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A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 The Bank of New York 
 
 I 784-1 884 
 
 COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS AND OTHER SOURCES 
 AT THE REQUEST OF THE DIRECTORS 
 
 HENRY W. DOMETT 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK : 27 & 29 WEST 23D STREET 
 LONDON : 25 HENRIETTA STREET, CO VENT GARDEN 
 
 1884 
 
f\Al'^\^ 
 
 Press of 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
 J^etv York 
 
DEDICATED TO 
 
 MR. CHARLES E. BILL 
 
 SENIOR DIRECTOR 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A CENTURY has passed since the organization 
 of the Bank of New York, and the board of 
 directors have deemed it proper that some account of 
 the origin and progress of the institution "should be 
 published in a suitable form for preservation. As the 
 bank is the oldest institution of the kind in the State, 
 and one of the oldest in the country, its existence 
 covers a period of great changes in the financial policy 
 and condition of the United States, and of severe trials 
 in the business world. No attempt has been made to 
 treat of these, except so far as the Bank of New York 
 has been affected by them. 
 
 A greater degree of interest naturally attaches to 
 the early history of the bank than to the events of a 
 later day, with which the reader is more familiar, and a 
 larger proportion of space is therefore given to it in 
 the narrative. 
 
 In the Appendix will be found some documents 
 which are referred to in the earlier part of the history, 
 and others which will interest those who have been in 
 any way connected with the institution. Among these 
 
VI A HISTORY OF 
 
 is a list of the Presidents, cashiers, and directors of 
 the bank from its foundation to the present time. A 
 list is also given of persons whose long term of service 
 as clerks and officers of the bank has largely contributed 
 to its success. 
 
 The fac-similes of some of the notes issued by the 
 bank at different periods of its existence, and of the 
 checks drawn upon it by Talleyrand and Aaron Burr, 
 will also, it is believed, be found of interest to the 
 reader. 
 
 The compiler of this volume desires to acknowledge 
 the valuable aid he has received from Mr. Richard B. 
 Ferris, the Vice-President of the bank, who has fur- 
 nished a large proportion of the statistics, and to whose 
 diligent and intelligent research much of the interest 
 of the narrative is due. Acknowledgments are also 
 due to Mr. John Austin Stevens, from whose published 
 volumes the material for the account of the condition 
 of the city at the time of the organization of the bank, 
 and also for the sketches of the early officers of the in- 
 stitution, was gathered ; to General James Watts De 
 Peyster, through whose kind offices a portrait of Gen- 
 eral Alexander McDougal, the first President of the 
 bank, was obtained, and also to the Honorable William 
 G. Thompson, of Detroit, for the use of the portrait ; 
 to Mr. C. V. Quillard for the use of a miniature of 
 Gulian Verplanck ; to Mr. Matthew Clarkson for the 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. VU 
 
 Steel engravings of his grandfather, Matthew Clark- 
 son ; to Miss Ann Wilkes for the use of a portrait of 
 her father, Charles Wilkes ; to Mr. D. Colden Murray 
 for the use of a portrait of Isaac Roosevelt ; to Mrs. 
 James Suydam for the use of a portrait of Cornelius 
 Heyer ; to Mr. William Oothout for the use of a por- 
 trait of his father, John Oothout ; to Mr. J. W. Halsey 
 for photographs of Anthony P. Halsey ; and to Messrs. 
 Harper & Brothers for the use of a wood-cut of the 
 Walton House. 
 
 H. W. D. 
 
 May, 1884. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface 
 
 PAGE 
 
 V 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 1780-1784. 
 
 Condition of the Country Previous to the Organization of 
 the Bank — The Currency Employed — Banking in the 
 United States Prior to 1784 — Organization of the Penn- 
 sylvania Bank — The Bank of North America — Its Use- 
 fulness and Success — Schemes for a Land Bank in New 
 York — Alexander Hamilton's Opposition to the Project 
 — Proposals for a Bank with Specie Capital — Meeting of 
 Subscribers to the Bank of New York — Election of Offi- 
 cers, March 15, 1784 — Hamilton's Connection with the 
 Enterprise — His Letter in Relation to it 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 1784. 
 
 Constitution of the Bank of New York — The Officers of the 
 Institution — General Alexander McDougal — William 
 Seton — Mr. Seton's Visit to Philadelphia — Payment of 
 Subscriptions to the Stock of the Bank — Opposition to 
 the Enterprise — :Objections Urged Against it — Com- 
 mencement of Business at the Bank — Rules and Regula- 
 tions Adopted for its Customers — Rates Fixed for Gold 
 and Silver Coin — Paper Currency of Pennsylvania and 
 New Jersey in Circulation ...... 
 
X A HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1784-1791. 
 
 Appearance and Condition of the City of New York in 1784 — 
 The First Location of the Bank — The Walton House — 
 Annual Meeting of the Stockholders in 1785 — ^Election 
 of Jeremiah Wadsworth as President — Death of General 
 Alexander McDougal in 1786 — First Dividend of the 
 Bank — Annual Meeting in 1786 — Isaac Roosevelt Elected 
 President — Opposition to the Bank — Success of the In- 
 stitution — Emission of Paper Money by the State in 
 1786 — Action of the Bank Respecting it — Repeated 
 Efforts to Obtain a Charter for the Bank — Petition to 
 the Legislature in 1789 for an Act of Incorporation — A 
 Charter Granted in 179 1 . ... 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 1791-1795. 
 
 Capital of the Bank — Its Assets and Liabilities at Date of In- 
 corporation — Acceptance of the Charter — Amount of 
 Bills and Notes Discounted — Election of Gulian Ver- 
 planck as President in 1791 — Isaac Roosevelt — -Alex- 
 ander Hamilton's Relations with the Bank while 
 Secretary of the Treasury — The Bank of the United 
 States — A Branch of the Bank Established in 
 New York, in 1792 — Projects for a Rival Bank — Hamil- 
 ton's Views Respecting it — Efforts to Obtain an Act of 
 Incorporation for it — Failure of the Scheme — Deposit in 
 the Bank of New York of Funds Belonging to the State 
 in 1792— Election of a State Director — Financial Dis- 
 tress in New York in 1791 — Hamilton's Efforts for the 
 Relief of the Merchants — Loan by the Bank to the So- 
 ciety for Establishing Useful Manufactures — Resigna- 
 tion of William Seton as Cashier — Loan by the Bank to 
 the City of Philadelphia in 1793 — Loans to the State of 
 New York and to the United States . . . .37 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. XI 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1796-1811. 
 
 Change of Location of the Bank — The New Building in Wall 
 Street — Purchase of United States Stock from the State 
 in 1797 — Aid Rendered to the State in 1797 — The Yel- 
 low Fever of 1798 — Temporary Removal of the Bank to 
 Greenwich — Incorporation of the Manhattan Company 
 in 1799 — Action of the Bank Thereupon — Death of 
 Gulian Verplanck and Election of Nicholas Gouverneur 
 as President in 1799 — Petition to the Legislature for 
 Alterations in Charter in 1801 — Death of Nicholas Gou- 
 verneur and Election of Herman Le Roy as President in 
 1802 — Proposal of the City Government with Reference 
 to the Charter of the Bank — Resignation of Herman Le 
 Roy and Election of Matthew Clarkson as President in 
 1804 — Extension of the Charter by the Legislature in 
 1808 — Loans to the State by the Bank — Petition of the 
 Bank to the Legislature Respecting the Bank of the 
 United States . . . ... 52 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1812-1824. 
 
 Increase of the Capital of the Bank by Legislative Enact- 
 ment Authorizing Subscriptions for the Stock by Hamil- 
 ton and Union Colleges in 1813 — Financial Aid Ren- 
 dered the Government During the War of 1812 — 
 Suspension of Specie Payments in 1814 — Condition of 
 the Bank of New York at the Time — Action of the Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury Respecting Treasury Notes — 
 Efforts to Resume Specie Payments — Final Resumption 
 in 1 81 7 — Loan to the North River Steamboat Company 
 — Temporary Removal of the Bank to Greenwich in 1822 
 — Loan of _j^20o,ooo Effected in London in 1822 — Pay- 
 ment of Amount Due the State in 1823 . . . .67 
 
Xll A HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1825-1851. 
 
 Resignation of General Matthew Clarkson and Election of 
 Charles Wilkes as President in 1825 — Loans to the Morris 
 Canal and Banking Company in 1827 and 1829 — Prop- 
 osition of Amos Kendall in Behalf of the Secretary of 
 State to Make the Bank an Agent of the Treasury in 
 1832 — Resignation of Charles Wilkes and Election of 
 Cornelius Heyer as President in 1832 — Petition for an 
 Increase of Capital in 1835 — Financial Difficulties in 
 1836 — A Loan of ^112,500 Effected in London in 1836 
 — Purchase of Stock from the State in 1837 — Resump- 
 tion in 1838 — DifiRculties of the Philadelphia Banks — 
 Financial Aid to the State in 1840 — Death of Cornelius 
 Heyer— Election of John Oothout as President in 1843 
 — Death of Joshua Waddington 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1852-1884. 
 
 Expiration of the Charter of the Bank — Reorganization 
 Under the Free Banking Act in 1853 — Increase of Cap- 
 ital to $2,000,000 in 1853 — The Panic of 1857 — Suspen- 
 sion of Specie Payments by the Banks in October, 1857 
 — An Injunction Asked for Against the Bank of New- 
 York — Decision in Favor of the Bank — Resumption of 
 Specie Payments in December, 1857 — The New Bank 
 Building Completed in 1858 — Death of John Oothout in 
 1858 and Election of Anthony P. Halsey as President — 
 The War of the Rebellion — Increase of Capital to 
 $3,000,000 in 1859 — A Loan Committee Appointed in 
 i860 — Financial Aid Extended to the Government by 
 the Bank of New York — Death of Anthony P. Halsey in 
 1863 and Election of Charles P. Leverich as President — 
 Organization of the Gold Department of the Bank in 
 1864 — Reorganization of the Bank under the National 
 
TtiE BANK OF NEW YORK. XUl 
 
 System in 1865 — Retention of its Former Title — Death 
 of Charles P. Leverich and Election of Charles M. Fry 
 as President in 1876 — Reduction of Capital to $2,000,000 
 in 1878 — Dividends paid by the Bank during its Exist- 
 ence — Conclusion .... . . 90 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Letter of Alexander Hamilton and of Wm. Seton . .111 
 
 List of the Presidents and Cashiers of the Bank of New York 114 
 List of the Directors of the Bank of New York . . . nS 
 Act of Incorporation Passed March 21, 1791 . . . 120 
 
 Letter of Alexander Hamilton to the Directors of the Bank 
 
 of New York 129 
 
 List of Stockholders in the Bank of New York at the Time of 
 
 its Incorporation in 1791 130 
 
 Persons whose Term of Service in the Bank of New York 
 
 has been of long Duration . . . -134 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Bank of New York, 1798 . . . Frontispiece 
 
 Portrait of Alexander Hamilton . . .10 
 
 Portrait of General Alexander McDougal . . 16 
 The Walton House, 1784 ...... 28 
 
 Portrait of Isaac Roosevelt 38 
 
 Fac-Similes of Checks 48 
 
 Portrait of Gulian Verplanck 58 
 
 Portrait of Herman Le Roy . . . .62 
 
 Fac-Similes of Bank Notes, 1809 and 1814 . .64 
 
 Portrait of Matthew Clarkson . . -78 
 
 Portrait of Charles Wilkes 84 
 
 Portrait of Cornelius Heyer 88 
 
 Fac-Similes of Bank Notes, 1838 and 1843 . -92 
 
 The Bank of New York, 1879 94 
 
 Portrait of John Oothout 96 
 
 Portrait of Anthony P. Halsey ..... 100 
 
 Portrait of Charles P. Leverich 104 
 
 Portrait of Charles M. Fry ...... 106 
 
 Portrait of Richard B. Ferris no 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 1780 — 1784. 
 
 Condition of the Country Previous to the Organization of the Bank — The 
 Currency Employed — Banking in the United States prior to 1784 — Organi- 
 zation of the Pennsylvania Bank — The Bank of North America — Its 
 Usefulness and Success — -Schemes for a Land Bank in New York — 
 Alexander Hamilton's Opposition to the Project — Proposals for c* Bank 
 with Specie Capital — Meeting of Subscribers to the Bank of New York — 
 Election of Officers, March 15, 1784 — Hamilton' s Connection with the 
 Enterprise — His Letter in Relation to it. 
 
 THE Bank of New York began its existence under 
 conditions that are interesting from several 
 points of view. The state of the country at that time, 
 as well as of the city that has since grown to such pro- 
 portions, the reputation of the eminent statesman 
 whose name is associated with the beginning of the 
 enterprise, and the fact that the Bank of New York was 
 the first institution of the kind organized in this State, 
 give to its early history a peculiar importance. 
 
 The country had just concluded, in 1783, a long 
 and exhausting struggle with Great Britain ; and when 
 peace was declared, its financial condition was far 
 from satisfactory. Great suffering had been caused by 
 the depreciation of the Continental currency, which. 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 having become worthless, had at last ceased to cir- 
 culate. It was estimated that the depreciation and 
 repudiation of the Continental bills of credit had im- 
 posed a tax upon the country amounting to seventy 
 millions of specie dollars. Besides the paper cur- 
 rency authorized by Congress, all the States had is- 
 sued bills of their own ; although in some of them 
 the obligations had been called in and funded at their 
 nominal value. Yet, although the expedients which 
 had been resorted to had proved to be unsuccessful, 
 some of the states continued to make experiments in 
 finance which did not depend upon specie as a basis. 
 
 In the State of New York a good deal of gold and 
 silver was in circulation, and for some years the amount 
 had been increasing. This was in consequence of the 
 large payments by the English army at New York, the 
 remittances of gold and silver made by France to the 
 army and navy here, and by considerable importations' 
 from Havana and elsewhere. 
 
 For several years after the war the currency was 
 expressed in pounds, shillings, and pence. The money 
 of account of the United States, the dollar, dime, cent, 
 and mill, was legally adopted in New York by an act 
 passed by the legislature January 27, 1797, which pro- 
 vided that a dollar should be equivalent to " four tenths 
 of a pound," and fractions thereof in proportion. The 
 " Lyon dollar," which was introduced by the Dutch, 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 3 
 
 and which was for some time during the Colonial 
 period the only legal tender, had entirely disappeared. 
 But in its place had come guineas, and doubloons, and 
 pistoles, and Johannes pieces, and moidores, and se- 
 quins. The dollar was therefore only a money of 
 account ; and, like the mark banco of Hamburg, was a 
 fictitious symbol by which all others were measured. 
 
 The history of banking in the United States before 
 the establishment of the Bank of New York is a brief 
 one. The Pennsylvania Bank, which was organized 
 in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War, was 
 founded for the purpose of facilitating the operations of 
 the Government in transporting supplies for the army. 
 It began its useful work in 1780, and continued in ex- 
 istence until after the close of the war ; finally closing 
 its affairs toward the end of the year 1784. 
 
 But the need was felt of a national bank which should 
 not only aid the Government on a large scale by its 
 money and credit, but should extend facilities to individ- 
 uals, and thereby benefit the community as well as the 
 state. Through the influence and exertions of Robert 
 Morris, then Superintendent of Finance for the United 
 States, the Bank of North America, at Philadelphia, was 
 organized with a capital of $400,000. It was incorpo- 
 rated by Congress in December, 1781, and by the State 
 of Pennsylvania a few months afterward. Its success was 
 immediate and complete. It not only rendered valu- 
 
A HISTORY OF 
 
 able and timely aid to the United States Government 
 and to the State of Pennsylvania, but it greatly assisted 
 in restoring confidence and credit to the commercial 
 community, and afforded facilities to private enterprise 
 that were especially welcome. So profitable were the 
 transactions of the bank while it was rendering such 
 services to the country and to individuals, that, during 
 the years 1783 and 1784, it declared annual dividends 
 averaging fourteen per cent. This result was so satis- 
 factory to the stockholders that in February a new sub- 
 scription of one thousand shares, of |5oo a share, was 
 speedily taken up. A scheme for another bank, to be 
 called the Bank of Pennsylvania, was soon set on foot ; 
 but by an arrangement which gave to the projectors 
 of the enterprise an interest in the additional capital of 
 the original bank, the rivalry was avoided. The par 
 value of the stock being reduced, the capital of the 
 bank amounted to $830,000. 
 
 The success of the Bank of North America, and 
 the advantages which the citizens of Philadelphia en- 
 joyed from the facilities it offered them, naturally sug- 
 gested the founding of a similar enterprise in the city 
 of New York. On the 12th of February, 1784, an 
 article appeared in the New York Packet, one of the 
 daily papers, setting forth the advantages of a bank, 
 and proposing the establishment of an institution to 
 be called the Bank of the State of New York, with 
 
THE BANK GF NEW YORK. 5 
 
 a capital of #760,000, in shares of $1,000 each. The 
 management was to be in the hands of a governor and 
 six directors, who were to serve without compensation 
 until the first dividend was declared. Two of the 
 directors and the governor were to be in constant 
 attendance at the bank, and no money was to be paid 
 out without their consent. The subscribers were to 
 pay one third of their subscriptions in cash, and for the 
 other two thirds landed security was to be given by 
 mortgage or deed of trust. No lands out of New York 
 and New Jersey were to be accepted, and all lands 
 were to be appraised at not more than two thirds of 
 their value. The directors could borrow to the extent 
 of one third of the value of the lands in case they found 
 it necessary to increase the cash resources of the bank, 
 but no further. 
 
 The folly of this enterprise and the danger to the 
 community which would attend it were soon pointed 
 out to the public by several writers in the papers of 
 the day. It was shown that a land bank would not 
 answer the purposes of the merchants, that the 
 public would not deposit their money in a bank which 
 circulated more paper than was in due proportion to 
 the specie actually held by the company, and that in 
 time of trouble the bank could afford no assistance to 
 individuals or to the State. It was also maintained 
 that the hope of deriving any interest from landed 
 
6 A HISTORY OF 
 
 property by this means would be disappointed. For 
 as it would finally be necessary to base the circulation 
 upon the stock of specie on hand, the landed security 
 would be unavailable. Others took the ground that 
 such an institution would be the beginning of a landed 
 aristocracy in this country. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton joined in the opposition to the 
 scheme, and in the following extract from a letter to 
 J, B. Church, dated New York, March lo, 1784, refers 
 particularly to it : 
 
 " In my last to you I informed you that a project for a 
 land bank had been set on foot by Mr. Sayre, as the ostensi- 
 ble parent ; but that I had reason to suspect the Chancellor 
 [Livingston] was the true father. The fact has turned out 
 as I supposed ; and the Chancellor, with a number of others, 
 have since petitioned the Legislature for an exclusive 
 charter for the proposed bank. I thought it necessary, not 
 only with a view to your project, but for the sake of the 
 commercial interests of the State, to start an opposition to 
 this scheme ; and took occasion to point out its absurdity 
 and inconvenience to some of the most intelligent mer- 
 chants, who presently saw the matter in a proper light, and 
 began to take measures to defeat the plan. 
 
 " The Chancellor had taken so much pains with the 
 country members, that they all began to be persuaded that 
 the land bank was the true Philosopher's stone that was to 
 turn all their rocks and trees into gold ; and there was great 
 reason to apprehend a majority of the legislature would 
 have adopted his views. It became necessary to convince 
 the projectors themselves of the impracticability of their 
 scheme ; and to counteract the impressions they had made 
 by a direct application to the Legislature," 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. J 
 
 The agitation of the subject resulted in a project for 
 a bank which should be founded on a more solid 
 basis. The following notice appeared in the New York 
 Packet of February 23d : 
 
 ' ' BANK. 
 
 " It appearing to be the disposition of the gentlemen in 
 this city to establish a bank on liberal principles, the stock 
 to consist of specie only, they are therefore hereby invited 
 to meet to-morrow evening, at six o'clock, at the Merchants' 
 Coffee House, where a plan will be submitted to their con- 
 sideration." 
 
 As a result of this call a meeting of the prin- 
 cipal merchants and citizens was held at the Coffee 
 House on the 26th of February. General Alexander 
 McDougal was made chairman, and a series of pro- 
 posals for the establishment of a bank were read and 
 unanimously agreed to. They provided that the 
 capital stock of the bank should consist of five hun- 
 dred thousand dollars in gold or silver, divided into 
 one thousand shares of five hundred dollars each ; that 
 as soon as five hundred shares should be subscribed 
 for, a general meeting of the subscribers should be 
 held to choose a President, twelve directors, and a cash- 
 ier, and to invest them with the proper authority ; that 
 at all meetings of the subscribers or stockholders, 
 every subscriber or stockholder having one or more 
 shares, to the number of four, should have one vote 
 for each share ; a subcriber for six shares should have 
 
» A HISTORY OB 
 
 five votes, one for eight shares six votes, and one for 
 ten shares seven votes ; but no stockholder should 
 have more than seven votes, be the number of his 
 shares ever so great. A dividend should be made at 
 the end of twelve months, and every six months after- 
 ward ; and no subscriber or stockholder should be an- 
 swerable for the debts of the bank beyond the amount 
 of his stock. The proprietors of the bank, wishing to 
 encourage trade, proposed to establish the rate of dis- 
 count at six per cent, per annum. 
 
 The following gentlemen were unanimously ap- 
 pointed a committee to receive subscriptions : 
 
 Samuel Franklin, Comfort Sands, 
 
 Henry Remsen, Thomas B. Stoughton, 
 
 William Maxwell, Alderman Neilson. 
 
 Subscription books were also lodged with John Al- 
 sop, Broadway, Robert Bowne, No. 39 Queen Street, 
 and Nicholas Low, No. 27 Water Street. 
 
 The opportunity of subscribing to a bank upon so 
 substantial a basis was quickly embraced by the public, 
 and five hundred shares having been taken, a meeting 
 of the stockholders was called to be held at the Coffee 
 House at 10 a.m. on Monday, the i5th of March, 
 1784, to elect a President, cashier, and twelve directors. 
 
 At the meeting held pursuant to this notice, a ballot 
 was taken which resulted in the choice of the following 
 officers : 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 9 
 
 General Alexander McDougal, President. 
 Samuel Franklin, William Maxwell, 
 
 Robert Bowne, Nicholas Low, 
 
 Comfort Sands, Daniel McCormick, 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, Isaac Roosevelt, 
 Joshua Waddington, John Vanderbilt, 
 
 Thomas Randall, Thomas B. Stoughton, 
 
 Directors. 
 William Seton, Cashier. 
 
 The enterprise had made some progress before 
 Alexander Hamilton was solicited to become connected 
 with it. It appears that he had already been interested 
 in a similar project which had been set on foot by 
 other persons. In the letter already quoted from he 
 says, referring to the defeat of the scheme for a 
 land bank : 
 
 " Some of the merchants, to effect these purposes, set on 
 foot a subscription for a money bank, and called upon me 
 to subscribe. I was a little embarrassed how to act, but 
 upon the whole I concluded it best to fall in with them, 
 and endeavour to induce them to put the business upon 
 such a footing as might enable you, with advantage, to 
 combine your interests with theirs ; for since the thing had 
 been taken up upon the broad footing of the whole body of 
 the merchants, it appeared to me that it never would be 
 your interest to pursue a distinct project in opposition to 
 theirs ; but that you would prefer, so far as you might 
 choose to employ money in this way, to become purchasers 
 in the general bank. The object, on this supposition, was 
 to have the bank founded on such principles as would give 
 you a proper weight in the direction. Unluckily, for this 
 purpose, I entered rather late into the measure ; proposals 
 
lO A HISTORY OF 
 
 had been agreed upon, in which, anaong other things, it was 
 settled that no stockholder, to whatever amount, should 
 have more than seven votes, which was the number to 
 which a holder of ten shares was to be entitled. At an 
 after meeting of some of the most influential characters, I 
 engaged them so far to depart from this ground, as to allow 
 a vote for every five shares above ten. 
 
 " The stockholders have since thought proper to appoint 
 me one of their directors. I shall hold it till Wadsworth 
 and you come out, and, if you choose to become parties to 
 this bank, I shall make a vacancy for one of you. I enclose 
 you the constitution, and the names of the President, 
 Directors, and Cashier. 
 
 " An application for a charter has been made to the 
 Legislature, with a petitiofi against granting an exclusive 
 one to the land bank. The measures which have been 
 taken appear to have had the effect upon the minds of the 
 partisans of the land bank." 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 1784. 
 
