USA > New York > Ulster County > Kingston > The history of Kingston, New York : from its early settlement to the year 1820 > Part 47
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86. On the northwest corner of Main and Wall streets stands a two-story frame double house. It was at that time owned and occupied by John Sudam. The house was built some years pre- vious to that date by Mr. Sudam a few feet easterly of the old stone house burned down in the Revolution, which was then the homestead of Elias Hasbrouck, who was an officer in the Revolu- tion, was with Montgomery in the Canadian campaign, and partici- patel creditably in other compaigns and battles during the war.
John Sudam was in 1820, and had been for a number of years, one of the leading and most successful members of the bar of this county. He also took a very active interest in politics, and his reputation as a lawyer and a politician was not confined to this locality.
In 1823 he was elected to the State Senate, and was one of the so-called "immortal Seventeen" senators who defeated the electoral bill, which was designed to give the choice of electors for President and Vice-President to the people instead of their being appointed by the Legislature, as the law then stood.
He was again elected to the Senate in 1833. He died at Albany before the expiration of his term, in 1835.
87. Directly opposite and on the southwest corner stands one of the old stone houses, now converted into a store. It was owned by Dr. C. Elmendorf in the Revolution. In later years it was owned and occupied by John C. Wynkoop, a lawyer, and subse- quently by William Radcliff. In 1820 it was occupied by his widow, Hannah Radcliff.
88. On the southeast corner of Main and Wall streets stood one of the old stone houses, the Dutch Church parsonage, a two-story double house. It was subsequently torn down when the congre- gation built the brick church on that corner.
At the southerly end of the parsonage lot and on the corner of Wall and Pearl streets stood a small frame building, just large enough to house one of the hand fire-engines of the village. The public officials of that day did not furnish their firemen with lux- urious club-rooms, although they required them to turn out and practice once a month, so as to become, to some extent at least, skilled in their duty.
89. On the southeast corner of Wall and Pearl streets stands one of the old stone houses, owned and occupied in 1820 by Teunis Swart. It was burned and rebuilt in the Revolution.
90. The next building was one of the old stone houses, standing on the northeast corner of Wall Street and Maiden Lane. In 1820 it was owned and occupied by Joshua Du Bois, the court crier for many years.
91. On the opposite or southeast corner stood another of the old
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stone houses in 1820, owned and occupied by an old lady, Grietje Dumond.
In that building, and in the third decade of this century, was published during its brief existence the People's Advocate, by Samuel S. Freer and Peter K. Allen.
92. On the southwest corner stood one of the old stone houses, since torn down to be replaced by a small frame two-story dwelling. It was occupied by Nicholas Vanderlyn in 1820.
93. Passing on we find one of the old stone houses at the north- east corner of Wall and St. James' streets. In 1820 it was owned and occupied by Charles Du Bois.
94. On the northwest corner of Wall and St. James' streets stood an old frame building, recently torn down, owned and occupied in 1820 by Conrad Crook.
95. Opposite on the southwest corner stood an old frame build- ing occupied by Katie Hermance.
96. On the southeast corner stood the Hamilton homestead, occupied in 1820 by Benjamin Hermance, who married the widow.
97. The first building on Wall Street south of St. James' Street is one of the old stone houses. It was the homestead of Jacobus Masten, and was owned and occupied by him in 1820.
98. The next building, only a few feet farther south, is also one of the old stone houses. It was the homestead of Matthias Van Steenbergh. In 1820 he died in the occupancy of the building, and after his death it was occupied by his daughter Maritje.
99. The next buildings on Wall Street were the house and black- smith shop of Martin Elmendorf, on the south corner of Big Vly Lane-owned and occupied by him in 1820.
100. On the east side of Wall Street, and nearly opposite the Big Vly Lane, stood one of the old stone buildings, occupied in 1820, and for many years previous, as a public house, and known as the Black Horse Tavern ; so named from having a sign swinging and creaking in front on which was painted a black horse.
101. The last and only remaining building in the street is the old stone house, still standing, and which was the only house not burned by the British. In the Revolution it was the tavern and homestead of Tobias Van Steenbergh, Jr., and in 1820 was owned and occupied by one of his sons, Abraham T. Van Steenbergh.
