Old Buildings
_of_
New York City
OLD BUILDINGS
OF
NEW YORK CITY
WITH SOME NOTES REGARDING
THEIR ORIGIN AND OCCUPANTS
NEW YORK
BRENTANO’S
MCMVII
_Copyright, 1907, by Brentano’s_
THE TROW PRESS, NEW YORK
Subjects
BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN
PAGE
NUMBER SEVEN STATE STREET 19
FRAUNCES’S TAVERN 23
SUB-TREASURY AND ASSAY OFFICE 27
BANK OF NEW YORK 29
ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL 33
CITY HALL 39
ASTOR LIBRARY 43
LANGDON HOUSE 45
ST. MARK’S CHURCH 49
RUTHERFURD HOUSE 53
KETELTAS HOUSE 57
RESIDENCE OF EUGENE DELANO 59
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 61
FORMER RESIDENCE OF THE LATE JAMES LENOX 63
FORMER RESIDENCE OF THE LATE ROBERT B. MINTURN 65
GRACE CHURCH 67
SOCIETY LIBRARY 69
CRUGER HOUSE 73
ABINGDON SQUARE 77
GRAMERCY SQUARE 81
Residence of John Bigelow 83
Former Residence of the Late Luther C. Clark 85
Former Residence Of the Late James W. Gerard 87
“The Players”--Former Home of Edwin Booth 91
Former Residence of the Late Samuel J. Tilden 93
Former Residence of the Late Rev. Dr. H. W. Bellows 97
Former Residence of the Late Dr. Valentine Mott 99
Rectory of Calvary Parish 101
Former Residence of the Late Stanford White 103
Former Residence of the Late Cyrus W. Field and the Late
David Dudley Field 105
FORMER RESIDENCE OF THE LATE PETER COOPER AND THE
LATE ABRAM S. HEWITT 107
GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 111
FORMER RESIDENCE OF THE LATE WILLIAM C. SCHERMERHORN 115
CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION 117
RESIDENCE OF J. PIERPONT MORGAN 121
FORMER RESIDENCE OF THE LATE THEODORE A. HAVEMEYER 123
FORMER RESIDENCE OF THE LATE SENATOR EDWIN D. MORGAN 125
THE OLD ARSENAL 127
CLAREMONT 129
HAMILTON GRANGE 139
JUMEL HOUSE 143
GRACIE HOUSE 151
BOROUGH OF THE BRONX
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS HOUSE 157
VAN CORTLANDT HOUSE 167
BOROUGH OF QUEENS
BOWNE HOUSE 171
BOROUGH OF RICHMOND
BILLOP HOUSE 175
Old Buildings
_of_
New York City
Introductory
Recently a writer in a periodical stated that “No one was ever born
in New York.” It can be safely said that this is an exaggeration.
Nevertheless it showed the confidence of the writer that the statement
was not likely to startle his readers very greatly.
Probably not one in a hundred of the men in the street know or care
anything about the town of fifty or sixty years ago. Still the number
of those who were familiar with it then is large, however small in
comparison with the whole number. In fact, the number of those whose
predecessors were living here when there were not more than a thousand
people in the whole place is much greater than is generally supposed.
It was for people belonging to the two latter classes that these
pictures were taken. They may even interest some who have known the
town for only a generation.
When a man has traversed the streets of a city for fifty years, certain
buildings become familiar landmarks. He first saw them perhaps on
trudging to school with his books, and has seen them nearly every
day since. He experiences a slight shock whenever such buildings are
destroyed. There appears something wrong in the general aspect of
the town. Of late years these shocks have followed one another so
continuously that he may well wonder whether he is living in the same
place.
It occurred to the writer that it would do no harm to preserve the
pictures of some of the landmarks still standing, especially as they
are getting fewer in number all the time, and may shortly disappear
altogether.
He regrets that he is unable to show a photographic presentment of many
buildings that have disappeared in the last fifty years, or even during
the life of the present generation. Some buildings that had a certain
historical interest have been razed in the last twenty-five years, as,
e. g., the Kennedy house,[1] No. 1 Broadway, taken down to make way
for the Washington Building, overlooking the Battery Park, or the old
Walton house[2] in Pearl Street near Franklin Square, removed in 1881,
or the Tombs prison, removed in 1899.
Among buildings that will be recalled to memory by the older citizens
it would have been a satisfaction to have been able to show pictures
of the Brick (Presbyterian) Church, that stood, with its yard, on
Park Row, taking in the block bounded by Spruce, Nassau, and Beekman
streets; or Burton’s Theater in Chambers Street; the Irving House,
later Delmonico’s, on the corner of Broadway and the same street; of
the old New York Hospital on Broadway near Thomas Street, standing far
back with its beautiful lawn and grand old trees; of the St. Nicholas
Hotel near Spring Street; of the old Coster mansion (later a Chinese
museum), built of granite in the style of the Astor House, near Prince
Street; and Tiffany’s place across the way, with the same Atlas
upholding the clock over the door; of the Metropolitan Hotel on the
next block with Niblo’s Garden; of Bleecker Street with Depau Row;[3]
of Bond Street with the large Ward (later Sampson) residence on the
corner; the Russell residence on the corner of Great Jones Street; the
famous old New York Hotel; the Lorillard mansion at Tenth Street; the
large brownstone residence of Judge James Roosevelt, near Thirteenth
Street, famous for the hospitality of its owners, and the red brick
residence of Cornelius V. S. Roosevelt, grandfather of the President,
on the corner of Union Square, having the entrance on Broadway.
