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THE 
 
 CITY OF NEW YORK 
 
 IN THE YKAR OF 
 
 WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION 
 
 1789 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS E. V. SMITH 
 
 I pray you, let us satisfy our eyes 
 
 With the memorials and the things of fame 
 
 That do renown this city." 
 
 Twelfth Night 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR 
 
 1889 
 
Plan of the C.i ty of New York. 
 
 References. 
 
 F / Federal f/aU 19 LnJ/u-ivn rhrch 
 
 2 StPauls Chun-h ^O French D ° 
 
 3 Tmnly D" 21 New Qtuiker- Meelini/ 
 
 4 Old Preiiyterian J}' 22 Seceder J>' 
 
 5 Ejxtiange 23 Miiravian T)° 
 
 6 jyvrth Chun-h 2-1 Fori eeovff.e in, LaJUuOe 40 42 
 
 7 NeK Presbf/trrian- 2S J-7i/ Market 
 S S*(ieargiM Chtipel 26 Oswego V 
 
 9 S^PeteixCAurrh 21 Boar D° 
 
 10 The (Mieye, 2X Pifcks Slip D ' 
 
 11 New SroU Meeting 2!) New D" 
 
 12 out Dutch Chiirch 30 Bridewell 
 t,i NeteDuleli D° 31 Cihj Alnuf House 
 t4 Jetvs Synufforjii^ 32 Prison 
 />" Ol^J itiKtJcfr Meetin<f 33 TfoxpilaZ 
 
 /6 Methodist D " •?•/ Tlu-aire 
 
 17 Baptist 1)" 35 JewsBunjijifl Cround 
 
 IH CaTvanist Church 36 Lower Jin rrach 
 37 Upper X>" 
 J/" I South Ward. 
 
 2 We/t D" 
 
 3 North!/" 
 
 4 Bock D" 
 J East V 
 
 6 Mongomery D° 
 
 7 Out VL 
 
Copyright, 1889, by 
 THOMAS E. V. SMITH 
 
 
 TROW'8 
 
 MINTING AND BOOKBINDINO COMPANY, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 fl 
 
 m 
 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 PACK 
 
 General description of the city — Population — New York Hospital — 
 Great George Street — Water supply — City buildings — Society 
 for the Relief of Distressed Debtors — Broadway — Bowling 
 Green — Fort George — Residents of the principal streets — Fed- 
 eral Hall — Suburban residences, i 
 
 II. 
 
 City Government — Courts — Judges — Lawyers — Watchmen — Fire- 
 men — Militia — Society of the Cincinnati — Naval officers — Poli- 
 tics — Congressional election — State election — St. Tammany's 
 Society — Meeting of Congress — Election of United States Sen- 
 ators — Federal office-holders — Post-office — Representatives 
 from foreign countries, 53 
 
 III. 
 
 Healthfulness of the city — Climate — Provisions — Markets — Physi- 
 cians — Dress — Trade — Stage routes — The Chamber of Com- 
 merce — Exports and imports — Wharfs and ferries — Marine So- 
 ciety — General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen — New 
 York Manufacturing Society — Bank of New York — Mutual As- 
 surance Company — Societies — Social amusements — Taverns — 
 Slaves — Society for the Manumission of Slaves, 88 
 
 IV. 
 
 Sunday laws — Collegiate Dutch churches — Protestant Episcopal 
 churches — Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Chil- 
 dren of Clergymen — French Huguenot church — Friends' meet- 
 ing-houses — Lutheran church — Jewish synagogue — Presbyterian 
 
iv Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 churches — Baptist church — Moravian church — German Re- 
 formed church — Methodist churches — Roman CathoUc church — 
 Independent Congregational church, 124 
 
 V. 
 
 Theatres in the city previous to 1789 — The John Street Theatre — 
 The Old American Company — Plays acted during the year 1789 
 — Plays by American authors — Theatrical controversies — Nat- 
 ural curiosities and wax-works — Musical entertainments, . . 166 
 
 VI. 
 
 Columbia College — Controversies with legard to its establishment — 
 College professors — Commencement exercises in 1789 — Schools 
 — Music — Dancing-masters — Literature — Science — Books and 
 booksellers — New York Society Library — Artists — Newspapers 
 and editors, 189 
 
 VII. 
 
 Messengers appointed to notify the President and Vice-President 
 of the United States of their election — Congressional commit- 
 tees to receive them in New York — John Adams' reception and 
 installation in office — The Presidential Barge — Reception of 
 George Washington in New York City — Dr. Cogswell's account 
 of it — Extracts from Miss Morton's Diary — The President's 
 house — Discussion with regard to the President's title — Ar- 
 rangements for his inauguration — The inaugural ceremonies — 
 Contemporary accounts of the event — Washington's household 
 expenses — The Assembly Ball — Addresses of congratulation — 
 Mrs. Washington's arrival in New York — Incidents in Washing- 
 ton's life while in New York — Comparison between New York 
 City in 1789 and in 1889, 214 
 
General Description of the City. 
 
 On the first day of January 1789 New York City had not 
 yet fully recovered from the effects of the great fires of Sep- 
 tember 2 1st 1776 and of August 3rd 1778 nor from its occu- 
 pation by the British during seven years which ended on the 
 25th of November 1783. Three of the city landmarks had not 
 yet been fully restored. Trinity Church was not completely 
 rebuilt ; the Lutheran Church which had stood on the south- 
 ern corner of Rector Street and Broadway was a mass of ruins 
 known as the Burnt Lutheran Church ; and the Middle Dutch 
 Church was still in the hands of its rebuilders. Improve- 
 ments, however, had been actively begun, and the poverty 
 caused by the Revolution was now considerably amended. 
 In 1785 John Thurman, a city merchant, wrote: " Many of 
 our new merchants and shopkeepers set up since the war have 
 failed. We have nothing but complaints of bad times. In 
 Philadelphia it is worse. Yet labour is very high and all arti- 
 cles of produce very high. Very small are our exports. 
 There is no ship building, but house building in abundance, 
 and house rent remains high. Law in abundance, the Tres- 
 pass Act is food for the lawyers — yet we say there is no 
 money. Feasting and every kind of extravagance go on — 
 reconcile these things if you can. Gloomy joys," In a paper 
 published by the American Philosophical Society in 1843 
 Samuel Breck also writes as follows: " In the month of June 
 of the year 1787, on my return from a residence of a few 
 years in France, I arrived at that city, and found it a ne- 
 glected place, built chiefly of wood, and in a state of prostra- 
 tion and decay, A dozen vessels in port ; Broadway from 
 Trinity Church inclusive down to the Batter)'-, in ruins, owing 
 
6 New York City in 1789. 
 
 to a fire that had occurred when the city was occupied by the 
 enemy, during the latter part of the war. The ruined walls 
 of the houses standing on both sides of the way, testifying to 
 the poverty of the place, five years after the conflagration ; 
 for although the war had ceased during that period, and the 
 enemy had departed, no attempt had been made to rebuild 
 them. In short, there was silence and inactivity everywhere ; 
 and the whole population was very little over 20,000." Mr. 
 Breck's chronology with regard to the fire was several years 
 out of the way, but the matters which fell under his own ob- 
 servation were, without doubt, stated with substantial accu- 
 racy. 
 
 The year 1788 saw a change in" the desolation which had 
 followed the war, and in 1789 New York, the Capital of the 
 United States, was larger in size and more prosperous in 
 business than ever before. It was somewhat irregular in 
 shape, its main portion being on the east side of the island. 
 The houses were not built closely together, but were scat- 
 tering and surrounded by gardens. From the west side of 
 Broadway to the west side of Greenwich Street, which was 
 then the street nearest to the North River, the ground was 
 more or less closely built upon from the Bowling Green to 
 the south side of what is now Reade Street. Beyond Reade 
 Street the only buildings were the Hospital and a few scat- 
 tered houses, one of which, on the west side of Broadway. a 
 short distance below the line of the present Leonard Street, 
 was a Congregational meeting-house. On the east side of 
 the island the city extended somewhat farther north, its 
 limit being the south side of Bayard's Lane, which in 1807 
 received its present name of Broome Street. The south side 
 of this street was built upon from Mulberry Street on the 
 west to the present Suffolk Street on the east, and a line 
 drawn from the southwest corner of Broome and Suffolk 
 Streets to the northwest corner of Cherry and Pike Streets 
 would approximately mark the northeasterly limit of the city 
 in 1789. North of the present line of Reade Street no streets 
 were laid out between the North River and Mulberry Street, 
 with the exception of Greenwicli Street and Broadway, and 
 
General Description. 7 
 
 upon them there were but few houses. Along the East 
 River, Front Street was the street nearest to the water from 
 Whitehall Street to its end at Burling Slip, whence Water 
 Street extended along the river as far as the foot of James 
 Street, Beyond that point Cherry Street was nearest to the 
 river and there were but few buildings on its water side. It 
 extended to about the present Pike Street, beyond which was 
 a large swamp, and the country residence of Mr. Rutgers. 
 
 In 1786 the population of the city was estimated to be 
 23,614, and the number of houses 3,340. According to the 
 census of 1790 the population of the city and county was 
 8,500 white males, over sixteen years of age ; 5,907 males 
 under sixteen ; 1 5,254 white females ; i loi other free persons ; 
 2,369 slaves; total, 33,131 inhabitants. This, however, in- 
 cluded Harlem, which, properly speaking, was not a part of 
 the city. Another calculation, printed in the newspapers, 
 made the number of inhabitants 30,022, classified as Free- 
 holders of ^100, 1209; Freeholders of ^^"20, 1221 ; Tenants of 
 40s., 2661; Freemen, 93; Males, 13330; Females, 14,429; 
 Slaves, 2263. This calculation practically omitted the inhabi- 
 tants of Harlem and probably was a tolerably accurate enu- 
 meration of the inhabitants of the city itself in 1790. In 1789 
 the number of inhabitants of the city proper might be placed 
 at 29,000 and the number of the houses at 4,200, the city di- 
 rectory, published on the 4th of July 1789 by Hodge, Allen 
 and Campbell, containing the names of about 4100 house- 
 holders. Among the buildings were a number of the old 
 Dutch houses with lofty peaked roofs and their gable ends to 
 the street, but the prevailing style of architecture was English. 
 Noah Webster, in an article which appeared in the American 
 Magazine in March 1788, writes that the houses were for the 
 most part built of brick with tiled roofs, but the advertise- 
 ment of the Mutual Assurance Co. in 1789 states that they 
 were chiefly framed buildings with brick fronts, which was 
 probably the case, although in 1761 the legislature had enacted 
 that none other than stone or brick houses should be erected 
 south of about the present Duane St. after the ist of January 
 1766. The time was afterwards extended to January ist 1774, 
 
8 New York City in 1789. 
 
 but on the 2nd of May in that year nearly 3000 citizens peti- 
 tioned for the repeal of the act, and, although their petition 
 was not granted, the act was probably not strictly enforced. 
 The streets were many of them narrow and crooked, Water 
 and Queen (Pearl) being in some places too cramped to allow 
 the building of sidewalks. On the 2ist of March 1787, how- 
 ever, the Legislature had authorized the Common Council to 
 lay out new streets and to improve those already existing, and 
 in 1788 improvements were begun. The act provided that 
 streets already laid out should not be made wider than four 
 rods nor narrower than two rods, and that the Kingsbridge 
 Road should not be made narrower than it was at that time, 
 nor in any part less than four rods wide. In all cases of per- 
 sons meeting on the highway, those going out of the city 
 northward were to make road for those coming in southward 
 under a penalty of forty shillings fine for each failure to do so. 
 In August 1784 the Common Council had also expressed its'^ 
 determination to strictly enforce the city ordinances with re- 
 gard to the care of the streets, but in May 1788 the Grand 
 Jury reported them to be dirty and many of them impassable, 
 and an ordinance published in April 1789 added several new 
 requirements in this regard. The footpath on each side of the 
 street was to be one-fifth the width of the street, paved with 
 brick or flat stone, and curbed ; the other three-fifths were to 
 be a cartway, properly arched, and to be paved and kept in re- 
 pair by the householders under a penalty of forty shillings 
 fine. Driving, sawing wood, and leaving coal on the side- 
 walk, or otherwise obstructing it, were strictly forbidden ; no 
 posts were to be erected except at the intersection of streets, 
 and a penalty of ;^5 was attached to the offence of planting 
 trees south of the Fresh Water and of Catherine St. except 
 in front of churches and other public buildings. Another im- 
 portant provision of this ordinance was that on every Friday 
 between the first day of March and the first day of December 
 each householder should cause the dirt from his yard, cellar, 
 and the street in front of his premises to be gathered near the 
 gutter before ten o'clock in the morning, and have it removed 
 before twelve o'clock the next day under a penalty of five 
 
General Description. g 
 
 shillings fine. The enforcement of this ordinance was en- 
 trusted to James Culbertson, the high constable, and that 
 worthy published a card in the newspapers stating that he 
 should perform his duty without respect of persons. But his 
 efforts do not seem to have been altogether successful, for, in 
 the Daily Advertiser of December 19th 1789, there appeared 
 a call to the high constable, the echoes of which are still to 
 be heard : "awake THOU SLEEPER, let us have clean streets 
 in this our peaceful seat of the happiest empire in the uni- 
 verse. That so our national rulers and their supporters may 
 with convenience and decency celebrate a merry Christmas 
 and a happy New Year." The sanatory arrangements of the 
 houses had evoked the highest praise from Brissot de War- 
 ville, a young Frenchman who had visited the city in 1788, 
 but the sewerage system of the city was extremely primitive. 
 It consisted of the negro slaves, a long line of whom might be 
 seen late at night wending their way to the river, each with a 
 tub on his head. Street lamps had been introduced in 1762 
 but the lighting of them was regulated by the moon, and there 
 were frequent complaints of the darkness of the streets at 
 night. On the 3rd of December 1788 a standing committee 
 of the Common Council was appointed to attend to the erec- 
 tion of new street lamps and to put them on the houses in- 
 stead of on posts, wherever it was possible to do so, but the 
 committee does not seem to have been able to keep the lamps 
 lighted, as, on the 31st of the same month, the firemen pre- 
 sented a complaint that their work at a recent fire at one 
 o'clock at night had been greatly impeded by the fact that 
 most of the lamps had gone out. The matter was referred to 
 the committee, but again in 1789 an unfortunate citizen in- 
 formed the public that in coming home one stormy night in 
 June he had run into a pump in Nassau Street not a hundred 
 perches from the Mayor's house and had received a severe con- 
 tusion on his head, there being not alighted lamp nor a watch- 
 man in sight. During the year 1789 Abraham Van Gelder 
 received about ;^33 a month for the lighting and cleaning of 
 the lamps, the pound being worth about two and one half 
 dollars of the present money. Mr. Van Gelder died in Jan- 
 
lO Neiu York City in 1789. 
 
 uary 181 5 aged 81 years. The most elevated street in the 
 city was Broadway, which had received that name about the 
 year 1674, extending from the Bowling Green to St. Paul's 
 Chapel, above which it was called Great George Street. Its 
 original course above St. Paul's Chapel had been along the 
 present Park Row and Chatham Street to the Bowery, and in 
 1789 the portion of it called Great George Street extended 
 only to the present Broome Street and was very sparsely built 
 upon. One of the most northerly buildings upon it was the 
 house of David M. Clarkson which stood on the east side of 
 the street about the middle of the present block between 
 Leonard and Franklin Streets. It was a two-story house 
 about thirty feet wide surrounded by a large garden, the 
 property having a frontage of about 160 feet on Great George 
 Street and a depth of about 380 feet. On the west side of 
 the street a short distance below the present Leonard Street 
 was a building which in November 1789 was first occupied as 
 a Congregational church, and below this, on a plot of ground 
 440 feet by 455 feet, afterwards bounded by Broadway, An- 
 thony, Church, and Duane Streets, stood the Hospital. The 
 erection of this building had been begun on the 27th of July 
 1773, the basement walls being of brown stone and the upper 
 portion of blue stone, but it had no sooner been completed 
 than the interior was destroyed by fire on the 28th of Febru- 
 ary 1775 at a loss of ;^7000, and although immediately rebuilt, 
 it had never served its original purpose. The Provincial Con- 
 gress ordered it to be used as a barracks in April 1776 and the 
 British afterwards used it for the same purpose. The Govern- 
 ors of the Hospital, twenty-six in number, held a charter 
 granted June 13th 1771, but during the Revolution they had 
 merely held elections of officers, and lack of funds prevented 
 the opening of the building as a hospital until the 3rd of Janu- 
 ary 1 791 when eighteen patients were admitted, the Legisla- 
 ture, on the 1st of March 1788, having granted to the Govern- 
 ors ;£"8oo annually for four years out of the excise revenue of 
 the city. In 1788 a part of the building was used as a dissect- 
 ing room and on the 13th of April in that year it had been 
 stormed and dismantled by the mob in the " Doctors' Riot ; " 
 
General Description. li 
 
 but in 1789 it was apparently entirely unoccupied and in June 
 was offered as a temporary place of meeting for the Legislature 
 or the Courts. The officers of the Board of Governors of the 
 Hospital in 1789 were Richard Morris, president, Isaac Roose- 
 velt, vice-president, Henry Haydock, treasurer, and John 
 Keese, secretary. The old building ceased to be used for 
 hospital purposes in February 1870. 
 
 Below the Hospital, on the northeast corner of the present 
 Duane Street and Broadway stood an old brewery, and farther 
 south on the east side of Great George Street opposite what 
 was then the end of Reade Street was the old Negroes' 
 Burying-Ground, occupying about 400 feet on Great George 
 Street with a depth of about 600 feet. The next place of im- 
 portance was that known before the Revolution as Mon- 
 tagnie's Garden, No. 317 Great George Street, situated on 
 the west side of that street near the north corner of Murray 
 Street. In the stirring times before the Revolution it had 
 been the headquarters of the Liberty Boys and the scene of 
 conflict between them and the British soldiery, and after Mr. 
 Montagnie's death had been kept by his widow. In June 
 1785 an advertisement appeared stating that Henry Kennedy 
 had taken " the well known Mead House, the sign of the Two 
 Friendly Brothers, late occupied by Mrs, Montanye " with 
 gardens attached, but in February 1786 it was again advertised 
 to be let, and in 1789 it was apparently kept by Jacob de la 
 Montagnie. 
 
 Among the few residents on Great George Street in 1789 
 were at No. i, on the present site of the Astor House, Walter 
 Rutherford ; No. 2, Lewis Scott, State Secretary ; No. 3, 
 William Warner, livery stable ; No. 5, Miss Moore ; No. 6, 
 Charles Warner, coach-maker, and James Warner, harness- 
 maker. Number 8 was at the corner of Robinson Street 
 (Park Place), and near Murray Street was John Walker's 
 ball-court ; John Leonard lived at No. 36 ; John Nourse at 
 No. 42 ; and No. 43 was the residence of Lewis Nichols, cab- 
 inet-maker. Number i Great George Street had been built 
 before the Revolution by Major Walter Rutherford, a Brit- 
 ish army officer, who occupied it for many years ; and No. 
 
12 New York City in 1789. 
 
 2 had been confiscated from Colonel Axtell, also of the 
 British army, and by Act of March 29th 1784 appropriated to 
 the use of the State Secretary who occupied it until the re- 
 moval of the State Government to Albany in 1797. To the 
 west of Great George Street, above Reade Street, there were 
 few buildings east of Greenwich Street. Church Street ran, 
 as a lane, about to the present Anthony Street, and there 
 ended. No other streets were laid out between it and Green- 
 wich Street, the land being largely a swamp. 
 
 To the east of Great George Street and approximately 
 bounded on the west by the present Centre Street, on the 
 south by Duane Street, and on the north and east by Pearl 
 Street, was a small pond which connected on the north with 
 the Collect or Fresh Water Pond, the latter occupying the space 
 now approximately bounded by Franklin, Elm, Worth, and 
 Baxter Streets, including the site of the Tombs or, more prop- 
 erly speaking, the Halls of Justice. North of the Collect 
 were swamps and bogs through which its outlet ran north- 
 west to the present crossing of Broadway and Canal Street, 
 where it was spanned by a bridge, and thence flowed nearly 
 along the present line of Canal Street into the North River. 
 Between the two ponds, on what was once a small island, 
 stood a powder-house Avhich in June 1788 was leased for three 
 years at an annual rent of £a,2, and which disappeared by the 
 summer of 1791. In winter the Collect was used as a skating- 
 pond, and one of the uses to which it was put in summer 
 appears fcom a complaint published in the New York Packet 
 of August 19th 1784 that, in that warm and dry season, a 
 great number of people assembled around the pond whence 
 the tea-water was drawn and washed their dirty linen therein. 
 Before the Revolution an attempt had been made to introduce 
 a system of waterworks, and in 1776 a reservoir had been 
 completed by Christopher Colles from which the water was to 
 be distributed through wooden pipes. It was situated on the 
 east side of Broadway between the present Pearl and White 
 Streets and the water was to be pumped into it from wells, 
 but the Revolution put an end to the scheme. On January 
 29th 1788 a petition to the Common Council appeared in the 
 
General Description. 13 
 
 New York Packet praying that the houses might be supplied 
 with water through pipes, provided that the average tax for 
 that purpose should not exceed 26 shillings for each house. 
 According to this plan the annual expense was to be ^^4160, 
 to be raised by a tax of 40s. on 1000 houses, 26s. on 1000 
 more, and los. 2d. upon 1200 more, the total number of 
 houses to be furnished with water being estimated at three 
 thousand two hundred. And again on the 30th of January 
 1789, the Mayor presented to the Common Council a letter 
 which he had received from the Rumseian Society of Phila- 
 delphia stating that Mr. Rumsey had invented an engine far 
 superior to any other for supplying towns with water, that he 
 had applied to the Legislature for the exclusive right to put 
 such engines in operation, and that the Corporation would do 
 well to make immediate arrangements for the use of the 
 engine or to complete the contract for it during the following 
 summer. The state of the city finances, however, forbade 
 such an investment, and for a number of years the greater part 
 of the city water continued to be supplied by the Tea Water 
 Pump, which stood in Chatham Street a little to the north- 
 east of the end of Queen (Pearl) Street. The water was 
 carried around the city by " tea-water men " in carts built for 
 that purpose, the price being 3d. a hogshead of 130 gallons at 
 the pump. The well in which this pump stood was fed from 
 the Collect, and was about twenty feet deep and four feet in 
 diameter, the average quantity of water drawn from it daily 
 being about no hogsheads. In hot weather as many as 216 
 hogsheads were drawn in a day, and it is said that there were 
 never more nor less than three feet of water in the well. 
 The Collect having been granted to Anthony Rutgers in 1733, 
 the city purchased his heirs' interest in it for ;^I50 in 1791, 
 and, after becoming an unmitigated nuisance, it was filled up 
 between the years 1800 and 18 10. 
 
 The Park, which had been enclosed with a wooden fence 
 in 1785, extended in triangular shape from Vesey to Murray 
 Street, and north of it, about on the northerly line of Murray 
 Street, stood the Bridewell, Almshouse, and Jail, in a row 
 facing south. The Bridewell, or criminal prison, which stood 
 
•14 New York City in 1789. 
 
 nearest to Great George Street, was erected in 1775, accord- 
 ing to plans furnished by Theophilus Hardenbrook, and had 
 been paid for by a lottery in which the city bought a thou- 
 sand tickets. It was a long two-story building constructed of 
 gray stone, the keeper and his assistants occupying the first 
 floor, and the second floor being divided into two wards, one 
 of which, for the keeping of less desperate criminals, was called 
 the Upper Hall and the other the Chain Room, During the 
 Revolution the British had used the building as a prison, and 
 its use as such was continued until 1838 when it was torn 
 down and some of the stones were used in the construction of 
 the present Tombs. To the east of the Bridewell, about on 
 the site of the present City Hall was the Almshouse, a two- 
 story gray stone building, fifty-six feet in front by twenty- 
 four feet deep, erected in 1736, at an expense of ;^I22 los. 
 and demolished in 1797. These institutions were under the 
 care of thirteen commissioners whose proceedings were inves- 
 tigated annually by the Common Council and apparently re- 
 quired some supervision, as in May 1788, a committee of the 
 Common Council, appointed to investigate a charge that the 
 Commissioners had furnished bad butter and flour, found that 
 the statement was true. This, however, was said to have 
 happened accidentally; but in February 1790, Willett Sea- 
 man, one of the commissioners, was ordered to take back a 
 quantity of poor shoes which he had furnished to the Alms- 
 house and to refund the money which had been paid for 
 them. The expenses of the Almshouse during the year 
 amounted to about ^3700 or $9250, those of the Bridewell 
 being considerably less. The vagrants confined in the latter 
 were employed in August in cleaning out the drains beneath 
 the Exchange and the Fly Market, the Common Council 
 having petitioned in October 1788 for the enactment of a 
 law providing for hard labor by vagrants both within and 
 without doors. Beyond the Almshouse stood the Jail, or 
 debtor's prison, a rough stone building three stories high, sur- 
 mounted by a large cupola containing a bell. A corridor ran 
 through the middle of the building, and one side of the sec- 
 ond floor was used as a chapel. In 1830, the Common Coun- 
 
General Description. 1 5 
 
 cil decided to reconstruct this building for the use of the Reg- 
 ister of Deeds, and the cupola and top floor were re- 
 moved, the exterior stuccoed, and the present porticoes put 
 up, the changes being completed in I832 when the building 
 was occupied by the ofifices of the Surrogate, Register, Comp- 
 troller, and Street Commissioners. The Register's Office 
 alone has occupied it since 1870 when further changes were 
 made in it. The practically endless imprisonment of debtors 
 was greatly modified by an Act passed February 13th 1789 
 limiting imprisonment for debts of £10 or less to thirty days, 
 and that for larger amounts to three months, provided that 
 the debtor would make oath that he had no property where- 
 with to pay his debts, but these unfortunates still led a mis- 
 erable existence. On the 9th of April 1788 the Common 
 Council accepted an offer from John Pearsee the keeper of 
 the jail to feed the prisoners at 8d. a day each, but the 
 meagre fare which they received from this source was supple- 
 mented by contributions of food from the Society for the re- 
 lief of Distressed Debtors which had been founded January 
 26th 1787. According to the original plan this society was to 
 consist of twenty-four members who were to meet on the sec- 
 ond Friday in every month and to choose a president at each 
 meeting, while the secretary and treasurer were to be chosen 
 annually and a committee of three members was to be chosen 
 to visit the jail at stated times, one of its members retiring 
 from ofifice each month. In 1789 the officers of the society 
 were 
 
 President, Rev. Dr. John Rodgers. 
 Vice-president, Dr. James Cogswell. 
 Treasurer, Richard Platt. 
 Secretary, MoSES ROGERS. 
 
 Its charitable work seems to have been very successful as 
 on the nth of May 1789 it acknowledged the receipt of 1500 
 pounds of fresh beef which it had received from an unknown 
 person between the 17th of February and the 30th of April, 
 and in December 1789 the prisoners returned thanks for a 
 contribution of fifty guineas from the President of the United 
 
1 6 New York City in 1789. 
 
 States. The secretary of the society, however, published a 
 Card stating that the society had not authorized the announce- 
 ment of the President's gift, as he had requested that it should 
 be kept secret. On the 25th of October 1789 a charity ser- 
 mon for the benefit of the society was also preached in the 
 North Dutch Church, probably by Dr. Linn who was one of 
 its founders. 
 
 Between the Jail and the Almshouse stood the Gallows in 
 a gaudily painted Chinese pagoda erected in 1784, which, 
 under the barbarous laws then existing, was put to frequent 
 use, as by Acts passed in February 1788 the penalty of death 
 was attached to the crimes of treason, murder, forgery, coun- 
 terfeiting, rape, forcible detaining of women, robbing a church, 
 housebreaking by day or night if the house were occupied, 
 robbery, wilful burning of any house or barn, and malicious 
 maiming. An Act of February i6th 1787 provided that no 
 person should be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal of a 
 woman, for the death of any other than of her husband. Dur- 
 ing the year 1789 the Court of Oyer and Terminer imposed ten 
 sentences of death, all for burglary, robbery, and forgery, five 
 executions taking place on the 23rd of October. Near the 
 gallows also stood the whipping-post and stocks for the pun- 
 ishment of minor offences, the public whipper, Joseph Shelvey, 
 receiving a yearly salary of £1^ for his services. By Act of 
 March 24th 1787 larceny was to be punished by such corporal 
 punishment as the court might direct, but, if by whipping, not 
 to exceed thirty-nine lashes in one day. In February 1788, 
 the Justices of the Sessions were also authorized to punish 
 disorderly persons and vagrants by six months imprisonment 
 and whipping at such times as they might consider proper; 
 but in February 1789 the Act was modified by adding hard 
 labor to the imprisonment, and leaving the whipping part of 
 =the punishment to the discretion of the court. An example 
 of this kind of punishment was given in February 1789 when 
 George Talbot and Richard Howard, for grand larceny, were 
 sentenced to one month's imprisonment and to receive twenty 
 lashes at the cart's tail on three successive Mondays, near the 
 'Exchange, the Fly Market, and the Peck Slip Market. At 
 
General Description. 17 
 
 the same time others were sentenced to 39 lashes for petit lar- 
 ceny, and one month's imprisonment and 39 lashes for grand 
 larceny. The penalty of death was confined to the crimes of 
 treason and murder only by Act of March 21st 1801 and 
 whipping was dropped from the punishment of larceny at the 
 same time. 
 
 In the rear of these city buildings, upon the present line 
 of Chambers Street, were the Upper Barracks which had 
 been used by the British. In January 1790 the Common 
 Council ordered them to be sold and removed by the ist of 
 June, but they appear on the map of 1791. 
 
 Broadway in 1789 was of less importance both as a place 
 of business and of residence than were the streets to the east 
 of it. It was paved from the Bowling Green to Vesey Street 
 but its grading was probably very bad. The method of regu- 
 lating and paving the streets at that time is well illustrated 
 by proceedings in the Common Council in 1788 with regard 
 to this street. On the 9th of April the clerk was ordered to 
 prepare an ordinance for the digging down and paving of 
 Broadway, Verlittenbergh (Exchange Place), and New Streets, 
 according to the proposed regulation of those streets reported 
 August 23rd 1786. On the 21st of May complaint was made 
 that the arch of the pavement then being laid descended too 
 much toward the houses, and a surveyor was ordered to ar- 
 range the matter satisfactorily to the property owners. On 
 the 23rd of May he reported that the arch of the street was 
 six inches too high, and would now be lowered to eighteen 
 inches. But later in the year another complaint was made 
 by Mrs. McAdam which was referred to a committee who 
 made a report on the 27th of October. Their statement was 
 that the distance from the northeast corner of the Lutheran 
 Church lot on the corner of Rector Street to the south line 
 of Mrs. Mc Adam's lot was 255 feet, and that the descent was 
 4 feet I i-l inches, while the distance from Mrs. McAdam 's lot 
 to the pump opposite Mr. McComb's house was 151 feet and 
 the ascent i foot 4 inches. Upon this statement it was re- 
 solved that the ground opposite the pump at Mr. McComb's 
 be taken down six inches, and the pump removed ; that the 
 
1 8 New York City in 1789. 
 
 pavement on the west side of Broadway be taken up and re- 
 laid with regular descent from the Lutheran Church past Mr. 
 McComb's door ; that the east side of Broadway at Verlitten 
 Hill be raised twelve inches, and continued with proper 
 descent down the same; and that John Stagg should be em- 
 ployed to do the work and should receive for it i^i20, and the 
 necessary amount of sand. A motion was then made that 
 John McComb, the city surveyor who then had the work in 
 charge, be removed from office for incapacity, but action upon 
 it was postponed, and he was afterwards promised a hearing, 
 which was apparently satisfactory to the Common Council. 
 Public pumps stood in the middle of Broadway for many 
 years after 1789, it being the usual custom for the house- 
 holders to dig the well and for the city to contribute ;^io 
 toward the building of the pump. 
 
 The most noteworthy buildings on Broadway in 1789 
 were St. Paul's Chapel, the City Tavern, Trinity Church, the 
 McComb mansion, and the Kennedy mansion. A description 
 of the churches will be found in another chapter. The City 
 Tavern, a wooden building which stood on the west side of 
 the street, between Thames and Little Queen (Cedar), Streets 
 on the site of the present Boreel Building, was the prin- 
 cipal hostelry of the city, its long-room being used for soci- 
 ety dinners, lectures, and various public amusements. In 
 December 1789 the Common Council also made arrange- 
 ments for its use by the courts, as the Exchange, in which 
 they had been held, was to be used by the Legislature. The 
 building had first been used as a dwelling house but was 
 opened as a tavern by Edward Willet in 1754, his successors 
 down to the Revolution bearing the names of Crawley, Burns, 
 Bolton, and Hull. During part of the war it was kept by 
 one Hicks, who was succeeded in 1781 by Charles Roubalet, 
 and in October 1783 it passed into the hands of John Cape, 
 who advertised it in April 1784 under the title of " The 
 State Arms of New York at No. 18 Broadway." In February 
 1786 Mr. Cape, having fallen into financial troubles, ab- 
 sconded, and the contents of the tavern having been sold by 
 the sheriff, it passed to the management of Joseph Corre, who 
 
General Description. 19 
 
 advertised that private families might advantageously place 
 their cooks under his instruction. In April 1788 Mr. Corre 
 removed elsewhere, and the City Tavern passed into the 
 hands of Edward Bardin, an experienced innkeeper, under 
 whose management it remained until 1793 when the building 
 was demolished to be replaced by the Tontine City Hotel. 
 
 The McComb mansion, on the west side of Broadway, was 
 built in 1786 by Alexander McComb, as a residence, and in 
 1790 was occupied by Washington as a presidential mansion, 
 its rent being $2500 a year. In later years it became a part 
 of Bunker's Hotel at No. 39 Broadway. 
 
 No. I Broadway, known as the Kennedy mansion because 
 of its ownership by Capt. Archibald Kennedy of the English 
 navy, who married into the Watts family, was one of the fin- 
 est houses in the city, being a spacious two story and attic 
 brick building with the entrance in the middle and two win- 
 dows on each side of it, the frontage on Broadway being fifty- 
 six feet. The block upon which it stood escaped the fire of 
 1776, and during the Revolution this house is said to have 
 been occupied by a Mrs. Loring as a fashionable boarding- 
 house. After the Revolution, it is said to have been occupied 
 for a time by Isaac Sears, a merchant, who was commonly 
 known as " King Sears " from his daring leadership of the 
 Liberty Boys. In 1785, however. King Sears was over- 
 whelmed with debt, and having on the 3rd of February made 
 an assignment of his interest in the assets of the firm of Sears 
 and Smith to his partner, Pascal N. Smith, took advantage of 
 his immunity from arrest as a member of the Assembly and 
 sailed for China, where he ended his stormy career on the 28th 
 of October 1786. In 1789, and perhaps before that year, this 
 house was occupied by Don Diego de Gardoqui, the Spanish 
 Ambassador, and in 1790 it was occupied by Mrs. Graham's 
 fashionable boarding-school for young ladies. In after years 
 it was the residence of Nathaniel Prime, was later turned into 
 the Washington Hotel, and was finally demolished for the 
 erection of the present Washington Building. 
 
 The Bowling Green had been enclosed as a park as early 
 as 1733, and near its lower end stood in 1789 the foundation 
 
20 Netu York City in 1789. 
 
 of the statue of George III. erected in 1770 and demolished 
 at the declaration of independence. This foundation was not 
 torn up until 18 18, and the stone base of the statue, after serv- 
 ing as a gravestone and as a door step, is now in the possession 
 of the New York Historical Society, together with the tail of 
 the king's horse. In 1789 a committee of the Common 
 Council was appointed to put the Green in order and to rent 
 it, and it is said that their duty also included the removal of 
 the " Federal Ship Hamilton," a miniature 32 gun frigate, 
 thirty feet long and ten feet wide, which had been used in the 
 Federal Procession on the 23rd of July 1788, and then depos- 
 ited in the Green. The Bowling Green was oval in shape, 
 with the smaller end toward the north, and was about 220 
 feet long by 130 feet in its widest part. The statue of George 
 III. stood about 50 feet from its lower end, which was on a line 
 with the present north side of Battery Place. Directly below 
 the Bowling Green was Fort George, the distance from the 
 lower end of the Green to the north line of the enclosure of 
 the Fort being 150 feet. By an Act passed March 29th 1784 
 the Fort had been placed under the control of the Governor, 
 but in 1788 a dispute arose between the State and City au- 
 thorities as to which held title to the premises. The At- 
 torney General reported that there was no doubt as to the 
 State's title, and from a survey of the property, made in 1788, 
 the following description is made with approximate accuracy 
 as to distances. The Fort was a rectangle with large solid 
 five-sided bastions at its corners, its parapet consisting of a 
 wall of masonry from eight to ten feet thick, banked with 
 a mound of earth about fifteen feet thick on its easterly and 
 southerly sides and of about twice that thickness on the 
 westerly side, the distance of which from the water's edge was 
 about 200 feet. The curtains of the Fort were about 140 feet 
 in length on the east side, and about 145 feet on its southerly 
 and westerly sides. The bastion at its northwest corner was 
 complete, but the left face of its northeast bastion was but 
 half finished and its left flank was entirely wanting. The 
 distance between the flanked angles of the bastions was 305 
 feet on the east side of the fort, 340 feet on its south side, and 
 
General Description. 21 
 
 320 feet on its west side. The side toward the Bowling 
 Green was not fortified. Inside of the Fort, close to its west- 
 erly wall, was a barracks 100 feet long by 20 feet deep ; near 
 what should have been the left shoulder angle of its northeast 
 bastion was a small stable ; and just outside of the right face 
 of its northwest bastion was a larger stable. On the corner 
 of Whitehall Street and the present Bowling Green, was the 
 old office of the Colonial Secretary, a building 55 long by 30 
 feet deep, which faced on Whitehall Street. Entrance was 
 apparently made to the Fort through a passage along the 
 southerly end of this building leading into the incompleted 
 left face of the northeast bastion. On the easterly and south- 
 erly sides of the Fort were large gardens. The whole struct- 
 ure in 1789 was in a state of dilapidation and decay, and was 
 worthless for purposes of defence, if it had ever possessed any 
 such value. What had once been an earthwork, and still con- 
 tained guns, was known as the Battery and extended from 
 what was known as Eld's corner, on the south line of Battery 
 Place, along the water's edge to Whitehall Slip, there being 
 three bastions in that distance of about 1450 feet. .On the 
 loth of June, 1789 the Common Council appointed a commit- 
 tee to confer with the Assemblymen from the city as to the 
 best means of obtaining for the city's use the lands at the 
 Fort, Battery, and Nutten (Governor's) Island, which were 
 then controlled by the State. The result of this conference 
 was the adoption of a resolution by the Legislature, in July 
 1789, that the ground upon which the Fort stood should be 
 reserved for public use, and that a house for the use of the 
 President of the United States should be erected upon part 
 of it, the necessary provision for such a building to be made 
 at its next session. It also requested the Governor to direct 
 that Broadway should be continued through the Fort, so 
 much of that building as obstructed, to be removed at state 
 expense. In accordance with this resolution the Governor 
 and the Common Council viewed the ground on the 30th of 
 July 1789, and the Governor proposed to remove, at state ex- 
 pense, so much of the Fort as obstructed the line of Broadway 
 to the river, and that the city should erect bulkheads " from 
 
22 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Eld's corner to the Flat Rock " to receive the dirt from the 
 Fort and thus enlarge the area of the Battery. The Common 
 Council at once agreed to this and, on the 12th of August, 
 decided that a bulkhead should be immediately built from 
 Kennedy's Wharf, which was apparently near Eld's corner, to 
 the northwest bastion of the Battery, a distance of about 210 
 feet. The work was done by Elias Burger, jr., for ^^378 or 
 $946, and seems to have proceeded quite rapidly as, in No- 
 vember, the newspapers announced that half of it had been 
 completed, and that it was hoped that in the Spring a beauti- 
 ful circuitous street would be completed around three-quarters 
 of New York by way of Greenwich Street to Whitehall, and 
 thence along the East River on the Albany Pier. 
 
 The whole plot of ground included in the premises belong- 
 ing to the Fort extended from the north corner of the Secre- 
 tary's Office southerly 395 feet along the west side of White- 
 hall Street to the lower end of a small building at the corner 
 of the land of Capt. Thomas Randall, thence nearly due west 
 about 425 feet to a point which had formerly been the shore 
 line, and thence northerly about 400 feet to Eld's corner on 
 the south line of the present Battery Place, and along it 430 
 feet to Whitehall Street. By an Act passed on the i6th of 
 March 1790 the portion retained by the State was defined as 
 extending the whole length on Whitehall Street, and about 
 192 feet from the corner of that street along Battery Place, 
 its westerly boundary being a line about 360 feet long which 
 terminated nearly at the flanked angle of the southwest bas- 
 tion of the Fort, whence its southerly line ran nearly due east 
 to Whitehall Street. This portion included the whole of the 
 Fort, with the exception of its northwest bastion and a por- 
 tion of its western parapet ; all the remaining land at the 
 Battery belonging to the State was, by the same Act, vested 
 in the City Corporation to be used for buildings and purposes 
 of defence only. 
 
 The plan of erecting the President's House on the site of 
 the Fort met with some opposition on the ground that it 
 might easily be destroyed by the guns of some adventurous 
 cruiser. A complainant in the New York Journal of August 
 
General Description. 23 
 
 6th 1789 stated that the site was poor on account of the neigh- 
 borhood, and that " this valuable property should stand alone 
 in some spacious square with gardens and court annexed, on 
 account of magnificence, beauty, salubrity and safety." He 
 suggested as a proper site the Spring Garden, Rutgers farm, 
 or what was formerly Delancy's. These objections, however, 
 were not heeded and the construction of the new building, 
 on the site of the six brick buildings now occupied by steam- 
 ship offices facing the lower end of the Bowling Green, was 
 placed in the hands of three commissioners, John Watts, 
 Richard Varick, and Gerard Bancker, its first stone being laid 
 on the 2 1 St of May 1790. The State granted ;^8ooo for its 
 construction, but it was never occupied by the President, as 
 the seat of the National Government was removed to Phila- 
 delphia before its completion ; but the Governor occupied it 
 for some years and it was afterwards used as the custom-house. 
 In levelling the ground at the Fort several old relics were un- 
 earthed, including Dutch tobacco-pipes of rude workmanship, 
 the remains of a brass-hilted sword, and a few coins, one of 
 which bore the date 1605. In removing the earth where the 
 old Dutch chapel had stood, a number of bones were dug up 
 and three burial vaults were discovered, in the first of which 
 was found the coffin-plate of Lady Elizabeth Hays, wife of 
 Governor Hunter, who died August 8th 17 16. The second 
 vault contained pieces of four or five coffins, one of which 
 made of lead, bore the escutcheon of the Coote family of Ire- 
 land and was identified as that of Lord Bellamont who died 
 in 1701 ; the third vault contained but a few bones. Asquare 
 stone was also found in the foundations of the Fort among 
 the ruins of the old chapel, bearing the inscription in Dutch, 
 " In the year of our Lord 1642, William Kieft, Director-Gen- 
 eral, caused the Congregation to build this Church." This . 
 stone was preserved in the Garden Street Dutch Church 
 until its destruction by fire in 1835. 
 
 Below the Fort property was a plot of ground extending 
 along Whitehall Street about 125 feet to the corner of Pearl 
 Street which ran one block west of Whitehall Street to the 
 water's edge. Below it was another block of about 200 feet 
 
24 New York City in 1789. 
 
 on Whitehall Street, the lower boundary of which was called 
 Copsie Street, which ran one block west of Whitehall Street, 
 and marked the original shore line. On its south side were 
 the Lower Barracks, which in 1789 were apparently used as 
 dwelling houses, the building being about 210 feet long by 25 
 feet deep, with an ell about 70 feet long at its west end. The 
 space of about 240 feet from the front of these Barracks to the 
 southern extremity of the island was apparently unoccupied, 
 with the exception of one small house on the west side of 
 Whitehall Street. 
 
 The houses on Broadway were not numbered by any regu- 
 lar system and the street numbers in 1789 can be used in few 
 instances for the present identification of the sites of build- 
 ings. Thus, No. 33 was at one of the corners of Cortlandt 
 Street ; No. 29 was near Maiden Lane and No. 58 was nearly 
 opposite to it ; No. 62 was at the corner of Liberty Street ; 
 No. 76 was nearly opposite the City Tavern which was be- 
 tween the present numbers 113 and 121 ; and No. 85 was 
 nearly opposite to Trinity Church. Odd and even numbers 
 were given to houses without regard to the side of the street 
 upon which they stood, and in some cases two houses bore the 
 same number. The first systematic numbering of the houses 
 was proposed in 1790. Many of the citizens changed their 
 residence during the year, but from the City Directory for 
 1789 and from newspaper advertisements in that year, all the 
 inhabitants upon Broadway and the number of their houses 
 at that time appear to have been as follows : 
 
 No. No. 
 
 1. Don Diego de Gardoqui. 11. Elizabeth B, Hatter. 
 
 2. John King, shoemaker. Benjamin Groves. 
 
 3. Robert R. Livingston, 12. Mrs. Ball, dry nurse. 
 
 chancellor. Derril Mack, shoemaker. 
 
 4- Mrs. Montcrieff, school. 
 
 5. Mrs. Cortlandt. 13. Widow Ingram. 
 
 6, Mrs. McAdam. Mrs. White. Henry King, carpenter. 
 7- 14. — Battow, upholsterer. 
 
 8, Henry White. Abraham Benzaken, tailor. 
 
 9. Garret Heyer, shoemaker. 15. Hercules Wendover, tavern. 
 10. Gen. Maunsel. 16. Widow Barham, porterhouse. 
 
General Description. 
 
 25 
 
 No. No. 
 
 Dinah Clark, washerwoman. 40. 
 17. George Walker, cake shop. 
 18. 
 
 19. Richard Anderson, grocer. 
 
 John Wickman, attorney. 41. 
 
 20. Philip Jacobs, shopkeeper. 42. 
 
 21. Henry Whiteman, shopkeeper. 43. 
 
 22. Widow Bailey, boarding-house. 44. 
 
 23. William Allen, gunsmith. 
 
 24. 45. 
 
 25. Nicholas Bogart. 46. 
 Samuel B. Webb. 47. 
 
 26. Cornelius Bogart. 48. 
 
 27. John Amory, whipmaker. 49. 
 Hayman Solomon, shopkeeper. 50. 
 
 28. Nicholas Bogart, shopkeeper. 
 Peter Jay Munro, attorney. 51. 
 
 29. Ebenezer Hazard, postmaster- 52. 
 
 general. 53. 
 
 30. Daniel McLaren, shopkeeper. 54. 
 John Stoutenburgh, merchant. 55. 
 
 31. Frederick Ransier, cooper, 56. 
 
 32. John Bogart, ironmonger. 
 John Miller, hairdresser. 
 Thomas Mullet, merchant. 57. 
 
 33. Jacobus Bogart, baker. 
 James Bond, blacksmith. 
 
 Pascal N. Smith, merchant. 58. 
 
 34. Samuel Jones, attorney. 59. 
 Jacob Resler, chandler. 60. 
 
 35. Frederick Heerman, druggist. 
 Leonard Rogers, breeches- 
 maker. 61, 
 
 36. John Fawpel, peruke-maker. 62. 
 Henry Frederick, breeches- 
 maker. 63. 
 
 John Hoiifman, dry goods. 
 
 y]. John Pierce, shopkeeper. 64. 
 William Ross, harness-maker. 
 
 38. John Jones, dry goods store. 65. 
 John Mills, shoemaker. 66. 
 
 39. Sylvester Buskirk, tinware. 67. 
 Thomas Lefoy, hatter. 68. 
 Cato Railmore, fruit shop. 69. 
 
 J. W. Gilbert, storekeeper. 
 Frederick Merchant, shoe- 
 maker. 
 William Parker, tailor. 
 John King, shoemaker. 
 Sigismund Hugget, grocer. 
 James Hallett, coachmaker. 
 John McKesson, clerk of 
 
 Supreme Court. 
 Blaise Moore, tobacconist. 
 Rev. Benjamin Moore. 
 Robert Dodds, silk-dyer. 
 John Houseman, shopkeeper. 
 John Glover, dry goods store. 
 Peter Ritter, ironware and 
 
 jewelry. 
 
 William Deane, coachmaker. 
 Benjamin Haight, saddler. 
 McLeod & Masterson, shop. 
 
 Widow Colley, boarding-house. 
 John Dover, storekeeper. 
 David Cation, storekeeper. 
 David Coutant, chairmaker. 
 Theodorus J. Hamilton, grocer. 
 Henry Roome, storekeeper. 
 Jacob Morton, attorney. 
 James Kipp, brass founder. 
 Mrs. Bowie, shopkeeper. 
 Anthony Latour, barber. 
 Widow McKinley. 
 John B. Dash, jr., hardware. 
 Sebastian Bauman, grocer and 
 postmaster. 
 Christopher Beekman. 
 Mrs. Sebring, boarding-house. 
 Alexander Hamilton, shoe- 
 maker. 
 James Anderson, shoemaker. 
 Abraham Brown, tailor. 
 Thomas Grindell, pewterer. 
 John B. Dash, sr., hardware. 
 Ephraim Ross, tavern. 
 
26 
 
 New York City in 1789. 
 
 No. 
 
 
 No, 
 
 70. 
 
 Mary Dixon. 
 
 89. 
 
 71. 
 
 Widow Hoffman, shopkeeper. 
 
 90. 
 
 72. 
 
 John Jackson, carpenter. 
 
 
 
 James Nesmith. 
 
 91. 
 
 
 WiUiam Roberts, cordwainer. 
 
 
 17>- 
 
 Joseph Quinnion, tailor. 
 
 92. 
 
 74- 
 
 
 93- 
 
 75- 
 
 John Jackson, shopkeeper. 
 
 
 76. 
 
 Mrs. Carter, young ladies' 
 
 94. 
 
 
 school. 
 
 95- 
 
 77- 
 
 Baptist Gilliaux, hairdresser. 
 
 96. 
 
 78. 
 
 
 97- 
 
 79- 
 
 
 98. 
 
 80. 
 
 John Stackler, blacksmith. 
 
 99. 
 
 81. 
 82. 
 83- 
 
 Thomas Parsell, coachmaker. 
 
 
 William S. Livingston, 
 
 IOC 
 
 attorney. 
 
 84. Mrs. McCuUen, boarding- loi 
 
 house. 102 
 
 James Jarvis. 103 
 
 85. Peter Deschent, fruit shop. 104 
 Archibald McCullum, saddler. 
 Malcolm Campbell, school. 105 
 
 86. Joseph Harden. 118, 
 James Tillery, M.D. 119 
 John Van Gelder, tailor. 120 
 
 87. Mrs. Bayard. 121 
 David Campbell, attorney. 133. 
 
 88. W. G. Forbes, goldsmith. 
 
 Lawrence Kortwright, 
 
 merchant. 
 John Foxcroft, agent for British 
 
 packets. 
 
 John H. Merkle, goldsmith. 
 
 John Nixson, cookshop. 
 
 Widow Laycock. 
 
 Walter Livingston, attorney. 
 
 John Cochrane, M.D. 
 
 Mrs. James. George TurnbuU. 
 
 Thomas Ellison. 
 
 Robert Melvin, carpenter. 
 
 Joseph Nourse, register of the 
 
 treasury. 
 . John Charlton, M.D. 
 
 Peter McKinnion, hairdresser. 
 . James Hill, painter. 
 . James Hill, jr. 
 
 John Slidell, chandler. 
 Thomas Ten Eyck, merchant. 
 — 117. 
 Anthony Bolton, shoemaker. 
 William Heyer. 
 John Rogers, merchant. 
 -132. 
 John Jay. 
 
 Among the residents whose street numbers do not appear 
 in the Directory were M. du Moustier, the French minister, 
 who resided near the Bowling Green ; Gen. Henry Knox, 
 who resided in 1787, at No. 4 Broadway, and probably occu- 
 pied the same house in 1789; Alderman William W. Gil- 
 bert ; Widow Van Cortlandt, on the corner of Thames Street 
 now occupied by the Trinity Building ; James Thompson, 
 merchant, corner of Thames Street ; Manasseh Salter, shop- 
 keeper ; and William Wilmerding, storekeeper, corner of Dey 
 Street. Elbridge Gerry and William Smith, congressmen 
 from Massachusetts, also lived on Broadway, the former at 
 
General Description. 27 
 
 the corner of Thames Street with his father-in-law James 
 Thompson, and the latter next door to the Spanish Minister. 
 Senator Ralph Izard of South Carolina lived opposite the 
 French Ambassador. The east side of Broadway below Wall 
 Street had been swept by the fire of 1776 and had been re- 
 built with cheap frame buildings but these were beginning to 
 be replaced by fine residences, and, a few years later, the 
 lower part of Broadway became one of the most fashionable 
 places of residence. The house occupied by Gen. Knox, the 
 Secretary of War, which was advertised for sale in the latter 
 part of 1789 was probably a fair representative of the better 
 class of dwelling houses at that time. It was described as a 
 four story brick house on the west side of Broadway, 3i|- feet 
 wide by 60 feet deep, containing two rooms of thirty feet in 
 length, one of twenty-six feet, three of twenty-three feet, and 
 two of twenty feet, besides four other rooms with fireplaces, 
 and four smaller ones without them. On the ground-floor 
 there was a large servant's-hall which communicated with the 
 area, and a kitchen 20 ft. by 30 ft. in dimension. In the rear 
 of the house there was a piazza thirty feet long by ten feet 
 wide and the back yard contained a good well, cistern, and 
 ash-house. The lots ran back about 500 feet to the end of a 
 wharf on Greenwich Street, and upon one of them, fronting 
 upon Greenwich Street, was a coach-house twenty-eight feet 
 four inches wide. 
 
 No houses were allowed to be erected in the city unless 
 the property was previously surveyed by a city surveyor, the 
 penalty for disobedience of this rule being a fine of £^, and 
 by ordinance of April 15th 1789 no stoop was to extend more 
 than six feet nor any bow-window more than twenty inches 
 into any street. The City Surveyors were Isaac Stoutenburg, 
 jr., Dey Street near Broadway; John McComb, 21 Smith 
 (William) Street; Evert Bancker, 3 Fair (Fulton) Street; and 
 Charles T. Goerck, 20 Gold Street. The transfers of real es- 
 tate on Broadway in 1789 were very few. Among the deeds 
 recorded in that year, but dated two or three years before, 
 was one conveying for ;^700 a plot of ground on the north- 
 west corner of Broadway and Liberty Street twenty-five feet 
 
28 Nciv York City in 1789. 
 
 wide by ninety feet deep, with a smaller plot in the rear, 
 while another lot in the same neighborhood, thirty-eight feet 
 wide by ninety feet deep, was sold for ;^6oo. A plot on the 
 west side of the street, probably some distance below Wall 
 Street, having a frontage of 105 feet and a depth of 270 feet 
 to high water, running thence to low-water mark and thence 
 200 feet into the North River, was sold for ;^3,20O. A 
 Church Farm lot twenty-five feet wide by 108 feet 9 inches 
 deep on the west side of Broadway between Warren and 
 Murray Streets brought ^^240, and ^^150 were paid for a lot 
 33 feet wide by 190 feet deep on Great George Street in the 
 neighborhood of the Collect. 
 
 The cross streets on the west side of Broadway were 
 nearly the same as at the present time but in a few cases had 
 different names. Duane Street, which extended but one 
 block west of Broadway was called Barley Street ; Park 
 Place was called Robinson Street and was not cut through 
 the block then occupied by Columbia College; Fulton Street 
 on that side of the city was called Partition Street, while 
 Liberty and Cedar Streets were known respectively as Crown 
 and Little Queen Streets. Exchange Place on the west side 
 was known as Oyster Pasty Lane, and the present Morris 
 Street was called Beaver Lane. West Broadway and Col- 
 lege Place ran only from Reade to Barclay Street and were 
 called Chapel Street, while Church Street extended only 
 from Reade to Fulton Street. The street corresponding to 
 the present New Church Street extended from Liberty 
 Street to Exchange Place and was known as Lumber Street. 
 Improvements in these streets had been begun in 1788 and 
 during that and the following year Barclay, Vesey, Partition, 
 Cortlandt, and Lumber Streets and Oyster Pasty Lane were 
 ordered to be paved. Among the residents on Cortlandt 
 Street were at No. i, William J. Elsworth, pewterer, and Dr. 
 Edward Eager ; No. 46, James Prince, merchant ; No. 49, 
 Samuel Fraunces, tavern ; No. 63, Rev. Dr. John Mason ; and 
 No. 66, Rev. Dr. William Linn. 
 
 One of the streets upon which the greatest improvements 
 were being made was Greenwich Street, which ran close to 
 
General Description. 29 
 
 the water's edge from the Battery to Cedar Street, but from 
 that point to Reade Street was separated from the North 
 River by short blocks filled in on its west side. In May 1788, 
 a part of it was being regulated and in July of the same year, 
 the Common Council ordered the paving of it from Cort- 
 landt to Barclay Street. Subsequently this work was ordered 
 to be extended to Warren Street, and by the 29th of Sep- 
 tember, 1789, it had progressed so far that a committee of the 
 Common Council was appointed to investigate the error in it. 
 The street was also apparently widened as a number of old 
 buildings were removed from the line of it, and commissioners 
 during the year 1789 awarded about £\<^^o to property own- 
 ers for injury caused to their premises by the improvements. 
 The commissioners themselves, five in number, asked for but 
 $120 for their services. Among the places of business on 
 Greenwich Street were that of Frederick and Philip Rhine- 
 lander on the corner of Barclay Street, and the store of Isaac 
 Stoutenburgh and Son, on the corner of Dey Street. In 
 June 1789, the corporation of Trinity Church announced the 
 sale at auction of two lots on the corner of Greenwich and 
 Murray Streets with the house lately occupied by Mr. Rich- 
 ard Deane, and also the much-admired lots called Vaux Hall, 
 which were one hundred feet square with buildings and gar- 
 dens bounded in part by Warren Street. Another advertise- 
 ment of the sale of a distillery on Greenwich Street describes 
 it as the growing part of the city. 
 
 Pearl Street, which was originally on the water-line, in 
 1789 bore that name only from the present State Street to 
 Broad Street. From Broad Street to Wall Street it was 
 called Great Dock Street, and thence to its end at Chatham 
 Street it was known as Queen Street, a name which it re- 
 ceived in 1695 and retained until toward the close of the last 
 century. In 1788 and 1789 it was regulated and paved from 
 the present Oak Street to Coenties Alley. A number of the 
 chief merchants had their residences and places of business 
 in the part of it known as Great Dock Street, while the part 
 known as Queen Street shared with Water Street and Han- 
 over Square the principal business of the city. The highest 
 
30 
 
 New York City in 1789. 
 
 street number given to a house on Great Dock Street by the 
 city directory of 1789 is fifty-six. A few of the residents on 
 that street were as follows : 
 
 No. No. 
 
 2. Josiah Ogden Hoffman, 14, 
 
 attorney. 
 
 9. Farmer & Bishop, store. 17. 
 
 10. Abraham Brinkerhofif, store. 19. 
 
 11. Atwood & Tronson, iron. 35. 
 
 12. J. B. CoUes, iron. 39. 
 
 Nicholas Hoffman & Son, 
 
 merchants. 40. 
 41. 
 
 13- 
 
 Robert C. Livingston. 
 
 Johnston & Ogden, 
 
 merchants. 
 Christopher Beekman, tavern. 
 Abraham Maziere. 
 Gulian Verplanck. 
 WiUiam Constable & Co., 
 
 merchants. 
 WiUiam Neilson, merchant. 
 Hill & Ogden, merchants. 
 
 At No. 15 was Mrs. Dunscomb's boarding-house which was 
 patronized by Caleb Strong, Fisher Ames, Theodore Sedg- 
 wick, and George Leonard of Massachusetts. On Queen 
 Street the highest street number was 244 and some of the 
 residents were ; 
 
 No. 
 I. 
 
 4- 
 8. 
 
 9- 
 II. 
 
 IS- 
 
 17- 
 21. 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 37- 
 38. 
 39- 
 43- 
 
 No. 
 
 James Rivington, bookseller & 44. 
 
 tobacconist. 50. 
 
 William Bayard, merchant. 51. 
 
 Joshua Waddington & Co., 52. 
 
 merchants. 
 
 Isaac Desbrosses. 56. 
 
 Richard Harrison, attorney. 67. 
 
 Samuel Dunlap, store. 68. 
 
 William Dunlap, portrait 73. 
 
 painter. 79. 
 
 Alexander Robertson, merchant. 98. 
 
 James Smith, merchant. loi. 
 
 George Scriba, merchant. 155. 
 
 John Keese, notary public. 156. 
 
 John J. Glover, merchant. 159. 
 Nicholas Brevoort, iron. 
 
 Alexander Dunlap, iron. 162. 
 
 George Bowne, merchant. 168. 
 
 John Bard, iron. 171. 
 
 Robert Bowne, merchant. 173. 
 Pearsall & Embree, watches. 
 
 James Scott, merchant. 
 Thomas Franklin, merchant. 
 Edward Livingston, attorney. 
 Walter Buchanan, merchant. 
 Jacob Leroy «& Son, merchants. 
 Willet Seaman, merchant. 
 William Walton. 
 Jared Walton. 
 
 James Roosevelt, merchant. 
 Ephraim Brasher, goldsmith. 
 Solomon Hull, soap-boiler. 
 White Matlack, brewer. 
 John Murray. 
 Benjamin Kissam, M.D. 
 James Roosevelt & Son, 
 
 merchants. 
 John Lawrence, merchant. 
 Peter Byvanck, iron. 
 James Cogswell, physician. 
 James W, Depeyster, 
 
 merchant. 
 
General Description. 
 
 31 
 
 No. No. 
 
 175. William Depeyster, dry goods. 212. 
 177. Peter & James Burling, 
 
 leather. 213. 
 
 181, Streatfield & Levinus 215. 
 
 Clarkson. 222. 
 
 183. Samuel Franklin, merchant. 223. 
 
 184. Murray & Sansom, merchants. 227. 
 
 185. Effingham Embree. 
 
 189. William Kenyon, merchant. 228. 
 igo. William & Samuel Bowne, 
 
 merchants. 233. 
 191. De Luze, de MontmoUin & Co. 
 
 193. Edmund Prior, merchant. 234. 
 
 194. James Parsons & Son, 235. 
 
 merchants. 236. 
 
 196. Embree & Lawrence, iron. 237. 
 
 197. Henry Haydock, merchant. 238. 
 
 200. William Laight & Co., 
 
 merchants. 239. 
 
