Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/historyofnewyork01 loss NEW YORK HISTORY NEW YORK CITY, EMBRACING AN OUTLINE SKETCH OF EVENTS FROM 1609 TO 1830, AND A FULL ACCOUNT OF ITS DEVELOPMENT FROM 1830 TO 1S84. BY BENSON J. LOSSING, LUX, Al'THOR OF "Pictorial Field Rook of the Revolution," " The War of 1812," and " The Civil War in America ;" "Mount Vernon and its Associations "Illustrated History of the United States ;" " Cyclopedia of United States History ;" " Our Country ;" " Story of the United Stales Navy, for Boys'' etc., etc. Pustrafcb uiillj Portraits, Yicurs of; JParfes, $mluiurts f tie, ENGRAVED ON STEEL EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK BY GEORGE E. PERINE. VOLUME r. NEW YORK : THE PERINE ENGRAVING AND PUBLISHING CO. m v4 Copyright, 1S34, by Geo. E. Perine. All Rights Reserved. PREFACE. Tins work is designed to be an outline picture of life in New York and of the city's material progress during the past sixty years. It is prefaced by a brief history of the city from the date of its foundation until 1830, when the impetus which produced its most marvellous development began to be power- fully felt, No attempt has been made by the author to give details of the commerce, finances, mechanic arts, and manufactures of the city, for the scope and limits of the work would not permit. A few notices of particular commercial, manufacturing, and other establishments have been given, only as illustrations of the enormous expansion of all kinds of business within the period of a quarter of a century. The work is essentially a social history of the city of New York. It contains an account of society there in its various aspects of home life, business activities, and social organizations, during a period of two generations. In it may be found brief records of the growth of the city in area, from time to time : changes in its architectural features ; its amusements ; its increase in population, commerce, manufactures, and other industries ; the transformations in the aspects of society and in municipal affairs ; its judiciary, educational systems, and its government ; its politics and its journalism ; its inventors and discoverers ; the disturbances and disasters which have afflicted it, and other events which have made it famous ; the origin and work of the principal educational, religious, scientific, literary, artistic, benevolent, and charitable institutions with which the city abounds, together with the names of the projectors, corporators, and present officers of the various institutions. In this work may also be found the portraits and brief bio iy PREFACE. graphical sketches of nearly one hundred citizens, who by their enterprise, intelligence, and character have materially assisted in the promotion of the prosperity and good name of New York, and in its elevation to the high position of the metropolis of the Western Hemisphere. They are the portraits of men whom their fellow-citizens delight to honor. These portraits and the materials for the biographical sketches have been obtained only through the earnest solicitations of the author. There are also numerous views of parks, public and private buildings, and other objects. These, like the portraits, are en- graved on steel in the best manner, expressly for the work. The backgrounds of all the plates are of uniform size, causing an unique symmetry in the illustrations, particularly noticeable. The vignette views are after original India-ink drawings by Mr. J. Lawrence Giles. The illustrations are uniformly distrib- uted through the work at equal distances apart, for the sake of regularity, and therefore could not, as a rule, be inserted where reference is made to them in the text. The reader, by referring to the list of portraits and other illustrations, may readily find their places in the work indicated ; and by a reference to the general index will as readily find the relevant biography or description sought. It has been observed that the scope and limits of this work would not permit minute details ; only a general view of the topics introduced. This, it is believed, will be more acceptable to the general reader than a narrative overburdened with the dry details of statistics, methods, and technicalities. The pub- lisher has projected another work, in which will be given a full account of the commerce, finances, mechanic arts, manufactures, and other industries, statistical and technical, in the city of New York from its foundation until now. That work will be a complement to this. The author gratefully acknowledges the uniform kindness „ and courtesy of the managers of institutions and of all others who have cheerfully aided him in gathering the materials for this work, and to these he tenders his sincere thanks. ILLUSTRATIONS. STEEL F Adams, Alyin. -facing page 262 Appleton, Daniel 226 Astob, John Jacob 30 Barker, Fordyce 600 Barnard, F. A. P 170 Bates, Levi M 342 Beach, Moses Y 634 Beroh, Henry 280 Blackford, Eugene G 572 Bliss, Cornelius N 618 Brown, James 90 Brewster, James B 556 Bruce, George 860 Cesnola, L. P. di 852 Clinton, De Witt 6 ('lark, Emmons 678 Colton, G. Q .. 738 Cooper, Peter 116 Crolius, Sr., Clarkson 816 Crosby, Howard 298 CUMMTNGS, THOS. S 216 Daiy, Charles P 468 Davis, Noah 316 De Witt, Thomas 438 De Peyster, Frederic 74 Dodge, William E 108 Dun, R. G 608 Durand, A. B 198 Eckert, Thomas T 688 Faber, Eberhard 786 Field, Benjamin H 476 Field, Cyrus W 236 Fish, Hamilton 82 Francis, John W 38 Fred ricks, C. D 754 Gerry, Elbrtdge T 536 Grace, William R 608 Green, Norvtn 352 (Jrinnell, Moses H 98 Harper, James 152 Hatch, G. W 528 Helmuth, William Tod 624 Henderson, Peter 796 ORTRAITS. j Hoe, Peter S 306 Hoe, Richard M 306 Hoe, Robert 306 Hoyt, JosErH B 770 Hughes, John (Archbishop) 254 I IvrsoN, Henry 582 I Jay, William 22 Jesup, Morris K 444 Kurtz, William 842 Lee, Gideon 54 | Leggett, Francis H 696 Lossing, Benson J tillr ]>btte Low, Abiel A 272 McKesson, John 546 McCloskey, John (Cardinal) 360 Macy, R. H 762 | Macy, William H 414 Martin, Charles J 460 Mott, Jordan L 484 Mott, Valentine ' 46 Moss, John C 746 Munn, O. D 590 Ottendorfer, Oswald 388 Packard, S. S 652 Pierrepont, Edwards 188 I Prime, S. Ieen.eus 452 Raynor, Samuel 730 Renwick, James 378 Ridley, Edward 704 Rogers, John 778 Roberts, Marshall 334 Starin, John H 510 Steinway, Henry 518 Stephenson, John 660 Sturges, Jonathan 66 Taylor, Moses 180 Thompson, John 406 Thorne, Jonathan 396 Tuff any, Charles L 324 Tyng, Stephen H 162 Valentine, Lawson 714 : Vanderbilt, Cornelius 144 Van Nostrand, Daniel 824 vi ILLUSTRATIONS Wales. Salem H facing page 492 Webb, James Watson 126 Webb, William H 424 Weed, Thurlow 832 Winston, Frederick S 244 VIEWS OF PARKS, Academy of Music .faring page 208 American News Company Building . . 642 Astor Library. 208 Baptist Home for the Aged 288 Bartholdi Statue of Liberty. . . .title plate Bates, Reed and Cooley's Building. . 806 Battery and Castle Garden 500 Bellevue Hospital 134 Bible House 288 Bloomingdale Asylum 134 Calvary Baptlst Church 134 Central Bark 432 Chemical Bank 564 Charlier Institute 208 City Hall, Court- House, and Park.. 564 Columbia College 208 Cooper Union 208 Custom-House 564 Dakota Apartment House 642 Elevated Railroad title plate Equestrian Statue of Washington. . 564 Evening Post Building 642 Five Points House of Industry 288 Fraunce's Tavern, where Washington Parted with his Officers . . .frontispiece Fulton Ferry 564 Fulton Street Daily Nooh Prayer- Meeting 134 Oramercy Park 500 Herald Building 642 High Bridge title plate Howard Mission 288 John Street Methodist Church . . 134 Lenox Library 208 Madison Square 500 Map of New York in 1728 14 Masonic Hall in 1830 .frontispiece Masonic Temple 288 Methodist Book Concern 288 Metropolitan Museum of Art 208 Mills Building 642 Mount Morris Pabk 500 National Academy of the Arts of Design 208 New York in 1776 frontispiece BUILDINGS, Etc. New Fulton Market .facing page 504 New York Historical Society 208 New York Hospital 134 New York and Brooklyn Bridge, title plate New Washington Market 504 Newsboys' Lodging- House 288 Nieuw Amsterdam in 1659. . . . frontispiece Normal College 208 Obelisk, The 564 Old City Hall frontispiece Old Government House in 1810 frontispiece Old Stone Bridge, Canal Street and Broadway in 1812 .frontispiece Post Office 564 Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue.. 134 Presbyterian Hospital 134 Produce Exchange 642 Residence of Mrs. A. T. Stewart. . . 642 R. Hoe & Co.'s Building 722 St. Luke's Hospital 134 St. Patrick's Cathedral 370 Seventh Regiment Armory 564 Society for the Prevention of Cruel- ty to Animals 288 Staats-Zeitung Building 642 Stock Exchange 642 Stuyvesant Square 500 Sun Building 642 Temple Court 564 Temple Emanu-el 134 Tombs, The 564 Times Building 642 Tribune Building 642 Trinity Church 134 Tompkins Squaee 500 Union Squabe 500 Union Theological Seminary 564 United Bank Building 642 Vanderbelt Mansions 642 Washington Square 500 Western Union Telegraph Building. .642 Windsor Hotel 564 Worth Monument « 564 Young Men's Christian Association Hall 288 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830. CHAPTER T. IT was a warm day in early September, 1609, when the yacht IMf- 3foon, of ninety tons burden, the hull of which bore many scars of wounds received in battle Avith ice-floes in polar seas, anchored in a bay now known as the harbor of New York. She had a high poop after the fashion of the times, strong masts, and ample spars and sails. She was commanded by Henry Hudson, an expert English navigator, then employed by the Dutch East India Company in searching for a passage through arctic waters to far-off China and the adjacent islands of the sea. Hudson had failed to penetrate the polar ice, and now sought the " strait below Virginia," spoken of by his friend Captain Smith, which might bear his vessel to the " South Sea" or Pacific Ocean. He had failed to find it ; but now, looking up the broad stream northward from his anchorage, in which the tide ebbed and flowed, his hopes revived, and he ascended the smooth waters toward the high mountains dimly seen in the hazy distance. But as he drew near these lofty hills, and the water freshened more and more, he was satisfied that it was a great river and not a connecting strait between the two oceans. Hudson sailed up the river to the head of tidewater, more than one hundred and fifty miles, finding dusky inhabitants everywhere. He was charmed with the beauty of the country and its promise of wealth and renown to whatever people should occupy it. Returning to the ocean, he sailed away for Europe to tell his employers what a magnifi- cent prize he had won for them. He had not reached India by the way of the Arctic Circle, but he had discovered a great river miming through a magnificent country heavily timbered, abounding with fur- bearing animals, and occupied