USA > New York > New York City > History of New York City : embracing an outline sketch of events from 1609 to 1830, and a full account of its development from 1830 to 1884, Volume I > Part 11
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Delmonico was a generous, enterprising Italian, who started on a fixed plan, and adhered to it; a sound, intelligent man, who aimed to please both the eye and palate, and lived to find his fame established all over the United States, and even in Europe. Guerin was a penuri- vus Frenchman, without personal ambition, who accumulated an im- mense estate, but left no record of how he lived or how he died.
It was at near the close of the Knickerbocker era in New York that the convenient omnibus was first introduced into the city by a shrewd Connecticut man (Humphrey Phelps), who afterward became quite an extensive map publisher in the metropolis. He was the driver of his own vehicle. The hint was instantly acted upon, and when the sys- tem was fairly inaugurated there were three rival lines, and Phelps left the field to his competitors. Before the advent of these vehicles citizens who could not afford to own a coach depended on their own natural powers of locomotion.
The first omnibus appeared in 1830. It traversed Broadway, from the Bowling Green to Bleecker Street. In stormy weather, or when there was a lady among the passengers, the obliging driver would go as far as the Kip mansion, on the site of the New York Hotel.
The omnibuses were few in number. They were finely decorated, and bore the names of distinguished American citizens emblazoned on their sides. There was the "Lady Washington," the "Lady Clinton," the " George Washington," the " De Witt Clinton," the " Benjamin Franklin," the " Thomas Jefferson," etc. These vehicles were drawn by four matched horses.
The rival lines of stages were owned respectively by Abraham Brower, Evan Jones, and - Colvill. Brower's " stables" were mere sheds, on Broadway, opposite Bond Street ; Jones's were on White Street, and Colvill's on Grand Street, just cast of Broadway. The fares (one shilling each) were collected by a small boy who stood on the step at the entrance to the omnibus.
Very soon a fourth line of omnibuses was established by sa Hall, a hatter on Dey Street, which started from the corner of Pine and Nas- sau streets, went up Broadway to Canal Street, thence to Hudson Street, and by the green fields and gardens until it reached the village of Greenwich, the terminus of the route being (present) Charles Street. The fare was twenty-five cents each. This afterward famous " Green- wich Line" of stages Hall sold to two enterprising young men. Messrs. Kip and Brown. They made money rapidly. Kip became the soul of enterprise and good deeds in Greenwich Village. The business of the route was finally ruined by the building of the Eighth Avenue Rail-
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road. Kip lost his fortune largely in litigation with the huge monopoly. and died poor.
In those days the livery business was so risky that its accommoda tions were few. If a gentleman desired to take a lady on a ride out o: town, and did not possess a carriage of his own, he was compelled to search the city for a nice one, and give a day or two's notice in order to secure it.
Society, so called, near the close of the Knickerbocker era in New York, was not subdivided as now. Business was open, straightforward. truthful, and sincere. Men made fortunes by industry and thrift, and kept them by the exercise of prudence and sound judgment. They did not, as a rule, retire from business to live an idle life, unless compelled to do so by old age or sickness. There seemed to be no royal road to wealth or distinction. The road to these acquisitions was the old beaten track, and pursued by men of every degree. Fortunes were not made and lost in a day. Gambling in stocks was unknown. Credit was based more upon personal character than upon estates.
There were few overshadowing fortunes in those days. Rich men (then so estcemed) did not, as a rule, possess more of an estate in value than the sums now annually spent by many men in meeting the expenses of their respective princely habitations. Every man who paid his debts punctually, thrived by frugality, and rigidly conformed to the requirements of social ethics, was thoroughly respected by all classes, whether he was a professional man, a merchant, or an artisan, for it was the prevailing sentiment in society that
" Worth makes the man, the want of it the fellow."
Dinner and evening parties were not frequent, even among the rich. and stated reception days or evenings were not known, for calls or visits were acts of genuine friendship, and not of mere ceremony, as now. There was always a warm welcome for all proper visitors, and the recipient of guests was not " put out " by an unceremonious call.
