PATRONAGE & PLUMS, No. 398 HENRY ST (1895)
Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes.
The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
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“The house is a three-story and basement structure. As it is now, the basement is transformed into a pool and billiard room, and from the cellar to the roof the premises are heated. The parlor, of course, comprise the second floor. There is an expanse of Brussels carpet which covers the entire space; in the rear parlor is a business desk, and in the front of it the president’s seat, for the parlors comprise the meeting room of the association and from four to five hundred people can easily be accommodated. Specials chairs are provided when a meeting is to be held, but on other occasions the members are allowed to utilize the furniture for their own comfort. There is not an upholstered chair on this floor which is not an easy one; there is not a lounge or sofa which is not inviting. The walls are papered tastefully, the oil paintings which hand upon them are masterpieces of art and good judgment. The ornamental fireplaces are surmounted with open cabinet work, in the sections of which are enshrined choice bric-a-brac.
“Between the front parlor windows hangs the picture of the ward leader, ex-Register James Kane. On the southern wall is the crayon resemblance of Peter Fagan, one of Mr. Kane’s closest friends, and who has been dead over seven years. Peter Fagan was an old time fireman, a volunteer who never shirked his duty, a man who compassed within himself all those qualities which command the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Mr. Kane’s picture has the place of honor; second only to him comes that of Mr. Fagan, whose record is preserved in the kindest remembrance. He had been in many year a member of the Volunteer Fire Department and was the foreman of No. 2 Engine, which lay in Hicks, near Degraw street, until, under the regime of the paid Fire Department, he resigned. As a Democrat, he was unswerving; as a friend he was stanch, and as a citizen he was loyal and true.
“The idea became a proposition, and the proposition was so quickly acted upon that inside of a week they had leased the brown stone front house, No. 398 Henry Street, corner of Baltic, and a week later had it furnished throughout and rendered as cosy and as comfortable as any club of its kind in the city.
“The second floor provides for a card and reception room; the care room occupies the front position, the reception room the rear. Both are furnished with chairs and tables of quartered oak, and the wall are embellished with fine engravings and some choice etchings. The upper floor is the home of the janitor and the club’s chef, for the members did not forget that in making their clubhouse perfect they must have a good cook. They have got one, and, at the shortest notice a mean can be served which would rival that of most Brooklyn’s crack restaurants.
“Its rapid growth is a wonder in itself; it is a feature unparalleled in the history of political organizations. It is a club born from the stoutest and most unflinching Democratic faith. Hardly five weeks old, and a paid-up membership of eighty-eight, while thirty-six applicants are clamoring for admission at the next meeting.”
“It will be see, therefore, that from top to bottom the house is fully equipped; nothing is wanting; it merged from an empty dwelling into almost magnificent comfort, and it is designed to be the cradle of Sixth Ward Democrats yet to come.
Members of the club included “Supervisor Own Judge, ex-Assemblyman Joseph Cahill, Alderman-elect Dennis Dunne, Thomas Keating, Edward Degnan, James Maddigan, James Keegan, John Kearny, Frank Caffrey, Peter Geary.”
The present officers are Assemblyman-elect Thomas Cullen, president; James Mattimore, secretary, and Owen McShane, treasurer. These gentlemen are officers temporarily. The regular election will be held in December next, when permanent officers for the ensuing year will be chosen.
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