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 36

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 36

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Meetings were held in December by the inhabitants, and a committee reported in favor of uniting the town and village of Brooklyn under a city government.

1832. February 1st. The Star of this date contains a letter from a Mr. G. B. White, of 100 Fulton street, to Mayor Sprague, on the subject of providing water- works for Brooklyn. He proposes the formation of a company, to be called the " Brooklyn Water Company," with a capital of $25,000 (in 1,000 shares of $25 each); for which sum Mr. White agrees to unite the requisite number of springs on the East River shore, and by tide- power to raise it to a sufficient height above the highest point on Clover hill, at the end of Cranberry street; and to construct a reservoir of the capacity of 1,000,000 gallons.

The Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad was incorpor- ated on the 25th of April; though not completed and opened till April 18th, 1836.

June 20th. The dreaded cholera made its appear- ance in New York, and a medical board was established for the village of Brooklyn. Up to July 25th, when it ceased, there had been ninety cases, of which thirty-five "

died. These cases occurred in Tillary, Jackson, Hicks, Willow, Fulton, Marshall, Gold, Front, Furman, Main, and High streets, and Red Hook.

It is noteworthy, as illustrating the early progress of the temperance reform in Brooklyn, that there were in the village, in 1832, with a population of 12,302, 178 licensed and unlicensed houses, where liquor was retailed. In 1833, a determined effort was made by the trustees to reduce the number of licenses ; and the movement, in spite of the opposition which it met, so far succeeded that, in 1835, with a population of nearly 30,000, there were only fifty taverns in the city.

October. The Brooklyn Bank, the second in town, commenced operations, Samuel A. Willoughby, Presi- dent.

1833. January. The principal measures at this time before the public, were, the location of the County Court House, the establishment of the South ferry, and the widening of Fulton, near Front street. The locat- ing of the Court House in Brooklyn, long discussed and often attempted, had at length been rendered probable, owing to the fact that the old one at Flatbush had been destroyed by fire the December previous. In view of the rapid increase of property and population which had taken place in Brooklyn, it seemed most appropriate that the new edifice should be erected here. This town then had 2,266 elcctors; whereas, all the rest of the county had only 710 ; 554 jurors, and the other towns 270 ; and taxable property assessed at $7,829,684 while that of the rest of the county was only $1,600,594. The propo- sition, however, to locate the court here, and to increase the representation of the village in the board of super- visors, met with strenuous opposition from the other towns of the county. An act was finally passed, in the month of April, authorizing its location in Brooklyn, and appropriating Messrs. L. Van Nostrand, Joseph Moser, and Peter Conover, as commissioners to fix upon the site.

April. The plottings and plannings for a city in- corporation, which had so long interested the citizens of Brooklyn, culminated at length in a determined effort to secure the coveted boon from the legislature of the State. A bill for the incorporation of the City of Brooklyn, and the erection of the Town of Gowanus, in Kings county, was introduced and passed the Assembly (April 12); but, owing to the strenuous opposition made by the city of New York, was lost in the Senate (April 27). The Brooklynites, however, received (May 15th) a sort of placebo for their disappointment, in the shape of an amended village charter, obtained through the efforts of Judge Greenwood, which embraced several sections of the proposed city charter. So desirous, how- ever, were a portion of the citizens, of being under a city government, that they proposed the annexation of Brooklyn to the city authority of New York.

In the Autumn of this year land speculation in Brooklyn came to be, in some cases, almost a mania ; and lots were purchased and sold at what then appeared

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THE FIRST CITY OF BROOKLYN, 1834-1854.

to many extravagant priees. Mount Prospect lots, two- and-a-half miles from the ferry, were mostly above $100 per lot. The Parmentier garden (junction of the Jamaica and Flatbush roads), purchased for $57,000, was sold in lots at auetion, for between $60,000 and $70,- 000 ; ten aeres at Red Hook, owned by the heirs of Rynier Suydam, sold for $47,000 ; the R. V. Beekman farm, at Gowanus, comprising over 26 acres, was pur- chased at auction by Charles Hoyt, for $25,000. About the same time, also, the old John Spader farm was pur- chased by Pine and Van Antwerp, auctioneers in New York. They soon laid out the beautiful avenue now known as Clinton avenue, from the river to the Jamaiea road, lengthwise through the farm. The land on either side was sold in sections of half an aere each, or lots of eighty by one hundred feet. The first settlers were Messrs. Baxter, Van Dyke, Halsey, Hunter and others ; St. Luke's (then Trinity) church was erected in 1835, and the avenue soon began to assume the beautiful appearance which now characterizes it.

