INSIDE

The long and SHORTO version.A reader’s review of the

Shorto book thatThe New York Times says will

“permanently alter the way weregard our collective past."

Getting to know you...Introducing the Conservancy’s

four new board members.

A Hall of Fame.The Conservancy decks VillageHall walls with notable artwork

and distinguished portraitsof our past.

With best wishes from Marjorie.A former villager donates

treasured keepsakes tolocal archives.

Something to crow about!A lovely watercolor of the

Crow’s Nest estate has beengiven to the Conservancy.

PLUS...Newsprint. So 20th-century.

Carolyn Martin goes googling.

SPRING 2007

Come prepared to be entranced as the dramatic history of Manhattan isunraveled by journalist and scholar Russell Shorto, our near neighbor in theHudson Valley and author of the highly praised The Island at the Center of theWorld. The Conservancy is pleased and honored to present Mr. Shorto as thespeaker at the ninth annual Brendan Gill Lecture on Friday, April 13, at 8:00p.m. in the Sommer Center at Concordia College.

As Kevin Baker wrote in The New York Times Book Review, Shorto wrote his best-seller with passion, verve, nuance and considerable humor -- a winning combi-nation that is sure to be translated into a captivating presentation. The AlbanyTimes-Union offers even more compelling positives: “Shorto reconstitutes historywith a novelist's touch, peoples his pages with flesh-and-blood characters wecare about and shifts seamlessly from the wide angle to a zoom-lens point ofview. He manages to pull off the difficult task of crafting a story that is at onceencyclopedic and microscopic.” Grab your pencil and mark your calendar forthis special event!

The Brendan Gill Lecture, created to honor former Bronxville resident BrendanGill, a beloved author, renowned architecture critic and popular writer for TheNew Yorker for 60 years, is an annual public event presented at no charge tothe community. The lecture is just one of the many programs the Conservancyoffers to increase the awareness of the village’s history and appreciation of itsculture.

A Publication of

The BronxvilleHistorical Conservancy

The ChronicleBronxville, New York

Above: A self-portrait of Mary FairchildMacMonnies Low, who moved to Bronxville inJanuary 1910 after years of work and study inFrance. One of her works, a charming sceneof toy sail boats on Bronxville Lake, will beamong several Conservancy paintings to bedisplayed in the newly renovated Village Hallwhen it opens this spring. More details inside! Shorto’s Story

Ninth Annual Brendan Gill LectureFriday, April 13, 2007, 8:00 p.m.

Enjoy a post-lecture champagne reception hosted byFriends of the Bronxville LibraryConcordia College Sommer Center

Call 914 337-9300, ext. 2111, for reservations.

“While the Puritans of New Englandwere founding a society based on

intolerance, on Manhattan theDutch created a free-trade,

upwardly mobile melting potthat would help shape not

only New York but America.”

A spectacular tale unfolds...

Without a doubt, Shorto is a prolific writer. He has written on topics as diverse asThomas Jefferson, the historical Jesus, psychiatry, gay marriage, Al Franken and – forchildren – the origins of ice cream and baseball bats. But it was his epic account ofthe Dutch settlement of Manhattan in his meticulously researched The Island at theCenter of the World that has fascinated American historians and history buffs. In thewords of Benjamin Franklin biographer Walter Isaacson, Shorto’s work “will transformthe way we look at American history.” Indeed, the history books are already beingrewritten.

“History is told by the winners,” and in 17th-century America it was the English whowere the eventual winners and thus wrote the history books. Nevertheless, until1664 when Peter Stuyvesant surrendered the island of Manhattan, it was theDutch who held sway. As Shorto has revealed, it is the Dutch, whoseattitudes of openness and tolerance fashioned the foundation of our freedoms,to whom we more properly owe our gratitude.

Come hear this exciting tale that began with Shorto’s ruminations while gazingat Stuyvesant’s tomb in the churchyard of St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery, which inturn led to a treasure of thousands of charred and moldy documentssecreted in an archive in Albany. This is the unraveling of history at its finest!

