HISTORY TOUR 2007 SCRIPT

Rye Historical Society's 2007Annual Fall History Tour:

THE WAINWRIGHTS AND THEIR HOUSES

By Eugene McGuire

Contributions to script by Richard Hourahan, Timothy James, Joanna Schoff

STOP 1: Lawn facing Milton Harbor behind Wainwright House

Welcome

Welcome to the “Wainwrights and Their Houses” historic tour presented by the Rye Historical Society. For those of you who have been on our previous tours, the format of this tour will be a little different because we wanted to show that the Wainwrights were associated with many parts of Rye, not just Milton Point. As a result, the sites on the tour are located in several parts of Rye and you will need to drive between some of the sites, rather than walk. As in the past, there will be a docent at each stop to tell you the history related to that site. However, you will move from site to site on your own without a tour guide.

Overview of the Wainwrights in Rye

The Wainwright family’s presence in Rye spans approximately a century, starting in the 1840s and going through the first half of the twentieth century. As you hear about the Wainwright family in Rye, you will gain a window into the development of Rye as it changed from a rural community to a summer seat for wealthy New York families to the suburban community we know today. I will give you an overview of the Wainwright family in Rye. At subsequent stops on the tour, you will hear more about each member of the family, the role they played in the development of Rye and of many of Rye’s institutions, as well as the family’s illustrious earlier history.

The Wainwright’s ancestors arrived in Rye in 1848 when Nicholas William Stuyvesant, a direct fifth generation descendant of Peter Stuyvesant (the last Dutch governor of New York), bought property on Kirby Lane along the Kirby Mill Pond to use as his family’s summer residence. He purchased the land from the Kirby family which owned the Kirby grist mill and farmed the land from Manursing Island to Grace Church Street.

Up until the late 1840s, Rye had largely been a farming community. However, the nature of Rye started to change with the arrival of the railroad in 1849. The railroad made Rye easily accessible from Manhattan and lead to wealthy New York families purchasing land in Rye to use as their summer estates. Nicholas William Stuyvesant was in the vanguard of this movement. Those of you who went on last fall’s tour heard about Henry Brevoort, a member of another wealthy old “Knickerbocker” family, purchasing the land which is now Greenhaven to be his summer estate, “Brevoort Farm,” in 1851. Similarly, those of you who went on our 2005 tour heard about the Sackett family, who began summering in Rye along the Kirby Mill Pond starting in 1854. The summer estates these families enjoyed in the middle of the 19th century, although large and comfortable, were comparatively simple, not like the grand estates of the Gilded Age.

One of Nicholas Stuyvesant’s children was a daughter, Margaret Livingston Stuyvesant, who married John Howard Wainwright. One weekend in 1864, when Margaret and her husband were visiting her parents on Kirby Lane, her husband purchased most of Milton Point, which subsequently served as their summer residence. In his later years, one of their children, Col. J. Mayhew Wainwright, remembered this event which was to have a major impact on the future of Rye, as follows:

Mother told us, on a summer holiday which she and Father were spending with her parents in Rye, Father learned that the Brown Farm of about 100 acres on Milton Point was to be sold at auction. Father said that he thought he would just go down to the Point to see what happened. Mother said she cautioned ‘Now, Howard, don’t do anything foolish.’ Father disclaimed any such intention. However, on his return, she said, he looked rather sheepish, so she asked ‘Howard, what on earth have you done.’ To which he replied laughingly, ‘Meg, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve bought the whole Point.’

The land purchased by John Howard Wainwright was approximately a hundred acres running along Milton Harbor from about where Milton Harbor House now stands to the tip of Scotch Caps, the rocks off the end of Milton Point. The land was sold at auction by the Roosevelt Hospital, which had been left the “Brown Farm” by James Roosevelt Brown, whose mother was a Roosevelt. Hackaliah Brown, one of Rye’s original settlers, acquired the land from a Native American called “Lame Will” in 1680. The Brown family farmed the land for many years as one of Rye’s largest landholdings. The house which still stands at 1 Stuyvesant Avenue was the Brown homestead. Prior to the American Revolution, the Browns also had a franchise from the Crown to operate a ferry from Milton Point to Long Island. Their ferry dock was where the American Yacht Club dock is now located. After John Howard Wainwright purchased the property, he tried to operate a ferry service from the same location on Milton Point, but using a steam side wheeler to go to Manhattan to transport businessmen summering in Rye to and from New York.

When John Howard Wainwright purchased Milton Point in 1864, New York was booming economically as a result of the Civil War, but also was experiencing social turmoil. John Howard Wainwright’s financial business was benefiting from the boom. The Wainwrights built their first summer house on the property in 1866 and named it “The Willows.” That house was where 130 Stuyvesant Avenue is now located and burned to the ground in 1879. Over the years, the Wainwrights built most of the older houses which still exist along Stuyvesant Avenue, plus several which are no longer standing. The Wainwrights built Stuyvesant Avenue, named after Mrs. Wainwright’s family. When the Wainwrights acquired the Milton Point property, Milton Road ran further out the point along the harbor. John Howard Wainwright got permission to close part of Milton Road by agreeing to build the new road, which he named Stuyvesant Avenue. The change in the location of the road meant that the Wainwright property on the harbor side of the road now ran down to the water without interruption.

Margaret and John Howard Wainwright had four sons – John Howard, Stuyvesant, Jonathan Mayhew, and Richard. Each of their sons spent their summers in Rye all of their lives. Mayhew lived in Rye year round in his adult years. Each made substantial contributions to Rye about which you will hear at later stops on the tour.

Reminiscences written by Col. J. Mayhew Wainwright later in his life about his childhood in the 1800s (Mayhew was born in 1864) give a good sense of the rural nature of Rye in the second half of the 19th century when Rye was in the process of changing from a small community to more of a Manhattan satellite. He described Milton (the area on the harbor from where the marina is now located through where Milton Harbor House stands) as a “thriving, bustling, little” village. At that time there were ship building yards, coal yards, docks for shipping goods, and the Gedney general store. Col. Wainwright remembered that the “big stove in the rear” of the general store surrounded with chairs “was the usual gathering place for the village…and gossip.” He also remembered hunting for birds, squirrels, and rabbits with a shot gun in “Jay’s woods across the dam,” as well as fox hunting. (There was a mill dam across the end of the harbor at the up-stream end of where the marina is now located.) In the 1920s, Col. Wainwright noted that “In those days, [the 1800s] the waters about the Point both in the Sound and Milton Harbor abounded with varieties of fish which have mostly disappeared … and the floor of the water [had] a most delectable quality of oysters and clams, while lobsters [abounded], all furnishing a fair living to several families in Milton….”

