In 2002, we launched Green-Wood’s Civil War Project. We wanted to identify and locate the graves of Civil War veterans who are interred at Green-Wood.

The Civil War Infantryman at Green-Wood.
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And, over the years, as hundreds and hundreds of volunteers have worked on this, we have made remarkable discovery after remarkable discovery. First, we started out hoping to identify 500 Civil War veterans. But, we have gone past 5,000 now–including 75 Confederates and women who served as nurses, as well as abolitionists, equipment manufacturers, and more.  And, we are amazed at how many of these men–2000 of the 5000–a full 40%– were in completely unmarked graves. They had nothing marking their final resting place–their name was nowhere to be found!

So, that’s where the Veterans Administration came in. For more than a century, the United States government has run a program to mark the unmarked graves of our veterans. But, something went very wrong recently. A year ago, the VA started enforcing an ill-conceived regulation that limited those who could apply for a marker, on behalf of a long dead veteran lying in an unmarked grave, to a direct descendant. No longer could a historian or researcher right the wrong of an unmarked grave of a forgotten veteran. If you served your country, but had no children, too bad. If you served your country in the Revolutionary War, had children, but your line of descent died out after 200 years, too bad.

These graves of Civil War veterans were marked with VA-supplied gravestones.
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Just a week ago, we launched “Mark Their Graves,”an online petition drive to reverse this awful rule. This is part of a broader plan to get this regulation changed: legislation just has been introduced in Congress to reverse this regulation. Please join us in this effort to right this wrong. Read the stories of the men who served and sacrificed–and who lie in unmarked graves. Their graves should be marked. Their service should be honored. Please help. Contact your representative and senators. And get others to sign our petition. Spread the word!

Mark Their Graves!
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The entrance to the exhibition features huge color panoramic photographs by Jeff Liao,

Eight panoramic photographs by Jeff Liao greet the visitor. They capture Green-Wood in all its seasonal brilliance.
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Inside the exhibition gallery, a slide show of sepia photographs of Green-Wood monuments and mausoleums by Colin Winterbottom of Washington, D.C., is projected onto a gallery wall:

Photographer Colin Winterbottom is a great fan of Green-Wood. His sepia photographs of its monuments and mausoleums are moving and spiritual.
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The exhibition offers many evocative artifacts from the Green-Wood Historic Fund Collections and the Museum of the City of New York. Hudson River School paintings have been lent by the New-York Historical Society. The painters of these works chose Green-Wood as their final resting place, undoubtedly concluding that the Nature that they painted as a golden glow, a benign force in the world, was reflected by Green-Wood’s picturesque and romantic landscape.

The exhibition also features 3D images, circa 1870, of Green-Wood.

These viewers were specially-manufactured for this show. They allow exhibition visitors the rare treat of seeing Green-Wood's historic landscape, and some of its most famous, but long-dead, permanent residents, in 3D.
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Because of the brilliant design of Abbott Miller of Pentagram, visitors the the Museum will be able to step into Green-Wood–the floor of the exhibition space has been printed with maps of the landmark cemetery.

