Collyer brothers

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The Collyer brothers , Homer Lusk Collyer (November 1881 - March 21, 1947 ) and Langley Collyer (October 1885 - March 1947 ) were two American brothers who, because of their bizarre way of life, aroused the curiosity of their neighbors and the press attracted. The brothers, who came from a wealthy family, had inherited a townhouse in New York City , where they lived in increasing social isolation and piled up vast amounts of objects. The collecting behavior is colloquially known as Messie Syndrome . The Collyer brothers are often cited as a paradigmatic case study of obsessive-compulsive disorder .

Over the years, the younger brother Langley Collyer collected an enormous amount of junk, old newspapers and other items with which he filled all the rooms in the house, and created a labyrinthine system of corridors with various traps and safety mechanisms in the garbage . The increasing neglect of the house finally prompted the bank and the authorities to intervene. When the house was evacuated, it was found that Langley Collyer had fallen victim to one of his own traps and the Homer Collyer he was caring for had died of thirst.

family

The Collyer brothers were part of a long-established New York family who could trace their roots back to the early 17th century immigrants who came to America on the Mayflower . The father, Herman Livingston Collyer (1858-1923), was a gynecologist in Manhattan, the mother's name was Susie Gage Frost (1856-1929). The parents also had a daughter, Susan, who died as an infant in 1880. The family lived in an elegant four-story sandstone townhouse located on 2078 Fifth Avenue on the corner of 128th Street in Harlem , New York City. The family was wealthy and educated. The mother enjoyed reading classical literature and playing the piano.

Both brothers studied at Columbia University , which had moved to Morningside Heights a few years earlier . The new campus was west of Harlem, a ten-minute walk from the Collyer house. At that time, this area was still on the outskirts and was partly rural. The first subway did not go into operation until 1904, and Harlem was still considered to be a remote town from New York. Homer Collyer studied engineering, Langley Collyer studied law with a major in maritime law . Langley Collyer's main interest, however, was inventing. Like his mother, he enjoyed playing the piano and aspired to look like a typical musician with long hair and aviator ties. Langley Collyer was also a tinkerer. For example, he developed a type of vacuum cleaner for the components of a piano. He also tried to convert a Ford Model T into an electric generator.

In 1909, Herman Collyer left the family. Now the two brothers, who were in their mid-twenties, decided to stay in the house with their mother. When the father died in 1923, the mother inherited the furniture, equipment and books that had been in the father's doctor's office. The mother put all the utensils in the house. Six years later she died too, and her sons inherited everything.

The Harlem neighborhood had changed dramatically since 1910. Originally a mix of wealthy and middle-class people lived in the area . Townhouses had gradually been built since the 1880s. By 1910, however, an economic downturn forced some real estate agents and landlords to let African American tenants into the area. Before then, people had always refused to rent or sell houses or apartments to black people. Then came the First World War . Thousands of blacks moved to New York City, and at the same time many whites were leaving Harlem very quickly. After 1920, almost everyone in Harlem was black. The Collyer brothers had barricaded themselves in the house and withdrawn from society.

hermit

It was rumored that the house contained valuable jewelry, which is why there were occasional attempts to break into the house. Youngsters threw stones at the house and smashed the windows. The brothers became more paranoid and barricaded the windows with wooden boards. Langley Collyer started setting traps and the brothers stopped paying their bills. As a result, the utilities blocked the water, telephone, heating and turned off the electricity. Homer and Langley Collyer tried to heat the whole house with a small kerosene stove. Langley Collyer also tried in vain to generate energy from a car engine . He also started roaming the neighborhood at night. He fetched water from a tap in the park. The brothers had enough money to survive the impending global economic crisis , as they also spent almost nothing. In 1933 Homer Collyer lost his eyesight, and he also suffered from rheumatism . Langley Collyer developed a bizarre nutrition program for him: 100 oranges a week and black bread with peanut butter. Langley Collyer began hoarding old newspapers and other items.

Publicity

In 1938 the press mentioned the Collyer brothers when they kicked out a real estate agent. The New York Times spread rumors from the neighborhood. It was claimed that the brothers lived in "oriental luxury" and had a large pile of cash. None of the rumors were true. The brothers weren't rich because neither Homer nor Langley Collyer had worked in decades, but neither were they penniless.

The press reported again in 1942 when the Collyers got into an argument with their bank. They had refused to pay the mortgage installments. The Bowery Savings Bank wanted to take possession and to emit sent enforcers and workers to the brothers the house again. Langley Collyer acted aggressively, and the neighbors called the police. When she tried to break into the house, she came across a wall of junk; things were piled from floor to ceiling. Langley Collyer wrote a check for $ 6,700, a sum that would be about $ 90,000 today. With it he paid the outstanding mortgage in one fell swoop. The bank was satisfied, and Langley Collyer demanded that everyone leave him and his brother alone.

discovery

Homer Collyer's death

On March 21, 1947, the 122nd police station was notified. The anonymous caller stated that there was a corpse in the house because of a foul smell. A policeman was sent to the house who was unable to gain entry. There was no doorbell and no telephone. The doors were locked and the broken basement windows were decorated with latticework. When the police finally managed to get into the building, they first had to remove the junk. The only way to clean up the house was to get everything in it out onto the street. In the lobby of the house there was a gigantic heap, consisting of old newspapers, folding beds and chairs, a broken sewing machine, cardboard boxes and a dismantled wine press. Police officer William Baker entered a first floor living room through a window. There he found more packages with newspapers, cardboard boxes, a stroller, a rake and numerous old umbrellas. After two hours he finally discovered Homer Collyer's body. He was only wearing an old bathrobe. His matted gray hair was shoulder length.

