LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 DDDisiamas 
 
,/*«'*'^!^^-^ /»?• 
 
 e B4 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^a::^' 
 
 ;'r'i 
 
 .-^^ 
 
 Co 
 
 
 
 ^ ,.,.^^,^^^ 
 
 life 
 
 r e^ 
 
 ||i;T6f^icy\u 
 
 qU/\RE: 
 
 lv 
 
 h. 
 
 -jrr-jjc--!. 
 
 -Q 
 
 
 f^ 
 
373. A Historical Sketch of Madison Square. Illust 
 
 12mo, paper, pp. 47. (Auto, presentation copy from the 
 author, Morris Benjamin.) N. Y. 1894 
 

 MERIDEN MONOGRAPHS, No. i 
 
 '^y^'^rt^C't^ / t^2ty.^«^^>^<** 
 
 H Ibistorical Sketch of 
 ^abison Square 
 
 NEW YORK 
 1894 
 

 This little hook^ the result of many months of 
 careful research^ is offered to the patrons of the 
 Meriden Britannia Gom])anij^ in commemoration of 
 its removal fro7n Unio7i to Madison Square. It is 
 hoped that they ivillfind the information as inter- 
 esting as it has been to the publishers of this His- 
 torical Sketch of Madison Square. 
 
 'W 
 
 
09 
 
 No 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 |N the very heart of the metropolis of the 
 New World is Madison Square ; and in 
 all New York there is no other one 
 place so completely identified with the 
 growth of the city as this beautiful pleasance. Even 
 more than this may be said, for it is doubtful if there 
 is any place in the world where the^;^ de Steele civili- 
 zation in its fullest development can be seen to 
 greater advantage than in this very ]\ladison Square. 
 It has all the gayety and brightness of the famous 
 Place de la Concorde in Paris, without its sad remin- 
 iscences. Like Trafalgar Square in London, it has 
 a memorial to a nation's greatest naval hero ; like- 
 wise it does honor to a brave soldier, and even states- 
 men have not been forgotten. Its history is like 
 that of Lafayette Square, in Washington city, of 
 ^vhich it has been well said to have " undeniably the 
 most interesting history of any locality in the United 
 States." The history of Madison Square is indeed 
 the history of New York city itself. 
 
 Originally it was conspicuous as a military post, 
 serving as such during the war of 1812 ; then it 
 became the site of the House of Refuge, and finally 
 
 (5) 
 
6 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 it was beautified and made into a park. These 
 various elements of its history we shall consider in 
 their chronological order. 
 
 As early as 1806 a magazine or arsenal was erected 
 by the United States at the junction of the Eastern 
 Post Road, as the highway to Boston was then called, 
 
 and the Middle 
 Road, better known 
 in these days as 
 Broadway. The 
 
 exact site of this 
 building was about 
 where the Worth 
 Monument now 
 stands. It formed 
 one of the series of 
 defenses which in- 
 cluded two other 
 arsenals in the low- 
 er part of the city, 
 and two forts — one 
 off the Battery, 
 called Southwest 
 Battery, and the 
 other in Hudson 
 River, off Hubert 
 Street, called North 
 Battery. 
 
 These arsenals 
 were buildings two 
 or three stories 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 7 
 
 high, of stone and brick, well constructed, and in- 
 closed by high walls. All that is martial has long 
 since disappeared from this point. Worth's Monu- 
 ment alone preserves to memory the spot that once 
 served to protect the city from an attack from the 
 north. Thus almost a century ago what has since 
 become Madison Square was an important locality 
 in the history of New York. 
 
 In 1807 an act was passed by the State Legis- 
 lature authorizing the appointment of commission- 
 ers to regulate and open the streets. De Witt Clin- 
 ton, who resigned from the United States Senate in 
 1802 to accept the office of mayor of the city, was 
 then tilling that place for a second time. 
 
 He named as commissioners Goiiverneur Morris, 
 Simeon De Witt, and John Rutherfurd. To this 
 board New York owes its rectangular system of 
 streets and avenues. They adopted the method of 
 parallel streets across the island, numbering toward 
 the north from Houston Street, where their special 
 labors began. The streets were intersected by ave- 
 nues one hundred feet wide, extending to the extreme 
 northern limit of the island, twelve of which num- 
 bered eastward from First Avenue, which passed 
 " from the west of Bellevue Hospital to the east of 
 Harlem Church." East of First Avenue were four 
 short avenues, designated A, B, C, and D respectively. 
 
 The adjustment of Broadway with the Bloom- 
 ingdale Road seems to have caused them some trou- 
 ble, and in a letter written by John Randel, Jr., city 
 surveyor, to the commissioners, we find mention of 
 
8 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 that fact. He says : " Between Sailor's Snug Har- 
 bor [now Tenth Street] and Love Lane [now Twen- 
 ty-first Street] were a narrow causeway and perhaps 
 from six to eight frame dwelling houses." By the 
 commissioners' plan " Broadway was to have been 
 straightened at this place by continuing it from 
 the bend at the present Tenth Street northward 
 between Third and Fourth Avenues to Twenty- 
 third Street, where it was lost in ' The Parade.' " 
 
 This Parade, according to the same writer, was 
 laid out by the commissioners for military purposes, 
 and contained 238'7 acres, extending from Twenty- 
 third to Thirty-fourth Streets and from Third to 
 Seventh Avenues. Their report was dated March 
 32, 1811. By a statute of April 15, 1814, this tract 
 was reduced to 89-1 acres, and about this time 
 it received the name of Madison Square, in honor 
 of James Madison, the President of the United 
 States. Finally it was again reduced and given the 
 present size. In its inception we have the germ 
 which later gave rise to Central Park. 
 
 Having thus traced part of its early history, we 
 now pass to another phase of its development. It 
 is a curious fact that many of the public squares of 
 New York were originally used as burial places for the 
 unknown dead. The upper part of City Hall Park, 
 where the Court House now stands, was once used 
 for that purpose. A writer on old New York says : 
 
 " And the robin, who is no respecter of persons, 
 chirps as joyously upon the sod that hides the quiet 
 dust of the repentant and forgotten felon as on the 
 
nnnnnncinnnnnnnnnn 
 
 ; s • ■ i ■ ■ . ■ 
 
 jJy"J_LuLL]yziJLliJzz 
 
 ^^^§- 
 
 nnn nnnnnnnnnnn nnn 
 
10 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 carefully tended grave of the nabob who left his 
 gold behind him when he lay down to rest beneath 
 the aristocratic elms of old St. Paul's." 
 
