We've discovered two drawings of Scarsdale by American master James McNeil Whistler. They depict a private home and St. James the Less Church, both dated 1852 or 1853. Both works reinforce the Whistler family’s ties to early Scarsdale and St. James.
By Lesley Topping
Treasures are often found in the most unlikely places. Such is the case with a donation made to the Scarsdale Historical Society in 2020. In the 1960s, an old family photo album at a flea market caught the eye of hobbyist and collector, Everett Brandt of Saugerties, New York. He bought the album that contains 24 photographs from the 1890s of the magnificent 500-acre estate owned by Charles and Emily Butler in Scarsdale that became the neighborhood of Fox Meadow.
Charles and Emily Butler at Fox Meadow circa 1890s
When Everett Brandt passed, his wife Joan decided to clear some of her husband’s extensive collectables. Instead of tossing the album that had been on Everett’s shelf for over fifty years, the Brandt children googled its connection to Scarsdale and encouraged their mother to contact the Society. Their only clue was title of the book Fox Meadow, as there are no descriptions inside the album.
Joan and Everett Brandt
It remains a mystery as to how the book ended up at the flea market, except to note that Charles Butler was born in Kinderhook, New York, not far from Saugerties and likely had relatives in the area. Butler was an influential financier, lawyer and philanthropist. He purchased farmland for his summer home in Scarsdale in 1853 originally to improve the health of his ailing son, Ogden (whose namesake is Ogden Road). Butler called his estate Fox Meadow, which was the farm’s original name. It was derived from the days when indigenous tribes lived in the Bronx River Valley and foxes, wolves, beavers, deer and other animals were bountiful. When Charles Butler died, his sole heir and daughter, Emily held onto the estate until 1925 making Fox Meadow one of the last areas of Scarsdale to become a neighborhood of private homes. Emily was a progressive thinker and a supporter of Women’s Rights who contributed greatly to the Scarsdale Community. During her life, she welcomed neighbors to enjoy her property and Fox Meadow became a popular center for events, tennis, skating and nature walks.
You can view the photographs from the album below. Check out our video page to watch the film, Path to a Scarsdale Community: Fox Meadow and the Butler Estate which is about Charles and Emily Butler and the suburbanization of Fox Meadow.
Charles and Emily Butler
The Scarsdale Historical Society is pleased to announce the Zoom premiere of a new film, Pathway to a Scarsdale Community: Fox Meadow and the Butler Estate. The half hour documentary, the first in a series about Scarsdale neighborhoods, is the story of Charles and Emily Butler who owned the magnificent 500-acre estate that became the neighborhood of Fox Meadow. The film will be shown via Zoom on Thursday, November 12th at 7:00pm. Please register to view the film here.
Using rare photographs and new research, the film portrays the life of Charles Butler (1802-1898), a brilliant financier and philanthropist who also had a surprising influence on national events. The second part of the film is about his daughter, Emily Ogden Butler (1840-1927) who played an important role in the community and early suburbanization of Fox Meadow and Greenacres.
The Scarsdale Historical Society was motivated to produce the film after it received a trove of rare photographs of the Fox Meadow Estate, which was donated by Joan Brandt of Saugerties, New York. Her late husband, Everett, who enjoyed collecting, bought the photo album at a flea market in the 1960s. When he passed, his wife and children were thoughtful enough to contact the Historical Society and donate the photo album.
The film, Pathway to a Scarsdale Community: Fox Meadow and the Butler Estate, was directed by Lesley Topping, a veteran filmmaker originally from Scarsdale, working under the historical guidance of Barbara Shay MacDonald, the Historian and Vice President of the Scarsdale Historical Society. Barbara MacDonald also is one of the film’s narrators.
About the Scarsdale Historical Society
The Scarsdale Historical Society exists to discover, preserve, and disseminate historical information as well as inspire others to learn about and contribute to the history of Scarsdale and the Central mid-Westchester region.
Our other films include A Tour of the Cudner-Hyatt House, A History of the Bronx River, Scarsdale in the 18th and 19th Centuries, and Anna Richards Brewster’s Life and Art in Scarsdale.
The Butler’s estate, Fox Meadow.
Dedicated to discovering, preserving and disseminating the rich history of Scarsdale and our neighboring communities.
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