LIBRARY OF CX)NGRESS DDDD5HaE103 PHILADELPHIA MERCHANTS, AS CONSTITUTED FIFTY @ SEVENTY YEARS AGO, ILLUSTRATED BY DIAGRAMS OF THE RIVER FRONT, AND POETRAITS OF SOME OF ITS PROMINENT OCCUPANTS. TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF CHAEACTER, AND INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTKS OF THE DAY. ABEAHAM RITTER, AUTHOR OP "the HISTORY OP THE MORAVIAN CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA." \ 18 ftr^ ^ PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 1860. Copyright secured according to Law. \fT- PEEFACE. Justice to authorship, and inteUigence to the patron, have always claims upon the writer for a declaration, or an eclaircissement of the intent and purpose of a literary offering ; but more especially in a work of historical pre- tensions, where authority for its records, or reliable tradition for its current incidents and anecdotes, may justly be a subject for the bar of inquisition; but though fearless of interrogatories, and even careless of criticism, it is but meet to clear the way to the volume, and show cause for effort, purpose, and effect. The downhill of life is not always the decline of spirit. Old folks are apt to mount the throne of retro- spect, and rejuvenate and play their early games over and over again; and not unlike Goldsmith's broken soldier, — "Shoulder the cratch, and show how fields were won." The past to us is as the present, and even more pic- turesque. It is Uke the sugar at the bottom of the cup, and needs but the stir of the lever of reference to sweeten the beverage of reflection; whilst the reflection (3) 4 PEEFACE. itself, is a tinge to the yellow leaf of the Oak of Time, renewing the verdure of the sapling of its infancy. Hence, then, a retrospect of Philadelphia and her Merchants, as they moved the waters and enlivened the land some seventy years ago, rise before me, redolent of the fragrance of the blossom, the bloom, and the flower of the mercantile life of my early times. But with all my claims to the prerogative of graphic imprint, acknowledgments are due to collateral testi- mony, artistic skill, and mind and matter beyond my own. Firstly, then, my diagraphic display is from the quick conception and accurate delineation of my friend, Edwin F. Durang, Esq., a valuable, and very talented, and taste- ful architect of our city. Whose conception, from descrip- tion of intent and purpose, is certainly unsurpassed ; of whom it is but common justice to say, that he is as quick with the pencil as thought is to the mind, de- veloping description as though the original were before him ; all of which renders me, happily, safe in the drafts before you, especially as they have been tested by au- thority and linked by reliable tradition. But mercantile life is set forth, and data, in dots and lines, is given, and whence the authority for that % To memory I appeal, and from it reveal the secrets from the recesses of sunken time. Cradled in the very centre of my scope, growing and familiarizing with the life of my times, the things that were, charm the mental eye to the compass of the PREFACE. 5 things that are. Memory lifts her pages, delivers her record with impressive force, and gives to the pen the eye of the mind.* Pardon me ! I would not be egotis- tic — that would illy befit me — whilst memories com- bined, lateral and collateral, have given impetus to the work and identity to its portraiture. There are antiquarians amongst us — venerable relics of the olden time — and happily so, for, but for such, even Moses and the prophets had slept unwept and unsung. Honor then to whom honor belongs. Our venerable townsman, Mr. Charles Massey, is a veteran of time ; and now, in his eighty-second year, is intelligent and elastic, with a well-regulated and well- stored mind, and a memory like a very chronicle. How could I be egotistic, after untrammeled intercourse with, and heavy drafts upon his tenacious memory. Mr. Massey has evidently trained himself to observa- tion, to plant results in his garden of reminiscence ; whence also he has allowed me to cull the flowers of his mnemonic fancy, and perfume the page of accumu- lating history. In process of this work, therefore, he has been a valuable adjunct, and his memory tested by comparison. Land-marks, and even history itself, emboldens me to present it as a reliable issue to the world and its biblio- theque. But enough! this old gentleman must appear in the vigor of his manhood, and the role of mercantile * The Baron von Hnmboldt recently said, that History, or " Descrip- tion," must be " written with the eyes." 6 PREFACE. life, in the body of this work, and there we may greet him as an active spirit of his day. When I began the work, however, I intended it merely as an Appendix to another reminiscent gathering of larger growth — a cursory review of local familiarities of my youth ; but matter grew and forced itself upon me, even to the generation of a History; and being en- couraged by older and abler heads than my own, ambi- tion took the hint, spurred exertion, and inspired the effort to do right whatever was worth doing at all. Wherefore, whipping up my recollections, and propi- tiating the good-will of my abettors, due diligence I trust will show itself in the issue. Notwithstanding all of this, " errors, omissions, and exceptions" may possibly be charged upon your author ; but let the milk of human kindness mollify the criticism, and the vail of forbearance darken the counsel that cannot see the difficulties of perfection in all human efforts. CONTENTS. Preface, . " 9 Illustrations, , . . . 15 Introduction, 17 CHAPTER I. Introductory — The Carrying Trade, and the principal operators inlt, . . . ....... 19 CHAPTER II. The Hill of Callowhill street, and a view of the Wharves from this point to Arch street, 24 CHAPTER III. The Wharves and their Tenants, from Arch to Market — Sharon Carter — His Cooper-shop — The Old Ferry, .... 29 CHAPTER IV. Wharves — Market to Chestnut — Occupants — Crooked Billet — Fatal to Isaac Jones — Death of John Clark, ... 33 CHAPTER Y. The Wharves — Chestnut to Walnut — Occupants — Tun Alley — India Wharf— The United States Frigate Alliance, . . 37 (7) 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. The Wharves and occupants from Walnut to Dock streets — Ross's Wharf — Hamilton's Wharves and Stores — The Old Fish-Market on Dock street, 40 CHAPTER VII. The Wharves — Spruce to South street — Occupants, ... 44 CHAPTER VIII. Streets — Little Water and Penn streets — Jehu Hollingsworth — John Swanwick — Jacob Gerard Koch— Willings & Francis — M. H. Messchert — Samuel Rhodes — Daniel Dolby — Sketch of Joseph Dolby, Sexton of Christ Church — Nixon & Walker, 48 CHAPTER IX. Water street — Pine to Dock — And Spruce to Walnut — Joseph Sims — Joseph Johnson — Snowden & North — Jesse & Robert Wain 53 CHAPTER X. Water street continued — Walnut to Chestnut — Site of the Mari- ners' Church — Samuel Allen — Mathias Keely — Isaac Hazel- hurst — Reed & Ford — John Wilcox — John Welsh^Charles Massey — Eyre & Massey — Ancestry of Charles Massey, . 57 CHAPTER XI. Water street — Chestnut to Market — John Skyren — Joseph An- thony — Thomas Pryor — Charles Massey — Buckridge Sims — Paul Beck — Petit & Bayarde— Rumford Dawes — Negus's Ferry— Jacob Clement— Bankson Taylor— William Newell John Culin, * . . . 65 CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTER Xir. Water street — Market to Arcli — Bohl Boblen — B. & J. Bolilen — Thomas Leiper — Louis Oroussilat — Stephen Girard — De- scription of his Mansion — Samuel Y. Anderson — Crooks Stevenson — G. & H. Calhoun — Samuel Crawford — Smith & "Wood — Smith & Eidgway — Job Butcher — Robeson & Paul —John Clark, 70 CHAPTER XIII. Water street — Arch to Race — Isaac Austin, at the corner — Isaac Wainwright — William Peddle — Timothy Paxson — Latimer & Murdock — J. Vanuxem — Steinmetz — Major Hodgdon — Huron — Goldsmith — Elder — Summerl & Brown — Andrew Hodge — Dr. Hodge — Henry Pratt — Wilson, boat builder — Eugan & Rhodes — James Crawford — John Warder & Son — Harvey & Davis — Capt. Davis, ... 81 CHAPTER XIV, Water street — Race to Yine — Yine to Callowhill — Thomas Ali- bone — Boyer Brooks — Robert McKean — Dutihl & Wach- smuth — Daniel Thunn — Abraham Piesch — Jacob Bright — Endress's Brewery — George Campbell — John Britton — Jo- seph Thomas — West & Jeanes — William West, of the above firm — Brown's Biscuit Bakery — Stewart & Knight, Lumber Merchants 8G CHAPTER XT. Front street — East side — Callowhill to Yine — Christlieb Bart- ling — Manuel Eyre — Clawson's Tavern — Durham Boats — Joseph Morehane — His School-House, .... 89 CHAPTER XYL Front street — West side — Callowhill to Yine— A Black Bear Tavern — Isaac W. Norris — Isaiah Jeanes — Capt. James 10 CONTENTS. King— Jos. Copperthwaite — " Bully White" — Daniel Bacon —William West— Fitch's Steamboat, 1788, ... 95 CHAPTER XVII. Front street — East side — Vine to Race — Isaac Jones — Abraham Piesch — John Wharton — William Fling, Senior & Junior — Peter Brown — Praise Woodman, 100 CHAPTER XVIII. Front street — West side — Vine to Race — Stackhouse — Starr — William Rush — Rebecca Inksom — Jacob Wayne — John B. Ackley — Sol. Park — George Vanderslice — Robert Bethel — General Irvine — Peter Maisson — Bashy Marshall — William Eigby — John Stille, Jr. — Bowyer Brookes — Rebecca Jones — Rosanna, and her daughter Mary Donnel, . . . 103 CHAPTER XIX. Front street — East side — Race to Arch — Christian's Biscuit Bakery — John Keffer — Pattison Hartshorne — Agent of the Bavarian Republic — Simon Probasco — Richard Folwell — Jacob Martin — Nathaniel Bayne — William Bowen — Isaac Wainwright — Melchoir Wisiuger — His Wife — Peter Dala- mar — Joseph Brittin — John Scurlog, .... Ill CHAPTER XX. Front street — West side — Race to Arch — Charles Cavender — Dr. Alberti — Abraham Kintzing — Henry Pratt's Dwelling — Thomas Pratt — Matthew Pratt — Henry Drinker — Archi- bald Gardner — Richard Wall — Christian Hahu — Ephraim Haines — Henry Slesman — John Skyren — Sharon Carter — Joe Banjo — John Webb — " Old Katy" — Henry Dankel — Godfrey Seveke — Gilbert Gaw — Michael Larer — Carpenter's Trenton Stage Office — John Inskeep — Alexander James Dallas — Samuel W. Fisher — Nathan Field — Benjamin Olden — My Own Homestead — Incidents of the Time, . . . 116 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XXI. A Stray Chapter. — The Corner of Front and Arch streets — Hahn & Spohn — Peter Hahn — Destruction of the Premises — Mary Sowerby — Savage Stillwell — Thomas Cumpson — John Claxton — James C. Fisher — Dr. Oathrall — Ambrose Vasse — Samuel Allen — William Gibbs — Dickey Folwell — Benjamin Thaw — Hannah January — Benjamin R. Morgan — Doctor Physic — John Biddle — Louis Gilliams — Frederick Hailer — John Coburn — Gustavus Eisberg — Samuel Weth- erill, Jr. — Brummige — Humbert Droz, . . . • . . 128 CHAPTER XXII. Front street — East side — Arch to Market — Samuel Wetherill, the Yenerable Sire of the Fourth-rising Generation of that Family — John M. Taylor — Nothnagel & Montmollen — Saviel — Joshua Lippincot — Girard — Time of his Death, . . 137 CHAPTER XXIII. Front street — Arch to Market continued — George Thomas — Sansom — Guest & Bancker — Samuel Archer — Jos. Cooper — Jane Taylor of the Golden Lamb — William Hemble — Paul Brown — Henry Tremper — Hannah Holland — William R. Thompson — John T. Sullivan — George Frederick Boyer, . 144 CHAPTER XXIT. Front street — West side — Arch to Market — The Hattery of Joel Gibbs — Thomas Peacock — Comegys — William Lippin- cot — Conrad Keller — Harvey & Worth — John Folwell — John Morrel — Thomas Wotherspoon — James Arrot — Solo- mon White — Widdifield— Cox — Gerhard — Isaac Norris — Wishard's Tallow Chandlery — Joseph Shoemaker — Edward Rowley, . . . • 151 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXY. Front street — East side — Market to Chestnut — Ephraira, Benja- min and Ellis Clark — John Vernou — James McCrea — John McCrea — C. P. Roussel — Shoemaker & Berrel — John Gill — Daniels & Phillips — John Hood — Patrick Moore — Blair McClenechan — Joshua B. Bond — Joseph E. Tatem — Tarras- con & Journel — Brugiere & Tessiere — James Duval, . . 158 CHAPTER XXYI. Front street— West side — Market to Chestnut — James Stokes — Thomas Bradford — John Moss — John Taylor — John Straw- bridge — Joseph Magoffin & Son — Benjamin Nones — Wil- liam Hunt — Anthony Kennedy — Meeker, Cochran & Co. — John Field — Joseph D. Drinker — James Todd — William Mott— Mazurie & Homaffel— Donath— The Post Office- John Thompson — John Stille, Sr. — Alexander Henry, . 162 CHAPTER XXVII. Front street — East side — Chestnut to Walnut — Ephraim Clark — Peter S. Duponceau — Richard Footman — N. McVicker — Loup — Walker — Reed — Ford — Rubb — Frazier — Joseph — Roberts — His General Appearance and Character — Thomas —Biggs— J. McCauley, 168 CHAPTER XXVIII. Front street — West side — Chestnut to Walnut — Pattison Harts- horne — Ebenezer Large — Sitgreaves — Orr^ — Evans — Fox — Robert Smith — John Elliot — William Geisse — Dr. Griffiths ■ — John Dixon — Jonathan Fell — Daniel King — John Con- nelly — Samuel Coates — Roberts Vaux, 172 CHAPTER XXIX, Front street — East side — Walnut to Spruce — The Insurance Company of North America — Institution and Officers — John Vaughn — Edward Carrol — Isaac Wharton — David Lewis — CONTENTS. 13 Tribute to Francis Wharton — Odier & Bousquet — Louis Glaises — The Custom-House, 1795 — Its Officers — Owner of the Premises — Eoss & Simpson — Liudo — Bringhurst — Hen- derson — Davy — Eoberts — Doran — Buckley — Gilpins — Char. Wharton, 177 CHAPTER XXX. Front street — West side — Walnut to Spruce — Robert Ralston — Miers Fisher — David H. Cunningham — J. M. Nesbit — Stewart — Barr — Blight — Dawes — Francis West — John West — Dr. West — Samuel E. Fisher — Mordecai Lewis — Joseph S. I-ewis — Sontag — John Morton — Purdon — Lowndes — Dr. Dorsey— Richards— J. McDowell, 183 CHAPTER XXXL Front street — East side — Spruce to Pine — Gurney & Smith — Daniel Smith — His Sons, Eichard S., James S., Francis Gurney, Daniel, Charles S., and William S. — Moses Kemp- ton — John Jones — J. 0. Thompson, 187 CHAPTEE XXXIL Front street^West side — Spruce to Pine — Doctor Harris — J, W, Irwin — G. Plumstead — Archibald McCall — Francis Gur- ney — George Sibbald — Dominick Joyce — Dr. James Mease — James Latimer — William Condy — M. M. Carl — Condy Eaquet — Chandler Price — Captain Toby, .... 191 CHAPTEE XXXIIL Front street — East side — Pine to South — Ignatius Paillard — Francis Coppinger — Levinus Clarkson — Janes & Clark — Captain William Jones — Samuel Clark — John Swanwick — Roe Brumard — Joseph Read — S. & W. Keith— Derrick Peterson — Robert Bridges — Henry Mitchell— Augustine & John Bousquet, 1799 — And Peter Bousquet, 1805, . . 195 14i CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXIY. Front street — West side — Pine to South — George B. Dawson — John & Wm. Lynch — Louis Clapier — Budaraque — John La- tour — John Clement Stocker — John Morton — John Barclay — Phillip Kelly — Samuel Eeid — James Traquair, . . 198 CHAPTER XXXY. Conclusion. — Review and General Remarks, .... 201 APPENDIX. Jonathan Leedom — Benjamin Jones, Jun. — Robert Oakley — John Craig — Nicholas Biddle — George Armroyd — John Coulter — Samuel W. Jones — Alexander J. Derbyshire — CAPTAIN DAVID MOFFAT— Thomas Pratt— Origin and Succession of the Firm of Yorke & Lippincott — Benja- min W. Richards — Treasuryship of the Pennsylvania Hos- pital, 1780 to 1859, 209 ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Stephen Girard, Feontispiece. DIAGEAMS. Wharves — Callowhill to Yine, to face page 2^ " Yine to Eace, 25 " Eace to Arch, . .26 " Arch to Market, . 29 " Market to Chestnut, 33 " Chestnut to Walnut, 37 " Walnut to Dock 40 " Dock to Pine 44 " Pine to South, 45 Portrait — Thomas P. Cope, 39 " John Welsh, 58 " Charles Massey, Jun., 60 Plan of Paul Beck's Proposed Improvement of the Eiver Front, . 66 Portrait — Henry Pratt, 118 Profile— Samuel Wetherill, (the Sire,) . 187 Portrait — John Moss, .162 " John Yaughn, . . . . . . . .177 " Eobert Ealston, 183 " Jonathan Leedom, (frontispiece to Appendix,) . . 209 (15) INTEODUCTION. Search and researcli appears to be tlie order of the day: by some, tributary to the arts and sciences ; by others, to political, polemical, or professional interests ; but by others to a more current and familiar attachment of a link remote in the bosom of Time — the former, however, more the forte of the hey-day of an author's prime : whilst the latter, touching the chain of recollections, is electrified by the spark from its source, and the flash of even a hundred years past comes vividly to his eye. Our mortal is ever on the wane; but our immortal, jealous of its trust, awakes — as it were to the rescue — claims its throne, and spreads its rays over the fields of its existence. And thus lit up, the life of " the days when we were young" comes up in form, feature, and familiarity, greeting to the eye, and tangible to the very hand. My object in this volume is not to call up the leaden clouds that hung over the pursuits of legitimate industry, nor even tinge them with a glimmer of the ills of unfortu- nates — for doubtless, three o'clock P. M., was as fatal to some then as it is now and has been ever since — but rather to show, who and what constituted the mercantile community, and the where of its active being. I do not flatter myself into a phenomenon of literature, or 2 ■ (17) 18 INTRODUCTION. a competitor in historical issues, but I am liappy to know that I have not passed Time's ordeal to nearly threescore and ten in vain. I have lived, seen, and observed ; and assume to pen some of the results, in a review of Philadelphia and her Merchants of the olden time. This self-imposed task is not without its onus; but neither is it without its pleasurable incentive. Memory will fondle with early scenes, and impels a recueil; association spurs it to life, and furtherance encourages the "search and research." PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS, CHAPTER I. — INTRODUCTORY. The parrying Trade, and the principal operators in it. There was a time, in the end of tlie last and beginning of the present centurj) when the " Carrying Trade" between the United States and the West India Islands, was a fruitful source of life to the commercial interests of Philadelphia. Her wharves were gay with streamers, from the smallest to the largest floating castles of the mighty deep, signaling their import, receiving the fruits of our own soil or presenting to our use and profit the riches of the soil of other climes. Our intercourse with the West Indies was active, spirited, and rich in results; for whilst our Beef and Pork, Flour, Apples, Onions, Butter, Lard, and any other product of our fields or farms, were toothsome and desirable to the planter there, the issues of their soil, of Sugar, Coffee, Oranges, Lemons, Pine-Apples, etc., paid much better here, and laid the foundation of ease and comfort to very many of the retired dealers of that day. The insurrection in St. Domingo, of 1792-3, however, cre- ated a hiatus for a time, in the untrammeled and profitable intercourse of our enterprise ; but even that Avas propitious to the adventurer ; and although intercourse was interdicted by (19) 20 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. danger of traffic, and and embargoed by the savage hatred of the blacks against the whites, there were some here who dared the gauntlet for the prize of their temerity. Abraham Piesch, of Swiss origin, a prominent shipping- merchant of the day — a man of enterprise and risks — thought it well to float a barge, invitingly laden, to the tj'oubled waters of St. Domingo, and his schooner "Fly" was forthwith in command for the enterprise. Her arrival on that coast was in common with — here and there — a white speck, beating to and fro, apparently upon the same errand, but to whom the fear of toil and danger was a caution, and repulsive to their schemes, for they fainted in courage, and faded in distance to fall into the arms of better security, or drop their anchors in their own roadstead. Be this as it may, our " Fly," true to her name, scented by the rich odor of the garden before her, hovered cozily on its borders until time and chance should offer their services. The massacre had been desperate and unsparing ; a single white man only was reserved for their business purposes, and him they marred and mutilated in his fingers and toes, and nose too, to prevent his escape and secure his services to whatever commercial interest might turn up. He was a custom-house officer and important to their use. Whilst the " Fly" was cruising about, and her officers spy- ing out the land and the harbor for a rescue from their anxious toil, or some medium of communication with the shore, Thomas Thuit, the decrepit survivor of his race there, was seen on his pony, pacing the sands of the shore as eagerly peering for supplies to their exhausted market. The "Fly" crept cautiously to his margin; hailing distance bounded his nasal tones ; the call was encouraging, and won upon the hard salted Captain Wallace and his timid, PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS, 21 youthful supercargo, and the yawl was manned for a parley. Assurances of safety of persons and property brought the vessel to a proper mooring, and the very desirable cargo of apples, onions, lard, and various other edibles and culinary requirements, to an available landing. To sell, was but a magical moment ; and to buy, but the question of time to load. Impromptu, coffee at five cents per pound was poured like sand into the hold of the craft, until the water washed her gunwales, and compelled her crew to creep over and wade through the bean to their bunks. She was loaded in bulk. Her return was joyous to her enterprising owner, and vastly cheering to the competitors in the West India trade. This story I give as the party in interest and activity gave it often in my hearing, fifty years ago, to wit : the super- cargo, Jacob Bitter, Jr. Eich as was the West India trade, we had even more to boast of. Europe, Asia, China, and Africa were represented at our margin by their merchandise. The towering masts of the dignified merchantmen betold their presence ; and the " Yo, heave ho !" of the merry mariner heralded the delivery of their treasures. The "Voltaire," the "Eousseau,"the "Helvetius," the "Mon- tesquieu," or the "Good Friend," in turn called the attention of our indefatigable Grirard; and the independent wag of his head, and corresponding obedience of his queue, were duly present at the contributions to his wealth. Hemp, spun or unspun, raw or wrought and bar-iron, were commodities to sharpen, if possible, the already bright eye of their owner, to investigation, calculation and profit. But he had other ways and means to fortune. Amongst 22 PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MEEGHANTS. other shavings of nature, he discounted the dawn, and eclipsed it with Solomon's suggestion, " early to rise." There Avere neither "steamboats" nor "telegraphs" to hasten news of arrivals below ; the West India craft came up often by night, silently and softly, and the plash of their anchor died away on the circle of its making, Girard, true to the proverb, taking daylight at its dawn, would slip from his gate to the wharf's edge, and sweep the Delaware with the besom of his powerful eye. An arrival at hand, or afar off, telegraphed itself to his vision, and fired his impulse to board the object of his search ; and forthwith a " wherry," or a " batteau," laid alongside ; and whilst his neighbors w.ere dreaming of bargain and sale, he was making himself master of the market by his coup de main. Our Henry Pratt, Pratt & Kinesing, Willings & Francis, Smith & Eidgway, James Yanuxem, Gurney & Smith, Jacob Gerard Koch, Summer & Brown, Louis Crousillat, Eja^e & Massey, Piesch, Blight, Montgomery, Sims, and other mer- cantile wharf life, were all, in due course, at their respective posts, with their capacious ships breasting the docks or lining the outer edge of the wharf And this active life was enlivened by the music of the jolly tar, or the swarthy operator at the derrick. Jack seemed to take the rattlmgs by surprise, and in a trice was in the cradle at the yard-arm, to bend or unbend the weighty canvas as duty required, and drop the significant " Aye, aye, sir," to the commanding ofi&cer below ; whilst the negro song at the capstan or the derrick, echoed from wharf to wharf, until the south answered to the north, and the north continued to blend. a cheerful response. But there was even more cheering music than this to the eager ear of the expecting merchant. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 23 The booming of a "big gun," five miles below, was the sure announcement of the safe arrival of an "East Indiaman," to which the non-interested, as well as the parties in interest, gave prompt heed. And men and boys, from all quarters, flew to the wharf to see the smoke and the flash as the " big ship" turned the point, and inquire "What ship is that?" A gladsome sound from yonder Jersey shore, Repeats the cheer of India's guest below ; The echo rings ! and men, just boys before, Fly to the wharf to glimpse the flashing bow. Oh ! glorious times of innocence and mirth, Unsmok'd, unsteam'd, the good ship seeks her berth ; In dignity she sweeps the silv'ry stream, Erst Neptune's toy, but now the merchant's theme!* * New York was not our rival in those days. The " Park" was the boundary on the north, and the "Battery" was her lion on the south. Pearl street and Wall street were her emporiums of trade, whilst " Broadway" was the un- trammeled highway for funeral pageant and military parade ; and its side- walk the inviting course to the several churches that then gave tone and character to its skirts. But her harbor, north and east, was the nest of small craft, better known by the stems that streaked the horizon than by the hulls that bore them. In the fall of 1815, I saw the city and the port as above set forth. I saw a funeral procession pass up the middle of "Broadway," from below the "Park," unlet of wagon, cart, or dray, or any thing whatever beyond an occasional gig or pleasure wagon. New Yoi"k did not begin to develope till about the year 181 C, when several of our principal silk houses and others went there on account of her open harbor during the winter, affording free ingress and egress to her commer- cial requirements. Amongst the first of our emigrants, was the silk and ribbon house of Bru giere & Tessicre, from Market above Sixth street. 24 THILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTEE II. The Hill of Callowhill Street, and a view of the Wharves from Callo-whill to Arch street. In reviewing the wharves from this point, I must first show up the hill and its appendages that led to the level below, not because there was any thing great there, but rather because dust and ashes have been increased by the incumbrance of that soil. There was, on the north side of the hill, a yiest or range of dirty-yellow frames, continuous from near Water street to the wharf, variously occupied by groggeries, boarding and lodging places, provision dealers, etc., where also hucksters congregated at night to rafflle off their unsold poultry. The structure was antique and doubtless original, a very firstling of the ISTorthern Liberties. The wharves from this point were not as regular, free, and open as those below. Many of them, were enclosed and could not be passed without passing up one alley and down another ; but they were no less important. Britton's wharf took up a large space from the corner, southward, and was characterized as a ship-building point. Taylor's dock was useful to the bath and revival of the jaded horse, as well as a pool for the boys to lave their fevered skin. West's wharf was the recipient of countless loads of salt, WIXARF T A.A'' K K::sr 33\\nEL,XiT:N& X)Wti;x.T_,TTsr& XtWEXiIjXNO AXiXi^Y STKWiKfetT 1% ICNIOHT' S BO-CRX) "^'^VRX> 1 7 9 t) T7,0 2 AliLil"] Y" WEST'S SAiiT .sironEft ^LLEY TVKST &. jeajn'Il-:; s 17 91 THE SHIP TsTOiiTriEifasr XiTbert ie s T3TTXIiT 0:rsr this T\T3AIiF ^BOTJTl.7 9 9 ! T.7 + VT]^J"E ST VINE STRF/F/I ! .lOifN niiiT r AN r noARn YAi;n C'.M \-i'i\i; . iKM SI-; 1 S (M\ ; <:i:iMi(;!-; i''i,i\-ni,\\rs ' JOHN W. T'M^l'^SSAT'l Am' p IK sen A i.i . 1 : V oLi> ; Ix'.vrAN'r STORK I 1 LOT A 1.1. J^.V D.}tA':.THi:'"M:^:lA7| iDPTlHTj &AVA( If^n Ttr AI' KEA^J i5<)vr:Ti a ROOKS BOAT SHICJ) ]7 0t> T H O « , u\ [j I i IB « )^V. FLon^ ST OR I ; RACE ST. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 25 whilst Servoss and Shoemaker told off their income by numberless barrels of flour. "Wood and lumber, however, occupied an occasional inter- mediate wharf, and made up the measure of this line.^ more particularly defined in the annexed diagram. The upper side of Vine-street wharf was graced with a very dirty dock, an original "bite" or harbor for wood shallops and other small craft, to load or unload, north or south ; but it served also as another watering convenience for horses, being open to the street for their descent. But it was a muddy limb of the river, and, except at high tide, more to be avoided than desired. Its adjunct was a wood wharf, and being a "good way up town," wood was supposed to be cheaper on Yine-street wharf than anywhere below ; and the " Corder" was the re- corder of profit by the result. Lumber was landed at the south corner of Vine-street wharf, in the rear of John Britton's board-yard ; and Eyre & Mas- sey loaded their ship "Portia" here with lumber for Madeira, 1806. After John Souder, at 141, William Flintham succeeded him in the premises as well as an oak-cooper as an extensive dealer in flaxseed, of which he shipped large quantities to Ire- land, 1807. Mr. Flintham was a very active and intelligent man, whose mechanical trade could not confine his genius ; and passing from the cooper-shop to the counting-house, entered more ex- tensively in the shipping business, but alas, in fine, not to profit. A little below this the more active mercantile line began, and Bright, Piesch, Smith, Thunns, Dutihl & "Wacks- muth, and others, were prominently located adjacent to their 26 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. sliipping interests on the wharf, or in the stream immediately before them. Mercantile life was still more rife in the wharf line from Eace to Arch streets. A ship-chandlery is always important to shipping interests, and Harvey & Davis, at the corner, were beneficiaries of this fact ; but Henry Pratt, Pratt & Kintzing, Hodge, Sum- merl & Brown, down to Smith's alley, were very much of the active business life of this limit. There was, however, an ancient appendage to the convenience of this part in a block of frames of red hue, called therefore the " Ped Stores." They stood in the middle of a pier, having a passage around them, and were used by Summerl & Brown, for storage, or any other convenience to their shipping requirements."^ A full share of the wealth of the Indies, east and west, very often made a beautiful show on these wharves, of which, more par- ticularly, our venerable contemporary, William Smith, was a bounteous recipient. Mr. Smith was, or had been, a West India planter, though an Englishman by birth, but an owner of large domains in the West Indies, from which his income was very abundant. On his arrival in this country, he landed eighty thousand dollars in silver, (Spanish dollars), from which he derived his souhnquei of Silver Heels — but he was as often called " Gold- * The Yellow Fever of 1793, first made, its appearance here. The first victims were, 1st, Mrs. Maria Lemaigre, (widow of Peter Lemaigre, merchant, of 77 North Water street, 1793) a French lady; 2d, the stevedore of the ship that brought it to that wharf; and 3d, Mr. Wm. Burkhard, of 57 North Water street. In after time, these " Red Stores" were the daily haunt of our former townsman, the father of our present Isaac Elliot, of Walnut street, convey- ancer, who was the first Inspector of Bark of this port, under the appointment of Governor McKean. Pv_ACE 17 9 5 SB IT t31.tNBXiEK.S JjUIES (vfiAVri-'OUD :meim'h:ant 1795 jojECxr WILSON lT TTSjVTT'.S .STOItE 1795 PRAT T' S ALiLPj y . ra?ATT'S nWELUlf^i 1795 17<.J1 n WE L LIN a 17 91 SlTAOIETiL 1795 SITAlMIillL 8c. '^\ , 1795 SillTH 1793 AXi LEY liCAJOH- . S . Bt O D UD OTS"^ 17 9 5 i_ _^ ^ 17 5 T-ETEH I/EirAllORE ' ^_ 17 9S I^ ATrMKK., & TVnJKIJ f :K AL, L E "i' -iVV PEDDXvB I3L0 01C ilAKEIt BtTEHHAI3D' S XrWEIitiING AiJSTnsr (7!n APlCH PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANT&. 27 smitli," to which his tall slim figure, dressed in black, with knee-breeches, silk stockings and shining shoes, mounted with good sized silver buckles, seemed to entitle him. His digni- fied ascent of Arch Street Hill, and his general appearance, belongs to the history of his times. In this immediate vicinity, our still existent, Francis Jacoby, has claims to notice as a shipping merchant of the day, having in 1807 and onward, been an active and exten- sive item of the commercial list. James Yanuxem was not amongst the least of mercantile prowess in this quarter ; nor is the continuous business life of Timothy Paxson, a well and widely known dealer in flour to be passed in silence.