USA > New York > Essex County > Bloomingdale > The New York of yesterday; a descriptive narrative of old Bloomingdale, its topographical features, its early families and their genealogies, its old homesteads and country-seats, the Bloomingdale Reformed church, organized in 1805 > Part 24
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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
The widow of the far-famed Alexander Hamilton was a communicant as distinguished from a member. She became connected with Bloomingdale in two ways. Her son, John C. Hamilton, married a daughter of Governor van den Heuvel, and her connection with the Orphan Asylum often brought her to its new location on the Teunis Somerindyck farm. Among those who subscribed to the building fund of the new House of
1 It was the Rev. Dr. David Schuyler Bogart, the pastor first called by the Church, who performed the marriage ceremony between Aaron Burr and Theodosia Provoost at Paramus, N. J., July 2, 1782. She died in New York City, 1794.
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Worship, Col. Nicholas Fish was conspicuous. He also owned a pew therein. The son of Jonathan and Eliza- beth (Sackett) Fish, he was one of the foremost repre- sentatives of the patriotism which the leaders of social New York exhibited in the trying times of the Revolu- tion. Born in 1758, he had just left Princeton College to take up the study of law, when the war began. As an aid-de-camp to Brigadier-General George Morin Scott, he served in the battle of Long Island and in the operations around New York, and afterwards participated in the battle of Saratoga and commanded a corps of light infantry at Monmouth. At the siege of Yorktown, he was a Lieutenant-Colonel commanding a portion of the New York Line. After the war, he was equally distinguished in civil life both in society and business pursuits. Washington appointed him Super- visor of the Revenue, which at that time was a high position in the Treasury Department, and he also became Adjutant-General of the State of New York. In 1797, he was Treasurer of the New York Society of the Cincinnati. His connection with Bloomingdale history has been narrated elsewhere. He m. Elizabeth Stuyvesant, the great-great-granddaughter of the old Governor.
Another subscriber and pew-owner was the War Governor of New York during the second war with England. Daniel D. Tompkins was a native of Scarsdale, where he was born in 1774. He served as Governor from 1807 to 1817 and during the war was in command of the 3d U. S. Military District, in which capacity he was untiring in his exertions for the public good. On May 2, 1814, the first stone in the construc- tion of Fort Tompkins at the Narrows was laid and another fort bearing his name was located at Sackett's
Daniel D'tompkins
Portrait and signature of Hon. Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of New York State and Vice-President of the United States, from the paint- ing in the collection of the New York Historical Society
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Harbor. His name is further commemorated and handed down to posterity by Tompkins County in this State, Tompkinsville on Staten Island, Tompkins Square and Market (erected in 1830) in Manhattan, and Tompkins Park and Avenue in Brooklyn. His public papers have been published and are of great value, especially in connection with the war. While yet serving as Governor he was elected the 6th Vice-President of the United States, and filled that position during the two successive terms of President Monroe (1817 to 1825). He was present at the dedication of the new House of Worship. Soon after his time of office expired he retired to Tompkinsville, S. I. and d. June 11, 1825, at the early age of fifty-one years. Gov. Tompkins's father was Jonathan G. Tompkins, a Revolutionary soldier. The young man was educated at Columbia College and graduated 1795. Within two years thereafter he was admitted to the bar. He early took an interest in politics and in 1801 was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. The same year he was elected to the Assembly and became a recognized leader. In 1804 he was elected to Congress but never served, resigning before the session began to fill the post of Associate Justice on the State Supreme Court Bench made vacant by the election of James Kent as Chief Justice. On June 9, 1807, he resigned from the Bench to run for Governor against Morgan Lewis. He was elected and made such a creditable record as chief executive that he was re-elected in 1809 and again in 18II. It was in the trying days of the War of 1812 that Gov. Tompkins shone the brightest. He got the militia in the field early and even went to the extent of purchasing weapons from private citizens. He had these arms delivered at the arsenal in this city and in a
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short time he had armed 40,000 militiamen for the defence of New York, Buffalo, Plattsburg, and Sackett's Harbor. When the New York banks refused to lend money on U. S. Treasury notes without the govern- ment's indorsement he, as Commander of the U. S. Military District, unhesitatingly gave it. Pledging his personal and official credit he advanced the money which kept up the Military Academy at West Point, paid for the manufacturing of arms at Springfield, and continued the recruiting service. It was while the Governor was in the midst of his activities connected with the war that he was invited by President Madison to become Secretary of State to fill the place vacated by James Monroe, who had become Secretary of War. The offer was refused, however, and in 1815 Gov. Tompkins was again re-elected Governor. In April, 1816, he was nominated and later elected Vice-President. Before resigning the Governorship he sent a message to the Legislature recommending that a day be fixed for the abolition of slavery in the State. In accordance with this recommendation the Legislature named July 4, 1827, as Emancipation Day. In 1820 Gov. Tompkins was re-elected Vice-President. He was fully as promi- nent in Masonic circles as he was in politics. He was Secretary of the Grand Lodge from 1802 to 1804 and Grand Master from 1820 to 1821. One of the founders of the New York Historical Society, he was an incor- porator of the Public School Society and a Regent of the State University. General Lafayette stayed at his residence on Staten Island on his arrival on the Cadmus on Sunday, August 15, 1822. The following day the city was honored by the General's presence. Governor Tompkins's remains lie buried in the churchyard of St. Mark's, in the vault of his father-in-law Mangle Min-
. Livingston
Portrait and signature of the Hon. Brockholst Livingston, Asso. Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. By courtesy of Miss Ann L. Livingston
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thorne. There is a movement on foot under the aus- pices of the Masonic fraternity to erect his memorial statue in City Hall Park. A monument now marks his birthplace.
