DOBBS FERRY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Fostering an awareness and appreciation for the history of Dobbs Ferry and all the people, noted and humble, who transmitted the good things of the past The to the present and the future.

Would you please be our Treasures in the attic - Ferryman“Friend”? Fanny Garrison His Father’s and in our archives Villard son Have you seen our Facebook A simple question leads Your marching orders page yet? Dobbs Ferry’s own This Our 7th annual Road to Did you know us on a hunt and yields remarkable that Denise Wilson has done a two pictures that reveal Freedom March which traces fabulous job of posting woman called the steps of General George Jr. (left) and his a historic treasure that Dobbs Ferry father, both interesting and entertaining still exists in Dobbs Washington and the tidbits about the history of home. The daughter of an Continental Army in the famous movie producers from Ferry today. You American Abolitionist, and the 1960’s, made their homes Dobbs Ferry for all to enjoy. probably have summer of 1781 - will take Check it out! wife of a tycoon, she co- place on Sunday, August in the Rivertowns? Learn wondered what it was. founded two organizations more about these interesting Would you be able to 19th rain or shine! Our that changed and improved special program this year men as different as night and recognize it? the lives of millions. day! Pages 6 & 7 includes a concert. Pages 4 & 5 Page 8 Pages 1, 2 & 3

Volume XXV, Issue No 2 Summer 2012 FATHER & SON, THE TWO MIKE TODDS For flamboyant producer Mike Todd, Sr., only the purchase of a showplace estate in Irvington-on-Hudson, plus marriage to famous actress (and later to actress ), could satisfy his appetite for grandiose display.

On the other hand, for his son, Michael Todd, Jr., a quiet front porch on a secluded, unpaved lane in Dobbs Ferry was just fine.

If you came of age during the 1950s and 60s, the name “Mike Todd” will surely conjure up visions of what “show business” was all about in those days. Born Avrom Hirsch Goldboggen in , in 1909, Todd Sr. was one of nine children of an orthodox rabbi and his wife and was raised in meager circumstances. Teased by an older sibling for his inability to say “coat” little Avrom was nicknamed “Toat.” This was the origin of the name “Todd” which he later adopted. Adventurous even as a child, he was expelled from the sixth grade for running a craps game.

After dropping out of high school, Todd Sr. worked at a variety of jobs, eventually working his way into event production. For the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, he created a “flame dance” in which gas jets would gradually burn away dancers’ costumes until they were completely naked. It was a big hit, and opportunities multiplied. Focusing his efforts on the stage, Mike Todd produced thirty Broadway shows. And in 1947 he won the heart of screen star Joan Blondell.

The glamorous couple needed a residence befitting their status, so Todd “He made our short 18 months together one of the purchased the sprawling Mathiessen estate in Irvington (now known as most intensely glorious times of my life. ... I have had Matthiessen Park). Built by C. L. Tiffany, of the jewelry firm family, it featured a two great loves in my life. Mike Todd was the first." large mansion, guest house, garage and 26 acres of property. When Todd and - Elizabeth Taylor ( shown here at the age of 25 with Blondell moved in, after extensive renovation, its occupants included, in addition to the couple, Miss Blondell’s mother, her two children by former her third husband Mike Todd Sr.)

PLEASE VISIT US ON THE WEB AT WWW.DOBBSFERRYHISTORY.ORG THE FERRYMAN

For one thing, Michael’s new house was large but not showy. Set back at the end of a driveway veering off from a secluded lane, it offered a cozy hiding place with only the sound of crickets to disturb the languid air.

“Cricket Lane in those days was truly idyllic,” remembers Melanie McCain Dobbs, who lived next door to the Todds and was friends with their children. The street was not as accessible then as it is now. There was a pond and the Juhring woods; we were outdoors all the time.” “I always looked on the Todds as the perfect family,” added her mother, Joan McCain. “Mike Jr. was certainly the head of the family and he was strict,” she said. “However, he seemed to relish family life. “

“He loved to cook. With pride he brought out of the kitchen huge roasts. We sat around the family dinner table waiting eagerly for popovers,” Melanie recalls.

