Chapter II: Part 2

Dr. Mott was a distinguished surgeon, and one of the best-known citizens of the small town of sixty or seventy years ago. He previously lived at the easterly end of Depau Row. For many years Dr. M. resided in Paris, during the reign of Louis Philippe, whose physician he was. In 1841[26] a ball was given for the Prince de Joinville at the Depau Row house, and during the Civil War the Comte de Paris and brothers were entertained at the Gramercy Square house.

Gramercy Square

_Rectory of Calvary Parish_

This rectory has been the home of many clergymen celebrated in the community. One of the early rectors was Dr. Francis Lister Hawks. Born at Newbern, N. C., in 1798, he was ordained in 1827 and was conspicuous in the church up to the time of his death in 1866.

In 1844 he became rector of Christ Church, New Orleans, and president of the University of Louisiana, and in 1849 he became rector of this parish. Being of Southern birth, he, at the outbreak of the Civil War, withdrew to the South, but returned after the close of the war. He published many works on ecclesiastical and other subjects. He declined the bishopric of Mississippi and also that of Rhode Island.

The Rev. Dr. Arthur Cleveland Coxe was at one time rector. He afterwards became the Bishop of Western New York. The Rev. Dr. Henry Yates Satterlee was for many years the well-known rector of this parish. He is now Bishop of Washington.

Gramercy Square

_Former Residence of the Late Stanford White_

Mr. White was an eminent architect. It is now the house of the Princeton Club.

Gramercy Square

_Former Residence of the Late Cyrus W. Field and the Late David Dudley Field_

Cyrus W. Field was a business man until about 1854–56, when with Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, and others he organized the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Although the first cable was laid in 1858, it was not until 1866 that the enterprise was entirely successful, after Mr. Field had crossed the ocean thirty times in the prosecution of the work. He received the thanks of Congress and many other honors.

His brother, David Dudley Field, was conspicuous at the New York bar for over fifty years. For forty years of this time he devoted all his spare moments to the subject of the reform of the law and obtained a marked success. The new system of civil procedure has been adopted in many States and substantially followed in Great Britain. In 1873 he was elected the first president of an association for the reform and codification of the law of nations formed at Brussels in that year.[27]

The two houses owned by the brothers Field have been united by the present owner, Henry W. Poor, banker and author of the statistical work on American railways universally consulted by bankers and investors throughout the country. The interior has been beautifully reconstructed.

Former Residence of the Late Peter Cooper and the Late Abram S. Hewitt

Peter Cooper was born in New York in 1791. His father being a man of small means, he was at an early age put into business and contributed to the support of his family.

He entered into the manufacture of glue and soon became the best-known maker of that commodity. In 1828, when thirty-seven years of age, he had acquired considerable wealth and was enabled to buy three thousand acres of land within the limits of the city of Baltimore. Here he built the great Canton Iron Works, and the entire investment soon proved extremely successful. About the year 1830 he built, at the West Point Foundry, N. Y., the first locomotive constructed in the United States for actual service. Not long after he disposed of the Canton Iron Works and erected enormous iron works at the city of Trenton, N. J. The firm was a pioneer in the successful manufacture of iron and became one of the largest of the kind in the country.

Mr. Cooper made many inventions in connection with this business. He became associated with Cyrus W. Field in his efforts to lay the Atlantic Cable, and the final success of that enterprise was in great measure due to his coöperation. Mr. Cooper is perhaps best known as the founder of the Cooper Institute, of which he commenced the construction as early as 1853. The objects of this institution were to furnish free schools in art and science and a free reading room and to provide free lectures on scientific, artistic, and social subjects. Mr. Cooper died, universally respected, in 1883.

Abram S. Hewitt, a native of Rockland County, N. Y., was the son-in-law of Peter Cooper, and to him, in partnership with his son Edward Cooper, he transferred that branch of his business connected with the manufacture of iron. Mr. Hewitt was a man much interested in the great social problems, being no mere theorist but a man ready to sacrifice his own interests to the well being of his dependents.

It is a fact that for forty years the business at Trenton was carried on with absolutely no profit beyond the amount necessary to pay the wages of the three thousand men employed and the regular expenses of the establishment. He stated at one of the meetings of the Congressional Committee on the grievances of labor that from 1873 to 1879 the business was carried on at a loss of one hundred thousand dollars a year. Of course, one object was to continue the business and to prevent the deterioration of the plant, but the firm also aimed to avoid throwing such a large body of men out of employment, although at times they were placed on half pay.

Notwithstanding, the firm became wealthy through ventures not relating to the iron business and also through investments connected with it. As an example it may be mentioned that a large purchase of iron in 1879–80 resulted in a profit of a million dollars. In 1874 Mr. Hewitt was elected a representative to Congress and served with the exception of one term until 1886. In that year he was chosen mayor of New York. Mr. Hewitt was extremely honest and independent. He was neither a free trader nor a protectionist. He was a reformer but not a radical one, and at his death the nation, and especially the Democratic Party, lost a wise statesman and counselor.[28]

The General Theological Seminary

_Chelsea_

Some time about the year 1750 Captain Clarke, a veteran of the provincial army, who had seen considerable service in the French war, built a country house, two or three miles north of the city, to which he gave the name of Chelsea. He gave it this name because he said it was to be the retreat of an old soldier in the evening of his days.

