USA > New York > New York City > The story of the city of New York > Part 13
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THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
wealthier Dutch families held strictly aloof from the strangers, and formed a distinct class, but the major- ity met the English officers and attachés in polite entertainments, and came soon to adopt the ideas of the courtly strangers as to social strata and etiquette; so that in a few years, among both the English, French, and Dutch-the three ruling social elements, -there came to be an aristocracy and classes. London fashions soon became popular, although, as William Smith, a resident historian, observed, " by the time we adopt them they become disused in England." London teachers, tailors, peruke makers, tradesmen, came over in numbers, and an increased display and elegance in dress, equipage, furniture, and dwellings was the result. This display and extravagance prob- ably reached its height between 1700-1705, when the ventures of the privateers and Red Sea men had flooded the city with Arabian gold and East India goods.
Broadway on a Sabbath morning, as the bells were ringing for church, must then have presented an an- imated and even brilliant spectacle, far exceeding that which modern beaux and belles present, for al- though on Fifth Avenue, of a Sunday after service, the ladies give us here and there a touch of color, the men are sober-suited as monks : in those days, however, both ladies and gentlemen shone rich as emperor moths. These worshippers, whom we ima- gine ourselves as watching, come in groups moving down the wide, shaded streets, some entering Trinity, others turning down into Garden Street, and passing into the new Dutch Church on that thoroughfare.
207
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
Both places of worship are equally fashionable : The Dutch Church is the wealthier, but then Trinity has the governor's pew, and the prestige that comes of state patronage and emolument. Let us describe, as showing the fashions of the day, the dress of this group of five bearing down abreast of the church- yard. They are Nicholas Bayard and Madam Bayard, William Merritt, Alderman, and Madam Merritt, and Isaac De Riemer, Mayor. Bayard, who has been Secretary of the province, Major and Colonel of the city militia, wears a cinnamon-colored cloth coat with skirts reaching quite to the knee, embroidered four or five inches deep with silver lace, and lined with sky-blue silk ; his waistcoat is of red satin woven in with gold ; his breeches, of the same color and mate- rial as his coat are trimmed with silver at the pockets and knees ; dove-colored stockings of silk, and low shoes adorned with large silver buckles, cover his nether extremities. His hat, of black felt, has a wide flapping brim, and is adorned with a band of gold lace. His " full bottomed " wig is plentifully pow- dered with starch finely ground and sifted, to which burnt alabaster or whiting has been added to give it body, and is scented with ambergris. A "steinkirk" of fine muslin encircles his neck, the ends of which are laced and tucked into his expansive shirt bosom : the latter is of fine Holland adorned with colebat- teen ruffles, the waistcoat being left open the better to display them. His gloved hands hold an ivory snuff-box, having an invisible hinge and a looking- glass in the lid, and well filled with sweet-scented snuff. After taking a dainty sniff at the snuff he
208
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
applies to his nose a handkerchief of silk ornament- ed with the arms of Britain ; printed on its folds are the ensigns and standards captured from the French. He pulls out his watch to note the time, and we find that it is enclosed in a beautiful shagreen case stud- ded with gold, and has his seal and a large silver key attached to it by a wide silk ribbon. He carries a cane, too, with a gold head elegantly engraved in cypher and crown, but the diamond-hilted sword with its gay sword knot, then an almost indispensa- ble adjunct to a gentleman's dress, in deference to the day has been left behind. The two other gentle- men are dressed much in the same style, except that there is a pleasing variety in style and color. Merritt, for instance, wears a salmon-colored silk drugget coat, with silver brocade waistcoat and small-clothes while De Riemer has a sagathie cloth coat, with waistcoat and breeches of drap du Barre.
But if the gentlemen are thus brilliant, what is to be said of the ladies, who are apt to lead the sterner sex in matters of personal adornment. Instead of a bonnet, Madam Bayard wears a " frontage,"-a sort of head- dress formed of rows of plaited muslin, stiffened with wire, one above the other, and diminishing in size as they rise. She, too, wears the "steinkirk," or neck- cloth. The bodice of her purple-and-gold atlas gown is laced over very tight stays, and the gown itself is open in front to display the black-velvet petticoat edged with two silver orrices and high enough to show the green-silk stockings and beautifully em- broidered shoes of fine Morocco with red clocks. Her coiffure is also powdered ; her complexion has
6oz
FULTON FERRY, 1746.
APLAN OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, REDUCED FROM AN ACTUAL SURVEY, By T.Macrfchalckm, 17.63.
