USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 38
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
At a private meeting of Federalists for consultation, held at Albany a few evenings after Burr's nomination, General Alexander Hamilton, then on legal business at Albany, took a conspicuous part. He advo- cated voting for Chancellor Lansing, in case they had no candidate of their own, declaring that no reliance ought to be placed on Colonel Burr. He repeated his declaration in substance at a private dinner-table. One of the guests on that occasion (Dr. Cooper), in a letter to a friend, repeated the substance of Hamilton's remarks in such a careless use of words that they conveyed the erroneous impression that they impeached the private character of Burr. He wrote that both Hamilton and Judge Kent* looked upon Burr as a dangerous man, and one who ought not to
Riker was one of the most notable of the recorders of the city-efficient, amiable, just, and beloved by everybody. Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote :
" My Dear Recorder, you and I Have floated down life's stream together, And kept unharmed our friendship's tie Through every change in Fortune's sky, Her pleasant and her rainy weather."
* James Kent was born in Putnam (then a part of Duchess) County in July, 1763. He was graduated at Yale College ; became a lawyer and a profound jurist ; in politics he was a Federalist, and in 1791 made New York City his residence, where he formed an intimate friendship with Colonel Hamilton. He became a judge of the Supreme Court of New York in 1798 and chief justice in 1804. In 1814 he became chancellor, retired
374
THE EMPIRE STATE.
be trusted with the reins of government, and added : " I could detail to. yon a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has ex- pressed of Burr." This letter was shown to many politicians before the election, which took place in April, and soon after that event it found its way into the newspapers. Many Federalists voted for Burr, but he was defeated by a large majority of votes given to Morgan Lewis," the regular nominee of the party. He attributed his failure to gain the prize to the adverse influence of Hamilton. When he saw Cooper's letter in the newspapers his indig- nation knew no bounds. He at once wrote a note to Hamilton (June 18th, 1804), demanding a " prompt and unqualified aeknowl- edgment or denial of the use of any expression which would warrant the assertions of Mr. Cooper." An unsatisfactory correspondence en- sned. Burr finally challenged Hamilton to fight a duel. The lat- MORGAN LEWIS. ter did all in the power of an honorable man to avoid a personal rencontre. Burr was persistent. Yielding to the then prevailing public opinion about the miscalled code of honor, Hamilton, in violation of his moral and religious convictions, felt compelled to accept the challenge. Ilis son Philip was killed in a duel not long before.
On the morning of July 11th, 1804, the belligerents crossed the Hudson in boats to the dnelling-ground at Weehawken, with their
from the office in 1823, and became law professor in Columbia College the second time. His Commentaries on American Law, four volumes, is a standard work. He died in New York in December, 1847.
* Morgan Lewis was born in New York City in October, 1754, and died there in April, 1844. He was a son of Francis Lewis, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was educated at Princeton ; studied law with John Jay ; entered the Continental army at Cambridge in June, 1775, and was a gallant soldier. serving faithfully until 1780, when he left the army, having been promoted to colonel on the staff of General Gates. He began the practice of law in Duchess County, N. Y. ; married a sister of Chancellor Livingston ; became a judge ; attorney-general of the State in 1791 ; justice of the State Supreme Court and chief justice in 1801. He was Governor of the State in 1804 ; was made quartermaster-general with the rank of brigadier in 1812, and major-general in 1813. He served well during the war. Late in life he devoted himself to literature and agriculture. In 1835 he was president of the New York Historical Society.
375
DEATH OF HAMILTON-MILITARY ACADEMY.
respective seconds-Mr. Van Ness with Burr, Mr. Pendleton with Hamilton. The chosen weapons were pistols. At the given word, Burr took deliberate aim and gave his antagonist a fatal wound. The latter did not fire at Burr. The wounded statesman was taken across the river to the home of his friend, Colonel Bayard, at Greenwich, where he died in the afternoon of the following day. The Federal Party in New York thus lost its most efficient leader, and the nation was de- prived of a mighty pillar of support. The remains of Hamilton rest in Trinity Churchyard, near Broadway.