During the period which elapsed from 1830 to 1835, a settlement, then ealled Wallabout village, was spring- ing into existence along the shores of the Wallabout bay. At about 1840 the farms there were traversed by the Newtown turnpike, which entered into Brooklyn proper, through a toll-gate and over a bridge, built on the outlet of the mill-pond, which then covered the Park, lying west of the Navy-yard. An old road was also traveled from what was ealled Cripplebush, pass- ing the old stone house of Mr. J. J. Rappalye, and thence through Nostrand avenue and Bedford avenue to Jamaica turnpike. From about the year 1832, streets were laid out from time to time, not all at once; and, in 1835, Myrtle avenue was graded and paved from the City Hall to Nostrand avenue, which afforded a new facility of entrance from the Wallabout into the older

part of the city. Not long after, a section of Flushing avenue was paved ; extending from the Navy-yard Hos- pital-gate to Bedford avenue; and also Bedford avenue, Skillman street, Franklin and Kent avenues from Flush- ing to Myrtle avenue, and Classon avenue from Flushing to Willoughby avenue. None of these streets were eut through, except Bedford and Classon avenues, which had been ploughed up and leveled like a country-road.

The rope-walk of Frieker and Cooper (burned in 1845) was built in 1830, on the open space between Classon avenue and Graham street. About the same time a large stone tenement-building, for the operatives in the rope-walks, was ereeted near. A few dwellings were soon scattered along Flushing avenue, and the other avenues north of Myrtle avenue; and, in 1836, the public school-house was built near the corner of Classon and Flushing avenues.

To illustrate the rapid growth of this part of Brook- lyn, it is only neeessary to say, that in 1842 there were three churches between Fort Greene (on the west) and Division avenue (on the east). On the same territory in 1860 there were twenty-eight.

That the thoughts and aspirations of Brooklynites were tending hopefully toward a future civic dignity is manifest from a proposition made to the Corporation, in Mareh, to furnish the village with a supply of water from springs at the Wallabout. A committee thereon finally reported the plan as feasible, and that the mod- est sum of $100,000 would eover all expenses of reser- voir, steam-engine, and eleven miles of pipe. They further expressed their opinion that the village could be amply supplied with the purest water at an annual ex- pense of $10,000 for interest and cost. The financial aspeet of the times, however, probably forbade any at- tempt at a realization of the project, as it seems to have been dropped from the public mind.

THE FIRST CITY OF BROOKLYN, 1834-1854.

1834. January. The Brooklyn people, undaunted by previous defeats, and confident in their own resources, and the justice of their claims, again renewed their ap- plieation to the legislature for a eity eharter. The city of New York, with the spirit of "the dog in the man- ger," still threw the whole weight of her wealth and in- fluence against the movement ; objecting that the limits of the city of New York ought to embrace the whole of the counties of Kings and Richmond ; that all eommer- eial cities are natural rivals and competitors, and that contentions, inconvenienee, and other ealamities, grow out of such rivalries ; that the period was not far dis- tant when a population of 2,000,000 would be comprised within the three counties of New York, Kings and

Richmond ; that the limits of the city of New York already extended to low-water mark on all the shores of Brooklyn, east of Red Hook ; that an act of legislature, passed in 1821, relative to the village of Brooklyn, was virtually an eneroaehment on the rights of New York, inasmuch as it provided for the election of a harbor- master, whose duty in Brooklyn would be within the city-limits of New York ; and further, that the sheriff and eivil offieers of Brooklyn were allowed to execute processes on board of vessels attached to the wharves of Brooklyn, etc., ete.

The real key, however, to the opposition inade by New York, was undoubtedly to be found in the fears of her real-estate speculators, and her municipal author-

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

ities. The former, who held large quantities of land in the upper portion of the city, foresaw that the incorpor- ation of Brooklyn, as a city, would give a new impetus to her growth and population ; and that Brooklyn lots would soon become formidable rivals to their own in the market. The latter saw, in the energy of their youth- ful neighbor, a power which, when grown to maturer strength, might wrest from New York her long-con- tested and profitable water and ferry-rights. So capital, speculation and monopoly joined hands in a most for- midable league against the aspirations and endeavors of Brooklyn. Despite their exertions, however, Brooklyn triumphed; and, by an act passed on the 8th of April, was fully invested with the name and privileges of a city.

