USA > New York > The aristocracy of New York : they are and what they were : being a social and business history of the city for many years > Part 2
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Mr. Astor, in addition to the amount received from his father, imherited a large estate, nearly a million of dollars, from his uncle, Henry Astor, who died about twenty years since.
Henry Astor was the eldest brother of John Jacob Astor, and preceded him to this country several years. He came to this country as a servant to the purser of a British Frigate, the Belle Poule, (taken from the French), which used to frequent this port during the Revolutionary war, and lay off Dover street wharf. Astor, in his frequent visits on shore with the Purser, had become acquainted with a butcher in the mar- ket, then kept in Franklin Square. He found opportunity to say to him on one occa- sion, that if he would secrete him so that he could not be found until the frigate had sailed, he would work for him a certain length of time for a small amount. The bargain was concluded, and the next time the Purser came to make his purchases at the market, with Astor in attendance, the butcher found means to distract the atten- tion of the former, and at the same time have a waggon in attendance in which Astor was placed and driven rapidly into Westchester County. In a few days the frigate sailed, and the name of Astor had taken root in America.
Mr. Astor worked with the butcher several months for $23 per month. He finally learned the business, and by it accumulated a fortune.
When the late Col. Bayard cut up his farm into lots, he sold Henry Astor one acre of it lying east of the Bowery and near Bayard street, on a part of which the Bowery Theatre now stands. He gave for this lot £250, payable in several annual instal- ments, but after he had completed the bargain he became frightened, and went to Col. Bayard to induce him to let him off. The Colonel laughed at him, and so the matter ended. What would the heir of Henry Astor take now for the acre of land bought of Col. Bayard ? It was on a part of this lot, and precisely where the Bowery Theatre now stands, that the first Bull's Head Market stood, and where the butchers of the city met to make their purchases of cattle until within about twenty-five years. Henry Astor was married but never had any children.
Mr. Wm. B. Astor's time and attention is wholly engrossed in the care of his own and his father's estate. We suppose it will be no slander to say that he is an excep- tion to the ordinary rule of rich men's sons being spendthrifts, as he is much belied if he is not yet more close and penurious than his father. In his religious views he is an Episcopalian, and is a member of Dr. Bedell's church in the Fifth Avenue.
His estate is so connected with his father's, that public rumor is exceedingly con- tradictory in regard to the amount of property he holds in his own name, but it may safely be put down at $6,000,000. Among the pieces of valuable property held by him in his own name, is the Astor House, the annual rent of which is some $30,000, ex- clusive of the stores. He is also the owner of the City Hotel and the Park Theatre.
ANTHON, JOHN, ANTHON, HENRY, ANTHON, CHARLES,
Sons of Dr. Anthon, late a physician of this city, of German descent.
The name presents three brothers : each are in the front rank, if not at the head, of his profession. There are few instances of three. of one family, in so high posi- tion. John married a daughter of the late John Hone. who left her a for- tune. His opinions as a sound and safe lawyer have been highly valued, and have been richly rewarded. His practice has been more as chamber council than at the bar.
The Rev. Henry Anthon, D. D., is the respected Rector of St. Mark's Church. Till recently Dr. Anthon has been among the retiring of the New York Clergy -Puseyism has brought him out. The two brothers, John and Henry, bave been conspicuous in their opposition to Bishop Onderdonk. It was Dr. Anthon that opposed the ordina- tion of the Rev. Mr. Cary, some time since, which made so much noise at the time. He once preached in Utica.
Charles Anthon is admitted to be the first classical author that America has pro-
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duced. His numerous works have all been published by the Harpers ; who require popular as well as learned authors. His professorship in Columbia College may have taught him the need of their works. The public had felt the need of a better dic- tionary than Lemprier : he has given it, and the Harpers have realized from its sale at least $50,000. He has also published a great variety of other works of a classical character, many of which have been re-published in Europe. His annual income from the sale of these works is very large. Professor Anthon is a bachelor, and exceedingly regular and methodical in his habits. It is said he always retires at nine o'clock, and rises at four. He is worth probably about $200,000 ; and his brother, John, twice as much, to say nothing of the estate his children will get as heirs of their mother's father.
