USA > New York > New York City > The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume III > Part 35
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 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
.
314
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
of respect and affection, nor such a universal assemblage of the beauty, fashion, and splendor of the city.'
Upon arriving at the City Hall, the marquis was conducted to the common-council chamber, where the corporation of the city were assembled. The members rose at his entrance, and their chairman, Alderman George Zabriskie, introduced him to the mayor, who wel- comed the city's guest in an appro- priate speech. At its conclusion La- fayette responded as follows:
SNUFF-BOXES.2
SIR: While I am so affectionately received by the citizens of New-York and their worthy representatives, I feel myself overburdened with inexpressible emotions. The sight of the American shore, after so long an absence; the recollection of the many respected friends and dear companions no more to be found on this land; the pleasure to recognize those who sur- vive; this immense concourse of a free Repub-
lican population who so kindly welcome me; the admirable appearance of the troops; the presence of a corps of the national navy,-have excited sentiments to which no human language can be adequate. You have been pleased, sir, to allude to the hap- piest times, to the unalloyed enjoyments of my public life; it is the pride of my life to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of America. I am proud, also, to add that, upward of forty years ago, I have been particularly honored with the freedom of this city. I beg you, Mr. Mayor, I beg you, gentlemen, to accept yourselves, and to trans- mit to the citizens of New-York, the homage of my everlasting gratitude, devotion, and respect.
At the conclusion of this address, which was received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations, the marquis, attended by the mayor and common council, retired from the council-chamber to a platform in front of the City Hall, where they received a marching salute from the troops. The common council then accompanied their guest to the City Hotel (where rooms had been fitted up for his reception), and partook of a sumptuous dinner. What must have been the feelings which warmed the bosoms of his entertainers when they reflected to whom these honors were given !- that it was to a man who, in his youth, had devoted his life and fortune to the cause of their country ; who willingly and most cheerfully had shed his blood in the acquire- ment of its independence, and, through all the desponding scenes of the Revolution, never forsook the side of his and their country's father, the beloved Washington !
1 The only other occasions when this demon- stration was nearly - though not quite-equaled in the city of New-York, were those of the cele- bration of the opening of the Croton aqueduct, and the funerals of President William Henry Harrison and of Vice-President Henry Wilson.
2 The two snuff-boxes represented above were made from the oak of the frigate Constitution, when she was first rebuilt, after the war of 1812. They were formerly the property of the hero Commodore Hull, and are now in the possession of the Editor of this work.
315
RETURN OF PEACE, AND COMPLETION OF ERIE CANAL
In the evening, the fronts of the City Hall, the City Hotel, and other public and private buildings were brilliantly illuminated; the theaters and public gardens displayed transparencies and fireworks; rockets blazed from the different housetops; and an immense balloon was sent up from Castle Garden, representing the famous horse Eclipse mounted by an ancient knight in armor. Hilarity reigned supreme. On the afternoon of Wednesday, the 18th, General Lafayette, accom- panied by his son, visited the Navy-yard-dining with the comman- dant and a few invited guests; and, in the evening of the same day, went to the rooms of the New-York Historical Society. A large
PROVOOST AND CHAPEL STREETS. 1
number of distinguished citizens had collected at the latter place to meet him, and, on his entrance into the room, he was conducted by Doctor David Hosack and General Philip Van Cortlandt to the chair that had once been the seat of the unfortunate Louis XVI Over the chair, and decorated with Revolutionary emblems, was hung the por- trait of Lafayette, painted for General Stevens in 1784. Thus was an opportunity afforded the audience of gazing at the same time upon the young and chivalrous warrior of the Revolution, and upon the same man who, by forty years' hard service since, had ripened into an old age full of wisdom and honors, without having tarnished the bright escutcheon of his justly deserved fame by a single act.
As soon as Lafayette had taken his seat, Doctor Hosack, in a grace-
1 The illustration in the text is after one of the views given in J. Milbert's " Picturesque Sketches in America," published in Paris in 1826. There is little doubt that interest in France in such sketches was stimulated by the accounts of the
reception which had been recently accorded to Lafayette. Provoost street is now Franklin street, and Chapel street is named Church. EDITOR. 2 Presented to the New-York Historical Society by Gouverneur Morris.