 Constitution of the Bank of New York — The Officers of the Institution — 
 General Alexander McDougal — William Seton — Mr. Seton's Visit to 
 Philadelphia — Payment of Subscription to the Bank — Opposition to the 
 Enterprise — Objections urged against it — Commence7nent of Business at 
 the Bank — Rules and Regulations adopted for its Customers — Rates fixed 
 for Gold and Silver Coin — Paper Currency of Pennsylvania and New 
 Jersey in Circulation. 
 
 THE constitution which was adopted at the meeting 
 of subscribers, embodied the conditions set forth 
 in the original call, but with some important modifica- 
 tions. The document was written by Alexander 
 Hamilton, and, as given in his complete works, edited 
 by his son, John C. Hamilton, is as follows : 
 
 " CONSTITUTION OF THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 
 
 " Article i. — That the Bank shall be called by the name 
 and title of the Bank of New York. 
 
 " Article 2. — That the capital stock shall consist of five 
 hundred thousand dollars in gold or silver, divided into one 
 thousand shares of five hundred dollars each share ; and 
 that a majority of all directors may, at their discretion, open 
 new subscriptions for increasing the capital stock, where 
 they shall judge it for the interest of the Bank so to do, 
 provided the said new subscriptions do not exceed the sum 
 of five hundred thousand dollars. 
 
12 A HISTORY OF 
 
 " Article 3. — That thirteen directors be annually 
 chosen by a majority of votes, who are to have the sole 
 conduct and management of the Bank. At the first gene- 
 ral election, the president and cashier are to be elected by 
 the subscribers to the Bank, but for ever afterwards the 
 thirteen directors are to choose a president from among 
 themselves ; and the cashier, as well as every other person 
 employed in the Bank, is to be appointed and paid by them, 
 and be under their immediate control. 
 
 "Article 4. — That the first election be on the 15th day 
 of March, 1784; that the next general election for thirteen 
 directors shall be on the second Monday in May, 1785 ; and 
 so continued yearly, and every year; but in case of any 
 vacancy in the direction by death, resignation or otherwise, 
 public notice shall be given within one week after such an 
 event, that the vacancy may be filled ; the election to be 
 within fourteen days after such notice. 
 
 "Article 5. — -That every holder of one or more shares 
 to the number of four, shall have one vote for each share. 
 A subscriber of six shares shall have five votes ; eight 
 shares, six votes; and ten shares, seven votes; and one 
 vote for every five shares above ten. 
 
 Article 6. — That no stockholder, after the first election, 
 shall be entitled to vote, unless such person has possessed 
 the stock three months previous to the day fixed for an 
 election of directors, or any other general purpose. And if 
 any stockholder (who shall have been a resident in this 
 State at least twelve months immediately preceding such 
 election), should be absent, he shall be entitled to vote by 
 proxy, properly appointed ; but in no other case shall any 
 vote be admitted by proxy. 
 
 "Article 7. — That no person shall be eligible to serve 
 in the ofifice of director unless he be a stockholder. 
 
 "Article 8. — That the Board of Directors determine 
 the manner of doing business, and the rules and forms to 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 13 
 
 be pursued, appoint and employ the various clerks and 
 servants which they may find necessary, and dispose of the 
 money and credit of the Bank for the interest and benefit 
 of the proprietors ; but they are not to employ the money 
 or credit of the Bank in the drawing or negotiating of any 
 foreign bill, or bills of exchange, or advance a loan to any 
 foreign power whatever. 
 
 " Article 9. — That if at any time it shall be the opinion 
 of a majority of the directors that any of their body are 
 guilty of neglect of duty, or any mal-practice, whereby the 
 interest of the Bank is or may be affected, such majority of 
 the directors, with or without the consent of the president, 
 may advertise for a general meeting of the stockholders, to 
 lay before them a complaint of such neglect of duty, or 
 breach of trust ; and if it appears to the stockholders to be 
 well founded, such director or directors may be removed 
 by a majority of votes. 
 
 " Article 10.— That if any of the directors shall convert 
 any of the money or property of the Bank to his own par- 
 ticular use, or be guilty of fraud or embezzlement, he shall 
 forfeit his whole share of stock to the company, and be ex- 
 pelled the direction by a majority of all the directors, and 
 thereby rendered incapable of ever serving again in that 
 office. 
 
 "Article ii. — That no president or director shall re- 
 ceive any other emolument for his attendance on the duties 
 of the office than such as shall be fixed and agreed to by a 
 majority of votes at a general election. 
 
 " Article 12. — That there shall be a meeting of the di- 
 rectors quarterly, for the purpose of regulating the affairs 
 of the Bank, and not less than seven shall constitute a 
 board who may adjourn from time to time, and the presi- 
 dent if necessary may call a meeting of the directors at any 
 intermediate time ; at every meeting of the directors all 
 questions are to be decided by a majority of votes. 
 
14 A HISTORY OF 
 
 "Article 13. — That the President or a majority of the 
 directors shall have power to call a general meeting of the 
 stockholders by an advertisement in the public papers, 
 whenever it appears to them there is urgent occasion. 
 
 "Article 14. — That the Cashier and every principal 
 clerk do give a security for their trust to such an amount 
 as a majority of all the directors shall require. 
 
 "Article 15. — That all notes issued by the Bank shall 
 be signed by the President for the time being, or any di- 
 rector who may be fixed upon for that purpose, and count- 
 ersigned by the Cashier, or in his absence by a clerk to be 
 appointed by the directors. 
 
 "Article 16. — That no stockholder shall be accounta- 
 ble to any individual or the public for money lodged in the 
 Bank for a greater sum than the amount of his stock. 
 
 "Article 17. — That such a dividend or the profits of 
 the Bank as a majority of all the directors shall determine 
 to make, shall be declared at least fourteen days previous 
 to the general election in May, 1785 ; and that all subse- 
 quent dividends shall be made half yearly. 
 
 " Article 18. — That all shares shall be transferable, such 
 transfer to be made by the proprietor or proprietors, or his, 
 her, or their lawful attorney, in books kept at the Bank for 
 that purpose, which books shall be always kept open at the 
 usual ofifice hours, except on particular days previous to the 
 declaring a dividend, of which due notice shall be given. 
 
 "Article 19. — That the President and directors shall 
 petition the Legislature to incorporate the subscribers or 
 stockholders under the name and title of the President, di- 
 rectors, and company of the Bank of New York, and to pass 
 laws for inflicting the most exemplary punishment on those 
 who may commit fraud or embezzlement ; and also to pun- 
 ish the counterfeiters of bank notes and checks in the like 
 exemplary manner, with such other clauses in the act as 
 they shall judge necessary and proper for the security of 
 the stockholders and the public. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 1$ 
 
 "Article 20.— That this constitution shall be fairly 
 transcribed upon parchment and remain at the Bank ; the 
 President and directors when chosen, and prior to the open- 
 ing of the Bank, shall severally sign and seal the same, and 
 take an oath or affirmation before a magistrate that he will 
 to the best of his knowledge and abilities conduct the busi- 
 ness of the Bank, for the interest and benefit of its proprie- 
 tors and agreeable to the true intent and meaning of this 
 constitution, which oath or affirmation shall also be taken 
 by every future director when chosen, and before he enters 
 upon the execution of his trust." 
 
 As the newly-elected officers of the bank were not 
 familiar with the methods of banking business Mr. 
 Seton, the cashier, was empowered to go to Phila- 
 delphia, with a letter of introduction from Hamilton, 
 and procure the desired information from the Bank of 
 North America.* 
 
 The new institution was fortunate in the choice 
 of its principal officers, not only- on account of their 
 capacity and their fitness for the offices they were 
 to fill, but because they represented two distinct ele- 
 ments in the community at that time. 
 
 General Alexander McDougal was born in the 
 island of Islay, Scotland, in 1731, and came with 
 his father to New York when a boy. In his younger 
 days he followed the seas and became master of a 
 small coasting sloop. In 1758 he commanded a 
 privateer called the Tiger ; but relinquishing a seafar- 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
l6 A HISTORY OF 
 
 ing life he settled in New York. He was successful 
 in business, took an active part in politics, and like 
 many others of foreign birth, warmly espoused the 
 interests of his adopted country. In 1765, at the age 
 of thirty-four, he was one of the most prominent of 
 the " Sons of Liberty." In 1775, when affairs were 
 rapidly approaching a crisis, McDougal was placed at 
 the head of the first of the four patriot regiments 
 raised in New York. On the 9th of August, 1786, he 
 received his commission as Brigadier General, and 
 superintended, the embarkation of the Americans 
 in their retreat' after the battle of Long ■ Island. He 
 also succeeded General Putnam in command of the 
 Highlands and' was in charge of West Point after 
 Arnold's treachery. He was commissioned as Major 
 General in 1777, and after peace was declared he was 
 elected to the new State Senate. He was a man of 
 strong will, vigorous and fearless in the expression of 
 his opinions on political subjects, and he naturally 
 exerted a considerable influence in the community 
 in which he lived. 
 
 William Seton was also a Scotchman by birth, hav- 
 ing been born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1746. He 
 came to America at an early age, and in 1767 married 
 a daughter of Mr. Richard Curson of Maryland. In 
 1768 the young merchant was admitted to membership 
 in the Chamber of Commerce, being engaged in the 
 
^/^^:;^%^^^'^/^^?-^^ <e^ 
 
 PHEBJDe^fT . 1781:'-i 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YOkK. 1 7 
 
 shipping and importing business at Cruger's Dock 
 with his brother-in-law, and at a later period was of 
 the firm of Seton, Maitland & Co. He seems not 
 to have taken an active part in the events which 
 immediately preceded the Revolution. Though 
 moderate in his opinions, his sympathies were evi- 
 dently with the royal side, and he remained in the 
 city when the British troops took possession in the 
 fall of 1776. His business was probably not prosper- 
 ous during the war, for in 1777 he was appointed 
 Assistant Warehouse Keeper, an office which he 
 retained until 1780. In 1783, when the new line of 
 French packets began to run to the port of L' Orient, 
 he was placed in charge as deputy agent under the 
 French consul. 
 
 He was especially fitted for the office of cashier of 
 the bank by his sterling business qualifications, his 
 diligent, precise, and methodical habits, and by an 
 amiability and courtesy which made him very popular. 
 His appointment as an officer of the bank, with Gen- 
 eral McDougal, the early leader of the " Sons of Lib- 
 erty," and a distinguished officer of the Revolution, 
 shows the esteem in which Mr. Seton was held by the 
 liberal party at the close of the war. 
 
 On reaching Philadelphia, Mr. Seton found every 
 thing at the Bank of North America in a state of great 
 confusion. The opposition to the bank by the pro- 
 
10 A HISTORY OF 
 
 jectors of a new institution had resulted in so far re- 
 ducing the stock of specie as to make it necessary to 
 stop discounting. But an arrangement was made by 
 which those interested in the new bank were allowed 
 to take stock in the Bank of North America, and the 
 serious results which had been anticipated were happily 
 avoided.* 
 
 The subscription books to the Bank of New York 
 were advertised to be kept open for further subscrip- 
 tions at the offices of Robert Bowne, Esq., No. 39 
 Queen Street; Nicholas Low, Esq., 27 Water Street ; 
 and Wm. Maxwell, Esq., No. 4 Wall Street. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1784, public notice was given to 
 the subscribers to pay the first moiety of their subscrip- 
 tions, on the 1st of June, to Wm. Seton, cashier, at 
 No. 67 St. George's Square ; and, on the 2 2d of May, 
 " the President and directors qualified before His 
 Worship, the Mayor, as required by the Constitution." 
 
 The organization of the bank seems not to have 
 satisfied all the subscribers, for, in Mrs, Elizabeth 
 Holt's New York yournal and State Gazette, a few 
 days later, one of them complained that the directors 
 did not call a meeting to decide whether or not they 
 would proceed without first obtaining a charter. He 
 says : 
 
 " I am a subscriber to that institution, and heartily 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. I9 
 
 wish that a bank which may have the confidence of the 
 Government, as well as of the merchants of the city, may 
 be established ; but unless it can obtain a charter, I can- 
 not consider myself under any obligation to pay in my 
 subscription. When the regulations were published and 
 agreed upon, it was stipulated that no subscriber should 
 be liable for more than his stock. This pre-supposes the 
 grant of a charter ; for, without it, this article could not 
 take effect ; should the subscription money be at present 
 paid in, the stockholders become to all interests and pur- 
 poses bankers, and every man is liable — however small 
 his share may be — for all the engagements of the bank 
 to the extent of his whole fortune." 
 
 But so desirous was the mercantile community to 
 obtain the facilities of a bank, and so encouraging a 
 prospect of ample returns, in view of the dividends of 
 the bank in Philadelphia, was offered by the enter- 
 prise to investors, that it was thought inexpedient to 
 wait for any legislation in the matter. Accordingly, 
 on the 7th of June, the subscriptions having been paid 
 in, and some deposits already having been made, 
 notice was given that the bank would formally com- 
 mence business on Wednesday, the 9th of June, 1784 ; 
 and that applications for discount would be received on 
 the succeeding Wednesday. The following rules, to 
 be observed at the bank, were also published : 
 
 "The bank will be open every day in the year, except 
 Sundays, Christmas-Day, New Year's-Day, Good-Friday, 
 the Fourth of July, and general holidays appointed by 
 legal authority. 
 
20 A HISTORY OF 
 
 " The hours of business will be from ten to one o'clock 
 in the forenoon, and from three to five o'clock in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 " Discounts will be done on Thursday in every week, 
 and bills and notes brought for discount must be left at 
 the bank on Wednesday morning, under a sealed cover, 
 directed to William Seton, Cashier. The rate of discount 
 is at present fixed at six per cent, per annum ; but no 
 discount will be made for longer than thirty days, nor 
 will any note or bill be discounted to pay a former one. 
 Payment must be made in bank notes or specie. Three 
 days of grace being allowed upon all bills, the discount 
 will be taken for the same. 
 
 " Money lodged at the bank may be re-drawn at pleas- 
 ure, free of expense ; but no draft will be paid beyond 
 the balance of the account. 
 
 " Bills or notes left with the bank will be presented 
 for acceptance, and the money collected free of expense ; 
 in case of non-payment and protest, the charge of protest 
 must be borne by the party lodging the bill. 
 
 " Payments made at the bank must be examined at the 
 time, as no deficiency suggested afterward will be admitted. 
 
 " Gold coin is received and paid at the Bank of New York 
 at the following rates : 
 
 A Johannes, 
 
 weighing 
 
 i8 dwt 
 
 
 $16 00 
 
 A half " 
 
 
 i( 
 
 9 
 
 it 
 
 
 8 00 
 
 A Spanish doubloon 
 
 
 (( 
 
 17 
 
 (1 
 
 
 • IS CO 
 
 A double Spanish Pistole, 
 
 u 
 
 8 
 
 a 
 
 12 gr 
 
 7 if 
 
 A Spanish Pistole, 
 
 
 ti 
 
 4 
 
 it 
 
 6 " 
 
 3 72 
 
 A British Guinea, 
 
 
 " 
 
 5 
 
 it 
 
 6 " 
 
 4 64 
 
 A British half Guinea, 
 
 
 u 
 
 2 
 
 it 
 
 15 " 
 
 2 32 
 
 A French Guinea, 
 
 
 " 
 
 5 
 
 It 
 
 4 " 
 
 4 52 
 
 A Moidore, 
 
 
 (( 
 
 6 
 
 a 
 
 18 " 
 
 6 00 
 
 A Caroline, 
 
 
 it 
 
 6 
 
 (( 
 
 8 " 
 
 4 72 
 
 A Chequin, 
 
 
 (( 
 
 2 
 
 (( 
 
 4 " 
 
 . I 78 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 21 
 
 " An allowance is made on all gold exceeding the above 
 standard at the rate of three pence per gr. ; on all gold 
 short of the above weight, four pence per grain is deducted. 
 
 " By order of the Board of Directors, 
 
 "Alexander McDougal, Prest." 
 
 Both the Johannes and the moidore were gold coins 
 of Portugal ; the Johannes being so called from the 
 figure of King John which it bore. The Caroline was 
 a German coin, and the pistole was of the same value 
 as the Louis d' or. The chequin, sometimes written 
 zeechin, zechin, and sequin, was a gold coin, and had 
 its name from La Zecha, a place in the city of Venice, 
 where the mint was situated. The chipping and sweat- 
 ing of the gold coins in circulation had long been car- 
 ried on in New York, and as far back as 1770 the 
 Chamber of Commerce had stigmatized it as " an evil 
 and scandalous practice," and had passed a resolution 
 agreeing not to take the light coins, except at a dis- 
 count of fourpence for each deficient grain. A good 
 deal of trouble was experienced at the bank after it 
 commenced business from this source, and Hamilton 
 was for some time occupied in devising a method of 
 receiving and paying out gold. This had been done 
 elsewhere by weighing in quantities ; a practice which 
 was attended with many evils, and for which, in the 
 absence of a national coinage, it was difficult to find a 
 substitute. 
 
 The paper currency of Pennsylvania and of New Jer- 
 
22 A HISTORY OF 
 
 sey, which circulated in large quantities in New York, 
 gave a great deal of trouble to the merchants, and the 
 subject was frequently discussed by the Chamber of 
 Commerce. As late as the 3d of April, 1787, a com- 
 mittee was appointed by that body, to consider what 
 countenance should be given to the circulation of the 
 currency of other states, and a report was made that 
 " the Chamber should not for the present interfere in 
 the matter." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 1784— 1791. 
 
 Appearance and Condition of the City of New York in 1784 — The First Location 
 of the Bank — The Walton House — Annual Meeting of the Stockholders 
 in 1785 — Election of Jeremiah IVadsworth as President — Death of Gen- 
 eral Alexander McDougal in 1786 — First Dividend of the Bank— Annual 
 Meeting in 1786 — Isaac Roosevelt Elected President — Opposition to the 
 Bank — Success of the Institution — Emission of Paper Money by the 
 State in xi^b— Action of the Bank Respecting it — Repeated Efforts to ob- 
 tain u, Charter for the Bank — Petition to the Legislature in 1789 for an 
 Act of Incorporation — A Charter Granted in 1791. 
 
 IT will not be inappropriate to recall the appearance 
 of the city and the condition of affairs at the time 
 when the Bank of New York first opened its doors to 
 the public. The limits of the settled part of the city 
 did not extend beyond Murray Street. According to 
 Mr. John Austin Stevens, the greater part of the popu- 
 lation dwelt within a line drawn from the North River 
 at the foot of Reade Street, across the island in an 
 easterly direction to the East River at the foot of 
 Catherine Street. Beyond, on a part of what was 
 called the Out- Ward, was an irregular parallelogram 
 with Division Street as a base, extending easterly as 
 far as Norfolk Street, and northerly to Hester Street, 
 through which ran the old Bowery Lane to Kings- 
 
 23 
 
24 A H J STORY OF 
 
 bridge. The total surface averaged about three quar- 
 ters of a mile in width, and was embraced within a cir- 
 cumference of about four miles. 
 
 The streets throughout the city were irregular, the 
 better class of houses of brick, mostly painted, and 
 with tiled roofs. Water and Queen (now Pearl) Streets 
 were low and narrow, poorly paved, with indifferent 
 sidewalks, in some parts with none. They were the 
 chief business streets. Broad Street, which extended 
 from the Exchange, at the water side, to the City Hall, 
 on the corner of Wall Street, was the main avenue. 
 Wall Street was one of the widest streets ; the build- 
 ings in it were large and elegant. The upper part was 
 occupied by fashionable residences ; the lower was 
 exclusively given up to stores and offices, here and 
 there interspersed with lodging-houses. At the corner 
 of Wall and Broad Streets stood the City Hall. It was 
 built upon broad open arches through which the path- 
 way lay from street to street. Nearly opposite was 
 the modest dwelling of Alexander Hamilton, upon part 
 of the present site of the Mechanics' Bank. A statue 
 of William Pitt stood at the corner of William Street, 
 mutilated and defaced after his speech against Ameri- 
 can Independence. Great Dock Street, or that part 
 of Pearl Street between Whitehall and Coenties Slip, 
 had long been the court end of the town, but Wall 
 Street had grown to be a rival as a seat of fashion. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 25 
 
 Here dwelt the Verplancks, the Ludlows, the Mars- 
 tons, the Winthrops, the Buchanans, and other well 
 known families. William Street was the principal 
 street for the retailing of dry goods. 
 
 Broadway was then, as now, the backbone or ridge 
 of the island. It was fast growing in favor as the most 
 agreeable part of the city, and the buildings upon it 
 extended from the Bowling Green as far as St. Paul's 
 Church. From the rear of the houses on Broadway 
 gardens were laid out on the slope which ended on a 
 sandy beach, and the street commanded a delightful 
 prospect of the town and the Hudson. Cortlandt 
 Street was the principal street cut through the green 
 embankment, and at its foot were the Bear (now 
 Washington) Market, and the ferry to Powles Hook, 
 now Jersey City. 
 
 On the corner of Vesey Street a sign-board bore 
 the inscription " Road to Albany," and on the oppo- 
 site corner, on the house where the New York Herald 
 Building now stands, a similar sign pointed out to the 
 traveller the " Road to Boston." 
 
 At the foot of Maiden Lane stood the Fly Market, so 
 called from " Vly " or valley ; its site having originally 
 been a salt meadow. At this point was the ferry to 
 Brooklyn, then a pleasant agricultural town of three or 
 four hamlets or neighborhoods and with some four 
 thousand inhabitants. 
 
26 A HISTORY OF 
 
 It is difficult to estimate accurately the population of 
 New York in 1784. A considerable change had taken 
 place within a year by the emigration of the loyalists, 
 the return of the patriots who had left the city during 
 the war and the influx of new comers who were to 
 make the city their home. Two years later, in 1786, 
 the dwelling houses numbered 3,340 according to 
 Noah Webster, a trustworthy authority, and the pop- 
 ulation 23,604. New York was therefore, at that time, 
 the second city in size in the country ; Philadelphia the 
 first, having 40,000 inhabitants ; Boston i5,ooo, Balti- 
 more 1 5,000, and Charleston 10,000. 
 
 The first directory of the City of New York was 
 published in 1786 ; and a comparison of the little vol- 
 ume with those of the present day strikingly illustrates 
 the growth of the city during the century. In the 
 directory for 1786, which is printed in large type, 33 
 small pages, 3x6 inches, contain the names of 933 
 residents. The city directory for 1883 contains about 
 294,000 names, occupying 1,835 pages of fine type. 
 Two additional leaves in the directory for 1786 have a 
 list of the inhabitants of Brooklyn numbering 128 
 names. The Brooklyn directory for 1883 contains 
 152,280 names. 
 
 Inland communication for some time after the war 
 was slow and infrequent. In 1787 the Boston stage 
 set out for Hall's Tavern, No. 49 Cortlandt Street, 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 2/ 
 
 every Monday and Thursday morning, and reached 
 Boston in six days. The fare was four cents per mile. 
 In 1785 the first stages began their trips between New 
 York and Albany. In 1787 two stages set out for 
 Philadelphia at four o'clock every afternoon, stopping 
 for the night in Newark, and reaching Philadelphia the 
 next day. 
 
 A line of packet ships, five in number, was estab- 
 lished by French capital in the fall of 1783, and trips 
 were made monthly to the port of L' Orient. The line 
 was under the direction of the Consul-General of 
 France at New York, and the immediate supervision 
 of William Seton, afterwards cashier of the Bank of 
 New York. The Black Ball line of packets to England 
 was not established until 1 8 1 6. 
 
 These facts give some idea of the appearance and 
 condition of the city when the first bank was established 
 in it. The original location of the Bank of New York 
 was No. 6"] St. George's Square (afterward changed to 
 Franklin Square in honor of Benjamin Franklin), and 
 also known as No. i56 Queen Street, afterward Pearl 
 Street. The building was the well known Walton 
 House ; an edifice of historic interest, and until within 
 a few years one of the relics of old New York. It was 
 a handsome building of yellow Holland brick, with 
 brown-stone lintels and massive walls, fifty feet wide 
 and three stories high, and was entered by a " stoop " 
 
28 A HISTORY OF 
 
 raised a few steps above the street. It was built by 
 William Walton in 1752 for a private residence; and 
 few of those who saw the shabby old lodging-house 
 that stood until 1881 opposite the establishment of 
 Messrs. Harper Brothers, imagined that it had been 
 one of the elegant mansions of Colonial times. 
 
