USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > A history of the city of Brooklyn and Kings county, Volume II > Part 6
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Sprague was succeeded by Thomas G. Tal- madge, who was followed by Francis Burdett Stryker. In March, 1848, gaslight came into use.
It was in the same year that Augustus Graham indelibly wrote his name in the an- nals of Brooklyn, by his munificent gifts to the Brooklyn City Hospital, and to the estab- lishment of the Brooklyn Institute in the building on Washington Street built for the Brooklyn Lyceum.
A fire which took place in September de- stroyed three churches, the post - office, two newspaper offices, and other property to the value of a million and a half of dollars, and might have been more disastrous had not the flames been checked by the destruction of buildings in their path.
Edward Copeland was elected Mayor in 1849. Cypress Hills Cemetery had been es-
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tablished in 1848. In the following year the Cemetery of the Evergreens was incorporated. The ground for Greenwood Cemetery had al- ready been secured.
The idea of a bridge to connect New York and Brooklyn, which had occasionally been discussed at earlier times, was now seriously taken up. The water front assumed a con- stantly increasing activity.
Copeland was followed in the mayoralty by Samuel Smith, Conklin Brush, and Edward C. Lambert. The latter was able to congratu- late the city on a population of 120,000, and the position of seventh city in the Union.
The Brooklyn City Railroad, incorporated in 1853, began in July of the following year the running of street cars on Myrtle Avenue, Fulton Street, and Fulton Avenue. In Au- gust cars were running to Greenwood.
The act of May 9, 1846 (Session Laws 1846, chapter 166), authorized the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the city of Brooklyn to create a temporary loan, in addition to the loans already authorized, not exceeding the sum of $100,000, for the purpose of erecting a city hall, and provision was made for the issuance of bonds for the purpose.
The Legislature at their session on the 12th.
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of April, 1848, amended the 4th section of the act of April 21, 1846, authorizing the Su- pervisors to create a loan, and provide further accommodations for the confinement of prison- ers, so as to read as follows : -
SEC. 4. The Board of Supervisors of said county, if land should be purchased, are au- thorized to remove as many prisoners sen- tenced to hard labor in the County Jail, as they may deem necessary, to the lands so pur- chased ; to place them under such keeper or keepers as they may appoint for that purpose, and to employ them in erecting said peniten- tiary and workhouse, or such other labor as may be deemed expedient; and they may also authorize and direct the superintendents of the poor of said county to take charge of the establishment (subject to the directions of said Board), and provide the necessary food and clothing for said prisoners, and for those com- mitted as herein next provided. And it shall be lawful for the several magistrates and jus- tices of the peace in said county to commit all offenders convicted before them of petty causes, offenses or misdemeanors, who are in their judgment proper subjects for the peni- tentiary and workhouse in their discretion.
The city court of Brooklyn was established by an act of the Legislature, March 24, 1849.
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It had but one judge until 1870, when it was reorganized with three.
On the 10th of March, 1849, an act was passed authorizing the Mayor and Common Council to create a loan, in addition to the loans which had already been authorized by law, not exceeding $50,000, to complete and finish the City Hall.
By virtue of the laws of 1850, chapter 23, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty were authorized to create an additional loan of $15,000, for the purpose of completing the City Hall of Brooklyn, paying for the fences, ornamenting the grounds belonging thereto, and all other necessary expenses for the full completion and protection of the same.
The subject of building a new court house was again agitated in 1852. On the 17th of September in that year a special committee was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to consider the matter. On the 18th of January, 1853, they reported in favor of applying to the Legislature to carry out the work.
On the 29th of June, 1846, Charles G. Taylor offered a resolution in the Board of Supervisors declaring that it was expedient to purchase lands for the purpose of erecting a workhouse and penitentiary thereon, in accord-
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ance with the act of the Legislature passed April 21, 1846. Charles G. Taylor, Barnet Johnson, and James Debevoise, the committee having the matter in charge, reported that 18 acres could be purchased at $200 per acre, and 29 acres for $180 per acre. On the 4th of August, 1846, a resolution was adopted that the same should be purchased, if the titles proved good. On the 4th of December, 1846, Seth Low, John Skillman, and Tunis G. Bergen were appointed a committee to present plans and details.