The older resident can recall Union Square when the buildings were
nearly all private residences, conspicuous among which were the Parish
house on the north side and the Penniman (later the Maison Dorée) on
the south. He can recall the stately appearance of Fourteenth Street
westward of Union Square: the Haight residence on the corner of Fifth
Avenue and Fifteenth Street, with its large winter garden;[4] the
brownstone house of Colonel Herman Thorn in Sixteenth Street, west of
the avenue, standing in its wide grounds (now nearly filled by the New
York Hospital); the residence of Mr. and Mrs. August Belmont (so long
leaders in society), on the avenue, at the corner of Eighteenth Street,
extending with its picture gallery a long distance on the street;
the Stuart residence, which shared the block above Twentieth Street
with a church; and then the Union Club house at Twenty-first Street.
Perhaps of all the landmarks taken down during the time of the present
generation, none was so well known as the Goelet house at Broadway and
Nineteenth Street, with the grounds extending eastward toward Fourth
Avenue. Thousands of people passed every day in the short stretch
between the two squares. Mr. Peter Goelet’s penchant for rare and
beautiful birds was a never-ending delight to every passing child and
adult, and a number were always standing gazing past the iron railing.
Peacocks white and blue, Chinese golden pheasants, and many other
varieties found a comfortable home in the grounds.
The appearance of the entire city now gives the impression of life
and bustle. With the exception of Gramercy Square and Irving Place,
there is hardly a spot in the lower part of the city that now has any
appearance of repose. Thirty years ago the city presented a wholly
different aspect. Fifth Avenue, from Washington to Madison Square,
was, in the opinion of the writer, one of the finest residence streets
anywhere. At most hours of the day the people on the sidewalks were
comparatively few and there was a very small proportion of business
wagons and trucks that used the roadway as compared with the numbers
that do so to-day. University Place was a street of nearly the same
character, as was also Second Avenue from Seventh Street to Stuyvesant
Square. This street had a charm of its own. Lined as it was on either
side with spacious residences, it gave the impression of a street of
homes. The façades of the largest houses were simple and unpretentious,
forming a marked contrast to some of the houses uptown to-day.
As regards the matter of repose, it may be said that twenty-five years
ago the palm would clearly have been given to Lafayette Place. This
short street also had a character of its own. From the Langdon house
on the east side near Astor Place to old St. Bartholomew’s Church at
Great Jones Street, and from the Langdon (Wilks) house on the west side
to the Schermerhorn house opposite the church, almost every building
had its individuality. The street was marred by three or four ancient
buildings, which for some reason were not removed, such as the stable
between the Langdon house and the Astor Library, once the favorite
Riding Academy. The Library still (1906) stands, as does a part of the
old Colonnade, but an earthquake could hardly have wrought greater
changes than has the march of trade.
The large mansion of the first John Jacob Astor stood separated from
the Library by a gateway and broad alley reaching to the stables in
the rear. Adjoining was a group of houses of the style of those in
Washington Square, broad and “high-stooped.” Opposite, on the corner of
Fourth Street, stood a church whose portico of granite Ionic columns
(each a monolith brought with great trouble from Maine) was one of the
wonders of the town. Almost adjoining was the Swan residence, since
converted into the Church House of the diocese, and then the Colonnade
with its long row of granite Corinthian columns, considered a marvel
in its day. Next to these was the “English basement” house of the late
Charles Astor Bristed, with arch and driveway leading to the rear,
and on the corner the Langdon (Wilks) house, when it was built, the
finest in town. Being a short street, blocked at one end and leading
only to Astor Place at the other, the drivers of very few vehicles
ever took the trouble to turn into it, except the driver of a private
carriage, perhaps a closed coach drawn by heavy horses (for the cobble
stones were rough); the coachman on a vast hammercloth embellished
with fringes and tassels, as was frequently seen forty years ago, the
footman sometimes standing behind, his hands grasping two leather loops
to hold himself in place. So quiet was the street that on a pleasant
afternoon the youngsters who dwelt in the neighborhood carried on their
game of ball undisturbed. Perhaps it was this feature of quiet repose
which suggested the suitability of establishing there the Library, the
churches, the Columbia College Law School, and the Church House.
The writer might go on and refer extensively to other ancient streets
and the changed aspect of other places throughout the city, but that is
not his present purpose.
There are a few old landmarks that are likely to stand, for example the
City Hall, in the opinion of some the most successful building, as to
architectural design, in the country.
Abandoned to materialism as the city is and lacking sentiment,
nevertheless any proposal to take down the City Hall, or even to alter
it ever so slightly, meets with vigorous protests.[5]
Possibly people might object if it were proposed to destroy St. Paul’s
Chapel, the oldest church edifice in the city, and so with a few other
buildings; but the majority of the landmarks must go and hideous
skyscrapers arise, “monuments to greed” as they have been termed, half
ruining adjacent properties.
It was with a view of preserving the appearance of some of these
landmarks that may be torn down any day that these pictures were taken.
