USA > New York > Queens County > Flushing > History of the town of Flushing, Long Island, New York > Part 9
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by Admiral Digby, General Birch, the Hon. Lieut. Col. Fox, of the 38th, Lieut. Col. Small, of the 84th, and other officers of distinction. He received the usual salute, the trumpets sounded, and the band played "God save the King." The Prince and his attendants took their places under the canopy. The regiment passed in review before the Prince, dismounted and formed in a semi-circle before the canopy. The Chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Odell, delivered an appropriate address. After this, the whole regiment kneeled, laid their helmets and arms on the ground, held up their right hands, and took the solemn oath of allegiance to their sovereign, and fidelity to the standard. After the Chap- lain had pronounced the benediction, the soldiers arose, re- turned to their former position, and fired the royal salute. They then mounted and saluted the standard. The standard was consecrated and placed in the hands of the Prince. He, with his own hands, presented it to Col. Thompson, who in turn delivered it to the senior cornets. At a signal, all the sol- diers and spectators gave three cheers, the band played "God save the King, " and the artillery fired the royal salute. Thus closed the impressive ceremony. A feast was then prepared for the soldiers. An ox was roasted whole, "spitted on a hickory sapling supported on crotches and turned by handspikes. "+8
48 Royal Gazette, N. Y., 1782. Documents and Letters, p. 149
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One of the most serious, indirect results of the Revolu- tion, which fell upon the farmers of Flushing, was the "almost total destruction of the wheat crop by the ravages of the Hessian fly." It was believed that this pest was brought from Germany, in grain imported for the British army. The price of wheat flour advanced from 35s., per cwt., in 1777, to 80s., per cwt., in 1779. It was an inhab- itant of Flushing, named Underhill, a farmer and miller, who discovered the remedy that saved the wheat crop, not only of Flushing, but of a large part of the country. The New York Packet tells the story thus: "The insect that has destroyed the wheat many years past continues to spread, but it has no effect on the white-bearded wheat raised on Long Island. This wheat was brought here from the south- west during the war, and a few bushels sown by a Flushing farmer, grew well, and afforded a fine crop. He kept on, and has supplied his neighbors. It grew twenty bushels to the acre, and weighs over sixty pounds. It is of a bright yellow color, and makes fine flour. The straw is harder, and resists the poison of the fly, and supports the grain, while bearded and bald wheat were cut off."49 Farmers from different parts of the state sent to Flushing for seed, and found the result to be all that had been promised.
49 New York Packet, July 20, 1786.
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The war came to an end, and New York was evacuated · in November, 1783. The exit from Flushing is thus de- scribed by a contemporary : "In the morning there were thousands of soldiers around. In the afternoon they were all gone, and it seemed lonesome. "50
Although the Friends of Flushing refused to take part in the war of Independence, they were at the same time engaged in efforts to accomplish another sort of freedom- the freedom of slaves from bondage. Samuel Underhill of New York is "dealt with, " by the meeting held at Flushing, 5th of 6th mo., 1765, for importing negroes from Africa. He acknowledges his fault and hopes to conduct himself more agreeably to the Friends' principles. 51 In 1775 a committee is appointed "to visit such Friends as hold negro slaves. to inquire into the circumstances and manner of education of the slaves, and give such advice as the nature of the case requires. "52 In the next year the committee reported that many Friends had slaves, but seemed disposed to free them. Some had already done so; others justified slavery. Later in the same year, a committee is appointed "to labor with Friends who keep these poor people in bondage, in the
50 Flint's Early Long Island, p. 455.
51 Minutes, V, 59.
52 Minutes, VI, 84.
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ability that truth may afford, for their release." It was further decided that Friends could "have no unity" with those who held slaves, and that the meeting would receive no collections from slave-holders. 53 It was at another meeting ordered, that Friends should do nothing that involved an acknowledgment that slavery was right.