 As the city pushed northward the Potter's Field 
 was removed to Washington Square, and as early as 
 1810 a part of the Parade Ground, especially that to 
 the east of the arsenal, was used by the city authori- 
 ties as the last resting place for its castaway dead. 
 Later the block between Forty-ninth and Fiftieth 
 Streets and Lexington and Fourth Avenues was 
 used as a public cemetery until about 1857, when 
 the present location on Ward's Island was selected. 
 Felix Old boy, in his charming Tour around New 
 York, says of Madison Square : 
 
 " Fashion enjoys the lovely little park, but little 
 recks that it owes its pleasant shade to the tramps 
 and the criminals whose bones lie moldering beneath 
 the grass and flowers." 
 
 Meanwhile the Parade Ground remained a broad 
 area of waste land. Subsequent to the War of 1812 
 all fear of foreign invasion seems to have passed away, 
 and finally, in 1823, the arsenal or barracks, as it was 
 then called, was abandoned. The land became the 
 property of the city, and in 1825 the first House of 
 Refuge was founded in the old building. It began 
 with six boys and three girls. Fire destroyed the 
 building in 1839, and the House of Refuge was re- 
 moved, in October of that year, to the foot of Fast 
 Twenty-third Street, where it remained until 1854, 
 when it was again removed to its present site on 
 Randall's Island. 
 
MADISON SQUARE. H 
 
 Of this institution a writer in Appletons' Jour- 
 nal says : " The society [for the House of Refuge 
 was managed by the Society for the Eeformation of 
 Juvenile Delinquents of the City of New York] 
 began operations on the 1st of January, 1825, in the 
 
 old soldiers' barracks, occupied during the War of 
 1812-'15. The site of the barracks was about one 
 mile from the outskirts of the city and two miles 
 from the City Hall. It is now the heart of the city, 
 forming the charming park known as Madison 
 Square. It was then considered out of town. A 
 lady of the city recollects, when young, being invited 
 to visit the institution. The day was devoted to the 
 object, and she was so fatigued by the jaunt that 
 she was sick for a week in consequence." And this 
 was going from down town to Madison Square. 
 
 After the burning of the House of Refuge the 
 Parade Ground seems to have been abandoned to an 
 
12 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 unconfined class of boys, for we read that it served 
 " as a skating place in winter and was a source of 
 infinite delight in summer to the throngs of boys 
 that then roamed the streets at will and wallowed in 
 its muddy shallows." 
 
 More than one of our present parks have been 
 reclaimed as breathing places on account of their 
 swampy nature rendering them unfit for residential 
 purposes. Conspicuous illustrations of this fact are 
 afforded in Washington, Gramercy, and Madison 
 Squares. Some years ago General Egbert L. Viele, 
 an enthusiast on the subject of parks, and the author 
 of the earliest plan of Central Park, made an elab- 
 orate topographical map of New York city, showing 
 the original courses of these ancient streams. We 
 find that one of these nameless streams [it has been 
 called Cedar Creek, according to some persons, but 
 General Viele does not recognize this name] has its 
 origin to the w^est of the Square, and, after passing 
 along the line of Broadway, turns eastward and 
 skirts the northern end of the park ; then passing 
 south, it there broadens into a pond, whence it fol- 
 lows a southeasterly course toward the East River, 
 into which it empties at about Seventeenth Street. 
 In recent years the Metropolitan Life Insurance 
 Company, whose beautiful building adorns the south- 
 eastern corner of the Square, has used its waters 
 for cleaning and washing. 
 
 Meanwhile the city was slowly extending nortli- 
 ward. In 1837 the tunnel between Thirty-third and 
 Forty-second Streets was opened. Of this event the 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 13 
 
 New York Mirror, long edited by Nathaniel P. 
 Willis, says : 
 
 " Philadelphia and Boston are both famous for 
 their lions, their Fairmount Waterworks, and their 
 Mount Auburn Cemetery, but they must now hide 
 their diminished heads for a while until they can 
 get up something to beat the tunnel on Fourth 
 Avenue." 
 
 Five years later water from the Croton River was 
 introduced into the distributing reservoir on Fifth 
 Avenue, between Fortieth and Forty-second Streets. 
 The event w^as celebrated on October ]4, 1842, and, 
 says Mrs. Lamb, " with an imposing military and 
 civic procession seven miles in length." George P. 
 Morris, the poet, wrote of this event : 
 
 " Round the aqueducts of story, 
 
 As the mists of Lethe throng, 
 Croton's waves, in all their glory, 
 
 Troop in melody along. 
 Ever sparkling, bright, and single 
 
 Will this rock-ribbed stream appear, 
 When posterity shall mingle 
 
 Like the gathered waters here." 
 
 Let us also glance to the east and the west. 
 Felix Oldboy tells us that Bull's Head village ex- 
 tended from Second to Fourth Avenues and from 
 Twenty-third to Twenty-seventh Streets. Here was 
 the great cattle mart of the city, and here it had 
 been for twenty years. 
 
 On the west was Chelsea village, whose colonial 
 houses reward those whose antiquarian ambitions 
 lead them to search that old quarter. The block 
 
14 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 between Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets and 
 Ninth and Tenth Avenues, on whicii are the build- 
 ings of the General Theological Seminary of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, preserves the name of 
 Chelsea Square. This block was originally j)art of 
 the farm of Clement C. Moore, who is best known 
 as the author of 
 
 " 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the 
 house 
 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." 
 
 Rapid transit was introduced in 1832, and horse- 
 cars ran along Fourth Avenue from Prince Street 
 to Murray Hill at intervals of fifteen minutes. A 
 fare of twenty-five cents was 
 charged. New York was fast 
 becoming a metropolis. 
 
 In 1844, James Har^^er, of 
 the famous publishing firm, 
 '^\ ; /a ■ was chosen mayor on the Na- 
 
 v^ *' y/\ tive American ticket, and dur- 
 
 ing his administration com- 
 missioners were appointed to 
 acquire the lands forming the 
 Square. Their report was 
 / J^ ^ confirmed bv the Supreme 
 
 (y Court early m May, 1847, 
 
 and the Square was ordered 
 opened by the Common Council on the lOtli of that 
 month. Its area at that time was 6*84 acres. 
 
