USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 53
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Robert Watts had been a resident of New York about five years. He came from Scotland. The home of the Watts family was Rosehill,1 an ancient estate or district about a mile west of Edinburgh, on the old Glasgow road. Hunter named Robert Watts to the Lords of Trade, as " a gentleman of sound sense, high respectability, and known affection to the government." He seems to have been a young man of many personal attractions, of considerable culture, and of rare promise. He married, the year before, Mary, the daughter of William Nicolls and . Anne Van Rensselaer. His son, the afterwards celebrated Hon. John Watts, was born April 5, 1715. The latter was precocious from his very
1 The Rosehill estate is nearly all built over, and the Caledonian Railway passes through it. The Watts homestead is still standing, and in a fair state of preservation ; it is a quaint, old- fashioned building, some sixty feet square, and three stories high, with four windows in a row on every floor. Its situation is high, affording a splendid view to the west and south. There is a two-story building about twenty feet square a little to the rear of it, like a tower, sepa- rate for offices. The extensive grounds in connection with the place have been used for some years as a coal-depot by the Caledonian Railway Company.
502
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
babyhood, and as soon as old enough he was sent abroad to complete a finished education.1
The social attractions of the winter of 1715- 16 were greater than they had ever been. Families who had been estranged for long and weary years, through political and other disturbances, became friends, and hos- pitably entertained each other. Dinner-parties were an almost every-day occurrence, and there were several notable weddings and other fêtes. In receiving guests the same etiquette and ceremony were observed as in the higher European circles. The governor was in a happier frame of mind than before the Assembly provided for his salary, and now he was hoping to have the £ 20,000 refunded to him from the English government, which he had expended from his own purse in his care of the Germans. He en- tered into the gayeties of the winter with a relish, and was the magnetic center of every assemblage. Lady Hunter, the bright particular star of his destiny, was always by his side and elicited the most sincere homage and admiration. She was a lady of superior education and rare accom- plishments, gentle, self-contained, and unselfish, shining in society rather through the reflected light of her husband, but in domestic life radiating a steady luster all her own, which was the more charming because of her sweetness of disposition and strength of character. Among those who formed the "court circle," as it was aptly styled, were the Van Cort- landts (there were several families of. Van Cortlandts ; Philip, the second Lord of the Manor, had recently married Catharine, daughter of Hon. Abraham De Peyster, and, a little later, the daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt was married to Abraham De Peyster, Jr.), Bayards, Van Dams, (Rip Van Dam, Jr., was married the following year to Judith Bayard), Clarkes, Morrises, De Lanceys, De Peysters, Beekmans, Nicollses, Wattses,
1 John Watts married, in 1742, Ann De Lancey. Their children were : 1, Robert, who mar- ried Mary, daughter of Lord Stirling ; 2, Ann, who married Archibald Kennedy, afterwards Earl of Cassilis ; 3 and 4, Stephen and Susanna, twins, both of whom died young ; 5, John, born in 1749 (died in 1836), who married his cousin Jane De Lancey ; 6, Susanna, who mar- ried Philip Kearny ; 7, Mary, who married Sir John Johnson ; 8, Stephen, who married in England, Miss Sarah Nugent ; 9, Margaret, born in 1775 (died in 1836), who married Major Robert Leake.
John Watts, the third son of John Watts, Senior, who married, in 1774, Jane, daughter of Peter De Lancey and Elizabeth Colden, had children as follows : 1, John, who never mar- ried ; 2, Henry, who never married ; 3, Robert, who never married, but took the name of Leake, and a fortune (died in 1830) ; 4, George, an army officer, who never married ; 5, Stephen, who never married ; 6, Ann, who never married ; 7, Jane, who never married ; 8, Elizabeth who married Henry Laight (had no children) ; 9, Susan who married her cousin Philip Kearny, and was the mother of the late lamented Major-General Philip Kearny ; 10, Mary Justina, who married Hon. Frederic de Peyster, and was the mother of Major-Gen- eral John Watts de Peyster.
503
JAMES ALEXANDER.
Gouverneurs, Provoosts, Staatses, Philipses, Van Hornes, and others. It is necessary for a clear understanding of the peculiar workings of the com- plicated political machinery of New York prior to 1776, to keep in mind the relationship of the chief actors on the public stage. Nearly all the prominent families were connected by marriage, and, in many instances, doubly and trebly connected.
