>*- ^^. ^^, '^ .^■^°- ' y ^.^ ysM^ xx '\ <<»<^' ■■ • ^ -V, •) J> "5 .^' 4 o u •^0^ .^^ -0^ •^-, %.^" ,./% ♦^yK%c' .V^ VV "VV ^"^^ ^O^"^ >°-^^ v^'' tS^'" tL^^^ ^V'>•^ ,9»r .v.* \ /."---^ .^.-V-^X <^.-''.y% A^. :■'-:•% ^ /°- ^°-^^^ -e^^x. ^ ; ^0--^ : ^^^°^ ■••^Wf:-- ^**'"'''^^ ••■...;■• ,/\ ■-.'^s;?:-'^*'''"''*. '-X' >:■■' <,'-*''\ ■-•'^^■' ■.' '"oV^ "^.-0^ -o>^ -^^0^ . -oV^ =^-..<^ ,-}•- ''^'^, ./^' V ■** J.1 =•<>>. .-i* i-^' .V^^ "-^^0^ .0^ ..^' 0' o " e , ^^ , :• ^ ' /»-T>^ H J S T O R Y NEW YORK CITY, KMBRACINC AN OUTLINE SKETCH OF EVENTS FROM 1609 TO 1S30, AND A FULL ACCOUNT OF ITS DEVELOPMENT FROM 1S30 TO 1884, BENSON J. LOSSING, LL.D., •Pictorial Field Book 0/ the Revolution," " The War 0/ 1S12," nnd " The Civil War in Ameiica ;" "Mount Vernon and its /tssocialions ;" " Jllustraled History 0/ the United States ;" " Cyclofiedia of United Stales History ;" " Our Country ;" •■ St.iry of the UiiHyl Sf„i,-: ,\'.>-'v /;)'■ A'-n't," /A., el,- %\\\\%\rn\tii m\\} Poi;tiiiits, Viquis of; ^arks. ^Buiibiugs, clc, ENGRAVED ON STEEL EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK BY FERINE. NEW YORK: GEORGE E PERINE. Copyright, 1884, by Geo. E. Ferine. All Eights Reserved. PREFACE Tins work is designed tn l)e an uiitliiic ]iictur(' <>f life in New York and of the city's niateiial proLTess during tlie past sixty years. It is prefaced liy a brief liistory of the city from tlie date of its foundation until 1830, when tiie impetus wliich produced its most marvellous development Ijegau to be power- fully felt. No attempt has been made l)y the author to give details of the conuneree, finances, mechanic arts, and manufactures of the city, for the scojio and limits of the work would not permit. A few notices of ])ai'ticidar commercial, manufacturing, and other establishments have, been given, only as illusti'ations of tlie enormous expansion of all kinds of business within the ])eriod of a (piarter of a centuiy. The work is essentially a socidl history of the city of New York. It contains an account of society there in its various aspects of home life, l)usiness activities, and social organizations, during a period of two generations. In it may be found brief records of the growth of the city in area, from time to time ; changes in its architectural features ; its amusements ; its increase in population, commerce, manufactures, and other industries; the trausfoi-mations in the aspects of society and in municij)al aifairs; its judiciary, educational systems, and its government; its politics and its journalism ; its inventors and discoverei-s ; the disturbances and disasters which have afflicted it, and othei' events which have made it famous; the origin and work oi the principal educational, religious, scientific, literary, artistic, benevolent, and charitable institutions with which the city al)ounds, together with the names of the pi-ojectors, corporators, and present officers of the various institutions. In this woi'k may also be found the portraits and luief l.jo- graphical sketches of nearly one hundred citizens, who by their enterprise, intelligence, and character have materially assisted in the promotion of the prosperity and good name of New York, and in its elevation to the high position of the metropolis of the Western Hemisphere. They are the portraits of men whom their fellow-citizens delight to honor. Tbese portraits and the materials for the biographical sketches have been obtained only thi'ough tije earnest solicitations of the author. There are also numerous views of parks, public and pi'ivate l)uildings, and other objects. These, like the portraits, are en- graved on steel in the best manner, expressly for the work. The backgrounds of all the j^lates are of iiuifoi-ra size, causing an unique synunetry in the illustrations, particularly noticeable. The vignette views are after original India-ink drawings by Mr. J. Lawrence Giles. The illustrations are uniformly distrib- uted through the work at equal distances apart, for the sake of regularity, aud therefore could not, as a rule, be inserted where reference is made to them in the text. The readei", by i-eferring to the list of porti'aits and other illustrations, may readilj'' find their jilaces in the work indicated ; and by a refei-ence to the general index will as i-eadily find the relevant l)iography oi* descj-iption sought. It has been observed that the scope and limits of this work would not permit minute details; only a general view of the topics introduced. This, it is believed, will be more acceptable to the general reader than a nari-ative overburdened with the dry details of statistics, methods, and technicalities. The pub- lisher has projected another work, in which will be given a full account of the commerce, finances, mechanic ai-ts, manufactures, nnd otber industries, statistical and teclmical, in the city of New York fi-om its foundation until now. That work will be a complement to this. The author gratefully acknowledges the uniform kindness and courtesy of the managers of institutions and of all others who have cheerfully aided him in gathering the materials for this work, and to these he tenders his sincere thanks. 1 ILLUSTRATIONS STEEL PORTRAITS. AUAMS, iVLVIN J'ttcilUJ jXl'JV 2IJ-J j Appueton. Daniel '--*> AsToit, John Jacob 30 Bakkeb, Fokdvck •>'"• BauSaud, F. a. r 170 Bates, Levi M 3-12 Beach, Moses Y 634 Bebgh, Henky 280 BijicKFonD, EroEKE G S72 Buss, CoiiNEurs N 618 Brown, Jami-s 90 Bbewster, JD ... 624 Henderson, Peter 796 Hoe, Peteb S 306 Hoe, Rif:HARU M 306 Hoe, Robert 306 HovT, Joseph B 770 Hfdiics, John (Archbishop) 254 I\T8oN, Henry 582 Jay, William v . 22 jE.srp, Morris K 444 KuBTz, William 842 Lee, Gideon 54 Leooett, Francis H 696 LossiNO, Benson J (i'/c \itiiie Low, .\biel A 272 McKesson, John . . . . 546 McCloskey, John (Cnrdinal) 360 Macy, R. H 762 Maiy, Wnj-UM H 414 Martin, Charles J 460 MoTT. Jordan L 484 Morr, Valentine 46 Moss, John C 746 MuNN, O. D 590 Ottendorfer, Oswald 388 Packard, S. S 652 PtERBEPONT, Edwards 188 PbIJIE, S. iRENiEUS 452 Raynor, Samuel 730 Renwick, James 378 Ridley, Edward 704 Rogers, John 778 Roberts, 5LutsH.ux 334 ST.utiN, John H 510 Steinway, Henry 518 Stephenson, John 660 Stttrges, Jonathan 66 Tay-lor, Moses 180 Thompson, John 406 Thokne, Jonathan 396 Tiffany, Charles L 324 Tyno, Stephen H 162 Vai^^entdte, Lawson 714 Vanderbilt, Coen-elius 144 \'an Nostrand, Daniel. . . 824 VI ILLUSTRATIONS. Wales. Rai.em H facing page 492 Webb, James W.atson 126 Webb. William H 424 Weed, Thttblow 832 Winston, Frederick S 244 VIEWS OF PARKS, Academy of Music J'acixg page 208 Amekicin News Company Bcilding . . 042 I .\sTOK LiBRAKY 208 Baptist Home for the Aged 288 B ARTHOLDi Statue of Liberty .... litle plate Bates, Keed and Cooley's Building. . 806 Battery and Castle Gaiiden 500 Bellevue Hospital 134 Bible House 288 Bloomingdale Asylum 134 Calvary Baptist Church 134 Central Park 432 Chemical Bank 564 Charlleb Institute 208 City Hall, Court-House, and P/Vek. . 564 Columbia College 208 Cooper Union 208 Customhouse 564 Dakota Apartment House. 642 Elevated K.uleoad title plate Equestrian Statue of Washington . . 564 Evening Post Building 642 Five Poikts House of Industry 288 Fbaunce's Tavern, where Washington Parted with hls Officers . . frontispiece Fulton Ferry 564 Fulton Street Daily Noon Prayer- ilEETING 134 Gramercy Park 500 Herald Building 642 High Bridge title plate Howard Mission 288 John Street Methodist Church 134 Lenox Libraey 208 JIadison Square 500 Map of New York in 1728 14 Masonic Halt, in 1830 .frontixpiece Masonhc Temple 288 Methodist Book Concern 288 Metropolitan Museum of Art 208 ^IlLLS BUILDINO 642 Mount Morris Park 500 National Academy op the Arts of DE.SIGN 208 New York in 1776 frontispiece BUILDINGS, Etc. New Fulton Market .... .facing page 564 New York Historical Society 208 New York Hospital 134 New York .vnd Brooklyn Bridge . title plate New W.isHiNGTON Market 564 Newsboys' Lodging House 288 NiEUW Amsterdam in 1659. . . .frontispiece Normal College 208 Obelisk, The 564 Old City Hall fiontispiece Old Government House is 1810 frontispiece Old Stone Bridge, Canal Street and Broadway in 1812 . frontispiece Post Office 564 Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avente . . 134 Presbyterian Hospital 134 Produce Exchange 642 Eesidence of Mrs. A. T. Stewart . . . 642 B. Hoe & C'o.'s Building 722 St. Luke's Hospit^vl ". . . 134 St. Patrick's Cathedral 370 Seventh Kegiment Armory 564 Society foe the Prevention of Cruel- ty to Antmals 288 Staats-Zeitung Building 642 Stock Exchange 642 Sttjyvesant Square 500 Sun Butlding 642 Temple Court 564 Temple Emanu-el 134 Tombs, The 564 Times Building 642 Tribune Butlding 642 Trinity Church 134 Tompkins Square 500 Union Square 500 Union Theological Seminary 564 United Bank Building 642 Vanderbilt jVIansions 642 Washington Square 500 Western Union Telegraph Building. .642 Windsor Hotel 564 Worth Monument 504 Young Men's Christian Association Hall 288 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. OUTLINE HISTORY, 1G09-1830. OTTAPTER T. IT was a warm day in oarly Sfpteiuljcr, 1009, when the yacht Ilalf- 3[(>i>ii, (jf ninety tons liurden, tlic liull of whicli Ijore many scai-s of wounds received in battle with ice-floes in polar seas, anchored in a bay now known as the iiarbor of Xew York. She had a high pooj) after the fashion of the times, sti-ong masts, and aiTi])le sijais and stiils. She was commanded by Henry Hudson, an expert English navigator, then (>nij)]oyed 1)V tiie Dutch East India Company in searching for a passage througli arctic wateis to far-off China and the adjacent islands of tlie sea. Hudson had failed to penetrate the polar ice, and now sought the " strait below Virginia,'' spoken of by his friend Cajitain Smith, wiiich might bear his vessel to tiie " South Sea" or Pacific Ocean. He had failed to find it ; but now, looking up the broad stream nortliward from his anchorage, in which the tide ebbed and flowed, his ho])es revived, and he ascended the smooth watei"s toward the high mountains dindy seen in the hazy distance. But as he drew near these lofty hills, and tiie water freshened more and more, lie was satisfied that it was a great river and not a connecting strait between the two oceans. Hudson sailed up the river to the head of tidewater, more than one hundred and fifty miles, finding dusky inhabitants everywiiere. He was chai'ined with the beauty of the country and its i)romise of werize he had won for them. He had not reached India by the way of the Arctic Circle, but he had discovered a great rivei- nmning through a magnificent country heavily timbered, abounding with fur- l)earing animals, and occujiied by half-naked Ixirbarians only. Hudson's wonderful story aroused tiie commercial cupidity of the Dutch merchants of Amsterdam, wlio had already establi.shed a very l)rofital)le fur trade with the northern Paissi;is. Very soon Dutch ves- sels fnjin the Texel, among them the discovery yaclit, api)eared in tlie watei-s where Hudson fii-st aiichoivd the IInlf-Moo), ; and not long afterward Cajitain Ciiristiansen. as agent for the merchants, accom- 4 mSTORV OF NEW YORK CITY. paiiiecl by cxjiert tr;ippei-s and ti-adei's, built a redoubt, four log huts, and a storehouse on the slope west of (present) Broadway, just above the Bowhng- Green. This was the seed of the conunercial inetrojiolis of Aniei'ica, ])lanted in 1612, at the southern extremity of a long, rocky, and swampy island which the barbarians called Man-na-hat-ta. Among the bold Dutch navigators who came to Man-na-hat-ta or Manhattan was Adi-ien Block, in the schooner TnjrmH. When she was laden with bear-skins and was about to depart for the Texel late in 1613, she took fire and became a blackened ^^^■eck. Before the next spring, oaks that had sheltered bears where Wall Street " Indls" now contend with financial bruins, were fashioned into a trim-built j'acht of sixteen tons, which was filled with slcins and sailed for the Texel. She Avas named the Orirnfit—\\\Q " Restless" — a prophecy of that unresting activit}' which now marks the island of Manhattan. Such was the be- ginning, in Kil-t, of the vast merchant marine of the city of Xew York. In accordance with an ordinance lately passed by the Government of Holland, tJie Amsterdam merchants hastened to obtain a special license for trading in the newly discovered region. They procured a charter which gave them the monopoly of the trade for four years, and the region was named New Netherland. They enlarged their storehouse at Manhattan, built forts as trading stations near the site of Albany, and the little seed planted at the mouth of the river by Christiansen germinated into a thriving plant of empire — a viUage which they called Manhattan. Finally, in 1621, these merchants and others olitained from the States-General (the Congress) of Holland a charter for a Dutch West India Company. It made it a great commercial monop- oly, i)ossessing almost regal powers to colonize, govei*n, and defend, not only that little domain on the Hudson, but the whole unoccu])ied coasts of America from Newfomidland to Cape Horn, and from the Cape of Good Hope far northward along the coast of Africa. The charter contained all the guarantees of freedom, in social, political, and religious life, necessary to the founding of a free state, and which characterized the institutions of Holland. K^o stranger was to be ques- tioned concerning his nativity or his creed. " Do you wish to build, to plant, and to become a citizen T' was the sum of the catecMsm when a new-comer appeared. Before the company was fairly oi'ganized, the menacing growls of the lion of England induced them to ado]rt measures for making a perma- nent settlement in New Xetherland, and place an industrious colony there who should found a state. In 1623 the company sent over the Nev} Nethfirhjiirl, a stanch ship of two hundred and sixty tons, bearing Ol'TLINK UISTOUY. KiO'J 1830. 6 thirty families of Wallootis, I'rotcstant ivlugci's from (prosent) Belgium, who spoke the Fieneli laii;^uage and who had settled in Ilollanil. Thev consisted of one hundred an2li, lie opened negotiations with the barbarians for the ])urchase of Manhattan Island. It contained, it was estimated, about twenty-two tiiousand acres of land, and it was bought foi' the sum of twent^'-four dollars, wliich was paid in chea}) trinkets, implements of husbandry, and wea])ons. Each party was satisfied, for each felt it had made a good l^argain. When the purchase Avas completed, an engineer staked out the lines of a fort at the southern extremity of the island, near the site of the modern " Battery.'' The specification called for a Avork " faced with stone, having four angles," by which the Bay in front and the Hudson and East i-ivers on its flanks might be commanded by cannon. The fort, whicli was nothing more than a strong redoubt surrounded by cedar palisades, Avas finished the next year, and was named Fort Amsterdam. Each settler protected by it owned the house he Uved in, kept a cow, tilled the land, and traded wnth the Indians. There were no idle pereons. The traders delivered all their furs at the trading- house of the company (a large stone l)uilding thatched with reeds), and the year when the fort w^as completed furs were sent to Holland valued at almost twenty thousand dollars. As yet there was neither a clergyman nor a schoohuaster in the colony, but there were two appointed " consolei-sof the sick," whose duty it was to read the Script- ures and the creeds to the people on Sundays, who were gathered in a large loft of a horse-mill. A tower was erected, in which were hung Spanish bells captured by the company's fleet at Porto Eico the year before —the fu'st " church -going bells" heard on Manhattan Island. It was dui'ing the building of the fort that an event occurred which caused much enibarr;issraent and misery to the colony afterward. An IncUan, his nephew, and another barbarian, members of a tribe in "Westchester Count}'-, came to I^lanhattan with beaver-slcins to barter with the Dutch. The beaten trail of the Indians from the Harlem River was along the shores of the East River to Kip's Bay, and then diverging westward passed by a large pond where the halls of justice, or Tiie Tombs, now stand. At that pond they were met by three farm servants of the governor, who robbed and murdered the men with the peltries. The boy escaped. Tliis deed was long imioiown to the Dutch authorities, and the guilty men ])robably escaped punishment. But the young barbarian vowed he would avenge the murder of his uncle. It was done with fearfid usury years afterward. This atrocious deed made the surrounding Indians, who were disposed to be friendly with the Europeans, jealous, suspicious, and vengeful. £y^^^^ OUTLINE IIISTOKV, IDOtl 18.W. 7 The little colony flouri.shcd, ami tlic villiigc wliirli <^r('\v up uiidcr tlio protectin":; wing i>f the iovt was called ^ranhattan, which name it retained until Stuyvesant came in 1(547. The community at Manhattan became cosmopolitan in its comiKjsition, as New York now is, because of the freent, and was not repeated ; and it was nearly two bundled yeai-s afterward when the shipwrights of "Manhattan began U> build merchant vessels of such large proportions. The "West India Company, in order to encourage emigration to New Xetherland and increase the population and strength of the colony, granted to some of the directoi-s large tracts of land, and invested each with the privileges of a "lord of the manor," on condition that he should, within a specified time, have on his estates fifty lx)na-fide settlers. These proprietore were called pati'ooiiK. One of the most extensive landholders among these directoi-s was Killian \'an Rens- selaer, a pearl merchant in Amsterdam, whose domain lay on each side of the Hudson River at or near ,Mbany. In the warehouse of the company at Amsterdam was a clerk name88, and was a dead \veight U|)on the prosperity of the colony for four years ; yet it flouri.shed in spite of him. AVith him came Everaixlus Bogardus, the fii-st clergyman who appeared in the colony : also a schoobnaster. Bogardus was an able, eaniest, :ind bold man. Faithful to his 8 llISTOm- OF NEW YORK CITY. mission, lie did not liositate to reprove Van Twiller for his short- comings in his oHiciai, moral, anil religious duties. On one occasion he called him a '' child of the devil " to his face, and told him that if he did not behave himself he would "give him such a shake from the pulpit" tiie next Sunday as would make him tremble like a bowl of jelly. \iu\ Twiller lost the respect of all the citizens, and was recalled. This was a severe disappointment to him, for he had dreamed of living in ease anil dying in New Netherland. He had bought Nutten Island, in the harbor, and there he proposed to retire when the cares of government should become too burdensome for him, and vegetate in luxurious comfort. Tiiat little domain lias been known as " Governor's Island " ever since. Van TwiUer was succeeded Ijy William Keift, an energetic, rapacious, and unscrupulous man, who brought serious trouble upon the colony. He endeavored to concentrate all power in his own hands, and began a tyrannous inile. A small colony of Swedes liad settled on the Dela- ware. With these Keift quarrelled. He incurred the enmity of the English on the Connecticut, and of the Indians aU around. Under a flimsy pretence he sent an armed force to attack the Raritan Indians in New Jersey. Many of them were killed. Savage vengeance did not slumber long. The Earitans ravaged outlying plantations ami murdered their occujjants. Keift prepared for war. The colonists, alarmed, boldly opposed him. They held hun responsible for theu* ti'oubles. Hitherto they had lived peaceably with their barbarian neigh boi-s ; now these were all hostile. Keift yielded to popular clamor for the moment. He requested the inhabitants to choose twelve men, heads of families, with whom he might consult on public affaii-s. It was done, and this was the germ of representative govern- ment in the State of New York. The Twelve not only refused to sanction Keift's war schemes, but took cognizance of public grievances, when lie dismissed them. Some Iliver Indians fled before the fiery MohaAvks and took refuge with the Ilackensacks at Hoboken. Keift, burning with a cruel desire to " chiistise savages," sent over a body of armed men at midnight in February, 16-43, Avho fell upon the sleeping fugitives and before the dawn massacred a hundred men, women, and children, and returned to New Amsterdam with the heads of several of the slain. By this savage act the fierce hatred and thirst for vengeance of all the surround- ing V)arl)arians were aroused. A furious war was kindled. Villages and farms were desolated, and white people were butchered wherever the Indians found them. For two veare the colon v of New Netherland OUTLINK IIISTOUV. lOOO-lsyn. 9 was tlireatencd witli (lestniction. Tlic war finally ceased. Tlio people clamored foi- the recall of tlie governor, and he was suniiiKined t<» Holland, lie jierislied by shipwreck while on his way with a lai'ge fortune, and was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesiint in 1(147, late governor of Cura(;oa, a soldier of eniinenc(>, and p()sscssed ol" every requisite for an efficient administration of government.* Stuyvesant was too frank and bold to conceal his opinions and inten- tions. At tlie very outset he frowned at every expression of republi- can .sentiment, defended Keift's rejection of the interfei'ence of the Twelve, anil plainly told the people, '• If any one during my adminis- tnition shall ai>peal, I will make him a foot shorter and .send the pieces to Holland, and let him a])j)eal in that way. ... It is trea.son to petition against one's magistrate, whether there be cause or not." With such despotic sentiments Stuyvesiint beg-.m his iron rule. He was a tyrant ; yet honesty and wisdom marked all his acts. He .set about refonns with vigor. The morals of the people, the sale of Into.xicating liquois to the Indians, the support of religion, and the regulation of trade received his immediate attention, and he imparted much of his own energy to the citizens. Enterprise took the place of sluggishness. He treated the Indians so kindly, and so soon won their respect and friendship, tliat the foolish story went abroad that he was forming an alliance with the savages to exterminate the English at the eastward. Stuyvesant found the linances of the colony in such a wretched con- dition that ta.xation was necessar\'. For two centuries a political maxim of Holland had been, " Taxation witiiout representation is tyranny" — a ])ostuIate copied b}' our patriots when they l)egan the old war for inde]HMidence. Stuj'vesant dared not disregard this great prin- ciple, for it would offend his masters the States-(Teneral, so he called a meeting of citizens and directed them to choose eighteen of their best men, of whom he might select nine as representatives of the taxpaj'ers, who should fonn a co-ordinate branch of the local government. He was careful to hedge this jropular council about with restrictions. The * Peter Stuyvesant was the last Dutch povemor o£ New Netherlnnd. He was born in Holland in 1002, and died in the city of New York (formerly New Amsterdam) in August, 1G82. Serving; as a soldier in the West Indies, ho beeamo governor of Ciira(;oa. He lost a leg in battle, Relnrnin^' to Holland, be was sent to New Ni'therland as First Director or Governor, in Ifil", where he ruled tyrannically but righteously until li'i''.4, when the province was taken possession of by the English. After that event he went to Holland to report in person the misfortunes of the colony. He returned to New York, and resided on his farm, which lay along the East River on >ranhattnn Island. His wito was Judith Bayard, by whom he had two Rons. He was dignified, honest, and br.ive. 10 HISTORY OK NEW VOHK CITY. fii'st nine selected were to choose their successors, so as to prevent tlie peojile having a direct voice in public affairs. But the Nine proved to be more potent than the Twelve. They nourished the prolific seed of democracy, and gave Stuyvesant much uneasiness. The inhabitants of ilanhattan asked the States-Creneral for a muni- cipal government. It was granted in 1653, under the corporate title of New Amsterdam. Its government was modelled after that of old Amsterdam, but with somewhat less political freedom in its features. The soul of Stuyvesant was troubled by this " imprudent trusting of power with the people." The burghers wished for more power, but it could not then be obtained. A silver seal was given to the authorities of the new city, and a painted coat-of-arms was sent to them. A new trouble disturl)ed Stuyvesant. In the fall of the same year when New Amsterdam was incorporated, a convention of nineteen delegates, chosen by thepeoi)le of eight villages or communities, assem- bled at the town-hall in the city, ostensibly to take measures against the depredations of savages and pirates. Tlie governor tried to control their action, but failed. When they adjourned they invited the governor to partake of a collation with them. Of course he would not so sanction their proceedings, and refused, when they plainly told him he might do as he pleased ; they should hold another convention soon, and he might prevent it if he could. Stuyvesant stormed and threat- ened these incipient reijels, but prudently yielded and issued a call for another convention, and so gave legality to the measure. They met on December 10, 1653. Many English people were now settled among the Dutch, and had intermarried with them, and of the nineteen dele- gates chosen ten were of Dutch and nine of English nativity. This was the first real representative government in the great State of New York, now an empire with a population of over five millions. Now and here was fought the fii-st battle between democracy and despotism on the soil of New York. The convention adopted a remon- strance to the States- General against the tyrannous rule of the gov- ernor, and sent it to him, with a demand for u categorical answer to each of the several counts. He met it with his usual pluck. He denied their authoi'ity. He blustered and threatened. They told him ])lainly that if he refused to comply with their demand they woukl appeal to the States-General. At this threat, uttered by the lips of a bold messenger — Beeckman, of Brooklyn— the governor took fire, and seizing his cane ordered him to leave his pi-esence. The ambassador folded his arms and silently defied the wratii of Stuyvesant. When his anger cooled he asked I5ceckman to pardon his sudden ebullition of OUTMNK IIlSTdHV. KiO'J WW. 11 feeling, but lie imlered tli" cDtivention to dispei-se instantly. Tliey dill no such tiling, but executed tlieir threat by seiuling an advocate to Holland with a list of tlieif grievances, ;uul asked lor redress. So republicanism, like any other truth, has i-cmarkable vitality, and is fostered by pei'secution. It never receded from tin- position it assumed in New Amsterdam at Christmas, 1^53. Stuyvesant was a faithful servant of the Dutch West India Company, watching and defending its interests at all points. The Swedes on the Delaware became aggressive ; he made war upon them, conijuered them, and as diil Alfred of England with the Danes, he absorbed them })olitically, and they became loyal sulijects of the Dutch. This accom- plishetl, the long peace Avitli the Indians was suddenly bi-oken by the murder of a stjuaw by a citizen of New Amsterdam, who detected her stealing his peaches. The fury of her tribe was fiercely kindled. Befoi-e daybreak one morning, about two thou.siind Kiver Indians appeared before New Amsterdam in sixty canoes. They landed, and searched for the murderer of the stjuaw. Stuyvesant summoned tlieir leadei-s to a conference at the fort. They were jiromised justice, and agreed to leave the island. They did not, and at midnight they invadeil the city and shot the murderer, whom they knew. The people flew to anns and drove the bai'barians from the city. The Indians crossed tiie suri-ounding waters and lavaged New Jei"scy and Staten Island. Within three days a hundred white inhabitants were killed, fifty were made captive, and three liundred estates were utterly desolated by the dusky foe. Stuyvesant finally restored order, and then issued a jiroclamation directing those who lived in secluded places in the country to gather themselves into villages for mutual defence. Another and more serious crisis for New Amsterdam and Xew Xetherland came. The British always claimed the whole territory of Xew Xetherland as tlieir own. The British monarch granted the domain to his brother, the Duke of York. In 1ly of home-made linen and woollen cloth. The women spun and wove, and were steadily em]>loyed. Xoljody was idle. Xobody was anxious to get rich, while all practised thrift and frugality. Hooks were rare luxuries, and in most houses the I)il)le anil Prayer-l)ook constituted the stock of literature. The weekly discoui-ses of the clergymen satisHes of nmch strength were early at work in the city of New York. The tiiird i)rinting-press in the Enghsh-American colonies was set up there by William liradford, and in 10'j;3 he jjrinted tiie kiws of the colony in a small folio volume. This Avas the fii-st pui)liea- tion of a book in that city, where millions are now issued every year. Episcopacy had been made the leading ecclesiastical system in New York by the fiat of royal governoi-s, and on the establishment of Trinity Church, in ItJDO, ]>ublic worship was conducted in the English language instead of the Dutch, excepting in the liefoniied Dutch Church. Trinity Church echlice — a small, .sfpiare structure with a very tall spire — was completed in 1(197, and in 17i>3 Queen Anne granted to it the "King's Fann" on the west side of Broadway — the famous " Trinity Cliurch property" claimed by the alleged heii-s of Annetye Jans-Bogardus. The fii'st attempt had been made in KiO" to light the streets of New York by hanging a lantern from a pole projecting from a window in every seventh house. A night watch of foui- men. had been established at the same time, and two men were appointed to inspect the hearths and chimneys of the six hundred houses in the city once a week. A ])ublic ferry between New York and Long Island liad been established by the city authorities, and in ITOT Broadway had Iteen fii-st jiaved from the Bowling Green to Ti-inity Church. In 17i>9 it was levelled as far as Maiden Lane. In that year a slave-market had bee)i established on the site of the old block-house at the foot of Wall Street, where most of the shipj)ing was moored. Rigorous nmnicipal laws concerning the slaves were strictly administered, which caused occasional out- brealis. The fii-st liospital for the ]K)or had l^een estabhshed in ItUtO, and in 170.5 the fii-st grammar school in New York had been authorized, but was not established for some time because a com]ietent teacher could not be found in the city. The first Presln'terian church built in the city had been erected in 1719, on Wall Street near the City Hall ; and the previous year the first ro])ewalk in New York — the beginning of a very flourishing industi'V — had been set uji on Broadway between Bar- clay Street and Park Piace. Pulilic mattei-s in New York had presented no piiase of s]iecia.l imjjortance until the anival of Jf)hn Jlontgomei'ie as governor in the so HISTORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. spring of 1 728, when he was received with more cordiality and granted more lavoi's than any other magistrate since Bellomont. The chief event of his administration was the granting an amended charter for the city in 1730. The tii-st charter given to the city under EngUsh rule had been granted in 1GS6. Others have been granted from time to time. By the new charter the hmJts of the city were fixed ; the power of eslabhshing ferries, and tlie possession of the feri'ies, market- houses, doclcs, etc., and all pi'ofits arising fi'ora them, were granted to the city. Provision was made for the establishment of courts, and the privileges and duties of all public officei-s were defined. The jurisdic- tion of the city was fixed to begin at the King's Bridge, near the upper extremity of the island, extending to Long Island, including small islands at the mouth of the Harlem River, thence on that side of the East River to Red Hook, and thence, embracing the islands in the harbor, up the Hudson River to Spuyten Duyvel Creek to the place of beginning. Wliile this charter gave the authorities of the city of 'Sevr York jurisdiction over the whole of Manhattan Island and adjacent islands, the streets of tiiecity were laid out only as far north on the west side as Courtlandt Street on the border of the King's Fann, and on the east side as far as Frankfort and Cherry Streets. There Avere only scat- tered houses above Maiden Lane, ^ut the city was then so densely populated below Wall Street that in 1729 the Dutch Reformed Church, in Garilen Street below Wall, was so crowded that a ])ortion of the congregation colonized and built the " iliddle Dutch Church,"' on the corner of Nassau and Liberty Streets, used (until a few years ago) for the city Post-Office for many years. Wall Street had been so named because along its line, from river to river, had extended the jjalisades or wooden walls of the city of New Amsterdam. Paui)erism became prevalent and troublesome during Montgomerie's administration, and measures Avere taken for providing a public alms- house, which should also be a workhouse. One was erected in the rear of the present City Hall in 1734. It was well supplied with spinning- Avlieels for the women and shoemakers' tools and otlier implements of labor for tlie men. It was made a sort of self-sustaining institution. Nothing of sjiecial pul)lic importance occurred in the city of New York after the trial of Zenger until 1741, when the famous "Negro Plot" produced a reign of terror there for some time. A similar occurrence, but of smaller projiortions, had taken place in 1712, when the popula- tion of the city was about six tliousand, composed largely of slaves. There was a suspicion of a conspiracy of the negroes to burn the city olTMNK IIISTUHV. IliO'J-lSUO. 21 and destroy tlio inliabitunts. During the [v.nuc tluit pn-vailcd niiK'tioii slaves suspected of tlie crime perished. In 1741 a susju'cted negiu plot to destroy the city and its inhiil' pioduced great disaster. New York then contidned ahout ten timu- in i inhabitants, iieaily one liftli of whom were negro slaves. Tiie city literally swarmed with tiiem. There were growing apprelicnsions among the people of a servile insurrection. The slave-maiket was at the foot of Wall Street ; the calaboose was in the " common" or City Hall Park. The slaves were under rigorous discii)line, and were keenly watched as a|)prehonsions of danger fivm them increased. In the early spring of 17-tl some goods and silver were stolen from a merchant. Suspicion fell u])on the keeper of a low tavern to wiiich negroes and thieves ivsorted, but on s(\irching the police found noth- ing. A maid-servant of the pul)lican told a neighbor that the gootls were there, and very soon she, her master, and his family were brought before the court. Then tlie servant accused a negro with being the thief and his master the receiver of the stolen goods. A pail of the ])iopeity was fountl under his master's kitchen floor and ivturned to tlie owner, and here the matter rested for a wlule. Two or three weeks later the governor's house in the foit was laid in ashes. Within a few days afterward other fires in different parts of the city occurred. These fires, breaking out in such ra])id succession, alarmeil the people, and a iiinior that the negroes had jilotted to burn the city took wing and Hew to every dwelling in the coui-se of a few hours. For several days the slaves had been suspected of meditating the crnne ; now suspicion was changed to co7ifirmation. It was now noted that a Spanish vessel, manned in part by negioes, had recently beeii lirought into jwrt as a prize, and the black men had been sold at auction for slaves. They were naturally exaspei-ated by this inhuman treatment, and had let fall some stifled threats. No one now doubted that these desjierate fellows were leadei-s in tue horrid plot. There was a general cry of " Arrest the Spanish negroes !"' They were seized and cast into prison. On the same afternoon the magistrates met, and while they were in consultation the storehouse of Col(jnel Philli])se was discovered to be on lire. Magistrates and people were panic-stricken, for the busy tongue of rumor positively declared the negroes were about to fire the city, murder the inhal)itants, and pcjssess themselves of their masters' projierty. Negroes were seized indiscriminately, and very soon the prisons were filled with them. The Cotmnon Council offered a reward of one hundred ])ounds and a full pardon to ;mv lonspjrator wIk. sli.mld reveal the plot and the 22 HISTORY OK NEW YOKK CITY. names of the incendiaries. The imprisoned servant of the tavem- keejjer spoken of took advantage of this offer to gain her hberty and fill her purse, and told a most ridiculous story of negroes whom she named bringing stolen goods to her master, and talking about their design to burn the city and destroy the inhabitants, and the rk;hes and ])o\ver they aa'ouKI possess afterward. The excited and credulous mag- istrates received this absurd story as truth, and persons arrested were induced to make all sorts of confessions in the hope of averting danger to themselves. There was a reign of terror throughout the city. The victims of the lying servant's pretended revelations were imprisoned, tried, condemned, and executed. Among these were her master and his wife. On her testimony alone many negroes were from time to time accused and imprisoned, and in Ma}'' several of them were bm'ned alive in a green vale on the site of the (present) Five Points. In June othei-s were burned, and before the middle of August one hundred and lifty-four negroes and twenty-four white people had been imprisoned. Of these four white persons were hanged ; fourteen negroes were burned alive, eighteen were hanged, and seventy-one wei'e transported. The last victim was Ury, a schoolmaster, who was accused by the lying servant (Mary Burton) of being concei'ned in the plot. lie was sus- pected of being a Roman Cathohc priest. The bigoted magistrates took advantage of an old unrepealed law for hanging any priest who should voluntarily come into the province, and Ury was doomed. They seemed to be hungry for his hfe. In vain ho offered to prove that he was a clerg^nnan of the Church of England. Marj' Burton was considered infallible, and poor Ury was hanged. Then the " state's witness" became bolder, and accused " persons of quality ;" and, as in the case of " Salem Avitchcraft, " when leading citizens, who had been active in persecuting the poor negroes, Avere implicated, men took meas- ures to end the tragedy — " stop the delusion." It was done, and the 2-l:th of September Avas set apart as a day of thanksgiving for the great deliverance. The " Negro Plot" may be classed among the foremost of jiopular delusions. It was at about this time that a few men Avho played important pai-ts in the social and political drama of the citj" of A'ew York appeared consjjicuous upon the stage — Dr. Cadwallader Golden, James De Lancej', Philij) Livingston, Peter Schuyler, Abraham De Peyster, Frederick Phillipse, "William Smith the elder, and a few othei-s. Some of these, hke Golden, Avei-e lovei-s of science and literature. So absorbed in trade, and in efforts to increase the wealth and material pro])erty of themselves and the city had the citizens become, that edu- IVLiUaryi J^^L, I OUTLINK HISTORY. KiOn isyo. ...j cation was no<;lcct<'il. Some of tlioso gontlomon floai'ly perceived tiio evils to be feared from sucli a want, and set about su]>])lyin<> had been raised by lottery for the foundation of a college. This sum was increased, and in 1754 King's (now Columbia) College was chartered. Sectarianism was then lampant in the city, and there was a sliarp straggle for the denominational control of the institution between the Episco]ialians, headed by James De Lancey, and the Presbyterians, led l)y Philip Livingston. The former gained the mastery. In 1752 the fii-st merchants' exchange in New York was erected at the foot of Biwul Street. Beekman Street was opened the same year, and St. George's Chapel was erected on it by Trinity Church corpora- tion. This jieriod in the history of the city of Xew York is particularly distinguished for political and theological controversies. The lines be- tween sects in religion and politics were sharply drawn. Bigotry and intolerance were rampant. The Jews had been allowed to estalilisli a cemetery near the present Chatham Square, east side ; now they were disfranchised. The Moravians, who closely resembled the Episco- jxdians in the form of their liturgical woi-ship, and \y\\o had built a church on Fair (now Fulton) Street * and established a mission in Duchess County, were persecuted as Jesuits in disguise. In the colonial a.sseml)ly political controversies became bitter. This bitterness was augmented by the conduct of the royal governor. Admiral Sir George Clinton, who speedily made himself un])o|ni]ar with tlu- Iradi is nf all * On the west side of lii-.m.iway it wus cailuJ I'.iifiii ui :^xv:\.. 