USA > New York > Kings County > Flatbush > The social history of Flatbush : and manners and customs of the Dutch settlers in Kings county > Part 15
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daughter, Catharine, wife of Mr. William K. William- son, of Flatlands.
Mr. Isaac Cortelyou, the father of Mrs. Catharine Williamson, was a descendant of Jacques Cortelyou, a Huguenot, who came to this country in 1652, and set- tled in New Utrecht in 1657.
Opposite Winthrop Street, on Flatbush Avenue, west side, lies a portion of what was formerly the large Mar- tense farm, of which we have already given the outlines. Mrs. Ferris and Mrs. Wilbur hold this portion of the property, being direct descendants of the rich farmer who first settled here.
The handsome house of Mr. Lionel Wilbur, com- pleted in 1878, is highly ornamental to this section of the village. Mrs. Wilbur is the only grandchild of Judge Martense ; Mrs. Ferris, his daughter, lives in the house built by her father, and is the only one of his children now living.
Judge Martense pulled down the old house of Revo- lutionary memory, referred to in Dr. Strong's history, after building the present mansion to which his family removed, and where his daughter, Mrs. Ferris, still lives.
" This very ancient house of Leffert Martense," as Dr. Strong called it, stood facing southward, with the gable end to the road. It had two front doors opening upon the long front stoop. The projecting roof ex- tended over the front, but at the rear the steep slant extended to some five or six feet from the ground. The fireplaces were large, and tiled in chocolate and blue.
Had it been possible to preserve this house as a relic of pre-Revolutionary times, it would have been curious and interesting ; but, apart from the gradual decay con-
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sequent upon its age, it was much injured in the Battle of Flatbush, standing as it did upon the very borders of the fight. Many bullets were picked up upon the grounds afterward, and were kept as relics.
North of this house stands the cottage which Judge Martense erected for his eldest son.
Next, southward on the map, is marked the house of J. Birdsall. This house still stands, although much out of repair and fast falling to decay. It was built about the year 1800. This farm, in the early settle- ment of Flatbush, belonged to Leffert Lefferts. The old house was burned down during the Battle of Flat- bush, and the present building was erected upon the same site. Passing through the hands of various own- ers, it has not for many years been occupied by descend- ants of the family by whom it was first held. The farm originally comprised the land between the farms of Judge Martense on the south, and Mr. Jeremiah Van- derbilt on the north. It was owned for some time by the family of Mr. Murphy.
Next, northward on Dr. Strong's map, is marked the house of Mr. Jeremiah Vanderbilt. The old Van- derbilt homestead stood where the house next on the map is marked as that of Mr. John Vanderbilt. This old homestead was burned down during the battle of Flatbush, and the family remained in this house of Mr. Jeremiah Vanderbilt until the new house, built in its place, was finished, which was about the year 1800. Upon the marriage of the oldest son, Jeremiah, to Ann, daughter of Mr. J. C. Vandeveer, he moved to this house, which bears his name on Dr. Strong's map. Here he lived with his family until his death ; some years after, the house and a portion of his farm were sold.
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The old house, since it has gone out of the possession of its first owners, has not been kept in repair, and it is at present scarcely habitable.
The oldest son of Mr. Jeremiah Vanderbilt, Mr. John J. Vanderbilt, erected a pleasant dwelling-house next north of what was formerly the residence of his father, where he and his daughter, Miss Charlotte S. Vanderbilt, still continue to reside.
The house and grounds are neatly kept, and glimpses of the garden in the rear give evidence of a taste for flowers on the part of the proprietor. Some fine elms on the sidewalk are ornamental to this place, and give it a pleasant summer shade.
Upon the spot where the old homestead was burned in the Battle of Flatbush the present house was built, which was occupied by Mr. John Vanderbilt, who died in 1842. His widow, Mrs. Sarah L. Vanderbilt, who was a daughter of Mr. Johannes E. Lott and sister of Mr. Jeremiah Lott, died in 1859. Since her death the house has been rented to various persons. It is at pres- ent occupied by Rev. Robert G. Strong, son of Dr. Strong.
An old paper, bearing date 1661, conveying the farm on which he lived to Jan vande Bilt, signed by Govern- or Stuyvesant, is still in possession of the family.
