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 50
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On January 10 the general assembly met at the summons of Lieu- tenant-Governor Colden. True to his old idea of the authority of New-York with the sister colonies, he appealed to them in his opening address for firmness in the alarming crisis. They replied that "they would exercise the trust reposed in them with firmness and fidelity, and with calmness and deliberation pursue the most probable means to obtain a redress of grievance." On his suggestion they adopted a petition to the king declaring their rights and stating their grievances, disclaiming any desire for independence of the British parliament; also a memorial to the Lords and Commons declaring "the people of the colonies entitled to equal rights and privileges with their fel- low subjects in Great Britain." They had already refused to pass a vote of thanks to the delegates to the congress by a vote of fifteen to
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THE SECOND NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT
nine,1 and also a vote of thanks to the merchants for their faithful adherence to the non-importation association entered into by the con- gress, by the same vote, with the addition of that from Mr. Boerum, who was excused on the previous occasion because he was one of the congress. The usual supply bill was passed, including a salary to Colden for administering the government from April to September, at the rate of two thousand pounds, but without the usual allowance for candles and firewood for the Province House be- fore it was burned; also an act for regu- lating the militia. The assembly was conservative while patriotic, and the addresses to the king and parliament were distinct in expression, while mod- erate in tone. Efforts were made to induce the assembly to appoint delegates to the May congress, but they properly considered this was not their business, and in fact the congress of 1774 had advised the choice by a provincial con- gress elected for this purpose. The as- sembly finally adjourned on April 8 to meet again on May 3. This was the last meeting of the colonial assembly.
MRS. GEORGE CLINTON.
Accordingly the committee of obser- vation summoned a meeting of the freeholders and freemen of the city at the Exchange on March 6. On that day a union flag with a red field was hoisted on the liberty pole at nine o'clock, when the people rallied in large numbers and marched to the Exchange, where they authorized the committee to nominate eleven deputies for the sole purpose of choosing delegates to the general congress, such elec- tions to be held on April 25. The committee nominated as deputies for the city and county of New-York in the provincial congress were Philip Livingston, John Jay, James Duane, John Alsop, Isaac Low, Francis Lewis, Abraham Walton, Abraham Brasher, Alexander Mc- Dougall, Leonard Lispenard, and Isaac Roosevelt. They were elected by a large majority on March 15, and on April 20 met in provincial congress and chose Philip Livingston to be their president. Isaac Low declined to serve. The next day they appointed Philip Living- ston, James Duane, John Alsop, John Jay, Francis Lewis, Simon Boerum, William Floyd, Henry Wisner, Philip Schuyler, George Clin- ton, Lewis Morris, and Robert Livingston, Jr., to represent the colony
1 The nine who voted in the affirmative were Clinton, Thomas, Brinckerhoff, De Witt, Woodhull, Schuyler, Ten Broeck, Seaman, and Livingston.
as an Antinomial 'angone. The ts few lamet cpresented the
of war: yall estimates the section of a new committee of hanna honderd; start the dete. it May I. Im April 29 a new associa- Firm one enterad inics and signed by nearly all the treeholders of the nify and sent to the interior counties. Their object was to enforce the ter contre modation of the provincial convention and the Continental l'angrace 'The committee is known in history as the committee of one hundred, and took general charge of the affairs of the city and the enfiar atment of the agreements of the association. The commit- loss of abient vation also recommended the election of deputies to s pourincial congress. These were chosen on the same day. and met at the Rechange on May 22.
Meanwhile, on May &, Lord Dartmouth notified Tryon that it was the king's pleasure that he should at once return to New-York Tiyun alloyed. He touched Now-York on Sunday, June 25. 1775, and lok froth l'olden, who now finally disappeared from the political contin, the tale of office and a "diminished authority." By an ex- Hanstalinatt voitidones, Washington, who had been appointed com- tander in chief of the American forces, passed through the city on his way to the camp at Cambridge on the very day of Tryou's arrival.
"Golden dawn of Flushing. Long Island. September 21. 1.76.
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in the Continental Congress. The five first named represented the city and county of New-York.