The display cases were created so as to appear to be hanging lanterns, positioned on the cemetery's map above the final resting place of the individual whose accomplishments are shown in that particular display case.
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This note informs the visitor that he or she is about to enter Green-Wood--to discover its map, its history, its permanent residents.
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A sample of the show: the case at left has a report of mobster Joey Gallo's murder and Domino Sugar containers from the Havemeyers. A large print of the Fireman's Monument (1847) hangs on the wall and to its right is a marble bust of Lieutenant Henry Hidden (who died in a gallant cavalry charge during the Civil War), signed and dated 1863 by Karl Mueller (who also sculpted Hidden's bronze monument at Green-Wood). On the wall is a playbill for "Our American Cousin" (whose star, Laura Keene, is interred at Green-Wood); she was on stage at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening, April 14, 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The case at right displays Lorillard Tobacco tins and an Underwood typewriter.
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These two monitors show photographs of Green-Wood--the one at left features images of recent Green-Wood events--concerts, tours, commemorations, unveilings of new sculpture--while the monitor at right features a video of the sculpture "Civic Virtue" being brought to Green-Wood, as well as before and after photographs of monument restorations.
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There is wonderful art in the exhibition: prints, paintings, and sculpture. This is a portrait of Louisa Crawford by her sculptor-husband Thomas. Both are interred at Green-Wood. Thomas Crawford is best known for his statue of "Freedom" that tops the United States Capitol.
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Though Green-Wood is 175 years old, it is still active–both for burials and for events. In fact, never in its history has it offered so much in terms of social events, historic tours and commemorations, concerts, dances, dramatic performances, and so much more. Its famous are not just men and women of the 19th century-though there are many of those featured in the exhibition, including Horace Greeley, Boss Tweed, Currier and Ives, F.A.O. Schwarz, Charles Ebbets, to name a few–but also those who made their mark in the 20th century. So, Maestro Leonard Bernstein, Fred Ebb (of the famed Broadway song-writing team of Kander and Ebb, who wrote the score for “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” as well as “New York, New York,” Jean-Michel Basquiat (the Andy Warhol protege who died so young; his paintings now sell for millions), and Walter Dorwin Teague, one of the 20th century’s most important industrial designers.

These items, from The Green-Wood Historic Fund's Collections, were designed by Walter Dorwin Teague. They are great examples of his brilliant work--a Sparton radio and two Kodak cameras in Art Deco style.
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Coverage of the opening was remarkable. The New York Times ran a report a report by Jospeh Berger, “A Museum Plot For Green-Wood Cemetery.”

NY1 covered the exhibition with this report and video. News12 aired this video. WCBS Radio had an account on its website, with a brief interview by Marla Diamond of Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman. WFUV also covered the opening. The Associated Press story, by Ula Ilnytzky , “NY’s Largest Cemetery Celebrates 175th Anniversary,” ran in dozens of newspapers across the country.

The show was curated by Donald Albrecht. Associate curator is Susan Johnson.

The Museum of the City of New York is at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street in Manhattan. You may find more about the exhibition on its website here. The exhibition runs through October 13. Don’t miss it!

Art has long been unhappy with the Japanese Yews that visitors saw upon passing through Green-Wood’s Arches. There they were, up on the hill surrounding the monument to Joseph Perry, Green-Wood’s 19th-century comptroller (and brother-in-law of Henry Pierrepont, Green-Wood’s founder). They were evergreen; that’s true. And they had been nicely pruned and shaped over the last few years. But they were nothing special, at best. So Art had his eye on them, and it did not end well for them; now they are no more.

These stairs were surrounded by Japanese Yews; those shrubs have just been removed.
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In their place, a grove of 26 flowering Dogwoods has been planted on that hill. As they fill in and mature in the coming years, their spring bloom will be spectacular. And good news for our Memorial Day Concert attendees–these trees will provide much-needed shade on that hill, which affords excellent sight lines to enjoy the music.

Digging holes to plant 26 Dogwoods is a lot easier with a drill bit this size.
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A few of the Dogwoods, pink and white, planted; a few more awaiting their new homes.
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And Art is not stopping there. A grove of 14 Crab Apples (variety Sugar Tyme) is being planted just inside Green-Wood’s Fifth Avenue entrance, on the right hand side of the entrance road. Farther up that road,  four Dogwoods, 3 Pinus Parviflora, and an Oriental Spruce will welcome visitors. And 10 Sugar Maples, offering spectacular red fall foliage, will be scattered along Arbor, Bayview, and Battle Avenues. And 20 American Elms, a variety called Valley Forge that is resistant to Dutch Elm disease, are being planted along Meadow Avenue, replacing the Pears that were splintered and destroyed by Sandy. In all, 175 trees are being planted.

Merry spring!

The cover of the memorial book.
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Not very impressive on the outside. But, on the inside . . .