316
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
ful address, tendered him his election as an honorary member of the society ; to which the general responded in the following words :
SIR: With the most lively gratitude, I receive the honor which the Historical Society of New-York has conferred in electing me one of its members. Permit me, also, thankfully to acknowledge the flattering manner in which you are pleased to announce this mark of their benevolence. The United States, Sir, are the first nation in the records of history who have founded their Constitution upon an honest investi- gation and clear definition of their national and social rights. Nor can we doubt that, notwithstanding the combinations made elsewhere by despotism and aristocracy against those sacred rights of mankind, immense majorities in other countries shall not in vain observe the happiness and prosperity of a free, virtuous, and enlightened people.
The next day was spent in visiting the Academy. of Arts, and in receiving the calls of the members of the bar, the French residents of the city, and all citizens who desired to pay their respects.
At an early hour on the following morning, the city again presented a scene of bustle and activity, preparatory to the departure of La- fayette and suite for Boston. At seven o'clock, the horse-artillery, commanded by Colonel Arcularius, paraded in Broadway in front of Washington Hall, and, at eight o'clock, took up their line of march to Harlem, in order to precede the escort which was to accompany the marquis to that village. This escort consisted of a squadron of cavalry, the corporation in carriages, and a number of citizens mounted. The general breakfasted with Mayor Paulding, at half-past seven, and repaired immediately after to the City Hotel, whence the entire cav- alcade, under the command of General Prosper M. Wetmore, as bri- gade-major, moved up Broadway to Bond street, and thence up Third Avenue.1 The streets were thronged with people, and the general rode uncovered, and repeatedly returned their expressions of kindness and attachment by bowing. "Thus, for the present," said the "Com- mercial Advertiser," "have closed the attentions of our citizens to this excellent man. The arrangements of our civil and military officers were judicious and well executed; and we are told that the General has not only been highly gratified, but happily disappointed, in the reception with which he has met. The General's journey will be rapid, as he intends being at Harvard Commencement on Tuesday next. His stay at the eastward must also be short, as he has engaged to be in Baltimore on the 15th proximo."" On his passage through the
1 Conversations of the writer with the late Gen- eral Wetmore.
2 At this time there was a great rivalry between Philadelphia and New-York as to which city should receive the marquis more splendidly. A correspondent, writing to the "Commercial Adver- tiser " at this time, says: "The great object here seems to be to rival the reception given to the General in New-York ; and, so far as it respects
the military parade, the display of paintings, ban- ners, arches, &c., they will succeed ; for the very good reason that we had but'twenty-four hours to make our preparations, and they have had more than thirty-four days. But nothing that can be got up here can equal, or come anywhere near, the naval fête in the harbor of New-York.
"There are many splendid triumphal and civic arches erected here, and the streets through which
.
RETURN OF PEACE, AND COMPLETION OF ERIE CANAL 317
city on September 10, on his way south, he was given a grand con- cert of sacred music at St. Paul's.
"Such," writes Colonel Stone, in closing an account of the ovation, "is a faint outline of the proceedings of the last few days, which shine proudly in the annals of our country,-proceedings which were more brilliant than any that had ever been witnessed in America, and which will rarely, if ever, be equaled. They were proud days for the cause of enlightened and liberal principles. No ful-
MURRAY STREET .- DR. MASON'S CHURCH IN 1822.
some adulation was here extorted by the power or splendor of royalty, but every feeling and every movement were the spontaneous bursts of admiration and gratitude for the character and services of a great benefactor of the whole civilized world, come among us in a private capacity, and in the unaffected attire of republican simplicity."1
the General is to pass are lined with spectators. The windows of the houses are filled, and there are thousands of spectators in the boxes, or temporary stages, which have been erected for the purposes of private accommodation and private gain. These seats are let at from twenty-five to fifty cents each, and not for three or four dollars as has been re- ported in New-York. And they are not well filled, notwithstanding the trifling expense. There are many societies out to-day, handsomely dressed, and the procession will be much larger than has ever been witnessed in America.
"It is supposed that the General will arrive at the Hall of the Declaration of Independence [In- dependence Hall] at about four o'clock. Here he will be received by the Corporation, and presented to the principal citizens, who have the good for- tane to be guests. After which he will return to his lodgings at the Mansion House. To-morrow
the General dines with the Corporation. On Sat- urday he attends a Masonic festival. On Monday evening he attends a Grand Civic Ball, and departs for the South on Tuesday."
