USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I > Part 131
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 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182
His death occurred January 28, 1883, after weeks of great suffering, borne with Christian fortitude and resignation.
In all the relations of life, whether political, social, or do- mestic, Judge Fisher was eminently a man of strict integrity, of great purity of character, and genial, tender and loving in his nature. A born leader, he wielded a wider influence than most men in much higher positions, and it was, in all cases, a beneficent influence. His hands were unstained by bribes, and his life unmarred by treachery or devices of low cunning. He was a manly man, and, though decided in his party views and action, he won the hearty esteem and re- spect of those who were politically opposed to him.
Feb. 9. Frederick S. Massey appointed Police Jus- tice in place of Judge Fisher, deceased.
Feb. 15. The total number of steamers and other vessels at Brooklyn wharves during the year 1882, esti- mated at 7,379, showing a considerable falling off from previous years.
March 21. The annual report of the Greenwood Cemetery Association, shows the total number of lots sold to be 24,114 ; of interments to date, 216,799 ; the general fund for improvement is $841,704.
March 28. The Brooklyn City Railroad Company bought, for $90,000, the plot of ground, covered by four stores, on the northeast corner of Sands and Ful- ton streets, for the purpose of a stand for their cars at the bridge terminus.
April 4. The New York and Sea Beach Railroad sold for $275,000 to J. J. Carrolan and Frederick N. Witt. The Board of Elections provides for 203 elec- tion districts, being 1 to each 500 voters. A proposi- tion made to extend Flatbush avenue in a straight line to the Bridge, which was approved by Mayor Low, on condition that security should be given to reimburse property owners for damages, and that a yearly rental of at least $120,000 should be paid to the city.
April 9. Death of Rev. A. H. PARTRIDGE, aged 75, for over 30 years rector of Christ's Church. 27,610 arrests made last year.
April 17. Schedule of tolls on the Brooklyn Bridge fixed at the following rates: One horse and man, 5 cents ; horse and vehicle, 10 cents ; two horses and vehicle, except trucks, 20 cents; trucks and horses, 30 cents ; neat cattle, 5 cents ; sheep and hogs, 2 cents ; foot passengers, free; passengers in cars, 5 cents.
May 15. Total cost of the East River Bridge re- ported to the Board of Trustees to be $14,627,379.69. The trustees decide to change the schedule of fares over the Bridge, by charging 1 cent cach for foot pas- sengers and 20 cents for two horses, and vehicles of all kinds.
May 21. The Sprague National Bank organized.
May. 24. Opening of the East River Bridge. Public excrcises in the building at the Brooklyn terminus. Presentation by Hon. William C. Kingsley of the Board of Trustees. Acceptance by Mayor Edson for New York, and by Mayor Low for Brooklyn. Orations by Abram S. Hewitt and Rev. Dr. Storrs.
May 28. Amendment of the city charter, by which Aldermen serve without pay.
May 30. Memorial Day observed. Panic on the Brooklyn Bridge, by which twelve lives were lost and thirty persons injured.
June 11. Sudden death of Lieut .- Colonel CHARLES SCHURIG, Deputy Collector of Internal Revenues. Austin Corbin asked permission of the Board of Alder- men for leave to construct an elevated railroad, from Flatbush avenue to the Bridge.
June 15. Lain's Brooklyn Directory for 1883-'4 contains 152,280 names, an increase of 9,959.
June 25. Public meeting in the Academy of Music in honor of the seventieth birthday of Henry Ward Beecher.
July 19. Destructive fire at Harbeck's stores; loss, $300,000; two workmen drowned and a number of fire- men injured.
July 26. The Internal Revenue receipts from the Brooklyn district amounted to $2,802,941.
August 28. The South Brooklyn Oil Company's works burned; loss $100,000; four men injured.
Sept. 5. First experimental journey with the Bridge cars; time, 13 minutes for the round trip.
Sept. 12. The Grocers' Retail Protective Associa- tion confer with the city authorities concerning a Public Market at the Wallabout.
Sept. 24. Death of C. C. MUDGE, aged 77 years, well known for his long and arduous labors in the Bible and Tract cause in Brooklyn. The Bridge cars first run for the use of the public.
Oct. 11. The corner stone of the 47th Regiment Armory laid, in Marcy avenue, between Lynch and Hayward Streets.
