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 11
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On the 24th of May the medical counsellors (Drs. J. B. Beck, J. M. Smith, and S. W. Moore), Dr. Seth Greer, the health commissioner, and the resident physician, Dr. R. L. Morris, published in all the city newspapers an address to the inhabitants setting forth the fact that epidemic cholera was present in the city, and that the first and most important consideration related to the cleanliness of the streets and dwellings.
It was proposed to appropriate the public-school houses for hospital purposes. The board of education warmly remonstrated. A commit- tee on hospitals was appointed, of which the late ex-Governor E. D. . Morgan was chairinan, to thoroughly investigate the subject. After patient inquiries they reported in favor of so appropriating the public-
* James Kelly, Robert T. Hawes, Alexander HI. Schultz, Charles Webb, George H. Franklin, Edwin D. Morgan, Robert A. Sands, Jacob F. Oakley, and Oscar W. Sturtevant.
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school buildings. The sanitary committee, regarding the public health as of the first importance, accepted the report, and acted in accordance with its recommendation. There was much opposition, and public meetings were held to remonstrate against the measure. The school buildings were made hospitals, and very soon there was general acqui- escence in the humane measure.
At this juncture occurred an episode in the medical history of the city of New York which has a medieval aspect. On the 14th of June the board of health received a petition requesting the establishment of a cholera hospital, in which patients might be treated on the homopo- pathic plan. The petition was referred to the sanitary committee. They referred it to their medical counsellors. The latter reported on the 19th as follows :
"By intelligent and well-educated physicians generally homeopathy is looked upon as a species of empiricism. It is neither practised by them nor countenanced by them. Concurring entirely with their professional brethren on this subject, the undersigned conceive that the public authorities of our city would not consult either their own dig- nity or the public good by lending the sanction of their name or influence to homeopathy, or any other irregular mode of practice."
The sanitary committee, feeling it to be " their duty to have nothing to do with medicine, except as they found it embodied in what is un- derstood and known, both to the public as well as physicians, as the regular profession," denied the prayer of the petitioners. Homar- opathy had then been successfully practised in the city of New York for twenty years.
The number of persons admitted to the free cholera hospitals was 1901 ; the number of deaths from that disease in these hospitals was 1021. The number of deaths in the city, outside the hospitals, is not known. It is supposed that nearly 3000 persons died of cholera in New York in 1849.
A new era in the art of building sailing vessels at New York began in the second decade, with a more perfect development of the famous Baltimore clipper. which gained such renown for the American nary during the second war for independence, 1812-15. The New York shipbuilders had already become pre-eminent as constructors of fast- sailing vessels for the merchant marine. The Liverpool packets built by the Webbs (father and son) and by others were the fastest sailing packet-ships of that class in the world. They had attained a speed and a regularity in their voyages in point of time almost equal to that of our steamships. Fourteen and sixteen days was the average time ocen- pied by some of them in voyages between New York and Liverpool.
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They carried double crews before the labor-saving invention of double topsails appeared.
The great development of the East India trade at the middle of the second decade, and especially the rushing stream of emigration to Cali- fornia after its annexation to the United States and the discovery of gold in its bosom. called for faster sailing vessels, and inventive genius soon produced a greater development of the Baltimore clipper principle in naval architecture. New York-built vessels soon reached a higher point of excellence than had ever before been attained.
It was about this time that the Steers Brothers (James and George, sons of an English shipbuilder) achieved wonderful success in the con- struction of swift pilot-boats and other smaller craft on the clipper model. Their first great success was the cat-boat Manhattan. Then they produced the schooners George Steers and Mary Taylor -- " our Mary," as the fascinating actress then at the Olympic Theatre was called, after whom the vessel was named. They were built in 1845. and after their model the best sailing vessels have since been con- structed.
This was also the era of the development of the yacht as it is now known. There had been yachts built long before, and races between them, but no regular yacht association existed until 1844, when John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club. There were nine members and as many yachts. , The first regular regatta in America was sailed about the middle of July, 1845, when the Cygnet, built by Steers Brothers, was the winner.