“One wonders what our first postmaster,

Lancaster Underhill, thought [in 1852] when his

neighbors decided to replace the community’s

original appellation of Underhill’s Crossing with

Bronxville. As long as anyone could remember, the

place had been known by his forebears’ name, an

acknowledgment of the fact that several genera-

tions of his family had owned much of the land on

which the community stood. Some years later, in

1915, perhaps the long-departed first postmaster

looked down in amusement as opposing factions

of the village argued over whether the name of

their locality should once again be changed to

either Gramatan or Gramatan Hills. Some even

suggested Lawrenceville. But the Bronck legacy

prevailed, Bronck was shortly thereafter memorial-

ized in a village logo, and the community has

been happy to be Bronxville ever since.”

Excerpted from Around Bronxvilleby Marilynn Wood Hill

and Mary Means Huber

Name that town.Bronck’s�ville.

The forgotten colony that shaped America.

The long story isSHORTO’s.

“A masterpiece of storytelling andfirst-rate intellectual history”-Wall Street Journal

Jonas Bronck, for whom Bronxville is named, is among theadventurous settlers mentioned in Shorto’s book. He was the son of a

Lutheran pastor who became a sailor, settler and farmer.

Scandinavian-born Jonas Bronck arrived in Manhattan from Hoorn,Holland in July of 1639 on his sailing ship, the “Brand van Trogen.” Hebrought his wife, the former Antonia Slaghorn, his servant, cattle, andsignificant personal property. His personal effects, including a silver tableservice, a supply of fine clothing, a rather large library of navigationalbooks and even a Japanese cutlass, were sufficient to have him markedas a man of means.

In a pre-arranged agreement with the West India Company, hestaked out a claim of approximately 500 acres of hills and meadows lyingnorth of the confluence of the Harlem and the East rivers...an area thatbecame known as "Bronck's Land." (The first time that the current spellingof Bronck’s Land was used was in 1697 when the First Legislature outlinedthe County of West Chester, East Chester, “Bronx Land,”...) Even thoughrecords show that Jonas Bronck owned the property for only four years, thename remained.

Regardless of the fact that he had been granted the right to settle thisland by the the West India Company, to hiscredit, Bronck also signed a deal with twoIndian Sachems, recognizing local customand hoping to insure hissurvival.

This done, Bronck built himself a housenot far from the water that was later the siteof a peace treaty signed by the natives andDutch authorities. He also built a tobaccobarn to house one of the first crops grown in the area.

In spite of Bronck's outstanding character and his friendly attitudetoward the Indians, he was massacred during a raid on his farm in 1643.

Sources: bronxmall.com, ancestry.com, theamazingbronx.com,freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com

A Real Character

BY CAROLYN MARTIN

outh involvement is a priority fornew board member Judy Unis, whobrings an educational perspective toher commitment to the Conservancy.Although Judy has a bachelorsdegree in nursing from Johns Hopkins,her professional career has been asan educator, beginning in 1973 whenshe served as a docent at the BronxZoo. She hasn’t stopped since! Mostof the last 33 years there were spentas an instructor in elementary educa-tion and curriculum development.

The Unis family moved to the vil-lage in the spring of 1978. Until 1994, when their youngest songraduated from high school, many of Judy’s volunteer activitieswere school related, including chair of the Bronxville HighSchool Council. Since then, she has served on several boards --the most interesting, she says, is her work with The GrenfellAssociation of America where she is involved in allocating fundsfor medical and social programs in Labrador andNewfoundland.

Armed with a masters degree in environmental education,since 1999 Judy has coordinated federal education grants andcurrently coordinates the program, “Teens for Planet Earth.” (Seewww.teensforplanetearth.org) A Goldman Foundation granthelped introduce her to the concept of service-learning, whichshe promises to share with the Conservancy. Her hope is to estab-lish a relationship with the Bronxville School so students will be ableto identify and implement service-learning projects related toBronxville history.

am thrilled to be a part of the Conservancy!” says Bridget Gibbons.Since she and her husband, Andrew Sapon, moved to Bronxville in 2000,Bridget has been very interested in the architectural and cultural history ofthe village. She looks forward to actively promoting our organization toraise awareness of the importance of its role, and to increase membership,too.