It was described by the seller as follows:

An original and very ornate one of a kind MEMORIAL book prepared by the BROOKLYN CITY GUARD, an early Militia regiment, to honor the memory of a former officer R.V.W. THORNE, JR. who died April 5, 1875. The book had been hand printed by William Peacon [ "Penman" ] of Brooklyn in a form of calligraphy, and was obviously prepared for presentation to the Thorne family. Included is a testimonial to the Captain’s character and resolutions honoring his memory. Signed by officers and a number of members. Eight pages, prepared on thick card stock with tissue separating each page, gold edged and finely bound into a leather “Memorial” book, size 7 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ [glare on cover photo is from scanner]. The front cover is starting to separate but can easily be re-glued and light wear is obvious, otherwise very good condition and unique….CAPTAIN RICHARD THORNE [ 1822-1875 ] had attended West Point Military Academy but resigned in 1839 after accumulating many demerits. He then joined the Brooklyn City Guard, a New York militia regiment in 1844. He later commanded a company of the guard in the newly-designated 13th New York Regiment during the Civil War. In civilian life he was a well known Brooklyn businessman . . .

Well, I thought that was interesting. A Brooklyn guy! Perhaps, I thought, he might be resting at Green-Wood. I checked our online Burial Search for a man with first initial “R” and last name Thorne–and there he was:

The results of the search on Green-Wood's website.
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As you can see, three men named Richard Thorne came up in the search. But there was only one with initials V.W.–and he was interred within weeks of the captain’s death–leading me to guess (correctly, as it turned out) that he had been interred within a few days of his death in another lot, then transferred into lot 21943 soon thereafter–explaining the gap of about one month between the death listed in the memorial book and the interment in that lot at Green-Wood.

So, the good news: I was able to buy this memorial book for The Green-Wood Historic Fund’s Collections. And it is very impressive on the inside:

The dedication to Captain Richard V.W. Thorne, Jr.
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Another page from the memorial tribute--a very nice example of William Peacon's calligraphy. That bottom line reads: *WILLIAM V. PEACON, PENMAN 415 FULTON ST. BKLYN**
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And there was this page, with the signature of the men who had served in the Brooklyn City Guard under Captain Thorne, and wanted to join in this tribute to him:

These men of the Brooklyn City Guard signed in tribute to their beloved captain.
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I suspect some of these men may also be at Green-Wood–I just haven’t had a chance to check on that yet. That’s a project for another day . . .

I did do some further research on Thorne. It appears that his father was quite promient in Brooklyn: a founder of the Long Island Insurance Company and represented Brooklyn in the New York State Assembly during the 1830s.

And, then, after receiving the memorial tribute in the mail, I reread the seller’s description (printed above) and realized that, not only was Captain Thorne a member of Brooklyn’s City Guard during the 1870s, but he was also a Civil War veteran. So I checked our biographical dictionary of Civil War veterans and there was his biography:

THORNE, JR., RICHARD V. W. (1821-1875). Captain, 13th Regiment, New York State Militia, Company G. Enlisting as a captain on April 23, 1861, at Brooklyn, he was commissioned into Company D of the 13th New York State Militia on May 14, and mustered out on August 6 at Brooklyn. On May 28, 1862, he was again commissioned into the same regiment and company and mustered out after three months on September 12 at Brooklyn. Prior to the War, the men of this regiment awarded him with a Presentation Grade 1850 Foot Officer Sword and Scabbard. It bears the inscription, “Presented by the Brooklyn City Guard to Capt. R.V.W. Thorne, Jr., 1859.” His last residence was 24 South Portland Avenue in Brooklyn. Section 187, lot 21943.

Anybody out there have that sword?

Here is Captain Thorne’s final resting place:

Here lies Captain Richard V.W. Thorne and his wife Cornelia. It should be noted that a letter from the recording secretary of the Brooklyn City Guard, Company G, dated December 9, 1890, pays tribute to her: "As the wife of our former Captain Mrs. Thorne took a deep interest in the welfare of this Company which even after his decease did not lessen."
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So, there we are. Richard V. W. Thorne, Jr., served as a captain of Company G of the 13th Regiment during the Civil War. He then served as a captain of the Brooklyn City Guard. His men loved him; they joined in a tribute to him upon his death. And, upon his death, he was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. Now, his memorial book joins him there.

