Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's note: Volume I of this eBook is available at Project Gutenberg as eText #41979.

A HISTORY
OF THE
CITY OF BROOKLYN
AND
KINGS COUNTY

BY

STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER, M.A.

LATE MEMBER OF THE HOLLAND SOCIETY, THE LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL
SOCIETY, AND THE SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYNITES

_EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY_

ALEXANDER BLACK

AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF OHIO," ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOLUME II.

BROOKLYN
Published by Subscription
1894

Copyright 1894,
BY ANNIE A. OSTRANDER.

_All rights reserved._

This edition is limited to five hundred
copies, of which this is No. 21

CONTENTS

CHAPTER IX

BROOKLYN AFTER THE REVOLUTION

1784-1810

Effect of the British Occupation on Life and Business in the
County. Brooklyn particularly disturbed. Town Meetings
resumed. The Prison Ships and their Terrible Legacy.
Tragedies of the Wallabout. Movement to honor the Dead.
Burial of the Remains. The Tammany Enterprise and the
Removal of the Bones. Further Removal to Fort Greene.
Organization of the Brooklyn Fire Department. The Ferry.
The Mail Stage. New Roads. Planning "Olympia." Early
Advertisements. Circulating Library and Schools. The
Rain-water Doctor. Kings County Medical Society. Flatlands.
Gravesend. Flatbush, the County Seat. Mills. Erasmus Hall.
New Utrecht. Bushwick, its Church, Tavern, Graveyard,
and Mills. The Boundary Dispute. The Beginnings of
Williamsburgh. Rival Ferries. "The Father of Williamsburgh" 1

CHAPTER X

BROOKLYN VILLAGE

1811-1833

Brooklyn during the "Critical Period" in American History.
The Embargo and the War of 1812. Military Preparations.
Fortifications. Fort Greene and Cobble Hill. Peace. Robert
Fulton. The "Nassau's" First Trip. Progress of Fulton
Ferry. The Village incorporated. First Trustees. The
Sunday-School Union. Long Island Bank. Board of Health. The
Sale of Liquor. Care of the Poor. Real Estate. Village
Expenses. Guy's Picture of Brooklyn in 1820. The Village
of that Period. Characters of the Period. Old Families
and Estates. The County Courts removed to Brooklyn.
Apprentices' Library. Prisoners at the Almshouse. Growth
of the Village. The Brooklyn "Evening Star." Movement for
Incorporation as a City. Opposition of New York. Passage of
the Incorporation Act 47

CHAPTER XI

THE CITY OF BROOKLYN

1834-1860

Government of the City. George Hall, first Mayor. Plans
for a City Hall. Contention among the Aldermen. Albert
G. Stevens and the Clerkship. The Jamaica Railroad. Real
Estate. The "Brooklyn Eagle." Walt Whitman. Henry C.
Murphy. Brooklyn City Railroad. The City Court established.
County Institutions. The Penitentiary. Packer Institute
and the Polytechnic. Williamsburgh becomes a City.
Progress of Williamsburgh. Mayor Wall and the Aldermen.
Discussion of Annexation with Brooklyn. The "Brooklyn
Times." Consolidation of the Two Cities. Mayor Hall's
Address. Nassau Water Company and the Introduction of
Ridgewood Water. Plans for New Court House. Proposal
to use Washington Park. County Cares and Expenditures.
Metropolitan Police 80

CHAPTER XII

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR

1861-1865

Election of Mayor Kalbfleisch. The Call for Troops. The
Militia. Filling the Regiments. Money for Equipment.
Rebuking Disloyalty. War Meeting at Fort Greene. Work of
Women. The County sends 10,000 Men in 1861. Launching of
the Monitor at Greenpoint. The Draft Riots. Colonel Wood
elected Mayor. Return of the "Brooklyn Phalanx." The
Sanitary Fair. Its Features and Successes. The Calico Ball.
Significance of the Fair. The Christian Commission. Action
of the Supervisors of the County. The Oceanus Excursion.
Storrs and Beecher at Sumter. News of Lincoln's Death.
Service of the National Guard. The "Fighting Fourteenth."
The Newspapers. Court House finished 117

CHAPTER XIII

BROOKLYN AFTER THE WAR

1866-1876

Administration of Samuel Booth. Metropolitan Sanitary
District created. Cholera. Erie Basin Docks. The County
Institutions and their Work. The Gowanus Canal and the
Wallabout Improvement. The Department of Survey and
Inspection of Buildings. Establishing Fire Limits. Building
Regulations. Prospect Park. The Ocean Parkway. The Fire
Department. The Public Schools. The East River Bridge.
Early Discussion of the Great Enterprise. The Construction
begun. Death of Roebling. The Ferries. Messages of Mayor
Kalbfleisch. Erection of a Brooklyn Department of Police.
Samuel S. Powell again Mayor. A New City Charter. Movement
toward Consolidation with New York. Henry Ward Beecher.
Frederick A. Schroeder elected Mayor 132

CHAPTER XIV

THE MODERN CITY

1877-1893

Rapid Transit. James Howell, Jr., elected Mayor. Work on
the Bridge. Passage of "Single Head" Bill. John Fiske
on the "Brooklyn System." Seth Low elected Mayor. His
Interpretation of the "Brooklyn System." Reëlection of Low.
Opening of the Bridge. Bridge Statistics. Ferries and Water
Front. Erie Basin. The Sugar Industry. Navy Yard. Wallabout
Market. Development of the City. Prospect Park. Theatres
and Public Buildings. National Guard. Public Schools.
Brooklyn Institute. Private Educational Institutions.
Libraries. Churches, Religious Societies, Hospitals, and
Benevolent Associations. Clubs. Literature, Art, and Music.
The Academy of Music. "The City of Homes" 167