THE FLIGHT OF MOSES MAY’S MAD COW (1865)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Enjoy this old story about some Brooklyn cows getting loose outside of their normal environs – which, back in old Brooklyn, were quite often our city streets. While doing house research, we found a colorful little story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of 1865. It involves two Germans and an Irishman, as well as a supporting cast of a number of primarily immigrant Brooklynites. The story is led by a main character – a pretty “mad cow” – the kind with horns – that went rushing down Bushwick Avenue, having to be taken down by a “citizen,” whereupon it was delivered to a local slaughterhouse for gutting and the production of many sides of meat. Although the article does not expressly state such – stories from this period were famously short on important details – it appears that the original owner lost his cow to a number of very hungry Bushwick pre-hipster citizens. THE FLIGHT OF MAD BESSIE DOWN A VERY BUSY BUSHWICK To set the scene, it all started at about 4 p.m. on Bushwick Avenue in the 16th Ward. Mr. Moses May, a German immigrant of 136 Remsen Street, was driving a drove of cattle along the avenue, after a long day of their bovine grazing in a field, […]