ALLEY, SAUL, is a native of Providence, R. I., where he learned his trade ax a coach-maker ; and his father dying, while he was yet young, left him perfectly des- titute. When he had completed his term of service, he commenced werk at his trade as a journeyman, and by economy in the use of his earnings, succeeded in saving a considerable amount of money, with which he commenced business at Charleston, S. C., but was not very successful, and finally came to this city, where he had credit enough to get into a small commission business ; and eventually, by evincing his peculiar trait of economy, was enabled to increase his stock in trade and gradually saved from its profits on sale, in a legitimate way, a sufficient amount to invest in real estate, which he did, and, by its rise, combined with the profits of his business, he came to be possessed of the property which he owns. It is not to be presumed that a man, like Mr. Alley, who has spent his whole life in money get- ting, would have much opportunity to become profound in the finer branches of lite- rature, and yet Mr. A. has made good use of his associations in later years, and is an agreeable man. He has been intimately connected with Stephen Allen, and, like him, is a member and sachem of the Tammany Society. He is now retired from business, and is reputed to be worth $300,000.
ALLEN, STEPHEN, was a sailor. A ship's deck is a good school for a sail-loft. He took a sail-loft : diligence got business ; punctuality kept and increased it ; suc- cess, wealth, a good name, and extended influence followed. The qualities of his clear, strong mind, showed out, in rough, honest, firm decision of character, and decided democracy. The public voice has willed him twice for Mayor, a State Senator, and a State Commissioner of the Croton Water Works. He was the first sub-treasurer appointed by Mr. Van Buren, and continued in that office until the act was repealed. In each office he did his duty faithfully : in the last great enterprise, his energy was of pre-eminent value. " Late in life be was called upon to fill an ef- fice of another sort. From ill encouragement, the New-York Life Insurance and Trust Company had become embarrassed. The stockholders decided to appoint a new President. Mr. Allen was selected. Politics had no influence in this choice. Sagacity and decided administrative talent were needed. Boston could hardly in- duce the scientific Bowditch, on a high salary, to organize her institution. New York asks the old, uneducated Allen to retrieve hers Mr. Allen is worth at least $750,000.
APPLETON, DANIEL, of the firm of Daniel Appleton and Co., booksellers, is a native of Haverhill. Mass. He was successful in the dry-goods business, (princi- pally woolen cloths. ) in Roston, corner of Central and Broad streets, for many years, but got embarrassed by signing custom-house bonds for Adams & Amory, 3 commission house .. He got extricated from this embarrassment with difficulty, and came to New York poor. His first publication was accidental, but profitable. This drew his attention to a new business ; he felt his wav, and has followed it up with rare good fortune. His reading not being extensive, he is kept from a danger that men of literary tastes are exposed to-of publishing what ought to sell. rather than what will sell. He is cautious and hard, and is thus saved from annoyances that afflict excessive sensibility. He commenced the book business in a very small way, in Clinton Hall. He afterwards got his present location, 200 Broadway, ca a long lease, for a low rent. His eldest son is connected with him in business ; he has another in Philadelphia, and yet another in London. Coolv, the auctioneer, and author of the work called " American in Egypt," is his son-in-law. Mr. Appleton is said to be worth $150,000.
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ARNOLD, AARON. An Englishman of the right stamp, who imports the best goods, and sells at fixed prices. The store of the late firm of Arnold & Hearn, in Canal street, now occupied by him, has long been noted for its abundant assortment of family goods. Mr. Arnold imported also a snug sum of money to begin trade with ; but for that article he now relies on his own manufacture, which has increased fast enough. Mr. Constable, his son-in-law, is also his partner. Mr. Arnold's property is rated at $150,000.
ANDREW, HENRY. By birth an Englishman, and learned the trade of an up- holsterer. On his arrival in this country he was connected in various ways with the business, and finally opened a store for himself as a carpet dealer, in which trade he still continues, and is at this time one of the oldest in the city. Although not much of a politician, the Whigs saw fit to nominate him for the Assembly, to which he was elected for one term. It was a proper tribute paid to his worth as a man, and is an evidence of the estimation in which he is held by his fellow-citizens. He has ever borne the title of an upright man, honest, industrious and economical, and is well worthy to possess what is attributed to him, viz. : $150,000.
