USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 42
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 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59
A BRAHAM DE PEYSTER was appointed mayor of the city .. Although he had attached himself to Leisler in the early part of the Revolution, he had been involved in none of the later indiscre- 1691. tions, and it was predicted that he would be a most effective October. agent in the way of restoring public tranquillity. He was a. native of the city, interested in its growth and prosperity, and knew the temper of its people. He was also personally popular. He was about. thirty-four years of age, with a frank, winning face, fine presence, and great polish and elegance of manners. His character was irreproachable, and his political judgment sound. He had married about seven years. before, while on a visit to Holland, his cousin Catharine De Peyster. His father, Johannes De Peyster, had some time since died, but his-
399
EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION.
mother was living in the old homestead. His three brothers, Isaac, Jo- hannes, and Cornelis, each acquired a large estate for the period, and each filled from time to time responsible positions in the city government. Isaac was a member of the Assembly for several years. Johannes, who
Portrait of Col. Abraham De Peyster.
(From original painting in possession of Hon. Frederic de Peyster, President of New York Historical Society.)
was reputed the handsomest man of his day, was mayor of the city in 1698-99, and was succeeded by David Provoost, who was the husband of their only sister Maria. This lady's daughter by a former husband became the wife of the celebrated James Alexander, and mother of Lord Stirling.
When De Peyster first robed himself in the mayor's gown and entered upon his judicial duties, he was harassed as few mayors have ever been either before or since his time. The Revolution had disturbed every man's private affairs. Property had been seized for taxes, neighbors were suing each other for debts and damages, and insubordination against the city laws was of daily occurrence. The virulence with which men complained of each other indicated the wells of bitterness beneath the surface of soci- ety, and foreshadowed the coming storms in the political horizon.' A story was circulated that Leisler had never paid the soldiers whom he had taken upon himself to raise. This De Peyster promptly denied, as he had
400
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
personal knowledge of its falsity. To say Leisler was dishonest in pecu- niary matters was simply monstrous, for he had expended large sums of his own money to keep the government from bankruptcy. De Peyster did not hold Leisler blameless; he had eschewed all connection with the man as soon as he found him unpersuadable and infatuated beyond rea- son and justice (according to his private opinion), but he was lenient towards him in his heart, and thought he had been harshly treated at the last.
Two hostile factions were each trying to maintain untenable grounds, and each trying to hoodwink and overreach the other. The anti-revolu- tionists were dominant, and manifested a constant disposition to retaliate upon all such as had supported Leisler. The Act of the Assembly prom- ising pardon to every one not under actual sentence of death was coldly received. The families and friends of the six condemned prisoners were making herculean efforts for their release, and the sufferers were full of concessions and promises. But both parties were smarting from wounds for which there was no healing balm, and which were to culminate finally in great incurable ulcers.
De Peyster projected city improvements with a lavish hand. He do- nated a tract of land at "Smits Vlye " to the corporation, and presently an act was published for the sale of a few of the lots, on condition that the buyers help build wharves that were very much needed; one front- ing King Street, thirty feet wide, and one on either side of Mrs. Van Clyffe's slip, of about the same dimensions. The site of the old Fly Mar- ket was a part of this donation. A few years later De Peyster presented to the corporation the site of the old City Hall where Washington was inaugurated.
In December the subject of building a new Dutch church was Dec. 19. again agitated. There were a number of families who objected to worshiping in the one in the fort, in any event, and, besides, that edifice was getting old, and it was much too small. A lot in the midst of a beautiful and highly cultivated garden belonging to Mrs. Dominie Drisius was deemed sufficiently up-town. It fronted on a picturesque little lane called " Gar- den Alley," which in course of time and progress became Garden Street, and is now Exchange Place. The work was pushed forward at once, and the building completed in 1693. The style of it was an oblong square, with three sides of an octagon on the east side. It had a brick steeple in front, resting on a large square foundation, which admitted room above the entry for an apartment in which the consistory could hold their meet- ings. The windows were small panes of glass set in lead, and burnt cu- riously into the glass were the coats-of-arms of the chief families who
401
THE GARDEN STREET CHURCH.
constituted the church and congregation. There were also from time to time, subsequently, many painted coats-of-arms hung upon the walls. The pulpit, bell, and several escutcheons were from the church in the fort. This bell was placed in a church erected in 1807 on the spot where the
Portrait of Mrs. Col. Abraham De Peyster. (From original painting in possession of Hon. Frederic de Peyster, President of New York Historical Society.)
