The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-09-08
Property, Long Regarded As Publicly Owned, Fenced Off By PearsaIl Family As Pro test Against Invasion By the Public.
Aldermen Order Public Discus sion on Sept. 20 on Resolu- ton Offered By Alderman Lewis Seeking to Learn City's Rights.

The, rights of wealthy residents of Grover Hill in the Black Rock district to close portions of roadways and the beach there to public travel are being vigorously disputed by residents of that section and the common council has been asked to take action on the matter. Years ago when Black Rock was a borough and there were no troll ley cars traverSing the section mem bers of the wealthy summer colony enjoyed the exclusiveness which they sought in that section. Most of the land and cottages there are owned by Gen. T. L. Watson and P. S. Pearsall, son of the late Thomas W. Pearsan.
 Gen Watson and the late Thomas PearsaiI in days gone by made the Black Rock colony one of the most exclusive summer places in America Members of families that had been prominently Identified with the history of this land since the settlement of America, the Wealthiest princes and foreign nob1enen, members of the for eign diplomatic corps at Washington came to pass the summer in the roomy dropped in for the week end, finding ample anchorage for their yachts in Black Rock harbor.
 These summer visitors of other days come no more but the few who do make their homes there in the summer
 
 ,croa6hm ent of outsiders.
 At the same time other residents of Black Rock dispute the right of P. IS. Pearsall to. close a portion of Grover avenue and to fence off the beach about the church called St. Mary's- the late T. W. PearsaH and for a. time services Iof the Protestant Episcopal church were held there. For more than 10 years, however, no services have been held there regularly.
 At the meeting of the common coun- ci1 last night Alderman Lewis intro ducedS a resolution in which the follow ing questions were embodied:
 What rights have the people of
 this city to Shore property in the
 Black Rock section known as St.
 Mary s-by-the- Sea
 Have the people of Bridgeport
 the undisputable right to fish, bathe
 and picnic along the water front at
 St, Mary,s-by-the-Sea
 Has anyone the right to prevent
 by force, or otherwise, fishing,
 bathing and picnicking at St.
 Mary S by-the-Sea?
 A petition of Thomas Smith and 20 other residents of Black Rock district calling for the purchase by the city of that portion of the beach near St. Mary s-by- the-Sea which the city does not already own was received and a public hearing on the matter was set for the meeting of September 20. The. resolution of Alderman Lewis and the petition of Thomas Smith and others grew from the fact that P. s. Pearsau who claims the property has fenced it in and shut out picnic parties and bathers because he claims they do not conduct themselves properly there It is the contention of old residents of Black Rock that Mr.iPearsan does not own the land and that there was a roadway to the section used and recog- nized as an open thoroughfare long before his father purchased his prop erty in that vicinity.
 ; The road which leads to the section mentioned is called. Grover avenue.