THE PROPOSED HENRY HUDSON MONUMENT SPUYTEN DUYVIL, BRONX BOROUGH NEW YORK CITY tx HibrtB SEYMOUR DURST H'hen you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said "Ever thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book." Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library Hon. JOHN J. BRADY, Chairman AUGUSTUS W. SCHLEMMER, Secretary Telephone, 2044 Tremont Hon. JAS. L. WELLS, Chairman Plan and Scope Committee Hon. GEO. M. S. SCHULZ, Vice-Chairman Plan and Scope Committee CITIZENS' COMMITTEE OF THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX BRONX BUILDING N. E. COR. 177th Street and Third Avenue Sub Committee on Dedication of the Henry Hudson Monument FRANK D. WILSEY, Chairman ADOLPH C. HOTTENROTH, Secretary HENRY RUHL, M.D., Treasurer HENRY KROGER Hon. JOSEPH A. GOULDEN H. B. CHAMBERS, Acting Secretary New York, August 27th, 1909, Dear We are sending you enclosed a pamphlet referring to the proposed HENRY HUDSON MONUMENT to be erected at an appropriate historical site chosen by the City authorities. The Committee is desirous of having the balance of the necessary amount for its construction contributed prior to the commencement of the celebration. According to the official program, the oorner stone of the monument, in which a roll of the names of all of the subscribers will be deposited, is to he laid on September 27th, 1909, at 3 o'clock p.m., with appropriate ceremony, to whioh all subscribers will be invited, so that you will esteem it a privilege to contribute toward this most worthy purpose. The Committee is desirous of securing as large a number of subscribers as possible, and will gratefully acknowledge subscrip- tions, large or small, through the public press, and will also issue to each subscriber of $6,00 or over, a handsomely embossed and engraved certificate of membership in the Henry Hudson Monument Associatior. , which will be one of the most unique souvenirs of the celebration. The subscriptions should be sent to HENRY RUHL, M.D., of Ho. 050 East 164th Street, Bronx, who is the Treasurer of the Committee, in the envelope enclosed herewith, together with the blank enclosed properly filled out* Very truly yours, (FRANK D. WILSEY, Chairman (ADOLPH C. HOTTENROTH, Secretary COMMITTEE: (HENRY RUHL, M.D. , Treasurer (HENRY KROGER (JOSEPH A. GOULDEN (H. E. CHAMBERS, Acting Secretary 2 Encls. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 http://archive.org/details/dedicationceremoOOciti DEDICATION CEREMONIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE ERECTION OF THE Hudson-Fulton Monument AS A FEATURE OF THE HUDSON-FULTON CELEBRATION CORNER STONE TO BE LAID SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH Nineteen Hundred and Nine AT TWO O'CLOCK I AT SITE OF MONUMENT, SPUYTEN DUYVIL, BRONX CITY OF NEW YORK SEE MAP ON PAGE 3 SHOWING HOW TO REACH THE SITE MAP SHOWING HOW TO REACH SITE OF HENRY HUDSON MONUMENT SPUYTEN DUYVIL, BRONX, NEW YORK CITY HENRY HUDSON HREE centuries ago, HENRY HUDSON, an Englishman in the employ of the great Dutch East India Company, intent upon the dis- covery of a Northeast passage to India, was on his way on the Atlantic toward America. It was on Wednesday, September 2d, 1609, at five o'clock in the afternoon, according to Robert Juet's Journal, that Hudson's ship, the "HALF MOON," dropped her anchor off Sandy Hook. After lying at anchor in the lower Bay for ten days, Hudson ventured to steer the " HALF MOON " up between the Narrows, September 12th, 1609, and the mate's log book records a journey of two leagues, or six miles. If that measure- ment began at the Narrows, the " HALF MOON " must have dropped anchor about opposite Castle William, between Gover- nors Island and Liberty Island. Drifting with the tide, eleven and one-half miles were made up river on September 13th, and this would have carried the explorers about as far as Spuyten Duyvil Creek, the Northerly boundary of Manhattan Island. After sailing up the river, very nearly to the head of navi- gation, he turned down on September 23d, and on October 2d, the " HALF MOON " again cast anchor in the neighborhood of the site upon which it is proposed to erect a lasting monument, to commemorate his name, and particularly to recall the discovery and exploration of the great River which has made a City, like the present GREATER NEW YORK, possible. His was the first ship to sail from New York direct for Europe, the precursor of an innumerable fleet, and of craft* as strangely different from her as human imagination could