USA > New York > Historic buildings now standing in New York, which were erected prior to eighteen hundred > Part 2
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CARPENTER'S TAVERN Jamaica, Long Island. Built before 1710
This has been a tavern since 1710, and at the time of the Revolution its owner was Increase Carpenter. Its chief claim to celebrity is that here General Nathaniel Woodhull was captured, August 28, 1776, by the British. General Washington had given him the work of driving the cattle on Long Island out of British reach, and on the day of his capture he had lingered to receive orders from Washington at the inn, although his troops had gone on four miles. While he was awaiting orders, the battle of Long Island was fought, and he was surprised and badly wounded by companies of British Highlanders and Dragoons. After being imprisoned in various prison- ships, he was sent to the old De Sille house, where he finally died, one of the carly martyrs of the Revolution. He had served with distinction in the French and Indian Wars, represented Suffolk County in the General Assembly, and had been presi- dent of the Provincial Congress of New York and of the New York Assembly. The old house is nearly the same as it was in the Revolution. A movement has been inaugurated to preserve it.
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PERINE HOMESTEAD At Dongan Hills, Staten Island. Built about 1713
The original home of the Perine family is said to have been built about 1713 by Joseph Holmes, and later came into the possession of the Perines. It is still owned by them. The name was originally spelled Perrin, and the family were French Huguenot, and the first mention of the name in America was probably in 1665, when Daniel Perrin sold some land on Staten Island .. The house was occupied by branches of the Perine family for over a hundred and fifty years. During a part of the Revolution it was occupied by Captain Coghlan, of the British army. In front is Todt or Toad Hill, also called Iron Hill because at times iron was found here.
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FRAUNCES TAVERN Southeast corner Pearl and Broad Streets. Built 1719
This old house stands on what was originally the old shore line before fillings ex- tended the city two or more blocks into the harbor, and was part of the land of Colonel Stephen Van Cortlandt. In 1700 the latter conveyed the site to his son-in- law Etienne or Stephen DeLancey, one of the Huguenot noblemen who became prominent merchants of the early town.
The house was built in 1719 by Stephen DeLancey as a residence, and event- ually descended to Oliver DeLancey. About 1757 it was the home of Colonel Joseph Robinson, DeLancey's partner, and later it became the store and warehouse of their firm, DeLancey, Robinson and Company, which dealt in foreign, principally East Indian, goods. In 1762 it was sold at auction to Samuel Fraunces, a West Indian, called "Black Sam" because of his swarthy complexion, who opened it as "The Queen's Head" or "Queen Charlotte Tavern," so called in honor of the Queen of George III. of England. It soon became one of the most popular taverns in the town. Here on April 8, 1768, in the Long Room, was organized the Chamber of Commerce, consisting of twenty-four importers and merchants. John Cruger was chosen the first president. The Sons of Liberty and the Vigilance Committee held a meeting in the tavern in 1774 to protest against the landing of tea from the ship "London " at the East India Company Wharf nearby, and those present marched to the dock and threw the cargo into the river, as did the members of the Boston Tea Party. And here also was organized the Committee of Correspondence which had so much to do with bringing about the formation of the Continental Congress. On November 25, 1783, Governor George Clinton gave a dinner here, in celebration of Evacuation Day, to George Washington, Chevalier de la Luzerne, and other officers.
The event for which the inn is most famous occurred December 4, 1783, when General George Washington bade farewell to forty-four of his officers. Afterwards, entering a barge at Whitehall Slip, he left the city. In 1785 the tavern was sold by Fraunces, and was eventually, in 1837, leased by John Gardner, father of Colonel Asa Bird Gardner, former District Attorney. The New York Yacht Club was organized in it in 1844. As its interior was burned more or less on two occasions, it was restored in 1906-07 to its condition in Fraunces's time by the Sons of the Revolution, who had bought it in 1904; and it has since been maintained as a museum.
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KREUZER-PELTON HOUSE
At "The Cove," West New Brighton, Staten Island. Built about 1722
This house, which stands on land that belonged to the Kreuzer estate, was built about 1722 by Joseph Rolph. At the time of the Revolution it was occupied by "the Widow Kreuzer," into the possession of whose husband's ancestors the house had come, and it was taken for headquarters by General Cortlandt Skinner's "American Royalists." Skinner was in 1772 the last royal attorney-general of New Jersey, and at the outbreak of the Revolution was authorized to raise a corps of 2,500 Royal- ists, but the greatest number he ever enlisted was 1,101. He commanded the corps during the Revolution, and at its close went to England, where he received the half- pay of a brigadier-general for his services in America. At the Kreuzer house Prince William, who later became King William IV., was entertained by General Skinner, and at one time Major John André was also a guest. In 1839 the house was bought by Daniel Pelton, whose daughter married General Duffie.