The pleasantest portion of the original Vanderbilt farm is now inclosed within the boundaries of Prospect Park. The highest point there was formerly known as Vanderbilt's Hill. It commands a more extended view than any other spot in the Park. The hill next, on which is the carriage-drive or Concourse, was also a portion of the Vanderbilt farm.
This family are descended from Jan Aertson Vander-
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bilt, or Jan Aerson from the Bild or Bilt. This, accord- ing to Mr. T. G. Bergen, was a manor in the province of Friesland, in the Netherlands. The family tradition, however, is to the effect that this ancestor came from the Baltic-Jan van de Belt having that signification. This is strengthened by the fact that his first wife, An- neken, whom he married February 6, 1650, was from Bergen in Norway.
We now retrace our steps, and return as far back as Winthrop Street.
The large farm of Mr. John Lefferts was unbroken by streets at the time that Dr. Strong's map was made. It then contained three hundred acres, stretching from the Cortelyou farm on the south to the Clove road on the north, and from the Flatbush road on the west be- yond the road leading to Canarsie on the east.
Mr. Lefferts sold some lots on the southwest corner of his farm to Mr. Jeromus J. Johnson, who built there the handsome house of Milwaukee brick standing south of Fenimore Street. This property again changed owners, and, passing from one person to another, finally was purchased by Dr. Homer L. Bartlett, in whose pos- session it still remains.
Dr. Bartlett has a good practice as a physician, and is a gentleman of cultivated taste. Mrs. Margaret S. Bartlett, his wife, was a niece of Dr. Strong. Coopers- town, New York, was her native place, and when the street next to their house was opened, it was she who gave it the name of Fenimore Street, after the great novelist Fenimore Cooper, who was an intimate friend of her father.
Close upon the road in front of where Dr. Bartlett's house now stands, there once stood one of the earliest-
JOHN LEFFERTS. Born August 12, 1826. Died April 18, 1893.
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FARMS AND THEIR OWNERS.
built houses in Flatbush. It was burned down during the Battle of Long Island. It would have been a curi- ous relic of the past could it have been preserved, as it was built of brick, and was up to that time in an excel- lent state of preservation. The surbase in the principal rooms was tiled to match the fireplaces ; the heavy beams above crossed the ceilings. It had two front doors open- ing upon the long stoop in front ; indeed, all the char- acteristics of the old Dutch houses were peculiarly brought into prominence. The furniture would have been no less curious than the house itself, as some of it came from Holland. This house is mentioned in Dr. Strong's history. It is also spoken of by Mr. T. W. Fields, in his allusion to the Battle of Flatbush, as "the heavy old Dutch structure built in the ponderous style in fashion among the Dutch colonists."
Had it been still standing, it would have descended, as did the land on which it was built, to Mr. John Lef- ferts, through his grandmother, Mrs. Femmetia Lefferts, who was born in this house in 1753.
Upon Fenimore Street Mr. Lefferts built a large and convenient house, which he sold, together with a few lots of ground surrounding it, to Mr. Doremus, of New York City, in whose possession it remains, and who occupies the house.
The house next south of Mr. Lefferts's present resi- dence was enlarged from an ordinary farmhouse and altered to its present size for Mrs. Cynthia Lefferts, who resided here until her death.
It is at present occupied by Mrs. Spofford, formerly of New York, widow of Mr. C. N. Spofford. Through her long residence in this village, this lady has formed a large circle of warmly attached friends. Hon. John
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Oakey married her eldest daughter, since deceased. Her second daughter is the wife of Mr. Charles Walden, grandson of Mr. John Franklin, from whom Franklin Street, Flatbush, was named. Her third daughter is the wife of Mr. Lefferts Vanderbilt.
Mrs. Maria L. Lefferts, whose name and residence appear next upon the map of Dr. Strong, lived in this old homestead until her death, which occurred in 1865. Her son, the present owner, Mr. John Lefferts, has not modernized the house, although many of the present improvements and conveniences have been introduced. This is one of those long, low, heavy-roofed houses which were built prior to the War of the Revolution. It was burned at the Battle of Flatbush, but not wholly destroyed, and it was rebuilt subsequently upon the old timbers, so that the form of it remains as before.
