USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V. 2 > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
Gc 974.702 N422st v. 2 1752969
M. L
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
L 3 1833 02231 1457
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HISTORY
OF
NEW YORK CITY
V.2 FROM
THE DISCOVERY
TO
THE PRESENT DAY,
BY
WILLIAM L. STONE,
AUTHOR OF " THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, BART."; " LIFE AND WRITINGS OF COL. WM. L STONE"; ETC., ETC., ETC.
HUMANI NIHIL ALIENUM."
. NEW YORK : VIRTUE & YORSTON, 12 DEY STREET. 1872.
1752969
MONUMENT TO GENERAL MONTGOMERY.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofnewyork02ston
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
Jackson, at the City Hotel. The ball was attended by the General in person, and was far ahead, in elegance and. brilliancy, of anything before known in the city -so much so, indeed, as to call forth several 1819. squibs and criticisms from " Croaker," the celebrated "quiz" and satirist of that day .*
The winter of 1820-'21, like that of 1817-'18, was one of remarkable severity. Indeed, for many years pre- vious, such intense and steady cold weather had not been known. A newspaper of that day, speaking 1820. of this, says : " The weather, after twenty-one 1821. days of steady cold, began to moderate on Saturday after- noon (the 20th). On Saturday morning, Long Island Sound was crossed upon the ice from Sand's Point to the opposite shore, distance eight miles. The price of oak wood was up to five dollars a load, Saturday."! Three days afterwards the same paper states: "The cold still continues intense ; both the North and East Rivers were crossed on the ice, and the bay is nearly filled with float- ing ice, which will probably be closed by another cold night, and our harbor shut up for the first time in forty years." On the next day : " The North River continues to be crossed with safety on the ice; the distance between the two shores has been measured, and found to be a mile from Cortlandt Street to Powle's Hook (Paulus Hook, Jersey City). The Hoboken ferry-boat, with fifty-seven persons and twenty-three horses on board, drifted, on
brilliant uniforms-blue coats, white pantaloons, and tall, waving feathers- which exceeded in richness and elegance all others in the city. " With its gal- lant cavalier, Colonel James B. Murray, at its head, it was the pride and delight of the beauty and fashion of the city ; while it was equally distinguished, on the march in Broadway, in the walks of fashion, and in the gayeties of the ball- room." -- Recollections of the Seventh Regiment, by Asher Taylor
* Fitz Greene Halleck.
t American, January 22d, 1821.
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Wednesday evening, below Governor's Island, and was inclosed in the ice, where she now remains. The people suffered much from the cold during the night, although none were frozen." The same paper, also, of the 27th of January, says : " More than a thousand persons crossed the North River on the ice; produce, of every kind, was taken over in sleds; and hundreds were seen skating in the middle of the river. There came up, also, yesterday. from Staten Island on the ice, a boat and seven men, viz .. John Vanderbilt, A. Laurence, William Drake, Lewis Farnham, Robert Davis, and Mr. Wainwright. The mail 'for Staten Island was yesterday taken down over the ice by Daniel Simonson and Joseph Seguine. Many persons at the same time walked from Long Island to Staten Isl- and,-such a circumstance has not been witnessed before since the year 1780, when heavy ordnance were conveyed on the ice from New York to Staten Island."
This long and severe cold weather caused much suf- fering among the poor, and led to the establishment of . soup-houses, through the generosity of many of the butch- . ers. Collections were also taken up in the churches for the benefit of the suffering, one of which is noticed in a newspaper as amounting to $2,106.46 .*
* The Market Book, by Thomas F. Devoe.
CHAPTER V.
