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 6
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
Valentines Tott. 1.
47
OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830.
During the deliberations of the State Convention of New York, at Poughkeepsie in the summer of 1788, to consider the National Consti- tution, the city was much excited by the discussions of opposing fac- tions. On the Sth of July, eighteen days before that instrument was ratified by the convention, a frigate called " The Federal ship Hamil- ton," manned by seamen and marines, commanded by Commodore Nicholson and accompanied by a vast procession, was drawn from the Bowling Green to Bayard's farm, near Grand Street, where tables were spread and dinner provided for about five thousand people. At the head was a table of circular form, somewhat elevated, at which were seated members of Congress, their principal officers, foreign ambassa- dors, and other persons of distinction. From this table diverged thir- teen other tables, at which the great concourse sat. It was the first procession of the kind ever seen in the city.
Greenleaf's Patriotic Register spoke so sarcastically of this " Federal procession" that the friends of the Constitution were greatly irritated ; and when news came of its ratification, a mob broke into Greenleaf's office and destroyed the type and presses. They next attacked the house of John Lamb, in Wall Street, which was so well defended by the owner and some friends below armed with muskets, and by his daughter, a maiden sister, and a colored servant stationed in the attic with a plentiful supply of Dutch tiles and broken bottles, that the riot- ers soon raised the siege.
By far the most notable event in the history of the city of New York after the Revolution was the organization of the National Gov- ernment under the new Constitution, and the inauguration of Washing- ton as the first President of the United States. The National Consti- tution. framed at Philadelphia in 1787, had been duly ratified in 1788, and elections for electors of President and for members of Congress had been held. The first Congress under the new Constitution was called to meet at New York on the 4th of March. 1789. Only a few members were present on that day, and it was not until the 6th of April that a sufficient number appeared to form a quorum. On that day the electoral vote was counted, and George Washington was de- clared to be elected President, and John Adams Vice-President.
Adams arrived first. He was met at King's Bridge, near the north- ern extremity of the island, on the 21st of April, by both houses of Congress, and escorted into the city by several military companies. At the City Hall he delivered an inaugural address. Washington arrived stron afterward. His journey from Mount Vernon had been a continuous triumphal march. He was greeted by the citizens everywhere with
48
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
enthusiasm, and his reception at Murray's wharf in New York was an event long to be remembered. Ile was escorted to his future residence in Cherry Street, near Franklin Square, and dined with Governor Clinton at the same house where he had parted with his officers. In the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated. On the 30th of April, upon the outer gallery of Federal Hall, overlooking Wall and Broad streets, he took the oath of office, administered by Chancellor Livings- ton in the presence of a large multitude of citizens who crowded the two streets in the vicinity of the hall. When Mrs. Washington arrived, a month later, she was received with a national salute of thirteen guns at the Battery.
The most exciting event in New York from the evacuation of the city until the organization of the National Government was a riot known as " The Doctors' Mob." It occurred in 17SS. Graves in the Potter's Field (now Washington Square) and the negro burial-ground (at Chambers and Reade streets, east of Broadway), and in private cem- eteries, had been rifled of their contents. The discovery created much public excitement. Rumor exaggerated the facts, and every physician in the city was suspected of the act. The hospital on Broadway, the only one in the city, suddenly became an object of horror, as the sus- pected recipients of the stolen dead bodies. One day a student there thoughtlessly exhibited a limb of a body he was dissecting to some boys playing near. They told the story. It spread over the city, and very soon an excited multitude appeared before the hospital. They broke into the building and destroyed some fine anatomical prepara- tions, which had been imported. The terrified physicians were seized, and would have been murdered by the mob had not the authorities rescued them and placed them in the jail. The populace, foiled, became comparatively quiet, but the riot was renewed with more vio- lence the next morning. Hamilton, Jay, and others harangued the rioters, but were assailed with bricks and stones. In the afternoon matters became worse, and toward evening the mayor appeared with a body of militia, determined to fire on the rioters if they did not disperse or desist. The friends of law and order tried to prevent bloodshed. and begged the mayor not to fire until every other measure had failed. Again , they harangued the mob, and were answered by a shower of missiles. The Baron von Steuben begged the mayor not to fire. At that moment a stone struck and prostrated him. As he was falling he shouted, " Fire ! Mayor, fire !"' The mayor no longer hesitated. He ordered the militia to fire, and they obeyed. Five of the rioters were killed and several were wounded, when the rest dispersed.
