USA > New York > New York County > Manhattan > Manhattan: historic and artistic; a six day tour of New York city > Part 10
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
1652 .- The city of New Amsterdam was incorpor- ated.
The first public school was established in the "Stadthuys."
1654 .- Burgomasters received one hundred and forty dollars, and the Schepens one hundred dollars per annum, for their services.
1655 .- Negroes were purchased from slave-ships and taken to Virginia.
1656 .- New Amsterdam contained one thousand inhabitants, one hundred and twenty houses, and seventeen streets.
The first survey of the city was confirmed by law.
198
MANHATTAN.
1657 .- The English language was first recognized in New Amsterdam.
1658. - Stone pavements were laid. The street first paved still retains its former name of Stone Street.
The first fire-company, which consisted of eight men, was organized.
Whipping with a rod, and banishment from the city, was at this time the punishment for theft.
Hogs running at large, were required to have rings in their noses.
1659 .- The first shipwreck on this coast, of which there is any account, occurred near Fire Island. The name of the ship was "Prince Maurice."
Poor-boxes were customarily introduced at weddings.
Houses were rented for twenty-seven dollars per annum.
The first public auctioneer was appointed. One dollar and ten cents was the fee paid for the disposal of a lot.
1660 .- The establishment of a brick-yard was a notable event in connection with the archi- tectural progress of the city. Before this time bricks had been imported from Holland, and were considered too expensive to be used, except in the construction of chimneys and ovens.
A man living near the Bowery, offered to give away his property, for the reason that he disliked to ride through two miles of dense forest to reach his work.
It was punishable to call magistrates block- heads, on account of an adverse decision.
199
MANHATTAN.
1663 .- The first suicide recorded in the town was that of a blacksmith, who hung himself from a tree near Collect Pond.
1664 .- New Amsterdam was captured by the Eng- lish, and its name was changed to New York.
Notice was given of a re-organization of the municipal government under the direction of Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriff.
1665 .- The first Court of Admiralty, organized by Governor Nichols, was convened and held in the Stadthuys.
1670 .- A seal of the city was presented by the Duke of York.
Staten Island was purchased for a few trinkets.
The first New York Exchange was estab- lished, the members arranging to meet every Friday morning, between eleven and twelve o'clock, at the bridge which crossed the ditch at Broad Street, a locality now known as Ex- change Place.
1673 .- A Dutch fleet recaptured the city, in the name of the States General of Holland, and changed its name to New Orange.
The first mail between Boston and New York was established, "for a more speedy intelligence and despatch of affairs." The letters were carried by a messenger who made the round trip once a month.
At this time the main portion of the town extended from the high ridge of ground at Broadway, to the East River, then called Salt River. A great dock for vessels, and three crescent-shaped forts, were placed along the shore. Almost all of the houses presented gable ends to the street.
200
MANHATTAN.
1674 .- A treaty of peace having been signed by England and Holland, New York was again restored to the English.
Only one Jew and one Spaniard held prop- erty in the city at this period.
1677 .- New York contained three hundred and forty-three houses.
1679 .- A bear was killed in an orchard near Maiden Lane.
The first classis was formed, at the sugges- tion of the governor, for the purpose of exam- ining and ordaining a young Bachelor in Divinity, who had been called to the church at Newcastle.
1683 .- The city was divided into six wards.
The " Court of General Sessions of the Peace of the city of New York," first called the "Court of General Quarter Sessions," was insti- tuted under royal government.
1686 .- The "Dongan Charter," the basis of all later charters obtained for this city, was granted by James the Second. This declared that New York City thenceforth should com- prise the entire Island of Manhattan.
The best house in the city was sold for three thousand and five hundred dollars.
1689 .- Information of the accession of William and Mary, to the throne was received in New York with great satisfaction. The garrison was seized by about fifty inhabitants, who formed themselves into a committee of safety to hold the province in rule until a government could be established by the new sovereigns. This movement inaugurated a bitter strife between factions of the citizens, who con- tended for the temporary control, and resulted in the ascendency of Leisler.
201
MANHATTAN.
1691 .- The first Assembly met April 9th. Leisler was tried and executed.
1692 .- The first Post Office was established.
A whipping-post, pillory, and ducking-stool, were placed near the City Hall.
1693 .- The first printing press was put in opera- tion.
1696 .- Trinity Church Corporation erected its first edifice.
The city contained five hundred and ninety- four houses and six thousand inhabitants.