The first election under the new charter was held on the fifth of May, and in several of the wards a union ticket was elected. The following gentlemen composed the FIRST BOARD OF ALDERMEN : First Ward, Gabriel Furman, Conklin Brush ; Second Ward, George D. Cun- ningham, John M. Hicks ; Third Ward, James Wal- ters, Joseph Moser ; Fourth Ward, Jonathan Trotter, Adrian Hegeman ; Fifth Ward, William M. Udall, Benjamin R. Prince ; Sixth Ward, Samuel Smith, Wil- liam Powers ; Seventh Ward, Clarence D. Sackett, Ste- phen Haynes; Eighth Ward, Theodorus Polhemus, John S. Bergen ; Ninth Ward, Robert Wilson, Moses Smith.

This board, on the 20th of the same month, elected George Hall as the first mayor of the city of Brooklyn.

GEORGE HALL was born in New York, September 21, 1795. In 1796 his father purchased the Valley Grove farm, near Flatbush, where he lived for a short time, and then removed to Brooklyn. George was educated at Erasmus Hall. Flat- bush; and, after he left school, took up his father's trade of a painter and glazier. In early life he was noted for his con- vivial habits, yet he displayed that frankness, energy, per- severing industry and active spirit of benevolence, which soon rendered him the chosen and trusted counsellor of all his associates, the friend of the poor, and the warm and ef- fective advocate of every measure calculated to benefit his fellow-men. In his business, which he commenced on liis own account, in 1820, his talent, integrity and straightfor- wardness won for him a mercantile credit, which brought him success. Mr. Hall was chosen, in 1826 and 1832, trustee of the Third ward of the then village of Brooklyn. In Oct- ober, 1833, he was elected president of the village, in a closely contested election brought about by his strenuous endeavors to exclude logs from the streets, and to shut up the shops of unlicensed retailers of rum. As the first mayor of the city, he most honestly administered its affairs. In 1844 he was defeated as the temperance candidate for the mayoralty; and again in 1845, as the Whig nominee for the same office. On both of these occasions the vote polled showed, at least, that he was personally regarded by the people of Brooklyn as most worthy of the office. In 1854 Mr. Hall was elected to the mayoralty by the Know-nothing party, though an en- deavor was made to defeat him by asserting that he was born in Ireland. But Mr. Hall proved that, though his pa- rents were Irish, he was born in this country. He thus be- came the first mayor of the incorporated cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburg. During his term of office the cholera. raged with considerable virulence in the city. There seemed

to be no one with sufficient courage to face the epidemic un- til Mr. Hall literally took it in hand. He went right into it; superintended the removal of victims, cleaned out houses, took responsibility after responsibility, and his efforts met with deserved success. The epidemic seized him also ; but, apparently by his determination not to succumb to the dis- ease, he fought it off. A report was circulated that he was dead, which report brought him to the front of the City Hall, that people might see he was not dead. His fellow citizens so much admired his courageous efforts that they presented him, as a testimonial, the house No. 37 Livingston street, in which he died. The testimonial avowedly took this shape, for the reason that his friends knew that he would not keep money in his possession while there was distress to be re- lieved. In 1861 he ran for the office of registrar as a Re- publican candidate, and, though he received a very compli- mentary vote, was defeated, and never after took any part in politics. There was scarcely a Brooklyn institution of public benefit in which Mr. Hall was not interested, either as one of its founders or as having helped its progress. He was, for a number of years, president of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor ; and for some time president of the Fireman's Trust Insurance Company, a position that se- cured him a modest competency without overtasking his strength. He died on the 16th of April, 1868, and his funeral, on the following Sabbath, was such a scene as Brooklyn has seldom, if ever, witnessed. The flags upon the City Hall were displayed at half-mast, and, long before the hour of the services, the dwelling was crowded to excess; and a crowd of three or four thousand collected in the street, in front of the house, and were addressed by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in one of his characteristic and eloquent addresses. As the ad- vocate of the temperance cause, it is almost superfluous to speak of George Hall. He was the first man in his city in the field for temperance; the first to sign in Brooklyn the Old Temperance Pledge, and the first to sign the Washington- ian Pledge. Even in his last sickness, when his medical attend- auts prescribed brandy for him, it was with the utmost diffi- culty he could be got to try it; and when the taste of that was in his mouth, which he had fought against all his life, he spat it out again, and died as he had lived. George Hall possessed strong physical health, sound practical sense, and true moral energy. He never shrank from the performance of any known duty. He was a faithful counsellor, a wise man, a disinterested, unambitious and truly patriotic citizen; a man who took straight paths of action and was fearlessly in ear- nest. But while he was a stern magistrate, there was never a softer heart beat in woman's bosom than his. When the presence of want was made known to him, he would swing a basket on his arm and take food from his own larder to feed the suffering poor. Large numbers of poor widows and families were accustomed to apply to him for assistance. Yet his name was very seldom seen on any published or printed subscription list.