Nov. 6. Mayor SETH Low re-elected by a vote of 49,554, over Joseph C. Hendrix, 48,006.
Dec. 25. Snow fell to a depth of 18 inches.
A special meeting of the Common Council was held to-day, for the purpose of taking action on the report of the Railroad Committee in regard to the granting of a franchise to the Kings County Elevated Railroad Company. By the resolutions adopted, Washington street, between Fulton and Sands streets, were cx- cluded. The work must be begun by September 1, 1884, and be in operation two years thereafter. The company is to pay 2 per cent. of its gross receipts to the city after the road has been in operation five years; and, to protect the city from any damage that may arise, it is to deposit $1,000,000 worth of its first mort- gage bonds in some Brooklyn or New York trust com- pany.
Aus Funner
521
BIOGRAPHY OF JAMES TANNER.
MR. JAMES TANNER, widely known as "Corporal " Tanner, was born at Richmondville, Schoharie county, N. Y., April 4th, 1844. His early life was spent on a farm, and his edu- cational privileges were those of the district school. While a mere boy he taught in an adjoining district, manifesting the thoroughness and force of will that have since characterized him, and proving to anxious friends that he was fully com- petent for the work. After a few months' experience as teacher, at the outbreak of the war, although not yet eighteen, he enlisted as private in Company C, 87th New York Volun- teers. He was soon made corporal, with assurance of further promotion, had not a terrible disaster befallen him. His regiment was hurried to the front, and, with Kearney's Di- vision, participated in the Peninsular campaign, and the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, the siege of Yorktown, the seven days' fight before Richmond, and at Malvern Hill.
After leaving the Peninsula, the 87th fought at Warren- town, Bristow Station, and Manassas Junction.
Corporal Tanner served with his regiment through all the engagements, until wounded at the second battle of Bull Run. There the 87th held the extreme right of our line, with Stonewall Jackson's corps in front. During a terrific shelling from the enemy, the men were lying down, when a fragment from a bursting shell completely severed the cor- poral's right leg at the ankle, and shattered the left so badly as to make amputation necessary.
Carried from the field, he lost consciousness, and on re- covering, found that the surgeons had amputated both legs, four inches below the knee. Meanwhile the Union lines had been broken and the army was in full retreat. The cor- poral's comrades were forced to leave him at a farm house, where the rebel army, in close pursuit, soon made him prisoner with the other wounded. Paroled after ten days, he was taken to Fairfax Seminary Hospital; then commenced his long struggle for life, with all the odds against him-but a good constitution and a determination to live, brought him through the doubtful days. Through all his suffering his courage never left him, and when he began to improve, his first thought was, "what can I do, thus crippled, to hold my place among men?" His manhood and ambition could not brook the thought that he must take an inferior place because of his misfortune. After treatment in the hospital, and re- cuperation at his old home in Schoharie county, he was able to walk about on artificial limbs. He was appointed deputy- doorkeeper in the Assembly, and subsequently held various positions under the Legislature, which he filled with great credit. He then accepted a clerkship in the War Depart- ment, under Secretary Stanton. On the night of President Lincoln's assassination he was employed to take notes of the first official evidence, and then stood by the dying bed of the President. In 1866 he returned to Schoharie county, and studied law with Judge William C. Lamont. The same year he married a daughter of Alfred C. White, of Jefferson, N. Y., and they now have four beautiful children, two daugli- ters and two sons. He was admitted to the bar in 1869. Soon after, he was appointed to a place in the New York Custom House, and removed to Brooklyn. On competitive examination he rose to the position of Deputy Collector, and served four years under Gen. Chester A. Arthur. He was the Republican nominee for Assembly in 1871, in the Fourth Kings county district, but was counted out in the election frauds of that year. Nominated for Register by the Repub- licans in 1876, when the Democratic county majority was nineteen thousand, lie was defeated by less than two thousand.
