USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V. 2 > Part 4
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
at the solicitation of Colonel Stone, with whom he had been for a long time in correspondence, with a view to this end .* Colonel Stone now threw himself heartily into the good work. He roused the public through his paper, the Commercial Advertiser ; issued stirring appeals for aid ; depicted in vivid colors the sufferings of the Greeks; and got up private meetings of wealthy men, at which large subscriptions were obtained.t After doing all that could be done in the city, he accompanied Dr. Howe upon a tour up the Hudson River, and through the western towns of the State, preaching a sort of crusade for the relief of the Greeks.t
The general results are well known. Through the efforts of those persons who have been mentioned, ships, and large amounts of grain, flour, clothing, and money, were obtained, forwarded, and distributed among the
* Letter from Dr. Samuel G. Howe to the author.
+ In this connection, the author recalls an anecdote characteristic of both the parties to whom it refers. Colonel Stone, while engaged in securing subscriptions for the Greeks, called upon John Jacob Astor, 1st, for a considerable amount. To all his persuasions the old fur-merchant turned a deaf ear, finally alleging that he himself was really quite poor. "Yes, Mr. Astor," replied the Colonel, " every one is poor nowadays but you and me." Astor knew that the Colonel was, at this time, very much embarrassed, having lost nearly all his property by indorsing ; and, upon this reply, so archly given, he joined in the laugh, and handed the Colonel his check for considerably more than the sum asked for.
# At a mass meeting held in the Cooper Institute on the 26th of January, 1867, in behalf of the Cretan patriots-his Honor Mayor Hoffman in the chair- Professor R. C. Hitchcock D. D., in paying a high tribute to the early friends of the Greeks in the United States, said : "In Massachusetts, Dr. Howe, Web- ster, and Everett ; in Kentucky, Clay. But let us not forget one of our own fellow-citizens, who battled hard for the liberties of the Greeks, and who was one of three who received from the Greeks themselves a token of the respect and veneration in which he was held,-a name that has been strangely omitted of late when speaking of the early struggles of the Greeks ; a man whose grace- ful pen has adorned our national literature; who wrote thrilling articles to rouse the people to a sense of the wrongs of those patriots ; one who traveled up the Hudson, speaking to any one and every one that thronged around him, of the great subject that occupied the whole power of his mind,-the liberty of the Greeks; one second only, if even second to any, to Dr. Howe himself-the name of WILLIAM L. STONE."
:
:
414
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
starving people of Greece, which, by the immediate relief thus brought, and by the moral support thus given at the most critical period of the Greek Revolution, helped materially to aid the cause .*
* Memoir of Colonel William L. Stone, by William L. Stone, 2d. Albany . J. Munsell. 1866.
·
CHAPTER VI.
IN 1828, SA-GO-YE-WAT-HA, or Red-Jacket, the great Seneca orator, visited New York on his way to Washing- ton. In 1797, his rival-though in a different field -THA-YEN-DA-NE-GEA, or Brant, had also paid a 1828. visit to New York, at which time he was the guest of Theodosia, the daughter of the Vice-President, Aaron Burr, at Richmond Hill. Miss Theodosia treated the forest chief with all the courtesy that hospitality sug- gested; and, young as she was, she performed the honors of her father's house (Burr was then in Philadelphia) in a manner that must have been as gratifying to her absent parent as it was creditable to herself. Among other attentions, she gave him a dinner party, selecting for her guests some of the most eminent gentlemen in the city, among whom were Bishop Moore and Drs. Bard and Hosack. In writing to her father upon the subject, she gave a long and sprightly account of the entertainment. She said that, in making the preliminary arrangements, she had been somewhat at a loss in the selection of such dishes as .would suit the palate of her principal guest. Being a savage warrior, and in view of the many tales she had heard of
The cannibals that each other eat, The anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders,
--
416
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
she added, sportively, that she had a mind to lay the hospital under contribution for a human head, to be served up like a boar's head in ancient hall barbaric. But, after all, she found him a most Christian and civilized guest in his manners .*
In like manner, Red-Jacket, during his stay in the city, was made the " lion " of the hour ; and many of the oldest and most distinguished families vied with each other to do him honor. While in New York, his portrait was taken by Robert W. Weir, at the request of Dr. John W. Francis. Henry Inman and Mr. Mathias also made sketches of him; but the one by Weir is of far the highest order of merit, and has become the standard likeness of "the last of the Seneca orators." An acquaintance of several years, and the reception of some trifling presents from Dr. Francis, had enabled the latter to educe a promise from the old chief to sit on his next visit to New York. This happened in the present year ; when, with his interpreter, Jemison, he very promptly repaired to the studio of Mr. Weir. "For this purpose," writes Dr. Francis to his friend William Dunlop,t " he dressed himself in the cos-
* The following characteristic letter was written at the time by Burr, introducing the Mohawk chief to his daughter :---
" PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 28th, 1797.