102. Taking up Fair Street, and commencing at its northern terminus, at Main Street, on the west corner is the two-story brick building which in 1820 was owned and occupied by Mrs. Mary Tupper. In earlier years it had been the home of William Copp, who was printer of the Farmers' Register, a paper published in Kingston in 1792. He was afterward associated with Samuel Freer in the publication of the Rising Star, also printed before 1800.
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103. The next building was the district school-house, standing on the west side of the street and about midway in the block. It was a one-story frame building, with gable to the street, the lower part divided in two rooms. The front room was occupied by Dirck Van Steenbergh, the village gunsmith, and the rear room was the one in which William H. Dederick, the district school-teacher, held undisputed sway for many subsequent years. He succeeded Solo- mon Hasbrouck, who wielded the birch rod in that locality for nearly twoscore years before the advent of Mr. Dederick.
104. The next building, and standing on the northwest corner of Fair and Pearl streets, is the large double two-story stone house, which in 1820 was owned and occupied by Severyn Bruyn. At that time and until the failure of the bank, in 1826, Mr. Bruyn was the cashier of the Kingston branch of the Middle District Bank of Poughkeepsie. The lower room in the northeast corner of the house was occupied as the banking room.
105. On the opposite and southwest corner is one of the old stone houses, now the parsonage of the Fair Street Reformed Dutch Church. It was owned and occupied in 1820 by Peter New- kirk. Since that date, although not torn down, it has been re- modelled and its appearance very much changed.
106. In 1820 the next house in the street was one of the old stone houses, standing on the northwest corner of Fair Street and Maiden Lane, fronting on Maiden Lane, with a frame addition extending along Fair Street. In 1820 it was owned by John Bogardus and occupied as a hotel by H. Tucker, It has since been torn down by James W. Baldwin, the subsequent owner, to give place to the imposing structure now occupying its site.
The old house had a history. In colonial times, during the Revolution, and for many years thereafter, under the catering of Evert Bogardus, it was one of the leading public houses in the. place. It was, of course, burned in the Revolution, but speedily rebuilt. Tradition and history of late years have erroneously designated it as the place where the Constitutional Convention met and the Constitution was adopted. On the contrary, the official records of the convention clearly show that the convention met, that the Constitution was reported, discussed, adopted, and pro- mulgated at the Court House. The Bogardus house was, however, the place where the first Assembly of the State of New York met, organized, and transacted its business in 1777, until scattered by the advance of the British. The Supreme Court having possession of the court-room, the Assembly organized and met at Bogardus's.
After the two great political parties were organized it was the headquarters of the Federal Party. The trustees of the corporation of Kingston for many successive years, before and after the Revo-
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lution, held their regular meetings at that house. There also the commencement dinners given annually by the trustees of the acad- emy were discussed.
107. On the southwest corner of the street stands a large two- story double stone house which was built by Edward Eltinge in 1807. In 1820 it was owned by Mrs. Lyburn, the mother-in-law of Mr. Eltinge. It was afterward purchased by A, Bruyn Hasbrouck and occupied by him until 1840, when he removed to New Bruns- wick to assume the charge of Rutgers College as its president.
In Revolutionary and colonial times the house upon that site was the homestead of Colonel Johannes Snyder, who entered the service of his country when the war for freedom commenced, and stood by it with honor and distinction until its close.
108. On the southeast corner of said streets stands one of the old stone houses, which in the time of the Revolution was occupied as a tavern by Conrad Elmendorf, familiarly known as Topper Conrad. That was for many years after the Revolution the Re- publican or Anti-Federal headquarters, and that corner has been the scene of many a personal encounter, resulting in black eyes and bloody noses, during the excited political contests in the early days of the republic. In 1820, or about that time, it was occupied by the widow and family of the Rev. Peter Low, deceased, who had served ably and acceptably a long pastorate in a Dutch Re- formed Church on Long Island.
It was subsequently purchased by Madame Hardy, the mother- in-law of Judge John Van Buren, and occupied by him until his death.
That house was in 1820 the only house standing on the east side of Fair Street.
It will now be necessary to pass through the several cross streets in order to mention the intermediate houses therein, the corner houses having been already designated.