The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church received a charter of incorporation.
1697 .- The first almanac was published.
1700 .- The second City Hall was erected at the corner of Nassau and Wall Streets.
1703 .- The "King's Farm," a region of country extending northward from Cortlandt Street, was granted to Trinity Church Corporation by Queen Anne. This gift laid the founda- tion for the revenues of that society.
1709 .- A slave market was established at the foot of Wall Street.
1710 .- The total annual income of the city was two hundred and ninety-four pounds sterling. The total expenses were two hundred and seventy-four pounds.
A post-office establishment for the colonies in America was created by an Act of Parlia- ment, the chief office of which was in New York.
1712 .- The negro inhabitants formed a plot to set fire to the city, and in its execution killed several white persons. Nineteen of the incen- diaries were convicted and executed.
1719 .- The first Presbyterian Church was erected in Wall Street.
202
MANHATTAN.
1720 .- Clocks were first introduced, time having previously been recorded by hour-glasses.
1725 .- The first newspaper, called the New York Gazette, was published.
1729-A City Library was founded.
1730 .- The charter upon which the city's present system of government is based, was granted by Governor Montgomery.
A line of stages, that made bi-monthly trips, was established between New York and Philadelphia.
The first fire-engines used in the city arrived from London. A fire-department was at once organized.
1732 .- The first stage from New York to Boston made the round trip once a month.
1734 .- A Poor-House, and a Calaboose for unruly slaves, were erected on the Commons, now City-Hall Park.
1740 .- The New York Society-Library was or- ganized.
1741 .- The famous delusion, known as the " Negro Plot," in which a large number of negroes, and
a Catholic priest, were executed without cause, . occasioned much excitement.
1750 .- The first theatre was opened in Nassau Street.
1754 .- King's College obtained a charter of in- corporation.
1756 .- The first ferry plied between New York and Staten Island.
1757 .- The city contained about twelve thousand inhabitants.
1761 .- A second theatre was opened in Beekman Street.
1763 .- Light first gleamed from the Sandy Hook lighthouse.
203
MANHATTAN.
A ferry was established between New York and Paulus Hook,-now Jersey City.
1765 .- The famous Stamp-Act Congress convened in this city. Delegates were present from all the colonies, and a bold declaration of rights and grievances was adopted. An agreement not to import goods from Great Britain, until the Stamp Act was repealed, was signed by a large concourse of merchants, and a society of individuals, who called themselves the "Sons of Liberty," was organized, with affili- ations throughout the country. Great excite- ment prevailed, and a riot occurred, in which the governor was burned in effigy, and the citizens threatened to storm the fort.
1766 .- News of the repeal of the Stamp Act reached the city May 20th.
The Methodist Episcopal Society of the United States was founded by Philip Embury, in his own house in this city.
1768 .- A Chamber of Commerce was organized at Queen's Head Tavern, the building afterward known as "Fraunce's Tavern."
1770 .- The New York Chamber of Commerce was incorporated by the Legislature.
A statue of William Pitt was erected in William Street.
1772 .- Umbrellas were imported from India. They were at first scouted as an effeminacy.
1774 .- A vessel called the "Nancy" was not per- mitted to land her cargo of tea, nor to make entry at the Custom-House.
A Committee of Correspondence was organ- ized, and a "Congress of Colonies" was insist- ed upon by the merchants.
Resolutions of resistance were adopted by
204
MANHATTAN.
a great meeting on the Commons, now City- Hall Park.
1775 .- The Colonial Assembly adjourned.
Delegates were elected to the Continental Congress.
The first New York water-works were established.
1776. - The militia was called into service in Jan- uary. In the spring following, the city was in the possession of the American Army.
The leaden statue of George the Third was pulled down July 9th.
The Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony of the old City Hall, July 18th.
The king's coat-of-arms was taken from the court-room and burned on the same day.
The city was captured by the British, August 26th, after the battle of Long Island. A great fire destroyed Trinity Church and nearly five hundred houses, September 2 Ist.
Nathan Hale was executed as a spy, by command of General Howe.
1777 .- Congress directed the Board of War to write to the government of New York, urging that the lead mines in that State be worked, and promising to supply prisoners of war for the purpose; the scarcity of lead making it necessary to use gutters and roofs, and the leaden statue of King George the Third, for bullets.
1778 .- The British evacuated Philadelphia, and an army of twelve thousand men marched from that city to New York. The baggage and stores, with some three thousand non- combatants who held to their British alle- giance, were sent to New York by water.
