USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V. 2 > Part 9
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"Many a merchant living in the upper section of the city went quietly to bed that night, and, strange as it may seem, when he came down-towe the next morning, literally could not find his store, nor enough of his stock remain- ing to cover his hand-every yard, ell, pound. gone! There were official state- .ments of several stores, in each of which s quarter of a million of dollars in goods was consumed. with books, cores. and accounts. New York the next day sat, as it were, in sackedth and ashes, and real sorrow began to appear on
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men's faces as the losses and ruin were discovered by the light of day. To increase, also, the public calamity, the insurance companies, except the Etna, of Hartford, and the Chatham, had all become bankrupt from their severe losses, and could not pay. Universal gloom prevailed, but not despondency.
" There was great anxiety expressed for the preservation of the Merchants' Exchange on Wall Street, and a large crowd assembled in front to watch the noble edifice, now in imminent danger.
MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE BEFORE THE FIRE. .
" We have stated that the letters of the Post-office, then in its basement, were saved, and the marble statue of HAMILTON, placed beneath the rotunda, was lost. But now the fire-fiend had reached the solid structure, and all hopes of saving it were abandoned. The public gaze evidently centered most upon it" cupola. Higher and higher the flames reached, and after a brief conflict the roof fell. A short silence ensued in the almost breathless crowd, but what a strange thing is ever a mob? Next went up-shall we call it a fiendish shout, as a friend standing by did at the time? Then came another pause, the lofty . shooting fires lighting up the faces of surrounding crowds. At this moment &
View of the EXCHANGE (in the Front.)
FIRE INSURANCE CS
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EXCHANGE (in the Rear /
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man was seen hurrying along, crying out at the top of his voice, 'Is there a surgeon among you, gentlemen ? for God's sake, is there a surgeon ?' The report soon spread that hundreds were in the Exchange at the moment its cupola fell, and those dragged out of the ruins needed a surgeon's care. Prov- identially, this was not the case, and that which was still more wonderful and striking, no fatal or serious accident occurred during the whole of this awful December calamity.
"During the conflagration, then under full headway toward Broad Street, the presence of mind of one man saved much property. This was Downing, the oyster king, of Broad-street fame. Water was out of the question, and at this emergency he thought of his supplies of vinegar, which were large, and with careful application by pailful after pailful, a large amount of property was saved in that direction from the general destruction. To his good sense, and credit, and worthy memory, we record this generous act.
" I forgot to mention one circumstance connected with the destruction of the Gardenstreet Church, and have been reminded of it by a friend who was among the very last persons to leave the sacred edifice. Many, many a solemn dirge had been played upon that fine organ at the burial of the dead, and now, the holy temple on fire, some one commenced performing upon it its own funeral dirge, and continued it until the lofty ceiling was in a blaze. The music ceased, and in a short time the beautiful edifice, with its noble instrument and immense quantities of goods stored inside and out, were all irrecoverably gone, nothing escaping save the long-sleeping dust and bones of the buried dead.
" I forgot also to mention in their proper place some items about the old ' Ton- tine Coffee house.' This was the ' Exchange' of the city. The old folks may remember its rough but pleasant keeper, old Buyden. We only have heard of his fame, and it is related of him that, when the first anthracite coal was offered for sale in New York, he tried it in the hall of the Tontine ; but he pronounced the new -rticle worse than nothing, for he had put one scuttle into the grate, and then another, and after they were consumed he took up two scuttlefuls of stones.
"In the great fire of 1835, this well-known public edifice came very near sharing the common destruction. The engines had almost entirely ceased working, and the Tontine was discovered to be on fire in its broad cornices, at the corner of Wall and Water Streets. This created still greater alarm, for the burning of this large building would destroy the hopes of saving the east- ern section of the city, if not more. Two solitary engines, with what little water they managed to obtain, were throwing their feeble and useless streams upon the flaming stores opposite, when Mr. Oliver Hull, of our city, calling their attention to the burning cornice, generously promised to donate one hun- dred dollars to the Firemen's Fund 'if they would extinguish that blaze.' Seeing the threatening danger, they immediately made a pile of boxes which had been removed from the adjacent stores, from the top of which, by great efforts, a stream reached the spot and quickly put out the alarming flame. Mr. Hull is still living, and, thanks to him for his wise counsel and generosity at that trying moment, and gratitude to the noble firemen who so successfully averted the awful progress of the destroying element from crossing Wall Street and ending, who can tell where? They were frequently told of the
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vital importance of preventing the conflagration extending beyond this limit, and labored accordingly, and with the happiest results.