 201. Hallet & Brown, iron. 
 
 202. William Robinson, merchant. 240. 
 
 203. Thomas Pearsall & Son, 241 . 
 
 merchants. 
 
 205. Pearsall & Pell, merchants. 244. 
 
 Alsop & James Hunt, 
 
 leather. 
 John Thompson, merchant. 
 William Wilson, merchant. 
 David Provoost, merchant. 
 Lyde & Rogers, merchants. 
 Effingham Lawrence, 
 
 druggist. 
 Besley & Goodwin, 
 
 druggists. 
 George Lewis & Co., 
 
 merchants. 
 Andrew Mitchell, merchant. 
 Robert Lenox, merchant. 
 George Douglas, jr., merchant. 
 Robert Hodge, bookseller. 
 Hay Stevenson & Co., 
 
 merchants. 
 M'Farran & Dunlap, 
 
 auctioneers. 
 James Beekman, merchant. 
 Jacob & Philip Marks, 
 
 merchants. 
 Frederick Jay, auctioneer. 
 
 By an Act passed on the 29th of March 1784 the Commis- 
 sioners of Forfeitures were ordered to set apart such a house 
 as the Governor might choose for a residence, and his choice 
 fell upon the house Number 10 Queen Street, opposite the 
 end of Cedar Street, which had been confiscated from Henry- 
 White. On the 1st of May 1786 the Commissioners were 
 ordered to sell this house, and it was conveyed by them to 
 Henry White, jr., by deed dated June 19th 1786, but the 
 Governor apparently continued to reside in it, paying a rent 
 of £y^o a year. It was a two-story and attic house, five win- 
 dows wide, with a sloping tiled roof, containing five dormer 
 windows. The house on Pearl Street which has received the 
 most attention in history was the Walton mansion on the 
 east side of Franklin Square, and afterwards known as No. 
 326 Pearl Street. This house was built about the year 1754 
 of brick, which are said to have been brought from Holland, 
 
32 New York City in 1789. 
 
 trimmed with brown stone. It was fifty feet wide, with three 
 stories and an attic, above which was a slightly sloping roof 
 adorned with a balustrade in front. The entrance was in the 
 middle of the building with spacious drawing-rooms on each 
 side of it, the elegant woodwork and decoration of the inter- 
 ior making it one of the finest mansions in the city. Its 
 builder was William Walton, an old merchant of the city, 
 who, at his death, left it to his nephew William Walton, who 
 was its owner in 1789 but resided himself at No. 6'] Queen 
 Street. From 1784 to 1787 the Walton house, which was 
 known as No. 156 Queen Street, was occupied by the Bank 
 of New York, and in 1789 it was the residence of Dr. Benja- 
 min Kissam. After suffering various vicissitudes it was torn 
 down in 1881. In 1789 the house No. 27 Queen Street, three 
 stories high with three rooms on a floor, was rented for $362. 
 Water Street from Whitehall Street to Old Slip was 
 called Little Dock Street, but above the latter point was 
 called Water Street to its end at James Slip. From Burling 
 to James Slip it was the street nearest the East River. Dur- 
 ing the years 1788 and 1789 it was paved from Coenties Slip 
 to Peck Slip, but a proposition to straighten it from Dover 
 Street to James Slip was rejected by the Common Council in 
 January 1789, and in June the paving of that portion of it 
 was suspended until further order. Some of the householders 
 on Little Dock Street in 1789 were: 
 
 No. No. 
 
 5. George Remsen, merchant. 34. John Elting, store. 
 
 7. James Yoiile, ironmonger. 35. Coster & Co., merchants. 
 
 8. B. Swartwout & Son, store. 38. John Cooper, furrier. 
 
 9. Abraham Kipp, store. 40. John Ten Eyck. 
 
 10. Lansing & Heyer, store. 41. Lynch & Stoughton, 
 
 12. Nicholas Hoffman & Sons, counting-house. 
 
 merchants. 42. John Stoughton, merchant. 
 
 15. William Durell, china. 43. Josiah Shippey & Co., 
 
 16. David Currie. merchants. 
 Nicholas Hoffman. Nicholas Van Antwerp, 
 
 20. Elting & Varick, iron. merchant. 
 
 Peter Elting, alderman. 48. Townsend Underhill,merchant. 
 
 32. Peter Elting, jr., store. 49. John Lasher, port-officer. 
 
General Description. 
 
 33 
 
 On Water Street the highest street-number was 217, and 
 
 among the householders were : 
 
 No. No. 
 
 5. Samuel & John Loudon, 136. 
 
 printers. 137. 
 
 6. Henry Sewall, broker. 
 
 7. Robert Stewart, tobacco 145. 
 
 broker. 157. 
 
 17. John Raid, bookseller. 163. 
 
 24. Jacob Hallet, merchant. 170. 
 Nicholas Low, merchant. 
 
 26. William Mercier, lighthouse 171. 
 
 office. 172. 
 
 27. Theodosius Fowler, broker. 173. 
 
 28. George Pollock, merchant. 174. 
 
 29. John Delafield, insurance 176. 
 
 broker. 
 
 31. James Saidler, broker. 177. 
 
 32. Daniel Phoenix, merchant. 178. 
 
 35. Moses Rogers & Co., 186. 
 
 merchants. 
 
 36. Marinus Willet, merchant. 187. 
 42. Abraham Herring, store. 190. 
 
 50. David Grim, commission 
 
 merchant. 194. 
 
 51. Nathaniel Hazard, commission I95' 
 
 merchant. 196. 
 
 53. P. P. Van Zandt, merchant. 199. 
 
 55. Leffert Lefferts, distiller. 
 
 56. Thomas Lloyd, shorthand 200. 
 
 writer. 
 
 61. Jonathan Lawrence, merchant. 201. 
 
 62. Sears & Smith, merchants. 202. 
 68. John Ireland, dry goods. 206. 
 
 70. Thomas & William Burling, 
 
 glass. 208. 
 
 71. Peter Schermerhorn, ship 
 
 chandler. 210. 
 
 loi. Alexander Hamilton & Co., 211. 
 
 distillers. 
 
 103. Thomas Andrews, parchment. 213. 
 
 134. Benjamin Hilldrick, distiller. 215. 
 
 135. Abram Walton. 217. 
 
 Samuel Delaplane, merchant. 
 Thomas & John Brown, boat 
 
 builders. 
 Joseph Blakley, china. 
 Coen & Wright, sailmakers. 
 Nicholas Delaplane, merchant. 
 Wynant Van Zandt, jr., 
 
 merchant. 
 William Johnson, iron. 
 Hawxhurst &: Mowatts, china. 
 Peter Griffin, dry goods. 
 Samuel Forbes, dry goods. 
 William Thompson, dry 
 
 goods. 
 Robert Johnson, dry goods. 
 James Seaman, china. 
 William Henderson, 
 
 insurance. 
 John Price, merchant. 
 Francis Childs, printer. 
 John Swain, printer. 
 Charles M'Ever, insurance. 
 Richard Piatt, broker. 
 Thomas Grcenleaf, printer. 
 Clark Greenwood, 
 
 mathematical instruments. 
 Widow Bradford, coffee 
 
 house. 
 William Hill, merchant. 
 Leroy & Bayard, merchants. 
 Shedden, Patrick & Co. 
 
 merchants. 
 Anthony L. Bleeker, 
 
 auctioneer. 
 John McVicker, merchant. 
 Randal & Stewart, 
 
 merchants. 
 John Shaw, merchant. 
 Sadlier & Bailey, merchants. 
 John Gibson, physician. 
 
34 
 
 Netv York City in 1789. 
 
 Front Street was of less importance. It ran only as far 
 north as Burling Slip, and in 1788 and 1789 was paved from 
 Coenties Slip to the foot of Maiden Lane. 
 
 Hanover Square was the chief centre of business after Pearl 
 and Water Streets, and was paved in July 1789. Among the 
 householders here were : 
 
 No. 
 
 5- 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 8. 
 
 10. 
 
 II. 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 
 14. 
 16. 
 
 23- 
 
 No. 
 
 James Farquhar. 24. 
 
 John Broome, merchant. 26. 
 
 Maule & Bullock, merchants. 31. 
 
 Henry Remsen. 32. 
 John & Francis Aitkinson, 
 
 merchants. 34. 
 
 Bank of New York. 35. 
 William Seton & Co. 
 
 merchants, y]. 
 
 Vanhorne & Clarkson, 38. 
 
 merchants. 40. 
 
 James Barclay, auctioneer. 41. 
 
 WilUam Van Nest, saddler. 43. 
 
 M. & H. Oudenarde, 44. 
 
 merchants. 46. 
 
 Francis Wainwright, druggist. 48. 
 
 Timothy Hurst, druggist. 
 Oliver Hull, druggist. 
 Collin M'Gregor, merchant. 
 Michael Roberts, jewelry & 
 
 stationery. 
 Thomas Roberts, dry goods. 
 Berry & Rogers, jewelry & 
 
 stationery. 
 Francis Durand, merchant. 
 Theophylact Bache, merchant. 
 James Bleeker, merchant. 
 Archibald M'Lean, printer. 
 Uriah Hendricks, merchant. 
 Samuel Campbell, books. 
 Andrew Hamersley, saddler. 
 Peter Goelet, iron. 
 
 William Street below Maiden Lane was known as Smith 
 Street, and, at its upper end, the two blocks from Frankfort 
 to Pearl Street were called King George Street. In 1788 and 
 1789 it was paved from Stone Street to Wall, from Pine 
 Street to Liberty, and from John Street to Beekman Street. 
 With Nassau Street it shared the principal retail trade of the 
 city, and was also a place of residence. Some of the house- 
 holders on Smith Street were : 
 
 No. 
 
 5- 
 
 14. 
 15- 
 
 16. 
 18. 
 
 Obadiah & Andrew Bowne, dry 
 
 goods. 
 Peter Kemble, merchant. 
 Mr. Ketteltas. 
 Brockholst Livingston, 
 
 attorney. 
 Grove Bend, merchant. 
 Thomas Storm, merchant. 
 
 No. 
 
 21. John M'Comb, surveyor. 
 
 22. John Marsden. 
 28. Peter .Bogart. 
 
 47. Isaac Classon, merchant. 
 
 49. Cornelius Ray, merchant. 
 
 50. Charles M' Knight, physician. 
 55. Anspach & Rogers. 
 
 59. Donald B. Campbell. 
 
Getter al Description, 35 
 
 On William Street were : 
 
 No. No. 
 
 I. William Griggs, jewelry. 46. Rev. Abram Beach. 
 
 5. Mrs. Henshaw, ladies' academy. 49. John Stakes, grocer. 
 
 6. John Siemon, furrier. 55. Gilbert Saltonstall, merchant. 
 II. Robert Robertson, merchant. 56. John Greenwood, dentist. 
 
 18. Pope & Cadle, stocking 91. Commodore Nicholson. 
 
 factory. 92. James Renwick, merchant. 
 25. John Ramage, miniature 
 
 painter. 
 
 Nassau Street also was a place of residence and of retail 
 trade. Among the householders on it were : 
 
 No. No. 
 
 Garret Steddiford. 
 John George Leake. 
 William Mooney, upholsterer. 
 Richard Morris, chief-justice. 
 Johnson & Lemilt, hatters. 
 David Grim, merchant. 
 Dr. John Gamage. 
 
 Other residents whose street numbers are not given in the 
 directory, were Egbert Benson, on the corner of Pine Street ; 
 Peter Ogilvie, probate judge, on the corner of John Street ; 
 and Dr. Nicholas Romaine, on the corner of John Street. 
 
 Broad Street was occupied by small shops, and a few resi- 
 dences, among which were those of Dr. Samuel Fleming, at 
 No. 10 ; Thomas Ludlow, No. 40; Dr. Samuel Bard, No. 45 ; 
 Alderman Jeremiah Wool, No. 49 ; and David Shakespeare, 
 chandler, at No. 61. In the middle of Broad Street between 
 Water and Front Streets, stood the Merchants' Exchange, a 
 brick building on arches, which had been erected in 1755. 
 The building, however, was no longer used for its original pur- 
 pose, and in September 1788, when the City Hall was appro- 
 priated to the use of the National Government, the Common 
 Council decided to use the Exchange for the courts and the 
 corporation. On the 7th of October 1788 it was ordered 
 that the building be repaired "in the most economical man- 
 ner," and it was apparently used by the courts during 1789, as, 
 
 I. 
 
 John Wiley, alderman. 
 
 18, 
 
 2. 
 
 John Burrows, chairmaker. 
 
 21. 
 
 
 Rt. Rev. Samuel Provoost. 
 
 23 
 
 5- 
 
 Jacobus Lefferts. 
 
 27, 
 
 10. 
 
 Aaron Burr. 
 
 48, 
 
 15- 
 
 John Mildeberger. 
 
 50. 
 
 17- 
 
 James Duane, mayor. 
 
 69 
 
36 New York City in 1789. 
 
 on the I ith of December in that year, Bardin's long-room was 
 obtained for a court-room, as the Exchange was needed for 
 the coming meeting of the Legislature. The building was 
 ordered to be torn down on the nth of March 1799. 
 
 Of the cross streets below Wall Street, one was the He- 
 brew centre of the city. This was Mill or Duke Street, 
 which extended in the form of an elbow from the east side of 
 Broad Street south into Stone Street, but now forms a part 
 of South William Street. Amonsr its inhabitants were : 
 
 't> 
 
 No. No. 
 
 3. Widow Gomez. 11. Manuel Noah. 
 
 4. James Stewart, merchant. 12. Rynier Suydam. 
 
 5. Moses Gomez. 15. William Backhouse, merchant. 
 7. Haymen Levy, merchant. 19. Benjamin S. Judah, merchant. 
 
 Rev. Gershom Seixas. 26. David Fitzgerald, merchant. 
 
 Mill Street is also spoken of in the minutes of the Com- 
 mon Council as Jew Street, and although on the map in 
 1789 it is marked Duke Street, that name on the maps in 
 some other years is applied to Stone Street east of Broad 
 Street. 
 
 Beaver Street east of Broad Street was called Princess 
 Street ; but west of Broad Street it bore its present name, 
 and at No. 4 lived John Watts, who, in 1792 removed to No. 
 2 Broadway. The streets below Beaver Street were Market 
 Street ; Stone Street, upon which at No. 5 lived Nicholas 
 Cruger ; and Wincom Street, which is now Bridge Street. 
 Exchange Place was known as Verlittenberg Street. Pine 
 and Cedar Streets were known respectively as King and Little 
 Queen Streets until the year 1804. Among the residents on 
 King Street were at No. 23, John Taylor, merchant ; No. 26, 
 Charles Thomson, secretary of Congress; and at No. 52, 
 Comfort Sands, merchant. Liberty Street was called Crown 
 Street, and at its North River end was a bath-house kept by 
 Henry Ludlam, with warm and cold water of sufBcient depth 
 for both ladies and gentlemen. One of the best-known 
 buildings on this street was the sugar-house on its south side, 
 east of Nassau Street, and adjoining the Middle Dutch 
 
General Description. 37 
 
 Church, Built of stone, with five stories and a loft, pierced 
 with three small windows on each floor in front, and five on 
 the side, this structure remained for many years a monument 
 to the sufferings of the American prisoners who had been in- 
 humanely packed within its walls by the British. 
 
 Maiden Lane bore its present name, there being among 
 its householders, at No. 23, Walter Heyer; No. 27, John 
 Dewint ; No. 33, John and Nicholas J. Roosevelt, merchants; 
 and at No. 46, Alderman Lott. 
 
 John Street, east of Dutch Street, was called Goldenhill 
 Street ; and Fulton Street to the east of Broadway was 
 known as Fair Street, and to the west, as Partition Street. 
 
 Ann Street was the same as at the present time, and 
 Beekman's Swamp was the only place south of the Fresh 
 Water where raw hides were allowed to be stored for more 
 than twenty-four hours. A few of the residents on Beekman 
 Street were : 
 
 No. No. 
 
 5. William P. Smith, physician. 39. George Moorewood, 
 8. John and James Aymar, merchant 
 
 tobacconists. 40. William Cowenhoven, hatter. 
 
 22. Hubert V. Wagenen. 55. John Cosine, attorney. 
 
 25. Alderman Blagge. 64. Peter Bogert. 
 
 Cornelius J. Bogert, attorney. John Jackson, merchant. 
 
 27. Henry Rogers, merchant. 71. John Blagge, flaxseed. 
 
 The present Spruce Street was called George Street, one 
 of its householders, at No. 22, being Philip Rhinelander. 
 Frankfort Street bore its present name. At No. 21 King 
 George Street, as the upper end of William Street was called, 
 on the block above Frankfort Street resided William Rhine- 
 lander, sugar boiler, in a two-story and attic dwelling-house, 
 next door to which was the sugar house, four stories high, 
 with a cellar and loft, and bearing the date 1763. 
 
 Gold Street was the same as at the present time, but Cliff 
 Street ran only from John Street to Ferry Street. Vande- 
 water Street bore its present name, and a street correspond- 
 ing somewhat to the present Rose Street was called Prince 
 Street. The dirtiest street in the city was apparently Ferry 
 
38 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Street, as on the 12th of August 1789 its inhabitants peti- 
 tioned the Common Council that the sand and filth brousht 
 into the street by every heavy storm might be removed at 
 public expense ; but the Aldermen decided that the applica- 
 tion was improper and that no such relief could be granted. 
 
 In December 1788 it was ordered that Chatham Street 
 should be regulated from James to Division Street, and in July 
 1789, it was ordered that it be paved. But it seems to have 
 been in a poor condition, for in August 1789 a committee of 
 the Common Council recommended that the bank on its west 
 side be cut down as much as possible without injury to the 
 houses, in order to render the street more " uniform and con- 
 venient." At No. 5 Chatham Street were Peter and George 
 Lorillard, tobacconists, and at No. 36 was the brewery of Ap- 
 pleby and Matlack. The present Baxter Street ran but one 
 block north of Chatham Street and was known as Orange 
 Street. Roosevelt, James, Oliver, and Catherine Streets, 
 bore their present names, but the only two streets to the east 
 of them, which had names, were called George and Charlotte 
 Streets. The present East Broadway was called Harman 
 Street, and, with the exception of Orchard and Grand Streets, 
 none of the streets east of the Bowery and north of Division 
 Street bore their present names. Chrystie, Forsyth, Eldridge 
 and Allen Streets were known respectively as First, Second, 
 Third, and Fourth Streets, this first attempt to give numbers 
 to the streets having apparently been made about the year 
 1766. Hester Street, east of the Bowery, was called Eagle 
 Street ; Canal Street was Pump Street ; and Bayard Street 
 was Fishers Street. 
 
 The most important street in the city was Wall Street, 
 which was the most fashionable place of residence, and in 1789 
 was the centre of the political life of the United States. The 
 inhabitants of this street in 1789 were as follows, different 
 houses evidently bearing the same street number : 
 
 No. No. 
 
 2. John McPherson, store. 4. William Collett, coachmaker. 
 
 3. John Smith, farrier. John Cransbaugh, grocer. 
 Daniel Crommelin Verplanck. William Maxwell, tobacco. 
 
General Description. 
 
 39 
 
 No. 
 
 5- 
 
 6. 
 
 7- 
 8. 
 
 9- 
 lo. 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 
 16. 
 
 17- 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 22. 
 
 23- 
 
 24. 
 
 25. 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 28. 
 29. 
 30- 
 
 31- 
 
 32- 
 
 33- 
 34- 
 35. 
 
 John Stephens, livery stable. 
 Johannah Van Burgh Ursin, 
 
 boardinghouse. 
 Samuel A. Otis, secretary 
 
 U. S. Senate. 
 Daniel Ludlow. 
 William Edgar, merchant. 
 William Bedlow, postmaster. 
 Thomas Smith, attorney. 
 William Denny. 
 John Startin. 
 John Marsden Pintard. 
 John Lawrence, attorney. 
 John Jones, merchant. 
 Mrs. Mary Daubigny, boarding 
 
 house. 
 John Miller, Merchant. 
 
 Mrs. Cuyler, boarding house. 
 Joshua Jones, grocer. 
 Richard Cusack, hatter. 
 Robert Hunter, auctioneer. 
 Isaac Moses, auctioneer. 
 Smith and Bradford, 
 
 auctioneers. 
 James Smith, auctioneer. 
 
 Robert Lylburne, merchant. 
 Thomas Buchanan, merchant. 
 Francis Giffin, porterhouse. 
 Robert Sanders, cooper. 
 William Vandrill, tavern. 
 William Allen, shop. 
 
 John Anderson, auctioneer. 
 Henry Hannah, shoemaker. 
 Neal McKinnon, grocer. 
 Thomas Biggs, mathematical 
 instruments. 
 William Matthews, tailor. 
 Thomas Wainslow, perukes. 
 
 No. 
 36. 
 
 37- 
 38. 
 
 39- 
 40. 
 41. 
 42. 
 
 43- 
 
 44. 
 
 45- 
 46. 
 
 47. 
 48. 
 
 49. 
 50. 
 
 51- 
 52. 
 
 53- 
 54- 
 
 55- 
 56. 
 
 57- 
 58. 
 
 59- 
 60. 
 
 61. 
 
 62. 
 
 63. 
 
 64. 
 
 65. 
 66. 
 
 67. 
 
 Francis Panton, haberdasher. 
 Daniel McCormick, merchant. 
 Mrs. Sheldon, boarding house. 
 John Wilkes, notary public. 
 Richard Kipp, upholsterer. 
 Robert Reley. 
 
 John Lamb, collector of the 
 
 port. 
 Abijah Hammond, merchant. 
 Joseph Lepine, grocer. 
 Ludlow & Goold, merchants. 
 Edward Goold, merchant. 
 Christopher Baehr, tailor. 
 Mrs. White. 
 
 Richard Varick, attorney 
 
 general. 
 
 E. Seaman, merchant. 
 
 Joseph Corre, confectioner. 
 
 James Jauncey. 
 
 John Jauncey. 
 
 Gabriel W. Ludlow, merchant. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, attorney. 
 Francis Mallaby. 
 Adam Prior, confectioner. 
 William Irvin, commissioner of 
 
 accounts. 
 Jonathan Burrell. 
 Sadler Heyer. 
 Hugh Ross, tavern. 
 Joseph Mitchell, shoemaker. 
 Joseph Corre, boarding house. 
 James Culbertson, high 
 
 constable. 
 S. L. Clark, grocer. 
 William Cock, attorney. 
 John J. Morgan, attorney. 
 George Turnbull. 
 
40 New York City in 1789. 
 
 The Verplanck residence was next door to Federal Hall ; 
 No. 5 was on the northwest corner of Wall and William 
 Streets, having a frontage of fifty feet on the former street ; 
 No. 20 was on one of the corners of Water Street ; and No. 
 32 was near the Coffee House which stood on the corner of 
 Water Street. Two of the most noted residences in Wall 
 Street were that of John Lamb next to the northeast corner 
 of William Street and that known as the McEvers mansion, 
 afterwards occupied by the Bank of New York, on that cor- 
 ner. The boarding house of Mrs. Daubigny at No. 15 was 
 one of the best in the city and in 1789 was patronized by 
 Richard Basset and George Reed of Delaware, Benjamin 
 Contee, Joshua Seney, and Michael G. Stone of Maryland, 
 and by Richard B. Lee and Andrew Moore of Virginia. A 
 number of Congressmen also boarded at a tavern kept by 
 Michael Huck on one of the corners of Wall and William 
 Streets. The remains of the statue of William Pitt which 
 had been erected in the middle of Wall Street at its junction 
 with William Street had been removed by order of the 
 Common Council in July 1788, and are now to be found in the 
 collection of the N. Y. Historical Society. The value 
 of real estate on Wall Street in 1789 may be judged by the 
 sale for ;^i8oo of two lots on the south side of the street near 
 Pearl Street, being about 57 feet front and rear by 106 feet on 
 one side and 135 feet on the other. 
 
 The most pretentious building in the city was Federal 
 Hall, on the northeast corner of Wall and Nassau Streets, and 
 extending somewhat into the latter. The first City Hall or 
 Stadt Haus was erected by the Dutch in 1642 on Pearl Street 
 facing Coenties Slip and was sold at auction in August 1699, 
 a new Hall situated on the northeast corner of Wall and 
 Nassau Streets being completed in 1700 at a cost of ^1151. 
 Here were held the meetings of the Common Council, Pro- 
 vincial Assembly and the Courts, and in 1785 the building 
 was occupied by Congress, the ground floor containing a prison, 
 watch-room, and engine-house. In August 1788 it was re- 
 ported to the Common Council that the copper roof of the 
 building was so leaky that it should be replaced by cedar 
 
General Description. 41 
 
 shingles and an offer by James Robinson to do this work for 
 ;^35 was accepted ; but a more complete change in the build- 
 ing was soon decided upon. On the 17th of September 1788 
 the Common Council resolved to appropriate the whole of 
 the City Hall to the use of the General Government and 
 aldermen Gilbert and Willet and assistant alderman Janeway 
 were appointed to confer on the subject with the congressmen 
 from New York and to report the result to the board. On 
 the 30th of September 1788 this committee reported that it 
 had secured a satisfactory plan for the alteration of the build- 
 ing from Major L'Enfant; that a number of citizens offered to 
 advance money for the purpose, trusting to future legislation 
 for reimbursement, and that they had appointed Robert 
 Watts, Alexander Macomb, Major L'Enfant, James Nicholson 
 and William Maxwell commissioners to purchase material and 
 superintend the work. The board approved this report : " So 
 that no charge be made upon this Corporation for any part of 
 the expense." The Corporation credit, however, was very 
 soon used for the repair of the building, as on the 3rd of 
 December 1788, the Bank loaned i^iooo on its note payable 
 in twelve months, the work on the building having been 
 begun on the 6th of October. On the 7th of January 1789 
 the Common Council petitioned the Legislature to authorize 
 a tax of ^13000 to be raised in the city for the erection of the 
 Hall and to indemnify John Jay and other citizens who had 
 given their notes to the Bank for that purpose, and, on the 
 9th of January 1789, an act was passed in accordance with the 
 petition, although a lottery had been at first proposed as a 
 means of raising the money. By the ist of April 1789 the 
 Corporation had given notes to the Bank to the amount of 
 ;^6ooo and on that day it was resolved to request the Bank to 
 advance the further sum of £2600 3s. lod. in paper and to 
 liquidate that and former loans in specie at an advance of 
 eight per cent, and to take the bond of the Corporation for 
 ;ir9000 payable in twelve months in gold or silver with interest 
 at seven per cent. On the 13th of April, however, the Com- 
 missioners reported that the amount raised by this bond would 
 not be sufficient to finish the Hall and ;^2000 more were 
 
42 New York City in 1789, 
 
 borrowed, but, on the 27th of April, the Common Council re- 
 solved that the city credit had been extended as far as was 
 justifiable, that no more money be advanced, and that the 
 Commissioners be requested to act accordingly. But subse- 
 quent pressure led to the appointment of a committee of 
 Aldermen on the 17th of May to inspect Federal Hall and to 
 ascertain the expense of completing it, and in pursuance of 
 its report, made on the i8th of June, the Bank was requested 
 to advance ^2000 more, it being believed that the building 
 could be completed for that amount. The Bank refused to 
 loan more than ^1000, and on the 24th of June the Common 
 Council requested the Commissioners to submit their accounts 
 to the City Chamberlain and appointed Mr, Nicholson to 
 endeavor to raise ^1200 on the city credit to complete the 
 building. This amount, hoAvever, was apparently not suffic- 
 ient for that purpose as on the 30th of July the Mayor was 
 instructed to apply towards its painting and completion a 
 balance which Mr. Nicholson had on hand from the sale of 
 stone which had been brought from the Battery for the build- 
 ingf of the Hall and had not been used. The State Govern- 
 ment laid claim to this money but it was finally appropriated 
 to building purposes. On the 9th of September 1789 the 
 Chamberlain was instructed to pay the Bank from time to 
 time sums from the tax then being collected and on the ist of 
 January 1790 the Corporation's indebtedness to the Bank had 
 been paid with the exception of ;^ 1502 4s. iid., for which a 
 bond was given. In March 1789 the Corporation also pur- 
 chased from Mr. Verplanck, for;^434 13s., the lot on the east 
 side of Federal Hall, for the enlargement of the premises on 
 that side ; it was compelled to build a new engine-house, for 
 which work Isaac Meade received £2^ ; and in September it 
 purchased for £\^o a small house on the southeast corner of 
 Wall and Broad Streets to accommodate the watchmen who 
 had been deprived of their former quarters. The tax of 
 ^13000 which had been authorized, netted ;^ 12433 when the 
 collectors' fees had been deducted, but this was only half the 
 cost of the building. Early in 1790 the Corporation informed 
 the Legislature that the £ 1 3000 raised by tax had already been 
 
General Description. 43 
 
 expended, and that the city was also indebted to the amount 
 of ;^ 1 3000 more for the alterations made in the City-Hall. 
 Relief was accordingly afforded by an Act passed on the i8th 
 of February 1790 authorizing the City to raise ;^I30CX) by one 
 or more lotteries for the payment of this indebtedness. By 
 the first lottery it was decided to raise ;^7500 by the sale of 
 25000 tickets at 40s. each, the largest prize to be;^3000. The 
 drawing began on the 5th of August 1790 and lasted until 
 the 4th of September, the capital prize being drawn by a 
 ticket held by two young girls and " purchased with savings 
 from their laboriously earned pittance." The second lottery 
 consisted of 23000 tickets at 40s. each, ']6']6 of which were to 
 draw prizes, and, after two postponements, the drawing be- 
 gan on the 2nd of May 1791 and lasted for twenty-three 
 days. The new Federal Hall thus apparently cost about 
 ;^26ooo or $65000, exclusive of the interest paid on notes and 
 bonds. 
 
 The work of building was begun on the 6th of October 
 1788 and by the 7th of December the structure was under 
 cover. At that time the Postmaster General wrote that he 
 supposed it to be the largest and most elegant building on 
 the continent. Much of the old brick City Hall remained, but 
 some new walls were built and the interior was changed and 
 decorated with an elegance theretofore unknown in America. 
 On the 6th of February 1789 it was announced that the eagle 
 on the pediment of the front of the building would be dis- 
 played that day, and that the ceremony would be attended 
 by the Troop of Horse, Company of Light Infantry, and Com- 
 pany of Grenadiers. This event, however, did not occur at 
 that time, and was apparently postponed until the early part 
 of April. On the 3rd of March 1789 the Recorder was in- 
 structed by the Common Council to officially offer the use of 
 the building to Congress, and at the same time the suggestion 
 was made that Congress should appoint Rynier Skaats keeper 
 of the building. But after this offer, written by the Mayor, 
 had been read in the United States Senate on the 6th of 
 April, the suggestion regarding Mr. Skaats was politely de- 
 clined until such an office was created, and the Common 
 
44 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Council was informed, in a reply of thanks on the 14th of 
 April, that in the meantime it could employ whom it pleased 
 to take care of the building. Mr. Skaats was accordingly in- 
 stalled as keeper in two rooms at the southwest corner of the 
 ground floor, one of the windows being made into a door ; 
 and the premises seem to have been a healthy residence, as 
 Mr. Skaats did not leave this world until September 18 14, 
 when he had reached the age of 82 years. The rest of the 
 building was entirely occupied by the Federal Government 
 with the exception of the uppermost room in its southeast 
 part, which was granted by the Common Council to the Soci- 
 ety Library, on the 7th of January 1789, provided that it were 
 
 ' not required for the use of the government. When the first 
 Congress of the United States met in the building on the 4th 
 of March 1789 the only room which was completed was the 
 Senate Chamber, the Representatives meeting in a small 
 room adjoining it which was fit for use. The doors of the 
 Representatives Chamber were not thrown open to the public 
 until the 8th of April, and it was a number of months later 
 
 • before all the finishing touches were put upon the building. 
 On the 9th of May, a committee of the Senate was appointed 
 to confer with a committee of the House as to the appropria- 
 tion of the rooms. The Assembly Chamber in the old City 
 Hall had been adorned with a portrait of Columbus; life-size 
 portraits of the King and Queen of France, presented by them 
 to Congress ; a portrait of Washington, presented by a gentle- 
 man in England ; and portraits of several of the heroes of the 
 Revolution. These probably remained in the new Federal 
 Hall, the portrait of Columbus being transferred to the Cap- 
 itol at Albany in 1827. 
 
 The contemporary description of the building, which ap- 
 peared in the magazines of the time, was as follows : " The 
 basement story is Tuscan, and is pierced with seven open- 
 ings ; four massy pillars in the centre support four Doric col- 
 umns and a pediment. The freeze is ingeniously divided to 
 admit thirteen stars in the metopes ; these with the Ameri- 
 can Eagle and other insignia in the pediment, and the tablets 
 . over the windows, filled with the thirteen arrows and the 
 
General Description. 45 
 
 olive branch united, mark it as a building set apart for nation- 
 al purposes. After entering from Broad Street, we find a 
 plainly-finished square room, flagged with stone, and to which 
 the citizens have free access ; from this we enter the vesti- 
 bule in the centre of the pile, which leads in front to the floor 
 of the Representatives' room, or real Federal Hall, and, 
 through two arches on each side, by a public staircase on the 
 left, and by a private one on the right, to the Senate Chamber 
 and lobbies. This vestibule is paved with marble ; is very 
 lofty and well-finished ; the lower part is of a light rustic, 
 which supports an handsome iron gallery ; the upper half is 
 in a lighter stile and is finished with a skylight of about 12 
 by 18 feet, which is decorated with a profusion of ornaments 
 in the richest taste. Passing into the Representatives' room, 
 we find a spacious and elegant apartment, sixty-one feet deep, 
 fifty-eight wide and thirty-six high, without including an al- 
 coved ceiling of about ten feet high. This room is of an oc- 
 tangular form ; four of its sides are rounded in the manner of 
 niches and give a graceful variety to the whole. The win- 
 dows are large, and placed sixteen feet from the floor ; all be- 
 low them is finished with plain wainscott, interrupted only 
 by four chimnies ; but above these, a number of Ionic col- 
 umns and pilasters, with their proper entablature, are very ju- 
 diciousl)' disposed and give great elegance. In the panels 
 between the windows are trophies carved, and the letters 
 U. S. in a cipher surrounded with laurel. The speaker's chair 
 is opposite the great door, and raised by several steps ; the 
 chairs for the members are ranged semi-circularly in two 
 rows in front of the Speaker. Each member has his separate 
 chair and desk. There are two galleries which front the 
 speaker ; that below, projects fifteen feet ; the upper one is 
 not so large and is intended to be at the disposal of the mem- 
 bers for the accomodation of their friends. Besides these gal- 
 leries, there is a space on the floor, confined by a bar, where 
 the public are admitted. There are three small doors for 
 common use, besides the great one in the front. The curtains 
 and chairs in this room are of light blue damask. It is in- 
 tended to place a statue of Liberty over the Speaker's chair, 
 
46 Netv York City in 1789. 
 
 and trophies upon each chimney. After ascending the stairs 
 on the left of the vestibule, we reach a lobby of 19x48 feet, 
 finished with Tuscan pilasters ; this communicates with the 
 iron gallery before mentioned, and leads at one end to the 
 galleries of the Representatives' room, and at the other to the 
 Senate Chamber, This room is 40 feet long, 30 wide and 20 
 high with an arched ceiling ; it has three windows in front, 
 and three back, to correspond to them ; those in front, open 
 into a gallery 12 feet deep guarded with an elegant iron rail- 
 ing. In this gallery, our illustrious PRESIDENT, attended by 
 the Senate and the House of Representatives, took his oath 
 of office, in the face of Heaven, and in presence of a large con- 
 course of people assembled in front of the building. The 
 Senate ChaTnber is decorated with pilasters etc., which are 
 not of any regular order ; the proportions are light and grace- 
 ful ; the capitals are of a fanciful kind, the invention of Major 
 L'Enfant, the architect ; he has appropriated them to this 
 building, for amidst their foliage appears a star and rays ; and 
 a piece of drapery below suspends a small medallion with 
 U. S, in a cipher. The idea is new and the effect pleasing; 
 and although they cannot be said to be of any ancient order, 
 we must allow that they have an appearance of magnificence. 
 The ceiling is plain, with only a sun and thirteen stars in the 
 centre. The marble which is used in the chimnies is Ameri- 
 can, and for beauties of shades and polish, is equal to any of 
 its kind in Europe. The President's chair is at one end of the 
 room, elevated about three feet from the floor, under a rich 
 canopy of crimson damask. The arms of the Union are to 
 be placed over it. The chairs of the members are arranged 
 semicircularly as those in the Representatives' room. The 
 floor is covered with a handsome carpet and the windows are 
 furnished with curtains of crimson damask. Besides these 
 rooms, there are several others for use and convenience ; a 
 library, lobbies, and committee-rooms above, and guard-rooms 
 below. On one side is a platform, level with the floor of the 
 Senate Chamber, which forms a convenient walk for the 
 members, of more than two hundred feet long, and is guarded 
 by an iron railing. We cannot close our description without 
 
General Description. 47 
 
 observing that great praise is due to Major L'Enfant, the 
 architect, who has surmounted many difficulties, and has so 
 accomodated the additions to the old parts, and so judi- 
 ciously altered what he saw wrong, that he has produced 
 a building uniform and consistent throughout, and has 
 added to great elegance, every convenience that could be 
 desired." 
 
 The architect of Federal Hall was Major Peter Charles 
 L'Enfant who was born in France in 1755 and came to 
 America and joined the Continental army in 1777. He be- 
 came a captain in February 1778, was severely wounded at 
 the siege of Savannah in 1779, and received the rank of 
 major in May 1783. On the 12th of October 1789 the Com- 
 mon Council resolved that he should be presented with the 
 thanks of the Corporation, the freedom of the city, and ten 
 acres of the Common Lands for his services in erectine Fed- 
 eral Hall, and on the 30th of December it was decided that 
 the land should be ten acres of Provoost's land on the Post 
 Road adjoining the north line of John Hardenbrook's land, 
 its present situation being on the east side of Third Avenue 
 between 68th and 69th Streets. On the nth of May 1790, 
 however. Major L'Enfant declined the gift of land and in 1801 
 petitioned for a sum of money in its stead but again declined 
 the sum of $750 which was offered him. He was also the de- 
 signer of the medal of the Society of the Cincinati, and 
 author of the original plan for the City of Washington. In 
 18 1 2 he declined the Professorship of Engineering at West 
 Point, and died on the 14th of January 1825 in Prince George 
 Co. Maryland. During the construction of Federal Hall he 
 does not seem to have added to his popularity among the 
 mechanics of the city as, on the 26th of March 1789, a card 
 appeared in the N. Y. Journal complaining that the work of 
 upholstering the Hall had been given by him to a " menial 
 servant " of the French ambassador without regard to a peti- 
 tion for the job presented by some city decorators. Such 
 " truckling to foreigners " was roundly denounced by the dis- 
 appointed upholsterers. The mason-work upon the building 
 was done by James Robinson and the carpenter-work by one 
 
48 New York City in 1789, 
 
 Smith. Opinions differed with regard to the beauty of the 
 building. The Gazette of the United States pronounced it to 
 be " on the whole superior to any building in America," and 
 also announced that the general appearance of the front of it 
 was " truly august." The Anti-Federalists, however, were 
 eager to express their contempt for it, and everything con- 
 nected with it, and when the building was decorated on the 
 4th of March 1789 in honor of the beginning of the new Con- 
 stitution they declared that the flag raised consisted of the 
 French colors over the Federal standard, the truth being that 
 the flag had belonged to the " Federal Ship Hamilton " and 
 that the paint had been washed off of it by a heavy shower 
 during the Federal Procession in July 1788. A southern 
 member of this disappointed and embittered faction wrote 
 from New York to friends in Philadelphia on the 12th of Feb- 
 ruary 1789: "I wish that you or either of you was in this 
 town for a few hours if it were only to view the Old Nezv 
 Building nicknamed Federal Hall and by others who are ill- 
 natured called FooVs Trap. . . Verily I believe that it is 
 expected that this medley of a house will induce us to forget 
 that wrong is not right and that two and two are just equal 
 to four." The fact that it had to be paid for by a lottery also 
 afforded an opportunity for sneers on the part of the Anti- 
 Federalists and in July 1790 when a portrait of Washington 
 had been ordered to be painted by Trumbull at an expense of 
 100 guineas, " A Burgher whose eyes are open " inserted the 
 following in the N. Y. Journal : " Is it prudent in a city 
 which is reduced to pay its debts by lottery, to incur the 
 superfluous expences of disinterested flattery ? Is this canvass 
 compliment to be discharged by a Picture Lottery and en- 
 trusted \.o responsible and respeetible commissioners? If the 
 expenses of this disi7iterested compliment are to be discharged 
 by assessments will the citizens deluded by Federal tricks and 
 oppressed by Federal burdens chearfully submit to a Picture 
 Tax ! " The building had little about it to commend it to 
 the architectural taste of the present day, but the fact that 
 the place of Washington's inauguration and of the meeting of 
 the first Congress under the present Constitution was allowed 
 
General Descriptioft. 49 
 
 to fall into decay and to be torn down within the short space 
 of twenty-two years, cannot be too deeply regretted. Con- 
 gress met in it for the first time on the 4th of March 1789, 
 and occupied it for two sessions, when, upon the removal of 
 the Federal Government to Philadelphia, it became the City 
 Hall and place of meeting of the Courts and Legislature, the 
 latter body using it until 1797. In May 1800 the building of 
 a new City Hall was proposed in the Common Council and 
 the corner stone of the present building was laid by Mayor 
 Edward Livingston, assisted by Mr. M'Comb the architect, 
 at six o'clock in the evening of May 26th 1803. This stone 
 was laid at the southeast corner of the building and the whole 
 structure was completed in 18 12. There then being no fur- 
 ther use for the old building, it was ordered to be sold, and 
 on the 6th of May 18 12 Bleecker and Bibby, auctioneers, an- 
 nounced that on the 13th of May 18 12, at twelve o'clock, at 
 the Old City Hall they would sell at auction " Four lots of 
 Ground fronting on Wall Street on which the Hall stands 
 and adjacent thereto," and " The Old City Hall which is to 
 be removed by the purchaser previous to the 15th of July 
 next." The account of the sale given in the Commercial Ad- 
 vertiser of May 14th 1812 was as follows: "The Old City 
 Hall. This building was sold at auction yesterday for 425 
 dollars and one of the lots on which it now stands for $9,500. 
 The sale of the remaining lots was postponed. It is to be 
 hoped that the building is not to be left many days in its 
 present tattered state." Nor was it left many days. On the 
 back of an old engraving of the building, in the possession of 
 the New York Historical Society, is inscribed : " Presented 
 to the New York Historical Society by John Pintard on the 
 15th May 1812, the day in which this Building was pros- 
 trated, the materials having been sold at auction to Mr. Jin- 
 nings for four hundred and twenty-five dollars." The pur- 
 chaser was apparently Mr. Jonathan Jinings of the firm of 
 Jinings and Mills, grocers, at No. 30 Peck Slip. Thus dis- 
 appeared the building of the greatest historical interest in 
 New York City. The four lots of which the premises con- 
 sisted are numbered i, 2, 3, and 4 on the map accompanying 
 4 
 
50 New York City in 1789. 
 
 the deeds of the property, number one being on the corner of 
 Nassau Street. Their dimensions were respectively 25 ft. 
 6 in., 23 ft., 26 ft. 6 in., and 27 ft., front and rear, by 1 12 feet in 
 length, witli a right of way over an alley ten feet wide in the 
 rear. Lot number one was sold on the 13th of May 18 12 for 
 $9,500 to Joel Post and John B. Lawrence, druggists, who 
 conveyed it on the 29th of January 18 13 for $12000 to James 
 Eastburn, Thomas Kirk, and John Downes. The sale of the 
 other three lots took place on the 28th of January 181 3, 
 number two being conveyed to Kirk, Eastburn, and Downes 
 for $8433.33, number three to Garrit Storm for $8566.66, and 
 number four to George Griswold for $8499.99. The premises 
 were 102 feet wide on Wall Street but Federal Hall probably 
 occupied but three of the lots having a frontage of 75 feet. 
 The appearance of the property was completely changed by the 
 3rd of December 18 13 as on the morning of that day a nearly 
 completed new brick building erected on lots numbers one 
 and two by Eastburn and Kirk, booksellers, was badly dam- 
 aged by fire. That firm, however, had moved into this new 
 building in February 18 14, and held the property until the 
 2nd of December 18 16 when they sold it to the United States 
 Government for $75000, subject to two mortgages aggregating 
 $35000, to be used as a custom-house. Garrit Storm, in 
 April 1825, conveyed Lot No. 3 to the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal Co. for $29000, and that Company, in December 1832, 
 conveyed it to the United States Government for $47000. 
 The present Sub-Treasury building which now occupies these 
 and other lots was begun in May 1834 and finished in May 
 1841. 
 
 Many of the residences in the suburbs of the city had 
 been ruined during the Revolution and but few of them were 
 sufificiently near to the closely inhabited portion of the city to 
 appear on the city map of 1789. One of these country seats 
 was that of Mr. Rutgers, running back from Cherry Street to 
 the present Henry Street, and bounded on the west by the 
 present Pike Street and on the east by the present Clinton 
 Street. The house itself did not entirely disappear until 1875. 
 To the east of this on the bank of the East River was the 
 
General Description. 51 
 
 residence of Mr. Byvanck, and to the north, on Grand Street 
 near the present Clinton Street, was that of Mr. Jones. The 
 most highly cultivated country place near the city was that 
 of Baron Frederick Charles Hans Bruno Poelnitz, comprising 
 225^ acres of land situated on the present Broadway between 
 Eighth and Tenth Streets, the rear porch of the house being 
 destroyed by the cutting through of Broadway. This place 
 had been purchased in 1766 by Lieut. Governor Elliot and 
 by him was called " Minto," and in 1789 was devoted to 
 fancy farming by Baron Poelnitz, who offered it for sale in 
 that year. The advertisement of it stated that it was about 
 two miles from the city and abounded with a greater variety 
 of the choicest fruit trees and flowering shrubs than perhaps 
 any other place in the state, while it possessed the richest soil 
 of any estate on Manhattan Island. In 1790 it was sold to 
 Robert R. Randall for iJ"50oo and by his will in 1801 it was 
 devoted to the purposes of the Sailors' Snug Harbor. On 
 the west side of the city near the present Laight and Hudson 
 Streets was the property of Mr. Lispenard, and on the south 
 east corner of Varick and Charlton Streets was the Richmond 
 Hill Mansion, occupied in 1789 by Vice-President Adams and 
 afterwards the residence of Aaron Burr. Of this place Mrs. 
 Adams wrote in 1790: " The venerable oaks and broken 
 ground, covered with wild shrubs, which surround me, give a 
 natural beauty to the spot which is truly enchanting. A 
 lovely variety of birds serenade me morning and evening, re- 
 joicing in their liberty and security, for I have, as much as 
 possible, prohibited the grounds from invasion, and sometimes 
 almost wished for game laws, when my orders have not been 
 sufficiently regarded. The partridge, the woodcock, and the 
 pigeon are too great temptations to the sportsmen to with- 
 stand." The cultivated shrubs which were sold in 1789 in- 
 cluded shaddock, citron, lemon, olive, lime and green bay 
 trees; large alotis, large myrtle, box leaf, small myrtle, tea 
 plant, pomegranate, creeping ceres, Arabian jasmine, balm of 
 Gilead, rosemary, and lavender; common, striped, and par- 
 tridge breast aloe, passion flower, oleander, polyanthus, auri- 
 cula, and carnation pink. William Prince offered for sale, at 
 
52 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Flushing Landing, fruit trees for is. 6d. each, and a great 
 variety of roses and plants ; but when Washington visited 
 this nursery on the loth of October 1789 he expressed his 
 disappointment at all that he saw with the exception of the 
 young fruit trees, the shrubs being trifling and the flowers few 
 in number. 
 
II. 
 
 City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 
 
 In 1789 the city had its corporate existence by virtue of 
 the Dongan charter of 1686, a confirmatory Act of 1708, the 
 Montgomerie charter of 1730, and the State Constitution of 
 1777. The city government consisted of a Mayor, Recorder, 
 seven Aldermen, and seven Assistant Aldermen. The su- 
 preme appointing power in the State was lodged in the Coun- 
 cil of Appointment which consisted of the Governor and four 
 State Senators, chosen from the Senate by the Legislature, 
 one from each of the four senatorial districts of the State. In 
 1789 none of these four Senators resided in New York City. 
 The Mayor, Sheriff, and Coroner were appointed annually by 
 the Council of Appointment until its abolition in 1821. The 
 Recorder was appointed by the Council at its pleasure. In 
 1 83 1 he ceased to have a voice in the city government and 
 in 1834 the Mayor was first elected by the people. The Al- 
 dermen and Assistant Aldermen were elected by the people, 
 the voters, by an Act passed February 23rd 1787, being re- 
 quired to be twenty-one years of age, and freemen of the city 
 for three months and residents of the ward in which they 
 voted for one month before the election. There was also a 
 property qualification requiring them to be freeholders in their 
 own or their wives' right in lands or tenements to the value 
 of ^20 over and above all debts charged thereon, situated in 
 the ward in which they voted, and in their possession for one 
 month before the election unless acquired by descent or de- 
 vize. Persons owning property on the east side of Broadway 
 were to vote in the West Ward, even if their property ex- 
 tended into the North Ward. The election for city officers 
 took place on the 29th of September, inspectors of election 
 
54 
 
 New York City m 1789. 
 
 for each ward being appointed by the Common Council a 
 week before the election. The Aldermen and Assistants who 
 were in ofifice from September 29th 1788 to the same date in 
 1789 were: 
 
 Assistants. 
 Joseph Pierson. 
 WiNANT Van Zandt. 
 James Nicholson. 
 Abraham Van Gelder. 
 George Janeway. 
 Tobias Van Zandt. 
 John Ouackenboss. 
 
 Of these Benjamin Blagge was the most experienced, hav- 
 ing been an Alderman since 1766. Those elected on the 29th 
 of September 1789 were : 
 
 Aldermen. 
 
 Ward. 
 
 Jeremiah Wool. 
 
 South. 
 
 Peter Elting. 
 
 Dock. 
 
 John Lawrence. 
 
 East. 
 
 Wm. W. Gilbert. 
 
 West. 
 
 John Wylley. 
 
 North. 
 
 Benjamin Blagge. 
 
 Montgomerie. 
 
 Nicholas Bayard. 
 
 Out. 
 
 Alder tnen. 
 Jeremiah Wool. 
 Winant Van Zant. 
 Daniel McCormick. 
 Isaac Stoutenburg. 
 John Wylley. 
 Theophilus Beekman. 
 Nicholas Bayard. 
 
 Ward. 
 
 South. 
 
 Dock. 
 
 East. 
 
 West. 
 
 North. 
 
 Montgomerie. 
 
 Out. 
 
 Assistants. 
 John Van Dyck. 
 Peter T. Curtenius. 
 John Pintard. 
 Wm. T. Elsworth. 
 George Janeway. 
 Tobias Van Zandt. 
 Stephen McCrea. 
 
 Of these Nicholas Bayard served the longest term being 
 elected continuously from 1785 until 1797. The City Clerk 
 from 1784 to 1 801 was Robert Benson, whose office in 1789 
 was at No. 22 Maiden Lane. By a city ordinance of March 
 1 6th 1784 the city seal, the seal of the mayor's court, and the 
 seal of mayoralty had been changed by defacing the imperial 
 crown and placing in its stead the crest of the Arms of the 
 State of New York, — a semiglobe with a soaring eagle there- 
 on. On the 8th of December 1683 the city had been divided 
 into six wards, and the boundaries of the seventh, the Mont- 
 gomerie Ward, had been defined by the charter of 1730. In 
 1789 the South Ward was bounded by a line along the centre 
 of Broad Street from the East River to the centre of Wall 
 Street, thence running west to New Street, down New Street 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 55 
 
 to Beaver, and thence nearly west to the North River. The 
 Dock Ward was bounded by Broad, Wall, Smith (William) 
 Streets, and the East River. The East Ward was bounded 
 by a line running from Old Slip along Smith and William 
 Streets to John Street and down John Street to Burling Slip. 
 Montgomerie Ward was very irregular in shape. Its boun- 
 dary line ran from Burling Slip to the junction of John and 
 William Streets, along William Street to Frankfort, thence 
 through the blocks to the south end of the Fresh Water, thence 
 east to the Junction of Chatham and Roosevelt Streets, down 
 Roosevelt Street to Cherry, along Cherry Street one block to 
 James Street and down the latter to New Slip. The North 
 Ward was bounded on the east by William Street from Wall 
 to Frankfort Street and a line from the latter street to the 
 south end of the Fresh Water, whence its line ran almost due 
 north to Broadway, thence south, parallel with Broadway and 
 in the rear of the houses on its east side, to Wall Street, and 
 along it to William Street. The West Ward included the 
 portion of the city north of the line of Beaver Street and west 
 of Broadway and the North Ward. The Out Ward lay to 
 the east of Broadway and included the rest of the island north 
 of the Montgomerie and North Wards, being divided into the 
 Bowery and Harlem Divisions. By an Act of February 28th 
 1 791, the boundaries of the wards were somewhat changed 
 and they were designated by the numbers one to seven. Ac- 
 cording to the census of 1790 Montgomerie Ward was the 
 most thickly populated ward in the city, containing 6271 in- 
 habitants. It also seems to have contained the greatest num- 
 ber of poor people, for in January 1789, when the Aldermen 
 distributed ;^ioo among the poor, the largest share, which was 
 i^20, was to be given to this ward, while the smallest shares 
 of ;^8 each were to be given to the Dock and East Wards. 
 The East Ward contained the wealthiest inhabitants, the tax 
 of ;^5784 5s. lod. upon it in 1789 being larger than that upon 
 any other ward. During the year the taxes upon the city 
 were that granted on the 22nd of January of ;^I3000 for the 
 building of Federal Hall, and another, granted on the 2nd of 
 February, of ;£"6c)00 for the maintenance of the poor, the 
 
56 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Bridewell, roads, and improvement of the streets, and of ;!^4000 
 for the payment of watchmen and the care of the lamps. 
 
 The Mayor of the city from 1783 until September 1789 
 was James Duane, son of Anthony Duane and Altea Ket- 
 tletas. Mr. Duane was born in New York City on the 6th of 
 February 1733 and studied law with James Alexander, one of 
 the most prominent lawyers in the colony. In 1789 he was 
 one of the oldest city practitioners in the Supreme Court, 
 having been admitted to practice in that court on the 3rd of 
 August 1754. During the Revolution he was an active pa- 
 triot, being a member of the first Continental Congress in 
 1774, and also from 1780 to 1782, and a member of the New 
 York Provincial Convention of 1776 and 1777. He left the 
 city in June 1776 and did not return until November 1783, 
 being appointed its mayor on the 5th of February 1784. He 
 was also a State Senator from 1783 until 1790, except in the 
 years 1786 and 1787, and a member of the Constitutional Con- 
 vention at Poughkeepsie in 1788 in which he was a strong 
 supporter of the adoption of the Constitution of the United 
 States. He occupied the mayoralty until September 1789 
 when he was appointed the first Judge of the United States 
 District Court in New York. He resigned this ofifice on the 
 8th of April 1794 and at the same time retired from the war- 
 denship of Trinity Church which he had held for ten years. 
 He then retired to Schenectady and died at Duanesburgh on 
 the first of February 1796. The Mayor's salary was derived 
 from fees which during the last year of Mr. Duane's incum- 
 bency amounted to about ;i^8c)0, but the amount varied in dif- 
 ferent years, and in December 1789 Mr. Varick, his successor, 
 agreed to take a fixed salary of £(yX) a year. 
 
 The Recorder of the city from 1783 until 1789 was Rich- 
 ard Varick who was born at Hackensack, N. J., on the 25th 
 of March 1753. Before the Revolution he became a lawyer 
 in New York City, and during the war attained to the rank 
 of colonel, acting at times as the military secretary of Gen. 
 Schuyler and the recording secretary of Gen. Washington. 
 At the close of the war he was appointed Recorder, he was a 
 member of assembly in 1787 and 1788, and in June 1789 was 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 57 
 
 appointed Attorney General of the State, but in September of 
 that year succeeded Mr. Duane as Mayor, Samuel Jones being 
 appointed Recorder and Aaron Burr Attorney General. Mr. 
 Varick occupied the Mayoralty until 1801 and died in Jersey 
 City on the 30th of July 1831. Mr. Jones continued to be 
 Recorder until 1796. The Sheriff of the city was Robert 
 Boyd, who held that office from 1787 until 1791. The City 
 Chamberlain chosen by the Mayor, four or more Aldermen 
 and four or more Assistant Aldermen, was Daniel Phoenix, 
 who held that office from 1784 until 1809. Mr. Phoenix was 
 born in the city in 1742 and, entering into business early in 
 life, was for many years one of the most prominent merchants 
 of New York. He was one of the Sons of Liberty and a 
 patriot during the Revolution. He was a member of the 
 Chamber of Commerce from 1770 until 1812; a trustee and 
 manager of the financial affairs of the Wall Street Presbyterian 
 Church from 1772 until 181 2 ; a Governor of the N. Y. Hos- 
 pital, and trustee and treasurer of the Society Library. He 
 was also an alderman in 1783 and 1784. He died in 1812. 
 
 The courts which sat in New York in 1789 were the Court 
 of Chancery, the Supreme Court of Judicature, the Mayor's 
 Court, the Court of Sessions, the Court of Probates, the Court 
 of Admiralty, and the United States District Court. Robert 
 R. Livingston, the Chancellor, was appointed to that office by 
 the State Convention on the 5th of May 1777 and received 
 his commission on the 17th of October in the same year. He 
 was born in New York on the 27th of November 1747, gradu- 
 ated from King's College in 1765, admitted to the bar in Oc- 
 tober 1773, and soon afterwards appointed Recorder of the 
 city, but was removed from that office in 1775, because of his 
 patriotism. He was one of the committee who prepared the 
 Declaration of Independence, and was one of the framers of 
 the N. Y. State Constitution of 1777. In October of that 
 year he received the thanks of the New York Convention for 
 his faithful services in the Continental Congress, and from 
 1 78 1 to 1783 was Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He declined 
 the office of Minister to France in 1794, but resigned the 
 Chancellorship in 1801 to accept it, remaining in France until 
 
58 Netv York City in 1789, 
 
 1805. He died on the 26th of February 181 3. One of his 
 biographers states that he was "tall and well-proportioned; of 
 imposing presence, easy and pleasant in discourse, and in 
 manner graceful and courteous. His private life was imbued 
 with pure morals and true piety, as his public had been with 
 integrity and patriotism. He was generous to the poor, dis- 
 interested in his friendship, and honorable in his intercourse 
 with his fellowmen." The business of the Court of Chancery 
 was very small, and was chiefly conducted at the Chancellor's 
 house. No. 3 Broadway. The salary of the Chancellor was 
 ;;{J"500 a year. In 1789 the Masters in Chancery residing in 
 the city were John Ray and James M. Hughes ; the Register 
 was William Cock, and the Examiner was Edward Dunscomb, 
 The Court of Chancery ceased to exist on the first Monday 
 in July 1847. 
 
 The Supreme Court of Judicature was established in 1691 
 and in 1789 consisted of a Chief Justice and two Judges who, 
 by the Constitution of 1777, were to hold office during good 
 behavior until the age of sixty years. By an Act passed 
 April 7th 1785 the sessions of this court in New York City 
 were to be held on the third Tuesday of January and April, 
 the January session to last until the Saturday of the next 
 week, and the April session until the end of the Saturday in 
 the third week following. The Clerk's Office was to be in 
 New York. By Act of February 22nd 1788 the Court of 
 Oyer and Terminer, consisting of any member of the Supreme 
 Court together with the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen, or 
 any three of them, was to be opened for criminal business at 
 the same time as the Circuit Court, and to continue until- its 
 business was dispatched. The Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court in 1789 was Richard Morris who was appointed to that 
 office on the 23rd of October 1779 and held it until his retire- 
 ment at the age of sixty in September 1790. He was born in 
 Morrisania on the 15th of August 1730, graduated from Yale 
 College in 1748, and admitted to the bar on the 29th of April 
 1752. From 1762 until 1775 he was Judge of Vice-Admiralty 
 but resigned through patriotic motives. From 1777 to 1779 
 he was a State Senator. He retired to Westchester County 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 59 
 
 in September 1790 and died at Scarsdale on the nth of April 
 1810. In 1789 he resided at No. 27 Nassau Street. The As- 
 sociate Judges of the Supreme Court in 1789 were Robert 
 Yates of Albany and John Sloss Hobart of New York. 
 Judge Yates was born in Schenectady on the 27th of Janu- 
 ary 1738 and was admitted to the bar on the 9th of May 1760. 
 He was a prominent member of the Albany Committee of 
 Safety during the Revolution, a member of the Provincial 
 Congress, and of the State Convention which framed the 
 State Constitution of 1777. He was also a member of the 
 Convention which framed the U. S. Constitution, but op- « 
 
 posed it and withdrew from the Convention in July 1786. He 
 was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court on the 8th of 
 May 1777, received his commission in the following October, 
 and remained on the bench until his sixtieth year in January 
 1798, having become Chief Justice in September 1790. He 
 died in Albany on the 9th of September 1801. John Sloss 
 Hobart was born in Fairfield, Conn., in February 1738, and 
 was graduated from Yale College in 1757. In 1765 he ap- 
 peared as a Son of Liberty in New York, and in 1775 and 
 1776 was a deputy from Suffolk County to the Provincial 
 Congress. He was a member of the committee which drew 
 the first State Constitution and a member of the Poughkeep- 
 sie Convention in 1788. He was appointed Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court in May 1777, commissioned in the following Oc- 
 tober, and resigned the ofifice at the age of sixty years in 
 February 1798. In the same year he became United States 
 Senator but resigned in 1799 upon being appointed U. S. 
 District Court Judge. He died in New York on the 4th of 
 February 1805. The salary of all the Supreme Court judges 
 was i5"5oo a year. The Clerk of the Supreme Court was John 
 McKesson, his residence in 1789 being at No. 44 Broadway. 
 The Supreme Court of Judicature was somewhat changed in 
 1 82 1 and was abolished in 1846. 
 
 The Mayor's Court was the oldest court in the city, hav- 
 ing its origin in the time of the Dutch supremacy in New 
 York, and under the management of Mayor Duane it had 
 become the most highly esteemed court in the city. By an 
 
6o New York City in 1789. 
 
