JAMES MACKIE BARD (1813-1874)

     James Mackie Bard was born on August 1, 1813, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   He was the third of eight children of James Bard and Isabella McNichol Bard.  His father emigrated from Ireland and probably settled in New York City, but beginning around 1811 James's parents spent a few years in Philadelphia, where two of their children were born, one of them being James Mackie.  The family later returned to New York.

     James was most likely named after his uncle, James Mackie, a sea captain who sailed the Atlantic and the Caribbean.  James Mackie was married to Isabella McNichol Bard's sister, Ellen McNichol.

     As of this writing, nothing is known of James Mackie Bard’s childhood, youth and early adult years.  There’s probably a good chance that he attended a private school, however.  According to the 1830 Annual Report of the Superintendent of Common Schools of the State of New-York, the great majority of children attending school in New York City in 1829 – 18,945 out of 24,952 – were in private schools.  James would have been of school age – around 16 years old – in 1829.

     In 1836 he married Sarah Jane Eakin in New York.  He was 22 and she was 21.  Unfortunately, very little is known about Sarah either.  She and James had eight children:

          Robert Wiltse Bard, born March 13, 1837

          Sarah Eakin Bard, born January 1, 1839

          Isabella Bard, born November 11, 1840

          Mary Augusta Bard, born March 30, 1843

          Margaret Worrall Bard, born May 21, 1845

          Anna Eliza Bard, born January 30, 1848

          Charles Worrall Bard, born January 30, 1850

          Junius Theodore Stagg Bard, born January 12, 1853 

    James was a brass founder by trade and owned a foundry in New York City.  The city directories for New York for the years 1840 to 1858 contain entries for James M. Bard.  Research is still underway to find out if there is any more information available elsewhere about his foundry business.  Here is a photo of a (bronze?) candelabrum made at his foundry.  It's pretty gaudy.  The entries in the New York city directories include his occupation as brass founder and his business and home addresses.

     In the years 1840-1842, James’s foundry business was located at 113 Elm Street, and in 1842 his home address was identified as 115 Elm Street, right next door.  (His home address is not listed for the first two years, but it was probably 115 Elm Street as well, since at that time many people’s businesses were collocated with their residences.) 

     Henrietta Onderdonk Bard, a granddaughter of James Mackie Bard and an early Bard family history researcher, wrote that he lived at 62 Elm Street, but there are no dates associated with that address.

     His foundry was located at 10 Canal Street from 1843 to 1848 and then at 12 Canal Street from 1849 to 1856.  During this 14-year time span he resided at 204 Elm Street (1843), 201 Hester Street (1844-1850), 203 Hester Street (1851-1853) and 36 Howard Street (1854).  There was no home address noted for 1855 and 1856.  He may have moved out of the city already while still keeping his business there.

     There was no listing for James M. Bard in the 1857 New York city directory.  In 1858 his business address is given as 151 Essex Street.  It’s unclear whether he was still in the brass foundry business by then, however, because his occupation is listed as “builder,” not “brass founder.”

     Although it looks like he maintained some sort of business on Essex Street in New York, James had clearly moved out of the city by 1858 because his home address is given in the New York city directory for that year as Sing Sing (now Ossining) in Westchester County, New York.  In the 1860 U.S. Federal census James shows up as a resident of Sing Sing, and his occupation is listed as “Fire Engine man."  It is unclear what that is, but it may relate to the fact that earlier, as an Alderman in New York City, he served at least three years on the Board of Aldermen’s standing committee for the Fire Department (see below).  There are also references to him in at least 1853, 1855 and 1856 being the foreman of the No. 40 Engine Company of the New York City Fire Department. 

     He bought property in Sing Sing on an upscale street called Ellis Place, moved his family there and lived there for some time.  Ellis Place has been described as a jewel in the crown of Victorian Sing Sing.  It was the village’s first planned residential boulevard, and it was lined with fine homes filled with fine people.  Ellis Place started out as an estate.  Three entrepreneurs bought the land in 1851 and immediately sold portions of the property to several men, one of whom was James Mackie Bard, identified as one of the “desirable people from the city.”  Bard actually ended up buying several lots on both sides of the street.  He built the house at No. 24 Ellis Place, which was a double lot.  That house has been dated to ca. 1852, and it was James’s and Sarah’s residence.  He also owned No. 25 and No. 27, situated right across the street.  He built the house at No. 27 around 1860 and possibly the house next door as well.  His daughter Isabella and son-in-law William Henry Peck lived in No. 27.

