USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 22
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 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
358
HISTORY OF THE
On the 4th of March, the Court met at the City Hall, and John Hughson, his wife, Mary Burton, and an Irish- woman of depraved character, commonly known as Peggy Carey, but whose real name was Margaret Soru- biero, who was also an inmate of Hughson's house, were brought before them. Mary Burton testified that a negro named Cæsar, belonging to John Varick, had left goods and money in the keeping of Peggy, a part of which had been concealed by Hughson. This, Peggy obstinately denied, but Hughson admitted that he had concealed some pieces of linen and silver. Cæsar and another negro named Prince Amboyman were at once arrested and committed to prison, both denying the rob- bery. Some of the stolen goods were discovered under the kitchen-floor of the house of Cæsar's master, and restored to the owner, and here the matter rested. Not a word was said during the trial of any plot or conspiracy.
Affairs stood in this wise, when, about noon on the 18th of March, the governor's house, in the fort next the King's Chapel,* then occupied by Lieutenant-Governor Clarke, was discovered to be on fire. All efforts to save it were in vain ; it was burned to the ground, together with the chapel, the secretary's office, the stables and the barracks. The conflagration was at the time attrib- uted to the carelessness of a plumber who had left fire in a gutter between the house and the chapel, and it was so reported by the governor to the legislature. A week after, the chimney of Captain Warren's house near the fort took fire, but the flames were soon extinguished with
The old church in the fort, built by Wilhelm Kieft.
359
CITY OF NEW YORK.
little damage. A few days after, a fire broke out in the storehouse of Mr. Van Zandt, which, at the time, was attributed to the carelessness of a smoker.
Three days after, the hay in a cow-stable near the house of Mr. Quick was discovered to be on fire. The alarm was given and the flames were soon suppressed. While returning to their homes, the people were called by a fifth alarm to the house of Mr. Thompson, where it was said that fire had been placed in a kitchen-loft where a negro usually slept. The next day, coals were discov- ered under the stables of John Murray in Broadway. The following morning, a fire broke out in the house of Sergeant Burns, opposite the fort ; and a few hours after, the roof of Mr. Hilton's house, near the Fly Market, was discovered to be on fire. Both were extinguished without much damage, but the rapid recurrence of so many fires alarmed the inhabitants, and a rumor was soon circulated that the negroes had plotted to burn the city. For some days past, the slaves had been objects of sus- picion ; this suspicion now ripened into certainty. A short time before, a Spanish vessel, manned in part by blacks, had been brought into port as a prize, and the negroes condemned to be sold as slaves at auction. The exasperated Africans, who had hitherto been freemen, murmured loudly at this harsh usage, and rashly let fall threats which were now recalled as words of ominous import. One of these negroes had been bought by Mr. Sarly, the next neighbor to Mr. Hilton, whose house had been fired. On being questioned about the matter, his answers were deemed evasive, and suspicions were at once excited against himself and his companions. "The
360
HISTORY OF THE
" Spanish negroes! the Spanish negroes ! take up the " Spanish negroes !" was the general cry ; and the unfor- tunate wretches were at once arrested and thrown into prison, together with Quack, a negro of Mr. Walters, who had been heard to mutter some incoherent words about the fire.
The magistrates met the same afternoon to consult about the matter, and while they were still in session, another fire broke out in the roof of Colonel Philipse's storehouse. The alarm became universal ; the negroes were seized indiscriminately and thrown into prison ; among them, many who had just helped to extinguish the fire. People and magistrates were alike panic struck, and the rumor gained general credence, that the negroes had plotted to burn the city, massacre the inhabitants, and effect a general revolution.
On the 11th of April, 1741, the Common Council assembled, and offered a reward of one hundred pounds and a full pardon to any conspirator who would reveal his knowledge of the plot with the names of the incen- diaries. Many of the terrified citizens removed with their household goods and valuables from what they began to deem a doomed city, paying exorbitant prices for vehicles and assistance. The city was searched for strangers and suspicious persons, but none were found, and the negroes were examined without effect. Cuff Philipse,* who had been among those arrested, was proved to have been among the most active in extin- guishing the fire at his master's house, yet he was held
* The negroes were familiarly called by the surnames of their masters.