Michael Jr. made no secret of his personal preferences. “I don’t like Hollywood. I hate the architecture. And I hate parties,” he was quoted as saying to a reporter. “We do less At the New York premier of his father’s blockbuster film AROUND THE entertaining than anybody I know . . . and going out just never seems to be worth the WORLD IN 80 DAYS, Mike Jr. (seated in the middle) shares a moment with his trouble.” 2 father (standing) and his bejeweled stepmother Elizabeth Taylor.

husband Dick Powell, as well as Mr. Todd’s son by his first marriage, Michael, Jr., home ENTER MIKE TODD JR. from college on alternate weekends. Born in Los Angeles in 1929, Michael Todd, The marriage lasted only three years. Mike Jr., was the child of Todd Sr.’s first wife, Todd Sr. didn’t want Joan to work but she Bertha Freshman, who died in 1946. rebelled and disagreements grew. Citing Following graduation from Lawrenceville extortion and even physical abuse “He once and Amherst, and a stint in the navy, young dangled me from a window by my ankles” Michael entered his father’s business, Mike she claimed. Ms. Blondell obtained a Las Todd Productions. He contributed a Vegas divorce. noteworthy rollercoaster ride segment to the Mike Todd, Sr. would go on to develop feature This is and assumed the Cinerama and, later, Todd-A-O, a movie post position of vice president of the firm. In production company which enhanced the March, 1958, the unthinkable happened: sound and visual qualities of movies. But his Mike Todd, Sr. was killed when his plane crowning achievement would be the “The Lucky Liz” crashed in the mountains of production of Around the World in Eighty New Mexico. At 29, Michael Todd, Jr. took Days. over his father’s show business empire.

It generated a fortune and was shown to Later that year young Michael moved with international acclaim. These show business his wife, Sarah, and four children to Dobbs triumphs were topped off by his wooing of Ferry. Purchasing the former Juhring Elizabeth Taylor, who was swept off her feet mansion on Cricket Lane, Michael intended by Todd whom she called “the most exciting to be his own man, not a carbon copy of his man in the world.” father.

Producer Mike Todd, Jr. created 1960ʹs to highlight his Smell-o-Vision technology. He equipped three theaters with conveyor belts, to deploy one of 30 different scents sequenced to specific triggers in the film reel.

2 THE MEAD HOUSE 12 ELM STREET DOBBS FERRY, NEW YORK 10522 THE FERRYMAN

Mike Todd Jr. was very civic minded during his residency in Dobbs Ferry. In 1966 the Herald Statesman (excerpt on the left) reported that he, the father of six children, ran for a position on our school board.

were too faint. The movie was the first more children, and they all moved to and last Smell-O-Vision feature. In 2000, a Ireland. His Dobbs Ferry life had Time Magazine article included it in “The changed, the village itself was changing, Top 100 Worst Ideas of All Time.” and even his beloved Cricket Lane was being opened up. In a somewhat Another Michael Jr. project was designed dilapidated castle in County Carlow, for the 1963-64 New York World’s Fair. It Michael Todd, Jr. recovered the peaceful, was an integrated minstrel show called small village atmosphere he craved. There America, Be Seated. It lasted only two he died in 2002. performances. However, it had its dress Nevertheless, as new president of his rehearsal in the Dobbs Ferry High School Acknowledgements: father’s company whose ownership he auditorium on April 3, 1964, as a benefit shared with his stepmother, Elizabeth for the Home and School Association Robin Costello, Historical Society trustee Taylor, Michael, Jr. felt obligated to carry Scholarship Fund. Michael Jr. was and designer of The Ferryman compiled on his father’s tradition of daring community-minded; he served on the the material for this article from Historical showmanship. One of his projects was the School Board, (with several children in the Society archives. creation of a feature movie in which Dobbs Ferry schools, this seemed only We thank Joan McCain and Melanie smells would be part of the cinematic logical). Dobbs for sharing their memories of experience. Michael Jr. never equaled the dramatic Michael Todd, Jr. and his family. Scent of Mystery, the first Smell-O-Vision successes his father achieved. When his !1.Wikipedia: Mike Todd; Michael movie, opened in 1960. Twenty-six smells wife, Sarah, died suddenly of a heart Todd, Jr. coordinated with appropriate scenes in attack around the age of 40 in their the film were sent through pipes behind Cricket Lane home, Michael, Jr. was !2. Michael Todd, Jr. as quoted by each seat in the theater. However, devastated. Left with six children, he Helena Kane, Special Press Writer, The viewers complained of a loud hissing made a decision to start anew elsewhere. Binghamton Press, Monday, July 6, 1959 noise, and a segment of the audience He married his longtime secretary, Susan received the smell too late. Some smells McCarthy, with whom he would have two WRITTEN BY LARRY BLIZARD

His Dad P \ > * :';: j | EDITOR'S NOI£: When Mike,Todd, show; Michael calls her "a complete civilian—she has 'pman extraordinary, teas* k i l l e d in a. plane craft no interest; or ideas, or inclination toward §£aytar ago March,

ON THE WEB AT WWW.DOBBSFERRYHISTORY.ORG 3 T H E F E R R Y M A N FANNY GARRISON VILLARD CIVIL RIGHTS CHAMPION AT THE DAWN OF THE 20TH CENTURY