1.1'. i...uiii.Mi iiiiu- between the King's Farm nnd others. 24 HISTORY UF NEW YOUK CITY. parties. His best supporter at the beginning of his administration ■was Chief-Justice De Lancey. Clinton soon offended liini and alhed himself to IJr. Colden,* who Avas then a power in the i)rovince ; but De Lancey, who was more prominent socially and pohtically than Golden, made war ujjon the governor. lie engendered a fierce contest between Clinton and the assembly. The governor soon offended Colden, who joined the opposition. At length the admiral, wearied with the contest and becoming more and more unpo[)ular, left the office, and was succeeded i>y Sir Danvei-s Osborne. At the hist meeting of liis council Osborne laid his instructions before them, when they .said, "The assembly will never yield obedience." " Is this true ?" he asked Wilham Smith. " Most emphatically," rephed the councillor. "Then what am I come here for f said Osboi-ne musingly. The next morning his dead body was found sus- {lended b\' a handkerchief from the garden wall of his lodgings. lie had destroyed himself in despair. James De Lancey,t the lieutenant- governor, assumed the direction of |)ubhc affairs. The political leadei-s had zealous partisans among the citizens, and JS'ew York for many years was a seething caldron of adveree opinions. The quan'el of De Lancey with Clinton :}: had caused the former to * Cad wall ader Colden was a native of Scotland ; was born at Dunse, Februaiy 17, 1688, graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1705, and in 1708 emigrated to America, and died at his country seat on Long Island, September 28, 1776. He was a physician and skilful mathematician. He practised medicine in Pennsylvania a few years, and went to England in 1715. The next year, after visiting Scotland, he returned to Pennsylvania, but at the request of Governor Hunter settled in New Y'ork in 1718, when he w-as appointed surveyor-general, a master in chancery, and in 1720 a member of the King's Council. Obtaining a patent tor lands in Orange County, he settled there. He was acting governor of New York from 1760 until his death. During the Stamp Act excitement in New Y'ork in 1765, the populace destroyed his carriage and burned him in effigy. When Governor Tryon returned to New York in 1775, Colden retired to Long IsUind. He wrote a history of the Five Nations of Indians. •f James De Lancey was born in New Y'ork in 1703, the son of a Huguenot emigrant from Caen, Normandy. He was educated at Cambridge, England, and returned to America in 1729, soon after which he was made a justice of the Supreme Court of New Y'ork. In 1733 he was elevated to the seat of chief justice. De Lancey was acting gov- ernor for nearly seven years, from 1753 to 1760. He was an astiite lawyer, a sagacious legislator, a skilful intriguer, and a demagogue of great influence and political strength. These qualities and vast estates secured to him triumphs when most other men would have failed. X Admiral George Clinton was governor of New^ York for ten years — 1713-1753. He was the youngest son of the sixth Earl of Lincoln, and was appointed commodore and governor of Newfoundland in 1732. His administration in New Y'ork was a stormy one, for he did not possess qualifications for the position, or any skill in civil affairs. He found in De Lancey a most annoying oppomnt. Golden was Clinton's champion on all Ol'TI.INK IIISTOHV, 1009-1830. 25 oppoRO tlio povpmor's iini)n|)iiliir sclu'inos, and so inado himself a favor- ite witii tlR' iM'n|)li'. 'I'lic irpi<'SL'ntalive " aristrjcrat" i)(raino, by Ijie i(.'<,'cr(li'iiiaiii of party iM)liti(.s, tlio repirsontative *' (Iciiiocrat" of tiie lioiir ; ami tlie laU? royalist faction, t'oiniM)se(l of the wealthiest and most inlliu-ntial citizens, was now arrayed on tiie side of the people's rif^dits. J>ut De I.«ineey found it diltieult to maintiun that position and render obedience to royal instructions. He was soon relieved of tiie enihari-.issment hy the arrival of Admiral Hardy as governor, when De Lancey resumed his seat as chief justice. He s(jon afterward l)ecaine acting governor again, and was ])erforming its duties when, on tlie morning of July oO, ITfJn, he was found 7. He died governor of Newfoundland in 1761. 26 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. were more jirompt and defiant than tlie citizens of oS'ew York. Unwise and oi)j)ressive navigation laws were put in force, and tliese weighed heavil}' upon Isew Yorlv, then become a decidetlly connnercial city. Tliese laws were at iii-st mildly resisted. The collectors of customs finally called for aid, and writs of assistance were issued, by which tliese oHicers or their deputies might enter every house they pleased, bi-ealv locks and bai-s if necessary in search of dutiable goods, and in this wa}^ become the violators of the great princi2)les of Magna Charta, which made every Enghshman's house his "castle." These writs were denounced everywhere, and were followed soon afterward by tiie famous and obnoxious Stamp Act, which required every piece of paper, parchment, or vellum containing a legal document, such as a ]>romis- sory note or a marriage certificate, to have a stamp affixed u])on it, for which a s])ecified sum was to be ])aid to the government of Great J3ritain. This indirect system of taxation was very offensive, and the scheme was stoutly o])posed everywhere on the continent, but nowhere with more firmness than in the city of IS'ew York. Dr. Golden, then nearly eighty years of age, was acting governor of the jirovince, and duty to his sovereign and his own political convictions compelled him to oppose the popular movements around him. When, late in October (1765), stam])s arrived at New York consigned to a " stamp distributor," the " Sons of Liberty," recently reorganized, demanded that agent's resig- nation ; Golden upheld and ])rotected him, and had the stamps placed in the fort. This covert menace exasperated the people. Though British ships of war riding in the harbor, as well as the fort, had their great guns trained upon the city, the patriots were not dis- mayed, and appearing in considerable number before the governor's house at the fort, demanded the stamps. The demand was refused, and very soon the large group of orderly citizens was swelled into a roaring mob. They bore to The Fields (the Gity Hall Park) an effigy of the governor, Avhich they burned on the spot where Leisler was hanged three ff)urths of a century before because he was a republican. Then they hastened back to the foot of Eroadway, tore up the wooden railing around the Bowling Green, piled it up in front of the fort, dragged the governor's coach out and east it upon the heap, and made a huge bonfire of the whole. After committing other excesses, and ])arading the streets with a banner inscribed "England's Folly and America's Ruin," they disjiei-sed to their homes. Earlier in the same month a colonial convention laiown as the " Stamp Act (Congress" assembled in New York, discussed the rights OHTMNK HISTOHV, IfiOO 1s:{0. 27 of tho rnlonists, and jidoijtcd a Declaration of Ri;,dits, a Petition to the Kinjr, and a Memorial to both Houses of Parliament. Already the idea of union had heen sug-fested by a newspaper called the Conxtitu- tioiiid Coi/ntiit, hearing the device of a snake separated into several parts, each with an initial of a colony, and hearing the injunction. Join OK DiK ! Only one issue of the Courfiut was made, hut its suggestion was potent. The idea of the device was hke an electric sjjark that kindled a Hame which was never (juenched. The merchants of Xew York immediately "joined" in creating a Committee of Correspond- ence instructeil to solicit the merchants of other cities to join with tli(>m in a solemn agreement not to import any more goods fiom (^reat Britain until the Stamj) Act should I)e repealeil. There was general acquies- cence. This measure jiroduced a powerful im|)ression upon the com- mercial interests of Great P>ritain. The ]ieople at the centres of ti-ade there clamored for a repeal of the obnoxious act, and in the coui'se of three months this much-desired measure was effected. Then the citizens of New York, in the plenitude of their gratitude and joy, caased a leaden equestrian statue of the king to be erecteil in the centre of the Bowling (ireen, and a marble one to Pitt (who had effected the repeal) in the attitude of an orator, at the junction of Wall anil "William Streets. To New York merchants is due the honor of having invented those two powei-ful engines of resistance to the obnoxious acts of the British Parliament, and with so nmch jwtency at the beginning of the old war for independence — namely, the Committee of Corresjjondence and tlie Non-imjK>rtatioti Leayue. CHAPTER III. FROil the jieriod of the Stamp Act until tlie beginning of the old war for indejwiidence, ii\ 1775, the merchants of New York bore a conspicuous jiart in political events tending toward iiKle])endence. The}"- were leachng " Sons of Liberty." For a while the liberal char- acter of the administration of the new governor, Sir Henry Moore,* allayed excitements and animosities ; but the stubborn king and stupid ministry, utterly unable to comprehend the character of tlie American ]>oople and the loftiness of the principles which animated them, con- tiiuied to vex them with obnoxious schemes of taxation, and kept them in a state of constant in-itation. Before the echoes of the repeal rejoicings had died away, troops were sent to New York, and under the provisions of the Mutiny Act they were to be quartered at the partial expense of the province. Tliey Avere sent as a menace and as a check to the growth of republican ideas among the peo])le there. Led by the Sons of Liberty, the inhabitants resolved tp resist the measure for their enslavement. The Provincial Assembly steadily refused compliance M'ith the terms of the Mutiny Act, and early in 17G7 Parhament passed an act prohibiting the gov- ernor and Legislature of New York ])assing any bill for any purpose whatever. The assembly partially yielded, but a new assembly, con- vened early in 17G8, stoutly held an attitude of defiance, and the colony was made to feel the royal displeasure. But the assembly remained faithful to the cause of liljerty down to the death of Governor i\Ioore, in 17G9. Then Dr. Golden again became acting governor, and an un- natural coaliti(jn was formed between him and James De Lancey, son of Peter De Lancey, who was a leader of the aristocracy in the assembly. JMeanwhile the city had been almost continually disciuieted by the insolent bearing and outrageous conduct of the troops, who Avere * Sir Henry Mooro was a native of Jamaica, W. I., whore he was born in 1713. He became governor of his native island in 17.'>6, and was created a baronet as a reward for his services in suppressing a slave insurrection there. From 17G4 until his death, in September, 1769, he was governor of New York. He arrived in New York in the midst of the Stamp Act excitement in 1765, and acted very judiciously. urxLiXK iiisrouv, niMo-isao. 29 encouraged 1)V tlieir odieci-s. On tlie king's l)irllui.n , m !.>»!, ihe citizens, grateful for tlie leiK^al of the Stamp Act, ceiehrated it witli gi'eat rejoicing. (Jn tliat occasion they ei'ecteil a flag.stafF wiiicii Un-e tlie words "Tlie King, Pitt, and Libeity." They called it 11 L'lhu-hj Pole, and it became the rallying-place for the Sons of Liberty. This New York idea became ix)|)ular, and hberty poles soon arose in other proAnnces as rallying-places for political gatherings of the patriots. When the soldiei-s came to IScw York this ik)1c becaine an object of their dislike, and they cut it down. When, the next day, the citizens were preparing to set up another, they were attacked by tlic tr(K)ps, aiiut the pole was set up. It, too, was soon prostnited, and a third pole was raised, when Ciovernor Moore forl)ade the soldiei-s to touch it. The next spring the citizens of New York celebrated the first anni- vereary of the repeal of the Stamp Act around the liberty pole. That night the soldiers cut it down. Another was set up the next day, pro- tected from the axe by iron bands. An un.successful attempt to cut it down, and also to prostrate it with gunpowder, were made. The Sons of Liberty set a guard to wateli it, and Govorn(3r Moore again forbade interference with it. That liberty pole stood in proud defiance until January, 1770, when, at midnight, soldiei"s issued from the barracks on Chambei"s Street, prostrated it, sawed it in pieces, and piled them up in front of the headquartei-s of the Sons of Liberty. The bell of St. George's chapel was rung, and the next morning three thouMud indig- nant people stood around the mutilated liberty pole, and by resolutions declared their rights and their determination to maintain them. The city was fearfully excitetl for thi-ee days. In frequent atTrays with the citizens the soldiers were generally woreted, and in a severe conflict on Golden II ill, an eminence near Burling Slip at Clitf and Fulton Streets, several of the soldiei's were disarmed. "When Cjuiet was restored another liberty pole was erected on private ground, on Broave(l. A cuiu- iiiilU'e iircscnlcd tlit' itntft'LHliiigs of tiiu inci'ting to llie assembly, and were oourtfously received. Anotlier liandhill from tlie same liand, signed " Legion," appeared tlie next day, in wliieli tlie action of the assembly was denounced as " Ijase and inglorious," and charged that hodv witli a betrayal of thiir trust. This second attack was ])m- nounced a libel by the asseml)ly, only tho staiieh ])atriot Philip Schuy- ler voting Xo. They ofTered a rewaid foi- the discoverv of the writer. The iirinter of the handbills, menaced with ]iunishment, told them it was Alexander ^IcDougall, a seaman, who was aftei'ward a conspicuous oIKcer in the Continental army. He was arrested, and lefusing to |)lead or give bail, was imprisoned many weeks before he was brought to trial. Regarded as a martyr to the cause of liberty, his pri.son was tho scene of daily pulilic i-eceptions. Some of the most reputable of the citizens sympathizing witii him frequently visited him. Being a sailor, he was regarded as the true type of " imjirisoned commerce." On the annivei-sary of the icpeal of the Stamp Act, his health wa.s drank with honoi's at a banquet, and the meeting in jirocession visited him in his ])rison. Ladies of distinction daily thronged there. Popular song-s wore written, and smig under his prison bai-s, and emblematic swords wei-e worn. His words when ordered to prison wei-e, " I rejoice that I am the first to suffei- for liberty since the commencement of oui- glorious struggle." He was finally released on bail, and the matter was wisely tli-opi)ed by tho iirosocutoi-s. ifcDougall was a true type of what is generally known as the " common people" — the great ma.ss of citizen^ who carry on the chief industries of a country— its agriculture, com- merce, manufactures, and arts — and create its wealth. Comparative cpiict prevailed in New^ York from the time of the "McDougidl excitement until the arrival of the news of Lord North's famous Tea Act, which set tho colonies in a blaze. The people every- where resolved to ojipose, and not allow a cargo of t(>a to be landed anywhere. The earliest public meeting to consider the reception that should be given to the tea-ships, which had actually sailed for America, was held in the city of New York on the I'.th of Octo1)er, 1773. Inti- mations had reached the city on the lltli that a tea-siiip had been ordoi-ed to that port ; and at the meeting held at the Coffee-House in "Wall Street, grateful thanks were voted to the ))atriotic American merchants and sliipmastei-s in London who had refused to receive tea as freight from the East India Comi)any. "When the tea-shl]i {Xanri/) arrived at Sandy Hook ( .Vpiil IS, 1774) tho captain was informed l)y a pilot of the drift of public sentiment in 32 HISTORY 01- NEW YORK CITY. New Yoric, and lie wisel}' went up to the city without his vessel. He found that sentiment so strong against allowing him to land his cargo that he resolveil to return to England with it. While he was in the cit}-^ a merchant vessel arrived with eighteen chests of tea hidden in her cargo. The vigilant Sons of Libert)^ discovered them and cast their contents into the waters of the liarbor, and advised the captain of the vessel to leave the city as soon as possible. As he and the commander of the yuHcy put off in a small boat at the foot of Broad Street for their res]iective vessels, a multitude on shore shouted a farewell, while the tliundere of cannon fired in the Fields shook the city, and the people hoisted a flag on the Liberty Pole in token of triumph. This New York Tea Party occurred several months after the famous Boston Tea Party. At this juncture the state of jiolitical society in New York was pecul- iar. Social differences had produced two quite distinct parties among professed republicans, which were designated respectively Patricians and Tribunes ; the former were composed. of the merchants and gentr3% and the latter mostly of mechanics. The latter were radicals, and the former joined with the Loj^alists in attempts to check the influence of the zealous democrats. Most of the influential merchants were with these Conservatives, and Avere, as usual, avei-se to commotions which disturb trade. They hesitated to enter into another non-importation league. They held a public meeting, and appointed a Committee of Fifty-one as "representatives of public sentiment in New York." They ])ublicly repudiated a strong letter which the radicals had sent to their brethren in Boston ; and while the people of other colonies approved non-intercourse. New Y'ork, as represented by this Grand Committee, stood alone in opposition to a stringent non-intercourse league. The Loyalists rejoiced, and a writer in Rivington's Gazette exclaimed with exultation : " And so, my good masters, I find it ao joke. For York has stepp'd forward and thrown off the yoke Of Congre.ss, Committees, and even King Sears, Wlio shows yon good nature by showing his ears. ' ' The "Committee of Vigilance" appointed by the Radicals disre- garded the action of the Grand Committee. They called a mass- meeting of the citizens in the Fields on the 19th of June, 1TT4. That meeting denounced the lulcewarinness of the Committee of Fifty-one, and resolved to support the Eostonians in their straggle. The port of the latter had been closed to commerce b}' a royal order. It was an insult orTMNK IIISToliV. IClll IS30. 33 and an injury to tlio wliolo nmtinent, and otin<; was called in the Fields at six o'lloek in the oveninj,' of the (itii of .luly, " to hear matters of the utmost importance to the reputation of the jn'ople and their security as freemen." It was an inunense gathering, and was ever afterward known as 77*<' (irmt Mi'i'lhitj in till' F'k'IiIk. a strong ix^solution in favoi-of non-im])ortation was adopted, anil other ])atriotic measures were apjjroved. In the crowd was a lad, seventeen yeai-s of age, delicate and girldike in per- sonal grace and statuio. Some who knew iiim as a student at King's (now Cohnnbia) College, of much intellectual vigor, urgr-d him io make a siieech. After much pei-suasion he complied. With rare eloquence and logic he discussed the principles involved in the controvei-sy, de- ])icted the suflerings Americans were enduring from the oppression of the mother country, and pointed to the means which might secure redress. All listened in wonder to the words of widsoni from the lips of the youth, and Avhen he ceased .speaking there was a whispered nmrmur in the crowd, " It is a collegian ! it is a collegian !" That young orator was Alexander Hamilton. Preparations were now on foot for a general council of the English- American colonies. The citizens of Xew York took the fii-st step in that direction. The Sons of Liberty, whom the Lo3'alists called " The Presbyterian Jesuits, " moved by the injustice and menaces of the Boston Port IJill, proposed, in iSIay, 1774, by their representative committee, a General Congress of delegates. They sent this proposition to Boston, lu'ging the patriots there to second the proposal. They also sent the same to the Philadelphia committee, and through them to the southern colonies. There was general acquiescence, and early in Sejitember delegates from twelve of the colonies met in Philadelphia and foiinetl the J-irst Continentnl Congress. This was the beginning of a new era in the world's history. The tempest of revolution which the I^ritish king, lords and commons had engendered was about to sweep over the English-American colonies, and by its energy dismember the British Empire and create a new power among the nations of the earth. In the preliminary events which ushered in that era the inliabitants of the city of New Vork had borne a conspicuous part. They had fli"st ])lanted the seeds of democracy in America. fii"st vindicated the freedom of the pi'ess, and first suggested the use of three great forces which led in the successful struggle for the independence of the American ])eo]ile — namely. Com- mittees of Corres[)ondence, Non-importation Leagues, and a (Toneral Congress which foreshadowed a ])ermanent union. In that Congress 34 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. tlie city of New York was represented by Jiiines Duane,* John Jay, rhili]) Livingston, and Isaac Low — men who took an important part in its deliberations. One of tiiem (John Jay), then only twenty -nine years of a"-e, wrote the able Address to the People of Great Britain, adopted by the Congress, and formed one of those admirable state paj)ers put fortli bv that body, concerning which William Pitt saiil in the British Parliament : " I nmst declare and avow that in all my reading and study of liistory (and it has been my favorite study — I have read Thucydides, and liave studied and admired the master states of the world) — that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelpliia.*' At that time the city of New York contained a population of about twenty-two thousand. The city had expanded northward on the narrow island. Streets were opened on the west side of Broadway as far as Reade Street, at which point had just been erected the New York IIos]}ital. It was so far out of town that nobody dreamed the little city would extend so far inland within a hundred years. Up the Bowery Lane (now the Bowery), then running through the o])en country to Stuvvesant's country seat, the streets were laid out as far as Hester Street, and up Division Street, then also a coiinti'V road, as far as Orchard Street. There were three newspapers published in the city at that time — Hugh Gaine's Neio York Mercurij, John Holt's New York Journal, and James Ri\nngton's New York Gazette. The two fonner were in spnpathy with the jiatriots ; the latter favored the ro^'al side in political discussions. The Journal was the successor of Zenger's Jour- nal, revived by Holt in 1T67. When the war for independence broke out, and the British took possession of the city, Gaine and Holt fled, the first to New Jersey, the second up the Hudson River to Kingston, and resumed the publication of their respective papers at the places of * James Duane was liorn in the city of New York, February 0, 1733 ; died in Duanes- burg, N. Y., February 1, 1797. He began a settlement in 1765 on the site of Duanes- bnrg, a part of a large estate which he inherited. His wife was a daughter of Colonel Robert Livingston of the " manor." An active patriot, he was chosen a delegate to the first Continental Congress in 1774 ; was a member of the New York Provincial Conven- tion, and was on the committee that drafted the first Constitution of the State of Kew York. After the British evacuation in 1783 he returned to the city of New Y'ork, and was elected the first mayor under the new Constitution. In 1783-84 he was a member of the council and State Senator, and was also a member of the convention of the State of New York which adopted the National Constitution. Jlr. Duane was tlnited States District Judge from 1789 to 1794. OUTMNE HISTORY. 1C09-18:{0. 35 their oxilo. At tliat time .lolm Andeison, ;i Scotcliiiian, was puljlisli- iiig a small AVhig iiewspapt'i- entitk'd the CoiiMfidifiiiiitif O'ltztfh. He i\vd to C'uiinecticut. Itiviny;ton, wliu had become zealous in the cause of the crown, remained. His vigorous, sharp, and witty thrusts at the patriotic jjarty so irritated the Sons of Liberty that Istuic Seal's,* in the fall of 177."), at tlie head of a huiuh-ed light-hoi-semcn from Con- necticut, went to the city at noonday, entei-ed Kivington's printing establishment at the foot of Wall Street, destroyed his press, and put- ting his type into bags carried them away and made l)ullets of them. The Fii-st Continental Congress took a strong position in opposition to the obno.xious measures of the British Government. They adopted a general non-im])ortation league under the name of " The American Association." They denf)unced the slave trade, put foitli some able state papers, above mentioned, and sent a cojn' of their proceedings to Dr. Franklin, then in England. Vigilance ccjunnittees were appointed to see that the provisions of the association were not evaded. The Congress adjoui-ned t(j meet again the following ^fay, if public necessity should recjuire them to do so. The ])atriotic i)aity in the Xew York A.ssembly tried in vain to iiavo that botly officially sanction the proceedings of the Continental Con- gress. The leaven of loyalty was at work in that body, and there was nnich timidity exhibited a.s the great crisis a])proached. Consei-vatism was too strong for the patriots in that body to effect more than the adoption of a i-emonstrance, but it was so bold in its utterances that Parliament refused to accept it. "When the assembly adjourned in A])i'il, 1775, it was final. It never met again. The i)eople in the city took public mattei-s into their o\\ti hands. They had ai)jK)inted a committee of .sixty to enforce the regu- * Isaac Sonrs was born at Norwalk. Conn., in 1729; died in Canton, China, October 28, 178G. He was one o£ the most zealous and active of the Sons of Liberty in New York, when the war for independence was a-kindling. When political matters arrested his attention, Scars was a successful merchant in New York, currying on trade with Europe and the West Indies. Previous to engaging in trade he commanded a privateer, lie lost his vessel in IVfil. and then settled in Xew York. In the Stamp .Act excitement he became a leader of the Sons of Liberty, and so bold and active did he become that he received the name of " King Sears. " The Tories and the Tory newspaper (Biving- ton"8) maligned, ridiculed, and caricatured him without stint. Scars retaliated on' Rivington. One day in November, 177.5, he entered the city at the head of a troop of Connecticut horsemen, and in open day destroyed Kivington's printing establishment. He became Geneml Charles Lee's adjutant in 177(!, but did not remain long in the mili- tary service. When the war wa-s ended his business and fortune were gone, and in 1785 he sailed for Canton as a supercargo. Ho sickened on the passage, and died soon after his arrival in China. 3fi HISTORY OK NEW YOliK CITY. latioiis of the association. The assembly having refused to make provision for tlie ajipointment of delegates to the Second Continental Congress, it was detennined to organize a Provincial Cougi-ess. Dele- gates from the several counties met in New York on the 2(ith of April and ajipointed delegates to the Congress — namely, Phili]i Livingston, James Duane, John Alsoji, John Jay, Simon Boerum, William Floyd, Plenry "Wisner, Philip Schuyler, Geoi'ge Clinton, Lewis Morris, Francis Lewis, and Ef)l)ert K. Livingston. TThen news of the conflicts at Lexington and Concord reached Xew York, five days after their occurrence, the citizens were greatly excited. All business was suspended. The Sons of Liberty, who had gathered amis, distributed them among the people, and a party formed them- selves into a revolutionaiy corps under Captain Samuel Broome, and assumed temporarily the functions of the municipal government, for it was known that the mayor was a loyalist. They obtained the keys of the Custom-Uouse, closed it, and laid an embargo upon every vessel in port. This done, they ])roceeded to organize a provisional government for the city, and on the 5th of May the people assembled at the Coffee- Llouse, chose one hundred of theii" fellow-citizens for the purpose, invested them with the charge of municipal affaii-s, and pledged them- selves to obey the orders of the conuuittee. It was composed of the following substantial citizens : . Isaac Low, chairman ; John Jaj', Francis Lewis, John Alsop, Philip Livingston, James Duane, Evert Duyckman, William Seton, William W. Ludlow, Cornelius Clopper, Abraham Bi'inkerhoff, Henry Remsen, Robert Ray, Evert Bancker, Joseph Totten, Abraham P. Lott, David Beekman, Isaac Roosevelt, Gabriel II. Ludlow, William Walton, Daniel Phoenix, Frederick Jay, Samuel Broome, John De Lancey, xVugustus Van Ilorne, Abraham Duryee, Sanmel A^erplanck, Rudolphus Ritzema, John Morton, Joseph Ilaliet, Robert Benson, Abraham Brasher, Leonard Lispenard, Nicholas Hoffman, Peter Van Brugli Livingston, Thomas Mai-sten, Lewis Pintard, John Iralay, Eleazer Miller, Jr., John Broome, John B. ^Moore, Nicholas Bogart, John Anthony, Victor Bicker, William Goforth, Hercules Mulligan, Alexander McDougall, John Reade, Josepli Ball, George Jane way, Jolm Wliite, Gabriel W. Ludlow, John Lasher, Theophilus Anthony, Thomas Smith, Richard Yates, Oliver Templeton, Jacobus Van Landby, Jeremiah Piatt, Peter S. Curtenius, Thomas Randall, Lancaster Burhng, Benjamin Kissam, Jacob Lefferts, Anthony Van Dam, Abraham Walton, Hamilton Y'oung, Nicholas Roosevelt, Cornelius P. Low, Francis Bassett, James Beekman, Thomas Ivere, William Dunning, John Bennen, Benjamin ofTi.iM'; iiisioiiv, 1(10!)- isao. 37 Ilclino, William W. (iill)tit, ]>;mi(l I)iuiscoiii1h>, JdIiii Lainb, Iiiclianl Sliarp, .[(ilm florin Scutt, Jat-ol) \'aii ^'t)<)l•llis. Coinloit Samls. Kdwartl Fleinmiiig, Peter Guekt, (ienit Kcttlotas, Thomas JJueliaiiaii. .lames Uesbrossos, Petiiis Bwanck, and Lott Kmhree. This committee was composed of the leading citizens of New York, cngiigcd in various professions and industries, the hone and sinew of society at that time. ^lany of them were conspicuous actoi-s in the impoitant events whicii ensued ; and thousjinds of citizens of New York to-ilay may lind among, and point with just pride to, the names of uncestois whicii appear upon that i-oll of honoi-. This committee immediately assumed the control of the city, taking care to secure weapons for possible use, sending away all cannon not belonging to the province, and prohibiting tlic siile of anus tse(juiously showed gi-eat deference to crown ofRcei-s ; the ^l-v/V/ man-of-war lying in the harbor was allowed .supplies of provisions ; .some of the acts of the Sons of Liberty were rebuketl, and there seemed to be more of a dis- positif)n to produce reconciliation than to a.ssert the rights of the peojile. Edmund Burke, who had been an agent for the pro\Tnce, expi-esseil his sui-jn-ise " at the sci-upulous timidity which could suffer the king's forces to possess themselves of the most important port in America." Wlien, soon after this, the troops were ordered to Boston, the com- mittee directed that they should take no munitions of war with them, excepting their anns and accoutrements. Unmindful of this order, they were proceeding df)wn Broad Street to embark with several wagojis loaded with arms, when they were discovered by Colonel Mai'inus Willett.* who hastily gathered some of the Sons of Liberty, ** Maiimis WiUctt was bom at .lamaica, L. I., July 31, 1710, and died in Ncvv'York City August 2.1, 1830. He was graduated at King's (Columbia) College in 17I5G. He served under Abercroinbie and Tiradstrcet in 1758, and when the quarrel between Great Britain and her American colonics began, AVillett was one of the ranst energetic of the 38 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. confronted the troops, seized the horse that was di-awing the head wagon, and stojiped tlie wliole train. "While disputing with the com- nvaTuler, the Tory mayor of tlie city came up and severely reprimanded Wiilett for thus " endangering the public peace," when the latter was joined by John Morin Scott, one of tlie Committee of One Hundred, who told him lie was right ; that the troops were violating orders, and tliey must not be allowed to take the arms aAvay. The wagons were turneil back, and the troops, in hght marching order, Avere allowed to eml)ark. War had now l)ogun. Blood liad flowed at Lexington. Ticonderogti liad fallen into tiie liands of the ])atriots. Ethan Allen hail seized it in tlie name " of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Tlie battle of Bunker's Hill soon followed. The anny of volunteei-s gathered at Cambridge was adopted by the Congress as a Continental army, and AVashington was appointed commander-in-cliief. "With his suite he arrived in Xew York on the 25th of June. The royal governor Tryon had arrived tlie niglit before and been cordially received by the Tory mayor (Mathews) and the common councU. Here were the representatives of tlie two great parties in America— Whig and Tory — face to face. The situation was embarrassing, and for a moment the peo]ile were at their wit's end. The two municipal govermnents were hostile to each other. The Provincial Congress tlien in session in the city came to the rescue by timidly presenting Washington with a cau- tious address, containing nothing that would ai-ouse the anger of the Britisii lion. For a moment the patriotic heart of the city beat noise- lessly, and Washington ]iassed on, sui'e of the pubhc sym})athy, which was only suppressed, and on the 3d of July he took formal command of the army at Cambridge. The Continental Congress ordered Xew York to raise regiments of troops and to fortify the passes in the Hudson Highlands. The Pro- vincial Congress directed the great guns of the Battery, in the city, to be removed and sent up the river. Tliis order brought matters to a crisis. Captain Lamli, with some Sons of Liberty and other citizens, opponents of the ministry. A leading Son of Liberty, he was a leader in the rebellious movements in New York City. He entered McDotigall's regiment as captain, and partici- pated in the invasion of Canada. Promoted to lientemint-colonel, he was ordered to Fort Stanwix, in Hay, 1777, and participated in the stormy events of that neighborhood daring the summer. In June, 177fi, he joined the array under Washington, and was active in the military service during the remainder of the war. At the close he was chosen sheriff of the city of New York, and filled the office eight years. In 1807 he was chosen mayor of the city. Colonel Willctt was created a brigadier-general in 1702, but never entered upon the duties of that rank. OUTLINK IIISTOIiV. I(i0!)