The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I, Part 47

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I > Part 47

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

suspended in Gravesend, and every man who could got to Pelican Beach. The intense excitement only gradually subsided when a succeeding storm placed the location of the " find " so far to sea as to be absolutely beyond further search.

Modern Development of Coney Island .- About the year 1844 Messrs. Eddy and Hart, two New York gentlemen, leased a portion of the western part of Coney Island, and on it built a large circular platform, over which an enormous tent was erected, and the " Pavilion" at Coney Island Point sprang into existence. A dock, or wharf, was built just north of the westerly part of Coney Island, and a number of bathing-houses built on the southern shore of the Point. This was the com- mencement of what has since become familiar to many of the residents of New York and vicinity as "Norton's Point." Prior to this occupancy by Messrs. Eddy and Hart, this spot had been the home of Gilbert Hicks, who succeeded Henry Brown, the sole occupant of this part of Coney Island at about the elose of the Revolu- tionary war. When Messrs. Eddy and Hart started their enterprise, Cropsey and Woglom were proprietors of one of the only two hotels of Coney Island-the " Coney Island House," built by the Coney Island Road and Bridge Company. The other was owned and managed by that patriarch of Coney Island, John Wyekoff, Sr., formerly school-master of Gravesend, afterward hotel- keeper opposite the church in Gravesend, from whence he removed with his wife and family to Coney Island, and built what, with additions, soon enjoyed a most en- viable reputation as " Wyckoff's Hotel." The Pavilion, Wyckoff's, and the Coney Island House, with the excep- tion of the two farm-houses on the respective farms- into which the arable land had been divided-the Van Sicklen and the Voorhies farm-houses, constituted the whole of the residences on the island. But the day of development was drawing nigh; and, when Daniel Mor- rell, the toll-gatherer on the " shell-road," counted three hundred vehicles of a warm fourth of July (Sunday) driving to Coney Island, many of the staid, good peo- ple of Gravesend bewailed the existence of a place whose attractions caused such wholesale Sabbath- breaking.

In October, 1847, Dr. Allen Clarke, seeing the de- sirability of Coney Island as a summer resort, bought a piece of ground of Mr. Court Van Sicklen (by giv- ing a mortgage on it), and, just north of the Coney Island House, the "Oceanic" was erected, run for a season, and burned down. It was said it caught fire accidentally, and some people believed it. The property passed into the hands of Judge John Vanderbilt, who built another-a larger and a better hotel-on the site of the former, and it became a very fashionable resort; but, after a few years of varying success, it shared the common fate of sea-side resorts-it burned down. The premises are now incorporated with those of the old Coney Island House.

195

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF CONEY ISLAND.

Another step in the development of the island was taken when Mr. Partridge, the owner of the Dye Wood Mills below Unionville, interested himself in the scheme of a railroad from Coney Island across the creek over West Meadow Bank, along "the twelve morgen," through the villages of Bath and New Utrecht,and along the new plank-road to the "new," or Fifth avenue, en- trance, to Greenwood cemetery. After many and vex- atious delays, toils and troubles, on the part of its pro- moters, The Brooklyn, Bath and Concy Island Railroad, as its incorporators called it-the "Dummy Road," as it was known to the public generally-was opened to travel. In the meanwhile Mr. Stephen H. Bogart had erected, at its Coney Island terminus, a hotel, elegant for its day and generation, which was called the " Tivoli." But Mr. Bogart died, and the hotel shared the common fate of large sea-side hotels-it burncd down.

Another impetus to the development of Coney Island was the completion of the " horse-car " route to Coney Island-down the old Coney Island road, as Coney Island avenue was then called; and the building of the restaurant on Coney Island, so long kept by George Green.