49
OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830.
New York was the seat of the Colonial Government until the Revo- Mitton, and from 1784 to 1797 it was the State capital, when Albany !- came permanently so. During that period two sessions of the State legislature were held at Poughkeepsie, and three at Albany. From 175 to 1790 it was the seat of the National Government, part of the time under the Confederation, and a part of the time under the new Constitution.
During the residence of President Washington in New York, from April, 1789, until the autumn of 1790, he occupied first the house of Ungood, in Cherry Street, and after February, 1790, a dwelling on Broadway, a little below Trinity Church, which was subsequently used as a hotel called " The Mansion House." His public and private life was marked by much simplicity. His house was plainly furnished ; he held public receptions on Tuesdays, had congressional dinner-parties on Thursdays, and on Friday evenings Mrs. Washington held recep- tions. On Saturday he rode in the country on horseback or in his car- riage with the family, often taking the " fourteen-mile circuit" on the island. On Sundays he usually attended divine service, and in the evening read to his family, receiving no visitors.
Washington sometimes attended the theatre on John Street, a small wooden structure used by the British for amateur performances during their occupation of the city. It was then called " The Theatre Royal," and was first opened by them in January, 1777. Its playbills were headed " Charity," and sometimes " For the Benefit of the Orphans and Widows of Soldiers." The British officers were the actors, and feminine parts were played by young subalterns. When Major Andre was in the city he was actor and scene-painter.
The first regular theatre in New York was erected in 1750, in the rear of the church on Nassau Street, late the Post-Office. Hallam was the manager. When he left it was pulled down. A second was built on Beekman Street. near Nassau Street, which was destroyed by the Sons of Liberty during the Stamp Act excitement. Another was built in 1767 on John Street-an unsightly object painted red. It was used, as we have seen, during the Revolution : and in it was played, in 1756, the first American drama performed on a regular stage by a com- pany of regular comedians. It was called The Contrast, and was writ- ten by Royal Tyler, of Boston. The first native-born American actor (John Martin) was a New Yorker, and first appeared on the stage in New York as Young Norval, in the winter of 1790. The Park Thea- tre, which remained until a comparatively few years ago, was first opened early in 1798.
50
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
In the last decade of the eighteenth century New York City was scourged by yellow fever. It had appeared there in 1742, when many died of the disease. It broke out in 1791, near Burling Slip, but it was so late in the season that it was soon checked by frosts. It reap- peared early in August, 1795, and 792 persons died before frosts ended it. It made a more dreadful visit in 1798, beginning at the latter part of July and ending in November.
About 2100 died in the city, besides almost 300 who had fled from it. The population of the city was then about 55,000. It prevailed more slightly in 1799, 1800, 1803 (when over 600 perished), 1805, 1819, 1822, and 1823. When the fever appeared in 1805, so great was the panic that one third of the popula- tion, then numbering 75,000, fled to the country. The fugitives were mostly from the four lower wards in the city.
The French Revolution caused the division of the Americans into two great parties-Federalists, and Republicans or Democrats. The latter, led by Jefferson, espoused the cause of the French ; the former, led by Hamilton, opposed the influence of the revolutionists. Demo- cratic societies in imitation of the Jacobin clubs in Paris were formed. and in secret promoted violent opposition to Washington's administra- tion. These politicians encouraged " Citizen Genet" in his defiance of our government. Hle met with an enthusiastic reception in New York. The liberty cap was hoisted on the flagstaff of the Tontine Coffee- House near the foot of Wall Street, tricolored cockades were worn, and the " Marseillaise" was chanted in the streets of New York. The Federalists denounced the conduct of the French minister. They were backed by the Chamber of Commerce, and warmly sustained the Presi- dent's proclamation of neutrality.
