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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01148 8191
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
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1
John Jacob Astor From a steel engraving
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FAMOUS FAMILIES OF NEW YORK
Historical and Biographical Sketches of Families which in successive generations have been Identified with the Development of the Nation
BY MARGHERITA . ARLINA . HAMM
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. I
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY THE NEW YORK EVENING POST COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
The Iknickerbocker Press, new York
1185635
This work is based upon a series of articles which originally appeared in The New York Evening Post. These articles have been revised and expanded by the author for publication in permanent form.
iii
PUBLISHERS' NOTE.
T HE publishers desire to make acknowledgment to the rep- resentatives of the families whose records are given in these volumes, for the valuable co-operation extended in the work of collecting information for the text and material for the illustrations. Through the courtesy of these representatives, the publishers are able to present a record of family history which is not only distinctively interesting in itself, but which constitutes an important contribution to the history of the com- munity.
The illustrations secured are attractive in themselves, while they have the special value of being in the full sense of the term authoritative. Many of them have never before come into print. It is to be regretted that the series is not entirely complete. It proved to be impracticable, although during a term of twelve months or more every possible effort was made, to secure for three or four of the families in the series trustworthy originals for portraits or for other illustrations such as are presented for the remaining families.
It will be understood that on the ground of the historical character of the work, it has been thought advisable to restrict the subjects selected for portraiture to persons no longer living.
V
CONTENTS
PAGE
I .- ASTOR
I
II .- BARCLAY
II
III .- BEEKMAN .
23
IV .- BREVOORT
33
V .- CLINTON
43
VI .- CORNELL
53
VII .- CRUGER
65
VIII .- DELAFIELD
77
IX .- DE LANCEY
87
X .- DE PEYSTER
99
. XI .- DUANE 115
XII .- DUER
125
XIII .- FISH
135
XIV .- GARDINER 143
XV .- HAMILTON
155
XVI .- HOFFMAN
167
XVII .- JAY 187 .
XVIII .- KING
. 203
XIX .- KIP
215
XX .- LAWRENCE 227
XXI .- LEWIS
. 247
VOL. I. vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
John Jacob Astor .
Frontispiece
From a steel engraving
The Entrance to Astor Library, Lafayette Place 4
Astoria in 1811
6
Redrawn from an old print
John Jacob Astor's Residence in 88th Street, near the East River
6
This is the house in which Washington Irving wrote Astoria From a print in Valentine's Manual
The Waldorf-Astoria 8
The Astor House
.
8
William B. Astor .
10
From a steel engraving
Rev. Henry Barclay, D.D.
.
.
12
Trinity Church as Enlarged in 1737
18
Reproduced from The Parish of Trinity Church in the City of New York
James W. Beekman 24
Mrs. James Beekman
28
From the painting by L. Kilburn, 1761
The Beekman House, 1860
28
Headquarters of Sir William Howe in 1776. Beekman Hill, near First Avenue From an old lithograph print
Henry Brevoort
34
From R. Peale's sketch, made in 1823
View of the Brevoort Estate and Vicinity
38
Between 54th and 55th Streets, near First Avenue From a print in Valentine's Manual, 1866
General James Clinton .
44
George Clinton
.
.
.
.
46
Governor of New York in 1789. From the painting by Ezra Ames
ix
X
Illustrations
PAGE
New York City Hall
46
DeWitt Clinton .
· 48
From the painting by Inman, owned by E. Abdy Hurry, Esq.
Entrance of the Canal into the Hudson at Albany . 48
From an old print
Ezra Cornell .
. 54
From a steel engraving
Robert C. Cornell .
.
. 62
From a steel engraving
Governor Alonzo B. Cornell .
62
From a steel engraving
John Cruger .
66
From a steel engraving
The Old Cruger House at Oscawana on the Hudson 74
The Boscobel Manor House, Cruger's Point on the Hudson .