On Sunday, April 23, about noon, rumors were received of the af- fray at Lexington, and in the morning, at two o'clock, the express from Boston handed to Isaac Low, chairman of the committee of ob- servation, the despatch announcing it officially. He countersigned it and passed it on. By relays it was delivered at Philadelphia by noon the next day. The revolution had begun. On April 26 the commit- tee of observation recommended the election of a new committee of one hundred, which was done on May 1. On April 28 a new associa- tion was entered into and signed by nearly all the freeholders of the city and sent to the interior counties. Their object was to enforce the recommendation of the provincial convention and the Continental Congress. The committee is known in history as the committee of one hundred, and took general charge of the affairs of the city and the enforcement of the agreements of the association. The commit- tee of observation also recommended the election of deputies to a provincial congress. These were chosen on the same day, and met at the Exchange on May 22.
Meanwhile, on May 4, Lord Dartmouth notified Tryon that it was the king's pleasure that he should at once return to New-York. Tryon obeyed. He reached New-York on Sunday, June 25, 1775, and took from Colden, who now finally disappeared from the political scene, the seals of office and a "diminished authority."' By an ex- traordinary coincidence, Washington, who had been appointed com- mander-in-chief of the American forces, passed through the city on his way to the camp at Cambridge on the very day of Tryon's arrival.
1 Colden died at Flushing, Long Island, September 21, 1776.
CHAPTER XII
LIFE IN NEW-YORK AT THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD
UDGE THOMAS JONES, in his loyalist history of New- York, introduces his subject with the statement, "In the year 1752 New-York was in its happiest state. We had no foreign or domestic enemy. Great Britain was at peace with all the world. The Colony was extending its trade, encouraging the arts and sciences, and cultivating its lands. Its inhabitants were daily increasing in riches and wealth and opulence. They were at the same time laborious, industrious, and frugal, lived in the most hos- pitable manner though with great economy. Luxury was unknown in the province; . . . at this happy time all discord had ceased; parties were forgotten and animosities forgiven. The disposition, the conduct and behaviour of the people in general bespoke harmony, concord, mutual love, and reciprocal affection." The judge closes his somewhat idyllic rhapsody with the declaration that this was the "Golden Age of New- York." There is no reason to ques- REV. JOHN OGILVIE.1 tion the correctness of this picture if considered only in its moral light, but it would be hardly safe to attribute the material prosperity of the city to the fact that Great Britain was at peace. War had few terrors for the people of New-York. The religious contest was by no means at an end, and might break out afresh at any moment.
-1
1 The Rev. John Ogilvie was born in New-York city in 1722, and died there in 1774. Graduating at Yale in 1748, he entered the ministry and spent several years as a missionary among the Mohawks. In 1764 he was appointed assistant minister in
Trinity Church, New-York, a position which he occupied for the remaining ten years of his life. He received the degree of D. D. both from King's College and from the Aberdeen University in Scot- land. EDITOR.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
A prominent object, if not the main purpose, of the Dutch govern- ment in granting the New Netherland charter was to provide in the safe harbor of New Amsterdam a sally-port and a refuge for the men-of-war and privateers which scoured the Spanish main in quest of the rich galleons which carried the wealth of the American colonies of the great Catholic powers to Lisbon and Cadiz. The fight between Spain and Holland was to the knife, and the American Dutchmen partook of the enthusiasm of their countrymen. Nor were their de- scendants under English rule less inclined to water adventure, save that it took the form of smuggling goods into the territory of the neighboring English colonies. The English were not more squeamish on this point, but their ventures were in the form of short cruises in fleet, well-armed vessels in southern waters. These privateers were armed and officered by the flower of the New-York gentry, and their captures were the foundation of many a New-York fortune.
