NE.W\'ORK "AS EWASHINGTONil KNEWITAFTEIvTl1t:i REV^OLUTION New York as Washington Knew It After the Revolution. Engraved illustrations after rare originals by S. L. Smith. New York: 1905. 8vo, Japan boards, gilt top, uncut 45.00 One of 135 copies on French hand-made paper. 118 ANDREWS, WILLIAM LORINQ. New York as Washington Knew It after the Revolution. Full-Page and vignette copperplates engraved by Sidney L. Smith. 8vo, parchment boards: top edge gilit, others uncut. ONE OF 135 COPIES. New York, 1905 IVhen you leave, please leave this hook Because it has heen said "Ever'ihing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned hook." Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/newyorkaswashingOOandr OF THIS BOOK ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE COPIES HAVE BEEN PRINTED UPON FRENCH HAND-MADE PAPER, AND THIRTY-TWO COPIES UPON IMPERIAL JAPAN PAPER FROM THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT PAPER MILL AT TOKIO THE RIGHT IS RESERVEDTO PRINT A FEW EXTRA COPIES OF THE ENGRAVINGS BY MR. SMITH, NONE OF WHICH WILL BE OFFERED FOR SALE NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT AFTER THE REVOLUTION HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII^ NEW YORK WASHINGTON KNEWITAFTEI^THE REVOLUTION X X X X « * X i i I i AA IBS NH Copyright, 1905, by William Loring Andrews A STUDY IN BOOK-MAKING IN PLAIN BLACK AND WHITE IN WHICH TYPOGRA PHY AND COPPER- PLATES ENGRAVED BY HAND ARE THE ONLY AGENCIES EMPLOY ED The New York Daily Gazette "On Thursday, about two o'clock, arrived in town, the most illustrious George Washington, President of the United States/' April 25th, 1789. PREFACE E have gone for the type and paper used in this volume to a country noted for the good taste and beautiful typography of its fine book-making and for the entire absence of these qualities in its newspapers and ordinary publications. Some of the finest examples of the printer's art are produced in France and some of the very worst. The type we have selected is an American re-cutting of the seventeenth century Elzevir originally made by the Mayeur Foundry of xi PREFACE Paris in 1878, and modelled after type used by the Elzevirs of Leyden in 1634. These types have been largely employed in this country in fine book-printing since about the year 1889. In 1885 a font was specially imported for use in The Grolier Club's edition of " Knickerbock- er's History of New York." The beauty and perfection of this face of type were speedily recognized, and in 1888-9 a type foundry of this city imported a set of " drives " from the original steel punches, for the making of mat- rices of several of the sizes, and began casting the type which brought it within easy reach of American printers. The "drives" for the 5-, 7-, 9- and 1 1 -point sizes were not, however, then imported and it was not until 1904 that the 1 1 -point type with which this book is printed, became available by being cut here. The "papier de Rives," upon which most of this edition is printed, was selected for its warm tone, and the smooth surface which makes it particularly well adapted to the printing of the delicately executed illustra- tions designed and engraved by Mr. Sidney L. Smith, of Boston, Mass. In southeastern France, in the old province xii PREFACE of Dauphine, on the railroad running from Lyons to Grenoble, there is a town of about 8,000 inhabitants, which has been noted for centuries for the superior quality of its manu- factures, of paper and steel, and there at Rives sur Pure, Department Isere, the paper for this book was manufactured; the crystal purity of the little mountain stream La Pure being doubt- less one of the factors in the production of the pure clear color that the " Rives " papers possess. Por the foregoing interesting information concerning the type and paper, 1 am indebted to my long-time printer, Mr. Walter Gilliss, who also points out the coincidence in point of time, between the period in the history of our country under consideration, and the foundation (1786) of the Rives paper mill by the two families whose descendants still con- trol and direct its operation. The portrait of Washington which forms our frontispiece is engraved by Mr. Sidney L. Smith, after a life-size oil painting found in Holland some twenty years ago by Mr. B. P. Stevens, of London, the well-known student, collector and dealer in books, prints, maps xiii PREFACE and manuscripts relating to America. It hung in his oifice, No. 4 Trafalgar Square, until after his death, when it was espied by a New York book-seller, and the photograph of it brought home by him led to its acquisition by the writer. The painting appears to be the handiwork of some European artist who took for his model the portrait in military dress of "His Excellency George Washing- ton, Esq." painted by C. W. Peale in 1787, and afterwards engraved by him in mezzo- tint, for it is identical with it in face and form, and the details of the uniform down to the number and position of the buttons on the coat and waistcoat. w. L. A. "The Pepperidges," West Islip, L. I., August, 1905. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS DESIGNED AND ENGRAVED BY MR. SIDNEY L. SMITH 1 Portrait of Washington and view of the "Long Room" in Fraunces' Tavern ..... frontispiece 2 Emblem of the United States above the Washington Pew in St. Paul's Chapel TITLE-PAGE 3 ''The Pepperidges" ... xi 4 Flowers in Sunlight . . . xiv 5 Plan of New York City in 1780, showing the line of the "barrier.'' — From an unpublished drawing. 4 6 Washington's Headquarters, New- burgh-on-Hudson .... 5 7 St. Paul's Chapel .... 26 8 The Government House . . 27 9 Portrait of Mrs. Washington . . 38 XV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE 10 Statue of Washington on Sub- Treasury Steps .... 39 1 1 The Inauguration Ball Fan . . 58 12 The McComb Mansion, Broadway, near Trinity Church ... 59 13 Washington's Coach ... 78 14 Federal Hall, Wall Street, head of Broadway 81 15 Finis 88 OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS Facsimile of a Broadside of 1774 . . 19 Facsimile of Christopher Colles' Plan for a Reservoir .... 29 Facsimile of Charter of King's College . 67 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT AFTER THE REVOLUTION NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT AFTER THE REVOLUTION CHAPTER I HE news of the signing at Paris, of preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and the Thirteen United States, in North America, reached New York, ac- cording to certain distinguished historians, by the packet "Washington" on the twelfth of March, 1783. Other writers, whose dicta is gen- erally accepted, state, that the intelligence was brought, a fortnight or so later, in a French ves- sel from Cadiz, with a letter from the Marquis de Lafayette, who was then at that place, preparing for an expedition to the West Indies, under 5 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT Count d'Estaing. By whichever of these routes the "joyful" news was first received, is not a matter of prime historical importance, and there- fore we have not ransacked the records in order to settle the question beyond peradventure. The definitive treaty of peace, couched in the words of the provisional articles, was not signed by David Hartley, the King's Commis- sioner, and the Envoys from the United States, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, until the third of September, 1783, but peace was in the air, and its harbingers had hovered over land and sea since the beginning of the year. On the fifth of April, 1783, the Brit- ish Packet " PRINCE william henry " arrived at New York, with the King's proclamation de- claring a " cessation of arms." The War of In- dependence was fought and won. Two weeks later — eight years to a day from the date of the memorable running fight at Lexington — the official announcement by the Commander of his Majesty's forces, in New York, of a discon- tinuance of hostilities, was communicated to the American Army Headquarters at Newburg-on- the-Hudson, but Autumn had passed into the " sere and yellow leaf " before Sir Guy Carle- 6 AFTER THE REVOLUTION ton received orders from the home Ministry to evacuate the city, and the month of November had well-nigh run its course, before the crown- ing event of the war took place, to wit: the sur- render of the " last of the British strongholds within the original Thirteen States " — twelve of which King George's troops had actually in- vaded, (holding possession of the capitals of all but two) at one time or another during the seven years that the conflict raged. Throughout the summer, many of the officers and men of the Continental Army, had been al- lowed to return to their homes on furlough. The Army virtually had been disbanded, and only a small military force remained at West Point, un- der command of Major General Henry Knox.* A detachment of these troops, early in the morn- ing of November the twenty-fifth, moved down from Harlem to near the " barrier," a fortified line which crossed the Bowery Road, in the neigh- borhood of the present Grand Street. Here they halted until the British forces were withdrawn to Governor's, and other islands in the Bay, there to await the arrival of the transports that were to * Washington's First Secretary of War, Secretary General of the Society of the Cincinnati. 7 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT carry them back to England, or to the bleak and barren shores of Nova Scotia, accompanied by those dilatory Refugees and Tories, who had neglected previous opportunities for departure, such as the one advertised in Hugh Gaine's Gazette of Monday, October sixth, 1783. " Notice is hereby given to all those loyal- ists signed in Capt. John Hinchman's Com- pany for Annapolis Royal [N. S.] that the ship Betsey, Capt. William Galilee laying off the Fly Market, is now ready for taking them and their effects on board; and unless they are embarked by Saturday next to pass muster the Absen- tees will be struck off the list: and must expect no Assistance from the Government after such neglect. John Hinchman." There is a sentimental story in circulation — pronounced by many to be as apocryphal as that moral tale of the Hatchet and Cherry Tree with which we are all so familiar, and for which Washington's earliest biographer, the eccentric Parson Weems, is primarily responsible — to the effect, that the British, on their departure, left the Royal Standard floating over Fort George, and 8 AFTER THE REVOLUTION had cut the lanyards and greased the flag-staff, so that the flag could not be lowered. There are various versions of the manner in which this sinister design of the British was frustrated. A letter writer of the time, asserts that it was found necessary to procure a ladder, in order to fix a new rope, while another contemporary scribe states that an honest tar with a small rope in his teeth, to which an American flag was at- tached, scaled the flag-staff, cut down the British Standard and unfurled in its stead the star-span- gled Banner of the United States." Like unto most legends this one doubtless contains a mix- ture of truth and poetry, and now, having arrived at this rather lame conclusion, we will return to the troops we left resting on their arms at the barrier." At about one o'clock in the day, on the — by all patriotic inhabitants of this Island City — never-to-be-forgotten twenty-fifth of November, 1783, the British forces left their posts in the Bowery, and the American troops marched on and took possession of the town. In the after- noon. General Washington, accompanied by Governor George Clinton, made his public entry into the city on horseback, at the head of an 9 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT imposing cavalcade " of oificers of the Army, members of the Legislature, the military, and a crowd of citizens. The streets of New York, wit- nessed no scene so impressive or heart-stirring as this, until, at the opening of the Civil War, they resounded to the steady tramp of armed men marching to the front, amid the cheers and plaudits of the multitude, the flutter of count- less flags, and the waving of tear-stained hand- kerchiefs in the tremulous hands of friends and loved ones. Evacuation Day long remained a red-letter day in our Civic Calendar, and was commemor- ated with much display of patriotic feeling, but with the happening of other epoch-making events in our history, its significance has faded; the music that enlivened it has died away; the marching has ceased, and now, we, as a community,* mark its annual recurrence only by the simple ceremony of an early morning flag-raising, on the Battery and on the Block- House in Central Park. Washington proceeded, upon his arrival in the city, to Fraunces' Tavern, on the corner of Broad *The Society of the Sons of the Revolution commemorate it and hold a meeting on the evening of