Endeavor has been made to present those that have been in existence
about fifty years. With two exceptions the buildings represented are
now (1906) standing.
Mistakes and errors no doubt appear in the text, and these the writer
would be glad to correct. The notes in no sense profess to be thorough.
They are, for the most part, mere skeletons of what may be said upon
the subjects dealt with.
[Illustration]
Number Seven State Street
This house was built by Moses Rogers, a prominent merchant of the
latter part of the eighteenth and the first part of the nineteenth
century. He was a native of Connecticut, his mother being a daughter of
Governor Fitch of that State. He was in business as early as 1785 at 26
Queen (Pearl) Street. In 1793 the firm name was Rogers & Woolsey, his
partner being William Walter Woolsey, his brother-in-law, Mr. Rogers
having married Sarah Woolsey, a sister of the wife of President Dwight
of Yale College. In that year he was living at 272 Pearl Street, near
Beekman, “in a large house with hanging garden extending over the yard
and stable.”[6]
Mr. Rogers was a merchant of high character and public spirit. In 1793
he was an active member of the Society for the Manumission of Slaves.
He was a governor of the New York Hospital from 1792 to 1799, and in
1797 treasurer of the City Dispensary. From 1787 until 1811 he was a
vestryman of Trinity Church, and in 1793 was a member of the Society
for the Relief of Distressed Prisoners.[7]
In the year 1806 he was living in the house here presented. His sister
had married the celebrated merchant and ship owner, Archibald Gracie.
His children were: (1) Sarah E. Rogers, who married the Hon. Samuel
M. Hopkins; (2) Benjamin Woolsey Rogers, who married Susan, daughter
of William Bayard; (3) Archibald Rogers, who married Anna, daughter
of Judge Nathaniel Pendleton; and (4) Julia A. Rogers, who married
Francis Bayard Winthrop.[8] In the year 1826 Benjamin Woolsey Rogers
was living in the next house, Number Five State Street, but after his
father’s death he moved to Number Seven and lived there until 1830.[9]
William P. Van Rensselaer, grandson of General Stephen Van Rensselaer,
married successively two of the daughters of Mr. Rogers. The house
during the ownership of the Rogers family was the scene of many notable
entertainments. These entertainments were frequently referred to by
older members of society who have now passed away. In 1830 the house
was occupied by Gardiner G. Howland.
The queerly shaped front was to a certain extent a necessity. State
Street takes a sharp turn and the house was built at the apex of an
angle. The interior was doubtless an improvement on other houses. The
ceilings were high, and the staircase, instead of being in the hall
as in older houses, is at the side. It is winding, of an oval design,
with mahogany balustrade. The skylight was of stained glass, made in
England, showing the coat of arms.
During the Civil War, the house was taken by the Government for
military uses, and afterwards became the office of the Pilot
Commissioners.
It is now the house of the mission of Our Lady of the Rosary.
[Illustration]
Fraunces’s Tavern
In the year 1671 Col. Stephen Van Cortlandt built a cottage on the
corner of Broad and Pearl (then Queen) streets, to which he brought his
bride, Gertrude Schuyler. The house overlooked the waters of the river
and bay. In the year 1700 he deeded this property to his son-in-law,
Etienne de Lancey, probably wishing to retire to his manor on the
Hudson. De Lancey was a French Huguenot of rank who had left his native
country on the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He came to New York
where he established himself as a merchant. On these premises he built
a hip-roofed mansion several stories in height, of small yellow bricks
imported from Holland. In dimensions and arrangement it ranked among
the best in the colony. The property descended through his son James to
his grandson Oliver. This part of the town having by that time become
the business quarter in 1757, the house was abandoned as a residence
and became the warehouse of De Lancey, Robinson & Co. On January 17,
1762, the building was transferred to Samuel Fraunces, who converted it
into a tavern under the name of the “Queen’s Head,” and announced that
dinner would be served daily at half-past one. In April, 1768, in the
long room, the Chamber of Commerce was inaugurated with John Cruger as
president.
On November 25, 1783, the day of the evacuation of the British, a grand
banquet was given by Governor Clinton to General Washington and the
French minister, Luzerne, and in the evening the “Queen’s Head” and the
whole town were illuminated. More than a hundred generals, officers,
and distinguished personages attended the banquet and thirteen toasts
were drunk commemorative of the occasion. Ten days later Washington
here met his generals for the last time. After a slight repast
Washington filled his glass and addressed his officers as follows:
“With a heart full of love and gratitude, I must now take my leave of
you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous
and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.”[10] In
silence his former companions then took a final farewell of their chief.
This is one of the oldest buildings in the city, as the great fire
of 1776 doubtless swept away most of those of earlier date. During
the last century the building has gone through various vicissitudes,
mostly on the descending scale. A year or two ago the ground floor was
occupied by a saloon. Lately the building has been completely restored
by the Sons of the Revolution and now presents very nearly its original
appearance.
[Illustration]
Sub-Treasury and Assay Office
The Sub-Treasury is built on the site of the original City Hall. In
1789 this was altered and repaired for the use of the first Congress
and named the Federal Hall. The balcony of the Hall was the scene of
Washington’s inauguration as President, in commemoration of which the
statue was erected.
In 1834 the building was demolished and the present structure erected
for the Custom House and was used as such until 1862.
