USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress Vol. III > Part 12
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 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
ment was confirmed during life by Charles II., although he ruled through a deputy and never came to America ; 2. David, who died on his passage to America ; 3. Lucy, who died un- married ; 4. John, who removed to America, married Cornelia Van Schaick, and was the ancestor of the New York family of Barclay ; 5. Jane, who married the son of Sir Ewan Dhu, of Lochiel, chieftain of the clan Cameron, whose large family of daughters were all married to chiefs or heads of houses - Cameron of Dungallan, Barclay of Urie, Grant of Glenmoriston, Macpherson of Clunie, Campbell of Barcaldine, Campbell of Auchalader, Campbell of Auch- lyne, Maclean of Lochbury, Macgregor of Bohawslie, Wright of Loss, Maclean of Ardgour, and Cameron of Glendinning. "Thus the political importance of Lochiel was greatly en- hanced, and a confederacy of noted families was bound together by opinion and kindred, forming a strong opposition to the reigning Government." All these daughters of Jane Barclay became mothers of families, and " their numerous descendants," writes Mrs. Grant, " cherish the bonds of affinity now so widely diffused." An alliance with the family was es- teemed of such consequence that the youngest and fairest actually was married to Cameron of Glendinning in her twelfth year ; becoming a widow, she married Maclean of Kingasleet, another chief of equal importance. John Barclay (the first in America) was the father of Rev. Thomas Barclay, and grandfather of Rev. Dr. Henry Barclay of Trinity Church, the father of Colonel Thomas who married Susan De Lancey. (See Vol. I. 585, 632, 756.) Harriet, one of the daughters of Walter Livingston, married Robert Fulton. . (For biographical notice of Henry Walter, youngest son of Walter Livingston, see Vol. II. 396).
92
443
A LOVE ROMANCE.
at three the next morning, which generally proved to be half-past two. Then, whether it snowed or rained, the traveler must rise and make ready by the help of a horn lantern and a farthing candle, and proceed on his way over hard roads -sometimes with a driver showing no doubtful symptoms of drunkenness, and often obliged to get out and help him lift the coach out of a quagmire or rut - and arrived at New York after a week's hard traveling, wondering at the ease as well as expedition with which our journey was effected." With such experience fresh in his memory, it is by no means remarkable that he should deter- mine upon a matrimonial tour with an equipage of his own.
A more romantic, but far less imposing wedding-journey was that of Washington Morton, the youngest brother of the bride, in October of the same year. He was a brilliant young man of great personal beauty, bodily strength, and athletic skill. He was indeed endowed with Nature's best mental and physical gifts. He was graduated from Princeton in 1792, at the age of seventeen, and such were the signs of promise that unusual success at the bar was predicted by his contemporaries - where he readily won an honorable place in that remarkable period of its history when it bore upon its calendar such names as Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Rufus King, Thomas Addis Emmett, David B. Ogden, Peter Augustus Jay, and others of a national reputation. As a youth, more of his time was given to the pleasures of the world than to its affairs. His fondness for athletic exercises led him on one occasion to test his powers of endurance by walking to Philadelphia for a wager. It was at that time an unprecedented feat, and made a great noise. "His walk finished, and his wager won, he spent the night with the gentlemen friends who accompanied him on horseback, together with a party of Philadelphia's choice spirits, over a supper table spread in his honor."1
Upon returning to New York he was lionized. He had long been a favorite guest in the attractive home of Alexander Hamilton, and thus met and fell madly in love with the beautiful Cornelia Schuyler, Mrs. Hamilton's youngest sister. She was by no means a belle, for her beauty was of that soft and touching kind which wins gradually upon the heart rather than the senses. She had dark brown hair, which she wore parted in waves over a low, white forehead, gray eyes so shaded and shadowed by lashes that they seemed black in the imperfect light, com- plexion of that clear paleness which better interprets the varying phases of feeling than a more brilliant color, and a small rosy mouth with slight compression of the lips betokening strength of will. Her nature, too pliant and clinging for the rôle of leadership in society, which so well
1 Life of Josiah Quincy, by his son Edmund Quincy.
93
444
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
became her sister, Mrs. Hamilton, had yet a firmness that promised full development through her affections. She had spent the winter in New York, and was present at the nuptials of Josiah Quincy and Miss Morton in June, then returned to her home in Albany, attended by her lover, who sought an immediate interview with General Schuyler, asking his daugh- ter's hand in marriage.