It has been thought that the name of Greenwich was given to the neighboring estate by Admiral Warren for a corresponding sentimental reason, but Mr. Janvier, in that very entertaining book, “In Old New York,” shows that the name of Greenwich was in use long before the admiral’s advent. Captain Clarke, unfortunately, was not destined long to enjoy the house he had built. During his last illness, the house caught fire and the captain came very near being burned with it, but he was carried out by neighbors and shortly after died in an adjacent farmhouse. Mrs. Clarke rebuilt the house on the crest of a hill that sloped down to the river about three hundred feet distant.[29] The estate descended to her daughter, the wife of Bishop Moore, and in 1813 it was conveyed to their son, Clement C. Moore,[30] by whom the old house was considerably enlarged. The house was taken down when the bulkhead along the river front was constructed by the city. Mr. Moore gave the whole of the block bounded by Twentieth and Twenty-first streets and Ninth and Tenth avenues to the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, and it became known as Chelsea Square. The building here shown was built about 1835 and is constructed of a gray stone. The modern buildings, however, are of brick and stone, of a Gothic style and, with the old trees remaining and the stretches of green lawn, produce, especially in summer time, a suggestion of English seclusion and repose quite at variance with the bustle and the crudeness of that part of the city.

Church of the Transfiguration

It is difficult to realize the position held forty years ago by the old Wallack’s Theater at Broadway and Thirteenth Street. It was in a way a city institution. The company remained nearly the same for years, with occasional changes, and its members were, one and all, accomplished in their profession. The receipts of the theater were as regular as those of a bank.

The elder Wallack, a well-bred Englishman, was a finished actor of the old school. His son, Lester Wallack, was an extraordinarily handsome man of the romantic type, well suited for the more sentimental drama of the day, although his wealth of curly black hair and whiskers would violate our modern canons of taste. By his father’s desire when a young man he became an officer in the British army, but after serving two years resigned and adopted the profession of the stage. His wife was a sister of Millais, the artist.

George Holland was a short, thickset man with a rather large head, who was seldom cast for a very prominent part, but his humor and his evident geniality and honesty made him a favorite with the public. Consequently when the story of his funeral became public, there was some indignation expressed.

It is fair to the Rev. Dr. Sabine, however, to say that it is claimed that when approached by the parties having charge of the funeral, he told them that the Church of the Incarnation was undergoing repairs, that the aisles were crowded with workmen and scaffolding, and that it would prove an inconvenience to all parties to hold the services in that church. The late Rev. Dr. Houghton, rector of this parish for forty-nine years, was a clergyman held in the highest esteem by the people of this city.

Former Residence of the Late Edwin D. Morgan

Edwin D. Morgan, born in Berkshire County, Mass., in 1811, came to New York in 1836 and founded a mercantile house which became very successful. In 1858 he was elected Governor of the State of New York, and as he continued to hold that office during the first years of the Civil War he is frequently referred to as “The War Governor.” In 1861 he was appointed major general of volunteers and placed in command, but refused to receive any compensation for his services. In 1862 he was chosen United States Senator and occupied that office until March, 1869.

President Lincoln offered him the position of Secretary of the Treasury. The same position was offered him by President Arthur in 1881, but on both occasions he declined the honor.

He was a most generous benefactor to charitable institutions during his lifetime and also by virtue of his last will and testament.[31] The grounds attached to this house are extensive for New York City.

Claremont

The view of the Hudson, on a fine day, to a person looking northward from Claremont is one of the best on the river. Being on a high point that juts out somewhat into the stream, the spectator appreciates the river’s breadth. In former days the site of Claremont was remarkable for its magnificent trees, pine, oak and tulip, of extraordinary girth, height and spread, but the building of the railroad (which spoiled so many country seats) sounded its death knell in respect to its being a place of residence with appropriate surroundings. What is now known as Claremont appears at an early period to have been composed of two properties, the upper or northerly one being called “Strawberry Hill,” or “Claremont,” and the lower or southerly, one “Monte Alto.” Some of the early deeds were not recorded and the writer has not ascertained when or how the division was made.

A tract of land including that on which the house stands was conveyed in 1774 to Nicholas de Peyster, and in August, 1776, was sold by him to George Pollock, an Irish linen merchant.

Pollock endeavored to improve the place by clearing and cultivation, as is shown by the statement in a letter mentioned below, in which he says: “I have long considered those grounds as of my own creation, having selected them when wild, and brought the place to its present form.” He named the place “Strawberry Hill.” After living there for some years and after the loss of a child (said to have occurred by drowning) he withdrew to England.

