USA > New York > Colonial records of the New York Chamber of Commerce, 1768-1784 : with historical and biographical sketches > Part 21
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The terms of the agreement were reported to the Chamber by their Committee, at the Meeting of the 7th March, 1769-to be a free occupation from the Ist of May following, on condition of proper repairs, and "after that £20 per annum." The Royal Charter, granted to the Chamber of Com- merce on the 13th March of the year 1770, required "that the Meetings of the said Corporation shall be held in the GREAT ROOM of the Building com- monly called the Exchange, situate at the lower End of the Street called broad Street." Here the Chamber remained until the meetings were sus- pended in May, 1775, on the breaking out of hostilities.
NOTE II, PAGE 40. " AND IT BE FIXED WHAT."-There is here an omission in the Record, the probable sense of which these words are in- troduced to supply.
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NOTE 12, PAGE 41. THANKS OF THE ASSEMBLY TO THE MERCHANTS .- " Monday, April 10, 1769. Journal of the General As- sembly, Session begun 4 April, 1769. MR. LIVINGSTON moved 'That the Thanks of this House be given to the Merchants of this City and Colony for their repeated disinterested public-spirited and patriotic conduct in de- clining the importation or receiving of goods from Great Britain, until such Acts of Parliament as the General Assembly had declared unconstitutional and subversive of the rights and liberties of the people of this colony should be repealed ; and that MR. SPEAKER signify the same to the Mer- chants at their next monthly meeting. Ordered : That Mr. Speaker signify the thanks of this house to the Merchants of this City at their next monthly meeting accordingly.'"
The mover of this resolution, MR. PHILIP LIVINGSTON, who sat in this Assembly as a representative of the Manor of Livingston, was a member of the Chamber. The Speaker of the House was JOHN CRUGER, unanimously chosen on the 4th of April to preside over the Assembly. Being at the same time President of the Chamber, he was directed to convey the Thanks of the House to its members.
REPLY OF THE CHAMBER to the Thanks of the House :
" A Committee from the Merchants of the City of New York, attend- ing at the door, were called in, and MR. JOHN ALSOP, in behalf of the said merchants, addressed himself to the Speaker in the words following :-
"SIR,-The Merchants of the City of New York, at their monthly meet- ing this day, having received by the SPEAKER the thanks of the Honorable House of the Assembly for their disinterested and steady regard for the public good, are highly sensible of the honor done them ; and flatter them- selves that their endeavors to promote the trade of the Colony will always merit and receive the protection and approbation of the Legislature in general, and this Honorable House in particular."-Journal of the Assembly, Session begun 4th April, 1769.
NOTE 13, PAGE 42. NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT .- " City of New York, October 31, 1765. At a general meeting of the Merchants of the City of New York trading to Great Britain, at the House of Mr. George Burns, of the said City, Inn-holder to consider what was necessary to be done in the present Situation of Affairs with respect to the STAMP ACT, and the melancholy state of the N. American Commerce, so greatly re- stricted by the Impositions and Duties established by the late Acts of Trade : They came to the following Resolutions, viz. :-
" FIRST, That in all orders they send out to Great Britain for Goods or Merchandize of any nature, kind, or Quality whatsoever, usually imported from Great Britain, they will direct their Correspondents not to ship them unless the STAMP ACT be repealed : It is nevertheless agreed, that all such Merchants as are Owners of, and have Vessels already gone and now cleared out from Great Britain, shall be at Liberty to bring back in them on their own Accounts, Crates and Casks of Earthenware, Grindstones, Pipes, and such other bulky articles as Owners usually fill up their Vessels with.
" SECONDLY. It is further unanimously agreed that all Orders already sent Home shall be countermanded by the very first conveyance; and the Goods and Merchandize thereby ordered, not to be sent unless upon the Condition mentioned in the foregoing Resolution.
"THIRDLY. It is further unanimously agreed that no Merchant will Vend any Goods or Merchandize sent upon Commission from Great Britain that shall be shipped from thence after the first Day of January next, unless upon the Condition mentioned in the first Resolution.
