USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 20
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Just as the news of Townshend's high-handed measures was driving the merchants of this continent into non-importation agreements more binding than ever, and the Sons of Liberty into secret and startling pledges, the author himself fell a victim to fever, and closed his eyes upon the confusion he had created on both sides of the water, leaving to his successors the fatal bequest of errors which could never be retrieved. Boston suffered the more keenly, and threatened the more loudly. The ladies organized an association to relinquish tea, and the whole commu- nity voted to forbear the use of any of the taxable articles. But months elapsed before a ship arrived laden with goods that were dutiable. The Ministry was undergoing a revolution. And by the time matters were
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comparatively settled at the Court of George III., an "insurrection " in Boston was represented as so imminent that troops were sent to pre- serve order and assist the officers of the revenue.
The merchants of New York met and resolved to sustain the action of the merchants and inhabitants of Boston. Governor Moore thought such proceedings had an evil tendency, but his counselors held that they were strictly legal : the people had undoubtedly a right to establish among themselves certain rules of economy ; being masters of their own property, they might dispose of it as they pleased.1
It was during this exciting period that a few of the leading merchants of New York met and organized the Chamber of Commerce, the
first mercantile society in America.
John Cruger was chosen
April 5.
President, Hugh Wallace,2 Vice-President, Elias Desbrosses, Treasurer,3 and Anthony Van Dam, Secretary. In 1770, the permanent existence of this institution was secured through a charter from the crown. Isaac Low 4 made the motion (December 5, 1769) which resulted in its incor- poration. He was an importer who for a long period seems to have had a monopoly of the fur trade with the Indians, and an able and influential citizen. The committee of merchants who, accompanied by the Presi- dent, John Cruger, waited upon Lieutenant-Governor Colden with the carefully prepared draft of a charter and a petition to be invested with such powers and authorities as would best promote the commercial and
1 Moore to Hillsborough, May 12, 1768. Bancroft, VI. 150.
2 Hugh and Alexander Wallace, brothers, were merchants of wealth and position. They married sisters, the daughters of Cornelius Low of Raritan, New Jersey. Hugh, the elder, was chosen President of the Chamber of Commerce after Mr. Cruger's retireinent in 1770. He was also appointed to the Council. His mansion upon Dock Street was the resort of the great dignitaries of the province, and his manner of life was costly and elegant. He remained in New York during the Revolution, and retired to England with the army in 1783.
3 The Desbrosses family were of Huguenot extraction. Elias Desbrosses was a religious man, and prominent in every charitable enterprise. But he does not seem to have taken part in the angry scenes of the period. He remained in the city during the Revolution, untroubled by the armies on either side, and was very much loved and respected by the community. He was the third President of the Chamber of Commerce. His name is per- petuated by the street and ferry upon the west side of the city.
4 The Lows were a family who had had their representatives in New York for more than a century. Cornelius Low, the son of Cornelius Low, was born in New York City in 1700, and married, in 1729, Johanna Gouverneur. Isaac Low was their son, born, in 1731, at Raritan, New Jersey. (It was his sisters who married the brothers Hugh and Alexander Wallace.) He married the daughter of Cornelius Cuyler, Mayor of Albany, the niece and companion of Mrs. Schuyler ; she was pronounced "a beauty " by the critical John Adams when he breakfasted with them in their elegant home on Dock Street in 1774. The sister of Mrs. Isaac Low was Mrs. Van Cortlandt, of Cortlandt Manor. Isaac Low was the seventh Presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce, from 1775 to 1783.
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landed interests of the colony,1 were : Isaac Low, William Walton, John Alsop,2 Charles McEvers, William McAdam, Sampson Simpson, Thomas Buchanan,3 Richard Sharpe, and John Thurman. This notable incident, which had such a bearing upon the future prosperity of New York, occurred early in the following March. Colden received the delegation graciously, and replied : -
" I think it a good institution, and will always be glad to promote the commercial interests of this city ; and shall deem it a peculiar happiness