" This will be handed to you by Colonel Brant, the celebrated Indian chief. I am sure that you and Natalie* will be happy in the opportunity of seeing a man so much renowned. He is a man of education-speaks and writes the English perfectly-and has seen much of Europe and America. Receive him with respect and hospitality. He is not one of those Indians who drink rum, but is quite a gentleman ; not one who will make you fine bows, but one who understands and practices what belongs to propriety and good-breeding. He has daughters-if you could think of some little present to send to one of them (a pair of ear-rings, for example), it would please him. You may talk to him very freely, and offer to introduce him to your friend, Mr. Witbeck, at Albany. Vale et arma. A. B."t
t The author of the History of the American Arts of Design. 1
* Natalie Delagie, an adopted child of Aaron Burr, born in France, and subsequently married to a son of General Sumpter, of South Carolina.
t Stone's Life of Joseph Brant.
417
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
tume which he deemed most appropriate to his character, decorated with his brilliant over-covering and belt, his tomahawk and Washington medal .* For the whole period of nearly two hours, on four or five successive days, he was as punctual to the arrangements of the artist as any individual could be. He chose a large arm-chair for his convenience, while his interpreter, as well as himself, was occupied, for the most part, in surveying the objects which decorated the artist's room. He had a party of several Senecas with him, who, adopting the horizontal position, in different parts of the room, regaled themselves with the' fumes of tobacco to their utmost gratification. Red-Jacket occasionally united in this relaxation ; but was so deeply absorbed in attention to the work of the painter a's to think, perhaps, of no other subject. At times he manifested extreme pleasure, as the outlines of the picture were filled up. The drawing of his costume, which he seemed to prize, as peculiarly appropriate, and the distant view of the Falls of Niagara-scenery at no great distance from his own residence-forced him to an indistinct utterance of his satisfaction. When his medal appeared complete in the picture, he addressed his inter- preter by striking gestures ; and when his noble front was finished, he sprung upon his feet with great alacrity, and, seizing the artist by the hand, exclaimed with great energy, "Good ! good !" The painting being finished, he parted with Mr. Weir with a satisfaction equal to that which he, doubtless, on some occasions, had felt on effect- ing an Indian treaty. Red-Jacket must have been beyond his seventieth year when the painting was made. He exhibited in his countenance somewhat of the traces of time and trial on his constitution. Nevertheless, he was of a tall and erect form, and walked with a firm gait. His
* See engraving in the large-paper edition of this work, which is a copy of Weir's painting.
53
-
-
-
$
418
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
characteristics are preserved by the artist to admiration ; and his majestic front exhibits an attitude surpassing every other that I have ever seen of the human skull. As a specimen for the craniologist, Red-Jacket need not yield his pretensions to those of the most astute philosophers. Ile will long live by the painting of Weir, the poetry of Halleck, and the fame of his own deeds .*
Red-Jacket loved his native forests, and no music was to him so sad as the sounds of approaching civilization, before which they were destined to fall. Every blow of the woodman's ax sent a pang to his heart. The crash of a falling tree sounded more painfully upon his ears than the jar of an earthquake. The following anecdote will illustrate his feelings upon this subject. In the days of his youth, he was wont to join the hunters in the beautiful valley of the Genesee with great enthusiasm. Game was then plenty, and those were, indeed, the fairest hunting-grounds he could traverse Toward the close of his life, he went thither to indulge once more in the chase, where a forest, apparently of considerable extent, yet remained. He entered it, recognizing some of his ancient friends among the venerable trees, and hoping still to find abundant game. But he had not proceeded far before he approached an opening, and his course was presently impeded by a fence, within the inclosure of which one of the pale-faces was engaged in guiding the plow. With a heavy heart, he turned in another direc- tion, the forest seeming yet to be deep, and where he hoped to find a deer, as in the days when he was young. But he had not traveled long before another opening broke upon his view ; another fence impeded his course,
* Doctor Francis held many conversations with Red-Jacket, during the lat- ter's stay in the city, some of which were upon the subject of the diseases to which the Indians were subject. The chief was quite descriptive in his statements and seemed sufficiently qualified to make a number of very fair distinctions in relation to the subject .- Conversations of Dr. Francis with Col. Wm. L. Stone.
