1910
Heading East on South Country Road Coming Into To Town. That is "The Locusts" on the right. Frank Alleyne Otis's estate that gave way to become the Bellport Country Club in 1954
That's F. A. Otis himself in 1879 about to go cruising the town. He was one of the original 5 partners with Knapp in the Golf Club.
"Birdey" Otis married Fred Edey (another of Knapp's partners) and as you can tell from the few brief sentences next to her photo above, she played a major role in Bellport's social and civic life. That nice straight stretch of Montauk Highway that goes through Hagerman and Bellport is there because of her. She was the national director of the Girl Scouts Of America and Camp Edey in nearby Bayport is named for her. Her daughter Julia who married a Paige in 1913 was a competitor of Claire Knapp's in the sail boat races. Though the Edey's were socially and economically well insulated from most, my song and story title from way back still rings true..... "Trouble Still Knows Where You Live" knows no boundary. It found the Edey family (Fred's brother and wife) back in 1912. A bad relationship with the Gardner and Nellie Murdock family resulted in the double murder / suicide of Birdey's brother in law and wife, The Henry C. Edeys in January of 1913. Gardner a livery stable man, turned hotel owner, faded from the Bellport Scene for a time but re emerged soon after. In the 1920's he opened a small boarding house just east of Bellport in Southaven and was soon back in the news none of it good. First from a pet bear mauling incident that killed 12 year old Grant Taylor. Then his son Milton and daughter in law Marion H. Murdock raised some town eyebrows once more in regard to her relationship with Dodi Knapp.
WASHINGTON POST JANUARY 4 , 1913
The Murdock / Edey story was in many national papers.
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THE SPERRY FAMILY
Longtime Bellport summer and later on all year round residents, I know that at least one of the Sperrys were known to the Knapps. That would be aviator / inventor Lawrence B. Sperry who is standing behind his father Elmer in this 1911 photo. "Gyro" as Lawrence was known took Tom Dixon on a record setting Loop to Loop in a hydro aeroplane at the Knapp sea plane base in October of 1917. Ernie Maler speaks in his interview about seeing Gyro taxi up to the golf course in that same seaplane when Ernie was caddying there. The Sperrys here are seated: Elmer Sr. inventor of the Sperry Gyroscope, oldest son Ed, Mrs. Zula Sperry , Rear: Lawrence, Elmer Jr. aka "Kiddo" and Helen. Helen Sperry Lea lived out her long life in Bellport and this past summer I had the pleasure of speaking on the phone with her son Sperry Lea of Washington, DC. The Bellport Sperry estate which is near the old golf course, was put on the market this past summer. The 1920's motor yacht Zula is reputed to still be in a boatyard on Beaver Dam Creek.
In the 13th Census of The United States, taken in the spring of 1910 it shows Sylvia who was 42 and Claire who was 20, living on South Country Road in Bellport Village, along with a chauffeur, John Lehan,(?) cook, Anna Doherty and maid Clara Young (?) The Knapp help may of been from Bellport but it is more likely they came out from New York City with the Knapps.
On the twenty sixth of January 1912, Claire A. Knapp of the village of Bellport signed a deed to purchase a 12 acre horse farm in Greenlawn. Her father renovated it for her and she and her mother moved there until October of 1916, when her brother Joseph F. bought the 180 acre Lawrence Estate in what is now known as Mastic Beach. Claire joined her brother in Mastic and Sylvia moved to France. I do not know if Claire returned to Bellport much after that , but her brother did. In cars, boats and sea planes. In 1917 he took up flying and had a Naval Reserve seaplane base at his Mastic estate Then 1925 and 1926 both he and his first wife Gertrude O'Brien Knapp were in the GSBYC and competed in Bellport Regattas with "Miss Demure" their 30' Sea Sled runabout. They won the speedboat championship there in 1926. In the 1930's Dodi and Gertrude must of divorced and he took up with Marion Murdock of Brookhaven. They married and moved to both Mastic Beach and Fort Lauderdale with Marion's daughter Shirley, who last I heard was still living in Florida someplace. I would love to be able to contact her!!! In 1940 when Dodi and Marion sold the Mastic Beach mansion they may of moved back to Bellport for that summer as he home ported his motor yacht the Storm King in Bellport that year. In 1941 they moved to their final Long Island summer home in Hampton Bays. He passed away there in October of 1952.
So once again if you know of anyone who may have old photos of people (hopefully close ups) in Bellport from 1890's - 1940's please get in touch.