It is not strange that a man of Schuyler's sagacity should have hesi- tated about consigning his lovely daughter to the care of a volatile, head- strong youth of twenty-two, whatever his prospects and possibilities, and he refused to consider the question until the aspirant should slacken his pace to the sober rate befitting a steady-going married man. Morton pressed his suit, and finally Schuyler forbade him the house, ordering him to attempt no communication with his daughter.
" Come into the library," said the austere father to the blushing Corne- lia a few minutes after his abrupt dismissal of her suitor, and led the way, the maiden following demurely. When she had dropped upon a stool at his feet, Schuyler related what had transpired between himself and young Morton, adding, " Promise me that henceforward you will have nothing to do with Washington Morton, either by word or letter." " I cannot, sir," was her quick response. "What ! do you mean to disobey me ?" "I mean that I cannot bind myself by any such pledge as you name -and - and- I will not."
We will pass from this scene to one a few weeks later. The hour was midnight. The lights had long since been extinguished in the Schuyler mansion, and silence reigned throughout the city of Albany, unbroken by voice or footstep. Presently two figures, wrapped in cloaks, were moving swiftly along the deserted streets. One was of fine princely bearing, the other lithe and graceful. In front of the Schuyler mansion they paused ; a signal was given, and a window was gently and slowly raised ; one of the gentlemen threw up a rope which was caught; a rope ladder was drawn up, and after the lapse of a few minutes was again lowered ; the gentle- man pulled forcibly to ascertain that it was securely fastened, and Cornelia Schuyler accomplished her descent in safety. In a few moments they had reached the shore of the Hudson, where a little boat was in waiting, and as they landed upon the opposite bank a pair of fine horses were pawing the earth impatiently. The lady was lifted upon one of them, her gallant cavalier mounted the other, and, bidding adieu to the friends who had assisted in the escapade, they rode towards the rising sun. Between thirty and forty miles distant was the ancient town of Stock- bridge, and straightway to the home of Judge Theodore Sedgwick they hastened, who was the common and intimate friend of both parties.
94
445
GENERAL JACOB MORTON.
Presenting themselves before that excellent magistrate, who is said to have doubted at first the evidence of his own eyes, the runaways told the story of their romance and flight. Of course there was but one thing to do. The clergyman of the town was summoned to the judicial mansion, and the handsome twain made one flesh with all convenient dispatch. This wedding occurred on the 8th of October, 1797. It was some time before General Schuyler could bring himself into a forgiving temper, but he loved his daughter, and in the end submitted with as good grace as he could muster to what he could not help.1
The elder brother of Mrs. Quincy and Washington Morton was Jacob Morton, a prominent public character in New York City for nearly half a century. He was a graduate of Prince- ton, and a lawyer by profession. Other employments, however, diverted his attention from practice at the bar. He held municipal offices of trust for so long a series of years that he became almost as familiar to the eyes of New York as the City Hall itself; and so strong was his hold upon the popular regard, that no change in politics ever disturbed his position. He was a gen- tleman in breeding as well as politics of the school of Washington, a Feder- alist of the deepest dye - of fine pres- ence, erect carriage, alert air, and cordial The Ludlow Mansion, No. 9 State Street. [Residence of General Jacob Morton.] manners, with powdered hair and always in faultlessly elegant costume. For thirty years or more he was major-general of the first division of the State militia of New York. He married a great beauty in 1791, Cath- arine, the daughter of Carey Ludlow; and the Ludlow mansion on State Street subsequently became his residence, and for a full quarter of a
1 John Morton, an eminent merchant of New York City, was one of the Committee of One Hundred, and a delegate to second New York Congress ; he was styled the "Rebel Banker" on account of the large sums of money he loaned to the Continental Congress, all of which was lost. He retired to Morristown during the war. (See Vol. II. 156.) He had eight children : 1. Jacob, married Catharine Ludlow, and left a large family of children, who are allied with some of the principal families of the city ; 2. John ; 3. Andrew ; 4. Mary Mar- garet, died young ; 5. Margaret ; 6. Elizabeth, married Hon. Josiah Quincy ; 7. Washington, married Cornelia Schuyler ; 8. George Clarke. Cornelia Schuyler Morton died in 1807, and her husband, to dissipate the passionate affliction into which he was plunged by her death, went to Paris, where he also died in 1810. The Schuyler mansion, see p. 146 (Vol. II.), the scene of this romantic episode, was visited in 1879 by a lady from England, a near rela- tive of Burgoyne, who as a prisoner of war received distinguished hospitality within its walls in.1777.
