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 48
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The line of jurisdiction between New-York and the Massachusetts Bay was settled in June by a conference at Hartford; which Tryon at- tended, and in an agreement which was approved by the king. The New Hampshire grant difference assumed such alarming proportions that in September the governor was compelled to call upon Major-Gen- eral Haldimand ' for troops to protect New-York settlers under New- York titles in the disputed territory. Haldimand replied that in his opinion, in the present circumstances in America, it appeared to him of a dangerous tendency to employ regular troops where there are militia laws, but that still he would consent should the governor persist in his
1 Colonel of the Royal American regiment of foot in New-York. General Gage, after a grand enter- tainment to the merchants and the military gen-
tlemen, at the Province Arms, had sailed in June for England.
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demand. The matter being referred to Dartmouth, he answered that the king did not "think fit that his Majesty's troops should be drawn out in aid of the civil power in the colonies unless in cases of absolute and unavoidable necessity," and disapproved of the requisition. Holt has no notice of the celebration of the anniversary of the stamp act this year; but the independent companies of militia were received on the king's birthday, after which General Gage gave the entertainment alluded to. Sailing a few days later, he carried with him the respect and the attachment of the citizens. He embarked on the Earl of Dun- more, at Murray's wharf (foot of Wall street), under salute of nineteen guns and a similar salute from the battery. General Haldimand left his command at Pensacola on April 23, and succeeded General Gage in the general command of the king's forces in North America. He resided in the house Gage had occupied in Broad street.
In June word was received that all the New England governments had concurred with the assembly of Virginia in the appointment of committees of correspondence for the preservation of their rights and liberties. Hutchinson in Massachusetts and Dunmore in Virginia had strained the cord too tightly. Hutchinson had declared that he knew no line that could be drawn between the supreme authority of parlia- ment and the total independence of the colonies; Dunmore and the Virginia assembly were in no better accord. The House of Burgesses of Virginia took up the common cause, and directed, in so many words, her committee of correspondence "to watch Britain, and com- municate with the other colonies." New-York, under a milder, more temperate, and less exasperating government, waited quietly the course of events. Her assembly was already prorogued, so that no answer could be made to the summons of Virginia. In July the twenty-third regiment of Welsh Fusileers, Colonel Bernard, arrived from England, and were reviewed by General Haldimand on the plain near the ship- yard on the East River. They wore sprigs of oak-leaves in their hats in memory of the battle of Minden, where they distinguished them- selves. The same month two companies of the royal train of artillery embarked for England in transports at the watering-place (Staten Isl- and). In September the newly appointed governor of the New-York Hospital attended Tryon from the fort to the Ranelagh garden, be- tween Reade and Duane streets, where the corner-stone of that well- known building, which long adorned Broadway, was laid.
In August the East India Company applied to parliament for license to export tea duty free to America, under the act of parliament authorizing it. They at first hesitated; but history recites that Lord North urged their action, saying, " It is to no purpose making objec- tions, for the King will have it so. The King means to try the question with America." That New-York was still loyal appears by the cele-
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bration of September 22, Coronation Day, by a review of the militia on the green near the liberty pole.
The news of the determination of the East India Company to send to each of the cities of Philadelphia, New-York, and Boston six hundred chests of tea for sale at vendue, or storage in warehouses, reached New- York on October 7. It was stated in the London advices that it was a scheme of Lord North to trick the colonies into an acknow- ledgment of the right of England to impose taxes on them. The next issue of the journal of Holt, under the title of " Alarm," in an article signed " Hampden," informed the people of the corruption by which the new charter of the East India Company had been carried through parliament. Just as before, however, advices came from London that the Earl of Dartmouth had pro- posed an abolishment of the various governments, and their consolida- tion into one, with New-York for a metropolis, each province to be rep- resented,-the old plan attributed to, but probably never entertained by, Pitt. On the 14th, Holt pub- lished a letter from "Scevola" to the commissioners of the East India Company for the sale of tea in America. It compared them with Samuel Auchmuty ) the stamp-masters, and warned them that the freemen of America would never give a sanction to their office. "Hampden " followed in the next issue with a letter headed "Alarm," and " Philoleutheros" with a sav- age invective: "Do not hesitate, do not deliberate, then, what course to pursue, till you have kindled a flame of resentment which nothing but your blood may be able to extinguish."