* Nor yet Wm. Peddle's yard to his cooper-shop, as a spot of busy scenes in these times of mer- cantile prosperity. His domain and Isaac Wainwright's dock, and block and pump-maker shop, shut off the mercan- tile continuance here. And whilst Peddle often held this wharf to his own use, though a great big ship did lay before it, Wainwright divided the course to the ferry below by his inlet for logs, which, whilst it served him to soak his timbers, it very often soaked ours, as the treacherous logs rolled or slid us into the dock as we tried our skill in running over them from wharf to wharf. ''Come away to Billy Cooper's !" was the ring of the boat- man's song, as he passed leisurely from the porch of Isaac Smallwood's ferry house, at the corner, to his " wherry" at the slip below ; whilst the " horse boat"f rolled heavily under * The prominent and equally respectable house of Latimer & Murdock, flour merchants. f As before observed, "steamboats" were not in being in those days. The "horse boat" was a capacious affair — was drawn up to a convenient beariug 28 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. the plunge of tlie goaded beast thus urged to his passage to the Jersey shore, the amiable publicau the meanwhile taking cognizance of the whole. of the slip. Horses, cows and cattle, generally, were led to its edge and urged to the footing below. Often a very difficult and dangerous operation The oarsmen rowed at the bow and the stern of the boat. There were no fancy offerings for aquatic excursions — no roar of escaping steam, nor darkened horizon from the black volcanic eruptive of a Vesuvius below. Such ideas had not yet burst from the bosom of their conception ! nor entered into the heart of man. TVr ATllv E T PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 29 CHAPTER III. The Wharves and their Tenants, from Arch to Market — Sharon Carter and his Cooper-shop — The Old Feri-y. Good, old-fasliioned shallops hailed a berth at the foot of Arch-street wharf, passing to domestic comfort and economy, hickory, oak, pine, maple and gum, as fuel for the family hearth, at the hands of the Corder, as master of this wood- wharf. The southwest corner store was a two-story rough stone building, weather-beaten and dark with age even in 1805. It was occupied by John Groodwin, ship-chandler, the father of our present cotemporary, Thomas D. Goodwin. Mr. Good- win's tar-barrels abounded at his northern wall, one or two of which generally were filched to feed the flaming hilarity of an election nia-ht. The wharf, here and at the rear of Smith & Wood, Job Butcher, and Eobeson & Paul, extended a considerable dis- tance outward, and formed the square of a dock immediately adjoining. Granny Muff, a vendor of candies, etc., took a passage under this wharf, it being hollow underneath, and came out in the dock on the south side, whence she was gathered up, and landed in full life. She had accidentally fallen in on the north side. She certainly was not born to be drowned, for she lived to a good old age, and died a natural death. 80 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. This dock was an inlet to the flour store of Hugh & Joseph Ely, and Smith & Wood, and was covered at the head by a plank wharf or landing, for the convenience of their storage, as well as a passage to the Old Ferry, interrupted, however, by the small, brick cooper-shop of Sharon Carter,^* where, and on the platform at the door, he and his boy Job,t rung the " Cooper's March," as a change to the "Yo, heave ho !" of the merry darky, as he showed up barrel after barrel from the hold of his sloop in the dock. This plankway was of about eighty feet in width, and per- haps twenty feet in depth, including the platform of the cooper-shop. The Old Ferry was a dilapidated affair already, in 1800; in use, perhaps, as a relief to the Arch-street throng, at the time the most popular. There was an alley here, called the " Old Ferry Alley,":}: leading to "Water street, the soutk side of whicli was flanked by the grocery store and building of Samuel Crawford, whose * Sharon Carter is still living, an active octogenarian, green in age, active and intellectual, and an admirable specimen of old times. His drab suit of flowing coat, capacious vest, expansive knee-breeches, and fair top-boots, all easy of ingress and egress, surmounted by a fresh and florid countenance, dressed in natural bounty of flowing auburn curls, mark him well even in the distance. He is now a collector of debts — more popular with the creditor than the debtor — and who, perhaps from the perseverance of his "fair-tops," have impudently dubbed him " Boots." He is now in hia 88th year, even yet in the vigor of life. f Job Lewis. J This Old Ferry, and every vestige of it, is now merged in the shade of Delaware avenue; and the tail end of Crawford's store has been squared to the line; whilst the Alley leading from Water street to the Ferry has been built upon, and is even now covered by the large, brick iron-store of Reeves, Buck & Company. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHAXTS. " 31 rear wall extended far oa the wliarf, intercepting and incon- veniencing a straight course, leaving but a small passage along the northern border, of some eight or ten feet, to the open wharf at the end of the building and around to the wharf and dock on the south, to the rear of the store occu- pied bj EUiston and John Perot, William Newbold, after- ward Montgomery & Newbolds, Gustavus & Hugh Cal- houn, etc., to and along another narrow passage, down to Clifford's wharf, and the premises of Stephen Girard, whose dock here again narrowed the passage to admit the full length of his " Goodie Friends," or some other of his mer- chantmen, as they in turn breasted the inner guard, or hugged the outer escutcheon of his dock. His, as were most of the yards of the Water-street houses, enclosed by an ordinary board fence, but in due time a sub- stantial brick wall displaced his boards, and its gate was his daily outlet to Clifford's wharf, the usual landing of his mer- chandise. The northeast corner of Clifford's wharf had sunk to low- water mark, the breast having given way at its base ; it was called the Broken wharf, which at high tide made an available and convenient basin for bathing, and learners to swim, of which boys, and some of large growth, availed themselves without fear or favor, except from the dark and heavy streak that lay on the shed of Montgomery & ISTewbolds, sunning himself, fancied by the younger boys to be " Black Beard," which he seemed to enjoy. Girard bought the wharf, but did not mend it, because of the depth of the water there, and the consequent difficulty of driving piles. In 1833, however, after his death, our city Fathers undertook it, and completed it by driving piles 82 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. around it, and afterward extending it to the Warden's wliarf. line. The passage onward to Market street was uninterrupted by hook or crook ; but being, for the most part unpaved, mud and mire, in wet seasons, moistened the path more than was desirable. Tlie wharf was a straight line, and shallow — a mere landing. Croussilat's counting-house was refined by a pavement to its entrance. Jacob Dunton's sail-loft, and AVilliam Bethel's ship-chand- lery, were at the head of Bickley's wharf, which opened at N^o, 13, before the times of Thomas Reeves, Imley, etc. There was a ferry-house at the corner — a two-story frame — and the usual slip for the accommodation of boats and pas- sengers. This was purchased by Stephen Girard ; and the ferry once kept by one Scattergood, together with its appur- tenances, were transposed, by the city Fathers, into more profitable issues to the city treasury. But I must turn the corner here, to notice the life of the hill in the busy quarters of William Wray, whose variety of dry goods were unusual accommodations to the patrons of the ferry, from this and the other side of the river. His thrift here spread his domains from midway in the block down to the corner, and made him the owner. Mrs. Wi\ay was the active spirit of the counter — a good saleswoman. PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTEE lY. Wharves — Market to Chestnut — Occupants — Crooked Billet — Death of Isaac Jones — Death of John Clark. Market-street wharf was a wood wharf, and a fish market also graced its entrance from the nether scope of the hill. The hill here, as well as those of Arch and Eace streets, was quick and severe, but by grading and filling up, an easier slope has been attained. These hills were our winter's race course, a vent for the ebul- lition of life and spirit. Sleds flew rapidly from the summit to its base, at the expense of our heels and the profit of the shoemaker, whilst our hearts did not return from their beat until the wharf's level checked the impetus. Carts, drays and v/agons were few on these routes; there was little to mar the sport, except now and then the slow, zig-zag course of a wood- laden cart, as the poor beast, smarting under the lash, strove to do his master's bidding. The southwest corner of the avenue was a frame grocery and fish store ; and next but one below, was the ferry house and slip of John Negus, in 1805. The dock next below, was the harbor of the "Wilmington and Newcastle packets. Office on the wharf kept by James Caldwell, in 1805, in charge of the " Fly," the " Morning Star," and the "Eising Sun." A line of packet and schooners, fifty-five years ago, run to 8 oJ: PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. New York by sea, from first wharf below the Groohed Billet, was established by D, & P. L'liomedieu, of New York. Two schooners, one the "David," and the other the "Philip," noted for their fleetness, constituted the line. Captain George Bird succeeded them, and kept up the line many years from the same wharf. AYm. Warner's AVilmington packets, run from the first wharf above the Crooked Billet, opposite the blockmaker's shop : they were sloops. In 1807, George Hand started an opposition in a larger class of boats, and heralded the " Diana," the •' Telegraph," and the " Little George Eyre," at No. 8 below. But there were fancy gatherings here more attractive than packets or pleasure boats. Peach boats took a hitch here, and drew hard upon the appetites and desires of men, women, and children. "Watermelons, in season, flew from hand to hand, with an occasional slip for the tooth and taste of the wistful urchin, who was not slow to decoy the throw from its proper rest. But sixpence would buy half a peck of good peaches, and small boys could be accommodated with a watermelon for a penny. The most remarkable feature in this square was the famous " Crooked Billet,''^ deriving its name from several crooked pieces of wood transversely arranged, and designating the tavern, at the head of the dock, kept by Edmund Byrne in 1799. There was a deep cut into the wharf, intercepting the straight course of the wharf or passage, leaving a very narrow pass to and from the tavern above and the wharf proper below ; while a blockmaker's shop at the corner of the narrow PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. S5 pass ever impeded or delayed the wayfarer as lie would pass onward. The passage, in itself, around this corner, up the north side of the dock to the alley, and again down the south side to tavern and the wharf proper, was a dangerous route even in daylight, but much more so at night ; and the life of one of our valuable citizens, Mr. Isaac Jones, paid the penalty of an adventure here after nightfall, December 2d, 1807, in his sixty-fourth year. It was a dingy, dismal spot, and a complete man-trap ; for several others were drowned in their ignorance of the inter- ruption of the line. About midway of the wharf, on the south side of this deep cut, and nearly opposite the blockmaker's shop, on the very edge of the dock, there was another nest of red stores — frames, occupied as an iron store, by a certain Joseph Eoberts. The wharf in front of these stores was the mart for the exhibition and sale of ships' " cambooses," stores, etc., made, prepared or furnished by E. G. & W. Ashbridge, in 1799. In this immediate vicinity, a little north of the dock, another very valuable member of the community, was cut off without one minute's warning. On the night of the 24th, 25th of August, 1803, a fire occurred at the store of J. & P. Daniels',* between Water street and the wharf; and at early morn our neighbor, Mr. John Clark, whose store and dwelling was at the corner of Arch and Water streets, went forth to see the ruins ; in passing which, a chimney fell and smote him to death. And in five * Daniels's vras an embryo shot factory, whence it is supposed that our suc- cessful in that business — Paul Beck, took his cue and built the tower to perfect the scheme. 36 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. minutes from the time he left home, he was returned a corpse. This catastrophe spread a gloom over every domestic circle of the neighborhood of that morning, for Mr. Clark was highly respected and well beloved, being very popular for his many virtues. Paul Beck, of whom more hereafter, was owner of several contiguous lots in this compass, variously planted with small tenements, and mostly in the tenancy of small dealers, provi- sions, ship-stores, sail lofts, etc. For the tenancy of the wharves onward to Chestnut street, I must refer the reader to the diagram, as most of the incum- bents opened on "Water street, and must reappear in the detail of that line. The wharf line from the Eed Store wharf, was a straight line to Chestnut street ; but the dock immediately north of Chestnut street, was the receptacle of the "Nantucket and New Bed- ford packets," bringing lamp oil of various qualities to the store of "Willis and Yardley, at No. 21, the principal oil merchants of the day, 1802. This firm afterward was extensively engaged in the flour trade, upon the same premises. Joseph Smith occupied the corner as an iron store, whilst Smith & Carson occupied the second story as counting-house to their general commercial enterprise. -\ CHE STISTUT ST :aND j J WAT sens; H^r pnTCBTETT Ai'I? iroKx^s iTAME7S STOTCES ETYIiE a.-3'£A,SSErir TTTOJVCAS XjOYD a"OH::]sr ^v^e x. stsi- SfflCETHS r,OT Txnsr jVXjjjEy X7C)6 l-NDXA- STOrUflg, XN- T7S9 iSUO ■rT.oori5 1812 Dd fa ^^ALlsTTTT PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 37 CHAPTEE Y. Wharves — Chestnut to Walnut — James Stokes — Eyre & Massej' — Tun Alley — India Wharf — Robert Morris. A WOOD-WHARF bere was again prominent for the acccni- modation of the citizens. There was also a deep cut or dock on its southern border for the use and behoof of the Burlington packets, in 1805. At the head of this dock, at the southwest corner of Chestnut street, our late wealthy citizen, James Paul, in company with John Watson, under the firm of Watson & Paul, in 1802 and onward, was located in the provision trade, and that to a very successful issue. The passage between their front and the wharf log was narrow, and led round and up a twelve-feet alley, on the south side of their store ; and narrowing to a mere foot-way in front of Wm. and John Pritchards' store, next below, to the south line of which the dock extended to Chestnut street. Here the wharf deepened to sixty-seven feet, including the fronts of Samuel Morris, James Stokes, and Eyre & Massey'3 stores and counting-house, No. 28* South AVharves. From this onward, the wharf narrowed to Tun alley,! having a basin or dock in front of Sykes', Lloyd's, Welch's, and Smith's wharf and lot. * And Massey & Shoemaker, in 1799. f Tun alley derives its name from the tavern's sign at its foot, being three miniature tuns, crossing each other, and suspended over the door. 88 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MEECHANTS. India Wharf adjoins hei'e, a very important point of com- mercial interest. It was the harbor for the ''East Indiamen/' and faced by the extensive stores of Eobert Morris, of Eevolutionary ■ times, and occupied by him and Peter Whitesides, in 1789, and in 1795 by John Wilcox. Tone and Tenor attached to these domains even yet in the early part of this century.* The " India Stores"f were largely capacious, and the wharf was quite equal to the call. It had a breast of one hundred and seventy feet. The line, however, was broken by a short pier near its southern limit, and forming a dock on each side ; the whole, however, appurtenant to its own stores, with a share to the store of Jacob S. Waln.:|: A private alley and the plot * This Mr. John Welsh was the sire of the present respectable mercantile house of S. & W. Welsh, of No. 50, South Wharves, and the root of their mer- cantile pursuit. f These stores belonged to Robert Morris ; but Thomas Willing, afterward President of the original United States Bank of 1791, John Swanwick, and others, were here in the East India trade. Mr. Morris bought the United States frigate "Alliance," and fitted her up and out for the East Indies, in which she made but one voyage to China, and was condemned on her return as unseaworthy, dismantled, and drifted to Petty's Island — where 'tis said some of her ribs yet perpetuate the fact of her ex- istence. On her voyage to China, she had for her commander, Thomas Reed ; first- mate, the late Commodore Dale ; and for supercai'go, the late George Harrison, of Chestnut street. It is recorded thus : " September 19, 1788, the ship ' Alliance,' Thomas Reed commander, and George Harrison supercargo, arrived from Canton, consigned to Isaac Hazlehurst & Co.," of which Robert Morris was the company. The ship was seven hundred and twenty-four tons register: a very large ship in those days. % Jacob S. Wain occupied the south side of the India Stores fifty years ago. He afterward purchased the store south of it, where his son, S. Morris AValn, continues mercantile operations. :'.;;:3(j5T IBTh 1T63 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 89 of the estate of John Gardner, to Thomas P. Cope's wharf, next below. Cope's wharf was an unbroken line of one hundred and sixty feet; from India wdiarf to "Walnut street. Mr. Cope w^as a prominent and became an opulent shipping merchant in the Liverpool trade — the owner of several very large ships of most successful issues. 1793 to 1805 knew him as a dealer in dry goods, at No. 19 North Second street, at the corner of Pewter Platter, now Jones' Alley. 1812 lit him up as an extensive shipping merchant and shipowner at Walnut street wharf;* and 1854, closes his career as a millionaire, or something near it. Mr. Cope was eminent for his liberality in benevolence, and furtherance of public improvements : a willing leader in all charitable requirements. He died in November of that year in the eighty-seventh year of his age, a man of unblemished character, esteemed as well for his manners as his means. * In 1802, Barking & Annesly -were extensively engaged in tlie tobacco trade on these premises. 40 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. CHAPTER VI. Wharves — Walnut to Dock street — Ross's Wharf — Coal-Yard — Robert Ralston's Counting-house — Blight, Morton, Morris & Hamilton's Wharves and Stores — The Old Fish-Market on Dock street. There was no break in tlie wharf-line from Cope's down to Ross's wharf, but a straight line of one hundred and sixty.-one feet from the south side of Walout street, affording a mere passage way or side walk to the projection of Ross's wharf, which was of some depth, and bordered a spacious dock of the above width of one hundred and sixty-one feet, where ships, brigs, or small craft, could and did lie snug and safe. Below this, another dock to Morton's wharf, which was fifty feet wide, thence a dock to Morris's wharf, and thence another dock to Hamilton's v/harf, also large and capacious; leaving the passage, or shore, a mere way, except where a pro- jection enlarged the border. The face of this front showed up a brick store at the corner kept by James Yard, a shipping merchant in the St. Croix, Spanish Main, Havannah and European trade. Whilst next below, a large coal yard of ninety-five feet front, was the emporium of Liverpool coal — not Schuylkill County — used in that day mostly by blacksmiths ; and there was a blacksmith- shop in the yard, doubtless ever ready to test the quality of the coals, as was common to say in those daj's. A pair of old brick stores adjoining this and a ten-feet alley, 1 n — f { 1 o ^ G ' f"^ j 1 K3 i < =? i^ ' — i '/^ ^ a ia ! -? s i y- i V r-i ; — ^ E r ! z 1 - t z o 5 ; 5 5^ Z TT i s S c X 7. y. M n — _ 1 *" y ^ :; ^ > CI :< ^ H _fi , y: I>! J_ r y ? a ■'- H , - ■ 2 r _ > > - _ ,7, y. ^ -i X X 7- : '■ :^ ^1 '/ >■ ■X — Z ! ! t :t 1 3 'd nl 2 c ^ £ i s c^ i :^ * r f i^ ■J. a; 5? C r g D I Z z z > _ ] " ^ I T ^ r i 2 2 z ~ So s j; 58 c — '/. vc 3 3 s 2 I S5 i? X i s I s III \' b; l; PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 41 gave the lower corner for the counting-house of our late valu- able and venerable fellow-citizen, Eobert Ealston, of whom more hereafter. Mr. E. was here in 1793. Peter Blight occupied the wharf front of John Eoss's, Water- street stores. And our present venerable Samuel Breck, was located in his mercantile pursuit next below. These premises cover eighty-five feet of front, (1797.) The well known firm of Savage & Dugan were at this point, after Peter Blight, extensively engaged in the West India and European trade. Counting-house on Eoss's wharf. John Cox's store, counting-house and wharf, takes up thirty feet next below, and an alley of twenty feet separates him from the premises of John Morton, which covered eighty-one feet front. ■ Morris's stores,* now belonging to the Fassit Estate, adjoined below, and covered seventy-seven feet of wharf front. Hamilton's stores and extensive front of seventy-five feet, follows here, but divided by an alley to Water street. The wharf here adjoining was a commercial wharf, but for some years past has been a wood wharf. The lot south of this to Dock street, was an open lot, belonging to the city, and the wharf in front an unindented line to the dock. This dock was an inlet, answering for unloading of small craft, as well as for the laving of horses, of which we boys often availed ourselves of an extra hour for amusement, by swim- ming our neighbors' horses, which sometimes by a freak of their heels swam us to the amusement of lookers-on. But there was utility in the dock besides ; horses were often rescued from * This Morris was the root of the Brewer family of Morris's, afterward ia Second street, between Arch and Race streets, now the premises of the late Robert Newlin. 42 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. drowning by being towed to this declivity, wben by accident tbey had fallen into the river, if any way near, or by res- tiveness in a horse-boat, or backed over the wharf, their lives were at stake. The dock, the bridge, the scows and the mud that lay under the bridge and in the dock, are fully before the public by our Watson, and hence no more of that from me. But on the south side of Dock street there was an old store, flanked on the south by a wide alley to Water street, and bounded by other old stores ; but the line of the wharf was unbroken from the dock, southward, and the receptacles of wood to the glory and profit of the corder. There is, however, an item in my range here, omitted, or forgotten, by our Watson, which, although foreign to my special purpose, belongs to the early times of Philadelphia's famous Dock street ; and as such, I call it up here. There was on the south side of Dock street, near Front street, the old fish-house, a regular fish-market,* with belfry and bell, whose tongue heralded far and wide the arrival of fresh fish, besides announcing to the befogged watermen, in their passage to and from the Jersey, of the whereabout of the landing. The old ferry below Arch street, was a competitor in the trade and the accommodation ; and fishmongers and fish-eaters were called to order by the twang of the bell here also, and the temptation to Epicurean fancy. From this point to Spruce street, there is nothing particular * In 1764, the Common Council of the City resolved to build a fish-market, for the purpose of filling up the vacancy between the new stone bridge on Front street, and the wooden bridge on Water street. The stone bridge Avas built in 1763. The fish-mai-ket was still standing in 1830, altered into a store. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 43 to note, except the wharf estate of the Stamper family, on the sonth side of Dock street, and represented by the late Eichard Willing, as guardian or trustee of the grand-children of Joseph Stamper ; all of this sixty years ago and more. John Wain, well known in his day as a vendor of corn, supplied the merchants with the article at all times f/om these premises. 44 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTEH Vir. Wharves and Stores — Spruce to South. Spruce-street wharf was from time immemorial, as it is to this day, the oystermen's resort for supplies to their respective oyster cellars, shops, and subsequently more refined restaurants, seeing that the boatmen congregated here to vend the fruits of their tongs from the depth of Egg-Harbor, Cove, Chesa- peake Bay, etc., where the active market expedited their return to the bivalve families beneath, their floating interference with their snug repose below. In 1796, and long after, Jesse and Eobert "Wain were pro- minent merchants at the corner of the wharf, and theirs was the first projection of any depth into the river, and broke the monotonous line of Spruce-street wharf: it was known as Wain's wharf. They were extensively engaged in the London and East India trade for many years. Snowden & North, skip-chandlers, occupied the store adjoining, but were not proprietors of more wharf than the mere passage, hemmed by the wharf-log, to the premises and projection of Levi Hollingsworth & Son, upon which, on the northern and southern lines of their dock, was planted their stores for the reception and issue of flour, having an area of dock between the stores. These gentlemen were \qyj extensively engaged in the flour trade. DOCK STBJEET \luuuk„ ,.JiiiilllillMJi, k.i.,. «/ , .„. ./,// „ , - „ S^AIitPEH. SPRUCE STREET fi'iiF'" 'iiirii'vt'' 'imi"iT'i>''iijii pij jfeoj^EosTisr©- J i4.R HOnSK \\ ALNS iimmi^^^^ ,; MHP ('HAXI)Jjt:RS f3\\I I MNO S'J'ORK D\VKhM\(, STOJiK \i 1 1 > ••y \\> NKOOI> , ''T' pWMiMM, JOS UnJXsON S r- JjWl 1,1.1 N* SI (Mili -^ 1 \ I JS \ I ( 1 -1 .f (> S Nl \t V JI'I i, ( OX \ )^lj\< HOI Ml \l I I ^ • to s S I \l *v .> 1 () )^ I .\ij J:; Y .)f)S. SIM'S PINE STREET prNE •Jl ^ ^ i] PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 45 There was a fifteen-feet wide alley here adjoming Snowden & North's, to Water street ; and the dock below, appurtenant to Hollingsworth's stores, was /ormed by an extension of Paul Beck's wharf, even deeper than the pier above. Another dock here led to a jut or small pier, belonging to Joseph Johnson, whose ship-chandlery faced the wharf. From the above fifteen-feet alley, seven stores occupied the upper edge of the wharf, down to Johnson's ship-chandlery, which was flanked by another fifteen-feet passage to Water street, and gives us the stores of the eminent merchant Joseph Sims, of whom also more hereafter. Immediately in front of the alley, a small dock washed the extensive wharf of Mr. Sims, known as Sims' wharf, directly in front of his stores, where the several ships of this opulent and popular merchant of 1797, and onward, hugged the breast of their safeguard 'till orders came to " let go the hawser." From this pier to Pine street, the inner wharf-line was straight and continuous, leaving an extensive dock in front of Sims's property, whilst a part of his stores extended above and below the pier. Pine-street wharf was not extended, but was continued a straight line across the foot of the street to a pier or projection about one hundred feet from the corner, nearly opposite an alley from the wharf to Penn street. The direct course here is, and apparently ever has been, obstructed by a row of stores on the south side of the hill from Penn street, extending considerably below the wharf line of the north side of the street, compelling passengers to turn to the left for the wharf, or to the right for Penn street. The corner store of the wharf was occupied by Wharton & Palmer, as early as 1797, and onward to and beyond 1807. This Mr. Wharton, was Mayor of the City in 1798, and 46 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. for many years after. He was bold, intrepid, and very active, ready at a moment's warning to quell a riot. His appearance at such gatherings with staff in hand, and hat tipped a little on one side of his head, with firm step, and independent authority, would scatter the ire and the fire of the most fero- cious mob. Philadelphia never had a more ef&cient and popular municipal ofl&cer. The wharf-line from Pine to South had several minor indentations, but there were two of extra dimensions, to wit, Nixon's wharf and Willings' ' wharf, adjoining their large dock, embraced by this and the wharf above. The stores of Thomas Willing and Willings & Francis, were extensive, bounded by a twenty-feet alley to Water street, on the north, Lombard alley on the south, and on the west by Penn street. James Forten, a colored man, occupied the upper part of Willings' stores as a sail-loft, where he pursued the trade of sail making in 1805, and for many years after, and until industry and perseverance handed him over to retirement and competency. Mr. Forten was a gentleman by nature, easy in manner, and affable in intercourse ; popular as a man of trade or gentleman of the pave, and well received by the gentry of lighter shade. He was very genteel in appearance, good figure, prominent features, and upon the whole rather handsome than other- wise.* But James was ambitious, though certainly unassummg. He had a family, and of course strove for a respectable plat- form for its members ; and to this end it was said of him that ^ He was brought up and learned the trade of sail-making, under charge of Robert Bridges, of Front below Lombard street. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 47 he coveted to wed his daughter to a whiter species at some sacrifice of his fortune. This was an on dit of the day. The several occupants of the line from Lombard alley to South street, being located on the diagram, spares me here, inasmuch as some of them must reappear on my return through Penn street.* I must however close up the square with the domain and identity of Peter Blight, who, though last in the survey, was not the least in the active business life of our Wharves some sixty years ago. * It may be proper to note here, that Penn street and Little Water street, are two distinct avenues between the wharf and Front street. Little Water street is about one hundred feet west of the wharf, and Penn street about seventy-five feet west of that. Little Water street was a kind of back-front to the wharf-stores; and the position and course of Penn street, in many cases, gave it business connection with Little Water street. Penn street runs from Pine to South street, but Little Water street takes the name of Swanson street, from South street to the Swede's Church and Navy Yard. 48 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTEE VIII. Streets — Little Water and Penn streets — Jehu Hollingsworth — John Swan- wick — Jacob Gerard Koch — Willings & Francis — M. H. Messchert — Samuel Rhodes — Daniel Dolby — Sketch of Joseph Dolby, Sexton of Christ Church — Nixon & Walker. Having- tlius presented the Wharves, and their general front, from Callowhill to South street, by diagram and de- scription derived from documental and corresponding mne- monical authorit}^, as well as practical observation, I take my course northward, from South to Pine streets, in search of the principal mercantile life of that compass. After passing some small tenements from the corner, the counting-house and stores of Jehu Hollingsworth present themselves. Mr. H. was a merchant of some account, being largely engaged in the West India trade. His counting-house was at No. 47 Penn street, but his stores were continuous from Little Water street to the wharf. John Swanwick, a shipping merchant, held a prominent position at No. 20 Penn street— for, in addition to his mer- cantile pursuits, and his general association with ships and cargoes of sugar, teas, coffee, etc., he was a politician of 1796-97-98, a Democrat of some importance, and as such was elected, and sent to Congress about 1795-96, where he was also an opponent of Jay's treaty ; these extraneous mat- PHILADELPHIA ANQ HER MERCHANTS. 