" As already stated, no lives were lost during the conflagration ; still, we remember that, shortly afterward, one of our most widely-known and respected fellow-citizens passed away in death. This was John Laing, often called ' Hon- est John Laing,' the senior partner of Laing, Turner & Co., of the old New York Gazette and General Advertiser ; and his last illness-of paralysis or apoplexy-was hastened by the excitement and devastation of this great pub- lic calamity. He was a gentleman of the old-school queue-hair style.
"In the estimated thirteen acres of the burnt district, only one store escaped entire. This was occupied by the well-known John A. Moore of this day, in the iron trade on Water Street, near old Slip. Watched inside, and fire-proof. in their wildest career, the rapid flames seemed, as it were, to overleap the building, destroying all others. There it stood, solitary and alone, amidst sur- rounding entire destruction, as a sad monument stands alone amid the general ruin.
" As many as three or four buildings were blown up to stop the progress of the fire, all other efforts having failed ; and if such a measure had been resorted to earlier, great destruction of property might possibly have been prevented. There was also a want of powder, although, unknown to the citizens, a vessel loaded with the article lay anchored in the stream. At last, Mr. Charles King generously volunteered to visit the Navy Yard for a supply, and returned with a band of marines and sailors. The explosions went on fearfully and success- fully. Up and down went the mined structures, two barrels of powder under each, until no flames were left, no means of spreading the fiery element to the next houses.
" The extent of the fire in December, 1835, may be imagined from its sev- eral limits. These, commencing at Coffee-house Slip, extended along South Street to Coenties Slip, thence to near Broad, along William to Wall, and down that street to the East River on the south side, with the exception of Nos. 51, 53. 55, 57, 59, and 61, along where the new splendid banking-house of Brown Brothers & Company now stands. This burnt district embraced some thir- teen acres, in which nearly seven hundred houses were leveled to the ground in a single winter's night, with a loss of seventeen million dollars; four mill- ·ions, it was calculated, was the value of the buildings, and thirteen, of the goods. During a few hours this vast amount disappeared, either in the flaming atmosphere or in ashes upon the earth-the most costly goods and products from every portion of our globe. Some merchants, retiring to bed wealthy in the evening, and perhaps so dreaming, found themselves the next morning either ruined or. their estates seriously injured. In the impressive language of Script- ure, their riches had taken wings and flown away in a single night-ware. house, stock, notes, and books, all gone beyond recovery.
" After the general consternation had somewhat subsided, a public meeting assembled in Mr. Lawrence's office (the Mayor's), City Hall, to consider what should be done under the circumstances. At this meeting, committees were appointed to provide means for the relief of the most necessitous cases, and to ascertain the condition of the insurance companies, and the amount of the losses as far as practicable. The writer acted as secretary of this last committee, and the losses absolutely stated from various firms and parties amounted to seter-
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teen millions of dollars. In many cases they were total. Some would not name their damages, and among them very large houses; and, although the seven- tren millions were reported by the losers, still, the committee estimated the real loss at twenty millions of dollars. To increase the difficulties, all the insurance companies, except the two mentioned in a former article, failed to meet the demands against them, but paid as much as they were able, and this consumed all their assets, leaving them bankrupt. This result caused great distress among a class who had been otherwise unharmed-old people, widows, orphans, and others, whose income came from fire insurance dividends ; these were now at an end, and many suffered severely in consequence. Among the first acts of the public committee was to relieve this class.