The following summer Lady Hunter died, after a short and 1716. severe illness, and Hunter was so smitten by the affliction that he never recovered his former cheerfulness during his stay in New York. Indeed, his subsequent failure of health, and consequent petition to the Lords of Trade to be allowed to return to England, was attributed to his great, hopeless sorrow for her loss.
There were two arrivals worthy of notice this season. James Alexan- der, from Scotland, the father of Lord Stirling, and William Smith from Buckinghamshire, England, the father of the well-known historian of New York.
James Alexander was a young lawyer of good birth and education. His special excellence was in the knowledge of mathematics. He had been an officer of engineers in Scotland. Hunter no sooner made his acquaintance than he perceived that such unusual talents might be turned to account in this country ; and he accordingly appointed him surveyor-general of New Jersey, where he shortly projected an advan- tageous boundary between New York and New Jersey, which, however, was not agreed upon at the time. Alexander was also in the secretary's office, and was attorney-general (for two years) of the New York province. Within five years he occupied a prominent seat in the councils of both New York and New Jersey.
He married, in 1721, the granddaughter of Johannes De Peyster (the first of that honorable name in this country).1 Their only son was Wil- liam, afterwards Earl of Stirling. They had four daughters, Mary, who married Peter Van Brugh Livingston; Elizabeth, who married John Stevens; Catharine, who married Walter Rutherford; and Susanna, who
1 An error in regard to the marriage of James Alexander having been many times repeated, the same is here corrected by the authentic genealogy of the lady whom he married. Maria De Peyster, daughter of Johannes De Peyster, married, 1, Paulus Schrick (who was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and whose house in 1686 was on the east side of Broad Street) ; 2, John Spratt, styled " Gentleman " in the old records ; 3, David Provoost, mayor of the city in 1699. Maria, daughter of John Spratt and Maria De Peyster, married, October 15, 1711, Samuel Provoost, and after his death, she married, in 1721, James Alexander. Thus it was not the widow of David Provoost whom Alexander married, as generally supposed, but the widow of Samuel Provoost, who was herself the daughter of Mrs. David Provoost by a for- mer husband.
504
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
married John Reed, all ladies of marked ability and singular strength of character. Mrs. Alexander is described as possessing great mental vigor and business talent. She conducted the mercantile affairs of her husband in her own name for some years after his death.
James Alexander was a great acquisition to the community. He was not only a lawyer and mathematician, but he developed into a distin- guished politician, statesman, and man of science. He found time amid his various labors for extensive study. He, with Dr. Franklin and others, founded the American Philosophical Society, and maintained a constant correspondence with Halley, the Astronomer Royal, and other learned dig- nitaries in different parts of Europe.1
Hunter was a Low-Churchman. He tried to sustain a certain amount of social intercourse with Rev. Mr. Vesey, of Trinity Church, but was treated with coolness and apparent suspicion. He finally contented him- self with giving straightforward attention to matters which might prop- erly be considered within his province as the head of the government, was active in promoting the general interests of religion, and the spread of the gospel throughout the province, and, having satisfied his conscience, allowed the clergy to nurse their prejudices. Rev. Mr. Vesey was one of the most excellent and useful of men, but, like his contemporaries across the water, exceedingly narrow and bigoted. All his studies, his mental faculties, his daily tasks - everything within him and without him was consecrated to his pastoral work. He was tender of the Church, spiritually and temporally, and watched over it with jealous care. One of his warmest friends and most cordial supporters was Colonel Caleb Heathcote, who was also an agent for the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and took personal interest in the missionaries who were from time to time sent among the Indians. The good divine was a grave, thoughtful man, his face often wearing the expression of deep melancholy ; in the company of friends, however, he was affable and cheerful, and in his domestic relations he was most gentle and affec- tionate.2
One of the charges made by Rev. Mr. Vesey against Hunter to the Bishop of London was, that he favored the Presbyterians. The latter
1 James Alexander died in 1756. He accumulated a large estate, and lived in the style of the English gentry. His country-seat was in New Jersey. Mrs. Alexander, in con- tinuing the business of her husband after his death, was efficiently aided by her son William, until a contract for supplying the king's troops with clothing and provisions during the French war brought him under the notice of the military Shirley, who made him his aid and private secretary, and finally took him to England, where the young man found himself the nearest male heir to the Earldom of Stirling. Mrs. Alexander died in 1761.