Almost everyone who has visited Grant’s Tomb remembers the marble funereal monument in the form of an urn inclosed within an iron railing near the top of the hill. The inscription, much blurred by time, reads: “Erected to the memory of an amiable child, St. Claire Pollock, died 15th. July 1797 in the 5 year of his age.” Then follow some lines of verse. In a letter written from England by Mr. Pollock to Mrs. Gulian Verplanck, who had become the owner of that or the adjoining place, dated July 18, 1800, he writes: “There is a small enclosure near your boundary fence within which lie the remains of a favorite child, covered by a marble monument.... The surrounding ground will fall into the hands of I know not whom, whose prejudice or better taste may remove the monument and lay the enclosure open. You will confer a peculiar and interesting favor upon me by allowing me to convey the enclosure to you, so that you will consider it a part of your own estate, keeping it however always enclosed and sacred. There is a white marble funereal urn to place on the monument which will not lessen its beauty. I have long considered those grounds as of my own creation, having selected them when wild, and brought the place to its present form. Having so long and so delightfully resided there, I feel an interest in it that I cannot get rid of by time.”[32]

In July, 1803, a tract of over thirty-one acres was conveyed by John B. Prevost, former Recorder of the city, to Joseph Alston, of South Carolina, planter. Alston[33] seems to have held the property about three years and then to have sold it to John Marsden Pintard. This deed conveys the tract known as “Monte Alto.” In November, 1808, a release was recorded, executed by Theodosia Burr Alston in favor of Michael Hogan, gentleman, Hogan having bought Monte Alto from Pintard.[34]

There is no record of any conveyance of Claremont, by Gulian Verplanck or his executors, to Hogan,[35] but a deed made by Robert Lenox, Jacob Stout, and John Wells, trustees, to Michael Hogan, dated July 21, 1819, reconveys to him all property not disposed of in the execution of their trust, which is referred to as having been imposed by _two_ previous deeds of assignment or conveyance dated July 25, 1811. It is here that it is generally thought a vagueness and uncertainty as to the true owner exists. It was about this time that Claremont was occupied by a rather mysterious individual, an Englishman named Courtenay, who, it is said, in after years, inherited the title of the Earl of Devon.

Mr. Haswell,[36] in his “Reminiscences of an Octogenarian,” says, page 25: “West of Broadway, between Eleventh and Twelfth avenues and One Hundred and Twenty-third Street, there was a large country residence occupied by an Englishman, a Mr. Courtenay, with but one man servant and a cook. He lived so retired as never to be seen in company with anyone outside of his household and very rarely in public.

“There was, as a consequence, many opinions given as to the occasion of such exclusiveness. The one generally and finally accepted was that he had been a gay companion of royalty in his youth, and that his leaving England was more the result of expediency with him than choice.” Lossing’s[37] account differs somewhat from this. He says: “When the War of 1812 broke out he (Courtenay) returned thither (to England) leaving his furniture and plate, which were sold at auction.... Courtenay was a great lion in New York, for he was a handsome bachelor, with title, fortune, and reputation--a combination of excellencies calculated to captivate the heart desires of the opposite sex. Claremont was the residence for a while of Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of Spain, when he first took refuge in the United States, after the battle of Waterloo and the downfall of the Napoleon dynasty. Here too Francis James Jackson, the successor of Mr. Erskine, the British Minister at Washington, at the opening of the War of 1812, resided a short time.... He was politically and socially unpopular, and presented a strong contrast to the polished Courtenay.” Courtenay disappeared at the time of the war between this country and Great Britain, after having greatly embellished the place. It has always been a tradition in the Post family (who owned the property for nearly fifty years) that Courtenay built the present house. In March, 1812, Hogan joined with the above-named trustees in conveying the property “commonly called Claremont” to Herman Le Roy, William Bayard, and James McEvers, trustees. By some it has been supposed that while the legal title was in trustees, there may have been an unrecorded declaration of trust, by which Courtenay became the equitable owner. The grantees[38] in the last-mentioned deed first leased Claremont and several years later sold it to Joel Post, February 12, 1821. Later, Mr. Post (brother of the distinguished physician of the last century, Dr. Wright Post, who also resided at Claremont) purchased the property adjoining on the south, Monte Alto, and united the ownership of the two places, although Monte Alto was for many years occupied as a country seat by the McEvers family.[39] In 1868 the house and a portion of the place were acquired by the city from the heirs of Mr. Post.

It seems to have been pretty well shown that the battle of Harlem Heights was not fought in this locality. It is only in recent years that Morningside Heights have been spoken of as Harlem Heights. In conveying Claremont it is described as in Bloomingdale and according to the map (Mrs. Lamb’s “History of the City of New York,” vol. II, p. 129) the westerly line of Harlem excluded all Morningside Heights except a few feet at the base of the high ground at Manhattanville. The high ground was known as Vandewater Heights, and if the battle had taken place there it would have been known by that name. It is more probable that most of the fighting (which was widespread) took place at the base of the Point of Rocks, south of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, and also along the high ground to the west and north. Day’s Tavern stood a little to the northeast of the Point of Rocks, and there Knowlton and the Connecticut troops were stationed.

Major Lewis Morris, Jr., wrote to his father on September 28th: “Monday morning an advanced party, Colonel Knowlton’s regiment, was attacked on a height a little to the southwest of Day’s Tavern.”

Morningside Heights would have been considerably more than “a little” to the southwest of Day’s Tavern. The detachment sent out before daylight under Knowlton by General Washington was not his regiment but a small body, probably a single company, and was sent to make a diversion upon the enemy’s rear. It is probable that they followed the river’s edge as far south as Ninety-fourth Street, much below Claremont and Morningside Heights. The actual battle did not begin until late in the day. The resolution of Congress passed October 17, 1776, was “Resolved, That General Lee be directed to repair to the camp on the Heights of Harlem with leave,” etc.