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SCHERMERHORN FARM-HOUSE
At the Foot of East 64th Street, in the Rockefeller Institute Grounds. Built 1747
This house, which stands on a pinnacle of rocks overlooking the East River, was built in 1747, and was once surrounded by woods on all but the river side. North was Jones's Woods, beginning at 70th Street, a part of the ninety-acre farm of Samuel Provoost, the first bishop of New York and later president of Columbia. The "woods," which extended from 66th Street to 75th Street, was for many years a popular picnic place.
The house was built by one of the Schermerhorn family, who came to this country from Holland in 1636 and settled at Albany. One of them, Symon Scher- merhorn, came to New York, and became a farmer, Indian trader, and ship-master. His son, Arnout, rose to prominence and great wealth, establishing lines of sail- ing vessels and investing in New York real estate so profitably that the family has for generations been one of the most wealthy in New York. At the close of the eighteenth century the farm-house was the summer home of Governor George Clinton, a member of the Continental Congress, governor of New York State from 1777 to 1795 and in 1801, and twice Vice-President of the United States.
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VAN CORTLANDT MANSION In Van Cortlandt Park, Kingsbridge. Built 1748
The Van Cortlandt Mansion, which is now a museum in the care of the Colonial Dames, was built in 1748 by Frederick Van Cortlandt to serve the double purpose of country home and a fort for protection against the Indians. Its walls of solid gray stone, three feet in thickness, were pierced on every side with loopholes for mus- kets. In the early days of its history its occupants never knew when they would be free from attack by Indians.
The original domain, known as "the Lordship and Manor of Cortlandt," on which the manor-house stands, was granted by Royal Charter of King William III. of Eng- land, June 17, 1697, to Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who purchased the Indian rights of Sackima Wicker, a son of the Indian chief Croton, or Noton, who held sway over the territory about the Croton River. Many distinguished men sat at the manor- house table, beginning with the Colonial Governors and including Generals Wash- ington and Schuyler, Governor George Clinton, whose daughter married General Pierre Van Cortlandt, Robert Livingston, John Jay, and others. Washington was frequently here while his army lay along the Hudson, and here Colonel Henry B. Livingston stayed while watching the "Vulture " off Teller's, now Croton's, Point, at the time of Arnold's treason. Lafayette, Rochambeau, and the Duke de Lauzun often came to the house, and here, too, some of the most eminent preachers of the Methodist Church were entertained by General Pierre Van Cortlandt. The latter, who was a stanch patriot, was a member of the New York Provincial Congress, chairman of the New York Committee of Safety, and served for eighteen years as lieutenant- governor of the Commonwealth, taking office immediately after the organization of the State government in 1777. During the Revolutionary War the British once captured and plundered the manor-house.
Pierre Van Cortlandt's son Philip, who succeeded to the estate, was a distin- guished officer in the Continental Army. During the Revolution the British plundered the manor-house, tearing away the carved wainscoting and using the tiles over the Dutch fireplace for dining plates. In one of the rooms Captain Rowe, an officer in the command of the Hessians, who were quartered here for a while, died in his fiancee's arms from a wound received in an engagement with the patriots at Tippett Valley.
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WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS
160th Street and Jumel Terrace und Edgecomb Avenue, known also as the Roger Morris or Jumel Mansion. Built 1765
The Jumel or Morris Mansion is a museum of Colonial and Revolutionary relics. It stands in a tract of ground that was once the country estate of Colonel Roger Morris, a colonel in the British Army, by whom it was built in 1765. His wife, Mary Philipse, was the daughter of Frederick Philipse, the last Lord of the Manor of Philipsburg in Westchester County, and was the noted New York beauty with whom General Washington fell in love on his way to Boston before the Revolution. Morris had served with Washington on Braddock's staff in the French and Indian War, and was a member of the King's Council. He espoused the Royalist side at the outbreak of the Revolution, and was forced to flee from his home when Wash- ington and his army occupied the estate in 1776. He died in Chester, England, in 1794.