The renewal of hostilities with France in 1754 set these wild spirits in fresh flame. The celebrated Thomas Randall, one of the most noted captains of the day, who in 1748 had brought in the French ship L'Amazone as a prize taken by his brigantine, the Fox, again in 1757 took out the brigantine De Lancey, of fourteen guns. He seems to have been joint owner in other privateers: in 1758 of the snow Gen- eral Abercrombie, sixteen guns, and the ship Mary, ten guns. In 1762 he owned the Charming Sally, of six guns. The De Lancey fell into the hands of the Dutch, off Curacoa, and her commander and crew were imprisoned. Randall was not then in command. He later distinguished himself in the war of the Revolution, and was thanked by Washington as one of the donors of "the President's barge," used by him during his first administration. Captain Isaac Sears - "King Sears," as he was called (whose acquaintance has been made as a Son of Liberty) - was a peaceful trader until the French war broke out. In 1752 he took to sea the dogger Decoy, of six guns, and later the sloop-of-war Catherine; but his most daring exploits were when in command of the sloop Belle Isle, of fourteen guns, which, in 1759, fell in with a large French ship of twenty-four guns and eighty men. Three times Sears grappled the Frenchman, but a gale separating the vessels, the sloop sheered off with nine killed and twenty wounded. The owners of the Belle Isle were John Schermerhorn & Co., mer- chants of the city. Randall and Sears were seafaring men. So also was Alexander McDougall, with whom acquaintance has been made as a Son of Liberty, and the Wilkes of America. In 1758 he sailed the privateer Tyger with success in the West Indies. Still another and at the time more famous bucaneer was Captain Peter Corne, an old African coast trader, who was joint owner with Anthony Van Dam (later secretary of the chamber of commerce) of the brigantine
Karten
NEW-YORK AT THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD 447
Nebuchadnezzar, of eight guns, which he took out in 1758. The extent to which this dangerous business was carried appears in the numerous ventures of Mr. Lawrence Kortright, one of the commercial magnates. He was part owner of the Harlequin, of eight guns; in 1754, of the brigantine John, fourteen guns: and in 1756, of the brigantine De Lancey, already
mentioned; of the
Prince Edward, of
eight guns; of the snow Royal Hes- sixteen ter, of
guns; of the Prince Ferdinand, fourteen guns, and the ship Hunter, eighteen guns; Mr. Peter Ketel- tas, another well- XXX known name, was in 1752 part own- er and agent of the Royal Hester, which brought in the French ships Le Leger and Le Débonnaire; and in 1754,of the sloop Anne. EvenPhilip Livingston and his son were deep- ly engaged in ship ventures. In 1757 he sent out the schooner Albany PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE OF THE NORTH DUTCH CHURCH. 1 of eight guns and the ship Tartar of sixteen guns, and in 1758 the Amherst of twelve guns. These are but instances of the joint-stock companies in which the merchants took a lively interest.
The peace of Paris brought the Seven Years' War to a close in 1763, and the sound of the recruiting drum and fife was heard no more on the wharves of the now peaceful city. But it is easy to account for
1 The above illustration represents the principal entrance to the North Dutch Church, built in 1769 on the corner of Fulton and William streets. This door faced on William street, toward the east. The illustration a few pages further on rep-
resents one of the windows of this church. Out of this window the prisoners confined here during the Revolution often gazed, wishing in vain for liberty. The church was demolished in 1875. EDITOR.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
the change which had come over its population, and to understand the bold, the spirited, even the turbulent nature of the men who marched to the gates of Fort George during the stamp-act excitement, and later fought the British regulars about the liberty pole and on Golden Hill. And it must not be supposed that New-York was stag- nant during the long years preceding these agitations. Commanding the key to Canada on her northern frontier, the city itself was the natural headquarters of the invading army. From New-York the governor, Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy, sailed for the capture of Louisburg. On Staten Island was fitted out the maritime expedition which another governor, General Robert Monckton, led to Martinique; and New-York was the base of the operations which closed the strug- gle with the capture of Montreal, and completed the conquest of the Canadas. Naturally these extensive movements gave ample occupa- tion to the industries of the city, created a large demand for supplies, and brought into circulation a considerable amount of coin, a com- modity rare in the colonies at any time. All the coin received came from the Spanish West India Islands, and after a short and uncertain sojourn here passed to England by the operations of the balance of trade, the scales of which Dame Britannia always managed to turn in her own favor.