" In respect to the entire loss, some accounts place the number of buildings at five hundred and twenty-eight ; others, higher. Let us visit the ' burnt dis- trict,' as it was then named, commencing at the eastern limits. Coffee-house Slip, and South, Front, and Water Streets, were burned down from Wall Street to Coepties Slip, Pearl consumed from the same point to Coenties Alley, and there, as we have seen, stopped by the blowing-up of a building. This was the well-known crowded region of the dry-goods importers and jobbers, mer. chant princes in the granite palaces, filled with the richest merchandise, domestic and imported. The destruction on Stone Street extended down from William to then No. 32, one side, and to No. 39 on the other. Beaver was destroyed half-way to Broad. Exchange Place was burned from Hanover Street to within three doors of Broad, and here, also, the flames were arrested by blowing up a house. The loss on William Street was complete, commencing at Wall and ending in South, and on both sides, including the market in Old Slip. Wall Street was devastated on the south side, from William to South. excepting, as we have noticed, Nos. 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, and 61. The greatest efforts were made along here to prevent the flames reaching the banks and offices on the opposite side. Here was located the Courier and Enquirer office ; and we well remember the noble person of its editor, Colonel Webb, as he stood on a prominent, elevated place, exhorting the people to renewed diligence and efforts to save the city. All the intermediate streets, lanes, and alleys within these limits were also swept away by the destroying element. The following statement will be found, we imagine, nearly accurate, of the houses and stores leveled to the earth :
On Wall Street. 26
On Old Slip 33
On South Street 76
On Stone Street 40
On Front Street. 80
On Mill Street .. 33
On Water Street 76 On Beaver Street 23
On Pearl Street.
On Hanover Street 16
On Exchange Place. 62
On Gouverneur's Lane 20
On Jones's Lane 10
On Exchange. 31
On William Street .. 44 Total. 674
' Six hundred and seventy-four tenements were thus consumed in a few sliort hours, and the far greater part were occupied by New York's largest shipping , and wholesale dry-goods merchants, besides many grocers.
" This was a terrible day for the commercial emporium of our land. The destruction had been fearful, and so were the consequences. In a few months
61
On Coenties Slip 16
On Hanover Square 3
On Cuyler's Alley 20
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
the United States banks suspended payment ; then followed the commercial dis tress of 1837, and for a time business seemed paralyzed. Next came bankruptcy after bankruptcy in quick succession, and soon the banks of our State stopped payment for one year. The Legislature legalized this necessary public act. What a disastrous moment ! what terrible reverses ! what gloomy forebodings and prospects! But the most wonderful fact of all these fearful times was the energy and elasticity of the New-Yorkers. Not long depressed by their misfor- tunes, a reaction took place, and before many months the city literally arose from her ashes, and acres of splendid granite, marble, brown-stone, and brick stores filled the entire ' burnt district.' Business, trade, and commerce revived more briskly than ever before. How truly astonishing. and how noble and praiseworthy ! What shall we call our native city-the Giant of the Western World, the Queen of America, the Commercial Emporium, or by what other name? Her wharves and streets are now visited by men from every region of the world, and her white canvas gladdens every ocean. In vain do we search for a chapter in ancient or modern history of such a conflagration and its losses, , and of rapid recovery from all its evils, with increasing prosperity, as we find in the great fire of New York in December, 1835. Well may New-Yorkers be proud of their noble city, her enterprise, her trade, and her ' merchant princes.'"
The great extent of the "burnt district," and the im- mense amount of valuable goods and property of various kinds which remained among the ruins, exposed to depre- dations, required the exercise of energies beyond the ordi- nary civil powers; and, such an organization as the present " Insurance Patrol" being at that time unknown, the Mayor accepted the services of the "National Guard " * for guard duty in the emergency. "A line of sentinels was accordingly formed from the foot of Wall Street, up Wall, and to the foot of Broad Street, outside of the limits of the devastated district, rendering entire protection to the exposed property during the night of their service. The narrator recollects well his two 'turns' on post dur- ing the night, at the corner of the ruins of the old Mer- chants' Exchange, at Hanover Street, in an exceedingly cold and driving storm of sleet and rain, and the gloomy and dreadful appearance of the smoldering ruins extended over a space of upward of fifty acres, broken here and there by a fitful flame from a half-smothered fire. He recollects as well, too, the relief of toasting his toes, in
* This name was, in 1847, changed into the "Seventh Regiment."
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 483
the 'off' intervals, at the glowing fire, and refreshing the inner man with the genial hospitality of the noted 'Auc- tion Hotel' of George W. Brown, in Water Street, which was the head-quarters of one wing of the regiment for the occasion."*
As soon as the first excitement had subsided, a public meeting of the citizens of New York convened, in pursu- ance of a call from the Mayor, at the City Hall, on Sat- urday, the 19th of December, at noon .. The meeting was called to order by Judge Irving, upon whose motion the Mayor took the chair.