NORTH
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E New Dutch Church
F Presbyterian.Meeting
G Quakers Meeting
H Baptist Meeting
I Lutheran Church
K Jer's Synagogue
RIVER
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Scale of- Fol Mile or-1320 feet
100
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A. The Fort
I. St Georges Chapel
M Moravian Meeting
C Old Dutch Church.
IN . Vew Lutheriun.Hecting
D French Church
O Custom House
P. Governors House Q Secretarys Office R City House S Exchange T. Fish Market. V Od Slip. Market
X-Wal Market Y Fly .. Market
Z Burlins .Market 1 Oswego Market. 2 English Free School 13-Durch Free School 4 Block House 5 Gates.
RO
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STREET
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OLES STRI
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Conv from an ordered may in the possesion of Toho Y Scaman Ety
B Trinity Church
Ropewul
210
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
been "aided " with French red and pearl powder, and she is perfumed with rose-water and Eau de Carne. Some of the ladies moving down the street are even more brilliantly attired. What do you think of this kincob, Isabella-colored gown, flowered with green and gold over a scarlet-and-gold atlas petticoat edged with silver, or of this blue-and-gold atlas gown ; or of that stately East India princess in purple and gold, or of this pretty little lady in a satin gown over an Alijah petticoat, striped with green, gold, and white? There are some notable people, too, amid the throng. Lord Bellomont, tall and courtly, never losing the royal governor in the man ; James De Lancey, later Chief-Justice and Lieu- tenant-Governor, even now invested with a judicial air ; Dr. Samuel Staats, who, after a brief residence in India, has returned with a beautiful Indian " Be- gum," or princess, for his wife; Frederick Phillipse, Gabriel Minvielle, Thomas Willett, Richard Townley, and John Lawrence, king's councillors ; James Gra- ham and James Emott, eminent lawyers ; Abraham Gouverneur, George Heathcote, Johannes and Abra- ham De Peyster, and other famous men of that day.
The period preceding the Revolution-from 1740 to 1770-was perhaps the most picturesque and in- teresting in the city's history. New York was then a British town, a London in miniature, yet much more cosmopolitan than London, for among her inhabitants were numbered every race, class, sect, and condition-except the Catholic. It was an of- fence punishable with life imprisonment for a Jesuit priest to enter New York at this time.
211
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
Let us view the city as it appears about this time, 1730-65. Along the East River shore, at the former date, it was laid out as far north as the pres- ent Catherine Street. West of Broadway cross streets had been opened as far north as the present Cham- bers Street. Along the line of the latter was a wall of stout palisades defended by block-houses at in- tervals, extending across the island as a defence against the French and Indians. An old print of Fulton Ferry in 1746 (see illustration), shows the quaint Dutch ferry-house on the New York side, and wide fields and clusters of cottages on the Brooklyn shore, but no city. By 1763, as appears by Maerfchalckm's map of that date (see illustra- tion), the city had crept north as far as Warren Street on the west and Chatham on the east, while a village plot had been laid out on the west of the "High Road to Boston," the present Bowery. The Collect and the marshes in its vicinity (now Canal Street and adjacent blocks) were then in their primitive state. A distant view of the city from the high land on the north, about 1760, shows how little of the island was then built upon. In the view from the harbor, however, the city appears as a con- siderable town.
Most of the streets are paved, and lighted by lanterns suspended from every seventh house. There is a rattle watch that patrols the city at night, and a fire company, of " four and twenty able-bodied men and, two fire-engines of Mr. Newsham's patent," recently inported from London.
We will begin our walk this time with the fort on
212
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
the Battery-Fort George,-so called because of the pleasant custom the people have of naming their fort after the reigning sovereign. As in the old Dutch time, the fort is the capitol, the seat of gov- ernment. The governor still lives within. The colonial records are kept here ; it is the scene of all military displays and social festivities on fête days. A royal governor, in the palmy days of the colony, lived in considerable state, maintained a chaplain and secretary, besides aides in brilliant uniform, and servants in livery, and when he appeared in public, rode in a coach-and-four with coachman and footmen, and his arms emblazoned on the panels. He had to garrison the fort and maintain his authority two lieutenants at four shillings per day, one ensign at three shillings, three sergeants at one shilling and sixpence, two drummers at one shilling, a master gunner, one hundred privates at eight pence, four " mattrosses " at one shilling, a " chirurgeon " at two shillings, a store-keeper at two shillings, and a chap- lain at six shillings. The governor, as commander- in-chief, received the munificent salary of eight shillings per day, although, of course, there were perquisites. The governor's residence, known as the " Government House," was also the social centre. There were " high doings" there, often, in those far- off days of the colony. . No fête day-whether of the coming of an heir to the throne, or the birth- day anniversary of the king, queen, or Prince of Wales, or the advent of a new governor, or the an- niversary of a national event-could be observed without the holding of a grand ball in the Govern-
MISONO.2.