53 Minutes, VII, 4 et sq.
PART V-The American Period
CHAPTER XV
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
1783
Before entering upon this, the last, period of Flushing's history, it may be well to stop long enough to take a brief survey of the condition, habits and customs of the people at the beginning of our nation's life. It is hard to realize that scarcely one of the inventions and discoveries which we today regard as the marks of modern civilization, had then been made. There was then no railroad, no steamboat, no telegraph. In going from Flushing to New York one had either to take passage in one of the sloops, which sailed from Flushing several times a week, or had to drive over the country road which led him to Brooklyn, by the head of the Fly, through Jamaica and Bedford-a distance of about seventeen miles. The passage across the river, from Brook- lyn to New York, was not without danger, and was attended by frequent and annoying delays. The ferry-boats were
F
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either clumsy row-boats ; flat-bottomed, square-ended scows, with sprit-sails; or two-masted boats, called periaguas. 1 When the wind blew with the tide, the passengers con- sidered themselves fortunate, if they were landed on the other side within an hour. In winter, the boats were frequently held fast for hours in an ice-jam. Boats thus situated often went to pieces under the pressure of the ice. In January, 1784, a boat was thus crushed and sunk, within a few feet of the New York shore. There were eight passengers on board. One was drowned; the others took refuge on a cake of ice, and were carried down to the Nar- rows before they were rescued. 2 During the same year, a ferry-boat went down with five horses on board. Persons driving in from the country would sometimes wait two or three days for favorable weather to cross to New York.
There was no postoffice on Long Island at this time. People at the west end of the Island were supposed to receive their mail in New York; but, as early as 1775, a Scotchman, named Dunbar, rode once in two weeks through the Island, with the mail. Dunbar was not a public official, but had undertaken the work of post-rider as a private enterprise. He would go east by the North Shore, and
1 McMaster's People of the United States, I, 47.
2 New York Packet, Jan. 22, 1784.
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return by the South Side. The day on which he was due at any place was called "post-day." Half the village would assemble at the inn to meet him. In addition to the few letters and the newspapers, a week old, he brought all the news of the road over which he had travelled. Persons who were unwilling to have the contents of their letters known to the post-rider, corresponded in cypher, for he did not hesitate to amuse himself, on his long and lonesome ride, by reading the letters he carried.
A gentleman of the period, 3 if he was a person of means, wore a three-cornered hat, heavily laced. His hair was powdered and done up in a cue. His coat was light-colored, with a diminutive cape, a marvellously long back, and silver buttons. His small-clothes came scarcely to his knees; his stockings were striped; his shoes were pointed, and fastened with large buckles; his vest had flap-pockets ; his cuffs were loaded with lead. When he bowed to a lady, he took up half the sidewalk, as he flourished his cane and scraped his foot. The lady, in returning his salutation, courtesied almost to the ground. She was gorgeously attired. Her gown of heavy brocade or taffeta was spread out over huge hoops, which extended two feet on each side.
3 McMaster's People of the United States, I, 65.
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Her hat loomed up like a tower, or she wore a muskmelon- bonnet.
The farmer+ had his one suit of broadcloth, which he wore on Sundays and on state occasions. It lasted him a lifetime, and was bequeathed to his son. His every-day suit of clothes was made from homespun. 3 He had none of the agricultural implements used today. He plowed his land with a wooden bull-plow, sowed his grain broad cast, cut it with a scythe, and threshed it out on his barn floor with a flail. His house was never painted, and had no car- pets. He lighted his fire in the huge open fireplace with a flint, for there were no matches in those days. The spinning wheel and the loom were important and conspicu- ous articles in the house of the well-to-do farmer. His food was simple and coarse, and varied little, from day to day, throughout the year.
The day laborers wore a pair of yellow buckskin, or leathern breeches, a checked shirt, a red flannel jacket, a rusty felt hat, cocked up at the corners, a pair of heavy shoes with huge brass buckles, and a leathern apron. If he fell into debt to the extent of a few dollars, he was liable to be cast into one of those filthy prisons, where men and
4 McMaster's People of the United States, I, 19.
5 McMaster's People of the United States, I, 97.
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women herded together-the lowest criminals and the unfor- tunate debtors. There he might stay until his clothes rotted on his back, or until he died. In those prisons, no clothes were provided for the naked, and such a thing as a bed was rare indeed.
We who know but one unit of value, can scarcely con- ceive of the difficulties encountered by our ancestors in their money transactions. 6 In every state there were two units of value-the State pound, and the standard Spanish dollar. These state pounds, shillings and pence had no existence outside of the account books. They were not coins, but units of value. The pounds were divided into shillings and pence in the usual way. It required eight New York shil- lings, or ninety-six pence, to make a dollar; in South Caro- lina and Georgia, four shillings and eight pence had the same value; in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, people counted seven shillings and six pence of their money to a dollar. Thus in New York State a customer would pay a Spanish quarter for an article marked at two shillings; in Georgia, he would probably pay the same price, but the article would be marked one shilling and two pence.