The death of Hamilton at the hand of Burr created the most intense excitement among all classes of society, first in the city of New York and then throughout the Republic. It was regarded as a deliberate murder. The recollection of Hamilton's past services, his transcendent abilities, his marvellous powers for usefulness as a citizen, caused uni- versal mourning among his countrymen. Even his political enemies dropped a tear of sensibility.
At the moment when Hamilton fell Burr became politically dead. Ile fled from righteous wrath, and became a fugitive. At length he ventured to engage in some mysterious scheme-treasonable it was believed-for his own aggrandizement. He was arrested, and tried on a charge of treason, but escaped conviction. It was virtually a Scoteh verdiet-".Not proven." He lived thirty years afterward in obscurity.
At near the close of the last century a National Military Academy was founded at West Point, among the Hudson Highlands, with pupils composed of cadets attached to corps of artillerists and engineers then stationed there for the purpose. Its first commander, or superintend- ent, was Major Jonathan Williams. The institution rapidly grew in the number of the pupils and in tangible usefulness. The Academy was reorganized in 1812, when the number of cadets was limited to two hundred and sixty. Then the broad foundation upon which the institu- tion now rests was laid. The first graduate of this military academy was the late General Joseph G. Swift, under whose directions the forti- fications on and around New York or Manhattan Island were constructed during the War of 1812-15.
The election of Judge Lewis Governor of the State of New York left the office of Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court vacant. James Kent was soon afterward appointed to fill the seat, and Daniel D. Tompkins was created Associate Justice. Mr. Jefferson was re-elected in the autumn of 1804, with George Clinton as Vice-President.
In a special message in January, 1805, Governor Lewis urged the ap- plication of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands of the State (one
376
THE EMPIRE STATE.
million five hundred thousand acres) to the improvement and elevation of the common schools. The Legislature made an appropriation of five hundred thousand acres for that purpose, and thus was laid the foundation for a permanent school fund. At the same session the Society for Establishing a Free School in the city of New York, for the education of destitute children, was incorporated. De Witt Clinton, the first signer to the petition for the incorporation, was made its first president. It was the legitimate offspring of the Female Association for the Relief of the Poor, founded in 1802 by benevolent women of the Society of Friends. They opened a school for the free education of white girls.
Its influence rapidly extended, and at one time it had several large elementary schools.
The first school of the Society for Establishing a Free School was opened on Madison Street, in May, 1806. Colonel Henry Rutgers soon afterward gave land on Henry Street as a site for a school-house. The pupils increased so rapidly that other buildings were provided. The Legislature, Trinity Church, and the Municipal Corporation gave the society pecuniary aid. In 1808 the name of the society was changed ROBERT FULTON. to Free School Society of the City of New York ; and late in 1809 a school was opened in the old arsenal building," on Chambers Street, as " Public School No. 1." It was held in a room large enough to accom- modate fully five hundred children. It was agreed that the children in the Almshouse should be taught there. At the opening of the school, De Witt Clinton pronounced a memorable address, which was spoken of nearly fifty years afterward in a Public School Report, as " sowing the seed-wheat of all the harvests of education which subsequent years have gathered into our garners."
In the State of New York one of the most important achievements in
* This was a brick building on Chambers Street and Tryon Row. The city corpora- tion appropriated $1500 for the remodelling of the building inside and out, for the pur- pose of a school. Among the most conspicuous working members of the society at that time was De Witt Clinton, Thomas Eddy, Samuel Wood, Thomas Brown, John Griscom, Joseph Curtis, Charles Wilkes, Cadwallader D. Colden, and Dr. John W. Francis.
377
NAVIGATION BY STEAM ON THE HUDSON.
the history of human progress was accomplished in 1807, in the per- manent establishment of steam-navigation. Some feeble attempts to ac- complish this end had been made before in Europe. Robert Fulton,* an American citizen, a professional portrait-painter, had lived some years in Paris, had travelled in Great Britain, and had studied the sub- ject and made some experiments.
In Paris he had interested Chancellor Livingston in steam-navigation projects, and on his re- turn home, in 1806, Fulton, in conjunction with Livingston, built a steamboat far up the Hudson River, and named it the Clermont. She was one hundred and thirty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and was one hundred and sixty tons burden. She was furnished with a Watts & Boulton steam- THE CLERMONT. engine.
