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 II > Part 10
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The play began. In spite of all precautions, many of the roughs were inside the house, and were prepared, at a given signal of their leader, to rush upon the stage and seize Macready. The police had mingled with them in disguise all day, and knew their plans. The chief of police had made his plans, and when the rioters arose to seize the actor the chief raised his hat as a signal, and his force soon had the astonished rowdies in their power. Most of them were thrust outside the building, but the ringleaders were confined inside.
The mob furiously attacked the police force outside, and had nearly overpowered them when the Seventh Regiment National Guard, with their colonel, Duryce, at their head, appeared on the scene. They had been marched up from their armory in Centre Market, furnished with ball cartridges, preceded by the National Guard Troop. The latter turned into Astor Place from Broadway and charged the mob.
Now began a dreadful tragedy-more dreadful than the simulated one which had just been performed in the Opera-House. In Astor Place the paving-stones had been taken up and piled in heaps while excavating for a sewer. These, with ragged fragments of stones from a marble-yard near by, furnished the rioters with fearful missiles, with which they assailed the mounted men as they gallantly dashed through : the crowd, their horses terribly galled by the flying stones. Several of the men were dragged from their saddles, and many were driven back to Broadway.
Colonel Daryée now prepared his infantry for the struggle. His men loaded their muskets, but the crowd was so dense they could not
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move in column. He led his men in file close to the wall of the Opera-House in the rear, and forced his way to the front. The frantic mob, with vells and execrations, assailed them fiercely with missiles. More than thirty stand of arms were battered in the hands of the citizen soldiers. Many of the men fell to the ground severely wounded. Forbearance was no longer a virtue, and Recorder Tallmadge, who represented the chief magistracy of the city in the absence of Mayor Woodhull, was told that unless the troops should receive orders to fire they would be withdrawn.
Tallmadge addressed the roaring mob, begging them to disperse, but to no purpose. After a brief consultation between the recorder and Generals Hall and Sandford (the latter the division commander), the order to fire was given by Sheriff Westervelt, but to shoot over the heads of the multitude against the blank wall of a house opposite, in order to intimidate them. It had an opposite effect. Believing the troops had only blank cartridges this merely excited their contempt. They defied the civil and military authorities, and after this ineffective volley they were more furious than ever. General Duryee addressed them, saying unless they desisted ball cartridges would be used.
" Fire and be damned !"' shouted one of the ringleaders. "Fire if you dare --- take the life of a free-born American for a bloody British actor ! You darsent fire !" and he boldly bared his breast before the levelled muskets.
" Fire, will you !" screamed another, as he hurled a stone at General Sandford, which almost disabled his sword-arm. There was no alter- native. Dire necessity and the instinct of self-defence demanded prompt and effective action. The word " Fire !" was given. Only a single musket responded, and was answered by defiant vells and more furious peltings by the mob. " Fire !" again shouted General Sand- ford, his voice almost smothered by the roar of the seething multitude. Only two or three muskets responded, when Colonel Duryee, in ring- ing tones, shouted " Fire !" and a volley all along the line followed.
The dead among the rioters now gave assurance that the authorities were in earnest. The mob fell back a little, but providing themselves with more stones they renewed the attack. A more destructive volley ensued, and the rioters fell back in a panie, but did not disperse. They stood sullenly on the verge of the dreadful scene like a wild beast at bay, while the military took position in front of the Opera- Ilouse and guarded it in silence.
It was now eleven o'clock at night. So savagely threatening still appeared the baffled mob that more troops were sent for, with two
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cannons. . They came, with a section of a six-gun battery under Colonel Hlincken. The guns were charged with grapeshot. They dashed up and took position for attack, when the mob dispersed, and all danger was overpast.
