36 Main St, Roslyn, NY, 11576

Kirby-Townsend-Travers House

1639 Northern Boulevard, Roslyn

Date Built1850-1860
Original UseResidence
Restoration StatusCompleted Restoration Date2005
Roslyn Landmark Society Covenant No
View House Tour Details 2001

2020 08 04 11 02 44

Armenia Carhart purchased a piece of vacant land from John and Rachel Tatterson, local Roslyn property owners, on October 3, 1843 for $80.00 (Liber 60 page 314). This property was located in what was then known as the Village of Hempstead Harbor. It apparently was held for speculation for five years and then sold to Erastus and Amy Webster on March 24, 1848 (Unrecorded Deed). On May 1, 1848, roughly two months after the purchase, the property was mortgaged for $300 and presumably a house was built shortly thereafter.

The Websters lived there for eight years and then sold the property to Caleb Kirby a local Roslyn merchant (Liber 147, page 440). The property was sold for $650.00. This included the $300 mortgage and Kirby assumed all payments as part of the consideration. The deed now states that it is a "lot of land with dwelling thereon." It is assumed that during the Kirby period of occupancy either it was a tenant house or used for a family member. Caleb Kirby sold/transferred the property supposedly to a Rebecca Townsend or a Townsend family member. Rebecca could also have been a Kiiby relative who married a Townsend.

This deed was either never written (common for interfamily transfers) or lost/misfiled. There is a second transaction, which was referenced, in a latter deed (Liber 446, page 394), which was misfiled by Queens County. This transferred the house from Townsend to George Wanser on March 1, 1862. George Wanser supplied the original building loan/mortgage back in 1848.

George Wanser of the Township of Oyster Bay sold the property in August of 1874 for $700.00 to James Travers of Roslyn (Liber 446, page 394). This family held the property for 125 years from 1874 till 1999. Throughout the 125 years there have been interfamily transfers and during the 1970s and early 1980s it appears that this property was rented. During 1977-78 there were two deeds filed which permanently established the boundaries of this lot with the neighboring lots.

In 1979, the lot was transferred to the final Travers family member. And it is from the Estate of James Travers that the house was finally sold to Peggy Gerry of Roslyn on January 15, 1999 (Liber 11023, page 433).

Leave a Comment
0 Comments