by half-naked barbarians only. Hudson's wonderful story aroused the commercial cupidity of the Dutch merchants of Amsterdam, who had already established a very profitable fur trade with the northern Kussias. Very soon Dutch ves- sels from the Texel, among them the discovery yacht, appeared in the waters where Hudson first anchored the Half-Moon y and not long afterward Captain Christiansen, as agent for the merchants, accom- 4 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. panied by expert trappers and traders, built a redoubt, four log huts, and a storehouse on the slope west of (present) Broadway, just above the Bowling Green. This was the seed of the commercial metropolis of America, planted in 1(512, at the southern extremity of a long, rocky, and swampy island which the barbarians called Man-na-hat-ta. Among the bold Dutch navigators who came to Man-na-hat-ta or Manhattan was Adrien Block, in the schooner Tigress. When she was laden with bear-skins and was about to depart for the Texel late in 1613, she took fire and became a blackened wreck. Before the next spring, oaks that had sheltered bears where Wall Street " bulls" now contend with financial bruins, were fashioned into a trim-built yacht of sixteen tons, which was filled with skins and sailed for the Texel. She was named the Onrust — the " Restless'''' — a prophecy of that unresting activity which now marks the island of Manhattan. Such was the be- ginning, in lfil-f, of the vast merchant marine of the city of Xew York. In accordance with an ordinance lately passed by the Government of Holland, the Amsterdam merchants hastened to obtain a special license for trading in the newly discovered region. They procured a charter which gave them the monopoly of the trade for four years, and the region was named New Netheiiand. They enlarged their storehouse at Manhattan, built forts as trading stations near the site of Albany, and the little seed planted at the mouth of the river by Christiansen germinated into a thriving plant of empire — a village which they called Manhattan. Finally, in 1621, these merchants and others obtained from the States-General (the Congress) of Holland a charter for a Dutch West India Company. It made it a great commercial monop- oly, possessing almost regal powers to colonize, govern, and defend, not only that little domain on the Hudson, but the whole unoccupied coasts of America from Newfoundland to Cape Horn, and from the Cape of Good Hope far northward along the coast of Africa. The charter contained all the guarantees of freedom, in social, political, and religious life, necessary to the founding of a free state, and which characterized the institutions of Holland. Xo stranger was to be ques- tioned concerning his nativity or his creed. " Do you wish to build, to plant, and to become a citizen V was the sum of the catechism when a new-comer appeared. Before the company was fairly organized, the menacing growls of the lion of England induced them to adopt measures for making a perma- nent settlement in New Netherland, and place an industrious colony there who should found a state. In lf!23 the company sent over the New Xetherhmri , a stanch ship of two hundred and sixty tons, bearing OUTLINE HISTORY, 1G09 1830. 5 thirty families of Walloons, Protestant refugees from (present) Belgium, who spoke the French language and who had settled in Holland. They consisted of one hundred and ten men, women, and children. They brought with them agricultural implements, cows, horses, sheep, and swine, and a sufficiency of household furniture to make them com- fortable. Captain May, who commanded the New NetherUmd, was constituted their first or temporary governor. These immigrants — the first of a vast multitude who have come to our shores in the course of more than two hundred and fifty years — landed from the New Nethevland in small boats, at the rock}' point on which Castle Garden now stands, and is the receptacle of thousands of emigrants who enter the harbor of New York every year. It was a beautiful morning in May, 1623, when they ascended the bank in their picturesque costumes, every man carrying some article of domestic use, and many of the women carrying a baby or a small child in their arms. They were cordially received by the traders and friendly Indians, and were feasted under a tent made of sails stretched between several trees. A Christian teacher accompanied them, who, before they partook of their first meal, offered up fervent thanks to Almighty God for his pre- serving care during their long voyage, and implored his blessing upon the great undertaking before them. Captain May then read his com- mission as governor of the colony and the country ; and so the germ of the city and State of New York was planted in a fruitful soil. These immigrants were immediately scattered to different points to form settlements. Some founded the city of Brooklyn on Long Island, and near what was known as the Wallabomt (now the Navy- Yard), Sarah Rapalje, the earliest born in New Netherland of European parents, first saw the light of life. Some went up the Connecticut River and built Fort Good Hope, just below the site of Hartford ; others planted themselves at Esopus, in Ulster County, N. Y., and on the site of Albany ; and four young married couples went to the Delaware ami began a settlement on the New Jersey side of that stream, a few miles below Philadelphia. New Netherland was constituted a county of Holland, its official seal bearing the fijrure of a beaver with the coronet of a count for its crest. "When the Neio Netherland returned to the Texel with furs valued at over $10,000, and her commander reported the colonists in good heart and prosperous, there was as much excitement as was possible in the staid Dutch towns in Holland. People longed to go to the pictured paradise. The members of the "West India Company were delighted. They commissioned Peter Minuit. one of their number, First Director 6 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. or governor ; sent other ships with emigrants, stock, and agricultural implements ; and when the new governor arrived, in 1626, he opened negotiations with the barbarians for the purchase of Manhattan Island. It contained, it was estimated, about twenty-two thousand acres of land, and it was bought for the sum of twenty-four dollars, which was paid in cheap trinkets, implements of husbandry, and weapons. Each party was satisfied, for each felt it had made a good bargain. When the purchase was completed, an engineer staked out the lines of a fort at the southern extremity of the island, near the site of the modern " Battery." The specification called for a work " faced with stone, having four angles,' 1 by which the Bay in front and the Hudson and East rivers on its flanks might be commanded by cannon. The fort, which was nothing more than a strong redoubt surrounded l>v cedar palisades, was finished the next year, and was named Fort Amsterdam. Each settler protected by it owned the house he lived in, kept a cow, tilled the land, and traded with the Indians. There were no idle persons. The traders delivered all their furs at the trading- house of the company (a large stone building thatched with reeds), and the year when the fort was completed furs were sent to Holland valued at almost twenty thousand dollars, As yet there was neither a clergyman nor a schoolmaster in the colony, but there were two appointed " consolers of the sick," whose duty it was to read the Script- ures and the creeds to the people on Sundays, who were gathered in a large loft of a horse-mill. A tower was erected, in which were hung Spanish bells captured by the company's fleet at Porto Rico the year before— the first " church-win"- bells" 1 heard on Manhattan Island. It was during the building of the fort that an event occurred which caused much embarrassment and misery to the colony afterward. An Indian, his nephew, and another barbarian, members of a tribe in Westchester County, came to Manhattan with beaver-skins to barter with the Dutch. The beaten trail of the Indians from the Harlem 1 liver was along the shores of the East River to Kip's Bay, and then diverging westward passed by a large pond Where the halls of justice, or The Tombs, now stand. At that pond they were met by three farm servants of the governor, who robbed and murdered the men with the peltries. The boy escaped. This deed was long unknown to the Dutch authorities, and the guilty men probably escaped punishment, lint the young barbarian vowed he would avenge the murder of his uncle. It was done with fearful usury years afterward. This atrocious deed made the surrounding Indians, who were disposed to be friendly with the Europeans, jealous, suspicious, and vengeful. OUTLINE HISTORY, 1 009 1830. 7 The little colony flourished, and the village which grew up under the protecting wing- of the fort was called Manhattan, which name it retained until Stuyvesant came in KMT. The community at Manhattan became cosmopolitan in its composition, as New York now is, because of the freedom enjoyed there, and finally gave to the State and nation a race in whose veins course the blood of Teuton, Saxon, Celt, and Gaul. Their passion for far-reaching commerce and adventurous enter- prise has been a characteristic of the inhabitants of Manhattan Island from that time until the present, through all their social and political vicissitudes. "Within twenty years after Hudson's discovery of the island the people there turned their attention to ship-building, and in 1031 they actually completed a ship, named Xew Netherlands of six hundred or eight hundred tons, and sent it to Holland. It was probably one of the greatest merchant vessels then in the world. It was a costly experiment, and was not repeated ; and it was nearly two hundred years afterward when the shipwrights of Manhattan began to build merchant vessels of such large proportions. The "West India Company, in order to encourage emigration to New Xetherland and increase the population and strength of the colony, "•ranted to some of the directors large tracts of land, and invested each with the privileges of a " lord of the manor/' on condition that he should, within a specified time, have on his estates fifty bona-fide settlers. These proprietors were called patroons. One of the most extensive landholder's among these directors was Killian Van Rens- selaer, a pearl merchant in Amsterdam, whose domain lay on each side of the Hudson River at or near Albany. In the warehouse of the company at Amsterdam was a clerk named Van Twiller, who had married Van Rensselaer's niece. He was narrow-minded and inexperienced, but he had served Van Rensselaer well in shipping cattle to his American domain. Through that director's influence Van Twiller was appointed governor of Xew Xetherland, to succeed Minuit. He was a