1 Chamber of Commerce Records, 1768- 1784, pp. 73, 77, 79, 89-97.
2 John Alsop was the elder son of John Alsop and Abigail Sackett, and grandson of Richard Alsop, who came from England near the close of the seventeenth century, and settled in New- town, Long Island. He was an importing merchant, and had accumulated a handsome for- tune. His brother Richard, who was at one time his partner, but who afterwards removed to Middletown, Connecticut, was trained to business in the counting-house of Philip Livingston. He (John Alsop) took an active part in the patriotic measures of the merchants ; was in 1770 one of the Committee of Inspection to enforce the non-importation agreements ; was in 1774 one of the Committee of Fifty-One chosen to unite the colonies in measures of resistance, and the same year was chosen delegate to the first Continental Congress. He was one of the Committee of One Hundred, and elected to the Congress of 1775. He resigned his seat on the Declaration of Independence, and retired with his family to Middletown, Connecticut. He returned to New York after the war, and was an active and useful member of society until his death in 1794. His only child married Hon. Rufus King. Among his distinguished descendants may be mentioned the Hon. John Alsop King, formerly Governor of the State of New York ; Hon. Charles King, LL. D., late President of Columbia College ; and Hon. James Gore King (the banker), who was President of the Chamber of Commerce in 1845 and 1848. The name of Alsop is honorably sustained by the descendants of his brother, Richard Alsop.
3 Thomas Buchanan was of the ancient and distinguished family of Buchanan of Buchanan, a clan which held a prominent place in the annals of Scotland. His father, George Buchanan, was a gentleman of fortune, liberally educated, and his mother, Jean Lowden, was a lady of gentle birth. Their home was in Glasgow. Thomas was educated at the University of Glas- gow, but came to New York before he had completed his nineteenth year. Tradition says that although he became a partner with one of his relatives of the same name in a mercantile house engaged in a foreign and domestic trade of considerable magnitude, that he had no intention of becoming a permanent resident of New York, until he fell in love with Almy, daughter of Jacob Townsend, of Oyster Bay, Long Island, a lady of great personal attractions; in 1765 they were married. The family of his wife were closely identified with the cause of the colonies, but as he was not American born he was enabled to pursue an independent course in the struggle, and retained the esteem of both the Americans and the British. He was one of the famous Committee of One Hundred chosen to take control of the city in 1775 ; and he was one of the signers of the loyal address to Lord and General Howe in September, 1776. He built a dwelling-house on Wall Street on the site of the present Custom House, and its grounds extended to Sloat Lane, where his warehouse was located ; he lived here until his death, in 1815. He was a promoter of public institutions and charities, and filled many offices of responsibility and commercial trust. He was buried in his family vault in the Wall Street Presbyterian Church. He left eight children : of these, Almy married Peter P. Goelet ; Margaret married Robert R. Goelet ; Martha married Thomas Hicks, son of White- head Hicks, Mayor of New York ; Elizabeth married Samuel Gilford ; Frances married Thomas C. Pearsall. Mr. Buchanan's only son died unmarried.
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"Colden received the delegation graciously, and replied : 'I think it a good institution, and will always be glad to promote the commercial interests of this city, and shall deem it a peculiar happiness that a society so beneficial to the general good of the province is incorporated during my administration. '" Page 740.
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GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
that a society so beneficial to the general good of the province is incor- porated during my administration."
Twelve months afterward a committee of merchants waited upon the lieutenant-governor to request him to sit for his picture at the expense of the Chamber, which, when painted, should be hung in the great hall of the institution, in grateful appreciation of the advantages conferred by the royal charter. The work was duly accomplished, - a life-size por- trait, - which, after many vicissitudes, having escaped perils by sword and by fire, now graces in all the dignity of its centennial years the honorable place to which it was originally destined.