When Jay's treaty was negotiated, the "French party," as the Democrats were called, opposed it with much violence. An anony- mous handbill called a mass-meeting in front of the City Hall in Wall Street, on July 18. 1795, to consider the treaty. Both parties attended in full force. Aaron Burr was the chief speaker for the Democrats ; Alexander Hamilton was the chief speaker for the Federalists. In the course of the proceedings a scene of violence ensued. Hamilton mounted the " stoop" of a Dutch house at the corner of Broad and Wall streets, and began to speak in favor of the treaty. He was dragged to the ground by the opposing party and roughly handled in the street. Then the Democrats ran to the Bowling Green, shouting and huzzaing, where the treaty was burned under the united folds of the French and American flags to the sound of the Carmagnole.
These turbulent events in New York and elsewhere, and the support
51
OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830.
given by the secret Democratic societies to the Whiskey Insurrection the year before, caused Washington to denounce secret associations as dangerous to the public welfare. The Tammany Society or Columbian Order, which had been formed at the beginning of Washington's administration as a patriotic and benevolent institution, regarding itself as pointed at, and being largely composed of Republicans or Demo- crats, was transformed into a political organization in opposition to the Federalists. It still exists, and plays an important part in the politics of the city and State.
Merchants of New York formed a Tontine Association and built the " Tontine Coffee-House" at the corner of Wall and Water Streets. It was opened in 1794 as a sort of Merchants' Exchange. The shares were 8200 each. Each subscriber might select a nominee for each share held by him, during whose lifetime he or she was to receive an equal proportion of the net profits from the investment of the fund. When the number of nominees should be reduced to seven by death, the property was to be conveyed to the survivors in fee simple. That number was reached in 1876. The longevity of the nominees has been remarkable. Of the two hundred and three at the beginning, fifty-one were living sixty years afterward.
On the south-east side of the Bowling Green a spacious and elegant mansion was built, in 1790, for the purpose of a residence for the President of the United States. It was then supposed New York City would be the permanent seat of the National Government. When that government was transferred to Philadelphia, this mansion was devoted to the use of the governors of the State of New York, while this city was the seat of the State Government. In it Governors Clinton and Jay resided. It was known as the Government House. It was built of red brick, with Ionic columns forming a portico in front. The building was on a slight elevation of ground.
-
F
CHAPTER V.
A T the beginning of this century the city of New York contained almost 61,000 inhabitants. The city proper was bounded on Broadway by Anthony Street, on the Hudson River by Harrison Street, and on the East River by Catharine Street. Within these limits the dwellings were much scattered, with gardens and vacant lots between them. Broadway then ended at Astor Place, then the south- ern boundary of the farm of Captain Randall, afterward the endow- ment of the Sailors' Snug Harbor.
The old Boston post-road turned eastward below Madison Square, and running along the Rose Hill farm made its crooked way to Harlem. The Rose Hill farm was owned by General Gates. Ilis house stood near the corner of (present) Twenty-second Street and Second Avenue, and there he died in 1806. A weeping-willow tree that stood at the entrance to the lane leading to the mansion flourished on the corner of Twenty-second Street and Third Avenue until a few years ago. Near there a middle road branched off and led directly to Harlem. The Kingsbridge or Bloomingdale Road was a continuation of the Bowery Lane, passing through Manhattanville to Kingsbridge, and was the be- ginning of the Albany post-road.
Harlem had been founded by the carly Dutch settlers of Manhattan Island. There farmers seated themselves and raised vegetables for New Amsterdam, on the fertile Harlem Plains. Greenwich and Chelsea were two little villages on the west side of the island, which, like Harlem, have been swallowed in the voracious maw of the great city. On the site of Washington Square was the Potter's Field, a place of sepulture for the poor and strangers.