Connected with the Grand Army of the Republic since its
early days, no man is better known to enjoy the esteem and confidence of his comrades in greater degree than Corporal Tanner. They know liim to be a trustworthy leader, a man of sound judgment, ripe experience and true heart. It was but natural, therefore, that in 1876 they elected him Commander of the Grand Army in the Department of New York. He as- sumed command at a time when discouragement and disap- pointment pervaded the organization, growing out of the neglect of the State of New York to provide for her helpless and homeless disabled veterans. Public sentiment was not yet aroused. Appeals liad been made to private charity and to the Legislature, but in vain. Repeated failures had en- gendered prejudice and opposition to the project. The out- look was discouraging, the task herculean, to combat apathy, and rouse dormant public opinion. The veterans themselves, stung by the ingratitude of those for whom they had suffered, began to despair. At this juncture, Commander Tanner threw himself heart and soul into the work, a born leader, thoroughly qualified. Having been a sufferer, he felt the sufferings of others ; intellectually a giant, he set forth in glowing words the veterans' needs, the debt of gratitude due from the State to her maimed defenders, and the shame of disgracing them to the condition of alms-house paupers. Call- ing to his assistance that true patriot, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the good work was inaugurated by a mass meeting in Brooklyn, when $13,000 were subscribed. Mr. Tanner traversed the State from end to end, making appeals, public and private, to the people. Undaunted by obstacles, he fired the hearts of patriotic and benevolent men, so that at last a flood of petitions poured in upon the Legislature and tardy justice was meted out. The magnificent "Soldiers' Home " was erected near Bath, Steuben county, where six hundred disabled, homeless veterans can find the repose and comforts of a home, truly a "monument, more durable than bronze, " to Commander Tanner for his zealous efforts and self-sacrific- ing labors in behalf of justice and charity. His good works for the old soldiers did not end here. When the bill for the increase of pensions was pending in Congress, Mr. Tanner appeared before the Senate Committee several times, appeal- ing powerfully and with success to the justice and honor of the nation for the better support of those men whose very disabilities came from their loyalty and patriotism.
In November, 1877, Mr. Tanner was appointed Collector of Taxes for the city of Brooklyn, which office he has since held, through Democratic and Republican administration alike, with universal acceptance. He instituted many reforms in the office, reducing expenses one-half, and extending greater facilities to the tax-payers. The most perfect system pre- vails, and a saving to the city of a large amount has been ef- fected.
He possesses the confidence of the Republican voters of all classes, and his election to the chair of the Republican Gen- eral Committee of Brooklyn resulted in harmony and good feeling. As a public speaker he has few superiors, being elo- quent, logical and witty. In debate he is always self-pos- sessed and meets opponents boldly, having the " courage of his convictions." Genial, social manners make him a favor- ite among a large circle of acquaintances, while his talents and sterling manhood are esteemed universally.
By nature he is a positive, outspoken man, obedient to his convictions of right without regard to expediency or popil- larity ; such a man is sure in the end to have the confidence, respect and support of his fellows. With an abiding faith in the final triumph of the right in all questions, he has learned to labor and to wait. Being yet a young man, there is doubt- less a brilliant future before him, if his life and health are spared.
THE BROOKLYN OF TO-DAY,
1883.
L. P. Brackett M.D. BY
T' HE BROOKLYN of 1833-just fifty years ago-stands before us, in picture and descrip- tion, in modest village attire, not yet having donned the holiday robes which became hers when she entered, a year later, into the sisterhood of cities of our Atlantic coast. It is easy to describe the fair, but not in any sense magnificent, town of that day, for there are ample materials at hand for such a piece of word-painting, and only a position from which a bird's-eye view could be obtained is necessary. We believe the United States Hotel, at Fulton, Pearl and Water streets, New York, was erected just before that time, and its observatory, with a good glass, on a fine day, would have afforded the necessary "coign of van- tage."
The village, so soon to become a city, would have presented itself to our eyes, could we have looked at it from this elevation, in 1833, as a thriving town situated mostly on the western slope of the hill rising from the East River; and, below Fulton Ferry, having a shore line much like those of the bluffs along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, with a narrow sandy beach at the foot of the bluffs. The buildings, on Fulton and Main streets, and the other streets ascending the hill, were moderately dense till the summit of the hill was reached; from this a plain extended eastward about a mile, but the buildings on it were scattered, and though there were some good residences, and one or two churches, the eastern portion was yet farming land. Northward and southward, a few short wharves, for the conve- nience of sailing vessels of small size, existed; but no great warehouses lifted their heads along or below the bluffs. The buildings of the town secmed generally unpretentious. There were visible ten or twelve towers or steeples, mostly crowning wooden edifices, which indicated houses of worship; but no "spire pointing Heavenward" gave token of the presence of a church which could compete in architectural beauty with many of those which so adorned the great city across the water.
