
committees including this one to
annex Cuba as a slave state

A scheme to extend U.S. control to Cuban slave plantations

Southern Militia Visit Whitlock
The Seventh Regiment entertained the Savannah
Republican-Blues and the brothers B. and B. M.
Whitlock gave a grand entertainment to them up the
Hudson, where my "lovely Nell" and I were in
attendance. In a letter home I used this language: "It
seems to me as if our people were military-mad, and
had rushed together for a last fraternal embrace, to
separate and fight like maddened devils; so violent do
altercations and argument come when the questions of
slavery, free soil, etc., are discussed." And when I went
South some of my friends dubbed me the "bloody
prophet."
-Mrs. Elizabeth Lyle Saxon
About 4 o'clock the visitors again embarked, and proceeded up the River through Hurl (Hells) Gate, about twelve miles, to the
suburban villa of B.M. WHITLOCK, Esq., in Westchester County, on the banks of the river... After being photographed in line on
the lawn in front of Mr. WHITLOCK's fine new brown-stone mansion, taking a look at his sixty blood horses, and extensive
repository of carriages, imbibing a timely drink, and viewing the grounds, the company was invited to a collation spread for three
hundred in a shady grove near one of the residences. -- NY Times July 23, 1860

ABOLITION
Benjamin M. Whitlock 1860

Henry Ward Beecher held mock “auctions” at which
the congregation purchased the freedom of real
slaves. The most famous of these former slaves was a
young girl named Pinky, auctioned during a regular
Sunday worship service at Plymouth on February 5,
1860

William Lloyd Garrison

Henry Ward Beecher

Lewis Tappan
George Hendric Houghton

His long interest in the abolition of slavery led Dr. Houghton to found the first black Sunday school in New York City
and to harbor runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railway, one stop on which was the basement of the
church's rectory. During the Civil War Blacks were burned, hanged, and mutilated during the Draft Riots of July
1863... Angry mobs trying to get at those who had found sanctuary within the church twice thronged the gates of
the churchyard... George Houghton lifted the processional cross from its place in the church, walked out to face the
rioters, held it before them, and said, "Stand back, you white devils; in the name of Christ, stand back!" With such
courageous words, George Houghton held off the unruly mob, and those in the church remained safe for several
more days, until the mob had been quelled and dispersed.


Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad is not
the subway. It is the network of
abolitionist “conductors” who
brought “passengers and parcels”,
escaped slaves by way of “stations”
or safe places run by “station
masters” to “entry ports” into
Canada and freedom.


West Farms: A Possible Station on the Underground Railroad
Mapes’ estate could have been a station on the underground railroad. Conducting escaped slaves was illegal
under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 so little beyond family lore is known about those who participated.

Daniel Mapes one of the oldest
families in West Farms ran a
successful store that was across
the Boston Post Road from the
Uncle Mapes Temperance Hotel

Mapes Bros. store

The Mapes Temperance Hotel in the
same spot as DeLancey’s Mills 100
years later located near 180th Street


Mapes land
became the
New York
Catholic
Protectory
1863-1938.
Replaced by
Parkchester
housing
development.

1860

Benjamin M. Whitlock’s Southern Strategy
NY Historical Society

But Whitlock also made ready to run south...
...A good many merchants, in order to avoid catastrophe were, the correspondents added, already abandoning their
Establishments in New York and were preparing to set up business in "some city of the Confederate States" Charleston
Mercury March 21,1861 ...the extensive grocery house of B.A. & E.A. WHITLOCK... had already completed negotiations
for “going to Savannah.” Philip Foner 1941

1861 Whitlock’s Mother Dies
The funeral is held at the Dutch Reformed Church on Third Ave.

A station on the
Underground Railroad

NY Times October 1861

Before the Civil War
(1861–1864), Mott
Haven was the site of
two stations on the
Underground Railroad —
the villa of Charles Van
Doren, lawyer for the
Jordan L. Mott Iron
Works. The “villa” stood
at East 145th Street and
Third Avenue, and the
Mott Haven Dutch
Reformed Church,
which still stands on
East 146th Street.