205
MANHATTAN
1779 .- While the city was in the possession of the British, counterfeiting Continental bills was a regular business; flags of truce were made use of to put it in circulation, and the newspapers openly advertised it.
On the 19th of May, at eleven in the morn- ing, a darkness, which continued for several hours, necessitating candles at noon-day, fell over the city. The cause of this remarkable phenomenon has been assigned to prodigious fires, that had been raging in the States of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. 1780. -- A great scarcity of fuel and fresh provisions caused general consternation. Fruit trees were cut down, wood was twenty dollars a cord, corn was four dollars, and potatoes were two dollars a bushel. As the ice in the Hud- son River offered an opportunity for the Americans to cross it, an attack upon the city was feared, and all the inhabitants were put under arms.
Four newspapers were published during the time of the British occupation, the pro- prietors arranging their issues so that one paper was provided for each day.
1783. - The British evacuated the city November 25th, and General Washington entered at the head of the American Army.
1785 .- Congress moved from Philadelphia to New York, and convened in the City Hall, which then stood at the corner of Wall and Nassau Streets, now occupied by the United States Sub-Treasury Building.
The Bank of New York and a manumission society were established.
The first daily paper was published under the name of the New York Daily Advertiser.
206
MANHATTAN.
1786 .- The first city directory was issued. It contained eight hundred and forty-six names. 1787 .- King's College was re-incorporated as Co- lumbia College.
1788 .- The Constitution of the United States was adopted by New York State. A great parade celebrated that event in this city
1789 .- The first Congress under the Constitution of the United States, assembled in Federal Hall on the 4th of March, at which time George Washington was unanimously elected President.
The inauguration of Washington, as Presi- dent of the United States, took place April 30th, on the gallery of the old City Hall.
Martha Washington held her first reception May 29th.
Tammany Society, or the Columbian Order, was founded.
1790 .- The first sidewalks were laid.
1795 .- Park Theatre was erected.
1797 .- The "Medical Repository," the first scien- tific periodical printed in this country, was published.
1799 .- The Manhattan Company, organized for the purpose of supplying the city with water, obtained its charter. The Bronx River, proposed as the source of supply, was surveyed.
The second bank, the Manhattan Company, was established at No. 23 Wall Street.
1800 .- Collect Pond was filled in. This body of fresh water, situated on the present site of the Tombs, was of such great depth that several contractors, who engaged to fill it, were said to have become bankrupt in their efforts to do so. Many times earth rose above its level in the evening, but the next morning's
207
MANHATTAN.
sun shone again on sparkling waters, the debris having disappeared beneath its surface.
On its western borders, surrounded by groves of trees and blackberry wilds, once was situated an Indian village, no doubt the home of the Manhattans. Fish were abundant in the pond for more than one hundred years after the Christian settlement of the Island, and one of its promontories was so abundantly strewn with a deposit of shells that the Dutch named it " Kalchook," or "Lime Shell Point." The water was of unusual purity, the cele- brated Tea-water Spring having been one of its many fountains, and a number of brooks that flowed to both rivers, formed picturesque outlets for its seemingly inexhaustible supply. Doubtless the stoppage of these springs had much to do with the subsequent epidemics of yellow fever that occasioned so much mourn- ing throughout the city.
1801 .- The real and personal property of the city and county was valued at $21,964,037, and a tax was laid of one mill on the dollar.
The Evening Post issued its first number.
1804 .- Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr.
Sunday-schools were established.
Hackney coaches were licensed.
The first recorder of New York City was appointed.
Some alterations in the franchise having opened elections to the participation of a large number, whom property restrictions had previously prevented from having a voice in the choice of the city magistrates, this year, for the first time, witnessed a Republican majority in the Board.
208
MANHATTAN.
1805 .- Fort Clinton was erected.
The New York Free School was incorpor- ated.
1806 .- Steam navigation was successfully demon- strated by Robert Fulton.
The New York Orphan Asylum Society was founded. Mrs. Sarah Hoffman and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton were the first and second directresses.
1807 .- The city was surveyed and laid out, by a commission appointed by the Legislature, in which Gouverneur Morris, De Witt Clinton, and other prominent persons were active members.
The city contained thirty-one benevolent institutions.
A College of Physicians and Surgeons was chartered.
Washington Irving, distinguished as a heed- less law-student, was admitted to the bar.
