PVT. ARTHUR HOLDSWORTH (A BEDSTUY HERO)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 2014, The Brownstone Detectives partnered with the New York City Parks Department to help celebrate the lives of the servicemembers of Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. We researched these heroes to locate pictures, stories, and their descendants to be brought together for a ceremony that dedicated a new “Victory and Peace” war memorial at Saratoga Park. This biography tells the story of one of those servicemembers. PVT. ARTHUR VINCENT HOLDSWORTH Arthur Vincent Holdsworth looked for all the world like a little boy. Even after he had joined the Army and went to training at Camp Upton on Long Island, he could not escape the blush of youth. In the picture (right), Pvt. Holdsworth displays that youth, all too surely, along with his inexperience, and maybe just a bit of his great uncertainty for the future. He stands awkwardly erect outside of a barracks, proud in his new uniform, but looking like a schoolboy in his first set of Sunday clothes. Truth be told, he was still a boy yet – still an innocent. But he would mature quickly and, in a war that defined his age, die just as quickly. THE WAR In the grand scheme of things, Pvt. Arthur V. Holdsworth drew the […]
THE BLOOD BUBBLING IN SARATOGA FIELD
(The picture above shows one of the last years – 1912 – that Saratoga Field was used for skating – or any sports, for that matter – as the entire lot would be developed later that year. The image shows the “first skating” of 1912 in Saratoga Fields. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mon., 8 January 1912.) After Saratoga Park was built, the block due east of it – formerly used as a the horse market which sat across the street from the Halsey streetcar stables – became know as Saratoga Fields. This large lot which abutted Broadway, Halsey and Macon, became the stand-in location for circuses through about 1905, and then for assorted sporting events afterwards through early 1912. Because of its proximity to Saratoga Park, though, for a number of years after the park’s construction, Saratoga Field continued to be referred to as Saratoga Park. Run by the Saratoga Amusement Company (for circuses and assorted sports from the early 1890s), they had two main draws, from the people living in the community, to pay the rent. In the winter, they provided skating facilities to the masses, by flooding the field and making a huge outdoor skating rink, which was extremely popular throughout the winter. In the summer, the company improved the lot for use by semi-professional baseball teams, which flourished in this part of Brooklyn. There were countless ball teams from the area which vied to defeat one another on a daily basis – and the competitions were covered keenly […]
THE KING OF SKATS IN SARATOGA PARK (1904)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Starting around 1904-1905, Saratoga Park began to develop a sinister reputation, as young men began using it for the purposes of selling illegal narcotics, assaulting park-goers, and simply loafing about and insulting anyone who walked into the park. This was a new phenomenon to the people of the district who did not understand how or why the neighborhood children had begun to disrespect their elders in such a way. One article of the time blamed the parents as much as the boys. They interpreted the occurences as the acts of disaffected sons of respectable families who had little to do with their time, were not forced to take responsibility for their actions, and could not be held chargeable by the police because their parents, who were influential, did not want their sons’ names in the papers: “These young men were night hawks. Sons of respectable, but indulgent, parents, they did about as they liked. They worked always in small groups and gloried in the thought that they could lick any cop which came their way. The groups would assemble on some street corner near the park and use insulting language to girls and women passing.” An indication of what was to come played out in the newspapers between 1905 and 1909, […]