On Friday, October 15, in accordance with the call of a printed ad- vertisement, a meeting was held at noon at the Coffee House to agree upon a measure of thanks to the captains of the London ships trad- ing with the port of New-York for their refusal to take the East India Company's tea on board; a duty having been laid on it by par- liament, payable in America on importation. A letter of thanks was agreed upon. The Philadelphians on the 16th, at a public meeting held at the State House, agreed upon a patriotic declaration of rights and "to prevent a violation of them by the importation of tea." On October 28 later advices from London gave information that the East
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India Company had determined on sending out three vessels with tea. Again letters in the journals kept alive the popular resentment. " Alarm," in the issue of November 11, recapitulated in detail the action of the merchants under the resolution of June 12, 1770, and that of the rescinding of this agreement, ex- cept as to the importation of tea. On November 3, Tryon informed the Earl of Dartmouth of the "tumult in the minds of the citizens," but expressed his opinion that the peace of the city would be preserved. The next day news arrived from Boston that the people had ordered the attendance at the liberty tree of the consignees of tea expected at that port, but that their summons had been treated with contempt. On November 29 a hand- bill was issued in New-York announ- cing the formation of an " Association THE MACOMB MANSION. under the name and style of the Sons of Liberty of New-York," and "that the subscribers engaged faith- fully to observe and perform the following resolutions:
1st. Resolved, that whoever shall aid or abet or in any manner assist in the introduc- tion of Tea from any place whatsoever into this Colony while it is subject by a British act of Parliament to the payment of a duty for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, he shall be deemed an enemy to the Liberties of America.
2d. Resolved, that whoever shall be aiding or assisting in the landing or carting of such Tea from any ship or vessel or shall hire any house store-house or cellar or any place whatsoever to deposit the Tea subject to a duty as aforesaid, he shall be deemed an enemy to the Liberties of America.
3d. Resolved, that whoever shall sell or buy or in any manner contribute to the sale or purchase of Tea subject to a duty as aforesaid or shall aid or abet in the transport- ing such Tea by land or water from this city until the 7th George III Chapter 46 com- monly called the Revenue Act, shall be totally and clearly repealed, he shall be deemed an enemy to the Liberties of America.
4th. Resolred, that whether the duties on Tea imposed by this act be paid in Great Britain or in America our liberties are equally affected.
5th. Resolved, that who ever shall transgress any of these resolutions we will not deal with or employ or have any connection with him."
On the back of this handbill or circular appeared a letter or appeal dated December 4, signed by the committee of association, and ad- dressed to " the Friends of Liberty and Trade of the City and County of New-York," which therefore is the first positive evidence that this rival and, as before stated, more conservative class had a corporate
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existence. The letter called the attention of the latter body to a letter signed "Rusticus," of November 27, which was ascribed to John Dickin- son of Pennsylvania, the author of the famous papers of the Penn- sylvania farmers, inviting a union of all classes in a quiet but determined resistance, and beseeching harmony. The committee invited signatures to the agreement of the association.