In 1851 the Steerses built for Mr. Stevens the famous yacht America. designed to contend for the Queen's Cup at the annual regatta of the Royal Yacht Club at Cowes, England. Mr. Stevens offered to give the builders a large bonus in case she won the prize. They both went to Europe with her. with Richard Brown as pilot. As they approached the port of Havre they were met by a Channel pilot-boat bearing a French flag, indicating that she was in command of a French pilot. It was immediately discovered that this was a false pretence. The pilot- boat had been sent out as a spy to discover the sailing qualities of the America, whose fame had gone before her. The pilot was charged with fraud, and acknowledged that he was not a Frenchman. He was dismissed, and hurrying back to Cowes said to the Royal Yacht Club. " The Yankee is the fastest vessel going."
When the Ameriet crossed the Channel and it was proposed to enter her as a contestant for the prize which, according to the terms, was " open to all the world." her builders were coldly received. The
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members of the Royal Yacht Club were so alarmed by the report of the spy that they determined to keep the America out of the race as a competitor for the prize. Accordingly at near midnight before the day appointed for the regatta. the Steers Brothers were officially informed that their vessel was "ruled out of the race," and wagers from her company were refused !
The America had voyaged 3000 miles to show her speed, and was determined to do so, though deprived of the right to the prize if she won it. She started with the other vachts the next day (August 21. 1851), and easily outsailed them all ; and yet the 20,000 English people who saw the victory were, wrote an eye-witness, " as mute as oysters."
All fair-minded persons condemned the conduct of the Royal Yacht Club on that occasion. Queen Victoria, who with her husband and the young Prince of Wales was a witness of the triumph of the America, with her innate love of fair play immediately paid a compli- mentary visit to the winning yacht, with her maids of honor and others. She was dressed, with republican simplicity, in a calico gown. When about to leave she inquired the number of the crew, and when told she took out her purse and laid down on a plate an equal number of guineas to be distributed among them. She also invited them to visit her at Osborne. She did more. She rebuked the unfair conduct of the Royal Yacht Club by having a duplicate of the Queen's Cup, which the crew of the America fairly won, made and presented to them. This cup is now in possession of the New York Yacht Club.
The company of the America visited Osborne, where the Queen had some fêtes for their entertainment. The Marquis of Anglesea visited the yacht, invited the company to his mansion on the Isle of Wight, and said he had come " to see the men who had brains to build that vessel." *
Five years after these events George Steers, while driving a team of horses to Glen Cove. Long Island, to take his wife home, was thrown from the carriage and mortally hurt in head and spine, and never spoke again. He was then thirty-six years of age. At the time of his death the great steamship Adriatic, of the Collins line, had just been launched from his yard.
Mr. Stevens sold the America in England. The Confederates bought · her in 1862, brought her back to the United States, and sunk her in a Southern harbor to prevent her falling into the hands of the national . authorities. She was raised, became a tender to a naval schoolship,
# See " The Old Shipbuilders of New York," Harper's Magarine, vol. 1xv.
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and was finally bought by General B. F. Butler, who was Governor of Massachusetts in 1883.
From the close of this decade until the Civil War shipbuilding at New York was one of its most flourishing industries, and William H. Webb was its most conspicuous representative. His father, Isaac Webb, a leading shipbuilder in New York for many years, died in 1840, when his son William H., then less than twenty-four years of age, became his successor in business, forming, a copartnership with his father's partner, Mr. Allen, under the firm name of Webb & Allen. This connection continued less than three years, after which Mr. Webb pursued the business in his own name until 1868. During that quarter of a century he built one hundred and fifty vessels of all sizes, most of them of the largest class and of a much greater average tonnage than had ever been constructed by any shipbuilder in the world.