IN the successive years of its existence, the City of New York had been visited by war and fire and famine, and now the scourge of pestilence was again to be added. In 1819, the city was visited by yellow-fever, which · 1819. shortly disappeared, only to return with increased violence in the fall of 1822. Hardie, in his account 1822.
of the fever at this time, says: "Saturday, the 24th of August, our city presented the appearance of a town besieged. From daybreak till night one line of carts, con- taining boxes, merchandise, and effects, were seen moving towards 'Greenwich Village' and the upper parts of the city. Carriages and hacks, wagons and. horsemen, were scouring the streets and filling the roads; persons, with anxiety strongly marked on their countenances, and with hurried gait, were hustling through the streets. Tempo- rary stores and offices were erecting, and even on the ensuing day (Sunday) carts were in motion, and the saw and hammer busily at work. Within a few days there- after, the custom-house, the post-office, the banks, the in- surance-offices, and the printers of newspapers located themselves in the village, or in the upper part of Broad- way, where they were free from the impending danger ; and these places almost instantaneously became the seat of the immense business usually carried on in the great
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metropolis." * " You cannot conceive," writes Colonel William L. Stone, at that time editor of the Commercial Advertiser, under date of September 26th, 1822, to, 1822. his wife, " the distressing situation we are in, and the whole town. The fever is worse every hour. I saw the hearse pass the office an hour ago with seven sick in it. Thus the dead are carried to the grave, and the sick out of town-to die-on the same melancholy-looking carriages." And again, about a month after, he also writes, under date of October 10th, as follows: " As to the fever, I cannot say that it is any better. On the contrary, it, rages sadly, and grows worse every hour. There are many sick and dying, especially in the lower parts of the city, who would not move, and the physicians will not visit them. I know several who have died with- out a physician. Old Mr. Taylor, for instance (Soap and Candles, Maiden Lane), would not move, and is now in his grave." On the 19th of the same month, also, he writes again to his wife: "I believe I told you in my last letter that I did not believe the fever was any better. The result has proved the correctness of what I said. The disease rages with fresh violence, as you will perceive by the reports. When it will please Heaven to cause it to abate, is more than mortal can tell. A severe, nipping frost, I have no doubt, will check it, and I yet hope that we shall be able to remove back by the first of next
* The visits of yellow-fever in 1798, 1799, 1803, and 1805, tended much to increase the formation of a village near the " Spring Street Market," and one, also, near the " State Prison ; " but the " fever of 1822" built up many streets, with numerous wooden buildings, for the uses of the merchants, banks (from which Bank Street took its name), offices, &c .; and the celerity of putting up those buildings is better told by the Rev. Mr. Marcellus, who informed me that " he saw corn growing on the present corner of Hammond and Fourth Streets, on a Saturday morning, and, on the following Monday, 'Sykes & Niblo ' had a house erected capable of accommodating three hundred boarders." Even the Brooklyn ferry-boats ran up here daily .- The Market Book, by Thomas F. De- voe.
..
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
month." The cold weather of 1822 and 1823, however, did not, as the writer hoped, check the disease ; and dur- ing the succeeding summer its ravages became so frightful, that all who could, fled the city. 1823. Business was entirely suspended, and the place presented the appearance literally of a deserted city-with no sounds except the rumbling of the hearses, as, at the dead of night, they passed through the streets to collect the tribute of the grave. By the 2d of November, however, the fever had disappeared ; the inhabitants again returned to their homes; the bank sand custom-house, which had been removed, during the fever, to Greenwich Village, on the outskirts of the town, moved back to their customary places; and business and social intercourse once more flowed in their accustomed channels.
The two following years were to witness two august celebrations in New York. The first was in the summer of 1824, on the occasion of the visit of General Lafayette to America, in his eighty-sixth year ; 1824. and the second was in honor of the completion of the ERIE CANAL, in 1825, by which the waters of Lake Erie were connected with those of the Atlantic.
On Sunday, the 15th of August, General Lafayette, accompanied by his son, George Washington Lafayette, and his secretary, Auguste Le Vasseur, arrived in New York bay in the ship Cadmus. As the ship passed through the Narrows a salute was fired from Fort Lafayette, and the national flag was immediately hoisted, and displayed during the day on all the public buildings in the city. On landing at Staten Island, he was conducted to the seat of Daniel D. Tompkins, the Vice-President of the United States, where he spent the day receiving calls.
Lafayette had no idea, nor even a suspicion, of the wel- come that awaited him on this side of the Atlantic. At
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least such is the inference from an incident told by one of the actors in it to Captain Mayne Reid, by whom, in turn, it was narrated to the author.