Col. Wainwright’s recollections also reflect a much more casual attitude toward education in the second half of the 19th century than we have today. He and his brothers would attend the Milton public school for a month or more each spring and fall, while they were still summering in Rye. When they were younger, they would attend private schools in Manhattan during the winter. When they were older, they boarded at the Park Institute in Rye in the winter. They also spent long periods in Europe during a number of winters where they attended schools in England, France and Germany or had private tutors. One benefit of this eclectic education was that each of the boys was fluent in both French and German. One amusing recollection of Col Wainwright’s is how he and his brothers returned to Rye from a winter at a school in England being very enthusiastic about playing cricket, but when they tried to introduce the local Milton boys to cricket, there was a noticeable lack of interest. The Wainwright boys ended up spending the summer playing baseball with their local friends and the sons of the other summer gentry.

At other stops on the tour, you will hear about the Wainwright boys as adults.

STOP 2: Wainwright House entrance hall

Wainwright House – The Building

We are now going to talk about Wainwright House, the building and the institution. You will hear about Col. J. Mayhew Wainwright’s achievements at a later stop on the tour.

Col. Wainwright built this thirty-two room house between 1929 and 1931. Prior to 1931, Col. Wainwright lived at 400 Forest Avenue. The house was designed by an architect named Heathcote Woolsey and was based on the 17th century Chateau Raincheval, near Doullens, not far from Amiens, France. This house was not intended to be a duplicate of the Chateau Raincheval. Rather, it was inspired by the Chateau. There are pictures of both the Chateau Raincheval and this house over the reception desk in the entrance hall of Wainwright House. The Chateau Raincheval is the picture to the left.

During part of World War I, Col. Wainwright was stationed at the Chateau Rainchevel, which his daughter stated took on “a very special beauty and meaning” to him. At that time, J. Mayhew Wainwright was a Lieutenant Colonel serving as part of the American Expeditionary forces attached to the British army. On the eve of leading his men into battle, Col. Wainwright promised to himself that if he survived the battle and returned to Rye, he would build a house resembling the Chateau Raincheval on his family’s property on Milton Point.

Col. and Mrs. Wainwright had one child, a daughter named Fonrose. Fonrose was married to Philip Condict in the library of Wainwright House. Later, Fonrose built the smaller house to the left of Wainwright House, where she lived until her death in 1983 at the age of 90. Fonrose had no children. Col. Wainwright died in 1945. His widow, Laura Buchanan Wainwright, died a year later. Fonrose, therefore, inherited what is now Wainwright House in the late 1940s. Fonrose’s husband, Philip Condict, died not long after her parents.

Although Fonrose placed her parents’ Milton Point estate on the market, her real goal was to find a charitable purpose for the property as a memorial to her parents. Years later, Fonrose reminisced:

For some time I had been thinking…that there ought to be some place where, under one roof, those who aspire for…greater understanding of the creative force of life (which we lovingly call God) could meet – those who aspire even without faith – whether they were orthodox churchmen, trustees and vestrymen, or biochemists or artists or agnostics who long for a greater understanding….When the house became mine…I thought…that it would be a wonderful thing if this house could in some way serve a worthwhile cause that would be appropriate as a memorial to my mother and father.

While the estate was on the market, Fonrose was introduced to Norman Vincent Peale by a mutual friend. When Fonrose showed Rev. Peale her parents’ house, he was struck by what he viewed as the sacredness of the space. Rev. Peale asked Fonrose “What is your idea for the use of this house?” Fonrose replied “In memory of my parents and for the greater understanding of God.” Rev. Peale wrote those words on the back of an envelope and they now are inscribed on the dedicatory plaque at the entrance to Wainwright House. Those words also are carried forward in the mission of Wainwright House, which in the words of Fonrose Wainwright Condict is:

This is a sacred house. Because it is sacred, it should be consecrated to the development of human potential, in healing, and growing forms, to serve the advancement of humankind through spiritual, philosophical and ecological paths.

Rev. Peale introduced Fonrose to the Laymen’s Movement for a Christian World. In 1951, Fonrose founded Wainwright House, Inc., and donated Wainwright House to the Laymen’s Movement. Wainwright House, thus, became the first non-sectarian, holistic educational center in the United States. Eventually, Wainwright House, Inc. and the Laymen’s Movement merged into a single entity.

In addition to her involvement in Wainwright House, Fonrose Wainwright Condict organized the American Woman’s Volunteer Service during World War II and was on the board of the Osborn Memorial Home. You will see a portrait of Mrs. Condict painted by Molly Guion hanging in the library of Wainwright House. It is an interesting coincidence that Molly Guion lived at 10 Barberry Lane, another house formerly owned by the Wainwright family.

Wainwright House – The Institution

The Laymen’s Movement was founded in 1941 by a group of business and professional men, including J.C. Penney and E.F. Hutton, who sought to integrate spirituality into the life of the world. The Laymen’s Movement began publication of the periodical, Christian Laymen, in 1942. The Laymen’s Movement, now Wainwright House, has always been concerned with obtaining world peace and was involved in the early years of the United Nations. Under Secretary General Trygve Lie, the Laymen’s Movement was responsible for the establishment of a meditation room at the U.N. and for the opening and closing of each General Assembly session with a moment of silent prayer and meditation. When the U.N. meditation room was redecorated in 1961, Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold gave Wainwright House the original furnishings from the U.N.’s meditation room – a four foot section of a 300 year old tree trunk which served as an altar, Swedish Birchwood chairs, and curtains. The tree trunk altar and some of the chairs are now in the Wainwright House solarium. Wainwright House is a non-governmental organization (“NGO”) recognized by the United Nations on economic and social issues.

The Laymen’s Movement also was active in promoting spiritual ethics and values in business. Early members of the Laymen’s movement used their religious values to settle labor disputes, improve the working atmosphere in several industries, and to inject spiritual values into education and community life. Along with J.C. Penny, some of the other prominent figures involved in the early years of the Laymen’s Movement included Dwight D. Eisenhower, R.W. Woodruff, and Conrad Hilton. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. made a financial contribution to Wainwright House upon its founding. After the Laymen’s Movement received Wainwright House, it continued its efforts to influence business leaders to apply their highest values in their everyday work by instituting the Business Practice Seminars, which were conducted in fifty cities. At that time, the Receptive Listening Course also was introduced. The receptive listening course led to the involvement of Wainwright House with the psychology of Carl Jung. Later, Wainwright House formed a relationship with the C.G. Jung Foundation and created the Center for Jungian Studies at Wainwright House. Weekend retreats furthering the foregoing efforts were an important part of Wainwright House’s early years. Many prominent businessmen, scientists, psychologists, and authors, including Ralph Bunche, attended the seminars and retreats held at Wainwright House.