!Fanny’s life was one of ups and !From that time until her death in downs. When she married 1928, Fanny devoted her life to social and (1866), her fortunes rose and fell with his. In philanthropic causes. Happily, she lived to Horatio Alger fashion, Henry stepped up see the adoption of the Nineteenth from Civil War correspondent to Amendment, which gave women the right international financier, convincing German to vote. Indeed, before the women’s issues investors to back the construction of were quite settled, Fanny threw herself railroads in the West. When he was caught headlong into the drive for peace. Many in a financial panic, Fanny adjusted her Americans were afraid that President style of living. When he was doing well, she Wilson would take the country into the of course also prospered. In addition to European war in spite of his promise not to their Fifth Avenue home, they bought a do so. Some were asking for a referendum luxurious country house in Dobbs Ferry on before America went into war. Not Fanny. what is still known as Villard Hill. She would outlaw war altogether if she !Fanny was popular in the could. She founded the local Women’s community even if some people Peace Society and marched in Washington Dobbs Ferry resident Helen Garrison disapproved of the fact that she would not to protest war. (‘Fanny’) Villard, suffragist and pacifist, join a church. She could never forget her !After the war was over, the formally established the ‘Women’s father’s anger at the lackadaisical attitude question was: How to keep the peace? a Revolution’ in the river towns when, in the religious community in general took Disarmament was the only way, Fanny 1909, she was elected president of the over slavery. But she did interest the believed. In 1921 she led 2,000 women in a Hudson Valley Suffrage Organization. She women of Dobbs Ferry in the women’s march up Fifth Avenue in New York, all was 65 years old. movement. In 1909 she formed the Hudson waving banners, urging disarmament. Like !Widow of the financial titan Henry Valley Suffrage Organization; its first her father, Fanny did not believe in Villard, and owner of Thorwood, one of the meeting was attended by seventy-five compromise. “We advocate not the largest estates in Dobbs Ferry, Fanny always women. reduction of armaments,” she said, “but had been a crusader and would remain one !One of the red letter days for the their abolition. This means doing away with until she died in 1928 at the age of 84. family came in 1883 when the Northern the armies and navies of the whole world.” !Fanny grew up in an open-minded Pacific Railroad (headed by Henry Villard) !Among the many organizations Boston family, the daughter of the completed its line making it part of a rail which Fanny Villard supported was the renowned abolitionist, William Lloyd system covering the entire continent and New York Diet Kitchen, responsible for the Garrison. Mr. Garrison didn’t seem to take opening the Pacific Northwest to massive quality of milk distributed in New York and particular pride in the fact that six of his economic development. All the Villards, for the care of mothers and babies. She was seven children were boys. Only Fanny, the including three boys and an older sister, on the Board of Directors of both the Dobbs youngest, was a girl, yet she was the one rode in Henry’s private railway car, along Ferry and the Tarrytown hospitals. She was who proofread his articles on abolition. with General Ulysses Grant and President active in encouraging higher education for , a gentle man at Chester Arthur. There was a celebration at women. When she died in July, 1928, she home, was a fire-breathing radical when it every stop, and at the end the ‘golden spike’ was eulogized in publications throughout came to slavery. He would not compromise. was driven to mark the h2istoric occasion. . Slaves should be freed NOW, not tomorrow (According to the second son, Oswald, !The service for Fanny Villard was or the next day. ALL slaves. Once he even however, the spike was not golden at all, held in her Dobbs Ferry home. She is buried burned a copy of the U. S. Constitution in just a dirty spike that had been used in the beside her husband in the Sleepy Hollow the town square because it permitted building). Cemetery. slavery. !Fanny’s life was touched by the !When Mr. Garrison heard of the death of various members of the family. Her The Dobbs Ferry Register wrote: “It will crusade for women’s suffrage in Boston, he father, William Lloyd Garrison, died at always be a source of pride to Dobbs Ferry that Fanny Garrison Villard lived here. It will lent his support. Since he favored freedom Fanny’s home in New York in 1879. Her always be a joy to recall that we have stood for everyone, he welcomed this new youngest son, Hilgard, died when he was close to a light that has cast its illumination women’s movement and it became another only seven years old of what was thought to into many a darkened comer of the world.” topic of discussion in the family. When be a ruptured appendix. And her husband, Fanny was old enough, she joined the Henry, died in 1900. BY JEAN FRITZ conversation.

