The project site originally was part of the Bloodgood family homestead, which was
acquired, probably by early Flushing settler Franz (or Francis) Bloodgood (or Bloctgoct), in
the second half of the 1600s, although archival sources differ as to the exact year (Munsell
1882:90; Anonymous n.d.:16; Chapman Publishing 1896:1192) Soon after the
Bloodgoods purchased the land, though, a house was constructed on the east side of what
would become Main Street, within modem Block 4978. This house, later known as the
Garretson House, after descendant Eliza Bloodgood's husband, Garret R. Garretson, stood
just north of the project site, within modem Lots 104 and 107, until its demolition in 1911.
The core of the house was a small structure, presumably dating to the original construction,
but over time the house was lengthened and rooms added, as need warranted. The length of
the house paralleled Main Street.
A description of the house during the 1880s, which by
then had become one story with a garret, indicated the first floor had seven rooms
(including two kitchens, three bedrooms, a parlor, a living room, a dining room, and a large
hall) and the second floor had three large bedrooms and a garret.
The front of the house,
facing Main Street, originally had a sloping lawn, but this feature was truncated when Main
Street was widened, and a low retaining wall was built in front of the house to hold back the
cut bank, with steps leading up from the street. A thick hedge capped the retaining wall,
and rose vines obliterated much of the house's facade (Lawson 1952:163-165). A
photograph of the house illustrates these features (Figure 5).
Although the Garretson house was just outside the project site, the homestead associated
with the house covered all of Lot 101, as well as portions of modem 39th Avenue and 138th
Street. Presumably, descendants of Franz Bloodgood lived on the property from the second
half of the 1600s through the early 1800s, but little is known of them, other than their family
name.
It appears that Eliza Bloodgood's father, Daniel Bloodgood, headed a household and
occupied the property by 1800 and until at least 1830. Federal census records made in
1800, 1810, 1820, and 1830 list Daniel Bloodgood as the head of a household that included
from six to eleven people, depending on the year.
Daniel Bloodgood was a fruit grower,
specializing in cherry trees (Lawson 1952:163-165). The 1820 federal census, however,
indicates three members of Daniel Bloodgood's household were engaged in manufacturing,
suggesting that the B1oodgoods may have held other occupations as well.
Occupation of 'the homestead during the remainder of the nineteenth century is well
documented, owing primarily to the success of Garret Garretson, who married Eliza Bloodgood and took over her family's land.
Garretson was born inNew Jersey in 1807, and
moved to New York at age 16 to work as the overseer for William R. Prince's nursery,
which later became one of the largest nurseries in the country, if not the world.
In 1836,
Garretson opened his own business growing and selling seeds. At the time, there were only
three other seed businesses in the country. Garretson had a 100-acre farm, where he grew
most of the seeds, on Jamaica Road, east of Flushing. His business flourished, and he
ultimately sold his seeds allover the world. Within the project site, along 38th Avenue,
Garretson had a seed store, or warehouse, from which he sold and stored his stock. It was a
long frame building, known as Garretson's Seed House, which endured until 1910, when it
was razed (Chapman Publishing Co. 1896:1191-1192; Flushing Evening Journal March 24,
1910). The Garret Garretson household is documented in federal censuses from 1840
through 1880. The household included Garretson, listed variously as a seedsman or seeds
merchant, his wife Eliza, and their children: Alonzo, Imogene, Susannah, Charles, Frank,
and Jane. The household also usually included one or two female servants, who were often
Irish immigrants.
Several other structures were present on the Garretson estate, as evidenced by nineteenth
century maps. A map made by Elijah Smith in 1841 is the first to show the estate in detail
(Figure 6). Here, three buildings are shown on the property: the larger structure set back
from Main Street is the Garretson house, the seed store building is shown along Liberty
Street (later Lincoln Street, and now 38th Avenue), and a third small structure, south of the
house along Main Street, may be what a 1859 map refers to as an "office" (Walling 1859;
Figure 7). Lawson (1952:77) suggests that this structure was one story high, and removed
in 1867, in anticipation of laying out Locust Street (now 39th Avenue), which had been
proposed as early as 1859, but not carried out until 1875 (Kearns et al. 1988:16). Thus, the
former footprint of this structure appears to lie under the roadbed of 39th Avenue, and not
within the project site. The 1873 Beers map shows that the structure south of the house had
been removed by this time; no other buildings besides the house and the seed store were
present on the Garretson property (Figure 8).
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1659-1911 Bloodgood Home
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