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 36
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Judge Jay's publications on all subjects were forty-three in number." Many of them were widely circulated and exercised minch influence on public opinion. He left in manuscript an elaborate commentary on the Bible. By his will he Left a bequest of $1000 for " promoting the safety and comfort of fugitive slaves." He did not live to see the great desire of his heart realized in the emancipation of the slaves, which occurred within five years after his death. He died in the city of New York, with the interests of which he was long identified, on October 14, 1858.
On the death of Judge Jay appropriate proccedings were held by the New York His. torical Society, the American Peace Society, the bar of Westchester County, and other bodies. On the invitation of the colored citizens of New York a eulogy on the deceased was delivered by Frederick Douglass, and Mr. Greeley said in the Tribune : " As to Chief. Justice Jay, the father, may be attributed more than to any other one man the abolition of negro bondage in this State, so to Judge William Jay, the son, the future will give the credit of having been one of the earliest advocates of the anti-slavery movement which at this moment [October, 1858] influences so radically the politics and the philanthropy of this country, and having guided by his writings in a large measure the direction which a cause so important and so conservative of the best and most precious rights of the people should take."
The portrait from which our engraving was made is from a painting by Wenzler for the court-house at White Plains.
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The stage manager of that theatre was an Englishman who had made himself obnoxious by speaking disparagingly of Americans. That evening had been appointed for his benefit. During the day placard, had been posted over the city, calling attention to the manager's hos. tility to the Americans. By a strange syllogism in the minds of the mob this manager's sin was interwoven into a web of offence with t !: . dangerous teachings of the Anti-Slavery Society. Garrison, one of it; founders, has coalesced with Englishmen in denouncing his countrymen as sinners, even criminals ; therefore the slanderous manager was ar. ally of the abolitionists. So the mob seemed to reason, and acting upon the idea they rushed up Chatham Street to the Bowery, in a wild. excited mass, gathering with tumultuous shouts in front of the theatre.
Apprised of the approach of the mischievous multitude, the doors were closed against them. The huge mass burst them open, and rushed up the aisles toward the footlights, spreading consternation over the audience. The play was going on. It was Metamora, and Forrest was performing in the principal character. The actors were alarmed by the appalling scene not announced in the playbills. Hamblin and Forrest tried to address the rioters ; their voices were drowned by yells and other noises from the throats of the intruders.
While the mob had full possession of the house, a large body of police suddenly appeared and drove the rioters from the building. Ex- asperated by this treatment, and more excited, a cry was raised :
" To Arthur Tappan's house !"
The cry was echoed by the multitude, and a racing crowd started down the street. They were diverted from Arthur's house to that of his brother Lewis, in Rose Street, a more obnoxious abolitionist than the other, who was an extensive dealer in silks. They demolished the front windows of the house, burst in the doors, and soon filled the rooms from which the family had fled in terror. They began to smash the furniture or cast it into the street. Chairs, sofas, tables, pictures, mirrors, bedding, ornaments were thrown out into a promiscuous mass, preparatory to the application of the torch.
It is related (with how much truth I know not) that during this wild scene of devastation a pleasing incident occurred. A portrait of Washington was about to be thrown out of a window, when suddenly some one shouted :
"It is Washington ! For God's sake, don't burn Washington ""'
The roar of the mob instantly ceased. The picture was tenderly handed out of the window, passed over the heads of the crowd from man to man, and left for safety in a neighboring dwelling.
1
Marshall O Rosto
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FIRST DECADE, 1830-1840.
Just as the work of destruction was resumed, the police came swoop- ing down the street, when the mob broke and fled ; but finding a pile of bricks they armed themselves with them, rallied, and returned. They assailed the watchmen or the police so fiercely that they in turn were compelled to fly. Then the mass of furniture and bedding on the sidewalk was set on fire, illuminating the whole street. The fire-bells were rung, the fire-engines were soon at the place of danger, the mob was dispersed, and at two o'clock in the morning the street was quiet, and Lewis Tappan's sacked dwelling was in the hands of the civil guardians of the peace.