Upward of two hundred persons were killed or wounded in this riot. Among the latter were Colonel Duryee, " Generals Hall and Sandford,
* Abraham Duryée is of Huguenot descent. He was born in the city of New York April 29, 1815. His education was completed at the high school in Crosby Street. In the old war for independence his great-grandfather was a soldier, and a prisoner in the old sugar-house in Liberty Street. His grandfather was an importing merchant in New York, and his father and two uncles were meritorious officers in the war of 1812-15. Young Duryée began his military career in the State militia. In 1838, he joined the Twenty-seventh (now Seventh) Regiment National Guard as a private. Passing rapidly through the non-commissioned officers, he was commissioned second lieutenant of the Second Company in 1840. He soon rose to the rank of captain, and in 1842 was advanced to the field of the Seventh Regiment, with the rank of major. Soon afterward he was elected lieutenant-colonel. While holding that rank he organized and commanded a six-gun battery and formed a howitzer corps. Early in 1849 he was elected colonel of the regiment, and first appeared before it as its commander at the terrible Astor Place Riot in May. In that encounter he won admiration for his coolness, skill, and bravery. He was twice wounded in the fray.
Colonel Duryée resigned his commission in 1859, after ten years' service as commander of the Seventh Regiment, during which time he had led it in quelling several riots. The regiment in a body waited upon him to persuade him to withdraw his letter of resignation, but in vain. The merchants of New York, in recognition of his services, presented him with an elegant service of plate, and his associates in arms gave him a more elegant present-a dinner set of massive silver and gold which cost about $8000.
When the Civil War broke out Colonel Duryee began the organization of the famous regiment known as Duryee's Zouaves. In the space of sixteen days he organized and mustered into the United States service a regiment of 940 men, which sailed for Fortress Monroe late in May, 1861, where their colonel was placed in command of Camp Hamil- ton, as acting brigadier-general, with 3000 troops. He was soon superseded by General Pearce. In the march to Big Bethel in the early part of June the Zouaves led the column, and in the sharp conflict that ensued they fought gallantly under their skilful leader.
Colonel Duryee was commissioned full brigadier-general at the close of August, 1861. and placed in command of 13,000 men at Baltimore, where they constructed an exten- sive and formidable fort. In compliance with his request, the general was sent to the front in command of a brigade in Virginia. Our limits will not permit even the mention of the several continuous and gallant services rendered by General Duryee, especially during Pope's campaign in Virginia, which ended with the summer of 1862. General Duryée was in Ricketts's division, which on all occasions bore the brunt of battle. It was in the campaign in Maryland, in September of the same year, and fought gallantly in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. In the official reports of these singninary struggles Duryée and his brigade are mentioned with special commendation. At the battle of Antietam, when General Hooker was wounded and left the field, Ricketts took command of the corps and Duryee commanded his division. In this terrible conflict he exhibited rare courage and consummate military skill, which were officially commended. His horse and those of nearly all his staff were shot under them, and his brigade came
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Lieutenant-Colonel Brinckerhoff, Captains Shumway and Pond, Lieu- tenants Todd and Negus, and one hundred and twenty-one of the rank . and file of the Seventh Regiment. On the part of the mob thirty-four were killed (a few innocent spectators), and a large number were wounded.
The excitement and alarm within the Opera-House had been intense. It seemed, at times, as if the building would be destroyed, but the fury of the mob was drawn to the military after their arrival. When the play was ended the afterpiece was omitted. Mr. Macready escaped in disguise through a private door and hurried to his hotel. Before midnight all was quiet in Astor Place. The dead and wounded had been removed, but a military guard kept "watch and ward " until morning .*
The city was stirred the next day by the wildest excitement and the deepest anxiety. In the morning a placard was posted all over the town requesting " the citizens of New York opposed to the destruction of human life to assemble in the Park at six o'clock in the evening. May 11, to express public opinion upon the lamentable occurrence of last night."
Early in the day a rumor spread that roughs from Philadelphia and Baltimore were on their way to New York for the purpose of renewing the riot, and with a hope of plunder. Happily the rumor was false. The " indignation meeting" in the Park was composed of a vast multi- tude of citizens of every class. Speeches were made by demagogues
out of the battle with only about 300 men. After this battle General Duryee retired from the army, and in March, 1865, he was breveted major-general for " faithful and distin- guished services." With this brevet he received the thanks of the governor of New York in behalf of the State for his " gallantry and devotion."
