Sunday, August 18, 2013

A Chance Discovery

The last private owners of the Dr. Oliver Bronson House, the National Historic Landmark on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility, were Elizabeth and Matilda McIntyre. Their brother, John F. McIntyre, had purchased the house for his unmarried sisters in 1883.

I always imagined that the sisters were middle-aged spinsters when their brother bought them the house, which they called Glenwood, but I recently discovered--quite by accident--Matilda's obituary which appeared in the Register-Star on October 31, 1914.

   
Matilda, who was 53 when she died in 1914, would have been just 22 when her brother bought the house and she and her sister took up residence there. The year after Matilda's death, Elizabeth, who was 15 years older than Matilda, sold the house to the State of New York, to expand the Girls' Training School, with the understanding that she could continue living there during her lifetime. Elizabeth died in 1917, at the age of 71.

The photo of the house, from the period when it was the home of the McIntyre sisters (1883-1917), is from Historic Hudson's collection and appears on the blog Dr. Oliver Bronson House Day Book.

3 comments:

  1. Notice how the road goes off to the left.
    When it became "a driveway " is that when the front circle was added ?

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    1. Windle--The archaeology that has been going on at the house is revealing the evolution of carriage roads and service roads and driveways around the house. Check out the Dr. Oliver Bronson House Day Book: http://dobhdaybook.wordpress.com/.

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  2. I spent many house in this wonderful house when it was occupied by the Tunney family in the late 60's. Still remember that Grand staircase to the 3rd floor. Where it is said you would see or hear a ghost or two. Many good stories came from that home. Shame to see that beautiful building fall into such disrepair.

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