USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 43
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In 1804, preparations were made for the holding of a fair in Washington. Great good, it was thought, would result, both to the city and to the farmers of the vicinity. The first fair commenced May 1, 1805, and continued three days. James Hoban, Joseph Hodg- son, and Henry Ingle were appointed the first directors of the fairs held in the city.
October 18, 1805, the sloop Mary Ann, from Guilford, Connecticut, arrived at the Navy Yard, and had for sale on board potatoes, onions, cheese, hay, elover seed, table fish, etc. About the same time, the schooner Ann arrived at Lear's wharf with eighteen hundred bushels of "coals," from Nicholson & Heath's black pits, Richmond, the "coals" being reputed the best in Virginia. They were offered for sale on board the schooner.
An act of the Council of Washington, adopted April 17, 1806, with reference to the baking of bread, is of considerable interest. The act regulated the weight and quality of bread. It provided that after the 1st of June, 1806, bread made or offered for sale in the city of Washington should be made from inspected flour, either superfine, fine, or middling, without any intermixture of the same, or the addition of any Indian meal or flour from any other grain. All bread offered for sale was required to be stamped with the initials of the maker. Any bread offered for sale not thus stamped was to be forfeited to the would-be purchaser, or to the trustees of the poor of the city of Washington. Single and double loaves of bread, of all qualities, were to be of the weights as given below: From fine flour worth from $4 to $4.50 per barrel, a single loaf was to weigh 31 ounces, double loaf, 62 ounces; from flour worth from $4.50 to $5 per barrel, a single loaf was to weigh 30 ounces, a double loaf, 60 ounces; from flour worth from $5 to $5.50 per barrel, a single loaf was to weigh 27 ounces, and a double
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loaf, 54 ounces; from flour worth from $6 to $6.50 per barrel, a single loaf, 22 ounces, and double one, 44 ounces; from flour worth from $6.50 to $7, a single loaf was to weigh 20 ounces, and a double one, 40 ounces; from flour worth from $7 to $7.50, a single loaf was to weigh 19 ounces, and a double one, 38 ounces; from flour worth from $9.50 to $10, a single loaf was to weigh 13 ounces, and a double one, 26 ounces, and so on as flour increased in price. The price of flour was to be ascertained the last week of every month by the Mayor, or by the register in the absence of the Mayor, from respectable mer- chants living in the county of Washington, and published in the city newspaper for the benefit of those concerned; and this price was to govern the size of the loaves of bread for the next month; except that in case of any sudden rise in the cash price of flour, the Mayor was authorized to establish the standard price of flour each week.
William S. Nicholls, in 1806, was one of the leading dry-goods merchants in the city, keeping a great variety of goods in a store then lately occupied by a Mr. Melvin.
In February, 1807, P. Mauro notified the public that he had just imported direct from London, England, four English pianofortes, with additional keys, Astor, maker, together with other musical instruments. "The above instruments have been examined by the subscriber, who (flattering himself to be a judge) will, when sold, warrant them to be of superior quality and without any defect."
Tunis Chaven, dry-goods merchant, in February, 1808, removed to his new store near the Navy Yard gate. About this time, F. A. Wagler offered for sale two "fortepianos," made by Broadwood, and they were probably superior to any in the place; also, all kinds of dry and wet goods, "among the latter being brandy six years old."
The Washington Commercial Company was organized at a meeting held March 16, 1808, at Stelle's Hotel. Twelve directors were chosen, as follows: Thomas Tingey, Peter Miller, John McGowan, C. W. Goldsborough, Joseph Forrest, James D. Barry, Alexander Kerr, Adam Lindsay, John P. Van Ness, William Prout, Samuel N. Smallwood, and James Cassin. Joseph Forrest was chosen president of this company, which carried on a general wholesale business. In August, 1808, they received from New York a large shipment of various kinds of goods, liquors, sugars, teas, coffees, spices, and groceries. This company continued to do business many years.
The city continued to grow slowly until after the War of 1812-15. At the close of this war, the number of stores in Washington was so limited that the inhabitants were compelled to go to Georgetown or
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Alexandria to procure necessary articles of dry goods, hardware, gro- ceries, china, glassware, etc., but by 1816 there had been such an increase in the growth of business houses in the central part of the city that every article of necessity, convenience, and even of luxury, could be had without difficulty at home. At this time, the number of stores ou Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capitol and the Pres- ident's Mansion, was as follows: Dry goods, 16; groceries, 7; hard- ware, 2; china, glassware, cte., 2; drug stores, 2; millinery stores, 3; confectioneries, 3; hats, shoes, ete., 2; books and stationery, 2; leather stores, 1; cabinet stores, 3; chair factories, 1; "merchant taylors," 3 ;. plate, jewelry, etc., 3; and at the same time there were plenty of mechanics in the different branches, two extensive hotels, and a read- ing room well supplied with books, papers, etc.