In April, 1846, the county treasurer issued $2000 of bonds for the erection of the Peni- tentiary. In 1849 $10,000 more were issued. The total amount of bonds issued up to March 2, 1854, was $155,000. On the 5th of June, 1855, the committee reported that the cost thus far of the easterly and main wing was $111,433.49.
The new Penitentiary was occupied as early as January, 1854, although it was not com- pleted until August, 1856. The total amount of bonds issued for the Penitentiary was $205,000.
It was not until May 3, 1855, that steps were taken to build the female wing of the new Penitentiary.
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On the 5th of April, 1853, an act was passed by the Legislature requiring that whenever the Penitentiary should be ready for the recep- tion of prisoners, the Board of Supervisors should file a certificate thereof in the office of the clerk of the county, and publish a notice thereof for three weeks in one or more news- papers, and that thereafter all persons who, on conviction, are liable to imprisonment for not less than thirty days, should be sent there by the magistrates. The Penitentiary is situ- ated on a spot familiarly called Crow Hill, and is bounded by Nostrand, Rogers, Presi- dent, and Carroll streets. It faces on Carroll Street. Prisoners have been sent here from all parts of the State, and, through the efficient management of its wardens, it has been ren- dered nearly, if not wholly, self-suporting.
The increase of business and the unsuit- ableness of location rendered it necessary to change the place for holding the courts. The Legislature was again appealed to, and in 1853 an act was passed authorizing the county to borrow a sum not to exceed $100,000, to pur- chase a site, and erect buildings for such county offices as the Board of Supervisors might designate. Many sites were offered, and various and diverse propositions and sug-
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gestions were made. Some were anxious to have the Court House built on Fort Greene, holding that it would, from its elevation, give character to the building. The matter slum- bered until October 10, 1855, when it was again brought up and postponed indefinitely. The difficulty of securing a suitable site now presented itself. Seventeen lots on Vander- bilt Avenue near Baltic Street were proposed, and the Board resolved to purchase them. Soon after the purchase the people, realizing that it was not a proper place, instituted oppo- sition.
When the City Hall was opened the courts were transferred to that building. The room long occupied by Justice Courtney was used by the Supreme and county courts. A small room opposite, now occupied by the Bureau of Elections, was appropriated for the purpose of holding special terms. The county clerk's office occupied a part of the apartments of the present comptroller. The surrogate's court occupied the Court Street portion of the comp- troller's present rooms, whilst the register's office was opposite, in the rooms of the present auditor. The city court was held in the room now used by the city clerk. Hall's Exchange Building, in which the courts had been held,
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was destroyed in the great fire of 1848, and the courts were, thereupon, transferred to the City Hall.
In those days the sheriff lived with his fam- ily in the jail on Raymond Street.
If the city was forced to look to the building of its penal institutions and courts of justice, institutions of another kind were springing into being. In 1854 the Brooklyn Female Academy became the Packer Collegiate Insti- tute for Girls; and in the same year a boy's academy was established, with the title of the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. The development of these important educa- tional institutions has been one of the most gratifying incidents in the life of the city.
As early as 1848 there had been serious talk of the civic union of Williamsburgh and Brooklyn.
The village of Williamsburgh was incor- porated in 1827. Its boundaries then were: " Beginning at the bay, or river, opposite to the town of Brooklyn, and running thence easterly along the division line between the towns of Bushwick and Brooklyn, to the lands of Abraham A. Remsen; thence northerly by the same to a road or highway, at a place called Sweed's Fly; thence by the said high-
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way to the dwelling-house, late of John Van- dervoort, deceased; thence in a straight line northerly, to a small ditch or creek, against the meadow of John Skillman; thence by said creek to Norman's Hill; thence by the mid- dle or centre of Norman's Hill to the East River; thence by the same to the place of beginning."
