History of Hunt’s Point in
the Bronx

Hunts Point today
Famous Residents
Population: 52,246 - 75% Latino, 22% Black, 1.3% White*
Tony Curtus
actor
Colin Powell
sec’y of state
Betty Boop
actress
Herman Woulk
author
*2010 census

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

Egbert Ludovicus Viele 1874Sanitary Map showing streams
Map shows original flow of
Bronx River
Bronx RiverTidal Estuary
upland
salt marsh
Bungay Brook
149th St.
Leggett
Creek
railroad
Crotona Park
“Indian Lake”
NYC-OasisNYPL
Forest Houses
Bound Brook
Debatable
Ground

Clements Library, University of Michigan
today
British military maps were the most accurate of the time
Bronx
River
Hunts Point
Bungay Brook
Leggett’s Creek
A Map of the
Country Adjacent to
Kingsbridge by
Andrew Skinner and
George Taylor, 1781
Debatable
Ground

Language groups defined Indians Nations
Kurt Griesshaber 1962
Native Americans lived in the Bronx
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 Trails in upper Manhattan and the Bronx
Native
Villages in
the South
Bronx

Quinnahung
Siwanoy name for Hunts Point. Quinnahung means “Long High Place.”
Kurt Griesshaber 1962

Wekkguasegeeck Life
Woodland people lived in houses made of sticks and tree bark called wigwams.
Kurt Griesshaber 1962

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
Trading 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.
Kurt Griesshaber 1962

Warfare was common and brutal
warclubs
AMNH
Pequot War 1636
Queen Anne’s War 1702
King Philip’s War 1675
Major wars involving settlers northeastern Indians

1641 Faced with British encroachment from
Connecticut New Amsterdam makes terms
On Thursday, being the 6th of June 1641...
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
Pell
Throckmorton
Hunt
Grove Farm
Leggett
Morris 1671
New Haven
1642
1664
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:
West Farms
Hutchinson massacre 1643
Broncx 1644

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.
Kurt Griesshaber 1962

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.

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."
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.
Thomas Hunt is banished from New Haven
Establishes Grove Farm in Throggs Neck along Westchester Creek
John Throckmorton (Throggs Neck)arrives in from Rhode Island about 1642

The land is purchased from Indians
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
Deeds are rarely enforced to the benefit of the native people
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."
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
modern Throggs Neck

West Farms established
Richardson gets permission to build a mill that continues for 250 years
DeLancey family owned
the mill in West Farms and
lived in an estate along the
banks of the Bronx River
until 1780.
West Farms 18th Century
West Farms 19th Century West Farms early 20th Century

The British Invasion 1664
James Duke
of YorkPeter Stuyvesant

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, extend-
ing 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…

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.
Jessup and Richardson buy Hunts Point

The Grange
18th C. addition
Original 1668 residence 19th C.
Built in 1668 the first house in Hunt’s Point.

Morrisania established 1670
Lewis Morris
First lord of the manor of Morrisania
(15 October 1671 – 21 May 1746)
old Morrisania seat of the manor built on the site of Jonas Bronck’s original settlement now rail yards
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 mansionThe 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.

debatable land
Stephen Jenkins
Richardson & Jessup
Lewis Morris
“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.]
later Leggett & Hunt

The Stabbing of James Graham
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.
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...

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
Graham Point,
later Oak Point
History of the City of New York -Harrison
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.
1700: The death of New York State Assembly Speaker James Graham
Debatable Ground
Hells Gate

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...”
Lewis Morris about 1740 transfers the “debatable
ground” to James Graham (d. 1767) as a wedding gift

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.
“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.]
Indians were enslaved too
Helping a runaway
was a crime as well

Frederick Philipse and “the mariner”
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.
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
Contemporary map of Philipse Manor
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

Slave Trade Grows
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
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.
Howard Pyle, "The First Slave Auction
at New Amsterdam in 1655" (1917).
Leisler a German born colonist would lead rebellion in New York

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.
Slave Owner as Slave

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
Edmund Andros Governor of New England
1686-1689
William Kidd hanged for piracy 1701Richard Coote Governor of New York 1698-1701
The governor, the hypocrite and the pirate who wasn’t

