A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 68

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

he himself emerged from that dark cloud with his thoughts broadened and mellowed, and more intensely than ever before preached of the infinite love of Christ.

Apart from his pulpit the life of Henry Ward Beecher might be divided into two parts, -liis work as a citizen and as a man of letters, over both of which, however, it should be re- membered to his credit, his pulpit work pre- dominated, or rather both contributed to its requirements. When in the height of his fame as a public lecturer, commanding $500 a night, he had to decline many engagements when they seemed likely to interrupt his pastoral duties. He kept a close watch over the passing events of the day and spoke of them freely and unreservedly from his pulpit. On the slavery question his abolitionist views were as a part of his Bible, and in that cause he was one of the most tireless workers. When the Civil War broke out he threw himself heart and soul into the task of defending and strengthening the position of the Northern States. Plymouth some one has said, virtually became a recruit- ing station for the Northern Army and raised a regiment of its own which went to the front. one of its officers being the pastor's son.

In 1863 Beecher went to England to re- cuperate his health, but the condition of public opinion which he found existing there con- pelled him to try and correct an erroneous im- pression as to the origin and meaning of the war, which caused a great deal of sympathy to be thrown away, both in England and Scot- land, on behalf of the States then fighting for secession and slavery. The story of the tri- umphant progress of his self-imposed mission forms one of the most interesting chapters in his biography.

As a platform orator Beecher was unap- proached even in that day of great orators, and his oration on "Robert Burns" has been con- ceded to be the most brilliant which the world- wide celebration of that poet's centenary called forth. In the field of letters Mr. Beecher was a diligent worker, and we can only wonder at

the industry which produced so much in the midst of occupations that constantly called him from his library and his desk. Shortly after settling in Brooklyn he began writing for "The Independent," and he edited that still influen- tial organ, from 1861 to 1863. Afterward, from 1870 to 1880, he edited the "Christian Union." His separate writings are too numer- ous to enumerate here and it may briefly be said that they run from sermons to politics, lectures and essays, and take up all sorts of themes, from a "Life of Christ" to "Nor- wood," a novel of New England life.

Mr. Beecher's later years from 1874 were truly years of peace and were fruitful of good works and profitable to all. He died suddenly March 8, 1887, when Dr. Lyman Abbott, who succeeded him as editor of the "Christian Union," was called to fill the pulpit of Plymouth. This he did, keeping the great congregation intact until, feeling the weight of years, he resigned, in 1899, and was succeeded by the present pastor, the Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, who preached his first sermon in that capacity March 19, 1900. A magnificent bronze statue of Mr. Beecher has been erected in front of the Brooklyn City Hall, as a result of a popular subscription. One wall of Plymouth Church is graced with a memorial tablet, and his body rests beneath a massive monument of Quincy granite in Greenwood, where, too, lie the re- mains of his noble-hearted wife who on March 8, 1898, joined him beyond the veil.

Churches and church-yards used to be as- sociated in the olden times, and although in our modern system they are widely separated in our cities this seems a fitting place to write of what an after-dinner speaker in New York with grim humor once called "Brooklyn's noted industry, its cemeteries." The first of these great "Cities of the Dead" in point of formation as well as foremost for its costly memorials and beauty of situation, was due, probably more than that of any other individ- ual, to the initiative of Mr. Henry E. Pierre-

ST. ANN'S CHURCH.

CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMS.

PLYMOUTH CHURCH 18.49

PLYMOUTH CHURCH, 1867.

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CHURCH DEVELOPMENT.

pont. The gradual increase of population in New York and Brooklyn had not only caused many of the old God's-acres to be abandoned, but, in numerous cases, had necessitated what many thought the desecration of the graves by opening them up, removing the bones and bodies, and turning the land into practical use for business purposes. Mr. Pierrepont pro- posed the selection of a large tract of ground

thoroughly ventilated and discussed, and met with a ready response, but it was not until 1838, some years after it was first talked about, that a company was formed and about 200 acres of land purchased, the property extend- ing from what is now Twenty-first to Thirty- fourth street and from Fifth avenue to the old city line. It required a good deal of ma- nipulation to secure all of this land, although

GREENWOOD CEMETERY-STATUE OF DE WITT CLINTON. From photograph by Mr. Alexander Scott.