419
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
and another cultivated field appeared within. He sat down and wept .*
In the same year that Red-Jacket visited the city, the Merchants' Exchange, in Wall Street (begun in 1825), was completed. Masonic Hall, opposite the New York Hospi- tal, the Arcade, in Maiden Lane, and other buildings of more or less interest, were also erected. It has been the custom of late years to speak of the changes that have taken place in New York city as of recent date. This, however, is a mistake. Modern New York begins, in reality, about the year 1820, at which time the " march of internal improvement " began to level the most inter- esting of our city landmarks. Indeed, as late as 1827, Exchange Place was Garden Street, Beaver Street was Exchange Street, and Hanover Street was unknown. Gar- den Street, ending in what is now Hanover Street, was connected with Exchange Street and Pearl Street by Sloat Lane. This narrow lane was afterward widened and extended through to Wall Street, forming Hanover Street. The triangular block now bounded by Beaver, Pearl, and Hanover, was then bounded on the north by Exchange Street, on the east by a private alley, connect- ing the east end of that street with Pearl at a point some fifty feet this side of the present junction, on the south by Pearl, as now, and on the west by Sloat Lane. Beaver Street was subsequently opened through on its present line, and the private alley was closed up and built upon.
In 1829, an old resident of New York, returning to the city, after an absence of several years, was so struck with the changes which had taken place, both in the people and in the buildings, that he gave them to 1829. the public in two very interesting letters.t The reminis-
* Related to Colonel W. L. Stone by a Seneca chief.
+ The late Gulian C. Verplanck (under the nom de plume of Francis Her bert), in the Talisman, for 1829-183).
-
1.
420
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
cences contained in them are of great value, as tending to preserve that which otherwise must have fallen into obliv- ion. New York has, it is true, reached a proud mercan- tile position ; but it must not be supposed that, on this account, she has no traditions other than those associated with trade. To assume this would be as unjust as it is untrue. Many memories she has, both of a pleasant and a saddening nature; and while there are many, in this intensely practical age, who profess to sneer at everything in which they can " see no money," yet there are a few from whose hearts all sentiment has not been entirely crushed out. It is for the benefit of this latter class that we reproduce a portion of the reminiscences here alluded to. The writer says :
" New York is full of old reminiscences. Some are consecrated by religious feeling, and some by their con- nection with the political destinies of our country. My father used to show me, when a boy, the spot on the North River, just above the present Barclay-street Ferry, where Jonathan Edwards, when temporary pastor of Wall- street Church, used to walk backward and forward on the solitary pebbly shore, sounding the depths of his own con- science, and drawing 'sweet consolation' from the religion which he taught. Here he ruminated on the mysteries of eternal preordination and free-will, while fell upon his ear the murmurs of that ocean which is the symbol of eternity and power, and whose motions are controlled, like the events of our own lives, by the word and will of the Most High. Then, likewise, he showed me the little church, back to the site of the present Methodist Chapel, in John Street, where Whitfield, as my father expressed it, used to 'preach like a lion,' with a searching power that made the sinner quail, and shook and broke the infi- del's stony heart. It was in Wall Street that the apos-
1
421
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
tolic Tennant lifted up his melodious voice, and sounded the silver trumpet of the Gospel. * * *
" On the site of the present Custom-house,* where the commerce of the world pays its tribute to the great treasury of the nation, stood the old City Hall, commanding a view of the wide and winding avenue of Broad Street. Here, in a species of balcony, in the second story of the build- ing, such as the Italians call a loggia, mean in its materials of wood and brick, but splendid in the taste and propor- tions given to it by the architect L'Enfant, the inaugura- tion oath of the chief magistracy of the Union was administered by Chancellor Livingston to Washington, the first of our Presidents. In front of the building an innumerable and silent crowd of citizens, intently gazing on the august ceremony, thronged the spacious street, and filled Wall Street from William Street to Broad- way. Behind the President elect stood a group of the illus- trious fathers of the nation-Hamilton and Knox, and the elder Adams, and the venerable and learned and eloquent Johnson, and Ellsworth and Sherman of Connecticut, and Clinton and Chief-Justice Morris and Duane of New York, and Boudinot of New Jersey, and Rutledge of South Caro- lina, and less conspicuous in person, though among the foremost in fame, the Virginian, Madison. There, too, stood the most revered of the clergy of New York, the venerable Dr. Rodgers, of the Presbyterian Church; the wise and mild and suasive Dr. Moore, of the Episcopal ; the dignified and eloquent Dr. Livingston, of the Dutch ; and the learned Dr. Kunze and the patriotic Dr. Grose, of the German churches. Back of these stood younger men, since scarcely less illustrious than the elder statesmen I have inentioned-Ames, and Cabot, and Gouverneur Mor- ris, majestic and graceful in spite of his wooden leg. But
* Now the Sub-Treasury.