49 ters being adverse to merchandising, drew heavily upon his prosperity, which, perhaps with other evils, suppressed a successful issue to his labors. Our old friend, Jacob Gerard Koch, and neighbor of Ninth and Market streets in 1806-7, was a prominent merchant of the day, 1796, and after, at the south corner of Lombard alley and Little Water street to the wharf, Mr. Koch was a Hollander, an importer and vendor of German linens — articles at that day and long after, until about 1816, of easy sale and interesting profits, which told very sensibly in the treasury of this operator. It is related of him, that in a crisis of his times, he was supposed to be ruinously damaged ; but at a festive party — of which he was a guest — where, perhaps, sympathy shaded the scene, he lit up the countenances of his companions by an exhibit of available* securities of $700,000, saying, "I'm not ruined yet !" Mr. K. was a very large, corpulent, and heavy man, whom three hundred weight would scarcely excuse. He was of very cheerful and happy temperament, promoted, no doubt, by as liberal a disposition ; which, with his punctuality and probity in all his business transactions, responded to each other, and built up his moral, personal, and financial weal. He was withal as patriotic as he was liberal ; and besides lending himself to the Western expedition, offered his purse in after time to palsy the prowess of England on the high seas. In the war of 1812, a subscription was opened by private patriotism to build a frigate for the public service ; Mr. Koch was called upon, and at a word he subscribed $5,000, 4 50 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. with the remark: "This I give -you — but if the United States wants a frigate, I will build one for her myself!" I knew him personally, and have often seen him at the northeast corner of Ninth and Market streets, where he re- sided for many years. In 1796, however, he lived at No. 263 South Front street. In 1819 he removed to Paris, France, where he paid the great debt of nature on the 2d of July, 1830, in the 70th year of his age. Willings & Francis occupied Nos. 21 and 23 Penn street above, on the north side of Lombard alley. The Willings's were father and son ; and the elder, Thomas Willing, was the first president of the original United States Bank, chartered in 1791, under the administration of General Washington. The parties of the mercantile firm were of the most re- spectable, and of the elite of that community. They were shipping merchants of the first class, extensively engaged in the East India and China trade, from and long after 1796, of which Thomas W. Francis was the spur — a man of enterprise and force — whilst Thomas M. Willing was the rein, or per- haps, qualifying medium ; both, however, eminent men, as well as merchants of celebrity. In the rear of James Forten's sail -loft, at No. 11 Penn street, in 1797, M. H. Messchert was also an eminent Hol- lander in the German trade. He was successful in his busi- ness, and retired with a very handsome competency. This old gentleman enjoyed the run of his business with the hum of his musical genius ; and in his retirement, put in practice the spark that awaited the leisure moment for igni- tion — for it is said of him, that he became a scholar of the violin after the run of his 60th year. He certainly was a musical man — the concerts of the PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 51 Musical Fund Society seldom missed him, since he and his son, our cotemporarj of No. 1224 Chestnut street, invariably patronized the efforts of that society. Mr. M. seemed to have a very proper view of bringing up a child, in making his son his companion as much as possi- ble. He died in December, 1833, in the 70th year of his age. He was the brother-in law of Jacob Gerard Koch, and cotemporary with him in trade. Of mercantile interest, nothing here offers but that of Samuel Ehodes, who was a merchant at the south-east corner of Penn and Pine street. In this compass there was a certain Daniel Dolby, whom I presume to have been a brother of Joseph Dolby, the very important sexton of Christ Church. This Joseph Dolby was that dignitary in 1799, and for many years after, and was notorious for his identity with that church. He was dignified and authoritative ; took his seat at the entrance from the steeple ; punctilious in his duties to the venerable Bishop or his aids in service ; but his care of quiet during the prerequisites to the sermon, was very often marred by his " pish" — so long and so loud, that the chancel itself must have felt the breach of quiet due to its position. But Mr. Dolby must have been a good timeist ; for his measure of sermonizing liberated the chair in the steeple, whilst he relaxed his position by a walk to the wharf, but always back in time for the " Amen" of the pulpit. May the reader pardon this interregnum, for if Mr. Dolby was not of the mercantile community, he certainly belonged to the ecclesiological ; and as such, belonged to the life and doings of -the olden time. The intermediate space from Nixon's wharf to Wharton's 62 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. estate, gives notliing for note; but the diagram shows the appurtenances, and the occupants who have been already noticed in the preceding chapter, Nixon & Walker, however, were shipping merchants, having their counting-house opposite to their wharf. Henry Nixon was president of the Bank of North America twenty years ago ; and his father, John Nixon, before that. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 53 CHAPTER IX. Water street — Pine to Walnut — Joseph Sims — Joseph Johnson — Snowden & North — Jesse & Robert Wain. Penn street ceases at Pine street, and Little Water street stops at Lombard Alley; but Water street proper begins between tbe two, and continues direct north to Callowhill and beyond it. The first object of note on Water street proper, is the well- known and once opulent Joseph Sims, who was the active mercantile business life of the northeast corner of Pine and Water streets, and who built, owned, and occupied the first and second block in the row north of the corner. His count- ing-house was about one hundred feet from the corner, where he resided in the paternal mansion. His wharf and dock below was the harbor of several of the largest class of ships out of the port of Philadelphia, whose successive and various cargos of teas and other East India luxuries, heralded his enterprise in the manifold grocery stores of our city, as they told of the " Woodrop Sims," the "Eebecca Sims," the "Fame," and others of his ownership. In addition to these, his landed possessioAS were extensive collateral evidences of his increase. He built, owned and lived in a first-class three-story brick mansion, next below St. Peter's church, Third below Pine, where he was resident in 1796. Subsequently he built the 54 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. extensive establishment, southwest corner of Ninth and Chestnut, at that time the pride of that street; whilst our present Laurel Hill was his country domains, and seat of retirement at will from the busy hum of city life. This country-seat contained twenty acres, besides ten acres on the opposite or east side of the Ridge Road, and are now the grounds of the Protestant Episcopal Church of St. James the Less. ^ But, alas ! strong as his mountain, the stronger current of adversity swept it even to the valley of humiliation, and the crisis of 1823 gave his possessions to other owners. Personally, he was none the worse for that ;• venerability gave tone to his respectability ; and the real tone and charac- ter of Mr. Joseph Sims sparkled from his gentlemanly mien, even to his latest day. He was the uncle of Mrs. E. S. Bird, of Ninth and Chestnut, into whose hands that estate fell. The rest of his property was scattered by, and to his credi- tors, and left him destitute for many years ; but before his close of life, he was absolved ' of the penalty of poverty, by befitting returns to his waning years. Mr. Sims was of medium stature, and even in his decline very active, which doubtless shone to the full in his prime, when, besides his mercantile pursuits, he took an active part in public life. He was a director of the first United States Bank, and one of the trustees oi\t^ finale; and a member of the Vestry of St. Peter's church, for sixty years, etc., etc., all which he filled with honor to himself, and satisfaction to his compeers. He departed this life on the 29th of September, 1851, in the 91st year of his age, and was buried in the ground of St. Peter's church, corner of Third and Pine streets. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 55 Joseph. Johnson's ship-chandlery store was next above Mr. Sims's propert}^, but in the line northward nothing of mercantile interest offers for note. The space was filled with boarding-houses, tailor-shops, cooper-shops, etc., all doubtless respectable in their calling; but being outside of my purpose, I must pass them with this respectful apology. Fifty years ago, and long after, the house of Snowden & North was amongst the most prominent of ship-chandler establishments, occupying the premises next below the corner of Spruce street, through to the wharf, in front of Levi Hol- lingsworth & Son's dock and stores, numbered 2 and 3 in the diagram. Mr. Hollingsworth gave active life to his wharf privileges, as one of the most extensive flour merchants in the city. The Water street half of the corner of Water and Spruce, was a boarding-house ; but the eastern part on the wharf, was occupied as the counting-house of Jesse & Robert Wain, in command of the wharf in front. Jesse & Eobert Wain were extensively engaged in Euro- pean business, and being owners of many ships, had regu- larly one or more in the London trade. After the death of Jesse, Eobert engaged in the China trade, which he pursued successfully for many years, and subsequently retired to the presidency of the Philadelphia Insurance Office. Having entered into the character and standing of the occupants of this square, as they presented themselves on the Wharves, and inasmuch as they generally represented them- selves at both points, I might pass the line by a mere refer- ence to the diagram ; but there was a nook on the wharf, and in connection with this line of Water-street occupants, of more than ordinary interest. The counting-house of Robert Ralston, next above Ross's 56 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. wharf, was a source of disinterested benevolence, as well as extensive mercantile operations. Mr. Ealston was one of the most extensive and successful merchants in the China trade, in Philadelphia. He was a gentleman in all respects ; a man of great integ- rity and probity, and of consistent practical piety in the Church, always bringing his Christianity to bear upon the temporal duties of his various relations in life. He was a man " blessed in his deed," influencing a kindred blessing of the life of charity over and amongst his brethren in the flesh. The minutiae of the character and doings of Mr. Ealston is beyond my reach and my purpose here; bat my own per- sonal knowledge of him was of a goodly sort. He was a very fine-looking, full-sized, well-built person, of very gentlemanly manners, easy and entirely free of unne- cessary reserve ; a very valuable and ef&cient member of the Arch-street Presbyterian church, under the administration of Doctors Green and Janeway. Mr. Ealston died on the 11th of August, 1836, in the 75th year of his age, and was buried on Saturday, the 13th, in the Presbyterian ground, Arch above Fifth street. PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MEECHANTS. . 57 CHAPTEE X. Water street continued — Walnut to Chestnut — Site of the Mariner's Church — Samuel Allen — Isaac Hazlehurst — Reed & Ford — John AVilcox— John Welch — Charles Massey — Eyre & Massey — Ancestry of Charles Massey. The nortli-east corner of Water and Walnut streets was tlie grocery store of Alexander Todd in 1795, and Eobert Corry, a wine merchant, was next above. The Mariner's Church now fills .the site of the earlier loca- tion of Samuel Allen, a merchant — subsequently of the north side of Arch street, old No. 29.'* Matthias Keely, mer- chant, afterward of No. 61 Eace street, above Second street, and Eeed & Ford, all adjoining, and giving mercantile life to the plot sixty years ago; but seventy years ago, 1789, Isaac Hazlehurst did an extensive shipping business on and from this spot. Mr. Hazlehurst afterward built up the south-east corner of Second and Drinkers alley, a very handsome two-story * This was a mansion of the first class, twenty-five feet front, large front entrance with columns and pediment finish, afterward occupied by Ambrose Vass, counting-house and dwelling. It is now the property of Doctor William Curran, who has recently remodeled the lower front and made a capacious store, which now bears the No. 115, and is occupied by R. S. Reed & Co., wholesale grocers, being the first tenants under the new arrangement. The altering of this front, with the new corner below, completely nullifies the identity of old Arch street. 58 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS, brick, some tliirty feet front, and had his counting-house in the rear. The counting-house of John Wilcox and his son Richard, occupied the south corner of Tun alley to the wharf. Next above Tun alley we have the dwelling and counting- house of Mr. John Welsh, the sire in paternity and the root in mercantile pursuit of the present firm of S. & W. Welsh, of Ko. 50 South Wharves, a highly respectable and thrifty concern from root to branch. Mr. John Welsh was a pioneer in these parts, having been already, in 1786, an apprentice in the counting-house of Joseph Russel, a prominent shipping merchant of that day. After his servitude here, and a voyage to Port au Prince as supercargo, he entered the counting-house as clerk of Robert Ralston, another distinguished merchant of 1793, whose business he conducted during Mr. Ralston's absence, to his entire satisfaction. In 1794, he entered the arena of mercantile strife on his own account, and by his skill and industry won the prize, even a competency for retirement, by the year 1806. The war of 1812, however, started his energies ; and at its close he again assumed the mantle of mercantile dignity — 1 say mercantile dignity, because he was aufait at all points — a good helmsman, without fear or favor, and governed his bark to a haven of peace, rest and comfort. He retired to his satis- faction, having established an enviable reputation as a mer- chant, renowned as the owner of many vessels, and popular far beyond the confines of the United States — and planted a suc- cession to his thrifty character and standing, even now existing, in the firm of S. & W. Welsh, as before stated. But he was more than all this— seeing that in 1803 he was one of the originators of the Philadelphia Bank, of which he PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 59 was a director to the time of his death. Two of our insurance of&ces, also, owe their existence to his influence and efforts. But he was a philanthropist, and had the repu- tation, by practical observation, of being a "friend in need" — as ready to aid as to advise. Having gradually relinquished his fond pursuit, and sold his last ship, he said to his consort of threescore years — " Now I have no ship !" She replied : "■ And soon you will have no wife !" To which he answered : " Then soon I shall have no self!" It was so; two short weeks ended their career ! They departed not far asunder — an affecting but a most happy issue from time to eternity ; for Mr. "Welsh was not only a great merchant, but a good Christian. He died on March 5th, 1854, at the full age of eighty -four years. Although Mr. Welch was well-known' and popular with all of us of his day, it behooves me to give credit to the "Enquirer" of the 6th of March, 1854, for the minutise of this notice, which I am happy to endorse, as well from my own knowledge as from earlier contemporaneous testimony. Joseph E. Evans took the foot-print of Mr. Welsh, pur- chasing his store of No. 31 ; and in or near 1807, held forth here under the firm, first, of Welsh, Maris & Evans — Mr. AVelsh permitting his name as a pioneer in the trade ; sec- ond, under the firm of Maris & Evans; thirdly, 1818, as Joseph E. Evans — when and where he became eminent as a shipping merchant, particularly in the London trade with his ships "Electra" and "Thames" — and deservedly popular as a citizen and gentleman in good standing. He was brought 'Up in the counting-house of Nixon & Walker ; and in his hey- day was a codirector with Mr. Welsh in the Philadelphia bank for many years. 60 PHILADELPHIA. AND HER MERCHANTS. His demise was sudden and unexpected; an attack of heart disease having closed his existence in a business visit in New York, where he departed this life on the 8th of Sep- tember, 1848, in the sixty-sixth year of his age ; being even then in the full tide of life. The counting-house of Thomas Lloyd, of Market street, and Wm. Sykes, intervening, brings us to the store and counting-house of Eyre & Massey ; of this firm our Mr. Charles Massey of No. 170 Arch street, now eighty-one years of age, is the survivor. The tenure of this gentleman's existence leads us far into the last century ; and, thanks to him and his tenacious memory, gives me an antiquarian scope. Mr. Massey was brought up in the counting-house of Henry Pratt, who, in 1795, took into partnership his earlier clerk, Mr. Abraham Kintzing. This association links him to the times and doings of 1795 With an inquiring mind peeping into antecedents, and as such losing nothing of his training nor yet of his observation. After a servitude of four years, 1795-1799, with Pratt & Kintzing, he formed a connection with his brother and Thomas Shoemaker ; and under the firm of Masseys & Shoe- maker, conducted a West India and a coasting trade at and from No. 24 South Wharves. In 1803, Mr. Manuel Eyre became his partner — and the well-known firm of Eyre & Massey of No. 23 South Water street and No. 28 South Wharves, where maritime facilities found a response to their offerings, and the East and West Indies, as well as Europe and South America, knew them as the life of busy scenes for forty-two years, without blur or blemish, to the death of Mr. Eyre in 1845, which of course, dissolved the connection. aR27 14J'« jiPRII, I77S PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 61 As matter of cnriositj as well as history, I append here the world-wide route of their operations, furnished to me by Mr. Charles Massey, the survivor of the firm ; there being nothing, perhaps, on record to surpass it, at least in Phila- delphia. First. They owned during their business connection, up- ward of twenty sail of vessels, from the largest size of ships down to schooners, calculated for the various ports of their destination. Second. Their enterprise reached the following ports : Arch- angel, Toningen, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Havre, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Lisbon, St. Ubes, Oporto, Cadiz, St. Lucar, St. Sebastian, Gibraltar, Malaga, Barcelona, Marseilles, Island of Sardinia, Genoa, Leghorn, Palermo, Cette, London, Liverpool, Ireland, Plymouth, Falmouth, Madeira, Teneriffe, Cape de Yerd Islands, Vera Cruz, Alvarado, Jamaica, St. Jago de Cuba, Havana, New Providence, St. Domingo, St. Thomas, Guadaloupe, St. Croix, Curagoa, Laguira, Mara- caibo, Cayenne, Pernambuco, Corunna in Spain, Bahia, Eio de Janeiro, Santos, Eio Grande, Paranaquay — the last seven ports on the coast of Brazil. Buenos Ayres, Montevideo, Valparaiso, Irico, Coquimbo, Copiapo, Lima, Guayaquil, Panama, the last seven around Cape Horn. Sandwich Islands, Java, Sumatra, Manilla, Canton, Calcutta, Madras, besides some dozen ports in the United States. Third. One of their ships, the "Globe," made eight voyages to China and. back. This ship, during a period of twenty years made twenty-nine voyages, some of them of more than one year's duration. Fourth. It is a remarkable fact, that in all this risk and adventure, they never made a total loss. It belongs to the history of this firm to say, that although 62 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. SO extensively engagea m mercantile pursuits, they devoted a part of their time to public service. Mr. Massey was for many years a member of the Select Council of our city, and in turn, also of the Common Coun- cil, in which he took an active part. He was chairman of the committee on opening Delaware Avenue, agreeably to the will of Stephen Girard, in 1834; also, appointed by the Court of Quarter Sessions a juror of valuation of the wharf fronts; and for his general knowledge of wharf property, selected as chairman of that jury. And he, with his fellow- jurors, did value by critical arithmetical estimate, the pro- perty required for the avenue from Arch to Chestnut, and from Walnut to the lower side of Spruce street, — being owner of part of the intermediate square, he was ineligible for that duty. Mr. Manuel Eyre, who was also brought up in the count- ing-room of Henry Pratt, was no less energetic or public- spirited. He was a member of our City Council, and a di- rector of the United States Bank of 1816, and again of the same under the charter of Pennsylvania of 1836 ; but his forte was more that of an agriculturist, to which he devoted mainly the last twenty years of his life, being the owner and operator of two farms near the city, and three in the State of Delaware — indeed a very projector of Delaware City. Mr. Eyre was of full size, being six feet in height, square built and well proportioned — he had an independent but not a haughty carriage — he had a very prominent nose and strong features generally, with a thoughtful and observing eye, shaded by his hat of broader brim than fashion called for. He was a man of integrity and respectability, unmoved by any adverse crook in trade, or flow of incidental success. He was the son of Manuel Eyre, Sen., of Kensington, an PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MERCHAXTS. 63 eminent shipwright there, who had been a Colonel in the Eevolutionarj war of 1776, and subsequently a member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania. There being no shade nor shadow of a likeness of my sub- ject, I offer the description as a substitute for a portrait that else should be here. A curious feature of the times was that they insured, fre- quently, to any part of the world, hy the year^ with liberty of proceeding to any port without notice. I give this — neither as puif, nor boast for the principals — but as appears to me a very extraordinary tissue of mercan- tile force, and equally so of successful issues, ignorant of a parallel, and well assured that we have no such expansive minds nowadays, nor courage for the opportunities if they even were open. Our capitalists live, move and operate under the smoke of their own chimneys, and hold too much to the penny and the cake too. The natural business capacity of the survivor has lost nothing by the demise of his partner — his habits, impelled by the freshness of his mind, continues the life of his activity ; so that even now, the elbow-chair of his early haunt em- braces him daily to foster his ruminations through the pleas- ures and the pains of his threescore years association. But a tribute is due to the elasticity of his mind, memory, and understanding. His mind, unworn by time, with a memory even pentagraphic, gives intelligence to his mental issues and authenticity to his historical reference. As an evi- dence, permit the following. In my search for dots and lines of the past, especially the wharves, I called on Mr. M., who at once gave me a diagram of several squares, which being compared with an original draft made by Eeading Howell, more than fifty years ago, and copy taken by my very valu 64 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. able friend and lielp in this matter, Mr. E. F. Durang, au architect of value, was found to be correct to a line. Mr. M. is an antiquarian to all intents and purposes, and holds valuable statistics of our city of more than sixty years gathering. Although not a birthright member, he has always been an adherent to the Society of Friends, and a regular attendant of their meetings of worship ; his ancestors being of that faith, and he, an early pupil of the Friends' school in Philadelphia. He is an Irishman by root, his great grandfather, Samuel Massey, having emigrated hither from Ireland, in the year 1699, the time of William Penn. As the son of Samuel Massey, and grandson of "Wight Massey, both shipping merchants, all of the last century, he has fallen heir to some old time affairs, amongst which he has a lease of his grandfather, Wight Massey, merchant, to Eobert Dixon, for a lot of ground, described as being at the northwest corner of Arch and Broad streets, containing ninety-nine feet on Arch, by three hundred and six feet on Broad street, to a vacant lot, through which now Cherry street passes. The lease is dated March 25th, 1749, term seven years, at £4, Pennsylvania currency, $10 67 per annum, payable half- yearly. , This lot now holds the First Baptist church, and one of its most valuable members, Mr. Thomas Watson, who built and resides next west of the church edifice. Besides the above venerable relic, Mr. Massey is in posses- sion of the receipt book of his great grandfather, Samuel Massey, of 1699 ; all the mercantile books of his grandfather, as also those of his father, Samuel Massey, 1754 to 1778. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 65 CHAPTER XI. Water-street — Chestnut to Market — John Skyren— Joseph Anthony — Thomas Pryor — Charles Massey — Buckridge Sims — Paul Beck — Petit & Bayarde — Ramford Dawes — Negus's Ferry — Jacob Clement — William Newell — and Bunkson Taylor. In 1795, John Skyren, merehant, occupied the northeast corner of Water and Chestnut street, and John Little was his neighbor; but previously, in 1793, the Chestnut street part of this block, at No. 5, was occupied by Joseph Anthony & Son, shipping merchants, of considerable note of that day, and John May bin afterward. This Joseph Anthony was the father of the Joseph Anthony, Jr., of No. 94 Market street, a notable silversmith, well known a few doors above Third street, on the south side. His senior, the elder Mr. Anthony, built and occupied the large three-story brick house, northeast corner of Ninth and Market streets ; the house afterward the residence of Jacob Gerard Koch, heretofore noticed. The stores and counting-house of the Messrs. Anthony & Son, with the lots belonged to the Pemberton estate. John Stille, Jr., and Benjamin & Samuel Stille, occupied the store next above, as commission merchants, as agents in part of the celebrated William Gray, of Salem, Mass., for the sale of his various India and China goods. 5- 66 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. Willis & Yardlej occupied the next above as a flour store 1802. Thomas Pryor, next above, was the brother of Norton Pryor, a well-known extensive dealer in, and importer of, hides ; they were the nncles of our Charles Massey. Charles Massey, another uncle of our venerable Charles, a merchant of some account, was located the second house above Crooked Billet Alley, in 1788. Buckridge Sims, a brother of Joseph Sims, occupied the store and counting-house next above as a shipping merchant ; and here adjoining we have the busy and thrifty quarters of our prominent, and in process of time, opulent and valuable citizen, Paul Beck, Jr. After serving his time with Henry Sheaf, at the southeast corner of Market and Fifth streets, in the grocery business, we find him a fixture, in 1789, in the same trade, on his own account, where in due time he increased his borders from Ko. 11 to Nos. 11, 12 and 15, where the firm of Beck & Har- vey was formed, and flourished for some years, until the retirement of Mr. Harvey to private life, Mr. Beck pursuing the tide of fortune till age and physical inability set his per- severance at nought, but leaving opulence for his reward, and a heart fraught with active benevolence. The day of his mercantile enterprises was as well, in him, a focus of public spirit. In the year 1820, he suggested and proposed a plan to im- prove the river front from the wharf to Front street, but failed of like spirits to carry out the idea. The annexed plan will show the features of the project, from which we may draw the following conclusions : — To describe the changes and proposed improvements, as submitted by him to the City Councils, in 1820, we may first .iromthe River. "I I'""ll«'l IllllllillillllllllllllllllllillW St. i r.«^ i 1 r ^g by 2 feet -w-ide, a E 5^ W-N JL ''-^tttWfMl.! 3S0l- ;itar- "~5»tgr.'/^=)JJ±a3i 8BjI rTMmS:; rTT»Tan "" rTT¥rn ?£n iTt»rn ;i.:=s; mTra ! iwiaJiiiiQTMTa; U [llui; uMrn c=U LUU T- .:.T.:.iix :n.- . -;..;zi ... ii ...ijiijffj'!;. '" ' ^^^^l^i^fp^ "'^j^-W View of tlie Stores OH flip wh a I'f'lToin tlie Kiver. W«il,wil}|lroii ) froitlfrffinWatcrSljl FRONT St. llMMIBiailHI.WMiiMliaiMWIilllllillliimili. IHllllllLlll l— NEW WAT Ell S , Mmaiiipniiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiii|iiiiTiiM»wim»i»ii»i pimMgim^^^ t I Kii.l, J.lo.k „,. li.e -,l,;.rf,islOO foel long, ]>_y 40 fi-et wido, and contain.s 1' ,Sn.re!i,.i(l t>-,-( lor,^ l.y L'd fi-et >v-i.U, Old 111 p aviM-H^e .listnnc p . f , ll..^ liiv.-i- i« 7 .', IV <■ I . I PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 67 speak of the plan, the most important feature of which was, to vacate the property on the east side of Front street, and build a retaining wall on the street line, capped with an iron railing, and create a new Water street on the eastern or lower side of the wall, and removing all the then present existing buildings, laying out the vacated ground in new, uniform building blocks, each forty feet front by one hundred feet in depth, each block being subdivided into four store-houses, having a cartway between every block, the front on Delaware Avenue being set back from the wharf line seventy -five feet on the average. The range of buildings represents a geometrical elevation of the buildings, the retaining wall and its railing showing in. between the several blocks at the cartways. The extent of the improvement was to be from Vine to Spruce street, and the estimated cost, $3,651,000. To say the least,' the idea was as interesting as it was bold, and could it have been carried out, would have made the port of Philadelphia and its embankment, perhaps, the most pictu- resque in the world. He built the first shot-tower in the United States ; it was situated on the north side of Arch street, near the Schuylkill, and paid well for the enterprise. Mr. Beck was the architect of his own fortune, which 'was great, and well applied in public benefactions. He was amongst the founders of the Sunday School Union, which, with many other public charities, he endowed hand- somely and substantially by his last will and testament. He was rather small of stature, very neat in person, of mild, modest, and benevolent countenance, marked by a bearded wart near his chin — rather interesting than otherwise — a gentleman in manners, and active in business matters. 68 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. His residence in 1805, and for many years, was a very handsome first-class three-story brick mansion, on the north side of Market street above Eighth — old number, 315. The lot extended to Filbert street three hundred and six feet, and in width on Market street was thirty-three feet. In his decline, he had an of&ce in the rear of his dwelling, over the door of which he had the original sign of Paul Beck, Jr. The house was built by the Rev. Samuel Magaw, rector of St. Paul's Church, and the predecessor of our late venerable Dr. Pilmore. The premises were sold at public auction in December, 1849, and bought by Freed, Ward & Freed, for $16,500, and is now a flour mart and railroad depot. Paul Beck died December 22d, IS^l, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. Petit & Bayard were parties in mercantile interests as next neighbors of Mr. Beck, and Rumford Daws gave mercantile life to the premises above, whilst Negus's Ferry was doubt- less the busiest, and perhaps the most noisy life of the neigh- borhood. Jacob Clement & Bankson Taylor were extensive grocers next above, 1795. Bankson Taylor, after retiring from the grocery business, became a mariner for a season, and commanded the ship " Gleaner" to Calcutta in 1808. After his experience here, he again entered the mercantile list on shore, in company with Samuel Allen of Arch street, where the firm of Allen & Taylor was prominent in 1817. In 1823, he was aloiie in business, and had his counting-house on Blckley's wharf, above Market street. His partners were highly respectable ; but Mr. Clement was the plainer man of the three. Capt. Tajdor left a hand- PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. 69 some estate id very good hands, and Mr. Clement a good business with very respectable sons to attend to it. The life of the corner, however, was in our well and wide known William Newel, who was identified here as a popu- lar grocer from the year 1792, and for many years into the present century. He was succeeded by his son William, conducting the same business ; and even now, Ms son William C. perpetu- ates the memory of his grandfather in like pursuits, next below the homestead on the same soil, where also the sign of his original of 1792 shows forth the date of the busy point of the life of the grandsire, and the root of the third genera- tion in the same trade on the same spot. It may not be amiss to charge history here with a fixture of more than fifty years' growth, on the opposite southwest corner of Market and Water streets. John Culin betokened his calling as tailor and vendor of ready-made clothing there, already in 1808 ; and even yet holds the spot in continuance of his calling. Mr. Culin is therefore now a venerable relic of the olden time, and holds his own as a respectable and good citizen. Since writing the above, Mr. Culin has been gathered to his fathers. He died, it is said, of apoplexy, on the 27th of July, 1859, in the eighty-third year of his age. About midway, around the corner toward the wharf, we must notice en passant the Blue Anchor Tavern, kept by John Michaeljohn: a famous resort for the boatmen and fishermen of that day. 70 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTER XII. Water street— Market to Arch — Bohl Bohlen — ^B. & J. Bohlen — Thomas Leiper — Louis Croussilat — Stephen Girard — His mansion — S. V. Anderson — Crooke Stevenson — G. & H. Calhoun — Samuel Crawford — Smith & Wood — Smith & Ridgway — Job Butcher — Robeson & Paul — John Clark. In passing this square, althougli I have material to dot and line every one of its tennants, I cannot diverge too much from my intent and purpose, without trespassing upon a com- piler of a Directory, and must therefore confine myself to the permanence and prominence of its mercantile life. In 1793, Bohl Bohlen, a Hollander, was known as mer- chant at No. 7 JSTorth Water street. He, perhaps, was the first importer and vendor of " Weesp Anchor Gin" in Philadel- phia. In 1797-8, his brother John, his clerk theretofore, became his partner, and B. & J. Bohlen still were at No. 7 North Water street. In 1802 this firm was known at No. 26 Chestnut street; but subsequently, 1805, at Nos. 67 and 69 South Fourth street, where death dissolved and fiaally annihi- lated the firm after a most successful pursuit to the end of the business term of both members of the firm. They were both good specimens of Holland merchants, first class, real business men, and stemming all the crosses and crooks of more than half a century of active business life, dissolved sine die, leaving a very extensive evidence of their successful labors in an unmistakable balance in their favor. PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MEECHANTS. 