 The bank continued to occupy a part of this building 
 until 1787, when it removed to No. 1 1 Hanover Square, 
 where the Cotton Exchange now stands. This property 
 was bought for five thousand pounds, New York cur- 
 rency. The cashier, Mr. Seton, lived for a time in the 
 building. 
 
 At the annual meeting held on the 9th of May, 1786, 
 Jeremiah Wadsworth was elected President, and the 
 following gentlemen, directors. 
 
 Nicholas Low, Thomas Stoughton, 
 
 James McCormick, Alexander Hamilton, 
 
 Samuel Franklin, Isaac Roosevelt, 
 
 Thomas Randall, Comfort Sands, 
 
 Robert Bowne, Joshua Waddington, 
 
 William Maxwell, John Vanderbilt. 
 
 Mr. Wadsworth was the friend to whom reference 
 is made in Alexander Hamilton's letter of March 10, 
 1784. His connection with the bank terminated with 
 the official year. 
 
 Gen. McDougal, who declined a re-election, died on 
 the 9th of June, 1786, and the following tribute to his 
 
THE WALTON HOUSE, IN WHICH THE BANK OF NEW YORK 
 COMMENCED BUSINESS, JUNE Q, I784. 
 
 (By permission of Harper & Brothers.) 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 29 
 
 memory was published in the New York Packet of 
 the 1 2th : 
 
 " In the death of this gentleman, his family lost an affec- 
 tionate head, his friends a warm and steady friend, and his 
 country a citizen — the dearest object of whose latest 
 moments was the Public Good. A republican by nature 
 and habit, his life has been distinguished by many conspicu- 
 ous proofs of an ardent and pure attachment to the princi- 
 ples of liberty. * * * He espoused the cause of American 
 liberty in adversity, and was constant to her in all the vicis- 
 situdes of her fortune. At the earliest period of the contest 
 he stood foremost, a mark for the indignation of offended 
 power, and in the progress of that contest was ever ready 
 in the field or in the Senate to brave its utmost resentment." 
 
 The first dividend made by the bank of which there 
 is any record was one of three per cent, declared on 
 the 2 5th of April, 1786, payable on the ist of May ; 
 but as it was declared for the six months from the ist 
 of November, 1785, it is probable that previous divi- 
 dends had been paid. 
 
 In May, 1786, Isaac Roosevelt was elected Presi- 
 dent, and William Maxwell Vice President. The 
 directors were the same as during the previous year 
 with the exception of James Buchanan, who was sub- 
 stituted for Jeremiah Wadsworth. 
 
 The business of the city as well as of the State had 
 by this time greatly increased. Importations of for- 
 eign goods had been large, and the effect was felt 
 throughout the State in the drain of specie which nat- 
 
30 A HISTORY OF 
 
 urally followed. The opponents of the bank took 
 advantage of this state of affairs to charge the institu- 
 tion with having produced it. The direst results to 
 the country were predicted from the establishment of 
 the bank, and the only remedy for the existing evils 
 was maintained to be an emission of paper money by 
 the State. The directors were charged with working 
 in the interest of British capitalists and traders, and 
 with refusing discounts a few days before the sailing 
 of the European packet that they, personally, might 
 profit by the distress thus occasioned. The bank, it 
 was contended, had destroyed private credit as well as 
 that confidence, forebearance, and compassion formerly 
 shown by creditors to their debtors. Such was the 
 result of enforcing the payment of a note at maturity 
 when lodged in the bank. And among the terrible 
 consequences to follow it was predicted that " if their 
 number is not restricted, should banks be permitted in 
 America, after the profits they yield are known, we 
 may not alone have one in every State, but also in 
 every county of the different States." 
 
 In spite of the opposition to the bank its business 
 increased. Regular semi-annual dividends of three 
 per cent, were paid until November, 1788, when the 
 dividend was increased to three and a half per cent, for 
 the previous six months. It continued at that rate until 
 the charter was obtained in 1791. But the opponents 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 3 1 
 
 of the bank succeeded in defeating, until that time, the 
 application to the Legislature for a charter, 
 
 A strong pressure had been brought to bear upon 
 the Legislature in favor of an emission by the State of 
 paper money, which should be made a legal tender. 
 The merchants of New York as a body were opposed 
 to the scheme, and the Chamber of Commerce had 
 adopted a memorial remonstrating against the passage 
 of any bill to that effect, and setting forth the evil 
 effects of such an issue. But outside of the city there 
 was a belief that financial relief and permanent pros- 
 perity would come with an abundance of paper 
 money. The experience of the past had not deterred 
 the people from such a conviction, and several of the 
 states had lately issued bills of credit. Since the adop- 
 tion of the State constitution of New York only one 
 law of the kind had been passed in the State. This 
 was in 1781, when $411,250 was issued to pay the 
 proportion called for by Congress to pay the expenses 
 of the war. The bill before the legislature was passed 
 during the session of 1786. It authorized the emission 
 of $200,000 at five per cent. " for the purpose of 
 increasing the currency." This was the last issue of 
 paper money by the State. The Federal constitution, 
 framed in 1787, contained a clause that " no State shall 
 coin money, emit bills of credit, or make anything but 
 gold or silver coin a tender in payment of debts." The 
 
32 A HISTORY OF 
 
 framers of the document thus fixed their condemnation 
 of the old paper-money system, and the people were 
 obliged to look to other agencies for supplying them 
 with a circulating medium more convenient than gold 
 and silver. 
 
 In June, 1787, the paper money issued by the State 
 having obtained a considerable circulation, the direc- 
 tors decided to open accounts and make discounts and 
 payments in this currency distinct from those in specie 
 or the bills of the bank. This was continued for sev- 
 eral years, and to facilitate the arrangement discounts 
 were done in paper on Tuesdays and in specie on 
 Thursdays. 
 
 The efforts which had been made since the organi- 
 zation of the bank to obtain a charter had met with 
 much opposition, and had repeatedly failed. A peti- 
 tion had been presented to the Legislature for a char- 
 ter at the time of the first meeting of subscribers, but 
 had proved unsuccessful, and another effort was made 
 soon after the bank went into operation. On the 13th 
 of November, 1784, a petition from the President, di- 
 rectors, and stockholders was presented to the Senate, 
 praying for an act of incorporation. Mr. Alexander 
 McDougal was directed to prepare and bring in a bill 
 for that purpose. The bill passed a first and second 
 reading, and was committed to a Committee of the 
 Whole. Action upon it was taken in the Committee of 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 33 
 
 the Whole, and being unfavorably reported to the Sen- 
 ate on the 9th of April, 1785, the bill was rejected. 
 
 On the iSthof July, 1789, another petition to the 
 Senate from the President, directors, and stockholders 
 of the bank, asking for its incorporation, was referred to 
 a committee consisting of Messrs. James Duane, Peter 
 Van Ness, and Philip Livingston, who reported favor- 
 ably, and the petitioners were given leave to bring in a 
 bill. Mr. Duane, in behalf of the petitioners, accord- 
 ingly brought in a bill, which was read the first time 
 and ordered to a second reading ; and a copy of the 
 petition, and also of the bill were ordered to be pub- 
 lished in one of the public newspapers of New York 
 and Albany previous to the next meeting of the Legis- 
 lature. 
 
 The petition, as printed in the New York Packet of 
 October i, 1789, sets forth the reasons for asking for 
 an act of incorporation : 
 
 " To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York : 
 " The Petition of the President, Directors, and Com- 
 pany of the Bank of New York respectfully sheweth : That 
 your Petitioners in the year 1784 became subscribers to a 
 bank, which was then instituted in this city, and has been 
 carried on since that period, to the great accommodation of 
 its inhabitants, and to the advancement of the commerce of 
 the State at large. 
 
 " That they flatter themselves (whatever doubts may have 
 been heretofore entertained in regard to the point), their 
 own experience, confirming the experience of other nations. 
 
34 A HISTORY OF 
 
 has evinced the utility of institutions of this kind, and has 
 shown that they are worthy the patronage of the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 "That standing on the footing of a private Company, in 
 which each member is supposed to be personally responsible 
 for all the engagements entered into, it has been found that 
 many persons who would otherwise be desirous of becoming 
 subscribers, are deterred by that circumstance, from doing 
 it ; whereby the increase of the stock of the bank is ob- 
 structed and its operations proportionably confined. 
 
 " That one essential object of Banks, is to afford aid to 
 the Government in particular exigencies ; which object in 
 the present situation of the Bank of New York, from the 
 cause assigned, must either not be answered at all, or not in 
 the degree which is requisite to the due accommodation of 
 the Federal Government. 
 
 " That while your petitioners are fully persuaded that the 
 Honorable the Legislature will be disposed to promote 
 every proper measure which may conduce to that end, they 
 forbear to do more than to remark, that there are obvious 
 reasons which shew that it is peculiarly the interest of the 
 State, at the present juncture, to facilitate the means by 
 which that accommodation may be afforded. 
 
 " That the incorporation of the Bank of New York, is an 
 indispensable step toward enabling it to give any material 
 aid to the government of the United States. 
 
 " Wherefore, and from the tried utility of the institution 
 in other respects, your petitioners cannot but flatter them- 
 selves that the wisdom of the Legislature will discern the 
 expediency of passing an act for that purpose : And they 
 humbly crave leave to present a bill accordingly. 
 
 " For which, as in duty bound, they will ever pray, etc. 
 
 [Signed.] 
 " Isaac Roosevelt, John Murray, 
 
 Wm. Maxwell, Samuel Franklin, 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 35 
 
 Daniel McCormick, Thomas Randall, 
 
 William Edgar, Joshua Waddington, 
 
 Comfort Sands, Nicholas Low, 
 
 Robert Bowne, Thomas Stoughton, 
 
 Wm. Constable. 
 "New York, z^ July, 1789." 
 
 On the 14th of January, 1790, at the second meet- 
 ing of the thirteenth session of the Senate, the petition 
 of the President, directors, and company of the bank 
 was renewed, and Mr. Livingston, having obtained 
 leave of the Senate, brought in a bill to incorporate 
 the bank. This bill passed a second reading, and was 
 referred to the Committee of the Whole, in which it 
 was rejected by the casting vote of the Chairman. In 
 this rejection the Senate concurred. 
 
 The effort to obtain an act of incorporation having 
 thus failed in the Senate, a petition was presented to 
 the Assembly on the 19th of January, 1791. It was 
 referred to a committee, which reported favorably, and 
 the committee was directed to introduce a bill. This 
 passed a second reading, and was committed to the 
 Committee of the Whole. The bill was considered 
 on the nth and 24th of February and the ist, 
 4th, and 7th of March ; some amendments were made 
 to it, and it was ordered as amended to be engrossed. 
 
 On the 8th of March, 1791, the bill was passed by 
 the Assembly, and Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Pintard were 
 appointed a committee to deliver the bill to the Senate 
 
36 A HI STORY OF 
 
 and ask its concurrence. The bill was considered 
 by the Senate on the 9th and loth of March, and, 
 having been amended, was passed, and Mr. Clinton 
 and Mr. Carpenter were appointed a committee to 
 deliver the bill as amended to the Assembly. 
 
 On the 1 6th of March, 1791, the House of Assem- 
 bly took up the bill as passed by the Senate, and con- 
 curred in all the amendments but one. This action 
 being reported to the Senate, that body receded from 
 its amendment not concurred in by the House. The 
 bill as amended was then passed by both Houses of 
 the Legislature, and became a law on the 21st of 
 March, i79i,by the signature of the Governor.* This 
 charter was substantially the model upon which all the 
 bank charters granted in the State of New York were 
 framed prior to the year 1825. At that time the form 
 of the acts of incorporation was changed, and more 
 stringent prohibitions and restrictions were enacted by 
 the Legislature. 
 
 *See Appendix. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1791-1795. 
 
 Capital of the Bank — Its Assets and Liabilities at the Date of Incorporation — 
 Acceptance of the Charter — Amount of Bills and Notes Discounted — Elec- 
 tion of Gulian Verplanck as President in i^qi— Isaac Roosevelt — Alex- 
 ander Hamilton's Relations with the Bank while Secretary of the Treasury 
 — The Bank of the United States — A Branch of the Bank in New York 
 in 1792 — Projects for a Rival Bank — Hamilton s Views Respecting it — 
 Efforts to Obtain an Act of Incorporation for it — Failure of the Scheme — 
 Deposit in the Bank of New York of Funds Belonging to the State in 1792 
 — Election of a State Director — Financial Distress in New York in 1791 
 Hamilton's Efforts for the Relief of the Merchants — Loan by the Bank to 
 the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures — Resignation of Will- 
 iam Seton as Cashier — Loan by the Bank to the City of Philadelphia in 
 1793 — Loans to the State of New York and to the United States. 
 
 ON the 1st of May, 1791, the capital of the bank 
 was l3i8,25o. The unpaid moiety of the sub- 
 scriptions was called in, and on the ist of July the 
 capital was $495,000. By the ist of August the bal- 
 ance was paid in, making the capital $900,000. 
 
 The following is a statement of the assets and liabil- 
 ities of the bank at the time it commenced business 
 under the charter. May i, 1791. It gives some idea 
 of the volume of the bank's business at that time. 
 
 SPECIE BANK 
 
 Bills discounted . . $845,940 20 
 Due from corporation . 12,222 44 
 
 Cash, $516,081 87 
 Less notes 
 
 on hand, 53,266 00 — 462,815 87 
 
 $1,320,978 51 
 
 Capital stock . . . . $318,25000 
 
 Notes outstanding . . 181,254 °o 
 
 Due depositors . . . 773,709 67 
 
 Profit and loss . . . 47,76484 
 
 $1,320,978 51 
 
 37 
 
38 A HISTORY OF 
 
 PAPER BANK. 
 
 House & lot, Queen St., ;^5, 248 4 g 
 
 Cash ;^II5,373 17 n 
 
 Notes on hand, 25,605 89,768 17 il 
 
 ;^95,oi7 2 8 
 
 Notes out .... ;^7i,822 o o 
 Due depositors . . . 16,920 o 4 
 Profit and loss ... 6,275 2 4 
 
 ;^95,oi7 2 8 
 
 On the 2d of May, 1791, the directors named in the 
 act of incorporation formally accepted the charter, as- 
 sumed all the existing liabilities of the former company, 
 and reelected the former officers. Two thousand 
 sheets of circulating notes were ordered to be printed 
 and signed, ready for emission " as quick as possible." 
 The paper on which these notes were printed was 
 made in Philadelphia, and the notes were struck off on 
 a hand-press in the bank. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1791, a dividend of seven 
 per cent, was declared out of the first six months' busi- 
 ness of the incorporated bank. During these six 
 months the amount of bills and notes discounted 
 amounted to |io,558,669.59, and the total amount of 
 cash received was $42,681,664.80. These figures 
 illustrate the extenj: of the mercantile transactions of 
 New York at that period. It will be remembered that 
 no notes or bills were discounted for a longer time 
 than thirty days. 
 
 At the annual election in 1791, Gulian Verplanck 
 was elected President of the bank in place of Isaac 
 Roosevelt, who had declined a reelection. Mr. Roose- 
 velt's business was that of a sugar refiner, and his 
 
PRESIDENT L7£6-n91 
 
 Xng'lw KB.Mkll S Sens. Weuldi-k 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 39 
 
 Store was originally in Wall Street. He was one of 
 the most noted Whigs of the time. He served as one 
 of the General Committee of One Hundred, chosen in 
 May, 1775, to take control of the Government. Upon 
 the entry of the British he withdrew from the city. 
 His sacrifices were rewarded by his countrymen, and 
 he was elected to various stations of honor. He rep- 
 resented the City of New York in the Convention 
 which met at Kingston in 1777 to form a Constitution 
 for this State, and was a member of the New York 
 Convention which assembled at Poughkeepsie in 1786 
 to deliberate on the adoption of the Constitution of the 
 United States. After peace was declared he served 
 as State Senator. 
 
 When the Bank of New York occupied the old 
 Walton House, Mr. Roosevelt's sugar refinery was 
 just opposite at No. 1 69 Queen Street. He had resumed 
 business in partnership with his son. He was Presi- 
 dent of the New York Hospital from 1790 to 1794, 
 and took a warm interest in its welfare. He died in 
 October, 1797, at the age of sixty-eight years, beloved 
 and honored as an excellent citizen and a tried and 
 true patriot. 
 
 When the Constitution of the United States went 
 into operation, in 1789, Alexander Hamilton became 
 Secretary of the Treasury. His public duties had kept 
 him from taking an active part as a Director of the 
 
40 A HISTORY OF 
 
 Bank of New York after the first two years of the 
 bank's existence, but he continued to show a lively in- 
 terest in its welfare, and he was the firm friend and 
 adviser of its cashier, William Seton. In 1790 the 
 bank was made the agent of the United States for the 
 sale of 200,000 guilders. In the same year Hamilton 
 laid before Congress a plan for the establishment of a 
 great national bank. It was received with much favor, 
 and on the 19th of February, 1791, the Bank of the 
 United States went into operation. 
 
 In November of the same year a letter was addressed 
 to the President and directors of the Bank of the United 
 States by the officers of the Bank of New York, offer- 
 ing to them three hundred shares of the new stock of 
 the bank at par. The offer was declined, as the 
 directors of the Bank of the United States did not feel 
 authorized to invest in the stock of the State banks. 
 
 Arrangements had been made by the directors of the 
 
 Bank of the United States to establish a branch of that 
 
 institution in the City of New York. The plan seems 
 
 not to have met the approval of Hamilton, and under 
 
 date of November 25, 1791, he wrote to William 
 
 Seton : 
 
 " I seize the first moment of leisure to answer your letter 
 of the 2ist inst. Strange as it may appear to you, it is not 
 more strange than true that the whole affair of Branches 
 was begun, continued, and ended, not only without my parti- 
 cipation, but against my judgment. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 4 1 
 
 " When I say against my judgment, you will not under- 
 stand that my opinion was given and overruled, for I never 
 was consulted ; but that the steps taken were contrary to 
 my private opinion of the course which ought to have been 
 pursued. 
 
 " I am sensible of the inconveniences to be apprehended, 
 and I regret them, but I do not know that it will be in my 
 power to avert them. 
 
 " Ultimately, it will be incumbent on me to place the 
 public funds in the keeping of the Branch ; but it may be 
 depended upon that I shall precipitate nothing, but shall so 
 conduct the transfer as not to embarrass or disturb your 
 institution. I have not time to say more at present, except 
 that, if there a.re finally to be two institutions, my regard for 
 you makes me wish you may feel yourself at liberty to take 
 your fortune with the Branch which must preponderate." 
 
 Hamilton had evidently hoped to make the Bank of 
 New York the exclusive agent of the United States 
 Government in Nevir York. In January, 1791, he had 
 written to Mr. Seton : 
 
 " I feel great satisfaction in knowing from yourself that 
 your institution rejects the idea of a coalition with the new 
 project, or rather hydra of projects. 
 
 " I shall labor to give what has taken place a turn favora- 
 ble to another union, the propriety of which is, as you say, 
 clearly illustrated by the present state of things. It is my 
 wish that the Bank of New York may, by all means, con- 
 tinue to receive deposits from the Collector, in the paper of 
 the Bank of the United States, and that they may also re- 
 ceive payment for the Dutch bills in the same paper. This 
 paper may either be remitted to the Treasurer or remain in 
 the Bank, as itself shall deem most expedient. I have ex- 
 plicitly directed the Treasurer to forbear drawing on the 
 
42 A HISTORY OF 
 
 Bank of New York, without special direction from me. 
 And my intention is to leave you in possession of all the 
 money you have or may receive till I am assured that the 
 present storm is effectually weathered. 
 
 " Everybody here sees the propriety of your having 
 refused the paper of the Bank of the United States in 
 such a crisis of your affairs. Be confidential with me ; if 
 you are pressed, whatever support may be in my power 
 shall be afforded. I consider the public interest as materi- 
 ally involved in aiding a valuable institution like yours to 
 withstand the attacks of a confederated host of frantic and, 
 I fear, in too many instances, unprincipled gamblers. 
 
 " Adieu. Heaven take care of good men and good 
 views ! " 
 
 The proposed plan was carried out, however, and a 
 branch of the national institution called the " Office of 
 Discount and Deposit " was established in New York. 
 On the 20th of March, 1792, a committee was ap- 
 pointed on the part of the Bank of the United States 
 to meet and confer with the directors of the Bank of 
 New York upon the best means of promoting a 
 friendly intercourse between the two institutions. A 
 conference was accordingly held, which resulted in a 
 formal correspondence, expressing a desire and willing- 
 ness on the part of each institution to cooperate in any 
 measure calculated to inspire mutual confidence or 
 public accommodation. 
 
 The success of the Bank of New York was so marked 
 that early in 1791 a rival institution was projected. 
 Hamilton heard of the scheme and was not slow in ex- 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 43 
 
 pressing his views regarding it. In a letter to William 
 Seton, under date of January i8, 1791, he wrote : 
 
 " I have learnt with infinite pain the circumstance of a 
 new bank having started up in your city. Its effects cannot 
 but be in every way pernicious. These extravagant sallies 
 of speculation do injury to the Government, and to the whole 
 system of public credit, by disgusting all sober citizens, and 
 giving a wild air to every thing. 'T is impossible but that 
 three great banks in one city must raise such a mass of arti- 
 ficial credit as must endanger every one of them, and do 
 harm in every view. 
 
 " I sincerely hope that the Bank of New York will listen 
 to no coalition with this newly engendered monster ; a better 
 alliance, I am strongly persuaded, will be brought about for 
 it, and the joint force of two solid institutions will, without 
 effort or violence, remove the excrescence which has just ap- 
 peared, and which I consider as a dangerous tumor in your 
 political and commercial economy. 
 
 " I express myself in these strong terms to you confi- 
 dentially, not that I have any objection to my opinion being 
 known as to the nature and tendency of the thing." 
 
 At the next session of the Legislature, in February, 
 1792, an attempt to obtain a charter for the proposed 
 bank was made. Two petitions for an act of incorpo- 
 ration were at first presented by different persons ; one 
 for an institution to be called the Million Bank, and 
 another for one to be called the State Bank. The pro- 
 jectors of the first scheme, however, finally withdrew 
 in favor of the latter. A committee to whom the sub- 
 ject was referred reported that, as the proposed plan 
 
44 A HISTORY OF 
 
 contained certain propositions for opening canals and 
 furthering the agricultural and commercial interests of 
 the State, it merited the serious attention of the Legis- 
 lature, and leave was asked to bring in a bill. A bill to 
 incorporate the subscribers to the State Bank was after- 
 ward read for the first time, and referred again to the 
 committee. No further report was made upon it during 
 the session, and the scheme thus proved abortive. 
 
 During the session of the Legislature in 1792, the 
 President and directors of the Bank of New York sig- 
 nified to that body their willingness to receive from 
 the State Treasurer any of the money belonging to the 
 State which it was proposed to lend to individuals or 
 bodies corporate, and to pay not above six per cent, in- 
 terest therefor, the loan to be payable upon three months' 
 notice. The projectors of the rival institution also 
 proposed to the Legislature to take the State funds in- 
 dividually as a loan at seven per cent, on security of the 
 funded debt of the United States, " unless the State 
 would prefer investing the money in the new bank 
 which is to be established, or lending it in small sums 
 upon mortgages of real estate." 
 
 The Legislature subsequently passed an act author- 
 izing the State Treasurer to deposit in the Bank of New 
 York certificates for the funded debt of the United 
 States to the amount of nearly two million dollars ; the 
 bank agreeing to collect the interest on the same, and 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 45 
 
 pay it over to the Treasurer without charge. In con- 
 formity with this act, Gerard Bancker, Treasurer of the 
 State, was elected a director of the bank on the 24th of 
 May, 1792. 
 
