USA > New York > New York City > The story of the city of New York > Part 14
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£3 14 0
October 20th,
To beer and cyder
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5 3
To eating .
I 12 0
To dressing supper
O 6 0
£5 17 3
Turning eastward from the City Hall, a few steps down Wall Street bring us to the water-front, then, as now, the most interesting portion of the city. Make the tour of the city docks to-day, and you will have studied the products of the known world, heard the tones of every civilized tongue, learned the cut of every civilized jib. They were quite as interesting in colonial times. Throughout that period, the privateers, and their next of kin, the pirates, furnished the romance and interest. The privateersmen were a brave and gallant class, and formed an effective arm of the colonial naval service. Their vessels were generally small, swift, graceful craft, well armed and well manned, and pounced on the unprotected French merchantmen like falcon on the dove. Privateersmen were fond of giving their vessels high-sounding or sentimental names. There were the Sea Flower, the Dragon, the Castor and Pol- lux, the Sturdy Beggar, the Charming Peggy, the Bachelors, the Dolphin, the Brave Hawk, the Charm- ing Polly, the Rainbow, the Speedwell, the Dreadnaught, the Hornet, the Decoy, the Tyger, the Royal Hunter, the
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King William III., the Duke of Marlborough, the Charming Sally, the Hope, the Wheel of Fortune, the Flying Harlequin, the Little Bob, the Revolution, the Two Friends, the True Briton, the Tartar, the Charming Fanny, the Happy Return, the Irish Gimb- let, the Royal American, the Lovely Martha, the Ter- rible, the Nebuchadnezzar, the Fame, the Lively, the Impertinent, the Tory's Revenge, the Musquito, the Eagle, the Surprise, the Spitfire, the Experiment, the Golden Pippin, the Norfolk Revenge, the Game Cock, the Try-All, the Favorite Betsey, the Hook-Him-Snivey, the Who'd-have-Thought-it, and others equally outre. Their number was large. A list from 1704 to 1763 enumerates one hundred and eighty-five, with guns ranging from six to twenty-six each. A letter writ- ten at New York Jan. 5, 1757, to a merchant in Lon- don, says : " There are now thirty Privateers out of this Place, and ten more on the Stocks and launched." And in the London Magasine of September, 1757, we have a list of privateers fitted out at New York " since the beginning of the war" (old French and Indian war, 1755-63), which gives 39 vessels, 128 guns, and 1,050 men. Their gains were often enor- mous. The letter from New York above quoted, says that up to that time (1757) the privateers had brought in fourteen prizes, valued in the aggregate at £100,000. From the beginning of the war in 1755 to Jan. 9, 1758, fifty-nine prizes were sent into the port of New York by these vessels, together with twenty-six condemned in other ports. As we come out on the " New Dock " we see a long. roofed, low- porched tavern-that of Capt. Benjamin Kierstede-
227
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
a favorite resort of the privateersmen of the day. We enter and find half a score of old sea-dogs-
" Salt as the sea wind, tough and dried As a lean cusk from Labrador,"-
sitting around the box stove spinning yarns after the manner of sailor men. It will be interesting to put on record some of their accounts of their exploits, as their truth can be proven by letters and documents. There was the French ship La Pomme, of 180 tons burden, 14 carriage guns, 43 men, and a commission from the Duc de Penhievre, Admiral of France, from St. Marks, Hispaniola, bound to Rochelle, France, taken by the privateer brig Clinton, of New York, about fifteen leagues north of Cape Nicola without the loss of a man. Her cargo invoiced 88 casks . sugar, 237 casks indigo of 87,500 cwt., and 15 bales of cotton ; valued at £40,000. Every man of the Clinton received £160 prize-money-the result of a six weeks' cruise. Captain Bevan, of the Clinton, seems to have done the handsome thing by his crew, for we read that he gave them a hogshead of punch and an ox roasted whole in the fields. Then there was the Spanish ship that the William and the Grey- hound took in concert,-cleared £90 per man ; the Rising Sun, of Marseilles, taken by the Prince Charles, with 1,117 hogsheads of sugar, 458 casks of coffee, cash, and "small plunder" worth £1,000; the St. Joseph taken by the brig William, with 614 hogsheads of sugar and 200 bags and 20 casks of coffee ; the Le Boice taken by the brig Triton, with 20 tuns of wine and 15 tons of flour, besides soap,
.