About the year 1868 Mr. William A. Engeman con- ceived the idea of purchasing the interests of the two or three hundred heirs of the persons to whom, in 1766, the thirty-nine lots comprising the middle or southern division of Coney Island had been allotted; and, by gathering together, in his own ownership, the shreds and patches of interests, divided, subdivided and again subdivided (until in many cases the resources of arith- metical calculation were severely tasked to determine just how little any one particular person owned), to thus ultimately acquire a property on which he could erect a great family home and house. This task, it may readily be imagined, was far more easy of conception than of execution. Many a person of less indomitable perseverance than Mr. ENGEMAN would have quailed under the difficulties attending the making of searches (in most instances amounting to complete genealogies) of thirty-nine families for one and one-fourth centuries back ; and whose members were scattered not only throughout the various States of the Union, but some of whom had found homes in such far-off places as the Sandwich Islands. Energy, perseverance, and well- directed, intelligent industry, however, finally unrav- elled the twisted mazes of family-ties, hunted for and found the scattered members, negotiated for and pur- chased their interests; and, as usual, success crowned well-directed, persistent efforts. Mr. Engeman had passed through many sad and bitter experiences in life, and found in the excitement attending this undertak- ing a relief from oppressive and almost unsupportable reflections.

The premises were purchased, and comprise what is now known as the Fair Grounds, the Ocean Hotel prop-

erty, the Brighton Hotel property, and the Bathing Pavilion, taking in all the ground between that of Manhattan Beach and the common lands of the town of Gravesend. The Ocean Hotel was built, and in a quiet, respectable family sea-side hotel, refined guests found an agreeable relief from the noise and hubbub which even then had begun to pervade the more west- crn part of the island.

In the incanwhile the other parts of the island were beginning to feel the impetus which was crowding Coney Island into prominence as a competitor for the patronage of the seaside-loving population of the metropolis and suburbs, in the hcated summer terms. Settlements of restaurants, lager-beer-saloons and bathing-establishments began to spring up with unwonted activity ; at first in the immediate neighbor- hood of the railroad termini, and soon from thence spreading, laterally, along-shore on either side, till, in a few years, the entire beach front was thickly studded with these aspirants for public favor. These buildings were not of the elaborate nature characteristic of the more pretentious "pavilions " of to-day. Far from it. Most of them were rude, unplaned boxes, having a door with a hole in it for light, and each furnished inside with a couple of hat-and-coat-hooks, a rude bench, and a pail of water for rinsing the feet after the bath. But they were the pioneers to what has since become a vast business during the heated days of the summer.

Then, a law was passed providing for the opening and grading of Gravesend avenue, at the expense of the holders of property on both sides of it; and the Pros- pect Park and Coney Island Railroad (Culver's) took it, without paying for it, as the location of their road. Naturally, the property-holders felt indignant at thus being compelled to open and grade a road at their own expense for a railroad company; and not even the admitted fact that this railroad is altogether the best managed and operated of all the roads to Coney Island, has enabled it to overcome this feeling.

The building of this railroad; its hotel, long known as " Cable's," at its shore terminus; the purchase, and the re-erection on Coney Island, of one of the observatories erected at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, as an "observatory;" and latterly, its magnificent depot, have all combined to make this place a center of attrac- tion to a vast multitude to whom the low rate of fares charged is by no means a source of mis-comfort.

Next was the building of the Ocean Parkway, that magnificent highway from Prospect Park to the sca. (See page 172). This Ocean Parkway, and its lateral or shore branch, called the Concourse, all aided in help- ing Coney Island to a place in the public estimation.

While John I. Snedcker was host of the " Oceanic Hotel " on Coney Island (for so the old " Coney Island House " was christened in later years), among his guests was a wealthy New York banker, whose sick infant

196

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

had been ordered to be taken to the scaside for the benefit of the pure air. This gentleman, impressed with the healthfulness of the place, in a casual conver- sation with the host one evening, requested the latter to ascertain whether any property could be purchased in the vicinity, as he was anxious to purchase in so sa- lubrious a situation. Mr. Snedeker accordingly made enquiry in the village-store at Gravesend, and was di- rected to William H. Stillwell, whose long resi- dence and position as a resident civil-engineer and sur- veyor had placed him in a position to be especially fa- miliar with lands and titles in that section. This re- sulted in an interview between the latter and the bank- er, one Saturday evening, at the hotel; when the former called the attention of the latter to a tract of land which might possibly be purchased, and the next after- noon the two visited the locality. This banker was Austin Corbin, Esq., and the spot shown was "The Sedge Bank," since become famous as " Manhattan Beach." The banker, pleased with the location, took immediate steps to purchase the property, which was successfully accomplished by the agency of the other, without unnecessary loss of time, and forms the site of the Manhattan and Oriental Hotels, and the vast tract on which they are located.