 Act passed February 5th 1787, its terms were to last for three 
 daySj and it was empowered to hear all actions, real, personal 
 and mixed, arising in the city and county. It was constituted 
 of the Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen, or any three of them, 
 of whom the Mayor or Recorder should always be one. The 
 Court of General Sessions, composed of the same persons, 
 was held on the first Tuesdays in February, May, August, 
 and November, its sitting lasting until the following Tues- 
 day. The number of indictments upon which trial was had 
 in the Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Sessions 
 during the year 1789 was 103, seventeen for forgery and four- 
 teen for grand larceny, being the largest numbers for any one 
 offence. 
 
 The Court of Probates held original jurisdiction in cases 
 of decease out of the State or of decease of non-residents 
 within the State and appellate jurisdiction over the surro- 
 gates. Its judge, from 1787 to 1799 was Peter Ogilvie, who 
 in May 1789 removed his office to No. 24 John Street. By 
 Act of March i6th 1778 such judges were to have the same 
 powers as had been exercised by the colonial governors in the 
 matter of probate, except as to the appointment of surrogates, 
 who in the future were to be appointed by the Council of 
 Appointment. The court was abolished by act of March 21st 
 1823 and its jurisdiction conferred upon the Chancellor. The 
 Surrogate, who from 1787 to 1801 was David Gelston, had 
 full power in the matter of the wills of citizens dying within 
 the State. Mr. Gelston, who held several important offices 
 at various times, died on the 21st of August 1828, at the age 
 of 85 years. 
 
 The Judge of the Court of Admiralty was Lewis Graham, 
 who had been appointed to that office in August 1776, re- 
 ceived his commission on the 17th of February 1778, and held 
 it until the court ceased to exist when the U.S. Constitu- 
 tion came into effect. He died at Westchester in October 
 
 1793- 
 
 The United States Court for the District of New York 
 
 held its first session under Judge James Duane on the 3rd of 
 
 November 1789, when the Judge and several attorneys took 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 6i 
 
 the oath of office, but there being no further business before 
 the Court it at once adjourned. 
 
 By an Act passed January 30th 1787 the Mayor, Re- 
 corder, and Aldermen were given the powers of Justices of 
 the Peace. The regular officers of that kind in 1789 were 
 James M. Hughes, George Bond, John Keefe, Nathaniel 
 Lawrence, and William Wilcox. The Coroner in 1789 was 
 Ephraim Braisher, a goldsmith who resided at No. 79 Queen 
 Street. The roll of New York attorneys who had in 1789 
 been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court contained, in 
 the month of July, 122 names, twenty-eight new attorneys 
 being admitted to the bar during 1789. Among the distin- 
 guished names upon this roll were those of James Riker, ad- 
 mitted to the bar April 30th 1761 ; Richard N. Harrison, 
 January 21st 1769; Robert Morris, October 26th 1771 ; John 
 Jay, October 31st 1768; Abraham W. De Peyster, May 2nd 
 1767; Josiah Ogden Hoffman; Egbert Benson; John Coz- 
 ine. May ist 1773; Robert Troup, April 1782; Samuel Jones; 
 Aaron Burr, January 1782; Alexander Hamilton, July 1782; 
 Edward Livingston, Brockholst Livingston, James Kent, Jan- 
 uary 1785 ; and John Lawrence, January 21st 1775. By an 
 Act of February 20th 1787 no person was to be admitted to 
 the bar of any court unless he had been brought up in that 
 court or was otherwise well practiced in soliciting causes and 
 had been found by his dealings to be skilful and honest. 
 
 The City Watch in 1789 was under the control of the 
 Common Council and consisted of about forty-five men in 
 regular service, twenty extra men being added on the 31st of 
 -December 1788, but discharged on the 7th of April 1789. 
 On the latter date Mr. Weissenfels, one of the captains of the 
 watch, was called before the Common Council on a charge of 
 irregularity in his watch, and, after stating that because of his 
 advanced age he was unable to do better, requested that he 
 either be allowed to resign or be discharged. He was there- 
 upon discharged and James Culbertson was appointed in his 
 place. On the 13th of April 1789 James Burras, the high- 
 constable, was also removed from office for total neglect of 
 his duty, and the Mayor appointed Mr. Culbertson to that 
 
62 New York City in 1789. 
 
 position. He apparently commanded one half of the watch, 
 the other half being in command of Bartholomew Skaats. 
 The captains received eight shillings a night and the men 
 three shillings in summer, one shilling a night being added 
 to the pay of each in winter. In January 1789, at the request 
 of Mr. Seton, one watchman was posted at the Bank, and on 
 the 23rd of October two men were added to the night watch. 
 One watch-house was in a store hired of Isaac Levy and the 
 other was erected in 1789, on the southeast corner of Wall 
 and Broad Streets. Footpads were abundant and were al- 
 ways stated in the newspapers to be " wheelbarrow men " who 
 had escaped from the Philadelphia prisons. On one occasion 
 a farmer created great excitement by announcing that on his 
 way to the city in the early morning he had been stopped by 
 a gang of villains, who, after questioning him closely allowed 
 him to depart unharmed ; but, on the next day, the high- 
 constable issued a card stating that the gang of villains had 
 consisted of himself and his men, who had been upon impor- 
 tant secret service for the city. At times, however, the rob- 
 bers came to grief, for on the 29th of September 1789 the 
 Common Council awarded ^^15 to watchmen Culbertson, 
 Schofield and Gobel for apprehending dangerous robbers at 
 night, and on the i6th of December, the same sum was paid 
 to Alexander Lamb and two other watchmen for like services. 
 In November 1789 John Houseman received £\ i6s. for 
 painting the watchmen's caps. In addition to keeping the 
 streets clean, it was also desired that the onerous task of 
 keeping them free from pigs should devolve upon the high 
 constable, but he seems to have escaped that duty. On the 
 20th of September 1786 an ordinance was passed for the for- 
 feiture of hogs found running in the streets, which was re- 
 newed in February 1789 in effect thus described by a news- 
 paper rhymster : 
 
 " Oyes ! Oyes ! Oyes ! 
 This is to give notice, 
 To all Hogs, Pigs, Swine and their Masters, 
 That from the first of February '89, 
 If any person suffer his, her, or their swine 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 63 
 
 To gallop about the streets at large, 
 Full twenty shillings is the charge 
 
 For each offence ; 
 To be paid (by firm and special order 
 Of our good Aldermen and Recorder) 
 To the informer's use, with all expence ; 
 Otherwise he shall have free leave to dine 
 Upon the said arrested swine, 
 Send them to jail, or give t' the poor. 
 For which — ' The Lord encrease his store.' " 
 
 Although there was a dog-tax of eight shillings, dogs too 
 seem to have been plentiful, for in July an exasperated citi- 
 zen declared that the hog nuisance was increasing instead of 
 being remedied, and that the inhabitants were deprived of 
 their sleep by the squeaking of pigs and the barking of dogs 
 in pursuit of them ; what was everybody's business was no- 
 body's business, but if the matter were placed in charge of the 
 high-constable it might be remedied. 
 
 The Fire Department in 1789 consisted of about 300 men, 
 the Common Council having been authorized to appoint that 
 number by an Act passed March 19th 1787. They were to 
 be subject to removal at any time and exempt from constable, 
 militia and jury duty. The engineers or superintendents of 
 the department were William J. Elsworth, John Stagg, Fran- 
 cis Bassett, Isaac Mead, and John Quackenboss, but the first- 
 named seems to have been the head of the department. On 
 the I2th of September 1789 he received £106 los. for one 
 year's superintendence and repair of fire-engines. There were 
 seventeen engine companies, each having a foreman and as- 
 sistant, and two hook and ladder companies. The first fire- 
 engines appeared in the city in December 173 1, having been 
 imported from London; in 1789, however, those used were 
 probably of American manufacture, as two advertisements of 
 them appeared in the newspapers. In October, George 
 Mason, a Philadelphia enginemaker, advertised several sizes 
 of fire-engines, the largest of which held 175 gallons of water 
 and threw a part of the stream 175 feet. It required eighteen 
 men to work it, cost ^150, and was warranted for seven years. 
 
64 New York City m 1789. 
 
 In November, William J. Elsworth advertised fire-engines 
 made in New York for sale as cheap as they could be obtained 
 elsewhere in America or imported from Europe. Mr. Els- 
 worth remained at the head of the fire department until 181 1. 
 At fires, of which there were very few in 1789, the citizens 
 and firemen formed a line with buckets from the nearest well 
 or pump to the engine, whence the foreman directed the 
 stream upon the flames. On such occasions the members of 
 the Common Council were authorized to direct the work of 
 the firemen, and they expected to be obeyed, as on the 25th 
 of February 1789 George Seal, one of the firemen was re- 
 moved for disobeying orders and for disrespect to a magistrate 
 at a fire. This incident was followed by a resolution that no 
 one under thirty years of age should be appointed as a fireman, 
 but this limitation was repealed on the 13th of November. 
 Every house having between three and six fireplaces was to 
 have two leathern fire-buckets; those having six or less than 
 nine fireplaces, four buckets ; and those having nine or more 
 fireplaces, six buckets, the cost of which was to be allowed by 
 the landlord out of the rent. The penalty for not having 
 buckets was six shillings fine a month for each bucket that 
 was lacking. The buckets were marked with the owner's 
 name and after a fire were collected in one place v/he'nce the 
 owner picked out his property. Some of the fire companies 
 also carried bags in which to remove property from burning 
 buildings. The largest fire in 1789 was on the 4th of Novem- 
 ber when two houses on Great George Street near the Bride- 
 well were destroyed, and the report being made that the fire 
 had started from a crack in the chimney, the owner, Mr. Dug- 
 gan, published affidavits by six masons that no such crack 
 could be found. His anxiety on the subject was probably 
 caused by a provision for forty shillings fine in case a chimney 
 caught fire from lack of attention. An Act of March 15th 
 1788 forbade the storage of gunpowder in a larger quantity 
 than 28 pounds in any one place less than a mile from the 
 City Hall, except in the powder-house, and those 28 pounds 
 were to be kept in jugs containing seven pounds each. By a 
 city ordinance of October 30th 1789 chimney and fireplace in- 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 65 
 
 specters were appointed, witliout whose permission no stove 
 could be set up under a penalty of twenty shillings fine. 
 
 The militia of the State was organized under an Act 
 passed April 4th 1786 requiring that every citizen above six- 
 teen years of age and under forty-five should be enrolled in a 
 militia company within four months, and within three months 
 after enrollment should provide himself, at his own expense, 
 with a good musket and accoutrements. Each brigade was to 
 be commanded by a brigadier-general and to have connected 
 with it one company of artillery, consisting of sixty-four men 
 including officers, and one troop of horse consisting of fifty- 
 five men. including officers. These companies were to be 
 clothed, at their own expense, in regimentals of a style to be 
 determined by the brigadier-general. Each regiment of in- 
 fantry was to be commanded by one lieutenant-colonel com- 
 mandant and two majors, and was to consist of two battalions 
 of four companies each, the companies consisting of eleven of- 
 ficers, a drummer, a fifer, and not less than sixty-five privates. 
 There were also to be connected with each regiment two 
 light infantry companies of volunteers, and four regiments 
 thus constituted were to form a brigade. The militia was to 
 rendezvous four times a year for training and discipline. The 
 City of New York was also to raise one regiment of artillery 
 to consist of as many companies as the commander-in-chief 
 might consider necessary, not to exceed four, which were to 
 be called out for exercise at least six times a year. The uni- 
 forms of general officers were dark blue coats with buff fac- 
 ings, linings, collars, and cuffs, yellow buttons, and buff under- 
 clothes. Regimental officers of infantry wore the same style 
 of uniform with white trimmings and underclothes, and staff 
 officers wore the same as the general officers without "facings 
 and cuffs to their coats. Non-commissioned officers and pri- 
 vates of the light infantry companies of volunteers were to 
 wear dark blue coats with white linings, collars, and cuffs, and 
 white underclothes, but those of other companies were not 
 obliged to appear in that uniform. Each regiment was to be 
 furnished with State and regimental colors at the expense of 
 the field-officers, and each company with a drum and fife at 
 5 
 
66 New York City in 1789. 
 
 the expense of its commissioned officers. Quakers were to 
 pay forty shillings a year instead of performing military duty, 
 and government officials, ministers, physicians, school teachers, 
 firemen, and some others were exempt from such duty. This 
 Act was amended on the i8th of April 1787 by a provision 
 that when forty men of the enrolled militia of the City of 
 New York desired to arm themselves as grenadiers, they 
 should be allowed to do so. 
 
 The city militia in 1789 consisted of the Brigade of the 
 City and County of New York under command of William 
 Malcolm, Brigadier-General. The various regiments and 
 companies were : 
 
 1st Regiment, Henry Rutgers, Lieut. Colonel., 
 2nd " Morgan Lewis, " " 
 
 3rd " Hendrick Wyckoff, " " 
 
 4th " James Alner, " " 
 
 5th " James M. Hughes, " " 
 
 Regiment of Artillery, Sebastian Bauman, Lieut. Colonel. 
 Legion of the City of New York, James Chrystie, Lieut. Colonel. 
 Brigade Company of Artillery, John Stoutenburgh, Captain. 
 Troop of Horse, John Stakes, Captain. 
 
 The captain of the second company of grenadiers of the 
 1st Regiment was George Scriba, and their uniform, as de- 
 scribed in Stone's History of New York, consisted of blue 
 coats, yellow waistcoats and breeches, black gaiters and cone- 
 shaped caps faced with bear skin. Another company wore 
 blue coats faced with red and embroidered with gold, white 
 waistcoats and breeches, black spatterdashes buttoned close 
 from the foot to the knee, and cocked hats with white 
 feathers. Parades were held on the race-ground in the vicin- 
 ity of the present junction of Division and Hester Streets. 
 General William Malcolm first appears in New York in 1763 
 as an importer of Scotch goods, his place of business being 
 near the Fly Market. In 1767 he became secretary of the St. 
 Andrew's Society, and during the Revolution commanded 
 the 2nd New York Regiment. In 1784, 1786, and 1787 he 
 was an Assemblyman. He died in the city on the ist of Sep- 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 67 
 
 tember 1791 and was buried on the following day with mili- 
 tary and masonic honors. Colonel Sebastian Bauman, of the 
 Regiment of Artillery, was born in Frankfort, Germany, on 
 the 6th of April 1739. After an education as an engineer and 
 artillerist in the Austrian service, he fled to America to escape 
 the results of a duel, and in May 1775 was appointed captain 
 of a German company which volunteered in the ist New York 
 Regiment, in which he acted as major. At intervals during 
 the years 1781 and 1782 he was in command at West Point 
 and there prepared for Washington maps of that post which fell 
 into the hands of Benedict Arnold and were found in Major 
 Andre's boot. He was honorably discharged from the Con- 
 tinental Army in June 1784 and was breveted lieutenant- 
 colonel on the 14th of April 1787. In October 1789 he was 
 appointed postmaster of New York and held that office until 
 his death on the 19th of October 1803. Captain John Stakes 
 of the Troop of Horse was also a German who had served in 
 the Revolution as a lieutenant of Light Dragoons. Colonel 
 James Chrystie of the Legion was born near Edinburgh, Scot- 
 land, on the 13th of January 1750, and appeared in Phila- 
 delphia in 1777. After serving in Pennsylvania regiments dur- 
 ing the Revolution and receiving an honorable discharge from-i 
 the army in November 1783, he established himself in business. 
 in New York, and in 1789 was a china merchant at No. 17 
 Maiden Lane. A few years later he served in Gen. Wayne's. 
 expedition against the Indians in Ohio, but returned to the 
 city at the close of the campaign and was the leading dealer 
 in chinaware until his death in June 1807. 
 
 On the 4th of July 1789 Gen. Malcolm's brigade, under 
 command of Col. Chrystie, paraded on the race-ground at six 
 o'clock in the morning and on their return passed the house of 
 Washington, who was then ill but appeared at the door in full 
 regimentals. At noon a salute was fired from the Fort, and 
 at four o'clock the officers dined at Sam Fraunces' Tavern in 
 Cortlandt Street, and at the third toast, to the President of 
 the United States, the company rose and gave three cheers 
 and the band struck up General Washington's March. The 
 annual inspection of the brigade was made by Adjutant 
 
68 New York City in 1789. 
 
 General Nicholas Fish on the 29th of July. A parade and 
 review also took place on the 28th of September which was 
 saddened by the death of John Loudon, lieutenant and adju- 
 tant of the 1st Regiment, who was killed by the accidental 
 discharge of a ramrod from a gun in the hands of one of his 
 men. It is to the honor of the newspapers of that day that 
 the name of the unfortunate man who discharged the gun did 
 not appear in one of them. Lieut. Loudon, who was the son 
 of Samuel Loudon the printer, was a member of Dr. Mason's 
 church and of Holland Lodge, and was buried on the 29th of 
 September with military and masonic honors, an ode to his 
 memory, composed by Mr. Low, being sung in the Lodge 
 Room. Col. Hendrick WyckofT of the 3rd Regiment also 
 died on the 22nd of October at his father's house on Long 
 Island. He was a partner of Melancthon Smith in the firm 
 of Smith and Wyckoff, and is said to have been " eminent as 
 a patriot, graceful as a soldier, and virtuous as a man." 
 Evacuation Day was celebrated by the hoisting of the colors 
 at the Fort, and the firing of a federal salute at noon. 
 
 The New York Society of the Cincinnati, which in 1789 
 consisted of about 180 members, met at the City Tavern on 
 the 4th of July and elected Baron Steuben, president, Alex- 
 ander Hamilton, vice-president. Major John Stagg, secretary, 
 and Col. Richard Piatt, treasurer. John Stagg, the secretary, 
 was born in 1758, served in the Continental Army during the 
 Revolution, was a clerk in the war ofifice for eight years, and 
 was sherifl[ of the city from 1801 until his death of yellow 
 fever on the 28th of December 1803. He was an Assembly- 
 man in 1784 and 1786, and in 1789 was a major in the City 
 Legion and a City Surveyor. Col. Richard Piatt, who was 
 born in 1754, was a member of a Long Island family, and 
 served in the Continental army throughout the Revolution. 
 He was a strong federalist in politics and acted as marshal 
 of the Federal Procession in July 1788. He died on the 3rd 
 of March 1830. After this election of officers the Society 
 appointed a committee consisting of Baron Steuben, Alex- 
 ander Hamilton, Gen. Samuel B. Webb, Col. William S. 
 Smith, and Col. Bauman, to present its congratulations to the 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 69 
 
 President, Vice-President, and Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives ; which was done except in the case of the 
 Speaker, who could not be found. The Society then went in 
 procession, escorted by Bauman's Artillery, to St. Paul's 
 Chapel, where a eulogium upon Gen. Nathaniel Greene was 
 pronounced by Alexander Hamilton, his audience including 
 the President's wife and family, the Vice-President and ladies 
 of his family, the Senate, and the Speaker and House of 
 Representatives. Washington was too ill to be present. A 
 dinner and the drinking of thirteen toasts at the City Tavern 
 closed the Society's celebration of the day. 
 
 Among those in the city in 1789 who had been naval offi- 
 cers were Commodore James Nicholson, and Admiral Pierre 
 Landais. The former was born in Chestertown, Md., in 1737 
 and coming to New York in 1762 entered the Royal Navy. 
 At the outbreak of the Revolution he joined the American 
 cause, and in 1777 became Commodore and Commander-in- 
 chief of the American Navy, but was not particularly success- 
 ful in the struggle against the British. He died in New York 
 on the 2nd of September 1804. Pierre Landais was a French- 
 man who had been disgraced by Congress for failing to sup- 
 port Paul Jones in the action between the Bonhomme 
 Richard and the Serapis, and was therefore a bitter foe of the 
 " pirate." Meeting Paul Jones on the street in New York in 
 October 1787, with true French politeness, he spat upon the 
 sidewalk and then informed his enemy that he might consider 
 the sidewalk to be his person. Capt. Jones' failure to imme- 
 diately resent this conduct caused rumors to be spread deroga- 
 tory to his courage and led to the publication of the follow- 
 ing card in the New York Packet : " To the Public. Having 
 yesterday, late in the afternoon, received information of a re- 
 port circulating here, that Peter Landais — (who was an officer 
 in the squadron I commanded in Europe in the late war, and 
 was in America broke and rendered incapable of public ser- 
 vice by a Court Martial, — for matters of a date subsequent 
 to and unconnected with the charges I made against him in 
 Europe, which are of a nature to call his life in question, and 
 of which the most material proofs have never been published, 
 
JJO New York City m 1789, 
 
 but are lodged in the office of Foreign Affairs) — did person- 
 ally insult me in this city on Friday last by spitting in my 
 face : I take this method to declare that the said report is an 
 absolute falsehood — it being impossible that such an insult 
 should have been offered to me, with impunity, under any 
 circumstances whatever. Paul Jones. Monday, October 
 29th 1787." In February 1786 there had been published the 
 first two parts of M. Landais' Justification and he endeavored 
 for many years to obtain a reversal of the action of Congress 
 toward him but failed to do so. He died in New York in 
 June 18 18, aged 87 years. 
 
 The political campaign of 1789 was contested with unusual 
 bitterness, the city being a stronghold of Federalism and the 
 State at large being Antifederalist. When the city delegates 
 to the Poughkeepsie Convention, which was to consider the 
 question of ratifying the Federal Constitution, were chosen in 
 1788 the highest number of votes cast for an Antifederalist 
 candidate was 134, while John Jay received 2735 votes. With 
 the exception of William Morris, who did not vote at all, the 
 New York City members of the Convention all voted for 
 ratification, and the members from the neighboring counties 
 of Westchester, Kings, and Queens, voted unanimously for it. 
 The election of Governor and Congressmen in 1789 renewed 
 the struggle which had been won by the Federalists in the 
 Convention of 1788. By an Act passed on the 13th of Febru- 
 ary 1787 it was provided for the first time in this State, that 
 the election of State officers should be by secret ballot, that 
 method of voting having been recommended by the Constitu- 
 tion of 1777. The qualifications for voting for State officers 
 consisted in being a male inhabitant of full age who had re- 
 sided in the county for six months, who possessed a freehold 
 to the value of ^20 or rented a tenement of the yearly value 
 of forty shillings in the county, and had actually paid taxes in 
 the State. The election was to be held on the last Tuesday 
 in April, the polls to remain open for five days if necessary, 
 and three hours notice to be given of their closing. The votes 
 for Assembly were to be canvassed by the Common Council 
 on the last Tuesday in May. Owing to the opposition of the 
 
City Govermnent. — Militia. — Politics. Jl 
 
 Antifederalists, New York State took no part in the election 
 of President Washington, and the political gluttony of the 
 same party greatly delayed the election of Congressmen and 
 United States Senators. The situation was accurately de- 
 scribed by Dr. Hugh Williamson when he wrote as follows 
 from New York on the 24th of January 1789 to James Ire- 
 dell : " The General Assembly of this State, after spending 
 two months in pure wrangling, during which time many of 
 them have had the felicity to make a clear saving of one dol- 
 lar per day, have at length agreed to divide the State into six 
 election districts for the choice of the representatives in the 
 new Congress. They cannot yet agree about the mode of 
 choosing Senators. The Commons wish to have all Anties, 
 and the Senate wish to have at least one Congress Senator a 
 federal man." The Act for the division of the State into six 
 congressional districts was passed on the 27th of January 1789, 
 the qualifications for voting for congressmen being the same 
 as those for voting for State officers, and the first election be- 
 ing ordered to take place on the first Tuesday in the following 
 March. The City and County of New York and the County 
 of Westchester, with the exception of five towns, formed one 
 of the districts, each of which was to elect one Congressman. 
 The electioneering for Governor and Congressman were car- 
 ried on at the same time, support of or opposition to the 
 Federal Constitution being the distinguishing marks of the 
 two parties in the State. The first candidate for the govern- 
 orship to appear was Pierre Van Cortlandt, then Lieutenant 
 Governor, who announced his candidacy in a card published 
 on the 2nd of February. On the nth of February a meeting 
 of citizens at the City Tavern nominated Judge Robert Yates 
 for Governor, and Mr. Van Cortlandt for Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor, and on the following day the friends of Judge Richard 
 Morris put him in nomination ; he, however, withdrew his 
 name on the 27th of February in the interest of harmony. 
 The meeting of February nth was followed by another on 
 the 23rd which endorsed its action and nominated John 
 Lawrence for Congressman. The Federalists controlled these 
 meetings, their objections to Governor Clinton, who wished to 
 
72 New York City in 1789. 
 
 be re-elected, being stated in a circular letter written by Alex- 
 ander Hamilton on the i8th of February, laying especial em- 
 phasis on the points that the Governor should look with 
 favor upon the Federal Constitution, and that he should sup- 
 port the dignity of his office by suitable hospitality and not 
 arouse disgust and contempt by endeavoring to enrich him- 
 self by his office. In order to avoid the charge of party spirit 
 it had been thought advisable to nominate a man of the 
 other party and, accordingly, Judge Yates, who was not a 
 Federalist, had been nominated. The circular further stated 
 that it was hoped that Judge Morris and Mr. Van Cortlandt 
 would withdraw from candidacy. This circular was signed by 
 Mr. Hamilton as chairman of a Federalist committee of cor- 
 respondence of which the other members were Robert Troup, 
 William Duer, William Constable, John Murray, Richard 
 Piatt, Isaiah Wool, Robert Bowne, Aaron Burr, John Meyer, 
 George Gosman, James Robinson, and Daniel Hitchcock. 
 Among the first movements on the part of the Antifederalists 
 was a warning on the 17th of February that there was then 
 " stealing upon the public, as from an ambuscade, a Publica- 
 tion, entitled 'The Milkiad'" which contained a censure of 
 the most poignant kind upon Gov. Clinton. The author of 
 this plot was said to have based his poem upon a circumstance 
 which with the weak and prejudiced might pass for a true 
 story, but which upon examination would retreat with the 
 rest of the host of calumnies with which the Federalists in- 
 tended to commence their electioneering. On the 26th of 
 February the Antifederalists, in the guise of " merchants, 
 mechanics, and traders," called a meeting to nominate a mer- 
 chant for Congressman, in opposition to John Lawrence who 
 was a lawyer. William Malcolm was the chairman of this 
 meeting, but owing to lack of room at the Coffee House, the 
 meeting was adjourned to be held the next evening at the 
 City Tavern. But on the 27th Alexander Hamilton issued a 
 call to all citizens to be present at this meeting, and when it 
 took place the nomination of Mr. Lawrence was ratified by a 
 large majority of the 1000 citizens who were present. The 
 Antifederalists were thus obliged to solicit votes through the 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 73 
 
 newspapers for John Broome, who was said to be a friend of 
 the Constitution, a merchant, a man of letters, and well ac- 
 quainted with the law. The polling places in the city ap- 
 pointed for the congressional election were the Coffee House 
 in the East Ward, Aorson's Tavern in the North Ward, the 
 City Tavern in the West Ward, Rawson's Tavern in Mont- 
 gomerie Ward, the Bull's Head Tavern in the Out Ward, 
 John Francis' Tavern in the Dock Ward, and the Exchange 
 in the South Ward, The City vote, which was canvassed on 
 the 7th of April, stood, for John Lawrence 2255, for John 
 Broome 280, for Philip Pell 2 votes. In the whole district, 
 including Westchester County, Mr. Lawrence received 2418, 
 Mr. Broome 372, and Mr. Pell 33 votes. John Lawrence, 
 who was thus elected first Congressman from the City under 
 the new Constitution, was born in Cornwall, England, in 
 1750, and, coming to New York in 1767, was admitted to the 
 bar in 1772 and practiced in the city until the Revolution, 
 during which he served in the 1st New York Regiment. He 
 also acted as judge-advocate-general on Washington's staff, 
 and was a member of the court-martial which convicted Major 
 Andre. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 
 1785 to 1787, a State Senator in 1789, sat in the U. S. Con- 
 gress from the 8th of April 1789 until the 2nd of March 1793 
 when he became U. S. Circuit Court Judge, and was a U. S. 
 Senator from December 8th 1796 until his resignation in Aug- 
 ust 1800. He died in New York on the 7th of November 18 10. 
 The congressional election having been thus ended in a 
 manner which was to be expected, the Antifederalists bent 
 all their energies toward the re-election of Gov. Clinton, in 
 which they were successful throughout the State although 
 defeated in New York City. The fact that Mr. Lawrence 
 was a lawyer furnished the text for the following remarks 
 which appeared in the Daily Advertiser of March 4th 1789 : 
 
 " Beware of Lawyers." 
 " Of the men who framed that monarchical, aristocratical, 
 oligarchical, tyrannical, diabolical system of slavery, the New 
 Constitution, one Half were lawyers. Of the men who repre- 
 
74 iV<Pze^ York City in 1789. 
 
 sented, or rather misrepresented, this city and county in the 
 late convention of this state, to whose wicked arts we may 
 chiefly attribute the adoption of that abominable 'sysX^va, seven 
 out of the nine were Lawyers. This same class of men will 
 do all they can to establish and confirm that nefarious system, 
 and as long as they are blindly trusted by the people, we 
 shall never be able to succeed in our virtuous attempts to de- 
 stroy it. And what crowns the wickedness of these wicked 
 lawyers is, that a great majority of them throughout the state 
 are violently opposed to our Great and Good Head and 
 never failing friend of the city and city interests, the present 
 Governor. That aspiring party are the worst enemies of his 
 and our Virtuous Aspirings. We warned you against them 
 at the election for convention men ; we now warn you against 
 them again. Beware, beware, beware of Lawyers ! " 
 
 "A true Antifederalist and NO Lawyer." 
 At a small meeting held on the 9th of March by about 
 TOO citizens under the chairmanship of Jonathan Lawrence a 
 merchant of the city, the Antifederalists discussed the ques- 
 tion of nominations, and on the 17th of March nominated 
 George Clinton for Governor, Pierre Van Cortlandt for Lieu- 
 tenant Governor, and David Gelston for State Senator from 
 the southern district. The Federalist candidate for Senator 
 was Philip Livingston of Westchester County. The Anti- 
 federalists also appointed a committee of thirty-six members 
 to promote the re-election of Gov. Clinton and the following 
 gentlemen were chosen as a committee of correspondence : 
 
 Jonathan Lawrence. 
 
 John Stagg. Isaac Cook. 
 
 Marinus Willet. Henry Rutgers. 
 
 Elias Nexson. John H. Sleght. 
 
 William Malcolm. Isaac Stoutenburgh. 
 
 William Denning. Melancthon Smith. 
 
 Isaac Norton. David Gelston. 
 
 The chairman of this committee, Jonathan Lawrence, had 
 been a State Senator from 1777 to 1783, a member of the 
 Council of Appointment in 1778 and 1782, and an Assistant 
 Alderman from the Montgomerie Ward in 1784. In Septem- 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 75 
 
 ber 1789 he was appointed Inspector of Potash. The ablest 
 member of the committee, and one who had taken a promi- 
 nent part as an Antifederalist in the Poughkeepsie Conven- 
 tion of 1788, was Melancthon Smith, who was born in 1744, 
 being one of the fifteen children of Samuel Smith, a farmer at 
 Jamaica, Long Island. When a boy he was placed in a store 
 at Poughkeepsie, and in 1777 was appointed first Sheriff of 
 Dutchess County, being an active patriot during the Revolu- 
 tion. In 1788 he represented Dutchess County in the State 
 Convention, acting as leader of the Antifederalists but finally 
 succumbing to the eloquence of Alexander Hamilton and 
 voting for ratification. After this convention he took no very 
 active part in politics but devoted himself to his business 
 until his death on the 29th of July 1798. Toward the end 
 of March 1789 this correspondence committee flooded the 
 State with handbills containing an address to the electors, and 
 the political battle was fairly begun. On the one side it was 
 claimed that Governor Clinton was penurious and had amassed 
 a fortune of ^^30, 000 during his governorship ; that the four 
 terms for which he had already been elected ought to satisfy 
 the ambition of any man, and that frequent rotation in ofifice 
 was a fundamental principle of republicanism. On the other 
 hand, it was said that the politics of the city, since the peace, 
 had been run by "a brace of Creoles" who had no other merit 
 than that derived from consummate impudence and were now 
 endeavoring to palm ofT a governor of their own making upon 
 the people and to cram a senator upon them from another 
 State, as if New York had no citizen worthy of that honor. 
 The Anti-Clintonians were denounced as wealthy aristocrats, 
 
 and a family, designated as " the L family," was bitterly 
 
 assailed for deserting Governor Clinton to whom they had 
 every reason to be grateful. No personal attacks of any con- 
 sequence were made upon Judge Yates, but a man who had 
 been Governor for twelve years furnished a fair mark for per- 
 sonal abuse. He was hated chiefly for his opposition to the 
 Federal Constitution, and upon the day that the Constitution 
 came into effect, a Boston newspaper published a long politi- 
 cal biography of Governor Clinton, as of one who had de- 
 
76 Netv York City in 1789. 
 
 parted political life. Another Boston paper printed a pro- 
 gramme of the funeral procession of Antifederalism which in- 
 cluded : " His Excel. G. CI — nt — n, Esq. In both hands a 
 Purse, tied up. The words thereon, If New York loses the 
 Impost, I lose thee" The main charge made against him was 
 that of avarice, and it was announced that the members of the 
 Anti^^deralist committee of correspondence in the city were 
 unpopular, without influence, and chiefly office-holders by the 
 Governor's appointment. His strongest opponent in the city 
 newspapers was one " H. G.," who published a series of let- 
 ters describing the Governor's career in a manner by no 
 means complimentary. " H. G." also made a violent attack 
 upon Marinus Willet, who announced that he knew his iden- 
 tity and would show him up in his true colors, but afterwards 
 admitted that he had been unable to fathom his personality. 
 " H. G's." letters were also answered by " William Tell," and 
 before the electioneering was finished, volleys of abuse were 
 hurled in all directions by these writers and by " Tam- 
 many " and " Tammany jr." One citizen, who was evi- 
 dently a Mugwump, expressed his opinion thus : " ' The ox 
 knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib ' and I am 
 much deceived if these brayers on both sides, with one or two 
 exceptions, are not actuated by similar motives." The chair- 
 men of the opposing committees, Mr. Hamilton and Mr. 
 Lawrence, were so unequally provided in the matter of men- 
 tal equipment that their productions during the campaign 
 cannot fairly be compared. Mr. Lawrence was no match for 
 the greatest statesman whom New York has ever produced. 
 The result of the election for governor, however, showed that 
 Governor Clinton was not as politically dead as his opponents 
 wished him to be. The vote in New York City was as follows : 
 
 Ward. Yates. 
 
 Clinton. 
 
 East. 125. 
 
 96. 
 
 West. 146. 
 
 41. 
 
 Dock. 53. 
 
 49. 
 
 South. 53. 
 
 16. 
 
 North. loi. 
 
 55- 
 
 Out. 115. 
 
 89. 
 
 Montgomerie 240. 
 
 66. 
 
 Total. 833. 
 
 385- 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 'j'j 
 
 Judge Yates also carried Westchester, Dutchess, Colum- 
 bia, Albany and Montgomery counties, but Governor Clin- 
 ton's strength in the other counties was sufficient to give him 
 a majority of 429 votes in the State. The smallest vote was 
 in Clinton County where but forty-five ballots were cast, of 
 which Governor Clinton received forty-two. It was estimated 
 that there were nearly 20,000 freeholders in the State of 
 whom 12,353 voted, 547 ballots being thrown out for various 
 reasons. Before the votes were canvassed, bets were made in 
 the city at the odds of two to one in favor of Gov. Clinton's 
 re-election and it was conjectured that ^1000 were lost in 
 that manner. Governor Clinton's triumph was thus an- 
 nounced in the New York Journal of June 4th 1789: "It 
 has been remarked that this election for Governor has been 
 more severely contested than any one since the peace, and in- 
 contestibly proves that a very great majority of the citizens 
 of the State have full confidence in him whom they have for 
 five successive elections placed in the chair of government ; 
 who, then, can other than hail him — the favorite of the peo- 
 ple." On the 5th of June, Governor Clinton and his friends 
 held a jubilee at Fraunces' Tavern. The Governor's salary 
 for a number of years had been ;^i500 a year but by an Act 
 passed on the 28th of February 1789 he was to receive, during 
 the year ending July ist 1789, ^1200 salary, ^^300 for the 
 rent of the house then occupied by him, and a sufficient 
 amount to pay the taxes on it. Mr. Van Cortlandt received 
 a practically unanimous vote of 11,445 ballots for Lieutenant- 
 Governor. 
 
 The election of Assemblymen and State Senator did not 
 arouse as much interest in the city as that of Governor. The 
 cartmen, mechanics, and other citizens held various meetings 
 at which the following gentlemen were nominated for As- 
 semblymen, a list of their names giving an idea of the class of 
 men who were in political life at that time : 
 
 William Backhouse. John Leake, Jr. 
 
 John Broome. Morgan Lewis. 
 
 Donald Campbell. Daniel McCormick. 
 
 Francis Childs. White Matlack. 
 
78 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Matthew Clarkson. John Murray. 
 
 William Constable. James Nicholson. 
 
 Nicholas Cruger. Anthony Post. 
 
 John Delafield. Robert R. Randall. 
 
 Wm. W. Gilbert. Comfort Sands. 
 
 William Heyer. Ebenezer Stevens. 
 
 RuFus King. , Robert Troup. 
 
 Jonathan Lawrence. Gulian Verplank. 
 
 William Laight. John Watts. 
 
 Henry Will. 
 
 The names of the nine who were elected, and the number 
 of votes which each received were these : 
 
 Gulian Verplank, 1176. Henry Will, 1131. 
 
 John Watts, 1176. Robert R. Randall, 1130. 
 
 Rufus King, 1173. Morgan Lewis, 1115. 
 
 Matthew Clarkson, 1143. Anthony Post, 788. 
 Francis Childc, 675. 
 
 Assemblymen received \2s. a day and their travelling ex- 
 penses. 
 
 Philip Livingston was elected State Senator. 
 
 The political event occurring in New York City in 1789, 
 which, with the exception of President Washington's inaugu- 
 ration, has proved to be of the greatest importance, was the 
 organization of the St. Tammany's Society, or Columbian Or- 
 der. Societies bearing the name of St. Tammany had existed 
 both in Philadelphia and New York before 1789, but the 
 present organization, commonly known as Tammany Hall, 
 had its origin in the early part of that year, its founder being 
 William Mooney, an upholsterer, whose residence was No. 23 
 Nassau Street. According to a description of its purposes, 
 written in 1790, "this national institution holds up as its ob- 
 ject the smile of charity, the chain of friendship, and the flame 
 of liberty: and in general, whatever may tend to perpetuate 
 the love of freedom or the political advantage of this country." 
 As organized in 1789, it was to be a national society founded 
 on the true principles of patriotism, and having for its motives 
 charity and brotherly love. Its officers were to consist of 
 native-born Americans, while adopted citizens were eligible 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 79 
 
 to the honorary posts of warrior and hunter. The officers 
 were one grand sachem, twelve sachems, one treasurer, one 
 secretary, and one door-keeper, the society being divided into 
 thirteen tribes, each representing a State and being governed 
 by a sachem, and containing one honorary warrior and one 
 hunter. The society was governed in 1789 by, 
 
 William Mooney, Grand Sachem. 
 Sachems. 
 White Matlack. John Burger, 
 
 Oliver Glean. Jonathan Pearsee. 
 
 Philip Hone. Thomas Greenleaf. 
 
 James Tylee. Abel Hardenbrook. 
 
 John Campbell. Cortlandt Van Beuren. 
 
 Gabriel Furman. Joseph Gadwin. 
 
 Treasurer, Thomas Ash. 
 Secretary, Anthony Ernest. 
 Doorkeeper, Gardner Baker. 
 
 The St. Tammany's Society, at the outset, included men 
 of all parties and did not take a prominent part in politics. 
 In 1789 its meetings were held at Sam Fraunces' tavern, but 
 it celebrated the 12th of May in tents erected on the bank of 
 the Hudson River about two miles from the city, where a 
 large number of members partook of an elegant entertain- 
 ment, served precisely at three o'clock, after which there was 
 singing and smoking and universal expressions of brotherly 
 love. In 1790 the Tammany Society, through the efforts of 
 John Pintard, became the first American Historical Society by 
 establishing a museum for the preservation and exhibition of 
 all things relating to the history and antiquities of America. 
 
 The national political events occurring in New York in 
 1789 included the meeting of the first Congress under the 
 Federal Constitution and the inauguration of the first Presi- 
 dent and Vice-President of the United States. The Consti- 
 tution had been adopted by the members of the Philadelphia 
 Convention on the 17th of September 1787, its benefits had 
 been practically secured by its ratification by the ninth state. 
 New Hampshire, on the 21st of June 1788, and it had been 
 
8o New York City i7i 1789. 
 
 ratified by New York, on the 26th of July 1788. Until the 
 2 1st of November 1789, North Carolina was a "foreign 
 state," and Rhode Island chose to occupy that position until 
 the 29th of May 1790. The electors of the President were to 
 be appointed on the first Wednesday in January 1789, and were 
 to cast their votes on the first Wednesday in February, but 
 through the opposition of the Antifederalists, no electors were 
 appointed in New York State. The Constitution was to go 
 into operation on the first Wednesday of March 1789, and that 
 day was greeted in the City by the ringing of bells and firing 
 of cannon at sunrise, noon, and sunset, and the decoration of 
 Federal Hall with flags. The feeling of the Federalists 
 throughout the country with regard to the event was ex- 
 pressed in a Boston newspaper of March 7th in an article be- 
 ginning thus : " The Copartnership of Anarchy and Anti- 
 federalism being on the 4th inst. dissolved by the death of the 
 concerned, the firm ceases to be. The stock in trade consist- 
 ing of subterfuges, scarecrows, calumny, etc., will be disposed 
 of at Public Auction to Arnold, Galloway, Deane, or their 
 agents — and anything will be received in payment except 
 Rhode Island paper money." The Federalists, however, met 
 with a dire disappointment in the lack of activity on the part 
 of the Congressmen in coming to New York. On the 4th of 
 March there being but eight Senators and thirteen Represen- 
 tatives present, the meeting of Congress was adjourned for 
 lack of a quorum. Daily adjournments continued until the 
 1st of April when the House, having a quorum of thirty 
 members, organized and chose as speaker Frederick Augustus 
 Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania. No quorum appeared in the 
 Senate until the 6th of April, but there being a quorum of 
 twelve Senators on that day, John Langdon of New Hamp- 
 shire was chosen temporary President of the Senate and the 
 votes for President and Vice-President were opened and 
 counted. Each ballot contained two names, the person re- 
 ceiving the highest number of votes to be President, and the 
 next to highest number Vice-President. The total number of 
 votes cast was sixty-nine, of which George Washington re- 
 ceived all. The votes for other candidates were, for John 
 
City Governmefit. — Militia. — Politics. 8i 
 
 Adams, 34; John Jay, 9; Richard H. Harrison, 6; John 
 Rutledge, 6; John Hancock, 4; George Clinton, 3; Samuel 
 Huntington, 2 ; John Milton, 2 ; James Armstrong, i ; Ben- 
 jamin Lincoln, i ; and Edward Telfair, i. Charles Thomson, 
 the Secretary of Congress was then appointed to announce 
 his election to General Washington, and Sylvanus Bourne of 
 Roxbury, Mass., was sent on a like mission to John Adams. 
 New York State was not yet represented in either branch of 
 Congress, as the votes cast at the Congressional election were 
 not yet canvassed and no Senators had yet been elected. 
 Not until the latter part of July did the New York Legisla- 
 ture come to an agreement with regard to electing U. S. 
 Senators, the candidates then being Philip Schuyler, Rufus 
 King, James Duane, Lewis Morris, and Ezra L'Hommedieu. 
 Rufus King of New York City and Philip Schuyler of 
 Albany were finally chosen and took their seats in the Senate 
 on the 25th and 27th of July respectively, their drawing for 
 terms resulting in Mr. King obtaining the term for six and 
 Mr. Schuyler that for two years. Mr. King was born in 
 Scarborough, Maine, in 1755, and after graduation from Har- 
 vard College in 1777, studied law and soon attained eminence 
 in that profession. He served in the Revolution, and was a 
 member of the Continental Congress and of the Convention 
 which framed the Federal Constitution. In 1786 he married 
 Mary, daughter of John Alsop of New York, and took his 
 residence in the city in 1788. In the election of 1789 he was 
 chosen Assemblyman, and then passing to the U. S. Senate 
 was re-elected in 1795, but resigned in 1796 to become Minis- 
 ter to England where he remained until 1804. In 18 13 he 
 was again elected to the U. S. Senate and remained in it 
 until 1825, when he was again appointed Minister to England 
 but returned in the following year in broken health, and died 
 at Jamaica, Long Island, on the 29th of April 1827. He was 
 a stout federalist and a vigorous opponent of slavery. 
 
 The early meetings of Congress were devoted to prepara- 
 tions for the reception and inauguration of the President and 
 Vice-President, then followed a heated discussion as to the 
 titles which were to be given them, and this was followed by 
 6 
 
82 New York City in 1789. 
 
 a Salary Bill by which it was ordered that the President 
 should receive $25000 a year, the Vice-President $5000, the 
 Speaker twelve dollars a day during the session, and the 
 Senators and Representatives six dollars a day. The next 
 topic discussed was the tariff, and then came the question of 
 the permanent seat of the Federal Government. In this ques- 
 tion the citizens of New York had the deepest interest and 
 the galleries were thronged during the bitter debates upon the 
 subject in September 1789. Ladies had made their appear- 
 ance in the gallery of the House in April, a most laudable 
 curiosity, according to the newspapers, being a sufificient reason 
 for the novelty of the circumstance. Congress adjourned on the 
 29th of September 1789 after passing twenty-seven Acts and 
 a number of resolutions. It met again in New York on the 
 4th of January 1790 and sat until the 12th of August when it 
 adjourned to meet next in Philadelphia. 
 
 The Federal appointments to office in which the city was 
 interested began early in August when the President ap- 
 pointed John Lamb, collector of the port, Benjamin Walker, 
 naval officer, and John Lasher, surveyor. Of these John 
 Lamb was the most distinguished. He was born in the city 
 on the first of January 1735, being the son of Anthony Lamb, 
 an excellent maker of mathematical instruments, who died at 
 the age of 81 years, on the nth of December 1784. The son 
 for a time assisted his father in business but in 1760 engaged 
 in the wine trade. Before the Revolution he was an active 
 Liberty Boy and served with distinction throughout the war, 
 being wounded and taken prisoner in Montgomery's expedi- 
 tion against Quebec. He was a member of Assembly in 1784 
 and was appointed Collector on the 22nd of March in that 
 year, reappointed under the Federal Government in 1789, and 
 held the office until 1797. He died in New York on the 31st 
 of May 1800. 
 
 Benjamin Walker was born in England in 1753, and after 
 passing a few years in France was employed by a merchant in 
 London by whom he was sent at an early age to New York. 
 During the Revolution he acted as aide-de-camp to Baron 
 Steuben and to General Washington, it being related that 
 
City Government. — Militia. — Politics. 83 
 
 upon one occasion when Baron Steuben had exhausted his 
 store of expletives in endeavoring to drill some raw recruits 
 he cried out: " Viens, Walker, mon ami, viens, mon bon ami, 
 sacre, Gott dam de gaucheries of dese badauts, je ne puis plus, 
 I can curse dem no more." After the peace. Col. Walker 
 acted for a short time as secretary to Gov. Clinton and then 
 became a commission merchant in New York residing in 1789 
 at No. 22 King (Pine) Street. He was Naval OfBcer until 
 1797 when he moved to Fort Schuyler, now Utica, where he 
 died on the 13th of January 1818. John Lasher was a mem- 
 ber of the Committee of Safety in 1775, was appointed Sur- 
 veyor on the 19th of November 1784, reappointed in 1789 and 
 held the ofifice until the year 1800. The port wardens in 1789 
 were Thomas Randall, Augustine Lawrence, and William 
 Heyer, and the physician to inspect vessels was Dr. Charles 
 McKnight. 
 
 Of more importance was the appointment of Alexander 
 Hamilton to the Secretaryship of the Treasury on the nth 
 of September 1789 which was followed a few days later by 
 his appointment of William Duer as Assistant Secretary. Mr. 
 Duer was born in England on the i8th of March 1747 and 
 twenty years later was aide to Lord Clive in India. In 1768 
 he came to America and purchased a tract of land in Wash- 
 ington County, N. Y. where he became County Judge. He 
 was a member of the New York Provincial Congress, and of 
 the Committee of Safety, one of the committee that drafted the 
 State Constitution in 1777, and a member of the Continental 
 Congress in that and the following year. He was Secretary 
 of the Treasury Board until 1789, author of a few numbers of 
 the Federalist, and served as Assistant Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury until 1790. In 1779 he married Miss Kitty Alexander, 
 daughter of William Alexander, who unsuccessfully claimed 
 the title of Lord Stirling. His death occurred in New York 
 on the 7th of May 1779. 
 
 Later in September came the appointments of John Jay 
 to be Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, James Duane, 
 to be U. S. District Court Judge, Richard Harrison, U. S. 
 Attorney, and Samuel Osgood, Postmaster General, the latter 
 
84 New York City in 1789. 
 
 appointment causing a change in the Postmastership of the 
 City. The main post-route in the country then ran from 
 Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Savannah, Georgia, but 
 there were only seventy-five post offices in all. The route in 
 New York State covered 249 miles ; the contract for carrying 
 the mails three times a week in summer and twice a week in 
 winter being given to Levi Pease at $3300 a year. The total re- 
 ceipts at the New York City Post Office for the three months 
 ending January 5th 1790 were $1067.08, the postmaster's 
 emoluments amounting to $252.32. The amount of post- 
 age required was almost prohibitive, the cost of sending a 
 letter from New York to Savannah being 33 cents. The city 
 postmaster for a number of years had been William Bedlow 
 whose office in 1789 was at No. 8 Wall Street, but on the 
 22nd of September 1789 the President approved an Act for 
 the establishment of a New Post Office Department, which 
 was to remain in effect only to the end of the next session of 
 Congress. Ebenezer Hazard, had, as Postmaster General, 
 managed the department for a number of years in the face of 
 the greatest difficulties, but had allowed the postmasters 
 throughout the country to manage the offices on a credit sys- 
 tem and to fall years in arrears in their accounts with the 
 government ; he was therefore removed and Samuel Osgood 
 appointed in his place on the 29th of September 1789, and a 
 few days later Sebastian Bauman took Mr. Bedlow's place as 
 postmaster. The methods of the department in those days 
 are illustrated by a card which Mr. Bedlow published on the 
 6th of October 1789 thanking the merchants for their kind- 
 ness toward him and requesting them to call and settle their 
 accounts. The new Postmaster General endeavored to hasten 
 the settlement by entering up a judgment against the former 
 postmaster for arrears due to the government, and on the 9th 
 of March 1790 the latter presented a petition to Congress 
 praying for more time in which to pay the judgment. Mr. 
 Bedlow died of yellow fever in 1798. On the 5th of October 
 the post office was removed from No. 8 Wall Street to No. 
 62 Broadway, corner of Crown (Liberty) Street, and two 
 days later " A Merchant " expressed the hope that Mr. Bau- 
 
City Governtnent. — Militia. — Politics. 85 
 
 man would have more consideration for the ease and comfort 
 of the citizens than to continue it there long, but would 
 choose some more central place. For the greater part of the 
 year, the mails from the South arrived at 3 P.M. on Tuesday, 
 Thursday and Saturday, and closed at 10 p.m. on Monday, 
 Wednesday and Friday, those fi^om the East arriving on the 
 same days at 7 P.M. and closing on Tuesday, Thursday and 
 Sunday at 8 P.M. From the ist of November until the first 
 of January, however, the Southern mail closed at i P.M. on 
 Monday and Thursday, and arrived at 3 P.M. on Wednes- 
 day and Saturday, while the Eastern and Northern mail 
 closed at 8 P.M. on Sunday and 9 P.M. on Wednesday, and 
 arrived at 6 P.M. on Wednesday and Saturday. Letters had 
 to be in the post office half an hour before the mail closed. 
 On the ist of January 1790 it was announced that the mail 
 would be sent to Philadelphia five times a week. 
 
 On the I2th of December 1789 the ofifices of the Secretary, 
 Comptroller, Register, and Auditor of the Treasury were re- 
 moved from Broadway to one of the corners of Broad and 
 Great Dock (Pearl) Street. The State Treasury was next 
 door to No. 9 Great Dock Street. 
 
 The representatives from foreign countries in New York 
 City in 1789 were Don Diego de Gardoqui, encargado de 
 negocios from Spain, and Jose Viar, charge d'affaires in the 
 latter part of the year; Marquis de Moustier, minister from 
 France, and Louis G. Oito, charge d'affaires ; Francis P. Van 
 Berckel, minister resident from Holland ; Sir John Temple, 
 consul-general from Great Britain ; and Richard Sonderstrom, 
 Swedish consul. Don Diego de Gardoqui had come to 
 America in 1785 to carry on negotiations with regard to the 
 Mississippi River and became very popular in New York, his 
 departure on the loth of October 1789, on the snow San 
 Nicholas for Bilbao, being universally regretted. Jose Viar 
 then became charge d'affaires, having been ofificially presented 
 to President Washington on the 25th of September, and oc- 
 cupied that post until 1794, and for a short time in 1796. 
 Eleonor-Francois-Elie, marquis de Moustier, the French Am- 
 bassador, was born in Paris on the 15th of May i75i,and after 
 
86 New York City in 1789. 
 
 a military and scientific education went to London as Minister 
 Plenipotentiary in 1783. In 1787 he took the place of M. 
 de la Luzerne in America and, being a stout adherent of the 
 Bourbons, made himself extremely obnoxious in a republic 
 which he despised. He had a parting audience with Presi- 
 dent Washington on the 9th of October 1789 and sailed for 
 France a week later. In 1790 he became ambassador to 
 Prussia, and in the following year returned to France to de- 
 cline to become Minister of Foreign Affairs, and at the same 
 time refused to return to Berlin. He was then appointed 
 Ambassador to Constantinople but had to flee to England to 
 escape death at the hands of the French Revolutionists. He 
 immediately returned, however, to the Continent and labored 
 in behalf of the Bourbons, his letters, falling into the hands 
 of the Jacobins, being reproduced in the Act of Accusation 
 against Louis XVI. In 1792 he returned to England where 
 he remained until 1796 when he took up his residence in Prus- 
 sia until driven out by Bonaparte in 1806. He then fled to 
 Hartwell, England, with Louis XVIII. and shared the fort- 
 unes of that monarch until July 1815, when he retired to a 
 country-house near Versailles where he died of apoplexy on 
 the 1st of February 18 17, after a life of loyal devotion to a 
 bad cause. In 18 10 his son was appointed to a diplomatic 
 mission to the United States, but was ordered elsewhere as 
 he was preparing to sail. 
 
 Louis G. Otto, the French charge d'affaires, was born in 
 Baden in 1754, and coming to America in 1779 remained until 
 1792. He died in Paris in November 1817. Francis P. Van 
 Berckel, minister from the Netherlands, arrived in New York 
 on the loth of May 1789, presented his credentials on the 
 i6th of that month, and represented that country in the 
 United States until September 1795. Sir John Temple, 
 the British consul-general, was born on Noddle's Island, in 
 Boston Harbor, in August 1732, and from 1761 to 1767 was 
 Surveyor General of Customs for the Northern District of 
 America. From 1761 to 1774 he was also Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor of New Hampshire, but in the latter year was removed 
 from that oflfice because of inclination toward the American 
 
New York City in 1789. 87 
 
 cause. After a sojourn in England for some years, he resided 
 in Boston in 1783, and in 1785 became consul-general in New 
 York, remaining in that office until his death on the 17th of 
 November 1798. In January 1767 he married Elizabeth, 
 daughter of James Bovvdoin, and in 1786 succeeded to a Brit- 
 ish baronetcy. Although extremely deaf he was very popu- 
 lar in the New York social world, and was noted for his ele- 
 gant entertainments. The first British minister to the 
 United States presented his credentials in October 1791. 
 
III. 
 
 Climate. Provisions and Markets. Dress and Cus- 
 toms. Societies. 
 
 The healthfulness of the city in 1789 was especially brought 
 to public notice with the object of persuading the Federal 
 Government to fix upon New York as its permanent seat. 
 On the 24th of June, the Gazette of the United States an- 
 nounced that during nearly three months' sitting of Congress 
 but one of its members had fallen sick, and in September, an 
 elaborate statement of the advantageous situation of the city 
 in point of healthfulness appeared from the pen of Dr. John 
 Bard, the leading physician at that time. He wrote as fol- 
 lows : "New York is justly esteemed one of the healthiest 
 cities of the continent. Its vicinity to the ocean, fronted by 
 a large and spacious bay ; surrounded on every side by high 
 and improved land covered with verdure and growing vege- 
 tables, which have a powerful influence in sweetening and 
 salubrifying the air and which often in their season salute the 
 inhabitants settled on the west side of the Broadway with 
 fragrant odours from the apple orchards and buckwheat fields 
 in blossom on the pleasant banks of the Jersey shore in view 
 of their delightful dwellings; the continual influx and reflux 
 of two noble salt water rivers extending along each side of 
 the town, which gives perpetual motion to the air ; the in- 
 equality and descent of the ground on which the city stands, 
 whereby most of the impurities left by the scavengers are 
 washed by the rains into the rivers and there converted twice in 
 every twenty-four hours by floods of salt water, which checks 
 every putrid fermentation ; furnished with good and whole- 
 some water, and the markets supplied with the greatest plenty 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 89 
 
 and variety of every kind of fresh and wholesome provision 
 which both the land and the sea afford. The salutary effects 
 of all which are confirmed in the complexion, health and vigor 
 of its inhabitants." Dr. Bard's sentences were constructed 
 after a somewhat peculiar plan, but, if the longevity of the 
 inhabitants of the city be taken as a test, the truth of his re- 
 marks was confirmed by the facts. Thus, on the 7th of No- 
 vember 1789, died Mrs. Johannah Vanbrugh Duyckink aged 
 92 years and 6 months ; and — to take an example from the 
 next generation — in the directory for 1789 there appears the 
 name of Neal McKinnon, grocer, at No. 31 Wall Street, and 
 in June 18 16 there appeared a notice of the death of Neal 
 McKinnon, aged 88 years, a follower of the immortal Wolfe 
 on the Plains of Abraham in 1758, In some respects, how- 
 ever. Dr. Bard's statements were not altogether accurate. The 
 breezes laden with the fragrant odors of New Jersey did not 
 always blow. In August 1789 the heat was so great in the 
 city that twenty deaths occurred in one week from that cause, 
 aggravated by over-work and the drinking of too much cold 
 water ; perhaps an equally effective cause may be evolved 
 from a newspaper statement that " Raw Rum has been found 
 exceedingly pernicious in this extreme heat," The thermom- 
 eter reached 88°, but, to afford some satisfaction to the over- 
 heated citizens, the newspapers promptly stated that in Phila- 
 delphia the thermometer stood at 96° for several days, that 
 sixteen infants had been buried in that city on the first Sun- 
 day in July, and that the Mayor had ordered all the meat in 
 the markets to be thrown into the Delaware by ten o'clock in 
 the morning as unfit for use. This unusual mortality in New 
 York, however, brought about the suppression of a nuisance in 
 the form of the prolonged tolling of the church bells during 
 funeral services and processions. One exasperated sufferer 
 from this nuisance published an appeal to the Common Coun- 
 cil on the subject in April 1789. He stated that, if the Gen- 
 eral Government was to be retained in New York, all nui- 
 sances should be abated and that the country members of 
 Congress complained bitterly of the tolling of bells at funerals, 
 but that neither wit, reason nor the petitions of physicians had 
 
90 New York City in 1789. 
 
 been able to stop it. His own thoughts on the subject were 
 as follows : " When an usurer whose whole life has been a 
 scene of extortion and avarice ; when an old maid whose life 
 has been devoured with spleen and consumed in useless soli- 
 tude ; when an old bachelor whose putrid carcase has long of- 
 fended the senses, dies, their souls must be rung to eternity 
 with peals of bell-metal thunder. If music has the same ef- 
 fect upon the soul as it has on the feet of a marching regiment,' 
 I would advise the relations to get the Assembly Band and 
 start the corpse with a flourish of hautboys and drums. The 
 weak, the sick, and the studious are much disturbed with the 
 noise of bell-metal clappers, and all strangers feel it a nui- 
 sance; would it not be better to move the dead silently to the 
 silent grave." In view of the increased mortality in August, 
 on the 19th of that month, the Common Council passed an 
 ordinance that after the first of September, bells should not be 
 tolled until the funeral procession came in sight of the burying- 
 ground, and that when it entered the ground such tolling 
 should cease and should not be renewed ; a fine of forty shill- 
 ings was the penalty for disobeying the ordinance. A few 
 days later a letter appeared in the Philadelphia newspapers 
 stating that Philadelphians should not be troubled by the 
 lies in the New York newspapers regarding the heat in Phila- 
 delphia, and that the New York Corporation had directed 
 that no bells be rung on the death of any of the inhabitants, 
 lest the members of Congress (already much alarmed by the 
 late mortality) should immediately remove from the city. 
 Nor was the climate of New York altogether agreeable in 
 some other respects. In a letter written from Long Island in 
 May 1789 by Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill, afterwards Professor in 
 Columbia College and United States Senator, the climate was 
 represented to be very moist, the weather very changeable, 
 and the mud often deep. He writes : " That person would 
 deserve the praises and rewards of his countrymen, who should 
 contrive a cheap and easy kind of stuff for shoes, effectually 
 capable of guarding against this kind of wet and cold ; for 
 wool and leather are insufficient." Dr. Mitchill lived to see 
 this invention, as his death did not occur until 1831, and rub- 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 91 
 
 ber overshoes made their appearance in New York a few 
 years before that time. Heavy snow also might be added to 
 the disagreeable features of life in New York in 1789, for 
 Washington records in his diary that on the 29th of November 
 in that year " Being very snowy, not a single person appeared 
 at the Levee." With regard to provisions afforded by the 
 land, Dr. Bard was undoubtedly correct, as the New York 
 markets have always been provided with the best of food, al- 
 though in 1788 Brissot de Warville found the taste of the 
 milk disagreeable because of the wild onions which were plen- 
 tiful in the country and were eaten by the cows. He stated, 
 however, that the vegetables, meat, and fish were wonderfully 
 abundant and of good quality, although the fruit was inferior 
 to that of Europe. A statement of Washington's household 
 expenses during three months of the year 1789 may be taken 
 to show the dishes which appeared on the tables of that day. 
 Among its items were butcher's meat, bacon, tongue, geese, 
 ducks, turkeys, chickens, birds, scale fish, lobsters, crabs, 
 oysters, cured fish, eggs, cheese, bread, biscuit, cake, vegetables, 
 butter, ice cream, preserves, fruit, melons, nuts, citrons, and 
 honey. The wines included Madeira, Claret, Champagne, 
 Cherry, Arrack, Spirits, Brandy, Cordials, Porter, Beer, and 
 Cider. Among these, the item for Madeira was the largest, 
 that for beer being next in amount. The teas which he used 
 were hyson and bohea, the expenditure for both of them being 
 less than that for coffee. 
 