Garden Street Church stood. Some thought the bell too small, but Judge Benson, who was one of the elders at the time, said the bell was the first ever brought to the city, and that its silver tones had been the delight of the native Indians. For its antiquity, if for no other reason, it ought not to be substituted for modern castings. It consequently remained in its place, and shared the fate of the church in the great fire of 1835. A silver baptismal basin was procured in 1694, on which was engraved a sentence written by Dominie Selyns, indicating the significance of the baptismal rites. The basin cost "twenty silver ducats"; it is a curious relic, preserved and in use in Dr. Rogers's church on Fifth Avenue, corner of Twenty-First Street, in which the corporate title of the first Dutch church in New York is handed along.
The corporation assumed to own the land under water, and in order to fill in the shore along the East River lots were sold all the way 1692. from the City Hall to Fulton Street; hence the origin of Water Street. These lots were chiefly purchased by merchants, who paid an average price of twenty dollars each; one of the terms of purchase re-
26
402
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
quired the buyer to cover the entire front of his lot with a building of brick or stone not less than two stories high. It was during this year (1692) that Pine, Cedar, and the neighboring streets were laid out through the old " Damen Farm " which was bounded north by Maiden Lane. The " Damen Farm " is described among the deeds as " Clover Wayters," - Clover Pastures. Maiden Lane was called " Maagde paetje " - Virgin's Path -from the fact that it was a resort for washerwomen, because of a little stream of spring water which ran through the valley at that point.
The investigation of patents caused an endless amount of wrangling. An interesting question came up as to the ownership of the vacant space in Hanover Square. It was found to be covered by a title of Govert Loockermans, and was claimed by his heirs. The claimants determined to build there, and as such a proceeding would shut off the fine water-view from a number of handsome dwellings in the neighborhood, great efforts were put forth to keep the property out of their hands. Johannes Van Brugh, who lived on the north side of the square, was one of the witnesses for the city in the suit. He remembered the spot to have been in com- mon for forty-six years, and his wife, who was a daughter of Dominie Bo- gardus, remembered as far back as 1637.
It was through the suggestion of Mayor De Peyster that the city first assumed the support of public paupers. Each alderman was ordered to make a return of the poor in his ward. A poor-house was not then provided, but the paupers were recommended as objects of charity, and granted a small pittance of the public money. About the same time the corporation erected in front of the City Hall, on the river shore, a pillory, cage, whipping-post, and ducking-stool, as a perpetual terror to evil-doers. Vagrants, thieves, slanderers and truant-children were to be there exposed for public show, or to receive such chastisement as their offenses warranted. The ducking-stool was for the special punishment of excess or freedom of speech. It was a purely English invention. It had been used for a long period throughout the British Empire. This was the first introduction of it into New York. Its need must have been startlingly apparent twenty-two years before, when the Lutheran minister, having been prosecuted for striking a woman, pleaded in defense that she pro- voked him to it by scolding.
Street-cleaning was one of the subjects of city legislation this year. A law was passed requiring every householder to keep the street clean in front of his own door; and another requiring the street surveyor to cause all "stramonium and other poisonous weeds rooted up within the city."
403
CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE.
If the affairs of the province had been as ably managed as those of the city, it would have been fortunate. But Ingoldsby was illogical, inexact, and blundering. He was brave in war, and had some talent for adminis- tration, but he did not know his own mind. His interest was to stand well with the council, and his irritable and imperious nature was con- stantly impelling him to quarrel with them. His spleen was excited one day by a dry answer from Van Cortlandt; the next, by a suggestion from some other of the gentlemen. He kept actively at work, but accom- plished little or nothing. The French worried the government into a continual state of unrest. The funds were wanting to satisfy the grum- bling demands of the colonists for protection. It was finally determined to make another appeal to the king.
