Transcriber's note: Volume I of this eBook is available at Project
Gutenberg as eText #41979.
[Illustration: VILLAGE OF BROOKLYN IN 1816]
A HISTORY
OF THE
CITY OF BROOKLYN
AND
KINGS COUNTY
BY
STEPHEN M. OSTRANDER, M.A.
LATE MEMBER OF THE HOLLAND SOCIETY, THE LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL
SOCIETY, AND THE SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYNITES
_EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY_
ALEXANDER BLACK
AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF OHIO," ETC.
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME II.
BROOKLYN
Published by Subscription
1894
Copyright 1894,
BY ANNIE A. OSTRANDER.
_All rights reserved._
This edition is limited to five hundred
copies, of which this is No. 21
CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX
BROOKLYN AFTER THE REVOLUTION
1784-1810
Effect of the British Occupation on Life and Business in the
County. Brooklyn particularly disturbed. Town Meetings
resumed. The Prison Ships and their Terrible Legacy.
Tragedies of the Wallabout. Movement to honor the Dead.
Burial of the Remains. The Tammany Enterprise and the
Removal of the Bones. Further Removal to Fort Greene.
Organization of the Brooklyn Fire Department. The Ferry.
The Mail Stage. New Roads. Planning "Olympia." Early
Advertisements. Circulating Library and Schools. The
Rain-water Doctor. Kings County Medical Society. Flatlands.
Gravesend. Flatbush, the County Seat. Mills. Erasmus Hall.
New Utrecht. Bushwick, its Church, Tavern, Graveyard,
and Mills. The Boundary Dispute. The Beginnings of
Williamsburgh. Rival Ferries. "The Father of Williamsburgh" 1
CHAPTER X
BROOKLYN VILLAGE
1811-1833
Brooklyn during the "Critical Period" in American History.
The Embargo and the War of 1812. Military Preparations.
Fortifications. Fort Greene and Cobble Hill. Peace. Robert
Fulton. The "Nassau's" First Trip. Progress of Fulton
Ferry. The Village incorporated. First Trustees. The
Sunday-School Union. Long Island Bank. Board of Health. The
Sale of Liquor. Care of the Poor. Real Estate. Village
Expenses. Guy's Picture of Brooklyn in 1820. The Village
of that Period. Characters of the Period. Old Families
and Estates. The County Courts removed to Brooklyn.
Apprentices' Library. Prisoners at the Almshouse. Growth
of the Village. The Brooklyn "Evening Star." Movement for
Incorporation as a City. Opposition of New York. Passage of
the Incorporation Act 47
CHAPTER XI
THE CITY OF BROOKLYN
1834-1860
Government of the City. George Hall, first Mayor. Plans
for a City Hall. Contention among the Aldermen. Albert
G. Stevens and the Clerkship. The Jamaica Railroad. Real
Estate. The "Brooklyn Eagle." Walt Whitman. Henry C.
Murphy. Brooklyn City Railroad. The City Court established.
County Institutions. The Penitentiary. Packer Institute
and the Polytechnic. Williamsburgh becomes a City.
Progress of Williamsburgh. Mayor Wall and the Aldermen.
Discussion of Annexation with Brooklyn. The "Brooklyn
Times." Consolidation of the Two Cities. Mayor Hall's
Address. Nassau Water Company and the Introduction of
Ridgewood Water. Plans for New Court House. Proposal
to use Washington Park. County Cares and Expenditures.
Metropolitan Police 80
CHAPTER XII
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR
1861-1865
Election of Mayor Kalbfleisch. The Call for Troops. The
Militia. Filling the Regiments. Money for Equipment.
Rebuking Disloyalty. War Meeting at Fort Greene. Work of
Women. The County sends 10,000 Men in 1861. Launching of
the Monitor at Greenpoint. The Draft Riots. Colonel Wood
elected Mayor. Return of the "Brooklyn Phalanx." The
Sanitary Fair. Its Features and Successes. The Calico Ball.
Significance of the Fair. The Christian Commission. Action
of the Supervisors of the County. The Oceanus Excursion.
Storrs and Beecher at Sumter. News of Lincoln's Death.
Service of the National Guard. The "Fighting Fourteenth."
The Newspapers. Court House finished 117
CHAPTER XIII
BROOKLYN AFTER THE WAR
1866-1876
Administration of Samuel Booth. Metropolitan Sanitary
District created. Cholera. Erie Basin Docks. The County
Institutions and their Work. The Gowanus Canal and the
Wallabout Improvement. The Department of Survey and
Inspection of Buildings. Establishing Fire Limits. Building
Regulations. Prospect Park. The Ocean Parkway. The Fire
Department. The Public Schools. The East River Bridge.
Early Discussion of the Great Enterprise. The Construction
begun. Death of Roebling. The Ferries. Messages of Mayor
Kalbfleisch. Erection of a Brooklyn Department of Police.
Samuel S. Powell again Mayor. A New City Charter. Movement
toward Consolidation with New York. Henry Ward Beecher.
Frederick A. Schroeder elected Mayor 132
CHAPTER XIV
THE MODERN CITY
1877-1893
Rapid Transit. James Howell, Jr., elected Mayor. Work on
the Bridge. Passage of "Single Head" Bill. John Fiske
on the "Brooklyn System." Seth Low elected Mayor. His
Interpretation of the "Brooklyn System." Reëlection of Low.
Opening of the Bridge. Bridge Statistics. Ferries and Water
Front. Erie Basin. The Sugar Industry. Navy Yard. Wallabout
Market. Development of the City. Prospect Park. Theatres
and Public Buildings. National Guard. Public Schools.
Brooklyn Institute. Private Educational Institutions.
Libraries. Churches, Religious Societies, Hospitals, and
Benevolent Associations. Clubs. Literature, Art, and Music.
The Academy of Music. "The City of Homes" 167
APPENDIX 235
INDEX 271
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME II
VILLAGE OF BROOKLYN IN 1816. (From the Village Map
of Jeremiah Lott, 1816, and the Map by Poppleton
and Lott in 1819, showing Pierrepont and
adjacent Estates) _Frontispiece_
EARLY FERRY ADVERTISEMENT. (From Historical
Sketch of Fulton Ferry and its Associated
Ferries, 1879) _Facing page_ 28
FERRY PASSAGE CERTIFICATE, 1816 40
FULTON FERRY BOAT WM. CUTTING, BUILT IN 1827. (From
Historical Sketch of Fulton Ferry) 62
GUY'S SNOW SCENE IN BROOKLYN, 1820. (From the Painting
owned by the Brooklyn Institute) 70
FAC-SIMILE (same size) OF LETTER BY WALT WHITMAN IN
POSSESSION OF CHARLES M. SKINNER, ESQ., BROOKLYN 90
CRUISER BROOKLYN, BUILT IN 1858 122
STATUE OF HENRY WARD BEECHER IN FRONT OF CITY HALL.
