USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume II > Part 52
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how that the Commodore's eldest son. William H. Vanderbilt, was not at first favored with the respect of his father. He was permitted to begin life as a bank clerk at a salary of $150 per annum. When he had attained a salary of $1,000 his health broke down, and his father had to do something for him and his family. So he bought him a farm on Staten Island, at New Dorp, located between the old Mora- vian Church and the Bay. It was not a favorable condition that con- fronted Mr. Vanderbilt in that year of grace, 1842, but he soon made the best of it. He took that farm when it was small, barren, neglected. and when he left it abont twenty years later it had grown to a fertile and prodnetive farm of three hundred and fifty acres, which had yielded him the comfortable sum of $1.000 a month for some years. In 1863 William HI. Vanderbilt left Staten Island to begin his career as a Railroad King, and to increase his father's fabulous fortune to the incredible magnitude of two hun- dred millions of dollars, dying in 1885 undoubtedly the richest man in the world.
The man whom Governor Tomp-" kins defeated in the race for Governor in 1807. was the one who had dis- tanced a still more famous personal- ity in that race in 1804. Or if we look for an association of ideas elsewhere, and reflect how ex-Vice-President of the United States Tompkins died on Staten Island in 1825, we shall come upon the same personality if we state that in 1836 Staten Island was again the scene of the passing away of an VANDERBILT HOMESTEAD, STATEN ISLAND. ex-Vice-President of the United States. It was the checkered career of Aaron Burr that here came to its end in obsenrity and penury. We need not repeat his sad story on this page. He came here to die. We have told of his marriage to Madame Jumel. of the famons Morris or Jumel mansion on Manhattan Island. This was in 1833, when he was seventy-seven years of age. He had acted as her lawyer, and when after marriage she insisted on the control of her property, the two determined wills clashed, and they separated without a divorce. After the first stroke of paralysis which pros- trated Burr, he was taken to her house by her request, and he re- mained till he had recovered from its effects. Then he went ont into the world again to resume his lonely ways. After a second stroke he was cared for at a boarding house in the city kept by Mrs. Joshua Webb; but as he did not mend he was removed. to Staten Island in the summer of 1836. Here he lay for a few weeks at a small hotel, the
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St. James, at Port Richmond, still standing. He was visited in his last days by Domine Van Pelt, of the Reformed Church there, who has left some record of his condition and conversation. On Septent- ber 14, 1836, at the high age of eighty years, this remarkable figure passed away from the scene of his varied and not always commend- able performances.
Just one year before that most disastrous panic of 1837, an era of prosperity and advancement seemed suddenly to dawn upon the island. More buildings were then in course of erection than at any time since the Revolution. The population was going on toward the ten thousand mark. In every part of the island signs of improvement were noticeable. Even old Richmond village awoke out of its sleep. A new street was opened and seven new houses built on it. Dyeing was already going on at a lively rate at Factoryville (now West New Brighton). Along the east and north shores the localities were alive with life and bustle. But unhappily the panic of 1837 was already upon the country, and prosperity received a rude check here as else- where. When, however, it occurred to some of the more enterprising citizens that it would be well to make a bold effort to escape these depressing effects, and develop business on the island by facilitating financial transactions, and put forth energy into new undertakings. they were surprised to find that progress was not wanted by a large number of their fellow islanders. The proposition was made to estab- lish a bank, to organize a whaling company, and to increase the capi- tal and operations of the steam ferry company. The public were noti- fied that acts to incorporate these establishments would be asked for from the Legislature. And the public took notice with a vengeance. A meeting was called at the Shakespeare Inn, at Factoryville, on Jan- uary 11, 1838, to protest against the granting of monopolies. The scheme of the bank was denounced, a resolution declaring that the meeting viewed " the application for a bank at the present time as a most flagrant and daring insult to the good of the people "; which can not be wondered at considering the experience with banks the country had just been having. The formation of the business concerns was opposed on the ground that advantage was taken of the charter to make large profits and to cover losses at the expense of the general community and of the laborers employed. In short, it was anti-mo- nopoly sentiment in its early development, but of very vigorous growth even then. The meeting lamented that such things as had been ex- perienced from monopolies could be in such a land as ours, it being to them " a bitter reflection that such cruelty and injustice is sanc- tioned by the laws of our beloved country, from which there is no earthly appeal."