In 1873 General Duryée was appointed a police commissioner, and in that capacity did efficient service in preserving the peace and security of the city. He is a member of the St. Nicholas and Historical societies, of the Grand Army of the Potomac, a veteran of the National Guard, a member of the Masonic order, and of other organizations. He is small in stature, elegant in figure, and exceedingly pleasant and winning in his manner. " Natural talent, dashing and brilliant, constant practice and diligent study," says Colonel Clarke in his " History of the Seventh Regiment," " made him a superior military instructor of remarkable accomplishments."
* Among the members of the Seventh Regiment was a very conscientious, slow-spoken man named Baldwin. When loading his musket he said to Colonel Duryée :
" My conscience forbids me to fire on these citizens."
" You are here to obey orders," said the colonel ; "conscience is not in command."
At that moment a stone struck Baldwin's head. With the greatest celerity he loaded and cocked his musket, and was about to fire when he was ordered to stop, shoulder his piece, and await orders. He was one of the foremost workers against the rioters when the firing began. The stone had put his conscience asleep.
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denunciatory of the civil and military authorities for the part they had taken in the events of the preceding night, but not a word was said in condemnation of the inciters to the riot. Resolutions of censure of the thorities were adopted by acclamation, apparently forgetful or igno- rant of the fact that leniency to a traitor is an injury to the State. A mob is a traitor to social order ; an outlaw whose subjugation orderly society demands at any sacrifice, for the tendency of mob rule is toward anarchy and utter disorganization of human society.
The meeting in the Park did not hint at violent demonstrations as desirable, nor were any attempted. The lesson of the previous night was heeded. The mob spirit was tamed by an effectual argument. A portion of the Seventh Regiment remained on duty on the 11th and '12th, as faithful guardians of the peace of the city. Hitherto that regiment had a local reputation and honor as such guardians ; that reputation and honor were made national by their conduct in the trying hours of the Astor Place Riot.
Among the citizens who signed the assuring letter sent to Macready were Washington Irving, Charles King, General George P. Morris, General T. S. Cummings, Moses H. Grinnell, and other leading mer- chants and professional men. The principal actors in the event are now beyond the reach of human judgment and influence. Macready, Forrest, Mrs. Pope, Generals Sandford and Hall, Tallmadge, and the signers of the letter above mentioned, have, all but one (General Cummings), crossed the dark river, never to return.
The famous old Park Theatre-the patriarch among the New York play-houses-had been destroyed by fire in December, 1848, on the thirteenth anniversary of the great fire of 1835. Just before the open- ing of the house on that evening a file of play-bills hanging near the prompter's entrance-door to the stage was blown against a lighted gas-jet and took fire. The flames were communicated to the scenery. and in less than an hour the interior of the building was in a blaze, and was speedily reduced to ashes, nothing but the bare walls remaining.
So perished the oldest and the leading theatre for about half a century in the city of New York. It had been the pride of its citizens. It had formed a link of connection with the old AAmerican theatrical company, which in 1753 first performed in a small building on Nassau .. Street ; for of that old company, Lewis Hallam, second, one of its members, played ten years in the Park Theatre from the time of its opening, in January, 1798.
In February, 1841. the Park Theatre presented one of the most brilliant spectacles the citizens of the metropolis had ever seen. It
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was the occasion of the famous "Boz Ball," in honor of Charles Dickens, then on his first visit to America with his wife. The fête was given on the 16th of February, 1842.
The committee of arrangements for this ball included many of the most prominent men in the city-Robert H. Morris, the mayor ; ex- Mayor Philip Ilone ; Drs. Mott, Francis, and Cheesman ; Judge Oakley ; Messrs. Hamilton Fish, Henry Brevoort, Moses H. Grinnell, William HI. Appleton, C. C. Cambreling, David C. Colden, and others. The tickets were $10 each-an enormous price at that day. The char- acter of every purchaser was strictly scrutinized by a committee of gentlemen, so that the company might be perfectly select and unexcep- tionable. The decorations were beautiful in the extreme and conspicu- ously appropriate.
After every dance was exhibited an exquisite tableau illustrating some scene from the works of the great novelist, "which," said an eve-witness, " excited rapture in the beholder." So anxious were the public to see the grand decorations and other appointments of this cele- brated festival that they were left as used on the occasion, and two succeeding balls were given by Manager Simpson, which, at reduced prices, attracted very large attendance.