We are ready to celebrate–in both big and small ways. In mid-May, a landmark exhibition, “A Beautiful Way To Go,” devoted to telling the story of Green-Wood and its permanent residents, will open at the Museum of the City of New York. Through this year, we will have events celebrating our 175th. And, we will publish a book in honor of our 175th later this year, with essays by leading scholars, including two Pulitzer Prize winners in history.

And, in 2013, thanks largely to the efforts of Chelsea Dowell, our manager of programs and events, Green-Wood is offering a full calendar of exciting and varied tours, book talks, and much more. You may find them all on our calendar.

As April 18 approaches, our preparations continue. Yesterday, banners announcing our pride in 175 years of serving Brooklyn, New York City, America, and the world, designed by Michael Gerbino of Archigrafika (which also does graphic design for Trinity Church, among other clients) were hung on our Historic Chapel and our landmarked Arches.

Green-Wood's entrance Arches are New York City landmarks. They got dressed up yesterday with these handsome banners.
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Utility Mechanic William Rivera celebrates from the bucket truck, with two drills aloft, the mounting of these banners on the Historic Chapel.
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Green-Wood's Vincent Joseph does some final straightening of the Chapel's banners.
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We encourage you to join in Green-Wood’s celebration of its 175th anniversary in 2013.

New York’s City Hall, designed by Green-Wood resident John McComb, Jr. and Joseph Mangin, has stood, majestic, since 1811. It is little changed from the day it was built save an Alabama limestone cladding added in the mid-1950s.

John McComb's and Joseph Mangin's City Hall, in a half-stereoscopic view, circa 1865. Note the vendors in the foreground.
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McComb’s name is seldom recognized today, even though several of his buildings survive in Manhattan: Gracie Mansion (1799), now the Mayor of New York City’s official residence in the north end of Carl Schurz Park at 89th Street and East End Avenue, Castle Clinton (1808), the fort at the Battery and Hamilton Grange (1802), Alexander Hamilton’s country estate recently moved to yet another site in St. Nicholas Park in substitution for its original nearby emplacement.

McComb (1763-1853) had a distinguished career in New York and Princeton, New Jersey. Besides residences and churches, he designed lighthouses at Montauk, New York, Eatons Neck, New York, and Cape Henry, Virginia– all three of which survive to this day.

Architect John McComb, Jr.
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Along St. John's Lane.
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Looking down cobbled St. John's Lane.
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A peculiar palimpsest of one of McComb’s most magnificent designs sits on the corner of Canal and Laight Streets, though, hard bythe southerly side of the Holland Tunnel entrance. The roar of the truck traffic and stench of fumes overwhelm one’s senses as one stands by a simple blue-green street sign. St. John’s Lane survives to this day, paved with Belgian block, a narrow two-block long thoroughfare connecting Canal with tiny Beach Street. Until 1918, the lane ran along the rear of St. John’s Chapel, a Trinity Parish Episcopal Church whose membership in the early 19th century was select and upper crust.

St. John’s Church faced the genteel St. John’s Park, and its communicants counted the likes of George Templeton Strong’s family, and many members of polite downtown New York society in the earliest decades of the 19th century when upper-middle class houses lined Greenwich, Washington and other downtown streets as well as Broadway itself. Here, now, is the St. John’s Chapel in all its glory, inside and out, with views of the park in the days when City Hall Park (then known simply as City Park) was the only significant public (and not so safe!) green space in town.

St. John's Church and St. John's Park, in an early 19th-century print.
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The interior of St. John's Church.
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Columbia College frequently held assemblies and commencements in the sanctuary in the decades before and after Strong’s matriculation at what had been known as King’s College in colonial times. The College was located on College Place (now West Broadway), near Barclay Street. John Ericsson, inventor of the Monitor ironclad (several of whose officers are permanent residents of Green-Wood–see that blog post here), lived on adjacent Beach Street at #36, which survived well into the 20th century. The gates to the park were kept locked and access afforded only to local residents. A 1914 article in the New York Times documents the former bygone gentility of the neighborhood.

