Bernard Earle
In 1885, Bernard Earle, a wealthy retired builder who had moved to Hicksville some years earlier, donated to the Orphan Asylum Society his home on "the Jericho Road," along with the 107 acres of farmland on which it stood. The gift was contingent upon the Society's establishing on the property a satellite facility of St. John's Home for Boys, and also upon the Society's calling it St. John's Protectory.
Already well-known in New York as a philanthropist, especially with respect to Catholic causes, Earle apparently remained a businessman at heart. From time to time, public notices in the New York newspapers continued to announce foreclosure actions which the kind philanthropist had initiated against his debtors.
Although renovation and construction were still in progress on the site, the first boys took up residence there in 1890. A year later, this progress report from the Society provided a good summary of what had been done:
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 12, 1891
The most obvious change to the property was yet to come: the construction of a chapel adjacent to the home, which was formally dedicated to Saint Bernard in 1896.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 11, 1896
Note: The Appendix to this article features a news story from 1895, which describes the Chapel in detail, and also adds some interesting notes about the operation of the Protectory.
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