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" FOURTHLY. It is further unanimously agreed that the foregoing Reso- lutions shall be binding until the same are abrogated at a general Meeting hereafter to be held for that Purpose.
"In witness whereof we have hereunto respectively subscribed our Names."
[This was subscribed by upwards of Two Hundred principal Mer- chants.]
In consequence of the foregoing Resolutions, the Retailers of Goods of the City of New York subscribed a Paper in the Words following :-
" We, the under-written, Retailers of Goods, do hereby promise and oblige ourselves not to buy any Goods, Wares, or Merchandizes, of any Per- son or Persons whatsoever, that shall be shipped from Great Britain after the first Day of January next; unless the STAMP ACT shall be repealed. As witness our Hands. Oct. 31, 1765."-John Holt's New York Gazette or Weekly Post Boy, Thursday, 7th November, 1765.
NOTE 14, PAGE 44. TONNAGE OF THE PORT OF NEW YORK. -The word Tonnage is here used in a special sense. It refers not to the number of tons of Shipping, but to the weight and measurement of goods. See the Report of the Committee made 5th November, 1771, page 141-2.
NOTE 15, PAGE 45. BLOOMANDALE (corruption for Bloomendale). Bloomingdale was part of the Out Ward. Its once wide extended limits are now restricted to that part of the 22d Ward lying between the 8th Avenue, the Western boundary of the Central Park, and the North River, extending from 42d to 125th Street. This beautiful piece of country, situated on the picturesque bank of the Hudson, was a favorite country residence of the wealthy citizens. The Five-Mile Stone (from the City Hall) stands near the corner of 74th Street and the Bloomingdale Road, opposite the grounds lately owned by Mr. Pelatiah Perit. The Six-Mile Stone is near 96th Street, in front of the property of Dr. Williams. The distance from the New York limits being about six miles, in the Colonial times, the note on the minutes refers to a residence there as a sufficient excuse for absence from the regular meeting of the Chamber under its By-Laws. (See Revised Rules and Reg- ulations, page 28.)
NOTE 16, PAGE 45. FLATBUSH, Kings County, Long Island .- This ancient settlement of the Dutch was begun by them in 1651, upon which they conferred the name of Midwout, or Middlewood. It is bounded north by Brooklyn, south by Jamaica and the Bay, Flatlands and Gravesend, and west by Gravesend ; containing an area of about 700 acres. In 1652, Gov- ernor Stuyvesant gave the inhabitants a patent for a portion of the present town, including the village .- Thompson's Long Island, vol. 2, 200.
NOTE 17, PAGE 45. F .- This letter, which occasionally appears after the names of members fined for absence or late appearance, is supposed to be a private memorandum of Mr. VAN DAM, Secretary, regarding the Fine im- posed ; probably a note of its payment on the spot.
NOTE 18, PAGE 46. ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AS TO INSPECTION OF FLOUR .- On the 20th May, 1769, 9th George III., the General Assembly of the Colony of New York passed an act to amend an act entitled an " act to prevent the exportation of unmerchantable Flour, and the false taring of Bread and Flour Casks," its preamble reciting
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" that notwithstanding the act of 24 George, such great abuses have been committed in the manufacture of Flour, that this great staple of the Colony has, in a very considerable degree, lost its reputation in all places to which it has usually been exported, which renders some new regulation necessary." The act provides : I. That Flour be inspected before exportation. II. That none but such as is merchantable be branded. III. The Inspection to be at or after the sale. IV. Two Inspectors, and no more, appointed, who are to share the profits equally ; viz., FRANCIS MAERSCHALK and HENRY BOGART-the Inspectors to be sworn. V. Ten Hoops to be put on every Cask. VI. That the act remain in force till Jan. I, 1775 .- Journal of Gene- ral Assembly, vol. 2, 536.
NOTE 19, PAGE 49. SETAUKET, or Seatalcott, anciently called Ash- ford, and sometimes Cromwell Bay, is the oldest English settlement in the Town of Brookhaven, County of Suffolk, Long Island. Its name is derived from the once powerful tribe that possessed it, and was applied to the whole territory of the town previous to its being called Brookhaven, the latter name becoming more general after the conquest of New Netherlands in 1664 .- Thompson's Long Island, vol. 1, 433.