Washington used this house as his headquarters from September 16 to October 21, 1776, and about it were camped his army of eight thousand untrained troops. While here, he formed plans for the defence of Harlem Heights and for blocking the Hudson so that British ships could not pass. Here also he carried on his correspond- ence with William Duer, of the Secret Committee of Safety. The house was the centre of the battle which preceded the capture of Fort Washington, November 16, 1776, and three lines of earthworks near it were taken by British troops under Lord Percy. After General Washington evacuated it, the house became the headquarters of Sir Henry Clinton, and from then on to the end of the Revolution was the head- quarters of different British officers. After the confiscation of the Morris farm at the close of the Revolution, the house became an inn known as Calumet Hall, and was the first stopping-place on the road from Albany to New York.
President Washington, Vice-President John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, with a select party, dined here, July 10, 1790. After a number of vicissitudes the house was finally bought by Stephen Jumel, a rich French wine merchant, whose wife was noted for her entertainments. Jumel went to Paris in 1815 to bring Napo- leon Bonaparte to America, but brought instead many mementoes of Napoleon with which the Jumel Mansion was ornamented. Jumel died in 1832, and in 1833 his widow, then past her prime, married Aaron Burr, her attorney, who was seventy-eight years old. Incompatibility of temper soon led to a divorce. Madame Jumel lived until 1865. During the last years of her life, Louis, Jerome, and Joseph Napoleon, and other celebrated French exiles were her guests. Nelson Chase, who married the niece of Madame Jumel, next occupied the house, and had many literary men as his guests. It was at the Jumel Mansion that Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote "Marco Bozzaris." After a number of changes in ownership the property in 1903 was bought by the city for $235,000, and was converted into a museum.
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CHRISTOPHER HOUSE Willow Brook, Staten Island. Built before 1776
At this secluded farm-house of stone and wood, even now surrounded by woods and under big willows, the Committee of Safety secretly met during the Revolution while the British occupied Staten Island. To this place, which was reached by devious and hidden paths, fled for shelter many individuals whom the British sought, and many were the men seeking refuge in this old house who were caught on the way by the British and summarily shot. The house was built by Nicholas Christopher some time before the Revolution, and during the Revolution was owned by his son Joseph, who was an ardent patriot and a member of the Committee of Safety. This committee, which was appointed by popular convention in many of the colonies at the outbreak of the Revolution, took the place of the royal governor as the execu- tive of the colony, and ran affairs until the State Constitutions were formed. The first Committee of Safety was appointed by the First Provincial Congress of Massa- chusetts in February, 1775, to resist executing acts of Parliament, and was empowered to muster the militia and collect and store war supplies. The Massachusetts com- mittee wrote to various Massachusetts towns and to New Hampshire and Connecti- cut for aid against the tyranny of Parliament, and, as the Revolution progressed, similar committees, of which the New York committee was one, were formed in the different provinces.
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ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL (BROADWAY VIEW)
Broadway, between Vesey and Fulton Streets. Built in 1766
This fine structure, which with its grounds reminds one of an English country church, is the oldest church still standing on Manhattan Island, and was established as one of the chapels of Trinity Church. Its architectural beauty was long unequalled, and still is much admired. Its corner-stone was laid May 14, 1764, in a growing wheat- field at what is now the corner of Broadway and Fulton Street, and it was opened for worship October 30, 1766. Many of the members of Trinity Church criticised its location on the ground that it was so far out of town. Its "groves and orchards" stretched down to the Hudson River, and at first were not fenced in. The architect was McBean, who studied architecture in London. He followed closely the designs of Sir Christopher Wren, so that the church resembles his London churches. Its steeple was not added until 1794.
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ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL
(WEST VIEW)
At the time of the Revolution when the British occupied New York many of the famous English officers worshipped here, including Lord Howe, Major John André, and the midshipman who later became William IV. of England. After the War, Washington, Governor George Clinton, and other patriots worshipped here. Washing- ton, after his inauguration as President in the Federal Hall on Wall Street, came in procession with the members of Congress to St. Paul's and listened to services by Bishop Provoost, chaplain of the Senate. Washington occupied the pew under the nationalarms, while the one on the right under the arms of the State of New York was the sitting of Governor George Clinton. In the churchyard lie the bodies of General Richard Montgomery, who was killed during the Revolution at Quebec; Dr. William James McNeven, the Irish patriot in the Rebellion of '98, who later rose to distinction in this country; Sieur de Roche, aide-de-camp to Rochambeau; and "Sam" Purdy, the jockey who rode Eclipse, May 27, 1823, the horse that won a purse of $20,000 in race between the North and South. Tall and stately elms cast a graceful shade about the church, and, when age necessitated cutting down one, George P. Morris wrote in protest his poem, "Woodman, spare that Tree."