(From a Drawing by H. D. Eggleston) 140
STATUE OF J. S. T. STRANAHAN AT THE ENTRANCE
TO PROSPECT PARK. (From a Drawing by H. D. Eggleston) 180
STATUE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON IN FRONT OF HAMILTON CLUB HOUSE 200
APPENDIX
CHART SHOWING EAST RIVER SOUNDINGS AND PIER LINES 262
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN
CHAPTER IX
BROOKLYN AFTER THE REVOLUTION
1784-1810
Effect of the British Occupation on Life and Business in the
County. Brooklyn particularly disturbed. Town Meetings resumed.
The Prison Ships and their Terrible Legacy. Tragedies of the
Wallabout. Movement to honor the Dead. Burial of the Remains.
The Tammany Enterprise and the Removal of the Bones. Further
Removal to Fort Greene. Organization of the Brooklyn Fire
Department. The Ferry. The Mail Stage. New Roads. Planning
"Olympia." Early Advertisements. Circulating Library and
Schools. The Rain-water Doctor. Kings County Medical Society.
Flatlands. Gravesend. Flatbush, the County Seat. Mills. Erasmus
Hall. New Utrecht. Bushwick, its Church, Tavern, Graveyard, and
Mills. The Boundary Dispute. The Beginnings of Williamsburgh.
Rival Ferries. "The Father of Williamsburgh."
During the whole period of the Revolution Brooklyn had been peculiarly
disturbed. More than any other of the county towns, it had been
distracted and prostrated. Farms had been pillaged and the property
of exiled Whigs given over to Tory friends of the Governor. Military
occupation naturally resulted in great damage to property. "Farmers
were despoiled of their cattle, horses, swine, poultry, vegetables,
and of almost every necessary article of subsistence, except their
grain, which fortunately had been housed before the invasion. Their
houses were also plundered of every article which the cupidity of a
lawless soldiery deemed worthy of possession, and much furniture was
wantonly destroyed. At the close of this year's campaign, De Heister,
the Hessian general, returned to Europe with a shipload of plundered
property."[1] While the other towns were receiving pay for the board
of prisoners, and thus being justified in maintaining their crops,
Brooklyn remained a garrison town until the end.
After the evacuation, Brooklyn's farmers and tradesmen at once turned
their attention to the restoration of the orderly conditions existing
before the war. It also became necessary to reorganize the local
government. In April, 1784, was held the first town meeting since
April, 1776. Jacob Sharpe was chosen town clerk, and Leffert Lefferts,
the previous clerk, was called upon to produce the town records. The
result of this demand has already been described in the reference to
the missing records.
Before proceeding further with the narrative of Brooklyn's growth
after the Revolution, it will be necessary to return for a moment to
certain sad circumstances that followed the battle of Brooklyn and
other successes of the British. The battle of Long Island was fought
August 27, 1776, and Fort Washington was captured in November. These
victories gave the British between 4000 and 5000 prisoners. At that
time there were only two small jails in New York city. One was called
the Bridewell, and was situated in Broadway near Chambers Street,
and the other was known as the New Jail. These prisons could not
accommodate the daily increasing number of prisoners. It was a dark
hour in American history; success seemed to perch upon the banners of
the enemy. Large accessions of prisoners were made, and quarters had
to be provided for them. The churches were taken without ceremony and
converted into receptacles for the captives. The sugar-houses were used
for the same purpose. One of these was situated in Liberty Street,
adjoining the old Middle Dutch Church. That church was also used.
Within its walls thousands of prisoners were placed, regardless of
comfort or sanitary rules. If its walls could speak they would tell a
tale which would make a sad record.
The old North Dutch Church on the corner of Fair Street and Horse and
Cart Lane (now Fulton and William streets) was also used as a prison
pen, and within its walls a thousand persons were held. Within a few
years this venerable landmark has succumbed to the march of progress.
The infamous Cunningham was at this time provost marshal of the city.
He possessed the instincts of a brute, and often seemed to own the
spirit of a demon. The sick and dying received no sympathy or care from
him. Healthy men were placed in the same room with those having the
smallpox and other maladies. Prisoners were not allowed sufficient food
or bedding, and their clothes were scanty. The food was not fit to give
to the beasts. The men must have reached the verge of starvation to
induce them to partake of the unwholesome mess of wormy and mouldy food
dealt out to them. The allowance made to the men was a loaf of bread,
one quart of peas, half a pint of rice, and one and a half pounds
of pork for six days. Large numbers died from want, privation, and
exhaustion. So crowded were these prisons that there was no room to lie
down and rest. The impure atmosphere engendered disease. Every morning
the cry was heard, "Rebels, bring out your dead." All who had died
during the night were carelessly thrown into the dead-cart and carried
to the trenches in the neighborhood of Canal Street, and buried without
a vestige of ceremony.
But the horrors of the city prisons were more than repeated in the
tragedies of the prison ships in the bend of the Wallabout. The first
vessels used were the freight transports which had been employed in
conveying troops to Staten Island in 1776. These transports were for a
short time anchored in Gravesend Bay, and received the prisoners taken
on Long Island. When New York was conquered they were removed to the
city. The Good Hope and Scorpion for a while were anchored off the
Battery, and subsequently were taken to Wallabout Bay, and with other
vessels were used as prisons. Two vessels at a time were kept in this
service. Among the vessels thus used were the Whitley, Falmouth, Prince
of Wales, Scorpion, Bristol, and Old Jersey.
In 1780 one of the vessels was burned by the unhappy captives, who
hoped thereby to regain their liberty. The effort was unsuccessful,
and the prisoners were removed to the Old Jersey, which continued in
service until the end of the war.
Wallabout Bay had the shape of a horse-shoe. The Jersey was anchored at
a point which is now represented by the west end of the Cob Dock. If
Cumberland Street were continued in a straight line to a point between
the Navy Yard proper and the Cob Dock, it would pass over the spot
where this vessel was anchored.
Historians agree in saying that the treatment on all these vessels
was alike, and that the Jersey was not exceptional. The Jersey was
the largest of all, and having remained in service for so long a time
had the most prisoners. On that account she has attracted the most
attention.