Lafayette had left France, after nearly half a century's absence from the United States, and without any intima- tion that he was to have any public reception in America. The gentleman who gave the relation to Captain Reid- a well-known Boston merchant-chanced to be his fellow- passenger on the voyage, which was made in a Havre packet-ship .*
While crossing the Atlantic, this gentleman had many opportunities of conversing with the French marquis and his son Washington. All knew that our old ally, though a nobleman, was not rich ; and in his conversations with his fellow-passengers he showed himself very solicitous as to his pecuniary means, making many inquiries about the prices of living and traveling in America, and seemed very anxious on this account, as if fearing that his purse might not be sufficient for a very extended tour of travel through the United States. Indeed, the Americans who were aboard the packet, having been long absent from their country, had themselves no idea of the grand honors in store for their distinguished fellow-passenger. The gen- tleman admitted that he himself had no conception of what was to happen, and did occur, on this side. Feeling an interest in Lafayette, he had invited him and his son, in the event of their visiting Boston, to make his house their home.
In due time the French packet came in sight of the American coast, and lay to at Sandy Hook, waiting for a
* The Congress of the United States, some months before, upon learning that it was the intention of Lafayette to visit this country, had unanimously passed a resolution inviting him to our shores, and directed that a national ship should be held in readiness for his conveyance whenever it would suit his convenience to embark. This honor, however, the marquis declined, and took passage from Havre for New York on the 13th of July, 1821.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
favorable wind to enter the Bay of New York. Near the Narrows she was boarded by a row-boat, in which were two gentlemen in plain civilian dress ; who, after holding a private conference with the captain, again re-entered their boat and put off. No one aboard the packet, except the skipper himself, knew to what the conference related.
After passing through the Narrows, and coming along- side of Staten Island, the French ship cast anchor. This was a surprise to the passengers, who supposed they were going directly to the city. They were consequently chagrined at being thus delayed after their long sea- voyage ; and many were heard to murmur at it. While in this mood, they observed a long line of vessels coming down the bay. There were steam-boats, and sailing craft of all kinds, forming a considerable fleet. They were following one another, with manned yards and flags flying, and bands of music (entirely impromptu), as if upon some gala procession. The passengers on board the French packet were surprised-Lafayette not the least.
" What does it mean ?" asked the marquis.
No one could make answer.
"Some grand anniversary of your republic, messieurs," was the conjecture of Lafayette.
About noon, the gayly-decked vessels approached ; and it was seen that they were all making for the French ship, around which they soon clustered. Presently, one of the steam-boats came alongside, and a number of gentle- men, dressed in official costume, stepped on board of the Cadmus. Among them were General Morton, the Mayor of the city, and several members of the Common Council. Not until they had been some time on the deck of the packet, and her captain had introduced them to the Gen- eral Marquis de Lafayette, did the modest old soldier know that a grand ceremonial was preparing for himself. The tears fell fast from his eyes as he received their congratu-
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lations ; and, on shaking hands with his fellow-passenger, the Boston merchant, at parting, he said :
" Monsieur, I shall love New York so well, I may never be able to get away from it to pay you a visit in Boston. Pardieu ! This grand republique-this great people !"
The object of this early visit upon the marquis, before he had landed, was to exchange greetings, and communi- cate to him informally the plan that had been made for his reception on the next day. The following arrange- ments were published in the morning papers of Monday :
ARRANGEMENTS OF THE CORPORATION FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
The committee of arrangements of the Corporation have the pleasure to announce to their fellow-citizens the arrival of the distinguished guest of their country, the Marquis de Lafayette.
The following are the arrangements made for his reception in the city :
The committee of arrangements of the Corporation, the generals and other officers of the United States Army, the officers of the navy, the major-generals and the brigadier-generals of the militia, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, and the committee from the Society of Cincinnati, will proceed, at nine o'clock this morning, the 16th, to Staten Island, where the marquis is lodged, and escort him to the city. They will be accompanied to the Battery by the steam-boats, all with decorations, except that in which the marquis is embarked, which will only have the flag of the United States and the State flag of New York, bands of music being on each. The embarkation of the marquis will be announced by a salute from Fort Lafayette and the steam-ship Robert Fulton. The forts in the harbor will also salute as the boats pass.
The masters of vessels are requested to hoist their flags at mast-head, and, when convenient, to dress their vessels.