Benjamin Whitlock’s Obituary
-- Benjamin M. Whitlock, Esq., formerly one of the prominent
wholesale grocers of this City, died on Wednesday last at his
residence in Westchester County, after a very brief illness. Mr.
Whitlock, in consequence of the present troubles, lost
overwhelmingly, because of the failure of his Southern customers
to meet their engagements, and was compelled to relinquish his
business, which had before been one of the most profitable in the
City. He was a man of finest business capacity, and of noble,
generous impulses. His hospitality was lavish, and he was noted
especially for keeping one of the finest studs in the country, his
stock and stables being the centre of admiration and interest.
These and the remainder of his property he sacrificed when
misfortune overtook him, in order honorably to meet his sudden
embarrassments.
1863 NY Times

“a vast and ﬁendish plot” 1864
B.M. Whitlock’s relations out for revenge against NYC after Sherman burns Atlanta
February 8, 1865

A NAWARK REBEL.
WILLIAM LAWRENCE MCDONALD, who figures in the papers as the
rebel agent in Canada, and the leading spirit in the Chesapeake, St. Albans,
and New-York hotel-burning affairs... In 1860, he associated with Mr.
B.M. WHITLOCK, (his brother-in-law,) in the carriage business...
"GUS" MCDONALD, a brother of the above, who also lived in Orange, but
recently a resident of New-York, is in custody on a charge of harboring the
incendiaries while they were in that city. -- Newark Advertiser.

William “Larry” McDonald brother-in-law to B.M. Whitlock owned a
carriage business. McDonald, his brother “Gus” and niece Katie were
named in the 1864 plot to burn NYC but never charged in the crime
despite Larry’s confession to an undercover New York City police
detective..
Confederate Operations in Canada and New York -Headley


"These Yankees," the
"Southern Gentleman" says
"will learn what it is to incur the
Enmity of a proud and
chivalric People.”

Southern Gentleman (about to
Fire the Hotel), Harper's Weekly.

NY Times

After the death of Mr Whitlock it was transferred by deed from his widow to
Innocencio Casanova a Cuban patriot under date of November 1, 1867 for a
consideration of $150,000 The first struggle for Cuban independence was then in
progress and the house became a rendezvous for the supporters of Cuba Libre It is
stated that its great cellars became storehouses for powder rifles and other
munitions of war which were smuggled aboard the vessels which stole in and out
of the creeks contiguous to the house and which sailed away on secret filibustering
expeditions to the Ever Faithful Isle. It is also said that the ill fated Virginius took
on board her unfortunate crew here With the downfall of the rebellion the visits of
the dark skinned mysterious looking men ceased and the house was deserted
while whispers of murdered Spanish spies and of ghosts and strange and
unaccountable noises in the vacant house filled the neighborhood. Ibid, Stephen Jenkins

Casanova’s Underground Passages
Duck Island was a secret outlet for the tunnels built under the mansion
Inocencio Casanova was from the Canary Islands, a naturalized U.S. citizen and slave
owner with a sugar plantation in Cuba. He bought the mansion after the Civil War

Duck Island

Bronx Historical Society


Rebellion Sweeps Cuba
Lt. Gen. Maceo “The Bronze Titan” #2 commander Cuban Army of Independence

Battle at Casanova’s “Armonia” Sugar Plantation

May 22, 1868 In an attack at the strongly
defended sugar mill, “Armonia,” Maceo receives the
first of twenty-four wounds. He is carried back to a
hidden rest camp, where his wife and his mother
nurse him back to health.
Late in the month, an expedition organized by the
New York Junta, made up of 800 to 1,400 men
equipped with Spencer carbines, revolvers, sabres,
two batteries of 12-pounder, and several 60-pounder
guns, is intercepted by U.S. federal authorities and
most of the men are taken prisoner.
Historian Philip Foner, from the book Antonio Maceo:
“What the Cuban army lacked in numbers, experience, warfare training and arms and equipment was often compensated
for by their thorough knowledge of the country, effective use of guerrilla tactics, greater immunity to cholera and other
diseases that flourished on the island, and above all patriotic devotion. The most important asset of guerrilla warfare is an
ideal; the rebels were fighting for the liberation of their country, and this gave them the popular support without which a
guerrilla movement cannot be effective. ‘Every tree and flower and grass had a use or a virtue with which they seemed
acquainted,’ reported James J. O’Kelly, the Irish journalist. The guajiro and the campesino, the slave and the free black, not
only moved steadily into the ranks of the Liberating Army, but aided and shielded the patriotic fighters, even though they
risked their own lives by so doing.”