“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
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
The aristocracy smells treason in
Leisler’s designs

1691 Leisler is executed for treason
May 16, 1691 execution of Leisler
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.
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.”
"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.
“Here comes the father of rogues”
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)

John
Richardson
Mary
Richardson
Joseph
Hadley
Thos.
Williams
died 1698
Gabriel
Leggett
George
Hadley
St. Peters
"land which my Lord of London obtained of her Majestie for the church at Westchester."
son
1628-1679 sold 8 acres
Jan. 10, 1687/8
1637-1700
daughter
husband
Elizabeth
Richardson
marriage
1676
John Bartow, rector of St. Peter's Church
founded
1693
Crown
Lands
sold
March 3, 1695
challenges sale
escheated
Martha
Richardson
widow of John
Richardson
marriage
1684
1656-1724
St. Peter’s on Westchester Avenue founded 1693
St. Peter’s rebuilt 1856
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.

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. Peter’s 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
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.
Quaker
burials
“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.”
The Glebe
Quaker
burials
West
Farms
Quaker land St. Peter’s
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.
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
“A faithful woman...”
-Seaman Legett

Slave Burial Grounds
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 was Charlotte Legget, who was
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 NewYork 1920
Aunt Rose
Thomas Leggett
1755-1843
Some Quakers began freeing their slaves and providing for their care.
Quaker Burying Ground
St. Peter’s
Church
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
Justice Daniel Horsmanden presided over the trials authoring an account of the proceedings.
1741: 17 Blacks 3 whites hanged
13 Blacks burned at the stake1712 revolt: 21
Blacks executed
(20 burned, 1 on
the “breaking
wheel,”) 6 Blacks
committed
suicide.

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

America’s Revolution
DeLancey Pine was used by
rebel snipers aiming at
British troops
A cannonball, cutlass and
other Revolutionary war items
found in the Hunt Mansion.
British and Hessian soldiers sweep through meeting stiff resistance

The Bronx is divided by war
“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”
P.O.W.
Thomas Leggett
(1755-1843) in his
later years.
West Farms
Last Revolutionary war era
houses in West Farms
West Farms Square-
E Tremont Avenue /
Boston Road-Bronx Zoo
West Farms 18th Century showing DeLancy estate

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

Queens Rangers
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.
Simcoe’s men on patrol

Native American Commander
Chief Daniel Nimham

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

Kurt Griesshaber 1962
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.
Hunts Inn
James DeLancey

Revolutionary War POW
Major Abraham Leggett
Major Leggett as a POW of the British
Ruins of British
General Howe’s headquarters erected
on Hunts Point about 1778
Sugar House Prison

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 Mansion Burns -1779
“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 quartersThe 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 BoltonVol.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
House of Jonathan Graham descendant of James Graham

Mayanna Hunt 1738-1809
Gerrit Smith
Sojourner Truth
Laura Smith
Haviland
Abolitionists
Eliza Seaman Leggett (1815-1900)
Abolitionist and Suffrage Activist
Eliza’s grandfather James Ferris bought
Grove Farm in 1775 and was listed as a
slave owner in the 1755 slave census.
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
Elizabeth Seaman Leggett Detroit Public Library, The Burton Historical Collection, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.
Survival story told by granddaughter Eliza Seaman Leggett
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
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.
History of Bronx Borough; RANDALL COMFORT, Member of the New
York Historical Society, 1906
Indian Cave, Hunts Point 1915, nypl
“genuine human bones”

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
King George III on
a golden Guinea.
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.
The name “Guinea” comes from the coast of Africa where
gold was traded. Guinea’s were used to pay soldiers.Hells Gate

Fatal Route of the Hussar
“We silenced British cannon fire in 1776
and we don’t want to hear it again in
Central Park,” the New York Police
Department said in a statement
Trying to save
the Hussar.
Cannon and powder salvaged from the Hussar in possession of the NYC Parks Dept.
Hunts
Point