-1830. 30 proceeded to execute tlic order on a pleasant night in Aujrust. Wliile so enj^aged, :i musket was liieil upon tliein from a liarge belonging to the A.sii(. Tlie lire was returned i)y Lamb's party, killing one of the crew and wounding several otliei-s. The Ax/'a opened a cann, and in ]\Iarcli was com- pelled to fly to Halifax, N. S., by sea, leaving Xew England in posses- sion of the " rebels." Meanwhile the British ministry had conceived a plan for separating New England from the rest of the colonies by the establisiinient of a line of military jiosts in the valleys of the Hudson and Lake Cliamplain, between New York and the St. Lawrence. To do this New York must be seized. Aside fi'oni this scheme, New York appeare to liave been a coveted prize for the British, and early in 1TT6 Howe despatched General Clinton secretly to attack it. Suspecting New York to be Clinton's destination, "Washington sent General Charles Lee thither ; and on the evacuation of Boston in March, the conmiander-in-chief marched with nearly the Avhole of his anny to New York, arriving there at the middle of Ajiril. He ]iushed forward the defences of the city begun by Genei-al Loi'd Stirling. Fort George, on the site of Fort Amsterdam, was strengthened, numerous batteries were constructed on the shores of the Hudson and East rivei-s, and lines of fortifications Avere built across the island from river to river not far from the city. Strong Fort "Washington was finally l)uilt on the highest land on the island (now "Washington Heights), and intrenchments Avere thro\TO up on Harlem Heights. In the summer Washington made his headquartei-s at Rich- mond Hill, then a country retreat at the (present) junction of Charlton and Varick streets. On the 10th of July copies of the Declaration of Independence were received in New York. The army was drawn up into hollow squares by brigades, and in that position the imjiortant document was read to each brigade. That night soldiers and citizens joined in ])ulling doA\Ti the equestrian statue of King George, which the grateful citizens had caused to be set up in the Bo^vling Green only six years before. They dragged the leaden inrage through tlie streets and broke it in pieces. Some of it was taken to Connecticut and moulded into bullets. It Avas while "Washington had his head(iuartei-s at Richmond Hill that Ol ri.INK msi<)l;V. Kili'.l 1s;iO 41 a plot, sufrgostcd, it is said, l»y (iovernor Tryon, tn iiuu-dcr liiiii was discovered. One of liis Life (Uiard was luilied to do the deed. IIo attempted to j)oi.soii liis general, lie had .secui'ed, as he thought, a confeilerate in the pci-son of the maiden who waited upon Wasiiington's table. She allowed the miscreant to put the poi.son in a dish of green peas she was about to set before the commander-in-chief, to whom she gave warning of his danger when she [)laced them on his table. The tieachei-ous guardsman was arrested, found guilty, and hanged. This was the fii-st military execution in New Voik. At the close of June, 1770, a British fleet arrived at Sandy Hook with General Howe's army, which was landed on Staten Island, and soon afterward the British general, who was also a ])eace c-ommissioner, attempted to open a correspondence with AVashington. He addressed his letter to " George "Washington, Escp" The latter refused to re- ceive it, as the address " was not in a style cori'esponding with the dig- nity of the situation which he held." Another was sent, addres.sed " George AVashington, etc., etc., etc." This was refused, as it did not recognize his public character. The bearer of the letters explained to AVashington their purport, which was to "grant pardons," etc. AVashington replied that the Americans had committed no offences Avhich needed pardons, and the affair was droppeil. Afterward Gen- eral and Admiral Howe met a committee of Congress on Staten Island to confer on the sui)ject of peace, but it was fruitless of any ajtjiarent good. Soon after Howe's ti-oo])s had landed tliey v:ere joined by forces under Sir Henry Clinton, which had been repulsed in an attack u])on Charleston, S. C. Hessians — German mercenaries hired l)y the British Government — al.so came ; and late in August the British force on Staten Island and on the ships was more than twenty-live thousand in nundfor. On the 2.")th of August over ten thousiind of these had landed on the western end of Long Island, prepared to attempt the capture of New York. AVashington, whose army AViis then about seventeen tlioustmd .strong, had caused fortifications to be constructed at Brooklyn, and he sent over a gi-eater part of his forces to confi-ont the invadei-s. The battle of Lf»ng Island ensued, and was disastrous to the Americans. AVashington skilfully conducted the remainder not killed or captured, in a retreat across the East River, under cover of a fog, to New York, and thence to Harlem Heights at the northern end of the island. The con(|uering British followed tardily, crossed the East Kiver at Kip's Bay. and after a sharp battle on Harlem Plains took ))ossession of the 42 HISTOUY OF NEW VOUK CITY. city of New York, or whjit was left of it. Tlie British liad pitched their tents near the city, intending to enter the next morning, and were in repose. Suddenly at midnight arrows of lurid tlanie shot heavenward fronr the lower part of the town. A conflagration had been accidentally kindled at the foot of Broad Street. Many of the inhabitants had fied from the citj% and few were left to fight the fiames, which, in the space of a few horn's, devoured about five hundred buildings. The soldiei's and sailors from the vessels in the river staved the flames before they reached Wall Street. The British took posses- sion of the city of New York in September, 1776, and held it until No- vember, 1783. Ex-Governor Golden died a few days after the tire, aged eighty-nine N^eai-s. A day or two after the occupation began. Captain Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, was brought to the headquarters of General Howe in the Beeknian mansion at Turtle Bay (Forty-fifth Street and East River), Avhere he was condemned as a s])y. He was confined m the greenhouse that night, and hanged the next moniing under the supervision of the notorious provost-marshal, Cunningham, wlio behaved in the most bmtal manner toward his victim. Hale is justly regarded as a martyr to the caase of freedom ; Andre, who suffered for the same offence, was the victim of his own ambition. New York exhibited scenes of intense suffering endured by American prisoners during the British occupation of the city. It was the British headquarters throughout the Avar. The provost jail (now the Hall of Eecords) was the prison for captured American officers, and was under the direct charge of Cunningham. The various sugar-houses— the largest buildings in the city — were also used for prisons, and some of the churches Avere converted into hospitals. Old liullvs of vessels Avere moored in the Hudson and East I'ivers, and used as floating pi'isons. There were five thousand Amei-icans suffering in the prisons and prison- ships at New York at one time, and they wei-e dying by scores every day. Ill-treatment, lack of humanity, and starvation everywhere pre- A'ailed. " No care Avas taken of the sick," Avrote one of the victims, "and if any died they Avere thrown at the door of the prison, and lay there till the next day, Avhen they Avere ]nit on a cart and drawn out to the intrenchments, lieyond the Jews' bui-ial -ground [Chatham Square], Avhere they Avere interred by their fellow-prisoners, conducted thither for that purpose. The dead Avere thrown into a hole promiscuously, Avithout the usual rites of se])ulture. " The "prison-ships," as the old hulks were called, were, if possible, more conspicuous as scenes of barbarous treatment than the jails on oiTi.iMC iiis'njaY. Kioo-isao, 43 slidit'. 'I'lio most laiMous im iiirainous) of these was the Jt'i'Mi/, the laijLCi'sl nl' the fi-i'ou|) and tlie lrvice. She was moored at the Wallahout (now the Navv-Vard at Urooklyn), and was ealled hy the captives '* tiie liell alloat." Tliese captive American sjiiloi-s composed the hiilii ol the piisonei^s. Tlie most wanton ndent of the mili- tary authorities. In his confession before his execution in England for a cajHtal crime, he said : " I sliu their fla"; to tlie staff in Fort (ieorgc, unrccfod tlie halliards, knocked otf the cleats, and '• slushed " the pole to prevent Americans ascending it and unt'uiling the Stars andStrii)es there before the departing troops should be out of sight. They were frustrated by u young American sailor (John Van Ai-sdale, who died in is;{(;), who ascended the flagstaff by nailing on the cleats and api)lying sand to the greased pole. In this way he soon reached the to]), hauled down the British eoloi-s, and ])laced tho.se of the United States in the jwsition. This was accom- plished while the British vessels were yet in the Lower I'ay. Now occurred the closing scene of the Kevolution. In the "great room" of the tavern of Samuel Fraunces, at the corner of Broad and Pearl streets, Washington parted with his otlicei-s on the 4th of De- cember, 1783. It was a scene niarkeil by great tenderness of feeling on the i>ait of all jnesent. Filling a glass with wine for a farewell sentiment, Washington turned to the assembled officers and said, " With a heart full of love and giatitude, I now take leave of you, and most devoutly wish that your latter (hiys may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honoi-able. " He raised the glass to his lips, and continued, " I cannot come to each of you to take my leave ; init I .shall be obliged if each one will come and take my hand. " They did so. None could speak. They all embraced him in turn, when he silently left the room, walked to Whitehall, and entered a barge to convey him to Paulus's Hook (now Jei-sey City), on his way to Annapolis to surrender his commission to the Continental Congress sitting there. What a .sublime leave-taking, under the cir- cumstances ! New York now l)egan the task of recuperation. The evil effects of a seven yeai-s' occu])ation by foreign troops were seen on every side. Its buiUlings had been consunieil by fire, its churches desecrated and laid waste, its commerce destroyed by the war, its treasury empty, its peo])le estranged from each other by differences in jiolitical o])in- ions ; feuds existing everywhere, and criminations and i-ecriminations ])roducing deej) bitterness of feeling in society in general. New York was compelled to begin life anew, as it were. The tribute which it had paid to tlie cause of freedom was large, but had been freely given. The Whig refugees returned to the city, many of them to find their dw(>Hings in ruins. There was no change made in the city govern- ment. The old charter, the organic law, was resumed, ami in Felnu- ary. 17>^-1, James Duane, an anient Whig who had left the city and had returned to his farm near (present) Gramercy Park and found his hoiiii' bni'iii'd ami his fortune wrecked, was chosen iiiavor. .Mtlmnirh 40 HISrOKY OF NEW YOKlv LITV. the vitalit}' of the city had been paralyzed, yet men — liigh-ininded and energetic men, who constitute a state — were left, and their influence was soon manifested in the visible aspects of public spirit and a revival of commerce. Public improvements were soon projected, but not much was done before the close of the century. The population numbered about 23,000, and there was only here and there a dwelling above Murray Street on the west side, and Chatham Square on the east side. There was not at that time a bank nor insurance company in the city. "Wall Street, where they now aljound, was tiien the most elegant part of the city, where the aristocracy resided, and yet most of the building-s were of wood, roofed with shingles. The sides of many were so covered. Brick and stone were seldom used. Between Broadway and tiie Hudson River, above lieade Street, might be seen hundreds of cows belonging to the citizens grazing in tiie fields. The first public improvement begun was the filling in of the " Col- lect" or Fi-esh Water Pond, where the Tombs or Halls of Justice, or City Prison, now stand. This task was begun about 1790, but not com]>leted until the close of the century. Duane and Reade streets were o]iened through the southern portion of the district. At near the close of the century a canal was cut through Lispenard's meadows from the " Collect" to the Iludscm River, along the line of (present) Canal Street, forty feet \vide, with a narroAv street on each side of it. This accounts for the greater width of Canal Street. This canal was s|mnned at the junction of Broadway and Canal Street by an arched stone bridge, which was sulisequently buried when the ground was heightened l)y filling in, and the canal disappeai'ed. That bridge may be discovered in future ages, and be regarded by antiquarians as a structure belonging to a buried city older than New York. The " Commons" (City Hall Park) yet lay open, and occupietl only by the " Xew Bridewell," the " New Jail," and tlic Almshouse at the northern part. Between the latter and the Bridewell stood the gallows. In 1790 the first sidewalks in the city were laid on each side of Broad- way, between Vesey and Murray streets. They were of stone and briclc, and were so. narrow that only two persons might walk abreast. Above Murray Street, Bi-oadway jiassed over a series of hills, the highest at (|iresent) Woith Street. The grade from Duane to Canal Street was fi.xed by the corporation in 1797, and when the improve- ment was made Broadway was cut through the hill at "Worth (formei'ly Anthony) Street about twenty-three feet below its surface. The streets were first svstematic.illv iiiiniliercd in 179.'^. ^^.^^^ OUTLINE HISTOUV, KIO!) IWiO. 47 Dnrinfj tlio delibemtions of the Stato Convention of New York, at noiiglikeepsic in tlic suiiinicr of ITs^^, to consider tlio National Consti- tution, tiio city was mucii excited i>y tiie discussions of o|j]Mjsin<|; fac- tions. On the Stii of July, eigliteen days before tliat instrument wu-s ratified l)y tlie convention, a frigate called " The Federal ship llninU- A»;*,"' manned by seamen and marines, commanded by (V)inmodore Nicholson and accompsinied iiy a vast procession, was drawn Irom tlic Rowling (ireen to Uayartl's farm, near Grand Street, where tables were spread any far the most notable event in the liistor}' of the city of New York after the Revolution was the orgimization of the National Gov- ernment under the new Constitution, and the inauguration of \Vashing- ton as the first President of the Fnited States. The National Consti- tution, framed at Philadelphia in 17^7, had been duly ratified in 1788, and elections for electors of President and for membei-s of Congress had been held. The fii-st Congress under the new Constitution was called to meet at New York on the 4tli of Ifarcli, 17>>!>. Only a few memi)ei-s were present on that day, and it was not until the Cith of April that a sufficient number appeared to form a ])tion at Murray's wharf in New York was an event long to be remembered. He was escorted to his future residence in Cherry Street, nesir Franklin Square, and dined with Governor Chnton at tlie same house wliere he had parted with liis officers. In the evening the city was brilhantly illuminated. On the ;3Uth of April, upon the outer gallery of Federal Hall, overlooking Wall and Broad streets, he took the oath of office, administered by Chancellor Livings- ton in the presence of a large multitude of citizens who crowded the two streets in the vicinity of the hall. "When Mi-s. Washington arrived, a month later, she was received with a national salute of thirteen guns at the Battery. The nio.st exciting event in 2s'ew York fi-oui the evacuation of the city until the organization of the National Government was a riot known as " The Doctors' Mob." It occurred in ITSS. Graves in the Potter's Field (now Washington Square) and the negro burial-ground (at Chambei"s and Eeade streets, east of Broadway), and in private cem- eteries, had been rifled of their contents. The discovery created much ]niblic excitement. Kumor exaggerated the facts, and every physician in the city was suspected of the act. The hospital on Broad^vay, the only one in the city, suddenly became an object of horror, as the sus- ])ected recipients of the stolen dead bodies. One day a student there thoughtlessly exhibited a limb of a body he was dissecting to some boys ])laving near. They told the story. It spread over the city, and very soon an excited nuiltitude appeared before the hospital. They broke into the building and destroyed some fine anatomical ])repara- tions, which had been imjioited. The terrified physicians were seized, and would have been murdered by the mob had not the authorities rescued them and jilaced them in tlie jail. The populace, foiled, became Cfnuparatively (|uiet, but the riot was renewed with more vio- lence the next morning. Hamilton, Jay, and others harangued the riotei-s, but were assiiiled with bi'icks and stones. In the afternoon raattei's became woi-se, and toward evening the mayor a])|)eared with a body of militia, determined to fire on the riotei^ if they did not disperee or desist. The friends of law and order tried to prevent bloodshed, and begged the mayor not to fire iintil every other measure had failed. Again they harangued the mob, and were answered by a sh(nver of missiles. The Baron von Steuben begged the mayor not to fire. At that moment a stone struck and i^rostrated him. As he was faUing he shouted, " Fire ! Mayor, fire !"' The mayor no longer hesitated. He ordered the militia to fire, and they obej'ed. Five of the rioters were killed and several were wounded, when the rest dispersed. Ol'TI.INK IllSldlJV. lOny 1830 49 \e\v ^'oik \\;is tlic scat of the ColDiiiiil ( iovcrniiicnt until tlic lirvo- lution. and fi-om 17>!4 to 17!»7 it was the State capital, wiieii Albany became |)ernianently so. Durinj,' tiiat [KTioil two sessions of the State Leijislatuie were heUl at I'oughkeepsie, and thi-ee at Alhanv. From 17!S5 to 17'.Hl it was the seat of tlie National Goveinnient. part of tlie time iuuUm' the Coiifeileration, anil a |)ait of tiie thiie under the new Constitution. During the residence of President Washington in Xew York, from April, 17S!i, until the autumn of 17SHI, he occupied fii-st the house of Osgood, in Cherry Street, and after Fehruarv, I7'.Hi, a dwelling on Broadwav, a little below Trinity Church, which was sui).se(|Uently used as a hotel called " The ^Mansion House." His public and private life was marked liy mucii simplicity. His house was plainly furnished ; he held public recejUions on Tuesdays, had congressional dinner-parties on Thui-sdays, and on Friday evenings ^frs. Washington held recep- tions. On Saturday he nnle in the country on hoi-seback or in his car- riage with the family, often taking the " fourteen-mile circuit" on the island. On Sundays he usually attended divine service, and in the evening read to his family, receiving no visitoi-s. AVashington sometimes attended the theatre on John Street, a small Avooden structui-e used In' the British for amateur performances during their occupation of the city. It was then called " The Theatre Royal," and was lii-st opened by them in January, 1777. Its playbills were headed " Charity," and .sometimes " For the Benefit of the Orphans and Widows of Soldier.;.'" The British otficei-s were the actoi-s. and feminine ])ai'ts were played by young subalterns. When Major Andre was in the city he was actor and scene-])ainter. The first regular theatre in New York was erected in 1 750, in the rear of the church on Nassau Street, late the Post-Office. Hallaiu was the manager. When he left it was pulled down. A second was built on Beekman Street, near Na.ssau Street, which was destroyed by the Sons of Liberty during the Stamp Act excitement. Another wjis built in 1767 on John Street — an unsightly object painted red. It was used, as we have seen, during the Revolution ; and in it was played, in 17S(>, the first American drama performed on a regular .stage by a com- pany of regular comedians. It was called The Confrnst, and was writ- ten by Royal Tyler, of Boston. The first native-born American actor (John ^^al■tin) was a New Yorker, and first appeared on the stage in New York as Youn-r Norval, in the winter of 170(i. The Park Thea- tre, which remained until a comparatively few years ago, was first opened early in 1798. 50 UISTOKV OF >"E\V YORK CITY. In tlie last decade of the eigliteenth century Xew York City was scourged by yellow fever. It had appeared there in 1742, when many died of the disease. It broke out in 1791, near Burling Slip, but it ■was so late in the season that it was soon checked by frosts. It i-eap- peared early in August, 1795, and 792 pei'sons died before frosts ended it. It made a more dreadful visit in 179!S, beginning at the latter ]jart of Julv and ending in November. About 21UU died in the city, besides almost 300 who had fled from it. The population of the city was then about 55,00(1. It prevailed more slightly in 1799, 1800, 18o3 (when over 600 perislied), 1805, 1819, 1822, and 1823. When the fever ai)peared in 1805, so great was the panic that one third of the ]7opula- tion, then numbering 75,000, fled to the country. The fugitives were mostly from the four lower wards in the city. The Frencli Revolution caused the division of the Americans into two great ])arties — Federalists, and RepuMicans or Democrats. The latter, led by Jeffer-son, espoused the cause of the French ; the former, led by Hamilton, o]3])Osed the influence of the revolutionists. Demo- cratic societies in imitation of the Jacobin clubs in Paris were formed, and in secret jiromoted violent opposition to Washington's administra- tion. These politicians encouraged " Citizen Genet" in his defiance of our government. He met with an enthusiastic reception in New York. The liberty cap was hoisted on the flagstaff of the Tontine Coffee- I louse near the foot of Wall Street, tricolored cockades were worn, and the '* ]\Iarsei liaise'' was chanted in the streets of jS'ew Y^ork. The Federalists denounced the conduct of the French minister. They were backed l)y the Ciiamber of Commerce, and warmly sustained the Presi- dent's proclamation of neutrality. When Jay's treaty was negotiated, the " French party," as the Democrats were called, ojiposed it with much \-iolence. An anony- mous handbill called a mass-meeting in front of the City Hall in Wall Street, on July 18, 179."), to consider the treaty. Both parties attended in full force. Aaron Burr was the chief s]ieaker for the Democrats ; Alexander Hamilton was the chief speaker for the Federalists. In the course of the proceedings a scene of violence ensued. Hamilton mounted the "stoop" of a Dutch house at the corner of Broad and Wall streets, and began to speak in favor of the treaty. He was dragged to the ground by the opposing (larty and i-oughly handled in the street. Then the Democrats ran to the Bowling Green, shouting and huzzaing, where the treaty was burned under the united folds of the French and American Hags to the sound of the Cannagnole. These turbulent events in Xew York and elsevrhere, and the support OfTMNK IIISTOUV, IflOSt-lHJlO. 81 given by tlio spcrot Democratic societies to the Whiskey Insurrection tiio year hel'ore, caused Wasliington to (h'nounce secret associations as (hingerous totiie |)iiiilic welfare. Tlie Tammany 8fK-iety or Coiumiiian Onlei', which iiad lnvn I'oi-med at the hejj^inninj,' of Washin/^ton's administration as a patriotic iind benevolent institution, regarding itself as ])ointed at, and being largely composed of I{e])ublicans or Demo- crats, was transfoimed into a political orgiinization in o]>])osition to the Federahsts. It still exists, and l>lays an important jiart in tlie ])ohtics of the city and State. Merchants of New York fonned a Tontine Association and built the " Tontine CotTee- House" at the corner oi Wall and Water Streets. It was opened in 1T!H as a sort of ^lerchants' Exchange. The shares were *-20(t eacli. Each subscril)er might select a nominee for each share held by him, during whose lifetime he or she was to receive an ecjual i)ro]Kirtion of the net jn'ofits from the investment of the fund. When the mnnljer of nominees should be reduced to seven by death, the property was to be conveyed to the survivors in fee simple. That number was reached in IsTi!. The longevity of the nominees has been remarkable. Of the two hundred and three at the beginning, fifty-one were h\iug sixty yoai-s afterward. On the .south-east side of the Bowling Green a spacious and elegant mansion was Ituilt, in 1790, for the purpose of a residence for the Presitlent of the United States. It was then sup]iosed New York City would be the permanent seat of the National Government. When that government was transferred to Philadelphia, this mansion was devoted to the use of the governors of the State of New Y'ork, while this city was the seat of the State Government. In it Governoi-s Clinton and Jaj^ resided. It was known as the Govemment House. It was built of red brick, with Ionic columns fonning a portico in front. The building was on a slight elevation of ground. CIIAPTEK Y. AT the beginning of this century the city of New York contained ahnost 61,000 inhabitants. The city proper was bounded on Broadway by Anthony Street, on the Hudson River by Harrison Street, and on the East River by Catharine Street. Within these limits the dweUings were much scattered, witii gardens and vacant lots between them. Broadway then ended at Astor Place, then the south- era boundary of the farm of Captain Randall, afterward the endow- ment of the Sailors' Snug Harbor. The old Boston post-road turned eastward below lladison Square, and running along the Rose Hill fann made its crooked way to Harlem. The Rose Hill farm was o\\'ned by General Gates. His house stood near the corner of (present) Twenty -second Street and Second Avenue, and there he died in 1S06. A weeping-willow tree that stood at the entrance to the lane leading to the mansion flourished on the corner of Twentv-second Street and Third Avenue until a few years ago. Near there a middle road branched off and led directly to Harlem. The Kingsbridge or Bloomingdale Road was a continuation of the Bower}'' Lane, passing througli JIanhattanville to Tvingsbi'idge, and was the be- ginning of the Albany ]iost-road. Harlem had been founded by the early Dutch settlors of Manhattan Island. There farmci-s seated themselves and i-aised vegetables for New Amsterdam, on tlie fertile Harlem Plains. Greenwich and Chelsea were two little villages on the west side of the island, which, like Harlem, have been swallowed in the voracious maw of the great city. On the site of "Washington Square was the Potter's Field, a place of sepulture for the poor and strangers. Public gardens had now become favorite jilaces of resort, the most famous of which were the " Indian Queen's" and " Tyler's" at Green- wich, " A'auxhall " at the junction of Warren and Greenwich Streets, and afterward " Yauxhall " between Lafayette Place and Fourth Avenue, on the site of the Astor Library. Near tiie junction of Broad- way and Thirty-fourth Street, on the Bloomingdale Road, Avas the " Strawberry Hill House," and at the junction of Charlton and Yarick orri.lNK IIISTOUY. l(i()<) 1830. 53 streets was tlio " liiclmionti Hill" mansion, Ituilt in 177(p, where "Wasliington had his quaitei-s lor a while in the summer of 177(i. It was tiic property and i-esidenee of Aaron Burr at tlie time of his duel with Hamilton, in 18(t4. He sold it to John Jacob Astor, and it was converted into a house of summer entertainment and the Kiihmond Hill Theatre. The " Chelsea House" was upon elevated ground not fai- from the (present) General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcoj)al Church. Pleasjint countiy seats now adorned the island, some of which be- came histo.ically famous. On the Incleberg (Murray Hill) was the line mansion of the eminent Quaker merchant of the Pievolution, Robert Murray, father of the grammarian, whose patriotic wife, by her peisonal charms, convei-sation, and wine, detained the British otKcers on the day they crossed over from Long Island, long enough to allow Putnam, with the remnant of the American army left in the city, to pass bv, hidden by intervening Avoods, and s;ifely join the American armv on Harlem Heights. A little further up the Bloomingdale Road is" the Apthorpe mansion, where "Washington gave instructions to Nathan Hale when he went on his fatal errand to Long Ishuul, and where the commander-in-chief narrowly escaped capture by the troops whose officers were detained by Mrs. ^luri-ay. Near Carmansville is " The (irange," the country seat of General Hamilton at the time of his death ; and upon Harlem Heights near the High Bridge is the mansion of Roger Morris, used as headquartei-s by Washington in 177t). both well preserved. It is known as the Jumel estate. The hospital already mentioned was the oniv one in the city at the beginning of this century. The corner-stone was laid by Governor Tryon in 1773. A State prison, the second one built in the United States, was completed in 1700. It was a largo stone building in Green- wich Village, on the shoi-ps of the Hudson. The only medical school in the city was the ]\fetlical Faculty of Columbia College, oi-ganized in 1708. There was a small city dispensary instituted in 170O and located in the rear of the ])resent City Hall, fronting on Tryon Row. Of the benevolent institutions in the city at the beginning of this century, the most prominent were the Marine Societij, incorpoi-ated in 1770 ; the Cfutml^r of Commerce, incor|iorated the same year, with pro- visions for benevolent work ; the Ihnnane f^orlety, founded in 17S7 ; the Manumiismoti Society, established chiefly by the Friends, or Quakei-s, in 178.5 ; the Snilors' Snw/ Ilnrhnr, founded by Captain Ran- dall in 1801 ; the General Society of MeckanicK and TraJc.sno ii, incor- porate 1 in 17!I2, as an almoner for the necessities of the families of its 54 IIISTOKV OF NF.W VOHK CITY. meiiibei'S ; the Tammany Society, or Coluinhian Order, fmiiidod in 17f:<'.> ; the St. A>i(h-ew''.i! Society, and several Masonic lodges. Tlie principal church edifices were the South Dutch Eefomied, in Garden Street ; the jMiddle Dutch Reformed, comer of Nassau and Liberty streets (late the citj'^ Post-Office), in wliicli the Englisli service was tii-st introduced in 1704 ; * the North Dutch Kefonned, on William Street between Fulton and Ann streets ; Trinity Churcli, the pi'incipal of seven Episcopal churches, the most remote from the City Hall then being St. Mark's, at Eleventh Street and Second Avenue, built in 1795 ; the Lutheran Church, on the corner of William and Frankfort streets ; German Reformed, in Nassau Street near John Street, built in 1765 ; Fii'st Presbyterian Church, now on Fifth Avenue; the " Brick Church," in Reekman Street, at an angular lot known as " the Vineyard," built in 17:< lmii(li>'(l Ixixcs. Three liatiks were in opeiation in tlie city, one < 1' w Ineli was a hraneli of the United States lianii, wiioso capital wis sl((,(MMi,(iii(i. There were also three insurance coini)anios, and these, like the banks, were in Wall Street. Fioni that time ^A'ail Stieet has been the linancial centre of the city. There were then seven daily newspapers pul)lislie(l in the city of Kew York, one weekly paper, two medical journals (one published quarterly and one semi-annually), and a ieli<,n(.us weekly jmblished by T. cV J. Swords, who estalilisheil the first permanent book-publishing establishment in the city of New York. The Park Tiieatre was then the only playhouse in the city. There wei'e four principal public market-houses and two ferries — one to Brooklyn, the other to Jei-sey City. The wells in the city were un- wholesome, and water from the " Tea-water Pump," at the corner of Pearl and Chatham streets, was cai'Hed about tlie town and .sold for a ])enny a gallon. The Manhattan Water Com])any was organized at about this time, with banking privileges. They erected a distributing reservoir on Chambers Street — then "out of town" — ])um])eil the water from wells : unk in the vicinity, and distributed it through boicd logs. So early as 1774 Christopher Colles had i)ro])osed to bring water into the city fiom the Bronx Kiver, in AVestchester Comity, but the scheme was not favorably received ; but he was allowed to construct water-works at the public expense on the east side of Proadway, near Anthony Street, in 177ti. The water was ]nimped from wells and the "Collect." The scheme was a failure. These were the forerun neis of the grand Croton supply begim in 1S42. The corner-stone of the present old City Hall was laid in ISo;^, and it was finished in 1S12, at a cost of half a million dollars. ISIeanwliile the most im])ortant ])ractical achievement in science and mechanics in modern times, in its influence upon commerce and civilization, occurred. It was the ])ennanent establishment of naNngation by steam. liobeit Fulton and Chancellor Lmngston had constiiicted the steamboat Clrntioiit, and early in September, 1nii7, she made a successful voyage with jiassengers to Alliany, in s])ite of wind and tide, and continued regidar trips thereafter between IS'ew York and Albany. The com- mercial value of this event to the city of New York cannot be estimated. During the first decade of this century De Witt Clinton was mayor of New Yoi-k. aiul under his auspices the initiatoi-y stejis toward the establishment of the free ]niblic school system in New York were taken. In 18(1.5 the Public School Society, formed chiefly i)y the Society of Friends, wa.s incorporated, and ^fr. Clinton was its fii-st 56 HISTOHY OF NEW YOKK CITY. presiilent. Tlicii' tirst school was opened on lyfadison Street near Pearl Street, with forty pupils, gathered chiefly from the Immble and desti- tute families of the city. Many Avere taught free, and othei-s at a mere nominal i)rice. This society did noble work in the cause of education until 1842, when ward schools were established. This was followed by the jiresent public free school system, under a Board of Education. Then the Public School Society passed out of existence. Its mission was accom])lished. Its one school with forty scholars has expanded into almost three hundred schools and a free college, with thousands of ])upils. Until 1811) the ferry-boats at New York were skiffs eople was intense, and very soon New York was well defended by fortifications superintended in their construction by Jose])h G. Swift, the lirst graduate of West Point Military Academy, and by militia, who flocked thither from the river counties. Although a large pro])ortion of the citizens of New York were opposed to the war at the beginning, once begun their patriotism flamed out conspicuously by public acts. At a meeting held in the Park five days after the declaration of war, they pledged their " lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" in support of their "beloved country. " They made their words good. Men and money were fi-eely contributed to the cause, and four months after the declaration of war twenty-six jn-ivateers, carrying 212 guns, all fully manned, were fitted out in the port of New York. Throughout the entire war the patriotism of the citizens was conspicuously displayed. And when, on Saturday evening, February 11, 1815, the British sloop-of-war Favorite arrived at New York with the treaty of peace ratilied In' the British Government, the unexpected glad tidings created intense joyfulness in the city. The streets were soon thronged with the happy peoj)le, and as a ])lacard headed " Pkace" was printed at the office of the Mercaii- tile A(h'i'i'tisi')- and was thrown out of a window into the street, it was eagerh^ caught up and read to the crowd, who received the news with shouts of joy. The immediate effect ujwn business was wonderful. Coin, which was ten per cent premium, fell to two ])er cent in forty- eight hours. Sugars fell from ^20 a hundredweight to §1:2.50 ; tea from §2.25 to $1 a pound. In 1811 a system of laying out the city above Houston Street was adopted, and surveys were begun. The work was somewhat inter- rupted by the war. It was completed in 1821. The streets were laid out in rectangles above Houston Street. Beginning at one, they were numbered upward to the northern extremity of the island. The.se were intersected by avenues, numbering westward from the eastern side of the island to the Hudson River. First Avenue was a continuation of •i8 HISTORY OF XEW YOKK CII'V. Allen Street. Between it and the East River were Avenues A, B, and C. The war created utter confusion among politicians. The men of each party, for various reasons, had abandoned old ci'eeds and adopted new ones. The most prominent result was the ahnost entire dissolution of the Federal party and the breaking up of the RepubUcan party into factions. From the election of Madison to the presidency in 1809 the Rejiublicans in Xew York were called Madisonians. To this party the Tammany Society adhered, and their hall, built in 1811, was the ren- dezvous of the Madisonians. At the close of the war the Republican party was split into two great divisions, called respectively Madisoni- ans and Clintonians, the latter being adherents of De AVitt C^hnton, who in ISIS was elected governor of the State of IS'ew York. He had pei-sonally urged upon the attention of the people the gi-eat scheme for tiie consti'uction of the Erie Canal ; now he brought his official influence to bear upon it, and it was completed in 1825. The first regular line of packet ships between New York and Liverpool was established in 1817 by Isaac "Wright & Son, Francis Thompson, Benjamin Mai-shall, Jeremiah Thompson, and James Croppei'. It was called the " Black Ball Line," and consisted of four ships. A packet sailed the fii-st day of every month. Soon afterward Byrnes, Trimble wer to act. The war of 1812 caused a suspension of the scheme. At the beginning of i81(i it was revived by a few citizens of New York, among the most prominent of whom was De "Witt Clinton, who had taken great iutei-esl in the 60 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. project from the beginning. They called a public meeting ; "VTilliam Bayard was its chairman, and John Pintard its secretary. A memorial to the Legislature was adopted, and in April a new board of Canal Commissioners was api)ointed, with Clinton as president. A law was ))asseil authorizing the construction of the canal, and providing fvuids for the same. It was vehemently opposed. It was ridiculed, during almost the seven yeai-s of its jwogress to completion, as " CUnton"s ditch." The ground was fii-st broken on the -ith of Jivl}^, 1817, near Kome, X. Y. The middle section was completed in the fall of 1819, and the liret boat floated ujion it between Utica and Rome, with Gov- ernor Clinton and othere as passengei-s. When the great work was com])leted the citj'^ of New York was selected as the place for celebrat- ing the tiiumph. An account of that celebration may be found in a future chapter. The year 1825 was remarkable for other notal)le events in the city of Kew York— namely, the introduction of ilhnninating gas, the begin- ning of the erection of the Merchants' Exchange, the fh-st appearance of the Italian opera and the Sunday newspaper, and the first move- ment toward founding the National Academy of Design. The city then contained 1(36,000 inliabitants, was divided into twelve wards, and had two hundred and forty avenues,- streets, and lanes designated by names. It then began to grow at the rate of 1000 or 1 500 houses a year. It contained ninety churches (including a Hebrew synagogue), of Avhich seventy-one belonged to five denominations. The Presbj-- terians had twenty-one, Episcopalians seventeen, Baptists fom-teen, Refonned Dutch twelve, and Methodists seven. There -were three public libraries, one college (Columbia), two medical colleges, eight (almost) fi-ee schools, two high schools, two medical colleges, one eye infirmary and a city dispensary, two hospitals and one lunatic asylum, one medical society, about twenty-five charitable and benev- olent societies, and about twenty societies for the dissemination of the Christian religion. There were ten daily, seven semi-weekly, and eighteen weekly newspapers ; four magazines (two of them religious and one medical), and seven princi])al book-publishers in the city. In 1825 the first Sunday newspaper jiublished in Xew York was issued. It was the Sundaij Courier, published by Joseph C. Melcher at the Tontine Coffee- House, on the corner of Wall and Water streets. There was, at that time, an Academy of Fine Arts, a Lyceum of Natural History, an Athenjeum, a Historical Society (founded in 1804). and a Horticultural Society. There were eleven public markets, five public i)risons, a State prison, a House of Refuge, and an ahnshouse. OUTLINE HISTORY, 1600-ia30. 