Over the years, Wainwright House has furthered its mission in many ways. Spiritual healing was added to Wainwright House’s early programs, later to become Wainwright House’s Center for Holistic Health. The early efforts in this area were under the Laymen’s Movement’s Commission for the Study of Healing and involved prominent individuals including Aldous Huxley and his wife. Programs during the 1960s included those dealing with race relations, international conflicts, interpersonal, family, and business relations, the generation gap, and alcoholism. During the 1970s, the program SCOPE (Second Career Opportunity for Professionals and Executives) was introduced as a center for leaning, personal growth, and service designed for men and women seeking new life after retirement. The 1970s also saw an increase in cross-cultural programs. A Center for Women’s Studies was created, as well as a support group for Japanese women. In addition, a Center for Religious and Philosophical Studies was created to foster a cross-fertilization among representatives of all faiths. Affinity groups such as Meditation, Women in Conversation, and Writing from the Heart have been introduced.

Most recently, Wainwright House has created the Yoga Center in partnership with the Rye YMCA, instituted an annual Healing Arts Fair, opened a green labyrinth facing Milton Harbor and partnered with local civic and educational groups, including Grassroots Environmental Education. Wainwright House remains: “a learning center dedicated to inspiring greater understanding through body, mind, spirit and community….[which seeks] to inspire by offering initiatives in spiritual exploration, health and healing, and environmental awareness.”

Now we will walk through the main rooms on the first floor of Wainwright House where you will see the library where Fonrose Wainwright was married and the solarium containing the tree trunk altar and some of the chairs from the U.N. Also note the portrait of Col J. Mayhew Wainwright over the fireplace in the library and the portrait of Jonathan Mayhew over the fireplace in the dining room. You will hear about Jonathan Mayhew at a later stop on the tour.

STOP 3: Coveleigh Club – In front of clubhouse

We will walk through the front hall of the clubhouse and out into the garden facing the water, where I will tell you some of the history relevant to this site. We will view more of the interior of the house after I have finished my talk.

Richard Wainwright (after walking into the garden)

The building which is now the Coveleigh clubhouse was build by Richard Wainwright as his residence between 1902 and 1904. He named the estate “Homewood.” I will talk about the house in a little while. First, I will tell you about Richard Wainwright.

Richard Wainwright was born in 1868, the youngest of the four sons of John Howard and Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright. He died in 1933, just before his 65th birthday. He was married to Alice Townsend Crawford. They had five children, one of whom died as a young child when he fell off his pony in what is now the Coveleigh carriage house.

Richard, known as “Dick,” studied architecture at Columbia University, where he was a member of the class of 1889. During the first half of his adult life, he had a career as an architect. Among the buildings he designed, were a number of houses in Rye, including the Coveleigh clubhouse and the house at 418 Forest Avenue, which you will also visit today. Richard Wainwright is said to have been a close friend of Stanford White.

In mid-life, Richard Wainwright retired from the practice of architecture to devote his attention to scientific farming. Although he has been described as a “gentleman farmer,” he took farming seriously, serving as president of the New York State Agricultural Society. Richard Wainwright first had a dairy farm in Harrison, New York and then one in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Like many members of the Wainwright family, Richard served in World War I. Richard actually anticipated the war by taking a cargo ship of food supplies to Salonika, Greece for the Servian Relief Committee in 1917, prior to the United States’ entry into the War. Upon receiving the news that the U.S. had entered the War, the Servian Crown Prince requested Richard Wainwright to fire one of his ship’s guns at the enemy. That shot is said to be the first shot by the U.S. on that, or perhaps any, front in the First World War. Richard Wainwright was decorated with the Servian Order of the White Eagle with Crossed Swords.

Like all of the Wainwrights of his generation, Richard was active in Rye and Westchester civic and charitable affairs. Richard was a director of the Rye National Bank and a member of the Rye Town Park Commission. He also was the Democratic candidate both for the State Senate and for County Treasurer. He lost to the Republican candidate both times. The Wainwright family was bi-partisan since, as you will hear later, Col. Mayhew Wainwright was a prominent Republican.

Richard Wainwright also played a major role in both the American Yacht Club and the Apawamis Club. The Wainwright family’s involvement with the American Yacht Club began in 1887 when Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright sold the yacht club twelve acres of land at the end of Milton Point, plus Scotch Caps. All of the Wainwright brothers were avid yachtsmen and members of the club. Richard owned a number of yachts during his lifetime. At least two of his yachts were built at the Milton Point Boat Yard, which was where Milton Harbor House now stands. The Milton Point Boat Yard started as the Kirby Boat Yard in the 1850s. During the late 1800s, the Kirby Boat Yard built three America’s Cup contenders, including one America’s Cup winner, the Madeline. For a time, the Milton Point Boat Yard was owned by two of the Wainwright brothers. PT boats were built at the yard during World War II when it was owned by William Edgar John. Richard Wainwright was Rear Commodore of American Yacht Club from 1904 through 1907 and Commodore in 1908.

Richard Wainwright was a major force in the creation of the Apawamis Club as we know it today. Richard was one of the charter members of the Apawamis Club when it was founded in 1890 and, like his three brothers, was a life member of the club. He was a member of the club’s board of directors in the 1890s and early 1900s and was president of the club from 1903 through 1905.

Richard Wainwright’s most significant role in the development of the Apawamis Club was in transforming it into a golf club. The Apawamis Club was founded as a social club, not as a golf club, in 1890. At that time, golf was just being introduced in the United States and there was only one golf course in Westchester County. By 1896, the Apawamis Club decided to try golf and leased land on the north side of Apawamis Avenue and east side of the Milton Road to build its first golf course, a nine hole course. Golf quickly became very popular with the club’s members. In 1897, the club was required to vacate that land and leased the Peck family’s Jib Farm, together with land across Midland Avenue, for its second golf course. Jib Farm included what is now Loudon Woods, Hidden Spring Lane, and Peck Avenue. The Peck house which still stands at the corner of the Post Road and Peck Avenue served as the Apawamis clubhouse in 1897 and 1898. By this time, golf had become so popular with the club’s members and the membership had become sufficiently strong, that the club decided to purchase land and build a new clubhouse and golf course. Richard Wainwright was put in charge of locating property for the new facilities. Richard had played golf abroad and was familiar with the requirements for a first rate golf course. He identified the current site of the Apawamis Club as an ideal site for the new course. This view was confirmed by a Scottish professional with whom he consulted. The property constituted the Charles Park, Sr. farm and woodland. In 1898, Richard Wainwright and Lambert Sackett made a proposal to the club that it purchase the land on which the current club still sits. In the early 1900s, the club was put on a firm financial basis by means of a $100,000 loan Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright made to the club secured by a mortgage on all of the club’s property. That loan continued until 1928.

The Coveleigh clubhouse building

The Coveleigh Clubhouse consisted of fifty rooms on eighteen and a half acres when Richard Wainwright built it as his home between 1902 and 1904. Each room had a fireplace. As you can see, it was a very large, gracious, Georgian building. Like Wainwright House, the house was a much grander and more historically accurate building than the shingle style houses which the Wainwrights built on Stuyvesant Avenue in the 1800s and the house you will visit on Forest Avenue which Richard designed in the 1890s. This change in architectural style and life style was a reflection of a general change in taste at that time. The house contained several innovative features including what are said to be the first stall showers and what is said to be the first sliding plate glass door in the United States – the door through which we entered this garden.

