James Kemble School for Utica School Board

In May of 1880, Joseph Silsbee appeared at a hearing before the Utica School Board regarding the plans he submitted as part of an architectural competition for a new public school for the City of Utica.   A year earlier, he had "lost" a similar competition for the Prescott School in the City of Syracuse.  Motivated by the outcome of that competition, he seemed concerned that unfair bias would be given towards buildings that were less than the stipulated budget amount of $10,000, as he felt was the case of the Syracuse competition.  He and other architects had submitted plans for buildings in that competition for the stipulated amount only to be beaten out of the project not by a better designed building but one that was cheaper.

Silsbee's concerns from Syracuse were unwarranted in Utica.  What Silsbee didn't know was that his proposal was the only one submitted.  It seems that Utica architects were not interested in the project and no other architects of the region seemed to take interest either.  Fresh off the Syracuse competition, he submitted a simple, yet finely detailed building design that seemed to be a big departure from the more rectilinear Italianate structures that dominated school construction in Central New York.  Given how soon it was between the two competitions, it would be interesting to know what Silsbee's proposal for the Prescott school was.  Unfortunately, no drawings of the entries exist.           

The image above is one of the very few that we have of this demolished building.  It was a two story brick structure.  The building once stood at the corner of Kemble and James Streets in Utica.  The double gabled roof on James Street was one remarkable feature of the building.  The ample-sized window area were another.   A carefully detailed porch and entry on the Kemble Street side of the building, concealed by a tree in the image was also a remarkable feature.  The lower story, with its huge arched windows was made of brick and the upper story was a mixture of brick and terra cotta trim and accents.  The original design featured stone but terra cotta was substituted due to cost concerns.  The larger portion of the building that extends down Kemble Street was an addition from the early 1900's.   

Onondaga County Orphan Asylum (not Silsbee)

One important aspect of researching Joseph Silsbee is re-examining the previous studies of his work.  Though earlier studies are somewhat comprehensive, there are a lot of modern tools like online directories, Google books, and digital newspapers that have made research easier and can shed a lot of light on them.  This has allowed me to discover new works, locate photos and geography of previously "unknown" works, or, as in this instance, to find that work that was thought to be Silsbee's was actually a building designed by another architect.  In addition to clearing up the record of what Silsbee did and did not design, this is also an opportunity to reveal something about the professional context that Silsbee was working in by learning a little about one of his successful contemporaries.    

The Onondaga County Orphan Asylum designed

by Archimedes Russell (1883)

In February of 1880, J. L. Silsbee began taking bids on plans for a new facility for the Onondaga County Orphan Asylum.  Silsbee had connections with many of the Asylum Board of Trustees and had designed additions to the home of Asylum board chairman, George Barnes.  We will likely never know the entire story, nor will we ever know what Silsbee's asylum building would have looked like but we can assume that either his plans for multiple structures for the institution were never built or if they were built, they were were located to the back of the lot and are not featured in the many existing photographs of the institution.  

Construction for buildings were debated from 1880 through 1882 as cost and property acquisition seemed to become major obstacles to construction. When the building was finally completed, in 1883, a full description appeared in local papers and Archimedes Russell was credited with the design.   Russell's design is a simple yet beautifully detailed building.  Stylistically, it is in keeping with Silsbee's work of the period.  The large windows, strict symmetry give the home of the Asylum a commanding presence.  The substantial and institutional nature of the building are similar to Silsbee's design for a Boy's School at the New York State Asylum for Idiots, built several years earlier.  Russell's domestic rendition with a framed cantilevered gable over the entry and intricately carved wooden porches are even likely the kind of design features that Silsbee may have introduced to such a structure.  

Why Russell was chosen over Silsbee for these final buildings is still puzzling.  Silsbee's social connection to the board was still intact.  It is possible that the project was opened to competition and Russell promised a less expensive structure.  He certainly had already proven himself as a capable architect and had experience with designing other institutional structures including local schools, churches and dormitories.           

Russell was one of Syracuse's most prolific architects.  It can be easily argued that of any architect that ever practiced there, he had the most significant and long-lasting affect on the city of Syracuse.  His buildings, of every type and size, are scattered throughout the city.  He was born in Massachusetts and apprenticed with Syracuse architect Horatio Nelson White.  His career began during Syracuse's building boom in the late 1860's and continued through to the time of his death in 1915.  Russell was eight years older than Silsbee and did not have the benefit of formal training.  Though his buildings often had a more eclectic and vernacular flavor than some of his more talented contemporaries, his background didn't seem to hamper his practice at all.   He was immensely popular and his designs reflect the styles and tastes popular during the years he practiced.   In addition to hundreds of other structures in the city, he designed such notable landmarks as the Fourth Onondaga County Courthouse, majestic Crouse College, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  More importantly, his legacy continues as his successor firm, King & King Architects, is the oldest in the country and still in business in the city today.  

My favorite work by Russell is the Crouse Stable (pictured below).  It was demolished years ago but when constructed, it drew a lot of attention.  It was a massive Queen Anne structure that dwarfed the mansion it was built for.  Though labeled a "stable", it was more of a clubhouse than anything else.  In later years it had historical significance as Gustav Stickley rented it for use as office, meeting and exhibition space.         

Monument for Elias Leavenworth

Now that I look on the past few entries, I think the blog is getting rather dismal: an array of demolished or severely altered buildings.  It leaves the correct impression that most of Silsbee's buildings are gone but doesn't really celebrate those fine structures that are still standing.  This entry is a relatively "unknown" work by the architect but a real gem that you can get very close to and touch.

While working on the mortuary chapel for Oakwood Cemetery, Joseph Silsbee worked closely with cemetery director and notable Syracuse businessman and politician, Elias Leavenworth.  Leavenworth had some strong opinions about how the chapel should look and spent over a year visiting chapels for similar use across the country.  Silsbee must have made a big impression on Leavenworth.  The year that the chapel was completed, it was announced that Silsbee was working on a monument for Leavenworth himself.   

The Leavenworth-Forman Monument sits on a prominent hill in Dedication Valley, the oldest and most distinguished part of Oakwood Cemetery. The design incorporates the names of four families: Leavenworth, Forman, Alexander, and Mather.  These are the surnames of the parents of Elias' wife, Mary, as well as his own.  Mary Leavenworth's father was Syracuse founder Joshua Forman and her mother was Mary Alexander.  Elias' mother was Lucinda Mather.  The site has historical significance for the City of Syracuse as it is the resting place of one of it's founding fathers as well as one of it's most important citizens.        

Constructiuon on the monument was completed in 1882.  The design of the monument is a personal rendition of Gothic architecture in the vein of contemporaries like Frank Furness or James Renwick.  It is a massive stone structure and practically every surface and architectural element is treated with rich carving and detail.    

Decorative elements like the carved stone scuppers, granite colonnades, and richly carved capitols and pediments have many similarities to those on the Oakwood Chapel as well as the White Memorial Building, both earlier examples of Silsbee's work in the Gothic idiom.

It is made of Onondaga limestone with granite trim and detail.  It is a pavillion-type memorial with an outer structure engraves with the names of each of the families.  This forms a canopy over a red granite monument further memorializing the family entombed there.  The monument has some damage and is in need of attention but it does not deter from the remarkable nature of a work and you can still experience it in much the same way that it was meant to be experienced when it was constructed.