Washington had no camp on Morningside Heights. His camp was on the high ground between the Point of Rocks and the Harlem River.

Finally “nowhere on Manhattan Island, to my knowledge, beyond the limit of the city, have there been found the remains of so many English and Hessian soldiers, as shown by buttons, cross-belt buckles, bayonets, and portions of other arms, as have been excavated, from time to time, in the neighborhood of Trinity Cemetery. There could have been no fight at this point unless it was at the battle of Harlem, while the neighborhood about Columbia University, where it is claimed the battle was fought, has been particularly free from all such evidence.”[40] Claremont is now a public restaurant.[41] The adding of the huge inclosed piazzas has produced an effect that is nondescript.

Hamilton Grange

Alexander Hamilton, although born in another colony, was identified with the city from boyhood and married into a New York family.[42] The genuine New Yorker seems always to have had a certain regard for the memory of Hamilton, ascribable perhaps to his untimely taking off, to a sentiment of having been, as it were, robbed of the services of a great man, and to the strong light thrown upon the contrast between his traits and those of his distinguished and brilliant antagonist.

He had faults, but they were very human ones, while those of his adversary tended toward the incarnation of selfishness. His career is probably more familiar to the people than that of any of the other characters connected with the State of New York during the Revolutionary era. The site of the house (named after the estate of his grandfather in Ayreshire, Scotland) was chosen by him in order to be in proximity to the house of his friend, Gouverneur Morris, at Morrisania. The situation at that time, like that of the Jumel house, commanded an extensive view of the Hudson and Harlem rivers and Long Island Sound. It was then about eight miles from town, so that it was his habit to drive in every day. It was not to this house that he was brought after the disastrous event of July 11, 1804. His friend William Bayard had received an intimation of the proposed encounter, and was waiting when the boat containing him reached the New York shore. Hamilton was carried to his house and died there the next day. His wife and children were with him. One daughter, overcome by two such dreadful events in the family within a short period, lost her reason.[43] The whole city was affected. Business was suspended. Indignation was universal. Burr’s followers walked in the funeral procession. Talleyrand said of Hamilton: “Je considére Napoleon, Fox, et Hamilton comme lest trois plus grande hommes de notre époque, et si je devais me prononcer entre les trois, je donnerais sans hesiter la première place a Hamilton.”

The Jumel House

This house was built in 1758 by Captain (afterwards Colonel) Roger Morris of the British army, who had been an aide of General Braddock. Morris married a daughter of Colonel Philipse. The Philipse estate embraced a great part of the present Westchester and Putnam counties. The manor hall erected about 1745 (the oldest part probably about 1682) now constitutes the City Hall of Yonkers.[44] In that house, on July 3, 1730, was born Mary Philipse, and in the drawing-room on Sunday afternoon, January 15, 1758, she was married to Captain Morris by the Rev. Henry Barclay, rector of Trinity, and his assistant, Mr. Auchmuty.

A paper on “The Romance of the Hudson,” by Benson J. Lossing, published in _Harper’s Magazine_ for April, 1876, gives the following account of the wedding: “The leading families of the province and the British forces in America had representatives there. The marriage was solemnized under a crimson canopy emblazoned with the golden crest of the family.... The bridesmaids were Miss Barclay, Miss Van Cortlandt, and Miss De Lancey. The groomsmen were Mr. Heathcote, Captain Kennedy, and Mr. Watts. Acting Governor De Lancey (son-in-law to Colonel Heathcote, lord of the manor of Scarsdale) assisted at the ceremony. The brothers of the bride ... gave away the bride.... Her dowry in her own right was a large domain, plate, jewelry, and money. A grand feast followed the nuptial ceremony, and late on that brilliant moonlit night most of the guests departed.

“While they were feasting a tall Indian, closely wrapped in a scarlet blanket, appeared at the door of the banquet hall, and with measured words said: ‘Your possessions shall pass from you when the eagle shall despoil the lion of his mane.’ He as suddenly disappeared.... The bride pondered the ominous words for years ... and when, because they were royalists in action, the magnificent domain of the Philipses was confiscated by the Americans at the close of the Revolution, the prophecy and its fulfillment were manifested.”[45]

While in New York in 1756 Washington stayed at the house of his friend, Beverly Robinson, who had married a sister of Miss Philipse, and there is no doubt that her charms made a deep impression upon him, but there is no evidence that she refused him.

After the Revolution Colonel Philipse withdrew to Chester, England, died there in 1785, and was buried in Chester Cathedral, where there is a monument to his memory. Some of his descendants are now living in England, as well as descendants of Colonel and Mrs. Morris. “A part of the Philipse estate was in possession of Colonel Morris in right of his wife, and that the whole interest should pass under the (confiscation) act, Mrs. Morris was included in the attainder.”[46] It is believed that Mrs. Morris and her sisters were the only women attainted of treason during the Revolution. “In 1787 the Attorney General of England examined the case and gave the opinion that the reversionary interest was not included in the attainder,” and was recoverable, and in the year 1809 Mrs. Morris’s son, Captain Henry Gage Morris, of the royal navy, in behalf of himself and his two sisters, sold their reversionary interest to John Jacob Astor for twenty thousand pounds sterling. In 1828 Mr. Astor made a compromise with the State of New York by which he received for these rights five hundred thousand dollars, with the understanding that he should execute a deed with warranty against the claims of the Morris family, in order to quiet the title of the numerous persons who had bought from the commissioners of forfeitures. This he did.