Under the provisions of the charter with which the new city of Brooklyn commenced its existence the municipality was divided into nine wards, the first five of which corresponded to and were identical with the five districts of the former village, and retained the same limits and numbers as said districts. The legislative power was vested in a mayor and a board of aldermen. This board, constituting and denomi- nated the Common Council, was composed of two aldermen, elected annually from each ward, and a pro- vision was made whereby no member of the Common

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THE FIRST CITY OF BROOKLYN, 1834-1854.

Council could hold office as mayor and alderman at the same time. The Mayor was to see that the ordinances of the Common Council were complied with, and offend- ers against the same prosecuted ; and he was to be as- sisted in his duties by an inspector or inspectors, who should report all such breaches of law to him, or to the attorney of the board, as the Common Council might direct. He was to have no vote in the Common Couneil, although he possessed a qualified veto power. The Common Council were to have the management and eon- trol of the finances, and of all property, real and per- sonal, belonging to said corporation, and within the said eity; they could make, establish, publish, alter, modify, amend and repeal all ordinances, rules, regula- tions and by-laws, usual and necessary for the regulation, protection, etc., ete., of the various eity interests, in- cluding the powers of a board of health, of police and of exeise.

In July it was resolved, at a public eity meeting, of which the mayor was chairman, that $50,000 should be raised to purchase ground for a City Hall at the junction of Fulton and Joralemon streets.

The South ferry was proposed, about this time, but was met with the usual opposition from New York city. This, and the condition of the Brooklyn ferries general- ly, kept up an agitation; and public meetings and news- paper articles seem to have been then, as now, a fa- vorite, though ineffectual, method of warfare.

September. Permission to occupy Atlantic street was granted by the corporation to the Jamaica Railroad Company; and this, we may add, proved an unfortunate bone of contention, until the change of terminus in 1861.

1835. In January, the project of purchasing the low grounds at the Wallabout for a city park received a fav- orable report from a committee of the corporation.

During this year speculation in real-estate reached its culminating point. Eight acres of the Jacob Bergen farm were sold at $1,000 per acre, and the real-estate of Samuel Jackson, deceased, brought $570,000.

Jonathan Trotter was elected mayor in May, by the board of aldermen.

HON. JONATHAN TROTTER, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, in 1797, emigrated to this country in 1818, and be- gan business in Roosevelt street, New York city, as a morocco dresser. Subsequently his business was in Ferry street. In 1826 he built an extensive factory for the dressing of leather, in Stanton street, near Gold, now the 5th Ward, Brooklyn ; and, a few years after, in 1829, became a resident here ; was very successful, and became a very prominent citizen of the village of Brooklyn. His residence was in Bridge street, be- tween Tillary and Chapel. In 1834, under the new city char- ter, then a village trustee, was elected alderman of the 4th Ward. In May, 1835, Mr. Trotter was chosen mayor, and re-elected in 1836, and held the office until May, 1837. While mayor he laid the corner-stone of the City Hall, as originally planned, on the 28th of April, 1836. During his term, also, Myrtle avenue was opened, and extensive arrangements were made for opening up the outlying portions of the city. In

1837 Mr. Trotter was among those unfortunates who were caught with outspread sails, when the great financial storm burst upon the country, and went down from wealth to a very moderate competence. He returned to New York, in 1840, and re-established himself there, but never again was enabled to assume a prominent position in either politics or business. His death, April 5th, 1865, closed a long life of earnest work, in which was permanently developed a good, courteous, practical manhood. Mr. Trotter was the first presi- dent of the Atlantic Bank of Brooklyn, and, at one time, vice- president of the Leather Manufacturers' Bank of New York.

The small-pox again visited the city, and the poor were gratuitously vaccinated.

In September, Fulton street, from Front street to Water street, was widened by the demolition of the buildings on the east side.

The population of the city was found to be 24,310, a gain of 9,015 in fifteen years.

The elose of this year found a City Hall in process of ereetion, the Lyccum building nearly eompleted, the Jamaica railroad finished, and several boats almost ready for use on the new South ferry.

1836. A permanent water-line for the city was reported, in January, by General J. G. Swift, and was afterward adopted by the city authorities; but all records and documents concerning this linc suddenly disap- peared from the office of the Common Council; and, in their anxiety to extend lots into the water, people made encroachments beyond that line.

The Apprentiees Library (subsequently known as the City Buildings) was this year purchased by the city. Its site was afterward occupied by the City Armory.