Evacuation Day. lO AFTER THE REVOLUTION and Pearl Streets, a building which has success- fully resisted for two centuries and more the corroding tooth of time," and is now, in conse- quence of its acquisition by the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, secured for the future, against demolition, or any form of vandalism. The Society obtained title to the property for eighty thousand dollars. In the estimation of every New York antiquary, the historical asso- ciations that cluster about the structure are beyond computation in dollars and cents, with- out reference to the commercial value of a plot of ground 50 x 60 feet in dimensions, situated within gun-shot* of one of the great money cen- tres of the world. This famous tavern was purchased in 1762, from Oliver Delancey for £2000, provincial cur- rency, by Samuel Fraunces, a " swarthy man " from the West Indies, a noted caterer and a pop- ular Boniface. In 1785 Fraunces sold the prop- erty, why and wherefore the writer is unable to state. Upon Washington's election to the Chief Magistracy of the Nation, " Black Sam," as Fraunces was familiarly called, was appointed * 1,400 feet. I I NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT Steward to the President's household, and ap- pears to have filled the office of Majordomo with satisfaction to his employer, for when the seat of government was shortly removed to Philadel- phia, he accompanied Washington to the Quaker City, and there served him in the same capac- ity, as may be seen by this receipt: 12th May iyg4 received of Bartholomew Dandridge , One hundred and sixty-two dollars and 18/100 to purchase sundries for the Presi- dent's household.'' Samuel Fraunces." The strictly cash basis upon which the ex- penses of Washington's domestic establishment were conducted, is evidenced by this cautionary notice, which we find frequently repeated in the public prints: " THE president's HOUSEHOLD Whereas all Serveants and others em- ployed to procure Provisions or Necessaries for the Household of the President of the united STATES, will be furnished with Monies for these Purposes — Notice is therefore given that no Ac- counts for the Payment of which the Public 12 AFTER THE REVOLUTION might be considered as responsible, are to be opened with any of them. Samuel Fraunces, Steward of the Household. May 4, 1789/' The wife of this noted character must have been a woman of intelligence, and possessed of some executive ability, for during her husband's absence in the service of the President, j\lrs. Fraunces was entrusted with the conduct of the tavern-keeping and catering business. The advertisement which announces this change in management is clipped from Samuel Loudon's newspaper, "The New York Packet," of the seventh of May, 1789. " SAMUEL FRAUNCES With respect returns his most grateful thanks to the General Public, for their support since his late commencement in business; assures them that he feels their favors sensibly, and will en- deavor always to be found worthy of the same. He informs them that the business will be car- ried on by Mrs. Fraunces as usual at No. 49 Cortlandt Street, where the general stage OFFICE is kept, and that they may depend on 13 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT being well served, and at the cheapest rate. Oysters and lobsters, beef a la mode, etc., are put up in the most approved man- ner for exportation and on the shortest no- tice. An Active young man is immediately wanted at the above place as a waiter: He must bring the best recommendations." Other members of this West Indian family, besides its trustworthy and capable head, were of conspicuous service to the great Chieftain. The first military execution of the Revolution was that of an Irishman named Thomas Hickey, one of Washington's body-guard, who was hanged on the twenty-eighth of June, 1776, for com- plicity in the Tory plot known in our local his- tory by his name. It is written in the books that this design was frustrated by the faithfulness of Washington's housekeeper, while he was resid- ing at Richmond Hill House. She was a daugh- ter of Samuel Fraunces, and proved her loyalty to the American cause by divulging to her mas- ter the whole conspiracy. Washington's farewell parting with his offi- cers took place in the " Long-room" of Fraun- 14 AFTER THE REVOLUTION ces' Tavern. No incident in our history is more trite and familiar than this; it is indeed a thrice- told tale. Over and over again the scene has been described by writers, most of whom, i imagine, quoted the account, as 1 am about to do, from Marshall's " Life of Washington." Fortunately, it is one of those old, old stories that are ever new, for a picture of New York at the precise period we are attempting to de- scribe, would be imperfect without the touch of color that it lends. This affecting interview," writes Marshall, ** took place on the 4th of December [ 1 783]. At noon the principal officers of the army assembled at Fraunces' Tavern soon after which their be- loved commander entered the room. His emo- tions were too strong to be concealed. Filling a glass he turned to them and said/ With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you ; I most devoutly wish, that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.' Having drunk, he added, ' I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by the hand.' Gen- eral Knox, being nearest, turned to him. Wash- 15 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT ington, incapable of utterance, grasped his hands and embraced him. In the same affectionate manner he took leave of each succeeding offi- cer. Leaving the room he passed through the corps of light infantry, and walked to White Hall, where a barge waited to convey him to Paulus Hook. The whole company followed in mute and solemn procession. Having entered the barge, he turned to the company, and, wav- ing his hat, bid them a silent adieu." Congress had adjourned from Princeton, to Annapolis, in Maryland, and thither Washington travelled by easy stages, to resign his commis- sion as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. This ceremony was performed on the twenty-third of December. The following morning he left Annapolis, and reached Mt. Vernon the same day, after an absence of more than eight years and a half in command of the Army, during which period," says Jared Sparks in his Biogra- phy of Washington, " the General had never been at his own house, except accidentally, while on his way with Count de Rochambeau to Yorktown, and in returning from that expe- dition." The phrase " the distressed town of Boston " i6 AFTER THE REVOLUTION has become firmly imbedded in the history of the American Revolution. The men of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay " had a fixed habit of claiming leadership and pre-emi- nence in acts of patriotism, in those " days that tried men's souls." They left The Liberty Bell to the Quaker City, and that was about all that they did not attach to themselves. The first and only tea-party! The first blood shed! The first organized band of Liberty Boys! The first Liberty Tree! all these and more they ap- propriated, but Henry B. Dawson, as painstak- ing, conscientious and reliable an historian of New York City, as we have ever had, thus chal- lenges their assertions and disputes their claims: The FIRST BLOOD which was shed in de- fence of the rights of America flowed from the veins of her (New York's) inhabitants on the Golden Hill (John Street), Jan. i8, 1770, two months before ' the Massacre ' in King Street, Boston, and five years and three months before the affair at Lexington. She, also, as well as Boston and Annapolis, had a tea party; and she as well as they, seasoned the waters of her harbor with the taxed tea which the cupidity of the East India Company and the insolence of 17 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT the Government had attempted to thrust into her midst — differing from Boston, only in doing fearlessly, in broad daylight, and without dis- guises, what the latter had done with timidity, in the darkness of night, and in the guise of ' Mo- hawks.' And, lastly, when hostilities had been commenced, as will be seen in the following pages, she did not hesitate to take a place in the very front rank of the opposition or to prove by the daring of her sons, her title to that position, by overturning the King's authority in that city and by establishing in its stead a 'Committee of One Hundred ' of her citizens, (appointed the last of April, 1775), long before any similar step was taken by any other community in the country." * The facsimile here shown, is taken from one of the original Broadsides, or Hand Bills, circu- lated at the time, which is nowin the possession of the writer. It announces the appointment, May 16, 1774, of the Committee of Fifty Citi- zens, which preceded the Committee of One Hundred mentioned above. Isaac Low, Presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce, acted as Chairman of both these Committees. This prominent citizen of New York in these troub- *"New York City During the American Revolution," page 12. 18 AFTER THE REVOLUTION AT a Meeting at the Exchange, i6th May, 1774, ISAAC LOW, chofen CHAIRMAN. I ft Queftion put, Whether it is necelTary for the prefent, to appoint a Committee to correfpond with the neighbouring Colonies, on the prefent important Crifis? Carried in the Affirmative by a great Majority. 2d. Whether a Committee be nominated this Even- ing for the Approbation of the PubHc? — Carried in the Affirmative by a great Majority. 3d. Whether the Committee of 50 be appointed, or 25.^ — Carried for 50, by a great Slajority. The following Perfons were nominated: John Alfop, William Bayard, Theophylad Bache, Peter V. B. Livingfton, Philip Livingfton, Ifaac Sears, David Johnfton, Charles M' Evers, Charles Nicholl, Alexander M'Doiigall, Capt. Thomas Randall, John Moore, Ifaac Low, Leonard Lifpenard, Jacobus Van Zandt, James Duane, Edward Laight, Thomas Pearfall, Elias Defbroffes, William Walton^ Richard Yates, John De Lancey, Miles Sherbrook, John Thurman, John Jay, John Broome, Benjamin Booth, Jofeph Hallett, Charles Shaw, Alexander Wallace, James Jauncey, Gabriel H. Ludlow, Nicholas Hoffman, Abraham Walton, Gerardus Duyckinck, Peter Van Schauck, Henry Remfen, Hamilton Young, George Bowne, Peter T. Curtenlus, Peter Goelet, Abraham Bralher, Abraham P. Lott, David Van Home, Gerardus W. Beekman, Abraham Duryee, Jofeph Bull, William M'Adam, Pv-ichard Sharpe, Thomas Marfton, Francis Lewis, added nem, con. May 19th, •9 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT lous times finally became a loyalist refugee, al- though his name does not appear among the adherents to the fortunes of the crown " who signed the loyal address to Admiral and General Howe on the occasion of their occupation of New York in 1776. Isaac Low was a large holder of lands in the northern part of this state, which were confiscated during the war, and sold under the act of attainder. Lowville in Lewis County, New York, was named after a member of his family who clung to the fortunes of the revolted colonies and retained possession of his landed property. Boston could not have suffered so severely from British occupancy as New York, for it was but a question of months with the capital of the **old Bay State," as it was also with the chief city of the State of Pennsylvania,* whereas the English held this unfortunate town under mili- tary jurisdiction for seven long years. It was a sad scene of neglect and devastation, that the people looked upon in the Fall of 1783, when they hastened back and sought their old homes once more. On every hand were vestiges of the * Philadelphia was taken September 27, 1777, and evacuated June 18, 1778. 20 AFTER THE REVOLUTION Great Fire of 1776* and the lesser one of 1778. The still standing brick walls of the ruined edifices cast sombre shadows upon the pave- ments, and gave to the streets they lined, the ap- pearance of a city of the dead. Buildings that the flames had spared, fared little better at the hands of the British soldiery in the years of strife that followed. At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, "there were," according to Dr. Rodgers," nineteen places of public worship in the city. At its close, only nine were found fit for occupancy," and as the reverend gentle- man returned to New York the day after the Evacuation, his testimony is that of an eye wit- ness and a very competent one at that. The " Middle " Dutch Church, in Nassau Street, denuded of its interior fittings, had been turned into a prison pen, and a riding school for the British officers and soldiers. The " North " Dutch Church on the corner of William and *This fire occurred the twenty-first of September, 1776. Ac- cording to an eye witness, the tavern keeper and local historian, David Grim, 493 houses were destroyed. The fire of 1778 hap- pened on the third of August and about 50 houses were consumed. James Hardie, in his " Description of the City of New York," is very much out of his reckoning in his statement that about 1,000 houses were reduced to ashes in the Fire of 1776. 