Yet there is now, and has been for many years, before the eyes of the people of Staten Island a very conspicuous and convincing evi- dence of what can be done for the good of men by wealth accumu-
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lated by the industry and husbandry of individual men and cor- porate bodies. This is that striking monument of human benevolence inseparably connected with the name and fame of Staten Island. the Sailors' Snug Harbor. By a curious coincidence the history of this be- neficent institution brings it into association with a name borne in lov- ing memory for the benevolence and compassion of its bearer in the trying and bloody days of the Revolution. When all was cruelty and death in the prisons in New York and on the horrible prison-ships at the Wallabout, Andrew Elliot went about alleviating the miseries and checking the barbarities as much as he could. He was Lieutenant- Governor of the Province under the military system organized by the enemy during their occupation of New York. His property was ex- empted by the grateful patriots from confiscation when that of all other Britons or Tories was canceled by the State. Elliot owned a farm or seat near Stuyvesant's old Bowery, called " Minto." after the Scottish Earl of Minto, a relative of his. Upon that farm came to stand in later days the great retail store of Stewart, at Broadway, Fourth Avenue, Ninth and Tenth streets, but it included many more blocks in that vicinity. This property was bought in 1790 for five thousand pounds ($12,500, or $25,000, according to the value of the pound then), by Captain Robert Richard Randall, who commanded the ships he owned, being a merchant, as his father before him. A member from early in life of the Marine Society of New York. an association organized to afford relief to indigent masters of vessels or to their widows and orphans, his connection with this charity led him to devise one of a wider scope, embracing a class of seafaring men that were usually in greater need of assistance after their days of work were over. Hence at his death in 1801. he left practically all his property, real and personal, for the founding and maintenance of an institution which should shelter and maintain in comfort, aged. dis- abled, or worn-out sailors, men who had sailed " before the mast," the jack-tars of the merchant-marine or navy. He himself gave it a title; " Sailors' Snug Harbor." The Board of Trustees was to be composed of the Chancellor of the State of New York, the Mayor and Recorder of the City of New York. the President of the Chamber of Commerce. the President and Vice-President of the Marine Society, the Senior Minister of the Episcopal Church (or Rector of Trinity), the Senior Minister of the Presbyterian Church (or Pastor of the First Presby- terian Church, now on Twelfth Street and Fifth Avenue). In 1806 the institution was incorporated by act of the Legislature. But the path of this excellent charity was blocked in several ways. It was Captain Randall's desire to have the Harbor located on the property bequeathed. As the will stipulated that the proceeds of the property should not be used for the purpose intended until it was of sufficient amount to " support fifty of the said sailors and. upwards." some years necessarily elapsed before the condition was realized. By that time
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it was seen that the rural surroundings of the city above Eighth Street would not long survive, and it would not do to plant the retreat in the heart of a busy city. The Legislature was. therefore, applied to for permission to change the location, in February, 1817, the amendment, however, not being granted till eleven years later, or in April. 1828. Even then the Trustees were not through with the generous crop of heirs that is apt to spring up in such cases, who wished much more to make themselves snug than a lot of sailors they did not know at all, and cared for still less. This pleasant episode was not finally closed till 1830, when the heirs found to their sorrow that it was time and money wasted to try to break a will drawn by such a man as Alexan- der Hamilton, aided as he was by Daniel D. Tompkins. Both had died in the meantime, but it was largely through the latter that the atten- tion of the Trustees had been directed to Staten Island. Things moved rapidly now. The present site was selected, the cornerstone of the original building was laid on October 21, 1831, and on August 1. 