 Beyond acquiring possession of the property and 
 declaring it open, very little seems to have been done 
 
 r^vF 
 
 '/ 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 15 
 
 with it. A contemporaneous Description of the 
 City of New York, published in 1847, says : " Madi- 
 son and Hamilton Squares, and some other public 
 areas, though laid down in the plan of the city, are 
 not yet arranged and opened." The Mexican War 
 then took place and absorbed the public interest. 
 Later, its outlines were marked by a rude wooden 
 fence, and paths connecting the streets and avenues 
 were laid out. 
 
 Of the buildings that surround Madison Square, 
 the first to achieve special interest was Corporal 
 Thompson's Madison Cottage, where, according to 
 Mrs. Van Kensselaer, " at the Sign of the Buckhorn, 
 explained by a huge pair of veritable antlers, the trot- 
 
 ting men of the period found frequent refreshment 
 for themselves, if not for their beasts." It was the post 
 tavern used for changing horses and later became a 
 road house. In the New York Herald of May 9, 
 1847, we find the following reading notice : 
 
16 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 " Madison" Cottage. — This beautiful place of 
 resort opposite Madison Square, corner of Twenty- 
 third Street and Broadway, is open for the season, 
 and Palmer's omnibuses drive to the door. It is one 
 of the most agreeable spots for an afternoon's lounge 
 in the suburbs of our city. Go and see." 
 
 It occupied the site where the Fifth Avenue Hotel 
 now stands. In 1852 it was the chief house in the 
 immediate vicinity. 
 
 It soon gave way to Franconi's Hippodrome, 
 which was built by a syndicate of eight American 
 showmen, among whom were Avery Smith, Richard 
 Sands, and Seth B. Howe. The building was of 
 brick, two stories high, and. seven hundred feet in 
 circumference. The arena, which was in the center, 
 was uncovered, and here were given chariot races and 
 circus performances. It was opened on May 2, 1853, 
 when over four thousand people were present. For 
 two seasons it continued in favor. 
 
 A church followed, and selected the corner of 
 Twenty-fourth Street and Madison Avenue as the 
 site for its home. In 1834, William Adams, a gradu- 
 ate of 1827 at Yale, and at the Andover Theological 
 Seminary in 1830, was called to the charge of the 
 Central Presbyterian Church in Broome Street. 
 His congregation founded the Madison Square Pres- 
 byterian Church in 1853, and of which he continued 
 pastor until 1873. For nearly half a century Dr. 
 Adams was one of the leaders of his denomination, 
 and exercised a potent influence over the religious 
 thought of New York city until his death in 1880. 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 17 
 
 A conspicuous event in the history of Christianity 
 occurred in this church on October 5, 1873. The 
 Evangelical Alliance of the World was gathered at 
 that time in convention 
 in New York, and on 
 Sunday afternoon a com- 
 munion service was held 
 in which representatives 
 from every denomination 
 and almost every nation 
 on earth took part. So 
 conspicuous a recognition 
 of the unity of Christian- 
 ity received adverse criti- 
 cism from certain stricter 
 members of the English 
 Church, especially so as 
 the Dean of Canterbury 
 had participated in the 
 
 service. Dr. Adams soon published a letter replying 
 to the critics. It silenced all animadversion. In 
 his pastorate he was followed by Dr. William Tucker, 
 who in 1880 was succeeded by the present incum- 
 bent. Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst, who has made his 
 influence felt in his determined efforts to suppress 
 venal influences in municipal politics. 
 
 " The rapid improvements," says Mrs. Lamb, 
 " in Fifth Avenue above Madison Square date from 
 the completion of the Madison Square Presbyterian 
 Church ill 185-4," but unquestionably the World's 
 Fair held in Crystal Palace during 1853 had much 
 
 />, 
 
 ^:^A<fe:^ 
 
18 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 to do with them. For this first international expo- 
 sition held in America, a " house of ghiss," modeled 
 after the Crystal Palace of London, bat much more 
 beautiful as an architectural work, was built. It oc- 
 cupied the plot of ground on Sixth Avenue between 
 Fortieth and Forty-second Streets, now known as 
 Bryant Park. The fair was opened by President 
 Pierce, with many distinguished personages and some 
 twenty thousand people, on July 4, 1853. Subse- 
 quently the building was used by the American 
 Institute for its fairs, but was destroyed by fire on 
 October 5, 1858. 
 
 Two other circumstances tended to make Madi- 
 son Square a desirable residential quarter, for we are 
 rapidly approaching the time when among the 
 leaders of fashion in New York, was 
 
 " Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square." 
 
 In 1856 a statue was erected to George Washing- 
 ton in Union Square. It was the first of its kind to 
 be set up after the downfall of that of George III 
 in Bowling Green. In the same year a statue and 
 monument were authorized by the Common Council 
 to be raised to the memory of General William J. 
 Worth. This famous military officer was of distin- 
 guished New York lineage, and had won fame for 
 himself during the War of 1812, and again in the 
 war with Mexico. He was the first to plant the flag 
 of the United States on the Eio Grande, and he was 
 also the first to enter the City of Mexico, where 
 a2:ain with his own hand ho cut down the Mexican 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 19 
 
 flag that waved from the National Palace. Swords 
 were given him by Congress and by the State of 
 New York. 
 
 General Worth was a man of tall and command- 
 ing figure, and was said to be the best horseman and 
 handsomest man in the army. He died in 1849, of 
 cholera, in San Antonio, 
 the headquarters of the 
 Department of Texas, of 
 which he had been placed 
 in command subsequent 
 to the war. His remains 
 were brought to New 
 York and placed tem- 
 porarily in Greenwood 
 Cemetery. Finally, on 
 November 23, 1857, they 
 were conveyed to City 
 Hall, where they rested 
 in state for two days. 
 Then, at the time chosen 
 for the inauguration of 
 
 the memorial, they were escorted by a large military 
 procession and deposited in a vault under the monu- 
 ment in the triangular plot on Fifth Avenue be- 
 tween Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Streets. 
 
 This funeral procession was only one of the 
 many that have since marched along the west side 
 of the Square. In 1865 the remains of the martyred 
 Lincoln, escorted by a procession five miles in length, 
 passed by on its mournful journey from Washington 
 
20 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 city to Springfield. Less imposing, but of sad in- 
 terest, was the funeral of Horace Greeley, which on 
 a dull day in November, 1872, passed down Fifth 
 Avenue, attended by the President, the Vice-Presi- 
 dent, and Chief Justice of the United States, with a 
 great number of public men of both parties. Great- 
 est of all, however, was the procession, led by Gen- 
 eral Hancock, that escorted the remains of General 
 Grant, the nation's most distinguished military hero, 
 to their last resting place at beautiful Claremont, 
 overlooking the Hudson River. It was the most 
 magnificent spectacle of the kind ever witnessed in 
 this country. Like Napoleon, he desired that his 
 remains might rest in the city of his home and 
 among the people he loved. 
 