The crew on board each ship consisted of a captain, mates, steward, a
few sailors and marines, and about thirty soldiers. Each prisoner on
his arrival was carefully searched for arms and valuables. His name
and rank were duly registered. He was allowed to retain his clothing
and bedding, and to use these, but during confinement was supplied
with nothing additional. The examination having been completed, he
was conducted to the hold of the vessel, to become the companion of a
thousand other patriots, many of whom were covered with rags and filth,
and pale and emaciated from the constant inhalation of the pestiferous
and noxious atmosphere which impregnated the vessel. Strong men could
not long resist inroads of sickness and disease. Many were taken down
with typhus fever, dysentery, and smallpox. The vessel was filled
continually with the vilest malaria. The guns were removed, portholes
securely fastened, and in their place were two tiers of lights to
admit air. Each of these air holes was about twenty inches square,
and fastened by cross-bars to prevent escape. The steward supplied
each mess with a daily allowance of biscuit, pork or beef, and rancid
butter. The food was of the poorest which could be obtained, and of
itself was sufficient to breed disease. The biscuits were mouldy and
worm-eaten, the flour was sour, and the meat badly tainted. It was
cooked in a common kettle, which was never cleaned, with impure water,
and became a slow but sure poison. The prisoners were kept in the
holds between the two decks, and the lower dungeon was used for the
foreigners who had enlisted in freedom's cause. Here again the morning
salutation was, "Rebels, bring out your dead." The command was obeyed,
and all who had found relief in death were brought upon deck. Prisoners
were allowed to sew a blanket over the remains of their dead companions
before burial. The dead were taken in boats to the shore, put in holes
dug in the sand, and carelessly covered. Frequently they were washed
from their resting place by the incoming tide. Often while walking
along the old Wallabout road, between Cumberland Street and the Navy
Yard, I have seen the remains of the gallant patriots who lost their
lives on the Jersey. In the "'fifties" of the present century it was no
uncommon thing for pieces of bone and human skulls to be dug up on the
borders of the old road.
The only relief the prisoners had was permission to remain on deck
until sunset. When the golden orb of day sunk beneath the horizon, the
ears of all were saluted with the obnoxious cry, "Down, rebels, down."
When all had retired to the hold, the hatchway was closed, leaving only
a small trap open to admit air. At this trapdoor a sentinel was placed,
with instructions to allow but one man to ascend at a time during the
night. The sentinels possessed the same cruel spirit as their masters.
A prisoner who had been confined on the Jersey for fourteen months
said that, on occasions when the prisoners gathered at the hatchway
to obtain fresh air, the sentinel repeatedly thrust his bayonet among
them and killed several. These acts created a desire for revenge. Many
of the men were enabled to endure their trials by the thought that the
night of darkness would soon pass away, and the day dawn when they
could take vengeance on the scoundrels who had treated them with so
much brutality.
An instance of this determination to be revenged is narrated in the
life of Silas Talbot. It appears that two brothers belonging to the
same rifle corps were made prisoners and sent on board the Jersey. The
elder was attacked with fever and became delirious. One night, as his
end was fast approaching, reason resumed its sway, and, while lamenting
his sad fate and breathing a prayer for his mother, he begged for a
little water. His brother entreated the guard to give him some, but the
request was brutally refused. The sick boy drew near to death, and his
last struggle came. The brother offered the guard a guinea for an inch
of candle to enable him to behold the last gasping smile of love and
affection. This request was refused. "Now," said he, "if it please God
that I ever regain my liberty, I'll be a most bitter enemy." He soon
after became a free man, and, to show how well he kept his word, it is
only necessary to say that when the war closed "he had 8 large and 127
small notches in his rifle stock." These notches probably represented 8
officers and 127 privates.
On one occasion 130 men were brought to the Jersey by the villain
Sprout, who was commissary of prisoners. As he approached the black
unsightly hulk, he pointed to her sardonically, and told his captives,
"There, rebels, there is the cage for you."
The same bitter round was the daily portion of the men,--during the day
a little air and sunlight, and being compelled to listen to the curses
and imprecations of their captors, while at night they had to breathe
the stifling air between decks, and listen to the groans of the sick
and dying, without the power to give them any relief.
Some of the men were assigned to wash and scrub the decks. This of
itself was a great blessing, as it gave them occupation and additional
rations. During the night watches it was as dark as Egypt between
decks, for no sort of light was allowed. Delirious men would wander
about and stumble over their fellows. Sometimes the warning shout would
be heard, that a madman was creeping in the darkness with a knife in
his hand. At times a soldier would wake up to find that the brother at
his side had become a corpse. The soldiers in charge of the prisoners
were mostly Hessians, and were universally hated as mercenaries.
Yet no amount of cruelty could drive patriotism from the hearts of the
captives. On the 4th of July, 1782, they determined to celebrate the
anniversary in a fitting manner. On the morning of that day, they came
on deck with thirteen national flags, fastened on brooms. The flags
were seized, torn, and trampled under foot by the guards, who looked
upon the act as an insult. Nothing daunted, the men determined to have
their pleasure, and began to sing national melodies. The guards became
enraged, considered themselves insulted, and drove the prisoners below
at an early hour, at the point of the bayonet, and closed the hatches.
The prisoners again commenced to sing. At nine o'clock in the evening
an order was given requiring them to cease. This order not being
instantly complied with, the animosity of the guards was aroused, and
they descended with lanterns and lances. Terror and consternation at
once reigned supreme. The retreating prisoners were sorely pressed by
the guards, who unmercifully cut and slashed away, wounding every one
within their reach, and inflicting in many instances deadly blows.
They then returned to the deck, leaving the wounded to suffer, without
the means to have their wounds properly dressed. In consequence of
this explosion of patriotism, a new torture was devised. The men, as a
punishment, were kept below on the following day until noon, and thus
were prevented from the enjoyment of the sun and air for six long weary
hours. During this time they were also deprived of rations and water.
As a result of the night's diabolism ten dead bodies were brought on
deck in the morning.
To show the heartlessness of the guards, an incident is narrated of a
man who was supposed to be dead, and had been sewed up in his hammock
and carried on deck preparatory to burial. He was observed to move,
and the attention of the officer in charge was called to the fact that
he was still living. "In with him," said the officer; "if he is not
dead, he soon will be." The sailor took a knife, cut open the hammock,
and discovered that the man was still alive. Doubtless many men who had
swooned away were buried alive.
At the time of these occurrences, the government did not possess the
ability to make exchanges. The captives on the prison ships were mostly
privateersmen, and, not being in the regular Continental service,
Congress was unwilling to restore healthy soldiers to the ranks of
the enemy, thereby adding to their strength without a full and exact
equivalent.