95
446
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
century was the center of fashion, intellect, and refinement. It was im- mensely large, containing twenty-six apartments besides servants' rooms. It had a double stairway in front of the door, with the elaborate iron rail- ing so fashionable at that time ; also carved oak chimney-pieces and wain- scoting imported from England. Large bushes of sweet-brier were trained over the porch. When Lafayette was in this country in 1824 it was the scene of a grand ball given in his honor.1
1 Carey Ludlow bought the property in 1768 - a lot fifty-two feet front extending through to Pearl Street - for which he paid £ 1,080. When the war began, in 1776, he left with his family for England, remaining until 1784. On his return he lived in Front Street, erecting the house of the sketch, and removing to it in 1792. It was sheltered by a fine growth of trees, three hundred in all, planted by his order on State Street and the Battery. The view of the bay was superb from the little balcony over the front door. After the death of Mr. Ludlow in 1807 the house became the property of his widow, and afterwards that of her daughter, Mrs. Morton. Carey Ludlow was the grandson of Gabriel Ludlow, who married Sarah, daughter of Rev. Joseph Haumer, D. D., and came to New York City in 1694, and who was the eighth in descent from William Ludlow of Hill Deverell, Wiltshire, England, in the latter half of the fourteenth century.
The Ludlows, who for nearly two centuries have formed a substantial element of the wealthy and influential population of New York, descended from the oldest gentry in the kingdom of Great Britain, and their pedigree is remarkably clear and distinct. It may be traced on one side without a break to Edward I. of England (in 1272) and his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Philip III. of France, through their son Thomas, Earl of Norfolk, and his daughter Margaret Plantagenet, who married John, third Lord Segrave. Elizabeth, daughter of Lord and Lady Segrave, married the fourth Lord Mowbray, whose eldest daugh- ter married the third Lord Delawarr. The eldest daughter of the latter married the third Lord West, whose son was the seventh Lord Delawarr ; his great-granddaughter married Lord Windsor, whose daughter of Hill Deverell, Wiltshire, the William Ludlow, before men- Sir Edmund Ludlow, Kt., was of Edmund Ludlow, the regi- great-grandfather of Gabriel, in 1694 .- Burke ; Haldane's Ms.
Edith married George Ludlow fourth in the direct descent from tioned. George Ludlow's son, by his first wife the grandfather ESPERO SECUNDIS cide, and by his second wife, the who settled in New York City Gen. Coll. ; Family Archives. Gabriel Ludlow, the first in dren : 1. Haumer, 2. Martha, 6. Gabriel, 7. Frances S., 8. Wil- FESTIS METUO Mary, 12. Elizabeth, 13. Thomas. Mary Corbett, and their children Sarah married Richard Morris ; Gabriel married Miss Williams, New York, had thirteen chil- 3. Elizabeth, 4. Henry, 5. Sarah, liam, 9. Mary, 10. Haumer, 11. (4) Henry Ludlow married numbered thirteen, of whom Mary married Peter Goelet ; whose daughter Mary married Ludlow Arms. J. G. Bogart, and daughter Aun married Judge Brockholst Livingston ; William married Mary Gouverneur, whose son William married the daughter of Robert Morris and left ten children, the eighth of whom, Thomas W., married Mary Bettner, and their son, Thomas W., married his cousin, Miss Carnochan ; and Tliomas married Mary, daughter of William Ludlow, leaving a daughter and two sons.
(6) Gabriel, sixth child of Gabriel Ludlow (the first in New York), married, (1) Frances, daughter of George Duncan, (2) Elizabeth Crommelin; among his numerous children, Gabriel married Ann, daughter of Gulian Verplanck, whose son Gabriel V. married Elizabeth Hunter, and their son, Edward H., a well-known citizen of the present time, married Elizabeth, daugh-
96
447
PRINCES AND NOBLEMEN IN NEW YORK.
Meanwhile the gentle, unassuming, and melancholy Louis Philippe d'Orleans, after wandering through Germany, teaching geometry among the mountains of Switzerland, and suffering all manner of hardships, had, through the generous pecuniary aid of Gouverneur Morris - who placed fifteen hundred pounds to his credit in London - reached New York ; and his two brothers, the Duke de Montpensier and the Count de Beaujolais soon joined him. Morris immediately wrote to his banker in New York, giving the young prince unlimited credit while he should re- main in the United States. This was accepted in modest sums only, but the whole amount of indebtedness afterwards paid to Morris and his heirs amounted to somewhat over thirteen thousand dollars. The three broth- ers traveled on horseback in 1798, attended by a single servant, to see the interior of the United States, but were in New York during the winter following, and frequent guests of Hamilton and others, as well as of Morris at his home in Morrisania - after his return from Europe in December.
