Walkabout: The House on Hancock Street, Part 1

Read Part 2 of this story.

Here’s a little tale of politics, corruption, bigamy, adultery, duplicity, confidence games, greed and aristocracy, as well as fortunes gained and lost, all taking place in Brooklyn at the turn of the 20th century. It’s not that any of these things are new, but somehow, they always seem to have more glamor and class when the participants are in Worth gowns and morning suits, descending from hansom cabs, or having tea in the parlor, or for that matter, meetings in smoke filled halls.

Unfortunately, people will be people, no matter how you dress them up, and there are certainly some characters here. The story centers around the Birkett family; James W. Birkett, a member of the NY State Senate, and his second wife, Amelia I. Birkett.

The large brownstone at 185 Hancock Street lies on one of the handsomest streets in Bedford, between Nostrand and Marcy Avenues. Coincidentally, it lies next door to another storied house, the self-designed, over the top home of architect Frederick Langston.

I often wonder if these people knew each other. At any rate, the home, designed in 1883, by Manhattan architect John G. Prague, had been home New York State Senator James W. Birkett, and his family from at least 1886.

Senator Birkett’s story is another successful immigrant’s story. Born in 1841, at the age of four, his parents immigrated to the United States from England, where he grew up in Greenpoint, attending public schools. He went into the plumbing trade and did well.

The demand for new and fancy bathroom fittings, as well as central heating, now de rigeur in every upscale household, prompted him to go into the wholesale steam fitting and plumbing supplies. Again, he did quite well.

Many people seem to think that life’s success makes one a good politician, and Birkett began a career in politics by becoming a district leader in Ward Four, ousting the long-time Republican leader there. In 1887, he became an Alderman, and two years later, he won his seat in the State Senate, representing Brooklyn’s Fourth Ward.

Senator Birkett, like most of the movers and shakers in Brooklyn at this time, was a staunch Republican, and was very popular in political circles, with many backers and friends, many of whom were fellow members of the Nathan Club, a raucous group of central Brooklyn Republicans.

As a State Senator, James Birkett soon found himself in the trenches of Albany politics. He sat on many committees that oversaw spending, and from what reporting I read, was a classic political operative, getting projects and favors for his constituents and friends, as per politicians since the dawn of time. He was a consummate machine politician.

Politics is often accused of bringing out the worst in people, and in January of 1890, many of Brooklyn’s Republicans were at a meeting to nominate a ticket for the primary, which took place a week later.

Birkett, known in political circles as the “Grand Mogul of the Fourth Ward,” was one of the leaders backing one particular candidate, and he had as his opposition, a man named George Cockran, who along with his cronies, backed another. As the meeting progressed, the two factions got louder and angrier, arguing over who controlled the party, until Birkett had enough, lost his temper and popped Cockran in the face.

Before anyone else could react, George Cockran countered with a blow of his own, a roundhouse to the chin, which, as the NY Times reports, “almost put the Senator to sleep.” Well, as you can imagine, this started a free-for-all, with both sides throwing punches, until neutral parties could intervene and keep the factions apart.

Meanwhile, while fists were still flying, Senator Birkett’s supporters managed to nominate him, because no one was paying attention, but that vote, as the paper noted, was immediately challenged by the other side, as soon as the room calmed down. The battle went on at a later date.

Birkett may have killed his career with another move later that same year, in May. The Senate was wrangling over a number of bills that would pay various people following the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, which had been completed a few years before.

Like any huge municipal project, the bridge came loaded with a bloated management, all out to get paid, with favors due, and sub, sub, sub people who had been given jobs, greased palms; the usual. Birkett had been given his marching orders by his Brooklyn machine, and he sponsored a bill that would have authorized a number of salary increases and payments to people associated with the bridge.

Among these was a rather complicated bill that included a “job” for one of the machine’s people, but in his negotiations, Birkett killed the job in order to get Democratic approval of the bill. Unfortunately, the job holder was quite high on another Republican political operative’s favorite list, and he was infuriated.

Stung by Birkett’s “betrayal”, this boss let slip some questions about Birkett’s personal finances, and this led to calls of corruption and misconduct. The Democratic opposition managed to kill the entire bill by blaming all the mismanagement of the Brooklyn Bridge construction on James W. Birkett, and he took the hit for the party. He was not re-elected.

James Birkett came home to Brooklyn, to his house on Hancock Street. He had married his second wife, Amelia, after the death of his first wife. They lived in the house with his four children, two sons and two daughters. Birkett continued his wholesale plumbing business, which during his Alderman days, had grown into a large and very lucrative business. His establishment was on Jay Street, downtown, and his political connections and products had made him rich, with over a million dollars in contracts each year.

He was a member of all the right clubs and was the treasurer for the Baptist Temple under Dr. Talmage. That multi-chapter story was told on Walkabout a few months ago. He was a Master Mason, a Commander of the Knights Templar, and a member of the Kismet Temple of the Mystic Shrine. (Shriners) But all of this couldn’t stop two things, bad business investments and illness.

After leaving the Senate, in 1891, he began speculating in real estate and finance, and made some very bad choices, loosing much of his fortune. He also got sick, and was suffering from a number of ailments not disclosed in the newspapers. After three years of serious illness ex-Senator Birkett died on July 21, 1898. He had recouped enough of his losses to leave his wife and children comfortable, but they were not as rich as they once had been. The funeral took place here on Hancock Street.

You might think that was the end of this story, but it’s really only the beginning. When the Senator was ill, he had his finances and power of attorney transferred to his wife, the second Mrs. Birkett. Among the holdings was the house at 185 Hancock, the factory down on Jay Street, and some other investment property.

The Birkett children were grown, and at least one daughter had married, with a reception at Hancock Street. Presumably, most of the others had also left home. After the Senator died, Mrs. Birkett was left all of the property and estate. She took it all, and didn’t give her step-children a dime. What happens next will not be what you expect at all. GMAP

(185 Hancock is in the center, the reddish Neo-Grec house with the triangular bay to the left of the 5 story house. Photograph: Christopher Bride for Property Shark, 2012)