Judge Henry Brockholst Livingston was another supporter of the Church. He dropped the Christian name to distinguish him from his kinsman Henry Beekman Livingston of Clermont, whose initials were the same. His services to the nation have been detailed elsewhere. His descent follows:
I. Robert Livingston, Ist Lord of the Manor, m. Alida, dau. of Philip Pieterse and Margarita (van Slechtenhorst) Schuyler, the widow of Domine Nicholas van Rensselaer.
2. Philip Livingston, 2d Lord of the Manor, m. Cath- erine, only dau. of Peter and Sara (Cuyler) van Brugh.
3. William Livingston, Ist Governor of New Jersey (1776-1790), Signer Federal Constitution, 1787; m. Su- sanna, dau. of Philip and Susanna (Brockholst) French.
4. Henry Brockholst Livingston, m. (1) Catharine Keteltas. Their eldest dau. m. her cousin Jasper Hall Livingston of Jamaica, W. I., a grandson of Philip Living- ston the Signer.
m. (2) Ann M., dau. of Gabriel and Ann (Williams) Ludlow. Issue: Carroll Livingston, m. Cornelia, dau. of Henry Walter Livingston, of the Manor; Anson Livingston, m. Ann, eldest sister of Cor- nelia.
m. (3) Catharine, dau. of Edmund Seaman and widow of Capt. John Kortright.
Jeremiah John Drake appeared as a witness in 1820 to the marriage of John Augustus Sidell and Marilla Adeline Noxon. The bride lived with her sister Clarinda Noxon, Mr. Drake's wife, in a house which stood on the site of the Orphan Asylum. The Noxons
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came from Poughkeepsie. Mrs. Drake sold the Bloom- ingdale property circa 1827. Mr. Sidell was an old- time lawyer of note. Jeremiah John Drake was born in the town of Cortlandt, Westchester County, April 26, 1782, and died at Bloomingdale Jan. 8, 1827. He was a lawyer in New York and a master in chancery. His father John died at Lansingburgh, N. Y.
The mansion of Baron John Cornelius van den Heuvel became the line of demarkation between the upper and lower sections of the congregation. The former Dutch Governor gave liberally to the organiza- tion. He had m. Justine Henrietta van Baerle, who d. in 1793 leaving children, some of whom resided in Holland, and it was she who purchased the Blooming- dale lands. In 1821, the Governor obtained releases from the heirs-at-law. He d. in 1826 seized of the property and devised it, in nine parts, among his children, share and share alike. Those by his second wife, Charlotte Apthorp, who d. before him, were: Maria, wife of John C. Hamilton; Charles Apthorp van den Heuvel; Justine, wife of Gouverneur S. Bibby; and Susan Annette, wife of Thomas S. Gibbes.
Among others who were either communicants, attendants, or contributors to the support of the Church and about whom a slight framework of the leading events which shaped their lives is hereinafter given, were:
John Broome, the quondam Lieut .- Governor, whose name has been preserved in Broome Street, this city, and Broome County in the State. The proximity of his country-seat has been noted.
Richard Riker, whose affectionate soubriquet "Dickey" has survived. The son of Samuel Riker, a patriot and a prisoner during the war, he was born in
.Granden Heure Cr1823
Portrait and signature of Baron John C. Van den Heuvel, former Governor of Demarara, from the original painting in possession of William Henry Bibby, E'sq.