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candles, and dry goods. Captain Troup, of the brig Hester, was chief of the privateersmen. He was roving about in West India waters, in the spring of 1747, when he overhauled a Danish craft. We were then at peace with Denmark, but something prompted him to board the stranger, on whom he found a Spanish merchant bound to Cordova, with several strong boxes in his keeping. These he seized and, on opening them, found 8,000 pieces of eight. Captain Troup made sure of the gold, but he paid the Danish captain the freight agreed on by the merchant for carrying the specie. No wonder when riches were thus easily won that Governor Hamilton, of New Jersey, should complain that the privateers- men were sweeping into their ranks the flower of the youth of his province. Not all the prizes were taken so easily, however. Conflicts, often against fearful odds, were frequent, and hand-to-hand fights in which prodigies of valor were performed. We in- stance the case of the privateer Dragon and the brig Greyhound, which, in 1746, were cruising in the Bay of Mexico, having with them the sloop Grand Diable, which they had captured a few days before. On the 2d of May, they fell in with a Spanish frigate of 36 guns and 300 men,
"with whom," says the old chronicler, "they all engaged for the greatest part of two days ; but were at last ob- liged to leave her, after expending most of their ammu- nition. They did all that was possible for men to do with a superior force, and left her a perfect wreck, but were not in a better condition themselves, having almost all their masts so much wounded that they every moment
229
THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
apprehended their going overboard, and, after fishing them, were obliged to make the best of their way home. Of the enemy they saw many fall, and their col- ors were three times shot away, but always hoisted again immediately."
Not all the voyages were prosperous. Thus we read : " The privateer ship Lincoln, Captain John Jaun- cey, of New York, was lost on the Spanish coast, December 11, 1745. She sunk while the crew were 'putting the vessel on the careen.'"
We will set out now for a desultory stroll about the city ; and first, let us visit the shopping centre, which we shall find in Pearl Street, and in the short streets leading from Broadway to the water front. The stores are plain and unpretentious. Many oc- cupy the first floors of the dwelling-houses. They have all sorts of wares for sale, like modern country stores,-dry goods, wet goods, hardware,-all under the same roof. At present Mr. Adolph Phillipse is the leading merchant in New York. He is a man of great wealth, with a town-house and manor at Phil- lipseborough, has been King's Councillor, Master in Chancery, Judge, and Speaker of the Assembly, and although a bachelor is a favorite with the ladies. Mr. Phillipse is an importer, and has also a wholesale and retail department. His store is a brick building, three stories high. On the first floor is the whole- sale department, filled at this moment with country merchants in broad-brimmed hats and homespun clothes, inspecting, weighing, tasting, and purchas- ing. On this floor is also kept the great chest, in which, in the absence of banks, are stored the money,
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wampum, pearls, silver-ware, and jewelry of the es- tablishment. On the floor above, dry goods, wet goods, and hardware, for retail, are kept. It is filled with fair shoppers as we enter, and the clerks are busy indeed, hearing and answering requests in three languages-English, Dutch, and French,-the three tongues being in common use in New York at this time. The shoppers are buying white Paduasoy at $1.87 per yard, of our money; taffety at 87 cents, silk tabby at 63 cents, widows' crape at 50 cents, brocaded lutestring at $1.12, and " hoop petticoats " of five rows at $1.25, of six rows at $1.56; whale- bone hoop petticoats are worth $3.75 ; India brocade is $1.00 per yard; flowered Spanish silk, 75 cents ; scarlet stockings, 75 cents; black-silk do., $1.50; India dimity, 63 cents per yard ; men's velvet, $3.00 per yard ; cherry derry, 33 cents, and so on through a long line of rich East India stuffs-chilloes, betelees, seersuckers, deribands, tapsiels, surbettees, sannoes, gilongs, mulmuls, cushlashes, and other fabrics that the shoppers of that day had at their tongue's end.