1
422
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
why should I attempt to describe this great occasion by words ? I lately looked over the portfolio of my friend Dunlap, and found, among many other fine things, sketches which present this scene vividly to the eye, with the fea- tures of the great men who figured in it, and their costumes and attitudes, such as he himself beheld them. I wish somebody would employ him to paint a noble picture, such as he is capable of producing, on this magnificent subject. The pride of a New-Yorker, the feelings of a patriot, the ambition of an artist, and the recollections of this interesting ceremony, which still live in his memory, would stimulate him to do it ample justice.
" Cedar Street, since that day, has declined from its ancient consequence. I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Jefferson in an old two-story house in that street, unbend- ing himself in the society of the learned and polite from the labors of the bureau. And there was Talleyrand, whom I used to meet at the houses of General Hamilton and of Noah Webster, with his club-foot and passionless, immov- able countenance, sarcastic and malicious even in his intercourse with children. He was disposed to amuse himself with gallantry, too. But who does not know, or rather, who ever did know, Talleyrand ? About the same time I met with Priestley, grave and placid in his man- ners, with a slight difficulty of utterance; dry, polite, learned, and instructive in his conversation.' At a period somewhat later, I saw here the deputy Billaud de Var- ennes, who had swayed the blood-thirsty mob of the Faubourg St. Antoine, turned the torrent of the multitude into the hall of the Legislative Assembly, and reanimated France to a bolder and more vigorous resistance against her foreign enemies. I visited him in the garret of a poor tavern in the upper part of William Street, where he lived in obscurity. But why particularize further ? We have
423
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
had savans, littérateurs, and politicians by the score, all men of note, some good and some bad, and most of whom cer- tainly thought that they attracted more attention than they did,-Volney and Cobbett and Tom Moore, and the two Michaux, and the Abbe Correa, and Jeffrey, and others; the muster-roll of whose names I might call over, if I had the memory of Baron Trenck, and my readers the taste of a catalogue-making librarian. Have we not jostled ex-kings and ex-empresses and ex-nobles in Broad- way ? trod on the toes of exotic naturalists, Waterloo marshals, and great foreign academicians at the parties of young ladies ? and seen more heroes and generals all over town than would fill a new Iliad ?
"Pensive memory turns to other worthies no less illus- trious in their way. There were Billy the Fiddler and his wife, whom no one having seen, could ever forget, and no one who had music in his soul remember without regret- ting that such a fiddle should ever have been hung up. Billy had been a favorite of Mozart, at Vienna, and used to say that he had composed one (I forget which) of his six celebrated sonatas; though I believe he drew rather too long a bow when he made this statement. He was about four feet six inches in height, with a foot as long as a fourth of his stature. His head was not disproportionate, as those of dwarfs usually are; but he had their charac- teristic petulence; and the irritability of his temper was certainly not improved by the enforced attendance of a retinue of idle boy's, who always formed his suite when he walked forth in the streets. His wife was a suitable com- panion for him as to personal appearance and height; and it seemed, on looking at the couple, to be not at all won- derful how the Germans came by their wild and droll con- ceptions of goblins and elves. But I never heard of any other magic practiced by Billy, except that the sweet and enlivening strains of his violin made the young masters
-
424
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
and misses, at whose juvenile parties he officiated, dance off the soles of their shoes and stockings; and that they would have begun upon their tender skins if they had not been discreetly carried home.