The Assay Office is the oldest building in Wall Street, having been
built in 1823, for the New York branch of the Bank of the United
States. It became the Assay Office in 1853.
[Illustration]
Bank of New York
The oldest bank in the country is the Bank of North America in
Philadelphia, incorporated by act of Congress, December, 1781, and by
the State of Pennsylvania a few months afterwards. Very great losses
had occurred from the repudiation of the Continental bills of credit.
All the States had issued bills of their own and kept on “making
experiments in finance which did not depend on specie as a basis.”
Currency was expressed in pounds, shillings, and pence and the currency
in circulation was a motley conglomeration of guineas, doubloons,
pistoles, Johannes pieces, moidores, and sequins. Thus arose the
necessity of a bank that should both assist the Government and benefit
the people at large.
On February 26, 1784, a meeting of the principal merchants and citizens
was held at the Merchants’ Coffee House. General Alexander McDougal was
chosen chairman, and it was unanimously decided to establish a bank.
Subscription books were opened at the offices of John Alsop, Broadway,
Robert Bowne, Queen Street, and Nicholas Low, Water Street, and the
shares were rapidly taken.
On March 15, 1784, the following officers were chosen: General
Alexander McDougal, president; Samuel Franklin, Robert Bowne, Comfort
Sands, Alexander Hamilton, Joshua Waddington, Thomas Randall, William
Maxwell, Nicholas Low, Daniel McCormick, Isaac Roosevelt, John
Vanderbilt, and Thomas B. Stoughton, directors; and William Seton,
cashier.
The bank commenced business at what was formerly the old Walton house
in St. George’s (now Franklin) Square. It stood on the east side of
Queen (now Pearl) Street, almost opposite the present establishment of
Harper Brothers, the publishers. The building (erected 1752) will be
remembered by many people to-day as it was only taken down in 1881,
but its appearance during its declining years gave a faint idea of its
original dignity. In 1787 the business of the bank was moved to Hanover
Square, Isaac Roosevelt having been chosen president in 1786.
In 1796 a lot was bought at the corner of Wall and William streets
from William Constable for eleven thousand pounds (New York currency).
Strange to say, there is no record of the dimensions of the lot, but
the present building doubtless stands on part of it.
Early in 1797 steps were taken to remove the house then standing and
to put up a new building, and the corner stone was laid by Gulian
Verplanck, then president, on June 27th. Mr. Verplanck died in 1799
and Nicholas Gouverneur was chosen president. The corner stone of the
present building was laid on September 10, 1856, and the building
completed in 1858.[11]
[Illustration]
St. Paul’s Chapel
This chapel built in 1764–66 is the oldest church edifice in the
city. The first rector was the Rev. Dr. Barclay, who was succeeded by
the Rev. Dr. Samuel Auchmuty. The steeple is in the style of one of
Wren’s designs. After the burning of Trinity in 1776, it was used as
the parish church. The pews that during the war held Howe, André, the
officers of the army of occupation, and the young midshipman who later
became King William IV were, when peace was concluded, occupied by the
former “rebels” Washington, Clinton, and their followers. After his
inauguration, in the Federal Hall in Wall Street, Washington and the
members of both houses came in solemn procession to St. Paul’s, where
services were conducted by Bishop Provost, Chaplain of the Senate, and
a _Te Deum_ was sung.
The square pew on the left with the national arms on the wall was the
one used by Washington as long as New York remained the capital. The
corresponding pew on the right, designated by the arms of the State,
was that of Governor Clinton. On the chancel wall are marble tablets
to Sir John Temple, the first British consul general, and to Colonel
Thomas Barclay, the eminent loyalist, son of the Rev. Dr. Barclay,
rector of Trinity Parish. Colonel Barclay succeeded Temple as consul
general of “His Brittanick Majesty.” There is also a tablet in memory
of the wife of William Franklin, Tory Governor of New Jersey, and
several others. The only other reminder of pre-Revolutionary days
is the gilded crest of the Prince of Wales over the pulpit canopy.
As everyone knows, at the east end of the yard facing Broadway are
monuments to three eminent Irishmen who rose to distinction in this
country--Emmet, Montgomery, and MacNeven, one at the bar, another in
the army, and the third in medicine. Emmet was the brother of the
Irish martyr, Robert Emmet;[12] Montgomery settled in New York before
the Revolution, married a daughter of Chancellor Livingston and fell
at Quebec;[13] MacNeven, like Emmet, had taken part in the Irish
rebellion of ’98, acting with him as one of the Directory of Three.
Both were imprisoned at Fort George in Scotland. He later served in
Napoleon’s army as surgeon.
George W. P. Custis, who was one of Washington’s family, spoke of St.
Paul’s as being “quite out of town.” No doubt the great fire of 1776,
which stopped when it got to the Chapel yard, left the Chapel standing
isolated from buildings below it; but Custis, to get there from St.
George’s (Franklin) Square, must have had to go some distance “down
town.” It tends to show that the water front of the city was covered
with buildings before the central part. The fact that the commissioners
for making a plan of the future city early in the last century arranged
for so many streets running to the water and for so few running north
and south would also seem to indicate that they thought easy access to
the rivers was of prime importance.
Mr. Astor, with his wonderful foresight, was the first man to realize
that the “backbone” of the island was, in after years, to show the
greatest advance in the value of real estate.