" Sedan chairs" are a favorite means of locomo- tion. Fine ladies drive up in their carriages, with negro coachmen and footmen. One, just alighting as we pass out, is Mrs. Dr. De Lange, wife of the leading physician, and reputed one of the hand- somest and best-dressed matrons of the city. Poor lady! One hundred and fifty years after she was dust, and when her gowns had been packed away in camphor and lavender as precious heirlooms, we came upon the inventory of her wardrobe, from
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THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
which we take this tale of her jewels, which were contained in a " silver, thread-wrought small trunk," worth three pounds :
"One pair black pendants, with gold hooks, valued at IOS. ; one gold boat, wherein were thirteen diamonds to one white coral chain, £16 ; one pair gold 'stucks,' or pendants, in each ten diamonds, £25 ; one gold ring, with a clasp back, worth 12s. ; one gold ring, or 'hoop,' bound round with diamonds, f2 Ios."
Dr. De Lange's arms, we find, comprised a sword, with silver handle, valued at £2 2s .; another, with an iron handle, two cutlers' edges, a carbine, a pistol, and two " keanes," one with silver " knot," or head, and .one with ivory.
But let us continue our walk. Down Pearl Street we go, flourishing our ivory-headed " keanes,". after the manner of men about town. The first thing noticeable here is the great number of markets- long, low, open buildings, roofed with tiles. There is one at the foot of Broad Street, another at Coenties Slip, a third at the foot of Wall Street, another at " Burgher's Path," the present Old Slip,-the Fly Market ; another at the foot of Maiden Lane, an- other at Rodman's Slip, just above. At the foot of every street is a market, while on Broad Street, from Wall to Exchange Place, is a public stand for coun- try wagons, which come in heavily laden with all manner of produce. The markets are well-stocked with beef, pork, mutton, poultry, wild-fowl, venison, fish, roots, and herbs of all kinds in their season. Oysters, too, are a prominent feature; a fleet of two
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THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
hundred sail is constantly employed in catching them on beds within view of the town.
The " Slips," and the side streets leading off from Pearl, are the haunts of many quaint craftsmen. This shop of John Wallace, for instance, " at the Sign of the Cross Swords, next door to Mrs. Byfield, near the Fly Market," who " makes, mends, and grinds all sorts of knives, razors, scissors, and pen-knives."
"Surgeons," he advertises, "may be supplied with very good lancets, and other surgeons' instruments. Gentlemen may be furnished with all sorts of kitchen furniture, that belongs to a smith's trade. Barbers may have their razors ground for four-pence a piece. He puts up and mends all sorts of jacks, and makes multi- plying wheels for jacks. He mends locks, and makes keys and stillards also. He also sells all sorts of cutlery ware, and all at reasonable rates."
Right here by the Fly Market, too, at the house of William Bradford, "next door but one to the Treasurer's," is lodged "Moses Slaughter, stay- maker," from London, who has brought with him, as he has been careful to inform the town :
"A parcel of extraordinary good and fashionable stays of his own making, of several sizes and prices. Slaughter is anxious to suit those that want with extraor- dinary good stays. Or he is ready to wait upon any ladys or gentlewomen that please to send for him to their houses. And if any wish references, he refers to Mrs. Elliston, in the Broad Street, and to Mrs. Nichols, in the Broadway, who have had his work."
