USA > New York > New York City > The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume II > Part 14
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" fairy foreland, set With willow weed and mallow,"
the resort of the angler, or the huntsman in pursuit of ducks, perhaps a favorite place for summer-day parties. Those fond of a walk in the country could have had that pleasure easily gratified, even if their
LORD LOVELACE AND THE SECOND CANADIAN CAMPAIGN 107
residence were on Bowling Green or Hanover Square. At the corner of Maiden Lane and Broadway they would have left the houses behind them. Then passing along the line of Boston Road or Park Row, or crossing the uncultivated fields of the Commons, over the site of the Post-office and the municipal and other buildings, they would finally come to the banks of this cool lake. Yet the city itself afforded many an umbrageous thoroughfare, the sides of most of the streets being planted with beech-trees and the fragrant locust. During Mayor Wilson's term a special permission was given the residents on Broad- way to plant trees (but not tie-posts for horses) along their house- fronts; while at the same time this street received a pavement ex- tending from Bowling Green to Wall street, doubtless to facilitate attendance at "Old Trinity " in all weathers. A walk along the present Pearl street would have given as uninterrupted a view of the East River as a similar saun- ter along South street does to-day. Here then, as now, was the chief moorage for large sailing vessels coming from or going on long sea- voyages. But around on the other side of the island, along the North River front, virgin nature was as yet undis- turbed. The shores of New Jersey, far beyond the broad stream, were not more ver- dant and free from the pres- ence of shipping than those of the future location of the HEIDELBERG CASTLE. scores of piers for "ocean greyhounds," and the palatial steamers that swiftly cleave the waters of the Hudson every summer day. Indeed, West street itself, with all its surprising characteristics (some not very creditable to our city), had yet to be created out of the shelving beach or submerged rocks that permitted the tides to lave the rear of Trinity churchyard.
The mode of paving the streets deserves a word. The pavements in those early days did not extend all the way across the thorough- fare. Along the houses ran a narrow foot-path of large red bricks laid flat; a sidewalk it might be called, but not, as now, raised above the
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
level of the general roadway. Next to this ran a strip of cobblestone pavement, not above ten feet in width, measured from the line of the houses on either side. This left the center of the street in a "state of nature," of which the rain knew how to take advantage, scooping out for itself gulleys or gutters, by means of which so much of it as was not absorbed by the soil sought the rivers or ponds or pools. And this improvised and "self-made " sewerage, or involuntary surface drainage, was all the sewerage which the city then possessed. Yet in this way also were replenished the half-dozen wells or cisterns placed in the center of prominent thoroughfares, whence were drawn sup- plies of water in case of fire. Just at this time, too, "new and more stringent regulations were passed in respect to fires, the fire-wardens were directed to keep strict watch of all hearths and chimneys within the city, and to see that the fire-buckets were hung up in their right places throughout the wards; and two hooks and eight ladders were purchased at the public expense for the use of the embryo fire depart- ment."1 Careful and provident as the measures against fire have ordinarily been in our city, yet it is curious to observe that each of the three centuries of its history has known a general conflagration: that of 1627 or 1628, as told by Domine Michaelius; that of 1776, when the British were in occupation; and that of 1835, within the memory of men still living. Then, as always, the commerce of the city was assured, giving large returns, though not even yet without the taint of collusion with piracy. As for manufactures, the history of these had not yet begun for our great city. The citizens, indeed, were yearning to put forth their enterprise and skill and wealth in this direction. But it was systematically repressed and sternly for- bidden by the mother-country. Nothing must be done to the "preju- dice of our manufactorys at home," was the constant reminder. Yet American industry was irrepressible. The people of the city and province were "already so far advanced," wrote Colonel Caleb Heath- cote in 1708, " in their manufactoryes that # of ye linen & wollen they use is made amongst them, espetially the courser sort." The great landowner himself ached to enter upon a very important branch of industry, that of ship-building. "I hoped and believed and am mor- ally sure, as to myself even beyond a doubt, that I could have built and furnished the crown with all the light frigates that would have been wanted for this coast and the West Indies."2 But Heathcote had to content himself with a deliberate refusal, and bear it with the best grace a loyal Briton could. Yet the lords of trade were per- fectly willing to make this country a depot for naval stores. Lord Lovelace, in a letter dated March,9, 1709, and which therefore proba- bly never reached him, was enjoined to encourage the making of pitch