[Illustration]
The City Hall
The plans of the architect who designed the City Hall, John McComb,
were accepted in the year 1803, but the building was not completed
until nine years later.
It is not always an agreeable business to devote one’s time to
destroying a myth which has become lodged in the affections of the
people, but sometimes it rests on so slight a foundation that there
is nothing gained in keeping it alive. We have lately seen how the
tradition that Washington Irving used to live in the house on the
corner of Irving Place and Seventeenth Street had no foundation in
fact, except that he had a nephew who lived next door. And so the story
so often repeated in newspapers and guide books that the City Hall was
finished in brownstone at the back because the city fathers thought
that nobody of any importance would ever live to the north of it might,
it seems, be set at rest, although the attempt is not made for the
first time. The story reflects on the intelligence of the people of the
day. The reason was economy, but not joined to deficiency of foresight.
The Common Council of that day, instead of being obtuse on the subject
were quite the other way, and show by their records that they took
a highly optimistic view of what they call the city’s “unrivaled”
situation and opulence. They state their belief that in a very few
years the hall that they were about to build would be the _center_ of
the wealth and population of the city. It was at first arranged to
build entirely of brownstone, and the contractors got their work done
as far as the basement, as can readily be seen to-day. Then the views
of the Common Council underwent a change. A halt was made and McComb
was requested to make an estimate of the cost in marble.
From an interesting article appearing in the _Century Magazine_
for April, 1884, written by Mr. Edward S. Wilde, it seems that the
committee’s report states: “It appears from this (the architect’s)
estimate that the difference of expense between marble and brownstone
will not exceed the sum of $43,750, including every contingent charge.
When it is considered that the City of New York from its inviting
situation and increasing opulence, stands unrivaled ... we certainly
ought, in this pleasing state of things, to possess at least one public
edifice which shall vie with the many now erected in Philadelphia and
elsewhere ... in the course of a very few years it is destined to
be the center of the wealth and population of the city. Under these
impressions the Building Committee strongly recommend that the front
and two end views of the new hall be built of marble.”
The corporation then authorized the use of marble on three fronts. The
brownstone of the rear received its first coat of white paint only a
few years ago, as nearly anyone who reads this can testify. In 1858 the
cupola was destroyed by fire and was restored in a poor manner, but
Mr. Wilde says: “Notwithstanding this change and the damage done less
by time than by stupidity, the hall stands to-day unsurpassed by any
structure of the kind in the country.”
[Illustration]
Astor Library
The Astor Library was founded in accordance with the terms of a codicil
to the will of the first John Jacob Astor. It was opened in 1854. His
son William B. Astor added a wing to the original building (the present
central portion) and presented five hundred and fifty thousand dollars
to the library fund.
In 1881 another wing was added by his grandson, John Jacob Astor.
[Illustration]
The Langdon House
This house was usually called the Langdon house, although it was never
occupied by the family of that name. Mr. Walter Langdon’s house,
directly opposite, was built much later. About 1845 the first John
Jacob Astor wished to present his daughter, Mrs. Walter Langdon, with
a city residence and built this house for her during her absence
abroad. He built merely the shell of the house, and on his daughter’s
return gave her the sum of thirty thousand dollars for the purpose of
decorating it. _Carte blanche_ was given to a famous decorator of that
day, and he proceeded to finish it in a style hitherto unknown in the
city. The result was that in the end the cost of the interior had risen
to sixty thousand dollars, considered a very large sum at that time. A
great deal of attention was paid to plaster and stucco ornamentation
and woodwork. The most attractive feature of the house was the main
staircase, which was made in England especially for the house. This
staircase was rectangular and of a dark rich colored wood, was
beautifully carved and of a very graceful design. It was lighted by a
large stained-glass window overlooking Astor Place. The reception rooms
were on the left of the main hall with a conservatory in the rear. At
the right were the library, staircase, dining room, and offices. Mrs.
Langdon, however, returned to Europe and continued to reside there
until her death. Meanwhile it was arranged that the house should be
occupied by her daughter, who had married an English gentleman, Mr.
Matthew Wilks. Mr. and Mrs. Wilks continued to live there until the
house was taken down in 1875.
The property had a frontage of about two hundred and fifty feet on both
Astor Place and Lafayette Place (now Lafayette Street), from which it
was shut off by a high wall. The enclosed courtyard was laid out as a
garden, with large trees, and the rear was occupied by the stables. The
garden contained a ring large enough for riding purposes.
Of course during the Forrest-Macready riot in 1849 the house was almost
in what might be called the storm center. In the midst of it one of
the servants, who thought he had secured a perfectly safe point of
observation on the roof, was killed.
[Illustration]
St. Mark’s in the Bowery
When Stuyvesant retired from office, after the British occupation, he
withdrew to his “Bowerie” or farm near the site of the present church,
then two miles out of town. In 1660 he built a small chapel near his
house for the people of the little village that sprang up about the
farm, as well as for his own family and the slaves, of whom there were
about forty in the vicinity. This chapel was torn down in 1793, and
the Petrus Stuyvesant of that day offered to present the ground and
eight hundred pounds in money to Trinity parish if it would build a
church there. This offer was accepted. In May, 1799, the church was
finished and the body of it has remained intact to the present time,
but there was no steeple before 1828. One pew was reserved for the
governor of the State, and the corresponding pew on the other side for
“Mr. Stuyvesant and family forever,”[14] each pew being surmounted
by a canopy.[15] The negro servants (slaves) sat in the rear of the
congregation.