Among these vessels were ships of war for the United States, Mexico, Russia, and Italy. He built the 72-gun frigato General Admiral, 7000 tons burden, for the Russian Government, and the screw frigate Re d' Italia and Re de Portogalo, 6800 tons, for the Italian Goverment. The last two were the first iron-clad ships that ever crossed the Atlantic Ocean. The first went from New York to Cherbourg in the unprecedented short time of eleven days and eight hours ; the other made the passage from New York to Naples, 5000 miles, in eighteen days and twenty hours.
In 1847 Mr. Webb built for Charles II. Marshall and others the steamship United States for the New Orleans trade, but it was sold to the German Confederation and altered into a powerful vessel of war by Mr. Webb. The next year he built the steam vessel California for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. It was the first steamer to enter the Golden Gate and the harbor of San Francisco. He also built the three steamships which carried the first regular United States mail between this country and Japan and China-New York and Aspinwall, and Panama to San Francisco, and thence to Yokohama and Hong Kong.
Mr. Webb built for the United States Government the Harriet Lane (named in honor of the niece of the bachelor President Buchanan, and who was the accomplished "lady of the White House"), the first steam revenue vessel constructed for our government. The contract was awarded to him in competition with twenty-two other ship- builders. It was the first competition of the kind ever had in this country. The vessel was a noted one. She was destroyed by the in-
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surgents off the harbor of Galveston in 1862. Mr. Webb also built for the United States Government the steam-ram Dunderberg, 7200 tons burden, the largest wooden vessel ever yet built. Her speed is un- rivalled by any vessel of war afloat to this day. She mounted twenty- two guns of enormous calibre in casemates. The Civil War ended before she was completed, and the government had no immediate use for her. The combined governments of Peru and Chili were then at war with Spain, and they offered Mr. Webb 85,000,000, United States. currency, for her delivered, full armored, in the harbor of Valparaiso. Ile offered to refund to our government the money already paid, but it refused to release him, unwilling to have the most powerful vessel of war in the world leave the country, for she was the pride of the nation. Mr. Webb afterward obtained a law of Congress relieving him from the contract on equitable conditions, and he sold the Dunder- berg to the Emperor Napoleon for 82,500,000, delivered in New York. The French admiral sent a French crew to man her for an Atlantic voyage, but, afraid to undertake the task, he made arrangements with Mr. Webb to deliver her in the port of Cherbourg. This was done by an American crew, under the command of Captain Joseph W. Comstock. with Mr. Webb on board. She made the passage in fourteen days. HIer name had been changed to Rochambeau. Mr. Webb was prom- ised the decoration of the Legion of Honor in case she was safely de- livered, but that promise has never been fulfilled.
Previous to these great structures for steam navigation Mr. Webb built many sailing clipper vessels of large size and unrivalled speed, notably the Comet and Young America, yet in service, and about thirty years old. The former made five consecutive voyages between New York and San Francisco around Cape Horn, averaging one hun- dred days each. One passage from San Francisco to New York was inade in seventy-six days. The latter has been noted for her regu- larity of arrival in port, and obtained the best reputation for excellence among the ships in the Pacific trade.
In 1866 Mr. Webb built the magnificent coast steam-vessels Bristol and Providence, which ply between New York and Newport. They were his first effort in this class of vessels. They were built at a cost of $1,200,000 each. The Bristol is 375 feet in length and of 3000 tons burden. She has four tiers of staterooms, and can furnish 1200 berths. These vessels are unrivalled in speed and best sea-going qualities. In appointments they are veritable palaces afloat .*
* William H. Webb was born in the city of New York June 19, 1816. His parental ancestors were from the lowlands of Scotland, and coming to America settled first at Hart-
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At about the middle of this decade fashionable residences began to appear in considerable numbers beyond Fourteenth Street, particularly in the vicinity of Fourth and Fifth avenues and around Union Square. The latter is a piece of ground of oval form between Fourteenth and Seventeenth streets and Fourth and Fifth avenues. It was inclosed by an iron fence, and had a fountain in its centre. Farther on, between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets and Third and Fourth avenues, was Gramercy Park. The land had recently been conveyed, in trust, to the owners of the sixty lots around it. It was inclosed by a costly iron fence, and has remained a private park ever since. The generous provider of this elegant little park was the late Samuel B. Ruggles, for half a century one of the most active, enterprising, and public-spirited
ford, and in 1642 at Stamford, Connecticut. His mother's family were Huguenots who settled at New Rochelle, in Westchester County. William's father was one of the early and eminent shipbuilders of New York. Designing his son for a profession, he pro- cured for him a good education in private schools and at the Columbia College Grammar School. He preferred his father's business, and when a little past fifteen years of age he entered the shipyard as an apprentice. Before he attained his majority he made a sub-contract with his father to build the sailing-ship Oxford, for the old " Black Ball " line of packets sailing between New York and Liverpool, the first regular line ever estab- lished.