The first officers of the Board of Trustees were Noah Waterbury, president; Abraham Meserole, secretary ; and Lewis Sanford, treasurer. In 1829 Williamsburgh had a population of 1007. In 1835 Williamsburgh and Bushwick together had a population of
3314. It was in this year that the " Williams- burgh Gazette " was started. Within a few years came the Williamsburgh Lyceum, the Houston Street Ferry, the "Williamsburgh Democrat," and a Bible Society.
By chapter 144 of Laws of 1850 (p. 242), passed April 4, 1850, so much of the terri- tory of the city of Brooklyn as lay east of the centre of Division Avenue, between the inter- section of South Sixth Street, in the village of Williamsburgh, and Flushing Avenue, in the city of Brooklyn, was annexed to the village of Williamsburgh; the city of Brook- lyn was divided into eleven wards (therein
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described), and the Common Council of the city was authorized, under certain restrictions and limitations, to cause streets and avenues to be opened and widened, and to be regu- lated, graded, and paved, public squares and parks to be opened, regulated, and ornamented, etc., and to close up and discontinue roads, streets, lanes, and avenues, etc.1
By chapter 102 of Laws of 1835 (p. 88), passed April 18, 1835, a portion of the town of Bushwick -"beginning at the southeast corner of the present village of Williamsburgh, running thence southeasterly along the line that divides the town of Bushwick and the city of Brooklyn, to a turnpike road leading from Brooklyn to Newtown and Flushing, at a point near, and southwesterly of, the house of Charles De Bevoise, thence running along said road northeasterly to the cross- roads, thence northerly along the road leading to Bushwick Church to the Williamsburgh and Jamaica turnpike, thence northerly along the road, passing the church, and leading to Newtown Bridge, about twelve hundred feet, to an abrupt angle in said road turning to the east, thence westerly about eighteen hundred feet until it intersects the head of navigation
1 Brooklyn Compendium.
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of a branch of Bushwick Creek, thence west- erly along said branch creek, according to its meanderings, to the main creek, which is the present boundary of the said village of Wil- liamsburgh, thence southerly along the eastern boundary line of the said village of Williams- burgh to the place of beginning" - was annexed to Williamsburgh, and Nicholas Wyckoff, David Johnson, Peter Stagg, Rob- ert Ainslie, and John Leonard were appointed commissioners to lay out streets.
In 1840 the town of Williamsburgh was created, and eleven years later the city of Williamsburgh was incorporated, comprising the village of Williamsburgh. The city was divided into three wards, and the Common Council was authorized, under certain restric- tions and limitations, to cause streets and ave- nues to be opened and widened, and public squares and parks to be opened.
The city charter was drawn by S. M. Meeker, counselor of the village, a lawyer, whose name was prominent in the annals of this section of Brooklyn for many years. Mr. Meeker was counsel of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank when chosen its president in 1881. He was a prime mover in the estab- lishment of the First National Bank.
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Abraham J. Berry was the first Mayor of the city of Williamsburgh, William H. Butler being city clerk, George Thompson, attorney and counsel, and Jas. F. Kenny, comptroller. In the first year of the new city's life the Farmers' and Citizens' Bank, the Williams- burgh City Bank, the Williamsburgh City Fire Insurance Company, and the Williamsburgh Medical Society were incorporated. The population was estimated at over 40,000. Over 9000 children attended school, and there were fifteen private schools. A year later the Mechanics' (now the Manufacturers') National Bank was established, and a number of new churches appeared. There were twenty-five Sunday - schools of different denominations. The Young Men's Christian Association of Williamsburgh began its career under favor- able auspices.1
William Wall, elected Mayor on the Whig ticket in 1854, was soon at swords' points with the Aldermen, whose resolutions he vetoed with remarkable frequency. His antagonism toward the Aldermen led him to take an active part with those who were urging the consolidation of the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh.