“I am under my ﬂag! Viva Washington!”
- Inocencio Casanova to Spanish ofﬁcials from the deck of the American steamer “Columbia.”February 25, 1871

On a trip to Cuba Casanova learns about a
threat to his life from the Spanish government

1871

A Cuban Woman Stands for Independence from Spain
Emilia Casanova de Villaverde supports Cuban rebels from Casanova’s Castle

Emilia Casanova de Villaverde

One hotbed of militant activity was an old mansion in what is now the
Hunts Point area of the Bronx. There, the activist Emilia Casanova and
her husband, exiled author Cirilo Villaverde, worked in support of the
Cuban rebels, and are said to have collected arms and ammunition for
smuggling out to Long Island Sound and shipment south to Cuba.
-Museo del Barrio

Cirilo Villaverde


Rafﬂes to raise funds for weapons

Emilia Casanova de Villaverde
Here she is portrayed as selling
Cuban national ﬂags
“wholesale or retail.”

Victor Hugo 1853

Cuban newspapers attack her as a
“witch” using her wealth to back the
insurgents. Who she rivaled in
commitment and militancy.
Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia
edited by Vicki Lynn Ruiz


“No nation has the right to
hold another in its grip, no
more Spain over Cuba than
England over Gibraltar.”
-Victor Hugo’s reply to a letter from Emilia
Casanova de Villaverde January 15, 1870

Letters of Emilia Casanova
T benefit the next game of illustrious general Quesada
o
I write you these lines.The disasters and reverses that

have undergone expeditions of men and the ammunition
of war , because of the ineptitude and stupidity of the

ones in charge of their organization and handling, have

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
del Castillo a Cuban planter
who freed his slaves, and made
the declaration of Cuban
independence in 1868 which
started the Ten Years' War.

produced deep misfortune, causing desperation to those
Cubans who see clearly the origin of the evil...

...the purpose I write is to inform you that the next
shipment of arms and ammunition has been sent by
the “League of Daughters of Cuba”
At this time I don't want to speak on misfortunes and

General Manuel de
Quesada elected as of the
Cuban rebels’ Chief of the
Armed Forces April 12,
1869.

discords between you, but you must count on the
devotion of all Cubans and to distinguish between the
sincere patriot and the weak speculator in patriotism.

--Emilia Casanova de Villaverde

Emilia Casanova

Victor Hugo’s Letters to Emilia

Victor Hugo author Les Miserables


Virginius Incident
A ship possibly launched from the mansion
taken by Spain many crew members executed
Leggett
Creek

Casanova
Mansion
“Hommock”
Duck Island


A Mysterious Mansions Last Days
Massive wrought-iron chandeliers adorned halls
and chambers. On my visit I found bell-pulls in the
immense apartments, which I vigorously rang,
causing mysterious ringings in distant rooms
below with true ghostlike effect —but never a
servant appeared. Chance led us into the
strangest place of all, the secret chamber
containing the great safe, itself as big as a room.
The entrance was by a hidden door. The place
was lighted by opaque oval panels that exactly
resembled the surrounding woodwork. High up
beneath the lofty roof was a mysterious place,
but whether it was an elaborate chapel or an
immense ballroom we never learned.

-Valentine’s Manual of Old New York


So many weird tales were told about the old mansion that its demolition was
watched with intense interest. Its site is now occupied by a large piano factory
and part of the grounds has become the property of the railroad’

Haunted Mansion as child’s playground
A local child named Eulia McVay ran to the roof of the mansion and climbed the flag pole.