On the morning of August 7th, 1807, the Clermont started from New York City on a trial-trip to Albany, one hundred and fifty miles. It was snecessful, and was accomplished in thirty-six hours, against wind and tide. Steam-navigation was now no longer an experiment ; it was a demonstration. On September 1st the Clermont began regular trips over that ronte. Livingston had obtained from the Legislature the exclusive right of steam-navigation on the Hudson for twenty years. In
* Robert Fulton was born in Lancaster County, Penn., in 1765. He was of Irish descent ; died in New York City February 21st, 1815. He became a skilful painter of miniature portraits in Philadelphia, and went to England to study under Benjamin West. He there made himself familiar with the steam-engine, then just improved by Watt, and turned his attention to invention. He was seven years an inmate of Joel Barlow's house in Paris, studying languages and science and considering inventions. One of these was a torpedo for use in naval warfare. He unsuccessfully offered his invention to the French and English governments. He became acquainted in Paris with Robert R. Livingston, and was aided by him pecuniarily in perfecting his invention for navigation by steam. Fulton returned to New York in 1806, and with Livingston built a boat, which was successfully propelled by steam between New York and Albany in 1807. He could not induce his Government to adopt his torpedo. He built steam ferry-boats, and in 1814 the Government appointed him to superintend one or more floating batteries. He built a war steamer (the first ever constructed), which after his death was named Fulton the First.
378
THE EMPIRE STATE.
less than six years from the exploit of the Clermont there were six steam- boats navigating the Hudson, or North River, as it was then usually called.
From the port of New York went out the Savannah, in 1819, the first steam-vessel that crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Europe ; but the regular navigation of the sea was postponed until the summer of 1838, when the Great Western steamship crossed from Bristol and entered the harbor of New York.
. New York was the most famous commercial mart in the United States early in the century, and has remained so. Her merchants suffered severely from the reckless foot- ball-playing with the world's commeree, by Great Britain and France, for several years. By the operation of British Orders in Council, and Decrees issued by the Emperor Napoleon, all American commerce in neutral ships with either of the bellig- erent nations was suspended.
Late in October, 1807, Con- FULTON THE FIRST .* - gress, as a countervailing meas- ure, laid an embargo on all ves- sels in the harbors of the United States. These measures were disastrons to the mercantile and shipping interests of the whole country, and to that of the city of New York especially. The Federalists and many Demo- crats strenuously opposed the Embargo Act, but it was supported by most of the Democratic Party. The Federalists justified the British Orders in Council, and the Democrats justified the French Decrees. The Embargo Act was repealed early in 1809. Another embargo was laid in the spring of 1812. American commerce was now prostrated ; it was annihilated in the ensuing summer by the declaration of war against Great Britain. For several years the trading interests of New York City were subjected to many vicissitudes
* Early in 1814 the first steamship of war was constructed at New York, at Noah Brown's ship-yard, and named Fulton the First. It was a sort of catamaran. The hull consisted of two boats, separated by a channel fifty feet wide. One boat contained the copper boiler for generating steam, the other contained the machinery. The propelling wheel revolved in the space between them. A deek extended over the whole. The vessel was arranged for sails. It was designed for harbor defence. The Fulton the First made a trial-trip a short distance at sea. She made six miles an hour with steam alone. She was only a floating battery.
379
CAUSE OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE FEDERALISTS.
Meanwhile the political quarrels in the State of New York had raged with great violence. The schism in the Democratic Party continued, and yet that party was so powerful in numbers that it continued its domination in the State with continually increasing strength. One fac- tion was led chiefly by the Livingstons, and the other faction was led by De Witt Clinton and his friends. The Federal Party had fallen to rise no more into permanent existence.
The chief cause of the overthrow of the Federal Party was the mis- takes made by earnest but injudicious leaders in taking occasions to show their partiality to the British nation .* This was natural in the fever of excitement, because the Democrats were more demonstrative in tokens of their partiality for the cause of Napoleon, then scourging Europe with his armies. Besides, many Tories of the Revolution and their friends had become attached to the Federal Party, and so increased the animosity and the suspicions of the Democrats.
