Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1897 — "SPITE" HOUSE OWNER DIES. [ARTICLE]

"SPITE" HOUSE OWNER DIES.

Wealthy Joseph Richardson Passes Away in His Singular Abode. Joseph Richardson, New York, an eccentric man of wealth, died Tuesday in his “spite” house, at the corner of Bightyseeond street and Lexington avenue. His bed had been placed in the parlor of his home. This room is five feet wide by twenty feet long. He had been carried there from his cramped bedroom. Mr. Richardson was 84 years old, but was active till a few months ago. He was estimated to be worth $20,000,000, though his notoriety was chiefly due to the “spite” house, in which he had lived for fifteen years. This house was built on a strip of laud five feet wide by 104 deep. The occupants of the house adjoining this land on the west wished to build houses. They offered the Richardsons SI,OOO for the strip, but they held out for $5,000. The parties refused to give this amount, thinking to force Richardson out. The owner had begun to build on his five-foot lot when the others offered him an advance. He then refused to entertain any proposition, and in spite of all opposition and entreaty erected the odd house in which he died. This remarkable man owned stock in nearly every railroad in America, and was the possessor of passbooks over the roads here and in Canada, and on all the steamship lines leaving this port. In appearance Mr. Richardson closely resembled Russell Sage. His clothes were illfitting, his gait shambling and his sole object seemed to be money making. For years he carried his lunch to his office.