In 1810 the property was bought by Stephen Jumel, a wealthy French merchant. There he entertained Louis Philippe, Lafayette, Joseph Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, and Henry Clay. After Jumel’s death it came into the possession of his widow. Aaron Burr, in his old age, married Madame Jumel. After he had made away with a good deal of her money, she got rid of him. He withdrew to other fields of action and died somewhere on Staten Island.

During the Revolution Washington had his headquarters here from September 16 to October 21, 1776, and revisited it, accompanied by his cabinet, July, 1790.

The house is now in the control of the Department of Parks and is shown to the public.

Gracie House--East River Park

Archibald Gracie, a native of Dumfries, Scotland, of an old Scotch family, came to this country about the time of the close of the Revolutionary War and established himself as a merchant. He became one of the largest if not the largest ship owner in the country, his ships visiting, it is said, every port in the world. He was a man of the highest character. Oliver Wolcott said of him: “He was one of the excellent of the earth, actively liberal, intelligent, seeking and rejoicing in occasions to do good.” Washington Irving wrote (January, 1813): “Their (the Gracies’) country place was one of my strongholds last summer. It is a charming, warm-hearted family and the old gentleman has the soul of a prince.” Mr. Gracie lost greatly as a result of the Berlin and Milan decrees, over a million dollars, it is said. It is believed that he was the largest holder of the celebrated “French Claims,”[47] which Congress with outrageous persistence refused or neglected to pay for generations. He married Esther, daughter of Samuel Rogers and Elizabeth Fitch, daughter of Thomas Fitch, Governor of Connecticut.

There was an old house at Gracie’s Point belonging to Mrs. Prevoost, and this he either altered and enlarged or else removed entirely and built the present structure, but at what time it is not known. In the year 1805 Josiah Quincy was entertained there at dinner. He describes enthusiastically the situation, overlooking the then terribly turbulent waters of Hell Gate. He said: “The shores of Long Island, full of cultivated prospects and interspersed with elegant country seats, bound the distant view. The mansion is elegant in the modern style and the grounds laid out in taste with gardens.”[48] Among the guests at that dinner were Oliver Wolcott, Judge Pendleton, Hamilton’s second, and Dr. Hosack, who later married Mrs. Coster.

William Gracie, the eldest son, married the beautiful Miss Wolcott, daughter of Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury under Washington. A great reception was given by Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Gracie to the bride at this house. All the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and a large company were assembled when the bride died suddenly of heart disease. His daughter Hester was married in the parlor of the house to William Beach Lawrence, afterwards Governor of Rhode Island. Another daughter married James Gore King, the eminent banker, and another Charles King, afterwards president of Columbia College, both being sons of Rufus King of Revolutionary fame. On one occasion during the Napoleonic wars, a French vessel was chased by an English frigate into the neutral harbor of New York. The Englishman lay in the lower bay ready to attack the Frenchman when he should return through the Narrows. Being sure of his prize he was off his guard. The French captain, taking a skillful pilot, slipped up the East River, a feat believed impossible for so large a vessel. In rounding Gracie’s Point a sailor on a yardarm was swept from his perch by the overhanging branches of a great elm that was standing on the lawn as late as 1880. With wonderful agility, the sailor seized the limbs and swinging from one to another reached the trunk, down which he slid to the ground. Charles King, calling to the Frenchman, rushed to the other side of the Point, put him in his boat and followed the man-of-war, although it had then swung over to the other side of the river. By skillful management he reached the vessel and the sailor scrambled aboard. Anyone who remembers the waters of Hell Gate before the rocky bottom was blown up by the Government will admit that Mr. King did some vigorous rowing. The man-of-war escaped by way of the Sound, much to the chagrin of the English.

Many distinguished people were entertained in this house. When Louis Philippe was here in exile he was invited to dine with Mrs. Gracie. The carriage and four were sent to town to bring the royal visitor, and when he arrived the family were assembled to receive him. One of the little girls exclaimed aloud, “That is not the king, he has no crown on his head,” at which the guest laughed good-naturedly and said: “In these days, kings are satisfied with wearing their heads without crowns.” An early picture shows an ornamental balustrade on the roof of the house and also on that of the piazza, relieving the present rather bare appearance.

BOROUGH OF THE BRONX

The Gouverneur Morris House[49]

Gouverneur Morris was one of the most interesting characters of the Revolutionary era, interesting because he had an individuality that distinguished him from the other worthies of the time. Though crippled,[50] his versatility and activity of mind and body were very great. An orator of the first rank, when but a few years past his majority he swayed the Continental Congress with his views upon matters of finance, a subject for which he had an especial aptitude throughout his career. Resolving, when a young man, to be the first lawyer in the land, he became so. By reason of his connections, his education and abilities, during his long stay abroad he associated on intimate terms with a vast number of the most influential personages living at the time. The unfortunate King and Queen of France sought his advice and aid in their troubles, as did Lafayette and many others.

His diary published in 1888 (now out of print), written in Paris during the early days of the French Revolution, although evidently for his own use, is comparable with those other letters and memoirs of the eighteenth century when writing of the sort was cultivated as a fine art.