74
Major Joseph Delafield
78
From a steel engraving
Delafield Mansion, 1861. 77th Street, New York
82
From a print in Valentine's Manual, 1862
Mrs. Ralph Izard (Alice DeLancey) · 88
From the portrait by Gainsborough
Fraunces Tavern
92
From an old print
Alice De Lancey
·
O
96
Wife of Ralph Izard
Portrait in miniature on gold snuff-box
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Izard
96
From the painting by John S. Copley
Statue of Abraham De Peyster
Bowling Green, New York City
100
The De Peyster House in Queen Street, New York, about 1800
From an old wood-cut . 102
Catherine De Peyster 106 From a copy of the original portrait in the possession of Hon. E. H. Crosby
Illustrations
xi
Silver Plate of Johannis De Peyster Brought from Holland . From an old print
PAGE
106
Frederick De Peyster
From a steel engraving
· 112
J. Watts De Peyster
From a steel engraving
. 112
James Duane
. 116
From the painting in the City Hall
William Alexander Duer
From a steel engraving
. 126
William Duer
. 128
Member of Continental Congress From a steel engraving
Colonel William Duer . . 128
From a miniature
Lady Catherine Alexander (Lady Kitty) Wife of Col. William Duer From a miniature
. 128
Hamilton Fish
. 136
From a steel engraving
Nicholas Fish
138
From the painting by H. Inman, 1823
The Hamilton Fish Estate, Garrisons, N. Y. 138
Gardiner Manor House, Gardiner's Island
144
The Indian Deed of Gardiner's Island . 148 Reproduced from Lion Gardiner and his Descendants, by Curtis C. Gardiner
Inscription on the Tomb of John Gardiner . 150
From a photograph
Inscription on the Tomb of David Gardiner .
.
150
From a photograph
Alexander Hamilton From the painting by Trumbull
. 156
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton
. 160
From the painting by Inman
John Church Hamilton .
From a photograph
. 162
xii
Illustrations
PAGE
Monument to Alexander Hamilton, at Weehawken, N. J. . 162
Murray Hoffman .
From a painting . 168
Martin Hoffman 170 .
From a painting
The Hoffman Residence near Upper Red Hook, N. Y. . . 170
Erected by Zacharias Hoffman in 1760
Matilda Hoffman
180
From a miniature
Anthony N. Hoffman
180
From a miniature
Old House in Kingston, N. Y., Erected by Nicolaes Hoffman 180
Samuel Verplanck Hoffman . 182 .
From a photograph furnished by the late Dean Hoffman
John T. Hoffman
182
From a photograph furnished by the late Dean Hoffman
Dean Eugene A. Hoffman . 184
From a photograph by Moreno & Lopez
John Jay
First Chief-Justice of the United States . 188
Gold Snuff-box 190
Presented by the City of New York to John Jay
Gold Watch . 190 Worn by John Jay
Mrs. John Jay (Sarah Van Brugh Livingston) 196 From a medallion by Daniel Huntington
Mrs. John Jay and her Children
From the painting by R. E. Pine
200
Rufus King .
. 204
From the painting by Trumbull
Mrs. Rufus King . . 208 From the painting by Trumbull
The Home of Rufus King, Jamaica, Long Island . 212
Samuel Kip III. . 216
Illustrations
xiii
Henry Kip
. 218
Son of Samuel Kip of Kip's Bay
Christina Kip
. 218
Wife of Henry Kip
Samuel Kip .
·
·
· 222
Owner of Kip's Bay
From a miniature on ivory
Ann Kip
Wife of Samuel Kip
From a miniature on ivory
Abraham R. Lawrence.
From a photograph
John L. Lawrence .
From a portrait by Waldo
230
Mrs. John L. Lawrence .
From a portrait by Jarvis
Residence of John L. Lawrence in East 14th Street, about
1870
234
John Lawrence
236
From a portrait by Copley
Major Jonathan Lawrence
From a painting
236
Captain James Lawrence
238
From a steel engraving by Williamson
Hon. William Lawrence
238
From the portrait by Inman
Francis Lewis, Signer of the Declaration of Independence . 248 From a steel engraving
The Marriage Certificate of Francis Lewis
.
254
Major-General Morgan Lewis
256
From the original portrait
. 222
. 228
· 230
PAGE
INTRODUCTION
1 N the work which follows an attempt has been made to treat the more notable families of the Empire State as units rather than as congeries of individuals. In the modern tendency toward analysis and detail, social phenomena are likely to be regarded as the products of the volition and action of one or more persons, who apparently dominate the rest. Thus treated, history becomes biography. Little or no consideration is awarded to the family which, from time immemorial, and even in these in- dividualistic days, has been a potent and permanent social force. Beyond the influence of heredity, which in itself is a factor of great importance, are family wealth, home atmosphere, clan and race pride, and the affection, gratitude, and other relationships of the third parties by which each family is surrounded.
These added together constitute a social momentum which is always larger and more efficient in the development of society than the efforts and energies of any one man or woman.