 *' Ye living soldiers of the mighty war, 
 
 Once more from roaring cannon and the drums, 
 And bugles blown at morn, the summons comes : 
 Forget the halting limb, each wound and scar ; 
 Once more your captain calls to you : 
 Come to his last review." 
 
 Finally, all that was mortal of General Sherman 
 — last of the greater heroes of the civil war — was 
 taken from his home in West Seventy-first Street, 
 in February, 1891, and conveyed along the familiar 
 route, which he himself had so often trodden, on its 
 way to the train by which his body was taken to 
 St. Louis, there to be interred by the side of his 
 wife and son. 
 
 We have wandered somewhat from the strict 
 chronological order of events, and must return. The 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 21 
 
 Fifth Avenue Hotel, occupying the southwest cor- 
 ner of the Square, was opened to the public in 1859. 
 Franconi's Hippodrome had been torn down to give 
 place for the more pretentious edifice, which took 
 more than two years to build. 
 
 Even in this democratic country royalty com- 
 mands respect, and many royal visitors have been 
 entertained at this hotel. Among these may be 
 mentioned the Prince of Wales, who visited New 
 York in 18G0. The learned Dom Pedro, of Brazil, 
 with his empress, had apartments at the Fifth Ave- 
 nue in 1876. Royalty, however, has constituted but 
 a very small proportion of its many distinguished 
 guests. Presidents of the United States, United 
 States Senators, Congressmen, governors, judges, 
 generals, admirals, ambassadors and others have 
 been received at this famous place. 
 
 If we have dallied overlong on the west side, we 
 w^ill make amends by hastening to the north and 
 east sides. These were soon lined with elegant resi- 
 dences of the social leaders of New York city. 
 There was no Ward McAllister in those days to de- 
 cide as to the precedence of the " Four Hundred " of 
 ante-leUuin times, but, if any palm was to be given 
 to a leader, then certainly Leonard W. Jerome 
 would have been promptly chosen. He was associ- 
 ated with his elder brother, Addison G. Jerome, 
 and William R. Travers, in the brokerage business. 
 His boldness in Wall Street made him conspicuous. 
 He did nothing by halves, and his entertainments 
 were the town talk of the time. His residence was 
 
22 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 on the corner of Twenty-sixth Street and Madison 
 Avenue. The three Misses Jerome were the belles 
 
 of the period. They married abroad, and one of 
 them became Lady Randolph Chnrclull. 
 
 A younger brother was Lawrence R. Jerome, who 
 was one of the best-known and most popular club- 
 men of New York and London. It is gossiped that 
 Brander Matthews had him in mind wdien he drew 
 that charming character of Uncle Larry, who comes 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 23 
 
 and goes in his pleasant stories of New York. Be 
 this true or not we can not say, but certainly Mr. 
 Jerome was that kind of a man. 
 
 On the same side of the Square as the Jerome 
 mansion was the home of William K. Travers, fa- 
 mous as a wit and raconteur. He was born in Bal- 
 timore, and married a daughter of Reverdy John- 
 son. In 1853 he came to this city and joined the 
 New York Stock Exchange. Four years later he 
 became associated in business with Leonard W. Je- 
 rome, and when the partnership expired each mem- 
 ber was supposed to be worth over a million dollars. 
 Mr. Travers continued in business and was success- 
 ful. He was noted for his lavish generosity, and 
 was prominent in sporting and club circles, being 
 President of the New York Athletic Club at the 
 time of his death. His many stories were in every 
 one's mouth, and an imj^ediment in his speech made 
 them mere characteristic. He died in Bermuda in 
 March, 1887, where he had been ordered by his 
 physician. One of his last jokes is well worth pres- 
 ervation. On being asked how he was getting on, 
 he replied : " As well as could be expected," and 
 then, with the inevitable stutter, said : " My physi- 
 cian sent me here for change and rest ; and the 
 waiters are getting the change, and the hotel-keep- 
 ers the rest." Peace be to his ashes, for he was a 
 true gentleman ! 
 
 On the north side was the residence of Benjamin 
 H. Field (No. 21 East Twenty-sixth Street), who 
 died in 1893. He was well known for his active 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 25 
 
 connection with many charities. He was one of the 
 incorporators of the Home for Incurables, and for 
 long years its president. The chapel belonging to 
 the home was one of his gifts. Mr. Field was promi- 
 nent in the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
 Children, the Free Circulating Library, the Eye and 
 Ear Infirmary, and other charities. Also, he was an 
 incorporator of the American Museum of Natural 
 History, and in 1886 was President of the New 
 York Historical Society. 
 
 Other residents on the north side included the 
 Iselin family, at No. 23, whose long connection with 
 New York society has made them well known. The 
 senior member of the family has been prominently 
 connected with many institutions in a fiduciary ca- 
 pacity. Frank Work, who has not missed his daily 
 ride to Central Park for more than a quarter of a 
 century, and Mrs. Morgan, whose wonderful collec- 
 tion of bric-a-brac, including the unique peach-blow 
 vase, was sold a few years ago, have their homes on 
 the north side. Likewise among the residents on 
 the north side were William and John O'Brien, of 
 the banking firm in Wall Street ; one of the elder 
 Schieffelins, of the old drug house of W. H. SchieJfe- 
 lin & Co. ; and James Burden, whose iron and steel 
 interests in Troy have made him wealthy. On the 
 corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street was 
 the home of Dr. John F. Gray, famous as the lead- 
 ing representative of the homcjeopathic school in the 
 city. His residence subsequent to his death was re- 
 modeled and made into the Hotel Brunswick. 
 
26 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 On the east side were also the homes of many dis- 
 tinguished citizens. At No. 37 was the residence of 
 James Stokes, for many years an associate of William 
 E. Dodge in the metal firm, best known as Phelps, 
 Dodge & Co. It was the first residence erected on 
 the Square, and was built in 1851, when Mr. Stokes 
 moved from Thirtieth Street and East Eiver (Kip's 
 Bay). He married a daughter of Anson G. Phelps, 
 and died there in 1881. His daughters still occupy 
 the home, but his son, W. E. D. Stokes, has moved 
 up town. Dr. Edmund R. Peaslee, who died in 1878, 
 resided in No. 25. Besides enjoying an extensive 
 practice, he achieved eminence as a specialist, and was 
 at the time of his death Professor of Gynaecology at 
 Bellevue Hospital Medical College, His own pro- 
 fession conferred honors upon him, and he was at 
 one time President of the Kew York Academy of 
 Medicine. No. 19 was the home of William Laim- 
 beer, Jr., who represented the district in tlie State 
 Senate during 1864-'65, and was otherwise promi- 
 nent in political affairs. 
 