VIEW OF CITY FROM THE NORTH-MIDDLE COLONIAL PERIOD.
213
214
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
ment House, at which the beauty and the chivalry of the town were gathered. Thus we read that on October 30, 1734, on the anniversary of his Majesty's birthday, "in the evening the whole city was illuminated. His Excellency and Lady gave a splendid ball and supper at the Fort, where was the most numerous and fine appearance of Ladies and Gentlemen that had ever been known upon the like occasion." And on January 21st, of the same year, being the anniversary of the birthday of His Royal Highness, Frederic, Prince of Wales: " In the eve- ning there was a splendid and numerous appearance of Gentlemen and Ladies at the Fort, where they were received by His Excellency and Lady, and the Honorable Family. The night concluded with a splendid supper and ball, which lasted till four o'clock in the morning."
Imposing ceremonies often preceded the ball, as on the anniversary of the king's birthday in 1734.
" Between the hours of eleven and twelve in the fore- noon His Excellency, our Governor, was attended at his House in Fort George by the Council, Assembly, Mer- chants, and other Principal Gentlemen and Inhabitants of this and adjacent places. The Independent Com- panies posted here being under Arms, and the Cannon round the Ramparts firing while His Majesty's, the Queen's, the Prince's, and the Royal Families', and their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Orange's Healths were drunk, and then followed the Healths of His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, of the Duke of Graf- ton, of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole, and many other Royal Healths."
1.
VIEW OF CITY AND HARBOR-MIDDLE COLONIAL PERIOD.
215
216
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
And on the anniversary of the Coronation, June II, 1734:
"At twelve at noon the Gentlemen of the Council, Assembly, and the City waited upon His Excellency, the Governor, at the Fort, where their Majesties', the Royal Family's, and the Prince and Princess of Orange's Healths were drunk under the discharge of the Cannon, the regular troops in their new clothing all the while standing under arms, who made a fine appearance. Afterwards His Excellency, attended by the Gentlemen of the Council, etc., went into the Field, and received the Militia of the City drawn up there, and expressed great satisfaction at their order, discipline, and appear- ance, and was pleased to order twelve barrels of beer to be distributed among them to drink their Majesties' and the Royal Healths."
One can imagine much more than the staid old chronicler describes. The long procession of gentle- men, splendidly attired, with the city fathers in their silken robes of office at their head ; the stately governor in full uniform, perhaps with the orders of chivalry blazing on his breast ; the grave courtesies and interchange of stately compliment as the wine goes round ; the thunder of the cannon; and in the afternoon the streets filled with citizens in gala dress, and the parade of the militia. In the evening at the governor's house, which is aglow with light, the scene is still more brilliant, for there ladies and gen- tlemen, clothed like Solomon in his glory, float up and down the long ball-room, balance, turn, lead down the middle, cast off, to the music of the contra
217
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
dance, or La Belle Kathrine. The coming of a new Governor to the province-which, as we have seen, was pretty often-was also a great occasion. When Governor William Cosby arrived, for instance, in July, 1732, he landed
"about ten o'clock in the evening, and was received at the Water side by several Gentlemen, who attended him to the Fort. The next day, between the Hours of eleven and twelve, His Excellency walked to the City Hall (a Company of Halberdiers and a Troop of Horse marching before, and the Gentlemen of His Majesty's Council, the Corporation, and a great number of Gentlemen and mer- chants of this city following, the streets being lined on each side with the Militia), where his Commission was published, and then His Excellency returned, attended, as before, back to the Fort. The Militia then drew up upon the Parade, and saluted him with three vollies."