1 The Young Men's Christian Association of Brooklyn was organized during the same year.
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The movement toward annexation was ac- companied by all of the conflict of opinion that inevitably characterizes such movements. The Brooklyn "Star," in March, remarked edito- rially : "We know there are some amongst us who prate of greater taxation and inequalities in favor of Williamsburgh. There are those in Williamsburgh who argue that Brooklyn has greatly the advantage. We are rather disposed to argue that it is like a well-assorted union between man and wife, where, with kindred feelings and objects, both have the advantage. No matter how the property relations may seem to be, we are convinced that time will vindicate the advantage of the union.
" We hope our members of the Legislature will not be persuaded by individual efforts and desires to thwart the will of three committees clearly expressed, with Brooklyn at their head, lifting up the loudest voice. We have taken some pains to ascertain the public sentiment, and it is at this day more clearly in favor of the union than when the vote was taken."
The Williamsburgh " Times" warmly sup- ported the consolidation movement. When the bill prepared by the Consolidation Commis- sion was before the Legislature for action, the
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" Times " said (March 24): "With the excep- tion of the amendment relative to the office- holders, the bill is nearly in all respects as it passed from the hands of the commissions. Thus the hopes of the friends of consolidation seem in a fair way of being realized, and after a world of pain and trouble the parturition of the new city is at hand. Let us trust that the friends of this measure will not meet with an entire disappointment. There are two grounds for hope in this connection. Brook- lyn has been at least a little better governed than ourselves, and a large city can be more cheaply managed than a small one."
The publication of the Williamsburgh "Times " was begun in 1848 by Aaron Smith and George C. Bennett. Bennett, who pre- viously had been associated with Levi Darbee and Isaac A. Smith in printing the Williams- burgh " Morning Post,"1 acquired control of the " Times," and made it a pronounced Whig organ. In 1859 an interest in the paper was secured by Bernard Peters, and under this favoring partnership the paper rapidly ad- vanced in circulation and influence. Bernard
1 Up to the time of present writing morning journalism has never been successful in Brooklyn, the metropolitan newspa- pers of New York having from the outset filled the field, and prevented a financial success for any but the evening papers.
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Peters, who subsequently became sole proprie- tor of the paper, had made an important jour- nalistic record at Hartford, Conn., and was already well known in Brooklyn as a Univer- salist clergyman, whose ringing Union ser- mons and addresses had aroused public inter- est during the war period. The later history of the " Times," under Peters' energetic edi- torship, has been one of consistent progress in public confidence. In politics the "Times " has been Republican, while its policy, to avoid any partisanship that might impair its value as a newspaper, has been strongly worked out with the notable business management of William C. Bryant.
By the act of the Legislature passed in April, 1854, all that part of the county of Kings known as the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh and the town of Bushwick, and bounded easterly by the town of New- town, Queens County, south by the towns of New Lots, Flatbush, and New Utrecht, west by the town of New Utrecht and the Bay of New York, and north by the East River, was consolidated into one municipal corporation called the city of Brooklyn, and divided into eighteen wards, therein described, and into the eastern and western districts.
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A year later all local distinctions in relation to the eastern and western districts were abol- ished, except as to the Fire Department.
George Hall, who had been first Mayor of Brooklyn upon its incorporation as a city, be- came the first Mayor of the consolidated cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh. In his in- augural address the Mayor said : -
" 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 agricultural 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 communication 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, fifteen churches, three pub- lic schools, and two weekly newspapers. Of commerce and manufactures it can scarcely be said to have had any, its business consisting chiefly of that which was required for sup- plying the wants of its inhabitants. Sixteen
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of its streets were lighted with public lamps, of which thirteen had been supplied with- in the previous year. The assessed value of the taxable property was $7,829,684, of which $6,457,084 consisted of real estate and $1,372,600 of personal property.
" Williamsburgh was incorporated as a vil- lage in 1827. Its growth was comparatively slow until after the year 1840. At the taking of the census in that year it was found to con- tain 5094 inhabitants, and since that time it has advanced with almost unparalleled rapid- ity, having attained a population of 30,780 in 1850. It was chartered as a city in 1851.