Public gardens had now become favorite places of resort, the most famous of which were the " Indian Queen's" and " Tyler's" at Green- wich, " Vauxhall " at the junction of Warren and Greenwich Streets, and afterward " Vauxhall " between Lafayette Place and Fourth Avenue, on the site of the Astor Library. Near the junction of Broad- way and Thirty-fourth Street, on the Bloomingdale Road, was the " Strawberry Hill House," and at the junction of Charlton and Varick
53
OUTLINE HISTORY, 1609-1830.
streets was the "Richmond Hill " mansion, built in 1770, where Washington had his quarters for a while in the summer of 1776. It was the property and residence of Aaron Burr at the time of his duel with Hamilton, in 1804. He sold it to John Jacob Astor, and it was converted into a house of summer entertainment and the Richmond ITill Theatre. The ". Chelsea House" was upon elevated ground not far from the (present) General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Pleasant country seats now adorned the island, some of which be- came historically famous. On the Incleberg (Murray Hill) was the fine mansion of the eminent Quaker merchant of the Revolution, Robert Murray, father of the grammarian, whose patriotic wife, by her personal charms, conversation, and wine, detained the British officers on the day they crossed over from Long Island, long enough to allow Putnam. with the remnant of the American army left in the city, to pass by, hidden by intervening woods, and safely join the American army on Harlem Heights. A little further up the Bloomingdale Road is the Apthorpe mansion, where Washington gave instructions to Nathan Hale when he went on his fatal errand to Long Island, and where the commander-in-chief narrowly escaped capture by the troops whose officers were detained by Mrs. Murray. Near Carmansville is " The Grange,"" the country seat of General Hamilton at the time of his death ; and upon Harlem Heights near the High Bridge is the mansion of Roger Morris, used as headquarters by, Washington in 1776, both well preserved. It is known as the Jumel estate.
The hospital already mentioned was the only one in the city at the beginning of this century. The corner-stone was laid by Governor Tryon in 1773. A State prison, the second one built in the United States, was completed in 1796. It was a large stone building in Green- wich Village, on the shores of the Hudson. The only medical school in the city was the Medical Faculty of Columbia College, organized in 1768. There was a small city dispensary instituted in 1790 and located in the rear of the present City Hall, fronting on Tryon Row.
Of the benevolent institutions in the city at the beginning of this century, the most prominent were the Marine Society, incorporated in 1770 .: the Chamber of Commerce, incorporated the same year, with pro- visions for benevolent work ; the Humane Society, founded in 1787 ; the Manumission Society, established chiefly by the Friends, or Quakers, in 1785 ; the Sailors' Snuy Harbor, founded by Captain Ran- dall in 1-01 : the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, incor- porated in 1792, as an almoner for the necessities of the families of its
54
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
members ; the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, founded in 1789 ; the St. Andrew's Society, and several Masonic lodges.
The principal church edifices were the South Dutch Reformed, in Garden Street ; the Middle Dutch Reformed, corner of Nassau and Liberty streets (late the city Post-Office), in which the English service was first introduced in 1764 ; * the North Dutch Reformed, on William Street between Fulton and Ann streets : Trinity Church, the principal of seven Episcopal churches, the most remote from the City Hall then being St. Mark's, at Eleventh Street and Second Avenue, built in 1795 ; the Lutheran Church, on the corner of William and Frankfort streets ; German Reformed, in Nassau Street near John Street, built in 1765 ; First Presbyterian Church, now on Fifth Avenue; the " Brick Church," in Beekman Street, at an angular lot known as " the Vineyard," built in 1767 ; the Rutgers Street Church, erected in 1797 ; Scotch Presby- terian Church, on Cedar Street, built in 1758 ; and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, in Chambers Street, erected in 1797.
There were two Baptist churches. The first erected in the city was built of bluestone, in Gold Street near Fulton, in 1790;+ the second was in Oliver Street, near Chatham Square, built in 1795. The Methodists had three churches-one in John Street, built in 1768 ; another in Forsyth Street, erected in 1790 ; and a third in Duane Street, built in 1795. The Friends had a meeting-house in Greene Street, near Lib- erty, which they built about 1703. It was rebuilt on a larger scale in Liberty Street in 1802, and was afterward transformed into a seed-store by Grant Thorburn. Their second meeting-house was built on Pearl Street in 1775, and was taken down in 1824. The Moravians had a church in Fulton Street, near William Street. erected in 1751, and the Roman Catholics had one church-St. Peter's-on the corner of Church and Barclay streets, erected in 1786. The Jews had a synagogue on Mill Street, a lane near Hanover Square, built in 1730.