" There was also the family of the Hewletts (which, from tradition or observation, I may say I know for four generations), contemporaries of the successive Vestrises. Indeed, according to the family record, the first Hewlett was a pupil of the first Vestris, and a favorite disciple of that great master; who only complained that he was not sufficiently léger in his ascents, nor quite de plomb enough in his descents ; but certified, that, for grace, agility, and science, he was the prince of his élèves. The opinions of those educated under the successive dynasties of these masters of aerial gymnastics, as fashion controlled both teachers and scholars, 'and as longer puffs and louder fiddles' brought other professors of the graces of motion forward, varied as to the distinctive characteristics of their several excellencies ; still, the Hewletts kept their ground. They outlived the Revolution of Seventy-six ;- Trinity Church was pulled down, the Governor's Court fled from the Battery, but they kept the field, like the trumpeters of chivalry. They taught dancing to the belles, who cap- tivated the members of the first Congress; and tried to teach some of the members themselves. Then came the horrible French Revolution; and in that terrible storm, which overthrew the landmarks of the Old World, new manners and new teachers were drifted on our shores, and the Hewletts went out of vogue. There must be few who have dwelt in this now all-be-metamorphosed city, even for six years past, who have not had occasion to observe the dapper legs and silken hose of the last of this line. But they will be seen no more. David Hewlett is dead ! and, as he trod lightly upon the earth, may the earth lie lightly on him He was a gentleman, every inch of him. He
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 425
was the last of the anti-Revolutionary dancing-masters ; a kind, good, humble man. At St. Paul's I always found him repeating the service with a formality which was the result of decorous habit, and a fervor which could only have come warm from the heart Again I say, light be the earth above him! and he must have a stern, hard heart who can scoff at my honest tribute to the memory of my old dancing-master.
1
" My reminiscences of New York, or rather the people that have been in it, come before my mind in pretty much the same order that 'jewels and shells, sea-weed, and straw,' are raked by 'old father Time from the ocean of the past,' according to Milton or Bacon, or some other ancient writer of eminence. I had an uncle, who was a prudent man in all his transactions ; and who, from patri- otic considerations, waited for the development of events before he took any part in the Revolutionary War. He had many of what might be called Tory recollections of that period. He knew the Duke of Clarence, when he came here as a midshipman; skated with him on the Col- lect, where now stand the arsenal and the gas-manufac- tory,* and helped out of the ice him who is now official head of the English navy, and who may probably wield ere long the scepter of the British Empire. In walking along Broadway, he has often pointed out to me the small corner-room in the second story in the house in Wall Street, opposite Grace Church, then and long after occu- pied by Dr. Tillary, a Scotchman (formerly a surgeon and afterward an eminent physician), and told me how he used, at the period referred to, to eat oysters there, in the American fashion, with his Royal Highness, who preferred them to the cooper-flavored productions of the British Channel.
" Pine Street is now full of blocks of tall, massive
* The present vicinity of the Tombs.
54
.
426 - HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY
buildings, which overshadow the narrow passage between, and make it one of the gloomiest streets in New York. The very bricks there look of a darker hue than in any other part of the city; the rays of the sun seem to come through a yellower and thicker atmosphere; and the shadows thrown there by moonlight seem of a blacker and more solid darkness than elsewhere. The sober occu- pations of the inhabitants also, who are learned members of the bar, nearest Broadway, and calculating wholesale merchants as you approach the East River, inspire you with ideas of sedateness and gravity as you walk through it. It was not thus thirty or forty years ago. Shops were on each side of the way-low, cheerful-looking, two-story buildings, of light-colored brick or wood, painted white or yellow, and which scarcely seemed a hindrance to the air and sunshine. Among these stood the shop of Auguste Louis de Singeron, celebrated for the neatness and quality of its confectionery and pastry, and for the singular man- ners of its keeper, who was at once the politest and most passionate of men. He was a French emigrant, a courtier, and a warrior; a man of diminutive size, but of a most chivalrous, courteous, and undaunted spirit. He might be about five feet two inches in height; his broad shoulders overshadowed a pair of legs under the common size; his fiery-red hair was tied into a club behind, and combed fiercely up in front; the upper part of his cheek-bones, the tip of his nose, and the peak of his chin, were tinged with a bright scarlet; his voice was an exaggeration of the usual sharp tones of his nation, and his walk was that of a man who walks for a wager. He was the younger son of a noble family ; and, having a commission in the French army, was one of the officers who defended the Tuileries on the melancholy night of the 10th of August, 1792, when the palace streamed with blood, and the devoted adherents of the king were bayoneted in the corridors, or
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.