" Within the comparatively short period of twenty-one years what vast changes have taken place! Bushwick, from a thinly settled town- ship, has advanced with rapid strides, and yesterday contained within its limits two large villages, together numbering a population of about 7000 persons. Williamsburgh, from a hamlet, became a city with about 50,000 in- habitants. Brooklyn, judging from its past increase, yesterday contained a population of about 145,000, and on this day -the three places consolidated into one municipal corpo- ration - takes its stand as the third city in the Empire State, with an aggregate popula- tion of about 200,000 inhabitants." 1
1 " Yet, although Brooklyn had thus, at a single bound, jumped from the seventh to the third position among the cities
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Under the new charter the Board of Alder- men consisted of one alderman elected from each ward. A new board of education came into existence and held its first meeting in February. Other incorporations were those of the Fire Department, the Nassau Water Company, and the Brooklyn Sunday School Union.
The Williamsburgh Ferry Company had been authorized in 1853 to build and maintain docks, wharves, bulkheads, and piers on the land under water in the East River, in front of their lands in the city of Williamsburgh be- tween the foot of South Sixth Street and the foot of South Eighth Street, and extending into the river to a line not more than sixty-five feet from the front of the largest pier on the property.
The Common Council voted a subscription of $1,000,000 to the stock of the Nassau Water Company, on condition that the com- pany show $2,000,000 paid capital stock, and of the American Union, it could by no means claim the same relative position in point of wealth, business, or commercial importance, being outranked in these respects by several cities of less population. Nor had it risen to its eminence by virtue of its own inherent vigor and enterprise. Candor cer- tainly compels the acknowledgment that it was chiefly attribu- table to the overflowing prosperity and greatness of its giant neighbor, New York." - Stiles's History of Kings County, vol. i. p. 485.
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the Aldermen afterward added $300,000 to the subscription. In July of the following year (1856), work on the Nassau Water Works was begun at Reservoir Hill, Flatbush Avenue. The occasion of breaking ground was signal- ized by imposing ceremonies.
In his January address Mayor Hall an- nounced the opening of fourteen miles of new streets, and the erection of 1034 new build- ings.
The business of the city was rapidly increas- ing, and with the annexation of Williamsburgh the municipality needed all the accommoda- tions afforded in the City Hall for the trans- action of its business. The judges were com- plaining of the cramped condition of their rooms, and the need of further accommoda- tions. The question of a new court house was publicly discussed. It was not, however, until July 6, 1859, that anything definite was done. The Board of Supervisors awoke to the necessity of the hour, and decided to renew their efforts to accomplish the desired result. On the 18th of July, 1860, they resolved to make a new application to the Legislature for authority to purchase land and erect the neces- sary buildings thereon.
On the 17th of April an act was passed
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authorizing the Board of Supervisors of Kings County to build a court house for the county. The county treasurer was authorized by the act, under the direction of the Board of Su- pervisors, to borrow on the credit of the county a sum not exceeding $100,000, and to give his official bonds, in such form as the Board might prescribe, for the payment of the same, with interest payable annually or semi-annually as the Board might direct. The money so col- lected was to be expended, under the direction of the Supervisors, in the purchase of lands and the erection of a building for the proper accommodation of the courts and county offi- cials. The act also provided for a levy of tax to pay the principal and interest. The Board of Supervisors was authorized to select and determine the location; and when completed, and ready for occupancy, and notice thereof filed, by the Board with the clerk of said county, the same should become for all pur- poses the court house of the county.
On the 23d of May, 1860, a special com- mittee was appointed to select a proper site for the building, and to report to the Board. Every owner of lots was anxious to dispose of them to the county. Washington Park had its advocates. So favorably did the Super-
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visors look upon that location, that a com- mittee was appointed to confer with the Board of Aldermen on the subject. When it began to look as if a portion of that famous old hill would be chosen, the abutting owners sent in a remonstrance, claiming that as the park had been paid for in part by assessment on the surrounding property, the city had no right to grant any such privilege. The city fathers, adopting this view of the case, gave the Board no satisfaction, and the scheme was abandoned.
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