 A notice of the death of Major Job Sumner at the City 
 Tavern on the i6th of September 1789 might lead to the sup- 
 position that all of the fish to be found in New York markets 
 were not of the first quality, as it is stated that he died of 
 poison received from eating of a dolphin ; but the dolphin 
 was caught off Cape Hatteras and eaten on board ship, so 
 that New York fish were in no way responsible for the mis- 
 fortune. The markets in the city in 1789 were six in number, 
 the oldest of them being the Fly Market, established in 1699 
 in the middle of Maiden Lane between Pearl and Water 
 Streets and torn down in January 1822. On the 19th of 
 March 1789 a committee of the Common Council was ap- 
 
92 New York City in 1789. 
 
 pointed to enlarge this market. The other markets were the 
 Peck Slip, established in 1763 and demolished in 1793; the 
 Bear, situated on the west side of Greenwich Street between 
 Fulton and Vesey Streets, established in 1771 and torn down 
 in 1 81 3 at the time of the erection of Washington Market ; 
 the Oswego, in Maiden Lane at its junction with Broadway, 
 established in 1772 and torn down in 181 1 ; the New Market 
 at Catherine Slip erected in 1786 nearly on the site of the 
 present Catherine Market ; and the Exchange, the fourth of 
 that name which had been built in Broad Street, erected in 
 1788 on the Long Bridge leading from the Exchange to the 
 river, and removed in 18 14. The citizens carried home their 
 own marketing, the delivery of it in carts not becoming a gen- 
 eral custom until about the year 1820, By a city ordinance 
 of September ist 1784 no butcher was allowed to slaughter 
 cattle elsewhere than at the slaughter-house erected at Cor- 
 lear's Hook in July 1784, and the sale of provisions in the 
 city was strictly regulated by ordinance. On the 19th of 
 March 1789 the Common Council passed a market ordinance, 
 repealing all former laws, by which it was enacted that every 
 day except Sunday, from sunrise to sunset should be a market 
 day and that such portions of the market as were not especially 
 allotted to butchers, etc., should be occupied by country people. 
 Ten shillings fine was the penalty for selling meat in the city 
 without a license and for selling beef, mutton, pork or lamb in 
 the public markets after one o'clock in the afternoon between 
 the 30th of April and the ist of November, except on Satur- 
 days. Hucksters and retailers were subject to a like fine for 
 buying provisions in the markets, to be sold again, before 1 1 
 A.M., or, in the case of flour and meal, before 4 P.M., the penalty 
 for the latter offence being 5s. fine for each hundred-weight so 
 bought. The fine for selling stale or unwholesome provisions 
 or meat was forty shillings. No licensed butcher was to pur- 
 chase, to be sold again, any dressed meat on its way to mar- 
 ket, under penalty of los. fine per quarter. The market ex- 
 penses were paid by the collection of is. 4d. for each four 
 quarters of cattle killed and brought into market, 4d. for 
 hogs, and 3d. for calf, sheep, and lamb. Country people 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 93 
 
 could sell meat by the quarter without paying a fee if it were 
 actually raised on their own farms, and in smaller quantities 
 at the same rate as butchers. This last provision, however, 
 was construed by the country people to mean that they 
 could not send their meat to market by their neighbors with- 
 out paying a fee, and the consequence was that the best meat 
 at times did not appear in the market, and after complaint 
 by those who bought meat, the Common Council on the 1st 
 of April explained that it was not intended to prevent the 
 sending of meat by neighbors. The market fees from the 1st 
 of February 1788 to the ist of February 1789 amounted to 
 £^^df 6d., one half of which sum formed part of the Mayor's 
 salar}'. 
 
 The physical ailments of those who partook of the good 
 cheer furnished by the New York markets are said by Brissot 
 de War\'ille to have been bilious fevers, and colds caused by 
 careless exposure, but he states that the healthfulness of the 
 city rendered the medical profession unprofitable. The direc- 
 tory for 1789, however, contains the names of twenty-seven 
 physicians, there being a number more whose names do not 
 appear in it, and the Medical Society in that year, under the 
 presidency of Dr. John Bard, had twenty-eight members. Dr. 
 John Bard was the oldest physician in the city, having been 
 born in Burlington, X. J., on the 1st of February 1716. He 
 settled in New York in 1746, and died in Hyde Park, X. Y., 
 March 30th 1799. ^^ ^^^ snufl-colored suit during the week 
 and scarlet coat on Sunday, he was one of the best known 
 figures in the city. His son. Dr. Samuel Bard, bom in Phila- 
 delphia on the 1st of April 1742, was also distinguished as a 
 physician in 1789 and attended Washington during his illness 
 in that year. He began to practice with his father in 1767 
 and continued in active service until 1798, when he retired to 
 a farm in Hyde Park, and amused himself with agriculture. 
 When the College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded in 
 181 3 he became its first President and occupied that position 
 until his death at Hyde Park on the 24th of May 1821. The 
 following bill for ser\'ices rendered by him in 1776 does not 
 appear to be extortionate : 
 
o. 7. 
 
 6. 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 0. 
 
 I. I. 
 
 0. 
 
 2. 
 
 6. 
 
 94 Ncxv York City in 1789. 
 
 1776. To DOCTR. Saml. Bard, Dr. 
 
 Octobr. 6th. A vomet 2/6. Spirit Sal. Volat. 2/6, haust. sud. 2/6. 
 7. Sud. drops. 4/ 9th. twelve doses Cortex, 18/ 
 20. Six doses Cort. p. 9/ 28. two Do. 3/. 29. Six Do. 9/ 
 Decer. 2d. Vomet. 2/6. 
 
 Received the Contents in full, 2. 13. o. 
 
 Doc. Samuel Bard, 
 Jos. Dela Plaine, Junr. 
 
 The treatment here shown seems to have been fairly good 
 as the victim lived until the i8th of May 1778. 
 
 Dr. Charles McKnight was also a well-known physician 
 in 1789, having his office at No. 50 Smith Street. He was 
 born in Cranbury, N. J., on the loth of October 1750, his 
 father being a minister whose church was burnt by Tories and 
 himself thrown into prison where he died in 1778. Dr. Mc- 
 Knight was graduated from Princeton College in 1771 and 
 acted as a surgeon in the American army during the Revolu- 
 tion, settling in New York after the war. He was eminent as 
 a surgeon and was a professor in Columbia College from 1785 
 until his death on the loth of November 1791. Among the 
 other physicians in the city were Drs. Benjamin Kissam and 
 Nicholas Romaine, both Professors in Columbia College, the 
 ofifice of the former being at No. 156 Queen Street and that 
 of the latter on one of the corners of Nassau and John Streets ; 
 Dr. Richard Bailey, afterwards health officer of the port. No. 
 ^2 King (Pine) Street ; Drs. Malachi Treat and J. R. B. 
 Rodgers, No. 18 Little Queen (Cedar) Street; Dr. William 
 Pitt Smith, No. 5 Beekman Street ; Dr. James Tillary, No. 
 •86 Broadway; and Dr. George C. Anthon, in Broad Street. 
 Dr. Tillary was a Scotchman who came to New York at the 
 beginning of the Revolution and was a prominent member of 
 the St. Andrew's Society. He died in 18 18 at about the age 
 of sixty-seven years. Dr. Anthon was a German who came 
 to America before the Revolution and settled in New York in 
 1784 and purchased his house in Broad Street from Alexander 
 Hamilton in April 1789. He died in 181 5 aged eighty-one 
 years. Effingham Lawrence of No. 227 Queen Street was 
 druggist and apothecary to the Medical Society, a committee 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 95 
 
 of which examined his store quarterly and certified that his 
 drugs and medicines were genuine and faithfully prepared. 
 
 The luxury and ostentatious display of riches in the city, 
 according to Brissot de Warville, were great and the inhabi- 
 tants were followers of the English fashions. He considered 
 the ladies to be especially extravagant in their dress. French 
 fashions also were followed to some extent and were de- 
 scribed from time to time in the newspapers for the benefit of 
 New York society. Thus, in the N. Y. Gazette of May 15th 
 1789 several French costumes were described which may have 
 been adopted by the ladies of the city. One was a plain 
 celestial blue satin gown with a white satin petticoat. There 
 was worn with it, on the neck, a very large Italian gauze 
 handkerchief with satin border stripes. The head-dress with 
 this costume was a pouf of gauze in the form of a globe, the 
 creneaux or headpiece of which was made of white satin hav- 
 ing a double wing, in large plaits, and trimmed with a large 
 wreath of artificial roses which fell from the left at the top to 
 the right at the bottom in front, and the reverse behind. 
 The hair was dressed all over in detached curls, four of which 
 fell on each side of the neck and were relieved behind by a 
 floating chignon. Another costume was a perriot made of 
 gray Indian taffeta with dark stripes of the same color, having 
 two collars, one yellow and the other white, both trimmed 
 with blue silk fringe, and having a reverse trimmed in the 
 same manner. Under the perriot there was worn a yellow 
 corset, or shapes, as it was then called, with large blue cross- 
 stripes. Around the bosom of the perriot there was pinned 
 a frill of ribbon or gauze cnt in points around the edge. The 
 hat worn with this costume was of white satin, with a broad 
 band and two cockades. The newest costume consisted of a 
 perriot and petticoat of gray striped silk trimmed with gauze 
 cut in points. A large gauze handkerchief bordered with 
 four satin stripes was worn with it on the neck, and the head- 
 dress was a plain gauze cap such as was worn by nuns. 
 Shoes were made of celestial blue satin with rose-colored ro- 
 settes. Ladies' muffs were of Siberian wolfskin adorned with 
 a large knot of scarlet ribbon. The French gentlemen, for 
 
96 Nc7v York City in 1789. 
 
 undress, wore very long blue riding-coats with plain steel but- 
 tons, scarlet waistcoats, and yellow kerseymere breeches with- 
 out embroidery. Their shoes Avcre tied with strings, and 
 above them were worn gaiters of black polished leather reach- 
 ing nearly to the thigh. They wore very full muslin cravats 
 with the ends tied in a large knot in front, and their muffs 
 were made of bearskin with scarlet knots fastened upon them. 
 The muff was probably not used by gentlemen in New York 
 and they adopted English rather than French fashions. The 
 New York ladies' hats were of such huge dimensions that a 
 newspaper writer in 1789 suggested that a larger size of um- 
 brella should be imported to protect them from the rain. An- 
 other writer also ridiculed the fashion of appearing to be dim- 
 sighted and of using what he called a spy-glass at the theatre. 
 The materials used for clothing included wildbores, cordurets, 
 camblets, moreens, taboreens, callimancoes, durants, tammies, 
 shalloons, rattinetts, f^orentines, denins, velverets, romalls, 
 lutestrings, duffils, fearnaughts, hairbines, osnaburgs, ticklen- 
 burgs, ribdelures, honeycomb thicksetts, dowlas, amens, cas- 
 serillias, and plattillas. The men were more simple in their 
 habits and still despised gewgaws, but at table made up for 
 this simplicity by the use of the most expensive wines. One 
 class of men seemed to be particularly obnoxious to Brissot. 
 He writes : " Luxury is already forming in this city a very 
 dangerous class of men, namely, the bachelors ; the extrava- 
 gance of the women makes them dread marriage." He also 
 mentions with disapproval the universal habit of smoking; 
 strong Spanish cigars six inches long being the material used 
 in this revolting habit. He had the good grace to say, how- 
 ever, that it had the advantage of accustoming its votaries to 
 practice the virtues of meditation and silence. His statement 
 that an American travelled with only a comb, razor, two shirts 
 and two cravats, was manifestly a libel, as a newspaper adver- 
 tisement of a trunk lost in May 1789 describes its contents as 
 consisting of a dark green coat with plain silver buttons, a 
 green striped waistcoat, one pair of nankeen and one pair of 
 black satin breeches, a pair of silver shoe and knee buckles, 
 seven shirts, seven neckcloths, three pairs of white silk hose 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 97 
 
 and sundry pairs of thread- hose. But in spite of this sup- 
 posed simplicity of men's dress the dandy of 1789 was suffi- 
 ciently gorgeous in his apparel. John Ramage, the miniature 
 painter, a handsome man of middle age, wore a scarlet coat 
 with mother-of-pearl buttons, a white silk waistcoat em- 
 broidered with colored flowers, black satin breeches with paste 
 knee-buckles, white silk stockings, large silver buckles on his 
 shoes, and a small cocked-hat on the upper part of his pow- 
 dered hair, leaving the curls at his ears displayed. His cos- 
 tume was completed by a gold-headed cane and a gold snuff 
 box. Artificial enhancement of the beauty of men's figures 
 was also widely adopted, one means of which excited the 
 wrath of a newspaper writer in November 1789. In an article 
 denouncing what he was pleased to call a " bishop," this 
 writer says : " The young ladies have totally laid aside all 
 manner of deception ; cork and wool are no more necessary in 
 the dress of a fine woman, and, to the immortal honour of the 
 ladies of New York, let it be here recorded that they have 
 adopted the most natural and becoming fashions, this winter, 
 that we have ever seen ; whilst the young bucks and petit- 
 maitres are metamorphosing themselves into hisus naturae 
 and their tailors into upholsterers." John Shepherd, a tailor 
 at No. 23 Hanover Square, advertised cloths of nearly one 
 hundred different colors at 38s. a yard, with the exception of 
 some high colors which were more expensive. Among these 
 colors were bottle-green, batswing, navy blue, parson's gray, 
 changeable pearl, scarlet, light blue, light green, London 
 smoke, purple, mulberr)'-, garnet, sea green, mouse's ear, pea 
 green, and drake's head. Waistcoats were made of muslinet, 
 dimity, cotton, silk, satin, gold and silver tambour muslin, 
 satinet, and Princess stuff ; the buttons used were gilt, silver, 
 basket-brocaded and spangled. The cloths used were chiefly 
 of English, French and Spanish manufacture, the latter being 
 the most expensive, costing 45s. a yard. Casimirs were worth 
 l8s. and rattinetts four shillings. Nathaniel Hazard, No, 51 
 Water Street, also advertised " American Woolens from the 
 flourishing Manufactory at Hartford." Edward Moran, a 
 tailor at No. 24 Smith (William) Street, was a modest man 
 7 
 
98 Ne7v York City in 1789. , 
 
 and advertised that "As self-applause is commonly tlie unerr- 
 ing mark of ignorance and consequently disgusting, he de- 
 clines it and only offers the following most reasonable terms: 
 
 MAKING 
 
 Plain coat, 15s. 
 
 Fashionable do. i6s. 
 
 Lappelled do. 17s. 
 
 Waistcoats made fashionable, 6s. 
 
 Silk and velvet breeches, 8s. 
 
 Jean, Nankeen, Corduroy, &c. do. 7s. 
 
 Double breasted surtout, 16s. 
 
 Great coat, 14s. 
 
 Ladle's Habit, fashionable, i6s." 
 
 Black satin breeches and striped silk vests could be bought 
 ready-made for three dollars each. A beaver hat cost eight 
 dollars and a castor hat six dollars. Boots and shoes could 
 be obtained of Thomas Garnis, No. 72 Queen (Pearl) Street 
 between Peck Slip and Cherry Street, who flattered himself 
 that, having been used to work for the first nobility in Eng- 
 land, he would be able to give satisfaction to those employing 
 him. Men's boots cost six dollars, and ladies shoes one dollar 
 and a half. Hair dressing, in the day of wigs and powdered 
 hair, was a most important art, and one of those engaged in it 
 was Charles McCann, at No. 40 Queen (Pearl) Street, who 
 sold ladies' dress cushions at i6s., braids at from ten shillings 
 to three dollars each, and ringlets at seven shillings a pair. 
 For dressing a lady's hair every day he charged £\^ z. year or 
 five shillings a time, while gentlemen were charged £^ a year 
 if their hair were dressed every day, ^5 los. for four times a 
 week, and £\, los. for three times a week. The chief per- 
 fumery store in the city was that of Nathaniel Smith at the 
 Sign of the Rose, No. 187 Queen (Pearl) Street, where there 
 could be obtained pomade de grasse for thickening the hair, 
 vegetable face powder, almond paste for the hands, essences 
 of bergamot, lavender, orange, and thyme, and nervous essence 
 for the toothache. The best dentist in the city was John 
 Greenwood, who in 1789 removed from No. 19 to No. 56 
 William Street. He offered a guinea apiece for live teeth. 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 99 
 
 transplanted natural teeth for four guineas, and furnished 
 them on gold or silver plates for from two to five dollars 
 each, artificial teeth made of different substances costing from 
 one to two dollars. His ofifice hours were from eight to 
 eleven o'clock in the morning and from two to six: o'clock in 
 the afternoon, his advertisement making especial mention of 
 the fact that he had a room set apart for the dentist business 
 only. In 1789 Mr. Greenwood added to his reputation by 
 making a full set of sea-horse teeth for Washington who is 
 said to have had but one tooth of his own at that time. Mr. 
 Greenwood's chief rival in 1789 was a M. Gardette, who came 
 from Philadelphia in that year and adopted the plan of insert- 
 ing long essays in the newspapers on the preservation of the 
 teeth, as an advertisement. He also announced that he 
 would pull teeth gratis for the poor from six to nine o'clock 
 in the morning on Mondays and Thursdays, a plan which was 
 also adopted by Mr. Greenwood. 
 
 The leading jewelers in the city were Francis Panton, No. 
 38 Wall Street, who also dealt in shell goods ; Pearsall and 
 Embree, No. 185 Queen (Pearl) Street; Bessonet and 
 Merkler, at the Sign of the Dial No. 32 Maiden Lane; and 
 William and John Mott, No. 240 Water Street, who in 1789. 
 issued a business token made of copper, about the present 
 size of a quarter of a dollar, with an advertisement on both 
 sides. 
 
 The great merchants of the city sold largely on commission 
 and their advertisements show a large variety of goods for 
 sale. Thus, Robert Bowne and Co. offered hides, Madeira 
 wine, lignum vitae, boxwood, eighty sets of mahogany bed- 
 steads, turpentine, varnish, lampblack, wax, sheet copper, 
 anchors, beef, pork, butter, lard, hams, flour, rice, bolting 
 cloths, and a variety of dry goods. It is said that the firm 
 doing the largest business in the city was that of Shedden, 
 Patrick and Co., general merchants at No. 206 Water Street. 
 Other firms doing a large business were Gouverneur, Kemble 
 & Co., No. 26 Front Street ; Gelston and Saltonstall, No. 30 
 Burling Slip ; and Murray, Mumford & Bowen, No. 20 Peck 
 Slip. ' The prices in N. Y. currency of a few articles in mer- 
 
lOO 
 
 New York City in 1789. 
 
 shillings : 
 
 
 
 
 Bar Iron, ^30 per 
 
 cwt. 
 
 
 
 Pig Iron, /9 " 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 Superfine Flour, 44s. per 
 
 bbl. 
 
 Common " 40s. 
 
 a 
 
 it 
 
 Wheat 
 
 8s. 
 
 a 
 
 (I 
 
 Muscovado sugar, 
 
 50s. 
 
 to 
 
 70s. per 
 
 cwt. 
 
 
 
 
 Loaf sugar, is. 3d, 
 
 • per 
 
 lb. 
 
 
 Butter, 7d. to 8d. 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Lard, 8d. 
 
 a 
 
 <( 
 
 
 Coffee, IS. 9d. 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Chocolate, 13d. 
 
 a 
 
 11 
 
 
 Cocoa, 70s. 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut Pork, 
 
 72s. 
 
 
 
 Hyson tea, lis. to 
 
 I2S. 
 
 pe 
 
 rib. 
 
 chandise in 1789 were as follows, the dollar being worth eight 
 
 Sequin tea, 6s. 6d. per lb. 
 Bohea " 2s. sd. " " 
 Carolina tobacco, 3^d. to 5d. 
 Virginia " 4d. to 5d. 
 Ham, 7d. per lb. 
 Beef, 3^d. " " 
 
 Madeira wine, ^60 to ^90 per pipe. 
 Port " ^46 " " 
 
 Lisbon " 5s. per gallon. 
 Teneriffe " 4s. " " 
 Fayal " 3s. 3d. per gallon. 
 Jamaica spirits, 4s. 9d. " " 
 Windward Island Rum, 4s. per 
 
 gallon. 
 Country Rum, 2s. 7d. per gallon. 
 
 The price of bread was regulated by the Common Council 
 and in May 1789 was 6d. for a wheat loaf weighing 2 lbs. i^ 
 oz., and 3d. for a rye loaf weighing i lb. 8 oz. 
 
 By the city charter the right to trade in the city, except 
 upon fair-days, was restricted to those who were freemen and 
 by a city ordinance of March 9th 1784, all persons not born in 
 the city or having served a seven years' apprenticeship in it, 
 upon being made freemen were required to pay ^5 to the 
 Corporation in the case of merchants, traders and shopkeepers, 
 and 20s. if they were handicraft tradesmen, in addition to 23s. 
 6d. fees to the city officers. Native born citizens and those 
 who had served an apprenticeship were required to pay 8s. to 
 the mayor, 7s. 6d. to the clerk, and is. each to the crier and 
 bell-ringer of the mayor's court. The tradesmen of the city 
 apparently looked after the enforcement of these provisions, 
 as, in August 1789, one of them requested the editor of the 
 Daily Advertiser to insert in his paper an extract from the 
 city charter setting forth the restrictions upon trade. The 
 treatment of apprentices was regulated by an Act passed Feb- 
 ruary 6th 1788 by which it was provided that no master should 
 compel his apprentice to sign any bond or make oath not to 
 set up the same trade, under penalty of £^0 fine. An infant 
 
Climate, Dress and Custoins, etc. lor 
 
 was to be bound only until twenty-one years of age, except 
 in the case of binding for the payment of passage money, 
 under which circumstances the age limit was extended to 
 twenty-four years. On the other hand, an apprentice refusing 
 to do his duty was to be committed to the Bridewell until 
 willing to work, and those absenting themselves from work 
 were to serve double the time of their absence or to make 
 satisfaction in some other way. 
 
 Another important class in the community was that of the 
 cartmen whose business was regulated by a city ordinance pro- 
 viding that no cartman, drayman- or water carrier should sit 
 upon and drive his cart, sled, dray or other carriage, nor drive 
 his horse faster than a walk under a penalty of 6s. fine. The 
 carts were to be two feet five inches wide between the fore- 
 most rungs and two feet nine inches wide between the hind- 
 most rungs, and no more or less ; the rungs were to be three 
 feet eight inches high above the floor of the cart. Moving 
 must have been a trial to the patience in 1789. 
 
 There was but little travelling done, and that little was 
 accomplished with great discomfort. The general stage- office, 
 during the greater part of the year, was at Fraunces' Tavern, 
 No. 49 Cortlandt Street, whence stages left for Albany, Bos- 
 ton, and Philadelphia. The right to run a stage on the east 
 side of the Hudson River from New York to Albany was a 
 monopoly which, in April 1785, had been granted for ten 
 years to Isaac Van Wyck, Talmage Hall, and John Kinney, 
 the penalty for encroachment by others being ^200 fine. The 
 route to Albany was by the Bowery Lane and Kingsbridge 
 Road to Kingsbridge and thence along the Hudson River. 
 Stages left both ends of the route on Monday, Wednesday and 
 Thursday, taking three days for the trip in summer and four 
 or more in winter, a day's journey lasting from five o'clock in 
 the morning until ten in the evening. The fare on all the 
 stage routes was 4d. a mile, fourteen pounds of baggage being 
 carried free, and the price for a passenger being charged for 
 every extra 150 pounds of baggage. In 1786 apian was made 
 for a uniform charge at all the stage taverns on the roads to 
 Albany and Boston, each person to pay for what he ordered, no 
 
I02 New York City m 1789. 
 
 club being admitted unless with the consent of all the company. 
 By this arrangement a breakfast cost 2s., dinner 2s. gd., supper 
 2s., a single bed is., and a double bed is. 6d. ; beefsteak could 
 be had for is. 6d., chicken for is. Qd., and oysters from 6d. to 
 2s. as called for. Champaigne was to cost ten shillings, 
 Madeira and Claret eight shillings, and Port and Sherry six 
 shillings a bottle. The Boston stages left the city on Mon- 
 day, Wednesday, and Friday, by way of the Bowery Lane and 
 Post Road to Harlem and thence eastward to Boston, making 
 the journey in about six days by travelling from about three 
 o'clock in the morning until ten at night. In October 1789 
 the Boston and Albany stage-office was removed to Mr. Isaac 
 Norton's, No. 160 Queen (Pearl) Street. 
 
 Stages for Philadelphia left Paulus Hook twice every day 
 except Saturday and Sunday when but one stage ran. From 
 Paulus Hook there were two routes to Philadelphia, one by 
 way of Newark and the other by way of the Blazing Star 
 Tavern at Woodbridge. The fare through to Philadelphia 
 was two dollars and the journey was made in about three days. 
 These stages were drawn by four horses and could accommo- 
 date twelve passengers. Philadelphia could also be reached 
 ■by taking the boat from the Albany Pier on Monday, Wed- 
 nesday, Thursday, or Friday, to South Amboy, whence stages 
 set forth at three o'clock the next morning alternately to Bor- 
 dentown and Burlington, and thence boats went to Philadel- 
 phia " making the passage good the same day." Boats for 
 New Brunswick, N. J., left Coenties Slip every Saturday 
 morning, and, if the weather permitted, arrived there the same 
 evening. The New Haven boats left Burling Slip. Stages 
 for Jamaica, L. I., started from the ferryhouse at Brooklyn ; 
 and in March 1789 George O'Hara started a two-horse stage 
 line from New York to Morristown by way of Paulus Hook 
 and New- Ark, the trip taking from six o'clock in the morning 
 until three o'clock in the afternoon, the fare being one dollar. 
 The roads, in all directions were in the worst possible con- 
 dition, and the danger of drowning in the rivers was great. 
 If the traveller sought to escape the discomforts of stage 
 journeying by going by boat, the time of starting and of reach- 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 163 
 
 ing his destination depended entirely upon the wind and 
 weather. Thus, on the 26th of October 1788, Aaron Burr 
 wrote to his wife from Albany after a journey from New York : 
 " The headache with which I left New York grew so extreme, 
 that finding it impossible to proceed in the stage, the view of 
 a vessel off Tarrj'town, under full sail before the wind, tempted 
 me to go on board. We reached West Point that night, and 
 lay there at anchor near three days. After a variety of changes 
 from sloop to wagon, from wagon to canoe, and from canoe 
 to sloop again, I reached this place last evening." 
 
 The merchants of the city had founded the Chamber of 
 Commerce in 1768 and its charter had been confirmed in 1784. 
 The fee for admission was five Spanish milled dollars; a 
 quarterly payment of one dollar was also required, and a fine 
 of one shilling was imposed for inexcusable absence from a 
 usual meeting, two shillings for a special meeting, and four 
 shillings for a quarterly meeting. Leaving the Chamber dur- 
 ing a meeting was punished by a fine of one shilling, and fail- 
 ure to serve on the monthly committee by one of four shilings. 
 The meetings were held at Bradford's Coffee House on the 
 southeast corner of Wall and Water Streets. The ofificers of 
 the Chamber of Commerce in 1789 were John Broome, presi- 
 dent, and Theophylacte Bache and John Murray, vice-presi- 
 dents. John Broome, the president, was born on Staten Isl- 
 and in 1738 and was noted as a politician as well as a 
 merchant. He was an alderman from 1783 to 1785, city 
 chamberlain in 1784, assemblyman in 1801, and 1802, state 
 senator in 1803, and lieutenant governor in 1804, being re- 
 elected to that office in 18 10 but dying on the 8th of August 
 in that year. Both Broome Street and Broome County were 
 named after him. He was treasurer of the Chamber of Com- 
 merce in 1784 and its president from 1785 to 1794. Theo- 
 phylacte Bache, was of English birth and came to New York 
 in 175 1. He was one of the organizers of the Chamber of 
 Commerce in 1768, its president in 1773, and one of the in- 
 corporators of the Marine Society and of the New York Hos- 
 pital. During the Revolution he was a Tory but resumed 
 business after the war and was vice-president of the Chamber 
 
I04 New York City in 1789. 
 
 of Commerce from 1788 to 1792. He was also president of 
 the St. George's Society and for a number of years vestryman 
 of Trinity Cliurch. He died in 1807 at the age of seventy- 
 three years. John Murray was born in Pennsylvania in 1737 
 and came to New York in early life. He was for many years 
 an elder in the Wall Street Presbyterian Church and died in 
 1808. The value of the exports to foreign countries from the 
 port of New York during the year 1788 was estimated to be 
 about ^^770,000 or $1,925,000, the most valuable exports be- 
 ing wheat, flour, flaxseed, potash, bread, furs, barrel-heads and 
 staves, and raw hides. The exports for 1790 amounted to 
 $2,505,465. The duties collected on imports in 1789 
 amounted to $145,329.56. The credit of American merchants, 
 however, seems to have been very poor in Europe if a letter 
 is to believed which was written on the 29th of November 
 1788 by a firm in Bordeaux to one in New York, an extract 
 from which read thus : " The trading part of the United 
 States have lost every atom of their character and credit in 
 Europe, so that if they want or wish to keep up a connexion 
 with the old world they must turn honest from policy if not 
 from principle ; and, everything considered, we are really sur- 
 prised at seeing them thus far so totally neglect the old Eng- 
 lish adage." Brissot de Warville also states that he heard 
 many complaints regarding the double-dealing of American 
 tradesmen, but he affirms that this trickiness was confined to 
 the cities, and that such complaints arose chiefly from his own 
 countrymen who claimed that they were treated less justly 
 than were the English. He adds, moreover, that the French- 
 men whom he met in America spent their time in boasting 
 of the services which France had rendered to the Americans 
 and in sneering at the tastes and customs of the latter. 
 
 But one ship seems to have been built in New York in 
 1789, but there were American ships in those days which 
 were carrying the American flag to all parts of the world, 
 one Boston vessel being then on a voyage of circumnaviga- 
 tion of the globe, while in May 1789 a vessel returned to 
 New York which had been the first to display the American 
 flag in the River Ganges and to trade there. A merchant 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 105 
 
 vessel had gone to China several years previous, and a ship 
 for that trade, finished in New York in October 1788, 102 
 feet keel and 706 tons burden, cost about ;^ 14,000. On the 
 3rd of October 1789 there were 117 vessels in New York har- 
 bor and during the year there entered the port 1107 sea ves- 
 sels, of which 770 were American, 308 British, 1 1 Spanish, 8 
 Portuguese, 5 French, 3 Dutch, and 2 Swedish. On the 9th 
 of April, navigation on the Hudson River was no longer im- 
 peded by floating ice. The principle wharfs in the city were 
 on the East River and were known as the Albany Pier, on 
 the east side of Coenties Slip ; Exchange Slip, at the foot of 
 Broad Street ; Coenties Slip; Old Slip ; Burling Slip; Beek- 
 man Slip, which was near the present end of Fulton Street ; 
 Peck Slip ; New Slip, now called James Slip ; Oliver's Slip ; 
 and Catherine Slip. By an Act passed April 17th 1784 no 
 owner of a wharf was to charge more than 3s. a day wharfage 
 for vessels between 60 and 100 tons burthen, 4s. 6d. for those 
 between 100 and 200 tons, 5s. for those between 200 and 300 
 tons, 6s. for those between 300 and 500 tons, and 7s. 6d. for 
 those over 500 tons. In the case of ships employed between 
 ports in this State the wharfage could be agreed upon by the 
 owner of the wharf and the master of the vessel. There were 
 five ferries running from the city to New Jersey and Brook- 
 lyn, those on the Hudson River being that to Paul us Hook, 
 now Jersey City, from the foot of Cortlandt Street, and the 
 Hobuck ferry from the foot of Vesey Street, the former one 
 and one quarter and the latter one and three quarters miles 
 long. In July 1788 the Hobuck Ferry was leased to Charles 
 F. Weissenfels for three years at ;^5 a year, and in April 1789 
 that to Paulus Hook was leased for the same term at ;^50 
 rent. Farther up the river were the Weehawken, Bull's, and 
 Fort Lee ferries which were leased for from twenty to thirty 
 shillings a year. The ferry to Elizabethtown from the foot of 
 Whitehall Street was leased for ^^50 a year to Thomas Quig- 
 ley, and in April 1789 the Common Council received a pe- 
 tition regarding the Staten Island ferry, which had appa- 
 rently been discontinued. The ferries to Brooklyn, which 
 consisted of a very few houses, were two in number, one from 
 
io6 New York City in 1789. ' 
 
 the Fly Market stairs, and the other from Peck Slip. In 
 March 1789 the Corporation published proposals to license 
 six persons, during its pleasure, to run ferryboats to Brook- 
 lyn, seven pounds a month to be paid for the privilege of run- 
 ning two boats from the Fly Market, and £'^ los. for those 
 from Peck Slip. Each boat was to be manned by two expe- 
 rienced watermen, to be furnished with four oars and two 
 boat hooks, and to have the owners name and its number 
 painted upon it in plain sight. Each person was to own one 
 large boat for the carrying of horses, cattle, carriages, heavy 
 freight, and passengers, and one small boat for passengers and 
 light freight, four of each kind to run from the Fly Market 
 and two of each kind from Peck Slip. No horned cattle were 
 to be taken off or landed west of Catherine Slip. In April 
 the Fly Market ferry was leased to four men, but there were 
 no applicants for the Peck Slip Ferry. The rate of ferriage 
 to Brooklyn was fixed by an Act passed on the 28th of Feb- 
 ruary 1789 and was as follows : " Horse, with or without sad- 
 dle, lod. ; ox, IS. 3d. ; other cattle, is. ; coach body, 2s. ; 
 chaise, chair, or sulkey body, 9d. ; passenger, 2d." The 
 ferryman was to have a boat ready on each side of the river 
 from at least half an hour before sunrise until eight o'clock in 
 the evening, under a penalty of los. for failure so to do. The 
 ferry house at Brooklyn belonged to the City and was rented 
 by it for ;^i55 a year. Accidents were frequent upon all the 
 ferries and the time of starting and of arriving depended en- 
 tirely upon the weather. The propulsion of vessels by steam 
 power had been experimented upon by three inventors, and 
 several successful trips had been made on the Potomac and 
 Delaware by small boats fitted with an engine, but none had 
 yet appeared in New York. John Fitch of Philadelphia had 
 received from the New York legislature in March 1787 the 
 sole right to make and use in the State of New York for four- 
 teen years, a steamboat invented by him, which was pro- 
 pelled by six oars on each side worked by steam, but this 
 grant was bitterly contested by James Rumsey, of Berkley 
 Co., Virginia, who claimed priority of invention for a boat 
 propelled by the re-action of water ejected from the stern by 
 
Climate, Dress mid Customs, etc. I07 
 
 steam. Mr. Fitch's boat attained a speed of about seven 
 miles an hour, and that of Mr. Rumsey a speed of three miles 
 an hour. Mr. John Stevens of Hoboken also claimed to have 
 invented a boat on a different principle in January 1789, but 
 this seems to have been similar to that of Mr. Rumsey. Mr- 
 Fitch's first successful exhibition of his boat in New York is 
 said to have taken place on the Collect in 1796. 
 
 The Marine Society, chartered April 12th 1770, was in 
 1789 under the presidency of James Farquhar, who held that 
 office from 1786 until 1825, — a period of thirty-eight years 
 and nine months. During the year 1789 the Society distrib- 
 uted the sum of ^^364 4s. 5d. among the widows and orphans 
 of sailors. 
 
 The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen had 
 been founded on the 17th of November 1785 and in 1786 
 thirty trades were represented in it. Its initiation fee was 
 $2.50 and its object was the support of trade and charitable 
 assistance to needy tradesmen. The various trades had their 
 own societies, but sent delegates to the General Society^ 
 which looked after the interests of all. In 1789 the Society 
 held its anniversary meeting on the 6th of January at Sam 
 Fraunces tavern, No. 49 Cortlandt Street, and indulged in a 
 dinner at which one of the patriotic toasts was : " A cobweb 
 pair of breeches, a porcupine saddle, a hard trotting horse, 
 and a long journey to all the enemies of freedom." The ofifi- 
 cers elected at this meeting were, chairman, Anthony Post, 
 carpenter; deputy chairman, James Bramble, whitesmith;; 
 treasurer, Wm. J. Elsworth, pewterer ; and secretary, John 
 McComb, jr. During the year the Society resolved to take 
 no part, as such, in politics, and it was also decided to petition 
 the Legislature to incorporate it, but the act of incorporation 
 was not passed until March 14th 1792 at which time the So- 
 ciety had over two hundred members. 
 
 The Peruke-makers Society held its anniversary dinner on 
 the 2nd of January 1789 at the house of Wm. Ketchum, and 
 responded heartily to the toast : " May contempt be the fate of 
 such among us as struts in foreign foppery to the destruction 
 of American trade and manufactures." The Society of Master 
 
io8 New York City m 1789. 
 
 Bakers also had its first anniversary dinner at the house of 
 Lawrence Heyer on the 26th of September 1789, The most 
 interesting commercial event, however, in 1789 was the for- 
 mation of the New York Society for the Encouragement of 
 American Manufactures. In October 1774 Congress had 
 passed a resolution advising the non-importation of British 
 goods so far as was possible, and as soon as the war was ended, 
 efforts were made to start American manufactures, of which 
 efforts Washington was a strong supporter, expressing the 
 hope that clothing of American material would be used alto- 
 gether, and approving of a protective tariff provided that it 
 should not interfere with the interests of the agricultural por- 
 tions of the community. Manufacturing Societies were ac- 
 cordingly formed in the larger cities and every item of news 
 regarding their progress was heralded with enthusiasm. Thus, 
 when it was announced in October 1789, that the ship Massa- 
 chusetts had been provided with all her canvas from the fac- 
 tory at Boston, the newspaper editors burst into song and 
 published the lines : 
 
 " Old ocean soon shall fleets behold, 
 Eclipsing all in story told. 
 See commerce spread the swelling sail ! 
 See our own canvass catch the gale ! 
 And waft to earth's remotest shores, 
 Th' exub'rance of our boundless stores." 
 
 The promoters of the N. Y. Manufacturing Society met at 
 Rawson's Tavern, No. 82 Water Street, on the 7th of January 
 1789 and chose as officers. 
 
 President, Melancthon Smith. 
 
 Vice-President, White Matlack, 
 
 Treasurer, EzEKiEL Robins. 
 
 Secretary, Cornelius Cooper. 
 Standing Committee. 
 Henry Pope. Henry Ten Broek. 
 
 White Matlack. John Van Dyck. 
 
 EzEKiEL Robins. Jacob Hallett. 
 
 Early in February another meeting was held at which it was 
 unanim6usly resolved to raise a fund by subscription for the 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 109 
 
 establishment of a woollen factory, the shares to be £\o each, 
 the pious promoters of the scheme adding that the blessing of 
 heaven would be called down upon the city by thus furnish- 
 ing employment to the poor. On the 17th of February a no- 
 tice headed " The Test of Patriotism " announced that so 
 many subscriptions had been received that a meeting would 
 be held on the 23rd to choose a committee to draw up a con- 
 stitution, and by the 17th of March ;^2ioo had been subscribed 
 by 187 persons among whom were included the most promi- 
 nent men in the city. On the i8th of March a constitution 
 was adopted and on the 26th of that month the following 
 twelve directors and treasurer were chosen, 
 
 William Maxwell. John Murray, jr. 
 
 Nicholas Cruger. James Renwick. 
 
 White Matlack. Matthew Clarkson. 
 
 Jacob Hallett. William W. Gilbert. 
 
 James Watson. James Nicholson. 
 
 John Lawrence. Henry Ten Broek. 
 Treasurer, Alexander Robertson. 
 
 On the 6th of April the Society advertised for a manager 
 for its factory, and on the 30th of May it was announced that 
 hatchelled flax, tow, and yarn, could be obtained at the fac- 
 tory, No. 21 Crown (Liberty) Street. On the 3rd of April the 
 Common Council had appointed a committee to negotiate for 
 the sale of the barracks to the Society, but nothing seems to 
 have resulted from the negociation as the Society's property 
 apparently consisted only of its factory and a bleaching ground 
 at Second River, N. J., which in July was ready to receive 
 linen and yarn for bleaching. On the 13th of July it was ad- 
 vertised that a person who had in miniature all the machinery 
 for manufacturing cotton cloth would give instruction in the 
 art if it were made worth his while, but whether the Society 
 availed itself of his services or not does not appear. A Mr. 
 Stevenson apparently had charge of the factory, which was in 
 running order by the 26th of November and on the 22nd of 
 December was employing 14 weavers and 130 spinners. It is 
 said that the Manufacturing Society invested ;^900 in build- 
 
no Neiv York City in 1789. 
 
 ing and £\dfy:> in machinery, but it did not prove a success, 
 and, although incorporated on the i6th of March 1790, it lan- 
 guished for a number of years and finally the investment 
 proved a total loss to those interested in it. In May 1789 
 subscriptions were also solicited by Abraham Wilson, at No. 
 89 William Street, for the establishment of a factory of earthen 
 and cream-colored ware, and in the latter part of the year it 
 was announced that such a factory had been established on 
 the property formerly known as Vauxhall. The profits, how- 
 ever, from this business do not appear to have been great, for 
 ih 1790 Mr. Wilson applied to the Legislature for assistance 
 and received a loan of £,\^(X> from the State. 
 
 The only bank in the city in 1789 was the Bank of New 
 York, established in 1784 and at first situated in the Walton 
 Mansion, No. 156 Queen Street, whence it was moved in 1787 
 to a house. No. 1 1 Hanover Square, purchased from the heirs 
 of Nathaniel Hazard in 1784. It occupied these premises for 
 ten years, being again moved in 1797 to the northeast corner 
 of Wall and William Streets. The bank ofificers elected on the 
 nth and 12th of May 1789 were 
 
 /';'^jzV/^«/', Isaac Roosevelt. 
 Vice-President, William Maxwell. 
 Cashier, William Seton. 
 Directors. 
 Nicholas Low. Robert Bowne. 
 
 Joshua Waddington. Samuel Franklin. 
 Daniel McCormick. Thos. B. Stoughten. 
 
 i Thomas Randall. William Constable. 
 
 Comfort Sands. William Edgar. 
 
 John Murray. 
 
 The bank was open every day except Sundays, Christmas, 
 New Year's, Good Friday, Fourth of July, and special holi- 
 days appointed by law, the hours of business being from ten 
 to one in the forenoon and from three to five in the afternoon. 
 Discounts were made twice a week at seven per cent., and for 
 not longer than thirty days. A petition to the State Senate was 
 drawn up on the 3rd of July 1789 praying that the Bank might 
 be incorporated, as the liability of individual ownership pre- 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 1 1 r 
 
 vented its growth ; but, although a bill for its incorporation was 
 introduced by Mr. Duane on the i6th of July 1789, it was not 
 chartered until 1791. It was the only bank in the city until 
 1799 when that of the Manhattan Company was established. 
 The money used in 1789 was in pounds, shillings, and pence, 
 in New York currency, the dollar, which was worth eight 
 shillings, being merely money of account by which the other 
 was measured. The greatest difficulty was experienced with 
 the copper pence, which varied in value in the different States 
 and became so depreciated in value as to be refused in trade. 
 On the 2 1st of July 1789 the Common Council recommended 
 that these coins be received at the rate of forty-eight to the 
 shilling, owing to their importation from other States where 
 their value was less than in New York. On the 6th of Au- 
 gust, however. Alderman Wool found it necessary to expressly 
 deny that he had made Jersey coppers since April 15th 1788, 
 and to state that those he then made were in conformity to 
 law. In 1790 the trouble became so great that the Corpora- 
 tion issued tickets for small amounts in exchange for shillings, 
 which could be redeemed for silver at the City Treasury in 
 sums of more than five shillings. The dollar, dime, and cent, 
 were adopted in New York by an Act passed January 27th 
 1797. 
 
 Isaac Roosevelt, the president of the bank, was a sugar re- 
 finer whose place of business was at No. 159 Queen (Pearl) 
 Street, nearly opposite the Walton mansion. He had been a 
 member of the Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1777, and of 
 the Committee of Safety ; was one of the delegates to the 
 Poughkeepsie Convention in 1788, and a State Senator from 
 1777 until 1792, with the exception of the year 1787. In 
 1779, 1784, and 1 791 he was a member of the Council of Ap- 
 pointment. He was president of the Bank from 1786 until 
 1 79 1 and died in October 1794 at the age of sixty-eight years. 
 The death of his wife in 1789 caused Washington to make the 
 following entry in his diary, on the 15th of October, of rea- 
 sons for not attending her funeral, " first, because the propri- 
 ety of accepting any invitation of this sort appeared very 
 questionable, and secondly, (though to do it in this instance 
 
112 New York City in 1789. 
 
 might not be improper,) because it might be difficult to dis- 
 criminate in cases which might thereafter happen." 
 
 William Maxwell, the vice-president of the Bank, had 
 been engaged in business in New York before the Revolution 
 and died in the city in February 1792. William Seton, the 
 cashier, was born in Scotland in 1746, and, coming to America 
 in early life, carried on a shipping and importing business 
 until his death in 1798. He was cashier of the Bank from 
 the time of its establishment until 1794. 
 
 There was also but one insurance company in the city in 
 1789, called the Mutual Assurance Company against Fire, which 
 had its beginning on the 3rd of April 1787 when 24 members 
 signed a deed of settlement drawn by Alexander Hamilton. 
 On the loth of May 1787 the company was organized by the 
 election of three trustees, John Pintard being appointed secre- 
 tary, and William Maxwell treasurer. No insurance was to be 
 made upon gilding, historical or landscape paintings, stucco or 
 carving, nor were they to be replaced if destroyed. Until 1798 
 no buildings were insured at a greater distance than two miles 
 from the City Hall. In 1787 the company also adopted as a 
 badge an oval tin plate, painted black, v/ith the words " Mutual 
 Assurance " and a number in gilt, which was placed on the 
 houses insured until 1809 when the company was incorporated 
 as the Mutual Insurance Company of the City of New York, 
 which in 1845 became the Knickerbocker Fire Insurance 
 Company. The rate of insurance, in 1789, on frame houses 
 with brick or stone fronts and the sides filled in with brick, 
 was £<^ 5s. for ^^500 insurance for seven years, and, if it was 
 found that the premiums were sufficient to pay losses and ex- 
 penses, £"] were to be returned at the end of the seven years, 
 making the insurance for that time £2 5s. Losses were to 
 be paid or the premises repaired within ninety days after the 
 adjustment of the loss. The originator of the Mutual Assur- 
 ance Company was John Pintard, who was born in New York 
 in 1759 and died on the 21st of June 1844, after a long life 
 active in all good works. After graduation from the College 
 of New Jersey in 1776 he served as a soldier in the American 
 army and was for several years a clerk to his uncle Lewis 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 113 
 
 Pintard who was Commissioner for American Prisoners in 
 New York. For a time he was editor of the N. Y. Daily 
 Advertiser, was appointed City Inspector in 1804, assisted in 
 the establishment of the first Savings Bank in 1819, was one of 
 the organizers of the American Bible Society and of the 
 Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, took a great 
 part in the establishment of schools in the city, and was one 
 of the chief promoters of the construction of the Erie Canal. 
 In 1789, when one writer described him as "a singular mix- 
 ture of heterogeneous particles," he was already agitating the 
 subject of the formation of an antiquarian society, but this 
 project was not executed in New York until 1804 when the 
 N. Y, Historical Society was founded through his efforts. 
 He was secretary of the Assurance Company from 1787 until 
 1792, William Maxwell being its treasurer during the same 
 period. In 1789 the office of the Company was at No. 57 
 King (Pine) Street. 
 
 The national societies in the city in 1789 were four in num- 
 ber, their object being the promotion of the interests of fellow- 
 countrymen and the rendering of charitable assistance to those 
 in distress. The St. Andrew's Society had been formed in 
 1756 and revived in 1784, and during the year 1789 received 
 twelve new members. Its officers, elected in December 1788 
 were : 
 
 President, Hon. Robert R. Livingston. 
 Vice-Presidc7its, William Kerr and William Maxwell. 
 Treasurer, Alexander Robertson. 
 Chaptain, Rev. Dr. John Mason. 
 Physicia7i, James Tillery. 
 Secretary, Robert Lenox. 
 
 Matiagers. 
 
 Hay Stevenson. William Wilson. 
 
 Alexander J. Hamilton. James Renwick. 
 
 Andrew Mitchell. John Turner. 
 
 The English residents of the city had had an association 
 before the Revolution, but the St. George's Society dates 
 from 1786 when it had 78 members. In 1789 its officers were : 
 
 President, Theophylacte Bache. 
 Vice-President, WiLLlAM Seton. 
 
114 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Asst. Vice-President^ Joshua Wauuington. 
 Secy and 'Jreasurer, John Wilkes. 
 
 Stewards. 
 Gerai'J> Walton. John Dklakikld. 
 
 John IJekkv, Samuel Corp. 
 
 JOJIN EVEkS. 
 
 l)urinj:j the year 1789 this Society received 14 new mem- 
 bers. The Queen's liirthflay was celebrated in New York on 
 the i^tli of January 17^9 by an entertainment j^iven by Sir 
 John 'lemple, the liritish consul-general. 
 
 The St. Patrick's Society in 1789 was under the direction 
 of William ('onstable, fjresident ; Alexander Macomb, vice- 
 president; Hii^di (iaine, treasurer; and Kobert \i. Waddeil, 
 Hecretary, 
 
 Its Council consisted of : 
 
 John .Shaw. Sampson Klf.ming. 
 
 ('\\i\.\'M.v. I'oi.f.ocK. Thomas Koacu. 
 
 Wii.i.iAM I'jj(;ar. (jlivi;k 'J'kmjm.kion. 
 
 'Ihomas IJkeijk. General Maunsel. 
 
 William Constable, the president of the Society was one of 
 the leadin^i merchants of the city, lie was the son of John 
 Constable, a physician who died in New Wovk on the 17th of 
 A|)ril 1785 at the a^e (;f 57 years. William Constable was 
 b<*rn in l)iiblin on the 1st of January 1752, received his edu- 
 cation at Trinity College, iJublin, and coming to America 
 served as an aide de-cani|> lo Lafayette durin^^ the devolution. 
 Afl< I llic war he si.tllcd as a merchant in I'hiladelphia but 
 stion removed to New York and entered into business upon 
 capital furnished in i)art by Robert and Coverneur Morris 
 who became his jjartners. lie died in New York on the ?.?.u(\ 
 of May 1803 and was Ijin'ied in St. I 'aul's churchyard, where 
 also reprtse the remains of his lather, mother, and wife 'I'he 
 St. r.it rick's Society celebrated the 17th of March 1 789 by a 
 dinnei at the C>ity Tavern, "and the other gentlemen of that 
 nation (as is customary) feasted on Codfish and l*otat(jes, the 
 dish usually provided for the day, in lar^e companies." 
 
 Tlic German Society was organized on the 4th of October 
 
Climate^ Dress and Customs^ etc. i i 5 
 
 1784, the initiation fee bein^ two tlolkus and a hall. Us of- 
 ficers in 1789 were : 
 
 Pri'sidtnt, FRKnicKicK Wii.i.iam von Steuiien. 
 Vici-l'rcsiiii-nt, Rkv. I)u. Kun/.k. 
 Treasurer, David (Jrim. 
 Secretary, Wiia.JAM Wilmkkdino. 
 ind Secretary, JOHN I.. Mkkkki.. 
 Solicitor, C.korok CJii.i'Kur. 
 Assistants. 
 Dr. (iKORCK C. ANriioN. JonN II. LiaJCKiCR. 
 
 IIkNRY ArcMII.ARIUS. llKNRY 0KR1I,KY. 
 
 John II. liuANii. Christian Scuui/r/. 
 
 John Til. i. man. 
 
 In 1789 the Society had (^9 members, who disi)laycd their 
 good citi/.enshi[) at their annual meeting" on the 7th of Janu- 
 ary 1789 by unanimously lesolviny^ to unite in encoura<;in^- 
 Americ;in manufactures in [)reference to those of other coun- 
 tries. ( )u the II th of November the Society celebratetl its 
 anniversary by marchini; from tlie Lutheran school housi; to 
 the (rerman church in William Street where prayer was of- 
 fered by Dr. Kun/e, an oration in (lerman was delivered by 
 William Wilmenlin^, and one in l*'nt;lish by lulwartl I^ivinj;- 
 ston. The company then atljourned to I'^aunces' Tavern in 
 C^ourtlandt Street and partook of a dinner in company with 
 the officers of the St. George's, St. Patrick's, ami St. An- 
 drew's Societies. 
 
 The Masonic Lodges in the city in 1789 were eight in 
 number : 
 
 .S7. Jo/i/i's No. 2, met at the Coffee House. jACon MoR'lON, master. 
 
 JtutefniKiriit Royal Arch, No, 8. (iKOKCK Caki.and, 
 
 St. yhulretu's Lodi^e, No. 169. Whitk MAri,Ac:K, 
 
 /.odi^e'Ho. ?.\o. Thomas 'i'lioMAS, " 
 
 St. I\it rick's. No. 212. IIknkv laini.AM, " 
 
 St. Jo/in's, No. 4. ARNour Cannon, 
 
 Grand J.od^r, No. 5. JoiiN Mariin, 
 //cV/ifiw/ZZ^r/i,'-^, met at Sam Fraunccs' Tavern, K. J. Vandknhrock, " 
 
 Among" the office!! s of the (iiand I.,odge of the State of New 
 York were Robert R. Livingston, grand master; Peter 
 
 
 << 
 << 
 
Ii6 New York City in 1789. 
 
 McDougall, senior grand warden ; Jacob Morton, grand sec- 
 retary ; White Matlack, grand treasurer ; and Rev. Dr. 
 Abram Beach, chaplain. On the 25th of June ten Masonic 
 Lodges celebrated the Festival of St. John in the city by 
 marching from the Coffee House to St. Paul's Chapel where 
 a sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Beach, an anthem 
 written by Brother Samuel Low of Holland Lodge was sung 
 by the Musical Society to music composed by Mr. Phila, and 
 a collection was taken for the benefit of the Manumission So- 
 ciety. The first verse of the anthem composed by Mr. Low 
 was : 
 
 " From regions of immortal bliss above, 
 Impart thy genial emanations, Love / 
 Soul of our Order ! Patron of this day ! 
 Inspire our hearts and prompt the solemn lay." 
 
 From the church the lodges proceeded to a collation at the 
 City Tavern. 
 
 Purely social clubs had not yet gained a firm root in the 
 city and the only one publicly mentioned in 1789 was the 
 Black Friars Society, founded November loth 1784, with a 
 Father, Chancellor, Cardinals and Priors. Among its mem- 
 bers in 1789 were Josiah Ogden HofTman, Benjamin Graves, 
 John Stagg, Dr. James Tillery, Bernard Hart, Dr. Benjamin 
 Kissam, Richard Harwood, John Fisher and Oliver Glean. 
 On the 9th of May this society held a festival at the Friary, 
 dinner being served at half-past four, and on the loth of No- 
 vember its anniversary was celebrated by an oration by Dr. 
 Tillery and a dinner at which eleven toasts were drank includ- 
 ing one to " The Fair Daughters of Columbia — may they ever 
 find a friend in a Friar." This society, which was organized 
 for charitable as well as social purposes, met twice a month at 
 the Friary, No. 56 Pine Street, and continued to exist until 
 the year 1 800. 
 
 The social amusements of the wealthier class of citizens 
 consisted chiefly in occasional balls, tea parties, and visits to 
 the tea-gardens in the vicinity of the city. Brissot de War- 
 ville writes : " As in England, tea forms the basis of the prin- 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 117 
 
 cipal parties in this city. It is to tea that a stranger is in- 
 vited ; it is tea that you go to drink in the beautiful garden 
 of M. Cummings, the Florida Garden of New York. It is 
 situated on the North River and the view is charming." 
 This garden in May 1789 passed into the hands of George 
 Leaycraft, its former proprietor George Cummings then open- 
 ing a porter house at the Fly Market. Other popular gar- 
 dens were Perry's on the west side of the present Union 
 Square, and Williamson's on the east side of Greenwich 
 Street above the present Harrison Street. Private carriages 
 were few in number, although elegant in equipment, and ex- 
 peditions to the suburbs were chiefly made in conveyances 
 hired from one of the six livery stables in the city or at the 
 coach stand at the Coffee House. Charles and James War- 
 ner, whose stable was at No. 9 Great George Street, adver- 
 tised coaches, phaetons, chairs, sulkeys, and saddle horses for 
 hire. The coach fare was one shilling for each passenger to 
 any point within one mile of the City Hall, and three shill- 
 ings an hour for waiting in the city. To go to the two mile 
 stone and around by Cummings' Garden cost six shillings for 
 a party, and two shillings for each hour that the coach was 
 detained. The fare to Harlem for the day was thirty-eight 
 shillings, and to Kingsbridge, forty shillings. The fare for 
 shorter rides was for Horn's tour, 8s. ; Lake's tour, los. ; to 
 Murray's for half a day, 14s.; to Gracey's tavern, i6s. ; and to 
 Apthorp's, i6s. In June 1789 a pair of dark bay horses, 14 
 hands 3 inches high, one five and the other seven years old, 
 well broken to carriage or saddle were offered for sale for £"^0^ 
 and a bay saddle horse 15^ hands high, five years old, was of- 
 fered for thirty guineas. 
 
 The fashionable balls of the time may be judged of from 
 a description, taken from Griswold's American Court, of one 
 given, on the 14th of May 1789, in honor of Washington by 
 Comte de Moustier, the French ambassador : " After the 
 President came, a company of eight couple formed in the 
 other room and entered, two by two, and began a most curi- 
 ous dance called En Ballet. Four of the gentlemen were 
 dressed in French regimentals and four in American uni- 
 
V 
 
 ii8 New York City in 1789. 
 
 forms ; four of the ladies with blue ribbons round their heads 
 and American flowers, and four with red roses and flowers of 
 France. These danced in a very curious manner, sometimes 
 two and two, sometimes four couple and four couple, and 
 then in a moment all together, which formed great enter- 
 tainment for the spectators, to show the happy union between 
 the two nations. Three rooms were filled and the fourth was 
 most elegantly set off as a place for refreshment. A long 
 table crossed this room from wall to wall. The Avhole wall 
 inside was covered with shelves filled with cakes, oranges, 
 apples, wines of all sorts, ice creams, etc., and highly lighted 
 up. A number of servants from behind the table supplied 
 the guests with everything they wanted, from time to time, 
 as they came in to refresh themselves, which they did as often 
 as a party had done dancing and made way for another. We 
 retired about ten o'clock, in the height of the jollity." The 
 refreshments served to the guests upon these occasions are 
 probably enumerated with tolerable fulness in the advertise- 
 ment of Adam Pryor, Federal Confectioner, who in May 1789 
 removed from Broadway to No. 59 Wall Street. This sets 
 forth the sale of coriander, caraway, almond, and cinnamon 
 comfits ; burnt almonds, barley sugar, peppermint, orange, 
 lemon, cinnamon and hartshorn drops ; pastry, jellies, blanc- 
 mange, whip-syllabub, floating island, rocky island, pound 
 cake for weddings, and brandy preserves. As the English 
 fashions in dress then prevailed in New York some of the cos- 
 tumes at balls possibly resembled in some degree those worn at 
 a magnificent entertainment given in London on the 4th of 
 June 1789 in honor of the King's birthday. On that occasion 
 Queen Charlotte's gown was of a lilac ground covered with 
 crape embroidered in green, and flounced with five rows of 
 deep lace, with about thirty large diamond buttons and tassels 
 fastened on the petticoat. Her stomacher was wholly of bril- 
 liants and her head dress was of blonde lace ornamented with 
 diamonds and two small feathers. The Princess Royal wore 
 a bodice and train of red and white striped gauze, and a white 
 petticoat covered with a crape embroidery of green and silver. 
 Her shoes were of white satin covered with silver and steel 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 1 19 
 
 beads, with a plate of silver in the form of a shield running 
 toward the toe, while around the quarters was a deep span- 
 gled silver fringe. Other ladies were principally dressed in 
 white trimmed with blue and having fringes of gold and sil- 
 ver, while around their heads were fillets bearing inscriptions 
 complimentary to the King. The Prince of Wales was clad 
 in a corbeau and blue striped silk coat and breeches, the latter 
 with silver embroidery down the seams, and an embroidered 
 waistcoat of silver tissue. The other gentlemen wore em- 
 broidered cloth and silk suits with cut steel buttons. In one 
 respect the New York entertainments were far inferior to 
 those given in London. M. de Moustier's servants between 
 the table and the wall sink into complete insignificance when 
 compared with the hundred valets in scarlet coats lined with 
 blue, and blue waistcoats embroidered with gold, and the 
 hundred footmen in sky-blue coats and waistcoats adorned 
 with silver lace, who waited on the company at an entertain- 
 ment given by the Spanish Ambassador in England on the 
 2nd of June 1789 in celebration of George the Third's recov- 
 ery of his mind. 
 
 Fashionable society in New York in 1789 seems to have 
 consisted of about three hundred persons, as that number at- 
 tended a ball on the 7th of May at which Washington was 
 present. But according to Noah Webster, the city was noted 
 for sociability and lack of class distinction. He writes in 
 1788 : " In point of sociability and hospitality, New York is 
 hardly exceeded by any town in the United States. The 
 principal families by associating in their public amusements 
 with the middle class of well-bred citizens render their rank 
 subservient to the happiness of society, and prevent that 
 party-spirit which an affectation of superiority in certain fami- 
 lies in Philadelphia has produced in that city, — a spirit which 
 disturbs or destroys their public amusements, and which has 
 given the citizens, too generally perhaps, the reputation of 
 being inhospitable." In a note stating that the general char- 
 acter of citizens in large towns is affected, in some measure, 
 by the manners of the prevailing sect or nation, he adds: 
 " The neatness, industry and parsimony of the Dutch, were 
 
I20 New York City in 1789. 
 
 the characteristics of the citizens of New York before the rev- 
 olution, and will probably be visible in their manners a long 
 time after national distinctions are lost." 
 