The Richard Wainwright family moved out of “Homewood” during World War I and into a smaller, older house Richard owned on the property where the Durland Scout Center was located for many years. Richard Wainwright sold that property to Mrs. Frederick L. Durland for her summer house in 1924. The Durlands donated the property to the Boy Scouts in the 1950s. The Richard Wainwright family then moved to yet another Wainwright house on Milton Point. Richard lived in the house at 20 Stuyvesant Avenue, which he also called “Homewood,” at the time of his death in 1933. His mother and brothers, also, each lived in a number of different houses on Milton Point during their lives.

When the Wainwright family moved out of Homewood, they leased it to the Blum family. In the early 1920s, the property was sold to Allerton House, which was affiliated with the Allerton Hotel in Manhattan. Allerton House than sold the property to the Peningo Club, a golf and beach club. What is now the Coveleigh Club’s bowling green was the first tee for the Peningo Club golf course. However, most of the golf course was on the far side of Hall’s Lane. After the Peningo Club failed, the Homewood property passed through the hands of several other clubs – The Port of Missing Men, the Breakfast Club Casino, and the Rye Beach and Tennis Club – all of which failed. Some of the failed clubs had used the building as a speakeasy. The waterfront location and dock made it easy to receive deliveries of contraband liquor. Through this entire time, Richard Wainwright continued to hold a mortgage on the property. After he died in 1933, his son, Townsend, foreclosed the mortgage and leased the property, first to the Mayfair Club which also failed, and then to the Coveleigh Club.

The Coveleigh Club

The Coveleigh Club was founded in late 1933 by six men who thought that there was a need for a family club. Most of the clubs during that period were men’s clubs. The club was intended as a place where entire families could enjoy the recreation of sports such as swimming and tennis, and, of course, lawn bowling which remains one of the club’s trademarks. They leased the current club property in 1934.

Townsend Wainwright suggested the name “Coveleigh” to the club’s founders. Richard Wainwright originally was going to name the property “Coveleigh” before he decided to call it “Homewood.” The name “Coveleigh” was the combination of “cove” and “lea.” “Cove,” meaning small bay, referred to a small inlet where Richard Wainwright placed his formal sunken gardens and where the Coveleigh Club’s swimming pool is now located. Lea meant pasture and referred to a field on the property.

The Richard Wainwright estate continued to own the Coveleigh property until 1953, when the property finally was purchased by the Coveleigh Club.

Now, let’s go back into the house through Richard Wainwright’s innovative sliding glass door to view some of the house’s interior. After you exit by the front door, please meet your next docent between the Coveleigh driveway and the Shenorock Shore Club property.

STOP 4: At the edge of Coveleigh looking toward Shenorock

Stuyvesant history

If you look toward the Shenorock Shore Club, you will see the former site of Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright’s summer house, which she named the “Bouwerie.” There is a picture of the Bouwerie in your brochure. Both the name and the design of the house are indicative of the great value the Wainwright family placed on their lineage, in this case on the Stuyvesant branch of the family. The value placed on their lineage also is reflected in the names the family has chosen for its children for generations – names which have been carried forward from those of ancestors going back, in some cases, to the 1600s.

The Bouwerie was built in 1889 as a replica of Bouwerie House, the Stuyvesant family home in Manhattan which was on Bouwerie Lane (now “The Bowery”) near 14th Street on land running down to the East River. The Bouwerie on Milton Point eventually became part of the Shenorock Shore Club and was demolished in 1956 because it had been declared a fire hazard. Prior to the Bouwerie, Margaret’s summer house was the Willows at 130 Stuyvesant Avenue.

The history of the Bowery property in Manhattan goes back to 1651 when Gov. Peter Stuyvesant purchased 80 acres in Manhattan from the Dutch East India Company for a farm. Peter Stuyvesant named his farm the “Great Bouwerie,” “bouwerie” meaning “farm” in Dutch. After New Amsterdam became the English colony of New York, Gov. Peter Stuyvesant spent the rest of his life at the Great Bouwerie. At the time of his death, the farm consisted of 550 acres running from the Bowery and 4th Avenue to 30th Street and over to the East River. Descendants of Gov. Peter Stuyvesant sold the last part of the land which was the Great Bouwerie in 1970. Bouwerie House, which was the model for the Bouwerie on Milton Point, was built by Nicholas William Stuyvesant, a great-grandson of Gov. Peter Stuyvesant who bore the same name as Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright’s father, on part of the Great Bouwerie property in the late 18th century.

Another interesting link between Gov. Peter Stuyvesant and Rye is the “Stuyvesant Pear Tree.” In 1668, Gov. Peter Stuyvesant brought fruit trees from Holland for an orchard on his Great Bouwerie farm. One of those trees, a pear tree, survived until 1867, by which time it was known as the “Stuyvesant Pear Tree” and was surrounded by an iron fence at the corner of 13th Street and 3rd Avenue. Nicholas William Stuyvesant took part of the root from that tree and planted it on his property on Kirby Lane. According to Col. Mayhew Wainwright, the tree which grew from that root was still blooming and bearing fruit on Kirby Lane in 1945. Col. Mayhew Wainwright had cuttings from the Kirby Lane tree grafted onto pear trees on his Milton Point estate.

Col. Mayhew Wainwright described his mother as “always well-dressed, walked and comported herself with an air of distinction, never grew old, [and] never forgot that she was a Stuyvesant.” Margaret Livingston Stuyvesant Wainwright was born in 1839 and died in 1928 at the age of 88. She spent the summers in Rye and winters in Manhattan for most of her life. Only in her final years did she spend the entire year in Rye – the summers in the Bouwerie on Milton Point and the winters in Loudon Woods. The first Margaret Livingston (the great grandmother of Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright) married Peter Stuyvesant, a grandson of Gov. Peter Stuyvesant, in 1738. That Margaret Livingston was the granddaughter of Robert Livingston, the First Lord of the Manor of Livingston, and Aleda Schuyler – two of the great Hudson River families. Margaret Livingston Stuyvesant Wainwright also was the granddaughter of Catherine Livingston – the Livingstons and the Stuyvesants intermarried more than once.

Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright’s father was Nicholas William Stuyvesant, Jr. He was born in 1802 and died in 1871. The first Nicholas William Stuyvesant was the son of Gov. Peter Stuyvesant and Judith Bayard and was born in the mid-1600s. The name was then used by successive generations of Stuyvesants. Both Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright’s father and brother, Henry Stuyvesant, are interred with Gov. Peter Stuyvesant in the family vault at St. Marks-in-the-Bowery. Henry Stuyvesant lived on Forest Avenue.

