USA > New York > Historic buildings now standing in New York, which were erected prior to eighteen hundred > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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PRIME HOUSE
90th Street, near Avenue A, on ground of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum. Built about 1799
It is now one of the buildings of the St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, and was built by William Kenyon, who sold it in 1807 for $20,000 to Nathaniel Prime, one of Wall Street's early bankers, who was at the beginning of the nineteenth century the third richest man in New York, John Jacob Astor being the richest. Prime is said to have been an employee of William Gray of Boston, who loaned him the money to engage in the brokerage business. In 1796 he was a wonderfully successful stock and commis- sion merchant at 42 Wall Street. His city home for many years was at Broadway and Battery Place, now the Washington Building. His daughters married into many of the leading families in New York. He bought a hundred and thirty acres and used the house shown here for a country home.
2032965
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IF THE
HENDRICK I. LOTT HOUSE Kimbell's Road, near Flatlands Bay. Built before 1800
The farm of which this house was the homestead was bought in 1719 for $10,500 from Coert Voorhies by Johannes Lott, a descendant of Pieter Lot, who came to this country in 1652 from Ruinerwold, Netherlands, and settled in Flatbush. At one time most of the land in the neighborhood where Lott settled was owned either by Lotts or Wyckoffs. Johannes Lott lived on his farm, adding adjoining farms to his pos- sessions until, at the time of his death, he was one of the largest land-owners in Flat- lands. He took a prominent part in public affairs, being at one time colonel in the Kings County militia, and served with distinction in the French and Indian War. At his death he left a farm to each of his three sons, one of whom was Hendrick I. Lott, the builder of the house shown here. Hendrick, who inherited the homestead, married Mary Brownjohn, the grand-daughter of Dr. William Brownjohn, a well- known physician at the close of the eighteenth century, who lived on Hanover Square, near Wall Street, Manhattan. At his death, Dr. Brownjohn left a large estate in the vicinity of Wall Street and Hanover Square, including the land under water where the Wall Street Ferry now stands. This was sold between 1790 and 1795 for $160,000 by Gabriel William Ludlow. The window weights were removed from the doctor's residence at the time of the Revolution to make bullets for the Continental army.
Hendrick Lott built this house, and moved the dining-room and kitchen wing of the old house, so that a side of this house is over two hundred years old. The Lotts left many descendants, many of whom still live in Flatlands.
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JOHN LEFFERTS HOMESTEAD 563 Flatbush Avenue, Flatlands. Built before 1800
This house is one of the best types of Dutch architecture, and stands at the road- side, surrounded by trees. It is on land granted to Lefferts Pietersen van Hagewout, who came to this country in 1660, and by 1683 had an estate of worldly goods that was valued by the assessors at £174 Ios. His grandson John Lefferts was a judge of the Court of Sessions and Common Pleas from 1751 to 1761, and a county judge from 1761 until his death. He was also a town clerk of Flatbush and a delegate to the Provincial Congress. His son Pieter Lefferts was lieutenant of the militia of Flat- bush and a prominent patriot. The original homestead of the Lefferts was burned by Americans while they were engaging the British in the battle of Flatbush, because the British were using it as a protection from the enemy. Soon after the close of the war Mr. Lefferts rebuilt it as closely as possible after the original design, and this is the house reproduced here. He was a State senator and a judge of the Court of Sessions and Common Pleas. His son John was county treasurer, a member of the State Constitution Committee, and a State senator. The house has been in the pos- session of the Lefferts family for almost two hundred and fifty years.
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1
GRACIE HOUSE East River Park and 88th Street. Built before 1800
This charming old house stands upon what was once known as Horn's Hook, and commands a view of Hell Gate and the neighboring shore. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Josiah Quincy, Boston's great mayor, who was entertained there at dinner, described enthusiastically the beautiful situation that overlooked the wild waters of Hell Gate.