 On the southeast corner of Twenty-fifth Street 
 and Madison Avenue is one of the earlier family ho- 
 tels called " The Madison." It was at one time the 
 residence of Peter Ronalds, a connection of the Lor- 
 illard family. Mrs. Ronalds had an exquisite voice, 
 and invitations to her musical entertainments were 
 highly prized. In recent years she has lived abroad, 
 chiefly in London, where she is said to have much 
 influence in court circles. On the same block, but 
 at the corner of Twenty-fourth Street, is the house 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 27 
 
 long occupied by John David Wolfe, who was born 
 in this city in 1792, and lived to be eighty years of 
 age. He was a successful hardware merchant, and 
 acquired a large fortune. Mr. Wolfe was prominent 
 for his activity in organizations having to do with 
 the improvement of the condition of the community. 
 He gave largely to various philanthropic bodies, of 
 many of which he was an officer. Mr. Wolfe mar- 
 ried a daughter of Peter Lorillard. He died in 
 New York city in May, 1872. 
 
 The active philanthropies of this noble citizen 
 were continued by his daughter, Catharine Lorillard 
 Wolfe, who inherited from 
 her father's and grand- "' ^ ' ^^ 
 
 father's estates a well-in- 
 vested fortune of about 
 $10,000,000. From the 
 time of the death of her 
 father until her own de- 
 cease in 1887 it is said 
 that she gave away about 
 $2,000,000 for religious, 
 educational, and chari- 
 table purposes. Grace 
 Church, of which her 
 father was senior warden 
 at the time of his death, 
 
 and of which she herself was a member, was a 
 favorite object of her bounty. The Chantry, on 
 the south side, and Grace Home, on the north, the 
 grand organ, reredos, and a large stained-glass win- 
 
 -% 
 
 y 
 
 I % 
 
 ' f 
 
28 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 dow at the back of the transept, were among her 
 more conspicuous gifts. 
 
 The drinking fountain at the southeast end of 
 the Square was presented to the city by Miss Wolfe. 
 
 It was designed by Miss Emma Stebbins. Her home 
 is now owned by her kinsman, David Wolfe Bishop. 
 Adjoining the Madison Square Presbyterian 
 Church was a row of brownstone houses, two of 
 which were occupied by prominent New-Yorkers. 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 29 
 
 No. 3 was the residence of William H. Appleton, 
 now the senior member of the firm of D. Appleton 
 & Co. Mr. Appleton was also prominently con- 
 nected with the New York Life Insurance Company. 
 He was one of the incorporators of the Century 
 Club, and in other ways identified with many insti- 
 tutions of the metropolis. 
 
 On the corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty- 
 third Street was the home of William Lane, who 
 was one of the leading wholesale drygoods dealers 
 of his time. He had an extensive trade in the 
 Southern States, and was ruined by the civil war. 
 Among his guests was Jefferson Davis, who is said 
 to have been entertained by him during his last visit 
 to New York, immediately before the war. Mr. 
 Lane sold his residence to S. M. L. Barlow, who from 
 1849 till his death in 1889 was one of the successful 
 lawyers in New York. He represented the English 
 stockholders of the Erie Railway in their efforts to 
 oust the Fisk-Gould management in 1871-72. 
 
 Mr. Barlow gave much attention to the gather- 
 ing of rare and curious books, and his collection of 
 Americana was one of the largest in the country. 
 It was sold at auction subsequent to his death, and 
 realized 182,000. In addition, he had a rare collec- 
 tion of paintings, statuary, and bric-a-brac. 
 
 Mr. Barlow married a daughter of Peter Town- 
 send, whose large smelting works not only yielded 
 him a princely income but made him noteworthy 
 as a successful ironmaster. He lived on the south 
 side of Twenty-third Street, almost opposite the 
 
30 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 Square. Another of the daughters became the wife 
 of General Thomas F. Meagher, an Irish-American 
 officer who fought gallantly for the Union in the 
 civil war. James B. Colgate, William Colbv, Michael 
 Mahoney and John Scott were well-known residents 
 on the south side. 
 
 It must be remembered that Madison Square re- 
 
 ceived its recognition as a social center not only from 
 those who were fortunate enough to secure homes 
 within the precincts of the Square, but also from 
 those who resided in its immediate vicinity. In the 
 adjacent streets, both between Madison and Fourth 
 Avenues and Fifth and Sixth Avenues, as well as in 
 Fifth and Madison Avenues, were the homes of many 
 of the first families who contributed much to the 
 social gayety of the period. 
 
 With the beginning of the Sixties came the civil 
 war, and New York became an important distribu- 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 31 
 
 ting center. Recruits were gathered here before 
 being sent to the front. The public parks were 
 turned into camping grounds, and the site of the 
 present Post Office was occupied by wooden barracks. 
 For a time Madison Square had its share of troops, 
 and white tents covered the turf, in front of which 
 sentries paced their weary rounds in anticipation of 
 the time when they should be called upon to do duty 
 along the banks of that river which played so im- 
 portant a part in the great war, and from where the 
 news so often came, " All quiet along the Potomac 
 to-night," to gladden the anxious hearts of those 
 who watched and prayed by the firesides. 
 
 We have already referred to the Jerome mansion. 
 It has a history that would require many pages to 
 tell. Leonard W. Jerome was a strong Union man, 
 and subscribed 135,000 to build a fast cruiser to 
 pursue the Confederate privateer Alabama, and was 
 Treasurer of the Union Defense Committee. It was 
 but natural, therefore, in 1868, when the Union 
 League Club was seeking larger quarters, that it 
 should take his house for its home. This club, or- 
 ganized in 18G3 "to discountenance disloyalty to the 
 United States, and for the promotion of good gov- 
 ernment and the elevation of American citizenship," 
 remained housed in the Jerome mansion until 1881, 
 when it moved to its present quarters, on the corner 
 of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-ninth Streets. Its 
 presidents during this period were John Jay, Jack- 
 son S. Schultz, William J. Iloppin, Joseph H. 
 Choate, George Cabot Ward, and Hamilton Fish, 
 
32 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 each of whom has been identified with many im- 
 portant interests in this city, while John Jay and 
 Hamilton Fish were called to fill high places in na- 
 tional affairs. 
 