·
361
CITY OF NEW YORK.
in prison to await further developments, and some things being found in the possession of Robin Chambers and his wife which were judged unbecoming their condition as slaves, they were thrown into prison and the articles delivered to the mayor.
On the 21st of April, 1741, the Supreme Court assembled for the especial purpose of investigating the matter, Judges Philipse and Horsmanden being present. The grand jury was composed of Robert Watts, foreman, Jeremiah Latouche, Joseph Read, Anthony Rutgers, John Cruger, jr., John McEvers, Adonijah Schuyler, Abraham de Peyster, John Merrit, David Provoost, Abraham Ketteltas, Henry Beekman, Rene Hett, David Van Horne, Winant Van Zandt, George Spencer and Thomas Duncan. The proclamation of pardon and reward was read to Mary Burton, who deposed that Cæsar and Prince brought the stolen goods to the house, and that Hughson, his wife and Peggy received them. She said, too, that Cæsar, Prince and Cuff Philipse used frequently to meet at Hughson's, and talk about burning first the fort and then the whole city, and that Hughson and his wife promised to assist them. When this was done, Hughson was to be governor, and Cuff king. Then Cuff used to say that some people had too much and others too little ; that his old master had a great deal now, but that the time was coming when he would have less, and Cuff more ; that they would set fire to the : town in the night, and, when the whites came to extinguish it, would kill and destroy them. She swore, moreover, that she had never seen any white person in company when they talked of burning the town, save:
362
HISTORY OF THE
her master and mistress with Peggy. All this story of a plot conceived by a poor tavern-keeper and his wife with a few ignorant negroes for the destruction of a city of ten thousand inhabitants was received with eager avidity by the credulous magistrates, and Mary Burton became at once the heroine of the day.
The jury next examined Peggy Carey, promising her pardon and reward if she would make a full confession, but she persistently denied all knowledge of the fires, and said that, if she should accuse any one of any such thing, she must slander innocent persons and blacken her own soul. She was convicted of having received and secreted the stolen goods, and sentenced to death with Prince and Cæsar. The daughter of Hughson with one of his slaves were also committed as being impli- cated in the conspiracy.
Terrified at the prospect of a speedy death, the wretched Peggy endeavored to avert her fate by grasp- ing the means of rescue which had before been offered her, and begged for a second examination ; and, this being granted her, confessed that meetings of negroes had been held in the last December at the house of John Romme, a tavern-keeper near the new Battery, of the same stamp with Hughson, at which she had been present ; and that Romme had told them that if they would set fire to the city, massacre the inhabitants and bring the plunder to him, he would carry them to a strange country and give them all their liberty. This confession was so evidently vamped up to save herself from the gallows that even the magistrates hesitated to believe it. Yet Cuff Philipse, Brash Jay, Curaçoa Dick,
363
CITY OF NEW YORK.
Cæsar Pintard, Patrick English, Jack Beasted and Cato Moore, all of whom she had named in her confession, were brought before her and identified as conspirators. Romme absconded, but his wife was arrested and com- mitted to prison ; and the accused were locked up for further examination. Upon this, the terrified negroes began to criminate each other, hoping thereby to save themselves from the fate that awaited them. But these efforts availed them nothing, any more than did the con- fession of the miserable Peggy, who was executed at last, vainly denying with her dying breath her former confessions. In the meantime, several fires had occurred at Hackensack, and two negroes, suspected of being the incendiaries, were condemned and burnt at the stake, though not a particle of evidence was found against them.
On Monday, the 11th of May, Cæsar and Prince, the first victims of the negro plot, were hung on a gallows erected on the little island in the Fresh Water Pond, denying to the last all knowledge of the conspiracy, though they admitted that they had really stolen the goods.
Hughson and his wife were tried and found guilty, and, with Peggy Carey, were hanged on a gibbet erected on the East River shore, near the corner of Cherry and Catharine streets. Every artifice was used to extract from the prisoners an admission of their guilt, and even to inveigle the daughter of Hughson into criminating her father and mother. Their examination elicited the new fact from Mary Burton that she had seen a negro give Hughson twelve pounds to buy guns,
364
HISTORY ( OF THE
which he had purchased and secreted under the garret floor of his house. The floor was taken up, but the guns could neither be traced nor found ; yet this failed to shake the belief of the credulous magistrates, who still continued to accept her testimony.