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1773 and educated under the tuition of the Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, the famous head of Nassau Hall of the College of New Jersey (Princeton). He was admitted to the bar in 1795 and shortly thereafter became Dis- trict Attorney for New York City. In 1815, he was made Recorder, an office which was legislated out of existence in 1907, and with occasional short inter- missions retained his seat on the bench until 1838. He left a record as one of the most learned and upright judges that the city ever possessed.
James Buchanan, the British Consul, who had children buried in its churchyard. He was of the firm of Buchanan & Thompson, 243 Queen (Pearl) Street. A director of the only bank in the city, the Bank of New York, "he was a great man in our city in his day," says a chronicler.
Gideon Lee, Mayor 1833-4, had a house in Blooming- dale on lands which he purchased in 1822 and which were part of those of Charles Ward Apthorp. These were bounded southeasterly by Eighth Avenue, north- easterly by a public road, southwesterly by land formerly of the same estate and late of Robert L. Bowne, now of William Edgar, northwesterly by land also formerly of the same estate and now of William Jauncey, and comprised part of lot No. 8 which fell to the share of Ann Apthorp and part of lot No. 7 which fell to the share of Grizzel Shaw, both children of said Apthorp. On this property stood a "mansion house" according to an agreement on record, 1836, in L. 34, Conv. 594. The term of Mayor Lee was sig- nalized by a number of happenings, the most important of which were the appearance of the Knickerbocker Magazine, the extension of the route of the New York and Harlem Railroad to Murray Hill, the laying of the
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first block or Belgian pavement in a street in this city or country, the death of Col. Nicholas Fish, the visit to the city of President Jackson, the marriage of Aaron Burr as above detailed, and the opening of Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island. Other noted happen- ings were these: The New York Sun began publication, lotteries in the State were abolished, the United States Hotel on Fulton Street was opened, James Fenimore Cooper arrived in the city after a long residence abroad, the fish-market at Washington Market was opened, and University Place extended from Eighth Street to Fourteenth Street. In April, 1834, occurred the first election of Mayor by popular vote, Cornelius R. Lawrence being chosen.
James Boggs, for many years President of the Phoenix Bank. His seat in Bloomingdale has been adverted to. He maintained a pew and his family and later his son-in-law were attendants. John W. Liv- ingston, who m. his daughter Julia, was in the army in early life (Capt. of Artillery and Engineers, appointed June 4, 1798, resigned Dec. 1, 1804) and served in the War of 1812. He became Marshal of the Northern District of New York and took up his residence at Skaneateles, where he resided for twenty-one years. On removing to this city he retired to private life.
William Jauncey, the eminent English merchant, who lived in the Apthorp mansion, was an early sub- scriber. It would seem that he made an offer for a pew at the sale; we find, however, no direct authority for the statement that he took advantage of his bid.
Thomas Addis Emmet, son of the famous Irish patriot. He came to America in 1804 and soon rose to a position of prominence as a leader of the New York bar. He owned a tract on the east side of the Bloom-
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ingdale Road in the Great Kill district which he ac- quired in 1807 and 1824 and which in the XVIII century belonged to the Webbers family. In 1812 he became Attorney-General of the State and died suddenly (Nov. 11, 1827) while conducting a case in the U. S. Circuit Court. His remains lie in the Marble Cemetery in Second Street, near Second Avenue, and a monument to his memory stands in St. Paul's churchyard in Broadway. He left him surviving a widow, Jane, who d. Nov. 20, 1846, and these children, viz .: Robert, 1792-1873, a lawyer and a leader in the contemplated Irish insurrection of 1848; Margaret; Elizabeth, wife of William H. Le Roy; John Patten, M.D., 1797-1842 (Aug. 13th); Jane E., wife of Bache McEvers; Mary Ann, wife of Edward A. B. Graves; and William C. Emmet.
William Rhinelander, another early adherent, was the second of the name in this country and was de- scended from Philip Jacob Rhinelander, a Huguenot, who sought refuge in America after the Revocation. Born in New York in 1753, he lived until 1825. He was trustee of the family estate, and, like his ancestors and descendants, was an extensive landowner. In 1785 he m. Mary Robert (1755-1837), a sister of Col. Robert, a line officer in the army of the Revolution and a descendant of Daniel Robert, a Huguenot, who arrived in this country in 1686. She was the aunt of Christopher Rhinelander Robert who founded Robert College in Constantinople.