71 Our old familiar citizen, Thomas Leiper, in the year 1795, found himself at home at No. 9, next above the Messrs. Bohlec, where he may have began his dealings in snuff" and tobacco. Mr. Leiper was an eminent tobacconist, subsequently on the south side of Market street above Eighth street, where the statue of a Scotch laddie at the door, in the act of taking a pinch of snuff) silently but significantly announced the sale of snuff", tobacco, and cigars within, whilst the proprietor was known in his sortie by his measured and independent gait, and his fanciful neck gear of a -red bandanna handkerchief, drawn around from the back of his neck, folding the ends under his vest, showing the red border, and ever and anon signalizing Thomas Leiper; which permit me to say, was not without its eff"ect upon his very respectable appearance. Louis Croussilat ranged prominently in this row, No. 13 being his residence ; immediately back of this, Croussilat's wharf and counting-house were well-known. Mr. Croussilat was a Erench merchant, in the French trade, extensively and favorably known as a shipping merchant, 1802. After re- tiring from his mercantile pursuits, he purchased and resided on a small farm in the Neck, below the city, known as " Point Breeze," on the river Schuylkill, since sold to the city by his only survivor, a daughter, for the erection of city gas-works. Joseph Carson, the grandsire of our present fellow-citizens, Hugh L. Carson, a merchant on Chestnut street, and Doctor Joseph Carson, of No. 1120 Spruce street, was a prominent merchant at No. 7, before Mr. Bohlen, 1785 to 1791. But there was a speck of the " wealth of nations" in this Water-street line ; the universally-known Stephen Girard was a meteor of the mercantile community, at No. 23. He was celebrated for his perseverance, indefatigable 72 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. industry, economy, and almost unparalleled success in all his undertakings. Every thing he touched seemed to turn to gold. He was, in effect, a very philosopher's stone. It is said of him, that he did not begin his increase until he was forty years of age — encouraging to early unsuccessful strife, and a beacon to perseverance, and the changes and chances of life. In 1791, Mr. Girard kept a greengrocery and provision store at No. 43 North Front street, occupying through to and on Water-street, at No. 31, where he lived and moved carefully and economically in all his domestic arrangements. An old lady, who lived with him as seamstress to his wife at this early period of his life, has often told me, that neither he, she, nor they, were ever allowed to indulge in more edibles than was absolutely necessary. He therefore set out to make money, and fortune beset him, and wealth surrounded him. From a tablet on the balcony of the second story of his subsequent residence, at No. 23 North Water-street, it may be fairly inferred that he built and occupied that domain in 1796. This house was a four-story pressed brick of the first-class, in which his counting-house was the front room, on Water street. The adjoining room in the rear was his breakfast and dining-room, which was smaller than the counting-room, being narrowed by the staircase in the entry. The parlor was the front room (on Water-street) of the second story, and his chief clerk, Mr. John A. Barclay, says, was handsomely furnished with ebony chairs and cushioned seats covered with velvet, and sofas to match. The bed- chambers were in the rear and above this parlor. He had a private counting-room next below, keeping the PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 73 lower floor as his sanctum, whilst the floor above was the depository of his books and papers. I am thus particular about his dwelling, because our city Fathers have obliterated his whereabouts, annihilated his business identity, and have sunk their memoirs in the Girard Estate, with small thanks to the donor, destroying every ves- tige of the means that begat the misnomer of his intentions ; a misappropriation of his fund, that he, Stephen Girard, would repudiate and denounce, were he here present. I have nothing to do with the private character of Mr. Girard. I am aware that much has been charged upon his want of affection to his wife ; but Mr. Barclay, before men- tioned, tells me that, as he lay a corpse, a Mr. and Mrs. Price came to see it, whereupon Mrs. Price, his wife's sister, said, "There lies one of the best of husbands." Mr, Barclay being an eye and ear- witness to the scene, is certainly good author- ity. And as "good may always be said of the dead," let the memory of Girard have the benefit of this. But more, Mr. Girard, despite reports to the contrary, was certainly imbued with a spirit of benevolence, but guided by prudence, and regulated by his own peculiar views of pro- priety: for instance, a man once went to him for alms or em- ployment. Girard set him to work to remove a pile of bricks from one side of his yard to the other ; the man soon reported the job as done. Mr. Girard said, ''Now carry them back again." The man did so, and again reported, " Done, sir." Gir- ard again said, " Now put them back to where you found them." The employee demurred and declined. Mr. Girard said, " Ha ! you do not want work," and paid him. This was his idea of promoting industry. Again, it was a tangible fact to see the large gate on Eleventh below Market street, of Dunlap's lot, thrown open 74 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. in the winter season for the benefit of the poor ; for whom he had accumulated, on that lot, the refase lumber from his various buildings, from which the humble hearth often was made to glow with grateful aspirations to the thoughtful donor. And again, much as he was said to be opposed to religion, he constantly did give to the raising of " holy temples," but he chose to measure his donation ; but dictation to liberality was a dangerous experiment, and a negative most certainly followed the most familiar efibrt. But most of all, he winds up his life by a grand scheme for the benefit of our race; and however his views have been misconstrued, and his means wasted in the execution of his benevolent purpose, the heart and the sympathy of Grirard, must forever be felt by the manifold recipients of his bounty. I do not herald these as emanations from any religious principles — for he had no credit for any — but rather as a moral principle always directed to the well-being of his fellow-man. The love of gain was doubtless a cardinal point with him ; but it was an impulse to his enterprise, and the argument to his courage, for he was a merchant of skill and of liberal and extensive views. He was the first merchant in Philadelphia, and perhaps in the United States, that some fifty years ago undertook to lengthen a ship by cutting her in two, and inserting twenty or thirty feet in her middle, in view of increasing her capa- city and her speed. The experiment was successfully per- formed by his ship-carpenter, Isaac White. Preparatory to the operation, the ship was placed in a cradle, or ways, and hauled up on the shore by large cables attached to capstans, as performed on his ship " Liberty," and another of his ships, afterward. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 75 But employment of purse as well as person, was another cardinal point with him, and armed his enterprising spirit to grapple with the monetary world. To this end he purchased the old United States Bank building, and established there, in 1812, a banking institu- tion, under the name of the "Girard Bank," appointing George Simpson cashier,* and himself acting as president. This was another successful branch of his fertile conceptions ; but the notoriety of this original " Girard Bank" is stereo- typed to the world; and needs — from me — no more than the reference to it as connected with its originator. I am not here to extenuate his faults, nor to denounce his errors. I knew him as good to the poor, and kindly indul- gent to the sick, of which the Yellow Fever of 1793 and 1798 bore ample testimony; but I knew him also, as a reputed debtor to Christianity, notwithstanding he was a liberal contributor to the building of churches. An incident in his mercantile life, showing his ready wit, may not be without interest in closing this memoir. He had a cargo of salt at his wharf, at which his principal dealer in that article — to cheapen it to his own price — shied. Girard's jeu d'esprit was prompt to corner his antagonist. ''Tom," said he to his porter, "why can't you buy that cargo?" Tom laughed, and replied, "Why, sir, how can I buy ? I have no money." " Never mind," said Girard, "you can buy it for all. Take it and sell it by the load, and pay me as you sell it." The porter took the hint. The salt was out of the market — his opponents were foiled — and Tom, * After the death of Mr. Simpson, Joseph Roberts was his cashier until his death, and the winding up of the bank. Mx-. Roberts was one of his executors. 76 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. from this liit, became a prominent salt mercliant, and as such flourished for many years after. " A man of skill he was, with all his faults, Subject to like returns, or Wit's assaults; And the' in vision blurr'd, in glance he peei*'d, And saw the germ that others miss'd or fear'd." Stephen Girard was married in 1777, to Mary Lumm, by the Rev. Samuel Magaw, Eector of St. Paul's Church.. Samuel Y. Anderson was a grocer, and resident at No. 25, next above Girard, in and long after 1802. North & Haskins were also in the full tide of the grocery trade near by, at No. 31. This Mr. North was afterward High Sheriff of the City and County of Philadelphia. Gustavus & Hugh Calhoun were equally prominent as shipping-merchants, in connection with their several Charles- ton packets, nest above. This Gustavus Calhoun was the father-in-law of the late John Bohlen, and Hugh Calhoun was the son-in-law of the late, aged John M. Taylor. Montgomery & Newbolds were perhaps the most popular wholesale grocers in this range. Mr. Montgomery was bland, free and unsophisticated in social, as well as in business life, and was popular for his accessibility. The Messrs. Newbold were from Mount Holly, of good character and standing, and good business men. William Newbold, of this firm, was the father of our active cotem- porary, William H. Newbold, of Dock and Walnut, a very lively specimen of a s|Dirited ancestry somewhere. These gentlemen, with their families, were, most of them, resident over their stores or counting-houses. The houses were of the first class, well built, and hand- somely finished in the interior, with broad, open newell stair- PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 77 ways, guarded by broad oaken band-rail, leading to tbe upper apartments; tbe parlors being in the second story, witb an unobstructed view of the Delaware and its floating wealth. These parlors were handsomely finished with carved mantels, and some fancy work on the ceiling. Water-street being the Court end of the town in the days hereunto referred, taste and genius in constructing habita- tions were as active and lively in proportion to the popula- tion, as they are even now ; their tastes and genius were students of their comfort, subject to the economy of life, and they lived better and at less cost than their equals of the present day. The lower story and rear front were the counting-houses and stores of the merchants resident above. Wood-sheds and lumber-nooks were humble incumbents of the yards on the wharf beneath the windows of the counting-houses ; and even now I see the burly negro, at full length, sunning him- self on the shed of Montgomery & Newbolds, alarming us boys by a single stir, as we floundered in the basin of the " Broken Wharf," immediately under his eye. As early as 1793, our well-known citizens, EUiston & John Perot, held forth, prominently and extensively, as wholesale merchants, at ISTo. 41 ; but their domicils were side and side, at 297 and 299 Market street, north side, below Eighth street, where Edward Perot, the son of John Perot, remains as a notch in the so-called march of improvement.* * Elliston Perot built his house ia 1793, and John Perot built next door, in 1804. Elliston Perot was married at Friends' Meeting, to Sarah, daughter of Samuel Sansom, of Front street ; and John Perot was married by the Rev. Dr. Blackwell, to Miss Tyebout, daughter of Andrew Tyebout, of Chestnut street, hatter, 1783. 78. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. These sires were remarkable for their steady and unob- trusive walk in life. 1'he one was a member of the Society of Friends, the other of the Episcopal church ; but they were two that varied in opinion, and. still agreed to differ. They were in business together for many years, and died in the harness, at a good old age — as full of benefits as they were of years : they were good men and true. Charles French and Samuel Crawford made up the line to the Old Ferry alley, Mr. French retired many years ago to private life, in Arch street, north side, near Seventh street ; and as matter of further history, it may be in place to state that Mr. Crawford had the rearing of the late Joseph Har- rison, Sr., in the grocery business — who died on the 9th of December, 1858, in his eighty -first year. Joseph Harrison became the son-in-law of Mr. Crawford, and the father of our opulent cotemporary, Joseph Harrison, Jr., to whose credit be it recorded, that thus far he is none the worse for his vast estates. Onward, above the Old Ferry alley, we had the extensive dealers in groceries, the firms of Smith & Wood, and Smith & Eidgway, in the same building, the latter having their rooms over the former. Success attended their operations, and they ultimately had something to show for their labors in business life. Smith & Eidgway were largely engaged as shipping and importing merchants, in the West India and European trade. They owned many vessels, and ht one time shipped largely to Antwerp, as far back as 1796. They were successful in their trade ; but Jacob Eidgway afterward settled in Antwerp as a merchant — had a large commission business — and after some years returned to Phil- PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. 79 adelpTiia with a very handsome reward of Ms mercantile prowess. James Smith retired witli ample means to quiet quarters ; whilst Mr. Eidgway continued his business habits, guarding his accumulations till time to him was no longer, and departed this life on the 30th of May, 18i3, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. Mr. James Smith, of this firm, died on the 27th of May, 1826, in the sixty-sixth year of his age ; a highly esteemed member of the Society of Friends. Mr. Job Butcher, though a retail grocer, was a very respect- able part of the active business life of JSTo. 49, even in 1793, and for many years after — some distance into the present century. Our neighbor Butcher was an indulgent patron of youth, whose good-nature elicited their familiarity and permitted access to his sugar-casks, whilst he winked at the resistless temptation at the ends of their fingers. But we had the freedom of the store from front to rear, where, on the landing at the head of a flight of steps leading down to his yard and wharf, he had one or two pet Eaccoons, with which, between school-hours, we were allowed to play to our heart's content ; but the black lumps of his sugar, if even less attractive, was the appetital relish of our fun, leav- ing yet a sweet savor to the reminiscence. He was a clever old gentleman, of the Society of Friends ; was a kind neighbor — attended to his business — and finished his course unscathed of the evils of failure in his honest and laudable pursuits. His son, Amos W., succeeded him; and, I believe, success- fully. He too was a ray of his father, retiring in manner, but steady and forceful in his matters of business, 80 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. The lineage continues in Front, near Race, No. 146, under tlie firm of Butcher & Brother, sons of Amos W., and grand- sons of my old and familiar friend, Job Butcher ; they occupy the site of the late Henry Pratt's dwelling.* Eobeson & Paul were identities of No. 53, and their exten- sive flour and provision store there was a wide-spread notor- iety. They were there already in 1797, and for many years after. The corner of Arch and Water, was the grocery store and residence of the Mr. John Clark heretofore noticed. His brother, Mr. Jacob Clark, who had for his clerk our own Moses Kempton, the present, and for many years past, very valuable Accounting Warden of Christ Church, was the business grocer of next door below. Permit me to add here, that the Clark family were of the most respectable part of our community. • Job Butcher died Februai'y, 1819, aged seventy-seven years; and his son Amos died in 1846, aged sixty-five years. PHILADELPHIA AND IlEB MEBCHA.NTS. 81 CHAPTEE XIII. AVater street — Arch to Race — Isaac Austin, at the corner — INIrs. Burkhard — Isaac Wainwright — William Peddle — Timothy Paxson — Latimer & IMurdock — J. Vanuxem — Steinmetz — Major Hodgdon — L. Huron — Goldsmith — Elder — Summerl & Brown — Andrew Hodge — Dr. Hodge — Henry Pratt — "Wilson, Boat Builder — Rugan & Rhodes — James Crawford — John Warder & Son — Harvey & Davis — Capt. Davis. To this northeast corner of Arch and "Water street, attaches some notoriety, inasmuch as our late celebrated. Cora. Dale was united here in the bonds of matrimony, to a niece of Isaac Austin, then and there residing as a responsible watchmaker; and in addition, a peep on the hill finds the early bell-ringer of Christ Church, who practiced upon the octave in his garret, in order to perfect his peals on Sunday ; but, more important still, next below him, sat our subsequent eminent Bays New- combe, delving into Coke and Blackstone, founding a legal reputation, Mdiich he attained in after life. Leaving this point, the Widow Burkhard claims notice, next to the corner on Water street, where she and her hus- band resided. No. 57, in 1793, and adjoins the industrial block and pump-maker depot of Isaac Wainwright. These premises run through to the wharf and the water itself, for at the foot of his yard there was a dock for the soaking and safe keeping of logs, a very sink of mortality to those who ventured to run their role from wharf to wharf, a memorable fact to your author, who, but for the timely hand of a larger 6 82 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. boy, and the extra capillary of his bead, would certainly not bave been bere now to tell a tale of days and things lang syne. Humbly, but vastly important to maritime requirements, the saw, the auger, and the chisel noised their daily services to shape and bore a pump, or fit a sheeve and block to the hand of an inquiring mariner. Mr. Wainwright was perhaps the most popular block and pumpmaker of his day. His son Jonathan succeeded him in the business, and con- tinued it for many years. Thence he removed to Kensington, and established a saw-mill and board-yard, and at the same time acting as President of the Kensington Bank. He resigned the presidency creditable to his services, and retired to his more active business calling, which, with his sons, he yet industriously pursues. In this connection I take occasion to state, that his brother William was the persecuted President of the Commercial Bank : for upon investigation, he was honorably acquitted. Isaac Wainwright, the sire, died in July, 1844, in his eighty- third year. William Peddle was an oak cooper, next above, whose premises extended through to the wharf, north side of Wain- wright's dock. A public alley to the wharf; along the north side of Ped- dle's premises, could it speak, might tell of the battle-ground on the wharf, where belligerents met to settle disputes vi et armis, and gymnastic gyrations from the storm of their bosoms. There were "bullies" in those days, who seemed to take pride in championship, some of whom of fair reputation I could revive here — but let their dotings, dottings and doings PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 83 be ! It was, however, battle-ground to wbicb appoint- ments were made, and upon which the ring of some depth hailed the victor, or bore the vanquished to quarters of peace, and repair of damage. It must be observed here, however, that they were not prize fights, but more exuberances of skill and bravura than ebullitions of wrath : and all this sixty years ago ! Craving forbearance for this rude incident of the times, my return to Water street leads me to more respectable and more profitable doings. At the upper corner of the alley here referred to, our well- known citizen, Timothy Paxson, bought, sold and delivered flour by the quantity. Mr. Paxson was a staid, steady, plain Friend, wending his way, morning, noon and evening, from his dwelling at No. 81 Arch, north side, above Front street, to his long-standing haunt of No. 65 North Water street, before and long after 1802. In 1799, he resided at No. 16 Key's alley. Latimer & Murdock were also prominent dealers in flour, next above Mr. Paxson, a very respectable house, in good business standing, and of desirable social relations. Mr. Latimer — more especially known to me as a Christian gentleman — was a very neat and handsome man, medium height, stout, but well proportioned, and highly esteemed in Church and State. In immediate connection in this line, we had John Stein- metz, Jr., a wholesale grocer, and Major Samuel Hodgdon, Superintendent of the Public Stores of the United States. James Vanuxem, a rather small-sized, neat, and gentle- manly-looking man, was a merchant of some note, at the third door from the corner of the alley leading to the famous Red Stores, 1799 ; but afterward, in 1802, was located at No 84 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 186 Market street, next below General Washington's bouse, south side, near Sixth street. The venerable William Smith was next resident at the upper corner of the alley, and was there also the opulent re- cipient of the profits of his West India plantations. As a chain of family identity, I note that his memory is perpetuated in the Wager and the Huber family ; Peter Wa- ger having married a daughter of his son Stafford, and Tobias Huber, a daughter of his daughter, Mrs. (Doctor) Elder, of whom I am free to say here, that Mrs. Wager was a beau ideal of beauty in form and feature — one of the prettiest women of her day. Doctor Elder was resident next above Mr. Smith, and assorted the tone of the neighborhood ; but the mercantile operations of Summerl & Brown were next above, in bold relief, and their counting-house here, and the dwelling of Joseph Summerl next door, were marked points of their whereabouts. They were prominent in mercantile life, and popular in that community. Andrew Hodge was another of the fraternity of merchants near by ; and again an " M. D.," in the person and profession of Hugh Hodge, assorted the respectability of the gathering here. Here we reach the domicil of Henry Pratt, at ISTo. 93, in 1795. This was a first-class three-story brick house, with iron railing in front of the lower windows, with slab pave inside ; the railing there was a defense against the too near approach of the many passing sailors. An alley of twelve or fifteen feet separated the dwelling from the stores and couutino-.house of Pratt & Kiutziuo;, at PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 85 No. 95, where Mr. Pratt and Pratt & Kintzing, had at their elbows the late Manuel Eyre, and my venerable friend, Charles Massey, as active assistants in the requirements of the counting-house. The upper stories of the store — which was of four stories — crossed over the alley by an arch. The whole ground-plot was about sixty feet front on Water street. A boat-building emporium divei'sified the field of mercan- tile doings ; and John Wilson, the proprietor, enjoyed the benefits of his skill and the fruits of his labor. It was a pop- ular resort for the lovers of aquatic sports. Eugan & Rhodes "jvere well-known shipping merchants on these premises, in 1809 — after John Wilson. Captain Rugan is still with us ; and we reunite him to his occupation of fifty years ago, with all due respect, and thus revive his memory, and that of his early associates, to by- gone days. James Crawford, another shipping merchant, adjoined the above, on the north, in 1798 ; but in 1806, John Warder & Sons continued the mercantile life and spirit of this spot. The corner of Race and Water streets was the ship-chand- lery of Harvey & Davis. Mr. Harvey was unknown to me; but Captain Davis still lives in my memorj^, as a well-dressed, gentlemanly-looking man, of apparent even tenor and temper. This Captain Davis, after his servitude in ropes, tar and tackles, purchased the Rittenhouse estate, at the northwest corner of Arch and Seventh streets, of about sixty feet on Arch street, where the houses of the Messrs. Smith, next above the corner, now stanc], and one hundred and twenty feet on Seventh street. 86 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTER XIY. Water street — Kace to Vine — Vine to Callowhill — Thomas Alibone — Boyer Brooks — Robert McKean — Dutihl & Wachsmuth — Daniel Thunn — Abraham Piesch — Jacob Bright — Endress's Brewery — George Campbell — John Brit- ton — Joseph Thomas — West & Jeanes — William West, of the above firm — Brown's Biscuit Bakery — Stewart & Knight, Lumber Merchants. The northeast corner of Race and Water streets was long and well established, already in 1793, as a mart for the sale of flour by Thomas Alibone, the grandfather of the late un- fortunate President of the Bank of Pennsylvania. This old gentleman — for so he appeared to me in 1800 — was amongst the most respectable of his calling ; and by a " faithful continuance in well-doing," retired upon the reward of his integrity and his labors. Boyer Brooks was his next neighbor and cotemporary, a boat-builder of notoriety, besides being the author of Brooks's Court, in Front street above Race. The dwelling and counting-house of Robert McKean, a shipping merchant, son of Governor McKean, of 1799, was as well known next above. But next above this, there was an old timepiece in the person and presence of Daniel Thunn, of the firm of Daniel & Vincent Thunn, merchants, there in 1797 in the German trade. I Misfortune befell the house ; and my venerable friend PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 87 Daniel became thereafter clerk to the late Capt. Man, where in the rugged office, over the former's stable on the west side of the yard of the Captain's residence, he calculated interests, commissions and fractions, until he came down in an audi- ble whisper to "null vom null und niclits^'' i. e. '' nothing from nothing, and nothing remains," which became a very current joke of the Captain's whenever he spoke of Mr. Thunn. He was a very respectable relic of the vicissitudes of mer- cantile life, and served the Captain for several years, when he retired entirely from the changes and chances of business reponsibilities and calculations of interests, to " Eapp's Har- mony," where in due time he was gathered to his fathers. An alley here to Smith's wharf bounded some old stores on Water street and their vacant portions on the wharf, of which an alley above was the .northern boundary. The counting-house of Abraham Piesch presents itself at the upper corner of this alley. Mr. Piesch was one of the most enterprising shipping mer- chants of his day, 1800, and onwards. He built more vessels, large and small, than any of his compeers. In the war of 1812 he started twelve schooners on the stocks at the same time, to run the guantlet of blockade or pursuit. He was largely concerned in the "West India trade during the revolution in St. Dominsro, and in the East India and European in after time. He really was a man of mercantile prowess, withal a modest, unassuming, mild-mannered Swiss gentleman. He was shrewd and calculating, but the malignity of war and the cupidity and villainy of some of his employees, was more than shrewdness or human foresight could forefend, and he 88 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. fell a victim to treacliery as well as tlie vast oclcls of an open and a powerful foe: else, from $100,000 to a $150,000, would ha've been tlie balance in bis favor even after bis failure in 1813-14. But alas! after all bis acumen in tbe various busy projects of mercantile life, be was sbrunk by tbe cold em- braces of poverty, and even nudged by tbe colder sboulders of many wbo had before done bim reverence. But such is life ! Jacob Brigbt's occupancy was divided by an alley to tbe wharf, on both sides of wbich were bis stores, besides an apartment for large scales for the accommodation of appli- cants for a knowledge of the weight of their wares. Bright's wharf and premises were well-known, and their proprietor equally so as a prominent owner of stores, but not a merchant. A dwelling next above and an alley on the north side to the wharf, brings us to a brewery under the proprietorship and direction of Zachariah Endress. The most remarkable incumbency of this line was tbe office of Eegister of Wills, in charge of George Campbell, where be also resided. This George Campbell was the father of our late fellow- citizen, George Campbell of Arch street, tbe third door below Sixth street, north side, wbo died on tbe tenth of June, 1855, in his seventy -tbird year. The board-yard and counting-house of John Britton cor- nered this square. It was necessarily of considerable dimen- sions, and no doubt gave acumen to mensuration, spirit to mechanics, and life to cart wheels, and sometimes bulk to the craft that awaited an export. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 89 VINE TO CALLOWHILL. Salt, the most invaluable commodity to all animal nature, was here, at the northeast corner of Yine and Water street, in abundance, and Joseph Thomas, West & Jeanes, and Wm. West of the firm of West & Jeanes, were successive operators and very extensive dealers in the article of salt. The domains were large, and extended northward nearly two hundred feet, divided, however, by an alley to the wharf. A biscuit bakery, by William Brown, was another popular resort for foreign and domestic supplies. No. 169 heralded the whereabout, and its active proprietor hastened the right hand of fellowship to the patrons of his skill; and now, except the board-yard and counting-house of Stewart & Knight, which also compassed a large lot, there is nothing particular to note to the corner, which was a tavern. In presenting this view of Water street and the continua- tion of the mercantile interest of Philadelphia in its scope, I might and could have added much to the catalogue of life that hailed the rising sun and again retired to the hearth as it slept in the west ; but, as even now, there were ever and anon inns and outs, which without becoming a succession of Directories, I could not — because it was not my purpose to — follow. I have endeavored to show who and what represented the commercial interest and influence of our city, within certain limits of time, and I trust have not fallen far short of my purpose; nor could I with such intelligible aid as longevity has afforded from its verdure. The ancient and very venerable Dr. Collin of the Swedes Church was a reliable chronicle of the olden time ; and right 90 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. liappy am I in tlie experience of elastiC; graphic, and com- prehensive intellectual memories even in the yellow leaf of human nature; which now, with a very lively picture of the days of my own yonth, encourages and impels me to the work and emboldens its truth. And thus far "Water street: but Front street too has its claims, and I shall proceed to show what they were. PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MERCHANTS. 