In addition to her professional career as a technology consultant withWatson Wyatt Worldwide, a global Human Resources consulting company,Bridget devotes her boundless energy toward making a difference in ourvillage. At the Bronxville School, where Bridget’s son Liam is in the fifthgrade, Bridget is current president of the PTA, and before that, she servedas their vice president of grants and two-time chair of the Memorial Day

Fundraiser. The Junior League and PaddleCommittee have also benefited from her market-ing know-how.

Bridget has a Bachelor of Arts degree inInternational Studies from American University anda Certificate in Computer Technology fromColumbia University.

Right: Dale Walker.Leonard Morange Squareand the American Legion

post are named for hergreat-uncle. Her great-grandfather, Edward A.

Morange, was a partner inthe development of

Sagamore Park.

Bridget Gibbons

lifelong resident of Bronxville, Dale Walkerreceived a degree in history from the University ofVirginia. Her interest in the BHC is a natural exten-

sion of her love of the subject and her family's long ties to the village.Her parents, Bud and Berta Hanson, were the first non-family owners ofthe Alexander Masterton house, Ridgecroft, at 90 White Plains Road. Thehouse was built in 1835, the same year Besson Oil was established – onlythen it was just Besson,purveyors of whale oil, coal and lumber. For twenty-five years Dale hasbeen the general manager of this family business, working alongside herparents and her husband David, another Bronxville native.

Dale has a strong commitment to the community, where she hasserved as president of the Junior League of Bronxville, chair of theJansen Memorial Hospice Council, Alumni Relations chair of theBronxville School Foundation and vice president of the Bronxville FieldClub. She is an Elder of the Reformed Church of Bronxville and is also thesoloist each year at the Memorial Day Parade and at the VillagePageant on Christmas Eve. When she's not working, volunteering, playingthe piano or reading, she's enjoying time with her family or contemplat-ing the best venue for bringing to life the World War I letters of her avia-tor great-uncles, Leonard (RAF) and Irving Morange (AEF).Leonard and Irving Morange

he village of Bronxville hasan important architectural andtown design legacy to be pre-served and enhanced,” saidnew board member PeterGisolfi, who is interested inhelping provide a thoughtfulstewardship of this legacy in histenure as Conservancy boardmember.

Peter is an accomplishedstructural and landscape archi-tect, and teacher whoseimpressive work is well known inBronxville. The ElementarySchool, the Library and current-ly, the renovation of VillageHall, as well as several historicBronxville homes, bear hisdesign signature.

His award-winning architec-tural work is expansive -- frommaster plans for universities torestorations and creative trans-formations of historic buildingsand landscapes that whereoriginally designed by some ofthe most significant Americanarchitects of the 19th and early20th centuries.

Peter’s approach to designwas inspired by his studies inmusic theory and compositionas an undergraduate at Yaleand his graduate training inarchitecture as well as land-scape architecture at theUniversity of Pennsylvania. Hefounded the firm of PeterGisolfi Associates in 1976 inHastings-on-Hudson, New Yorkwhere he is principal-in-chargeof design.

Peter Gisolfi

The Bronxville Library, renovation byPeter Gisolfi & Associates

Welcome On Board!Judy Unis

A

“I “T

Y

We salute our new board members and welcome theirenthusiasm, their fresh perspectives, and their expertise!

Francis Bacon, 1898-1900 Frank Chambers, 1900-1902 H. Ward Leonard, 1902-1903 Alfred E. Smith, 1912 -1913 Arthur F. Corwin, 1922 - 1923

The eagerly anticipated re-opening of Village Hall is upon us, and the BHC is makingfinal preparations to implement several ventures for the remodeled and expandedbuilding. The architect for the project, new Board member Peter Gisolfi, has designedinterior spaces conducive to the display of the art and enlargements of vintagephotographs and postcards that have been acquired by the Conservancy.