In the fall of that year George Vandenhoff and Mr. and Mrs. Brougham made their first appearance in America at the Park Theatre. The former was a tragedian, and had made a good name as a person- ator of Hamlet in the London theatres. The Broughams were charm- ing actors. Mrs. Brougham was " a model of physical beauty of the Juno type." She was Miss Williams. In 1845 she returned to Eng- land, came back seven years later. remained a short time, and returned to England, and in 1859 she came again as Mrs. Robertson. She died in New York in 1865. Meanwhile Brougham had won and retained unbounded popularity, and was a favorite until 1862, when he returned to England. As a handsome and bright comic aotor he was a legiti- mate successor of Tyrone Power. The Broadway Lyceum (afterward Wallack's) was built for him in 1850, but it was not a success finan- cially. For about fifteen years Brougham was a popular comedian at Burton's and Wallack's theatres. He wrote many popular pieces for the stage.
In 1843 Macready made his appearance at the Park Theatre, the first time in sixteen years. He played the part of Macbeth. The same year Forrest performed at the Park with great success in various tragedy characters-as Richelieu. Claude Melnotte, Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Metamora, King Lear. and Spartacus. Ole Bull, the great
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Norwegian violinist, made his first appearance there in the autumn of that year, with a full orchestral accompaniment. He was already renowned all over Europe.
Mr. and Mrs. Seguin reappeared at the Park in 1844 in Balfe's opera of the Bohemian Girl, and were warmly welcomed. In 1545 Anna Cora Mowatt made her first appearance there on any stage ; and in 1845-46 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean (the latter late Miss Ellen Tree) were received at the Park with great enthusiasm after a consid- erable absence, and fulfilled an engagement. The same year (1546) Miss Julia Dean, an American -- young, pretty, graceful, and intelli- gent-first appeared at the Park, and was for a long time a powerful attraction there ; also afterward at the Astor Place Opera-House. She took the part of Julia in the Hunchback. Miss Dean married Dr. Hayne of Charleston, S. C., in 1855.
Simpson had been struggling for some time with adverse fortune. For thirty-eight years he had been chief manager of the Park Theatre. He had acquired a fortune at one time ; now it was slipping away from him. His last season of management was 1847-48. During that season Madam Anna Bishop, the second wife of H. R. Bishop, the eminent composer of the music of many of Moore's best songs, charmed the large audiences at the Park with her magnificent voice .* But poor Simpson, after a long and heroic struggle, was compelled to suc- cumb. He relinquished the management of the Park on the night of June 5, 1848. The effects of rivalry and losses by unfortunate invest- ments had impoverished him on the verge of old age. He parted with his interest in the theatre for a life annuity of $1500. Crushed by grief and mortification, he died a few weeks after he gave up the theatre. t
At the beginning of this decade the Bowery Theatre was the most popular of the New York play-houses. It presented spectacular plays, in accordance with public taste. Among these was a wild drama called the Gnome Fly, in which the principal actor was a deformed
* Madam Anna Bishop had made her first appearance as a public singer in London in 1839, with Grisi and others. She made the tour of Europe with great éclat. Beanti- ful in person, and such an accomplished lingnist that she could sing in the vernacular of every capital in Europe, hers was a triumphal career at once. She sang everywhere in America, in Australia, and in China.
t Edmund Simpson was born in England in 1784. He first appearedl as a stage-player at Towcester in May, 1806, and on the boards of the Park Theatre, New York, in October, 1809, in the Road to Ruin. In 1810 he became manager of the Park Theatre. Stephen Price was his partner many years. Simpson retired from the stage in 1833, but appeared occasionally on the boards. His last performance was in 1841.
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man named Leach, a native of Westchester County, New York. He was deformed from his birth. His legs at maturity were no bigger than those of a child two years of age. He acquired great strength of arms. In the Gnome Fly he performed the parts of a baboon and fly.
This was followed by a play in which Bihin, the Belgian giant, who was nearly eight feet in height, took a part as the Giant of Palestine. Putnam, the Iron Son of' '76, drew immense crowds to the Bowery for a long series of nights, and Hamblin, the proprietor, was well rewarded for his enterprise.
