Somers Historical Tidbits - Part 10
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All Manor of Things
On Route 100, the Pinewood Sanitorium once treated Psychiatric patients, and in 1954 the property was deeded to the Keswick Colony of Mercy, which served recovering alcoholics. Passing over, the site was proposed as a reformatory for delinquent girls. But opposition from residents and town officials killed the initiative. Somers Manor eventually took its place and now senior living resides
Forever Stamp on the Circus
Seth Howe and Edmund Mabie were from the Brewster area, and local circus men themselves, they took the show on the road. Brother Jeremiah eventually replacing Howe, the duo successfully toured the Western States in the 1840s and ended up buying a 1000 acre tract of land in Delavan Wisconsin. There the first western circus headquarters were established and the thriving nature of the business did a little historical sleight of hand. In other words, the city started to become known as the birthplace of the American circus, and 1966 the post office issued a stamp to that effect. This did not sit well with Otto Koegel, and the historian filed a petition of protes case for Somers. In response, a Somers stamp was issued, and when all was said and done, the town took its official place as the Birthplace of the American Circus.
Room at the Inn
In 1923, when D.W. Griffith was filming America, he came to Somers and the Elephant Hotel was his headquarters. On site, he stayed and so did his actors. That included Carol Dempster, Neil Hamilton and Lionel Barrymore.
The Wright Stuff and Purdy
Menagerie shows were traveling exhibitions of wild animals and exotic animals. So with the circus established in Somers, J. Purdy Brown and Micajah Wright (of Wright Road in Shenorock) went with the offshoot in the 1830s. Purdy is supposedly the first to use a canvas tent and toured the Mississippi Valley. He also teamed with Bailey’s circus and featured a lion, elephant (Little Bet) and giraffes. As for Wright, the Somers innkeeper had his sons join the menagerie business. Daniel traveled west and remained there, and Charles and James hit the road in 1828. The duo also teamed up with Purdy and exhibited in Charleston, North Carolina on several occasions.
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is no Orphan.
James McGinnis was a young orphan from Michigan and became the ward of Frederick Harrison Bailey. Becoming one of the family, he made the connection with P.T. Barnum and the converging was just starting. The Ringling Brothers from Baraboo, Wisconsin signed on with Barnum and Bailey, and the last 20 years of the 20th century saw a meteoric rise of the company.
John and Bet - Old Friends
By the turn of the 20th century, many of the Somers old guard of circus founders had passed away and their offspring didn’t necessarily take pride in how the family wealth was accumulated. In turn, they hid their memorabilia away and Somers fell off the map as a circus center. That started to change in 1922. Ringling Brothers publicity agent (Dexter Fellows) made it his mission to revive the proud history and embarked on a 53 mile journey from Madison Square Garden. Old John the elephant by his side, the multi-day trek ended at the base of the Old Bet Monument. Bearing a wreath that stated, “From Old John to Old Bet,” the procession was greeted by 600 children, and as they sang the national anthem, Fellows bent to one knee on the laying of the wreath.
All info is derived from - Somers : Its People and Its Places
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Part 9 : Somers Historical Tidbits
Down off the Farm In the 19th Century, water power gave rise to a number of mills in the area and Richard and Tom Miller Brothers owned one off a tributary of the Muscat River. Running from Yorktown south of Route 35, the mill was used for carding, fulling and dying wool and flax and manufacturing cloth. A successful venture, the company had government contracts that produced cloth for the army during the War of 1812 and later had “Plains, Kerseys, Flannels, Broad Cloth and Satinetts” among its inventory. Around until Isaac Bedlell purchased the mill in 1839, the entire industry fell to the water needs and muscle of New York City. A quarter of Somers land succumbing, the reservoir system put a stop to the abundant river power, and while the era passed by, the Miller name has not. Tom also built the Tomahawk Chapel and owned a general store near Baldwin Place. Shenorock has long traveled Miller Avenue and the family could serve as the origin. That is unless the name derives closer to the hamlet. In 1870, Reuben Baldwin donated land, which eventually became Baldwin Place, and one Thomas T. Miller owned a general store on the Westchester side of the border.
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