“PEACE” COMES TO STUYVESANT EAST (1921)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 2014, The Brownstone Detectives partnered with the New York City Parks Department to help celebrate the lives of the servicemembers of Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. We researched these heroes to locate pictures, stories, and their descendants to be brought together for a ceremony that dedicated a new “Victory and Peace” war memorial at Saratoga Park. ******************************************************************************************************************************** After nearly three years of mourning, Stuyvesant East was ready to remember its dead in a very public way. On 11 September 1921, after neighbors in the eastern section of Stuyvesant Heights had spent two years collecting the $6,000 necessary to defray the cost of a war memorial, the Victory and Peace statue was finally delivered to Saratoga Square. With great pomp and circumstance, amid a good deal of political speech-making and the delivery of grandiose eulogies and war veterans celebrating the war’s end, the 6-ton war memorial, sculpted by James Novelli, was unveiled at the Saratoga Avenue entrance to the Saratoga Square in front of more than 3,000 witnesses. “The eastern end of the park had been appropriately decorated with the monument draped in large American flags which at the presentation were dropped by two servicemembers presenting to view the ten-foot Milford granite memorial.” Revealed was […]
THE GENTRIFICATION OF SARATOGA PARK (1896)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Around the mid-1890s, the public in the Eastern District of Brooklyn – in what would come to be known as the Stuyvesant Heights section of Bedford-Stuyvesant – began clamoring for a space for a local park. There were three things driving this support: 1) the extension of the Brooklyn street grid system, along with 2) failing attempts by local governments in keeping pace with the growing population in the 25th Ward, and partly due to 3) the success and popularity of Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. As a result, the City’s aldermen, sensing the growing aspiration for “breathing space” in the locality, went looking around for an adequate stretch of land to acquire for a park – something that would suit the local residents. After a thorough exploration within the ward, the City’s elders settled upon a square little more than 3 acres in size, bounded by Halsey and Macon streets, and Howard and Saratoga avenues. Other than the fact that it was in a very desirable location, it was really the only choice they had – it was the single available piece of undeveloped land in the district of its size. O! And then there was the price… JAMES CLINTON BROWER ENTERS THE SCENE This singular […]
PICS FROM THE WWI MEMORIAL CEREMONY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW KARAS. Many thanks to so many people who supported the memorial service in Saratoga Park last Wednesday (10 September). In addition to those from the NYC Parks Department and the political representatives who spoke – Borough President Eric Adams and Councilwoman Darlene Mealy – the military was represented by Lt. Col. Joseph Davidson who came out from Fort Hamilton, and the chief historian for the History Channel/A+E Networks (also currently President Obama’s Commissioner on the World War One Centennial Commission) was on-hand to speak about the importance of renovating our old WWI memorials and honoring those who fought for our country. The Brownstone Detectives performed the historical study, researching the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines from the neighborhood who made the ultimate sacrifice almost 100 years ago during the Great War. And in the process, with just two weeks to do it in, The Brownstone Detectives further identified the descendants of many of the men on the honor rolls, three of whom attended the ceremony. And, Michael Lisnet, our great Macon Street neighbor, who helped us out by finding us a wonderful photographer, Matt Karas. Matt, whom we’d never even met or spoke to before, came out to take some wonderful pictures of the event for us. The pictures in this blog post all belong to him – and we thank him very much for his support. Enjoy these wonderful snapshots shared with us by Matthew Karas: Follow @BrownstoneDetec ———————————————————————————————————————– The Brownstone Detectives This story was composed […]
SARATOGA PARK WWI MEMORIAL IS TODAY
Today at noon, the World War I “Victory & Peace” Memorial in Brooklyn’s Saratoga Park will be unveiled and rededicated.All are welcome and invited to attend. Descendants of at least two of the men (who gave their lives in the Great War) will be in attendance, joined by Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey, Borough President Eric Adams, Col. Joseph Davidson of the U.S. Army, and representatives of the George P. Davis Post No. 116 of the American Legion and Auxiliary. Here follows a list of the 105 men and one woman whose names appear on the honor rolls flanking the statue. They were all from the neighborhood. They all gave their lives in service to their country. George Albrecht William Banscher Edward J. Bell Harold Benson Harry S. Bowyer Edward