91 CHAPTEE XV. Front street — East side — Callowhill to Vine — Christlieb Bartling— Manuel Eyre — Clawson's tavern — Durham Boats — Joseph Morehane — His School- house. Seeing that the active elite of life, as well social as mer- cantile, of sixty years ago, was not confined to Water street and the wharf, and that important influences — connected more or less with that region, or otherwise of general interest — ranged on the avenue above, I find it but consistent with my project to pass, scan and cull the line of Front street from ray original place of beginning, Callowhill street, to my intended terminus, the north side of South street; and although in the review of the limit of this chapter the sources are few, and less fertile than those past and those to come, yet it is not entirely void of interest, if but recalling its original and antique face. In doing this I may advert to a row of small two and three- story brick houses, of sombre weather-beaten hue even sixty years ago, and tell of a gap here and there between, as air- holes from the river to fan the more condensed atmosphere above ; or show the forethought of Father Penn in facilitating ingress and egress to and from Front to "Water street by an occasional flight of stone steps. And indeed it will be but a small tribute to the memory of our old friend Christlieb Bartling, to remember him at No. 225, who from that spot in 92 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 1802, took liis course to some depot of kimber to establish its quality by his inspection, or glance at his stalwart frame as with measured step he made his Sabbath day's journey to and from Dr. Mayer's church, as each returning Sabbath invited him to that sanctuary. And here too we may see the youthful but manly Manuel Eyre, as his next neighbor, wending his way to his early business associate in furtherance of issues and profits to the firm of Byre & Massey. Such were the current possessions of this neighborhood ; but there were two other points of marked annals that belong to the history of that compass. The first was the rear end of a tavern, commencing and fronting principally on Water street, a few doors above Yine street, having the " Eising Sun" for its sign on Water street and the " Constitution and Guerri^re" on Front street — it was known as Clawson's tavern, and was the popular resort of the Durham boatmen, who making fast their craft below came up hither to recount their toils in poling, or rowing their long-nosed craft through the dangers of shallow streams to the laborious rowing of the deeper waters of the Delaware. These Durham boats were the usual facilities of conveyance from the flour mills above to the storehouses here below. They were long and capacious, with prow at both ends, and were steered by a long oar, swung on a pivot at either end, which, however, was more effective on a smooth than a rock-rippled stream, which at the rapids at Trenton defied the skill of the oarsman, and sometimes wrecked his presumption, at the cost of a good load of flour, of which the boats held from one to two hundred barrels. They derived their name from Durham Creek, Durham Township, Bucks County. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANT3. 93 But there was a spot of more personal interest to your author, and though fearful in its nature, was important in effect. On the very summit of the hill, next or near the corner of Vine street, there was perched an old yellow frame cottage, unfenced of boundary, and free and open to its appurtenances — open to the exuberance of elastic youth — or the arena of study to the more staid and sober host. It was an open common, accessible at all points, and hence the more memor- able to wayward youth. On this spot th^ lapse moments of scholastic duty found vent in sliding from the top to the bottom of the hill, to the wear and tear of unmentionables, and the total annihilation of our heels. Joseph Morehane, however, was the pro tern, proprietor of the domain, and the centre of gravity in the cot on the summit. Here the schoolmaster was seldom abroad, but on the con- trary, his tenacious presence, with his flexible rattan, was a rod of terrorem to undisciplined youth, and the active evi- dence that to spare the rod would be to spoil the child, his forbearance truly was great ; but the memento before us sometimes trespassed upon ours. , These were the days of hobgoblins, ghosts and witches, of which some of the elder boys took advantage to test the powers of their master and his old lady, by an inverted horse- shoe over the door to check their egress ; but, alas for the prank, the penalty of the rattan was the hasty successor to the sport. Although our master was scarcely threescore years of age, extreme youth thought of nothing but extreme age in him ; the battery of his mouth was gone, and the jaws cringed for a substitute. Moreover, being small in stature, and sparse of 94 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. flesh, he appeared to shrink in the cold embrace of old time. I have been informed by those who knew him better than I could have done, that he was a well educated man — a literati — a man of good character ; and in the latter part of his life, employed as book-keeper to Samuel Lehman, of the Northern Liberties, ship-smith. Mr. Morehane lived to the good old age of eighty-eight years, and died on the 19th of December, 1831. PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MERCHANTS. 95 CHAPTEE XYI. Front street, West side — Callowhill to Vine — A Black Bear Tavern — Isaac W. Nori'is — Isaiah Jeanes — Oapt. James King — Joseph Copperthw,aite — " Bully White" — Daniel Bacon — William West — Fitch's Steamboat, 1788. The west side of this square was lined with, a better class of houseS; and several of our more prominent citizens were resident there. It was, however, not without its mixture of small tene- ments, and they appropriated to divers nses of stores, grocer- ies, and amongst others, a distillery and a tavern. This tavern was known by its sign of a Black Bear, and was situated about one third of the way south of the corner of Callowhill, occupying some forty feet front, having a wide opening at its side, as an entrance to the grounds in the rear for the accommodations pertinent to the entertainment of man and horse. Isaac W. ISTorris, once a supercago, afterward, 1811, a ship- chandler at the southeast corner of Water and Yine streets, occupied one of the best three- storv brick houses, about mid- way of the row. Mr. Norris was a remarkably fine-looking, well-built and handsome man, and as gentle, in proportion, to all intents and purposes ; a very pleasurable review of my own per- sonal business transactions with him in my onset in business life. 96 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. He died January 5tli, 1847, aged sixty-two years. The root, Isaiah, of the present family of Jeanes's, salt mer- chants, at one time in connection with the "West's ; and some of the branches were resident, in 1805, at No. 196, and in 1811, more in detail perhaps, at No. 208. The place that knew the old-time fixture, Captain James King, but now knows him no more, was No. 210, a first-class three-story brick, with porch and portico, wherein the Cap- tain was resident for many years. He was crippled by the loss of his foot, occasioned by a throw from his carriage, and which confined his locomotion to a wheel-chair, in which he passed himself from spot to spot as call required. His competency, however, mitigated in some degree his misfortune, and spared him the pain or inconvenience of thought for the morrow — that was already guarded. Capt. King was the half-brother of our late citizen, Joseph Worrel, whose mother, commonly called "Nanny King," was as well the mother of Mr. Worrel.* Near by Captain King, at No. 204:, was the seat of justice and terror to evil doers, where Joseph Copperthwaite admin- istered the law, and by testimony imposed the penalty or discharged the accused, 1802. Prior to this, Mr. Copper- thwaite under the authority of High Sheriff vested in him, dealt out the wrath of the law against delinquent debtors and, perhaps, candidates for more stringent measures. He was High Sheriff^ and had to perform the duties — profit- * Nanny King was a lively and anecdotal relic of Revolutionary times. She was a woman of high spirit, of plain and very honest bearing. She lived by herself, under the care of the Captain, at the head of Goddard's alley, in Second street, running eastward, a little above Vine, 1798, 1800, and onward, to her final exit. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 97 able, disagreeable, or repulsive— of that office. All this sixty years ago. There was, however, at No. 193, perhaps the most notorious individual of our community at that time, long before, and even long after 1800. Capt. William White, generally known as "Bully White," was of Eevolutionary date, even in old age a steady old salt, of iron frame and feature, worn stern by practical necessities ; said to have commanded a privateer in the Eevolution, and subsequently a playfellow with the froth of Neptune, ' This well-built, heavy, round-shouldered, notorious mari- ner, with heavy, jutting gray eyebrows, and slow but charac- teristic step, made his daily sortie from the house of Captain Joseph Vansise, from No. 193, where and whence he was as well known as any man in Philadelphia ; commanding respect for his person, bis indomitable courage, and his general history. His countenance, at rest, was by no means savage, but rather kindly. I have often seen him, but never with any repulsive feel- ing. His calling, its duties, and his judgment, made him a disciplinarian and a commander to be respected ; but if Cap- tain or " Bully White" was any thing but a liberal and— worldly called — good-hearted man, his contour belied him. He owned and commanded a brig, called the "Betsy," noted as a fast sailer. Captain White was patronized, socially and commercially, by Harvey & Davis, of Eace and Water streets, ship-chandlers. It would be a slight to pass a tradesman of as much im- portance to the piscatory sportsman, as was friend Daniel Bacon, who, a few doors above the corner of Vine, made his calling known by a well-represented shad, or something like 7 98 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. it, suspended by hook and line, over liis door here. Here, fiisliing-tackle, to all intents and purposes, was to be found ; and here too, in the early part of this century, was the resort of connoisseurs and adepts in the art of catching fish. William West, the pioneer in the salt trade, cornered the row with a mansion of dignified appearance ; whence, from the ease and comforts of his family hearth, he could oversee his business quarters at the corner below, and be at the com- mand of any emergency. The width of the street, east of Front, here gave the north- west corner of Front and Vine the advantage of an unob- structed view of the wharf and the Delaware. It was opposite to this opening off Yine-street wharf, in the middle of the stream, in the year 1788, that John Fitch's steamboat — the first discovery of that mode of applying stearn — made her debut, with her crude machinery, in her first trip to Burlington, N. J., passing over the tide at the rate of three miles an hour, to the great joy of the multitude on the wharf witnessing the feat. Her paddles were in the shape of large oars, when in an upright position, broad at the top and tapering downward ; and when set in motion, cre- ated a furor of huzzas. The presence and eye-witness of my friend, Mr, Charles Massey, at this exhibition, is a good voucher for this fact, who further informs me that Fitch was assisted in his scheme by Lewis Braill, of Brewer's alley, a blacksmith, who made the boiler and other apparatus to complete the machinery, aided by Henry Yoigt, a watchmaker, in Second above Eace ; they were both men of great mechanical genius. This embryo of steamboat navigation, was a birth of tribu lation, patience, and expense, of which the real parent, after PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 99 thus laying tlie track for tlie prosperity of the million, him- self died poor, neglected, unwept. It is said that Fitch caught the idea from a tea-kettle, in the spout of which he had fixed a cork — perhaps to hasten his supper by confining the steam — but the increasing force of the vapor displaced it ; and the forceful " pop !" gave force to thought — thought to ingenuity and the trophy to persever- ance. 100 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTEE XVII. Front street, East side — Vine to Race — Isaac Jones — Abraham Piesch — John Wharton — William Fling, Senior and Junior — Peter Brown — Praise Wood- man. From this corner, down to the steps, an avenue to Water street, about midway of the square, there is nothing particuhir to note. The houses, already in 1800, were old, weather- beaten and frost-bitten ; the basement being a very available entrance, covered by an almost perpendicular cellar-door, ad- mitting a full-sized person, without bend or nod, to the apart- ment under the first floor. Isaac Jones, however, is not to be passed in silence ; for at the south corner of the steps above alluded to, his snuff and tobacco emporium was as well known as himself as propri- etor, and the old gentleman was not unmindful of his im- portance. His profession was available, for snuff, tobacco and cigars were desirable luxuries even of that day. Tlie humble and unpretending Abraham Piesch was his next door neighbor, resident there, and occupying through to Water street, the lower story being the depot of his imports ; where the hills and hollows of coffee-bags were enviable in- vitations to his " cubs" to play hide-and-seek, to which your humble servant was a gladsome party. As my early friend, Mr. Piesch, has gone down to the valley of oblivion, unwept and unsung by his mercantile asso- PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MERCHANTS. 101 ciates, I cannot pass him here without again referring to his character and standing, as a man of wealth and prosperity to the turn of his tide, yet a man of humble bearing, of equable deportment without reference to grades, with a currency of benevolence passing him very acceptably through his various relations in life, as a very mild, soft-spoken, untempered gentleman. And here I take temporary leave of Abraham Piesch, and introduce my reader to John Wharton, of No. 165, next door below; this gentle- man — as denominated in those days — was a surgeon-barber, and heralded by a tin sign on his window-shutter, represent- ing a female figure seated in sickly attitude, with outstretched arm, either awaiting the click of the lancet, or shying at the crimson spurt into the bowl held by the thoughtful San- grado. Mr. Wharton was a man of character, and the determina- tion of his countenance, sharpened by an oblique cast of his eye, were unmistakable warnings that he was not to be trifled with. A few doors below, at No. 155, in a two-story brick house,* a little back from the line, having a pale-fence in front, and gate of entrance, dwelt a popular house painter and glazier of his day. William Fling seemed to be the chosen to paint and beau- tify the steeple of Christ Church, and all belonging to it. And often have I seen him, and his son who succeeded him, or some of their employees, pendent from the spire, two hun- dred feet in mid-air, in a deep basket, plying the brush with perfect nonchalance, to the admiration of some and the fear * This house is still standing, under new No. 223, occupied as a cooper- shop, enclosed bj* a high, board fence. 102 PHILADELPPIIA AND HER MERCHANTS. and terror of others of tbe many lookers-on below ; but I never heard of an accident from that source. "William Fling, Jr., was, in stature and general appearance, a fac simile of his senior, both men of courage, for in that day it was a feat to venture two hundred feet above the heads below. And whether they, or either of them, trusted to the " Yo, heave ho !" below, or sent up a maintop-sail man as a substitute, they endorsed the project, and were responsible for results. Peter Brown's blacksmith shop occupied a space a little « below, No. 141; it was a frame, and run through to Water street. Praise Woodman must have been notorious for name, if even nature, education, or occupation beclouded the popularity due to his, or her existence, for I do not know how to sex that surname. Suffice it to say, that, in 1795, Praise Woodman kept a boarding-house at the northeast corner of Eace and Front streets, and thus cornered the row now reviewed. The row, from Jones's down to the corner, escaped the con- flagration of 1850, leaving even yet a good sample of the olden time. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 103 CHAPTEE XYIIL Front street, West side — Vine to Race — Stackhouse — Starr — William Rush — Rebecca Inksom — Jacob AVayne — John B. Ackley — Solomon Park — George Vanderslice — Robert Bethel — General Irvine — Peter Maisson — Basky Mar- shal—William Rigby — John Stille, Jr. — Bowyer Brookes — Rebecca Jones — Rosanna, and her daughter Mary Donnel. m Desultory as may liave been some of the marks and remarks in. the line of march along Front street, thus far, that now before us has even more ^oi7it d'a^j^ui for the life, natural, scientific, and historical, of sixty years ago. In many neighborhoods there are certain nuclei, stereotyp- ing their identity by successive generations; their grand- fathers were born, reared, and educated there, and progeny claims antiquity to the spot of their sires. Thus the Stackhouses and the Starrs, particularly the former, who date even from 1793, were amongst the earliest residents of that quarter, and types of their generations to this day, they contributed their share to the prominent variety, and enlivened the busy scenes of mercantile and mechanical industry; for whilst Amos Stackhouse beat the "Cooper's march" at ISTo. 168, John Starr retired daily from the labors of selling flour and salt to No. 152. They were respectable tenants there, and a part of its active life. But there was more than ordinary interest in this compass. 10-i PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. The prow of the dignified merchantmen awaited its embellish- ment here, and the skill of an eminent sculptor became the pride of a shipowner. Mr. William Rush was a carver of distinction, and without a rival in the United States or Europe. The figure-heads of most all of our merchant ships were the work of his hand, and generally admitted to be good likenesses of their originals. His " William Penn/' " General Washing- ton/' "Franklin," "Yoltaire," "Rousseau," and ''General Wade Hampton," with many others, were amongst the prominent specimens of his art. They were full-length, life-like, full-dressed figures, the G-enerals in regimentals, and the others in plain garb. The representation of the Crucifixion, in St. Augustine's Church, was the boast of the city, for the accuracy of its de- lineations at the hands of William Rush. Time, in due course, scathed the features, and the frag- ments of the former ; after they had served their day and generation — but alas, for a reckless mob — the torch of the incendiary of 1844, fired by an unholy, unrighteous, and in- human spirit of persecution, destroyed the temple, the altar, and its adornments at one fell swoop. This piece of sculpture was of life size, and generally con- sidered his chef cVoeuvre. But, thanks to the careful leading of some of our former city Fathers, who protected and preserved the life-sized female figure with her spouting swan, that once ornamented the Centre Square, where, as a fountain, from a rather careless heap of rocks, in front of the white marble build- ing, she stood alone, and wa,s the admiration of the daily throng. This figure now perpetuates the memory of its skillful PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 105 sculptor, on a ledge in a nook of Fairmount, where, whilst it contributes to the beautiful blending of art with nature, she spreads the fame of Eush in rainbow tints, fed and impelled from the crystal fountain at her feet. The studio of Mr. Eush was a two-story frame, numbered 172, a few doors above Key's alley. There was a large log under his front windows, from which, we little boys, on our way to, and from school, peeped and wondered at the trans- formation of unwrought timber to the form and appearance of a human being, Mr. Eush was rather below medium height, well formed, genteel appearance, and very intelligent countenance. He died at the age of seventy-six, on the 17th January, 1833. Let it not be the step from the sublime to the ridiculous, to come down from the arts and sciences, to "kiss a cup, and pass it to the rest" — and yet a good cup of tea is not to be despised. A very popular emporium for this luxury was at No. 168, where Eebecca Inkson, 1795, and long after, dealt out the material for the social beverage, and was patronized to her own comforts by the very vox populi, as well for her assort- ment of teas as for her appendages of dry goods and trim mings. A mixture is not complete without ingredients, and there- fore permit me to notice our old friend, Jacob Wayne, cabinet and chair-maker, of No. 166, and the famous spinning-wheel, that insignia'd the occupation, in front and over the door of John B. Ackley, at the corner of Fearis's court, the first inlet below Key's alley. No. 150, in 1802. There was a passage through here to Second street, princi- 106 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. pally for the accommodation of Friends to their meeting-house in Key's alley. This same John B. Ackley was afterward druggist and apothecary, and sold paints, at the west end of this avenue. Solomon Park was a fixture in this neighborhood, from and before 1791, in which, within a small compass, he was variously located, but my personal data finds, and knows him at No. 146, in 1800. Here, in a gray, weather-beaten, old-fashioned three-story brick, was the watch-making, mending and repairing estab- lishment of Solomon Park. The front entrance was high above the pavement, and could only be reached by a high flight of steps, beside which an almost perpendicular cellar-door — apparently leaning against the wall — closed the entrance to the basement or cellar. From this spot emerged, from day to day, the tall, gaunt figure of Solomon Park ; his movement was pendulum-like, and apparently in time with its clock. He was, to all intents and purposes, an old time-piece, in keep with the rack and racket of his elliptic bulk-window and its old-fashioned con- tents. Although a model of primitive simplicity in apparel, there was sportive fancy in the man, for he had the reputation of being a "ISTimrod" in the chase, and kept a " rosinant" to fur- ther his fancy, which, with his master, grew gray in the ser- vice of his fanciful pastime. Variety does not cease here — a barber-shop belongs to the range, and due respect must be allotted to George Vander- slice, the proprietor, especially as Mr. Yanderslice was not a thing of a day, but flourished in his trade here, and carried PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. 107 his occupation to Eace above Third street, where for many years after he was the popular tonsure of the day. He was a good Methodist, and stood well in the com- munity. The house next below the corner of Coates's alley, was a mansion of some dignity, having a front of about thirty feet, and proportioned in height ; it was the largest house in that square ; it stands a little oblique from the proper line, arising probably from its erection before the proper grade was laid down. It was built, 1764,* by William Eush, black and ship- smith, the father-in-law of its occupant, Eobert Bethel, in 1791, who lived there for many years. Mr. Bethel, the grandparent of our present Eobert Bethel, Esq., was a ship- chandler on Bickley's wharf, by profession — a highly respecta- ble old gentleman, and socially in keeping with his character and standing. In connection with his wife's family, the venerable General Irvine was a fireside companion. This old gentleman was an associate of General Washing- ton, having served under him in the American Eevolution. He was a pink of neatness, whose black suit, short-clothes, and silver-buckled shoes and old-fashioned cocked-hat, ren- dered him in appearance more of a civilian, or even a D.D., than a tactician in fire-arms. If, however, his respectability had been measured by his size, he would have lost in degrees. But not so ; his character * This mansion is now in the occupancy of Peter Maisson, whose extensive biscuit bakery is nest door above, on the corner of Coates's alley. Mr. Bethel died in Holmesburg, April 17, 1852, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. 108 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. and bearing gave tone to his position, making his mark upon some one to memorialize his existence. He was, as hinted above, of medium height, light built, very neat in apparel, very measured in his gait, and had more the appearance of a Divine than a brandisher of sword and shield. General James Irvine is entitled to the following further notice. First. He occupied the mansion above-mentioned from the close of the Eevolution to the year 1819. Second. Although a hatter by trade, in early life he became a soldier of two wars, being engaged in 1764 on the frontier of our State in Indian warfare ; and again in the American Eevolution, under General Washington, losing three fingers of his right hand on the plains of Germantown. He served after the war in several of the Councils of the State, and died in 1^19, an aged veteran of time and labor, full of the honors due to the merits of his life and character. His house (above) became, by will I presume, the property of Mrs. Francis Irvine Brown, daughter of Captain Eobert Bethel — for before he settled down in a ship-chandlery, he ivas a sea-captain — and was a near kinsman of my venerable cocked-hat, General James Irvine. In passing on to the corner of Eace street, it is but civil to notice Mrs. Hannah Marshall, whose boarding-house cornered Brooks's court. She was well-known there in 1802, and was succeeded by her daughter Bathsheba — known as Bashy Mar- shall — who continued there for many years after, but — In 1799, the firm of Ducoing k Lacombe had their count- ing-house at this corner; they were in the Bordeaux d,nd West India trade, large importers of wines, brandies and silks; their counting-house was afterward removed into PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 109 Coates's alley near Front, where in 1802, our present fellow- citizen, Mr, J. P. Fontanges, served them as clerk for several years. Mr. Fontanges was afterward of the firm of Chapron, Frenaye & Co., in the silk and ribbon business, at the north- west corner of Seventh and Market streets. He is now a retired merchant and has his office in Gold street, south side of the bank of Pennsylvania. The corner of Pace and Front was a bunch of old red frames, the edge of which, east and west, was occupied for many years as a cabinet-maker shop by William Pigby, whose popularity was coequal with the rest of his fortunes. In connection with this square, it may be proper to note that it had four insertions from Vine street : first, Fearis's court ; second McCullough's court ; third, Coates's alley ; and fourth, Brooks's court. Of these, though our subsequently opulent citizen, John Stille, Jr., occupied a rather imposing three-story brick house, with pediment front, at the head of McCullough's court, Brooks's court was by no means least in importance. Bowyer Brooks, Sen. & Jun., boat-builders, were men of business on the wharf — but resident there ; but there was one of more public notoriety, of an entirely different character, adding to the respectability of this nook. Pebecca Jones was an acceptable preacher of the Society of Friends, highly esteemed for her consistency of charac- ter and spiritual dealings in their meetings, and there and then, some sixty years ago, was a profitable example to that circle. She died in 1817, in the seventy-eighth year of. her age. Posanna Donnel too, a good, old Poman Catholic, kept her faith there, and behaved accordingly; and her daughter, 110 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. Mary Donnel, lier worthy successor in faith and practice, contributed their mite to the favor of good things to come. Antipodes as they were in profession, they were one in pursuit, and qualified the atmosphere (that else might have edged the source of respiration,) with the smoother zephyrs of " love to thy neighbor." PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. Ill CHAPTEE XIX. Front street — East side — Race to Arch — Christian's Biscuit Bakery — John KefFer — Pattison Hartshorne — Agent of the Bavarian Republic — Simon Protaasco — Richard Folwell — Jacob Martin — Nathaniel Bayne — William Bowen — Isaac Wainwright — Melchoir Wisinger — His Wife — Peter Delamar — Joseph Brittin — John Scurlog. A BISCUIT BAKERY has been a fixture on tliis line from time immemorial : for already in 1791, No. 127. near the corner, was a popular resort for biscuits, large or small, wholesale and perhaps retail. Frederick Christian was an early proprietor, of 1791, here ; was succeeded by his son Peter — afterward Alderman Chris- tian — and now and for some years past is far-famed as Watson's more extensive biscuit bakery. John Keffer, however, was well-known as a thrifty, in- dustrious, and attentive shoemaker at No. 123, in 1793. In those days little boys wore what were familiarly known as " Kaks,"* a rather fanciful fit to our tiny feet, and Mr. Keffer made them. A little below this a blank wall protected the culinary department, and very small yard in front of it, of No. 119, a *" Kaks" were shoes for small boys, embellished with a yellow streak called "rand," inserted between the sole and the seam of the upper. Which, proud as we were to get them on, were even more so in due time to get them off, being beneath notice whilst in " Kaks." 112 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. venerable pile of earlier date, wide front, spacious and re- spectable. It was tlie habitation of Pattison Hartsliorne, of the firm of Hartshorn e, Large & Co., dry goods merchants, 1793. Again, a little below, two other very imposing three-story mansions claimed respect. Of these, No. 107 was the resi- dence of J. H. C. Heineken, agent of the Bavarian Eepublic, 1807 ; the other, Ko. 105, was in the occupancy of Simon Probasco, a Notary Public, a terror to the unnjindful of bank hours and their three o'clock requirements : for doubtless, " protests" were sealed at, and delivered from No. 105 North Front street. A flight of steps here to Water street intercepts the course, and a wall on their south side, protective of a chasm behind it, leads to the printing-office of the famous Eichard Folwell. Dickey Folwell — for such was his cognomen — was the racy editor of the " Spirit of the Press," a small, but characteristic sheet, redolent of wit, humor and sarcasm, and unsparing of its subjects. Dickey was an indomitable wit, and whether " four fingers and a thumb" knocked him down for it, or the hilarity of his gaysome chums lit up his convivialities, it was the same to him. Wit or sarcasm, or revenge in that form, was in him, and must and did come out. He was full of talent, but it got into a wrong channel. Moreover, Temperance societies were in futuro^ and Dickey was innocent of their meaning. His editorial issues, therefore, were subjects of unchastened wit and often very unrefined report; and woe to the wight that even showed slight upon Dickey Folwell. His paper was the nucleus of all its like in after time. He was small of stature, indifferent to apparel, wore spectacles, PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 113 often minus one glass, and by no means chaste in his witti- cisms. Passing a boarding-house, and the shoemaker shop of Eichard Miles of No. 72, we come to a nest of frames of two stories, inhabited and appropriated as follows : The first was occupied by Jacob Martin as residence and chair manufactory. Mr. Martin was a tall man, of medium locomotion — the reverse of his son Abraham Martin, the active and efficient ofi&cer of the Sunday School Union, who must have inherited his energies from his mother, which, with the steadiness of his father, with uncompromising principles of his own, makes him what he certainly is, a valuable member of the community. Nathaniel Bayne was next neighbor here, a dapper little man, active, industrious and speedy. He was a turner, and turned out tops of all sorts and sizes for the amusement of boys in top season. He and his wife were a happy pair in form and social feature; they had no children; were good neighbors, and enjoyed the respect of all about them. Mr. Bayne died on the 20th of April, 1847, in his eighty- fifth year ; but Mrs. Bayne is yet living, and now an inmate of the " "Widow's Asylum" of Eighteenth and Cherry street. William Bowen was another specimen of the olden time, next below. A steady handicraftsman, and well skilled in the art of chair-making. These three last all date from before 1791, as fixtures there. Isaac Wainwright bounds these frames by a very respecta- ble three-story brick ; it was of modern appearance and character in 1800, and from the steps down the best and handsomest house. Mr. Wainwright was a respectable mem- ber of the Society of Friends ; a good citizen and estimable neighbor. 