1 Miss Booth, "History of New-York City," p. 284. 2 Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 5 : 63, 64.
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LORD LOVELACE AND THE SECOND CANADIAN CAMPAIGN 109
and tar, and " to consider a proper Method for preserving the Masts and Timber in the Woods, that are fit for the use of her Majesty's Royal Navy."1 But beyond this the American colonists must not presume to go. And thus the mother-country checked the best development of her transatlan- tie citizens; thus she fondly and foolishly pre- pared the way for their vio- lent separation, while imagining that her course in this matter would prevent that very issue. "By restricting American man- ufactures, the board of trade, the ministry, the united voice of Great Brit- ain, proposed to guarantee de- pendence. No sentiment won more universal acceptance. . . . The mercantile RUINED TOWER OF HEIDELBERG.2 restrictive system was the superstition of that age. Capitalists wor- shipped it; statesmen were overawed by it; philosophers dared not
1 Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 5: 72.
2 The thousands of Americans who have made pilgrimages to Heidelberg to look upon the pictur- esque ruins of the old castle will hear with regret that at the present writing the Grand Duke of Baden is considering plans for its restoration. Several months ago a commission was appointed to examine the architectural condition of the for- mer residence of the counts palatine, and to decide whether its restoration was possible. The re- port of the commission, which has just been made public, is favorable to the grand duke's plan, de-
claring that the castle can be readily transformed into a fitting home for his Royal Highness. The people of Heidelberg, however, object seriously to the proposed restoration, and it is possible that they will be able to prevent it entirely. They well know that the famous castle, with its broken walls and shattered towers, is the chief attraction for strangers in the city on the Neckar, and de- clare that if it be restored half of their revenue at least will be lost. The Grand Duke of Baden is wealthy, and has already many palatial homes. Paradoxical as it may seem, it would be inexcus-
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK ·
question it."1 Unfortunately for England, it led to the Revolution, and that great shock awakened the mother-country to her folly.
The brief administration of Lord Lovelace, which some writers dis- miss with a single sentence, and to which even elaborate histories of our city devote not more than a paragraph,2 was nevertheless distin- guished by two notable circumstances. Attention has already been called to one of these: that Bancroft saw in this period the beginning of that great legislative battle which resulted in our national inde- pendence. But to this administration is also to be traced the begin- ning of German emigration to America. Germans had been found in New Amsterdam from its earliest settlement. The first director- general, Peter Minuit, is by many thought to have been one, and it is certain that he was born in Wesel, a city of Germany. Director Stuyvesant had an opportunity to annoy a body of German Luther- ans by sending back to Europe the pastor they had presumed to call. Jacob Leisler was a German, but a communicant of the German Re- formed Church, and not a Lutheran, for this reason readily affiliating with and even bearing office in the Dutch Reformed Church. But not until the time of Lord Lovelace had there been any large body of Ger- man people coming over together. Such a movement has usually been thought to have commenced under his successor. But the thousands of souls that came over with Colonel Hunter formed but a wave in that great tide of emigration which had already set in toward these shores.
As Lord Lovelace was appointed in March, 1708, there was laid be- fore the queen in June a petition from the Rev. Joshua Kocherthal, asking that he himself and fourteen other persons of the Protestant Lutheran religion, from the provinces of the Palatinate and Holstein, might be sent to America at the expense of the English government. In this petition and in other documents that passed in correspondence on the subject, mention is made of forty-one other people of the same nationality and religion who had already been granted the privileges asked for, and who were soon to sail.3 It having been carefully ascer- tained that these fourteen additional persons had truthfully presented their case, and that they were equally in need and worthy of aid as objects of her charity, the queen graciously gave them their wish. One strong plea in favor of these Germans at this time was, that they were sufferers at the hands of the common enemy-the French. It is not at all necessary to go back to the Thirty Years' War, which had ended sixty years before, to find the causes for their present ex- ceeding distress.4 The Palatinate had been swept with fire and sword
able vandalism on the part of his Royal Highness to transform these ruins into a modern home. 1 Bancroft, " United States," 2: 241, 242.
