November 30, 2017

Scarsdale in the 18th & 19th Centuries: From Hardscrabble Farms to Gracious Estates

November 30, 2017/ Marc Cheshire

We are pleased to present our new documentary video “Scarsdale in the 18th & 19th Centuries: From Hardscrabble Farms to Gracious Estates.” The video is hosted by Scarsdale Historical Society V.P. and Historian, Barbara Shay MacDonald and was produced and directed by Scarsdale native Lesley Topping. Ms. Topping is an independent filmmaker, producer and film editor whose work includes dramatic films, documentaries, and television programs.

Scarsdale Historical Society

Dedicated to discovering, preserving and disseminating the rich history of Scarsdale and our neighboring communities.

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Meet William “Cack” Peterson, Navy veteran. He was a 4th generation Scarsdalian, raised in a settlement of Black families on Saxon Woods Road that began just before the Civil War by his great-grandfather Robert Purdy. He was born in 1918 and served in the Navy in WWII. According to the 1940 census, at 305 Saxon Woods Road, his father was a gardener for a private home and his mother was a laundress. His two older brothers were golf caddies, and we also found a photo of Cack taking a golf swing. He lived until he was 96. We have several photos of Cack Peterson (aka William E. Peterson), but would love more information on him if anyone has connections to the family! . 2012 photo: Pictured above: (standing l-r): Haywood Gill, William Peterson, Scarsdale Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser, David Vaughn (seated): Hazel Gill (family matriarch, age 93), Gertrude Faulkner Photo credit: Harvey Flisser in Scarsdale10583.com Credit: Scarsdale10583.com and Ancestry.com.. We are grateful for all our veterans from the past and present! Read more about the history of Black people in Scarsdale at the link in bio. .. .. #scarsdale #scarsdaleny #blackhistory #nyblackhistory #blackveterans #veteransday🇺🇸 #wwiiveteran #westchestercounty

Just when we thought we’d post a simple photo of two women at Ferncliff, we came across an extraordinary story. We’re glad we happened to look up Mrs. Fred J. Swift. They say she seldom spoke of the tragedy in later years, and she lived to be 82. She spent her last years in Nyack with her sisters (including the Ella Ford from Scarsdale). Read more, including her incredible account of surviving the Titanic, at the link in bio. Source: Photo from Scarsdale Public Library and the Brooklyn Eagle, April 19, 1912. . . #scarsdale #scarsdaleny #westchestercounty #titanic #titanicsurvivor #nyhistory #historylover #historygram #carpathia

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Scarsdale in the 18th & 19th Centuries: From Hardscrabble Farms to Gracious Estates

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