This print shows McComb's St. John's Church, with its steeple rising at left, in its 19th-century glory; St. John's Park was enclosed by the fence at right.
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St. John's famous spire is memorialized in a mosaic plaque in the Canal Street subway station on the 7th Avenue line.
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Taken from I.N. Phelps Stokes The Iconography of Manhattan Island (Vol. 3, Addenda Plate 11-c) are the pre-construction sketches McComb did of the Church:

McComb's sketches for St. John's Church.
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One of McComb’s most magnificent homes still stands at Battery Place. It is the Isaac Watson House, built in 1799 and used for many decades as the Shrine to Saint Elizabeth Seton (who had lived there with her family as a girl).

The Isaac Watson house in the 19th century.
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McComb's Isaac Watson House, near The Battery, in a recent photograph.
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Society moved uptown gradually in the 1820s, 30s and 40s, first to Bond Street, Washington Square and Astor Place, then farther north to Union Square and Gramercy Park, thinning the ranks of St. John’s Church quite dramatically. Gradually, the neighborhood around St. John’s filled with warehouses and factories, and in 1867 Trinity Parish (which owned both the park and the church) sold it to “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt’s Hudson River Railroad for a massive downtown freight terminal.

This map of part of New York City's Ward 5, dating from 1885, appears in Elisha Robinson's Atlas of the City of New York. The Hudson River, and west, is to the left. The map shows, at its center, from left to right, the freight depot, St. John's Church, and St. John's Lane. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
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The Vanderbilt Bronzes, circa 1870, were the central feature on the brick railroad car storage shed that drove residents from the area.
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The undesirable influences of grade-level freight operations spread in every direction, and a neighborhood of once patrician dwellings was converted to a crazy quilt of ramshackle buildings and giant lofts. Here is a photo taken as the park was being demolished, leaving the dignified Chapel an orphan in time:

St. John's Park, in the foreground, as it was being taken apart. St. John's Church is shown, on the park.
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St. John’s congregation left for good in the 1890s and the church was torn down in 1918. It was cleared during a road-widening scheme for New York City’s Varick Street– highly controversial at the time. City officials were cognizant of the landmark importance of the old steeple and wished the portico to remain, projecting into the widened street and vaulting the flanking pedestrian sidewalk. Ever aware of maximizing parish income from its extensive real estate holdings, Trinity Parish instead decided to demolish the building and put the site to other income-producing purposes.

John McComb Jr.’s name may have slipped out of common parlance decades ago, but his memory is preserved at Green-Wood Cemetery where his grave and those of his family lie on a Chapel Avenue hillside, demarcated by a simple obelisk. Canal Street’s roar is far away…

John McComb's final resting place at Green-Wood.
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James Kelly's bronze of Civil War general Thomas Sweeny is an impressive piece. The curators of the exhibition are using it to greet visitors as they enter the museum.
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As the museum reports about this just-opened exhibition,

“American Heroes”  . . . is co-curated by William B. Styple and the Museum’s Curator of Collections Ryan Hyman. This unique exhibit explores the work of Irish-American sculptor James E. Kelly (1855-1933). In the decades following the American Civil War, over forty Union Generals visited the New York City studio of Kelly, who was highly respected for his artwork’s historical accuracy. While the war heroes sat, the artist conducted in-depth interviews regarding their wartime service, and heard their very personal stories of Fort Sumter, Antietam, Gettysburg, and Appomattox. The work resulting from these personal interviews presents a unique perspective on the famous figures and events from the Civil War. Also included in this exhibition are Kelly’s depictions of notable events from the Revolutionary War and well known civilians such as Thomas Edison and Clara Barton. Bas reliefs, busts, engravings and bronze sculptures depict these heroes. The collection of Kelly’s work is on loan from private collectors and can be viewed during touring hours until October 31st.

This bronze of Major General Philip Sheridan by Kelly also is on display. Kelly started his sculpting of Civil War heroes with Sheridan; Sheridan was so impressed with Kelly that he introduced him to many of his general friends.
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Historian and author William B. Styple discovered Kelly’s interviews with Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Hancock, Warren, Chamberlain and many others, at the New-York Historical Society, where they had been stored and forgotten. His fascinating book, “Generals in Bronze—Interviewing the Commanders of the Civil War,” a transcription of Kelly’s notes, was published in 2005.

You may find more information about the exhibition at the museum’s website.