In a vault under the chapel the governor’s body had been placed after
his death, in 1672, and in 1691 the body of the English governor
(Sloughter) was also placed there.
In building the church Stuyvesant’s remains were removed and placed
in a vault beneath the walls of the new edifice. The stone which may
be seen fastened to the outer wall bears the following inscription:
“In this vault lies buried Petrus Stuyvesant, late Captain General and
Governor in Chief of Amsterdam in New Netherlands, now called New York,
and the Dutch West India Islands, died A.D. 1671–2, aged 80 years.”
In July, 1804, the church was draped in mourning for the death of
Hamilton, and was so kept for six weeks.
[Illustration]
Second Avenue
_Former Residence of the Late Lewis M. Rutherfurd_
Lewis M. Rutherfurd was one of the most noted astronomers that this
country has produced. As a young man, he began the study of the law
with William H. Seward, and was admitted to the bar in 1837 and became
associated with John Jay and afterwards with Hamilton Fish. But his
tastes were entirely in the direction of science, and he decided to
abandon the law and apply his attention to scientific research. With
ample means, he had full opportunity to devote his life to the pursuit
of his favorite study, astronomical photography. He spent several
years of study in Europe and, on his return, he built an observatory
in New York, the best equipped private astronomical observatory in
the country. He made with his own hands an equatorial telescope and
devised a means of adapting it for photographic use by means of a third
lens placed outside of the ordinary object glass. He was the first to
devise and construct micrometer apparatus for measuring impressions on
the plate. It is said that he took such pains in the construction of
the threads of the screws of his micrometer that he was engaged three
years upon a single screw. He worked for many years at the photographic
method of observation before the value and importance of his labors
were recognized, but in 1865 these were fully acknowledged by the
National Academy of Sciences. The remarkable results that he obtained
were all secured before the discovery of the dry-plate process. His
photographs of the moon surpassed all others that had been made. When
overtaken by ill health he presented his instrument and photographs to
Columbia College, and his telescope is now mounted in the observatory
of that university.
He was an associate of the Royal Astronomical Society, president of the
American Photographical Society, and was the American delegate to the
International Meridian Conference at Washington in 1885, preparing the
resolutions embodying the results of the labors of the conference. He
received many decorations and honors from the learned societies of the
world, but his dislike of ostentation was such that he was never known
to wear one of the decorations, emblems, etc., that were conferred upon
him.[16]
The Mansard roof has been added to the house since its occupation by
the Rutherfurd family and the entrance removed from the avenue to the
side street.
When the house and grounds of the late Hon. Hamilton Fish, on
Stuyvesant Square, were sold a few years ago, it was said that there
had been no transfer of the site except by devise or descent since the
time of the old Governor. The same might be said of this property.
Stuyvesant’s house, in which, it is said, the papers were signed
transferring the province to the British Crown, stood close to this
spot. The house is the property of Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, a son of
Lewis M. Rutherfurd.
[Illustration]
The Keteltas House
An example of an old Second Avenue dwelling, the residence of the
Keteltas family on the corner of St. Mark’s Place.
[Illustration]
Washington Square
_Residence of Eugene Delano_
This house was formed by uniting two of the fine old residences on
the north side of Washington Square. The interior has been admirably
reconstructed. The house was formerly occupied by Edward Cooper (son of
the late Peter Cooper), who was, at one time, Mayor of the City.
[Illustration]
First Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue
This church, representing the oldest Presbyterian organization in the
city, was formed in 1716. The building was erected in 1845.
[Illustration]
An Old Fifth Avenue House
_Former Residence of the Late James Lenox_
James Lenox was born in New York in 1800, and was the son of Robert
Lenox, a wealthy Scotch merchant. He graduated from Columbia College in
1820 and entered upon a business life, but on the death of his father
in 1839 he retired and devoted the rest of his life to study and works
of benevolence. The collection of books and works of art became his
absorbing passion, and eventually he gathered about him the largest and
most valuable private collection of books and paintings in America. In
1870 he built the present Lenox Library. The collection of bibles is
believed to be unequaled even by those in the British Museum, and that
of Americana and Shakespeareana greater than that of any other American
library, in some respects surpassing those in Europe. He conveyed the
whole property to the City of New York. He was the founder and the
benefactor of the Presbyterian Hospital.
[Illustration]
Another Old Fifth Avenue House
_Former Residence of the Late Robert B. Minturn_
Prior to the Civil War, the principal merchants and bankers were among
the most prominent men in the city. The multimillionaire had not then
appeared. The ships of Howland & Aspinwall, N. L. & G. Griswold, A. A.
Low & Brother, and Grinnell, Minturn & Co. carried the flag to the
farthest quarters of the globe, where their owners’ credit stood second
to none. For speed the American clipper was unsurpassed. These “vessels
performed wonderful feats--as when the _Flying Cloud_ ran from New York
to San Francisco, making 433¼ statute miles in a single day; or the
_Sovereign of the Seas_ sailed for ten thousand miles without tacking
or wearing; or the _Dreadnought_ made the passage from Sandy Hook to
Queenstown in nine days and seventeen hours.”[17]
Mr. Minturn was a philanthropist and one of the best citizens the town
ever had.