While the Manhattan Beach property was being de- veloped, the consolidation of the two railroad enter- prises produced the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Is- land Railway Company (or, as it is more familiarly known, the Brighton Beach Railroad), whose hotel, so widely known, is located on a part of the "middle di- vision," purchased of Mr. Engeman, and is too well known to need particular description.

In 1878 a company was organized with Jacob Loril- lard, of New York city, as president, who purchased a lease held by William A. Engeman, of a shore-front lot of land on Coney Island; contracted with the Dela- ware Bridge Company to build the iron pier on the site of the old one built by Mr. Engeman, and the present elegant structure is the result of their labor and in- vested capital.

While all the tracts known as the " Middle " or "En- geman's " division, and the " Sedge Bank " or " Eastern division," now Manhattan Beach, are, and have been, confessedly and concededly, private property for at least a century and a quarter ; the ownership of the remainder of the island, from a line drawn a short dis- tance easterly of the Occan Parkway, has not been un- disputed. There are two essentially different and dis- tinct theories in relation to this matter, the proper solution of which depends entirely on the language of the original grants.

The original charter of Governor Kieft of 1645, and of which all the other and subsequent charters are con- firmatory, grants "To the Honoured Lady Deborah Moody, Sir Henry Moody, Barronnett, Sergeant James Hubbard, Ensigne George Baxter, their associates,

heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, or any they should join in association with them," a certain quantity or parcel of land, etc., etc.

Was this grant of these lands made to the town as a. corporation, or to the individuals as tenants in com- mon ? If to the former, then so much of it as has not been heretofore sct off in severalty, and assigned to in- dividuals, belongs to the town as a corporation ; while, if to the latter, then the heirs of these are the owners of so much of it as they or their ancestors have not divided as tenants in common. This latter class are usually known as the "patentee " party, and the former as the "town" party. The arguments used by each are not without weight ; and, in view of the enormous value of the property involved-a property which makes Gravesend probably the wealthiest town in the State-not without interest. The " town " party claim:

1. That the grant was made to the corporation, who, at their town-meetings, divided so much of it from time to time as their convenience required, and whatever was not so divided was retained by the corporation.

2. That all divisions and allotments of lands were made either in town-meetings or by authority of them.

3. That every known division of land is entered on the town-books as an act of the town.

4. That the town has shown from the first an unin- terrupted possession, passing repeated orders for the care and management of them.

On the other or " patentee " side of the question, it is claimed that the grant was made to the individuals as tenants-in-common ; for

1. The charter authorized the persons therein named to form a town-it did not create, but authorized the grantees to create, a town. This implied an action by the grantees subsequent to the granting of the authority to act. The town was to be formed by the people who had received authority to form it-consequently the town could have had no existence at the time the authority to form it was given, and therefore the grant could not have been made to the town. It did not ex- ist when the grant was made.

. 2. The grant is made to certain persons "and any they (that is the grantees) should join in association" with them. That is, not any who should come to reside there-not all who should join them-but only those whom the original patentees should elect-should ac- cept-" should join in association with them."

3. The manifest propriety that they who had braved the toil, privations and hardship of settling a new colony, should possess that to which their time and labor had given a value.

4. That all divisions of lands were uniformly into thirty-nine parts, or shares corresponding to the num- ber of original patentees-although these divisions, some sixteen in number, covered a period from 1643 (the first) to 1766 (the date of the last division of land).

5. That their title as tenants in common'in and to the

197

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF CONEY ISLAND.

undivided lands, is equally as good as to the land divided-the source of title being the same in either case.

6. That although these divisions were made at town- meetings, they were so made merely as matters of con- venience, not of necessity ; and some of these meetings are expressly stated to be meetings of the proprietors; as for instance the meeting at which the arable lands on Guisbert's Island is decided to be divided, is ex- pressly declared to be a meeting " of the owners of the rights," etc.