21 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT Fulton Streets, stripped of its pews and pulpit, was used as a hospital and a storage warehouse. The Church in Garden Street, (now Exchange Place), was, however, found in good condition, and was opened for service the first Sunday after the Evacuation. The North " Church was repaired, and in use by December, 1784, but the " Middle" Dutch Church was not restored and fit- ted for worship, until theyeari 790. The** Brick" Meeting House in Beekman Street, of which the celebrated Dr. John Rodgers, from whom we quote above, was the minister, was the first of the Presbyterian Churches* to be reopened. It was found to be less injured than the one in Wall Street, between Nassau and Broadway, belonging to the same denomination, and was repaired in about six months at a cost of be- tween three and four thousand dollars. Trinity Church, with the Rectory and Charity School, were burned in the fire of 1776, and St. Paul's Chapel narrowly escaped destruction. No effort was made to rebuild Trinity, and its charred ruins, writes Dr. Dix, remained un- touched during the Revolutionary War — " the *The First Presbyterian Church was founded in 17 19. The sec- ond, the one in Beekman Street, in 1767. 22 AFTER THE REVOLUTION grass grew green in the crevices and the birds had shelter in the roofless walls." December the iith, 1783, was appointed by Congress as a Day of Public Thanksgiving throughout the United States. In a note to the sermon preached on this occasion, by Dr. Rod- gers, and afterwards published in pamphlet form, he asserts that the British displayed the most animosity, against religious bodies not of the faith of the Church of England — Assemblies of Dissenters, as they were disparagingly called — and he holds General Howe's soldiers largely accountable for the ravages of the great conflagration in 1776. "It is true,'' he writes. Trinity Church and the old Lutheran, were destroyed by the fire that laid waste so great a part of the city, a few nights after the en- emy took possession of it ; and, therefore, they are not charged with designedly burning them, though they were the occasion of it, for there can be no doubt, after all that malice has said to the contrary; but thefirewas occasioned by thecarelessness of their people, and they pre- vented its more speedy extinguishment. But the ruinous situation in which they left two of the Low Dutch Reformed Churches, the Three Pres- 23 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT by terian Churches, the French Protestant Church the Anabaptist Church, and the Friends' New Meeting-house, was the effect of design, and strongly marks their enmity to those societies. It will cost many thousands of pounds sterling to put them in the repair they were, when the war commenced. They were all neat buildings and some of them elegant."* During the occupancy of the city by the Brit- ish, and until Trinity Church was rebuilt, St. PauFs Chapel was the principal edifice in the Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and to it, Washington, after taking his Presidential oath of office in the face of heaven and in presence of a large concourse of people assem- bled in front of Federal Hall"), proceeded on foot — attended by the whole company, who had taken part in the inauguration, and there, the Dr. Rodgers's text for this Thanksgiving sermon was taken from Psalm cxxvi, :j : "The Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad." in his discourse he ascribes the "honorable and glo- rious peace" which secured to the United States the fullest posses- sion of absolute sovereignty, independent of the crown and people of Britain, or any other power on earth, to the national debt which shook their national credit. But for this, he believes, they would not so readily have listened to terms of pacification with us ; much less would they have given us the advantageous and honorable terms we have obtained. 24 AFTER THE REVOLUTION ceremonies of that memorable day, in the Spring of 1 789, were concluded with appropriate services, conducted by the Right Reverend Bishop Sam- uel Provost, D.D., Chaplain of the Senate. Washington's pew in the north aisle of St. Paul's Chapel, over which is suspended a shield, emblazoned with the device of the United States, is an object of special interest to the wayfarer, who turns aside for a moment from the rush of the fortune-seeking crowd, and the deafening roar of the traffic, in lower Broad- way during the hours of business, into the quiet atmosphere and "dim religious light" of this — the most attractive, in the chaste simplicity of its architecture, and its quaint mural tablets, of all our Episcopal churches. Facing the Presi- dent's pew on the south wall of the church, a shield bearing the arms of the state of New York, indicates the pew set apart for Governor Clinton. These are not the identical pews occupied by these dignitaries, for about thirty years ago, as the writer is informed by one of the officers of Trinity Corporation," the old pews were all re- moved, and the present ones substituted for them, but the present President's and Govern- 25 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT or's pews, are substantially in the same positions and of the same size as the original ones." The President was a constant attendant upon the Sunday services, at St. Paul's. " In his Diary, 1789 to 1791," writes Dr. Dix, as regu- larly almost as the Lord's day comes round, we fmd the entry, * Went to St. Paul's Chapel in the forenoon/ " CHAPTER II T is difficult to realize the un- importance of New York City, in size and population, at the close of the Revolutionary War. Its inhabitants numbered less than 24,000, domiciled in 3,400 houses — mostly, as the Tariff of the one Insurance Co., then in existence shows — frame buildings with brick or stone fronts, and the sides filled in with brick. The First New York Directory, issued by David Franks in 1786, is a small octavo volume of 82 pages and contains only 900 names. The canvass for the Directory for the 27 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT year of Washington's inauguration must have been more carefully and thoroughly conducted by the publishers, Hodge, Allen & Campbell, for it numbers 144 pages and includes about 4,300 names and addresses. Christopher Colles, whose plan for the erec- tion of a Reservoir, on the open ground near the New Gaol, and the laying of good pitch pine pipes, well hooped with iron, to distribute fresh water through the city " — had been inter- rupted by the breaking out of the Revolution- ary War, estimated that there were 3,000 houses that received water from the Tea Water men, for which each house paid One Penny Half- Penny per day. This leaves 400 houses, the inhabitants of which, either from necessity or from choice, depended upon other sources of water supply. The city was claimed by its inhabitants to be half a mile wide and a mile and a half long, but Thomas Twining, an English East India mer- chant, who travelled in this country a century ago, and boasted that he had been received by the Great Mogul on his throne in the old world, and by General Washington in the new, noted that it was usual in America, to reckon as streets 28 AFTER THE REVOLUTION % As the feveral Inhabitants of this City are particularly interefted in the following % • Affair, it is therefore judged proper to lay the fame before them. ^ • COPYOFA I PROP OSAL t Of CHRISTOPHER COLLES, ^ For furnifhing the City of New-Tori with a conftant Supply of Fresh Water. • To the Worshipful I The MAYOR, ALDERMEN, and COMMONALTY, ? Of the City of New-York, in Common Council convened. ♦ rr^HE numerous and important Advanuges which great and populous Cities derive from a plentiful Supply of * ® A • frefli Water, requires a general Attention ; and as this City is very deficient in this Article, § I CHRISTOPHER COLLES, I ^ HUMBLY offers his Services to erefl a Refervoir on the open Ground near the New Gaol, of One Hundred ^ and Twenty-fix Feet Square, with a good Bank of Earth furroundwl . with a good Brick or Stone Wall Twelve Feet high, and capable of holding One Million Two Hundred Thouland Gallons of Water ; which will be of exceeding Utility in Cafe of Fire, which all Cities are liable to. To erecl a Fire-Engine in a good Brick % or Stone Houfe cover'd with Tiles, capable of raifing into the faid Refervoir Two Hundred Thouland Gallons of § Water in Twenty-four Hours. To lay Four Feet deep through the Broad-Way, Broad-Street, Nafliu-Street, * William-Street, Smith-Street, Queen- Street, and Hanover-Square, a main Pipe of good Pitch Fine of fix Inches » Bore, well hooped at one End wiih Iron ; and through every other Street, Lane and Alley in the City South Weft © of Murray's-Street, King George's-ftre^t, Banker's-Street, and Rutger's-Street,- the like Kind of Pipe of Three § Inches Bore, with a perpendicular Pipe and a Cock at every Hundred Yards of fjid Pipes,— a proper Contrivance to ^ prevent the fame from Damage by Froft i and alfo on every Wharf a convenient Pipe and Cock to fupply the ^ Shipping. The Whole to be completely finiOicd in a workmanlike Manner within two Years from the Time of ^ making the Agreement, for the Sum of Eighteen Thoufand Pounds New- York Currency, by I CHRISTOPHER COLLES. ^ The following Calculation Oirwiag the Utility of the above Defign, will, it is imagined, be found upon Infpe£Uon ^ as fair and accurate as the Nature of fuch Things will admit O It is fuppofcd there are 3000 Houfes that receive Water from the Tea Water Men ; that at the leaft, upoa an (A Average, each Houfe pays One Penny Half-penny per Day for this Water ; this makes the Sum of £. 6750 per ^ Annum, which is 45s. for each Houfe per Ann. According to the Defign propofed, there will be paid £. 6000 per Q Ann. for four Years, which is 40s. each Hoiife : By which it appears, that even whilft the Works are paying for, • + there will be a faving made to the City of £. 750 per.Ann. and alter the faid 4 Years, as the Tax will not be more O than los. per^nnum to be paid by each Houfe, it is evident that there will be laved to the City the yearly Sum of ❖ I- 5^50. fof ^ In this Calculadon it is luppofed that 40s. per Ann. is to be paid for 4 Years, but this ij done only to provide againft any unforcfeen difficulties that may occur. It is imagined that that Sum paid 3 Years will eBe& the Bufincfs. •fr The great Plenty of the Water, and its fuperior Quality, are Advantages which have not been before fpecified, but 38( muft appear of conCderable Moment to ¥very judicious Perfon. NEW-rORK: Printed by HUGH GA INE, in HANOVER-SQUARE. 29 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT such as were only contemplated and not yet begun. Consequently, it was not easy to know how much of the size of the city was imaginary. Only a few of the streets were paved with cob- ble stones, and the gutter ran down the centre of the roadway after the manner of the old Dutch times. The best streets in the City, in the eyes of a looker-on. Governor Drayton* of South Carolina, who visited us in 1793, were Broad- way, Broad Street, Queen (the part of Pearl Street above Hanover Square) and Wall Street. In all these streets, as well as in the remaining thoroughfares of the town, churches, with their surrounding graveyards, taverns, marketplaces, business houses, and private residences, elbowed or faced one another. There was no exclusively residential street. In fact some of the highly re- spectable merchants of the day lived over, or in proximity to their stores. In the " Common," now the City Hall Park, stood, all in a row, three grewsome buildings: The Bridewell, The City Alms House and The Prison. Broadway, still called in this part of **' Letters written during a tour of the Northern and Eastern States of America," by John Drayton, Charleston, South Carolina, 1794. 