The Duke of Kent, son of George III., and father of Queen Victoria, was in New York at the same time, and the recipient of many distin- guished civilities from the leading families. John Singleton Copley, afterwards Lord Lyndhurst, son of the celebrated portrait-painter of that name, was also in the city. He was a native of Boston, but had been carried an infant to England about two years before the war. He was now twenty-four, a somewhat tall, thin, pale, blue-eyed young man, of quiet habits, and tranquil and decidedly elegant manners. On one occa- sion he attended a dinner given by Louis Philippe at his modest lodgings, where one half the guests were seated upon the side of the bed for want of room to place chairs elsewhere.
Among all the Europeans of distinction, however, who were fêted by ter of Hon. Edward P. Livingston, Lieutenant-Governor of New York ; George D. married Frances, daughter of Thomas Duncan, and became Chief Justice of the Superior Court of New Brunswick after the Revolution, and one of his daughters married Richard Harrison ; and Daniel, a wealthy banker who owned a country-seat at Baretto's Point on the East River, whence he drove to Wall Street four-in-hand every day, whose wife was Arabella, daugh- ter of Thomas Duncan, and whose children were, 1. Harriet, married George Wright, 2. Daniel, 3. Robert, married Mary Peters, 4. Dr. Edward G., married Mary Lewis - grand- daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Ludlow Lewis, and great-granddaughter of Governor Morgan Lewis - and their daughter Susan M. married J. Kearny Warner.
(8) William, fourth son of Gabriel Ludlow (the first in New York), married Mary, daughter of George Duncan ; his children numbered twelve, of whom was Carey Ludlow, projector of the mansion on State Street as illustrated in our text.
(13) Thomas, the youngest of the thirteen children of Gabriel Ludlow (the first in New York), married Catharine L. Roux, and their daughter Sarah married Abraham Ogden, of whose eleven children, Catharine married Abijah Hammond, Gertrude married Joshua Waddington, and Margaretta married David B. Ogden.
97
448
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
the citizens of New York in the closing years of the century, none re- ceived greater honor than Kosciuszko, the accomplished Pole, who in the exercise of dictatorial power recently conferred upon him by his country- men rivaled his great American contemporary in the vigor and integrity of his conduct. He came fresh from the rigors of a St. Petersburg prison in the autumn of 1797, having proudly declined all testimonials of Russian favor from the new emperor, who gave him his freedom immediately upon the death of Catharine. "He seems astonished at the honiage he receives, and sees a brother in every man who is the friend of liberty," wrote the Duke de la Rochefoucauld Liancourt, who had been in America already some three years, and who was in New York at the time of Kosciuszko's arrival, meeting the Pole first at the house of General Gates. The Po- lish author, poet, and statesman, Count Niemcewicz, who had fought with Kosciuszko, and afterwards shared his imprisonment in Russia, was his companion on the journey to this country.
The learning and culture of the handsome Count Niemcewicz, not less than the grandeur of his sentiments and captivating manners, rendered him a peculiarly interesting personage. Like Kosciuszko, he was descended from a noble Lithuanian family, and had been educated in the military academy of Warsaw; but he strove rather to make the leading ideas of the liberal reform party popular by his writings in prose and verse than by the sword. He was forty years of age, two years younger than Kos- ciuszko. It was not long before he had seen the beauty, intellect, and re- finement of the New York social world, for the dinners and entertainments of Governor Jay, of Hamilton, and of many others were of as frequent occurrence as in the time of Washington's residence in the city. And his appreciation may be measured by the fact that he chose a wife there- from. The lady was Susan, daughter of Peter Van Brugh and Mary Alex- ander Livingston, and widow of John Kean - a member of Congress who died in 1795 - the first cousin of Mrs. Jay and of Lady Kitty Duer. Mrs. Kean had purchased " Liberty Hall," the beautiful country-seat of her uncle, Governor Livingston, and taken up her residence there; which after her marriage to Count Niemcewicz became once more the center of attraction for scholars, statesmen, and celebrities.1
1 See (Vol. II.) p. 81, for sketch of " Liberty Hall." The "mantle of proprietorship rests at present upon the shoulders of Colonel John Kean, the grandson of the Countess Niemcewicz, great-grand-nephew of Governor Livingston, and brother-in-law of Hon. Hamilton Fish, late Secretary of State."-The Homes of America, by Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, p. 97. After Napoleon's invasion of Poland in 1807, Count Niemcewicz returned to Warsaw, and was appointed secre- tary of the senate ; with the annexation of his native country to Russia he became president of the committee on the new constitution, in the authorship of which he took a prominent part. During the Revolution of 1830 he wielded great influence, and in his capacity of secre-
98
449
RE-ELECTION OF JAY AND VAN RENSSELAER.