1833, Sailors' Snug Harbor was formally opened with appropriate dedicatory services. At the present time every one is familiar with the magnificent proportions which the institution has attained. The property in the city is of incalculable value, yielding an income of three hundred thousand dollars per annum, which it is difficult to know how to spend. The grounds measure nearly two hundred acres, upon which nearly forty buildings now stand. Lately a magnificent white marble edifice has been erected, in the style of the ancient basilica, resembling St. Peter's at Rome, which is devoted to the uses of a library and an entertainment or lecture hall. Since the opening in 1833, when about thirty old sailors were received, the nun- ber who have enjoyed retirement here has reached nearly four thou- sand. They must be men who have sailed at least five years under the United States flag. A strict interpretation is thought to be re- quired of the term " before the mast," so that the numerous class of men who spend their lives aboard steamers and have labored hard and long in engine and stoking rooms, have to be excluded from the benefits of the Ilarbor. Little could Captain Randall have anticipated this later and startling development of marine navigation, and there can be no doubt if he lived now, or could have foreseen this then, he would have desired the provision of his will to be interpreted so as to include them. Perhaps a little less of classic architecture and costly marble edifices would be better, and those same princely ex- penditures applied so as to extend the circle of beneficiaries in this manner. It is not likely the steamship business will grow smaller. It may eventually do away with " sailors before the mast " and with sailing ships altogether. If the Legislature could change the location that was in the donor's mind, made necessary because circumstances arose which he could not foresee in city life, perhaps an application to extend the benefits to another class of mariners would also result
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favorably, inasmuch as the donor could have foreseen the altered cir- cumstances in his own profession even less.
The conformation of bay and shores at the Narrows was nature's invitation or suggestion that here must be placed works of defense and offense in times of war. On the Long Island shore bristles Fort Hamilton; in the channel once frowned with formidable aspect Fort Lafayette; on Staten Island nature had done still more for the mili- tary engineer. The channel ran deep and close to the bank; and the shore rose not only to a convenient bluff, as at Fort Hamilton, but to a hill nearly a hundred and fifty feet high. One hundred acres have accordingly been here reserved by the Government to erect fortitica- tions. At the water's edge was begun in 1847 what was then called Fort Richmond, but is now known as Fort Wadsworth. It is an in- closed granite fortress, with three tiers of platforms for guns, peering grimly through their holes. Earthworks flank it on either side, after the more approved and effective modern style of defenses. A hundred and forty feet above high-water mark towers another granite wall, pierced by those ominous openings whence would flash death and destruction at an intruding foe. This is Fort Tompkins, named after the Governor and Vice-President, its construction dating from 1848. But modern developments in the art of warfare and in the destructive- ness and force of missles have made other constructions necessary, Battery Hudson, to the south of Fort Tompkins, being one of these. The technical designation of the whole reservation, including all these variously named works, is that given also to one of them in honor of a hero of the Civil War-" Fort Wadsworth."
In 1850 the population of the island was 15,061-that of a small city. But it was distributed over a good deal of territory, or rather it had coagulated about certain points or centers. These were to be found, of course, near the shores that faced the great city. Industry had here found many a convenient situation and profitable working- ground. From " time immemorial " (as such time counts on this side of the Atlantic) Staten Island has been associated in thousands of minds with the homely but useful art of dyeing. The " Old Staten Island Dyeing Establishment " has had its title displayed to Ameri- can eves in every part of the Union. Yet that is neither the only nor the oldest industry that has given life and prosperity to the people. The oldest of all is that of the exploitation of the oyster beds. These were found in great abundance in the shallow water of the Lower Bay along the southwest coast line of Staten Island, and also in the Sound, or Arthur Kill. In 1671 the oysters found here were described as a foot long, Professor Kalm, in 1748, mentioning oysters as large as a plate, and it is not known there were butter-plates in those days. Re- peatedly laws had to be enacted to save the oyster beds from excessive depletions, but it was of no avail. The natural beds finally gave ont as the result of indiscriminate raids upon them, and then it was neces-
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sary to begin oyster planting, which was done at Prince's Bay as early as 1826 or 1827. At once the villages depending upon this industry received a new impulse, increasing in population and exhibiting many evidences of prosperity. An extent of coast line from five to ten miles long was planted with oysters, introduced mainly from Virginia. In 1853 at least three thousand people were engaged in the oyster-plant- ing industry. In 1880 the beds of native oysters yielded fifty thou- sand bushels at Prince's Bay, fifty-five thousand at Tottenville, and twenty-five thousand at Chelsea, on Arthur Kill, or the Sound. But in later years the business has fallen off, so that only about a quarter of the people on the island are sup- ported by this industry now as com- pared with the number a decade or two ago.