. Gov. Peter Stuyvesant built a private chapel a few yards from his house at the Great Bouwerie. Gov. Stuyvesant was buried in a vault under the chapel when he died. Over the years, the chapel fell into disrepair. In 1793, a descendant of Gov. Stuyvesant donated the chapel to Trinity Church with adjacent property and an endowment. Trinity Church replaced the Stuyvesant family chapel in 1795 with the still active church named St. Marks-in-the-Bowery. The Stuyvesant family vault, dating back to the 1600s, which contains the remains of two former Rye residents, can be found at St. Marks-in-the-Bowery.

Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright’s Aunt and Uncle, Philip and Louisa Kearny, had a summer house on Kirby Lane next door to that of Margaret’s parents. Margaret Stuyvesant’s mother and Louisa Kearny’s mother were Chesebroughs, descendants of the Chesebrough family which founded Stonington, Connecticut in the 17th century and which later invented cold cream and founded the Chesebrough-Ponds Company.

Since I am sure that your heads are spinning with Stuyvesants, you will hear about the Wainwright forbearers at the next stop on the tour – 85 Stuyvesant Avenue, near Hall’s Lane. You probably will want to drive to that stop.

STOP 5: 85 Stuyvesant Avenue

John Howard Wainwright, Sr. was building a house for his father-in-law, Nicholas William Stuyvesant, when his father-in-law died in 1871. It probably was the house behind me, 85 Stuyvesant Avenue. Subsequently, the house at 85 Stuyvesant Avenue was owned by John Howard Wainwright, Jr. John Howard Wainwright, Jr. then built the red brick house next door, 75 Stuyvesant Avenue, as a new summer house for himself in 1906. He occupied the brick house from 1906 until his death in 1911. He also is said to have built the house at 210 Stuyvesant Avenue.

First I am going to talk about John Howard Wainwright, Jr. Then I will talk about his father, John Howard Wainwright, Sr., who purchased Milton Point. I will conclude with a summary of the history of the Wainwright line of ancestors, before saying a little about the houses at 75 and 85 Stuyvesant Avenue. Finally, we will tour some of the first floor rooms at 85 Stuyvesant Avenue.

John Howard Wainwright, Jr.

John Howard Wainwright, Jr., the oldest of Margaret Stuyvesant and John Howard Wainwright, Sr.’s children, was born in 1862. Both father and son were known as “Howard.” John Howard Wainwright, Jr. died in 1911 at the age of 50. He graduated from the Columbia University School of Mines in 1882 and had a career as a chemist. Like his brother Richard, J. Howard, Jr. retired from his chosen profession around the age of 40. J. Howard, Jr. devoted the rest of his life to public service.

Although, J. Howard Wainwright, Jr. maintained a winter residence in Manhattan all of his life, he was very involved in the civic life of Rye and in Rye’s institutions. The prominence Rye played in his life is reflected in the fact that he directed that his funeral by held at Christ’s Church in Rye.

J. Howard Wainwright, Jr. was a member of the Christ’s Church vestry for ten years. He was Christ’s Church’s delegate to both the Archdeaconry of Westchester and the Diocesan of Westchester. He was an organizer of the Milton Hose Company. The current Milton firehouse is located on land which once belonged to his Stuyvesant grandfather. J. Howard Wainwright, Jr. also was a member of the Village of Rye Board of Trustees from 1908 through 1910 and was president of Union Free School District No. 3, the Milton school district.

Like all of the Wainwright brothers, J. Howard, Jr. was an avid yachtsman and an active member of American Yacht Club, where he was Chairman of the House Committee and Chairman of the Race Committee. J. Howard, Jr. was one of the original twenty-four founders of The Apawamis Club in 1890 and a life member of the club.

Beyond Rye, J. Howard, Jr. devoted much time to Free Masonry and related institutions. He was a Deputy Grand Master of the New York Masons and a trustee of the Masonic Home. His non-Masonic civic and charitable responsibilities included serving as a member of the New York City Commission on Explosives and as a trustee of the Mohansic State Hospital.

John Howard Wainwright, Sr.

John Howard Wainwright, Sr. was born in 1829 and died of a stroke in 1871, at the age of 41. He was named after John Howard, a famous leader of prison reform in England to whom the Wainwrights were related.

You have heard about J. Howard Wainwright’s purchase of Milton Point in 1864. Although he only lived for seven years after purchasing Milton Point for his summer residence, he took an active interest in Rye. Along with Gerritt Van Wagenen and Richard Chapman, J. Howard Wainwright was instrumental in the establishment of Grace Chapel on Milton Road. Grace Chapel is now the Rye Meeting House. However, from 1867 until 1959, the building served as an Episcopal chapel for Christ’s Church. The will of J. Howard’s widow, Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright, established the J. Howard Wainwright Fund for the benefit of Grace Chapel, which allowed for the resumption of regular services at the chapel during the Depression. J. Howard, Sr. was a member of the Christ’s Church vestry. There is a stained glass window in his memory in the church.

J. Howard Wainwright was a Vice President of the New York Stock exchange. He had a banking and brokerage firm, Seton & Wainwright, with offices at 37 Wall Street. He also was a poet and playwright. He published a volume of poetry entitled “Rhymings” and wrote several plays. One of the plays, “Rip Van Winkle,” had a successful run in New York.

Like his sons, J. Howard Wainwright was an active yachtsman, although he was not a member of American Yacht Club since he died before the club’s founding.

Wainwright Ancestors

J. Howard Wainwright’s father was the first Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, after whom numerous Wainwright descendants have been named. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was born in 1792 and ultimately became the Provisional Episcopal Bishop of New York in 1852. He was considered a great orator and conciliator. He wrote and edited a number of books, including three books of music for the church. Some of the many posts he held in the Episcopal Church included being rector of Grace Church in Manhattan, rector of Trinity Church in Boston, Secretary of the House of Bishops, and Secretary of the Board of General Theological Seminary.

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was called to be the Rector of Trinity Church in Boston because of his great conciliatory skills as the parish of Trinity Church (Boston) was torn by factional dissension at the time. Many years later, he became the Provisional Bishop of New York because of those same skills as the diocese of New York also had been torn by factional dissension for a number of years, in this case between those who favored a low church approach and those who favored a high church approach to practicing their religion.

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was instrumental in the selection of Richard Upjohn to be the architect of the iconic Trinity Church building which still stands on Broadway at the end of Wall Street in New York. Bishop Wainwright consecrated the third Christ’s Church edifice in Rye.

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was one of the founders of New York University in 1831 and was one of the University’s original trustees. He was proposed as the first Chancellor of the University, but declined to be considered for the position. It is thought that his refusal was because of his position in the Episcopal Church in New York. The Episcopal Church was closely associated with Columbia University. As a result, it has been said that the Episcopal Church did not support the establishment of NYU because the church was concerned that the new university would provide competition for Columbia.