30 AFTER THE REVOLUTION its length Great George Street, was unpaved, sparsely settled, and terminated at Broome Street. The marshy body of water known as the Fresh Water or Collect Pond, where for years stood the building in the Egyptian style of architecture, best known by the title of 'The Tombs," and where now in its stead, the Bastille- like City Prison rears its forbidding-looking walls as a warning to evil-doers, was a resort of fisher- men and gunners — a skating-pond in winter, and utilized for laundry purposes at other seasons of the year, until the practice, presumably for sani- tary reasons, was forbidden by law. It was upon this confined sheet of water that John Fitch, in 1796 or '97 made with an or- dinary ship's yawl which he had fitted with paddle wheels and a rude steam engine, his first crude experiments in steam navigation. The " Bowery Lane " on the East side of the city, beginning at Grand Street, and the Road to Greenwich on the banks of the Hudson, were from Reade Street north, quiet country roads, shaded with sycamore, elm and catalpa trees, winding across Lispenard's Meadows, and through the groves, farms and orchards, the country seats and suburban residences of the 31 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT Stuyvesants, Beekmans, De Lanceys, Bayards, Duanes, Murrays and others of the principal citizens of New York. More town- than city- like was the appearance of the now proud city of New York, at the close of the Revolutionary War, one hundred and twenty-two years ago. James Duane, appointed to the position by Governor Clinton, was the first post-revolution- ary Mayor of the City of New York. Richard Varick served as Recorder, and in 1789 suc- ceeded Duane in the Mayoralty, which office he held for eleven consecutive years. The City Council was composed of six Aldermen and six Assistants. In the days of our Dutch forefathers they gave these functionaries the more pictur- esque titles of Burgomasters and Schepens. These were our City Fathers in 1783 and 1784 : ALDERMEN ASSISTANTS John Broome Daniel Phenix William Gilbert Abraham Van Gelder Abraham P. Lott Jeremiah Wool Thomas Ivers Samuel Johnson Thomas Randall John De Peyster Benjamin Blagge Henry Shute The Legislature of the State, with Lieutenant Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt as presiding 32 AFTER THE REVOLUTION officer, met in New York on the 21st of January, 1784, and for a few months this city was the seat of the State Government.* Five years later it was, also, for a brief period, the Capital of the United States, and in the hope and ex- pectation that it would continue so to be, the " Government House " was built for a presiden- tial residence on the site of old Fort George. f In front of it in Bowling Green still stood the battered pedestal of the leaden equestrian statue of George III, erected August i6th, 1770, and demolished July 9th, 1776, by the "Sons of Freedom," who, — with some inward chuck- ling, we imagine, — moulded a part of its mater- ial into forty-thousand-odd musket balls, for use against his Majesty's forces. " For 'tis the sport to have the engineer Hoist with his own petard." Fragments of this statue, which still retain traces of the gold-leaf with which it was covered, are now in the rooms of the New York His- torical Society, in Second Avenue. They were found, April, 1871, on the farm of Mr. Peter S. Coley, at Wilton, Connecticut, whither, it is to be presumed, they had been transported and hidden * Removed to Albany 1784. f Ordered razed in 1790. 33 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT for safety, by some staunch adherent of the King. The marble slab of the pedestal upon which the statue stood is also in possession of the same Society.* The Government House " was the fmest mansion in the city at the close of the eighteenth century, built of red brick, with Ionic columns. Before its completion, the seat of Government was removed to Philadelphia, and the building was appropriated to the use of the Governors of the State. t In 1799 it became the Custom-house, and, in 1 8 1 5 was taken down. The Bowling Green block of red brick houses, which were among the choicest residences in the city before they were transformed into trans-Atlantic steamship com- panies' offices, occupied the site, until it was de- molished a few years ago, to clear the ground for the magnificent granite structure, the United States Custom-house, now in course of erection. Surely here we have an exemplification of the truism that all things alter with the course of years, and also that history repeats itself. The whole number of electoral votes cast for the first President of the United States, was *See Appendix. t Occupied by Governors George Clinton and John Jay. 34 AFTER THE REVOLUTION sixty-nine, all for General Washington. Thirty- four were given for John Adams for Vice-Presi- dent. The fourth of March, 1789, had been appointed for the meeting of Congress, but a quorum of that body did not assemble until a month later, when the votes were opened and counted. A special Messenger — Charles Thom- son, Secretary of Congress — was dispatched to Mount Vernon, with a letter from the President of the Senate to Washington, conveying the offi- cial notice of his election, calling him again to enter upon public life, to relinquish the over- sight of the tree- and shrub-planting and the systematic husbandry he was practising, and to turn his back upon the pastoral life to which he was attached, and in which he expected in tranquillity to pass the remainder of his days. It was a far call, in 1789, from New York to Mount Vernon, and the condition of the clay- roads of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia, in the spring of the year, can be better imagined than described. It required about as many days then, for the journey, as it now con- sumes hours. There were no railroad time-tables to be con- sulted, no " Bureau of Information" to be in- 35 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT terrogated, by Secretary Thomson, but Christo- pher Colles' " Road Surveys" had recently been pubHshed, and the Congressional dispatch-bearer might have provided himself with a copy of these carefully prepared maps to guide him by way of Alexandria, or Pohick church to " General Washington's Land " on the south bank of the Potomac in Fairfax County, Virginia. These Road Maps of Christopher Colles, few copies of which are now extant, were engraved on copper by C. Tiebout — one of the best engravers of the time — on a scale of i % inches to the mile. Mr. Colles enumerates at length, the benefits to the public of these surveys in his " Proposals for their publication in 1789." " A traveller will here," he affirms, " find so plain and circumstantial a description of the road that while he has the draft with him, it will be impossible for him to miss his way; he will have the satisfaction of knowing the names of many of the persons who reside upon the road ; if his horse should want a shoe, or his carriage be broke, he will by the bare inspection of the draft be able to de- termine whether he must go backward or for- ward to a blacksmith shop ; persons who have 36 AFTER THE REVOLUTION houses or plantations on the roadway may in case they want to let, lease, or sell the same, advertise in the public newspapers that the place is marked in such a page of Colles' Sur- vey of the roads * * * It is expected many other entertaining and useful purposes will be discovered when the surveys come into general use." This is considerable of a digression from our subject, into which, we have been led by our antiquarian zeal, and our interest in this out- of-the-way and curious book, of that active and enterprising little gentleman, the singular, and gifted character, Christopher Colles. Two days after receiving the notification of his election, on the 14th of April, 1789, Washing- ton left Mount Vernon, and arrived in New York about two o'clock in the afternoon of the twenty- third, after what might properly be described as a triumphal procession, which began almost at the moment he passed his own gates, and ended with the landing from his gaily trimmed barge at Murray's Wharf, foot of Wall Street, near the City Coffee House, amid the firing of guns from the Battery, and the vessels in the har- bor, the ringing of church and other bells, music, 37 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT singing, and ''wild and prolonged cheers." In the evening he dined with Governor Clinton, and the houses of the citizens were illuminated in honor of his arrival. Mrs. Washington, with her grand-children, Eleanor and George Wash- ington Parke Custis, followed her husband a month later, in her private carriage, attended by a small escort on horseback, and was met by Washington at Elizabethtown Point, New Jersey, on the twenty-seventh of May, with the same barge used by him on the twenty-third of April, manned by thirteen skilled pilots dressed in spotless white. CHAPTER III HE first bright little gamin one meets on Wall or Nassau Street, crying the daily papers, can tell the stranger " seeing New York " that Washington's in- stallation as President of the United States, took place in the balcony of Federal Hall, on the thirtieth of April, 1789, — for has he not read and pondered, time and again, the story inscribed on the granite base of the heroic- sized bronze statue of the Father of his Country " which, on the steps of the Sub- Treasury, stands sentinel over the spot where 39 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT the oath of office prescribed by the Constitu- tion, was administered to Washington by Chan- cellor Livingston ? The only relic remaining of this historic building, so far as the writer is aware, is a piece of the iron railing which en- closed the front of the balcony — the section com- posed of a group of thirteen arrows — now in the custody of the New York Historical Society. The Federal edifice, (not hall), was the new name given to the old City Hall, which stood in Wall Street at the head of Broad Street, after it had been altered, enlarged and adorned by the noted French architect and military engineer. Major Peter Charles L'En- fant, at a cost of over $32,000, defrayed by popular subscription. Major L'Enfant served in the Continental Army, and was quite severely wounded at the siege of Savannah, in 1779; he designed the medal of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which select organization he was a member, and he was the author of the orig- inal plan of the City of Washington. A very full and technical description of the Federal Edifice at New York, accompanies a copper- plate engraving published in the " Columbian Magazine," Philadelphia, August, 1789. That 40 AFTER THE REVOLUTION it was considered one of the finest buildings in the country is evidenced by the fact, that en- gravings of it also appeared in both of the two other contemporaneous illustrated magazines, the "Massachusetts" and the "New York." The ceremonies of Inauguration Day were ushered in, by the firing of the national salute, and at nine o'clock in the morning, services, with prayers for the President, were held in the va- rious churches. About mid -day, the proces- sion formed at the President's house in Cherry Street, and moved through Dock (Pearl Street) and Broad Street, to the Federal Edifice. An escort of mounted troops and infantry led the way, and when they reached their destina- tion formed in two lines, between which Wash- ington passed to the Senate Chamber, where he was met by the members of both houses of Congress. Immediately after he had taken the oath of office, in the gallery overlooking Broad Street, Chancellor Livingston proclaimed him President of the United States and was an- swered by the discharge of thirteen guns and the shouts and acclamations of the crowds that filled the streets below and covered the sur- 41 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT rounding house tops. Amongst this multi- tude of excited spectators was Washington Irving, then a child, six years of age, in charge, presumably, of the same quick-witted and canny Scotch nurse, of whom Pierre M. Irving, in the " Life and Letters of his distinguished kins- man, relates the following anecdote: " Struck with the enthusiasm which everywhere greeted Washington upon his arrival in New York, she followed him one morning into a shop, and pointing to the lad who had scarcely outgrown his virgin trousers: * Please, your honor,' said she, * here's a bairn was named after you/ In the estimation of Lizzie, for so she was called, few claims of kindred could be stronger than this. Washington did not disdain the deli- cate afifmity, and placing his hand on the head of her little charge gave him his blessing." In a book published in 1889, by Mr. Thomas E. V. Smith, on " The City of New York, in the year of Washington's Inauguration," which is as full of historical facts and data as an egg is full of meat, we find the following descrip- tion of Washington's appearance, on this oc- casion, on the balcony of Federal Hall: He was dressed in a dark brown suit with 42 AFTER THE REVOLUTION white silk stockings and silver shoe buckles, while at his side there hung a steel-hilted sword. The clothes which he wore were of American manufacture, ... of a homespun fabric so fme in quality as to be universally mistaken for foreign manufactured superfine cloth." Mr. Smith omits to mention that the gilt buttons upon Washington's coat were chased with the Arms of the United States, by William Rollin- son, whose descendants were, until a few years ago, still pursuing the avocation of engravers in this city. Rollinson