which would serve as a place of burial, for New York as well as for Brooklyn, a veritable necropolis, a garden set aside forever as a resting place for the dead. His observations while on several visits to Europe had con- firmed his sense of the practical utility of some such scheme, and his intimate knowledge of Brooklyn had prompted him to turn to the his- toric hills of Gowanus, the heart of the site of the Battle of Brooklyn, as presenting an ideal place for such a shrine. The matter was

most of the owners agreed to receive in pay- ment stock in the proposed cemetery, and to obtain the necessary state and local sanctions for its future preservation and amenity and the unalterable restrictions to its sole use for burial purposes. These preliminaries of land and regulations duly arranged, the subscrip- tion books to the stock of the company were opened November 3, 1838. All through that winter work on the grounds was vigorously pushed and much progress was reported. In

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1839 an amendment was secured to the deed of incorporation which practically made the institution become a public trust, for by the amendment none of the gain or profits from the operation of the cemetery goes into the pockets of any one, but all money realized over and above necessary working expenses is de- voted to the preservation and beautifying of the grounds. It is this feature which has made Greenwood rank first among our local "Cities of the Dead." The plan proved a popular one from the first, and the work of adaptation proceeded so rapidly that lots were advertised for sale in 1840, and the first burial was on September 5, that year, when John Hanna was laid in a grave at the base of Ocean Hill to await the coming, one by one, of a vast host of silent neighbors.

For several years, in spite of the success of the enterprise, the corporation had to stag- ger along under a load of financial troubles. That it emerged unscathed from these, carried on unceasingly its expensive sceme of improve- provements, and met all its obligations, was due to the zeal, energy and financial ability of the late Joseph A. Perry, who was one of its original incorporators and became its comp- troller and manager in 1842, devoting there- after his entire life to its service. Under him the usefulness of the entire scheme soon be- came more and more adequately appreciated, and the daily increasing beauties of the en- closure were made thoroughly known among the people. Greenwood's walks and hills and dales quickly became so popular that there was danger of the cemetery becoming a "resort" rather than a place of seclusion and mourning and where the bitter memories of bereave- ment might be soothed by solitude and by the appealing beauties of nature, supplemented by the artifices that humanity and love and thoughtfulness could suggest or provide. But stringent rules were enforcel to prevent this tendency from spreading, and all fear of it has long since passed away. The success of the undertaking and the popularity of Greenwood

were so assured that even in 1845 Dr. Prime could write of it as follows in his history: "It was purchased by a company incorporated April 18, 1838, with a capital of $300,000, in shares of $100 eachi, for a public burial ground. The surface is admirably diversified by hill and dale, while every now and then a bean- tiful little lake is spread out in the valley. The greater part of the area is deeply shaded with dense forest trees, without underbrush, which give to the whole scene the sombre aspect of the habitation of the dead. The grounds are not cut up into squares and parallelogra.ns. No such figure is seen throughout the whole extent. But spacious avenues, neatly grav- eled, wind through every valley, encompass- ing numerous hillocks and intersecting each other at every turn. The main avenue, called 'the tour,' in numerous windings forms a circuit of three miles. You might travel for hours within this hallowed enclosure with a fleet horse and yet at every turn enter a new road. The work of appropriation se.ms to have just commenced. Though the grounds have been in the market more than seven years and many have availed themselves of the opportunity of providing a narrow house for themselves and their families, and many have already been deposited hore, yet they are so extensive and diversified that it is only here and there you meet with a solitary vault in the side of a hill or an occasional monument on its summit. But here is an assembly that will never diminish and is sure to increase, which it will probably do until bone and ashes mingle with ashes in kindred dust."

The original purchase was soon found to be too limited for the future growth of the place, and steps were taken to acquire as much contiguous property as was desirable and could be secured, two notable additions being sixty- five acres on the southwesterly side and eighty- five acres on the eastern side, which made the property extend into the old town of Flatbush. It now encloses 474 acres, and in that respect has reached its full possible growth with the

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·exception of a few small parcels which it is expected time will make available and which will cut off a trifling irregularity in its bound- ary line. Up to October 1, 1900, the number of interments was 309,000.

