STORIES - HISTORY NOTEBOOKS

Most people in Briarcliff Manor are familiar with the 1908 Briarcliff Trophy Race (if not please take a look at: The 1908 Briarcliff Trophy Race. Notebook 2024-3.

But many people may not be aware that this was not the last of the Briarcliff Trophy Races.  There were two more, one 1934 and another in 1935.  At the BMSHS we were aware that these two races took place, but until recently we had little information about them.  However, while going through some old material, BMSHS Executive Director came across a treasure trove of information including the Official Program, and a number of 1934 vintage newspaper articles. 

The race was very different from the one that took place in 1908.  Where the 1908 race had a course that covered much of Westchester, the 1934 course was limited to Briarcliff Manor.

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The building above no longer exists. It ceased to exist in 1911 when it was destroyed by fire. However, it was once one of the earliest buildings in Briarcliff Manor, being dedicated even before (1891) the incorporation of the Village (1902). During its relatively short existence, however it was home to three organizations, important in the history of the Village: The School of Practical Agriculture and Horticulture; The Pocantico Lodge, and Miss’s Knox School.

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From about 1936 onwards a spy for the Nazi regime in Germany lived first in Ossining and then in Briarcliff Manor. His name was Dr. Ferdinand A. Kertess. His activities came to light around 1940, and he was eventually convicted of violating Federal export control laws in 1943.

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Maurice LaCroix was born in 1889 in Lille, France. and entered the hotel business at the age of fourteen as assistant chef at the Hotel Bel Dor in Reims.

He emigrated to the United States when he was seventeen and worked at the Astor, Belmont, Knickerbocker and Biltmore hotels (1906-1909) in New York City and at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough (1919-1923)

In 1923, a year before Walter Law's death, the Law family leased the lodge to Chauncey Depew Steele for 20 years. That year he hired Maurice LaCroix as Head Chef. 

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Walter Law looms so large in the history of Briarcliff Manor that it's easy to forget there were already things (buildings, farms, churches etc.) here before the village was founded in 1902

The Washburn House is one of the earliest homes in Briarcliff Manor. It was sold by the New York State Commission on Forfeiture to Joseph Washburn in 1775. It was at one time the residence of George A. Todd Jr., a teacher and principal for almost forty years.

We were delighted to come across this story documenting the visit of a brother and sister who had grown up in the Washburn House, moved away and then returned in 1986 when they were able visit their former house, reminisce and tell some stories about what it was like growing up there.   

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Briarcliff Manor has a perhaps surprising prominence in the history of the Girl Scouts. Founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low, the Girl Scout movement was meant to be an American, female adaptation of the ideals of Robert Baden-Powell, whose Scouting movement in Britain had proved popular. Girl Scouts today still recite the ‘Girl Scout Pledge’ that Low developed, and I remember learning about her when I was a Girl Scout.” It was shortly after WWI that Briarcliff Manor became part of the quickly growing Girl Scout movement. There are two major connections between Girl Scout history and Briarcliff Manor. The first national Girl Scout camp, Camp Andree Clark, is located in Briarcliff Manor, across from the Edith Macy Conference Center which was also an early center of Girl Scout activity. And Briarcliff Manor resident Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon was the author of the Girl Scout Handbook.

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It all started when a long time Briarcliff Manor resident visited the Historical Society and showed us the brass plaque in the picture above.  This raised a number of questions: What was this?  How did it relate to the present war memorial? It’s clearly quite old, probably dating back to just after the First World War.  Where had it been all this time?  Since Memorial Day was approaching, we thought that it was appropriate to take a look at the history of the War Memorial.  This forms the first part of this notebook.

You look at the War Memorial and see the names there, but what do those looking know about the people behind the names, real, living people who gave their lives for their county.  The second part of this notebook attempts to at least partially address this.

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Rohde Jones shares some reflections and remembrances of her life in her hometown.

“ Growing up in and spending such incredibly important adult years in Briarcliff Manor has truly been the bedrock of my life – I cannot adequately express how grateful I am to have spent such meaningful and precious years in the village and to this day know that my years there were indeed the very best preparation for my professional life as an educator and the most special roles of my life – mother and grandmother”

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Every year the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society organizes a series of presentations on topics related to the history of the village. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Society and the centennial of the death of Walter W. Law, the founder of our village. We usually hold these presentations in the Village Vescio Community Center. But this year we’ve decided to do something a bit different. We’ve decided that the focus of our Anniversary year will be on Walter Law himself, and we’re going to try to hold the presentations in some of the village’s Houses of Worship. The first of these presentations was at the Briarcliff Manor Congregational Church (BCC) because of the close relationship between Law and the church: Law contributed the land on which it was built and also donated a number of the spectacular stained-glass windows. Pastor Todd Farnsworth of the BCC eagerly accepted to give the presentation, which took place February 17th, 2024, and was entitled “Mr. Law, We need a church.”

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