Cuff Philipse and Quack were next brought to trial, a negro boy named Sawney appearing as witness against them. This boy was at first arrested and brought before the magistrates, when he denied all knowledge of the conspiracy. He was told in reply that if he would tell the truth, he would not be hanged. To tell the truth had now come to be generally understood to mean the confession of a plot for burning the town. Urged on by his fears, he acted on the hint, and said that Quack had tried to persuade him to set the fort on fire ; and that Cuff had said that he would set fire to one house, Curaçoa Dick to another, and so on. A negro named Fortune was arrested and examined, who testified that Quack had told him that Sawney had confessed to him that it was he who had set fire to the governor's house. The next day, Sawney was called up and again examined, when he confessed that he had been frightened into a promise to burn the Slip market, that he had seen some of the houses fired by the negroes, and that he and the rest had been sworn to secrecy. On these accusa- tions, the negroes were tried for their lives ; all the lawyers in the city being arrayed on the side of the prosecution. Bradley was still attorney-general ; and Murray, Alexander, Smith, Chambers, Nichols, Lodge and Jameson made up the balance of the New York attorneys. These voluntarily offered to attend the trials
365
CITY OF NEW YORK.
by turns ; leaving the negroes as destitute of counsel as they were of friends. Ignorant of the forms of law, and terrified at the prospect of their impending danger, it is not strange that their bewildered and contradictory statements were construed by their learned adversaries into evidences of their guilt. Quack and Cuffee were found guilty, and sentenced to be burned at the stake on the 3d of May.
On the day appointed, the fagots were piled in a grassy valley in the neighborhood of the present Five Points, and the wretched victims led out to execu- tion. The spot was thronged with impatient spectators, eager to witness the terrible tragedy. Terrified and trembling, the poor wretches gladly availed themselves of their last chance for life, and, on being questioned by their masters, confessed that the plot had originated with Hughson, that Quack's wife was the person who had set fire to the fort, he having been chosen for the task by the confederated negroes, and that Mary Burton had spoken the truth and could name many more conspira- 'tors if she pleased. As a reward, they were reprieved until the further pleasure of the governor should be known. But the impatient populace, which had come out for a spectacle, would not so easily be balked of its prey. Ominous mutterings resounded round the pile with threats of evil import, and the sheriff was ordered to proceed with his duty. Terrified by these menaces, he dared not attempt to take the prisoners back to the jail ; and the execution went on. Despite their forced confessions, the terrible pile was lighted, and the wretched negroes perished in the flames, knowing that,
366
HISTORY OF THE
with their last breath, they had doomed their fellows to share their fate in vain.
On the 6th of June, seven other negroes, named Jack, Cook, Robin, Cæsar, Cuffee, Cuffee and Jamaica, were tried and found guilty on the dying evidence of Quack and Cuffee, with the stories of Mary Burton and the negro boy, Sawney. All were executed the next day with the exception of Jack, who saved his life by pro- mising further disclosures. These disclosures implicated fourteen others, one of whom, to save his life, confessed and accused still more.
On the 11th of June, Francis, one of the Spanish negroes, Albany, and Curaçoa Dick were sentenced to be burned at the stake. Ben and Quack were con- demned to the same fate five days after. Three others were at the same time sentenced to be hanged, and five of the Spanish negroes were also convicted.
On the 19th of June, the governor issued a proclama- tion of pardon to all who would confess and reveal the names of their accomplices before the ensuing Ist of July. Upon this, the accusations multiplied rapidly. Mary Burton, who had at first denied that any white man save Hughson had been implicated in the plot, now suddenly remembered that John Ury, a reputed Catholic priest and a schoolmaster in the city, had also been concerned in it. His religion was proof presumptive of his guilt in the minds of the populace, and he was at once arrested and indicted, first, on the charge of having counselled Quack to set fire to the governor's house in the fort ; secondly, that, being a Catholic priest, he had come into the province and remained there seven
367
CITY OF NEW YORK.