A post-village of Brookhaven Township, Suffolk County, New York, on the north side of Long Island, 58 miles E. by N. from New York. It has a good harbor, and contains many churches and stores .- French's New York Gazetteer, page 633.
NOTE 20, PAGE 50. ADVERTISEMENT OF RESOLUTION AS TO FLOUR CASKS .- New York Chamber of Commerce, July 4, 1769. Resolved-That the Members of this Chamber in their future Purchases of Flour, are willing to pay Twenty-Eight Shillings per Ton for Casks and Nails, provided they be well and sufficiently made, agreeable to an Act of the Gov- ernor, Council, and General Assembly of the Province, passed at their last Sessions, and hooped with ten Hoops each, three of which are to be on each Head. ANTHONY VAN DAM, Secretary.
The Act of Assembly for the better Inspection of Flour takes Place the Ist of September next, when all Flour Casks are to be hooped as above ; but as many of the Manufacturers of Flour may chuse to send theirs to market before that time, the Merchants who compose the Chamber think it will be of use to advertise the Country of their willingness to come into a Measure that must in some measure pay for the two extra Hoops on each Cask of Flour ; and as the Flour of this Province has got into a general Dis- repute abroad, from its bad Quality, it is hoped that the manufacturers will take more Pains in future to regain the Credit that it was in for a number of Years ; the Inspectors will do their Duty therein, it may be depended upon, according to the new Regulations that will then take place .- Hugh Gaine's New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, Monday, 10th July, 1769.
NOTE 21. PAGE 52. NORTH CASTLE, Westchester County, N. Y. -The Township of North Castle is situated 6 miles North of White Plains, 36 miles from New York, and 129 miles from Albany ; bounded North by New Castle and Bedford, East by Poundridge, South Easterly by the State of Connecticut and the Town of Harrison, and West by Mount Pleasant." North Castle was at first styled The White Fields, and subsequently (upon its division into several patents), the Liberty of North Castle. The present Township was organized on the 7th March, 1788 .- Bolton's Westchester, vol. I, p. 466.
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NOTE 22, PAGE 55. SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF MEMBERS WERE NOT CONVENED .- This was the first Meeting of the Chamber adjourned for want of a Quorum. 20 members appear to have been in their seats. The By-Laws required the presence of 21 to transact business .- (See Rules, page 27.)
NOTE 23, PAGE 56. GOLD AND SILVER COIN .- Governor Moore, . in a Letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, dated at Fort George, May 14, 1768, writes : " After the first day of November next, there will be none of the Bills formerly issued current, the LYON DOLLARS (a Species of money brought here by the first Dutch Settlers) are rarely now seen. These, and Bills of Credit issued before the Statute (passed 16 Dec., 1737) are the only two kinds of money that were ever made a Tender in this Colony." Colonial Documents, vol. viii. p. 72.
Hence arose the need of some agreement among Merchants to deter- mine the Value at which the various coins in use should pass current among themselves. The Coins named in the Report are the
JOHANNES, a Portuguese gold coin of the value of eight dollars ; con- tracted often into Joe, a Joe, or Half Foe. It is named from the figure of King John, which it bears (Noah Webster's Dict., N. Y., 1828). Defoe in his Fictions alludes constantly to " Pieces of Eight."
MOIDORE, a Portugal gold coin, in value 27s Sterling .- Bailey's Etymo- logical Dictionary, London, 1760.
CAROLINE, a German coin. Hugh Gaine in his Almanac for 1772 styles it the "German Caroline ; " a coin weighing 6 dwt. 8 grs., valued at £1 18s. DOUBLOON, Doublon, a Spanish coin containing the value of two Pistoles. -Sam. Johnson, Dict., Lond. 1790.
a Spanish and Portuguese coin, being double the value of the Pistole .- Webster's Dict.