sleek, rotund, bullet-beaded Dutchman, who loved ease of mind and body ; was dull of intellect, yet shrewd and cunning : always courageous where there was no danger, and undecided and wavering. He came to New Amsterdam in 1633, and was a dead weight upon the prosperity of the colony for four years ; yet it flourished in spite of him. With him came Everardus Bogardus, the first clergyman who appeared in the colony ; also a schoolmaster. Bogardus was an able, earnest, and bold man. Faithful to his 8 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. mission, he did not hesitate to reprove Van Twiller for his short- comings in his official, moral, and religious duties. On one occasion he called him a " child of the devil " to his face, and told him that if he did not behave himself he would "give him such a shake from the pulpit" the next Sunday as would make him tremble like a bowl of jelly. Van Twiller lost the respect of all the citizens, and was recalled. This was a severe disappointment to him, for he had dreamed of living in ease and dying in New Netherland. He had bought Nutten Island, in the harbor, and there he proposed to retire when the cares of government should become too burdensome for him, and vegetate in luxurious comfort. That little domain has been known as " Governor's Island " ever since. Van Twiller was succeeded by William Keift, an energetic, rapacious, and unscrupulous man, who brought serious trouble upon the colony. He endeavored to concentrate all power in his own hands, and began a tyrannous rule. A small colony of Swedes had settled on the Dela- ware. With these Keift quarrelled. He incurred the enmity of the English on the Connecticut, and of the Indians all around. Under a flimsy pretence he sent an armed force to attack the Raritan Indians in New Jersey. Many of them were killed. Savage vengeance did not slumber long. The Raritans ravaged outlying plantations and murdered their occupants. Keift prepared for war. The colonists, alarmed, boldly opposed him. They held him responsible for their troubles. Hitherto they had lived peaceably with their barbarian neighbors ; now these were all hostile. Keift yielded to popular clamor for the moment. He requested the inhabitants to choose twelve men, heads of families, with whom he might consult on public affairs. It was done, and this was the germ of representative govern- ment in the State of New York. The Twelve not only refused to sanction Keift's war schemes, but took cognizance of public grievances, when he dismissed them. Some River Indians fled before the fiery Mohawks and took refuge with the Ilackensacks at Hoboken. Keift, burning with a cruel desire to " chastise savages," sent over a body of armed men at midnight in February, lt!43, who fell upon the sleeping fugitives and before the dawn massacred a hundred men, women, and children, and returned to New Amsterdam with the heads of several of the slain. By this savage act the fierce hatred and thirst for vengeance of all the surround- ing barbarians were aroused. A furious war was kindled. Villages and farms were desolated, and white people were butchered wherever the Indians found them. For two years the colony of New Netherland OUTLINE HISTORY, 1G09-1830. 9 was threatened with destruction. The war finally ceased. The people clamored for the recall of the governor, and he was summoned to Holland. He perished hy shipwreck while on his way with a large fortune, and was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesant in 1647, late governor of Curacoa, a soldier of eminence, and possessed of every requisite for an efficient administration of government.* Stuyvesant was too frank and hold to conceal his opinions and inten- tions. At the very outset he frowned at every expression of republi- can sentiment, defended Keift's rejection of the interference of the Twelve, and plainly told the people, " If any one during my adminis- tration shall appeal, I will make him a foot shorter and send the pieces to Holland, and let him appeal in that way. . . . It is treason to petition against one's magistrate, whether there be cause or not." With such despotic sentiments Stuyvesant began his iron rule. He was a tyrant ; yet honesty and wisdom marked all his acts. He set about reforms with vigor. The morals of the people, the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians, the support of religion, and the regulation of trade received his immediate attention, and he imparted much of his own energy to the citizens. Enterprise took the place of sluggishness, lie treated the Indians so kindly, and so soon won their respect and friendship, that the foolish story went abroad that he was forming an alliance with the savages to exterminate the English at the eastward. Stuyvesant found the finances of the colony in such a wretched con- dition that taxation was necessary. For two centuries a political maxim of Holland had been, " Taxation without representation is tyranny"' — a postulate copied by our patriots when they began the old war for independence. Stuyvesant dared not disregard this great prin- ciple, for it would offend his masters the States-General, so he called a meeting of citizens and directed them to choose eighteen of their best men, of whom he might select nine as representatives of the taxpayers, who should form a co-ordinate branch of the local government. He was careful to hedge this popular council about with restrictions. The * Peter Stuyvesant was the last Dutch governor of New Netherland. He was born in Holland in 1C02, and died in the city of New York (formerly New Amsterdam) in August, 1682. Serving as a soldier in the West Indies, he became governor of Curacoa. He lost a leg in battle. Returning to Holland, he was sent to New Netherland as First Director or Governor, in 1647, where he ruled tyrannically but righteously until 1664, when the province was taken possession of by the English. After that event he went to Holland to report in person the misfortunes of the colony. He returned to New York, and resided on his farm, which lay along the East River on Manhattan Island. His wife was Judith Bayard, by whom he had two sons. He was dignified, honest, and brave. 10 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. first nine selected were to choose their successors, so as to prevent the people having a direct voice in public affairs. But the Nine proved to be more potent than the Twelve. They nourished the prolific seed of democracy, and gave Stuyvesant much uneasiness. The inhabitants of Manhattan asked the States-General for a muni- cipal government. It was granted in 1053, under the corporate title of New Amsterdam. Its government was modelled after that of old Amsterdam, but with somewhat less political freedom in its features. The soul of Stuvvesant was troubled bv this " imprudent trusting? of power with the people/ 1 The burghers wished for more power, but it could not then be obtained. A silver seal was given to the authorities of the new city, and a painted coat-of-arms was sent to them. A new trouble disturbed Stuvvesant. In the fall of the same year when New Amsterdam was incorporated, a convention of nineteen delegates, chosen by the people of eight villages or communities, assem- bled at the town-hall in the city, ostensibly to take measures against the depredations of savages and pirates. The governor tried to control their action, but failed. When they adjourned they invited the governor to partake of a collation with them. Of course he would not so sanction their proceedings, and refused, when they plainly told him he might do as he pleased ; they should hold another convention soon, and he might prevent it if he could. Stuvvesant stormed and threat- ened these incipient rebels, but prudently yielded and issued a call for another convention, and so gave legality to the measure. They met on December 10, 1053. Many English people were now settled among the Dutch, and had intermarried with them, and of the nineteen dele- gates chosen ten were of Dutch and nine of English nativity. This was the liist real representative government in the great State of New York, now an empire with a population of over five millions. Now and here was fought the first battle between democracy and despotism on the soil of New York. The convention adopted a remon- strance to the States-General against the tyrannous rule of the gov- ernor, and sent it to him, with a demand for a categorical answer to each of the several counts. He met it with his usual pluck. He denied their authority. He blustered and threatened. They told him plainly that if he refused to comply with their demand they would appeal to the States-General. At this threat, uttered by the lips of a bold messenger — Beeckman, of Brooklyn — the governor took fire, and seizing his cane ordered him to leave his presence. The ambassador folded his arms and silently defied the wrath of Stuyvesant. When his anger cooled he asked Beeckman to pardon his sudden ebullition of OUTLINE HISTORY, 1C09-1830. 11 feeling, but he ordered the convention to disperse instantly. They did no such thing, hut executed their threat by sending an advocate to Holland with a list of their grievances, and asked for redress. So republicanism, like any other truth, has remarkable vitality, and is fostered by persecution. It never receded from the position it assumed in New Amsterdam at Christmas, 1C53. Stuyvesant was a faithful servant of the Dutch West India Company, watching and defending its interests at all points. The Swedes on the Delaware became aggressive ; he made war upon them, conquered them, and as did Alfred of England with the Danes, he ahsorbed them politically, and they became loyal subjects of the Dutch. This accom- plished, the long peace with the Indians was suddenly broken by the murder of a squaw by a citizen of New Amsterdam, who detected her stealing bis peaches. The fury of her tribe was fiercely kindled. Before daybreak one morning, about two thousand River Indians appeared before New Amsterdam in sixty canoes. They landed, and searched for the murderer of the squaw. Stuyvesant summoned their leaders to a conference at the fort. They were promised justice, and agreed to leave the island. They did not, and at midnight they invaded the city and shot the murderer, whom they knew. The people flew to arms and drove the barbarians from the city. The Indians crossed the surrounding waters and ravaged New Jersey and Staten Island. Within three days a hundred white inhabitants were killed, fifty were made captive, and three hundred estates were utterly desolated by the dusky foe. Stuyvesant finally restored order, and then issued a proclamation directing those who lived in secluded places in the country to gather themselves into villages for mutual defence. Another and more serious crisis for New Amsterdam and New Netherland came. The