2 See portrait of Rev. Mr. Vesey on page 436.
THE " DE PEYSTER GARDEN."
505
were spoken of as dissenting Protestants.
New St.
124 ft.
88 ft.
Presbyterian Church Lot
74 ft.
25 ft. | 25 ft.
No.22 |No.21
A. de Peyster
Samuel Bayard
No.20
71 ft.
No. 19
71 ft.
121 ft.
25 ft.3 in.
A.D. P 25 ft.
Kips St.
CITY HALL
92 ft. long
No.18
67 ft.
No.17
67 ft.
No.16
67 ft.
26 ft.8 in.
25 ft.
25 ft.
25 ft.
25 ft.
No.15
A. de Peyster 75 ft.
to Sam'l Verplanck for £260
These 3 Lots sold in 1773,
25 ft.
Abraham de Peyster 122 ft.
25 ft.
Samuel Bayard 122 ft.
25 ft. |25 ft.
Samuel Bayard 122 ft.
Abraham de Peyster 122 ft.
25 ft.
Abraham de Peyster 122 ft.
Wall St. in 1718.
25 ft. | 25 ft.
No.8
Samuel Bayard 122 ft.
25 ft. 25 ft.
No.7
Abraham de Peyster 122 ft.
No.6
Abraham de Peyster 122 ft.
25 ft.
No.5
Samuel Bayard 122 ft.
25 ft.
Abram de Peyster = No.4 75 ft.
25 ft.
No.3
Samuel Bayard
No.2
75 ft.
No.1
75 ft.
25 ft.
Gabriel Thompson 75 ft.
23.8 in. 23.8 in.
This Lot sold to Thompson
Smith St. (an Innkeeper) in 1701,for £120
Map of the "De Peyster Garden,"
north side of Wall Street, in 1718. From the original parchment in possession of Hon. Frederic de Peyster, President of New York Historical Society.
There was as yet but a mere handful of them in New York, and since 1706 they had wor- shiped in private houses. Hun- ter firmly protected them in all their rights. Having 1718. finally gained sufficient strength, they decided to pur- chase a lot in Wall Street, near the City Hall, and build a church.1 The edifice was erected the following year. Rev. James Anderson was the first pastor ; the congregation were allowed to meet for public worship, prior to the completion of the church, in the City Hall, by special act of the corporation. The same organization now worship in the elegant stone structure on Fifth Avenue, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets.
The ancient "De Peyster Garden," which was purchased from Governor Dongan by Colo- nel Abraham De Peyster and Colonel Nicholas Bayard, and which embraced quite an extent of valuable territory to the north of Wall Street, was surveyed and laid out in lots in the early part of this year. There were twen- ty-two of these lots, besides the site of the City Hall, previously donated by De Peyster, and the one recently occupied by the trustees of the new Presbyterian Church. The map, which is an authentic copy of the antique
1 The lot was purchased from the heirs of Gabriel Thompson, who had originally purchased it from the "De Peyster Garden."
32
Broad St.
Sam'l Bayard,
Sam'l Bayard *
A. de Peyster
21.4 in,
A. de Peyster
Samuel Bayard
74 ft.
25 ft.
25 ft.
48 ft.
No.14 |No.13 |No.12 | No.11 |No.10 No.9
Samuel Bayard 122 ft.
Abram de Peysterco
Samuel Bayard
75 ft.
in 1718,for £350. 1 Sold to Presb. Ch.
.506
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
original,1 illustrates the condition of Wall Street at this date, and is too interesting to be omitted.
Not far from this time a party of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, of the school of Knox, emigrated from Londonderry, Ireland, and found their Canaan in a little nook in New Hampshire, which four years afterward was incorporated into a town and called Londonderry. John Woodburn, the great-grandfather of Hon. Horace Greeley, was one of those pioneers of the New England forests. It was they who introduced the culture of potatoes into the northern settlements. Within twelve months the seed had been brought to New York and planted. The product was looked upon with marked disfavor at first. The tops, when in full bloom, were decidedly ornamental, and were cultivated in the gardens along the " Broadway road " simply for the flower. At least such was the case for a season or two. The native country of the potato is still a matter of doubt. Common report and general belief refers it to Peru. It is sup- posed they were introduced into Europe by the Spaniards, but their use as an esculent was very tardily adopted. Walter Raleigh carried some to England from Virginia in 1586. He had found them among the Indians, whose traditions seemed to warrant the conclusion that they had been brought a long distance from the south. There have been more than fifty different varieties cultivated since that period. Of these such have been perpetuated as were found best adapted to each climate or particular district.
