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 32

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114

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 32

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His father had served with considerable distinction as cap- tain of an artillery company during the Revolutionary war. HENRY, born 1773, was the eldest son ; and in early life came to New York and became a merchant's clerk. In 1793 he went to sea, and subsequently commanded a vessel, trading between New York and the West Indies. In 1795 he was taken prisoner by a French sloop-of-war, and a prize crew was placed upon his vessel, which was ordered to Martinique. While on the voyage thither, he and a man named Bills rose upon the prize-crew, retook the vessel, placed the crew (seven in number) in the forecastle, and steered for the island of Jamaica. Unfortunately, when within ten days' sail of that place, he was spoken and boarded by a Spanish frigate. The suspicions of the boarding-officer being aroused by finding the vessel in the hands of only two men, he instituted a search, found the seven Frenchmen imprisoned in the fore- castle, liberated them and restored to them the possession of the vessel. Waring and Bills were then taken to the island of Eustatia, and there imprisoned for several months, when they were exchanged and sent to New York. Soon after his return, a privateer, mounting seven guns, and named the Adelia, was fitted out by private subscription among the merchants of New York, and he was placed in command. His first cruise was successful, taking one or two prizes. When the United States navy was reorganized he was offered a commission, but declined it, because his old friend and messmate (Commodore) Chauncey received a higher position tban was offered to himself. He then became senior partner in the New York firm of Waring & Eden. Subse- quently, in 1796, he engaged in business with Mr. Gideon Kimberly, under the firm-name of Kimberly & Waring. From him, in 1806, he purchased the property on Brooklyn Heights, before alluded to, and in 1813 he made Brooklyn his permanent residence. With his partner, he became largely interested in the naval-store business, owning many vessels in the southern trade, and receiving large consignments of southern goods. In 1826, '27, '28, '29 and '30, he was a village trustee, serving the public interest with great zeal and fidelity, and possessing a leading influence in the board. In 1832 he was chosen as one of the presidential electors, and cast his vote for Jackson. In 1836 he sold his property upon the Heights, and purchased the property bounded by Fulton, Washington and Johnson streets, upon which lie erected a residence. He was one of the first directors of the Long Is- land Bank ; but, in 1840, having lost his wife, and being about to retire from business, he resigned that, and also his connection with the Brooklyn Savings Bank, of which he was one of the original trustees. He died in 1848. Mr. War- ing possessed very pleasant and genial manners, and was very fond of social enjoyments. Strictly moral and consci- entious in all duties, he held the entire confidence of the mer- cantile community. In politics he was an old-line democrat, a member of the first regular organized republican (as they were then called) society in the city of New York, out of which the present Tammany Society was organized ; and an early and steadfast friend of Gov. De Witt Clinton.

V. Next south to the Waring property was the Gideon Kimberly estate, a wedge-shaped piece of land, its broadest end on the river, and its apex reaching the Old Fort on Henry street.

GIDEON KIMBERLY was born in Vermont, in 1750 ; and in

1768 came to New York city, and became clerk to Messrs. Bedient & Hubbell, merchants in the Fly Market slip. Mr. Hubbell died about 1777, and young Kimberly became part- ner to Mr. Bedient, under the firm style of Bedient & Kim- berly. In 1791 Mr. Kimberly formed a partnership with bis old fellow-clerk Henry Waring, under the firm name of Kim- berly & Waring, the business being conducted in Burling slip, near the present corner of Front street. Mr. Kimberly married in 1792, and, about the time of his marriage, settled on what was then known as Clover hill in Brooklyn, upon property purchased from the executors of Noel John Bar- barin. This property, which was the old Bamper estate, commenced at the shore opposite to, and about two hundred feet south of, the south-west corner of Clarke and Columbia streets, and extended east from the river to the Old Fort, at Henry street. The present Mansion House in Hicks street stands upon a portion of this land. Mr. Kimberly retired from business in 1815, and died suddenly of apoplexy, at the Tontine Coffee House, in New York, in February, 1817, aged sixty-eight years. He was a regular attendant upon the Dutch Reformed church in Brooklyn; in politics was a democrat of the Jeffersonian school, and a prominent mem- ber and officer of the Tammany Society, in New York city. He was scrupulously honest, and, though a close business man, was humane and charitable. He had no children, and his wealth descended to heirs, many of whom he had never seen, or even heard of, during his life. After his death his real-estate in Brooklyn was sold in partition in the court of chancery, and the larger portion of it was purchased by his neighbors, Henry Waring and Samuel Jackson.