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FERRIS HOUSE
Westchester Country Club Grounds, Westchester Village. Built before 1776
This mansion, which was built before the Revolution and is in an excellent state of preservation, was in October, 1776, the headquarters of Lord Howe while his army was at Throgg's Neck. At that time the house was occupied by James and Charity Ferris. Before Lord Howe and his officers, one of whom is said to have ridden his horse into the house and marred the floor with the horse's hoofs, took possession of the house, Mrs. Ferris sent her daughters across the Sound in the night, rowed by a negro slave, to their uncle's at Floyd's Neck, to get them out of harm's way. She herself is said to have prevented a bombardment of the house by the British ships by walking up and down the piazza.
While she was cooking for the English officers, she had a colored slave-boy wait upon Lord Howe and his officers, and instructed him to remember every word the British officers said, so that he could repeat the information to an aide-de-camp of General Washington, who was to meet him at the village where he went for supplies. The aide-de-camp took the information to General Washington, who was with his army at White Plains. It was long a source of wonder to Lord Howe how Washington learned of his movements. Ferris, who was an ardent patriot, was subsequently captured by the British, and imprisoned in the Old Sugar House prison in old New York City, where his health was so ruined that soon after his release he died. The old house is now the home of Mrs. Ellis.
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CLAREMONT
On Riverside Drive, north of Grant's Tomb. Built about 1783
The famous inn, which commands a fine view of the Hudson, was built soon after the Revolution on land which, August 4, 1796, was sold by Nicholas de Peyster to George Pollock, a linen merchant, who named the place, which was noted for its beautiful trees and shrubbery, Strawberry Hill. His five-year-old boy, St. Claire Pollock, fell off the cliffs and was drowned, July 15, 1797, and Pollock went to New Orleans. His descendants there are said to be called Polk. His land, expressly reserv- ing the burial-place containing the urn of his boy, which may still be seen near Grant's Monument, was sold in 1803 to Joseph Alston, the husband of Theodosia Burr, the beautiful daughter of Aaron Burr, who deeded it to Michael Hogan. Hogan had been British consul at Havana, and named the place Claremont, after the residence in Surrey of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, afterward King William IV. of Eng- land, with whom Hogan had served as midshipman in the English navy. The Earl of Devon, while living at Claremont in 1807, witnessed the trial of Fulton's "Cler- mont," and in 1815 here lived Joseph Bonaparte, the ex-King of Spain. The city finally bought the property, and since 1872 it has been a famous public restaurant. The land to the east and south of the site was the scene of some of the sharpest en- gagements of the battle of Harlem Heights on September 16, 1776.
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DYCKMAN HOUSE
204th Street and Broadway. Built in 1783
The tract of land on which this house stands originally belonged to Jan Dyck- man, who came from Bentheim, Westphalia, Germany, and was one of the original patentees of Harlem. Here he settled in 1666, and built a house on Sherman Creek, about 210th Street, near the Harlem River. Here, when the Indians were not trouble- some, he farmed, and brought up a large family. His grandson William Dyckman, who was born in 1725, was a stanch patriot, and, soon after the British in 1776 invaded the Bronx part of New York, was forced to flee with his numerous sons and daughters. His home was burned by the invaders, and his sons became active in the patriot cause, becoming members of the "Westchester Guides," who were so useful in imparting information and scouting for the Colonial army. Dyckman was an exile for seven years, and immediately after the close of the Revolution built the present farm-house, which he occupied until his death, when the property was divided among his heirs. The house is substantially as it was when Dyckman built it.
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NO. 41 CHERRY STREET Built about 1785
This and the adjoining house are relics of the period when Cherry Street and Franklin Square were the Fifth Avenue of New York. At No. I, the corner of Franklin Square and Cherry Street, was the home of Walter Franklin, the merchant, which was later occupied as the first presidential mansion by General Washington during his stay in New York.
In 1786, when the Continental Congress was in session, its president, John Hancock, lived at No. 5 Cherry Street, the very house that was afterwards occupied by William Tweed; and at No. 7 stood the house of Samuel Leggett, president of the New York Gas Light Company, where gas was first used in the city, in 1835.
No. 41 Cherry Street was originally the property sold in 1742 by Israel Horsfeld to John Latham, and in 1786 the house was built by Joseph Latham. John Latham was a famous shipwright in the days immediately following the Revolution, and left an estate which his descendants long enjoyed. The day of brownstone fronts had not yet arrived when the house was put up. Brick was the fashionable building material.