In February, 1819, there was prepared and published a tabular statement with reference to the commerce of the District of Columbia. It commenced with 1801, as there were no statistics for 1800. The entire value of exports in 1801 was $894,467; in 1802, 8774,063. In 1803, the value of foreign and domestic produce was as follows: foreign, $32,938; domestic, $1,112,056; in 1804, foreign, $294,803; domestic, $1,157,195. From this time on, the value of foreign produce generally diminished until 1812, when it was $12,096; but in 1818 it had increased to $138,717. With reference to the value of domestic produce, it was, as has been said, in 1804 $1,157,195, and with fluctuations from year to year, it was in 1818 $1,264,751. In 1804, the first year in which the tonnage of the District was recorded, it was 9,915 registered tons; enrolled, 3,514; licensed, 868. And in 1816, it was, registered, 7,743; enrolled, 8,976; licensed, 1,938.
Among the bookstores in the city in 1819, were those of Davis & Force, and Henry Guegan. Pishey Thompson came later, but not many years after 1820. On January 12, 1829, Mr. Thompson adver- tised; for the first time in Washington, Webster's Dictionary, in two large quarto volumes; price to subscribers, $20 in boards, and $25 in cloth. Mr. Thompson was the author of a history of Boston, England, highly commended.
In 1833, Richard Wright advertised Schuylkill coal for sale at $9 per ton on the wharf, and Seth Sturdevant had Lackawanna coal for sale at the "reduced price of $9 per ton."
In September, 1854, the price of coal in Washington was so high as to cause great dissatisfaction. Publie complaints were numerous and forcible against the dealers, who were called upon for some explanation. Coal was then selling for from $8 to $9 per ton, an
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advance upon the price of the previous year of from $1 to $2 per ton. This increase in the price was in defiance of the fact that the output of coal for that portion of the year then passed that for the corresponding portion of the year 1853. Up to August 5, 1854, about 103,000 tons more coal had reached tide water from the Cumber- land mines than in the previous year; over the Reading Railroad the increase had been 306,000 tons; by the Schuylkill Canal the increase had been 52,000 tons, making from three principal sources of supply an increase of 460,000 tons, or about 25 per cent. more than was for- warded the year before. The price of coal in London, England, was then from $3 to $4 per ton the year round, and the cost of transpor- tation from the mines was quite as great there as in this country.
The amount of coal shipped to market from the Cumberland mines for the year ending August 26, 1854, was 403,143.12 tons, of which 103,894.17 tons passed through the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the rest passing over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The amount shipped to the same time in 1853 was 289,555 tons.
In answer to the objections to the high price of coal then ruling, a "Retail Dealer" said that the price was about thirty per cent. higher than it was the year before; and to justify this increase in the price, said that it was on account of the increased cost of labor at the mines, the advance of tolls on railroads, the increased cost of labor in shipping, the advance of freights over the year before of about thirty per cent., and the increased expenses of retail dealers. But above all of these items, there was the greatly increased consumption of coal, which would almost of itself justify the increase complained of in the price of coal. This increase in consumption of coal had been occasioned in part by the substitution of coal for wood on steamboats and locomotives, and in manufacturing establishments, which latter had greatly increased in number during the few years previous.
But there was another reason for the increase in the price in coal, which was quite as potent as any given by the "Retail Dealer." This was that the operators of the anthracite mines in Pennsylvania combined for the purpose of restricting the shipments of coal from the mines. This combination was seriously condemned by the public generally as a conspiracy against their rights, and was unfavorably compared with the conduct of the Dutch, some years before, owners of the spice islands, who, in order to keep up the prices of spices, allowed only a certain amount to be sent to the market, burning all the rest. The conduct of the coal operators was considered worse than that of the Dutch in this, that the Dutch interfered only with
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the price of a luxury, while the Pennsylvania coal barons combined to keep up the price of an article which was a necessity to the poor as well as to the rich. Purchasers were seriously advised to limit. their consumption of coal in order to bring the coal operators to terms. Such movements as these of the coal operators and the Dutch pro- ducers of spice, are far from being exceptional in the history of the world. The Knights of Labor in the United States have frequently combined to limit the amount of labor in the market, with the view of controlling its price, and in the year 1891 the Farmers' Alliance combined, to a considerable extent, to limit the amount of wheat offered for sale, in order to force up the price to an unnatural height. All such movements are conspiracies against the public interests, and alike subject to condemnation.