 The amusements of those whom Mr. Webster would prob- 
 ably have designated as the lower classes do not seem to have 
 received much attention from the old chroniclers. Perhaps 
 some idea of them may be gained from a law passed March 
 1st 1788 by which tavern-keepers were made subject to fine 
 and imprisonment should they allow cock-fighting, gaming, 
 card-playing, dice, billiard tables or shuffle boards in their 
 houses. From this it would appear that the frequenters of 
 the taverns, who composed a large portion of the community, 
 were at some time addicted to these amusements. Gambling 
 with dice or cards was an amusement among all classes of the 
 community, a game with cards, called Pharaoh, being the 
 most popular means of the transfer of money. Other popu- 
 lar games of cards were whist, loo, and quadrille. An Act 
 passed February 20th 1788 punished the winner of more than 
 ;^io at a sitting by a forfeit of five times the amount won, 
 Avhile either the winner or loser of ;^ 10 at a time or ^20 in 
 twenty-four hours might be indicted and fined five times the 
 amount won or lost. Winners by fraud and deceit were to 
 receive corporal punishment. Drunkenness was another pop- 
 ular failing which was punished by three shillings fine or two 
 hours imprisonment in the stocks, such a conviction being 
 without appeal. By an Act of March ist 1788 a license to re- 
 tail liquor in the city was to cost not less than forty shillings 
 nor more than i^20 in the discretion of a commissioner, to be 
 appointed by the Governor and Council of Appointment, who 
 was to give permits to sell in quantities less than five gallons 
 for one year and to receive a salary of ^60 instead of fees. 
 Applicants for license were required to give a bond of ;^5o 
 not to keep a disorderly house, and any innkeeper who gave 
 credit for liquor to a larger amount than ten shillings was to 
 lose the debt. The Excise Commissioner in 1789 was Will- 
 iam W. Gilbert who collected ^^1028 5s. 4d. during the year, 
 of which ;^8oo was given to the Hospital. In September 
 1784 the number of taverns was so great that the Grand Jury 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 121 
 
 recommended that fewer be licensed, but in 1789 there appear 
 in the directory the names of 169 tavern and lodging-house 
 keepers, and there appear to have been nearly twice that num- 
 ber in the city, as between the ist of March 1788 and the first 
 of March 1789, there were granted 330 tavern licenses at thirty 
 shillings each, of which six shillings went to the Mayor and 
 six shillings to the City Clerk. A few of the more prominent 
 tavernkeepers in 1789, besides Edward Bardin who kept the 
 City Tavern, were Samuel Fraunces, the steward of Washing- 
 ton, whose tavern at No. 49 Cortlandt Street was managed 
 by his wife ; John Fraunces, who opened the True American 
 in August 1785 at No. 3 Great Dock (Pearl) Street, whence 
 he removed in May 1789 to the historic building on the south- 
 east corner of Broad and Pearl Streets; and John Simmons, 
 whose tavern was on the northwest corner of Wall and Nas- 
 sau Streets, and who was a man of such bulk that, at the time 
 of his funeral, the pier between the door and window of the 
 house had to be torn out to allow the passage of his cof^n. 
 Others were Aaron Aorson, corner of Nassau and George 
 (Spruce) Streets, who had been a captain in the revolutionary 
 army and was present at the death of General Montgomery 
 at Quebec ; Jonathan Pearsee, No. 28 Nassau Street corner 
 of Ann Street ; John Battin, corner of Nassau and John 
 Streets ; George Rawson, No. 82 Water Street ; Widow 
 Bradford, at the Coffee House on the southeast corner of 
 Wall and Water Streets ; and Richard Varian, at the Bull's 
 Head Tavern on the Bowery Lane. The price of board in 
 the city was made an object of attack by " A Traveller" in 
 May 1789, who asserted that it was twice as high as in Phila- 
 delphia, which was owing, in part, to the fact that New York 
 was only about one half as large as Philadelphia. He further 
 asserted that this was a good reason why Congress should re- 
 side in the latter rather than in the former city, as it should 
 be remembered that the board of the congressmen was paid 
 out of the common treasury to which every citizen of the 
 United States contributed his share. This was followed by 
 a card in another newspaper warning the boarding-house 
 keepers that they were injuring themselves and the city by 
 
122 New York City in 1789. 
 
 charging too much and causing congressmen to consider them- 
 selves imposed upon. The other side of the matter was then 
 shown by a denial that board was higher than elsewhere, as it 
 ranged from seven to three dollars a week and one of the 
 houses furnished from seven to nine dishes a day, with four 
 sorts of liquor. 
 
 Servants could be obtained from the Intelligence Oflfice of 
 William Cavenough at No. 22 Great Dock Street, but those 
 in the wealthier families were negro slaves, whose lot was by 
 no means a hard one. The treatment of them was regulated 
 by an Act passed February 22nd 1788 which provided that 
 every negro, mulatto, or mestee who was a slave at that time 
 should remain so for life, unless manumitted, and that the 
 children of slave women should be slaves. Selling any slave 
 brought into the State after the ist of June 1785 was punish- 
 able by a fine of ;^ioo and the freeing of the slave, and a per- 
 son buying a slave with the intention of removing him from 
 the State or acting in such manner as agent for another was 
 subject to a like penalty. Employing, or harboring a slave 
 without his master's permission was forbidden under a penalty 
 of ;^5 for every twenty-four hours he was detained up to his 
 value, and if the slave were lost the person harboring him was 
 liable for his value. No one could trade with a slave, without 
 his master's permission, under penalty of forfeiting £^ and 
 three times the value of the goods traded, while selling liquor 
 to a slave, without the owner's permission, was punishable by 
 forty shillings fine. The negroes, however, seem to have 
 found means of obtaining liquor, as appears by an advertise- 
 ment in February 1789 : " To be sold for no other fault than 
 a little Intoxication, a Negro Fellow, aged 20 years, expert at 
 waiting and every kind of House-Work." Advertisements 
 for runaway slaves and warnings against harboring them were 
 also of frequent occurrence. A slave striking a white person 
 was to be tried as for petit larceny, and his right to a trial by 
 jury was confined to capital cases ; slaves could only be wit- 
 nesses in criminal cases for and against each other. Persons 
 collusively selling aged and decrepit slaves to those unable to 
 support them were liable to a fine of ^20 and were still to be 
 
Climate, Dress and Customs, etc. 123 
 
 regarded as owners, while allowing a slave to beg was to be 
 punished by a fine of ;^iO. A slave under fifty years of age 
 could be manumitted upon a certificate from the Mayor, Re- 
 corder, and two Aldermen, that he appeared to be under fifty 
 years of age and capable of supporting himself ; but in all 
 other cases the manumittor had to give security that the slave 
 would not become a charge upon the city. Those set free by 
 will were to be considered free, but if no certificate or security 
 were given, the estate of the former owner was to be liable for 
 their maintenance. For the benefit of this portion of the 
 population there was formed about the year 1785, chiefly by 
 Quakers, the Society for promoting the Manumission of 
 Slaves, the officers of which in 1789 were : 
 
 President, John Jay. 
 
 Vice-president, Hartfield Clarkson. 
 
 Treasurer, John Murray, jr. 
 Secretary, John Keese. 
 
 Standing Committee. 
 Leonard M. Cutting. Andrew Low. 
 
 Thomas Burling. Effingham Embree. 
 
 Melancthon Smith. John Lawrence. 
 
 The society was incorporated in 1808. In November 1786 
 it added to its good work by establishing a free school for the 
 children of slaves still in bondage, provided that they had 
 reached the age of nine years and were capable of spelling 
 words of one syllable. This school proved to be very suc- 
 cessful, having, after the first six months of its existence, from 
 forty to sixty scholars in regular attendance, but in October 
 1789 it was in need of funds. 
 
IV. 
 
 Churches and Clergy. 
 
 By the constitution of the State of New York, adopted in 
 1777, clergymen were declared to be ineligible to hold any- 
 civil or military office or place in the State, as they were " by 
 their profession dedicated to the service of God and the cure 
 of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties 
 of their function." Subsequent to the Revolution the most 
 important enactments which had been made with regard to 
 religious matters were an Act passed April 6th 1784 enabling 
 all denominations to appoint trustees for their churches, and 
 an Act passed April 20th 1784 repealing colonial laws com- 
 pelling the inhabitants of the counties of New York, Rich- 
 mond, Westchester, and Queen's to pay taxes for the support 
 of the Episcopal clergy "contrary to every principle of justice 
 and sound policy," by color of which laws it had been pre- 
 tended that the Episcopal churches had been established in 
 those counties. The laws regarding the observation of the 
 Sabbath were strict. Labor or sale of goods on Sunday was 
 punishable by a fine of ten shillings, and no persons were to 
 meet in the streets and there play or make a noise under a 
 penalty of two shillings fine, or in default of that payment, of 
 one hour's imprisonment in the Bridewell. No innkeeper 
 was to sell liquor on Sunday to any persons but travellers or 
 regular lodgers, nor was he to allow drunkenness in his house 
 at any time under penalty of twenty shillings fine. Two con- 
 stables, armed with their staves, were to walk the streets dur- 
 ing the time of divine service and cause this law to be ob- 
 served, with full power to enter inns and report tippling. 
 This law, however, was doubtless evaded so far as the taverns 
 were concerned, and on the 23rd of May 1789 a citizen com- 
 
Churches and Clergy. 125 
 
 plained because the theatre was allowed to be kept open on 
 Saturday evening and the streets were crowded with playing 
 children on Sunday evening. Swearing was punishable by a 
 fine of three shillings, and in default of immediate payment 
 the offender, if more than sixteen years of age, could be im- 
 prisoned in the stocks for one hour for each offence or two 
 hours for a number of offences committed at the same time. 
 Such a conviction was without appeal. 
 
 The city churches in 1789 were twenty-two in number, 
 representing thirteen denominations, viz : Reformed Dutch, 
 Protestant Episcopal, French Huguenot, Quaker, Lutheran, 
 Jewish, Presbyterian, Baptist, Moravian, German Reformed, 
 Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Independent Congregational. 
 
 Of these, that known as the Collegiate Reformed Protes- 
 tant Dutch Church was, and now is, the oldest in the city, 
 having been organized in the year 1628. Its government was, 
 and now is, by a consistory of twelve elders and twelve dea- 
 cons who elected their own successors, — generally themselves, 
 — the members of the church having no part in its govern- 
 ment. In October 1764 Abel Hardenbrook, a church mem- 
 ber, had brought suit against the Consistory for the purpose 
 of establishing his right to vote for church ofificers, but had 
 been entirely defeated. The action was tried in the Supreme 
 Court on the 26th of April 1765 and after a trial of twenty- 
 one hours the jury were directed to bring in a special verdict 
 upon matters of fact. Their names were Samuel Verplanck, 
 John H. Cruger, David Clarkson, Robert Griffin, Lawrence 
 Kortright, Beverly Robinson, Thomas White, John Shoals, 
 William Bedlow, John Provoost, Lewis Pintard, and Walter 
 Rutherford. In their special verdict they found among other 
 things that the plaintiff and the majority of the members in 
 communion with the Dutch Church had attended at the 
 church on the third Thursday in October 1763 to cast their 
 votes for church officers for the following year, and that the 
 Consistory had refused to receive the plaintiff's vote and had 
 proceeded with the election without first naming to the mem- 
 bers the persons nominated for office. They further found 
 that according to the rules established by the Synod of Dort, 
 
126 New York City in 1789. 
 
 and the usage of the churches of Holland, which had always 
 been followed in New York, the elders and deacons and min- 
 isters present elected new elders and deacons, without the 
 voice of the other members of the church, and that the plain- 
 tiff himself had been elected three times in accordance with 
 this custom. After the nomination and appointment of new 
 church-officers it was also customary for the minister to an- 
 nounce their names from the pulpit for three successive Sun- 
 days and if no objection were then made to them they re- 
 mained in ofifice. If objection were made, the Consistory took 
 such action as it deemed best. The special verdict ended 
 with the statement : " If the Law is for the Plaintiff avc find 
 for the Plaintiff and five pounds ten shillings damages ; if the 
 Law is for the Defendents we find for the Defendents." The 
 Law was for the defendants, although Mr. Hardenbrook, who 
 represented the Dutch party in the church in opposition to 
 those who wished to call a minister to preach in the English 
 language, employed the eminent attorneys James Duane, Ben- 
 jamin Kissam, and John T. Kemp, their opponents being 
 William Livingston and John M. Scott. Judgment was given 
 for the Consistory on the ist of November 1766, Judges 
 Thomas Jones, William Smith, and Robert R. Livingston 
 agreeing, and Judge Daniel Hormansden dissenting. Troubles 
 also arose in the Dutch churches between those who desired 
 to retain their connection with the Classis of Amsterdam and 
 those who wished the American branch of that church to be 
 entirely independent of Holland. One of the former who had 
 been deposed from the ministry in 1786 for immorality and 
 Toryism, and who, with some consistency, complained because 
 he was referred to the Classis of Amsterdam for redress, pub- 
 lished a most curious pamphlet, dated June 9th 1789 and 
 probably printed in New York City. It is entitled " A true 
 Description of the Circumstances of the Low Dutch Church, 
 and their Ministers, for a Notification to the faithful Members 
 of the same, who will stand by the Truth of the Holy Bible. 
 By John Casper Ruble, Verbi Divini Minister, and Corrector 
 of the Low Dutch Churches in some Parts of America." Mr. 
 Ruble had come to America in 175 1 and as early as 1755 had 
 
Churches and Clergy. 127 
 
 been styled " the rebellious Ruble " and requested to resign a 
 charge in Philadelphia. During the Revolution he had been 
 a violent Tory, denouncing the Americans as " Satan's sol- 
 diers," and, judging by the contents of this pamphlet, the 
 church was Avell rid of him. It was directed against many of 
 the Low Dutch ministers who, according to the author, used 
 " a strange Title of the Tryoun God : When they say in their 
 Prayers and Preachings, in Dutch, Volsalige God, Volsalige 
 JeJiova, Volsalvigc Vader, Son, ende Heilige Geest. That is in 
 the English language, Fulsaved God, Fulsaved JcJiovah, etc" 
 Mr. Ruble pronounced this title to be so blasphemous " that 
 Ministers may commit Thousands of Sins, rather than one 
 Time to say in the Pulpit, Fulsaved God, Fulsaved Jehovah, 
 Fulsaved Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." He also inserted a 
 remark which probably explains a large part of his own 
 troubles, thus: "Hear further, courteous Reader, that you 
 here find the Difference between the Coetus and Conferentie 
 Ministers : — The Coetus Ministers have made Use of such a 
 Title, but the Conferentie Ministers never.'' He then wrote 
 thus of his opponents : " All what is above mentioned is the 
 Truth and nothing else than Truth, and from some Truth- 
 loving people already observed, besides this, so have the Min- 
 isters, as such which the Pride as the Picture of the Duke of 
 Darkness possesses, so it was with their false blasphemous title, 
 that not alone all faithful European Ministers (who have no 
 Relation through the Bond of Marriage in this Country with 
 their ministers^ and the Gospel preached according to God's 
 Word, seek to persecute, and without any Reason, put out of 
 their Service, and the same again to supply with their blas- 
 phemous Ideots, and against such Actions there is no Redress 
 to be found, because these Ministers are with that Spirit, 
 heads and Masters. . . . And as a Conclusion I say, have 
 the such Ministers as I have above described me, in Anno 1784, 
 posted in an unjust Manner, in the Pulpit in the Church of 
 Flatbush, upon the Counsel of high spirited, unjust, wicked 
 and unshameful Deceivers of our Church, as a Novice, which 
 through Pride fall into the Condemnation of the Devil. . . 
 . And how much I wished to preach the Gospel of Jesus 
 
128 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Christ for our Salvation ; so I say hereby freely, that I want 
 not to do it for those People which will adhere and stay by 
 such blasphemous Ministers, but only for such Christians who 
 firmly stand by the Holland Reformed Calvinist Religion, 
 and after the Instruction of the same Desires the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ should be preached ; then I shall be willing to 
 preach for such Christians in a Church, House or Barn, so as 
 it may be convenient, and I do not want a stipulated salary 
 from Christians, but their Benefits shall in my poverty be 
 enough, and I shall therewith be contented. . , . N. B. 
 To understayid this Writing well, the cited Scripture Places 
 must be revised in the Bible. Hereby I must pray all friendly 
 Readers of this Writing, that they will excuse me in zvriting 
 such bad English, because I am an European, a Dutchman, of 
 whom you with me believe in general, that they never can learn 
 the English Language, Just so as the English pronounce and 
 write it." 
 
 A somewhat different view of the state of the Dutch 
 Church is to be found in a letter, dated Yale College, Sept. 
 13th 1788, written by President Ezra Stiles to the Rev. Dr. 
 Eilardus Westerlo of Albany, and touching upon topics which 
 are of interest at the present time. The whole of this letter 
 is as follows : 
 
 " Revd. and Dr. Sir, 
 
 I received by Mr. Woodworth your kind letter. It would 
 have given me pleasure to have seen you at one of our humble 
 Commencements in New Engld. I am sorry Mr. Basset's Ill- 
 ness would not spare you, — but indeed the stated Ordinances, 
 Institutions, and Services of the Sanctuary are not to be di- 
 verted for the sake of Amusements. I truly rejoyce in the 
 Prosperity of the Dutch Chh. in America. I am convinced 
 it is best for the Interest of Religion that she should not co- 
 alesce and bury herself in any other Chh., but maintain and 
 preserve herself a distinct Body and Light in the Chh. uni- 
 versal. I often tell some of my Brethren who are innovat- 
 ing in the Calvinistic System of Divinity, that we are con- 
 founding and confusing Religion in our Chhs. I am looking 
 
Churches and Clergy. 129 
 
 at the Belgic Reformed for the Conservation of the pure 
 Theology. I pray Gd bless your Synod with his holy pres- 
 ence. I shd rejoyce to be at N. York at the Time of their 
 Assembly this Fall. I hope that neither Indifferentism, nor 
 Deism nor Socinianism will devour the Belgic Chhs in Eu- 
 rope and America as they have too much done with respect 
 to the Reformed Chhs in Britain. From sundry Productions 
 in the Dutch Universities, lately sent me by Dr. Erskine of 
 Edinburgh, it gives me pleasure to find the Dutch Divines 
 come forth bold Defenders of Revelation and the pure Doc- 
 trines of Revelation. 
 
 May the Dutch Chhs in America subsist as a distinct 
 Body : may the 4 United Synods of the Presbyterian Chh 
 subsist as a distinct Body : may the_ Congreg'l Chhs also 
 subsist as a distinct Body. And yet after all let us not make 
 very much of these Distinctions as I hope we are all Lovers 
 of the one Ld Jesus whose Father is one and whose Chh is 
 really one, altho' in different Families. A federal Union may 
 with peculiar Facility subsist among us of these 3 Divisions 
 of Christians ; but it must be a Union founded in and indis- 
 pensably involving the separate Independency of these 3 
 Bodies of Fellow Xtians, Fellow Disciples of the blessed 
 Jesus. Perhaps I write too freely. It is the benevolent 
 Wish of my Heart that we may all be united and harmoni- 
 ous. And when one part goes astray, I hope the other will 
 not, — and they may be mutual Lights to one another and cor- 
 rect one another. Wishing you every Blessing, I am Dr Sir, 
 
 Yr affectionate Brother, 
 
 Ezra Stiles. 
 
 In 1789 the Dutch Church was probably stronger in the 
 number of its attendants than any other denomination in the 
 city, although it was constantly weakened by the departure 
 of its younger members to the Episcopal Church, which exo- 
 dus has continued to the present time. The first Dutch 
 church edifice, a wooden building, had been erected in 1633 
 near the East River on what is now Broad Street, between 
 Pearl and Bridge Streets, but, this being too small, a new 
 9 
 
130 New York City in 1789, 
 
 stone building, seventy-two feet long and fifty feet wide, was 
 erected at an expense of twenty-five hundred guilders in 1642 
 within Fort Amsterdam at its southeast corner. This build- 
 ing stood until 1741 when it was destroyed by fire, but in 1693 
 the Dutch had relinquished it to the British Government and 
 had begun to worship in a church on Garden Street before it 
 was entirely finished. In 1789 the Garden Street Church 
 was the oldest church edifice in the city, standing on the north 
 side of Verlittenberg Street (Exchange Place) about half way 
 between Broad and Smith (William) Streets. It was erected 
 at an expense of 64178 guilders or %2']6']\ on a lot 125 feet 
 wide by 180 feet deep and is described as an oblong building 
 with three sides of an octagon on its east side and having in 
 front a brick steeple on a square foundation with a consistory- 
 room in it over the entry. There were three entrances and 
 three second-story windows in the front of the building and 
 large windows on the sides filled with small panes of glass set 
 in leaden frames most of which contained coats of arms. The 
 building, which was repaired in 1766, was used by the British 
 as a hospital for a short time during the Revolution, but was 
 reopened on the 7th of December 1783, and stood until 1807 
 when a new building was erected on the same site. In 1813 
 the congregation withdrew from the Collegiate Church, but 
 continued to worship in this building until its destruction in 
 the great fire of 1835, after which it was not rebuilt, the con- 
 gregation dividing and one portion of it being now repre- 
 sented in the South Reformed Church on the south-west cor- 
 ner of 5th Avenue and 21st Street. 
 
 By the year 1726 the Dutch congregation became too 
 large for the Garden Street Church and the Consistory bought 
 a plot of ground for £^']^ on the east side of Nassau Street 
 running from what in 1789 was Crown (Liberty) to Little 
 Queen (Cedar) Street. Upon this plot was erected the 
 Middle Dutch Church, which was opened for worship in 1729 
 but not completely finished until 1731. Its interior was re- 
 modeled in 1764, but during the Revolution the British com- 
 pletely destroyed it by using it as a hospital and a riding- 
 school, and in 1789 the exterior walls were about all that 
 
Churches and Clergy. 131 
 
 remained of the old building. Owing to lack of funds follow- 
 ing the Revolution, repairs were not begun upon it until 1788 
 and it was not re-opened until July 4th 1790. This building, 
 100 feet long by 70 feet wide within the walls, was worshipped 
 in until August nth 1844, soon afterwards being occupied by 
 the N.Y. Post-Office which remained in it until 1875. In 
 1882 it was demolished for the erection of the N. Y. Mutual 
 Life Insurance Company's Building. 
 
 Until the year 1764 the services in the Dutch Churches 
 were conducted in the Dutch language but in that year the 
 Rev. Archibald Laidlie, minister of a Scotch Church in Flush- 
 ing, Holland, was called to the Dutch Church in New York 
 to preach in English to the portion of the congregation who 
 preferred that language. For the benefit of these, the corner 
 stone of the North Dutch Church was laid July 2nd 1767 and 
 the building dedicated May 25th 1769. By will dated Feb. 
 7th 1723, John Harpendinck, a member of the Dutch Church, 
 had devised to it his interest in Shoemaker's Pasture, which 
 was approximately bounded by the present Broadway, Maiden 
 Lane, a line parallel to and near the west side of Gold Street, 
 and on the north by Ann Street. The North Church was 
 erected upon a portion of this land on the west side of William 
 Street between Ann and what in 1789 was Fair (Fulton) 
 Street. This building, 70 feet wide by 100 feet long, was 
 constructed of uncut stone, with a tower, the pedestal of which 
 was square and surmounted by an octagonal belfry. The 
 main entrance was on William Street, there also being side 
 entrances from each of the side streets. Its cost was about 
 i^i2000, pillars being erected in the interior marked with the 
 initials of those who presented them, with a sum of money in 
 addition. The British used this building during the Revolu- 
 tion as a hospital and storehouse, stripping it of its pews and 
 defacing its walls, but it was reopened in December 1784 and 
 was used as a place of worship until 1875, when its site was 
 leased and it demolished in the summer of that year. 
 
 These three Dutch churches had collegiate ministers and 
 were governed by one Consistory who acted under a charter 
 from William III., dated May nth 1696, which was confirmed 
 
132 ■ New York City in 1789. 
 
 by Act of the New York Legislature, March 17th 1784, with 
 the exception of a clause empowering the Consistory by and 
 with the advice and consent of the members in communion 
 to make rates and assessments upon all members for the pay- 
 ment of ministers' salaries, repairs to buildings, etc. Owing 
 to their form of government the Dutch churches were unable 
 to become incorporated under the general act of April 6th 1784 
 allowing the appointment of not less than three nor more than 
 nine trustees for each church, and an Act was therefore passed 
 on the 7th of March 1788 allowing the Consistories of such 
 churches to become the trustees. The new members of the 
 Consistory of the Collegiate Church elected October 15th and 
 ordained November ist 1789 were : 
 
 Elders. 
 
 Evert Bancker Garret Abeel 
 
 William Gilbert Garret Harsin 
 
 William Depeyster Coenrad W. Ham. 
 
 Deacons. 
 
 Frederick Stymets. Jacobus Brown 
 
 Andrew Hopper William J. Elsworth. 
 
 John Brouwer Ahasuerus Turck. 
 
 The church-masters were Jacob J. Lansing and Thomas 
 Lafoy. At the beginning of the year 1789 there were but two 
 ministers of the Collegiate Church, the Rev. Dr. John Henrj'- 
 Livingston and the Rev. Dr. William Linn, two of the col- 
 leagues who were still living. Dominies Ritzema and De 
 Ronde, not having returned to the city after the Revolution, 
 and Dr. Laidlie having died in 1778. Dr. Livingston was now 
 in the 43rd year of his age, having been born in Poughkeepsie, 
 N. Y. May 30th 1746. His education had been begun at the 
 age of seven under the Rev. Chauncey Graham at Fishkill, 
 and a few years later he had been placed under the tutorship 
 of Mr. Moss Kent, father of Chancellor Kent. After gradua- 
 tion at Yale College in 1762 he had studied law for a few 
 years and had then gone to Utrecht to study theology. Here 
 he received the degree of D.D., and after ordination at Ams- 
 terdam, accepted a call to the Collegiate Church, arriving 
 
Churches and Clergy. 133 
 
 in New York in September 1770. In 1775 he married the 
 daughter of Philip Livingston, signer of the Declaration of In- 
 dependence, and during the British occupation retired from 
 the city. Upon the declaration of peace he had been the only 
 Collegiate minister who returned to the city, and in 1784 he 
 had been appointed Professor of Theology for the Dutch 
 Church, delivering his Latin Inaugural Oration before the 
 Synods of New York and New Jersey on the 19th of May 
 1785. He resigned his pastorate in 18 10 to take charge of 
 this Professorship, which was then fully established, and he 
 was at the same time appointed President of Rutgers College, 
 Avhich duties he performed until his death at New Brunswick, 
 N. J. on the 20th of January 1825. He is described as tall, 
 well-built, and commanding in appearance, with regular feat- 
 ures, and an agreeable expression. In private life he was ex- 
 tremely dignified, courteous, and a polished gentleman. In 
 the pulpit his fine personal appearance, deep voice, and im- 
 pressive wig, were of great advantage to him, his sermons be- 
 ing read from copious notes and accompanied by somewhat 
 eccentric gestures. In 1789 he resided at No. 79 Broadway. 
 His colleague Dr. William Linn, was born near Shippensburg, 
 Pa., February 7th 1752. He was graduated from Princeton 
 College in 1772 and in iVpril 1775 was licensed to preach as a 
 Presbyterian minister, being ordained in the following year, 
 and made chaplain of the 5th and 6th battalions of Pennsyl- 
 vania troops. Family affairs preventing him from accompany- 
 ing these troops to Canada, he resigned this post and acted as 
 pastor of a church in Big Spring, Pa. for six years. Thence 
 he removed in 1784 to become President of Washington 
 Academy in Somerset Co. Maryland, but in June 1786 re- 
 sumed his ministerial labors in Elizabethtown, N. J., whence 
 he was called in a few months to the Collegiate Church, be- 
 ing installed in his new pastorate November 12th 1786. On 
 the 1st of May 1789 he was chosen chaplain of the House of 
 Representatives at a salary of $500, receiving twenty-seven 
 votes to nineteen votes cast for Dr. John Rodgers, and of- 
 ficiated for the first time on the 5th of May. In the following 
 year he was reappointed. He was a Regent of the State Uni- 
 
134 iWw York City in 1789, 
 
 versity from 1787 to 1808, received the degree of S.T.D. 
 from Columbia College in 1789, and acted as temporary Presi- 
 dent of Queen's (Rutgers) College for several years after 1791. 
 He remained with the Collegiate Church until 1805 when 
 failing health compelled his retirement to Albany where he 
 died on the 8th of January 1808, having been elected Presi- 
 dent of Union College just before his death. The preaching 
 of the ministers who were in New York in 1789 is generally 
 described as " pious and earnest." Dr. Linn was pious, ear- 
 nest, and eloquent. It is said that his trumpet-like voice 
 could be heard for a mile, and he has been without doubt 
 justly described as the most eloquent preacher of his time in 
 New York and one of the best in the United States. The 
 esteem in which he was held as a preacher is well shown by a 
 card in the Daily Advertiser of October 30th 1789 written by 
 " A Stranger " who had heard a charity sermon preached by 
 him. After stating that he was entirely unacquainted with 
 Dr. Linn, he writes: "Would ministers always preach thus, I 
 would venture to say that it would soon become more fash- 
 ionable to go to church and perform Christian duties in gen- 
 eral." Dr. Linn's ardent patriotism and oratorical powers also 
 brought him into prominence upon patriotic celebrations, one 
 of his discourses, on the Blessings of America, being delivered 
 before the Tammany Society on the 4th of July 1791, and an- 
 other in eulogy of General Washington, before the Society of 
 the Cincinnati on the 22nd of February 1800. His imagina- 
 tive powers and command of language were great, and his ser- 
 mons, which he committed to memory, were delivered natur- 
 ally and gracefully, although he is said to have been at times 
 over-vehement in gesture. In 1789 Dr. Linn's residence was 
 No. 66 Cortlandt Street, his salary being £Apo a year and a 
 house rent free. There were still in the Collegiate Church at 
 this time a sufficient number of those who preferred preaching 
 in the Dutch language to render it desirable to have some of 
 the services in that tongue, and, although Dr. Livingston occa- 
 sionally preached in Dutch to this portion of the congregation, 
 it was decided to call a minister especially for that purpose. 
 Accordingly in the latter part of 1789 a call was extended 
 
Churches and Clergy. 135 
 
 to and accepted by Rev. Gerard us Arense Kuypers, a young 
 man who had been settled in a church at Paramus, N. J., since 
 June 1788. Mr. Kuypers was born in December 1766 on the 
 Island of Curasao, but at the age of two years had been brought 
 to America and had received his theological education from his 
 father who was a minister in Hackensack, N. J. His services 
 in the Collegiate Church were confined to preaching in Dutch 
 in the Garden Street church until 1803 when he preached the 
 last sermon in that language to a very small congregation. He 
 then preached in English until his death on the 28th of June 
 1833, In 1 79 1 he received the degree of A.M. from the Col- 
 lege of New Jersey and in 18 10 that of D.D. from Rutgers 
 College. He is described as a man of medium height, com- 
 pactly built, and of remarkable agility. He was retiring in 
 disposition, courteous and affable in manner, not learned, and 
 exceedingly conservative in doctrine and usages. As a preacher 
 he was more successful in the Dutch than in the English lan- 
 
 •fc>' 
 
 guage. 
 
 Connected with the Collegiate Church there was also a 
 school, supported by charitable contributions, which is said to 
 have had its beginning in 1633. After suspension by the war 
 this school was re-opened in the latter part of 1783 under the 
 mastership of Peter Van Steenburgh, who held that position 
 from 1773 until May ist 1791. The schoolhouse was a build- 
 ing opposite the Garden Street church, erected in 1748 and 
 rebuilt in 1773, in which the schoolmaster lived, and on the 
 second floor of which the Consistory held its meetings. In 
 1789 Mr. Van Steenburgh entered upon an agreement by 
 which he was to receive from the Consistory ^^35 a year for 
 giving elementary instruction to thirty scholars. The school 
 was visited monthly by the deacons and quarterly by the 
 whole Consistory, the children being clothed and taught from 
 funds raised chiefly by collections in the churches. On the 
 1 2th of December 1789 it was announced in the N. Y. Packet 
 that a charity-sermon for the benefit of this school would be 
 preached on the following day in Dutch in the Garden Street 
 Church, and on the next Sabbath in English in the North 
 Church. The school is still in existence. 
 
136 New York City in 1789. 
 
 The Protestant Episcopal churches in 1789 were three in 
 number, Trinity, St. Paul's Chapel, and St. George's Chapel. 
 The first Trinity Church building had been erected in 1696, 
 opened for worship in January 1697, and enlarged in 1737, 
 but was not in existence in 1789 having been destroyed in 
 the fire of 1776, together with its two charity school buildings, 
 library, and rector's house at an estimated loss of ^^22200. 
 The fire destroyed all but a portion of the walls, and rebuild- 
 ing was not begun until 1788, when Robert Watts, Moses 
 Rogers, Nicholas Cruger, Nicholas Carmer, and George Dom- 
 inick, commissioners for rebuilding, advertised on the i8th of 
 June for proposals for taking down the walls. On the 8th of 
 July they asked for proposals for laying new foundations and 
 on the 7th of August they were ready to receive proposals for 
 carpenter work. The masonwork of the new building was 
 done by Messrs. Moore and Smith and the carpenter work by 
 James Robinson. The work of the committee, however, does 
 not seem to have satisfied everybody as in the Daily Adver- 
 tiser of March 12th 1789 there appeared a card bitterly attack- 
 ing one of the committee for acts alleged to have been done 
 through jealousy at not receiving the contract for rebuilding. 
 This attack by " A Churchman," however, received a reply 
 from " Hod Carrier " which apparently disposed of it, as 
 nothing further upon the subject appeared in the newspaper. 
 The corner stone of the building was laid by Bishop Provoost 
 on the 2 1st of August 1788 and the fact that the inscription 
 on this stone mentioned the " Bishop of New York " brought 
 about a fierce newspaper controversy between the Presbyte- 
 rians and Episcopalians which was begun by a Presbyterian at- 
 tack in the N. Y. Packet of November 25th 1788. The Pres- 
 byterian in a subsequent article having complained that his 
 opponent had omitted the Dutch Church from the number of 
 Presbyterians, a member of the Dutch Church residing on 
 Smith Street informed him on the 27th of January 1789 that 
 the Dutch needed none of his championship, knew their an- 
 cient friends, and had no desire to take part in the quarrel. 
 There was no stouter opponent of the claims of episcopacy, 
 however, than Dr. Linn of the Dutch Church. The property 
 
Churches and Clergy. 137 
 
 of Trinity Church in 1789 although extensive was not very 
 remunerative and the sale of lots to obtain ready money was 
 frequent for many years. In May 1789 the corporation ad- 
 vertised that it would sell forty-six lots, nineteen of which 
 were in the rear of the church, fronting on Greenwich Street, 
 and the other twenty-seven on Division Street and the streets 
 to the north and east of St. Paul's Church. It also announced 
 its determination to enforce the payment of back rents and 
 stated that its collector had been ordered to re-enter upon all 
 lots two years in arrears for rent, and on July ist to re-enter 
 upon those three months in arrears. In February 1789 ad- 
 vertisements appeared for stone for the new building, to be 
 delivered in the Spring, and by the end of the year its erec- 
 tion was probably well-advanced as on the 19th of November, 
 the editor of the N. Y. Journal stated that no improvement 
 deserved greater approbation than the new church on Broad- 
 way, the spire of which, with good conductors, would be a 
 great preservative against lightning for all the buildings within 
 several hundred paces of it, and especially to the Federal 
 Building. The editor might well have mentioned other rea- 
 sons for approbation of the erection of the church, but this 
 was certainly a very good reason as lightning played its 
 pranks very freely in the city, visiting the just and the unjust 
 without discrimination. One Wednesday evening in June 
 1788 it shattered the house and smashed the crockeiy of the 
 Rev. Dr. Mason at No. 63 Cortlandt Street, and on the 10th 
 of June 1789 it set fire to the curtains in the house of John 
 Henry, the actor, at No. 5 Fair (Fulton) Street. The new 
 Trinity Church, 104 feet long by 72 feet wide, with a steeple 
 200 feet in height, was consecrated March 25th 1790, and 
 stood until 1839 when it was taken down to be replaced by 
 the present edifice which was consecrated May 21st 1846. 
 
 In 1748 the congregation of Trinity Church had become so 
 large that it had been decided to erect a Chapel of Ease and 
 six lots were accordingly bought for ^^645 by inhabitants of 
 Montgomery Ward and presented to the church as a site for 
 the new chapel. Upon these St. George's Chapel was built 
 and opened July ist 1752. This building, 92 feet long, ex- 
 
138 Nezu York City in 1789. 
 
 elusive of the chancel, and 72 feet wide, stood on the north- 
 west corner of Beekman and Cliff Streets until its destruction 
 by fire on the morning of January 5th 18 14. It was faced 
 with hewn stone, had a steeple 175 feet in height containing a 
 large bell, and was originally roofed with tiles, which, being 
 found to be too heavy for the walls, were replaced by shingles. 
 After its destruction in 1814 it was immediately rebuilt, and 
 the new building was occupied until 1841, when it was de- 
 molished and its congregation removed to the present church 
 in Rutherford Place near Stuyvesant Square. It became in- 
 dependent of Trinity Church in 181 1. 
 
 The building of St. Paul's Chapel was begun in 1763 for 
 the same reason that caused the erection of St. George's, and 
 it was opened October 30th 1766. Its steeple was added in 
 1794, but with that exception the external appearance of the 
 building in 1789 was probably the same as at the present time. 
 It is now the oldest church edifice in the city and is the oldest 
 building with the exception of the tavern on the southeast 
 corner of Broad and Pearl Streets. In 1784 the congregation 
 seem to have been afflicted with a failing of which complaint 
 has been made in the case of others within less than a hun- 
 dred years. On the 15th of July in that year the following 
 appeared in the N. Y. Packet : " A Foreigner presents his 
 most respectful compliments to the congregation of St. Paul's, 
 and begs leave to observe to them that he must think that 
 they are devoid of any manner of humanity or common po- 
 liteness, when they can see genteel strangers come into their 
 Church, and not endeavor to procure them a seat, but sit with 
 a mortifying indifference upon their countenance. From his 
 knowledge of the Continent he is persuaded such unfriendly 
 inattention cannot proceed from influence of climate, as their 
 neighboring city is possessed of good breeding and politeness." 
 During his residence in New York in 1789 and 1790 Washing- 
 ton attended service at St. Paul's regularly, a pew covered 
 with a canopy being set apart for his use ; and on the 3rd of 
 November 1789 the State Convention of the Episcopal Church 
 was open'ed in this church and closed its meeting harmonious- 
 ly on the 5th of that month. 
 
Churches and Clergy. 1 39 
 
 In 1789 the Protestant Episcopal clergymen of the city- 
 were the Rt. Rev. Samuel Provoost, D.D., Bishop of New 
 York and Rector of Trinity Church, and the two assistant 
 ministers of Trinity Church the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Moore 
 and Rev. Dr. Abraham Beach. Bishop Samuel Provoost 
 was born in N. Y. City, February 26th 1742 and was gradu- 
 ated from Kings (Columbia) College in its first class in 1758. 
 After studying theology at St. Peter's College, Cambridge, he 
 became an assistant minister of Trinity Church in Dec. 1766 
 but dissolved that connection in 1769 and lived on a farm in 
 Dutchess county until 1784. During the Revolution his 
 sympathies were entirely American and when at the close of 
 the war the Whig members of Trinity Church succeeded in 
 overthrowing in the courts the election of a rector made by 
 the Tories before the peace, he was unanimously chosen rector 
 and inducted into that office April 22nd 1784. In 1785 he 
 was chaplain of the Continental Congress and on the 13th of 
 June 1786 was elected Bishop of New York, receiving con- 
 secration from the Archbishop of Canterbury on the 4th of 
 February 1787 and returning to New York on the 8th of 
 April in that year. In May 1789 he was chosen chaplain of 
 the U. S. Senate and was reappointed in the following year. 
 He resigned the rectorship of Trinity Church, September 8th 
 1800, and his ofifice as Bishop on the 3rd of September 1801, 
 the latter resignation not being accepted and an assistant 
 bishop being appointed. His sudden death of apoplexy oc- 
 curred September 6th 181 5. In person, Bishop Provoost is 
 described as a man with a round, full face, rather above me- 
 dium height, portly, and very dignified in manner. He had 
 a good voice and made a fine appearance in the pulpit, but, as 
 a preacher, lacked animation, and although a fine classical . 
 scholar, linguist, and botanist, he was not distinguished for 
 intellectual ability. He was noted for his public spirit, hos- 
 pitality, and liberality to the poor which was thought to be 
 greater than was warranted by his income. As Rector of 
 Trinity Church he received a salary of ^7CX) a year and a 
 house rent-free, the latter in 1789 being No 2 Nassau Street. 
 
 Rev. Abraham Beach, D.D., born in Cheshire, Conn., Sep- 
 
I40 New York City in 1789. 
 
 tember 9th 1740, was graduated with the highest honors from 
 Yale College in 1757, and was ordained deacon and priest in 
 England in 1767. He served as a missionary in New Jersey 
 from 1767 until the churches under his care at Piscataqua and 
 New Brunswick were closed in 1776, and was a Tory during 
 the Revolution. In 1783 a church at Amboy was added to 
 his charge and on the 8th of June 1784 he was appointed one 
 of three assistant ministers of Trinity Church at a salary of 
 ;^500. He was a Regent of the State University, a trustee of 
 Queen's (Rutgers) College, masonic Grand Chaplain, a trustee 
 of Columbia College, from which he received the degree of 
 D.D. in 1789, and was one of the founders of the Society for the 
 relief of Distressed Debtors in January 1787. He became 
 assistant rector of Trinity Church upon the retirement of Dr. 
 Moore from active service in 181 1, but resigned his office in 
 March 181 3 and lived in retirement on a farm near New 
 Brunswick, New Jersey, until his death on the 14th of Sep- 
 tember 1828. He is said to have been dignified in person, 
 genial in conversation, exceedingly industrious in his parochial 
 duties, and practical in his sermons. His residence in 1789 
 was No. 46 William Street. 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Moore, D.D. was a native of Newtown, 
 Long Island, born on the 5th of October 1748. After gradua- 
 tion from King's (Columbia) College in 1768 he was ordained 
 deacon and priest in England in 1774 and soon afterwards be- 
 came an assistant minister of Trinity Church. In 1775 he 
 acted as President of King's College during the enforced 
 absence of the Rev. Myles Cooper and in November 1783 was 
 chosen Rector of Trinity Church by its Tory members before 
 the return of the Whigs. In the Spring of 1784 he was ousted 
 from that office on the ground that the election was void, but 
 on the 8th of June 1784 was appointed assistant minister, with 
 Mr. Beach and Mr. Ogden, at a salary of ^^500, two hundred 
 of which was to be raised by private contribution. He re- 
 ceived the degree of D.D. from Columbia College in 1789 
 and was, in that year. Secretary of the Corporation for the re- 
 lief of the Widows and Children of the Clergymen of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, 
 
Churches and Clergy. 141 
 
 a corporation which in 1769 had obtained charters from New- 
 York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By Act of February 
 19th 1787 the New York legislature confirmed this charter, 
 changing the title of the society from the words " Clergymen 
 in the communion of the Church of England in America," re- 
 pealing some English clauses in it, and requiring that the 
 accounts and proceedings of the Society should be ratified by 
 the Governor, Chancellor, Chief-Justice, or any two of them. 
 The society apparently held no meetings from 1771 until 1784, 
 and, after the Revolution, newspaper notices of its proceedings 
 which styled it the " Society for the relief etc. of the Clergy " 
 without further description, excited great Presbyterian wrath. 
 Dr. Moore succeeded Bishop Provoost as Rector on the 22nd 
 of December 1800, and as Bishop on the nth of September 
 1801, and in the latter year also became President of Columbia 
 College, holding that office until incapacitated by paralysis in 
 181 1, repeated attacks of that nature causing his death at Green- 
 wich Village on the 27th of February 18 16. He is described 
 as of slender figure and medium height, graceful and gentle 
 in manner, and exceedingly modest and unostentatious. In 
 private life his popularity was great, but his powers as a 
 preacher were moderate, simplicity being the most marked 
 feature of his sermons. In 1789 he resided at No 46 Broad- 
 way. 
 
 The Corporation of Trinity Church acted under a charter 
 granted in 1697 which was confirmed by the New York legis- 
 lature by Act of April 17th 1784 rendering it conformable to 
 the laws of New York. In 1789 the church officers, accord- 
 ing to Dr. Berrian's History, were 
 
 Wardens. 
 John Jay. James Duane. 
 
 Vestrymen. 
 
 James Farquhar William Laight 
 
 Thomas Randall Richard Harrison 
 
 Anthony L. Bleeker Nicholas Kortright 
 
 Andrew Hamersley Matthew M. Clarkson 
 
 Hubert Van Wagenen William Samuel Johnson 
 
 Nicholas Carmer John Jones 
 
142 New York City in 1789. 
 
 John Lewis Charles Startin 
 
 Alexander Ogsbury George Warner 
 
 Moses Rogers Alexander Hamersley. 
 
 George Dominick. 
 
 George Warner and Alexander Hamersley became Vestry- 
 men, and Robert C. Livingston, Daniel Dunscomb, James 
 Giles, and William Bush, retired from that office in that year. 
 
 A Charity School had been founded in 1709 which for a 
 time was under the joint care of the Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and of Trinity Church, 
 the schoolmaster receiving a portion of his salary from each. 
 In 1748 a school-building had been erected on the south side 
 of Rector Street in the rear of the old Lutheran Church, 
 which had soon been burned, but rebuilt, and again destroyed 
 in the fire of 1776. In 1789 the school, which consisted of 56 
 boys and 30 girls, was under the instruction of John Winter, 
 clerk of St. Paul's Chapel, at No. 29 John Street opposite the 
 theatre. John Wood, clerk of Trinity Church, also advertised 
 an evening school at the same place in which arithmetic was 
 to be taught according to " Pike's excellent American system,"' 
 and in 1785 he had announced that he would teach writing in 
 six weeks provided that the pupils had never tried to write 
 before. The Charity School was supported principally by 
 voluntary contributions and one sermon in its behalf by Bishop 
 Provoost at St. George's on the 15th of November 1789 was 
 followed by a contribution of £62 ys. lod. and another, 
 preached by Dr. Moore at St. Paul's on the 22nd of Novem- 
 ber collected ;^8i 8s. lod. 
 
 The French Huguenots were the third congregation to 
 erect a church in the city after worshipping for some time in 
 the Dutch church in the Fort. Their first building, which 
 was opened in 1688, was situated on the south side of what is 
 now Market Street about half way between Whitehall and 
 Broad Streets, the lot being twenty-eight feet wide by fifty 
 feet deep. This building was used for about sixteen years 
 when a new one was erected on the north side of King (Pine) 
 Street near the east corner of Nassau Street, its corner stone 
 being laid July 8th 1704. It was seventy feet long by fifty 
 
Churches and Clergy. 143 
 
 feet wide, constructed of stone covered with plaster, and at 
 the rear had a low stone tower surmounted by a cupola and 
 bell. Its burying ground extended back to Little Queen 
 (Cedar) Street. In 1776 the building was closed and its oc- 
 cupation by the British as a storehouse rendered necessary an 
 almost entire rebuilding, which was not begun until 1796, the 
 building remaining unused for nearly twenty years. Until 
 1803 the doctrine and ceremonies of this church were in ac- 
 cordance with those of the Reformed Church of France, but 
 in that year, partly in order to obtain a legacy of i^iooo left 
 by Elias Desbrosses in 1773 in trust to Trinity Church for the 
 support of a French minister who should perform divine ser- 
 vice according to the liturgy of the Church of England, the 
 congregation decided to join the Protestant Episcopal body. 
 The cupola on the tower had been removed and replaced by 
 a board roof and after further alterations and repairs the build- 
 ing was consecrated by Bishop Moore on the 30th of May 
 1803 and was used until 1832 when the congregation removed 
 to a new one on the southwest corner of Franklin and Church 
 Streets. This, in turn, was abandoned in 1863 for the present 
 church on the south side of 22nd Street between Fifth and 
 Sixth Avenues. 
 
 The first Friends Meeting House in the city was a small 
 wooden building on the North side of Crown (Liberty) Street 
 about half-way between Broadway and what is now called 
 Liberty Place, built about the beginning of the iSth century 
 and perhaps before the first Lutheran church. During the Revo- 
 lution it was used by the British as a hospital, but was re- 
 opened after the war and used until 1794 when it was demol- 
 ished and a new one erected on nearly the same site ; which, 
 in turn, was replaced in 1802 by a brick building in which the 
 Friends worshipped until its sale to Grant Thorburn in 1826. 
 This building was then used for business purposes until its 
 demolition about the year 1836. In 1789 there was also an- 
 other " New Quaker Meeting" which had been built of brick 
 in 1775 on the east side of Queen (Pearl) Street near the 
 south corner of Rutgers (Oak) Street, and was worshipped in 
 until 1824 when the congregation removed to a house on the 
 
144 jV^^f York City in 1789. 
 
 northwest side of Rose Street near Pearl Street which was 
 used for worship until the year 1857. 
 
 The Lutherans built their first church in the city in 1702 
 on the southwest corner of what is now Rector Street and 
 Broadway, but the building was destroyed in the fire of 1776 
 and never rebuilt, its site being known for many years as the 
 " Burnt Lutheran Church." In 1761 another small Lutheran 
 church had been built in Skinner (Cliff) Street but in 1767 
 the congregation removed to another building which, in 1789, 
 stood on the northeast corner of King George (William) and 
 Frankfort Streets, It was a low stone building, known as 
 the Swamp Church, without a steeple, having an entrance on 
 King George Street with a large window on each side of it 
 and one over it, while on Frankfort Street light was admitted 
 through four large windows and a small one. During the 
 British occupation of the city in the Revolution the Hessians 
 worshipped in it and the Lutheran congregation occupied it 
 until 1 83 1 when it was sold to the African Presbyterian 
 Church. The latter occupied it until 1848 when it was sold 
 for business purposes and so used until its demolition in De- 
 cember 1850. In 1784 the remnant of the Rector Street 
 congregation had joined this church and on Monday, August 
 2nd of that year, the N. Y. Packet announced that on " Thurs- 
 day evening arrived in this city the Rev. Dr. John Christo- 
 pher Kunze, late senior minister of the Lutheran Churches in 
 Philadelphia and Professor of Oriental Languages in the Uni- 
 versity, who is appointed the Lutheran Minister of the Trinity 
 and Christ Churches in this city." Dr. Kunze was born in 
 Arter, Saxony, on the 5th of August 1744 and, after receiving 
 his education in Germany, had first arrived in New York on 
 the 22nd of September 1770. He then became pastor in 
 Philadelphia and in 1780 was appointed Professor of Oriental 
 Languages in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he 
 received the degree of D.D. in 1784, Immediately after his 
 arrival in New York in 1784 he was appointed to a similar 
 professorship in Columbia College, holding it for three years 
 and again occupying it from 1792 to 1795. In 1789 he was 
 vice-president of the German Society. He remained pastor 
 
Churches and Clergy. 145 
 
 of the Swamp Church until his death, July 24th 1807, his 
 residence in 1789 being No. 24 Chatham Street. He is said 
 to have been a man of medium height, stout, slow, and rough 
 in manner. He was learned in patristic theology, and much 
 interested in astronomy and numismatics. In Hebrew he 
 had no contemporary superior, and he was on terms of inti- 
 mate friendship with Rabbi Seixas of the Mill Street syna- 
 gogue. His sermons were learned, never less than an hour 
 long, and delivered with a weak voice. The preaching in the 
 Lutheran Church was in German and in that language Dr. 
 Kunze was a fluent speaker, but his attempts to preach in 
 English ended with a sermon from the text " God is not will- 
 ing that any should perish." Some irreverent young men 
 having reported that upon this occasion Dr. Kunze had said 
 " Gott is not a villain," he thereafter confined himself to his 
 native tongue. In 1795 he also prepared a collection of hymns 
 translated from the German which are said to have been 
 " most curious specimens of couplets and triplets." There 
 was a school connected with the Swamp Church which in 
 1789 was taught by Henry Leightanslen. 
 
 The first Jewish Synagogue in the city was erected about 
 the year 1700 on the north side of Mill Street. This first 
 building, however, was replaced in 1730 by a new stone build- 
 ing thirty-six feet wide by fifty-eight feet long, erected on the 
 same site, which was used until 1833 when the Congregation 
 Shearith Israel removed to a building in Crosby Street near 
 Spring Street. It again removed thence, about the year i860, 
 to the present synagogue near the northwest corner of Nine- 
 teenth Street and Fifth Avenue. In 1789 the Rabbi of this 
 congregation was the Rev. Gershom Seixas, of Portuguese 
 descent, born in New York City in 1745. Having succeeded 
 Rabbi Pinto in 1766 he held the office for fifty years and en- 
 joyed the friendship and respect of ministers of all denomina- 
 tions until his death, after a lingering illness, on the morning 
 of July 2nd 18 16, his wife, Mrs. Elkalah Seixas, having pre- 
 ceded him to the grave on the 30th of October 1785. His 
 funeral took place from his house No. 20 Mill Street at eight 
 o'clock in the morning of July 3rd 18 16, his remains being in- 
 10 
 
146 Nezv York City in 1789. 
 
 terred in the Jewish Cemetery. By the Act of April 13th 
 1787, reorganizing Columbia College, Rabbi Seixas was ap- 
 pointed a trustee of that institution, and by a subsequent Act 
 in 1 8 10 was continued in that position. In the Daily Gazette 
 of December 23rd 1789 there appeared an interesting adver- 
 tisement stating that upon the following day there would be 
 published, at the price of one shilling, a Discourse delivered 
 by the Rev. Gershom Seixas in the Jewish Synagogue on 
 Thanksgiving Day, November 26th 1789. It closed with the 
 statement: "This excellent discourse (to which is annexed 
 the Order of Service) the first of the kind ever preached in 
 English in this State, is highly deserving the attention of 
 every pious reader, whether Jew or Christian, as it breathes 
 nothing but pure morality and devotion." In 1789 this con- 
 gregation lost two of its prominent members. On the morn- 
 ing of April 1 2th died Moses Gomez a highly respected real- 
 estate and money broker at No. 203 Water Street, of whom 
 the Daily Gazette contained the following obituary notice : 
 " He was religious, hospitable, humane and generous, and a 
 staunch friend of freedom, as was evinced by his relinquishing 
 a very considerable property and residing among the friends 
 of the revolution during the late war." 
 
 ** Here rests at length, his labours at an end, 
 The rich man's model and the poor man's friend. 
 After a life of persevering toil, 
 We trust his reliques to his native soil ; 
 Convinced his renovated frame will rise 
 And his blest spirit claim the promised skies." 
 
 On the 29th of July the congregation lost another member 
 and the city an honorable merchant by the death of Haymen 
 Levy "a gentleman much respected by all denominations who 
 had the pleasure of his acquaintance." During the Revolu- 
 tion he had retired to Philadelphia and of him the Phila- 
 delphia Journal said : " His character as a merchant was with- 
 out blemish ; he was a true patriot and friend of the United 
 States, an affectionate husband, a tender father, and a sincere 
 friend. The widow, the orphan and the poor will lament the 
 
Churches and Clergy. 147 
 
 loss ; he was benevolent and charitable to a great degree ; his 
 house was open to all strangers of good character to partake 
 of his liberality." Mr. Levy was one of the great fur dealers 
 of his time and in his store John Jacob Astor learned that 
 business. The Jewish Burying Ground, of which a small 
 part still exists, in 1789 occupied the block now bounded by 
 the New Bowery, Oliver, Madison and James Streets, the first 
 mentioned having been cut through the northwest corner of 
 the old block. 
 
 The Presbyterians erected their first church in the city in 
 1 7 19 on the north side of Wall Street about half-way between 
 Broadway and Nassau Street, the church yard having a front- 
 age of eighty-eight feet, and extending to a line fifty feet 
 from the corner of Nassau Street. This building had been 
 enlarged in 1748 to an edifice of rough stone, sixty feet wide 
 by eighty feet long, with a cupola and a bell. In the year 
 1766, owing to the increased number of the congregation, this 
 church obtained from the city a plot of ground known as the 
 Vineyard on the north side of Beekman Street between Park 
 Row and Nassau Street, now occupied by the Potter and New 
 York Times buildings, on a perpetual lease of £40 a year, 
 upon which the Brick Meeting was erected, and dedicated 
 January ist 1768 as a collegiate church with that on Wall 
 Street. In Manasseh Cutler's diary, in the year 1787, it is 
 stated that the Brick Meeting building was large and elegant, 
 the carved woodwork being plain but effective. The building 
 was long, having the pulpit near one end but not close to the 
 wall, it being supported by a single post which passed up at 
 the back of it and was crowned by the sounding-board not 
 more than two feet above the minister's head. At the end of 
 the building opposite the pulpit were two doors opening into 
 two aisles which extended the length of the house, there being 
 a row of long narrow pews along each wall and two rows be- 
 tween the aisles. Near the middle of the side walls were two 
 pews, opposite to each other, which were considerably elevated 
 and covered with a handsome canopy supported by pillars. 
 These were called the Governor's pews and were reserved for 
 strangers. Around the large pillar which supported the pul- 
 
148 New York City in 1789. 
 
 pit there was a very large circular pew in which the church of- 
 ficers and chorister sat, a little desk in front of it, considerably 
 elevated, being occupied by the chorister when singing. When 
 a Psalm was given out the chorister sang the first line and the 
 whole congregation joined with him in the second line. There 
 was no organ. Immediately after the singing which closed the 
 service, a collection was taken up in tin platters to which each 
 person contributed one copper and no more, the whole matter 
 occupying but about three minutes. The ministers of the 
 Wall Street and Brick churches preached in them alternately 
 in the morning and the afternoon, the sermon delivered in one 
 church in the morning being repeated in the other church in 
 the afternoon. In 1788 Noah Webster described the Brick 
 Meeting as " a genteel brick building thirty-three feet long 
 and sixty-five wide, with a steeple not finished." During the 
 Revolution the British used the Wall Street building as a 
 barrack and the Brick Meeting as a hospital, but, after the 
 peace, upon the invitation of Trinity Church the Presbyterian 
 Congregation worshipped in St. George's Chapel for a few 
 months until the Brick Meeting was repaired in 1784. The 
 Wall Street church was reopened in 1785 and stood until 1809 
 when a new building was erected on the same site, which was 
 burnt down in 1834, rebuilt in the following year, and occu- 
 pied until 1844 when it was sold and removed stone by stone 
 to Jersey City where it was used as a church until its sale in 
 May 1888 for other purposes. The Wall Street congregation 
 is at present represented in the First Presbyterian Church on 
 the west side of Fifth Avenue between Eleventh and Twelfth 
 Streets, which was opened for worship on the nth of Janu- 
 ary 1846. The Brick Meeting continued to be a collegiate 
 church with that in Wall Street until 1809, when that connec- 
 tion was dissolved and the building was used by the inde- 
 pendent congregation until it was torn down in 1856, the con- 
 gregation then building the Brick Church on the northwest 
 corner of Thirty-seventh Street and Fifth Avenue, which was 
 dedicated October 31st 1858. During the greater part of the 
 year 1789 the only settled pastor of these churches was the 
 Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, one of the foremost figures in Amer- 
 
Churches and Clergy. 149 
 
 ican Presbyterianism. Dr. Rodgers was born in Boston, 
 August 5th 1727, and removed to Philadelphia when he was 
 one year old. When a boy he was deeply moved by the 
 preaching of Whitefield, and, after receiving his education in 
 Pennsylvania grammar schools, completed his preparation for 
 the ministry under Rev. Gilbert Tennent in Philadelphia, be- 
 ing licensed to preach in October 1747. After a pastorate of 
 sixteen years in Philadelphia he was called to New York and 
 installed pastor of the Wall Street Church on the 4th of Sep- 
 tember 1765. The church flourished wonderfully under his 
 ministration and when it became necessary to build the Brick 
 Meeting a large portion of the funds for its erection was col- 
 lected by his personal exertions. In 1768 he received the de- 
 gree of D.D. from Edinburgh University, at the suggestion of 
 Whitefield and through the agency of Benjamin Franklin. 
 During the Revolution he was an ardent patriot acting as a 
 brigade chaplain in 1776, as chaplain of the State Convention 
 at Esopus in May 1777, of the Council of Safety, and of the 
 first Legislature under the State Constitution of 1777. In 
 October 1776 he retired from the city and remained absent 
 until 1783, one of his earliest sermons after his return being 
 entitled "The Divine Goodness displayed in the American 
 Revolution." He was a Regent of the State University, a 
 trustee of the College of New Jersey, Moderator of the first 
 Presbyterian General Assembly at Philadelphia in 1789, and 
 in the same year was President of the Society for the Relief 
 of Distressed Debtors, and Vice-President of the Society for 
 promoting Useful Knowledge. He died in N. Y. City, May 
 7th 181 1. He is described as a stout man of medium height 
 who wore a white wig, was extremely careful in his dress, and 
 walked with the most majestic dignity. He was elegant in 
 manners, but formal to such a degree that there is a tradition 
 that the last thing which he and his wife always did before 
 retiring for the night was to salute each other with a bow and 
 a courtesy. Among his qualities were fervent piety, great 
 tact, perseverance, and liberality toward the opinion of others 
 although very firm in his own belief. His preaching was un- 
 polished and lacked variety in style, but was marked by deep 
 
150 New York City in 1789. 
 
 earnestness, his sermons being delivered from memory until 
 1803, after which time he read them until he ceased to preach 
 in September 1809. His salary was i^/oo a year, his perqui- 
 sites amounting t0;^200 more, and in 1789 he resided at No. 7 
 Nassau Street. 
 
 In the early part of 1789 the Rev. James Muir also 
 preached in the Wall Street church as a candidate for co- 
 pastorship with Dr. Rodgers in the place of Rev. Mr. Wilson 
 who had vacated that office in January 1788, Mr. Muir was 
 born in Scotland on the 12th of April 1757 and after gradua- 
 tion at the University of Glasgow and the study of theology 
 in Edinburgh had preached in London and the Island of Ber- 
 muda until the latter part of 1788 when he came to New 
 York. The Rev. Jedidiah Morse, however, was also a candi- 
 date for this pulpit and the disagreement of the congregation 
 as to the respective merits of Mr. Morse and Mr. Muir was 
 such that neither of them was chosen pastor. On the 3rd of 
 February 1789 a member of the congregation published a card 
 in the Daily Gazette stating that it was rumored that Mr. 
 Muir had accepted a call to Alexandria, Va., but that this was 
 by no means certain as his preaching was acceptable to a por- 
 tion of the pew-holders while others opposed him, but that it 
 was hoped that all might agree upon his establishment as co- 
 pastor. Mr. Muir, however, accepted the call to Alexandria, 
 where he remained until his death on the 8th of August 1820. 
 He is described as a short and very stout man, with a grave 
 but very benignant expression of countenance, and a disposi- 
 tion so unsuspecting that, upon his coming to America, he was 
 told by a relative not to believe a word that he heard and not 
 more than half of what he saw. His sermons were excellent 
 and rarely more than thirty five minutes long, but his strong 
 Scotch brogue and a slight defect in his speech interfered with 
 his popularity as a preacher in this country. The statements 
 regarding the simplicity of his mind have perhaps been either 
 exaggerated or not half sufficiently set forth, if the following 
 fact may be taken as an index of it. In a letter written in 
 January 1789 by an elder of the Wall Street church, the writer 
 expresses his indignation at the fact that after Mr. Muir knew 
 
Churches and Clergy. 151 
 
 that his services would be required but one Sunday longer, he 
 gave out to be sun-g the 120th Psalm according to Watts' 
 version. That Psalm reads as follows : 
 
 " Thou God of love, thou ever blest, 
 Pity my suffring state ; 
 When wilt thou set my soul at rest, 
 From lips that love deceit ? 
 