From the beginning the story of Green- wood has been one of constant, almost daily, improvement, and for beauty of location, arti- ficial adornments, scrupulous care in mainte- nance, magnificence of many of its tombs and monuments, it is far ahead of any public ne- cropolis in the world. Space is not available to follow here in detail the story of its devel- opment further than to say that its most strik- ing improvement, the main entrance, with its sculptured gateway on Fifth averue, was .completed in 1861. The time is coming when the disposal of single graves will be a thing of the past and when even the sale of lots will be at an end, and many changes and improve- ments will then be effected which will still further add to the beauty of the enclosure. To provide for this a reserve fund has been slowly maturing which now amounts to $2,500.000, so that when the time comes that no further income is obtainable from the sale of the lots the welfare of the cemetery will be amply guarded.

The success of Greenwood inspired several movements in a similar direction. The first of these, Cypress Hills Cemetery, was laid out by a company incorporated in 1847, and which purchased 125 acres of land, which have been added to until the cemetery now encloses 400 acres. The first interment was made in 1848, and its silent population was quickly built up by its receiving bodies from the old church- yards of New York and Brooklyn, the sites ·of which were being turned over to the uses of the living. Its location is beautiful, but up to within a recent period it was so difficult of access that its success, from a financial point of view, was much retarded; but now, with increased facilities in that respect, it is yearly yielding better returns to its stockholders. It is steadily being improved and many of its monu-

ments rank as splendid specimens of such art. One feature of Cypress Hills Cemetery is the number of special plots it contains. The most notable of these is that known as "the Soldiers' Plot," which contains in its center an imposing monument, and the whole enclosure is under a distinct management from that of the rest of the cemetery. The Actors' Fund has also a fine plot, and so has the Press Club, while such organizations as the St. Andrew's Socie- ty, the St. David's Society and the St. George's Society have here plots where they bury such of their country people who may die friend- less or poor, or both. A small plot contains the graves of soldiers of the war of 1812, but unfortunately these graves are not marked by any stones. The cemetery is a fitting resting place for such heroes, for it was itself once placed in order for battle, and on its slopes General Woodhull, prior to the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776, prepared to meet an attack, while several cannon balls fired from British cannons have been dug up in the course of making improvements.

In 1849 the Cemetery of the Evergreens was incorporated and 112 acres were acquired by its stockholders, since extended to 375 acres. It also occupies ground which may be classed as historic, for over it many of the soldiers in General Howe's army marched in August, 1776, when executing that strategic movement which brought such havoc to the patriot forces. Its Chinese section, situated on a bleak hillside, separated from the ceme- tery proper, is the scene at times of many strange ceremonies.

While on this subject brief mention may be made of other cemeteries which lie within the Long Island division of the Greater New York, and which caused some sections, such as Newtown, to be spoken of as one vast bury- ing ground. There is little to be gained by detailing their history or describing their memorial or scenic beauties, but most of them are as trimly kept and made as attractive as a liberal expenditure of time, thought and