For these fierce demonstrations of mob violence the abolitionists themselves were not altogether blameless. During the excitement on the day following the demonstration at Chatham Street Chapel, some injudicious member or members of the Anti-Slavery Society caused an incendiary placard to be posted over the city. It was headed with the words, in large letters :
"LOOK OUT FOR KIDNAPPING !! "
Then followed a wood-cut representing a slave-driver mounted on a horse brandishing a triple-thonged whip, driving before him a colored man, whose wife and children were clinging to him to prevent the dreadful family separation. This, as a thoughtful man might have foreseen, inflamed the mob spirit which burned so fiercely in the attack on Mr. Tappan's house.
Among other good men in the city who had espoused the abolition cause and were active members of the city Anti-Slavery Society were Samuel Hanson Cox, D. D .. his brother, Abraham Cox, M. D .. the Rev. Mr. Ludlow, Isaac T. Hopper, a Quaker merchant, and most of his co- religionists, and other worthy and highly respected citizens. The Rev. Dr. Cox, though opposed by most of his congregation, who were Presbyterians, was already known as an outspoken advocate of freedom for the slave. Ile was an eloquent preacher and much beloved by his congregation, who composed the Laight Street Church. Mr. Ludlow was also a fervent Presbyterian preacher, father of the well-known writer, Fitzhugh Ludlow, and was pastor of a church in Spring Street. HIe was also a bold, outspoken opposer of the system of slavery in our country.
Society in the city was quiet on the surface on the day after the attack upon Lewis Tappan's house, but in its lower depths -- the groggeries and other realms of vice -- there was a slumbering volcano, liable to be uneapped at any moment by the least disturbing cause.
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Throughout the city the riot was almost the only topic of conversation .. and the citizens felt an indefinable dread of more trouble.
On the morning of the 11th Mayor Lawrence ordered some of the city troops to be in readiness to assist in preserving the peace, if called upon to do so. In the evening their services were needed. It twilight a crowd began to assemble in front of the battered dwelling of Lewis Tappan, and another attack seemed imminent when the police suddenly appeared and dispersed them. They rallied elsewhere in con- tinually increasing volume, preparing for destructive work later in the evening.
The Twenty-seventh National Guard had been called upon by the mayor to assist in the preservation of the peace. He also issued a proclamation calling upon the citizens to do what they could to main- tain order. The National Guard assembled at the arsenal to the number of four hundred, and there awaited orders. At twilight the mayor directed them to march to the City Hall, to be held in readiness to act. Colonel Stevens asked for ammunition. It was refused, when he declared he would not move a step until furnished with ball cart- ridges. The mayor then complied, and six rounds each were given to his men.
The churches seemed to be special objects of dislike to the rioters. They attacked five of the temples of worship-namely, that of Dr. Cox's church in Laight Street, Mr. Ludlow's church in Spring Street, the African Chapel on the corner of Church and Leonard streets. St. Philip's Church (colored) in Centre Street, and a church on the corner of Dey and Washington streets.
The mob dispersed at Rose Street rallied, rushed across the town to Laight Street, and made a sudden and furious attack upon Dr. Cox's church edifice. They smashed the windows with stones and bricks, and rent the air with vells and with horrid imprecations on the aboli- tionists. They seemed determined to lay the building in ruins, but were suddenly interrupted in their destructive work by the appearance of the mayor, police justice, district attorney, and a- body of police. Fearing arrest, the cowards ran in all directions, but were soon re- united, evidently by previous concert, in front of Dr. Cox's dwelling in Charlton Street.
Warnings, threats, and the fate of Mr. Tappan's house had induced Dr. Cox to remove his furniture and his family to a place of safety. The mob found his front door barricaded. They broke it open, and had begun to destroy the windows and the blinds of the lower story when detachments of cavalry dislodged them. They fell back, but ral-
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lied, and seizing some carts made a barricade across the street. They finally retired without being attacked by the military.
Meanwhile a large crowd had gathered in front of Arthur Tappan's store on Hanover Square, and began to assail it with stones. Fifteen or twenty watchmen had been stationed there, but were overpowered by the rioters and compelled to fly for their lives. Alderman Lalagh bravely stood his ground in defence of law and order. He defied the fierce men who threatened to kill him.