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was named after one of his famous ancestors – Jonathan Mayhew. Jonathan Mayhew is considered to be one of the founders of Unitarianism. Jonathan Mayhew was born in 1720 on Martha’s Vineyard, studied at Harvard, and died in 1766. He was a champion of liberal Christianity who proposed an analytical approach to religion which was in the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment. He was an advocate of free will His writings and published sermons laid the intellectual foundation for Unitarianism. Although his theological ideas were considered to be radical, his writings were widely read on both sides of the Atlantic.

Jonathan Mayhew also played a political role. His published sermons are said to have “nurtured incipient patriotism in the Colonies” and contributed to the intellectual foundation of the American Revolution. Jonathan Mayhew was against unlimited submission to political power, particularly to that of Charles I. He defended the right to disobey unjust laws. One of his most famous addresses, “The Snare Broken,” supported the repeal of the stamp act shortly before his death in 1766.

The Mayhews were New England merchants and missionaries in the 1600s and early 1700s. They were early proprietors of Martha’s Vineyard, where they settled to convert the local Native Americans to Christianity. The Mayhews sold Nantucket to its original settlers in the 1600s. The Mayhews had purchased Nantucket from both the English lord who had been granted the island by the king and from the Native Americans who were living there. The Mayhews chief interest in Nantucket was in missionary work with the Native Americans, not in settling the island.

85 and 75 Stuyvesant Avenue

The house at 85 Stuyvesant Avenue was built around 1870 and is an example of the Shingle Style which was popular during the latter part of the 19th century, particularly for vacation houses in the Northeast. The house at 75 Stuyvesant Avenue, which was built in 1906, is an example of the colonial or Georgian revival style which became popular in the early part of the 20th century and dominated domestic architecture in the Northeast for much of the century. The house at 75 Stuyvesant Avenue was designed by a Rye architect named James Pickles.

The chief characteristics of Shingle Style houses are a horizontal silhouette, an informal, non-symmetrical massing, a flowing of interior spaces from one room to another, a large living/entrance/stair hall, often with a fireplace, and, of course, an exterior covered with wooden shingles. The chief characteristics of colonial or Georgian revival houses are symmetrically, formal massing, and a more compartmentalized arrangement of rooms. Although architects working in the Shingle Style took inspiration from several historical precedents, they were very creative in their approach to design and did not feel the least bit restrained by historical models. On the other hand, architects working in the colonial or Georgian revival style tried to duplicate historical models as much as possible.

Now let’s view some of the main rooms in 85 Stuyvesant Avenue and get a first hand view of a Shingle Style house, the style used for many of the Wainwright’s houses on Stuyvesant Avenue. You will have another chance to view a Shingle Style house on this tour when you visit the house at 418 Forest Avenue, the next stop on the tour.

STOP 6: 418 Forest Avenue (driveway between 400 and 418 Forest Avenue)

We will be visiting the house at 418 Forest Avenue, for which Richard Wainwright was the architect. First, however, I will talk about Col. J. Mayhew Wainwright, who lived a majority of his adult life at 400 Forest Avenue, the house next door. Col Wainwright lived in the house which is now Wainwright House only from 1931 until his dearth in 1945. From 1897 until 1931, Col. Wainwright lived at 400 Forest Avenue. 400 Forest Avenue is the white house to your right and 418 Forest Avenue is the green house to your left.

Col. J. Mayhew Wainwright

The Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright who built Wainwright House and was known as Col. J. Mayhew Wainwright was the third son of Margaret Stuyvesant and John Howard Wainwright. J. Mayhew Wainwright was born in 1864 and died in 1945. He used the name J. Mayhew Wainwright to distinguish himself from his cousin, who used the name Jonathan M. Wainwright and was a famous general in the Second World War. Of the four Wainwright brothers, J. Mayhew had the greatest impact on the local and national stage.

At the first stop on today’s tour, you heard about Mayhew Wainwright’s childhood summers in Rye and childhood winters in Manhattan and Europe. Mayhew Wainwright graduated from Columbia College and Columbia’s School of Political Science in 1884, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and his senior class poet. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1886. In 1892 he married Laura Buchanan, and in 1893, their only child, Laura Fonrose, was born. In 1897, they moved into the house a 400 Forest Avenue. Unlike the rest of the Wainwright family, Mayhew lived in Rye year-round for all of his married life.

Mayhew Wainwright was extraordinarily active in his profession of law, in government, in the military, and in business. He was an extremely public spirited individual, who had a great impact on Rye at the beginning of the twentieth century when Rye was being transformed from a small town which provided a summer home for wealthy New Yorkers into a bustling year-round New York City suburb.

Mayhew Wainwright represented Westchester County in the New York State Assembly from 1901 through 1908, when he was elected to the New York State Senate. While serving in the Assembly, he played an important role in creating the political entity which is now the City of Rye. Prior to 1904, what is now Rye City, Rye Brook, and Port Chester were all the single political entity of the Town of Rye. In the early 1900s, there was a movement for what is now the City of Rye to secede from the Town of Rye and become the Village of Rye. The Rye Incorporation League was formed to advance this cause. Mayhew Wainwright was a member of the League. On January 29, 1904, as a member of the New York State Assembly, Mayhew Wainwright introduced the Incorporation Act authorizing the incorporation of the Village of Rye. The bill was signed into law by the Governor in March 1, 1904. Decades later, the Village of Rye was reincorporated as the City of Rye.

In an editorial in The Rye Chronicle about Mayhew Wainwright upon his death, it was stated:

…they [the Wainwright brothers] were to a considerable extent responsible for the founding of some of our public institutions, among them The Rye National Bank and The Rye Chronicle. Nearly two score years ago [prior to 1945] they foresaw the necessity for a bank and a newspaper to aid the growth of the little village and they assumed the initiative that brought both into being.

Mayhew Wainwright was a founder and the first President of The First National Bank of Rye. The Rye Chronicle, of which he was a founder, was the primary paper covering Rye for many decades. Mayhew Wainwright also organized the Westchester and Bronx Title and Mortgage Guaranty Company and was its first President from 1903 through 1907. In addition, he was a director of both the Mutual Trust company of Westchester County in Port Chester and the Westchester County Trust Company in Yonkers.

Other institutions in Rye for which he served include Christ’s Church, where he was a member of the Vestry for twenty-five years, starting in 1912 and the Senior Warden in 1936, and the Rye Free Reading Room, of which he was a trustee. Other Westchester service included serving as Chairman of the Westchester County Defense Council, a member of the Westchester County Park Commission from 1930 through 1936, and President of the Westchester County Bar Association. Mayhew’s service to New York City institutions included serving on the Board of Managers of the Seamen’s Church Institute and of St. Luke’s Hospital. The attendance of Mayor and Mrs. Fiorello LaGuardia at Mayhew Wainwright’s funeral in Rye is a testament to the extent of Mayhew’s public service.