Another quaint craftsman has his shop in Old
THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 233
Slip-Anthony Lamb, mathematical instrument maker, " at the Sign of the Quadrant and Surveying Compass." How many of the following list, one is tempted to ask, are now in use by the profession :
"Quadrants, forestaffs, nocturnals, rectifiers, universal scales, gunters, sliding gunters, gauging rods, rulers, wood or brass box compasses for sea use, pocket com- passes, surveying compasses, surveying chains, water- levels, senecal quadrants, protractors, parallel rulers, trunk telescopes, walking-stick spy-glasses, universal or equinoctial ring or horizontal brass dials, steel or brass- jointed compasses, drawing pens, three-legged stoves, shipwright's draught, bows, bevels, squares, walking- sticks, and other small work."
Here, at the corner house at Old Slip (John Cruger's), we can secure passage on Mr. Silvanus Seaman's Staten Island "Passage Boat," which leaves here each Tuesday and Friday for the island, and "at any other time if passage or freight pre- sents." Here, "at the northwest corner of the Great Dock, next door to the Sign of the Leopard," Simon Franks, from London, has a little shop, " where he makes and sells all sorts of perukes, after the best and newest fashion, and cuts and dresses lady's wigs and towers after a manner performed much better than is pretended to be done by some others."
In Robert Crommelius' little shop " near the Meal Market in Wall Street," one may buy all sorts of "writing paper, superfine Post Paper, ready cut by the half ream, blank books, sail duck, Powder-blue, copper tea kettles and Pye-pans, Ivory combs, sewing and
.
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THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
darning needles, spectacles, all sorts of shot, small bar-lead, sash leads, wine glasses, wafel Irons," etc. At the corner of Beekman's Slip Abraham Bamper sells fine clocks, watches and ear-rings. Another out- of-the-way tradesman is Joseph Seddell, " Pewterer," at the sign of the Platter, at the lower end of Wall Street, near the Meal Market, "in the house where Mr. Joseph Sackett lately lived, where he sells Pew- ter ware of all sorts, cannons,-six and four pounders, and swivel guns, cannon shot, iron pots and kettles, cart and wagon boxes, backs for chimnies, Fuller plates, pig and bar iron, etc. He will pay you hard money for old bars and pewter." Most gruesome and picturesque of all is the undertaker. In 1740, people were not so finical, and little attempt was made by the tradesman to relieve the ghastliness of death. Coffins, some quite magnificent in silver and lace trimmings stood on end around his wareroom. On a bier in the rear were the Parish Palls, two of them, one of black velvet designed for general use, the other of cloth, with an edging of white silk a foot broad, which could only be used for unmarried men and maidens. Flannel shrouds with gloves, scarfs, hat bands, and other mourning paraphernalia filled shelves ranged around the sides of the room. On the counter, painted a funeral black, was a tray of lacquer-work, holding the shopman's cards, and samples of the " invitations to funerals " it was then customary to send to relatives of the deceased. By these cards the public was informed that the under- taker " hath a velvet pall, a good hears, mourning cloaks, and black hangings for rooms to be let at
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reasonable rates. He hath also for sale all sorts of mourning and half mourning, white silk for scarfs and hat bands at funerals, with coffins, shrouds and all sorts of burying cloaths for the dead."
In this connection we will speak of a beautiful custom practised by young maidens of visiting the graves of their deceased companions on each an- niversary of death, and strewing them with the flow- ' ers of remembrance. Trinity being the English churchyard was the one generally sought. It was much more impressive in that day than now, with its groves of forest giants and numerous sombre yews, " the cheerless, unsocial plant " of the poet.
To this solemn abode of the dead the maidens came, clad in white, and bearing baskets of flowers, and as they performed their pious office they sang pathetic little songs, one of which we reproduce :
" Come with heavy mourning, And on her grave Let her have Sacrifice of sighs and mourning. Let her have fair flowers enough, White and purple, green and yellow, For her that was of maids most true, For her that was of maids most true."