refused to receive com- pensation for this work, " declaring that he was more than paid by having had the honor of working for such a man on such an occasion." Rollinson was at first a silversmith engraver, and his first attempt at copper-plate engraving was a profile portrait, done in stipple, of the man for whom, and for whose high office, he expressed in this practical way his esteem and admiration. William Dunlap, from whose "His- tory of the Arts of Design in the United States" we gather this information, relates another in- teresting fact in connection with Mr. Rollinson, namely, that he was the inventor of a machine to rule waved lines for engraving margins to 43 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT bank notes. We presume that the great Amer- ican Bank Note and Bond Engraving Companies of the present day, with their intricate lathes and other ingenious time- and labor-saving me- chanical devices, have taken due notice of this circumstance. The same writer from whom we quote in the beginning of the previous paragraph, is our authority for the story of the animated dis- cussion which arose in regard to Washington's title, upon assuming the office of Chief Magis- trate of the United States. "The Senate wished to call him * His Highness the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties,' while the House refused to give him any other title than that used by the Constitution — 'The President of the United States.' Washington's own desire was to be called * His Mightiness the President of the United States,' and he is said to have never forgiven Mr. Muhlenberg, the Speaker of the House, for some facetious remarks concerning that title." To be the first President of the United States might not unreasonably be considered honor sufficient for even a Washington. In the evening of Inauguration Day, a dis- 44 AFTER THE REVOLUTION play of fireworks took place, and the city was brilliantly illuminated. The following account of these festivities is copied from an extra sheet" published at Lansingburgh, New York, May 6th, 1789, which came to the writer from the Glen-Sanders Mansion, at Scotia, N. Y. This copy is endorsed upon the back in the handwriting of Peter Edmund Elmendorf, (an aforetime noted Albany lawyer) " King Wash- ington's Speech," whether in jest, or in sober earnest, it is difficult to determine; the prepon- derance of the opinions of those whom the writer has consulted is, however, that the endorse- ment is to be literally understood. " In the evening was exhibited under the di- rection of Col. Bauman, a very ingenious and splendid show of fireworks, the various kinds of which want of time will not permit us to par- ticularize. Between the fort and the Bowling Green stood conspicuous, a superb and brilliant transparent painting. In the centre of which was the portrait of the President, represented under the emblem of fortitude; on his right hand Justice, representing the Senate of the United States; and on his left. Wisdom repre- senting the House of Representatives. The 45 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT Arms of the United States, and several figures and decorations were painted with great taste and judgment in the front of the structure. The (French Minister) Count de Moustier's house was elegantly illuminated, and a variety of transparent paintings were exhibited. His Excellency Don Diego de Gardoqui's (the Span- ish Charge d'Affaires) house also displayed a great assemblage of beautiful figures, executed in the most masterly and striking manner, and which attracted considerable attention from the vast multitude of citizens assembled to view the various scenes of the evening." The Public Ball and Entertainment offered to Washington by the subscribers of the Danc- ing Assembly, was intended to be held on the evening of Inauguration Day, but was post- poned in the hope and expectation that Mrs. Washington would shortly arrive, and grace it with her presence. When it was ascertained that the President's " consort " would not reach New York until near the end of the month, the Ball was given on Thursday, the seventh of May.* It took place, probably, in the De * Reported in " The New York Packet " of Saturday, May 9, 1789. 46 AFTER THE REVOLUTION Lancey house on Broadway corner of Thames Street, where the Boreel building now stands. This building was opened in 1754 as a tavern, by Edward Willett under the name of the *' Province Arms," and was provided with a large ball-room where concerts were given, and subscription balls were held. In 1793, the " City Hotel " was erected upon this site and remained for many years the largest and finest public-house in the city. In 1828 it became the property of John Jacob Astor, who pur- chased it for $121,000. Views of this building are given in both Bourne's and Peabody's Collections of Views in New York City, published in 1831, but no picture of the De Lancey house has yet been found, and Mr. Edward Floyd De Lancey, whose death in the eighty-fourth year of his age, is an- nounced as we pen these lines, searched for it many years. The newspapers of the day, " The New York Packet " and the " New York Gazette," were rather chary of the space in their columns de- voted to local affairs, and to society news and gossip, but they find room for a paragraph descriptive of the first Presidential Inaugura- 47 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT tion Ball and furnish a list of the men distin- guished in military and civil life, who hon- ored it with their presence, and of the ladies, whose " fme appearance gave lustre and bril- liancy to the occasion." Fans, with ivory sticks and paper covers, decorated with a medallion portrait of Washington, made in Paris for the Ball, were distributed among the ladies. Some of these dainty souvenirs of this notable occa- sion are still carefully preserved and fondly treasured as family heir-looms. The Ball was quite a late affair, for the Company, we are in- formed, did not retire until about two o'clock in the morning, after having spent a most agree- able evening. Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, the best, with all her minor faults, of our local historians, dearly loved to descant upon the high society of New York. She is, apparently, never better pleased than when she leads us through a forest of gen- ealogical trees, or throws the lime-light upon the stage where the belles and beaux, the dames and squires, of by-gone days, fill again the roles, and play the parts, that once were theirs. The Washington Inauguration Ball afforded her an opportunity not to be neglected. 48 AFTER THE REVOLUTION " The President/' she writes, " dined with Chancellor Livingston, with Secretary and Mrs. Jay, with General Clinton and with Hamilton, at his pleasant home in Wall Street during the week following the inauguration." On the seventh of May a public ball was given in his honour, which is thusdescribed byawriterof the day : "The collection of ladies was numerous and brilliant, and dressed with consummate taste and elegance. Mrs. Washington had not yet reached the City, but Mrs. Jay and Mrs. Hamilton were among those present; also Lady Stirling and her two daughters. Lady Mary Watts and Lady Kitty Duer. Mrs. Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Lord Stirling's sister, Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Mayor Duane, Mrs. James Beekman, Lady Temple, Lady Christina Grififm, Mrs. Chancellor Living- ston, Mrs. Richard Montgomery, Mrs. John Langdon, Mrs. Elbridge Gerry, Mrs. Livingston, of Clermont, the Misses Livingston, Mrs. Wil- liam S. Smith, daughter of the Vice-President, the beautiful bride of James Homer Maxwell, who as Miss Van Zandt had repeatedly danced with Washington while the army was at Morris- town, Mrs. Edgar, Mrs. McComb, Mrs. Dalton, the Misses Bayard, Madame de Brehan, Madame 49 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT de la Forest, and Mrs. Bishop Provost. The President, the Vice-President, the Secretaries of State and War, the majority of both houses of Congress, the Governor of New York, the Mayor of the City, the Chancellor, the French and Spanish Ministers, Baron Steuben, Col. Duer, and a great many other distinguished guests rendered the occasion memorable. The company numbered over three hundred. Wash- ington was the Star of the evening. He danced in two cotillions. His partners were Mrs. Peter Van Brugh Livingston and Mrs. Hamilton. He also danced a minuet with Mrs. Maxwell." ''On Thursday, May 14th, a magnificent ball was given by De Moustier, the French Minister." Brissot de Marville,* the noted French author, editor, and publicist, visited this country in the year 1788, and has left us an entertaining de- scription! of New York and its Society in the * Brissot de Marville (Jean Pierre), a Girondist and Deputy to the National Convention of France, was born in 1754 nearChartres, in the village of Quarville, from which place he later took his name, anglicising its form. He visited England and the United States in 1788 and returned to France just at the outbreak of the Revolution — was arrested and on the thirty-first of October, 1793, was guillotined. f " New Travels in the United States of America," by J. P. Brissot de Marville. 2 volumes, 8vo, London, 1797. 50 AFTER THE REVOLUTION year prior to the I nauguration of President Wash- ington, from which we make the following ex- tract : The presence of Congress with the diplo- matic body, and the concourse of strangers contributes much to extend here the ravages of luxury. The inhabitants are far from com- plaining at it ; they prefer the splendor of wealth, and the show of enjoyment, to the simplicity of manners, and the pure pleasures resulting from it. The usage of smoking has not disap- peared in this town, with the other customs of their fathers, the Dutch. They smoke cigars, which come from the Spanish islands; they are leaves of tobacco, rolled in form of a tube, of six inches long, which are smoked without the aid of any instrument. This usage is revolting to the French. It may appear disagreeable to the women, by destroying the purity of the breath. The philosopher condemns it as it is a superfluous want. " It has, however, one advantage: it accus- toms to meditation, and prevents loquacity. The smoker asks a question: the answer comes two minutes after, and it is well founded. The cigar renders to a man the service that the phil- 51 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT osopher drew from a glass of water which he drank when he was angry. " If there is a town on the American conti- nent where the EngHsh luxury displays its follies, it is New York, you will fmd here the English fashions. In the dress of the women you will see the most brilliant silks, gauzes, hats, and borrowed hair. Equipages are rare; but they are elegant. The men have more sim- plicity in their dress; they disdain gewgaws, but they take their revenge in the luxury of the table. Luxury forms already, in this town, a class of men very dangerous in society — I mean bachelors. The expense of women causes mat- rimony to be dreaded by men." In corroboration of these apparently ex- aggerated statements of the French traveller and critic we have only to turn to the musty flies of " The New York Gazette," where, under date of May 15th, 1789, we fmd the following: **NEW FASHIONS FROM PARIS FOR THE LADIES The only variety since our last appears in the three following dresses. First. A plain celestial blue satin gown, with a white satin petticoat. On the neck a 52 AFTER THE REVOLUTION very large Italian gauze handkerchief, with satin border stripes. The head dress is a pouf of gauze, in the form of a globe, the crenaure or headpiece of which is made of white satin, having a double wing in large plaits, and trimmed with a large wreath of artificial roses, which falls from the left at top to the right at bottom in front and behind contrary. The hair is dressed all over in detached curls, four of which in two ranks, fall on each side the neck, and behind it is relieved in a floating chignon. The second dress is a Pierrot made of grey In- dian tafTaty, with dark stripes of the same col- our, having two collars, one yellow and the other white, both trimmed with a blue silk fringe, and a reverse trimmed in the same manner. Under this Pierrot they wear a yellow corset or shapes with large blue cross stripes. With this dress they have a hat a I'Espagnole, made of white satin, having a large white satin band, put on in the manner the wreath of roses is on the hat of the first dress; but this hat is re- lieved on the left side, and has two very large handsome cockades, one at the top, the other at the bottom, where it is relieved. 