The estate belonged to Archibald Gracie, who came to this country from Scot- land at the close of the Revolutionary War, and became one of the largest ship-owners in the country, his ships visiting every port in the world. He bought the estate at Gracie's Point from the heirs of Jacob Walton, and built the house some time before the end of the eighteenth century. His wife was Esther, the grand-daughter of Thomas Fitch, of Connecticut. Here he entertained Washington Irving, who de- scribes him as "an old gentleman with the soul of a prince." Among other distin- guished people who dined at the house was Louis Philippe, while here in exile. When he arrived in the family coach and four, which was sent for him, the Gracies were assembled to meet him. "That's not the king," exclaimed aloud one of the little girls: "he has no crown on his head." "In these days," the king laughingly said, "kings are satisfied with wearing their heads without crowns."
Mr. Gracie's fortune was swept away by the damage to commerce through the wars between England and France during the Napoleonic era. The United States assumed the indebtedness of his claims against France, but Congress persistently neglected to pay them for generations. The old building is now owned by the city, and is practically the same as when Gracie occupied it.
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NO. 7 STATE STREET Built before 1800
The fine old house at this number is a relic of the days when Bowling Green was the Fifth Avenue of New York and the early shipping, comprising stately clipper ships and dumpy coasters, came almost up to the doors of the city's aristocracy. It was built during the last part of the eighteenth century by James Watson, and in 1805 he sold it to Moses Rogers, a prominent merchant, whose wife was a grand-daughter of Governor Fitch of Connecticut and sister of the wife of President Timothy Dwight of Yale. In 1793 Rogers and his brother-in-law were merchants, doing business as Rogers & Woolsey. Rogers was an active member of the Society for the Manumission of Slaves, an officer of the New York Hospital in 1792-99, and in 1797 treasurer of the City Dispensary. He was also a vestryman of Trinity Church and member of the Society for the Relief of Distressed Prisoners. His sister, Esther, married Archi- bald Gracie, the linen merchant and ship-owner. The peculiar shape of the exterior of the house was caused by State Street taking a sharp turn, so that the house had to be built at the apex of the angle. During the Civil War it was used for military purposes by the Government. It is now a home for Irish immigrant girls, under the auspices of the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary.
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THE BANKING CENTRE OF WALL STREET IN 1798, THE YEAR BEFORE THE BANK OF THE MANHATTAN COMPANY WAS CHARTERED By Robertson, 1798
BANK OF THE MANHATTAN COMPANY
T is fitting that this brochure should conclude with a brief history of the Bank of the Manhattan Company, from its rather unique beginning in 1799.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century New York was by no means so healthy a place as it is to-day, for it was frequently swept during the hot season by epidemics of yellow fever. One of the most severe of these, which occurred in 1798 and was attributed to the inadequate and inferior water supply, led a number of public-spirited gentlemen, among whom were John B. Church and Daniel Ludlow, wealthy merchants, to apply to the legislature for a charter for a company that would supply New York with pure water. Two of the most active spirits in the movement were Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, who at this time were not by any means the bitter rivals that they were three years later. And the two together, on February 25, 1799, called upon the mayor in advocacy of the movement, and were directed by the Common Council to put in writing their request for the granting of the charter to the Manhattan Company. It does not appear what further interest Alexander Hamil- ton had in the movement, but the company was formed with a capital of two millions, and it was given the name of the Manhattan Company.
A clause was inserted in the charter permitting the company "to employ all surplus capital in the purchase of public or other stock or in any other monied transactions or operations not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of New York or of the United States."