4 THE MEAD HOUSE 12 ELM STREET DOBBS FERRY, NEW YORK 10522 THE FERRYMAN

A SON’S TRIBUTE TO FANNY GARRISON VILLARD !Fanny and Henry Villard had four children: Helen, Harold, Oswald and Hilgard. Oswald became the editor, publisher and owner of The Nation and the daily New York Evening Post. Here are excerpts of what he wrote after his mother died: ! !“Wherever she went she carried with her the Garrisonian sense of having some personal responsibility for injustice and wrong. . . . Always she was in her person a dainty aristocrat, dressing with exquisite taste and never with extravagance -- an aristocrat in her fineness but entirely a democrat in her views and in her heart. Fear of the mighty and powerful she never had. She met all who came her way, whether laborer or crown prince, with a naturalness, a warmth, a disarming friendliness that had nothing to do with social conventions. Certain of the triumph of every cause to which she gave her devotion, she was incapable of compromise, without being either a bigot or narrowly puritanical ... “ !“Always the fact remains that hers was a lovely and inspiring presence. Men who had come to scoff at suffragettes went dumb when Thorwood was the mansion owned by the Villard this advocate arose who combined in herself every one of the womanly family until 1933, a period of forty-eight years. qualities.” Architects McKim, Mead and White reconstructed and enlarged the original three-story brick structure (This article by noted writer/historian and former Society Trustee Jean which Villard had purchased from the Cochran Fritz, was excerpted from a longer article in The Ferryman, April 1999.) estate. When the Villards moved in, it was a working farm, complete with horses, cows, chickens and ducks. The mansion was situated on a twenty-acre tract which was later enlarged when Henry Villard SAVE THE DATE ! purchased an additional eighty acres. After the death of Fannie Villard, the mansion and one hundred acres of land were purchased by New York LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LIFE AND Daily News publisher Joseph Patterson, who TIMES OF OUR BELOVED FANNY demolished the mansion and all other structures for real estate development. His advertising described VILLARD AND HAVE SOME FUN TOO! the project as ‘Villard Hill’ and one of his ads called it ‘an earthly paradise.’ PLAN TO JOIN US OCTOBER 13, 2012 In her obituary, the life and accomplishments of Fanny Garrison Villard was succinctly stated: FOR OUR YEARLY HISTORICAL "NYC philanthropist, SOCIETY GALA adviser and fundraiser for interracial and humanitarian causes, OUR THEME THIS YEAR IS co-founded suffrage movement 1906, “MRS. VILLARD INVITES” chaired New York legislative committees, spoke on street corners at 66, A PARTY THAT CELEBRATES LIFE IN felt fundamental changes needed and THE VILLAGE OF DOBBS FERRY that women could redeem politics, DURING PROHIBITION AND THE uncompromising pacifist, led 1914 Peace Parade down 5th Avenue ROARING 1920s and helped organize the Woman's Peace Party." In addition, with her son Oswald she co-founded the National Association for the FOOD AND FUN , Advancement of Colored People DANCING AND MERRIMENT. and helped found the Women's International League for WITH PERIOD COSTUMED ACTORS, Peace and Freedom. A SPLENDID TIME IS SURE FOR ALL!

ON THE WEB AT WWW.DOBBSFERRYHISTORY.ORG 5 T H E F E R R Y M A N

trudging up Clinton Avenue and even steeper Bellair to the dead REMEMBERING end of North Drive to have lunch with elderly fellow artist Edith Serrell. Once when I was visiting with Jon and wife Kay I spied a stunning, large framed woodcut printed on rice paper that I “had JON NIELSON to have.” Jon was willing to sell it and off I went with it. Later I BY MILDRED PERSINGER learned that a wood cut of that size is a rarity. It has been hanging in our front hall for forty years. Every time I pass I think sadly of The Historical Society’s logo is a woodcut Jon. created by artist Jon Neilson. Active in the !After he and Kay moved to Bradenton, Florida, they centennial celebration of Dobbs Ferry’s drove up to Washington for their son’s wedding. They were almost incorporation, he carved the image of Mr. there when a disastrous crash killed Jon and almost fatally injured Dobbs rowing the ferry, a boat called a Kay. Periauger, and presented it to the village. It !After she recovered Dick Persinger and I went to see her was printed on tee shirts, souvenirs, other memorabilia and was in the attractive house and garden they had bought for retirement. eventually adopted by the Society as its logo. But Jon had not retired from his career as an artist. He had !Jon was always ready to help with local projects, even abandoned wood and was painting in oils. Kay showed us some of personal ones. Every day in rain or snow I used to see him his work that was so compelling it took our breaths away.