53 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT On the neck they wear a very large plain gauze handkerchief, the ends of which are hid under the shape. Round the bottom of the Pierrot is pinned a sort of frill a la Henry IV, made of gauze, cut in points round the edge. The third and newest dress is a Pierrot and petticoat, both made of the same sort of grey striped silk, and trimmed all round with gauze, cut in points at the edges in the manner of the Herrisons. These Herrisons are now nearly the sole trimmings used for the Pierrots, Caracos and petticoats of the Parisian ladies, either made of ribbons or Italian gauze, but chiefly the latter. With this dress the ladies wear a large gauze neck handkerchief, with four satin stripes round its borders ; two of which are very broad, and the other less. These handkerchiefs are an ell and a half square. The head dress is a plain gauze cap, made in the form of those worn by the elders, or ancients in the nunneries. Shoes are celestial blue satin, with rose colour rosettes. Muffs are not yet left off, those most worn are 54 AFTER THE REVOLUTION Siberian wolf-skin, with a large knot of scarlet ribbon. THE GENTLEMEN In undress wear a very long blue riding coat, with plain steel buttons, made full like a bomb or globe. A scarlet waistcoat and yellow Kersemere breeches, quite plain without embroidery at the knees or buttonholes. With this dress they wear gaiters made of black polished leather, which reach half-way up the thigh, and the shoes are tied with strings. Jocky hats of a middling height in their crown, and the round very narrow. The hair is dressed on the sides in two long curls, and behind tied in a queue. Round the neck a very full muslin cravat, the ends of which are tied in a large knot be- fore. The muff is black bear skin, with a large knot of scarlet ribbon attached to it." John Ramage, the noted miniature painter, appears to have been one of the leaders of fashion. His gorgeous apparel is thus described by Dunlap in his Arts of Design: " "A scarlet coat with mother-of-pearl buttons — a white silk 55 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT waistcoat embroidered with colored flowers — black satin breeches and paste knee buckles — white silk stockings — large silver buckles in his shoes — a small cocked hat, covering the upper portion of his well powdered locks, leav- ing the curls at the ears displayed — a gold- headed cane and gold snuff box, completed his costume. When the writer (Mr. Dunlap) re- turned from Europe in 1787, Mr. Ramage in- troduced to him a second wife ; but he was changed, and evidently declining through fast living,'' the consequence, probably, of too free indulgence in " shrub," the favorite tipple, and in "old particular" and "London Market Madeira," the most highly esteemed and popular wine of the age. The foppish artist evidently failed to follow the example of simple living said to have been set by the Head of the Nation, who, we are asked to believe, generally dined on one dish only, preferably a boiled leg of mutton, and offered his guests, after the dessert, but a single glass of wine. The Prince de Broglie, however, in the records of his visits to America tells a dif- ferent story, and, speaking from his own experi- ence says, that Washington, when he found his company at dinner entertaining, lingered over 56 AFTER THE REVOLUTION the dessert, eating " enormously " of nuts, and from time to time giving sundry healths, ac- cording to the EngHsh and American custom. The Prince probably met, and dined with the President when he was in full and flowing health and spirits, and not during his long convalescence from the severe illness which in the summer of 1789, confined him six weeks to his bed, and which, for a few days, it was feared would prove fatai. From this illness Washington, although only in his fifty-seventh year, never fully recovered, and for the benefit of his health, as well as from a desire to revisit the scenes of his first military campaign and meet again some of his old com- rades in arms, he made in the autumn, during the recess of Congress, a tour through the East- ern States, accompanied by his Secretaries, Mr. Jackson and Mr. Lear. He travelled in his own carriage, and during his absence of about a month, visited New Haven, Hartford, Boston, Salem, Newburyport, and Portsmouth in New Hampshire, everywhere greeted as on his jour- ney from Mount Vernon to New York, "with acclamations of joy and testimonies of respect and veneration by men, women and children of 57 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT all classes, who assembled from far and near at the crossings of the roads and other public places where it was known he would pass." The journey, his biographers agree in stating, was in all respects satisfactory to him in the proofs it afforded of the strong attachment of the people to himself and to the new form of government, and of the growth and prosperity of the country in every direction. The effects of the war he found, had almost entirely dis- appeared. It is to be borne in mind, however, that Washington, upon this journey, travelled through a part of the United States that had known less than its share of the ravages of the war of the Revolution. CHAPTER IV ASHINGTON'S residence for the space of about a twelvemonth, was the " Franklin" House, (built by Walter Franklin in 1770), at No. 3 Cherry Street, near the junction of that street with Pearl on Franklin Square.* This building was taken down in 1856, and the site is now covered by one of the massive granite pillars that support the Brooklyn Bridge. The Cherry Street house was occupied by Washington, until February 23, 1790, when he removed to the Alexander * Until the year 1817, it was called St. George's Square. The name was then changed in honor of Benjamin Franklin. 59 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT McComb house, which is descrihed as a 'Tine and commodious mansion," but the stable attached thereto did not meet Washington's requirements, and he found it necessary to add a building with twelve single stalls, for the accommodation of his English-made, ''canary-colored coach," with its team of four, and sometimes six "Virginia bays," and his various other equipages, carriage and saddle horses. The annual rental of the McComb house is stated to have been $2,500, but whether it was computed in ''specie" or in New York currency, the writer is uninformed . 1 1 may be inferred, however, that it was reckoned in hard money." When the Franklin house was being de- molished in 1856, Mr. Benjamin R. Winthrop secured some of the timbers, and from them the "Washington Chair," now used by the President of the New York Historical Society, in its meet- ing room on Second Avenue, was made, and presented to the Society by Mr. Winthrop in 1857. The McComb house, Washington's second residence, became, later, a part of the Mansion House, or Bunker's Hotel, No. 39 Broadway, an engraving of which building forms one of the 60 AFTER THE REVOLUTION interesting and beautifully engraved series of " Views in New York " published by G. M. Bourne in 1831. So pressing became the demands of visitors upon the time of the Chief Magistrate, that he found it necessary to establish rules and regula- tions for their reception, and the entertainment of company. Every Thursday," writes Jared Sparks in his life of Washington, ''between the hours of three and four he was prepared to re- ceive such persons as chose to call. Foreign Ministers, strangers of distinction, and citizens came and went without ceremony. The hour was passed in free conversation on promiscuous topics, in which the President joined. Every Friday afternoon, the rooms were open in like manner for visits to Mrs. Washington, which were on a still more sociable footing, and at which General Washington was always present. These assemblages were in the nature of public levees, and they did not preclude such visits of civility and friendship, between the President's family and others as is customary in society. On affairs of business, by appointment, — whether with public officers or private citizens, the Presi- dent was always ready to bestow his time and 61 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT attention. He accepted no invitations to din- ner, but invited to his own table, foreign Min- isters, officers of the Government, and strangers, in such numbers at once, as his domestic estab- lishment would accommodate. On these occa- sions there was neither ostentation nor restraint, but the same simplicity and ease with which his guests had been entertained at Mount Vernon. No visits were received on Sundays. In the morning he uniformly attended Church and in the afternoon he retired to his private apart- ment. The evening was spent with his family, and then an intimate friend would sometimes call, but promiscuous company was not ad- mitted." This extract from "The New York Gazette" of May 4, 1789, furnishes a similar account of the rules and etiquette established by the Presi- dent. " We are informed that the President has as- signed every Tuesday and Friday, between the hours of two and three for receiving visits, and that visits of compliment on other days and particularly on Sundays will not be agreeable to him. 'Tt seems to be a prevailing opinion that so 62 AFTER THE REVOLUTION much of the President's time will be engaged by the various and important business imposed upon him by the Constitution, that he will fmd himself constrained to omit returning visits or accepting invitations to entertainments." In 1861, Daniel Huntington painted a picture, well known through the engraving of it by A. H. Ritchie, for whom it was painted, in which he depicts one of Lady Washington's receptions. Mr. Huntington did not enjoy the exceptional opportunities and advantages supplied by royalty to Mr. Edwin A. Abbey, when he painted the Coronation scene of Edward VII and the genial, loved and respected President of the National Academy of Design and long time President of the Century Association was obliged to draw upon his imagination for some of his facts, but, the faces, of which there are about seventy, in his canvas, are likenesses supplied by oil paintings, miniatures, and the living de- cendants of the men and women represented as present on the occasion; the costumes and other accessories are carefully studied, and it is alto- gether as happily conceived and executed a "counterfeit presentment" of the Drawing- Room of the First Lady in the Land, as we 63 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT shall in all probability ever obtain. The pic- ture is large, iiox 66 inches in size, and is now in the possession of the Hamilton Club of Brooklyn, where it has remained ever since its purchase at the A. T. Stewart sale in 1887. It is a richly costumed company that Mr. Huntington assembles at Lady Washington's Levee, but adverse criticism of his composition in this respect is silenced by the proof, already presented in these pages, that the impoverished condition of the country consequent upon the war had in a measure passed away, and there were dames and demoiselles in the city of New York in 1789 who had money in their purses to bestow upon dress and gewgaws, furbelows and feathers late from Paris, and also men of suffi- cient wealth to enable them to copy closely the elaborate and costly costumes of the fops and beaux of eighteenth-century London. John Adams, the Vice President, occupied the historic Richmond Hill house, built about the year 1760 by Abraham Mortier, the British Paymaster. General Washington made it his headquarters in 1776, and during the Revolu- tionary War it was tenanted by various British General Officers, the last of whom was General 64 AFTER THE REVOLUTION Sir Guy Carleton, Commander-in-Chief. Its last occupant was Aaron Burr. In this house his beautiful, accompHshed, ill-fated daughter, Theodosia, the idol of her father, was married to Governor Alston of South Carolina, and from it Burr proceeded to his duel with Alexander Hamilton, in the woods of Weehawken,on the I ith of July, 1804. Ten days later Burr left it forever and stole away from the city "on a dark cloudy night" to escape arrest and trial for wil- ful murder. The property was shortly after- wards sold by Burr's creditors, to John Jacob Astor, for 125,000. Richmond Hill house, situated on the Green- wich Road at about the present Laight Street, was one of the finest country residences near New York. It overlooked the Hudson River and was a pleasanter location, one might imagine, than that selected by, or for Washington, on the East side of the town, but we may be prejudiced in our judgment by the present squalid and dilap- idated appearance of the Cherry Street neigh- borhood, and forget that in Washington's day, one of the finest residences in the city — the Walton house, built of yellow Holland brick — lay within a stone's throw of No. 3 Cherry 65 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT Street, and also that as Water Street marked the shore line of the East River, a house situated upon Cherry Street commanded an extensive water view, and a pleasant vista beyond, of the green hills and forests of Long Island, while below it lay the busiest section of the town. By far the greater part of the wharves and slips were located on this side of the city. They ex- tended from the Battery to the foot of Catherine Street, while on the Hudson River front only four or five docks are shown upon the map of the City in 1789. The principal institutions which had attained to the dignity of property owners when Wash- ington made this city his dwelling place, were the College of New York* (Columbia), Samuel Johnson, President, and the New York Hos- pitalf of which Richard Morris was then the Governor and President. The Chamber of Commerce, over whose deliberations John Brome presided, was established before the war (May I, 1769, and incorporated by Lieutenant Governor Colden, March 13, 1770), but it had no abiding-place of its own then, nor for many a *The Royal Charter was obtained in 1754. t Charter granted by John, Earl of Dunmore, June 13, 1771. 