     On August 30, 1856, James and Sarah sold some land in Sing Sing to one Martha Jane Woolsey for $1,550.00.  The property was described in a synopsis of the deed as: “…land in Sing Sing on S side of Orchard Street at a stake in NE corner of said lot then E etc then W etc from corner of Orchard and State Streets then S to a stone in the brook which divides the lot from William Foster S etc to E side of Malcom Alley then due N etc to a post etc to beginning etc.” 

     James also owned property in New York City at 247 Canal Street.  It is not known when he purchased this property or what he used it for.  There was apparently a five-story brick structure at this address, which was totally destroyed by fire on May 9, 1892, almost 20 years after James’s death.  Five months after the fire, James’s son Junius initiated the construction of a new building on this site – “a six-story brick store and storehouse, 22x86.”  The cost was $15,000.

     In his 1873 will James bequeathed this real estate to his children.  After a lengthy legal process, begun around 1905 by son Junius and involving many meetings with a lawyer and with his sisters Sarah and Isabella, they finally sold the property in 1909, 35 years after their father’s death.

     It is not known when, but James received a certificate for two years’ service – 1844 and 1845 – in the National Greys of Philadelphia.  Greys (and Blues and Greens and others from various cities) were volunteer militias.  They had fancy uniforms and marched in parades, sometimes with brass bands.  They could also be called into active service.  The Philadelphia National Greys were a star attraction at the inaugural parade of President William Henry Harrison in Washington D.C. in 1841.

     In at least 1845 and 1846, while still engaged in his brass foundry business, James M. Bard set out on an alternate career in public service.  During those two years he was Inspector of Weights and Measures for the second district of New York.   In 1845 New York City was divided into two inspection districts.  One Inspector of Weights and Measures was named for each district.  The second district covered the lower tip of Manhattan up to Fulton Street and the entire area west of Broadway and then 4th Avenue all the way up to the Harlem River – a huge chunk of real estate.  An inspector had to put up a $2,000 bond, and his duties included inspecting and examining, at least once a year, “all weights, measures, scalebeams, patent balances, steelyards and other instruments used in his district in weighing and measuring as aforesaid.”

     On June 14, 1847, for reasons that were not mentioned, the Board of Assistant Aldermen of New York voted to remove James as Inspector of Weights and Measures for the second district.  He was replaced on the same day by someone else.

     James became more heavily involved in politics in April 1849 by getting elected Alderman to represent the 14th Ward.  (Wards were the smallest political units in the city.  Each ward elected an Alderman and an Assistant Alderman to the City Council, called the Common Council at the time.  The 14th Ward was an area in the lower west side of Manhattan bounded on the north by East Houston Street, on the east by Bowery, on the south by Canal Street and on the west by Broadway.  The ward system was formally abolished in 1938.)

     In 1849 the election day for the city’s so-called charter officers (which included the Mayor, the Recorder and the Aldermen) was changed from the second Tuesday in April to the first Tuesday in November.  And the Aldermen had to run for reelection every year.   So James’s first, shortened term ran from April of 1849 to January of 1850.  After that, he served for four more years, from January 1850 to January 1854.  Since James was now a public figure, and remained so for most of the rest of his life, there were abundant references to him in New York City newspapers and other publications of record.  Those sources were very helpful in finding out information about his official life, but not much is known about his personal life. 

     During the first two full years (1850-51) of his Aldermanic career James was placed on three standing committees of the Board of Aldermen:  Finance, Fire Department and Lamps and Gas.  He also served on the Standing Committee on Annual Taxes of the Board of Supervisors.  In 1852 and 1853 he served on the following standing committees of the Board of Aldermen:  Ferries, Finance and Fire Department.  For those two years he was also on the standing committee on Civil Courts of the Board of Supervisors. 