C. Brennan Joseph A. Brunner Francis J. Buckley Arthur J. Burgh J. Edgar Burling Robert F. Carrie James C. Clark Jesus Clemente Joseph A. Collopy Hedley H. Cooper Frank E. Cortes Thomas Cross Leonard Dalton Frank E. Discher Frederick C. Dose John F. Dowd Elmer D. Edwards George H. Edwards Charles D. Elson Edgar H. Fessenden James E. Fitzpatrick John J. Fitzpatrick Frank A. Gaffney Anthony Galgano George E. Gilbert James T. Greene Evan F. Gustafson Walter C. Haeuser Frederick Haupt Thomas F. Herron Raymond D. Hill Frank E. Hillenbrand Charles S. Hilton Arthur V. Holdsworth Thomas B. Hurley James D. Irwin Gordon W. Johnson Arthur P. Jones James Keely Thomas A. Kehoe Arthur C. Kimber Alfred R. Kipling Louis […]
CPL. EDWARD C. BRENNAN (A BED-STUY HERO)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 2014, The Brownstone Detectives partnered with the New York City Parks Department to help celebrate the lives of the servicemembers of Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. We researched these heroes to locate pictures, stories, and their descendants to be brought together for a ceremony that dedicated a new “Victory and Peace” war memorial at Saratoga Park. This biography tells the story of one of those servicemembers. CPL. EDWARD CROMWELL BRENNAN Edward Cromwell Brennan was born to Sebastian and Elsie Brennan on 19 March 1896. Edward was the elder of two boys born to the couple. His father, Sebastian, worked as a “letter carrier,” and the family lived at the time of the war at No. 117 Saratoga Avenue. According to the draft registration card Edward completed and signed before the local draft board on 5 June 1917, he was 21 1/2 years old, a single man of medium height, slender, with brown hair and eyes. Before signing up to serve, Edward had worked as a clerk at the Liverpool London & Globe, an insurance company located at 80 William Street in New York City. On 28 September 1917, Edward was inducted into the U.S. Army as a private in the 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th […]
LT. SAMUEL J. REID (A BEDSTUY HERO)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 2014, The Brownstone Detectives partnered with the New York City Parks Department to help celebrate the lives of the servicemembers of Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. We researched these heroes to locate pictures, stories, and their descendants to be brought together for a ceremony that dedicated a new “Victory and Peace” war memorial at Saratoga Park. This biography tells the story of one of those servicemembers. LT. SAMUEL JACKSON REID “Today I have lost the best pal I ever had.” So began the diary entry of Lt. Samuel Jackson Reid’s orderly for 22 August 1918. Such words might have been more understandable describing lifetimes friends or companions, but this touching and heartfelt line was written by a man who had known his commanding officer for a mere few months. But Reid was not only a beloved officer in his field artillery battery; he was also popular with the entire regiment, according to Reid’s first sergeant, who explained this to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle after Reid’s death. “Sam, by never having driven the men when it was unnecessary, by his consideration and personal regard for them and by his immediate demonstration of himself as a man of fighting spirit, a lover of justice and of […]
CPL. ALBERT G. MASON (A BEDSTUY HERO)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** In 2014, The Brownstone Detectives partnered with the New York City Parks Department to help celebrate the lives of the servicemembers of Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Great War. We researched these heroes to locate pictures, stories, and their descendants to be brought together for a ceremony that dedicated a new “Victory and Peace” war memorial at Saratoga Park. This biography tells the story of one of those servicemembers. CORPORAL ALBERT G. MASON Born in the Stuyvesant section on 3 April 1893, Albert G. Mason was the son of Mrs. Minnie Clifford Mason. Although he grew up at 591 Bainbridge and 798 Macon Street, his mother was living at 117 Patchen Avenue during the war. Mason was a member of the 47th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, and had been in the Army for seven years before the U.S. got involved in WWI. He had served at that point from the Philippines to Texas to Mexico, but soon would find himself in another more dangerous theatre of war. On May 25th, 1918, Mason’s regiment landed at Brest in France. Two months were spent training with British and French units before July 27th, when “the Raiders” (the nickname of the 47th) were marching knee deep in mud to […]