 Hard lot of mine ! my days are cast 
 
 Among the sons of strife, 
 Whose never-ceasing quarrels waste 
 
 My golden hours of life. 
 
 Oh might I fly to change my place. 
 
 How would I choose to dwell 
 In some wide lonesome wilderness 
 
 And leave these gates of hell ! 
 
 Peace is the blessing that I seek, 
 
 How lovely are its charms ! 
 I am for peace ; but when I speak. 
 
 They all declare for arms. 
 
 New passions still their souls engage, 
 
 And keep their malice strong ; 
 What shall be done to curb thy rage, 
 
 O thou devouring tongue ! 
 
 Should burning arrows smite thee through, 
 
 Strict justice would approve ; 
 But I would rather spare my foe, 
 
 And melt his heart with love." 
 
 This piece of simplicity was rewarded by a large number 
 of empty pews at the next service. After Mr. Muir's depart- 
 ure from New York, Dr. Rodgers remained sole pastor until 
 December 2nd 1789 when the Rev. John McKnight was 
 installed as his colleague, having been called to this church 
 in July 1789. Mr. McKnight was born near Carlisle, Pa., 
 October ist 1754, and, after graduation from the College of 
 New Jersey in 1773 and ordination in 1777, was settled in 
 Virginia until 1783 when he removed to Lower Marsh Creek, 
 Pa. It is related that while he was settled there a newly 
 
152 New York City in 1789. 
 
 ordained ruling elder who had been appointed to attend a 
 meeting of Presbytery came to him in great agitation to learn 
 what his duties would be, and received the reply : " You are 
 to see that my horse is fed and saddled in time to start ; to go 
 before and have breakfast or dinner prepared for us ; to pay 
 the bills, and in Presbytery to vote as I do," This sportive- 
 ness greatly relieved the elder, who was then instructed as to 
 his real duties. Mr. McKnight arrived in New York with 
 his family on the 3rd of November 1789, was installed on 
 Wednesday the 2nd of December, and on the following Sun- 
 day preached from the very appropriate text : " I ask therefore 
 for what intent ye have sent for me." He received the degree 
 of D.D. from Yale College in 1791 and in 1795 was Professor 
 of Moral Philosophy and Logic in Columbia College. He 
 was Dr. Rodgers' only colleague until 1792 when his ill- 
 health made a third minister necessary, and he resigned his 
 pastorship in 1809 when the collegiate system between the 
 Wall Street and Brick Churches came to an end. He then 
 resided on a farm near Chambersburg, Pa., until 181 5 when 
 he became President of Dickinson College, but resigned that 
 office in a little more than a year, and returned to his farm 
 where he died October 21st 1823. He was a rather tall and 
 slender man, of a cheerful disposition, and dignified in manner 
 without the pompous formality for which some of his contem- 
 poraries were noted. In his preaching he was a zealous Cal- 
 vinist, but calm and dispassionate, and lacked variety of tone 
 and gesture. 
 
 The treatment of the Presbyterians by the Episcopalians 
 before the Revolution had been far from generous, and al- 
 though their respective ministers were on most friendly terms 
 after the war, the members of their congregations were very 
 willing to engage in a newspaper controversy whenever op- 
 portunity was offered, the columns of the N. Y. Packet, 
 edited by Samuel Loudon an elder in the Scotch Church, be- 
 ing the favorite place of combat. The greatest Presbyterian 
 grievance had been the denial of a charter to them in 1720 
 through the opposition of Trinity Church, and for this reason 
 they had been obliged to place their property in the trust of 
 
Churches aiid Clergy. I53 
 
 the General Assembly of Scotland until the general Act of 
 April 6th 1784 for the organization of churches, after which it 
 was placed in the hands of the church trustees. The minis- 
 ters' salaries were raised by the renting of the pews. The 
 ofificers of these churches in 1789 were 
 
 Elders. 
 
 John Broome William Irving 
 
 Peter Ricker John Thompson 
 
 Benjamin Steymets Abraham Van Gelder 
 
 John Lasher. 
 
 Deacons. 
 John King Lewis Nichols 
 
 William Williams John Bingham. 
 
 Trustees. 
 John Murray Ebenezer Hazard 
 
 Daniel Phoenix William Edgar 
 
 Thomas Arden Robert Bruce 
 
 Alexander Stewart . John Sloss Hobart. 
 
 There was also a school connected with these churches 
 which in 1789 had no regular schoolhouse, but in January 1790 
 there appeared an advertisement for proposals for building 
 such a house and during the summer of that year a brick 
 building 25 feet wide by 40 feet long was erected on Nassau 
 Street opposite the Middle Dutch Church. In December 
 1790 this school was attended by fifty children. 
 
 About the year 1757 differences arose in the Wall Street 
 Church with regard to Psalmody and a part of that congre- 
 gation having withdrawn, formed a new congregation and in 
 1768 erected a church on the south side of Little Queen 
 (Cedar) Street somewhat nearer to Broadway than to Nassau 
 Street, which was popularly known as the Scotch Presbyte- 
 rian Church but more formally as the Associate Reformed 
 Church, a title derived from the union in 1782 of the Asso- 
 ciate and Reformed or Covenanter Presbyterian churches in 
 America. This building, sixty-five and a half feet long by 
 fifty-four and a half feet wide, was of stone and was used 
 as a place of worship until 1836 when the congregation re- 
 moved to a new building on Grand Street near the corner 
 
154 New York City in 1789. 
 
 of Crosby Street, whence it again moved in 1853 to the pres- 
 ent building near the northeast corner of Fourteenth Street 
 and Sixth Avenue. During the Revolution the Scotch 
 church was used by the British as a prison and hospital but 
 was repaired and reopened on the first of May 1784, there 
 being ninety pews on the ground floor and sixty in the gal- 
 leries. In the summer of 1761 the Rev. Dr. John Mason had 
 been installed pastor of this church, — ^an ofifice which he held 
 until his death on the 19th of April 1792, receiving a salary 
 of iJ^400 after the Revolution. He is said to have been born 
 in the County of Linlithgow, Scotland, in 1734, and received 
 his theological education under the Rev. Alexander Moncrief 
 at Abernethy. The year before his birth a portion of the 
 Scotch Church, under the leadership of Ebenezer Erskine, had 
 seceded from the Established Church because of their belief in 
 the right of the people to choose their own ministers, which 
 had been infringed upon by an Act passed in 17 12 restoring 
 to Scotch patrons the right of presentation to benefices, and 
 under the auspices of these Seceders or the Associate Presby- 
 tery Dr. Mason received his instruction. In 1746 the Seceders 
 themselves divided into two parties, known as the Burghers 
 and the Antiburghers, on the question of taking an oath re- 
 quired of all town-of^cers to the effect that they professed and 
 allowed " the true religion presently professed within this 
 realm and authorized by the laws thereof." The Burghers 
 were willing to take this oath, while the Antiburghers, of 
 whom Dr. Mason was one, refused to profess as the true re- 
 ligion that of the Establishment from which they had se- 
 ceded. It is said that at the age of twenty years Dr. Mason 
 was able to discuss questions of history, philosophy, and the- 
 ology in the Latin tongue with as much ease as in English, 
 and in 1758 he became assistant professor of Logic and Moral 
 Philosophy at Abernethy, his ordination as a minister taking 
 place in the Spring of 1761. Upon his arrival in America he 
 at once took a leading part in the management of the denom- 
 ination to which he belonged, and earnestly deprecated the 
 introduction into this country of " the dry, the fruitless, the 
 disgracing and pernicious controversy about the Burgess 
 
Churches and Clergy. 155 
 
 Oath," for which cause his name was stricken from the roll 
 of the Synod in Scotland. He was a strong opponent of ef- 
 forts to establish an archbishopric in New York before the 
 Revolution and during the war was an ardent patriot, acting 
 for the greater part of the time as a chaplain in the American 
 army at West Point, during which service a pencil portrait 
 was surreptitiously made of him by Kosciusko, which is the 
 only known portrait of him. In 1782 the union of a part of 
 the Associate and Reformed Presbyterian Churches in this 
 country was effected largely by his exertions, and in 1783 he 
 was chosen Moderator of the first General Assembly of the 
 Associate Reformed Church. From 1779 to 1785 he was a 
 trustee of the College of New Jersey, from which he received 
 the degree of D.D. in 1786 ; he was one of the founders of the 
 Society for the relief of Distressed Debtors, a member of the 
 Manumission Society, and was for a number of years chaplain 
 of the St. Andrew's Society, and a trustee of Columbia Col- 
 lege. He is described as a man of medium stature, with 
 black hair and eyes, polished in manner, very systematic in 
 his habits, and decided in character. He was distinguished 
 for his learning, sound judgment and knowledge of the world, 
 and as a preacher was plain but energetic. In 1789 he resided 
 at No. 63 Cortlandt Street. The trustees of the Scotch 
 Church in 1789 were 
 
 John Shephard William Wilson 
 
 Robert Gosman John Thompson 
 
 James Raynolds George Lindsay 
 
 Robert Harper Thomas Allan 
 
 Alexander Robertson. 
 
 Among the church officers and congregation there were 
 also Dr. James Tillery, No. 86 Broadway ; Samuel Loudon, 
 editor of the N. Y. Packet ; James Walker, dry goods mer- 
 chant. No. 14 William Street ; and John Young, schoolmaster, 
 No. 7 Fair (Fulton) Street. In February 1791 Alexander Rob- 
 ertson presented the church with two lots and a house on 
 King (Pine) Street to be used as a church school. 
 
 In 1785 an Associate Presbyterian congregation was formed 
 
156 Neiv York City in 1789. 
 
 which in 1787 erected a plain frame building fifty feet long by 
 twenty-four feet wide on the east side of Nassau Street some- 
 what nearer to John than to Fair (Fulton) Street. In 1824 
 the Presbyterians sold the building, known as the " Seceders 
 Church," to the South Baptist Church and removed to an- 
 other building on the northeast corner of Grand and Mercer 
 Streets where they remained about thirty years, when they 
 again removed to the corner of Grand and Crosby Streets, 
 and about the year 1867 established themselves in the present 
 Fourth Presbyterian Church on the south side of Thirty- 
 fourth Street west of Sixth Avenue. The old Nassau Street 
 building was occupied by the Baptists until 1849, when it 
 ceased to be used as a church. The Seceders Church had no 
 settled pastor until 1792 but during a part of the year 1789 its 
 pulpit was occupied by the Rev. David Goodwillie, D.D. 
 who was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, on the 26th of De- 
 cember, 1749. After graduation at the University of Edin- 
 burgh, he was licensed to preach in October 1778, and after 
 preaching in Great Britain for ten years came to New York 
 in May 1788, and occupied the pulpit of this church for three 
 Sundays. He was ordained in Philadelphia in October 1788 
 and after serving in several places came to New York again in 
 June 1789. In September of that year, however, he left the 
 city to become pastor of a Scotch church in Barnet, Vt., 
 where he remained until his death, August 2nd 1830, having 
 been a member of the Vermont legislature, Town Clerk, Town 
 Treasurer, and Postmaster of Barnet. He is said to have 
 been a man of fine personal appearance, great versatility, close 
 observation and profound common sense. • His sermons were 
 "intensely evangejical, and divided and subdivided with most 
 systematic exactness." Among the officers of this church in 
 1789 were 
 
 Elders. 
 John McFarland. Joseph Patterson. 
 
 Andrew Wright. Fenton 
 
 Trustees. 
 Peter Fenton. George Cleland 
 
 Samuel Milligan John Mac Farlane 
 
 William Robertson John McKee. 
 
Churches and Clergy. 157 
 
 The earliest Baptist church in the city was built in 1728 
 on the west side of Cliff Street north of Golden Hill (John) 
 Street but the building was sold and the congregation dis- 
 solved by the year 1736. In 1762 another church was erected 
 which, in 1789, stood on the west side of Gold Street about 
 half way between Fair (Fulton) and Golden Hill (John) 
 Street. Soon after its erection it was enlarged to a building 
 fifty-two feet long by forty-two feet wide which was used as a 
 cavalry stable during the Revolution but was repaired soon 
 after the peace, and stood until March 1801 when a new 
 building was begun on the same site. This new building was 
 occupied until 1841 when the congregation removed to the 
 southwest corner of Broome and Elizabeth Streets whence it 
 again removed, about the year 1868, and in 1871 occupied 
 the present First Baptist Church on the northwest corner of 
 Park Avenue and Thirty-ninth Street. In 1789 this church 
 Av^as under the pastoral care of the Rev. Benjamin Foster, who 
 was born in Danvers, Mass., on the 12th of June 1750, and 
 had been converted to the Baptist doctrine by a debate on 
 that subject in which he took part while at Yale College from 
 which he was graduated in 1774. From 1776 until 1782 he 
 was settled in Leicester, Mass., and then for three years in his 
 native town. In 1785 he removed to Newport, R. I., whence 
 he came to New York in September 1788. He received the 
 degree of A.M. from Yale College in 1781 and from the 
 College of Rhode Island in 1786, and also received that of 
 S.T.D. from the latter in 1792. He remained pastor of the 
 Gold Street Church until his death of yellow fever, on the 
 26th of August 1798. He is said to have had but few supe- 
 riors in knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and Chaldee, and to 
 have been distinguished for his zeal and hard work, preaching 
 from four to six sermons a week during the last twelve or 
 fourteen years of his life. In 1789 he resided at No. lo Gold 
 Street. According to Gillette's minutes of the Philadelphia 
 Baptist Church Association the statistics of the Gold Street 
 church for the year ending in October 1789 were, baptized 
 19; received by letter. 2; dismissed, 4; excommunicated, 
 13; deceased, 2; members, 196. The Messengers from this 
 
153 New York City in 1789. 
 
 church to the Philadelphia Association meetings in the years 
 1788, 1789 and 1790, were William Thompson; Samuel 
 Dodge, carpenter, No. 6 Vandevvater Street ; Abraham Can- 
 non, shoemaker, No. 28 Frankfort Street ; Ezekiel Robins, 
 hatter, No. 29 Queen Street ; William Norris, shoemaker, 
 Frankfort Street ; Thomas Longly ; Thomas Slow ; William 
 Durell, china merchant, No. 15 Little Dock Street; Thomas 
 Montanye; and John Bedient, grocer, No. 16 Gold Street. 
 
 In June 1752 the first Moravian church was built on the 
 south side of Fair (Fulton) Street half way between Dutch 
 and William Streets, the minister's house forming part of the 
 building. It was a small frame building the corner stone of 
 which was laid June i6th I75i,the consecration services being 
 held on the l8th of June 1752. During the Revolution the 
 congregation was dispersed, but the church was re-opened 
 soon after the declaration of peace and was used until 1844 
 when the congregation removed to the corner of Houston and 
 Mott Streets, whence it again removed in 1867, and, after oc- 
 cupying temporary quarters, about the beginning of 1870 
 opened the present church on the southwest corner of Lex- 
 ington Avenue and Thirtieth Street. Soon after the Revolu- 
 tion the Rev. James Birkby became pastor of this church and 
 so continued until 1793. In 1789 he resided at No. 85 Fair 
 (Fulton) Street. 
 
 About the year 1758 a congregation of German Calvinists 
 was formed which in 1763 purchased for $1250 the building 
 on the east side of Nassau Street about half way between 
 John Street and Maiden Lane which had formerly been used 
 as a theatre. In 1765 this building was torn down and the 
 corner stone of a new church upon the same site was laid on 
 the 8th of March in that year. The German Reformed con- 
 erecration, which was connected with the Classis of the Dutch 
 Church, occupied this building until 1822 when it was sold to 
 the South Baptist Church which worshipped in it until 1824 
 when it was again sold for business purposes and so used until 
 its demolition in the summer of 1847. In 1822 the German 
 Reformed congregation removed to No. 21 Forsyth Street 
 near Walker Street where it remained until i860, with the 
 
Churches and Clergy. 159 
 
 exception of the interval between 185 1 and 1856 during which 
 period there was litigation for the possession of the church 
 property and a portion of the congregation worshipped else- 
 where. In 1 861 it removed to the present building No. 131 
 Norfolk Street. In 1789 this church, which was commonly 
 called the Baron's Church because of the attendance of Baron 
 Steuben, was under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. John Daniel 
 Gross, who was born in Germany in 1737. His first settle- 
 ment in America was in Pennsylvania whence he removed to 
 New York State in 1772 and labored in the Mohawk Valley 
 until 1781, v/hen he changed his field to Albany and Kingston, 
 being exposed to great perils during the Revolution, He 
 began his pastorate in New York City on the 26th of August 
 1783 and resigned it in May 1795 on account of ill-health. 
 From New York he went to Canajoharie, where he remained 
 until 1802, when, being wealthy through speculation in sol- 
 diers' land-warrants, he retired to a farm near Fort Plain 
 where he died on the 25th of May 18 12. He was a Regent 
 of the State University from 1784 to 1787, trustee of Colum- 
 bia College from 1787 to 1792, receiving the degree of S.T.D. 
 from it in 1789 and being professor of German and Geog- 
 raphy in it from 1784 to 1795, the teaching of Moral Philos- 
 ophy also being entrusted to him in 1787. His salary as 
 pastor of the German Church was ;^I50 a year, of which he 
 received about ^lO'] during the year 1789, the total expenses 
 of the church being ;^240 i6s. 2d., of which £26 los. were paid 
 to George Gilfert, the organist. The number of marriages by 
 Dr. Gross during the year was twenty-two, and baptisms fifty- 
 five. Among the ofificers and members of this church in 1789 
 were Christian Will, pewterer, No. 4 Water St. ; Henry Will, 
 treasurer of the church ; William Gardiner, tailor. No. 9 King 
 St.; Caspar Stamler, butcher; William Snyder, merchant, 
 Chatham St. ; John Spies, shoemaker. No. 24 Chatham St. ; 
 Henry Fredrich, glover, 36 Broadway ; John Jacob Astor, 
 who was church treasurer for several years ; Maurice Alhart, 
 blacksmith ; Philip Jacobs, merchant, 20 Broadway ; George 
 Shelding, hair dresser. No. 70 Queen Street ; John Mil- 
 doller, tobacconist, 102 Queen St. ; Nicholas Meade, baker, 
 
i6o New York City in 1789. 
 
 No. 55 Magazine St.; and Henry Limberger, baker, in Dey 
 St. 
 
 The next denomination to build a church in the city was 
 the Methodists, who first met in a private house, about the 
 year 1 760, and then in a rigging loft at No. 120 William 
 Street, which was demolished about the year. 1855. From 
 this building they removed to the John Street Church or 
 Wesley Chapel which was dedicated on the 30th of October 
 1768. It was situated on the south side of Golden Hill 
 (John) Street between Nassau and William Streets and was 
 a low stone building forty-two feet wide by sixty feet long, 
 the outside of the walls being covered with blue plaster. The 
 roof was peaked, and, at first there was but one entrance in the 
 front of the building, but entrances for the galleries were after- 
 wards made at each side of the main entrance. Over each of 
 the doors there was a window, and the sides of the building 
 each contained four windows. An old Dutch building which 
 stood in front of the northwest corner of the church was used 
 as a parsonage. In 18 17 this church was replaced by a large 
 granite church erected on the same site, which, in turn, was 
 demolished for the erection of the present smaller building. 
 No. 44 and 46 John Street, in 1841, the brick stores on each 
 side of it being built at the same time on the church prop- 
 erty. During the Revolution the John Street church was for 
 a time used by the British as a prison, but the congregation 
 were allowed to worship in it during the greater part of the 
 British occupation of the city, being considered to be well af- 
 fected toward England. In 1789 the settled minister of this 
 church was the Rev. John Dickins, who then resided at No. 
 20 John Street. Mr. Dickins was born in London in 1746 
 and received a good education in England, whence he came to 
 America before the Revolution. He became an itinerant 
 minister in 1777 and after several brief locations was settled in 
 New York City from 1783 to 1785, when he again travelled 
 for a year, but returned to the city in 1786 and remained there 
 until the establishment of the Book Room in Philadelphia of 
 which he became superintendent in the latter part of 1789, 
 holding that position until his death, of yellow fever, on the 
 
Churches and Clergy. i6i 
 
 27th of September 1798. He is said to have been a man of 
 fine intellectual powers, an excellent mathematician, and a 
 good Latin and Greek scholar. As a preacher he was attrac- 
 tive in style and manner, and forcible in reasoning. Robert 
 Cloud, an exhorter of great power who was not located until 
 1812, was also in the city in 1789. The Elder in New York 
 in 1789 was Thomas Morrell who was born in the city No- 
 vember 22nd 1747. During the Revolution he acted as an 
 ofificer in the American army where he served with great dis- 
 tinction for about two years. In the latter part of 1777, hav- 
 ing been obliged by failing health caused by wounds to leave 
 the army, he resumed his business as a merchant in Elizabeth- 
 town, N. J., where he remained until March 1787 when he 
 began to ride as a travelling preacher. In June 1789 he was 
 appointed Elder in New York City, where he remained for 
 five years. He was subsequently stationed in Philadelphia 
 and Baltimore and from 1802 until 1804 was again in New 
 York. The latter part of his life was passed in Elizabethtown 
 where he died on the 9th of August 1838. It is said that his 
 love of his country was second only to his love of God and 
 that when eighty-three years of age he delivered a Fourth of 
 July oration " worthy of one whose blood had actually formed 
 part of the price of his country's liberties." In person he was 
 short and stout, having a small head, bright blue eyes, thin 
 lips, and a general appearance of great firmness. He was very 
 energetic, a close observer, and, while making no pretensions 
 to learning, was a practical and powerful preacher, delivering 
 several sermons when in the eighty-ninth year of his age. All 
 of the American Methodists, however, had not been of this 
 patriotic type and that fact was not forgotten in 1789. 
 When, on the 29th of May in that year, the Methodist Con- 
 ference then assembled in New York sent a letter of saluta- 
 tion to the President of the United States signed by Bishops 
 Coke and Asbury this action by the former attracted some at- 
 tention. An " Inquirer" in the Daily Advertiser of June 17th 
 wished to know whether Bishop Coke was the individual 
 formerly known as " little Doctor Coke," who, when in Eng- 
 land, had been a bitter opponent of America. This inquisi- 
 II 
 
1 62 New York City in 1789. 
 
 tive individual further v/rote : " If the same little Doctor 
 Coke I refer to has translated himself from Mr. Wesley's so- 
 cieties in England to \.\\& Bishopric of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church in America, he ought to give us full proof of h'xs politi- 
 cal conversion. ... If Bishop Coke is this same Doctor 
 Coke, no American, but a British subject, uniformly opposed 
 to us in principle and conduct through the whole of the war, 
 is it not the extreme of hypocrisy for such a man to take the 
 lead of the Episcopalians in an address to the President of our 
 republican government." To this, Elder Morrell, over the 
 signature of "A Member of the Methodist Episcopal Church," 
 replied on the 19th of June that having but recently become 
 a member of that church he knew nothing of Bishop Coke's 
 actions during the Revolution, but that his sermons in Amer- 
 ica since that time showed his acceptance of the new order of 
 things, and that Article XXIII. of the Methodist Church was 
 sufificient proof of the true Americanism of that body. He 
 also wished to know by what right " Inquirer " made such a 
 demand for knowledge of the political opinions of another, 
 and stated that the latter should have made his attack while 
 the bishop was in this country and could have replied to it, 
 but that if he was ignorant of the constitution of the Metho- 
 dist Church he could obtain full information upon that sub- 
 ject by applying under his true name at No. 20 John Street. 
 " Inquirer," however, had a good deal of material upon which 
 to base his attack, and on the 24th of June m.ade another bit- 
 ter onslaught upon the Methodists by quoting a number of 
 Wesley's anti-American remarks, and asking where Bishop 
 Coke got his consecration. The bishop had sailed for Liver- 
 pool on the 5th of June and upon his arrival in England met 
 the usual fate of a trimmer by being roundly abused for his 
 lack of loyalty to that country. The John Street congrega- 
 tion in 1789 numbered about 300 persons of whom a consid- 
 erable portion were negroes, which may account for the ap- 
 pearance of a colored man in its pulpit in 1786, which was 
 probably the first time that one of his race occupied a New 
 York pulpit. The N. Y. Packet of September nth 1786 
 mentions the fact thus : " Lately came to this city a very sin- 
 
Churches and Clergy. 163 
 
 gular black man, who, it is said is quite ignorant of letters, yet 
 he has preached in the Methodist Church several times, to 
 the acceptance of several well-disposed judicious people. He 
 delivers his discourses with great zeal and pathos, and his lan- 
 guage and connection is by no means contemptible. It is the 
 wish of several of our correspondents that this same black man 
 may be so far successful as to rouse the dormant zeal of num- 
 bers of our slotJiful white people^ who seem very little affected 
 about the concerns of another world." Among the members 
 of the John Street church in 1789 were William Lupton, mer- 
 chant, No. 22 John St. ; Paul Hick, shoemaker. No. 43 Will- 
 iam Street ; Abraham Russell, mason. No. 16 Crown Street ; 
 John Staples, merchant. No. 6'j King Street ; Henry New- 
 ton ; Stephen Dando ; Philip Arcularius, broker, No. 7 Ann 
 Street ; Gilbert Coutant ; and John Bleeker, grocer, No. 198 
 Queen Street. 
 
 At the Methodist Conference, consisting of twenty mem- 
 bers, held in the city in May and June 1789, it was decided 
 to build another Methodist church, and in August seven lots 
 were bought for that purpose for ;^350 upon which a stone 
 building was erected and dedicated on the 8th of November 
 1789. It was situated on the east side of Second (Forsyth) 
 Street near the north corner of Division Street, and stood 
 until 1833 when a new building was erected on the same site 
 which is still occupied. 
 
 The first Roman Catholic congregation in the city was 
 formed in November 1783 under the pastorship of Rev. An- 
 drew Nugent, and worshipped for a time in a building owned 
 by Trinity Church in Vauxhall Garden near the North River 
 between Warren and Chamber Streets. On the nth of June 
 1785 this congregation was incorporated and soon afterwards 
 purchased from Trinity Church five lots on the southeast cor- 
 ner of Barclay and Church Streets upon which a church was 
 erected, the corner stone of which was laid on the 5th of Oc- 
 tober 1785 by Don Diego de Gardoqui, the Spanish ambassa- 
 dor. This building, known as St. Peter's Church, of brick, 
 eighty-one feet long by forty-eight feet wide, was consecrated 
 before its completion by Rev. Mr. Nugent on the 4th of No- 
 
1 64 New York City in 1789. 
 
 vember 1786 and stood until the year 1836, when the present 
 building, opened in 1838, was erected. Until the erection of 
 St. Patrick's Cathedral in 18 15 this was the only Roman 
 Catholic church in the city. In the latter part of 1787 Mr, 
 Nugent was removed from the pastorship of St. Peter's, and 
 the Rev. William O'Brien, a Dominican, took his place. It 
 is said that the Archbishop of Mexico had been his fellow- 
 student at Bologna, and he accordingly began his service by 
 a journey to Mexico for the purpose of collecting funds and 
 there obtained $4920, a gift of $1000 from the Bishop and 
 clergy of Puebla de los Angelos, and several paintings for the 
 adornment of the church. He remained in charge of St. 
 Peter's until his death on the 14th of May 18 16. There is a 
 tradition that Charles III. of Spain contributed a large sum 
 toward the erection of the first St. Peter's church, but among 
 those who are more certainly known to have been early bene- 
 factors of that church were Jose Roiz Silva, a wine merchant 
 then at No. i Beekman Street ; James Steward ; Andrew 
 Morris, chandler. No. 48 Great Dock Street; Gibbon Burke, 
 grocer, No. 161 Water Street ; William Mooney, upholsterer. 
 No. 14 Nassau Street ; Charles Naylor, merchant. No. 48 
 William Street ; George Barnwell, merchant, No. 205 Water 
 Street ; and John Sullivan, grocer, in Moore Street. 
 
 The Daily Advertiser of November 6th 1789 contains a 
 notice that the Independent Congregational Church under 
 the pastoral charge of Rev. Mr. George Wall would hold service 
 in their new meeting-house at the upper end of Great George 
 Street on the following Sunday. This was probably the first 
 Congregational church building in the city but no reference is 
 made to it as a church on the city maps until 1803 when it 
 appears on the west side of Broadway a short distance below 
 Leonard Street. After that year there is apparently no further 
 mention of it. The name of the Rev. George Wall, residence 
 at No. I Thomas Street, first appears in the directory of 1791, 
 and in 1795 he removed to No. 329 Broadway, where he re- 
 sided until his death. All the information which the present 
 writer has been able to gather concerning him is derived from 
 his will and the certificate of his death. By his will, dated 
 
Churches and Clergy. 165 
 
 October 13th 1803, he left all his worldly possessions to Mrs. 
 Jane Matlock, widow of Rev, John Matlock of New York 
 City ; and the record of his death recites that he was a native 
 of Scotland who died of apoplexy at his residence on Broad- 
 way on the 1 2th of September 181 3 in the 64th year of his 
 age. He was bitried \vi the Presbyterian cemetery. 
 
V. 
 
 Amusements. 
 
 Among public amusements the theatre was the most pop- 
 ular. It is said that theatrical performances were given in 
 New York as early as the year 1732, but the first entertain- 
 ment of this kind of which anything is definitely known was 
 given on the 5th of March 1750 by a company of comedians 
 from Philadelphia who hired a room in Nassau Street and 
 began their performances with Richard III,, — the first recorded 
 production of one of Shakespeare's plays in America. -This 
 company disbanded in July. 1 751 and nothing is known of 
 them beyond their names and the plays which they produced. 
 The next company which appeared was managed by Robert 
 Upton, an Englishman who had been sent from London to 
 prepare the way for a company from that city. Disregarding 
 the mission for which he was employed he gave performances 
 for his own benefit from December 1751 until March 1752 
 when he took his departure. Those by whom he had been 
 sent to this country were members of what was long known 
 as The Old American Company who made their first appear- 
 ance in America on the 5th of September 1752 in Williams- 
 burg, Va., and arrived in New York in June 1753. A new 
 theatre was built for them upon the site of the old one in 
 Nassau Street and their first season lasted from September 
 1753 until March 1754, when they left New York for four 
 years, and, upon their return in December 1758, erected a new 
 building on Cruger's Wharf near Old Slip, the Nassau Street 
 theatre having given place to the German Reformed Church. 
 After performing from December 1758 until February 1759, 
 this company was again absent from New York until August 
 1 761 when a new theatre was built on the south side of Beek- 
 
A luuscments. I ^"J 
 
 man Street east of Nassau Street, in which they performed 
 from November 1761 until April 1762 ; but before their next 
 return in 1767 this building had been destroyed during the 
 excitement resulting from the Stamp Act, and in the summer of 
 1767 another building was erected which was used as a theatre 
 for thirty years. It was situated on the north side of John 
 Street about half way between Broadway and Nassau Street, 
 standing about sixty feet back from the street, the entrance 
 being through a rough wooden covered-way. The building 
 was constructed principally of wood, was painted red, and 
 contained a pit, two rows of boxes and a gallery, the value of 
 tickets to an audience which filled the house being eight hun- 
 dred dollars. From the date of its opening, December 7th 
 1767, the John Street Theatre was the only theatre in the 
 city until the 13th of January 1798 when the last performance 
 was given in it, its successor being the Old Park Theatre 
 which was opened on the 29th of January 1798. The Old 
 American Company played in the John Street Theatre at in- 
 tervals until the end of the year 1774 and in February 1775 
 departed to Jamaica owing to a recommendation by Congress 
 on October 24th 1774 that public amusements should cease on 
 account of the critical condition of public affairs. During the 
 British occupation of the city the British officers amused 
 themselves with theatrical entertainments in the same build- 
 ing, which was then called the Theatre Royal, and the next 
 appearance of The Old American Company in New York was 
 in September 1785 when the theatre was opened for a " Moral 
 Lecture," that term probably being used to avoid objections 
 to a theatrical entertainment. On the 23rd of September 
 1785, however, a regular theatrical season was opened by a 
 portion of the company and in spite of opposition by the 
 Common Council, and virulent newspaper attacks, the theatre 
 became a firmly rooted amusement in New York. In 1789 
 the Old American Company was under the management of 
 Lewis Hallam, the younger, and John Henry. It had under- 
 gone many changes in membership since its first arrival in 
 America and of those who had appeared in Williamsburg in 
 1752 Lewis Hallam was the sole representative. Born in Lon- 
 
1 68 New York City in 1789. 
 
 don in 1740 he had made his first appearance on the stage at 
 the age of twelve years, at the company's first performance in 
 America and, although as the servant of Portia in the Mer- 
 chant of Venice he had but one line to repeat, his courage 
 had failed him and bursting into tears he had left the stage 
 without uttering a word. He had first appeared in New York 
 at the Nassau Street Theatre on the 17th of September 1753, 
 and from 1758 until 1774 he was without a rival in America. 
 He was a man of middle stature, slender and straight, and 
 took all parts from tragedy to that of Harlequin in panto- 
 mime, in which his activity was greatly admired. A scar 
 near one of his eyes, received while fencing, slightly marred 
 the expression of his face but does not seem to have seriously 
 interfered with the facial requirements of his calling, and his 
 acting proved acceptable to American audiences for fifty years. 
 He became manager of the company during the Revolution- 
 ary period and died in Philadelphia on the ist of November 
 1808 having retired from the stage in 1806. His partner 
 John Henry was born in Dublin and is said to have appeared 
 at Drury Lane Theatre in London in 1762 without success. 
 His first appearance in America was in Philadelphia, October 
 6th 1767, the advertisement stating that he came from the 
 theatre in Jamaica. He first appeared in New York at the 
 John Street Theatre, December 7th 1767, and after the Revo- 
 lution appears as co-manager with Hallam. He is described 
 as a handsome man, six feet in height, and excellent in Irish 
 characters and in that of Othello, in which he appeared as a 
 negro with woolly hair clad in the uniform of a British officer. 
 He was a martyr to the gout and for that reason kept a one- 
 horse carriage driven by a negro boy upon which were emblaz- 
 oned two crutches with the motto " This or These." His 
 power as an actor was probably accurately described by Hal- 
 lam when he said that Henry was an excellent amateur actor. 
 He remained in partnership with Hallam until 1794 when 
 they quarreled and Henry and his wife withdrew from the 
 stage. He died, April 25th 1795, while on a journey to 
 Rhode Island in a coasting vessel. The other members of 
 the company were Mr. Owen Morris, Mr. Stephen Wools, 
 
Amusements. 169 
 
 Mr. Thomas Wignell, Mr. Harper, Mr. Charles Biddle, Mr. 
 Lake, Mr. Heard, Mr. Gay, Mr. Ryan, Mr. John Durang, 
 Mrs. Henry, Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Harper, Miss Tuke, Mrs. 
 Williamson, Mrs. Hamilton, and Mrs. Durang. Of these 
 Morris, Wignell, and Wools were joint proprietors of the com- 
 pany with Hallam and Henry, the others receiving salaries 
 from the proprietors. Mr. Morris had probably first appeared 
 in New York in 1758 and was favorably received in the parts 
 of old men which he is said to have acted until the natural 
 infirmities of old age gave the appearance of an excellent imi- 
 tation. In 1788 he was a small, shrivelled old man with a 
 weak voice. He left the American Company in 1791 to join 
 those who built the Old Chestnut Street Theatre in Phila- 
 delphia, where he died in 1809, at the age of eighty-four 
 years. Mr. Wools, who was born in Bath, England, in 1729, 
 first appeared in America in Philadelphia on the 21st of Nov- 
 ember 1766 and appeared in New York for the first time in 
 1767. He was the chief singer in the company and is said to 
 have pursued that vocation until long after he had ceased to 
 possess the requisites for it. He died in New York on the 
 14th of June 1799. Mr. Wignell, who was Hallam's cousin, 
 came to New York from London in 1774 and being informed 
 on the day after his arrival that Congress had recommended 
 the cessation of public amusements, departed to Jamaica and 
 probably made his first appearance in New York in the John 
 Street Theatre on the 12th of December 1785. In 1789 he 
 became a member of the St. George's Society. He is de- 
 scribed as a short, blue-eyed man with an athletic figure and 
 remarkably small feet. After performing humorous parts 
 with the American Company until 1791 he left it to become 
 manager of the Old Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, 
 where he died in 1803. Mr. Harper, who was born on the 
 Island of Jamaica, first appeared in New York in November 
 1785 and was not remarkable as an actor. He died in 18 13, 
 having appeared in New York for the last time in 1805, 
 Mr. John Durang was a native of Lancaster, Pa., who attained 
 popularity as the dancer of the company and died in Phila- 
 delphia in March 1822 aged fifty-four years. The other male 
 
170 New York City in 1789. 
 
 members of the company were actors of the poorest descrip- 
 tion. Mr. Biddle and Mr. Lake had first appeared in New 
 York in 1785 ; Mr. Ryan, the prompter, was a native of New 
 York, and in 1789 was supporting an aged father and mother 
 from his salary ; and Mr. Heard was confined to his bed by 
 illness for a number of months in that year and therefore did 
 not take a great part in the season's performances. He left 
 the American Company in 1793. Mr. Biddle died in Rich- 
 mond, Va., on the 27th of November 1790. Of the female 
 members of the company, Mrs. Henry was the greatest favor- 
 ite with the public. She was the youngest of three sisters, 
 Ann, Fanny, and Maria Storer, all of whom made their first 
 appearance on the American stage in Philadelphia in 1767 
 and with all of whom Mr. Henry lived in matrimonial alli- 
 ance of more or less irregularity. She is described as '• a per- 
 fect fairy in person " who wore such enormous hoops that 
 upon her coming to the theatre in full dress Mr. Henry was 
 obliged to slide her out of the carriage sidewise and then carry 
 her in his arms to the stage door. She is said to have been 
 the best singer who appeared in New York before 1792 but to 
 have been rather small for tragedy parts and to have caused 
 frequent changes of programme through her silliness and ca- 
 price. She died in Philadelphia soon after the death of Mr. 
 Henry. Mrs. Morris, who was the rival of Mrs. Henry for 
 public favor, was tall and well-formed and made a fine appear- 
 ance in both tragedy and comedy. It is said, however, that 
 " her enunciation was very imperfect and her education still 
 worse," while her poor memory made the prompter's services 
 frequently necessary. She left the Old American Company 
 with her husband in 1 791 and died in Philadelphia about the 
 year 1825 at the age of seventy-three years, being the last sur- 
 vivor of the American actors who had appeared before the 
 Revolution. Mrs. Harper was without personal beauty but 
 acted the parts of old women acceptably. She first appeared 
 in New York with her husband in 1785 and probably died in 
 October 1791. Miss Tuke was one of two actresses of that 
 name, of American birth, who apparently made their first ap- 
 pearance in November 1785. Miss Sarah Tuke died in Ches- 
 
A m usejnents. VJi 
 
 ter, Pa., in the last week of August 1787, and the Miss Tuke 
 here mentioned is described as being at this time " young, 
 comely, and awkward." She afterwards married Mr. Hallam, 
 making her first appearance as Mrs, Hallam in 1792, and is 
 said to have become beautiful, graceful, and an actress of 
 merit. She appeared with her husband in New York until 
 1 806 when both retired from the stage. Miss or Mrs. Durang 
 acted small parts and joined in dancing with Mr. Durang. 
 Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. Williamson both apparently made 
 their first appearance in New York in 1789. The former left 
 the company in 1795 and is said to have died in Albany in 
 November 1834, and the latter did not appear on the New 
 York stage for any great length of time. 
 
 On the 28th of March 1789 Hallam and Henry advertised 
 that the theatre would be open on Easter Monday, and on the 
 13th of April it was announced that the first performance 
 would be given the next evening. Tickets were to be obtained 
 of Mr. Philips at the theatre office from 10 to 12 A.M. and on 
 days of performance from three to five P.M., and also at 
 Gaine's bookstore, the Sign of the Bible, on Hanover Square. 
 Performances were given three times a week, the doors being 
 opened at six or half past six o'clock, and the curtain rising at 
 seven o'clock. To avoid confusion ladies and gentlemen were 
 requested to order their servants to take up and set down with 
 their horses' heads to the East River, and the old formula 
 " Vivant Rex et Regina" with which theatrical advertisements 
 ended previous to the Revolution was now supplanted by 
 " Vivat Respublica." The price of admission was for boxes 
 8s., pit 6s., and gallery 4s., being higher than that charged 
 in Philadelphia where boxes were 7s. 6d., pit 5s., and gallery 
 3s. 9d. 
 
 On the 20th of April it was announced that the theatre 
 would be closed for a time owing to the illness of several of 
 the actors, and although on the 4th of May it was re-opened, 
 on the 1 8th of May the managers apologized for a disappoint- 
 ment in two previous performances owing to the illness of four 
 actors including Mrs. Henry. The performances then con- 
 tinued until the 12th of June when the building was closed 
 
1/2 
 
 New York City in 1789. 
 
 for repairs, one of the improvements being the introduction of 
 ventilators. Being re-opened on the 22nd of June, perform- 
 ances were given in the improved building until the 8th of 
 July when it was announced that it would be closed until the 
 17th of August on account of the warm weather ; but the re- 
 opening did not take place until the 7th of September. From 
 that date the performances were given, with occasional inter- 
 mission due to the jealousies and personal encounters of the 
 actors, until the 15th of December, when, after one "Last 
 Night " on the 9th, and one " Positively Last Night " on the 
 nth the season closed. From the 14th of April to the 15th 
 of December the managers advertised 61 performances, some 
 of which never took place, including 31 comedies, 6 tragedies, 
 26 farces, 9 comic operas and 2 pantomimes, by more than 35 
 different authors. The plays were as follows : 
 
 pril 14. 
 
 The Stratagem. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 
 True Born Irishman. 
 
 Macklin. 
 
 " 16. 
 
 Earl of Essex. 
 
 Brooke. 
 
 
 Musical Lady. 
 
 COLMAN. 
 
 «' 18. 
 
 Clandestine Marriage. 
 
 Garrick. 
 
 
 High Life Below Stairs. 
 
 TOWNLEY. 
 
 May 4. 
 
 The Wonder. 
 
 Centlivre. 
 
 
 Musical Lady. 
 
 COLMAN. 
 
 " 6. 
 
 School for Scandal. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 
 Poor Soldier. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 " 8. 
 
 The Brothers. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 
 The Liar. 
 
 Foote. 
 
 « II. 
 
 School for Scandal. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 
 Poor Soldier. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 - 13. 
 
 The Rivals. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 
 The Ghost. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 " 15. 
 
 Careless Husband. 
 
 CoLLEY Gibber, 
 
 
 Padlock. 
 
 BiCKERSTAFF. 
 
 " 16. 
 
 Postponed. 
 
 
 « 18. 
 
 Postponed. 
 
 
 " 20. 
 
 Roman Father. 
 
 Whitehead. 
 
 
 The Liar. 
 
 FOOTE. 
 
 «' 22. 
 
 The Brothers. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 
 Miss in her Teens. 
 
 Garrick. 
 
 " 25. 
 
 Clandestine Marriage. 
 
 Garrick. 
 
 
 Cross Purposes. 
 
 O'Brien. 
 

 Amusements. 
 
 i; 
 
 May 27. 
 
 She Stoops to Conquer. 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 
 Widow's Vow. 
 
 Inchbald. 
 
 " 29. 
 
 The Gamester. 
 
 Moore. 
 
 
 The Madcap. 
 
 Fielding. 
 
 " 30. 
 
 George Barnwell. 
 
 LiLLO. 
 
 
 Poor Soldier. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 June I. 
 
 West Indian. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 
 Mayor of Garret. 
 
 FOOTE. 
 
 '* 2. 
 
 Fashionable Lover. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 
 Register Office. 
 
 Reed. 
 
 " 4- 
 
 The Heiress. 
 
 BURGOYNE. 
 
 
 Rosina or The Reapers. 
 
 Mrs. Brooke. 
 
 - " 5- 
 
 Clandestine Marriage. 
 
 Garrick. 
 
 
 The Citizen, 
 
 Murphy. 
 
 " 8. 
 
 Richard III. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 
 True Born Irishman. 
 
 Macklin. 
 
 " 10. 
 
 The Contrast. 
 
 Tyler. 
 
 
 Widow's Vow. 
 
 Inchbald. 
 
 " 12. 
 
 The Deserter. 
 
 John Henry. 
 
 
 Who's the Dupe. 
 
 Cowley. 
 
 " 22. 
 
 He would be a Soldier. 
 
 Pillon. 
 
 
 Rosina or the Reapers. 
 
 Mrs. Brooke. 
 
 "26. 
 
 The Duenna. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 " 29. 
 
 The Choleric Man. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 July I. 
 
 He would be a Soldier. 
 
 Pillon. 
 
 
 Who's the Dupe. 
 
 Cowley. 
 
 " 6. 
 
 The Deserter. 
 
 John Henry. 
 
 
 Inkle and Yarico. 
 
 COLMAN. 
 
 Sept. 7. 
 
 The Father. 
 
 DUNLAP. 
 
 
 Who's the Dupe. 
 
 Cowley. 
 
 " 9- 
 
 The Father. 
 
 DUNLAP. 
 
 
 Like Master, Like Man. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 " 11. 
 
 The Father. 
 
 DUNLAP. 
 
 
 High Life Below Stairs. 
 
 TOWNLEY. 
 
 " 14. 
 
 Belle's Stratagem. 
 
 Cowley. 
 
 
 Inkle and Yarico. 
 
 COLMAN. 
 
 " 16. 
 
 The Father. 
 
 DUNLAP. 
 
 
 Catherine and Petruchio. 
 
 Garrick. 
 
 " 21. 
 
 The Wonder. 
 
 Centlivre. 
 
 
 The Old Maid. 
 
 Murphy. 
 
 " 24. 
 
 English Merchant. 
 
 COLMAN. 
 
 
 The Dead Alive. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
174 
 
 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Sept. 28. 
 
 A Word to the Wise. 
 
 Kelly. 
 
 
 Poor Soldier. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 Oct. I. 
 
 All in the Wrong. 
 
 Murphy. 
 
 
 Poor Paddy's Whole History. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 
 All's Well that Ends Well. 
 
 John Henry. 
 
 " 5. 
 
 Merry Wives of Windsor. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 ■ 
 
 Barataria. 
 
 PiLLON. 
 
 " 8. 
 
 The Drummer. 
 
 Addison. 
 
 
 Agreeable Surprise. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 
 The Shipwreck. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 '« 12. 
 
 School for Scandal. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 
 The Critic. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 " 19. 
 
 Duplicity. 
 
 HOLCROFT. 
 
 
 Cheats of Scapin. 
 
 Otway. 
 
 " 22. 
 
 Postponed. 
 
 
 - " 26. 
 
 Gustavus Vasa. 
 
 Brooke. 
 
 
 The Apprentice. 
 
 Murphy. 
 
 " 30. 
 
 The Tempest. 
 
 Shakespeare, 
 
 
 Love in a Camp. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 Nov. 3. 
 
 School for Wives. 
 
 Kelly. 
 
 
 Fair American. 
 
 PiLLON. 
 
 " 5- 
 
 Provoked Husband. 
 
 Van Brugh. 
 
 
 Fair American. 
 
 PiLLON. 
 
 - 9. 
 
 Maid of the Mill. 
 
 Bickerstaff. 
 
 
 Half an Hour after Supper. 
 
 Anon. ■ 
 
 
 Fair American. 
 
 PiLLON. 
 
 *' 13. 
 
 School for Wives. 
 
 Kelly. 
 
 
 The Invasion. 
 
 PiLLON. 
 
 •' 16. 
 
 The Jealous Wife. 
 
 COLMAN. 
 
 
 Wapping Landlady. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 
 The Apprentice. 
 
 Murphy. 
 
 
 Les Ombres Chinoises. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 *' 19. 
 
 The Miser. 
 
 Fielding. 
 
 
 The Air-Balloon. 
 
 PiLLON.. 
 
 
 Les Ombres Italiennes. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 - « 24. 
 
 The Toy, 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 
 The Critic. 
 
 Sheridan. 
 
 
 Darby's Return. 
 
 DUNLAP. 
 
 " 27. 
 
 Postponed. 
 
 
 " 28. 
 
 Postponed. 
 
 
 - "30. 
 
 Cymon and Sylvia. 
 
 Garrick. 
 
 
 Prisoner at Large. 
 
 O'Keefe. 
 
 Dec. 2. 
 
 Postponed. 
 
 
 " 4. 
 
 Postponed. 
 
 
A musements. 1 7 5 
 
 Dec. 7. The Toy. O'Keefe. 
 
 Man and Wife. Colman. 
 
 " 9. English Merchant. Colman. 
 
 Prisoner at Large. O'Keefe. 
 
 "11, The Busy Body. Centlivre. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. Sheridan. 
 
 " 15. The Heiress. Burgoyne. 
 
 The Miser. Fielding. 
 
 Darby's Return. DuNLAP. 
 
 In addition to these plays, a monody was delivered on two 
 occasions in " Eulogium of the American Chiefs who fell dur- 
 ing the War ; " at Mrs. Morris' benefit an entertainment was 
 given entitled an " Exhibition of Pictures or the World as it 
 Goes," consisting of humorous and satirical sketches of char- 
 acters by G. A. Stevens, Foote, Pillon, and other authors ; Mr. 
 Durang generally danced a hornpipe between the play and 
 farce of which the performance consisted ; and at Mr. Wools' 
 first benefit a Masonic Anthem was sung by brothers Wools 
 and Harper. The greater number of the plays produced had 
 been performed in New York in previous years, but several of 
 them were new in the city, while others were performed this 
 season for the first time in America. Those which were new 
 in New York were The Careless Husband, Who's the Dupe, 
 The Choleric Man, Inkle and Yarico, Duplicity, Gustavus 
 Vasa, The Apprentice, The Fair American, The Miser, and 
 the Air Balloon. Those which were performed for the first 
 time in America were He would be a Soldier, The Father, 
 The Dead Alive, The Critic, The Toy, and Darby's Return. 
 Forty-six of the plays were acted but once during the season, 
 twenty-one of them were acted twice, while School for 
 Scandal, George Barnwell, Who's the Dupe, The Apprentice, 
 and The Fair American were acted three times, and The Poor 
 Soldier and The Father were honored with four performances. 
 The latter was received with especial interest as the production 
 of an American author, who was honored with an " Author's 
 Night" on the nth of September when the play was given 
 for the second time. The first play by an American author 
 ever acted by a regular company of comedians was The 
 
176 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Prince of Parthia, a tragedy written in 1759 by Thomas God- 
 frey, a native of Philadelphia, and advertised for performance 
 in that city by the American Company on the 24th of April 
 1767. The next American play was The Contrast, a comedy 
 written by Royal Tyler, the first performance of which was 
 given in New York on the i6th of April 1786, while a farce, 
 by the same author, entitled May Day in Town was per- 
 formed for the first time in the John Street Theatre on the 
 19th of May 1787. The Father was therefore the fourth 
 American play to be acted by a regular theatrical company, 
 and on the 26th of August 1789 the Daily Gazette contained 
 the following announcement : " The town is, at present, in very 
 great expectation of seeing a comedy, now in rehearsal, which 
 is the production of a gentleman in this place, much cele- 
 brated for his wit and humour; besides his great ability in the 
 Dramatick, he has a peculiar talent in the Lyrick way of writ- 
 ing, and that in a manner wholly new and unknown. As soon 
 as three hundred Shandean subscribers are obtained, the work 
 will be put to the press." This talented author was William 
 Dunlap, the historian of the American Theatre and of the 
 City of New York, artist, theatrical manager, and the author 
 of forty-nine published plays, the second of which, a farce en- 
 titled Darby's Return, was performed for the first in New 
 York at Mr. Wignell's benefit on the 24th of November 1789. 
 The Father appeared in printed form as acted, on the 14th of 
 September 1789, price 2s. 6d., and Darby's Return appeared 
 in print on the 3rd of December 1789. All of these American 
 plays were of the poorest quality, but Darby's Return has the 
 distinction of being one of the few things that ever caused 
 George Washington to laugh. He was present at its first 
 performance, and, according to the author's account, after some 
 evident embarrassment at references to himself in the farce, 
 Washington " indulged in that which was with him extremely 
 rare, a hearty laugh." So "extremely rare "was this indul- 
 gence with Washington that the editor of the Daily Advertiser 
 made especial mention of the incident, as follows: " Our be- 
 loved Ruler seemed to unbend and for the moment give him- 
 self to the pleasures arising from the gratifications of the two 
 
Amusements. lyy 
 
 most noble organs of sense, the Eye and the Ear." The news- 
 paper dramatic criticism of the time is fairly represented by 
 the description of The Deserter as an " elegant, tender, senti- 
 mental and well conducted Dramatic Entertainment," while 
 Darby's Return was considered to be "replete with the happi- 
 est illusions to interesting events and very delicately turned 
 compliments." 
 
 The Deserter or School for Soldiers seems to have aroused 
 the enthusiasm of the gallery to a high pitch. A newspaper 
 account of the performance given on the I2th of June reads 
 as follows : " A more profound attention was never known to 
 be given to any piece through the whole performance. A 
 circumstance which indicated the real interest which the gal- 
 lery took in the fate of the Deserter ought not to be omitted : 
 as soon as the soldiers on the stage demonstrated their joy, by 
 huzzaing, for the pardon which was announced to have been 
 obtained from the late Commander in Chief for the Deserter, 
 the audience in the gallery spontaneously gave the same proof 
 of sensibility and satisfaction.'' The play of Gustavus Vasa, 
 however, which was expected to give especial satisfaction to 
 Americans because of its having been suppressed in England 
 on account of its seditious sentiments, does not seem to have 
 been received with great favor. A newspaper rhymster made 
 the following criticism of its performance, which probably 
 gives a correct estimate of the acting of the Old American 
 Company at this time : 
 
 " If alone to the SOCK the Theatrical Troop 
 Would their poor exhibitions confine, 
 Some success in attempts to amuse, they might hope — 
 For in that, if at all, they may shine. 
 
 But when in the BUSKiN they vainly attempt 
 
 To raise our compassion and fear. 
 Our mirth they excite, nor are free from contempt — 
 
 For as ranting Buffoons they appear. 
 
 Tho' Vasa the Patriot applause may command, 
 
 And his Virtue Americans please, 
 Yet when coldly portrayed by this Theatric Band, 
 
 The reverse of applause scorn decrees." 
 
 12 
 
178 New York City in 1789. 
 
 The most successful performances were, of course, those 
 which were honored by the presence of the President, his 
 proposed attendance at the theatre being duly advertised in 
 the newspapers. The first of these occasions was on the nth 
 of May, when the President, Vice-President, Governor, and 
 many members of Congress witnessed the performance of 
 School for Scandal and the Poor Soldier, the boxes of Wash- 
 ington and Adams being decorated with the Arms of the 
 United States and that of Governor Clinton with the State 
 Arms. On the 5th of June the President and his wife, Rob- 
 ert Morris and Mrs. Morris, General and Mrs. Knox, Baron 
 Steuben and other distinguished persons attended the perform- 
 ance of The Clandestine Marriage and upon this occasion 
 " the reiterated plaudits bestowed upon the various parts of 
 the performance designated the merits of the actors ; — and it 
 is but just to say that, animated by the countenance of such 
 illustrious auditors, the characters were supported with great 
 spirit and propriety. Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Morris played 
 with their usual naivete and uncommon animation." On the 
 24th of November — the memorable occasion when Washing- 
 ton laughed — the audience rose at the President's appearance 
 and greeted him with the warmest acclamations, " the genuine 
 effusion of the hearts of Freemen." At this time Washing- 
 ton made the following entry in his diary : "Went to the play 
 in the evening, — sent tickets to the following ladies and gen- 
 tlemen and invited them to seats in my box, viz. : — Mrs. 
 Adams, (lady of the Vice-President,) Genl. Schuyler and lady, 
 Mr. King and lady, Majr. Butler and lady. Col. Hamilton 
 and lady, Mrs. Green, — all of whom accepted and came, ex- 
 cept Mrs. Butler, who was indisposed." His last visit to the 
 theatre in 1789 was at Mr. Henry's benefit on the 30th of No- 
 vember when Cymon and Sylvia, a monody by Mrs. Henry 
 on the American Chiefs who fell during the Revolution, and 
 O'Keefe's comedy The Prisoner at Large, were presented be- 
 fore the most brilliant and numerous audience which had 
 been seen for several years. Upon this occasion Washington 
 presented tickets to Dr. Johnson and lady, Mr. Dalton and 
 lady, the Chief Justice of the United States and lady, Secre- 
 
Amusements. 1 79 
 
 tary of War and lady, Baron de Steuben and Mrs. Green. 
 Of the orchestra of the theatre, no mention is made in the ad- 
 vertisements, but the music was probably acceptable to the 
 audience, for in 1786 complaint was made that it did not con- 
 tinue through the whole of the half hour required for the 
 preparation of the farce with which the performance ended. 
 It is said that the leader of the orchestra was a German by 
 the name of Phila, who composed the " President's March" 
 from which the tune of " Hail Columbia" was afterwards de- 
 veloped. The stage scenery was at times deemed worthy of 
 especial mention. Thus, on June 26th it was advertised that 
 the pantomime of Robinson Crusoe would be presented with 
 " the most brilliant display of Scenery ever exhibited in the 
 Western World," as described in Capt. Cook's Voyages to 
 Otaheite, New Zealand, etc., with the exception of the scene 
 of the Falls of the Passaic. A description of this latter scene 
 in the Daily Advertiser of July 3rd 1789 states that the stage 
 was darkened and then by a gradually increasing light the 
 Genius of Columbia rose from the water and at a motion of 
 his wand the new Federal Hall appeared and ascended to the 
 clouds supported by the Temple of Concord in the form of a 
 superb transparency with emblematic devices, the pillars sup- 
 porting it being marked Wisdom, Fortitude, Virtue, and Jus- 
 tice. The name of the painter of this triumph of scenic art 
 was unfortunately omitted. An attempt at realism was also 
 made in the performance of the Shipwreck by the introduc- 
 tion of a " real balloon." The course of the American Com- 
 pany, however, during the season of 1789 was not altogether 
 smooth. There had always been more or less opposition to 
 the theatre in America and this season like most of the previ- 
 ous ones was marked by bitter warfare in the newspapers be- 
 tween the supporters and opponents of theatrical entertain- 
 ments. In October 1789 this conflict was renewed by the 
 publication of several articles by " Rusticus " in favor of the 
 theatre. " Theron " objected to these and propounded 
 twenty-seven queries to " Rusticus," the last of which was : 
 " Would the sound of the Archangel's trumpet or any sum- 
 mons to the invisible world be welcome to Rusticus or any ad- 
 
i8o New York City in 1789. 
 
 mirer of the stage, should that summons find him in the gal- 
 lery, pit, or box." Rusticus, of course, answered these 
 queries seriatim and stated that such a summons " would not 
 be more unwelcome to Rusticus in the box, pit, or gallery, 
 than elsewhere." But Rusticus had one weak point ; — he 
 was a poet, and closed his reply with ; 
 
 " Theron adieu ; no more in holy rage 
 Do thou attempt to lash the perverse age. 
 For know, in spite of all that thou can'st preach, 
 The Drama soars above thy sordid reach." 
 
 To this " Theron " scathingly replied : " Surely none will 
 suspect me of adulation when I declare that the poetry of 
 Rusticus exceeds even his logic." " Rusticus," however, re- 
 turned to the combat and declared that Theron's article was 
 a mere plagiarism and a mangled version of arguments on the 
 same subject previously published by Dr. Witherspoon. His 
 parting shot at " Theron " was : 
 
 " O could thy baby hands resign the pen 
 And leave a subject far above thy ken, 
 Some meaner theme might suit thy grovelling soul 
 Where none would censure or thy wit controul." 
 
 " Vindex " then joined in the fray, denouncing " Theron " 
 as a " religious enthusiast," and the warfare ended by 
 " Theron " expressing his contempt for both his adversaries. 
 More dangerous, however, to its welfare were the dissensions 
 in the company itself. The jealousies between the actors 
 seem to have reached their climax about the 12th of October 
 as on the 15th of that month Mr. Henry published a card 
 stating that he had been confined to his bed for several days 
 by severe bruises received in a quarrel " unexpected, unsought, 
 and most maliciously misrepresented." The clue to this af- 
 fair is found in a card of October i6th, signed " Querist," dep- 
 recating the unmerited censure of the managers for a disap- 
 pointment in School for Scandal on the 12th and laying the 
 blame upon Mr. Harper who had received due notice that 
 Mr. Henry was too ill to appear that night and should there- 
 
A musements. 1 8 1 
 
 fore have changed the programme. The performance on the 
 1 2th of October had been for Mrs, Harper's benefit and her 
 husband had evidently taken revenge for a disappointment by- 
 pommelling the manager. On the i8th of October, however, 
 the benefits were resumed and on the 24th Mr. Henry pub- 
 lished a statement that the quarrel had been amicably settled. 
 But this statement merely brought out a card from " One of 
 the Boxes " to Mr. Henry to the effect that the public had no 
 interest in his private quarrels but were disgusted at his re- 
 fusal to act through personal spite toward Mr. Harper. He 
 also thought that Mrs. Henry might act more frequently than 
 she did to entitle her to a benefit and that she should act in 
 benefits for others when she had had such a profitable one her- 
 self ; people were well-nigh tired of old plays and of seeing 
 indifferent actresses when they might have good ones. To 
 this Mr. Henry replied that he had not appeared because he 
 had been confined to his bed, and that Mrs. Henry would act 
 when asked to do so by the other actors, which had happened 
 but once, when she had an influenza and could not sing. 
 Mrs. Williamson's benefit was announced for the 3rd of No- 
 vember but was postponed until the 5th and her play changed 
 because of Mr. Harper's severe illness, and this fact caused 
 the publication of an attack upon Mr. and Mrs. Harper for 
 disappointing an audience and injuring a helpless woman by 
 their caprice. Finally, a wail arose on the 13th of November 
 from another actor because the managers would not allow him 
 to be assisted at his benefit by a Mrs. Gardner, who was not 
 a member of the company, and because he was likely to have 
 no benefit at all, owing to the departure of the company to 
 Philadelphia. He took his revenge by announcing that Mrs. 
 Gardner was far superior to the actresses of the company, ow- 
 ing to her long training under Garrick and Foote. All of the 
 actors, however, had benefits before leaving the city. The 
 series began with " Mr. Wools' night," on the 21st of Septem- 
 ber, and ended on the 15th of December. Those of Mrs. 
 Henry, Mr, and Mrs. Harper, Miss Tuke, and Mrs. Morris, 
 were either pecuniarily satisfactory or they did not dare to ask 
 for another. Messrs. Heard and Ryan had one together, as 
 
1 82 New York City m 1789. 
 
 did Messrs. Gay, Durang, and Lake. The other actors 
 adopted a formula stating that their previous benefit had been 
 disappointing to their friends, and that they had therefore de- 
 cided, by their friends' advice, to relinquish the emoluments 
 of that performance to the company and to request the re- 
 newed patronage of the public. Mr. Wools accordingly 
 shared a second benefit with Mrs. Hamilton ; Mrs. William- 
 son did likewise with Mr. Biddle; and Messrs. Hallam, 
 Henry, and Morris each had two. The last mention of the 
 Old American Company in the newspapers of 1789 was a card 
 from " Humanitas" urging them to give a performance for the 
 benefit of the poor, but his appeal was unheeded although in 
 former years considerable sums had been raised for the poor 
 in that way. 
 
