By Don Krüger
May 2017

Several months ago I used the services of FultonHistory.com to search their online database of old newspapers. The search terms I used were first-name variations of  “FirstName Davenport” and “Tarrytown” (boolean function). I was very pleased to find a fairly large listing of 1940 era news items about my grandparents, Clyde Burton Davenport (1891-1976) and Hazel Louise (Hanshaw) Davenport (1894-1985) and each of their children — my uncle, Francis “Dave” Russell Davenport; my aunts, Clara Louise (Davenport) Seigel, Eleanor Jane Davenport, Nancy Ann (Davenport) Hansen, Dotty; and my mother, Margaret Elizabeth “Betty” (Davenport) Kruger.

In 1935 after losing nearly everything when their home in Castleton, NY, burned to the ground, the C. B. Davenport family relocated to Tarrytown. My grandfather was the trainmaster of the Harlem and Hudson Divisions of the New York Central Railroad and for a period of time his office was located inside the Phillipse Manor Station in North Tarrytown, NY. Over the years the Davenports lived in several houses that were located in “The Manors” (Phillipse Manor and adjacent Sleepy Hollow Manor), which provided my grandfather with a very easy commute.

Historically, this was the period of time when the Great Depression was coming to an end and World War II was beginning. The Worlds Fair in New York City came and went. The United States had a President whose home was in Hyde Park, NY. Part of the rail route that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would travel over on his trips to and from Washington, D. C., were overseen by my grandfather. It is my understanding of family lore that my grandfather’s duty during the war years was to ride in a decoy train just ahead of FDR’s train and be on the lookout for evidence of sabotage or subterfuge along the way. I am not aware if my grandfather had anything to do with Roosevelt’s private railroad car that was kept a few stories under the ground level of the Waldorf Hotel and was connected to the intricate multi-level sub-surface track system of the Waldorf’s next door neighbor, Grand Central Station.

Here is a sampling of the news items that I was able to find — they are in PDF format. At the end of the list is one large PDF that you may download. It contains a copy of each of these individual newspaper pages.

Clyde Davenport – Trainmaster 1938

Clyde Davenport – Trainmaster – 1949

Clyde Davenport – Hunting – 1940

Mrs. Clyde Davenport and Mr. and Mrs. Siegel motor to Florida – 1940

Mrs. Clyde Davenport – President PTA – 1939

Mrs. Clyde Davenport – PTA Function – 1938

Mrs. Clyde Davenport – Wartime Rationing – 1942

Mrs. Clyde Davenport and Mrs. Francis Davenport – Christ Church – 1942

Francis Davenport – Esso Station Advertisement – 1964

Francis Davenport – Esso Station – League of Women Voters – with image – 1964

Francis Davenport – Masonic installation – with image – 1969

Mrs. Francis Davenport – Christ Church Spaghetti dinner – 1940
also Elizabeth Davenport – Christ Church Fellowship

Louise Davenport and Jane Davenport – Operetta in Montrose – 1927

Louise Davenport – Motors to Castleton – 1933

Jane Davenport – winner of bathroom scales – 1936

Jane Davenport – maid of honor for Elizabeth Davenport – 1947

Elizabeth Davenport – History Club with Diana Hansen – 1936

Elizabeth Davenport – St Pats Play with Diana Hansen – 1936

Elizabeth Davenport – Student Court, Speno Give Safety Talk – 1938
The latter takes a little bit of explaining. My Aunt Dotty once told me a story about a time when the C. B. Davenport family was living on Hemlock Drive in Sleepy Hollow Manor and a hurricane came into the area and caused a lot of damage. A tree came crashing through a side porch of the house terrifying Aunt Dotty and Aunt Nancy who were home at the time awaiting the weather delayed arrival of their father and mother. North Tarrytown police officer Anthony Speno arrived on the scene and remained with the children, and entertained them by playing the piano, until their parents arrived safely at home.

Elizabeth Davenport – Yule Assembly, Nancy Davenport – School Play, 190 Cortland for Rent – 1936
190 Cortland was a building owned by the Hansen family. There was a drug store on the street level and a few apartments on the upper floors. When I was 5 or 6 years old, Aunt Dotty lived in one of these apartments.

Elizabeth Davenport – Fire Prevention Play – 1936
I cringe at the irony of my mom playing a role in a fire prevention play a little more than a year after the family residence was lost to a fire, but in my heart, I’m sure that she readily volunteered to do this.

Nancy Davenport – Confirmation date 1941 – 1966
This is an article that appeared in 1966 about an event that happened 25 years prior

Nancy Davenport – Operetta – 1938

Nancy Davenport – Spring Music Fest NTHS – Tom Hansen WIHS trombone player – 1941

Nancy Davenport – marriage to Thomas Hansen – Dorothy Davenport maid of honor – 1948

Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Nancy Davenport – Visit Louise Hanshaw – 1940

Dorothy Davenport and Nancy Davenport – May Festival – 1940

 

Davenports in Tarrytown News circa 1940 – Contains all the articles listed above (PDF 20mb)

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There aren’t enough good things to say about FultonHistory.com. The information that I have obtained using their online newspaper database has been instrumental in helping me learn about my family history. Please visit their website and use their services and consider a donation.