The above is believed to be a fair statement of the case. It is proper to add that the representatives of both sides have, all along, maintained and acted on their convictions with considerable pertinacity. While the town, through various officers, has, from time to time, rented the lands ; on two occasions, at least, in 1814 and 1820, they divided all accrued rentals up to these dates respectively, among the representatives of tlie patentees. We note, also, that the records show frequent sales of "rights " and "thirty- ninths " in the individ- ual commonage, and devises of the same ; and that, at no time, has a proposition arisen for a sale of any of these lands, without an active protest against SEASIDE HOME such action on the part of a corporation, looked upon as merely a trus- tee for private parties.

of the fee of the premises sought to be acquired; that the town, as their trustee, had collected rents and ex- ercised acts of ownership for so long a period that tlie corporation had come to be looked on as the owner of the traet. They were joined as parties, and had the Emigration Commissioners suceceded in the scheme, a desperate legal warfare respecting the ownership of the price paid, would undoubtedly have ensued. This was avoided, however, by the Commissioners of Ap- praisal, in their report of the value of the property, placing so high an estimate on it as to far exceed the . appropriation therefor, had the latter bcen tenfold larger than it was. And the Quarantine Commissioners abandoned the attempt of wresting from the town its most valuable property.

In 1879 Mr. William A. Engeman, one of the pioneers of Coney Island, opened a mile-track upon land which he owned at the island. It is known as the Brighton

AIDI SOCIETY

SEA SIDE HOME FOR CHILDREN

THE SEA-SIDE HOME FOR CHILDREN, WEST BRIGHTON BEACH, CONEY ISLAND.

Notably was this feel- ing manifested when, some years since, the Quarantine Commis- sioners of the State of New York undertook to avail themselves of the opportunity which the Legislature of the State had afforded them, of selecting Coney Island Point (Norton's Point) as a site for a quarantine estab- lishment. The Legislature had passed an act appropri- ating $50,000 toward the purchase of a site to be selected by the Quarantine Commissioners, who were also allowed to take the same, if agreement as to price could not be arrived at, by virtue of " the right of eminent domain." Of course no agreement looking to a sale of part of Coney Island for a nominal sum to a corporation who would so use it as to destroy the value of the remainder, could be arrived at; and the Court appointed Commis- sioners to appraise the value of the lands proposed to be taken. No sooner had the initiative steps herein been taken, than a large number of persons appeared and insisted on being made parties to the proceedings; alleging that they, with others, were the rightful owners

Beach Fair Grounds. It contains a grand stand, and other adjuncts considered necessary for sporting pur- poses. The meetings arc continued all summer, and it is considered quite popular among the sporting frater- nity. It is the sole property of Mr. Engeman, and is very valuable.

The Sea-Side Home for Children .- The Brook- lyn Children's Aid Society is doing a noble work here during the summer months, of which a full account will be found under the head of Charitable Institutions of the City of Brooklyn.

Sea-Side Sanitarium .- After two years' effort, The Children's Aid Society of New York, have suc- ceeded in leasing lot No. 37, at Coney Island, for the purpose of erecting a sea-side sanitarium. They pro- pose erecting a beautiful building ; which they are en- abled to do by the gift of $10,000 from Mr. D. Willis James, of New York.

ROCK LYV CHICHAENS

198

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

PAUL BAUER'S WEST BRIGHTON HOTEL

PAUL BAUER .- " Mine host " of the West Brighton Hotel, whose portrait appears on the opposite page, is a fine speci- men of manhood, both physically and mentally. Tall and athletic in form, he has a keen eye and an energy of manner which denote truly his quick perception, prompt action, and remarkable executive ability.