The Lefferts family are descendants of Leffert Pieter- sen, who came to this country from North Holland in 1660. The name sometimes appears as Leffert Pietersen van Haughwaut, referring to the town whence he came. The large farm on which this house stands has been in possession of the family since 1661, as is stated upon the parchment deed, which is signed by Governor Peter Stuyvesant. This family, like many others in Flatbush, have lived upon the same estate for more than two hun- dred years.
On the west side of Flatbush Avenue, opposite the old homestead of Mr. Lefferts, Mr. J. Lott Vanderbilt built a house in 1876, upon his share of the front of his father's farm.
The very neat appearance of the grounds and garden reflects great credit upon the taste and care of their owner.
HOMESTEAD OF THE LEFFERTS FAMILY.
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Mrs. Elizabeth Vanderbilt, wife of Mr. J. L. Van- derbilt, was a granddaughter of Mr. John Lott, who owned the farm corner of Clarkson Street.
Next to the farm of the late Mr. John Vanderbilt, who died in 1842, lay a strip of land belonging to the heirs of Elsie Gerretsen, daughter of Leffert Lefferts. This land was known in old records as the " Compie," and was purchased by the late Judge Vanderbilt about 1840. On this property he built the house in 1847 in which his family now reside. He subsequently added by purchase to the land in the rear, which extended northward and westward some distance into what is now Prospect Park. When this house was built by Judge Vanderbilt, neither Ocean Avenue nor East New York Avenue had been opened, so that on the north the prop- erty adjoined the Willink place. Judge Vanderbilt had been paralyzed for some years previous to his decease, which occurred May 16, 1877.
We copy from the "Brooklyn Eagle " the following notice of his life :
"THE LATE JUDGE JOHN VANDERBILT.
"The death is announced to-day of John Vanderbilt, who, twenty years ago, was County Judge of Kings, who was after- ward elected to the State Senate, who was then nominated for Lieutenant-Governor with Amasa J. Parker running for the first place, and who, for many years before and after these honors be- fell him (and during the entire period of the honors as well), was the junior partner in the distinguished and very representative law firm of Lott, Murphy & Vanderbilt. The mention of John Vanderbilt's name would at any time start many thoughts in the mind of any Brooklynite whose memory or whose reading takes hold on the men and methods of this county in the times preceding the war between the States. The announcement of
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THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
his death to-day will revive and intensify those memories, and to a very large number of the younger inhabitants of Brooklyn be as much a surprise as it is a matter of news, because the departed gentleman's retirement from affairs and general society for years was so complete as to render him as little thought of by the mass of men as if he had long since ceased from the world, instead of merely ceasing from its activities and obser- vation. He occupied, however, too large and too busy a place in the life of Brooklyn, and, indeed, in the life of the State, not to have left a deep mark upon the history of both. The older readers of the 'Eagle' have hardly required the reminder which the announcement of ex-Judge Vanderbilt's death is, to enable them to recall the days and the deeds when he was easily the most popular and one of the most considerable men at this end of the Empire State. The time seems long since then, and by any calculation of the life of men and of the epochs of poli- tics it is not short. Yet the painridden, aged-looking, helpless gentleman who has just exchanged worlds died at fifty-eight, and had won more recognition before forty than most men attain at all, though their days extend beyond the limit of the Psalmist, and beyond the period when philosophy would rate 'life not worth living for.' Moreover, the suffering, decrepit, and feeble gentleman who had long preferred solitude to so- ciety, and whose movements, voluntarily limited to his grounds, had been dependent on crutches for years, was in the prime of his energy certainly the most vigorous and handsome man in public or private life in this county, if not in the State. His strong, manly beauty mated with and was the exponent of qualities of mind and heart as attractive as his gifts and graces of person. In a time when rings were unknown he was a Democrat; in a time when sectionalism was hardly an appari- tion and when the State had its full rights, whether it was weighed or counted as a factor, he was a patriot, and one who gloried in his whole country ; in a time when shysters had not been evolved, and when pettifoggers were limited to a satirical stage or a sarcastic literature, he was a lawyer ; in a time when gentlemen were as dominant in politics and scholars as domi-
HON. JOHN VANDERBILT. Born January 28, 1819. Died May 16, 1877.