The Americans had entered into an agreement to exchange officer for
officer and soldier for soldier. They had but few naval prisoners, and
thus could make no exchange for the unfortunate ones on these ships.
Our authorities were compelled to let their captives on the water go
at large, for want of suitable places to keep them. Washington took
a lively interest in the matter, and entered into a correspondence
with Henry Clinton and Admiral Digby on the subject, threatening
retaliation. He, however, threatened and expostulated in vain.
The American rebels were urged by the British officers to enter their
service. Some did enlist, with the hope uppermost in their minds that
they would be able to desert.
The prisoners were released at the close of the war. The old Jersey was
destroyed, and its decaying timbers became buried in the mud.
The bones of the prison-ship martyrs lay for many years bleaching on
the banks of Wallabout Bay, where they had been rudely buried by the
British. The action of the tide upon the sandy banks gradually washed
away the little earth which had been thrown over them, thereby causing
the sacred relics to become exposed to view. The attention of Congress
was frequently called to the necessity of providing a suitable resting
place for these honored remains. The sight of these bones strewn upon
the banks of the bay was enough to awaken the interest of the nation.
At last the citizens of Brooklyn became aroused, and at a town meeting
held in 1792, a resolution was passed requesting John Jackson, who
had collected a large number of the bones on his farm, which then
included the land now used by the Navy Yard, to allow the relics in his
possession and under his control to be removed to the Reformed Dutch
Church graveyard for burial, and a monument erected over them. General
Jeremiah Johnson was the chairman of the committee. The application
was refused, Jackson having other intentions as to their interment.
Jackson was a blunt man, and a firm believer in the principles of
Democracy as enunciated by Jefferson. He was one of the sachems of the
Tammany Society or Columbian Order.
He had several hogsheads full of bones which he had collected upon the
beach. To consummate his plan he offered to the Tammany Society a plot
in his farm for land whereon a suitable monument might be erected.
Tammany accepted the trust, and in February, 1803, entered actively
upon the work. The society at once proposed and caused to be presented
to Congress a stirring and forcible memorial on the subject. Congress,
however, came to no determination in the matter, and the matter
remained quiescent until 1808. Between the time of the acceptance of
the offer by Tammany and the action by Congress in 1808, Benjamin
Aycrigg, a prominent and influential citizen, became greatly interested
in the measure. In the summer of 1805, noticing the exposed condition
of these remains on the beach of the bay, his patriotic heart was
horrified by the sight; his soul was filled with indignation that steps
had not been taken to have them decently interred. He, in the same
year, made a contract with an Irishman living at the Wallabout to
collect all the exposed bones. The remains thus collected formed a part
of those subsequently placed in the vault erected on the Jackson lot by
the Tammany Society.
In 1808 Tammany again renewed its labors. At a meeting of the society
a committee was appointed, called the Wallabout Committee, consisting
of Jacob Vandervoort, John Jackson, Burdett Stryker, Issachar Cozzens,
Robert Townsend, Jr., Benjamin Watson, and Samuel Coudrey. This
committee was deeply interested in the work, and used every available
means to enlist public sympathy and assistance. Memorials were prepared
and circulated, and appeals made through the press and otherwise,
urging the citizens to come forward and aid the sacred cause. In their
efforts they did not confine themselves to New York, but sought to
create a national interest in the undertaking. The patriotism of the
people was appealed to, and the effort was crowned with success. When
the subject was thus forcibly presented, the citizens of the young
republic realized their obligation to provide a proper burial place
for the dust and bones of her brave sons, through whose death the
nation rose into existence. The measure was presented in a way which
could not be resisted. The inhabitants of all sections became greatly
interested, and nobly responded to the call, and the committee, finding
so many ready to aid, assist, and approve, were enabled to commence
the erection of the structure much sooner than they had at first
anticipated.
The spot given was situated in Jackson Street (now Hudson Avenue), near
York Street, abutting the Navy Yard wall. The street was named after
the owner of the land. The name was afterward changed to Hudson Avenue.
The land was formally deeded by Jackson to the Tammany Society in 1803.
When all things were ready the society caused the remains collected by
Jackson, with all the bones found upon the beach, to be committed to
the tomb with appropriate ceremonies.
The arrangements for laying the corner-stone were completed, and the
13th of April, 1808, fixed for that interesting ceremony. The order of
exercises was as follows: At eleven o'clock the procession formed at
the ferry, foot of Main Street, marched through that street to Sands
Street, thence to Bridge Street, along Bridge to York Street, through
York Street to Jackson, and thence to the ground.
As Major Aycrigg had ever manifested unabated interest in this labor of
love, he was properly selected as grand marshal of the day.
The first division of the procession consisted of a company of United
States marines, under command of Lieutenant-Commandant Johnson. The
second division was composed of citizens of New York and Brooklyn. The
third division embraced the committees of the various civic societies.
The fourth division contained the Grand Sachem of the Tammany Society,
Father of the Council, and orator of the day. The fifth division
carried the corner-stone with the following inscription:--
IN THE NAME OF
THE SPIRITS OF THE DEPARTED FREE.
Sacred to the memory of that portion of
AMERICAN FREEMEN, SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS,
who perished on board the
PRISON SHIPS OF THE BRITISH
at the Wallabout during the
REVOLUTION.
This corner-stone of the vault erected by the
TAMMANY SOCIETY
OR COLUMBIAN ORDER
Nassau Island, Season of Blossoms, year of the discovery
the 316th, of the institution the 19th, and of the American
Independence the 22d.
JACOB VANDERVOORT, }
JOHN JACKSON, }
BURDETT STRYKER, } Wallabout
ISSACHAR COZZENS, } Committee.
ROBERT TOWNSEND, JR., }
BENJAMIN WATSON, }
SAMUEL COUDREY, }
Daniel and William Campbell, builders, April 6, 1808.
The sixth division was composed of a detachment of artillery under
command of Lieutenant Townsend.
The procession having reached the ground, the artillery were stationed
upon a neighboring hill, and the various divisions took the positions
assigned them.
The oration, which was a brilliant effort, was delivered by Joseph
D. Foy. The stone was then lowered to its place and duly laid by
Benjamin Romaine, Grand Sachem of the Tammany Society, assisted by
the committee, after which a grand salute was fired, and the band
discoursed sweet and solemn notes.
The vault was completed in May, 1808. Arrangements were made for an
imposing display, and no pains were spared in preparation. The various
societies and public bodies were ready and anxious to do all in their
power to render the occasion impressive and memorable. The citizens
turned out _en masse_ on the 26th of May, 1808, to bear testimony to
the worth of these brave men whose obsequies were to be celebrated.
