Author of the legendary pamphlet "Common Sense", Thomas Paine is regarded as one of the most outspoken founding fathers in America's war for independence from Great Britain. His house, which still stands today in New Rochelle, New York, was relocated in 1908 to the last remaining acreage of land which was gifted to Paine by the state of New York. The Sophia Brewster Schoolhouse, the oldest free-standing school in the city, was moved to the property in 1912.The Thomas Paine Cottage is currently a historic house museum, operated by the Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Association, and is open to the public. The different rooms of the house feature a wide variety of exhibits and displays, including an authentic Franklin stove thought to be given to Paine by Ben Franklin. The Paine room is decorated to give visitors a glimpse into his life while he lived in New Rochelle. Other rooms hold historical artifacts that relate the history of New Rochelle.Paine's cottage is the last home that the founding father owned in his life and today, it serves as a tribute to his work in America's fight for freedom. The Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Association host tours and events in the Thomas Paine Cottage, the Sophia Brewster Schoolhouse and on the property grounds. It is also used as the Association's headquarters.

Thomas Paine wrote one of the most important pamphlets in American history, when he penned "Common Sense" in support of America's independence from Great Britain. His final years were spent living in New Rochelle, in a cottage on a 277 acre farm that was gifted to him on June 16, 1784 by New York State in gratitude. Today the Thomas Paine Cottage, a National Landmark, is a historic house museum maintained and operated by the Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Association. The organization works to preserve and teach about the life of Thomas Paine, the Huguenots (New Rochelle's founding families) and the history of New Rochelle.

John Stark Frazee (1790 - 1854) began his career as a bricklayer and became a sculptor through his carvings of memorials and tombstones. In the 1920s he gained a national reputation, having been commissioned by the Boston Athenaeum to create a bust of John Jay and, later, of John Marshall, Daniel Webster, and other famous Americans. He was the only sculptor to be a charter member of the National Academy of Art, and was commissioned by President John Tyler to be the supervising architect of the unfinished New York Customs House.Frazee and Gilbert Vale, editor of The Beacon, raised the $1,300 necessary to create the monument. The sculptor took no payment for his work. In 1881 the monument was repaired by the Liberal Club of New York City, and was rededicated on May 30, 1881.The bust of Thomas Paine was commissioned by the New Rochelle Historical Association and completed by sculptor Wilson MacDonald in 1899. (James) Wilson Alexander MacDonald (1824 - 1903) began his artistic career at the age of 30, when he created a sculpture of Thomas H. Benton, a U.S. Senator from Missouri. After settling in New York City in the 1860s, he immersed himself in artistic circles and gained prominence with statues of Edward Bates, Lincoln’s Attorney General, and a bust of Washington Irving, which stand in Prospect Park.When North Avenue was widened, the monument was moved from its original nearby location to its current place, due to the widening of North Avenue. On October 14, 1905, after a large parade to the site, the monument and bust was rededicated and “assigned to the custody” of the City of New Rochelle. The elaborate ceremony was attended by hundreds.Thomas Paine Monument Inscriptions:Under the bust of Paine:Common SensCrisisRights of ManOn the back is the inscriptionWilson MacDonald, Sculptor, 1898West Side of Monument (Front)“The world is my countryTo do good my religion.”Paine’s Motto(Paine’s profile in relief surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves)THOMAS PAINEAuthor of“Common Sense”Born in England January 29, 1737Died in New York City June 8, 1809“The palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of Paradise.”Common SenseErected byPublic ContributionNov. 12, 1839Repaired &amp; RededicatedMay 30, 1881Bronze Bust Erected May 30, 1899South Side of Monument:These are the times try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot, will in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny like hell is not easily conquered; yet we have the glorious consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods, and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as freedom should not be rated highly.  Crisis No. 1The times that try men’s souls are over and the greatest and completest revolution the world ever knew, gloriously and happily accomplished. In the present case, the mighty magnitude of the object, the numerous and complicated dangers we have suffered or escaped, the eminence we now stand on and the vast prospect before us with contemplation. To see it in our power to make a world happy, to teach mankind the art of being so, to exhibit on the theatre of the universe, a character hitherto unknown, and to have as it were, a new creation entrusted to our hand, are honors that can neither be too highly estimated nor too gratefully received. Never had a country more openings to happiness than this. Her setting out in life like the rising of a fair morning, was unclouded and promising, her cause was good, her principles just and liberal, her temper serene and firm and everything about her wore the mark of honor, it is not every country that can boast so fair an origin, but America need never be ashamed to tell her birth, nor relate the stages by which she rose to empire. Crisis No. 15East Side of Monument (Back):It is only in the creation that all our ideas and conceptions of a word of God can unite. The creation speaks than universal language independently of human speech and human language, multiplied and various as they may be. It is an ever existing original, which every man can read. It can not be forged; it can not be counterfeited; it can not be lost; it can not be altered; it can not be suppressed. It does not depend upon the will of man whether it shall be published or not. It publishes itself from one end of the earth to the other. It preaches to all nations and to all worlds, and the word of God reveals to man all that is necessary for man to know of God.Do we want to contemplate his power we see it in immensity of the Creation, do we want to contemplate his wisdom. We see it in the unchangeable order by which the incomprehensible whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate his manifest? We see it in the abundance with which he fills the earth. Do we want to contemplate his mercy; we see it in his not withholding that abundance even from the unthankful. In fine do we want to know what God is? Search not the book called the Scripture which any human might make, but the scripture called creation.”Age of Reason  North Side of Monument:﻿I believe in one God and no more, and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy.” Age of Reason It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe.”  Age of ReasonNote: On the monument the inscriptions are entirely in upper case letters. We have transcribed it in upper and lower case for readability. Some punctuation marks are omitted as they are on the monument, due to the shape of the obelisk. Entry prepared by Barbara Davis of the Westchester County Historical Society