Having by overwork impaired his health, young Webb went to Europe in the fall of 1839. His father dying soon after his arrival there, he returned home, and in April, 1840, entered upon the business of shipbuilding on his own account, as we have observed. His career in that pursuit has been briefly outlined in the text. He retired from it in the year 1868, after a business career of nearly thirty years of almost unex- ampled success in every particular. His services were acknowledged by the Russian and Italian governments by presents and appreciative letters. The latter bestowed upon him the decoration of the Order of St. Maurice and Lazarus, one of the oldest in Europe.
Besides the building of ships Mr. Webb was largely engaged in other enterprises. He was a large stockholder of the Panama Railway at the time of its construction, but sold out long after its completion at an enormous profit. After his retirement from shipbuild- ing he was engaged in running steamships to California, the Sandwich Islands, New Zealand, and Australia for several years. He was the first to establish an American line of steamers to these far-off countries. It was done with a view to control the trade which had enriched them, and to bring it to the United States. He tried to interest his own government in the enterprise, but notwithstanding President Grant recommended it in two messages, Congress would not be made to see its advantages. He obtained sub- sidies from New Zealand and Victoria, the first ever accorded by British subjects to an American line of steamers. The enterprise proving unprofitable, the ships were with- drawn.
At the age of fifty-six Mr. Webb withdrew from active business life. He lives quietly at liis beautiful and picturesquely situated country seat, " Waldheim, " at Tarrytown on the Hudson. He has never been a candidate for any political office, though three times offered the nomination for mayor of the city of New York, and by both political parties. In 1843 he married Miss Henrietta Amelia Hidden, a native of New York City, and descended from the Ives family of Rhode Island.
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citizens of New York, who, by their energy, wisdom, and personal character, contributed to the prosperity and good name of the metrop- olis. He was an able lawyer and well-known publicist.
With keen foresight Mr. Ruggles predicted the rapid growth of New York, and acted accordingly. He invested largely in real estate beyond Fourteenth Street. IIe built blocks of houses, the Clarendon Hotel, and the six detached dwellings on each side of Fourth Avenue, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets, which appear with flower- gardens in front. Mr. Ruggles was the abiding and efficient friend of every measure devised for the prosperity of the city of his adoption and his common country .*
* Samuel Bulkeley Ruggles was a native of Connecticut. He was born in the year 1800, entered Yale College before he was twelve years of age, and graduated when he was four- teen years old. At the age of twenty-one he was admitted to practice law, and began in New York City, rising rapidly in his profession. He soon had a large income, which he invested judiciousiy in real estate. In 1838 he was elected to the State Legislature as a representative of New York City, and was made chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. The next year he was made canal commissioner, and in 1810 was chosen presi- dent of the canal board. His reports on the canal policy always contained sound and advanced views, and the results more than justified his opinions and estimates.