And the citizens of New York found time, in the midst of agitations and revolutionary gossip, to concentrate interest upon a college com- mencement. The public exercises of the spring of 1768 drew together an unusually large, intelligent, and fashionable audience. The graduates on this occasion were Benjamin Moore, afterwards Bishop Moore; John Stevens, Gouverneur Morris, whose oration won great applause, Gulian Verplanck, Egbert Benson, James Ludlow, Peter Van Schaick, Charles Doughty, and John Beardsley. They were all distinguished men at a later day. Benjamin Moore and Gouverneur Morris were presented with silver medals. The latter possessed an inordinate amount of self-confi- dence for one of his age (he was born in 1752), and shortly began to write anonymous papers on the grave questions of finance and taxa- tion. He studied law under the careful direction of William Smith, the historian, and was admitted to practice before he was twenty years old. He developed the traits of character so marked in his ancestry, - energy, persistence, and independent fearlessness, - but, unlike his father and grandfather, he commenced his career without fortune, know- ing that his future success depended upon his own efforts ; a legacy of two thousand pounds, to be paid after his mother's death, was all he had to expect from his father's estate. He had the advantage of the family name, as well as that of a fair, pleasing face and a fine voice, and was remarkably industrious. One of the early important causes in which he was engaged was that of a contested election in Westchester County, where John Jay was his opponent. It involved principles of evidence, questions about the right of suffrage, and matters local and general, which gave scope for the display of no little legal learning and forensic ability.
The new year opened gloomily. Although England was afraid to strike, every effort was being made to intimidate the colonies. 1758. Boston was in disgrace; that is, soldiers paraded her streets while as yet nothing was given them to do. Boston had not rebelled
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neither was Boston subdued by the military display. The first attempt to enforce the taxes would tell the story, and even Lord North hesitated.
New York continued to send mes- pathy to Boston ; and the New York pleted the expression of American unanimously asserting its legislative very sorry," wrote the governor to "to inform you that I have been cessity of putting an end to the late a dissolution ; my duty would not pass over unregarded the extraor- it had entered upon its jour- action the governor was not ported by his the eight mem- directly op-
The new elec- intense excite- means and de- to secure votes. Sir William friend in New you are likely time at the probably there for shillalahs."
St. Paul's Chapel.
sages of sym- Assembly com- opinion, by rights. "I am Hillsborough, under the ne- Assembly by permit me to dinary resolves nals."1 In this cordially sup- Council, - of bers four stood posed. tion occasioned ment. Every vice was used "I hear," wrote Johnson, to a York, "that to have a hot polls, and will be work
Some of the incidents show how trifles were turned to advantage on this occasion ; it was reported that a certain gentleman had said that " the Irish were poor beggars, and had come over upon a bunch of straw." The whole body of Irishmen immediately joined and appeared with straws in their hats. Another person was said to have remarked that " the Germans were like firebrands." They at once resolved to vote with firebrands in their hands. Being dissuaded, they distinguished them- selves by the name of Firebrands. This was the last Assembly ever elected under the crown. The contest in the city was between the Church of England party and the Presbyterians, -the former being led by the De Lanceys and the latter by the Livingstons with almost as much acrimony as ten years previously. The church party, having the support of the mercantile and masonic interests, were triumphant. The city members were, John Cruger, James De Lancey, Jacob Walton, and
1 Moore to Hillsborough, January 4, 1769.
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REPEALS.
James Jauncey. "James De Lancey takes the lead," wrote John Watts, "and must continue to do so as long as he manages with common wisdom, his father's memory is so much revered." The House met April 4, and John Cruger was chosen speaker. On motion of Philip April 4. Livingston, a vote of thanks was returned to the merchants, for their repeated, disinterested, public-spirited, and patriotic conduct in declining the importation of goods from Great Britain until such acts of Parliament, as the General Assembly of New York had declared unconstitu- April 10. tional and subversive of the rights and liberties of the people of
this colony, should be repealed.1 And it is more than probable that the resolves which caused the dissolution of the former Assembly would have been emphatically renewed, but that Philip Livingston was dismissed, after violent debates, on the ground of non-residence, he having been elected from the manor when his home was in the city.
" The Livingstons are not entirely crushed," wrote Hugh Wallace, " for it is said that he will be returned again and again, and so become another Wilkes." Judge Robert R. Livingston lost his seat as a member, because of a new law which rendered the office of judge and representa- tive incompatible. Governor Moore regretted this exceedingly, as he entertained a high opinion of the judicial gentleman. He wrote at once to the Lords, recommending him as counselor in the place of Lord Stir- ling, who had resigned on account of his New Jersey estates, and his con- nection with the New Jersey Council. He described Judge Livingston as a man of great ability and many accomplishments. He said, " his father (who is very far advanced in years) is possessed of a great landed estate, which will come to him undivided, as he is an only son, and he is married to the richest heiress in this country, whose father, Colonel Henry Beek- man, is likewise very old and infirm ; so in all human probability he must shortly become the greatest landholder, without any exception, in New York."