2 It is worthy of mention that in Cooper's
" Water Witch " there is no allusion to Lord Love-
lace at all; but Governor Hunter, called "Mister Hunter" by Cornbury, is scornfully referred to by the latter as immediately succeeding him.
$ Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 5: 44, 53.
" Mrs. Lamb's " History of New-York," 1: 484.
LORD LOVELACE AND THE SECOND CANADIAN CAMPAIGN 111
by Louis XIV. in 1688; and again, during the war now in progress, these parts of Germany had been made to feel the brunt of the con- flict until the battle of Blenheim, in 1704, had driven the armies of France back across her borders.
These fifty-five German emigrants were distributed among thirteen families, consisting of twenty-nine adults and twenty-six children, the latter ranging between the ages of fifteen years and six months. Be- sides the minister, the occupations of the others were as follows: eleven farm-laborers, some of whom were also vine-dressers, one a "stocking-maker," and one a blacksmith. There was also one carpen- ter and joiner in the party, and one is registered as a clerk. As Lord Lovelace was proceeding to America at the same time, he relieved the government of the charge of two of the men, whom he engaged as servants for himself and family.' The board of trade also recom- mended that before their departure from England they be invested with the rights of British citizenship, and that the usual allowance of twenty pounds ($100) for books and clothes to clergymen of the Church of England on going out to the colonies be granted to Mr. Kocherthal. Lord Lovelace was also directed to see to it that the minister received a portion of land for a glebe, not exceeding five hundred acres .? These preliminaries having been made, the Germans were embarked upon the Globe, one of the vessels of the squadron which was to convey the governor to New-York; and we learn from his letter to the lords of trade that, in addition to the roughness of the voyage, the emi- grants and recruits upon this vessel suffered from a scarcity of water, which the others could not relieve because the tempestuous weather prevented access to her.3 In the summer of 1709 another large num- ber of Palatines were sent over by the English government, at a cost of between three and four pounds each; they were generously sup- plied with agricultural implements and building-tools at an expense of forty shillings each, and for their subsistence in America for one year after settlement on "waste lands" along the Hudson, provision was made at the rate of five pounds each. But some of her Majesty's subjects murmured, and "objected that should these people be settled on the Continent of America, they will fall upon Woollen and other Manufactories to the prejudice of the Manufactures of this Kingdom now consumed in these Parts." The lords of trade at once quieted these fears by reminding the objectors that the province of New-York was not under a proprietary but a crown government, and hence "such mischievous practice may be discouraged and checqued much easier" there than elsewhere.' Thus, in extreme poverty and feeble- ness, with much distress and suffering, began that mighty flow of
1 Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 5: 52, 53. + I bid., 5: 87, 88. 2 Ibid., 5: 54, 63. 3 Ibid., 5: 67.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
German emigration which has attained such enormous proportions in our own century, and which, while supplying our entire re- public with millions of valuable citizens who have called forth untold treasures from our natural resources, as well as in the way of manu-
John Bruger and Hindert Sihay For Ovlasy! joints and Jounaly apporter to Beatris Bügel window, natural ou Legitimate . Portar of Ouvert ban Purities lato of the of New york Merchant De having rail Ouzool Van Jurita's Opal in Fuel the wind Beating & de Inest the same to ai grantor to Join Guy absent : Given at Hun Yorke this 15th Day of Summary god
LOVELACE DOCUMENT.
facturing industries, has at the same time made New-York third or fourth in rank among cities populated by Germans.