Amid all this life and bustle, the march of improvement in the city went steadily on after that "Golden Age." Before 1754 the only build- ings of any public consequence in the city were the City Hall, in Wall street, the Province House, within the inclosure of Fort George, opposite the Bowling Green, and the Merchants' or Royal Exchange, a building constructed upon arches at the lower end of Broad street, and not completed till 1752. Of the three Episcopal churches founded by royal charter in 1697, Trinity stood as first erected, but with sub- sequent enlargements, on Broadway at the head of Wall street; St. George's Chapel, built in 1752, on Beekman street; and the elegant structure of St. Paul's, on the corner of Broadway and Vesey, finished, with the exception of its spire, in 1766, the latter not being added till after the Revolution. Of the three houses of worship belonging to the Presbyterians, the first, in Wall street, near Broadway, a modest building of rough stone, stood in its original form (as erected in 1719) until enlarged in 1768; the second, or brick meeting-house, a branch of the Wall street church, was built in 1768 upon the vineyard lot opposite the common (City Hall park), having but insignificant neighbors, small wooden houses on the Boston road (later Chatham street, now Park Row); the third, or Scotch Presbyterian church, was also erected about this time in Little Queen (now Cedar) street, between Nassau street and Broadway, the congregation having origi- nated about 1756 in a secession of the Scottish members from the Wall
NEW-YORK AT THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD 449
street church in consequence of changes in the form of worship and differences in taste as to psalmody.
Of the three Dutch Reformed churches, the Old South or Garden street church (the site of which was in the present Exchange Place) still stood as originally constructed in 1693, but was rebuilt in 1766; the New or Middle Dutch church, an overflow from the Garden street congregation, set up their house of worship in 1729, and remodeled it in 1764, being for a long time one of the finest buildings in the city, its lofty cupola commanding the best view of the city and country, and affording Dr. Franklin a fine opportunity to make some of his experi- ments in electricity ; while the North Dutch church, on the corner of Fulton and William streets, was not built till 1769. The Methodists worshiped in a church on John street, near Nas- sau; but this also was not built till 1769. The Moravians occupied a small frame building in Fulton, between William and Dutch streets, erected in 1757; the Baptists, a modest structure WINDOW OF NORTH DUTCH CHURCH. in Gold street, between Fulton and John, built in 1760; and the Friends, one in Little Green street (now Liberty Place), between Maiden Lane and Crown (now Liberty) street. The French congregation, L'Eglise du Saint Esprit, had not left their original place of worship, erected, in 1704, in Pine street, fronting the rear of the present United States Subtreasury. The building is described as "low, grave, sombre, and its tower heavy and monastic." The Jewish synagogue, erected in 1709, stood on the site of the first house of worship, in Mill street, which had been built in 1706.
The growth and prosperity of the city are shown by the number of these structures for religious purposes during the period under con- sideration, since, of the whole number of fifteen, eight were re- modeled or newly erected between 1754 and 1763. The same was attested by King's College, which, begun in 1756, was erected on the beautiful grounds bounded by Church street, Chapel street (now West Broadway), Murray, and Mortlike (now Barclay) streets. It was an elegant stone structure, three stories high, with a chapel, hall, library, museum, anatomical theater and school for experimental philosophy. The edifice was surrounded by a high fence, forming a large court, containing noble trees and a garden: a truly academic inclosure. The students resided in the college.
There was no public building for the exhibition of art in the city, nor, for that matter, was there much of art to exhibit. The theater stood on the north side of John street, between Broadway and Nassau street. It was in the rear of the. lot, and was entered by a covered VOL. II .- 29.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
way. It was opened December 7, 1762, by " The American Company," with Farquhar's comedy of "The Stratagem," and the famous Gar- rick's farce of "Lethe."
The sites of the principal taverns, the Province Arms, the Queen's Head (Fraunces'), the King's Arms (Barden's), and the resorts of the Liberty boys, opposite the common,-De la Montanye's and Hamp- den Hall,-have been noticed, as well as the location of the coffee- houses, the Merchants', the Gentlemen's, and the Exchange. There were but few other places of public entertainment. The Ranelagh was a summer garden on the west side of Broadway, between present Duane and Worth streets. Ranelagh House was on the northern side
COLUMBIA COLLEGE, FROM THE NORTH.
of this green, on the ground later occupied by the New-York Hos- pital, of which, as has been seen, Governor Tryon witnessed the laying of the corner-stone. The Vauxhall was also a large garden (part of Sir Peter Warren's1 estate), at the foot of Warren street, extending as far as Chambers, and com- manding a beautiful view of the Hudson River. Destroyed during the stamp-act excitement it was afterwards refitted by Sam Fraunces.