British always claimed the whole territory of New Netherland as their own. The British monarch granted the domain to his brother, the Duke of York. In 1604 the duke sent ships of war and troops to take possession. The people of New Amsterdam were quite willing to exchange Dutch rule for " English liberty,'' and counselled submission when the armament appeared. Stuyvesant held out, but was finally compelled to yield. The English took possession. The name of the fort was changed from Amsterdam to James, and the name of the city and province were changed to New York. The city was held temporarily by the Dutch awhile afterward, when New Netherland became a permanent English possession. But the people soon found " English liberty" not so easy to bear as ' ; Dutch tyranny/' 12 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. for their new masters taxed them almost without stint. Yet they prospered, and were comparatively happy. Republicanism grew apace in the city and province of New York. Many of that faith had fled from persecution to America, and inocu- lated the people here with its doctrines. The people of New York clamored for a representative government, and in 1683 — about thirty years after the Dutch of the same city made a similar demand — their request was granted. Governor Dongan, an enlightened Roman Catholic, favored their wishes, and on the 17th of October, 1G83, was established the first General Assembly of the Province of New York, which sat three weeks and passed fourteen acts which became laws. The first of these was entitled " The ('barter of Liberties and Privileges granted by his Royal Highness to the inhabitants of New York and its Dependencies.'' It was ratified by the duke. The day of that assem- bling is a memorable one in the history of New York. Before we proceed further, let us take a brief glance at the social condition of New York before its surrender to the English. At that time it contained about three hundred houses and about fifteen hundred inhabitants. The city was then one of considerable wealth, and many of the inhabitants were enjoying the comforts which riches bring. But riches is a thing of relative estimate. A citizen then worth a thousand dollars was esteemed a rich man. At first their houses were of logs, the roofs thatched with reeds and straw, the chimneys made of wood, and the light of the windows entered through oiled paper. Their tables were made of rough planks ; their platters were of wood or pewter ; the spoons of the same ; and carpets were unknown until the time of the revolution in 1688. Finally the unsafe thatched roofs and wooden chimneys gave place to tUes and shingles and brick. The better houses were built of brick imported from Holland until some enterprising citizens established a brickyard on the island during the administration of Stuyvesant. Every house was surrounded with a garden, in which cabbage was the chief vegetable cultivated, and tulips the principal flowers. Good horses were rare until they began to import them from New England, but their cows and swine were generally of excellent quality. There Avere no carriages until after the revolution, and the first hackney coach was introduced into the city of New York in 1696. It is said that the first carpet — a big Turkey rug — seen in the city belonged to Sarah Oort, the wife of the famous Captain Kidd. The clean floors were daily strewn with white beach-sand wrought into artistic forms by the skilful motion of the broom. Huge oaken chests filled with OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609 1830. 13 household linen wore seen in a corner of a room in every house, and in another corner a triangular cupboard with a glass door, in which was displayed shining pewter or other plates. As wealth increased a few had china tea-sets, and solid silver tankards, punch-bowls, porringers, and ladles. Tea had only lately found its way to New York when the revolution of 1(>8S occurred. Clocks and watches were almost unknown, and time was measured by sun-dials and hour-glasses. The habits of the people were so regular that they did not need clocks and watches. At nine o'clock they all said their prayers and went to bed. They arose at cock-crowing, and breakfasted before sunrise. Dinner-parties were unknown, but tea- parties were frequent. These ended, the participants went home in time to attend to the milking of the cows. In every house were spinning-wheels, and it was the pride of every family to have an ample supply of home-made linen and woollen cloth. The women spun and wove, and were steadily employed. Nobody was idle. Nobody was anxious to get rich, while all practised thrift and frugality. Books were rare luxuries, and in most houses the Bible and Prayer-book constituted the stock of literature. The weekly discourses of the clergymen satisfied their intellectual wants, while their own hands, industriously employed, furnished all their physical necessities. Knit- ting and spinning held the place of whist and music in these " degener- ate days," and utility was as plainly stamped upon all their labors and pleasures as is the maker's name on our silver spoons. These were the "good old days" of simplicity, comparative innocence, and positive ignorance, when the "commonalty" no more suspected the earth of the caper of turning over like a ball of yarn every day than Stuyvesant did the Puritans of candor and honesty. CHAPTER II. THE Duke of York became King of England as James II. in 1685. As king he refused to confirm the " Charter of Liberties" which, ;is duke, he had granted to the inhabitants of New York. lie ordered a direct tax, forbade the use of a printing-press in the province, and tilled the public offices with Roman Catholics, whose faith he had embraced and avowed. The liberal and just Governor Dongan stood by the people as long as he could, but in the spring of 1688 he was ordered to surrender the government of New York into the hands of Sir Edmund Andros, a supple tool of the king, who had a viceregal commission to rule that province and all New England. Andros was received in New York by Colonel Bayard's regiment ; and in the midst of rejoicings among the royalists — the aristocracy — because of his arrival, news came that James's queen had given birth to a son and heir to his throne. The event was celebrated that evening by a banquet at the City Hall, while bonfires blazed in the streets. At the festive table Mayor Van Cortlandt became hilarious, and testified his loyalty and joy by making a burnt sacrifice of his hat and periwig, waving the blazing offerings over the banquet-table on the point of his straight sword. Republicanism had grown apace in New York, and there was great disappointment among the Protestant republicans ; for in case of failure of an heir on the part of King James, his daughter Mary, who had married the Protestant Prince William of Orange, would be his suc- cessor. Their disappointment was soon turned to joy when news came that James had been driven from the throne, was an exile in Erance, and William and Mary were joint monarchs of England. The people seized Fort James, at the foot of Broadway. Their leader was Jacob Leisler,* a popular and leading shipping merchant, who had come to * Jacob Leisler was a native of Frankfort, in Germany. He came to America in 1660, resided awhile in Albany, New York, when he became a merchant in the city of New York. While on a voyage to Europe in 1678, he, with several others, were made prisoners by Turks, and paid a high price for their ransom. He entered public life under Governor Dongan, and as a military leader he was at the head of an insurrec- OUTLINE HISTORY, 16C0-1S30. 15 New Amsterdam a soldier in the service of the West India Company, and was captain of one of the militia companies of the city. lie was a warm friend of William of Orange and an ardent republican. The aristocratic party of Xew York, led by Mayor Van Cortlandt, Colonel Bayard, and other members of the council, hated Leisler because of his political principles, and when, obedient to the wishes of the people, he assumed the functions of governor of the province in the absence of a representative of royal authority, they were enraged by this democratic movement, led by " an insolent plebeian and foreigner.'" They resolved on his destruction ; and when a royal governor (Sloughter) came, they procured Leister's arrest on a charge of treason. He was unfairly tried and condemned. The governor hesitated to sign his death-warrant before the pleasure of the sovereigns should be known. Sloughter was made drunk at a feast, and in that condition was induced to sign the fatal document. Before he was sober, Leisler and his son-in-law, Jacob Milborne, were hanged. His enemies thought they had crushed democracy in New York. Swift disappointment overtook them. The Earl of Bellomont came as governor, and under orders from the Privv Council and his king he gladly aided in reversing the attainder of Leisler and procuring the restoration of the victim's confiscated property to his children. The tables were now turned. Democracy obtained a stronger foothold in New York than ever. Under the very law enacted for the purpose of bringing Leisler to trial for treason, Colonel Bayard, its chief promoter, Avas tried for the same offence, found guilty, and saved from the gallows only by the death of Bello- mont and the accession of Edward Hyde, a profligate man and a bitter enemy of republicanism in any form. He liberated Bayard. We have now come to a period in the history of ]S T ew York when the political and social forces known respectively as Democracy and Aristocracy were organized for the great conflict which resulted in the triumph of the former at the close of the old war for independence in 1TS3. From the accession of Governor Lovelace in 17»>8, to that of Governor Cosby in 1732, democracy prevailed in the General Assembly of Xew York, and the royal representatives were compelled to yield to the will of the people as expressed by that assembly. .V new social element had just been introduced into the city of Xew tionary movement in the city of Xew York after the accession of William anil Mary. He assumed the functions of governor of the colony, but on the arrival of a royally appointed governor he was arrested, condemned as a traitor, and hanged on May 16, lfiOl, with his son-in-law, Milborne. Leisler purchased New Rochelle for the Hugue- nots. 16 HISTORY OF NEW TORE CITY. York by Governor Hunter. Louis XIV. had caused the expulsion from their country of Protestant Rhenish Palatines, who besought the British Government to give them homes in America. It was done, and £10,000 were appropriated to defray their expenses, they pledging themselves to produce materials for the royal navy in the way of reimbursement. By command of Queen Anne, three thousand of the German Palatines