In June, 1719, vigorous measures were taken to establish the 1719. partition-line between New York and New Jersey, as also between New York and Connecticut. The marks which were left by the commis- sioners under Dongan in 1683 had been worn out by time, or destroyed by evil-disposed persons, and thus many people residing near the lines were shirking both the taxes and the laws, by claiming first to live in one province and then in the other, as policy prompted. Allan Girard, who had been appointed surveyor-general of New York in place of Colo- nel Augustine Graham (recently deceased) and James Alexander, took repeated observations to find the chief stream which formed the river Delaware, and finally fixed the line between New York and New Jersey. Their decisions, which were more nearly correct than any which followed, resulted in a chronic controversy between the two provinces, which had hardly been settled at the time of the Revolution.2 In 1748 Lewis
1 Copied through the courtesy of Hon. Frederic de Peyster.
2 In regard to the extensive grants of lands along the frontiers of the provinces, Alexander said, that although they were doubtless productive of great evils to New York, the buyers had paid sums, first to the natives for their rights, afterwards government fees attending the
507
HON. WILLIAM NICOLLS.
Morris made a speech before the New York Assembly, in which he said that the affair of the partition-line dated back as far as he could remem- ber, and while he did not consider himself able to judge correctly as to whether it should be a mile farther north or south, as he was no master of mathematics, and had never examined the surveyor's reports, yet it had cost the provinces so much already that he did not esteem it worth while to meddle with it further. The people along the line were in con- stant jangle with each other, and quarrels with the government and serious litigations were continually multiplying relative to the rights of soil and jurisdiction. At one time two men, whose farms lay in the disputed territory, joined the New Jersey militia, and were promptly threatened with imprisonment by the commander of the New York militia if they ventured to serve. Others were arrested for nonpayment of taxes, which gave abundant business to the courts, and created no little asperity among the lawyers. It was the subject of warm discussions at the court of St. James, and the correspondence between the Lords of Trade and the leading men of New York and New Jersey forms almost a library of itself.1
More than a year had elapsed since William Nicolls, on account of failing health, had declined by letter his position as speaker of the Assembly, which he had held for sixteen years;2 Robert Livingston was chosen in his stead. For some months Hunter had been quietly making preparations to return to England. But he greatly feared that
patents, amounting to quite as much he thought as the land was worth, and to deprive such people of their possessions was a harsh, unjust, and dangerous proceeding.
1 Ferdinando John Paris was the agent from New Jersey in London during many of the years while this controversy was going on, and has left the papers and letters relating to the partition-lines in a condition of most admirable arrangement.
2 William Nicolls died in 1722, aged sixty-six years. His large estate on Long Island, which he called Islip, in honor of the ancient village of that name, six miles from the Univer- sity of Oxford, where his father was born, was divided among his six children. They were : 1, Benjamin, who married his cousin Charity Floyd, and died in 1724, his widow subsequently becoming the wife of Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, first president of King's (Columbia) College, and mother of Samuel William Johnson, the first president of the same institution after it became Columbia College ; 2, William, who for many years was speaker of the New York Assembly, as his father had been before him, - a shy, timid, uncommunicative, but candid and sincere man, who never married, but spent the greater part of his life in perplexing lawsuits, occasioned by the unsettled condition of his father's and brother's affairs ; 3, Rens- selaer, who married and resided near Albany ; 4, Mary, who married Robert Watts ; 5, Catharine, who married John Havens, of Shelter Island, and was the mother of Nicoll Havens, and grandmother of Hon. John Nicoll Havens ; 6, Frances, who married Edward Holland.
In a memorandum left by Hon. John Watts, Senior, is the following paragraph : "As my own father had added an s to his name (making Watt Watts), for what reason I have never heard, Mr. Nicolls left the s out of his name, calling himself, as all his descendants have done, Nicoll."