Not five months had elapsed since Lord Lovelace had landed in the city, the assembly of the province was still in session, and was about to pass upon its first act, when the whole community was startled by the news that the governor's illness, which had never left him during all his stay, had suddenly taken an alarming turn. One of his children, Wentworth, the second son, had already succumbed to the same com- plaint in April; another, John, the oldest, was seriously affected by
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LORD LOVELACE AND THE SECOND CANADIAN CAMPAIGN 113
it; and doubtless grief at his child's death aggravated the father's malady. The skill of the physicians of that date could hardly be ex- pected to cope successfully with pneumonia, which so ruthlessly and swiftly carries off its victims even to-day. Ere long, therefore, on May 6, 1709, the dreaded announcement came that Lord Lovelace had died, in the flower of his age and upon the threshold of a new and honorable career. A genuine sorrow filled every citizen, increased, it may well be supposed, by sympathy with the bereaved lady, watch- ing by the side of the hopeless sick-bed of her eldest born, who fol- lowed his father to the grave within two weeks.1 To give outward expression to this general and proper sentiment, insignia of mourning were everywhere apparent, and the council directed the mayor to "prohibit the acting of any play or plays, and the fighting of any prize or prizes, till further orders."2 A few days later (May 12) the obsequies took place, on which occasion the Rev. William Vesey preached a sermon from the text in Psalm xxxvii. 37, " Mark the per- fect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." At the close he spoke these appropriate and appreciative sentences : "I was once almost resolved against Funeral Panegyricks, as being full of Difficulty, full of Censure, but on this extraordinary Occasion Duty obliged me to assist with fragrant spices in embalming the blessed Memory, to strew Flowers on the Hearse, and to shed some Tears at the Funeral Obsequies of so great, so good a Man. The su- pream Governour of the World seemed to have Mark't out this deceased Peer of Great Britain, even in his early days, to have made an Illus- trious Figure, and to have been an Instrument of much good to Man- kind: for Nature had endow'd him with a Magistick and amiable
1 It was not long after this that the line of the Barons of Hurley became extinct. The third son, Nevil. succeeded as baron in 1709, but died in 1736 without issue. At the time that the older branch failed in male descendants, and Governor Lord Lovelace succeeded to the title as fourth baron, Martha, a daughter of the third baron, be- came Baroness Wentworth in her mother's right. She married Sir William Noel, from whom de- scended Anna Isabella Noel, daughter of Sir Ralph Milbank, Lord Byron's wife. Lady Byron after- ward succeeded to the title of Baroness Went- worth. Byron's daughter Ada, celebrated in "Childe Harold," was married in 1835 to Viscount Ockham. In 1838 this nobleman, who is still liv- ing. was created Earl of Lovelace, the name being revived in consideration of the fact that his wife was the representative of the family, whose name had become extinct through failure of male issue -a family whose founder appears among the six hundred and twenty-nine names of William the Conqueror's chiefs borne on the Battle Abbey Roll of 1066. who shared the lands and distinctions of the followers of the defeated Harold. What has happened to the Lovelaces has occurred to many even more illustrious English families. VOL. II .- 8.
Alnwick Castle has been charmingly described by an American poet, who was there in the summer of 1822, as
" Home of the Percy's high-born race"; but the last of the line died more than two hun- dred years ago, and for a century the proud dukes of Northumberland have been descendants of a female branch, bearing, not the knightly name of Percy, but the prosaic one of Smithson ; and it is to a member of that family that our nation is indebted for the noble endowment known as the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D. C. See Banks's "Dormant and Extinct Baronages," 3 : 498, 499; also Burke's " Peerage." In Motley's "Correspondence" (New-York, 1889). 2 : 301, there is this reference, under date July 26, 1858: "I went over to Lord Lovelace's . . . I like Lady Annabella King, the daughter of Ada Byron, very much. She has much talent, very agreeable man- ners, and a good deal of fun, plays and paints admirably, and has evidently a very sweet dispo- sition." Page333 : "Lily [now Lady William Vernon Harcourt] goes up to town every Tuesday, gener- ally passing the day with her friend, Lady Anna- bella King, at her grandmother's, old Lady Byron." 2 "Council Minutes," 10: 303 (May 6, 1709).