 In 1 79 1 there was a mania for speculation in the 
 principal cities, and during August of that year United 
 States Bank scrip sold for igS. In September it fell 
 to no but rallied to 145. Several failures were the 
 result, the public credit suffered, and the six per cent, 
 issues of the United States were depressed. The 
 Secretary of the Treasury accordingly authorized the 
 cashier of the Bank of New York to buy Government 
 bonds in small lots to relieve the merchants and sustain 
 the credit of the United States. This had the desired 
 effect for a time, but the relief proved to be merely 
 temporary. By March of the following year the dis- 
 tress had increased until it amounted almost to a panic, 
 and the Secretary of the Treasury was prompted to 
 come again to the rescue of the mercantile community. 
 On the 25th of March, 1792, he wrote to the cashier of 
 the Bank of New York, authorizing him to purchase 
 United States stocks at par to the amount of fifty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 "It will be very probably conjectured," he wrote, " that 
 you appear for the public, and the conjecture may be left 
 to have its course, but without confession. The purchase 
 ought, in the present state of things, to be at auction, and 
 
46 A HISTORY OF 
 
 not till to-morrow evening. But if the purchase at auction 
 will not tend as well to the purpose of relief as a different 
 mode, it may be departed from ; the usual note must be 
 made of persons, time, etc. You will consider whether done 
 all at once, or a part now and a part then, will best answer 
 the purpose. In the state of this market, the latter mode 
 is found preferable. I have just received a letter from Mr. 
 Short, our minister resident, dated Amsterdam, 28th Decem- 
 ber, by which he informs me that he has effected a loan for 
 three millions of florins at four per cent, interest, on account 
 of the United States. This may be announced ; and as, in 
 the present moment of suspicion, some minds may be dis- 
 posed to consider the thing as a mere expedient to support 
 the stocks, I pledge my honor for its exact truth. * * * 
 " While I encourage due exertion in the banks, I observe 
 that I hope they will put nothing to risk. No calamity truly 
 public can happen while these institutions remain sound. 
 They must, therefore, not yield too far to the impulse of 
 circumstances." 
 
 This letter was received on the following day, and 
 the cashier of the bank wrote in reply, under date of 
 March 2 5th : 
 
 " We have no public sales of stocks now in the evenings ; 
 therefore I cannot go into the market till to-morrow, and 
 although the sum is small, yet be assured it will be a relief. 
 The collector has furnished the list of names of those who 
 have duties to pay between this and the first of May, and 
 our directors have given out that they will discount on a 
 deposit of stock. The large dealers in stock are to have a 
 meeting this evening, and, it is reported, will enter into an 
 absolute agreement not to draw out any specie from the 
 banks for three months to come— so that from to-morrow I 
 hope the prospect will brighten. I have made as public as 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 47 
 
 possible the new loan obtained in Amsterdam ; it gives most 
 universal satisfaction." 
 
 The financial trouble seems to have increased in 
 intensity ; and on the 4th of April the Secretary vi^rote 
 to Mr. Seton, saying that he was pained beyond 
 expression at the accounts he had received of the 
 financial distress of his fellow-citizens, and authorizing 
 him to apply |5o,ooo additional to purchases of stock at 
 such times as might be thought most beneficial to the 
 public. On the 12th of April the Secretary wrote 
 again to Mr. Seton, giving him additional latitude in 
 the purchase of the six per cents, and the deferred 
 stock. He also wrote to the directors of the bank, con- 
 firming his previous instructions to Mr. Seton, and 
 adding |5o,ooo more to the amount already appropri- 
 ated for the relief of the merchants ; making in all 
 |i5o,ooo. 
 
 Mr. Seton's reply, under date of April 1 6th, shows 
 the beneficial effect of this welcome aid : 
 
 " I received your letter by the express, on Friday morn- 
 ing, previous to which I had been relieving a few by pur- 
 chases of stock, upon the strength of the second extension 
 of fifty thousand dollars. At noon I went into the market, 
 but the applications were so numerous, and so vastly 
 beyond my expectations, I found it necessary to declare 
 I could take but very small sums from each. However, 
 notwithstanding this, every one pressed forward, and were 
 so eager that I could only take down names upon a declara- 
 tion that I would average the whole. This I did, that no 
 
48 A HISTORY OF 
 
 cfne might be left without some relief ; so that the invest- 
 ments of one hundred thousand dollars goes to upwards of 
 eighty persons, from which you may form a judgment that 
 your orders for purchases were well-timed. At the same 
 time, it is an evidence of the great and universal distress 
 which prevails, and which I am sorry to say is such, that it 
 would be utterly impossible to make purchases equal to the 
 relief. However, it cannot now be worse ; and when the 
 public mind cools down a little, it is to be hoped that good 
 will arise out of the evil, that the spirit of industry instead 
 of gambling will revive, and that the stocks will come to 
 their proper and real value." 
 
 The judicious course of the Secretary seems to have 
 had the desired result, and the relief that these timely 
 purchases of stock by the Treasury Department 
 afforded to a community which had been almost 
 drained of its specie as a result of excessive importa- 
 tions can hardly be estimated at the present day. 
 
 In 1792 the Society for Establishing Useful Man- 
 ufactures, in which Alexander Hamilton was inter- 
 ested, and which had recently been organized in Phila- 
 delphia, applied to the Bank of New York for a loan to 
 enable it to carry out its plans for building factories at 
 Passaic, N. J. The busy city which to-day has 60,000 
 inhabitants was then a settlement with ten dwellings. 
 At Hamilton's suggestion the bank lent to the society 
 $10,000 on pledge of United States deferred stock, 
 with interest at five per cent., and a few months later 
 a further loan of $35,000 was made to the society on 
 
Cafij'icr CI the Bank, 
 
 
 
 ■iCVrf^^ Cafhier of the Bank, 
 
 Stifte 
 
 Pay to 
 
 ^:. 
 
 /' 
 
 New- York, the 2. 
 
 Cafliier of the Bank of New-Torle, 
 Pay to /'I ' ^' /p^^u 
 /-vocn/y /-i't^f- J 
 
 New* York, the Z 
 
THE BANIC OF NEW YORK. 49 
 
 similar terms. In his letter to Mr. Seton on the subject 
 Hamilton said : " I will add more, that in my opinion 
 banks ought to afford accommodation in such cases 
 upon easy terms of interest. I think five per cent, 
 ought to suffice, for a direct public good is presented. 
 And institutions of this kind, within reasonable limits, 
 ought to consider it as a principal object to promote 
 public purposes." 
 
 In Mr. Seton 's reply on the 25th of June he in- 
 dicated the feelings of the officers of the bank toward 
 Hamilton. " Our directors are informed of your senti- 
 ments respecting the loan to the Manufacturing 
 Society. Be assured, my dear sir, that they have 
 so much confidence in any measure pointed out by 
 you, and take so much pleasure in promoting your 
 views, which they are well convinced are ever in- 
 tended for the public good, that by complying 
 with your wishes they are glad to have an opportunity 
 of retaliating the obligations this institution is under to 
 you." 
 
 At the annual meeting in June, 1794, William Seton 
 sent in his resignation as cashier of the bank, and 
 Charles Wilkes was chosen in his stead. Mr. Seton had 
 been connected with the bank since its organization, 
 and had proved to be a faithful and efficient officer. His 
 correspondence with Alexander Hamilton in connec- 
 tion with the bank shows the regard which that emi- 
 
50 A HISTORY OF 
 
 nent man felt for him and the confidence he placed in 
 his judgment and integrity. Mr. Seton died in 1 798 
 at the age of fifty-two. 
 
 In October, 1793, Richard Varick, Mayor of the 
 City of New York, presented a resolution of the 
 Common Council asking for a loan of |5,ooo, " to aid 
 the poor and most distressed citizens of Philadelphia, 
 under the pressure of their present great calamity "; to 
 which proposition the board of directors agreed, tak- 
 ing as security a corporation bond. 
 
 The Bank of New York was able to extend efficient 
 aid to the National Government during 1794. On 
 the 6th of October, in response to the application 
 of the Secretary of the Treasury, a loan of |200,ooo 
 was made to the United States for four months at five 
 per cent. An agreement was made in January, 1795, 
 to continue this loan for eight months from its matu- 
 rity, and it was subsequently renewed for another 
 year. 
 
 On the 9th of December, 1794, the President pre- 
 sented at the directors' meeting a letter from the 
 Secretary of the Treasury requesting a loan of $100,000 
 for one year at five per cent, interest, with the privilege 
 of annual renewals for five years. The loan was for 
 the purpose of redeeming a part of the debt of the 
 United States. A similar letter was sent to banks in 
 other cities, and the directors of the Bank of New 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 5 1 
 
 York promptly acquiesced in the plan. In acknowl- 
 edging the acceptance of his proposition by the bank, 
 Hamilton said : "It gives me pleasure to have this 
 fresh opportunity of bearing testimony to the liberal 
 and patriotic zeal for the service of the United States 
 which the Bank of New York has on every occasion 
 evinced," 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury again asked for a 
 loan in August, i795. The sum of $120,000 was 
 required for six months, and it was also requested 
 ' that the loan of $200,000 which would mature on 
 the 8th of October, should be continued to the 8th of 
 April following. Both loans, it was proposed, should 
 bear interest at the rate of six per cent., and should 
 be secured by the same amount of six per cent, stock, 
 the bank to have the privilege of selling the stock 
 at the market price on the maturity of the loans 
 if there should be a default in the payment thereof. 
 These requests were promptly granted. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 1796-1811. 
 
 Change of Location of thi Bank — The New Building in Wall Street — Pur- 
 chase of United States Stock from the Slate in 1797 — Aid Rendered to the 
 State in 1797 — The Yellow Fever of i-jcji — Temporary Removal of the 
 Bank to Greenwich — Incorporation of the Manhattan Company in 1799 — 
 Action of the Bank Thereupon — Death of Gulian Verplanck and Election of 
 Nicholas Gouverneur as President in 1799 — Petition to the Legislature for 
 Alterations in Charter in i8oi — Death of Nicholas Gotiverneur and Elec- 
 tion of Hertnait Le Roy as President in 1802 — Proposal of the City Gov- 
 ernment with Reference to the Charter of the Bank — Resignation of Herman 
 Le Roy and Election of Matthew Clarkson as President in 1804 — Extension 
 of the Charter by the Legislature in 1808 — Loans to the State by the Bank 
 — Petition of the Bank to the Legislature Respecting the Bank of the United 
 States. 
 
 The business of the bank had in 1796 so increased 
 that better facilities and a more desirable loca- 
 tion were needed for it. Accordingly, in November of 
 that year, the house and lot on the corner of Wall and 
 William Streets were bought of Mr. William Constable 
 for eleven thousand pounds. New York currency. In 
 April following, it was decided to tear down the house 
 that stood on the lot, and to erect a building with the 
 necessary vaults for the business of the bank. Messrs. 
 Richard Varick, John B. Coles, and Nicholas Gouver- 
 neur were appointed a committee to make the neces- 
 
 52 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 53 
 
 sary contracts and superintend the construction of the 
 building. 
 
 The corner-stone of the new structure was laid with 
 appropriate ceremonies on the 22d of June, 1797, by 
 Gulian Verplanck, President of the bank, and George 
 Doolet the architect, in presence of the directors and 
 a large assemblage of citizens. On Monday the 23d of 
 April of the following year, the cash and books were re- 
 moved to the new quarters, and business was begun 
 that day. The house of Francis B. Winthrop in Wall 
 Street was leased for eight years at an annual rent of 
 three hundred and fifty pounds and the taxes, and was 
 appropriated as a residence for the cashier. 
 
 No record remains of the size of the lot purchased 
 of Mr. Constable, nor of the bank building erected 
 thereon ; but some years after, in widening William 
 Street, seven feet were taken off that side of the build- 
 ing, and a new roof was thrown over the bank and 
 over a small dwelling-house which stood immediately 
 in the rear of it ; thus forming the edifice that was so 
 long familiar to the citizens of New York. The cor- 
 poration allowed the bank $35,000 as damages ; a sum 
 which at that time was thought to be a very large al- 
 lowance. 
 
 In accordance with an act passed by the Legislature 
 to render the funds of the State more productive, a com- 
 mittee was appointed on the part of the bank, early in 
 
54 A HISTORY OF 
 
 1797, to confer with a committee appointed by the 
 Governor with reference to the purchase by the bank 
 of certain United States stock held by the State. A 
 part of this stock was redeemable by the United States 
 in instalments, which were not large enough at any 
 one time to be of material aid to the State treasury. 
 The deferred stock was irredeemable, and bore no in- 
 terest until 1800. The market value of the stock 
 was from twenty to thirty per cent, below par. An 
 agreement was finally made that the bank should pur- 
 chase 1566,463.70 of U. S. six per cent, stock and 
 1799,686.5 1 of U. S. deferred stock, the whole to be 
 paid for at its nominal value, on the second Tuesday in 
 May, 1809, and should pay interest on the same at six 
 per cent., providing that the interest on the deferred 
 stock should not begin until the year 1 800. The bank 
 further agreed to advance the State from time to time 
 such sums as should be required. The immediate 
 benefit to the bank from this purchase was, that it was 
 permitted to increase its indebtedness to a proportion- 
 ate amount beyond the limit fixed by its act of incor- 
 poration, and further, that it became the financial 
 depository of the State. 
 
 Another application for pecuniary aid was made by 
 the State during the same year. In November, 1797, 
 the President laid before the board of directors a letter 
 from the Governor, setting forth the need of the State 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 55 
 
 for money to be used for its defence, and enclosing a 
 copy of the act of the Legislature authorizing the 
 Governor to borrow #315,000 on the faith of the State 
 for that purpose. A loan of |200,ooo, in addition to 
 the loans already existing, which amounted to |i 28,000, 
 was accordingly made to the State, the amount of the 
 loan being passed to its credit and interest at the rate 
 of six per cent, charged on such sums as should be 
 drawn. 
 
 The building previously occupied by the bank in 
 Pearl Street was sold by Messrs. A. L. Bleecker & 
 Sons, auctioneers, in January, 1798, at the Tontine 
 Coffee House, for 10,600 pounds. New York currency. 
 It was described in the Daily Advertiser of December 
 14, 1797, as "comprising two spacious three-story 
 dwelling-houses under one roof ; the whole in good 
 repair, and replete with accommodations and conven- 
 iences for business, as well as for family purposes. 
 Front on Pearl Street, fifty feet eleven inches ; rear, 
 thirty-seven feet eight inches ; length on the westerly 
 side, one hundred and ninety-two feet ten inches ; on 
 the easterly side, one hundred and eighty feet nine 
 inches." 
 
 The yellow fever had broken out in the city during 
 the summer of 1798. One of the clerks of the bank, a 
 book-keeper, fell a victim to the pestilence, and the 
 directors presented five hundred dollars to his widow. 
 
5 6 A HISTORY OF 
 
 At the close ot the year a gratuity of twenty per cent, 
 on their salaries was given to all persons in the service 
 of the bank during the prevalence of the epidemic. 
 Fearing that the fever would again appear during the 
 coming year, it was thought prudent by the directors 
 of the bank to provide a place for transacting its busi- 
 ness outside of the city in case of emergency. Accor- 
 dingly, in the spring of 1799, the Bank of New York 
 joined with the Branch Bank of the United States in 
 purchasing two plots in Greenwich village for five hun- 
 dred dollars each city lot, and a suitable building was 
 erected by the bank on its lot at a cost of |8,ooo. The 
 plot of ground which was purchased comprised sixteen 
 city lots, fronting on Bank, Factory (afterward Waver- 
 ley Place), and Hammond Streets. The property was 
 sold in 1843 for #30,000. 
 
 The precaution of the directors proved a wise one. 
 The fever raged with great virulence during the sum- 
 mer of 1799, and it became necessary to remove the 
 bank to the building at Greenwich on the 23d of Sep- 
 tember. There the business of the bank was carried 
 on until late in November. Notice was given in the 
 daily papers, at the time of removal, that notes and 
 bills intended for discount might be left for the cashier 
 at the Tontine Tavern, in Broadway, under sealed 
 cover, on Mondays and Wednesdays, and would be 
 offered for discount on the following days. Also that 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 57 
 
 a messenger from the bank would call at the City Tav- 
 ern, in Broadway, for letters directed to the cashier, 
 and that any article of value enclosed would be at the 
 risk of the owner. 
 
 The Bank of New York had now been in existence 
 for fifteen years without a rival. It had obtained its 
 charter with great difficulty, and those interested in 
 its success could not be expected to look with com- 
 placency upon any attempt to establish an institution 
 to compete with it. Neither did the public desire any 
 additional banking facilities. But suddenly and unex- 
 pectedly a formidable corporation made its appearance 
 as a bank of deposit and issue in New York. It was 
 the result of the craft and sagacity of Aaron Burr. A 
 petition was presented to the Legislature in the spring 
 of 1799, asking for a charter for a company with a 
 capital of two millions of dollars for the purpose 
 of introducing pure water into the city of New York. 
 As the entire capital might not be required, a clause 
 in the bill provided that the surplus capital might be 
 " employed in the purchase of public or other stocks, or 
 in any other moneyed transactions or operations not 
 inconsistent with the laws and constitution of the State 
 of New York." In these words the real purpose of 
 the scheme was concealed. 
 
 The prevalence of the yellow fever during the pre- 
 vious summer had created an alarm which made the 
 
58 A HISTORY OF 
 
 passage of a bill to improve the sanitary condition of 
 New York an easy matter. Toward the end of the 
 session the bill incorporating the Manhattan Company 
 was accordingly passed by the Legislature, and passed 
 without a suspicion on the part of the majority of those 
 who voted for it that it contained a grant of banking 
 privileges. But the real purpose of the scheme was 
 soon made manifest. The discovery created great ex- 
 citement and indignation. It was charged that the 
 Legislature had been cheated so as to enable Burr and 
 his friends to control a majority of the stock of the 
 company and use its capital for their own purposes. 
 
 The plans of the persons interested were speedily 
 carried out, and notice was given that the banking 
 operations of the company would commence in Sep- 
 tember with a capital of #5oo,ooo. 
 
 A special meeting of the directors of the Bank of 
 New York was called by the President on the 2 2d 
 of August to consider the propriety of taking the 
 notes which might be issued by the Manhattan Com- 
 pany, and it was resolved that such notes should not 
 be taken. But upon further consideration it was 
 thought best to adopt a different policy, and on the 
 1 5th of April, 1 800, the resolution was rescinded. 
 
 The sudden death of Gulian Verplanck, on the 20th 
 of November, 1799, deprived the bank of the services 
 of the distinguished citizen who had been its President 
 

 I ^*^^ 
 
 /- mr 
 
 
 
 PRESIDENT 17 91 -17SS. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 59 
 
 during the past eight years. Mr, Verplanck was the 
 son of GuHan Verplanck, a prominent merchant of 
 New York, and was born February i ith, i75i. On his 
 father's side he was descended from a Dutch family 
 that came to this country from Holland in the time of 
 Governor Stuyvesant ; by his mother he was of 
 of French Huguenot extraction, and he inherited many 
 characteristics of each of these races. Being but nine 
 years old when his father died, he was taken care of by 
 his brother Samuel, who was an importer and banker, 
 and one of the twenty-four founders of the New York 
 Chamber of Commerce in 1768. After his graduation 
 at King's (now Columbia) College in the class with 
 Bishop Moore and Gouverneur Morris, he was sent to 
 Europe to receive a mercantile training under his 
 uncle, Daniel CrommeHn, then a member of the great 
 banking and commercial house of Daniel CrommeHn 
 & Sons of Amsterdam. After his return to New 
 York Mr. Verplanck soon became a prominent citizen. 
 He was a highly accomplished and fluent orator, and 
 as early as 1788 he was a representative in the 
 Assembly of the State. In 1791 he was elected 
 Speaker, and again in 1796, and he was also one of 
 the Regents of the University of the State. He was 
 President of the Bank of New York from 1791 until 
 his death, in 1799. 
 
 At the meeting of the directors on the 7th of De- 
 
6o A HISTORY OF 
 
 cember, 1799, Nicholas Gouverneur was elected Presi- 
 dent, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. 
 Verplanck. 
 
 The aid and accommodation which the bank had ren- 
 dered in the fiscal operations of the United States and 
 the State of New York now seemed to justify its 
 directors in asking for some legislative action in its 
 behalf. In February, 1801, a petition was presented 
 to the Legislature by the directors, asking that the limi- 
 tation to the charter be rescinded (the charter granted 
 to the Manhattan Company being perpetual) ; that the 
 clause should be repealed which provided that four of 
 the directors elected in any one year should be ineli- 
 gible for one year after their term of office had expired ; 
 and that the clauses limiting the amount of prop- 
 erty which the bank might hold, and prohibiting the 
 bank from dealing in any species of stock that might 
 be created under the act of the United States, or of 
 any particular State, should also be repealed. 
 
 This petition was presented by Mr. Deming, who, 
 at the request of the board of directors, urged upon 
 the Legislature the justice of allowing the bank to pay 
 a part of its indebtedness to the State in the bills 
 of credit issued by the State. These, to the amount 
 of $103,000, being unsalable, had for a long time been 
 in the possession of the bank. As the result of this 
 petition, the Legislature amended the act of incorpora- 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 6 1 
 
 tion SO far as it affected the ineligibility of directors, 
 and also made it lawful for the Treasurer of the State 
 to receive from the bank the bills of credit referred to. 
 
 At the meeting of the directors on the 1 6th of July, 
 1 802, the death of Nicholas Gouverneur, the President 
 of the bank, was announced. Mr. Gouverneur suc- 
 ceeded Gulian Verplanck as President upon the death 
 of that gentleman in 1799. On the 29th of July 
 Herman Le Roy was elected to fill the vacancy in 
 place of Mr. Gouverneur. 
 
 The Bank of New York was now enjoying a season 
 of prosperity in common with the other institutions of 
 the kind that had sprung up since its organization. 
 The number of banks in the country had greatly 
 increased. By 1803 it was estimated that there were 
 upwards of forty in active operation. Business 
 throughout the country had received an immense 
 impetus, and the outlook for the future was promising. 
 Under these circumstances the city government 
 thought it desirable to share, if possible, in the pros- 
 perity of the Bank of New York. At a meeting of the 
 directors of the bank in February, 1803, a letter was 
 read from Edward Livingston, Mayor of the city, in 
 which he requested the opinion of the Board as to the 
 expediency of having the term of the charter of the 
 bank extended, and its capital increased by one million 
 dollars. The dividends on the new capital, he pro- 
 
62 A HISTORY OF 
 
 posed, should be subject to a deduction of two per 
 cent, on the amount of that capital, which sum should 
 be appropriated to the use of the corporation. The 
 board of directors did not approve of the proposition. 
 
 From an early period in its history the Bank of New 
 York has been preeminently a merchants' bank, and 
 has for a long series of years made advances on mer- 
 chandise. In 1804 this was made a special branch of 
 its business, and John Ellis was appointed on the part 
 of the bank to inspect and appraise the goods offered 
 as security for loans. For this duty he received a 
 commission of one-half of one per cent, of the loan ; the 
 commission to be paid by the borrower. 
 
 In June, 1804, Herman Le Roy resigned the office of 
 President of the bank, and was succeeded by Matthew 
 Clarkson. Herman Le Roy was the son of Jacob Le 
 Roy, the head of the well-known firm of Jacob Le Roy 
 & Sons. He was born in New York in I758, and, 
 while a youth, was sent to Holland to receive a com- 
 mercial education. After his return to this country he 
 founded the house of Le Roy, Bayard & Co., which 
 afterward, under the style of Le Roy, Bayard & Mc- 
 Evers, became the most important commercial estab- 
 lishment in the United States. Mr. Le Roy died at 
 his house, No. 7 Greenwich Street, March 31, 1841. 
 
 In April, 1808, the Legislature of the State passed an 
 act extending the charter of the bank (which would ex- 
 

 w '^^^ 
 
 it 
 
 PRESIDENT ia0c,-13C4. ^ 
 
 i.jnrji:,!] .s ; ,s,>h,.^ 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 63 
 
 pire by limitation on the second Tuesday in May, i8i i) 
 to the second Tuesday in May, 1820. The act further 
 provided that the Comptroller of the State should no 
 longer be ex officio a director of the bank, but that the 
 Governor should appoint, on behalf of the State, two 
 directors residing in the city of New York, who should 
 not be directors in any other bank, and that the State 
 should not be entitled to vote at any election of direc- 
 tors. During the same month the Comptroller of the 
 State, having notified the bank that he was authorized 
 by a recent act of the Legislature to borrow from the 
 city banks 1460,000 on the credit of the State, and 
 possiby $i5o,ooo more, the bank advanced $200,000 
 of the amount required. 
 
 On the 1 3th of April of the same year, an additional 
 loan of $i5o,ooo was made to the State at the request 
 of the Comptroller. 
 
 The credit of the United States had become so well 
 established in 1809, that in April of that year the bank 
 was able to sell #100,000 of the United States stock 
 bought of the State in 1797, at 102. Another sale 
 was made of |2 1 ,000 in May at the same price, and 
 in October #200,000 was sold at 104. 
 