In 1847 a large and elegant structure was erected on Broadway, be- tween Pearl and Anthony (now Worth) streets, and called the Broad- way Theatre. It was intended to supersede the Park in the public regard, but the expectations of its owners were not realized. The first performance in it took place in September, 1847. The play was the School for Soundal, in which the veteran Henry Wallack appeared as Sir Peter Teazle.
At this time J. Lester Wallack, son of the popular manager. James W. Wallack, and grandson of Henry, made his first appearance on the stage. Ile was very successful in a wide range of characters in light and genteel comedy. He was slender in person, fastidious in his toilet, graceful in carriage, and was for many years regarded as the hand- somest man on the New York stage.
At the beginning of this decade the most renowned stock actors in New York were Placide, Browne. Abbott. Barry. Latham, John Fisher, Chippendale, W. HI. Williams, Wheatley. Miss Cushman, Mrs. Wheatley. Mrs. Vernon, Mrs. Knight, and Miss Buloid. These gave great success to the Park during the season of 1841-42. Tragedy was neglected. and even Fanny Elssler, though generally attractive, often danced to thin houses.
It was during this decade that another strenuous effort was made to establish the Italian opera as a permanent institution in the city of New York. The movement began in opposition to the theatres. Men and women who assumed to be arbiters of fashion in this regard declared the common play-house to be vulgar, and the opera the only refined species of dramatic amusement and instruction. They carefully abstained from attending upon the most refined performances at the Park. They soon had a large following, and their influence had a serious effect upon the fortunes of the Park and its enterprising man- ager. The result of this movement was, not the permanent establish- ment of the Italian opera in the city of New York, but the financial
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ruin of a worthy Italian who undertook that task. That Italian was Signor Ferdinand Palmno.
Mr. Palmo had been for some time the proprietor of a café on Broad- way, between the New York Hospital and Duane Street, where he gave a variety of musical entertainments. It was called " Café des Mille Colonnes." There he had amassed a considerable fortune. He hired the building formerly occupied by Stoppani's Arcade Baths, at Nos. 39 and 41 Chambers Street, and had it neatly fitted up for an opera-house. It was first opened on the evening of February 3, 1844, with I Puritani. On the bills for the occasion was a notice that the proprietor had made arrangements with "the railroad company [the Harlem, then the only city line] for the accommodation of ladies and gentlemen living uptown, so that a large car, well lighted and warmed, will start after the theatre closes ; and police officers will be in attendance to prevent disorder. The cars will run from the corner of Chambers and Centre streets as far as Forty-second Street."
Poor Palmo ! He continued the experiment without success so long as his money lasted, when he gave it up, and then became a barkeeper in a fashionable hotel in New York. The Ravels, and afterward Burton, occupied Palmo's Opera-House with success.
In the spring of 1847 there came to New York an Italian opera troupe from Havana, Cuba, where they had performed with great suc- cess during the winter. There were seventy-two artists in the troupe. Among them was the celebrated Tedesco. They opened with Verdi's opera of Emani. During that summer Castle Garden was fitted up for dramatic performances and concerts. Thither the troupe from Havana went. and performed for a short season the operas Ernani, Norma, and La Sonnambula. Their last performance was on the 20th of August, for the benefit of the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum of New York, when they departed for Europe.
CHAPTER IV.
A LLUSION has been made to two calamities which afflicted the city of New York in 1849-namely, the Astor Place Riot and the Asiatic cholera. The former has been considered.
The first cholera case in 1849 appeared in the then focus of conta- gion-breeding in the city, the Five Points, on the 14th of May. The health department immediately appointed a sanitary committee,“ in- vested with the full powers of the board of health. They associated with themselves three members of the medical profession in high stand- ing, which were denominated medical counsellors. These, with the resident physician and the health commissioners, acted in concert during the entire period of the prevalence of the epidemic. They came to the conclusion carly that the disease was not contagious, but was caused by a peculiar condition of the atmosphere.
The first care of the sanitary commission was to remove the patients from impure localities to better air. A large three-story building known as Monroe Hall, on the corner of Pearl and Centre streets, was taken and converted into a hospital, and thither the patients were con- veyed. It was put under the charge of Dr. Buel, and was known for years afterward as the Centre Street Hospital.
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