Samuel Borrowe was a subscriber whose country- seat was within the confines of Central Park, over- looking Central Park West at 105th Street and which was demolished in Dec., 1897. He had purchased a plot of four acres in 1796 and to the house led what was
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long known as Clendining Lane, which extended from the Bloomingdale Road at 103d Street and ended at the Borrowe residence. The Clendining mansion stood on the lane at present Columbus Avenue and 104th Street. The owner, John Clendining, made a donation to the building fund and long maintained a pew. Both he and his first wife Margaret became members in 1823 by certificate from the Presbyterian church. His son William was baptized by Dr. Gunn, in 1810. Later he attended St. Michael's Church, nearer his home. His widow Letitia, aged seventy-four years, was interred in the family vault at the Brick Meeting House (Dr. Spring's), March 18, 1843.
Clement C. Moore, the acknowledged Hebrew author- ity who made all children his debtors by writing The Night before Christmas, contributed to the early funds, as did John V. Brevoort, John G. Coster, William Ogden, William James Stewart, John S. Roulet, and Stephen van Rensselaer of Albany. Henry Rutgers was another subscriber. His daughter Elizabeth was the wife of Gerard de Peyster, another friend of the Church, and died before her father (1775). Mary Rutgers, another daughter, m. Stephen McCrea and she was likewise a contributor. Gerard de Peyster was the only child of James William de Peyster who lived in Bloomingdale and d. 1817. He m. (1) Margaret de Peyster, dau. of his uncle John, and d. in September, 1824, leaving James, b. 1796, whose mansion was on the present site of St. Luke's Hospital, Morningside Heights, Cornelia, who m. Gerard William Livingston, a later officer of the Church, and Anna H., the wife of Peter W. Livingston.
John G. Coster was born in Haarlem, Holland, and came to New York about the date of the Revolution.
THE CLENDINING MANSION, 1863
-
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He was educated for a physician. He and his elder brother, Henry A., who reached here a few years be- fore him, formed a partnership with a place of busi- ness at No. 20 Dock (now Pearl) Street. In 1821, when Henry A. died, they lived and had their store at 26 William Street, where they had been since 1799. John G. continued the business until 1825. He re- moved his residence to 110 Broadway in 1805. The firm dealt in all sorts of Holland goods-one article in particular, called "Krollenvogel," a species of tape made of flax. They imported every variety of oil- cloths. Not only did they import but they were constantly buying and shipping to Europe all kinds of produce. They had strong connections in the old Dutch cities for they had heavy orders and they traded also in their own ships, sending out supercargoes. John G. was elected director of the Manhattan Bank in 1813 and in 1826, President, in place of Henry Remsen. He was also a director of the Phoenix Insurance Co. When John Jacob Astor wished to build the Astor House, he bought Coster's house and lot at 227 Broadway. Coster had built a splendid gra- nite double residence in 1833 up at 539 Broadway, which was a palace in its day, and here he removed. He died circa 1846.
Cornelius Ray had property in lower Bloomingdale and although it is not known that he owned a pew, yet he had the Church's welfare at heart. A number of the slaves bearing the family name were married and had children baptized there. Mr. Ray was the son of Richard and Sarah (Bogert) Ray, entered mercantile life at an early age, was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce and served as its President from May 6, 1806, until May 4, 1819, when he declined a re-election.
22
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William Edgar. He m. Eliza L., dau. of Frederick William, the fourth son of William Rhinelander, and her sister Louisa was the first wife of Gardner Greene Howland of the Bloomingdale family.
Archibald Gracie was a subscriber and pew-holder. A Scotchman, he founded the great East Indian firm known as Archibald Gracie & Sons. As a merchant, he was among the foremost of this or any other country -his ships visiting every port of the world. His daughter, Sarah Rogers Gracie, m., 1813, James Gore King, the famous banker of Prime, Ward, & King. Mr. Gracie d. in 1829. Dr. Samuel Latham Mitchell, in his Picture of New York, 1807, says that "the superb house and grounds of Archibald Gracie stood upon the very spot called Hoorn's Hoek, upon which a fort erected by the Americans in 1776 stood till about the year 1794, when the present proprietor caused the remains of the military works to be levelled at great expense and erected on their rocky base, his elegant mansion and appurtenances."
The Bownes were Quakers who settled in Flushing and suffered for conscience' sake in early New Amster- dam. The Friends and the Baptists were the only people who were persecuted in the colony because of their religious opinions. One of the Bownes was arrested and after being tied to a cart-tail and dragged through the streets was imprisoned. Stuyvesant's methods of eliminating these to him objectionable elements of the population were brought to the atten- tion of his masters, the Holland directors of the West India Company, and their feelings in the matter were expressed in a letter which can be found in the Docu- mentary History of the State, wherein such persecution was expressly prohibited and the toleration of all forms
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of religious sentiment sanctioned. Thus freedom of religion was established in the colony. The Bownes of Bloomingdale descend from Robert L. Bowne who acquired the Stilwell property lying between 85th and 89th Streets from the east side of the Bloomingdale Road to the Commons, by these conveyances :
1795, Nov. 30, Samuel Stilwell and Elizabeth his wife; 12 A. 3 R. 15} P. Consideration £835, N. Y. currency.
