Sir Henry Clinton, the British Commander in Chief
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Municipal Historian, 1977 Recipient of the 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, May 25th
May 25, 1934: Yonkers Chamber of Commerce Exposition Company President William Katz reported 27,000 tickets to the “Own Your Own Home” exposition at the Yonkers Armory had been sold! The big attraction for ticket sales was they also were chances… the winning ticket holder would win the St. John’s Avenue Chamber model house!
May 25, 1940: Assistant Secretary of the US Department of War Louis Johnson announced Yonkers industries were preparing for production of military goods. Although he refused to reveal exact details, he confirmed Yonkers’ factories were “militarized on paper.” He admitted some factories received what he called “educational orders” giving the companies “needed information, experience, special apparatus and equipment for the Government.”
Rumors floated around Yonkers that Otis Elevators already was operating under War Department orders anticipating government contracts; Smith Carpet Company allegedly was primed to make parachutes, blankets and duck for the war.
Tuesday, May 26th
May 26, 1927: Investigation of the February fire that almost destroyed the Yonkers Fur Dressing Company on Elm Street took a turn—they received new evidence! At the request of the fur company’s insurance firm, YPD Chief Quirk went to Lansing, Michigan. While there, he spoke to a man who agreed to return to Westchester as a State witness; they believed the man had been a “tool” of the arsonists.
District Attorney Arthur Rowland announced he was recalling the February Grand Jury to review new information brought to light by the witness. Rowland, announcing the investigation would be reopened, indicated he believed indictments would be returned… and men arrested.
The insurance firm insured very expensive furs; it believed he pricy furs were removed, replaced by cheaper furs… and it was those that burned in the fire.
Although the furs were insured for $167,000, Yonkers Fur Dressing Company agreed to a settlement of $97,000.
Wednesday, May 27th
May 27, 1942: Yonkers High graduate and cargo ship Captain Edward Richmond arrived safely in Barbados after his ship was destroyed by a torpedo attack. Four lifeboats launched within minutes and searched for survivors. A total of thirty people headed for shore. Three lifeboats went to Barbados; a fourth landed in Trinidad.
May 27, 1954: For the first time in more than thirty years, part of the Saw Mill River forced underground into the flume was exposed! On view were the stone walls built to create a shoulder for the flume beneath the Square.
Construction of an extension to the H. L. Green’s store removed an old concrete platform, exposing the river. The river would be recapped when the footings and floor were laid for the extension. There would be a new 65-seat restaurant in Green’s.
Thursday, May 28th
May 28, 1922: Mayor Walter Taussig opened the “Own Your Home” Exposition in the Armory on North Broadway, an exhibition sponsored by the Yonkers Real Estate Board of the Chamber of Commerce.
May 28, 1937: Children at Leake & Watts celebrated the Dionne Quintuplets’ third birthday with the help of the “Princess of Song,” Jessica Dragonette. Dragonette was a popular radio singer, extremely active in World War II efforts. Not only did she frequently perform for the troops, Dragonette sold a record number of war bonds. She performed so often for charities benefitting the troops, she was awarded an honorary commission as a Colonel. Dragonette was voted the best female singer in the country in 1943.
May 28, 1965: On his way to the airport and home, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stopped at Temple Emanu-El on Rumsey Road to see their display of African themed painting and sculpture in the Temple’s annual art exhibit!
Friday, May 29th
May 29, 1779: Sir Henry Clinton made his headquarters in the (Philipse) Manor House to plan attacks on Verplank and Stony Point.
Saturday, May 30th
May 30, 1872: Thomas Ludlow, opposition leader to Yonkers’ incorporation as a city, presented a protest petition to Governor Hoffman. According to Ludlow, the people living outside the boundaries of the Village of Yonkers in16 square miles of farmland, opposed becoming a city.
Resenting the lack of consultation, they stated it was “against the spirit of our institutions that any portion of the people of this State shall be subjected to an entire change in the form of their municipal government without some authorized expression of the will of the people to be affected thereby on that subject.”
Eight people signed Ludlow’s petition. Another resident claimed incorporation was the scheme of just three men and did not reflect the opinion of the majority of Yonkers.
Ludlow and Shonnard had led the opposition to creating the Village of Yonkers in 1854; the appeasement? The men who proposing the status change left out the Ludlow and Shonnard estates north and south of the village.
Sunday, May 31st
May 31, 1924: Alan L. Benson of Hawley Terrace sailed to Europe to study labor conditions; after he returning to the States, he planned to write a series of articles on his observations.
Benson was the first Yonkers resident to run for President of the United States; he ran on the Socialist Party ticket.
May 31, 1932: Many offers of vacant land for people to use for “subsistence gardens” poured into the Temporary Emergency Relief Office, 64 Main Street, from dozens of property owners. Boyce Thompson Institute soil experts Doctors Morris McCool and Percy Zimmerman promised to test the soil at each plot to ensure food would grow.
Any questions on this column, email yonkershistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, the Sherwood House Museum on Tuckahoe Road or their upcoming events, please visit their website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.