ANDERSON, HIRAM, carpet dealer in the Bowery, is a native of Newburgh, where his father was for a long time one of the first merchants, but finally became embarrassed in his business transactions, and came to this city, where he secured an appointment, under the regime of President Jackson, in the Custom House, where he remained until the election of General Harrison, when he was deposed, and soon after died, leaving his children nothing but the education he had given them, and their own energies, to push them in the world. The subject of the present sketch, like several of his brothers, was for a long time a clerk in a carpet store, but by his own good management finally got into the business for himself, where he has made all his money. He is highly respected as a shrewd business man and good mana ger, and is at this time reputed to be worth $100,000.
ANDERSON, ABEL T., is a native of New York ; his father was a boot and shoe maker by trade, in which business he acquired a great reputation, and thereby made money very rapidly, being likewise a man of prudent and economical habits, and withal industrious. He eventually became rich, and educated his children. The subject of the present sketch, as appears, discovered a penchant for the Law, and thereupon betook himself to its study, and is at this time a practitioner of some note. Like his father, he enjoys the respect of all who know him, lives as a man in the possession of large property ought to live, in good style, and enjoys in a gentlemanly way what his wealth will enable him to purchase. He is reputed to be worth $150,000.
APPLEBY, LEONARD, a native of this Bfty, and engaged in the tobacco business. He commenced in a stuall way and has gradually enlarged his establishment, until it is now one of the largest of the kind in the city. He has made large sums of money by the introduction of a new kind of chewing tobacco, which has become very popular among those who use the article in that way. His active mind, combined with industry and strict business habits, have made him the possessor of a large property, and we say that such as he are the right kind, and the ones who ought to have the good things of this world, and in whose possession we can bear to see wealth, without for a moment experiencing an envious wish. Mr. A. enjoys a high reputation for integrity in his business transactions, and is reputed to be worth $150,000.
ADAMS, JOUN. Now President of the Fulton Bank ; started in the world with few of the tangible concomitants of its worth. He received a considerable acqui- sition to his fortune by an inheritance of his wife's, of a large amount of property, from the estate of her father (John Glover), after whose death Mr. Adams made himself quite conspicuous in several unsuccessful attempts to oust the widow of his nephew from the possession of some property which had been given to her husband by his mother during his life, and which was afterwards confirmed by the donor to her. He is considered to be worth $250,000.
ADAMS, WILLIAM, is a silversmith, by which trade he has made the major portion of his money. He is a native of Troy, where he served his apprenticeship to the husband of his present wife. He commenced the world, after his marriage, in very straitened circumstances ; but by close application and hard industry. com- bined with stringent economy, he was enabled to save a large amount of money,
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on the election of Mr. Polk, he was, however, reinstated in his former place, and still holds the office of District Attorney, Mr. Butler has always been an ardent politician, and strong personal friend of Mr. Van Buren. He is an amiable man and a member of Dr. Skinner's Church. He has several children : one daughter, who married Mr. Crosby, the beir of the famous Rutgers' estate, in the eastern part of the city ; and a son is, we believe, connected with his father as a practitioner of law. He is reckoned to be worth $200,000.
ARCULARIUS, GEORGE. Of German parentage. Has always been a baker -- a prosperous and popular one ; a breakfast table is not furnished, at many hotels and tip-top boarding-houses, without his hot rolls. Among his sons, who have ful- lowed the same business, is the late Commissary General, General Henry A. Arcu- larius. He has been passionately devoted to the military service of the State. Few individuals possess a library so valuable, especially in French authors, on all branch- es of military science and tactics. This library is or was deposited at that appro- priate place, Tom Riley's Museum, or Fifth Ward Hotel, where, besides natural cu- riosities, are deposited many relics of the Revolution. The property of Mr. Arcu- larius is estimated at $200,000.