     One of James’s colleagues during his 1852 and 1853 terms was Alderman William M. Tweed of the 7th Ward, who later went on to become the infamous “boss” of Tammany Hall, the corrupt and scandalous Democratic Party political machine in New York City.  Here's a clipping from the July 19, 1852, New York Times showing their names together as Aldermen. 

     In 1852 and 1853 there were quite a few mentions in a couple of the New York City newspapers about James M. Bard executing his various routine duties as Alderman.  As an Alderman he also served as one of two associate judges on the Court of General Sessions, which was a criminal court.  For example, in May 1852 Honorable Welcome R. Beebe and Aldermen Wesley Smith and James M. Bard were identified as the presiding judges as the Court of General Sessions convened for its May term at their chambers in the Halls of Justice.  And in the March 1853 term of the Court of General Sessions the presiding judge was again to be the Honorable City Judge Beebe and his associates were to be Alderman James M. Bard and Alderman Doherty.

     On July 2, 1852, James M. Bard was one of four Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen appointed to a Special Committee of the Common Council to go to Philadelphia to accompany the remains of the late statesman Henry Clay to New York.  Clay had died on June 29th in Washington, D.C., and his body was taken around by train and boat to many cities in the east to be displayed and honored.  His remains arrived in New York City on the afternoon of July 3rd, were on display on the 4th, and departed on the 5th.  Bard’s committee was also charged with making arrangements for “solemnizing the obsequies in honor of the deceased.”  They arranged a huge memorial parade and funeral ceremony for Clay, which was held on July 20th.

     Being a politician, James was not immune from criticism in the newspapers, which, by the way, were blatantly opinionated and judgmental at the time.  For example, in October 1851 he and another Alderman, who were both running for reelection in their respective wards, arranged for the release – at 3 o’clock in the morning! – of a person who had been arrested for beating a bar-keeper.  An article appeared in the New York Daily Tribune about this incident, and the Tribune went on to describe a recent instance where a crowd of rowdies had been brought in from other wards to prevent people from voting in the Fourteenth Ward “for the purpose of securing the election of a delegation who would use their exertions to procure the nomination of James M. Bard, as Alderman of the Ward.”

     In February 1852 Alderman Bard was selected to represent the Fourth Congressional District at the Baltimore Convention (probably some sort of Democratic convention).  On February 9th the New York Daily Tribune ran the following short blurb about him:  “The Convention that appointed James M. Bard, Esq., a delegate to the Baltimore Convention, passed a resolution instructing him ‘to vote for Gen. Lewis Cass as a candidate for the Presidency in 1852, until his friends withdraw his name from the Convention.’  Poor Bard, if he has to adhere to his instructions, what a time he will have.”

     In June 1852 the Tribune ran an article recapping how many prisoners had been released by various Aldermen and Police Captains between January and April of that year.  The prisoners had been arrested for such crimes as assault and battery, fighting in the street, drunk and disorderly behavior, etc.  The Tribune decried the shameful exhibition of Aldermanic interference with justice, adding “What wonder that Rowdyism flourishes and rides rough-shod over law and order, when the sworn guardians of morality and peace rush to the station-houses to discharge whoever of their friends may have been arrested.”  The Tribune singled out two Aldermen, Bard being one of them, for having the greatest number of “clients.”  Of 64 prisoners discharged, 13 had been discharged by Bard.

     And in July 1852 a special committee that Bard served on was castigated by the New York Times for lavishly spending over $3,000 towards defraying the expenses associated with the transport of Henry Clay’s body from New York to Albany after it had been on display in the city.  The committee paid $1,090 to charter a steamboat, but the Times proclaimed that the committee could have chosen among half a dozen other steamers for half that price.  Moreover, they paid $1,411 for refreshments furnished on board the steamer, $193 for refreshments in New York City (which consisted mainly of wines and other liquors) and another $653 for unspecified incidental expenses.