On particular occasions, like that of a wedding, cards of invitation were sent out : outside experts were employed, and much ceremony. a's in the olden time, was observed. About 1830 a colored man named Jackson, who lived in Howard Street. was the renowned caterer on such occasions. He was the final umpire in all cases, excepting when a jury of old ladies, whose youth had been spent in the last century, de- cided otherwise. He was pompous and fussy, and was seen at all the
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great wedding parties. The wedding-cake in those days was almost invariably made by good Katie Ferguson, a colored woman in Warren Street, who organized the first Sunday-school in the city of New York. The cake was made at the home of the bride, and Katie was sent for from all quarters to superintend its composition.
At the wedding feast everything bore the features of solidity, though dainty delicacies were not wanting. Abundance was a conspicuous feature. Ilams, chickens, turkeys, sometimes game, home-made pre- serves, brandy-peaches, nuts, lady-apples, oranges, grapes, and raisins were seen in figh china dishes. A towering form of ice-cream from Contoit's graced the table and gave promise to the palate of delicious enjoyment. Champagne was seldom used, but port, sherry, and Madeira always enlivened the marriage-supper. Wherever in the room a silver candlestick could be placed, wax candles added their soft, mel- low light to that of astral lamps.
Social evening gatherings were preceded by invitations " to tea" or " to spend the evening." In either case it was understood that the guests were to appear as early as seven o'clock, and retire not later than ten o'clock. To "spend the evening" implied engaging in simple social enjoyment, untrammelled by conventional rules. Their enjoyment consisted in dancing, singing, a quiet game of whist by the elders, and " plays," such as " button, button, who's got the button ?" " hunt the slipper," "pawns," etc., by the young people. Only the modest cotillon and sometimes the ancient minuet were allowed, for New York had not yet consented to let its sons and daughters engage in the round dances or the exciting waltz. Refreshments were handed round by waiters.
At " tea" everything was informal. The mistress of the household presided at the table. The family silver, china, and cut-glass ware were displayed, and there was a bountiful provision of shortcake, bis- cuits. preserves, dried beef, sweet-cake, and tea and coffee. At these evening gatherings of friends, the majority of the company were of the gentler sex.
Public " balls" or " assemblies" at the Apollo Rooms, in Broadway near Canal Street, though conducted with great propriety, were regarded as indelicate if not vulgar by the staid Knickerbockers, and it was not until balls, disguised under the name of " reunions," conducted by the reigning prince of dancers, Charand, were held at the City Hotel that Knickerbocker fastidiousness consented to give free rein to the inclination of the young people in that direction. Charand had taught their mothers and even grandmothers the art of dancing, and
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he, as floor manager, stamped these " reunions" with the seal of pro- priety.
The drama, presenting the great masters in literature and the histri- onic art, was always a fascinating and instructive amusement ; but the theatre was not generally popular among thoughtful Knickerbockers. because of its shortcomings in intellect and morals, until the judicious management of the Park Theatre, by Price and Simpson, overcame all serious objections. More and more frequently Knickerbocker families of influence (excepting church-members) were seen in the dress-circle at the Park, and it was admitted that the playhouse so conducted was highly reputable.
The Park Theatre was built in 1798. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1821, and its auditorium was so extensive that twenty-five hundred persons might be comfortably seated in it. The scenery was mostly painted by the skilful hand of Jolin Evers, one of the founders of the National Academy of the Arts of Design, yet (1883) living at Hempstead, L. I. Its interior decorations were attractive, but its front, on Park Row, was so plain that it might have been mistaken for an old-fashioned Methodist meeting-house, had not a wooden statue of Shakespeare, standing over the main entrance, proclaimed it a temple of the histrionic muse.
The entrances to the Park Theatre were narrow and dark, the utter blackness being subdued by the feeble light of oil lamps. The lobbies were dingy and dirty, and as plain as the mason and carpenter could make them. The auditorium consisted of three tiers of seats and the pit, now styled the parquet. In the former were settees, with backs covered with dark maroon. The pit, wholly occupied by men and boys. was entered by a subterranean passage. The benches were with- out cushions, with barely enough room between them for persons to crowd by.