accompanied Governor Hunter to New York. A considerable number of them remained in the city ; others went up the Hudson River to Livingston's manor and settled the region known as Gennantown ; others went to the Mohawk Valley and founded the settlement of the German Flats ; while the greater portion made homes in Pennsylvania, and so laid the foundations of the German population which forms so large and influential an element in the social fabric of that commonwealth. Those Germans "were industrious and frugal. o Those who remained in the city soon built a Lutheran church on Broadway, on the site of the first Grace Church, near Trinity. This was the beginning of the vast German emigration to America. In 1725 a new element of power in the realm of opinion appeared in New York. "William Bradford,* who had set up the first printing- press in the province, issued the first newspaper published in that colony in October of that year. He entitled it the New York Weekly (rosette. It became the organ of the aristocratic party. "When Governor Montgomerie died, in 1731, Rip Van Dam, the senior member of the council, took charge of public affairs until the arrival of Governor Cosby the next year. The latter was avaricious and arbitrary by nature. On his arrival he demanded of Van Dam an equal share in that officer's salary while acting as governor. It was refused, and Cosby sued him in the Supreme Court. A majority of the judges were of the aristocratic party, and gave judgment against Van Dam. The chief justice (Morris) decided against the governor, and the latter removed him and put James De Lancey in his place. The sympathies of the people were with Van Dam. They wanted an * William Bradford was a Friend or Quaker, and a printer by trade. He was born in Leicester, England, in 1C50, and at the age of 23 years emigrated to America, landing on the spot where Philadelphia was begun. He had learned his trade in London, and set up a press (the first) in Pennsylvania. There was a quarrel among the chief religionists of Pennsylvania. Bradford having become unpopular with the dominant party, he removed to New Vork, where he introduced printing into that province in 1(593. That year he printed the laws of the colony. He established the first newspaper in New York, called the JYeio York Gazette, in the fall of 1725, and in 1728 he established a 2)aper-rnill at Elizabeth, N. J. He was printer to the government for fully fifty years, and the only one in the colony for thirty years. OUTLINE HISTORY, 1009-1830. 17 organ, and they persuaded John Peter Zenger,* who had been an apprentice with Bradford and his business partner for a while, to estab- lish an opposition newspaper. lie did so in November, 1733, giving it the title of the New York Weekly Journal. Van Dam, who was a leading merchant, stood behind Zenger as his financial supporter. This organ of the democratic party made vigorous war upon the governor and his political friends, and finally it charged him and them with violating the rights of the people, the assumption of tyrannical power, and the perversion of their official stations for selfish purposes. When they could not answer nor endure these attacks any longer, Zenger w as arrested on a charge of libelling the government, and the council ordered his papers containing these alleged libels to be burned by the common hangman. After lying in jail several months Zenger was brought to trial. Meanwhile a republican association called 4i Sons of Liberty" worked assiduously for Zenger, and his friends employed the venerable Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia, then eighty years of age and the foremost lawyer in the colonies, as the prisoner's counsel. The case excited widespread interest and attention, for it involved the great question of liberty of speech and of the press. At that famous trial Chief-Justice De Lance}' presided. The court- room was crowded. The citizens generally sympathized with Zenger. The prisoner pleaded " Not guilty.*' admitted the publication of the alleged libel, and offered full proof of its justification. The attorney- general rose to oppose the admission of such proofs. At that moment the venerable Hamilton entered the room. Pumors had gone abroad that he would be there. The multitude rose to their feet and welcomed him with waving of hats and loud huzzas. With his long white hair Mowing over his shoulders, this Nestor of the bar in a few eloquent words scattered all the legal sophistries of the prosecution to the winds. He declared that the jury were themselves judges of the facts and the law ; that they were a part of the court ; that they were competent to judge of the guilt or innocence of the accused ; and he reminded them * John Peter Zenger was a German, a son of a widow among the Palatines who came to New York in the reign of Queen Anne. He was apprenticed to William Bradford, the printer, became his partner, and in 1733 began a weekly newspaper in the city of New York, called the Weekly Journal. For some strictures on the conduct of the governor, Zenger was prosecuted for a libel, and was imprisoned thirty-five weeks. His trial was a famous one. He was defended by the great lawyer, Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia, and was acquitted. His acquittal was regarded as a vindication of the freedom of the press. Zenger died in New York in 1746. 18 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. that they were the sworn protectors of the rights, liberties, and privi- leges of their fellow-citizens, which, in this instance, had been violated by a most outrageous and vindictive series of persecutions. The chief- justice's charge to the jury was wholly averse to this doctrine of the great advocate, but after a brief conference they returned a verdict of " Not guilty." A shout of triumph went up from the multitude, and Hamilton was borne from the court-room upon the shoulders of the people to an entertainment prepared for him. The citizens gave him a public dinner the next day, and a few weeks later the corporation of New York gave Hamilton their thanks and the freedom of the city in a gold box. He had served a righteous cause without a fee, because it was a righteous cause. To the city of New York is due the imperishable honor of first vindi- cating the freedom of the press in the English-American colonies, and it has ever maintained the exalted position of a champion of liberty and the rights of man under all circumstances. The population, industries, and wealth of New York City had rapidly increased since the beginning of the century. In about thirty years the population had expanded from live thousand to almost nine thou- sand. Already the shipping employed in trade gave the city the char- acter of a commercial metropolis, and its merchants were noted for enterprise, intelligence, wealth, and probity. For a while they had serious difficulties to contend with. At the close of the seventeenth century the ocean swarmed with pirates. They entered the harbor of New York and seized vessels lying at anchor. It is believed that men in high official station there were confederated with the buccaneers, shared their booty, and shielded them from punishment. Finally a worthy shipmaster of New York, Captain Kidd,'* was employed by a * William Kidd was a prominent shipmaster in New York at the close of the seven- teenth century. His wife was Sarah Oort. Kidd was the son of a Scotch Nonconformist minister, and had followed the sea from his youth. He was regarded as the boldest and most enterprising mariner of New York, about 10595, when he was appointed captain of a privateer, owned by King William, Governor Bellomont, Robert Livingston, and several of the English nobility, and was fitted out for the suppression of piracy. He received his commission from King William. He sailed in the Adventure Galley from Plymouth, England, in lfiOG, for the Indian seas, where, after scattering the pirates, he became one himself, or rather was compelled by his crew to become the commander of a pirate ship. He returned to New York with large booty in 1698. The piratical partners of the Adven- ture Galley raised such a hubbub in England, that her owners, to escape the odium of Kidd's conduct, made him a scapegoat. With virtuous pretensions Lord Pellomont caused Kidd's arrest on the charge of piracy and murder. He was convicted and hanged at Plymouth, England, on May 24, 1701. The charge of piracy was not proven, and the killing for which he suffered was undoubtedly accidental. OUTLINE HISTORY, 1G09-1830. 19 company to disperse or destroy the pirates. He succeeded, but finally, through great temptation, he turned pirate himself in distant seas, and was hanged in England, an unfortunate scapegoat for his more guilty titled confederates. Intellectual forces of much strength were early at work in the city of New York. The third printing-press in the English-American colonics was set up there by William Bradford, and in 1093 he printed the laws of the colony in a small folio volume. This was the first publica- tion of a book in that city, where millions are now issued every year. Episcopacy had been made the leading ecclesiastical system in New York by the fiat of royal governors, and on the establishment of Trinity Church, in 1090, public worship was conducted in the English language instead of the Dutch, excepting in the Reformed Dutch Church. Trinity Church edifice — a small, square structure with a very tall spire — was completed in 1097, and in 1703 Queen Anne granted to it the " King's Farm" on the west side of Broadway — the famous " Trinity Church property" claimed by the alleged heirs of Annetye Jans-Bogardus. The first attempt had been made in 1097 to light the streets of New York by hanging a lantern from a pole projecting from a window in every seventh house. A night watch of four men had been established at the same time, and two men were appointed to inspect the hearths and chimneys of the six hundred houses in the city once a week. A public ferry between New York and Long Island had been established by the city authorities, and in 1707 Broadway had been first paved from the Bowling Green to Trinitv Church. In 17<>9 it was levelled as far as Maiden Lane. In that year a slave-market had been established on the site of the old block-house at the foot of Wall Street, where most of the shipping was moored. Rigorous municipal laws concerning the slaves were strictly administered, which caused occasional out- breaks. The first hospital for the poor had been established in 1099, and in L705 the first grammar school in New York had been authorized, but was not established for some time because a competent teacher could not be found in the city. The first Presbyterian church built in the city had been erected in 1719, on Wall Street near the City Hall ; and the previous year the first