A pleasant little episode occurred at the Govern- ment House while Sir William Cosby occupied it, although the dry old chronicler from whom we have quoted nowhere refers to it. The Gov- ernor was blessed with two fair daughters, in whom wit and beauty combined to render them the belles of the city. The younger had left a lover in England, no less a personage than Lord Augustus Fitz Roy, son of the famous Charles, Duke of Graf- ton. According to the English social code the match was beneath the lover and could not be allowed. It is even hinted that Sir William was given the gov- ernorship in order to separate the young people and cure the future duke of his infatuation. If so, the scheme signally failed, for the lover followed his
218
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
mistress to New York, and during his visit the pair were secretly married, it is said, through the conniv- ance of Madam Cosby, the Governor's lady. One night the English chaplain, Domine Campbell, was assisted to scale the rear wall of the fort, and in the chapel married the lovers secretly and without a license. To avert suspicion from Governor Cosby, the clergyman was prosecuted for the offence, but it was observed by the gossips that no serious punish- ment followed. Under date of August 12th, our chronicler gives the denouement of the affair : " On Saturday morning sailed from hence Captain Steph- ens, for London, having on board my Lord Augustus and his Lady, Governor Cosby's daughter."
The next winter a second wedding occurred at the Government House, Miss Grace Cosby being mar- ried to Mr. Thomas Freeman, of London. It would seem that there were astute politicians at the City Hall at that time, for, three days after, the Common Council and other officials waited upon the Governor, and the Recorder in a neat speech informed them that the Corporation, desirous of proving the defer- ence they entertained for the Governor and his noble family, had ordered that the Honorable Major Alex. ander Cosby, brother to his Excellency, recently arrived, and Thomas Freeman, the Governor's son- in-law, be presented with the freedom of the city in gold boxes. The boxes were, however, of silver, gilded, as is proved by this entry in the council minutes of March 15, 1733-4: "Ordered the Mayor issue his warrant . to pay to Mr. Charles Le Roux, Goldsmith, or order, the sum of seven pounds,
219
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
one shilling, eleven pence half penny for two silver Guilt Boxes for the Freedoms of the Honorable Major Alexander Cosby and Thomas Freeman, Esq."
Lady readers are no doubt curious to know just how the governor's mansion was furnished. Of its furniture in the time of Governor John Montgomery, Cosby's immediate predecessor, we have an official description, Governor Montgomery having died in 1730, and an inventory of his effects having been taken. It was as follows:
A bed with China curtains $7 50
Twelve leather chairs . 18 00
Two dozen ivory-handled knives and forks 4 00
Four pair crimson barreline window curtains 15 00 Six yellow chairs
Five pair yellow camlet curtains . 20 00
A large looking-glass with gilt frame 20 00
Cloth housing with silver lace 13 00
A fine yellow camlet bed .
Water and champaigne glasses
75 00
A very large quantity of wine and different sorts of liquor in the cellar . 2,500 00
and silverware, comprising candlesticks, coffee-pots, knives and forks, spoons, salvers, tea-trays, casters, etc., to a large amount. He had also one saddle horse, eight coach horses, two common horses, two breeding mares, two colts, a natural pacing mare, a four-wheeled chaise and harness, a servant's saddle, a coach with set of fine harness, two sets of travel- ling harness, brass-mounted, with postilion's coat and cap ; saddles with holsters, caps, and housings ; a fine suit of embroidered horse furniture with bridles, etc. The inventory continues :
220
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
A negro musician
$225 00
A negro boy .
115 00
Two negro boys
250 00
A mulatto woman .
100 00
Negro woman called Betty
150 00
Negro woman called Jenny
80 00
Negro woman
90 00
Three white servants apprenticed
Six new black cotton chairs, $5 each
30 00
Japanned tea-table .
Complete set of China ware
15 00
A repeating table clock .
40 00
A pair of gilded frame sconces
A large chimney glass
Twelve new-fashioned matted chairs
24 00
A walnut card-table
A pair of large sconces with gilt frames
45 00
Walnut-framed sconces and branches
45 00
An eight-day clock 40 00
Japanned fruit-plates, cut-glass cruets
Gold lace and gold buttons
50 00
Gilt leather screen .
15 00
Pictures of Greenwich Park, SI. IS ; of a vineyard, $2.00 ; of goats, $1.50 ; a landscape, $1.30 ; sheep-shearing,
$1.40 ; a winter piece, 70 cts .; a parrot cage, and " Tycken " umbrella.
A barge with accoutrements .
. · 125 00
A small four-oared boat .
1,000 00 A library
The governor's wardrobe comprised " cambric shirts ruffled," dimity vests, silk stockings, a scarlet cloak, a laced hat, a scarlet coat and breeches with gold lace, a cloth suit with open silver lace, silk stockings with embroidered clocks, gold-headed cane, " bob-tail " wig, periwig, and other articles.
On the very spot now occupied by the Sub- Treasury, with its grand statue of Washington looking
,
FEDERAL HALL.