66 THE CHARTER OF THE COLLEGE O F N E W-r R K, I N AMERICA, Publtjhed by Order of His Honour the Lieutenant Governor^ in Council. N E W - r R K: Printed and Sold by J, Parker and W. Weyman, at the New Printing- office in Btaver-Street^ MDCCLIV. NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT long year thereafter. It wandered around the lower part of the city, inconveniently housed in upper rooms until November ii, 1902, when it made a sudden and remarkable advance, and took possession of the palatial structure, which is now one of the architectural ornaments of the financial quarter of New York. The following statistics in relation to Colum- bia College are taken from a memorandum in the back of a copy of the Statutes of the College, printed in 1785. These notes are in the handwriting of either William Cochran,* a member of the College Faculty, or of Jedidiah Morse, the ''American Geographer" to whom Cochran presented the book. " Columbia Col. " No. of students, 1787 37. Annual Income of funds £\,ooo. Building contains 20 large rooms with two studies or Bed Rooms to each together with a hall and Library rooms. Whole building about 1 50 feet long and about 27 feet wide (uncertain) two ends stand N. W. & S. E. on the Eastern bank of Hudsons River. No Library (destroyed in the War), nor Museum. 300 Guineas worth * Professor of Greek and Latin. Appointed 1784, resigned 1789. 68 AFTER THE REVOLUTION of the best kind of Philosophical Instruments. Salary of each of the Professors 200 currency year ( ?) and the profits of the Class £1 year from each student." The number of charitable and scientific soci- eties existent in 1789, reflects credit upon the New York of that day, and exhibits no lack of public spirit or of humane impulse on the part of its citizens. The most prominent of these Associations was the New York Medical Soci- ety, of which the celebrated physician Dr. John Bard was the head. Then follows ''The Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge," "The Soci- ety for the relief of Distressed Debtors," "The Society for the Manumission of Slaves," and "The Manufacturing Society." The social, national and educational soci- eties were "The Marine Society," "The Gen- eral Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen," * "The Musical Society," " The German Society" and "The Society of the Cincinnati," (of both of which Baron Steuben was President)," St. Pat- rick's," "St. George's" and "St. Tammany's" or Columbian Order. This last named being, as we are informed by the compiler of the New * Instituted August 4, 1785. 69 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT York Directory for 1789, ''A National Society, consists of Americans born, who fill all offi- ces, and adopted Americans who are eligible to the honorary posts of warrior and hunter. It is founded on the true principles of patriotism, and has for its motives. Charity and brotherly love." Its officers consist of one grand sachem, twelve sachems, one treasurer, one secretary, one doorkeeper, it is divided into thirteen tribes which severally represent a state; each tribe is governed by a sachem, the honorary posts in which are one warrior and one hunter." Among other good works in which it engaged, this Society established and maintained a museum in the old City Hall in Wall Street, for the purpose of collecting and preserving every- thing relating to America, likewise every pro- duction of nature or art, for which purpose part of the funds of the Society were appropriated. So we see that, whatever of a term of reproach the name of Tammany has come to be in these later times, in its inception, and for many years the Society was respectability itself. In its an- nual list of members the names of many of our most respectable and worthy citizens will con- tinually be found. 70 AFTER THE REVOLUTION The New York Society Library, organized in 1754 and chartered by Governor Tryon in 1772, was the sole occupant of this particular field of usefulness. Banking facilities were limited to one establishment, the Bank of New York, Isaac Roosevelt, President, which began busi- ness in the Walton House, June 9, 1784. It was a bank of discount and deposit, open from 10 to I in the forenoon and from ^ to ty in the after- noon every day in the year except Sundays, Good Friday, and all legal holidays. Only one insurance company was in exist- ence — The Mutual Assurance Company of the City of New York, John Pintard, Secretary, which transacted both a fire and a marine in- surance business. The Fire Department was a volunteer organization, consisting of about 300 men, and as a volunteer organization it re- mained until the year 1865. The Militia under his Excellency, George Clinton, Commander-in-Chief, and the Masonic Lodges of which there were a number, complete the list of the various Associations, Institutions and Societies, that occupied the time and atten- tion of our forbears in 1789. William Bradford, New York's first printer had 7^ NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT long been sleeping, in his grave in Trinity Church Yard, but he had left successors not a few, and Washington, if he so wished, could have had six daily, bi-weekly, or weekly newspapers left upon his door step. First. — The New York Packet. Published every Tuesday and Saturday, by Samuel and John Loudon, Printers to the State, No. 5 Water Street, between the Coffee House and Old Slip. Second. — The New York Daily Gazette. Pub- lished by J. & A. M'Lean, at their Printing office, Franklin's Head, No. 41 Hanover Square. Third. — The New York Journal and Weekly Register. Printed and published by Thomas Greenleaf, at the Printing Office, No. 25 Water Street. Fourth. — The Daily Advertiser (established in 1786, and the first paper published daily). Printed by Francis Childs, No. 190 Water Street, Corner of King Street. Fifth. — The Morning Post and Daily Adver- tiser. Printed and published by Wm. Morton at his Printing Office, 231 Queen Street. Sixth. — Gazette of the United States. Edited and published Wednesday and Saturday by John Fenno, No. 9 Maiden Lane, near the Oswe- 72 AFTER THE REVOLUTION go Market, N. Y. This was a "National paper published at the seat of Government," and fol- lowed the Congress to Philadelphia. Hugh Gaine's " New York Mercury," after an existence of 31 years, expired with the estab- lishment of peace. Gaine continued the busi- ness of a printer, book-seller and stationer, and became active in Municipal affairs. He was one of the Governors of the New York Hospi- tal, a Trustee of the Society Library and the Treasurer of the St. Patrick's Society. James Rivington, King's printer," at- tempted to continue his paper, ''The Royal Gazette," after the evacuation, under the title of "The New York Gazette and Universal Ad- vertiser," but the paper met with no support, and its publication almost immediately ceased. "The New York Packet and the American Advertiser," was commenced in January, 1776, as a weekly paper, published on Thursdays, and bore the imprint " Printed by Samuel Loudon in Water Street, between the Coffee House and the Old Slip." During the war it was published at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson. After the return of peace it was again printed in this city, changed to a daily paper, and continued several years. 73 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT "The New York Journal or General Adver- tiser/' printed and published by John Holt, near the Exchange *'was a strong and constant ad- vocate of the American cause." When the Brit- ish took possession of the City in 1776, Holt re- moved to Kingston (Esopus) and when that town was burned by the British in October, 1777, he moved on with his press to Pough- keepsie, where he continued the publication of the Journal until the end of the war. In the autumn of 1783, Holt's paper was again printed in New York, with the title of "The In- dependent Gazette or the New York Journal Re- vised." In January, 1784, Holt died, and the paper was continued by his widow and a relative Eleazer Oswold, until January, 1787, when the paper and the printing materials were sold to Thomas Greenleaf, who made the establishment the foundation of two journals, one a weekly, for country circulation, the other a daily issue for the City. The last named appeared under the head- ing of "The New York Journal and Daily Patri- otic Register." 1 1 was later changed to a weekly paper. Greenleaf continued these newspapers until he fell a victim, at the age of forty-two, to the Yellow Fever epidemic in New York in 1798. 74 AFTER THE REVOLUTION In December, 1790, Congress removed to Phil- adelphia,* and the name and titles of George Washington, Esq., — President of the United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, disappear from the New York Directory. Our city enjoyed the distinction of having, as a resident, the Chief Executive of the Nation for less than two years, and never realized her dream of becoming the Capital of the Repub- lic. But a wider distinction — that of the chief city of a hemisphere— came to her in the natural course of events — and with this laurel leaf, we must be, and are contented. No Knickerbocker "to the manner born," has ever lost sleepo' nights over the question of his city's future consequence and state, and in this paean, sung in its praise by an early nineteenth-century writer, his fellow cit- izens we are sure joined with one and full accord. *'In the inevitable certainty of coming events, we can hardly estimate too high the greatness which awaits New York. Our vast continent teeming with undeveloped richness will be ad- vancing for centuries in improvement. Our city the grand outlet of its immense produce and * Philadelphia remained the seat of Government until 1801, when it was removed to Washington. 75 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT the main channel through which from all the world, its unlimited wants must be supplied, will increase in mightiness and size, and the arts and sciences brightening in the train of wealth, must render it through time the Western rival of the great commercial emporium of Europe, not merely in its wide extent, but in the splendor of decoration and universal interest which dis- tinguishes the modern Tyre/' The distinguished author upon whose head when a little lad the great Washington laid his hand in benediction, pictures for us the future of New York in a still more poetic fashion.