This view of the East River is
what she saw from the top.
--photos by Albert E. Lickman 1902

Urban Problems Begin to Overtake Hunts Point
Fertilizer is behind complaints of bad smells in Hunts Point in 1880


Published: August 14, 1880
Copyright © The New York Times

Published: August 14, 1880
Copyright © The New York Times

First Public Recreation Area in The Bronx
The Oak Point Bathing beach and Pavilion in 1887 built on Leggett family property

William Mortimer Allen (“The”
Allen in the article above) lived
near Oak Point.. He owned the
property called “Cosy Nook”
Allen’s wife Catherine daughter of William H. Leggett

East Bay Land and Improvement Co.
Gen. Egbert Ludovickus Viele heads the company that wants to create an eastern harbor in Hunts Point

Viele

1890


Homes built on refuse
East of the Railroad


NY Times Feb. 26, 1893

Longwood Park
West of the Railroad

Between 1897 and 1901 real
estate developer George B.
Johnson purchased the old S. B.
White estate on speculation and
hired local architect Warren C.
Dickerson (also known for his
work on Mott Haven Historic
District structures) to design and
construct houses. By the time
that the IRT subway line from
Manhattan reached the
neighborhood in 1904,
Dickerson’s houses were
completed and clustered nearby.


Life, Death & Re-birth of the Dennison-White Mansion
156th and Beck Street

1850s
2000s

1870s


Dennison-White Mansion Today
Located at the current 156th and

Beck streets the mansion of the

Dennison-White merchant family

was famous for the beautiful forest

that once surrounded it. The

mansion became the Longwood

club, then the Police Athletic

League. Now its going to be a

community center.


Steamboat Ferry’s Were Popular
1904 General Slocum disasterA ferry could be dangerous

Children knew that this ferry meant it
was time for supper

General Slocum Memorial
The Slocum beached on North Brother Island near Hunts Point.

The memorial is
in T
ompkins Square Park.
The victims were students
at St. Marks Evangelical
Lutheran Church. Located
at East 6th Street in
Manhattan. 1,000+ died.


Early Aviators Spark the Imagination
Dr. Julian P. Thomas
rode his balloon over
the Bronx.


Paul Nocquet sculptor and balloonist crashes on Gilgo Beach
after a balloon ﬂight from the Bronx. He dies of exposure.

Roosevelt the Hunter

“Colored Teams Will Make Fur Fly”

NYT 1909

NYPL


Shades of glory: the negro leagues and the story of African-American
baseball By Lawrence D. Hogan

Baseball at the Bronx Oval

NYTimes 1911

Tim Jordan 1907
Baseball Barnstorming And Exhibition Games, 1901-1962 Thomas Barthel

Bronx Oval at 163rd and Southern Boulevard

Hunts Point Avenue
In 1908 the main thoroughfare is rebuilt and made wider.


The end of the Bronx Oval

Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square, formerly Crames Square. formerly Bronx Oval

1918

The OVAL Shoes 1930s.

NYTimes 1910

Subway brings new homes
1921

1914


Now

Henry Morgenthau Sr.
American Real Estate Company (ARECO) develops the South Bronx
ARECO rental ofﬁce on Southern Boulevard
between 163 & Westchester Ave. in 1910

Born in Bavaria he made his fortune
in New York and was later U.S.
ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
Henry Morgenthau; April 26,
1856 – November 25, 1946)


Theaters along the same
stretch a few years later.

After making a fortune in Bronx and Yonkers Real Estate Henry Morgenthau Sr. was known for
championing the rights of Armenians and Jews. His son Henry Jr. was Secretary of the Treasury
under FDR and grandson Robert was Manhattan District Attorney.

Transformation of Estates to Community

1920

ARECO develops a residential community in Hunts Point

Hunts Point station

Manida St.
Hunts Point Avenue


Barretto St.

