Edward G. Faile | |
---|---|
Born | 1799 Semiston, Roxboroughshire, Scotland |
Died | 20 April 1864 Hunt's Point, Westchester, NY |
Resting place | Saint Paul's Church, Mount Vernon, NY |
Occupation(s) | Tea and sugar importer |
Edward George Faile (1799 - 1864) was a New York tea and sugar importer. Born in Scotland, his family moved to the United States when he was an infant, settling in Westchester County, north of New York City.
The family initially lived in East Chester, and later moved closer to New York, building a family estate in what is now the Hunt's Point section of The Bronx. The location of the Faile mansion, Woodside, is now the site of the American Banknote printing plant.
Faile ran a successful grocery business in downtown New York from 1821 to 1853. He was also involved in the railroad, insurance, and agriculture industries.
Early life and family
Faile was born in 1799 to George and Joan Hall Faile,in Semiston, Roxboroughshire, Scotland. Joan descended from the Burrell family of Northumberland, England.[1]
The family came to the United States in 1801, settling in the town of East Chester A brother, Thomas Hall, was born there in 1804.[2] In the 1830s, the family acquired land in Hunt's Point and relocated there.[1][3]
Fail was educated in Westchester. At the age of 17, he went to work at the wholesale grocery business of Abram Valentine, whose daughter, Ann Delia, he would marry in 1821. The couple had nine children: Ann D, Edward, Thomas H Jr., Charles V, Henry, Samuel, Mary E, Harriet, and Caroline.[1]
Thomas Hall was a governor, and Edward a member, of The Society of the New York Hospital.[4] They were both also members of the Supply Engine Company, a volunteer fire department in New York.[5]
In 1856 and 1882, Thomas H Jr made two trips to the middle east, visiting Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. During the first trip, he was accompanied by Annie D. Brown (probably a cousin, possibly his sister).[2]
Businesses
In 1821, Faile opened his own wholesale grocery in an existing building at 236 Front Street in downtown Manhattan.[1][6] In 1827-1828, Faile built a new building at the same location, larger than the original. In 1828, the building was assessed at $10,000 for tax purposes. As of 1973, this building was vacant, and leased to the South Street Seaport Museum.[7]
Faile took his brother (Thomas H Jr.) into the business in 1825, under the name of E. G. Faile & Co.[1] In 1839 or 1840 (sources differ), he bought the buildings at 165 John Street and 181 Front Street.[1][8] The business moved to the later location, where he remained for thirteen years.[1] In 1845, Faile built two new buildings, at 179 and 180 West Street, which he rented out.[9]
Edward and Thomas both retired in 1853, handing the firm over to their sons and to Richard Williams, changing the firm name to Faile, Williams, & Co.[1] The business was eventually taken over by Charles V, as a sole proprietorship, located at 130 Water Street.[10]
The business ran into financial troubles starting in 1879, when it made a large purchase of tea stocks at the peak of the market. On November 25th, 1882, the business failed due to losses from falling tea prices and fluctuations in the money market. At the time, the business had about $344,000 (equivalent to $10.86 million in 2023) in liabilities. Prior to the failure of the business, the company was one of the largest and oldest tea distributors in New York City.[10]
Faile was a director of both the New York & Harlem Railroad and the New York Central Railroad.[1] In 1863, Faile campaigned to be president of the New York Central, attempting to take the position from Erastus Corning. Faile lost the election, receiving 60,039 votes to Corning's 124,802.[11]
Faile was also a director of the Firemen's Insurance Company, and the Metropolitan Bank.[12][13]
Woodside
The Faile family estate, Woodside, was in what is now the Hunt's Point section of The Bronx. In 1831, George Faile (Edward's father) purchased a tract of land from Barnard Bayley.[14] The estate was further assembled between 1832 (when the mansion was built) and 1842, at a cost of $15,000.[15] The estate occupied 85 acres, stretching from the Bronx River to beyond what is now Southern Boulevard. The mansion was described as having an imposing array of Doric columns, and was Surrounded by a glorious forest.[16]
The estate included a working farm with Devon cattle, which Faile imported and bred.[17] Several of his cattle won first prize at shows, including Cayuga, Huron, and Queen Ann.[18]
After his death, his family continued to reside at the estate.[19]
In 1898, a lawsuit was brought by Henry J. Crawford, claiming that Faile's deed to the estate was invalid. The issue was whether John Fleetwood Marsh properly conveyed title to Barnard Bayley, from whom George Faile purchased the property. The suit found that the title was valid.[20]
In 1904, the estate, comprising 1299 lots, was sold to the Central Realty Bond & Trust Co for about $1,000,000.[15] The property was described as bounded by Dongan st, Intervale av, Southern Boulevard, Longwood av, Lafayette av, Hunt's Point road, Gilbert pl, and the Bronx River.[15]