Such was the " finest playhouse in America" half a century ago. Between 1521 and 1830 eminent actors (chiefly English) trod its boards -Matthews. Cooper, Cook, Edmund Kean, Macready, Junius Brutus: Booth, the excellent Mrs. Wheatley, and several young aspirants for Thespian fame who afterward became bright luminaries in the theatrical firmament. It was at the Park Theatre. on the evening of November .12, 1826, that the beautiful domestic drama entitled Clari. the Maid of' Milan, written by our countryman, John Howard Payne, was first performed in America. It was operatie in style, and contained that pathetic song. " Home, Sweet Home, " which gave the author immor tality in the world's literature. The music of the play was written by
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sir Henry Bishop, who composed a large portion of the music for Moore's Irish melodies, the air being suggested by Payne himself."
Near the close of the Knickerbocker era the Italian opera was first introduced into New York by Signor Manuel Garcia, an eminent tenor from Italy. He and his troupe were brought to this country by Dominick Lynch, a wealthy New York wine-merchant. This novel performance-novel to most Americans-began at the Park Theatre on the 29th of November, 1825, and was given two nights in each week as an experiment. The opera was Rossini's Barber of Seville. The leader of the orchestra was De Leon. There were seven violins, two tenors, two basses, three violoncellos, two flutes, two clarinets, two horns, two trumpets, one bassoon, and one kettledrum. The cast was as follows :
COUNT ALMAVIVA . Signor Garcia : FLORELLO .. Signor Crevilli
DOCTOR BARTOLO .Signor Rosich FIGARO . Signor Garcia, Jr.
BASILIO. Signor Angrisani 1 ROSINA .Signorini Garcia
BARTA. Signora Garcia
The house was thronged in every part with the most brilliant assem- blage ever seen in an American theatre. The receipts were 82980. The next morning one of the city newspapers contained the following remarks :
" The repeated plaudits with which the theatre rung were unequivo- cal, unaffected bursts of rapture. The signorini [Garcia's daughter] seems to us a being of a new creation. The best compliment
* The history of this song is interesting. At about 1822 or 1823 Charles Kemble, then the manager of Covent Garden Theatre, London, engaged Payne, then in Paris, to write a play for him. He translated the play of Angioletto. It was accepted by Kemble, but at that juncture it was brought out at a rival theatre. Thereupon Payne slightly altered the plot, introduced several songs and duets into the piece, and transformed it into an opera under the title of Clari, the Maid of Milan. The song of " Home, Sweet Home" was introduced in the second act, and was sung with great pathos by a sister of Ellen Tree (afterward Mrs. Charles Kean) as Clari, the heroine of the play. The opera, first prodneed in May, 1823, was a wonderful success. Payne had written to Bishop from Paris before the opera was produced that he had not " time to polish the songs," but thought "'Home, Sweet Home,' as a refrain, would come in nicely." When the song was published one hundred thousand copies were at once disposed of, and the profits of the publishers two years afterward, it is said, amounted to $10,000. In these profits Payne did not share.
John Howard Payne was born in the city of New York, at No. 33 Broad Street, near the corner of Pearl Street, on June 9, 1791. He was a precocious youth, and inclined toward the stage. His father tried to prevent his pursuing this inclination. but failed. He began his dramatic career when he was only sixteen years of age. He first appeared at the Park Theatre. He went to England, where he obtained the title of the " American
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that can be paid to the company was the unbroken attention that was yielded throughout the entire performance, except that it was now and then interrupted by judiciously bestowed marks of applause, which were simultaneously given from all parts of the house."
The singing of Signorini Garcia produced a new sensation in the city. She performed at the Bowery Theatre (then just opened) the next year, when she received $10,000 for seventeen nights' perform- ance. But the excitement in the public mind was only temporary. The attendance fell off, and at the end of two years the troupe aban- doned the enterprise and returned to Europe. In 1832 Dunlap wrote : " We doubt not but those patriots [citizens who had been active in procuring the presence of the troupe] who introduced the Italian opera into America will be immortalized in the history of the march of mind."
Garcia's was a florid style of singing. His voice was exquisite, and he gave unbounded pleasure. Angrisani's bass was deemed alnost miraculous. It was unequalled in depth and sweetness.
