Welcome back to One Century Ago, a collaboration between Patch and the Historical Society serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.

This column brings you the front page of a local newspaper that covered the news in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow (North Tarrytown) one hundred years ago. This front page comes from the Tarrytown Press-Record. The Press-Record was published as a weekly from 1893 to 1946 and has been preserved by the Historical Society on microfilm.

Tarrytown Press-Record, December 15, 1911

String of Break-Ins Remain a Mystery

One hundred years ago Tarrytown was experiencing some disturbing and mysterious robberies.

A number of village businesses were broken into and robbed of various items. This spate of criminal activity had left the local police force baffled since the robberies were executed without leaving behind any clue as to the author of the crimes.

After some luck, police were able to reveal the “bold highwayman” as young Harry Ryder, otherwise known as “Peanuts”, a local boy. He was seen looking into various shop windows late at night, and when a policeman approached him he tried to run away, and struggled furiously when the policeman seized hold of him. The boy protested vociferously, “I  ain’t done nothing”, but later that night at the police station he surprised all the officers by immediately admitting to everything.

However, during his questioning he told a great many stories, each one different and some obviously impossible, so Ryder was released until the police could gather more information regarding the robberies.

Third Railroad Death in Three Weeks Barely Acknowledged

This week one hundred years ago saw the third death on the local railroad in the space of three weeks.

Edward F. Nourse was killed the previous week, and George Dittus the week before that. Those accidents were covered in extensive and poignant detail by the Press-Record. However, the third railroad victim was only acknowledged with a small paragraph at the bottom of the paper, listing her estimated age and the time of death, and the fact that she was “A colored woman named Peterson”.

Indeed, far more attention is given to the news that a boy named John McFadden was bitten by an ill-tempered horse. A doctor was summoned but despite all the commotion, and luckily for McFadden, the bite was in no way dangerous.

In comparison, the news of the young African-American lady who lost her life, known only as Peterson, seems to be considered worth only a passing mention.

New Hospital Opened

The newly developed Tarrytown Hospital was formally opened with a delightful evening ceremony which two-to-three hundred people attended.

The Rev. R. C. Hatch offered prayers for the future success of the hospital, and Dr. Coutant gave a speech about the history of the hospital and how it had started over forty years previously with only a couple of beds in a single room.

Dr. Coutant was pleased to declare that the residents of Tarrytown now had one of the finest hospitals of its size in the country. Next Dr. Coutant removed a cornerstone from the building and placed in the aperture various items including an American flag, a Bible, an 1831 map of New York, and a selection of newspapers. The stone was then replaced and Dr. J. K. Allen of the First Reformed Church made a short address claiming that the hospital “provides a place of rest and quiet not only for the wealthy and influential people but for the lowest and poorest person who happens to meet with any misfortune.”

Finally, as the sun set, the crowd attending the ceremony were invited to wander through the hospital rooms, which had been beautifully decorated with roses and palms, before being served chocolate, tea and cakes by the wives of the medical staff.

Highwayman gets 26 Years

In the November 24th issue of the Press-Record, the arrest of William O’Brien was reported after he held up two separate women at gun point in order to rob them of a total of $4.60.

O’Brien had been drinking at a local bar and needed more money to continue his binge. After robbing the women, he returned to the bar with the money, and proceeded to further inebriate himself before threatening to shoot several other patrons of the bar.

O’Brien likely came to regret his night of lawless and vicious boozing, as he paid for it with a 26-year sentence in Sing Sing Prison as described by the December 15th Press-Record. He received this sentence after pleading guilty to highway robbery on two counts, and also to carrying a concealed weapon.