The most noted private residences were the Kennedy mansion at No. 1 Broadway, already noticed as standing at the period of the stamp act; and the Walton House, in Queen street (St. George's Square, now Franklin Square). There were, no doubt, other fine resi- dences, but these only have any historical consequence as of the period now under treatment. The Walton House has already been
1 Admiral Sir Peter Warren, the victor of Louisburg, who married a daughter of Stephen De Lancey. died in Ireland, in 1752.
1
NEW-YORK AT THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD 451
carefully described.1 With the exception, perhaps, of the double bal- ustrades on the roof, the carving, and the armorial bearings, the architecture of the Walton House did not differ greatly from that of other fine houses which preceded it. True, the gabled ends and oc- casional quaint features of the original Dutch structures were already rare, but the Anglo-Dutch type remained. The latest specimens of this mixed school were until quite recently the four buildings on the corners of Broad and Pearl streets, that on the southeast corner being Fraunces' Tavern. They were all built about the beginning of the last century by the De Lanceys and French families on the old Van Cortlandt property, were two stories high, with a double pitched roof, and of small, yellow bricks, which it is the habit to call "Holland," though they were not necessarily of Dutch make. No doubt in the earlier days bricks were brought out as ballast in the Amsterdam trading-ships, but there were material and kilns enough in the colony for all its needs.
Mention has been made of Colden's fine chariot imported to take i the place of that destroyed on the Bowling Green. Du Simitière gives a list of the gentlemen who kept their coaches, chariots or post- chaises, and phaetons in 1770. There were twenty-six of the former, thirty-three of the second class, and twenty-six of the last -a total of eighty-five vehicles - many of these ornamented with the coats of arms of their owners on the panels.
Mention has been made of New-York hospitality. It was a tradi- tion from the time of the early Dutch settlement. Good living was the rule, not the exception, in this colony. It would have been shame- ful were it otherwise, for nowhere on this continent, nor perhaps on any other, was there such profusion of native and imported products to delight the inner man as in the New-York province. What are now termed luxuries were then within reach of the poorest. From the ocean came salt-water fish of the choicest kinds, to which the gentlemen were so partial that in 1763 they clubbed together and built a fishing-smack, the Amherst, which made her first trip to the "Banks" in July of that year. Other combinations followed this so rapidly that the supply outran the demand, and the Amherst was sold. The Shrewsbury Banks, an arm of the Sandy Hook Bay, was the fishing-ground whence the city drew its main supply of sea-fish. The fish were usually brought in alive, and the principal catch was of codfish, sheepshead (that from Gravesend Bay being unequaled in quality), and mackerel. From the Jersey shore also came in great abundance the king-fish, the most esteemed of all varieties by old epi-
1 The ship-yards on the East River were owned by the Waltons, and from the hands of their skilled designers and builders sprung the saucy fleet of privateers which scoured the seas in colo-
nial days, and were the precursors of that later merchant marine which carried the glad tidings of the birth of the new republic, with its starry emblem of hope, to the oppressed of every clime.
conclu.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
cures ; and the sea-bass, which, always highly prized, has of late years been pronounced by foreigners the very best of our salt-water fish. The Hudson River swarmed with shad in spring, and the striped bass ran in multitudes through the rapid waters of the East River in the autumn months; while beneath the numerous rocks which underlie its troubled surface, the tautog blackfish lurked in great numbers. To complete the variety, the Long Island ponds and streams abounded in perch and chub and trout, and the lamper-eel and catfish, dear to the heart of the dark-skinned servants of the day. Gaine's "Mercury" of May, 1783, reports twenty-three different sorts of fresh fish as for sale in the market on May 26. Twenty years later a list displayed fifty-six varieties. New-York is still famous for its shell-fish, oysters and clams, lobsters and crabs; but the old Blue Point oyster of the South Bay has dwindled from its once great size to diminutive pro- portions, and the endless varie- ties, each with its own merit of flavor and of flesh,-the Spuyten Duyvil, the Pelham, and the Har- lem Creek, the East River, the Middle Rock, and the Mill Pond (a THE RHINELANDER SUGAR-HOUSE.1 carefully cultivated kind), - have utterly disappeared because of the disturbance of our waters by the growth of the city and the establishment of factories on the water- line. So also the lobster, which grew to great size about the Black Rock (off Ninety-second street, East River), and has been sold within
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