 After the removal of the Union League Club, the 
 Turf (during 1881-'82) and Madison (during 1883) 
 Clubs occupied the building, but in 1884 it was 
 leased to the University Club, which had outgrown 
 its quarters in the Caswell House, on the corner of 
 Fifth Avenue and Thirty-fifth Street. Various al- 
 terations were made in the building, including the 
 removal of the little theatre which had been the 
 scene of so many charitable and amateur entertain- 
 ments. It is now used as the dining-room. In this 
 house the University has prospered greatly, and it is 
 now not only one of the foremost clubs in the city, 
 but also the foremost university club in the United 
 States. Its presidents have included Henry H. 
 Anderson, George A. Peters, and the present in- 
 cumbent, James W. Alexander. 
 
 While referring to clubs in connection with the 
 square, mention must be made of the Xew York 
 Club. This organization, founded in 1845, is next 
 to the Union Club in age. For some years it occu- 
 pied the house facing Twenty- fifth Street, betw^een 
 Broadway and Fifth Avenue, and directly opposite 
 the Worth Monument ; but as this building is all 
 breadth and no depth, it was unsatisfactory for club 
 purposes, and was abandoned in 1887 for its present 
 home on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty- 
 fifth Street, being the Caswell House remodeled, 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 33 
 
 which was occupied for so many years by the Uni- 
 versity Club. 
 
 This Madison Square Bank building, as it has 
 been recently styled, has filled many purposes during 
 its existence. Originally the home of the Haight 
 family, it became in time the Worth House, a hotel ; 
 but its defects of construction made it undesirable. 
 Then it was used for business purposes, and Carlton, 
 the publisher, moved his salesroom there from under 
 the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The New York Club then 
 occupied it, while more recently the unfortunate 
 Madison Square Bank used it for offices. In the 
 upper floors were the editorial and publication rooms 
 of The Cosmopolitan Magazine. 
 
 Eeturning to the northeast corner of the Square, 
 space must be afforded for an account of the block 
 bounded by Madison and Fourth Avenues and Twen- 
 ty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Streets, now occupied 
 by the Madison Square Garden — truly the most 
 beautiful building in New York city. This site 
 was for many years the passenger station of the New 
 York and Harlem Railway. As early as 1831 the 
 Common Council granted that corporation the right 
 to run cars " from the Astor House, along the Park, 
 through Park Row, Centre and Broome Streets, 
 Bowery and Fourth Avenue to Twenty-seventh 
 Street; from there, with large cars, to Harlem 
 River." The down town route was used for the 
 first line of horse-cars in the city, and the Harlem 
 Railroad was the first steam railway to leave the 
 metropolis. Later the Common Council allowed 
 
34 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 the Harlem Kailroad to grant permission to the 
 New York and New Haven Railroad to run on their 
 tracks " on that portion of the route of the New 
 York and Harlem Railroad from the corner of 
 Fourth Avenue and Twenty-seventh Street to Har- 
 lem River." 
 
 Time changes all things, and the modern traveler 
 seeking a train at the Grand Central Station would 
 scarcely recognize the site as that which the New 
 York Mirror once described in the following elo- 
 quent words : " We know of nothing in any city in 
 
 the Union to compare with the magniticent view 
 that opens upon you when emerging from the upper 
 end of the artificial ravine that has been cloven 
 down some seventy feet through the solid rocks of 
 Mount Prospect." Horses drew the cars from the 
 station to the opening of the tunnel at Thirty- third 
 Street, where the locomotive was attached. This 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 35 
 
 condition of affairs continued until the opening of 
 the Grand Central Station, in 1871. 
 
 For a time after it was abandoned by the rail- 
 roads, it remained vacant, but in 1873 P. T. Bar- 
 num, the great showman, secured a lease of the 
 property and proposed to carry out his " long-cher- 
 ished plan of exhibiting a Roman Hippodrome, 
 Zoological Institute, Aquaria, and Museum," of un- 
 surpassable extent and magnificence, in which he 
 expected to spend two hundred thousand dollars. 
 For some reason he failed to make the garden a 
 place of permanent amusement, although as the 
 years came and went he was for some weeks a regu- 
 lar visitor to the city, generally presenting his show 
 at this place. In order to protect the tents, brick 
 walls were erected and united by a sort of makeshift 
 roof. This partially covered them. 
 
 Durincr the summer months the interior was 
 
 o 
 
 made to resemble a garden, and tables were arranged 
 on which refreshments were served while various 
 orchestras played. For a time Theodore Thomas 
 wielded his baton here ; and then came the military 
 band led by Patrick S. Gil more, and the place was 
 called Gilmore's Garden. A recent writer says of it : 
 "Dog shows and chicken shows, horse shows and 
 industrial exhibitions, also claimed shelter in the 
 queer, casually developed barrack, finding accom- 
 modation nowhere else, but finding it more and 
 more uncomfortable here as their importance stead- 
 ily increased." It must not be forgotten that the 
 great revival exercises conducted by Moody and 
 
36 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 Sankey were held here, after their return from Eu- 
 rope in 1875. 
 
 The old buildings were torn down in 1889, and 
 gave place to the present superb structure, which is 
 said to be the largest building in America devoted 
 entirely to amusements. It is four hundred and 
 sixty-five feet long and two hundred feet wide, and 
 its walls rise to a height of sixty-five feet. Its most 
 characteristic architectural feature is undoubtedly 
 its famous tower, that extends skyward with its 
 lines unbroken for two hundred and forty -nine 
 feet, while to the top of the figure of Diana, which, 
 poised in mid-air, serving as a vane, is nearly a hun- 
 dred feet higher. As is well known, this tower is 
 derived from the Giralda in Seville, Spain, but is 
 not a co|)y, as commonly claimed. 
 
 The cost of the building was about 13,000,000, 
 and it was opened by a concert on the evening of 
 June 6, 1890. Eduard Strauss, the Viennese con- 
 ductor, was the leader, while the second part of the 
 entertainment included as attractions two grand bal- 
 lets. On that occasion seventeen thousand people 
 were present. Horse shows, dog shows, flower 
 shows, and poultry shows have since been annually 
 held within its walls. During the week of May 2-7, 
 1892, the Actors' Fund Fair was held in it. The 
 entire floor was laid out as a miniature village of 
 one street in the midst of a plain. The buildings 
 were models of famous theaters of ancient London 
 and older New York, and the architecture and pic- 
 turesque local coloring of several centuries and of 
 
38 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 places far distant from each other were cleverly 
 brought into harmony. Very nearly 1200,000 was 
 netted for the fund on this occasion. 
 