The house is now the residence of Thomas F. Ryan.
[Illustration: Grace Church, Broadway]
[Illustration]
The Society Library
In the year 1700 the Public Library of New York was founded under the
administration of the Earl of Bellomont, and seems to have progressed
as the city grew, being aided from time to time by gifts from
interested persons on the other side, several folio volumes now in the
Society Library having been presented by friends in London in 1712,
and in 1729 the Rev. Dr. Millington, rector of Newington, England,
having bequeathed his library to the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, it was presented to the New York Public
Library. The library, being in charge of the corporation of the city,
was evidently not managed in a manner satisfactory to the people in
general. In the year 1754 it was determined that a more efficient
library was a necessity. In that year the present Society Library
had its origin, and what had been the Public Library of the city
was incorporated with it. Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer[18] states
that it had its source in a movement started by Mrs. Alexander, who
suggested to some of her friends that a circulating library should
be established, the subscribers to collect sufficient money to send
to England for the newest and best books. A list was made headed by
Messrs. William Smith, Philip, William and Robert Livingston, John
Morin Scott and William Alexander. After subscription books had been
opened and the lieutenant governor (De Lancey) and council had “set
their official seal” on the venture, a considerable sum was raised and
an institution was regularly organized and later received a charter
from Governor Tryon. Down to the time of the Revolution, the collection
was constantly increased by the purchase of books, but during the
Revolution, with a large part of the city destroyed by fire and what
remained being under the control of a hostile army, the library
suffered greatly. Mrs. Lamb[19] states that “four thousand or more
books disappeared at the outbreak of the Revolution and were supposed
destroyed, but many were hidden away for safe-keeping and reappeared
after the war.”[20]
In December, 1788, a meeting of the proprietors was called, trustees
were elected, and the library again resumed operations.
The library was kept in a room in the Federal Hall in Wall Street and
was used as the library of Congress. The first building put up for its
use was on the corner of Nassau and Cedar streets in 1795, but the
growth of the city compelling a change, a new building was erected in
1840 on the corner of Broadway and Leonard Street. The Library has
occupied the present building in University Place since May, 1856.
The membership of the library has been from the start among the most
prominent and respectable citizens. Many of the original shares of
1754–58 have remained in the same families to the present time, as
those of the Auchmuty, Banyer, Beekman, Clarkson, Cruger, De Peyster,
De Lancey, Harrison, Jones, Keteltas, Lawrence, Livingston, Ludlow,
McEvers, Morris, Ogden, Robinson, Rutherfurd, Smith, Stuyvesant, Van
Horne, and Watts families; and from 1790–96 those of the Astor, Bailey,
Barclay, Bowne, Coles, Delafield, Fish, Gelston, Greenleaf, Jay,
Kemble, Kingsland, Lenox, Low, Lee, Le Roy, Oothout, Peters, Prime,
Ray, Remsen, Roosevelt, Sackett, Schermerhorn, Schieffelin, Swords,
Titus, Townsend, Van Zandt, Van Wagenen, Van Rensselaer, Verplanck,
Waddington, Winthrop, and Woolsey families.
[Illustration]
Cruger House
Many old New Yorkers remember the Cruger house in Fourteenth Street
about halfway between Sixth and Seventh avenues, when it was occupied
by the late Mrs. Douglas Cruger.[21]
The house, having a frontage of seventy-five feet, stood in the
middle of a courtyard extending on either side about one hundred
feet, separated from the street by a high wall. Now the courtyard
has disappeared and the house, crowded closely on both sides by high
buildings, seems completely dwarfed. Decorated with fire escapes
and signs it has fallen from its high estate, and the whole street,
formerly a quiet dwelling street, is now nearly given over to trade and
noisy bustle. The entrance hall, twenty-five feet in width, extended
from front to rear eighty-five feet, a wide staircase rising from the
center at the end, the conservatory at the rear being of the width of
the house. The rooms on either side were rather curiously divided,
losing somewhat in what might have made a more imposing effect, not,
however, enough to prevent their being an excellent place for the
disposition of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, which leased
the house in 1873 for five years. The house is described in the annual
report for that year as a “large and elegant building surrounded by
spacious grounds, upon which grounds new galleries may be built, should
they be required....”[22] The rooms certainly had more unobstructed
light than could be found in most private houses. It is now occupied by
the Salvation Army.
[Illustration]
Abingdon Square--Greenwich
The peculiarity of the Greenwich section of the town is that it has
retained an individuality that no other section has retained. It is
very much of an American quarter. The streets are lined with well-kept,
comfortable brick houses, dating back sixty years or more, many of them
with the elaborately ornamental iron railings and newel posts that are
disappearing so rapidly. There is a marked paucity of the conventional
tenement house, and although factories and warehouses are crowding it
on all sides, its people cling with a stolid determination to their
ancient homes.
This square is taken as representative of this quarter of the city,
although it is rather in the streets adjoining that the houses are most
representative of old dwellings of sixty or seventy years ago. Before
the arrival of Henry Hudson, there was an Indian village here near the
site of Gansevoort Market, but Governor Van Twiller turned the locality
into a tobacco farm. By 1727 it became covered with farms and was
joined to the city by a good road very nearly following the line of the
present Greenwich Street.