It was in the year 1819 that the works of the New York Dyeing and Printing
VIEW OF BRIGHTON HEIGHTS, EARLY IN THIS CENTURY.
Establishment were erected at West New Brighton, which for many years was known as Factoryville on this account. From the beginning Colonel Nathan Bar- rett had been connected with this con- cern, but in 1850 he established a separate dyeing business of his own. associating with him three nephews, and giving the firm the name of Barrett, Nephews & Co., which it bears to this day. Barrett erected a plant on eight acres of ground about one mile south of Port Rich- mond. The business increased as the years advanced, and later the old establishment on Broadway, in West New Brighton, was absorbed by it, so that now the more recent firm name is found to be displayed there. In 1842 the White Lead Works at Port Richmond began their operations. occupying now two acres and a half of ground, and pro- ducing three thousand tons of pure white lead annually. Some years later another section of Staten Island was favored by the establish-
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ment of a large and important manufacturing enterprise. The firm of B. Kreischer & Sons, manufacturers of clay gas retorts, firebrick, and such articles, had begun operations in New York City in 1845. As their property there increased in value they began to enlarge the plant which they had located on Staten Island, two miles north of Tottenville, near the Arthur Kill. Finally they removed their whole enterprise to the island, in 1876, and as a result a village has grown up around it, named Kreischerville, after the founder of the business. It is not necessary to go into further details regarding this phase of Staten Island history. Suffice it to say that many points of vantage have been taken up by the busy hand of industry, no doubt to the gen- eral advantage of the whole island, drawing population there and in- creasing wealth. But as we notice the enormous structure of the Plaster Mills, obstructing the view of the Richmond Terrace cottages and villas, and other manufacturing establishments of the kind creep- ing in where men were only content to dwell and enjoy the beautiful prospects at first, we fear that some of the choicest locations for resi- dence or summer retreat will be left vacant, or relegated to the occu- paney of the cheaper tenants.
It is for this reason that George William Curtis's saying, wherewith we opened our account of Staten Island, would receive even from him serious qualification. Business had not planted itself in such ag- gressive shape, with unsightly buildings and bad smells invading the landscape and river view, and tainting the health-giving breezes, when he first made Staten Island his home. This was in December, 1855, when he married one of Staten Island's lovely and accomplished maidens, Miss Anna Shaw, the daughter of Francis G. Shaw, of West New Brighton. Born in New England, he came to live in New York while still a boy, but when once he was domiciled on the island he could never be induced to move away from it, except for a summer change to Ashfield, Mass. Here he resided when he entered upon that disastrous connection with the publishers of Putnam's Magazine (Dix. Edwards & Co.), whose failure in 1857 compelled him, from a sense of honor, to devote long years to excessive literary labor in order to pay off the indebtedness dollar for dollar, instead of by a percentage on the dollar. Here he lived when he became the editor of Harper's Magasine in 1863, and here, after long years of excellent literary production, and of useful public services in anti-slavery times, as well as in the fight for Civil-service Reform, he died on August 31, 1892, dearly beloved, not only by his immediate family circle, but by every one who had in any way come in contact with him on the island whose praises were ever in his mouth. The " Potiphar Papers " and " Prue and I" were written before he came to Staten Island; but we can imagine him seated in his "Easy Chair " there, and running off upon the paper before him those delightful disquisitions upon men, manners, letters, politics, morals, and what not, for which the reading public were breathlessly waiting from month to month.