The corner-stone of the new City Hall was laid on the 20th of April. The sanguine spirit of speculation and extravaganee, which prevailed at that time, led to the planning of this building on a magnificent scale.

Unfortunately for the pride of Brooklyn, yet perhaps a blessing in disguise, the walls of this ambitious struet- ure were suddenly arrested, when they had seareely risen above their foundations, by the lack of means eonse- quent upon the severe commercial revulsions of 1836-7. And when, after ten years of patient waiting, they began to rise towards completion, it was on a reduced seale of architectural grandeur, and consequently at a much diminished rate of expense.

The corner-stone of the City Jail, in Raymond street, near Fort Greene, was laid, and the Brooklyn Lyceum was completed and oeeupied, and during the following year was furnished with a reading-room, library, and museum.

Jonathan Trotter was re-elected mayor, in May of this year, by the board of aldermen.

1837. In May General Jeremiah Johnson was elected mayor by the board of aldermen.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON, aptly styled "Brooklyn's first and foremost citizen," was a descendant, in the fourth generation. of Jan Barentsen Van Driest, who came, in 1657. from Zut- phen in Guelderland, and settled at Gravesend. His father, Barnet Johnson, born in 1740, was distinguished as an active

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

patriot during the Revolutionary struggle. He was encamped, in command of a portion of the Kings county militia, at Har- lem, in 1776, and in the following year was captured by the British, and only obtained his parole (from Gen. Howe) through the kind interposition of a masonic brother. In or- der to help on the cause to which he was devoted he shrank not from personal and pecuniary risks, but suggested loans from friends in his county to the American government; and himself set the example by loaning, first £700, and afterward sums amounting to $5,000, all the security for which was a simple private receipt, given, too, in times of exceeding peril and discouragement-a noble and memorable deed. JERE- MIAH, his son, was born January 23, 1766 ; was, at the time of the breaking out of the war, in his eleventh year, and old enough to understand the full meaning of passing events. That these stirring scenes made an indelible impression upon his mind and character is evident from the fact that his reminiscences, descriptions, maps, etc., have since formed the largest and certainly the most valuable portion of the Revolutionary lore of Kings county handed down to our day, and has been largely drawn upon by every local and general historian of Long Island. His father dying before the peace, young Johnson was thrown the more upon him- self ; and, though the times were very unfavorable to regu- lar education, he improved his opportunities as he was able ; attended night schools ; taught himself, and gradually disci- plined and developed the elements of a manly, self-made and self-reliant character. Then, as a good, quiet citizen, he lived upou his farm in faithful industry ; married (1) Abigail, daughter of Rem. Remsen, in 1787, who died in 1788; (2). Sarah, daughter of Teunis Rapalye, in 1791, who died in 1825. He had ten children (two sons, Barnet and Jeromus; and two daughters, Sarah Anne, married to Nicholas Wyckoff, and Susanna, married to Lambert Wyckoff), all of whom well sustain the paternal reputation of benevolence and useful- ness, patronizing every worthy cause. The old homestead was taken down and the fine substantial mansion, now occu- pied by the family, was erected near the same spot, in 1801. In 1796 he became a trustee of the town of Brooklyn, an office which he held for twenty years. Naturally of a social turn, of benevolent impulses, and public-spirited withal, and from his very character, position and associations, he be- came early connected with public affairs. From 1800 until about 1840 he was a supervisor of the town, during a large portion of which time he was chairman of the board. In 1808, and in 1809, he represented Kings county in the State Assembly. He took an active part, also, in military matters. During the war with Great Britain, from 1812 to 1815, he was at first only a junior captain ; but, when one was solicited to go out in command on the frontier, others declining, he vol- unteered for a dangerous duty, and so took precedence by consent, and early became colonel. Meanwhile he was very active in military affairs, and held himself ready at call. He was then honored with a brigadier-general's'commission, and was in the command (of the 22d Brigade of Infantry, numbering 1,750 men) at Fort Greene, in Brooklyn, for three months. Whilst there he was conspicuous for his soldier-like ability ; proved himself an excellent disciplinarian ; and was a great favorite with officers and privates. He was fortunate, as well, for, in that three months' time, no one of his soldiers died. After the peace he was promoted to be a major-gen- eral, an office which he held during his life, though not in actual command of a division. When (in 1816) Brooklyn became a village his residence was left outside of the village bounds, and, of course, he could not (except by his own in- fluence in a private capacity, which he ever largely exer- cised) participate in its public affairs ; but, in 1835, the City

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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 36

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