109. Commencing in John at Green Street, the first building on the south side in 1820 was the stone blacksmith shop belonging to Abraham G. Van Keuren, standing a few feet east of the stone house on the corner. It was occupied as a blacksmith shop in 1820 by J. H. & J. W. Baldwin.
110. The next intermediate house was one of the old stone houses, standing on the north side of the street some distance east of Crown Street, where the. Van Etten law office now stands. It belonged to the Persen family in the Revolution, and was in 1820, and for many years previous, owned by Sarah Persen. In 1820 it was occupied by Jacob Masten, one of the constables of the town of Kingston.
111. In 1820 the ruin of the large and splendid homestead of
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Nicholas Vanderlyn stood with its broad front facing Wall Street, at its then northern terminus, a monument of heartless, wanton British cruelty. The ruins indicated that the house had been an expensive, large, stone two-story building of the first class, with gambrel roof. According to the writer's recollection, it measured in front along the street at least from forty-five to fifty feet, with an appropriate depth. Such was the character of the masonry that in 1820, and until torn down in 1827, the rear and end walls were standing perfect and firm. The front wall had been torn down and the cellar thereby partially filled. When the ruins were finally removed for the opening of Wall Street, they exhibited wonderful
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solidity and strength ; the mortar was nearly equal to the stones in firmness and strength.
After the destruction in 1777, Mr. Vanderlyn, not having the ability to rebuild, simply repaired the rear projection or annex, and afterward built a frame addition on John Street, against the east wall of the ruin, connecting it with the building in the rear. This building was, until about 1820, occupied by Nicholas Van- derlyn, one of the old gentleman's sons, using the west end of the addition in front as a paint shop. After Mr. Vanderlyn moved out it was occupied by Covill & Patten, the paint shop being turned into a bookstore and bindery.
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The Vanderlyns were truly a family of painters. The elder Nicholas and his sons, Nicholas and John, followed that occupa- tion, and they all not only exhibited a liking, but a talent ; and the same talent followed into the succeeding generation.
In a room within those stately walls, before the vandal's torch had laid them bare, and on the 15th day of October, 1775, the cele- brated artist, John Vanderlyn, first saw the light of day. That was his birthplace, and it does not seem proper for the local his- torian to pass it by without making an appropriate record of his triumphs and his genius.
: John Vanderlyn very early exhibited a decided taste and talent for drawing. After receiving an academical education in Kingston Academy, he went to New York and entered a store in the employ of Thomas Barrow, at that time an importer of fine engravings. While in Mr. Barrow's employ, during his leisure hours he attended the drawing-school of Archibald Robertson. He spent a short time in the studio of the eminent painter, Gilbert Stuart. While there he made copies of Stuart's portraits of Colonel Burr and Egbert Benson, which were very much admired by those who saw them. Their existence and superior character soon came to the knowledge of Colonel Burr. But, in the mean time, Vanderlyn had left Stuart's on account of his poverty and inability to support himself there. Burr then wrote to a friend of his, Peter Van Gaas- beek, a resident of Kingston and member of Congress, a letter, of which the following is a copy :
" PHILAD. 21 June 1795
" MY DEAR SIR : I understand that a young Mr Vanderlyn, who lived a short time with Stuart the Painter, left him for want of means of suitable support. You must persuade him to allow me to remove that objection. If he was personally acquainted with me, he would, I am confident, accept this proposal without hesita- tion. I commit to you then, to overcome any delicacy which he may feel on this head. I shall never imagine that I have conferred on him the slightest obligation, but shall be infinitely flattered by an opportunity of rescuing genius from obscurity. He may draw on J B Provost New York, for any sum which may be necessary for his outfit, and on his arrival in this city, where Mr Stuart now lives, he will find a letter from me, addressed to him (Mr Vanderlyn) pointing out the channel of his future supplies, the source of which never will be known except to himself. I acknowl- edge that I would not have communicated this even to you, if I had known how otherwise to get at Mr V. D. L. I beg you to consider it as confidential. This arrangement is intended to con- tinue as long as it may be necessary, for Mr V D L to cultivate his
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genius, to the highest point of perfection. From the inquiries I have made, concerning him, I have been led to believe that his character and talents are such, as may do honor to himself his friends and his country.
" Your aff'ct Servt
"A BURR " P. Van Gaasbeek."
This letter was found among some papers which came into the hands of Peter Marius Groen, the grandfather of the writer of this history, as administrator of the said Peter Van Gaasbeek.
After this, and in the spring following, Vanderlyn visited New York, and received at his lodgings a note without signature direct- ing him to call in the morning at a certain office in Church Street at a specified hour. He did call. and found the place to be Colonel Burr's office. He found J. Bartow Provost, the stepson of Colonel Burr, there. On being shown the note, Mr. Provost recognized Colonel Burr's handwriting, and he directed Mr. Vanderlyn to Colonel Burr's house.
The result of the interview with Colonel Burr at the house was that Mr. Vanderlyn spent some months with Mr. Gilbert Stuart to enjoy the benefit of his tuition in order to prepare him for the full advantages of the European schools. While there he made copies of several paintings, among them one of Mr. Stuart's Washington, which is now owned by a son of the writer. He also before going to Europe painted for his patron a portrait of his idolized Theodosia Burr, which was until recently in the possession of Mr. Vanderlyn's niece in Kingston, and now graces the walls of some gentleman's parlor in New York City.
In the fall of 1796, under the patronage of Colonel Burr, he went to Paris and availed himself of the benefit of its schools, which were then in very high repute. He remained four years, prosecuting his studies with great ardor and marked success.
In 1801 he returned to the United States, and the next year visited Niagara and made sketches of that great cataract, one giv- ing a view of the entire falls, including Goat Island, the other giv- ing the western or main branch only. The next year he went to England, and had those views handsomely engraved. From thence he went, with his friend and fellow-artist, Washington Alston, to Paris. There, in 1803, he painted his first historical sketch, the murder of Jane McCrea. In 1805 he went to Rome, and there painted his great masterpiece, Marius on the ruins of Carthage. In a letter to a friend, Joseph C. Cabel, of Warrenton, Va., dated Paris, February, 1808, he alludes to the picture as being in course of transportation to Paris, and thus speaks of it: " It is the only
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picture, .of any consequence, I painted in Rome or elsewhere, size is about 5 by 7 feet, and represents C Marius on the ruins of Carthage, a single figure, surrounded by ruins, for which those in Rome are capable of giving me hints. I was a good deal flattered with the applause and approbation it met with in Rome, which ex- ceeded my expectations, no small consolation to a poor artist, as needy in fame as in finances." After its arrival in Paris he placed it on exhibition in the Louvre, and for it he was awarded the first gold medal by Napoleon, while hanging there in competition with the works of artists from all other countries.
He remained in Europe until 1816, during which interval he painted his Ariadne, a figure of marvellous beauty, of which the following description appeared in September, 1822, in the Charles- town Courier : "No man of taste and sensibility, no student of love and beauty, no connoisseur of graceful form should fail to gladden his eyes, to charm his fancy, and refresh his imagination with the exquisite performance of Mr. Vanderlyn, where the sleep- ing and unconscious Ariadne is sweetly reclining. Her dark raven locks entwined within her arms-the flush of health, like the dawn of day, upon her cheek-her crimson lips hiding her teeth of pearl-the fine mould of her features and of her form-the pure white of her skin-are all subjects of eager attraction and awaken- ing interest." He also during that time executed a number of fine copies from old artists. The troublous times in Europe were not favorable to the success of the arts, so that he barely supported himself by portrait painting during that time. In 1816 he returned to America, and here he painted his panorama of the Garden of Versailles, from sketches made by himself while in Paris. He pro- cured the lease of a lot from the Common Council of New York City, in the northeast corner of the City Hall Park, on which to erect a building for the exhibition of his paintings and panoramas. The erection of the building involved him in great pecuniary em- barrassment, from which he had not recovered when his lease ex- pired. The Common Council refused to renew, and after that he spent much time in fruitless efforts to obtain remuneration from the city for his building, and was forced to submit to cruel injus- tice at their hands. In reference to such treatment by the Common Council he thus wrote to a friend in his native place : " After many years of untiring effort to retrieve the Rotunda, by relieving it from the debt which remained unpaid, to be ultimately dispossessed of it, at a time when friends had come forward to aid me in liqui- dating such debts, or securing the payment of them, to the satisfac- tion of the creditors, and with such a fair prospect of relieving the institution, and seeing it again in active and successful operation, one may judge of the pain and mortification, which I felt, when
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ordered to quit the premises by an act of the corporation in 1829. The sense of wrong and injustice done me on this occasion was almost too much to be borne, and would have driven many a mind to distraction and madness ; and although I have borne up against it, nevertheless, it has inflicted upon my feelings and interests, an irreparable injury, sufficient to break down any generous spirit." He never recovered from that unkind blow ; it soured his spirits for life. Mr. Vanderlyn painted a number of portraits which hang in the City Hall in New York-a full-length portrait of General Jackson, one of President Monroe, and also one of Governor Yates, for which he received $500 each. He painted Washington's por- trait for the hall of the House of Representatives. For that an' appropriation of $1000 had been made, but when it was exhibited in the Capitol, such were found to be its merits that the House, immediately and unanimously, voted Mr. Vanderlyn an additional compensation of $1500.
In 1839 he was commissioned to fill one of the panels of the Rotunda in the national Capitol. He chose the landing of Colum- bus, and left the same year for Paris. There he remained seven years working upon his picture, and returned in 1847. Through the unfaithfulness of an agent he lost nearly one fourth of the compensation he was to receive for that great work from Congress. Thus was he again the victim of injustice and wrong. Thereafter until his death he earned a scanty support by portraiture, and died in poverty.
During the spring and summer of 1852 he was in Washington endeavoring to procure the passage of a law authorizing him to erect a building on some of the public grounds near the Capitol for . a gallery of the fine arts and exhibition of paintings. In that he was entirely unsuccessful. During his stay there he made copies of some old paintings, and also painted a few portraits ; and during that time at Washington he painted portraits of the writer and Mrs. Schoonmaker.
After the adjournment of Congress he returned to Kingston. Shortly thereafter, and in the afternoon of the 23d of September. 1852, he called at the house of the writer in Kingston and spent a couple of hours in social converse with him and his family. The next morning he was summoned from his breakfast-table by a messenger with the tidings of Mr. Vanderlyn's death. He had just been found in his room at the hotel lying in bed a corpse, with his hands raised and in position, as if holding the brush in the very act of transferring to canvas one of the fine artistic touches of his pencil.
The village corporation assumed the direction and expense of his burial. By request an eloquent tribute to his memory was pro- .
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nounced by the Rev. Dr. Cornelius D. Westbrook to a large, crowded audience in the largest church in the place, after which his body was interred in " the Wiltwyck Rural Cemetery." There his remains are mouldering to dust without a monument to mark their resting-place. That neglect certainly cannot reflect the rever- ence of the citizens of Kingston for native genius and talent.
Vanderlyn's masterpiece, Marius on the ruins of Carthage, together with the gold medal, were disposed of by him to a friend, Leonard Kip, of New York, during his pecuniary embarrass- ments, and he was never able to redeem them. Upon the death of Mr. Kip they passed into the possession of his son, the Rev. William I. Kip, who was afterward elected Bishop of California, and he carried the picture with him to the Pacific slope. He has since sold the same, but it is understood that he declines to state where or to whom, so that the writer is unable to state where it now is. His letter of inquiry on the subject remains unanswered.
112. The east end of the annex to the Vanderlyn ruins was occupied as a barber shop. In that place Henry Columbus, a colored knight of the razor, had held undisputed sway for many years with no competition to trouble him. After he had paid the debt of nature, Peter Kiefer, a native of the village, took his place ; but his experience was not so smooth and easy, as appears from the plaintive song contained in his advertisement :
" Hard, hard may be a Barber's lot When Interlopers come, But persevering Industry Will always overcome." (For the answer of the interloping Barber, see No. 84.)
113. The next building stood on the same side of the street a few feet to the eastward, a low, narrow frame building with gable to the street. It is understood to have been built only for temporary occupancy while the next-mentioned stone house was being rebuilt after the fire. In 1820 it was occupied by William S. Burhans, a farmer, as tenant.
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