Back to Oz--and coming to a theater near you.
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It stars James Franco as Oz. Here’s the video trailer.

Which, of course, reminds us that veteran actor Frank Morgan reached the pinnacle of his career when he played the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz. Morgan is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in section 168, lot 14447. That lot is the Wuppermann family lot–Frank Morgan was his stage name–and his brother Ralph (who is interred next to him), also took the name Morgan as a stage name, was an actor, and served as president of Actors Equity and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Here, from Green-Wood’s archives, is a letterhead of the Wuppermann family business:

The Wuppermann family was in the "Fine Cordials and Gins" business. They also produced actors.
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And here is Frank Morgan as he appeared in “The Wizard of Oz:”

 

Frank Morgan, the Wizard of Oz.
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An ad for one of the greatest movies ever, "The Wizard of Oz," showing the stars, including Frank Morgan. Morgan played five roles in the movie, including the title character--the Wizard.
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The stars of "The Wizard of Oz," gathered around Frank Morgan.
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Here is a blog post from 2009, “Wizard of Oz: Happy 70th!” And here’s a more recent blog post on Frank Morgan: “The Wizard of Juggling.”

What appears to be 19th-century handwriting says it all: "Alex(ander) Saeltzer. Architect"
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That name–Alexander Saeltzer–rang a bell for me–I am quite the fan of 19th-century New York City architecture and architects. So, I did some research. It turns out that Alexander Saeltzer was a German-trained architect who designed several fine buildings in New York City: the first (now center) section of what was then the Astor Library–and what we now know as the Joseph Papp Public Theater on Lafayette Place, the Ansche Chesed Temple at 172 Norfolk Street, and the Academy of Music that stood on 14th Street at Irving Place.

I checked Green-Wood’s online Burial Search database–and up popped information that an individual with that same name–Alexander Saeltzer–had been interred at Green-Wood on September 26, 1883. Was he the architect Alexander Saeltzer? I could not find the architect’s year of birth or death on the Internet. However, according to Green-Wood’s records, the Alexander Saeltzer interred there was a native of Saxony (a part of Germany) who died on September 23, 1883, at the age of 69. Germany was a match for the architect. And, given these dates, the individual at Green-Wood was likely born in 1814. I checked an 1850 guide to New York City–based on information there, it appears that the architect was born around 1820. That seemed like a pretty good match. Looking at the photograph, a carte de visite which, given the era of the popularity of that size photograph, probably dates from the early 1860s, I thought the individual in the photograph looks like he was about 45 years old when the photograph was taken. Taking the date of the photograph as about 1862, that would give him a birth year of about 1817. So the year of birth of the architect and that of the man of the same name who is interred at Green-Wood seemed to be consistent with each other. I also found a passenger and immigration list from August 6, 1842, listing Alexander Saeltzer as 28 years old and traveling on the ship Meta from Bremen to New York City. That age matches the 1814 birth year for the Alexander Saeltzer as Green-Wood. Another record indicates that an Alexander Saeltzer became a naturalized citizen in New York City on May 22, 1855.

I checked New York City directories online. In the 1857 directory, an Alexander Saeltzer is listed as an architect. And, in the 1868 directory, an Alexander Saeltzer also is listed as an architect. More importantly, each of these directories has only one man named Alexander Saeltzer listed. So, at the very least, Alexander Saeltzer was a rare name in New York City back then–and perhaps even a unique name. In all, my conclusion: the Alexander Saeltzer interred at Green-Wood is the architect Alexander Saeltzer.

So, what did architect Alexander Saeltzer design? The Ansche Chesed congregation, composed mostly of German Jews, hired him to build its synagogue, which opened at 172 Norfolk Street in 1850. It is the oldest surviving synagogue building in New York City and the fourth oldest in America. In Gothic Revival style, is was the largest U.S. synagogue when it was built, holding up to 1500 worshipers. Now an art studio and the Shul of New York, it is a New York City Landmark.

The interior of the Ansche Chesed Synagogue, designed by Alexander Saeltzer, opened in 1850. It is a remarkable survivor that is now the home of the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts.
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The original section of the Astor Library (it was subsequently expanded by other architects) also was designed by Saeltzer; its cornerstone was laid in 1850 and construction was completed in 1853. It was designed to hold 100,000 books and to be fireproof. It opened to the public in 1854.