The portraits of the village’s past mayors that were always hung in the two long hall-ways flanking the entrance foyer have all been unframed and, thanks to formerBoard member Patty Dohrenwend, the portraits have been scanned and digitized atthe Westchester County Archive. Because the originals are not archivally stable, theywill be stored in the Local History Room. Reproductions will be displayed instead inVillage Hall.

Village Historian and Board member Eloise Morgan has considerably expanded overthe years the collection of vintage color and black and white postcards of Bronxvillethat are kept in the Local History Room. One of these postcards, a hand-coloredimage of the first 1906 Village Hall has been enlarged and framed as a companion toa beautiful watercolor rendering of the original (current) 1942 building. Approximatelythirty other postcards and photographs selected by Jayne Warman and former MayorNancy Hand have been similarly prepared to hang in the public spaces and officesthroughout the building.

Under the direction of Bronxville resident Florence Kooluris of The Fine Arts Gallery, allof the images have been matted using archival materials, re-framed and coveredwith UV protective acrylic to prevent fading and damage. As a result the mayors’portraits and scenes of old Bronxville will be preserved for years to come.

Lastly, the ten paintings by Bronxville’s resident artists which the Conservancy hasacquired in the past five years will find a permanent home in Village Hall. Theyinclude works by Will Hicok Low and and his wife Mary Fairchild Low, Orrin SheldonParsons, Spencer Nichols, George Smillie, Bruce Crane, Charles L. Hinton, Walter Clark,and others.

This important project, directed by Jayne Warman and funded entirely by theConservancy, reflects the organization’s strong commitment to preserving thewonderful visual history of the village for all to enjoy.

Deck the Hall.When Bronxville’s Village Hall re-opens this spring after its first renovation since architectRandolph Evan’s design was completed in 1942, it will be graced with treasured artwork,thanks to the generosity of The Bronxville Historical Conservancy and the untiring efforts ofthe Conservancy’s art committee -- especially its chairman, art historian Jayne Warman.

Sheila S. Stein, 1987 - 1993Harry G. Kimball, 1931 - 1939 Walter J. Hughes, 1969 - 1972Ralph B. Maltby, 1942 -1952 Marcia Lee, 1977 - 1980

Right: A vintage postcard of the old Village Hallthat has been enlarged and framed. In 1906,

William Van Duzer Lawrence joined forces withFrank Chambers to give Bronxville this first

municipal building which was on the site of theold blacksmith shop at the junction of Pondfield

Road and Kraft Avenue, now the location of abridal shop. The building housed the fire depart-

ment (and its horses), library, post office,swimming pool, bowling alley and government

offices. It was demolished in the late 1930s.

Village Heads.Heading up Bronxville since its incorporation in 1898 have been 35 mayors, who,until 1929, were given the title of president. These men and women have been

part of a growing historic photographic portrait collection. Thanks toConservancy efforts, original photographs have been scanned and preserved;

reproductions have been beautifully framed for public display in Village Hall.Pictured below: A selection of mayors from each decade.

Half a dozen century-old photographs of one of Bronxville’s earliest artists, Will H. Low,were donated recently to the Bronxville Local History Room by the artist’s step-granddaughter, Marjorie Waller Young. Photos of several of Low’s classical muralsand other work were also included in the gift from Mrs. Young, who grew up inBronxville and now lives in Maui, Hawaii.

Two of the photos of Low, dating from 1897, show the artist in his LawrencePark studio at 24 Prescott Avenue. In one, Low and an associate paint over-sized academic oval murals, or lunettes, that were installed in the firstWaldorf Astoria Hotel (located on what is now the site of the Empire StateBuilding). In the other, (pictured to the right) Low poses in front of his studio’smassive stone fireplace just below a plaster medallion (cropped from photo)by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens depicting Low’s friend Robert LouisStevenson. The fireplace and medallion survive today little changed.Another of the donated images, originally published in McClure’s magazinein 1895 shows Low in the lower Manhattan studio he maintained before mov-ing to Bronxville.