They assembled at ten o'clock in the park in front of the City Hall,
New York, under command of Brigadier Generals Morton and Steddiford,
Garret Sickels, Grand Marshal, assisted by twelve aides.
The inscription on the pedestal was as follows:--
[Front.]
AMERICANS REMEMBER THE BRITISH.
[Right side.]
YOUTH OF MY COUNTRY
MARTYRDOM PREFERRED TO SLAVERY.
[Left side.]
SIRES OF COLUMBIA
transmit to posterity the cruelties practiced on board the
"BRITISH PRISON SHIPS."
[Rear.]
"Tyrants dread the gathering storm
While Freemen, Freemen's Obsequies perform."
The orator of the day was Dr. Benjamin DeWitt, who delivered an able
and patriotic address to the assembled multitude. He feelingly depicted
the sufferings endured in British dungeons, and drew tears to many eyes
by his eloquent and touching remarks, referring to the tyranny of the
oppressors and the patience of the patriots. The oration concluded, in
painful silence the coffins were committed to their resting place. Rev.
Mr. Williston then pronounced the benediction, "To the King, Immortal,
Invisible, the All-wise God, be glory everlasting, amen." The occasion
was one long remembered in both cities.
During many years these relics remained forgotten in their sepulchre.
The grade of Jackson Street was altered so as to take a part of the
sacred ground. Jackson, when he gave the land, was not far-sighted
enough to have secured the passage of an act to preserve its precincts
intact, free from invasion by streets, and exempt from taxation. The
land at one time was sold for taxes. It seemed as if the past had been
forgotten. Then it was that Benjamin Romaine came forward and purchased
the lot. In order to preserve it from desecration, he adopted it as
his family burial plot. He resolved to be buried there himself, and
placed within the vault a coffin designed for his mortal remains. He
constructed the ante-chamber over the tomb. Upon the property he placed
the following inscription:--
First--The portal to the tomb of 11,500 patriot prisoners of
war who died in dungeons and pestilential prison ships in and
about the City of New York during the war of our Revolution.
The top is capped with two large urns in black, and a white
globe in the centre.
Second--The interior of the tomb contains thirteen coffins
assigned in the order as observed in the Declaration of
Independence, and inserted thus--New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
and Georgia.
Third--Thirteen beautifully turned posts, painted white, and
capped with a small urn in black, and between the posts the
above-named States are fully lettered.
Fourth--In 1778, the Colonial Congress promulgated the Federal
League compact, though it was not finally ratified until 1781,
only two years before the peace of 1783.
Fifth--In 1789, our General National Convention, to form a more
perfect unison, did ordain the present Constitution of the
United States of America, to be one entire Sovereignty, and in
strict adhesion to the equally necessary State rights. Such a
republic must endure forever.
In 1842, a large number of citizens applied to the Legislature for
permission to remove the remains to a more private place. Romaine
vigorously and eloquently objected to the proposed change, and the
matter was permitted to rest quietly until after his death in 1844.
During the following year attention was again called to the forlorn
and neglected condition of the sepulchre. Henry C. Murphy was then
in Congress, representing Kings and Richmond counties. The abject
condition of the vault was brought to the notice of Congress, and
action taken. The military committee recommended an appropriation of
$20,000 to secure a permanent tomb and monument. The report was drawn
by Henry C. Murphy, whose exertions in this behalf were untiring. The
effort, however, was not successful.
Samuel Boughton, John T. Hildreth, John H. Baker, and other
public-spirited men, holding diverse political views, started
subscription papers, and published articles in the papers urging the
importance of immediate action to accomplish the praiseworthy object.
In 1855, a meeting was held and a Martyrs' Monument Association formed.
This association intended to have representatives from each State and
Territory. The committee started with commendable energy. They early
took the ground that Fort Greene was the proper site. Plans were
proposed and subscriptions solicited. For a long time nothing more was
done. The Common Council agreed to permit the use of Fort Greene. It
was not until June, 1873, that the remains of the prison-ship martyrs
were carried to the vault on the face of Fort Greene.[2]
The narrative here concluded has passed far beyond the limits
of the period to which this chapter is devoted. Turning to the
post-Revolutionary period, we find the county towns resuming a normal
course of life. The Dutchmen who gathered at the Brooklyn church
ceased to talk of war. The Episcopalians, who worshiped in John
Middagh's barn, at the corner of Henry and Poplar streets, turned from
politics to denominational questions, and the "Independents" built
a meeting-house on the Fulton Street ground afterwards taken by St.
Anne's Buildings.
We learn from the "Corporation Manual" (1869) that the first step
toward a fire department within the limits of the present city was
taken in April, 1785, by the organization of a fire-company. At a
meeting of the freeholders of the town, held at the house of Widow
Moser, in Fulton Street, near the ferry, it was agreed that the company
should be composed of seven members, who should be commissioned as
firemen for one year. They selected the following persons as the
members of the company: Henry Stanton, captain; Abraham Stoothoof,
John Doughty, Jr., Thomas Havens, J. Van Cott, and Martin Woodward.
They also voted to raise by tax the sum of £150 for the purchase of a
fire-engine. Among the regulations agreed upon for the government of
the new company was a requirement that the members should meet on the
first Saturday of each month, to play, clean, and work their engine,
and that in case of their non-attendance, upon notification from their
captain, a fine of eight shillings should be imposed upon them, and
that upon the captain, in the event of his neglecting properly to
notify the members, a fine of sixteen shillings should be imposed. The
engine was in due time procured. It was constructed by Jacob Boome,
of New York city, who had just then commenced business as the first
engine-builder ever located in that city. Previous to his time, the
fire-engines had generally been imported from England. The company
adopted the name of "Washington Engine Company No. 1," and was, up to
the time of dissolution of the Volunteer Department, still in active
existence. Their engine-house was situated in a lane, now called Front
Street, near its junction with Fulton Street.
The firemen continued to be chosen annually in town meeting, and the
appointment was much sought after as conferring respectability of
position in the community. On the 30th of April, 1787, the number of
firemen was increased to eleven, and it was resolved that each fireman
should take out a license, for which he should pay a fee of four
shillings, the sums thus accruing being appropriated to the ordinary
expenses of the company.