     It gets worse. On February 26, 1853, Aldermen James M. Bard and Wesley Smith, who were sitting judges on the bench of the Court of General Sessions, were indicted by a Grand Jury.  Their crime as reported in the New York Times was “demanding and receiving bribes in the discharge of their official duties,” but the actual indictment merely called it extortion (see below).  The Times ran a scathing article on February 28th about the two men, describing how they didn’t show a breath of shame and how, after the indictment, they stepped down from the bench and “shook hands with each other with the utmost cordiality.”  The newspaper editorialized that “everyone felt for them the profoundest and most scornful contempt.”  The Times also bemoaned the fact that the two Aldermen would be tried in a Court of Sessions or in the Court of Oyer and Terminer (a higher court), where other Aldermen constitute the majority of jurors in both courts.  These Aldermen would “not hesitate a moment, or flinch from any step however outrageous, to screen one another from conviction for offenses in which all may have had a share,” wrote the Times.  The Times strongly advocated for the trial to be held in a different county.

     Here’s the text of the indictment against Bard, found in the March 16, 1853, issue of the New York Times.  Note that this alleged infraction occurred on January 10, 1850, only eight months after James had been elected Alderman:

     “City and County of New-York, ss. – the Jurors of the People of the State of New-York, in and for the body of the City and County of New-York, upon their oath present that James M. Bard, late of the First Ward of the City of New-York, in the County of New-York aforesaid, brassfounder, on the tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty, at the Ward, City and County aforesaid, being one of the Aldermen of the City and County of New-York, it became and was the duty of the said James M. Bard, as such Alderman aforesaid, fairly, honestly, and without fraud or deceit, to discharge the duties of said office for and towards the best interests of the citizens of the City and County of New-York, yet the said James M. Bard not regarding his said duty on the day and in the year, and in the ward aforesaid, fraudulently and maliciously, and in violation of his said duty aforesaid, and under color of his said office, extorted, received and took from one Thomas P. Stanton, the amount and sum of $500, as and for a fee and consideration for the performance of a certain act, in his said capacity as Alderman, connected with the leasing of a certain Pier at the foot of Wall-street in said city, (the property of the corporation of said city,) whereby the said James M. Bard wilfully and corruptly violated his duty as said Alderman, and was guilty of fraud in his said office, against the peace of the people of the State of New-York and their dignity.”

     On March 15th Alderman Wesley Smith withdrew his demand for an immediate trial, so all the attention of the Court of General Sessions on that day was focused on Alderman Bard.  Bard’s lawyer, John Graham, argued strongly against the indictment.  He said that it was very vague and that the charge was not explicit.   Was it for extortion or was it for bribery, neither of which were offenses by statutes of the state.  In fact, Graham asked, was there any offense at all named in the indictment?  He said that there had been no testimony before the Grand Jury that Alderman Bard ever asked for any money from Stanton.

     The District Attorney, N. Bowditch Blunt, then gave his counter argument.  As he interpreted the law, Bard, as a member of the Common Council and as an Alderman, did have the power to let, lease or sell the pier, but, he added, no Alderman had the right to receive any compensation.  He said that every Alderman takes an oath to perform the duties of his office honestly and above-board, but if he fraudulently and maliciously takes a fee or reward under color of his office, he is guilty of fraud. Blunt summed up by saying that the offence charged was “malfeasance in office,” and he strongly argued that the indictment be sustained.

     The arguments were not heard in a different county, as the New York Times had advocated, and Bard’s Aldermen colleagues were indeed the jurors who passed judgment, as the Times had warned.  But the outcome was not what the Times had predicted.  Judge Beebe finally announced on March 23rd that the Court had ruled to deny the motion to quash the indictment.  Presumably there was to be a trial, but this researcher could find no mention in subsequent issues of the New York City newspapers that a trial had ever taken place.  To the contrary, as early as April 15th - a mere three weeks later – James M. Bard’s name was back in the newspapers as he carried out his normal Aldermanic duties.  It looks like he came through that one unscathed.   His term as Alderman would end the following January (1854) anyway, and he was not reelected.

     It was mentioned in the indictment that James M. Bard was “late of the First Ward of the City of New-York.”  That implies that Bard had held some sort of position in the 1st Ward before his election as Alderman of the 14th Ward, but this researcher could find no references in the available New York City newspapers of any connection between Bard and the 1st Ward prior to April 1849.

     On September 8, 1853, one delegate and one alternate delegate were elected from the various wards of New York to attend the upcoming Democratic convention in Syracuse.  James M. Bard was elected the alternate delegate from the 14th Ward.  It is unclear whether he attended.  There was a notice in the New York Times in October 1853 that James had been nominated as a “Hard” (a Democratic faction) for the 12th Assembly District in New York.  So maybe he wanted to try something else.