E BARNUM, P. T., was born in Danbury, Conn., in the year 1810. His father was a tailor. At eleven years of age he entered as a clerk in a country store, where he remained until the age of 14, and four years after opened a small store for himself in his native place. At the age of 19, he married a young lady, with whom he eloped to New York, in consequence of his parents' opposition to the .match. In 1831 he established a newspaper, called " The Herald of Freedom," which con- taining at one time some offensive strictures upon Judge Daggett, of the Supreme Court, he was imprisoned for a libel. At the expiration of his sentence, his punish. ment being considered unjust by his friends and neighbors, he was received with joyful demonstrations and a public dinner given him. In 1833 he came to New York and opened a wholesale grocery at 156 South street. We next find him interested in a Circus, with which he travelled throughout the United States and Canada, and subsequently as the exhibitor of the old negress, Joice Heth. In 1810 he was in business at 101 Bowery, and the same year manager of Vauxhall Garden. In '41 was general agent for Sears' Pictorial Bible, and during the same year purchased the American Museum, then in a state of decline through bad management. In his hands it has become an attractive resort to the multitude, and proved a most lucrative investment to Mr. Barnum.
He has made the most of his money by exhibiting Tom Thumb. He met with this personage at Bridgeport, Conn., where his father was a journeyman carpenter. Barnum engaged him for a series of years, agreeing to give the father half the profits. The party visited most of the capitals of Europe, and exhibited before most of the crowned heads.
Barnum has recently erected a most magnificent private residence at Bridgeport, the entire cost of which, with the plate and furniture, is about $150,000. is prop- erty may be safely estimated at $500,000.
BUTLER, B. F. Is a native of Kinderhook, and the son of a blacksmith, now Judge Butler, of that place. He attracted the attention of Mr. Van Buren, many years ago, when a barefooted boy, and was received by him at his office, where he sub- sequently studied law, and remaiced with his patron until admitted to the bar. He was afterwards cashier of a bank at Sandy Hill. established by the noted Jacob Barker, whose failure, some twenty-five years since, involved also the ruin of the banker. Butler's correspondence with his friend Hoyt, during this period, published a few years since by Mckenzie, has afforded the public some amusement. We next find him in Albany, winning his way to eminence in his profession, an active politician, and one of the clique known as the Albany Regener, a zealous Pre-by:f- rian aud Sabbath School Teacher, and an eloquent advocate of Temperance. Der.og the second term of Gen. Jackson's administration he was called to take a seat in luis cabinet as Attorney General, and was for a short time Secretary of War. He wasre- garded as a favorite of the old General, and on Mr. Van Buren's accession to office his friend Butler was appointed District Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Being suspended during the Harrison and Tyler administration, he resumed the practice of law, in company with his brother, Charles Butler, in New York. Up-
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with which he bought real estate, and upon its certain rise, has become immensely rich. He is Alderman of the Fifth Ward, is a good citizen, and as such is highly respected. Mr. Adams, although a man possessing a stock of good, sound sense, is not, as might be surmised from what has previously been said of his mode of life, a learned man in a literary way, but is chiefly indebted to the qualifications before al- luded to for the accumulation of his property, which is said to be worth $100,000.
BLATCHFORD, R. M., is a lawyer, son of a deceased clergyman of Bridgeport, Conn. The widow of his brother, also a clergyman at Bridgeport, married Samuel Hubbard, (whose first wife was a daughter of the late Gardiner Green, of Boston, of great wealth,) late Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
Mr. Blatchford's acute faculties were cultivated at Union College. As notary public he was at one time connected with shipping seamen.
He is an active politician of the Whig stamp, and was made very conspicuous a few years since, in connection with the Glentworth and Stevenson pipe laying business.
For some years he had agencies from several London banking houses, and some say from the Bank of England. Chancery proceedings are pending in regard to the title of securities received by him for large loans made by him as agent of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company.
In the earlier stages of his practice, Mr. Blatchford exhibited great zeal, at least, for the interests of his clients.
He was formerly connected with the Erie Railroad Company, in its first steps. " He was the counsel for Rathbun, of Buffalo, at the time he was flourishing in 1836. Mr. Blatchford is supposed to be worth $200,000.