The street signs please us by their number and variety. Very few of the commonalty can read, and so in place of letters the tradesmen have a distinguish- ing sign. Three sugar loaves and a tea-canister indi- cate the shop of a grocer near Coenties Market. Patrick Carryl sells " good raisins of the sun," cheap at the sign of the Unicorn and Mortar in Hanover
-
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THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
Square. The chair-maker on Golden Hill has the sign of the Chair Wheel, a vender of clocks the sign of the Dial. The Exchange Coffee house and Tav- ern the sign of the " King's Arms." Another tavern sign is the Scotch Arms. Thomas Lepper's Ordinary, opposite the Merchants' Coffee-house, has the sign of the Duke of Cumberland. He advertises that dinner will be ready at half an hour after one. The Boston Post puts up at Mr. Jonathan Ogden's, the sign of the Black Horse, in upper Queen (Pearl) Street. George Burns keeps one of the most popu- lar taverns of the city at the sign of the Cart and Horse, and constantly takes in the " Boston, Phila- delphia, and New York newspapers.". There is a newly-opened tavern at the sign of the Bunch of Grapes, near the Widow Rutger's beer-house, going up towards the Cart and Horse. " John Reed, Tay- lor," is to be found at the sign of the Blue Ball in Wall Street. The stables of George Goodwin are at the sign of the Dolphin, facing the Common. Look- ing glasses are new-silvered, and pictures made and sold at the sign of the Two Cupids, near the Old Slip Market, and so on. " Jamaica Pilot Boat," " Rose and Crown," " The Bible," " Fighting Cocks," " Cross Swords," " Platter," " Quadrant and Com- pass," " Spread Eagle," " White Swan," " The Sun," " The Leopard," " Horse and Manger," are favorite signs.
The coffee-houses on the London plan are favor- ite resorts for all classes. As one wrote of them about this time: " You have all manner of news there. You have a good fire, which you may sit by
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THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
as long as you please. You have a ·dish of coffee. You meet your friends for the transaction of busi- ness, and all for a penny if you don't care to spend more." We will enter the Exchange Coffee-house, the principal one in the city. Bare sanded floor, plain pine tables and seats, a roaring fire, a perpetual supply of hot water, and the coffee- and tea-pots set close by to keep warm, comprise the furniture.
Quite a number of gentlemen are present ; some drinking at the bar, some exchanging the news, some reading the weekly newspapers. One of the latter looks up with a smile as we enter, and then reads aloud to his companion :
"We hear from Ridgefield, near the county of West- chester, that one William Drinkwater, late an inhabitant there, proving quarrelsome with his neighbors and abus- ive to his wife, the good women of the place took the matter into consideration, and laid hold of an opportunity to get him tied to a cart, and there with rods belabored him on his back, till, in striving to get away, he pulled one of his arms out of joint, and then they untied him. Mr. Drinkwater complained to sundry magistrates of this usage but all he got by it was to be laughed at, whereupon he removed to New Milford, where, we hear, he proves a good neighbor and a loving husband ; a remarkable reformation arising from the justice of the good women."
" Served him right," his friend remarks, and then reads an item that has interested him :
" Last Thursday morning a creature of an uncommon size and shape was observed to break through a window of a store-house of this city, and jump into the street, where was suddenly a number of spectators, who fol-
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lowed it till it jumped over several high fences, and at last stuck between two houses, where they shot it. Many had the curiosity to view it, and say it was 7 feet long. Most of them say it is a panther, but whence it came or how it got into the store-house, we are at a loss to know."
The taverns, we notice, are quite numerous and of various grades. Let us stop at the " Black Horse," where the Boston Post, which runs weekly in sum- mer and fortnightly in winter, "puts up." It is a traveller's inn, the favorite of the commonalty, while the " King's Arms" is patronized by the patrician class. As we push open the two-leaved door and en- ter, a strange and picturesque scene greets us. A huge fire of logs burns in the red-tiled fireplace, the white, sanded floor is stained with splotches of to- bacco juice and discarded quids, while an odor of vile tobacco fills the air. Quite a number of the frequenters of the place are present-the smith in his leathern apron, the butcher in his long frock, lab- orers in soil-stained smocks and homespun breeches, a jockey in cap and feather, farmers in camlet coats and sheepskin breeches-all leisurely draining from long pewter mugs their mid-day dram of Sopus ale. One of " His Majesty's players " is singing a " catch" as we enter, and we stop to listen :
" Under the trees in sunny weather, Just try a cup of ale together. And if in tempest or in storm A couple then to make you warm, But when the day is very cold Then taste a mug of twelve months' old "-
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which sentiment is heartily applauded. There are a number of placards on the walls-a schedule of ferry charges and regulations, notices of auction sales, fairs, horse races, and among them a paper that in- terests us very much. It is entitled "The Several Stages from the City of New York to Boston, and where Travellers may be Accommodated."