 The Mrs. Gardner whose assistance had been declined by 
 Hallam and Henry had made her first appearance on the 
 stage on the ist of October 1763 at the Drury Lane Theatre 
 under the name of Miss Cheney. She had also appeared at 
 the Covent Garden and Haymarket Theatres in London and 
 is said to have acted excellently in several of Foote's plays. 
 Her arrival in New York was announced by an advertisement 
 on the 17th of November 1789 of an entertainment " rhetori- 
 cal and oratorical," at the City Tavern for one night only, en- 
 titled Fashionable Raillery by Mrs. Gardner from the Thea- 
 tre Royal, Covent Garden, performed by her for forty-seven 
 nights in Dublin and with equal success in Jamaica and 
 Charleston. The performance was to include Songs and to 
 close with a whimsical afterpiece entitled The Mad Poet- 
 ess. The refusal of the managers of the American Company 
 to accept her assistance afforded her an opportunity to air her 
 history in the newspaper. In a card published on the 19th of 
 December 1789, announcing that an entertainment was to be 
 given for her benefit, she stated that she had been enticed 
 from Charleston by a gentleman who promised to give her 
 charge of his child in the country and, (having apparently 
 learned but little of the ways of the world during her twenty- 
 six years experience on the stage), she had accepted his invi- 
 tation only to be robbed and deserted by him. The members 
 
Amusements. 183 
 
 of the American Company finally paid her debt for board and 
 lodging, redeemed her clothes, and allowed her to use the 
 theatre for one night. The performance for her benefit was 
 to consist of " Wits^Last Shift " and " Bucks have at ye all," 
 and was to take place on the 29th of December but was post- 
 poned to the following evening owing to the inclemency of 
 the weather, and seems to have received no further notice in 
 the newspapers. 
 
 The minor public amusements of the year were not nu- 
 merous. In January, Mr. CoUes announced that so long as the 
 sleighing lasted he would continue his electrical experiments 
 and exhibition of curiosities at Halsey's celebrated tavern in 
 Harlem ; but no description was given of the curiosities. The 
 next announcement of a show was in April, when Dr. King, 
 lately from South America, arrived from Charleston with a 
 collection of natural curiosities. This exhibition was opened 
 at No. 28 Wall Street, opposite the Coffee House, and in- 
 cluded " a Male and Female of the surprising species of the 
 Ourang Outang or the Man of the Woods ; the Sloth, which 
 from its sluggish disposition will grow poor from travelling 
 from one tree to another ; the Baboon, of different species 
 and of a most singular nature ; Monkey, Porcupine, Ant- 
 Bear, Crocodile, Lizard, and Sword Fish ; Snakes of various 
 kinds and very extraordinary; Tame Tyger and Buffalo; 
 Also a variety of Birds of different sizes, colour, and species." 
 These could be seen from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. for the price of 
 5s. for adults and 2s. 6d. for children. A few weeks later a 
 picture of the Wild Man of the Woods appeared in the Bos- 
 ton newspapers modestly clad in a girdle of fig-leaves. In 
 November another natural curiosity was offered for sale in the 
 shape of " A Moose Deer, of the male kind, lately brought 
 from St. John's, N. B. ; only 18 months old and fully 15 
 hands high and very tame." Of a different kind was the ex- 
 hibition, in July, of a solar microscope at the house of Christo- 
 pher Colles, No. 3 on the Lower Battery. This instrument 
 was said to be justly reckoned one of the greatest improve- 
 ments in the science of Optics, and magnified the skin of a 
 spider's leg to 30 feet in length, as thick as a man's body and 
 
1 84 New York City in 1789. 
 
 covered with bristles surprisingly large. It magnified a com- 
 mon louse to the length of 12 feet, from which it was calcu- 
 lated that it increased the bulk 644,972,544 times. The price 
 of admission was three shillings and those who had come once 
 were admitted free upon their second visit provided that they 
 brought others with them. On the loth of June Mr. Joseph 
 Decker published a broadside to the effect that in 1785 he had 
 made a balloon ascension at Bristol and, after being in the air 
 half an hour, had descended at a spot 23 miles from the place 
 of ascent. He desired to favor the inhabitants of New York 
 with a similar exhibition and solicited subscriptions of 8s. 
 each toward the construction of a balloon to cost one hundred 
 guineas, his own remuneration to be obtained from an exhibi- 
 tion of the balloon when completed. On the 7th of August 
 he sent up from the Fort a balloon 24 feet in circumference 
 which descended into the Harlem River nine miles from the 
 place of ascent. This was followed on the 15th by one 30 feet 
 in circumference, and, on the 12th of September, Mr. Decker 
 announced that he had completed a large balloon 100 feet in 
 circumference in which he himself would ascend on the 23d 
 of September from the lot bounded by Eagle, Suffolk, and 
 Cellar Streets, near the race ground. This balloon was 
 placed upon exhibition at No. 14 William Street, the price of 
 admission being 4s., but Mr, Decker was not destined to as- 
 cend in it. The Packet of December 24th states that two- 
 thirds of the city assembled on the 23rd to see the great bal- 
 loon ascend but that, according to Mr. Decker's statement, it 
 caught fire on account of the pressure of the multitude who 
 broke the fence by which it was surrounded. Others thought 
 that the manager purposely set it on fire, this opinion finding 
 expression in the following card, which appeared in the Jour- 
 nal : " Yesterday at 4 o'clock departed in a blaze the much 
 Celebrated Balloon, constructed under the admired abilities 
 of Mr. Decker, whose eccentric ingenuity was displayed in ac- 
 quiring a brilliant sum ; which perfectly accorded with his 
 N. B. that he should leave the city after his descent — into the 
 purses of the generous and disappointed spectators." The 
 same Mr. Decker also exhibited at No. 14 William Street a 
 
A musements. 185 
 
 Speaking Figure suspended by a ribbon from the centre of a 
 beautiful temple, which asked questions itself and answered 
 with delicacy and propriety questions addressed to it either 
 in a whisper or more audible tone. In the same room there 
 were exhibited a variety of wax figures, a small paradox, and 
 an alarm against house-breaking and fire, the show being open 
 from six to ten P.M. and the price of admission 2s. for adults 
 and IS. for children. Mr. Decker died in Lisbon in the early 
 part of 1790. A more extensive wax-work exhibition was 
 given at No. 74 Water Street, opposite Crane's wharf, by a 
 Mr. Bowen who came with a letter of recommendation signed 
 by an ex-Governor, the Secretary of State, and other promi- 
 nent citizens of North Carolina. In this exhibition were 
 " The President of the United States sitting under a canopy 
 in his military dress and over the head of his Excellency a 
 fame suspended (also in wax) crowning him with a wreath of 
 laurel ; the King, Queen, and Prince of Wales of Great Brit- 
 ain, habited in cloaths which were presented by the King ; 
 The Rt. Reverend Samuel Provoost, Bishop of New York ; 
 The Rev. Dr. John Rodgers of New York; and the Rev. Dr. 
 John Livingston of New York " There were also a number 
 of edifying biblical scenes, and figures so constructed as to 
 turn their heads, open and shut their eyes, and perform other 
 feats " to the admiration of the spectators." This exhibition 
 was open from 6 to 10 P.M. at 2s. 6d. for adults, and is. for 
 children, and was probably a good show as it was honored, on 
 the 17th of September, by a visit from the President, Gen. 
 Knox, and other distinguished persons. Of out-door amuse- 
 ments there were not many during the year. There was a 
 cricket club in the city, and on the 8th of August the news- 
 papers announced that bets to a considerable amount would 
 be settled by a few shots at a target that afternoon in a field 
 near Mr. Campbell's on the Greenwich Road ; in this match, 
 Capt. McPherson of Philadelphia, a gentleman with but one 
 arm, vanquished his competitor Capt. Stakes, who, at a 
 range of 160 yards, failed to hit the barn-door on which the 
 mark was placed. An event of greater interest was a boat- 
 race for a purse of fifteen half-joes, on the 15th of August, be- 
 
1 86 New York City in 1789. 
 
 tween the New York pilot-boat York, commanded by Mr. 
 M. Daniels, and the Virginia built schooner Union, Captain 
 Merryman, belonging in Cura^oa. The race took place out- 
 side of the Hook in a light breeze, the York running 14 
 leagues in five hours and beating her rival by about seven 
 minutes. Thirty vessels attended the race and nearly ;^2000 
 changed hands upon the result. But two horse-races were 
 advertised during the year, the first of which was to take 
 place on the 15th of September on Greenwich Lane, each 
 horse to pay one dollar entrance fee and the winner to receive 
 an elegant saddle. The second advertisement was that of the 
 Jamaica races on the 29th and 30th of October. On the 29th 
 there was to be a race for ;£^20, open to all, best two out of 
 three two-mile heats ; 20s. entrance for each horse ; three 
 year olds to carry six stone seven, four year olds seven stone 
 nine, five year olds eight stone twelve, and aged nine stone. 
 On the 30th, the winner of a free-to-all race was to receive a 
 saddle, bridle, and whip. 
 
 The public lectures of the season seem to have been lim- 
 ited to one delivered at Aaron Aorson's tavern on the 6th of Oc- 
 tober by " a man more than 30 years an Atheist." The sub- 
 ject of the lecture was " The Divinity of Jesus Christ " and its 
 object was to assist two poor families and to establish a 
 fund for the purchase of wood for the poor; tickets were 
 to be obtained of all the Aldermen for a quarter of a dollar 
 each. 
 
 Music seems to have been cultivated in the city to a con- 
 siderable extent, as appears by the existence of The Musical 
 Society, the officers of which were George Gilfert, director, 
 Henry Will, treasurer, and Robert McGrath, secretary. This 
 Society, which met at No. 29 John Street, gave a concert in 
 March for the benefit of distressed debtors in jail, and on the 
 1 8th of June gave a second one in the Lutheran Church. Six 
 other concerts were given between the 22nd of September 
 and the ist of December, three of them being subscription 
 concerts under the management of Mr. Reinagle and Mr. 
 Henry Capron, music teachers in the city. The programme 
 of the first of these subscription concerts, which took place on 
 
Amusements. 187 
 
 the 22nd of September, probably gives a fair example of the 
 musical taste of that time. It was as follows : 
 
 Act 1st. 
 
 Overture. Giordani. 
 
 Song. Mrs. Sewell. 
 
 Concerto, Violoncello. Mr. C apron. 
 
 Overture. Guglielmi. 
 
 Act 2nd. 
 
 Overture. Stamitz. 
 
 Song. Mrs. Sewell. 
 
 Sonata, Piano Forte. Mr. Reinagle. 
 
 Overture. Ditters. 
 
 After the first act a chorus was given, with the words that 
 were sung as Washington passed the bridge at Trenton on 
 the way to his inauguration, to music composed by Mr. 
 Reinagle. In the other concerts of this series a Mr. Wolf 
 played on the clarinet and there were given overtures com- 
 posed by Vanhall, Ditters, J. Stamitz, and C. Stamitz, a piano 
 and violin duet by Mozart, and a symphony by Goffec. 
 After the music there was dancing. Mrs. Anna Maria Sewell, 
 who had retired from the Old American Company in 1788 
 to keep a young ladies' school, also gave a concert on the 31st 
 of October in which the same performers took part. The last 
 concert of the season was given on the ist of December by 
 Mr. P. A. Van Hagen, formerly Director of the City Concert 
 at Zutphen and then a music teacher at No. 23 Ferry Street, 
 the other performers being Mr. Van Hagen, jr., eight years 
 of age, and Mr. Frobel. This performance included a solo, 
 never before performed, on iron nails called Violino Harmon- 
 ika. The price of admission was one dollar and after the 
 concert there was to be a ball. Mr, Van Hagen's violin play- 
 ing had aroused great enthusiasm at a concert which he 
 gave on the lOth of November and on the day of his last con- 
 cert a correspondent of the Daily Gazette announced that he 
 would undertake to prove, before any judge who had taste 
 enough to take the matter into consideration, that he was the 
 first master of music who had ever visited America. 
 
i88 New York City in 1789. 
 
 The only free exhibition announced in the newspapers in 
 1789 failed to be seen. A transit of Mercury across the Sun 
 was duly advertised for the 5th of November, with diagrams 
 and full explanations, but owing either to a miscalculation in 
 the time or the poorness of their telescopes the inhabitants 
 of New York saw nothing of this phenomenon. 
 
VI. 
 
 Education. Literature. Art. Newspapers. 
 
 In the matter of educational facilities New York, even as 
 late as 1789, was undoubtedly less advanced than New Eng- 
 land, a fact which Brissot de Warville, who was a man of 
 great literary ability, attributed to the Dutch indifference 
 toward letters. Columbia College was graduating some brill- 
 iant young men, but, owing to a variety of causes they were 
 few in number as compared with the graduates of Yale and 
 Harvard, while the University of Pennsylvania bid fair to out- 
 strip the New York institution. The college had been estab- 
 lished in 1754 amid the clash of ecclesiastical arms, aroused 
 by an alleged attempt to set up a Church of England institu- 
 tion for the support of which all denominations were to be 
 taxed. In 1746 the raising of funds for the encouragement of 
 education had been begun by a lottery, and in 1751 when 
 the fund amounted to ^3443 it was vested in ten trustees 
 whose denominational affiliations at once raised a protest. 
 The board included seven Episcopalians, two Reformed 
 Dutch members, and one Presbyterian, William Livingston, 
 afterwards Governor of New Jersey, who, in " The Indepen- 
 dent Reflector," first published in November 1752, made a 
 fierce attack upon the proposal to grant a charter to a college 
 founded for the benefit of a denomination who were in the 
 minority in the community. In May 1754 Trinity Church 
 offered land for the college upon condition that the president 
 should always be an Episcopalian and that the Prayer-Book 
 should be used in it, and the trustees of the fund petitioned 
 for a charter upon these terms. One party in the Dutch 
 Church, including Dominies Ritzema and De Ronde, then 
 favored this project, provided that the Dutch should have a 
 
190 New York City in 1789. 
 
 theological professorship in the institution ; and the Dutch 
 members of Assembly voted for the charter, which was 
 granted by the Governor on the 31st of October 1754, no 
 mention, however, being made in it of the Dutch professor- 
 ship. Mr. Livingston then renewed his opposition in a series 
 of papers entitled " The Watch Tower " which appeared in 
 the N. Y. Mercury from October 25th 1754 until November 
 17th 1755? and succeeded in raising such opposition to the 
 transfer of the fund by the original trustees to the college 
 trustees that one half of it was finally given to the city for the 
 building of a new jail. Another opponent of the college also 
 appeared in the person of David Marinus, Dutch pastor at 
 Aquenonka, Long Island, who was the author of a pamphlet 
 entitled " A Remark on the Disputes and Contentions in 
 This Province," printed in New York by Hugh Gaine in 
 1755. This writer declared that the surest way for any party 
 to promote their domineering sway was to obtain control of 
 the education of youth, and he expressed his amazement that 
 the Dutch should have allowed themselves to be imposed 
 upon in such a manner. He also paid his respects to one J. 
 V. D. who had written against Mr. Livingston and his sup- 
 porters in the N. Y. Mercury charging them with disturbing 
 the peace and tranquillity of the colony. This individual was 
 informed that he need have no fear that the Dutch would 
 give any assistance either to the college in New Jersey, (which, 
 however, was preferable to that in New York,) nor to that in 
 New York, as they proposed to have an academy of their own, 
 having found this to be necessary unless they wished to be an- 
 nihilated by the other churches. Under the old plan of educat- 
 ing American ministers in Holland the Dutch Church had so 
 declined that the grandeur of the High Church consisted in 
 proselytes gained from it. He further writes : "Is our Friend 
 really of Opinion, our Church is established here, or the Church 
 of England either ; why doth he then not prove it ? * * * 
 Oh! this mock Establishment is a Darling of theirs to enchant 
 and delude the Ignorant and Unweary ! The Net is already 
 thrown out round about us ; it hath already encircled us ; if 
 we remain but quietly and tamely where we are, no doubt, the 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 191 
 
 High Church Party will make the greatest Draught ; as our 
 real and honest Friend Phileleutheros hath shown. But our 
 Ulyssean Friend, it seems is not contented even with this ; we 
 must like senseless and dumb Fishes, run into the net of our 
 own Accord, to facilitate the Labour and Toil of our Fisher- 
 men, in drawing our own Ruin and Destruction upon us. 
 We must, at the same Time, unite with the Members of the 
 Church of England, in promoting their High Church College, 
 in order to get our Youth so freely educated that they for- 
 ever renounce their own Church, and when they get into the 
 Assembly, make us pay for it and feel the Smart of it. Is this 
 a Foundation to build a College upon ? Is this a Basis 
 whereon to fix a Seminary of Learning, in a Free Land, de- 
 signed for a Place of Refuge, for an Asylum to persecuted 
 Souls, in which the incroaching Party is perhaps scarcely 
 a twentieth man at present ? * * * Let us Men, and 
 Brethren, put our Trust in God, and be unanimous among 
 ourselves, and not hearken to domineering parties who en- 
 deavor to divide us ; we have no Business with their Col- 
 leges ; they may erect as many as they please, and must ex- 
 pect to maintain them too themselves." Mr. Marinus' final 
 suggestion that the Dutch could not be despoiled without the 
 concurrence of the Assembly and that they should therefore 
 be particular with regard to their choice of representatives, 
 was too late to be of value to them. A Dutch professorship 
 of theology was added to the institution in June 175 5, but in 
 August of that year the Dutch Consistory censured Dominie 
 Ritzema for having acted in the matter without authority, 
 and the Dutch took no part in the college. Denominational 
 disagreements thus attended the foundation of the college and 
 were without doubt a great hinderance to its prosperity. The 
 chief causes, however, of its weakness in 1789 were the fact of 
 its having been closed during the Revolution, and the poverty 
 which had followed the war. The college was revived by two 
 Acts passed on the ist of May and the 26th of November 
 1784 placing it under the control of the Regents of the State 
 University who were created by those Acts, but, this arrange- 
 ment proving detrimental to it, a new law was passed on the 
 
192 New York City hi 1789. 
 
 13th of April 1787 by which its old charter was confirmed 
 and its management was placed in the hands of twenty-nine 
 trustees who were to hold ofifice until their number was re- 
 duced to twenty-four, who were then to fill the vacancies 
 themselves. These trustees held their first meeting on the 
 8th of May 1787, the income of the college at that time being 
 about £1^2)0' The first stone of the College Building was 
 laid on the 23rd of July 1756, and in May 1760 it was first oc- 
 cupied. The building, which was situated on the blocks now 
 bounded by College Place, Church, Murray, and Barclay 
 Streets, in 1789 formed but one third of the proposed struct- 
 ure and had been considerably damaged during the Revolu- 
 tion by its use for military purposes. It was a three-story 
 stone building with four entrances, having at its west end, on 
 the first floor, a hall in front and a dining room in the rear, 
 with but a slight partition between them. On the second 
 floor, over the hall, was a library the books of which had dis- 
 appeared during the war, and on the opposite side of the 
 building was the apparatus chamber. The third floor con- 
 tained a lecture room, over the library, and adjoining it was a 
 room containing a telescope, microscope, globes, and other 
 scientific instruments. In other parts of the building there 
 were also a chapel, museum, anatomical theatre, and twenty- 
 four suites of apartments consisting of a sitting-room, study, 
 and bedchamber. One description states that there were but 
 twelve such apartments. The middle of the structure was 
 adorned with a cupola and one of the first lightning rods 
 which had been put up in the city. In 1792 an addition to 
 the building was begun and the College occupied the premises 
 until its removal to 49th Street in 1857. The College 
 Faculty in 1789 consisted of: 
 
 President and Professor of Rhetoric, Logic, and Belles-Lettres, Hon. 
 
 William Samuel Johnson, LL.D. 
 Professor of Moral Philosophy , Geography , and the German Langtiage, 
 
 Rev. John D. Gross, D.D. 
 Professor of Mathematics, John Kemp, LL.D. 
 Professor of Greek and Latin, Peter Wilson, 
 Professor of Oriental Languages, Rev. John C. Kunze, D.D. 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 193 
 
 Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, Charles McKnight, M.D. 
 Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, Benjamin Kissam, M.D. 
 Professor of the Practice of Physic, Nicholas Romaine, M.D. 
 Professor of Chemistry, Samuel Bard, M.D. 
 
 The medical department had been established in 1767, 
 chiefly through the efforts of Dr. Samuel Bard. William 
 Samuel Johnson, President of the College, was a son of its 
 first president, and was born in Stratford, Conn., on the 6th 
 of January 1727. After graduation from Yale College in 1744 
 he studied law and soon attained great eminence in jurispru- 
 dence. In 1 761 he received the degree of A.M. from both 
 Harvard 'and Columbia Colleges, and in 1766, when on a visit 
 to England as colonial agent, he received that of J. CD. from 
 Oxford and was also elected Fellow of the Royal Society. 
 He was Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, Member 
 of Congress, a member of the Constitutional Convention in 
 1787, and in 1789 was U. S. Senator from Connecticut, an of- 
 fice which he resigned in 1791. He accepted the presidency 
 of Columbia College in November 1787 and resigned that 
 position on the i6th of July 1800, when he was 74 years of 
 age. He diedjn 18 19 in his 93rd year. 
 
 The requirements for admission to the college in 1789 
 were the ability to render into English Caesar's Commentaries, 
 the four orations of Cicero against Catiline, the first four 
 books of Virgil's JEneid, and the Gospels from the Greek, 
 and to explain the government and connection of the words ; 
 to be able to turn English into grammatical Latin ; and to 
 understand the first five rules of arithmetic. The college year 
 was apparently divided into two sessions, one of which began 
 on the 1 8th of June and the other on the 12th of November, 
 the price of tuition being five dollars for each professor whose 
 instruction was received. Examinations were held quarterly 
 and at one on the 4th of February 1789 orations were delivered 
 on Slavery, Education, Prejudice, Public Spirit, Government, 
 and General Arnold, who was " made as black as the power 
 of language could paint him." The oration on Prejudice was 
 published in full in one of the newspapers. The College 
 Commencement was held on the 6th of May 1789 in the pres- 
 13 
 
194 iWw York City in 1789. 
 
 ence of the President, Vice-President, and Senate of the 
 United States, Governor Clinton, and other distinguished 
 persons, the ceremony beginning with prayer by President 
 Johnson, after which there were the following orations : 
 
 James C. Duane, Salutatory in Latin on the Study of Philosophy and 
 
 Mathematics in Colleges. 
 Matthew Mesier, On the Passions, 
 Peter Mesier, On the Rising Glory of America. 
 William Lupton, On the Advantages of the Discovery of Printing. 
 Henry Izard, On the Necessity of Eloquence for the Preservation of 
 
 Liberty. 
 John Bainbridge, On Happiness. 
 
 John P. Van Ness, On the Progress and Causes of Civilization. 
 John Remsen, On Government, — its Progress from East to West. 
 William Hurst, On the Utility and Study of History. 
 John M. Mason, Valedictory. 
 
 The degree of A.B. was conferred upon these graduates 
 and that of M.A. upon Dewitt Clinton, Philip V. Livingston, 
 Rev. John Basset, Rev. Peter Steddiford, Abraham Hun, 
 Samuel W. Johnson, and R. Alden. The recipients of the 
 degree of D.D. were the Rev. Messrs. Beach, Moore, Gross, 
 and Lynn of New York, Jacobus R. Hardenburgh, and Jere- 
 miah Leaming. The exercises then closed with a charge to 
 the students by President Johnson. 
 
 The college was subjected to some bitter criticism in the 
 newspapers in 1789, especially on account of the small number 
 of its students as compared with other colleges, (Yale had 30 
 graduates in 1789 and Harvard 49) its lack of a sufficient 
 number of instructors, and the fact that its president was a 
 U. S. Senator to the supposed neglect of his college duties. 
 The whole number of students was said to be between thirty 
 and forty. The writer of these criticisms, however was evi- 
 dently actuated by some personal grievance which does not 
 fully appear. A more profound criticism was made by the 
 Hon. Hugh Williamson, M.D., LL.D. of North Carolina, in 
 a letter of September 14th 1789 addressed to President John- 
 son, in which he advised the teaching of natural philosophy 
 and natural history rather than the confining of the course of 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 195 
 
 study to the classics. This wise advice, however, merely- 
 brought on a denominational war in the newspapers in which 
 the " Presbyterian dislike of the classics " was roundly de- 
 nounced. 
 
 In the number of its schools, the city was certainly not 
 lacking, as the directory for 1789 contains the names of 55 
 school-teachers, and there were several others whose names 
 do not appear in it. The oldest school in the city was the 
 Charity School of the Dutch Church, mentioned elsewhere, 
 and the others ranged from Columbia Grammar School down 
 to that kept by " Sam Jones, old soldier and schoolmaster. 
 No. 22 King George Street." Columbia Grammar School, 
 which was probably the best school in the city, was estab- 
 lished May 15th 1784 and was one of two grammar schools 
 which it was proposed to have annexed to the University, 
 each to have two teachers, and, when the pupils became suffi- 
 ciently numerous, to add an assistant. In view of this supe- 
 rior instruction, the price of tuition was to be higher than in 
 common schools. One of these schools was kept by Mr. Ed- 
 ward Rigg and Mr. M'Millan, but the former died in the 
 early part of September 1786 and the latter being called to 
 the Kingston Academy, the school came to an end. The 
 school-room was in the Old City Hall and the scholars were 
 at one time so noisy as to disturb the deliberations of Con- 
 gress which was assembled in an adjoining room. On the 
 26th of January 1784, Mr. William Cochran announced that 
 he had opened a school at No. 23 Maiden Lane in which 
 Latin, Greek, History, and Geography would be taught. In 
 May of the same year this school became the Columbia Col- 
 lege Grammar School and, in December, Mr. Cochran was 
 elected Professor of Latin and Greek in the College itself, 
 holding that position until his resignation in the early part of 
 1789 when he accepted a professorship in Nova Scotia. John 
 Randolph of Roanoke, who was one of his pupils, writes : 
 " Cochran left no one but Dr. Johnson, the president, of any 
 capacity behind him." The first quarterly examination of 
 the school was held on the 9th of August 1784, in the pres- 
 ence of the Regents of the University and clergy of the city 
 
196 New York City in 1789. 
 
 and prizes were awarded to Masters Cochran, Mason, and 
 Woodward. On the 28th of October 1784, Mr. Cochran an- 
 nounced that he had procured an able assistant, Mr. George 
 Wright from Trinity College, Dublin, and in December, the 
 second quarterly examination was held and prizes awarded to 
 James C. Duane, John M. Mason and others, of whom some 
 were graduated from the College in 1789. In March 1785, it 
 was announced that the terms of tuition in the school would 
 be reduced to one guinea entrance fee and seven dollars a 
 quarter, which seems to have been the price in 1789. Other 
 good schools were that kept by James Hardie at No 9 Gold 
 Street, from which thirteen scholars were admitted to Colum- 
 bia College in June 1789; that of Malcolm Campbell at No. 
 85 Broadway, nearly opposite Trinity Church ; and that at 
 No. 19 Little Queen (Cedar) Street kept by Mr. Graham and 
 Laurence Johnson, both of whom made their appearance in 
 the city in 1784 and became partners in April 1787. Mr. 
 Hardie was the author of a Latin Grammar, and Mr. Camp- 
 bell, who had received the degree of M.A. from the Univer- 
 sity of Aberdeen, was the editor of some of the earliest edi- 
 tions of the classics published in New York. He died after a 
 lingerine illness, on the nth of October 1821, at No. 31 
 Liberty Street, in the 63rd year of his age. All of these 
 schools held public exhibitions which were not always satis- 
 factory to their visitors, for in June 1789 complaint was made 
 that the pieces spoken at a recent exhibition were animated 
 by party spirit. The principal young ladies' schools were that 
 of Mrs. Sevvall, opened in June 1788 at No. 89 William Street 
 and removed in May 1789 to No. 5 Crown (Liberty) Street; 
 that of Mrs. Carter, " late of London and Philadelphia," 
 opened in January 1789 at No. 76 Broadway, opposite the 
 City Tavern ; and that proposed to be opened in September 
 1789 by Mrs. Graham, who in the following year occupied 
 the house No. i Broadway. The instruction in these schools 
 was given in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, 
 geography, deportment, plain sewing, embroidery, cloth-work, 
 filigree work, japanning, drawing, painting, music, dancing and 
 French. The charges were about ;^8o a year, including wash- 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 197 
 
 ing, for boarders, ;^50 for half-boarders, and six dollars a 
 quarter for day scholars. The leading French teacher in the 
 city was Monsieur Alexander McDonald who announced his 
 arriv'al from South Carolina in August 1789 and advertised in 
 French for scholars to study English under him. He ob- 
 tained a position in Graham and Johnson's school but appar- 
 ently did not remain long in this city, as he died in Albany 
 in November 1793. Another French teacher was M. Chevalier 
 who came to New York in August 1784 by the advice of 
 Americans whom he had taught at Nantes during the Revo- 
 lution. He also taught Latin after the method of the French 
 Academy, having had long experience in Paris, and in June 
 1789 offered gold watches, snuff-boxes, and buckles for sale 
 at No. 49 Fair (Fulton) Street. John H. Hentz, who had 
 taught in the city and on Long Island for eleven years, also 
 announced in 1789 that he would open a French school when 
 he had obtained twenty pupils. In 1784 he charged a half a 
 guinea a month for instruction given from five to seven o'clock 
 in the afternoon. M. Villette also gave instruction in French 
 and fencing, in Cortlandt Street, the second door from Green- 
 wich Street. Music was taught by Henry Capron who ap- 
 peared in the city in November 1784, at No. 24 Gold Street, 
 and by Mr. Reinagle, a member of the Society of Musicians of 
 London, who came to New York in 1786 and in after years 
 became the musical director of the Chestnut Street Theatre in 
 Philadelphia. John Rudberg also taught the guitar, violin, 
 and clarinet at No. 4 Great Dock (Pearl) Street ; and in De- 
 cember 1789 Mr. P. A. Van Hagen, " organist, carillineur, 
 and late director of the City Concert at Zutphen," announced 
 that he would give lessons on the violin, harpsichord, tenor, 
 violoncello, German flute, hautboy, clarinet, and bassoon, as 
 well as in singing, at the rate of twelve lessons for six dollars 
 and twenty shillings entrance fee. Mr. Van Hagen, who had 
 been a member of the patriotic party in recent troubles in 
 Holland, arrived in New York in October 1789 by the ship 
 Jenny from Amsterdam, being drawn to America by affection 
 for republicanism and probably also by the desire for his de- 
 parture in Holland. His first advertisement in October de- 
 
198 New York City in 1789. 
 
 scribes him as an " organist, klokkenist, and componist," and 
 he was warmly welcomed by the lovers of music in the city. 
 His companion Mr. Frobel also taught music and tuned 
 pianos for five shillings each. Another music teacher was 
 George Gilfert who resided at No. 64 Nassau Street, and the 
 most curious musical character in the city was William Hof- 
 meister, known as Little Billy the Fiddler, a dwarf about 
 four feet six inches high, who in August 1784 announced that, 
 being incapable of other employment, he would teach music 
 of almost any kind, having taken a room at No. loi Broad- 
 way, corner of Fair (Fulton) Street. Clad in a large cocked 
 hat and a huge pair of boots, he is said to have presented a 
 most ludicrous appearance ; but his services were engaged for 
 many parties, and as he claimed to have been a friend of Mo- 
 zart and to have composed one of his sonatas, he was evi- 
 dently quite a musician. Musical instruments were manufact- 
 ured by Thomas Dodd, No. 66 Queen (Pearl) Street, whose 
 advertisement states : " The pianoe-forte is become the most 
 fashionable instrument, and is introduced into almost every 
 polite family in England, and is esteemed a complete accom- 
 panyment to the female voice ; it takes up but little room, 
 and may be moved with ease, and consequently kept in tune 
 with little attention and on that account is superior to the 
 harpsichord." Mr. Dodd manufactured and sold these instru- 
 ments twenty-five per cent, cheaper than they could be im- 
 ported, and in October 1789, when the style of his firm was 
 Dodd and Clause, he announced that he had discovered im- 
 provements which rendered his pianos superior in elegance 
 and sweetness of tone to any yet made. Pianos imported 
 from London were sold by J. Jacob Astor at No. 81 Queen 
 Street. On the 2nd of October 1789 Thomas Vaill advertised 
 that he would open a singing-school at No. 83 Queen (Pearl) 
 Street in the house next above the Friends' Meeting House, 
 and there were doubtless other schools of that kind in the city. 
 Dancing-schools were kept by John H. Hulett, Andrew 
 Picken, and J. Robardet. Mr. Hulett's father, William C. 
 Hulett, had been a dancing-master who came to New York 
 from London about the year 1754 and died in 1785, when the 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 199 
 
 son continued the school which in 1789 was at No. 15 Little 
 Queen (Cedar) Street. He died about the year 181 1, and was 
 succeeded by David D. Hulett. Mr. Picken's first advertise- 
 ment appeared in October 1785 stating that " Mr. Picken, 
 lately from Britain, has opened a dancing-school' at No. i 
 Smith Street corner of Duke." In 1789, his school was kept 
 in the City Assembly Room on the east side of Broadway, a 
 little above Wall Street, where he gave frequent public ex- 
 hibitions at which his scholars showed their skill from half 
 past five until eight o'clock, when the dancing became general, 
 gentlemen's tickets costing six shillings and, with a lady, 
 eight shillings. Mr. Picken died in 1796. Mr. Robardet, 
 who came from Albany, opened his school at Fraunces' Tavern 
 in Cortlandt Street in September 1789. 
 
 Among the schools out of the city which were advertised 
 in the papers were academies at Orange Dale, English Neigh- 
 borhood, and Hackensack, N. J., and on the 3rd of July it 
 was announced that Timothy Dwight would receive six young 
 gentlemiCn and as many young ladies into his family and 
 school at Greenfield, Connecticut. 
 
 Of New York literary men in 1789, with the exception of 
 political writers, there were practically none. Philip Freneau, 
 who was then captain of a merchant vessel, had acquired a 
 reputation as a satirical versifier, and one of his poems entitled 
 " The Pilot of Hatteras " appeared in the Daily Advertiser of 
 November 14th, and perhaps throws some light on the habits 
 of the sailors at that time. After describing the grief and fear 
 of the pilot's sweetheart at his departure, the poet writes: 
 
 " 'Till eastern gales once more awake. 
 
 No danger shall be near ; 
 On yonder shoals the billows break, 
 
 But leave us quiet here — 
 With gills of rum and pints of gin. 
 
 Again your lad shall land, 
 And drink — till he and all his kin 
 
 Can neither sit nor stand." 
 
 The Miscellaneous Works of Philip Freneau were published 
 by Robert Hodge in January 1789. 
 
200 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Samuel Low, born December 12th 1765, and in 1789 a 
 clerk in the Bank of New York, also wrote verses, of which a 
 volume was published in 1800. He was also the author of a 
 play in five acts, which was rejected by the managers of the 
 theatre in 1788 but was published by Samuel Loudon in . 
 August 1789 under the title " The Politician Outwitted." 
 William Dunlap's two plays, entitled "The Father" and 
 " Darby's Return," apparently complete the list of works 
 written by New Yorkers in 1789. 
 
 Two literary societies existed, the oldest of which was the 
 Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, whose ofificers were 
 John Sloss Hobart, president ; Rev. Di". John Rodgers and 
 Dr. Samuel Bard, vice-presidents ; Daniel M'Cormick, treas- 
 urer; Daniel C. Verplanck and Josiah O. Hoffman, secre- 
 taries ; and Dr. James Tillery, librarian. The other society 
 was the LTranian Society, composed of young men and students, 
 including John M. Mason, Jonas Piatt, Thomas Cooper, Peter 
 Mesier, George Graham, John P. Van Ness, James Cochran, 
 Thomas Morris and nine others. In November 1789, Mr. 
 Van Ness, who had been librarian of the society, was charged 
 Avith wilfully retaining several of the books, his room and 
 trunk were broken into by other members of the society in 
 search of the books, and columns in the newspapers were 
 filled with the abuse which he and his opponents heaped upon 
 each other. 
 
 The sole representative of the city as a practical man of 
 science was Christopher Colles, who was born in Ireland about 
 the year 1738 and died in New York on the 4th of October 
 1 8 16. He is said to have left Ireland in 1765, and in 1772 
 was delivering scientific lectures in Philadelphia. In 1773 he 
 lectured in New York on inland lock-navigation and in the 
 following year agitated the subject of water-works in the city, 
 his work in that matter being interrupted by the Revolution. 
 From 1775 to 1777 ^^ gave instruction in gunnery to the ar- 
 tillerists of the American army, and after the war barely sup- 
 ported himself by his skill as a chemist and his mechanical 
 genius. On the 4th of August 1789 he petitioned Congress 
 for exclusive privileges in an invention for counting with the 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 201 
 
 utmost precision the number of revolutions or vibrations of 
 any wlieel or other part of mechanical engines or machines, 
 and in the same year he published a road-book of routes lead- 
 ing from New York in various directions. In the following 
 year he also presented a memorial to Congress praying that 
 he might be employed to make a survey of the roads in the 
 United States. From a report on this memorial made by the 
 Postmaster General in April 1790, it would appear that Mr. 
 Colles' philosophical knowledge, wliich was undoubtedly great, 
 had not been pecuniarily remunerative to him ; the report 
 states that "the ability of the memorialist to execute the work 
 within a reasonable time is evident from what he has already 
 executed ; and as it is the principal, if not the only, depend- 
 ence he has for the support of himself and his family, there is 
 no doubt that he will be as industrious as his slender means 
 will admit." As the amount for which Mr. Colles asked was 
 but an eighth of a dollar per mile for about 3000 miles, or 
 $375 in all, the report advised that the petition be granted, 
 but the project does not seem to have been carried out. To 
 him is attributed the first attempt to build a steam engine in 
 this country, the idea of joining Lake Ontario with the Hud- 
 son River by a canal, and the first formal proposition to 
 establish a system of telegraphic communication along the 
 whole Atlantic coast by means of semaphores. Late in life, 
 through the efforts of John Pintard, he was appointed Super- 
 intendent of the American Academy of Fine Arts. 
 
 Some idea of the remuneration which authors received in 
 1789, may be gained from an agreement between Noah 
 Webster and Samuel Campbell of New York by which the 
 latter, for the consideration of ;^8o New York currency, or 
 $200, was empowered to print and sell for five years from May 
 1788 the first part of Webster's Grammatical Institutes of the 
 English Language or American Spelling Book, in New York, 
 New Jersey, North and South Carolina and Georgia. He 
 was also to be allowed to print and sell the other parts, when 
 completed, for the same consideration as might be offered to 
 the author by others, and at a price not less than that charged 
 by William Young of Philadelphia. 
 
202 New York City in 1789. 
 
 The principal publishers and booksellers in the city in 
 1789 were : 
 
 Thomas Allen, No. 16 Queen (Pearl) Street, corner of the Fly Market. 
 
 Berry and Rogers, No. 35 Hanover Square. 
 
 Samuel Campbell, No. 44 Hanover Square, corner of Old Slip. 
 
 William Durrell, No. 198 Queen Street. 
 
 Hugh Gaine, Sign of the Bible, Hanover Square. 
 
 Harrison and Purdy, No. 3 Peck Slip. 
 
 Robert Hodge, No. yj King (Pine) Street, corner of Queen (Pearl). 
 
 Samuel Loudon, No. 5 Water Street. 
 
 Robert M'Gill, No. 212 Water Street. 
 
 William Morton, No. 231 Queen (Pearl) Street. 
 
 John Reid, No. 17 Water Street. 
 
 James Rivington, No. i Queen Street. 
 
 The books read in 1789 may be judged of by a few taken 
 at random from the advertisements of the booksellers. Thus, 
 Samuel Campbell advertised among other books, American 
 editions of Nicholson's Introduction to Natural Philosophy ; 
 Paley's Moral Philosophy ; Percival's Father's Instructions ; 
 Emma Corbett or the Miseries of Civil War ; Advice from a 
 Lady of Quality to her children, in the last stage of a linger- 
 ing illness; The Night Cap, by Mercier; The Beauties of 
 Dn Johnson; and Falconer's Shipwreck. He also sold a Life 
 of Baron Trenck, with an elegant frontispiece representing the 
 baron in a dungeon, loaded with 88 pounds of iron; an edition 
 of The Lounger, in two volumes, for 12s., which was a little 
 more than half the London price ; and the 12th edition of Web- 
 ster's Spelling Book. In 1786 Mr. Campbell had published 
 a sale catalogue containing the titles of about 5000 volumes. 
 On the 4th of February 1789, Robert Hodge announced the 
 publication of " The First American Novel " entitled " The 
 Power of Sympathy, or the Triumph of Nature." This en- 
 tertaining work was said to be founded on truth, and written 
 in consequence of a remarkable suicide ; it was published in 
 two duodecimo volumes and was dedicated to the young 
 ladies of America. The suicide referred to was that of a 
 young lady in Boston in the summer of 1788, which was fully 
 described in the newspapers and is mentioned in Brissot de 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 203 
 
 Warville's book. In December 1789, Mr. Hodge also offered 
 for sale, at the price of two shillings, a pamphlet entitled 
 " The Resurrection of Laurent Ricci^" a true and exact His- 
 tory of the Jesuits, by "A Friend of Good Government." 
 This was dedicated to the Rev. Father John Carrol, Superior 
 of the Jesuits in the United States. In March 1789, Thomas 
 Allen offered for sale the first volume of the new Encyclopae- 
 dia Britannica, and in May, he announced the publication 
 of Mr. Jerningham's Poems at the price of 2s. 3d. Samuel 
 Loudon sold " The Conflagration," a poem upon the Last Day 
 by the Rev. Benjamin Francis, for is. 6d., and announced 
 that " the elegancy of the stile, the seriousness of the subject, 
 and the object of the performance, must be an inducement to 
 expedite the sale of such a valuable publication." Between 
 January and April 1789, he also sold two editions of Barthol- 
 omew Burgess' Short account of the Solar System. In June 
 1789, Hugh Gaine published and sold Jedidiah Morse's 
 American Geography for 14s. to the public and for a French 
 crown in sheets by the quantity to booksellers. William Mor- 
 ton published " The Cow Chace " by Major Andre, and Har- 
 rison and Purdy issued " The Young Mason's Monitor and 
 Vocal Companion " by William M. Stewart, an American 
 book containing necessary hints for the young brethren and 
 a collection of masonic songs. The book, however, which 
 created the greatest interest in 1789 both in New York and 
 other cities was Dr. Gordon's " History of the Rise, Progress 
 and Establishment of the Independence of the United States 
 of America." This book was first published in London in 
 1788 but in February 1789 Hodge, Allen, and Campbell pub- 
 lished a proposal for subscriptions for an American edition to 
 be issued in three octavo volumes for thirty shillings. The 
 reception which the book met with in some quarters appears 
 in an article copied in the New York newspapers from a 
 Boston source, a portion of which reads as follows: " Much 
 has been said and much still remains to be said concerning the 
 inconsistency, the partiality, the notorious reflections, the 
 mistakes, the redundancies, the manifest errors in grammar, 
 the absurd conclusions, the odd conjectures, and the repeti- 
 
204 New York City in 1789. 
 
 tions which appear in almost every page of Dr. Gordon's 
 History of the American Revolution." The New York pub- 
 lishers, however, were equal to the occasion, published a long 
 advertisement lauding the book to the skies, and doubtless 
 made money through the interest aroused by the criticism of it. 
 
 The longest-established bookseller in the city in 1789 was 
 Hugh Gaine, an Irishman from Belfast, who came to New 
 York about the year 1745, and about 1750 set up a press pur- 
 chased with his savings as an apprentice at nine shillings cur- 
 rency a week. In August 1752 he established a newspaper 
 called the New York Mercury, afterwards called the Gazette 
 and Mercury, of which he continued the publication until 
 1783, remaining in the city during the Revolution. He died 
 April 25th 1807, aged 81 years. His son, John R. Gaine, who 
 was associated in business with him, died in May 1787. James 
 Rivington, was a son of Charles Rivington who in 171 1 
 founded the publishing house of that name in London. He 
 settled as a bookseller in Philadelphia in 1760 and came to 
 New York in the following year. In 1773 he began the pub- 
 lication of a newspaper called the New York Gazetteer, which 
 became obnoxious, and his press was destroyed by Liberty 
 Boys in 1775 \ but in 1777 he resumed the publication of it 
 under the title of the Royal Gazette and remained in New 
 York during the Revolution, expressing the strongest tory 
 sentiments, but, it is said, giving secret information to Wash- 
 ington. In 1783 he discontinued the publication of his 
 newspaper and became a bookseller and tobacconist. His 
 tobacco advertisement in August 1789 reads: "The Gentle- 
 man's Twist is a constant Vade mecum and hilarious Associate 
 of the Cognoscenti and other Amateurs of our All-cheering, 
 delicious Morceau." He died in July 1802, aged 78 years. 
 His portrait is in the Gallery of the N. Y. Historical Society. 
 
 Robert Hodge came to America from Edinburgh in 1 770 
 and opened a printing ofifice in New York in 1773. He re- 
 moved from the city during the Revolution, but returned 
 after the war, and published a number of books jointly with 
 Allen and Campbell. He died in Brooklyn in August 1813 
 at the age of 6'] years, having been retired from business for a 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 205 
 
 number of years. Samuel Campbell was also a Scotchman 
 who began to sell books in New York about the year 1785 
 and died in the city on the 26th of June 1836, aged 73 years. 
 Thomas Allen also made his appearance about the year 1786 
 and continued in business until 1799. Robert MacGill first 
 appeared in Philadelphia in 1771 and removed to New York 
 in 1778 where he continued in business until 181 1, when he 
 removed to Newburg, His wife died on the 14th of June 
 1789 aged 26 years. On the 4th of November 1789, was 
 " married by the Rev. Benjamin Foster, Mr. William Durrell, 
 Printer and Bookseller, to Miss Maria Schenk, daughter of 
 Mr. Abraham Schenk, a young lady possessed of the most 
 amiable qualities, both natural and acquired." Mr. Durrell 
 was still in the printing business in 1823. John Reid ap- 
 peared as a bookseller soon after the Revolution, and died 
 August 19th 1828 aged 64 years. 
 
 In 1784, Samuel Loudon advertised a circulating library of 
 about 2000 volumes, which did not thrive although revived in 
 April 1787; but whether this was in existence in 1789 does 
 not appear. The books of the New York Society Library, 
 founded in 1754 and chartered November 9th 1772, had been 
 stolen and dispersed during the British occupation of the city 
 in spite of repeated warning proclamations on the subject by 
 the British commanders. It is not probable that many of 
 them had been recovered in 1789, but the members of the So- 
 ciety met on the 21st of December 1788, for the first time 
 since 1774, to revive the library, and resolved that new mem- 
 bers should be admitted upon the payment of £^, which had 
 been the sum paid by the original subscribers, and that books 
 to that value should be received in lieu qf money. Their 
 charter was confirmed by an Act passed February i8th 1789 
 which appointed as trustees of the Library : 
 
 Robert R. Livingston. Walter Rutherford. 
 
 Henry Remsen. Matthew Clarkson. 
 
 Robert Watts. Samuel Bard. 
 
 Brockholst Livingston. Hugh Gaine. 
 
 Samuel Jones. Daniel C. Ver Planck. 
 
 Peter Ketteltas. Edward Greswold. 
 
2o6 New York City in 1789. 
 
 In January' 1789, the Common Council gave the Society 
 Library permission to occupy the uppermost room in the 
 southeast part of Federal Hall provided that it were not 
 needed by the General Government, and the library was ac- 
 cordingly opened in the " Library Room of the City Hall " 
 on the 1st of June 1789, one of the chief objects in reviving 
 it being the retention of the General Government in the city. 
 Access could be had to the books on Monday, Wednesday, 
 and Friday from twelve until two o'clock. The librarian in 
 1789 was the Rev. Mr. Wright, minister of Brooklyn, who re- 
 sided at No. 13 Dey Street. In the summer of 1790 this 
 Library had 250 subscribers and contained 3000 volumes. 
 
 American art, both in New York and elsewhere, was in its 
 earliest infancy, and was confined almost entirely to portrait 
 painting. The drawing and painting schools in the city were 
 two in number, that of James Cox, from Albany, at No. 52 
 Beekman Street, and that of Ignatius Shnydore at No. 28 
 John Street. Mr. Cox gave lessons for five dollars a quarter 
 in the painting of coats-of-arms, and of silk, satin and muslin 
 gowns and flounces. Mr. Shnydore gave instruction in the 
 painting of landscapes, figures, and flowers, both in oil and in 
 water color, and also did coach and sign painting, frescoing 
 and gilding. 
 
 The best artist in the city was John Ramage, an Irishman, 
 who came from Boston to New York in 1777 and was con- 
 sidered to be the best miniature painter of his time. He also 
 made life-size portraits in crayon and pastel, but apparently 
 did no large work in oil color. In 1789 he resided at No. 25 
 William Street, and on the morning of October 3rd in that 
 year he had a two hours sitting from Washington for a minia- 
 ture portrait to be made for Mrs. Washington. Of greater 
 subsequent renown was William Dunlap who was born in 
 Perth Amboy, N. J., February 19th 1766. Coming to New 
 York with his parents in 1777 he early developed a taste for 
 art and in 1782 began to paint portraits for three guineas 
 each, including one of Washington in 1783. In the following 
 year, he went to England and, after instruction from Benja- 
 min West, returned to New York in 1787 to occupy himself 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 207 
 
 chiefly in writing plays and in theatrical affairs, becoming 
 manager of the Park Theatre from 1798 to 1805. In 1816 he 
 resumed painting, his chief pictures " Christ Rejected," eighteen 
 feet by twelve in size, and " Calvary," eighteen feet by fourteen, 
 appearing respectively in 1 821 and 1828, His books on the 
 History of the American Theatres, the History of the Arts of 
 Design in the United States, and the History of New York, 
 appeared in 1833, 1834, and 1840; and in 1826 lie was one of 
 the founders of the National Academy of Design. In the 
 N. Y. Packet of Tuesday, February 17th 1789, there appeared 
 the notice : " On Tuesday last was married by the Rev. Mr. 
 Moore, Mr. William Dunlap, an eminent portrait painter and 
 Member of the Philological Society, only son of Mr. Samuel 
 Dunlap, merchant of Queen Street, to the amiable and ac- 
 complished Miss Nabby Woolsey of Fairfield, Conn." Mr. 
 Dunlap died in New York on the 28th of September 1839. 
 Edward Savage, who was born in Princeton, Mass., in 1761, 
 was also in New York in 1789 and painted a portrait of 
 Washington which is still preserved in Harvard University. 
 In his diary on November 21st 1789, Washington writes: 
 " Sat from ten to one o'clock for a Mr. Savage, to draw my 
 portrait for the University of Cambridge, in the State of Massa- 
 chusetts, at the request of the President and Governors of the 
 said University." He also gave him sittings on November 28th 
 and December 6th 1789, and on the 6th of January 1790. Mr. 
 Savage also painted a well known picture of the Washington 
 Family and issued an engraving of it done by Edwin and 
 John Wesley Jarvis. He died in Princeton, Mass., in 1817. 
 The only other professional artist in New York in 1789 was 
 Joseph Wright, who was born in Bordentown, N. J., July 
 i6th 1756, He was a son of Mrs. Patience Wright, who was 
 born in New Jersey in 1725 and attained a high reputation 
 as a modeller of wax figures both in America and in London 
 whither she went with her children about the year 1772. He 
 received assistance in England from Benjamin West and 
 painted a portrait of the Prince of Wales, afterwards George 
 IV. before his departure to France, where he was placed under 
 the care of Benjamin Franklin in 1782. In the latter part of 
 
208 New York City in 1789. 
 
 that year he returned to America and in October 1783, painted 
 portraits of General and Mrs. Washington at Rocky Hill, 
 near Princeton, New Jersey. This portrait of Washington 
 was to be sent abroad to form a part of the military collection 
 of Count de Solms, a petty German potentate, but it is at 
 present, with that of Mrs. Washington, owned in New York 
 City. Mr. Wright also made a plaster cast of Washington's 
 features, which was to be sent to Europe as a model for a 
 bust, but broke it and was refused a second trial by Washing- 
 ton. He came to New York in April 1786, residing in 1790 
 at No. 8 Little Queen (Cedar) Street, but removed to Phila- 
 delphia about 1 791 and died there of yellow fever in 1793. 
 He may have been the person who in May 1790 advertised 
 that the artist who had had the honor of taking the Presi- 
 dent's likeness and executing it as a medal, would take most 
 correct and expressive likenesses in four minutes, and finish 
 them as miniatures in hair. An amateur artist of consider- 
 able skill was the Marchioness de Brienne, sister of the French 
 ambassador, who resided with her brother on Broadway. 
 Both the ambassador and his sister were exceedingly unpopu- 
 lar for some time after their arrival in America in 1787, but 
 in May 1789, Mr. Madison wrote to Mr. JefTerson : " It is 
 with much pleasure I inform you that Moustier begins to 
 make himself acceptable, and with still more that Madame 
 Brehan begins to be viewed in the light which I hope she 
 merits, and which was so little the case when I wrote by 
 Master Morris." Madame de Brienne was the author of 
 beautiful illuminated designs placed in front of the ambassa- 
 dor's house on the night of Washington's inauguration, and 
 on the 3rd of October 1789, Washington states that he "sat 
 about two o'clock for Madam de Brehan, to complete a minia- 
 ture profile of me, which she had begun from memory, and 
 which she had made exceedingly like the original." She was 
 also the painter of a miniature on copper containing the pro- 
 files of Washington and Lafayette. 
 
 The newspapers published in the city in 1789 were five in 
 number, viz. : 
 
 The New York Packet, published after May 1789, on 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 209 
 
 Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, by Samuel Loudon, at 
 No. 5 Water Street. Price of three papers 32 shillings, of 
 two papers 24 shillings, and of one paper 16 shillings a year. 
 
 The New York Journal, published on Thursday by Thomas 
 Greenleaf at No. 25 Water Street. Price two dollars a year. 
 
 The Daily Advertiser, published by Francis Childs at No. 
 190 Water Street, corner of King (Pine) Street. Price six 
 dollars a year. 
 
 The Daily Gazette, published by J. and A. McLean at 
 No. 41 Hanover Square, at the Sign of Franklin's Head. 
 
 The Gazette of the United States, published on Wednes- 
 day and Saturday by John Fenno at No. 9 Maiden Lane. 
 Price three dollars a year. 
 
 Samuel Loudon, the editor of the Packet, was an Irishman 
 who came to New York some years before the Revolution 
 and first entered into business as a shipchandler, but in 1775, 
 set up a printing ofifice and in January 1776, established the 
 New York Packet. Being a strong Whig he removed his 
 press to Fishkill, before the British occupation of New York, 
 and continued the publication of his paper there until the 
 British left New York, when he returned to the city and on 
 the 15th of January 1784 was recommended to the public by 
 the Whig mechanics of the city as worthy of patronage be- 
 cause of his strong attachment to the cause of liberty. He 
 was for many years an elder in the Wall Street Presbyterian 
 Church and continued to edit the Packet until January 26th 
 1792 when the paper was discontinued. He died at Middle- 
 town Point, N. J., on the 24th of February 181 3, aged 86 
 years. 
 
 Thomas Greenleaf, the editor of the Journal, was born in 
 Abington, Mass., and was the son of a printer. Prior to 1787 
 he was editor of the Boston Independent Chronicle, but in 
 that year purchased the New York Journal, founded by John 
 Holt in 1767. He was a sachem of the Tammany Society, 
 and State printer, and continued to edit the Journal until his 
 death of yellow fever on the 14th of September 1798 at the 
 age of forty-two years. 
 
 Francis Childs, editor of the Advertiser, established that 
 14 
 
2IO New York City in lySg. 
 
 paper March ist 1785 and continued to edit it until 1795. In 
 July 1789 he took John Svvaine as a partner in the printing 
 business. Mr. Childs was born in Philadelphia, October 23rd 
 1763, and after the death of his father was kindly cared for by 
 John Jay. He learned the printing trade under Mr. Dunlap 
 in Philadelphia and was sent under Government auspices to 
 Charlotteville, Va,, whence he escaped when the town was 
 surprised by 'the British under Col. Tarleton. After the 
 Revolution he settled in New York and founded the Adver- 
 tiser, which was the first daily newspaper published in the city 
 and the second in the United States, the Pennsylvania Packet 
 and Daily Advertiser having become a daily paper in Phila- 
 delphia on the 2 1 St of September 1784, On the 17th of Feb- 
 ruary 1797 Mr. Childs, who was then residing in Europe, was 
 appointed U. S. Consul at Genoa, but declined that office, 
 although he afterwards acted as a government agent in France 
 and Germany. He died in Burlington, Vermont, in October 
 1830. 
 
 The Daily Gazette was established by John and Archibald 
 M'Lean in December 1788 and was published under the name 
 of both of them until August 5th 1789 when it was continued 
 by Archibald M'Lean alone, John M'Lean having died in 
 Norfolk, Va., on the i8th of May, aged 32 years. In January 
 1789 it began the publication in its columns of the Life of 
 Baron Trenck as a serial story, and on the 12th of August 1789 
 John Quirk, its carrier, fell down in a fit and immediately ex- 
 pired. Mr. M'Lean published the paper alone until January 
 3rd 1797 when he entered into a partnership with John Lang 
 which ended with Mr. M'Lean 's death of yellow fever on the 
 22nd of September 1798. The paper was continued under 
 both of their names, however, until March 1799, when Mr. 
 Lang became sole publisher. 
 
 John Fenno, editor of the Gazette of the United States, 
 was the son of a Boston innkeeper, and being a good penman 
 was first employed as usher in a Boston writing-school, from 
 which occupation he entered into the importing trade, and 
 failed. When the United States Government began its work 
 in New York in 1789, he conceived the idea of establishing a 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 211 
 
 newspaper devoted to news of the General Government, 
 somewhat of the nature of a Court Gazette, and published 
 the first number of it on the 15th of April 1789. He was of a 
 poetical and imaginative temperament, and flattered the fash- 
 ionable members of New York society to the best of his abil- 
 ity, calling down upon himself the ridicule of Philadelphia 
 newspapers because of the number of French words which he 
 introduced In his compositions. On the 14th of October 1789 
 he announced that his paper had about 650 subscribers, a num- 
 ber insufficient to furnish him with a competent support. He 
 transferred the Gazette to Philadelphia upon the removal of 
 Congress to that city, and died there of yellow fever on the 
 14th of September 1798, aged 47 years. All of the newspapers 
 in 1789 consisted chiefly of advertisements and notices of auc- 
 tion sales, to which were added extracts from European news- 
 papers, short clippings from papers in other states, and a few 
 items of city news or a long disquisition upon some religious 
 or political topic. After the opening of Congress its debates 
 were published at length but in a manner not acceptable to 
 the members, as, on the 21st of September 1789 a motion was 
 made in the House directed against Francis Ghilds, John 
 Fenno, and Thomas Lloyd, the editor of the Congressional 
 Register, complaining that they made gross misrepresentations 
 in their reports of the debates. They plead, however, that 
 their errors were unintentional and the motion for excludino- 
 them was withdrawn. There were also a few broad jokes and 
 anecdotes scattered through their pages, and a poem or two 
 with such titles as " On a young lady of great merit who died 
 in obscurity " or " An occasional Reflection on the vanities of 
 Life, and the absence of Friendship." Editorial rem.arks were 
 few in number but at times vigorous in expression. The edi- 
 tors were expected to be non-partisan in politics and to admit 
 in their papers arguments from both sides, but in May 1789, 
 Mr. Childs of the Advertiser became indignant at the articles 
 by one " William Tell " who had been supporting Governor 
 Clinton against the attacks of one " H. G.," and declined to 
 print more of them. " William Tell " then published his ar- 
 ticles in the Packet, and hints were made that Mr. Childs' 
 
212 New York City in 1789. 
 
 motives in excluding them were not of the purest sort, where- 
 upon the latter thus politely dismissed the whole subject in 
 his paper of May 23rd: "The Printer looks down with con- 
 tempt on the person of W. Tell, his political productions and 
 the impotent struggles of his malicious heart. His paper 
 shall no more be open to the artificial passions of a scribbler, 
 equal destitute of decency and of interest in the politics of this 
 state or th§ welfare of this country." Mr. Loudon's paper was 
 the favorite field for the bitter denominational and religious 
 controversies which were raised upon every possible occasion, 
 and evidently excited the disgust of a portion of the com- 
 munity, as, in December 1789, after " Eusebius " and " Juve- 
 nis" had been wrangling over the President's Thanksgiving 
 Proclamation, another correspondent complained that the 
 paper was filled with religious disputes although Mr. Loudon 
 had been warned by his friends against the insertion of such 
 articles. 
 
 In October 1789 the number of papers issued in the United 
 States was estimated at 76,438 weekly, or 3,974,776 annually, 
 which at four cents each, were valued at about $158,991. 
 Quills could be purchased at the factory of Francis Turner, 
 No. 93 Queen (Pearl) Street, corner of Rutgers (Oak) Street, 
 for from four to fifteen shillings a hundred, and paper could 
 be obtained of Berry and Rogers or of James Rivington. Ink 
 was manufactured by Joyce and Snowden who advertised it 
 as of English make until May 1790 when they first ventured 
 to proclaim it an American article. 
 