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EASTERN HOTEL Corner Whitehall and South Streets. Built before 1790
This is said to be the oldest hotel in active operation in New York City, having been in continuous use as a hostelry since 1822. The property was bought May 26, 1790, by John B. Coles from Anthony Lispenard and his wife for £350. Coles, who lived at No. I State Street, and had been a sea captain and finally a flour mer- chant, thereafter used No. I South Street as a warehouse. He was an alderman from 1797 to 1801, one of the organizers and original directors with Aaron Burr and others of the Manhattan Company, and was long famous for his excellent wine-cellar. At a dinner given in October, 1841, by Philip Hone, the Beau Brummel of his era, each of the guests was asked to bring a bottle of Madeira, and then a vote was taken as to whose was the best. The palm was given to M. H. Grinnell, who had brought a bottle from Coles's wine-cellar.
One of Coles's descendants, Elizabeth V. Coles, presented the rare tapestries to the Church of St. John the Divine. The warehouse, which originally had only three stories, became a hotel May 9, 1822, and was called the Eagle Hotel. In 1856 the name was changed to the Eastern Hotel, by which it has been known since. Much of the timber of which the framework of the hotel was built is solid mahogany, the original owner having been a sea captain, who brought the mahogany in ballast. Many famous people have been guests at the hotel, among them being Robert Fulton, inventor of the first steamboat, Commodore Vanderbilt, Daniel Webster, Jenny Lind, and P. T. Barnum. It is said that Barnum carried his famous cement fraud, the Cardiff giant, from Castle Garden to the Eastern Hotel for concealment every night, so that no one could learn of what it was made.
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JEREMIAH TOWLE HOUSE 421 East 61st Street, near the end of the Queensboro' Bridge. Built before 1795
This house was built, as a stable to his manor-house, by Peter P'ra Van Sant, who owned the farm which extended from 59th Street to 62d Street, from the old Boston post road to the river. He sold (March 25, 1795) the mansion house, an elaborate structure, with the barn, boat-house, bath-house, and other buildings, to Colonel William S. Smith, the son-in-law of President Adams. Colonel Smith, who was made aide-de-camp to Major-General Sullivan with the rank of major at the commencement of the Revolution, rose to be lieutenant-colonel in one of the battal- ions raised by Massachusetts. He then became inspector and adjutant-general under the Marquis de Lafayette, and in July, 1781, aide-de-camp to General Washington. He served with such distinction in the many battles and sieges of the war at which he was present that on June 24, 1782, he received the special commendation of General Washington. After the Revolution he became secretary of the legation to England, and made an extended tour of Europe, being everywhere received with honor. On June 12, 1786, he married Abigail, the accomplished daughter of John Adams, who was then minister to Great Britain, and returned to America, where he took up his residence in New York. He became a merchant, and was one of the organizers of the Society of the Cincinnati. He failed in business, and his former stable became a tavern, and was used as such until 1830, when it was pur- chased by Jeremiah Towle, one of whose daughters lived in it until 1906. It is still occupied as a residence.
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ST. MARK'S-IN-THE-BOWERY Second Avenue, between roth und 11th Streets. Built 1799
It is the second oldest church standing on Manhattan Island. It occupies the site of the chapel erected some time prior to 1660 by Governor Peter Stuyvesant, on his "Bowerie," or farm, for the accommodation of his family and neighbors. The Rev. Henry Selyns arrived in 1660 at Brooklyn from Holland, and Governor Stuyvesant secured part of the minister's services for his chapel, paying that propor- tion of the minister's salary which would correspond to the time given. After Stuyve- sant's death his body was interred in a vault beneath the chapel, and his wife, who was the daughter of a French Huguenot, continued to maintain services at the chapel until her death in 1087. She requested in her will that the Dutch Reformed Church of New York should assume charge of the chapel. As Mrs. Stuyvesant had only a life interest, the Dutch Reformed Church could not take possession, and the chapel fell into decay. In 1793 Peter Stuyvesant, great-grandson of the original Peter, gave the land, chapel, and $2,000 to Trinity. Trinity added $12,500, and in 1795-99 the present church was built. The family vault under the church was enlarged and repaired, and the remains of Governor Stuyvesant again brought to view before being reinterred. They were said to be clearly recognizable despite one hundred and thirty years of interment. His tomb is under the southeast end of the church, and is marked by a tablet. In the churchyard is the grave of A. T. Stewart, the famous dry-goods merchant, whose body was stolen, and the graves of Mayor Philip Hone, Dr. Harris, first rector of the church and ex-president of Columbia, and Thomas Addis Emmet, a brother of the Irish patriot.
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