months, contrary to a law passed in the eleventh year of the reign of William III., condemning every Popish priest and Jesuit to death who should henceforth be found within the limits of the province. The evidence received against this unhappy man can only find its parallel in the annals of the Salem witchcraft. The tide of popular prejudice against the negroes was turned into a new channel, and the rumor of a Popish plot added fresh zest to the spirit of persecution. Ury was accused of being an emissary of the Jesuits, deputed to stir up the negroes to an insurrection. Sarah Hughson, who had been coaxed and threatened into becoming the tool of her parents' executioners, and had been pardoned from a sentence of death in order that she might give evidence against Ury, deposed that she had seen him make a ring with chalk upon the floor of her father's house, and, ranging all the negroes present around it, stand in the middle with a cross in his hand and swear them to secrecy ; and that she had seen him baptize them and forgive them their sins. This story was con- firmed by the testimony of Mary Burton ; and William Kane, a soldier belonging to the fort, deposed that Ury had endeavored to convert him to the Catholic faith. A confectioner by the name of Elias Desbrosses testified that Ury had at one time inquired of him for wafers. It was also proved that he could read Latin, and that a joiner, the father of one of his pupils, had made a desk for him; which the active imagination of his judges con- strued into an altar. It was in vain for him to declare that he was a non-juring clergyman of the Church of England, to prove by reliable witnesses that he had
.
368
HISTORY OF THE
never associated with the negroes, and to disclaim all knowledge of Hughson and his family ; his judges had determined on his sentence in advance, and he was con- demned to be hanged on the 29th of August.
The arrest of Ury was the signal for the implication of others of the whites. It was a true foreshadowing of the Reign of Terror. Every one feared his neighbor, and hastened to be the first to accuse, lest he himself should be accused and thrown into prison. Fresh victims were daily seized, and those with whom the jails were already full to overflowing were transported or hanged with scarcely the form of a trial in order to make room for the new comers. So rapid was the increase that the judges feared that the numbers might breed an infection, and devised short methods of ridding themselves of the prisoners, sometimes by pardoning, but as often by hanging them. From the 11th of May to the 29th of August, one hundred and fifty-four negroes were committed to prison, fourteen of whom were burnt at the stake, eighteen hanged, seventy-one transported and the rest pardoned or discharged for the want of sufficient evidence. In the same time, twenty-four whites were committed to prison, four of whom were executed.
The tragedy would probably have continued much longer, had not Mary Burton, grown bolder by success, began to implicate persons of consequence. This at once aroused the fears of the influential citizens, who had been the foremost when only the negroes were in question, and put a stop to all further proceedings. The fearful catalogue of victims closed on the 29th of August with the execution of John Ury. The 24th of
CITY OF NEW YORK. 369
September was set apart as a day of general thanksgiv- ing for the escape of the citizens from destruction ; Mary Burton received the hundred pounds that had been promised her as the price of blood, and the city fell back into a feeling of security. Whether this plot ever had the shadow of an existence except in the disordered imaginations of the citizens can never with certainty be known. Daniel Horsmanden, at that time recorder, and one of the judges of the Supreme Court, attempts in a history of the conspiracy to demonstrate its existence and to justify the acts of the judges in the matter. But the witnesses were persons of the vilest character, the evidence was contradictory, inconsistent, and extorted under the fear of death, and no real testimony was adduced that could satisfy any man in the possession of a clear head and a sound judgment. Terror was really the strongest evidence, and the fear of the Jesuits the con- clusive proof. The law passed in 1700 for hanging every Catholic priest who voluntarily came within the province still disgraced the statute-book, while the feel- ing of intolerance which had prompted it remained as bitter and unyielding as ever.
The French church in Pine street was rebuilt during this year. The following year was marked by the break- ing out of a malignant epidemic, strongly resembling the yellow fever in type, which carried off over two hundred persons. This was the second disease of the kind that had appeared in the city.
In 1743, Lieutenant-Governor Clarke was superseded by Admiral George Clinton, a younger son of the Earl of Lincoln. and the father of the Sir Henry Clinton who
24
370
HISTORY OF THE
afterwards figured so conspicuously in the city during the Revolution. Clinton arrived at New York on the 22d of September, with his wife and family, and pub- lished his commission on the same day at the City Hall. He was received by the corporation with the usual congratulatory address and the freedom of the city in a gold box, made by Charles Le Roux, the city goldsmith, at a cost of twenty pounds. Clinton was of an easy and indolent temperament, anxious above all to improve his fortunes, and not averse to popularity. On his arrival, he at once took Chief-Justice De Lancey into his confi- dence, and, under his guidance, for some time, things went on smoothly. The Assembly voted him a liberal revenue for the first year, while he, in turn, assented to all the bills presented to him ; among which was one limiting the existence of this and all future Assemblies to a period of seven years. The third intercolonial war breaking out at the same time, the Assembly voted money to aid in carrying it on, and new expeditions were organized for the conquest of Canada. It was not long before Clinton became estranged from his first friend, De Lancey, and formed an alliance with Cadwallader Colden instead. This was the signal for the commence- ment of hostilities. Heading the opposition party, the late favorite, who was allied either by blood or friendship to most of the leading men of the province, stirred up a fierce contest between the governor and the Assembly, which harassed the remainder of his administration and finally compelled him to withdraw from the province.