ropewalk in New York — the beginning of a very flourishing industry — had been set up on Broadway between Bar- clay Street and Park Place. Public matters in New York had presented no phase of special importance until the arrival of John Montgomerie as governor in the 20 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. spring of 1T2S, when he was received with more cordiality and granted more favors than any other magistrate since Bellomont. The chief event of his administration was the granting an amended charter for the city in 173u. The first charter given to the city under English rule had been granted in 1686. Others have been granted from time to time. By the new charter the limits of the city wex*e fixed ; the power of establishing lerries, and the possession of the ferries, market- houses, docks, etc., and all profits arising from them, were granted to the city. Provision was made for the establishment of courts, and the privileges and duties of all public officers were defined. The jurisdic- tion of the city was lixed to begin at the King's Bridge, near the upper extremity of the island, extending to Long Island, including small islands at the mouth of the Harlem River, thence on that side of the East River to Red Hook, and thence, embracing the islands in the harbor, up the Hudson River to Spuyten Duyvel Creek to the place of beyinninof. While this charter gave the authorities of the city of New York jurisdiction over the whole of Manhattan Island and adjacent islands, the streets of the city were laid out only as far north on the west side as Courtlandt Street on the border of the King's Farm, and on the east side as far as Frankfort and Cherry Streets. There were only scat- tered houses above Maiden Lane. But the city was then so densely populated below Wall Street that in 1729 the Dutch Reformed Church, in Garden Street below Wall, was so crowded that a portion of the congregation colonized and built the " Middle Dutch Church," on the corner of Nassau and Liberty Streets, used (until a few years ago) for the city Post-Office for many years. Wall Street had been so named because along its line, from river to river, had extended the pahsades or wooden walls of the city of New Amsterdam. Pauperism became prevalent and troublesome during Montgomerie's administration, and measures were taken for providing a public alms- house, which should also be a workhouse. One was erected in the rear of the present City Hall in 1734. It was well supplied -with spinning- wheels for the women and shoemakers' tools and other implements of labor for the men. It was made a sort of self-sustaining institution. Nothing of special public importance occurred in the city of New York after the trial of Zenger until 1741, when the famous " Negro Plot" produced a reign of terror there for some time. A similar occurrence, but ol smaller proportions, had taken place in 1712, when the popula- tion of the city was about six thousand, composed largely of slaves. There was a suspicion of a conspiracy of the negroes to burn the city OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830. 21 and destroy the inhabitants. During the panic that prevailed nineteen slaves suspected of the crime perished. In 1741 a suspected negro plot to destroy the city and its inhabitants produced great disaster. New York then contained about ten thousand inhabitants, nearly one fifth of Avhom were negro slaves. The city literally swarmed with them. There were growing apprehensions among the people of a servile insurrection. The slave-market was at the foot of Wall Street ; the calaboose was in the " common" or City Hall Park. The slaves were under rigorous discipline, and were keenly watched as apprehensions of danger from them increased. In the early spring of 17-11 some goods and silver were stolen from a merchant. Suspicion fell upon the keeper of a low tavern to which negroes and thieves resorted, but on searching the police found noth- ing. A maid-servant of the publican told a neighbor that the goods were there, and very soon she, her master, and his family were brought before the court. Then the servant accused a negro with being the thief and his master the receiver of the stolen goods. A part of the property was found under his master's kitchen floor and returned to the owner, and here the matter rested for a while. Two or three weeks later the governor's house in the fort was laid in ashes. Within a few days afterward other fires in different parts of the city occurred. These fires, breaking out in such rapid succession, alarmed the people, and a rumor that the negroes had plotted to burn the city took wing and flew to every dwelling in the course of a few hours. For several days the slaves had been suspected of meditating the crime ; now suspicion was changed to confirmation. It was now noted that a Spanish vessel, manned in part by negroes, had recently been brought into port as a prize, and the black men had been sold at auction for slaves. They were naturally exasperated by this inhuman treatment, and had let fall some stifled threats. No one now doubted that these desperate fellows were leaders in the horrid plot. There was a general cry of " Arrest the Spanish negroes !" They were seized and cast into prison. On the same afternoon the magistrates met, and while they were in consultation the storehouse of Colonel Phillipse was discovered to be on fire. Magistrates and people were panic-stricken, for the busy tongue of rumor positively declared the negroes were about to fire the city, murder the inhabitants, and possess themselves of their masters' property. Negroes were seized indiscriminately, and very soon the prisons were filled with them. The Common Council offered a reward of one hundred pounds and a full pardon to any conspirator who should reveal the plot and the HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. names of the incendiaries. The imprisoned servant of the tavern- keeper spoken of took advantage of this offer to gain her liberty and fill her parse, and told a most ridiculous story of negroes whom she named bringing stolen goods to her master, and talking about their design to burn the city and destroy the inhabitants, and the riches and power they would possess afterward. The excited and credulous mag- istrates received this absurd story as truth, and persons arrested were induced to make all sorts of confessions in the hope of averting danger to themselves. There was a reign of terror throughout the city. The victims of the lying servant's pretended revelations were imprisoned, tried, condemned, and executed. Among these were her master and his wife. On her testimony alone many negroes were from time to time accused and imprisoned, and in May several of them were burned alive in a green vale on the site of the (present) Five Points. In June others were banned, and before the middle of August one hundred and fifty-four negroes and twenty-four white people had been imprisoned. Of these four white persons were hanged ; fourteen negroes were burned alive, eighteen were hanged, and seventy-one were transported. The last victim was Ury, a schoolmaster, who was accused by the lying servant (Mary Burton) of being concerned in the plot. lie was sus- pected of being a Roman Catholic priest. The bigoted magistrates took advantage of an old unrepealed law for hanging any priest who should voluntarily come into the province, and Ury Avas doomed. They seemed to be hungry for his life. In vain he offered to prove that he was a clergyman of the Church of England. Mary Burton w;is considered infallible, and poor Ury was hanged. Then the " state's witness" became bolder, and accused " persons of quality ;" and, as in the case of " Salem witchcraft," when leading citizens, who had been active in persecuting the poor negroes, were implicated, men took meas- ures to end the tragedy — " stop the delusion." It was done, and the 24th of September was set apart as a day of thanksgiving for the great deliverance. The " Negro Plot" imrv be classed among the foremost of popular delusions. It was at about this time that a few men Avho played important parts in the social and political drama of the city of New York appeared conspicuous upon the stage — Dr. Cadwallader Golden, James De Lancey, Philip Livingston, Peter Schuyler, Abraham De Peyster, Frederick Phillipse, William Smith the elder, and a few others. Some of these, like Colden, were lovers of science and literature. So absorbed in trade, and in efforts to increase the wealth and material property of themselves and the city had the citizens become, that edu- OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830. 23 cation was neglected. Some of these gentlemen clearly perceived the evils to be feared from such a want, and set about supplying it. There wore then but few collegians in the province ; Messrs. Smith and De Lancey were the only ones in the legal profession. There was a small public library, but it was little used. The chaplain of Lord Bellomont (Rev. John Sharp) had presented to the city a collection of books in 1700, for a " Corporation Library," and in 1729 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts added to these, for the same purpose, H>22 volumes, which had been given to them by Rev. John Millington, of England. The first librarian appointed died ; the books were neglected, and their very existence was almost forgotten until 1754, when some public-spirited citizens organized and founded the " Society Library." The Common Council added the " Corpora- tion Library" to the institution, and for several years the books of the Society Library were kept in the City Hall. Meanwhile £2250 had been raised by lottery for the foundation of a college. This sum was increased, and in 1754 King's (now Columbia) College was chartered. Sectarianism was then rampant in the city, and there was a sharp struggle for the denominational control of the institution between the Episcopalians, headed by James De Lancey, and the Presbyterians, led by Philip Livingston. The former gained the mastery. In 1752 the fh-st merchants' exchange in New York was erected at the foot of Broad Street. Beekman Street was opened the same year, and St. George's Chapel was erected on it by Trinity Church corpora- tion. This period in the history of the city of New York is particularly distinguished for political and theological controversies. The lines be- tween sects in religion and politics were sharply drawn. Bigotry and intolerance were rampant. The Jews had been allowed to establish a cemetery near the present Chatham Square, east side ; now they were disfranchised. The Moravians, who closely resembled the Episco- palians in the form of their liturgical worship, and who had built a, church on Fair (now Fulton) Street * and established a mission in Duchess County, were persecuted as Jesuits in disguise. In the colonial assembly political controversies became bitter. This bitterness was augmented by the conduct of the royal governor, Admiral Sir George Clinton, who speedily made himself unpopular with the leaders of all * On the west side of Broadway it was called Partition Street, the partition line between the King's Farm and others. 