 In the same month Adelina Patti sang here to 
 three of the largest audiences ever assembled at con- 
 certs ; and during May, 1894, a music festival was 
 held, at which Materna, Emma Juch, and other dis- 
 tinguished soloists took part. Madison Square Gar- 
 den has also been the scene of conspicuous social 
 functions, the greatest of which was the ball given 
 at the close of the celebrations held in New York in 
 honor of the discovery of America by Columbus, 
 on April 27, 1893. 
 
 The resources for entertainment of the Madison 
 Square Garden are by no means exhausted with its 
 amphitheater. It has a concert hall, in which, to 
 quote again from Mrs. Van Rensselaer's article on 
 The Madison Square Garden, " traditions of famous 
 masters and famous performers are quickly gathering 
 within its walls, and for lecture purposes it is also 
 often in request." The Garden Theatre, which oc- 
 cupies the northwest corner of the building, is one 
 of the most artistic of New York's smaller and newer 
 theatres. It was opened on September 27, 1890, 
 with the production of the farcical comedy of Dr. 
 Bill. The roof garden, which is on the Madison 
 Avenue side, is devoted to vaudeville performances 
 during the summer months. It was opened on 
 May 30, 1892, when an audience of nearly four 
 thousand persons was present. Then, finally, there 
 is the view from the top of the tower. It can not 
 
MADISON SQUAliE. 39 
 
 be described. To fully appreciate it one must go 
 and see it. 
 
 We return to the west side, in order to briefly 
 mention several of the larger buildings there. The 
 Albemarle Hotel, on the corner of Twenty-fourth 
 Street and Broadway, is a hostelry of long standing, 
 and was built early in the Sixties. The ground that 
 it occupies was formerly used as a stone-yard. With- 
 in a few years it has passed into the control of the 
 Hoffman House Company, a corporation managing 
 the Hoffman House, which is adjoining, and extend- 
 ing to Twenty-fifth Street, with an annex on that 
 street. This hotel was opened to the public in 1864. 
 It stands on the property of the Hoffman estate, of 
 which the Rev. Eugene A. Hoffman, Dean of the 
 General Theological Seminary of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church on Chelsea Square, is the chief 
 owner. It is something of a political headquarters, 
 and in recent years has become to the leaders of the 
 Democratic party what the Fifth Avenue Hotel is 
 to the leaders of the Republican party. At the 
 close of the last presidential election the returns of 
 one faction were received at the Hoffman House, and 
 those of the other at the Fifth Avenue Hotel ; while 
 on the transparency high above the Square, on the 
 building forming the triangle between Fifth Avenue 
 and Broadway on the south end, were given impar- 
 tially all the returns to the assembled thousands 
 below. For more than thirty years this junction 
 has been the place where the election returns were 
 
40 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 published, and to see it on the night of an election 
 is one of the sights of New York. 
 
 But we have not finished with the Hoffman 
 House. The bar on the lower floor of the Twenty- 
 fourth Street side is famous as an art gallery. Among 
 the works specially conspicuous are Bouguereau's 
 Nymphs and Satyrs ; Narcissus, by Correggio ; Holy 
 Mother, by Demonceaux ; Russian Mail Carrier, by 
 Chelmonski ; Boudoir of an Eastern Princess, by 
 Etienne ; also Ball's statue of Eve, in marble ; Schles- 
 singer's Pan and Bacchante, in bronze ; and The 
 Egg-Dancer, a fine piece of old bronze. At certain 
 hours of the day arrangements are made for the ad- 
 mission of ladies. The Bartholdi Hotel, on the 
 southwest corner of Broadway and Twenty-third 
 Street, is the latest of the hotels that are at the 
 south end of the Square. 
 
 In 1870 Madison Square was placed under the 
 care and control of the Department of Public Parks 
 as now organized, and in December of that year the 
 plan for its present arrangement was adopted. For 
 a time it was surrounded by an iron railing, but the 
 appearance was not satisfactory, and it was trans- 
 ferred to Bryant Park, on Sixth Avenue. Since 
 that time the Square has continued to improve, and 
 no pleasanter spot can be found in the city than this 
 attractive little park on an afternoon in the late 
 spring or early autumn. 
 
 One of the features of the Square — for he must 
 so be regarded — is George Francis Train, who for 
 years has made his way daily from his home in the 
 
Madison square. 
 
 41 
 
 Ashland House, or more recently the Continental 
 Hotel, to some shady nook under the trees, where 
 he reads his papers and plays with the children, with 
 whom he is a great favorite. For some years Mr. 
 Train refused to hold conversation with any one, 
 but in spite of his eccentricities the little ones are 
 fond of him ; and a 
 man whom the chil- 
 dren love must surely 
 be a good - hearted 
 man. 
 
 A conspicuous ad- 
 dition to the Square 
 was made in 1876, 
 when a colossal statue 
 of William H. Sew- 
 ard, representing the 
 statesman as seated 
 in a senatorial chair 
 of Eenaissance char- 
 acter, one hand hold- 
 ing a scroll and the 
 other hanging over 
 the arm and liolding 
 a pen, was given to 
 the city by a number 
 of admirers of the 
 great war Secretary 
 
 of State. The sculptor was Eandolph Rogers, and 
 the result can not be claimed to be an artistic suc- 
 cess, for Mr. Seward was a man " all head and no 
 
42 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 legs," whereas the statue represents the statesman 
 with legs of unusual length and prominence. It is 
 at the southwest corner of the Square, facing Broad- 
 way, and was unveiled on September 27, 1876. The 
 orator of the day was William M. Evarts, who, like 
 Seward, had been Senator and Secretary of State of 
 the United States. He said : 
 
 " Great was he 
 in intellectual ability, 
 great in moral quali- 
 ties, great in the 
 opportunities which 
 served him, great in 
 the perils which he 
 encountered, great in 
 the triumph of his 
 politics, and great in 
 tlie prosperity of his 
 statesmanship. And 
 if the policy upon 
 which he acted was 
 wise and conspicuous, 
 all nations could be- 
 hold it, all nations 
 could judge of it ; and 
 he is great in his fame, 
 which is now secured 
 alike against discord- 
 ant opinions in his 
 lifetime and against 
 posthumous detrac- 
 tion.'^ 
 