Joshua Waddington’s Point
The view of Waddington’s residence from Rikers Island
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.
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.
Waddingtonton lived here between from 1808 until 1828 when the land was sold to Francis J. Barretto

Barretto Point today
Barretto Point in 1936
Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment plant at Barretto Point
Francis J. Barretto was a merchant and member of the Westchester Assembly

Gouverneur Morris Battles Thomas Leggett
Westchester Road (Avenue) is cut through Morris land 1808-1814
Thomas Leggett
1755-1843
Gouverneur Morris
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
Fitz Greene-Halleck was Drake’s friend
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
Hunt Inn

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
Albert E. Davis letter to the NYTimes
A doctor, Drake was only 25 when he died from TB. He’s buried in the Hunt family cemetery.

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.

The Railroad comes to Hunts Point
A New Birth of Freedom

Railroads in New York
1835 New York Central Rail Road
Edward G. Faile on the Board of the New York Central 1855
1840s

Hunts Point Station
Then Now
Built in 1908 closed in the 1930s
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?

Rockland
Foxhurst
Ambleside
Hunt Inn
Mansions of
West Farms
north of Hunts
Point including
Simpson, Fox,
Tiffany and
Vyse estates.Entrance to Hoe’s
“Brightside.”

Rose Bank
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
18191849
“In the Graham Mansion, which formerly stood on the site of Mr. Leggett’s farm house”
The view from Graham’s Mansion describes as
it was in the 17th century
Archives of the General Convention Episcopal Church
(See slide “Graham Mansion Burns)
Rose Bank

Barretto Point Park
La Playita
The Brothers
The Pier
Near the site of Rose Bank, the Leggett estate

Thomas B.
1823-1895
Margaret Peck
1794-1878
Thomas Jr. 1755-1843
William Haight 1789-1863
Sarah Huggins 1826-1902
Mary Underhill
1770-1849
Text
The Leggett’s of
Hunts Point

1675
1844
1864
1888
1963
1919
Leggett estate over 300 years

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

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

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
Yachting’s America’s cup was
designed by Tiffany Jewelers a
branch of the famous family
from Hunts Point.
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
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.
...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
died 1881

Poillon & Staples Varnishes & Japans
148th St. & R.R Avenue, Bronx
A key component to the
longevity of yachts built by the
Poillon family were the
Varnishes and Japans supplied
from this Bronx factory.

GARRISON AVE.
Named after real estate speculator C.K. Garrison

The Locusts, Faile family ancestral home 1905
The Locusts Today
The corner of Hunts Point
and Garrison Ave.
The home of the tutor of the Faile family, there teacher was Sir Walter Scott.
Built in the 17th Century

Edward G. Faile d. 1864
E.G. Faile building
236 Front St.
preserved as part
of the South Street
Seaport. It’s now a
restaurant.
1832 Edward G. Faile named his mansion “Woodside.”
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
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.
Faile bred cows as a hobby

American Bank Note Company
Mexican Pesos where just some of
the money printed in the Bronx
Built in 1912 on the site of the Faile mansion, now a charter school

The Springhurst Dairy
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
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.

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.
Benjamin G. Arnold was a
wealthy Coffee merchant.
NY Times Dec. 8, 1880
Mr. Arnold embarked upon
his big speculation in coffee
in 1869. For ten years he
maintained his mastery of
the market and in that time
amassed a fortune... The
President of the United
States was his friend, and a
guest at his luxurious home.
But the high-price levels to
which Arnold had forced the
coffee market started a
coffee-planting fever in
countries of production.
Almost before he knew it,
there was an over
production that swamped
the market and forced down
prices with so amazing
rapidity that panic seized
upon the traders -William
Harrison Ukers; All About
Coffee

William Mortimer Allen
Cosey Nook was his estate near Leggett Point
wife Catherine Maria (Leggett) Allen
and her mother Margaret Peck (Wright)
Leggett
1814-1878

Corpus Christi Monastery
Lafayette & Barretto St. Built 1889 on
the site of the Oliver Bryan mansion.
Then
Now
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.

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

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 to Benjamin M. Whitlock
East River
East River
by Thomas B. Leggett
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.