Garcia's daughter, Signorini Maria Felicite, was a marvellous singer. Her voice was what the Italians call a contralto. In person she was about the middle height, plump, eyes dark and expressive, and a sweet smile was almost constantly upon her lips and in her eyes. In March, 1826, while at the height of her brilliant career, she married Eugene Malibran, an aged and wealthy French merchant of New York, and expected to retire from the stage. In this matter she had yielded her own inclinations to the will and commands of her father. The brilliant vision of wealth that dazzled the eyes of Garcia were illu- sory. Misfortune overtook Malibran. He became a bankrupt, and she was compelled to resume her profession for her own support. She sang in old Grace Church, on the corner of Broadway and Thames Street, on Sundays. Early in 1827 she appeared at the Bowery Theatre, and in October of the same year she bade farewell to the American stage as the Princess of Navarre in John of Paris. In November she
Roscins." He was cordially greeted in Paris by the great tragedian Talma. For nearly twenty years he pursued a career of varied success as actor, playwright, and manager, and returned to the United States in 1832. In 1841 he was appointed American Consul at Tunis, where he died April 9, 1852. At the suggestion and at the expense of W. W. Corcoran, of Washington, his remains were brought to the United States, and received with public honors at his native eity, on March 22, 1883. Thence they were conveyed to Washington and interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, District of Columbia. The . tombstone, of white Italian marble, which was originally placed at the head of his grave in a cemetery at Tunis, bearing the erroneous inscription, " He died at the American Consulate, in this city [ Tunis], April 1, 1852. He was born in the city of Boston, State of Massachusetts, June the 8th, 1792," was also set up at the place of his new interment.
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sailed for Europe, sang with great applause in London and Paris, and from that time remained the unrivalled Queen of Song. As Madame Malibran she filled all Europe with her admirers. She had procured a divorce from her husband soon after her return to Europe, and bestowed her hand upon the man of her choice, De Beriot, the celebrated vocal- ist ; but she ever afterward retained the name of Malibran profession- ally. She died of a nervous fever at Manchester, England, when she was only twenty-eight years of age." Her generosity was unbounded. A greater part of her enormous earnings were lavished on her relatives and various objects of charity.
The favorite drives into the country for sporting characters and fashionable young men half a century ago was to Burnham's, on the Hudson River side of the city, and to Cato's, on the East River side. To those citizens who indulged in long walks, a stroll out to Corporal Thompson's cottage, which stood on the site of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, was a favorite resort. There the young men returning from the more distant points of a drive usually stopped and enjoyed rollicking fun, sometimes until late in the evening, when they were compelled to grope their way slowly along the dark road that led into the city.
Thompson's was a diminutive tavern. It was a cottage built by Mr. Milderberger, a leather-merchant in Vandewater Street, for a country residence. He had bought several acres of ground near the junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue for the purpose. He afterward built himself a fine brick mansion on the south-west corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, and rented the cottage to Thompson. When the streets about Madison Square were graded, Corporal Thompson's little yellow tavern remained standing upon a bank several feet above the general level, as long as possible.
Cato's was the special favorite resort of young characters now known as " fast" young men. His place was not far from the old Beekman mansion, near Turtle Bay, on the East River. It was in a shaded lane running east from Third Avenue (then a famous trotting road), about three fourths of a mile to the East River, near the lofty shot- tower. Cato was black-very black. He had been a slave. Inter- course with white people and his natural bent made him a gentleman. and he was greatly respected by all who came in contact with him. He kept the choicest liquors and cigars, and his barroom and small sitting- room adjoining were models of neatness. Cato sold real cigars " five for a shilling," and pure brandy " sixpence a glass." He was always
* Sce " Records of the New York Stage," by Joseph N. Ireland.
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polite, kind-hearted, and obliging-too obliging sometimes for his own interest, for some of his " fast " customers, scions of wealthy families, borrowed considerable sums of money of him, and forgot to refund.
The Hazard House, on Yorkville Hill, through which the railway tunnel was pierced many years ago, was another famous stopping-place in the rural regions of Manhattan Island fifty or sixty years ago ; but a place more famous than all, and near the northern limit of the " drives," was the Red House, on the verge of Harlem Plains. It had been the mansion of the McGowan family. It was reached by a shaded lane at about One Hundredth Street, running westward from Third Avenue (the first cut through to Harlem River).