BRINCKERHOFF, GEORGE, is a gentleman of the old school, and a descend- ant of one of the earliest Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, whose house is de- scribed in a fac-simile of a very ancient map of this city appended to the new one recently published. The property thus early in the possession of the family, has been transmitted from generation to generation, proportionably enlarged by its in- crease in value as the city extended. The father of the subject of the present sketch, who flourished in the times, though warmly attached to the cause of the colonies, we believe did not take an active part in the war. Our subject graduated from Co- lumbia College about the year 179S, and commenced the practice of law, from which he has since retired, in 1802, in which profession he achieved be highest honors, and was universally esteemed for his profound knowledge. He inherited from his father a large property, and received a considerable acquisition by his marriage ; he caused to be erected, and occupied for a long time, as a residence, the building in Broadway at the foot of Bond street, now known as the " Bond Street House." He lost a large amount of property by the great fire in 1835, but has since come into the possession of a very handsome fortune from the settlement of the estate of his mother. His property is worth at least $100,000.
BROWN, JAMES, of the firm of Brown, Brothers & Co., was born in or near Belfast, Ireland. Alexander Brown, his father, emigrated to Baltimore about the year 1800. He placed three sons, George, John A., and James, at a boarding school kept by the Rev. Thomas Littlewood, Rochdale, Lancashire. There were several other Irish boys from Belfast then at the same school-all protestants. In due time they were established in the management of different commercial houses ; George with Alexander, the father, in Baltimore, Joha A. in Philadelphia, and James in this city. (See Brown, Stewart). William, the oldest son, who was established at Liverpool, is member of Parliament,fin the free trade interest, from South Lancashire.
From this beginning, under some changes, the whole connection have grown to great wealth ; and in little more than thirty years. The instance has hardly a parallel.
Alexander was first an importer of Irish linens-influencing consignments of American produce to the Liverpool houses, and dealing in exchanges.
The Philadelphia and New York houses followed nearly the same course-adding large consignments of British and American manufactures. To the extension of this branch of commission business the Liverpool offered great advantages.
Since the disastrous times of '35-137, in which they met heavy losses, they have restricted their operations. They make advancements on consignments to the Liverpool house, and operate largley in money, bills of exchange, &c., &c.
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Mr. Brown has been devoted to business, and his family. His present wife is a daughter or niece of the Rev. Dr. Nott, President of Union College, Schenectady.
Mr. Brown is said to have furnished means for some of Dr. Nott's experiments on the steam engine. His oldest son married a. daughter of Gardiner G. Hlowland, and was shot accidentally under very distressing circumstances at the country scat of Mr. Howland, in the summer of 1847. His wealth having placed him above the reach of common accidents, he is beginning to appear in objects of public en- terprise and of charity, particularly in the cases of the Erie and Hudson railroads. He is president of the Society for improving the condition of the poor. He was bred a presbyterian. His former spacious dwelling house in Franklin street is now let as a boarding house. The firm of Brown, Brothers & Co., cannot be estimated as worth less than $1,000,000.
BROWN, GEORGE W., is proprietor of the well known restaurant in Water street, near Coffee-House Slip, where he has been located for many years. He started on the cheap cash principle, but at this time keeps one of the first places of the kind, in point of respectability of patronage, in the city. He has been a looker on at all the doings in that vicinity for upwards of twenty years, and knows the his- tory of almost every man in Wall street, and is himself as well known by most of them. He has worked hard at his business, of catering for the dainty appetites of those who are skilled in the science of gastronomy, and enjoys the reputation, in the minds of his old customers of having reached the ne plus ultra of his profession. But the cooking, and carving of meats and dainty tit bits, to tempt the delicate stomach has not, like the practice of virtue, been its own reward, as is evinced by the possession of the more tangible returns, in the shape of some $250,000, which he is said to be worth. He has now an elegant dwelling in Fifteenth street, neat Union Square.
BROWN, STEWART, of the firm of Brown, Brothers & Co., is cousin of James, being a son of Dr. Brown, of Baltimore, a physician. He was bred to business by his uncle, Alexander, who was a thorough and able disciplinarian. To the advantage of such a training, Mr. Brown unites a clear, firm, decided mind and high principle. He is the valuable and efficient manager of the business of the house. He is an Episcopalian, and a member of St. George's Church, and worth about $400,000.
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