1 Colonel Stone here speaks feelingly, having be- come a great personal admirer of the marquis dur- ing his visit to the United States. Together with Thurlow Weed, he accompanied Lafayette on his tour through New-York State; and it was while Lafayette was stopping at Saratoga Springs that the following incident occurred. It chanced that the day before the marquis's departure from Sar- atoga, he was on the piazza of the United States Hotel, surrounded by a group consisting of Mrs. Rush, of Philadelphia; Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston; Madame Jumel, of New-York; Thur- low Weed, and Colonel Stone. As the company was about to break up, Lafayette, shaking hands with Colonel Stone and Mr. Weed, asked them if
·
318
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
The project of a grand canal connecting the great lakes of the in- terior with tide-water was the first thought of the city after the peace. General Washington and Governor George Clinton, as early as the summer of 1783, on their trip to Saratoga Springs and through the Mohawk Valley, had considered the feasibility of a canal from Os- wego, by way of Wood Creek, to Albany. Two years later (1785) Christopher Colles, an ingenious mechanician, had memorialized the legislature of New-York for the establishment of a canal to connect the Mohawk with the Hudson; and, in 1792, a company was char- tered which in five years opened the passage from Schenectady to Oneida, intending to continue it to Lake Ontario, for which exten- sion the route had been surveyed in 1791. But it was not until 1810 that the canal project found its great advocate in De Witt Clin- ton, whose memorial on the sub- ject, signed by many prominent men of the city, gave a fresh im- petus to the movement.
It was, accordingly, most fitting that the city which had not only originated but had so nobly sup- ported the project of the Erie Canal from its beginning, should take the chief part in the cere- monies attending its realization. Probably no project of internal Maria Franklin Clinton improvement ever met with such
bitter and malignant opposition as that of the Erie Canal; and, great as was the assistance given to the canal project by the act of the New-York legislature of April, 1811, the obstacles in the way of its successful completion were by no means removed. The same incredulity as to the practicability of the canal, and the same apprehensions as to the capacity of the State to furnish the means to complete it, continued to raise a fierce opposition in the legislature against any appropriation for carrying out the work which
he could be of service to them in return for their attention to him.
" All that Mr. Weed and myself desire," replied Colonel Stone, "is a lock of your hair."
"You shall have it, gentlemen," answered the general; " but as I have made a vow that man shall never cut my hair more, I surrender myself, my dear madame, into your hands."
As he said this he took the scissors from Colonel Stone and gracefully gave them to Mrs. Rush.
He then raised his wig, and Mrs. Rush, cutting off three locks of the snowy-white hair, kept one herself and handed the other two to Colonel Stone and Mr. Weed. The scene made a lasting impres- sion on all who witnessed it. This lock of hair I still have, and treasure it as a most precious relic. 1 From a painting in the possession of her grandson De Witt Clinton Jones, Esq., to whom I am indebted for several other family portraita. EDITOR.
RETURN. OF PEACE, AND COMPLETION OF ERIE CANAL 319
it had itself authorized. Many attempts were accordingly made to arrest, or at least to curtail, the project; and often, during the pro- gress of the undertaking, it seemed as if it would be completely aban- doned. Party spirit at that time ran high, and the greatest effort on the part of its supporters was required to persuade the people of the State to give it their support at the polls. In accomplishing this re- sult, the New-York "Commercial Advertiser," the oldest newspaper of New-York city,1 gave powerful aid. That paper, which had al- ways been the organ of the Federalists, became, upon Colonel Stone assuming its management in 1820, a stanch advocate of the Clinton- ians. A strong personal friendship for Governor De Witt Clinton on the part of its editor, together with a firm conviction of the necessity for a canal through the interior of New-York State, led to the posi- tion thus assumed. The trials and rebuffs experienced by Clinton and his supporters in pushing the canal project, and the energy which fought it through to a triumphant end, are matters of history.