Marjorie Young, granddaughter of Low’s second wife, Mary FairchildMacMonnies Low, recalls childhood visits to the Low studio where long, narrowtrap-doors in the floor allowed the artist to lower his huge canvasses into the base-ment below so that “Low could stand comfortably on the floor of the studio, with histable of supplies and big curved palette conveniently at hand, to paint on the top ofa mural, instead of teetering on the top of a ladder.” The trapdoors would have beenheavily used between 1913 and 1918 when Low painted three dozen 12-foot tall classicalmurals that still hang in the New York State Education Building in Albany. Outlines of the trap-doors can be detected today in the floor of the studio, which is now a spacious family room.

Mrs. Young discovered the old photographs among her things in Hawaii and decided they should be available tohistorians in Bronxville. With the help of her childhood friends Art Dornheim of Bethesda, Maryland, and Bette Dornheim of Bronxville, thephotographs have become a wonderful addition to the collection at the Bronxville Local History Room.

Marjorie Waller Young, Bronxville High School Class of ‘38, sent her best wishes toclassmate Arthur Dornheim, along with recollections and rare photos.Arthur’s sister, Bette, brought them to Bronxville for safe-keeping.

Efforts are heating up to determine the fate of what some think was anhistoric log cabin, built in 1929 in honor of young Betty Parker whodied on a Bronxville School graduation trip.

Newly acquired photo ofWill Hicok Low

With all good wishes,Marjorie...

Cabin FeverThe Girl Scouts enjoying their new cabin in 1932, pictured to the left,would no doubt be dismayed to know that a raging fire this pastChristmas day marked the end of the log cabin-style building. In 1929,with donated funds, the cabin was constructed on Dewitt Avenue. In1954, to accommodate an extension of Paxton Avenue, it was movedabout 400 feet into the new Maltby Park. When falling membershipmade maintenance of the cabin economically unfeasible in the 1980s,The Girl Scouts of Westchester-Putnam gave it to the Village of Bronxville.For more than 20 years, the cabin, which was available for rent to localgroups and individuals, was single-handedly managed on a volunteerbasis by long-time resident and former Village Trustee Dorothy Brennan.Currently, a committee of residents, chaired by former Mayor SheilaStein, is evaluating the possibility of rebuilding the cabin and/or otheruses for the cabin site and Maltby Park. Villagers have or will soon receivea survey seeking their opinions about the future of the area.

Bronxville History Found

Bronxville History Lost

BY ELOISE MORGAN

BY ELOISE MORGAN

BY CAROLYN MARTINThanks to frustration and Google, theConservancy Board has discovered thatthe 21st century is an especially excitingtime to be involved with local history.

The frustration emanated from trying to findan affordable way to index the more thanone hundred years of newspapers that arepresently stored – in both original andmicrofilm versions – in the Local HistoryRoom at the library. Preserved, but noteasily accessible.

The Google part came about from wonder-ing why we can search nearly 150 years of

The New York Times from the comfort of ourhome computers but one has to be physi-cally present in the History Room even tosee, let alone search, back issues of theReview Press. Then someone told us toGoogle “newspaper digitization.” Ah – averitable Pandora’s Box! – but in a goodway.

We discovered there is a national move-ment afoot that recognizes that local col-lections of historic memorabilia – especiallynewspapers – are not merely the recount-ing of local happenings, but also of theindigenous opinions and attitudes toward

national and world events that are record-ed nowhere else. Consequently, all overthe country libraries and historical societiesare scanning their archives onto theInternet for all to see and search.

We are becoming familiar with terms like“optical character recognition” and “scan-ner compatibility,” but we have a way togo. Any techies out there who would liketo give us the benefit of their expertise?Please e-mail -- carokei@msn.com. We’dbe ever so grateful!

G o n e G o o g l i n g .

something to crow about....An historic painting comes home

to roost in Bronxville.