Matthew Clarkson drew up an address, which was signed by Ingolds- by, Philipse, Van Cortlandt, Bayard, Minvielle, Nicolls, and Pinhorne, setting forth the necessities of New York with great precision, and im- ploring supplies to carry on the war. It contained a carefully worded picture of the condition of the province, and of its sources of income, and argued the advantage of adding to it Connecticut, New Jersey, and Penn- sylvania, in order to give it strength to defend itself. It was such a document as could not be passed by with inattention. It said, "The middle of Long Island is altogether barren. The west end is chiefly employed in tillage and supplies the traffic of New York. The east end is settled by New England people, and their improvements are mostly in pasturage and whaling. Despite our strict laws their industry is often carried to Boston. Esopus has about three thousand acres of manurable land, all the rest being hills and mountains not possible to be cultivated. The chief dependence of Albany is the traffic of the Indians. New York City is situated upon a barren island, with nothing to support it but trade which comes chiefly from bread and flour sent to the West Indies. All the rest of the province except Westchester, Staten Island, and Martha's Vineyard, consists of barren mountains not improvable by human in- dustry." It was read by King William ; it was read by Queen Mary ; it was read by the Privy Council.
The result was the appointment of a governor for New York with broad instructions. The choice fell upon Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, a soldier of fortune, and an energetic officer. He was made thoroughly acquainted with the distresses of his government, and before sailing solicited pre- sents for the Indians, warlike stores, and two additional companies of soldiers. It was all granted with an alacrity equal to the importance of his requests. In order to restore that internal peace which the inconsiderate folly of Leisler had destroyed, a general pardon was granted,
404
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
and all prosecutions growing out of the late disorders prudently dis- charged.
The frigate which bore him to New York was to remain for the pro-
Aug. 29. tection of its coasts. He arrived August 29, and was cordially
welcomed. His commission was formally published the next Aug. 30 morning. The same counselors were continued, with the addition of Peter Schuyler and Richard Townley, and they all took the customary oaths. Dudley, however, was still absent, and Colonel William Smith was appointed chief justice in his place. Fletcher was ordered to require all the English colonies to furnish their quota of men and money for the general defense; but he was never able to enforce such an order, and all his authority outside of New York was openly disputed, giving him re- peated and unnecessary mortifications.
The city corporation tendered the new chief magistrate a dinner, which cost £ 20. Mayor De Peyster presided, and made a happily worded speech on the occasion. He requested Fletcher to use his influence with the king to obtain a confirmation of the city charter, and a continuation of the bolting and baking monopoly, which had become of great value to New York. Vigorous efforts were being made in the inland towns to break it up, and although various laws had been passed to prevent its infringement, the mayor and aldermen were apprehensive of its ultimate destruction. A few days later the corporation addressed a letter to Fletcher on the same subject, and with great earnestness entreated him "to take the afflicted city into favorable consideration, and be come its benefactor by saving it the monopoly without which it must perish."
Governor Fletcher was a stout, florid man, of easy address, showy and pretentious. He rolled through the streets in a carriage drawn by six horses. His wife and daughters were stylish ladies, who followed the latest European fashions. His servants wore handsome livery and were well drilled. He was fond of society, and never happier than when per- forming acts of hospitality. He was a great lover of high living and drank wine daily, but not to excess. It was a common practice during his administration for politicians and gentlemen concerned with him in the government, to drop in at their own convenience, without formal in- vitation, and dine at his well-filled table. He was not a man of exten- sive learning, but his mind was largely stocked with ideas, the result of acute observation. He talked rapidly and to the point, and his argu- ments always carried weight. He had a hot, hasty temper, but it was combined with so much decision of character that it only fitted him the more perfectly for a military commander, in which capacity he was suc-
405
GOVERNOR FLETCHER.
cessful ; there was, however, about him an arrogance not so well adapted to the chair of state. He stumbled into errors and extravagances, and raised up against himself powerful foes. He was devoutly religious, and had the bell rung twice every day for prayers in his household. He exerted himself to found churches, and to pave the way for the extension of the gospel. With his rule commenced a distinct era in the civil and religious history of New York.