By 1908, the estate had passed into the hands of George F. Johnson.[21][22] In 1908, part of the estate was purchased by the American Bank Note Company. Woodside was razed in 1909 to clear the lot for construction of the company's new printing plant.[15][16][23] Modern-day Faile Street runs through the area today.[24]
Personal life
Faile was a vestryman of St. Ann's Church in Morrisania.[17] In 1863, he was president of the New York State Agricultural Society; his son Thomas H would later be vice president, and Henry a life member.[1][25]
Faile died of pneumonia in his home on April 20th, 1864. Funeral services were held at St. Ann's Church, and he was buried in the cemetery at Saint Paul's Church, (known at the time as East Chester Church) in Mount Vernon.[26]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hall, Henry, ed. (1895). America's Successful Men of Affairs: An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous Biography, Vol. 1. The New York Tribune. p. 229. LCCN 05034051. Retrieved 2020-09-17 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "Thomas H. Faile". The Century Association Archives Foundation. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Conger, A. B. (23 September 1874). Memorial address on the character and public services of the late Edward G. Faile, ex-president of the New York State Agricultural Society,delivered before the Society at the close of its annual exhibition at Rochester. Albany – via HathiTrust Digital Library.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Charter of the Society of The New York Hospital (PDF). New York: D. Van Nostrand. 1872. pp. 81, 102.
- ^ Sheldon, George William (1882). The Story of the Volunteer Fire Department of the City of New York. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 406.
- ^ "Thomas H. Faile and Annie D. Brown papers (1856-1882, bulk 1856-1857)". Clements Library, University of Michigan. "Biography". Retrieved 2020-09-22.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Edward G Gaile Building, Photograph Written Historical and Descriptive Data (PDF). Washington, DC: Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service. HABS No. NY-5680.
- ^ South Street Seaport Historic District Designation Report (PDF). NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. 1877. p. 24.
- ^ Gray, Christopher (May 27, 1990). "Streetscapes: 179 West Street. A Lonely Reminder of the Days of Waterfront Glory". The New York Times. Section 10, Page 5. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Failure in the Tea Trade: Charles V. Faile, a Leading Merchant of New York, Makes an Assignment". The Times. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 25 November 1882. p. 1. Retrieved 20 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Harlow, Alvin F. (1947). The Road of the Century (Chapter V). New York: Creative Age Press. p. 112.
- ^ "Edward G Faile Fireman's Insurance". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1851-07-01. p. 1 (advertisement, column 6). Retrieved 2020-09-17 – via Newspapers.com.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Metropolitan Bank". New-York Tribune. 12 April 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Faile v. Crawford, 30 App. Div. 536 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
- ^ a b c d Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. F. W. Dodge Corporation. October 22, 1904. p. 842. Retrieved 2018-02-05 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Henry Collins Brown (ed.). "Bronx: Barretto Street - Lafayette Avenue". NYPL Digital Collections. Valentine's Manual Inc. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
- ^ a b Scharf, John Thomas (1886). History of Westchester County, New York including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms which have been annexed to New York City. Vol. 1 (part 2). Philadelphia: L. E. Preston & Co. p. 806.
- ^ Davy, John Tanner (1891). Davy's Devon Herd Book Containing the Ages and Pedigrees of Pure Bred Devon Cattle with Supplemental Register and Dual-purpose Section. Devon Cattle Breeders' Society. pp. 6, 17, 120.
- ^ Twomey, Bill (2007). The Bronx, in Bits and Pieces. Rooftop Publishing. p. 175. ISBN 9781600080623. Retrieved 2018-02-05 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Faile v. Crawford, 30 App. Div. 536 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
- ^ Engineering News. November 26, 1908. p. 191. Retrieved 2018-02-03 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Competing Plans for Immense Plant of American Bank Note Company". New York Times. May 23, 1909. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Valentine's Manual of Old New York. Valentine's Manual Inc. 1920. p. 445. Retrieved 2018-02-01 – via Google Books.
- ^ Garcia, Sandra E. "The Rich History of Hunts Point". The Bronx Journal. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Society, New York State Agricultural (1862). Proceedings ... New York State Agricultural Society.
- ^ "Died: Faile". The New York Times. 21 April 1864. p. 8. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
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