Benjamin Whitlock’s store on Beekman St. at
the Old Brick Church
Whitlock traded
in tobacco, wines
and cotton. This is
a bottle of his
Ambrosia.
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.

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.
P. 178 Waldo & Jewett
1845 Address: 1 Cortlandt Street
82. Portrait of a Gentleman B.M.WHITLOCK
l New York Historical Society - Vo I. 77
American Academy of Fine Arts and American Art Union ...Exhibition Record
National Academy home on Broadway
from 1859 to 1865
The American Academy of Fine Arts
and American Art Union influenced
artistic tastes in the 19th century
United States

Whitlock spoke at this angry pro-slavery meeting “[against]The
treasonable raid of John Brown and his followers...” December 19,
1859
A scheme to extend U.S. control to Cuban slave plantations
John Brown raid
on the Federal
Arsenal at
Harper’s Ferry
October 16, 1859
helped start the
Civil War
Whitlock sat on many political
committees including this one to
annex Cuba as a slave state
Civil War Intrudes

Southern Militia Visit Whitlock
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
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

Benjamin M. Whitlock 1860
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.
George Hendric Houghton
Henry Ward Beecher
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
Lewis Tappan
ABOLITION

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.

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
West Farms: A Possible Station on the Underground Railroad
The Mapes Temperance Hotel in the
same spot as DeLancey’s Mills 100
years later located near 180th Street
Mapes Bros. store
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.
Mapes land
became the
New York
Catholic
Protectory
1863-1938.
Replaced by
Parkchester
housing
development.

Benjamin M. Whitlock’s Southern Strategy
NY Historical Society
...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
But Whitlock also made ready to run south...
1860

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

-- 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.
Benjamin Whitlock’s Obituary
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.
Southern Gentleman (about to
Fire the Hotel), Harper's Weekly.
"These Yankees," the
"Southern Gentleman" says
"will learn what it is to incur the
Enmity of a proud and
chivalric People.”
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

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
NY Times

Casanova’s Underground Passages
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
Bronx Historical Society
Duck Island was a secret outlet for the tunnels built under the mansion
Duck Island

Rebellion Sweeps Cuba
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.”
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.

“I am under my flag! Viva Washington!”
1871
- 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

A Cuban Woman Stands for Independence from Spain
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
Emilia Casanova de Villaverde
Raffles to raise funds for weapons
Emilia Casanova de Villaverde supports Cuban rebels from Casanova’s Castle
Cirilo Villaverde

Emilia Casanova de Villaverde
Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia
edited by Vicki Lynn Ruiz
Cuban newspapers attack her as a
“witch” using her wealth to back the
insurgents. Who she rivaled in
commitment and militancy.
Here she is portrayed as selling
Cuban national flags
“wholesale or retail.”
“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
Victor Hugo 1853

...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
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.
To benefit the next game of illustrious general Quesada
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
produced deep misfortune, causing desperation to those
Cubans who see clearly the origin of the evil...
--Emilia Casanova de Villaverde
Letters of Emilia Casanova
General Manuel de
Quesada elected as of the
Cuban rebels’ Chief of the
Armed Forces April 12,
1869.
Emilia Casanova
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.

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
Casanova
Mansion
“Hommock”
Duck Island
Leggett
Creek

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’

This view of the East River is
what she saw from the top.
--photos by Albert E. Lickman 1902
A local child named Eulia McVay ran to the roof of the mansion and climbed the flag pole.
Haunted Mansion as child’s playground

Published: August 14, 1880
Fertilizer is behind complaints of bad smells in Hunts Point in 1880
Published: August 14, 1880
Urban Problems Begin to Overtake Hunts Point

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.
1890
Gen. Egbert Ludovickus Viele heads the company that wants to create an eastern harbor in Hunts Point
Viele

Homes built on refuseNYTimes Feb. 26, 1893
East of the Railroad

Longwood Park
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.
West of the Railroad

Life, Death & Re-birth of the Dennison-White Mansion
1850s
1870s
2000s
156th and Beck Street

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
Children knew that this ferry meant it
was time for supper
1904 General Slocum disaster-
A ferry could be dangerous

General Slocum Memorial
The memorial is
in Tompkins Square Park.
The victims were students
at St. Marks Evangelical
Lutheran Church. Located
at East 6th Street in
Manhattan. 1,000+ died.
The Slocum beached on North Brother Island near Hunts Point.