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nant in council as they now are not, he was a scholar and a gentleman. His rapidity of public development, his activity in affairs, his not surpassed qualities of good-fellowship, the mag- netism of his mind and manners, and the impressive appeal which he could address to the people, early made him and long kept him what he was fondly called, 'Kings County's Favorite Son,' when that appellation was forcible by its rarity, signifi- cant in its meaning, and when it had not been vulgarized by its application to the politicians by profession and to the place- hunters by occupation.
" It will be well remembered by those familiar with Brook- lyn politics and society that in the better led but less 'or- ganized' years of the local Democracy, the law firm of Lott, Murphy & Vanderbilt was as thorough a political as it was an eminent legal power in this county. These three gentlemen named, of whom the youngest has died first, brought into local polities the principles of statesmanship, and to civil service the habits of fidelity, independence, and diligence, and that grade of culture, force, and knowledge which have made their public records a bright part of the history of their country, just as their private careers have been a most honorable part of the social and intellectual history of their city. In the times when Democracy was responsive to itself, and when the measure of his influence on the party was dependent on the character and brain of the individual Democrat, Henry C. Murphy, John A. Lott, and John Vanderbilt became leaders without difficulty, and by the very necessity that made leaders in politics out of the same elements which wrought influence in every other department of society. The people demanded their service as well as their direction. They raised Mr. Lott to the highest judicial positions in their gift. They retained Mr. Vanderbilt in this county, but insisted on his appointment to the judge- ship of the county, and they sent Mr. Murphy to represent them in Congress, being afterward themselves honored in the honor the nation conferred on him in sending a scholar and statesman of his ability to represent this republic at the court of the country whose people founded this city, and whose sturdy
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THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF FLATBUSH.
virtues are, to this day, the best characteristic and bulwark in one of its life. Of the legal eminence of the firm in those days it is not needed to speak at length. That eminence is attested by the high station its members attained when the bar was the school of statesmen and the preserve which yielded fit men for fit functions. At the same time the records of our courts his- torically show that in every case of magnitude, and for every institution or person of influence, the firm were counsel by a principle of natural selection or conceded leadership."
There was much woodland northwest of the place of Judge Vanderbilt at the time he built his house.
This woodland, north of "the Compie " and adjoin- ing it, was divided into sections among different owners.
Going northward toward Brooklyn, the house of Mr. Lefferts was, as late as 1842, the last in Flatbush, on the east side of the road, with the exception of a small house rented to the tenant who worked part of the farm.
Where now East New York Avenue crosses Flatbush Avenue the old Clove road to Bedford branched off to the northeast, and the Flatbush turnpike curved toward the northwest. The triangle formed by these roads was an inclined plain sloping southward. It was at that date a beautiful pasture-field, crowned at the crest, where now Malbone Street runs, with a dense wood. Here were noble hickories, gum-trees, and oaks, with an undergrowth of dogwood and clumps of hazel. It was surrounded with a mossy post-and-rail fence with a stone foundation, tangled with running blackberry vines.
Here the sheep and cows grazed, resting at noon- day under the shade of the row of beautiful locust-trees that formed the southward boundary of this sloping pasture-land. How peaceful and quiet it seemed ! the
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very picture of rural and pastoral life ! This was at the time Dr. Strong closed his history in 1842.
Can anything be in greater contrast than the scene which this locality now presents ? It was then the most secluded and quietest portion of the village, now it is the most noisy.
The cars of the Franklin Avenue and those of the Nostrand Avenue line stand here day and night at the terminus of their route. The Flatbush Avenue cars stop here to gather in the multitudes of pleasure-seekers from Prospect Park, and to the shrieking locomotives of the Brighton Beach troop the still more numerous pleasure-seekers to and from Coney Island. Carriages of funerals to the cemetery of the Holy Cross turn off in long lines toward Ocean Avenue or to Flatbush Av- enue, and the heavy cars from Hunter's Point thunder past without stopping at the depot for additions to their long and crowded trains.
Streets and avenues have been opened, and innumer- able lines of small houses are dotted all over the once peaceful fields.
At the time in which Dr. Strong's map was made, the quiet of this retreat had only begun to be broken ; but as yet there was no possible sign from which the busy future could have been predicted. Only three small houses had then been built on the curve of the road before reaching the place now called the Battle Pass, in Prospect Park, this side of the bowl-shaped hill where the old toll-gate stood.