Some time previous to 1856, the precise date not ascertained, there was an attempt to organize a Merchants' Exchange. An annual meeting of this society was held December 5, 1856, with Mr. James B. Dodson, vice-president, in the chair. Numerous topics of interest were discussed, and the following resolution was adopted:
" That Messrs. G. W. Riggs, William B. Todd, Hudson Taylor, M. W. Galt, Philip Otterback, and John II. Semmes, being one from each ward of the city, be, and they are hereby, appointed a committee to urge upon the city authorities the absolute necessity of erecting a new market house in the central portion of the city."
The officers of the association then were as follows: Samuel Bacon, president; James B. Dodson, vice-president; John F. Ellis, secretary ; William Wall, treasurer; Walter Harper, S. P. Franklin, T. J. Fisher, J. B. Clagett, A. E. Perry, T. Parker, William F. Bayly, George Burns, B. F. Morsell, William B. Todd, Benjamin Beall, and Hudson Taylor, board of directors. This society, however, was not permanent, probably because it was premature. In February, 1862, several of the merchants again attempted to revive the subject of a Merchants' Exchange, inasmuch as the city was then assuming rank as a commercial center; but it was not until 1865 that such an organization became. prominent. This organization, known as the Board of Trade, will be treated of in succeeding pages. General commercial interests will for the present claim attention.
In 1856, the coal trade was but little more satisfactory to the general public than in 1853. This was because of the breaking of two of the principal dams of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, by means of which canal Cumberland coal reached the city. Some of the dealers, however, had unlimited confidence in the final success
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of the trade. Mr. Alexander Ray, in this year, expended $30,000 in putting up docks and sheds, and in 1857 he expended other large sums and flanked his dock with two railroads, connecting with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
Another enterprise which at that time promised to be of great importance was the shipping of timber direct to foreign countries. Benjamin Thornton, of Fairfax, though formerly of England, dispatched the brig Wabash from Alexandria to Liverpool, England, with three hundred tons of timber on board, and had, besides, three thousand tons ready for shipment from the Washington City wharves. As there was then abundance of timber on the river, both above and below the District of Columbia, it was confidently anticipated that the shipping of timber would become an extensive portion of the business of the District.
In 1859, there was considerable commerce being carried on at the deep water wharves above Easby's Point. Within the week ending August 27, eight seagoing vessels arrived at these docks, their cargoes consisting of coal, plaster, lumber, ice, etc. A vessel was dispatched with agricultural fertilizers for lands on the Patuxent. At the ship- yard and marine railway of the Easbys, the repair of vessels was con- stantly going ou. The machinery at these works was capable of hauling out of the water vessels of from four hundred to five hun- dred tons.
About this time, an event of considerable importance transpired with reference to the commerce of the District. This event was the opening of the "New York and Washington Screw Steamship Line." The first steamship of this line to arrive at the West Washington wharves was the Mount Vernon, a screw steamer, Captain F. C. Smith, September 6. The line of steamers of which the Mount Vernon was the pioneer, was owned by H. B. Cromwell & Company, of New York, and was designed to run between New York and the District of Columbia. The Mount Vernon was of seven hundred tons, and had an engine of five hundred horse-power. She drew twelve feet of water, and her speed was fifteen knots an hour. The vessel was fitted up for both freight and passengers, with accommodations for about thirty of the latter. The fare to New York was $7.50; round trip, $13. The event of the opening of this line was fittingly cele- brated on Tuesday evening, September 6, at the house of Thomas T. Everett, on M Street, in the northern liberties. At this banquet George D. Fowle, of Alexandria, made an address, in which he called attention to the advantages this enterprise furnished to the people of
MERCANTILE HISTORY. 415
the District, and those of Virginia and Maryland in the vicinity, -cer- tain, safe, regular, and cheap means of communication and commerce between the Capital of the Nation and the metropolis of the Nation. This steamship continued to make regular trips between the two cities until the breaking out of the War, when she entered the service of the Government. The chief obstacle to her progress she found during this time was a sand bar in the Potomac River, which was, however, removed by dredging in the year 1860, the work being completed by August 1. The length of the area dredged was 1,500 yards, and the breadth 100 yards. 900 yards in length was dredged 6 feet deep, and the remainder from 4 to 5 feet, making the sand excavated about 275,000 cubic yards.
