10/11/2026
Wardwell - By Karen Cuccinello Stamford Library historian
This photo, donated to the library history room by the Elizabeth/Liz McPhail estate, was only labeled Wardwell, Stamford, NY. Wardwell’s in census reports were slime to nil but after a while I found them as Wardell’s.
Benjamin Wardwell was born about 1801 in Stamford, CT, was a farmer and moved to Roxbury, NY by 1830 then to Harpersfield/Stamford. I believe he bought the house or just property from W.A. Cowley about 1856. He married Polly Schutt (1796-1875), born in Greene County, NY, about 1821 and had children Elizabeth, Ira D., John, Jane and Catharine. Benjamin/Benj. died 1867, burial in Stamford Cemetery but no visible stone, I believe Polly has a stone that says Mother.
In 1850 the estate of George Lee paid Ira Wardwell $7 for one sheep and a days work and Benjamin Wardwell $4.50 for work. On February 12, 1862 Ira D. Wardwell married Jane Zeh, of Fulton, daughter of Marcus (1830-1896) and Jane (Hilts) Zeh in Stamford. I believe Benjamin sold his son Ira the house and property, of about 60+ acres in Harpersfield/Stamford on the Stamford-Jefferson Rd., now Rte 10, by Utsayantha Lake in 1863. The property was in the area of 65696 State Rte. 10 in Delaware and Schoharie Counties.
Ira and Jane had children Marcus Zeh (went by Zeh, 1863-1946), Benjamin J. (1868-1940) and Edna/ Mrs. Henry Hisgen (1875-1922). Ira was a farmer, opened a meat market with James Loaghran in 1876, lost 13 cattle to an unknown disease in 1877, was kicked by a horse that broke two of his ribs in 1879 and operated (but I suspect Jane did the work) a boarding house “Lake Side Farm House” that could accommodate 20 guests in the 1880’s. In 1882 Jane won $2 for a patch work quilt she entered at the Hobart fair and they added on to the house in 1883.
Ira died of pneumonia March 12, 1899, burial with his wife Jane (1831-1891) in the Stamford Cemetery.
M. Zeh Wardwell married Miss Fanchon Armlin (1871-1903), of Breakabeen, in 1892 and had children Lorna/Mrs. Matthew McNeilly, Floyd (1896-1927), Harry (1901-1982) and Charles that died at 20 months old in 1904. He then married Miss Addie Turk (1886-1985) in 1911 and had a child Frank Lemar (1919-1993). Zeh was also a farmer and raised assorted fowl; and ran the Wardwell Farm boarding house. He had a landing field for small aircraft on the property that Howard F. Behr, of Brooklyn, noted using sometimes when giving locals airplane rides.
In 1927 Zeh added electricity to his house and barn and lost his son Floyd when as a passenger in a plane flown by Behr crashed into Mt. Jefferson; Behr walked away with scratches and bruises.
In 1935 Stamford firemen were summoned to the Zeh Wardwell residence on the Jefferson road when a chimney fire threatened to get out of control. The blaze was kept under control and the firemen returned without having to use their equipment.
Marcus died at his home in Stamford, March 27, 1946, burial in Stamford Cemetery.
Thorbjorn and Salveig/Hilda Nielsen, of Brooklyn, bought the Lake Side Farm on the Stamford-Jefferson road in 1948 and operated a boarding house in the summer. In 1961 the Nielsen’s sold their house to Prospect Enterprises/Fred Murphy. At some point I believe the Nielsen’s went back to their homeland, Norway, as I think I found them on findagrave.com buried there.
In 1964 half of the house was taken down and was supposed to be moved back 40 feet. The house is gone and there are now two newer houses there.
I used ChatGPT to colorize the original photo.