The bells of the city will be rung from twelve to one o'clock. The com- mittee request that no carriages or horses, excepting those attached to the . military and the procession, appear south of Chambers on Broadway, Market- field Street or Whitehall Street, between the hours of eleven and two.
The portrait-room in the City Hall is appointed to the use of the marquis, where, during his stay, he will, after this day, between the hours of twelve and two, receive the visits of such of the citizens as are desirous of paying their respects to him.
In accordance with this programme, about half-past twelve o'clock, the entire naval procession got under way, and proceeded to the city. The embarkation at Staten Island was announced by a salute from the shore, which
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was responded to by Fort Lafayette, and by the steam- ship Robert Fulton. The beauty and interest of the scene which the vessels afforded to the thousands of spectators, who were viewing it from the Battery, can be better im- agined than described. The steam-boat Chancellor Living- ston, with her venerable passenger, was escorted up the bay by the splenftlid steam-ship Robert Fulton, manned by two hundred United States sailors from the Navy Yard, and the steam-boats Oliver Ellsworth, Connecticut, Olive Branch, and Nautilus, each having on board a large party of ladies
11
FORT LAFAYETTE.
and gentlemen and a band of music ; the whole forming, as they approached the city, one of the most imposing and splendid of aquatic spectacles. The lofty appearance of the steam-ship Robert Fulton, as she proudly " walked the waters," leading the van of the procession,-her yards manned by sailors, and elegantly dressed from the water to the tops of her masts with the flags and signals of all nations,-presented a sight which was never forgotten by those who witnessed it. The ship Cadmus, towed by the steam-boats, brought up the rear, her towering spars decorated in the most elegant and fanciful manner with ilags and signals. "She moved majestically, as if con- .
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scious of the veneration which was being testified for the noble patriot she had conveyed to our shores." As the procession passed Governor's Island, a salute was fired from Castle William.
On arriving in the city, the marquis landed at Castle Garden on a carpeted stairs prepared for the occasion, and under an arch richly decorated with flags and wreaths of laurel. On stepping ashore, a major-general's salute was fired from a battery of field-artillery, a national salute from the revenue-cutter, and from the United States brig Shark, at anchor off the Battery, and one from Fort ' Columbus. Upon entering Castle Garden, the marquis was greeted with loud and prolonged cheers from the assembled thousands, and salutations from a large number of the early friends of his youth; thence he proceeded with the committee and the military and naval officers to review the troops drawn up in line under the command of Major-General Benedict. The muster was, on this occa- sion, unusually full and splendid, each corps vying with the other in paying a tribute of respect to the Soldier of the Revolution,-the friend and companion of Washing- ton. After the review, the marquis entered a barouche drawn by four horses, and was driven up Broadway to the City Hall. The houses to the roofs were lined with spec- tators, and to the incessant huzzas of the multitude, graceful females signified their welcome by the silent, but not less grateful and affecting, testimony of the waving of handkerchiefs. Never, on any previous occasion, had there been witnessed such a universal assemblage of the beauty, fashion, and splendor of the city.
Upon arriving at the City Hall, the marquis was con- ducted to the Common Council chamber, where the Corpor- ation were assembled. The members rose at his entrance, and their chairman, Alderman Zabriskie, introduced him to the Mayor, who welcomed the city's guest in an appro-
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priate speech. At its conclusion Lafayette responded as follows :
"SIR,-While I am so affectionately received by the citizens of New York and their worthy Representatives, I feel myself overwhelmed with inexpres- sible emotions. The sight of the American shore, after so long an absence ; the recollection of the many respected friends and dear companions no more to be found on this land; the pleasure to recognize those who survive, this im- mense concourse of a free Republican population who so kindly welcome me ; the admirable appearance of the troops, the presence of a corps of the national navy,-have excited sentiments to which no human language can be adequate. You have been pleased, sir, to allude to the happiest times, to the unalloyed enjoyments of my public life ; it is the pride of my life to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of America. I am proud, also, to add that, upward of forty years ago, I have been particularly honored with the freedom of this city. I. beg you, Mr. Mayor. I beg you, gentlemen, to accept yourselves, and to trans- mit to the citizens of New York, the homage of my everlasting gratitude, devo- tion, and respect."