" Break open the doors if you dare!" he shouted. "The store is filled with armed men, who will blow your brains out the moment the door gives way."
The frightened cowards only pelted the building with stones and cursed the abolitionists, and when Police-Justice Lowndes appeared with a strong force they fled.
The Twenty-seventh Regiment had marched and countermarched in front of the City Hall, before a turbulent crowd. About ten o'clock Colonel Stevens received orders to march innnediately to the defence of Mr. Ludlow's church edifice in Spring Street, between Varick and Macdougal streets. It was a very obnoxi us place to the anti-aboli- tionists, for several anti-slavery meetings had been held there, and the pastor was one of the most zealous abolitionists in the city.
Before moving, Colonel Stevens ordered his men to load with ball cartridges. His troops first met the rioters in large force in Thompson Street, above Prince Street, where they were preparing to sack Mr. Ludlow's house. Pressing forward with fixed bayonets, the mob were pushed back, but as the soldiers wheeled from Macdougal into Spring Street they were fiercely assailed with stones and other missiles thrown by the rioters and from the windows. Many of the National Guard were hit, and some were felled to the ground. It was with difficulty that the exasperated men were restrained from opening fire on their assailants.
Near the church the mob had constructed a barricade of carts, barrels, and ladders chained together, across the street. On the top of this was a politician haranguing the mob and encouraging them to commit deeds of violence. He was seized, and with a dozen others was sent to the rear. Already the rioters had pulled down the fence that surrounded the church, had broken some of the windows, entered the sanctuary, tore down the pulpit, and demolished everything inside, and the broken fragments were carried into the street and used in con- structing barricades. One of the mob was in the steeple ringing the bell to attract rioters from elsewhere when the National Guard arrived.
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He too was seized and placed in custody, and the church cleared of its savage invaders.
Aldermen who had been sent by the mayor to act as magistrates and direct the military became greatly alarmed. They actually entered into an agreement with the mob to let them leave unmolested if they would disperse. They tried to persuade Colonel Stevens to retreat to the City Hall, declaring the rioters were too many and too strong for his little force to hope to contend with successfully.
" There is no retreat in the case," said Colonel Stevens indignantly. " I am here with my regiment for the purpose of dispersing this mob and quelling the riot. Until that is done I shall not return. I shall proceed to the City Hall only through that crowd."
And he did so. In defiance of the aldermen he marched two com- panies up to the barricade in the face of a shower of stones, broke it up, went through the scattered fragments, wheeled into Varick Street, and drove the mob before him at the point of the bayonet. Then he met a police force, and with these allies he marched the two companies back again, charged through the remains of the barricade, and pushed the rioters rapidly back to Sullivan Street. He severed the mob into four pieces, and restored order in that part of the city. The conduct of these troops was admirable, and they rejoiced that they won a victory without firing a shot !
Meanwhile a portion of the mob had assailed the house of the Rev. Mr. Ludlow in Thompson Street, broken the windows, and had burst in the door when, fearing the military, which they knew were near, they suddenly ran away, leaving the pastor's family more frightened than hurt.
On the way back to the City Hall the National Guard marched through Centre Street, and in the region of the Five Points-then the most dreadful sink of vice in the city -- they encountered a large mob which had broken into St. Philip's Church edifice, occupied by a con- gregation of colored people. They had wrecked the whole interior and destroyed five miserable houses near, that were filled with disreputable persons. The troops quickly put these rioters to flight.
The danger seemed imminent yet, for the mob had arranged for detachments to operate in various parts of the city, and so divide the duties of the military and police forces. The mayor remained at the City Hall all night. and the next morning issued another proclamation calling upon the citizens to report to him and be organized into com- panies to aid the police. The Twenty-seventh Regiment was put on duty again the next afternoon. A large number of other troops and
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the fire companies were ready to act if necessary to preserve the peace. But the rioters, exhausted and disheartened, attempted no further mis- chief at that time. The National Guard were dismissed on Sunday, the 13th, with the thanks and commendations of the mayor for their efficient services. At that time one hundred and fifty of the rioters were in prison awaiting their trial.