11-1 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. A blue two-storied frame here varied the scene, and our old friend and neighbor, Melchoir Wisinger, helped the variety by the general flow of his wit, humor and friendly familiarity with young folks. He was a wire-worker by trade, vented his genius in the back room of his lower story, and exhibited its fruits in bird- cages, sieves, etc., at the front window and door, where a review shows up the old gentleman in his porch, resting and supporting one of his legs — unbent and unbending from a white- swelling in his youth — fondling and joking with the youth of the neighborhood as they came within his call. His dame — second wife — erewhile the " Widow Sykes," is entitled to a tribute. She was handmaid to industry and frugality, and economized even day-dawn to lengthen time. She and Peter Hahn's boy were competitors for the first ray, of whom it was quaintly said that they both staid up all night for the prize in the morning. This old lady died April 26th, 1851, in her ninetieth year. She had had her day of fascination, and admiration followed her to the porch of her second matrimonial embark, for a jilted " Coelebs" often sat himself in an opposite porch, solilo- quizing his mishap, and denouncing her liege lord as an im- perfect concern. This is a sample of the olden time. Human nature echoes Peter Delamar was a nautical instrument-maker next below, in the house afterward the residence of Singleton, the son-in- law of Mrs. Holland, of Front near Market, of whom more anon. Beer-houses were less obnoxious than under our present code of refinement. A pint of beer was an allowable beverage, and a room for its enjoyment was undisputed authoritj^ for its PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 115 legality. A good Presbyterian could and did vend and measure the juice of malt, with its hop tonic, sans reproche, without fear of censure from Session or Presbytery. Joseph Brittin was the exemplary maitre d'hote here, highly esteemed, well-mannered, and a proper disciplinarian of his domestic circle ; neither broils nor enemies grew upon his soil, nor aught of evil to disparage his claims to good citizen- ship. Odds and ends in society have been and ever will be. The corner was without notoriety, except that it was a boarding-house, kept by Mrs. Phoebe Wady ; but there was spice of a peculiar nature in it. John Scurlog was a bachelor, and a Eoman Catholic de- cidedly opposed to Protestantism in any form. He was wont to amuse, and perhaps vent himself from his door-step on Sundays, and soliloquize ridicule upon church-goers thus : — "Look at that auld divil! She's going to meetin', and the divil a word will she hear or say." Again, " There goes another. He's going to church to say ' we've done those things that we oughtn't to have done,' and as soon as he gets out, he'll do it over again;" and thus he would conclude — "One divil jumps out of another." He was, however, an innocent odd one. 116 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTEE XX. Front street, West side — Race to Arch — Charles Cavender — Dr. Albert! — Abraham Kintzing — Henry Pratt's dwelling — Thomas Pratt — Matthew Pratt — Henry Drinker — Archibald Gardner — Richard Wall — Christian Huhn — Ephraim Haines — Henry Slesman — John Skyren — Sharon Carter — Joe Banjo — John Webb— "Old Katy" — Dankel — Seveke — Gilbert Gaw — Larer — Car- penter's Trenton Stage Office — John Inskeep — Alexander James Dallas — Samuel W. Fisher — Nathan Field — Benjamin Olden — My own Homestead — Incidents of the Times. The southwest corner of Eace and Front streets was occu- pied in 1802, by- Charles Cavender, as his grocery store and residence, who was at the same time a local preacher of the Methodist church. Dr. George F. Alberti was resident next below, at No. 116, in 1805. This house was an ancient structure of brick, three stories in height, but about sixteen feet in front; elevation to the first floor, some five or sis steps. In the front room — a very small one — he had his epitome of an apothecary shop, where he compounded his curatives preparatory to his professional visits, always carrying his medical intentions in the side pocket of his coat. The Doctor was a dapper little gentleman, of independent but very thoughtful carriage, fraught with wit, humor, and Esculapean wisdom, tossing his queue in keeping with the up and down of his heart. He was a man of kindly tempera- PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 117 ment and great suavity of manner ; but an expletive would sometimes muddle the stream of his amiability, and dash the modesty of an erring patient. His usual mode of addressing his female patients was, "Honey," "My dear," in soft, musical tones. On a visit to a lady, his softest and most sympathetic in- quiry was, " Well, my dear, how are you this morning?" " Why, Doctor, I'm not very well — not as well as yester- day." ''The silent Doctor shook his head," and his queue instanter popped up from the collar of his coat as he dropped his chin upon his breast. " Ahem !" said he. " Why, honey, what's the matter ? I left you comfortable yesterday. Where, my dear, is your pain ?" (This was not an amorous expression of aftection, for his patient was his senior.) " Oh ! my Doctor," she replied, " in the pit of my stomach!" Again the queue wagged the motion of his thoughts. " Sorry to hear it, my dear," said he, sympathetically ; "pray what have you been eating?" " Why nothing. Doctor, but a few new potatoes^ Down went the queue as up went the head. "New potatoes!" exclaimed he. "New potatoes! The devil you have. Why, what the devil did you do that for, madam ?" "Why, Doctor! " "Why, the devil," said he, "no wonder at your pain in the pit of the stomach ! New potatoes," murmured he' — " the devil;" but the antidote was in his side pocket, and a nau- seous dose was the penalty. The Doctor thought well of his companionship with Dr. 118 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. PlijsiC; as student, and had claims to his skill as M.D. in after life. He was a fond patron of matrimony, having himself pledged his troth some two or three times at the altar of Hymen. He passed time's ordeal until the 22d of June, 1837, en- rolled him in the catalogue of the past, and gathered him to his fathers, in the seventy-second year of his age. In 1795, Abraham Kintzing occupied No. 114, next below Dr. Alberti's. This gentleman was of the firm of Pratt & Kintzing ; in appearance very respectable, dignified, and gentlemanly ; in reputation, a merchant of the first order ; in character, shrewd, and attentive; and untiring in the pursuits of his firm, of which he had the credit of being the merchant. He was of medium stature, and steady, thoughtful move- ment. In 1796, Henry Pratt bought the mansion of Isaac Whar- ton, the father of the late Thomas I. Wharton, Esq., remod- eled, modernized, and freshened it to distinction above its neighbors, so that No. 112 knew not its former state. Here Mr. Pratt took up his abode, from his former residence in Water street.* It was a rather depressed three-story brick, but about forty *. feet in front, with broad and high marble steps to its entrance, which was in the centre, having parlors, with two full-sized windows each, on either side of the hall or entry. * Immediatelj' after Mr. H. Pratt's removal from Water street, Peter Care, an eminent miller and flour merchant, took possession of the homestead, and pursued his dealings in flour at that point. Mr. Care was the last father-in-law of Mr. Pratt, as allied to Miss Susan Care, she being his third wife. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 119 It stood some ten or twelve feet back from tlie line, wliicli gave it lawn and railing, beautifying as protecting the domain within; in addition to this, a carriage-way on the south side, helped the guarantee of its character and title to respect. Henry Pratt was a son of Matthew Pratt, an eminent limner of 1758, connected in history with our late Dr. Philip Syng Physic, whose grandfather, Philip Syng, Sr., being a a;oldsmith, tutored the father of our Matthew Pratt, in that art. The works of Matthew Pratt are still extant in the Pratt family, and have borne the test of contrast and criticism with the most eminent artists ; for a more extensive account, see Dunlap's history of the " Rise and Progress of the Arts and Design in the United States," vol. 1, p. 98. Thomas Pratt was also a scion of the above stem, and had his day at ISTo. 52 South Wharves, as a respectable shipping merchant, in 1805. Henry Pratt died on the 6th of February, 1837, in his seventy-seventh year, leaving his brother, Thomas Pratt, the survivor of the parentage. He is yet, though eighty-six years of age, in the full enjoy- ment of life ; and being of sound mind, memory and under- standing, is a very intelligent and comj)anionable old gentle- man. In this immediate neighborhood, and between 112 and the corner, there was a wine-bottling cellar, kept by a long, tall, gaunt Frenchman, whose daily companion seemed to be a tutored cat, tamed, domesticated, and familiarized ; and so far the boon companion of her master, that she might be seen frequently at his side, or near him, taking cellar-doors, steps and the wall, for her instinctive protection from dogs. 120 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. No. 110 was a large three-story brick mansion of full forty feet in front, door in the centre, parlors each side of the hall, elevation considerable, surmounted by a high flight of gray- stone steps, wide and easy. This was the residence of Henry Drinker, a valuable mem- ber of the Society of Friends, a kind-hearted, benevolent gentleman — sans boots, spurs or lapels — a " friend in need," as I am happy in the opportunity to show. An ancient friend of mine had sold one property to buy another ; but his purchaser, jealous of the transaction, with- held the consideration in order to supplant him in the opera- tion. Nonplussed by the suspension, he went to a lawyer who had professed friendship and proffered services in any future emergency, to whom he essayed to state his case ; but, this limb of the law, forgetting his friendly invitation, paced his office floor to and fro, whistling the appeal into vacuum; finally, however, he stopped short and said, "Jacob, don't thee know, no 2'>ciy, no 'pater nosier V In this dilemma — for he was poor, and had no pay for this "pater noster" — he went to his friendly neighbor, about a square off, and stated his difficulty and danger of losing his bargain. Mr. Drinker heard his complaint, and impromptu thus re- sponded : " Jacob, go at once and procure writings to confirm thy purchase, and I'll lend thee the money, (£100,) till thee gets thine." And this he did without fee, reward or security, 1793. Such was Henry Drinker, of 110 North Front street; and as far as I have known the Drinker family since, they did not fall far from that tree, for they were a goodly folk. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEKCHANTS. 121 Drinker's alley takes this family name, for it runs on tlie south side of these premises through to Second street. The southwest corner of this alley was occupied, in 1795, as a tallow-chandlery, by Archibald Gardner, but subsequently by Eichard Wall, 1807, and many years after as a Windsor chair manufactory. Already in 1796, there was a very venerable pair at No. 104 Christian Hahn was a prominent manufacturer of chocolate and mustard. His manufactory was on the rear of his lot, and the chocolate-nuts ground, melted, mixed and moulded there. The grinding was done by horse-power. I have often seen the poor beast tread the circle round and round again, with- out coming to any point, until 11 o'clock A. M. gave respite to him and his masters. The welcome " punch-bowl" in turn awaited release of its burthen — for a refreshment of some kind was customary at about 11 o'clock, in that day — our workmen therefore hastened to the agreeable emolient to their dusted throats, where, under good cheer, they quaffed their portion, and crushed their bread and cheese. This respectable couple were original members — from the German Lutheran — of Dr. Mayer's English Lutheran church, and it fell to ray lot to escort the old lady to the old Academy in Fourth street, to hear his first sermon. Mrs. Hahn was a small body, whilst Dr. Mayer was of full stature ; but, returning from the service, the old lady said, that he v/as a "fine Ultle many I am happy to salt her memory, as a very fine, good, little woman ; and her husband, as a good, peace-loving citizen. Ephraim Haines was a merchant of another sort ; but his 122 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. extensive dealings in maliogany, made him widely known, and at home at No. 100. He afterward purchased the lot and frame of the eminent carver, Eush, No. 172, and built himself a residence on that artistic spot — a spot sacred to the memory of art and science in the United States. At No. 98, a bag punctured with feathers showed forth the calling of Henry Slesman, as a dealer in that article. Mr. Slesman was a quiet neighbor in practice as well as by nature, for from some remote cause he had lost the edge of his voice and he spoke softly. He lived here for many years after 1795. John Skyren — noted in the diagram — was resident at the upper corner of Elfrith's alley. No. 96 in 1805. Sharon Carter, noted page 30, was resident at the south corner of Elfrith's alley, No. 94 in 1802. In this compass, a little below the above corner, an old tenement with almost erect cellar-door, exhibiting at its open- ing onions, sausages, potatoes, fish, and a variety of edibles with their various odors, was the general whereabouts of a certain darkey, called " Joe," a one-string musician or banjo- ist, which with his thumb, the only facility of his right hand, he tickled day in and day out, to the amusement of the boys and the arrest of a penny from more mature admirers. Joe Avas an original on the banjo, and gave tone to his immediate atmosphere, unobstructed in vibration on my ear even to the present time. John Webb, a very excellent member of the Society of Friends, occupied No. 88. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and had his shop in the rear. The grading of the street here left the original ground- floor PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 123 or parlor one story above its earlier location, and made the late cellar a tenantable basement. Mr. "Webb was a practically pious man, keeping bis end in view by the memento mori of his own measured coffin under his bed. He was a preacher of the Society of Friends. The basement above alluded to was tenanted by a certain Catharine Hanaingrout, commonly known as "Old Katy," who sold apples, cakes, candies, and small beer in the front part, and had her boudoir in a floorless department in the rear. ''Katy" had been evidently a fine-looking woman in her younger day ; but alas ! for the ruthless ravages of time, she was even bowing to its mandate already in my earliest day : for eighty years were even then her portion. Length of days and decency of apparel ascribed wealth to her reputation, which a youth of twenty-four eyeing with eager covetousne'ss, crawled to her blind side, captured her, and decoyed her to a matrimonial alliance. Poor " Old Katy !" the penalty of her folly was the annihi- lation of her domestic comforts. In 1802 a burly baker, Henry Dankel, with more than the ordinary allotment of flesh and blood, was master of a bakery in the old two-story brick house next below; who was suc- ceeded by Godfrey Seveke in 1807, and who, like his prede- cessor, throve and grew fat by the daily issues of twist and hot rolls in the morning, and the savory roasts at noon. This was a sustentation fund of the neighborhood. The row here was broken by an inlet for egress from, and ingress to stables and other conveniences in the rear. The south side of this alley was bounded by the chair- manufactory of Gilbert Gaw, there already in 1795, and long after, indeed until death itself smothered his existence in the conflagration of his premises. 124 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. Mr. Gaw was a good citizen tliongh a severe disciplinarian ; but his efforts for obedience were as striking out, as in-doors, seeing that a street-brawl would bring him with almost con- stabulary authority to the rescue of peace and good order. Melchoir Larer took state next below, as brewer and bottler of malt liquor — VASTLY DIFFERENT FROM ITS ABOMINABLE APOLOGY UNDER THE NAME OF LAGER-BEER, A PERNICIOUS AND DECEITFUL DECOY TO THE BAR AND THE BOTTLE, A SWILL, MORE TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BODY AND SOUL OF MAN THAN RUM OR ANY OF ITS AFFINITIES IN GROG SHOP, TAVERN, OR HOTEL. The Trenton stage-office swung its sign over the pavement of No. 82, where the crack of the whip of the waiting driver often enlivened the early morn as a call to those within and a show to those without. The house was old and rusty (brick), had very high steps to the bar-room, and was kept by John Carpenter (1802), a man of extra size, contrasting extensively with his minimum better-half — literally half — for she could easily pass under his outstretched arm. John Inskeep, from the same occupation at No. 46 Arch street, under the sign of the "Jolly Bacchus" in 1793, was Alderman Inskeep at No. 80 North Front street, next below the stage-office, 1802. Here an arched alley broke the line; this alley was the entrance to the stables of James C. Fisher, who occupied the mansion in front on Arch street, and the stores of Samuel Allen, whose countiag-house and dwelling was a few doors above Mr, Fisher. The south corner of the alley was the residence of Alex- ander James Dallas, the father of our cotemporary George M. Dallas, Minister- Plenipotentiary, etc., etc. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 125 Mr. Dallas was then, 1795, Secretary of tlie Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was a remarkable fine-looking man, full size, well built, and well-dressed ; a very prominent part of his apparel was a brown coat, and his finish a well-powdered head, with clubbed hair rolling a circle of powder on and below the collar of his coat. Mr. Dallas was an eminent jurist and constituted no small part of the dignity of our upper Courts, where I have often seen him, when at leisure, sitting with his right hand resting in the bosom of his half-buttoned coat, to the admiration of more than your author. We are here on the ground of the old Quaker Bank Meet- ing House, which was considerably elevated, and whither Friends congregated for worship from time to time, according to the order of the Society, until taken down in 1789 ; and here, too, some of the descendants of that fraternity domi- ciliated after the removal of the meeting-house, seeing that Samuel W. Fisher, a very respectable member of the Society of Friends, probably built and was located at No. 76, in a first-class three-story brick mansion of about forty feet front, with extensive yard and garden ; a highly respected citizen and neighbor; bland, unassuming and plain, but of gentle- manly deportment. This Mr. Fisher built the house in Arch street above Seventh in 1796, now the western part of the ''Ashland House," which he, however, never occupied, but became the residence of Thomas W. McEwen, of the firm of McEwen, Hale & Davidson, and afterward of Bartholomew Wistar. The lot was seventy -four feet in Arch street, which gave to the house a side yard of about fifty feet. Its identity is incorporated in the " Ashland House," and the vacant ground 126 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. on the west by two other large three-story bricks, iu one of which, next above the hotel, we have our old meixhant, John Farnum, and the other is now more varied in tenants as a boarding-house. Leaving this digression and returning to my connection, I note another three-story brick on the Bank Meeting lot, next below Samuel W. Fisher, in the occupancy of Nathan Field, a bill-broker. Mr. Field was a heavy man, of friendly mien, an adherent of the Society of Friends, and respectable in his calling. The large house. No. 76, was built by James C. Fisher, the brother and partner of Samuel W. Fisher. Here we have a companion of the old Quaker Meeting House, a relic of the olden antecedent of 1791, a two-story frame with porch and pent-house, the domicil and workshop of Benjaman Olden, boot and shoemaker. My neighbor Olden was also of corporeal dimensions — not over-grown, but full* grown ; a steady, quiet, well-dis- posed neighbor. But "Dick," his apprentice, often pro- claimed a contrary opinion. "Dick" did not believe in early rising as a medium to health, wealth and wisdom, and there- fore had to take the strap for his neglect of the lap-stone. There was no six to six in those days, but daylight to dark was the law ; and the " baas" required and demanded all the rights and privileges of the custom : sunrise was therefore a sad omen for " Dick" in bed, and his protest against the in- trusion was apt to be loud and long. But to the spot of my own beginning ! An old time three- story brick intercepted the corner, and seemed to be squeezed in between that and the frame. It was about sixteen feet front by fifty feet deep, with a nook of a shop in front, a small parlor annexed, and a strip PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 127 of convenience for evening retirement in the rear, to wliicli a corresponding strip of a yard outside gave the privilege of light and air, but the whole was hemmed in, surrounded, and out-topped by the wall of the corner and the Arch-street house, all which stretched along the side and rear of the lot. 1'his, though not my birth-spot, was the homestead of the. first years of my existence, the humble domicil of my parents. It was purchased of Lynch, in 1793, for £900 ($2400), where my father lived fifty-one years, until his demise on the 3d of JSTovember, 1834, A familiar feature of the time was the frequent visits of Indians, some ring-nosed, feathered and painted, others in plain blanket, leggins and moccasins; a squaw or more in the rear as they marched listlessly on, with a papoose in a blanket secured to their back. Most of the men had their bow and arrows, and proudly tested their skill upon " fip-penny-bits" stuck on edge on a chosen post — of which many ranged along the curb; their aim was but the precursor to the game, for they invariably hit the mark and took the prize, and that with the coldest indifference under a mere muscular monosyllabic utterance. There is no more of this either; the posts are gone and the Indians approach us no longer in that familiar way. Another peculiar featui-e of this early time offers itself to notice ; as matter of by-gone curiosity, I perpetuate the fact : most of our streets were alive with swallows, which nestled under the eaves of the houses and came down morning and evening in I'apid flight, up and down the street, skimming the ground in search of food, watched by the boys and but too often fell victims of their unerring clubs. The march of improvement seems to have wiped that familiarity of the feathered tribe entirely out of the world's variety. 128 PHILADELPHIA- AKD HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTEE XXL A STRAY CHAPTER. The Corner of Front and Arch streets— Hahn & Spohn — Peter Ilahn — Destruc tion of the Premises— Mary Sowerby — Savage Stillwell— Thomas Cumpson — John Claxton — James C. Fisher — Dr. Cathrall — Ambrose "Vasse — Samuel Allen— William Gibbs— Dickey Folwell — Benjamin Thaw — Hannah January — Benjamin R. Morgan — Dr. Physic — John Biddle — Louis GiUiams— Frede- rick Hailer — John Coburn — Gustavus Risberg— Samuel Wetherill, Jr. — Brumige — Humbert Droz. I MUST premise this chapter, bj reference to, and correction of, an error in my " History of the Moravian Church in Phil- adelphia," where, from an oversight of the proof-reader, I am made to describe the southeast corner of Second and Race as under demolition, instead of the northwest corner of Front and Arch, which was then — April, 1857 — being destroyed to its foundation. This northwest corner of Front and Arch streets, was an old-time affair, even in th'e year 1800. It was of brick, three stories on Front street, and three and a half on Arch street ; the second story on Front street was squared by a pent-house and eaves, whilst on Arch street the third story showed up a pediment from the eaves over the third story, which pediment crowned the garret. Its ground-plot was about twenty feet on Front street, by some sixty or seventy on Arch street. The main building PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 129 was about twenty by thirty, or at most forty feet deep ; the rear portion on Arcb street was two stories high, the second story of which, in 1804, was the culinary appendage to the upper part of the corner or main building. This belonged to the Fisher family; and in 1791, and prob- ably even beyond 1783, it was the store and counting-house of James 0. & Samuel W. Fisher, who were shipping mer- chants of considerable note. In 1802, it was in the occupancy of Hahn & Spohn, gro- cers, who begun business life here. The partnership was not of long duration. Mr. Spohn retired from the firm, and Mr. Hahn continued in very successful operation in the premises, having his residence up stairs for a season ; the inconvenience of the confines, however, impelled a move to more convenient quarters ; and he took them in Eace, midway between Front and Second, south side. It is but due to the memory of Mr. Hahn to say, that he was one of the most prominent and popular grocers of his day ; unsurpassed in industry, and second to none in perse- verance and attention to his business, in which he was aufait at all points. He took the tide of the times at its ebb, and rode its stream to its flood, where he made fast with the haw- ser of the wit and wisdom that bound him to the retreat. Mr. Hahn was naturally a tall man, but a stoop or curve of his shoulders, from physical devotion to his business, re- duced his erect measure. The steadiness of his walk was the insignia of his purpose ; it was straightforward, and thoughtful. His countenance was intelligent, features sharp, nose aqui- line and very prominent, lips thin and compressed, strong evidence of ability and determination to keep his own coun- sel ; dark and rather listless eye, but marked and set in saga- 9 130 PHILADELPHIA AND HEK MEECHANTS. city ; and but for the pits of small-pox, he was rather hand- some than otherwise. He left a large estate, and but one heir, a daughter, for its benefits, who entered the matrimonial list with Dr. George B. Wood, whose reputation for a liberal and proper disposition of his monetary advantage, without ostentation, needs no illu- mination whatever. The money is in good hands. My apprenticeship with Mr. Hahn, in 1804, gave me a full scope for information of matters and things, for some distance around my centre. The whole of this, and the adjacent tenements north and west, have been sunk in nonentity, and their identity worn off, but for the privilege and the penchant of an antiquarian to re- view, resuscitate, and in memory perpetuate. The march of improvement does not spare any thing : it wipes up even the fastnesses of affection, and supplants the fondnesses of antiquity ; but it must and it will progress, and it is for me only to show its ravages. Old times, to " Young America," are of no account whatever ; but, by-and- by, " Young America," if it ever comes to maturity^ will covet a modicum of old time stability. The march of improvement (in this case,) in its sway, has obliterated the identity of the following constituents of this corner and its neighbors. First. On Front street, my own early homestead, No. 70. Second. A well-built, modern three-story brick house, the residence and dentistry of the late Eobert Burkhard, who built on Olden's lot. No. 72. Third. Another good three-story brick, the former domicil of Nathan Field, No. 74 ; thus clearing about eighty feet on Front street. PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MEUCHANTS. 131 Fourtli. No. 13, on Arch street, adjoining the west end of the corner lot. This was the happy home of Mrs. "Widow Mary Sowerby, from whose hearth a bountiful supply of buckwheat cakes was served to the neighbors, every morning in winter, at six for sixpence ; and her little shop in front was equally tooth- some to young folks with burning pennies — apples, ginger- bread, and candies being irresistible temptations to a flighty penny, Mrs, Sowerby lived in this house for many years, from and after 1802, Fifth. Savage Stillwell, merchant, in his day, 1805, en- joyed the retreat of No, 15, This was the grandsire of our present townsman. Mason Hutchins. Sixth. Thomas Crumpston, merchant, and one of the War- dens of Christ Church, a rather austere old gentleman, was a member of the early community, at No. 17. Seventh. John Claxton, ship-chandler, No, 19. Eighth, The dignified and extensive domain of James C. Fisher — and, for many years after his removal, of his sisters Tabitha and Martha. No. 21 — the numbers were very irregu- lar — fell a " prey to the times." This house covered some forty feet on Arch street, had a fine yard and garden, and stables in the rear, with ingress and egress through the arched alley in Front street, between Nos. 80 and 82, and known as Fisher's alley. Ninth. Dr. Isaac Cathrall, a man of wit and pleasantry, eminent in his profession, a gentleman with protective force of sarcasm, if needed, was popularly known at No, 23 ; and here permit me to interpolate, that his wife, by maiden name, Kay, was perhaps the handsomest and finest-looking woman in the city at that time, 1805, and for many years after — aye, 132 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. even to her death ; who, after her second union with Joseph Worrel, and her third with David Jones, departed this life on the 15th of June, 1858, in the seventy-eighth year of her age ; still stately and tasty in apparel, bearing all the delineations of youthful beauty and continuous dignity of carriage. To this point every vestige of old times has disappeared — gone ! forever gone ! — ground to powder and mixed up with the dust, and amalgamated in the pile that makes the levia- than of the less ambitious owners of 1800. I cannot refrain from a further digression at this point, there being items of history in immediate connection with this vicinity ; nothing startling, but ties of the time — good men of good manners, and active tributaries to the life of the last, and beginning of the present century. Amongst these, our respects are due to the memory of Ambrose Yasse,* a prominent merchant, whose dwelling and comptoir was the dignified mansion of No. 29, from 1794 to 1802 ; afterward, 1805, in the occupancy of Samuel Allen, also a merchant ; having stables and stores on the rear, acces- sible by Fisher's alley from Front street. * Mr. Vasse was a Frenchman, and a respectable member of the Society of Fi'iends, and attended the Bank Meeting on the west side of Front street above Arch. He was a shipping merchant in good standing, but the French Revolution crippled his finances, but not his respectability. His title to the property above, came first by a bill of attainder to George Haynes, March, 1778; afterward, Jared IngersoU to Ambrose Vasse, 1794. Tradition says, that this domain was the quarter of General Arnold, after the battle of Saratoga; and that here his extravagance and indulgence over his wound at Saratoga, brought him heavily in debt, and being refused by Congress to make up his deficiencies, he hatched his scheme of treachery to surrender West Point. Mr. Vasse destroyed the old and perhaps original building, and erected the mansion elsewhere noted in this volume. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 133 William Gibbs, too, a retired merchant — blind for manj years — was not without respectful notice at No. 31 ; whilst the famous Dickey Folwell pressed his wit, and sometimes his ribaldry, at No. 33, before he was located in Front street, as heretofore described. Politics did not disrupt a man's household, nor command the business time of a partisan ; for although our neighbor Benjamin Thaw gave active vent to his political opinions, he was none the less a very respectable tailor, at No. 37, mindful of his proper vocation, and successful in its pur- suit. Mr. Thaw was a gentlemanly and highly esteemed neigh- bor ; his shop, or more technically, his shop-board, was in a one-story building next above his dwelling. A passage of six or eight feet separated Mr. Thaw's shop from his dwelling, which was an avenue to one or two tene- ments on the rear, in one of which dwelt the well known Hannah January, a layer-out of the dead ; she was the most popular ofl&cial of that severe calling of that day. Benjamin E. Morgan, attoruey-at-law, was a prominent man at No, 41, in 1802, and sufficiently popular to be offered, by his political friends, after that time, as a proper incumbent of the gubernatorial chair of this State. In 1823, he was Judge of our District Court. Mr. Morgan was a fine-looking man, tall, well-built, and wore his hair clubbed and powdered. Our eminent Dr. Philip Syng Physic also contributed to the tone of wisdom, if not of wealth, at that time, 1795, of this neighborhood, No. 45. This was in his celibacy. He afterward married a daugh- ter of Samuel Emlen, an eminent member and minister of the Society of Friends. 134 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. Mr. Bmlen died in 1799, in Arch below Sixth, on the pre- mises — the minor part of which is the present office of your author, which of&ce was also once that of Dr. Physic. Dr. Physic died on the 15th of December, 1837, at -the northeast corner of Union and Fourth streets, in the seven- tieth year of his age,* Communities are necessarily made up of variety, and an incongruous mixture must, more or less, follow in the cata- logue of subjects ; and as recollections, particularly of a fami- liar spot, are difficult of control, the platform will show up any thing but kindred spirits — no disrespect to the contrast — but a mere representation of things as they were. Hence then let me pass to the other side of Arch street, and review and revive the life of that region down to the corner. In this, I cannot pass the odds of society with the cold shoulder, nor link the time without a warm one to its more popular ends. John Eiddle, a tailor, of No. 34, on the south side, was a moving spirit of the time, a notorious draftsman on snuff", repudiating the box for the more spacious receptacle of his waistcoat pocket ; and for his fancy obtained the title of " Snuffy Eiddle." Louis Gilliams, of No. 26, was perhaps the earliest dentist in Philadelphia ; and was popular, for after 1795, he built a handsome three-story brick house on the opposite side, and was there eminent in his practice. He was a full-sized man, of small voice, and of very pleasant * The Doctor's residence, No. 45 Arch street, seems to have been not only a source of curative, but a cui'rent of the healing art, an apothecary shop having been there for many years; and even now is a mart for the benefit of the sick, under the proprietorship of Edward Gaillard, Jr., as No. 137, the successor of Thomas Dugdal, who was there from 1829. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 135 and winning manners ; pulled hard at a tooth; but beguiled the agony of his patient in the jocosity of his condolence. The old gentleman having served his day and generation, left his substance to his children, and his subjects to his son Jacob, who, after a time, moved to the' more fashionable and more available quarters of Walnut street. Another important " tin," showing the fears and terrors of a female under venesection, embellished the window-shiitter of No. 24, of which Frederick Hailer, a small but venerable professor of phlebotomy, was the proprietor. The pony of John Coburn awaited his master's will at the curb of JSTo. 21, whence to his rigging-loft on the wharf, Mr. Coburn was borne daily. Mr. Coburn was a snug little man, and his pony was well proportioned to his burden ; they looked as if they had sought and found proportions. Gustavus Eisberg, a retired merchant, and a very clever man, was occupant of No. 16. It was a three-story brick, of respectable appearance — parlor somewhat elevated — and ac- cessible by three or four stone steps running up sideways. Mr. Eisberg was resident here as far back as 1791, and until the early part of the present century, 1802-4. Samuel Wetherill, Jr., occupied this house for several years afterward, which is still standing. There is also yet standing — No. 12 — a very weather-beaten, three-story brick tenement, of at least one hundred years durance. In 1795 to 1805, Minia Brumige, a colored woman, and her aunt, or mother, known as " Old Phoebe," made and sold cakes and cranberry tarts at this point. Brumige himself rather repudiated temperance pledges, which often made " midnight howl" over the controversy be- 136 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. tween Mrs. Brumige at the chamber-window, and Mr. Brumiga at the door below, on the difference of rhenmatiz vs. rum-atiz, doubtless to the great and oft-repeated annoyance of their neighbor, John Goodwin, of No. 10, next door below. In 1795, the popular and wide-known Humbert Droz, made, repaired, and sold watches at this corner of Front and Arch ; but 1802 knew Joel Gibbs as manufacturer and ven- ' dor of hats, beaver, felt, and roram. "With a plea for indulgence for this curve in the order of my detail, which I trust, however, is not altogether without interest, I return to my proper line of march and observa- tion. ^f7 PHILADELPHIA AND HEU MERCHANTS. 177 CHAPTER XXTX. Fi'ont street, East side — Walnut to Spruce — The Insurance Company of North America — Institution and Officers — John Vaughn — Edward Carrol — Isaac Wharton — David Lewis — Tribute to Francis Wharton — Odier & Bosquet — Lewis Glaises — Davy — Lewis — Custom-House, 1795 — Its Officers — Owner of the Premises — Ross & Simpson — Lindo — Bringhurst — Henderson — Davy — Roberts — Doran — Buckley — Gilpins — Charles Wharton. Strange as it may appear to the present generation, every step we take confirms the fact of these limits being the busi- ness, as well as the Court end of the town. The glare of Chest- nut street was certainly not yet ignited, nor the grandeur of Walnut street even in embryo The Insurance Company of North America was planted here, at the southeast corner of Front and Walnut, in 1795, the date of its institution, and gathered the neighboring mer- chants for its direction, which as matter of history, and recall of their manes, I give in detail. Of this Company, Ebenezer Hazard was the Secretary ; this was the sire of our cotemporaries, Samuel Hazard, our Penn- sylvania Historian, and Erskine Hazard, a momentum of the Lehigh Navigation Company ; and John Maxwell Nesbit was at the head — President of the following direction : — Charles Petit, Francis West Thomas L. Moore, John Craig, Eobert Ralston, John Barclay, 12 178 PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MERCHANTS. Magnus Miller, Michael Praegers, John Eoss, John Leamy, John Swanwick Joseph Ball, Walter Stewart, John Blodget, Jr Directory N. A. Insurance Co. The details of mercantile life continue and show forth, Firstly, at Nos. 109 and 111, our venerable and active John Yaughn, busily engaged in the importing and vending of wines ; but Mr. Yaughn was more than this — he was a philan- thropist of the first order — not of a smoldering spark of in- tentions, but a burning zeal to warm up the thrift and fur- therance of others, to which end he devoted much of his time and money, and to the time of his death, was indefati- gable in promoting the interests of strangers in a strange land. Mr. Yaughn was a bachelor, but of estimable moral integrity, a man of good reputation for benevolence, steeped in the milk of human kindness. He was a man of elastic energy, as I venture the evidence in the annexed portrait, but which an anecdote of his early life confirms. His father objected to his entering into the risks of mercan- tile life, in the fear of failure ; to which the son answered, " If I do fail, only give me a good oyster-knife, and I'll carve my way ;" but he carved his way without it. He was an Englishman by birth, prompt and fleet au pied. In winter, he wore a Scotch plaid cloak, carelessly thrown over his shoulders, the left side of the red collar jutting above the square of the other side — a memorable sign of John Yaughn, even afar off. Mr. Yaughn died on the 80th of December, 1841, aged PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 179 eiglity-five years ; a decided loss to the poor, the widow, tlie fatherless, and the stranger in a strange land * Edward Carrol was a merchant, at No. 113, and Isaac Wharton and David Lewis were insurance brokers, at No. 116. This Mr. Wharton was the father of our late eminent lawyer, Thomas I. Wharton, and the grandfather of our very useful citizen, Francis Wharton, Esq., son of Thomas I. Wharton, Esq., as above, whose services in our public schools, and untiring care and promotion of the youth, thus under his charge, cannot be negatived by time itself. Though happily still with us, and long may he remain, I owe him this testimony, and am right happy in the acknowledg- ment. He is one of the most useful young men in the general cause of philanthropy, in our community. But to my regular path. James Odier, and Bosquet & Brothers, French merchants, have claims to notice, at No. 117; and Lewis Glaises, in like manner, at No. 119. But — The United States planted her authority here, and divided the mercantile community right and left, until it plead " By your leave." * Our distinguished mechanical genius, Mr. Samuel V. Merrick, of steam- engine notoriety, originated his business capacity in his counting-house, and under the patronage of Mr. Vaughan. 1815 to 1821. Mr. Merrick, with his sons, now holds forth extensively under the incessant clang of the hammer and the rumbling roll of machinery, on Prime street below Fifth street, in full evidence of the growth and increase of popularity and prosperity. Mr. Samuel V. Merrick has the credit of being the originator of the Gas- Works in Philadelphia, having erected the first Gas-Works in 1836, after hia mission to England, in 1834, to investigate matters there, and mature them here, which he did as above, in 1836. 180 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. In 1795, the Custom-House for our district was located here, occupying seventy-six feet front, and through to Water street. The officers were in the second story, where every wight, anxious to pass the ordeal, was compelled to pay obei- sance for the release of his ship-bound claims, and the further- ance of his speculative or more regular mercantile projects. The officers of the institution, at that time, were, — Sharp Delany, Collector. Clement C. Brown, Deputy Collector, Frederick Phile, Naval Officer. William Macpherson, Surveyor. John Graff, Weigher. Afterward Deputy Collector, 1805, and for many years ; and Frederick Graff, Deputy Weigher, at the same time. Thomas Pryor and William Milnor, Gangers. John Gill, Measurer, etc., etc. In 1791, however, this centre of the revenue of our United States was located at the southeast corner of Second and Wal- nut streets, under the same direction. The real estate occupied on Front street was the property of John Eoss, who owned the breadth of seventy-six feet through to the wharf inclusive ; and a part of the lower story of the Custom-House on Front street, was in the occupancy of Eoss & Simpson, as comiMir and general place of business ; all of which was the busy and important centre of the congregated mercantile community of Philadelphia, at that time. The further details of mercantile life were in — A. Lindo, a merchant, at No. 119. James Bringhurst and Henry Henderson, both at No. 131. William Davy and Joseph Eoberts, shipping merchants, at No. 141. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 181 Michael Doran, at No. 143. "William Buckley, at No. 147 ; and Joshua Gilpin was a shipping merchant, at No. 149, in 1799 ; but subsequently was extensively engaged in the manu- facture of paper, with his brother Thomas, under the firm of Joshua & Thomas Gilpin, whose paper-mills were located in, or near Wilmington, Delaware. Joshua Gilpin was the father of our well-known barrister, Henry D. Gilpin, Esq., formerly Attorney-General of the United States under the administration of General Jackson. In 1791, and long before and after, the late venerable Charles Wharton was actively engaged, first in the wholesale grocery trade, and afterward as an eminent shipping mer- chant and importer in the China trade. He occupied the premises No. 153, through to Water street, where he probably originated his grocery business. His residence was at No. 136 South Second street, near Spruce, a large and very superior mansion, having a flight of high and broad marble steps to its entrance ; it was a noble structure of the day. There were three of the same class adjoining each other ; the No. 136 was occupied by Mr. Wharton ; No. J 38, a double front, by Eobert Wain, and No. 140, by David Lewis. Two of these structures still show up their dignity from the second story, the lower fronts having been modeled to business purposes ; these are the former mansions of Eobert Wain and David Lewis, of whom (Mr. Lewis), Mr. J. E. Much- erer, President of the Phoenix Mutual Insurance Co., is a son- in-law. Mr. Wharton's house being about thirty feet front, has been transformed — two stores entirely obliterate its identity. Mr. Wharton had attained to venerability even in mv 182 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MEECHANTS. younger day, to whicli his white capacious wig gave tone, as well as the measured gait that passed his tall and well-formed figure from his portal to the pave. He died in the month of February, 1838; in the ninety-fifth year of his age.* * He was in the full tide of business in the days of the American Revolu- tion, seeing that the British burnt a fine ship for him, then nearly finished, on the stocks. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 183 CHAPTER XXX. Front street, West side — Walnut to Spruce — Robert Ralston — Miers Fisher^ DaTid H. Cunningham — J. M. Nesbit — Stewart — Barr — Blight — Dawes — Francis West — John West — Dr. West — Samuel R. Fisher — Mordecai Lewis — Joseph S. Lewis — Sontag — John Morton — Purdon — Lowndes — Dr. Dorsey — Richards — J. McDowell. The mercantile community seemed to rally in this imme- diate compass, tlie east and west side of this square ; and our eminent merchant and valuable citizen, Robert Ralston, begins the line at No. 90, in 1793 ; but afterward, in 1805, etc., he was on the east side of Front, at No. 103, above Walnut; but whether here or there, his business duties were seasoned with the life of humanity, benevolence, and active Christian char- ity, and to do good unto all men, seemed ever to be his prac- tical motto. Miers Fisher, counselor at law, at No, 92, intercepted the line, but not the notoriety of respectability, for Mr. Fisher was prominent and popular in his profession, and of no small moment in his social relations, as a member or adherent of the Society of Friends. David H. Cunningham and John M. Nesbit, trading under the firm of Cunningham & Nesbit, were shipping merchants, at Nos. 94 and 96 ; and James Stewart and James Barr, were their neighbors, of No. 100, in the same occupation, under the firm of Stewart & Barr. 184 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MEECHAKT3. Peter Blight, heretofore noted as an extensive shipping merchant and West India trader, of Boss's wharf, was resi- dent here, at No. 102. Abijah Dawes was at home here too, at No, 106, but abroad with his brother. Eumford Dawes, as copartDers, shipping and importing from their countingdiouse and stores, east side of Water street below Market. Here we have the root of an eminent, popular, and widely- known sea-captain, as well as of a well-known physician,, for rhany years on the same spot. Francis West, in company with his brother, John West, under the firm of Francis & John West, were popular mer- chants, at No. 108, 1791, and for many years after. This Francis West was the sire of Capt. James West, who was long and favorably known as a commander in Cope's line of Liverpool ships, and afterward, in New York, as a popular commander of the finest steamship in the Liverpool trade. Dr. Francis West succeeded his parents in the homestead of No. 108, and grew in his practice of medicine there ; but his assiduity and fearless attention to the sufferers of the Cholera of 1832, contributed much to his fame and deserved popularity ; and his disinterested liberality justly links him in the chain of benevolent men. I must remark here, that as we near Dock street, the line of the latter being diagonal or scaunt, connected the Front street houses with the Dock street front; and hence we have Samuel E. Fisher, dealing in dry goods on Dock street, and retiring to his domicil on Front street, when his daily labors were over. So, also Mordecai Lewis was largely engaged in the Cal- cutta, China, and European trade, popular and highly respect- able, with his counting-house on Dock street, whilst his PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 185 whereabouts was as well known at No. 112 South Front street, of course continuous with his counting-house. And — Here again, we have a sire of municipal importance, and to Mordecai Lewis, the father of Joseph S. Lewis, prominent in our City Councils, and forward in the water-works improve- ments of Fairmount, and even now sculptured at Laurel Hill, belongs this memento. Mordecai Lewis was also a prominent and active manager of the Pennsylvania Hospital, of which he was Treasurer from 1780 to 1799. His son, Joseph S. Lewis, succeeded him in that capacity, and served the institution till 1826. This Jos. S. Lewis was also President of the Schuylkill Navigation Company for many years, and there discharged its arduous duties to the entire satisfaction of the Company. Mordecai Lewis, the father, was a respectable and efficient member of the Society of Friends. William S. Sontag was prominent, at No. 114, as a shipping merchant in the West India trade, which, as heretofore shown, was as profitable as it was extensive, and the life of the " Yo, heave ho !" of the merry darkies, that rent the air with their vocal powers. John Morton, of Morton's wharf, a dealer in flour there, re- tired here, at No. 116, from the laborious trusts and duties of the day, and after his inercantile pursuits was elected President of the Bank of North America, and filled his office success- fully and creditably for many years. He was the third presi- dent in succession of that institution. Here again, at No. 122, we have another root of a promi- nent character. " Purdon's Digest" is a work of notoriety, and popular at the bar of our Judiciary ; and John Purdon, the father of the author of the *' Digest," was not without his popularity as a dealer in dry goods here, sixty years ago. 186 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. Josepli Lowndes, though a prominent silversmith, was equally well known at No. 130, as an importer of China goods. His neighbor of No. 132, was an M. D., represented in the person, skill, and services of Nathan Dorsey. Lime was not exactly merchandise, yet it was desirable and important to the cementing of warehouses and other recep- tacles of safety. Lime -dealers, therefore, were a part of the corporation of mercantile stability, and in this commodity Samuel Eichards was extensively engaged at No. 136. This square closes with another timeist : and if John Mends was the minute-man on the other side, John McDowell was no less so here ; for doubtless many a one stood before his regulator over the door to mark the dots of his dial, and per- haps haste to the point of his engagement. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 187 CHAPTER XXXI. Front street, East side — Spruce to Pine — Gurney & Smith — Daniel Smith — His sons, Richard S., James S., Francis Gurney, Daniel S., Charles S., and William S. — Moses Kempton — John Jones — J. 0. Thompson. We come here to the drawbridge and its wide and busy domains — still picturesque in my eye ; but its details belong not to me ; but rather to the venerable Watson be the credit for its details. My business is to pass to the line of my general observa- tion, and mark the spots of mercantile life as ihey marked the history of early times. Varied indeed was life here for a space ; for after Andrew Bankson and James Stuart's pharmaceutical mart at the south- east corner of Dock and Front streets, mercantile claims were sunk, or intercepted, by a darksome row of small board- ing-houses, even drying their necessary apparel at their front, and claiming primitive simplicity and nonchalance as a pre- rogative. But with due deference to the mercantile community, there were others who contributed to the dignity of a neighbor- hood ; and dark and sombre as the row before us, there was a speck of light from the herald of an M. D. Doctor John Porter, at No. 191, doubtless claimed and obtained the re- spectful attention due to his profession. The reality of mercantile prowess, however, and the life and spirit of its importance, gave tone to the square at No. 199. 188 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. Gurney & Smith, were the active incumbents here in 1799, extensively engaged in the European and Calcutta trade, commercially interesting and important to the business com- munity.'^ As copartners they were popular — and favorably so ; and as individuals, no less so. The one as General Francis Gurney, of whom, in turn, on the west side ; the other as Daniel Smith, more in the immediate interests of the protective policy of the community, of which he before, had been a very prominent party. He appears to have been a germ of political economy, and " insurance from life by fire" or water seems to have been a favorite scheme in him, from his counting-house to the elbow chair of indemnity for his fellow-citizens ; for after his mer- cantile career he served successfully and satisfactorily as President of the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsyl- vania, at the northeast corner of Second and Dock streets, for many years. His spirit, however, seems not to have departed with his mortal, seeing that sprouts of his acumen have started from the germ, and very respectable branches even now wave per- petuity to his manes. It is not a little remarkable that of six sons, three of them herald the memorabilia of their father's fame ; and even a junior branch fans the fame of his sire as an ef&cient and prominent item in the annals of insurance officers. * As a link of history I note tnat the subsequent and celebrated — as well as our lamented Commodoi-e Decatur — was clerk in the counting-house of Gurney & Smith, antecedent to his naval celebrity. It is a remarkable fact coincident with his clerkship here, that he was sent by Guiney & Smith in pursuit of, and ordered the keel of the fi-igate "Phila- delphia," which he afterwatd commanded. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 189 In the first place, his sire, even in his mercantile life, after being one of the promoters of the Tree Insurance Company of Philadelphia, was an underwriter of policies at the Old Coffee Honse, where capitalists and men of courage were wont to resort and take a maritime risk; then president of an insurance ofl&ce respectable and popular. The vein courses in his son Erancis Grurney Smith, and the chair of the Columbia Insurance Office is assigned to him for a season ; then James S. Smith, Esq., aforetime a gentleman of the bar, gives dignity and character to the chair of the insurance office of "The Philadelphia Contributionship" for a terra of seventeen years ; whilst his brother, Eichard S. Smith, is the efficient incumbent of the chair of " The Union Mutual Insurance Company:" and here I am met by the third genera- tion, of the same spirit. James S. Smith, Esq., from the wear and waste of time, being now in his seventy-seventh year, has laid off his official mantle, and Ms son, James Somers Smith, has been endowed with its honors — an appointment, I am free to say, worthy of both sides of the question. The whole family, as far as I have known them, have been prominent in usefulness, in public as well as social life, and gentlemen of winning suavity of manners ; and to this day have lost nothing of their deserved popularity. Francis Gurney Smith, the second son of our Daniel, has been a popular vestryman and warden of St. Peter's Church, Third and Pine street, for many years, an efficient protector of the rights and immunities of the temple and its grounds — a competitor of our worthy Moses Kempton, a very safe- guard of the same of Christ Church, Second near Market, who I name and memorialize here as a clerk of Jacob Clark of Water next below Arch — as a merchant in Front below 190 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS, Arch in Ms hey-day, and as a useful member of society and especially so of the church of his adoption. But to the link of the Messrs. Smiths. To Mr. Francis G. Smith may be ascribed the protectorate of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, of which he has been treasurer, and it may be justly said, guardian, faithful to its trusts, from its beginning from nothing, to the hall that now heralds the fame of the Musical Fund Society, Daniel Smith is a third son, once ot the firm of Haven & Smiths, subjects of depression for a time ; but, elastic and re- active, surmounts the hiatus of adversities and square ac- counts. Of this firm, Eichard Smith was also one. Our cotemporary Wm. S. Smith, for maoy years in the salt trade, and I believe successfully, and Charles S. Smith, for thirteen years treasurer of the Girard estate, bring me to a happy issue of that family of Smiths. This group of sons, successive in respectability and suc- cessful in their business relations, all living at this time, and ranging from sixty-one to seventy-six in years — being more than is commonly allotted to mortality and the changes and chances of human life — though foreign in detail to my legiti- mate purpose, is worthy of a line in history, and as such I venture the' interregnum without fear, favor, or reward. Mercantile notoriety appears to end here with Gurney & Smith, after noting John Jones, a merchant of No. 211, and Doctor Jacob Orier Thompson, who was doubtless an active spirit of the days of 1795 in this region. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS, 191 CHAPTEE XXXII. Front street, West side — Spruce to Pine — Doctor Harris — J. W. Irwin — George Plumstead — Archibald McCall — Francis Gurney — George Sibbald — Dominick Joyce — Doctor James Mease — James Latimer — William Condy — M. M. Carl — Condy Raquet — Chandler Price — Captain Toby. The southwest corner here was from time immemorial a watchmaker's shop and residence; the most prominent incumbent of which was for many years John Menzies, and merchandising to Union street wa,s limited. The line was tame and rather sympathetic with the other side of the way, though a better class of houses and occupants, gave tone to the neighborhood. After Doctor Eobert Harris, of No. 158, who had his day and served his generation of 1795, mercantile immunities seem to have been confined to John W. Irwin, of No. 164, and George Plumstead and Archibald McCall, in the East India trade, at No. 166. The southwest corner of Front and Union even now sup- ports a mansion of antique dignity, picturesque as well of its times as of its early proprietor. Here we have General Francis Gurney, of the firm of Gurney & Smith, who in all probability located here in 1788, as a business man, and continued here in his commercial intercourse until Gurney & Smith bought, of Daniel Offley,* * Daniel Offley was a prominent member and minister of the Society of Friends. He died in 1793, a victim to his philanthropic energy and humane sympathy in administering to the poor subjects of the yellow fever of that year, and fell himself a sacrifice to their comforts and necessities. 192 PHILADELPHIA AND HEK MERCHAXTS. his blacksmitli's sbop nearly opposite ; and the comptoir of Gurney & Smith was a prominent mart of commercial interest in that square, where 1791 finds them. Mr. Gurney, however, has claims to special notice. First, we have him as a native boy of Montgomery County of 1738. Secondly, a soldier in the British army in 1756, against the French and Indians on the frontiers of Canada. Thirdly, we find him a marine in the British fleet against the French West India Islands. Fourthly, in 1775, we find him a captain of infantry in the American army against the British ; and in 1776 a lieutenant- colonel in the eleventh regiment of the Pennsylvania line. He resigned his commission in the army from some disaf- fection at Yalley Forge, but retained his public spirit in State and municipal services, more or less, during the thirty years of his mercantile labors, and retained his colonel's commis- sion from 1786 to 1799, when he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, in which he was actively exercised aa:ainst the Western Insurrection of 1794. Mr. Gurney was thus a valuable and available citizen from the beginning to the very end of his life; and whether boy, soldier, captain, colonel, general, merchant, or retired citizen, we find him an active, energetic and important citizen of the United States, though unassuming and modest in all his rela- tions in life, whether public or private. His cotemporaries picture him as a remarkably fine-look- ing man, full six feet in height, well built, of dignified bearing, and distinguished in appearance. He died May 25th, 1815, aged seventy-seven years. His mansion of Union and Front street now belongs to his son-in-law, Charles A. Poulson, Esq., who lives next below — PHILADELPHIA AJSTD HER MERCHANTS. 193 of whom it is in my patli to note that this relic could not be in better hands. Mr. Poulson being a very valuable anti- quarian, and liberal in his expenditures for ancient land- marks of our city, of which his portfolio is vastly rich, and- his notes and annotations replete with valuable statistics of our city. Greorge Sibbald, clerk in the Eegister's Office of the United States in 1793, presents himself at No. 170 as a shipping- merchant, and Dominick Joyce joins in mercantile interest at No'. 174. No. 176 varied the mercantile chain here, in the medical emporium of Doctor James Mease, a link to elasticise lon- gevity if possible. Doctor Mease was well-known, and doubt- less popular in his day, of 1791. He was the author of the " Picture of Philadelphia," pub- lished in 1811, esteemed as a valuable book of reference in its day. Legal advice, though probably not so necessary then as now — still knots were to be untied and perhaps tied too — was to be had of James Latimer, Jr., at No. 178 ; and William Condy, at No. 182, was always equal to the wants or the suggestions of clients. This Mr. Condy was amongst the active originators of the Swedenborgian church, the first in Philadelphia, built at the southeast corner of Twelfth and Greorge streets, of which Maskil M. Carl was the pastor, about A. D. 1820 ; in which, right or wrong, Mr. Condy was faithful to his profession, and Mr. Carl a devoted pioneer in the ministry of that denomi- nation. As matter of history, I take occasion to note, as the edifice has given way long since to domestic requirements, that it was a square building, having a dome, of limited area in the 13 194: PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. interior, and an organ gallery immediately over tlie pulpit at the east end of the church. Our Mr. Wm. Condy and his nephew, Condy Eaquet, were efficient members of the Society ; and our old friend, Daniel Thunn, a happy believer in the views of Emmanuel Sweden- bo rg. Chandler Price, after the firm of Morgan & Price, of No. 170 North Front street in 1779, was here at No. 214 in 1802 He was long and favorably known as a pioneer in the New Orleans trade, when it first became a part of our Union, and established a line of packets to that port. Our venerable Captain Simon Toby commanded one of ships, the " Ohio," for several years in that trade, and was highly esteemed for his urbanity, prudence and success. After his — Captain Toby's — retirement, he was the Presi- dent of the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, which oflEice he filled very acceptably to his constituents for many years. He is still living, being upward of eighty years of age. PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. 195 CHAPTEE XXXIII. Front street — East side — Pine to South — Ignatius Paillard — Francis Coppinger — Levinus Clarkson — Jones & Clark — Capt. William Jones — Samuel Clark — John Swanwick — Roe Brumard — Joseph Read — S. & W. Keith — Derrick Peterson — Robert Bridges — Heni-y Mitchel — Augustine & John Bousquet, 1799— Peter Bousquet, 1805. The atmospliere of mercantile life spread onward, and tlie corner here marked its continuance. Ignatius Paillard set this corner as a mercantile mart, and Francis Coppinger followed suit next below, at No. 221 ; and again, Levinus Clarkson strengthened the line of shipping mer- chants here, but the firm of Jones & Clark, at No. 225, in 1800, seems to have had more in them than the ordinary run of mercantile prowess ; the firm, however, built and owned many vessels to carry out their East India, Canton, and European trade. Wm. Jones had been a sea-captain himself, and had some genius in draughting and constructing vessels tO' meet the caprice of old Neptune ; and hence, probably, in 1812, Mr. Madison, our President of the United States, chose him for Secretary of the Navy, in which, after a service of some three or four years, he was appointed the first President of the Bank of the United States, of 1816. After this we find him the Secretary of the American Fire Insurance Company, at No. 101 Chestnut street ; and again we have him Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, where he 196 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS, also remembered lais former business associate, and no doubt, influenced the appointment of Samuel Clark as naval officer, Jones & Clark had, therefore, made service in mercantile life, seen service in maritime risks, and done service to the general government of the United States. John Swanwick, heretofore noted, was resident at ISTo. 237, but was continuous in presence and profession tbrougli to Penn street, where the changes and chances of mercantile life, either lit up or beclouded his path as common to all men, Eoe Brumand, at 247, and Josph Eead, at 271, contributed to the mercantile life of 1795, in the square ; and Samuel & William Keith counted the cost of their many ships, and averaged the profits of freight or charter as incentive or tact suggested : for they were shipping merchants as well as owners of many vessels, 1795, and many years afterward. In 1823, Samuel Keith had withdrawn from the immediate risks of merchandising, and became supervisor of the risks of others, as President of the Delaware Insurance Companj^, Intermediately in this quarter at No. 223, Derrick Peterson was resident; whilst as active lumber merchant he was en- closed in lumber, timber and boards below Almond street ; withal, he was an important item of his day there. So also was Kobert Bridges, of ISTo. 259, the sailmaker of the day, and the haas of James Forten, set forth in the proper place of his hey-day: and again, Henry Mitchell, a rope- maker, of 261, as important to Bridges as he was to Captain McFadden of 275, who kept him alive to their importance. Augustine & John Bousquet were prominent and popular French merchants at No. 267, a highly -respectable mercantile house of 1799, long before and after. But Peter Bousquet, our presen venerable fellow- citizen, came over from France PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 197 in 1805, and continued tlie respectability of tlie house for many years. Mr. Peter Bousquet is therefore still amongst us, a pleasing specimen of a retired njerchant, and a happy issue of the sere and yellow leaf of human nature, endowed with a rubicund countenance and the beau ideal of a gentilhomine a son vise. 198 PHILADELPHIA AXD HER MERCHANTS. CHAPTER XXXIV. Front street — West side — Pine to South — George B. Dawson — J. & W. Lynch — Lewis CLapier — Budaraque — John Latour — J. C. Stocker — John Morton — John Barclay — Philip Kelly — Samuel Reid — James Traquair. Oisr this side of tlie square tlie mercantile community di- minished, and the principal life of merchandising seems to have been vested in George B, Dawson, of No. 184, and John & Wm. Lynch, of No. 186; but the most prominent spirit of the time, 1802, was the popular Lewis Clapier, an extensive shipping merchant, resident next below the corner of Lombard street — counting-house on Lombard street. Mr. Clapier was in the French trade, and with his chief clerk, Mr. Budaraque, held commercial counsel with his brother in Marseilles; but besides this his commercial interest con- nected him with China, East India, Havanna, Yera Cruz, etc., 1802 to 1826 and after. He owned many ships, all paying their way profitably. His Mr. Budaraque was an important fixture of his comptoir, an efficient aid in his pursuits. He was, how- ever, an inveterate smoker, seldom without a cigar — at read- ing, writing or ciphering, a cigar ! indeed, it was said of him, that he could smoke two at the same time : to wit, one in each corner of his mouth. I cannot pass this corner without a respectful notice of John Latour, celebrated, if for nothing else, as the importer and very popular vendor of salad, or sweet oil. He was a merchant in the French trade at No. 8 Lombard PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 199 street, but subsequently located on tlie east side of Front street, nearly opposite to Lombard street ; but whetlier here or tbere, salad oil memorializes him to this day. He dates there at and before 1807, But other business life animated the scenes of this compass. John Clement Stocker filled the aldermanic chair of No. 188 South Front street, in 1795, where he doubtless kept the wayward in check by admonition or commitment ; whilst his neighbor, Captain John Morton, relieved him from time to time from the onus by the shipment of the unwary and unto- ward disturbers of the peace. Mr. Stocker was a prominent member of the community, and active and successful in business life. His exports to, and imports from China told well to his treasury and furthered his liberal disposition, for his reputa- tion was that of a helpful friend in need. As a merchant he was popular, and his memorabilia is still unscathed by time; whilst as a public man, the records of the Insurance Com- pany of the State of Pennsylvania, as well as those of the Bank of Pennsylvania, bear testimony of his services there for many years. He was a man of wealth, with an open hand and a sympa- thetic heart. Of the several first-class three-story brick houses in this region, No. 216 Avas the residence of John Barclay, Esq., one of the early presidents of the Bank of Pennsylvania, and No. 218 that of Philip Reily, another merchant of the day. Samuel Eeid, too, had his day as merchant at 231 : and thus far closes the mercantile array. This same No. 234 was aforetime the dot and line of James Traquair, a spirited and progressive stone-cutter, who came over from Greenock in 1784. 