His father’s will states: “It is my desire that my son, Gouverneur Morris, may have the best education that is to be had in England or America.” Great pains were taken that this should be carried out, so that he should be fitted for any career that might open to him.[51] He was a member of the Provincial Congress of New York, in 1775, “serving on the various committees with such well-balanced judgment as to command the respect of men of twice his age and experience.” Twice elected to the Continental Congress, he was a chairman of three committees for carrying on the war,[52] wrote continually on all subjects, especially that of finance, and at the same time practiced law, doing all this before he was twenty-eight years of age. After five years of devotion to public affairs, he became a citizen of Philadelphia and settled down to the practice of his profession.

In 1787, as a delegate from Pennsylvania, he took his seat in the convention which met to frame the Federal Constitution. He had been connected in certain financial ventures with William Constable of New York, which had been eminently successful, and in November, 1788, led partly by matters relating to these and partly by the desire to travel, he decided to visit France. His life on the other side became so crowded with interesting and important events that this visit was prolonged far beyond his intention. It was ten years before he returned. He was furnished by Washington with letters to persons in England, France, and Holland. He was present at the assembling of the States-General at Versailles, which has been called the “first day of the French Revolution,” and from that time on was _au fait_ with all the important events of that exciting period. At times he was in almost daily communication with the Duchess of Orleans, Madame de Staël, Talleyrand, and hosts of others equally important.

He was soon recognized as applying a clear brain to the solution of any important question submitted to him, and we find him writing a memoir for the guidance of the king and the draught of a speech to be delivered before the National Assembly. The Monciel scheme, usually mentioned in the biographies of Morris, was a well-conceived plan to get the king out of Paris. Monciel, one of the ministry, consulted Morris as to the details of the plan, and the king deposited with him his papers and the sum of seven hundred and forty-eight thousand francs. Everything was discreetly arranged and success nearly assured when, on the morning fixed for the king’s departure, he changed his mind and refused to budge. Later the money was nearly all withdrawn, leaving a small balance in Morris’s hands which he returned to the Duchess d’Angoulême.[53]

In 1789 Washington had written him a letter requesting him to visit England and endeavor to facilitate the carrying out of the terms of the treaty between the two countries, but the English governing class at that day had no desire to facilitate anything in which this country was interested. He had many interviews with Leeds and Pitt, but was always met with a policy of vagueness, postponement, and unlimited delay, so that he accomplished little. It was partly on this account that when Washington nominated him as Minister to France in 1791, the nomination was opposed. His views also regarding the condition of France were well known. He did not deem that country fitted for a radical change of government nor for the development of the wild theories of government that were there rampant.[54] The sanity of these views was proved by subsequent events, but many senators did not regard him as suitable to represent this republic. He was, however, confirmed by a moderate majority. He continued to be Minister until Genet was recalled at the request of Washington. Then France requested his recall on the ground of “reciprocity.”

Monroe arrived in Paris in August, 1794. Morris intended to return, but changed his plans and decided to spend another year in Europe visiting some of the principal courts and traveling[55] through various countries, but events were so interesting and produced so much stir and excitement that it was fully four years before he returned.

While in England he was presented at court, November 25, 1795.[56] Finally in October, 1798, he sent his steward to New York with all his “books, liquors, linens, furniture, plate and carriages,” and soon after followed himself.

On his mother’s death in 1786, the estate of Morrisania devolved on his eldest brother, Staats Morris; but he, having no intention of living in this country, willingly sold it to him, including his father’s house, in which he was born. The house he found in poor condition, and at once set about the task of repairing and adding to it. After its restoration, he settled there, and for the rest of his life the house became the scene of a continuous hospitality, not only to the most eminent Americans of the day, but to nearly every foreigner of distinction that came to this country.

He was elected a United States Senator and was always interested in public affairs. He is said to have been the originator of the Erie Canal. In December, 1809, he married Miss Randolph of Virginia. In May, 1804, he was present at the deathbed of his friend, Alexander Hamilton, and later delivered the funeral oration.

Sparks[57] says: “The plan of his house conformed to a French model, and though spacious and well contrived was suited rather for convenience and perhaps splendor within than for a show of architectural magnificence without.” To a friend he wrote: “I have a terrace roof of one hundred and thirty feet long,[58] to which I go out by a side or rather back door, and from which I enjoy one of the finest prospects while breathing the most salubrious air in the world.” The parquet floors of all the rooms were brought from France. The library, wainscoted and ceiled with Dutch cherry panels, also imported, was in the early days hung with white and gold tapestry. The room contained the mahogany desk, still preserved, trimmed with brass (said to have been a present from one of the royal family), at which he carried on his correspondence with so many distinguished personages, correspondence often relating to loans of money to the Duchess of Orleans, Madame de Lafayette, Louis Philippe, and hundreds of others.

