Leasing land for the club starts to raise issues.
Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983
Historical Factoid:
Obituary from Scarsdale Inquirer, July 29, 1927
Emily Ogden Butler, of Fox Meadow, Scarsdale, died at her home July 25, 1927, in the eighty-eighth year of her age.
Miss Butler was born on July 7, 1840, at Kinderhook Landing, New York, in the home of her grandfather, Medad Butler, in the same house where her father had been born in 1802. She was the eldest daughter and only surviving child of the late Charles Butler and Eliza Ogden Butler.
Her father's brother, Benjamin Franklin Butler was Attorney of the United States, serving under both Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
Her mother's brother, William B. Ogden, was the first mayor of Chicago when it was incorporated as a city in 1837.
Charles Butler, Emily Ogden Butler's father, went out to Fort Dearborn and then to Wisconsin in the early days of those settlements and later returned to New York to take up the practice of law. He was always interested in all educational and philanthropic projects and gave generously to them, both of his time and his money. He was a director of Union Theological Seminary for sixty-one years and served as its president from 1870 until his death ill 1897, at the age of ninety-five he was the president of the Council of New York University and one of the founders of the Society for the Relief of Half Orphans and Destitute Children, in New York. Mrs. Butler was one of the directresses of this institution and Miss Butler, at the time of her death, was Honorary First Directress of the same society.
After her father's death, Miss Butler perpetuated his interest in the various projects for which he had worked. In 1924, she gave $300,000 to Union Theological Seminary as a memorial to him.
The Butler family bought “Evergreen Farm” in Scarsdale in 1853 and immediately afterward its name was changed to "Fox Meadow" the original name of the place. This estate was kept in the Butler family until several years ago when it was sold for a real estate development with Miss Butler reserving the right of residence in the old house until her death, a procedure that was also followed in her Park Avenue home that was sold at the same time.
Miss Butler's gifts to the Village of Scarsdale included the old "Wayside" cottage and the land immediately surrounding it, which was given to the village for the use of the Scarsdale Woman's Club. In 1913 she gave twenty-five acres of land along the Bronx River in Fox Meadow to the Bronx Parkway Commission, a step that was of material aid in obtaining public support for the Parkway. In 1918 she gave more than seven additional acres, including the forest now in the Parkway between the Scarsdale and Hartsdale stations and the two brooks, in order to preserve them in their native beauty for future generations.
A tablet commemorating Miss Butler's gifts of land to the Commission was unveiled on October 16, 1920. It is located on a large boulder near the wooded path in the forest, about five hundred feet south of the south brook. Speeches were made by Commissioner Niles, of the Parkway, who pointed out the far reaching effect of Miss Butler's gift which enabled them to transform the Bronx from a foul, contaminated stream, a menace to health and a drawback to living within reach of its evil smell, into a clear, clean river in which children can bathe with safety and people dwell with enjoyment as near as circumstances will permit; by Mr. Jay Downer, the secretary and engineer of the Commission; by Commissioner Grant; George Field, who was then president of the Village of Scarsdale; Mrs. Thomas F. Burgess, representing the Woman's Club, and Supervisor Furthman.
Historical Factoid:
Obituary from Scarsdale Inquirer, July 29, 1927
Emily Ogden Butler, of Fox Meadow, Scarsdale, died at her home July 25, 1927, in the eighty-eighth year of her age.
Miss Butler was born on July 7, 1840, at Kinderhook Landing, New York, in the home of her grandfather, Medad Butler, in the same house where her father had been born in 1802. She was the eldest daughter and only surviving child of the late Charles Butler and Eliza Ogden Butler.
Her father's brother, Benjamin Franklin Butler was Attorney of the United States, serving under both Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
Her mother's brother, William B. Ogden, was the first mayor of Chicago when it was incorporated as a city in 1837.
Charles Butler, Emily Ogden Butler's father, went out to Fort Dearborn and then to Wisconsin in the early days of those settlements and later returned to New York to take up the practice of law. He was always interested in all educational and philanthropic projects and gave generously to them, both of his time and his money. He was a director of Union Theological Seminary for sixty-one years and served as its president from 1870 until his death ill 1897, at the age of ninety-five he was the president of the Council of New York University and one of the founders of the Society for the Relief of Half Orphans and Destitute Children, in New York. Mrs. Butler was one of the directresses of this institution and Miss Butler, at the time of her death, was Honorary First Directress of the same society.
After her father's death, Miss Butler perpetuated his interest in the various projects for which he had worked. In 1924, she gave $300,000 to Union Theological Seminary as a memorial to him.
The Butler family bought “Evergreen Farm” in Scarsdale in 1853 and immediately afterward its name was changed to "Fox Meadow" the original name of the place. This estate was kept in the Butler family until several years ago when it was sold for a real estate development with Miss Butler reserving the right of residence in the old house until her death, a procedure that was also followed in her Park Avenue home that was sold at the same time.
Miss Butler's gifts to the Village of Scarsdale included the old "Wayside" cottage and the land immediately surrounding it, which was given to the village for the use of the Scarsdale Woman's Club. In 1913 she gave twenty-five acres of land along the Bronx River in Fox Meadow to the Bronx Parkway Commission, a step that was of material aid in obtaining public support for the Parkway. In 1918 she gave more than seven additional acres, including the forest now in the Parkway between the Scarsdale and Hartsdale stations and the two brooks, in order to preserve them in their native beauty for future generations.
A tablet commemorating Miss Butler's gifts of land to the Commission was unveiled on October 16, 1920. It is located on a large boulder near the wooded path in the forest, about five hundred feet south of the south brook. Speeches were made by Commissioner Niles, of the Parkway, who pointed out the far reaching effect of Miss Butler's gift which enabled them to transform the Bronx from a foul, contaminated stream, a menace to health and a drawback to living within reach of its evil smell, into a clear, clean river in which children can bathe with safety and people dwell with enjoyment as near as circumstances will permit; by Mr. Jay Downer, the secretary and engineer of the Commission; by Commissioner Grant; George Field, who was then president of the Village of Scarsdale; Mrs. Thomas F. Burgess, representing the Woman's Club, and Supervisor Furthman.
Land on which the FMTC tennis courts where located bought by Emily Butler in 1911 and leased back for $1 per year
The lease stipulated that no liquor be be sold on the premises and that various repairs be made to the tennis courts and backstops.
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