The coroner, Dr. Arthur C. Allen, noted that Homer Collyer had been dead for about 10 hours at the time he was found. Because of this, it couldn't have been the source of the putrefactive odor. Beyond that, no crime appeared to have taken place. The cause of death was simple: Homer Collyer died of thirst. In the meantime, more than 600 people had gathered in front of the house. Langley Collyer had not been found until then.

Contents of the house

In order to locate Langley Collyer, the police began searching the house. The police had to remove more belongings, including a. Ropes, several prams, rakes and umbrellas, rusty bicycles, rotten food, a collection of weapons, gas chandeliers, parts of a carriage, a checkers' board, children's furniture, an assortment of pianos, a clavichord, two organs, six flags and countless bundles of newspapers. The police found 34 bank accounts right next to Homer's place of death; There was a total of $ 3,007.18 in the bank accounts. The following day, the police removed the body of an old car, toys, nearly 1,000 kilograms of newspapers, magazines and pieces of wood, as well as more weapons and ammunition from the house. It was found that most things were worthless. Langley Collyer was gone.

There were more rumors on March 30th. Langley Collyer was said to have been spotted taking the bus to Atlantic City, New Jersey. A manhunt along the New Jersey coast remained unsuccessful. Two days later, the police started again to search the house. Now she removed about 3,000 books, a Steinway concert grand piano and more newspapers, etc. So far, at least 9,000 kilograms of things had been removed from the house, and only from the first floor. The police continued the work for almost a week, after all, 45,000 kilograms were expected. Though some of the things came from the late father's practice, most of it was worthless stuff Langley Collyer had been hoarding for years.

Langley Collyer's death

One of the workers, Artie Matthews, found Langley Collyer's body. It turned out that Langley Collyer was only ten feet from Homer Collyer. The rats were already eating him when he was discovered. There were three huge wads of newspapers and a heavy suitcase on his back. Officials discovered that Langley Collyer was crawling through his "tunnel" in the junk to bring Homer Collyer food when one of his traps killed him. The smell of putrefaction had been the Langley Collyers.

In 1942, the New York Herald Tribune (which ceased to exist in 1966) interviewed Langley Collyer. They asked about all the newspaper bundles. His answer: "I keep the newspapers for Homer so that he can see the news when he gets his eyesight."

Clutter in the house

"Collyer Brothers Park" on the demolition site

In the end, the police and workers carried more than 103,000 kilograms of junk and rubbish out of the house. Only a small part of it had any value; it fetched less than $ 2,000 at auction. Overall, the family fortune was estimated at $ 91,000. New York State got it all because neither Homer nor Langley Collyer had any descendants or spouses. Eventually, the dilapidated house, which posed a fire hazard, was torn down. The roof leaked; some walls had already collapsed, their bricks and mortar scattered everywhere. The city later set up a park named after the brothers on the property (see photo).

What was found in the house as a whole is documented differently depending on the source because of the chaos. A list included the following items:

  • 25,000 books, including 2,500 legal volumes
  • painting
  • Mother's jewelry and clothes
  • Tapestries and large rolls of silk and fabric
  • Rifles, pistols, bayonets and many sabers
  • 14 pianos (including some concert grand pianos)
  • Banjos, violins, an organ, a bugle and an accordion
  • countless records and a gramophone
  • chandelier
  • Clocks
  • Busts made of plaster
  • Photographic equipments

swell

Books

  • Franz Lidz, Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers. New York's Greatest Hoarders: An Urban Historical. ISBN 1-58234-311-X . (English).
  • EL Doctorow: Homer & Langley. Novel. 2010, ISBN 3-46204298-X .

Article in the New York Times

  • Aug 16, 1923, p. 15: Obituary Herman L. Collyer.   (Obituary Herman L. Collyer)
  • April 5, 1939, p. 26: Gas company seizes meters of 'hermits'.   (Gas company confiscates gas meters from the "hermits")
  • August 5, 1942, p. 21: Mortgage on recluses' home is foreclosed, but legendary brothers still hide within.   (Bank wants to take the house, brothers are still hiding in it)
  • August 8, 1942, p. 13: Bank and Collyers declare a truce.   (Bank and the Collyer brothers make peace)
  • September 30, 1942, p. 24: Collyer mansion keeps its secrets.   (Collyer's house keeps its secrets)
  • October 2, 1942, p. 27: Order ejects Collyers.   (Court order emits the Collyers)
  • November 19, 1942, p. 27: Collyers pay off $ 6,700 mortgage as evictors smash way into home.   (You break into the house, Collyers pay off the $ 6700 mortgage)
  • November 21, 1942, p. 24: Collyers get deed to home.   (Collyers get paper for the house)
  • February 3, 1943, p. 21: Collyers may lose house.   (Collyers Might Lose House)
  • February 4, 1943, p.24: Government gets Collyer property.   (Government gets Collyer's property)
  • July 27, 1946, p. 16: Subpoena flushes Harlem recluse.   (Summons forces Collyers to come out)
  • January 28, 1947, p. 25: Hermit brothers get $ 7,500 award.   (Collyer brothers get $ 7,500 in compensation)
  • March 22, 1947, p. 1: Homer Collyer, Harlem recluse, found dead at 70. [sic] (Homer Collyer, Harlem hermit, at the age of 70 [sic] dead)
  • March 26, 1947, p. C24: The Collyer mystery.   (The Mystery of the Collyers)
  • March 27, 1947, p. 56: Langley Collyer is dead.   (Langley Collyer is dead)
  • April 12, 1947, p. 15: Langley Collyer buried.   (Langley Collyer is buried)

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