221
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THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
calmly on the hurrying crowds, stood at the period we are describing the second City Hall, known after Washington's inauguration as Federal Hall. The city had built it in 1700 at a cost of £3,000, the old City Hall, or Stadt Huys, built by Kieft, having been sold for £920, and partly defraying the cost. Here the Common Council and the Provincial Assembly held their sessions, and the Supreme Court and the Mayor's and Admiralty Courts met. It was also the City Prison, and was trebly honored in later years as the place where the first Congress of the United States held its first session, and where its first President took the oath of office. It was notable in old colony times as the rostrum where the royal governors published their commissions. It was also a central figure in the inauguration of a new Mayor, as is shown by the following extract from the journal of Mayor Thomas Noell, who took the oath in 1701 :
"On Tuesday, the 14th day of October, 1701, I was commissioned and sworn Mayor of the City of New York before the Honorable John Nanfan, Esq., Lieutenant Governor of this Province and Council in his Majesty's, Fort William Henry, and from thence, according to the usual solemnity, I went to Trinity Church, where was a sermon preached by Mr. Vesey, which, ended, I went to the City Hall, attended by the Recorder, Alder- men, and assistants, and other officers, where, after the ringing of three bells, I published my Commission, and then went up into the Court-house and took the chair, where Isaac De Riemer, Esq., the late Mayor, delivered to me the charter and seals of this city."
223
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
In the City Hall, too, visitors of distinction were usually received, and sometimes granted the freedom of the city. Thus when, in 1732, the Lord Augustus Fitz Roy arrived in pursuit of his bride, the mayor, aldermen, and assistants waited on his lordship .
"in a full body, attended by the principal officers of the City Regiment ; and being introduced to his Lordship in the Council Chamber, the Recorder addressed himself to him in the name of the Corporation, congratulating his Lordship on his safe arrival, and returning the thanks of the City for the Honor they received by his Lord- ship's presence, as also for his Lordship's condescension in being pleased to become a member thereof. Then the Worshipful, the Mayor, presented his Lordship with the Copy of his Freedom, to which was annexed the City Seal enclosed in a curious Gold Box, with the Arms of the City thereon neatly engraved ; which his Lordship was pleased to receive with the greatest Goodness and Complaisance, and likewise to assure the Corporation that he should always entertain the kindest sentiments of this Expression of their Regard and Esteem for him." .
This "gold box" was made by Mr. Charles Le Roux, the Tiffany of those days. Fortunately we have in the council records his bill for it as follows :
1732. The Corporation of New York, Dr. £. s. d.
Oct 20. To I oz. 12 pwt. gold to one Box 10 8 0
To fashione and engraving the Box 4 0 0
14 8 0 To Mr. Charles Le Roux.
At this early day the corporation evinced an al- dermanic fondness for good dinners. Every great
224
THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
event and fête day, as we have seen, was celebrated by a grand dinner given by the corporation, to which the governor and principal inhabitants were invited. One day, mousing over some musty old records, we had the good fortune to find the bill of the caterer for one of these banquets-that given in 1704 in honor of Lord Cornbury's advent as Governor. We present it as an historical curiosity :
I704. The Mayor, Aldermen, &c., Dr.
E.
Dec. 19. To a piece of beef and cabbage To a dish of tripe and cow-heel
0
s. d. 7 6
To a leg of pork and turnips
O
8 3
To 2 puddings . 0 14
To a surloyn of beef .
o 13 6
To a turkey and onions
0
0
To a leg mutton and pickles
o
To a dish chickens
0 IO
To minced pycs .
0
7
6
To fruit, cheese, bread, &c. To butter for sauce
0
7
9
To hire of 2 negroes to assist
O
6
0
To dressing dinner, &c.
I
4
0
To 31 bottles wine
3
2 O
To beer and syder
O
12 0
9 6 0 6
I
4 0
10 18 6
It would seem that the dinner was a part of the anniversary celebrations also, for in the records of the Common Council of Dec. 21, 1717, we have this en- try : "Ordered, the Mayor issue his warrant to the Treasurer to pay to Mr. John Parminter or order, the sum of five pounds, seventeen shillings, and three pence, current money of New York, it being for ex- penses of this corporation at his house on the 20th
O 6 0
6
225
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
day of October last, being the anniversary of his Majesty's Coronation." The bill was as follows :
1717. Corporation of New York, Dr.
To John Parmynter.
To 37 bottles of wine
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