 In January, 18 10, a memorial and petition presented 
 by the bank to the Legislature, showed that in 1797 the 
 bank purchased at par from the State $1,390,871.50 of 
 United States stock, then at a discount of from fifteen 
 
64 A HISTORY OF 
 
 to twenty per cent., and that the bank had paid on 
 account of the purchase 1103,908, and had lent to the 
 State $460,000. The bank requested that the payment 
 of the balance due might be postponed to the year 
 181 8. An act was accordingly passed by the Leg- 
 islature, extending the time of payment, as desired, 
 to the second Tuesday in May, 18 18, on condition 
 that the bank should, if required, make loans to the 
 State not to exceed $250,000 in amount. 
 
 The charter of the Bank of the United States ex- 
 pired in 181 1, and great fears were entertained that a 
 severe crisis must follow the winding up of its affairs. 
 Strenuous efforts were made by its friends to obtain a 
 renewal of the charter, and these met with vigorous 
 opposition. The directors of the Bank of New York 
 felt it to be their duty to express their views on the 
 Subject, and in January, 1 8 1 1 , they prepared a memorial 
 to be presented to Congress, asking for a renewal of the 
 charter. In it they stated that they regarded the in- 
 stitution of the Bank of the United States as highly use- 
 ful to the State banks. From the extent of its capital, 
 its numerous branches in every part of the United 
 States, and, above all, from the protection of the Govern- 
 ment, which it enjoyed, it was enabled, they believed, 
 to equalize the balance of specie capital among the dif- 
 ferent cities, and in case of any sudden pressure upon 
 the merchants, to step forward to their aid in a degree 
 

THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 65 
 
 which the State institutions were unable to do. The 
 directors further stated, that as the Bank of New York 
 had been estabHshed prior to the incorporation of the 
 Bank of the United States, they had witnessed from 
 the commencement of the branch bank in the city of 
 New York the influence of such an institution, as well 
 as the conduct of those to whom its management had 
 been confided during the whole period ; and they de- 
 clared with confidence that the power had been uni- 
 formly exerted with prudence as it respected the public, 
 and with great liberality as it respected the other banks. 
 The inconvenience and danger to the public which 
 would attend the withdrawal of so considerable a part 
 of the active capital of a commercial community were 
 dwelt upon in the memorial, and other reasons given 
 for renewing the charter of the bank ; but as the efforts 
 to that end proved fruitless, the only effect of the 
 memorial was to show the friendly feeling of the Bank 
 of New York towards other banking institutions. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 1812 — 1824. 
 
 Increase of the Capital by Legislative Enactment Authorizing Subscriptions 
 for the Stock by Hamilton and Union Colleges in 1813 — Financial Aid 
 Rendered the Government during the War of i8t2 — Suspension of Specie 
 Payments in 1814 — Condition of the Bank of New York at the Time — ■ 
 Action of the Secretary of the Treasury Respecting Treasury Notes — 
 Efforts to Resume Specie Payments — Final Resumption in 1817 — Loan to the 
 North River Steamboat Company — Temporary Removal of the Bank to 
 Greenwich in 1822 — Loan of ;^200,ooo Effected in London in 1822 — Pay- 
 ment of Amount Due the State in 1823. 
 
 IN April, 1813, an act was passed by the Legislature, 
 extending the charter of certain banks to the first 
 Tuesday of June, 1832. Among these was the Bank 
 of New York. A provision of the act authorized the 
 treasurers of several colleges to subscribe for a certain 
 amount of stock of the different banks at the price 
 paid by the original stockholders, the capital of each 
 bank to be increased accordingly. Under this authority 
 Union College was entitled to $20,000 of the capital 
 stock of the Bank of New York, Hamilton College to 
 $1 5,000, and the Common-School Fund to #i5,ooo of 
 stock, the amount of $5o,ooo being added to the capital 
 of the bank. This made the total capital 19,000,000. 
 The trustees of Hamilton College sold to the bank, 
 
 66 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. &7 
 
 in August, 1813, their right of subscription, at the rate 
 of $126 per share. As the trustees of Union College 
 were not willing to accept the market price for the 
 stock to which they were entitled, the directors of the 
 bank borrowed of Peter P. Goelet, one of their num- 
 ber, forty shares of stock, and delivered the certificates 
 to the trustees. The stock was subsequently bought 
 of the trustees by the bank. 
 
 When war was declared with Great Britain in 
 181 2, and it became necessary for the General 
 Government as well as the State and city, to ask for 
 financial aid, the Bank of New York was prompt in re- 
 spondng to the calls upon it. On the second of No- 
 vember, 181 3, the bank opened subscription books for 
 the loan of sixteen millions asked for by the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, to meet the expenditures of the war. In 
 September, 18 14, it made a loan to the State of #20,000, 
 and also a loan of $100,000 to the corporation for the 
 defence of the city. 
 
 On the 8th of December, 1814, the Secretary of 
 War, through Governor Tompkins, requested a loan 
 of 1 1 00,000, to be secured by Treasury notes. The 
 directors decided that it was inexpedient to make such 
 a loan, but expressed a willingness to make an ad- 
 ditional loan to the city, if the security of the corpo- 
 ration was given for the repayment thereof, or to the 
 State of an amount equal to the debt of the bank to the 
 
68 A HISTORY OF 
 
 State, which would not be due until 1818. In August, 
 1 8 14, two hundred and fifty dollars was sent to the 
 Committee of Defence then organized in the city, as a 
 contribution toward the expense of erecting fortifica- 
 tions. On the 24th of June, the directors, in reply to 
 an inquiry of the Comptroller of the State as to how 
 large a loan the bank would make to the State, offered 
 to lend such amount as might be required, not exceed- 
 ing the amount due the State, or to anticipate the pay- 
 ment of its indebtedness amounting to 1435,406.47. 
 
 The war of 1 8 1 2 caused a great deal of commercial 
 distress, which was increased by the withdrawal of the 
 facilities of the United States Bank, the charter of 
 which had expired. The necessity of limiting credits 
 led to a general distrust, which might have produced a 
 panic but for the prompt action of the banks. Several 
 meetings had been held by the banks of Philadelphia, 
 where the distress was greater, on account of the wind- 
 ing up of the United States Bank ; and on the 20th of 
 August, committees from the Manhattan Company, the 
 Mechanics', and the City Bank extended an invitation 
 to the other banks in New York, to appoint committees 
 to meet with them at the Manhattan Company's bank 
 at 6 P.M. on the 2 2d inst. to consider the state of the 
 banks and of commercial credit, and to take such 
 measures as might be advisable for the relief of the 
 merchants of this city. The President and cashier were 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 69 
 
 appointed as a committee for the Bank of New York, 
 with authority to pledge the cooperation of the bank 
 in such measures as might be adopted by the unani- 
 mous consent of the banks. No record exists of 
 what was done at this meeting ; but at a meeting 
 of the committees representing the banks, held on the 
 2 1st of August, letters were read from the cashiers of 
 several of the Philadelphia banks, stating that it had been 
 decided to suspend specie payments in that city. It 
 was thereupon voted that a similar course on the part 
 of the New York banks was unavoidable, and this 
 opinion being afterward endorsed by all of the banks, 
 specie payments were accordingly suspended. 
 
 A statement, showing the condition of the Bank of 
 New York at the time of the suspension of specie pay- 
 ments, September r, 1814, was made to the Comp- 
 troller of the State, and copies were sent to the Reg- 
 ister of the Court of Chancery, and also to Messrs. 
 Gordon S. Mumford and Samuel A. Lawrence, di- 
 rectors appointed by the State, to be forwarded to the 
 Governor. 
 
 LIABILITIES. 
 
 Capital $965,000 00 
 
 Profits 139.506 53 
 
 Due the State of New York . $1,262,09147 
 Less loans to State . 806,585 00 
 
 455,406 47 
 
^0 A HISTORY OF 
 
 Notes in circulation, including post-notes and 
 all notes ever issued, none having been 
 carried to account as lost since 1784 . 533,800 00 
 
 Due on deposits 983,986 oe 
 
 $3-077,699 00 
 ASSETS. 
 Due the bank on notes and bills discounted, $2,341,190 00 
 Due the bank on all other loans . . . 148,345 00 
 Specie in the vaults and in Albany . . 300,912 00 
 Due from Bank of North America, Philadel- 
 phia 112,580 00 
 
 Due from Massachusetts Bank, Boston . 29,899 00 
 
 Due from city banks 35,528 00 
 
 Houses and lots in New York, cost $104,695, 
 
 now estimated as 74,695 00 
 
 Interest due on loans 34,55° 00 
 
 ' $3,077,699 00 
 
 That the wants of the United States Treasury were 
 
 great at this time may be inferred from the fact that in 
 
 ' A comparison of these figures with the condensed statement of the bank 
 made to the Comptroller of the Currency, in October, 1883, will illustrate the 
 growth of its business since the War of 1812 : 
 
 LIABILITIES. 
 
 Capital stock $2,000,000 00 
 
 Surplus of profit and loss account .... 1,042,978 29 
 
 Circulation ........ 450,000 00 
 
 Dividends not called for . 10,048 60 
 
 Due depositors, correspondents, and certified checks . . 13,370,930 51 
 
 $16,873,957 40 
 RESOURCES. 
 
 Loans and discounts $8,244,551 43 
 
 United States and other bonds and stocks . . . 524,348 05 
 
 Real estate 250,000 00 
 
 Checks and cash items . ..... 5,898,057 92 
 
 Specie and legal tender notes . . ... 1,934,50000 
 
 Due from U. S. Treasury 22,500 00 
 
 $16,873,957 40 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 7 1 
 
 December, 1814, the Secretary of War asked, through 
 Governor Tompkins, for a loan of $100,000 for a short 
 period, secured by Treasury notes. The Treasury 
 notes were at that time generally discredited by the 
 banks. 
 
 In January, 181 5, the Secretary of the Treasury is- 
 sued a circular to the banks notifying them that in- 
 structions had been issued to all collectors and other 
 receivers of the United States to refuse to receive the 
 notes of banks which did not pay their notes on de- 
 mand in gold or silver, or which, having suspended 
 specie payments, should not receive Treasury notes at 
 par and reissue them in payment of all demands on the 
 banks to such persons as should choose to receive them. 
 The Secretary further requested a distinct answer from 
 each bank as to whether it would agree to receive, 
 issue, and circulate Treasury notes, and whether if it 
 declined to do so, the bank paid its notes in gold or 
 silver. If a bank declined to make such agreement its 
 notes would not be received by the United States. 
 
 The cashier of the Bank of New York was directed 
 to inform the Treasury Department that the bank de- 
 clined to enter into any agreement to receive Treas- 
 ury notes in the manner proposed. 
 
 Peace with England was ratified in 181 5, and busi- 
 ness immediately began to revive. Importations were 
 immense and soon gave the Government a large sur- 
 
72 A HISTORY OF 
 
 plus revenue. It was deemed expedient on the part of 
 the banks of the country to take some steps toward 
 resuming specie payments ; and the general committee 
 of the New York banks passed a series of resolutions 
 advising a reduction of loans, as a preparation for re- 
 sumption on the first day of July, 1817, and requesting 
 the cooperation of the banks in Philadelphia and Balti- 
 more. 
 
 In July, 18 16, a circular-letter was sent by the 
 Treasury Department to the banks, proposing that 
 after the first day of October following the banks 
 should pay all notes of five dollars and under in specie. 
 A convention of delegates from the banks throughout 
 the country was held to consider the proposition. It 
 was unanimously decided that as the new Bank of the 
 United States, which had been chartered, and its 
 branches, would not be in operation at an earlier period 
 than the first of July following, and as it was desirable 
 that the payment of specie by the banks should be as 
 nearly as possible simultaneous on the part of the 
 State banks and the Bank of the United States and 
 its branches, the banks should resume payments in 
 specie on the first Monday in July following. A com- 
 mittee was also appointed to wait upon the Secretary 
 of the Treasury and inform him that in the judgment 
 of the convention it was impracticable for the State 
 banks to comply with his proposition. 
 
THE BANK OF NE W YORK. 73 
 
 This decision did not meet the views of the National 
 or State Governments. Congress resolved that after 
 February 20, 181 7, only specie, Treasury notes, and 
 notes of specie-paying banks ought to be taken by the 
 National Treasury. A law was passed by the Legisla- 
 ture of New York imposing twelve per cent, interest 
 on all notes not redeemed. In January, 181 7, the con- 
 vention of the banks of New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
 more, and Virginia met again in Philadelphia, and prop- 
 ositions were made by the committee representing 
 the Bank of the United States to aid in facilitating 
 resumption at an earlier date than was at first decided 
 upon. These were, that the Bank of the United States 
 should discount good paper, which should be offered in 
 New York to the amount of #2,000,000 ; an equal 
 amount in Philadelphia; $i,5oo,ooo in Baltimore ; and 
 |5oo,ooo in Virginia. These propositions were accepted 
 by the general committee, and ratified by the banks of 
 New York on the 6th of February. Specie payments 
 were accordingly resumed by the banks in the different 
 cities on the 20th of February, 1817. 
 
 In May, 1818, the Comptroller of the State having 
 asked for proposals for a loan of 1 1,000,000 at six per 
 cent., the cashier of the bank was authorized to bid for 
 the loan at a premium not to exceed one per cent., and 
 to bid two per cent, premium for |5o,ooo. To redeem 
 this loan the State appropriated and pledged four 
 
74 ^ HISTORY OF 
 
 hundred thousand acres of State land, and also the 
 balance due from the Bank of New York to the State, 
 which then amounted to $435,000 ; the time of pay- 
 ment of this sum being extended by the act authorizing 
 the loan, to July i, 1823. 
 
 The bid of the Bank of New York was not success- 
 ful, as the entire amount was awarded to the Manhat- 
 tan Company at one and one quarter per cent, premium. 
 
 On the 1 2th of June, 182 1, the bank lent the North 
 River Steamboat Company $55,ooo, for six months. 
 The three boats of the company, the " Fire Fly," the 
 "Chancellor," and the " Richmond" were pledged as 
 security, and the loan was to be paid by monthly in- 
 stalments ; the Company agreeing to suspend divi- 
 dends until the loan was paid. 
 
 In August, 1822, the bank again removed its busi- 
 ness to Greenwich on account of the epidemic then 
 prevailing in the city. This seems to have been the 
 last time that such a course was deemed necessary. 
 
 The debt due from the bank to the State of New 
 York for the funded six per cent, stock of the United 
 States, purchased from the State in 1797, was originally 
 payable in 1809 ; but when the charter of the bank 
 was renewed, the time of payment of the debt was ex- 
 tended until 1832. At several periods during the war, 
 and afterward, the bank had proposed to pay off the 
 debt ; but it had always happened that these offers 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 75 
 
 were made when the State, having extended the time 
 of payment, had the power of refusal ; and the offers 
 of the bank were always declined. In fact, for various 
 reasons it had been the desire of the successive 
 persons who managed the finances of the State, to 
 leave the money in the custody of the bank ; and this 
 was the case when the State was borrowing money 
 elsewhere at the rate of seven per cent. 
 
 The bank had the right to pay this debt in 1823 ; 
 and in 1822 it was proposed to borrow 200,000 
 pounds sterhng in London at five per cent., for the 
 purpose of so doing. Mr. Wilkes, the cashier, was 
 accordingly sent to London, after some preliminary 
 correspondence had been had with Messrs. Baring 
 Bros. & Co. on the subject, with full power to nego- 
 tiate the loan. He sailed from New York in Decem- 
 ber, 1822, and on reaching London, found the condi- 
 tion of the money market not favorable for the nego- 
 tiation. On the 2 2d of July, a letter was read from 
 him to the directors, wishing to know if it was still 
 deemed expedient to obtain the loan. A reply was 
 sent to him to the effect that he could spend the winter 
 in London, if by so doing he could conduct the nego- 
 tiation to the better advantage of the bank. He suc- 
 ceeded, however, in effecting an arrangement with 
 Messrs. Baring Bros. & Co. for a loan, subject to the 
 approval of the directors of the bank, and reached New 
 
J^ A HISTORY OF 
 
 York in December. The proposals of Messrs. Baring 
 Bros. & Co. were accepted. _;^200,ooo was borrowed 
 at five per cent, per annum for eight years, and one 
 hundred and seventy certificates of indebtedness, vary- 
 ing in amount from ^5oo to ^4,000, were given 
 therefor. 
 
 Negotiations with the State were then begun, look- 
 ing to an extension of the charter of the bank for 
 fifteen years, and a continuance of a portion of the in- 
 debtedness to the State on the part of the bank. A 
 bill embracing these propositions was introduced in the 
 Legislature, and after passing the Assembly almost 
 unanimously, was lost in the Senate by the casting vote 
 of the Lieutenant-Governor. The debt to the State 
 was therefore paid at maturity in 1823. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 i825-i85i. 
 
 Resignation of General Matthew Clarkson and Election of Charles Wilkes as 
 President in 1825 — Loans to the Morris Canal and Banking Company in 
 1827 and 1829 — Proposition of Amos Kendall in behalf of the Secretary of 
 the Treasury to Make the Bank an Agent of the Treasury in 1832 — Resig- 
 nation of Charles Wilkes and Election of Cornelius Heyer as President in 
 1832 — Petition for an Increase of Capital in 1835 — Financial Difficulties 
 in 1836 — A Loan of ;^II2,500 Effected in London in 1836 — Purchase of 
 Stock from the State in 1837 — Suspension of Specie Payments in 1837 — 
 Resumption in 1838 — Difficulties of the Philadelphia Banks — Financial 
 Aid to the State in 1840 — Death of Cornelius Heyer — Election of jfohn 
 Oothout as President in 1843 — Death of Joshua Waddington. 
 
 ON the 13th of April, 1825, General Matthew 
 Clarkson resigned the office of President. At 
 the meeting of directors on the 19th, his resignation 
 was reluctantly accepted and the Board passed a series 
 of resolutions expressing the grateful thanks of the in- 
 stitution for the disinterested services rendered by 
 him during the twenty-one years he had so acceptably 
 filled the office of President. 
 
 General Matthew Clarkson was born on the 17th of 
 October, 1768, in the city of New York, where his im- 
 mediate ancestors had held high and confidential civil 
 offices and filled them with fidelity and ability. 
 His family were originally from Yorkshire, England, 
 
 77 
 
78 A HISTORY OF 
 
 in which country they had lived for many generations. 
 
 At the age of seventeen he entered the army of the 
 United States, during the War of Independence, and . 
 served successively on the staff of Arnold and of Lin- 
 coln, with the rank of major. Few officers were as 
 often in the face of the enemy, and on such memorable 
 occasions, as Clarkson. As he participated in two of 
 the greatest reverses of the Americans, — :the defeat on 
 Long Island and the fall of Charleston, — so he was en- 
 gaged in two of their most brilliant achievements,^ — the 
 capitulation of General Burgoyne and of Lord Corn- 
 wallis. 
 
 At the close of the war he retired to civil life, though 
 he was a general officer in the militia for more than 
 fourteen years. He manifested a deep interest in the 
 politics of the commonwealth, and was elected to both 
 houses of the State Legislature. A federalist in his 
 principles, and associated with Hamilton, Jay, and 
 others, he exercised his personal influence in the sup- 
 port of such men and measures as in his view were 
 identified with the happiness and prosperity of the 
 country. 
 
 For a time he was engaged in business with 
 John Vanderbilt, under the firm name of Vanderbilt & 
 Clarkson. After a successful partnership his mer- 
 cantile relations with Mr. Vanderbilt were dissolved ; 
 and, conducting business for a short time on his own 
 
MATTHB^W" OLAR-KSON. 
 
 Oncfiiial I If S LA\',ilJv. iii The 
 ^'(-issf\^s/o/i ot'Jlrs.Zhjrul C'hi/'l'S/in- 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 79 
 
 account, he at length became associated in his brother's 
 firm, which was known as S. & L. Clarkson & Co. 
 
 Several positions of emolument and honor were, at 
 different times, offered to General Clarkson, among 
 others the coUectorship of the port of New York, but 
 they were all declined. 
 
 General Clarkson died on the 2 5th of April, iSzS ; 
 but a few days after his resignation. The last years 
 of his life were principally devoted to the promotion of 
 those institutions which reflect so much honor on the 
 religion, the education, and the benevolence of this 
 country. Chancellor Kent said of him that : " It 
 was his business and his delight to afford consolation 
 to the distressed, to relieve the wants of the needy, 
 to instruct the ignorant, to reclaim the vicious, to 
 visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, 
 and to keep himself unspotted from the world." And 
 the Hon. De Witt Clinton, the Governor, in a memo- 
 rial address, said : " As long as benevolence is respec- 
 ted among men, as long as piety is held in veneration, 
 so long will the name of Clarkson be ranked among 
 the excellent men who have illustrated in their lives 
 the greatness of goodness." 
 
 On the 1 2th of May, i825, Charles Wilkes was 
 elected to the office of President, made vacant by the 
 resignation of Mr. Clarkson. 
 
 The Morris Canal and Banking Company of New 
 
8o A HISTORY OF 
 
 Jersey applied to the bank in June, 1827, requesting a 
 subscription of $300,000 to a loan which they wished to 
 obtain, and which was to be repaid by the proceeds of 
 the sale of 3,000 shares of the Canal Company's stock. 
 The subscribers to the loan were to receive post- notes 
 payable in two years with interest at six per cent., pay- 
 able quarterly, and the Canal Company to give as 
 security for said post-notes a judgment to Charles 
 Wilkes, Jacob Lorillard, and Isaac Wright, trustees. 
 The directors of the bank agreed to subscribe to 
 $25,000 of the loan, the subscription to be binding 
 when $200,000 had been subscribed. 
 
 In March, 1829, the Morris Canal and Banking Com- 
 pany, having obtained authority from the State of New 
 Jersey to borrow $5oo,ooo on their post-notes and to 
 pledge the Canal with its appurtenances and all the char- 
 tered rights of the company for the payment of the prin- 
 cipal and interest of the loan, asked the bank to sub- 
 scribe to the new loan, agreeing to take in payment for 
 so much of the subscription the post-notes ($25,ooo) 
 already held by the bank and which would soon 
 become due. The directors authorized a subscription 
 for $25,000 on the above condition, and further that the 
 whole amount of $5oo,ooo, should be subscribed for, 
 and the security be made equal to that already held by 
 the bank. 
 
 This indebtedness of the Morris Canal and Banking 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 61 
 
 Company was paid at maturity, by draft on William 
 Willink, Jr., Amsterdam, payable in London for eight 
 thousand pounds sterling, from which it seems likely 
 that the Canal Company negotiated a loan in Amster- 
 dam for the payment of their post- notes. 
 
 In April, 1829, a general banking law was passed 
 which was known as the Safety Fund Act. By the 
 provisions of this act the banks were authorized to issue 
 circulating notes to twice the amount of their capital, 
 and their loans were limited to twice and one half their 
 capital. A common fund was established by a provi- 
 sion requiring every banking corporation thereafter 
 organized, whose charter should be renewed or extended, 
 to pay annually to the Treasurer of the State a sum 
 equal to one -half of one per cent, of its capital stock 
 paid in ; such payments to be continued until each 
 bank had paid into the treasury three per cent, of its 
 capital. The fund thus created was made applicable 
 to the payment of the circulation and other debts of 
 any insolvent bank contributing to the same. 
 
 An act was passed in January, 1831, extending the 
 charter of the Bank of New York to January i, 1853, 
 except such parts thereof as might be repugnant to the 
 provisions of the general act above referred to, and 
 providing that the provisions of said act should be 
 accepted by the board of directors of the bank. This 
 was complied with, and the bank went into operation 
 under the provisions of the new act. 
 
82 A HISTORY OP 
 
 During the month of August, 1832, a letter was re- 
 ceived by the the directors of the bank from Amos 
 Kendall, stating that he had been appointed by the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, at the request of the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, to confer with the State 
 banks in relation to the future deposit and distributing 
 of the public revenue. It was deemed probable by 
 the Government, he said, that the Bank of the United 
 States would not be re-chartered, and that no other in- 
 stitution would be established by Congress to supply 
 its place as an agency of the Treasury. And as the 
 Government would wish to employ another agent or 
 other agents, he wished to ascertain on what terms the 
 Bank of New York would undertake the agency, or a 
 portion of it. 
 