508
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
it might occasion intrigues if it should be known that he was to resign his government, and he therefore kept his affairs an absolute secret. Not one person knew of his intentions, until, on the 24th of June, he sum- June 24. moned the House before him, and after transacting the special business for which they had been called, he arose and addressed them in the following words :-
"Gentlemen, I have sent for you that you may be witness to my assent to the Acts passed by the General Assembly in this session. I hope that what remains unfinished may be perfected by to-morrow, when I intend to close the session.
"I take this opportunity also to acquaint you that my uncertain state of health, the care of my little family,1 and my private affairs on the other side, have at last determined me to make use of that license of absence which was some time ago graciously granted me, but with a firm resolution to return again to you, if it is his Majesty's pleasure that I should do so ; but if that proves otherwise, I assure you that whilst I live, I shall be watchful and indus- trious to promote the interest and welfare of this country, of which I think I am under the strongest obligations for the future to account myself a country- man. I look with pleasure upon the present quiet and prosperous state of the people here, whilst I remember the condition in which I found them upon my arrival. As the very name of party or faction seems to be forgotten, may it ever lie buried in oblivion, and no more strife ever happen amongst you, but that laudable emulation who shall prove himself the most zealous servant and dutiful subject of the best of princes, and most useful member of a well-estab- lished and flourishing community, of which you, gentlemen, have given a happy example."
The reply of the Assembly through Robert Livingston, Speaker, was equally courteous and to the point :-
"Sir, when we reflect upon your past conduct, your just, mild, and tender administration, it heightens the concern we have for your departure, and makes our grief such as words cannot truly express. You have governed well and wisely, like a prudent magistrate, like an affectionate parent ; and wherever you go, and whatever station the Divine Providence shall please to assign you, our sincere desire and prayers for the happiness of you and yours shall always attend you. We have seen many governors, and may see more ; and as none of those who had the honor to serve in your station were ever so justly fixed in the affec- tions of the governed, so those to come will acquire no mean reputation when it can be said of them their conduct has been like yours.
1 The late Lady Hunter was heir to the estate of Sir Thomas Orly, and Hunter wished to . confirm the property to his five children, Thomas, Charles, Catharine, Henrietta, and Char- lotte. He also hoped to recover from the English treasury what was due him on account of the Germans.
509
SCHUYLER PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL.
" We thankfully accept the honor you do us in calling yourself our country- man. Give us leave then to desire that you will not forget this as your country, and, if you can, make haste to return to it. But if the service of our sovereign will not admit of what we so earnestly desire, and his commands deny us that happiness, permit us to address you as our friend, and give us your assistance when we are oppressed with an administration the reverse of yours."
No governor ever left New York with greater éclat or carried with him more substantial tokens of good-will and affection. He sailed in July, and the chief command of the province devolved upon Peter July.
Schuyler, as the oldest member of the council. His short administration was marked by very few events of note. The Assembly was not con- vened, by special instructions from the Lords of Trade, as it was a mooted question whether it could legally act under Schuyler, and it was thought that an election at the present time would be prejudicial to the interests of the crown. The boundary between New York and Canada never hav- ing been established with any accuracy, the French were extending their settlements across the borders, and pushing themselves into the immediate country of the Five Nations. Robert Livingston called the attention of Schuyler to these alarming encroachments, and Myndert Schuyler and Robert Livingston, Jr., who had married Peter Schuyler's only daughter, were sent as agents to treat with the sachems individually, at their castles, hoping to prevent them from going over to the French. The result was a new treaty with these powerful and ever vacillating tribes, in order to confirm and preserve the ancient league. The records of that particular period are also crowded with the transactions respecting the partition-line between New York and New Jersey.
Schuyler was advanced in years, but was modest, brave, shrewd, and reticent, though less active than formerly. He trusted very much to the energetic counsel of Adolphe Philipse, and for lodging the king's seal in the hands of the latter was unsparingly criticised. Philipse had been a member of the council for fourteen or more years, and the agent for New York at the court of George I., for some months prior to Hunter's depart- ure from the province. He was a sedate bachelor of fifty-four, and, though no scholar, he was a gentleman, and possessed a character of more than common accomplishments and strength. He was of a penurious turn of mind, and had been so pronounced in his opinions regarding finance and governmental outlays as to bring himself into direct antagonism with the warm personal friends of Hunter. By the king's instructions the president of the council was to receive one half of the salary and all the perquisites of a governor. A dispute arose whether the word " half" did not extend to "all the perquisites " as well as to the salary. Schuyler
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