On the 15th of March, 1788, came the first state legislation relative
to the firemen of Brooklyn. In 1794 there were about fifty families
residing within the limits of the fire district; the entire population,
including some 100 slaves, numbering 350 souls. There were about
seventy-five buildings in the district, mainly located between what
is now called Henry Street and the ferry. Those devoted to business
purposes were generally near the ferry, where a supply of water from
the river could readily and easily be obtained. Although fires were
of exceedingly rare occurrence, and trivial in their character, yet
nine years of use, or rather disuse and decay and rust, had rendered
the engine unserviceable. In view of this fact, on the first Tuesday
of April, 1794, it was resolved in town meeting that a subscription
should be authorized to raise the funds necessary for the purchase of a
new engine. The sum of £188 19s. was speedily collected, and a new and
more powerful engine was procured. In 1795 the Legislature extended
the limits of the fire district, and increased the volunteer force to
thirty men. In town meeting it was resolved that each house should be
provided with two fire-buckets, under a penalty of two shillings for
every neglect so to provide after due notification. In 1796 a fire-bell
was purchased by popular subscription, and set up in the storehouse of
Jacob Remsen, at Fulton and Front streets, in sight of the ferry.
In the awarding of the ferry lease in 1789, it was ordered "that
the boats, together with their masts and sails, be of such form and
dimensions as the wardens of the port of New York should approve; that
each boat be constantly worked and managed by two sober, discreet, and
able-bodied experienced watermen; that each boat be always furnished
with four good oars and two boat-hooks."[3] A new ferry at Catherine
Street was established in 1795.
Although the ferry was in active operation, traveling by land was by
exceedingly primitive stages. As late as 1793, according to Furman,
there was no post-office on any part of Long Island, and no mail
carried on it. It was not until about the opening of the present
century that the first post-route was started. As late as 1835 "the
regular mail stage left Brooklyn once a week, on Thursday, having
arrived from Easthampton and Sag Harbor the afternoon of the previous
day; and this was the only conveyance travelers could then have through
this Island, unless they took a private carriage." The practice was to
leave Brooklyn about nine in the morning, to dine at Hempstead, and
then "jog on to Babylon, where they put up for the night."[4]
By the enterprise of the Flushing Bridge and Road Company, incorporated
in 1802, the distance between Flushing and Brooklyn was shortened about
four miles. Three years later the Wallabout and Brooklyn Toll Bridge
Company laid out a road extending from the Cripplebush road to the
easterly side of the Wallabout mill pond, over which a bridge connected
with Sands Street.
[Illustration: New-York and Brooklyn Ferry.
Such persons as are inclined to compound, agreeable to law, in the
Steam Ferry-Boat, Barges, or common Horse Boats, will be pleased to
apply to the subscribers, who are authorized to settle the same.
GEORGE HICKS, Brooklyn.
JOHN PINTARD, 52 Wall st.
Commutation for a single person not
transferable, for 12 months, $10 00
Do. do. 8 months, 6 67
May 3, 1814 6m.
EARLY FERRY ADVERTISEMENT]
Within the limits of the town[5] the spirit of real estate enterprise
appeared in various quarters, but perhaps the most ambitious
undertaking was that of the holders of the Sands and Jackson tract,
surveyed in 1787, and lying on the East River between the Wallabout
and the Brooklyn ferry. To the prospective village planned for this
region was given the name of Olympia, after the habit of bestowing
classical names which began to appear in post-Revolutionary days. In
1801 John Jackson sold forty acres of Wallabout lands to the United
States for $40,000.
The columns of the "Long Island Weekly Intelligencer," published by
Roberson & Little, booksellers and stationers, at the corner of Old
Ferry and Front streets, give interesting glimpses of this period. In
1806 Henry Hewlet dealt in "general merchandise" near the Old Ferry;
John Cole was coach-maker; Dr. Lowe's office was "at the Rev. Mr.
Lowe's, corner of Red Hook Road." There was demand for five apprentices
at Amos Cheney's shipyard. Benjamin Hilton sold china, glass, and
earthenware, "at New York prices," in Old Ferry Street. Postmaster
Bunce had fifty-three letters that had not been called for.
In a later issue of the "Intelligencer" the editor remarks that he has
been "requested to suggest the propriety of each family placing lights
in front of their houses, not having the advantage of lamps, as great
inconvenience and loss of time arises from the neglect, particularly on
dark nights."
In 1808 the town appropriated $1500 for the erection of a new "poor
house." The county court house of this period was at Flatbush, then the
county seat. The old court house had been burned in 1758. The money
required to build the new court house was raised by an assessment
upon the inhabitants of the county. This building continued in use
thirty-four years, when, by reason of its dilapidated condition, a new
court house and jail were built in 1792. The court house cost $2944.71.
The contractor was Thomas Fardon, and the plans for the building were
furnished by Messrs. Stanton, Newton, and James Robertson. In referring
to the court house, Furman says that "in 1800 the court house was let
to James Simson for one year at £3 in money." In this agreement "the
justices reserved for themselves the chamber in the said house called
the court chamber, at the time of their publique sessions, courts of
common pleas, and private meetings; as also the room called the prison,
for the use of the sheriff if he had occasion for it." The building
stood for forty years, when it was destroyed by fire.
Meanwhile the hamlet of Brooklyn took on many of the characteristics
of a maturing village. Joseph B. Pierson removed from New York to
Brooklyn in 1809, and opened a circulating library on Main Street,
two doors from Sands Street. In the "Long Island Star" of June, 1809,
George Hamilton advertised a select school where "students were taught
to make their own pens." Hamilton was succeeded by John Gibbons, who in
September announced the opening of an academy for both sexes, where the
various educational branches are "taught on unerring principles." Mrs.
Gibbons was to "instruct little girls in Spelling, Reading, Sewing, and
Marking." To the notice of an evening school for young men is appended:
"N. B. Good pronunciation."
Two years later there was a private school opposite the post office;
John Mabon taught the Brooklyn Select Academy; and at the inn of
Benjamin Smith, on Christmas-eve, an exhibition was given by the pupils
of Platt Kennedy. At this time the town had a floor-cloth factory,
eight or ten looms were at work in Crichton's cotton goods manufactory,
and over one hundred people worked in rope-walks. Abraham Remsen kept
the one dry goods store at Fulton and Front streets.
Over the Black Horse tavern lived for a time the "Rain-water Doctor,"
who was consulted by people coming great distances. This strange man
dealt mostly in herbs and simples, but his specialty was rain water,
which he praised as containing power to cure all manner of ills. He
often signed himself, "Sylvan, Enemy of Human Diseases." Sylvan was
evidently the first of a long list of "rain-water" quacks, against whom
the regular practitioners of this and later periods had occasion to
contend.[6]
At the time when the census of Long Island (in 1811) estimated the
population of Brooklyn at 4402, rapid progress had also been made by
other towns in the county. Flatlands, which does not seem to have been
particularly disturbed by the British occupation,--the church and
schools continuing their regular sessions throughout the period,--built
a new church in 1794, which was painted red and sanded, and had
Lombardy poplars in front and rear. Church-going was a cold experience
in those days, the new church, like its predecessors, being without
means of heating, save the foot-stoves carried by women. It was not
until 1825 that a large wood-stove was introduced. The schoolhouse
stood within the original lines of the graveyard.