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

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

“Colored Teams Will Make Fur Fly”
NYT 1909
Shades of glory: the negro leagues and the story of African-American
baseball By Lawrence D. Hogan
NYPL

Baseball at the Bronx Oval
Tim Jordan 1907
Bronx Oval at 163rd and Southern Boulevard
NYTimes 1911
Baseball Barnstorming And Exhibition Games, 1901-1962 Thomas Barthel

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

The end of the Bronx Oval
1918
NYTimes 1910
The OVAL Shoes 1930s.
Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square, formerly Crames Square. formerly Bronx Oval

Now
Subway brings new homes
1921
1914

Henry Morgenthau Sr.
Henry Morgenthau; April 26,
1856 – November 25, 1946)
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
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
Hunts Point station
Hunts Point Avenue
Manida St.
Barretto St.
1920
ARECO develops a residential community in Hunts Point

Hunts Point Residential
Train Station Gilbert Place Two Family Homes Apartments

Jewish Hunts Point before 1940
Dr. Seymour J. Perlin
Remembrances of Synagogues Past
Map showing Hunts Point and South Bronx
Synagogues founded before 1940
Jewish migration:
South Bronx to
Grand Concourse
and beyond
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
Former Synagogues in Hunts Point

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.
Viele Street
Fitz-Greene Halleck
(July 8,1790 – November 19, 1867)
was an American poet and friend of
Joseph Rodman Drake.
Halleck St.
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"
Longfellow St.
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.
The faces behind Hunts Point street names

1909
HUNTS POINT TROLLEY
1944
Busses replaced trolleys by 1956

Boulevard of Theaters
Southern Boulevard
Spooner
Theater
Southern Blvd. & Westchester Ave.
Boulevard Theater

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
Emma Goldman
John Reed
Hunts Point Palace on
Southern Boulevard
between Hunts Point &
Westchester Aves.
Local firebrands; John Reed is the only American buried in the Kremlin,
Emma Goldman was deported to Russia for denouncing the draft

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

Class Struggle Among Bronx Industrial Workers 1916

Graft and Pollution in 1909
Louis M. Haffen first
Bronx Borough President

Public Baths in Hunts Point
1910
2008
..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.
The public defends claims to the private lane of the estates
A Victory for the Public

Joseph Rodman Drake School
1915
1921
2009
Public School 48
“The Best School in the Universe”

Hunts Point Avenue
1921
2009

End of an Era
Dickey Estate was one of the last mansion to be sold.
1921

Bruckner Boulevard 1938
Demolition Makes way for Bruckner
Boulevard at Hunts Point Ave.
The Hunts Point train station with demolition for Bruckner Boulevard

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

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

Hunts Point 1951 NewYork State Archives
Con Edison
gas plant
Bronx River
Rikers Island
Oak Point
East River
National Gypsum
American Banknote Co.
North Brother Is.
Drake
Cemetery
sewage treatment plant
Barretto Point
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

National Gypsum Co. 1950s
Hunts Point In Place Industrial Park 1982
Con Edison sets up a a gas plant
1931
The Con
Edison gas plant
manufactured
gas and coke
from coal from
1926 to 1960 .
Waste products
include toxic
coal tar.
This was the
view in 1982.
Associated with asbestos poisoning

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.
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
against it. NY Times March 5, 2008
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
1921
Toxic Dumping

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
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
NY Organic Fertilizer is closed
former garbage transfer station at the point

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 Music at Hunts Point Palace
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 urban-
edged 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.
City Lore and Municipal Art Society

1960s in Hunts Point
Young Lords Free Breakfast Program
A great meal
Political
organizers

Hunts Point 1968photos 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
Dominican Republic Albania
El Salvador Honduras Zambia
Mexico Haiti Guatemala
Liberia
Puerto Rico
Guinea

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