* ''And the sage Oloffe dreamed a dream — and lo the good St. Nicholas came riding over the tops of the trees, in that self-same waggon wherein he brings his yearly presents to chil- dren; and he came and descended hard by where the heroes of Communipaw had made their late repast. And the shrewd Van Kortlandt knew him by his broad hat, his long pipe, and the re- semblance which he bore to the figure on the bow of the * Goede Vrouw.' And he lit his pipe by the fire, and he sat himself down and smoked ; and as he smoked, the smoke from his pipe * Knickerbocker's History of New York. Chap. IV. Book II. 76 AFTER THE REVOLUTION ascended into the air and spread like a cloud over his head. And the sage Oloffe bethought him, and he hastened and climbed up to the top of one of the tallest trees, and saw that the smoke spread over a great extent of country; and as he considered it more attentively, he fancied that the great volume of smoke assumed a variety of marvellous forms; where in dim ob- scurity he saw shadowed out palaces and domes and lofty spires, all of which lasted but a mo- ment and then faded away, until the whole rolled off and nothing but the green woods were left. And when St. Nicholas had smoked his pipe, he twisted it in his hat band, and laying his fmger beside his nose gave the astonished Van Kortlandt a very significant look; then mounting his waggon, he returned over the tree tops and disappeared. " And Van Kortlandt awoke from his sleep greatly instructed, and he aroused his com- panions and related to them his dream; and in- terpreted it that it was the will of St. Nicholas that they should settle down and build the city here. And that the smoke of the pipe was a type how vast should be the extent of the city; inasmuch as the volumes of its smoke should 77 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT spread over a vast extent of country ; ^ ^ ^ And the people lifted up their voices and blessed the good St. Nicholas, and from that time forth the sage Van Kortlandt was held in more hon- our than ever for his great talent of dreaming, and was pronounced a most useful citizen and a right good man — when he was asleep." Mynherr Van Kortlandt was not — as events have shown — the remarkably prophetic dreamer his neighbors imagined, and would himself ad- mit the fact, could his shade revisit the Island of Manhattan in this Year of Grace 1905 and note the length, height and depth of the city which has risen to its present grandeur, from the little town of less than twenty-five thou- sand inhabitants, where the " Father of his Country " for a brief period made his home. APPENDIX Contents PAGE I Description of the Federal Edifice at New York, taken from the Columbian Magazine, Philadelphia, 1789 81 II Account of the marble slab upon which stood the equestrian statue of George III in Bowling Green 87 III Chronological table ... 89 I DESCRIPTION OF THE FEDERAL EDIFICE AT NEW YORK* |.HE building is situated at the end of ^ Broad Street, where its front appears ^ to great advantage. The basement story is Tuscan and is pierced with seven open- ings; four massy pillars in the center support four Doric columns and a pediment. The frieze is ingeniously divided to admit thirteen stars in the metopes; these with the American Eagle and other insignia in the pediment, and the tablets over the windows filled with the thirteen arrows and the olive branch united, mark it as a build- ing set apart for national purposes. After entering from Broad Street, we fmd a plainly finished square room, flagged with stone, and to which the citizens have free access; *The Columbian Magazine (Philadelphia) for August, 1789, 81 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT from this we enter the vestibule in the center of the pile, which leads in front to the floor of the Representatives' room, or real Federal Hall, and through two arches on each side, by a public staircase on the left, and by a private one on the right, to the Senate Chamber and lobbies. This vestibule is paved with marble; is very lofty and well finished; the lower part is of a light rustic, which supports an handsome iron gallery; the upper half is in a lighter stile and isfinished with a skylight of about twelve by eighteen feet, which is decorated with a profusion of ornament in the richest taste. Passing into the Representatives' room, we find a spacious and elegant apartment, sixty-one feet deep, fifty-eight wide and thirty- six high, without including a coved ceiling of about ten feet high. This room is of an octangular form; four of its sides are rounded in the manner of niches and give a graceful variety to the whole. The windows are large and placed sixteen feet from the fioor; all below them is finished with plain wainscot, interrupted only by four chimneys; but above these a number of Ionic columns and pilasters, with their proper entablature, are very judiciously disposed and give great elegance. In the panels between the 82 AFTER THE REVOLUTION windows are trophies carved, and the letters U. S. in a cypher, surrounded with laurel. The speaker's chair is opposite the great door and raised by several steps; the chairs for the mem- bers are ranged semi-circularly in two rows in front of the speaker. Each member has his separate chair and desk. There are two galler- ies which front the speaker; that below projects fifteen feet. The upper one is not so large, and is intended to be at the disposal of the members for the accommodation of their friends. Be- sides these galleries there is a space on the floor, confined by a bar, where the public are admitted. There are three small doors for common use, be- sides the great one in the front. The curtains and chairs in this room are of light blue damask. It is intended to place a statue of Liberty over the speaker's chair, and trophies upon each chimney. After ascending the stairs on the left of the vestibule we reach a lobby of nineteen by forty- eight feet, finished with Tuscan pilasters; this communicates with the iron gallery before men- tioned, and leads at one end to the galleries of the Representatives' room, and at the other to the Senate Chamber. This room is forty feet 83 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT long, thirty wide, and twenty high, with an arched ceiHng; it has three windows in front and three back to correspond to them; those in front open into a gallery twelve feet deep, guarded with an elegant iron railing. In this gallery our illustrious President, attended by the Senate and House of Representatives, took his oath of office in the face of Heaven and in presence of a large concourse of people assembled in front of the building. The Senate Chamber is decorated with pilas- ters, &c., which are not of any regular order; the proportions are light and graceful; the capitals are of a fanciful kind, the invention of Major L'Enfant, the architect; he has appropriated them to this building, for amidst their foliage appears a star and rays and a piece of drapery below suspends a small medallion with U. S. in a cypher. The idea is new and the effect pleas- ing; and although they cannot be said to be of any antient order, we must allow that they have an appearance of magnificence. The ceiling is plain, with only a sun and thirteen stars in the center. The marble which is used in the chim- neys is American and for beauty of shades and polish is equal to any of its kind in Europe. The 84 AFTER THE REVOLUTION President's chair is at one end of the room, ele- vated about three feet from the floor, under a rich canopy of crimson damask. The Arms of the United States are to be placed over it. The chairs of the members are arranged semicircu- larly, as those in the Representatives' room. The floor is covered with a handsome carpet, and the windows are furnished with curtains of crimson damask. Besides these rooms, there are several others, for use and convenience; a library, lobbies and committee rooms above, and guard rooms below. On one side (which we could not show in the plate) is a platform level with the floor of the Senate Chamber, which affords a convenient walk for the members, of more than two hundred feet long, and is guarded by an iron railing. We cannot close our description without ob- serving that great praise is due to Major L'En- fant, the architect, who has surmounted many difficulties, and has so accommodated the ad- ditions to the old parts, and so judiciously al- tered what he saw wrong, that he has produced a building uniform and consistent throughout, and has added to great elegance every conven- ience that could be desired. 85 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT The exertion of the workmen ought not to pass unnoticed, who effected so great a work, in an unfavorable season, in the course of a few months. PAULUS HOECK, JERSEY CITY* "During the British occupancy of the Hoeck there was a burying ground south of Sussex Street and west of Washington Street. In this ground many of the enemy were buried, among whom was Major John Smith. Connected with his grave is an interesting fact. The equestrian statue of George III, which was set up in 1770, in the centre of Bowling Green, New York, was torn down on the 9th of July, 1776. It is said to have contained four thousand pounds of lead covered with gold leaf. The slab upon which the statue was placed now lies in the sidewalk in front of Cornelius Van Vorst's residence, on the south side of Wayne Street, near Jersey Avenue. It is a coarse marble, and is said to have been brought from England. The holes in which three of the hoofs of the leaden charger were fastened are yet to be seen. During the * From the " History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey." By Charles H. Winfield. New York, 1874. 86 AFTER THE REVOLUTION war it was brought to Paulus Hoeck — when, by whom or for what purpose (unless for the pur- pose to which it was afterwards put) is not known. On Friday evening, July 25, 1783, Major John Smith stationed at Paulus Hoeck, died, and was buried on the following Sunday with military honors.* This slab was placed over his grave, with the following inscription engraved upon it: IN MEMORY OF MAJOR JOHN SMITH of the XLIInd or Royal Highland Reg't, Who died 25 July, 1783, in the 48th Year of his Age, This Stone is erected By the officers of that Reg't His Bravery, Generosity & Humanity During an honorable service of 29 Years Endeared him to the Soldiers, To his Acquaintance & Friends. When this part of Jersey City was graded, Mr. Van Vorst (Faddy) took the slab to his *Rivington's Gazette, July 30, 1783. 87 NEW YORK AS WASHINGTON KNEW IT house in Harismus, where from supporting the charger of a King, it became the stepping-stone of a repubHcan. That building was torn down in 1818, when the stone was taken to the resi- dence of his grandson, on the north-east corner of Wayne Street and Jersey Avenue. It there became a step at the kitchen door. When this building was torn down in (about) 1854, the slab was placed where it now is. In 1828 an English gentleman offered Mr. Van Vorst five hundred dollars for it." On October 6, 1874 — as the writer is in- formed by Mr. Robert H. Kelby, Librarian of the New York Historical Society — the slab was presented by the Hon. Cornelius Van Vorst, through the Hon. Charles H. Winfield, to the Society, and subsequently was removed to its rooms in Second Avenue, where, in the hallway of that Institution, it may now be seen and examined by the curious in such matters. CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE PRIN- CIPAL HISTORICAL EVENTS REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK 1770 January i8th, Battle of Golden Hill (John Street, New York), first blood shed in defence of the rights of America. 1770 August i6th. Equestrian Statue of George III erected in Bowling Green. 1772 New York Society Library chartered by Governor Tryon. 1774 Committee of Fifty Citizens appointed, Isaac Low, Chairman. 1776 Richmond Hill house occupied as head- quarters by General Washington. 1776 July 9th, statue of George HI in Bowl- ing Green demolished. 1776 September 21st, the great fire. 493 houses destroyed. Trinity Church, Rec- tory and Charity School burned. 1778 FIRE in which about fifty houses were consumed. 1783 March 12th, preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and the United States signed at Paris. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE April 5th, PEACE PROCLAMATION received at New York. September 3d, definitive treaty of peace signed at Paris by the British Commis- sioner and the Envoys from the United States. November 25th, evacuation of the City of New York by the British troops, and entry of General Washington. December 4th, Washington's farewell to his officers at Fraunces' tavern. December 1 1 th, appointed by Congress as a day of public thanksgiving. January 21st, Legislature of the State meets in New York. June 9th, Bank of New York begins business in the Walton House. "The Daily Advertiser" established. The FIRST daily newspaper published in New York. FIRST NEW YORK DIRECTORY isSUed. Brissot de Marville, French author, editor, and publicist, visits this country. March 4th, day appointed for meeting of the Congress. 90 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1789 April 1 2th, Washington notified of his election to the Presidency of the United States. 1789 April 14th, leaves Mount Vernon. 1789 April 23d, arrives at New York. 1789 April 30th, INAUGURATION of Washing- ton in the balcony of Federal Hall. 1789 May 7th, Inaugural Ball given to Wash- ington by the subscribers of the Dancing Assembly. 1789 May 27th, Mrs. Washington with her two grand-children arrive at New York. 1789 John Adams, Vice-President, occupies the Richmond Hill house. 1789 Franklin House in Cherry Street occu- 1790 pied as a residence by President Wash- ington. 1789 October. Washington makes a tour of the Eastern States. 1790 December. Congress of the United States removes to Philadelphia. 1 80 1 Seat of Government removed to Wash- ington, D. C. 1804 July iith, duel between Hamilton and Burr. 1856 Franklin House demolished. 91 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1865 ^3iid Fire Department established. 1902 November iith, Chamber of Commerce takes possession of its new building in Liberty Street.