Although Colonel Burr himself was politically dead and buried, his friends, who formed a considerable faction, were very much alive and aggressive. There appears to be evidence that De Witt Clinton and his friends coqnetted with the " Burrites," in order to gain their support in the warfare with Governor Lewis ; and that as Clinton had not the power at that time to give offices to Burr or his friends, it was proper that he should give " pecuniary" aid, through the medium of the Man- hattan Bank, of which Clinton was a prominent director. + The revela-
* One instance will suffice to illustrate this point. Previous to celebrating the anniver- sary of independence at Albany, in 1805, the Common Council of that city, composed of a majority of Federalists, passed a resolution that the Declaration of Independence should not be read on that occasion, because the reading of that instrument, it was alleged, tended to perpetuate prejudices against the British nation, when the causes of hostility had long since ceased to exist.
+ Matthew L. Davis, the bosom friend and biographer of Colonel Burr, states in a pamphlet, composed of a series of letters published in a newspaper, over the signatures of " Marcus" and " Philo Cato," that in December, 1805, Levi Mckean, a Burrite from Poughkeepsie, a neighbor and friend of General James Tallmadge, a zealous " Clintonian," arrived in New York, and stated to his political friends there that overtures had been made " by the Clintonians to form a union with the Burrites," and that he had conversed with General Bailey, the postmaster, on the subject. Mr. Davis states that early in January, 1806, Colonel Swartwout, Burr's warm friend, accepted an invitation from General Bailey to a personal interview, the latter avowing himself as the agent of De Witt Clinton ; also that an agreement was made that :
1. Colonel Burr should be recognized by the coalition as a Democrat.
2. That attacks upon him should cease, and that the Burrites should not be regarded as returning to the Democratic Party ; and
3. That the friends of Burr should be placed on the same footing as the most favored Clintonians as respected appointments to offices of honor and profit throughout the State.
330
THE EMPIRE STATE.
tions of this coalition and its conditions produced intense indignation in the Democratic Party. At a meeting at Martling's Long Room (Tam- many Hall) it was denounced. Mr. Clinton was then in Albany. He wrote a letter to General Bailey, approving in general of the proceed- ings of the meeting, and declaring that the support of the Democratic Party by the Burrites would be universally agreeable, but it ought not to be purchased by a promise of offices.
DANIEL D. TOMPKINS.
There being menaces of war between the United States and Great Britain, the governor, in his speech at the opening of the Leg- islature in 1806, urged the necessity of placing the State in a position of defence, for it would be exposed to attacks by land on the north and from the sea on the south. Very lit- tle was then done to this end. The National Government built Fort Jay and Castle William on Govern- or's Island, in New York Harbor.
In 1806 the Democrats elected Daniel D. Tompkins * Governor of the State of New York, which position he held from 1807 until 1817. He filled the office with great distinction and efficiency during the trying times of the War of 1812-15. In 1808 the Democrats elected James
Davis further stated that Clinton, with some friends, among them a zealous partisan of Burr, afterward met Colonel Swartwout at the house of General Bailey, when congratula- tions on the coalition were exchanged ; and that in February, at a supper at a hotel near New York, the Clintonians and Burrites exchanged toasts and congratulations.
When these letters appeared Mr. Clinton denied the truth of their allegations, and publicly threatened to prosecute their author for libel. Mr. Davis gave notice that he could prove all his assertions. The case was never brought to trial.
* Daniel D. Tompkins was born in Westchester County, N. Y., in June, 1774, and died on Staten Island in June, 1825. He was educated at Columbia College ; became a lawyer, and in 1801 was a member of the convention that revised the State Constitution. He served in the State Legislature, and was a member of Congress in 1804-1805. He was made a judge of the State Supreme Court in 1804 ; was chosen governor in 1806, and served ten consecutive years, and was elected Vice-President of the United States in 1816. He was chancellor of the University of the State of New York, and president of the convention, in 1821, which revised the State Constitution. He had recommended, by a special message to the Legislature, the abolition of slavery in the State of New York. Owing to reports of crookedness in his public financial affairs, he failed to secure a nom- ination for the Presidency of the United States, for which he was an aspirant.
381
BRITISH ORDERS IN COUNCIL UNREPEALED.
Madison President of the United States, with George Clinton Vice- President. These gentlemen took their official seats in the spring of 1809.