GUINEA [English], a known Sort of Gold Coin current at LI IS., value at Standard Rate LI, weighing 5 Pennyweight 93 Grains .- The new World of Words, by Edward Phillips, London, 1720.
[of Guinea in Africk], a Gold coin, in value 2Is .- Bailey's Dict. GUINEA [French]. What this coin was is uncertain ; whether a Frencli coinage of African gold, or a name in use for some piece of French money approximating in value to the English coin of the same name. CHEQUEEN, Zechin, or Zachin, a Gold coin worth about seven shillings and six Pence Sterling ; so called from La Zecha, a Place in the City of Venice where the Mint is settled. There is also a Turkish Zechin, valued at nine shillings .- Edward Phillips' Dict.
Zechin, or Zachin, a Gold coin worth about 7s and 6d Sterling. -Bailey's Etymo. Dict., 1760.
Sequin ; sometimes written CHAQUIN and Zechin .- Webster's Dict.
CROWN [English], a coin or Piece of Money of five Shillings value .- Edw. Phillips' new World of Words, 1720.
[French], 4 Shillings 6 Pence .- Edw. Phillips' new World of Words, 1720.
PISTOLE, a Spanish Piece of Gold worth seventeen Shillings Sterling. The French Pistole, or Louis d'Or, is also settled at same value .- Phillips' Dict.
- a French or Spanish Piece of Gold worth 17s .- Bailey's Dict. SHILLING, an English silver coin worth Twelve Pence, and of which Twenty make a Pound Sterling ; alltho' among our Saxon Ancestors it con- sisted but of Five Pence .- Phillips' Dict.
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PISTAREEN, a Silver Coin of the value of 17@18 cents, or 9d Sterling .- Webster's Dict.
The rates given in the report of the Committee are evidently in exchange for the depreciated currency of the day, and not in the legal tender of the Province.
NOTE 24, PAGE 56. PUBLICATION IN NEWSPAPERS AS TO RATES FOR GOLD AND SILVER COIN .- New York Chamber of Commerce, October 3, 1769. At a meeting of the Chamber of Com- merce this Day, it was unanimously agreed-That all the Members will receive and pay the undermention'd Gold and Silver Coins at the following Rates, and their lesser Denominations in the same proportion, viz. :- (Here follow the rates.)
That for every Grain any of the above specified Gold Coins shall weigh less than the above respective Weights, Four Pence must be deducted therefrom. ANTHONY VAN DAM, Secr'y .- Hugh Gaine's New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, Monday, October 6, 1769.
NOTE 25, PAGE 69. THE MAYOR AND CORPORATION .- During the Colonial period under the English rule, the Mayors of the City were appointed by the Governors of the Province. The Aldermen and Assistants were elected by Freeholders of the several Wards, and were always men of substance, character, and public spirit. The Corporation was in 1768-9 :- The Worshipful WHITEHEAD HICKS, ESQR., Mayor ; Simon Johnson, Esqr., Recorder. For the SOUTH WARD :- Francis Filkin, Esqr., Alderman ; Mr. John Abeel, Assistant. For the WEST WARD :- Abraham P. Lott, Esqr., Ald .; Mr. Peter T. Curtenius, Ass't. For the NORTH WARD :- George Brewerton, Esqr., Ald .; Mr. Benjamin Huggitt, Ass't. For the EAST WARD :- Elias Desbrosses, Esqr., Ald .; Mr. Jacob Brewerton, Ass't. For the DOCK WARD :- Andrew Gautier, Esqr., Ald .; Mr. James Van Varick, Ass't. For MONTGOMERIE WARD :- Benjamin Blagge, Esqr., Ald .; Mr. Huybert Van Wagner, Ass't. For the OUT WARD :- Cornelius Roosevelt, Esqr., Ald .; Mr. Mathew Buys, Ass't.
1769-70 : - The Worshipful WHITEHEAD HICKS, ESQR., Mayor ; Thomas Jones, Esqr., Recorder. The Aldermen and Assistants were the same as the previous year, except that John Dyckman, Esqr., succeeded Cornelius Roosevelt as Ald. of the OUT Ward.