It having been reported that Henry White, merchant and member of the council, Abraham Lott, and Mr. Benjamin were appointed com- missioners for the sale of East India Company tea in the colony, a meeting was held at the house of Captain Doran, at which a committee was appointed to wait on those gentlemen and ask their intentions. They were answered that no commissions had been received ; that should they be, their contents would be made public, and that if it came liable to American duty, they, the commissioners, would decline to execute the commission. Again called upon on the 25th, the gentle- men said that advices of their appointment had been received ; and on a third visit they said, "The agents since find that the Tea will come liable to the American duty; and agreeable to their former promise have declined receiving and selling it under that predicament." On the same day the Boston commissioners refused to resign, and asked protection of the government; in consequence of which a great meet- ing was held at Faneuil Hall on November 29, and a committee of correspondence chosen to confer with the other colonies. Of this committee, five in number, Samuel Adams and John Hancock were members. On the 28th the Dartmouth, consigned to Mr. Rotch, with an invoice of the East India Company's tea on board, arrived in Bos- ton Harbor, and by the governor's advice was anchored below the castle; but the captain, coming to town, was ordered at his peril to bring up the vessel to the city, where it was put under an armed guard. Some tea, it seems, had already been privately imported into Boston. This was ordered to be returned in the same vessels on which it came. The meeting resolved "that by thus importing said tea they have justly incurred the displeasure of our brethren in the other Colonies, and further that all concerned in any further importa- tion should be deemed enemies to their country." This was aggravat- ing enough and sufficient justification for the mistrust the New-York merchants felt of non-importation agreements unsupported by ade- quate power to enforce them-a mistrust which will again appear.
The articles of association of the Sons of Liberty of New-York were published in Holt's journal of December 16, with the announcement that they were signed by a great number of the principal gentlemen of the city, merchants, lawyers, and other inhabitants of all ranks, and would be carried about the city for general signature. In the oscilla- tion of opinion the Sons of Liberty again took the front. The same
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day the committee summoned a meeting of the association for the next day at the City Hall, and every friend of liberty and trade of America was invited to attend. In spite of the stormy weather, a large number of citizens appeared, and were addressed by John Lamb, who communicated a letter from the Boston committee of correspon- dence, and also one from Philadelphia. A committee of fifteen was chosen to reply. This committee of correspondence was called the New-York committee. The New-York articles of association were then read, and unanimously agreed to. The mayor of the city, accom- panied by the recorder, then entered the meeting, and announced a message from the governor in these words: " The Governor declares that the Tea will be put into the Fort at noon-day; and engages his honour that it shall continue there until the Council shall advise it to be delivered out or till the King's order or the proprietor's order is known; and then the Tea will be delivered out at noon-day." "Gen- tlemen," said the mayor, "is this satisfactory to you ?" This was an- swered with a general "No! No! No!" Mr. Lamb then read the act of parliament, and, stating that the duty was to be paid on the land- ing, put the question : "Is it then your opinion, Gentlemen, that the Tea should be landed under this circumstance ?" This was carried so generally in the negative that a division was not called for. The ac- tion of Philadelphia and Boston was then approved, and the meeting adjourned to wait the arrival of the tea-ship, when it was again to assemble. The same day news was received from Charleston, South Carolina, that the tea-ship for that port had arrived, but that the citi- zens would not permit the tea to be landed. In fact, however, a land- ing was permitted, but the tea was stored, and allowed to rot in damp cellars, where it was guarded.
On the very day of these decisive proceedings at New-York, Boston was in a state of even greater excitement. Mr. Rotch, the consignee of the Dartmouth, having shown dilatoriness in returning the vessel with the tea to England, a committee appointed from Boston and the neighboring towns sent for him, and asked his intentions. He was then enjoined to demand a clearance for his vessel. This being re- fused by the collector, and the governor declining to interfere, the committee repaired to the old South Church, where a great meeting was held. Here Rotch declared that "he would not return his vessel with the tea in her"; whereupon, undoubtedly on a preconcerted signal (it is said, a war-whoop from the gallery or the door), a party rushed to Griffin's wharf, where the three vessels-the Dartmouth, a bark, and a brig-with tea on board then lay. These they board- ed, and, unlading the tea, broke up the boxes, and threw the con- tents overboard. The hour was shortly after dusk. This was that Boston tea-party, the fame of which went throughout all the land.
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The Philadelphia ship arrived on December 25, and was the next day returned to England. The year closed, but the New-York ship did not arrive. Sufficient has been said to show that there was no doubt about the intentions of the people with regard to the landing of the tea. Tryon had made arrangements with Captain Ascough, of his Majesty's ship Swan, to take the vessel under his protection.