 In 1789 there was no magazine published in New York. 
 In 1788 Noah Webster published the American Magazine in 
 the city but it soon died from lack of subscribers. 
 
 The State printing was eagerly sought for in 1789 by 
 several of the printers, the laws of that year being printed by 
 Samuel Loudon. On the 8th of January the Assembly re- 
 solved to appoint Thomas Greenleaf state-printer after that 
 session and to pay him 30s. a sheet for 300 copies of the laws 
 and journals, and the further sum of ten pounds for State 
 business, the laws to be printed within two months after the 
 adjournment of the legislature. The Senate did not concur 
 
Education. Literature. Art. 213 
 
 in this and substituted the name of Francis Childs for that of 
 Mr. Greenleaf and after some controversy Mr. Childs received 
 the appointment. In May, Archibald M'Lean, John Fenno, 
 Francis Childs, Thomas Greenleaf and Samuel Loudon all 
 presented petitions to Congress to be allowed to do the United 
 States printing, and Thomas Allen and John Bryce of No. 30 
 Smith Street petitioned to furnish Congress with stationery. 
 The first number of the Congressional Register was printed 
 by Harrison and Purdy for Mr. Lloyd, the editor, and the 
 subsequent parts were printed by Mr. Loudon. The laws of the 
 United States were printed by Francis Childs under author- 
 ity of Congress and sold by him at the price of one dollar for 
 each one hundred pages. Among the printers who died in 
 the city in 1789 was George Carroll, on the 30th of November, 
 who with John Patterson continued the Morning Post for a 
 short time after the retirement of Shepard Kollock from its 
 editorship on the 15th of December 1786. 
 
VII. 
 
 George Washington and John Adams. 
 
 When the electoral votes for President and Vice-Presi- 
 dent had been counted in Congress on the 6th of April 1789, 
 Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, and Sylvanus 
 Bourne, were at once appointed by the Senate to convey the 
 official certificates of election to the successful candidates at 
 Mount Vernon and Braintree respectively. Mr. Sylvanus 
 Bourne was a private citizen of Roxbury, Mass., and was 
 probably appointed as messenger to Mr. Adams because he 
 was about to depart homeward and expense could be saved 
 by entrusting the certificate to his care. He was rewarded 
 by receiving an appointment as consul to the Island of His- 
 paniolaon the4th of June 1790, and on the 28th of May 1794 
 he was appointed vice-consul at Amsterdam, being promoted 
 to be consul-general in the Batavian Republic on the 23rd of 
 June 1797 and apparently holding that office until his death 
 in Amsterdam in the early part of the year 18 17, He was 
 graduated from Harvard College in 1779. Mr. Thomson was 
 authorized to apply to the Board of Treasury for such funds 
 as might be necessary for his journey, but Mr. Bourne was 
 limited to one-hundred dollars toward defraying his expenses. 
 Both messengers started on their mission on the 7th of April. 
 
 Congress then turned its attention to the subject of re- 
 ceiving the President and Vice-President upon their arrival in 
 New York, the first step in that direction being taken on 
 the 9th of April when the Senate appointed John Langdon, 
 William Samuel Johnson, and William Few, a committee 
 to arrange for the reception of the President. On the 13th 
 of April the same committee was empowered to include the 
 reception of the Vice-President in its consideration, and a 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 215 
 
 committee of the House consisting of Egbert Benson, Peter 
 Muhlenberg, and Samuel Griffin, was appointed to act in 
 concert with that of the Senate. The result of their confer- 
 ence was a report which was adopted by both branches of 
 Congress on the 15th of April to the effect that Mr. Osgood, 
 the proprietor of the house lately occupied by the President 
 of Congress, be requested to put it and its furniture in condi- 
 tion for the residence and use of the President of the United 
 States, at the expense of the government ; and that three 
 membere of the Senate and five members of the House be 
 appointed to attend the President from Xew Jersey and to 
 conduct him without form to that residence. It was also re- 
 solved that two members of the Senate and three members 
 of the House should receive and congratulate the Vice-Presi- 
 dent upon his arrival in the city. In accordance with these 
 resolutions, on the i6th of April, the Senate appointed John 
 Langdon of Xew Hampshire, Charles Carroll of Maryland, 
 and William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut, to wait upon 
 the President; and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, and 
 Tristram Dalton of Massachusetts, to wait upon the Vice- 
 President. The House appointed Eiias Boudinot of New 
 Jereey, Theodoric Bland of Virginia, Thomas T. Tucker of 
 South Carolina, and Egbert Benson and John Lawrence of 
 New York to receive the President, while the Vice-President 
 was to be congratulated upon his arrival by Nicholas Gil man 
 of New Hampshire, Fisher Ames of Massachusetts, and 
 George Gale of Mar\'land. 
 
 Mr. Sylvanus Bourne left New York by boat for Boston 
 at six o'clock in the morning of April 7th, arrived in Boston 
 about six o'clock in the evening of April 9th and the same 
 night delivered to John Adams the certificate of his election 
 and the following note from the temporary President of the 
 Senate : 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to transmit to you the informa- 
 tion of your being elected to the office of Vice-President of 
 the United States of America. Permit me. Sir, to hope that 
 you will soon safely arrive here, to take upon you the dis- 
 
2i6 New York City in 1789. 
 
 charge of the important duties to which you are so honorably 
 called by the voice of your country. 
 
 I am, Sir, with sentiments of respect. 
 
 Your obedient, humble servant, 
 John Langdon. 
 
 Mr. Adams left his home in Braintree, Mass., at ten 
 o'clock in the morning of April 13th and arrived at the State 
 line between New York and Connecticut on the morning of 
 April 20th, being conducted thence to Kingsbridge by the 
 Light Horse of Westchester County under command of Ma- 
 jor Pintard. At Kingsbridge he was met by General Mal- 
 colm and the officers of his brigade, the City Troop of Light 
 Horse under command of Captain Stakes, who was acting 
 under brigade orders of March 22nd, many members of Con- 
 gress and citizens in carriages, who formed a procession and 
 escorted him to the house of John Jay, at what was then No. 
 133 Broadway, his arrival at four o'clock in the afternoon be- 
 ing announced by a discharge of cannon at the Battery. At 
 Mr. Jay's house he was welcomed by the committee appointed 
 for that purpose by Congress. On the same day the Senate 
 appointed Caleb Strong of Massachusetts and Ralph Izard 
 of South Carolina to e.'cort Mr. Adams to the Senate Cham- 
 ber and on the 21st of April they did so, John Langdon, the 
 temporary President cf the Senate, meeting him upon the 
 floor and saying " Sir : I have it in charge from the Senate to 
 introduce you to the chair of this House ; and also to con- 
 gratulate you on your appointment to the office of Vice-Pres- 
 ident of the United States of America." Mr. Langdon then 
 conducted Mr. Adams to the chair and the latter made a 
 short address. On the same morning the Mayor and Com- 
 mon Council called upon Mr. Adams in a body to congratu- 
 late him upon his election and his safe arrival. The Federal 
 Constitution having made no definite provision for the taking 
 of oaths of office by Federal officers, with the exception of 
 giving a form of oath to be taken by the President before en- 
 tering upon the duties of his office, neither the Senators nor 
 the Vice-President took any oath of office until the 3rd of 
 
George Washington and Jolin Adams. 217 
 
 June 1789. On that day, in pursuance of the first Act passed 
 by the first U. S. Congress, it was ordered by the Senate that 
 Mr. Langdon administer the oath of ofifice to the Vice-Presi- 
 dent, " which was done accordingly ; " the Vice-President then 
 administered the oath to the Senators. Mr. Adams' wife and 
 son arrived in New York on the 25th of June 1789 and the 
 family took up their residence in the Richmond Hill man- 
 sion at the corner of Varick and Charlton Streets. 
 
 The reception of the Vice-President having thus been dis- 
 posed of with no great ceremony, that of the President was 
 next arranged. In March was begun the building of a mag- 
 nificent barge in which Washington was to be rowed from 
 Elizabethtown Point to the City, and on the 28th of that 
 month the mechanics who had furnished the materials for the 
 Federal Ship Hamilton in 1788 wished to know, from the 
 gentlemen who had employed a person to build the barge, 
 why they had been deprived of that honor, as they were per- 
 suaded as a body that their former services entitled them to 
 that patronage. The barge, which was between forty and 
 fifty feet long and cost between ;^2O0 and ^^300, was launched 
 on the 2 1st April and was pronounced to be " a most masterly 
 construction in its line." Upon his '-emoval to Philadelphia 
 Washington returned it to those wbr presented him with it. 
 In the Massachusetts Centinel of F .bruary 4th 1789 it was 
 stated that the citizens of New York \\ere fitting up the Fed- 
 eral Ship Hamilton as a barge for the President ; which may 
 have been the case so far as some portions of the material of 
 the barge were concerned. 
 
 On the 4th of April one truly democratic citizen published 
 a card in the Daily Gazette as follows : " As the Illustrious 
 President General is soon expected, will it not be more Mag- 
 nificent to receive that great Character as Citizens and 
 Brothers, than with a vain Ostentation of Military parade?" 
 But the majority of the citizens w^ere of an entirely different 
 mind, and after a consultation between the State and City 
 of^cers, an elaborate programme was devised for the Presi- 
 dent's reception. The main features of this programme 
 were : I. The Chancellor, Adjutant-General, and Recorder to 
 
2i8 New York City in 1789. 
 
 receive him at the Jersey shore; II. A salute to be fired from 
 the Battery upon his embarkation ; III. A second salute to be 
 fired upon his passing the Battery; IV. The Governor and 
 State officers, and Mayor and officers of the Corporation to 
 meet him upon landing and to accompany him to his house ; 
 V. Volunteers of the Legion of Malcolm's Brigade, and Bau- 
 man's Artillery to parade in uniform ; VI. Bells to ring for 
 half an hour after his landing; VII. The colors on the Fort 
 and vessels in the harbor to be displayed on the firing of the 
 first salute; VIII. The city to be illuminated from seven to 
 nine o'clock in the evening. On the 22nd of April the Com- 
 mon Council passed a resolution recommending the ringing 
 of the church bells and illumination of the city, and also ap- 
 propriated £\6 for the payment of gunpowder to' be used by 
 the militia upon the President's arrival. 
 
 Charles Thomson left New York early in the morning of 
 April 7th and by diligent travelling reached Mount Vernon at 
 about noon on the 14th of April. An hour later he delivered 
 to General Washington the certificate of his election to the 
 presidency and a note from Mr. Langdon which read as 
 follows : 
 
 " Sir : I have the honor to transmit to your Excellency 
 the information of your unanimous election to the office of 
 President of the United States of America. Suffer me, Sir, to 
 indulge the hope that so auspicious a mark of public confi- 
 dence will meet your approbation, and be considered as a sure 
 pledge of the affection and support you are to expect from a 
 free and an enlightened people. 
 
 I am. Sir, with sentiments of respect, 
 
 Your obedient, humble servant, 
 John Langdon." 
 
 Mr. Thomson also made a short speech of congratulation 
 to which the President briefly replied. General Washington 
 left Mount Vernon on the i6th of April accompanied by his 
 secretary Col. David Humphreys, and Mr. Thomson. On 
 that day he wrote in his diary : " About ten o'clock I bade 
 adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felic- 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 219 
 
 ity ; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and pain- 
 ful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New 
 York with the best disposition to render service to my country 
 in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its ex- 
 pectations." Although he began his journey each day at 
 sunrise the ovations which he received along his route so de- 
 layed him that not until the 23rd of April did he appear at 
 Elizabethtown Point to be conveyed to New York City. On 
 that day he was meet on the Jersey shore by the committee of 
 Congress and by Chancellor Livingston, Adjutant-General 
 Fish, and Recorder Varick, who escorted him to New York 
 in the barge manned by thirteen New York pilots dressed in 
 white uniforms, with Capt. Thomas Randall as coxswain. 
 The names of the branch pilots in 1789, from among whom 
 these thirteen were chosen, were Zacariah Rusler, David 
 Morris, William Van Drill, John Callahan, Robert Eaton, 
 Edward Wilkie, John Funk, Nathaniel Funk, Charles Penny, 
 Peter Parks, Isaac Simonson, Charles Swan, Matthew Daniel, 
 and Thomas Gray. Accompanying this barge upon its pas- 
 sage across the river was one containing Gen. Knox, John Jay 
 and jthe members of the Board of Treasury', and there were 
 other barges and sloops, from one of which arose ravishing 
 strains of music. The editor of the Packet writes : " The 
 voices of the ladies were as much superior to the flutes that 
 played with the stroke of the oars in Cleopatra's silken corded 
 barge, as the ven.' superior and glorious water scene of New 
 York bay exceeds the Cydnus in all its pride. We could with 
 rapture dwell upon this interesting subject, and wander into 
 the fields of fancy for expressions to paint the various and de- 
 lightful appearances that vied with each other at the same 
 time to welcome the Great and Illustrious Man to our now 
 happy city." The singing here referred to was probably that 
 of an ode composed by Mr. Low for the occasion and set to a 
 tune which the newspapers announced as " God save, etc," 
 the first verse being : 
 
 & 
 
 Hail thou auspicious day ! 
 Far let Amenca 
 Thy praise resound : 
 
220 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Joy to our native land ! 
 Let every heart expand, 
 For Washington's at hand, 
 
 With glory crowned ! " 
 
 There were in all five verses of somewhat similar import. 
 The Spanish sloop-of-war Galveston, which lay in the harbor 
 with only her own flag displayed, fired a salute of thirteen 
 guns as the President's barge passed, and at once displayed 
 all the flags known among foreign nations. Mr. Arnold H. 
 Dohrman's ship North Carolina and the other vessels in the 
 harbor were decorated, and the schooner Columbia just arrived 
 from Charleston, Philip Freneau, captain, sailed up the Bay 
 with her colors flying. As the President passed the Battery 
 he was saluted with thirteen guns. At Murray's Wharf near 
 the foot of Wall Street, where a pair of carpeted stairs had 
 been erected, thirteen more guns were fired as he landed and 
 was received by the Governor and State officers and by the 
 Mayor and Aldermen. A procession was then formed which 
 escorted him from the wharf to his residence in the following 
 order : 
 
 Col. Morgan Lewis, accompanied by Majors Morton and Van Home. 
 
 City Troop of Dragoons under Capt. Stakes. 
 
 German Grenadiers under Capt. Scriba. 
 
 Music. 
 
 Infantry under Captains Swartwout and Steddiford. 
 
 Grenadiers under Capt. Harsin. 
 
 Col. Bauman at the head of the Regiment of Artillery. 
 
 Music. 
 
 General Malcolm and Aide. 
 
 Officers in uniform, not on duty. 
 
 Committee of Congress. 
 
 The President, and Governor Clinton. 
 
 The President's suite. 
 
 Officers of the State. 
 
 The Mayor and Aldermen. 
 
 The French and Spanish Ambassadors 
 
 in their carriages. 
 
 An amazing concourse of citizens. 
 
 An excellent account of the whole ceremony of receiving 
 the President is to be found in a fragment of a letter written 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 221 
 
 at the time by Dr. James Loyd Cogswell and published in 
 the Historical Magazine for August i860, which reads as fol- 
 lows : " I think that you may esteem it as a mark of no small 
 consideration that I should sit down between six and seven 
 o'clock amidst the hurry and bustle of the joy that pervades 
 every breast upon the arrival of the puissant General and illus- 
 trious President Washington, to write to you and give you 
 some account (and you must expect but a very faint one) of 
 what took place upon his arrival. I informed you last night 
 that he was to embark at Elizabeth Town this day. The 
 time he embarked was announced by the discharge of cannon 
 at Elizabeth Town. The Spanish packet fell down below 
 the Battery. About half after three, the General's barge 
 rowed by thirteen men in uniform passed the packet. As 
 soon as they had passed, the packet fired and displayed her 
 colors. The General's barge had an awning hung round with 
 red morene curtains, festooned. It was attended with the 
 New Haven and Rhode Island packets and a number of boats 
 and barges decorated in the most beautiful manner. From 
 the Battery to the Coffee House, where the General landed, 
 the ships, docks and houses were crowded with people as 
 thick as they could stand. The guns of the Battery were 
 fired as soon as the General passed, and all the people upon 
 the Battery gave three huzzas. The cheers were continued 
 along the Battery unto the place of landing, as the barge 
 passed. I was on board Capt. Woolsey's ship, which lies in the 
 slip by the Coffee House, and had a very fine prospect. The 
 successive motion of the hats from the Battery to the Coffee 
 House, was like the rolling motion of the sea, or a field of 
 grain waving with the wind when the sun is frequently inter- 
 cepted with a cloud. A pair of elegant stairs, with the sides 
 covered and carpeted, were erected to land the General safe 
 upon the dock. Immediately upon his landing, thirteen guns 
 were fired from the dock, and the whole city rung with re- 
 peated huzzas. As soon as he had landed I hastened home, 
 where I had left Mrs. Broome and her flock. The procession 
 immediately formed and proceeded from the Coffee House 
 into Queen Street and then to the President's House. The 
 
222 New York City in 1789. 
 
 Light Infantry, Grenadiers, (I should have mentioned the 
 light-horse first), and train of artillery, led on the procession. 
 The officers in uniform, not on duty, followed. The General 
 walked after them at the right hand of Governor Clinton. 
 Then followed the principal officers of state, members of Con- 
 gress, clergy and citizens. The General was dressed in blue, 
 with buff-colored under-clothes. The procession moved very 
 slow and with great solemnity. The windows, stoops, and 
 streets were crowded, the latter so closely you might have 
 walked upon people's heads for a great distance. Notwith- 
 standing all the exertion of the guard to keep the crowd ofT, 
 they were so wedged in by Embree's corner that they could 
 not move for some time. The General was obliged to wipe 
 his eyes several times before he got into Queen Street. After 
 they had tarried some time at the President's house, he re- 
 turned in a coach and dined with Governor Clinton. It is 
 now half after nine o'clock. Since I began this letter I had a 
 call to visit a sick person in Beaver Street. I walked up 
 Queen and Wall Streets and round by the new buildings 
 back through Hanover Square. Every house is illuminated 
 except those of the Quakers. The appearance is brilliant be- 
 yond description. Sir Jno's house makes a grand appearance. 
 The houses in Wall Street look very well, City Hall in par- 
 ticular. The new buildings of McComb and Edgar exceed 
 any. Notwithstanding the rain, the streets were filled with 
 men, women and children. A great variety of taste has been 
 displayed in the arrangement of candles^ — some are in the 
 form of a pyramid — some in one shape, and some in another. 
 A great number of figures and curious mottos are to be seen. 
 Among the rest one at Mr. Scriba's large brick house, at the cor- 
 ner of the Fly Market, took my attention : in one window was 
 a building supported by beautiful columns, with the names of 
 the respective States upon them, supporting it ; on a window 
 on the right was wrote in an oval neatly decorated 'Vivat 
 our Illustrious President George Washington;' on the left " 
 here the letter ends. Another account by an eye-wit- 
 ness is to be found in the Diary of Miss Eliza Morton, after- 
 wards Mrs. Josiah Quincy, who was about fifteen years of age 
 
George Washington and JoJm Adams. 223 
 
 in 1789 and wrote her diary in 1821 with the assistance of her 
 mother who, at the time of writing, was 83 years of age. She 
 writes : " After the Federal Constitution was adopted, I re- 
 member seeing General Washington land on the 23rd of April 
 1789, and make his entrance into New York, when he came to 
 take the office of President of the United States. I was at a 
 window in a store on the wharf where he was received. Car- 
 pets were spread to the carriage prepared for him ; but he pre- 
 ferred walking through the crowded streets, and was attended 
 by Governor Clinton and many officers and gentlemen. He 
 frequently bowed to the multitude, and took off his hat to 
 the ladies at the windows, who waved their handkerchiefs, 
 threw flowers before him, and shed tears of joy and congratu- 
 lation. The whole city was one scene of triumphal rejoicing. 
 His name in every form of decoration appeared on the fronts 
 of the houses ; and the street through which he passed to the 
 Governor's mansion was ornamented with flags, silk banners 
 of various colours, wreaths of flowers, and branches of ever- 
 greens. Never did any one enjoy such a triumph as Wash- 
 ington, who, indeed, 'read his history in a nation's eyes.'" 
 On the following day the editor of the Daily Advertiser 
 wrote: " On this great occasion the hand of industry was sus- 
 pended and the various pleasures of the capital were con- 
 centred to a single enjoyment. Every mind was filled with 
 one idea and every heart swelled with one emotion. Ab- 
 sorbed and agitated by the sentiment which our adored leader 
 and ruler inspired, the printer apprehends that he cannot with 
 perfect precision describe the various scene of splendour which 
 this event exhibited. The eye could not rove with freedom 
 through the various parts of this scene. One great object en- 
 gaged it and WASHINGTON arrested and fixed its gaze." Mr. 
 Fenno, of the United States Gazette, saw and heard some of 
 the pathetic events of the day, and wrote : " Many persons 
 who were in the crowd on Thursday were heard to say that 
 they should now die contented — nothing being wanted to 
 complete their happiness, previous to this auspicious period, 
 but the sight of the Savior of his Country. * * * Some 
 persons advanced in years, who hardly expected to see the 
 
224 A>z£^ York City in 1789. 
 
 illustrious President of the United States till they should 
 meet him in Heaven, were in the concourse on Thursday, and 
 could hardly restrain their impatience at being deprived in a 
 measure of their gratification by the eagerness of the multi- 
 tudes of children and young people who probably might long 
 enjoy the blessing." 
 
 Washington's own feelings upon this occasion, as recorded 
 in his diary and quoted by Mr. Irving, were these : " The dis- 
 play of boats which attended and joined us on this occasion, 
 some with vocal and some with instrumental music on board ; 
 the decorations of the ships, the roar of cannon, and the loud 
 acclamations of the people which rent the skies, as I passed 
 along the wharves, filled my mind with sensations as painful 
 (considering the reverse of this scene, which may be the case 
 after all my labors to do good) as they are pleasing." 
 
 By a curious coincidence the 23rd of April 1789 — the day 
 upon which Washington made this triumphal entry into New 
 York City — was observed in Great Britain as a day of thanks- 
 giving for the recovery of his mind by George III. whose ob- 
 stinate folly had resulted in the independence of the nation 
 over which Washington was to preside. The procession on 
 the 23rd of April dispersed at the President's house, but he 
 there received the congratulations of a number of distinguished 
 gentlemen, after which he was quietly driven to Governor 
 Clinton's house to dine. On the loth of March 1789 the 
 Governor had written to him inviting him to reside with him 
 after his arrival in New York until he could arrange for a 
 residence of his own, but Washington declined the invitation 
 on the ground that no private family should be so burdened 
 and that it would not be proper for him to impose upon an 
 individual when supported at public expense. He then wrote 
 to Mr. Madison requesting him to obtain lodgings for him or 
 rooms in a tavern in which he might give entertainments 
 worthy of his position. The matter, however, was settled by 
 the request of Congress to Mr. Osgood to fit up for the 
 President's use the house, No. 3 Cherry Street, which had 
 been used by former Presidents of Congress. This house had 
 been built in 1770 by Walter Franklin, an old merchant in 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 225 
 
 the city, and upon his death had passed into the posses- 
 sion of Mr. Samuel Osgood, who was appointed Post-master 
 General in September 1789. It stood on the north side of 
 Cherry Street several doors east of the present Franklin 
 Square which received its name in March 1817 in honor of 
 Benjamin Franklin, its former appellation having been St. 
 George's Square. The house was square, five windows wide, 
 and three stories high, but was neither very spacious nor con- 
 veniently situated. On the 25th of July persons having ac- 
 counts for goods furnished or repairs made to this house were 
 notified to present them to Andrew G. Fraunces at No. 69 
 Crown (Liberty) Street near the bathing-house in the North 
 River. The President removed from Cherry Street to the 
 McComb house on Broadway in 1790. The Franklin house 
 was in after years used as a music store and by the Franklin 
 Bank, and was demolished in the summer of 1856, at which 
 time the chair now used by the President of the New York 
 Historical Society was constructed from its materials. The 
 first visit of congratulation which Washington received in this 
 house was that of the members of the Chamber of Commerce 
 who, with John Broome at their head, marched thither on the 
 25th of April 1789, and congratulated him upon his election 
 and arrival and pledged the support of the Chamber to his 
 administration. He briefly thanked the visitors, after which 
 every member of the Chamber was introduced to him. 
 
 On the day of the President's arrival, the question of the 
 title by which he was to be addressed and the time, place, and 
 manner in which, and by whom the oath of ofifice should be 
 administered to him, was entrusted by the Senate to a com- 
 mittee consisting of Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, Ralph 
 Izard of South Carolina, and Tristram Dalton of Massachu- 
 setts. On the 25th of April the House appointed a similar 
 committee, consisting of Egbert Benson of New York, Fisher 
 Ames of Massachusetts, and Daniel Carroll of Maryland, to 
 confer with that of the Senate. The question of the Presi- 
 dent's title was one which vexed Congress for a number of 
 weeks, the Senate wishing to call him " His Highness the 
 President of the United States, and Protector of their Liber- 
 
226 New York City in 1789. 
 
 ties," while the House refused to give him any other title 
 than that used in the Constitution, " The President of the 
 United States," Washington's own desire was to be called 
 " His Mightiness the President of the United States," and he 
 is said to have never forgiven Mr. Muhlenberg, the Speaker 
 of the House, for some facetious remarks concerning that title. 
 The matter was not settled until after the inauguration, the 
 last step taken in it being the appointment of conference com- 
 mittees which never made a final report. The other matters 
 were arranged by a report of the committees on the 25th of 
 April to the effect that the President placed himself in the 
 hands of Congress, and that it appeared to be best that the 
 oath should be administered on Thursday April 30th in the 
 Representatives Chamber by the Chancellor of the State of 
 New York. The President was to be received by both Houses 
 in the Senate Chamber and then escorted by them to the 
 Representatives Chamber, which was more spacious. The 
 committees also recommended that the whole arrangement 
 of the inauguration ceremony be placed in charge of a joint 
 committee, of which they were at once re-appointed as mem- 
 bers. On the same day Bishop Provoost was chosen as chap- 
 lain by the Senate and signified his acceptance of the office ; 
 there were to be two chaplains of Congress, who were to be 
 of different denominations and to officiate during alternate 
 weeks in the Senate and House, but the House did not elect 
 Dr. Linn until the ist of May, his election then causing con- 
 siderable bitterness on the part of the followers of Dr. Rod- 
 gers who was also a candidate for the office. On the 27th of 
 April, the committee of arrangement reported that it appeared 
 to be better that the oath should be administered in the outer 
 gallery adjoining the Senate Chamber rather than in the 
 Representatives Chamber, and their report was approved. 
 They also recommended that, after the administration of the 
 oath, the President attended by the Vice-President, Senate, 
 and House of Representatives, should proceed to St. Paul's 
 Chapel where divine service should be performed by the chap- 
 lains of Congress already appointed. The House changed the 
 words " chaplains of Congress already appointed " to " chap- 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 227 
 
 lain of Congress," and this plan was agreed to. The official 
 programme was prepared on the 29th of April, its first provi- 
 sion being the appointment of Gen. Samuel B. Webb, Col. 
 Smith, Lieutenant Colonel Fish, Lieutenant Colonel Franks, 
 Major L'Enfant, Major Bleecker, and Mr. John R. Livingston 
 to act as assistants on the occasion, it being their duty to keep 
 the passages to Federal Hall open, and to obtain the service of 
 the constables or militia. All of these gentlemen apparently 
 accepted this appointment, with the exception of Major L'En- 
 fant, who declined it. A chair for the President (which is now 
 in the City Hall) was to be placed in the Senate Chamber, 
 with one for the Vice-President at his right, and one for the 
 Speaker at his left hand, the Senators to sit opposite their 
 presiding officer and the Representatives opposite the Speaker. 
 Seats were also to be provided in the Senate Chamber for 
 Cyrus Griffin, late President of Congress; Gen. Arthur St. 
 Clair, Governor of the Western Territory ; John Jay, Secre- 
 tary for Foreign Affairs; Gen. Henry Knox, Secretary for 
 War ; Samuel Osgood, Arthur Lee, and Walter Livingston, 
 Commissioners of the Treasury ; The Minister Plenipotentiary 
 of France ; the Encargado de Negocios of Spain ; the Gov- 
 ernor, Lieut. Governor, Chancellor, Chief Justice and Judges 
 of the New York Supreme Court ; and the Mayor of the city. 
 One of the Assistants was to wait upon these gentlemen and 
 to inform them that no precedence of seats was intended, and 
 that no salutation was expected from them upon entering or 
 leaving the Senate Chamber. The committees were to escort 
 the President from his residence to the Senate Chamber, to 
 be there received by the Vice-President, the Senators and 
 Representatives rising, and to be conducted to his chair by 
 the Vice-President. Upon his going to the gallery to take the 
 oath he was to pass through the middle door, attended by the 
 Vice-President and followed by the Chancellor of the State of 
 New York, the Senators passing through the door upon the 
 right and the Representatives through that upon the left hand. 
 Other persons who had been admitted to the Senate Cham.ber 
 were then to enter the gallery, if they so wished, by the right 
 hand door. Pews in St. Paul's Chapel were to be reserved 
 
228 New York City in ijSg. 
 
 for the President, Vice-President, Speaker, Committees, Sena- 
 tors and Representatives, After the service the President 
 was to be received at the door of the church by the commit- 
 tees and escorted by them in carriages to his residence. 
 
 The aggregation of exciting events in the city during the 
 week in which the inauguration took place exceeded any 
 since the departure of the British in 1783. A bitterly con- 
 tested State election on Tuesday and a presidential inaugura- 
 tion on Thursday combined to turn it topsy-turvy. Strangers 
 poured in from all directions and more than exhausted the ac- 
 commodations which the city could offer. And yet, if every 
 man, woman, and child inhabiting Manhattan Island in 1789 
 assembled to do honor to Washington, their number did not 
 exceed that to be found in the political processions by which 
 a small portion of the population displays its party-spirit in 
 our own time. 
 
 A few days before the inauguration, the ministers of the 
 city churches, with the exception of Bishop Provoost, ar- 
 ranged to hold services at the same hour in all the churches 
 on the morning of the day of the inauguration. The bishop 
 aroused sneers in certain quarters by very properly stating 
 that he would wait to see what arrangement the Government 
 would make with regard to public service. The proposal to 
 have a display of fireworks in the evening was looked upon 
 with some alarm because of the danger of fire and accident. 
 Before Washington reached Philadelphia, on his way to New 
 York, he had been requested by some Philadelphians to use 
 his influence against a similar exhibition in that city, but had 
 declined on the ground that the matter was one to be settled 
 by the citizens themselves. The same fear also prevailed in 
 New York, and a request was published in one of the news- 
 papers that citizens would not bring their horses into the 
 crowd watching the fireworks, as, on a former occasion, a life 
 had been lost through the reckless driving of a coach. 
 
 At sunrise on the 30th of April 1789 a salute was fired 
 from the Battery and at nine o'clock in the morning services, 
 which lasted for about an hour, were held in all the churches. 
 About twelve o'clock Congress assembled at Federal Hall 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 
 
 229 
 
 and the procession which was to escort Washington thither 
 formed there and proceeded to his house in the following 
 order : 
 
 Troop of Horse. 
 
 Assistants. 
 
 Committee of Representatives. 
 
 Committee of Senators. 
 
 Gentlemen to be admitted into Senate Chamber. 
 
 Gentlemen in Coaches. 
 
 Citizens on foot. 
 
 At his house the President joined the procession in a car- 
 riage drawn by four horses and it returned to Federal Hall by- 
 way of Queen and Great Dock (Pearl) Streets to Broad 
 Street and up the latter to Wall Street in the following 
 order : 
 
 Col. Morgan Lewis, attended by two officers. 
 
 Capt. Stakes with the Troop of Horse. 
 
 Artillery. 
 
 Major Van Home. 
 
 Grenadiers under Capt. Harsin. 
 
 German Grenadiers under Capt. Scriba. 
 
 Major Bicker. 
 
 Infantry of the Brigade. 
 
 Major Chrystie. 
 
 Sheriff Boyd on horseback 
 
 Committee of the Senate. 
 
 The President. ) 
 
 His Suite. j 
 
 Committee of Representatives. 
 
 Hon. John Jay. 
 
 General Knox. 
 
 Chancellor Livingston. 
 
 Several gentlemen of distinction. 
 
 o 
 
 n 
 
 Assistants. 
 
 Assistants. 
 
 n 
 
 
 When the head of the procession reached Federal Hall 
 the troops opened their ranks, through which the President 
 entered the building. The details of the proceedings within 
 the Hall are best described in the Senate Journal, as follows : 
 " Mr. Lee, in behalf of the committee appointed to take order 
 for conducting the ceremonial of the formal reception, &c., of 
 the President of the United States, having informed the Sen- 
 
230 New York City in 1789, 
 
 ate that the same was adjusted, the House of Representatives 
 were notified that the Senate were ready to receive them in the 
 Senate Chamber to attend the President of the United States 
 while taking the oath required by the Constitution. Where- 
 upon the House of Representatives, preceded by their Speaker, 
 came into the Senate Chamber and took the seats assigned 
 them ; and the joint committee preceded by their chairman, 
 agreeably to order, introduced the President of the United 
 States into the Senate Chamber, where he was received by 
 the Vice-President, who conducted him to the Chair, when 
 the Vice-President informed him that the Senate and House 
 of Representatives of the United States were ready to attend 
 him to take the oath required by the Constitution and that 
 it would be administered by the Chancellor of the state of 
 New York. To which the President replied that he was 
 ready to proceed, and being attended to the gallery in front 
 of the Senate Chamber by the Vice-President and Senators, 
 the Speaker and Representatives, and the other public char- 
 acters present, the oath was administered. After which the 
 Chancellor proclaimed, ' Long live George Washington, Presi- 
 dent of the United States' " The oath or affirmation required 
 of the President by the Constitution is " I do solemnly swear 
 (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of Presi- 
 dent of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability 
 preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
 States." The taking of the oath by Washington was an act 
 the solemnity of which made the deepest impression both upon 
 him and upon those who witnessed it. One of the latter 
 writes : " It would seem extraordinary that the administration 
 of an oath — a ceremony so very common and familiar — should 
 in so great a degree excite the public curiosity. But the cir- 
 cumstances of his election — ■the impression of his past circum- 
 stances — the concourse of spectators — the devout fervency 
 with which he repeated the oath — and the reverential manner 
 in which he bowed down and kissed the sacred volume — all 
 these conspired to render it one of the most august and inter- 
 esting spectacles ever exhibited on this globe. It seemed 
 from the number of witnesses to be a solemn appeal to heaven 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 231 
 
 and earth at once. Upon the subject of this great and good 
 man, I may, perhaps, be an enthusiast ; but I confess that I 
 was under an awful and religious persuasion that the gracious 
 Ruler of the universe was looking down, at that moment, 
 with peculiar complacency on an act which to a part of his 
 creatures was very important. Under this impression, when 
 the chancellor pronounced, in a very feeling manner, * Long 
 live George Washington,' my sensibility was wound up to 
 such a pitch that I could do no more than wave my hat with 
 the rest, without the power of joining in the repeated acclama- 
 tions which rent the air." The contemporary accounts of the 
 scene when Washington took the oath are few in number and 
 those which have been printed are not very satisfactory. It 
 is said that John Randolph of Roanoke wrote a description of 
 the event to friends in Virginia which was a model in that 
 style of writing, but the letter does not appear to have been 
 printed although it was passed from hand to hand in the neigh- 
 borhood in which it was received. William Dunlap was also 
 present at the time and in after years inserted a brief descrip- 
 tion of the ceremony in his History of New York, and it is 
 said that his portfolio contained sketches of the scene, contain- 
 ing figures and costumes as he saw them. Another person 
 who was present was Dr. W. W. Buchanan, who was a godson 
 of Washington, having been baptized in his arms at Morris- 
 town, N. J., on the 4th of June 1777. In a letter written 
 from Scotland in i860 and published in the Historical Maga- 
 zine for May in that year. Dr. Buchanan states : " In those 
 days the corner house of Wall and Broad Streets was entered 
 from Broad Street, and was a police office and watch-house. 
 From its stoop I witnessed the oath of office administered by 
 Chancellor Livingston to George Washington. The next 
 house was occupied by a rush-bottom chairmaker. A door or 
 two below that, left hand side, was the Nestor of our profes- 
 sion, the venerable doctor Anthon, and a door or two lower 
 still was Mrs. McLean's." The best account is that given in 
 Mrs. Quincy's diary, although written a number of years after 
 the event : " On the 30th of April, when Washington took 
 the oath of office as President of the United States, the cere- 
 
232 New York City in 1789. 
 
 • 
 
 mony took place in the balcony of the Old Federal Hall, as 
 it was afterwards named, which stood in the centre of four 
 streets. I was on the roof of the first house in Broad Street, 
 which belonged to Captain Prince, the father of one of my 
 school companions ; and so near to Washington that I could 
 almost hear him speak. The windows and roofs of the houses 
 were crowded ; and in the streets the throng was so dense, 
 that it seemed as if one might literally walk on the heads of 
 the people. The balcony of the hall was in full view of this 
 assembled multitude. In the centre of it was placed a table, 
 with a rich covering of red velvet ; and upon this on a crimson 
 velvet cushion, lay a large and elegant Bible. This was all 
 the paraphernalia for the august scene. All eyes were fixed 
 upon the balcony ; where, at the appointed hour, Washing- 
 ton entered, accompanied by the Chancellor of the State of 
 New York, who was to administer the oath ; by John Adams, 
 the Vice-President ; Governor Clinton ; and many other dis- 
 tinguished men. By the great body of the people he had 
 probably never been seen, except as a military hero. The first 
 in war was now to be first in peace. His entrance upon the 
 balcony was announced by universal shouts of joy and wel- 
 come. His appearance was most solemn and dignified. Ad- 
 vancing to the front of the balcony, he laid his hand upon his 
 heart, bowed several times, and then retired to an arm chair 
 near the table. The populace appeared to understand that 
 the scene had overcome him, and were at once hushed in pro- 
 found silence. After a few moments, Washington arose and 
 came forward. Chancellor Livingston read the oath accord- 
 ing to the form prescribed by the Constitution ; and Wash- 
 ington repeated it, resting his hand upon the Bible. Mr. 
 Otis, the Secretary of the Senate, then took the Bible to 
 raise it to the lips of Washington, who stooped and kissed the 
 book. At this moment a signal was given, by raising a flag 
 upon the cupola of the Hall, for a general discharge of the 
 artillery of the Battery. All the bells in the city rang out a 
 peal of joy, and the assembled multitude sent forth a uni- 
 versal shout. The President again bowed to the people, and 
 then retired from a scene such as the proudest monarch never 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 233 
 
 enjoyed. Many entertainments were given, both public 
 and private ; and the city was illuminated in the evening." 
 The balcony upon which the ceremony took place, about two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, was decorated with a canopy and 
 curtains of red striped with white. The Bible upon which 
 the oath was taken is now preserved in the keeping of St. 
 John's masonic lodge in this city, and there is a tradition, or 
 more probably a mythical legend, to the effect that, at the 
 last moment, it was found that no Bible had been provided 
 for the ceremony and that this one was hastily obtained from 
 St. John's Lodge. At the time of his inauguration, Washing- 
 ton was in the 57th year of his age, and a slight description 
 of his personal appearance, written at that time, reads : 
 " His person exhibits everything great and noble — he is up- 
 wards of six feet high and exceedingly well proportionate ; he 
 has a majestic carriage, serene countenance, and dark coloured 
 hair, but 
 
 " Now pacing time begins to shed 
 His silver blossoms o'er his head." 
 
 He appeared on the balcony of Federal Hall dressed in a 
 dark-brown suit, with white silk stockings and silver shoe- 
 buckles, while at his side there hung a steel-hilted sword. His 
 hair was powdered and worn in a queue behind. The clothes 
 which he wore were of American manufacture and were prob- 
 ably those of the purchase of which from the factory at Hart- 
 ford he speaks in a letter written from Mt. Vernon shortly 
 before coming to New York. The fact that they were of Am- 
 erican make was considered to be so important that the editor 
 of the United States Gazette specially apologized for omitting 
 to mention it in his first account of the inauguration. He 
 states that they were of a homespun fabric so fine in quality as 
 to be universally mistaken for foreign manufactured superfine 
 cloth, and that the Vice-President also appeared in a suit of 
 American cloth. His poetic remarks upon the subject were ; 
 
 " From this bright Era, see Columbia rise ! 
 Her Empire prop'd by him who arched the Skies I 
 Freedom and Independence — Arts and Peace, 
 Shall crown the Scene till Time and Nature cease." 
 
234 New York City in 1789. 
 
 After taking the oath of office, Washington returned to his 
 seat in the Senate Chamber, and, after a short pause, arose 
 and delivered his inaugural address. Of this, Fisher Ames 
 wrote on the 3rd of May : " He addressed the two houses in 
 the senate chamber ; it was a very touching scene, and quite 
 of the solemn kind ; his aspect grave, almost to sadness ; his 
 modesty actually shaking; his voice deep, a little tremulous, 
 and so low as to call for close attention; added to the series of 
 objects presented to the mind, and overwhelming it, it pro- 
 duced emotions of the most affecting kind upon the members. 
 I, Pilgarlic, sat entranced. It seemed to me an allegory in 
 which virtue was personified, and addressing those whom she 
 would make her votaries. Her power over the heart was 
 never greater, and the illustration of her doctrine by her own 
 example was never more perfect." This being finished, the 
 President and Congress proceeded on foot to St. Paul's 
 Chapel, the order of the procession being : 
 
 Troop of Horse. 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 Assistants. 
 
 Doorkeeper and Messenger of Representatives. 
 
 Clerk. 
 
 Representatives. 
 
 Speaker. 
 
 J J President, and Vice-President 
 
 at his left hand. 
 
 President's Suite. 
 
 Senators. 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Doorkeeper and Messenger of Senate. 
 
 Gentlemen admitted into Senate Chamber. 
 
 Sheriff. 
 
 Citizens. 
 
 The Clerk of the House of Representatives was John 
 Beckley, and its Doorkeeper and Messenger were Gifford 
 Dally and Thomas Claxton. The Secretary of the Senate 
 was Samuel Alyne Otis, and its Doorkeeper and Messenger 
 were James Mathers and Cornelius Maxwell. In a letter 
 from R R to his wife in Philadelphia, dated May 1st 
 
 Constables 
 
 and 
 Marshals. 
 
 Constables 
 
 and 
 Marshals. 
 
George Washington arid John Adams. 235 
 
 1789 and published in the Historical Magazine for June 1859, 
 the writer states that the inaugural ceremony took place about 
 one o'clock, and mentions the following incident with regard 
 to the President : " On his way to the church, through a numer- 
 ous collection of spectators I caught his eye, and had the 
 honor of a very gracious bow from him : this from so great a 
 man in so high a station, I thought myself highly honored by." 
 After the performance of divine service suitable to the occa- 
 sion by Bishop Provoost, the President was received at the 
 door of the church by the joint committee of Congress, and 
 attended by them in carriages to his house. The Senate re- 
 turned to the Senate Chamber and ordered a reply to the in- 
 augural address to be prepared by William Samuel Johnson of 
 Connecticut, William Paterson of New Jersey, and Charles 
 Carroll of Maryland. The House of Representatives had al- 
 ready adjourned for the day. In the evening the city was 
 ablaze with illuminations. The transparencies which were 
 displayed were pronounced to be at least equal to anything of 
 the kind ever before seen in America, the exhibition at the 
 houses of the Spanish and French Ambassadors being of es- 
 pecial elegance. The residence of the former was brilliantly 
 illuminated, and with its flowers, shrubbery, emblems, arches, 
 and moving pictures in the windows, afforded a scene of great 
 beauty. The French Minister's house had a bordering of 
 lamps around the windows and doors, and large designs in 
 front. At the Fort there was displayed a finely lighted trans- 
 parency upon which the virtues Fortitude, Justice, and Wis- 
 dom, were severally referred to Washington, the Senate, and 
 the House of Representatives. There was also a transparency 
 at the Theatre, and near the corner of the Fly Market, — prob- 
 ably at the house of George Scriba. In Broad Street there 
 appeared a fine portrait of " The Father of his Country." 
 Federal Hall was brilliantly illuminated, and the ship North 
 Carolina appeared like a pyramid of stars in the harbor, A 
 display of fireworks at the Fort, under the superintendence of 
 Major Bauman, lasted for two hours and included rockets, 
 wheels, tourbillions, fountains, serpents, cascades, and many 
 other pyrotechnic devices. 
 
236 New York City in 1789, 
 
 Having thus been inaugurated, Washington at once turned 
 his attention to the matter of the social etiquette required in 
 his office. Lords and ladies could have been found in a suffi- 
 cient number to grace a royal court, but their hopes in that 
 direction were to be disappointed. On the 5th of May it was 
 announced that he would receive visits of compliment on Tues- 
 days and Fridays between the hours of two and three in the 
 afternoon, and that such visits on other days, particularly on 
 Sunday, would not be agreeable to him. It Avas thought that 
 public business would so occupy his time that he would be 
 unable to return visits or to accept invitations. On the follov/- 
 ing day it was also stated that the President was determined 
 to pursue the same system of regularity and economy which 
 had always marked the management of his household affairs. 
 The steward was obliged to exhibit weekly, to a person 
 appointed by the President, a statement of monies received 
 and paid out, together with bills and receipts. At the same 
 time the following notice appeared : " Whereas all servants 
 and others employed to procure provisions or necessaries for 
 the household of the President of the United States will be 
 furnished with monies for those purposes : — Notice is therefore 
 given that no accounts, for the payment of which the public 
 might be considered responsible, are to be opened with any 
 of them. Samuel Fraunces, Steward of the Household." It 
 was Washington's desire to receive no salary beyond his actual 
 expenses, and, to determine the amount of these, a very strict 
 account of household expenses was kept by him for the first 
 four months of his residence in New York. His total expenses 
 from May 24th to August 24th 1789 amounted to ^1741 9s,, 
 from which it was estimated that his annual expenditure would 
 be ;^4925 7s. or about $12,317. His household consisted of 
 five white servants who received seven dollars a month and 
 liveries costing $29 each ; five black servants, Will, x^ustin, 
 Giles, Paris, and Christopher, the clothes of each of whom 
 cost $46 a year ; two black maids who each received $46 a 
 year ; a housekeeper at eight dollars and three other women 
 at five dollars a month ; a valet at $162 a year, and the stew- 
 ard, who received $25 a month. The salaries of his secretary. 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 237 
 
 assistant, and three aides amounted in all to $2000 a year. In 
 October 1789 an advertisement appeared in the newspapers to 
 the effect that a genteel waiter who could shave and dress well, 
 and was well recommended for honesty, sobriety and good 
 dispositions, would meet with encouragement by applying at 
 the house of the President of the United States, In December 
 another advertisement also appeared, in large type, stating 
 that a cook and a coachman were wanted by the family of the 
 President of the United States, and there seems to have been 
 some difificulty in obtaining the services of satisfactory officials 
 of that sort, as the advertisement continued to appear for at 
 least a month. 
 
 On the morning of May ist Washington received visits 
 from the Vice-President, Governor, Heads of Departments, 
 Foreign Ministers, and many other distinguished persons, and 
 his first appearance on a public occasion after his inauguration 
 was at the Commencement of Columbia College on the 6th of 
 May. On the following evening the subscribers to the Danc- 
 ing Assembly gave a ball and entertainment in his honor at 
 which he was present, the company including Mr. Adams, 
 most of the members of both branches of Congress, Baron 
 Steuben, Marquis de Moustier, Gen. St. Clair, the Commis- 
 sioners of the Treasury, Gov. Clinton, Chancellor Livingston, 
 Chief Justice Morris, John Jay, Gen. Knox, Cyrus Griffin, 
 Mayor Duane, and other distinguished personages to the 
 number of about three hundred, who enjoyed the occasion 
 until about two o'clock in the morning. Thomas Jefferson 
 was responsible for the circulation of a derisive account of this 
 ball in which Mrs. Washington is mentioned as being present, 
 although she did not arrive in New York until May 27th, and 
 in which the antics of Mrs. Knox are ridiculously described, 
 although she too in all probability was not present. Her 
 youngest son, master George Washington Knox, died on the 
 i6th of August following. At this entertainment, which has 
 come to be called the Inauguration Ball although it was an 
 entirely private affair, the President is said to have danced 
 with Mrs. Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Mrs. Alexander 
 Hamilton and Mrs. James Homer Maxwell. A doubtful 
 
238 New York City in 1789. 
 
 tradition, recently revived from a statement to be found in 
 Griswold's American Court, relates that on this occasion each 
 lady was presented with an elegant fan made in Paris and 
 adorned with an admirable portrait of Washington. It would 
 have taken at least three months and a half to obtain the fans 
 from Paris, and it is more than doubtful whether all the shops in 
 New York in 1789 contained one hundred and fifty fans of any 
 elegance, there being probably that number of ladies present. 
 On the I St of May the House of Representatives ordered 
 an address in reply to Washington's inaugural speech to be 
 prepared by James Madison, George Clymer, Roger Sher- 
 man, George Gale, and Egbert Benson, and upon the 8th of 
 that month the Speaker and House presented the address to 
 him in a room adjoining the Representatives Chamber. The 
 address ordered by the Senate on the 30th of April was 
 agreed to on the 7th of May but for some reason was not pre- 
 sented to the President until the 18th of May, when the Vice- 
 President and Senate waited upon him at his house. The 
 Common Council had prepared an address of welcome to him 
 as early as the 27th of April and had then appointed a com- 
 mittee to learn from him at Avhat time it would be convenient 
 for him to receive their congratulations, but were told to 
 wait until Congress had acted. After the Representatives 
 had presented their address. Col. Humphreys, on the 8th of 
 May, informed the Common Council that they could present 
 theirs at any time, and on the 9th of May at 12 o'clock they 
 did so at the President's house. On the nth of May he 
 made his first visit to the John Street Theatre, and on the 
 14th a ball was given in his honor by the French Ambassa- 
 dor, at which the Vice-President, Governor, many Senators, 
 Representatives, and other distinguished personages were also 
 present. On the 15th of May he was visited by the Vice- 
 President, Heads of Departments, Foreign Ministers, State 
 Judges, and others, and on the 22nd a ball was given by the 
 Spanish Ambassador, but the President does not appear to 
 have been present at it. On the 23rd of May he paid a visit 
 to Baron Poelnitz' farm to investigate the working of newly 
 invented agricultural implements and various improvements 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 239 
 
 in farming. Among the novelties was the cultivation of 
 madder, woad, and artificial grasses, while the implements in- 
 cluded Winlaw's threshing-machine and several plows for dif- 
 ferent purposes, some of which Baron Poelnitz held himself. 
 Washington was especially interested in a machine invented 
 by the baron for ascertaining the exact force necessary to be 
 applied to a plow in drawing it through any kind of soil, and 
 he was so pleased with the working of a horse-hoe for weed- 
 ing vegetables, that he ordered one to be made for use at Mt. 
 Vernon. On the i8th of July he also highly commended 
 models of machines for reaping and threshing and for cutting 
 and deepening canals, which were exhibited to him by Henry 
 Harbough of Baltimore. 
 
 For the first month of his residence in New York, the Pres- 
 ident was without the company of his family, but on the 17th 
 of May, Mrs. Washington left Mt. Vernon with her grand- 
 children Eleanor Custis and George Washington Parke Custis 
 to join him in New York. She was received with honor 
 along her route, and one remark regarding her personal ap- 
 pearance when in Baltimore was as follows: "We shall only 
 add that like her illustrious husband she was clothed in the 
 manufacture of our own country, in which her native good- 
 ness and patriotism appeared to the greatest advantage." 
 She was expected to arrive in New York on the 27th of Mayv 
 and at five o'clock in the morning of that day the President, 
 accompanied by Robert Morris and others, set out to meet 
 her at Elizabethtown Point in the presidential barge manned 
 by thirteen pilots in white uniforms, who are said to have 
 rowed the fifteen miles in fifty minutes. She embarked in the 
 barge at Elizabethtown Point at about half past twelve and 
 is said to have been landed at Peck Slip in seventy minutes. 
 She was not expected to reach the City until about four 
 o'clock and the militia who were to escort her were therefore 
 unprepared, but she received a salute of thirteen guns when 
 passing the Battery, was loudly cheered by a throng of citi- 
 zens upon her arrival, and was escorted to her residence by 
 Governor Clinton. In the evening a few rockets were fired 
 in her honor. On the 28th of May the President gave a dia- 
 
240 New York City in 1789. 
 
 ner at which the guests were the Vice-President, the Foreign 
 Ministers, the Heads of Departments, the Speaker, and Sena- 
 tors James Gunn and William Few of Georgia and John 
 Langdon and Paine Wingate of New Hampshire. On the 
 evening of May 29th Mrs. Washington gave her first recep- 
 tion which was attended by Lady Stirling, Lady Mary Watts, 
 Lady Kitty Duer, the ladies of the most honorable Mr. Lang- 
 don and Mr. Dalton, Madame de la Forest, Mrs. James 
 Thompson and her daughter Mrs. Elbridge Gerry, and many 
 other ladies. Mrs. Elbridge Gerry was the daughter of 
 James Thomson and Catherine Walton, and was not the 
 daughter of Charles Thomson, secretary of Congress, and 
 Hannah Harrison, as has been erroneously stated in bio- 
 graphical dictionaries and historical magazines. Soon after 
 her arrival the hour for the President's levee was changed 
 from two to three o'clock for the convenience of public ofifi- 
 cials, and Mrs. Washington held a reception every Friday 
 evening from eight to ten o'clock. It was impossible to 
 please every one in the matter of social arrangements, one 
 point of attack being the fact that visiting the President at 
 his reception was spoken of as " waiting upon the President 
 at his levee." The following was also published in the N. Y. 
 Journal of July 2nd 1789, " As a number of the most inveter- 
 ate enemies to the Independence of this country, attend at 
 every Levee of our Illustrious Chief; an Old Soldier asks 
 from what authority they come into the presence of the father 
 of his country-, attired in Garments stained with the blood of 
 departed prisoners." 
 
 Mrs. Washington's first public appearance, outside of her 
 own house, seems to have been on the 5th of June, when she 
 attended the theatre with her husband. According to her 
 own account her life in New York was very dull. In one of 
 her letters, dated October 22nd 1789 and reproduced in 
 " Curiosities of American History," she writes : " I lead a 
 very dull life here and know nothing that passes in the town. 
 I never goe to any publick place, — indeed I think I am more 
 like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain 
 bounds set for me which I must not depart from — and as I 
 cannot doe as I like I am obstinate and stay at home a great 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 241 
 
 deal." She, however, had admirers, of whom Samuel John- 
 son of North Carolina was certainly one. In a letter dated 
 New York, March 4th 1790, he writes : " I have just left the 
 President's where I had the pleasure of dining with almost 
 every member of the Senate. We had some excellent cham- 
 pagne, and, after it, I had the honour of drinking coffee with 
 his Lady, a most amiable woman. If I live much longer I be- 
 lieve that I shall at last be reconciled to the company of old 
 women for her sake, a circumstance which I once thought 
 impossible. I have found them generally so censorious and 
 envious that I could never bear their company. This, among 
 other reasons, made me marry a woman much younger than 
 myself, lest I should hate her when she grew old ; but I now 
 really believe that there are some good old women," 
 
 A letter dated New York, June 6th 1789, and afterwards 
 printed in a London newspaper, was to the following effect 
 and may have been true, although the New York newspapers 
 apparently make no mention of the circumstance : " His Ex- 
 cellency General Washington our new Congressional Presi- 
 dent, and perhaps I might add Dictator of America for life, 
 gave a very sumptuous entertainment on Thursday the 4th, on 
 account of the recovery of his Majesty the King of Great 
 Britain ; the Envoys of England, France, Holland, and Portu- 
 gal, and persons of the first distinction were present. This 
 very handsome respect to the British Monarch, will doubtless 
 be received as it deserves." Washington's social activity, 
 however, was cut short in June by sickness caused by a malig- 
 nant carbuncle, which compelled him to lie on one side for 
 six weeks and troubled him for a much longer time. At one 
 time in June his illness was so severe that a chain was 
 stretched across the street in front of his house to prevent 
 the passage of vehicles, and Dr. Samuel Bard was in constant 
 attendance upon him for several days. By the 4th of July, 
 however, he was able to stand in the doorway to review the 
 militia and on the 28th of July appeared at the levee, but gave 
 only one levee a week for some time. This was evidently 
 considered by some to be sufificient dissipation, for the corre- 
 spondent of a Boston newspaper wrote on the ist of August, 
 16 
 
242 Nezv York City iti 1789. 
 
 " Our beloved President stands unmoved in the vortex of folly 
 and dissipation which the city of New York presents," In July 
 he was presented with an address of congratulation from the 
 oflficers of Washington College in Maryland, and on the 4th 
 of August received a similar address which had been adopted 
 by the New York Legislature at Albany on the 15th of July. 
 Addresses from all of the religious denominations were also 
 presented to him at the various times when their annual gen- 
 eral conventions were held, and brief replies were made to all. 
 
 On the 1st of September he received the news of the 
 death of his mother at Fredericksburg, Va., on the 25th of 
 August, in the 83rd year of her age. His father had died on 
 the I2th of April 1743. His mother's death caused a brief 
 cessation of the President's levees and he and his family put 
 on "American mourning " recommended by a resolution of 
 Congress, passed on the 20th of October 1774, as follows : 
 " On the death of any relation or friend, none of us, or any of 
 our families, will go into any further mourning-dress than a 
 black crape or ribbon on the arm or hat, for gentlemen, and 
 a black ribbon or necklace for ladies, and we will discontinue 
 the giving of gloves and scarves at funerals." This resolution 
 had been passed in the interest of economy and for the pur- 
 pose of curtailing importations from Great Britain ; but, if 
 ever followed in New York City, it had ceased to be observed 
 there some years before 1789, it being then the custom for the 
 pallbearers and minister to receive scarves at funerals and to 
 wear them to church on the following Sunday. The minis- 
 ters' scarves, at least, were ultimately made into shirts. Some 
 of the members of Congress, however, appeared at the Presi- 
 dent's first levee after his mother's death, wearing mourning 
 similar to that worn by his family. 
 
 Congress adjourned on the 29th of September to meet 
 again on the first Monday in January 1790, and at its last sit- 
 ting, recommended that the President issue a proclamation for 
 a day of thanksgiving, which he did on the 3rd of October 
 fixing upon Thursday, November 26th, as the date for it. 
 This action was criticised as infringing upon the prerogatives 
 of the Governors of the States, but the discussion of the sub- 
 ject in the newspapers did not appear to meet with popular 
 
George Washington and John Adams. 243 
 
 approval. On the 9th of October, the President had a part- 
 ing visit from the French Ambassador, who sailed for France 
 about the 12th of October, and on the 15th of October he 
 himself started out upon a tour of the New England States. 
 According to one who witnessed his reception in one of the 
 towns upon his route, Washington travelled in a post chaise 
 drawn by four bay horses driven by postillions dressed in 
 blanket-coats, liveries, jockey caps, buckskins, and boots. Col. 
 Lear rode on one side of the chaise and Major Jackson on the 
 other, while following it was a light baggage-wagon driven by 
 ' a man in a round corduroy jacket, glazed hat, buckskins, and 
 boots. In the rear there rode on horseback Washington's 
 colored attendant, Billy, leading his white charger. The Pres- 
 ident rode into the towns in his chaise and took his depart- 
 ure from them on horseback. While in New York he did a 
 great deal of walking, took longer expeditions on horseback, 
 and upon special occasions appeared in a canary-colored coach 
 drawn by four white horses, and attended by his secretaries 
 Col. Tobias Lear and Major William Jackson on horseback. 
 There was apparently no stable connected with his house in 
 Cherr}' Street as his horses were kept at a livery-stable at an 
 expense of about eighty dollars a month for all of them. 
 
 He returned from this eastern trip on the 13th of Novem- 
 ber and there was apparently no demonstration made upon his 
 arrival in the city, as '• Rusticus " wrote in the Daily Ad- 
 vertiser: 
 
 " From Eastern climes where smiling genius reigns, 
 And freedom's rays illume the happy plains, 
 Behold our Chief ! with placid brow serene, 
 
 Returned to grace the soft domestic scene : 
 The worthy patriot I shun'd a vain parade, 
 And, unattended, sought the silent shade." 
 
 The Vice-President had departed for his home in Brain- 
 tree, Mass., on the 13th of October and did not return until 
 the first week in December. 
 
 On the 24th of November the President visited the theatre 
 and on the 26th attended ser\-ice at St. Paul's, where there was 
 a very small congregation owing to the bad weather. On the 
 
244 A^^w York City in 1789. 
 
 same day he gladdened the hearts of the imprisoned debtors 
 by making a gift of fifty guineas to the society which furnished 
 them with food that was eatable. On the 30th of November 
 he again visited the theatre, and in December, gave sittings to 
 Mr. Savage for his portrait. On the ist of January 1790 he 
 expressed the greatest pleasure at the New York manner of 
 celebrating that day. 
 
 The New York of 1789 was a small and plain city. Not 
 until 1830 does the United States Census show an excess in 
 the number of its inhabitants over that of Philadelphia. The 
 city buildings of a hundred years ago are now surpassed by 
 those of many a country town. The ravishingly beautiful and 
 highly accomplished women, of whom it is the fashion to 
 speak in a style of gushing sentimentality, were no more 
 beautiful and not half as accomplished as their great-grand- 
 daughters. The magnificent entertainments of that day would 
 now be laughed to scorn. A merchant-prince of 1789 if now 
 recalled to life would find himself surrounded by men possess- 
 ing individually more wealth than could have been gathered 
 from all the city merchants combined a hundred years ago. 
 The learning of distinguished professors of that ♦"''mv is now 
 surpassed by that of many an humble and unknown student. 
 Nor did its inhabitants for many years after 1789 appreciate 
 the magnitude which the city was inevitably to possess. New 
 York in 1789 was not even, like the poet, the mirror " of the 
 gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present." 
 Nevertheless, every line in the much neglected history of the 
 city shows advance and increased prosperity. There has 
 always been progress and never retrogression. We, too, are 
 " in the morning of the times " and as we look, perhaps with 
 amusement, upon the supposed greatness of our predecessors, 
 we may not too rashly sing : 
 
 " Such is Drowsietown — but nay ! 
 Was, not is, my song should say — 
 Such was summer long ago 
 In this town so sleepy and slow. 
 Change has come : thro' wood and dale 
 Runs the demon of the rail, 
 And the Drowsietown of yore 
 Is not drowsy any more ! " 
 
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