Opposite to these, on the west side of the road, there was still the natural and unbroken growth of forest. The woods here were particularly beautiful because clear of undergrowth, and through the tall trees the western
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sun fell across the quiet country road in oblique lines all through the pleasant summer afternoons.
Washington Avenue now cleaves this once beautiful slope of pasture land through the center. The prop- erty, as an undivided whole, had belonged to the estate of Mrs. Elsie Gerretsen, daughter of Leffert Lefferts. When it was offered for sale by her heirs, it was divided into lots, and thus became built up with a class of small, cheap houses.
At the time of sale, Judge Vanderbilt purchased the southern terminus of the property and built a house there, which he afterward sold to Mr. Benjamin S. Nel- son, who opened it as a hotel. It was, however, quiet and orderly, and caused no disturbance to the neigh- borhood. This hotel was moved farther easterly, to give room for Washington Avenue when that street was opened, and it now stands directly upon what was once the old Clove road. After the death of Mr. Nelson it was closed as a hotel. His widow, Mrs. Nelson, a daugh- ter of Mr. Elsworth, still continues to reside here.
East New York Avenue, Washington Avenue, Lef- ferts Street, and Malbone Street are the highways al- ready opened on the east side of Flatbush Avenue, where once no open road led eastward after passing the Bedford road until reaching what is now Atlantic Avenue ! This was an unbroken stretch of wood and farming land.
We now return on the west side of the road to East New York Avenue. The opening of this street west- ward to Ocean Avenue separated the lawn of Judge Vanderbilt from the Willink property, which had pre- viously extended in an unbroken line to what is now called the Willink entrance of Prospect Park.
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The house once stood on a hill where the depot of the Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Railway now stands. It was built in or about 1835. The lawn sloped down pleasantly toward the south and east, and a high and expensive fence, with gates always locked, kept off those who might be inclined to trespass upon the premises.
Mr. Willink was not one of the early settlers. The mother of Mrs. Willink in her girlhood spent her sum- mers here. The story of their residence in Flatbush is this:
Before the War of the Revolution, Mr. Van Horn, a wealthy gentleman from New York, whose winter resi- dence was opposite the Bowling Green, hired for many summers a small house at the north end of Flatbush, which stood on what is now the farm of Mr. John Lefferts.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Horn were of the old Dutch set- tlers in this State. They possessed great wealth, and moved in the first circles of New York in those days.
They had a large family of daughters, one of whom married Mr. Ludlow. She seemed to have kept alive pleasant memories of the days she had spent as a child in this little rural retreat, and after her widowhood she was accustomed to drive through the village from time to time on bright spring afternoons, often alighting from her carriage to rest on the smooth, grassy sidewalk, lean- ing on her gold-headed cane, as the infirmities of age rendered such support necessary.
She may have talked with the daughters who accom- panied her of the summers of her happy childhood, when she went skipping through these woods, or rambling to the hilltop that overlooked the village, or of an occa- sional sleighing party in midwinter when, with the young girls of her own age, she went to the Steenbak- kery, on invitation of the American officers, who beguiled
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the tedium of the days in which they were kept prison- ers on parole with sliding, skating, and sledding par- ties on that pond.
Be that as it may, there were lingering memories that drew the old lady toward Flatbush in her declining years, and induced her family to drive out in that direc- tion. When, therefore, the round-topped hill, the most southerly of those which marked the dividing ridge be- tween Flatbush and Brooklyn, was purchased by her son-in-law, and a house was erected there, the old lady was pleased, and told her neighbors that she should be glad to renew the acquaintances she had made there in her youth.
But old age can not always effect its plans, any more than can impetuous youth ; though it seemed a natural thing that she should desire to visit those whom she had known as young girls in her own youth, her daugh- ters had decided upon a different plan of life. They desired entire seclusion ; except in business relations, they wished for no communication with the outer world. Whether it was merely a freak which became afterward a habit, no one can tell.
The result, from whatever cause, was an entire with- drawal from society. No retreat could have been more closely guarded against the intrusion of visitors ; whether acquaintance, friend, or relative tapped at the door, the rebuff was always given, and no one passed beyond the portal of that stately mansion after once the carpenters had left and the four elderly persons who comprised the family took it as their home.
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