USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of the county of Hudson, New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 20
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A few months after the duel the St. Andrew's Society, of which Hamilton was president, erected a monument to his men- ory on the ground where he fell. It was surrounded with an iron railing, and while it stood was visited by thousands every summer.
It was intentionally destroyed about the year 1820. The monument seemed to arouse in the people of New York a spirit of emulation. A writer in The Columbian, on July 13, 1815, who signed himself " HOBOKEN," wrote of the existence of Hamil- ton's monument, and said, " It is a subject of complaint to the citizens in the vicinity, and a standing absurdity and outrage on the morals, manners and feelings of society. By the perni- cions effect of a conspicuous example, the young and chivalrous are invited to combat and feel a degree of vain glory in measur- ing ground on the spot where that great man fell from all his glory and usefulness, and furnished a bloody beacon to posterity, which should be at least shrouded from the light of day. Now- adays the boats arrive from your island in broad daylight, the combatants take their stand on each side of the ominous monument, and before the inhabitants can reach the spot the mischief is done, and the unfortunate survivors hurried off, too soon to be arrested by the gathering neighborhood. Such is the sensation, I understand, excited by the use of this modern
1 This tree was destroyed when the New York and Fort Lee Railroad was con- structed.
HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
Aceldama, that it is not to be expected the pillar will long retain its station, it being considered as a baleful nuisance, not a ves- tige of which should be suffered to remain on the earth. But for the eminent canse of its origin, I should be almost as willing to have a gallows near my house."
With such a feeling growing in the community, it could not be expected that the monument would long survive. Stansbury, who visited the place August 20, 1821,1 says, " The monument
FELL, July 11: 1804, MAJOR GENERAL.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
As an exprefsion of their affectionate Regard to his Memory_y and of their deep regret for his Lofs, THE S." ANDREWS SOCIETY
( of the STATE of NEW YORK have erected
FAC-SIMILE OF THE TABLET IN HAMILTON'S MONUMENT.
that was erected here to the memory of General Hamilton is now taken to pieces by the proprietor of the soil and conveyed to his house, under pretence of its having been too much resorted to for purposes of dueling." From this language it is inferable that the removal was then comparatively recent. Captain James Deas was the owner of the property at the time, and was the person who removed the monument. By some means the slab
1 Pedestrian Tour, 14.
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DUELS AT WEEHAWKEN.
which bore the inscription was taken from Captain Deas's pos- session. About the year 1833 Mr. Hugh Maxwell, President of the St. Andrew's Society, learned that it had been seen in a junk shop in New York. Ile traced it up, redeemed it from its igno- ble position and presented it to the late James G. King, who about that time had become the owner of the property on which the monument had been erected. The tablet still remains in possession of his family at Highwood. It is thirty-four inches in length by twenty-six and a half inches in width and two and a half inches in thickness.
GOUVERNEUR AND MAXWELL.
On Monday, July 10, 1815, the New York papers announced the death, "after a short illness," of Isaac Gouverneur, the second son of Nicholas Gouverneur. This death, following a " short ill- ness," was caused by a duel between him and William II. Max- well on Saturday, the Sth of July, about seven o'clock in the evening. It was fought with pistols, "near the monument of Hamilton, a beacon which should dissuade and deter, like the pillar of salt, from folly and madness, rather than allure, like an ignis fatuus, to rashness, error and destruction." George Watts and Doctor Worthington were the seconds in the duel.
PRICE AND GREEN.
