As we walk from building to building on campus, it is important for us to think about the history that these buildings hold. Steven Feyl, Pace University Librarian, states, “There’s history all around us, even when we do not know it.” One building on campus with an interesting history is Choate House. This building was once a sanitarium, and one of the patients at this sanitarium was Horace Greeley (February 3rd, 1811-November 29th, 1872). Feyl states, “Horace Greeley is an important history figure and link to the Pleasantville and New York City campuses.”
Horace Greeley was the founder and one of the editors of The New York Tribune. The location of the old New York Tribune Building is where the New York City campus is currently located. The webpage, “Our History,” on Pace University’s Lubin School of Business’s website states that in 1906, Homer and Charles Pace, the founders of Pace University, “rented a classroom and office in the old Tribune building in lower Manhattan and taught ten men and three women the principles of accounting and business law.”
In addition, Greeley was a presidential candidate in the 1872 election. He ran against Ulysses S. Grant. Towards the end of his life, Greeley experienced two losses shortly before his death. His wife, Mary Greeley, died. The book, Images of America – New Castle, Chappaqua, and Millwood, by The Chappaqua History Committee and Gray Williams, states that Greeley “wore himself out tending to her until her death on October 30th.” ( Williams 91) A week after his wife died, he lost the election to Ulysses S. Grant. The book continues: “In the election a week later, he was decisively defeated by Ulysses S. Grant.” ( Williams 91)
After the election, Greeley returned to editing and writing for The New York Tribune. The book, A Memorial of Horace Greeley by The New York Tribune, states “On the day after the election, he wrote the card announcing his resumption of the editorial charge of The Tribune.” (Tribune 20) However, Greeley’s health seemed to decline. The book states, “His sleeplessness was known to have become greatly worse…It soon became evident that his strength was unequal to the hard task to which he set himself. He wrote only five or six articles.” (Tribune 20)
Because Greeley could not sleep, he was sent to the sanitarium run by Dr. Geo. C.S. Choate. The sanitarium was in Dr. Choate’s House. The book states, “Every effort was made to induce sleep, but he grew steadily worse…Dr. Geo C.S. Choate and others were called in consultation, and finally, it was decided to take him to Dr. Choate’s residence. Here he received the unintermitting attention of Dr. Choate” ( Tribune 20).
Greeley fell sicker. The book states, “He lost flesh and strength with startling rapidity” (Tribune 21). Before Greeley died, he made a comment. The book states, “He said, very distinctly, ‘it is done,’ and beyond Yes or No in answer to questions, this was his last utterance” (Tribune 21).
Greeley was honored after his death. A statue was commissioned and created for him. As stated in “This Defeated Presidential Candidate, once the ‘Best-Known Man in America,’ Died in a Sanitorium Less Than a Month After Losing the Election,” by Greg Daugherty, “In 1890, New York erected a statue in his honor, which now resides in City Hall Park.”