The Thomas Paine Monument, originally designed by preeminent sculptor John Frazee as an architectural column of Tuckahoe marble, was first dedicated on November 9, 1839. On the monument, Frazee carved a profile of Paine enclosed in a wreath on one side, and covered the surfaces of the remaining sides with quotations from Paine's writings.

Thomas Paine Monument

The concept and design of the Thomas Paine Memorial Building, construction for which was begun in 1925, resulted in a monumental, fire-proof structure for the housing and scholarly use of archival materials and artifacts related to Thomas Paine, as well as an opportunity for public gatherings and displays. The building was largely funded by a $35,000 bequest from John H. Ludwig of the Bronx, and $4,000 from Edward Tuck of Paris, from royalties of the 10-volume works of Paine, and from the biography written by W.M. Van der Weyde, the president of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association. Thomas Alva Edison broke ground for the Memorial Library on Memorial Day, May 30, 1925, which was also the sesquicentennial year of the publication of Paine’s Common Sense. Edison was a great admirer of Paine. The architect for the building, Laurence Loeb, also designed New Rochelle’s impressive Memorial Recreation Building at City Park, as well as the World War I Monument in Faneuil Park. In a Reconnaissance Survey prepared by Taylor &amp; Taylor for City of New Rochelle, 1997, the Thomas Paine Memorial Building is described as “a rectangular gable-roofed, gable-end-oriented masonry building of two stories, with a basement. The Colonial Revival-design features a symmetrical three-bay façade with a centered entry. The main entry is round-arched, with a delicate fanlight and double paneled doors. The roof extends beyond the plane of the façade and is incorporated into a full portico, supported by attenuated columns and including an oculus centered in the pediment, which is further trimmed with a swag ornament. The side elevations are of five bays; all sash is multi-light.” The building was constructed with a foyer, a memorial hall, and an apartment on the second floor, which would serve as a residence for a number of curators over the years. A 19’ X 16’ addition in the rear of the building was completed in 1943.From the time the Memorial Building was completed, the Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Association and Thomas Paine National Historical Association operated side-by-side, and for several years in the 1980s – 1990s, as one organization. The Memorial Building housed exhibits, including a large and comprehensive interpretation of the community’s past during the city’s Tricentennial in 1988. The building also housed a library that could be accessed by researchers during set hours, and within the confines of the building. In the 1990s the Huguenot-New Rochelle Historical Association and the Thomas Paine National Historical Association separated and the Hufeland Collection, which was comprised of archival materials pertaining to New Rochelle and the county, were transferred to the Westchester County Historical Society archives. In April 2009, the remainder of the collection, which was largely related to Paine, was transferred to the Ryan Library at Iona College, in the summer of 2010. The collection is maintained by the Institute of Paine Studies at Iona College, in partnership with the Thomas Paine National Historical Association. The Thomas Paine Memorial Building is eligible for Listing on the National Register of Historic Places and is a locally designated landmark.(This entry was prepared by Barbara Davis of the Westchester County Historical Society)

The Thomas Paine Memorial Building was erected in 1925 as a tribute to Thomas Paine by the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, which was established in 1884. It is a significant example of Colonial Revival-style architecture, designed by a local and prominent architect, Laurence Loeb.

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Thomas Paine Cottage

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