24 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. parties. His best supporter at the beginning of bis administration was Chief-Justice De Lancey. Clinton soon offended him and allied himself to Dr. Colden,* who was then a power in the province ; but De Lancey, who was more prominent socially and politically than Colden, made war upon the governor. lie engendered a fierce contest between Clinton and the assembly. The governor soon offended Colden, who joined the opposition. At length the admiral, wearied with the contest and becoming more and more unpopular, left the office, and was succeeded by Sir Danvers Osborne. At the first meeting of his council Osborne laid his instructions before them, when they said, "The assembly will never yield obedience." " Is this true i" he asked William Smith. " Most emphatically," replied the councillor. " Then what am I come here for ?" said Osborne musingly. The next morning his dead body was found sus- pended by a handkerchief from the garden wall of his lodgings. He had destroyed himself in despair. James De Lancey, f the lieutenant- governor, assumed the direction of public affairs. The political leaders had zealous partisans among the citizens, and Xew York for many years was a seething caldron of adverse opinions. The quarrel of De Lancey with Clinton \ had caused the former to * Cadwallader Colden was a native of Scotland ; was born at Dunse, February 17, 1G88, graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1705, and in 1708 emigrated to America, and died at his country seat on Long Island, September 28, 1770. He was a physician and skilful mathematician. He practised medicine in Pennsylvania a few years, and went to England in 1715. The next year, after visiting Scotland, he returned to Pennsylvania, but at the request of Governor Hunter settled in New York in 1718, when he was appointed surveyor-general, a master in chancery, and in 1720 a member of the King's Council. Obtaining a patent for lands in Orange County, he settled there. He was acting governor of New York from 1700 until his death. During the Stamp Act excitement in New York in 17G5, the populace destroyed his carriage and burned him in effigy. When Governor Tryon returned to New York in 1775, Colden retired to Long Island. He wrote a history of the Five Nations of Indians. \ James De Lancey was born in New York in 1703, the son of a Huguenot emigrant from Caen, Normandy. He was educated at Cambridge, England, and returned to America in 1720, soon after which he was made a justice of the Supreme Court of New York. In 1733 he was elevated to the seat of chief justice. De Lancey was acting gov- ernor for nearly seven years, from 1753 to 17G0. He was an astute lawyer, a sagacious legislator, a skilful intriguer, and a demagogue of great influence and political strength. These qualities and vast estates secured to him triumphs when most other men would have failed. \ Admiral George Clinton was governor of New York for ten years— 17-43-1753. He was the youngest son of the sixth Earl of Lincoln, and was appointed commodore and governor of Newfoundland in 1732. His administration in New York was a stormy one, for he did not possess qualifications for the position, or any skill in civil affairs. He found in De Lancey a most annoying opponent. Colden was Clinton's champion on all OUTLINE HISTORY, 1G09-1830. 25 oppose the governor's unpopular schemes, and so made himself a favor- ite with the people. The representative " aristocrat" became, by the legerdemain of party politics, the representative "democrat" of the hour ; and the late royalist faction, composed of the wealthiest and most influential citizens, was now arrayed on the side of the people's rights. But De Lancey found it difficult to maintain that position and render obedience to royal instructions, lie was soon relieved of the embarrassment by the arrival of Admiral Hardy as governor, Avhen De Lancey resumed his seat as chief justice. He soon afterward became acting governor again, and was performing its duties when, on the morning of July 30, 1700, he was found dying in his study, the victim of chronic asthma. The French and Indian war then in progress had taxed the patriot- ism and the resources in men and money of the citizens of New Fork. The war was raging on the northern frontier of their province, and they cheerfully and generously responded to every reasonable call. At the same time, jealous of their political rights, they warmly resented any violation of them. Lord Loudoun, the commander of the British forces in America, sent a thousand troops to the city of New York with orders for the authorities to billet them upon the inhabitants. This was an infraction of their rights. The city authorities quartered the soldiers in the barracks on Chambers Street, leaving the officers to take care of themselves. The angry Loudoun hastened to New York and commanded the authorities to find free quarters for the officers, and threatened if it were not done he would bring all the soldiers under his command and billet them upon the inhabitants himself. The gov- ernor was disposed to comply, but the indignant people refused, and defied the general. The matter was finally adjusted, to avert serious trouble, by furnishing free quarters to the officers by means of a pri- vate subscription. This demand was afterward several times repeated, and was one of the principal grievances which impelled the citizens of New York to armed resistance to royal authority. On the accession of George III. in 1700, followed by ministerial schemes for burdening colonial commerce with restrictions, the murmurs of the king's subjects in America, which had been heard in almost in- audible whispers by his immediate predecessors, became loud and menacing. As occasions for complaint multiplied, the colonists showed symptoms of absolute resistance to acts of Parliament, and in this none occasions. Clinton was made vice-admiral of the rear in 1745, and vice-admiral of the fleet in 17-37. He died governor of Newfoundland in 17G1. 26 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. were more prompt and defiant than the citizens of New York. Unwise and oppressive navigation laws were put in force, and these weighed heavily upon New York, then become a decidedly commercial city. These laws were at first mildly resisted. The collectors of customs finally called for aid, and writs of assistance were issued, by which these officers or their deputies might enter every house they pleased, break locks and bars if necessary in search of dutiable goods, and in this way become the violators of the great principles of Magna Charta, which made every Englishman's house his "castle." These writs were denounced everywhere, and were followed soon afterward by the famous and obnoxious Stamp Act, which required every piece of paper, parchment, or vellum containing a legal document, such as a promis- sory note or a marriage certificate, to have a stamp affixed upon it, for which a specified sum was to be paid to the government of Great Britain. This indirect system of taxation was very offensive, and the scheme was stoutly opposed everywhere on the continent, but nowhere with more firmness than in the city of New York. Dr. Golden, then nearly eighty years of age, was acting governor of the province, and duty to his sovereign and his own political convictions compelled him to oppose the popular movements around him. When, late in October (1705), Stamps arrived at New York consigned to a " stamp distributor," the " Sons of Liberty," recently reorganized, demanded that agent's resig- nation ; Colden upheld and protected him, and had the stamps placed in the fort. This covert menace exasperated the people. Though British ships of war riding in the harbor, as Avellas the fort, had their great guns trained upon the city, the patriots were not dis- mayed, and appearing in considerable number before the governor's house at the fort, demanded the stamps. The demand was refused, and very soon the large group of orderly citizens was swelled into a roaring mob. They bore to The Fields (the City Hall Park) an effigy of the governor, which they burned on the spot where Leisler was hanged three fourths of a century before because he was a republican. Then they hastened back to the foot of Broadway, tore up the wooden railing around the Bowling Green, piled it up in front of the fort, dragged the governor's coach out and cast it upon the heap, and made a huge bonfire of the whole. After committing other excesses, and parading the streets with a banner inscribed " England's Folly and America's Ruin," they dispersed to their homes. Earlier in the same month a colonial convention known as the " Stamp Act Congress" assembled in New York, discussed the rights OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830. 27 of the colonists, and adopted a Declaration of Rights, a Petition to the King, and a Memorial to both Houses of Parliament. Already the idea of union had been suggested by a newspaper called the Constitu- tional Con rant, bearing the device of a snake separated into several parts, each with an initial of a colony, and bearing the injunction, Join ob Dik ! Only one issue of the Courant was made, but its suggestion was potent. The idea of the device was like an electric spark that kindled a flame which was never quenched. The merchants of New York immediately "joined" in creating a Committee of Correspond- ence instructed to solicit the merchants of other cities to join with them in a solemn agreement not to import any more goods from Great Britain until the Stamp Act should be repealed. There was general acquies- cence. This measure produced a powerful impression upon the com- mercial interests of Great Britain. The people at the centres of trade there clamored for a repeal of the obnoxious act, and in the course of three months this much-desired measure was effected. Then the citizens of New York, in the plenitude of their gratitude and joy, caused a leaden equestrian statue of the king to be erected in the centre of the Bowling Green, and a marble one to Pitt (who had effected the repeal) in the attitude of an orator, at the junction of "Wall and William Streets. To New York merchants is due the honor of having invented those two powerful engines of resistance to the obnoxious acts of the British Parliament, and with so much potency at the beginning of the old war for independence — namely, the Committee of Correspondence and the Non-itn portation League. chapter