The following gentlemen were then appointed vice- presidents on the motion of General Prosper M. Wet- more : Albert Gallatin, Preserved Fish, Louis MeLane, George Newbould, Isaac Bronson, Enos T. Throop, Camp- bell P. White, John T. Irving, Samuel Hicks, George Griswold, James G. King, Benjamin L. Swan, Jacob Loril- lard, and Stephen Allen. On motion of General Jacob Morton, the following secretaries were also appointed : Jonathan Goodhue, Prosper M. Wetmore, John S. Crary, John A. Stephens, Jacob Harvey, Reuben Withers, Dud- ley Selden, Samuel B. Ruggles, George Wilson, Samuel Cowdrey, James Lee, and John L. Graham. The meet- ing was addressed by William L. Stone, Prosper M. Wet- more, and several other prominent citizens, after which the following resolutions were, on motion of James G. King, unanimously adopted :
" Resolved, That while the citizens of New York lament over the ruin which has left desolate the most valuable part of this city, and deeply sympa- thize with the numerous sufferers, it becomes them not to repine, but to unite
* Asher Taylor, in his Recollections of the Seventh Regiment. Chief-Justice Dal ;, also, was one of the guard on this occasion. The head-quarters of his regiment was at the Shakespeare Tavern, where, during the night, they were all regaled with bread and cheese. The Judge had a tussle, on his beat, with a negro who was carrying off a case of silks, in which the former came off the victor. r
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
in a vigorous exertion to repair the loss; that the extent of her commerce, the number, wealth, and enterprise of her citizens, justify, under the blessing of Divine Providence, a primary reliance upon her own resources.
" Resolved, That we consider it the duty of our citizens and moneyed institu- tions, who stand in the relation of creditors to those who have directly or indi rectly suffered by the late fire, to extend to them the utmost forbearance and lenity."
· On motion of Dudley Selden, Esq., it was further
" Resolved, That a committee of the Mayor and one hundred and fifty citi- zens be appointed to ascertain the extent and probable value of the property destroyed, and how far the sufferers are protected by insurance. Also, with power to make application to Congress for relief by an extension of credit for debts due the United States, and a return or remission of duties on goods destroyed ; and also to ask such other aid from the general, State, and city gov- ernments as may be deemed expedient. Also to ascertain the origin and cause , of the fire, and what change, if any, should be made, either in the regulating of streets, the erection of buildings, or the arrangements of the Fire Depart- ment, to prevent a recurrence of similar calamities, and take such other meas- ures as the emergency may demand.
" Resolved, That the Committee to be appointed take the earliest and most effectual measures to ascertain and relieve the necessities of those who have been reduced to want by the recent unfortunate event."
On motion of Colonel Murray, it was also
" Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be, and they are hereby, tend- ered to the citizens of Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Newark for the sponta- neous expression of their sympathy in our misfortunes, and that they be espe- cially tendered to the firemen of those cities, who, with a promptitude and ' kindness unexampled, have left their homes at this inclement season to offer their services, and which they are now tendering at the scene of the calamity."
On motion of Prosper M. Wetmore, it was finally
" Resolved. That the members of the two boards of the Common Council be ex officio members of the committee to be appointed."
The Committee was then announced as follows :*
Cornelius W. Lawrence Albert Gallatin, Preserved Fish, Samuel Hicks, Benjamin L. Swan, Dudley Selden, Jonathan Goodhue, Saul Alley, Prosper M. Wetmore, John T. Irving, John Pintard, George Newbould, Samuel B. Ruggles, James G. King, Wm. B. Astor, George Griswold, Enos T. Troop, Samuel Cow- drey, Thomas J. Oakley, George Wilson, Wm. T. Mccown, John G. Coster,
* The reader will not fail to remark that this committee was composed of men whose names are household words in the history of our city, and are identified with its interests and prosperity. Hence the propriety of giving them in full in the text. The names in italics represent those who are living at the present time (1872).
HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 485
Walter Bowne, James F. Boorman, Louis McLane, Jacob Lorillard, John S. Crary, Jacob Harvey, Reuben Withers, Ogden Hoffman, Charles King, Edward Sinford, John W. ,Leavitt, Adam Treadwell, John Leonard, George S. Rob- bins, Win. Neilson, Stephen Whitney, Joseph Bouchaud, Jacob Morton, John Wilson, Mordecai M. Noah, Philip Hone, William L. Stone, Rensselaer Havens, Charles W. Sanford, Wm. Van Wyck, D. F. Manice, John Kelly, H. C. De Rham, Isaac Bronson, Campbell B. White, John A. Stevens, James Lee, George Douglass, Stephen Allen, John Fleming, John B. Lawrence, Wm. B. Townsend, Charles H. Russell, James Heard, Charles Graham, George Ireland, John Y. Cebra, Samuel Jones, Charles Augustus Davis, Robert C. Wetmore, James D. P. Ogden, Andrew Warner, David Hall, James Conner, Robert White, Richard Pownell, Joseph Blunt, Samuel Ward, F. B. Cutting, John II. How- land, John Lang, Daniel Jackson, J. Palmer, Richard Riker, James Roosevelt, Jr., James Monroe, Richard McCarthy, Isaac S. Hone, Peter A. Jay, Amos But- ler, Joseph D. Beers, David Bryson, Samuel Swartwout, Walter R. Jones, Philo L. Mills, Morris Robinson, Benjamin McVickar, Jolin Haggerty, Charles Den- nison, George W. Lee, Wm Churchill, George Lovett, G. A. Worth, Edwin Lord, B. L. Woolley, Wm. Mitchell, Bury Wakeman, Wm. Leggett, James B. Murray, Peter A. Cowdrey, John L. Graham, George D. Strong, Jonathan Lawrence, Cornelius Heyer, James Lawson, Samuel S. Howland, James Watson Webb, Wm. M. Price, John Delafield, James McCride, M. M. Quackenboss, B. M. Brown, Wm. B. Crosby, G. C. Verplanck, Wm. Beach Lawrence, Joseph L. Josephs, S. H. Foster, T. T. Kissam, Robert Bogardus, Wm. Howard, Luman Reed, Robert Smith, M. Ulshoeffer, Samuel Thompson, Robert C. Cornell, P. G. Stuyvesant, David Hadden, Benjamin Strong, Wmn. P. Hall, Isaac Townsend, Charles P. Clinch, Rufus L. Lord, J. R. Satterlee, David S. Jones, David Austin, Seth Geer, Robert Lenox, Perez Jones, Win. Turner.
Scarcely had this committee been appointed when a communication was received from the President of the Board of Trade, announcing the names of a committee from that body to co-operate in the objects of the meeting.
On motion of Mr. P. M. Wetmore, it was accordingly
Resolved, That the following gentlemen, deputed from the Board of Trade, be added to the committee, viz., Gabriel P. Disosway, Robert Jaffrey, Silas Brown, N. H. Weed, George Underhill, D. A. Cushman, Meigs D. Benjamin, Marcus Wilbur, and Thomas Denny.
Thereupon the committee, " having been requested to meet at seven o'clock in the evening at the Mayor's office, adjourned." Terrible, however, as was this calamity, New Yo. k city was by no means crushed by the blow. "Great as the loss has been," said a writer,* a few days after the
"Foster's | account of the | conflagration | of the principal portion of the
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fire, "we are happy to announce to our friends at a distance, that our merchants and others who have suffered are in good spirits, and fully determined promptly to redeem their loss. All despondency, if it ever existed, is at an end. Smiling faces and cheerful countenances meet us at every corner, and demonstrate that there is an elas- ticity in the character of our people which always enables them to rise above the most overwhelming evils. The same spirit which made New York what it is, will enable it quietly to bear and nobly to triumph over even the present calamity. Indeed, such is the tone of the public mind, that we expect to see business as brisk as ever in the spring ; and within two years the entire district destroyed will be rebuilt on a more permanent and convenient plan"- a prophecy which was more than fulfilled ; since, in 1836, according to an assessment made November 12th, of that year, the value of the real and personal estate in New York city was $327,988,780, of which the proportion of real estate was $253,201,191, and of personal $74,787,589. This was an increase of $20,183,824 over the assessments of 1832-'33 .*
In the month of February, 1836, the peace of the lower part of the city was endangered by a " strike " among 1836. the stevedores and other "long-shore " workmen.
After parading the streets and along the docks for several days, their demonstrations became so violent that the civil authorities were roused to vigorous action. The Mayor called upon the Twenty-seventh regiment, which, with ball-cartridges and a bountiful supply of ammuni-
first | ward of the city of New York | on the night of the 16th of December, 1835." The two cuts given in the text, representing the ruins of the Mer- chants' Exchange, are from this pamphlet.
* Niles' Register, Nov. 20th, 1836. Compare the above assessment with the fact that the taxable property of New York Island in 1871, reported at less than half its value, reaches nearly a thousand millions, and the annual tax twenty-five millions.
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