61 There were nineteen banks, and ten marine and thirty-two fire insur- ance cuinpanies, witii a weil-orfianizcd volunteer fire department. The chief pubHc liuiUiiiiys were tiie elegant City Hall in the Park, built of marble ; the Masonic Hall, on Bioadway, nearly opposite the hospital, anil the Merchants' Exchange, then just begun, on Wall Street below William Street. For pul)Iic amusenu-nt the citizens had the American Academy of Fine Arts on Bai'day Street, the Rotuiula in the Park, where panoramic paintings were exhibited, three nmseunis, three public ganlens, two circuses, and four theatres. The connnerce and nianufactures of the city were now extensive. The value of the total foreign commerce (imports and exports) of the district from ISil to 1830 averaged about §;.")S.OOO.O(IO, or 37 per cent of that of the whole United States. The distinct embraced the greater portion of Long IslantI, Piooklyn, Staten Island, the New Jei-sey shore above Staten Island, including Jersey City and the shores of the Hudson River. The assessed valuation of projiei'ty in the city of New York in 18:25 was above $lOO,OuO,(,iUU, on which a little less than $39,o0(t taxes were paid annually. Such was New York City at the end of the fii-st cjuartei' of the pres- ent century — the dawn of its new era of gi'owth and prosperity. xVnd here the nan-ative sketched in brief outline, of its jirogress from an obsciu'e Dutch trading-post among barbarians, i)lanted earh' in the seventeenth century, to a great commercial metropolis, with a popula- tion of ahnost 170,000, is ended. Henceforth the story of that growth, until Xew York has become one of the most ])opulous cities in the world, and destined to become the metropolis of tlie nations, will be told in much gi-eater detail. That story is diNnded into (hcachs of yearn, beginning with 1830, the time when the forces back of the gi'eat prosperity of the city had g-athered potency and were actively at work. PIKST DECADE, 1830-1840. CHAPTER I. IFIIiSr saw the city of New York in tlio year lf^32. It was tlipn a uiarvt'llt)us sijj;lit for the eyes of a rustic lam])reliended the whole of Maidiattan Island, which is about fourteen miles in length and from one fourth of a mile to two and a (piarter miles in breadth. The city jjrojx'r — the more thickly inlial>ited portions of it — extended from the IJattery along the Hudson River about a mile and a half, and fiom the s;ime point along the East River aljout two miles. The city included the several islands in the harbor north of Staten Island, and those in the East River. Along Houston Stieet on the east and IlaTuersley Street on the Avest, the inhaljitants were essentially suluirban. There were about two Imndred and fifty streets, alleys, and avenues south of those which are designated by numei'als. Many of these streets above f'anal Street were very thinly populated. The avenues were then mere prophecies of future jMipulation and business. Only tlic Thiid and Eighth Ave- nues were ojiened to the Harlem River ; the Fourth, Seventh, and Eleventh were not o]iened at all. Northward of tiie inhabited portions of the city liTiiits were several villages and handets, the most important of which were Greenwich, Rloomingdale, and ^lanhattanville on the Hudson River ; Yorkville in the centre of the island ; and on the Harlem River was Harlem, the senior of them all, for it was planted by Dutch emigrants from New Amsterdam (New York below AVall Street) more than two centuries ago. They settled there for the iniqiGse of cultivating cabliages and other "garden tnick" for the villagei-s at the southern end of the island. The human population of New York City in 1S30 was a little more tlian two hundred thousand in number. Over these citizens and aliens presi.-.. The day fixed lor tlic cclclji-ation in the city <>f New Voi'k was tin- 4tli day of that niontli. At ten o'clutk on a haliiiy niuniiiig (tlie 2t">tli of October) tlie waters of I.ake Krie at lUilfalo H(jwt'd into the ** Dig Uitch" (as it was con - tcni[>tuously calleil by douhtci's and its opponents) for tlie lii"st time. Till- event was iiaileil with loud linzzas, tlio swinging of hats, and the waving of haiidUeivhiefs hy a multitude assendjlcd on the occasion. Tlie news of this lii-st intlowing was communicated from Buffalo to New York in the space of one hour and thirty minutes. This was done long before the electro-magnetic telegraph i)egan its marvellous career. The creator of its intelligence was then a portrait painter in the city of Xew York. That message was conveyed on the wings of sound from booming cannon jjlaced at intervals along the line o( the canal and the Hudson River, and a resj^nse was return<>d by the same voices and in the .s;ime space of time. A Hotilla of ciinal-lMiats, all Ix^antifully decorateil, led by a large one named the Sem-i-a C/iirf. left lUiffalo on a journey eastward at the moment of the lirst cannon peal. The C'/i/'t^' wns tlrawn by four i-ichly cajjarisoned gr.iy hoi'ses. It bore, as passengei-s, (iovernor I)e Witt Clinton, Lieutenant-Ciovei-nor General James Tallmadge, Genend Stephen Van Kens.selaer, the Albany jxitroon ; General Solomon \'nn liensselaer. Colonel William L. Stone,* a delegation from New Yoik City, and numerous invited guests and ladies. One of tlie canal-lxiats named Xonh's Ark bore a l)ear, two fawns, two eaglos, and a variety of birds and " four-footed beasts." with two Seneca Indian youtiis in the costume of their dusky nation. Everywhere along the route fi-om Buffalo to Albany the jieojile gathered in crowds at villages and hamlets, at all houi-s of the day and night, to see and greet tlie novel jndcession. At Rochester, where the canal crossed the G(>nesee River by an aiiuediU't suppoi-ted by stone arches, a little drama was jierformed. A man in a small boat onnlie * Willinin L. Stono wns for ninny ypnrs an rniinont joiuniilist in Now York City. Ho wna born nt Esopns, N. Y.. April 20, 1792 ; roinovnd to Coopcrstown in ]«0'.». where lie asHistcil his fiithtr in tlio i-are of n fiirni, and bccanie a printer. In 1813 he entered upon his c-«ri'er of ii ni'wsi):iper editor, iiml pursued it in several places, nud finally became one ,'ew York," cried many voices as one from the deck of the Chief. At Rochester another canal-boat. The Young Lion of the West, joineil the flotilla. It had on board, among other jjroducts of the West, two living wolves, a fawn, a fox, four raccoons, and two eagles. The flotilla rested over the Sabbath at Utica, where it arrived late on Sunday morning. The governor and his company were escorted to a place of public worship in the afternoon by a deputation of citizens, and early on Monday morning the grand procession moved on down the beautiful and magnificent Moha\vk Valley, the natural and the artificial river lunning jmrallel to each other for scores of miles. At Albany, the State capital and the eastern terminus of the canal, the voyagers were met by a large civic and military procession, which escorted the governor and other projectors and friends of the enterprise to the Capitol, where interesting services ^vere held. People had gath- ered in Albany from all parts of eastern and northern Kew York, from Vermont, and even from Canada, to witness the imposing sjiectacle. A grand public dinner was given by the corporation of Albany, at which the Hon. Philip Hone, the mayor of the city of New York, made a stirrmg congratulatory speech, and in behalf of the corporation of his city invited that of Albany to accompany the voyagers down the Hud- son Eiver and accept the hospitalities of the commercial metropohs. The celebration at Albany ended with a general illumination of the little city of fifteen thousand inhalntants, and an appropriate perform- ance at the theatre, m which was exhibited a picturesque and truthful canal scene, witli many boats and horses, locks and other accessories. From Alimny to Ne\v' York the flotilla of canal-boats was towed by Hudson River steamei-s. The Chaneelhr LieiiujHton was the " flag- ship" of the fleet, having in tow the Seneca Chief, whose distinguished passengei-s were transferred to her escort, and Avere joined by many KIKST I)K< ADK, 18:iO-lK40. (JO otlii'i-s. Tlicv moved ;it an cai'ly lioiir in the inorninj^. (iniujis or crowds of men, women, and eliildien were seen on the shores of the Hudson at nianv points, and here and there the ^j^ri-at a(|iiatie |»rsoiut ions concerning arrangenunits, emlxMly- ing a pi-ogranune, were adopted. They were prepared beforehand i)y Pintard. IJefore the dawn of tiio morning of November 4tii the great fleet, under the conunanil of Charles Khind as admiral, was andiored off Greenwich Village, then a sort of suburb of New Yoik City. The sky was cloudless, and at sun-rising the day was welcomed In' the ringing of the city bells and the roar of cannon. At a signal from the Clion- ccilor Liviny loud huzziis from the crowded vessels of every kind. In New York Harbor were two British sloops-ol-war, Su-itllou' and Jilii<(p'«/ur. When everything was in readiness, the deet, saluter Jiepublican, iis it was called) liarty, founded by JeSerson, and was active in the canvass which raised that great Virginian to the Presidency of the Kepublic in 1801. He was also nn active member of the Tainmauy Society. At aljout the opening of the present centnry Jlr. Crolius was elected a member of the common council, representing the Sixth Ward, in which he was born. As such he ofiBci- ated at the laying of the corner-stone of the new City Hall, in thePields, afterward known as City Hall Park, or the Park. In 1842 he was the last surviving member of the common council who were present on that occasion. The city was then divided into nine wards. De Witt Clinton was mayor, and John B. Prevost was recorder. The fol- lowing are the names of the aldermen and assistant aldermen then present : Aldenno). — Wynandt Van Zandt, Philip Brasher, John Bogert, John P. Ritter, Jacob de la Montagnie, George Janoway, Mangle Jlinthorne, Jacob Martin, Jacob Hansen. Assislaiils. — Andrew Slorris, Caleb S. Eiggs, Jacob Le Roy, Robert Bogardns, Clarkson Crolius, John Beekman, Whitehead Fish, James Striker. Mr. Crolius remained in the council several years. He was the grand sachem or saga- more of the Tammany Society in 1811, and as such laid the corner-stone of Tammany Hall ; and early in the war of 1812 he was major of the" Adjiilant-General's Regiment." He soon afterward was appointed to the same rank in the regular service, and assigned to duty on Governor's Island, in the harbor of New York. During the ab.sence of his superior officer he held command of that post, also of Bath and Sandy Hook. At the close of the war he resumed his business. He was a very popular leader in the Democratic l>arty, and for ten years was a representative of the city of New York in the Assembly of the State. Mr. Crolius was, with many other members of the Legislature, opposed to the Canal scheme, chiefly under a conviction that the State was not then in a condition to sustain the expense or to assume the inevitable heavy debt its cnnstrnctinn would create. When it was begun he was among the first to join in voting means for its completion. Being a favorite with the country members of the Assembly, he was chosen Speaker of that body in 1825, by a unanimous -vote, an unprecedented circumstance. He soon atler- ward retired from active ])olitical life, but official stations under the city authorities and the general government were conferred upon him. He was one of the most active of the founders of the American Institute, and was one of its vice-presidents for seven years. He died in the city of New Y'ork in the ward in which he was Viorn, on October 3, 1843. He married, in 1703, Elizabeth Meyer, who survived him many years. As an honorable and energetic business man, a promoter of the best interests of his native city, as a patriotic soldier, and as a faithfnl representative of his fellow-citizens in the city and State legislatures, Clarkson Crnlins, Sr., was an eminently representative citizen. His son. Clark.son Crolius, .Tr., now living in the city, venerable in years, has also been an alderman in New York, a member of the State Senate, and ever active in the primioticm of measun s for tln' lii-riHtit of his fellow-men. 74 HISTOHV OF NEW YORK CITY. around the British war- vessels, receiving a salute from tliein. Each party complimented tiie other with cheers and the playing of " God save tlie King" and " Yankee Doodle'' by their respective musicians. The passengers were all landed at about four o'clock. Meanwhile a vast civic ])rocession, sucli as had never before been seen in the city of New York, had been formed and paraded through the principal streets, under the direction of the marshal of the day, Major- General Flemming. It was composed of representatives of every re- spectable class of society, arranged in organized groups. There ap- peared the several benevolent and industrial societies, the Volunteer Fire Department, the literary and scientific institutions, the membei-s of the bar, the officers of the State artillery and infantry in uniform, and the membei-s of many occupations and callings not formally organized into societies, accompanied by bands of music. This procession, six abreast, was formed in Greenwich l)ctween nine and ten o'clock in the moi'ning, the right resting on Marketfield Street, near tlie Battery. It moved up Greenwich Street (then a fashionable place of residence) to Canal Street ; through Canal Street to Broad- way ; up Broadway to Bi'oome Street (then the upi)er part of the city proj)er) ; u[) Broome Street to the Bowery ; down the Bowery to Pearl Street ; down Pearl Street to the Battery ; over the Battery to Broadway ; and thence to the new City Hall, in the Piu'k. At the Battery the procession was joined by the voyagers returning from the ocean — the mayor and common council and distinguisJied guests. The scene along the line of the pi'ocession presented a most hnposing spectacle. Each society seemed emulous to excel in the richness and beauty of its banner and the respective badges and decorations. Many of the bannei-s displayed exquisite art in design and execution. Many of the industrial societies (twenty -two in number) had furnished them- selves witii large cai-s, upon which their respective ai'tisans were busily engaged in their several occupations. The most attractive ])erformance of tiie kind was on tlu^ jjrintei-s' car, on which was a printing-press constantly at work striking off copies of a long "Ode for the Canal Celebration," written for the occasion at the request of tiie printei-s of Xew Yoi'k, and distributed to the populace. The following are the opening stanzas : " 'Tis (lone ! 'tis done I The mighty chain Which joins bright Erie to the Main, For ages shall perjjotnate The glory of our native State. 1 ^^■'^^^SP^^fy^^. FlKsr DKCADE, 1830-1840. 75 " "Tis iXoue '. TroHcl Abt o'er Natubb lins prevailed ! Genius ami I'eksevehan-ce lifive Micreeded ! Though selfish PiiEJi'uifE in strength assailed, While honest Prudence jjleadtd. " 'Tis done I The nionnrch of the briny tide, Whose giant arms encircle Earth, To virgin Euuc is allied, A bright-eyed nymph of luountain birth. " To-day the Sire of Ucenit takes A sylvan maiden to his arms, The Goddess of the crystal Lakes, In all her native charms ! " She comes, attended by a sparkling train ; The Xiiiiids of the West her nuptials grace ; She meets the sceptred Father of the Main, And in liis heaving bosom hides her virgin face." Some of tlie cai-s wei-e Iteauti fully oriiainented and profusely deco- rated with evergreens. Turkey or IJrusscls carpets covered the floors of some of tliem, and soitio fairly glittered with gilding in the light of the unclouded sun on tiiat fair Novemher day. In that ijnx-ession was a|)propriately carried a bust of C'hi-istopher f'olles,* an Eiigiishnian who came to New York before the [{evolu- tion, and was undoubtedly the liist man who suggested the possibility and the advantage of an artilicial water-communication between the Hudson River and the Lakes. He leclm-ed on canal navigation in Xew York so early as 1772. He actually made a survey of the Mohawk River and the country to Wood Ci-eek, tliat empties into Lake Ontario. He had been in his grave four yeai-s when this grand canal celebration occurred. The gallant Cokmcl Stone, the appointed historian of the event, was f:o deeply impres.sed with the whole affair tiiat his pen. with seeming * Christopher CoUes was bom in Ireland abont 1738 ; studied under Richard Pococke. an eminent Oriental traveller, and became an expert linguist and man of science. On the death of his patron, m 1765, he came to .Vmerica, and first appeared in public here as a lecturer on canal navigation about the year 1772. lie was a good civil engineer, and proposed to the authorities of the city of New York schemes for supplying the city with pure water. But his projects were never carried out. Colles constructed and published a series of sectional road maps, which were engraved by Ins daughter. He was u land surveyor, made paper boxes, and a-ssisted almanac-makers in their calculations. CoUes also manufactured painters' colors, and at length was made actuary of the Academy of the Fine Arts. Eminent men in Xew York City highly esteemed him, but he died in com- parative obscurity in New Y'ork in 1S21. Only Dr. J. W. Francis and .John Pintard, with the officiating clergj'iiian. Rev. Dr. Cruighton, accompanied his body to its burial in the little cemetery on Hudson Street. 76 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. sjiontaneity, recorded almost grandiloquent ex]>ressions when dwelling on tlie subject of the participation of the fairer sex in the uurivalled ])ageant. He wr'ote : '• The eye of beauty, too, gazed with delight upon the passing scene ; for eveiy window was thronged, and the myriads of handker- chiefs which fluttered in the air were only rivalled in whiteness by the delicate hands which suspended them ; while the glowing cheeks, the ingenuous smiles of loveliness and innocence, and the intelligence which beamed brightly from many a sparkling eye, proclaimed their posses- soi-s worthy of being the wives, mothers, and daughters of freemen. It was, in line, a ])roud spectacle ; but language fails in attempting its description — much more in imparting to ]iaper the sensations which it createil. It is not difficult to describe individual objects correctly, but it is impossible to portray their general effect when hajipily grouped together. It is amid scenes like these— a fain: gleam of which can only be conveyed to the futm*e antiquary or historian— that the mind is absorbed in its own reflections, musing in solitude, though surrounded by the gay and the thoughtless, and literally lost in its own imagin- ings." * The festivities of the day were closed in the evening by the illumina- tion of the ])ublie buildings, the [principal hotels, the theatres, museums, and many pi'ivate tlwellings. On several of these were transparencies Avitli a])i)ro])riate devices, conceived by good taste and intelligence, and artistically executed. The City Hall was the chief point of attraction. No ex])ense had been s])ared by the corporation in making its illumina- tion and attendant lireworks unsuii3assed in l)rilliancy. There was an immense trans])arency on its front, exhibiting views of the canal and a variety i)f emblematical figures. The fireworks exceeded the jniblic' expectations. The Park was crowded with delighted sjiectators, of both sexes and of all ages, from the crowing infant to the tottering old man, from eight to ten thousand being the computed number. At the Park Theatre an interlude composed for the occasion by M. M. Noah was performed, and ehcited great applause. A similar production pre- ])areil by Sanmel ^Yood worth, the printer-poet, for the occasion was pei'formed at the Chatham Theatre. On the following day (Saturday, the 5th) committees from the West were entertained at a dinner given in their iionor on lioard llic CIkhi- * Colonel William L. Stone's narrative; of the celebration, published liy the common council of the city of New York, under the title of " The Grand Erie Canal Celebration." This wa.s accompanied by a memoir of the great public woik, by Cadwallader D. Golden. Stone's narrative has furnished the materials for our sketch. FIRST DEIAUK. 18;!0-1»40. 77 ciUor Lirinffston. Tliey enjoyed tlie hospitalities of the citizens in great j)lenitu(le. Tlie pubhc institutions were thrown open to their visits anil ins|)eetion, and tliev i-elurned to their respective lioines deejjly inipiessed witli the vast ini|)oitance of the Grand Cunai in tiie promotion of the prosperity, not only of the city of Mew York, hut to the whole State anil the region ilrained iiy the Great Lakes. One of them (Di-. Ale.xander C'ovcntiy, of Utica) wrote to the mayor of New York in behalf of the several committees, sjiying : " The Erie Canal insures to us a reward for industry ; to om- posterity an antidote for idleness ; nor is it the least ralualile of our acquired ])rivileges to have in the future our ))i'osi)erity closely identilied with the citv, our connection with which has always ixrn our proudest boast." The festivities in the city were concluded on Monday evening, the 7th, by a grand l)all given by the officers of the militia associated with a conuuittee of citizens. For that occasion the vast rooms of the Lafayette Amphitheatre, in Laurens Street near Canal Sti-eet, was used. Tiie hippodrome was Moored over for the occasion, and with the stage usihI for dramatic entertainments fonncd the largest ball-room in the UnitL-d Stales. It was divided into three compartments, the whole being about two hundi-ed feet in length, and from sixty to one hundi-ed feet in breadth. The danciiig-iooni was the most spacious of any. At one end was an immense mirror, composed of thii'ty ])ier-gla.sses without frames and neatly joined together. At the other end of the room, on the removal of drapery at a proper time, a beautifully sup|)lied supjjcr- room was revealed. From the roof was suspended many chanileliei-s, and from it the " Stai-s and Strijies" hung in gay festoons. The whole of the interior of the Am])hitlieatre was brilliantly lighted with scores of chandeliei's, lamjjs, and candles, and on every side were seen elegant and costly decorations. The front of the building was illuminated, and across it, over the doois, were the words, " TuicGra-ni) Ca.nal," formed by the light of burning lamps. A brilliant as.semblage appeared in the Amphitheatre that night. It was estnnated that fully three thousand pei-sons were present, among them Governor Clinton and his wife. The gallant chronicler (Colonel Stone) again grew warm as he descTibed the scenes on that eventful evening, and refeired to the ladies. He WTote : " But entrancing above all other enchantments of the scene was the living enchantment of beauty— the trance which wraps the senses in the pi-esencc of loveliness Avhen woman walks the hall of beauty — magnitlronce luTself— the brightest object in the mid.st of brightness and 78 HISTOKY OF KEW YORK CITY. beauty. A thousand faces were there, bright with intelhgence and radiant witli beauty, looiiing joy and congratulation to each other, and spreading around the spells which the loves and the graces bind on the breast of the sterner sex. To every guest of the corporation of the city of Xew York, both ladies and gentlemen, a beautiful medal was ]3resented, bearing on one side images of Pan and Xeptune in lo\ing embrace, also a well-filled cornuco]iia showing the production of the land and sea, with the words, " Uniox of Erie wrrn the Atlantic ;" and on the other side the aiTUS of the State of New York — the State which had borne the whole burden in the construction of the great work —and a representation of a section of the canal, its locks and aqueducts, and a view of the harbor of Kew York. On this side were the words, " Erie Canal, commenced 4th of July, 1817 ; completed 2Cth October, 1825. Presented by the Crrv OF New York." These medals were made of white metal. Some were of silver. There were also fifty-one gold medals struck and sent to European monarchs and other distinguished men. They were presented by a conunittee composed of Kecorder Richard Riker, John Agnew, Thomas Bolton, and William A. Davis. So ended the celebration of the com])letion and opening of the Grand Erie Canal. It was the beginning of the fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel Barlow in his " Vision of Cohunlras,'' pubhshed in 1787, in which, alluding to the great discoverer, he wrote : " He saw, as widely spreads th' inchannelled plain. Where inland realm for ages bloomed in vain. Canals; long winding, ope a watery flight, And distant streams and seas and lakes unite. " From fair Albania, toward the setting sun. Back, through the midland, lengthening channels ran ; Meet the fair lakes, there beauteous towns that lave. And Hudson's joined to fair Ohio's wave." It was also the dawning of a brighter day in the history of New York — its entrance upon its marvellous career of grouiih and pros- perity. The prophecies of the earnest friends of the canal, that the im- petus it would give to business of every description in the city and in the interior of the State would speedily produce a wonderful increase in the commerce and wealth of both sections, was speedily fulfilled, and in a measure beyond the expectation of the most s;inguine dreamer. In 1812, Avhen the pi-oject had but lately assumed a really tangible shape by the appointment of canal commissioners, these men (Gov- FIRST DKCADE, 1830-1840. T'J crnour >[orris, Stephen Van IJensselaer, I)e Witt C'lintmi, Petei- I?. Porter, and others) gave tlie following prophetic utteianci- : ■• Viewing tiie extent and fertility of the country with which mis canal is to ojjcn coinniunication, it is not extravagant to suppose lliiil. when settled, its pi'oosition and implacable ridicule, to push forward to completion the great Erie Canal, which gave a new birth, as it were, to the commercial metropolis of the nation. And yet, while the public parks and squares of New York are displaying statues of distinguished Americans and Europeans, no person ha.s yet (midsummer of 1883) proposed the erection in the Central Park, or elsewhere, of a statue of De Witt Cucton. the brilliant swtesman. the profound scholar, ond the munificent benefactor of the commercial metropolis of the nation ! 80 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. came in a vessel of their own. She was a small craft. They landed in New York, and sold their vessel for $700. Like Cortez, who when he landed with his followers in Mexico burned tiie ships that brought them thither, they came to stay. This was the lii"st Scandinavian emigration to our shores, save the Swedes who came in the seventeenth century, and there was none other until 1836. In the latter year Bjorn Andersen, father of the Nor- wegian scholar R. B. Andersen, who was a Quaker, came to New York with two shi])loads of coreligionists, who fled from mild persecutions in Norway. They proceeded to the Western States. This was the beginning of the ever-increasing stream of emigration from Scandinavia to Western and North-Western States and Territories of the Eepublic — ]\[ichigan, Wisconsin, Ilhnois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Dakota— where they now number more than 1,500,000 pei-sons. CHAPTER II. rpilE now social elements whicii had been gradually infused into ■ J- life of the city of Xew York for many years previous to tiie cc the com- l»letion of the Erie Canal were much more conspicuously displayed immediately after that event, in an energetic and daring spirit of busi- ness enterprise. That spirit had for its solid basis and wise regulation and restraint the conservative elements of the old order of things— the Knickerbocker Age, as it has been called— the time when the Dutch spii-it of Ijroad charity, thrift, economy, hberal benevolence, and steadiness in all thing-s ])revailed. That life was characterized by the practise of the sterner viilues : equable lives, conunon-sense, indomital)le persever- ance in every undertaking, whether for personal benefit or for the ))uljlic welfare ; contented industry, the cstalilishment of institutions of religion, benevolence, science, art, and literature ; in solid intel- K'ctual cultivation, and in (juict dignity, courtliness, and refinement of manners on all occasions. '• Knickerbocker frugality," says a late writer, •' was a blessing to sucli of the present generation who can trace their genealogv on Man- hattan Island for a centiuy, while those whose titles date back onlv fifty or si.xty yeai-s possess millions of substantial reasons to be thank- ful. They have not toiled, neithei- have they spun ; yet while tliev have slumbered in idle comfort their inherited acres have changed to city lots, and city lots, no matter how situated, represent dollai-s and jH'oduce income." * The Knickerbocker's Sabbath symbolized in a degree the conspicuous characteristics of Knickerbocker life : steady, conservative, dispassion- ate, orderly, and devotional. The Knickerbockei-s regarded the Sabbath as truly the Lord's Day — a day to be devoted spcx-ially to the service of God, and not to temporal pleasures and enjoyments — entertainments and mere recreation. In * Dayton's " Last Days of Knickerbocker Life in New York." 83 HISTORY OF XEW Y01!K CITY. household affairs as little labor as possible was performed. As a rule, the meals on Sunday were cold collations of the baked meats of Satur- day, and so the servants were allowed to rest. Attendance upon jiublic worship was general and punctual. Three times a tlay were seen staid processions in tiie streets of men, women, and children going to or returning from ])laces of divine worehip. Friends, when they met, gave only a nod of recognition. Few vehicles were seen in the streets, for omnil)uses and street-cai-s were then unknown, and coaches were seldom out on Sundays. Every precaution was taken to jjrevent disturbance of woi-siiippei's l>y noises in the streets. So agreed was public opinion on the subject of the hohness of the Sabbath and the necessity for [\a religions observance, that the few gay ,young men who disregarded it and took rides into the country beyond ilurray Hill and Bloomingdale rather shyly avoided the more public thoroughfares. These sinners were often the subject of earnest intercession at evening prayers. In some churches the methods were as inflexible as cast-iron. There were no instrmuents of music heard ; the singing was inharmonious ; tlie opening prayers were as long as sermons, and the sermons, were rigidly doctrinal, ])rotracted, and tedious. The Middle Dutch Eeformed Church (late the city Post-Office) was one of the oldest and most noted of the places of pubhc worship on Maniiattan Island. Its interior arrangements were in strong contrast witli the church edifices of to-day. The i)ulpit was very spacious, occupying the space l)etween the two entrance dooi-s to the church. It was readied by a Hight of carpeted stall's on each side of nearly a dozen steps, witii mahogany balustrades. Over the pulpit was suspended a sounding-board to send the voice of the preacher in full force to his hearers. Upon the jiulpit was a square cushion of velvet for the Bible to rest on, with heavy silk tassels at each corner. The pews, with sti-aight, liigh backs and narrow seats, forbade all lounging, or even real comfort ; they seemed to have been contrived for doing penance. On each side of tlie pulpit in special pews sat the six eldei-s and six deacons, in a position to bring the whole congregation under their in- spection. "These twelve men," A^Tote a regular attendant on the service there sixty years ago, " seemed to the youthful and irrehgious portion of the congregation the incarnation of cold, relentless piety, deserted of every human frailty. . . . "When one rose, they all stood up ; \vlien f)ne sat down, thej'^ all followed suit, as if acted upon simultaneously by an electric wire. Their black dress-coats seemed to have been made by one tailor ; their white neekciotiis cut from one piece of cambric, washed, ironed, and folded by the same laundress ; Kiiisr nKfAhK. is:!(» is4(i. 83 the bow-knots, even, seemed tn Imve lieeii adjusted hy tlie siiine Iiimd." * Wlien the sermon hef^an tlie twenty-four eyes of tlic dozen eklei-s and acons were fixed on the minister, and tlie yomiger portion fif tlie eonf,nei,'ation feh a relief, foi- irre^^ularities would not be seen by these devout woi-shii»|)ei's while the sermon lasted. •' They sat as motionless as statues," sjiys Dayton. "The terroi-s of the bottondess ])it pro- elainied by the uneoinproniising I'lownlee ; the beatitude of the blest hopefully dwelt on by the gentle Knox ; the pressing invitations U> repentance heralded in j)owerful tones by the more youthful and impulsive Dc Witt, were alike unavailing to produce the slightest variation in the stereotyped countenances of these twelve leading dignitaries of the Middle Dutch Church." There was no organ. In the space under the jiulpit stocMl the clioiis- ter with a tuning-fork, who pitched the tune and led the congregation in singing, sometimes twelve stanzas with the Doxology. In that ca])acity chorister Earl served the church many years. Xow, how changed ! The architecture of the church edifices, the sennons, the music, and the Sunday demeanor of deacons and elders and other subordinate adjuncts of the diurch service have been ti-ans- fonned. As a rule the sennons are short moral essays on the beauty of holiness, tlie hjve of God and man, and exhortations to lie more and more Christlike in daily life. Dayton may have drawn the contrast with a rather free ])en when he wrote ten yeai-s ago : '' Smiling dei'gy- nien delight their listenei-s ; smart, dajiper eldei-s and deacons, with beaming countenances, ga}' neckties, and jewelled shirt-fronts, are the admiration of the young. No chorister and tuning-fork, but instead a charming prima donna, sustained by a tenor and basso of ackncjwl- edged ojieratic reputation, is hidden from ])ublic gaze by the rich curtains of the fugan-loft. Avhere she warbles with excjuisite skill the choicest solos of modern art. while tlie new school reclines on velvet cushions, so enchanted by the perfonnance that were it not for some vague, misty a.ssociations connected with the day and jilace, it would be acknowledged by the clapping of jewelled hands and a fior.d trilmte." Then the psiilms and hymns were so clearly enunciatetl in church singing that no listener was puzzled ; now some church choii-s so mutHe the words in i)ronunciati(m that no listener can follow tliem in- telligently without a book. Was not the e.