NOTE 26, PAGE 59. BY-LAW OF THE CORPORATION AS TO THE INSPECTION OF LUMBER .- On the 7th June, 1770, the Com- mon Council repealed the Old Law, and passed a Law entitled "a Law to ascertain the Size, Dimensions, and Quality of Stave Heading Hoops, Board, Timber, Shingles, and Plank, which shall be brought to this City for sale," and ordered its publication in the Gazette. This Law was to take effect Sept. 1770, and the Inspectors and Measurers ordered by it were Isaac Shardavine, Francis Many, Theophilus Hardenbroock, John Blanch .- Minutes of Common Council, vol. vii .. p 49.
NOTE 27, PAGE 61, FORT GEORGE .- This defensive work, the first beginnings of which date back to the earliest Dutch settlement of the City, stood at the lower end of Broadway, opposite the present Bowling Green, and faced on the North and East the streets now known as Battery Place and Whitehall Street. During the Dutch occupation, and throughout the period of English Colonial rule, this was the chief point of interest in the Province of New York. Within its walls were located the Governor's House, and
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for many years here stood the only place of worship for the inhabitants of the City. In the varied phases of the struggle between England and Hol- land for Colonial power as well as naval supremacy, its fortunes were those of the Province whose fate its possession decided : with each new master its name was changed.
Fort Manhattes and Fort Amsterdam under the Dutch flag, it became Fort Fames when Gov'r Stuyvesant surrendered its control, and with it the hopes of Holland in the New Netherlands, to the English forces. Re- captured by the Dutch, it received the name of Fort William Hendrick, but its old title was restored when, on the treaty of peace, it returned to its English masters. Seized by the train-bands of the City on the news of the revolution which put the Prince of Orange on the English throne, it was called Fort William in his honor, and thenceforth, as became a ROYAL FORT, its name changed with each new coronation. Fort Anne from 1702 to 1714, on the accession of the first George in the latter year its title was altered for the last time, and during the remainder of its existence, covering nearly a century, it was known as FORT GEORGE.
During this period it assumed the form of a square earthwork, with bastions on the four corners faced with stone set in mortar. Covering a sur- face nearly two acres in extent, it enclosed an interior plain about 150 feet square, on which were erected the Governor's house and other buildings.
Built for the defence of the city, it seems never to have answered any efficient purpose, and its history is one of bloodless surrenders. Its Dutch and English masters were equally unfortunate. Governors and Captains alike struck their flags at the first summons. Perhaps this was the misfortune, and not the fault, of its commanders ; the control of the river passages no doubt rendered the Fort of no value for the defence of the city which clus- tered behind its ramparts.
If not famous in War, it was brilliant in Peace. After the fire which in 1741, during the rule of Governor Clarke, wholly destroyed the old build- ings, a new mansion was erected on a more imposing scale. Here stately Governors held their court, and the intellect and wealth and beauty of the Province paid homage to the representative of kingly power.
During the Stamp Act excitement in the fall of 1765, on the Ist Novem- ber, the Lt. Governor, Colden, was hung in effigy before the Fort. The gates were closed and the guns were turned on the people ; but General Gage, the British commander, peremptorily forbade the soldiers to fire. The next day the citizens again resolving to march to the Fort, Gov. Colden did not await the carrying out of the threat, but yielded to the popular will, and delivered up the obnoxious papers to the safekeeping of the City authorities.
On the night of the 29th December, 1773, the Government House, then occupied by Governor Tryon, took fire, and was wholly destroyed ; and here ceases the interest attached to the Fort as the Headquarters of the chiefs of the State.
Its history during the revolutionary struggle presents nothing of interest. It remained a British military post until the evacuation of the city in 1783, on the 25th November of which year General Knox entered it with the . American forces, and ran up the flag of the new Confederation.
A few years later, about 1788, the whole structure was removed, and a mansion erected on its site for the occupation of the President of the United States ; but the seat of Government being changed to Philadelphia before its completion in 1791, it was applied to the occupancy of the Governor of New York, and later served for the United States Custom House.