Benjamin Price was a grocer at Rhinebeck, a brother ot Wil- liam M. Price, who lived in Hackensack, and of Stephen Price, of the Park Theatre. Green was a major in the British army, serving in Canada. Price was at the theatre one evening with a beautiful woman, when Green, in an adjoining box, took the liberty of turning around and staring her full in the face. She complained to Price, and, on a repetition of the offence, he turned and seized the nose of the gallant officer full between his finger and thumb and wrung it most effectually. The officer left the
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HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
theatre, and soon after a knock was heard at the door of Price's box. He opened it, and there stood the officer, who, with a refreshing simplicity, asked Price what he meant by such beha- viour, at the same time remarking that he had not meant to insult the lady by what he had done. " Oh, very well," replied Price, " neither did I mean to insult you by what I did." Upon this they shook hands as sworn brothers. Some time after this Green went to Canada to join his regiment. The facts of the affair, however, had reached Canada before him, and were soon the subject of discussion among his comrades. The officers of his regiment brought it to the notice of his brother officers, one of whom, a Captain Wilson, insisted that Green should be sent to Coventry unless he returned to New York and challenged Price. Green, thus goaded, set to work and practiced for tive hours a day until he could hit a dollar at ten paces nine times out of ten. He then came to New York and challenged Price. They fought at Weehawken on Sunday, May 12, 1816. Price was killed at the first fire. The ball crashed into his head and the blood streamed from the wound as he fell. Numerous boats lined the shore, a number of spectators viewed the transaction from the neighboring rocks, and a more horrible sight could not have been imagined. The seconds ran off, and Green took a small boat, crossed the river and boarded a vessel in the bay just about to sail for England. The body of Price was found at Weehawken, with a piece of paper attached to his breast, on which were inscribed the following words : "This is Benjamin Price, boarding in Vesey street, New York ; take care of him." The body was taken to the city quietly and buried.
As a sequel to the foregoing duel, Millingen, in his History of' Dueling, relates the following :
" Some years afterwards, Captain Wilson of the British army, whom we have mentioned above, arrived in this city, from England, on his way to Canada, and put up at the Washington Hotel. One day, at dinner, the conversation turned on the death of Benjamin Price, and the manner thereof. Captain Wilson remarked that he had been mainly instrumental in
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bringing about the duel, and detailed the circumstances con- nected therewith. This statement was carried immediately to Stephen Price, who was lying ill of the gout, at home: his friends say that he henceforth implicitly obeyed the instructions of the physician, obtained thereby a short cessation of the gout, and was enabled to hobble out of doors, his lower extremities swaddled in flannel. His first course was to seek the Washing- ton Hotel, and his first inquiry was, . Is Captain Wilson within ?' . He is,' said the waiter. . Show me to his room,' said Stephen, and he was shown accordingly. He hobbled up stairs with great difficulty, cursing at intervals the gout and the captain with equal vehemence. He at last entered the captain's room, his feet cased in moccassins, and his hand grasping a stick. Captain Wilson rose to receive him, when he said, 'Are you Captain Wilson ?' . That is my name,' replied the gallant captain. . Then, sir, my name is Stephen Price. You see, sir, I can scarcely put one foot before the other ; I am afflicted with the gout. My object in coming here is to insult you. Shall I have to knock you down, or will you consider what I have said a sufficient insult, and act accordingly ?' ' No, sir,' replied the captain, smiling, 'I shall consider what you have said quite sufficient, and shall act accordingly. You shall hear from me.'
" In due time, there came a message from the Captain to Stephen Price; time, place and weapons were appointed, and early one morning a barge left New York, in which were seated, face to face, Stephen Price and Captain Wilson, and two friends : they all landed at Bedlow's Island, the principals took their posi- tions, and Captain Wilson fell dead at the first shot. The cap- tain was buried in the vault there, and Price and the two seconds returned to New York ; but his friends (Wilson's) thought that he had gone suddenly to Canada, and always thought that he had died suddenly, or had been killed on his way to England to join his regiment."
PERRY AND HEATH.
Oliver H. Perry, the hero of Lake Erie, was post-captain in
15
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HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
the navy of the United States, and John Heath was captain of marines. While on duty in the Meditterranean, in 1815, a quar- rel arose between them. In the moment of excitement Perry struck Heath. A court-martial followed the difficulty, and both were privately reprimanded by Commodore Chauncey. who commanded the American squadron in that sea. After their return to the United States, Heath sent a challenge to Perry. The communication was received in Rhode Island, where the civil authorities would not permit the duello. Commodore Perry, as early as January, had secured the services of Commodore Decatur as his friend, in anticipation of the challenge. On the 10th of October he went to Washington, to give Captain Heath the satisfaction he demanded. The absence of Commodore Decatur rendered it necessary that he should have another friend for a time, that Captain Heath might be informed of his arrival, and for what purpose he had come. This was done, and the following preliminary arrangements agreed upon between Major Hamilton, on the part of Commodore Perry, and Lieu- tenant Desha on the part of Captain Heath :
" 1st. It is understood that Commodore Perry is to proceed to Philadelphia, or its vieinity, by the route of Baltimore, where he is to remain until the arrival of Captain Heath's friend.