The municipal authorities and the citizens were deeply impressed with the value of the services which had been rendered by the Twenty- seventh (now Seventh) Regiment on the occasion of the two fearful riots which had afflicted the city within the space of a few weeks. The common council unanimously voted the regiment a stand of colors. These were presented on the 4th of June the next year by Governor William L. Marcy, in behalf of the corporation of the city of New York, with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a large number of ladies and gentlemen, officers of the city corps under General Morton, and many officers of the army and navy. On that occasion the regi- ment performed many skilful manœuvres. Morgan L. Smith was its colonel. A piece of music composed for the occasion, entitled " The Consecration of the Banner," was played, when the governor addressed them in a most complimentary manner.
On the evening of the 13th (July) a fearful anti-abolition riot oc- curred in Philadelphia. The wrath of the mob seemed to be specially directed against the innocent colored people. Forty houses occupied by them were assailed, and some of them destroyed. The blacks were beaten, one of them was killed outright, and another was drowned while trying to swim across the Schuylkill.
Among the bold and uncompromising adherents of the anti-slavery cause in New York was Isaac T. Hopper,* a Quaker bookseller in
Isaac T. Hopper was a distinguished philanthropist and a member of the Unitarian branch of the Society of Friends or Quakers. He was born in Deptford, N. J., Decem- ber 3, 1771, and was a birthright member of the society. He learned the trade of a tailor with an uncle in Philadelphia. In his childhood and youth his exuberance of spirit was manifested in all sorts of practical jokes, sometimes very provoking, but were always accompanied by the kindliest spirit. His love of fun remained with him in his old age. Strong in his convictions of right and duty, ho had courage to defend ard maintain them. He early esponsed the cause of the slave and the down-trodden, and his career in New York as an " abolitionist," as related by Mrs. Child, is full of stirring incidents. His sympathies were also with discharged convicts, and he was one of the founders of the first prison association in New York and the founder of the Women's Prison Associ- ation, organized at his home. For some years Mr. Hopper was a bookseller in New York, but his life was largely devoted to works of benevolence and charity. Mr. Hopper died in New York May 7, 1852. The Home of the Women's Prison Association in New York is called the " Isaac T. Hopper Home" in his honor.
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Pearl Street. In his windows he displayed for sale all the pamphlets and pictures in condemnation of slavery published by the Anti-Slavery Society and others. While the " abolition riot" was at its height he was informed by a friend that a mob was coming to attack his store, and advised him to remove the pamphlets and pictures from sight.
"Dost thou think I am such a coward," said Hopper, " as to for- sake my principles or to conceal them at the bidding of a mob ?"
Presently another friend came in haste to tell him the mob were near, and advised him to put up his shutters.
" I will do no such thing, " he said, firmly.
When the rioters came, yelling and cursing in an excited throng, Mr. Hopper walked out and stood on his doorstep. The tumultuous throng halted in front of his store. He looked calmly on them, and they looked on him with irresolution, seeming to quail before his glance like a brute spell-bound before the gaze of the human eye. After pausing a moment, some of them cried out, " Go on to Rose Street !" and they rushed forward and joined in the attack on the house of Lewis Tappan.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ITHE citizens of New York had scarcely settled into a feeling of comparative security when in August they were again disturbed and alarmed by the sudden outbreak of lawless violence among some of the mechanics of the city. For some time there had been growing a bitter feeling among mechanics because the authorities at the State Prison in Sing Sing had introduced mechanical labor among the con- victs, and employed them in producing articles at cheaper rates than the market prices. This feeling had not yet been demonstrated to the public eye, when in August, 1834, it was suddenly aroused into violent action. At that time the edifice of the University of the City of New York, on the east side of the Washington Parade-Ground, was in course of erection. The contractors for the stone-work found they could have the Westchester marble which they were using dressed at a cheaper rate by the prisoners at Sing Sing than by the stonecutters in the city, and they chose to have their work done by the convicts.