Hunts Point Residential

Train Station


Gilbert Place

Two Family Homes

Apartments

Jewish Hunts Point before 1940
Map showing Hunts Point and South Bronx
Synagogues founded before 1940

Jewish migration:
South Bronx to
Grand Concourse
and beyond

Former Synagogues in Hunts Point

Dr. Seymour J. Perlin
Remembrances of Synagogues Past


812 Faile St,
Temple Beth Elohim 1913
currently Bright Temple A.M.E. Church
former estate of Peter A. Hoe 1859

823 Faile St,
Hunts Point Chevra Bikur Cholim
Iglesia 1929 currently Pentacostal
Casa de Dios

The faces behind Hunts Point street names

Viele Street

Egbert Ludovicus Viele
(June 17, 1825 –
April 22, 1902) was a civil
engineer and United States
Representative from New York, as
well as an ofﬁcer in the Union army
during the American Civil War.

Halleck St.
Fitz-Greene Halleck
(July 8,1790 – November 19, 1867)
was an American poet and friend of
Joseph Rodman Drake.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 - March 24, 1882)
was an American educator and poet whose works include "Paul
Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and "Evangeline"

Whittier St.
John Greenleaf Whittier
(December 17, 1807 September 7, 1892) was an
Influential American Quaker poet
And ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery.

Longfellow St.

HUNTS POINT TROLLEY

1909

1944

Busses replaced trolleys by 1956

Boulevard of Theaters

Boulevard Theater

Southern Blvd. & Westchester Ave.

n

uther
So

Spooner
Theater

d
levar
Bou

Cecil Spooner’s Theater 1910-1913
Cecil Spooner. She
was both a popular
and a controversial
ﬁgure in her day
who dared to be
herself regardless of
the cost. She opened
her own theatre in
1910 at the age of
twenty-two
Spooner theater is a discount store today

Spooner’s Vice Play

Spooner was a feminist
and produced “vice
plays” about women
forced into sexual
bondage. The police
shut down the show


Antiwar protest at Hunts Point Palace
Local ﬁrebrands; John Reed is the only American buried in the Kremlin,
Emma Goldman was deported to Russia for denouncing the draft

Hunts Point Palace on
Southern Boulevard
between Hunts Point &
Westchester Aves.

Emma Goldman
John Reed

Eyewitness Account
Writing many years later a witness describes the police crackdown

Emma Goldman


Class Struggle Among Bronx Industrial Workers


1916

Graft and Pollution in 1909

Louis M. Haffen ﬁrst
Bronx Borough President


Public Baths in Hunts Point
The public defends claims to the private lane of the estates
1910
A Victory for the Public
..a daily army of
excursionists tramped along
this leafy lane (Leggett
Lane followed today’s
Leggett Ave. but continued
to the shore where there was
a bath house) on hot summer
days on their way to reach a
water resort. Then it was
that the ceaseless throng
became an eyesore to the
residents of the old mansion
(Denison-White), and,
claiming that the lane was a
private and not a public
way, they sought to bar
popular progress by erecting
gates across the roadway.
"But no," said those wise in
the law. "For twenty years
this has been an open road,
and you cannot close it
now." Thus did the Oak Point
excursionists win the day.


2008

Joseph Rodman Drake School
“The Best School in the Universe”

1915

Public School 48
2009

1921


Hunts Point Avenue
1921

2009


End of an Era 1921

Dickey Estate was one of the last mansion to be sold.


Bruckner Boulevard 1938
The Hunts Point train station with demolition for Bruckner Boulevard

Demolition Makes way for Bruckner
Boulevard at Hunts Point Ave.


Bronx River at Bruckner Blvd. 1950s
formerly Whitlock Ave.


Bruckner Expressway 1960s
The Bruckner was one of the last roads in NYC’s expressway system.

Brainchild of Robert Moses.
The “master builder” of
New York City. Often
praised often criticized for
the damage his highways
did to Bronx communities.