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money can achieve. Such cemeteries as Cal- The first really upward step looking to gen- vary, with over 700,000 bodies lying in its . eral improvement was taken in 1844, when graves and vaults, and Lutheran, with 300,000, are vast cities of the dead and contain the ashes of many men and women once famous in local annals, while Mount Olivet, Mount Nebo, Most Holy Trinity, St. Michael's, Salem Fields, Mount Zion, Holy Cross, Cedar Grove and Methodist are the best known among the small- er ones. At Fresh Pond, in Queens Borough, is the public crematory, where those who pre- fer that form of disposing of their dead to burial can have their preference put into quick effect. It is generally held that cremation in the time to come will be the general mode of getting rid of the body after its spirit has passed, and that cerieteries will then be turned into public gardens or opened up for building purposes ; but if so the idea of cremation does not seem to be attaining its destined popularity very quickly. Fresh Pond crematory has now been in operation since 1884, and up to Octo- ber, 1900, only 3,795 incinerations had taken place in its furnace. But the number seems to be growing slowly each year. In 1899 there were 540, and in 1900, 610. the Brooklyn Union Ferry Company was formed. The president was N. B. Morse, and Henry E. Pierrepont was vice-president, as well as a trustee, along with Jacob R. Leroy. These gentlemen formed the direc- torate, along with George Wood, Joseph A. Perry, John Dikeman, Joseph Ketchum, John B. La Sala, Seth Low, C. J. Taylor, L. Van Nostrand, Walter N. De Grauw, H. R. Worth- ington, C. N. Kiersted, C. P. Smith, John Dimon, A. G. Benson, Charles Kelsey, James E. Underhill, Ezra Lewis, S. E. Johnson, E. J. Bartow and George Hurlbut. There were some features attending the formation of the company which were regarded with surprise at the time, it being even alleged that one or two of these directors bought their stock and obtained their seats with the view of selling out the lease of the Fulton and South Ferries, control of which the corporation had secured, to outside parties. But if any such purpose was entertained it was balked by the public spirit of Messrs. Leroy and Pierrepont, in whose names the leases of the two ferries had been made out and whose sole aim in the During the years covered by this chapter the ferry system of Brooklyn made considera- ble progress, and was extended as fast as the growing demands of the various sections seemed to warrant. In fact, so far as Brook- lyn is concerned, she has always been alive to the necessity of perfection in her ferry services, and but for the handicap imposed by the claims of Manhattan that service would have advanced with more rapid strides than it did. In 1836 what is known as South Ferry was opened, in 1846 the Hamilton Ferry was established, and the Wall Street Ferry in 1853. These, as well as the older ferries, were run by different companies, and except at Fulton Ferry the service was poor, for the cost of maintaining each was considerable and the financial returns to the owners were meager, -when there were any returns at all. matter was to promote the interests of Brook- lyn. Practically the lease they held was ac- companied by no reservations, and so what- ever scheme may have been concocted to de- feat the public-spirited purposes of the incor- poration was easily defeated before it had time to mature. The corporation at once pro- ceeded to manage its property so as to add to its financial prosperity by effecting improve- ments in its service. The landing stages and ferry houses were rehabilitated, new and larger boats were placed on each route, the running schedule was quickened and the utmost regu- larity introduced, while the fare was gradu- ally reduced until, from four cents on Fulton Ferry and three cents on South Ferry in 1836, a uniform rate on both of one cent was estab- lished in 1850. The corporation, despite these changes, made money, and the business at the

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other ferries dwindled rapidly, so much so that there were rumors that some of them would be abandoned.

In 1850 a new lease of the Fulton and South Ferries was secured for ten years by Messrs. Leroy and Pierrepont, and their com- pany, in addition, secured the Hamilton Ferry, which at once began to feel the beneficial effects of the change. The business, especially at Fulton Ferry, which the street railroads made their terminus because it was the most popular, steadily assumed larger proportions, -so much so as to give rise to ideas of danger in the mere handling of such crowds as passed over it morning and evening. The movement, too, of the street railways tended to increase the traffic at the one point and helped to de- moralize the service at the ferries which the corporation did not control. A change of some sort became imminent : either the outside fer- ries should be purchased by the company, or two at least would have to be abandoned. The latter contingency was to be regretted, it was felt all round, as Brooklyn needed all the outlets possible. The results of a long series of private conferences was that the own- ers of Roosevelt, Gouverneur, Catharine, and Wall Street Ferries agreed to sell out to a new company which should be incorporated and to take their purchase money in stock. When all the negotiations were completed what we would now call a trust was called into existence. A new company was formed, virtually the old one under the slightly altered name of the Union Ferry Company of Brook- lyn, and complete possession of the entire sys- tem was entered upon. Being now thoroughly protected against private interference, Messrs. Leroy and Pierrepont at once surrendered their leases of the Fulton, South and Hamil- ton Ferries to the new corporation, which henceforth controlled these routes, as well as the Roosevelt, Gouverneur, Catharine and Wall Street Ferries ; and although the financial results of the deal were at first disappointing the clouds soon cleared away and the entire

system was placed on a footing satisfactory both to the public and the stockholders.