Gravesend, which had passed through an active early period, had in 1810
a population of 520. The hamlet was conservative in its habits of life
and slow in numerical growth. To reach Coney Island from Gravesend
at this time, it was necessary to ford the creek at low tide. The
Coney Island Bridge and Road Company was organized in 1823. To get
their letters the Gravesend people were obliged to go to Flatbush.[7]
The old schoolhouse, after being in service for sixty years, was in
1788 succeeded by a larger building, which was in service for half
a century. The Reformed Church records were still kept in the Dutch
language. The church was a long low building with a gallery, under
which, on the west side, were the negro quarters.
Flatbush had had a taste of the Revolutionary fighting, and suffered
considerably during the British occupation.[8]
The mill finished in 1804, on John C. Vanderveer's farm, is described
as the first mill on the island. The mills became a prominent feature
of Flatbush scenery. Clustered near them were some of the quaintest
examples of Dutch and colonial architecture that were to be found in
this country. The examples surviving to-day give a distinctive charm to
this village. In due time the stocks which had stood in front of the
court house, the near-by whipping-post,[9] and the public brew-house
all disappeared.
On the 2d of July, 1791, public notice was given of the plan for
building a county court house and jail at Flatbush. The notice stated
that the conditions would be made known by application to Charles
Doughty, Brooklyn Ferry, and that propositions in writing would be
received until July 15 by him and Johannes E. Lott, of Flatbush, and
Rutgert Van Brunt of Gravesend.
Cruger, while mayor of New York city, had his residence within the
village. Generals Howe, Clinton, and other leading Tories had their
headquarters within its limits subsequent to the battle of Brooklyn.
Erasmus Hall, at Flatbush, was erected in 1786, its charter bearing
the same date as that of the Easthampton Academy. The first public
exhibition of Erasmus Hall was held September 27, 1787, "and the
scene," says Stiles, "was graced by the presence of the Governor of
the State, several members of the Assembly, and a large concourse of
prominent gentlemen of the vicinity." The subject of public instruction
continued to be agitated in the public prints and the pulpit, and the
attention of the Legislature was repeatedly called by the Governor's
messages to the paramount need of having a regular school system
throughout the State. Finally, in 1795, that body passed "an act for
the encouragement of schools," and made an appropriation of $50,000 per
annum for five years "for the purpose of encouraging and maintaining
schools in the several cities and towns in this State in which children
of the inhabitants residing in the State shall be instructed in the
English language or be taught English grammar, arithmetic, mathematics,
and such other branches of knowledge as are most useful and necessary
to complete a good English education."
The Rev. Dr. John H. Livingston, who, with Senator John Vanderbilt,
brought about, the establishment of the academy, was succeeded as
principal by Dr. Wilson, who also held a professorship at Columbia
College. The records of the academy reveal an interesting list of
names, and the institution has held an important relation to the
educational interests of Flatbush.
New Utrecht, where the first resistance to the British forces had been
offered, and whose church had been used as a hospital and also as a
riding-school by the British officers, was quick to assume its wonted
ways after the departure of the troops when peace with England had been
declared. During the period between 1787 and 1818 the Rev. Petrus Lowe
was the pastor.[10]
The progress of Bushwick after the Revolution was noteworthy. The old
Dutch church had been built early in the last century. The dominies
from Brooklyn and Flatbush had previously ministered to the people
when occasion called. The old octagonal church received a new roof in
1790, a front gallery five years later, and so it remained until 1840.
Stiles[11] mentions Messrs. Freeman and Antonides as the earliest
pastors, and Peter Lowe as serving here until 1808. A regiment of
Hessians had their winter quarters here in 1776, barracks being put
up on the land of Abraham Luqueer, and free use being made of wood
from the Wallabout swamp. The case of Hendrick Suydam was typical.
Suydam had to give quarters in his house,[12] and the filthy habits
of these unsavory mercenaries were shockingly characteristic of this
unhappy period. Stiles mentions, among the "patriots of Bushwick," John
Provost, John A. Meserole, John I. Meserole, Jacob Van Cott, David
Miller, William Conselyea, Nicholas Wyckoff, and Alexander Whaley,
but no such list gives due honor to the service of all the Bushwick
patriots.
After the Revolution Bushwick had "three distinct settlements or
centres of population." These were "Het Dorp," the original town plot
at the junction of North Second Street and Bushwick Avenue; "Het Kivis
Padt," on the cross-roads at the junction of Bushwick Avenue and the
Flushing Road; and "Het Strand," along the East River shore. The first
mentioned was the centre of village activity, with the old church for
chief landmark.
Of the town house with its tall liberty pole, Field[13] writes: "Long
after the Revolution the old town house continued to be the high seat
of justice, and to resound with the republican roar of vociferous
electors on town meeting days. The first Tuesday in April and the
fourth of July, in each succeeding year, found Het Dorp suddenly
metamorphosed from a sleepy Dutch hamlet into a brawling, swaggering
country town, with very debauched habits. Our Dutch youth had a most
enthusiastic tendency, and ready facility in adopting the convivial
customs and uproarious festivity of the loud-voiced and arrogant
Anglo-American youngers.[14] One day the close-fisted electors of
Bushwick devised a plan for easing the public burdens by making the
town house pay part of the annual taxes, and accordingly it was
rented to a Dutch publican, who afforded shelter to the justices and
constables, and by his potent liquors contributed to furnish them with
employment.
"In this mild partnership, so quietly aiding to fill each others'
pockets, our old friend Chas. Zimmerman had a share, until he was
ousted, because he was a better customer than landlord. The services
of the church were conducted in the Dutch language until about the
year 1830. The clergyman had the care of five churches, each of which
received his spiritual services in turn. The homely but pious men who
performed these duties were sometimes learned and dignified gentlemen,
always a little aristocratic in their ways, for the dominie of a Dutch
colony was an important functionary, whom the Governor-General himself
could not snub with impunity. One of their self-indulgent customs would
strike a modern community with horror. On arriving at the church,
just before the time for Sunday service, the good dominie was wont to
refresh himself from the fatigue of his long ride with a glass of some
of the potent liquors of the time at the bar of the town house.