No sooner was the fact known than the indignant city stonecutters resolved to resent this " taking the bread out of their mouths, " as they said. Political demagogues, always ready to seize upon any excitement of feeling and use it for their own base purposes, stimulated the irrita- tion among the stonecutters. They held meetings, were addressed by these incendiary demagogues, and at length paraded the streets in pro- cession with banners and placards, on which were inscriptions which assorted their rights and denounced the contractors alluded to. Incited by base fellows, they even went so far as to assail the residences of several worthy citizens. Their wrath arose to fever heat, and appre- hending a riot and an attack upon the workmen at the University building, Mayor Lawrence called upon the Twenty-seventh Regiment National Guard to turn out and preserve order. When these marched against the procession the latter quietly dispersed to their homes. An- ticipating further trouble, the regiment was retained in camp on the Washington Parade-Ground. in sight of the University structure, for four days and four nights.
In the space of little more than three months the city of New York
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had been afflicted with three riots, two of them very serious. The third and last was promptly suppressed before it inflicted much mis- chief. The remainder of the year 1834 was passed without any serious public disturbance in the city, but it was destined to suffer from an- other riot the following year, and still another in 1837, known as the Flour Riot.
New York was then rapidly becoming a cosmopolitan city. Imini- grants were flocking to its borders from many lands, and the easy nat- uralization laws were transforming them into American citizens in rapidly increasing numbers. The native-born citizens, perceiving the extending influence exercised by these newly fledged voters in munici- pal affairs, were alarmed and uneasy, while unscrupulous demagogues used this material freely for base partisan purposes. The events of the election riots in the spring of 1834 had intensified the distrust of the native Americans of their foreign-born co-citizens, and there was an earnest and almost universal desire felt for the adoption of some meas- ure to check the growth of foreign influence in our country.
Another important consideration in the minds of thoughtful Ameri- cans increased their anxiety. A larger proportion of the emigrants and naturalized citizens were adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, whose supreme head at that time was a temporal prince-the monarch of the Papal States in Italy. To this prince, as the spiritual head of his Church, every Roman Catholic owed and acknowledged his supreme allegiance. In this divided allegiance -- that acknowledged in his oath at naturalization, and that imposed by his Church to the sovereign of the Papal States-he would naturally, if occasion required him to choose, adhere to the Pope of Rome rather than to the government of the United States. This position of the naturalized citizen suggested imminent danger to the municipality in time of peril.
All through the winter and spring of 1834-35 the breach of good feeling, especially in political circles, between native Americans and foreign-born citizens had continually widened. Demagogues had as- sisted in widening and deepening the gulf, and antagonisms caused the American or Know-Nothing political party to be formed. At length a crisis arrived, when pent-up fires burst into a flame.
In June, 1835, it was reported that a military regiment under the name of the O'Connell Guard was about to be organized in the city of New York. Inflammable Americans instantly took fire, and in certain cireles indignation rose to fever heat. The movement was denounced as a process of " making an Irish regiment out of American citizens." and it was resolved to resent it at all hazards. Matters were brought
Levi miler Poder
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to a head when an advertisement appeared calling a meeting of the O'Connell Guard at the Bleecker Street House. The excitable Ameri- cans made free comments on this, and uttered threats. Between them and the Irish there were recriminations and angry disputes which sometimes ended in fist-fights.
Finally, on Sunday. June 21st, the peace of the city was disturbed by such a fight, begun in Grand Street, near Crosby, between an American and an Irishman. The duel soon grew into a sort of field fight between a score of men, in which women joined. It was increas- ing in violence and numbers, and was promising to assume the dignity of a riot, when the police interfered and restored order. On the same day a quarrel arose in Chatham Street between a negro and a white man. They came to blows : other negroes and white men joined in the affray, and there was a fierce battle, which was ended by the police with much difficulty.
There was a more serious affair early in the evening of that hot June Sunday, in Pearl Street, near Chatham Street. It was begun by a duel with fists between two Irishmen. This example was contagious, and very soon many of their nationality were engaged in a regular pitched battle. A number of respectable citizens endeavored to suppress the tumult, but the uproar continually increased in violence until the affair became a serious riot. At length Mayor Lawrence, accompanied by a large police force, made his appearance, arrested the ringleaders, and dispersed the mob for the time. During the fight, in which missiles of every available kind were used, Dr. William McCafferty, a well-known physician, passing by on his way to visit a patient, was hit in the face by a brick, which broke his jaw. He was then knocked down by one of the ruffians and terribly beaten. His rils were broken, and he soon dicd.
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