The Erie Canal was completed in the fall of 1825. At ten o'clock on the morning of October 26 of that year the first canal-boat, the Seneca Chief, left Buffalo, having on board Governor Clinton, Joshua Foreman, Colonel Stone, Chancellor Livingston, Thurlow Weed, and General Stephen Van Rensselaer ; and the booming of cannon, placed at intervals of a few miles-within hearing distance-along the en- tire line of the canal from Buffalo to Albany, and thence along the banks of the Hudson to Sandy Hook, announced the successful ter- mination of the enterprise-the final union of the great lakes with the Atlantic, and the presage of the power and wealth of New-York city as the great gateway of the western hemisphere.2
In New-York city, especially, this event was celebrated by extra- ordinary civic and military ceremonies; and the citizens gave them- selves up to the wildest demonstrations of joy. Nor was this joy ill-timed or excessive. "For a single State to achieve such a victory, not only over the doubts and fears of the wary, but over the obstacles of nature, causing miles of massive rocks at the mountain-ridge to yield to its power, turning the current of error as well as that of the Tonawanda, piling up the waters of the mighty Niagara as well as those of the beautiful Hudson; - in short, causing a navigable river to flow with gentle current down the steepy mount of Lockport; to leap the river of Genesee; to encircle the brow of Irondequoit as with the laurel's wreath; to march through the rich fields of Palmyra and of Lyons ; to wend its way through the quicksands of the morass at the Cayuga; to pass unheeded the delicious licks at Onondja; to smile through Oneida's verdant landscape; to hang upon the arm of
1 The oldest, that is, then in existence.
2 The time taken for the sound to come from Buffalo to Sandy Hook was one hour and a half.
320
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
the ancient Mohawk, and, with her, after gayly stepping down the cadence of the Little Falls and the Cohoes, to rush to the embrace of the sparkling Hudson-and all in the space of eight short years- was a work of which the oldest and richest nations of Christendom might be proud." Colonel Stone, as one of the most zealous cham- pions of the Erie Canal, was appointed to write the "Narrative of the Erie Canal Celebration," receiving a silver medal and a box (made out of the timber of the Seneca Chief) from the common council of New-York city, together with the thanks of that body.1
Samo Varplanck
The naval and land processions in the city on this occasion were unique, and, withal, were projected and car- ' ried out on a truly magnificent scale. The grand fleet arrived by a precon- certed plan in the waters of New- York bay before daylight on Novem- ber 4, 1825; and the roar of cannon from different points and the peals of numerous church bells greeted the 2 ushering in of sunrise. Shortly after- ward signals were hoisted by the flag- ship of the squadron, in response to which the new and superb steam- boat Washington bore proudly down to welcome the fleet. She ran alongside the Chancellor, and a committee of the corporation of the city, with the officers of the governor's guard, came on board to tender his Excellency Governor Clinton their congratulations on his arrival in New-York waters from those of Lake Erie. At half-past eight the corporation and their guests proceeded to the steamboats Washington, Fulton, and Providence, stationed at the foot of White- hall street. At the same place was also stationed the Commerce, with
1 Colonel Stone's narrative of the celebration, from which the above citation is made, was pub- lished by the common council under the title of the "Grand Erie Canal Celebration," accom- panied by a memoir of the great work by Cad- wallader D. Colden. In connection with the Erie Canal, and its influence in building up the interior towns of the State, Colonel Stone was wont to relate the following anecdote: In 1820 he visited Syracuse with Joshua Foreman, the founder of that city, and one of the earliest and most zealous friends of the Erie Canal. "I lodged for the night." says Colonel Stone, "at & miserable tav- ern, thronged by a company of salt-boilers from Salina, forming a group of about as rough-look- ing specimens of humanity as I had ever seen. Their wild visages, beards thick and long, and
matted hair, even now rise up in dark, distant, and picturesque effect before me. It was in Oc- tober, and a flurry of snow during the night had rendered the morning aspect of the country more dreary than the evening before. The few houses, standing upon low and marshy ground, and sur- rounded by trees and tanglod thickets, presented a very uninviting scene. 'Mr. Foreman.' said I, 'do you call this a village! It would make an owl weep to fly over it!' 'Never mind,' said he, in reply, 'you will live to see it a city yet!'" Colonel Stone did, indeed, live to see it a city, when he wrote the above in 1840, with a mayor and alder- men, and a population of more than twelve thou- sand souls. EDITOR. 2 From a painting in the possession of his de- scendant William E. Ver Planck, Esq., of Fishkill.
.
321
RETURN OF PEACE, AND COMPLETION OF ERIE CANAL
the elegant safety-barge Lady Clinton. This barge, with the Lady Van Rensselaer, had been set apart by the corporation for the recep- tion of the invited ladies and their attendants. The Lady Clinton was decorated with a degree of taste and elegance that was equally delightful and surprising. From stem to stern she was ornamented with ever- Cadwallader Ofolden greens hung in festoons and intertwined with roses of various hues, China asters, and many other flowers alike beautiful. In one of the niches below the upper deck was the bust of Clinton, the brow being encircled with a wreath of laurel and roses. Mrs. Clinton and many other distinguished ladies were on board of the barge, which, though the party was select, was crowded. Captain Seymour, however, paid every attention to his beautiful charge; every countenance beamed with satisfaction, and every eye sparkled with delight.