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Countenance, an obliging and grateful Disposition, a generous Spirit and yet a humble Mind, quick Apprehensions and a sound Judgment. Our Dread Sovereign, Queen Anne, after he had done considerable service for his country both at Home and abroad, was pleased to com- mit to his government the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, whose Inhabitants, however divided among themselves, universally conspired to love and reverence his Person and to express their Satis- faction under his just and benigne Conduct."1
Immediately upon Lord Lovelace's death the functions of head of the state devolved temporarily upon Colonel Peter Schuyler, as presi- dent of the council. Richard Ingoldesby had been appointed lieu- tenant-governor under Lord Cornbury in the year 1702, at the time that the province of New Jersey was added to the jurisdiction of the governor of New-York. It was intended by this arrangement that while one officer was present in one province, the other might preside over the affairs of the other. An experience of four years led the lords of trade to recommend to the queen that she revoke Ingoldes- by's commission, with which she complied at once. The order in some way failed to be properly prepared, or it failed to reach him, and thus he retained the position, so to speak, by default, continuing even under Cornbury's successor. Therefore, being the lieutenant- governor de facto, if not de jure, or by intention of the queen, on Lord Lovelace's death he was summoned in haste from New Jersey, and took charge of the government on May 9. It was not a new experi- ence for him. At the equally unexpected and sudden demise of Gover- nor Sloughter in 1691, he had been intrusted with the duties of chief magistrate, on the ground of being the next in military command. He had remained in the colony under Fletcher and Bellomont, but served only in a military capacity until 1702. No sooner did the news of Governor Lovelace's death, and the consequent elevation of In- goldesby, reach the lords of trade, than they forthwith renewed their application for his removal. On September 17 of this same year Queen Anne signed the second revocation, and care was taken that it was properly transmitted. On receiving the document which constituted his official decapitation, Ingoldesby resigned the government into the hands of the worthy Dr. Gerardus Beeckman, who, in the absence of Peter Schuyler, was senior member and president of the council .?
1 " New-York Historical Society Collectives for 180. * pp. 331. 3%. 33 ..
: Dos nel l'bl. Hist. N. Y., 3: 3. 90. 92. An ex- tract from the " ('ouacil Minutes " (tv: 473) is both interesting and instructive on this point of the summary dismissal of lagukinder: " April 10. 1710 .Gerardus Beekman, Prvaikat! Cull. Beek- man Communist in the Council a Lett which Ww wwe'll yesterday wur ber Majesties Signett & Nga Manuell given ant Wimbur the Stb of Oo-
tober Last directed to y' President of the Coun- eill in y' Province of New York, Signifying that her Majestic has been informed that Severall un- due grants of Land in the Province have been passed since the Death of my Lord Lovelace for the Preventing the like abuse for the future her Majestic does thereby Signify that She has thought fitt with the advice of her Privy Councill to ord" that we Grants of Land be made in this Province till the Arrivall of Robert Hunter Eeq. Governour
LORD LOVELACE AND THE SECOND CANADIAN CAMPAIGN 115
This occurred in April, 1710; and three months later Robert Hunter, the next governor, arrived.
Ingoldesby signalized the beginning of his administration by exercis- ing his authority in an exceedingly unworthy manner, by behavior not only ungentlemanly, but inexcusably unfeeling. This was the harsh treatment of Lady Lovelace, the bereaved wife and mother. It was of such a nature, indeed, that she found it expedient to betake herself to the ship which was to carry her back in her forlorn condition to Europe as if she were a fugitive from justice. Her own words best describe the disgraceful episode. In a let- ter to the lords of trade she writes: "Soon after the dismal death of my Dear Husband, and Eldest Son, in the midst of my afflictions (which were and are the most sor- rowfull that ever befell a poor Woman) Col. Ingoldesby came to me, and Demanded the Papers I had in my hands; I told him they were sent for by Lord Sunderland, Secr' of State, and show'd him his Lord" lett", he told me he did not value Lord Sunderland's lett", 'twas nothing to him, and in very ruff and threatning terms told me that I shou'd not stir from New-York `till I had given him the said pa- Jam Rehh pers; Both my self and friends told him I shou'd complain of his severe usage when I came to Eng- land, he answer'd he valued it not, and that England was at a great Distance, and he well knew when another Gov" came over he shou'd be removed: but notwithstanding his Hectoring me, I did at midnight get the trunk of Papers and myself on Ship board, and so prevented my confinement. . . . Also Captain Symons belonging to one of the Companies in a very bullying manner wou'd not let me Re- move several things that we put into the Fort and paid for."1 Fortu-
appointed for the same and her Majestie haveing thereby likewise thought fitt to revoke annull and determine the Commission formerly granted to Rich' Ingoldsby Esq. constituting & appointing him L' Gov' of y' said Province the administra- tion whereof will devolve upon the President of the Councill does therefore declare unto him her Pleasure concerning the Premisses prohibitting the Passing any Grants of Lands in the said Pro- vince. And Coll. Schuyler being att Present ab- sent from this Province Coll. Beekman who is the next Councillor named to him in her Mate Instruc-
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