The year closed with a terrible tragedy. On the night of December 29 the government house in Fort George accidentally took fire, and burned so rapidly that in two hours it was entirely consumed. The governor, his wife, and daughter narrowly escaped with their lives. Miss Tryon, leaping from a second-story window into the deep snow, was fortunately unhurt, but a maid-servant perished in the flames. The governor and his lady escaped by a door leading to the ramparts. But for the heavy snow on the roofs of the houses of the city a dangerous conflagration would have re- sulted. The governor lost a large amount of valuable prop- erty, his wife her jewels, but STOREHOUSE, TURTLE BAY.1 the great seal was found uninjured on the evening of the 31st. The people sympathized with the governor in his trial and loss, but pro- tests were made against rebuilding the house. For it was pertinently asked, since the crown had for its own purpose made the governor independent of the people, by arranging henceforth to pay his salary directly, why they should be taxed to provide a house and furnish fire and candles for his accommodation.
Governor Tryon had made up his mind as to the intentions of America in regard to tea. While acknowledging the moderate tone of the people of his government, he wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth : " From the general appearance of the united opposition to the prin- ciple of monopoly and the importation duty in America I can form no other opinion than that the landing storing and safe keeping of the Tea when stored could be accomplished, but only with the protec- tion of the point of the bayonet and muzzle of the cannon and even then I do not see how the consumption could be effected." The "good Dartmouth " hoped for better things in New-York, but, never- theless, sent the necessary orders to General Haldimand, with caution, however, to Tryon not to make requisition, but "in cases of absolute
1 In the year 1773, Marinus Willett, at the head of a party of Liberty boys, seized upon the king's stores kept in the house shown in the above illus-
tration, located on Turtle Bay, at the foot of the present East 34th street. The building was still to be seen there as late as the year 1852. EDITOR.
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necessity when every other effort failed." Later he expressed the hope that "your [Tryon's] fortitude would not suffer you to yield to the like insults as have been offered to the authority of this kingdom in other places." "What has already happened [Dartmouth adds] on occasion of the importation of Tea by the East India Company into some of the Colonies, is of the most alarming nature, and I have it in com- mand from the King to acquaint you that it is his Majesty's firm resolution upon the unanimous advice of his confidential servants to pursue such measures as shall be effectual for securing the depen- dence of the Colonies upon this Kingdom." The king himself was closing the issue between the dependence and the independence of the colonies.
The general assembly, which had been in prorogation since May, 1773, met according to summons on January 6, 1774. On opening the session the burden of the governor's address was "the ruin of the Province House, his agony of mind for the safety of his family," and his congratulation that "by the powerful exertions of the citizens and military this metropolis was preserved from a destructive calamity." He laid before the assembly the negotiations for the boundary with Massachusetts, the completion of the Quebec line as far as ten miles from Lake St. Francis, and informed them that in consequence of the contests concerning the New Hampshire grants the king had ordered him to return to England. He expressed his cordial affection for the people of New-York, who had honored him with every possible mark of regard and esteem, and assured them of his endeavors in their interest during his absence. There was not a word as to the distur- bances on the reception of his message by the Sons of Liberty, or as to the landing of the tea. The governor received the addresses of the assembly at the house of Lord Stirling in Broad street. At this assembly Judge Livingston again applied for a seat for the manor of Livingston, and was again refused by a vote of fourteen to seven, Peter R. Livingston being later admitted to the seat in question. The usual supply bill for the necessaries to the troops (two thousand pounds) was passed, also an act regulating the militia with regard to age (16 to 50 years), a provision for drums and colors, an order for the yearly muster of regiments, and of independent companies twice each year, the appointment of officers, etc. The council amending the bill by striking out the clause against non-resident officers, the assembly refused to agree, and the militia act of 1772 expired. The objection of the assembly was chiefly to a non-resident colonel.