VI. The next estate to the Kimberly property was that belonging to SAMUEL JACKSON, one of the oldest merchants in the city of New York, and deseended from an ancient English family, among the first of the Society of Friends to settle on Long Island.

He was born at Jerusalem, L. I., and previous to the Revo- lution became a clerk with his brother-in-law, Mr. Milton, a New York merchant ; and after the decease of the latter he became the trustee of the estate. Removing to Brooklyn, with his widowed sister and her son, to whom he devoted the rest of his life, he purchased this property. It extended in width from the Kimberly line to the northeasterly side of Love lane ; and, in length, from the line of the present Col- umbia street to the westerly line of Swertcope's estate, which was about 400 or 500 feet from Fulton street, as it now is. He also had a large wharf property in front of his dwelling, known as Jackson's Stores. His house, generally known as the "Old Stone House," was probably the old Timothy Horsfield house, afterwards occupied by Gov. Cadwallader Colden. It faced the river on the line of present Columbia street, about 250 feet north of Pierrepont. Mr. Jackson had succeeded to Mr. Milton's business, and successfully carried it on in South street, between Burling slip and Maiden lane, in the city of New York. The death of his nephew, in 1818, whom he had intended to make his heir, and, shortly after, that of his mother, left Mr. Jackson alone in the old mansion, with none to keep him company except his two servants (formerly his slaves), Harry and Susannah. He now turned his attention to ornamental gardening, and few private gar- dens in the town were so attractive as his-a walk to Clover hill and Jackson's garden being, in those days, the favorite walk of the young people of both sexes. And, to protect the contents of his garden, when any person entered it, un- accompanied by himself, his "man Harry" was always on hand to see that none of the ornamental plants were dis- turbed. Here the rich old bachelor lived and distributed his

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hospitality with great liberality, until about the year 1820 when his favorite servant Suke died, and he shortly after broke up his bachelor establishment and took board at Mor- rison's hotel, north-west corner of Columbia and Cranberry streets. His house he rented to John Wells, Esq., a distin- guished member of the New York bar, who died in it, of the yellow fever, in the year 1822. This old house afterwards became the asylum for some aged women, gathered together by the charitable exertions of Mrs. Pierrepont, Mrs. Richards, and other ladies-from which enterprise finally came the noble institution known as The Church Charity Foundation. It was said of Mr. Jackson that, although he seldom visited the city of New York, he would sit in his parlor, and from in- formation derived from the New York newspapers, of which he was a constant reader, could direct purchases and make more money than any merchant in that city, in his line of business, which consisted chiefly of grain, naval stores and cotton. Mr. Jackson was nearly six feet high, and had a sal- low complexion ; dressed with remarkable neatness, some- what after the old style of the Society of Friends ; with cue ; white top boots in cold weather ; shoes, knee-buckles and shorts, in summer, etc. He was dignified and retiring, and made but few intimate friends, and was never known to at- tend a public-meeting of any description. His income was very large, and he contributed a large portion of it to private charities, and, though somewhat stern in his dealings with men, was always kind and considerate to children. When Forts Greene and Swift were constructed, in 1813, a commit- tee called upon Mr. Jackson to request from him assistance in that important and patriotic work, although with little expectation that he would render any aid, inasmuch as he was known to be affiliated with the Society of Friends, who were opposed to the war. To their surprise he employed six men, at his own expense, to work on the forts for three months, during which time he daily inspected their labors.

VII. Next south of the Jackson property was a tract of 14 acres, extending from the East river to the Old road (Fulton street), and in width from Love lane to a line a little north of the present Pierrepont street. This strip of land was owned by the brothers ROBERT and JOHN DE BEVOISE, whose grandfather Jacobus purchased it from Joris Remsen in 1734. They were descendants of Carcl De Beauvois, who came from Leyden, in Holland, in 1659, and was the first school- master of Brooklyn.