\as])erated hearer justified * Dnyton's " Last Days of Kniektrbocker Lite in Now ^ork." 84 HISTORY OF NEW VOHK CI IV wlien, after trying in vain to folloAv the words so disguised, wrote on the fly-leaf of a psahn-book : " If old King David shonlil, lor once, To this good house repair, And hear his psalms thus warbled forth. Good gracious ! how he'd swear." The Puritanic Sabbath, with all its oi-der and solemn gravity and its rigid observances, has also been transfoi-med. To a large jjortion of the inhabitants of the metropolis to-day the interior of a cluirch is a less familiar jilace than the theatre or concert-room. Knickerbocker life was like its Sabbaths : steady, orderly, calm, real, devoted to a purpose, and always mark-ed by unswerving observ- ance of all ethical requirements. It \vas distinguished by plodding, un- tiring industry, accompanied by generous thrift, which always secured a comj)etence for the time of old age. Speculating schemes were sel- dom conceived or undertaken. Their tastes were sensible, their desires were moderate, and their wants were comparatively lew ; and society was not made feverish by rivalries in the stracture of mansions or in equi]iages and entertainments. The ladies were modestly attired, often in rich stuffs, but plainly made up. Indeed, there were not deft fingers enoiigh then to have met a tithe of the I'equirements of fashion in dress in our generation, for the sewing-machine was not yet. in- vented. Only the tiny needle wielded by ex|)ert fingers performed the labor on every garment. Knickei'bocker life was marked by the best features of genuine iiospi- tality, heartfelt, unostentatious, and informal. Hospitality so adminis- tered to-day would be regarded as ])arsimonious, if not stingy and selfish. While it was on occasion far-reaching, the chief sphere of its operations was the circle of relations by blood or marriage. Its princi- pal power and Ijeneficence was generated in the home, where the wife and mother reigned as queen. In those days homes — genuine homes — abounded. Frugality was the; rule, extravagance the exce}ition. Frugality was the sceptre that ruled all hospitality, and order, cleanli- ness, abundance, and good taste distinguished all entertainments. Parental authority \vas sujireine in all things, and filial love and obedi- ence everywhere abounded. Overflowing social pleasures were tem- pered I)y wise moderation. The tables of the Ivnickerljockers were very simple in the variety of their viands, but prodigal in (piantity. Generally there was a bountiful repast of meats or poultrv, E, 1K;10-1S1U. H5 one coiii'sc, and wt-rc t'Dllowcd liy pics, iniddiiifrs, tarts, wine, and I'niit — a|)|)les, nuts, and raisins. All of tlii'st' viands wciv in-cpaii'd under the direct su|)ervisi<>n uf tiic mistress of the liousehold, for she was too well instructed in cookinjj;; niattei's and tiHj jealous uf the good name ," raid the venerable John W. I)e- grauw, an t)ct()genarian merchant, to the writer, "and tlie lai-gest item of our expense in furnishing the building was for a sideboard and an elegant collection of cut-gla.s.s to ])Ut on it." A spindle-legged ])iano- forte (nearly all /i>rft'), perhaps the most extravagant piece of furni- ture in the room, nearly coni])leted the outfit. The windows were veiled with green Venetian, inside blinds, and modest curtains, while on the walls hung family portraits, a " Sitmpler" from the skilled fingei-s of a loving feminine friend or relative, and in the houses of the moi-e wealthy one or more fine jiaintings, generally cojjies from the works of the old masters ; also a few choice engravings. * Illiiminiitinf! gas was first permanently introduced into \e\v York in I82.'j. Its intro- duction bad been iinsueccssfnlly attempted in 1S12. The New York Gnu Light Company was incorporated in 1823, willi a capital of Sl.OOO.OnO The extent, of its privileges was limited to the city below Canal and Grand stroefs. Pipes were first laid nnder Broad- way from the Battery to Canal Street. Prejudices had to be encountered, and for several years the progress of lighting the city by gas was slow. In IHM) the Manhattan fias Light Comjiany was incor)'onited. with a capital of ^500,000, for the purpose of lighting the upper part of the city. The method soon became popular. Today almost tho entire island has a network of gas-pipes lieneath its surface. 80 HI^TOUY Ol'- NEW YOHK CITY. The fireplaces in tliese houses were bordered by slabs of variegated Italian marble, the shelves supporting high silver candlesticks with snuffers and tray, and china vases on pedestals filled with artificial flowei-s, and sometimes with natural grasses. Most of the better class of dwellings were elegantly finislied with solid mahogany doors and wainscoted with oak or other woods. The ceihngs wore high, the rooms spacious, and even the country-seats that dr)tted tiie island here and there were beautifully laid out with well-cul- tivated gardens and lawns. A fine house on Broadway could then be rented for eight hundred dollars. In these houses there ;vas solid ilomestic enjoyment. Great oak or hickory logs bm-ned on huge brass andirons in the spacious fireplaces, filling the rooms A\ntli a soft and soothing ruddy glow, for anthracite Avas not in common use, and few persons indulged in the luxury of Liverpool coal. Hundreds of s1oo]k and schoonei'S from Hudson Eiver towns and from Connecticut and Long Island, laden with fuel, filled the slips in autumn in the North and East rivers, and those who could afford it would buy a sloop-load of oak or hickory wood in the fall and have it sawed and jjiled in the cellar for the winter. It was the habit of many families to have the servant man saw and pile the wood, and to give him as a perquisite the proceeds of the sales of the ashes, then a considei'able sum. This privilege sometimes quick- ened the ambition and cupidity of servants, and impelleil them to make ashes faster than a prudent housekeeper would permit. The eminent merchant, Stephen B. Munn (who died in ISSO), used to tell the story of this propensity in an old negro servant of his. Munn had put into his cellar a cargo of fine hickory wood. He was aroused one night by a fearful roaring in tlie kitchen chimney. He rushed to the kitchen, where he found the old negro fast asleep before a blazing ]iile of wood. On demanding what this meant, the dazed old man, suddenly aroused from slumber, said, " I— I— Pse maldng ashes, to be sure, master.'' The domestic anmsc^ments of the Knickerbockers were simple and pleasant. In the sunnner tea-ymrties and quilting-parties, and in winter " a]>ple cuts," were the staple domestic amusements of the young peo- ple. Assemblies or balls, or " publics," as they were called, held at early houi-s, and the theatre and circus constituted their most exjiensive anmsements. At their home-parties the chief refreshments offered were ajjples, nuts, doughnuts, cider, and mulled wine. These simple and lienltlifnl homes— healthful for mind and body- liave passed away. Some of the solid old furniture vet remains with families of Knicker- KIKST DKr.MiE, 1h;jo ls4i) 87 h(K'k(>r tlcsccnt, Imt it is ^I'licrally I'oncc'jilcd fniiii view in ;rai-rt'ts or stori-nxHiis. Its ]>rcsfiKf in tin- cxtnivaffanlly lurnislird aiiai-tnicnts of to-tlay would l»i* an unniistakal)le indication that tUere liad been a fuiiiili/ \r,\v\i of it. Till' iiarrioi-s wliich fi;uarded these homes of more than lialf a century afjo iiave lieen broken '• trainin": days" until the AVasliiiifititn I'ai-:i(lc-(;i'i)Uii(l (now Wasliiiig- ton S(iuare) was ostaljlislunl. WIrmi (u-niTal Moitun hrcanie too IVrblo to mount liis hoi-se lie reviewed tlie troops from his balcony, and on these occasions received from them the compliment of a marching salute. On State Street, near Pearl, in the later days of Knickerltocker life in Kew York, was a modest two-storied house, the inn of Peter Bayard, himself a pure Knickerbocker of Huguenot descent. For many yeai-s it was the popular resort of well-to-do people of the town and country, who were always sure of finding there most unexceptional)le turtle-.soup and othei- gastronomic delicacies. The house was always full, fcjr tran- sient sojourners in New York from distant cities well knew the house of Peter P>ayard. Castle Clinton (now known as Castle CJarden) stoorices. Among these the more elderly reatler will remember the famous furnishing store of Clark it Saxton. where only the fashionable young man could be sure of being 90 HISTORY OF XEW YOHK CITY. equipped in an irreproacluible manner with minor articles of his toilet, after being clothed in exquisite style at the establishment of Tryon, Wheeler & Derby, booted l)y the manufactures of Kimball & Rogere, and crowned with a St. John hat. Costume in the latter days of Knickerbocker life in New York, say fifty yeai-s ago, was so strictly conventional as to modes and color-s that any departure from the prescriptions of fashion was regarded ahnost as a transgression of the laws of taste. In this matter the inexorable tyrant fashion i-uled supreme. Black was the prevailing color for men, whether in the counting- room, the parlor, or the church ; at dinner, at the theatre, or at a ball. In the street the heads of men were covered with heavy, high, bell- crowned hats of real fur (the light, shining plush silk hat was then unknown), long-napped and abundant. Tlieir necks were encircled with broad satin stocks, which tightly inclosed high standing sharp linen collars that seemed to support the head by the ears, and were jiointed like the cutwater of a steamboat. They wore short-waisted, long and narrow-skirted black frock-coats, with high coUars and tight sleeves ; black ]«intaloons, skin-tight, the legs kept in place by stra])s beneath the boots ; and boots, high-heeled, narrow and ]iointed toes, and made so tight that only by the free use of hooks and soaj) could they be drawn on. Black kid gloves, and among the extremely fash- ionable young men known as " dandies" a small black cane. com])leted the co.stume. The women were a little less restricted as to color, liut in form wei-e no less slaves to the dressmaker and the milliner. They appeared in the streets witii a hideous-a])i)earing bonnet with high crown, in sha])e not unlike a coal-scuttle, and often trimmed with huge bunches of arti- ficial Ho\vei"s, sometimes with a full-blown peony. From their shoul- ders depended loose cloaks or shawls whicli effectually hid all charm of figure, and under these, plain untrimmed skirts reaching only to the anldes. Below the skirts apjieared spotless white hose and black slip- pei-s, kept in ])iace l)y black silk strings wound around the ankles. Their heads were canojiied with a spacious ]iarasol of silk deeply fringed, and with a ponderous carved ivory handle. From their arms dejiended bags of richly colored silk embroidei'ed with manv-lnuHl beads. In their hands tliey carried a pocket-handkerchief trimmed with lace and daintily held at the middle by the forefinger and thumli, so that its wliole dimensions and quality might bo seen, for uj)()n these M'as often estimated the pecuniary standing of the family. In winter their necks were encircled with serpentine rolls of fur called a Knc'tTOcif F>ri ^ '^a-^t^.y^-^-o^C^^i'^-r^^. FIKST DKCAUK. IHW IH-JO. 91 " lioa," witli tlio Idiij; on; tliin scarf. InthKHN tlie liclles i)f tliat day appeareil in ratlii-r lnw-necked dresses, sometimes fashioned over tlie liust in tlie form of a hodice, still" as steel and wlialeljoiie could make it, witii an elastic, steel or hickory " corset- l)oai'd."' (ieiierally there was a liroad waist-belt, fastened witli a large and sometimes highly ornamented huckle. The sleeves were very large, full, and |)ufl'ed above the ell)ows into a ])attern styled " nmtton- Icg," which gave undue breadtli to the shouldei's and the a|>i)earance of small sjjan to the waist. The " mutton-leg," it is siiid. was intro- duced by an English duchess to conceal an enormous wen r>n one of her arms. I'elow the elbow the sleeves were very tight. The skirt, as in the walking-dress, was short and comiMjsed of ample matei-ials. Flow- ing over the shouldei-s was a broad and elaborately wi-ought collar of cambric muslin and tine needlework, and the hair was arranged in many " putl's" surmounted by a hunch of artificial tlowei-s or a tiny lace cap. Around the neck was coiled a massive gold chain, having a pendant of sufficient length to secure a gold watch, whjch was slipped into the waist-belt. In those days Contoit's Garden, on the west side of Broadway, be- tween Leonard and Frardvlin streets, was a fashionable resort for all reputable citizens of both sexes, young and old. on summer afternoons and evenings. The garden was comprised in a long naiTow lot densely shaded with trees— so densely that the rays of the sun could i-arel}-- enter. It presented a cool retreat on sultry afternoons anil evenings, where the most delicious ice-cream in ample dishes and ice-cold lemon- ade with |)ound-cake, served by ver\' black waiters wearing very white aprons, might be had for a moderate sum of money. It was dindy lighted at evening by tiny tapers swimming in sperm oil in hanging gla.ss globes, appearing but little brighter than so many fire-Hies on a June evening. On each side of the garden were stalls jiainted white and green, with a narrow table in the middle of each and furnished with seats for four — if ))acked, for six. Contoit's was r<'garded by piai- dent parents as an eminently ]iroper resort for young people as well as eldei-s to have refreshments, for no liquor v;as sohl there, and there were never any naughty scenes enacted there. It was at about this time, or perhaps a few yeare earlier, that the families of the wealthier and more aristocratic citizens were pushed out of Hroadway by the pressure of encroaching business, and ff)und more (|uiet residences away from the turmoil of trade and the din of vehicles on the cobble-stones. Cedar and Libertv. John and Fulton streets had 92 HlSTOiiY OF NEW YUHK CITV. been given up almost wliolly to Inisiness ; yet in all of these some fam- ilies—scions of tiie old ]\niekerbockei- race — still i-eniained, even then clinging to homes in AVall Street. The dwellings in Cortlandt, Yesey, and Dey streets were rai)idly becoming boarding-houses, while in Park Place, Murray, Wan-en, and Chambers streets many members of the oldest families occupied fine residences, such as the Crugers, Pauldings, Lees, Eayards, De Peystere, Aliens, Clintons, Van Cortlandts, Lau- renses, Peekmans, Puanes, and others — men who had assisted in laying tire broad foundations of the amazing jirosperity of the city of New York since that time. Sonre of these men removed farther away from the business j^orlions of the city and built fine residences on Leonard, Franklin, and White streets, also on St. John's Park, in front of St. John's Chapel. White Street was the most direct way from Broadway to the chapel, and very soon elegant brick dwelling-houses were built on it. It was for many j'eai-s the fashionable part of the cit\'. On White Street, near Broadway, lived Francis De]mn, the owner of a line of Havre packets, whose wife was Silvie, one of the daughters of Count de Grasse. They had a family of most lieautifid daughters. One of these manned Washington Coster. She was pronounced " the most beautiful girl that ever trod Broadway." Hotel and boai'ding-house life for families was almost unknown fifty or sixty yeare ago. A family who, from choice and without pressing necessity, took up their jiermanent abode in a hotel or boarding-house lost caste ; and those who were comjielled to d<^ so by circumstances Avere objects of pity and commiseration. The consequence was that the few hotels in the city at that time depended for su]iport on tnmsient visitors and unmanned men. The grandest inn and the most noted boarding-house at that time were the Cit}^ Hotel, which occupied the entire front between Cedar and Thames streets, and the boarding-house of i\Iiss INLargaret Mann, ]io]iularly known as " Aunt ]\Iargaret," at (il Broadway. Her house, in size and accommodations, might have been called an inn. There from time to time distinguished persons found comfortable tem])orary homes. Among these were John Sinclair, the famous Scotch vocalist (father of ]\rrs. Edwin Foi'rest), at his firet appearance at the Park Theatre in the fall of 1S3L There, too, Tyrone Power, the inimitable Irish come- dian, was a " guest" for a time, when he fii-st appeared in America, in the summer of 1833. " Aunt Margaret" will be rememl>ered by some of the older citizens as a driving business woman, masculine in appear- ance and mannei"s, thick-set and stout, but nimble of foot and more I'lltsr KKCADK, ls;i() IHIO. 'X^ niiiililo i)f tongiii' wlion it Wiis IodsctumI by pi-ovoc-atiitti. liiit iiiiilcr lior roujrli oxtcrioi- was ooncoalcd as kindly a li(?ai't as cvpi- tlirohlxMl in till' hrcast of woman, and tliosc wUd l.new licr Ijest resjM'ctwl licr niitst. Tiic City Hotel was a ])lain liricic sli-uctuif four storios in lici-rlit. and pioired in front l)y nearly forty wii\dows. It was tlic most noted hotel in tiio I'nion, and magnates from everywhere visitine; the city found an agreeable honu' there. It was almost without adornment, inside and outside. Tight inside shutters at the windows cxeluded light and air, the furnitui'e was jjlain but sul)stantial, and the taiile was always a model of cleanliness and alnmdance. While Jenningrs and AVillard were its proprietoi-s the City Hotel was the theatre of ]nil>lic l)an(|uets, receptions of distinguished jjci-sons, the fashionable lendezvous of dancers at balls or assemblies, anus burden to many. Restiiunmts (tlien called " enting-houses") were idiiio.-;! unknown even in the later days of Knickerbocker life in New York. They were among the earlier indications of " foreign influence" in the .social system of the city, which has transformed home diners at noon into absentees fiiim the mid-dav meal. At the tables of these "eating- 96 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY, houses" a curious collection of men, young and old, might be seen. The spruce merchant's clerk, neatlj' attired, sat silently by the side of a drayman in coai-se blouse or a begrimed street laborer in overalls. For a long time these -places were shunned by the conservative and home-loving Knickerbockei's as ATilgar ; and so thej'^ Avere. !No re- spectable woman was ever seen entering their dooi-s. She would faint with hunger before she would risk the social stigma. Even so late as 1835, when James Thompson opened a " saloon" at 117 Broadway for tiie sale of cakes and other delicacies for the special accommodation of ladies out a-shopping, and presented delicious temptations in his windows, shop])ers were seldom beguiled into the attractive room, altiiough the sisters of the proprietor, middle-agod women, were in atteiulance. Society said it was not ])ro]3er ; but society, like an individual, changes its o])inions. Thompson, after patient Avaiting in faith and after preparing a palace, richly decorated, up Broadway, near wlieie Contoit flourished, found society yielding.' The tahon was graduallj^ removed. Society said ladies and gentlemen, and even ladies alone, might with ]3ropriety enter and partake of good things offered. Knickerbocker fastidiousness and shrinking modesty gave way. After a while, wlien families left apartments over stores and moved up town, dining-i'ooms for gentlemen became popular. Among the earlier of these was that of Clarke & Brown, near the junction of Maiden I>ane and Liberty Street. It became a daily resort for mer- chants and ]irofessional men. For a long time it was visited almost exclusively hy Plnglishmen, who there found their favorite rare roast beef, steaks bai-eiy warmed through., plum-puddings, and " Burton's stock ale," though lirewed by Mr. Vassar at Poughkeepsie or at Phila- delphia. The Knickerl)ockers did not take kindly to this fare. They were accustomed to tlioroughly cooked food, and did not like the crim- son juice as a substitute for gravy. But after a \vhile Knickerliocker ))rejudice gave way ; Knickerbocker taste changed, and the dining- rooms of Clarke (fc IJrown became a cosmo])olitan resort for hungry men. Meanwhile a thoroughly American restaurant, which was dignified with the name of the Auction Hotel, was opened in Water Street, near Wall Street. It derived its title from its proximity to the great auc- tion rooms of Ilaggeity & Sons, Wilmerding & Co., and other famous auctioneei-s. The ]>roprietor had been a merchant, failed in business, opened this restaurant, and was very prosperous. One day he invited all liis creditors to a bountiful rei)ast. The table was spread in an upper private room. In tlie napkins placed before each guest was FIRST DKCADK. 1830 1840. 97 found a sealed onveli)]io, whic li when opened was found to contain a clieok for the principal and interest of tlieir resi>ective claims. This honest act l)rouglit to the propi-ietor tiie substantial reward of vastly increased business, and lie died a ricli man. At about this time a colored man named Downing became famous among lovei-s of oy.stei-s — and wlio is not a lover of oysters ? — because of his i-.irc skill in jn-eparing tiiem for the table. Downing's " oyster cellar" consisted of the basement of two small buildings in Broad Street, near Wall Street. It became the favorite it'sort of meichants, bankeis, brokei-s, lawyei-s, and politicians — a .sort of social exchange. Downing llonrislied, was called '" Pi'incc Saddleback," accumulated a fortune, and at a riiw old age left tiic establishment and its *' gtxul xyill " to his son, George T. Another famous restaurant-keeper was Edward Windust. who occu- pied a basement (jn Park Row, near the old Park Tlicatre. It was a favorite resort of theatrical and literary peo])le of every degree. Be- tween tiie plays at tlic Park it was always crowded with jolly fellows. The walls were adorned with (|uaint and curious remini.scences of the dmma: musty oUl theatre bills, a piece of some ancient wardrolie, a fi-aino with a lock of Shakesjieare's hair, a sword used on the stage by Gan-ick, on a shelf a rare volume of plays and other antiquated arti- cles familiar to jtlayei-s. It was an actor's museum. At Windust's half a century ago, or even within a generation, actors and literary magnates met nightly in social intercoui-se. There might have been seen, fifty or more years ago. Cooper. Edmund Kean. Junius Brutus Booth (father of Edwin Booth). T. G. Ilamblin, the Wallacks (Henry and James), Henry Placide, Simpson, the manager of the Park ; " Old Barnes," and a score of lesser tlieatricnl lights, with leading men in the realm of literature and art in the city at that time. Windust became inch, and with riches came undue ambition. He left his famous basement in Park Kow and opened the Atlienneum IIot(>l. on the comer of Broadway and Leonanl Street, where his beau- tiful daughtei-s and nieces might Iiave been seen flitting through the halls and uj) the staircases. AYindust had entered watei"s too deep for him, in trying to keep a hotel. The Athenanim was .soon closed. He went back to his basement, but its jire.stige had departed never to return. These were the principal restaurant-keepers in New York half a cen- tury ago, and were participants in the S()cial transformation to which allusion has been made. Another fr>;itn'-(" of tills snciid t rniisfonnation in X(>w "^'oi-k ai)peare liiitl liis fame cstahhslied all over the United States, and even in EiirojJe. (iiierin was a penuri- ous Kivnehman. without pei-sonal ambition, who aecuumlated an im- mense estate, hut left no iword of how he lived or how he died. It was at near the close of the lvnitkerl)ocker era in New York that the convenient oninihus was lirst introduced into the city hy a shrewd Connecticut man (Humphrey I'hclps), who afterward became quite an extensive map imblislier in the metropolis. He was the driver of his own vehicle. The hint was instantly acted upon, and when the sys- tem was fairly inaugurated thoi-e were three rival lines, and Plu'ljis left the field to his coni])etitois. Before the advent of these vehicles citizens who could not afford to own a coach (lepcnded on their own natural jiowei-s of l(Kn)motion. The Hist omniinis aijpeai-ed in 1830. It traversed Broadway, from the Bowling (4reen to Bleccker Street. In stormy weatlier, or when there was a lady among the jiassengci-s, the obliging driver would go as far as the Kip mansion, on the site of the New York Hotel. The omnibuses were few in number. They were finely decf)i-ated, and bore the names of distinguished American citizi'iis emblazoned on their sides. There was the " Lady Washington," the " Lady Clinton." the "George "Wa.shington," the " De "Witt Clinton," the " Benjamin Fmnklin." the " Thomas Jeffei-son," etc. These vehicles were drawn by four matched horses. The rival lines of stages were owned respectively by Abraham Brower, Evan Jones, and — Colvill. Brower's "stables" were mere sheds, on Broadway, opposite Bond Street ; Jones's were on White Street, and Colvill's on Grand Street, just ea,st of Broadway. The fares (one shilling each) wei-e collected by a small boy who stood on the step at the entrance to the omnibus. Very soon a fourth line of omnii)usos was established by Asji Hall, a hatter on Dey Street, which started from the comer of Pine and Nas- sau streets, went up Broadway to Canal Street, thence to Hudson Street, and by the green fields and g:\rdens until it reached the village of Greenwich, the tenninus of the route being diresent) Charles Street. The fare was twenty-five cents each. This afterward famous " Green- Avich Line" of stages Hall sold to two enterjirising young men. Messrs. Kip and Brown. They made money rapidly. Kip became the soul of enterprise and good deey good Katie Ferguson, a eoloi'ed woman in Wan-en Street, wlio organized the lii-st Sunday-scliool in tiie city of New V(jrk. Tlie cake was made at tlie home of tiie hride, anil Katie was sent for from all (juartei's to su])erintend its com])ositi(jn. At tlie wedding feast everything bore tiie features of solidity, though dainty delicacies were not wanting. Abundance wiis a consjiicuous feature. Hams, chickens, turkeys, sometimes game, home-made |)re- .serves, i)randy-j.)eaches, nuts, lady-ai)j)les, oranges, grapes, and raisins were seen in high ciiina di.shes. A towering form of ice-cream from Contoit's graced tlie table and gave promise to the palate of delicious enjoyment. C'iianipagne was seldom used, l)ut port, sheiry, and Madeira always enlivened the marriage-supper. Wherever in the room a silver candlestick could be placed, wa.\ candles added theii' soft, mel- low liglit to that of astral lamps. Social evening gatherings were preceded in' invitations " to tea'' or "to spend the evening." In either ciLse it was undei"stood that the guests were to afipear as eai'iy a.s seven o'clock, and I'etire not later than ten o'clock. To " spend tlie evening" implied engaging in simple social enjoyment, untrammelled by coilventional rules. Their enjoyment consisted in dancing, singing, a (]uiet game of whist l)y the eldei"s, and '• plays," such as " button, button, who's got the button ?" " hunt the slii)])er," "pawns," etc., by the young people. Only the modest cotillon and sometimes the ancient minuet were allowed, for New York had not yet consented to let its sons and dauglitei-s engage in the round dances or the excitiuir waltz. Refreshments were handed round by waiters. At *' tea" everything was informal. The mistress of the household presided at the table. The family silver, china, and cut-glass ware were displayed, and there was a bountiful provision of shortcake, bis- cuits, preserves, dried beef, sweet-cake, and tea and coffee. At these evening gatherings of friends, the majority of the company were of the gentler sex. Pubhc " balls" or •' assemblies" at the Apollo It(X)ms, in Broadway near Canal Street, though conducted with great jiropriety, were regarded as indelicate if not vulgar by the staid Knickerbockeis, and it was not until balls, disguised under the name of " reunions," conducted by the reigning jirince of dancei-s, Charaud, were held at the City Hotel that Knickerbocker fastidiousness consented to give free i-ein to the inclination of the young jieople in tiiat direction. Charaud had tauffht their mothei-s and even srrand mot hers the art of dancing, and 103 HISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. he. as floor manager, stamped these " i-eunions" with the seal of pro- ]iriety. The (h'ama, presenting the great mjisters in literatm-e and the histri- onic art, was always a fascinating and instructive amusement ; but the theatre was not generally ])opukir among thoughtful Knickerbockers, because of its shortcomings in intellect and morals, until tlie judicious manao-ement of the Park Theatre, by Price and Simjison. overcame all serious objections. More and more frequently Knickerbocker families of influence (excepting church -members) were seen in the dress-circle at the Park, and it was admitted that the playhouse so conducted was highly reputable. The Park Theatre was built in 179S. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1S21, and its auditorium was so extensive that twenty-five iiundred ^jcreons might be comfortably seated in it. The scenery was mostly ])ainted by the skilful hand of John Evei-s, one of the founders of tiie National Academy of the Arts of Design, yet (18S3) living at Hempstead, L. I. Its interior decorations were attractive, but its front, on Park Row, was so ])lain that it might have been mistaken for an old-fashioned ilethodist meeting-house, had not a wooden statue of Shakespeare, standing oVer the main entrance, proclaimed it a temple of the histrionic muse. The entrances to the Park Theatre were narrow and dark, the utter blackness being subdued by the feeble light of oil lamps. The lobbies were dingy and dirty, and as plain as the mason and carpenter could make them. The auditorium consisted of three tiers of seats and the ])it. now styled the jiarquet. In the former were settees, with backs covered with dark maroon. The ]>it, wholly occupied by men and bo\'s, was entered by a subterranean passage. The benches were with- out cushions, with barely enough room between them for persons to crowd by. Such was the " finest playhouse in America'' luilf a century ago. Between 1821 and 1830 eminent actors (chiefly English) trod its boards — Matthews, Cooper, Cook, Edmund Kean, Macready. Junius Brutus Booth, the excellent ^Mi-s. AViieatley, and several young aspirants for Thcs])ian fame who afterwai'd became bright luminaries in the theatrical firm.iment. It was at the Park Theatre, on the evening of November 12, 1S26, that tiie beautiful domestic drama entitled Chiri, the Maid of Milan, written by our countryman, John Howard Payne, was first performed in America. It was operatic in style, and contained that- ]iatiietic song, *' Home, Sweet Home," which gave the author immor- tality in the world's literature. The music of the play was written by (•lUST I)K( ADE, ISIiO 1840. 103 Sir Henry IJisliup, wlm loniiMiscd a lai-gi: |Mirli(iii nf tin- music for Modio's Irisii iiK'liMlics. tin; air l«'inj^ suggi'sted hy I'ayiio iiiiiisolf.''' Xe;ir the cicjso ol" the KiiiL'lveil)()ficc'r ei".".. and was given two nights in each week as an ex|KM"iinent. Tiie opera wa.s Rossini's Barber of Serilh'. The leader of the oreliestm was I)e Leon. 'There were seven violins, two tenoi-s, two basses, three violoncellos, two flutes, two clarinets, two horns, two trumpets, one bassoon, and one kettledrum. The cast was as follows : CovNT .\LMA^^^^ Signor Garcia Florello Signor Crevilli Doctor Bartolo Signor Rosich Fioabo Signor Garcia. Jr. Basiuo Signor Angriiiani ' Rosina Signorini Garcia Basta Signora Garcia The house was thronged in every i)art with the most brilliant assem- blage ever seen in an American theatre. The receipts were §2980. The next morning one of the city news]iapei"s contained the following remai'ks : " The re])eated plaudits with which the theatre rung were unequivo- cal, unaffected bui-sts of rapture. The signorini [Garcia's daughter] seems to us a being of a new creation. . . . The best compliment * The history of this song is interesting. At abont 1822 or 1823 Charles Kemhle, then the manager of Covent Garden Theatre. London, engaged Payne, then in Paris, to write a i>Iay for him. He translated the play of AmjioMta. It was accepted by Kenible. Imt at that juncture it was brought out at a rival theatre. Thereupon Payne slightly altered the plot, introduced several songs and duets into the piece, and transformed it into an oi)era under the title of Clnri, the Maiil nf Milan. The song of " Home, Sweet Home' was introduced in the second act, and was sung with great pathos by a sister of Ellen Tree (afterward Mrs. Charles Kean) as Clari. the heroine of the play. The opera, first produced in Hay, 1823, was a wonderful success. Payne had written to Bisbnp from Paris before the opera was produced that he had not " time to polish the songs," but thought " ' Home. Sweet Home,' as a refrain, would come in nicely." When the song was published one hundred thousand copies were at once disposeil of. and the profits of the publishers two years afterward, it is said, amounted to $10,000. In these profits Payne did not share. .John Howard Payne was born in the city of New York, at No. 'S'.i Broad Street, ni ar the corner of Pearl Street, on .June 9, 17'.)1. He wns a precocious youth, and inclined toward the stage. His father tried to prevent his pursuing this inclination, but failed. He began his dramatic career when he was only sixteen years of age. He first appeared at the Park Theatre, He went to England, where he obtained the title of the " American J04: HISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. lliat ciin 1)(> paid to the company was tlie unbroken attention that was yielded tln'ouglunit the enth-e ]?erfoi'raance, except that it was now and then interrupted by judiciously bestowed marks of applause, which were simultaneously given from all parts of the house." The singing of Signorini Garcia produced a new sensation in the city. She pei'formed at the Bowery Theatre (then just opened) the next year, when she received $10,000 for seventeen nights' perform- ance. But the excitement in the pubhc mind was only temporary. The attendance feU off, and at the end of two years the troupe aban- doned tiie enterprise and returned to Europe. In 1832 Dunlap wrote : " We doul)t not but those patriots [citizens who had been active in procuring the presence of the troupe] who introduced the Italian o])era into America will be iramortahzed in the history of the march of mind." Garcia's was a florid style of singing. His voice Avas exquisite, and he gave unl)ounded ])leasure. Angrisani's bass was deemed almost miraculous. It was unequalled in depth and sweetness. Garcia's daughter, Signorini Maria Felicite, was a marvellous singer. Her voice was what the Italians call a contralto. In person she was about the middle height, plump, eyes dark and expressive, and a sweet smile was almost constantly upon her lips and in her eyes. In March, 1826, while at the height of her brilliant career, she married Eugene Malibran, an aged and wealthy French merchant of New York, and expected to retire from the stage. In this matter she had yielded her own inclinations to the will and commands of her father. The brilliant vision of wealth that dazzled the eyes of Garcia were iUu- sor^'. Misfortune overtook Malibran. He became a bankrupt, and she was compelled to resume her profession for her own support. She sang in old Grace Church, on the corner of Broadway and Thames Street, on Sundays. Eai'ly in 1S27 she appeared at the Bowery Theatre, and in October of the same year she bade farewell to the American stage as the Princess of Navarre in John of Paris. In November .she Eosciiis." He was cortlially greeted in Paris by the great tragedian Talma. For nearly twenty years he jjnrsueil a career of varied siiccess as actor, playwright, and manager, and returned to the United States in 1832. In 1841 he was appointed American Consul at Tunis, where he died April 9, 1852. At the suggestion and at the expense of W. W. Corcoran, of Washington, his remains were brought to the United States, and received with public honors at his native city, on March 22, 1883. Tlience they were conveyed to Washington and interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, District of Columbia. Tho tombstone, of white Italian marble, which was originally placed at tho head of his grave in a cemetery at Tunis, bearing the erroneous inscription, " He died at the .Vmerican Consulate, in this city [Tnni.s], April 1, 1852. He was born in the city of Boston, State of Massachusetts, June the 8th, 1792," was also set up at the place of his new interment. FIHST HKCADF;, 1830 1840. 