The Astor Library, designed by Alexander Saeltzer, as it looked in 1854, soon after its opening.
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It was free to all over the age of 14, but it was for research only–no books could be checked out. And it was open only during working hours–a real problem for anyone with a job. A matching addition, by architect Griffith Thomas (who also is interred at Green-Wood), opened in 1859. A second similar addition, by architect Thomas Stent, opened in 1881.

In 1895, the Astor Library was consolidated with the New York Public Library. And, in 1911, its books were moved to NYPL’s then-new building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. But, by 1965, the Astor Library building was empty and facing demolition; fortunately, New York City stepped in and bought it for the Public Theater, which is still there.

The Public Theater.
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For three decades in the mid-19th century, the Academy of Music was the place for grand New York City celebrations–whether it was hosting visiting royals such as the Prince of Wales in 1860 or the Grand Duke of Russia in 1871, the Russian fleet in 1863, the New York Philharmonic, Italian opera, Chinese Acrobats in 1867, or Elmer Ellsworth’s Chicago Zouave soldiers in 1860. With 4600 seats, it was the largest opera house in the world.

Alexander Saeltzer's Academy of Music, circa 1862. It was on 14th Street at Irving Place in Manhattan.
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Construction of the first Academy of Music was completed in 1854. Its architect: Alexander Saeltzer. It was destroyed by fire in 1866, then rebuilt. The opening of the Metropolitan Opera, uptown, in 1883, dealt a deathblow to the Academy; it closed in 1886.

Alexander Saeltzer is interred, with his wife, Jeanette, in Green-Wood’s section 109, lot 14567, just up Battle Avenue from the main gates. Neither Alexander’s nor Jeanette’s grave is marked.

And, earlier this month, an 1865 photograph of a baseball team sold at auction in Biddeford, Maine, for a $92,000 ($80,000 was the top bid; with buyer’s premium, the total for the buyer to take it home was $92,000). Now, that was not just a photograph of any baseball team–it was the Brooklyn Atlantics.

This is the card of the Brooklyn Atlantics of 1865, by photographer Charles H. Williamson, that sold at auction for $92,000.
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Brooklyn was the center of early baseball in America. In The Book of American Pastimes (New York: 1866), Charles A. Peverelly (who is interred at Green-Wood) wrote: “The game of Base Ball has now become beyond question the leading feature of the out-door sports of the United States … It is a game which is peculiarly suited to the American temperament and disposition; the nine innings are played in the brief space of two and one half hours, or less. From the moment the first striker takes his position, and poises his bat, it has an excitement and vim about it … in short, the pastime suits the people, and the people suit the pastime.”

The Brooklyn Atlantics were baseball champions in 1861, 1864, and 1865. And they were a confident lot: they had the photographer Charles H. Williamson take the photograph that was sold at auction and mount it on card stock–as well as other copies that have disappeared–so that they could give them out to their opponents as souvenirs.

This “baseball card”–it actually predates the era of the baseball card, which began in the 1880s–was found in Baileyville, Maine, near the Canadian border, in an old photo album. The album, old Coca-Cola bottles, and two oak chairs were all purchased by the consignor of the card for less than $100.

What appears to be the same Williamson photograph of the Brooklyn Atlantics of 1865–though they are mounted differently on card stock– is at the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress's photograph of the Brooklyn Atlantics. It was copyrighted by Charles H. Williamson in 1865.
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And a slight variation on the auctioned photograph–with the players positioned the same as the other images, but having moved a bit–note, for instance, the player seated at far right: in the photograph below, he has his right arm bent so that the baseball he holds in his hand is up near his face; in the two images above, his hand holds the baseball down near his knee–is at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Here's the version in the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Collection, as it appears in Peter Nash's book, "Baseball Legends of Green-Wood Cemetery." The players and manager are positioned the same as in the just-auctioned photograph--but there is some variation here--note that the player at far left holds the bat with his arms fully extended; in the other images his arms are bent and the bat is angled differently. So, this photograph must be from the same sitting for Williamson, but it was printed from a different negative than the other two.
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Here’s a television report on the auction from WCSH–Channel 6–in Portland Maine.