Newsprint is so last century.With the help of her favorite search engine, Carolyn Martin mines the Internet for ways to digitize newspaper archives.

BY MARILYNN WOOD HILL

Through the great generosity of formerBronxville residents Mary and MarshallBassett, the Conservancy is now the proudowner of an important work of art byBronxville's first renowned artist, FrancisEdmonds.

A well-known painter -- and banker -- ofthe mid-19th century, Edmonds amassed alarge landed estate in the village around1850 and built the first Crow's Nest man-sion. Shortly after building his home, hecreated a watercolor image of the site(gouache on brown paper). This is theearliest known depiction of Crow's Nestand is frequently requested for use inmuseum shows and articles on Edmonds.

For years the Crow's Nest image was inthe possession of Edmonds' descen-dants. In the 1970s it was sold toEdmonds' scholar Maybelle Mann wholater placed it with Berry-Hill Galleries.Marshall Bassett's mother from NorthCarolina was on an art appreciationtour of New York City in the 1990s andsaw the image at Berry-Hill. Recognizingthe name was the same as theBronxville street where her son lived, shepurchased it as a gift for their family.

When the Bassetts moved to Philadelphia in 1997, the Crow's Nest art went with them and was subsequently taken to the Philadelphia ArtConservation Center for proper care and framing. The Bassetts have allowed the use of the image in a number of publications, includingthe Conservancy's Journal (see vol. I). Recently they heard about the Conservancy's art collection and notified us that they thought thiswork of art should be returned to its proper home -- Bronxville. A wonderfully generous gesture for the village!

Editor’s Note: Read more about Francis Edmonds, the man who “gave unstintingly to his community as to his professional careers” inMarilynn Wood Hill’s biography of this artist, banker and gentleman farmer in Volume I of The Bronxville Journal.

Above: Francis W. Edmonds, who built “CrowʼsNest” in 1850, was also the artist who createdthis1851 watercolor of his new home. Thepicture was recently given to The BronxvilleHistorical Conservancy by Bronxville residentsMary and Marshall Bassett.Left: Crowʼs Nest today.

...OldNews...

The ChroniclePublished by the

Bronxville Historical Conservancy© SPRING 2007

Designed & Edited by Nancy VittoriniSubmissions welcome!

The Bronxville Historical Conservancy wasfounded in 1998 to further the understanding andappreciation of the history and current life of the

Village of Bronxville, New York.The Conservancy furthers its mission through the

presentation of programs, publications, lectures andspecial events that foster an awareness of the

village’s architectural, artistic and cultural heritageand lends its support for projects designed to

strengthen and preserve those legacies.

The BronxvilleHistorical Conservancy

P. O. Box 989Bronxville, NY 10708

SAVE THE DATE!Rupert and Anne Cox

will be our gracious hostsfor the

FALL HOUSE TOUROCTOBER 21, 2007

Though our Local History Roomarchives do not have an image ofJonas Bronck, the early settler

FROM WHOMBRONXVILLE DERIVES

ITS NAME, it now has an imageof one of his descendants -- and hisnamesake. Village Historian Eloise

Morgan found a happy picture ofyoung Jonas (who has dropped the “c” in his last name) and his bride, Alexandra,

in the Weddings page of the November 26, 2006 issue of The New York Times.

IT’S ALL RELATIVE(S). Spotted in the February 2007 issue of TheErickson Tribune, a photo of former resident, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, with herhusband, the General George, and his brother, Thomas. The photo was used toillustrate the article, “How to Preserve Cherished Photos and Papers.” The mostimportant factor in preservation? Relative humidity. The Library of Congress wasthe source of picture-preserving tips and the Custer family photo.

General George Armstrong Custer, his wife, ElizabethBacon Custer, and his brother, Thomas W. Custer.

The newlyweds: Alexandra Bresnanand Jonas Bronk. The New York Times

The Cox Home279 Pondfield Road,

an exquisite Mediterranean-style homebuilt by Lewis Bowman in 1926.