Although he is master of the English language, a slight German accent betrays his foreign birth, which occurred in Austria, August 18th, 1846. His boyhood was passed there in school and in various attempts at employment. He was successively placed at several trades; but his innate energy, and love of out-door activity, revolted from plodding labor, and he could not be kept at work. He might have become a "ne'er do weel," had he not decided, at the age of fifteen, to try the greater freedom and better opportunities to be found in America. Landing in New York in 1863, he maintained himself for a time by different employments, and then en- listed in the United States Army, serving three years in the Light artillery, and two years longer in the 4th Cavalry. Although he entered the service as a private, his energy and ability soon raised him from the ranks, and he was success- ively promoted until he became Captain. After five years he left the service honorably. In later years he was a Cap- tain in the Fifth Regiment, and also a Corporal in the Sep- arate Troop, under Col. Spencer, After leaving the army, he was employed in a restaurant in New York city, where his natural abilities and force of character made their mark at once; so that he soon left a subordinate position to assume the management of the Van Dyke House, and afterwards of the Pacify Potel. Here his success, both as caterer and gen- eral manager, was instant and abundant, demonstrating him to be one of the few who can successfully preside over an hostelry. He saved some money, for which he sought a profitable investment. Early in 1876, during a pleasure ride with his family to Coney Island, he was sagacious enough to foresee the future of what is now America's greatest sea- side resort. When the carriage was almost overturned in a hollow near the present site of the club house, and Mrs. Bauer remarked: "This is the worst place I ever saw," her husband replied: "It can be made the best." With char- acteristic promptness, on the following day, he secured from the authorities of Gravesend, a lease of twelve acres fronting

on the beach, at what is now known as West Brighton; and on the 22d of February commenced the erection of the "West Brighton Hotel," which was opened for guests on the 2d of May following. It is an immense palace-like structure, 242 feet long, by 145 feet wide, with a dining-room capable of seating six thousand people comfortably, at one time. It is the largest and most tastefully decorated dining-room under one roof to be found at the Island; in which, on several occasions, ten thousand guests have dined to their satisfaction. There are rooms for two hundred and fifty guests, with private dining-rooms; and four tower-rooms, for the especial use of coaching parties. Mr. Bauer is also the owner of the Pavilion opposite, of a large bathing estab- lishment, and a number of other buildings devoted to the entertainment of the public. He has also leased a portion of the ground to others for similar purposes. Mr. Bauer re- tains the general supervision and management of his hotel, and,by careful and systematic attention to details, he achieves the greatest success, and his fame attracts many of the best people to the " West Brighton Hotel." Mr. Bauer believes that liberality to the public begets their liberality in return; therefore, all the appointments in and about the hotel are of the best. Fine music is discoursed every afternoon and evening by two orchestras, one of them the famous " Vienna Ladies' Orchestra;" and by numerous soloists, both vocal and instrumental, attracting crowds of respectful listeners.

Administrative ability of the highest order is requisite for the management of so vast an institution; and this Mr. Bauer possesses in a rare degree ; as well as capacity for details, thoroughness, promptness, and financial ability. He also has the faculty of wisely selecting his assistants. His suc- cess at West Brighton has fully justified his judgment of seven years ago, and brought great pecumary gains from his investment in Coney Island sand.

He is a member of the Masonic order, also of several gun- clubs, and of some social organizations.

Naturally fond of society, Mr. Bauer is affable and pleas- ant in manner; and a gentleman who has gained and retains the friendship of thousands, and who feels a pardonable pride in the success which he has wrought out by his unaided efforts.

Paul Dauert

Selfman

FELTMAN'S OCEAN PAVILION-CONEY ISLAND.

199

FELTMAN'S OCEAN PAVILION, WEST BRIGHTON BEACH, CONEY ISLAND.

CHARLES FELTMAN, the first pioneer of Coney Island im- provement, was born at Verden, in Hanover, Germany, Nov. 8, 1841.

Very early in life, when but a mere boy, he became infatu- ated with the idea of leaving his native country for the shores of America ; and, as years rolled on, his thoughts kept pace with time, nntil, arriving at the age of fourteen years, despite the opposition of his parents and friends, without means and alone, he succeeded, after many disappointments, in finding a sailing-vessel on which he could work his passage as cabin- boy to a country he had often heard of, far beyond the sea.

Early on a bright May morning, in the year 1856, leaving all that was dear to him on earth, he sailed from Bremen, Germany, in the ship "Auguste; " and after several weeks at sea amid all kinds of weather and trials, he arrived a penni- less and friendless boy, among strangers in a strange land. Unable to speak the English language, and not having a friend to whom he could apply, he sought in vain for em- ployment and barely succeeded in obtaining the necessities of life by doing odd jobs occasionally picked up in the streets of New York.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I, Part 47

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1114

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114