Returning to Mayhew Wainwright’s government service, while he was a member of the New York Assembly, Mayhew was Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee and a member of the Wainwright Commission of the Legislature which surveyed New York’s National Guard organization and recommended changes in the governing law to increase the National Guard’s efficiency. Mayhew unsuccessfully ran for Speaker of the Assembly in 1905. He was elected to the New York Senate representing Westchester in 1908 and served there through 1912. He considered the passage of New York’s Workmen’s Compensation law, the second in the United States, to be his most important accomplishment as a New York State senator. Mayhew was Chairman of a Special Commission composed of members of both houses of the legislature to examine and report on prevailing systems of employers’ liability and on unemployment. That commission developed New York’s first workmen’s compensation law. Mayhew was a member of New York’s first Workman’s Compensation Commission from 1914 to 1915. Although they were members of different parties, Mayhew and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were good friends when they served together in the New York State Senate.

In 1921, President Harding appointed Mayhew Wainwright Assistant Secretary of War. His primary interests in this position were the development of aviation, the improvement of conditions of military life, and laying the groundwork for preparedness for war so that an army of 4,000,000 men might be called into service on short notice.

Mayhew Wainwright was elected to the United States Congress in 1922 to represent the 25th District of New York, which covered Rockland County and part of Westchester County. In 1931, Mayhew retired from Congress and from public life. When in Congress, Mayhew strenuously fought for the enactment of a bill authorizing compulsory drafting of industry, resources, and men in time of war. Despite Mayhew’s efforts, the bill was defeated.

Mayhew Wainwright pursued a legal career throughout his life, practicing law simultaneously in New York City and Westchester County. After graduating from law school, Mayhew worked in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. He then worked for the firm of Strong & Cadwalader (which is now the firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft of which one of his great-nephews, also named Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, currently is a partner). In 1913, Mayhew Wainwright formed the firm of Barry, Wainwright, Thacher & Symmers, of which he was a member for many years. That firm continues today under the name of Thacher, Proffitt & Wood.

The last aspect of Mayhew Wainwright’s life which I will address is his military service. The fact that he was known as Col. Wainwright for most of his life indicates the importance he placed on military service. Mayhew Wainwright first fought in the Spanish-American War, where he was Company Commander of the 12th New York Infantry. Next, he served as liaison officer for the Governor of New York in what is referred to as the “Mexican border trouble.” The Colonel’s active military service was capped by his service in World War I.

World War I

The service of the members of the Wainwright family in World War I gives an idea of the impact of the war on the residents of Rye at that time. If you have never closely examined Rye’s World War I memorial, I recommend that you take a few minutes to visit it. The memorial is the flagpole opposite the Square House at the intersection of Purchase Street and the Post Road. The inscription on the base of the flag pole lists all of the men from Rye who fought in the war, separately listing those who were killed in action.

The three Wainwright brothers who were alive during the First World War served even though they were in their fifties at the time of the war. Only Mayhew and Stuyvesant are listed on the memorial because, as you heard earlier, Richard served outside of the U.S. military before the United States entered the war. Stuyvesant’s four then living sons served, Stuyvesant, Jr., Loudon, Carroll, and John Howard. Mayhew’s wife and daughter also volunteered in the war effort.

Mayhew Wainwright was Inspector General of the 27th Division in 1917. From 1917 through 1919, he served in France and Belgium as part of the American expeditionary forces attached to the British Army. He served in the Ypres Sector, the battle for the Hindenburg Line, and the battle of La Salle River. Mayhew was awarded the Silver Star on ribbon of Victory medal, the Distinguished Service Medal of the United States Army, Officer of the Legion of Honor of France, the Belgium Croix de Guerre with Palm, and the Conspicuous Service Cross of New York.

Mayhew’s brother, Stuyvesant, was a deck officer in the Navy during the war. Stuyvesant’s sons, John Howard and Carroll Livingston, also both served in the Navy. Stuyvesant’s son, Loudon, was a pilot in the Army Air Service

Mayhew’s wife, Laura, and daughter, Fonrose, conducted a Red Cross soldiers’ canteen at Spartenberg, South Carolina for members of Mayhew’s Division, the 27th. Later during the war, they did the same thing for soldiers and sailors at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Laura also was a hostess at the Red Cross Institute for Blinded Soldiers at Evergreen, near Baltimore.

The extent of the Wainwright family’s involvement in the war effort and the fact that the Wainwright brothers volunteered to serve when they were in their fifties suggests the extent of the dedication of the entire population of Rye to the war effort and the willingness of the population to sacrifice to support the war.

House at 418 Forest Avenue

The green house behind me to your right at 418 Forest Avenue was designed by Richard Wainwright as a summer house for Lulu Schenck in 1897. The house was named Cozy Corner at the time it was built.

The white house behind me to your left at 400 Forest Avenue was built for J. Mayhew Wainwright in 1897 and was named Boxwood. It is assumed that Boxwood also was designed by Richard Wainwright.

Both houses are examples of the Shingle Style and share common characteristics of the style including: a horizontal profile, a shingle exterior surface, a large entry/stair hall with a fireplace which was intended to serve as a gathering room, an open plan of spaces which flow from room to room, and numerous fireplaces. Also notice that the porches of both houses are part of the main volume of the house, not appendages to it. That is another characteristic of the fully developed Shingle Style.

An interesting historical note is that the resident of 400 Forest Avenue during World War II, Prof. Langmuir, was one of the people who broke the Japanese code.

Now, let’s enter 418 Forest Avenue and see an example of Richard Wainwright’s interpretation of the Shingle Style.

STOP 7: 10 Barberry Lane (in front of house)

The house you are facing was owned by Stuyvesant Wainwright, who developed Loudon Woods. As far as we know, Stuyvesant Wainwright always spent his summers on Milton Point and never lived in this house. However, the house was lived in by the Wainwright family for many years. We believe it was the house in Loudon Woods where Stuyvesant’s mother, Margaret Stuyvesant Wainwright, spent the winters during her later years and died in 1928 at the age of 88. As you heard earlier, she continued to spend her summers on Milton Point.

Jared Peck

Stuyvesant Wainwright acquired the Loudon Woods property from the Peck family. The house was built by Jared Peck around 1865. Jared Peck was a prominent citizen with accomplishments similar to those of Mayhew Wainwright, including representing Westchester in the United States Congress. Jared Peck was born in Port Chester in 1816 and died in 1891. He was involved in the lumber, brick, hardware and building materials businesses, largely in Port Chester. Port Chester had a thriving hardware manufacturing industry during the 19th century. In its early years, Port Chester was known as “Saw Pit” because of its lumber industry.

Jared Peck’s government service began with his serving as the Auditor for the Town of Rye in 1844 and 1845. In 1848, he was elected to the New York State Assembly. In 1853, he was elected to the United States Congress to represent New York’s 9th District. Jared Peck did not run for a second term, choosing to return to his business interests. However, in 1859, he was appointed the Warden of the Port of New York, a position he held until 1865. Jared Peck lived in Manhattan while he was the Warden of the Port of New York. Upon the completion of his service in that post, he moved to Rye and built this house. Jared Peck was a founder of the Union League Club in New York City.