The yellow fever appeared in the city very suddenly in the summer of 1798, and many were seized with it before they had heard of its presence. Nearly one half of the cases reported in the month of 1798.
August proved fatal. The horror of the situation was greatly increased by the alarm of the country people, who ceased bringing their produce to market. The relief committee appealed through the newspapers for sup- plies of poultry and small meats, so necessary to both sick and well, an appeal which met with a bounteous response. The number of deaths registered in a very brief time was two thousand and eighty-six. There had been a few cases in 1796 and in 1797, but hith- erto no such dreadful visi- tation as this of 1798. Busi- ness was suspended, and schools and churches closed. Washington Square, pur- chased for a burial-place by the corporation in 1796, be- came a potter's field indeed, and not only strangers and common people but many persons of note were buried within its limits.
A large body of physi- cians and citizens was del- egated to inquire into the causes of the pestilence after the danger was over, and various propositions for supplying the city with Stephen Van Rensselaer. [Born 1764, died 1839.] wholesome water were dis- cussed. The Bronx River, in Westchester, was surveyed by an engineer, but the corporation shrunk from the enormous expense - estimated at one million of dollars - of obtaining water from that source.
The electioneering campaign had been opened with great vigor in the
tary drew up the resolution which expelled the Romanoff family from the throne of Poland. Among his principal works his Historical Songs of the Poles, with historical sketches , War- saw, 1816) set to music, attained immense popularity ; in Leb and Sarah, or Letters of Polish Jews, he pictured the peculiar moral and intellectual condition of the Jews of Poland ; his his- tory of the Reign of Sigismund III., his brilliant historical novel, John of Tenczyn, and his fables and tales in the style of La Fontaine are all admirable ; but his eulogy on Kosciuszko has generally been esteemed his masterpiece.
99
450
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
spring of this year, and John Jay was in the end re-elected governor of the
State by a triumphant majority over Chancellor Livingston. The 1798. Republicans made no nomination for lieutenant-governor, generally concurring in the support of Stephen Van Rensselaer, who was personally popular in all parts of the State. His career was but just unfolding, as it were, and we shall find him in subsequent years engaged in all manner of enterprises and labors for the promotion of education and science, and the general welfare and prosperity of the State.1
The State officers, in addition to the governor and lieutenant-governor, were Lewis A. Scott, secretary, Josiah Ogden Hoffman, attorney-general, Gerard Bancker, treasurer, Samuel Jones, comptroller, Simeon De Witt, surveyor-general, David S. Jones, private secretary to the governor, Jasper Hopper, deputy-secretary of the State, and Robert Hunter, com- missioner of military stores. The council of appointment in 1798 con- sisted of Governor Jay, ex-officio, Thomas Morris, Leonard Gansevoort, Ambrose Spencer, and Andrew Onderdonk.
The year which succeeded the election was one of unsurpassed political excitement in the United States ; but in no State was party heat more intense than in New York. All the old animosities generated in 1788 burst from their smothered confinement into a flame. Dispatches coming from the American envoys in France, Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry, announcing the total failure of their mission of peace, startled the whole country ; they had been informed both privately and officially that nego- tiations must remain in abeyance until money was paid into the French treasury by the Americans. Talleyrand wanted some $ 250,000 for his
1 Stephen Van Rensselaer, the patroon and lieutenant-governor, born 1764, died 1839, was a soldier, a patriot, a philanthropist and a Christian, a man greatly respected and beloved by his contemporaries. He was the fifth in lineal descent from the original patroon, and founder of Rensselaerswick. (See Vol. I. 49, 61, 62, 205.) His father was Stephen Van Rensselaer, who died in 1769, and his mother was Catharine, daughter of Philip Livingston, signer of the Declaration of Independence (see Vol. I. 598, 758), who married for her second husband the Rev. Eilardus Westerlo of Albany. Thus Lieutenant-Governor Van Rensselaer was the cousin of Mrs. Jay, as well as the brother-in-law of Mrs. Hamilton. He married (1) Margaret, daughter of General Philip Schuyler, who had one son, Stephen, proprietor of the manorial estate, married Harriet E. Bayard ; (2) Cornelia Patterson, whose children were, William P., married (1) Eliza P. Rogers, (2) Sarah Rogers ; Philip, married Mary Tallmadge ; Catharine, married Gouverneur Morris Wilkins ; Rev. Cortlandt, married Catharine Ledyard Cogswell ; Henry, married Mary Ray King ; Alexander ; Westerlo ; Cornelia P., married Mr. Turnbull ; Euphemia White, married John Church Cruger.
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.