6 McMaster's People of the United States, I, 23.
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The school houses were small, unpretentious buildings. They were not painted, outside or inside ; nor were the walls ceiled or plastered. A Dutch wood-stove was used to raise the temperature in the school-house somewhat above the freezing point. The parents of the pupils carted the wood, the older boys cut it, and the younger ones carried it in. The first pupil to arrive in the morning started the fire with live coals brought from the nearest house. The larger boys attended school only in the winter, the larger girls only in the summer. The girls swept the school-room once a week, and occasionally scrubbed it. On these latter occa- sions, the boys assisted by carrying the water.
Dilworth's speller was a standard text-book. After the Revolution, it was gradually supplanted by Webster's spel- ling-book. The master was generally the only person who had an arithmetic. He wrote the "sums" in the pupils' "ciphering books," into which books the pupils copied the correct solutions after their work on the slates had been approved.
The masters were generally single men, were engaged for a quarter, and would go from one school to another. They did not spare the rod. There were no steel pens, in those days, no ready-made writing books, there was no ruled paper. The school-master made and mended the quill-pens, and
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ruled the paper for writing-books, with a piece of lead. Ink was made by mixing Walkden's ink-powder with vinegar and water. 7
The population of the town of Flushing was about 1600, at the close of the Revolutionary war. 8 There were not more than fifty houses in the village. Main street and Broadway were the principal thoroughfares. The village pond, about seventy-five feet wide and two hundred feet long, occupied the place where the park now is. East of the pond, and in front of the Friends' Meeting-house, arose a perpendicular bank of earth about eight feet high. It has been graded down to give the gradual incline of Broadway. The grade of Main street rose to the top of the wall in front of the Garretson property, at that point.
The Quaker Meeting-house, sadly desecrated by the war, was, in outward appearance, about as it is to-day. St. George's Church was a small wooden building, with a slender spire, and occupied the site of the present church. John Holroyd was proprietor of the Queen's Head tavern. The Guard House, which was built as a means of defence, and afterwards used as a town jail, and which stood east of the Meeting-house, near the corner of Union street and Broad-
7 Alden J. Spooner, in History of Queens County, p. 55.
8 Manderille, pp. 27, 75, 76.
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way, had been destroyed during the war. The whipping- post stood in front of what is now the Flushing Hotel. The Bowne House, the Garretson House, the Aspinwall House, the Duryea House, and a few other buildings, belong to this period. The localities known by the names of Head of the Fly (or Vleigh), Fresh Meadows, Black Stump, Bayside, Whitestone, 9 had the same names at the close of the Revolu- tionary War. The neck of land occupied by College Point was then known as Lawrence's or Tew's Neck. 10
All elections were held at Jamaica, until 1799. All voting was viva voce, until after the Revolution, when secret ballots were cast for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. The vote for assemblymen was vica roce, until 1787.
9 A part of Whitestone for some time bore the name of Cookie Hill. The village was first called Clintonville; but in 1854, when the postoffice was established, the old name Whitestone was restored.
10 Tew's Neck was later known as Stratton Port. Its present name of College Point owes its origin to the fact that St. Paul's College was established there by Dr. Muhlenberg in 1846.
Other local names, such as "Quarrelsome Lane" and "Lonely Barn, " have long disappeared.
CHAPTER XVI
RECONSTRUCTION
1779
5
New York was not evacuated until Nov. 25, 1783; but the work of reconstruction and of the punishment of Loyal- ists began four years earlier. The Act of Attainder and Confiscation was passed in 1779. By this act, fifty-eight of New York's best inhabitants were adjudged and declared guilty of felony, and were sentenced "to suffer death as in cases of felony, without benefit of clergy, for adhesion to the enemies of the State." Among this number was David Colden, of Flushing. The act was supposed to have origin- ated with Sir James Jay. His brother, John Jay, wrote from Madrid, concerning this act: "An English paper con- tains what they call, but I can hardly believe to be, your Confiscation Act. If truly printed, New York is disgraced by injustice too palpable to admit even of palliation."1 This act could, of course, have no effect until after the declaration of peace. It was then relentlessly enforced, though clearly opposed to Article Fifth of the treaty. The
