General Benjamin Lincoln used the Thomas Valentine Homestead in Yonkers during the Revolutionary War
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Municipal Historian, recipient of the 1977 Key to the City of Yonkers, President Emeritus Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board Member, Founder of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, March 16th
March 16, 1930: Members of the Westchester County Historical Society chose a 10-ton boulder, found when building near Central Avenue, to mark the old Thomas Valentine homestead on Valentine’s Hill. The site was used twice by General George Washington, as well as General Benjamin Lincoln; both Patriot and Loyalist troops camped there during the Revolution! It now is the site of St. Joseph’s Seminary and College.
March 16, 1934: Public Safety Commissioner Denis Morrissey announced a bronze memorial plaque remembering Patrolman Patrick Whalen, the hero who gave his life to save a little girl in the RKO Proctor Theater blast. The tablet would be placed in Police Headquarters.
The department’s Honor Board also voted to create a resolution extolling Whalen’s heroism and to retire the late officer’s shield. Both would be presented to his widow.
Tuesday, March 17th
March 17, 1943: Aviation Cadet Frank Falcone of Waverly Street sang with Dinah Shore and William Gargan after an Army Air Base “Soldiers with Wings” broadcast from the West Coast Training Center! Falcone was in training to become a bombardier.
March 17, 1966: Baseball hero Jackie Robinson addressed the parents and children of School 22! Invited by Yonkers resident Reverend Wyatt Tee Walker, Special Assistant to Governor Rockefeller for Urban Affairs, Robinson not only spoke to the audience about his time in baseball, but also about his son wounded in Viet Nam. He advised parents not to push children, but to let them play ball to learn team spirit, both in sports and in the community.
Wednesday, March 18th
March 18, 1940: A New York City construction company announced their plans to build garden apartments on Hilltop Acres at St. Johns Avenue and Midland Terrace. They intended to build 375 apartments in 22 buildings, with a cost of one million dollars.
March 18, 1942: A huge Army truck carrying a dismantled Army plane tried to travel on the Saw Mill River Parkway. It traveled along nicely until it came to the footbridge leading to Tibbetts Brook Park; it just could go no further… the truck was just too big. The truck backed up a quite a distance, turned around, got off the parkway and took another route! Park Superintendent George Haight made it very clear that when the Saw Mill was named a defense highway, the County Park Commission sent the US Army the widths and clearances of all bridges spanning the road. Haight added he just did not understand why the Army would send such a large truck that never could squeeze under any of the bridges!
Thursday, March 19th
March 19, 1650: Van der Donck signed a contract with the Dutch West India Company and others for the transportation of 200 people to New Netherlands.
March 19, 1890: St. Joseph’s Hospital officially opened to the public on the feast of St. Joseph. Notwithstanding a snowstorm that slowed both mail and transportation, a large number of people attended the opening. Promptly at 9 a.m., St. Mary’s Church pastor Rev. Charles Corley blessed the building and led clergy and sisters on a candlelight procession, sprinkling holy water to consecrate the building as they went. A solemn high mass was celebrated in the new chapel by Father Corley and other priests, with music supplied by the Mount St. Vincent choir. All guests then continued the festivities with a delicious dinner, no doubt served by the good Sisters. St. Joseph’s Hospital was ready to serve the people of Yonkers!
Friday, March 20th
March 20, 1915: A cattle transport docked at the Yonkers Pier; five hundred Army horses kept at the Empire City Race Track were shipped to France for their war effort.
March 20, 1933: Joseph Brodsky, Chief Counsel for the nine Scottsboro Boys, asked attorney Irvin Klein of Highland Place to assist him defending the young men against their murder charges in their retrial. The African American boys faced death in the electric chair, accused and convicted of raping two white women. Their defense team, aided by the Communist Party USA and the NAACP, had brought the case to the US Supreme Court; the court found irregularities in their trials, including a poor defense, and sent the case back to the original court to be reheard.
Lester Carter, a slim blonde youth who had ridden the train with the nine boys, had appeared in Yonkers several months earlier, and swore to the Scottsboro Boys’ innocence.
Saturday, March 21st
March 21, 1923: Palisade Avenue’s Samuel Hubbard Jr., the first Yonkers man to arrive in France after war was declared, was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, with an additional citation for his meritorious service in the World War. Major Hubbard had gone to France with General John Pershing on the first American Expeditionary Force transport, May 1917.
March 21, 1931: Two cedar trees from Wakefield Virginia, birthplace of George Washington’s birthplace, were planted on the lawn in front of the Manor Hall to celebrate the Bicentennial of Washington’s birth.
No longer on the property, these historic trees are thought to have been victims of disease.
Sunday, March 22nd
March 22, 1908: More than 300 samples of projects done by students in the Yonkers Evening High School architectural and mechanical drawing classes were displayed at the school.
March 22, 1944: Yonkers Public Schools set a new record for scrap paper collection, almost doubling their former high collection! Students donated 104,691 pounds of paper, more than 52 tons!
Top school, was School 26; the average donation was just under 75 pounds per student.
If you have questions, please email yonkershistory1646@gmail.com. For information on Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming events, please visit their website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org