The channel at the shallowest point then had a depth of 14 feet. Early in April, 1861, Hirman Barney, collector of the port of New York, informed the proprietors of this line that he could not grant clearances to any ports of the United States where the functions of the Federal officers had been usurped by State authorities, and soon afterward the steamers of this company were engaged in the service of the United States.
The prices of the various commodities in the markets of Wash- ington in February, 1865, were as follows: Flour, superfine, $11.50 per barrel; extra, $11.75 and $12; Welch's family, $13.75 in fifty- barrel lots, and $14 per dray load; Royal York, $12.75; corn-yellow, $1.95; white, $1.95 to $2.05 per bushel; corn meal, $2.05 per bushel; potatoes, $6 per barrel; butter, 53 to 58 cents per pound; cheese, 22 to 24 cents per pound; dried beef, 20 cents per pound, and other things in proportion.
Early this year, the enterprising merchants and business men of the city, in order to insure 'safety, speed, and regularity in the trans- portation of goods between New York and the District of Columbia, established a new line of steamships. They started with three regular steamers, namely, the E. C. Knight, Captain J. J. Mason; the Ann Eliza; and the John Gibson, Captain W. C. Geoghegan. The steamers were built by Cramp & Son, of Philadelphia. The agents for the new line in Washington were William R. Snow & Company, and Messrs. Flowers & Barnes, of Alexandria, in that city. The steamer E. C. Knight arrived in Georgetown March 26, the time of sailing from New York to her dock in Georgetown being forty-one hours and twenty-five minutes. The name of the company operating this line of steamers was "The Atlantic Steamship Company." Another company similarly engaged was the New York and Washington Steamship Company, having three steamers, named the Baltimore, the
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Rebecca Clyde, and the Empire. C. P. Houghton was their agent at Georgetown, and M. Eldridge & Company at Alexandria.
One of the large firms to establish themselves in business early after the War was Thomas Davis & William Marbury, in the whole- sale salt business. Mr. Davis had long been in the salt business, and, more largely than any other man, had dealt in salt between Washing- ton and New York. His largest warehouse was at No. 23 Water Street, Georgetown, which was full of salt; and in addition to this, he had warehouses in different parts of the city, filled with various kinds of salt -as Ashton, refined Liverpool, etc. IIe had also one ware- house filled with ground alum.
On October 17, 1865, there was a meeting held at the City Hall for the purpose of organizing a Merchants' Exchange. S. Norment was called to the chair, and John R. Elvans appointed secretary. Speeches were made by Mr. Elvans, G. Perkins, of Chicago, A. R. Shepherd, R. M. Hall, and others. The merchants of Georgetown were invited to unite in the movement. The firms represented at this meeting were King & Burchell, C. W. Boteler, Jr., H. Senken, W. R. Snow & Company, W. G. Metzerott, R. M. Hall, J. T. Walker & Com- pany, Phillip & Solomons, A. R. Shepherd, Samuel Bacon & Company, W. H. Clagett, Barbour, Semmes, & Company, S. Norment, Lansburg & Brother, J. B. Bryan & Brother, Blanchard & Mohun, C. B. Bayley & Company, John R. Elvans & Company, J. P. Bartholow, and R. Cohen. On motion of Mr. Shepherd, a committee was appointed to prepare a plan of organization, consisting of Mr. Shepherd, Mr. Per- kins, Samuel Bacon, C. W. Boteler, Jr., R. M. Hall, John R. Elvans, and J. P. Bartholow.
At a meeting held October 24, 1865, the following names were announced for membership: Kidwell & Son, Mohun & Son, Henry R. Searle, J. D. Edward & Company, Kellau, Moore, & King, John F. Bridget, C. S. Noyes, John F. Ellis, Ulysses Ward, William P. Mohun, T. Edward Clark, Hall & Hume, J. II. Semmes & Company, Thomas Thompson, M. MeNeal, C. S. O'Hare, II. O. Hood, Hays & Cropley, John G. Adams, G. F. Clark, Harper & Mitchell, James T. Close & Company, James Y. Davis, Z. D. Gilman, C. HI. Utermehle, MeKnew & Bell, HI. S. Johnson, Wall, Stephens, & Company, Elijah Edmonston, John B. Turton, James Moore, F. L. Harvey, B. F. Mor- sell, C. B. Baker, Hudson Taylor, R. B. Clarke, Thomas A. Tolson, W. H. & O. II. Morrison, Daniel B. Clarke, Webb & Beveridge, Nagle & Company, W. S. Teel, HI. Burns & Company, J. E. Hoover, J. W. Clampitt, J. R. D. Morrison, G. M. Wight, and A. J. Dietrich.