1 Flint, p. 453.
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emigration of Loyalists to Canada began as early as 1782. 1782 Negotiations for peace were then being carried on, and the end was plainly seen. The emigration that affected Queens County was the one which took place in the following 1783 spring, when "The Spring Fleet," consisting of twenty square-rigged ships, carried more than 3000 persons to New Brunswick, Canada. 2 These emigrants from Queens County founded the city of St. John's and gave the city its first mayor-Gabriel G. Ludlow, whose farm lay partly in North Hempstead and partly in Flushing. 3
Early in the next year, Congress sent copies of the 1784 Fifth Article of the treaty to the several state legislatures, with the note: "It was the desire of the Congress to have it communicated to them for their consideration." New York was especially bitter against the Loyalists. The city and the surrounding country had been occupied by the British throughout the whole time of the war, and the Patriots had been driven from their homes. On their return, they determined that the Loyalists must go. They declared that if the Loyalists were allowed to remain they would
2 Flint, p. 492.
At the election for assemblymen, in 1786, there were only 25 votes cast in Flushing and 359 in the whole county. The majority of the voters had been disfranchised.
3 Ludlow's farm was confiscated and sold to Captain Berrien and Isaac Ledyard, of Newtown, for £800.
e
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depart themselves. The New York legislature replied to the note of Congress: "That while this legislature entertain the highest sense of national honor . they find it incon- sistent with their duty to comply with the recommendation of the said Congress."4
1785
The courts, which had been closed during the war, were again opened. The county seat was established at Jamaica, and Willet Skidmore and others, of Flushing, signed a petition for the erection of a new Court-house. Cadwallader D. Colden, the Assistant Attorney General, writes thus of the court, a few years later : "The Court of Queens County is at all times the least orderly of any court I ever was in. The entry to the Court-house is lined, on court days, with stalls of dram-sellers and filled with drunken people, so as to be almost impassable."
The Constitution of the United States was signed, Sept. 1788 17, 1787. It was ratified by New York, July 26, 1788. On August 8th the adoption of the Constitution was celebrated in Flushing by a large gathering of people from different parts of the country. A colonade, constructed of evergreens, was erected on the green. Above the colonade were the standards of the states that had ratified the Constitution. At the east end of this enclosure stood a canopy of white
7
4 Flint, p. 467.
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linen, about which were curtains caught up with blue rib- bons. Across the front of the canopy were the words : "Federal Constitution, September, 1787." Under the canopy, on a platform covered with a rich carpet, stood the president's chair. The day was ushered in with a salute by the artillery. At three o'clock, in the afternoon, the dis- charge of guns announced that the banquet was served. The president, Col. William S. Smith, was conducted to the chair, "and the gentlemen sat down with that hilarity usual on such an occasion." Many patriotic toasts were drunk, and Mr. John Mulligan, a student of Columbia Col- lege, delivered an oration. 5
Washington was inaugurated, in New York, as the first President of the United States, April 23, 1789. On the 1789 tenth of the following October, he came to Flushing to see the Linnean Gardens of William Prince. "Pursuant to an engagement formed on Thursday last," says Washington, in his diary, "I sett off from New York, about nine o'clock, in my barge to visit Mr. Prince's fruit gardens and shrub- beries, at Flushing, on Long Island. The Vice President, Governor of the State, Mr. Izard, Colonel Smith and Major
5 "This unexpected exhibition to the auditory, the graceful manner and interesting subject, excited the ad- miration of the hearers and commanded loud plaudits to the youthful orator." New York Daily Advertiser, Aug., 13, 1788.
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Jackson accompanied me. These gardens, except in the . number of young trees, did not answer my expectations. The shrubs were trifling and the flowers not numerous. The inhabitants of the place showed us what respect they could, by making the best use of one cannon to salute. "6
Mandeville states that, in 1858, there still lived in Flushing an old negro, James Bantas, who remembered the visit. He said: "A large tent, made of cedar bushes and other evergreens, was erected and extended diagonally from Alfred C. Smith's corner toward the Flushing Hotel. In this were tables abundantly spread, and dinner was served. When the people were shouting and swinging their hats, Washington, who wore a three-cornered hat, raised his and bowed in recognition of their approbation."7
The party crossed to the mainland and stopped, on their way to the city, at the country seats of General and Gouver- neur Morris, in Morrisania. At Harlem they were met by Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Smith. They dined with the ladies at a small tavern kept by Captain Mariner. 8
Shortly after Washington's visit, October 22nd, the house of Jeremiah Vanderbilt, the town Clerk, was burnt
6 Washington's Diary, Saturday, Oct. 10, 1789, p. 17 et &q.
7 Mandeville, p. 64.
8 Washington's Diary, p. 18.
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and the town records were destroyed. That event has made the writing of the history of Flushing no easy task. Nellie, a slave of Capt. Daniel Braine, and Sarah, a slave of Van- derbilt, were the incendiaries. 9 They were brought to trial, 1790 September 8th, of the following year, convicted and sen- tenced to be hanged, on October 14th. Sarah, because of her youth, was afterwards reprieved. Judge Robert Yates pre- sided at the trial and Aaron Burr, as Attorney-General, was the prosecutor.
