Ensign Monaghan was at that time attached to the Philadelphia. The expedition ashore was in charge of Lieutenant Lansdale. Ensign Monaghan stood steadfast by his wounded superior and friend—one rifle against many—one brave man against a score of savages. He knew he was doomed. He could not yield. He died in heroic performance of duty.
Ensign Monaghan was appointed to the Naval Academy on September 7, 1891, from the State of Washington. He was a son of Hon. James Monaghan, a member of the Society, who kindly contributed to the Society’s library a valuable and interesting work entitled “Life of John Robert Monaghan, the Hero of Samoa.”
MICHAEL HOGAN NAMED “CLAREMONT.”
Reminiscence of early New York days, when all of the upper west side fronting the river was occupied by the summer homes of the wealthy downtown merchants, were revived by the announcement last December that the last plot of land owned by the Post estate had been sold. The historic Claremont house, which for over half a century has been noted as a public house where the good things of life have been dispensed to the elite of the town, was for many years the summer home of the Post family.
The Claremont House, although removed from its original site several years ago when Riverside Park was laid out in 1872, is now the only one of these old-fashioned residences that remains very much in its original appearance.
To go back to the eighteenth century, we find that Nicholas de Peyster was the owner of the vast estates, having purchased them from the Dutch farmer, Adrian Hooglandt, in 1784. In 1796 he sold the upper part, that which has been known as Claremont, to George Pollock. He was an importer of Irish linens, and it was his little son, St. Clair Pollock, to whom the simple tombstone below the house, and bearing the inscription, “To an amiable child,” was erected.
In 1807, the man who gave the name Claremont to the place, and who was one of the most notable figures among the great merchants of his day, purchased the estate. This was Michael Hogan, a famous navigator, in his early life in all parts of the world and who came to New York early in the last century. He divided his property, calling the southern portion Monte Alta and the upper part Claremont. Hogan was a native of County Clare, Ireland, and the name was in honor of his birthplace, although the statement has been made that Hogan named it in honor of the royal residence in Surrey of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, afterward King William IV., and with whom the merchant had served as midshipman in the Royal Navy.
During Michael Hogan’s occupancy of Claremont, as a summer residence it was the scene of some of the most brilliant social festivities in the city. He was a vestryman of St. Michael’s Church, erected in 1805, on the east side of the old Bloomingdale Road and Ninety-ninth Street. Robert T. Kemble and William Rogers, both of whom were early owners of the famous Furniss house, were the wardens. It was from the Rogers estate that William P. Furniss purchased the house with twenty-six lots in 1843.
Hogan was practically ruined during the War of 1812 with England, and in 1821 Joel Post purchased the property from his trustees.
The name of Michael Hogan is almost forgotten today, and the high honor that Trinity Church paid to his memory after his death in Washington in 1833, where his son, William Hogan, was a Congressman, is remembered by few. A tablet was erected to his memory, but when old Trinity was torn down, the tablet was removed to Grace Church, where it may be seen today. The inscription says: