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 II, Part 171

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

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 II > Part 171

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Wynne's sketch of this library, though written in 1860, described it as it was until 1875. Mr. Brevoort's health and eyesight becoming seriously impaired about that time, he has, since then, gradually bestowed the greater part of his library, and its accompanying col- lections, upon those scientific bodies and societies to which he felt that they would prove of most service, such as the Long Island Historical Society of this city, the American Geographical Society, and the Natural History Museum in the Central Park, New York city, and the Entomological Society of Phila- delphia. To the Long Island Historical Society, of which he was President during its first ten years, he has been a constant and liberal donor, almost denuding his own library of his very large accumulation of American local history, biography and pamphlets.

So generous and judicious a giver of books to our public libraries deserves some slight biographical notice at our hands.

JAMES CARSON BREVOORT, eldest son of Henry and Laura (Carson) Brevoort, of New York city, was born July 10, 1818, and gained his education in his native city, in France and Switzerland. Upon leaving school at Hofwyl, near Berne, he studied for three years at the "Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures," at Paris, and graduated with a diploma as Civil Engineer. Returning home, he was, for a while, employed on the Survey of the North-eastern Boundary, in Maine, under his uncle, the late Prof. James Renwick, who was then a Commissioner on the Survey. In 1838, he accompanied Washington Irving, on his appointment as Minister-Plenipotentiary to Spain, and passed a year

with him in the capacity of private secretary, after- wards traveling through Europe.

He returned to this country again in 1843, and, in 1845, married the only daughter of the late Judge Leffert Lefferts, of Bedford. Since that time he has resided in the Lefferts homestead, engaged in manag- ing the estate of his late father-in-law, as well as the property which he himself purchased in the neighbor- hood, and modestly but honorably identifying himself with the progress and institutions of his adopted city. He served, for some years, as a member of the Board of Education, and as one of the Constructing Board of Water Commissioners, and is the author of the Preface to that Board's Report, published by the city authorities. From 1863 to 1873, he was President of the Long Island Historical Society; and, for two years, Superintendent of the Astor Library, New York city, of which he had been a Trustee since 1852. In 1861, he was made a Regent of the University of the City of New York, being now the third eldest member of that distinguished body ; and, in 1863, received the diploma of LL. D. from Williams College, Mass. Mr. Brevoort is a resident-member of the N. Y. Historical, 1845; the Acad. of Natural Sciences, 1840; American Geographical Society, 1856; corresponding member of the N. Eng. Geneal .- Hist. Society, 1858; the Mass. Hist. Society, 1858; the Penn. Hist. Society, 1859, and the Entomological and Numismatical Societies of Philadelphia; honorary member of the Numismatical Society of Boston, 1882; and of various other learned bodies at home and abroad.

Mr. Brevoort commenced his study and collections in Entomology in 1833, and in Ichthyology in 1842. In this latter department his collection of books and specimens have been extensive and valuable; and he has recently turned them over to Mr. Eugene G. Black- ford, the N. Y. State Fish Commissioner, who has in- corporated them in his Ichthyological Museum in Fulton Market. Mr. Brevoort wrote the Ichthyological department of Commodore Perry's Report of the U. S. Expedition to Japan.

His collection of coins was commenced in 1850. He has contributed to the Am. Journal of Numismatics, a series of (illustrated) papers on " Early Spanish and Portuguese Coinage in America," of great in- terest.

In the Historical Magazine he has published a paper upon the "Discovery of the Remains of Columbus;" and in 1874, a volume on "Verrazano, the Navigator, or Notes on Giovanni de Verrazano, and on a Plani- sphere of 1529, illustrating his American Voyage in 1524," this being a revision of a paper read by him be- fore the American Geographical Society, Nov. 28, 1871.

CHARLES E. WEST, the well-known principal of the Brooklyn Heights Seminary, possesses literary and art collections of no mean value and interest. The three buildings in which the Seminary is located, are filled

Andrew & Band

Robinson hill

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Art and Art-Culture; that of Mr. HAVEMEYER, which is strong in the department of General History and Po- litical Economy; that of HENRY T. Cox, Esq., another member of the Rembrandt. Mr. Cox's privately illus- trated copies of "Walton's Complete Angler," with its 200 water-colors, 130 etchings, and 700 prints (proofs, and on India paper) and titles, original designs, executed in water-colors by F. O. Darley, is a chef-d'œuvre of the illustrator's art. His large paper copy of "Madame Sevigne's letters," extended to fourteen volumes by 750 extra illustrations, chiefly proofs, and many in three stages, is a superb example of the art of illustrating, and his library is otherwise marked by its splendid col- lection of art literature. WILLIAM MATTHEWS, of Brooklyn, is also a " bookish man," largely given to il- lustrating.

Nor can we overlook the small but interesting collec- tion of dramatic works, relics and bric-a-brac, owned by GABRIEL HARRISON; although he some years ago gave some of his greatest treasures in this line to the Long Island Historical Society. These consisted of early editions of many celebrated plays, MS. " parts" used by eminent actors, old play-bills, etc., etc.

American book illustrators have mostly to call to their aid the professional " inlayer," of whom, as has been well said by one who knows whereof he speaks, " there are but three in this country worthy of mention- Messrs. Trent, Toedteberg and Lawrence, all of Brook- lyn. The work turned out by these gentlemen is of the first order, far superior to that of the best English and French inlayers." Mr. Trent, we believe, has been longest engaged in this business.

Mr. Toedteberg is not only a "professional," but is himself an accomplished scholar, and an illustrator of books on his own account, forming a collection which, in many points, rivals those of some of his best patrons. " Among all the private illustrators of American literature," as Mr. Treadwell justly observes in his Bibliomania, " none are entitled to more credit than Mr. AUGUSTUS TOEDTEBERG (of No. 333 Bridge street). Born in Germany, in a little village in the Kingdom of Hanover, in 1824, he came to New York in 1844, and with all the disadvantages of foreign birth and a foreign tongue, he occupies the position to-day of one of the most accomplished illustrators in America." His copy of that favorite of all private book-illustrators, IRELAND's " Records of the New York Stage," is prob- ably the finest extant. It contains over 5,000 portraits, views and dramatic drawings, etc .; also about 1,000 rare play-bills, and is truly a stupendous as well as valuable affair. His masterpiece of illustrated treasures, however, is the "Narrative of Nell Gwynne," with 542 illustrations by contemporaneous artists, and of which 22 are portraits of Nell. It is rich in rare proofs be- fore the letter and makes three volumes, large folio. The feature of Mr. T.'s collection is the exceedingly choice character of his selections of prints, both as re-

gards their illustrative appropriateness and historic value, and their artistic merit.

We cannot forbear adding that his daughter, Miss EMMA TOEDTEBERG, has for the past fifteen years most admirably filled the position of First Assistant Librarian to the Long Island Historical Society.

In connection with books, etc., we must not overlook JOHN KEESE, well known, in years gone by, to the older book-lovers of both Brooklyn and New York. His genial humor and ready, sparkling wit rendered the book auctions of Messrs. Cooley & Keese (at successively 157, 191 and 377 Broadway, New York) as entertaining as a theatrical performance. People attended their sales frequently with no intention of buying, simply to be amused. He lived on Atlantic street, Brooklyn, and his memory is well embalmed in a volume from the Appletons' press, written by his son, entitled "John Keese, Wit and Literature," and which, we believe, has already passed to a second edition.

JOSEPH SABIN, who resided in the Eastern District, and for many years kept an Americana book-store on Nassau street, which was the resort of all book-lovers, is also well deserving of more than a passing notice. He was born in Braunston, England, in 1821, and when fourteen years old was apprenticed to a prominent bookseller in Oxford, where he soon developed such an expertness and judgment in the valuation of books and prints that he was intrusted with the buying as well as with the selling of them. Upon the expiration of his apprenticeship-having had considerable experience in the cataloguing of books for sale-he fancied he could do a good business as a book auctioneer; and, to that end, he formed a partnership with one of the sons of a Mr. Winterborne, an architect and builder of Oxford, and began business as bookseller and auctioneer. The business prospered, and in 1844 he married the sister of his partner, and published his first work, The Thirty- nine Articles of the Church of England, with Scriptural Proofs and References, which he issued anonymously, but which soon attracted the attention of the Oxford students, by the great research of its annotations. In 1838, with his wife and two sons, he came to this coun- try and settled in Philadelphia, buying a farm on Chesnut Hill, and himself becoming general assistant and salesman with the well-known publisher, Geo. S. Appleton, who soon learned to appreciate him at his full value. In 1850 he engaged with Cooley & Keese, book-auctioneers, in New York city, as general assist- ant, his duties being principally to catalogue books to be sold, in which his experience as an expert was very valuable; and, occasionally, he aided in the sales. In 1851 he made his first important library catalogue, that of the collection of Dr. Samuel Farmer Jarvis. In 1852 he entered the employ of Bangs Bros., in Park Row, where he remained five years, and where, among others, he catalogued the E. B. Corwin Library, the sale of which may be said to have first drawn atten-

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tion to the subject of " Americana " in this country, and which gave to Mr. Sabin the idea of the great work to which he subsequently devoted so much of his life. In 1856 he made a premature attempt at business on his own account, in Canal street, but finding himself " ahead of the times," as far as the rage for collection of rare books was concerned in New York, he removed to Philadelphia, and there did a fine business (mostly southern) until the Civil War broke out. He then (1861) returned to New York, and (with N. A. Jennings, under the firm name of J. Sabin & Co.) opened a book auction store in 4th street, where one of his first cus- tomers was Wm. E. Burton, the celebrated actor, whose library of 6,154 volumes he catalogued and sold. In 1863 Mr. Sabin retired from the auction line and estab- lished himself in the purchase and sale of rare books and prints at 84 (subsequently removing to No. 64) Nassau street; establishing a branch house in London (in charge of his two eldest sons), and making annual trips to Europe in search of books, etc. In April, 1879, he retired from active business, in order to give his en- tire time to the compilation of his great work, the Dio- tionary of Books Relating to America from its Dis- covery to the Present Time. This stupendous work contains the title of every book or tract, in any language, relating to, or even slightly referring to, America, alphabetically arranged, and, besides the title, the number of its pages and plates, its size, with notes by Mr. Sabin, and (if rare) a reference to where copies may be found. It was begun in 1856, but the first volume was not published until 1867, and he was engaged upon the thirteenth volume (which brings the catalogue down to the letter P), when death closed his labors, June 5, 1881. We are glad to learn that this important undertaking, though delayed, is not abandoned, and that there are hopes of its being ulti- mately completed.

As a cataloguer of libraries, Mr. Sabin's name is imperishably connected with the history of our greatest American collections, which have, from time to time during the past thirty years, passed under the hammer. Among these may be named the "Waltonian " li- braries of Rev. Dr. Bethune, and of E. B. Corwin (1856); of Andrew Wight (1856); of John A. Rice, which brought $44,000; of Mr. Menzies, which brought $50,000; of Thos. W. Field, of Brooklyn (1874); of Francis S. Hoffman, of Philadelphia; of John Allan, the private illustrator; of Edwin Forrest, the tragedian; Wm. E. Burton, the actor, etc., etc. The great Brin- ley sale, which brought over $100,000, he conducted (although he did not catalogue it), with remarkable skill. His knowledge of books, both as to contents, arity and market value, was incredibly accurate; for example, it is said of him that he appraised the Irving Brown library, which sold for about $11,000, at within $10 of the amount it brought at auction. At a book- sale, Mr. Sabin was invaluable. He could point out, in

a few words, just what made each book valuable, and could give, from memory, a rapid synopsis of the con- tents of many of the rarer works. He had crossed the ocean twenty-five times, and each time had paid his passage by the profits made on some stray bar- gains picked up at the London book-stalls. Mr. Sabin's crowning honor, however, as a bibliophile and book-dealer, was his honesty. His advice to customers was always in favor of buying "the best editions;" and while his judgment as to books could always be implicitly relied upon, it was not influenced by considerations of self-interest. Be- sides the great Bibliography above referred to, Mr. Sabin published the American Bibliophilist for several years, and issued many reprints of curious works on American history.

The scientists of Brooklyn, like the authors, are identified with it mostly by residence ; their material interests being mainly in the busy metropolis across the river.

Among those who deserve more than a passing no- tice at our hands (did our space permit), are certain civil engineers. Earliest on the roll is the name of

Brig .- Gen. JOSEPH G. SWIFT, Chief Engineer of the U. S. Army, from 1812 to 1818, whose biography has been well written by Maj .- Gen. G. W. Cullum, was first identified with Brooklyn, as having planned and superintended the erection of the extensive line of de- fensive works designed to cover New York and the western end of Long Island from naval attack by the British in 1814 (See page 61). He seems from this time, to have been a resident and extensive property- holder in the then village, until serious financial dis- asters in Wall street compelled him, in 1826, to relin- quish all but his honor. To him, also, Brooklyn is much indebted for the establishing of its present water front. He died, aged 82 years, at Geneva, N. Y., July 23, 1865, after an exceedingly active and useful life. "Born at the close of the American Revolution, and dying at the termination of the American Rebellion, he lived through a most momentous period of history, and was himself a prominent actor in the proud drama of our national existence. His military career began with that of the Military Academy at West Point, which he fostered in its feeble infancy; and he lived to see, in its developed maturity, the sons of his cherished Alma Mater directing the high destinies of his coun- try on victorious fields in Canada, Florida, Mexico, and within the wide domain of our Southern border. Amicable and sincere, spotless in integrity, staunch in friendship, liberal in charity, Gen. Swift was a model gentleman, a true patriot, and a Christian soldier."

Maj. DAVID B. DOUGLASS was peculiarly identified with the city's growth and improvement, in its earlier civic days. He was born in 1790, at Pompton, N. J .; grad. at Yale College; in 1813 entered the army as Second

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Lieutenant of Engineers, and saw actual service in the Battle of Niagara, and in the defence of Fort Erie. After the war he became Assistant Professor at West Point; in 1819-'20, served as Astronomical Surveyor in the Commission for settling the North-western Boundary of the U. S., and about the same time was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the Military Academy.

In 1823, he was transferred to the chair of Civil and Military Engineering. To this science, then compara- tively new among us, Major Douglass devoted himself with ardor and success. In 1831, he resigned his post at West Point, removed to Brooklyn, and became Chief Engineer of the Morris Canal. Soon after, he was chosen Professor of Civil Architecture in the University of New York, and made the designs for its college building.

In the summer of 1833, he began his surveys for the work of supplying New York with water. His first report was submitted in the autumn of that year, and clearly proved the feasibility of bringing a supply from the Croton River. Acting on the plans and estimates which he furnished, the city government, in 1835, resolved to build the aqueduct. Appointed Chief Engineer by the Board of Commissioners, Maj. Douglass proceeded to lay out the line of the aqueduct, and to complete his plans. He had accomplished the prelim- inary work when he was superseded. That this was not owing to any want of confidence in his judgment or skill, may be inferred from the fact that his plans were adopted and carried out by his successors.

In the autumn of 1835, Maj. Douglass gave a public lecture in Brooklyn on the capabilities and prospects of the young and rising city. Mr. H. E. Pierrepont, to whom he applied for hints on the occasion, suggested the idea of a large rural cemetery, with an astronomi- cal observatory on its grounds. The Major accepted the suggestion, and enlarged upon it in his lecture. This is believed to have been the first public presenta- tion that was made of the subject. In 1838, Major Douglass aided in selecting the portion which seemed best suited to the purpose of a cemetery ; and the same year an Act of the Legislature was passed incor- porating the Green-Wood Cemetery. From 1838 to 1840, Major Douglass was much occupied with the affairs of Green-Wood. He made a topographical sur- vey of the grounds, and was associated with Mr. Pierrepont in the negotiation for the purchase of the grounds from numerous owners, which was attended with much labor and trouble.

In 1841, Maj. Douglass was appointed President of Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio, and entered on his duties.

In 1848, he resigned and returned to New York. During the next four years he was employed as a lec- turer, and turned his taste and skill to account in de- veloping the landscape features of Staten Island, in

laying out the Albany Cemetery, and also the Protes- tant Cemetery, at Quebec.

In 1844, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the college at Geneva, N. Y., where he died October 21, 1849, and was buried at Green-Wood .*

SILAS LUDLAM, the oldest surveyor in the city, was born in New York, and came to Brooklyn in 1827. He had learned surveying with his father, Stephen Ludlam. A map of the village of Brooklyn, published by Hooker in 1827, shows the settled portion of the village in stip- ple, from which it appears that a line through Clark and Concord streets to the Wallabout pond comprised the settled portion, and even this part contained many vacant lots. Fulton street was paved only to Middagh; above it was a turnpike on which toll was exacted. Mr. Ludlam's first work was the laying out of the Duf- field estate, between Fulton and what are now Wil- loughby and Duffield streets and the Wallabout. From this beginning, in 1827, he continued with the Middagh, the Remsen, the Pierrepont, the Jackson, and' other farms until he has been over a large portion of the 3d, 4th, 11th, 10th, 9th, 20th, 21st, and 23d Wards. He is still actively engaged in his profession.

Of WN. T. MCALPINE, the engineer, who was mainly connected with the introduction of the Ridgewood Water Supply to Brooklyn, we have no notes; or of Gen. WARD B. BURNETT and JAS. P. KIRKWOOD, also eminently identified with the same great public under- taking. Of Maj. ROBERT VAN BUREN, the present able engineer in charge, whose biography we have given on page 594, we present a portrait on the following page.

The ROEBLINGS, father and son, who have so recently linked their names imperishably with the great bridge which unites Brooklyn to the metropolis, have been elsewhere noticed (see pages 458 and 460). With this same wonderful structure, moreover, is linked (see page 447) the name of

Col. JULIUS W. ADAMS, who was born in Boston in 1812. His ancestors were among the oldest of the New England families ; he has the commission held by one of them in the royal forces under George III, and also the commission under which he fought in the patriot army, at Bunker Hill. Col. Adams was educated at West Point, resigning in 1832; he acted as civil engineer under Majors McNeil and Whistler. He was connected with the construction of many railroads, in- cluding the N. Y., Prov. & Boston R. R., the Great Western of Mass., the N. Y. Central, and the Erie Rail- roads. He designed the famous Syracuse viaduct on the Eric road; also the Cascade bridge, one of the longest single-arch wooden bridges ever built, covering a chasm 300 feet wide at a single span. He was also engineer of various railroads in the West.

*Condensed from the History of Green-Wood, written by N. Cleveland, A. D. 1866.

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

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In 1856 he returned to Brooklyn to devise the system of sewerage for the city. During the war he served two years as colonel of a Long Island regiment ; and has since been connected with various important works as constructing or consulting engineer. For nine years he was Chief Engineer of the Department of City Works of Brooklyn, and had much to do with the water supply of the city. Col. Adams is entitled to the honor of being the first to devise a feasible plan for bridging East River, as the following extract from the report of the Executive Committee of Bridge Trustees shows: "The project of building a bridge across the East River, al- though for many years the subject of more or less public discussion, was not seriously taken up until six or seven years ago, when Col. Adams, through the instrumentality of Mr. Kingsley, projected a plan for a suspension bridge. Afterward, through the same means, John A. Roebling submitted another plan, which was the one finally adopted." (See, also, page 448.) Col. Adams' plan design was of two elliptical, iron latticed, open tubes, each 18 feet and 24 feet high, placed side by side, connected by lattice trusses of the same depth and width of the tubes, on the top and bottom, in the center and on the sides, giving, with trussed girders, a platform

of 50 feet at top, another of 28 feet wide midway of the tubes, and a third of 20 feet wide at the bottom. The whole to be supported by chains, with links of steel plates, 10 or 15 feet long, admitting of renewal at any time without interrupting travel. As Col. Adams had never built a suspension bridge, while Col. Roebling had built several, the latter received the appointment of chief engineer, and the bridge was built after his plans. Col. Adams is now engaged by the city of New York.

Notices of the able staff of engineers connected with the building of the great East River Bridge will be found on page 460.

GEN. J. V. MESEROLE is another civil engineer who is widely and favorably known in connection with sur- veys and maps in the Eastern District. Born in 1834, he studied civil engineering in the office of Mr. Betts, the foremost surveyor of his time in that section. A fellow-student was Mr. G. R. Van Alst; after the death of Mr. Betts in 1853, the two students formed a partnership to carry on the business, which continued for several years, when Mr. Van Alst removed to Long Island City. Gen. Meserole has done much and im- portant work in laying out streets in the 15th and 16th Wards, establishing grades, dividing estates into lots,

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etc., also in relation to the docks and wharves, pier lines, etc.

Among other Brooklyn and Kings county gentlemen of this profession, we may be allowed to mention :

NOYES G. PALMER, East New York, Civil Engineer and Surveyor. Born in Madison Co., N. Y., 1822; estab- lished since 1849, in the town of New Lots ; has held the office of Superintendent and Surveyor of Cypress Hills Cemetery for twenty-six years. Mr. JOHN SHAW, o 216 Skillman street, is, at present, Superintendent and Chief Engineer, under the Board of Charities at Flatbush.

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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 II, Part 171

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345