     One of three known images of James Mackie Bard is this one.  It’s unclear whether the original is a painting or a photograph, but it looks more like a painting.  James was born in 1813 and, based on the history of the development of photography, it might have been a little early for this to be a photograph of this quality.  If it is a painting, the whereabouts of the original are unknown.  He looks like he might be around 40 years old in this picture, which would put the date at around 1853, when he would have been serving as Alderman in New York.

     But this picture may not even be of him.  The likeness doesn't look very much like later photographs of him (see below).

     James’s granddaughter, Margaret Wright Bard, was born and grew up in the Bard homestead, which sat on a relatively high spot on the top of Bear Ridge in Pleasantville, New York.  Her father, Junius Theodore Stagg Bard, and family shared the house with Junius’s brother, Charles Worrall Bard and his family, one family on each side.  Margaret reminisced one time about some nasty lightning strikes that had hit the house.  One of them struck on her Uncle Charley’s side of the house, and she said it scorched an oil painting that was hanging on the wall.  She thought the painting might have been a picture of “Grandfather Bard.”

     During the 1852-53 time frame someone else was evidently running James's foundry business for him, because he presumably would have been pretty busy with his official duties as Alderman.  In fact, he may have had another person as a tenant in his building at 12 Canal Street.  One Andrew J. Campbell, who manufactured silver and wood showcases, had one of his showcases on display at the 1853 Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York (a world's fair-type of event).  Campbell's business address was given as 12 Canal Street in the official catalog for the exhibition.  Four years later, Campbell's showcase factory was still at the same Canal Street address as well as a business owned by a man named George Smith.  Smith manufactured ornaments for horses and carriages as well as crests, coats of arms, coach handles, fancy letters, etc.  He advertised that he did all kinds of brass chasing (i.e., engraving or embossing).  So Smith may have taken over Bard's brass foundry business at some point in the mid 1850s.

     After his move to Sing Sing in the 1850s, James continued - or at least attempted to continue - his involvement in public service.  There was a notice in the 1859 (Albany) Evening Journal Almanac that J. M. Bard, Democrat, had lost his bid for the seat in the Third District of Westchester County for the New York State Assembly.  He lost to Republican Gaylord B. Hubbell, who was re-elected.

     A New York Democratic State Convention was held in Albany on January 31st and February 1st, 1861, shortly before the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln in March.  James M. Bard was one of the four “well-known citizens” who were chosen to be delegates to the convention from the Third Assembly District of Westchester County.  James was evidently not an Assemblyman himself.  His name doesn’t show up on a list of all the members of the New York Assembly from Westchester County for the years 1847-1878.  So he must have just been chosen to be a delegate from his district to attend the convention in Albany.

     The February 11, 1864, edition of the Sing Sing Republican newspaper recounted the preparation for and visit to Sing Sing on February 9th of the soldiers of Company I of the 95th Regiment of the New York Volunteer Infantry.  After two years of hard service in the war, the company had just re-enlisted for three more years and had been granted a 30-day furlough.  Company I had been commanded by Captain Robert W. Bard, James Mackie Bard’s oldest son.  (Robert had been promoted to major and had been replaced as company commander.)  The officers and many of the men of Company I had enlisted from the Town of Ossining, and the town officials wanted to give them a proper reception.  When word of their impending arrival reached Sing Sing, some citizens of the town met to make arrangements.  [Quoting from the newspaper article, sic, as written]: “James M. Bard, Esq. in addressing the meeting, said: ‘We have met, gentlemen, for the purpose of making arrangements for a reception to Company I, Ninety-fifth Regiment N.Y.V.  Two years since these men left our midst, to peril their lives in defense of their country.  Their ranks were then full many of them will never return to us;  their remains lie buried on the field - the scene of many a fell-fought battle;  the remainder of them will to-day revisit their homes, to remain a short time, and then again to take up their arms and march to battle.  Let us, then, honor these brave men, that they may see that we are not unmindful of their claims of gratitude upon us;  Let us all unite in giving them a hearty welcome.’ ”

     Here is an undated photo of James in which he looks perhaps around 50 years old.  In 1867 James bought the Bear Ridge farm in Pleasantville, New York.  His deed is dated March 23, 1867, and the sum he paid was $15,000.00.  It was a 96-acre tract located on the north side of Bear Ridge Road.  The bucolic life must have appealed to him, because he clearly made a major career switch from the brass foundry business as indicated by the fact that his occupation was now listed as “farmer” in the 1870 U.S. Federal census for the Town of Mount Pleasant.