Bruckner Expressway today


Con Edison
gas plant

Hunts Point 1951 New York State Archives
sewage treatment plant
Barretto Point

East River

Rikers Island

North Brother Is.
National Gypsum

Bronx River
Drake
Cemetery

Oak Point
American Banknote Co.
Hunts Point and
Southern Boulevard


City Projects Take Over the Point

Mayor Vincent Impellitteri dedicates
the sewage treatment plant 1952

Mayor Robert F. Wagner digging in for the
Hunts Point Market 1967

Hunts Point In Place Industrial Park 1982

1931
This was the
view in 1982.
Con Edison sets up a a gas plant

National Gypsum Co. 1950s
Associated with asbestos poisoning


The Con
Edison gas plant
manufactured
gas and coke
from coal from
1926 to 1960 .
Waste products
include toxic
coal tar.

Toxic Dumping
In 1988, after the Oak Point
site was purchased from
Conrail by Britestarr
Homes for $3.2 million,
Britestarr proposed
building a modular-housing
factory there. But the
factory was never built, and
the property became a
sprawling dump.


1921

Three years later, Britestarr
came under investigation for
possible ties to John A. Gotti,
then the head of the Gambino
crime family. In May 2002,
the company filed for
bankruptcy, leaving the
property with more than $60
million worth of claims
NY Times March 5, 2008
against it.

Britestarr president David
Norkin pled guilty to
federal fraud and
racketeering charges. The
court appointed a new
owner who teamed up with
KeySpan to propose a
power plant for Oak Point.
Village Voice August 22, 2006

P.S. 48 highest hospitalization rate for asthma in NYC
"

"Nineteen percent of our school population has asthma." - Principal Roxanne Cardona.


Hunts Point Protests Environmental Racism
former garbage transfer station at the point

NY Organic Fertilizer is closed

The city forced the sewage-to-fertilizer plant on
Oak Point Avenue to close its doors last summer
after 16 years of nauseating smells. Now the
same city agency that shut NYOFCo down is
soliciting proposals for a new effort to process
sewage sludge from all 14 city sewage plants.
10.

Nov, 2010 Hunts Point Express


Stopping a jail on Hunts Point
ﬂoating jail

City proposal for a $375 million jail
at Oak Point is withdrawn

The World Comes to Hunts Point

Latin
America 86%


A Puerto Rican Family in Hunts Point in the 1940s

Photo: Courtesy NYC DOE

Latin and Municipal Art Society
Music at Hunts Point Palace
City Lore
A dance club for nearly a century, important for
performers from mambo king Tito Puente to the
first hip-hop crews in the '70s and '80s
The Palace was host to nearly a century's worth of American popular
music; swing music in the 1920s-1930s, big band jazz dance bands in
the 1940s, Latin music in the 1940s-1970s, and Hip Hop in the 1970s
and 1980s. During the heyday of Latin music in the Bronx, the Hunts
Point Palace rivaled Manhattan's Palladium. All the best dancers went
there. It held 2500 people, offered large, well-maintained dance floors,
and a bandstand that musicians loved. With ornate architecture and
beautiful balconies, it had glamour. The "big three"--Tito Puente, Tito
Rodríquez, and Machito--often played here, as did stars like Arsenio
Rodríguez, and jazz greats like Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. Here, as
in other venues, musicians in the late 1960s and 1970s started calling
their music salsa--a term that gained currency when Fania Records used
it to market a range of Latin music styles, and publicized these urbanedged sounds with a movie called Nuestra Cosa at Manhattan's Cheetah
Club. Early salseros Willie Colón and Rúben Blades wrote lyrics relevant
to life in El Barrio and to larger social and political issues, while still
playing popular dance music.


1960s in Hunts Point
Young Lords Free Breakfast Program

A great meal

Political
organizers

Hunts Point 1968
photos courtesy NYC Department of Education


Old School Subway Grafﬁti 70s & 80s
Grafﬁti gives birth to Hip-Hop


Hunts Point thriving art and music scene

La Terre with
Rebel Diaz

Nations Represented at P.S. 48 Today

Belize

El Salvador

Mexico


Dominican Republic

Honduras

Haiti

Albania

Zambia

Guatemala

Liberia

Puerto Rico

Guinea

P.S. 48 Oak Tree in Joseph Rodman Drake Park


The Fabulous, Fantastic Timeline Of Hunts Point, Bronx

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