In the September 4, 1865 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, this letter appeared:

Dear Eagle:

I am beginning to take an interest in our national game. Which is baseball. Our noble city, third in population and first in Base Ball, has been glorified in field sports by the Atlantic Club, who have whipped everything in the ball line. As a Brooklynite, I am proud of the Atlantics. There are nine of them. They are wonderfully smart fellows. Stand six feet two in their stockings, can run two miles a minute, jump over a forty foot fence, or through a knot hole, turn a somersault and catch anything from a base ball to the measles. They are an honor to Brooklyn.

Many of the players who appear in this photograph are interred at Green-Wood. Fred Crane (standing at far right) was legendary for his smooth fielding: “the most graceful as well as sure and active fielder;” “[w]hen the ball is knocked in his neighborhood, off goes Fred’s cap, and he takes the ball in so easy a manner that fails not to draw applause.” Jack Chapman (seated, second from right) pioneered one-handed catches of fly balls. He was described as “a quick batsman, a long distance thrower, a sure catch and an effective slow pitcher.” Charles Smith (standing just to the right of club manager Peter O’Brien, who is wearing the dark jacket) was the Atlantic’s third baseman for a decade. He could do it all: another player called him “the greatest player of his time.” Sidney C. Smith (second from left) played right field for the Atlantics from 1864 through 1866–he then went on to work in the Kings County Tax Office.

And what of the photographer, Williamson of Brooklyn? Well, that would be Charles H. Williamson–who, as you might have guessed, is also interred at Green-Wood. Here is his obituary, published in the Photographer’s Friend upon his death in 1874:

IT is with regret that we announce the death of Mr. Charles H. Williamson, the well-known photographer of Brooklyn, which took place on Thursday, October 22d.

Mr. Williamson was one of the early daguerreotypers, and won an enviable distinction in his profession. He leaves a wife and two children. who have the warmest sympathy of the fraternity and a host of personal friends. We clip the following from the Brooklyn Union of Friday, October 23d:

“By the death of Charles H. Williamson the photographers of this city and, indeed, of the United States, have lost one of their most able associates in the profession. Mr. Williamson, after a somewhat severe illness of about ten days, passed away yesterday. The immediate cause of his death was congestion of the brain. Deceased learned the profession of photography at Springfield, Mass. Subsequently, in 1851, he came to Brooklyn, and opened a gallery adjoining the one he occupied at the time of his death. He was one of the earliest picture-takers in Brooklyn, when they were produced by what was then known as the daguerreotype system. Since then many improvements have been made in the art, and Mr. Williamson was not slow to take advantage of them. Ho was an excellent painter in water-colors, and many of the finest miniatures in his studio were finished by him. Several new styles of pictures originated with him, notably the cameo style. He introduced a system of teaching drawing from the transparent positive which has been found of great advantage to beginners in drawing. A few days before he was taken sick he was engaged on an invention for graying the background of pictures. He was an original member of the Brooklyn Photographic Art Association, and at its meetings read several papers on subjects relating to the profession. He was also a contributor to the Photographic Times, and other periodicals devoted to photography. One of the last pictures taken by deceased was ex-District Attorney Morris.

“Mr. Williamson was born in Scotland in 1826. The funeral took place the Sunday following his demise, from the Church of the Holy Trinity, and the services were conducted by Rev. Dr. Hall. Dr. Hall and Mr. Williamson were quite friendly, and it was by the invitation of the deceased that Dr. Hall became President of the Brooklyn Photographic Art Association.”

If you would like to learn more about early baseball and Green-Wood, you may purchase a copy of Peter Nash’s book, Baseball Legends of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, here.

And, if you would like to join me and baseball historian Tom Gilbert for “Opening Day in Brooklyn: Baseball Greats of Green-Wood,” a baseball trolley tour on Saturday, March 30, baseball’s opening day weekend, you will be able to purchase tickets online as soon as our spring calendar is up on our website–which should be very soon.