ROBERT, the elder brother, was a stont, strong, broad-faced man; but having, unfortunately, lost his nose and palate, in consequence of a cancerous disease, was, although really of a kindly disposition, quite an object of terror to the village ur- chins-which was by no means lessened by the savage dis- position of twenty or thirty dogs which he kept around the house. JOHN DE BEVOISE was a strong contrast to his brother Robert-being thin, pale and consumptive. Both were bach- elors, and, being well off, occupied their time alternately in fishing and gardening. Their dwelling, a small, ancient and rather dilapidated Dutch edifice (on the Ime of Columbia street, about 160 feet north of the line of Pierrepont), was graced by the presence of an exceedingly beautiful girl who filled the place of a daughter to the two old men, whose name she bore. SARAH DE BEVOISE had many admirers, and the private lane which led down to the house, between the De Bevoise and Pierrepont estates, is said to have received its name of Love lane, from the numerous love-lines, initials of Miss De B. and her love-lorn swains, which were scribbled and cut upon its fence by the young men of the village. It

is related of old Bob De Bevoise, that his ground was enclosed by a high board-fence; and, as the trees were thick on the line of the fence, when the posts gave away, from time to time, he nailed the boards to the trees. But the winds stirred the trees, and thereby loosened the boards again; so that, fi- nally, it became a regular Sunday morning job with Bob to mend up his fences; and his neighbors, without reference to an almanac, could always tell when the Sabbath came, by the con- tinual hammer, hammer, hammering which resounded along the line of partition. To Bob De Bevoise, also, belongs the honor of first gratifying the New Yorkers with the taste of garden-cultivated strawberries. Previous to the beginning of the present century, this delicious fruit had been known to the New York market, only by the few wild berries which were brought in by women from Tappan and New Jersey. But, about 1800-1802, Robert De Bevoise commenced their systematic cultivation for the market, sending them to market in crockery bowls, at two shillings per pint bowl; and, by refusing to sell any of his plants (people, at that day, were too honest to steal them), secured, and, for about three years, retained, the monopoly in the city. As a great favor, he gave some of his plants to his neighbor, old Swertcope, the Hessian, and he, too, in a short time made it a profitable business. The cry of "hot corn !" formerly heard on sum- mer evenings in the streets of Brooklyn, is associated with the De Bevoise family. FURMAN says, "at this season of the year, when I was a boy of about seven or eight years of age, 1807-8, in the evening, an old colored woman, familiarly known as De Bevoise's Black Peg, or rather Margaret, or Peggy, the slave of Robert De Bevoise, made her appearance in the main street, then called the Old Ferry road, now Ful- ton street, crying 'Hot corn! nice hot corn ! piping hot !' This was her cry for a time, until the corn got a little too tough from the ripening effects of the sun (for then we did not have green corn all the summer through, but had to de- pend alone on what was raised in Kings county); and, the large bell pears having attained nearly their full size, she stewed them whole until they were soft, and then poured molasses over them while they were hot, and carried them through the streets as 'baked pears,' and very palatable they were, as I well recollect; but this cry has gone out of vogue; I have not heard it for years." The selling of hot corn and baked pears were the perquisites of Black Peg. When, in 1816, the village was incorporated, and streets and lots began to be plotted over the old farm-lines, Robert De Bevoise took alarm, and expressed a determination to move out of the reach of the modern improvements. Hearing of this, his next neighbor, Mr. Hez. B. Pierrepont, inquired his price, and, $28,000 being named, immediately accepted the offer, much to old Bob's astonishment, who supposed he had placed it at so high a figure that no one would buy. He con- tinued to reside on the place, however, for two years after the sale, and then removed to the neighborhood of the Black Horse tavern, and built a dwelling known as the Abbey, in Fulton avenue. Soon, however, streets and houses made their distasteful appearance in the vicinity, and he " pulled up stakes " and settled at Bedford. Again the city jostled him, and, in despair, he fled to Jamaica, L. I., where he died some years after.

VIII. Next came the Pierrepont property, which, including the above-named De Bevoise farm, com- prised a tract of sixty acres between Love lane and the line of the present Remsen street, and extending from the East river to the Old Ferry road, now Fulton street.

This, together with the De Bevoise, Remsen and Jo-

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ralemon farms, originally formed the estate of Joris Remsen, who purchased it in 1706 from his father-in- law, Dirck Janse Woertman, who had consolidated the titles of the ancient Hudde, Manje and Ruyter patents. This Joris Remsen, in 1734, sold to his son-in-law, Ja- cobus De Bevoise, the fourteen acres known as the De Bevoise farm.