The extraordinary progress of New York State from its hum- ble Dutch beginning to its present imperial position is due, more than to any other one cause, to the personnel of its people. Among its citizens certain families rise above the rest by reason of various mental, moral, and physical attributes, in which they were, if not superior to their fellows, at least better adapted to the sur- rounding conditions of daily life. Each has played an active part in the drama of history and is still influencing the civilization of to-day.
Each chapter of this work sketches the origin, the early his- tory, the larger personalities, and the more important achievements of the members of each family studied. Within the limits set for VOL. I.
xvi
Introduction
the task it was impossible to include all the great families of New York. A complete account would be the labor of a lifetime.
Considerable attention has been paid to ancestry, in the belief that locality, or possibly race, may exert a larger influence upon human beings than is usually accredited to that antecedent. While reference is made to ethnic and national lines, it is done more as a matter of convenience or reference than as a matter of explanation. The whole problem of race is so mixed and con- fused that it may well be dismissed from practical consideration. No matter what the origin of any family, it is, however far back the search may be extended, a perpetual blending of bloods from the same or varying communities, clans, cities, peoples, and nationalities. It is more probable that the law of personal selec- tion or of the attraction of like qualities influences any particular family than nationality or race.
In the preparation of this work the facts have been taken, as far as possible, from private records and archives. Nearly all of the families have preserved large amounts of material concerning their annals, which may be regarded as authoritative in their declarations.
Next to these have been official records-ecclesiastical, mu- nicipal, county, state, and national. Last, and least important, have been the works on biography and history which contain refer- ences to the characters under discussion. Where it was feasible the author has visited the cradles of each family in the Middle and Eastern States and in Europe. In addition to this, she has availed herself of the genealogical and biographical libraries of London, Paris, Amsterdam, and other European cities for infor- mation as to facts and persons in the eighteenth and preceding centuries. Each chapter has been submitted to at least two members of the family described therein and some to four and five for their emendation. Through their courtesy many interest- ing facts have been obtained, which have never before been published, many dates given in official publications have been corrected, and considerable light thrown upon obscure or neg- lected occurrences.
xvii
Introduction
Of the families discussed, a majority had their immediate origin in Holland, a fourth in England, a tenth in Scotland, a tenth in France, and the remainder in Wales, Sweden, Ireland, and Germany.
These figures express fairly the ethnic constituents of New York in the period between its settlement and the beginning of the nineteenth century, with the exception of the German, which was larger on account of the army of Palatines who entered the colony in the beginning of the eighteenth century. The discrep- ancy is due to the fact that these Palatines moved away from the social centres into the wilderness, and not until the Revolution did they take an active part in public affairs.
Nearly every one of the names is eloquent in its own right. For example, Van Cortlandt, which is as Knickerbocker as can be, tells by its Dutch form of having come from the Netherlands and by its etymology of having pertained to that part of Russia on the Baltic which in the Middle Ages belonged to the Order of Teutonic Knights. Delafield is another chapter of history con- densed into nine letters. It is old New York, and before that English, and still farther back, Norman. Beyond that again it speaks of the land where the tide of battle rolled to and fro between the French and the Germanic banners. The noble name of Hoffman, so organic a timber in the ship of state, tells of the Dutch period, far off Scandinavia, and back of that of some Germano-Norse invasion into Scandinavia from the southern coast of the Baltic.
The busy present is apt to forget its debt to the past ; the men of to-day to underestimate inherited wealth and power. The accomplishment of the moment seems larger than that of yesterday. If this work cause the reader to realize the import- ance and beauty of what has been done in the making of a great State, and the force of the upright manhood which has been the foundation-stone of so many New York families, the purpose of its undertaking will have been accomplished.