The region was always noted for its healthfulness and when an epidemic
of smallpox broke out Admiral Warren invited the Colonial Assembly to
meet at his house. This made Greenwich the fashion, and for nearly a
century when epidemics occurred the people flocked out of town to that
village. At one time the Bank of New York transferred its business
there.
No history of this part of the city can be written without some
reference to that bold Irish sailor, Admiral Sir Peter Warren. Post
captain at the age of twenty-four he, in 1744, while in command of
the squadron on the Leeward Islands station, in less than four months
captured twenty-four prizes, one with a cargo of two hundred and fifty
thousand pounds in plate. He also served at Louisburg, Gibraltar, and
elsewhere. When at length he tired of a seafaring life, although still
young, he decided upon making his home in New York, and proceeded to
anchor himself for a time at least by marrying a New York woman, Miss
De Lancey. He bought three hundred acres of land at Greenwich, built a
house and laid out the grounds like an English park. Here he resided
for some years, and then went to England and entered Parliament.
He died at the age of forty-eight and lies buried in Westminster Abbey,
with a fine monument by Roubillac above him. After Lady Warren’s death
the property was divided into three lots, one lot going to each of
the three daughters. The lot containing the house fell to the eldest
daughter, Lady Abingdon, and was sold by her to Abijah Hammond, who
afterwards sold it to the late Abraham Van Nest. The remainder was sold
off in small parcels after three roads had been cut through them,
the Abingdon, Fitzroy, and Skinner roads.[23] The first corresponds
to the present Twenty-first Street, the second was almost on a line
with Eighth Avenue, and the third was part of the present Christopher
Street.
Gramercy Square
Now that St. John’s Park has been destroyed, Gramercy Park is the
only private park in the city--that is, one restricted in its use to
owners of houses facing it. Fifty years ago it had more seclusion. A
high and dense hedge surrounded it on the inside of the iron fence.
For some reason this was removed and never replanted. Now people in
the park might almost as well be in the middle of the street. The
figure on the fountain was then a Hebe perpetually filling her cup with
water. In former days the children that played in the grounds had an
annual May festival on the first of the month. One of the young girls
was chosen queen. Dressed in white and crowned with flowers, she led
the festivities around the Maypole, under the trees. Later they all
withdrew to the house of her parents, where a collation was served
and the dancing continued until the children were sent home by their
parents and to bed.
A number of men who have been prominent in the city’s life are living
or have lived in houses about the square. We might mention John
Bigelow, Stuyvesant Fish, James W. Gerard, Edwin Booth, Samuel J.
Tilden, Dr. Bellows, Dr. Valentine Mott, Cyrus W. Field, and David
Dudley Field.
[Illustration]
Gramercy Square
_Residence of John Bigelow_
Mr. Bigelow, one of the best-known citizens of New York, was admitted
to the bar in 1839 and in 1850 joined William Cullen Bryant as editor
of the New York _Evening Post_. He continued as one of the principal
editors until 1861, when he was appointed consul at Paris, and on the
death of Mr. Dayton became United States Minister, remaining so until
1866.
While at Paris he published “Les États Unis d’Amerique.” This work
corrected the erroneous views of the French as to the relative
commercial importance of the Northern and Southern States and was
effective in discouraging the supposed desire of the French Government
for the disruption of the Union.
Mr. Bigelow also conducted the negotiations leading to the withdrawal
of the French army from Mexico. In 1875 he was elected to the office of
Secretary of State of New York. He has published “The Life of Samuel
J. Tilden,” of whom he was one of the three executors; “The Mystery of
Sleep” and numerous other works. He has been honored by degrees from
various colleges and universities.[24]
[Illustration]
Gramercy Square
_Former Residence of the Late Luther C. Clark_
For many years this house was the residence of Mr. Clark, the
well-known banker. It is now the house of the Columbia University Club.
[Illustration]
Gramercy Square
_Former Residence of the Late James W. Gerard_
Mr. Gerard was an eminent lawyer. Born in this city in 1794, of French
ancestry on his father’s side, he graduated from Columbia College in
1811, and in 1816 took the degree of M.A. and was admitted to the bar.
A man of great public spirit, he, in 1824, procured the incorporation
of the House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents, the first institution
of the kind in the country. Formerly, the police or “watchmen,” as they
were called, wore no uniforms. Occasionally, an ordinary looking man
would be seen wandering about the streets, and, if the wind happened
to turn aside the lapel of his coat, one might observe a small metal
shield. This was the only indication of his office. Mr. Gerard publicly
advocated the adoption of a uniform and by letters, addresses, and
persistent action accomplished his purpose. He wore the new uniform
at a fancy dress ball given by Mrs. Coventry Waddell, who occupied a
Gothic villa, with tower, turrets, etc., on Fifth Avenue, at the top of
Murray Hill, and entertained a great deal.
Mr. Gerard devoted much of his time to charitable institutions and
was especially interested in the public schools of the city. He was
a capital speaker. His speeches were witty and always in good taste.
That he was in constant demand, in his prime, at dinners both public
and private, is readily perceived by looking through the pages of Mayor
Philip Hone’s diary.