1798, Mch. 5, Samuel S. Bowne; 13 A. 3 R. 22} P .; land which he had purchased of said Stilwell Dec. 31, 1795. Consideration £2100.
1799, Jan. 2, Samuel Stilwell and Elizabeth; 4 A. 2 R. Consideration $1000.
1799, Aug. 10, Samuel Stilwell and Elizabeth; 6 A. 2 R. by estimation. Consideration $1625.
1801, June 12, John McVickar and Anna his wife; 7 A. I R. 30 P. Consideration $2789.06.
On Jan. 2, 1809, Bowne mortgaged the entire property of 45 A. 2 P. to William Edgar to secure $20,000. On Aug. 20, 1819, Edgar took possession of the property under foreclosure.
When Robert L. Bowne d. June 21, 1821, he left him surviving these children, viz .: Rowland R., George, Eliza, afterwards wife of Jacob C. Skillman, Amy, Abigail S., Amelia, Matilda, Hannah, and Gulielma Bowne.
William Edgar was a merchant whose "white marble palace" at 7 Greenwich Street was still standing as late as 1860. In 1797 he lived at 7 Wall Street. Treasurer of the first insurance company, the Mutual, started in 1793, he was also a director of the Bank of New York and a prominent member of St. Patrick's
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Society. He d. Nov. 1, 1820, leaving a son William who d. Aug. 27, 1823. The latter's issue were William, Herman Le Roy, Newbold, Daniel M., Robert, and Hannah, later the wife of Robert R. Morris of Pelham. In 1849 these heirs conveyed the mortgaged premises to Peter Augustus Jay (L. 576, 331), who on Oct. II, 1852, sold the same to Martin Zabriskie for $52,000. Rachel, one of the freed slaves of the Edgar family, and her husband joined the communion April 29, 1831, while Domine Kip was in charge.
Lewis Bowne was m. by Domine van Aken to Maria Stickles in 1844 and to this family also belonged Walter Bowne the quondam Mayor.
George Mckay lived in the house at 92d Street and the North River built by Jacob Coles Mott as hereto- fore mentioned. He had purchased four and a half acres of the Mott and Weyman tract of nineteen acres, in 1820, and here he resided up to the time of his death, Nov. 16, 1836. He was an original subscriber for a pew and attended the services. His widow d. Nov. 26th of the same year. He had one child, Capt. George Knox Mckay, who m. Sarah, dau. of David Frothingham, originally of Charlestown, Mass., but who at the time of the marriage was the editor of the Long Island Gazette, at Sag Harbor, the first newspaper published on Long Island. This obituary of the Captain is from the Evening Post of Sept. 27, 1814:
This morning, at 10 o'clock, in the 24th year of his age, of a consumption brought on by a severe cold, incurred on military duty in the service of his country, George K. McKay.
His friends and acquaintances, those of his father George McKay, and his late brother officers and men attached to his command in the 3d Regiment Volunteers, are respect-
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fully invited to attend his funeral to-morrow at 4 o'clock P.M. from his late residence No. 91 Nassau St.
His only child, Margaret Helen Mckay, m., in 1833, Richard Lawrence Schieffelin, b. in 1801, graduate of Columbia College, law student with his brother-in-law Benjamin Ferris. He practised his profession until 1843, and thereafter devoted himself to the care of his real estate, part of which was the land above described, and corporate interests. At his death in 1889, he was senior warden of St. Mary's Church at Manhattanville, founded by his father Jacob, whose country-seat was at about 144th Street and ran from the Hudson River to what is now St. Nicholas Avenue. About the year 1800, Jacob sold that portion of this land lying to the eastward of the Kingsbridge Road, to Alexander Hamilton, upon which the latter built "The Grange" where he resided at the time of his lamented death.
Nathaniel Prime, another whose donations to the Church were liberal, the head of one of the great banking houses of the period and a merchant prince, settled in New York, before the close of the XVIII century, had a town house at No. I Broadway and a country- seat at present 89th Street and the East River. It is now one of the buildings of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum. Some of its old fire-places and mantels are preserved, and from its upper balcony may be obtained a fine view of Hell-Gate. He died there suddenly in 1840. His wife, Cornelia, was the dau. of Comfort Sands, first President of the Chamber of Commerce.
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