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We have already briefly alluded in our former volume (p. 362) to the summary method in which the people of Staten Island undertook to settle the Quarantine question when the presence of that station had become intolerable in their eyes. It was more than a suspicion or supposition that the infectious cases at Quarantine brought disease and death to the inhabitants in its vicinity. The grounds were lo- cated a little north of Tompkinsville, and one authority identifies the precise spot by informing later generations that the Brighton Heights Reformed Church, built in 1864, " is diagonally opposite the north- west corner of the old Quarantine grounds." In earlier days the quarantine regulations, primitive enough as they were, had relegated dangerous diseases to the isolation of Governor's or Bedlow's islands. In 1799 Commissioners were appointed by the Legislature to secure a place on Staten Island, which then had a population of only about four thousand, and the land was bought from St. Andrew's Church, of Richmond. It was an airy, healthful situation for hospitals, but it did not from the first meet with the approval of the residents. Their apprehensions were not without foundation. In 1848 there were nearly a hundred and fifty cases of sickness outside the Quarantine grounds, induced by the presence of infectious disease within their limits. Employees at the Station were exceedingly reckless about going from infected wards to their homes, or carrying garments to their families which should have been burned. There were also un- happy conflicts between the officers at the Station and the healthi authorities of the county. Several petitions and complaints were ad- dressed to the Legislature at Albany, and encouraging responses made thereto. A committee appointed to investigate in 1849 " unhesitat- ingly recommended the immediate removal of the Quarantine." In April an act was passed to that effect, directing its removal to Sandy Hook. But here New Jersey came in to object, and the men intrusted with carrying ont the provisions of the act failed to do so. In 1856 there was a visitation of yellow fever, also notable in the history of New Utrecht, brought about by the presence of infected ships in the Bay. The people of the island again went before the lawmakers at Albany, and in March, 1857, another act was passed ordering the re- moval of Quarantine. It is to be remembered that there were now nearly twenty-five thousand people living on Staten Island, and it would seem as if no one could be so inhuman as to interfere with the injunctions of the State Legislature, intended to save so large a popu- lation from exposure to deadly diseases. But opposition came from the Commissioners of Emigration, the Board of Underwriters of New York, and the shipping interests there, and these combined influences were sufficient to again render nugatory the efforts of the powers at Albany. The people were now desperate, even the local Board of Health taking the responsibility of inciting the riotous proceedings which seemed necessary. At a meeting held on September 1, 1858, it passed
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this resolution: " Resolved, That this Board recommend the citizens of this town and county to protect themselves by abating this abomina- ble nuisance without delay." There was no delay. On that same night and the following one, September 1 and 2. 1858, the people did what the Legislature had frequently ordered. They removed the Quaran- tine. A great crowd assembled and proceeded to the grounds. Thirty men qualified for that work, and possibly under the directions of the local Health Board, entered the hospital buildings and removed the patients to places of safety. Then the torch was applied, and not a structure remained standing within the inclosure. It was charged afterward that some excesses had been committed: it may be so. it could hardly be otherwise among a thousand men assembled to do a desperate deed bordering on the riotous. But not a life was sacrificed, and no one received any serious injury. One or two persons were ap- prehended and tried for arson; but it was impossible to secure a con- viction under such circumstances. Necessity was greater than law: nay, it looked much as if law itself was back of the proceedings. The county, however, was compelled to pay a sum equal to the value of the property destroyed. This was fixed at $121,598.39. In 1870 the bonds still remaining amounted to $10,725, which were then ordered to be surrendered and canceled. It was the end of Quarantine on Staten Island, except that still at Clifton is found the boarding sta- tion, whence physicians go forth to inspect incoming vessels. But no sick persons are landed. These, as is known, are placed on the two islands in the Lower Bay.
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