The reception room, twenty-two by thirty feet and fourteen feet high, was also a paneled room with mirrors set in the wall in the French style. It contained a number of pieces of gilt furniture, originally covered with white silk embroidered in gold, with designs from Boucher which he had brought with him from France. The dining room of peculiar shape (a half octagon) was paneled in dark wood and contained a curious reminder of life during Revolutionary days, a dumbwaiter placed near each guest so that servants need not be admitted to overhear the conversation.[59]

Morris died on November 6, 1816, in the room in which he was born. Almost the last letter he wrote was to plead with the Federal Party to “forget party and think of our country. That country embraces both parties. We must endeavor therefore to save and benefit both.” What statesman to-day would put forth such a sentiment?[60]

Van Cortlandt House

The property on which the house stands belonged in the seventeenth century to the Hon. Frederick Philipse and was sold by him in the year 1699 to his son-in-law, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, who had married his daughter Eva. The house was built in 1748 by Frederick Van Cortlandt, only son of Jacobus, who married Frances Jay, daughter of Augustus Jay, the Huguenot. His will, dated October 2, 1749, states: “Whereas I am now finishing a large stone dwelling house on the plantation in which I now live, which with the same plantation will, by virtue of my deceased father’s will, devolve, after my decease, upon my eldest son, James,” etc.[61]

During the Revolutionary War the neighborhood was constantly the scene of conflicts. Washington visited the house in 1781, and on the hill to the north disposed part of his army, which lighted camp fires while he was quietly withdrawing the rest of his troops to join Lafayette before Yorktown. There was a bloody engagement near the house on August 31, 1778, between the British, under Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, and a body of Stockbridge Indians. The Indians fought with great bravery and desperation, dragging the cavalrymen from their horses, but were ultimately dispersed, their chief being killed.[62]

Washington slept here the night before the evacuation of the city by the British, November 25, 1785. The estate has been bought by the city and is now known as Van Cortlandt Park. It contains 1,070 acres. There is a lake covering sixty acres and a parade ground for the National Guard on a level meadow of 120 acres.

The house is used as a museum and is crowded with interesting relics.

BOROUGH OF QUEENS

The Bowne House--Flushing

This house was built in 1661 by John Bowne, a native of Matlock, Derbyshire, England, in whose church he was baptized in the year 1627. About 1672 George Fox, founder of the sect of Quakers or Friends, visited Flushing and held meetings there. Bowne’s wife[63] frequently attended the meetings, and after a time joined the sect. As a result of this, Quakers were often entertained at the house. Governor Stuyvesant had Bowne arrested for “harboring Quakers,” and he was thrown into jail. Prior to this Henry Townsend, of Oyster Bay, had been subjected to the same treatment. Bowne, being a man of considerable independence, remained obdurate. He was then banished to Holland. He presented his case to the Dutch West India Company in such a manner that he was returned in a special ship with the following rebuke to the Governor and Councils of the New Netherlands, 1663: “We finally did see from your last letter you had exiled and transported hither a certain Quaker named John Bowne, and although it is our cordial desire that similar and other sectarians might not be found there, yet, as the contrary seems to be the fact, we doubt very much if vigorous proceedings against them ought not to be discontinued, except you intend to check and destroy your population, which, however, in the youth of your existence ought rather to be encouraged by all possible means, wherefore it is our opinion that some connivance would be useful that the conscience of men, at least, ought ever to remain free and unshackled.

“Let everyone be unmolested as long as he is modest, as long as his conduct, in a political sense, is irreproachable, as long as he does not disturb others or oppose the Government.” Signed, “The Directors of the West India Company, Amsterdam Department.”

The house has always remained in the possession of the descendants of the first owner. House and furniture are in a good state of preservation; they are in charge of a caretaker and shown to visitors.

BOROUGH OF RICHMOND

The Billop House

For more than a century Staten Island was practically in the control of the Billop family. The Billops for several generations had led active and valiant careers in the service of the sovereign. One, James, in the sixteenth century, is said to have won the friendship of Queen Elizabeth by risking his own life in order to save hers. They had favors also from the Stuart line.

Christopher, born in 1638, received a naval training by command of Charles I. He was commissioned captain and made important and adventurous voyages, in one of which he was wounded, captured by Turkish pirates and abandoned, to be later rescued by a passing ship. In 1667, whether by order of Charles II or on his own account it is not known, he sailed from England in his vessel, the _Bentley_, and came cruising in the waters of the New Netherlands. The tradition is that the Duke of York, to determine the ownership of the islands in the bay, decided that any island that could be circumnavigated in twenty-four hours belonged to the province of New York, and Billop, having proved that Staten Island was so included by sailing around it in the required time, was presented with 1,163 acres in the southern part of the island. On this tract he built in 1668 the stone house here presented. The stones and lumber were obtained in the vicinity, but the cement was brought from England and the bricks from Belgium.

In the early records his name appears as showing that he had several public positions, but apart from that little is known about him except that he held a military command and had a controversy with Governor Andros to his disadvantage at first, but later he succeeded in having the governor recalled to England.