1808 .- The American Academy of Fine Arts was incorporated.
18II .- The first ferry carried passengers to Hoboken.
1812 .- War was declared against Great Britain.
Steam was utilized on the Jersey City ferry- boats.
The manufacture of pins was inaugurated in the city by English workmen, who procured one dollar a paper for their product.
1814 .- Brooklyn ferry-boats adopted steam.
Specie payments were suspended for nearly three years.
1815 .- New York received with enthusiasm, the news of a treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain.
Thirteen Insurance Companies were located in Wall Street.
209
MANHATTAN.
1816 .- The Common Council of New York pro- hibited chimney-sweepers from crying their trade in the streets.
Enormous importations of merchandise from Europe rendered this year a memorable one among commercial men.
1817 .- The first regular packet-ships, called the Black Ball Line, sailed between New York and Liverpool.
An Asylum for the deaf and dumb was in- corporated.
1818 .- Shoe pegs were introduced.
1819 .- The first ocean steamship, the "Savannah," crossed the Atlantic from New York to Liver- pool.
The first Savings Bank was opened.
1820 .- The population of New York was one hun- dred and twenty-three thousand, seven hun- dred and six.
New York and New Orleans were connected by a line of steamships.
The New York Observer was published.
Fire-proof safes, constructed of iron and wood, were imported from France.
Daily mails were established between New York, and Brooklyn and Jamaica, Long Island. The Old Park Theatre was burned.
1821 .- In January, the North River from Cortlandt Street to Jersey City, was crossed on the ice by loaded sleighs.
1822 .- New York, with other counties, had a sepa- rate District Attorney.
A steamship line carried passengers and freight between New York and Norfolk.
1823 .- The first steam-power printing press in the United States was put in operation. An
14
210
MANHATTAN.
abridgement of Murray's English Grammar was the first work done by this machine.
The New York Gas-Light Company was incorporated.
1824 .- A House of Refuge for the reformation of juvenile delinquents was erected by private subscription. This was the beginning of a new system for the correction of the vices of the young.
General Lafayette was welcomed with great rejoicing as the guest of the city and nation. 1825 .- October 26th, the sound of cannon, first heard at Buffalo, and then repeated from point to point, announced the completion of the Erie Canal, and the union of the Great Lakes with the Atlantic. The arrival in New York City of the first canal-boat was the occasion of a grand aquatic and civil pageant, in which the " commingling of the waters," was typical- ly illustrated by Governor De Witt Clinton, the " Father of the Canal," who, amidst impres- sive ceremonies, poured from a keg the water of Lake Erie, into the ocean at the Narrows.
The first Sunday newspaper published in this city was issued under the name of the Sunday Courier. It was soon discontinued for want of patronage.
The first performance of Italian Opera was given at the Park Theatre.
Homœopathy was introduced by a physi- cian from Denmark.
The tinder-box,, which had been the imple- ment used for lighting fires, was superseded by a bottle filled with acid and cotton, and surmounted by phosphorized pine sticks.
The quintal of one hundred, instead of one hundred and twelve pounds, was adopted by
2II
MANHATTAN.
the merchants as the new measure for purchase and sale.
Gas mains were laid in Broadway.
1827 .- The Journal of Commerce and the Morning Inquirer were started. These two papers, in their efforts to rival each other, established swift schooners and pony-expresses for the purpose of obtaining the commercial news.
1828 .- The Law Institute was organized. Webster's Dictionary was published. Varnish was first manufactured.
1829 .-- The American Institute was incorporated, and held its first fair.
Bricks were manufactured by machinery. Galvanized iron was invented.
1830 .- A railroad locomotive, the first one con- structed in America, was built in New York for a railroad in South Carolina.
Omnibuses were introduced. The word "omnibus," painted in large letters on both sides of the vehicle, was generally supposed to be that of the owner.
The Christian Intelligencer, an organ of the Dutch Reformed Church, published its first number.
1831 .- A street railroad was completed, and opened for travel, between the City Hall and 14th Street.
The first sporting paper, called The Spirit of the Times, was issued.
The New York and Harlem Railroad Com- pany was incorporated.
1832 .- Peter Cooper, the philanthropist, demon- strated to the stockholders of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad, that cars could be drawn around short curves.
212
MANHATTAN.
Five thousand persons died from Asiatic cholera.
1833 .- The New York Sun, a penny paper, was published.
1834 .- A meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society was broken up by a mob.