in. FROM the period of the Stamp Act until the beginning of the old war for independence, in 1775, the merchants of New York bore a conspicuous part in political events tending toward independence. They were leading " Sons of Liberty." For a while the liberal char- acter of the administration of the new governor, Sir Henry Moore,* allayed excitements and animosities ; but the stubborn king and stupid ministry, utterly unable to comprehend the character of the American people and the loftiness of the principles which animated them, con- tinued to vex them with obnoxious schemes of taxation, and kept them in a state of constant irritation. Before the echoes of the repeal rejoicings had died away, troops were sent to New York, and under the provisions of the Mutiny Act they Avere to be quartered at the partial expense of the province. They Avere sent as a menace and as a check to the growth of republican ideas among the people there. Led by the Sons of Liberty, the inhabitants resolved to resist the measure for their enslavement. The Provincial Assembly steadily refused compliance Avith the terms of the Mutiny Act, and early in 17<>7 Parliament passed an act prohibiting the gov- ernor and Legislature of New York passing any bill for any purpose whatever. The assembly partially yielded, but a new assembly, con- vened early in 17. Then Dr. Colden again became acting governor, and an un- natural coalition was formed between him and James De Lancey, son of Peter De Lancey, who was a leader of the aristocracy in the assembly. Meanwhile the city had been almost continually disquieted by the insolent bearing and outrageous conduct of the troops, who Avere * Sir Henry Moore was a native of Jamaica, W. L, where he was born in 1713. He became governor of his native island in 1750, and was created a baronet as a reward for his services in suppressing a slave insurrection there. From 17G4 until his death, in September, 17fi0, he was governor of New York. He arrived in New York in the midst of the Stamp Act excitement in 17G5, and acted very judiciously. OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830. 29 encouraged by their officers. On the king's birthday, in 17, the citizens, grateful for the repeal of the Stamp Act, celebrated it with great rejoicing. On that occasion they erected a flagstaff which bore the words "The King, Pitt, and Liberty." They called it a Libert;/ Pole, and it became the rallying-place for the Sons of Liberty. This New York idea became popular, and liberty poles soon arose in other provinces as rallying-places for political gatherings of the patriots. When the soldiers came to New York this pole became an object of their dislike, and they cut it down. When, the next day, the citizens were preparing to set up another, they were attacked by the troops, and two of the leading Sons of Liberty were wounded. But the pole was set up. It, too, was soon prostrated, and a third pole was raised, when Governor Moore forbade the soldiers to touch it. The next spring the citizens of New York celebrated the first anni- versary of the repeal of the Stamp Act around the liberty pole. That night the soldiers cut it down. Another was set up the next day, pro- tected from the axe by iron bands. An unsuccessful attempt to cut it down, and also to prostrate it with gunpowder, were made. The Sons of Liberty set a guard to watch it, and Governor Moore again forbade interference with it. That liberty pole stood in proud defiance until January, 1770, when, at midnight, soldiers issued from the barracks on Chambers Street, prostrated it, sawed it in pieces, and piled them up in front of the headquarters of the Sons of Liberty. The bell of St. George's chapel was rung, and the next morning three thousand indig- nant people stood around the mutilated liberty pole, and by resolutions declared their rights and their determination to maintain them. The city was fearfully excited for three days. In frequent affrays with the citizens the soldiers were generally worsted, and in a severe conflict on Golden Hill, an eminence near Burling Slip at Cliff and Fulton Streets, several of the soldiers were disarmed. When quiet was restored another liberty pole was erected on private ground, on Broadway near Wall Street. This fifth flagstaff remained undisturbed until the Brit- ish took possession of the city in 1776, when it was hewn down by Cunningham, the notorious provost marshal. That fight on Golden Hill iu the city of New York between its citizens and royal troops was the fcrxt battle of the Revolution. The last battle of that war was fought there between Cunningham and Mrs. Day, at the foot of Murray Street. With the coalition between Colden and De Lancey a gradual change in the political complexion of the Provincial Assembly was apparent. The leaven of aristocracy had begun a transformation. A game for 30 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. political power, based upon proposed financial schemes, was begun. A grant for the support of the troops was also made. These things men- aced the liberties of the people. The popular leaders sounded the alarm. Among the most active at that time were Isaac Sears, John Lamb,- Alexander AlcDougalhf and John Morin Scott +— names which will be ever associated as efficient and fearless champions of liberty in the city of New York when the tempest of the Revolution was impending. In December, 1700, a handbill signed "A Son of Liberty" was posted throughout the city calling a meeting of " the betrayed inhabi- tants" in the Fields. It denounced the money scheme and the assem- bly, and pointed to the coalition as an omen of danger to the State. The call was heeded, and the next day a large concourse of citizens assembled around the Liberty Pole, where they were harangued by John Lamb, one of the most ardent patriots of New York. By unani- * John Lamb was born in New York on January 1, 1735, and died there May 31, 1800. He was at first an optician, but in 1700 he engaged in the liquor trade. In the ten years' quarrel between the American colonists and the British ministry, Lamb was an earnest and active patriot. He accompanied Montgomery to Quebec in 1775, where he was wounded and made prisoner. Ho was then a captain of artillery. Exchanged the next summer, he returned to New York, was promoted to major, and attached to the regiment of artillery under General Knox. From the expedition to Quebec at the begin, ning of the war to the siege of Yorktown at the end of it, Lamb was a gallant and most useful officer. He became a member of the New York Assembly. He was appointed collector of customs at the port of New York by President Washington, which office he held until his death. f Alexander McDougall was born in Scotland in 1731 ; died in New York June 8, 178G. He came to New York about 175S, and was a printer and seaman when the quarrel between Great Britain and her American colonies was progressing. He issued an inflammatory address in 17G9, concerning the action of the Provincial Assembly, headed " To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the Colony," and signed " A Son of Liberty." This, the assembly declared, was an infamous and seditious libel. McDougall was put in prison, and was there visited and regaled by patriotic men and women. He was finally released, and became one of the leading men in civil and military life throughout the war for independence. He entered the army as colonel, and was a major-general in 1777. A delegate in Congress in 1781, he was soon appointed " Minister of Marine" (Secretary of the Navy), but did not hold the office long. He returned to the army. He was chosen a senator of the State of New York in 1783, and held that position at the time of his death. | John Morin Scott was born in New York in 1730 : died there September 14, 1784. He was a graduate of Yale College, became a lawyer, and holding a forcible pen, he joined William Livingston in writing against ministerial measures for years before the breaking out of the war for independence. He was a most active and influential member of the Provincial Congress of New York, and of committees. In 177G he was made a brigadier-general, and fought in the battle of Long Island. In 1777 he was chosen State senator ; was Secretary of the State of New York, and was a member of Congress 1780-83. Eng 4 byGeoE Penne,N Y~ JOHN JACOB ASTOR OUTLINE HISTORY, 1009-1830. 31 moras vote the proceedings of the assembly were disapproved. A com- mittee presented the proceedings of the meeting to the assembly, and were courteously received. Another handbill from the same hand, signed " Legion," appeared the next day, in which the action of the assembly was denounced as " base and inglorious," and charged that body with a betrayal of their trust. This second attack was pro- nounced a libel by the assembly, only the stanch patriot Philip Schuy- ler voting No. They offered a reward for the discovery of the writer. The printer of the handbills, menaced with punishment, told them it was Alexander McDougall, a seaman, who was afterward a conspicuous officer in the Continental army. lie was arrested, and refusing to plead or give bail, was imprisoned many Aveeks before he was brought to trial. Regarded as a martyr to the cause of liberty, his prison was the scene of daily public receptions. Some of the most reputable of the citizens sympathizing with him frequently visited him. Being a sailor, he was regarded as the true type of " imprisoned commerce." On the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act, his health was drank with honors at a banquet, and the meeting in procession visited him in his prison. Ladies of distinction daily thronged there. Popular songs were written, and sung under his prison bars, and emblematic swords Avere worn. His Avords Avhen ordered to prison Avere, " I rejoice that I am the first to suffer for liberty since the commencement of our glorious struggle." lie Avas finally released on bail, and the matter Avas Avisely dropped by the prosecutors. McDougall Avas a true type of what is generally known as the " common people" — the great mass of citizens who carry on the chief industries of a country — its agriculture, com- merce, manufactures, and arts — and create its wealth. Comparative quiet prevailed in New York from the time of the McDougall excitement until the arriA r al of the news of Lord North's ' famous Tea Act, which set the colonies in a blaze. The people ever3 r - Avhere resolved to oppose, and not allow a cargo of tea to be landed anywhere. The earliest public meeting to consider the reception that should be given to the tea-ships, which had actually sailed for America, Avas held in the city of New York on the 15th of October, 1773. Inti- mations had reached the city on the 11th that a tea-ship had been ordered to that port ; and at the meeting held at the Coffee-Hotrae in W