From the day of his arrival he was never idle, and to all outward ap- pearances seldom weary. His first work was to study into the affairs of the Indians. They must not be allowed to go over to the French. He repaired to Albany and placed himself under the tuition of Mayor Schuyler. He was for weeks a guest in the Schuyler mansion. He made a trip with Schuyler into the Mohawk country, and was entertained by the warriors in their famous castles. He pried into the character, habits, and strength of these natives of the wilderness. He even learned somewhat of their language. In his subsequent transactions with them his success was so marked that it was spoken of as his distinguishing excellence by those who would not give him credit for any other good thing.
Much was due to his instructor. Schuyler enjoyed the well-earned reputation in Europe as well as America of being the most consummate diplomat of his time. He had secured the undying friendship of the Iroquois, and his advice and suggestions carried with them the power of law. Colden says that he was "only a country farmer, who had on some occasions given proof of courage, but that he was in no way distin- guished by abilities either natural or acquired."1 The records show, nevertheless, that he possessed a depth of understanding that was always in advance of Indian instinct and treachery, with no inconsiderable fund of strength in reserve. And his exhibition of military skill on every occasion where there was a clash of arms seems fully to have justified the Indian sobriquet of the " Great Brave White Chief."
Fletcher placed Ingoldsby in command of the soldiers at Albany. 1693. Upon his return to New York he was waited upon by Mayor De
Peyster and the aldermen of the city, and presented with a gold cup which cost the corporation £ 100. Such presentations were then very much in vogue among all corporate bodies in Europe.
Presently news reached Fletcher that the vigorous old Count Jan. 15. Frontenac had started from Montreal with an army of six or seven hundred French and Indians, supplied with everything necessary for a win- ter's campaign, intending to descend upon the Five Nations. New York
1 Cadwallader Colden's Letters to his Son. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1868).
406
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
was alarmingly insecure, and the governor and the mayor went unitedly
into the work of fortifications. One cold snowy winter evening Feb. 12. about ten o'clock an express reached Fletcher to the effect that the French were fighting the Iroquois in the neighborhood of Schenec- tady, and that Schuyler had started with a small force from Albany to the relief of the allied Indians. Drums at once beat for volunteers, and within forty-eight hours Fletcher with three hundred men was en route Feb. 17. for the scene of warfare. He reached Schenectady on the 17th,
and found that the French had been defeated and driven towards Canada with serious loss. They were pursued until their pursuers were so distressed for provisions that they fed upon the dead bodies of the enemy. The French were reduced to that degree of starvation before they got home that they ate their shoes.
The governor's promptness and the extraordinary circumstance of free navigation of the Hudson River in the month of February caused the Indians to regard him as a wonderful warrior, and they gave him the name of "Cayenguirago," - the Great Swift Arrow. The Indians had lost their castles and suffered severely. Fletcher did what he could to comfort them, assisted them to build wigwams, and furnished them with provisions. The sachems told him that the English did not provide them with warlike stores as the French did their Indian friends, and that they could not continue the war unless they were better sustained. They said, too, that if all the colonies would join in good earnest Canada might be reduced.
Fletcher returned to New York, leaving the frontiers distracted and comparatively defenseless. The Assembly soon after convened, and voted him the thanks of the House for his energetic proceedings. The defense of the province, which might be so easily invaded, was the first and most important subject for discussion. Six hundred pounds for one year's pay of three hundred volunteers was granted. Then Fletcher called attention to the establishment of the Church of England, according to the king's orders. The indifference of the House in regard to what he had said on a former occasion angered him, and he remarked with much asperity : " Gentlemen, the first thing I recommended to you at our last meeting was to provide for a ministry, and nothing is yet done. You are all big with the privileges of Englishmen and Magna Charta, which is your right, and the same law provides for the religion of the Church of England. As you have postponed it this session, I trust you will take hold of it at the next meeting and do something toward it effectually."