The Navy Yard during this period was steadily extending its size and importance. Through the exertions of H. C. Murphy, then a member of Congress, a splendid dry dock was constructed at the yard. It was com- menced in 1841, and was completed some years later, at a cost of over $2,000,000. Business, however, was at no time rushing at the yard, and the records only show the construction of the following Government ships :

Brig Dolphin, commenced in 1836, launched June 17, 1836; schooner Pilot, com- menced in 1836 (for the Surveying and Ex- ploring Expedition), launched September, 1836; steamer Fulton (second), commenced in 1835, launched May 18, 1837; sloop of war Levant (second class), commenced in 1837, launched December 28, 1837; sloop of war Decatur (third class), commenced in 1838, launched April 9, 1839; steamer Missouri, commenced in 1840, launched January 7, 1841 ; brig Somers, commenced in January, 1842, launched April 16, 1842; sloop of war San Jacinto, commenced 1837, launched April 16,' 1850; sloop of war Albany (first class), com- menced in 1843, launched January 27, 1846; steamer Fulton (third), rebuilt, commenced in 1850, launched August 30, 1851.

It was seriously discussed about this time whether the Navy Yard really was of any practical benefit to Brooklyn and whether the city would not be much better off were the Government to take its outfit somewhere else and leave the Wallabout to aid in the develop- ment of the commerce of the city. It was felt, however, that the location of the Navy Yard where it had so long been not only added to the importance of Brooklyn, but that it promised to be one of the city's best means of defense should a foreign invasion ever be threatened. Mr. Murphy's dry-dock scheme, when inaugurated, put a stop to whatever idea the Government may have held of re-

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linquishing its hold in Brooklyn's historic bay, and the notion was abandoned on all sides. The Navy Yard, it was felt, was a fix- ture and its location was an ideal one for every conceivable purpose. Indeed, the question of change has long since been relegated to a place among the many dead issues we meet with in the history of Kings county which are only worth, from a historical point, a refer- ence of a line or two simply to show that they really existed, but are no longer worthy of consideration or discussion.

It was, however, this national occupation of the Wallabout and the consequent failure of Brooklyn to extend in its direction that proved one of the leading arguments against the utility of the consolidation of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh when that subject came up for serious consideration. It was easily seen by reference to any plan or map, or even to the eye of the observer on the East River, that the two cities were quite distinct and sepa- arate from each other, and that the Navy Yard had prevented a complete line of dwell- ings and warehouses and workshops being erected along the water front, which would of a certainty have been formed and made a chain connecting the two municipalities had the way been clear. But there the Navy Yard lay, completely blocking, as it were, munici- pal progress, and back of it rolled a stretch of wild and mostly unoccupied territory which the most optimistic fancy could not see, even if parceled out into streets and squares and avenues by the surveyors and map-makers, filled up with residential or business establish- ments. But the fiat had gone forth, the poli- ticians and official spoilsmen had practically wrecked Williamsburgh; and although many thought that while the union must inevitably come, it should be deferred in the interest of both municipalities for a quarter of a century or thereabout, those in favor of it craved im- mediate action. The bill ordering the consoli- dation became a law in April, 1854, and with the passing of the 3Ist of December following

Williamsburgh and Bushwick lost their iden- tity and became part and parcel of the city of Brooklyn, which then entered upon another phase of its own history. The first Mayor of the first city of Brooklyn was George Hall, singularly enough chosen to be the first Mayor of the new city, and on assuming the office January 1, 1855, he delivered a most interesting reminiscent address, and this chap- ter cannot be more appropriately closed than by an extract from it:

It is now twenty-one years since I was called by the common council to preside over the affairs of the late city of Brooklyn, then first ushered into existence. The population of the city, at that time, consisted of about 20,000 persons, residing for the most part within the distance of about three-quarters of a mile from Fulton Ferry. Beyond this limit no streets of any consequence were laid out, and the ground was chiefly occupied for agri- cultural purposes. The shores, throughout nearly their whole extent, were in their natural condition, washed by the East River and the bay. There were two ferries, by which com- munication was had with the city of New York, ceasing at twelve o'clock at night. There were, within the city, two banks, two insurance companies, one savings bank, fif- teen churches, three public schools and two weekly newspapers. Of commerce and manu- factures it can scarcely be said to have had any, its business consisting chiefly of that which was requisite for supplying the wants of its inhabitants. Sixteen of its streets were lighted with public lamps, of which number thirteen had been supplied within the then pre- vious year. The assessed value of the taxa- ble property was $7,829,684, of which $6,457,- 084 consisted of real estate and $1,372.600 of personal property.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 68

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188