     There is an undated photograph of the Bard homestead in Pleasantville (see below).  The people in the photo are unidentified, but you can see a rocking chair on the porch just to the right of the door.  The story passed down in the family is that this cane rocking chair was given to James Mackie Bard by his colleague on the New York City Board of Aldermen, William M. “Boss” Tweed.  (As noted above, they served together in 1852 and 1853.)  Tweed’s father had been a chair maker, and Tweed’s first job after school was as an apprentice in his father’s trade.  James gave Tweed a cast bronze candelabra set.

     After his move to Pleasantville, James continued his public service.  On September 20, 1869, there was a convention of Democrats of the Third Assembly District of Westchester County.  It was held in Pine’s Bridge in the Township of Yorktown.  Delegates were selected to the State, Judicial, and Senatorial conventions.  James M. Bard was one of five delegates selected to attend the Senatorial convention.

     In at least late 1870 and early 1871, one J. M. Bard was noted selling beef to Sing Sing Prison.  For these “rations” Sing Sing paid him $125.40 in November 1870 and $151.80 in February 1871.

     In 1870 James was elected Register of Deeds of Westchester County.  He ran on the Democratic ticket.  This was a 3-year term of office.  One source says that after his election to this job he moved to White Plains.  Official documents show that his residence in at least 1871 and 1873 was indeed White Plains.  He was re-elected to the position of Register of Deeds in November 1873, but he died while in office about a year later on October 6, 1874. He was 61.

     Here is a photo of James that was taken not long before he died.  The inscription on the back of this photo reads “This picture taken during his last illness.”  There is a resemblance to the second picture above, but not to the first.  James’s obituary in the October 8, 1874, issue of the Sing Sing Republican concluded with the words “For nearly two years past he has been in very poor health, and has been long unable to give personal attention to his official duties.  He was a kind and loving husband and father, an estimable citizen, and his loss will be mourned by a host of friends and relatives.”  There were also obituaries in the October 7, 1874, issues of the New York Herald and the New York Times.

     James Mackie Bard is buried with his wife and many members of his family in a large plot at the White Plains Rural Cemetery in White Plains, New York.  Here is a photo of the James M. Bard monument in that plot.

     After James’s death, his farm stayed in Bard family hands until 1917.

     Sarah outlived her husband by almost 35 years.  She was living with her son Charles Worrall Bard and his family in Pleasantville in 1900, and she died in Ossining at age 91 on January 1, 1907.  

     James’s younger brother Samuel (photo at right) was almost as colorful and notorious a public figure as James.  Samuel (1823/25? – 1878) was a newspaper editor, publisher, military officer, governor, postmaster, public printer.  Before he moved south in 1845, he ran a stationery store in Sing Sing.  At various times in his later career in the south, he was editor or publisher of the following newspapers:  the Lake Providence Herald in Louisiana, the Memphis Avalanche, the Atlanta New Era, the Atlanta Daily True Georgian, the Chattanooga Herald, the Atlanta Daily Advance, the Pensacola Herald, and the Baton Rouge Herald.  He switched his political affiliation for expediency.  He was the Superintendent of Education in Louisiana, and he served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War with the rank of captain.  In 1870 he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to be Governor of the Idaho Territory, but he only served in that position for two months and he never even went to Idaho!  He held the post of public printer in Atlanta.  This was a state printing franchise that Samuel got while he was editor of the Atlanta New Era.  The New Era was a radical Republican newspaper.  He was appointed postmaster of Chattanooga and later postmaster of Atlanta.  The nominations to both of those positions were made by President Grant and had to be approved by the U.S. Senate.  Samuel was asked to resign from the latter post after having served only about a year – the Postmaster General complained that Bard was “too damned unanimous.”  He died of yellow fever in Baton Rouge.

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