then well conceive. This voyage resulted from an interest in arctic exploration revived in 1608 to such a degree, by the agitation of a few enthusiasts, that the Dutch East India Company, then six years old, and reveling in a return of seventy-five per cent, on their investments, were prevailed upon to set aside a single vessel for the purpose of discovering a short and easy passage to their East Indian possessions by way of the Arctic Ocean North of Europe and Asia. Hut no Captain of the Dutch Merchant or Naval Service had at that time gained any experience of navigation in those frozen waters. HENRY HUDSON, an Englishman, on the other hand, had obtained some fame by voyages to the White Sea and further North. He, therefore, came to Amsterdam on the invi- tation of those who were interested in the subject of the Northeast passage. Even then, the astute representative of HENRY IV. of France, in Holland would have captured the explorer and his expedition, had not the Dutch Merchants found it out, and promptly closed the bargain with Hudson on January 8th, 1609; and early in April, Hudson set sail from Amsterdam in the " HALF MOON," a frail little craft for such an enterprise, as we would think now, of eighty ton burden. It was within view of the location of the monument that the historical conflict for the possession of the lands which now embrace the second largest City on earth, between the Indians and the white men took place, and it was here also that General Washington caused the erection of Fort No. 1, for the defense of the Hudson. It is, therefore, quite meet and appropriate that this spot was selected as the location of the proposed monument to the memory of the first explorer of the River bearing his name. One of the first projects that was considered by the Com- mission, authorized by the State to take charge of the Celebration to be held next fall, was to suggest the building of the HENRY HUDSON MEMORIAL BRIDGE, crossing from Inwood Hill to Spuyten Duyvil. At the Northerly approach to this proposed bridge, the City has recently acquired land which was designated as a suitable site both from the historical and esthetic standpoint for the proposed monument. On Independence Day of this year, ground was broken, with appropriate ceremony, and the foundation is now in course of construction. The proposed monument, a picture of which is on the cover of this pamphlet, was officially adopted as a part of the Celebration Program on March 24th, 1909. This monument will be located on an elevation of two hun- dred feet, and will be in the shape of a fluted doric column one hundred feet in height, making a total of three hundred feet above the Sea ; this altitude being emblematic of the three centuries which have passed since the discovery was made, and the height of one hundred feet being significent and suggestive of the time which has elapsed since ROBERT FULTON plied its waters with the world renowned "CLERMONT." On this column will be a statue of HENRY HUDSON, about twenty feet in height, making a grand total of three hundred and twenty feet, and rendering the statue visible, when lighted as contemplated, from almost every section of Greater New York. Mr. CARL BITTER will model the statue. On the square base on which the column rests will be a tablet by Mr. HENRY M. SHRADY. The column itself and the base were designed by Mr. WALTER COOK. These men are renowned and famous in their several avocations. This monument is to be erected entirely, and paid for, by public subscription. The Sub-Committee on the HENRY HUDSON MONUMENT of the CITIZENS' COMMITTEE OF THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX has been officially designated to receive subscriptions in any amount, a preference being had for a large number of small subscriptions, so that everybody who reveres and respects the memory of HENRY HUDSON may participate and join in the erection of this lasting tribute. The estimated cost of the monument and foundations is the sum of One Hundred Thousand (J 100,000.00) Dollars, of which practically twenty-five per cent, has already been subscribed. This monument is a feature of the Celebration which takes place next fall which will be of a lasting and permanent char- acter, and it might well be esteemed a privilege to contribute toward the same. A model of the monument is on exhibition at Hegeman's Drug Store, Corner of Third Avenue and 149th Street. FRANK D. WILSEY HENRY RUHL, M.D. ADOLPH C. HOTTENROTH HENRY KROGER JOSEPH A. GOULDEN Official Committee.