M. A. H.
Astor
I
I
ASTOR
OMPARED with many Huguenot and Knickerbocker families, the Astors may be justly termed newcomers in New York. The founder, John Jacob, did not arrive until 1784, when the city was almost a century old. He came from Walddorf, in Baden. Here in the 18th century lived a jovial marketman named Jacob Ashdoer, or Astor, who had a small business and a large family. There were four sons, all of whom left home to seek their fortune. The oldest set- tled in London, where he became a piano manufacturer, starting the firm known as Astor & Broadwood, which subsequently be- came the world-famous house of Broadwood. The second, Henry, came to New York, where he took up
John Jacob his father's trade. The third went to another part of the Father- land, and the fourth and youngest, John Jacob, followed the second over to the New World. Even at this time he displayed the remarkable will power which was to make him so prominent a man in America. When he made up his mind to emigrate, he had no money and did not know a word of English. He worked his way from Baden to Holland, and thence to London. He spent two years in London, where he learned the language fluently though not correctly, and where he put by enough money to pay
3
4
Astor
his steerage fare across the Atlantic, to buy a suit of Sunday clothes, and to have a surplus of fifteen guineas. He crossed the Atlantic in midwinter, and had a rough and stormy passage. On the ship was a fellow-countryman with whom he became quite intimate. The German had been a few years in America, and had built up a profitable business in furs and skins, and strongly ad- vised young Astor to engage in that calling. He explained all the details of the business, so that before America was reached Astor had an excellent theoretical knowledge of the subject. He valued the information so highly that he entered it in a memorandum book, which is said to be still preserved in the family archives. The ship arrived in Chesapeake in January, 1784, but the water was covered with floating ice as far as the eye could see. They lay ice-bound until March and the spring thaw came, and then they proceeded to Baltimore.
One day when the ice was breaking, and there was danger of being crushed or swept away by the floating masses, the pas- sengers assembled upon the deck, ready to take to the small boats. All were dressed in the roughest clothing except young Astor, who had on his new London suit. The captain looked at him in amazement and asked :
"What are you dressed up for ? "
Young Astor answered carelessly : " If anything happens and I'm saved, I have my Sunday clothes on; but if I get drowned, it won't make any difference what clothes I have on."
Upon reaching New York, he went to his brother Henry, who lived over his store. He had a warm welcome and an invitation
to become his brother's clerk. He was proud and in- In New York dependent, and declined the offer, going to work im- mediately afterwards with a baker, George Detrich, on the present site of No. 351 Pearl Street, corner of Frankfort. He had gained some culinary knowledge at home, and proved himself an adept at baking. He must have been much more skilful than other bakers, because tradition says that during his brief stay the busi- ness of the house more than doubled. He remained in the bakery about three weeks, and then became clerk in the store of Robert
The Entrance to Astor Library, Lafayette Place
5
Astor
Bowne, an old Quaker, at $2 a week and his board. He was indefatigable in his new position, and won not only the good graces of his employer, but also of the hunters, trappers, and Indians, from whom he bought goods. In 1785, he made his first trip up country, where he bought a cargo of furs and brought it back with him to the city. He utilized his leisure time coming and going in learning the Indian language. He kept this up, and in six years could converse intelligently, if not fluently, in Mohawk, Seneca, and Oneida. It is said that he was the first fur merchant to possess this accomplishment, and it gave him a prestige among the Indians, whose pecuniary value cannot be overestimated.
In 1786, having saved up a little money, he resigned his position, and started in business on his own account in Water Street. He borrowed money from his brother Henry, but his entire capital was not more than five hundred dollars. In the next four years he worked tirelessly. At the outset he could not afford a clerk, and did all the labor about his little shop. During the buying season he went out with his pack upon his back and visited every farmer and village store which dealt in furs. The rest of the year he attended to their curing, beating, packing, selling, and shipping, and also to a small trade in musical instru- ments, which he had established in connection with his furs. In 1790 he had become sufficiently prominent to appear in the city directory: "Astor, J. J., fur trade, No. 40 Little Dock Street." About this time he married Sarah Todd, daughter of Adam Todd, and a member of the Brevoort family. She brought him a dowry of three hundred dollars, and, what was far more valuable, a business ability almost as well developed as his own. She proved a partner in every sense of the word. There were six children by the union, of whom four attained prominence in the second generation: William B. [1792], who inherited his father's mer- cantile genius; Magdalen [1786], who married the Rev. Dr. John Bristed; Eliza [1790], who was one of the first American heiresses to marry a foreign title; and Dorothea [1795], who married Walter Langdon.
Between 1790 and 1800, Astor developed his business with
6
Astor
astonishing success. His arrangements for selling in New York were so admirable that he was able to employ a regiment of buyers, trappers, and Indians. He organized routes for his men, nearly all of which are to-day the lines of railways which terminate in New York. One was on Long Island; a second one along the Hudson to Lake Champlain, and thence to Montreal; a third from Albany to Buffalo; a fourth in New York State, which is now about where the Erie Railway runs; and a fifth to New Jersey and northern Pennsylvania. He made several trips to England, where, besides selling furs, he made a careful study of China and of the far Eastern trade. That trade was then monopolized by the East India Company, but Astor, through personal influence and diplomacy, secured a license from the authorities. On his return he sent his first ship to Canton, opening a commerce which he prosecuted for twenty-seven years, and from which he made enormous profits. It was not confined to the furs he exported to the East. He brought back cargoes of tea, rice, and matting, and through a happy accident discovered that the Sandwich Islands contained vast quantities of sandal-wood which could be bought for a few dollars a ton and sold in China for several hundred dollars a ton. He was the pioneer of America's trade with China, and opened a field which in after years was to give fortunes to a hundred merchants.
