36 Main St, Roslyn, NY, 11576

Oscar Seaman House

72 Main Street, Roslyn

Date Built1901
Original UseResidence
Restoration StatusCompleted Restoration Date1965
Roslyn Landmark Society Covenant No
View House Tour Details 2001

2020 08 04 0 05 58

Number 72 Main Street is the very last gasp of the Vaux fundamental design to have been built in Roslyn, although other "American Basic" designs had been built here since about 1815. The site was a part of that of the Epenetus Oakley House (TG 1973, 1974), which was sold by the estate of Daniel Bogart to Oscar Seaman in August 1899. In December of that year, Seaman sold the southerly portion of the property, including the Epenetus Oakley House, to Walter F. Weeks, but reserved the northern portion of the site, including the stable, for his own use. (Unregistered handwritten agreement, Donaldson Collection on Local History, the Bryant Library.) According to the journals of Stephen Speedling (Local History Department, Bryant Library), he started work on building the house for Oscar Seaman during 1900-1901. A photograph in the Society's collection taken in 1888 shows Speedling's carpentry shop, which still stands at 1374 Old Northern Boulevard.

According to his entry in the "Portrait and Biographical Records of Queens County, NY. (see reference list), which probably was largely autobiographical, Oscar J. Seaman was born in 1848 near Jericho. As a boy he lived on the farm of his maternal grandfather, Benjamin Starkins. He married Carrie Cony, daughter of William Cony, a New York businessman, in 1871 and moved to Roslyn in 1875, where he worked in Nostrand's store. He moved to Glenwood Landing in 1881 and opened a general store there. Carrie Seaman died in 1918 and Oscar in 1924. Both are buried in the Brookville Cemetery. According to Stewart Donaldson, compiler of the "Donaldson (Roslyn Reference) Collection" in the Bryant Library, Seaman was also the owner of the Roslyn Hotel. Since "Portrait and Biographical Records" was published in 1896, he must have bought the hotel and moved back to Roslyn after that date.

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