106 sailed for Europe. s;inf; with jiiciit ;ii»|)l.iusc in I.ondfin ami Paris, ami fioin tliat time ivmaiiu'ater ]>art of her enormous earnings were lavished on her relatives and various objects of charity. The favorite ilrives into the country for sporting charactei"s and fashionable young men half a century ago was to Burnham's, on the Hudson River side of the city, and to Cato's, on the East River side. To those citizens who indulged in long walks, a stroll out to Corporal Thompson's cottage, which stood on the site of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, was a favorite resort. There the young men returning from the more distant points of a drive usually stopped and enjoyed rollicking fun, sometimes until late in the evening, when they were compelled to gi'ope their way slowly along the dark road that led into the city. Thompson's was a diminutive tavern. It was a cottage built by Mr. ^fildei-berger, a leather-merchant in Yandewater Street, for a country residence. He had bought several acres of ground near the junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue for the pur])osc. He afterward built himself a fine lirick mansion on the south-west corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, and rented the cottage toTliompson. When the streets about !\ra(lison Scpiare were graded, Corporal Thompson's little yellow tavern remained standing upon a bank several feet above the general level, as long as possible. Cato's was the special favorite resort of young Vo"- York Stage," by Joseph X. Ireland. 106 HIS'IORY 01' NEW YOliK CITY. jiolite, kiiul-hearted, and obliging — too obliging sometimes for liis own interest, for some of his " fast " custoraere, scions of wealthy families, borrowed considerable suras of money of him, and forgot to refund. The Hazard House, on Yorkville Hill, through which the railway tunnel was jiierced many yeai-s ago, was another famous sto))ping-i)lace in the rural regions of Manhattan Island fifty or sixty yeare ago ; but a place more famous than all, and near the northern limit of the " drives," was the Red House, on the verge of Harlem Plains. It had been the mansion of . the McGowan family. It was reached by a shaded lane at about One Hundredth Street, running westward from Third xV venue (the fii-st cut through to Harlem Eiver). The Red House was a spacious residence suri-ounded by several acres of grountl, in which was a well-kept half-mile trotting-coui-se. It was a place of great resort for the owners of fast trotting hoi-ses. There might have been seen, almost anj'' fine da}^ a peculiar person well known in the city about fifty years ago. It was Henry Carroll Marx, of Hebrew descent. He was a man of much intellectual force and fine accomplishments, but because of his peculiar st^de of dress antl deport- ment was styled " Dandy Marx," the representative of the New York " exquisite," who was generally accounted as lacking common-sense — a class Miiich passed away many years ago, but has been replaced in our day b}' a more silly class called '' dudes." Marx lived a bachelor, with his mother and sisters, at (573 Broadway. They possessed an ample fortune. Mr. Marx affected the European style in ever\'tliing — dress, equipage, and speech. He wore a cai-efully waxed mustache, such as was seen on the lip of the Emperor Kapoleon III. in after years, and this was an abomination to the Knicker- bockers. His style of dress was English in the extreme. His speech had the peculiar drawl of the London cockney, and his dogs and horses were of the liest blood. Marx was reticent, seldom mingled in social life in the city, dressed his servants in livery, had a variety of car riages of English styles, drove a splendid team of horses — sometimes four-in-hand, and was seldom accompanied by any one but his sister, who was a very expert hoi-sewoman. All the fasliionable tailore in the city were anxious to have their handiwork dis])layetl on the pereon of " Dandy Marx." ]\Ir. Marx was not at all effeminate. Wiiatever he undertook he jiersisted in witli extraordinaiy perseverance. He joined a fire hose company. One night, while at an entertainment at Xi bio's, there was an alarm of fire. Marx rushed to the hose-house in patent-leather KlIiST DK ADK. IS '0 1840. 107 l)(M)ts. wliito kid ^IdVcs, iiiid (Ii-cssimI mi \\\o cxticiiii' of fasliion. It liiul niiiu'tl licuvily. anil tlic streets weiv filled with mud. lie sei/.e companies. .\t the foot of the 108 HISTORY OF NKW YORK CITY. street, en(lin<( at the East Rivei', voii see the sliip])ing in Coffee-House Slip. On the left side of the street the Tontine Coffee-IIouse looms up, at the corner of Pearl Street, and as your eye passes westward you per- ceive bank buildings, insurance offices, and the place of business of the Morris Canal Company. But nearly all the banks and insm'ance com- panies then in the city could now be accommodated in one of the mod- ern edifices in New York. At that period, and even so early as when Ilalleck wi'ote of the father of his " Fanny," Wall Street seems to have had some features of its ethics to-day. The poet wrote : " For Rumor (she's a famous liar yet — 'Tis wonderful how easy we believe her !) Had whispered he was rich, and all he met In Wall {Street nodded, smiled, and tipped the beaver ; All from Mr. Gelston, the collector, Down to the broker and the bank director. " A few brief years passed over, and his rank .\mong the worthies of that street was fix'd ; He had become director of a bank And six insurance offices, and mix'd Familiarly, as one among his peers, With grocers, dry-goods merchants, auctioneers, " Brokers of all grades — stock and pawn— and .Tews Of all religions, who, at noonday, form. On 'Change, th.it brotherhood my moral muse Delights in, when the heart is pure and warm, .\nd each exerts his intellectual force To cheat his neighbor — honestly, of course." At the period we are considering transactions in securities were few and insignificant, mainly for investment. " The greed for specula- tion," says ilr. Dayton, " had not tainted the plodding habits of busi- ness men, wrap])ed up as they were in their peculiar calling, satisfied with limited credit, and contented with moderate gains. The railway and mining mania was unborn. The stocks and mortgage bonds, which now form the sta]ile of the gigantic operations which daily, nay hourly, make and unmake scores of desperate sjieculators, were not in existence ; they had not ch-awn into the seething caldron of Wall Street wealth from every corner of the civilized globe. . . . Thou- sands of well-to-do men lived and died without ever puzzling their brains about the ups and downs of tlui stock hst. " CHAPTER IV. BKroRE t lie year ls:!(i Ni-w York liad ac(|iiirc(1 tin' tliaracti-r of ' iR'iiig the k'adinjj^ city in the Ilopuhlic in all that constitutes desii"ii)le metropolitan life. Ilardie wrote in iSiiT : " The city of New York, from its ra])id growth, conmiercial chai-ac- ter, and unrivalled prosjjerity, has justly been called tiie London of America. JUit it is now high time to change the appellation. The extensive ])atronage extended to the liberal arts and works of taste, the unexamjiled increase of public anmsenients, with the conseciuent prog- ress of morals and refinement, hav(> at length rendered New York the Paris of America. Like that gay and splendid envporium of fashion and literature, Xew Yoi'k is constantly filled \vitli strangei's, who are drawn hither by the celebrity of our institutions, our commerce, opu- lence, and nniitiplied sources of rational pleasure. Our fame in these res|)ects has gone abroad to the remotest corners of the Western liemi- sphere, and is rapidly spi-eading through every part of Chi-istendom." * The staid inhabitants of New Yoik, especially the Knickerlioiker element, may not have considered every point of this view its compli- mentary to the city, yet it was unidly growing city, participated. Let us briefly consider the ]iublic institutions in the city of New Yoik which were in existence in the half decade before the year ls;^(). Those institutions which most largely minister to the physical well- being of society are regarded as most worthy earliest and gr.tteful i-ecognition. To provide for the wants of the jwor and destitute, who suffer most from misfoilunes. accidents, and diseases, is the prime object of a larger jiortion of the |)ublic benevolent institutions of the city. The hospital is the rich fruit of the teachings of Jesus the Christ. » " The Description of the City of New York." by Jumes Hardie, A.M., p. 339. HO HISTOHV OK m:\v VOUK CII'V. His great lesson of the Good Samaritan preligimMl the divine mission of tlie liospital. tlie intlucnce of wliich is jxTmeatini^' liumai^ society evorv- wliere. Tlie })agan nations looivcd witli contempt upon playsical wealcness, and made no provision for tiie care of the wounded, the sick, and the infirm. With the dawn of the new ei-a began the practical observance of the Golden Rule, and provision for the weary and Avorn first ap- ])eared as places of refreshment foi" travellers. These finally Ijecanu" ti-ansformed into refuges for invaliils. At the period we are considering, the city of New York was provided with two hospitals (the (-^ity Hospital and the Bellevue Alms- house and Asylum) ; also a city dispensary, an asylum for the insane, an eye infirmary, a l^ang-in hospital, an. institution for the instruc- tion of the deaf and dumb, so called, and several minor charitable associations. These institutions — those fountains of untold blessings — are all in active operation now in the midst of scores of others engaged in the same holy cause. Thk Xkw York City Hosi'it.\l was the generous offspring of Jhe active brain and sympathetic heart of Dr. John Bard,* an eminent New York physician. At the first medical graduation at King's (now (]ohun])ia) College in the city of New York, in ilay, 1769, Dr. Bard delivered an address, in which he so ])athetically and earnestly set forth the necessity and utility of a pul)lic infirmary that Sir Henry Moore, then governoi- of the province, who was present, immediately started a subscription for that purpose, to which he and most of the gentlemen ]iresent liberally contributed. The sum of $o5(in was soon obtained, and the governoi- (who died the next autumn) warmly urged the Provincial Assembly to render the proposed institution liberal jiecuniary aid. The corjjoi'ation of the city soon afterward appro])ri- ated 815,552. Contributions were also received tVom London antl * John Bard, JI.D., an eminent physician, was born at Burlington, N. J., in February, 1716. His family was of the Huguenot refugees who fled from persecution in France. His father was a privy councillor and judge in New Jersey. John was educated in Phil- adelphia, where he was a surgeon's apprentice seven years, and formed a lusting friend- ship with Dr. Franklin. Bard established himself as a physician in New York in 1746. and very soon took a front rank m the profession. In 1750 he assisted Dr. iliddleton iu the first recorded dissection of the human body in America. During a portion o'. the British occupation of New York he withdrew from the city, but returned after the Revo- lution. Bard was the first president of the New Y'ork Medical Society in 17S8. 'When, in 17!)5, yellow fever raged in New York, Bard, though eighty years of age, remained at his post. He gave up practice in 1798, and died at his country-seat at Hyde Park, Dutchess County, N. Y., in March, 1799. FIKSr DIH'ADE. 1h:J() 1K4U. IM otlior parts of Great P.i'itaiu, on tlic earnest solieitations of Drs. Fotlier- ^\\\ and Sir William Dunean. The foilowin-,' year (ITTn) Di-s. Banl. MicUileton. ami Jones pet:- tinneil Lieuteniint-Govenior ('olden to grant a ehai-ter for a hospital. This was tlone the following year l>y Lord Diinniore, then governor of the ])rovinee. That charter, dated June i:i, 1771, heai-s tiie names (.f the mayor of New York, the recorder, aldermen and assistants, the rector of Trinity Church, one minister of each religious denomination in the city, the president of King's (now f'olundtia) College, and a numher of the most respectable citiy-ens as membei-s. They were incorporated with the title of 77i<' Soricfi/ of t/ie Ifoxpltnl in th, I'Uij of X>ir Yorl\ hi AiiK-n'rd. This title was altered l»y the Legislature, in :Xrarch, isin, to that of T/o- Sociitij of tlw Xiu' Yo,l IIosj,',hil* The charter limited the numher of govemoi-s to twenty -six. In 177-2 the Legislature granted the institution an annuity of s:i(Mi(i for twenty veai-s, and the building was soon afterward begun on five acres of ground on the west side of Broadway, b-tween (present) Duane and "Worth streets, which the governors had purchased. The corner-stone was laid on July L'7, 177?>. Just as the building was completed, a tire accidentallv lighted laid the most of it in a.shes. That was in Feb- ruary, 177-"). It inflicted ujjon the society a loss of 817,r)(i(>. The Legislatui-e generously came to their relief, and gave the govornoi-s $lii,(t(H) toward repairing their loss. Another and more discouraging calamity now fell ujion the institii- ti war for independence began, and filled the land with con- fusion. The rei)aii's of the building were nearly completed, when it was recpiired foi- the use of sick and wounded Continental soldiei-s. When the P.ritish t(M)k jiossession of the city, in 177«">, tiieir troops oc- cuj>ied it for the s;ime purpose, and wounded British and Hessian sol- diei"s tilled it. It was over four years after tiie I'>ritish foi'ces left the city, in 17^3, before the society were able to resume work on the buikling. The Legislature of the State of New York directed (March 1. 17SS) S2(iO<» annually to be given them for four yeai-s, but such was the dreailful state of aflfaiis in the city for several years after the war that the building was not ready to receive patients until 1701. In 1702 the Legislature granted the hos]iital ;S.")(i(in a year for five years. This act was sus])ended. in 17'.>.">. by anothei' granting ftln.iioo *Thc first liosiiitiil on Manhattan Island \vn.s rstablisbfd l>y tlio l)iit.-h. It lia( tlio crvnntry. 112 HISTORY 01' NEW YORK CITY. a year for five yeai-s. In 1795 an additional grant of $2500 a year was made, making the whole annual sum 612,500. The govenioi-s now aj)propr'iated the sum of §500 for the fountling of a medical library for the use of the hospital. To this generous dona- tions were made, and in 1S30 the library contained over six thousand volumes. The hospital contiiuially enjoyed the bounty of the State Legislature and of the citizens of Xew York. In the year 1S08 the first building ever devoted to tlie care of the insane in the State of New York was erected on the hospital grounds, and opened with sixty-seven patients. For the accommodation of the increasing number of such patients, a new asylum was established at Bloomingdale, a i-emote suburb of the city, in 1821. Then the old quartere were remodelled as a hospital for seamen, and called the " ilarine Building," and in 1825 it was devoted exclusively to their use. It was so occupied for a quarter of a century, Avhen it was demolished, and a more commodious ])uilding was erected on its site, and firet occupied by them in 1855. The Marine Building, which had been furnislied with wings, had also been remodelled, and was much inq)roved in 1850. At an early date in its history the hospital became known at home and abroad as an almost unrivalled school for teaching the practice of medicine and surgery. In his history of the institution, publlshefl in 1856, Gulian C. Verplanck, who had served as one of its governors thirty-five years, said : '• The New York Hospital has now become the most extensive school of practice in the country." The annual grants of the State Legislature had been increased to the sum of $22,000. The term of this grant expired in 1855, and was not renewed, yet some aid was given to the hospital by the Legislature from time to time. Owing to various causes the institution became crippled with debt dui-ing the Civil War, notwithstanding the gov- ernors liad paid out of tiieir own ])ockets $72,000 to support its vitality. They were compelle(l to restrict the admission of charity patients. That service was supplemented, in a degree, by Belle\'ue, and by other institutions which had sprung up. An attempt was made to relieve tiie society of debt, but failed, and in 1868 it was resolved to lease the whole or a part of the Broadway lots. This proved to be a fortunate measure, for the property finally yielded an annual income of $150,000, which was allowed to accumu- late. The modest old imilding of gray stone, its green lawn shaded with stately elm trees, was demolished in 1869, and commercial estab- lishments soon occupied the space. KIUST DKCADK, 1H:!(»-1840. 113 Resolved to ostulilisli a liospital within the city limits, the govcrnnrs purchased lots on West Fifteenth and Sixteentii streets in 1S74, and the next year the govoinois resumed charitahle work Ijy openinj; a House of IJelief on Chaiuhei-s Street, to which place the library was tiien reuioved. The new ijuilding was begun in the spring of IsT.'i, and was completed and formally openeil in March, 1S77. The hospital building is jirobatily the most luxurious and best e(|uip|ied in the world. It is seven stories in height, including the basement ; has a frontage on Fifteenth Street of one hundred and seventy-live feet, and a Mansjird roof ; extends through the block to Sixteentii Street, and is heated and ventilated scientilicaily. The front of the hospital faces the south, admitting the full light of the sun through its numerous and generous windows. Two steam elevators give ease to the internal travellei"s from basement to roof, and it has a ca|)acity of one hundred ami sixty-three beds, exclusive of the chil- dren's waitls. At the top of the building is a spacious hall, separated from the sky oidy by a translucent canopy of glass. This room is sixty-four feet in width, ninety feet in length, and of an average height of eighteen feet. There the convalescents may enjoy an invigorating sun-bath, in a temperature of summer heat or upward, at any season of the year. I'he room is fuinished with native and exotic shrubs and Howering ])lants, little gurgling fountains, and curious acpiariums with salt and fresh water. In this Elysium the |)Oorest patient may enjoy luxuries seldom vouchsafed to the rich. Thenund)erof patients treated in the hospital during 1SS2 was 3i>8;3. The number treated in the House of Relief, or Chambers Street Hos- pital, tiie siune year, wa.s 1S28. The numi)er of out-])atients treated by the hospital staff was 4400, and the nund)er of visits was 25.71s. In the corresponding tiepai'tment iit the House of Relief the number of l)atients treated was 0(i.50. These statistics show the immense benefits bestowed upon the jioor anti unfortunate by the Xew York Hospital and its annex, the House of Relief in Chambei's Street. Tni-: ni,iMiMiN(;i)Ai.K Asymm ki>k tiii: Ixsaxk was opened lor the rece])tion of jiatients in June, IS-Jl. It was the result of a communica- tion to the governoi-s of the New York Hospital by Thomas K(\d\\ a well-known philanthropist, in April, ISl."), in which he set forth the advantages of monif trmimenf for the insane patients in that institu- tion, and proposing that a nundiei- of acres near the city shoulrl be ]iurclia.sed and sui(abli- buildings be erected for I lie !ihii»ik4. The gov- 114 lilSTOKV OF NEW VOKK CITY. emore acted promptly on the suggestion, and the Legislature of Xew York granted the hospital an additional sum of $10,f)(»0 a year until 1857. The govei-nors first bought a little more than seven acres front- ing on the Bloomingdale Koacl (now One Hundred and Seventeenth Street, between Tentli and Eleventh avenues), seven miles north-west of the City Hall. It is on elevated ground, commanding beautiful and extensive views in every direction, and the buildings are about a fourth of a mile fi'om the Hudson River, which it overlooks. More gi'ound was jjurchased, and the domain now includes between forty and fifty acres. The farm is highl\' cultivated, cliiefly for the production of vegetables and hay, and also ornamental shrubboiy. It has many noble shade-trees. The corner-stone of the Bloomingdale Asylum was laid ^lay 7, 1818, and the main building was completed in 1821, after designs by Thomas C. Taylor. Extensive additions have since been made. The system of moral treatment of the insane has ever been pursued with great success in the Bloomingdale Asylum. The patients are arranged in classes according to the form which their mental ailments have assumed, whether mania, monomania, dementia, idiotism, or delirium a potu. Harsh treatment and all needless restraint are avoided, and even confinement to the rooms is seldom resorted to. Many patients are allowed to work on the farm or in the garden, are taken out to ride, and permitted to participate in social enjoyments. There is a library of several hundred volumes, an ample supply of magazines and newspapers, and the patients are diverted by lectures illustrated b}' the magic lantern, and other entertainments. The estate and all its interests are under the care of six of the gov- ernors. A warden and matron have charge of the household depart- ment. Xone but pay patients are admitted, unless by express direction of tlie board of governors. According to the annual report of the Bloomingdale Asylum for 1882, the whole number of patients admitted since the spring of 1821 was 7500 ; whole number discharged and died, 7277 ; whole number recovered, 3121 ; whole number improved, 1869 ; whole number not improved, 1271 ; whole number died, 1008. The greatest average number in the institution during one year was 233 (in 1882), and the greatest number of recoveries was 46 (in 1881). At this time (1883) the President of the board of governors of the hospital and Bloomingdale Asylum is William H. Macy ; vice-presi- dent, James M. Brown ; treasurer, George Cabot Ward ; and ;:eci-e- tary, David Colden Murray. Bellevue HosprrAL, the great pauper asylum of the city originally, FlUSr PKCADK. 18:i0 tni(i. 115 owes its existence chiefly to tiie exertions of that eminent physician, Dr. David Uosuck. It is one of the noblest nioiuuiients of iiiiiiiiei|Kil l)en<>volence in tlie world. The story of its oi'igin inay he hrieHv told. In the year 1820 Dr. Ilosuck wa.s the resident pliysician of the Health Department of the city, and in that capacity he had been brought into contact with many of the sick poor, whose wretched con- dition excited his warmest sympathy and commiseration. He found several sick with typhus fever crowdeclonging to the city was .selected, and there a building one hundred and eighty feet long, fifty feet wide (excepting the centre, which is fifty-eight feet), and four stories in height, was com])leted in 1826. It was built of blue-stone, from a quarry on the premises. This building was dedicated with appio])riate ceremonies in Xovember, 1S2<5. It has since Iieen extended not only on the front, but in dejjth of wings, and is now three hundred and fifty feet in length. The grounds in front are laid out in beautiful lawns.* * David Ilosuck, JI.D., LL.D.. n .skilful and beneficent pbysiciun in New York nearly forty years, was bom in that city in Antfiist. ITllil. lie was a son of a Scotch artillery IIU IlISTOUY Ul' NKW VoHIv CITY. This institution was at lirst Imowii as the Bellerue Ahushoiise. In 1848 tlie jjaupers were all transferred to Blatkwell's Islaml, and the whole spacious building was appropriated to the uses of a hospitid, with ample acconimodations for twelve hundred patients. It has eight liuudred beds. This hospital is a department of the City Almshouse, and is under the charge of the Commissioners of Pubhc Charities and Correction. Its support is derived from the city treasury. Bellevue Hospital now holds a front rank as a school for meilical and surgical instruction, and the nuinber in daUy attendance upon the clinical lectures, admitted free, Is very large. In 1866 two new features were added to BeUevue Hospital, namely: a bureau of medical and surgical relief for out-door poor, and a morgue, or a i-eceptacle for the unknown dead. Patients who are able to pay are admitted at the maximum charge of §3.50 a week. The cost of sustaining the institution is about $100,000 a year. Belle\Tie Hospital is not onty a blessing to the suffering poor, but an efficient agency for diffusing widely over the land sound and scientific medical and surgical knowledge. TuE New Yokk Crrv Dispexs.uiy was founded in 1791. At a lueet- mg of the Medical Society of the City of New York, in October, 1 "90, a committee was appointed to digest and publish a plan for a tlisjjensary for the medical relief of the sick poor, and to make an offer of the pro- fessional services of the members of the society to carry it into effect. Eloquent appeals were made to the public through the city newspapers, and on Januaiy 4, 1791, thei'e was a meeting of a number of respect- able citizens at the City Hall convened to effect an organization. It was done, and lion. Isaiic Roosevelt was chosen president, and Drs. Richard Baylev and Samuel Bard were chosen senior physicians. The dispensary was then established on Tryon Street (afterward Tryon Row), which extended along the north-eastern side of the ( "ity Hall I'ark, between Chambei's and Chatham streets. officer at the capture of Loiiisburg, in 1758. He stuilieil medicine ami surger}- with Dr. Richard Bayley, and completed his medical education under the most distinguished pro- fessors in Edinburgh and London. In ITO-t he returned to America with the tirst c.iUec- tion of minerals ever seen here : also a collection of specimens of i)lants. The next year he was appointed professor of botany in Columbia College, and from 179t> to ISOO lie was a professional jjartner with Dr. Samuel Bard. In 1707 the chair of mateiia medica was also assigned to him, which, with that of "ootany, he held nntil 1807, when he accepted that of materia medica and midwifery in the College of Physicians and Sur- geons. Meanwhile ho had established the Elgin Botanic Garden (the second founded in the United Statcs\ noticed in a future chapter. A catalogue of the plants he had brought together gave him a high position as u botanist. r>r. Ilosack, in connection v.ith his I'IKST DKi'ADt:. lH;iO IKIO. IK 111 17'."1 tlio (lispcnsaiv was iiicorporati'il l)y tlio Lcgislatuiv of New Vnik". In l^ii,') ii uiiiim was etlfi-tcil ln-twci'ii tlie cnsary a lot ot lan,171, and the number of ])rescrii)tions furni.shetl was -itN'.ts.'i. The number of ])ei'sons treated from the org;inization of the , was 1,8(!(),4S.-). The di.stricts of the dispensary extend on the north to Fourteenth Street, on the north-west to Spring Street and Broadway, on the noith- e;vst to First Avenue, Allen and Pike streets, and on the east, south, and west the district is bordered by the East and Hudson rivei-s.* papil. Dr. J. W. Francis, conducted tue American MeOiciil mid I^liilusophical JinjixltruiioMt lour ycnrs -1810-H. He remained a member ot tlie facnlty of the College of Physicians ,>nrt SnrReons until 182li, when with Drs. Macneven, Slott, Godman, Francis, and (iriscom. ho assisted in the establishment of Rutgers Medical College in New York, and rctiiimd his connection with it until its demist', in IbSO. He iilled various medical offices in liosi>itals, asylums, ami public institutions in the city of New York and for the city in general, and was actively engaged in literary and ])hilosophical institutions. He was one of the originators and for twelve years president of the New Y'ork Historical Society, and was a fellow of the Eoyal Society ot Great Rritain. Dr. Hosack died in December, 183."). Ho was the author ot several scientific works and a life of De Witt Clinton. * Tlio presidents of the New Y^ork Disnensan- from its organization to the year 1882 118 HISTORY OF NEW \0\lK CITY. Till-: Nkw York Asylim for (destitute) Lyixg-in Women was founded in 179S, after the city had been scourged by the yello\v fever. In October of that year Dr. David Hosack, ah'eady a successful young physician, and noted for his benevolent impulses, started a sul).scri])tion for the jmrpose, and .soon raised the sum of S50(»0. An appropriate building was procured in Cedar Street, and there, in the winter of 17'J8-J>it, this noble charity was inaug-urated. A committee of manage- ment was appointed, consisting of Thomas Pearsall, Eobert Lenox, Dr. Ilosack, and other good citizens. It was agreed that every person who should subscribe 82ils wiio lieioni; to families in easy circumstances. The regular term of instniction is eight yeai-s. All the onlinary English branches of learning are taught. They are all accustomed to lahor : the girls in plain sewing and lighter household duties, and the l)oys ar<' instructed in gardening, cabinet-making, shoemaking. tailor- ing, and ])rinting. Ilund-vds of former pupils su])port tiiemselvcs, and in many cases dependent families in' their own labor. Isiuic Lewis Peet. LL.D., is jiresident of the educational department, assisted by twenty ])rofessoi-s and teachers, one half of whom are women ; matrons for the several departments, and a foreman for each of the seven industries carried on in the in.stitution.* TuK Xkw Vokk Evk and Eau I.mmumakv was founded in ISiiO. Four yeare ))reviously, two young medical students wiio had graduated at the College of Physicians an eye, and that what tiiey had ijeen taught on that sultject was almost of no value. Tiiey drew the logical inference that ophthalmic surgery was almost unknown in America. With the ardor of youth they devotetl themselves to this new Itranch of knowledge. On their return home, in 1S18, they resolved to establish in Xew York ♦ The officers of the institution tor the yenr 1883 were : Hon. Ernstns Brnoka. presi- dent ; Hon. Enoch L. Fancher, LL.D., first vice president ; Kev. Charles .\. Stoddard, D.D., second vice-president : floorge A. Rr.1.1)ins, treiisnrer ; Thatcher M. Admn.s, soc- r.liirv, and Trtiue-i C. C.usr.n. M.n . ..superintendent. ItZ UlSTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. au infirmary for curing diseases of tiie eye. These two young men were Di-s. Eilward DelafieUI and J. Kearney Rodgers. Young, witli small i)ecuniary means, and without reputation, but assisted by the sanction of those with whom they had been educated, and the influence of tlieir names, they hired two rooms in the second story of a building in Ciiatliain Street, and with a few necessary imjile- ments they founded tiie institution now grown to be the famous New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Some students of medicine volunteered to perform the duties of ai)othecary, in rotation, and the man from whom they hired the rooms acted as superintendent. They made it ])ublicly known that any one applying at No. 45 Chatham Street at certain houi-s on certain days, having diseases of the eyes, would be treated gratuitously. In a single week it was evident that the enter- prise would be successful. That was in August, 1820. In a period of less than seven months from that time no less that four hundred and thirty-six patients had been treated at the infirmary. It proved a great ])ublic boon. Persons totally blind received their sight, and those who were languishing in hopelessness were encouraged, and found themselves on the way to perfect cure. Drs. Wright Post and Samuel Bowne, two of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in the city, gave the young men their names as consulting surgeons. On the 9th of March, 1821, a large meeting of citizens was held at the City Hall for the purpose of " adopting the means for jierpetuating the infirmary for curing diseases of the eye." A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions for the infirmary. Succeeding in securing sufficient means, a society of the subscribers was formed, with over two hundred members. They convened on the first of Ajiril, and organized by the election of William Few as president, and other usual officei-s. It was thus establislied by leading citizens of New York, but its means being small, it continued to occupy its original rooms, at an annual rent of ^150. Tlie society was incorporated on March 29, 1822, and the next year the Legislature granted the institu- tion $1000 for two years.* In 1864 the charter was amended, and the institution received the title of " The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary," with authority to " treat and care for indigent persons affected with deafness and other diseases of the ear." According to the sixty-second annual report, October 1, 1882, there had been treated in the institution during the year 14,221 patients, of whom more than 10,000 were treated for dis- * See address of Br. Kdward Delnfield, April 25. 185G. KlIiST DKCADK. \WM) 1H40. 1"-'!' oases of the eye. < H' tlic wlmlr niiiiiher, nearly 8000 were natives of the United States. The total nuiiii)ei' treated since the hiundalion of the Inlinnary was 2T+,so2.* This institution now occupies a spacious huilding on the corner of Thirteenth Street and Second Avenue, which was completed in the autumn of 1855. The iniii-mary has an efficient surgical stall in each department — ophthalmic, aural, and throat. * The officers of the institution in 1882 were : Royal Phelps, president ; Benjamin H. Field, first vice-president ; .\braham Du Bois, il.U., second vice-president ; John L. Riker, treasurer, and Richard H. Derby, II.D., secretary. CHAPTER V. ONE of the still thriving, active, and useful cliaritable institutions in the city of New York, having its origin in the closing ])eriod of Knickerbocker social rule, is the Hebkkvv Benevolent and Oevhan Asylum Society, founded in 1822. It held its serai-centennial celebra- tion in 1872, at which tirae Chief- Justice Daly, one of the speakers on the occasion, gave a most interesting account of the first appearance of Jews in tlie city of New York (then New Amstertlam), where now (1883) they constitute nearly one fourteenth of its population, and nearly one fourth of the Hebrew population in the United States. Judge Daly said, in sul)stance, that after the successful revolt of the Netherlands, and William of Holland had proclaimed freedom of con- science in his dominions, expatriated Jews from Spain settled in the free cities, especially at Amsterdam. By their industry, integrity, and thrift tliey became within fifty years the most influential citizens of Amsterdam, and there they erected the first synagogue. Tiiese people became large stocklioldere in tlie conunercial operations by which New York was founded. Cura^oa, which then, as now, belonged to the Dutcli, had many Hel)rew merchants. Jewish emi- grants from botli that country and Holland came to New Amsterdam (now New York) and craved citizenslii]i, but the sturdy old churchman Governor Stuyvesant looked upon their advent with great disfavor. Among these immigrants were Abram Costa, Jacob Hendricks, Isaac Meza. ilelhado, Abram Lucas, and Asher Levey. All but the last- named were of Spanish or Portuguese origin. These were the fii-st Jews seen on ilanhattan Island. Govei-nor Stuyvesant wished to exclude these Hebrews, and Avi-ote to Holland requesting that they be not allowed to enter and dwell in the province. The home autliorities answered that his request was inconsistent with freedom and justice. Stuyvesant i-efused these innuigrants jiemiission to have a place of theii- own wherein to bury their dead. They were heaWly taxed, and when two of them remonstrated witli the governor, he said, " If you are not satisfied, go elsewhere." i'"iusT i)i:f.\l>i:. iM:m isjo I'^O Stuvvesant's liai'sli trcatiiuiit, <>t llicsi; .)('vvs in every [xjissiUle way, wlieii reiHU-ted to tlie lioine aiitliorities, bioufrlil anutlior letter, wliicli coininamled liiiri to allow tlie llelmnvs liie privilege of quiet habitation, snl)jeet to no condition save to take caii- of their |Mjor. whieh they have always done. Melliado now puieha.sed some land, Imt the jrovernor would not allow him to have a deed of it. A jietition ;i Jew wlio had been a soldier in the American war for independence was brougiit in a critical state to the City Hospital. He had no friends nor money, but expressed a wisii that, being- a Jew, some of liis co-religionists might be sent for. John J. Hart, Josepii Davies, and others visited the sufferer, and collected mone}'^ for his support. He died soon afterward. Aljout $300 of the money collected was left. The question arose in the minds of the custodian whether it would not be advisable to form a benevolent society by which relief might be given to Jews in time of need, as well as to others. It was done. On April 8, 1S22, the following named gentlemen formally associated themselves under the title of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of the City of Xew York : Daniel Jackson, Joseph Jackson, Josejih Davies, John J. Hart, Abraluim Collins, Rowland Davies, Simon Myers, Abraham Mitchell, Chai-les J. Hart, and Joseph Samuel — all merabei-s of the Jewish Church. Daniel Jackson was chosen pi'esident, and Charles J. Hart secretary. The lii-st anniversary of the society was held at Burnett's Hotel, on the Bloomingdale Road. The supper was cooked by the memliei-s themselves, and tlic sum of 8-^9 was collected. Another banquet was given at the Botanic Garden in 1826. The society worked on, with ever-increasing membei'ship and funds, until 1832. wlien the Legislature of ]S'ew York gave it a charter of incorporation. Bequests and gifts followed. Finall}^ in February, 1859, the Hebrew Benevolent Society and the German Hebrew Benevolent Society were united for the pur- pose of establishing an orphan asylum and home for aged and indigent Jews. In April the consolidation was effected. Their united funds amounted to about $25,000. This union was hailed with pleasure by the Jewish community. A new charter, with enlarged powere, was obtained, and tiie city authori- ties were authorized to ai)propriate land for the building of an asylum. Meanwhile a house was rented in "West Thirty-ninth Street, and thirty orphan childi'en were placed in it. That was in 18(50. Demands upon it increased, and the trustees, having procured the donation of a lot on the corner of Third Avenue and Seventy-seventh Street, and an additional grant of $30,000, proceeded to the erection of a substan- tial building. The corner-stone was laid in September, 1863, and the building was completed and dedicated in November, 1863. Among other measures for increasing the funds of the institution, the great Hebrew Charity Fair, lield in 1870, in connection with its twin sister in charity, Mount Sinai Hospital, was very successful. The ^t^' i^^-s^^^^^— . KIUST l»Kl'.