 By general consent, one of the finest examples 
 of contemporaneous American art in sculpture is 
 the statue of Admiral Farra2:ut, in the northwest cor- 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 43 
 
 ner of Madison Square, by Augustus St. Gaudens. 
 The admiral is represented as standing, with his legs 
 slightly apart, in a sailor's attitude, as if on deck. 
 Marine glasses are in his hand, and the skirt of his 
 coat is thrown back, as if blown by the wind. The 
 pedestal, which is equally a work of art, was designed 
 by Stanford White. It is formed as a bench with a 
 tall back, in a shallow, circular shape. It was un- 
 veiled on May 26, 1881, and presented to the city by 
 Secretary of Navy William M. Hunt, on behalf of 
 the Farragut Memorial Association. At the moment 
 of its presentation, John H. Knowles, the sailor who 
 lashed Farragut to the mast in the battle of Mobile 
 Bay, assisted by J. B, Millner, who was also on the 
 flagship Hartford, drew aside the drapings from the 
 statue ; and B. S. Osborne, the sailor who hoisted 
 the colors of the flagship as she entered the engage- 
 ment, displayed an admiral's flag on a pole at the 
 corner of the stand, which served as a signal for an 
 admiral's salute of seventeen guns. Joseph H. 
 Choate was the orator, and his address began with — 
 
 " The fame of naval heroes has always capti- 
 vated and charmed the imagination of men. The 
 romance of the sea that hangs about them, their 
 picturesque and dramatic achievements, the deadly 
 perils that surround them, their loyalty to the flag 
 that floats over them, their triumphs snatched from 
 the jaws of defeat, and deaths in the hour of victory, 
 inspire a warmer enthusiasm and a livelier symj^athy 
 than are awarded to equal deeds on land. We come 
 together to-day to recall the memory and to crown 
 the statue of one of the dearest of these idols of man- 
 
44 
 
 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 kind — of one who has done more for us than all com- 
 bined — of one whose name will ever stir like a trum- 
 pet the hearts of his grateful countrymen." 
 
 The last of the statues erected in Madison Square 
 was raised to one of New York's favorite sons. 
 
 From 1867 to 1881 
 Roscoe Conkling rep- 
 resented the Empire 
 State in the United 
 States Senate. He 
 then retired from 
 ^ public life and re- 
 sumed his career as 
 a lawyer, settling in 
 this city. His services 
 were at once secured 
 by several corporations, 
 and his practice be- 
 came an extremely 
 lucrative one. In 
 the great blizzard of 
 March 12, 1888, un- 
 able to obtain satis- 
 factory conveyance, he 
 walked from his office up 
 town and was lost in Madi- 
 son Square, where he was res- 
 cued by friends. The effects of this exposure, added 
 to those of a cold previously contracted, caused a 
 serious illness which resulted in the formation of 
 an abscess at the base of the brain. It terminated 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 45 
 
 fatally six weeks later, and the brilliant statesman 
 was gathered to his fathers. 
 
 His many friends subscribed for a memorial 
 statue of him, which now marks the site at the south- 
 east corner of the Square, where he was overcome 
 by the blizzard. It is of bronze, and represents 
 the orator standing erect as if addressing one of 
 the many audiences that were gathered to hear 
 the convincing tones of his remarkable eloquence. 
 The artist was John Q. A. Ward, of New York, 
 and the statue was unveiled without ceremony on 
 December 3, 1893. 
 
 We have elsewhere in this sketch made mention 
 of the sad processions that have passed along the 
 west side of the Square, but that side has also been 
 the scene of gayety. The reviewing stand of all 
 processions is commonly erected on the triangle on 
 which the Worth Monument stands. From here 
 many of the annual reviews of the National Guard 
 have been seen; great political processions, in which 
 if the party organs tell the truth, each faction by 
 actual count had a greater number of persons in line 
 than the other, have been reviewed by the leading 
 candidates of each party. The three days' almost 
 continuous parade by which the centennial anniver- 
 sary of the inauguration of George Washington was 
 celebrated on April 29, 1889, was reviewed from here 
 by President Harrison. The pageants by which the 
 four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Amer- 
 ica was celebrated on October 12, 1892, passed by 
 here; as did the parade on April 29, 1893, forming 
 
46 MADISON SQUARE. 
 
 the beginning of the events that culminated in the 
 opening of the World's Fair in Chicago. 
 
 Nor should we forget to tell how for many years 
 our City Fathers, remembering, perhaps, that they 
 had once been boys, had compassion on the youth of 
 the city, and yearly on the night of the Fourth of 
 July set off municipal fireworks in the public squares, 
 and especially in Madison Square. 
 
 On the corner of Twenty-sixth Street and Fifth 
 Avenue stands the Hotel Brunswick, a house fre- 
 quented largely by English tourists, and also noted 
 for its restaurant, which is much resorted to for sup- 
 pers after the theaters are out. From in front of 
 its doors the parades of the Coaching Club have 
 started, and in its dining hall they have held their 
 annual banquets. The " Tally-ho," pioneer of 
 coaches, driven by the genial Delancey Kane, who 
 is connected by marriage with the Iselins, made its 
 first start from in front of the Brunswick almost 
 twenty years ago. 
 
 Diagonally opposite, also facing Fifth Avenue, 
 is Delmonico's restaurant. It needs mention, but 
 hardly description. A recent writer speaks of it as 
 " the most famous restaurant in the United States " ; 
 but is there a place in the world where civilized 
 man eats in a civilized fashion that has not heard of 
 Delmonico's? It followed the fashionable world 
 up town a score of years ago, and became at once 
 " the place " for public social functions. What 
 memories are conjured up at the simple mention of 
 the word " Delmonico's " ! At the Patriarchs' balls 
 
MADISON SQUARE. 47 
 
 the belles of the season make their debuts. There 
 they attend the dancing classes and cotillions. In 
 turn, as matrons they act the chaperone for the 
 never-ending succession of belles that come and go. 
 Finally, as devotees of charity they serve as man- 
 agers of the bazaars that are held there for some 
 fashionable and worthy benevolence. It has been 
 the meeting place of many social and other organ- 
 izations, and conspicuously so of the well-known 
 Sorosis, the women's club. The youth of the period 
 congregate in the cafe on the Broadway side, and 
 Del.'s is their favorite lounge. 
 
 We have made the rounds of the Square, and 
 have discussed its historical, its social, and its com- 
 mercial features. This little book is the result of 
 many months' careful research, and is issued by the 
 Meriden Britannia Company, which is the last to 
 make Madison Square its home. At the door of 
 their new salesrooms we bid our reader farewell. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 001 518 098 5 
 
Y