Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Tale of Ardent Love and Architecture


This is the Captain John Hathaway House, which stood in the 300 block of Warren Street, where the Hudson Supermarket is now located. It was demolished in the 1930s, after suffering the indignity of being turned into a garage and car dealership. With the General Worth Hotel, it is one of the most regrettable of Hudson's architectural losses.

The house plays a role in this story, told in Anna Bradbury's History of the City of Hudson (1908). The young man in the tale, Lieutenant Theophilus E. Beekman, came to Hudson as a recruiting officer during the War of 1812. The barracks referred to were located in the lower part of the Masonic Lodge at the corner of Third and Union, in a building constructed in 1796, which preceded the present St. John's Hall.  

It was this service that first brought Mr. Beekman to this city, of which he became one of the most prominent citizens. During a row among the soldiers in the barracks which he was endeavoring to quell, he received an injury for which he afterward drew a pension.

If the truth may be told, we fear the dashing Lieutenant did not regret that disabling wound so deeply as he ought, having surrendered to the captivating charms of the pretty daughter of Captain John Hathaway.

For some unexplained reason Captain Hathaway refused his consent to their marriage, and the ardent lovers eloped. After their return they sought parental forgiveness, but in vain, the irate father was obdurate, so they took rooms at No. 253 Warren Street, from whence the weeping bride could look with tear-dimmed eyes across to her beloved home, which seemed closed to her forever.
Captain Hathaway 's residence at No. 310 Warren street was well-known for many years as the Beekman house, and was highly prized as one of our choicest survivals of the Colonial period, but it was recently metamorphosed into something new and strange.

In a short time the Captain relented and the young couple were taken home, where "they lived happily ever after."

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