During this year, Washington made a second visit to Flushing. There was much discussion about the selection of a permanent seat of government. The President took great interest in the question and inspected many places proposed. 10 Harlem Heights, Westchester, and various places on Long Island were proposed. "Washington, having pre- viously sent over his servants, his horses and carriage, crossed to Brooklyn and drove through Flatbush, New Utrecht, Gravesend, Jamaica, and beyond." He spent nearly a week on the island. On his way back, he break- fasted at Henry Onderdonk's in Roslyn and dined at Flush- ing. From Flushing, the party drove to Newtown, thence to Brooklyn. Concerning this part of his trip, the President
9 New York Journal, October, 1789.
10 Lamb's History of New York, II, 372.
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said: "The road is very fine and the Country in a higher state of cultivation and vegetation of Grass and grain, for- warder (?) than any place also, I had seen, and occasioned in a great degree by the Manure drawn from the City of New York-before sundown we had crossed the Ferry, and was at home. "11
The inhabitants of Flushing and of the neighboring villages now turned their attention to the subject of provi- ding themselves with better educational facilities than they had hitherto enjoyed. A number of residents of Flushing and of Jamaica met at the residence of Mrs. Joanna Hinch- man, in Jamaica, March 1, 1791, to make arrangements for building an academy in Jamaica. A committee of twelve was appointed to solicit subscripitons. The academy was completed, and was opened for students, May 1st, of the following year. It was called Union Hall, because built by the united efforts of Flushing, Jamaica and Newtown. The opening of the academy was the occasion of much rejoicing, and was celebrated by a dinner at Hinchman's inn, Jamaica. 12 Maltby Gelston was the first Principal. The academy did good work for many years. It was closed in 1873.
11 Washington's Diary, p. 126.
12 Queens County in Olden Times, p. 79 et 8q.
1791 1792
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The freeholders of Flushing, who had already secured patents from the Dutch and the English, were now com- pelled to have their rights confirmed by the authorities of the State of New York. This was done, Feb. 24, 1792, by a lengthy document, called : "Exemplification of Flushing Patent." It rehearses the Patent granted by Governor Dongan, and adds: "All which we have caused to be ex- emplified by these presents. In testimony whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made patent, and the Great Seal of our State to be hereunto affixed. Witness our truly and well-beloved George Clinton, Esquire, Governor of our Said State, General and Commander in Chief of all the Militia and Admiral of the same, at our City of New York, the twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, and in the six- teenth year of our Independence. " 13
In the summer of 1798 Congress passed two laws, com- 1798 monly called the Alien and Sedition Laws, which caused great discontent and excitement throughout the country. They were occasioned by the trouble with France. They gave the President power to send out of the country all aliens who were thought to be dangerous or who were sus- pected of plotting against the Government. If such sus-
13 Mandeville, p. 23.
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pected persons did not leave the country, they were liable to imprisonment and would never be allowed to become citizens. Writing or speaking false, scandalous or malicious things against the Government, the President, or Congress, were made punishable offences. These acts threw the country into great excitement. The people were divided into two factions. The Federalists, who were accused of being under British influence, wore black cockades on their hats, demanded the orchestras in the theatres to play the "President's March," "Yankee Doodle," and "Stony Point." They tore down the French liberty-cap from poles and put the American Eagle in its place. The Republicans were termed Jacobins. They were French sympathizers. They wore the tricolor cockades, tried to drown the sounds of "Yankee Doodle" in the theatres with demands for "Ca-ira" or the "Marseillaise" hymn. They waylaid young men at night and tore off their black cockades. Musicians in the theatres were pelted, and fiddles were smashed, because the music did not suit one or the other faction. Meetings were held all over the country, protesting against the Alien and Sedition Laws, or endors- ing them. 14
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