Meanwhile, as if AEolus and Neptune had entered into a compact to make this occasion as joyous as possible, the sea was as tranquil and smooth as a summer lake; and the mist which came on between seven and eight in the morning having partially floated away, the sun shone bright and beautiful. As the naval procession filed past the Battery it was saluted by the military, the revenue cutter, and Castle Williams on Governor's Island; and, on passing the Narrows, it was also saluted by Forts Lafayette and Tompkins.1 It then pro- ceeded to the United States schooner Porpoise, Captain John P. Zant- zinger, moored within Sandy Hook, at the point where the grand ceremony was to be performed. A deputation, composed of Aldermen Elisha W. King, Davis, and Jacob B. Taylor, was then sent on board the steamboat Chancellor Livingston, to accompany his Excellency the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor, and the several committees from Buffalo, Utica, Albany, and other places, on board the steam- boat Washington.
The boats were thereupon formed in a circle around the schooner, preparatory to the ceremony; when Charles Rhind, addressing the governor, remarked "that he had a request to make which he was confident it would afford his Excellency great pleasure to grant. He was desirous of preserving a portion of the water used on this memo- rable occasion, in order to send it to our distinguished friend and late illustrious visitor, Major-General Lafayette; and for that purpose Dummer and Co. had prepared some bottles of American fabric for the occasion, and they were to be conveyed to the general in a box made by D. Phybe from a log of cedar brought from Erie in the canal- boat Seneca Chief." The governor replied that a more pleasing task could not have been imposed upon him, and expressed his acknow- ledgment to Mr. Rhind for having suggested the measure.
1 Since changed to Fort Wadsworth.
VOL. III .- 21.
322
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK 4
His Excellency De Witt Clinton then proceeded to perform the ceremony of commingling the waters of the lake with the ocean, by pouring a keg of those of Lake Erie into the Atlantic; upon which he delivered the following address: "This solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to indicate and commemorate the navigable communication which has been accom- plished between our Mediterranean Seas and the Atlantic Ocean in about eight years, to the extent of more than four hundred and twenty-five miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, and energy of the people of the State of New York; and may the God of the Heavens and the Earth smile most propitiously on this work, and render it sub- servient to the best interests of the human race!"
Dr. Mitchill, whose extensive correspondence with every part of the world enabled him to fill his cabinet with articles. rare and curious, then completed the ceremony by pouring into the briny deep bottles of water from the Ganges and Indus of Asia; the Nile and the Gambia of Africa; the Thames, the Seine, the Rhine, and the Danube of Europe; the Mississippi and Columbia of North, and the Orinoco, La Plata, and Amazon of South America. Cadwallader D. Colden then came forward and presented to the mayor an able me- moir upon the subject of canals and inland navigation in general.
Indeed, as Stone, in his narrative, says: "Never before was there such a fleet collected, and so superbly decorated; and it is very pos- sible that a display so grand, so beautiful, and we even add so sub- lime, will never be witnessed again.' We know of nothing with which it can be compared. The naval fete given by the Prince Regent of England, upon the Thames, during the visit of the allied sovereigns of Europe to London, after the dethronement of Napoleon, has been spoken of as exceeding everything of the kind ever witnessed in Europe. But gentlemen who had an opportunity of witnessing both, have declared that the spectacle in the waters of New-York so far transcended that in the metropolis of England as scarcely to admit of a comparison. The day, as we have before remarked, was uncom- monly fine. No winds agitated the surface of the mighty deep; and during the performance of the ceremonies, the boats, with their gay decorations, lay motionless in beauty. The orb of day darted his genial rays upon the bosom of the waters, where they played as tran- quilly as upon the natural mirror of a secluded lake. Indeed, the elements seemed to repose, as if to gaze upon each other, and par- ticipate in the beauty and grandeur of the sublime spectacle. Every object appeared to pause, as if to invite reflection and prepare the mind for deep impressions - impressions which, while we feel them stealing upon the soul, impart a consciousness of their durability.
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.