The Red House was a spacious residence surrounded by several acres of ground, in which was a well-kept half-mile trotting-course. It was a place of great resort for the owners of fast trotting horses. There might have been seen, almost any fine day, a peculiar person well known in the city about fifty years ago. It was Henry Carroll Marx, of Hebrew descent. He was a man of much intellectual force and fine accomplishments, but because of his peculiar style of dress and deport- ment was styled " Dandy Marx," the representative of the New York " exquisite," who was generally accounted as lacking common-sense --- a class which passed away many years ago. but has been replaced in our day by a more silly class called " dudes."
Marx lived a bachelor, with his mother and sisters, at 673 Broadway. They possessed an ample fortune. Mr. Marx affected the European style in everything-dress. equipage, and speech. He wore a carefully waxed mustache, such as was seen on the lip of the Emperor Napoleon III. in after years, and this was an abomination to the Knicker- bockers. His style of dress was English in the extreme. His speech had the peculiar drawl of the London cockney, and his dogs and horses were of the best blood. Marx was reticent, seldom mingled in social life in the city, dressed his servants in livery, had a variety of car. riages of English styles, drove a splendid team of horses-sometimes four-in-hand, and was seldom accompanied by any one but his sister. who was a very expert horsewoman. All the fashionable tailors in the city were anxious to have their handiwork displayed on the person of " Dandy Marx."
Mr. Mars was not at all effeminate. Whatever he undertook he persisted in 'with extraordinary perseverance. He joined a fire hose company. One night. while at an entertainment at Niblo's, there was an alarm of fire. Marx rushed to the hose-house in patent-leather
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boots, white kid gloves, and dressed in the extreme of fashion. It had rained heavily, and the streets were filled with mud. He seized the ropes, ran " with the machine" from Mercer to Broad Street, and worked as hard as any one in extinguishing the fire. His costume was ruined, but he had done his duty faithfully. At the cost of thousands of dollars he got up the famous Hussar regiment, one of the most attractive military corps in the city. To prepare himself for the com- mand he went to Canada, mixed with the cavalry corps then in the service of young Queen Victoria, studied their tactics for several months, and so secured success.
Wall Street, at the closing period of Knickerbocker life in New York, was not the seething caldron of stock-gambling and the arena of financial bull-baiting and bear-fighting it is now. Although Wall Street in 1830 was a far-famed mart for bankers, brokers, underwriters, and stock-jobbers, and the focal point of commercial enterprise, where speculation of every kind was planned and executed, and for five hours each day was a scene of hurry and bustle and anxiety nowhere else to be seen on the continent exhibited in such a degree, it was a quiet, sober street compared with Wall Street since the Civil War. There a few private dwellings yet lingered, and several kinds of business beside monetary affairs were carried on.
Let us stand at the head of Wall Street, in front of Trinity Church, and take a glance at that famous thoroughfare from Broad Street toward the East River. On the right you see a neat white marble building, the front like a Grecian temple. That is the Phoenix Bank. The stately building of granite, with a towering dome and short spire, in the middle distance, is the Merchants' Exchange, completed in 1827. Between the Phoenix Bank and William Street you see three brick buildings, three stories in height. They are occupied by the Manhat- tan Fire Insurance Company, Peter Mesier's spacious bookstore (for the time), S. W. Benedict's watch and jewelry establishment, and the exchange office of R. L. Nevins. The families of Mesier, Benedict, and Nevins live in the apartments above.
You see the large building on the next corner. There Mapes & Waldron (the former the father of the late Professor Mapes, had their establishment as merchant tailors, but it is now the office of the New York American Advocate ; and between that and the offices of the Standard and American you see the offices of three fire-insurance com- panies. Next to the Exchange is a small confectionery shop ; and below the Exchange, on the corner of Hanover Street. are the offices of the Atlantic and other fire-insurance companies. At the foot of the
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street, ending at the East River, you see the shipping in Coffee-House Slip.
On the left side of the street the Tontine Coffee-House looms up, at the corner of Pearl Street, and as your eye passes westward you per- ceive bank buildings, insurance offices, and the place of business of the Morris Canal Company. But nearly all the banks and insurance com- panies then in the city could now be accommodated in one of the mod- ern edifices in New York.
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