The Pierrepont mansion (a front view of which we have given on page 94) was erected by John Cornell at the foot of the present Montague street. It was purchased in 1795 by James Arden, who added wings, and about 1804 it became the property of Mr. Pierre- pont, who, in 1802, had purchased the old Livingston distillery at the foot of Joralemon street, not far away.

HEZEKIAH BEERS PIERREPONT, born in New Haven, Conn., in 1768, was the grandson of the Rev. James Pierrepont, the first minister settled in that colony. The father of the Rev. James Pierrepont belonged to the family of Holme Pierrepont in Nottinghamshire, England, descendants from Robert de Pierrepont of Normandy. The family name being French, became an- glicized in this coun- try and spelt Pier- pont ; the correct spelling being re- sumed by the sub- ject of this memoir. He displayed at an early age an enter- prising spirit, and fondness for active life. While at col -. lege, he became dis- satisfied with the prospect of a profes- sional life, and pro- posed to his father that if he would permit him to leave his studies, he would provide for himself, and ask no share of his estate. His father consented, and he fulfilled his promise, and thereafter provided for his own support. He first entered the office of his uncle, Mr. Isaac Beers, in New Haven ; and, afterwards, to extend his knowledge of com- mercial affairs, engaged as a clerk in the Custom House, in New York. He then became the agent of Messrs. Watson & Greenleaf, in Philadelphia, in the purchase of the national debt, realizing thereby, in a short time, a small fortune. In 1793 he established, in New York, the commercial house of Leffingwell & Pierrepont, engaging in shipping provisions to France, where scarcity prevailed in consequence of the Revolution. He removed to France, to attend to the ship- ments of his firm, and resided in Paris, during the reign of terror, and saw Robespierre beheaded. The seizure of American vessels, carrying provisions to France, by England, then at war with France, so embarrassed this trade, that he relinquished it. In 1795 he purchased, in England, a fine ship named the Confederacy, and went on a trading-voyage to India and China, as owner and supercargo. On his return- voyage, in 1797, with a valuable cargo, his ship was seized by a French privateer, condemned and sold, for want of a rôle d'équipage, contrary to the laws of nations, and our treaty

THE CORNELL-PIERREPONT MANSION. (Rear View.)

stipulations. After an absence abroad, of seven years, Mr. Pierrepont returned, in 1800, to New York; and married, in 1802, Anna Maria, daughter of William Constable, a distin- guished merchant, and the largest owner of wild-land in the State of New York. Considering foreign commerce, in the then disturbed political state of Europe, too hazardous, he abandoned it. He visited New England to examine into its manufactories, and, finding distilling of gin very profitable, he engaged Colonel James Anderson, of Connecticut, to es- tablish a factory for him. In 1802 he purchased, in Brook- lyn, the brewery belonging to Philip Livingston, at the foot of Joralemon street, which had been burnt during the war of the Revolution, and there established his factory, which ob- tained a high reputation, and was at that time the only manufactory of the kind in the State. His attention being thus drawn to Brooklyn, he purchased, on the Heights, the Benson farm and spacious residence, and removed to it. The success of his factory induced competition and diminished its profits, and, in 1819, he abandoned it, and thereafter gave his whole attention to the improvement of his Brooklyn property, and the settlement of his wild-land, amounting to nearly half a million of acres, situated in the northern part of the State, in the counties of Oswego, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence and Franklin. During the remainder of his life, he spent part of every sum- mer in visiting these lands, in company with his two sons, William and Henry, whom he had edu- cated with special reference to their management. He foresaw,at this early period, the future growth of Brooklyn; was one of a com- mittee, in 1815, who framed and pro- cured the act for in- J.P.DAVIS-SPEER corporating Brook- lyn as a village, and afterwards served as one of the trustees. The legislature having passed an act for laying out streets in the village, Mr. Pierrepont gave his exertions and influence to have a proper plan adopted. He procured Mr. Poppleton, a distinguished city surveyor, at his private expense, to make a plan, sug- gesting wider streets and larger blocks, instead of the narrow streets and one acre blocks of two hundred feet square recom- mended to the trustees ; and succeeded in getting his plan adopted for that part of the Heights south of Clark street. In order to widen Hicks street, between Cranberry and Clark streets, and stop the extension of leasehold property and poor buildings of wood, he engaged Mr. Joel Bunce to purchase for him, from the Messrs. Hicks, that part of their property. He then widened the street as far as Cranberry street, by re- stricting the purchasers to a building-line. With a liberal public spirit, he voluntarily removed his fence on Fulton street, widening the street without compensation, while he was afterwards heavily assessed for the widening of the same street towards Fulton Ferry. In laying out Pierrepont street, he adopted a building-line making the width of the street between the houses eighty feet, and Montague and Remsen streets seventy-six feet. An intimacy, commenced