 The President of the bank had a personal interview 
 with Mr. Kendall and, after consulting with the direc- 
 tors, informed him, that as the bank was under the 
 opera'tion of the Safety Fund Law of New York, the 
 loans were limited to two-and-a-half times the amount 
 of its capital, and the deposits being large, the direc- 
 tors were enabled to extend the loans and discounts to 
 nearly the amount allowed by law. The bank would, 
 therefore, be unable to profit by any amount of deposits 
 which the Secretary might leave in its possession. The 
 directors, therefore, declined the proposed service ; 
 but offered to hold any part of the public funds which 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 83 
 
 the Secretary might choose to deposit in the bank, sub- 
 ject to his order, payable in New York, Boston, Phila- 
 delphia, or Baltimore. 
 
 On the 5th of August, 1832, Charles Wilkes resigned 
 the presidency of the bank on account of continued 
 ill health ; and the severance of his connection with 
 the institution which he had served so faithfully for 
 forty- eight years was the occasion of deep regret on 
 the part of the directors, 
 
 Charles Wilkes was born in London, August 30, 
 1764. He came to this country in 1780, at the sug- 
 gestion of William Seton, with whom his family were 
 on terms of intimacy. Upon the organization of the 
 Bank of New York he entered its service, and in 1792, 
 while acting as teller, he was appointed cashier of the 
 Branch Bank of the United States, then just established 
 in New York. He declined the appointment, and was 
 shortly afterward elected assistant cashier of the Bank 
 of New York. In 1794 he was elected cashier. The 
 duties of this office were discharged by Mr. Wilkes 
 with signal ability and devotion to the interests of the 
 bank, and the directors repeatedly testified their ap- 
 preciation of his services. In May, 1802, he asked for 
 leave of absence, stating to the board that urgent fam- 
 ily business rendered it indispensably necessary for 
 him to go to Europe. A vacation of six months was 
 accordingly given him, and the time was afterward ex- 
 
84 A HISTORY OF 
 
 tended to the following May. The occasion of this visit 
 was a legacy which had been left him by a distant and 
 comparatively unknown relative in England, and which 
 he voluntarily, divided with his brother in this country. 
 This act of generosity gave to the recipient of the gift 
 what in those days was a handsome fortune. 
 
 The successful accomplishment of Mr. Wilkes' mis- 
 sion to London in behalf of the bank has already been 
 referred to. He was President of the bank from iSaS, 
 and upon his resignation in 1832, the directors, in a 
 letter to him, expressed their "high sense of his long- 
 continued services in behalf of the institution, distin- 
 guished as they have been for zealous fidelity, sound 
 discretion, and unblemished integrity." 
 
 Mr. Wilkes died. in 1833. His genial disposition 
 and winning manners won for him the affectionate re- 
 gard of all who knew him. He left six children, the 
 eldest of whom married Francis Jeffrey, afterward 
 Lord Jeffrey, who visited this country in 181 3. 
 
 At the meeting of the directors on the i5th of No- 
 vember, Cornelius Heyer was elected President to fill 
 the vacancy made by the resignation of Mr. Wilkes. 
 
 The increase of business in the city of New York, 
 and the prospective withdrawal of a large amount of 
 capital by the Bank of the United States, led the 
 directors of the Bank of New York to petition the 
 Legislature, in Decernber, 1835, for liberty to increase 
 
PRESIDENT 1835-1833 
 
 X^i^'hyBB.BS.:i.S^u]J,t.--^ii 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 85 
 
 its capital to |2, 000,000, but the petition was not 
 granted. 
 
 In 1836 the financial situation had become so serious 
 that the Legislature of the State of New York passed 
 a bill, in February of that year, for the relief of the city 
 of New York, which authorized the banks, under the 
 Safety Fund act, to make foreign loans and use the 
 money thus borrowed as capital. Taking advantage 
 of this privilege, the Bank of New York effected a loan 
 with Messrs. Morrison, Cryder & Co., of London, 
 through Mr. Richard Alsop, their agent in New York, 
 of ^ii2,5oo for thirteen months, at five per cent, in- 
 terest ; the bank giving its bonds for the amount, pay- 
 able in London in two, three, and four years, with 
 interest warrants attached. The bonds were to be sold 
 by Messrs. Morrison, Cryder & Co., and the proceeds 
 applied to the liquidation of the principal and accruing 
 interest of the loan. The negotiation of this loan was 
 reported to the Comptroller of the State and the Bank 
 Commissioners. 
 
 The difficulties which had already proved so embar- 
 rassing were increased by the fact that the Bank of 
 New York was called upon, in May, 1836, to return to 
 the Bank for Savings three hundred thousand dollars 
 which it had held on special deposit for that bank for a 
 considerable time. Fortunately, on the 4th of May, 
 the Commissioners of the Canal Fund offered to the 
 
86 A HISTORY OF 
 
 bank one hundred thousand dollars at five per cent., 
 to be repaid on the ist of July, 1837 ; and on the 23d 
 of August the Receivers of the Washington Insurance 
 Company also made to the bank a loan of one hundred 
 and ninety-four thousand dollars at five per cent., to be 
 repaid on twenty days' notice. 
 
 On the 24th of April, 1837, the Commissioners of 
 the Canal Fund asked for proposals for a loan of I3,- 
 395,000 mostly at five per cent, interest; and a com- 
 bination of banks in the city of New York agreed to 
 take the whole amount in proportion to their capital. 
 But the offer as made was not satisfactory to the 
 Comptroller of the State. 
 
 In October of the same year the Commissioners de- 
 cided to issue to the Bank of New York transferable 
 certificates of stock to the amount of #200,000, bearing 
 five per cent, interest, upon certain conditions which 
 were complied with by the bank, and the stock was 
 afterward sent to London for sale. 
 
 The financial embarrassment had increased during 
 the month of April, 1837, and the officers of the New 
 York banks held repeated meetings for the purpose of 
 consultation. On the 9th of May it was resolved to 
 suspend specie payments, and a series of rules and 
 regulations for mutual protection were adopted, to con- 
 tinue in force during the period of suspension. 
 
 On the 27th of November, 1837, a convention com- 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 87 
 
 posed of 136 delegates representing banks in all parts 
 of the country was held in New York to take measures 
 for an early resumption of specie payments. Messrs. 
 Albert Gallatin, George Newbold, Cornelius Heyer, 
 President of the Bank of New York, and others were 
 appointed a committee to publish the views of the con- 
 vention. Another meeting of the convention was held 
 on the nth of April, 1838, and a resolution passed to 
 recommend the banks to resume specie payments on 
 the first Monday in January. This, however, was found 
 to be impracticable. 
 
 The banks of New York finally resumed on the loth 
 of May, 1 838. Those of Pennsylvania and the Southern 
 States followed on the 13th of August, but were unable 
 to maintain specie payments, and on the 9th of Sep- 
 tember, 1839, again suspended. 
 
 In December, 1 840, an application was made to the 
 Bank of New York by a committee of the Philadelphia 
 banks for a loan to enable them to resume specie pay- 
 ments, but it was decided that it was inexpedient to 
 make the loan at that time. The Philadelphia banks 
 were then largely indebted to the banks in the city of 
 New York, and the latter found it difficult to maintain 
 specie payments. In 1841 the necessity of again sus- 
 pending was freely discussed, but such a course was 
 strongly opposed by the larger banks. These sold their 
 claims on Philadelphia at as high a rate of discount as 
 
50 A HISTORY OF 
 
 thirteen percent. Mr. Newbold, of the Bank of Amer- 
 ica, brought on at one time from Philadelphia 1400,000 
 in specie, which enabled the banks of this city to main- 
 tain specie payments. 
 
 The Bank of New York during this period of great 
 stringency in the money market extended material aid 
 to the State. On the ist of April, 1840, it lent the 
 Commissioners of the Canal Fund 5^200,000 for ninety 
 days, and in the following June, $200,000 more for six 
 months. In May, 1843, the bank subscribed for |i5o,- 
 000 New York six per cent, stock, payable at the 
 pleasure of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund after 
 the year 1 860. 
 
 The office of President of the bank was made 
 vacant by the death of Cornelius Heyer on the 
 5th of January, 1843. Mr. Heyer was for fifty-two 
 years in the service of the bank. He was born in 1 773, 
 and entered the bank at the age of eighteen. After 
 acting as, teller he resigned the position and entered 
 into mercantile business ; but at the invitation of the 
 officers of the bank he resumed his position in it. He 
 was appointed cashier in 1825, and succeeded Mr. 
 Wilkes as President of the bank in 1832. Mr. Heyer 
 was highly esteemed as a valuable member of the 
 church and of the community. He was for many years 
 President of the Board of Corporation of the General 
 Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church, and was prom- 
 inent in her various councils. 
 
'HZSIDETSTT 1832-184-3 
 
 Xnj f- ay JTMmm.s. S-.'M IT.'wYark 
 
THE BANK OF NE W YORK. 89 
 
 At the next meeting of the directors of the bank, 
 John Oothout was chosen President. 
 
 During this year the bank sustained another loss in 
 the resignation of Joshua Waddington, who had been 
 identified with the institution as a director since 1784. 
 In a letter to the directors on the 6th of June, 1843, Mr. 
 Waddington stated that, having reached a period of 
 life which made it difficult to continue his punctual at- 
 tendance at the bank, he felt constrained to resign the 
 office he had held for nearly sixty years. 
 
 Mr. Waddington died on the 29th of February, 1844, 
 in his ninetieth year. He was a native of England, 
 and had been in business there before coming to this 
 country. During his long residence in New York he 
 was universally respected and esteemed. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that Mr. Waddington's term 
 of service as director of the Bank of New York and 
 that of Charles E. Bill, now senior director, cover 
 every year of its existence. Mr, Waddington was 
 elected a director at the first meeting of the subscribers 
 in 1784, and continued to serve until 1843 J ■'^i'- Bill 
 has held his office since 1837. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1852-1884. 
 
 Expiration of the Charter of the Bank — Reorganization under the Free Banking 
 Act in 1853 — Increase of Capital to $2,000,000 in 1853 — The Panic of 
 1857 — Suspension of Specie Payments by the Banks in October, iSsj—An 
 Injunction Asked for Against the Bank of New York — Decision in Favor of 
 the Bank — Resumption of Specie Payments in December, 1857 — The New 
 Bank Building Completed in 1858 — Death of John Ootkout in 1858 and 
 Election of Anthony P. Halsey as President — The War of the Rebellion — 
 Increase of Capital to $3,000,000 in 1859 — A Loan Committee Appointed in 
 i860 — Financial Aid Extended to the Government by the Bank of New 
 York — Death of Anthony P. Halsey in 1863 and Election of Charles P. 
 Leverich as President — Organization of the Gold Department of the Bank 
 in 1864 — Reorganization of the Bank under the National System in 
 1865 — Retention of its Former Title— Death of Charles P. Leverich and 
 Election of Charles M. Fry as President in 1876 — Reduction of Capital to 
 $2,000,000 in 1878 — Dividends paid by the Bank during its Existence — 
 Conclusion, 
 
 IN May, i852, when the charter of the bank was 
 about to expire, books were opened for subscrip- 
 tions to a new bank under the general banking law 
 known as the Free Banking Act, and passed in 1838. 
 The capital of the bank w^s fixed at |2, 000,000 in 
 shares of |ioo each, the stockholders of the bank 
 being entitled to subscribe to twice the amount of their 
 stock in the existing bank, and only one half of the 
 additional capital to be immediately paid in. 
 
 The stockholders of the bank having subscribed to 
 
 90 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 9 1 
 
 the articles of association in accordance with the 
 requirements of the statute, and the requisite security 
 having been deposited with the Banking Department at 
 Albany, the Bank of New York, on the ist of January, 
 1853, became a free bank, with the directors, officers, 
 and clerks of the previous bank. The assets and lia- 
 bilities of the old bank had been sold and conveyed to 
 it by deed of transfer. The real estate on the corner 
 of Wall and William Streets was valued at $2 5o,ooo. 
 A careful estimate of the cash value of the assets in 
 excess of the capital was made and a final dividend of 
 thirty-eight and one half per cent, was declared, which 
 dividend was receivable in payment of subscriptions to 
 the new bank. It was estimated that the circulation 
 of the bank which was lost or destroyed, and which 
 would never be presented for redemption, amounted 
 to |5o,ooo. The subsequent return of notes reduced 
 the estimate to $40,000. 
 
 The financial stringency which existed in the fall of 
 1857 occasioned a good deal of apprehension. Sev- 
 eral conferences were held by bank officers in New 
 York to devise means of relief, and the Secretary of 
 the Treasury was applied to for aid, but without suc- 
 cess. The stringency continued, and finally culminated 
 in a general suspension of specie payments on the i5th 
 of October. The panic of that day might possibly 
 have been prevented by an earlier agreement on the 
 
92 A HISTORY OF 
 
 part of the banks to suspend specie payments, but 
 each bank was desirous to be the last to propose such 
 action. It was not until some of the banks out of 
 Wall Street were reported to have suspended, that 
 the larger banks decided that they must protect them- 
 selves, and instead of the usual certification they certi- 
 fied checks as being " due the depositor." This action 
 created distrust and made depositors more anxious to 
 receive gold for their checks. 
 
 A crowd filled the banking-room of the Bank of 
 New York, and as it became evident that gold was 
 being drawn on checks which should properly have 
 gone through the Clearing-House, it was decided, at 
 about 2 P.M., to refuse payment of any checks or bills 
 not presented by a dealer in the bank. 
 
 On the 13th of October, during the run on the 
 banks a person presented two one-hundred-dollar notes 
 of the bank to the paying teller and demanded the 
 specie, which was refused. 
 
 Application was immediately made by the holder of 
 the notes to the Supreme Court for an order to show 
 cause why an injunction should not be granted against 
 the bank and a receiver appointed. 
 
 The case was argued before Judge Roosevelt, who 
 decided against the application on the ground that 
 while a bank may refuse to redeem its circulating notes 
 during a period of general suspension, that refusal of 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 93 
 
 itself does not prove that the bank is insolvent ; the 
 bank having at the time property not only sufficient 
 but in every respect more than sufficient to satisfy all 
 demands. Within the meaning of the statute, there- 
 fore, it is clearly solvent. 
 
 The suspension was of short duration. On the 13th 
 of November the board of directors of the Bank of 
 New York passed a resolution to the effect that the 
 bank was ready for a general resumption of specie 
 payments, and only awaited the action of the banks of 
 the city and the State to carry the measure into effect. 
 They further resolved to resume specie payments for 
 all small notes of the bank then in circulation. On 
 the nth of December the President signed an agree- 
 ment with the other banks of the city to resume specie 
 payments for all their obligations on the following 
 Monday. Specie payments were accordingly resumed 
 on the 14th of December, iSS;. 
 
 The need of better accommodation for the business 
 of the bank had long been felt, and in i856, a commit- 
 tee had been appointed to procure plans for a new 
 building. The plans submitted by Messrs. Vaux and 
 Withers were subsequently adopted, and the bank 
 was temporarily removed to the second story of the 
 building occupied by the Bank of the State of New 
 York at the corner of William Street and Exchange 
 Place. The old building was torn down and a new 
 
94 ' A HISTORY OF 
 
 one erected, four stories in height, having a front of 
 thirty-eight feet, and a depth on William Street of one 
 hundred and twenty-six feet. The cost of the struc- 
 ture was 1173,400. The corner-stone was laid on the 
 loth of September, i856, and the structure completed 
 early in i858 ; and on the 29th of March business was 
 begun in the new building. 
 
 The structure was described at the time as "built 
 in the Italian style, of Little Falls brown stone and 
 Philadelphia brick. The banking-room is fifty-eight 
 feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and twenty-six feet 
 high, occupying two stories in the central and rear 
 part of the building. The ceiling and walls, and the 
 whole -fitting-up of the interior compare favorably with 
 the elegance of the exterior, and the room is lighted 
 on the east side, where it adjoins the present American 
 Exchange Bank, by glazed panels in the ceiling. The 
 front part of the building on Wall Street and the 
 upper stories are intended for offices, and the whole 
 is constructed with iron beams and concrete, so as to 
 be completely fire-proof." By a novel and ingenious 
 arrangement an abundance of light was given to the 
 upper story, and the bank was thus enabled to let that 
 part of the building to the Clearing- House for a num- 
 ber of years. 
 
 So well satisfied were the directors with the building, 
 that, at a meeting of the Board, it was resolved, " that 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK, 1879. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 95 
 
 the consummate skill exhibited by the architect, Mr. 
 Calvert Vaux, in the erection of the new banking- 
 house, deserves more than the mere acknowledgment 
 that the Board have been most fortunate in the selec- 
 tion of a comparative stranger to do the work," and 
 an addition of $i,5oo was made to the sum already- 
 paid for his services. 
 
 The old clock, which for more than sixty years had 
 kept time in the bank, was presented to the New 
 York Historical Society, and was received as a gift 
 possessing peculiar historic interest. 
 
 In 1 858, the bank was again deprived by death of 
 the services of one of its Presidents. John Oothout, who 
 had filled the office for fifteen years, died on the 29th 
 of January. Mr. Oothout was born in the city of New 
 York in 1789- He received his business education in 
 the office of Robert Lenox, one of the most prominent 
 merchants of that time. After the death of his father 
 he left Mr. Lenox, but never engaged in mercantile 
 business. In 1823 he became treasurer of the Chambers 
 Street (now Bleecker Street) Savings-Bank, and served 
 that institution faithfully until 1843, when he resigned. 
 He was elected a director of the Bank of New York in 
 1 819, and was made President of the institution in 
 
 1843. 
 
 Mr. Oothout was also interested in many of the 
 charitable institutions of the city. He was a man of 
 
9^ A HISTORY OF 
 
 the strictest integrity, and had the respect of all with 
 whom he had business relations. Gentle in his manners 
 and kindly in his feelings; he was universally beloved 
 and his death deeply lamented, , 
 
 The directofs of the bank- at their meeting on the 
 2d of February elected Anthony P. Halsey President, 
 in place of Mr. Oothout. 
 
 A demand for increased banking facilities in the city 
 had existed for some time, and in i857 the directors of 
 the Bank of New York had decided to increase the 
 capital of the institution to 13,000,000; the additional 
 amount to. be called for in instalments. This was 
 accordingly done, and by July, iSSg, the whole amount 
 was paid in. 
 
 In the fall of i860 it becarne eyident that a financial 
 crisis was ' near at hand. A civil war was threatened, 
 and in November the first of the loan committees, 
 formed by the associated banks for the purpose of 
 facilitating their action in behalf of the United States 
 Government, began its labors. Of this the Vice- 
 President of the Bank of New York was a member, and 
 also custodian of the securities entrusted to it. This 
 committee continued its labors until March, 1861, when 
 its term of service expired by limitation. Another com- 
 mittee was then formed, which continued in existence 
 until May i, 1862. The committee met weekly in 
 rooms on the third floor of the Bank of New York 
 
^^>/— 
 
 PRB:G1DV',H1' lB^'3-185 
 
 hh 'f " I K , "i i4dt' 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 97 
 
 building, which were set apart for their use. The whole 
 amount of loan certificates issued by the committees 
 from April 29, 1861, to May i, 1862, was $22,585,- 
 000. The largest amount outstanding at any one time 
 was |2 1 ,960,000. These certificates were issued on the 
 pledge of the United States Treasury notes and coupon 
 and registered stock, which the banks were entitled to 
 receive from the Treasurer of the United States. 
 
 The magnitude of the responsibility entrusted to this 
 committee is apparent from the fact that they received 
 from the United States Treasurer during this time cash 
 to the amount of $105,434,903, all of which had to be 
 counted and apportioned among the banks. 
 
 Toward the close of the year i860, the outlook was 
 so threatening that a meeting of bank officers was called 
 on the 28th of December at the office of the Assistant 
 Treasurer of the United States, in New York. The 
 financial situation was fully discussed, and it was re- 
 solved to suspend specie payments on the following 
 Monday. This action was not at first acceded to by a 
 majority of the banks, as they were under contract with 
 the Government to take their proportionate amount 
 ($35,000,000) of the $5o,ooo,ooo United States bonds 
 on which several instalments had already been paid, but 
 it was finally agreed to by all the banks. 
 
 The Bank of New York took a prominent part in all 
 the measures for the relief and support of the Govern- 
 
98 A HISTORY OP 
 
 ment throughout the war of the rebellion. It was rep- 
 resented in all the meetings of the officers of the 
 associated banks in relation to financial aid to the 
 Government at the beginning of the war by Charles P. 
 Leverich, its Vice-President, who was made the cus- 
 todian of the securities deposited with the Loan Com- 
 mittee. The bank subscribed for its proportion of the 
 hundred millions of United States 7.30 Treasury notes 
 which were taken by the banks of New York, Phila- 
 elphia, and Boston in 1861, and also for its proportion 
 of the fifty millions of United States six per cent, bonds. 
 In April, 1861, the bank subscribed |5o,ooo to the 
 city loan for equipping volunteers, and in March, 1862, 
 $ 1 5,000 for the defence of the city. In September, 
 
 1863, the associated banks were again appealed to by 
 the Treasurer of the United States to subscribe for 
 thirty-five millions of bonds. The loan was made, the 
 Bank of New York taking its proportion of it. In June, 
 
 1864, the bank held upward of three millions of United 
 States bonds and State and city stocks. 
 
 On the I ith of May, 1863, Anthony Halsey resigned 
 the ofifice of President of the bank on account of failing 
 health. His resignation was accepted on the 14th, 
 and Charles P. Leverich elected to fill the vacancy. 
 
 Mr. Halsey died on the 26th of August, at the age of 
 sixty-nine. He had been connected with the bank for 
 forty-seven years. His business education was begun 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 99 
 
 in the counting-room of Messrs. Isaac Moses & Co., but 
 he decided to turn his attention to banking, and entered 
 the Bank of New York. During his long connection 
 with this institution he filled the position of clerk, teller, 
 cashier, Vice-President, and President with eminent 
 ability. He was prominent in the development of the 
 public-school system of the city, and actively interested 
 in Sabbath-schools, devoting much time to their ad- 
 vancement and contributing liberally to their support. 
 He was a ruling elder in the Pearl Street Presbyterian 
 Church, and afterward in the Central Church ; and a 
 minute in the records of the General Assembly of that 
 denomination recognizes his valuable services as Treas- 
 urer of the Assembly, of the Church Erection Fund, 
 and of the Union Theological Seminary, and pays a 
 high tribute to his Christian character. 
 
 In 1864 the gold coin in circulation having become 
 much depreciated by clipping, filing, and filling with a 
 baser metal, the board of gold dealers, through their 
 president, H. M. Benedict, requested the Bank of New 
 York to organize a department for the examining, bag- 
 ging, and sealing of gold coin, against which checks 
 should be certified by the bank for $5, 000 each ; such 
 checks to be a legal delivery for so much gold. In com- 
 pliance with this request, a gold department with thirty- 
 seven subscribers was organized on the 1 6th of Decem- 
 ber, 1864. 
 
100 A HISTORY OF 
 
 Paul Bunker, then the oldest clerk in the bank, and 
 who had filled the positions of paying teller and assis- 
 tant cashier, was appointed' manager of the gold de- 
 partment. W. D. Matthews' and John Aschille were 
 appointed expert examiners; and ten iron safes were 
 constructed in the vault for the safe keeping of the gold 
 coin. • 
 
 This department increased rapidly ; and on the 4th 
 of April, 1 865, fifty-two gold dealers and fifty-five mer- 
 chants had become subscribers. The amount of gold 
 coin deposited to be examined, sifted, and tested in 
 various ways assumed such proportions that, in a little 
 "over three months, the amount examined and bagged 
 was 141,243,000. 
 
 On the third floor of the bank large rooms had been 
 furnished for the business, with scales of great sensi- 
 tiveness and accuracy. Pieces of different denomina- 
 tions were separated by passing the coin through a 
 series of sieves. Suspicious pieces were tested and 
 weighed separately ; and it is believed that no bad or 
 light coin passed out in the bags put up and sealed at 
 the bank. 
 
 Mr. Aschille having resigned his position, E, H. 
 Birdsall was appointed chief examiner, and John A. 
 Cisco, assistant. Both of these gentlemen came from 
 the Assistant Treasurer's office in New York, and were 
 unequalled as experts. 
 
PRESIDENT 1858-1863. 
 