\l>K, l^taO-ltHU. 1-.J7 slian' i)f till' |)ri)(rc(ls wliiili I'lll In tlic iisyliiiii iiiiiniiiitcd tn lu-aily iS.'t'.tJHMI.* 'IMu- sot'ii'tv luis in oixTatioii iiii cxcollcnt systtMii fit' pthic:itit)i) lor orplians. Tlicrc is ii Ikiiiic school, in wliidi tlic Hebrew lan^uajfo, n-iijrion, and liistury are tau;;lit. Tiiero is also an incidental school, in which trades are taught to the hoys and sewing and domestic service to the girls. Tiiis .^Ioi)artnK'nt is self-snpporting. The girls readily Hnd ])lacos in the hest of families or in commercial houses when they leave the asylum. There is a steam pi-inting estalilishment at the indu.stri.al .school, which does all Uinds of work in the printing line. A large portion of the orphans attend the ])ul)lic schools. In IssiJ there were thret* hundred and thirty-seven inmates of the asylum. Provisiim has been made f. The principal of these were the following : Thk IIirsi.vNK SociirrY, founded by a few benevolent ]ieisons near the close of the last century. Its primary object was to afford relief to distressed debtoi-s in i>rison. The scoi)e of its efforts was enlarged in ISuC so as to include resuscitation of jiei-sons apparently dead from , isl"), the Legislature of New York pas.sed an * Sec ncldress of Jlr. Myer Stem (then president of the socictyi. on the fiftieth anni- veriiiirv celelirntion. in 1872. 138 IIISTOHV OF NEW YOHK CITY. act incorporating it, to continue fifteen 3'eai-s. It was allowed to hold an estate to the value of S;l(»(t,oOO. TuK Femalk Associatiox was a society composed entirely of young women who belonged to the sect of Fi-iends, commonly called (Quakers. The object of the society was the visiting of the sick poor, and obtain- ing instruction for the children of such persons as were not ])rovided for, oi- who did not belong to any religious society. It was chartered March 20, 1813, to continue twenty yeare, and it was allowed to hold ■pro])er'ty to the amount of $40,000. Membership was obtained by the payment of §5. By a special clause in the act of incorjioi-ation the society was entitled to a share of the State school fund. Tni-: SociKTV fok tuk Relief of Poor AVidows with S.m.\i.i. Cmildren was founded in 1797 by Isabella Graham and a few other benevolent women, for the laudai)le puqjose of affording aid and comfort to such worthy and respectable widows, with little children, as could not pro- vide the means of obtaining even the necessaries of life. It was incor- porated in 1802, and by its charter it was allowed to iiold jiroperty to the amount of $50,01)0. Material aid, timely words of encouragement, judicious counsel, assistance to get employment, the education of the children, and every other good the managers can bestow were included in the list of their benefactions. Money is seldom bestowed in the way of relief, but such necessaries of food and clothing as the object stands most in need of. The chief efforts of this society are directed to find- ing employment for those who are able and willing to labor. The operations of this society have been carried on in the most economical manner. There are no salarietl agents to consume the funds contriiaited. Tiie city is divided into districts, and a manager appointed for each. The condition of becoming a beneficiary of the society is to be " a widow with two small ciiiidren under ten yeai"s of age, who is wilhng to exert herself for lier own support, and is not receiving aid from any almshouse." The funds of the society are (lerived ciiiefiy from donations and subscriptions. In 1803 Mr. Chaun- cey Rose gave the society $10,000, with a re(|uest that it should not form a ])art of any invested fund, hut lie used as the wants of the society required. TuK Femamc Assisiaxce Society was an association foi'med by some benevolent women for the relief of sick poor women and children. It was incorporated in April, 1817, to continue until November, 18.")t). Its fund-, were limited to s3ooo. The Widows' I'\-m) Sornnv was incorporated on March 10, 1815, and allowed to hold funds to the amount of $2.'')0o a year. Its object KlUST DECADE, isyo l«4ll. 129 was till' relief nl' tlio wiilows and cliildicn of deceased clergymen of the Ki't'ornu'd I'mtestant Dutch Cliurcli in llu- United States. TnK A... Thk ri{()vii>F..\T SociKTY was estal)lislied for the ]iur])ose of jirovid- ing a fund to support inlirni mendjeiN, and their widows and ciiildren on tlieir decease. Their ca])ital was limited to sl((,(Mi(i. liy the same act tliree other charitable institutions were incorjwrated for a similar ])urpo.se. and with tiie hke limited capital. These were The ^Iltlal BiiMCFrr S.KiKTV, Tni; Bknkvolknt Sociktv, and Thk Amjion Bkxevo- I.KXT SlK'lKTV. These seveivd societies have nearly all disappeared, as distinct organ- izations. They iiad their origin in the noljlest em(jtions of tiie human soul— desire to conform to the golden rule of life. They were the compar.itively feei)le efforts of large-hearted, broad-minded men and women — the foreshadowings of the magnificent institutions establisiied and cari'ied on vigorously in the city of New York in our day for the same holv purpose— the purpose that animated Ben Adhem and caused his name to lead all the rest on the list of the recording angel, because he " loved his fellow-men." Among the benevolent institutions which existed in the city of New York Ijefore is.Sii, The Sailors' Sxio IIakbok holds a most cons|)icuous place. Before its establishment there was a Marine Society, having in view similar ol)jects. This society was founded in 177n, the funds of which were limited to S15,0(»0 a year. Its inunediate objects were the improvement of maritime knowledge and the relief of indigent masters of vessels, their widows and children. The funds of the society were limited to $;1.'>,U(I0 a year. Its affaire were managed by a committee composed of merchants, niiigistrates, and managei-s, and it was sup- ]X)rted by an annual sui)scri|ition from each member of ^-2. In the summer of ]S01 Captain Robert Richard Randall, a son of Captain Thomas Randall, one of the founders of the Marine Society of Xew York, and himself a merchant and shijnnaster, by his will, bearing date June 1, after making some s])eciKc bequests, de\-ised the residue of his estate in trust to the chancellor of the State of New York,* the * A new Ctinstitution of the State of New York, nilopteil in 1846, abolished the oflBco of chancellor after July, 1847. Since that lime the board has consisted of seven members. 130 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. mayor and recorder of the city of New York, the ])resident and vice- ])resident of the Marine Society of the city, tlie senior minister of the Ej)isco|)al Chui'ch m the city, and tlie senior minister of the Presby- terian Ciiurch in tlie same city, for the time being, and to their succes- soi's in office respectively, to "receive the rents, issues, and profits thereof," and to ajiply tiie same " to the erection, in some eligible ])art of the land whereon the testator then lived, of a building for an asylmu or marine hospital, to be called ' The Sailoi-s' Snug Ilarlx)!'. '" The object was to jirovide for the maintenance of aged, decrei)it, and woi'n- out sailoi-s. These trustees a])]ilied to the State Legislature for a charter of incor- ]ioration. It was granted, and the charter bears date February 6, ISdO. In 1814, doubts having been expressed as to who, in the con- tem])lation of the testator, were to be considered the " senior ministers"' of the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches in the city of New York, the Legislature, by act passed March 25, 1814, declared that the rector of Trinity Church in New York and the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Wall Street should be considered trustees of the corjioration. The property devised by Captain Randall for the Sailors' Snug Har- bor consisted of Land h'ing in the Fifteenth Ward (between Broadway and the Bowery and Seventh and Tenth streets), comprising little more than twenty -one acres, four lots in the Fourth Ward, three and six per cent stocks to the amount of little over B^'^Od, anil fifty shares of the stock of the ^lanhattan Bank. The ra]3id growth of the city and advance in the value of ])roperty within its Umits caused the trustees to ask the Legislature to authorize them to erect the pro]iosed buildmg elsewhere, and regulate and improve the land in the Fifteenth Ward, and lease it. This authority was granted in 1828, and in 1831 the trustees purchased a farm of one hundred and thirty acres on the north shore of Staten Island, to which twenty acres were afterward added. For iuan>' yeai's ]>ersons claiming to be heirs of Cajitain Randall con- tested his will. The (juestion was settled in favor of the trustees, by the Supreme Court in 1830, when the land wtxs divided into lots con- formable to the plan of the city streets, and leased for the tenu of twenty-one years. The corner-stone of the Sailoi-s' Snug Harbor was laid on October 31, 1831, and on the firet of August, 1833, the chief building was completed, and the institution was formally opened with religious and other ceremonies. The remains of the founder were soon afterward deixjsited beneath a white marble monument in front of the building, bearing the following inscriptions : FIRST DKCAKK, lt«0 1840. ];.] Xortli Side. " The Trustees of the Sailors' SniiK Hnrbor erected this Monun out To the Memory of RoBEitT RicnAiii) Randall, By whoso munitirence this Institiition was Founded." t>int ShU. " The Humane Institution of the Sailors' Snug Harbor. Conceived in a Spirit of Euliir){ed Honevolence. With an endowment which time has proved fully udcfinate to the objects of the Donor ; And organized in a manner which shows Wisdom and Foresight. The founder of this noble Charity Will ever be held lu grateful Remembrance By the partakers of his Honnty." South Side. " Charily never Faileth. Its Memorial is Immortal." West Side. " The Trustees of the Sailors' Snug Harbor caused the Remains of Robert RtciUKD Randall To be removed from the original place of Interment And deposited beneath this Monument, On the -ilst of August, 1834." In the hall of the centre Imildinj,' may be seen a marlile bust of Cap- tain Rjindall. The buildings consist of a centre edifice, with two \vings, a dining-hall buildino;, a hospital, and cliapel. S^o enomiously lias the value of the real estate in the city increased, that the income from it provides ample supjjort for the institution. The annual income in ISOO was $4243 ; now (1883) it is about $250,0(10. The delay of almost thirty yeai-s in putting the institution into ojieration was occasioned by the very limited income of the estate, and sul)se(|Uontly Ijy the unsettled state of the trust : by the great expenses incurred in defending suits brought agtiinst the trustees, and liy heavy a.s,se.ssments for regulating the lots. But for fifty years this great charity, so ap]iropriate for a great commercial city, has been Nautical Society ; Xajah Taylor, president of th(> Seamen's Savings Bank, and Dr. John S. "Westervelt, health officer and acting sccivtary. At that meeting Cajitains James Morgan, James Wehl), J. R. Skiddy, Henry Russell, and Reuben Bnunley were elected assiwiate trustees. Dr. Peter S. Townsend, of Xew York, was subsequently elected resident physician to the institution, which was denominated TfiK Si:.\me.\'s Rktkkat IIosi'rrAr.. At a subsequent meeting Sanuiel Swartwout, collector of the ]K)it, was chosen presi- dent, and Captain ^forgan ajijiointed secretary. The trustees bought forty acres of laiul on the north side of Staten Island, on the road between Clifton and Stapleton, on which wa.s a farndiouse, for $!l(>,n(»0. In that farmhouse the fii-st patients were cai-ed foi", but it very soon was entirel}^ inadeijuate, for all seamen then in the Marine IIos]>ital at Staten Island and in the City Hospital in Xew York, at the charge of the health commissionei"s, were to be sent to the retreat. A building was speedily erected, and yet there were inadequate accommodations for the continually increasing applicants, and the corner-stone of a new building AViis laid on July 4, 18:^4. In 1S42 the erection of another building was begun, and the imposing structures now seen there were soon com])letod. There was in the retreat a circulating library of many hundred vol- umes, and the American Bildc Society furnished Bibles and Testaments in almost every written language. There thousiinds of seamen, di,s;ibled by age or disease, found a home. If any ])referred it, he Avas trans- ferred to the Sailors' Snug Harbor, or sent, at the expense of the trustees, to his home and friends, however distant. At the western end of the gi'ounds was a cemetery, where the wearied bodies were laid at rest forever. The Hon. Clarkson Crolius, Jr., was, for nearly thirty yeai-s, an active trustee of the Seamen's Retreat, and was its last president. The retreat was closed, by oiiler of the Legislature, on July ;^.l. 1SS2, because the hospital was not self-supporting. On the grounds is the 134 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. Marinei-s' Family Asylum, which is continued. The hospital property is valued at 82rEx'8 Friend Society was organized in New York, the avowed object of which was " to improve the social and moral condition {>f seamen by uniting the efforts of the wise and good in their behalf ; by promoting in every port boarding-houses of good character, savings banks, register-offices, libraries, museums, reading-rooms, and schools, and also the ministration of the gospel and other religious blessings." * Early in 1825 the Rev. John Tniax began the publication of the Mai'iner''s Mayazwe in New York. He atlvocated the formation of a national societj'^ for the benefit of seamen. This led to the assembling at the City Hotel (October 25, 1825) of clerg\nnen of the various churches in y^ew York, and a large number of other citizens — mer- * So early as the year 1812 a Society— probably the first in the world— was formed in Boston, called " The Boston Society for the Religious and Moral Improvement of Sea- men." In 181G meetings to consider and provide for the spiritual wants of seamen were begun in New York, in the Brick (Presbyterian) Church, then occupying the point of land at the junction of Nassau Street and Park Row, and subsequently in other churches. In 1817 a " Marine Bible Society," designed to furnish sailors with the Scriptures, was formed, and the next year the " Society for Promoting the Gospel among Seamen in the Port of New York," more familiarly known as " The Port Society," was formed. Under the auspices of the last-named society was erected the first Mariners' Church ever built, it is supposed. It Avas in Koosevelt Street, near the East River, and was dedi. cated in June, 18'20. Rev. Ward Stafford, its projector, was its pastor. In 1821 " The New York Bethel Union,' ' with the good Divie Bethune as its president, was organized. Almost simultaneously with these movements in New York for ministering to the spiritual and intellectual wants of seamen, similar organizations were effected at Phila- delphia (1819), at Savannah (1821), Portland and New Orleans (1823), New Bedford and Norfolk (1825), and at other places. So early as 182.5 there existed in the United States seventy Bethel Unions, thirty-three Marine Bible Societies, and fifteen churches and floating chapels for the benefit of seamen. The Bethel flag had circumnavigated the globe. ngrsved try Geo E Pontic .jficr ^ r ^ina: dr8van^.i ly J I Giiw FIRST I)E "AUK, 18aO-lS40. 135 cliiints iuid otlifi-s. ( »tlirr iiu'ctinjjcs were held, and tlio subject Cdiitiu- ucd to be (bstussed, wlien, on -May ;">, ls;is, Tm: Amkkhan Skamkn's Kkikm) SocifcTv was orji^unizetl, with the lion. Smith Tlionipson, ex-8ecretarv of the Navy, as president ; Kev. Ciiarles P. Jlcllvaine (afterward Itishop of tlie Diocese of Ohio), correspondin/f secretary ; Piiihp Flaj,dei', recoi'(Ung- secretary ; Silas Holmes, treasurer, and Kev. .losiiua Leavitt, j^enera! agent. The institution of foreign agencies was ahnost imme(hately l)egun, and now tliey e.xist in ahuost every important seajjort in tiie world. The first agent sent to China was the Rev. David Abeel, and at about the same time agents were sent to the Sandwich Islands, France, and elsewhere. The jSai/vrs" Mayaz'nte (yet published) was started the Slime year. In 1829 a seamen's savings bank was started, and the same year a home for colored seamen was estabUshed. The s(jciety was incoipor.ited in 1S33. In 1842 a home was oi^ened for white sivilors, at No. lltd Cherry Street, and there many thousjind seamen have found the comforts which its name implies. It has a go(xl reading-room and nmseum, bathing facilities, and excellent sleeping-rooms. There is a clothing store in the basement, and a seamen's exchange near by. This home and the legal lestrictions which now hedge the sK, 1S:«I lft»0. 137 7, isu7. It wa.-; allowed to Imlil ival ami poiNoiuil estate to an amount ni)t oxmnliuf? ^lnit,(H)(). This charter expiivJ in is^'.t, an.l was renewed. Tt^wus a;rain renewed in isf.o lor twenty yeais. At tlio fiist annual nieetin'r, at the ("ity Hotel, in the spring of 1S()7, about twentv society resolved to pureha.se lots and erect a huiUling. On four lot.s in (ireenwich the corner-stone of a building fifty feet sipiare, to accommodate two hun- dred children, was laid. It was of brick, and the fun.ls for its erection (sl.-,.onnt was contributed by generous citizens. A bequest by Phdip Jacobs in 18:'.:^. laid the foundation of the present prosperity of the society. ,. . , . i i i* The accommodations at Greenwich being too Imuted, nine and a iialt acres of land were purchased at one of the most beautiful situations on the banks of the Hudson Kiver. five miles from the City Hall. There the corner-stone of the new building was laid, in .lune, ISSn. Within •I rear afterward it was .ipened for the entrance of the orphans. '1 he building cost more than *4o,(>00, all contributed by generous mdivid- uals, neither the State nor the city having given anything. During its life 'of little more than tliirtv veai-s nearly a thousand orphans had enioved its sheltering care. Of these, four hundred and seven boys had been" apprenticed to mechanics an.l farmei-s. anil two hundred and seventy girls as servants in private families. The"'.» tiveiittlie sessions of tlic StaU- Mcdii-al Society : it now {\ss:\) Ims twenty-one representatives in that Ixxiy. Tmk CoLLWii; OK PiiYSKiA.ss AND Sn;..i:oNs was founded in isoT. Tlie institution received its eliarter from the regents of tlie University of the State of New Yorl<. iniisuanl to an act of the Legislature i)assed March 4, 1TS»1. The eliarter is dated March 12, IstiT. The oHiceiN were elected in May followinir. wlieii Dr. Nicholas lioinayne was chosen president.* The lii-st coui-se of lectures in the college was begun on November 7, 1807, in a small building, two stories in height, on Kobinsoii Street, in rear of the ( "itv Hospital. At aliout the close of the session the college received an endowment of !?'2(>.tii"t. when a building on Pearl Street was purchased. It was formally ojiened tor the reception of students in November, IsoS. The whole number of students that attended the tii-st year was fifty-three. The institution soon began to experience vici.ssitudes. Its very existence was menaced with destruction. It was sjived by the wisdom and energy of the regents of the University. So early as the year ISll there was such grave misunderstanding be- tween the president and the faculty that the regents were compelled to interfere. Th(>y made important changes in the faculty and in the internal arrangements of the college. President Romayne retired, and the venerable^Dr. Samuel Bard, then nearly seventy years of age, became the head of the college. At about the same time jiower was granted to the college to confer medical degrees. The first medical commencement w^is held on the loth of May. IMl, when the degree of Doctor of ifedicine was conferred upon eight grad- uates. It was a greater numlier of degrees in medicine than had evei- before been conferred at one time. Not more than twenty graduates of the medical school of Columbia College had receivinl the degree in thirty years. * Nicholfts Romavne, M.D., wns bnni in Hnckensiiok. N. J., in September, 1756, iind stndic.l medicine nndcr Dr. Peter Wilson. He completed his inedicnl education at Edinhnrt-h in 1780, and became professor of tl>e institntes of medicine and forensic medicine in Queens (now Rutgers) College, New Jersey. Before he returned from Europe he spent two years in Paris, and also visited Leyden. He began lus profes- sionid career in New York after leaving Queen's College. Ho became professor ot the practice of physic, anatomy, and chcmistrj- in Columbia CoUege on its reorgania.tion in 1784. and gave private lectures on anatomy. Dr. Romayne was the first president of the Xew York Citv Medical Socictv ISnr., president of the Xew York St.ite Medind Society ISOr-in. and "in lfi07 was chosen the first president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Romayne died in New York of apoplexy, in July, 1817. 140 IllSTOKV OF NEW VoRK ClIV. In 1813 the medical departiuent of Columbia College \va.-. discon- tiniiod. The regents of the University, so early as ISll, had recom- mendeil the union of the two schools. It was effected in March, 181-1, when the new organiziition totjk possession of a commodious liuilding on the north side of Barclay Street, near Broadway. This alliance was of short duration. Soon after the union some of the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons withdrew, and formed a new medical school under the authority of Queen's (now Ruto-ers) College, in Xew Jei-sey. It was called the New Medical Institution, but was generally known as llutgei-s Medical College of New York. It took possession of a large building on Duane Street. It was sboi-t-lived, expiring in 1816. At this crisis in its affairs the regents of the Univereity reorganized the college under an entirely new charter, which gave the management to a board of twenty-five trustees, whose tenure of office was subject to the will of the regents themselves. Finally, dissensions between the Medical Society of the County of Kew York and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Avhicli had prevailed more or less from the beginning, became very exciting in 1821, and thei'e was consequently such discord between the trustees and the facultj'^ of the College of Physicians and Surgeons that the latter all resigned in April, 182fi, and soon afterward revived the " Xew Medical Institution" under the ausi)ices of Queen's College. The leading pi-ofessors in the revived institution were Dre. Daviil Hosack, William J. Macneven, Valentine ilott, John W. Francis, John D. Godman, and John Griscom, LL.D. This, too, was short-lived. The faculty soon abandoned the contest, and the institution was closed. By a new provision in the constitution, the faculty of the college were excluded from seats in the board of trustees. In November, 1837, the college removed fi'om Barclay Street to Crosby Street, where its sessions were held until the inauguration of its present home, on the north-east corner of Twenty-third Street and Fourth ^V venue, January 22, ISofi. In June, 1860, the institution was constituted the medical department of Columbia College, and now (1883) bears the title of " The College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York — Medical Depaitment of Columbia College."* Much of the instruction in this college is given in different large hospitals in the city. * The officers of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1883 were : Alonzo Clark, M.D., LL.D., president ; Willard Parker, M.D., LL.D., vice president ; Ellsworth Eliot, M.D., registrar ; John Sherwood, treasurer. There are twenty-two trustees. Its medi- cal faculty consists of twenty-live physicians. KIRST DKCAOK, 1830-1810. 141 In the year 1S(>2 an association was fonnpd in Now York foi- tlic puriM)so of siilistitutin^ tin' Ivini'-imx for tlie siiiall-po\ liv vacciiiatifin, as a safeguard against the ravages of tlie latter. The |ircventivo nieth(Ml had ah'eady Ijecome (|uite poiniiar in I>ost(jn. where tlie indoni- itahle Dr. AVaterhouse, professor in Harvard College, sittislied with tho utility and eonse(|uent ijlessings of .lenner's diseovery, \nid urgi>il the practice so vigorously and persistently that he was styled the .Vniei'i- can Jenner. During the lii-st year after the establishment of the kine-|K).\ insti- tution in ><'ew York fully tive hundred children were vaccinated. Very early in the hi.story of vaccination in the city it was placed under the direction of the City Dispensary, and all ai)|)licants were gratui- tously vaccinated. The corporation appropriated $(!()(» a year for that purpose. CHAPTEK TI. THE most prominent institutions existing in the city of Xew York about the year 1830, which had been estabhshed for the promo- tion of intellectual and moral cultivation — literary, scientific, and artistic — were Columbia College, ]S'ew York Society Library, General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, Xew York Historical Society, New York Typographical Society, New York Mercantile Library Asso- ciation, Lyceum of Natural History, New York Athenimim, Literary and Philosophical Society, American Academy of Fine Arts, and the National Academy of the Arts of Design: Tlie germ of Columbia College may be found in the records of Trinity Church at the beginning of the last centmy. At what time the fii-st movement in that direction by the vestry of the church had taken place cannot be determined. In 1703 the rector and Avardens were directed to wait on the governor of the province. Lord Corn- bury, " to know what part of the King's Farm then vested in Trinity Churcli had been intended for the college which he designed to have built/" When Risiiop Berkeley was in this country, nearly thirty yeai-s aftei-- wai'd, the project of a college at New York, which had slmubered all that time, \vas revived. Berkeley was disappointed in regard to the establishment of an institution of learning in the Bermudas, and resolved to transfer his intended establishment to " some place on the American continent, wliich would probably have been New York." * In 174() the Colonial Asseml)ly authorized the collection of money, by lottery or otherwise, for the i)urpose of founding a college in the city of New York. About 817.500 was raised, chiefly in England. This smn was vested, m 1751, in ten trustees, seven of whom were membei"s of the Anglican Church, and some of them vestrymen of Trinity Church. Two of them were of the Dutch Reformed Church, and one a Presby- terian. A lot Avest of Broadway, bounded Ijy Barclay, Church, and Murray streets and the Hudson River, Avas given from the " Church * Chandler's ' ' Life of Johnson. " FIRST DKA'AUK, 1*10 1^10. 143 Karin" f'nr the uso of tlu! collcgi', and on Octol>or 31, 17.")4, it was in- C(.ri)oi"it<'(l under tlic title of King's Collogc. Tlif inrdoniinante of Episcopalians in the iK)ard of trustees of King's C'olle"e, and tlie opposition to any church establishment in the prov- ince, evoked the strong displeasure of the dissenting cliurches in tiie citv. and for a long time the college had a seveie struggle for existence. Tlie Kev. Samuel .lohnstm, I). I)., of Connecticut, was chosen president, with an assistant, and in July. 17.'>4, he opened the school with eight jmjjils,* in the vestry-room of the seh(M)lhouse l)elonging to Trinity ("iuireli. The college was not really organi/.ed hefore Mny, l".")."), when at a meeting of more than twenty of the g(Mitlemen who had been nameil in the charter as governoi-s. tlie deputy secretary of the ])rovince ((ioldshrow Banyar) attending with the charter, Lieutenant- (iovernor James De Lancey, after a suitable address, delivered it to these gentlemen. Then Iklr. Iloi-sinanden, one of the judges of the Supr(>me Court, administered, to them the oath i-eijnired liy law to be taken. The governois named in the charter were : the Archliishop of Canterbui-y and the lii-st Land Commissioner for Trade and Planta- tions, who were eniiiowered to act by proxy ; the lientenant-governor aneaker of the General A.s.sembly and treasurer of the province, the mayor of the city of New York, the rector of Trinity Church, the senior mini.ster of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, the ministei-s of the Ancient Lutheran Church, of the French Church, of the Presbyterian Congrega- tion of the Presbvte'Tin Church, and the president of the college -all these t'.r offirln. Twenty-four princi[)al gentlemen of the city were also named as governors. Tliese were Archibald Kennedy, Joseph Murray, Josiah Martin, Paul Richard, Henry Ciuger, "William AValton, John Watts, Henry P.eekman, Philip Veqilanck, Frederick Pliili])se, Joseph Robinson, John Cruger, Oliver De Lancey. James Livingston. Benjamin Nicoll, William Livingston, Joseph Read, Xatlianiel ^fai-ston, Jose])h Ilaynes, John Livingston, Abraham Lodge, David Clarkson. Leonard Lisjienard. and James De Lancey. The conditions of the gift of land by Trinity Church rc(|uire tlu' Coininittet' of Siifctv took ] lossossion (tf tin- ndlcgc and convcrti'd it into a liospital for tin- use of AnR-rican tivMips. Till' pupils, tilt' apparatus, anil tin- iihrarv were ilispei-seii. AImiuI one liunilivd students iiad l)een edueated at tills college before it was su violently broUen up. Among the earlier gi-.iduatcs were Kobert K. Livingston, (iouventeur Morris, and Jolin .lay. Fmin ITTti to 1TS4 the college was in a state of .susi)ended animation. The war over, and jieace and independence secured, measures were taken for its resu.scitation. In 1TS4 the Legislature of tin- State of New York granted it a new charter, under the name of ('oluml)ia College. The regents of the Univei-sity of the State of New York, appointed by the same act, took it under their contiol. The property of the old corporation was handed over to the new corporation. It started on its new career with I)e AVitt Clinton as its first student— a junior. Owing to a lack of funds to pay the sjilary of a president, none was chosen until May, 1787, when "William Samuel Johnson, son of the first jiresident of King's College, was elected to fill the place.* The scope of instruction in the institution continually widened, and in 170:2 facili- ties for doing so were increased by a grant from the Legislature of IS'ew York of about s4(i,(iO0 and an annual appropriation of §:37r)0. In ISU the Legislature gave to Columbia College twenty acres of land on ]SIanliattan Island, lying between Forty-seventh and Fifty-fii-st streets, on Fifth Avenue, *' with a])purtenances." It included two hundred and sixty city lots. The tract was then known as the Elgin liotanic Garden, which had been established in 1801 Ijy Dr. Daviil llosiick for the uses of his classes in the college in the study of botany, he l)eing one of the professors of that institution. This land had been recently conveyed to the State l)y Dr. Ilosack, and reconvcyed to the college in c()m])ensation for its loss of the land in Vermont. The gift Avas overburdened with restrictions, which imjiosed the necessity of » Willinm SumuelJobnson, LL.D., D.C'.L., F.K..S., first president of Columbia College, was born nt Strntfonl, Connecticut, in October, 1727, iiml dietl there in November. 1819. He becuuie n distinyuislieil kwyer, and took part in the political movements that pre- ceded the llevolutioii of 1775-S:3. Ho was a delegate to the Stiimj) .\ct Congress at New- York in ITG.J, and was agent of Connecticut in England from 170ii to 1771. He was a jndgo of the Supreme Court of Connecticut from 1772 to 1774. and a commissioner for adjusting the controversy between Pennsylvania and the Snsqnebanna Company. From 1784 to 1787 he was a delegate in the Continental Confrrcss. and was an active member of the convention that framed the National Constitution in the suimmr "f 17S7. The same year he was chosen president of Columbia College, and held that position until the year 1800. I'resident Johnson was United States .Senator from 1780 to 17'.»1. and was one of the authors of the bill for establishing the judiciary system of the United States. 146 HISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. keejjing ii]i tlio oarden as a scientific educator, and the removal of tli» colleo-e establishment, within twelve years, to these grounds or the vicinity. Non-compliance with these provisions would cause a forfeit- ure of the |)roi)erty, when it would revert to the State. The estimated value of the Botanic Garden at that time was 87o,()(M), but the conditions made it a pecuniary burden instead of a source of income. Efforts were made to have these restrictions removed, and in 1819 their removal was accomplished. About 1820 Columbia College for the first time had its chairs filled with its own alumni. It struggled on, under the ilisabihties of poverty and pecuniary embarrassments, for a quarter of a century longer, but still with liope, for its property both on the college site and the Botanic Garden was increasing amazingly in value.* The semi-centennial anniversary of the reorganization of Columl)ia College was reached in 1837, and was celebrated with much parade and solemnity on the 13th of April. An imposing procession was formed at the college, composed of the trustees, the ]:)resident, professors, tutors, alumni, and students, clergymen, public officers, and dignitaries from other seats of learning in the Republic. This procession was formed on the college green and proceeded to St. John's Chapel, where the llev. Manton Eastburn pi'onounced an oration, in which he lirietly reviewed the history of the institution. A poem was recited, and odes in several languages, composed and arranged to music for the occasion, were sung. The president (Wilhani A. Duer) conferred the honorary degree of Master of Arts upon Charles Fenno Hoffman, William Cullen Bryant, and Fitz-Greene Halleck ; of Doctor of Laws on John Duer, David 1>. Ogden, and George Griffin, and Doctor of Divinity on several prominent clergymen. In the evening the pi'esident gave a recej)tion at the college, whicli was l)i-illiantly illuminated, and was profusely decorated with paintings loaned for the occasion, and rare plants from various consei-vatories. It was one of the most striking fetes New York had ever beheld. * The oarliest iletailed .statement of the financial eondition of the college, after the year 1800, appears in the minutes of the trustees in 1805, when, from leases of a portion of the Church Farm given to the college, it derived an income of about $1400 ; also from benefactions about $1000, also from tuition fees about f;9000, making an annual revenue of littk; more than §14,000. Its income met the expenses until 1821, when, year after year, there was a deficit of several hundred dollars, which produced an accumulating debt. Assessments for opening and regulating new streets became an added burden of expense, which, with taxes, amounted to $4000 in 1854. The Legislature refused to remit taxes on the property, and for several years the college was a sufferer from the increase in value ot its own proiierty. l-MHSr DKCAUK, IWIO 1840. 147 In 1>^.")7 tlic n-(|iiin'iii(Mits()l' luisiiicss caused the ri'innval nf tin- cDllciri; tij its tloinain on Madison AvcnuL', wlicre it oiTUpios a lilock lioiindod by ^fadisoM and Kourtli avenues, lietweon Forty ninth and Fit'tietli stivets. Tlie old odilices on the " Church Faini" were deniohshed, and their site and tlie College Green are now occujjied hy streets and niafrni fieent warehouses. The debt of the colleu:e iiad increased to more tiian $2.!.n(Mi at the time of the removal, but by the sjile of its i)roi)erty in the lower part of the city and sixteen lots of the Botanic Garden, ail of whicii had risen enormously in value, it lapidiy reduced the debt, notwithstand- ing its greatly increased expenditures in money and the establishment of new depaitments. In 18<>:i, for the Hr.st time in twenty yeai-s, its income was more than its expenses, and in 1ST2 the institution was entii-ely free fi-om dei)t. President Uarnard justly says : " If, therefore, our college is to be called to answei- at the bai' of ]niblic o])inion for the use she has made of the means at her command in advancing the higher education, it may faii-ly be claimed on her ije- half that the incjuiry should not extend beyond the last fifteen yeai-s. r>ut within that period she may confidently challenge any institution of similar character, of tiiis country or any other, to show a more honor- able record." * In ISOO an arrangement was made by which the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons of the City of Xew York (which had been incoq)o- rated with the Medical School'of Columbia College in ISi:?) was adopted as the medical department of the latter institution. Early in IbiVi Mr. Thomas Egleston, Jr., proposed a ])lan for the establishment of a school of mines and metallurgy in connection with the college. It was adopted by the trustees, and the school went into operation in lSti4. ]\Ir. Egleston was appointed professor of mineralogy and metallurgy, and General Francis L. Vinton ]irofessor of mining engineering. To these professoi-shijis was added a chair of analytical and a))plie(l chemistry, which was filled l)y Professor C. F. ChaniUer. This department is a most im])ortant addition to the educational facili- ties offered by Columbia College.