At the conclusion of this address, which was received with most enthusiastic demonstrations, the marquis, attended by the Mayor and Common Council, retired from the Council chamber to a platform in front of the City Hall, where they received a marching salute from the troops. The Common Council then accompanied their guest to the City Hotel (where rooms had been fitted up for his reception), and partook of a sumptuous dinner. What must have been the feelings which warmed the bosoms of his entertainers when they reflected to whom these honors were given! that it was to a man, who, in his youth, devoted his life and fortune to the cause of their country; who willingly shed his blood in the acquirement of its independence, and, through all the desponding scenes of the Revolution, never forsook the side of his and their country's Father, the beloved WASHI- INGTON !
In the evening, the front of the City Hotel, the City Hall, and other buildings were handsomely illuminated ; the theaters and public gardens displayed transparencies and fireworks; rockets blazed from the different house-
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tops ; and an immense balloon was sent up from Castle Garden, representing the famous horse Eclipse mounted by an ancient knight in armor. General hilarity reigned supreme. .
On the afternoon of Wednesday, the 18th, General Lafayette, with his son, visited the Navy Yard (dining with the commandant and a few invited guests), and, in the evening of the same day, the rooms of the New York .
TT
NAVY YARD, BROOKLYN.
Historical Society. A large number of distinguished citi zens had collected at the latter place to meet him; and, on his entrance into the room, he was conducted by Doc- tor Hosack and General Philip Van Cortlandt to the chair that had once been the seat of the unfortunate Louis XVI .* Over the chair, and decorated with Revo- lutionary emblems, was hung the portrait of Lafayette, painted for General Stevens in 1784. Thus was an
* Presented to the New York Historical Society by Gouverneur Morris.
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opportunity afforded the audience of gazing at once upon the young and chivalrous warrior of the Revolution, and. upon the same man, who, by forty years' hard service since, had ripened into a good old age, full of wisdom and honors, and without, by a single act, having tarnished the bright escutcheon of his fame.
As soon as Lafayette had taken his seat, Doctor Hos- ack, in a graceful address, tendered him his election as an honorary member of the society. To which the General responded in the following words :
"SIR,-With the most lively gratitude, I receive the honor which the His- torical Society of New York have conferred in electing me one of its members. " Permit me, also, thankfully to acknowledge the flattering manner in which you are pleased to announce this mark of their benevolence.
"The United States, sir, are the first nation in the records of history who have founded their Constitution upon an honest investigation, and clear defi- nition of their national and social rights.
" Nor can we doubt, that, notwithstanding the combinations made elsewhere by despotism and aristocracy against those sacred rights of mankind, immense majorities in other countries shall not in vain observe the happiness and pros- perity of a free, virtuous, and enlightened people."
The next day was spent in visiting the Academy of Arts, and in receiving the calls of the members of the bar, the French residents of the city, and all citizens who desired to pay their respects.
At an early hour on the following day the city again presented a scene of bustle and activity, preparatory to the departure of General Lafayette and suite for Boston. At seven o'clock, the horse artillery, commanded by Col- onel Arcularius, paraded in Broadway in front of Wash- ington Hall, and, at eight o'clock, took up their line of inarch to Harlem, in order to supersede the escort which was to accompany the marquis to that village. This escort consisted of a squadron of cavalry, the Corporation in carriages, and a number of citizens mounted. The . General breakfasted with the Mayor, Philip Hone, at
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half-past seven, and repaired immediately after to the City Hotel, whence the entire cavalcade under the com- mand of General Prosper M. Wetmore, as Brigade-Major, moved up Broadway to Bond Street, and thence up Third Avenue. The streets were thronged with people, and the General rode uncovered, and repeatedly returned their expressions of kindness and attachment by bowing. " Thus, for the present," said the Commercial Advertiser, " have closed the attentions of our citizens to this excellent man. The arrangements of our civil and military officers were judicious and well executed ; and we are told that · the General has not only been highly gratified, but hap- pily disappointed, in the reception with which he has met. The General's journey will be rapid, as he intends being at Harvard commencement on Tuesday next. His stay at the eastward must also be short, as he has engaged to be in Baltimore on the 15th proximo."*
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