Toward the close of the session the governor sent in a message ask- ing a suitable provision for the rebuilding of the government house. In answer to the message the assembly appointed a committee to fix on a suitable place for building a government house, and to prepare a
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plan and an estimate of the expense, and later a bill was passed to "raise the sum of twelve thousand pounds by lottery or lotteries to- ward building a Province House and Secretary's Office." The building was never erected. Five thousand pounds was voted to the governor as an allowance for his losses in part at the "late dreadful fire." This was carried by a narrow majority, the bill being saved by vote of the speaker, John Cruger. On March 17 the house took leave of the governor and his family in an affectionate address, in which they say: "Your humanity, beneficence and liberality to the poor in distress, and your affability to all who have had the honor of a nearer connec- tion with you in concerns either of a private or public nature have rendered you doubly dear to the inhabitants of this colony"; and they prayed for his speedy return. The governor, still lodged at Lord Stirling's house on Broad street, received the assembly and thanked them with warm expressions for their appreciative words and their honorable and liberal compensation for his losses by the fire. The assembly was prorogued on March 19.
It seems that Tryon had long been suffering from ill health, and had delayed his departure because of the desire expressed by Lord Dart- mouth that he should remain at his post until relieved by a lieutenant- governor, which infers a contemplated removal of Colden. It appears, however, that he had received the king's permission to embark. He sailed on April 7 in the Mercury packet. He had received addresses of regret and esteem from all the corporate bodies in the city. He had shown his interest in education by a gift of ten thousand acres of land in Gloucester County, in the New-York province, to King's Col- lege. He had founded a professorship in municipal law, the second of the kind in the British dominion. As the Gloucester township later fell within the Vermont boundary, this generous grant became of no avail for the foundation. He was attended on his embarkation by a great concourse of people. "No Governor of the Province," says Holt's journal, "was ever treated by all degrees of people with more respect and affection ; nor did any ever show more sensibility of it, or take a more affectionate leave of the people"-a strong contrast to the detestation in which Hutchinson was at that time held. Yet time brought its reversal of opinion. O'Callaghan, in his notes to the New- York colonial manuscripts, says: "It is unnecessary here to speak of his career in America, as that is already as notorious as it was odious"; this condemnation applying to his course during the Revolution.
On Tryon's departure the government again devolved on our old friend Colden, who always managed to be in the hottest of water. Hardly was he reinstated-not, however, at the Province House, for that no longer existed-when the Nancy, Captain Lockyer, appeared at Sandy Hook with the East India Company's tea. She had been
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blown off the coast by contrary winds, and had put into Antigua. News to that effect reaching the city from St. Eustatius via Philadel- phia on March 10, the Sons of Liberty were notified on the 15th, by advertisement in Holt's journal, "to meet every Thursday night at seven o'clock, at the house of Jasper Drake [a tavern], till the arrival and departure of the Tea ship." She did not reach the port till April 18, and the pilot thought it wise not to bring the ship into harbor. The commit- tee of the Sons of Liberty, in- formed of the arrival, gave per- THE APTHORPE MANSION.1 mission to the captain to come up on condition that he should not enter his vessel at the custom- house. He was politely received, and at once prepared to return, the consignees declining to receive his cargo. A handbill summoned the citizens to collect on Saturday morning, the 29th. The bells would be rung an hour before his departure from Murray's wharf. These proposed ceremonies were, however, interfered with by more urgent business. Captain Chambers having brought up his ship, the Lon- don, arrived that day from the Hook, after telling the pilot that he carried no tea, the Sons of Liberty, who were differently advised, at once summoned the owners and the captain before them. The cap- tain confessed to having the tea on board, and to the sole ownership of the eighteen cases. The ship was boarded in the evening by a party of the Sons of Liberty, and the cases, being found, were broken up and the tea thrown into the river.
The next morning Captain Lockyer was escorted from the Coffee House to the end of Murray's wharf, with cheering and the firing of guns, and put on board the pilot-boat. The committee of observation at the Hook reported the sailing of the Nancy in the afternoon, with Captain Chambers on board, who had fortunately been able to escape the attention of the enraged citizens. Thus, says the journal, was the "Union of these colonies maintained." Colden was ignored in the matter. He wrote to Dartmouth on May 4: "Neither the Captain nor any other made the least application to me about the ship or her cargo." The destruction of the tea in Chambers's vessel was without the knowledge of the lieutenant-governor.
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