^• President Cliarhs King having resigned eaily in isr.4. the U(>v. Frederick A. P. P.arnard. S.T.D.. was chosen to fill his i)lace. Dr. Barnard has peii'ormed the difficult functions of that exalted office with signal fidelity and ai>ility for nearly twenty years. He has had the * President Bamnrd's " .\nnnal Report iniulc to the Trustees," May 1. lHM-2. t See "A Historieal Sketch of Cnlnmbia CoUefie. 17.i4-lH7fi.-' l.y I'r.^fessor J. H. Van Amringc. prepared at the request of the National Buieaii "f Kdiifntion. 148 lIlSTOIiV OF .NKW YORK (■[■[•\. supremo satisfaction of sccjing the institution gTo\v continually with unwonted and increasing vigor, displaying under his wise and etHcient ailniiuistration strengtli and beauty in every pai't of its economy.* * Frederick Augustas Porter Baruiird, D.D., LL.D., S.T.D., was bom in Sheffield, Mass , May 5, 1809. He is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation of Fi-aneis Barnard, of Coventry, Warwickshire, England, who came to Massachusetts Bay in 163(5, and afterward settled iivst at Hartford, Conn., and then at Hadley, Mass. His luolher was descended in the eighth generation from John Porter, of Warwickshire, who came to Massachiisetts Bay in 1G26, and was a descendant iu the sixteenth generation from William de la Grande, a knight who followed William the Conqueror from Normandy into England in IIGIJ. His son was grande porleur to Henry I. (1120-40), from which circumstance he received the name of Porter, afterward borne by his family. President Barnard'.s father was Robei-t Foster Barnard, of Sheffield, Mass., a lawyer of repute and several times State Senator. His mother was Augusta, daughter of Dr. Joshua Porter, of Salisbury, Conn. At the age of six years Frederick began the stiidy of Jjatin. He was prepai'ed for col- lege at fifteen, and entered Yale in 1824. At nineteen he graduated second in the honor list. Early in his college course he was distinguished, especially in the pure mathemat- ics and exact sciences, in which, before the close of his sophomore year, he was the recognized leader of the whole school. On his graduation young Barnard became an instructor in a Hartford grammar school, where he formed the acquaintance of John G. Whittier, the poet, which ripened into warm friendship that has continued unabated for half a eenturj'. In 1830 Mr. Barnard became a tutor in Yale College, but menaces of failing health caused him soon to resign. The next year he was an instructor in the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Hartford, and iu 1832 held the same position in the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb under the late Dr. Harvey P. Peet. While in this institution he prepared and published a volume embodying the results of his exj)erience in teaching language, entitled " Analj'tical Grammar, with Symbolic Illustrations." He also rendered important service to 3Ir. Peet in the preparation of the annual reports. In 1837 Mr. Barnard accepted an invitation to the chair of mathematics and natural philosophy in the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa. That position he occupied twelve years, when he was transferred to the chair of chemistry and natural history in the same institution. During his connection with the university he built an astronomi- cal observatory for the institution, contributed frequently to the American Journal of Science and literary periodicals, and for several years had the editorial management (anonymously) of a weekly political newspaper published at Tuscaloosa. In 1846 the governor of Alabama appointed Professor Barnard astronomer on the part of that State to assist in determining the true boundary line between Alabama and Florida. Each State appointed one commissioner and an astronomical adviser. The astronomer appointed by Florida failed to appear, and Professor Barnard was employed by both States. His report, submitted to the Legislatures of the respective States, was regarded as conclusive, and settled the long-pending boundary controversy. During the excitement which followed the war with Mexico, when, in Alabama and elsewhere in the South, a strong desire for a dissolution of the Union was excited by demagognes, and with so much violence that Union men dared not speak above a whisper in some places. Professor Barnard was invited by citizens of Tuscaloosa to deliver an oration on the 4th of July. He accepted the invitation, with the understanding that he riKST |ii:K, IWW 1K40. 14!t 111 till' yi'iir I-^'IT the ulinlc iuiihImt of sluilcnts miitriculatt'd at ('iiluinhia ('i)llcji(' (tlic School of Arts, the Scliool of .Mini's, antl tin- sliDiilJ frti'ly speiik iiii tlio Imruiii^; iiiU'Stiun of tlic ilay. He diil so with a t)olilues.>i iinJ wilh logic wliioli siloiiced the (lismiioiiists. Thi; speech wns ])iil>liKheil niul wiilely circnlated, aud was one of the chief instriiiiK'iils in allaying the disunion cray.e in that region for years. His many pnblic addresses on other topics— art culture, varied indus- tries, railroads, and other subjects of moment— created new social aspirations in that region, which led to permanent beneficial results. In 1H.>1 Professor Barnard accepted an invitation to the chair of niatheiiiafiis and natural philosophy in the University of Mississippi, and he was the chief instrument in finally securing to that institution the benefits of .i national endowment fund, of which it had been for many years deprived by neglect. While Professor Harnard was attending a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science iit Albany, in the summer of ISoli, he was elected president of the University of Mississippi, a title which was changed to chancellor in 1M5M. Heat once inaugurated measures for the moral and educational reform of the institution. This movement was in successful progress when the late civil war broke out in IWijl. The university was soon afterward broken up, and Chancellor Barnard resigned bis office. On his departure the board of trustees conferred on him the honorary title of Doctor of Divinity, he having taken orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church. He had received the honorary degree of LL.D. from his iiIiiki mntir, Yale College, in lSo9. Dr. Uarnard was refused a passport to his native State, and with his wife he remained along time in Norfolk watching an oi^portunity for escape. 'Wlien General Wool took that city in lHri'2, they went to Washington, where they were cordially received by Presi dent Lincoln at a full cabinet meeting Professor Barnard was soon .ifterward appoint- ed director of the map and chart department of the Coast Survey, the chief business of which then was the preparation of " war maps" almost daily. In May, im>l, Dr. Barnard was elected president of Columbia College in the city ot New York, and w.n inaugurated with much ceremony at the beginning of the college year in September ftd'owing. In his admirable inaugural address President Barnanl made valuable suggestions of improvements in the educational policy of the institution In that direction he has labored incessantly, with the most satisfactory results ; and to-day he stands in the foremost rank of educators as a reformer of systems of learning, and as a champion for the higher education of women. Has kept constantly in view the idea of making Columbia College a true nnivei'sity. The condition of the institution now is the be.st commentary on the wise and efficient labors of President Barnard in its behalf. Its School of Mines is his offspring. During his admiiiisfmfion for nineteen years President Barnard has been conspicuous in labors in scientific fields outside of Columbia College. He was one of the fifty incorpo- rators of the National .\cademy of Sciences, and succeeded .\gassiz as its foreign secre- tary. He was one of the ten United States commissioners to the Paris Exposition in 1807, and made an exhaustive report on the Machinery and Processes of the Industrial Arts and the .Apparatus of the Exact S<'iences. President Barnard visited Europe several times afterward. President Barnard has taken great interest in the subject of the metric system of weights, measures, and moneys. At the request of Professor Henry and other eminent scientists, he called a meeting of gentlemen interested in international questions, for the pun'ose of forming an organization to promote the unification of the ^arions di.scordont national systems of weights, measures, and moneys. .\n a.ssocii.ii. m « ■■^ f.inn. .1 .t Colnm- 150 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. School of Law — estal)lishc(l in 1S58) * was five iunidred and i'ourteen. Till' nuniljer of matriculates in tlie tlaree departnieiits in tlie year ending- in May, 1882, was one thousand and fifty-four — an increase of one hundred and fifty per cent. The general coll(!ge library contains more tiian twenty thousand volumes. The total number of volumes in all the libraries of the insti- tution is al)out fifty thousand, nearly aU selected in reference to the wants of the various professoi's. Columbia College has in all its faculties, including tiie president, about one liundred and twenty-five professors, instructors, and assist- ants, and the toration of the city. The greater ]iortion of these books M'cre on theological subjects, the choicest reading of that day, and the sending of those books to the city for such a i>ui'])ose was acknowledged with gratitude as a gracious and generous act. In 17.")+ a number of gentlemen of the city resolved to establish a public library. Subscrijrtions for the ])urpose were solicited, and very soiin tho sum of iSllTjO was subscribed, with which seven hundred vol- umes wei-e purchased. They were all new books, and more miscellane- ous in their character. An association called the New Yoi'k Society Library was formed. The price of a share was >*!12..")0. and an annual fee of ^l.r.d was rei|uired of each shareholder. The new books were deposited with the volumes of the CJorimralinn Library and the biKjks received from England. The collection was then Known as " The City Library." 152 HlSruliV OF NEW VOKK CITY. On November 25, 1772, Governor Williani Tryon granted the asso- ciation an act of incorporation, under the title of Tlie Trustees of the New York Society Libi'ary. The charter confirmed the terms of mem- bei-ship aU-eady determined on by the founders of the society, and the care of the institution was inti-usted to twelve trustees, annually elected. It was empowered to hold projjerty not to exceed, in yearly value, §4-4o( ), and to erect a building to be known as ' ' The New YorJc Society Library." This institution was flourishing ; the numbei' of its books was rapidly increasing, by donations ajid otherwise, when the war for inde- pendence broke out, in 1775. During the seven or eight years that the war raged (a lai'ge portion of that period the city of New York was occujiied by British troops) the principal part of the books were scat- tered and destroyed. The operations of the library were resumed in 17SS, when the stock- holder elected a board of tnistees,* and it was ever afterward a kindly fostered and cherished institution of the city. The Legislature con- firjned its charter in 1789. The library was deposited in the City Hall, and there it l-emained until 1795, when its growing importance de- manded more extensive accommodations. New Y'ork City having been the seat of the National Government during the earlier years of its existence under the National Constitu- tion, and its sessions being held in the City Hall in Wall Street, the Society Lilji'ary was for a while the libraiy of Congress. Additional subscribers having been obtained, land was pm-chased in Nassau street (a part of Joseph Winter's garden), between Cedar and Lil)erty streets, opposite the iliddle Dutch Church (late the City Post- OtHce). Tiiere a substantial brick building was erected, and the second .story was fitted up for the use of the library. It was one of the most consjjicuous edifices in the city at that day, and to it the library was removed in 1795. There it continued until 1836, when the increasing commerce of the city compelled the trustees to seek another situation. The property in Nassau Street was sold, a lot was purchased on Broad- way, corner of Leonard Street, and while a building was being erected on it the library occupied the rooms of the Mechanics' Society in Chambei-s Street. In 18-10 the Iniilding on Broadway was finished, and liie library w;us * The following gentlemen were chosen trustees : Robert K. Livingston, Rohert Wiitts, Brockbolst Livingston, Samuel Jones, Walter Rutherford, Matthew CIni'kson, Peter Ketteltas, Samuel Bard, Hugh Gaiue, Daniel C. Verplanck, Edward Griswold, Heurv Reniscn. 1_ KlliST DKCADE, 1830 1H4U. l.VJ ivmovi'd to it. TliirUvii years liiU-r lliis pmin'i'ty was sold, and tin- liliiary uccupii'd rooms in tlu' Bible House, at Ki;j;litli Street and l'"ourtli Avenue. 'I'iie lot on wiiieli the buildini^ it now occupies stands, in Inivei'sity Place, was purchased, and the edilice erected upon it \va:; (•onii)leted in th;' spring of l.s.")(!. The library lirst occupied it in May of that year. " The lii-st cataloj^;ue issued al'tei* its removal, ]>rinted in 17'.'"2. showed liiat tin- lilirary then containiMl about live thousiind volumes. In IMo tlu" nuudier was thirteen thou.siind, and in iS^o nearly twenty thousiind. It has received from time to time valuable donations of books and liberal be(|Uests of money. The largest gift the library ever received was that of Mi-s. Sarah II. (rreen, from the estate of her o|)en for inspecti(jn. The income from ground i-eiit of jiroperty owned by the society in Chatham Street is set apart as the income of the " John (,'. Green Fund." The libi-ai-y now contains about eighty thousand volumes. Its shares (with annual dues connnuted) are siji' each, or by payment of $!<' a year, §2.">. There is a reading-i-oom connected witii the library, open for the u.se of shareholders, and Trauksmk.n. It has certainly been in existence since 17S-i. The first meetings of the society of which any reconls exist were liekl at the house of ^Valter Ilyer, in Xovember, ITS."), in King's Street, now Pine Street. In lso2 the society bought a lot (size 2;'_':^,(Mio, making the whole cost a little * The officers i>f tlie society iu 1883 were ; Robert Lennx Kennedy, presiJont ; Edwur.l Schell, trensurer ; John >I. Knox, secrclary : Wenfworlh S. liutler. lil>rnriuii. 154 HISTORY OF XEVV YORK CITY. more than S2!t,in)0. The premises now rent tor more tlian s2-i,(ioi) a j'etir. In 17!>2 a charter was obtained from tlie Legislature, and has been renewed from time to time. It was amended in 1821, to allow of the establishment of a school for the free education of the children of poor or deceased members, and a library for the use of ap|irentices. An amendment in 1833 ]3rovided for the setting apart of cei-tain receipts as sacred to the jiurpose of disseminating literary and scientific knowl- edge. Another amendment in 1842 allowed its then free school to be- come a pay sciiool for those who could afford to jmy, and to aUow the establishment of a separate fund for the sup])ort of the Ajiprentices' Library and Reading-Rooms. Tmk Ai'i'KENTicEs' LiERARY was established in 1>;20. It then con- sisted of eight hundred volumes, most of which had been contributed by membei"s of the General Society and ]ihilanthropic citizeiis. Tlie library at fii-st was only open in the evening, the books being handed out to the readei-s by membei-s of a committee. It maintained a feeble existence for many years. In 1850 it contained about fourteen thou- sand volumes. The vast increase in the value of the real estate of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen so enlarged its income that for many years it has been enabled to strengthen every department of its work, especially the Apprentices' Library. From Benjamin Demilt the library received a bequest of §7500, besides his private library, a very valuable collection of standard works. Pierre Lorillard also be- queathed to the library fund §5000, -which was entirely devoted to the ])urchase of books. On the fii-st of Januarv. 1883, the Apijrentices' Library contained sixty-five thousand volumes, of which more than forty thou.sand are works of a standard character. In 1832 the society bought a lot with a high school building on it in Crosby Street, where it had its headquartei-s until tlie completion, in 1878, of its present commodious four-storied building at Nos. IG and IS East Sixteenth Street. In 1833 the association estimated the value of its possessions at about $70,000 above all its debts ; owing to the enormous increase in the value of its real estate, the estimated value of its possessions in 1883 was about 8780.000. It has sixty -eight pension- ei-s— nine memljei-s, fifty-five widows, and four children. During one year (1881-82) the total imndjer of books drawn from the library was 1()3,-13(). The number of visitoi-s to the reading-room during the same time was 3(!.(iOO. The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen is a UKwt remark- hMKST DKi'ADE. 1S:«> 1S40. !•>•> able I'xumploof tlio liuiinei;il success in tlie iiiaiiiigenient of an inslitu tion, while all its l.-md.-iMr ))iir|K)scs were carried out with vif^or ant,'or8 unci John H. Wnydcll, vice-presidents ; Jftuies G. Burnet, treasurer ; Thomas Earle, secretarj', and James Wooliey, collector. CHAPTER VII. THE Xew York IIistokkal Society is one of the most remarkable as ^'ell as useful institutions in the city of Xew York. It had just started on a prosperous career, after yeai-s of struggle, at the time we are considering (about 1826-30). It had recently cleared itself of debt, and was working vigorously in the cause to which it was devoted, namely, the collection and preservation of whatever might relate to the natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history of the United States in general, and especially to that of the rightfully called Empire State of the Repub- lic. This happy state of affairs had been brought about largely by the exertions of Frederic de Peyster, who was one of its most active and devoted members for more than half a century, and who with the aid of Governor De Witt Clinton had procured from the Legislature of the State a grant of §5000 for tlie benefit of the struggling association. The Historical Society clearl}^ owes its conception to the active 'mind and energetic character of John Pintard, a Xew Yorker In^ birth, of Huguenot descent. He was a graduate of the College of Xew Jersey, at Princeton, where he was a favorite of President "VYitherspoon ; had a wide circle of learned friends in his own State and other common- wealths, and was not only familiar with classical and elegant hterature, but by the means of a natural enthusiasm in the acquirement of knowl- edge and a most retentive memory, he was possessed of a large fund of historical and geograjihical infonuation. Of Mr. Pintard Dr. John AY. Francis wrote : " He was vereed in theological and ])oleinical divinity, and in the progress of church affaii-s among us ever a devoted disciple. You could scarcely approach him without having something of Dr. Johnson thrust upon you. There were ]ieriods in his life in which he gave every una])])ropriated moment to philological iiK^uiry, and it was curious to see him ransacking his formidable pile of dictionaries for radicals and synonyms, with an earnestness that would have done honor to the most eminent student in the republic of letters." Again : " Everybodv consulted him for infonnation touching this State's transactions, and the multifarious occuiTences of this citv, wliicii have marketl it ; FlUSr HKCAUK, ls:!l) IslO. ir>7 pvD^ross since dui- Kovolutiimarv stni^ji^lt'. I'ersons iind tliiiiij^s, imli- viilualities and c*)r|")iatii)ns, literary. I»ii>;;ra|)iiital, eei'lesiastic-ai, and historical ciivunistanccs, municipal and Icffislativc enactments, inteiiial and external commerce — all these were prominent among the nund)er : and liis general accuracy as to fjei-sons and dates made him a living chronology." Such wei-e sjdient points in the character of the man who was the chiel" founder of the New York Historical Society. He long cherished the idea of such an institution before attempting to give it a practical intluence. While secretary of his uncle, Lewis Pintaid, a merchant and c-ommissai-y of American prisonei-s in the city of New York during the latter pei-icnl of the old war for independenc;', he became power- fully im])rcssed with the imjHiitance of preserving records of events, for he was living in the midst of most momentous occurrences. After the war lie bought from Dr. Chandler, of Elizabethtown. New Jei-stn'. a large collection of docmnents relating to the Itevolution, and gradually a plan for the establislnnent of an antii|U:irian society took tangible shape in his miiul. In 17S0 Pintard visited P)Oston, and conununicated his ideas cimcern- ing an antiquarian or historical society to the eminent theologian, biogra- pher, and historian, Jeremy Belknap, who wannly approved his plan. "This day," he wnjte to Ebenezer Hazard, the Postmaster-General; " this day 'Mi: Pintard called to see me. He says he is an acquaint- ance of youi-s, and wants to fonu an anticiuarian society." Several months later Belknap wrote to Hazard : " I like Pintard's idea of a society of American antiquarians, but where will you find a sutficiency of members, of suitable abilities and leisure ?" The theologian ap])ears to have .acted energetically on the hints given him by Pintard. for in less than two years after the New Y'orker's visit we find Belknap at the head of the ira.ssachusetts Historical Society. Pintard seems to have acted |)romptly and energetically in attempts to put his cheri.shed scheme into practical operation in New York. He was an active member of the Tannnany Society or Columbian Order, and was its fii-st s;igamore, and he connected his antiquarian scheme with that society. "Writing to Belknap in the spring of ITiU, lie Sciid : "This [the Tannnany] being a strong luitional society, I engrafted an antiquarian sc-henie of a museum u])on it. It makes small progress with a small finul, and may ]iossibly succeed. "We liave a tolerable collection of jiamphlets, mostly moderns, with some history, of which I will send vf the I'owlinj^ (Treeii. In ISIO they were taken to the New York Institution, where they institution wns broken np, he went too, iifter he hml received his detcrce. .\fter «<-Tviu({ a while in the iinuy, jonng Pintiird liecaine deputy commissary for Americuu i)rii':ouorK in New York, under his iiuclo, tor whom ho acted ns secretary. He wa.s in that office ahoiit three years, doin;^ nearly nil the lnisiucss most of the time. Klias Uoudinot, his lirother- in-law, was then commissHri-i.'cueml of prisoners. When Pintard left the office iu 17^(1 he went to Paramns, New Jersey, where resided Colonel Brashear, u stanch Whig and distant relative of the yonng man. He fell in love with the colonel's daughter, and they were married in 1785. " He was handsome, and she was the loveliest girl in the land," says " Walter Barrett, clerk." Up to that time .John Piutard was a clerk for his luicle ; then he began business for hiuiself, at No. 13 Wall Street, in the India trade. One of his shijis (the Jay) was among the first vessels that brought cargoes from China. In 1780 he was elected alderman of the East Ward, which took in Wall Street below William Street. In 17U0 he was elected to the State Legislature. In 1702 John Pintard, out of debt, rich and prosperous, bad bis name on the back of notas ilrawn by William Dner, son-in-law of Lord Stirling, who wns regarded ns one of the greotest financiers of the day, for a full million dollars. Dner failed. Pintard gr.ve up ships, cargoes, bouses, furniture, librarj-, everything, to partially pay the notes he had indorsed. Ho settled in Newark, where he found employment as a commissioner for building bridges. Duer's creditors followed him, and confined him in Newark jail four- teen months. The general bankrupt law of 180() relieved Jlr. Pintard, and he returned to New York, where he first became a book auctioneer. In 1801 his uncle bought for him the Dally A(U-(rliser, but he did not conduct it long. In 1802 ho went to New Orleans, but soon returned. He became city inspector, and in 1803 secretary of a fire insurance company, which position he filled until 1820, when, at the nge of seventy, he resigned. He became almost blind and deaf, and his world wag inside of himself for several years. He died on June 21, 1844, at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. Pintard was the enlightened and active friend of every great enterprise for the benefit of the city, and in every good work. He was not only the founder of the New Y'ork Historic.ll Society, but one of the originators of the free school system in the city, an active promoter of the Erie Canal project from the beginning, a most efficient mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce, serving it as secretary ten consecutive years, and infusing into it new vitality ; one of the founders of the American Bible Society, active in the foundation of the General Thcnlogical Society of the Episcopal Church in the diocese, and the chief mover in the establishment of the first .savings bank in the city of New York, of which he wns president thirteen years, retiring when he was nearly eighty- two years of age. Jlr. Pintard has an undoubted and clear right to the title of progenitor of the historical societies in the United States. The body of Mr. Pintarii wns buried in the family vault in St. Clement's Church, in Amity Street. Very few citizens of the great metropolis to-day have even the mofit remote idea of how much it owes to John Pintard for its prosperity and good name. 160 UISTOKY OF NEW YOlUv CITY, remained until 1832, when they were deposited in the Remsen buikl- ing, on Broadway. In 1837 tliey were taken to the Stuyvesant Insti- tute, on Broadway'. There they rested only four years, for in 1841 they were removed to the IS'ew Yorlc University. There they took a longer rest, and finally, in 1857, took up tlieir abode in a building erected by the society on the corner of Eleventh Street and Second Avenue. The memboi-s and friends of the Historical Societ\' exhibited nmch zeal from the beginning, in efforts to secure for its collections manu- scripts, books, rare pamphlets relating to American history, autograph letters and impublished documents, files of American newspaper, espe- ciallj- of those published in the city of Xew York ; specmiens of American archseology, coins and medals, works of painters, sculptoi-s, and engravers, and everrthing suitable for a musemn of historical treasures. For more than twenty veal's the society labored on with slender pecuniary means, continually adding to its list of members some of the best men in 'New York society, vnth its offices filled by persons of dis- tinction in literature, science, and art. Its pecuniary power was so inadequate to the noble task it had undertaken that it found itself, at the beginning of the new era in the history of New York City, bur- dened with a debt amounting to about $5000. It was at this juncture that the society was strongly beset with a temptation Avhich yielded to might have caused its annihilation. It was a supreme crisis in the history of the institution. At that time a number of gentlemen had associated in the formation of a society with the avowed purjiose of encouraging and promoting the study of popular science, belles-lettres, and the fine arts. They named the association The New Yoi'k Athenaeum. Its membere were some of tlie leading intellectual lights of the city. They had conceived the design of unit- ing all the literary societies of New York under the ap])ropriate title they had chosen, for the purpose of creating an institution, by such a combination, which siiould be the most distinguished and powerful in the United States. 'Memliei'S of the Xew Yorlc Ilistorical Society, considering its pecuni- ary embarrassments, ahnost vehemently urged the propriety and even the necessity of joining such a conil)ination, and to merg'? it into The New York Athenjeum. At a meeting of the Ilistorical Society, Dr. Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, a prominent member, offered a resolution that in consideration of a sum sufficient to pay off its indebtedness the entire property shouhl be transferred to the Athenaium. KlltST UliCADK. 1h:1u-1->1i' An cM.orgetic and cleai-li.-ad.d y<.un- lawyer, a scion of ..no of the oldest and most distinguished Kniekeil.oeker families in tUe eity of >;ew York, had recently been elected a member of the Historical Society, and took great 'interest in its alFaii-s. He earnestly opposed Dr Van Rensselaer's resolution, urging that such a s;de of the treas- ures of the society would be dishonest, and in violation of the solemn i.led.'es 'Mven to the i)ublic by its foundoi-s, for they represented that all donidions, of whatever kind, should be held as part of the archives of the soc-iety, and for historical purposes. That young lawyer was the late Kreing while liolding its presidential chair, at the age of eighty -six yeai-s.^ * Frederic Ue Po.vslcr. LL.JD., was born in Hanover Square, New York, on November 11 179G His ancestors were Huguenots who fled from persecution in France in the sixteenth century and settled in Amsterdam and Eotterdam. Holland. The trsl of the name who emigrated to America was Johannes de Peyster, the possessor of much in- herited wealth, who came to New Amsterdam with his wife about 1(U.5. when he was t«entv-tive years of a^e. He became a successful merchant and a distinguished citizen^ beiut?"in succession sheriff, alderman, and burgomaster of New Amsterdam, and m IG, < deputy mayor of New York. Two of his sons were afterward mayors of the city. I he de Pevster'famUy have ever held the highest social position in New York City. The father of the subject of this sketch was Captain Frederic de Peyster an ardent lovUist during the old war for independence, and an officer in the king's Third American Regiment or New York Volunteers. He married a daughter of Cou.missary-General Hake of the British armv. Frederic was a student in Columbia College during the war of 1H12 and became captain of the student^' corps known as the " College Orecns They assisted in the construction of field works at McGowan's Pass and Manhattanvie. He was graduated in ISlC, and began the study of law with the Hon. Peter A Jay, the eldest son of Governor John Jay. He concluded his legal studies under the tuition of Peter Van Schaaek. of Kinderhook. one of the most learned '"^-^ '" '^«,0 Ind the Pevster was admiUed to practice as an attorney in the Supreme Comt in 1819. and the same year he became a solicitor in chancery. It is said his reports in the latter eapac.tv never revealed an error. . , „ .•„., Youn- de Pevster was fond of militarj- matters, and was active several years in tnc militia of the State, serving as brigade major in the Tenth Brigade as aide-de-camp to Major-General Flemming, and as aide, with the rank of colonel, on the sUfl of Governor De\vitt Clinton in ISi-i. Not long before he ha.l raised the question whether an ofccer holding one militarv position could be legally elected to another^a salaried ""^ . ^^"1'; out therebv vacating the former office. It was decided by competent authority hat he could not. 'and thus a test case, argued by de Peyster and won. gained huu notoriety, and settled a vexed question in military circles. From his earlv life Mr. de Peyster took an active interest in public affair^ So ear^ as 1810, when he was fourteen years of age. he became a member of the F'*^* S';^°''' Society of New York, in which, in after yean., he was a tnistee. He po^essed a dec ded literarv taste, and he bcuime prominently connected with sevenU l.l«nir> '"^d 'earned 162 HISTORY OF NKW YUJiK CITY. The resolution of Dr. A'an Rensselaer was warmly discussed. The arguments of Mr. I)e Peyster prevailed, and the resolution was not adopted. After the adjoui-nment of the meeting, Charles King (after- ward president of Columbia College), seven yeai-s the senior of De Peyster, said to the latter : " Sir, you have caused a serious harm to both the Historical Society and the Athena?um by defeating that i-esoliition. You have frustrated a laudable ol)jecl, and b\' rejecting the ])ro])ose(l union this society will soon be a hopeless l)ankrupt." " If the society will give me authority," replied De Peyster, " I will go to Albany as its representative and procure fi-om the Legislature an appropriation sufficient to pay all its debts." " If you shall do that," responded King; " interest the State Legis- lature so substantially in our affairs, you will make the ]S"ew York Historical Society one of the leading institutions of our country." Mr. De Peyster was invested with proper authority. lie went to Albany, laid a petition for- the relief of the New York Historical Society before the Legislature, with a large number of whose members corresponding secretary again in 1838, and remained in that position until 1843. In 1864 he was elected president of the society ; held the office two years ; was re-elected in 1873, and continued to hold the position until the time of his death, August 17, 1882. His gifts to the society were many and valuable. Some of the choicest books aad works of art in its collection are his contributions. One of the most attractive ot the latter is Crawford's colossal marble statue of an Indian sitting in a contemplative attitude, enti- tled "The Last of His Race." He purchased it after Crawford's death for §4000. Mr. de Peyster was also a generous patron of art, as his home in University Place attested, and was always ready to contribute to funds for the erection of statues of eminent men in his native city. On auniversai-y and other celebrations of important events he was always active, and was frequently called vipon to address the assemblage, which was always done in a happy manner. He was also active in all benevolent movements, and held an office of some kind in a score of different societies. He was also an earnest promoter of the cause of popular education, and his interest in his ulmn mater (Columbia College) was warm and active until the close of his life. While Mr. de Peyster was master in chancery he wan employed by a committee of the Tontine Coffee-House .\ssociation as an expert to ascertain the value of the lives of the nominees. He soon afterward became n member of that association, and was one of the last, if not the verj' last, survivors of that famous organization. He was elected a trustee of the New York Society Library, and was its president from 1870. He was vice president of the Home for Incurables, and one of the directors of the Institution for the Instruc- tion of the Deaf and Dumb. For more than fifty years he was clerk of the board of trustees of the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum, founded by his father-in-law, .John Watts. He was an active and most efficient member of the St. Nicholas Society and president of the St. Nicholas Club. Our space will not allow the mention of more of the objects of his care and untiring labors. Mr. de Peyster was chosen to deliver an address on the occasion of the centennial ^^ KIUST DFA'ADK, ISIIO 18ll). !*'•* li(> was pt'i-soiially ac-iiiiaiiitciUand iirf,'f(l liis suit with sd imitli Itj-ric and siioli wt-i^lity reasons for granting the prayer, tliut a l>ill s|)ee(lily ]»assi'(l both liouses appropriating iSnniHi for the relief of the New York Historical ScK-iety. The burilen of debt was tlius removed, and tlic soeiety staileil afresh and unembarrassed in its career of usefulness and honor. The society has over since gone steadily on in an ui)ward journey, sometimes struggling with poverty, but never with doubt, and some- times cheered by libend bequests and donations, until it has reached its ])resent high position as one of the leading and most useful institutions of the metropolis. The New York Historical Society po-ssesses a library of more than 7(»,0(i() volumes, and u very large number of inimi)hlets, ma])s, and files of' newspaiKM-s ; also a most valuable collection of incdited manu- scripts, a curious collection of American antiquities, a rare and exceed- ingly valuable collection of Egyptian antiquities, and the largest and rarest permanent gallery of woriis of art on the American continent. 13y the liberality of citizens of New York the society was enaljled to cclebmtion of American indepenrlence at ludepeiiilenee H.xU, I'liiladelphia, in 187S. Several of his occasional adilresses have been published in handsome book form. He was an earnest classical and biblical student ; indeed no department of lenmins escaped his notice, and often engaged his profound study. In 1807 Columbia ("ollcge conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D., and in March, 1877, the Royal Historical Society of Great liritain, " in consideration of his eminent services in the cause of historical and anti