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in Europe, with Robert Fulton, was continued during the too short life of the latter. He aided Mr. Fulton with his advice and influence in the establishment of Fulton ferry, in which he always took great interest. He subscribed towards the purchase of this ferry, from Fulton's assignee, in whose hands it had not been conducted with due regard to Brooklyn interests ; and continued one of its directors till his death. In 1827 and 1828 Mr. Pierrepont served, with ability, as a member of the board of village trustees. As chairman of the street-committee, he exerted himself to secure an open prom- enade for the public, on the Heights, from Fulton ferry to Joralemon street. He had a map and plan drawn for the improvement by Mr. Silas Ludlam, and procured the con- sent of the proprietors for a cession of the property, except from his neighbor and friend Judge Radcliff, who opposed the scheme so violently, that Mr. Pierrepont, rather than have a contest with a friend, withdrew from the attempt, and himself paid the expenses incurred for the survey and plan, though he had ordered it officially. He lived and died in the belief and desire, that the Heights would some day be made a public promenade, on some similar plan. Before his estate was divided and sold, his executors gave the oppor- tunity to the city to take the property between Love lane and Remsen street and Willow street, the only part of the Heights that remained unoccupied, for such a public place, and a pe- tition was signed by a few public-spirited men for the object. But it was defeated before the city authorities by overwhelm- ing remonstrances, very generally signed in the large district of assessment that was proposed. It appears from his diary, that, as early as the year 1818, he made inquiry as to the cost of stone wharves. He reluctantly improved his water-front with timber, only when he found, from the depth of water, the cost of stone structures was too great to be warranted by the small income derived by wharf-owners under our present port-laws. He persistently declined to sell his lots, except where good private dwellings of brick or stone were engaged to be erected, suited to the future character of his finely-situated property. Time has now proved the sound- ness of his judgment. His property is now covered by ele- gant mansions, besides five fine churches, the City Hall, Academy of Music, Mercantile Library, and other public buildings, while the front on the bay is occupied by exten- sive wharves and warehouses. Mr. Pierrepont possessed great energy of character, and a sound judgment ; was domes- tic in his habits, and had no ambition for public office, or relish for political life. Yet he gave his services freely to his fellow-citizens, in aid of their local affairs. He died in 1838, aged seventy years, leaving a widow, two sons and eight daughters. His widow died in 1859. We add a list of the children of Mr. Pierrepont, to whom his Brooklyn property has descended: William Constable Pierrepont, residing at Pierrepont manor, Jefferson county ; Henry Evelyn Pierre- pont, Brooklyn ; Anna Constable Pierrepont, deceased, wife of Hubert Van Wagenen ; Emily Constable Pierrepont, mar- ried Joseph A. Perry ; Frances Matilda Pierrepont, married Rev. Frederick S. Wiley ; Mary Montague Pierrepont, died in 1859, unmarried ; Harriet Constable Pierrepont, married Edgar J. Bartow, died 1855 ; Maria Theresa Pierrepont, mar- ried Joseph J. Bicknell ; Julia Evelyn Pierrepont, married John Constable, of Constableville ; Ellen Isaphine, married Dr. James M. Minor.

On the beach under the Heights, in front of the man- sion, was a dock, accessible from the house by means of a pathway, with two or three flights of stone steps lead- ing down the face of the bluff. At this dock always lay a row-boat, which was Mr. Pierrepont's ordinary

means of travel to and from New York. Aside from this road along the beach (now Furman street), the only way to reach the village from his residence was by a private lane, which opened upon the Old Ferry road (Fulton street), close by Larry Brower's tavern.

On the corner of Pierrepont and Henry streets, Mr. Thomas March, of the firm of March & Benson, the principal wine-merchants of New York at that day, built a residence, about 1833.

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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 32

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1114

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed. cn; Brockett, L. P. (Linus Pierpont), 1820-1893; Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. 1n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1114