Dewitt Clinton Hays House

26 Bank Street | West Village | built 1845

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1845
Louis Peugnet opens a boarding school at 26 Bank Street, a house just completed
Louis Peugnet and his brother Hyacinthe had run the Freres Peugnet School on Bank Street since 1836. In 1845 Louis built himself a house at No. 11 and opened a boarding school at No. 26. An ad listed English, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek and mathematics, with boarders paying $75 a quarter.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
1851
Dewitt Clinton Hays buys 26 Bank Street and his brothers move in too
Dewitt Clinton Hays and his wife Amanda bought the house, and two of his brothers, Benjamin and Jacob Jr., moved in too. Their father, High Constable Jacob Hays, was known as the terror of rascals, and parents warned children that Old Hays would get them. Dewitt, a broker, later became president of the Bank of Manhattan and treasurer of the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
1859
Gun dealer Benjamin J. Hart buys the house and later sues his own family
Benjamin J. Hart and his wife Harriette bought 26 Bank Street in 1859. He and his brother Solomon had run a firearms and sporting goods business at 297 Broadway since about 1848, until the partnership dissolved on December 31, 1861. In April 1866 Benjamin sued more than 40 relatives, including Solomon, in a dispute over real estate.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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