Stuyvesant Wainwright

Stuyvesant Wainwright is the last of the four sons of Margaret and Howard Wainwright to be discussed on this tour. Stuyvesant was born in 1863 and died in 1930. Stuyvesant married Caroline Snowden in 1889. They had five sons, four of whom lived to be adults. It is this line of Wainwrights which carries on the Wainwright family heritage today. Stuyvesant married Sarah (Sally) Hughes after divorcing Caroline Snowden. All of Stuyvesant’s children were from his first marriage.

Stuyvesant Wainwright had a metal brokerage business at 81 Fulton Street in Manhattan. However, he devoted most of his energies to his Rye real estate interests during his later years. A 1945 Rye Chronicle editorial stated that:

He (Mayhew Wainwright) and his brothers loved Rye, they had faith in its future and they backed their convictions in a very material way. Some of our finest residential sections were developed by them.

Of the four brothers, Stuyvesant was the most involved in the residential development of Rye during the first part of the 20th century when it became the suburban community we know. Everybody associates the Wainwrights with Milton Point. Today, you have heard that the Wainwrights were responsible for the construction and development of Stuyvesant Avenue. By 1881, their land along Stuyvesant Avenue had legally been divided into lots. However, the Wainwrights continued to own most of Stuyvesant Avenue for many decades. They built and owned all of the existing houses on Stuyvesant Avenue which predate the 1920s. They also built and owned several houses along Stuyvesant Avenue which no longer survive. Each of the houses was lived in be one or another member of the family. In most cases, as the members of the family moved from one house to another, they retained ownership of the houses they were not using and rented them to other families. Over time, the houses were sold outside of the family. Stuyvesant Wainwright spent most of his adult summers at The Anchorage, which is at 120 Stuyvesant Avenue. He also is thought to have built Seven Oaks, which is at 150 Stuyvesant Avenue.

Milton Point, however, is not the only neighborhood in Rye which the Wainwrights developed. Stuyvesant Wainwright subdivided Loudon Woods in 1910. He named Loudon Woods after his first wife’s family, a name they also used for one of their sons. Caroline Snowden’s father was A. Loudon Snowden. He was a Director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, Ambassador to Romania, Minister to Greece, and Minister to Spain. Stuyvesant Wainwright placed a restriction in the deed to each property in Loudon Woods that anything built on the property had to be approved by him. Stuyvesant Wainwright’s estate retained that right of approval until 1980 when it was assigned to the Loudon Woods Association. Stuyvesant Wainwright is responsible for the oldest house on Lavender Lane, one of the more interesting houses in Rye. The history of the house goes back to “Kirklawn,” the house which served as the clubhouse for The Apawamis Club from 1891 until 1896. At that time, Kirklawn was located where the Church of the Resurrection now stands. Most likely, Kirklawn was moved to Lavender Lane when the Church of the Resurrection was built, although some accounts say that Stuyvesant Wainwright had a new house built duplicating Kirklawn.

The Apawamis Land Company was incorporated in 1907. Stuyvesant Wainwright was its president and, probably, its major shareholder. By 1915, Loudon Woods was owned by The Apawamis Land Company. The Apawamis Land Company purchased what is now Indian Village in 1915 from its original developers, Frederick Odell, James Merritt, and Charles Austin, who started planning the development shortly before 1900. They had called the neighborhood “Glenhyrst.” The Apawamis Land Company named the streets after Native American tribes and renamed the neighborhood “Indian Village.” Most of the houses in Indian Village were built between 1915 and 1929 during the period when it was being developed by the Apawamis Land Company.

The Wainwright brothers also developed Dogwood Lane and Upper Dogwood Lane.

Stuyvesant Wainwright was the most athletic of the four Wainwright brothers. According to Mayhew Wainwright, Stuyvesant was one of the best amateur lightweight boxers in New York City and almost broke the quarter and half mile records for running in his youth. In the area of sports, Stuyvesant Wainwright made his greatest mark as a yachtsman, where he was considered one of the leading yachtsmen of his generation and compiled an enviable racing record. He was responsible for the naming of the Star class sailboat, one of the first major one design sailboat classes and one of the classes which was sailed in the Olympics until recently. Prior to Stuyvesant’s suggesting the name “Star,” the boats were going to be called “Nahant Bugs.” Stuyvesant Wainwright served as Chairman of the American Yacht Club Race Committee and as the Club’s Rear Commodore and Vice Commodore. He also was Commodore of the Cruising Club of America.

Stuyvesant Wainwright’s Descendants

Stuyvesant and Caroline Wainwright had four sons who lived to be adults, Stuyvesant Jr., John Howard, Loudon Snowden, and Carroll Livingston. Most of the currently living Wainwrights who are descended from the Rye branch of the family are descendants of their children.

Stuyvesant Wainwright II, the son of Carroll Livingston Wainwright and Edith Gould, was a Republican member of the United States Congress from 1953 through 1961, representing Eastern Long Island. As a child, Stuyve II, as he is known, spent a considerable amount of time visiting his uncle, Mayhew Wainwright, on Milton Point. Presumably, Stuyve II’s service in Congress is a testament to the influence Mayhew had on his nephew. The regard with which Stuyve II held his uncle also is reflected in the fact that Stuyve II named one of his sons “Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright.” Stuyve II’s mother, Edith Gould, was the daughter of George Jay Gould, who was active in the American Yacht Club and a son of Jay Gould, the financier and American Yacht Club founder.

Loudon Wainwright, Jr., Loudon Wainwright’s son, was the Assistant Managing Editor of Life magazine and author of its “The View From Here” column, the magazine’s first personal column. Loudon Wainwright, Jr. lived in Bedford, New York for much of his adult life. The well known folk singer Loudon Wainwright III is Loudon Wainwright, Jr.’s son. His daughter, Sloan Wainwright, also is a singer/songwriter. The Wainwright who has had the most publicity this year is Rufus Wainwright, the singer/songwriter son of Loudon III. The Metropolitan Opera has commissioned Rufus to compose an opera for it.

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, Jr., known as “Jay,” a grandson of Stuyve II, provides the most recent Wainwright link to Rye. Jay Wainwright is a founder of the Cosi restaurant chain, which has a branch on Purchase Street in Rye.

House at 10 Barberry Lane

Now we will view part of the interior of the original Loudon Woods main house.

As I mentioned, this house was built around 1865. It is an example of the Italianate, bracketed style which was popular in the 1860s. You can see that this house is much more vertical and has a much more formal feeling than the Shingle Style houses you have visited today which were built later.

This is the final stop on the tour. I hope that you enjoyed the tour and gained a deeper appreciation for Rye’s history. I also hope that you will consider becoming a member of the Rye Historical Society if you are not a member already.

We look forward to seeing you on future tours. Thank you for joining us