" 2d. That Captain Heath is to proceed by the way of Freder- iek and York to Philadelphia, and to remain in the suburbs until the arrangements are made for a meeting between himself and Commodore Perry-his name not to be on the stage bills.
"3d. Lieutenant Desha and Major Hamilton are to meet at Renshaw's, on Wednesday, after the arrival of the Newcastle boat.
" 4th. The meeting between Commodore Perry and Captain Heath is to take place on Saturday morning, or as soon after as practicable.
"Washington City, Oct. 12, 1818."
Endorsed on this preliminary arrangement was the following note :
" Captain Perry desires it expressly to be understood, that in
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according to Captain Heath the personal satisfaction he has de- manded, he has been influenced entirely by a sense of what he considers due from him as an atonement to the violated rules of the service, and not by any consideration of the claims which Captain Heath may have for making such a demand, which he totally denies, as such claims have been forfeited by the measures of a public character which Captain Heath has adopted towards him. If. therefore, the civil authority should produce an impos- sibility of a meeting at the time and place designated, of which he will take every precaution to prevent, he will consider him- self absolutely exonerated from any responsibility to Captain Heath. touching their present cause of difference.
" .J. HAMILTON, Jun. " (For Captain Perry).
" APPROVED-
R. M. DESHIA."
In consequence of the foregoing, the parties assembled at Philadelphia, and Major Hamilton then transferred the above memorandum to Commodore Decatur, introducing to him at the same time Lieutenant Desha as the friend of Captain Heath, when the following arrangements were made :
" 1st. It is understood that Captain Perry and his friend are to proceed to New York, or its vicinity, where he is to remain until the arrival of Captain IIeath, or until the period which is named in this paper for their meeting.
" 2d. That Captain Heath, with his friend, are to follow and remain at some convenient point on the Jersey shore, near the city of New York, and to give information after their arrival to Captain Perry's friend, where such arrangements will be made as may be deemed necessary.
"3d. The parties to be on the point specified, and the notifica- tion required by the 2d article given, prior to the approaching Monday, the 19th.
" The parties accordingly met at Weehawken on Monday, Octo- ber 19, 1818, at 12 o'clock. Captain Perry received the fire of Captain Heath without returning it, when Commodore Decatur
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HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
immediately stepped forward and declared that Commodore Perry had come to the ground with a determination not to return the fire of Captain Heath, in proof of which he read a letter from Commodore Perry to him, which he had written (and which is herewith subjoined), soliciting him to become his friend, and, therefore, he presumed the party aggrieved was satisfied. Cap- tain Heath having expressed his acquiescence in this opinion, and that the injury he had received from Captain Perry was atoned for, the parties returned to the city.
" We do hereby certify the foregoing is a correct statement. " STEPHEN DECATUR, " R. M. DESIIA."
LETTER OF COMMODORE PERRY.
" WASHIINGTON, January 18, 1818.
" MY DEAR COMMODORE : You are already acquainted with the unfortunate affair which has taken place between Capt. Heath and myself. Although I consider, from the course he has thought proper to pursue, that I am absolved from all accountability to him, yet, as I did, in a moment of irritation produced by strong provocation, raise my hand against a person honored with a com- mission, I have determined, upon mature reflection, to give him a meeting should he call on me ; declaring, at the same time, that I cannot consent to return his fire, as the meeting, on my part, will be entirely as an atonement for the violated rules of the ser- vice. I request, therefore, my dear sir, that you will act as my friend on this occasion.
"Very truly your friend,
" O. H. PERRY. " Com. Stephen Decatur."
Thus fortunately terminated this unfortunate quarrel between these two worthy officers.
GRAHAM AND BARTON.
William G. Graham was associate editor of the New York.
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DUELS AT WEEHAWKEN.
Courier and Inquirer, and a native of Catskill. Mr. Barton was a son of the celebrated Dr. Barton, of Philadelphia. The duel was fought at Weehawken on Wednesday, November 28, 1827. It is said that a dispute arose between them while at the card table at a friend's house, in the course of which Graham struck Barton. A challenge was the consequence, Lewis Asbury and W. MeLeod acting as seconds, and Doctor R. Pennell as surgeon.
The night before the meeting Mr. Graham wrote the following letter to his associate, Major Noah :
" 11 O'CLOCK.