The great business depression, in consequence of the embargo and the quarrels of the Democratic factions, caused a temporary revival of the strength of the Federal Party, and at the spring election in 1809 they gained ascendency in the State of New York-the first time in ten years.
The act repealing the Embargo Law went into effect on June 10th, 1809. On that day there were public rejoicings throughout the State, and particularly in the city of New York. But the jubilant feelings of the people were soon repressed by the peremptory refusal of the British Government to repeal the Orders in Council, in accordance with a treaty made with its accredited agent. This refusal caused intense indignation against the British authorities, which the Federalists were powerless to assuage.
382
THE EMPIRE STATE.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE great canal which bisects the State of New York, from the Hud- son River to Lake Erie, a distance of three hundred and sixty-three miles, is a monument of unsurpassed magnificence, commemorative of the profound statesmanship, the prophetic wisdom, the far-reach- ing sagacity, and the exalted public spirit of the leaders of opinion in the State during the earlier years of this century.
Who first conceived the grand idea of so wedding the great lakes and the beautiful river is an un- solved question. Undoubtedly it was nebulous in the minds of many GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. thoughtful persons before it found symmetrical expression. Perhaps it was a dream of Joel Barlow the poet (who so early as the year 1787 gave to the world his " Vision of Columbus") when he wrote :
" He saw, as widely spreads th' inchannell'd plain, Where inland realms for ages bloom'd in vain, Canals, long winding, ope a watery flight, And distant streams, and seas, and lakes unite.
" From fair Albania, toward the setting sun, Back through the midland length'ning channels run ; And the fair lakes, their beauteous towns that lave, And Hudson's joined to fair Ohio's wave."
A dozen years later Gouverneur Morris,* while he was on a tour to the
Gouverneur Morris was born at Morrisania, N. Y., in 1752, and died there in November, 1816. He was a son of Chief-Justice Lewis Morris ; was a graduate of King's College, and became a practising lawyer in 1771. In 1775 he was a delegate to the New York Provincial Congress, and one of the committee that drafted the State Constitution. From 1777 to 1780 he was a member of the Continental Congress, and was an efficient member of several committees. In 1780 he removed to Philadelphia, where, thrown from his carriage, his leg was fractured, and amputation was necessary. In 1786 he
383
SUGGESTION OF THE ERIE CANAL.
Falls of the Niagara, uttered a few prophetic words in a letter to a friend in London. After alluding to the budding commerce on the lakes, and the probability that swarms of ships would appear there in the near future, he wrote :
"Shall I lead your astonishment up to the verge of credulity ? I will. Know, then, that one-tenth part of the expense borne by Britain in the last campaign [against Bonaparte] would enable ships to sail from London through the Hudson River into Lake Erie."
To friends at home Morris suggested a direct canal from Lake Erie through the centre of the State to the Hudson. In 1803 he submitted an outline of a plan of such a work to Simeon De Witt, the Surveyor- General of the State, who regarded it as visionary. In conversation with James Geddes, a land surveyor of Onondaga County, the next year, De Witt told him of the impracticable plan of Morris. Geddes viewed the matter in a different light. He regarded it as the best that had been suggested. He conferred with Jesse Hawley, a sagacious and public- spirited citizen of Central New York. The latter, satisfied of the feasi- bility of the project, wrote a series of essays on the subject, over the sig- nature of " Hercules." They were published in a Pittsburgh paper and in the Genesee Messenger, at Canandaigua, during the years 1807 and 1808, and commanded wide and earnest attention. They were the first writ- ings ever put forth in favor of the Erie Canal.
In 1808 Joshua Forman, an intimate associate of Mr. Geddes, was a member of the New York Assembly, and on February 4th intro- duced a resolution, with a preamble, for the appointment of a joint committee to " take into consideration the propriety of exploring and causing an accurate survey to be made of the most eligible and direct route for a canal to open communication between the waters of the Hudson River and Lake Erie, to the end that Congress may be enabled to appropriate such sums as may be necessary to the accomplishment of that great national object." *
retired to the estate at Morrisania as sole owner. He was the colleague of Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance in 1781. The literary construction of the National Constitu- tion is the work of his hands. He was sent minister to France in 1792, returned home in 1798, and was chosen senator in 1800. He was a canal commissioner from their first appointment until his death. In politics he was a Federalist.
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.