In 1744, Stephen Bayard, a descendant of Nicholas Bayard of Leislerian memory, was appointed mayor.
CITY OF NEW YORK.
371
Portrait of Sir George Clinton.
Portrait of Lady Clinton.
373
CITY OF NEW YORK.
During the first year of his administration, steps were taken towards founding a college in the city. It was time, indeed, for, engaged in commercial and political affairs, the citizens had neglected the interests of educa- tion. The few collegians in the province had been edu- cated in England or at the eastern colleges ; while most of the youth went directly from the grammar-school to the counting-room. Smith and De Lancey were the only col- legians on the bench or at the bar ; and there were but few to be found elsewhere. To remedy this remissness, it was resolved to raise £2,250 by lottery-the usual means of effecting such an object-for the foundation of a college. The enterprise was at once commenced, though it was not until ten years after that the money was raised, and the corner-stone of King's, afterwards Columbia College laid by the governor. The manage- ment of the proposed institution soon became a subject of contention between the Episcopalian and Presbyterian parties, now the two great factions of the day, the former of which was headed by James De Lancey, and the latter by Philip Livingston. In this, the Episcopalians gained the mastery, and the college long remained under the control of that denomination.
In 1747, Edward Holland was appointed mayor. He continued in the mayoralty until his death in 1756. In the first year of his administration, the Presbyterian church in Wall street, which had been erected during the administration of Hunter, was rebuilt. During the same year, the Common Council ordered fifty copies of " An Essay on the Duties of Vestrymen " to be published at their expense at a cost of four pounds in order to
374
HISTORY OF THE
encourage works of this kind-one of the first cases of this sort on record. In the course of the next two years, Beekman and the contiguous streets were regulated, Ferry street was ceded to the city, Beekman, Dey and Thames streets were paved, Pearl street was dug down near Peck Slip and regulated from Franklin Square to Chatham street, and John street was paved and regu- lated. In 1751, a Moravian chapel was built in Fulton street. The following year, the first Merchant's Exchange was erected at the foot of Broad street, and St. George's chapel was built by Trinity Church on the corner of Cliff and Beekman streets, and was conse- crated on the 1st of July by the Rev. Mr. Barclay. This still remains in good preservation, and is well known to the down-town residents as one of the few
St. George's Chapel in Beekman street, erected in 1752.
375
CITY OF NEW YORK.
landmarks of the olden time. A few years since, its centenary celebration took place, and the old church was thronged by a crowd of worshippers, kneeling for one moment at the shrine of antiquity. This is, next to the Post Office, the oldest church edifice now standing in the city, and its quaint old chandeliers and aisles flagged with grey stone still remain as relics of the days of yore. It was partially destroyed by fire in 1814, but was soon after repaired and opened again for service. Washington was a frequent attendant of this church during his resi- dence in the city in the early part of the Revolution.
In 1748, Clinton revived the scheme of making the governors independent of the Assembly by means of a permanent revenue, and urged the latter to favor his designs by granting him a five years' appropriation, threatening them with the vengeance of the king in case of refusal. They did refuse it, nevertheless, and all the persuasions and menaces of the governor, backed by the royal authority, failed to move them from the stand which they had taken. Another incident occurred about the same time which widened the breach between the people and the royal governors, and prepared them for a final separation. All colonial vessels were at this time required to lower their flags in token of respect when passing his majesty's ships of war. A captain by the name of Ricketts, on returning one night with his wife and family from New York to Elizabethtown, inadver- tently neglected this token of homage when passing the Greyhound, which lay anchored in the harbor. The cap- tain of the latter immediately fired a shot, of which the party in the boat took no notice, not dreaming that they
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.