NEWLY DISCOVERED PRINTS BY JOHN NIELSEN AND RALPH FASANELLA WILL BE FOR SALE AT OUR ANNUAL MEETING, AT THE MEAD HOUSE ON SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2012 AT 7:30 PM. DON'T MISS THIS RARE OPPORTUNITY!

TREASURES IN THE ATTIC - THE PHOTOGRAPHIC GEMS FOUND IN OUR ARCHIVES BY ROBIN COSTELLO The simple question that led us You can see Sacred Heart Church another interesting find. Do you see on a treasure hunt. peeking through the trees just to the what is directly across the street from right and South Presbyterian Church at where the men are standing? !Recently while putting together the top of the hill. These beacon !Through it may seem out of a post for our Facebook page, our lovely landmarks remain today. place, it is still a familiar sight. It’s the Denise Wilson asked a simple question. !The bottom photo is the horse trough that now resides in Gould “ Do you remember the bridge on Gateway facing North towards Ardsley Park! This historic gem and once Broadway near Cedar Street?” It seemed and Irvington. The photographer was landmark of the Gateway, was salvaged possible that there was a bridge there, standing on what is present day and relocated to the park. And here at but I wasn’t sure. So off we went into Broadway. Stop & Shop would be the Mead House, we have the historic the treasure trove of photo archives to directly on your right. Just beyond the photographs of its original location. find the answer! first pole to your left is the entrance to !These photos are just one !We spent a wonderful afternoon Cedar Street. Again, towering on the example of the many treasures archived looking through hundreds of photos in left is Sacred Heart Church and that is over the years that are available to the our archives. Among them we found Broadway bending just past the church people of Dobbs Ferry. By becoming a these two photos of the “Gateway”- the to the left. The open road that bears to member of the Historical Society, you intersection of Broadway and Ashford the right is Ashford Avenue headed can help us preserve photos like this for Avenue which yielded our proof! These toward Ardsley. Can you recognize it? generations to come. Your annual photos were taken over 100 years ago !Sure enough Denise was right. membership donation helps fund the circa 1910. They portray a very different If you look closely , you can see the storage and maintenance of our village’s Gateway than we know today. bridge in the the top photo. (It’s just much valued history. !The top photo is the Gateway behind where the men are standing.) !Don’t let our history be lost in facing south (towards Hastings). The !These archived photos not only time. Won’t you consider volunteering photographer was standing on what is offered visual proof of the Gateway’s in our archives? There are so many present day Ashford Avenue - the Mobil original bridge but also revealed treasures just waiting to be found! station would be directly on your right.

6 THE MEAD HOUSE 12 ELM STREET DOBBS FERRY, NEW YORK 10522 THE FERRYMAN

Sacred S Presbyterian Heart Church Church

Horse Broadway trough

Mobil station is here now

Ashford Avenue (facing South)

Sacred Heart Church Ashford Ave

Stop & Shop is here now

Cedar Street entrance on left

Broadway (facing north)

ON THE WEB AT WWW.DOBBSFERRYHISTORY.ORG 7 DOBBS FERRY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 2215 White Plains, NY

THE MEAD HOUSE 12 ELM STREET DOBBS FERRY, NY 10522 NEWSLETTER DESIGN: ROBIN COSTELLO CONTACT US BY PHONE : (914)-674-1007 EMAIL : [email protected]. ON THE WEB: WWW.DOBBSFERRYHISTORY.ORG SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, August 19, 2012 Dobbs Ferry’s 7th Annual ROAD TO FREEDOM WALK !

EVENT IS FREE AND THE PUBLIC IS WELCOME

OUR SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR 2012:

1:00 PM : Starting at Gould Park, Fife and Drum will lead the Walk, which proceeds west along Ashford Avenue, and north on Broadway as far as the Irvington border. We will proceed along Aqueduct Trail and Main Street to reassemble at the Mead House, 12 Elm Street. 2:15 PM : On the lawn of the Mead House, we will receive a welcome from an 18th century visitor 2:30 PM : A concert of harpsichord, violin and vocal selections will be performed by exceptional musicians, Erik Lichack and Melanie Zanakis of the Ministers of Apollo in period dress.

WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF HALF MOON, PRINCIPAL SPONSOR OF ROAD TO FREEDOM 2012

Please note: Continental Army, under the Cornwallis at Yorktown, the decisive • On August 19, at 1 PM, walkers will command of General George victory of the Revolutionary War. gather at southeast corner of Gould Washington, on Sunday, August 19, • The Walk will take place rain or Park, near the historic horse trough. 1781, when the troops broke camp to shine. But at the Mead House, if begin their march of more than 400 • Road to Freedom walkers follow the weather is inclement, we will gather miles to Virginia and the Franco- indoors. route taken by soldiers of the American victory over Lord