"At last the electors of Bushwick got tired of keeping a hotel, and
unanimously quit-claimed their title to the church. Some time after the
venerable structure [the town house] was sold to an infidel Yankee,
at whose bar the good dominie could no longer feel free to take an
inspiriting cup before entering the pulpit, and the glory of the town
house of Bushwick departed."
[Illustration: FERRY PASSAGE CERTIFICATE, 1816]
The graveyard of the original Dutch settlement lay in sight of the
church, and the last remains within its borders were not disturbed
until 1879, when the bones were removed in boxes and placed under
the Bushwick Church. Not far distant were the De Voe, De Bevoise,
and Wyckoff houses, the last named built by Theodorus Polhemus, of
Flatbush.[15]
On the river front was the famous tavern of "Charlum" Titus. Toward
Bushwick Creek was the Wartman homestead. On Division Avenue was the
Boerum house; the Remsen house was on Clymer Street. Peter Miller,
Frederic De Voe, and William Van Cott were prominent residents.
On Newtown Creek stood Luqueer's mill, built in 1664, by Abraham
Jansen, and the second to be erected within the limits of the present
city of Brooklyn. Freekes' mill at Gowanus was the oldest, a pond being
formed by damming the head of Gowanus Kill. Remsen's mill was at the
Wallabout. It was built in 1710, and it was from the vantage ground of
his residence here that Rem Remsen witnessed so many of the prison-ship
horrors. Remsen performed many humane acts toward the unfortunates of
the floating dungeons.
The boundary dispute between Newtown and Bushwick--a wrangle beginning
in Stuyvesant's day and lasting until 1769--forms one of the most
picturesque features of political life in the history of the two
towns. "Arbitration Rock," as a famous landmark in the survey was
called, having been destroyed, a new rock was placed in position by
Nicholas Wyckoff, with the permission of the Commissioners appointed to
resurvey the line in 1880, and still remains.
We have seen that one section of the town of Bushwick, or rather an
outlying group of farms and houses, lay on the river front. Traffic to
and from New York naturally passed through this river section of the
settlement. At the beginning of the century Richard M. Woodhull, a New
York merchant, established a horse-ferry from Corlaer's Hook, close to
the foot of the present Grand Street, New York, to the foot of the Long
Island road, now bearing the name of North Second Street.
The New York landing-place of the ferry was then considerably above the
settled part of the town. In New York at this period the tendency of
development still was along the eastern side of the island. "The seat
of the foreign trade," says Mr. Janvier, "was the East River front; of
the wholesale domestic trade, in Pearl and Broad streets, and about
Hanover Square; of the retail trade, in William, between Fulton and
Wall. Nassau Street and upper Pearl Street were places of fashionable
residence; as were also lower Broadway and the Battery. Upper Broadway,
paved as far as Warren Street, no longer was looked upon as remote and
inaccessible; and people with exceptionally long heads were beginning,
even, to talk of it as a street with a future; being thereto moved,
no doubt, by consideration of its magnificent appearance as the great
central thoroughfare of the city upon Mangin's prophetic map."
Notwithstanding the development of New York on the East River side,
there were two miles of travel between Woodhull's ferry and the
business part of the city. Woodhull bought and "boomed" property in
the vicinity of the ferry road on the Long Island side, then known
as Bushwick Street, and to the settlement in this region he gave the
name of Williamsburgh, "in compliment to his friend, Colonel Williams,
U. S. engineer, by whom it was surveyed." A ferry-house, a tavern, a
hay-press, appeared on the scene.
"An auction was held," writes John M. Stearns,[16] "at which a few
building lots were disposed of. But the amount realized came far short
of restoring to Woodhull the money he had thus prematurely invested.
His project was fully a quarter of a century too soon. It required half
a million of people in the city of New York, before settlers could be
induced to move across the East River away from the attractions of a
commercial city. Woodhull found that notes matured long before he could
realize from the property; and barely six years had passed before he
was a bankrupt, and the site of his new city became subject to sale by
the sheriff. By divers shifts the calamity was deferred until September
11, 1811, when the right, title, and interest of Richard M. Woodhull
in the original purchase, and in five acres of the Francis J. Titus
estate, purchased by him in 1805, near Fifth Street, was sold by the
sheriff in favor of one Roosevelt. James H. Maxwell, the son-in-law
of Woodhull, became the purchaser of Williamsburgh; but not having
the means to continue his title thereto, it again passed under the
sheriff's hammer, although a sufficient number of lots had by this time
been sold to prevent its re-appropriation to farm and garden purposes."
Then came Thomas Morrell, of Newtown, who bought the Titus homestead
farm of twenty-eight acres, prepared a map, and set down Grand Street
as a dividing line. In 1812, Morrell obtained from New York city a
grant for a ferry from Grand Street, Bushwick, to Grand Street, New
York.
This new town site, extending between North Second Street as far over
as the present South First Street, received the name of Yorkton.
The rivalry between the Morrell and the Woodhull ferry became very
heated. "While Morrell succeeded as to the ferry," writes Mr. Stearns,
"Woodhull managed to preserve the name Williamsburgh; which applied
at first to the thirteen acres originally purchased, and had extended
itself to adjoining lands so as to embrace about thirty acres, as seen
in Poppleton's map in 1814, and another in 1815, of property of J.
Homer Maxwell. But the first ferry had landed at Williamsburgh, and
the turnpike went through Williamsburgh out into the island. Hence,
both the country people and the people coming from the city, when
coming to the ferry, spoke of coming to Williamsburgh. Thus Yorkton was
soon unknown save on Loss's map, and in the transactions of certain
land-jobbers. Similarly the designations of old farm locations, being
obsolete to the idea of a city or a village, grew into disuse; and the
whole territory between Wallabout Bay and Bushwick Creek became known
as Williamsburgh."
At this time the owners of shore property refused to have a road opened
through their property or along the shore. The two ferries were not
connected by shore road, nor with the Wallabout region, and neither
ferry prospered during the lifetime of either Woodhull or Morrell.
General Johnson, in going from his Wallabout farm to Williamsburgh,
"had to open and shut no less than seventeen barred gates within a
distance of a mile and a half along the shore." The owners opposed
Johnson's movement for a road, but with the aid of the Legislature the
road was opened, business at the ferries immediately improved, and
Williamsburgh began to grow. A Methodist congregation built a church
in 1808; a hotel appeared at about the same time, and in 1814 there
were 759 persons in the town. Noah Waterbury, by the building of a
distillery at the foot of North Second Street and other enterprises,
earned the title of "The Father of Williamsburgh."