 / KS Sail e <S>e.i, .ffu- TtrTr. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 10 1 
 
 The permanent deposit of coin amounted to $i 1,000,- 
 000, which remained in the keeping of the bank until 
 August, 1 865. At about that time the United States 
 Treasury began the issue of gold notes against de- 
 posits of coin. The deposits by the gold dealers in the 
 bank were speedily drawn out, but the gold department 
 was continued until the resumption of specie payments 
 on January i, 1879. On the last day of 1878, the gold 
 accounts were written up and balanced ; and by 
 1 1 o'clock P.M. all the balances had been transferred 
 to the currency accounts of the dealers. 
 
 When the safes were constructed for the keeping of 
 the gold, in 1864, twenty safes were also built in the 
 upper vault for the use of customers of the bank. 
 These were all rented early in i 865 ; and so great 
 was the demand for this accommodation that one half 
 of the lower vault was fitted up in the same way as 
 quickly as possible, and during the next year it was 
 found necessary to build vaults in the other half. In 
 1 879, the bank built a safe-deposit vault in the basement, 
 where there had been a check and box vault. The 
 doors to this vault were constructed with great care ; 
 the outer one, which weighs three tons, is hung on a 
 crane, but is opened and closed with perfect ease. 
 
 On the 6th of July, the Bank of New York became 
 a National Bank in accordance with the provisions of 
 the National Banking Act, passed by Congress in 1864, 
 
I02 A HISTORY OF 
 
 and took the title of " The Bank of New York Na- 
 tional Banking Association," which it still retains. It 
 was the earnest wish of the Secretary of the Treasury 
 that the Bank of New York should become and be 
 known as The First National Bank ; but the direc- 
 tors were unwilling to part with the name under which 
 the bank had been in successful operation for so many 
 years. The plan of the Secretary was that each of the 
 banks should take a numerical designation ; but the 
 proposition that the New York City banks should sur- 
 render their old names was not favorably received by 
 them, and it was not until the Secretary consented 
 that they might retain their former titles by adding 
 the word " National," that the older banks changed 
 from the State to the national system. 
 
 The panic of 1873 exceeded in severity any that 
 had been known in New York. The failure of a prom- 
 inent banking-house on the 13th of September in that 
 year was followed by other failures of bankers, banks, 
 and trust companies on the succeeding days, and by 
 the closing of the Stock Exchange on the 20th. The 
 condition of affairs was so serious that a meeting of 
 bank officers was held on the 19th of September, at 
 which Messrs. Charles P. Leverich, of the Bank of 
 New York ; F. D. Tappen, of the Gallatin Bank ; H. F. 
 Vail, of the Bank of Commerce ; W. L. Jenkins, of the 
 Bank of America ; and P. M. Bryson, of the Phoenix 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. I03 
 
 Bank, were appointed an advisory committee to 
 devise means of relief. A special committee was 
 afterward appointed, of which Mr. Leverich was a 
 member, who were authorized to issue Clearing- House 
 certificates to the amount of $10,000,000 on deposits 
 with them of stocks. Seventy-five per cent, was ad- 
 vanced on the market value of these securities, and the 
 certificates were available until the ist of November. 
 
 The banks also agreed to act as agents for the pur- 
 chase of 110,000,000 of bonds which the United States 
 Sub-Treasurer had offered to buy. These measures 
 afforded the desired relief to the money market, and 
 the panic was of comparatively short duration. 
 
 The bank sustained a serious loss in the sudden 
 death, on the loth of January, 1876, of its President, 
 Charles P. Leverich, who had been closely connected 
 with it for thirty-six years. A special meeting of the 
 directors was immediately called, at which resolutions 
 were passed expressing their appreciation of his char- 
 acter and their sorrow at his death. 
 
 The ancestors of Mr. Leverich came to this country 
 from England in 1633 and settled at Newtown, L. L 
 He was born in that village on the 1 7th of July, 1 809. 
 At the age of 18 he began the business career which 
 proved so successful, and entered the house of Peter 
 Remsen & Co., of which his elder brother, Henry S. 
 Leverich, was afterward a partner. In 1883 he com- 
 
I04 A HISTORY OF 
 
 menced business on his own account, and formed a 
 partnership with Peter R. Brinkerhoff, which termi- 
 nated at the end of the year. He then continued the 
 business alone, dealt largely in sugar and cotton, and 
 acted as agent for a large number of estates at the 
 South. In May, 1840, he became a director in the 
 Bank of New York ; in February, 1853, he was elected 
 Vice-President; and in 1863 he succeeded Anthony 
 P. Halsey as President of the institution. 
 
 Mr. Leverich's devotion to the interests of the bank 
 was as marked as his patriotic efforts in behalf of the 
 Government of the United States during the critical 
 period of the civil war. These efforts were as unre- 
 mitting as they were valuable. He, was a member of 
 the Committee of Safety, which was formed before the 
 war, and was prominent in its councils. In November, 
 1 860, the first Loan Committee authorized by the banks 
 of New York, and which has already been referred to, 
 was formed in New York. It consisted of Moses 
 Taylor, James Punnett, Reuben W, Howes, and Charles 
 P. Leverich. This committee represented the banks 
 in lending to the United States Government |s5o,ooo,ooo 
 to enable it to carry on the war ; and the timely aid 
 thus afforded at a most critical period was invaluable. 
 Mr. Leverich was an active and useful member of the 
 committee ; and as custodian of the funds in its posses- 
 sion, he had under his sole charge the sum of upward 
 
PRESIDENT 1B63-1S76. 
 
 Xiyi.-ty e.BBiiXL &. :x""e-^ToTlc . 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. I05 
 
 of one hundred millions of dollars in securities which 
 were lodged with him and for which certificates were 
 issued. 
 
 Mr. Leverich took an active part in the Clearing- 
 House Association of the banks of New York, and in 
 1863 was elected its chairman, but declined the office. 
 The directors of the Bank of New York had great 
 difficulty in inducing Mr. Leverich to accept any com- 
 pensation for his arduous and responsible services as 
 its Vice-President. In June, 1862, the Board passed a 
 preamble and series of resolutions setting forth that, as 
 their frequent attempts to relieve themselves of the 
 obligations they were under to him, had been resisted 
 with rare disinterestedness and singular pertinacity, 
 they were unable longer to accept such valuable servi- 
 ces without due return. The directors therefore 
 unanimously decided to fix his salary at |5,ooo, and to 
 transfer one hundred shares of the stock of the bank 
 to him as some evidence of their appreciation of his 
 devotion to the interests of the institution while serving 
 as Vice-President for so long a period of gratuitous 
 labor ; assuring him that they could no longer dispense 
 with his acquiescence in their intentions. 
 
 During his business career Mr. Leverich was a di- 
 rector in several corporations, among which were the 
 Panama Railroad Company, with which he was for along 
 time connected, the Long Island, the Knickerbocker, 
 
I06 A HISTORY OF 
 
 and other insurance companies. He was also a trustee 
 of the old Chambers Street (now the Bleecker Street) 
 Bank for Savings ; and was connected with a number 
 of other institutions. His excellent judgment and his 
 strength of character made him a safe counsellor, while 
 his characteristics as a citizen, his public spirit, and his 
 unostentatious charity won for him the esteem of the 
 entire community. He was a member of the Fifth 
 Avenue Presbyterian Church, of which the Reverend 
 John Hall, D. D., is pastor ; and one of the noble acts 
 of his life was the building and giving to his friends and 
 neighbors at Corona (West Flushing), L. I., in 1871, a 
 chapel, to be forever used as a free church. 
 
 The death of Mr. Leverich occurred during the 
 period of great depression in financial affairs which fol- 
 lowed the panic of 1873 ; and the choice of his successor 
 at such a critical time was a matter of special impor- 
 tance. On the 18th of January, 1876, Charles M. Fry 
 was elected President by the unanimous vote of the 
 directors. Mr. Fry was chosen to fill the position on ac- 
 count of his ability and his long experience as a merchant 
 and financier. He is a native of Virginia, and has been 
 engaged in business in New York since 1848. He was 
 elected a director of the bank in 1874, and during the 
 same year was made Vice-President. Under his ad- 
 ministration as President the bank has so prospered 
 that its condition was never better than at the present 
 
J^ ^ 
 
 TB.E 51 DENT 18 7 B 
 
 £1 1^ cj S£ "' \ J 1-. ' jj>'\ 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 107 
 
 time, and the market value of its stock has advanced 
 from par to a premium of seventy-five per cent. 
 
 In July, 1878, the Bank of New York became a 
 depository of the United States Treasury for the sale 
 of the four per cent, bonds. It disposed of a large 
 amount of these securities, and was afterward a mem- 
 ber of the syndicate which subscribed for all the unsold 
 bonds. 
 
 The policy of reducing the capital of the bank had 
 for some time been under consideration. It was evident 
 that there was an excess of banking capital in New 
 York, and a meeting of stockholders was held on the 
 23d of September, 1878, to take action in the matter ; 
 22,429 shares of stock were represented, and it was 
 unanimously resolved to reduce the capital from I3,- 
 000,000 to 12,000,000. One million dollars was there- 
 fore repaid to the stockholders on the ist of October 
 following, and certificates for the reduced amount of 
 stock issued to them. 
 
 In 1879 it was decided to add two stories to the 
 building occupied by the bank, according to plans sub- 
 mitted by Messrs. Vaux & Radford, and the work was 
 completed early in 1 880, at a cost of $56, 800, The ex- 
 cellence of the location and the improvements made in 
 the building caused the offices in the additional stories 
 to be immediately taken. The building is heated by 
 steam, and although it is fire-proof, each floor is fur- 
 
I08 A HISTORY OF 
 
 nished with a length of hose connected with a tank in 
 the attic and with a steam pump in the sub-basement. 
 As a part of the improvements in the building, a safe- 
 deposit vault was constructed in the basement, with all 
 the latest devices for the safety of its contents. The 
 outer door of the vault weighs three tons, and is closed 
 by means of a lever with arrangements for making the 
 interior air-tight. 
 
 The Bank of New York has never passed a divi- 
 dend, except in 1837, when it was obliged to do so by 
 law. The records of the bank for the seven years 
 preceding its incorporation are not in existence ; but 
 advertisements of dividends amounting to forty-five 
 per cent, were published in the papers of the day, 
 and it is probable that another dividend of three per 
 cent, was made of which no notice is to be found. A 
 statement of the total amount of dividends can, there- 
 fore, be given. 
 
 For the first six months after the incorporation the 
 
 dividend was 7 ^ 
 
 For the next six months 4 ^ 
 
 From November, 1792, to November, 1823, inclu- 
 sive, dividends of 4^ per cent, were made every 
 six months, and four extra dividends at the same 
 rate in 1794, 1797, and 1800; making in all . 301^^ 
 
 From that time fifteen semi-annual dividends of 4 
 
 per cent, were paid, amounting to . . . 60 % 
 
 From November, 183 1, to May, 1847, the rate of 
 the semi-annual dividends varied from 3^ to 5 per 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. IO9 
 
 cent., the regular dividend being passed in No- 
 vember, 1837, in compliance with the State law, 
 as the banks had suspended specie payments. 
 In May, 1838, however, after resumption, a divi- 
 dend of 8 per cent, was made for the year. The 
 dividends for the entire period, therefore, 
 amounted to ....... 133^% 
 
 From November, 1847, to July, 1853, semi-annual 
 dividends were regularly made of 5 per cent., 
 amounting to 60 ^ 
 
 An extra dividend was also made at the close of 
 
 the year of 38^^ 
 
 From that date to the present time there have been 
 seven dividends of 3 per cent., seven of 3|- per 
 cent., twenty of 4 per cent., twenty-six of 5 per 
 cent., and an extra dividend in January, 1884, of 
 2^ per cent.; amounting in all to . . . 258 ^ 
 
 Amount of dividends made since incorporation . 862|^ 
 Add amount of dividends paid previous to incorpo- 
 ration 48 ^ 
 
 9ioJ^ 
 The bank has, therefore, paid to its stockholders 
 during the one hundred years of its existence nine 
 hundred and ten and one half per cent. 
 
 From November, 1823, to May, 1832, the State tax 
 of six per cent, upon the amount of dividends was 
 deducted from them when they were paid. But since 
 the passage of the Internal Revenue Act, in 1868, the 
 dividends have been paid free of all taxes. 
 
 Since the organization of the Bank of New York 
 many distinguished men have had business relations 
 
no A HISTORY OF THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 
 
 with it. Among these were Talleyrand and Aaron 
 Burr, fac-similes of whose checks are given in this 
 volume. The names of many of the original stockholders 
 still appear in the stock ledger of the bank, their 
 shares having passed to their heirs, who still hold 
 them. As the following statement would indicate, the 
 stock is largely held as a permanent investment : 
 
 23s women own 6,549 shares. 
 
 264 men " 9,945 " 
 
 56 trustees " 2,970 " 
 
 12 charitable associations . " 536 " 
 
 567 stockholders .... " 26,000 " 
 
 In reviewing the history of the Bank of New York 
 since its organization, those who are now or who have 
 been associated with it may take a just pride in the 
 position it has maintained through the changes of a 
 century. It has , survived the trials that have proved 
 too severe for many other corporations, while the city 
 whose name it bears has risen from a position of sec- 
 ondary importance to the rank of the chief city of the 
 United States. And it can justly be said that of all 
 the institutions of its kind that have grown up with it, 
 none has more faithfully discharged its duty to the 
 public, to the Government, and to its stockholders than 
 the Bank of New York. 
 
VICE PRESIDENT 1882, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 LETTER OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND OF 
 WM. SETON. 
 
 New York, March 21, 1784. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Permit me to introduce to your acquaintance and atten- 
 tion Mr. Seton, Cashier of the Bank of New York. He is 
 just setting out for Philadelphia to procure materials and 
 information in the forms of business. I recommend him to 
 you because I am persuaded you will with pleasure facili- 
 tate his object. Personally, I dare say you will be pleased 
 with him. 
 
 He will tell you of our embarrassments and prospects. 
 I hope an incorporation of the two banks, which is evi- 
 dently the interest of both, has put an end to differences 
 in Philadelphia. Here, a wild and impracticable scheme of 
 a land bank stands in our way ; the projectors of it perse- 
 vering in spite of the experience they have, that all the 
 mercantile and moneyed influence is against it. 
 Your obedient servant. 
 
 To Mr. Fitzsimmons. A. HAMILTON. 
 
 113 
 
114 A HISTORY OF 
 
 Philadelphia, March 27, 1784. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 You will observe by my letter of this day to our Presi- 
 dent, that I have been requested to postpone my visit to 
 the bank until they shall be well informed that the 
 Bank of New York has, or actually will obtain, a charter. 
 Although I am confident this is only an ostensible reason 
 for not wishing to see me at the bank, it will be highly 
 necessary I should be regularly informed of what is doing 
 in this respect, that I may be able to speak fully and with 
 firmness to the subject ; therefore, exclusive of any letter 
 the directors may write to me, I trust you will communicate 
 to me whatever may appear to you essential for me to 
 know. 
 
 The fact is (and which cannot be communicated to the 
 many, and therefore not mentioned in my official letter), 
 their motive for not wishing to see me at the bank just now, 
 arises from their being at present in very great confusion — 
 the opposition of the new bank began it, and being pressed 
 so hard by this opposition, they were obliged to lay them- 
 selves so open, that it evidently appeared, if carried further, 
 it would strike too fatal a blow. Therefore, for the safety 
 of the community at large, it became absolutely necessary 
 to drop the idea of a new bank, and to join hand in hand to 
 relieve the old bank from the shock it had received. Gold 
 and silver had been extracted in such amounts that dis- 
 counting was stopped, and for the fortnight past not any 
 business has been done at the bank in this way. The dis- 
 tress it has occasioned to those dependent on circulation 
 and engaged in large speculations, is severe ; and, as if their 
 cup of misery must overflow, by the last arrival from Eu- 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. II5 
 
 rope, intelligence is received that no less a sum than ;^6o,ooo 
 sterling of Mr. Morris' bills, drawn for the Dutch loan, are 
 under protest. It is well known that the bank, by some 
 means or other, must provide for this sum. The child must 
 not desert its parent in distress, and such is their connec- 
 tion that whatever is fatal to the one must be so to the 
 other. However, the man who has more than once, by his 
 consummate abilities, saved the American Empire from 
 ruin, will no doubt be found equal to overcome these tem- 
 porary inconveniences, and to restore universal confidence 
 and good order. I trust you will be guarded in your con- 
 versation with others on this subject, lest it might recoil on 
 me, and not only place me in a disagreeable situation, but 
 defeat the purposes of my coming here. 
 
 I have had several interviews with our friend Gov. Morris ; 
 he is for making the Bank of New York a branch of the 
 Bank of North America, but we differ widely in our ideas 
 of the benefit that would result from such a connection. 
 
 If it will not be intruding too much upon your time and 
 goodness, may I request that you will now and then inform 
 me what is doing by our Legislature, and permit me to as- 
 sure you, that it will ever give me singular pleasure to have 
 it in my power to evince the respect and esteem with 
 which 
 
 I am, dear sir, 
 Your obedient and very humble servant, 
 
 WM. SETON. 
 Alexander Hamilton, Esq. 
 
II. 
 
 LIST OF THE PRESIDENTS AND CASHIERS OF THE 
 BANK OF NEW YORK FROM ITS ORGANIZA- 
 TION TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Alexander McDougal, 
 Jeremiah Wadsworth, 
 Isaac Roosevelt, 
 
 GULIAN VERPLANCK, 
 
 Nicholas Gouverneur, 
 Herman Le Roy, 
 Matthew Clarkson, 
 Charles Wilkes, 
 Cornelius Heyer, 
 John Oothout, 
 Anthony P. Halsey, 
 Charles P. Leverich, 
 Charles M. Fry, 
 
 NAME. 
 
 William Seton. 
 Charles Wilkes, 
 
 Cornelius Heyer, 
 
 Anthony P. Halsey, 
 
 William B. Meeker, 
 Richard B. Ferris, 
 
 Ebenezer S. Mason, 
 
 presidents. 
 
 ELECTED. 
 
 June 9, 1784, 
 May 9, 1785, 
 May 8, 1786, 
 May II, 1791, 
 December 7, 1799, 
 July 29, 1802, 
 May 8, 1804, 
 May 12, 1825, 
 Nov. 15, 1832, 
 January 10, 1843, 
 February 2, 1858, 
 May 14, 1863, 
 January 18, 1876. 
 
 CASHIERS. 
 
 ELECTED. 
 
 June 10, 1794, 
 
 May 12, 1825, 
 
 Nov. 15, 1832, 
 
 May 16, 1856, 
 Dec. 19, 1873, 
 
 January 12, 1882. 
 116 
 
 TERM OF OFFICE ENDED. 
 
 Resigned May 9, 1785. 
 Resigned May 8, 1786. 
 Resigned May 2, 1791. 
 Died Nov. 20, 1799. 
 Died July 14, 1802. 
 Resigned May 8, 1804. 
 Resigned April 13, 1825. 
 Resigned Oct. 30, 1832. 
 Died January 5, 1843. 
 Died January 29, 1858. 
 Resigned May 11, 1863. 
 Died January 10, 1876. 
 
 TERM OF OFFICE ENDED. 
 
 Elected President May 
 12, 1825. 
 
 Elected President No- 
 vember 15, 1832. 
 
 Elected Vice-President 
 May 16, 1856. 
 
 Resigned Dec. 16, 1873. 
 
 Elected Vice-President 
 January 12, 1882. 
 
III. 
 
 LIST OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE BANK OF 
 
 NEW YORK FROM ITS ORGANIZATION 
 
 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 Samuel Franklin . 
 William Maxwell . 
 Robert Bowne 
 Nicholas Low . 
 Comfort Sands 
 Daniel McCormick . 
 Alexander Hamilton 
 Isaac Roosevelt 
 Joshua Waddington 
 John Vanderbilt . 
 Thomas Randall . 
 Thomas Stoughton 
 James Buchanan 
 William Constable 
 William Edgar 
 John Murray . 
 
 GULIAN VERPLANCK . 
 
 RUFUS King 
 William Bayard 
 Nicholas Gouverneur 
 Charles Smith 
 
 TERM OF OFFICE. 
 
 1784 to 1796 
 1784 to 1791 
 1784 to 1792 
 1784 to 1792 
 1784 to 1798 
 1784 to 1799 
 
 178410 1788 
 
 1784 to 1791 
 1784 to 1843 
 1784 to 1787 
 1784 to 1792 
 1784 to 1790 
 
 1786 
 
 1787 to 1792 
 
 178910 1793 
 
 1789 to 1794 
 1791 to 1799 
 
 1791 to 1792 
 
 1792 to 1794 
 1792 to 1802 
 
 1792 
 
 117 
 
ii8 
 
 A HISTORY OF 
 
 George Turnbull . 
 
 Gerard Banker 
 
 Richard Varick 
 
 John McVickar 
 
 John H. Thompson . 
 
 Cornelius Ray 
 
 William Demming . 
 
 John Jones . ; 
 
 John B. Coles . 
 
 George Douglas, Jr. 
 
 William Seton 
 
 Herman Le Roy 
 
 Moses Rogers . 
 
 Peter Schermerhorn, Sr. 
 
 David M. Clarkson 
 
 Archibald Gracie . 
 
 William M. Seton . 
 
 Samuel Corp . 
 
 Thomas Marle 
 
 Charles L. Cammann 
 
 Peter Kemble 
 
 Matthew Clarkson 
 
 Edward Lyde 
 
 John Atkinson 
 
 Wynant Van Zandt, Jr. 
 
 Nehemiah Rogers 
 
 James Lenox . 
 
 Nathan Sandford (State appointment) 
 
 Henry Post (State appointment) . 
 
 Isaac Lawrence .... 
 
 G, S. Mumford (State appointment) 
 
 1792 to 1794 
 1792 to 1794 
 
 1792 to 1794 
 
 1793 to 1796 
 1793 to 1794 
 
 1793 to 1794 
 
 1794 to 1819 
 1794 to 1795 
 
 1794 to 1826 
 1784 to 1795 
 
 1795 to 1798 
 1795 to 1820 
 
 1795 to 1796 
 
 1796 to 1797 
 
 1797 to 1798 
 
 1798 
 1798 
 
 1799 to 1805 
 1800 
 
 1800 to 1805 
 
 1802 to 1805 
 
 1803 to 1825 
 
 1803 
 
 1806 to 1810 
 
 1806 
 
 1807 to 1827 
 
 1807 
 1808 
 1808 
 I8IO 
 I8I0 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 
 
 119 
 
 Samuel A. Lawrence (State appointment) 181 2 
 
 Peter P. GoELET i8i2toi826 
 
 Peter ScHERMERHORN, Jr. . . . i8i4to 1852 
 
 John Mason i8i4to 1831 
 
 Isaac Heyer 1815 
 
 Charles McEvERS i8i6to 1840 
 
 John Oothout 1819 to 1858 
 
 Thomas Eddy (State appointment) . 1820 
 
 Jacob Le Roy 1820 to 1823 
 
 Samuel Boyd (State appointment) . . 1821 
 
 Julian Ludlow 1823 to 1826 
 
 Robert Bayard 1823 to 1827 
 
 Gardiner G. Rowland . . . . 1825101852 
 
 Charles Wilkes 1825 to 1832 
 
 Robert Maitland 1826 to 1837 
 
 Henry Beeckman 1826101857 
 
 William G. Thompson .... 1827101833 
 
 GuRDON Buck 1827 to 1839 
 
 Arthur Tappan 182710x831 
 
 Edward R. Jones 1827 to 1839 
 
 John H. Hicks 1831 to 1837 
 
 George S. Robbins 1 831 to 1837 
 
 Cornelius Heyer 1832101843 
 
 Robert Benson 1833 to 1858 
 
 Charles E. Bill . . . 1837 to the present time 
 
 E. a. B. Graves 1837 to 1866 
 
 Joseph Sampson 1839 to 1842 
 
 Charles P. Leverich .... 1840 to 1876 
 
 JosiAH Lane 1840 to 1872 
 
 James Marsh 1842 to 1853 
 
 Frederick Schuchardt , • ■ 1843 to 1875 
 
I20 A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 
 LiNDLEY M. Hoffman . 
 
 
 1844 to 1861 
 
 John A. C. Gray 
 
 . 
 
 1852 to 1868 
 
 Edward P. Heyer . 
 
 
 i8S3to i8S7 
 
 Peter V. King 
 
 
 1853 to 1881 
 
 Ezra Wheeler 
 
 
 1857 to 1871 
 
 P. H. Holt .... 
 
 
 1857 to 1874 
 
 Anthony P. Halsey 
 
 
 1858 to 1863 
 
 Wm. Oothout . 
 
