Tottenville Historical Society

GROWING UP IN THE BIDDLE HOUSE — Part I

My formal name is D. Charles Petersen. (With an “EN” not an “ON”). To most I am just Chuck Petersen. I was born in 1940. My father was A. Charles Petersen and my mother was Katherine A. Petersen. I had a brother, Jack A. Petersen, who was born in 1927 and have a sister, Janice M. Filimon who was born in 1930.

Tracing the Ownership

My understanding of ownership of The Biddle House was that it remained in the Biddle family until the death of his widow in 1904. It was then sold to George T. Brewster, a sculpture who lived there until his death in 1933. Although I have found no solid evidence of the story, I had been told that a silent movie entitled “The House of The Tolling Bell” was filmed partially at the Biddle house in 1920. Although I can verify that there was such a 1920 silent film and that it was based on a book about someone trying to live in an old abandon house such as the Biddle House, I cannot verify that The Biddle house was the house used in the movie. If the house was used in the movie it would have been during the ownership by George Brewster who was very involved in the arts at that time. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate any copies of the movie.

Our Neighbors

It took a while to get to know our neighbors. Our next door neighbor was Miss. Lindsay. She lived in the old house just alongside of our house. Her home had once been an old tavern. It had ceased to be a tavern many years before I was born but the posts on its front porch were still painted with beer logos and other advertising.

My Hobbies

I had several hobbies while growing up at our home in addition to fishing and swimming. They included collecting turtles and collecting bird nests.