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P
OLD WATER GATE DUG UP IN PARK ROW IN 1900
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There was some opposition to the provisions of this charter which granted the company banking privileges, as the Bank of New York, organized by Alexander Hamilton in 1784, had received a charter in 1792. The Bank of New York and the New York branch of the first Bank of the United States were then the only banks doing business in the City of New York. As this monopoly of banking facilities was of great value to the Federal party,-which, under the lead- ership of Hamilton, was then in control,-much jealousy arose among the leaders of the opposition, under Aaron Burr, so that, however willing Hamilton may have been to grant the charter to the water company, there was much opposition to the granting of a charter which would open the doors to a banking business. The need of a proper water supply was, however, too strong to be denied, particu- larly as it could be carried through only by a responsible company with large capital, so that it passed the legislature on April 2, 1799, and soon received the governor's signature.
The books were opened for public subscription to the $2,000,000 capital stock of the Manhattan Company, the par value of which was $50. Among the subscribers to the stock were Daniel Ludlow, John Watts, John B. Church, Brockholst Livingston, William Laight, Pascal N. Smith, Samuel Osgood, John Stevens, John B. Coles, John Broome, and Aaron Burr, many of the best-known merchants of the time. The entire amount was subscribed by May 15, New York City taking 2,000 of the shares, and the charter pro- vided that the recorder of the city should be ex officio a di- rector of the company,-a provision which was in effect for one hundred and eight years, until the abolition of the office in 1907.
The first meeting of the board of directors was held at the house of Edward Barden, inn-keeper, April 11, 1799. All the directors, including Richard Harrison, the Recorder of the City of New York, were present, except William Edgar. Daniel Ludlow was chosen president, and Samuel Osgood, John B. Coles, and John Stevens were appointed a com- mittee to report the best means to obtain a water supply. It was decided to dig a number of wells in various parts of the
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city, and particularly a large well, thirty-five feet deep, be- tween Reade and Chambers Streets, a few feet from Collect Pond. Over this early well, a tank of iron was erected, which is now enclosed in an old-fashioned building, and is still owned by the Bank of the Manhattan Company. The water was piped to the lower part of the city in pine logs, and the distributing system was gradually extended through the city south of City Hall. In 1836 the water system was extended north along Broadway as far as Bleecker Street. At that time the company had about twenty-five miles of mains and supplied 2,000 houses. The water, while wholesome, was not very clear, and did not give entire satisfaction, but the com- pany continued to operate its water service until the com- pletion of the Croton system in 1842.
With the banking business in view, a committee of directors was appointed on April 17, 1799, "to consider the most proper means for employing the capital of the company," and on June 3, 1799, the committee reported in favor of opening an office of discount and deposit in a house which was purchased on the site of the present No. 40 Wall Street. At this num- ber on September 1, 1799, the Bank of the Manhattan Com- pany began business. The first action of the directors after the opening of the bank was to resolve that the board would meet Monday and Thursday of each week at eleven o'clock, and this policy of semi-weekly meetings still prevails, so that the entire board is enabled to keep in close touch with all its affairs.
Though the main office of the bank has always been at No. 40 Wall Street, a yellow fever epidemic in the autumn of 1805 caused all of the banks to move temporarily to the village of Greenwich, and finally the directors determined to provide a country office for use during the sickly season. Mr. Astor offered to cede eight lots of ground near Greenwich that were a part of his purchase from Governor Clinton. Land was finally acquired between the Bowery Road and East River. Branches of the bank were maintained from 1809 to 1819 in Utica and Poughkeepsie.
The legislature in granting certain amendments in 1808 to the charter of the Manhattan Company gave the State the right to take 1,000 shares of the Company's capital
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stock (par $50). The State exercised this right, the capital stock was increased from $2,000,000 to $2,050,000, and to-day both the State and the City of New York are still stock- holders in the bank. This bank was one of the institutions to receive the Government deposits when they were with- drawn in 1833 from the Bank of the United States by Pres- ident Jackson.
The Bank of the Manhattan Company acts as the reserve agent for many banks and trust companies throughout the country. It is to-day, as it was originally, primarily a com- mercial bank, seeking the active accounts of merchants and manufacturers and extending to them such accommodation . as their credit and standing warrant.
OLD WOODEN WATER MAINS
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