A Brooklyn Brownstone

In the 1890’s, my great grandparents, Captain David Alba Scribner and his wife Virginia Augusta Hale Scribner, purchased a home in Brooklyn, New York.  Their 4-floor brownstone home was located at 230 Garfield Place in the Park Slope neighborhood near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. 

The Brooklyn brownstone was the Scribner family home from the mid-1890’s until 1960.  After the 1911 death of Captain Scribner, his wife, Virginia, and two daughters remained in the home until their deaths.  David & Virginia’s son, Harry, had moved out of the brownstone in 1912 when he married.  Neither of their daughters ever married, however, and they remained in the home until their deaths.  Ella was a school teacher and she died in 1935 at 50 years of age.  Mrs Scribner died next in 1940 when she was 91 years old.  And the last daughter, Mary Islethera Scribner, remained in the brownstone until her death in 1959 at 76 years of age. 

 

 My father remembers the Brooklyn brownstone home of his grandparents – saying that “it was a fun house to visit because it had a dumbwaiter going from the kitchen up to the bedrooms that we used to ride, and then jump up on my grandmother’s feather down mattress bed that was huge.” That bed was so tall that there were steps on the side for use to get up onto the bed.  I now have the antique quilt that was on that bed, and it covers an entire king-sized bed and drapes nicely on all sides.

The Scribner family quilt used in the home at 230 Garfield Place

By the time that Mary died, she had been living on the lower floors of the brownstone – having not needed to use of the top floor for many years.  The home was like a time capsule with all of the furnishings and personal belongings dating back many decades to the married life of Capt. David A Scribner and his wife, Virginia. 

 

Front Hall

 Parlor

              

 Dining Room

Bedrooms

 

Kitchen

 

To settle Mary’s estate after her death, my father and his two sisters met at the Brooklyn brownstone and spent days sifting through multiple generations of their family history.  With several unused rooms, Virginia, Ella and Mary always had plenty of space in their home and consequently never got rid of much.  However, the home was very much outdated and in disrepair, also it was directed in Mary’s will for it to be sold by her estate.

The fact that my Dad and his sisters spent time going through the family possessions in the former home of their grandparents and spinster aunts is the primary reason that we have so many Scribner family papers and photos today.  In addition to furnishings, dinnerware and personal items, there were paintings of ships, items from Captain Scribner’s years of traveling the world, portraits of Capt Scribner’s father & stepmother, and even a painted portrait of Mrs. Scribner’s grandfather.  The three Scribner siblings sorted through family items including photos, letters, ships’ logs, and books – and each sibling took some of what was set aside to keep.

Today, 230 Garfield Place is on the tax records belonging to a single owner but declared as a 3-family home, thus it provides rental income for the owner.  The total appraised tax value of the brownstone is recorded at $4.5 million today.  Current tax rolls show that the home has 3 floors plus a full basement and totals over 4,000 sq. ft. 

 

The 1960 sales Offering Sheet when the home was listed for sale shows that it contained 12 ½ rooms with a bathroom only on the 2^nd floor, plus an additional toilet in the basement where the kitchen, dining room and laundry were located.  Parlor rooms were on the 1^st floor, and bedrooms on the top two floors. 

When the home was sold by Mary Scribner’s estate in 1960, it was in extreme disrepair.  It was appraised for the estate in 1960 at $18,500, but was sold for only $12,000 as the condition was so poor. I was told that the roof was leaking, and it was believed that no updates had ever been done on the home.

One interesting item is that the tax rolls show that the brownstone was built in 1901.  However, the 1900 Census shows the family already living at that address.  According to that census, the family owned the home with no mortgage. 

Actually, the Scribner’s appear to have purchased 230 Garfield Place in 1894.  I have an envelope & note from the USPO addressed to Mrs V A Scribner at 230 Garfield Place that is dated May 1894.  Inside was a receipt of some sort that records a legal address noted as “Old Nomenclature” (possibly where the Scribner’s lived prior to moving to 230 Garflield Place) and then a notation of a legal address noted as “New [Nomenclature]”.  That new legal address is the same as today’s legal address for 230 Garfield Place, Block 1074, Lot 14, in the Borough of Brooklyn.  The note also seems to place an 1894 assessed value on the home of $9,300, also the information on the bottom half of the note might be a value comparison to other similar homes on the block or nearby.

I believe that David and Virginia Scribner were very likely the first owners of 230 Garfield Place.

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Key Individuals:         

     Capt David Alba Scribner  (1840 – 1911)

     Virginia Augusta Hale Scribner  (1848 – 1940)

               Henry (Harry) Dickinson Scribner  (1880 – 1943)

               Mary Islethera Scribner  (1882 – 1959)

               Ella Virginia Scribner  (1885 – 1935)

 

Notes:

Several years ago when my daughter was working in New York City, during one of my visits, we went to find 230 Garfield Place.  Of course, we only got to see the outside, but it looks lovely today – on a tree lined street and near parks and shopping.  I took a photo of my daughter standing on the front steps.  I wish we could have just knocked on the door and been invited in to meet my great grandparents!

- Jane Scribner McCrary