" DEAR SIR : What may be the result of the unhappy rencontre which is to take place in the morning between Mr. Barton and myself cannot, of course, be predicted by me. In the supposition that it will be fatal, I bid yon farewell, in the only language that is now left to me. I am perfectly indifferent as to myself, but l trust most earnestly that Mr. Barton (toward whom I have not the faintest enmity of any kind ) may escape. I admit that I am in the wrong -- that, by giving him a blow, I have forced him into the condition of a challenge ; and by not doing what he has he would have blasted his character as a gentleman forever. In com- inon justice I am bound thus to absolve him from all suspicions of unbecoming conduct respecting the challenge. The provoca- tion, though slight, was still a provocation which I could not over- look. It is ont of the question for me to explain, retract or apol- ogize. I will not hear of any settlement short of some abject and craven submission from him.1
" Mr. Barton is a talking man, who dwells very complacently on his own skill as a marksman, on his experience as a duelist, and on his accuracy as a person of ton. I pretend to none of these, and therefore must oppose the most inflexible obstinacy. After he is perfectly satisfied, I may, perhaps, apologize-that is, in case I am fatally wounded. It is needless for me to say I heartily despise and detest this absurd mode of settling disputes
1 It is probable that Mr. Graham intended to say, "He will not hear of any settlement short of some abject and craven submission from me."
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HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
and salving the wounds of honor. But what can a poor devil do except bow to the supremacy of custom ?
%
" God bless you.
"W. G. GRAHAM."
Here we see a man of fine genius and noble impulses, who, like the talented Hamilton and the gallant Perry, could coolly stand before the cannon's month, yet yielded like a child to the omnipotence of public sentiment. How perverted must be that society which, while it condemns dueling, yet shuns and spurns the man who refuses to accept or send a challenge when he is in- sulted. And how weak and ineffectual are laws for the preven- tion of crime, when those crimes are approved by public senti- ment.
On the fatal day Graham arose at four o'clock in the morning, and both parties were on the ground at twenty minutes before six o'clock. The principals took their positions, and at the word exchanged shots without effect. Mr. Graham's second proposed that the parties each advance one step. At the second fire Gra- ham said, " I am shot-I am a dead man -- Barton, I forgive yon," and fell. He was immediately conveyed to the boat in waiting. When laid down, the only words he uttered were, " I am in great pain," and died a few minutes afterward. The ball had entered the right side, abont two inches from the umbilicus, and passed obliquely through the body, injuring in its passage several im- portant organs, and coming out on the left side about four inches from the spine.
The certificate of the cause of death, which Dr. Pennell gave the next day, is quite unique : "I hereby certify that William Graham, aged 34 years, died on the 28th inst. of vulnus."
AITKEN AND SHERMAN.
On Monday, the 19th of October, 1835, Henry Aitken and Thomas Sherman met on the ground at Weehawken. On the Sun- day evening previous they had a difficulty in New York respecting
?
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DUELS AT WEEHAWKEN.
a female, which resulted in a challenge on the part of Sherman. This was accepted by Aitken, and ten o'clock on the following morning was fixed upon as the hour to decide the matter in dif- ference. Mutual friends endeavored to reconcile the difficulty, but in vain. On Monday morning they crossed the Hoboken ferry and went to the ground. Before the preliminaries were settled, Andrew Boyd, a constable, arrived and arrested them. They were brought before Squire Paradise, in Jersey City, who committed them to the Hackensack jail to await the action of the grand jury.
On Tuesday P. M., May 16, 1837, a duel was fought at this place between a Spaniard from Guatemala and a Frenchman living in New York, in which the former was slightly wounded. Some pecuniary transaction was the subject of dispute.
Without being able to discover the particulars, I have met the general fact that a duel was here fought at quite a late period. and that one of the parties, named Bird, was shot through the heart, sprang up nearly ten feet, and fell dead.
So far as I can learn, the last duel fought on this ground was on Sept. 28, 1845. Without the knowledge of the principals, the seconds loaded the pistols with cork. The performance was solemnly gone through with as if in mockery of the many trage- dies which had there been enacted. The heroes of this affaire d'honneur are not known, but with their farce the curtain drops upon the stage at Weehawken. But as we read its sad history may we not quote from Dr. Nott's funeral oration over Hamil- ton : " Ah! ye tragie shores of Hoboken, crimsoned with the richest blood, I tremble at the crimes you record against us, the annual register of murders which you keep and send up to God ! Place of inhuman ernelty ! beyond the limits of reason, of duty. and of religion, where man assumes a more barbarons nature and ceases to be man. What poignant, lingering sorrows do thy law. less combats occasion to surviving relatives."