Mr. Ruggles was one of the founders of the Bank of Commerce in New York, and was an earnest advocate of the general banking law. He was one of the commissioners to determine the route of the New York and Erie Railway. In every good work for sustain- ing the National Government during the Civil War he was conspicuous. His pen and tongue were ever busy in the discussion of measures for the public good. In 1864 he published a report on the revenue of the United States, and on a uniform system of weights, measures, and coins, which he had laid before the International Statistical Con- gress at Berlin. He was appointed United States commissioner to the Paris Exposition in 1866, and his exhaustive report thereon displayed most remarkable research and skill in analytical investigation. Mr. Ruggles was a delegate at the International Money Con- ference in Paris the succeeding summer, in which assembly he took the highest rank as authority. Two years later he was a delegate at the International Statistical Conference at the Hague. In all these public consultations he was ever regarded as one of the most acute philosophers and trustworthy counsellors. As a lawyer he had few superiors. He was a inost valued member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, in which body his opinions on political economy always had great weight. His soundness of judgment and remarkable practicability were thoroughly appreciated in all circles. In liis carlier years Mr. Ruggles was a warm personal and political friend of William H. Seward, and when the latter became governor of New York State he supplied him with statistics for his first annual message. He was an earnest advocate of the canal and railroad systems of our State and other important national improvements.
After the death of his wife Mr. Ruggles resided at the Westminster Hotel in New York. His habits were simple, and in his later years he was seldom seen in society. The last and crowning work of his life, and to which he had devoted many years of study and research, was " The Consolidated Table of National Progress in Cheapening Food," presenting by decades and geographic divisions the progress of the nation in cheapening the food of America and Europe.
Mr. Ruggles married, in May, 1821, Miss Mary R. Rathbone, who died in October, 1878.
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At the close of this decade New York City had only a few little parks or "squares," as they were called whatever their form. They were the Battery, Bowling Green, City Hall Park, with shade trees, walks, and a fountain ; St. John's Park, in front of St. Jolm's Chapel, between Varick and Hudson streets, beautifully laid out and shaded and surrounded by an iron fence, but accessible only to subscribers : Washington Square or Parade-Ground, also planted with trees and inclosed by an iron fence ; Tompkins Square, then in the north-east part of the growing city and just planted with trees ; Union Square and Gramercy Park, already mentioned, and Madison Square, Stuy- vesant Square, and Hamilton Square. Stuyvesant Square had lately been inclosed, and new St. George's Church edifice erected on its western side. Madison and Hamilton squares were yet a sort of rough "commons." The latter was six miles from the City Hall, toward the eastern side of the island. There a corner-stone of a projected monu- ment in honor of Washington had been laid. Other squares had been marked on a map of the city, but were not yet visibly defined in its topography.
Two events of national importance occurred during the latter portion of this decade, in which citizens of New York were conspicuous actors, directly or indirectly. These were the war with Mexico (1846-48) and the discovery and mining of gold in California.
There were abundant causes for the existence of mutual irritation on the part of the United States and the Republic of Mexico at the begin- ning of this decade. In Mexico good government was an impossibility because revolutions in that country were frequent. American vessels in the Gulf of Mexico were plundered by the Mexicans, and the prop- erty of American merchants in Mexico was seized and confiscated. The United States Government remonstrated in vain. In 1840 the value of the property of Americans so plundered amounted to more than $6,000,000. American settlers in Texas had rebelled against the Government of Mexico, and had wrested that province from the parent State, and in 1846 it was annexed to the United States. These were causes of mutual irritation.
War ensued, and the State of New York contributed to it two veteran generals of the war of 1812-15-Wool and Worth *- a gallant
While sojourning at the Surf House, Fire Island, in the summer of 1881, Mr. Ruggles died, August 28, from the effects of a stroke of paralysis.
* In memory of General Worth, the corporation of the city of New York caused to be erected, in 1858, an imposing monument at the junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. This monument is of Quincy granite. Its entire height from the ground is fifty-one
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soldier and a leader of armies in the Civil War, Philip Kearny, and a host of brave men who won renown.
When tidings of the victories of General Taylor (who had been sent to the frontier) over the Mexicans at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma reached the city of New York, late in May, 1846, the people were powerfully stirred with pleasurable excitement, and the City Hall Park was crowded to excess one evening with a multitude of men, women, and children looking upon one of the greatest displays of fireworks in front of the City Hall ever before seen in New York.
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