Near the crest of the hill, there were a few dwellings isolated from each other, of greater size and finer ar- chitecture than the average houses of the town. These were the country seats of New York merchants or ship- masters, and scrved to give dignity to Brooklyn as a suburb of New York. The town was mainly made up of dwellings; there were many of these occupied by people of moderate means, whose daily business was in New York. There were a considerable number of grocery stores, bakeries, butcher's shops and the like, and a few stores for the sale of dry goods and "yankee notions," one or two carpet and hardware stores; but the shopping was mostly done in New York. There were, even at this early time, a few manufactories. The production of ropes and cordage seems to have been rather a favorite pursuit, for there were at least five rope-walks in existence between York street and Gold street. There were two, and possibly three, hat factor- ies; cabinet shops, which actually made the wares they sold, were considerably numerous; and some of the blacksmith's shops had extended their business to the minor products of the machine shops. The production of the coarser wares of the potter, and the making of green or smoky glass for bottles, etc., had been carried on for some years. The grist-mills, though not large, did a considerable business. There were also distilleries and ale breweries here, and one or two printing offices. There may have been a few other manufactories, but, if so, they were on a small scale.
The traffic on the river bank was mostly with fishing smacks and boats, which brought their catches for sale to the inhabitants; with coasters and trading brigs, schooners and sloops, which carried away the ropes, liquors, glass, etc., made here, and brought melons, ap- ples and other fruits, hemp, grain, salt, household goods and stores, pork and beef, etc., etc.
Our observer, from the hotel observatory, would have been able to descry, by the aid of a good glass, a con- siderable settlement at the north-east, along the shores of Wallabout Bay, the nucleus of the later City of Wil-
523
THE BROOKLYN OF TO-DAY, 1883.
liamsburgh. There he would have seen some tall chimneys, the forerunners of the thousand manufacto- ries of that busy hive at the present time. Turning his glass eastward, a hamlet of some size, but surrounded by fertile farms, would next attract his attention. This was Bedford, a village through which ran two or three farm roads, and which is now the centre of the popu- lous Ninth and Twenty-third Wards, and is traversed by Bedford Avenue, one of the finest drives in the city.
The observer of to-day would require a higher posi- tion than the observatory of the United States Hotel, to obtain a view of the entire city. A balloon, elevated about two hundred and fifty feet above the Bridge tower, or at the same elevation above the Prospect Park Observatory, with a powerful field-glass, on a clear, bright day, might enable him to take a bird's-eye view of the greater part of the city; but, for the entire water front, his best point of observation would be the top of the New York tower of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Let us begin our description with this immense water front. From the boundary line of Bay Ridge on the south, to Hunter's Point on the north, a distance in a line along the course of the river of thirteen miles (and taking the bays, basins, and sinuosities of the shore line, of at least twice that distance), the piers, docks, wharves and ships, and the street fronting the East River, are a continuous line of warehouses and manu- factories; many of them from six to ten stories in height. Below the Bridge, for a distance of about six miles, the storage warehouses predominate, with, at rare intervals, great foundries and mechanic works; and, on Gowanus Bay, Creek, and Canal, extensive lumber and coal yards. These storage warehouses number hundreds of buildings, some two-story sheds of iron, brick, or frame, but the greater part, large and massive warehouses, five or six stories in height. Twelve of the largest are for the storage of grain, and one of thesc, said to be the largest single store-house in the world,- Davis' Stores,-attracts the attention of our observer on the New York tower-all around it are vessels, loading or unloading. Its giant elevators can suck up and deposit in bins the cargoes of grain of a half dozen vessels in an hour, and on the other side European ves- sels can beloaded as quickly. From this immense store- house, fifteen million bushels of grain were shipped last year, and yet scarcely one-half of its ultimate capacity was reached. The grain receipts and ship- ments from the Brooklyn grain warehouses and eleva- tors constitute seventy-five per cent. of all the grain handled in the port of New York. But the value of the grain is but a trifle compared to that of the miscel- laneous merchandise received in, and shipped from, tlicse hundreds of warehouses. New York city lacks store- room along her wharves and piers, for all the goods she receives from abroad, or all the products of her agricultural and manufacturing industry which she