As the summer advanced, the English Lords, palsied by indecision, began to discuss repeals. They finally agreed that the duties on glass, paper, and painters' colors were contrary to the true principles of con- merce. But the tax on tea must be maintained as an evidence of lordly superiority. The New York merchants, who had originated non-impor- tation, and carried it rigidly into effect, which was not true of any other colony, invited Boston to extend the agreement against importing until every Act imposing duties should be repealed.
Meanwhile the effects of the Non-Importation Acts were alarming in savage New York. The scarcity of goods at the trading-posts led the Six
1 Journals of the Assembly ; Chamber of Commerce Records.
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Nations, who could not comprehend the policy through which these acts were dictated, to imagine that the king and colonists had conspired to re- strict their trade. Sir William Johnson called a congress of sachems, but no Indian goods suitable for presents could be found. One large package designed especially for this purpose, and consigned to a merchant in Al- bany, was seized in New York on its way to the consignee, by the Sons of Liberty, who were carrying out the non-importation agreement with com- mendable vigor. It nearly produced the complication which would have ended in another bloody Indian war.
The imports of New York had fallen off more than five parts in six. The merchants were becoming impatient of a system of voluntary renun- ciation which was so unequally kept ; the belief was common that if the other colonies had adhered to it as strictly, all the grievances would have been redressed. The policy of importing all goods except tea, was broached, and met with favor. It was violently opposed by Sears, MacDougall, Lamb, and others of the radical popular party ; but men went from ward to ward to take the opinions of the people, and it was found that eleven hundred and eighty, against three hundred, were disposed to confine the restriction to tea alone. The Sons of Liberty throughout the colonies raised a howl of disapprobation. Patriotism, they said, was on the decline. But the New York merchants argued from a broader standpoint than has been generally supposed. They had originated and alone sacredly en- forced the non-importation agreement, and it was reacting dangerously upon the savage population. Concessions had been made by the mother country, however inadequate, and circumstances justified the taking advantage of those concessions. Before the middle of July, 1770, a packet sailed for England with orders for all kinds of merchandise except TEA.
Prior to this important event, the sudden death of Sir Henry Moore, (September 11, 1769), after an illness of three weeks, threw the reins of government once more into the hands of the aged Lieutenant-Governor Colden. The indolence, courteous address, and genial disposition of Moore, had secured the cordial good-will of even his bitterest political opponents, but the most trifling acts of Colden were liable to misconstruction through his previous unpopularity.
The latter met the Assembly in. November, demanding a further sub- sidy for the troops. There was no immediate response. The House had persistently refused to pay for the burnt chariot, and other losses sustained by Colden in the time of the Stamp Act riot. But the want of pro- nounced relief in the shape of currency had for a long time been gravely discussed. A bill was shortly introduced for the emission of bills of
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EMISSION OF BILLS OF CREDIT.
credit to the amount of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, to be loaned to the people, and the interest applied to the support of the gov- ernment. And on the 15th of December a motion was made to
grant two thousand pounds of the interest arising from the loan Dec. 15. bill, when it should become a law, towards the support of the troops, which turned the scale and induced Colden to approve the questionable bill, even at the risk of Parliamentary displeasure.
The next day an inflammatory handbill threw New York into confu- sion. It was addressed " To the BETRAYED inhabitants of the city Dec. 16. and colony of NEW YORK," and was signed " A Son of Liberty." It warned the people against this " subtle attack upon their liberties," and declared it a corrupt and infamous combination between a powerful fam- ily (referring to the De Lanceys) and the lieutenant-governor, to compel submission to the Mutiny Act; and concluded by calling a popular meeting in the Fields. The next day a large multitude assembled.