In conformity with an amendment of the Constitution, a mayor of New York was elected, for the first time by the votes of the people. 1835 .- The New York Herald was founded.
Pins were manufactured by machinery.
A disastrous conflagration, destroying prop- erty to the extent of twenty millions of dol- lars, was checked only by blowing up several houses.
1836 .- Work on the aqueduct was begun.
The Common Council ordered pipes to be laid, preparatory to the introduction of water into the city.
Commercial distress and financial panic spread over the whole country, and swept numerous firms out of existence.
1840 .- A manufactory of gold pens was estab- lished.
The New York Tribune, edited by Horace Greely, was published. The receipts of this paper for the first week, were ninety-two dollars; the expenses amounted to five hun- dred and twenty-five dollars.
1841 .- The "Princeton," a ship-of-war, was con- structed by John Ericsson. This was the first ship in which the propelling machinery was placed under water, and secured from shot.
1842 .- Abolitionists declared a separate nom- ination, held a State Convention, and ran a candidate for the mayoralty of New York.
June 27th, water was received through the
213
MANHATTAN.
aqueduct into the reservoir at 86th Street, July 4th, it was introduced into the distribut- ing-reservoir on Murray Hill: while waving flags, clanging bells, floral canopies, and songs, proclaimed the great interest which this event awakened. The fountain in the park, opposite the Astor House, consisted of a central pipe with eighteen subordinate jets, in a basin one hundred feet broad. By shifting the plate of the conduit pipe, the water assumed such shapes as the " Maid of the Mist," the " Croton Plume," the "Vase," the " Dome," the " Bou- quet," the "Sheaf of Wheat," and the " Weep- ing Willow."
A similar display in Union Square, then called Union Park, was a weeping willow of crystal drops illuminated with fireworks that kindled the cloud of mist until it resem- bled showers of many colored gems.
1843 .- A submarine telegraph connected New York with Fire Island and Coney Island.
A patent for a sewing machine that made a lasting stitch, was granted to a resident of the city.
1844 .- An enormous immigration poured in from Ireland and other European countries, in con- sequence of famine and political disturbances. 1845. - A disastrous fire occurred, which destroyed a large amount of property.
1846 .- The first granite-block pavement was laid. 1847 .- The first sucessful type-revolving press was made by a resident of the city.
The Board of Education took action in reference to the establishment of a Free Academy. This was the first institution, maintained at the public expense, by which the pupils of the New York schools could
214
MANHATTAN.
secure the advantages of those higher depart-
ments of learning, usually obtained at great expense in the colleges.
1848 .- The first Electric Telegraph Service was inaugurated.
1849 .- The " Astor Place Riot" occurred.
The New York Press Association was formed.
The phenomenon of spirit-rapping caused much excitement.
1850 .- P. T. Barnum introduced Jenny Lind to an enraptured audience.
An Arctic expedition sailed from New York in search of Franklin.
The American Bible Union was organized. 1851 .- Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, visited the city and received an enthusiastic welcome. The New York Times appeared.
1853 .- An International World's Fair was held in the Crystal Palace.
The New York Clearing House was organ- ized by fifty-two of the city banks.
1854 .- The Astor Library was opened to the pub- lic.
1855. - Castle Garden was utilized as a receiving- depot for emigrants.
The ground for Central Park was selected by commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court.
1857 .- An unsuccessful attempt to lay the Atlan- tic Cable was made, the wire parting when but three hundred and thirty-four miles had been paid out.
1858 .- The successful laying of the Atlantic Cable was announced, and celebrated by public dem- onstration.
Crystal Palace was burned.
215
MANHATTAN.'
The voice of Adelina Patti was heard for the first time in public. The cantatrice had not then attained her seventeenth year.
1860 .- The secession of South Carolina caused much consternation in business circles.
The Prince of Wales and his suite were wel- comed with elaborate ceremony.
The Japanese Embassy visited the city. 1861 .- Central Park was opened to the public.
The banks, having loaned enormous sums of money to the Government, suspended specie payments, after the attack upon Fort Sumter. 1863 .- A draft in progress in the Ninth District, caused a riot among foreign laborers, who attacked the recruiting office, destroyed the wheel, scattered the lists, and set the building on fire. As the militia had been sent to Phil- adelphia to resist a Confederate invasion, the police were unaided, and could not suppress the demonstration for several days. One hundred persons were killed, and a large amount of property was destroyed.
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.