The only public library in the city at the beginning of the century was the Society Library, founded in 1754. The Post-Office was kept in a room of the dwelling of the postmaster (General Theodore Bailey), on the corner of William and Garden streets. It contained about one
* The bell of this church (now used by the Reformed Church in Lafayette Place) was made in Amsterdam in 1731, when many citizens cast in silver coins while the metal was in fusion before the casting. It was the gift of Abraham De Peyster, who was mayor of New York 1691-95, and died in 1728, while this edifice was a-building. He directed in his will that a bell should be procured for it at the expense of his estate.
+ The stone of this building was afterward worked into the church edifice on the corner of Mott and Broome streets.
-----
Giacan See
55
OUTLINE HISTORY, 1600-1830.
hundred boxes. Three banks were in operation in the city, one of which was a branch of the United States Bank, whose capital was 810,000,000. There were also three insurance companies, and these, like the banks, were in Wall Street. From that time Wall Street has been the financial centre of the city. There were then seven daily newspapers published in the city of New York, one weekly paper, two medical journals (one published quarterly and one semi-annually), and a religious weekly published by T. & J. Swords, who established the first permanent book-publishing establishment in the city of New York.
The Park Theatre was then the only playhouse in the city. There were four principal public market-houses and two ferries-one to Brooklyn, the other to Jersey City. The wells in the city were un- wholesome, and water from the " Tea-water Pump," at the corner of Pearl and Chatham streets, was carried about the town and sold for a penny a gallon. The Manhattan Water Company was organized at about this time, with banking privileges. They erected a distributing reservoir on Chambers Street-then "out of town"-pumped the water from wells sunk in the vicinity, and distributed it through bored logs. So early as 1774 Christopher Colles had proposed to bring water into the city from the Bronx River, in Westchester County, but the scheme was not favorably received ; but he was allowed to construct water-works at the public expense on the east side of Broadway, near Anthony Street, in 1776. The water was pumped from wells and the "Collect." The scheme was a failure. These were the forerunners of the grand Croton supply begun in 1842.
The corner-stone of the present old City Hall was laid in 1803, and it was finished in 1812, at a cost of half a million dollars. Meanwhile the most important practical achievement in science and mechanics in modern times, in its influence upon commerce and civilization, occurred. It was the permanent establishment of navigation by steam. Robert Fulton and Chancellor Livingston had constructed the steamboat Clermont, and early in September. 1807, she made a successful voyage with passengers to Albany, in spite of wind and tide. and continued regular trips thereafter between New York and Albany. The com- inercial value of this event to the city of New York cannot be estimated.
During the first decade of this century De Witt Clinton was mayor of New York, and under his auspices the initiatory steps toward the establishment of the free public school system in New York were taken. In 1803 the Public School Society, formed chiefly by the Society of Friends, was incorporated, and Mr. Clinton was its first
---
56
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
president. Their first school was opened on Madison Street near Pearl Street, with forty pupils, gathered chiefly from the humble and desti- tute families of the city. Many were taught free, and others at a mere nominal price. This society did noble work in the cause of education until 1842, when ward schools were established. This was followed by the present public free school system, under a Board of Education. Then the Public School Society passed out of existence. Its mission was accomplished. Its one school with forty scholars has expanded into almost three hundred schools and a free college, with thousands. of pupils.
Until 1810 the ferry-boats at New York were skiffs or row-boats and pirogues. In 1814 the horse-boat-a horizontal treadmill-was intro- duced, and the same year a steam ferry-boat was placed on the river between New York and Brooklyn. It remained the only steam ferry- boat for many years. The horse-boats disappeared in 1825.
The city was now extending gradually northward, and streets were laid out beyond the Canal Street marsh. The " Collect" was filled up, and the citizens began to covet residences on the wooded hills beyond Canal Street. This movement of the population was stimulated by the yellow fever, which drove a third of the people of the city to the fields and woods north of the " Collect" or Fresh Water Pond in 1805.
From 1811 various causes checked the growth of the city temporarily. Embargoes to force the British Government to be just had fearfully smitten its commerce. In 1811 a fire occurred in Chatham Street, which consumed nearly one hundred houses. In the summer of 1812 war was declared against Great Britain, which gave a check to all foreign commerce, and the chief industry -- the mercantile-of the city of New York was paralyzed.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.