John Lamb explained the object of the meeting in a spirited ad- Dec. 17. dress, and put the question whether " the people would approve the do- ings of the Legislature." The vote for disapproval appeared unanimous, and Lamb was appointed chairman of a committee of seven, to report the same to the House. They were received courteously, but the Legislature did not esteem it worth while to be dictated to by a Dec. 18. meeting which partook so apparently of the character of a mob. Resolu- tions were immediately passed, condemning the handbill as a sedi- tious and infamous libel, and £ 100 was offered for the detection of Dec. 19. the writer. Following these resolutions, appeared a second handbill signed "LEGION," which was sub- House by No. cey. It was con- its 29054 Br & H & tal of the Colony of NEW YORK, this BILL thall be received IN ALL PAYMENTS in the Treafury, for Three Dounos. New York February 10. 171. predeces- offered for its was summoned Theo Bach 1. Verplanck JXT bly rooms, un- and interrogat- BORAC NEW YORK mittee, XXD how- he was chair- mitted to the James De Lan- demned, like THREE POUNDS. sors, and £ 50 author. Lamb to the Assem- der suspicion, ed. The com- Tis Death to counterfeit. .5 ever, of which Specimen of Bills. man, signified that each and all were implicated to the same extent as Lamb, and he was dismissed. The passage of the bill was, in sub- 1770. stance, the germ of bank legislation. These bills of credit were Jan. 4. made legal tender in all dues to the government, and possessed the essen- tial character of the treasury notes of the present day. They were issued by officers appointed by the governor and council. It was supposed they would lighten the burden of taxation by funishing a circulating medium. 47
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The soldiers had long writhed under the contempt with which they had been treated by the Sons of Liberty, and only waited for an opportu- nity to return scorn with interest. Now that supplies were granted, the officers ceased to restrain them through policy, as hitherto. Hence an at- tack was planned upon the detested liberty-pole. A portion of the Jan. 13. Sixteenth Regiment came out in the night, bored off its supporters, and attempted to blow it up with gunpowder. A knot of men having gathered while they were thus engaged, they were charged upon with fixed bayonets, and driven into a tavern kept by La Montagne, the well-known rendezvous of the Sons of Liberty. They attempted to defend themselves, but the soldiers broke the windows and doors and demolished the furni- ture. Finally, an officer appeared and ordered the soldiers to the Jan. 16. barracks. Three nights afterward the destruction of the pole was accomplished, and its fragments piled in front of La Montagne's door.
Incensed beyond endurance, three thousand citizens assembled next morning at the scene of the outrage. Resolutions were adopted,
Jan. 17. among which was one to the effect that all soldiers found armed in the streets after roll-call, should be treated as " enemies to the peace of the city." A committee of the Sons of Liberty were appointed to en- Jan. 18. force the Resolutions. The next morning insolent placards were found posted in various parts of the city, ridiculing the action of the citizens. Later in the day, Sears and one or two others caught three soldiers in the act of posting more of these handbills, and collared and marched them towards the mayor's office. They were met by a band of some twenty soldiers, who attempted to rescue their fellows. An affray ensued, the soldiers striking the citizens indiscriminately with cutlasses and clubs, and they defending themselves as best they could, with canes, cart-stakes, and such weapons as lay within their reach. The latter gain- ing advantage, the military retreated towards Golden Hill; 1 at this point they were met by a reinforcement, and about to make a furious charge upon the citizens, when officers appeared and ordered the men to the barracks. Thus the riot was quelled. But several persons had been
wounded and one killed. The next day there was a skirmish both Jan. 19. morning and afternoon.2 The city was thrown into the wildest commotion, the bells rang, and the news, with exaggerations and embel-
1 That portion of John Street between Cliff Street and Burling Slip. This was called the " Battle of Golden Hill." Thus was the first blood of the Revolution shed in New York, two months before the massacre in King's Street, Boston, and five years before the Battle of Lexington.
2 " On Saturday there was another battle between the inhabitants and soldiers ; but the soldiers met with rubbers, the chiefest part being sailors with clubs who were determined to
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ALEXANDER MACDOUGAL.
lishments, spread through the country with the swiftness of lightning. On the 20th the mayor issued a proclamation forbidding the soldiers to leave the barracks unless accompanied by a non-
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