WERE TEDDY’S ROUGH RIDERS HERE? (1898)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Did Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders once ride their horses through a saloon located at No. 50 West Eighth Street? Read on and find out. It was 1898. Theodore Roosevelt’s organization of his “Rough Riders,” his well-publicized departure for Cuba, and his ultimate glorious charge in the Battle of San Juan Hill was literally still on the lips of every man, woman, and child in America. New York City was no different. In fact, approximately 1,000 New Yorkers had volunteered to serve with Roosevelt’s Rough Riders as part of the 71st Regiment Infantry New York Volunteers. Certainly, the pride of the regiment was the fact that among the units to reach the top of San Juan Hill with Roosevelt was Company F of the third battalion of the 71st Regiment. In the end, around 80 of the unit’s men were killed or wounded in the fight for San Juan Hill. Thus, it was a point of pride in New York City when the Spanish-American War ended in 1898 and the unit’s members returned home to blend back in with their civilian compatriots. While some probably blended in much better than others, those others may have wished for the glory days and their battle stories to continue. In fact, the camaraderie and good […]
The Reincarnation of Teddy Roosevelt (1912)
******************************************************************************************************************************** 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? ******************************************************************************************************************************** 1 April 1912 – Brooklyn, N.Y. – A well-dressed man appeared in Brooklyn Police Headquarters two hours before sunrise on the 1st of April and, after introducing himself as the reincarnation of Theodore Roosevelt, “promptly dismissed all the lieutenants, detectives and policemen in the structure from the Police Department. “What appeared to be a merry jest on the part of the stranger was enjoyed until he attempted by rather progressive and aggressive tactics to yank some of the lieutenants out of the chairs and hurl them into the street in order to show his word must be obeyed,” The Evening Telegram of 1 April 1912 observed. “It then dawned on the smiling lieutenants, detectives and policemen that the reincarnation of the Rough Rider was not in any sense an April Fool joker.” “Teddy” – or Joseph Condon, of No. 142 Atlantic Avenue – was evidently very much under the impression, though, that he was – if not Theodore Roosevelt, himself – the reincarnation of same. “Roosevelt” thereupon imposed a three months’ fine on Policeman Franklin and then assigned him to Tottenville, Staten Island. When Franklin asked “Teddy” to show him the way there, Condon said he would not go until the dismissed lieutenants, detectives and policemen had left the building. After […]