"From New York to Boston," we read, "is accounted 274 miles. From the Post Office in New York to Joe Clapp's in the Bouwerie is 2 miles (which generally is the bating place, where gentlemen take leave of their friends going so long a journey), and where a parting glass of generous wine,"
"' If well applied, makes their dull horses feel One spur in the head 's worth two in the heel.'
MILES
From Clapp's to the Half-Way House is .
7
Old Shute's, East Chester
6
New Rochelle Meeting House
4
Joseph Horton's
4
Denham's at Rye
4
Knap's at Horse Neck
7
Dan. Weed's, at Stamford
7
Belden's, Norwalk
IO
.. Burr's, Fairfield
IO
Knowles', Stratford .
8
Andrew Sanford's, Milford
4
Widow Frisbie's, Branford
IO
John Hobson's, Guilford .
IO
John Grinell's, Killingworth
IO
John Clark's, Seabrook
10
Mr. Plum's, New London
10
Mr. Saxton's
15
Mr. Pemberton's, Narragansett Country
15
Thence to King's Bridge is
9
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THE STORY OF NEW YORK.
MILES
Thence to Frenchtown
. 24
Mr. Turpin's
20
Mr. Woodcock's
15
Billing's Farm .
II
White's
6
Fishe's
6
and thence to the great town of Boston ten miles, where many good lodgings and accommodations may be had for love and money."
By and by a shouting and hubbub without draws every one to the door, and the fire engines and fire- men dash by. There is a fire in Henry Riker's blacksmith shop in the crowded part of the city. At the fire the engines attract our attention. They are known as the Newnham engine, after the in- ventor, and were patented in England early in the century. Each required twelve men to work it ; it took water from a cistern, or failing that from a wooden trough into which water was poured, and it could throw a continuous jet of water seventy feet high, and with such velocity as to break windows. In 1736 the corporation built a house for its engines contiguous to the Watch House in Broad Street, having appointed the year before one " Jacobus Turk, gunsmith," to keep them clean and in good repair upon his own cost for the sum of ten pounds per annum. It was not until September 19, 1738, that the first twenty-four firemen were appointed under Act of Assembly, their only salary or emolu- ment being exemption from serving as constable, surveyor of highways, jurors on inquests, or as militia. The different trades and races seem to have
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THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
been well represented, for we read of John Tiebout, blockmaker, Hercules Windover, blacksmith, Ja- cobus Delamontaigne, blockmaker, Thomas Brown, cutler, Abraham Van Gelder, gunsmith, Jacobus Stoutenburgh, gunsmith, Wm. Roome, Jr., car- penter, Walter Hyer, Sr., bricklayer, Johannes Alstein, blacksmith, Everet Pells, Jr., ropemaker, Peter Lott, carman, Peter Brower, bricklayer, Al- bertus Tiebout, carpenter, John Vredenburg, car- penter, John Dunscomb, cooper, Johannes Roome, carpenter, Peter Maeschalck, baker, Petrus Kip, baker, Andrew Myer, Jr., cordwainer, Robert Richardson, cooper, Rymer Broger, blacksmith, Barnet Bush, cooper, David Van Gelder, black- smith, Johannes Van Duersen, cordwainer, Martin- us Bogert, carman, Johannes Vredenbergh, cord, wainer, Johannes Van Sys, carpenter, Adolph Brase, cordwainer, and John Man, cooper, " all strong, able, discreet, honest, and sober men."
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