Note .- The above facts are chiefly taken from the admirable sketch of
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the history of the Fort in New York published by D. T. Valentine, Esq., in the Manual of the Corporation for 1864, pp. 624 to 647.
NOTE 28, PAGE 61. LATITUDE OF FLAG BASTION, FORT GEORGE .- In a description of the Fort in 1671, it is stated that "within it, and in the outermost bastion towards the river, stands a windmill and a very high staff, on which a flag is hoisted whenever any vessels are seen in Godyn's Bay" (now known as the Lower Bay). This outermost bastion was the South-west Bastion, where the flag-mount seems to have been located from the earliest period.
The Latitude of New York was established by one of the first scientific men of the day, David Rittenhouse, as 40° 42' 8".
The Report of the United States Coast Survey Office for 1858 (page 54), referring to the Observations of the Year, states, that "the Latitude of the Station (Rutherford Observatory, No. 175 Second Avenue) was ascertained from 89 observations, which were made upon 24 pairs of stairs, by Sub- Assistant Goodfellow, with the Coast Survey Zenith Telescope, No. 5. The Latitude was determined at 40° 43' 48"."
NOTE 29, PAGE 63. LINE BETWEEN NEW YORK AND JER- SEY .- It was in this year, 1769, that, at the request of a Board of Commis- sioners authorized by the Legislature of New York and New Jersey, the celebrated David Rittenhouse fixed the point where the parallel which divides New York from Pennsylvania was to be traced westward. The northern limit of New Jersey upon Hudson River is the 4Ist degree of lati- tude. The point where this parallel intersects the shore was fixed by the surveyors at this time. The northern limit of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, upon the Delaware, is the 42d degree of latitude ; and this parallel, continued westward, divides Pennsylvania from New York. Rit- tenhouse was appointed by Pennsylvania as commissioner to meet a com- mission from New York, and determine the place where this parallel inter- sects the Delaware."-Dunlap's New York, vol. ii.
On the 12th April, 1769, the New York Commissioners, John Cruger, William Bayard, John Morin Scott, Benj. Kissam, Henry Holland, and Fred. Philipse, informed Governor Moore, who in turn, on the 15th, advised Governor Penn that they had prevailed on Captain Bernard Ratzers to make some preliminary surveys on the Delaware River."-Pennsylvania Archives, 1760-76, pp. 338, 339.
The King's Commissioners, Charles Stewart, President ; Andrew Elliot, Samuel Holland, Andrew Oliver, Charles Morris, and Jared Ingersoll, met at the Long Room called the Chamber of Commerce, in the City of New York, the 7th day of October, 1769 .- Whitehead's New Jersey Boundary.
NOTE 30, PAGE 63 .- MAHACOMAC on Delaware : corruption for Mahackamach, a stream of water which flows into the Delaware. The Com- missioners who met in 1769 reported that the Fork or Branch formed by the junction of the stream of water called the Mahackamach, with the River called Delaware or Fishkill, is the Branch (as laid down on Vischer's Map) intended and referred to in the deed from the Duke of York, which Fork or Branch was found by an observation taken by the surveyors appointed by the Court, to be in the Latitude 41º 21' 37" .- Whitehead's Northern Bound- ary, Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc. viii. p. 181.
NOTE 31, PAGE 63 .- HOUSE LATE MRS. CORBET'S. The House
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of CORBET was afterward called Sneydon's Landing. It was on the west shore of the Hudson River, opposite Dobb's Ferry.
The Commissioners to establish the Boundary Line in 1769, report in reference to this point: "We are further of opinion that the Northern Boundary on Hudson's River, being by the words of the said Deed from the Duke of York, expressly limited to the Latitude of 41º should be fixed in that Latitude, which Latitude we have caused to be taken in the best manner by the surveyors appointed by the Court, and which falls at a rock on the west side of Hudson's River marked by the said surveyors, being 79 chains and 27 links to the southward on a meridian from Sneydon's House formerly Corbets'."-Whitehead's Northern Boundary, Proc. N. f. Hist. Soc. viii. p. 181.
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