200 PHILADELPHIA AND HEE MERCHANTS. Mr. Traquair afterward built up the soutlaeast corner of Tenth and Market streets, with lower marble front, had his yard on the rear, and put up a marble pigeon-box in the rear of his dwelling — the first of the kind in Philadelphia. He bought much of the remains of. Morris's Folly, and incorporated some of it in his new building, which building was remarkable in its day and location. We trace here the father of the late Adam Traquair, City Commissioner, and the grandfather of James Traquair, now one of the firm of Morris L. Hallowell & Co.. silk merchants of No. 3 33 Market street. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 201 CHAPTER XXXY.— Conclusion. Review and General Remarks. Having concluded my search and research, some apology may be due for the apparent incongruities of my details.- My History purports to be of the mercantile community of some fifty to seventy years ago ; and so in fact it is — but perhaps, in form, a mixture ; and hence it behooves me to de- fend myself for my course, and satisfy the reader for the shades of the picture. To write a mere detail of merchants, as they stood side by side — however historical — would be but a meagre relation of facts, without a tint of the variety that lights the course and gives color to what else would be a monotony. Moreover, I could not prosecute my line of march without touching the appendages, — the olden time being the basis of my history. Hence the great and the small meet en passant. Every block had its variety, and reminiscence seemed to urge its claims ; but these very claims light up the picture, and show up men, manners and things of the past, and take their place on the page of history. But the mercantile community is in no way disparaged by the course. In regard to the merchants themselves, and their respective locations, they are as existent at the time specified. It may, however, be objected that this, that, or the other 202 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. was here or there located ; truly so, but not within my com- pass of time. I might and I could have given a succes- sion to the various locations ; but my original plan for- bade the extension, and expediency frowned at an undue volume. In traversing the Wharves from north to south, I offer their identit}'-, at and about the time, as graphic ; seeing that mem- ory is confirmed not only by like collateral testimony, but by the artistic evidence of drafts of their various features, made more than fifty years ago. Again, the mercantile community that gave life to scenes and scenes to active life, is given as it then was ; and may show up to " Young America " the wit, the wisdom, the prudence, the prowess of its forefathers. History is an important tome to the world itself, else, whence the knowledge of any thing of the past ? Is it to pass into the mystic clouds of oblivion, or be shut up in the losom of antiquity? Is it to cease with its breath, and pass as though it ne'er had been ? I trow not. Philadelphia has not been a mere speck in the commercial horizon — not a mere dot on the map of geographical details. She had a proud bearing on the world of commerce ; her port was courted, caressed, and embraced by almost every nation, and was the very bosom of the nurture of commerce. Her merchants were men of courage and enterprise; nor were their operations merely speculative : their results, generally, were unmistakable evidences of well-digested plans and sound judgment. " Young America" presses onward, unmindful of the past, and, sad to say, untutored by the experience of her fathers ; she forgets or repudiates the intellectual wealth of her ances- tors, and seems proud of the golden bowl of her newly-dis PHILADELPHIA AliD HER MEECHANTS. 203 tilled wisdom ; lier yesterday is her starting point, and her to-morrow the consummation of her projects. Not so, the fathers of the olden time — they gathered wis- dom as bees gather honey : and their hives were redolent of the sight and the savor of well-digested architectural genius, giving tone, dignity, and character to the field of their labors. Shall the early dignity of Philadelphia be evaporated in the fog of impetuous ambition, and our posterity bow the knee or shrink before a sister whose robes and flounces are the trimmings of fortuity? We, the remnant of the olden time, say. No ! We look back upon the proud bearing of our port, and say, No ! We claim perpetuity to the manes of our early merchants ; we fondle with the bouquet of their gather- ing, and pass it to posterity as a rich relic of the hey-day of Philadelphia, and present it to our rival, in token of remem- brance of our former superiority. The mercantile community, as here portrayed, has claims worthy of the pages of history ; and there let them be planted, and thence grow upon the mind, memory, and understanding of "Young America," until it chasten her haste, guide her footsteps, and qualify her wisdom. In all this, we would not shade the glory of our sister city, but rather, as a member of our confederacy, congratulate her upon the bountiful sunshine of her prosperity ; but we cannot forego the fact, that nature has been her alma mater^ and art the panderer to her thrift, and that the jointure has built her up a mighty city — whilst the glory of Philadelphia was rayed by the acumen, the courage, and the perseverance of our fathers, and warmed to the dignity due to a commercial port, independent of the natural solicitations of our neighbour. Neither would we detract from our mercantile community 204 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. of tbe present day — iJiey live and act under a different regime; the influence of " Young America" elasticises their atmo- sphere, and spurs the heel at the expense of the head: lighting their path merely from the tr2:)s of the radii without consult- ing the brow of their source. We have good men and true amongst us, who, whilst some are estimable representatives of their ancestors, and would hand down to posterity the mercantile dignity of their fathers, others, not of the same spirit, suffer loss by a disregard of the more dignified platform of characteristic merchandising, and sink their skill in the minimum, instead of raising it to the maximum of mercantile dignity. The contrast between the present and the past, in regard to the commercial enterprise of Philadelphia's merchants, is certainly very severe ; and we of the senior class of her sons, cannot but lament and even weep over causes and effects. And although we are about to uncoil our mortal cordage, we are none the less sensitive of any disparagement of our foster home — nay, even more, our amour patri centres in our home- stead, and our proneness to review and fondle with the things of our youth becomes a text for our mental meanderings. Hence then a concentration of reflection, a gathering of happy recollections, and the incidental review that presses thought to speech, and speech to the intelligence that profits by the past, and shapes or qualifies the future. "With all this, I abjure the charge or suspicion of a fancy sketch, or a subterfuge of heavy time — that ingredient in human life is not mine — but 1 cannot deny my ardent love for ruminating over the green fields of my youth, rejuvenating in the pastures of reminiscence, and feeding upon the herbs that revive the spirits of wasting life as it wanes and dimin- ishes on the inclined plane of mortality. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MEECHANTS. 205 A picture of the past is ever ana anon grateful to the eye of a senior. So to your author; and little in the world more to his taste, than the busy life that glistened his eye as he roved in the precinct that lit up the life of his city, and gave tone from its centre to the circumference of its influence. The picture is before you, and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, a truthful delineation. If, in some of my details, I have been more extensive than in others, they have been given as samples only of the prow- ess of the merchants of the day ; nothing eulogistic whatever is intended — there was a difference truly, but no disparage- ment ; but the whole together was a crown of glory to the community of our city. Times have changed, and circumstances have altered cases; our men and their manners are gone ; very few of the list remain. We hail the present — we salute the memory of the past ; and w^hilst our respectful tribute to their manes be their epitaph, let the bouquet of their career be a refreshing savor of the commercial dignity, the mercantile wealth, and the well deserved fame of Philadelphia and her merchants, as constituted fifty to seventy years ago ! APPENDIX. /.^u^ ^ :^/8-'^r~ APPENDIX. Jonathan Leedoni — Benjamin Jones, Jun. — Robert Oakley — John Craig — Nicholas Biddle — George Armroyd — John Coulter — Samuel W. Jones — Alexander J. Derbyshire— CAPTAIN DAVID MOFFAT— Thomas Pratt— Origin and Succession of the Firm of Yorke & Lippincott — Benjamin W. Richards — Treasuryship of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 1780 to 1859. If a Preface is necessary to inform the kindly patron of the intent and meaning of an author, and an Introduction a pre- lude to a prefatory apology for what he lias done, a Note en finale for what he has not done may be no less important, at least for his own benefit, to clear his skirts as he retires from his historical pursuit to the charm of freedom and rest from his labors, and passes his work to the critique of the historian, or the fastidiousness of the world's literati. In a retrospect of fifty to even eighty years perspective, memory must be severely taxed, and collateral testimony no less tested, to avert the plea of "errors and omissions ex- cepted" ; and here, although I flatter myself the former are " few and far between," the latter rise up in judgment against me, and call for their share of historical identity. And although I may still be at fault, they that present themselves have claims, and must be brought forth to resume their posi- tions in the mercantile life that gave tone to the early com- mercial prosperity of Philadelphia and her cheerful and lucrative port. 14 (209) 210 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. Amongst the missing in the body of the work, Jonathan Leedom was not the least of the mercantile spirits of his day, 1805 and onward. He was located at ISTo, 182, on the east side of Front street, above Pine street — store through to Water street. He was a shipping merchant in good standing, engaged in the Liverpool trade, and at the same time and in the same place kept a wholesale iron store for many years after he ceased to be a shipowner, even until the time of his death: to wit, December 17, 1848, being then in his seventy-fourth year. He was born in Cheltenham, Bucks County. Mr, Leedom was a member of the Society of Friends, and was highly esteemed for his correct deportment. Here again a respectful recognition of Benjamin Jones, Jun., is due. Mr. Jones had his store and counting-house in the same building with Mr. Leedom. He, too, was a shipping merchant, engaged in the Liverpool and Bordeaux trade; a man highly esteemed for his integrity in all his business transactions. About the year 1836 he was chosen by our City Councils treasurer of the Girard trust, which office he held for several years. The memory of this gentleman links with that of the late ■ venerable Joseph Sims, in whose counting-house he was brought up, was with him in the days of his prosperity, and served him and his creditors as assignee of his estate in the day of his adversity. Eobert Oakley, although not in this connection of locah'e, was a shipping merchant and shipowner, of and about 1802 ; he was also an occasional importer of Canton goods; his counting-house was No. 22 Dock street — his shipping, of course, contributed to the commercial life of the times. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS, 211 John Craig, no less important to commercial life, had his counting-house at ISTo. 12 Dock street in'1799. He wag a shipping merchant of high standing, largely engaged in the Yera Cruz trade, particularly in the importa- tion of large quantities of specie (Spanish dollars) from Mexico. Mr. Craig prospered to vast possessions. He was the father-in-law of the late Nicholas Biddle, of whom I cannot forego the opportunity to say that he, ISTicholas Biddle, was a gentleman, a scholar, and a man of fine literary attainments; although unfortunate in misplaced popularity, where he might well have cried " Save me from my friends," political and social, if weighed in the balance would have been found more sinned against than sinning. George Armroyd was part and parcel of the commercial life of 1802, being in the St. Croix trade, an extensive im- porter of the finest sugar from that quarter — a house in good standing. His counting-house was at 109 South Water street, in 1802 ; but in 1805 was at No. 125 South Front street. John Coulter was another enterprising spirit of the early time. He was a shipping merchant of No. 210 South Water street, and was extensively engaged in the European and West India trade — a large importer and exporter of goods, wares, and merchandise. He was noted for industry, perseverance, and personal ap- plication to business, and was not afraid of work, and was prominent in commercial life from 1802 and onward. Mr, Coulter was also, at one period, a Director of the Bank of the United States of 1816. After his retirement from the busy scenes and labors of merchandising;, he retired to his farm near Germantown, and there, too, finished his course on the 16th day of December, 1857, at the very ripe old age of nearly eighty-five years. 212 PHILADELPHIA AKD HER MERCHANTS. The celebrated firm of Smitli & Eiclgway has been noticed in its proper place ; but subsequently, 1803, their apprentice and clerk became a " Co." to the firm : Samuel W. Jones being this junior partner. Afi;er the retirement of Mr. Eidgway, Mr. Jones was con- tinued as the partner of James Smith, under the firm of James Smith & Co., 1806, at No. 154 North Front street, and was an active and ef&cient spirit of the concern, helping it, doubtless, to a successful issue. They transacted a large and lucrative business, sending their vessels to foreign ports, particularly to Antwerp, where their old partner, Mr. Eidgway, had established himself as a merchant, acting also at the same time as American consul. Mr. Jones is yet our cotemporary ; who, although even now in his seventy-ninth year, shows up the force of his early day in the firmness and activity of his foot, and the clearness of a mind unclouded and unimpared by time ; and I greatly fear that very few of our rising generation will attain to such a desert and just tribute, due to him and many more of the olden time. In reference to this location, I note further that there wer6 four first-class three-story brick houses on this lot, running south from Key's alley about eighty feet, of which Jacob Eidgway occupied the corner of Key's alley as No. 160; James Smith, his partner, next below. No. 158; George W. Morgan, No. 156, afterward of Arch street below Tenth ; and Smith, Eidgway & Co. had their counting-house at No. 154 — all of which were destroyed in the conflagration of that quarter in 1850. Alexander J. Derbyshire still perpetuates the memory of Timothy Paxson, whom he served as apprentice and clerk, and even now succeeds him in the same business and on the PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 213 same spot, upon which he erected an extensive store, with very handsome and capacious counting-house accommodations. To return to the olden time, however. Memory challenges an active and notorious spirit of commercial and maritime life. CAPTAIN DAYID MOFFAT, after a term of some years in mercantile pursuits, — first, in 1805, located at No. 28 "Walnut street, and afterward, in connection with Thomas Burke and James Caldwell of No. 3 South Wharves, in the Spanish trade — distinguished himself greatly in the war with Great Britain in 1812, as a terror to the merchantmen of the enemy. He commanded the fleetest privateers out of the United States, and scoured the coast of Great Britain to its great annoyance and loss, by his frequent captures of her merchant ships. He was a man of indomitable courage and untiring perse- verance, and was renowned for his skill and success and gene- rosity as a privateersman. After his privateering, Capt, Moffat was Master Warden of the port of Philadelphia for many years in succession, ap- pointed by various Governors of the State of Pennsylvania, which of&ce he held until his decease in Philadelphia, on the 1st of May, 1838, at an advanced age. But it was not all commerce that built up Philadelphia : there were active adventurers from the counting-house on the wharf to the environs of the city, compassed by post and rail fences. Thomas Pratt, in the freshness of his youth, struck from the desk to the open commons to invest inactive capital and act a pioneer in improvements of our city. In 1805 he took up the southwest corner of Eleventh and 214 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHAlSrTS. Chestnut streets, from Samuel W. Fisher, then guarded by a post-and-rail fence, at six dollars ground-rent per foot for sixty feet on Chestnut street by two hundred and thirty-five feet to George street, and built three three- story brick houses on Chestnut street and seven on Eleventh street — this was entirely out of town at that time. He tells me there were but two brick houses between that and the Schuylkill, and they were inside of the southwest corner of Twelfth and Chestnut streets ; they stood back considerably from the line and were enclosed by a board fence. Again in 1808, the embargo crippling our commerce, his enterprise sought vent in another purchase of fifty feet of ground opposite the Academy of Fine Arts, from Thomas Biddle, also at sis dollars per foot ground-rent, the lot also two hundred and thirty-five feet to George street ; here he erected two large mansions of twenty-five feet each, which he afterward sold, one to the celebrated Commodore Truxton, and the other to our late fellow-citizen, Thomas Hale, of the popular firm of McBwen, Hale & Davidson, of Dock street, brokers. Two years after the above purchase, the adjoining lots westward, were sold at fifteen dollars per foot ground-rent. Mr. Pratt is even yet in the comfortable enjoyment of a green old age, being of sound niind, memory and under- standing, taking his daily walk nonchalant of any extraordi- nary waste of time's efforts, although iu his eighty-seventh year. The firm of Yorke k Lippincott, auctioneers, has been noticed in its proper place; but as it was the most popular concern of the day, it may not be uninteresting to memori- alize its origin and succession. PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. 215 Peter Benson was wliat was then, 1797, called a Vendue Master, and held forth at No. 74 South' Third street. In 1799 he associated with him Samuel Yorke, who had been brought up in the business by Eichard Footman, auc- tioneer, at ISTo. 65 South Front street in 1793, and the firm in 1799 was Benson & Yorke, at No. 39 North Front street. Mr. Benson retired, and Samuel Yorke conducted the busi- ness alone, at No. 41 North Front street, 1802. In 1805 Joshua Lippincott was the partner of Mr. Yorke ; and for several years the firm was Yorke & Lippincott, at No. 51 North Front street. The decease of Mr. Yorke gave place to John Humes, and Humes & Lippincott continued the business as above. Mr Humes retired, and the firm changed to Joshua & William Lippincott, by the association of "William, the brother of Joshua. This firm was succeeded by Lippincott & Eichards — Benjamin W. Eichards, the new associate, being the son-in- law of Joshua Lippincott: and here ends that succession. Mr. Eichards afterward pursued the business in Front near Chest- nut, in company with Joseph Bispham, under the firm of Eichards & Bispham, where in time the succession in that oc- cupation ceased, and Benjaman W. Eichards was subsequently elected Mayor of the city — a very gentlemanly municipal magistrate. The above business firms were in good standing from first to last, eminent in business tact, and stood most prominent in popularity and patronage as auctioneers. In the succession of the Treasuryship of the Pennsylvania Hospital, I omitted the last link of the chain in its proper place. And an unbroken descent of an important trust in the same family, being of no common occurrence, I take occasion here to repeat the fact, and add the link — 216 PHILADELPHIA AND HER MERCHANTS. Mordecai Lewis, Treasurer, - - - 1780 to 1799, 19 years. Joseph S. Lewis, " ... 1799 to 1826, 27 " Samuel M. Lewis, " ... 1826 to 1841, 15 " John T. Lewis, " the grand- son of Mordecai, and present in- cumbent, . - - . 1841 to 1859, 18 " Shows a succession of seventy-nine years in the direct line of the same family ! As further matter of history I add, that the above Mordecai Lewis was, in his early day, the partner of the celebrated William Bingham, whose mansion and open grounds once beautified the neighborhood of Third and Spruce, now trans- formed and transferred to the business world by Joseph Harrison, Jun., and others. PHILADELPHIA : STEREOTYPED BT GEORGE CHARLES, PRINTED BY KING & BAIRD, 607 SANSOM STREET. PEEFIX TO THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST. It was a custom of tlie olden time to append to almost every Literary or Historical work, "The Names of Sub- scribers." Fashion or fancy, however, seems to have plead the custom from its usual page, and left the patron untold of liberality, and even to sleep in the vacuum of oblivion. With a truce to the idea, my emotions seem to forbid the omission, seeing that a full measure of gratitude is due to the kindly recognition of my efforts, and the highly respectable patronage that ensued. Unwilling to be derelict of grateful considerations, I cannot pass the page that offers its services to perpetuate the kindly regard to an humble author, and the author's grateful return for the grant to his plea. But, whilst in doing this, an apology will be due to those who do not appear — and this because their names have not been returned in time for this issue — another may be impor- tant to many whose retiring modesty would as willingly have shrunk from the notoriety of a subscribtion list. Let the one however be assured that my thanks are no less rife in the omission, and the other be sought to sink their demurrer in the unfeigned assurance of unintentional offense of a G-RATEFUL Author! (217) SUBSCEIPTION LIST. Abbott, Greorge. Adams' Express. Allen, T. W. Allinson, William. Anderson, William Y. Anspacli, J., Jr. Ashliurst, Richard. Ashhurst, John. Ash, J. P. Ashley & Sharpe. Audenried, Lewis. Backns, F. R. Bacon, Alexander. Bacon, Franklin. Bacon, J. K. Badger, William. Baker, Abraham. Baker, Alfred H. Baker, Charles H. Baker, Isaac F. Bancker, Charles N. Barclay, A. C. Barcroft, S. B. Baumgardner, J. G. Beck, Henry Paul. Beck, James N. Bell, John. Benner, H. L. .8 Biddle, Edward C. Biddle, William. Binns, John. Bishop, Charles F. Bohlen, John. Boiler, Henry J. Bond, S. Montgomery. Borie, C. & H. Bousquet, Peter. Bradford, William. Bradford, B. Rush. Brown, David S. Browne, Benneville. Brooke, Stephen H. Burton, John. Bussier, Joseph B. Bute, Charles L. Butcher, John. Butler, William S. Campbell, John H., Esq. Carrigan, C. W. Carver, Samuel. Carstairs, James. Carson, H. L. Carson, J., M.D. Cetti, A. C. Chamecen, U. Cheyney, Charles H. Chester, Lewis. Christ, Jay & Hess. Christian, S. J. Chur, A. T. Clark, Edward L. Clark, Joseph. Claghorn, John W. Claghorn, James L. Claghorn, William C. Claghorn & Fryer. Clothier, J. H. Coates, Benjamin. (218) subsceiptiojst list. 219 Coffin, Lewis. Connarroe, George M. Conrad, Harry. Cooper, C. Campbell, M.D. Cooper, Parham & Work. Cook, Jay. Cooley, A. B. Cope, F. R. Cornelius, Robert. Coulter, S. Craig, William. Cresson, Charles M. Cresson, John C. Cresson, William P. Cregar, P. A. Crissy, James. Cross, Edward H. Cross, Michael H. Curran, Lewis, M.D. Cuyler, Theodore, Esq. Da Costa, John C. Dale, Edward C. Dammond Raymond. Darrach, William, M.D. Darrach, Thomas B. Darley, W. H. W. Darling, John A. Davis, Daniel S. Dawson, T. Russel, Dawson, Mordecai L. Day, G. W. De Brot, John. Degrange, Stephen A. Denckla, A. H. Denckla, H. Albert. Denckla, F. W. Denckla, Paul. Denckla, C. Paul. Dennison, David W. Dennison, J. Harry. Derbyshire, Alex. J. De Schweinitz, Rev. Ed. A. Ditzler, William U. Doll, George, & Co, Drexel, A. J. Dreer, F. W. Dulles & Cope. Duudas, James, Esq. Dutilh, Charles. Earp, Thomas. Earp, Theodore. Elliot, Isaac. Elliott, James. Esler, George, Jr. Esler, L. H. Evans, Thomas W. Evans, James R. Everly, William A. Fell, Franklin. Fenimore, J. L. Ferguson, Bryant. Fitler, A. Fling, William B. Flood, Samuel F. Folwell, T: G. Fontanges, P. F. Ford, John M. Fraley, F. Franciscus, A. H. Fry, John A. Fryer, George. Fuller, Oliver. Furness, Brinley & Co. Gaillard, Edward, Jr. Gans, Leiberman & Co. Gaw, Alexander G. Gaw, Henry L. Geisse, William & Sons. Gerhart, Isaac. Getze, J. A. Gibbons & Cantadore. Gibbous, James S. Gilbert, Henry R. Gillespie, Thomas L. Gillespie, William. Godley, Henry. Godley, Jesse. Godfrey, Benjamin G. Goff, J. W. Goodwin, Thomas F. Gordon, James. Gould, J. E. Gratz, Edward. Grant, Samuel. 220 SUBSCRIPTION LIST. Greiner & Harkness. Grigg, John. Griffiths, Mary. Gross, George J. Guillou, Rene. Guliger, William. Hagner, Charles V. Hallowell, Joshua L. Hallowell, William P. Hamm, P. E. Hand, Thomas C. Hand, James C. Hart, William H. Harrison, Joseph. Hazard, Erskine. Helffenstein, Emanuel. Hemphil, John. Henry, Alexander, Esq. Hensel, Daniel. Henderson, George A. Herline, Edward. Heyl, Theodore C. Heiskel, Wm. B., Esq. Hill, Marshall. Hildeburn, J. H. Hockley, John. Homer, Benjamin, Jr. Hopper, Edward, Esq. Horner, Benjamin C. Horstman, Sigmund. Horstman, W. J. Hovey, Franklin S. Howell, H. C. Hutchinson, E. R.. Hutchins, Mason. Jacobsen, Henry G., Esq., Bait. Jackson, Charles C. Janney, S. M. Jayne, E. C. Jeanes, Thomas. Jeanes, J. T. & S. Johnson, R. S. Johnes, George W. Jones, Joseph. Jones, Samuel W. Jordan, Francis. Jordan, John. Justice, George M. Keene, James W. Keller, J. B. Kemper, J. L. A Kent, William C. Kern, Horatio G. Kibbin, J. W. Kimber, Thomas, Jr. King, D. Rodney, King, Francis. Kirkham, William. Kline, J. N". Krug, P. y. & Co. Lancaster, J. B. Latimer, Thomas, Esq. Lawson, John L. Lee, R. M., Esq. Lee, J. Leedom, B. J. Lehman, E. W. Lei per, Wm. J. Lennig, C. & F. Leslie, C. M. Levy, L. J. & Co. Lewis, Edwin N. Lewis, Henry, Jr. Lewis, Joseph W. Lewis, John T. Lewis, Saunders. Lewis, W. D., Esq. Lewis, Walter H. Lex, Charles E., Esq. Lex, Charles F. Link, John. Lippincott, J. B. & Co. Littel S., M.D. Littel, A. R. Livezy, John. Lodge, Jonathan. Lueders, Thomas L. Maenel & Scheppler. Magee, James. Marston, John, Capt. U. S. N. Martin, A. Martin, James. Mason, James. SUBSCRIPTION LIST. 221 Masson, Charles H. Massey, Charles, Jr. Massey, R. V. Mann, William. Maxfield, Joseph. Mellizet, F. W. Merrick, S. V. Messchert, M. H. Miller, William. Mitcheson, M. J., Esq. Mooney, Amos M. Morrison, Mrs. A. D. Morrel, Schroeder & Ferguson. Morrel & Stokes. Morrel, Thomas. Moss, A. A. Moss, E. L. Moss, Eli T. Moss, Joseph L. Moss, Lucien. Musser, William. Myers, John B. McAllister, John. McAllister, John A. McAllister, Thomas H. McCrea, John. McKibbou, W. C. Needles, Caleb H. Needles, E. M. Needles, J. A. Needles, William N. Newbold, William H. Newell, William. Newland, Edward. Norris Thaddeus. Ogden, Charles J. O'Neal, John L. Page, Washington. Parrish, Dillwyn. Parrish, George. Parker, John H. Patterson, Joseph. i Patterson, Jonathan. Patterson, Gen. Robert. Feabody, Edward G. Pearson, Davis. Pennock, Abraham L. Patterson, Thomas R. Petit, Edgar E. Philler, George, Jr. Phillips, B. Phillips & Brother. Potter, Alfred R. Poulson, Charles A. Price, Eli K., Esq. Price, Joseph. Price, Joseph N. Price, J. M. P. Price, Richard. Price, Richard, Jr. Price, J. Sergeant, Esq. Price, Stephen S. Purves, Wm. Randall, A. L. Randall, J. H., Esq. Rasin, Warner M. Rednor, Jos. Rednor, Lewis H. Reed & Co. Reed, R. S. Reed, Wm. J. Rehn, Caspar L. Rehn, Wm. L. Reigel, Jacob. Reneker, John. Repplier, John G. Rice, John. Richards, Benj. W. Richardson, Charles. Richardson, Richard. Ritchie, Craig D., Esq. Ritter, Benj. J. Ritter, Miss Mary. Roberts, David. Roberts, Edward. Robinson, A. S. Robinson, Abraham. Robinson, Thos. A. Rodman, Lewis, M.D. Rorer, Albert. Ross, John. Roux, Julien. Rugan, Charles. 222 SUBSCRIPTION LIST. Rulon, John W. Rumsey, John. Rush, John. Rutter, L. E. H. Salomon, D Samuel, David. Schaeffer, W. L. Schott, James. Scott, Charles L Sharp, John. Sharpe, J. L. Sharpless, Brothers. Sherrerd, Henry D. Shoemaker, Benjamin H. Shoemaker, Robert. Shuff & Wernwag. Slade, Alfred. Sleeper, N. Smiley, T. T. Smith, Aubrey H., Esq. Smith, Beaton. Smith, Charles S. Smith, Daniel, Jr. Smith, Edward 0. Smith, Francis Gurney, Esq. Smith, George K. Smith, Harrison. Smith, James B. Smith, James S., Esq. Smith, Joseph P. Smith, J. Fraley. Smith, Jacob R. Smith, Richard S. Smith, Thomas D., Esq. Smith, Thomas M. Smith, T. Smith, William S. Southworth, D. P. Steiner, J. P. & Co. Stevenson & Bowen. Stewart, W. S. Stoddart, Curwen. Stokes, John. Stotesbury, Thomas P. Stroud, W. S., M.D. Strawbridge, George. ' Sturgis, Zadock. Stewart & Brothers. Suddards, Rev. William. Sweeney, Thomas W. Swift, Edwin, Esq. Syz, John & Co. Taylor, William Bankson. Taylor, John D. Thackara, B. Thouron, Brothers, Despray. Thouron, Brothers, Despray, N. Y Thomas, John. Thomas, John W. Thompson, H. C. Thompson, William D. Thompson, William R. Thompson, J. Edgar. Tomliuson, Joseph. Townsend, H. C. Townsend, J. B. Trautwine, J. C. Traquair, James. Troth, William P. Trotter, Joseph H. Trotter, Edward H. Vaux, Richard. Yaux, William S. Vogdes, John R. Vogdes, William. Wagner, Charles M. Wagner, Tobias. Wainwright, Jonathan. Wainwright, William. Walter, Edwin. Walker, J. R. Wannamaker, Charles. Warnock, William. Warner, David M. Warwick, E. Wattson, Thomas B. Watson, Charles. Watson, Thomas, Jr. Weaver, George J. Weiner, Heinrich. Webb, William. Welsh, Isaac. Welsh, John. Welsh, John, Jr. SUBSCRIPTION LIST. 223 Welsh, John R. Welsh, Samuel. Welsh, W., Jr. West, Francis, M.D. West, James. Wetherill, Dr. William. Wharton, C. M. Wharton, Francis A. Wharton, William, Jr. Wheeler, John H., Esq. Whittle, John M. White, John J. Wicht & Lankeman. Wight, Andrew, Jr. Williams, Charles. Williams, Charles B. Williams, Isaac. Williamson, Passmore. Williamson, Thomas. Wilstach, William P. Wilmer, Cannell & Co. Wilkins, J. R. Wilcox, W. T. Wilson, Stewart. Wiler, William. Wilhelm, Frederick. Winterbottom, H. Wistar, Mifflin, M.D. Wolf, Thomas. Wood, George B. Wood, Richard D. Woodward, James S. Wucherer, J. R. Yard, Charles W. Yardley, Samuel. Yarnall, William. York, William. Ziegler, George K. ERRATA Wharves, South to Pine, for J. Gerard Koch, read Koch. Wharves, Chestnut to Market, for E. Beck, read P. Beck. Water street. Market to Arch, for Smith & Benceicay, read Smith & Ridgexuay. Water street. Market to Arch, for Bohinson & Paul, read Robe- son & Paul. Water street, Race to Vine, for D. & Y. Thumm, read Thunn. -2( J 9Z8 :Hi, : Ui i { ill! mm ,0':m lii nD mm I Ift fi{?f# h-juj >i!-^y m iinili ,!!W. Hi';' ;