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Mr. A. R. Shepherd submitted a report of the committee on the constitution, under which the merchants present organized themselves into a Board of Trade of the District of Columbia. Under this con- stitution the annual contribution of each member was $10, a sum which some considered too small to accomplish the purposes which the new organization had in contemplation. One of these purposes was to compete with the great monopoly, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Mr. Shepherd, the week before, had said that if the mer- chants of Washington would organize, and make the city what it should be-a commercial city, and not a mere appendage of Balti- more, as it then was, they could build up the city, and make it independent. He was in favor of including all citizens in the benefits to be derived from the organization of a board of trade, and was opposed to following the example of the corporation of Washington, which, in the magnitude of its wisdom, had ordained that none but citizens should engage in corporation work. The Southern trade was what was wanted, and Mr. Shepherd said that if each merchant would subscribe $300 or $400, the monopoly above referred to could successfully be opposed.
At a special meeting of the Board of Trade held December 6, 1865, the question discussed was as to the adoption of a resolution offered by Mr. Shepherd, inviting an expression of opinion as to the propriety of urging Congress to consolidate the cities of Wash- ington and Georgetown, and the county of Washington, under one municipality. In his remarks in favor of the resolution, he called attention to the fact that in the District of Columbia there were five distinet governments: the corporations of Washington and George- town, the Levy Court, the Metropolitan Police Commissioners, and the Commissioner of Public Buildings. The corporation of Wash- ington had but little control, as Congress could at any time enact obnoxious laws, and it would therefore be better if Congress had complete control. Mr. Mitchell, of the Common Council of George- town, said that he had already introduced into that body a resolution favoring the uniting of the two corporations.
The Board of Trade of the city of Washington continued in exist- ence several years, but it seems not to have impressed the city very strongly with its importance, and it was permitted by the business community to lapse. Georgetown also had an organization known as a board of trade, established in 1866. On March 22, 1869, the third annual meeting of this board was held, and the chairman thereof then stated that during the previous year there had been
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received seven hundred and four thousand bushels of wheat, all of which had been manufactured into flour, and the corn received amounted to about five hundred thousand bushels. He also hoped for increased interest in the Board of Trade. This hoped for increased interest did not make itself felt, for this exchange, like the old Wash- ington Board of Trade, soon ceased to exist.
In recent years, an organization has been effected under the name of the Washington Board of Trade, which is, however, some- thing more than its name implies. . It was organized December 2, 1889, with the following officers: Myron M. Parker, president; S. W. Woodward, first vice-president; S. E. Wheatley, second vice-president; A. T. Britton, general counsel; B. H. Warner, treasurer; Alexander D. Anderson, secretary. The directory consisted of thirty-one members. There have been, since this organization was effected, numerous committees to carry on its affairs, and it is sufficient to present the names of these committees in order to show the wide range of the work of this Board of Trade, which might perhaps as well be called a board of promotion, as its objects, as stated in its by-laws, are "the consideration of, and action upon, matters concerning the com- merce, prosperity, and advancement of the material interests of the National Capital, and the dissemination of information relating there- to." These committees are the executive, with E. Kurtz Johnson, chairman; finance, Beriah Wilkins; taxation and assessments, Henry Wise Garnett; railroads, B. II. Warner; transportation, William A. Wimsatt; arbitration, A. T. Britton; commerce, Isidor Saks; public buildings, Thomas Somerville; membership, Thomas W. Smith; parks and reservations, C. J. Bell; streets and avennes, George Truesdell; charities, John . II. Magruder; public health, F. L. Moore; trade organizations, Samuel Ross; water supply, Charles Baum; improve- ment of the Potomac River, S. E. Wheatley; harbor improvements, C. B. Church; Mount Vernon Avenue, Frank Hume; universities, Alex- ander D. Anderson; bridges, Theodore W. Noyes; insurance, Simon Wolf; Rock Creek Tunnel, S. E. Wheatley. The membership of this board at the present time is about two hundred.
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