The two factions which had derived their existence from the Revolution would not agree upon anything. Whenever Fletcher attempted to recon-
407
FLETCHER'S DIFFICULTIES.
cile feuds, he found neither adversary inclined to be content with less than the other's neck. He was, indeed, as he expressed himself, ruler over " a divided, contentious, and impoverished people." And things grew worse instead of better. Some of his counselors, hav- ing suffered unjustly them- selves, relentlessly persecuted those who had wronged them under the authority of Leis- ler's commissions. The Leis- lerians, on the other hand, ac- cused the governor of being the tool of the aristocrats, and took exception to all his measures. Jacob Leisler, Jr., 1-U-J- T-T-t-1 was now at the court of Wil- liam and Mary, directing all his energies to the task of re- moving the stain of treason from his father's memory. He was aided by the depos- itions of many persons in New York, and his mother Garden Street Dutch Church, built in 1693. and six sisters were sending petition after petition to the queen. It occasioned continual commotion. The six prisoners in the fort, under sentence of death, appealed to Fletcher, immediately upon his arrival, for release from their " miserable confine- ment." He sent for Dr. Gerardus Beekman and Abraham Gouverneur to come before him in the City Hall, and, in the presence of Mayor De Peyster, told them that they had petitioned him separate from his council ; that, even if the latter were their enemies, since he must rule the country in connection with them, they must address a petition in a suitable man- ner, before he could take any steps for their benefit. It was accordingly done. Then each of the prisoners was set at liberty, after giving bonds that he would not leave the province. Abraham Gouverneur quickly took advantage of his freedom, and escaped in a fishing-boat to Boston. Sir William Phipps, who had recently been made governor of Massachu- setts, promised to take care of him and assist him in going to England. Phipps told Gouverneur that Fletcher was a " poor beggar," who only sought money and not the good of the country, and that the "old King James's Council " at New York spoiled every good thing, and must be got
408
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
out of the way. Phipps's counselors talked in a similar strain to Gouver- neur, who wrote an account of it to his parents, with a request that his letter might be shown to Dr. Beekman and Mrs. Leisler.
All at once Fletcher heard that there had been meetings, violent speeches, serious reflections upon some members of his council, and fresh demands of reparation for Leisler's blood. While he was wondering what had started such a storm, and just as he was flattering himself that he had somewhat abated the foaming of the waters, the letter of Gouverneur by a singular accident fell into his hands. Ah ! it was Boston, the neigh- bor who, in the enjoyment of the tranquility of peace, disregarded the cries for help when New York was overawed by a murderous enemy, -it was Boston at the bellows, trying to fan the embers of former discontents. Fletcher wrote to Phipps, and demanded the surrender of Gouverneur, which was haughtily denied, and the latter soon joined young Leisler in London.
Fletcher's endeavor to establish a ministry was seconded with great zeal by Caleb Heathcote, who was appointed to the governor's council in the spring of 1693. He had been in New York but a few months, but his uncle Captain George Heathcote had been a property owner in the city for seventeen or more years. The uncle died a bachelor, and Caleb was his heir by will. The latter was a young man of promise, and his unusual talents brought him into immediate notice. He was the son of the mayor of Chester in England, and brother to Sir Gilbert Heathcote, the founder and first president of the bank of England, and Lord Mayor of London.
There was a curious romance in which these brothers were concerned. Caleb was engaged to be married to a lady of great beauty, and in the full pride of conquest took his elder brother to see his betrothed. Gilbert was not only struck with admiration, but actually fell in love with the lady himself. What is more, he finally supplanted Caleb in her affec- tions and married her. The disappointed lover sailed for America, and was soon immersed in business both public and private. Succeeding to the estate of his uncle, who had large shipping interests, he found little time for heart-breaking regrets. Society was also a cordial balm for his slowly healing wound, for no one in those days who saw a gentleman could mistake his social position, and he was consequently received into the little circle which gathered around the governor with all the state and ceremony of a court. It was not long before he became a favorite guest in the house of Chief Justice William Smith, "Tangier Smith " as he was called from having been governor of Tangier before he came to New York. The chief center of attraction was Miss Martha Smith, that
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.