wishes to distribute to other lands; while Brooklyn can receive and ship them all. It follows, therefore, that all the more bulky goods, and many of those of less compass, but higher value, come directly to the Brook- lyn warehouses. It is estimated that over sixty per cent. in value, and more than seventy-five per cent. of the bulk, of tliese imports and exports, are handled in Brooklyn. Of these, one house, with its fifty or sixty warehouses, handles in a single year $105,000,000, and another about $53,000,000. Above the Bridge, there are a very few of the warehouses, like the Tobacco In- spection, Flour Inspection, etc., etc., but along a coast line of more than ten miles almost the whole extent is occupied with manufactories, except the space devoted to the United States Navy Yard. Time would fail us to enumerate a tithe of all these varied manufactures. Here are works of enormous extent for the production of presses, dies, and other machines for drawing and stamping metals cold; spice and coffee works of great size; white lead, colors, and mixed paints and varnishes; each establishment employing many hundreds of men; locomotive and stationary engine works, extensive ship yards, etc., etc .; but the two greatest industries of the river fronts are sugar refining, and the refining of petroleum products. The former occupy immense manufactories, eight and ten stories in height, and covering many acres of ground. Their products exceed a hundred millions of dollars annually; the latter, petroleum refining, occupy tracts which look like whole villages, and notwithstanding occasional fires, manage to keep possession of much water front. Their pro- ducts do not vary greatly from twenty million dollars. While these are legitimately manufactures, they yet contribute also largely to our commerce, since their products are sent to every part of the globe. A care- ful estimate of the Foreign and Internal commerce of our water front places its entire annual amount at a little more than five hundred million dollars.
But it is high time for our observer to transfer him- self to the balloon rising from the Prospect Park Observatory; for, he has not yet begun to sce the extent or industries of Brooklyn. Let him then cx- tend his glass to its farthest scope of vision, and direct- ing it northiward, he will see, about eight miles distant, a water line looking like a thread of silver flowing from East to West, and finally discharging into our great estuary, the East River. This is Newtown Creek, our northern boundary. From this point southward, for more than three miles, and for at least a mile and a half back from the river front, lics the populous dis- trict known as Greenpoint, the smoke of hundreds of whose tall chimnies vex and befog the clear air. This is the largest of several manufacturing quarters in Brooklyn, and the magnitude and variety of its pro- ducts is almost beyond conception. Eighteen of the twenty glass works of the city are in this section. All the porcelain and pottery works, most of the brass
524
HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.
foundries, more than half of the iron foundries, the greater part of the breweries, the book, and drug manu- factures, the wholesale furniture trade, saw and files, ropes and eordage, glue, and a thousand other things, are sent out from this busy hive, to supply the world. There are a considerable number of church spires scat- tered over this large district, but the Greenpoint people, as a rule, are not greatly given to attendanee on reli- gious exereises. Farther south, and occupying a belt of perhaps a half mile in width from Flushing to De Kalb avenues, and west to the river, is another manu- facturing distriet, not as extensive as the preceding but containing many factories. As the river is ap- proached, the number of factories greatly increases, and in Plymouth, Water, and Front streets, they occupy nearly the whole of every block. The hat, leather, rope and twine, paint, iron and furniture manufactures, as also many others, oecupy this region. Next south of this is the best portion of Brooklyn, extending from DeKalb to Bergen or Butler streets, and from Colum- bia Heights to Lewis or Reid avenues. This is the region of homes, of fine residences, elegant ehurches, and fine publie buildings. The stately mansions of the Heiglits, and the Hill, and the comfortable and often delightful residenees of the middle class, pre- dominate, while there are few tenement houses; and, exeept one or two tracts, now of small extent, no hovels of squatters. Most of the many elegant chureh edifices of the eity are within these limits, the grand and stately church of the Holy Trinity, the Catholic Cathe- dral, not yet finished, St. Ann's, the Tabernaele, the Church of the Pilgrims, the Lafayette Avenue and the Classon Avenue Presbyterian Churches, the Pierrepont Street and Washington Avenue Baptist, the Simpson, Seventh Avenue and Nostrand Avenue Methodist, the Central and Tompkins Avenue Congregational Churches, the Clermont Avenue and East Reformed Churches, and the Church on the Heights ; the Church of Our Saviour, and Unity Church, and two or three Catholic churches of fine architectural appearance.
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.