It was about this time that he began to purchase real estate on Manhattan Island. His transactions were laughed at by mer- chants, but before fifteen years had passed his wisdom was conceded. Soon after this, owing probably to his appreciation of the value of trade with the far East, he began the establishment of a line of trading-posts from St. Louis to the Pacific, which culminated in the settlement of Astoria. In this giant undertaking Astor rose from the levels of ordinary trade into high finance and statesmanship. He saw clearly that the enormous expense in- volved might not repay him, although it would doubtless enrich his descendants. The picture which his imagination drew in the first decade of the century was what is the actual map in its last decade. His marvellous brain leaped forward eighty years. He
Astoria in 1811 Redrawn from an old print
John Jacob Astor's Residence in 88th Street, near the East River This is the house in which Washington Irving wrote " Astoria " From a print in Valentine's Manual
1
t
7
Astor
himself would have made Astoria what are now San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma combined. His plan miscarried, not through his fault, but through the War of 1812, which upset all calculations. This great chapter in his life is the theme of Washington Irving's Astoria. In it the chronicler declares that Astor's ambition had in this instance turned from gain to fame, and from self to the nation.
These are the facts which stamp him as the man of a century. He died in 1834. To the public he is best known by that goodly inn, the Astor House, on lower Broadway, the noble library which bears his name, and the fortune of twenty millions which he left at his decease.
William Backhouse Astor, who was born in 1792, inherited the bulk of his father's estate and also that of his uncle Henry, who had died rich and childless ; The two bequests made William William the richest man in the New World. He was Backhouse
educated in the New York public schools, and afterwards in Göttingen. Upon graduation, he returned to this country and was taken into partnership by his father. In 1827, the firm dis- solved and the Astors retired from the China trade. The re- mainder of his life was devoted to operations in real estate, to aiding the great charities of the city, and the administration of the Astor Library. He had a strong literary taste, and, when a young man, wrote an excellent monograph upon "Napoleonic Grandeurs." In his investments he paid particular attention to the land lying between Fourth and Seventh avenues and south of Central Park. Here in 1867, he owned about 720 houses. He was the first to break away from the monotonous brownstone architecture of the mid-century and to introduce brick buildings trimmed with sand- stone or limestone, which mode of treatment is often referred to as the " Astor style." He married Margaret Alida Armstrong, a famous belle, by whom he had six children. In his philanthropy he was enthusiastic and indefatigable. To the Astor Library he gave in bequests and gifts over a half million dollars, and to hos- pitals, churches, asylums, and charitable societies his gifts during life were said to be over a million. He was unostentatious to a
8
Estor
degree. When he died, his estate was estimated at about $45,000,000, of which the bulk was divided equally between his two sons, John Jacob III. [1822] and William [1830]. In dividing the estate, the executors, after many months' hard work, arranged the various properties and investments in two lists, which they labelled "A" and "B." These lists were placed in a hat and the question of possession decided by lot.
John Jacob III., who died in 1890, possessed the family thrift and business talent, increasing his inheritance to an amount esti- mated between $75,000,000 and $100,000,000, all of John Jacob III which went to his sole child, William Waldorf.
John Jacob III. studied at Columbia College and Göttingen. After graduation he went through the Harvard Law School. He volunteered in the Civil War and proved an efficient and capable soldier. In 1879, the mission to the Court of St. James's was of- fered to him, but he refused it, startling the politicians by declaring that he was not "fitted for the office." He pursued his father's policy of buying and improving real estate, and did much to increase the wealth and beauty of the city. Both he and his wife, who was Charlotte Augusta Gibbes, were deeply interested in education, and more especially in organizations for the benefit of children. They were liberal contributors to local philanthropic works. Mrs. Astor presented the Metropolitan Museum with her rare collection of laces, which was at that time the finest of its kind in the world. Mr. Astor further increased the endowment of the library so as to give it a value of one million dollars.
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