CHAPTER IX . - FERRIES.
Communipaw ferry-Weehawken ferry-Jersey City ferry-Bergen Point ferry-Hoboken ferry-Brown's ferry-Douw's ferry-Pavonia ferry- Budd's ferry-Bull's ferry-De Klynn's ferry-Elizabethtown Point ferry.
THE Common Council of New York have always claimed and occasionally exercised the right of establishing the rates of fer- riage. New Jersey has always claimed and frequently exercised the same right. It is not to be supposed, however, that either jurisdiction ever claimed greater authority than to regulate the fare to be demanded on its own side of the river. On the 6th of February, 1799, the State of New Jersey transferred this right to the Board of Chosen Freeholders in the several counties in which the ferries were.1 The Chosen Freeholders of Bergen, so far as as- certained, never attempted to exercise the power so given to them. But the Chosen Freeholders of Hudson took hold of the subject with more zeal than discretion. The proprietors of the ferries denied their power under the law to establish the rates of fare on ferries not wholly within the county. The contest waxed warmer, until finally an appeal was made to the courts, and then the ferry companies went to the Legislature for relief. That body again took the subject into their own hands, and on the 10th of March, 1853, established the rates of ferriage as they now are .?
THE COMMUNIPAW FERRY.
The first ferry legally established on the North River, connect- ing our shore with Manhattan Island, was the Communipaw ferry.
1 Pater son's Laurs, 351.
" Throughout this chapter, when the lease of a ferry is spoken of, it generally refers to the lease of the slip and ferry privileges on the New York side, by the Common Council of that city.
232
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THE COMMUNIPAW FERRY.
It was erected in 1661, about the time that the new village of Bergen received its first charter, at the foot of Communipaw ave- nue. William Jansen was licensed to take charge of it, and so became the first legalized ferryman on the North river.1 He held the position for about eight years, but it does not seem to have been a peaceable one. On the 22d of December, 1661, at his request, the Governor-General and Council fixed the rates of ferriage, which, it may be taken for granted, Jansen was not slow in demanding .? Whetther these rates were exorbitant whether he was too exact in enforcing payment, whether he failed to pro- vide proper accommodations, or whether through the penurious- ness of the burghers of Bergen, trouble soon began to thicken around him, and the people sought to get to and from New Am- sterdam by some other route. Jansen, under his license, claimed the exclusive right to transport people over the river, and even insisted that the inhabitants could not lawfully ferry themselves over, but must patronize his ferry-the first monopoly in the State of New Jersey. This claim the people resisted, and were elant- orous for the right of each one to keep his boat. The authorities took the popular side in the controversy. Tielman Van Vleck, sheriff, and Engelbert Steenhuysen, commissary of Bergen, ad- vised the people that each one had the right to keep his " schuyt," and ferry over whom he pleased. Thus the issue was fairly made. Jansen appeared before the authorities in New Amsterdam and entered his complaint against Tielman Van Vleck and Engelbert Steenhuysen. Upon this complaint they were, on the 28th of December, 1662, commanded to appear before the Governor- General and Conncil and put in their defence.3 This they did, and, carrying the war into Africa, they charged that Jansen had not done his duty, and had refused to ferry over certain parties. Jansen replied that he had never refused to ferry over those who would pay.4 Upon this state of the case judgment seems to
1 New Neth. Reg., 117.
N. Y. Col. MSS .. ix .. 921.
" Ibid, x., Part i., 300.
+ This original Charon of Communipaw must have learned his rights from the robust son of Erebus and Nox, who would not ferry the shades of the dead over Acheron without the customary obulus.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON COUNTY.
have been given against both parties, for it was, on the 4th of January, 1663, decided that the sheriff must assist the ferryman "in getting his pay," and that he must do his duty or be dis- missed."
Whether Jansen departed this life previous to June, 1669, or whether he was dismissed, is not known, but certain it is that another was chosen in his place, as appears by the following :
" By the Honble Phillip Carteret, Esq", Gouernor of the Pro- vince of Nova Cesarea, or New Jersey, under the Right Honble John Lord Berkeley, &c., &c.
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