 
 1858 to 1871 
 
 Gardiner G. Howland . 
 
 . 
 
 1858 to 1876 
 
 John N. Bradley . 
 
 1858 to the 
 
 present time 
 
 James H. Banker . 
 
 . 
 
 1861 to 1873 
 
 William Astor 
 
 
 1864 to 1883 
 
 James M. Constable . 
 
 1866 to the 
 
 present time 
 
 Benjamin G. Arnold 
 
 
 1871 to 1880 
 
 Henry Oothout 
 
 
 1872 to 1877 
 
 Charles G. Francklyn 
 
 
 1872 to 1876 
 
 Robert S. Holt 
 
 . 
 
 1874 to 1877 
 
 Charles M. Fry 
 
 1874 to the 
 
 present time 
 
 Franklin Edson 
 
 1876 " 
 
 a ii 
 
 Robert Bliss .... 
 
 . 
 
 1876 to 1881 
 
 Charles D. Leverich 
 
 1876 to the present time 
 
 George H. Byrd 
 
 1877 " 
 
 ti li 
 
 James Moir 
 
 1878 " 
 
 It (t 
 
 Gustav Amsinck . 
 
 1879 " 
 
 ii ii 
 
 Anson W. Hard . 
 
 1881 
 
 ii n 
 
 Henry B. Laidlaw 
 
 1881 " 
 
 
 Darius 0. Mills . 
 
 1881 " 
 
 H (( 
 
 Eugene Kelly 
 
 1884 
 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 
 
 121 
 
 PRESENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 
 
 
 Charles E. Bill 
 
 • • . • ■ 
 
 1837 
 
 John N. Bradley 
 
 
 1858 
 
 James M. Constable 
 
 
 1866 
 
 Charles M. Fry (Vice 
 
 President 1874 to 1876; Pres 
 
 - 
 
 dent since 1876) 
 
 . 
 
 1874 
 
 Franklin Edson 
 
 
 1876 
 
 Charles D. Leverich 
 
 
 1876 
 
 George H. Byrd . 
 
 
 1877 
 
 James Moir . 
 
 
 1878 
 
 GUSTAV Amsinck 
 
 
 1879 
 
 Anson W. Hard . 
 
 
 1881 
 
 Henry B. Laidlaw 
 
 . 
 
 1881 
 
 Darius O. Mills 
 
 
 1881 
 
 Eugene Kelly 
 
 
 1884 
 
IV. 
 ACT OF INCORPORATION. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 An Act to Incorporate the Stockholders of the Bank of New York, 
 Passed March 21, 1791. 
 
 Whereas, Isaac Roosevelt and others, associated as a 
 Company, under the style of the President, Directors, and 
 Company of the Bank of New York, by their petition pre- 
 sented to the Legislature, have prayed for the privilege of 
 being incorporated, the better to enable them to carry on 
 the purposes of their institution : Therefore, 
 
 /. Be it enacted by the People of the State of New York, 
 represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted 
 by the authority of the same, That all such persons as now 
 are, or hereafter shall be, stockholders of the said bank, 
 shall be, and hereby are, ordained, constituted, and declared 
 to be, from time to time, and until the second Tuesday of 
 May, which will be in the year one thousand eight hundred 
 and eleven, a body corporate and politic, in fact and in 
 name, by the name of the President, Directors, and Com- 
 pany of the Bank of New York ; and that by that name, 
 they and their successors, until the said second Tuesday of 
 May, one thousand eight hundred and eleven, shall and 
 may have continual succession ; and shall be persons in law 
 
 122 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 12 3 
 
 capable of suing and being sued, pleading and being im- 
 pleaded, answering and being answered unto, defending 
 and being defended in all courts and places whatsoever, in 
 all manner of actions, suits, complaints, matters, and causes 
 whatsoever : And that they and their successors may have 
 a common seal, and may change and alter the same at their 
 pleasure ; and also that they and their successors, by the 
 same name of the President, Directors, and Company of 
 the Bank of New York, shall be in law, capable of purchas- 
 ing, holding, and conveying any estate, real or personal, for 
 the use of the said corporation. 
 
 //. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That a share in the stock of the said bank shall be five hun- 
 dred Spanish milled dollars, or the equivalent thereof in 
 specie ; and the number of shares shall not exceed one 
 thousand eight hundred, exclusive of any shares that may 
 be subscribed on the part of this State, and subscriptions 
 shall be kept open under the direction of the President and 
 directors of the said bank, until the said number of shares 
 shall be filled, and the whole amount of the stock, estate, 
 and property which the said corporation shall be authorized 
 to hold, including the capital, stock, or shares above men- 
 tioned, shall never exceed in value one million dollars. 
 
 ///. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That the stock, property, affairs, and concerns of the said 
 corporation shall be managed and conducted by thirteen 
 directors, one of whom to be the President, who shall hold 
 their offices for one year, which directors shall be stock- 
 holders, and shall be citizens of this State, and be elected on 
 the second Tuesday of May in every year, at such time of 
 
124 ^ HISTORY OF 
 
 the day, and at such place in the city of New York, as a 
 majority of the directors, for the time being, shall appoint ; 
 and public notice shall be given by the said directors, in 
 two of the newspapers printed in the said city, of such time 
 and place, not more than twenty nor less than ten days 
 previous to the time of holding the said election ; and the 
 said election shall be held and made by such of the said 
 stockholders of the said bank as shall attend for that pur- 
 pose, in their own proper persons or by proxy ; and all 
 elections for directors shall be by ballot, and the thirteen 
 persons who shall have the greatest number of votes at any 
 election shall be the directors, except as is hereinafter 
 directed. And if it should happen at any election that two 
 or more persons have an equal number of votes, in such 
 mann.fr that a greater number of persons than thirteen 
 shall, by plurality of votes, appear to be chosen as directors, 
 then the said stockholders hereinbefore authorized to hold 
 such election shall proceed to ballot a second time, and by 
 plurality of votes determine which of the said persons so 
 having an equal number of votes shall be the director or 
 directors, so as to complete the whole number of thirteen ; 
 and the said directors, as soon as may be after the said 
 election, shall proceed in like manner to elect by ballot one 
 of their number to be their President, and four of the 
 directors which shall be chosen at any year, excepting the 
 President, shall be ineligible to the office of director for one 
 year, after the expiration of the time for which they shall 
 be chosen directors. And in case a greater number than 
 eight of the directors, exclusive of the President, who 
 served for the last year, shall appear to be elected, then the 
 election of such person or persons above the said number. 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 12$ 
 
 and who shall have the fewest votes, shall be considered as 
 void, and such other of the stockholders as shall be eligible, 
 and shall have the next greatest number of votes, shall be 
 considered as elected in the room of such last -described 
 person or persons, and who are hereby declared ineligible 
 as aforesaid. And the President, for the time being, shall 
 always be eligible to the office of director, but stockholders 
 not residing within this State shall be ineligible, and if any 
 director shall remove out of this State his office shall be 
 considered as vacant. And if any vacancy or vacancies should 
 at any time happen among the directors by death, resigna- 
 tion, or removal from this State, such vacancy or vacancies 
 shall be filled for the remainder of the year in which they 
 may happen by a special election for that purpose, to be 
 held in the same manner as is hereinbefore directed respect- 
 ing annual elections, at such time and place in the city of 
 New York as the remainder of the directors for the time 
 being, or the major part of them, shall appoint. And the 
 first directors shall be Isaac Roosevelt, William Maxwell, 
 Thomas Randall, Daniel M'Cormick, Nicholas Low, Wil- 
 liam Constable, Joshua Waddington, Samuel Franklin, 
 Comfort Sands, Robert Bowne, Gulian Verplanck, John 
 Murray, and William Edgar, and shall hold their offices re- 
 spectively until the second Tuesday of May next. 
 
 IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That in case it should at any time happen, that an election 
 of directors should not be made on any day when, pursuant 
 to this Act, it ought to have been made, the said corpora- 
 tion shall not, for that cause, be deemed to be dissolved, but 
 that it shall and may be lawful, on any other day, to hold 
 
126 A HISTORY OF 
 
 and make an election of directors, in such manner as shall 
 have been regulated by the laws and ordinances of the said 
 corporation. 
 
 V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That each stockholder shall be entitled to a number of 
 votes proportioned to the number of shares which he or she 
 shall have held in his or her own name at least three months 
 prior to the time of voting, according to the following 
 ratios — that is to say, at the rate of one vote for each share 
 not exceeding four, five votes for six shares, six votes for 
 eight shares, seven votes for ten shares, and one vote for 
 every five shares above ten ; stockholders actually resident 
 within the United States, and none other, may vote in 
 elections by proxy. 
 
 VI. And he it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That it shall be the duty of the directors to make half- 
 yearly dividends of so much of the profits of the said bank 
 as to them, or a majority of them, shall appear advisable ; 
 and that once in every three years, and oftener, if thereupon 
 required, by a majority of the votes of the stockholders, to 
 be given agreeably to the ratios hereinbefore established, 
 they shall lay before the stockholders, at a general meeting, 
 for their information, an exact and particular statement of 
 the debts which shall have remained unpaid, after the ex- 
 piration of the original credit, for a period of treble the term 
 of that credit, and of the surplus of profits, if any, after de- 
 ducting losses and dividends. 
 
 VII. A nd be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. 
 That the directors for the time being, or a major part of 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 1 27 
 
 them, shall have power to make and prescribe such by-laws, 
 rules, and regulations as to them shall appear needful and 
 proper, touching the management and disposition of the 
 stock, property, estate, and effects of the said corporation, 
 and touching the duties and conduct of the officers, clerks, 
 and servants employed therein, and touching the election of 
 directors, and all such other matters as appertain to the 
 business of a bank ; and shall also have power to appoint 
 so many officers, clerks, and servants, for carrying on the 
 said business, and with such salaries and allowances as to 
 them shall seem meet : Provided, That such by-laws, rules, 
 and regulations be not repugnant to the constitution and 
 laws of the United States, or of this State. 
 
 VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That this State shall have a right to subscribe any number 
 of shares to the said bank, not exceeding in the whole the 
 number of one hundred, at any time when they shall by 
 law authorize any person or persons for that purpose, and 
 the State shall have a right to increase the number of 
 shares and stock which the said corporation may hold, to 
 the amount of the sum subscribed, if the number of shares 
 hereinbefore limited shall be subscribed before such sub- 
 scription shall take place on the part of the State. 
 
 IX. A nd be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. 
 That the total amount of the debts which the said corpora- 
 tion shall at any time owe, whether by bond, bill, note, or 
 other contract, over and above the monies then actually de- 
 posited in the bank, shall not exceed three times the sum 
 of the capital stock subscribed, and actually paid into the 
 
128 A HISTORY OP 
 
 bank ; and in case of such excess, the directors under 
 whose administration it shall happen shall be liable for the 
 same, in their natural and private capacities ; but this shall 
 not be construed to exempt the said corporation, or any 
 estate, real or personal, which may hold as a body corpo- 
 rate, from being also liable for, and chargeable with, the 
 said excess ; but such of the said directors, who may have 
 been absent when the said excess was contracted, or who 
 may have dissented from the resolution or act whereby the 
 same was so contracted, may respectively exonerate them- 
 selves from being so liable, by giving immediate notice of 
 the fact, and of their absence or dissent, to the Mayor or 
 Recorder of the city of New York, and to the stockholders, 
 at a general meeting, which they shall have power to call 
 for that purpose : And further, It shall not be lawful for 
 the said corporation to emit any notes, or contract debts, 
 which shall be payable in the bills of credit emitted by the 
 laws of this State. 
 
 X. And he it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That the lands, tenements, and hereditaments which it 
 shall be lawful for the said corporation to hold, shall be 
 only such as shall be requisite for its immediate accommo- 
 dation, in relation to the convenient transacting of its busi- 
 ness, or such as shall have been bond fide mortgaged to 
 it by way of security, or conveyed to it in satisfaction 
 of debts previously contracted in the course of its dealings, 
 or purchased at sales upon judgments which shall have 
 been obtained for such debts: And further. The said cor- 
 poration shall not, directly or indirectly, deal or trade 
 in buying or selling any goods, wares, merchandise, or com- 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 1 29 
 
 modities whatsoever, or in buying or selling any stock, 
 created under any Act of the Congress of the United States, 
 or of any particular State, unless in selling the same, when 
 truly pledged to it by way of security, for debts due to the 
 said corporation. 
 
 XL And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. 
 That no transfer of the stock of the said corporation shall 
 be valid or effectual in law, until such transfer shall be 
 entered or registered in a book or books, to be kept for that 
 purpose by the directors. 
 
 XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That the bills obligatory, and of credit, under the seal 
 of the said corporation, which shall be made to any person 
 or persons, shall be assignable by endorsement thereupon, 
 under the hand or hands, of such person or persons, and 
 of his, her, or their assignee or assignees, and so as ab- 
 solutely to transfer and vest the property thereof in each 
 and every assignee or assignees successively, and to enable 
 such assignee or assignees to bring and maintain an action 
 thereupon, in his, her, or their own name or names; and 
 bills or notes, which may be issued by order of the said 
 corporation, signed by the President, and countersigned by 
 the principal cashier or treasurer, promising the payment of 
 money to any person or persons, or his, her, or their order, or 
 to bearer, though not under the seal of the said corporation, 
 shall be binding and obligatory upon the same, in like 
 manner, and with the like force and effect, as upon any 
 private person or persons, if issued by him, her, or them, in 
 his, her, or their private or natural capacity or capacities, 
 
130 A HISTORY OF 
 
 and shall be assignable and negotiable in like manner as if 
 they were so issued by such private person or persons. 
 
 XIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That this present Act of Incorporation shall in no wise 
 be forfeited by any non-user whatever, at any time before 
 the second Tuesday in May next, and that it shall, on 
 that day, be lawful for the stockholders above-mentioned 
 to assemble for the purposes of carrying into effect the 
 same ; any want of notice in the manner above prescribed, 
 to the contrary, in any wise notwithstanding. 
 
 XIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 That this Act be, and is hereby declared to be, a public Act, 
 and that the same be, for the time hereinbefore limited, 
 construed in all courts and places, benignly and favorably, 
 for every beneficial purpose therein intended. 
 
V. 
 
 LETTER FROM ALEXANDER HAMILTON TO 
 
 THE DIRECTORS OF THE BANK OF 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Treasury Dept., January 25, 1795. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 You were so obliging as to cause it to be intimated that 
 the payment of the loan of two hundred thousand dollars 
 had of your Institution might be deferred if the service 
 of the United States should require it. 
 
 It will be a great convenience to this Department to avail 
 itself of the permission, so as to defer the reimbursement of 
 the principal of that sum to a year from its commencement. 
 The interest can be paid at such periods as are agreeable to 
 you. 
 
 I cannot let slip this opportunity of thanking, for the 
 last time, the Directors of the Bank of New York for that 
 decided, prompt support of my administration which 
 they have upon every occasion given. It has made a lasting 
 impression on my heart. 
 
 With great consideration and esteem, 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Gentlemen, your obedt. servant, 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 To THE Directors of 
 
 THE Bank of New York. 
 
 131 
 
VI. 
 
 LIST OF STOCKHOLDERS OF THE BANK OF 
 
 NEW YORK AT THE TIME OF ITS 
 
 INCORPORATION IN 1791. 
 
 The par value of the shares was five hundred dollars each, one 
 half of which amount only had been called in. 
 
 Joshua Waddington 
 Alexander Hamilton 
 Aaron Burr . . 
 William Constable 
 Oliver Cromwell 
 Black Friars' Soc'ty 
 Herman Le Roy . 
 Thomas Ludlow . 
 NiCH. Gouverneur 
 St. Andrew's Society 
 Wm. Seton & Co . 
 Robert Lenox . . 
 Helena Scott . . 
 Worshipful Master 
 and Wardens of St, 
 Andrew's Lodge 
 Peter Keteltas . 
 Dominick Lynch . 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 14 
 I 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 6i 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I* 
 
 William Maxwell 
 John Delafield . 
 John B. Coles . . 
 Nicholas Low . . 
 Daniel McCormick 
 David Masterton 
 Comfort Sands 
 John Vanderbilt 
 Isaac Roosevelt 
 Robert Bowne . 
 Elting & Varick 
 Maj. John Laurence 
 Thomas Bridgers 
 
 Bridgers . . . . 
 Elias Nexsen . . . 
 Abraham Bradley and 
 
 Ebenezer Huggin 
 Abraham Bradley . 
 
 15 
 2 
 2 
 8 
 15 
 15 
 4 
 4 
 5 
 4 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 I 
 
 10 
 2 
 
 132 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 
 
 133 
 
 Daniel C. Verplanck 12 
 Henry King . . . . i 
 David Gelston ... 4 
 GuLiAN Verplanck . 8 
 Isaac Clason ... 4 
 Chamber of Com- 
 merce I 
 
 Richard Harrison . i 
 
 William Henderson, i 
 
 James Watson ... 4 
 
 George Douglas, Jr. 4 
 
 Sheffield Howard . \ 
 Pieter Johan Van 
 
 Berckel 9 
 
 Abraham Baldwin . 9 
 
 George Thatcher . i\ 
 
 George Partridge. . 2 
 
 James Richmond . . i 
 
 Saml. Ward & Bros. . 2 
 
 Francis Lewis ... 6 
 
 Mary Daubney ... 3 
 
 John Bush .... 3 
 Robert and George 
 
 Service 7 
 
 Blaze Moore . .12 
 
 WiLLET Seaman . . i 
 
 Anthony S. Bleecker 2 
 
 John Glover . . . i 
 
 Peter Schermerhorn i 
 
 Daniel Phcenix ... 4 
 
 James & Alexander, i 
 
 Christopher and 
 
 Lewis Lente . . 
 
 James Scott & Co. 
 
 Alex. Robertson . 
 
 Peter McDougall 
 
 James Farquhar . 
 
 George Fisher 
 
 Henry Newton 
 
 Hubert Van Wag 
 ENER 
 
 John Shaw . . . 
 
 Alexander Smith 
 
 Daniel Huger . . 
 
 Adonijah Huger . 
 
 John Townsend & Co 
 
 John Service, Jr. . 
 
 John H. Thompson 
 
 John Franklin . . 
 
 John Bingham . . 
 
 Israel Wilkes . . 
 
 Alex. Macomb . . 
 
 William Minturn . 
 
 Barthol'w Fisher 
 
 John Trafford . . 
 
 George Foose . . 
 
 Jane Byrne ... 
 
 George Rapelye . 
 
 William Husbands 
 
 Watson & Green- 
 leaf .... 
 
 Daniel Penfield 
 
 2 
 I 
 
 34 
 2 
 
 I 
 2 
 I 
 2 
 I 
 2 
 2 
 I 
 5 
 3 
 I 
 I 
 10 
 I 
 
 4 
 I 
 
 1 
 
134 
 
 A HISTORY OF 
 
 Hugh McEwen . . 
 AuGUSTiN Lawrence 
 William Laight . 
 Leonard Bleecker 
 Jacob Chas. Souchay 
 Samuel Franklin . 
 Joshua Sands . . 
 Peter Mesier . . 
 Jonathan Lawrence 
 Hayman Levy . . 
 Richard Varick . 
 Richard Platt . . 
 James Leslie . . . 
 Brothers, Coster & 
 
 Co 
 
 Nicholas Hoffman & 
 
 Son 
 
 Gouverneur Kemble 
 Daniel Toocker . 
 Murray & Sansom 
 John L Roosevelt 
 Alexander Ross . 
 JosiAH Shippey & Co 
 Robert Gilchrist . 
 Thomas MacFarran 
 Reynier & John Suy 
 
 dam 
 
 Wm. Remsen & Co. 
 Maxwell & Berry, 
 
 Attorneys for Ann 
 
 Robertson . . . . 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 I 
 
 4 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 I 
 I 
 
 1 
 IS" 
 
 7 
 
 lO 
 
 2 
 
 I* 
 
 ID 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 Lynch & Stoughton . 6 
 Hugh Gaine .... 3 
 Jacob Morrell . . . i 
 Julia Bunyan ... 2^ 
 Ryerss & Reilly . . \\ 
 Rob't Gosman ... 2 
 
 John Fell 3 
 
 Daniel Ludlow . . 2 
 William Willson . . 2 
 William Edgar . . a,\ 
 Thomas Morrell . . 3 
 Jonathan Morrell . 3 
 Peter Allair . . 
 Robert Hodge . . .12 
 Thomas Roach ... 3 
 John Taylor . . . . i 
 Mons. De La Forest . 5 
 George Turnbull . . 10 
 Sarah Robinson . . 3 
 Abraham Franklin 
 Peter Keteltas . 
 Christopher Roberts 
 Thomas Randall . 
 Ann Mullen . . . 
 James R. Smith . . 
 Robert Stewart . 
 Elie Jos. Chevalier 
 Chas. Smith & Co. 
 Isaac Moses . . . 
 Ann Van Horne . 
 Cornelia Van Horne 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 5 
 3 
 2 
 
 5 
 2 
 
 4 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 
THE BANK OF NEW YORK. 
 
 135 
 
 Mary Philips . . . i 
 Michael Price . . . 16 
 Theodosius Fowler 
 & Co 3 
 
 Alexander Reinagle 
 
 Richard Yates . . . 
 
 John Alsop . . . . 
 
 Thos. White . . . 
 
 John McVicker . . 
 
 Wm. T. Robinson . . 
 
 ROBT. Chas. Johnson 
 
 Walter Frazer . . 
 
 David Lydig . . . 
 
 Carlile Pollock . . 
 
 Trustees of the 
 Mutual Assurance 
 Co. OF New York 
 
 John McQueen 
 
 Edmund Priar 
 
 Garrit Harsin 
 
 Robert North 
 
 Elias Smith . 
 
 RuFus King . 
 
 John Murray 
 
 William Bayard 
 
 Ephraim Stoan . 
 
 Robert Roberts 
 
 Lewis A. Scott 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 I 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 6 
 
 3 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 I 
 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 12 
 I 
 I 
 8 
 2 
 2 
 
 William Hill . . 
 
 Henry Sadler . . 
 
 Peter Kemble . . 
 
 Unus McIvers . . 
 
 Temperance Green 
 
 John Stevenson . 
 
 John Baker . . . 
 
 James W. Depeyster 
 
 James Anderson . 
 
 Abijah Hammond . 
 
 John Ireland . . 
 
 Benjamin Martinius 
 and Andreas Crom- 
 melin .... 
 
 GULIAN CrOMMELIN 
 
 Robert Daniel Crom- 
 
 MELIN .... 
 Richard Smith, Jr. 
 JosiAH Ogden Hoff- 
 man 
 
 Benjamin Seixas . 
 Edward Griswold 
 George Gosman . 
 Gilbert Aspinwall 
 Wm. S. Aspinwall 
 Anthony A. Rutgers 
 
 3 
 6 
 2 
 I 
 
 25 
 4 
 4 
 2 
 I 
 
 9^ 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 2 
 2 
 
 723 
 
VII. 
 
 PERSONS WHOSE TERM OF SERVICE IN THE 
 
 BANK OF NEW YORK HAS BEEN OF 
 
 LONG DURATION. 
 
 Anthony P. Halsey, Clerk, Teller, Cashier, Vice- 
 President, and President .... 48 years 
 Paul Bunker, Clerk, Teller, and Assistant Cashier, 44 
 George Sage, General Book-keeper . . 40 
 
 George Fletcher, Book-keeper . 
 J. C. Corp, Register 
 Thomas Pringle, Note Teller 
 Samuel Pringle, Register and Teller 
 C. F. Neilson, Discount Clerk 
 Theodore Ward, Book-keeper, Register, and Cor- 
 responding Clerk 
 R. B. Ferris, Clerk, Teller, Cashier, and Vice-Presi 
 
 dent 
 
 F. F. Ripley, Jr., General Book-keeper 
 R. C. Armstrong, Safe Deposit Vault 
 James H. Aikman, Note Teller 
 L. B. COUTANT, Safe Deposit Vault 
 W. A. Sherman, Certification Teller 
 H. C. Gibson, Notary 
 Charles Olney, Assistant Cashier 
 James Mead, Teller's Assistant 
 Ebenezer S. Mason, Cashier 
 
 136 
 
 33 
 34 
 40 
 
 41 
 29 
 
 19 
 
 i- 
 
 35 
 28 
 27 
 27 
 
 23 
 21 
 22 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 
 ^ 
 

 C<A.'^: