USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V. 2 > Part 23
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
" New York : Printed in the year 1796.
2
APPENDIX I.
to be divided between them ; therefore, in order to carry the said plan into exe cution, it is hereby agreed, by and between the said owners, as follows, that is to say :-
First-That the said building shall be used and kept as a coffee-house, and for no other use or purpose, until the number of the said nominees shall be reduced to seven.
Secondly-That Comfort Sands, Cornelius Ray, Anthony L. Bleecker, James Tillery, and William Henderson, who have been chosen and appointed a com- mittee for that purpose, shall settle all the accounts of the said purchase and building as soon as conveniently may be, and divide the surplus, if any, of the subscription money paid by the present owners, and the net profits already arisen among the said owners, in proportion to their respective shares. and take care of and manage the said business for the interest of the said owners, and receive the rents and profits of the said premises, until the first day of June next, and shall then divide the net profits thereof between such of the said owners whose nominees shall then be living, in proportion to their respective shares.
Thirdly-That it shall and may be lawful for the owners of the said several shares, for the time being, to meet together yearly and every year, at the said coffee-house, on the first Monday in June, in every year, at eleven of the clock in the forenoon, and then and there, by a majority of the votes of the persons so met, to elect and choose five of the said owners, resident in the city of New York, as a committee to manage the said business for one year ; and that the committee for the time being, or the major part of them, or the survivors or survivor of them. or the major part of the survivors of them, shall always superintend such election, and make return of, and give notice thereof, to the persons elected. But no person shall have more than one vote at such election, although he may be entitled to more than one of the said shares.
Fourthly-That every such committee, hereafter to be chosen as aforesaid, . shall have the care and management of the said house and premises for the said owners, and take care of, and keep the same in repair, and make leases thereof, as occasion may require, which leases shall be confirmed, when neces- sary, by the persons in whom the fee of the said land may be vested. The com- mittee shall also settle and adjust the accounts of the preceding committee, and shall receive the rents and profits of the premises aforesaid, and divide the net proceeds thereof, on the second Tuesday in May, in every year, between such of the owners of the said several shares, whose nominees shall be living on the first day of the same month of May, in the same year, in proportion to their respective shares.
Fifthly-That, until the said nominees shall be reduced to seven, as afore- said, each of the said shares shall be considered as personal estate, and upon the death of the owner, if not disposed of by him, shall go to his executors or administrators, and it shall be lawful for any person entitled to such share to sell and transfer the same to any other person ; but all such transfers shall be in writing, and signed by the person making the same, in the presence of, and attested by, two witnesses at least, and shall be registered in a book to be kept for that purpose by the said committee, and no transfer shall be valid until the same shall be registered, as aforesaid. And all such transfers shall be in the following form, to wit :
: -
3
APPENDIX I.
. Know all men by these presents, that I (here insert the name and addition of the owner, and if such owner claims as devisce, executor, or administrator, insert such description) do hereby, for value received, sell, grant, and convey (here insert the name and addition of the purchaser) my share in the New York Tontine Coffee-house, to which I am entitled during the natural life of (here insert the name and description of the nominee) and all my rights, title, inter- est, claim, and demand, of, in, and to the same. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this day of , in the year of our Lord one thousand
And no person claiming any share as devisee, executor, or administrator shall be entitled to the profits thereof, or to sell or transfer the same, or to vote in respect thereof, until the will and letters testamentary, or letters of admin- istration, by which such claim shall be made, shall be recorded in the proper office in the State of New York, and a registry thereof entered in the said book of registry of transfers by the said committee.
Sixthly-That the present trustees, in whom the fee simple of the said land and premises is now vested, shall, as soon as conveniently may be, execute such declaration or deed as counsel shall advise, as necessary and proper, to answer the several purposes aforesaid.
Serenthly-That when the said trustees, in whom the fee simple of the said land and premises is vested, shall by death be reduced to less than three, the said committee, for the time being, shall give notice thereof in at least two of the newspapers printed in this city, and request the then owners of the several shares to meet together at the said Coffee-house, at a certain time therein to be mentioned, not less than ten days from the first publication thereof, to nomi- nate and elect five other persons to be trustees for them ; and such five persons as shall at such meeting be elected, by a majority of the votes of the said own- ers so met, shall be trustees for the whole of the said owners. And the sur- vivors or survivor of the present trustees shall thereupon, on demand, in due form of law, convey the said land and premises, with the appurtenances, unto such new trustees, and the survivors and survivor of them, and the heirs of such survivor, upon the like trusts as aforesaid, with a covenant therein to be inserted, that, if such new trustees shall, by death, be reduced to less than three before the said nominees shall by death be reduced to seven, that then the sur- vivors or survivor will, in due form of law, convey the said land and premises, with the appurtenances, unto five other trustees, to be chosen in the manner aforesaid, upon the like trusts as aforesaid, and with the like covenant, to be therein inserted.
Eighthly-That when the said nominees shall by death be reduced to seven, then the trustees, or their heirs, in whom the fee simple of the said land and premises shall be vested, shall, in due form of law, convey the same land and premises, with the appurtenances, and all their estate and interest therein, to the persons then entitled to the shares standing in the names of the seven sur viving nominees, and to the heirs and assigns of the persons so entitled forever. equally to be divided between them.
Done in the city of New York, the fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four.
---.
APPENDIX II.
RICHMOND HILL.
BY GENERAL PROSPER M. WETMORE.
The memories clustering round the spot once known by this name have not lost their freshness in the passing away of two generations of our people ; while its many living traditions of social and political events extend over a space of time fast approaching the close of a century.
This princely estate, so well known to our elderly citizens, was for many . years one of the chief attractions of the suburban scenery of New York. Situ- ated on a commanding eminence, surrounded by groves of ancient trees, a short distance west of the centre of the island, it extended, through intervening · vales, to the shores washed by the waters of the Hudson. The hand of Art and the guidance of taste had adorned its broad expanse of cultivated grounds, with all the luxuriance of gardens, arbors, and shrubberies; while Nature sent to the perfection of the landscape her choicest productions and the ripen- ing influences of her beneficence. The chequered fortunes of the owners of this beautiful region were not more remarkable than the conflicting conditions which followed the title to the estate, as it passed into the hands of its succes- sive proprietors. About ten years anterior to the Revolution, an English gen- tleman, Major Abraham Mortier, at one period of his life a Commissary of the English Army, acquired possession of the principal part of this eligible tract of land, which was then held under grant from the Colonial Government, by the Episcopal Church of the City of New York. This religious organization, afterwards under the sanction of law, adopted the more definite title of " Trinity Church."
The grant to the Church embraced immense possessions within the bounds of the rising city, a goodly share of which is still retained under the same authority. Having secured from the Church a lease of the property for a long extended term of years, the new proprietor erected, on a conspicuous eminence, a spacious and imposing edifice, to which, with a natural fondness for familiar English names, he gave the designation of " Richmond Hill." He speedily commenced, on a scale of generous expenditure, to improve and orna-
1
1
5
APPENDIX II.
trent its grounds. This disposition, on his part, growing with the opening attractions of his new home, continued until the outbreak of hostilities, or, according to the local traditions, until his premature death. While the property remained in his possession, Major Mortier devoted much of his time and no small share of his fortune to the embellishment of his highly-prized acqui- sition .*
At the commencement of active hostilities, in the neighborhood of New York, under the tenure of military power, General Washington, with his fam- fly, were, for a portion of the year 1776, the occupants of Richmond Hill. It was during this period that Colonel Aaron Burr was appointed an aid with the rank of major, on the staff of the Commander-in-chief, and, thus early, became personally acquainted with the advantages and attractions of the place. It is not within the design of this brief sketch to follow the successive changes of title and possession, between the departure of Mortier and the removal of Washington's headquarters from Richmond Hill to the Roger Morris House. near the Point of Rocks. The movement of the American forces was con- sequent on the subjugation of the city by the British troops, and preceded only, by a short time, the capture of Fort Washington. During the seven years' occupation of the Island of New York, little is known of its internal con-" dition ; but, undoubtedly, some superior British officer enjoyed the advantages and administered the unpaid-for hospitalities of Richmond Hill. The year 1783 witnessed the departure of the unsuccessful supporters of royalty and the gradual return of citizens to the peaceable resumption of their property and rights. The legal tenure of the rights held under the Church-lease to the Richmond Hill property was maintained, and the buildings and improvements were not disturbed nor injured while in adverse occupancy. During the first year of the Government, under the newly-adopted Constitution, while President Washington was living, with some display of courtly splendor, at the Franklin mansion, on the corner of Pearl and Cherry Streets, John Adams, of Massachu- setts, the first Vice-President, occupied the house and grounds of Richmond Hill. . How much the delightful surroundings of that beautiful residence were enjoyed by its inmates, at this period, is pleasantly depicted in the letters of Mrs. Abigail Adams, the wife of the Vice-President. She writes to her rela- tive, Mrs. Shaw, in the following glowing terms :
" RICHMOND HILL, N. Y., " 27th September, 1789.
"I write to you, my dear Sister, not from the disputed banks of the Poto- mac, the Susquehanna, or the Delaware, but from the peaceful borders of the Hudson ; a situation where the hand of Nature has so lavishly displayed her beauties, that she has left scarcely anything for her handmaid, Art, to per- form.
"The house in which we reside is situated upon a hill, the avenue to which is interspersed with forest-trees, under which a shrubbery, rather too luxu- riant and wild, has taken shelter, owing to its having been deprived, by death, some years since, of its original proprietor, who kept it in perfect order. In
* This property is traced on the map. published from a survey made, in 1776. by Major Montresor.
84
1
8
APPENDIX II.
. front of the house the noble Hudson rolls its majestic waves, bearing upon his " bosom innumerable small vessels, which are constantly forwarding the rich products of the neighboring soil to the busy hand of a more extensive com. . merce. Beyond the Hudson rises to our view the fertile country of the Jer- seys, covered with a golden harvest and pouring forth plenty, like the cornu- copia of Ceres. On the right hand, an extensive plain presents us with a view of fields, covered with verdure, and pastures full of cattle. On the left, the city opens upon us, intercepted only by clumps of trees and some rising ground · which serves to heighten the beauty of the scene, by appearing to conceal a part. - In the background is a large flower-garden, enclosed with a hedge, and some very handsome trees. On one side of it a grove of pines and oaks, fit for con- templation.
"'In this path,
How long soe'er the wanderer roves, each step Shall wake fresh beauties ; each last point present A different picture, new, and each the same.'
" If my days of fancy and romance were not past, I could find here an ample field for indulgence ; yet, amidst these delightful scenes of Nature, my heart pants for the society of my dear relatives and friends, who are too far removed from me."
In another letter, written a year later, to her friend, Mr. Brand-Hollis, liv- ing in England, she repeats and enlarges her description of the beauties of the scenery by which she was surrounded at her delightful residence at Richmond Hill, and when the removal of the Government from New York to Philadelphia required the official families to change their residences, the regrets of Mrs Adams were feelingly expressed.
In the year 1797, this property was in the possession of an eminent foreign - gentleman by the name of Temple; and a good deal of public excitement was awakened by an extensive robbery committed on the premises, the perpetra- - tors of which were never discovered. Just at this period the Richmond Hill · estate came into the possession of Aaron Burr, by whom it was retained, as a country residence, for about fifteen years.
Colonel Burr retired from the army, in consequence of greatly impaired health, some years before the Revolutionary contest had ceased. He had entered, actively, into the practice of the law, at New York, in which he had already acquired no little distinction elsewhere. Subsequently elected to the Senate of the United States, and, at the close of that service, elevated to the office of Vice-President, much of his time was necessarily spent at the seat of government ; but all of his home life was passed in the society of his family, at Richmond Hill. While his business offices and temporary lodging apart- ments were in the crowded city, his hours of enjoyment and the brilliant scenes of his social entertainments always found him at this chosen spot. It was here that he received, with fitting honors, the distinguished strangers, from every land, who came to study the features of the country and to estimate the characters of the people, newly entering into the family of nations. Cer- tainly, no man of that day was better qualified to perform the duty he had taken upon himself. Born, as it seemed, to adorn society ; rich in knowledge ; brilliant and instructive in conversation ; gifted with a charm of manner that
7
APPENDIX II.
was almost irresistible; he was the idol of all who came within the magic sphere of his friendship and his social influence. In his immediate family circle were centered his purest joys, his highest hopes. His married life had been one of uninterrupted happiness, save from the declining health of his affectionate wife. The correspondence between them, which is extant, affords undeniable evidence of the truth of these statements. His daughter, Theodo- sia, after the death of her mother, was the delight of her father's heart, the chosen companion of his hours of ease and relaxation. She conducted, with rare tact and discretion, the generous hospitality of the Richmond Hill estab- lishment ; and the felicity of her management and the charm of her manner were, frequently, the topic of admiration and commendation in the best social assemblages of those happy days.
Among the frequent guests at Burr's house, during this period of his high- est prosperity and popularity, were the accomplished Volney, the courtly Talleyrand, and the princely-born Louis Philippe. Expatriated, under the misrule of the French Revolution, these were all of a class of men whoin Burr delighted to entertain, and who could appreciate and enjoy the elegant hospi- tality which was extended to them. About this time, also, while the Vice- President was at his post of duty, in Washington, he requested his daughter, whom he had left in charge of his country establishment, and who was then fourteen years of age, to give a dinner-party at Richmond Hill, to the celebrated Indian Chief, Brant .*
The years that were passed (with occasional absences on public duty) at Richmond Hill, in the companionship of his wife and daughter, comprised the six years of allotted service in the Senate and the four years' incumbency of the office of Vice-President of the United States. In that brief period of time culminated, declined, and passed away, forever, the fame, distinction, and hap- piness of Aaron Burr.
'T" ere is no parallel in personal history for such a fate, so sudden and so irreparable, as that which befell the once honored, respected, admired, and feared master of Richmond Hill.
.As a brave and faithful soldier of the Revolution, he was without fear and without reproach. In his first battle, he was chosen to lead the forlorn hope, at the assault of Quebec ; and, while under fire, he bore the body of Montgom- ery from the crimsoned snow-bank where he fell. Chosen by Washington to fill the responsible post of aid, he remained in that confidential position until he voluntarily accepted the office of the like distinction by the side of Putnam ; and thence only changed his line of duty to accept the more active service in the command of a regiment. Distinguished in the arduous duties of maintain- ing the integrity of "the neutral ground " of Westchester, his conduct won
'the admiration of every judicious commander. Successful whenever he led an
independent command, on the disastrous field of Monmouth he made the final sacrifice of his health and ambition to the cause of his country. Retiring from duty, as an invalid, he declined to accept the proffered privilege of leave from active service with continued compensation, and returned to the walks of pri- vate life with shattered health, but with few of the honors and none of the rewards of his faithful service.
.
* For an account of this dinner, and also for a letter written by Burr to his daughter, introducing the Chief, Brant, to her, ace Chapter VI. Part III.
---
---------
8
APPENDIX II.
This is the brief, but true, military record of Aaron Burr. Is there nothing in such a record to justify the hope of a memory worthy to be cherished, rather than to meet the execration of undying enmity ? One act of Burr's life made him an outcast, not alone from the society he had adorned and honored, but from the country which had given him birth, and in support of whose liberties he had freely periled his life. Of the great liost of enemies, so suddenly raised up, and who so relentlessly followed the footsteps of the stricken man. how many were there who should have shuddered with the infamy of casting the first stone ?
At the closing of his official duties, as Vice-President, Burr followed out a long and well considered purpose of opening a justifiable enterprise for the conquest of one of the provinces of Southern America. Through the perfidy of one or more of his trusted agents, he was arrested, imprisoned, and tried for treason, in the city of Richmond, Virginia. After months of enforced delay, for sinister purposes, the trial was held before the most distinguished of all the Chief-Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; and while the whole power of the Government of the nation was arrayed against the perse- cuted defendant, under the advice and ruling of John Marshall, he was honor- bly acquitted and restored to all the rights of a citizen. And yet there are men who continue to write and speak of Aaron Burr as a traitor !
How many years was he in advance of that glorious enterprise which secured Texas as one of the States of the American Union ! His subsequent career was one of long-continued and almost crushing sorrows. The sad sufferings which his misfortunes had cast upon his noble-minded daughter, Theodosia, who had previously become the wife of Governor Alston, of South Carolina ; the melancholy death of her only child ; and the loss of the devoted mother, on her voyage to meet and welcome home her beloved father, after his long years of absence abroad, altogether make one of the most pathetic stories in the whole range of personal literature. This painful episode has led our reflections far away from the subject of Richmond Hill, and we now again take up the thread of our history. Before Burr's loss of fortune he had con- templated parting with this property, and had opened negotiations with a wealthy capitalist to that end. Having suddenly determined to visit Europe. in the hope and expectation of obtaining pecuniary assistance in the prosecu- tion of his Mexican enterprise, he departed, leaving his business affairs in a condition of irretrievable embarrassment. The necessary consequence was, that the Richmond Hill property was sold, to satisfy the most pressing of his creditors, for a very small part of its actual value; and that, finally, the larger portion became incorporated with the vast estate of Mr. John Jacob Astor. A part of the property held by Burr was not embraced under the · Church-lease, but had been purchased from other parties; and so much as had been thus acquired, with a title in fee. had been disposed of some years prior to the ultimate catastrophe from which there was no recovery.
While writing these lines, we have lying before us an attested copy of a ' conveyance, with an attested map of the premises attached, from Aaron Burr to John Jacob Astor bearing date the eighteenth of November, 1803. This instrument purports to convey a piece of land known as the " Triangle," com- prising about forty city lots, bounded by the line of the Church property, and is conveyed, in fee, to the purchaser. The location of this section is indicated,
9
.
APPENDIX II.
by its boundaries, on Downing, Bedford, and Village Streets-the latter name being now obsolete.
It is a significant fact, in relation to Burr's well-known business relations, that this piece of property was conveyed, subject to an existing mortgage, in favor of the Manhattan Company. We have also before us an original instru- ment, certified of record, by T. Wortman, clerk of the city and county of New York, purporting to be a mortgage executed by Timothy and Mary Green to Aaron Burr, covering certain lots, formerly part of the estate of said Burr, and which had previously been part of the estate of Elbert Herring, and was bounded by property held by Burr, under a Church-lease. This mortgage bears date the twenty-third day of October, 1802; and appears to have been assigned, on the same day, to the Manhattan Company. These ancient docu- ments are only interesting to antiquaries in search of disputed or forgotten boundaries, and were found, with many other unconsidered trifles, among the multifarious articles seeking a purchaser in the stock of a dealer in old paper. They are entirely at the service of any person who can find them of any value. Thus passed away, into other hands, the possessions once held and dearly prized by the dwellers in the spacious halls and on the broad lands of Rich- mond Hill. From time to time, between the years 1806 and 1818, the prem- ises, diminished in size and attraction, were noticed in the public papers to be rented for private residences; and thus, as time passed on, the fortunes of Richmond Hill declined.
The writer remembers the place well. In the year 1813 the noble mansion remained in good preservation, with its broad entrance, under a porch of imposing height, supported by tall columns, with balconies fronting the rooms of the second story, and with an aspect of distinction altogether beyond the ordinary private dwellings of that day. The outer entrance of the premises, at the period mentioned, was throughi a spacious gateway, placed between highly ornamented columns, at the then termination of MeDougal Street, about two hundred feet north of Spring Street. The grounds at that time had been reduced in size, by the interposing barriers of newly opened streets, and no longer extended to the river. The beautiful piece of water, long known as "Burr's Pond," remained intact, with a full supply of the needed element, which, in winter, gave excitement and enjoyment to all the noisy urchins fond of the exercise of skating. On this point the writer can speak from per- sonal knowledge. "Burr's Pond," so far as its exact location can now be traced, must have been on or near the piece of ground known as " the Trian- gle," as it has been followed to a point where it meets the junction of Bedford and Downing Streets.
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.