In the year 1700 he sailed for England in the _Bentley_, but was never heard of again. By some writers it is thought that he was ordered back, inasmuch as a pension was assigned to his widow by the king. Captain Billop married a Miss Farmer, sister of a Supreme Court judge in the neighboring province of New Jersey. They had one child, a daughter, who married her cousin, Thomas Farmer, and he, succeeding to the manor of Bentley, changed his name to Billop. Both died young and their tombstones are to be seen at the house to-day. Christopher Billop, their only son, born 1735, was a prominent man in public affairs throughout his life. In the Revolution he was intensely loyal to the crown, and became a colonel in the British army. Twice he was captured. The New Jersey colonists were especially bitter toward him, and once by keeping men stationed in the steeple of St. Peter’s Church at Perth Amboy they observed him going into his house. Immediately they took boats, crossed the river and made him prisoner. By order of Elisha Boudinot (Com. Pris. of New Jersey) he was thrown into jail at Burlington, hands and feet chained to the floor and fed only on bread and water. Here his companion in captivity was Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe of the Queen’s Rangers, probably the same Simcoe who was in the engagement near the Van Cortlandt house. Billop was exchanged for a captain who had been on the prison ship. The second time he was taken he was released by Washington at the solicitation of Lord Howe, commander in chief of the British forces.

After the battle of Long Island, Howe thought it an opportune time to offer favorable terms to the colonists if they were willing to lay down their arms. Accordingly he dispatched General Sullivan (then a prisoner) to Congress requesting them to send a committee to negotiate. This committee, composed of Benjamin Franklin, Edward Rutledge, and John Adams, met Howe at the Billop house. “Along the sloping lawn in front of the house, long lines of troops that formed the very flower of the British army were drawn up between which the distinguished commander escorted his no less distinguished guests.”[64] The conference was held in the northwest room on the ground floor. It resulted in nothing, the colonists refusing to accede to any terms not involving their independence. About 1783–84 Billop withdrew to New Brunswick, and joined that army of estimable persons who, despoiled of their possessions, were driven from the land for their loyalty to their king. There for years he held prominent offices in the Assembly and in the Council and died at St. John, March 23, 1827, at the age of ninety-two. At his funeral the highest honors of the town were paid to his memory.

Billop was evidently a complete type of the country gentleman and tory squire. According to Mr. Morris, in his “Memorial History of Staten Island,” the following description of him was given by a friend: “Christopher Billop was a very tall, soldierly looking man in his prime. He was exceedingly proud and his pride led him at times to the verge of haughtiness. Yet he was kind-hearted, not only to those he considered his equals, but to his slaves as well as to the poor people of the island. No one went from his door at the old manor hungry. It was his custom to gather the people of the island once a year on the lawn in front of his house and hold a ‘harvest home.’... Passionately fond of horses, his stable was filled with the finest bred animals in the land. He was a magnificent rider and was very fond of the saddle. He was an expert shot with the pistol, which once saved his life when he was attacked by robbers. Christopher Billop was not a man to take advice unless it instantly met with his favor.... Lifelong friends pleaded with him to join the cause of independence at the commencement of the Revolution, but he chose to follow the fortunes of royalty. He was a good citizen, a noble man!”

Before the Revolution the house was noted for its hospitality and gayety in the Colonial society of the day. The owner entertained lavishly and at the time of the war he received there Generals Howe, Clinton, Knyphausen, Cleveland, Cornwallis, Burgoyne, and many others. The interior of the house is extremely plain. Presumably in the year 1668 the house decorator had not made his appearance. The walls are three feet thick and the woodwork as sound as on the day it was built. There is of course a ghost room, with “that spot on the floor that cannot be washed out” where murder is said to have been done. Below there is a dungeon with massive iron gate, and the marks are still visible where prisoners, American and then British, tried to cut their way out through the three-foot wall and arched ceiling.[65] It is said there was an underground passage leading to the river.

In the basement Fenimore Cooper laid one of the scenes in his novel of the “Water Witch.”

The grounds, once laid out with parklike lawns and flower beds, are now in the last stages of dilapidation.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Built some years before the Revolution by Captain Archibald Kennedy, R.N. (later Earl of Casillis), who married Miss Watts. It was the headquarters respectively of Generals Howe, Cornwallis, and Carleton.

[2] The property of William Walton, brother of Admiral Walton, built in 1752. It was one of the best, if not the best house in town. The gardens extended to the river. This house was mentioned in the debates in Parliament to indicate the ability of the colonists to pay more taxes. What might in some respects be called the mate to this house, the Walter Franklin house, occupied by Washington during his Presidency, stood at the north end of the square. It was taken down in 1856, “and the only bit of it known to exist is the President’s chair of the N. Y. Historical Society, which is made of wood taken from the old house” (“Historic New York,” p. 298).

[3] Depau Row was an attempt to introduce the Parisian dwelling or hotel. The houses were entered by driveways, running through them to large interior courtyards. They were taken down to make way for the Mills Hotel for men.

[4] It is a little remarkable that none of our multimillionaires have added this feature to their new houses uptown.

[5] It seems rather strange that some architect has not taken this façade or some portion of it (as, e. g., the east or west end) as a design for the front of one of the palaces that are now springing up throughout the land.

[6] “Old Merchants of New York City,” vol. II, p. 318.

[7] Before and after the Revolution, the Hall of Records lately removed was used as the debtors’ prison. There were usually about one hundred and fifty prisoners. It is said that they were allowed only bread and water by the State and depended largely on the kindness of benevolent people to relieve their wants.

[8] “Lamb’s History of the City of New York,” II, p. 735.

[9] “The Old Merchants of New York,” vol. II, p. 319.

[10] New York _Herald_, May 6, 1906.

[11] “Domett’s History of the Bank of New York.”